CHANGE SEMANTIC CONSTRAINED ONLINE DATA CLEANING METHOD FOR REAL-TIME OBSERVATIONAL DATA STREAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Ding

2016-06-01

data streams, which may led to large estimation error. In order to achieve the best generalization error, it is an important challenge for the data cleaning methodology to be able to characterize the behavior of data stream distributions and adaptively update a model to include new information and remove old information. However, the complicated data changing property invalidates traditional data cleaning methods, which rely on the assumption of a stationary data distribution, and drives the need for more dynamic and adaptive online data cleaning methods. To overcome these shortcomings, this paper presents a change semantics constrained online filtering method for real-time observational data. Based on the principle that the filter parameter should vary in accordance to the data change patterns, this paper embeds semantic description, which quantitatively depicts the change patterns in the data distribution to self-adapt the filter parameter automatically. Real-time observational water level data streams of different precipitation scenarios are selected for testing. Experimental results prove that by means of this method, more accurate and reliable water level information can be available, which is prior to scientific and prompt flood assessment and decision-making.

Emerging Methods and Systems for Observing Life in the Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Chavez, F.; Pearlman, J.; Simmons, S. E.

2016-12-01

There is a growing need for observations of life in the sea at time and space scales consistent with those made for physical and chemical parameters. International programs such as the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and Marine Biodiversity Observation Networks (MBON) are making the case for expanded biological observations and working diligently to prioritize essential variables. Here we review past, present and emerging systems and methods for observing life in the sea from the perspective of maintaining continuous observations over long time periods. Methods that rely on ships with instrumentation and over-the-side sample collections will need to be supplemented and eventually replaced with those based from autonomous platforms. Ship-based optical and acoustic instruments are being reduced in size and power for deployment on moorings and autonomous vehicles. In parallel a new generation of low power, improved resolution sensors are being developed. Animal bio-logging is evolving with new, smaller and more sophisticated tags being developed. New genomic methods, capable of assessing multiple trophic levels from a single water sample, are emerging. Autonomous devices for genomic sample collection are being miniaturized and adapted to autonomous vehicles. The required processing schemes and methods for these emerging data collections are being developed in parallel with the instrumentation. An evolving challenge will be the integration of information from these disparate methods given that each provides their own unique view of life in the sea.

Force measuring valve assemblies, systems including such valve assemblies and related methods

Science.gov (United States)

DeWall, Kevin George [Pocatello, ID; Garcia, Humberto Enrique [Idaho Falls, ID; McKellar, Michael George [Idaho Falls, ID

2012-04-17

Methods of evaluating a fluid condition may include stroking a valve member and measuring a force acting on the valve member during the stroke. Methods of evaluating a fluid condition may include measuring a force acting on a valve member in the presence of fluid flow over a period of time and evaluating at least one of the frequency of changes in the measured force over the period of time and the magnitude of the changes in the measured force over the period of time to identify the presence of an anomaly in a fluid flow and, optionally, its estimated location. Methods of evaluating a valve condition may include directing a fluid flow through a valve while stroking a valve member, measuring a force acting on the valve member during the stroke, and comparing the measured force to a reference force. Valve assemblies and related systems are also disclosed.

Inter- and intra- observer reliability of risk assessment of repetitive work without an explicit method.

Science.gov (United States)

Eliasson, Kristina; Palm, Peter; Nyman, Teresia; Forsman, Mikael

2017-07-01

A common way to conduct practical risk assessments is to observe a job and report the observed long term risks for musculoskeletal disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the inter- and intra-observer reliability of ergonomists' risk assessments without the support of an explicit risk assessment method. Twenty-one experienced ergonomists assessed the risk level (low, moderate, high risk) of eight upper body regions, as well as the global risk of 10 video recorded work tasks. Intra-observer reliability was assessed by having nine of the ergonomists repeat the procedure at least three weeks after the first assessment. The ergonomists made their risk assessment based on his/her experience and knowledge. The statistical parameters of reliability included agreement in %, kappa, linearly weighted kappa, intraclass correlation and Kendall's coefficient of concordance. The average inter-observer agreement of the global risk was 53% and the corresponding weighted kappa (K w ) was 0.32, indicating fair reliability. The intra-observer agreement was 61% and 0.41 (K w ). This study indicates that risk assessments of the upper body, without the use of an explicit observational method, have non-acceptable reliability. It is therefore recommended to use systematic risk assessment methods to a higher degree. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Composite materials and bodies including silicon carbide and titanium diboride and methods of forming same

Science.gov (United States)

Lillo, Thomas M.; Chu, Henry S.; Harrison, William M.; Bailey, Derek

2013-01-22

Methods of forming composite materials include coating particles of titanium dioxide with a substance including boron (e.g., boron carbide) and a substance including carbon, and reacting the titanium dioxide with the substance including boron and the substance including carbon to form titanium diboride. The methods may be used to form ceramic composite bodies and materials, such as, for example, a ceramic composite body or material including silicon carbide and titanium diboride. Such bodies and materials may be used as armor bodies and armor materials. Such methods may include forming a green body and sintering the green body to a desirable final density. Green bodies formed in accordance with such methods may include particles comprising titanium dioxide and a coating at least partially covering exterior surfaces thereof, the coating comprising a substance including boron (e.g., boron carbide) and a substance including carbon.

Initiation devices, initiation systems including initiation devices and related methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Daniels, Michael A.; Condit, Reston A.; Rasmussen, Nikki; Wallace, Ronald S.

2018-04-10

Initiation devices may include at least one substrate, an initiation element positioned on a first side of the at least one substrate, and a spark gap electrically coupled to the initiation element and positioned on a second side of the at least one substrate. Initiation devices may include a plurality of substrates where at least one substrate of the plurality of substrates is electrically connected to at least one adjacent substrate of the plurality of substrates with at least one via extending through the at least one substrate. Initiation systems may include such initiation devices. Methods of igniting energetic materials include passing a current through a spark gap formed on at least one substrate of the initiation device, passing the current through at least one via formed through the at least one substrate, and passing the current through an explosive bridge wire of the initiation device.

Applications of the observational method in deep foundations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fathi M. Abdrabbo

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The observational method was introduced into geotechnical engineering to improve both theories and construction techniques. This method was developed to avoid highly conservative assumptions about soil properties in geotechnical design when faced with unavoidable uncertainties of natural ground conditions. The assumptions involved in soil mechanics theories usually differ to a certain extent from reality. These assumptions can be improved by employing an observational database. Thus, theories of geotechnical engineering can be developed by observations during the construction stage. Moreover, precise management of construction work by close observations is essential to avoid risk and to alter the design if needed to match the real conditions. This paper sheds some light on the importance of the observational concept in deep foundations through three case studies. The first one demonstrates the effect of working hypotheses on design outputs of an open caisson of 22 m internal diameter. The other two case studies present the difference between theory and reality during construction stage of auger cast-in-place piles (ACIP in difficult subsoil conditions. Importance of merging the documented theories with the available observations is discussed. The study shows that working hypotheses and engineering models affect the cost and the time required for construction of deep foundations. Field observations are essential during installation of ACIP at a site. Some precautions should be considered when drilling ACIP through sandstone of inclined top surface. These precautions are mainly dependent upon field observations during construction. ACIP can be used effectively in soil formations that have galleries and caves using a cement–bentonite mixture to fill the holes of the unsuccessful piles. Finally, the paper shares a series of practical guidelines with engineering community all over the world that may assist in design and construction of deep

A novel technique for including surface tension in PLIC-VOF methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meier, M.; Yadigaroglu, G. [Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Nuclear Engineering Lab. ETH-Zentrum, CLT, Zurich (Switzerland); Smith, B. [Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland). Lab. for Thermal-Hydraulics

2002-02-01

Various versions of Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) methods have been used successfully for the numerical simulation of gas-liquid flows with an explicit tracking of the phase interface. Of these, Piecewise-Linear Interface Construction (PLIC-VOF) appears as a fairly accurate, although somewhat more involved variant. Including effects due to surface tension remains a problem, however. The most prominent methods, Continuum Surface Force (CSF) of Brackbill et al. and the method of Zaleski and co-workers (both referenced later), both induce spurious or 'parasitic' currents, and only moderate accuracy in regards to determining the curvature. We present here a new method to determine curvature accurately using an estimator function, which is tuned with a least-squares-fit against reference data. Furthermore, we show how spurious currents may be drastically reduced using the reconstructed interfaces from the PLIC-VOF method. (authors)

A method of clustering observers with different visual characteristics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Niimi, Takanaga [Nagoya University School of Health Sciences, Department of Radiological Technology, 1-1-20 Daiko-minami, Higashi-ku, Nagoya 461-8673 (Japan); Imai, Kuniharu [Nagoya University School of Health Sciences, Department of Radiological Technology, 1-1-20 Daiko-minami, Higashi-ku, Nagoya 461-8673 (Japan); Ikeda, Mitsuru [Nagoya University School of Health Sciences, Department of Radiological Technology, 1-1-20 Daiko-minami, Higashi-ku, Nagoya 461-8673 (Japan); Maeda, Hisatoshi [Nagoya University School of Health Sciences, Department of Radiological Technology, 1-1-20 Daiko-minami, Higashi-ku, Nagoya 461-8673 (Japan)

2006-01-15

Evaluation of observer's image perception in medical images is important, and yet has not been performed because it is difficult to quantify visual characteristics. In the present study, we investigated the observer's image perception by clustering a group of 20 observers. Images of a contrast-detail (C-D) phantom, which had cylinders of 10 rows and 10 columns with different diameters and lengths, were acquired with an X-ray screen-film system with fixed exposure conditions. A group of 10 films were prepared for visual evaluations. Sixteen radiological technicians, three radiologists and one medical physicist participated in the observation test. All observers read the phantom radiographs on a transillumination image viewer with room lights off. The detectability was defined as the shortest length of the cylinders of which border the observers could recognize from the background, and was recorded using the number of columns. The detectability was calculated as the average of 10 readings for each observer, and plotted for different phantom diameter. The unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic averages (UPGMA) was adopted for clustering. The observers were clustered into two groups: one group selected objects with a demarcation from the vicinity, and the other group searched for the objects with their eyes constrained. This study showed a usefulness of the cluster method to select personnel with the similar perceptual predisposition when a C-D phantom was used in image quality control.

A method of clustering observers with different visual characteristics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niimi, Takanaga; Imai, Kuniharu; Ikeda, Mitsuru; Maeda, Hisatoshi

2006-01-01

Evaluation of observer's image perception in medical images is important, and yet has not been performed because it is difficult to quantify visual characteristics. In the present study, we investigated the observer's image perception by clustering a group of 20 observers. Images of a contrast-detail (C-D) phantom, which had cylinders of 10 rows and 10 columns with different diameters and lengths, were acquired with an X-ray screen-film system with fixed exposure conditions. A group of 10 films were prepared for visual evaluations. Sixteen radiological technicians, three radiologists and one medical physicist participated in the observation test. All observers read the phantom radiographs on a transillumination image viewer with room lights off. The detectability was defined as the shortest length of the cylinders of which border the observers could recognize from the background, and was recorded using the number of columns. The detectability was calculated as the average of 10 readings for each observer, and plotted for different phantom diameter. The unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic averages (UPGMA) was adopted for clustering. The observers were clustered into two groups: one group selected objects with a demarcation from the vicinity, and the other group searched for the objects with their eyes constrained. This study showed a usefulness of the cluster method to select personnel with the similar perceptual predisposition when a C-D phantom was used in image quality control

Observational constraint on the interacting dark energy models including the Sandage-Loeb test

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ming-Jian; Liu, Wen-Biao

2014-05-01

Two types of interacting dark energy models are investigated using the type Ia supernova (SNIa), observational data (OHD), cosmic microwave background shift parameter, and the secular Sandage-Loeb (SL) test. In the investigation, we have used two sets of parameter priors including WMAP-9 and Planck 2013. They have shown some interesting differences. We find that the inclusion of SL test can obviously provide a more stringent constraint on the parameters in both models. For the constant coupling model, the interaction term has been improved to be only a half of the original scale on corresponding errors. Comparing with only SNIa and OHD, we find that the inclusion of the SL test almost reduces the best-fit interaction to zero, which indicates that the higher-redshift observation including the SL test is necessary to track the evolution of the interaction. For the varying coupling model, data with the inclusion of the SL test show that the parameter at C.L. in Planck priors is , where the constant is characteristic for the severity of the coincidence problem. This indicates that the coincidence problem will be less severe. We then reconstruct the interaction , and we find that the best-fit interaction is also negative, similar to the constant coupling model. However, for a high redshift, the interaction generally vanishes at infinity. We also find that the phantom-like dark energy with is favored over the CDM model.

Application of Observed Precipitation in NCEP Global and Regional Data Assimilation Systems, Including Reanalysis and Land Data Assimilation

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, K. E.

2006-12-01

precipitation analyses by other institutions. Other global precipitation analyses produced by other methodologies are also used by EMC in certain applications, such as CPC's well-known satellite-IR based technique known as "GPI", and satellite-microwave based estimates from NESDIS or NASA. Finally, the presentation will cover the three assimilation methods used by EMC to assimilate precipitation data, including 1) 3D-VAR variational assimilation in NCEP's Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS), 2) direct insertion of precipitation-inferred vertical latent heating profiles in NCEP's N. American Data Assimilation System (NDAS) and its N. American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) counterpart, and 3) direct use of observed precipitation to drive the Noah land model component of NCEP's Global and N. American Land Data Assimilation Systems (GLDAS and NLDAS). In the applications of precipitation analyses in data assimilation at NCEP, the analyses are temporally disaggregated to hourly or less using time-weights calculated from A) either radar-based estimates or an analysis of hourly gauge-observations for the CONUS-domain daily precipitation analyses, or B) global model forecasts of 6-hourly precipitation (followed by linear interpolation to hourly or less) for the global CMAP precipitation analysis.

A mixed-methods observational study of human milk sharing communities on Facebook.

Science.gov (United States)

Perrin, Maryanne Tigchelaar; Goodell, L Suzanne; Allen, Jonathan C; Fogleman, April

2014-04-01

The Food and Drug Administration discourages the casual sharing of human milk because of the risk of pathogen transmission. No information is currently available on the prevalence of this practice. The purpose of this mixed-methods observational study is to describe the size and activity of online milk sharing communities. Data for 3 months were extracted from nine public Facebook pages that facilitate the exchange of human milk. The numbers of participants, interactions, and comments were analyzed. We observed 954 individuals participating in milk sharing. The number of interactions per individual ranged from none to 16 (mean, 1.74 ± 1.65). Top reasons that participants requested milk included "lactation problems" (69.4%) and "child health problems" (48.5%). Nearly half of donors were offering 100 ounces or more, which is the minimum to be eligible to donate to nonprofit milk banks. Milk sharing networks in the United States are active, with thousands of individuals participating in the direct exchange of raw human milk. Public health issues include increasing the supply of pasteurized donor milk for fragile infants, increasing breastfeeding support, and helping milk sharing families appropriately manage risks.

Method for statistical data analysis of multivariate observations

CERN Document Server

Gnanadesikan, R

1997-01-01

A practical guide for multivariate statistical techniques-- now updated and revised In recent years, innovations in computer technology and statistical methodologies have dramatically altered the landscape of multivariate data analysis. This new edition of Methods for Statistical Data Analysis of Multivariate Observations explores current multivariate concepts and techniques while retaining the same practical focus of its predecessor. It integrates methods and data-based interpretations relevant to multivariate analysis in a way that addresses real-world problems arising in many areas of inte

Systematic evaluation of observational methods assessing biomechanical exposures at work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Takala, Esa-Pekka; Pehkonen, Irmeli; Forsman, Mikael

2010-01-01

the use of technical instruments. Generally, the observations showed moderate to good agreement with the corresponding assessments made from video recordings; agreement was the best for large-scale body postures and work actions. Postures of wrist and hand as well as trunk rotation seemed to be more...... difficult to observe correctly. Intra- and inter-observer repeatability were reported for 7 and 17 methods, respectively, and were judged mostly to be good or moderate. CONCLUSIONS: With training, observers can reach consistent results on clearly visible body postures and work activities. Many observational...

Explaining transgression in respiratory rate observation methods in the emergency department: A classic grounded theory analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Flenady, Tracy; Dwyer, Trudy; Applegarth, Judith

2017-09-01

Abnormal respiratory rates are one of the first indicators of clinical deterioration in emergency department(ED) patients. Despite the importance of respiratory rate observations, this vital sign is often inaccurately recorded on ED observation charts, compromising patient safety. Concurrently, there is a paucity of research reporting why this phenomenon occurs. To develop a substantive theory explaining ED registered nurses' reasoning when they miss or misreport respiratory rate observations. This research project employed a classic grounded theory analysis of qualitative data. Seventy-nine registered nurses currently working in EDs within Australia. Data collected included detailed responses from individual interviews and open-ended responses from an online questionnaire. Classic grounded theory (CGT) research methods were utilised, therefore coding was central to the abstraction of data and its reintegration as theory. Constant comparison synonymous with CGT methods were employed to code data. This approach facilitated the identification of the main concern of the participants and aided in the generation of theory explaining how the participants processed this issue. The main concern identified is that ED registered nurses do not believe that collecting an accurate respiratory rate for ALL patients at EVERY round of observations is a requirement, and yet organizational requirements often dictate that a value for the respiratory rate be included each time vital signs are collected. The theory 'Rationalising Transgression', explains how participants continually resolve this problem. The study found that despite feeling professionally conflicted, nurses often erroneously record respiratory rate observations, and then rationalise this behaviour by employing strategies that adjust the significance of the organisational requirement. These strategies include; Compensating, when nurses believe they are compensating for errant behaviour by enhancing the patient's outcome

NEW MASER EMISSION FROM NONMETASTABLE AMMONIA IN NGC 7538. II. GREEN BANK TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS INCLUDING WATER MASERS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoffman, Ian M. [St. Paul' s School, Concord, NH 03301 (United States); Seojin Kim, Stella, E-mail: ihoffman@sps.edu [Current address: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)

2011-12-15

We present new maser emission from {sup 14}NH{sub 3} (9,6) in NGC 7538. Our observations include the known spectral features near v{sub LSR} = -60 km s{sup -1} and -57 km s{sup -1} and several more features extending to -46 km s{sup -1}. In three epochs of observation spanning two months we do not detect any variability in the ammonia masers, in contrast to the >10-fold variability observed in other {sup 14}NH{sub 3} (9,6) masers in the Galaxy over comparable timescales. We also present observations of water masers in all three epochs for which emission is observed over the velocity range -105 km s{sup -1} < v{sub LSR} < -4 km s{sup -1}, including the highest velocity water emission yet observed from NGC 7538. Of the remarkable number of maser species in IRS 1, H{sub 2}O and, now, {sup 14}NH{sub 3} are the only masers known to exhibit emission outside of the velocity range -62 km s{sup -1} < v{sub LSR} < -51 km s{sup -1}. However, we find no significant intensity or velocity correlations between the water emission and ammonia emission. We also present a non-detection in the most sensitive search to date toward any source for emission from the CC{sup 32}S and CC{sup 34}S molecules, indicating an age greater than Almost-Equal-To 10{sup 4} yr for IRS 1-3. We discuss these findings in the context of embedded stellar cores and recent models of the region.

Systems and Methods for Fabricating Structures Including Metallic Glass-Based Materials Using Low Pressure Casting

Science.gov (United States)

Hofmann, Douglas C. (Inventor); Kennett, Andrew (Inventor)

2018-01-01

Systems and methods to fabricate objects including metallic glass-based materials using low-pressure casting techniques are described. In one embodiment, a method of fabricating an object that includes a metallic glass-based material includes: introducing molten alloy into a mold cavity defined by a mold using a low enough pressure such that the molten alloy does not conform to features of the mold cavity that are smaller than 100 microns; and cooling the molten alloy such that it solidifies, the solid including a metallic glass-based material.

Systematic evaluation of observational methods assessing biomechanical exposures at work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Takala, Esa-Pekka; Irmeli, Pehkonen; Forsman, Mikael

2009-01-01

by sorting the methods according to the several items evaluated.   Numerous methods have been developed to assess physical workload (biomechanical exposures) in order to identify hazards leading to musculoskeletal disorders, to monitor the effects of ergonomic changes, and for research. No indvidual method...... between observers Potential users NIOSH Lifting Eq. NA X - O, R Arbouw M - - O ACGIH Lifting TLV M - - O MAC - - M O, W(?) ManTRA - - - O, R(?),W(?) NZ Code for MH - - - O, W(?) Washington state ergonomic rule M X M O, W(?) BackEST ML - M R   Correspondence with valid reference: HM = High to moderate, L......), and Washington state model. MAC (UK), ManTRA (Australia), and New Zealand code are widely used for the assessment of risks in MMH but we did not found formal studies on validity of these methods. The inter-observer repeatability of MAC and the Washington state model has been found to be moderate. Back...

Solar cells, structures including organometallic halide perovskite monocrystalline films, and methods of preparation thereof

KAUST Repository

Bakr, Osman; Peng, Wei; Wang, Lingfei

2017-01-01

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide for solar cells including an organometallic halide perovskite monocrystalline film (see fig. 1.1B), other devices including the organometallic halide perovskite monocrystalline film, methods of making

Electrode assemblies, plasma apparatuses and systems including electrode assemblies, and methods for generating plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Peter C; Grandy, Jon D; Detering, Brent A; Zuck, Larry D

2013-09-17

Electrode assemblies for plasma reactors include a structure or device for constraining an arc endpoint to a selected area or region on an electrode. In some embodiments, the structure or device may comprise one or more insulating members covering a portion of an electrode. In additional embodiments, the structure or device may provide a magnetic field configured to control a location of an arc endpoint on the electrode. Plasma generating modules, apparatus, and systems include such electrode assemblies. Methods for generating a plasma include covering at least a portion of a surface of an electrode with an electrically insulating member to constrain a location of an arc endpoint on the electrode. Additional methods for generating a plasma include generating a magnetic field to constrain a location of an arc endpoint on an electrode.

Computing observables in curved multifield models of inflation—A guide (with code) to the transport method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dias, Mafalda; Seery, David [Astronomy Centre, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH (United Kingdom); Frazer, Jonathan, E-mail: m.dias@sussex.ac.uk, E-mail: j.frazer@sussex.ac.uk, E-mail: a.liddle@sussex.ac.uk [Department of Theoretical Physics, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, 48040 Bilbao (Spain)

2015-12-01

We describe how to apply the transport method to compute inflationary observables in a broad range of multiple-field models. The method is efficient and encompasses scenarios with curved field-space metrics, violations of slow-roll conditions and turns of the trajectory in field space. It can be used for an arbitrary mass spectrum, including massive modes and models with quasi-single-field dynamics. In this note we focus on practical issues. It is accompanied by a Mathematica code which can be used to explore suitable models, or as a basis for further development.

Computing observables in curved multifield models of inflation—A guide (with code) to the transport method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dias, Mafalda; Seery, David; Frazer, Jonathan

2015-01-01

We describe how to apply the transport method to compute inflationary observables in a broad range of multiple-field models. The method is efficient and encompasses scenarios with curved field-space metrics, violations of slow-roll conditions and turns of the trajectory in field space. It can be used for an arbitrary mass spectrum, including massive modes and models with quasi-single-field dynamics. In this note we focus on practical issues. It is accompanied by a Mathematica code which can be used to explore suitable models, or as a basis for further development

Solar cells, structures including organometallic halide perovskite monocrystalline films, and methods of preparation thereof

KAUST Repository

Bakr, Osman M.

2017-03-02

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide for solar cells including an organometallic halide perovskite monocrystalline film (see fig. 1.1B), other devices including the organometallic halide perovskite monocrystalline film, methods of making organometallic halide perovskite monocrystalline film, and the like.

New method to analyze super-family events observed with emulsion chambers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amenomori, M.

1997-01-01

The authors have developed a clustering method to analyze family events observed with emulsion chambers at high mountains. The main purpose of this analysis is to estimate the main production height of individual events, angular spread of gamma-rays in each event and so on. These enable them to investigate hadronic interactions at energies over 10 16 eV inaccessible by the present high-energy accelerators. they examined their clustering method using Monte Carlo events, and found that for the family events whose production height is low (within 2-3 km above the observation point in air), their production heights and lateral spreads are well reproduced. They further applied their method to the super-family events (ΣE γ > 1000 TeV) observed with emulsion chambers at Mt. Kanbala (5500 m above sea-level). The results seem to suggest that particle production with large transverse momentum occurs with considerable frequency even in the fragmentation region in the energy region over 10 16 eV

Development of direct observation aparatus of coal carbonization process by x-ray computerized tomography method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakawa, Mitsuhiro; Shiraishi, Katsuhiko; Sakurai, Yoshihisa; Shimomura, Yasuto

1987-01-01

Coke production by chamber ovens has a long history and efforts are being continued to make the manufacturing process efficient and to preserve the environment. In this production by this method, however, it is hardly possible to obtain direct information during coal carbonization. Since the elements that compose coal and coke are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, etc. and are similar to those of the human body, authors has developed a coke oven that permits the direct observation of the coal carbonization process using a soft X-ray computerized tomography (CT) apparatus used in medical treatment. The following phenomena can be observed as images by the coke oven for the CT method : 1) Changes in the bulk density of charge coal (including the difference in the water content), 2) Width of the plastic layer and movement of the plastic layer in the coke oven chamber, 3) Expansion and shrinkage of the charge in the coke oven chamber, 4) Initiation and growth of cracks. (author)

Simple tool for the rapid, automated quantification of glacier advance/retreat observations using multiple methods

Science.gov (United States)

Lea, J.

2017-12-01

The quantification of glacier change is a key variable within glacier monitoring, with the method used potentially being crucial to ensuring that data can be appropriately compared with environmental data. The topic and timescales of study (e.g. land/marine terminating environments; sub-annual/decadal/centennial/millennial timescales) often mean that different methods are more suitable for different problems. However, depending on the GIS/coding expertise of the user, some methods can potentially be time consuming to undertake, making large-scale studies problematic. In addition, examples exist where different users have nominally applied the same methods in different studies, though with minor methodological inconsistencies in their approach. In turn, this will have implications for data homogeneity where regional/global datasets may be constructed. Here, I present a simple toolbox scripted in a Matlab® environment that requires only glacier margin and glacier centreline data to quantify glacier length, glacier change between observations, rate of change, in addition to other metrics. The toolbox includes the option to apply the established centreline or curvilinear box methods, or a new method: the variable box method - designed for tidewater margins where box width is defined as the total width of the individual terminus observation. The toolbox is extremely flexible, and has the option to be applied as either Matlab® functions within user scripts, or via a graphical user interface (GUI) for those unfamiliar with a coding environment. In both instances, there is potential to apply the methods quickly to large datasets (100s-1000s of glaciers, with potentially similar numbers of observations each), thus ensuring large scale methodological consistency (and therefore data homogeneity) and allowing regional/global scale analyses to be achievable for those with limited GIS/coding experience. The toolbox has been evaluated against idealised scenarios demonstrating

Earthquake analysis of structures including structure-soil interaction by a substructure method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chopra, A.K.; Guttierrez, J.A.

1977-01-01

A general substructure method for analysis of response of nuclear power plant structures to earthquake ground motion, including the effects of structure-soil interaction, is summarized. The method is applicable to complex structures idealized as finite element systems and the soil region treated as either a continuum, for example as a viscoelastic halfspace, or idealized as a finite element system. The halfspace idealization permits reliable analysis for sites where essentially similar soils extend to large depths and there is no rigid boundary such as soil-rock interface. For sites where layers of soft soil are underlain by rock at shallow depth, finite element idealization of the soil region is appropriate; in this case, the direct and substructure methods would lead to equivalent results but the latter provides the better alternative. Treating the free field motion directly as the earthquake input in the substructure eliminates the deconvolution calculations and the related assumption-regarding type and direction of earthquake waves-required in the direct method. (Auth.)

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

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Pu; Vu, Quoc Dong

2015-12-14

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

Assessment of forward head posture in females: observational and photogrammetry methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Salahzadeh, Zahra; Maroufi, Nader; Ahmadi, Amir; Behtash, Hamid; Razmjoo, Arash; Gohari, Mahmoud; Parnianpour, Mohamad

2014-01-01

There are different methods to assess forward head posture (FHP) but the accuracy and discrimination ability of these methods are not clear. Here, we want to compare three postural angles for FHP assessment and also study the discrimination accuracy of three photogrammetric methods to differentiate groups categorized based on observational method. All Seventy-eight healthy female participants (23 ± 2.63 years), were classified into three groups: moderate-severe FHP, slight FHP and non FHP based on observational postural assessment rules. Applying three photogrammetric methods - craniovertebral angle, head title angle and head position angle - to measure FHP objectively. One - way ANOVA test showed a significant difference in three categorized group's craniovertebral angle (P< 0.05, F=83.07). There was no dramatic difference in head tilt angle and head position angle methods in three groups. According to Linear Discriminate Analysis (LDA) results, the canonical discriminant function (Wilks'Lambda) was 0.311 for craniovertebral angle with 79.5% of cross-validated grouped cases correctly classified. Our results showed that, craniovertebral angle method may discriminate the females with moderate-severe and non FHP more accurate than head position angle and head tilt angle. The photogrammetric method had excellent inter and intra rater reliability to assess the head and cervical posture.

[Efficacy observation of nonspecific low back pain treated with the dragon-tiger fighting needling method].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Feng; Cao, Dong-bo; Yuan, Yi-qin; Luo, Jian; Wen, Yan-yun; Wang, Yue; Yu, Jie

2012-06-01

To compare the difference in the clinical efficacy on nonspecific low back pain (NLBP) treated with the dragon-tiger fighting needling method, the uniform reinforcing-reducing method and the intermediate frequency physiotherapy. Ninety cases of NLBP were randomly divided into a dragon-tiger fighting needling group (group A), an uniform reinforcing-reducing needling group (group B) and an intermediate frequency physiotherapy group (group C), 30 cases in each one. In the group A, the dragon-tiger fighting needling method was used. In the group B, the uniform reinforcing-reducing method was applied. Two groups of acupoints were prescribed. One group included Shenshu (BL 23), Dachangshu (BL 25), Weizhong (BL 40) and Ashi points. The other group included Qihaishu (BL 24), Guanyuanshu (BL 26), Kunlun (BL 60), Yaoyangguan (GV 3). These two groups of acupoints were used alternatively in the above two groups. In the group C, the intermediate frequency physiotherapy was adopted in the pain area of the lumbar region. The treatment was given once per day in each group. Six treatments made one session. Totally, 2 sessions were required. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the Oswestry Disability Index (ODD and the clinical efficacy were observed in each group. The scores of VAS and ODI were reduced obviously after treatment in each group (P dragon-tiger fighting needling method achieves the much better efficacy on NLBP compared with either the uniform reinforcing-reducing method or the intermediate frequency physiotherapy. It is one of the more effective needling method for analgesia.

The Observational Method in a Real-Time, Multi-Stakeholder Environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pot, R.; Roelse, F.P.; Van der Meer, M.T.; Nushi, B.R.I.; Nelemans, J.P.

2015-01-01

The application of the Observational Method can contribute to an economic construction process and effective geotechnical risk management. Current project management practices and control of construction works lead to unfavourable conditions of its application. Throughout the realization of

A Method for Reasoning about other Agents' Beliefs from Observations

OpenAIRE

Nittka, Alexander; Booth, Richard

2007-01-01

Traditional work in belief revision deals with the question of what an agent should believe upon receiving new information. We will give an overview about what can be concluded about an agent based on an observation of its belief revision behaviour. The observation contains partial information about the revision inputs received by the agent and its beliefs upon receiving them. We will sketch a method for reasoning about past and future beliefs of the agent and predicting which inputs i...

Estimation and calibration of observation impact signals using the Lanczos method in NOAA/NCEP data assimilation system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Wei

2012-09-01

. We have proposed four different calibration schemes to compensate for the missing trailing eigenvectors. Results show that the method with calibration for a small number of eigenvectors cannot pick up the observation impacts over the regions with fewer observations as well as a benchmark with a large number of eigenvectors, but proper calibrations do enhance and improve the impact signals over regions with more data.

When compared with the observation locations, the method generally captures the OIS over regions with more observation data, including satellite data over the southern oceans. Over the tropics, some observation impacts may be missed due to the smaller background errors specified in the GSI, which is not related to the method. It is found that a large number of eigenvectors are needed to retrieve impact signals that resemble the banded structures from satellite observations, particularly over the tropics. Another benefit from the Lanczos method is that the dominant eigenvectors can be used in preconditioning the conjugate gradient algorithm in the GSI to speed up the convergence.

Benchmark Comparison of Cloud Analytics Methods Applied to Earth Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Lynnes, Chris; Little, Mike; Huang, Thomas; Jacob, Joseph; Yang, Phil; Kuo, Kwo-Sen

2016-01-01

Cloud computing has the potential to bring high performance computing capabilities to the average science researcher. However, in order to take full advantage of cloud capabilities, the science data used in the analysis must often be reorganized. This typically involves sharding the data across multiple nodes to enable relatively fine-grained parallelism. This can be either via cloud-based file systems or cloud-enabled databases such as Cassandra, Rasdaman or SciDB. Since storing an extra copy of data leads to increased cost and data management complexity, NASA is interested in determining the benefits and costs of various cloud analytics methods for real Earth Observation cases. Accordingly, NASA's Earth Science Technology Office and Earth Science Data and Information Systems project have teamed with cloud analytics practitioners to run a benchmark comparison on cloud analytics methods using the same input data and analysis algorithms. We have particularly looked at analysis algorithms that work over long time series, because these are particularly intractable for many Earth Observation datasets which typically store data with one or just a few time steps per file. This post will present side-by-side cost and performance results for several common Earth observation analysis operations.

Benchmark Comparison of Cloud Analytics Methods Applied to Earth Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Lynnes, C.; Little, M. M.; Huang, T.; Jacob, J. C.; Yang, C. P.; Kuo, K. S.

2016-12-01

Cloud computing has the potential to bring high performance computing capabilities to the average science researcher. However, in order to take full advantage of cloud capabilities, the science data used in the analysis must often be reorganized. This typically involves sharding the data across multiple nodes to enable relatively fine-grained parallelism. This can be either via cloud-based filesystems or cloud-enabled databases such as Cassandra, Rasdaman or SciDB. Since storing an extra copy of data leads to increased cost and data management complexity, NASA is interested in determining the benefits and costs of various cloud analytics methods for real Earth Observation cases. Accordingly, NASA's Earth Science Technology Office and Earth Science Data and Information Systems project have teamed with cloud analytics practitioners to run a benchmark comparison on cloud analytics methods using the same input data and analysis algorithms. We have particularly looked at analysis algorithms that work over long time series, because these are particularly intractable for many Earth Observation datasets which typically store data with one or just a few time steps per file. This post will present side-by-side cost and performance results for several common Earth observation analysis operations.

Earthquake analysis of structures including structure-soil interaction by a substructure method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chopra, A.K.; Guttierrez, J.A.

1977-01-01

A general substructure method for analysis of response of nuclear power plant structures to earthquake ground motion, including the effects of structure-soil interaction, is summarized. The method is applicable to complex structures idealized as finite element systems and the soil region treated as either a continuum, for example as a viscoelastic halfspace, or idealized as a finite element system. The halfspace idealization permits reliable analysis for sites where essentially similar soils extend to large depths and there is no rigid boundary such as soil-rock interface. For sites where layers of soft soil are underlain by rock at shallow depth, finite element idealization of the soil region is appropriate; in this case, the direct and substructure methods would lead to equivalent results but the latter provides the better alternative. Treating the free field motion directly as the earthquake input in the substructure method eliminates the deconvolution calculations and the related assumption -regarding type and direction of earthquake waves- required in the direct method. The substructure method is computationally efficient because the two substructures-the structure and the soil region- are analyzed separately; and, more important, it permits taking advantage of the important feature that response to earthquake ground motion is essentially contained in the lower few natural modes of vibration of the structure on fixed base. For sites where essentially similar soils extend to large depths and there is no obvious rigid boundary such as a soil-rock interface, numerical results for earthquake response of a nuclear reactor structure are presented to demonstrate that the commonly used finite element method may lead to unacceptable errors; but the substructure method leads to reliable results

Intrinsic nonlinearity and method of disturbed observations in inverse problems of celestial mechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Avdyushev, Victor A.

2017-12-01

Orbit determination from a small sample of observations over a very short observed orbital arc is a strongly nonlinear inverse problem. In such problems an evaluation of orbital uncertainty due to random observation errors is greatly complicated, since linear estimations conventionally used are no longer acceptable for describing the uncertainty even as a rough approximation. Nevertheless, if an inverse problem is weakly intrinsically nonlinear, then one can resort to the so-called method of disturbed observations (aka observational Monte Carlo). Previously, we showed that the weaker the intrinsic nonlinearity, the more efficient the method, i.e. the more accurate it enables one to simulate stochastically the orbital uncertainty, while it is strictly exact only when the problem is intrinsically linear. However, as we ascertained experimentally, its efficiency was found to be higher than that of other stochastic methods widely applied in practice. In the present paper we investigate the intrinsic nonlinearity in complicated inverse problems of Celestial Mechanics when orbits are determined from little informative samples of observations, which typically occurs for recently discovered asteroids. To inquire into the question, we introduce an index of intrinsic nonlinearity. In asteroid problems it evinces that the intrinsic nonlinearity can be strong enough to affect appreciably probabilistic estimates, especially at the very short observed orbital arcs that the asteroids travel on for about a hundredth of their orbital periods and less. As it is known from regression analysis, the source of intrinsic nonlinearity is the nonflatness of the estimation subspace specified by a dynamical model in the observation space. Our numerical results indicate that when determining asteroid orbits it is actually very slight. However, in the parametric space the effect of intrinsic nonlinearity is exaggerated mainly by the ill-conditioning of the inverse problem. Even so, as for the

Design of a practical model-observer-based image quality assessment method for CT imaging systems

Science.gov (United States)

Tseng, Hsin-Wu; Fan, Jiahua; Cao, Guangzhi; Kupinski, Matthew A.; Sainath, Paavana

2014-03-01

The channelized Hotelling observer (CHO) is a powerful method for quantitative image quality evaluations of CT systems and their image reconstruction algorithms. It has recently been used to validate the dose reduction capability of iterative image-reconstruction algorithms implemented on CT imaging systems. The use of the CHO for routine and frequent system evaluations is desirable both for quality assurance evaluations as well as further system optimizations. The use of channels substantially reduces the amount of data required to achieve accurate estimates of observer performance. However, the number of scans required is still large even with the use of channels. This work explores different data reduction schemes and designs a new approach that requires only a few CT scans of a phantom. For this work, the leave-one-out likelihood (LOOL) method developed by Hoffbeck and Landgrebe is studied as an efficient method of estimating the covariance matrices needed to compute CHO performance. Three different kinds of approaches are included in the study: a conventional CHO estimation technique with a large sample size, a conventional technique with fewer samples, and the new LOOL-based approach with fewer samples. The mean value and standard deviation of area under ROC curve (AUC) is estimated by shuffle method. Both simulation and real data results indicate that an 80% data reduction can be achieved without loss of accuracy. This data reduction makes the proposed approach a practical tool for routine CT system assessment.

Comparison of different methods to include recycling in LCAs of aluminium cans and disposable polystyrene cups

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Harst-Wintraecken, van der Eugenie; Potting, José; Kroeze, Carolien

2016-01-01

Many methods have been reported and used to include recycling in life cycle assessments (LCAs). This paper evaluates six widely used methods: three substitution methods (i.e. substitution based on equal quality, a correction factor, and alternative material), allocation based on the number of

Non-baryonic dark matter: observational evidence and detection methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergstroem, Lars

2000-01-01

The evidence for the existence of dark matter in the universe is reviewed. A general picture emerges, where both baryonic and non-baryonic dark matter is needed to explain current observations. In particular, a wealth of observational information points to the existence of a non-baryonic component, contributing between around 20 and 40% of the critical mass density needed to make the universe geometrically flat on large scales. In addition, an even larger contribution from vacuum energy (or cosmological constant) is indicated by recent observations. To the theoretically favoured particle candidates for non-baryonic dark matter belong axions, supersymmetric particles, and of less importance, massive neutrinos. The theoretical foundation and experimental situation for each of these is reviewed. Direct and indirect methods for detection of supersymmetric dark matter are described in some detail. Present experiments are just reaching the required sensitivity to discover or rule out some of these candidates, and major improvements are planned over the coming years. (author)

Method for observing phase objects without halos and directional shadows

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Yoshimasa; Kajitani, Kazuo; Ohde, Hisashi

2015-03-01

A new microscopy method for observing phase objects without halos and directional shadows is proposed. The key optical element is an annular aperture at the front focal plane of a condenser with a larger diameter than those used in standard phase contrast microscopy. The light flux passing through the annular aperture is changed by the specimen's surface profile and then passes through an objective and contributes to image formation. This paper presents essential conditions for realizing the method. In this paper, images of colonies formed by induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells using this method are compared with the conventional phase contrast method and the bright-field method when the NA of the illumination is small to identify differences among these techniques. The outlines of the iPS cells are clearly visible with this method, whereas they are not clearly visible due to halos when using the phase contrast method or due to weak contrast when using the bright-field method. Other images using this method are also presented to demonstrate a capacity of this method: a mouse ovum and superimposition of several different images of mouse iPS cells.

Monte Carlo Bayesian inference on a statistical model of sub-gridcolumn moisture variability using high-resolution cloud observations. Part 1: Method

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, Peter M.; da Silva, Arlindo M.

2018-01-01

A method is presented to constrain a statistical model of sub-gridcolumn moisture variability using high-resolution satellite cloud data. The method can be used for large-scale model parameter estimation or cloud data assimilation. The gridcolumn model includes assumed probability density function (PDF) intra-layer horizontal variability and a copula-based inter-layer correlation model. The observables used in the current study are Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) cloud-top pressure, brightness temperature and cloud optical thickness, but the method should be extensible to direct cloudy radiance assimilation for a small number of channels. The algorithm is a form of Bayesian inference with a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach to characterizing the posterior distribution. This approach is especially useful in cases where the background state is clear but cloudy observations exist. In traditional linearized data assimilation methods, a subsaturated background cannot produce clouds via any infinitesimal equilibrium perturbation, but the Monte Carlo approach is not gradient-based and allows jumps into regions of non-zero cloud probability. The current study uses a skewed-triangle distribution for layer moisture. The article also includes a discussion of the Metropolis and multiple-try Metropolis versions of MCMC. PMID:29618847

Monte Carlo Bayesian Inference on a Statistical Model of Sub-Gridcolumn Moisture Variability Using High-Resolution Cloud Observations. Part 1: Method

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, Peter M.; Da Silva, Arlindo M.

2016-01-01

A method is presented to constrain a statistical model of sub-gridcolumn moisture variability using high-resolution satellite cloud data. The method can be used for large-scale model parameter estimation or cloud data assimilation. The gridcolumn model includes assumed probability density function (PDF) intra-layer horizontal variability and a copula-based inter-layer correlation model. The observables used in the current study are Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) cloud-top pressure, brightness temperature and cloud optical thickness, but the method should be extensible to direct cloudy radiance assimilation for a small number of channels. The algorithm is a form of Bayesian inference with a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach to characterizing the posterior distribution. This approach is especially useful in cases where the background state is clear but cloudy observations exist. In traditional linearized data assimilation methods, a subsaturated background cannot produce clouds via any infinitesimal equilibrium perturbation, but the Monte Carlo approach is not gradient-based and allows jumps into regions of non-zero cloud probability. The current study uses a skewed-triangle distribution for layer moisture. The article also includes a discussion of the Metropolis and multiple-try Metropolis versions of MCMC.

Methods to assess intended effects of drug treatment in observational studies are reviewed

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klungel, Olaf H|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/181447649; Martens, Edwin P|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/088859010; Psaty, Bruce M; Grobbee, Diederik E; Sullivan, Sean D; Stricker, Bruno H Ch; Leufkens, Hubert G M|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/075255049; de Boer, A|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/075097346

2004-01-01

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To review methods that seek to adjust for confounding in observational studies when assessing intended drug effects. METHODS: We reviewed the statistical, economical and medical literature on the development, comparison and use of methods adjusting for confounding. RESULTS:

Studying Children’s friendship activities ethically using the Interaction Based Observation Method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Hanne Værum

2018-01-01

The aim of this chapter is to acknowledge the influence that the interaction based observation method developed by Mariane Hedegaard has had on my studies of young children’s friendship activities. Hedegaard has problematized how existing methods of evaluating children’s development were inadequate...

A method for the computation of turbulent polymeric liquids including hydrodynamic interactions and chain entanglements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kivotides, Demosthenes, E-mail: demosthenes.kivotides@strath.ac.uk

2017-02-12

An asymptotically exact method for the direct computation of turbulent polymeric liquids that includes (a) fully resolved, creeping microflow fields due to hydrodynamic interactions between chains, (b) exact account of (subfilter) residual stresses, (c) polymer Brownian motion, and (d) direct calculation of chain entanglements, is formulated. Although developed in the context of polymeric fluids, the method is equally applicable to turbulent colloidal dispersions and aerosols. - Highlights: • An asymptotically exact method for the computation of polymer and colloidal fluids is developed. • The method is valid for all flow inertia and all polymer volume fractions. • The method models entanglements and hydrodynamic interactions between polymer chains.

Development of calculation method for one-dimensional kinetic analysis in fission reactors, including feedback effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paixao, S.B.; Marzo, M.A.S.; Alvim, A.C.M.

1986-01-01

The calculation method used in WIGLE code is studied. Because of the non availability of such a praiseworthy solution, expounding the method minutely has been tried. This developed method has been applied for the solution of the one-dimensional, two-group, diffusion equations in slab, axial analysis, including non-boiling heat transfer, accountig for feedback. A steady-state program (CITER-1D), written in FORTRAN 4, has been implemented, providing excellent results, ratifying the developed work quality. (Author) [pt

A non-parametric method for correction of global radiation observations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bacher, Peder; Madsen, Henrik; Perers, Bengt

2013-01-01

in the observations are corrected. These are errors such as: tilt in the leveling of the sensor, shadowing from surrounding objects, clipping and saturation in the signal processing, and errors from dirt and wear. The method is based on a statistical non-parametric clear-sky model which is applied to both...

Observations and recommendations for further research regarding environmentally assisted fatigue evaluation methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stevens, G.L.; Tregoning, R.L. [U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S. NRC), Rockville, MD (United States); Chopra, O.K. [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL (United States)

2014-07-01

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) have completed research activities on environmentally assisted fatigue (EAF) methods. This work has led to a revision of NUREG/CR-6909 in its entirety, a draft of which is forthcoming for public review and comment. These activities addressed the following areas: - Air and water fatigue curves were re-developed using a much larger fatigue (ε-N) database. The additional data include an expansion in the ε-N data previously used by the NRC and ANL by as much as 50%. - The environmental fatigue multiplier (F{sub en}) expressions for carbon, low-alloy, stainless, and nickel-alloy steels were revised. - The revised F{sub en} expressions address comments from interested stakeholders related to: (a) the constants in previous F{sub en} expressions that results in F{sub en} values of approximately 2.0 even when the strain rate is very high or the temperature is very low, (b) the temperature dependence of the F{sub en} expression for carbon and low-alloy steels, and (c) the dependence of F{sub en} on water chemistry for austenitic stainless steels. - In addition, the appropriateness of a strain threshold and the possible effects of hold periods were evaluated. - The potential effects of dynamic strain aging (DSA) on cyclic deformation and environmental effects were discussed. - The revised F{sub en} expressions proposed were validated to the extent possible by comparing the results of five different experimental data sets obtained from fatigue tests that simulate actual plant conditions to estimates of fatigue usage adjusted for environmental effects using the updated F{sub en} expressions. In the course of performing the foregoing EAF research activities, the NRC and ANL observed several areas where further research could yield reduced conservatism in EAF evaluation. These include more refined, material-specific fatigue (S-N) curves, S-N curves for ferritic materials based on material tensile

A comparative study of sensor fault diagnosis methods based on observer for ECAS system

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Xing; Wang, Wei; Zou, Nannan; Chen, Long; Cui, Xiaoli

2017-03-01

The performance and practicality of electronically controlled air suspension (ECAS) system are highly dependent on the state information supplied by kinds of sensors, but faults of sensors occur frequently. Based on a non-linearized 3-DOF 1/4 vehicle model, different methods of fault detection and isolation (FDI) are used to diagnose the sensor faults for ECAS system. The considered approaches include an extended Kalman filter (EKF) with concise algorithm, a strong tracking filter (STF) with robust tracking ability, and the cubature Kalman filter (CKF) with numerical precision. We propose three filters of EKF, STF, and CKF to design a state observer of ECAS system under typical sensor faults and noise. Results show that three approaches can successfully detect and isolate faults respectively despite of the existence of environmental noise, FDI time delay and fault sensitivity of different algorithms are different, meanwhile, compared with EKF and STF, CKF method has best performing FDI of sensor faults for ECAS system.

Responsiveness of observational and self-report methods for assessing disability in mobility in patients with osteoarthritis.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steultjens, M.P.M.; Roorda, L.D.; Dekker, J.; Bijlsma, J.W.J.

2001-01-01

Objective: To establish the responsiveness of observational and self-report methods for the assessment of disability in mobility in patients with osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: Data from 186 patients with hip OA of knee OA were used. Data from 1 observational method and 4 self-report methods for the

Complete Tangent Stiffness for eXtended Finite Element Method by including crack growth parameters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mougaard, J.F.; Poulsen, P.N.; Nielsen, L.O.

2013-01-01

the crack geometry parameters, such as the crack length and the crack direction directly in the virtual work formulation. For efficiency, it is essential to obtain a complete tangent stiffness. A new method in this work is presented to include an incremental form the crack growth parameters on equal terms......The eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM) is a useful tool for modeling the growth of discrete cracks in structures made of concrete and other quasi‐brittle and brittle materials. However, in a standard application of XFEM, the tangent stiffness is not complete. This is a result of not including...... with the degrees of freedom in the FEM‐equations. The complete tangential stiffness matrix is based on the virtual work together with the constitutive conditions at the crack tip. Introducing the crack growth parameters as direct unknowns, both equilibrium equations and the crack tip criterion can be handled...

Astronomical Orientation Method Based on Lunar Observations Utilizing Super Wide Field of View

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PU Junyu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper,astronomical orientation is achieved by observing the moon utilizing camera with super wide field of view,and formulae are deduced in detail.An experiment based on real observations verified the stability of the method.In this experiment,after 15 minutes' tracking shoots,the internal precision could be superior to ±7.5" and the external precision could approximately reach ±20".This camera-based method for astronomical orientation can change the traditional mode (aiming by human eye based on theodolite,thus lowering the requirements for operator's skill to some extent.Furthermore,camera with super wide field of view can realize the function of continuous tracking shoots on the moon without complicated servo control devices.Considering the similar existence of gravity on the moon and the earth's phase change when observed from the moon,once the technology of self-leveling is developed,this method can be extended to orientation for lunar rover by shooting the earth.

Method and apparatus for controlling a powertrain system including a multi-mode transmission

Science.gov (United States)

Hessell, Steven M.; Morris, Robert L.; McGrogan, Sean W.; Heap, Anthony H.; Mendoza, Gil J.

2015-09-08

A powertrain including an engine and torque machines is configured to transfer torque through a multi-mode transmission to an output member. A method for controlling the powertrain includes employing a closed-loop speed control system to control torque commands for the torque machines in response to a desired input speed. Upon approaching a power limit of a power storage device transferring power to the torque machines, power limited torque commands are determined for the torque machines in response to the power limit and the closed-loop speed control system is employed to determine an engine torque command in response to the desired input speed and the power limited torque commands for the torque machines.

Reliability and limitation of various diagnostic methods including nuclear medicine in myocardial disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tokuyasu, Yoshiki; Kusakabe, Kiyoko; Yamazaki, Toshio

1981-01-01

Electrocardiography (ECG), echocardiography, nuclear method, cardiac catheterization, left ventriculography and endomyocardial biopsy (biopsy) were performed in 40 cases of cardiomyopathy (CM), 9 of endocardial fibroelastosis and 19 of specific heart muscle disease, and the usefulness and limitation of each method was comparatively estimated. In CM, various methods including biopsy were performed. The 40 patients were classified into 3 groups, i.e., hypertrophic (17), dilated (20) and non-hypertrophic.non-dilated (3) on the basis of left ventricular ejection fraction and hypertrophy of the ventricular wall. The hypertrophic group was divided into 4 subgroups: 9 septal, 4 apical, 2 posterior and 2 anterior. The nuclear study is useful in assessing the site of the abnormal ventricular thickening, perfusion defect and ventricular function. Echocardiography is most useful in detecting asymmetric septal hypertrophy. The biopsy gives the sole diagnostic clue, especially in non-hypertrophic.non-dilated cardiomyopathy. ECG is useful in all cases but correlation with the site of disproportional hypertrophy was not obtained. (J.P.N.)

Partial Variance of Increments Method in Solar Wind Observations and Plasma Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Greco, A.; Matthaeus, W. H.; Perri, S.; Osman, K. T.; Servidio, S.; Wan, M.; Dmitruk, P.

2018-02-01

The method called "PVI" (Partial Variance of Increments) has been increasingly used in analysis of spacecraft and numerical simulation data since its inception in 2008. The purpose of the method is to study the kinematics and formation of coherent structures in space plasmas, a topic that has gained considerable attention, leading the development of identification methods, observations, and associated theoretical research based on numerical simulations. This review paper will summarize key features of the method and provide a synopsis of the main results obtained by various groups using the method. This will enable new users or those considering methods of this type to find details and background collected in one place.

Observational astrophysics

CERN Document Server

Smith, Robert C

1995-01-01

Combining a critical account of observational methods (telescopes and instrumentation) with a lucid description of the Universe, including stars, galaxies and cosmology, Smith provides a comprehensive introduction to the whole of modern astrophysics beyond the solar system. The first half describes the techniques used by astronomers to observe the Universe: optical telescopes and instruments are discussed in detail, but observations at all wavelengths are covered, from radio to gamma-rays. After a short interlude describing the appearance of the sky at all wavelengths, the role of positional astronomy is highlighted. In the second half, a clear description is given of the contents of the Universe, including accounts of stellar evolution and cosmological models. Fully illustrated throughout, with exercises given in each chapter, this textbook provides a thorough introduction to astrophysics for all physics undergraduates, and a valuable background for physics graduates turning to research in astronomy.

Assessing distractors and teamwork during surgery: developing an event-based method for direct observation.

Science.gov (United States)

Seelandt, Julia C; Tschan, Franziska; Keller, Sandra; Beldi, Guido; Jenni, Nadja; Kurmann, Anita; Candinas, Daniel; Semmer, Norbert K

2014-11-01

To develop a behavioural observation method to simultaneously assess distractors and communication/teamwork during surgical procedures through direct, on-site observations; to establish the reliability of the method for long (>3 h) procedures. Observational categories for an event-based coding system were developed based on expert interviews, observations and a literature review. Using Cohen's κ and the intraclass correlation coefficient, interobserver agreement was assessed for 29 procedures. Agreement was calculated for the entire surgery, and for the 1st hour. In addition, interobserver agreement was assessed between two tired observers and between a tired and a non-tired observer after 3 h of surgery. The observational system has five codes for distractors (door openings, noise distractors, technical distractors, side conversations and interruptions), eight codes for communication/teamwork (case-relevant communication, teaching, leadership, problem solving, case-irrelevant communication, laughter, tension and communication with external visitors) and five contextual codes (incision, last stitch, personnel changes in the sterile team, location changes around the table and incidents). Based on 5-min intervals, Cohen's κ was good to excellent for distractors (0.74-0.98) and for communication/teamwork (0.70-1). Based on frequency counts, intraclass correlation coefficient was excellent for distractors (0.86-0.99) and good to excellent for communication/teamwork (0.45-0.99). After 3 h of surgery, Cohen's κ was 0.78-0.93 for distractors, and 0.79-1 for communication/teamwork. The observational method developed allows a single observer to simultaneously assess distractors and communication/teamwork. Even for long procedures, high interobserver agreement can be achieved. Data collected with this method allow for investigating separate or combined effects of distractions and communication/teamwork on surgical performance and patient outcomes. Published by the

Responsiveness of observational and self-report methods for assessing disability in mobility in patients with osteoarthritis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steultjens, M. P.; Roorda, L. D.; Dekker, J.; Bijlsma, J. W.

2001-01-01

To establish the responsiveness of observational and self-report methods for the assessment of disability in mobility in patients with osteoarthritis (OA). Data from 186 patients with hip OA or knee OA were used. Data from 1 observational method and 4 self-report methods for the assessment of

New methods to benchmark simulations of accreting black holes systems against observations

Science.gov (United States)

Markoff, Sera; Chatterjee, Koushik; Liska, Matthew; Tchekhovskoy, Alexander; Hesp, Casper; Ceccobello, Chiara; Russell, Thomas

2017-08-01

The field of black hole accretion has been significantly advanced by the use of complex ideal general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) codes, now capable of simulating scales from the event horizon out to ~10^5 gravitational radii at high resolution. The challenge remains how to test these simulations against data, because the self-consistent treatment of radiation is still in its early days, and is complicated by dependence on non-ideal/microphysical processes not yet included in the codes. On the other extreme, a variety of phenomenological models (disk, corona, jet, wind) can well-describe spectra or variability signatures in a particular waveband, although often not both. To bring these two methodologies together, we need robust observational “benchmarks” that can be identified and studied in simulations. I will focus on one example of such a benchmark, from recent observational campaigns on black holes across the mass scale: the jet break. I will describe new work attempting to understand what drives this feature by searching for regions that share similar trends in terms of dependence on accretion power or magnetisation. Such methods can allow early tests of simulation assumptions and help pinpoint which regions will dominate the light production, well before full radiative processes are incorporated, and will help guide the interpretation of, e.g. Event Horizon Telescope data.

Detecting surface runoff location in a small catchment using distributed and simple observation method

Science.gov (United States)

Dehotin, Judicaël; Breil, Pascal; Braud, Isabelle; de Lavenne, Alban; Lagouy, Mickaël; Sarrazin, Benoît

2015-06-01

Surface runoff is one of the hydrological processes involved in floods, pollution transfer, soil erosion and mudslide. Many models allow the simulation and the mapping of surface runoff and erosion hazards. Field observations of this hydrological process are not common although they are crucial to evaluate surface runoff models and to investigate or assess different kinds of hazards linked to this process. In this study, a simple field monitoring network is implemented to assess the relevance of a surface runoff susceptibility mapping method. The network is based on spatially distributed observations (nine different locations in the catchment) of soil water content and rainfall events. These data are analyzed to determine if surface runoff occurs. Two surface runoff mechanisms are considered: surface runoff by saturation of the soil surface horizon and surface runoff by infiltration excess (also called hortonian runoff). The monitoring strategy includes continuous records of soil surface water content and rainfall with a 5 min time step. Soil infiltration capacity time series are calculated using field soil water content and in situ measurements of soil hydraulic conductivity. Comparison of soil infiltration capacity and rainfall intensity time series allows detecting the occurrence of surface runoff by infiltration-excess. Comparison of surface soil water content with saturated water content values allows detecting the occurrence of surface runoff by saturation of the soil surface horizon. Automatic records were complemented with direct field observations of surface runoff in the experimental catchment after each significant rainfall event. The presented observation method allows the identification of fast and short-lived surface runoff processes at a small spatial and temporal resolution in natural conditions. The results also highlight the relationship between surface runoff and factors usually integrated in surface runoff mapping such as topography, rainfall

Methods of forming aluminum oxynitride-comprising bodies, including methods of forming a sheet of transparent armor

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Henry Shiu-Hung [Idaho Falls, ID; Lillo, Thomas Martin [Idaho Falls, ID

2008-12-02

The invention includes methods of forming an aluminum oxynitride-comprising body. For example, a mixture is formed which comprises A:B:C in a respective molar ratio in the range of 9:3.6-6.2:0.1-1.1, where "A" is Al.sub.2O.sub.3, "B" is AlN, and "C" is a total of one or more of B.sub.2O.sub.3, SiO.sub.2, Si--Al--O--N, and TiO.sub.2. The mixture is sintered at a temperature of at least 1,600.degree. C. at a pressure of no greater than 500 psia effective to form an aluminum oxynitride-comprising body which is at least internally transparent and has at least 99% maximum theoretical density.

Using video-based observation research methods in primary care health encounters to evaluate complex interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Asan, Onur; Montague, Enid

2014-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of video-based observation research methods in primary care environment and highlight important methodological considerations and provide practical guidance for primary care and human factors researchers conducting video studies to understand patient-clinician interaction in primary care settings. We reviewed studies in the literature which used video methods in health care research, and we also used our own experience based on the video studies we conducted in primary care settings. This paper highlighted the benefits of using video techniques, such as multi-channel recording and video coding, and compared "unmanned" video recording with the traditional observation method in primary care research. We proposed a list that can be followed step by step to conduct an effective video study in a primary care setting for a given problem. This paper also described obstacles, researchers should anticipate when using video recording methods in future studies. With the new technological improvements, video-based observation research is becoming a promising method in primary care and HFE research. Video recording has been under-utilised as a data collection tool because of confidentiality and privacy issues. However, it has many benefits as opposed to traditional observations, and recent studies using video recording methods have introduced new research areas and approaches.

An accuracy measurement method for star trackers based on direct astronomic observation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Ting; Xing, Fei; Wang, Xiaochu; You, Zheng; Chu, Daping

2016-03-07

Star tracker is one of the most promising optical attitude measurement devices and it is widely used in spacecraft for its high accuracy. However, how to realize and verify such an accuracy remains a crucial but unsolved issue until now. The authenticity of the accuracy measurement method of a star tracker will eventually determine the satellite performance. A new and robust accuracy measurement method for a star tracker based on the direct astronomical observation is proposed here. In comparison with the conventional method with simulated stars, this method utilizes real navigation stars as observation targets which makes the measurement results more authoritative and authentic. Transformations between different coordinate systems are conducted on the account of the precision movements of the Earth, and the error curves of directional vectors are obtained along the three axes. Based on error analysis and accuracy definitions, a three-axis accuracy evaluation criterion has been proposed in this paper, which could determine pointing and rolling accuracy of a star tracker directly. Experimental measurements confirm that this method is effective and convenient to implement. Such a measurement environment is close to the in-orbit conditions and it can satisfy the stringent requirement for high-accuracy star trackers.

Engine including hydraulically actuated valvetrain and method of valve overlap control

Science.gov (United States)

Cowgill, Joel [White Lake, MI

2012-05-08

An exhaust valve control method may include displacing an exhaust valve in communication with the combustion chamber of an engine to an open position using a hydraulic exhaust valve actuation system and returning the exhaust valve to a closed position using the hydraulic exhaust valve actuation assembly. During closing, the exhaust valve may be displaced for a first duration from the open position to an intermediate closing position at a first velocity by operating the hydraulic exhaust valve actuation assembly in a first mode. The exhaust valve may be displaced for a second duration greater than the first duration from the intermediate closing position to a fully closed position at a second velocity at least eighty percent less than the first velocity by operating the hydraulic exhaust valve actuation assembly in a second mode.

Phase microscopy using light-field reconstruction method for cell observation.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiu, Peng; Zhou, Xin; Kuang, Cuifang; Xu, Yingke; Liu, Xu

2015-08-01

The refractive index (RI) distribution can serve as a natural label for undyed cell imaging. However, the majority of images obtained through quantitative phase microscopy is integrated along the illumination angle and cannot reflect additional information about the refractive map on a certain plane. Herein, a light-field reconstruction method to image the RI map within a depth of 0.2 μm is proposed. It records quantitative phase-delay images using a four-step phase shifting method in different directions and then reconstructs a similar scattered light field for the refractive sample on the focus plane. It can image the RI of samples, transparent cell samples in particular, in a manner similar to the observation of scattering characteristics. The light-field reconstruction method is therefore a powerful tool for use in cytobiology studies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The study of three-dimensional net method of deformation observation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jia Jinyun

1996-12-01

Due to the influence of all kinds of factors, when buildings and equipment of nuclear power stations, water power stations and so on are in their service, deformations always happen to them. Especially, the breakage, the slide of edge danger rocks and basic displacement in the area of nuclear power station site can all interfere its regular operation, even endanger safety. But the traditional trigonometric net control can not obtain high precise deformation observation. So, topographic balanced vertical deviations are applied. The slope distance is divided rationally into horizontal and vertical components, then the precise vertical component is used to participate in restricting the deflection in order to enhance the observation post's precision. Meanwhile, the element model is selected, high precise monitoring net of three-dimensional deformation is set up, using astro-geodetic deflection of the vertical to correct the observation values. In this way, the earth error of height is given, the plane coordinate is defined by paralleling some plane of reference ellipsoid. This method may satisfy the deformation observation in the projects such as nuclear power stations or so. (8 figs., 5 tabs.)

Correlation between human observer performance and model observer performance in differential phase contrast CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Ke; Garrett, John; Chen, Guang-Hong

2013-01-01

Purpose: With the recently expanding interest and developments in x-ray differential phase contrast CT (DPC-CT), the evaluation of its task-specific detection performance and comparison with the corresponding absorption CT under a given radiation dose constraint become increasingly important. Mathematical model observers are often used to quantify the performance of imaging systems, but their correlations with actual human observers need to be confirmed for each new imaging method. This work is an investigation of the effects of stochastic DPC-CT noise on the correlation of detection performance between model and human observers with signal-known-exactly (SKE) detection tasks.Methods: The detectabilities of different objects (five disks with different diameters and two breast lesion masses) embedded in an experimental DPC-CT noise background were assessed using both model and human observers. The detectability of the disk and lesion signals was then measured using five types of model observers including the prewhitening ideal observer, the nonprewhitening (NPW) observer, the nonprewhitening observer with eye filter and internal noise (NPWEi), the prewhitening observer with eye filter and internal noise (PWEi), and the channelized Hotelling observer (CHO). The same objects were also evaluated by four human observers using the two-alternative forced choice method. The results from the model observer experiment were quantitatively compared to the human observer results to assess the correlation between the two techniques.Results: The contrast-to-detail (CD) curve generated by the human observers for the disk-detection experiments shows that the required contrast to detect a disk is inversely proportional to the square root of the disk size. Based on the CD curves, the ideal and NPW observers tend to systematically overestimate the performance of the human observers. The NPWEi and PWEi observers did not predict human performance well either, as the slopes of their CD

Teaching Methods in Biology Education and Sustainability Education Including Outdoor Education for Promoting Sustainability—A Literature Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eila Jeronen

2016-12-01

Full Text Available There are very few studies concerning the importance of teaching methods in biology education and environmental education including outdoor education for promoting sustainability at the levels of primary and secondary schools and pre-service teacher education. The material was selected using special keywords from biology and sustainable education in several scientific databases. The article provides an overview of 24 selected articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals from 2006–2016. The data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Altogether, 16 journals were selected and 24 articles were analyzed in detail. The foci of the analyses were teaching methods, learning environments, knowledge and thinking skills, psychomotor skills, emotions and attitudes, and evaluation methods. Additionally, features of good methods were investigated and their implications for teaching were emphasized. In total, 22 different teaching methods were found to improve sustainability education in different ways. The most emphasized teaching methods were those in which students worked in groups and participated actively in learning processes. Research points toward the value of teaching methods that provide a good introduction and supportive guidelines and include active participation and interactivity.

A simple linear regression method for quantitative trait loci linkage analysis with censored observations.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Carl A; McRae, Allan F; Visscher, Peter M

2006-07-01

Standard quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping techniques commonly assume that the trait is both fully observed and normally distributed. When considering survival or age-at-onset traits these assumptions are often incorrect. Methods have been developed to map QTL for survival traits; however, they are both computationally intensive and not available in standard genome analysis software packages. We propose a grouped linear regression method for the analysis of continuous survival data. Using simulation we compare this method to both the Cox and Weibull proportional hazards models and a standard linear regression method that ignores censoring. The grouped linear regression method is of equivalent power to both the Cox and Weibull proportional hazards methods and is significantly better than the standard linear regression method when censored observations are present. The method is also robust to the proportion of censored individuals and the underlying distribution of the trait. On the basis of linear regression methodology, the grouped linear regression model is computationally simple and fast and can be implemented readily in freely available statistical software.

Probability Density Function Method for Observing Reconstructed Attractor Structure

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

陆宏伟; 陈亚珠; 卫青

2004-01-01

Probability density function (PDF) method is proposed for analysing the structure of the reconstructed attractor in computing the correlation dimensions of RR intervals of ten normal old men. PDF contains important information about the spatial distribution of the phase points in the reconstructed attractor. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that the PDF method is put forward for the analysis of the reconstructed attractor structure. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the cardiac systems of healthy old men are about 6 - 6.5 dimensional complex dynamical systems. It is found that PDF is not symmetrically distributed when time delay is small, while PDF satisfies Gaussian distribution when time delay is big enough. A cluster effect mechanism is presented to explain this phenomenon. By studying the shape of PDFs, that the roles played by time delay are more important than embedding dimension in the reconstruction is clearly indicated. Results have demonstrated that the PDF method represents a promising numerical approach for the observation of the reconstructed attractor structure and may provide more information and new diagnostic potential of the analyzed cardiac system.

A Study on the quantification of hydration and the strength development mechanism of cementitious materials including amorphous phases by using XRD/Rietveld method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamada, Kazuo; Hoshino, Seiichi; Hirao, Hiroshi; Yamashita, Hiroki

2008-01-01

X-ray diffraction (XRD)/Rietveld method was applied to measure the phase composition of cement. The quantative analysis concerning the progress of hydration was accomplished in an error of about the maximum 2-3% in spite of including amorphous materials such as blast furnace slag, fly ash, silica fume and C-S-H. The influence of the compressive strength on the lime stone fine powder mixture material was studied from the hydration analysis by Rietveld method. The two stages were observed in the strength development mechanism of cement; the hydration promotion of C 3 S in the early stage and the filling of cavities by carbonate hydrate for the longer term. It is useful to use various mixture materials for the formation of the resource recycling society and the durability improvement of concrete. (author)

Estimating the state of a geophysical system with sparse observations: time delay methods to achieve accurate initial states for prediction

Science.gov (United States)

An, Zhe; Rey, Daniel; Ye, Jingxin; Abarbanel, Henry D. I.

2017-01-01

The problem of forecasting the behavior of a complex dynamical system through analysis of observational time-series data becomes difficult when the system expresses chaotic behavior and the measurements are sparse, in both space and/or time. Despite the fact that this situation is quite typical across many fields, including numerical weather prediction, the issue of whether the available observations are "sufficient" for generating successful forecasts is still not well understood. An analysis by Whartenby et al. (2013) found that in the context of the nonlinear shallow water equations on a β plane, standard nudging techniques require observing approximately 70 % of the full set of state variables. Here we examine the same system using a method introduced by Rey et al. (2014a), which generalizes standard nudging methods to utilize time delayed measurements. We show that in certain circumstances, it provides a sizable reduction in the number of observations required to construct accurate estimates and high-quality predictions. In particular, we find that this estimate of 70 % can be reduced to about 33 % using time delays, and even further if Lagrangian drifter locations are also used as measurements.

Assessment of dermal exposure to bitumen condensate among road paving and mastic crews with an observational method

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Agostini, M.; Fransman, W.; Vocht, F.D.; Joode, B.V.W.D.; Kromhout, H.

2011-01-01

Objective: To assess dermal exposure to bitumen condensate among road pavers and indoor mastic workers in multiple crews using a semi-quantitative observational method [DeRmal Exposure Assessment Method (DREAM)].Methods: Two skilled observers assessed dermal exposure to bitumen condensate among 85

Internal consistency and validity of an observational method for assessing disability in mobility in patients with osteoarthritis.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steultjens, M.P.M.; Dekker, J.; Baar, M.E. van; Oostendorp, R.A.B.; Bijlsma, J.W.J.

1999-01-01

Objective: To establish the internal consistency of validity of an observational method for assessing diasbility in mobility in patients with osteoarthritis (OA), Methods: Data were obtained from 198 patients with OA of the hip or knee. Results of the observational method were compared with results

A method for combining passive microwave and infrared rainfall observations

Science.gov (United States)

Kummerow, Christian; Giglio, Louis

1995-01-01

Because passive microwave instruments are confined to polar-orbiting satellites, rainfall estimates must interpolate across long time periods, during which no measurements are available. In this paper the authors discuss a technique that allows one to partially overcome the sampling limitations by using frequent infrared observations from geosynchronous platforms. To accomplish this, the technique compares all coincident microwave and infrared observations. From each coincident pair, the infrared temperature threshold is selected that corresponds to an area equal to the raining area observed in the microwave image. The mean conditional rainfall rate as determined from the microwave image is then assigned to pixels in the infrared image that are colder than the selected threshold. The calibration is also applied to a fixed threshold of 235 K for comparison with established infrared techniques. Once a calibration is determined, it is applied to all infrared images. Monthly accumulations for both methods are then obtained by summing rainfall from all available infrared images. Two examples are used to evaluate the performance of the technique. The first consists of a one-month period (February 1988) over Darwin, Australia, where good validation data are available from radar and rain gauges. For this case it was found that the technique approximately doubled the rain inferred by the microwave method alone and produced exceptional agreement with the validation data. The second example involved comparisons with atoll rain gauges in the western Pacific for June 1989. Results here are overshadowed by the fact that the hourly infrared estimates from established techniques, by themselves, produced very good correlations with the rain gauges. The calibration technique was not able to improve upon these results.

Age estimation in forensic anthropology: quantification of observer error in phase versus component-based methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Shirley, Natalie R; Ramirez Montes, Paula Andrea

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess observer error in phase versus component-based scoring systems used to develop age estimation methods in forensic anthropology. A method preferred by forensic anthropologists in the AAFS was selected for this evaluation (the Suchey-Brooks method for the pubic symphysis). The Suchey-Brooks descriptions were used to develop a corresponding component-based scoring system for comparison. Several commonly used reliability statistics (kappa, weighted kappa, and the intraclass correlation coefficient) were calculated to assess observer agreement between two observers and to evaluate the efficacy of each of these statistics for this study. The linear weighted kappa was determined to be the most suitable measure of observer agreement. The results show that a component-based system offers the possibility for more objective scoring than a phase system as long as the coding possibilities for each trait do not exceed three states of expression, each with as little overlap as possible. © 2014 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Methods of using structures including catalytic materials disposed within porous zeolite materials to synthesize hydrocarbons

Science.gov (United States)

Rollins, Harry W [Idaho Falls, ID; Petkovic, Lucia M [Idaho Falls, ID; Ginosar, Daniel M [Idaho Falls, ID

2011-02-01

Catalytic structures include a catalytic material disposed within a zeolite material. The catalytic material may be capable of catalyzing a formation of methanol from carbon monoxide and/or carbon dioxide, and the zeolite material may be capable of catalyzing a formation of hydrocarbon molecules from methanol. The catalytic material may include copper and zinc oxide. The zeolite material may include a first plurality of pores substantially defined by a crystal structure of the zeolite material and a second plurality of pores dispersed throughout the zeolite material. Systems for synthesizing hydrocarbon molecules also include catalytic structures. Methods for synthesizing hydrocarbon molecules include contacting hydrogen and at least one of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide with such catalytic structures. Catalytic structures are fabricated by forming a zeolite material at least partially around a template structure, removing the template structure, and introducing a catalytic material into the zeolite material.

Spine surgeon's kinematics during discectomy, part II: operating table height and visualization methods, including microscope.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jeong Yoon; Kim, Kyung Hyun; Kuh, Sung Uk; Chin, Dong Kyu; Kim, Keun Su; Cho, Yong Eun

2014-05-01

Surgeon spine angle during surgery was studied ergonomically and the kinematics of the surgeon's spine was related with musculoskeletal fatigue and pain. Spine angles varied depending on operation table height and visualization method, and in a previous paper we showed that the use of a loupe and a table height at the midpoint between the umbilicus and the sternum are optimal for reducing musculoskeletal loading. However, no studies have previously included a microscope as a possible visualization method. The objective of this study is to assess differences in surgeon spine angles depending on operating table height and visualization method, including microscope. We enrolled 18 experienced spine surgeons for this study, who each performed a discectomy using a spine surgery simulator. Three different methods were used to visualize the surgical field (naked eye, loupe, microscope) and three different operating table heights (anterior superior iliac spine, umbilicus, the midpoint between the umbilicus and the sternum) were studied. Whole spine angles were compared for three different views during the discectomy simulation: midline, ipsilateral, and contralateral. A 16-camera optoelectronic motion analysis system was used, and 16 markers were placed from the head to the pelvis. Lumbar lordosis, thoracic kyphosis, cervical lordosis, and occipital angle were compared between the different operating table heights and visualization methods as well as a natural standing position. Whole spine angles differed significantly depending on visualization method. All parameters were closer to natural standing values when discectomy was performed with a microscope, and there were no differences between the naked eye and the loupe. Whole spine angles were also found to differ from the natural standing position depending on operating table height, and became closer to natural standing position values as the operating table height increased, independent of the visualization method

A New Method to Directly Observe Tuberculosis Treatment: Skype Observed Therapy, a Patient-Centered Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Buchman, Tavora; Cabello, Celina

Tuberculosis (TB) treatment completion is in part determined by patient's adherence to long-term drug regimens. To best ensure compliance, directly observed therapy (DOT) is considered the standard of practice. Nassau County Department of Health TB Control is responsible for providing DOT to patients with TB. Tuberculosis Control sought to use and evaluate Skype Observed Therapy (SOT) as an alternative to DOT for eligible patients. The evaluation included analysis of patient's acceptance and adherence to drug regimen using SOT. Tuberculosis Control assessed staff efficiency and cost savings for this program. Percentages of SOT of patients and successful SOT visits, mileage, and travel time savings. Twenty percent of the caseload used SOT and 100% of patients who were eligible opted in. Average SOT success was 79%. Total mileage savings and time saved were $9,929.07 and 614 hours. Because SOT saves cost and time and is a suitable alternative to DOT for patients, it should be considered as part of new policies and practices in TB control programs.

DETECTION OF CHANGES OF THE SYSTEM TECHNICAL STATE USING STOCHASTIC SUBSPACE OBSERVATION METHOD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrzej Puchalski

2014-03-01

Full Text Available System diagnostics based on vibroacoustics signals, carried out by means of stochastic subspace methods was undertaken in the hereby paper. Subspace methods are the ones based on numerical linear algebra tools. The considered solutions belong to diagnostic methods according to data, leading to the generation of residuals allowing failure recognition of elements and assemblies in machines and devices. The algorithm of diagnostics according to the subspace observation method was applied – in the paper – for the estimation of the valve system of the spark ignition engine.

Quantitative numerical method for analysing slip traces observed by AFM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Veselý, J; Cieslar, M; Coupeau, C; Bonneville, J

2013-01-01

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is used more and more routinely to study, at the nanometre scale, the slip traces produced on the surface of deformed crystalline materials. Taking full advantage of the quantitative height data of the slip traces, which can be extracted from these observations, requires however an adequate and robust processing of the images. In this paper an original method is presented, which allows the fitting of AFM scan-lines with a specific parameterized step function without any averaging treatment of the original data. This yields a quantitative and full description of the changes in step shape along the slip trace. The strength of the proposed method is established on several typical examples met in plasticity by analysing nano-scale structures formed on the sample surface by emerging dislocations. (paper)

Iterative observer based method for source localization problem for Poisson equation in 3D

KAUST Repository

Majeed, Muhammad Usman

2017-07-10

A state-observer based method is developed to solve point source localization problem for Poisson equation in a 3D rectangular prism with available boundary data. The technique requires a weighted sum of solutions of multiple boundary data estimation problems for Laplace equation over the 3D domain. The solution of each of these boundary estimation problems involves writing down the mathematical problem in state-space-like representation using one of the space variables as time-like. First, system observability result for 3D boundary estimation problem is recalled in an infinite dimensional setting. Then, based on the observability result, the boundary estimation problem is decomposed into a set of independent 2D sub-problems. These 2D problems are then solved using an iterative observer to obtain the solution. Theoretical results are provided. The method is implemented numerically using finite difference discretization schemes. Numerical illustrations along with simulation results are provided.

Cluster cosmological analysis with X ray instrumental observables: introduction and testing of AsPIX method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valotti, Andrea

2016-01-01

Cosmology is one of the fundamental pillars of astrophysics, as such it contains many unsolved puzzles. To investigate some of those puzzles, we analyze X-ray surveys of galaxy clusters. These surveys are possible thanks to the bremsstrahlung emission of the intra-cluster medium. The simultaneous fit of cluster counts as a function of mass and distance provides an independent measure of cosmological parameters such as Ω m , σ s , and the dark energy equation of state w0. A novel approach to cosmological analysis using galaxy cluster data, called top-down, was developed in N. Clerc et al. (2012). This top-down approach is based purely on instrumental observables that are considered in a two-dimensional X-ray color-magnitude diagram. The method self-consistently includes selection effects and scaling relationships. It also provides a means of bypassing the computation of individual cluster masses. My work presents an extension of the top-down method by introducing the apparent size of the cluster, creating a three-dimensional X-ray cluster diagram. The size of a cluster is sensitive to both the cluster mass and its angular diameter, so it must also be included in the assessment of selection effects. The performance of this new method is investigated using a Fisher analysis. In parallel, I have studied the effects of the intrinsic scatter in the cluster size scaling relation on the sample selection as well as on the obtained cosmological parameters. To validate the method, I estimate uncertainties of cosmological parameters with MCMC method Amoeba minimization routine and using two simulated XMM surveys that have an increasing level of complexity. The first simulated survey is a set of toy catalogues of 100 and 10000 deg 2 , whereas the second is a 1000 deg 2 catalogue that was generated using an Aardvark semi-analytical N-body simulation. This comparison corroborates the conclusions of the Fisher analysis. In conclusion, I find that a cluster diagram that accounts

Comparing observer models and feature selection methods for a task-based statistical assessment of digital breast tomsynthesis in reconstruction space

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Subok; Zhang, George Z.; Zeng, Rongping; Myers, Kyle J.

2014-03-01

A task-based assessment of image quality1 for digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) can be done in either the projected or reconstructed data space. As the choice of observer models and feature selection methods can vary depending on the type of task and data statistics, we previously investigated the performance of two channelized- Hotelling observer models in conjunction with 2D Laguerre-Gauss (LG) and two implementations of partial least squares (PLS) channels along with that of the Hotelling observer in binary detection tasks involving DBT projections.2, 3 The difference in these observers lies in how the spatial correlation in DBT angular projections is incorporated in the observer's strategy to perform the given task. In the current work, we extend our method to the reconstructed data space of DBT. We investigate how various model observers including the aforementioned compare for performing the binary detection of a spherical signal embedded in structured breast phantoms with the use of DBT slices reconstructed via filtered back projection. We explore how well the model observers incorporate the spatial correlation between different numbers of reconstructed DBT slices while varying the number of projections. For this, relatively small and large scan angles (24° and 96°) are used for comparison. Our results indicate that 1) given a particular scan angle, the number of projections needed to achieve the best performance for each observer is similar across all observer/channel combinations, i.e., Np = 25 for scan angle 96° and Np = 13 for scan angle 24°, and 2) given these sufficient numbers of projections, the number of slices for each observer to achieve the best performance differs depending on the channel/observer types, which is more pronounced in the narrow scan angle case.

Statistical reexamination of analytical method on the observed electron spin (or nuclear) resonance curves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, J.W.

1980-01-01

Observed magnetic resonance curves are statistically reexamined. Typical models of resonance lines are Lorentzian and Gaussian distribution functions. In the case of metallic, alloy or intermetallic compound samples, observed resonance lines are supperposed with the absorption line and the dispersion line. The analyzing methods of supperposed resonance lines are demonstrated. (author)

A Prospective Observational Study

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Methods: This was a prospective, questionnaire-based observational study. Printed questionnaires were distributed to the visitors of medical, surgical and neurosurgical ICU patients to determine awareness of basic infection control practices among visitors to an ICU. All the ICU staff, including nurses, doctors, consultant ...

Determining the orientation of the observed object in threedimensional space using stereo vision methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ponomarev, S

2014-01-01

The task of matching image of an object with its template is central for many optoelectronic systems. Solution of the matching problem in three-dimensional space in contrast to the structural alignment in the image plane allows using a larger amount of information about the object for determining its orientation, which may increase the probability of correct matching. In the case of stereo vision methods for constructing a three-dimensional image of the object, it becomes possible to achieve invariance w.r.t. background and distance to the observed object. Only three of the orientation angle of the object relative to the camera are uncertain and require measurements. This paper proposes a method for determining the orientation angles of the observed object in three-dimensional space, which is based on the processing of stereo image sequences. Disparity map segmentation method that allows one to ensure the invariance of the background is presented. Quantitative estimates of the effectiveness of the proposed method are presented and discussed.

Magnetic resonance arthrography including ABER view in diagnosing partial-thickness tears of the rotator cuff: Accuracy, and inter- and intra-observer agreements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jung, Joon-Yong; Jee, Won-Hee; Chun, Ho Jong; Ahn, Myeong Im (Dept. of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary' s Hospital, School of Medicine, Catholic Univ. of Korea, Seoul (Korea)), e-mail: whjee@catholic.ac.kr; Kim, Yang-Soo (Dept. of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul St. Mary' s Hospital, School of Medicine, Catholic Univ. of Korea, Seoul (Korea))

2010-03-15

Background: Partial-thickness tear of the rotator cuff is a common cause of shoulder pain. Magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography has been described as a useful measure to diagnose rotator cuff abnormalities. Purpose: To determine the reliability and accuracy of MR arthrography with abduction and external rotation (ABER) view for the diagnosis of partial-thickness tears of the rotator cuff. Material and Methods: Among patients who underwent MR arthrographies, 22 patients (12 men, 10 women; mean age 45 years) who had either partial-thickness tear or normal tendon on arthroscopy were included. MR images were independently scored by two observers for partial-thickness tears of the rotator cuff. Interobserver and intraobserver agreements for detection of partial-thickness tears of the rotator cuff were calculated by using kappa coefficients. The differences in areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were assessed with a univariate Z-score test. Differences in sensitivity and specificity for interpretations based on different imaging series were tested for significance using the McNemar statistic. Results: Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of each reader on MR imaging without ABER view were 83%, 90%, and 86%, and 83%, 80%, and 82%, respectively, whereas on overall interpretation including ABER view, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of each reader were 92%, 70%, and 82%, and 92%, 80%, and 86%, respectively. Including ABER view, interobserver agreement for partial-thickness tear increased from kappa=0.55 to kappa=0.68. Likewise, intraobserver agreements increased from kappa=0.79 and 0.53 to kappa=0.81 and 0.70 for each reader, respectively. The areas under the ROC curves for each reader were 0.96 and 0.90, which were not significantly different. Conclusion: Including ABER view in routine sequences of MR arthrography increases the sensitivity, and inter- and intraobserver agreements for detecting partial-thickness tear of rotator cuff

Magnetic resonance arthrography including ABER view in diagnosing partial-thickness tears of the rotator cuff: Accuracy, and inter- and intra-observer agreements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Joon-Yong; Jee, Won-Hee; Chun, Ho Jong; Ahn, Myeong Im; Kim, Yang-Soo

2010-01-01

Background: Partial-thickness tear of the rotator cuff is a common cause of shoulder pain. Magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography has been described as a useful measure to diagnose rotator cuff abnormalities. Purpose: To determine the reliability and accuracy of MR arthrography with abduction and external rotation (ABER) view for the diagnosis of partial-thickness tears of the rotator cuff. Material and Methods: Among patients who underwent MR arthrographies, 22 patients (12 men, 10 women; mean age 45 years) who had either partial-thickness tear or normal tendon on arthroscopy were included. MR images were independently scored by two observers for partial-thickness tears of the rotator cuff. Interobserver and intraobserver agreements for detection of partial-thickness tears of the rotator cuff were calculated by using κ coefficients. The differences in areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were assessed with a univariate Z-score test. Differences in sensitivity and specificity for interpretations based on different imaging series were tested for significance using the McNemar statistic. Results: Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of each reader on MR imaging without ABER view were 83%, 90%, and 86%, and 83%, 80%, and 82%, respectively, whereas on overall interpretation including ABER view, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of each reader were 92%, 70%, and 82%, and 92%, 80%, and 86%, respectively. Including ABER view, interobserver agreement for partial-thickness tear increased from κ=0.55 to κ=0.68. Likewise, intraobserver agreements increased from κ=0.79 and 0.53 to κ=0.81 and 0.70 for each reader, respectively. The areas under the ROC curves for each reader were 0.96 and 0.90, which were not significantly different. Conclusion: Including ABER view in routine sequences of MR arthrography increases the sensitivity, and inter- and intraobserver agreements for detecting partial-thickness tear of rotator cuff tendon

THE FREQUENT USE OF TEACHING STRATEGIES/METHODS AMONG TEACHERS ACCORDING TO THE TEACHER CANDIDATES OBSERVATION

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Mukaddes SAKALLI

2007-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to show the frequent use of teaching stratergies/methods amongteachers which has been observed by teacher candidates currently undergoing their own field/area teaching program.This study undertakes the general research model and the tools used to obtain the necessary data are personalinformation form and a questionaire. “Teachers frequent use of teaching methods/stratergies” to obtain necessarydata a 4 likert scale type of questionaire has been used. The scale developed on behalf of the researcher involves 35teaching methods/stratergies.The data obtained through 71 quetionaires where evaluated from 4 (always and 1(none as points and has been evaluated through the SPSS package program. In addition, the resultsof the data havebeen analysed through the following techniques: percentage (%, average (X and standard deviation (SS.According to the observations made by the teacher candidates the following teaching methods/stratergies wereundertaken by the teachers according to thier teaching field: lecturing, question-answer method were always used,homework, practice in the classroom, problem solving, showing and practicing methods were frequently used,project work, anaylsing example situations, debates, similarity, computer based education, observing privatetutorials, eduational games, cooperative learning, brainstroming, field trips and reflecting/miroring situations,group/team work, experiment, role play, micro-learning technique, statement, speech,meeting, display, drama,conference, formal debates, sempozium, seminar, panel, umbrella technique, forum and opposite panel

The Specificity of Observational Studies in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences: Moving Forward in Mixed Methods Research and Proposals for Achieving Quantitative and Qualitative Symmetry.

Science.gov (United States)

Anguera, M Teresa; Camerino, Oleguer; Castañer, Marta; Sánchez-Algarra, Pedro; Onwuegbuzie, Anthony J

2017-01-01

Mixed methods studies are been increasingly applied to a diversity of fields. In this paper, we discuss the growing use-and enormous potential-of mixed methods research in the field of sport and physical activity. A second aim is to contribute to strengthening the characteristics of mixed methods research by showing how systematic observation offers rigor within a flexible framework that can be applied to a wide range of situations. Observational methodology is characterized by high scientific rigor and flexibility throughout its different stages and allows the objective study of spontaneous behavior in natural settings, with no external influence. Mixed methods researchers need to take bold yet thoughtful decisions regarding both substantive and procedural issues. We present three fundamental and complementary ideas to guide researchers in this respect: we show why studies of sport and physical activity that use a mixed methods research approach should be included in the field of mixed methods research, we highlight the numerous possibilities offered by observational methodology in this field through the transformation of descriptive data into quantifiable code matrices, and we discuss possible solutions for achieving true integration of qualitative and quantitative findings.

The Specificity of Observational Studies in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences: Moving Forward in Mixed Methods Research and Proposals for Achieving Quantitative and Qualitative Symmetry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Teresa Anguera

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Mixed methods studies are been increasingly applied to a diversity of fields. In this paper, we discuss the growing use—and enormous potential—of mixed methods research in the field of sport and physical activity. A second aim is to contribute to strengthening the characteristics of mixed methods research by showing how systematic observation offers rigor within a flexible framework that can be applied to a wide range of situations. Observational methodology is characterized by high scientific rigor and flexibility throughout its different stages and allows the objective study of spontaneous behavior in natural settings, with no external influence. Mixed methods researchers need to take bold yet thoughtful decisions regarding both substantive and procedural issues. We present three fundamental and complementary ideas to guide researchers in this respect: we show why studies of sport and physical activity that use a mixed methods research approach should be included in the field of mixed methods research, we highlight the numerous possibilities offered by observational methodology in this field through the transformation of descriptive data into quantifiable code matrices, and we discuss possible solutions for achieving true integration of qualitative and quantitative findings.

Water cycle observations in forest watersheds of Cambodia

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Shimizu, A.; Tamai, K.; Kabeya, N.; Shimizu, T.; Iida, S. I.

2015-12-01

The Lower Mekong River flows through Cambodia, where forests cover ~60% of the country and are believed to have a marked effect on the water cycle. These tropical seasonal forests in the Cambodian flat lands are very precious in the Indochinese Peninsula as few forests of this type remain. However, few hydrological observations have been conducted in these areas. In Cambodia, deciduous and evergreen forests make up 42% and 33% of the total forest area, respectively. We established experimental watersheds both in deciduous and evergreen forests containing meteorological observation towers in Cambodia and collected various observational data since 2003 (O'Krieng, deciduous forest watershed including a 30-m-high observation tower, 2,245 km2; Stung Chinit, evergreen forest watershed including a 60-m-high observation tower, 3,700 km2 including three small watersheds). The basic data from these sites included various kinds of information related to the composition of vegetation, soil characteristics, etc. Hydrologic data was collected and linked to the above data; the main hydrologic research results follow. The water budget for each watershed was determined using an observational rainfall and runoff dataset. The evapotranspiration rate in an evergreen forest was obtained using various observational methods including the Bowen energy-balance ratio and the bandpass eddy covariance method. The annual evapotranspiration of evergreen forests, estimated using the Bowen energy-balance ratio method and water balance, was about 1100-1200 mm, corresponding to 70-80% of annual rainfall. While considering the importance of the presence of evergreen forest, we conducted sap flow measurements to analyze the transpiration process that maintains water uptake through root systems that reach to depths exceeding 8 m. Characteristics of the evaporation from the forest floor that form an important element of the evaporation system were estimated in both evergreen and deciduous forests.

Developing best practices teaching procedures for skinfold assessment: observational examination using the Think Aloud method.

Science.gov (United States)

Holmstrup, Michael E; Verba, Steven D; Lynn, Jeffrey S

2015-12-01

Skinfold assessment is valid and economical; however, it has a steep learning curve, and many programs only include one exposure to the technique. Increasing the number of exposures to skinfold assessment within an undergraduate curriculum would likely increase skill proficiency. The present study combined observational and Think Aloud methodologies to quantify procedural and cognitive characteristics of skinfold assessment. It was hypothesized that 1) increased curricular exposure to skinfold assessment would improve proficiency and 2) the combination of an observational and Think Aloud analysis would provide quantifiable areas of emphasis for instructing skinfold assessment. Seventy-five undergraduates with varied curricular exposure performed a seven-site skinfold assessment on a test subject while expressing their thoughts aloud. A trained practitioner recorded procedural observations, with transcripts generated from audio recordings to capture cognitive information. Skinfold measurements were compared with a criterion value, and bias scores were generated. Participants whose total bias fell within ±3.5% of the criterion value were proficient, with the remainder nonproficient. An independent-samples t-test was used to compare procedural and cognitive observations across experience and proficiency groups. Additional curricular exposure improved performance of skinfold assessment in areas such as the measurement of specific sites (e.g., chest, abdomen, and thigh) and procedural (e.g., landmark identification) and cognitive skills (e.g., complete site explanation). Furthermore, the Think Aloud method is a valuable tool for determining curricular strengths and weaknesses with skinfold assessment and as a pedagogical tool for individual instruction and feedback in the classroom. Copyright © 2015 The American Physiological Society.

Image color reduction method for color-defective observers using a color palette composed of 20 particular colors

Science.gov (United States)

Sakamoto, Takashi

2015-01-01

This study describes a color enhancement method that uses a color palette especially designed for protan and deutan defects, commonly known as red-green color blindness. The proposed color reduction method is based on a simple color mapping. Complicated computation and image processing are not required by using the proposed method, and the method can replace protan and deutan confusion (p/d-confusion) colors with protan and deutan safe (p/d-safe) colors. Color palettes for protan and deutan defects proposed by previous studies are composed of few p/d-safe colors. Thus, the colors contained in these palettes are insufficient for replacing colors in photographs. Recently, Ito et al. proposed a p/dsafe color palette composed of 20 particular colors. The author demonstrated that their p/d-safe color palette could be applied to image color reduction in photographs as a means to replace p/d-confusion colors. This study describes the results of the proposed color reduction in photographs that include typical p/d-confusion colors, which can be replaced. After the reduction process is completed, color-defective observers can distinguish these confusion colors.

Method of fabricating electrodes including high-capacity, binder-free anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Science.gov (United States)

Ban, Chunmei; Wu, Zhuangchun; Dillon, Anne C.

2017-01-10

An electrode (110) is provided that may be used in an electrochemical device (100) such as an energy storage/discharge device, e.g., a lithium-ion battery, or an electrochromic device, e.g., a smart window. Hydrothermal techniques and vacuum filtration methods were applied to fabricate the electrode (110). The electrode (110) includes an active portion (140) that is made up of electrochemically active nanoparticles, with one embodiment utilizing 3d-transition metal oxides to provide the electrochemical capacity of the electrode (110). The active material (140) may include other electrochemical materials, such as silicon, tin, lithium manganese oxide, and lithium iron phosphate. The electrode (110) also includes a matrix or net (170) of electrically conductive nanomaterial that acts to connect and/or bind the active nanoparticles (140) such that no binder material is required in the electrode (110), which allows more active materials (140) to be included to improve energy density and other desirable characteristics of the electrode. The matrix material (170) may take the form of carbon nanotubes, such as single-wall, double-wall, and/or multi-wall nanotubes, and be provided as about 2 to 30 percent weight of the electrode (110) with the rest being the active material (140).

Internal consistency and validity of an observational method for assessing disability in mobility in patients with osteoarthritis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steultjens, M. P.; Dekker, J.; van Baar, M. E.; Oostendorp, R. A.; Bijlsma, J. W.

1999-01-01

To establish the internal consistency and validity of an observational method for assessing disability in mobility in patients with osteoarthritis (OA). Data were obtained from 198 patients with OA of the hip or knee. Results of the observational method were compared with results of self-report

Impact of a standardized nurse observation protocol including MEWS after Intensive Care Unit discharge.

Science.gov (United States)

De Meester, K; Das, T; Hellemans, K; Verbrugghe, W; Jorens, P G; Verpooten, G A; Van Bogaert, P

2013-02-01

Analysis of in-hospital mortality after serious adverse events (SAE's) in our hospital showed the need for more frequent observation in medical and surgical wards. We hypothesized that the incidence of SAE's could be decreased by introducing a standard nurse observation protocol. To investigate the effect of a standard nurse observation protocol implementing the Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) and a color graphic observation chart. Pre- and post-intervention study by analysis of patients records for a 5-day period after Intensive Care Unit (ICU) discharge to 14 medical and surgical wards before (n=530) and after (n=509) the intervention. For the total study population the mean Patient Observation Frequency Per Nursing Shift (POFPNS) during the 5-day period after ICU discharge increased from .9993 (95% C.I. .9637-1.0350) in the pre-intervention period to 1.0732 (95% C.I. 1.0362-1.1101) (p=.005) in the post-intervention period. There was an increased risk of a SAE in patients with MEWS 4 or higher in the present nursing shift (HR 8.25; 95% C.I. 2.88-23.62) and the previous nursing shift (HR 12.83;95% C.I. 4.45-36.99). There was an absolute risk reduction for SAE's within 120h after ICU discharge of 2.2% (95% C.I. -0.4-4.67%) from 5.7% to 3.5%. The intervention had a positive impact on the observation frequency. MEWS had a predictive value for SAE's in patients after ICU discharge. The drop in SAE's was substantial but did not reach statistical significance. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tsunami simulation method initiated from waveforms observed by ocean bottom pressure sensors for real-time tsunami forecast; Applied for 2011 Tohoku Tsunami

Science.gov (United States)

Tanioka, Yuichiro

2017-04-01

After tsunami disaster due to the 2011 Tohoku-oki great earthquake, improvement of the tsunami forecast has been an urgent issue in Japan. National Institute of Disaster Prevention is installing a cable network system of earthquake and tsunami observation (S-NET) at the ocean bottom along the Japan and Kurile trench. This cable system includes 125 pressure sensors (tsunami meters) which are separated by 30 km. Along the Nankai trough, JAMSTEC already installed and operated the cable network system of seismometers and pressure sensors (DONET and DONET2). Those systems are the most dense observation network systems on top of source areas of great underthrust earthquakes in the world. Real-time tsunami forecast has depended on estimation of earthquake parameters, such as epicenter, depth, and magnitude of earthquakes. Recently, tsunami forecast method has been developed using the estimation of tsunami source from tsunami waveforms observed at the ocean bottom pressure sensors. However, when we have many pressure sensors separated by 30km on top of the source area, we do not need to estimate the tsunami source or earthquake source to compute tsunami. Instead, we can initiate a tsunami simulation from those dense tsunami observed data. Observed tsunami height differences with a time interval at the ocean bottom pressure sensors separated by 30 km were used to estimate tsunami height distribution at a particular time. In our new method, tsunami numerical simulation was initiated from those estimated tsunami height distribution. In this paper, the above method is improved and applied for the tsunami generated by the 2011 Tohoku-oki great earthquake. Tsunami source model of the 2011 Tohoku-oki great earthquake estimated using observed tsunami waveforms, coseimic deformation observed by GPS and ocean bottom sensors by Gusman et al. (2012) is used in this study. The ocean surface deformation is computed from the source model and used as an initial condition of tsunami

Observation Methods on Water Ecosystems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gulashvili, Z.

2005-01-01

In present work current situation of hydrometric network on the rivers of Georgia and division of observational stations, categorized according to economico-ecological principles, which study water hydrometric and physico-chemical characteristics, are considered. The necessity of searching of new methodology of taking hydrometric measurements and developing optimal plan of allocation of the stations, based on the modern standards, is proved. (author)

A robust two-node, 13 moment quadrature method of moments for dilute particle flows including wall bouncing

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Dan; Garmory, Andrew; Page, Gary J.

2017-02-01

For flows where the particle number density is low and the Stokes number is relatively high, as found when sand or ice is ingested into aircraft gas turbine engines, streams of particles can cross each other's path or bounce from a solid surface without being influenced by inter-particle collisions. The aim of this work is to develop an Eulerian method to simulate these types of flow. To this end, a two-node quadrature-based moment method using 13 moments is proposed. In the proposed algorithm thirteen moments of particle velocity, including cross-moments of second order, are used to determine the weights and abscissas of the two nodes and to set up the association between the velocity components in each node. Previous Quadrature Method of Moments (QMOM) algorithms either use more than two nodes, leading to increased computational expense, or are shown here to give incorrect results under some circumstances. This method gives the computational efficiency advantages of only needing two particle phase velocity fields whilst ensuring that a correct combination of weights and abscissas is returned for any arbitrary combination of particle trajectories without the need for any further assumptions. Particle crossing and wall bouncing with arbitrary combinations of angles are demonstrated using the method in a two-dimensional scheme. The ability of the scheme to include the presence of drag from a carrier phase is also demonstrated, as is bouncing off surfaces with inelastic collisions. The method is also applied to the Taylor-Green vortex flow test case and is found to give results superior to the existing two-node QMOM method and is in good agreement with results from Lagrangian modelling of this case.

A novel method for state of charge estimation of lithium-ion batteries using a nonlinear observer

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Bizhong; Chen, Chaoren; Tian, Yong; Sun, Wei; Xu, Zhihui; Zheng, Weiwei

2014-12-01

The state of charge (SOC) is important for the safety and reliability of battery operation since it indicates the remaining capacity of a battery. However, as the internal state of each cell cannot be directly measured, the value of the SOC has to be estimated. In this paper, a novel method for SOC estimation in electric vehicles (EVs) using a nonlinear observer (NLO) is presented. One advantage of this method is that it does not need complicated matrix operations, so the computation cost can be reduced. As a key step in design of the nonlinear observer, the state-space equations based on the equivalent circuit model are derived. The Lyapunov stability theory is employed to prove the convergence of the nonlinear observer. Four experiments are carried out to evaluate the performance of the presented method. The results show that the SOC estimation error converges to 3% within 130 s while the initial SOC error reaches 20%, and does not exceed 4.5% while the measurement suffers both 2.5% voltage noise and 5% current noise. Besides, the presented method has advantages over the extended Kalman filter (EKF) and sliding mode observer (SMO) algorithms in terms of computation cost, estimation accuracy and convergence rate.

Flexible barrier film, method of forming same, and organic electronic device including same

Science.gov (United States)

Blizzard, John; Tonge, James Steven; Weidner, William Kenneth

2013-03-26

A flexible barrier film has a thickness of from greater than zero to less than 5,000 nanometers and a water vapor transmission rate of no more than 1.times.10.sup.-2 g/m.sup.2/day at 22.degree. C. and 47% relative humidity. The flexible barrier film is formed from a composition, which comprises a multi-functional acrylate. The composition further comprises the reaction product of an alkoxy-functional organometallic compound and an alkoxy-functional organosilicon compound. A method of forming the flexible barrier film includes the steps of disposing the composition on a substrate and curing the composition to form the flexible barrier film. The flexible barrier film may be utilized in organic electronic devices.

Comparing Simulations and Observations of Galaxy Evolution: Methods for Constraining the Nature of Stellar Feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Hummels, Cameron

Computational hydrodynamical simulations are a very useful tool for understanding how galaxies form and evolve over cosmological timescales not easily revealed through observations. However, they are only useful if they reproduce the sorts of galaxies that we see in the real universe. One of the ways in which simulations of this sort tend to fail is in the prescription of stellar feedback, the process by which nascent stars return material and energy to their immediate environments. Careful treatment of this interaction in subgrid models, so-called because they operate on scales below the resolution of the simulation, is crucial for the development of realistic galaxy models. Equally important is developing effective methods for comparing simulation data against observations to ensure galaxy models which mimic reality and inform us about natural phenomena. This thesis examines the formation and evolution of galaxies and the observable characteristics of the resulting systems. We employ extensive use of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations in order to simulate and interpret the evolution of massive spiral galaxies like our own Milky Way. First, we create a method for producing synthetic photometric images of grid-based hydrodynamical models for use in a direct comparison against observations in a variety of filter bands. We apply this method to a simulation of a cluster of galaxies to investigate the nature of the red-sequence/blue-cloud dichotomy in the galaxy color-magnitude diagram. Second, we implement several subgrid models governing the complex behavior of gas and stars on small scales in our galaxy models. Several numerical simulations are conducted with similar initial conditions, where we systematically vary the subgrid models, afterward assessing their efficacy through comparisons of their internal kinematics with observed systems. Third, we generate an additional method to compare observations with simulations, focusing on the tenuous circumgalactic

An Observational Analysis of Coaching Behaviors for Career Development Event Teams: A Mixed Methods Study

Science.gov (United States)

Ball, Anna L.; Bowling, Amanda M.; Sharpless, Justin D.

2016-01-01

School Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) teachers can use coaching behaviors, along with their agricultural content knowledge to help their Career Development Event (CDE) teams succeed. This mixed methods, collective case study observed three SBAE teachers preparing multiple CDEs throughout the CDE season. The teachers observed had a previous…

Selection of the optimal interpolation method for groundwater observations in lahore, pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahmood, K.; Ali, S.R.; Haider, A.; Tehseen, T.; Kanwal, S.

2014-01-01

This study was carried out to find an optimum method of interpolation for the depth values of groundwater in Lahore metropolitan, Pakistan. The methods of interpolation considered in the study were inverse distance weight (IDW), spline, simple Kriging, ordinary Kriging and universal Kriging. Initial analysis of the data suggests that the data was negatively skewed with value of skewness -1.028. The condition of normality was approximated by transforming the data using a box-cox transformation with lambda value of 3.892; the skewness value reduced to -0.00079. The results indicate that simple Kriging method is optimum for interpolation of groundwater observations for the used dataset with lowest bias of 0.00997, highest correlation coefficient with value 0.9434, mean absolute error 1.95 and root mean square error 3.19 m. Smooth and uniform contours with well described central depression zon in the city, as suggested by this studies, also supports the optimised interpolation method. (author)

Microvariability in AGNs: study of different statistical methods - I. Observational analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Zibecchi, L.; Andruchow, I.; Cellone, S. A.; Carpintero, D. D.; Romero, G. E.; Combi, J. A.

2017-05-01

We present the results of a study of different statistical methods currently used in the literature to analyse the (micro)variability of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from ground-based optical observations. In particular, we focus on the comparison between the results obtained by applying the so-called C and F statistics, which are based on the ratio of standard deviations and variances, respectively. The motivation for this is that the implementation of these methods leads to different and contradictory results, making the variability classification of the light curves of a certain source dependent on the statistics implemented. For this purpose, we re-analyse the results on an AGN sample observed along several sessions with the 2.15 m 'Jorge Sahade' telescope (CASLEO), San Juan, Argentina. For each AGN, we constructed the nightly differential light curves. We thus obtained a total of 78 light curves for 39 AGNs, and we then applied the statistical tests mentioned above, in order to re-classify the variability state of these light curves and in an attempt to find the suitable statistical methodology to study photometric (micro)variations. We conclude that, although the C criterion is not proper a statistical test, it could still be a suitable parameter to detect variability and that its application allows us to get more reliable variability results, in contrast with the F test.

Robust observer-based fault diagnosis for nonlinear systems using Matlab

CERN Document Server

Zhang, Jian; Nguang, Sing Kiong

2016-01-01

This book introduces several observer-based methods, including: • the sliding-mode observer • the adaptive observer • the unknown-input observer and • the descriptor observer method for the problem of fault detection, isolation and estimation, allowing readers to compare and contrast the different approaches. The authors present basic material on Lyapunov stability theory, H¥ control theory, sliding-mode control theory and linear matrix inequality problems in a self-contained and step-by-step manner. Detailed and rigorous mathematical proofs are provided for all the results developed in the text so that readers can quickly gain a good understanding of the material. MATLAB® and Simulink® codes for all the examples, which can be downloaded from http://extras.springer.com, enable students to follow the methods and illustrative examples easily. The systems used in the examples make the book highly relevant to real-world problems in industrial control engineering and include a seventh-order aircraft mod...

Constraining dark energy with Hubble parameter measurements: an analysis including future redshift-drift observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo, Rui-Yun; Zhang, Xin

2016-01-01

The nature of dark energy affects the Hubble expansion rate (namely, the expansion history) H(z) by an integral over w(z). However, the usual observables are the luminosity distances or the angular diameter distances, which measure the distance.redshift relation. Actually, the property of dark energy affects the distances (and the growth factor) by a further integration over functions of H(z). Thus, the direct measurements of the Hubble parameter H(z) at different redshifts are of great importance for constraining the properties of dark energy. In this paper, we show how the typical dark energy models, for example, the ΛCDM, wCDM, CPL, and holographic dark energy models, can be constrained by the current direct measurements of H(z) (31 data used in total in this paper, covering the redshift range of z @ element of [0.07, 2.34]). In fact, the future redshift-drift observations (also referred to as the Sandage-Loeb test) can also directly measure H(z) at higher redshifts, covering the range of z @ element of [2, 5]. We thus discuss what role the redshift-drift observations can play in constraining dark energy with the Hubble parameter measurements. We show that the constraints on dark energy can be improved greatly with the H(z) data from only a 10-year observation of redshift drift. (orig.)

Observation of Interactions in Adolescent Group Therapy: A Mixed Methods Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eulàlia Arias-Pujol

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Group psychotherapy is a useful clinical practice for adolescents with mental health issues. Groups typically consist of young people of similar ages but with different personalities, and this results in a complex communication network. The goal of group psychoanalytic psychotherapy is to improve participants' mentalization abilities, facilitating interactions between peers and their therapist in a safe, containing environment. The main aim of this study was to analyze conversation turn-taking between a lead therapist, a co-therapist, and six adolescents over the course of 24 treatment sessions divided into four blocks over 8 months. We employed a mixed-methods design based on systematic observation, which we consider to be a mixed method itself, as the qualitative data collected in the initial observation phase is transformed into quantitative data and subsequently interpreted qualitatively with the aid of clinical vignettes. The observational methodology design was nomothetic, follow-up, and multidimensional. The choice of methodology is justified as we used an ad-hoc observation instrument combining a field format and a category system. Interobserver agreement was analyzed quantitatively by Cohen's kappa using the free QSEQ5 software program. Once we had confirmed the reliability of the data, these were analyzed by polar coordinate analysis, which is a powerful data reduction technique that provides a vector representation of relationships between categories. The results show significant relationships between the therapist and (1 the activation of turn-taking by the participants and the co-therapist and silence and (2 conversation-facilitating interventions and interventions designed to improve mentalization abilities. Detailed analysis of questions demonstrating interest in others showed how the communication changed from radial interactions stemming from the therapist at the beginning of therapy to circular interactions half way through

A Multi-objective PMU Placement Method Considering Observability and Measurement Redundancy using ABC Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

KULANTHAISAMY, A.

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a Multi- objective Optimal Placement of Phasor Measurement Units (MOPP method in large electric transmission systems. It is proposed for minimizing the number of Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs for complete system observability and maximizing the measurement redundancy of the system, simultaneously. The measurement redundancy means that number of times a bus is able to monitor more than once by PMUs set. A higher level of measurement redundancy can maximize the total system observability and it is desirable for a reliable power system state estimation. Therefore, simultaneous optimization of the two conflicting objectives are performed using a binary coded Artificial Bee Colony (ABC algorithm. The complete observability of the power system is first prepared and then, single line loss contingency condition is considered to the main model. The efficiency of the proposed method is validated on IEEE 14, 30, 57 and 118 bus test systems. The valuable approach of ABC algorithm is demonstrated in finding the optimal number of PMUs and their locations by comparing the performance with earlier works.

A method for including external feed in depletion calculations with CRAM and implementation into ORIGEN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Isotalo, A.E.; Wieselquist, W.A.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A method for handling external feed in depletion calculations with CRAM. • Source term can have polynomial or exponentially decaying time-dependence. • CRAM with source term and adjoint capability implemented to ORIGEN in SCALE. • The new solver is faster and more accurate than the original solver of ORIGEN. - Abstract: A method for including external feed with polynomial time dependence in depletion calculations with the Chebyshev Rational Approximation Method (CRAM) is presented and the implementation of CRAM to the ORIGEN module of the SCALE suite is described. In addition to being able to handle time-dependent feed rates, the new solver also adds the capability to perform adjoint calculations. Results obtained with the new CRAM solver and the original depletion solver of ORIGEN are compared to high precision reference calculations, which shows the new solver to be orders of magnitude more accurate. Furthermore, in most cases, the new solver is up to several times faster due to not requiring similar substepping as the original one

Composite material including nanocrystals and methods of making

Science.gov (United States)

Bawendi, Moungi G.; Sundar, Vikram C.

2010-04-06

Temperature-sensing compositions can include an inorganic material, such as a semiconductor nanocrystal. The nanocrystal can be a dependable and accurate indicator of temperature. The intensity of emission of the nanocrystal varies with temperature and can be highly sensitive to surface temperature. The nanocrystals can be processed with a binder to form a matrix, which can be varied by altering the chemical nature of the surface of the nanocrystal. A nanocrystal with a compatibilizing outer layer can be incorporated into a coating formulation and retain its temperature sensitive emissive properties.

Including mixed methods research in systematic reviews: Examples from qualitative syntheses in TB and malaria control

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Health policy makers now have access to a greater number and variety of systematic reviews to inform different stages in the policy making process, including reviews of qualitative research. The inclusion of mixed methods studies in systematic reviews is increasing, but these studies pose particular challenges to methods of review. This article examines the quality of the reporting of mixed methods and qualitative-only studies. Methods We used two completed systematic reviews to generate a sample of qualitative studies and mixed method studies in order to make an assessment of how the quality of reporting and rigor of qualitative-only studies compares with that of mixed-methods studies. Results Overall, the reporting of qualitative studies in our sample was consistently better when compared with the reporting of mixed methods studies. We found that mixed methods studies are less likely to provide a description of the research conduct or qualitative data analysis procedures and less likely to be judged credible or provide rich data and thick description compared with standalone qualitative studies. Our time-related analysis shows that for both types of study, papers published since 2003 are more likely to report on the study context, describe analysis procedures, and be judged credible and provide rich data. However, the reporting of other aspects of research conduct (i.e. descriptions of the research question, the sampling strategy, and data collection methods) in mixed methods studies does not appear to have improved over time. Conclusions Mixed methods research makes an important contribution to health research in general, and could make a more substantial contribution to systematic reviews. Through our careful analysis of the quality of reporting of mixed methods and qualitative-only research, we have identified areas that deserve more attention in the conduct and reporting of mixed methods research. PMID:22545681

SU-F-J-86: Method to Include Tissue Dose Response Effect in Deformable Image Registration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhu, J; Liang, J; Chen, S; Qin, A; Yan, D [Beaumont Health Systeml, Royal Oak, MI (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: Organ changes shape and size during radiation treatment due to both mechanical stress and radiation dose response. However, the dose response induced deformation has not been considered in conventional deformable image registration (DIR). A novel DIR approach is proposed to include both tissue elasticity and radiation dose induced organ deformation. Methods: Assuming that organ sub-volume shrinkage was proportional to the radiation dose induced cell killing/absorption, the dose induced organ volume change was simulated applying virtual temperature on each sub-volume. Hence, both stress and heterogeneity temperature induced organ deformation. Thermal stress finite element method with organ surface boundary condition was used to solve deformation. Initial boundary correspondence on organ surface was created from conventional DIR. Boundary condition was updated by an iterative optimization scheme to minimize elastic deformation energy. The registration was validated on a numerical phantom. Treatment dose was constructed applying both the conventional DIR and the proposed method using daily CBCT image obtained from HN treatment. Results: Phantom study showed 2.7% maximal discrepancy with respect to the actual displacement. Compared with conventional DIR, subvolume displacement difference in a right parotid had the mean±SD (Min, Max) to be 1.1±0.9(−0.4∼4.8), −0.1±0.9(−2.9∼2.4) and −0.1±0.9(−3.4∼1.9)mm in RL/PA/SI directions respectively. Mean parotid dose and V30 constructed including the dose response induced shrinkage were 6.3% and 12.0% higher than those from the conventional DIR. Conclusion: Heterogeneous dose distribution in normal organ causes non-uniform sub-volume shrinkage. Sub-volume in high dose region has a larger shrinkage than the one in low dose region, therefore causing more sub-volumes to move into the high dose area during the treatment course. This leads to an unfavorable dose-volume relationship for the normal organ

Behavioral factors to include in guidelines for lifelong oral healthiness: an observational study in Japanese adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shimozato Miho

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The aim of this study was to determine which behavioral factors to include in guidelines for the Japanese public to achieve an acceptable level of oral healthiness. The objective was to determine the relationship between oral health related behaviors and symptoms related to oral disease and tooth loss in a Japanese adult community. Methods Oral health status and lifestyle were investigated in 777 people aged 20 years and older (390 men and 387 women. Subjects were asked to complete a postal questionnaire concerning past diet and lifestyle. The completed questionnaires were collected when they had health examinations. The 15 questions included their preference for sweets, how many between-meal snacks they usually had per day, smoking and drinking habits, presence of oral symptoms, and attitudes towards dental visits. Participants were asked about their behaviors at different stages of their life. The oral health examinations included examination of the oral cavity and teeth performed by dentists using WHO criteria. Odds ratios were calculated for all subjects, all 10 year age groups, and for subjects 30 years or older, 40 years or older, 50 years or older, and 60 years or older. Results Frequency of tooth brushing (OR = 3.98, having your own toothbrush (OR = 2.11, smoking (OR = 2.71 and bleeding gums (OR = 2.03 were significantly associated with number of retained teeth in males. Frequency of between-meal snacks was strongly associated with number of retained teeth in females (OR = 4.67. Having some hobbies (OR = 2.97, having a family dentist (OR = 2.34 and consulting a dentist as soon as symptoms occurred (OR = 1.74 were significantly associated with number of retained teeth in females. Factors that were significantly associated with tooth loss in both males and females included alcohol consumption (OR = 11.96, males, OR = 3.83, females, swollen gums (OR = 1.93, males, OR = 3.04, females and toothache (OR = 3.39, males, OR

Characteristics of Students Who Frequently Conduct Plant Observations: Toward Fostering Leaders and Supporters of Fixed-Point Observation of Forests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazuhiko W. Nakamura

2018-06-01

Full Text Available In order to foster leaders and supporters of fixed-point observation for sustainable forest management, it is considered effective to focus on students who have demonstrated potential for fixed-point observations of forests in the universal education stage. This study aims to identify the characteristics of students who frequently conduct plant observations, which is the basis for the fixed-point observation of forests, including methods involving photography. We conducted a questionnaire survey, which consisted of 19 questions that provided insight into junior high school students’ experiences, opportunities, and interests related to plant observation. We compared students who have conducted plant observations with those who have not, using Fisher’s exact test and multiple comparisons using the Benjamini and Hochberg method. The ratio of students who frequently conducted plant observations was significantly higher among female students than male students, and their characteristics differed by gender. The significant characteristics of male students included farm work experience and niche hobbies such as camping and lighting a bonfire, as well as using digital single-lens reflex cameras for photography; female students had relatively niche hobbies such as enjoying science. Students who increased the frequency of plant observations after the lecture about fixed-point observations of forests had an inclination toward social studies and tended not to use a smartphone for photography.

Including mixed methods research in systematic reviews: examples from qualitative syntheses in TB and malaria control.

Science.gov (United States)

Atkins, Salla; Launiala, Annika; Kagaha, Alexander; Smith, Helen

2012-04-30

Health policy makers now have access to a greater number and variety of systematic reviews to inform different stages in the policy making process, including reviews of qualitative research. The inclusion of mixed methods studies in systematic reviews is increasing, but these studies pose particular challenges to methods of review. This article examines the quality of the reporting of mixed methods and qualitative-only studies. We used two completed systematic reviews to generate a sample of qualitative studies and mixed method studies in order to make an assessment of how the quality of reporting and rigor of qualitative-only studies compares with that of mixed-methods studies. Overall, the reporting of qualitative studies in our sample was consistently better when compared with the reporting of mixed methods studies. We found that mixed methods studies are less likely to provide a description of the research conduct or qualitative data analysis procedures and less likely to be judged credible or provide rich data and thick description compared with standalone qualitative studies. Our time-related analysis shows that for both types of study, papers published since 2003 are more likely to report on the study context, describe analysis procedures, and be judged credible and provide rich data. However, the reporting of other aspects of research conduct (i.e. descriptions of the research question, the sampling strategy, and data collection methods) in mixed methods studies does not appear to have improved over time. Mixed methods research makes an important contribution to health research in general, and could make a more substantial contribution to systematic reviews. Through our careful analysis of the quality of reporting of mixed methods and qualitative-only research, we have identified areas that deserve more attention in the conduct and reporting of mixed methods research.

Time-of-Flight Measurements as a Possible Method to Observe Anyonic Statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Umucalılar, R. O.; Macaluso, E.; Comparin, T.; Carusotto, I.

2018-06-01

We propose a standard time-of-flight experiment as a method for observing the anyonic statistics of quasiholes in a fractional quantum Hall state of ultracold atoms. The quasihole states can be stably prepared by pinning the quasiholes with localized potentials and a measurement of the mean square radius of the freely expanding cloud, which is related to the average total angular momentum of the initial state, offers direct signatures of the statistical phase. Our proposed method is validated by Monte Carlo calculations for ν =1 /2 and 1 /3 fractional quantum Hall liquids containing a realistic number of particles. Extensions to quantum Hall liquids of light and to non-Abelian anyons are briefly discussed.

ℋ∞ Adaptive observer for nonlinear fractional-order systems

KAUST Repository

Ndoye, Ibrahima; Laleg-Kirati, Taous-Meriem; Darouach, Mohamed; Voos, Holger

2016-01-01

inequalities (LMIs) by using an indirect Lyapunov method.The proposed ℋ∞ adaptive observer is also robust against Lipschitz additive nonlinear uncertainty. The performance of the observer is illustrated through some examples including the chaotic Lorenz and Lü

A Simple Linear Regression Method for Quantitative Trait Loci Linkage Analysis With Censored Observations

OpenAIRE

Anderson, Carl A.; McRae, Allan F.; Visscher, Peter M.

2006-01-01

Standard quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping techniques commonly assume that the trait is both fully observed and normally distributed. When considering survival or age-at-onset traits these assumptions are often incorrect. Methods have been developed to map QTL for survival traits; however, they are both computationally intensive and not available in standard genome analysis software packages. We propose a grouped linear regression method for the analysis of continuous survival data. Using...

Iterative observer based method for source localization problem for Poisson equation in 3D

KAUST Repository

Majeed, Muhammad Usman; Laleg-Kirati, Taous-Meriem

2017-01-01

A state-observer based method is developed to solve point source localization problem for Poisson equation in a 3D rectangular prism with available boundary data. The technique requires a weighted sum of solutions of multiple boundary data

Method of reduction of diagnostic parameters during observation on the example of a combustion engine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Orczyk Malgorzata

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article presents a method of selecting diagnostic parameters which map the process of damaging the object. This method consists in calculating, during the observation, the correlation coefficient between the intensity of damage and the individual diagnostic parameters; and discarding of those parameters whose correlation coefficient values are outside of the narrowest confidence interval of the correlation coefficient. The characteristic feature of this method is that the parameters are reduced during the diagnostic experiment. The essence of the proposed method is illustrated by the vibration diagnosis of an internal combustion engine.

A comparison of entropy balance and probability weighting methods to generalize observational cohorts to a population: a simulation and empirical example.

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey, Raymond A; Hayden, Jennifer D; Kamble, Pravin S; Bouchard, Jonathan R; Huang, Joanna C

2017-04-01

We compared methods to control bias and confounding in observational studies including inverse probability weighting (IPW) and stabilized IPW (sIPW). These methods often require iteration and post-calibration to achieve covariate balance. In comparison, entropy balance (EB) optimizes covariate balance a priori by calibrating weights using the target's moments as constraints. We measured covariate balance empirically and by simulation by using absolute standardized mean difference (ASMD), absolute bias (AB), and root mean square error (RMSE), investigating two scenarios: the size of the observed (exposed) cohort exceeds the target (unexposed) cohort and vice versa. The empirical application weighted a commercial health plan cohort to a nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey target on the same covariates and compared average total health care cost estimates across methods. Entropy balance alone achieved balance (ASMD ≤ 0.10) on all covariates in simulation and empirically. In simulation scenario I, EB achieved the lowest AB and RMSE (13.64, 31.19) compared with IPW (263.05, 263.99) and sIPW (319.91, 320.71). In scenario II, EB outperformed IPW and sIPW with smaller AB and RMSE. In scenarios I and II, EB achieved the lowest mean estimate difference from the simulated population outcome ($490.05, $487.62) compared with IPW and sIPW, respectively. Empirically, only EB differed from the unweighted mean cost indicating IPW, and sIPW weighting was ineffective. Entropy balance demonstrated the bias-variance tradeoff achieving higher estimate accuracy, yet lower estimate precision, compared with IPW methods. EB weighting required no post-processing and effectively mitigated observed bias and confounding. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Application of classic engineering techniques (value engineering and observational method) at the Weldon Spring Quarry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferguson, R.D.; Valett, G.L.

1991-01-01

In July of 1987 the Weldon Spring quarry was listed on the Environmental Protection Agency National Priority List as the highest priority Federal facility site. The Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project applied the principles and techniques of Value Engineering (VE) and the Observational Method to remedial planning efforts at the quarry. VE sessions resulted in modifications of the scenarios developed during the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RM) process in preparation for conceptual design activities for the removal of waste from the quarry. The Observational Method, a technique developed to manage uncertainties, was used to guide both environmental and engineering planning to ensure that the waste removal activities win be carried out in a safe and environmentally responsible manner

Positron scattering by atomic hydrogen including positronium formation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higgins, K.; Burke, P.G.

1993-01-01

Positron scattering by atomic hydrogen including positronium formation has been formulated using the R-matrix method and a general computer code written. Partial wave elastic and ground state positronium formation cross sections have been calculated for L ≤ 6 using a six-state approximation which includes the ground state and the 2s and 2p pseudostates of both hydrogen and positronium. The elastic scattering results obtained are in good agreement with those derived from a highly accurate calculation based upon the intermediate energy R-matrix approach. As in a previous coupled-channel static calculation, resonance effects are observed at intermediate energies in the S-wave positronium formation cross section. However, in the present results, the dominant resonance arises in the P-wave cross sections at an energy of 2.73 Ryd and with a width of 0.19 Ryd. (author)

Improved Riccati Transfer Matrix Method for Free Vibration of Non-Cylindrical Helical Springs Including Warping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.M. Yu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Free vibration equations for non-cylindrical (conical, barrel, and hyperboloidal types helical springs with noncircular cross-sections, which consist of 14 first-order ordinary differential equations with variable coefficients, are theoretically derived using spatially curved beam theory. In the formulation, the warping effect upon natural frequencies and vibrating mode shapes is first studied in addition to including the rotary inertia, the shear and axial deformation influences. The natural frequencies of the springs are determined by the use of improved Riccati transfer matrix method. The element transfer matrix used in the solution is calculated using the Scaling and Squaring method and Pad'e approximations. Three examples are presented for three types of springs with different cross-sectional shapes under clamped-clamped boundary condition. The accuracy of the proposed method has been compared with the FEM results using three-dimensional solid elements (Solid 45 in ANSYS code. Numerical results reveal that the warping effect is more pronounced in the case of non-cylindrical helical springs than that of cylindrical helical springs, which should be taken into consideration in the free vibration analysis of such springs.

Measure Guideline: Summary of Interior Ducts in New Construction, Including an Efficient, Affordable Method to Install Fur-Down Interior Ducts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beal, D. [BA-PIRC, Cocoa, FL (United States); McIlvaine, J. [BA-PIRC, Cocoa, FL (United States); Fonorow, K. [BA-PIRC, Cocoa, FL (United States); Martin, E. [BA-PIRC, Cocoa, FL (United States)

2011-11-01

This document illustrates guidelines for the efficient installation of interior duct systems in new housing, including the fur-up chase method, the fur-down chase method, and interior ducts positioned in sealed attics or sealed crawl spaces.

A method for three-dimensional quantitative observation of the microstructure of biological samples

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Pengfei; Chen, Dieyan; Ma, Wanyun; Wu, Hongxin; Ji, Liang; Sun, Jialin; Lv, Danyu; Zhang, Lu; Li, Ying; Tian, Ning; Zheng, Jinggao; Zhao, Fengying

2009-07-01

Contemporary biology has developed into the era of cell biology and molecular biology, and people try to study the mechanism of all kinds of biological phenomena at the microcosmic level now. Accurate description of the microstructure of biological samples is exigent need from many biomedical experiments. This paper introduces a method for 3-dimensional quantitative observation on the microstructure of vital biological samples based on two photon laser scanning microscopy (TPLSM). TPLSM is a novel kind of fluorescence microscopy, which has excellence in its low optical damage, high resolution, deep penetration depth and suitability for 3-dimensional (3D) imaging. Fluorescent stained samples were observed by TPLSM, and afterward the original shapes of them were obtained through 3D image reconstruction. The spatial distribution of all objects in samples as well as their volumes could be derived by image segmentation and mathematic calculation. Thus the 3-dimensionally and quantitatively depicted microstructure of the samples was finally derived. We applied this method to quantitative analysis of the spatial distribution of chromosomes in meiotic mouse oocytes at metaphase, and wonderful results came out last.

Teaching Methods in Biology Education and Sustainability Education Including Outdoor Education for Promoting Sustainability--A Literature Review

Science.gov (United States)

Jeronen, Eila; Palmberg, Irmeli; Yli-Panula, Eija

2017-01-01

There are very few studies concerning the importance of teaching methods in biology education and environmental education including outdoor education for promoting sustainability at the levels of primary and secondary schools and pre-service teacher education. The material was selected using special keywords from biology and sustainable education…

Developing methods of determining unknown roational periods of asteroids via observations of (3122) Florence by the Harvard Observing Project

Science.gov (United States)

Abrams, Natasha Sarah; Bieryla, Allyson; Gomez, Sebastian; Huang, Jane; Lewis, John; Todd, Zoe; Alam, Munazza; Carmichael, Theron; Garrison, Lehman H.; Weaver, Ian; Chen, Chen; McGruder, Chima; Medina, Amber

2018-06-01

(3122) Florence is an asteroid that made the headlines with its close approach to Earth in late 2017. It is one of the biggest and brightest near-Earth asteroids that has been discovered and it has recently been found to have two moons. By observing the light reflected off an asteroid, we can measure its brightness over time and determine the rotational period of the asteroid. An asteroid’s rotational period can reveal information about its physical characteristics, such as its shape, and further our knowledge about processes that contribute to asteroid rotation in general. The Harvard Observing Project (HOP) is an initiative that allows undergraduates to learn about observational astronomy and take part in formal data collection and analysis. Over the course of the fall 2017 semester, HOP obtained four multi-hour, continuous observations in the R-band of the asteroid using the Harvard University 16-inch Clay Telescope. In our analysis, we reduced the images and performed astrometry and photometry on the data. The asteroid’s light curve was produced using AstroImageJ and we used the Python package gatspy to determine its rotational period. We found the rotational period to be 2.22 hours +/- 0.25, which agrees with the known rotational period of 2.3580 hours +/- 0.0002. This spring 2018 semester we are applying our methods to data collected on asteroids with unknown rotational periods and plan to present our findings.

Flowchart on Choosing Optimal Method of Observing Transverse Dispersion Coefficient for Solute Transport in Open Channel Flow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyong Oh Baek

2018-04-01

Full Text Available There are a number of methods for observing and estimating the transverse dispersion coefficient in an analysis of the solute transport in open channel flow. It may be difficult to select an optimal method to calculate dispersion coefficients from tracer data among numerous methodologies. A flowchart was proposed in this study to select an appropriate method under the transport situation of either time-variant or steady condition. When making the flowchart, the strengths and limitations of the methods were evaluated based on its derivation procedure which was conducted under specific assumptions. Additionally, application examples of these methods on experimental data were illustrated using previous works. Furthermore, the observed dispersion coefficients in a laboratory channel were validated by using transport numerical modeling, and the simulation results were compared with the experimental results from tracer tests. This flowchart may assist in choosing the better methods for determining the transverse dispersion coefficient in various river mixing situations.

Comparison of different methods to include recycling in LCAs of aluminium cans and disposable polystyrene cups.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Harst, Eugenie; Potting, José; Kroeze, Carolien

2016-02-01

Many methods have been reported and used to include recycling in life cycle assessments (LCAs). This paper evaluates six widely used methods: three substitution methods (i.e. substitution based on equal quality, a correction factor, and alternative material), allocation based on the number of recycling loops, the recycled-content method, and the equal-share method. These six methods were first compared, with an assumed hypothetical 100% recycling rate, for an aluminium can and a disposable polystyrene (PS) cup. The substitution and recycled-content method were next applied with actual rates for recycling, incineration and landfilling for both product systems in selected countries. The six methods differ in their approaches to credit recycling. The three substitution methods stimulate the recyclability of the product and assign credits for the obtained recycled material. The choice to either apply a correction factor, or to account for alternative substituted material has a considerable influence on the LCA results, and is debatable. Nevertheless, we prefer incorporating quality reduction of the recycled material by either a correction factor or an alternative substituted material over simply ignoring quality loss. The allocation-on-number-of-recycling-loops method focusses on the life expectancy of material itself, rather than on a specific separate product. The recycled-content method stimulates the use of recycled material, i.e. credits the use of recycled material in products and ignores the recyclability of the products. The equal-share method is a compromise between the substitution methods and the recycled-content method. The results for the aluminium can follow the underlying philosophies of the methods. The results for the PS cup are additionally influenced by the correction factor or credits for the alternative material accounting for the drop in PS quality, the waste treatment management (recycling rate, incineration rate, landfilling rate), and the

Observing a fictitious stressful event: haematological changes, including circulating leukocyte activation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mian, Rubina; Shelton-Rayner, Graham; Harkin, Brendan; Williams, Paul

2003-03-01

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of watching a psychological stressful event on the activation of leukocytes in healthy human volunteers. Blood samples were obtained from 32 healthy male and female subjects aged between 20 and 26 years before, during and after either watching an 83-minute horror film that none of the subjects had previously seen (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 1974) or by sitting quietly in a room (control group). Total differential cell counts, leukocyte activation as measured by the nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) test, heart rate and blood pressure (BP) measurements were taken at defined time points. There were significant increases in peripheral circulating leukocytes, the number of activated circulating leukocytes, haemoglobin (Hb) concentration and haematocrit (Hct) in response to the stressor. These were accompanied by significant increases in heart rate, systolic and diastolic BP (P<0.05 from baseline). This is the first reported study on the effects of observing a psychologically stressful, albeit fictitious event on circulating leukocyte numbers and the state of leukocyte activation as determined by the nitrotetrazolium test.

Evaluation of Two Methods for Modeling Measurement Errors When Testing Interaction Effects with Observed Composite Scores

Science.gov (United States)

Hsiao, Yu-Yu; Kwok, Oi-Man; Lai, Mark H. C.

2018-01-01

Path models with observed composites based on multiple items (e.g., mean or sum score of the items) are commonly used to test interaction effects. Under this practice, researchers generally assume that the observed composites are measured without errors. In this study, we reviewed and evaluated two alternative methods within the structural…

A review of the use of a systematic observation method in coaching research between 1997 and 2016.

Science.gov (United States)

Cope, Ed; Partington, Mark; Harvey, Stephen

2017-10-01

A systematic observation method has been one of the most popularly employed methods in coaching research. Kahan's review of this method conducted between 1975 and 1997 highlighted the key trends in this research, and offered methodological guidance for researchers wishing to use this method in their research. The purpose of this review was to provide an update of the use of a systematic observation method in coaching research and assess the extent to which the calls made by Kahan have been addressed. While in some respect this field of study has progressed (i.e., the introduction of qualitative methods), researchers adopting this method have failed to attend to many of the issues Kahan raised. For this method to continue to make a positive contribution towards the coaching research literature, researchers need to more critically reflect on how and why they are employing this method. At present, some of the decisions made by researchers who have conducted work in this area are not justified with a rationale. It is our intention that this review will serve as guidance for researchers and practitioners, and editors and reviewers of journals when attempting to assess the quality of this type of work.

A frequency domain linearized Navier-Stokes method including acoustic damping by eddy viscosity using RANS

Science.gov (United States)

Holmberg, Andreas; Kierkegaard, Axel; Weng, Chenyang

2015-06-01

In this paper, a method for including damping of acoustic energy in regions of strong turbulence is derived for a linearized Navier-Stokes method in the frequency domain. The proposed method is validated and analyzed in 2D only, although the formulation is fully presented in 3D. The result is applied in a study of the linear interaction between the acoustic and the hydrodynamic field in a 2D T-junction, subject to grazing flow at Mach 0.1. Part of the acoustic energy at the upstream edge of the junction is shed as harmonically oscillating disturbances, which are conveyed across the shear layer over the junction, where they interact with the acoustic field. As the acoustic waves travel in regions of strong shear, there is a need to include the interaction between the background turbulence and the acoustic field. For this purpose, the oscillation of the background turbulence Reynold's stress, due to the acoustic field, is modeled using an eddy Newtonian model assumption. The time averaged flow is first solved for using RANS along with a k-ε turbulence model. The spatially varying turbulent eddy viscosity is then added to the spatially invariant kinematic viscosity in the acoustic set of equations. The response of the 2D T-junction to an incident acoustic field is analyzed via a plane wave scattering matrix model, and the result is compared to experimental data for a T-junction of rectangular ducts. A strong improvement in the agreement between calculation and experimental data is found when the modification proposed in this paper is implemented. Discrepancies remaining are likely due to inaccuracies in the selected turbulence model, which is known to produce large errors e.g. for flows with significant rotation, which the grazing flow across the T-junction certainly is. A natural next step is therefore to test the proposed methodology together with more sophisticated turbulence models.

Zirconium-based alloys, nuclear fuel rods and nuclear reactors including such alloys, and related methods

Science.gov (United States)

Mariani, Robert Dominick

2014-09-09

Zirconium-based metal alloy compositions comprise zirconium, a first additive in which the permeability of hydrogen decreases with increasing temperatures at least over a temperature range extending from 350.degree. C. to 750.degree. C., and a second additive having a solubility in zirconium over the temperature range extending from 350.degree. C. to 750.degree. C. At least one of a solubility of the first additive in the second additive over the temperature range extending from 350.degree. C. to 750.degree. C. and a solubility of the second additive in the first additive over the temperature range extending from 350.degree. C. to 750.degree. C. is higher than the solubility of the second additive in zirconium over the temperature range extending from 350.degree. C. to 750.degree. C. Nuclear fuel rods include a cladding material comprising such metal alloy compositions, and nuclear reactors include such fuel rods. Methods are used to fabricate such zirconium-based metal alloy compositions.

Annual electricity consumption analysis and forecasting of China based on few observations methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meng Ming; Niu Dongxiao

2011-01-01

The annual electricity consumption analysis and forecasting of China is one of the important bases of management decision making for power generation groups as well as power policy adjusting for government. The socioeconomic actuality could not offer adequate observations with perfect statistic characters. The partial least squares method is applied to get a linear equation. It could quantificational simulate the relationship between the electricity consumption and its factors. The variables importance analysis method is further adopted to distinguish the explanatory power of all relative factors. The foremost importance of production and consumption in rural area shows that the development of this area should account more for the increasing of electricity consumption. The less explanatory power of the gross domestic product of tertiary industry means the gigantic potential in electricity consumption for the future several years. At last, it calculates the contributions of observations. The results show that the unusual development of real estate and relative industry has affected the usual electricity consumption mode. With the clear away of price bubble in real estate, the increasing speed of electricity consumption will slow down in the recent years.

Annual electricity consumption analysis and forecasting of China based on few observations methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meng, Ming; Niu, Dongxiao [School of Business Administration, North China Electric Power University, 071003 Baoding (China)

2011-02-15

The annual electricity consumption analysis and forecasting of China is one of the important bases of management decision making for power generation groups as well as power policy adjusting for government. The socioeconomic actuality could not offer adequate observations with perfect statistic characters. The partial least squares method is applied to get a linear equation. It could quantificational simulate the relationship between the electricity consumption and its factors. The variables importance analysis method is further adopted to distinguish the explanatory power of all relative factors. The foremost importance of production and consumption in rural area shows that the development of this area should account more for the increasing of electricity consumption. The less explanatory power of the gross domestic product of tertiary industry means the gigantic potential in electricity consumption for the future several years. At last, it calculates the contributions of observations. The results show that the unusual development of real estate and relative industry has affected the usual electricity consumption mode. With the clear away of price bubble in real estate, the increasing speed of electricity consumption will slow down in the recent years. (author)

Annual electricity consumption analysis and forecasting of China based on few observations methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meng Ming, E-mail: ncepumm@126.co [School of Business Administration, North China Electric Power University, 071003 Baoding (China); Niu Dongxiao [School of Business Administration, North China Electric Power University, 071003 Baoding (China)

2011-02-15

The annual electricity consumption analysis and forecasting of China is one of the important bases of management decision making for power generation groups as well as power policy adjusting for government. The socioeconomic actuality could not offer adequate observations with perfect statistic characters. The partial least squares method is applied to get a linear equation. It could quantificational simulate the relationship between the electricity consumption and its factors. The variables importance analysis method is further adopted to distinguish the explanatory power of all relative factors. The foremost importance of production and consumption in rural area shows that the development of this area should account more for the increasing of electricity consumption. The less explanatory power of the gross domestic product of tertiary industry means the gigantic potential in electricity consumption for the future several years. At last, it calculates the contributions of observations. The results show that the unusual development of real estate and relative industry has affected the usual electricity consumption mode. With the clear away of price bubble in real estate, the increasing speed of electricity consumption will slow down in the recent years.

Observations of the beam-beam interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seeman, J.T.

1985-11-01

The observed complexity of the beam-beam interaction is the subject of this paper. The varied observations obtained from many storage rings happen to be sufficiently similar that a prescription can be formulated to describe the behavior of the luminosity as a function of beam current including the peak value. This prescription can be used to interpret various methods for improving the luminosity. Discussion of these improvement methods is accompanied with examples from actual practice. The consequences of reducing the vertical betatron function (one of the most used techniques) to near the value of the bunch length are reviewed. Finally, areas needing further experimental and calculational studies are pointed out as they are uncovered

A New Method to Comprehensively Diagnose Shock Waves in the Solar Atmosphere Based on Simultaneous Spectroscopic and Imaging Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Ruan, Wenzhi; Yan, Limei; He, Jiansen; Zhang, Lei; Wang, Linghua; Wei, Yong

2018-06-01

Shock waves are believed to play an important role in plasma heating. The shock-like temporal jumps in radiation intensity and Doppler shift have been identified in the solar atmosphere. However, a quantitative diagnosis of the shocks in the solar atmosphere is still lacking, seriously hindering the understanding of shock dissipative heating of the solar atmosphere. Here, we propose a new method to realize the goal of the shock quantitative diagnosis, based on Rankine–Hugoniot equations and taking the advantages of simultaneous imaging and spectroscopic observations from, e.g., IRIS (Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph). Because of this method, the key parameters of shock candidates can be derived, such as the bulk velocity and temperature of the plasma in the upstream and downstream, the propagation speed and direction. The method is applied to the shock candidates observed by IRIS, and the overall characteristics of the shocks are revealed quantitatively for the first time. This method is also tested with the help of forward modeling, i.e., virtual observations of simulated shocks. The parameters obtained from the method are consistent with the parameters of the shock formed in the model and are independent of the viewing direction. Therefore, the method we proposed here is applicable to the quantitative and comprehensive diagnosis of the observed shocks in the solar atmosphere.

Five Methods to Score the Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation Checklist and to Examine Group Differences

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ze; Rohrer, David; Chuang, Chi-ching; Fujiki, Mayo; Herman, Keith; Reinke, Wendy

2015-01-01

This study compared 5 scoring methods in terms of their statistical assumptions. They were then used to score the Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation Checklist, a measure consisting of 3 subscales and 21 Likert-type items. The 5 methods used were (a) sum/average scores of items, (b) latent factor scores with continuous indicators, (c)…

A direct observation method for auditing large urban centers using stratified sampling, mobile GIS technology and virtual environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Lafontaine, Sean J V; Sawada, M; Kristjansson, Elizabeth

2017-02-16

With the expansion and growth of research on neighbourhood characteristics, there is an increased need for direct observational field audits. Herein, we introduce a novel direct observational audit method and systematic social observation instrument (SSOI) for efficiently assessing neighbourhood aesthetics over large urban areas. Our audit method uses spatial random sampling stratified by residential zoning and incorporates both mobile geographic information systems technology and virtual environments. The reliability of our method was tested in two ways: first, in 15 Ottawa neighbourhoods, we compared results at audited locations over two subsequent years, and second; we audited every residential block (167 blocks) in one neighbourhood and compared the distribution of SSOI aesthetics index scores with results from the randomly audited locations. Finally, we present interrater reliability and consistency results on all observed items. The observed neighbourhood average aesthetics index score estimated from four or five stratified random audit locations is sufficient to characterize the average neighbourhood aesthetics. The SSOI was internally consistent and demonstrated good to excellent interrater reliability. At the neighbourhood level, aesthetics is positively related to SES and physical activity and negatively correlated with BMI. The proposed approach to direct neighbourhood auditing performs sufficiently and has the advantage of financial and temporal efficiency when auditing a large city.

High inter-observer agreement of observer-perceived pain assessment in the emergency department

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hangaard, Martin Høhrmann; Malling, Brian; Mogensen, Christian Backer

2018-01-01

degree of inter-observer agreement. The aim of the present study was to assess the inter-observer agreement of perceived pain among emergency department nurses and to evaluate if it was influenced by predetermined factors like age and gender. Method: A project assistant randomly recruited two nurses, who...... of 0.05 and 95% limits of agreement of +/-1 category. Patient age, gender, localization of pain, examination room or presence of a significant other did not affect the inter-observer agreement. Conclusion: We found 70% agreement on pain category between the nurses and it is justified that nurse......Background: Triage is used to prioritize the patients in the emergency department. The majority of the triage systems include the patients' pain score to assess their level of acuity by using a combination of patient reported pain and observer-perceived pain; the latter therefore requires a certain...

Comparison of methods of extracting information for meta-analysis of observational studies in nutritional epidemiology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jong-Myon Bae

2016-01-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: A common method for conducting a quantitative systematic review (QSR for observational studies related to nutritional epidemiology is the “highest versus lowest intake” method (HLM, in which only the information concerning the effect size (ES of the highest category of a food item is collected on the basis of its lowest category. However, in the interval collapsing method (ICM, a method suggested to enable a maximum utilization of all available information, the ES information is collected by collapsing all categories into a single category. This study aimed to compare the ES and summary effect size (SES between the HLM and ICM. METHODS: A QSR for evaluating the citrus fruit intake and risk of pancreatic cancer and calculating the SES by using the HLM was selected. The ES and SES were estimated by performing a meta-analysis using the fixed-effect model. The directionality and statistical significance of the ES and SES were used as criteria for determining the concordance between the HLM and ICM outcomes. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed in the directionality of SES extracted by using the HLM or ICM. The application of the ICM, which uses a broader information base, yielded more-consistent ES and SES, and narrower confidence intervals than the HLM. CONCLUSIONS: The ICM is advantageous over the HLM owing to its higher statistical accuracy in extracting information for QSR on nutritional epidemiology. The application of the ICM should hence be recommended for future studies.

Intelligent Photovoltaic Systems by Combining the Improved Perturbation Method of Observation and Sun Location Tracking

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yajie; Shi, Yunbo; Yu, Xiaoyu; Liu, Yongjie

2016-01-01

Currently, tracking in photovoltaic (PV) systems suffers from some problems such as high energy consumption, poor anti-interference performance, and large tracking errors. This paper presents a solar PV tracking system on the basis of an improved perturbation and observation method, which maximizes photoelectric conversion efficiency. According to the projection principle, we design a sensor module with a light-intensity-detection module for environmental light-intensity measurement. The effect of environmental factors on the system operation is reduced, and intelligent identification of the weather is realized. This system adopts the discrete-type tracking method to reduce power consumption. A mechanical structure with a level-pitch double-degree-of-freedom is designed, and attitude correction is performed by closed-loop control. A worm-and-gear mechanism is added, and the reliability, stability, and precision of the system are improved. Finally, the perturbation and observation method designed and improved by this study was tested by simulated experiments. The experiments verified that the photoelectric sensor resolution can reach 0.344°, the tracking error is less than 2.5°, the largest improvement in the charge efficiency can reach 44.5%, and the system steadily and reliably works. PMID:27327657

Intelligent Photovoltaic Systems by Combining the Improved Perturbation Method of Observation and Sun Location Tracking.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yajie Wang

Full Text Available Currently, tracking in photovoltaic (PV systems suffers from some problems such as high energy consumption, poor anti-interference performance, and large tracking errors. This paper presents a solar PV tracking system on the basis of an improved perturbation and observation method, which maximizes photoelectric conversion efficiency. According to the projection principle, we design a sensor module with a light-intensity-detection module for environmental light-intensity measurement. The effect of environmental factors on the system operation is reduced, and intelligent identification of the weather is realized. This system adopts the discrete-type tracking method to reduce power consumption. A mechanical structure with a level-pitch double-degree-of-freedom is designed, and attitude correction is performed by closed-loop control. A worm-and-gear mechanism is added, and the reliability, stability, and precision of the system are improved. Finally, the perturbation and observation method designed and improved by this study was tested by simulated experiments. The experiments verified that the photoelectric sensor resolution can reach 0.344°, the tracking error is less than 2.5°, the largest improvement in the charge efficiency can reach 44.5%, and the system steadily and reliably works.

Intelligent Photovoltaic Systems by Combining the Improved Perturbation Method of Observation and Sun Location Tracking.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yajie; Shi, Yunbo; Yu, Xiaoyu; Liu, Yongjie

2016-01-01

Currently, tracking in photovoltaic (PV) systems suffers from some problems such as high energy consumption, poor anti-interference performance, and large tracking errors. This paper presents a solar PV tracking system on the basis of an improved perturbation and observation method, which maximizes photoelectric conversion efficiency. According to the projection principle, we design a sensor module with a light-intensity-detection module for environmental light-intensity measurement. The effect of environmental factors on the system operation is reduced, and intelligent identification of the weather is realized. This system adopts the discrete-type tracking method to reduce power consumption. A mechanical structure with a level-pitch double-degree-of-freedom is designed, and attitude correction is performed by closed-loop control. A worm-and-gear mechanism is added, and the reliability, stability, and precision of the system are improved. Finally, the perturbation and observation method designed and improved by this study was tested by simulated experiments. The experiments verified that the photoelectric sensor resolution can reach 0.344°, the tracking error is less than 2.5°, the largest improvement in the charge efficiency can reach 44.5%, and the system steadily and reliably works.

A sensitive multi-residue method for the determination of 35 micropollutants including pharmaceuticals, iodinated contrast media and pesticides in water.

Science.gov (United States)

Valls-Cantenys, Carme; Scheurer, Marco; Iglesias, Mònica; Sacher, Frank; Brauch, Heinz-Jürgen; Salvadó, Victoria

2016-09-01

A sensitive, multi-residue method using solid-phase extraction followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed to determine a representative group of 35 analytes, including corrosion inhibitors, pesticides and pharmaceuticals such as analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs, five iodinated contrast media, β-blockers and some of their metabolites and transformation products in water samples. Few other methods are capable of determining such a broad range of contrast media together with other analytes. We studied the parameters affecting the extraction of the target analytes, including sorbent selection and extraction conditions, their chromatographic separation (mobile phase composition and column) and detection conditions using two ionisation sources: electrospray ionisation (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation (APCI). In order to correct matrix effects, a total of 20 surrogate/internal standards were used. ESI was found to have better sensitivity than APCI. Recoveries ranging from 79 to 134 % for tap water and 66 to 144 % for surface water were obtained. Intra-day precision, calculated as relative standard deviation, was below 34 % for tap water and below 21 % for surface water, groundwater and effluent wastewater. Method quantification limits (MQL) were in the low ng L(-1) range, except for the contrast agents iomeprol, amidotrizoic acid and iohexol (22, 25.5 and 17.9 ng L(-1), respectively). Finally, the method was applied to the analysis of 56 real water samples as part of the validation procedure. All of the compounds were detected in at least some of the water samples analysed. Graphical Abstract Multi-residue method for the determination of micropollutants including pharmaceuticals, iodinated contrast media and pesticides in waters by LC-MS/MS.

Infants' social withdrawal symptoms assessed with a direct infant observation method in primary health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Puura, Kaija; Mäntymaa, Mirjami; Luoma, Ilona; Kaukonen, Pälvi; Guedeney, Antoine; Salmelin, Raili; Tamminen, Tuula

2010-12-01

Distressed infants may withdraw from social interaction, but recognising infants' social withdrawal is difficult. The aims of the study were to see whether an infant observation method can be reliably used by front line workers, and to examine the prevalence of infants' social withdrawal symptoms. A random sample of 363 families with four, eight or 18-month-old infants participated in the study. The infants were examined by general practitioners (GPs) in well-baby clinics with the Alarm Distress BaBy Scale (ADBB), an observation method developed for clinical settings. A score of five or more on the ADBB Scale in two subsequent assessments at a two-week interval was regarded as a sign of clinically significant infant social withdrawal. Kappas were calculated for the GPs' correct rating of withdrawn/not withdrawn against a set of videotapes rated by developer of the method, Professor Guedeney and his research group. The kappas for their ratings ranged from 0.5 to 1. The frequency of infants scoring above the cut off in two subsequent assessments was 3%. The ADBB Scale is a promising method for detecting infant social withdrawal in front line services. Three percents of infants were showing sustained social withdrawal as a sign of distress in this normal population sample. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A FILTRATION METHOD AND APPARATUS INCLUDING A ROLLER WITH PORES

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2008-01-01

The present invention offers a method for separating dry matter from a medium. A separation chamber is at least partly defined by a plurality of rollers (2,7) and is capable of being pressure regulated. At least one of the rollers is a pore roller (7) having a surface with pores allowing permeabi...

Suzaku observations of the outskirts of the galaxy cluster Abell 3395, including a filament toward Abell 3391

Science.gov (United States)

Sugawara, Yuuki; Takizawa, Motokazu; Itahana, Madoka; Akamatsu, Hiroki; Fujita, Yutaka; Ohashi, Takaya; Ishisaki, Yoshitaka

2017-12-01

The results of Suzaku observations of the outskirts of Abell 3395, including a large-scale structure filament toward Abell 3391, are presented. We measured temperature and abundance distributions from the southern outskirt of A 3395 to the north at the virial radius, where a filament structure has been found in the former X-ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect observations between A 3391 and A 3395. The overall temperature structure is consistent with the universal profile proposed by Okabe, N., et al. 2014, PASJ, 66, 99 for relaxed clusters, except for the filament region. A hint of intracluster medium heating is found between the two clusters, which might be due to their interaction in the early phase of a cluster merger. Although we obtained a relatively low metal abundance of Z=0.169^{+0.164+0.009+0.018}_{-0.150-0.004-0.015} solar, where the first, second, and third errors are statistical, cosmic X-ray background systematic, and non-X-ray background systematic, respectively, at the virial radius in the filament, our results are still consistent with previous results for other clusters (Z ˜ 0.3 solar) within errors. Therefore, our results are also consistent with the early enrichment scenario. We estimated Compton y parameters only from X-ray results in the region between A 3391 and A 3395 assuming a simple geometry. They are smaller than the previous SZ results with the Planck satellite. The difference could be attributed to a more elaborate geometry such as a filament inclined to the line-of-sight direction, or underestimation of the X-ray temperature because of the unresolved multi-temperature structures or undetected hot X-ray emission of the shock-heated gas.

[Clinical observation on nanometer acupoint mounting method for alleviation of myospasm complicated by spinal injury].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Su-Jie; Si, Tong; Li, Zhi

2008-11-01

To observe clinical effect of nanometer acupoint mounting method for alleviation of myospasm complicated by spinal injury. Sixty cases were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases in each group. The observation group were treated by nanometer mounting at 4 Jiaji (EX-B 2) points each on both sides of the affected spine and Shenshu (BL 23), Shangliao (BL 31), Ciliao (BL 32), Yang-lingquan (GB 34), Xuanzhong (GB 39); and the control group by mounting zinc oxide sticking tablets at the above acupoints. The mounting was replaced once each two days, 7 times constituting one course. One week and one month after the end of 3 courses, their results were recorded, respectively. Before treatment, there was no significant difference between the two groups in grades of the myospasm degree (P > 0.05). One week after the end of treatment, 15 cases were grade I of myospasm, 9 cases were grade II, 5 cases were grade III and 1 case was grade IV in the observation group, and 1 cases grade I, 7 cases grade II, 14 cases grade III, 8 cases grade IV in the control group. Ridit analysis on the data indicated that there were significant differences before and after treatment in the myospasm degree (P mounting method is a new one for alleviation of myospasm complicated by spinal injury, with convenience, safety and no side effect.

The Effect of DNA Extraction Methods on Observed Microbial Communities from Fibrous and Liquid Rumen Fractions of Dairy Cows.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaidya, Jueeli D; van den Bogert, Bartholomeus; Edwards, Joan E; Boekhorst, Jos; van Gastelen, Sanne; Saccenti, Edoardo; Plugge, Caroline M; Smidt, Hauke

2018-01-01

DNA based methods have been widely used to study the complexity of the rumen microbiota, and it is well known that the method of DNA extraction is a critical step in enabling accurate assessment of this complexity. Rumen fluid (RF) and fibrous content (FC) fractions differ substantially in terms of their physical nature and associated microorganisms. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the effect of four DNA extraction methods (RBB, PBB, FDSS, PQIAmini) differing in cell lysis and/or DNA recovery methods on the observed microbial diversity in RF and FC fractions using samples from four rumen cannulated dairy cows fed 100% grass silage (GS100), 67% GS and 33% maize silage (GS67MS33), 33% GS and 67% MS (GS33MS67), or 100% MS (MS100). An ANOVA statistical test was applied on DNA quality and yield measurements, and it was found that the DNA yield was significantly affected by extraction method ( p anaerobic fungal communities using quantitative PCR and pyrosequencing of relevant taxonomic markers. Redundancy analysis (RDA) of bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequence data at the family level showed that there was a significant effect of rumen fraction ( p = 0.012), and that PBB ( p = 0.012) and FDSS ( p = 0.024) also significantly contributed to explaining the observed variation in bacterial community composition. Whilst the DNA extraction method affected the apparent bacterial community composition, no single extraction method could be concluded to be ineffective. No obvious effect of DNA extraction method on the anaerobic fungi or archaea was observed, although fraction effects were evident for both. In summary, the comprehensive assessment of observed communities of bacteria, archaea and anaerobic fungi described here provides insight into a rational basis for selecting an optimal methodology to obtain a representative picture of the rumen microbiota.

Method for including detailed evaluation of daylight levels in Be06

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Steffen

2008-01-01

Good daylight conditions in office buildings have become an important issue due to new European regulatory demands which include energy consumption for electrical lighting in the building energy frame. Good daylight conditions in offices are thus in increased focus as an energy conserving measure....... In order to evaluate whether a certain design is good daylight design or not building designers must perform detailed evaluation of daylight levels, including the daylight performance of dynamic solar shadings, and include these in the energy performance evaluation. However, the mandatory national...... calculation tool in Denmark (Be06) for evaluating the energy performance of buildings is currently using a simple representation of available daylight in a room and simple assumptions regarding the control of shading devices. In a case example, this is leading to an overestimation of the energy consumption...

Window observers for linear systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Utkin Vadim

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Given a linear system x ˙ = A x + B u with output y = C x and a window function ω ( t , i.e., ∀ t , ω ( t ∈ {0,1 }, and assuming that the window function is Lebesgue measurable, we refer to the following observer, x ˆ = A x + B u + ω ( t L C ( x − x ˆ as a window observer. The stability issue is treated in this paper. It is proven that for linear time-invariant systems, the window observer can be stabilized by an appropriate design under a very mild condition on the window functions, albeit for linear time-varying system, some regularity of the window functions is required to achieve observer designs with the asymptotic stability. The corresponding design methods are developed. An example is included to illustrate the possible applications

Indirect Observation in Everyday Contexts: Concepts and Methodological Guidelines within a Mixed Methods Framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Teresa Anguera

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Indirect observation is a recent concept in systematic observation. It largely involves analyzing textual material generated either indirectly from transcriptions of audio recordings of verbal behavior in natural settings (e.g., conversation, group discussions or directly from narratives (e.g., letters of complaint, tweets, forum posts. It may also feature seemingly unobtrusive objects that can provide relevant insights into daily routines. All these materials constitute an extremely rich source of information for studying everyday life, and they are continuously growing with the burgeoning of new technologies for data recording, dissemination, and storage. Narratives are an excellent vehicle for studying everyday life, and quantitization is proposed as a means of integrating qualitative and quantitative elements. However, this analysis requires a structured system that enables researchers to analyze varying forms and sources of information objectively. In this paper, we present a methodological framework detailing the steps and decisions required to quantitatively analyze a set of data that was originally qualitative. We provide guidelines on study dimensions, text segmentation criteria, ad hoc observation instruments, data quality controls, and coding and preparation of text for quantitative analysis. The quality control stage is essential to ensure that the code matrices generated from the qualitative data are reliable. We provide examples of how an indirect observation study can produce data for quantitative analysis and also describe the different software tools available for the various stages of the process. The proposed method is framed within a specific mixed methods approach that involves collecting qualitative data and subsequently transforming these into matrices of codes (not frequencies for quantitative analysis to detect underlying structures and behavioral patterns. The data collection and quality control procedures fully meet

Second-principles method for materials simulations including electron and lattice degrees of freedom

Science.gov (United States)

García-Fernández, Pablo; Wojdeł, Jacek C.; Íñiguez, Jorge; Junquera, Javier

2016-05-01

We present a first-principles-based (second-principles) scheme that permits large-scale materials simulations including both atomic and electronic degrees of freedom on the same footing. The method is based on a predictive quantum-mechanical theory—e.g., density functional theory—and its accuracy can be systematically improved at a very modest computational cost. Our approach is based on dividing the electron density of the system into a reference part—typically corresponding to the system's neutral, geometry-dependent ground state—and a deformation part—defined as the difference between the actual and reference densities. We then take advantage of the fact that the bulk part of the system's energy depends on the reference density alone; this part can be efficiently and accurately described by a force field, thus avoiding explicit consideration of the electrons. Then, the effects associated to the difference density can be treated perturbatively with good precision by working in a suitably chosen Wannier function basis. Further, the electronic model can be restricted to the bands of interest. All these features combined yield a very flexible and computationally very efficient scheme. Here we present the basic formulation of this approach, as well as a practical strategy to compute model parameters for realistic materials. We illustrate the accuracy and scope of the proposed method with two case studies, namely, the relative stability of various spin arrangements in NiO (featuring complex magnetic interactions in a strongly-correlated oxide) and the formation of a two-dimensional electron gas at the interface between band insulators LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 (featuring subtle electron-lattice couplings and screening effects). We conclude by discussing ways to overcome the limitations of the present approach (most notably, the assumption of a fixed bonding topology), as well as its many envisioned possibilities and future extensions.

ℋ∞ Adaptive observer for nonlinear fractional-order systems

KAUST Repository

Ndoye, Ibrahima

2016-06-23

In this paper, an adaptive observer is proposed for the joint estimation of states and parameters of a fractional nonlinear system with external perturbations. The convergence of the proposed observer is derived in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) by using an indirect Lyapunov method.The proposed ℋ∞ adaptive observer is also robust against Lipschitz additive nonlinear uncertainty. The performance of the observer is illustrated through some examples including the chaotic Lorenz and Lü\\'s systems. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Implementation aspects of the Boundary Element Method including viscous and thermal losses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cutanda Henriquez, Vicente; Juhl, Peter Møller

2014-01-01

The implementation of viscous and thermal losses using the Boundary Element Method (BEM) is based on the Kirchhoff’s dispersion relation and has been tested in previous work using analytical test cases and comparison with measurements. Numerical methods that can simulate sound fields in fluids...

Determining characteristics of artificial near-Earth objects using observability analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Friedman, Alex M.; Frueh, Carolin

2018-03-01

Observability analysis is a method for determining whether a chosen state of a system can be determined from the output or measurements. Knowledge of state information availability resulting from observability analysis leads to improved sensor tasking for observation of orbital debris and better control of active spacecraft. This research performs numerical observability analysis of artificial near-Earth objects. Analysis of linearization methods and state transition matrices is performed to determine the viability of applying linear observability methods to the nonlinear orbit problem. Furthermore, pre-whitening is implemented to reformulate classical observability analysis. In addition, the state in observability analysis is typically composed of position and velocity; however, including object characteristics beyond position and velocity can be crucial for precise orbit propagation. For example, solar radiation pressure has a significant impact on the orbit of high area-to-mass ratio objects in geosynchronous orbit. Therefore, determining the time required for solar radiation pressure parameters to become observable is important for understanding debris objects. In order to compare observability analysis results with and without measurement noise and an extended state, quantitative measures of observability are investigated and implemented.

Effect of excess iodine intake on thyroid diseases in different populations: A systematic review and meta-analyses including observational studies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryoko Katagiri

Full Text Available Although several reports concerning the association of iodine excess and thyroid disease have appeared, no systematic review of the association between iodine excess intake and thyroid diseases, especially hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism, has yet been reported.We conducted a systematic search of Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases, Ichushi-Web and CiNii database for intervention trials and observational studies. Search terms were constructed from related words for excess AND iodine intake or excretion AND thyroid hormones or diseases AND study designs. After considering the qualitative heterogeneity among studies, a meta-analysis was conducted and odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI were estimated in random-effects models. A protocol was registered with PROSPERO (No. CRD42015028081.50 articles were included, including three intervention trials, six case-control studies, six follow-up studies and 35 cross-sectional studies. Three cross-sectional studies in adults included in meta-analysis. Odds ratio of overt and subclinical hypothyroidism between excess and adequate populations were 2.78 (CI:1.47 to 5.27 and 2.03 (CI:1.58 to 2.62 in adults, respectively. Source of excess iodine status was mainly iodized salt or water in included studies.Although universal salt iodization has improved goiter rates, chronic exposure to excess iodine from water or poorly monitored salt are risk factors for hypothyroidism in free-living populations. Monitoring of both iodine concentration in salt as well as the iodine concentration in local drinking water are essential to preventing thyroid diseases. Hypothyroidism should be also carefully monitored in areas with excess iodine. Because of the low quality and limited number of included studies, further evidence and review are required.

Designing Health Websites Based on Users’ Web-Based Information-Seeking Behaviors: A Mixed-Method Observational Study

Science.gov (United States)

Pang, Patrick Cheong-Iao; Verspoor, Karin; Pearce, Jon

2016-01-01

Background Laypeople increasingly use the Internet as a source of health information, but finding and discovering the right information remains problematic. These issues are partially due to the mismatch between the design of consumer health websites and the needs of health information seekers, particularly the lack of support for “exploring” health information. Objective The aim of this research was to create a design for consumer health websites by supporting different health information–seeking behaviors. We created a website called Better Health Explorer with the new design. Through the evaluation of this new design, we derive design implications for future implementations. Methods Better Health Explorer was designed using a user-centered approach. The design was implemented and assessed through a laboratory-based observational study. Participants tried to use Better Health Explorer and another live health website. Both websites contained the same content. A mixed-method approach was adopted to analyze multiple types of data collected in the experiment, including screen recordings, activity logs, Web browsing histories, and audiotaped interviews. Results Overall, 31 participants took part in the observational study. Our new design showed a positive result for improving the experience of health information seeking, by providing a wide range of information and an engaging environment. The results showed better knowledge acquisition, a higher number of page reads, and more query reformulations in both focused and exploratory search tasks. In addition, participants spent more time to discover health information with our design in exploratory search tasks, indicating higher engagement with the website. Finally, we identify 4 design considerations for designing consumer health websites and health information–seeking apps: (1) providing a dynamic information scope; (2) supporting serendipity; (3) considering trust implications; and (4) enhancing interactivity

The value of earth observations: methods and findings on the value of Landsat imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Holly M.; Serbina, Larisa O.; Richardson, Leslie A.; Ryker, Sarah J.; Newman, Timothy R.

2016-01-01

Data from Earth observation systems are used extensively in managing and monitoring natural resources, natural hazards, and the impacts of climate change, but the value of such data can be difficult to estimate, particularly when it is available at no cost. Assessing the socioeconomic and scientific value of these data provides a better understanding of the existing and emerging research, science, and applications related to this information and contributes to the decision making process regarding current and future Earth observation systems. Recent USGS research on Landsat data has advanced the literature in this area by using a variety of methods to estimate value. The results of a 2012 survey of Landsat users, a 2013 requirements assessment, and 2013 case studies of applications of Landsat imagery are discussed.

Observer Design for Boundary Coupled PDEs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moura, Scott; Bendtsen, Jan Dimon; Ruiz, Victor

2013-01-01

observer is derived, which uses only measurements of how many TCLs turn on/off at any given time. The design is proven to be exponentially stable via backstepping techniques. Finally, the observer's properties are demonstrated via simulation examples. The estimator provides system-critical information......This paper develops methods for state estimation of aggregated thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) in smart grids, via partial differential equation (PDE) techniques. TCLs include on/off controlled devices, such as heat pumps, HVAC systems, and deep freezers. Control of aggregated TCLs...... on designing a state estimation scheme for a PDE-based model of aggregated TCLs, thus reducing the required communication. First, a two-state linear hyperbolic PDE model for homogenous TCL populations is presented. This model is extended to heterogeneous populations by including a diffusive term. Next, a state...

The development of coastal diffusion observation method with a model airplane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamada, Masaharu; Fukuda, Masaaki

1982-01-01

A tethered ballon system has been developed in order to take aerial photograph of dye-cloud in times of coastal diffusion experiment. The system has some weakpoints; it can not be used both under strong wind and under on-shore blowing wind. To cover these wind conditions, another method of aerial photography is developed making use of model airplane. Radio controlled airplane on the market is reconstructed to mount 35 mm camera, the shutter of which is handled through the channel ordinarily used to control wheel logs. The procedure of the new system in case of diffusion experiment is similar to that of the tethered balloon system. Observations with this system has been carried out from winter to summer this year. Some results of them are described. (author)

Observed and modeled multi-year evaporation from three field-scale experiments using water balance and Penman-Monteith methods: Profound effect of material type and wind exposure

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, H. E.; Fretz, N.; Bay, D.; Mayer, K. U.; Smith, L.; Beckie, R. D.

2013-12-01

Three instrumented experimental waste-rock piles at the Cu-Zn-Mo Antamina Mine in Peru are composed of distinct types of waste rock but are otherwise almost identical in size and geometry and experience the same atmospheric conditions with the exception of wind exposure. Evaporation from the piles was calculated using the water balance method over three- and four-year periods to determine the effect of material type and meteorological variability on evaporation. Annual changes in water storage were low or negligible except as a result of unusually high annual precipitation. Observed evaporation was high (44% - 75% of precipitation) and was extremely variable annually in the coarsest-grained waste-rock pile 1, most likely as a result of greater wind exposure and air circulation in that pile. Observed evaporation was moderate (36% - 48% of precipitation) with moderate annual variability in the finer-grained, relatively homogeneous waste-rock pile 2. Observed evaporation was low (24% - 32% of precipitation) with low annual variability in the finer-grained, relatively heterogeneous waste-rock pile 3, most likely as a result of low air circulation coupled with complex flow regimes that include high-velocity preferential flow paths. Slightly higher evaporation was observed on the slopes than on the crowns of Pile 2, while much lower evaporation was observed on the slopes than on the crowns of Piles 1 and 3. Evidence suggests that Piles 1 and 3 slope water-balance evaporation estimates are skewed by non-vertical flow and that, in general, evaporation is higher on the slopes than on the crowns of the piles. Evaporation was also estimated using the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations modified Penman-Monteith method (FAO-PM; Allen et al., 1998) using base-case laboratory- and software- derived parameters. The base-case method underestimated observed evaporation calculated by the water balance method for Pile 1, overestimated observed evaporation for Pile

Design, application and testing of the Work Observation Method by Activity Timing (WOMBAT) to measure clinicians' patterns of work and communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Westbrook, Johanna I; Ampt, Amanda

2009-04-01

Evidence regarding how health information technologies influence clinicians' patterns of work and support efficient practices is limited. Traditional paper-based data collection methods are unable to capture clinical work complexity and communication patterns. The use of electronic data collection tools for such studies is emerging yet is rarely assessed for reliability or validity. Our aim was to design, apply and test an observational method which incorporated the use of an electronic data collection tool for work measurement studies which would allow efficient, accurate and reliable data collection, and capture greater degrees of work complexity than current approaches. We developed an observational method and software for personal digital assistants (PDAs) which captures multiple dimensions of clinicians' work tasks, namely what task, with whom, and with what; tasks conducted in parallel (multi-tasking); interruptions and task duration. During field-testing over 7 months across four hospital wards, fifty-two nurses were observed for 250 h. Inter-rater reliability was tested and validity was measured by (i) assessing whether observational data reflected known differences in clinical role work tasks and (ii) by comparing observational data with participants' estimates of their task time distribution. Observers took 15-20 h of training to master the method and data collection process. Only 1% of tasks observed did not match the classification developed and were classified as 'other'. Inter-rater reliability scores of observers were maintained at over 85%. The results discriminated between the work patterns of enrolled and registered nurses consistent with differences in their roles. Survey data (n=27) revealed consistent ratings of tasks by nurses, and their rankings of most to least time-consuming tasks were significantly correlated with those derived from the observational data. Over 40% of nurses' time was spent in direct care or professional communication

Innovative Methods for Estimating Densities and Detection Probabilities of Secretive Reptiles Including Invasive Constrictors and Rare Upland Snakes

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-30

home range  maintenance  or attraction to or avoidance of  landscape features, including  roads  (Morales et al. 2004, McClintock et al. 2012). For example...radiotelemetry and extensive road survey data are used to generate the first density estimates available for the species. The results show that southern...secretive snakes that combines behavioral observations of snake road crossing speed, systematic road survey data, and simulations of spatial

Measure Guideline: Summary of Interior Ducts in New Construction, Including an Efficient, Affordable Method to Install Fur-Down Interior Ducts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beal, D.; McIlvaine , J.; Fonorow, K.; Martin, E.

2011-11-01

This document illustrates guidelines for the efficient installation of interior duct systems in new housing, including the fur-up chase method, the fur-down chase method, and interior ducts positioned in sealed attics or sealed crawl spaces. This document illustrates guidelines for the efficient installation of interior duct systems in new housing. Interior ducts result from bringing the duct work inside a home's thermal and air barrier. Architects, designers, builders, and new home buyers should thoroughly investigate any opportunity for energy savings that is as easy to implement during construction, such as the opportunity to construct interior duct work. In addition to enhanced energy efficiency, interior ductwork results in other important advantages, such as improved indoor air quality, increased system durability and increased homeowner comfort. While the advantages of well-designed and constructed interior duct systems are recognized, the implementation of this approach has not gained a significant market acceptance. This guideline describes a variety of methods to create interior ducts including the fur-up chase method, the fur-down chase method, and interior ducts positioned in sealed attics or sealed crawl spaces. As communication of the intent of an interior duct system, and collaboration on its construction are paramount to success, this guideline details the critical design, planning, construction, inspection, and verification steps that must be taken. Involved in this process are individuals from the design team; sales/marketing team; and mechanical, insulation, plumbing, electrical, framing, drywall and solar contractors.

Sky cover from MFRSR observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Kassianov

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The diffuse all-sky surface irradiances measured at two nearby wavelengths in the visible spectral range and their modeled clear-sky counterparts are the main components of a new method for estimating the fractional sky cover of different cloud types, including cumuli. The performance of this method is illustrated using 1-min resolution data from a ground-based Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer (MFRSR. The MFRSR data are collected at the US Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM Climate Research Facility (ACRF Southern Great Plains (SGP site during the summer of 2007 and represent 13 days with cumuli. Good agreement is obtained between estimated values of the fractional sky cover and those provided by a well-established independent method based on broadband observations.

Including refugees in disease elimination: challenges observed from a sleeping sickness programme in Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Palmer, Jennifer J; Robert, Okello; Kansiime, Freddie

2017-01-01

Ensuring equity between forcibly-displaced and host area populations is a key challenge for global elimination programmes. We studied Uganda's response to the recent refugee influx from South Sudan to identify key governance and operational lessons for national sleeping sickness programmes working with displaced populations today. A refugee policy which favours integration of primary healthcare services for refugee and host populations and the availability of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to detect sleeping sickness at this health system level makes Uganda well-placed to include refugees in sleeping sickness surveillance. Using ethnographic observations of coordination meetings, review of programme data, interviews with sleeping sickness and refugee authorities and group discussions with health staff and refugees (2013-2016), we nevertheless identified some key challenges to equitably integrating refugees into government sleeping sickness surveillance. Despite fears that refugees were at risk of disease and posed a threat to elimination, six months into the response, programme coordinators progressed to a sentinel surveillance strategy in districts hosting the highest concentrations of refugees. This meant that RDTs, the programme's primary surveillance tool, were removed from most refugee-serving facilities, exacerbating existing inequitable access to surveillance and leading refugees to claim that their access to sleeping sickness tests had been better in South Sudan. This was not intentionally done to exclude refugees from care, rather, four key governance challenges made it difficult for the programme to recognise and correct inequities affecting refugees: (a) perceived donor pressure to reduce the sleeping sickness programme's scope without clear international elimination guidance on surveillance quality; (b) a problematic history of programme relations with refugee-hosting districts which strained supervision of surveillance quality; (c) difficulties that

Semi-supervised clustering methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Bair, Eric

2013-01-01

Cluster analysis methods seek to partition a data set into homogeneous subgroups. It is useful in a wide variety of applications, including document processing and modern genetics. Conventional clustering methods are unsupervised, meaning that there is no outcome variable nor is anything known about the relationship between the observations in the data set. In many situations, however, information about the clusters is available in addition to the values of the features. For example, the cluster labels of some observations may be known, or certain observations may be known to belong to the same cluster. In other cases, one may wish to identify clusters that are associated with a particular outcome variable. This review describes several clustering algorithms (known as "semi-supervised clustering" methods) that can be applied in these situations. The majority of these methods are modifications of the popular k-means clustering method, and several of them will be described in detail. A brief description of some other semi-supervised clustering algorithms is also provided.

Applications of the conjugate gradient FFT method in scattering and radiation including simulations with impedance boundary conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Barkeshli, Kasra; Volakis, John L.

1991-01-01

The theoretical and computational aspects related to the application of the Conjugate Gradient FFT (CGFFT) method in computational electromagnetics are examined. The advantages of applying the CGFFT method to a class of large scale scattering and radiation problems are outlined. The main advantages of the method stem from its iterative nature which eliminates a need to form the system matrix (thus reducing the computer memory allocation requirements) and guarantees convergence to the true solution in a finite number of steps. Results are presented for various radiators and scatterers including thin cylindrical dipole antennas, thin conductive and resistive strips and plates, as well as dielectric cylinders. Solutions of integral equations derived on the basis of generalized impedance boundary conditions (GIBC) are also examined. The boundary conditions can be used to replace the profile of a material coating by an impedance sheet or insert, thus, eliminating the need to introduce unknown polarization currents within the volume of the layer. A general full wave analysis of 2-D and 3-D rectangular grooves and cavities is presented which will also serve as a reference for future work.

Parameter estimation method that directly compares gravitational wave observations to numerical relativity

Science.gov (United States)

Lange, J.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Boyle, M.; Calderón Bustillo, J.; Campanelli, M.; Chu, T.; Clark, J. A.; Demos, N.; Fong, H.; Healy, J.; Hemberger, D. A.; Hinder, I.; Jani, K.; Khamesra, B.; Kidder, L. E.; Kumar, P.; Laguna, P.; Lousto, C. O.; Lovelace, G.; Ossokine, S.; Pfeiffer, H.; Scheel, M. A.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Szilagyi, B.; Teukolsky, S.; Zlochower, Y.

2017-11-01

We present and assess a Bayesian method to interpret gravitational wave signals from binary black holes. Our method directly compares gravitational wave data to numerical relativity (NR) simulations. In this study, we present a detailed investigation of the systematic and statistical parameter estimation errors of this method. This procedure bypasses approximations used in semianalytical models for compact binary coalescence. In this work, we use the full posterior parameter distribution for only generic nonprecessing binaries, drawing inferences away from the set of NR simulations used, via interpolation of a single scalar quantity (the marginalized log likelihood, ln L ) evaluated by comparing data to nonprecessing binary black hole simulations. We also compare the data to generic simulations, and discuss the effectiveness of this procedure for generic sources. We specifically assess the impact of higher order modes, repeating our interpretation with both l ≤2 as well as l ≤3 harmonic modes. Using the l ≤3 higher modes, we gain more information from the signal and can better constrain the parameters of the gravitational wave signal. We assess and quantify several sources of systematic error that our procedure could introduce, including simulation resolution and duration; most are negligible. We show through examples that our method can recover the parameters for equal mass, zero spin, GW150914-like, and unequal mass, precessing spin sources. Our study of this new parameter estimation method demonstrates that we can quantify and understand the systematic and statistical error. This method allows us to use higher order modes from numerical relativity simulations to better constrain the black hole binary parameters.

Application of iterative method with dynamic weight based on observation equation's constant in NPP's surveying

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Benfu; Guo Xianchun; Zou Zili

2009-01-01

It' s useful to identify the data with errors from the large number of observations during the process of adjustment to decrease the influence of the errors and to improve the quality of the final surveying result. Based on practical conditions of the nuclear power plant's plain control network, it has been given on how to simply calculate the threshold value which used to pre-weight each datum before adjustment calculation; it shows some superiorities in efficiency on data snooping and in quality of the final calculation compared with some traditional methods such as robust estimation, which process data with dynamic weight based the observation' s correction after each iteration. (authors)

Forest biomass observation: current state and prospective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. G. Schepaschenko

2017-08-01

Full Text Available With this article, we provide an overview of the methods, instruments and initiatives for forest biomass observation at global scale. We focus on the freely available information, provided by both remote and in-situ observations. The advantages and limitation of various space borne methods, including optical, radar (C, L and P band and LiDAR, as well as respective instruments available on the orbit (MODIS, Proba-V, Landsat, Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 , ALOS PALSAR, Envisat ASAR or expecting (BIOMASS, GEDI, NISAR, SAOCOM-CS are discussed. We emphasize the role of in-situ methods in the development of a biomass models, providing calibration and validation of remote sensing data. We focus on freely available forest biomass maps, databases and empirical models. We describe the functionality of Biomass.Geo-Wiki.org portal, which provides access to a collection of global and regional biomass maps in full resolution with unified legend and units overplayed with high-resolution imagery. The Forest-Observation-System.net is announced as an international cooperation to establish a global in-situ forest biomass database to support earth observation and to encourage investment in relevant field-based observations and science. Prospects of unmanned aerial vehicles in the forest inventory are briefly discussed. The work was partly supported by ESA IFBN project (contract 4000114425/15/NL/FF/gp.

Constraining cosmological parameters with observational data including weak lensing effects

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Li Hong [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, PO Box 918-4, Beijing 100049 (China); Theoretical Physics Center for Science Facilities (TPCSF), Chinese Academy of Science (China)], E-mail: hongli@mail.ihep.ac.cn; Liu Jie [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, PO Box 918-4, Beijing 100049 (China); Xia Junqing [Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Via Beirut 2-4, I-34014 Trieste (Italy); Sun Lei; Fan Zuhui [Department of Astronomy, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China); Tao Charling; Tilquin, Andre [Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille, CNRS/IN2P3-Luminy and Universite de la Mediterranee, Case 907, F-13288 Marseille Cedex 9 (France); Zhang Xinmin [Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, PO Box 918-4, Beijing 100049 (China); Theoretical Physics Center for Science Facilities (TPCSF), Chinese Academy of Science (China)

2009-05-11

In this Letter, we study the cosmological implications of the 100 square degree Weak Lensing survey (the CFHTLS-Wide, RCS, VIRMOS-DESCART and GaBoDS surveys). We combine these weak lensing data with the cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurements from the WMAP5, BOOMERanG, CBI, VSA, ACBAR, the SDSS LRG matter power spectrum and the Type Ia Supernoave (SNIa) data with the 'Union' compilation (307 sample), using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to determine the cosmological parameters, such as the equation-of-state (EoS) of dark energy w, the density fluctuation amplitude {sigma}{sub 8}, the total neutrino mass {sigma}m{sub {nu}} and the parameters associated with the power spectrum of the primordial fluctuations. Our results show that the {lambda}CDM model remains a good fit to all of these data. In a flat universe, we obtain a tight limit on the constant EoS of dark energy, w=-0.97{+-}0.041 (1{sigma}). For the dynamical dark energy model with time evolving EoS parameterized as w{sub de}(a)=w{sub 0}+w{sub a}(1-a), we find that the best-fit values are w{sub 0}=-1.064 and w{sub a}=0.375, implying the mildly preference of Quintom model whose EoS gets across the cosmological constant boundary during evolution. Regarding the total neutrino mass limit, we obtain the upper limit, {sigma}m{sub {nu}}<0.471 eV (95% C.L.) within the framework of the flat {lambda}CDM model. Due to the obvious degeneracies between the neutrino mass and the EoS of dark energy model, this upper limit will be relaxed by a factor of 2 in the framework of dynamical dark energy models. Assuming that the primordial fluctuations are adiabatic with a power law spectrum, within the {lambda}CDM model, we find that the upper limit on the ratio of the tensor to scalar is r<0.35 (95% C.L.) and the inflationary models with the slope n{sub s}{>=}1 are excluded at more than 2{sigma} confidence level. In this Letter we pay particular attention to the contribution from the weak lensing data and

The Effect of DNA Extraction Methods on Observed Microbial Communities from Fibrous and Liquid Rumen Fractions of Dairy Cows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jueeli D. Vaidya

2018-01-01

Full Text Available DNA based methods have been widely used to study the complexity of the rumen microbiota, and it is well known that the method of DNA extraction is a critical step in enabling accurate assessment of this complexity. Rumen fluid (RF and fibrous content (FC fractions differ substantially in terms of their physical nature and associated microorganisms. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the effect of four DNA extraction methods (RBB, PBB, FDSS, PQIAmini differing in cell lysis and/or DNA recovery methods on the observed microbial diversity in RF and FC fractions using samples from four rumen cannulated dairy cows fed 100% grass silage (GS100, 67% GS and 33% maize silage (GS67MS33, 33% GS and 67% MS (GS33MS67, or 100% MS (MS100. An ANOVA statistical test was applied on DNA quality and yield measurements, and it was found that the DNA yield was significantly affected by extraction method (p < 0.001 and fraction (p < 0.001. The 260/280 ratio was not affected by extraction (p = 0.08 but was affected by fraction (p = 0.03. On the other hand, the 260/230 ratio was affected by extraction method (p < 0.001 but not affected by fraction (p = 0.8. However, all four extraction procedures yielded DNA suitable for further analysis of bacterial, archaeal and anaerobic fungal communities using quantitative PCR and pyrosequencing of relevant taxonomic markers. Redundancy analysis (RDA of bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequence data at the family level showed that there was a significant effect of rumen fraction (p = 0.012, and that PBB (p = 0.012 and FDSS (p = 0.024 also significantly contributed to explaining the observed variation in bacterial community composition. Whilst the DNA extraction method affected the apparent bacterial community composition, no single extraction method could be concluded to be ineffective. No obvious effect of DNA extraction method on the anaerobic fungi or archaea was observed, although fraction effects were evident for both. In

Modelled hydraulic redistribution by sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) matches observed data only after including night-time transpiration.

Science.gov (United States)

Neumann, Rebecca B; Cardon, Zoe G; Teshera-Levye, Jennifer; Rockwell, Fulton E; Zwieniecki, Maciej A; Holbrook, N Michele

2014-04-01

The movement of water from moist to dry soil layers through the root systems of plants, referred to as hydraulic redistribution (HR), occurs throughout the world and is thought to influence carbon and water budgets and ecosystem functioning. The realized hydrologic, biogeochemical and ecological consequences of HR depend on the amount of redistributed water, whereas the ability to assess these impacts requires models that correctly capture HR magnitude and timing. Using several soil types and two ecotypes of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) in split-pot experiments, we examined how well the widely used HR modelling formulation developed by Ryel et al. matched experimental determination of HR across a range of water potential driving gradients. H. annuus carries out extensive night-time transpiration, and although over the last decade it has become more widely recognized that night-time transpiration occurs in multiple species and many ecosystems, the original Ryel et al. formulation does not include the effect of night-time transpiration on HR. We developed and added a representation of night-time transpiration into the formulation, and only then was the model able to capture the dynamics and magnitude of HR we observed as soils dried and night-time stomatal behaviour changed, both influencing HR. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A coupling method for a cardiovascular simulation model which includes the Kalman filter.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasegawa, Yuki; Shimayoshi, Takao; Amano, Akira; Matsuda, Tetsuya

2012-01-01

Multi-scale models of the cardiovascular system provide new insight that was unavailable with in vivo and in vitro experiments. For the cardiovascular system, multi-scale simulations provide a valuable perspective in analyzing the interaction of three phenomenons occurring at different spatial scales: circulatory hemodynamics, ventricular structural dynamics, and myocardial excitation-contraction. In order to simulate these interactions, multiscale cardiovascular simulation systems couple models that simulate different phenomena. However, coupling methods require a significant amount of calculation, since a system of non-linear equations must be solved for each timestep. Therefore, we proposed a coupling method which decreases the amount of calculation by using the Kalman filter. In our method, the Kalman filter calculates approximations for the solution to the system of non-linear equations at each timestep. The approximations are then used as initial values for solving the system of non-linear equations. The proposed method decreases the number of iterations required by 94.0% compared to the conventional strong coupling method. When compared with a smoothing spline predictor, the proposed method required 49.4% fewer iterations.

Observations of Bacterial Behavior during Infection Using the ARGOS Method

Science.gov (United States)

Charest, A. J.; Algarni, S.; Iannacchione, G. S.

2015-03-01

This research employed the Area Recorded Generalized Optical Scattering (ARGOS) approach which allowed for the observation of bacterial changes in terms of individual particles and population dynamics in real time. This new approach allows for an aqueous environment to be manipulated while conducting time-specific measurements over an indefinite amount of time. This current study provides a more time-specific method in which the bacteria remained within the initial conditions and allows for more time precision than provided by analyzing concentrations of plaque-forming units (PFU). This study involved the bacteria (F-amp) during infection by bacteriophage (MS2). The relative total intensity allows for detailed measurements of the bacteria population over time. The bacteria characteristics were also evaluated such as the root mean square image difference (at specific wavevectors), fractal dimension and effective radius. The growth rate of the infected bacteria occurred at a rate higher than the uninfected bacteria similarly, the death rates were also higher for the infected bacteria than the uninfected bacteria. The present study indicates that bacteria may react to infection by increasing the rate of population growth.

Improved control of distributed parameter systems using wireless sensor and actuator networks: An observer-based method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Zheng-Xian; Cui Bao-Tong; Lou Xu-Yang; Zhuang Bo

2017-01-01

In this paper, the control problem of distributed parameter systems is investigated by using wireless sensor and actuator networks with the observer-based method. Firstly, a centralized observer which makes use of the measurement information provided by the fixed sensors is designed to estimate the distributed parameter systems. The mobile agents, each of which is affixed with a controller and an actuator, can provide the observer-based control for the target systems. By using Lyapunov stability arguments, the stability for the estimation error system and distributed parameter control system is proved, meanwhile a guidance scheme for each mobile actuator is provided to improve the control performance. A numerical example is finally used to demonstrate the effectiveness and the advantages of the proposed approaches. (paper)

The Three-Step Test-Interview (TSTI: An observation-based method for pretesting self-completion questionnaires

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tony Hak

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Three-Step Test-Interview (TSTI is a method for pretesting a self-completion questionnaire by first observing actual instances of interaction between the instrument and respondents (the response process before exploring the reasons for this behavior. The TSTI consists of the following three steps: 1. (Respondent-driven observation of response behavior. 2. (Interviewer-driven follow-up probing aimed at remedying gaps in observational data. 3. (Interviewer-driven debriefing aimed at eliciting experiences and opinions. We describe the aims and the techniques of these three steps, and then discuss pilot studies in which we tested the feasibility and the productivity of the TSTI by applying it in testing three rather different types of questionnaires. In the first study, the quality of a set of questions about alcohol consumption was assessed. The TSTI proved to be productive in identifying problems that resulted from a mismatch between the ‘theory’ underlying the questions on the one hand, and features of a respondent’s actual behavior and biography on the other hand. In the second pilot study, Dutch and Norwegian versions of an attitude scale, the 20-item Illegal Aliens Scale, were tested. The TSTI appeared to be productive in identifying problems that resulted from different ‘response strategies’. In the third pilot, a two-year longitudinal study, the TSTI appeared to be an effective method for documenting processes of ‘response shift’ in repeated measurements of health-related Quality of Life (QoL.

A Method for Determining Pseudo-measurement State Values for Topology Observability of State Estimation in Power Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Urano, Shoichi; Mori, Hiroyuki

This paper proposes a new technique for determining of state values in power systems. Recently, it is useful for carrying out state estimation with data of PMU (Phasor Measurement Unit). The authors have developed a method for determining state values with artificial neural network (ANN) considering topology observability in power systems. ANN has advantage to approximate nonlinear functions with high precision. The method evaluates pseudo-measurement state values of the data which are lost in power systems. The method is successfully applied to the IEEE 14-bus system.

Simultaneous observation of cavitation bubbles generated in biological tissue by high-speed optical and acoustic imaging methods

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Kai; Iwasaki, Ryosuke; Takagi, Ryo; Yoshizawa, Shin; Umemura, Shin-ichiro

2017-07-01

Acoustic cavitation bubbles are useful for enhancing the heating effect in high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment. Many studies were conducted to investigate the behavior of such bubbles in tissue-mimicking materials, such as a transparent gel phantom; however, the detailed behavior in tissue was still unclear owing to the difficulty in optical observation. In this study, a new biological phantom was developed to observe cavitation bubbles generated in an optically shallow area of tissue. Two imaging methods, high-speed photography using light scattering and high-speed ultrasonic imaging, were used for detecting the behavior of the bubbles simultaneously. The results agreed well with each other for the area of bubble formation and the temporal change in the region of bubbles, suggesting that both methods are useful for visualizing the bubbles.

THE EMPIRICAL METHOD OF INVESTIGATING THE CHILDHOOD SUBCULTURE: GROUP OF CHILDREN BEHAVIOR OBSERVATION IN THE GUESTHOUSE POOL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ms. Yelena N. Suvorkina

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article deals with one of the empirical research methods investigating the childhood sub-culture. The method is called observation. The author marked general theoretical position, recommendations on its implementation. Based on observations of the group of children behavior in the guesthouse pool it is found out that such category, as honesty is very important in the organization of the order, taking into account that the subculture of childhood is an open, self-organizing system. In the pool, the children come up with a wide variety of games. The adjacent areas are also involved. The author identified two borders, taking place for the child: a clear (fixed border is the side of the pool and unclear border as the transitional designation of states, qualities (dangerous – safe.

Observation of asphalt binder microstructure with ESEM.

Science.gov (United States)

Mikhailenko, P; Kadhim, H; Baaj, H; Tighe, S

2017-09-01

The observation of asphalt binder with the environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) has shown the potential to observe asphalt binder microstructure and its evolution with binder aging. A procedure for the induction and identification of the microstructure in asphalt binder was established in this study and included sample preparation and observation parameters. A suitable heat-sampling asphalt binder sample preparation method was determined for the test and several stainless steel and Teflon sample moulds developed, finding that stainless steel was the preferable material. The magnification and ESEM settings conducive to observing the 3D microstructure were determined through a number of observations to be 1000×, although other magnifications could be considered. Both straight run binder (PG 58-28) and an air blown oxidised binder were analysed; their structures being compared for their relative size, abundance and other characteristics, showing a clear evolution in the fibril microstructure. The microstructure took longer to appear for the oxidised binder. It was confirmed that the fibril microstructure corresponded to actual characteristics in the asphalt binder. Additionally, a 'bee' micelle structure was found as a transitional structure in ESEM observation. The test methods in this study will be used for more comprehensive analysis of asphalt binder microstructure. © 2017 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2017 Royal Microscopical Society.

Contributors to Frequent Telehealth Alerts Including False Alerts for Patients with Heart Failure: A Mixed Methods Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Radhakrishna, K.; Bowles, K.; Zettek-Sumner, A.

2013-01-01

Summary Background Telehealth data overload through high alert generation is a significant barrier to sustained adoption of telehealth for managing HF patients. Objective To explore the factors contributing to frequent telehealth alerts including false alerts for Medicare heart failure (HF) patients admitted to a home health agency. Materials and Methods A mixed methods design that combined quantitative correlation analysis of patient characteristic data with number of telehealth alerts and qualitative analysis of telehealth and visiting nurses’ notes on follow-up actions to patients’ telehealth alerts was employed. All the quantitative and qualitative data was collected through retrospective review of electronic records of the home heath agency. Results Subjects in the study had a mean age of 83 (SD = 7.6); 56% were female. Patient co-morbidities (ppatient characteristics along with establishing patient-centered telehealth outcome goals may allow meaningful generation of telehealth alerts. Reducing avoidable telehealth alerts could vastly improve the efficiency and sustainability of telehealth programs for HF management. PMID:24454576

Hurricane Isaac: observations and analysis of coastal change

Science.gov (United States)

Guy, Kristy K.; Stockdon, Hilary F.; Plant, Nathaniel G.; Doran, Kara S.; Morgan, Karen L.M.

2013-01-01

Understanding storm-induced coastal change and forecasting these changes require knowledge of the physical processes associated with a storm and the geomorphology of the impacted coastline. The primary physical process of interest is sediment transport that is driven by waves, currents, and storm surge associated with storms. Storm surge, which is the rise in water level due to the wind, barometric pressure, and other factors, allows both waves and currents to impact parts of the coast not normally exposed to these processes. Coastal geomorphology reflects the coastal changes associated with extreme-storm processes. Relevant geomorphic variables that are observable before and after storms include sand dune elevation, beach width, shoreline position, sediment grain size, and foreshore beach slope. These variables, in addition to hydrodynamic processes, can be used to quantify coastal change and are used to predict coastal vulnerability to storms (Stockdon and others, 2007). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards (NACCH) project (http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/national-assessment/) provides hazard information to those concerned about the Nation’s coastlines, including residents of coastal areas, government agencies responsible for coastal management, and coastal researchers. Extreme-storm research is a component of the NACCH project (http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/) that includes development of predictive understanding, vulnerability assessments using models, and updated observations in response to specific storm events. In particular, observations were made to determine morphological changes associated with Hurricane Isaac, which made landfall in the United States first at Southwest Pass, at the mouth of the Mississippi River, at 0000 August 29, 2012 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) and again, 8 hours later, west of Port Fourchon, Louisiana (Berg, 2013). Methods of observation included oblique aerial photography

[The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology [STROBE] statement: guidelines for reporting observational studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elm, E. von; Altman, D.G.; Egger, M.

2008-01-01

Much biomedical research is observational. The reporting of such research is often inadequate, which hampers the assessment of its strengths and weaknesses and of a study's generalisability. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) initiative developed...... recommendations on what should be included in an accurate and complete report of an observational study. We defined the scope of the recommendations to cover three main study designs: cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies. We convened a 2-day workshop in September, 2004, with methodologists...... and the subsequent iterative process of consultation and revision resulted in a checklist of 22 items (the STROBE statement) that relate to the title, abstract, introduction, methods, results, and discussion sections of articles. 18 items are common to all three study designs and four are specific for cohort, case...

Fluorescent Method for Observing Intravascular Bonghan Duct

OpenAIRE

Byung-Cheon Lee; Ku Youn Baik; Hyeon-Min Johng; Baekkyoung Sung; Kyung Soon Soh; Dae-In Kang; Kwang-Sup Soh

2005-01-01

Observation of intra-vascular threadlike structures in the blood vessels of rats is reported with the images by differential interference contrast microscope, and fluorescence inverted microscope of the acridine-orange stained samples. The confocal microscope image and the hematoxylin-eosin staining revealed the distinctive pattern of nuclei distribution that clearly discerned the threadlike structure from fibrin, capillary, small venule, arteriole, or lymph vessel. Physiological function of ...

METHOD FOR OBSERVATION OF DEEMBEDDED SECTIONS OF FISH GONAD BY SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2000-01-01

This article reports a method for examining the intracellular structure of fish gonads using a scanning electron microscope(SEM). The specimen preparation procedure is similar to that for transmission electron microscopy wherein samples cut into semi-thin sections are fixed and embedded in plastic. The embedment matrix was removed by solvents. Risen-free specimens could be observed by SEM. The morphology of matured sperms in the gonad was very clear, and the oocyte internal structures appeared in three-dimensional images. Spheroidal nucleoli and yolk vesicles and several bundles of filaments adhered on the nucleoli could be viewed by SEM for the first time.

Methods and processes of developing the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology - Veterinary (STROBE-Vet) statement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sargeant, J. M.; O'Connor, A. M.; Dohoo, I. R.

2016-01-01

and biostatisticians, many of whom hold or have held editorial positionswith relevant journals.Methods: Prior to the meeting, 19 experts completed a survey about whether they felt any of the 22 itemsof the STROBE statement should be modified and if items should be added to address unique issues relatedto observational......Background: The reporting of observational studies in veterinary research presents many challenges thatoften are not adequately addressed in published reporting guidelines.Objective: To develop an extension of the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studiesin Epidemiology......) statement that addresses unique reporting requirements for observational studies inveterinary medicine related to health, production, welfare, and food safety.Design: A consensus meeting of experts was organized to develop an extension of the STROBE statementto address observational studies in veterinary...

Difference in target definition using three different methods to include respiratory motion in radiotherapy of lung cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Sloth Møller, Ditte; Knap, Marianne Marquard; Nyeng, Tine Bisballe; Khalil, Azza Ahmed; Holt, Marianne Ingerslev; Kandi, Maria; Hoffmann, Lone

2017-11-01

Minimizing the planning target volume (PTV) while ensuring sufficient target coverage during the entire respiratory cycle is essential for free-breathing radiotherapy of lung cancer. Different methods are used to incorporate the respiratory motion into the PTV. Fifteen patients were analyzed. Respiration can be included in the target delineation process creating a respiratory GTV, denoted iGTV. Alternatively, the respiratory amplitude (A) can be measured based on the 4D-CT and A can be incorporated in the margin expansion. The GTV expanded by A yielded GTV + resp, which was compared to iGTV in terms of overlap. Three methods for PTV generation were compared. PTV del (delineated iGTV expanded to CTV plus PTV margin), PTV σ (GTV expanded to CTV and A was included as a random uncertainty in the CTV to PTV margin) and PTV ∑ (GTV expanded to CTV, succeeded by CTV linear expansion by A to CTV + resp, which was finally expanded to PTV ∑ ). Deformation of tumor and lymph nodes during respiration resulted in volume changes between the respiratory phases. The overlap between iGTV and GTV + resp showed that on average 7% of iGTV was outside the GTV + resp implying that GTV + resp did not capture the tumor during the full deformable respiration cycle. A comparison of the PTV volumes showed that PTV σ was smallest and PTV Σ largest for all patients. PTV σ was in mean 14% (31 cm 3 ) smaller than PTV del , while PTV del was 7% (20 cm 3 ) smaller than PTV Σ . PTV σ yields the smallest volumes but does not ensure coverage of tumor during the full respiratory motion due to tumor deformation. Incorporating the respiratory motion in the delineation (PTV del ) takes into account the entire respiratory cycle including deformation, but at the cost, however, of larger treatment volumes. PTV Σ should not be used, since it incorporates the disadvantages of both PTV del and PTV σ .

Physiotherapists' perceptions of workplace competency: a mixed-methods observational study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sturt, Rodney; Burge, Angela T; Harding, Paula; Sayer, James

2017-06-22

Objectives Workplace-based competency is increasingly considered fundamental to patient safety and quality healthcare. The aim of the present study was to identify and describe physiotherapists' perceptions of workplace competency. Methods The present study was a mixed-methods cross-sectional observational study. Thematic and descriptive analysis of qualitative and survey data were undertaken. Forty-six physiotherapists employed at a metropolitan acute public hospital participated in interviews or focus groups; a subgroup of 31 participants also completed an online survey. Results Five main themes were identified: (1) despite the availability of workplace learning opportunities and supports, less-experienced staff reported limited confidence; (2) assessment and feedback around workplace competency was limited, predominantly informal and unstructured, with less than half of the cohort (42%) agreeing feedback received was useful for improving their workplace skills; (3) practicing within individual scope is an important aspect of workplace competency as a physiotherapist; (4) most (81%) agreed it was important for them to self-determine their learning and development goals, and they relied primarily on informal discussion to achieve these goals; and, (5) physiotherapists felt motivated regarding workplace learning, with 97% interested in developing their workplace skills however, nearly half (45%) did not feel they had sufficient time to do so. Conclusions The perceptions of physiotherapists working in a metropolitan acute public hospital are reflected in five themes. These themes elucidate how workplace competency is supported, maintained and developed among physiotherapists in this setting. These themes also highlight key challenges of workplace learning faced by this cohort of physiotherapists and allude to methods that may assist with improving feedback mechanisms and knowledge acquisition. What is known about this topic? Studies investigating employee

Semi-supervised clustering methods

Science.gov (United States)

Bair, Eric

2013-01-01

Cluster analysis methods seek to partition a data set into homogeneous subgroups. It is useful in a wide variety of applications, including document processing and modern genetics. Conventional clustering methods are unsupervised, meaning that there is no outcome variable nor is anything known about the relationship between the observations in the data set. In many situations, however, information about the clusters is available in addition to the values of the features. For example, the cluster labels of some observations may be known, or certain observations may be known to belong to the same cluster. In other cases, one may wish to identify clusters that are associated with a particular outcome variable. This review describes several clustering algorithms (known as “semi-supervised clustering” methods) that can be applied in these situations. The majority of these methods are modifications of the popular k-means clustering method, and several of them will be described in detail. A brief description of some other semi-supervised clustering algorithms is also provided. PMID:24729830

INNOVATIONS IN THE ANALYSIS OF CHANDRA-ACIS OBSERVATIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Broos, Patrick S.; Townsley, Leisa K.; Feigelson, Eric D.; Getman, Konstantin V.; Garmire, Gordon P.; Bauer, Franz E.

2010-01-01

As members of the instrument team for the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) on NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and as Chandra General Observers, we have developed a wide variety of data analysis methods that we believe are useful to the Chandra community, and have constructed a significant body of publicly available software (the ACIS Extract package) addressing important ACIS data and science analysis tasks. This paper seeks to describe these data analysis methods for two purposes: to document the data analysis work performed in our own science projects and to help other ACIS observers judge whether these methods may be useful in their own projects (regardless of what tools and procedures they choose to implement those methods). The ACIS data analysis recommendations we offer here address much of the workflow in a typical ACIS project, including data preparation, point source detection via both wavelet decomposition and image reconstruction, masking point sources, identification of diffuse structures, event extraction for both point and diffuse sources, merging extractions from multiple observations, nonparametric broadband photometry, analysis of low-count spectra, and automation of these tasks. Many of the innovations presented here arise from several, often interwoven, complications that are found in many Chandra projects: large numbers of point sources (hundreds to several thousand), faint point sources, misaligned multiple observations of an astronomical field, point source crowding, and scientifically relevant diffuse emission.

Mathematical pointing model establishment of the visual tracking theodolite for satellites in two kinds of observation methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yuncheng

The mathematical pointing model is establishment of the visual tracking theodolite for satellites in two kinds of observation methods at Yunnan Observatory, which is related to the digitalisation reform and the optical-electronic technique reform, is introduced respectively in this paper.

A structured observational method to assess dermal exposure to manufactured nanoparticles: DREAM as an initial assessment tool

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Duuren-Stuurman, B. van; Pelzer, J.; Moehlmann, C.; Berges, M.; Bard, D.; Wake, D.; Mark, D.; Jankowska, E.; Brouwer, D.

2010-01-01

Preliminary results of inventories of exposure scenarios for nanomaterials have indicated possible dermal exposure. Within the NANOSH project focused on occupational safety and health aspects of nanotechnology a shortened version of the observational DeRmal Exposure AssessMent (DREAM) method was

Development and evaluation of an observational system for goalball match analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Márcio Pereira Morato

Full Text Available Abstract Our purpose was to develop and evaluate an observational system for goalball match analysis. We used a non-participant systematic game observation method including eight elite games, video recorded, and randomly chosen. Observational categories and performance indicators were determined for each offensive (i.e., ball control, attack preparation, and throwing and defensive principles (i.e., defensive balance, throw reading, and blocking. The comprehensive method of development and the ideal reliability levels (kappa coefficient of 0.81–1.00 of this protocol ensure the generation of quantitative and qualitative information for players and coaches and the rigor required for scientific use.

Preparing astronomical observations and observing with OHP facilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patris J.

2010-12-01

Full Text Available In addition to the general introduction to observational astronomy given in a past paper (J. Phys. IV France, ERCA 07 (2006 pp 373-390 some tools are given to the observer. These include the general knowledge of what is going to be observed and of the instruments used. A guideline is given to prepare an observing program and to follow it as efficiently as possible. Finally, some examples are given of observations to be made by ERCA participants at OHP observatory.

Observation of soft x-ray radiation from Heliotron E plasmas by the absorption method for the measurement of electron temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaneko, H.; Tohda, T.; Iiyoshi, A.

1989-01-01

An absorption method of soft x ray is applied to Heliotron E plasmas for measurement of the electron temperature. Nitrogen gas is used as an absorber for convenience, owing to its accurate, uniform, and easily controllable density. The general feature of the absorption method for measurement of the electron temperature is discussed using a model with two parameters: the generalized thickness of the absorber and the electron temperature. The energy resolution of this method is not sufficient as a general method for spectral analysis. Hence, it is necessary to assume in advance such a model spectrum as consists of bremsstrahlung, recombination radiation, and impurity line radiation. Since the spectrum is always assumed before the analysis, we should try to find the origins of deformation of the energy spectrum and to correct the contribution. The effect of line emission from impurity ions to the estimated electron temperature is evaluated as a function of the electron temperature and the energy of the line relative to the generalized absorber thickness used in the measurement. An actual spectrum is measured by a pulse-height analysis (PHA) of the soft x ray. The one clear line, from chlorine, is not significant in the present determination of the electron temperature by the absorption method. Another possible line from iron at energy less than 1 keV is included in the analysis. Using a convenient method for determination of local emissivity from a chord-integrated emissivity, the electron temperature is determined from the local emissivity. The observed broad electron-temperature profile might be an artifact due to recombination radiation of the highly ionized ion diffused out of the hot core of the plasma. It is confirmed that the absorption method gives absolute measurement of the electron temperature at the plasma center, when additional information on impurity lines are given by PHA

Evaluation and comparison of multiple test methods, including real-time PCR, for Legionella detection in clinical specimens.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriana Peci

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Legionella is a gram-negative bacterium that can cause Pontiac fever, a mild upper respiratory infection and Legionnaire’s disease, a more severe illness. We aimed to compare the performance of urine antigen, culture and PCR test methods and to determine if sputum is an alternative to the use of more invasive bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL. Data for this study included specimens tested for Legionella at PHOL from January 1, 2010 to April 30, 2014, as part of routine clinical testing. We found sensitivity of UAT compared to culture to be 87%, specificity 94.7%, positive predictive value (PPV 63.8% and negative predictive value (NPV 98.5%. Sensitivity of UAT compared to PCR was 74.7%, specificity 98.3%, PPV 77.7% and NPV 98.1%. Of 146 patients who had a Legionella positive result by PCR, only 66(45.2% also had a positive result by culture. Sensitivity for culture was the same using either sputum or BAL (13.6%; sensitivity for PCR was 10.3% for sputum and 12.8% for BAL. Both sputum and BAL yield similar results despite testing methods (Fisher Exact p-values=1.0, for each test. In summary, all test methods have inherent weaknesses in identifying Legionella; thereforemore than one testing method should be used. Obtaining a single specimen type from patients with pneumonia limits the ability to diagnose Legionella, particularly when urine is the specimen type submitted. Given ease of collection, and similar sensitivity to BAL, clinicians are encouraged to submit sputum in addition to urine when BAL submission is not practical, from patients being tested for Legionella.

Monitoring progression of clinical reasoning skills during health sciences education using the case method - a qualitative observational study.

Science.gov (United States)

Orban, Kristina; Ekelin, Maria; Edgren, Gudrun; Sandgren, Olof; Hovbrandt, Pia; Persson, Eva K

2017-09-11

Outcome- or competency-based education is well established in medical and health sciences education. Curricula are based on courses where students develop their competences and assessment is also usually course-based. Clinical reasoning is an important competence, and the aim of this study was to monitor and describe students' progression in professional clinical reasoning skills during health sciences education using observations of group discussions following the case method. In this qualitative study students from three different health education programmes were observed while discussing clinical cases in a modified Harvard case method session. A rubric with four dimensions - problem-solving process, disciplinary knowledge, character of discussion and communication - was used as an observational tool to identify clinical reasoning. A deductive content analysis was performed. The results revealed the students' transition over time from reasoning based strictly on theoretical knowledge to reasoning ability characterized by clinical considerations and experiences. Students who were approaching the end of their education immediately identified the most important problem and then focused on this in their discussion. Practice knowledge increased over time, which was seen as progression in the use of professional language, concepts, terms and the use of prior clinical experience. The character of the discussion evolved from theoretical considerations early in the education to clinical reasoning in later years. Communication within the groups was supportive and conducted with a professional tone. Our observations revealed progression in several aspects of students' clinical reasoning skills on a group level in their discussions of clinical cases. We suggest that the case method can be a useful tool in assessing quality in health sciences education.

TRANSAT-- method for detecting the conserved helices of functional RNA structures, including transient, pseudo-knotted and alternative structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiebe, Nicholas J P; Meyer, Irmtraud M

2010-06-24

The prediction of functional RNA structures has attracted increased interest, as it allows us to study the potential functional roles of many genes. RNA structure prediction methods, however, assume that there is a unique functional RNA structure and also do not predict functional features required for in vivo folding. In order to understand how functional RNA structures form in vivo, we require sophisticated experiments or reliable prediction methods. So far, there exist only a few, experimentally validated transient RNA structures. On the computational side, there exist several computer programs which aim to predict the co-transcriptional folding pathway in vivo, but these make a range of simplifying assumptions and do not capture all features known to influence RNA folding in vivo. We want to investigate if evolutionarily related RNA genes fold in a similar way in vivo. To this end, we have developed a new computational method, Transat, which detects conserved helices of high statistical significance. We introduce the method, present a comprehensive performance evaluation and show that Transat is able to predict the structural features of known reference structures including pseudo-knotted ones as well as those of known alternative structural configurations. Transat can also identify unstructured sub-sequences bound by other molecules and provides evidence for new helices which may define folding pathways, supporting the notion that homologous RNA sequence not only assume a similar reference RNA structure, but also fold similarly. Finally, we show that the structural features predicted by Transat differ from those assuming thermodynamic equilibrium. Unlike the existing methods for predicting folding pathways, our method works in a comparative way. This has the disadvantage of not being able to predict features as function of time, but has the considerable advantage of highlighting conserved features and of not requiring a detailed knowledge of the cellular

An efficient method of exploring simulation models by assimilating literature and biological observational data.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasegawa, Takanori; Nagasaki, Masao; Yamaguchi, Rui; Imoto, Seiya; Miyano, Satoru

2014-07-01

Recently, several biological simulation models of, e.g., gene regulatory networks and metabolic pathways, have been constructed based on existing knowledge of biomolecular reactions, e.g., DNA-protein and protein-protein interactions. However, since these do not always contain all necessary molecules and reactions, their simulation results can be inconsistent with observational data. Therefore, improvements in such simulation models are urgently required. A previously reported method created multiple candidate simulation models by partially modifying existing models. However, this approach was computationally costly and could not handle a large number of candidates that are required to find models whose simulation results are highly consistent with the data. In order to overcome the problem, we focused on the fact that the qualitative dynamics of simulation models are highly similar if they share a certain amount of regulatory structures. This indicates that better fitting candidates tend to share the basic regulatory structure of the best fitting candidate, which can best predict the data among candidates. Thus, instead of evaluating all candidates, we propose an efficient explorative method that can selectively and sequentially evaluate candidates based on the similarity of their regulatory structures. Furthermore, in estimating the parameter values of a candidate, e.g., synthesis and degradation rates of mRNA, for the data, those of the previously evaluated candidates can be utilized. The method is applied here to the pharmacogenomic pathways for corticosteroids in rats, using time-series microarray expression data. In the performance test, we succeeded in obtaining more than 80% of consistent solutions within 15% of the computational time as compared to the comprehensive evaluation. Then, we applied this approach to 142 literature-recorded simulation models of corticosteroid-induced genes, and consequently selected 134 newly constructed better models. The

Sem-observation of developing plant organs using deep-frozen specimens

NARCIS (Netherlands)

NN,

1982-01-01

The SEM-observation of plant material normally requires dehydrated, dry specimens coated with carbon or metal. Unfortunately, the standard drying methods (including the critical-point-drying-technique) often cause shrinking and deformation of the specimen surface; therefore, SEMstudies on plant

Observing nebulae

CERN Document Server

Griffiths, Martin

2016-01-01

This book enables anyone with suitable instruments to undertake an examination of nebulae and see or photograph them in detail. Nebulae, ethereal clouds of gas and dust, are among the most beautiful objects to view in the night sky. These star-forming regions are a common target for observers and photographers. Griffiths describes many of the brightest and best nebulae and includes some challenges for the more experienced observer. Readers learn the many interesting astrophysical properties of these clouds, which are an important subject of study in astronomy and astrobiology. Non-mathematical in approach, the text is easily accessible to anyone with an interest in the subject. A special feature is the inclusion of an observational guide to 70 objects personally observed or imaged by the author. The guide also includes photographs of each object for ease of identification along with their celestial coordinates, magnitudes and other pertinent information. Observing Nebulae provides a ready resource to allow an...

Efficient methods for including quantum effects in Monte Carlo calculations of large systems: extension of the displaced points path integral method and other effective potential methods to calculate properties and distributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Mielke, Steven L; Dinpajooh, Mohammadhasan; Siepmann, J Ilja; Truhlar, Donald G

2013-01-07

We present a procedure to calculate ensemble averages, thermodynamic derivatives, and coordinate distributions by effective classical potential methods. In particular, we consider the displaced-points path integral (DPPI) method, which yields exact quantal partition functions and ensemble averages for a harmonic potential and approximate quantal ones for general potentials, and we discuss the implementation of the new procedure in two Monte Carlo simulation codes, one that uses uncorrelated samples to calculate absolute free energies, and another that employs Metropolis sampling to calculate relative free energies. The results of the new DPPI method are compared to those from accurate path integral calculations as well as to results of two other effective classical potential schemes for the case of an isolated water molecule. In addition to the partition function, we consider the heat capacity and expectation values of the energy, the potential energy, the bond angle, and the OH distance. We also consider coordinate distributions. The DPPI scheme performs best among the three effective potential schemes considered and achieves very good accuracy for all of the properties considered. A key advantage of the effective potential schemes is that they display much lower statistical sampling variances than those for accurate path integral calculations. The method presented here shows great promise for including quantum effects in calculations on large systems.

A method for evaluating spatially-resolved NOx emissions using Kalman filter inversion, direct sensitivities, and space-based NO2 observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. V. Martin

2008-09-01

Full Text Available An inverse modeling method was developed and tested for identifying possible biases in emission inventories using satellite observations. The relationships between emission inputs and modeled ambient concentrations were estimated using sensitivities calculated with the decoupled direct method in three dimensions (DDM-3D implemented within the framework of the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ regional model. As a case study to test the approach, the method was applied to regional ground-level NOx emissions in the southeastern United States as constrained by observations of NO2 column densities derived from the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY satellite instrument. A controlled "pseudodata" scenario with a known solution was used to establish that the methodology can achieve the correct solution, and the approach was then applied to a summer 2004 period where the satellite data are available. The results indicate that emissions biases differ in urban and rural areas of the southeast. The method suggested slight downward (less than 10% adjustment to urban emissions, while rural region results were found to be highly sensitive to NOx processes in the upper troposphere. As such, the bias in the rural areas is likely not solely due to biases in the ground-level emissions. It was found that CMAQ was unable to predict the significant level of NO2 in the upper troposphere that was observed during the NASA Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment (INTEX measurement campaign. The best correlation between satellite observations and modeled NO2 column densities, as well as comparison to ground-level observations of NO2, was obtained by performing the inverse while accounting for the significant presence of NO2 in the upper troposphere not captured by the regional model.

Measurement Uncertainty for Finite Quantum Observables

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

René Schwonnek

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Measurement uncertainty relations are lower bounds on the errors of any approximate joint measurement of two or more quantum observables. The aim of this paper is to provide methods to compute optimal bounds of this type. The basic method is semidefinite programming, which we apply to arbitrary finite collections of projective observables on a finite dimensional Hilbert space. The quantification of errors is based on an arbitrary cost function, which assigns a penalty to getting result x rather than y, for any pair ( x , y . This induces a notion of optimal transport cost for a pair of probability distributions, and we include an Appendix with a short summary of optimal transport theory as needed in our context. There are then different ways to form an overall figure of merit from the comparison of distributions. We consider three, which are related to different physical testing scenarios. The most thorough test compares the transport distances between the marginals of a joint measurement and the reference observables for every input state. Less demanding is a test just on the states for which a “true value” is known in the sense that the reference observable yields a definite outcome. Finally, we can measure a deviation as a single expectation value by comparing the two observables on the two parts of a maximally-entangled state. All three error quantities have the property that they vanish if and only if the tested observable is equal to the reference. The theory is illustrated with some characteristic examples.

Visualizing the Impacts of Movement Infrastructures on Social Inclusion: Graph-Based Methods for Observing Community Formations in Contrasting Geographic Contexts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jamie O'Brien

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In this article we describe some innovative methods for observing the possible impacts of roads, junctions and pathways (movement infrastructures, on community life in terms of their affordances and hindrances for social connectivity. In seeking to observe these impacts, we combined a range of visualization research methods, based on qualitative points-data mapping, graphic representation and urban morphological analysis at local and global geographic scales. Our overall aim in this study was to develop exploratory methods for combining and visualizing various kinds of data that relate to urban community formations in contrasting urban contexts. We focused our enquiry on the perspectives of adolescents in two urban contexts: Liverpool, UK, and Medellín, Colombia. While they contrast in their geo-political and cultural characteristics, these two cities each present polarized socio-economic inequalities across distinctive spatial patterns. We found that adolescents in these cities offer generally localized, pedestrian perspectives of their local areas, and unique insights into the opportunities and challenges for place-making in their local community spaces. We gathered the communities’ local perspectives through map-making workshops, in which participants used given iconographic symbols to select and weight the social and structural assets that they deemed to be significant features of their community spaces. We then sampled and visualized these selective points data to observe ways in which local community assets relate to infrastructural affordances for movement (in terms of network integration. This analysis was based on the theory and method of Space Syntax, which provides a model of affordances for movement across the urban network over various scales of network configuration. In particular, we sought to determine how city-scale movement infrastructures interact with local-scale infrastructures, and to develop methods for observing ways

Development of Extended Ray-tracing method including diffraction, polarization and wave decay effects

Science.gov (United States)

Yanagihara, Kota; Kubo, Shin; Dodin, Ilya; Nakamura, Hiroaki; Tsujimura, Toru

2017-10-01

Geometrical Optics Ray-tracing is a reasonable numerical analytic approach for describing the Electron Cyclotron resonance Wave (ECW) in slowly varying spatially inhomogeneous plasma. It is well known that the result with this conventional method is adequate in most cases. However, in the case of Helical fusion plasma which has complicated magnetic structure, strong magnetic shear with a large scale length of density can cause a mode coupling of waves outside the last closed flux surface, and complicated absorption structure requires a strong focused wave for ECH. Since conventional Ray Equations to describe ECW do not have any terms to describe the diffraction, polarization and wave decay effects, we can not describe accurately a mode coupling of waves, strong focus waves, behavior of waves in inhomogeneous absorption region and so on. For fundamental solution of these problems, we consider the extension of the Ray-tracing method. Specific process is planned as follows. First, calculate the reference ray by conventional method, and define the local ray-base coordinate system along the reference ray. Then, calculate the evolution of the distributions of amplitude and phase on ray-base coordinate step by step. The progress of our extended method will be presented.

{sup 13}C-METHYL FORMATE: OBSERVATIONS OF A SAMPLE OF HIGH-MASS STAR-FORMING REGIONS INCLUDING ORION-KL AND SPECTROSCOPIC CHARACTERIZATION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Favre, Cécile; Bergin, Edwin A.; Crockett, Nathan R.; Neill, Justin L. [Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Carvajal, Miguel [Dpto. Física Aplicada, Unidad Asociada CSIC, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad de Huelva, E-21071 Huelva (Spain); Field, David [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Aarhus, Ny Munkegade 120, DK-8000 Aarhus C (Denmark); Jørgensen, Jes K.; Bisschop, Suzanne E. [Centre for Star and Planet Formation, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø (Denmark); Brouillet, Nathalie; Despois, Didier; Baudry, Alain [Univ. Bordeaux, LAB, UMR 5804, F-33270, Floirac (France); Kleiner, Isabelle [Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA), CNRS, UMR 7583, Université de Paris-Est et Paris Diderot, 61, Av. du Général de Gaulle, F-94010 Créteil Cedex (France); Margulès, Laurent; Huet, Thérèse R.; Demaison, Jean, E-mail: cfavre@umich.edu, E-mail: miguel.carvajal@dfa.uhu.es [Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, Atomes et Molécules, UMR CNRS 8523, Université Lille I, F-59655 Villeneuve d' Ascq Cedex (France)

2015-01-01

We have surveyed a sample of massive star-forming regions located over a range of distances from the Galactic center for methyl formate, HCOOCH{sub 3}, and its isotopologues H{sup 13}COOCH{sub 3} and HCOO{sup 13}CH{sub 3}. The observations were carried out with the APEX telescope in the frequency range 283.4-287.4 GHz. Based on the APEX observations, we report tentative detections of the {sup 13}C-methyl formate isotopologue HCOO{sup 13}CH{sub 3} toward the following four massive star-forming regions: Sgr B2(N-LMH), NGC 6334 IRS 1, W51 e2, and G19.61-0.23. In addition, we have used the 1 mm ALMA science verification observations of Orion-KL and confirm the detection of the {sup 13}C-methyl formate species in Orion-KL and image its spatial distribution. Our analysis shows that the {sup 12}C/{sup 13}C isotope ratio in methyl formate toward the Orion-KL Compact Ridge and Hot Core-SW components (68.4 ± 10.1 and 71.4 ± 7.8, respectively) are, for both the {sup 13}C-methyl formate isotopologues, commensurate with the average {sup 12}C/{sup 13}C ratio of CO derived toward Orion-KL. Likewise, regarding the other sources, our results are consistent with the {sup 12}C/{sup 13}C in CO. We also report the spectroscopic characterization, which includes a complete partition function, of the complex H{sup 13}COOCH{sub 3} and HCOO{sup 13}CH{sub 3} species. New spectroscopic data for both isotopomers H{sup 13}COOCH{sub 3} and HCOO{sup 13}CH{sub 3}, presented in this study, have made it possible to measure this fundamentally important isotope ratio in a large organic molecule for the first time.

A Method to Simulate the Observed Surface Properties of Proton Irradiated Silicon Strip Sensors

CERN Document Server

Peltola, Timo Hannu Tapani

2014-01-01

A defect model of Synopsys Sentaurus TCAD simulation package for the bulk properties of proton irradiated devices has been producing simulations closely matching to measurements of silicon strip detectors. However, the model does not provide the expected behavior due to the fluence increased surface damage. The solution requires an approach that does not affect the accurate bulk properties produced by the proton model, but only adds to it the required radiation induced properties close to the surface. These include the observed position dependency of the strip detector's...

Evaluation and Comparison of Multiple Test Methods, Including Real-time PCR, for Legionella Detection in Clinical Specimens

Science.gov (United States)

Peci, Adriana; Winter, Anne-Luise; Gubbay, Jonathan B.

2016-01-01

Legionella is a Gram-negative bacterium that can cause Pontiac fever, a mild upper respiratory infection and Legionnaire’s disease, a more severe illness. We aimed to compare the performance of urine antigen, culture, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test methods and to determine if sputum is an acceptable alternative to the use of more invasive bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Data for this study included specimens tested for Legionella at Public Health Ontario Laboratories from 1st January, 2010 to 30th April, 2014, as part of routine clinical testing. We found sensitivity of urinary antigen test (UAT) compared to culture to be 87%, specificity 94.7%, positive predictive value (PPV) 63.8%, and negative predictive value (NPV) 98.5%. Sensitivity of UAT compared to PCR was 74.7%, specificity 98.3%, PPV 77.7%, and NPV 98.1%. Out of 146 patients who had a Legionella-positive result by PCR, only 66 (45.2%) also had a positive result by culture. Sensitivity for culture was the same using either sputum or BAL (13.6%); sensitivity for PCR was 10.3% for sputum and 12.8% for BAL. Both sputum and BAL yield similar results regardless testing methods (Fisher Exact p-values = 1.0, for each test). In summary, all test methods have inherent weaknesses in identifying Legionella; therefore, more than one testing method should be used. Obtaining a single specimen type from patients with pneumonia limits the ability to diagnose Legionella, particularly when urine is the specimen type submitted. Given ease of collection and similar sensitivity to BAL, clinicians are encouraged to submit sputum in addition to urine when BAL submission is not practical from patients being tested for Legionella. PMID:27630979

A statistical method to get surface level air-temperature from satellite observations of precipitable water

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Pankajakshan, T.; Shikauchi, A; Sugimori, Y.; Kubota, M.

-T a and precipitable water. The rms errors of the SSMI-T a , in this case are found to be reduced to 1.0°C. 1. Introduction Satellite derived surface-level meteorological parameters are considered to be a better alternative to sparse ship... Vol. 49, pp. 551 to 558. 1993 A Statistical Method to Get Surface Level Air-Temperature from Satellite Observations of Precipitable Water PANKAJAKSHAN THADATHIL*, AKIRA SHIKAUCHI, YASUHIRO SUGIMORI and MASAHISA KUBOTA School of Marine Science...

Testing inter-observer reliability of the Transition Analysis aging method on the William M. Bass forensic skeletal collection.

Science.gov (United States)

Fojas, Christina L; Kim, Jieun; Minsky-Rowland, Jocelyn D; Algee-Hewitt, Bridget F B

2018-01-01

Skeletal age estimation is an integral part of the biological profile. Recent work shows how multiple-trait approaches better capture senescence as it occurs at different rates among individuals. Furthermore, a Bayesian statistical framework of analysis provides more useful age estimates. The component-scoring method of Transition Analysis (TA) may resolve many of the functional and statistical limitations of traditional phase-aging methods and is applicable to both paleodemography and forensic casework. The present study contributes to TA-research by validating TA for multiple, differently experienced observers using a collection of modern forensic skeletal cases. Five researchers independently applied TA to a random sample of 58 documented individuals from the William M. Bass Forensic Skeletal Collection, for whom knowledge of chronological age was withheld. Resulting scores were input into the ADBOU software and maximum likelihood estimates (MLEs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were produced using the forensic prior. Krippendorff's alpha was used to evaluate interrater reliability and agreement. Inaccuracy and bias were measured to gauge the magnitude and direction of difference between estimated ages and chronological ages among the five observers. The majority of traits had moderate to excellent agreement among observers (≥0.6). The superior surface morphology had the least congruence (0.4), while the ventral symphyseal margin had the most (0.9) among scores. Inaccuracy was the lowest for individuals younger than 30 and the greatest for individuals over 60. Consistent over-estimation of individuals younger than 30 and under-estimation of individuals over 40 years old occurred. Individuals in their 30s showed a mixed pattern of under- and over-estimation among observers. These results support the use of the TA method by researchers of varying experience levels. Further, they validate its use on forensic cases, given the low error overall. © 2017 Wiley

Evaluation of nursing faculty through observation.

Science.gov (United States)

Crawford, L H

1998-10-01

The purpose of this study was to assess current use and faculty perceptions of classroom observation as a method of faculty evaluation in schools of nursing. Baccalaureate schools of nursing were surveyed to determine current use of classroom observation and its worth from the perception of administrators and faculty. Although most schools used classroom observation as a method of faculty evaluation, further clarification and research is needed in the following areas: purpose of classroom observation; number of observations necessary; weight given to classroom observation in relation to other evaluation methods; and tools used.

Sparsely-Observed Pulsating Red Giants in the AAVSO Observing Program

Science.gov (United States)

Percy, J. R.

2018-06-01

This paper reports on time-series analysis of 156 pulsating red giants (21 SRa, 52 SRb, 33 SR, 50 Lb) in the AAVSO observing program for which there are no more than 150-250 observations in total. Some results were obtained for 68 of these stars: 17 SRa, 14 SRb, 20 SR, and 17 Lb. These results generally include only an average period and amplitude. Many, if not most of the stars are undoubtedly more complex; pulsating red giants are known to have wandering periods, variable amplitudes, and often multiple periods including "long secondary periods" of unknown origin. These results (or lack thereof) raise the question of how the AAVSO should best manage the observation of these and other sparsely-observed pulsating red giants.

Indication of Importance of Including Soil Microbial Characteristics into Biotope Valuation Method.

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Trögl, J.; Pavlorková, Jana; Packová, P.; Seják, J.; Kuráň, P.; Kuráň, J.; Popelka, J.; Pacina, J.

2016-01-01

Roč. 8, č. 3 (2016), č. článku 253. ISSN 2071-1050 Institutional support: RVO:67985858 Keywords : biotope assessment * biotope valuation method * soil microbial communities Subject RIV: DJ - Water Pollution ; Quality Impact factor: 1.789, year: 2016

Multi-GNSS high-rate RTK, PPP and novel direct phase observation processing method: application to precise dynamic displacement detection

Science.gov (United States)

Paziewski, Jacek; Sieradzki, Rafal; Baryla, Radoslaw

2018-03-01

This paper provides the methodology and performance assessment of multi-GNSS signal processing for the detection of small-scale high-rate dynamic displacements. For this purpose, we used methods of relative (RTK) and absolute positioning (PPP), and a novel direct signal processing approach. The first two methods are recognized as providing accurate information on position in many navigation and surveying applications. The latter is an innovative method for dynamic displacement determination with the use of GNSS phase signal processing. This method is based on the developed functional model with parametrized epoch-wise topocentric relative coordinates derived from filtered GNSS observations. Current regular kinematic PPP positioning, as well as medium/long range RTK, may not offer coordinate estimates with subcentimeter precision. Thus, extended processing strategies of absolute and relative GNSS positioning have been developed and applied for displacement detection. The study also aimed to comparatively analyze the developed methods as well as to analyze the impact of combined GPS and BDS processing and the dependence of the results of the relative methods on the baseline length. All the methods were implemented with in-house developed software allowing for high-rate precise GNSS positioning and signal processing. The phase and pseudorange observations collected with a rate of 50 Hz during the field test served as the experiment’s data set. The displacements at the rover station were triggered in the horizontal plane using a device which was designed and constructed to ensure a periodic motion of GNSS antenna with an amplitude of ~3 cm and a frequency of ~4.5 Hz. Finally, a medium range RTK, PPP, and direct phase observation processing method demonstrated the capability of providing reliable and consistent results with the precision of the determined dynamic displacements at the millimeter level. Specifically, the research shows that the standard deviation of

Observations of cold antihydrogen

CERN Document Server

Tan, J N; Gabrielse, G; Oxley, P; Speck, A; Storry, C H; Wessels, M; Grzonka, D; Oelert, W; Schepers, G; Sefzick, T; Walz, J; Pittner, H; Hänsch, T W; Hessels, E A

2004-01-01

ATRAP's e/sup +/ cooling of p in a nested Penning trap has led to reports of cold H produced during such cooling by the ATHENA and ATRAP collaborations. To observe H, ATHENA uses coincident annihilation detection and ATRAP uses field ionization followed by p storage. Advantages of ATRAP's field ionization method include the complete absence of any background events, and the first way to measure which H states are produced. ATRAP enhances the H production rate by driving many cycles of e/sup +/ cooling in the nested trap, with more H counted in an hour than the sum of all the other antimatter atoms ever reported. The number of H counted per incident high energy p is also higher than ever observed. The first measured distribution of H states is made using a pre-ionizing electric field between separated production and detection regions. The high rate and the high Rydberg states suggest that the H is formed via three-body recombination, as expected. (22 refs).

Development and reliability of an observation method to assess food intake of young children in child care.

Science.gov (United States)

Ball, Sarah C; Benjamin, Sara E; Ward, Dianne S

2007-04-01

To our knowledge, a direct observation protocol for assessing dietary intake among young children in child care has not been published. This article reviews the development and testing of a diet observation system for child care facilities that occurred during a larger intervention trial. Development of this system was divided into five phases, done in conjunction with a larger intervention study; (a) protocol development, (b) training of field staff, (c) certification of field staff in a laboratory setting, (d) implementation in a child-care setting, and (e) certification of field staff in a child-care setting. During the certification phases, methods were used to assess the accuracy and reliability of all observers at estimating types and amounts of food and beverages commonly served in child care. Tests of agreement show strong agreement among five observers, as well as strong accuracy between the observers and 20 measured portions of foods and beverages with a mean intraclass correlation coefficient value of 0.99. This structured observation system shows promise as a valid and reliable approach for assessing dietary intake of children in child care and makes a valuable contribution to the growing body of literature on the dietary assessment of young children.

Fluorescent Method for Observing Intravascular Bonghan Duct

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Byung-Cheon Lee

2005-12-01

Full Text Available Observation of intra-vascular threadlike structures in the blood vessels of rats is reported with the images by differential interference contrast microscope, and fluorescence inverted microscope of the acridine-orange stained samples. The confocal microscope image and the hematoxylin-eosin staining revealed the distinctive pattern of nuclei distribution that clearly discerned the threadlike structure from fibrin, capillary, small venule, arteriole, or lymph vessel. Physiological function of the intra-vascular thread in connection with acupuncture is discussed. Especially, this threadlike duct can be a circulation path for herb-liquid flow, which may provide the scientific mechanism for therapeutic effect of herbal acupuncture.

Distinguishing Cause from Effect Using Observational Data: Methods and Benchmarks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mooij, J.M.; Peters, J.; Janzing, D.; Zscheischler, J.; Schölkopf, B.

2016-01-01

The discovery of causal relationships from purely observational data is a fundamental problem in science. The most elementary form of such a causal discovery problem is to decide whether X causes Y or, alternatively, Y causes X, given joint observations of two variables X,Y. An example is to decide

System and method for anomaly detection

Science.gov (United States)

Scherrer, Chad

2010-06-15

A system and method for detecting one or more anomalies in a plurality of observations is provided. In one illustrative embodiment, the observations are real-time network observations collected from a stream of network traffic. The method includes performing a discrete decomposition of the observations, and introducing derived variables to increase storage and query efficiencies. A mathematical model, such as a conditional independence model, is then generated from the formatted data. The formatted data is also used to construct frequency tables which maintain an accurate count of specific variable occurrence as indicated by the model generation process. The formatted data is then applied to the mathematical model to generate scored data. The scored data is then analyzed to detect anomalies.

Preface of "The Second Symposium on Border Zones Between Experimental and Numerical Application Including Solution Approaches By Extensions of Standard Numerical Methods"

Science.gov (United States)

Ortleb, Sigrun; Seidel, Christian

2017-07-01

In this second symposium at the limits of experimental and numerical methods, recent research is presented on practically relevant problems. Presentations discuss experimental investigation as well as numerical methods with a strong focus on application. In addition, problems are identified which require a hybrid experimental-numerical approach. Topics include fast explicit diffusion applied to a geothermal energy storage tank, noise in experimental measurements of electrical quantities, thermal fluid structure interaction, tensegrity structures, experimental and numerical methods for Chladni figures, optimized construction of hydroelectric power stations, experimental and numerical limits in the investigation of rain-wind induced vibrations as well as the application of exponential integrators in a domain-based IMEX setting.

Sensitivity of the Action Observation Network to Physical and Observational Learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cross, E.S.; Kraemer, D.J.M.; Hamilton, A.F.D.C.; Kelley, W.M.; Grafton, S.T.

2009-01-01

Human motor skills can be acquired by observation without the benefit of immediate physical practice. The current study tested if physical rehearsal and observational learning share common neural substrates within an action observation network (AON) including premotor and inferior parietal regions,

Delineation of Rain Areas with TRMM Microwave Observations Based on PNN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shiguang Xu

2014-12-01

Full Text Available False alarm and misdetected precipitation are prominent drawbacks of high-resolution satellite precipitation datasets, and they usually lead to serious uncertainty in hydrological and meteorological applications. In order to provide accurate rain area delineation for retrieving high-resolution precipitation datasets using satellite microwave observations, a probabilistic neural network (PNN-based rain area delineation method was developed with rain gauge observations over the Yangtze River Basin and three parameters, including polarization corrected temperature at 85 GHz, difference of brightness temperature at vertically polarized 37 and 19 GHz channels (termed as TB37V and TB19V, respectively and the sum of TB37V and TB19V derived from the observations of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI. The PNN method was validated with independent samples, and the performance of this method was compared with dynamic cluster K-means method, TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI Level 2 Hydrometeor Profile Product and the threshold method used in the Scatter Index (SI, a widely used microwave-based precipitation retrieval algorithm. Independent validation indicated that the PNN method can provide more reasonable rain areas than the other three methods. Furthermore, the precipitation volumes estimated by the SI algorithm were significantly improved by substituting the PNN method for the threshold method in the traditional SI algorithm. This study suggests that PNN is a promising way to obtain reasonable rain areas with satellite observations, and the development of an accurate rain area delineation method deserves more attention for improving the accuracy of satellite precipitation datasets.

Observability in electric power networks: identification critical measures methods; Observabilidade em redes de energia eletrica: metodos de identificacao de medidas criticas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

London Junior, Joao Bosco Augusto

1997-07-01

One of the most important functions of the control and operation centers is to maintain service reliability in a electrical power system. In order to obtain a reliable operation of the power system, it is important to identify the critical measurements, and then to improve the measurement system using pseudo measurements. The goal of this work is to determine more efficient methods for critical measurement identification. A brief review of the some methods for observability analysis as well as two methodologies to identify critical measurements are presented. The first method has a combinatorial nature; the second one is supported by uni modular M matrix (incidence matrix of measurements for branches) and A matrix (incidence matrix of branch for nodes). The second method needs a combinatorial algorithm to be feasible, so that it becomes a slow method. Two new methods for critical measurements identification are presented in this work: the first one is based on the theory developed by Bretas (1996a), to analyse observability using graph paths; the second methods is supported y the Slutsker and Scudder (1987) theory, where identification is reached throughout the analysis of the jacobian matrix. (author)

The Impact of Process Observers on Interpersonal Group Therapy

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, Christopher; Harris, Rafael S.; Cassidy, Jennie M.

2006-01-01

The impact of including process observers (all master's-level trainees) and their notes on the outcome of interpersonal group therapy at a university counseling center was investigated. For a total of four groups, one method per group of delivering the notes to the participants was designated and assessed for perceived differences. A self-report…

An in situ hand calibration method using a pseudo-observation scheme for low-end inertial measurement units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, You; Niu, Xiaoji; Zhang, Quan; Zhang, Hongping; Shi, Chuang

2012-01-01

MEMS chips have become ideal candidates for various applications since they are small sized, light weight, have low power consumption and are extremely low cost and reliable. However, the performance of MEMS sensors, especially their biases and scale factors, is highly dependent on environmental conditions such as temperature. Thus a quick and convenient calibration is needed to be conducted by users in field without any external equipment or any expert knowledge of calibration. A novel and efficient in situ hand calibration method is presented to meet these demands in this paper. The algorithm of the proposed calibration method makes use of the navigation algorithm of the loosely-coupled GPS/INS integrated systems, but replaces the GPS observations with a kind of pseudo-observations, which can be stated as follows: if an inertial measurement unit (IMU) was rotating approximately around its measurement center, the range of its position and its linear velocity both would be within a limited scope. Using a Kalman filtering algorithm, the biases and scale factors of both accelerometer triad and gyroscope triad can be calibrated together within a short period (about 30 s), requiring only motions by hands. Real test results show that the proposed method is suitable for most consumer grade MEMS IMUs due to its zero cost, easy operation and sufficient accuracy. (paper)

An extended TRANSCAR model including ionospheric convection: simulation of EISCAT observations using inputs from AMIE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P.-L. Blelly

2005-02-01

Full Text Available The TRANSCAR ionospheric model was extended to account for the convection of the magnetic field lines in the auroral and polar ionosphere. A mixed Eulerian-Lagrangian 13-moment approach was used to describe the dynamics of an ionospheric plasma tube. In the present study, one focuses on large scale transports in the polar ionosphere. The model was used to simulate a 35-h period of EISCAT-UHF observations on 16-17 February 1993. The first day was magnetically quiet, and characterized by elevated electron concentrations: the diurnal F2 layer reached as much as 1012m-3, which is unusual for a winter and moderate solar activity (F10.7=130 period. An intense geomagnetic event occurred on the second day, seen in the data as a strong intensification of the ionosphere convection velocities in the early afternoon (with the northward electric field reaching 150mVm-1 and corresponding frictional heating of the ions up to 2500K. The simulation used time-dependent AMIE outputs to infer flux-tube transports in the polar region, and to provide magnetospheric particle and energy inputs to the ionosphere. The overall very good agreement, obtained between the model and the observations, demonstrates the high ability of the extended TRANSCAR model for quantitative modelling of the high-latitude ionosphere; however, some differences are found which are attributed to the precipitation of electrons with very low energy. All these results are finally discussed in the frame of modelling the auroral ionosphere with space weather applications in mind.

Feasibility study and technical proposal for the use of microseismic methods in the long-term observation of bedrock stability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saari, J.

1995-04-01

Recent geodetic and seismological studies have paid attention to the slow deformation occurring in the Fennoscandian Shield. On the basis of these studies, together with in-situ stress measurements, the idea has been put forth that horizontal movement can be even greater than vertical movement. Local seismotectonics has importance in relation to the predictions of the long-term stability of the bedrock at the final disposal site. Potential direct and - what in Finland is more likely - indirect effects on the vault are due to local earthquakes of creep. The direct effects on the repository include rock vibration and displacement on an increasing fault. The indirect effects are changes in the surrounding structure, in the stress field, in the groundwater table, pressure, flux and chemistry. The block movements are controlled mainly by the network of fracture zones. The report deals with the possibilities to monitor by seismic methods slow movements occurring in the bedrock at the local level. The report includes descriptions of instrumentation for recording microearthquakes, the seismic network and an interpretation of the observations. The potential sites for disposal (Kuhmo, Aeaenekoski, Eurajoki) are compared in relation to seismic monitoring. Also the experiences of other investigations and a proposal for microearthquake investigations as well as of prospective developments within monitoring are presented. (28 refs., 17 figs.)

Applicability of a panel method, which includes nonlinear effects, to a forward-swept-wing aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, J. C.

1984-01-01

The ability of a lower order panel method VSAERO, to accurately predict the lift and pitching moment of a complete forward-swept-wing/canard configuration was investigated. The program can simulate nonlinear effects including boundary-layer displacement thickness, wake roll up, and to a limited extent, separated wakes. The predictions were compared with experimental data obtained using a small-scale model in the 7- by 10- Foot Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center. For the particular configuration under investigation, wake roll up had only a small effect on the force and moment predictions. The effect of the displacement thickness modeling was to reduce the lift curve slope slightly, thus bringing the predicted lift into good agreement with the measured value. Pitching moment predictions were also improved by the boundary-layer simulation. The separation modeling was found to be sensitive to user inputs, but appears to give a reasonable representation of a separated wake. In general, the nonlinear capabilities of the code were found to improve the agreement with experimental data. The usefullness of the code would be enhanced by improving the reliability of the separated wake modeling and by the addition of a leading edge separation model.

Transient Mass-loss Analysis of Solar Observations Using Stellar Methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crosley, M. K.; Norman, C. [Johns Hopkins University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Osten, R. A. [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)

2017-08-10

Low-frequency dynamic spectra of radio bursts from nearby stars offer the best chance to directly detect the stellar signature of transient mass loss on low-mass stars. Crosley et al. (2016) proposes a multi-wavelength methodology to determine coronal mass ejection (CME) parameters, such as speed, mass, and kinetic energy. We test the validity and accuracy of the results derived from the methodology by using Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite X-ray observations and Bruny Island Radio Spectrometer radio observations. These are analogous observations to those that would be found in the stellar studies. Derived results from these observations are compared to direct white light measurements of the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph. We find that, when a pre-event temperature can be determined, the accuracy of CME speeds are within a few hundred km s{sup −1}, and are reliable when specific criteria has been met. CME mass and kinetic energies are only useful in determining the approximate order of magnitude measurements when considering the large errors associated to them. These results will be directly applicable to the interpretation of any detected stellar events and the derivation of stellar CME properties.

Calculation of spin-dependent observables in electron-sodium scattering using the coupled-channel optical method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bray, Igor.

1992-04-01

The calculations of the 3 2 S and 3 2 P spin asymmetries and the angular momentum for singlet and triplet scattering for projectile energies of 10 and 20 eV is presented. Together these observables give a most stringent test of any electron-atom scattering theory. An excellent agreement was found between the results of the coupled-channel optical method and experiment, which for the spin asymmetries can only be obtained by a good description of the couplings between the lower-lying target states and the target continuum. 10 refs., 2 figs

Evaluation of NO2 predictions by the plume volume molar ratio method (PVMRM) and ozone limiting method (OLM) in AERMOD using new field observations.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendrick, Elizabeth M; Tino, Vincent R; Hanna, Steven R; Egan, Bruce A

2013-07-01

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plume volume molar ratio method (PVMRM) and the ozone limiting method (OLM) are in the AERMOD model to predict the 1-hr average NO2/NO(x) concentration ratio. These ratios are multiplied by the AERMOD predicted NO(x) concentration to predict the 1-hr average NO2 concentration. This paper first briefly reviews PVMRM and OLM and points out some scientific parameterizations that could be improved (such as specification of relative dispersion coefficients) and then discusses an evaluation of the PVMRM and OLM methods as implemented in AERMOD using a new data set. While AERMOD has undergone many model evaluation studies in its default mode, PVMRM and OLM are nondefault options, and to date only three NO2 field data sets have been used in their evaluations. Here AERMOD/PVMRM and AERMOD/OLM codes are evaluated with a new data set from a northern Alaskan village with a small power plant. Hourly pollutant concentrations (NO, NO2, ozone) as well as meteorological variables were measured at a single monitor 500 m from the plant. Power plant operating parameters and emissions were calculated based on hourly operator logs. Hourly observations covering 1 yr were considered, but the evaluations only used hours when the wind was in a 60 degrees sector including the monitor and when concentrations were above a threshold. PVMRM is found to have little bias in predictions of the C(NO2)/C(NO(x)) ratio, which mostly ranged from 0.2 to 0.4 at this site. OLM overpredicted the ratio. AERMOD overpredicts the maximum NO(x) concentration but has an underprediction bias for lower concentrations. AERMOD/PVMRM overpredicts the maximum C(NO2) by about 50%, while AERMOD/OLM overpredicts by a factor of 2. For 381 hours evaluated, there is a relative mean bias in C(NO2) predictions of near zero for AERMOD/PVMRM, while the relative mean bias reflects a factor of 2 overprediction for AERMOD/OLM. This study was initiated because the new stringent 1-hr NO2

An extended TRANSCAR model including ionospheric convection: simulation of EISCAT observations using inputs from AMIE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P.-L. Blelly

2005-02-01

Full Text Available The TRANSCAR ionospheric model was extended to account for the convection of the magnetic field lines in the auroral and polar ionosphere. A mixed Eulerian-Lagrangian 13-moment approach was used to describe the dynamics of an ionospheric plasma tube. In the present study, one focuses on large scale transports in the polar ionosphere. The model was used to simulate a 35-h period of EISCAT-UHF observations on 16-17 February 1993. The first day was magnetically quiet, and characterized by elevated electron concentrations: the diurnal F₂ layer reached as much as 10¹²m^-3, which is unusual for a winter and moderate solar activity (F_10.7=130 period. An intense geomagnetic event occurred on the second day, seen in the data as a strong intensification of the ionosphere convection velocities in the early afternoon (with the northward electric field reaching 150mVm^-1 and corresponding frictional heating of the ions up to 2500K. The simulation used time-dependent AMIE outputs to infer flux-tube transports in the polar region, and to provide magnetospheric particle and energy inputs to the ionosphere. The overall very good agreement, obtained between the model and the observations, demonstrates the high ability of the extended TRANSCAR model for quantitative modelling of the high-latitude ionosphere; however, some differences are found which are attributed to the precipitation of electrons with very low energy. All these results are finally discussed in the frame of modelling the auroral ionosphere with space weather applications in mind.

Estimation of Physical Layer Performance inWSNs Exploiting the Method of Indirect Observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luigi Atzori

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs are used in many industrial and consumer applications that are increasingly gaining impact in our day to day lives. Still great efforts are needed towards the definition of methodologies for their effective management. One big issue is themonitoring of the network status, which requires the definition of the performance indicators and methodologies and should be accurate and not intrusive at the same time. In this paper, we present a new process for the monitoring of the physical layer in WSNs making use of a completely passive methodology. From data sniffed by external nodes, we first estimate the position of the nodes by applying the Weighted Least Squares (WLS to the method of indirect observations. The resulting node positions are then used to estimate the status of the communication links using the most appropriate propagation model. We performed a significant number of measurements on the field in both indoor and outdoor environments. From the experiments, we were able to achieve an accurate estimation of the channel links status with an average error lower than 1 dB, which is around 5 dB lower than the error introduced without the application of the proposed method.

Stakeholders inverted question mark contributions to tailored implementation programs: an observational study of group interview methods

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Huntink, E.; Lieshout, J. van; Aakhus, E.; Baker, R.; Flottorp, S.; Godycki-Cwirko, M.; Jager, C.; Kowalczyk, A.; Szecsenyi, J.; Wensing, M.

2014-01-01

BackgroundTailored strategies to implement evidence-based practice can be generated in several ways. In this study, we explored the usefulness of group interviews for generating these strategies, focused on improving healthcare for patients with chronic diseases.MethodsParticipants included at least

Lightship Daily Observations

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Observations taken on board lightships along the United States coasts from 1936 - 1983. Generally 4-6 observations daily. Also includes deck logs, which give...

On the seepage voids in the compacted soil observed by the x-ray imaging method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tokunaga, Koichi; Koga, Kiyoshi

1991-01-01

The structure of large voids in the soil layer by banking and rolling compaction and the form of the water channel structure seeping through soil layers have important significance in geotechnical engineering, and it was decided to examine them by the heavy liquid infiltration method developed recently by one of the authors. It has been known that the water permeability of soil due to compaction varies remarkably according to the water content in the soil at the time of compaction. However, the factor which determines the water permeability is related to the voids in soil, particularly the form of large voids which become water channel. As for the heavy liquid infiltration method, the sample soil is set similarly to the permeability test of compacted soil, and liquid contrast medium is infiltrated. The stereoscopic photographing is carried out as it is, and the path of the contrast medium infiltrating into soil, namely the form of the voids corresponding to water channel can be observed. Sample soil, the experimental method and the results are reported. The compaction permeability curves have the same tendency in volcanic ash soil and red clay. (K.I.)

Morphological observation and analysis using automated image cytometry for the comparison of trypan blue and fluorescence-based viability detection method.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Leo Li-Ying; Kuksin, Dmitry; Laverty, Daniel J; Saldi, Stephanie; Qiu, Jean

2015-05-01

The ability to accurately determine cell viability is essential to performing a well-controlled biological experiment. Typical experiments range from standard cell culturing to advanced cell-based assays that may require cell viability measurement for downstream experiments. The traditional cell viability measurement method has been the trypan blue (TB) exclusion assay. However, since the introduction of fluorescence-based dyes for cell viability measurement using flow or image-based cytometry systems, there have been numerous publications comparing the two detection methods. Although previous studies have shown discrepancies between TB exclusion and fluorescence-based viability measurements, image-based morphological analysis was not performed in order to examine the viability discrepancies. In this work, we compared TB exclusion and fluorescence-based viability detection methods using image cytometry to observe morphological changes due to the effect of TB on dead cells. Imaging results showed that as the viability of a naturally-dying Jurkat cell sample decreased below 70 %, many TB-stained cells began to exhibit non-uniform morphological characteristics. Dead cells with these characteristics may be difficult to count under light microscopy, thus generating an artificially higher viability measurement compared to fluorescence-based method. These morphological observations can potentially explain the differences in viability measurement between the two methods.

Calculating observables in inhomogeneous cosmologies. Part I: general framework

Science.gov (United States)

Hellaby, Charles; Walters, Anthony

2018-02-01

We lay out a general framework for calculating the variation of a set of cosmological observables, down the past null cone of an arbitrarily placed observer, in a given arbitrary inhomogeneous metric. The observables include redshift, proper motions, area distance and redshift-space density. Of particular interest are observables that are zero in the spherically symmetric case, such as proper motions. The algorithm is based on the null geodesic equation and the geodesic deviation equation, and it is tailored to creating a practical numerical implementation. The algorithm provides a method for tracking which light rays connect moving objects to the observer at successive times. Our algorithm is applied to the particular case of the Szekeres metric. A numerical implementation has been created and some results will be presented in a subsequent paper. Future work will explore the range of possibilities.

Current Observational Constraints to Holographic Dark Energy Model with New Infrared cut-off via Markov Chain Monte Carlo Method

OpenAIRE

Wang, Yuting; Xu, Lixin

2010-01-01

In this paper, the holographic dark energy model with new infrared (IR) cut-off for both the flat case and the non-flat case are confronted with the combined constraints of current cosmological observations: type Ia Supernovae, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations, current Cosmic Microwave Background, and the observational hubble data. By utilizing the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method, we obtain the best fit values of the parameters with $1\\sigma, 2\\sigma$ errors in the flat model: $\\Omega_{b}h...

Hysteresis in Lanthanide Zirconium Oxides Observed Using a Pulse CV Technique and including the Effect of High Temperature Annealing.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Qifeng; Zhao, Chun; Mu, Yifei; Zhao, Ce Zhou; Taylor, Stephen; Chalker, Paul R

2015-07-29

A powerful characterization technique, pulse capacitance-voltage (CV) technique, was used to investigate oxide traps before and after annealing for lanthanide zirconium oxide thin films deposited on n-type Si (111) substrates at 300 °C by liquid injection Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD). The results indicated that: (1) more traps were observed compared to the conventional capacitance-voltage characterization method in LaZrO x ; (2) the time-dependent trapping/de-trapping was influenced by the edge time, width and peak-to-peak voltage of a gate voltage pulse. Post deposition annealing was performed at 700 °C, 800 °C and 900 °C in N₂ ambient for 15 s to the samples with 200 ALD cycles. The effect of the high temperature annealing on oxide traps and leakage current were subsequently explored. It showed that more traps were generated after annealing with the trap density increasing from 1.41 × 10 12 cm -2 for as-deposited sample to 4.55 × 10 12 cm -2 for the 800 °C annealed one. In addition, the leakage current density increase from about 10 - ⁶ A/cm² at V g = +0.5 V for the as-deposited sample to 10 -3 A/cm² at V g = +0.5 V for the 900 °C annealed one.

Hysteresis in Lanthanide Zirconium Oxides Observed Using a Pulse CV Technique and including the Effect of High Temperature Annealing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qifeng Lu

2015-07-01

Full Text Available A powerful characterization technique, pulse capacitance-voltage (CV technique, was used to investigate oxide traps before and after annealing for lanthanide zirconium oxide thin films deposited on n-type Si (111 substrates at 300 °C by liquid injection Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD. The results indicated that: (1 more traps were observed compared to the conventional capacitance-voltage characterization method in LaZrOx; (2 the time-dependent trapping/de-trapping was influenced by the edge time, width and peak-to-peak voltage of a gate voltage pulse. Post deposition annealing was performed at 700 °C, 800 °C and 900 °C in N2 ambient for 15 s to the samples with 200 ALD cycles. The effect of the high temperature annealing on oxide traps and leakage current were subsequently explored. It showed that more traps were generated after annealing with the trap density increasing from 1.41 × 1012 cm−2 for as-deposited sample to 4.55 × 1012 cm−2 for the 800 °C annealed one. In addition, the leakage current density increase from about 10−6 A/cm2 at Vg = +0.5 V for the as-deposited sample to 10−3 A/cm2 at Vg = +0.5 V for the 900 °C annealed one.

Probabilistic production simulation including CHP plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Larsen, H.V.; Palsson, H.; Ravn, H.F.

1997-04-01

A probabilistic production simulation method is presented for an energy system containing combined heat and power plants. The method permits incorporation of stochastic failures (forced outages) of the plants and is well suited for analysis of the dimensioning of the system, that is, for finding the appropriate types and capacities of production plants in relation to expansion planning. The method is in the tradition of similar approaches for the analysis of power systems, based on the load duration curve. The present method extends on this by considering a two-dimensional load duration curve where the two dimensions represent heat and power. The method permits the analysis of a combined heat and power system which includes all the basic relevant types of plants, viz., condensing plants, back pressure plants, extraction plants and heat plants. The focus of the method is on the situation where the heat side has priority. This implies that on the power side there may be imbalances between demand and production. The method permits quantification of the expected power overflow, the expected unserviced power demand, and the expected unserviced heat demand. It is shown that a discretization method as well as double Fourier series may be applied in algorithms based on the method. (au) 1 tab., 28 ills., 21 refs.

TU-FG-209-11: Validation of a Channelized Hotelling Observer to Optimize Chest Radiography Image Processing for Nodule Detection: A Human Observer Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez, A; Little, K; Chung, J; Lu, ZF; MacMahon, H; Reiser, I

2016-01-01

Purpose: To validate the use of a Channelized Hotelling Observer (CHO) model for guiding image processing parameter selection and enable improved nodule detection in digital chest radiography. Methods: In a previous study, an anthropomorphic chest phantom was imaged with and without PMMA simulated nodules using a GE Discovery XR656 digital radiography system. The impact of image processing parameters was then explored using a CHO with 10 Laguerre-Gauss channels. In this work, we validate the CHO’s trend in nodule detectability as a function of two processing parameters by conducting a signal-known-exactly, multi-reader-multi-case (MRMC) ROC observer study. Five naive readers scored confidence of nodule visualization in 384 images with 50% nodule prevalence. The image backgrounds were regions-of-interest extracted from 6 normal patient scans, and the digitally inserted simulated nodules were obtained from phantom data in previous work. Each patient image was processed with both a near-optimal and a worst-case parameter combination, as determined by the CHO for nodule detection. The same 192 ROIs were used for each image processing method, with 32 randomly selected lung ROIs per patient image. Finally, the MRMC data was analyzed using the freely available iMRMC software of Gallas et al. Results: The image processing parameters which were optimized for the CHO led to a statistically significant improvement (p=0.049) in human observer AUC from 0.78 to 0.86, relative to the image processing implementation which produced the lowest CHO performance. Conclusion: Differences in user-selectable image processing methods on a commercially available digital radiography system were shown to have a marked impact on performance of human observers in the task of lung nodule detection. Further, the effect of processing on humans was similar to the effect on CHO performance. Future work will expand this study to include a wider range of detection/classification tasks and more

Method to Determine Appropriate Source Models of Large Earthquakes Including Tsunami Earthquakes for Tsunami Early Warning in Central America

Science.gov (United States)

Tanioka, Yuichiro; Miranda, Greyving Jose Arguello; Gusman, Aditya Riadi; Fujii, Yushiro

2017-08-01

Large earthquakes, such as the Mw 7.7 1992 Nicaragua earthquake, have occurred off the Pacific coasts of El Salvador and Nicaragua in Central America and have generated distractive tsunamis along these coasts. It is necessary to determine appropriate fault models before large tsunamis hit the coast. In this study, first, fault parameters were estimated from the W-phase inversion, and then an appropriate fault model was determined from the fault parameters and scaling relationships with a depth dependent rigidity. The method was tested for four large earthquakes, the 1992 Nicaragua tsunami earthquake (Mw7.7), the 2001 El Salvador earthquake (Mw7.7), the 2004 El Astillero earthquake (Mw7.0), and the 2012 El Salvador-Nicaragua earthquake (Mw7.3), which occurred off El Salvador and Nicaragua in Central America. The tsunami numerical simulations were carried out from the determined fault models. We found that the observed tsunami heights, run-up heights, and inundation areas were reasonably well explained by the computed ones. Therefore, our method for tsunami early warning purpose should work to estimate a fault model which reproduces tsunami heights near the coast of El Salvador and Nicaragua due to large earthquakes in the subduction zone.

Designing Health Websites Based on Users' Web-Based Information-Seeking Behaviors: A Mixed-Method Observational Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Pang, Patrick Cheong-Iao; Chang, Shanton; Verspoor, Karin; Pearce, Jon

2016-06-06

Laypeople increasingly use the Internet as a source of health information, but finding and discovering the right information remains problematic. These issues are partially due to the mismatch between the design of consumer health websites and the needs of health information seekers, particularly the lack of support for "exploring" health information. The aim of this research was to create a design for consumer health websites by supporting different health information-seeking behaviors. We created a website called Better Health Explorer with the new design. Through the evaluation of this new design, we derive design implications for future implementations. Better Health Explorer was designed using a user-centered approach. The design was implemented and assessed through a laboratory-based observational study. Participants tried to use Better Health Explorer and another live health website. Both websites contained the same content. A mixed-method approach was adopted to analyze multiple types of data collected in the experiment, including screen recordings, activity logs, Web browsing histories, and audiotaped interviews. Overall, 31 participants took part in the observational study. Our new design showed a positive result for improving the experience of health information seeking, by providing a wide range of information and an engaging environment. The results showed better knowledge acquisition, a higher number of page reads, and more query reformulations in both focused and exploratory search tasks. In addition, participants spent more time to discover health information with our design in exploratory search tasks, indicating higher engagement with the website. Finally, we identify 4 design considerations for designing consumer health websites and health information-seeking apps: (1) providing a dynamic information scope; (2) supporting serendipity; (3) considering trust implications; and (4) enhancing interactivity. Better Health Explorer provides strong

Observations of cold antihydrogen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan, J.N.; Bowden, N.S.; Gabrielse, G.; Oxley, P.; Speck, A.; Storry, C.H.; Wessels, M.; Grzonka, D.; Oelert, W.; Schepers, G.; Sefzick, T.; Walz, J.; Pittner, H.; Haensch, T.W.; Hessels, E.A.

2004-01-01

ATRAP's e + cooling of p-bar in a nested Penning trap has led to reports of cold H-bar produced during such cooling by the ATHENA and ATRAP collaborations. To observe H-bar, ATHENA uses coincident annihilation detection and ATRAP uses field ionization followed by p-bar storage. Advantages of ATRAP's field ionization method include the complete absence of any background events, and the first way to measure which H-bar states are produced. ATRAP enhances the H-bar production rate by driving many cycles of e + cooling in the nested trap, with more H-bar counted in an hour than the sum of all the other antimatter atoms ever reported. The number of H-bar counted per incident high energy p-bar is also higher than ever observed. The first measured distribution of H-bar states is made using a pre-ionizing electric field between separated production and detection regions. The high rate and the high Rydberg states suggest that the H-bar is formed via three-body recombination, as expected

Observability of global rivers with future SWOT observations

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Colby; Pan, Ming; Wood, Eric

2017-04-01

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission is designed to provide global observations of water surface elevation and slope from which river discharge can be estimated using a data assimilation system. This mission will provide increased spatial and temporal coverage compared to current altimeters, with an expected accuracy for water level elevations of 10 cm on rivers greater than 100 m wide. Within the 21-day repeat cycle, a river reach will be observed 2-4 times on average. Due to the relationship between the basin orientation and the orbit, these observations are not evenly distributed in time, which will impact the derived discharge values. There is, then, a need for a better understanding of how the mission will observe global river basins. In this study, we investigate how SWOT will observe global river basins and how the temporal and spatial sampling impacts the discharge estimated from assimilation. SWOT observations can be assimilated using the Inverse Streamflow Routing (ISR) model of Pan and Wood [2013] with a fixed interval Kalman smoother. Previous work has shown that the ISR assimilation method can be used to reproduce the spatial and temporal dynamics of discharge within many global basins: however, this performance was strongly impacted by the spatial and temporal availability of discharge observations. In this study, we apply the ISR method to 32 global basins with different geometries and crossing patterns for the future orbit, assimilating theoretical SWOT-retrieved "gauges". Results show that the model performance varies significantly across basins and is driven by the orientation, flow distance, and travel time in each. Based on these properties, we quantify the "observability" of each basin and relate this to the performance of the assimilation. Applying this metric globally to a large variety of basins we can gain a better understanding of the impact that SWOT observations may have across basin scales. By determining the

Quantitative Assessment of Blood Pressure Measurement Accuracy and Variability from Visual Auscultation Method by Observers without Receiving Medical Training

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Yong; Chen, Aiqing

2017-01-01

This study aimed to quantify blood pressure (BP) measurement accuracy and variability with different techniques. Thirty video clips of BP recordings from the BHS training database were converted to Korotkoff sound waveforms. Ten observers without receiving medical training were asked to determine BPs using (a) traditional manual auscultatory method and (b) visual auscultation method by visualizing the Korotkoff sound waveform, which was repeated three times on different days. The measurement error was calculated against the reference answers, and the measurement variability was calculated from the SD of the three repeats. Statistical analysis showed that, in comparison with the auscultatory method, visual method significantly reduced overall variability from 2.2 to 1.1 mmHg for SBP and from 1.9 to 0.9 mmHg for DBP (both p auscultation methods). In conclusion, the visual auscultation method had the ability to achieve an acceptable degree of BP measurement accuracy, with smaller variability in comparison with the traditional auscultatory method. PMID:29423405

Application of data assimilation methods for analysis and integration of observed and modeled Arctic Sea ice motions

Science.gov (United States)

Meier, Walter Neil

This thesis demonstrates the applicability of data assimilation methods to improve observed and modeled ice motion fields and to demonstrate the effects of assimilated motion on Arctic processes important to the global climate and of practical concern to human activities. Ice motions derived from 85 GHz and 37 GHz SSM/I imagery and estimated from two-dimensional dynamic-thermodynamic sea ice models are compared to buoy observations. Mean error, error standard deviation, and correlation with buoys are computed for the model domain. SSM/I motions generally have a lower bias, but higher error standard deviations and lower correlation with buoys than model motions. There are notable variations in the statistics depending on the region of the Arctic, season, and ice characteristics. Assimilation methods are investigated and blending and optimal interpolation strategies are implemented. Blending assimilation improves error statistics slightly, but the effect of the assimilation is reduced due to noise in the SSM/I motions and is thus not an effective method to improve ice motion estimates. However, optimal interpolation assimilation reduces motion errors by 25--30% over modeled motions and 40--45% over SSM/I motions. Optimal interpolation assimilation is beneficial in all regions, seasons and ice conditions, and is particularly effective in regimes where modeled and SSM/I errors are high. Assimilation alters annual average motion fields. Modeled ice products of ice thickness, ice divergence, Fram Strait ice volume export, transport across the Arctic and interannual basin averages are also influenced by assimilated motions. Assimilation improves estimates of pollutant transport and corrects synoptic-scale errors in the motion fields caused by incorrect forcings or errors in model physics. The portability of the optimal interpolation assimilation method is demonstrated by implementing the strategy in an ice thickness distribution (ITD) model. This research presents an

First observation of new effects at the set-up for searching for a neutron electric dipole moment by a crystal-diffraction method

CERN Document Server

Fedorov, V V; Semenikhin, S Y; Voronin, V V

2002-01-01

First observation of new effects was carried out using the set-up created for searching for a neutron electric dipole moment (EDM) by a crystal-diffraction method. For the first time the neutron dynamical Laue diffraction for the Bragg angles close to a right angle (up to 87 ) was studied, using the direct diffraction beam and a thick (propor to 3.5-cm) crystal. The effect of an essential time delay of diffracting neutrons inside the crystal for Bragg angles close to 90 was experimentally observed, using a time-of-flight method. The phenomenon of neutron-beam depolarization was first experimentally observed for the case of Laue diffraction in a noncentrosymmetric alpha-quartz crystal. It is experimentally proved that the interplanar electric field, affecting a neutron in a crystal, maintains its value up to Bragg angles equal to 87 . These results confirm the opportunity to increase by more than an order of magnitude the sensitivity of the method to the neutron EDM, using the diffraction angles close to 90 , ...

Observation method for inside of FBR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimano, Kunio; Ishitori, Takashi.

1992-01-01

The method of the present invention provides such a method that the surface of a metal case of an ultrasonic transducer keep a good intimate contact with liquid sodium always in a normal state in a short period of time while exhibiting satisfactory wettability. That is, an oxygen concentration in liquid sodium is increased and the inside of the reactor is seen through. Liquid sodium in a state of high oxygen concentration has extremely satisfactory wettability with metals. Accordingly, the metal surface of the ultrasonic transducer can be put to a intimate contact with the liquid metal sodium in a normal state. Further, a coating layer made of nickel or gold is disposed on the surface of the ultrasonic transducer. With such a constitution, the wettability with the liquid metal sodium can further be improved. (I.S.)

Evaluation on ultrasonic examination methods applied to Ni-base alloy weld including cracks due to stress corrosion cracking found in BWR reactor internal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aoki, Takayuki; Kobayashi, Hiroyuki; Higuchi, Shinichi; Shimizu, Sadato

2005-01-01

A Ni-base alloy weld, including cracks due to stress corrosion cracking found in the reactor internal of the oldest BWR in Japan, Tsuruga unit 1, in 1999, was examined by three (3) types of UT method. After this examination, a depth of each crack was confirmed by carrying out a little excavation with a grinder and PT examination by turns until each crack disappeared. Then, the depth measured by the former method was compared with the one measured by the latter method. In this fashion, performances of the UT methods were verified. As a result, a combination of the three types of UT method was found to meet the acceptance criteria given by ASME Sec.XI Appendix VIII, Performance Demonstration for Ultrasonic Examination Systems-Supplement 6. In this paper, the results of the UT examination described above and their evaluation are discussed. (author)

Electronic monitoring in combination with direct observation as a means to significantly improve hand hygiene compliance.

Science.gov (United States)

Boyce, John M

2017-05-01

Monitoring hand hygiene compliance among health care personnel (HCP) is an essential element of hand hygiene promotion programs. Observation by trained auditors is considered the gold standard method for establishing hand hygiene compliance rates. Advantages of observational surveys include the unique ability to establish compliance with all of the World Health Organization "My 5 Moments for Hand Hygiene" initiative Moments and to provide just-in-time coaching. Disadvantages include the resources required for observational surveys, insufficient sample sizes, and nonstandardized methods of conducting observations. Electronic and camera-based systems can monitor hand hygiene performance on all work shifts without a Hawthorne effect and provide significantly more data regarding hand hygiene performance. Disadvantages include the cost of installation, variable accuracy in estimating compliance rates, issues related to acceptance by HCP, insufficient data regarding their cost-effectiveness and influence on health care-related infection rates, and the ability of most systems to monitor only surrogates for Moments 1, 4, and 5. Increasing evidence suggests that monitoring only Moments 1, 4, and 5 provides reasonable estimates of compliance with all 5 Moments. With continued improvement of electronic monitoring systems, combining electronic monitoring with observational methods may provide the best information as part of a multimodal strategy to improve and sustain hand hygiene compliance rates among HCP. Copyright © 2017 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A foundational observation method for studying design situations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cash, Philip; Hicks, Ben; Culley, Steve

2015-01-01

Observational studies of designers play an important role in engineering design research, yet there is currently no accepted standard approach for comparing, combining, or contrasting studies. Consequentially, reuse, reanalysis, replication, and aggregation of data are limited and the potential...... that covers capture, coding, and analysis. The capture step defines overall and situational context as well as multiple capture streams, generating a broad data-set that can be examined from multiple perspectives. The coding step employs a multi-level approach that seeks to minimise workload while describing...

Methods for forming complex oxidation reaction products including superconducting articles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rapp, R.A.; Urquhart, A.W.; Nagelberg, A.S.; Newkirk, M.S.

1992-01-01

This patent describes a method for producing a superconducting complex oxidation reaction product of two or more metals in an oxidized state. It comprises positioning at least one parent metal source comprising one of the metals adjacent to a permeable mass comprising at least one metal-containing compound capable of reaction to form the complex oxidation reaction product in step below, the metal component of the at least one metal-containing compound comprising at least a second of the two or more metals, and orienting the parent metal source and the permeable mass relative to each other so that formation of the complex oxidation reaction product will occur in a direction towards and into the permeable mass; and heating the parent metal source in the presence of an oxidant to a temperature region above its melting point to form a body of molten parent metal to permit infiltration and reaction of the molten parent metal into the permeable mass and with the oxidant and the at least one metal-containing compound to form the complex oxidation reaction product, and progressively drawing the molten parent metal source through the complex oxidation reaction product towards the oxidant and towards and into the adjacent permeable mass so that fresh complex oxidation reaction product continues to form within the permeable mass; and recovering the resulting complex oxidation reaction product

Some observations on glass-knife making.

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, R T

1977-11-01

The yield of usable knife edge per knife (for thin sectioning) was markedly increased when glass knives were made at an included angle of 55 degrees rather than the customary 45 degrees. A large number of measurements of edge check marks made with a routine light scattering method as well as observations made on a smaller number of test sections with the electron microscope indicated the superiority of 55 degrees knives. Knives were made with both taped pliers and an LKB Knifemaker. Knives were graded by methods easily applied in any biological electron microscope laboratory. Depending on the mode of fracture, the yield of knives having more than 33% of their edges free of check marks was 30 to 100 times greater at 55 degrees than 45 degrees.

Observer variation factor on advanced method for accurate, robust, and efficient spectral fitting of java based magnetic resonance user interface for MRS data analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Suk Jun [Dept. of Biomedical Laboratory Science, College of Health Science, Cheongju University, Cheongju (Korea, Republic of); Yu, Seung Man [Dept. of Radiological Science, College of Health Science, Gimcheon University, Gimcheon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-06-15

The purpose of this study was examined the measurement error factor on AMARES of jMRUI method for magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) quantitative analysis by skilled and unskilled observer method and identified the reason of independent observers. The Point-resolved spectroscopy sequence was used to acquired magnetic resonance spectroscopy data of 10 weeks male Sprague-Dawley rat liver. The methylene protons ((-CH2-)n) of 1.3 ppm and water proton (H2O) of 4.7 ppm ratio was calculated by LCModel software for using the reference data. The seven unskilled observers were calculated total lipid (methylene/water) using the jMRUI AMARES technique twice every 1 week, and we conducted interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) statistical analysis by SPSS software. The inter-observer reliability (ICC) of Cronbach's alpha value was less than 0.1. The average value of seven observer's total lipid (0.096±0.038) was 50% higher than LCModel reference value. The jMRUI AMARES analysis method is need to minimize the presence of the residual metabolite by identified metabolite MRS profile in order to obtain the same results as the LCModel.

Evaluation of Teaching Methods in Mass CPCR Training in Different Groups of the Society, an Observational Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasani, Hamed; Bahrami, Mojtaba; Malekpour, Abdorrasoul; Dehghani, Mohammadreza; Allahyary, Elaheh; Amini, Mitra; Abdorahimi, Mehdi; khani, Sara; Kalantari Meibodi, Mohammad; Kojuri, Javad

2015-05-01

To determine the efficacy of different methods of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPCR) training in 3 different groups of the society. In a prospective and observational study of 2000 individuals in 3 different groups including G1, G2, and G3 4 different protocols of CPCR training were applied and their efficacy was compared between the groups. Also, 12 months after the study course, 460 participants from 3 groups were asked to take apart in a theoretical and practical examination to evaluate the long-term efficacy of the 4 protocols. Among 2000 individuals took a parted in the study, 950 (47.5%) were G1, 600 (30%) were G2, and 450 (22.5%) were G3. G1 in 4 groups were 2.37 and 2.65 times more successful in pretest theoretical and 2.61 and 18.20 times more successful in practical examinations compared with G2 and G3 and gained highest improvement in CPCR skills. Other groups also showed significantly improved CPCR skills. Comparison of different methods of CPCR learning showed that the workshop using interactive lecture as well as human model, educational film, and reference CPCR book has the highest efficacy in all groups. This protocol of CPCR training showed more efficacy in long-term postdelayed evaluation. On the contrary, medical students had better long-term outcomes from the course. Although G1 and G2 obtained better results in learning CPCR skills, in G3 also the theoretical and practical knowledge were improved significantly. This course increased confidence for doing CPCR in all groups of the study. Considering that the most of the bystanders at emergency states are general population, training this group of the society and increasing their confidence about performing CPCR can be so effective and lifesaving at emergency states. (Clinical trial. Gov registration: NCT02120573).

Study of Application for Excursion Observation Method in Primary School 2nd Grade Social Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmet Ali GAZEL

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This study aims to investigate how field trips are conducted at 2nd grade of primary schools as a part of social studies course. Data for this research is compiled from 143 permanent Social Studies teachers working throughout 2011–2012 Education Year in the primary schools of central Kütahya and its districts. Data is compiled by using descriptive search model. In the research, after taking expert opinions, a measuring tool developed by the researcher is used. Data obtained from the research were transferred to computer, and analyses were made. In the analysis of the data, frequency and percentage values have been used to determine the distribution. Also a single factor variance analysis and t-test for independent samples have been used to determine the significance of difference between the variables. As a result of the research, it has been realized that insufficient importance is given to field trip method in Social Studies lessons. Most of the teachers using this method apply it in spring months. Teachers usually make use of field trips independent from unit/topic to increase the students’ motivation, and they generally use verbal expression in the class after tours. The biggest difficulty teachers encounter while using tour-observation method is the students’ undisciplined behavior.

Hue discrimination in Iberoamerican Observers

Science.gov (United States)

Carranza, Jazmín; Medina, Juana

2008-04-01

In this work we analyze the Farnsworth Munsell 100 Hue Test results, this test offers a simple method for testing color discrimination and was applied to a sample of 129 observers, with natural daylight in the same conditions (the observers were men and women), all of these were participants in colorimetric training courses, and aged 20 to 76, with two to twenty five years experience in the color control manufacturer laboratories (of plastics, rugs, dyes, textiles, and paints). Their job titles included mixers, inspectors, shaders, matchers, passers, and dyers. The test was applied twice and the results here presented are the comparison between both tests, taking into account errors by mistakes incidence in each hue position, as well as the redeeming of each participant in both test. The comparison shows us that most of the mistakes are in the green hue in both tests, but in the second test, approximately 20 percent of the observers reduced those. Also we can to separate persons with normal color vision of those which have zones of color confusion. In this work it is show some ones results of the comparison between men and women.

Assimilation of wind speed and direction observations: results from real observation experiments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feng Gao

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The assimilation of wind observations in the form of speed and direction (asm_sd by the Weather Research and Forecasting Model Data Assimilation System (WRFDA was performed using real data and employing a series of cycling assimilation experiments for a 2-week period, as a follow-up for an idealised post hoc assimilation experiment. The satellite-derived Atmospheric Motion Vectors (AMV and surface dataset in Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS were assimilated. This new method takes into account the observation errors of both wind speed (spd and direction (dir, and WRFDA background quality control (BKG-QC influences the choice of wind observations, due to data conversions between (u,v and (spd, dir. The impacts of BKG-QC, as well as the new method, on the wind analysis were analysed separately. Because the dir observational errors produced by different platforms are not known or tuned well in WRFDA, a practical method, which uses similar assimilation weights in comparative trials, was employed to estimate the spd and dir observation errors. The asm_sd produces positive impacts on analyses and short-range forecasts of spd and dir with smaller root-mean-square errors than the u,v-based system. The bias of spd analysis decreases by 54.8%. These improvements result partly from BKG-QC screening of spd and dir observations in a direct way, but mainly from the independent impact of spd (dir data assimilation on spd (dir analysis, which is the primary distinction from the standard WRFDA method. The potential impacts of asm_sd on precipitation forecasts were evaluated. Results demonstrate that the asm_sd is able to indirectly improve the precipitation forecasts by improving the prediction accuracies of key wind-related factors leading to precipitation (e.g. warm moist advection and frontogenesis.

Thick electrodes including nanoparticles having electroactive materials and methods of making same

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Jie; Lu, Dongping; Liu, Jun; Zhang, Jiguang; Graff, Gordon L.

2017-02-21

Electrodes having nanostructure and/or utilizing nanoparticles of active materials and having high mass loadings of the active materials can be made to be physically robust and free of cracks and pinholes. The electrodes include nanoparticles having electroactive material, which nanoparticles are aggregated with carbon into larger secondary particles. The secondary particles can be bound with a binder to form the electrode.

Deconvolution map-making for cosmic microwave background observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Armitage, Charmaine; Wandelt, Benjamin D.

2004-01-01

We describe a new map-making code for cosmic microwave background observations. It implements fast algorithms for convolution and transpose convolution of two functions on the sphere [B. Wandelt and K. Gorski, Phys. Rev. D 63, 123002 (2001)]. Our code can account for arbitrary beam asymmetries and can be applied to any scanning strategy. We demonstrate the method using simulated time-ordered data for three beam models and two scanning patterns, including a coarsened version of the WMAP strategy. We quantitatively compare our results with a standard map-making method and demonstrate that the true sky is recovered with high accuracy using deconvolution map-making

Using ACE Observations of Interplanetary Particles and Magnetic Fields as Possible Contributors to Variations Observed at Van Allen Probes during Major events in 2013

Science.gov (United States)

Armstrong, T. P.; Manweiler, J. W.; Gerrard, A. J.; Gkioulidou, M.; Lanzerotti, L. J.; Patterson, J. D.

2013-12-01

Observations from ACE EPAM including energy spectra of protons, helium, and oxygen will be prepared for coordinated use in estimating the direct and indirect access of energetic particles to inner and outer geomagnetic trapping zones. Complete temporal coverage from ACE at 12 seconds, 5 minutes, 17 minutes, hourly and daily cadences will be used to catalog interplanetary events arriving at Earth including interplanetary magnetic field sector boundaries, interplanetary shocks, and interplanetary coronal mass ejections, ICMEs. The first 6 months of 2013 have included both highly disturbed times, March 17 and May 22, and extended quiet periods of little or no variations. Among the specific questions that ACE and Van Allen Probes coordinated observations may aid in resolving are: 1. How much, if any, direct capture of interplanetary energetic particles occurs and what conditions account for it? 2. How much influence do interplanetary field and particle variations have on energization and/or loss of geomagnetically trapped populations? The poster will also present important links and describe methods and important details of access to numerically expressed ACE EPAM and Van Allen Probes RBSPICE observations that can be flexibly and easily accessed via the internet for student and senior researcher use.

Events per variable for risk differences and relative risks using pseudo-observations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Stefan Nygaard; Andersen, Per Kragh; Parner, Erik Thorlund

2014-01-01

A method based on pseudo-observations has been proposed for direct regression modeling of functionals of interest with right-censored data, including the survival function, the restricted mean and the cumulative incidence function in competing risks. The models, once the pseudo-observations have...... been computed, can be fitted using standard generalized estimating equation software. Regression models can however yield problematic results if the number of covariates is large in relation to the number of events observed. Guidelines of events per variable are often used in practice. These rules...

Method for contamination control and barrier apparatus with filter for containing waste materials that include dangerous particulate matter

Science.gov (United States)

Pinson, Paul A.

1998-01-01

A container for hazardous waste materials that includes air or other gas carrying dangerous particulate matter has incorporated in barrier material, preferably in the form of a flexible sheet, one or more filters for the dangerous particulate matter sealably attached to such barrier material. The filter is preferably a HEPA type filter and is preferably chemically bonded to the barrier materials. The filter or filters are preferably flexibly bonded to the barrier material marginally and peripherally of the filter or marginally and peripherally of air or other gas outlet openings in the barrier material, which may be a plastic bag. The filter may be provided with a backing panel of barrier material having an opening or openings for the passage of air or other gas into the filter or filters. Such backing panel is bonded marginally and peripherally thereof to the barrier material or to both it and the filter or filters. A coupling or couplings for deflating and inflating the container may be incorporated. Confining a hazardous waste material in such a container, rapidly deflating the container and disposing of the container, constitutes one aspect of the method of the invention. The chemical bonding procedure for producing the container constitutes another aspect of the method of the invention.

Method for contamination control and barrier apparatus with filter for containing waste materials that include dangerous particulate matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinson, P.A.

1998-01-01

A container for hazardous waste materials that includes air or other gas carrying dangerous particulate matter has incorporated barrier material, preferably in the form of a flexible sheet, and one or more filters for the dangerous particulate matter sealably attached to such barrier material. The filter is preferably a HEPA type filter and is preferably chemically bonded to the barrier materials. The filter or filters are preferably flexibly bonded to the barrier material marginally and peripherally of the filter or marginally and peripherally of air or other gas outlet openings in the barrier material, which may be a plastic bag. The filter may be provided with a backing panel of barrier material having an opening or openings for the passage of air or other gas into the filter or filters. Such backing panel is bonded marginally and peripherally thereof to the barrier material or to both it and the filter or filters. A coupling or couplings for deflating and inflating the container may be incorporated. Confining a hazardous waste material in such a container, rapidly deflating the container and disposing of the container, constitutes one aspect of the method of the invention. The chemical bonding procedure for producing the container constitutes another aspect of the method of the invention. 3 figs

A New Method to Constrain Supernova Fractions Using X-ray Observations of Clusters of Galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Bulbul, Esra; Smith, Randall K.; Loewenstein, Michael

2012-01-01

Supernova (SN) explosions enrich the intracluster medium (ICM) both by creating and dispersing metals. We introduce a method to measure the number of SNe and relative contribution of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) and core-collapse supernovae (SNe cc) by directly fitting X-ray spectral observations. The method has been implemented as an XSPEC model called snapec. snapec utilizes a single-temperature thermal plasma code (apec) to model the spectral emission based on metal abundances calculated using the latest SN yields from SN Ia and SN cc explosion models. This approach provides a self-consistent single set of uncertainties on the total number of SN explosions and relative fraction of SN types in the ICM over the cluster lifetime by directly allowing these parameters to be determined by SN yields provided by simulations. We apply our approach to XMM-Newton European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC), Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS), and 200 ks simulated Astro-H observations of a cooling flow cluster, A3112.We find that various sets of SN yields present in the literature produce an acceptable fit to the EPIC and RGS spectra of A3112. We infer that 30.3% plus or minus 5.4% to 37.1% plus or minus 7.1% of the total SN explosions are SNe Ia, and the total number of SN explosions required to create the observed metals is in the range of (1.06 plus or minus 0.34) x 10(exp 9), to (1.28 plus or minus 0.43) x 10(exp 9), fromsnapec fits to RGS spectra. These values may be compared to the enrichment expected based on well-established empirically measured SN rates per star formed. The proportions of SNe Ia and SNe cc inferred to have enriched the ICM in the inner 52 kiloparsecs of A3112 is consistent with these specific rates, if one applies a correction for the metals locked up in stars. At the same time, the inferred level of SN enrichment corresponds to a star-to-gas mass ratio that is several times greater than the 10% estimated globally for clusters in the A3112 mass range.

Cost-efficient scheduling of FAST observations

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Qi; Zhao, Laiping; Yu, Ce; Xiao, Jian; Sun, Jizhou; Zhu, Ming; Zhong, Yi

2018-03-01

A cost-efficient schedule for the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) requires to maximize the number of observable proposals and the overall scientific priority, and minimize the overall slew-cost generated by telescope shifting, while taking into account the constraints including the astronomical objects visibility, user-defined observable times, avoiding Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). In this contribution, first we solve the problem of maximizing the number of observable proposals and scientific priority by modeling it as a Minimum Cost Maximum Flow (MCMF) problem. The optimal schedule can be found by any MCMF solution algorithm. Then, for minimizing the slew-cost of the generated schedule, we devise a maximally-matchable edges detection-based method to reduce the problem size, and propose a backtracking algorithm to find the perfect matching with minimum slew-cost. Experiments on a real dataset from NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) show that, the proposed scheduler can increase the usage of available times with high scientific priority and reduce the slew-cost significantly in a very short time.

US and Turkish preschoolers' observational knowledge of astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Saçkes, Mesut; McCormick Smith, Mandy; Cabe Trundle, Kathy

2016-01-01

The purpose of this cross-cultural study was to describe and compare US and Turkish children's observational knowledge of the day and night cycle and to identify similarities predicted by framework theory. Fifty-six (27 US and 29 Turkish) young children (ages 48-60 months) participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews were individually conducted, digitally recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using the constant comparative method. The results demonstrate that preschoolers from the two cultures are able to make comparable informal observations of the sky, and their observational knowledge includes many similarities, with one exception, as predicted by framework theory. US children were more likely to perform better than the Turkish children on the question about the time of observation for the moon. Although science concepts and skills are better represented in US early childhood education programs than the Turkish program, the results suggest that this advantage did not translate into performance differences between US and Turkish children.

Adaptive sensorless field oriented control of PM motors including zero speed

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Henrik; Vadstrup, P.; Børsting, H.

2004-01-01

This paper presents a simple control method for controlling permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) in a wide speed range without a shaft sensor. An adaptive observer is used for estimation of the rotor position and speed of a permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM). The observer compensates...... for voltage offsets and permanent magnet strength variations. The adaption structure for estimating the strength of the permanent magnet is determined from a Lyapunov stability proof. The control method is made robust at zero and low speed by changing the direct vector current component to a value different...... from zero. In order to verify the applicability of the method the controller has been implemented and tested on a 800 W motor....

Use of the potentiometric titration method to investigate heterogeneous systems including phosphorylated complexones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tereshin, G.S.; Kharitonova, L.K.; Kuznetsova, O.B.

1979-01-01

Heterogeneous systems Y(NO 3 ) 3 (YCl 3 )-Hsub(n)L-KNO 3 (KCl)-H 2 O are investigated by potentiometric titration (with coulomb-meter generation of oH - ions). Hsub(n)L is one of the following: oxyethylidendiphosphonic; aminobenzilidendiphosphonic; glycine-bis-methyl-phosphonic; nitrilotrimethylphosphonic (H 6 L) and ethylenediaminetetramethylphosphonic acids. The range of the exsistence of YHsub(nL3)LxyH 2 O has been determined. The possibility of using potentiometric titration for investigating heterogeneous systems is demonstrated by the stUdy of the system Y(NO 3 ) 3 -H 6 L-KOH-H 2 o by the method of residual concentration. The two methods have shown that at pH 3 LxyH 2 O; at pH=6, KYH 2 Lxy'H 2 O, and at pH=7, K 2 YHLxy''H 2 O. The complete solubility products of nitrilotrimethylphosphonates are evaluated

Turbomachine combustor nozzle including a monolithic nozzle component and method of forming the same

Science.gov (United States)

Stoia, Lucas John; Melton, Patrick Benedict; Johnson, Thomas Edward; Stevenson, Christian Xavier; Vanselow, John Drake; Westmoreland, James Harold

2016-02-23

A turbomachine combustor nozzle includes a monolithic nozzle component having a plate element and a plurality of nozzle elements. Each of the plurality of nozzle elements includes a first end extending from the plate element to a second end. The plate element and plurality of nozzle elements are formed as a unitary component. A plate member is joined with the nozzle component. The plate member includes an outer edge that defines first and second surfaces and a plurality of openings extending between the first and second surfaces. The plurality of openings are configured and disposed to register with and receive the second end of corresponding ones of the plurality of nozzle elements.

Observation, experiment and hypothesis in modern physical science

CERN Document Server

Hannaway, Owen

1985-01-01

These original contributions by philosophers and historians of science discuss a range of issues pertaining to the testing of hypotheses in modern physics by observation and experiment. Chapters by Lawrence Sklar, Dudley Shapere, Richard Boyd, R. C. Jeffrey, Peter Achinstein, and Ronald Laymon explore general philosophical themes with applications to modern physics and astrophysics. The themes include the nature of the hypothetico-deductive method, the concept of observation and the validity of the theoretical-observation distinction, the probabilistic basis of confirmation, and the testing of idealizations and approximations.The remaining four chapters focus on the history of particular twentieth-century experiments, the instruments and techniques utilized, and the hypotheses they were designed to test. Peter Galison reviews the development of the bubble chamber; Roger Stuewer recounts a sharp dispute between physicists in Cambridge and Vienna over the interpretation of artificial disintegration experiments;...

Attenuation Characteristics of Strong Motions during the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes including Near-Field Records

Science.gov (United States)

Si, H.; Koketsu, K.; Miyake, H.; Ibrahim, R.

2016-12-01

During the two major earthquakes occurred in Kumamoto prefecture, at 21:26 on 14 April, 2016 (Mw 6.2, GCMT), and at 1:25 on 16 April, 2016 (Mw7.0, GCMT), a large number of strong ground motions were recorded, including those very close to the surface fault. In this study, we will discuss the attenuation characteristics of strong ground motions observed during the earthquakes. The data used in this study are mainly observed by K-NET, KiK-net, Osaka University, JMA and Kumamoto prefecture. The 5% damped acceleration response spectra (GMRotI50) are calculated based on the method proposed by Boore et al. (2006). PGA and PGV is defined as the larger one among the PGAs and PGVs of two horizontal components. The PGA, PGV, and GMRotI50 data were corrected to the bedrock with Vs of 1.5km/s based on the method proposed by Si et al. (2016) using the average shear wave velocity (Vs30) and the thickness of sediments over the bedrock. The thickness is estimated based on the velocity structure model provided by J-SHIS. We use a source model proposed by Koketsu et al. (2016) to calculate the fault distance and the median distance (MED) which defined as the closest distance from a station to the median line of the fault plane (Si et al., 2014). We compared the observed PGAs, PGVs, and GMRotI50 with the GMPEs developed in Japan using MED (Si et al., 2014). The predictions by the GMPEs are generally consistent with the observations during the two Kumamoto earthquakes. The results of the comparison also indicated that, (1) strong motion records from the earthquake on April 14th are generally consistent with the predictions by GMPE, however, at the periods of 0.5 to 2 seconds, several records close to the fault plane show larger amplitudes than the predictions by GMPE, including the KiK-net station Mashiki (KMMH16); (2) for the earthquake on April 16, the PGAs and GMRotI50 at periods from 0.1s to 0.4s with short distance from the fault plane are slightly smaller than the predictions by

Microseism Source Distribution Observed from Ireland

Science.gov (United States)

Craig, David; Bean, Chris; Donne, Sarah; Le Pape, Florian; Möllhoff, Martin

2017-04-01

Ocean generated microseisms (OGM) are recorded globally with similar spectral features observed everywhere. The generation mechanism for OGM and their subsequent propagation to continental regions has led to their use as a proxy for sea-state characteristics. Also many modern seismological methods make use of OGM signals. For example, the Earth's crust and upper mantle can be imaged using ``ambient noise tomography``. For many of these methods an understanding of the source distribution is necessary to properly interpret the results. OGM recorded on near coastal seismometers are known to be related to the local ocean wavefield. However, contributions from more distant sources may also be present. This is significant for studies attempting to use OGM as a proxy for sea-state characteristics such as significant wave height. Ireland has a highly energetic ocean wave climate and is close to one of the major source regions for OGM. This provides an ideal location to study an OGM source region in detail. Here we present the source distribution observed from seismic arrays in Ireland. The region is shown to consist of several individual source areas. These source areas show some frequency dependence and generally occur at or near the continental shelf edge. We also show some preliminary results from an off-shore OBS network to the North-West of Ireland. The OBS network includes instruments on either side of the shelf and should help interpret the array observations.

NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, A. E.; Behnke, J.; Lowe, D.; Ramapriyan, H. K.

2009-12-01

NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of NASA Earth observation program for over 10 years. It is one of the largest civilian science information system in the US, performing ingest, archive and distribution of over 3 terabytes of data per day much of which is from NASA’s flagship missions Terra, Aqua and Aura. The system supports a variety of science disciplines including polar processes, land cover change, radiation budget, and most especially global climate change. The EOSDIS data centers, collocated with centers of science discipline expertise, archive and distribute standard data products produced by science investigator-led processing systems. Key to the success of EOSDIS is the concept of core versus community requirements. EOSDIS supports a core set of services to meet specific NASA needs and relies on community-developed services to meet specific user needs. EOSDIS offers a metadata registry, ECHO (Earth Observing System Clearinghouse), through which the scientific community can easily discover and exchange NASA’s Earth science data and services. Users can search, manage, and access the contents of ECHO’s registries (data and services) through user-developed and community-tailored interfaces or clients. The ECHO framework has become the primary access point for cross-Data Center search-and-order of EOSDIS and other Earth Science data holdings archived at the EOSDIS data centers. ECHO’s Warehouse Inventory Search Tool (WIST) is the primary web-based client for discovering and ordering cross-discipline data from the EOSDIS data centers. The architecture of the EOSDIS provides a platform for the publication, discovery, understanding and access to NASA’s Earth Observation resources and allows for easy integration of new datasets. The EOSDIS also has developed several methods for incorporating socioeconomic data into its data collection. Over the years, we have developed several methods for

NASA's Earth Observing Data and Information System

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Andrew E.; Behnke, Jeanne; Lowe, Dawn; Ramapriyan, H. K.

2009-01-01

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) has been a central component of NASA Earth observation program for over 10 years. It is one of the largest civilian science information system in the US, performing ingest, archive and distribution of over 3 terabytes of data per day much of which is from NASA s flagship missions Terra, Aqua and Aura. The system supports a variety of science disciplines including polar processes, land cover change, radiation budget, and most especially global climate change. The EOSDIS data centers, collocated with centers of science discipline expertise, archive and distribute standard data products produced by science investigator-led processing systems. Key to the success of EOSDIS is the concept of core versus community requirements. EOSDIS supports a core set of services to meet specific NASA needs and relies on community-developed services to meet specific user needs. EOSDIS offers a metadata registry, ECHO (Earth Observing System Clearinghouse), through which the scientific community can easily discover and exchange NASA s Earth science data and services. Users can search, manage, and access the contents of ECHO s registries (data and services) through user-developed and community-tailored interfaces or clients. The ECHO framework has become the primary access point for cross-Data Center search-and-order of EOSDIS and other Earth Science data holdings archived at the EOSDIS data centers. ECHO s Warehouse Inventory Search Tool (WIST) is the primary web-based client for discovering and ordering cross-discipline data from the EOSDIS data centers. The architecture of the EOSDIS provides a platform for the publication, discovery, understanding and access to NASA s Earth Observation resources and allows for easy integration of new datasets. The EOSDIS also has developed several methods for incorporating socioeconomic data into its data collection. Over the years, we have developed several methods for determining

The development of small, cabled, real-time video based observation systems for near shore coastal marine science including three examples and lessons learned

Science.gov (United States)

Hatcher, Gerry; Okuda, Craig

2016-01-01

The effects of climate change on the near shore coastal environment including ocean acidification, accelerated erosion, destruction of coral reefs, and damage to marine habitat have highlighted the need for improved equipment to study, monitor, and evaluate these changes [1]. This is especially true where areas of study are remote, large, or beyond depths easily accessible to divers. To this end, we have developed three examples of low cost and easily deployable real-time ocean observation platforms. We followed a scalable design approach adding complexity and capability as familiarity and experience were gained with system components saving both time and money by reducing design mistakes. The purpose of this paper is to provide information for the researcher, technician, or engineer who finds themselves in need of creating or acquiring similar platforms.

Experimental Observation of the Skeletal Adaptive Repair Mechanism and Bionic Topology Optimization Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kaysar Rahman

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Bone adaptive repair theory considers that the external load is the direct source of bone remodeling; bone achieves its maintenance by remodeling some microscopic damages due to external load during the process. This paper firstly observes CT data from the whole self-repairing process in bone defects in rabbit femur. Experimental result shows that during self-repairing process there exists an interaction relationship between spongy bone and enamel bone volume changes of bone defect, that is when volume of spongy bone increases, enamel bone decreases, and when volume of spongy bone decreases, enamel bone increases. Secondly according to this feature a bone remodeling model based on cross-type reaction-diffusion system influenced by mechanical stress is proposed. Finally, this model coupled with finite element method by using the element adding and removing process is used to simulate the self-repairing process and engineering optimization problems by considering the idea of bionic topology optimization.

A Hilbert transform method for parameter identification of time-varying structures with observer techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Zuo-Cai; Ren, Wei-Xin; Chen, Gen-Da

2012-01-01

This paper presents a recursive Hilbert transform method for the time-varying property identification of large-scale shear-type buildings with limited sensor deployments. An observer technique is introduced to estimate the building responses from limited available measurements. For an n-story shear-type building with l measurements (l ≤ n), the responses of other stories without measurements can be estimated based on the first r mode shapes (r ≤ l) as-built conditions and l measurements. Both the measured responses and evaluated responses and their Hilbert transforms are then used to track any variation of structural parameters of a multi-story building over time. Given floor masses, both the stiffness and damping coefficients of the building are identified one-by-one from the top to the bottom story. When variations of parameters are detected, a new developed branch-and-bound technique can be used to update the first r mode shapes with the identified parameters. A 60-story shear building with abruptly varying stiffness at different floors is simulated as an example. The numerical results indicate that the proposed method can detect variations of the parameters of large-scale shear-type buildings with limited sensor deployments at appropriate locations. (paper)

Offshore observations of eastern red bats (Lasiurus borealis in the Mid-Atlantic United States using multiple survey methods.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaylyn K Hatch

Full Text Available Little is known about the migration and movements of migratory tree-roosting bat species in North America, though anecdotal observations of migrating bats over the Atlantic Ocean have been reported since at least the 1890s. Aerial surveys and boat-based surveys of wildlife off the Atlantic Seaboard detected a possible diurnal migration event of eastern red bats (Lasiurus borealis in September 2012. One bat was sighted approximately 44 km east of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware during a boat-based survey. Eleven additional bats were observed between 16.9 and 41.8 km east of New Jersey, Delaware, and Virginia in high definition video footage collected during digital aerial surveys. Observations were collected incidentally as part of a large baseline study of seabird, marine mammal, and sea turtle distributions and movements in the offshore environment. Digital survey methods also allowed for altitude estimation for several of these bats at >100 m above sea level. These observations provide new evidence of bat movements offshore, and offer insight into their flight heights above sea level and the times of day at which such migrations may occur.

Geo-neutrino Observation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dye, S. T.; Alderman, M.; Batygov, M.; Learned, J. G.; Matsuno, S.; Mahoney, J. M.; Pakvasa, S.; Rosen, M.; Smith, S.; Varner, G.; McDonough, W. F.

2009-01-01

Observations of geo-neutrinos measure radiogenic heat production within the earth, providing information on the thermal history and dynamic processes of the mantle. Two detectors currently observe geo-neutrinos from underground locations. Other detection projects in various stages of development include a deep ocean observatory. This paper presents the current status of geo-neutrino observation and describes the scientific capabilities of the deep ocean observatory, with emphasis on geology and neutrino physics.

Uncertainty in Citizen Science observations: from measurement to user perception

Science.gov (United States)

Lahoz, William; Schneider, Philipp; Castell, Nuria

2016-04-01

Citizen Science activities concern general public engagement in scientific research activities when citizens actively contribute to science either with their intellectual effort or surrounding knowledge or with their tools and resources. The advent of technologies such as the Internet and smartphones, and the growth in their usage, has significantly increased the potential benefits from Citizen Science activities. Citizen Science observations from low-cost sensors, smartphones and Citizen Observatories, provide a novel and recent development in platforms for observing the Earth System, with the opportunity to extend the range of observational platforms available to society to spatio-temporal scales (10-100s m; 1 hr or less) highly relevant to citizen needs. The potential value of Citizen Science is high, with applications in science, education, social aspects, and policy aspects, but this potential, particularly for citizens and policymakers, remains largely untapped. Key areas where Citizen Science data start to have demonstrable benefits include GEOSS Societal Benefit Areas such as Health and Weather. Citizen Science observations have many challenges, including simulation of smaller spatial scales, noisy data, combination with traditional observational methods (satellite and in situ data), and assessment, representation and visualization of uncertainty. Within these challenges, that of the assessment and representation of uncertainty and its communication to users is fundamental, as it provides qualitative and/or quantitative information that influences the belief users will have in environmental information. This presentation will discuss the challenges in assessment and representation of uncertainty in Citizen Science observations, its communication to users, including the use of visualization, and the perception of this uncertainty information by users of Citizen Science observations.

Model Insensitive and Calibration Independent Method for Determination of the Downstream Neutral Hydrogen Density Through Ly-alpha Glow Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Gangopadhyay, P.; Judge, D. L.

1996-01-01

Our knowledge of the various heliospheric phenomena (location of the solar wind termination shock, heliopause configuration and very local interstellar medium parameters) is limited by uncertainties in the available heliospheric plasma models and by calibration uncertainties in the observing instruments. There is, thus, a strong motivation to develop model insensitive and calibration independent methods to reduce the uncertainties in the relevant heliospheric parameters. We have developed such a method to constrain the downstream neutral hydrogen density inside the heliospheric tail. In our approach we have taken advantage of the relative insensitivity of the downstream neutral hydrogen density profile to the specific plasma model adopted. We have also used the fact that the presence of an asymmetric neutral hydrogen cavity surrounding the sun, characteristic of all neutral densities models, results in a higher multiple scattering contribution to the observed glow in the downstream region than in the upstream region. This allows us to approximate the actual density profile with one which is spatially uniform for the purpose of calculating the downstream backscattered glow. Using different spatially constant density profiles, radiative transfer calculations are performed, and the radial dependence of the predicted glow is compared with the observed I/R dependence of Pioneer 10 UV data. Such a comparison bounds the large distance heliospheric neutral hydrogen density in the downstream direction to a value between 0.05 and 0.1/cc.

International Halley watch amateur observers' manual for scientific comet studies. Part 1: Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Edberg, S. J.

1983-01-01

The International Halley Watch is described as well as comets and observing techniques. Information on periodic Comet Halley's apparition for its 1986 perihelion passage is provided. Instructions are given for observation projects valuable to the International Halley Watch in six areas of study: (1) visual observations; (2) photography; (3) astrometry; (4) spectroscopic observations; (5) photoelectric photometry; and (6) meteor observations.

Acceleration methods and models in Sn calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sbaffoni, M.M.; Abbate, M.J.

1984-01-01

In some neutron transport problems solved by the discrete ordinate method, it is relatively common to observe some particularities as, for example, negative fluxes generation, slow and insecure convergences and solution instabilities. The commonly used models for neutron flux calculation and acceleration methods included in the most used codes were analyzed, in face of their use in problems characterized by a strong upscattering effect. Some special conclusions derived from this analysis are presented as well as a new method to perform the upscattering scaling for solving the before mentioned problems in this kind of cases. This method has been included in the DOT3.5 code (two dimensional discrete ordinates radiation transport code) generating a new version of wider application. (Author) [es

Observer roles that optimise learning in healthcare simulation education: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Regan, Stephanie; Molloy, Elizabeth; Watterson, Leonie; Nestel, Debra

2016-01-01

Simulation is widely used in health professional education. The convention that learners are actively involved may limit access to this educational method. The aim of this paper is to review the evidence for learning methods that employ directed observation as an alternative to hands-on participation in scenario-based simulation training. We sought studies that included either direct comparison of the learning outcomes of observers with those of active participants or identified factors important for the engagement of observers in simulation. We systematically searched health and education databases and reviewed journals and bibliographies for studies investigating or referring to observer roles in simulation using mannequins, simulated patients or role play simulations. A quality framework was used to rate the studies. We sought studies that included either direct comparison of the learning outcomes of observers with those of active participants or identified factors important for the engagement of observers in simulation. We systematically searched health and education databases and reviewed journals and bibliographies for studies investigating or referring to observer roles in simulation using mannequins, simulated patients or role play simulations. A quality framework was used to rate the studies. Nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Five studies suggest learning outcomes in observer roles are as good or better than hands-on roles in simulation. Four studies document learner satisfaction in observer roles. Five studies used a tool to guide observers. Eight studies involved observers in the debrief. Learning and satisfaction in observer roles is closely associated with observer tools, learner engagement, role clarity and contribution to the debrief. Learners that valued observer roles described them as affording an overarching view, examination of details from a distance, and meaningful feedback during the debrief. Learners who did not value observer roles

Observational methodology in sport sciences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Teresa Anguera

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the conceptual framework, the key literature and the methods (observation tools, such as category systems and field formats, and coding software, etc. that should be followed when conducting research from the perspective of observational methodology. The observational designs used by the authors’ research group over the last twenty years are discussed, and the procedures for analysing data and assessing their quality are described. Mention is also made of the latest methodological trends in this field, such as the use of mixed methods.

Model Uncertainty Quantification Methods In Data Assimilation

Science.gov (United States)

Pathiraja, S. D.; Marshall, L. A.; Sharma, A.; Moradkhani, H.

2017-12-01

Data Assimilation involves utilising observations to improve model predictions in a seamless and statistically optimal fashion. Its applications are wide-ranging; from improving weather forecasts to tracking targets such as in the Apollo 11 mission. The use of Data Assimilation methods in high dimensional complex geophysical systems is an active area of research, where there exists many opportunities to enhance existing methodologies. One of the central challenges is in model uncertainty quantification; the outcome of any Data Assimilation study is strongly dependent on the uncertainties assigned to both observations and models. I focus on developing improved model uncertainty quantification methods that are applicable to challenging real world scenarios. These include developing methods for cases where the system states are only partially observed, where there is little prior knowledge of the model errors, and where the model error statistics are likely to be highly non-Gaussian.

Introduction to methods of approximation in physics and astronomy

CERN Document Server

van Putten, Maurice H P M

2017-01-01

This textbook provides students with a solid introduction to the techniques of approximation commonly used in data analysis across physics and astronomy. The choice of methods included is based on their usefulness and educational value, their applicability to a broad range of problems and their utility in highlighting key mathematical concepts. Modern astronomy reveals an evolving universe rife with transient sources, mostly discovered - few predicted - in multi-wavelength observations. Our window of observations now includes electromagnetic radiation, gravitational waves and neutrinos. For the practicing astronomer, these are highly interdisciplinary developments that pose a novel challenge to be well-versed in astroparticle physics and data-analysis. The book is organized to be largely self-contained, starting from basic concepts and techniques in the formulation of problems and methods of approximation commonly used in computation and numerical analysis. This includes root finding, integration, signal dete...

Estimation of Slip Distribution of the 2007 Bengkulu Earthquake from GPS Observation Using Least Squares Inversion Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moehammad Awaluddin

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Continuous Global Positioning System (GPS observations showed significant crustal displacements as a result of the Bengkulu earthquake occurring on September 12, 2007. A maximum horizontal displacement of 2.11 m was observed at PRKB station, while the vertical component at BSAT station was uplifted with a maximum of 0.73 m, and the vertical component at LAIS station was subsided by -0.97 m. The method of adding more constraint on the inversion for the Bengkulu earthquake slip distribution from GPS observations can help solve a least squares inversion with an under-determined condition. Checkerboard tests were performed to help conduct the weighting for constraining the inversion. The inversion calculation of the Bengkulu earthquake slip distribution yielded in an optimum value of slip distribution by giving a weight of smoothing constraint of 0.001 and a weight of slip value constraint = 0 at the edge of the earthquake rupture area. A maximum coseismic slip of the optimal inversion calculation was 5.12 m at the lower area of PRKB and BSAT stations. The seismic moment calculated from the optimal slip distribution was 7.14 x 1021 Nm, which is equivalent to a magnitude of 8.5.

Direct observation of radial distribution change during tensile deformation of metallic glass by high energy X-ray diffraction method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nasu, Toshio, E-mail: nasu@kekexafs.kj.yamagata-u.ac.j [Faculty of Education, Arts and Science, Yamagata University, 1-4-12 Kojirakawa, Yamagata, Yamagata, 990-8560 (Japan); Sasaki, Motokatsu [Faculty of Education, Arts and Science, Yamagata University, 1-4-12 Kojirakawa, Yamagata, Yamagata, 990-8560 (Japan); Usuki, Takeshi; Sekine, Mai [Faculty of Science, Yamagata University, Yamagata 990-8560 (Japan); Takigawa, Yorinobu; Higashi, Kenji [Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka Prefecture University, Sakai 599-8531 (Japan); Kohara, Shinji [Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, Harima Science Garden City, Sayo town, Hyogo 679-5198 (Japan); Sakurai, Masaki; Wei Zhang; Inoue, Akihisa [Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577 (Japan)

2009-08-26

The purpose of this research is to investigate the micro-mechanism of deformation behavior of metallic glasses. We report the results of direct observations of short-range and medium-range structural change during tensile deformation of metallic glasses by high energy X-ray diffraction method. Cu{sub 50}Zr{sub 50} and Ni{sub 30}Zr{sub 70} metallic glass samples in the ribbon shape (1.5 mm width and 25 mum) were made by using rapid quenching method. Tensile deformation added to the sample was made by using special equipment adopted for measuring the high energy X-ray diffraction. The peaks in pair distribution function g(r) for Cu{sub 50}Zr{sub 50} and N{sub 30}iZr{sub 70} metallic glasses move zigzag into front and into rear during tensile deformation. These results of direct observation on atomic distribution change for Cu{sub 50}Zr{sub 50} and Ni{sub 30}Zr{sub 70} metallic glass ribbons during tensile deformation suggest that the micro-relaxations occur.

New seismic array solution for earthquake observations and hydropower plant health monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Antonovskaya, Galina N.; Kapustian, Natalya K.; Moshkunov, Alexander I.; Danilov, Alexey V.; Moshkunov, Konstantin A.

2017-09-01

We present the novel fusion of seismic safety monitoring data of the hydropower plant in Chirkey (Caucasus Mountains, Russia). This includes new hardware solutions and observation methods, along with technical limitations for three types of applications: (a) seismic monitoring of the Chirkey reservoir area, (b) structure monitoring of the dam, and (c) monitoring of turbine vibrations. Previous observations and data processing for health monitoring do not include complex data analysis, while the new system is more rational and less expensive. The key new feature of the new system is remote monitoring of turbine vibration. A comparison of the data obtained at the test facilities and by hydropower plant inspection with remote sensors enables early detection of hazardous hydrodynamic phenomena.

75 FR 51752 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; An Observer Program for Vessels in the Pacific...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-23

... have a choice of either electronic or paper forms. Methods of submittal include electronic (Web-based... status reports, 15 minutes; reports of observer illness, injury, harassment, intimidation, or violations...

Comparison of midwifery students' satisfaction with direct observation of procedural skills and current methods in evaluation of procedural skills in Mashhad Nursing and Midwifery School.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoseini, Bibi Leila; Mazloum, Seyed Reza; Jafarnejad, Farzaneh; Foroughipour, Mohsen

2013-03-01

The clinical evaluation, as one of the most important elements in medical education, must measure students' competencies and abilities. The implementation of any assessment tool is basically dependent on the acceptance of students. This study tried to assess midwifery students' satisfaction with Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS) and current clinical evaluation methods. This quasi-experimental study was conducted in the university hospitals affiliated to Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. The subjects comprised 67 undergraduate midwifery students selected by convenience sampling and allocated to control and intervention groups according to the training transposition. Current method was performed in the control group, and DOPS was conducted in the intervention group. The applied tools included DOPS rating scales, logbook, and satisfaction questionnaires with clinical evaluation methods. Validity and reliability of these tools were approved. At the end of training, students' satisfaction with the evaluation methods was assessed by the mentioned tools. The data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical statistics. Satisfaction mean scores of midwifery students with DOPS and current methods were 76.7 ± 12.9 and 62.6 ± 14.7 (out of 100), respectively. DOPS students' satisfaction mean score was significantly higher than the score obtained in current method (P satisfactory domains in the current method were "consistence with learning objectives" (71.2 ± 14.9) and "objectiveness" in DOPS (87.9 ± 15.0). In contrast, the least satisfactory domains in the current method were "interested in applying the method" (57.8 ± 26.5) and "number of assessments for each skill" (58.8 ± 25.9) in DOPS method. This study showed that DOPS method is associated with greater students' satisfaction. Since the students' satisfaction with the current method was also acceptable, we recommend combining this new clinical evaluation method with the current method, which covers

HARPS-N OBSERVES THE SUN AS A STAR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dumusque, Xavier; Glenday, Alex; Phillips, David F.; Charbonneau, David; Latham, David W.; Li, Chih-Hao; Sasselov, Dimitar; Szentgyorgyi, Andrew; Walsworth, Ronald [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Buchschacher, Nicolas; Lovis, Christophe; Pepe, Francesco; Udry, Stéphane [Observatoire Astronomique de l’Université de Genève, 51 Chemin des Maillettes, 1290 Sauverny (Switzerland); Cameron, Andrew Collier [SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St. Andrews, Fife, KY16 9SS (United Kingdom); Cecconi, Massimo; Cosentino, Rosario; Ghedina, Adriano; Lodi, Marcello; Molinari, Emilio, E-mail: xdumusque@cfa.harvard.edu [INAF—Fundación Galileo Galilei, Rambla José Ana Fernández Pérez 7, E-38712 Breña Baja (Spain)

2015-12-01

Radial velocity (RV) perturbations induced by stellar surface inhomogeneities including spots, plages and granules currently limit the detection of Earth-twins using Doppler spectroscopy. Such stellar noise is poorly understood for stars other than the Sun because their surface is unresolved. In particular, the effects of stellar surface inhomogeneities on observed stellar radial velocities are extremely difficult to characterize, and thus developing optimal correction techniques to extract true stellar radial velocities is extremely challenging. In this paper, we present preliminary results of a solar telescope built to feed full-disk sunlight into the HARPS-N spectrograph, which is in turn calibrated with an astro-comb. This setup enables long-term observation of the Sun as a star with state-of-the-art sensitivity to RV changes. Over seven days of observing in 2014, we show an average 50 cm s{sup −1} RV rms over a few hours of observation. After correcting observed radial velocities for spot and plage perturbations using full-disk photometry of the Sun, we lower by a factor of two the weekly RV rms to 60 cm s{sup −1}. The solar telescope is now entering routine operation, and will observe the Sun every clear day for several hours. We will use these radial velocities combined with data from solar satellites to improve our understanding of stellar noise and develop optimal correction methods. If successful, these new methods should enable the detection of Venus over the next two to three years, thus demonstrating the possibility of detecting Earth-twins around other solar-like stars using the RV technique.

Gas storage materials, including hydrogen storage materials

Science.gov (United States)

Mohtadi, Rana F; Wicks, George G; Heung, Leung K; Nakamura, Kenji

2013-02-19

A material for the storage and release of gases comprises a plurality of hollow elements, each hollow element comprising a porous wall enclosing an interior cavity, the interior cavity including structures of a solid-state storage material. In particular examples, the storage material is a hydrogen storage material such as a solid state hydride. An improved method for forming such materials includes the solution diffusion of a storage material solution through a porous wall of a hollow element into an interior cavity.

Reliability evaluation of containments including soil-structure interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pires, J.; Hwang, H.; Reich, M.

1985-12-01

Soil-structure interaction effects on the reliability assessment of containment structures are examined. The probability-based method for reliability evaluation of nuclear structures developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory is extended to include soil-structure interaction effects. In this method, reliability of structures is expressed in terms of limit state probabilities. Furthermore, random vibration theory is utilized to calculate limit state probabilities under random seismic loads. Earthquake ground motion is modeled by a segment of a zero-mean, stationary, filtered Gaussian white noise random process, represented by its power spectrum. All possible seismic hazards at a site, represented by a hazard curve, are also included in the analysis. The soil-foundation system is represented by a rigid surface foundation on an elastic halfspace. Random and other uncertainties in the strength properties of the structure, in the stiffness and internal damping of the soil, are also included in the analysis. Finally, a realistic reinforced concrete containment is analyzed to demonstrate the application of the method. For this containment, the soil-structure interaction effects on; (1) limit state probabilities, (2) structural fragility curves, (3) floor response spectra with probabilistic content, and (4) correlation coefficients for total acceleration response at specified structural locations, are examined in detail. 25 refs., 21 figs., 12 tabs

Aeroelastic modal dynamics of wind turbines including anisotropic effects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skjoldan, Peter Fisker

frequency is thus identified as the dominant frequency in the response of a pure excitation of the mode observed in the inertial frame. A modal analysis tool based directly on the complex aeroelastic wind turbine code BHawC is presented. It uses the Coleman approach in isotropic conditions......Several methods for aeroelastic modal analysis of a rotating wind turbine are developed and used to analyse the modal dynamics of two simplified models and a complex model in isotropic and anisotropic conditions. The Coleman transformation is used to enable extraction of the modal frequencies...... of Floquet analysis or Hill's method which do not provide a unique reference frame for observing the modal frequency, to which any multiple of the rotor speed can be added. This indeterminacy is resolved by requiring that the periodic mode shape be as constant as possible in the inertial frame. The modal...

SPheno 3.1: extensions including flavour, CP-phases and models beyond the MSSM

Science.gov (United States)

Porod, W.; Staub, F.

2012-11-01

high scale parameters by evaluating the corresponding renormalisation group equations. These parameters must be consistent with the requirement of correct electroweak symmetry breaking. The second issue is to use the obtained masses and couplings for calculating decay widths and branching ratios of supersymmetric particles as well as the cross sections for these particles in electron-positron annihilation. The third issue is to calculate low energy constraints in the B-meson sector such as BR(b s), MB s, rare lepton decays, such as BR(e), the SUSY contributions to anomalous magnetic moments and electric dipole moments of leptons, the SUSY contributions to the ρ parameter as well as lepton flavour violating Z decays. Solution method: The renormalisation connecting a high scale and the electroweak scale is calculated by the Runge-Kutta method. Iteration provides a solution consistent with the multi-boundary conditions. In case of three-body decays and for the calculation of initial state radiation Gaussian quadrature is used for the numerical solution of the integrals. Reasons for new version: Inclusion of new models as well as additional observables. Moreover, a new standard for data transfer had been established, which is now supported. Summary of revisions: The already existing models have been extended to include also CP-violation and flavour mixing. The data transfer is done using the so-called SLHA2 standard. In addition new models have been included: all three types of seesaw models as well as bilinear R-parity violation. Moreover, additional observables are calculated: branching ratios for flavour violating lepton decays, EDMs of leptons and of the neutron, CP-violating mass difference in the B-meson sector and branching ratios for flavour violating b-quark decays. Restrictions: In case of R-parity violation the cross sections are not calculated. Running time: 0.2 seconds on an Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T9900 with 3.06 GHz

Including climate change in energy investment decisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ybema, J.R.; Boonekamp, P.G.M.; Smit, J.T.J.

1995-08-01

To properly take climate change into account in the analysis of energy investment decisions, it is required to apply decision analysis methods that are capable of considering the specific characteristics of climate change (large uncertainties, long term horizon). Such decision analysis methods do exist. They can explicitly include evolving uncertainties, multi-stage decisions, cumulative effects and risk averse attitudes. Various methods are considered in this report and two of these methods have been selected: hedging calculations and sensitivity analysis. These methods are applied to illustrative examples, and its limitations are discussed. The examples are (1a) space heating and hot water for new houses from a private investor perspective and (1b) as example (1a) but from a government perspective, (2) electricity production with an integrated coal gasification combined cycle (ICGCC) with or without CO 2 removal, and (3) national energy strategy to hedge for climate change. 9 figs., 21 tabs., 42 refs., 1 appendix

Comparison of treatment effect estimates of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants versus warfarin between observational studies using propensity score methods and randomized controlled trials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Guowei; Holbrook, Anne; Jin, Yanling; Zhang, Yonghong; Levine, Mitchell A. H.; Mbuagbaw, Lawrence; Witt, Daniel M.; Crowther, Mark; Connolly, Stuart; Chai-Adisaksopha, Chatree; Wan, Zhongxiao; Cheng, Ji; Thabane, Lehana

2016-01-01

Emerging observational studies using propensity score (PS) methods assessed real-world comparative effectiveness of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) versus warfarin in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF). We aimed to compare treatment effect estimates of NOACs between PS studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Electronic databases and conference proceedings were searched systematically. Primary outcomes included stroke or systemic embolism (SE) and major bleeding. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed to synthesize the data by pooling the PS- and RCT-derived hazard ratios (HRs) separately. The ratio of HRs (RHR) from the ratio of PS-derived HRs relative to RCT-derived HRs was used to determine whether there was a difference between estimates from PS studies and RCTs. There were 10 PS studies and 5 RCTs included for analysis. No significant difference of treatment effect estimates between the PS studies and RCTs was observed: RHR 1.11, 95 % CI 0.98–1.23 for stroke or SE; RHR 1.07, 95 % CI 0.87–1.34 for major bleeding. A significant association between NOACs and risk of stroke or SE was observed: HR 0.88, 95 % CI 0.83–0.94 for the PS studies; HR 0.79, 95 % CI 0.72–0.87 for the RCTs. However, no relationship between NOACs and risk of major bleeding was found: HR 0.91, 95 % CI 0.79–1.05 for the PS studies; HR 0.85, 95 % CI 0.73–1.00 for the RCTs. In this study, treatment effect estimates of NOACs versus warfarin in patients with non-valvular AF from PS studies are found to be in agreement with those from RCTs.

'I wish someone watched me interview:' medical student insight into observation and feedback as a method for teaching communication skills during the clinical years.

Science.gov (United States)

Schopper, Heather; Rosenbaum, Marcy; Axelson, Rick

2016-11-09

Experts suggest observation and feedback is a useful tool for teaching and evaluating medical student communication skills during the clinical years. Failing to do this effectively risks contributing to deterioration of students' communication skills during the very educational period in which they are most important. While educators have been queried about their thoughts on this issue, little is known about what this process is like for learners and if they feel they get educational value from being observed. This study explored student perspectives regarding their experiences with clinical observation and feedback on communication skills. A total of 125 senior medical students at a U.S. medical school were interviewed about their experiences with observation and feedback. Thematic analysis of interview data identified common themes among student responses. The majority of students reported rarely being observed interviewing, and they reported receiving feedback even less frequently. Students valued having communication skills observed and became more comfortable with observation the more it occurred. Student-identified challenges included supervisor time constraints and grading based on observation. Most feedback focused on information gathering and was commonly delayed until well after the observed encounter. Eliciting students' perspectives on the effect of observation and feedback on the development of their communication skills is a unique way to look at this topic, and brings to light many student-identified obstacles and opportunities to maximize the educational value of observation and feedback for teaching communication, including increasing the number of observations, disassociating observation from numerically scored evaluation, training faculty to give meaningful feedback, and timing the observation/feedback earlier in clerkships.

Methods of Run-Time Error Detection in Distributed Process Control Software

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Drejer, N.

of generic run-time error types, design of methods of observing application software behaviorduring execution and design of methods of evaluating run time constraints. In the definition of error types it is attempted to cover all relevant aspects of the application softwaree behavior. Methods of observation......In this thesis, methods of run-time error detection in application software for distributed process control is designed. The error detection is based upon a monitoring approach in which application software is monitored by system software during the entire execution. The thesis includes definition...... and constraint evaluation is designed for the modt interesting error types. These include: a) semantical errors in data communicated between application tasks; b) errors in the execution of application tasks; and c) errors in the timing of distributed events emitted by the application software. The design...

Qualitative Methods Can Enrich Quantitative Research on Occupational Stress: An Example from One Occupational Group

Science.gov (United States)

Schonfeld, Irvin Sam; Farrell, Edwin

2010-01-01

The chapter examines the ways in which qualitative and quantitative methods support each other in research on occupational stress. Qualitative methods include eliciting from workers unconstrained descriptions of work experiences, careful first-hand observations of the workplace, and participant-observers describing "from the inside" a…

Method Of Bonding A Metal Connection To An Electrode Including A Core Having A Fiber Or Foam Type Structure For An Electrochemical Cell, An

Science.gov (United States)

Loustau, Marie-Therese; Verhoog, Roelof; Precigout, Claude

1996-09-24

A method of bonding a metal connection to an electrode including a core having a fiber or foam-type structure for an electrochemical cell, in which method at least one metal strip is pressed against one edge of the core and is welded thereto under compression, wherein, at least in line with the region in which said strip is welded to the core, which is referred to as the "main core", a retaining core of a type analogous to that of the main core is disposed prior to the welding.

Processing method and results of meteor shower radar observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belkovich, O.I.; Suleimanov, N.I.; Tokhtasjev, V.S.

1987-01-01

Studies of meteor showers permit the solving of some principal problems of meteor astronomy: to obtain the structure of a stream in cross section and along its orbits; to retrace the evolution of particle orbits of the stream taking into account gravitational and nongravitational forces and to discover the orbital elements of its parent body; to find out the total mass of solid particles ejected from the parent body taking into account physical and chemical evolution of meteor bodies; and to use meteor streams as natural probes for investigation of the average characteristics of the meteor complex in the solar system. A simple and effective method of determining the flux density and mass exponent parameter was worked out. This method and its results are discussed

Extending flood damage assessment methodology to include ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Optimal and sustainable flood plain management, including flood control, can only be achieved when the impacts of flood control measures are considered for both the man-made and natural environments, and the sociological aspects are fully considered. Until now, methods/models developed to determine the influences ...

A Fresh Pair of Eyes : A Blind Observation Method for Evaluating Social Skills of Children with ASD in a Naturalistic Peer Situation in School

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dekker, Vera; Nauta, Maaike H.; Mulder, Erik J.; Sytema, Sjoerd; de Bildt, Annelies

The Social skills Observation Measure (SOM) is a direct observation method for social skills used in naturalistic everyday situations in school. This study describes the development of the SOM and investigates its psychometric properties in 86 children with Autism spectrum disorder, aged 9.8-13.1

Sustaining observations of the unsteady ocean circulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Frajka-Williams, E

2014-09-28

Sustained observations of ocean properties reveal a global warming trend and rising sea levels. These changes have been documented by traditional ship-based measurements of ocean properties, whereas more recent Argo profiling floats and satellite records permit estimates of ocean changes on a near real-time basis. Through these and newer methods of observing the oceans, scientists are moving from quantifying the 'state of the ocean' to monitoring its variability, and distinguishing the physical processes bringing signals of change. In this paper, I give a brief overview of the UK contributions to the physical oceanographic observations, and the role they have played in the wider global observing systems. While temperature and salinity are the primary measurements of physical oceanography, new transbasin mooring arrays also resolve changes in ocean circulation on daily timescales. Emerging technologies permit routine observations at higher-than-ever spatial resolutions. Following this, I then give a personal perspective on the future of sustained observations. New measurement techniques promise exciting discoveries concerning the role of smaller scales and boundary processes in setting the large-scale ocean circulation and the ocean's role in climate. The challenges now facing the scientific community include sustaining critical observations in the case of funding system changes or shifts in government priorities. These long records will enable a determination of the role and response of the ocean to climate change. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Observing Convective Aggregation

Science.gov (United States)

Holloway, Christopher E.; Wing, Allison A.; Bony, Sandrine; Muller, Caroline; Masunaga, Hirohiko; L'Ecuyer, Tristan S.; Turner, David D.; Zuidema, Paquita

2017-11-01

Convective self-aggregation, the spontaneous organization of initially scattered convection into isolated convective clusters despite spatially homogeneous boundary conditions and forcing, was first recognized and studied in idealized numerical simulations. While there is a rich history of observational work on convective clustering and organization, there have been only a few studies that have analyzed observations to look specifically for processes related to self-aggregation in models. Here we review observational work in both of these categories and motivate the need for more of this work. We acknowledge that self-aggregation may appear to be far-removed from observed convective organization in terms of time scales, initial conditions, initiation processes, and mean state extremes, but we argue that these differences vary greatly across the diverse range of model simulations in the literature and that these comparisons are already offering important insights into real tropical phenomena. Some preliminary new findings are presented, including results showing that a self-aggregation simulation with square geometry has too broad distribution of humidity and is too dry in the driest regions when compared with radiosonde records from Nauru, while an elongated channel simulation has realistic representations of atmospheric humidity and its variability. We discuss recent work increasing our understanding of how organized convection and climate change may interact, and how model discrepancies related to this question are prompting interest in observational comparisons. We also propose possible future directions for observational work related to convective aggregation, including novel satellite approaches and a ground-based observational network.

Development and application of a direct method to observe the implant/bone interface using simulated bone.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamaguchi, Yoko; Shiota, Makoto; FuJii, Masaki; Sekiya, Michi; Ozeki, Masahiko

2016-01-01

Primary stability after implant placement is essential for osseointegration. It is important to understand the bone/implant interface for analyzing the influence of implant design on primary stability. In this study rigid polyurethane foam is used as artificial bone to evaluate the bone-implant interface and to identify where the torque is being generated during placement. Five implant systems-Straumann-Standard (ST), Straumann-Bone Level (BL), Straumann-Tapered Effect (TE), Nobel Biocare-Brånemark MKIII (MK3), and Nobel Biocare-Brånemark MKIV (MK4)-were used for this experiment. Artificial bone blocks were prepared and the implant was installed. After placement, a metal jig and one side artificial bone block were removed and then the implant embedded in the artificial bone was exposed for observing the bone-implant interface. A digital micro-analyzer was used for observing the contact interface. The insertion torque values were 39.35, 23.78, 12.53, 26.35, and 17.79 N cm for MK4, BL, ST, TE, and MK3, respectively. In ST, MK3, TE, MK4, and BL the white layer areas were 61 × 103 μm(2), 37 × 103 μm(2), 103 × 103 μm(2) in the tapered portion and 84 × 03 μm(2) in the parallel portion, 134 × 103 μm(2), and 98 × 103 μm(2) in the tapered portion and 87 × 103 μm(2) in the parallel portion, respectively. The direct observation method of the implant/artificial bone interface is a simple and useful method that enables the identification of the area where implant retention occurs. A white layer at the site of stress concentration during implant placement was identified and the magnitude of the stress was quantitatively estimated. The site where the highest torque occurred was the area from the thread crest to the thread root and the under and lateral aspect of the platform. The artificial bone debris created by the self-tapping blade accumulated in both the cutting chamber and in the space between the threads and artificial bone.

Case Study Observational Research: A Framework for Conducting Case Study Research Where Observation Data Are the Focus.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Sonya J; Pullon, Susan R H; Macdonald, Lindsay M; McKinlay, Eileen M; Gray, Ben V

2017-06-01

Case study research is a comprehensive method that incorporates multiple sources of data to provide detailed accounts of complex research phenomena in real-life contexts. However, current models of case study research do not particularly distinguish the unique contribution observation data can make. Observation methods have the potential to reach beyond other methods that rely largely or solely on self-report. This article describes the distinctive characteristics of case study observational research, a modified form of Yin's 2014 model of case study research the authors used in a study exploring interprofessional collaboration in primary care. In this approach, observation data are positioned as the central component of the research design. Case study observational research offers a promising approach for researchers in a wide range of health care settings seeking more complete understandings of complex topics, where contextual influences are of primary concern. Future research is needed to refine and evaluate the approach.

Electrochemical cell structure including an ionomeric barrier

Science.gov (United States)

Lambert, Timothy N.; Hibbs, Michael

2017-06-20

An apparatus includes an electrochemical half-cell comprising: an electrolyte, an anode; and an ionomeric barrier positioned between the electrolyte and the anode. The anode may comprise a multi-electron vanadium phosphorous alloy, such as VP.sub.x, wherein x is 1-5. The electrochemical half-cell is configured to oxidize the vanadium and phosphorous alloy to release electrons. A method of mitigating corrosion in an electrochemical cell includes disposing an ionomeric barrier in a path of electrolyte or ion flow to an anode and mitigating anion accumulation on the surface of the anode.

Improving operator training and performance through simulator observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flynn, J.P.

1987-01-01

This paper describes the methods and results of INPO observations of simulator training for licensed operators. It discusses the history of the observation program to the present. Effective methods for conducting and documenting simulator observations are discussed. The methods used to analyze the observations is also discussed. The major conclusion of the analysis is that opportunities exist for improvement in the use of emergency operating procedures. Teamwork, communication, and simulator instructor skills are also areas where improvement could be made

Development of a quantitative safety assessment method for nuclear I and C systems including human operators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Man Cheol

2004-02-01

Conventional PSA (probabilistic safety analysis) is performed in the framework of event tree analysis and fault tree analysis. In conventional PSA, I and C systems and human operators are assumed to be independent for simplicity. But, the dependency of human operators on I and C systems and the dependency of I and C systems on human operators are gradually recognized to be significant. I believe that it is time to consider the interdependency between I and C systems and human operators in the framework of PSA. But, unfortunately it seems that we do not have appropriate methods for incorporating the interdependency between I and C systems and human operators in the framework of Pasa. Conventional human reliability analysis (HRA) methods are not developed to consider the interdependecy, and the modeling of the interdependency using conventional event tree analysis and fault tree analysis seem to be, event though is does not seem to be impossible, quite complex. To incorporate the interdependency between I and C systems and human operators, we need a new method for HRA and a new method for modeling the I and C systems, man-machine interface (MMI), and human operators for quantitative safety assessment. As a new method for modeling the I and C systems, MMI and human operators, I develop a new system reliability analysis method, reliability graph with general gates (RGGG), which can substitute conventional fault tree analysis. RGGG is an intuitive and easy-to-use method for system reliability analysis, while as powerful as conventional fault tree analysis. To demonstrate the usefulness of the RGGG method, it is applied to the reliability analysis of Digital Plant Protection System (DPPS), which is the actual plant protection system of Ulchin 5 and 6 nuclear power plants located in Republic of Korea. The latest version of the fault tree for DPPS, which is developed by the Integrated Safety Assessment team in Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), consists of 64

FDTD simulated observation of a gold nanorod by scanning near-field optical microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sawada, Keiji; Maruoka, Teruto; Nakamura, Hiroaki; Tamura, Yuichi; Imura, Kohei; Saiki, Toshiharu; Okamoto, Hiromi

2010-01-01

The optical properties of a gold nanorod were investigated by Imura et. al. using an apertured-type scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM). The observed transmission image showed an oscillating pattern along the long axis of the nanorod. We obtain the image using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. Our model includes a nanorod on a glass substrate, a SNOM, and current as a light source. We develop a simple method for including the Drude-Lorentz dispersion relation of Vial et. al. for gold in the FDTD. The oscillating pattern is explained by the total current in the nanorod, tip of the SNOM, and light source. (author)

Flare Observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benz Arnold O.

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Solar flares are observed at all wavelengths from decameter radio waves to gamma-rays at 100 MeV. This review focuses on recent observations in EUV, soft and hard X-rays, white light, and radio waves. Space missions such as RHESSI, Yohkoh, TRACE, and SOHO have enlarged widely the observational base. They have revealed a number of surprises: Coronal sources appear before the hard X-ray emission in chromospheric footpoints, major flare acceleration sites appear to be independent of coronal mass ejections (CMEs, electrons, and ions may be accelerated at different sites, there are at least 3 different magnetic topologies, and basic characteristics vary from small to large flares. Recent progress also includes improved insights into the flare energy partition, on the location(s of energy release, tests of energy release scenarios and particle acceleration. The interplay of observations with theory is important to deduce the geometry and to disentangle the various processes involved. There is increasing evidence supporting reconnection of magnetic field lines as the basic cause. While this process has become generally accepted as the trigger, it is still controversial how it converts a considerable fraction of the energy into non-thermal particles. Flare-like processes may be responsible for large-scale restructuring of the magnetic field in the corona as well as for its heating. Large flares influence interplanetary space and substantially affect the Earth’s lower ionosphere. While flare scenarios have slowly converged over the past decades, every new observation still reveals major unexpected results, demonstrating that solar flares, after 150 years since their discovery, remain a complex problem of astrophysics including major unsolved questions.

Flare Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Benz, Arnold O.

2017-12-01

Solar flares are observed at all wavelengths from decameter radio waves to gamma-rays beyond 1 GeV. This review focuses on recent observations in EUV, soft and hard X-rays, white light, and radio waves. Space missions such as RHESSI, Yohkoh, TRACE, SOHO, and more recently Hinode and SDO have enlarged widely the observational base. They have revealed a number of surprises: Coronal sources appear before the hard X-ray emission in chromospheric footpoints, major flare acceleration sites appear to be independent of coronal mass ejections, electrons, and ions may be accelerated at different sites, there are at least 3 different magnetic topologies, and basic characteristics vary from small to large flares. Recent progress also includes improved insights into the flare energy partition, on the location(s) of energy release, tests of energy release scenarios and particle acceleration. The interplay of observations with theory is important to deduce the geometry and to disentangle the various processes involved. There is increasing evidence supporting magnetic reconnection as the basic cause. While this process has become generally accepted as the trigger, it is still controversial how it converts a considerable fraction of the energy into non-thermal particles. Flare-like processes may be responsible for large-scale restructuring of the magnetic field in the corona as well as for its heating. Large flares influence interplanetary space and substantially affect the Earth's ionosphere. Flare scenarios have slowly converged over the past decades, but every new observation still reveals major unexpected results, demonstrating that solar flares, after 150 years since their discovery, remain a complex problem of astrophysics including major unsolved questions.

Land Surface Model Biases and their Impacts on the Assimilation of Snow-related Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Arsenault, K. R.; Kumar, S.; Hunter, S. M.; Aman, R.; Houser, P. R.; Toll, D.; Engman, T.; Nigro, J.

2007-12-01

Some recent snow modeling studies have employed a wide range of assimilation methods to incorporate snow cover or other snow-related observations into different hydrological or land surface models. These methods often include taking both model and observation biases into account throughout the model integration. This study focuses more on diagnosing the model biases and presenting their subsequent impacts on assimilating snow observations and modeled snowmelt processes. In this study, the land surface model, the Community Land Model (CLM), is used within the Land Information System (LIS) modeling framework to show how such biases impact the assimilation of MODIS snow cover observations. Alternative in-situ and satellite-based observations are used to help guide the CLM LSM in better predicting snowpack conditions and more realistic timing of snowmelt for a western US mountainous region. Also, MODIS snow cover observation biases will be discussed, and validation results will be provided. The issues faced with inserting or assimilating MODIS snow cover at moderate spatial resolutions (like 1km or less) will be addressed, and the impacts on CLM will be presented.

Adaptive list sequential sampling method for population-based observational studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hof, Michel H.; Ravelli, Anita C. J.; Zwinderman, Aeilko H.

2014-01-01

In population-based observational studies, non-participation and delayed response to the invitation to participate are complications that often arise during the recruitment of a sample. When both are not properly dealt with, the composition of the sample can be different from the desired

Coupled orbit-attitude motion of high area-to-mass ratio (HAMR) objects including efficient self-shadowing

Science.gov (United States)

Früh, Carolin; Jah, Moriba K.

2014-02-01

This paper shows the effect of self-shadowing on the coupled attitude-orbit dynamics of objects with high area-to-mass ratios (HAMR) in simulating standard multi layer insulation materials (MLI) as tilted single rigid sheets. Efficient and computationally fast self-shadowing methods have been developed. This includes an approximate self-shadowing method and a rapid exact self-shadowing method. Accuracy considerations are made and the effect of a chosen tessellation is shown. The coupled orbit-attitude perturbations of solar radiation pressure and Earth gravity field are taken into account. The results are compared to the attitude-orbit dynamics, when neglecting self-shadowing effects. An averaged physical shadow-map model is developed and compared to the full self-shadowing simulation. The combined effect of solar radiation pressure and self-shadowing leads to a rapid spin-up of the objects, even though they have uniform reflection properties. As a result, the observed brightness of these objects is subject to rapid changes.

Observing Geohazards from Space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesca Cigna

2018-02-01

Full Text Available With a wide spectrum of imaging capabilities—from optical to radar sensors, low to very high resolution, continental to local scale, single-image to multi-temporal approaches, yearly to sub-daily acquisition repeat cycles—Earth Observation (EO offers several opportunities for the geoscience community to map and monitor natural and human-induced Earth hazards from space. The Special Issue “Observing Geohazards from Space” of Geosciences gathers 12 research articles on the development, validation, and implementation of satellite EO data, processing methods, and applications for mapping and monitoring of geohazards such as slow moving landslides, ground subsidence and uplift, and active and abandoned mining-induced ground movements. Papers published in this Special Issue provide novel case studies demonstrating how EO and remote sensing data can be used to detect and delineate land instability and geological hazards in different environmental contexts and using a range of spatial resolutions and image processing methods. Remote sensing datasets used in the Special Issue papers encompass satellite imagery from the ERS-1/2, ENVISAT, RADARSAT-1/2, and Sentinel-1 C-band, TerraSAR-X and COSMO-SkyMed X-band, and ALOS L-band SAR missions; Landsat 7, SPOT-5, WorldView-2/3, and Sentinel-2 multi-spectral data; UAV-derived RGB and near infrared aerial photographs; LiDAR surveying; and GNSS positioning data. Techniques that are showcased include, but are not limited to, differential Interferometric SAR (InSAR and its advanced approaches such as Persistent Scatterers (PS and Small Baseline Subset (SBAS methods to estimate ground deformation, Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA to identify landslides in high resolution multi-spectral data, UAV and airborne photogrammetry, Structure-from-Motion (SfM for digital elevation model generation, aerial photo-interpretation, feature extraction, and time series analysis. Case studies presented in the papers focus on

Observer and data-driven model based fault detection in Power Plant Coal Mills

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fogh Odgaard, Peter; Lin, Bao; Jørgensen, Sten Bay

2008-01-01

model with motor power as the controlled variable, data-driven methods for fault detection are also investigated. Regression models that represent normal operating conditions (NOCs) are developed with both static and dynamic principal component analysis and partial least squares methods. The residual...... between process measurement and the NOC model prediction is used for fault detection. A hybrid approach, where a data-driven model is employed to derive an optimal unknown input observer, is also implemented. The three methods are evaluated with case studies on coal mill data, which includes a fault......This paper presents and compares model-based and data-driven fault detection approaches for coal mill systems. The first approach detects faults with an optimal unknown input observer developed from a simplified energy balance model. Due to the time-consuming effort in developing a first principles...

Apparent diffusion coefficient measurements in diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of the anterior mediastinum: inter-observer reproducibility of five different methods of region-of-interest positioning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Priola, Adriano Massimiliano; Priola, Sandro Massimo; Parlatano, Daniela; Gned, Dario; Veltri, Andrea [San Luigi Gonzaga University Hospital, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Regione Gonzole 10, Orbassano, Torino (Italy); Giraudo, Maria Teresa [University of Torino, Department of Mathematics ' ' Giuseppe Peano' ' , Torino (Italy); Giardino, Roberto; Ardissone, Francesco [San Luigi Gonzaga University Hospital, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Regione Gonzole 10, Orbassano, Torino (Italy); Ferrero, Bruno [San Luigi Gonzaga University Hospital, Department of Neurology, Regione Gonzole 10, Orbassano, Torino (Italy)

2017-04-15

To investigate inter-reader reproducibility of five different region-of-interest (ROI) protocols for apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements in the anterior mediastinum. In eighty-one subjects, on ADC mapping, two readers measured the ADC using five methods of ROI positioning that encompassed the entire tissue (whole tissue volume [WTV], three slices observer-defined [TSOD], single-slice [SS]) or the more restricted areas (one small round ROI [OSR], multiple small round ROI [MSR]). Inter-observer variability was assessed with interclass correlation coefficient (ICC), coefficient of variation (CoV), and Bland-Altman analysis. Nonparametric tests were performed to compare the ADC between ROI methods. The measurement time was recorded and compared between ROI methods. All methods showed excellent inter-reader agreement with best and worst reproducibility in WTV and OSR, respectively (ICC, 0.937/0.874; CoV, 7.3 %/16.8 %; limits of agreement, ±0.44/±0.77 x 10{sup -3} mm{sup 2}/s). ADC values of OSR and MSR were significantly lower compared to the other methods in both readers (p < 0.001). The SS and OSR methods required less measurement time (14 ± 2 s) compared to the others (p < 0.0001), while the WTV method required the longest measurement time (90 ± 56 and 77 ± 49 s for each reader) (p < 0.0001). All methods demonstrate excellent inter-observer reproducibility with the best agreement in WTV, although it requires the longest measurement time. (orig.)

Research methods for English language teachers

CERN Document Server

McDonough, Jo

2014-01-01

This book offers a lively introduction to the research methods and techniques available to English language teachers who wish to investigate aspects of their own practice. It covers qualitative and quantitative methodology and includes sections on observation, introspection, diary studies, experiments, interviews, questionnaires, numerical techniques and case study research. Each method is illustrated with examples in language teaching contexts, and techniques of data collection and analysis are introduced. The authors focus particularly on research in the classroom, on tests, materials, the

Methods and Processes of Developing the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology—Veterinary (STROBE-Vet) Statement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sargeant, J. M.; O'Connor, A. M.; Dohoo, I. R.

2016-01-01

be modified or added to address unique issues related to observational studies in animal species with health, production, welfare, or food safety outcomes. During the meeting, each STROBE item was discussed to determine whether or not rewording was recommended, and whether additions were warranted. Anonymous...... voting was used to determine consensus. Six items required no modifications or additions. Modifications or additions were made to the STROBE items 1 (title and abstract), 3 (objectives), 5 (setting), 6 (participants), 7 (variables), 8 (data sources and measurement), 9 (bias), 10 (study size), 12...... (statistical methods), 13 (participants), 14 (descriptive data), 15 (outcome data), 16 (main results), 17 (other analyses), 19 (limitations), and 22 (funding). The methods and processes used were similar to those used for other extensions of the STROBE statement. The use of this STROBE statement extension...

The research of radar target tracking observed information linear filter method

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zheng; Zhao, Xuanzhi; Zhang, Wen

2018-05-01

Aiming at the problems of low precision or even precision divergent is caused by nonlinear observation equation in radar target tracking, a new filtering algorithm is proposed in this paper. In this algorithm, local linearization is carried out on the observed data of the distance and angle respectively. Then the kalman filter is performed on the linearized data. After getting filtered data, a mapping operation will provide the posteriori estimation of target state. A large number of simulation results show that this algorithm can solve above problems effectively, and performance is better than the traditional filtering algorithm for nonlinear dynamic systems.

LTRACK: Beam-transport calculation including wakefield effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chan, K.C.D.; Cooper, R.K.

1988-01-01

LTRACK is a first-order beam-transport code that includes wakefield effects up to quadrupole modes. This paper will introduce the readers to this computer code by describing the history, the method of calculations, and a brief summary of the input/output information. Future plans for the code will also be described

Astronaut observations of global biomass burning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, C.A.; Nelson, R.

1991-01-01

One of the most fundamental inputs for understanding and modeling possible effects of biomass burning is knowledge of the size of the area burned. Because the burns are often very large and occur on all continents (except Antarctica), observations from space are essential. Information is presented in this chapter on another method for monitoring biomass burning, including immediate and long-term effects. Examples of astronaut photography of burning during one year give a perspective of the widespread occurrence of burning and the variety of biological materials that are consumed. The growth of burning in the Amazon region is presented over 15 years using smoke as a proxy for actual burning. Possible climate effects of smoke palls are also discussed

The observer's sky atlas

CERN Document Server

Karkoschka, E

2007-01-01

This title includes a short introduction to observing, a thorough description of the star charts and tables, a glossary and much more. It is perfect for both the beginner and seasoned observer. It is fully revised edition of a best-selling and highly-praised sky atlas.

A Method to Simulate the Observed Surface Properties of Proton Irradiated Silicon Strip Sensors

CERN Document Server

INSPIRE-00335524; Bhardwaj, A.; Dalal, R.; Eber, R.; Eichhorn, T.; Lalwani, K.; Messineo, A.; Printz, M.; Ranjan, K.

2015-04-23

During the scheduled high luminosity upgrade of LHC, the world's largest particle physics accelerator at CERN, the position sensitive silicon detectors installed in the vertex and tracking part of the CMS experiment will face more intense radiation environment than the present system was designed for. To upgrade the tracker to required performance level, extensive measurements and simulations studies have already been carried out. A defect model of Synopsys Sentaurus TCAD simulation package for the bulk properties of proton irradiated devices has been producing simulations closely matching with measurements of silicon strip detectors. However, the model does not provide expected behavior due to the fluence increased surface damage. The solution requires an approach that does not affect the accurate bulk properties produced by the proton model, but only adds to it the required radiation induced properties close to the surface. These include the observed position dependency of the strip detector's charge collec...

Impact of Including Authentic Inquiry Experiences in Methods Courses for Pre-Service Secondary Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, T. F.; Elfring, L.; Novodvorsky, I.; Talanquer, V.; Quintenz, J.

2007-12-01

Science education reform documents universally call for students to have authentic and meaningful experiences using real data in the context of their science education. The underlying philosophical position is that students analyzing data can have experiences that mimic actual research. In short, research experiences that reflect the scientific spirit of inquiry potentially can: prepare students to address real world complex problems; develop students' ability to use scientific methods; prepare students to critically evaluate the validity of data or evidence and of the consequent interpretations or conclusions; teach quantitative skills, technical methods, and scientific concepts; increase verbal, written, and graphical communication skills; and train students in the values and ethics of working with scientific data. However, it is unclear what the broader pre-service teacher preparation community is doing in preparing future teachers to promote, manage, and successful facilitate their own students in conducting authentic scientific inquiry. Surveys of undergraduates in secondary science education programs suggests that students have had almost no experiences themselves in conducting open scientific inquiry where they develop researchable questions, design strategies to pursue evidence, and communicate data-based conclusions. In response, the College of Science Teacher Preparation Program at the University of Arizona requires all students enrolled in its various science teaching methods courses to complete an open inquiry research project and defend their findings at a specially designed inquiry science mini-conference at the end of the term. End-of-term surveys show that students enjoy their research experience and believe that this experience enhances their ability to facilitate their own future students in conducting open inquiry.

Validation of a new method for testing provider clinical quality in rural settings in low- and middle-income countries: the observed simulated patient.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tin Aung

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Assessing the quality of care provided by individual health practitioners is critical to identifying possible risks to the health of the public. However, existing assessment methods can be inaccurate, expensive, or infeasible in many developing country settings, particularly in rural areas and especially for children. Following an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the existing methods for provider assessment, we developed a synthesis method combining components of direct observation, clinical vignettes, and medical mannequins which we have termed "Observed Simulated Patient" or OSP. An OSP assessment involves a trained actor playing the role of a 'mother', a life-size doll representing a 5-year old boy, and a trained observer. The provider being assessed was informed in advance of the role-playing, and told to conduct the diagnosis and treatment as he normally would while verbally describing the examinations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We tested the validity of OSP by conducting parallel scoring of medical providers in Myanmar, assessing the quality of their diagnosis and treatment of pediatric malaria, first by direct observation of true patients and second by OSP. Data were collected from 20 private independent medical practitioners in Mon and Kayin States, Myanmar between December 26, 2010 and January 12, 2011. All areas of assessment showed agreement between OSP and direct observation above 90% except for history taking related to past experience with malaria medicines. In this area, providers did not ask questions of the OSP to the same degree that they questioned real patients (agreement 82.8%. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The OSP methodology may provide a valuable option for quality assessment of providers in places, or for health conditions, where other assessment tools are unworkable.

Optimized tomography of observables

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Ariano, G.M.; Paris, G. A.

1998-01-01

Tomographic measurement of observables is revisited and an adaptive optimization of the kernel functions suggested. The method is based on the existence of a class of null functions, which have zero tomographic average for any state of radiation. The general procedure is illustrated, and application to relevant observables analyzed in details for coherent, squeezed and 'cat' states.(author)

A Fresh Pair of Eyes: A Blind Observation Method for Evaluating Social Skills of Children with ASD in a Naturalistic Peer Situation in School

Science.gov (United States)

Dekker, Vera; Nauta, Maaike H.; Mulder, Erik J.; Sytema, Sjoerd; de Bildt, Annelies

2016-01-01

The Social skills Observation Measure (SOM) is a direct observation method for social skills used in naturalistic everyday situations in school. This study describes the development of the SOM and investigates its psychometric properties in 86 children with Autism spectrum disorder, aged 9.8-13.1 years. The interrater reliability was found to be…

Hurricane Ike: Observations and Analysis of Coastal Change

Science.gov (United States)

Doran, Kara S.; Plant, Nathaniel G.; Stockdon, Hilary F.; Sallenger, Asbury H.; Serafin, Katherine A.

2009-01-01

Understanding storm-induced coastal change and forecasting these changes require knowledge of the physical processes associated with the storm and the geomorphology of the impacted coastline. The primary physical processes of interest are the wind field, storm surge, and wave climate. Not only does wind cause direct damage to structures along the coast, but it is ultimately responsible for much of the energy that is transferred to the ocean and expressed as storm surge, mean currents, and large waves. Waves and currents are the processes most responsible for moving sediments in the coastal zone during extreme storm events. Storm surge, the rise in water level due to the wind, barometric pressure, and other factors, allows both waves and currents to attack parts of the coast not normally exposed to those processes. Coastal geomorphology, including shapes of the shoreline, beaches, and dunes, is equally important to the coastal change observed during extreme storm events. Relevant geomorphic variables include sand dune elevation, beach width, shoreline position, sediment grain size, and foreshore beach slope. These variables, in addition to hydrodynamic processes, can be used to predict coastal vulnerability to storms The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards Project (http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes), strives to provide hazard information to those interested in the Nation's coastlines, including residents of coastal areas, government agencies responsible for coastal management, and coastal researchers. As part of the National Assessment, observations were collected to measure coastal changes associated with Hurricane Ike, which made landfall near Galveston, Texas, on September 13, 2008. Methods of observation included aerial photography and airborne topographic surveys. This report documents these data-collection efforts and presents qualitative and quantitative descriptions of hurricane-induced changes to the shoreline

A convolution method for predicting mean treatment dose including organ motion at imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Booth, J.T.; Zavgorodni, S.F.; Royal Adelaide Hospital, SA

2000-01-01

Full text: The random treatment delivery errors (organ motion and set-up error) can be incorporated into the treatment planning software using a convolution method. Mean treatment dose is computed as the convolution of a static dose distribution with a variation kernel. Typically this variation kernel is Gaussian with variance equal to the sum of the organ motion and set-up error variances. We propose a novel variation kernel for the convolution technique that additionally considers the position of the mobile organ in the planning CT image. The systematic error of organ position in the planning CT image can be considered random for each patient over a population. Thus the variance of the variation kernel will equal the sum of treatment delivery variance and organ motion variance at planning for the population of treatments. The kernel is extended to deal with multiple pre-treatment CT scans to improve tumour localisation for planning. Mean treatment doses calculated with the convolution technique are compared to benchmark Monte Carlo (MC) computations. Calculations of mean treatment dose using the convolution technique agreed with MC results for all cases to better than ± 1 Gy in the planning treatment volume for a prescribed 60 Gy treatment. Convolution provides a quick method of incorporating random organ motion (captured in the planning CT image and during treatment delivery) and random set-up errors directly into the dose distribution. Copyright (2000) Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine

An optimized method for fatty acid analysis, including quantification of trans fatty acids, in human adipose tissue by gas-liquid chromatography

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bysted, Anette; Cold, S; Hølmer, Gunhild Kofoed

1999-01-01

Considering the need for a quick direct method for measurement of the fatty acid composition including trans isomers ofhuman adipose tissue we have developed a procedure using gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) alone, which is thussuitable for validation of fatty acid status in epidemiological studies...... for 25 min, and finally raised at 25 degrees C/min to 225 degrees C. The trans and cis isomers of18:1 were well separated from each other, as shown by silver-ion thin-layer chromatography. Verification by standardsshowed that the trans 18:1 isomers with a double bond in position 12 or lower were...

Central American and Caribbean Observations

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Weather and soil temperature observations from foreign countries, taken by foreign and American observers. Includes NOAA forms collected and archived at NCDC, and...

Methods uncovering usability issues in medication-related alerting functions: results from a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Marcilly, Romaric; Vasseur, Francis; Ammenwerth, Elske; Beuscart-Zephir, Marie-Catherine

2014-01-01

This paper aims at listing the methods used to evaluate the usability of medication-related alerting functions and at knowing what type of usability issues those methods allow to detect. A sub-analysis of data from this systematic review has been performed. Methods applied in the included papers were collected. Then, included papers were sorted in four types of evaluation: "expert evaluation", "user- testing/simulation", "on site observation" and "impact studies". The types of usability issues (usability flaws, usage problems and negative outcomes) uncovered by those evaluations were analyzed. Results show that a large set of methods are used. The largest proportion of papers uses "on site observation" evaluation. This is the only evaluation type for which every kind of usability flaws, usage problems and outcomes are detected. It is somehow surprising that, in a usability systematic review, most of the papers included use a method that is not often presented as a usability method. Results are discussed about the opportunity to provide usability information collected after the implementation of the technology during their design process, i.e. before their implementation.

Sea-ice monitoring by ship-based visual observation during JARE ―Simplification of observation method based on the ASPeCt protocol―

OpenAIRE

Kay I. Ohshima; Shuki Ushio; Akihisa S. Otsuki

2006-01-01

A protocol for ship-based visual observation of sea ice is proposed for the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE). The protocol is a simplified version of the ASPeCt protocol, used for extracting quantitative information on sea ice. The ship-based visual observations started from JARE-46. In the pack ice region, ice thickness, ratio of deformed ice, and total ice volume increased toward the coast. Continuous monitoring of sea ice, particularly its thickness, by ship-based observation ...

a Simple Spatially Weighted Measure of Temporal Stability for Data with Limited Temporal Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Piburn, J.; Stewart, R.; Morton, A.

2017-10-01

Identifying erratic or unstable time-series is an area of interest to many fields. Recently, there have been successful developments towards this goal. These new developed methodologies however come from domains where it is typical to have several thousand or more temporal observations. This creates a challenge when attempting to apply these methodologies to time-series with much fewer temporal observations such as for socio-cultural understanding, a domain where a typical time series of interest might only consist of 20-30 annual observations. Most existing methodologies simply cannot say anything interesting with so few data points, yet researchers are still tasked to work within in the confines of the data. Recently a method for characterizing instability in a time series with limitedtemporal observations was published. This method, Attribute Stability Index (ASI), uses an approximate entropy based method tocharacterize a time series' instability. In this paper we propose an explicitly spatially weighted extension of the Attribute StabilityIndex. By including a mechanism to account for spatial autocorrelation, this work represents a novel approach for the characterizationof space-time instability. As a case study we explore national youth male unemployment across the world from 1991-2014.

Lightship Daily Observations - NARA Collection

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Observations taken on board lightships along the United States coasts from 1893 - 1943. Generally 4-6 observations daily. Also includes deck logs, which give...

Reduction of EAO Positional Observations Database

Science.gov (United States)

Nefedyev, Yuri; Andreev, Alexey; Demina, Natalya; Churkin, Konstantin

2016-07-01

There is a large data bank of positional observations of Solar System bodies at Engelhadt Astronomical Observatory (EAO). The positional observations include the major planets, except Jupiter. Modern technologies replace classical methods of observations in astronomy and in astrometry as well. At the same time many positional observations have been gathered at astronomical observatories. So taking into account that observations of the past epochs have presenteda great value for astronomy and as times goes by their importance is growing it is obvious that positional astrometry will not lose its practical importance. This was noted in B3 XXIV IAU resolution by the General Assembly. The results of reduction of solar system bodies observations were published mainly in Proceeding of EAO and Transactions of Kazan City Astronomical Observatory. Earlier there have been made about three thousand observations at EAO and Zelenchuk station with the Zeiss telescope (D=400mm, f=2000mm), AFR-18 (photo visual, D=200, f=2000), refractor (D=400mm, f=3450mm), Meniscus camera (D=340mm, f=1200mm), Schmidt camera (D=350mm, f=2000mm). The major planets except Pluto and Neptune were observed with a special cassette chamber equipped with a rotating disk which had an open sector to reduce the brightness of the planets. The dimension of the sector was chosen accordingto the brightness of the planets. The disk was placed in the centre of the astrograph's field. The stars' true brightness was preserved. A large number of catalogues were compiled by the end of the 20th century. We used Tycho-2 catalogue for reducing our observations. As it is known the catalogue Tycho-2 (Tycho-2 catalogue, 2000) includes 2539913 stars. The stars' proper motions given in the catalogue were obtained by comparing positions from Tycho-2 with positions from the Astrographic Catalogue. Therefore they are considered to be highly accurate. The accuracy of stellar positions in Tycho-2 is about 60 mas and the accuracy of

Sensitivity of the action observation network to physical and observational learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Cross, Emily S; Kraemer, David J M; Hamilton, Antonia F de C; Kelley, William M; Grafton, Scott T

2009-02-01

Human motor skills can be acquired by observation without the benefit of immediate physical practice. The current study tested if physical rehearsal and observational learning share common neural substrates within an action observation network (AON) including premotor and inferior parietal regions, that is, areas activated both for execution and observation of similar actions. Participants trained for 5 days on dance sequences set to music videos. Each day they physically rehearsed one set of dance sequences ("danced"), and passively watched a different set of sequences ("watched"). Functional magnetic resonance imaging was obtained prior to and immediately following the 5 days of training. After training, a subset of the AON showed a degree of common activity for observational and physical learning. Activity in these premotor and parietal regions was sustained during observation of sequences that were danced or watched, but declined for unfamiliar sequences relative to the pretraining scan session. These imaging data demonstrate the emergence of action resonance processes in the human brain based on observational learning without physical practice and identify commonalities in the neural substrates for physical and observational learning.

Behavioral and brain pattern differences between acting and observing in an auditory task

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ventouras Errikos M

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent research has shown that errors seem to influence the patterns of brain activity. Additionally current notions support the idea that similar brain mechanisms are activated during acting and observing. The aim of the present study was to examine the patterns of brain activity of actors and observers elicited upon receiving feedback information of the actor's response. Methods The task used in the present research was an auditory identification task that included both acting and observing settings, ensuring concurrent ERP measurements of both participants. The performance of the participants was investigated in conditions of varying complexity. ERP data were analyzed with regards to the conditions of acting and observing in conjunction to correct and erroneous responses. Results The obtained results showed that the complexity induced by cue dissimilarity between trials was a demodulating factor leading to poorer performance. The electrophysiological results suggest that feedback information results in different intensities of the ERP patterns of observers and actors depending on whether the actor had made an error or not. The LORETA source localization method yielded significantly larger electrical activity in the supplementary motor area (Brodmann area 6, the posterior cingulate gyrus (Brodmann area 31/23 and the parietal lobe (Precuneus/Brodmann area 7/5. Conclusion These findings suggest that feedback information has a different effect on the intensities of the ERP patterns of actors and observers depending on whether the actor committed an error. Certain neural systems, including medial frontal area, posterior cingulate gyrus and precuneus may mediate these modulating effects. Further research is needed to elucidate in more detail the neuroanatomical and neuropsychological substrates of these systems.

Establishment of the observing system for boron in steels by alpha-particle track etching method using JAERI reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asakura, Kentaro; Shibata, Koji; Sawahata, Hiroyuki; Kawate, Minoru; Harasawa, Susumu

2003-01-01

Alpha-particle track etching (ATE) method is most effective in observing boron distribution in steels. Previously, in Japan, neutron irradiation for this method was carried out in the reactor at the Institute of Atomic Energy, Rikkyo University. This reactor, however, was shut down in 1999. Therefore, the establishment of a new system for ATE method has been required and experimental research was performed using the reactor at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI). It was clarified that the irradiation equipment for medical treatment of the reactor JRR-4 was most suitable for ATE method. The specimen trestle for low radioactive exposure was newly-developed. ATE image obtained by 12h irradiation using this trestle showed a good quality similar to that obtained using Rikkyo's reactor and that obtained using the trestle of the old model. Using this new trestle, the amount of neutron which the worker suffers during the operation at the irradiation equipment decreases from 4μSv/h to 0-1 μSv/h compared with the trestle of the old model. The total amount of thermal neutron after 12 h irradiation was almost same as that under the recommended condition of the reactor at Rikkyo University, 6.5 x 10 14 n cm -2 . (author)

Accessible maps for the color vision deficient observers: past and present knowledge and future possibilities

Science.gov (United States)

Kvitle, Anne Kristin

2018-05-01

Color is part of the visual variables in map, serving an aesthetic part and as a guide of attention. Impaired color vision affects the ability to distinguish colors, which makes the task of decoding the map colors difficult. Map reading is reported as a challenging task for these observers, especially when the size of stimuli is small. The aim of this study is to review existing methods for map design for color vision deficient users. A systematic review of research literature and case studies of map design for CVD observers has been conducted in order to give an overview of current knowledge and future research challenges. In addition, relevant research on simulations of CVD and color image enhancement for these observers from other fields of industry is included. The study identified two main approaches: pre-processing by using accessible colors and post-processing by using enhancement methods. Some of the methods may be applied for maps, but requires tailoring of test images according to map types.

Historical Phenological Observations: Past Climate Impact Analyses and Climate Reconstructions

Science.gov (United States)

Rutishauser, T.; Luterbacher, J.; Meier, N.; Jeanneret, F.; Pfister, C.; Wanner, H.

2007-12-01

Plant phenological observations have been found an important indicator of climate change impacts on seasonal and interannual vegetation development for the late 20th/early 21st century. Our contribution contains three parts that are essential for the understanding (part 1), the analysis (part 2) and the application (part 3) of historical phenological observations in global change research. First, we propose a definition for historical phenonolgy (Rutishauser, 2007). We shortly portray the first appearance of phenological observations in Medieval philosophical and literature sources, the usage and application of this method in the Age of Enlightenment (Carl von Linné, Charles Morren), as well as the development in the 20th century (Schnelle, Lieth) to present-day networks (COST725, USA-NPN) Second, we introduce a methodological approach to estimate 'Statistical plants' from historical phenological observations (Rutishauser et al., JGR-Biogeoscience, in press). We combine spatial averaging methods and regression transfer modeling to estimate 'statistical plant' dates from historical observations that often contain gaps, changing observers and changing locations. We apply the concept to reconstruct a statistical 'Spring plant' as the weighted mean of the flowering date of cherry and apple tree and beech budburst of Switzerland 1702- 2005. Including dating total data uncertainty we estimate 10 at interannual and 3.4 days at decadal time scales. Third, we apply two long-term phenological records to describe plant phenological response to spring temperature and reconstruct warm-season temperatures from grape harvest dates (Rutishauser et al, submitted; Meier et al, GRL, in press).

Enhancement of observability and protection of smart power system

Science.gov (United States)

Siddique, Abdul Hasib

It is important for a modern power grid to be smarter in order to provide reliable and sustainable supply of electricity. Traditional way of receiving data from the wired system is a very old and outdated technology. For a quicker and better response from the electric system, it is important to look at wireless systems as a feasible option. In order to enhance the observability and protection it is important to integrate wireless technology with the modern power system. In this thesis, wireless network based architecture for wide area monitoring and an alternate method for performing current measurement for protection of generators and motors, has been adopted. There are basically two part of this project. First part deals with the wide area monitoring of the power system and the second part focuses more on application of wireless technology from the protection point of view. A number of wireless method have been adopted in both the part, these includes Zigbee, analog transmission (Both AM and FM) and digital transmission. The main aim of our project was to propose a cost effective wide area monitoring and protection method which will enhance the observability and stability of power grid. A new concept of wireless integration in the power protection system has been implemented in this thesis work.

NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory - An End-to-End Observational Science Enterprise

Science.gov (United States)

Rockwell, A.; Baeuerle, B.; Grubišić, V.; Hock, T. F.; Lee, W. C.; Ranson, J.; Stith, J. L.; Stossmeister, G.

2017-12-01

Researchers who want to understand and describe the Earth System require high-quality observations of the atmosphere, ocean, and biosphere. Making these observations not only requires capable research platforms and state-of-the-art instrumentation but also benefits from comprehensive in-field project management and data services. NCAR's Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL) is an end-to-end observational science enterprise that provides leadership in observational research to scientists from universities, U.S. government agencies, and NCAR. Deployment: EOL manages the majority of the NSF Lower Atmosphere Observing Facilities, which includes research aircraft, radars, lidars, profilers, and surface and sounding systems. This suite is designed to address a wide range of Earth system science - from microscale to climate process studies and from the planet's surface into the Upper Troposphere/Lower Stratosphere. EOL offers scientific, technical, operational, and logistics support to small and large field campaigns across the globe. Development: By working closely with the scientific community, EOL's engineering and scientific staff actively develop the next generation of observing facilities, staying abreast of emerging trends, technologies, and applications in order to improve our measurement capabilities. Through our Design and Fabrication Services, we also offer high-level engineering and technical expertise, mechanical design, and fabrication to the atmospheric research community. Data Services: EOL's platforms and instruments collect unique datasets that must be validated, archived, and made available to the research community. EOL's Data Management and Services deliver high-quality datasets and metadata in ways that are transparent, secure, and easily accessible. We are committed to the highest standard of data stewardship from collection to validation to archival. Discovery: EOL promotes curiosity about Earth science, and fosters advanced understanding of the

Cooperative Weather Observations

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Monthly logs include a daily account of temperature extremes and precipitation, along with snow data at some locations. U.S. Cooperative Observer Program (COOP)...

A particle swarm optimized kernel-based clustering method for crop mapping from multi-temporal polarimetric L-band SAR observations

Science.gov (United States)

Tamiminia, Haifa; Homayouni, Saeid; McNairn, Heather; Safari, Abdoreza

2017-06-01

Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) data, thanks to their specific characteristics such as high resolution, weather and daylight independence, have become a valuable source of information for environment monitoring and management. The discrimination capability of observations acquired by these sensors can be used for land cover classification and mapping. The aim of this paper is to propose an optimized kernel-based C-means clustering algorithm for agriculture crop mapping from multi-temporal PolSAR data. Firstly, several polarimetric features are extracted from preprocessed data. These features are linear polarization intensities, and several statistical and physical based decompositions such as Cloude-Pottier, Freeman-Durden and Yamaguchi techniques. Then, the kernelized version of hard and fuzzy C-means clustering algorithms are applied to these polarimetric features in order to identify crop types. The kernel function, unlike the conventional partitioning clustering algorithms, simplifies the non-spherical and non-linearly patterns of data structure, to be clustered easily. In addition, in order to enhance the results, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to tune the kernel parameters, cluster centers and to optimize features selection. The efficiency of this method was evaluated by using multi-temporal UAVSAR L-band images acquired over an agricultural area near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, during June and July in 2012. The results demonstrate more accurate crop maps using the proposed method when compared to the classical approaches, (e.g. 12% improvement in general). In addition, when the optimization technique is used, greater improvement is observed in crop classification, e.g. 5% in overall. Furthermore, a strong relationship between Freeman-Durden volume scattering component, which is related to canopy structure, and phenological growth stages is observed.

Observational astrophysics

CERN Document Server

Léna, Pierre; Lebrun, François; Mignard, François; Pelat, Didier

2012-01-01

This is the updated, widely revised, restructured and expanded third edition of Léna et al.'s successful work Observational Astrophysics. It presents a synthesis on tools and methods of observational astrophysics of the early 21st century. Written specifically for astrophysicists and graduate students, this textbook focuses on fundamental and sometimes practical limitations on the ultimate performance that an astronomical system may reach, rather than presenting particular systems in detail. In little more than a decade there has been extraordinary progress in imaging and detection technologies, in the fields of adaptive optics, optical interferometry, in the sub-millimetre waveband, observation of neutrinos, discovery of exoplanets, to name but a few examples. The work deals with ground-based and space-based astronomy and their respective fields. And it also presents the ambitious concepts behind space missions aimed for the next decades. Avoiding particulars, it covers the whole of the electromagnetic spec...

Chromospheric activity of periodic variable stars (including eclipsing binaries) observed in DR2 LAMOST stellar spectral survey

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Liyun; Lu, Hongpeng; Han, Xianming L.; Jiang, Linyan; Li, Zhongmu; Zhang, Yong; Hou, Yonghui; Wang, Yuefei; Cao, Zihuang

2018-05-01

The LAMOST spectral survey provides a rich databases for studying stellar spectroscopic properties and chromospheric activity. We cross-matched a total of 105,287 periodic variable stars from several photometric surveys and databases (CSS, LINEAR, Kepler, a recently updated eclipsing star catalogue, ASAS, NSVS, some part of SuperWASP survey, variable stars from the Tsinghua University-NAOC Transient Survey, and other objects from some new references) with four million stellar spectra published in the LAMOST data release 2 (DR2). We found 15,955 spectra for 11,469 stars (including 5398 eclipsing binaries). We calculated their equivalent widths (EWs) of their Hα, Hβ, Hγ, Hδ and Caii H lines. Using the Hα line EW, we found 447 spectra with emission above continuum for a total of 316 stars (178 eclipsing binaries). We identified 86 active stars (including 44 eclipsing binaries) with repeated LAMOST spectra. A total of 68 stars (including 34 eclipsing binaries) show chromospheric activity variability. We also found LAMOST spectra of 12 cataclysmic variables, five of which show chromospheric activity variability. We also made photometric follow-up studies of three short period targets (DY CVn, HAT-192-0001481, and LAMOST J164933.24+141255.0) using the Xinglong 60-cm telescope and the SARA 90-cm and 1-m telescopes, and obtained new BVRI CCD light curves. We analyzed these light curves and obtained orbital and starspot parameters. We detected the first flare event with a huge brightness increase of more than about 1.5 magnitudes in R filter in LAMOST J164933.24+141255.0.

Local Observed-Score Kernel Equating

Science.gov (United States)

Wiberg, Marie; van der Linden, Wim J.; von Davier, Alina A.

2014-01-01

Three local observed-score kernel equating methods that integrate methods from the local equating and kernel equating frameworks are proposed. The new methods were compared with their earlier counterparts with respect to such measures as bias--as defined by Lord's criterion of equity--and percent relative error. The local kernel item response…

From birds to bees: applying video observation techniques to invertebrate pollinators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C J Lortie

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Observation is a critical element of behavioural ecology and ethology. Here, we propose a similar set of techniques to enhance the study of the diversity patterns of invertebrate pollinators and associated plant species. In a body of avian research, cameras are set up on nests in blinds to examine chick and parent interactions. This avoids observer bias, minimizes interference, and provides numerous other benefits including timestamps, the capacity to record frequency and duration of activities, and provides a permanent archive of activity for later analyses. Hence, we propose that small video cameras in blinds can also be used to continuously monitor pollinator activity on plants thereby capitalizing on those same benefits. This method was proofed in 2010 in the alpine in BC, Canada on target focal plant species and on open mixed assemblages of plant species. Apple ipod nanos successfully recorded activity for an entire day at a time totalling 450 hours and provided sufficient resolution and field of view to both identify pollinators to recognizable taxonomic units and monitor movement and visitation rates at a scale of view of approximately 50 cm2. This method is not a replacement for pan traps or sweep nets but an opportunity to enhance these datasets with more detailed, finer-resolution data. Importantly, the test of this specific method also indicates that far more hours of observation - using any method - are likely required than most current ecological studies published to accurately estimate pollinator diversity.

Viscoplastic behaviour including damage for deep argillaceous rocks: from in situ observations to constitutives equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souley, Mountaka; Ghoreychi, Mehdi; Armand, Gilles

2010-01-01

Document available in extended abstract form only. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of a radioactive waste repository in clay-stone formation, French national radioactive waste management agency (ANDRA) started in 2000 to build an underground research laboratory CMHM) at Bure located at nearly 300 km East of Paris. The host formation consists of a clay-stone (Callovo-Oxfordian argillites) and lies between 430 m and 550 m deep. On the basis of numerous campaigns of laboratory tests (uniaxial/triaxial, mono/multi stage creep and relaxation) undertaken for characterizing mechanical and hydro-mechanical short-term or long-term behaviour of these argillites, several constitutive models were developed in the framework of MODEXREP European project and scientific cooperation between ANDRA and national institutions. Moreover, more than 400 m horizontal galleries at the main level of -490 m at CMHM laboratory have been instrumented since April 2005 with the aim to understand the rock behaviour (especially the long term behaviour) needed for the repository design. The continuous measurements of convergencies of the galleries are available contributing to better understand the time-dependent response of the argillites at natural scale. Analysis of convergence data over a period of 2 years leads to the following conclusions: (a) viscoplastic strains are anisotropic and depend on the gallery orientation with regard to the initial stress anisotropy in the investigated formation; (b) the viscoplastic strain rates observed in the undamaged area far from the galleries walls are in the same order of magnitude as those obtained on samples, whereas those recorded in the damaged or fractured zone near to the walls are one to two orders of magnitude higher; indicating the damage and created macroscopic fractures influences on the viscoplastic strains. This influence has not been taken into account in the previous constitutive models. From these observations, a macroscopic

Uganda; Financial System Stability Assessment, including Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes on the following topics: Monetary and Financial Policy Transparency, Banking Supervision, Securities Regulation, and Payment Systems

OpenAIRE

International Monetary Fund

2003-01-01

This paper presents findings of Uganda’s Financial System Stability Assessment, including Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes on Monetary and Financial Policy Transparency, Banking Supervision, Securities Regulation, Insurance Regulation, Corporate Governance, and Payment Systems. The banking system in Uganda, which dominates the financial system, is fundamentally sound, more resilient than in the past, and currently poses no threat to macroeconomic stability. A major disruption ...

Cooperative Robots to Observe Moving Targets: Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Asif; Rinner, Bernhard; Cavallaro, Andrea

2018-01-01

The deployment of multiple robots for achieving a common goal helps to improve the performance, efficiency, and/or robustness in a variety of tasks. In particular, the observation of moving targets is an important multirobot application that still exhibits numerous open challenges, including the effective coordination of the robots. This paper reviews control techniques for cooperative mobile robots monitoring multiple targets. The simultaneous movement of robots and targets makes this problem particularly interesting, and our review systematically addresses this cooperative multirobot problem for the first time. We classify and critically discuss the control techniques: cooperative multirobot observation of multiple moving targets, cooperative search, acquisition, and track, cooperative tracking, and multirobot pursuit evasion. We also identify the five major elements that characterize this problem, namely, the coordination method, the environment, the target, the robot and its sensor(s). These elements are used to systematically analyze the control techniques. The majority of the studied work is based on simulation and laboratory studies, which may not accurately reflect real-world operational conditions. Importantly, while our systematic analysis is focused on multitarget observation, our proposed classification is useful also for related multirobot applications.

Study on individual stochastic model of GNSS observations for precise kinematic applications

Science.gov (United States)

Próchniewicz, Dominik; Szpunar, Ryszard

2015-04-01

The proper definition of mathematical positioning model, which is defined by functional and stochastic models, is a prerequisite to obtain the optimal estimation of unknown parameters. Especially important in this definition is realistic modelling of stochastic properties of observations, which are more receiver-dependent and time-varying than deterministic relationships. This is particularly true with respect to precise kinematic applications which are characterized by weakening model strength. In this case, incorrect or simplified definition of stochastic model causes that the performance of ambiguity resolution and accuracy of position estimation can be limited. In this study we investigate the methods of describing the measurement noise of GNSS observations and its impact to derive precise kinematic positioning model. In particular stochastic modelling of individual components of the variance-covariance matrix of observation noise performed using observations from a very short baseline and laboratory GNSS signal generator, is analyzed. Experimental test results indicate that the utilizing the individual stochastic model of observations including elevation dependency and cross-correlation instead of assumption that raw measurements are independent with the same variance improves the performance of ambiguity resolution as well as rover positioning accuracy. This shows that the proposed stochastic assessment method could be a important part in complex calibration procedure of GNSS equipment.

A Novel Double Cluster and Principal Component Analysis-Based Optimization Method for the Orbit Design of Earth Observation Satellites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunfeng Dong

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The weighted sum and genetic algorithm-based hybrid method (WSGA-based HM, which has been applied to multiobjective orbit optimizations, is negatively influenced by human factors through the artificial choice of the weight coefficients in weighted sum method and the slow convergence of GA. To address these two problems, a cluster and principal component analysis-based optimization method (CPC-based OM is proposed, in which many candidate orbits are gradually randomly generated until the optimal orbit is obtained using a data mining method, that is, cluster analysis based on principal components. Then, the second cluster analysis of the orbital elements is introduced into CPC-based OM to improve the convergence, developing a novel double cluster and principal component analysis-based optimization method (DCPC-based OM. In DCPC-based OM, the cluster analysis based on principal components has the advantage of reducing the human influences, and the cluster analysis based on six orbital elements can reduce the search space to effectively accelerate convergence. The test results from a multiobjective numerical benchmark function and the orbit design results of an Earth observation satellite show that DCPC-based OM converges more efficiently than WSGA-based HM. And DCPC-based OM, to some degree, reduces the influence of human factors presented in WSGA-based HM.

Gingival Retraction Methods: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Tabassum, Sadia; Adnan, Samira; Khan, Farhan Raza

2017-12-01

The aim of this systematic review was to assess the gingival retraction methods in terms of the amount of gingival retraction achieved and changes observed in various clinical parameters: gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), probing depth (PD), and attachment loss (AL). Data sources included three major databases, PubMed, CINAHL plus (Ebsco), and Cochrane, along with hand search. Search was made using the key terms in different permutations of gingival retraction* AND displacement method* OR technique* OR agents OR material* OR medicament*. The initial search results yielded 145 articles which were narrowed down to 10 articles using a strict eligibility criteria of including clinical trials or experimental studies on gingival retraction methods with the amount of tooth structure gained and assessment of clinical parameters as the outcomes conducted on human permanent teeth only. Gingival retraction was measured in 6/10 studies whereas the clinical parameters were assessed in 5/10 studies. The total number of teeth assessed in the 10 included studies was 400. The most common method used for gingival retraction was chemomechanical. The results were heterogeneous with regards to the outcome variables. No method seemed to be significantly superior to the other in terms of gingival retraction achieved. Clinical parameters were not significantly affected by the gingival retraction method. © 2016 by the American College of Prosthodontists.

Qualitative methods in PhD theses from general practice in Scandinavia.

Science.gov (United States)

Malterud, Kirsti; Hamberg, Katarina; Reventlow, Susanne

2017-12-01

Qualitative methodology is gaining increasing attention and esteem in medical research, with general practice research taking a lead. With these methods, human and social interaction and meaning can be explored and shared by systematic interpretation of text from talk, observation or video. Qualitative studies are often included in Ph.D. theses from general practice in Scandinavia. Still, the Ph.D. programs across nations and institutions offer only limited training in qualitative methods. In this opinion article, we draw upon our observations and experiences, unpacking and reflecting upon values and challenges at stake when qualitative studies are included in Ph.D. theses. Hypotheses to explain these observations are presented, followed by suggestions for standards of evaluation and improvement of Ph.D. programs. The authors conclude that multimethod Ph.D. theses should be encouraged in general practice research, in order to offer future researchers an appropriate toolbox.

Modeling active region transient brightenings observed with X-ray telescope as multi-stranded loops

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kobelski, Adam R.; McKenzie, David E. [Department of Physics, P.O. Box 173840, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-3840 (United States); Donachie, Martin, E-mail: kobelski@solar.physics.montana.edu [University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G128QQ, Scotland (United Kingdom)

2014-05-10

Strong evidence exists that coronal loops as observed in extreme ultraviolet and soft X-rays may not be monolithic isotropic structures, but can often be more accurately modeled as bundles of independent strands. Modeling the observed active region transient brightenings (ARTBs) within this framework allows for the exploration of the energetic ramifications and characteristics of these stratified structures. Here we present a simple method of detecting and modeling ARTBs observed with the Hinode X-Ray Telescope (XRT) as groups of zero-dimensional strands, which allows us to probe parameter space to better understand the spatial and temporal dependence of strand heating in impulsively heated loops. This partially automated method can be used to analyze a large number of observations to gain a statistical insight into the parameters of coronal structures, including the number of heating events required in a given model to fit the observations. In this article, we present the methodology and demonstrate its use in detecting and modeling ARTBs in a sample data set from Hinode/XRT. These initial results show that, in general, multiple heating events are necessary to reproduce observed ARTBs, but the spatial dependence of these heating events cannot yet be established.

Modeling active region transient brightenings observed with X-ray telescope as multi-stranded loops

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobelski, Adam R.; McKenzie, David E.; Donachie, Martin

2014-01-01

Strong evidence exists that coronal loops as observed in extreme ultraviolet and soft X-rays may not be monolithic isotropic structures, but can often be more accurately modeled as bundles of independent strands. Modeling the observed active region transient brightenings (ARTBs) within this framework allows for the exploration of the energetic ramifications and characteristics of these stratified structures. Here we present a simple method of detecting and modeling ARTBs observed with the Hinode X-Ray Telescope (XRT) as groups of zero-dimensional strands, which allows us to probe parameter space to better understand the spatial and temporal dependence of strand heating in impulsively heated loops. This partially automated method can be used to analyze a large number of observations to gain a statistical insight into the parameters of coronal structures, including the number of heating events required in a given model to fit the observations. In this article, we present the methodology and demonstrate its use in detecting and modeling ARTBs in a sample data set from Hinode/XRT. These initial results show that, in general, multiple heating events are necessary to reproduce observed ARTBs, but the spatial dependence of these heating events cannot yet be established.

Additivity methods for prediction of thermochemical properties. The Laidler method revisited. 2. Hydrocarbons including substituted cyclic compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santos, Rui C.; Leal, Joao P.; Martinho Simoes, Jose A.

2009-01-01

A revised parameterization of the extended Laidler method for predicting standard molar enthalpies of atomization and standard molar enthalpies of formation at T = 298.15 K for several families of hydrocarbons (alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, polyenes, poly-ynes, cycloalkanes, substituted cycloalkanes, cycloalkenes, substituted cycloalkenes, benzene derivatives, and bi and polyphenyls) is presented. Data for a total of 265 gas-phase and 242 liquid-phase compounds were used for the calculation of the parameters. Comparison of the experimental values with those obtained using the additive scheme led to an average absolute difference of 0.73 kJ . mol -1 for the gas-phase standard molar enthalpy of formation and 0.79 kJ . mol -1 for the liquid-phase standard molar enthalpy of formation. The database used to establish the parameters was carefully reviewed by using, whenever possible, the original publications. A worksheet to simplify the calculation of standard molar enthalpies of formation and standard molar enthalpies of atomization at T = 298.15 K based on the extended Laidler parameters defined in this paper is provided as supplementary material.

Application of MCM image construction to IRAS comet observations

Science.gov (United States)

Schlapfer, Martin F.; Walker, Russell G.

1994-01-01

There is a wealth of IRAS comet data, obtained in both the survey and pointed observations modes. However, these measurements have remained largely untouched due to difficulties in removing instrumental effects from the data. We have developed a version of the Maximum Correlation Method for Image Construction algorithm (MCM) which operates in the moving coordinate system of the comet and properly treats both real cometary motion and apparent motion due to spacecraft parallax. This algorithm has been implemented on a 486/33 PC in FORTRAN and IDL codes. Preprocessing of the IRAS CRDD includes baseline removal, deglitching, and removal of long tails due to dielectric time constants of the detectors. The resulting images are virtually free from instrumental effects and have the highest possible spatial resolution consistent with the data sampling. We present examples of high resolution IRAS images constructed from survey observations of Comets P/Tempel 1 and P/Tempel 2, and pointed observations of IRAS-Araki-Alcock.

Observations in the Sequence of UMo Monolithic Miniplates Preparation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lopez, Marisol; Gonzalez, Alfredo; Taboada, Horacio [Gerencia Ciclo del Combustible Nuclear, CAC, Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, Av. Gral. Paz 1499, B1650KNA (Argentina)

2011-07-01

According with the works that the National Atomic Energy Commission of Argentina (CNEA) has being deploying in the frame of the reactor core conversion from HEU to LEU fuel, specially working with UMo monolithic core with Zyrcalloy based cladding concept, we put in sequence and give explanation to the observations recorded during our fabrication development tests. To that aim we performed several tests with different parameters conditions and we list all the observations and the possible causes of presence of undesirable phases, shapes or errors appeared during the fabrication tests of those miniplates. The binding techniques of materials employed in our fabrication include the process in solid state without fusion, but that requires pressure or temperature. The principal method employed in this work is a union process of continues rolling at temperature which is called co-rolling in order to produce a union of the surfaces in touch where it can be observed a new structure, and dog bone presence depending on the fabrication conditions. (author)

Methods for certification in colonoscopy - a systematic review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Preisler, Louise; Svendsen, Morten Bo Søndergaard; Svendsen, Lars Bo

2018-01-01

INTRODUCTION: Reliable, valid, and feasible assessment tools are essential to ensure competence in colonoscopy. This study aims to provide an overview of the existing assessment methods and the validity evidence that supports them. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted in October 2016. Pubmed......, EMBASE, and PsycINFO were searched for studies evaluating assessment methods to ensure competency in colonoscopy. Outcome variables were described and evidence of validity was explored using a contemporary framework. RESULTS: Twenty-five observational studies were included in the systematic review. Most...... studies were based on small sample sizes. The studies were categorized after outcome measures into five groups: Clinical process related outcome metrics (n = 2), direct observational colonoscopy assessment (n = 8), simulator based metrics (n = 11), automatic computerized metrics (n = 2), and self...

Fabrication of contacts for silicon solar cells including printing burn through layers

Science.gov (United States)

Ginley, David S; Kaydanova, Tatiana; Miedaner, Alexander; Curtis, Calvin J; Van Hest, Marinus Franciscus Antonius Maria

2014-06-24

A method for fabricating a contact (240) for a solar cell (200). The method includes providing a solar cell substrate (210) with a surface that is covered or includes an antireflective coating (220). For example, the substrate (210) may be positioned adjacent or proximate to an outlet of an inkjet printer (712) or other deposition device. The method continues with forming a burn through layer (230) on the coating (220) by depositing a metal oxide precursor (e.g., using an inkjet or other non-contact printing method to print or apply a volume of liquid or solution containing the precursor). The method includes forming a contact layer (240) comprising silver over or on the burn through layer (230), and then annealing is performed to electrically connect the contact layer (240) to the surface of the solar cell substrate (210) through a portion of the burn through layer (230) and the coating (220).

Should anorectal ultrasonography be included as a diagnostic tool for chronic anal pain?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. J. García-Montes

Full Text Available Objective: to assess the efficiency of endorectal ultrasound (ERUS in the study of chronic idiopathic anal pain (CIAP. Material and method: this is a prospective and descriptive study in which 40 patients, 18 men and 22 women with an average of 47 years, were included. They had chronic anal pain of at least 3 months' duration. A complete colonoscopy was performed in all patients, which found no abnormalities to explain clinical symptoms. Patients with anal fissure and internal hemorrhoids of any degree, perianal suppurative processes, and pelvic surgery were excluded from the study. An ALOKA ProSound SSD-4000 ultrasound console attached to a multifrequency radial transductor ASU-67 (7.5 and 10 MHz was used. Results: one patient could not tolerate the examination. In 8 patients (20% of cases alterations were detected during ultrasonography: in 4 patients (10% of the cases; 1 man and 3 women internal anal sphincter (IAS hypertrophy, and in 5 patients (4 women and 1 man a torn sphincter complex. A tear in the upper IAS canal and hypertrophy of the middle anal canal were observed in one patient (1 woman. Conclusions: ERUS is a simple, economic and useful test to study anorectal pathologies. Although in most studied cases no damage to the anal canal or rectal wall was detected, in a considerable number of patients we observed a thickening of the IAS, a probable cause of anal pain. Therefore, we understand that ERUS should be included in the study of CIAP.

Sensorless Speed Control including zero speed of Non Salient PM Synchronous Drives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Henrik

This paper presents a position sensorless drive of non salient pole PM synchronous motors for all speeds including zero speed. Using adaptive Lyapunov design a new approach for the design of an observer is developed. The resulting scheme leads to a nonlinear full order observer for the motor states...

Sensorless Speed Control including zero speed of Non Salient PM Synchronous Drives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Henrik

2005-01-01

This paper presents a position sensorless drive of non salient pole PM synchronous motors for all speeds including zero speed. Using adaptive Lyapunov design a new approach for the design of an observer is developed. The resulting scheme leads to a nonlinear full order observer for the motor states...

Sensorless speed Control including Zero Speed on Non Salient PM Synchronous Drives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Henrik

2006-01-01

This paper presents a position sensorless drive of non salient pole PM synchronous motors for all speeds including zero speed. Using adaptive Lyapunov design a new approach for the design of an observer is developed. The resulting scheme leads to a nonlinear full order observer for the motor states...

Method for pulse control in a laser including a stimulated brillouin scattering mirror system

Science.gov (United States)

Dane, C. Brent; Hackel, Lloyd; Harris, Fritz B.

2007-10-23

A laser system, such as a master oscillator/power amplifier system, comprises a gain medium and a stimulated Brillouin scattering SBS mirror system. The SBS mirror system includes an in situ filtered SBS medium that comprises a compound having a small negative non-linear index of refraction, such as a perfluoro compound. An SBS relay telescope having a telescope focal point includes a baffle at the telescope focal point which blocks off angle beams. A beam splitter is placed between the SBS mirror system and the SBS relay telescope, directing a fraction of the beam to an alternate beam path for an alignment fiducial. The SBS mirror system has a collimated SBS cell and a focused SBS cell. An adjustable attenuator is placed between the collimated SBS cell and the focused SBS cell, by which pulse width of the reflected beam can be adjusted.

Advancing Patient-Centered Care in Tuberculosis Management: A Mixed-Methods Appraisal of Video Directly Observed Therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Holzman, Samuel B; Zenilman, Avi; Shah, Maunank

2018-04-01

Directly observed therapy (DOT) remains an integral component of treatment support and adherence monitoring in tuberculosis care. In-person DOT is resource intensive and often burdensome for patients. Video DOT (vDOT) has been proposed as an alternative to increase treatment flexibility and better meet patient-specific needs. We conducted a pragmatic, prospective pilot implementation of vDOT at 3 TB clinics in Maryland. A mixed-methods approach was implemented to assess (1) effectiveness, (2) acceptability, and (3) cost. Medication adherence on vDOT was compared with that of in-person DOT. Interviews and surveys were conducted with patients and providers before and after implementation, with framework analysis utilized to extract salient themes. Last, a cost analysis assessed the economic impacts of vDOT implementation across heterogeneous clinic structures. Medication adherence on vDOT was comparable to that of in-person DOT (94% vs 98%, P = .17), with a higher percentage of total treatment doses (inclusive of weekend/holiday self-administration) ultimately observed during the vDOT period (72% vs 66%, P = .03). Video DOT was well received by staff and patients alike, who cited increased treatment flexibility, convenience, and patient privacy. Our cost analysis estimated a savings with vDOT of $1391 per patient for a standard 6-month treatment course. Video DOT is an acceptable and important option for measurement of TB treatment adherence and may allow a higher proportion of prescribed treatment doses to be observed, compared with in-person DOT. Video DOT may be cost-saving and should be considered as a component of individualized, patient-centered case management plans.

Peer Observation of Rounds Leads to Collegial Discussion of Teaching.

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Pierce, J Rush; Rendón, Patrick; Rao, Deepti

2018-01-01

Faculty in the Division of Hospital Medicine provide most of the clinical teaching for learners at our institution. The majority of these faculty are Assistant Professors with limited formal instruction in clinical teaching. Previous Divisional strategies to improve clinical teaching ability included discussion of effective teaching behaviors, developing written expectations for teaching faculty, and instituting seminars on effective clinical teaching. Heretofore, the Division had not utilized a direct observation exercise. We developed a direct observation exercise to encourage discussion of teaching techniques and contemplation of change. Using a social learning model, we developed a peer-to-peer observation followed by a nonevaluative discussion. We created a tool for describing teaching behaviors in 5 domains that were similar to or different from the usual behavior of the observing peer: learner presentations, team leadership, bedside teaching, professionalism, and other. After the observation, the observing and observed faculty met to discuss observed teaching behaviors. Both faculty members discussed and then recorded any teaching behaviors that they planned to adopt or change. We implemented this intervention in a 22-member Academic Division of Hospital Medicine at a tertiary care medical center in the United States. A high proportion were junior faculty and graduates of our residency program. We reviewed records of 28 of 31 observations that were completed during the initial 9-month period of implementation and later surveyed faculty. The exercise resulted in planned changes in teaching behaviors that included instituting new methods to improve teaching team leadership, triaging of patients seen on rounds, faculty behaviors during oral presentations, giving real-time feedback, use of technology and humor, demonstrating physical examination findings, and modeling professional behaviors. Faculty later reported adoption of new teaching behaviors that were

An observational study based on the interaction between the paediatric patient and radiographer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harding, J.; Davis, M.

2015-01-01

Background: The practice of paediatric radiography requires a completely different skill set to that of adult radiography. Often, obtaining a paediatric patient's cooperation is the most difficult aspect of the role. Ensuring that a child cooperates for the examination can make positioning easier, thereby potentially providing a more diagnostic image. Aim: The aim of this study was to observe the interaction between the paediatric patient and the radiographer and to uncover techniques used by the radiographer to help alleviate any fear or stress that the child might have had. Method: A direct observational method was conducted, after both the radiographer and the child's guardians provided full written consent. The actions of the radiographer and resultant reactions from the child were recorded on an observational checklist designed for paediatric examinations. Results: Seventy-nine patients aged between three months to fifteen years and thirteen radiographers with no specific paediatric training other than experience were observed. Examinations observed included lower limb, upper limb, pelvis, abdomen and chest projections. The data gathered were the result of radiographer actions when interacting with both happy and sad children. Conclusions: Successful methods of alleviating a child's fear and anxiety whilst in the X-ray room included the use of child friendly equipment such as colourful lead protection and posters on the wall, a simple explanation of what the equipment is before moving it, offering rewards such as stickers and praise and showing the child their image after the examination. When time was short and the workload was high, it was observed that radiographers were less likely to spend time calming the child down and instead were more focused on completing the examination as quickly as possible. - Highlights: • Seventy-nine patients and thirteen radiographers were observed in this study. • The use of child-friendly equipment and

The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) Statement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

von Elm, Erik; Altman, Douglas G; Egger, Matthias

2014-01-01

Much biomedical research is observational. The reporting of such research is often inadequate, which hampers the assessment of its strengths and weaknesses and of a study's generalisability. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) Initiative developed...... recommendations on what should be included in an accurate and complete report of an observational study. We defined the scope of the recommendations to cover three main study designs: cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies. We convened a 2-day workshop in September 2004, with methodologists...... and the subsequent iterative process of consultation and revision resulted in a checklist of 22 items (the STROBE Statement) that relate to the title, abstract, introduction, methods, results, and discussion sections of articles. 18 items are common to all three study designs and four are specific for cohort, case...

Analysis of Critical Earth Observation Priorities for Societal Benefit

Science.gov (United States)

Zell, E. R.; Huff, A. K.; Carpenter, A. T.; Friedl, L.

2011-12-01

To ensure that appropriate near real-time (NRT) and historical Earth observation data are available to benefit society and meet end-user needs, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) sponsored a multi-disciplinary study to identify a set of critical and common Earth observations associated with 9 Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs): Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate, Disasters, Ecosystems, Energy, Health, Water, and Weather. GEO is an intergovernmental organization working to improve the availability, access, and use of Earth observations to benefit society through a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). The study, overseen by the GEO User Interface Committee, focused on the "demand" side of Earth observation needs: which users need what types of data, and when? The methodology for the study was a meta-analysis of over 1,700 publicly available documents addressing Earth observation user priorities, under the guidance of expert advisors from around the world. The result was a ranking of 146 Earth observation parameters that are critical and common to multiple SBAs, based on an ensemble of 4 statistically robust methods. Within the results, key details emerged on NRT observations needed to serve a broad community of users. The NRT observation priorities include meteorological parameters, vegetation indices, land cover and soil property observations, water body and snow cover properties, and atmospheric composition. The results of the study and examples of NRT applications will be presented. The applications are as diverse as the list of priority parameters. For example, NRT meteorological and soil moisture information can support monitoring and forecasting for more than 25 infectious diseases, including epidemic diseases, such as malaria, and diseases of major concern in the U.S., such as Lyme disease. Quickly evolving events that impact forests, such as fires and insect outbreaks, can be monitored and forecasted with a combination of vegetation indices, fuel

Evaluating the Effects of Differences in Group Abilities on the Tucker and the Levine Observed-Score Methods for Common-Item Nonequivalent Groups Equating. ACT Research Report Series 2010-1

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Chen, Hanwei; Cui, Zhongmin; Zhu, Rongchun; Gao, Xiaohong

2010-01-01

The most critical feature of a common-item nonequivalent groups equating design is that the average score difference between the new and old groups can be accurately decomposed into a group ability difference and a form difficulty difference. Two widely used observed-score linear equating methods, the Tucker and the Levine observed-score methods,…

Cross-comparison and evaluation of air pollution field estimation methods

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Haofei; Russell, Armistead; Mulholland, James; Odman, Talat; Hu, Yongtao; Chang, Howard H.; Kumar, Naresh

2018-04-01

Accurate estimates of human exposure is critical for air pollution health studies and a variety of methods are currently being used to assign pollutant concentrations to populations. Results from these methods may differ substantially, which can affect the outcomes of health impact assessments. Here, we applied 14 methods for developing spatiotemporal air pollutant concentration fields of eight pollutants to the Atlanta, Georgia region. These methods include eight methods relying mostly on air quality observations (CM: central monitor; SA: spatial average; IDW: inverse distance weighting; KRIG: kriging; TESS-D: discontinuous tessellation; TESS-NN: natural neighbor tessellation with interpolation; LUR: land use regression; AOD: downscaled satellite-derived aerosol optical depth), one using the RLINE dispersion model, and five methods using a chemical transport model (CMAQ), with and without using observational data to constrain results. The derived fields were evaluated and compared. Overall, all methods generally perform better at urban than rural area, and for secondary than primary pollutants. We found the CM and SA methods may be appropriate only for small domains, and for secondary pollutants, though the SA method lead to large negative spatial correlations when using data withholding for PM2.5 (spatial correlation coefficient R = -0.81). The TESS-D method was found to have major limitations. Results of the IDW, KRIG and TESS-NN methods are similar. They are found to be better suited for secondary pollutants because of their satisfactory temporal performance (e.g. average temporal R2 > 0.85 for PM2.5 but less than 0.35 for primary pollutant NO2). In addition, they are suitable for areas with relatively dense monitoring networks due to their inability to capture spatial concentration variabilities, as indicated by the negative spatial R (lower than -0.2 for PM2.5 when assessed using data withholding). The performance of LUR and AOD methods were similar to

Systems and strippable coatings for decontaminating structures that include porous material

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Robert V [Idaho Falls, ID; Avci, Recep [Bozeman, MT; Groenewold, Gary S [Idaho Falls, ID

2011-12-06

Methods of removing contaminant matter from porous materials include applying a polymer material to a contaminated surface, irradiating the contaminated surface to cause redistribution of contaminant matter, and removing at least a portion of the polymer material from the surface. Systems for decontaminating a contaminated structure comprising porous material include a radiation device configured to emit electromagnetic radiation toward a surface of a structure, and at least one spray device configured to apply a capture material onto the surface of the structure. Polymer materials that can be used in such methods and systems include polyphosphazine-based polymer materials having polyphosphazine backbone segments and side chain groups that include selected functional groups. The selected functional groups may include iminos, oximes, carboxylates, sulfonates, .beta.-diketones, phosphine sulfides, phosphates, phosphites, phosphonates, phosphinates, phosphine oxides, monothio phosphinic acids, and dithio phosphinic acids.

Observation of multiphase magnetic state of hematite crystal during Morin transition by the method of section topography of synchrotron radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shchetinkin, S.A.; Kvardakov, V.V.; Viler, Eh.; Barushel', Zh.; Shlenker, M.

2005-01-01

The boundaries between weak ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases in hematite crystals during Morin transition are detected by the section topography method by synchrotron radiation. It is shown that these boundaries are parallel to (111) surface hence magnetic phases during Morin transition separate the crystal by layers. Change of layer depth in dependence on temperature and magnetic field, and interaction interphase boundaries with crystal defects are observed [ru

A framework for including family health spillovers in economic evaluation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H. Al-Janabi (Hareth); N.J.A. van Exel (Job); W.B.F. Brouwer (Werner); J. Coast (Joanna)

2016-01-01

textabstractHealth care interventions may affect the health of patients' family networks. It has been suggested that these health spillovers? should be included in economic evaluation, but there is not a systematic method for doing this. In this article, we develop a framework for including health

Inter-Observer and Intra-Observer Reliability of Clinical Assessments in Knee Osteoarthritis

Science.gov (United States)

Maricar, Nasimah; Callaghan, Michael J; Parkes, Matthew J; Felson, David T; O’Neill, Terence W

2016-01-01

Background Clinical examination of the knee is subject to measurement error. The aim of this analysis was to determine inter- and intra-observer reliability of commonly used clinical tests in patients with knee osteoarthritis(OA). Methods We studied subjects with symptomatic knee OA who were participants in an open-label clinical trial of intra-articular steroid therapy. Following standardisation of the clinical test procedures, two clinicians assessed 25 subjects independently at the same visit, and the same clinician assessed 88 subjects over an interval period of 2–10 weeks; in both cases prior to the steroid intervention. Clinical examination included assessment of bony enlargement, crepitus, quadriceps wasting, knee effusion, joint-line and anserine tenderness and knee range of movement(ROM). Intra-class correlation coefficients(ICC), estimated kappa(κ), weighted kappa(κω) and Bland and Altman plots were used to determine inter- and intra-observer levels of agreement. Results Using Landis and Koch criteria, inter-observer kappa scores were moderate for patellofemoral joint(κ=0.53) and anserine tenderness(κ=0.48); good for bony enlargement(κ=0.66), quadriceps wasting(κ=0.78), crepitus(κ=0.78), medial tibiofemoral joint tenderness(κ=0.76), and effusion assessed by ballottement(κ=0.73) and bulge sign(κω =0.78); and excellent for lateral tibiofemoral joint tenderness(κ=1.00), flexion(ICC=0.97) and extension(ICC=0.87) ROM. Intra-observer kappa scores were moderate for lateral tibiofemoral joint tenderness(κ=0.60), good for crepitus(κ=0.78), effusion assessed by ballottement test(κ=0.77), patellofemoral joint(κ=0.66), medial tibiofemoral joint(κ=0.64) and anserine(κ=0.73) tenderness and excellent for effusion assessed by bulge sign(κω =0.83), bony enlargement(κ=0.98), quadriceps wasting(κ=0.83), flexion(ICC=0.99) and extension(ICC=0.96) ROM. Conclusion Among individuals with symptomatic knee OA, the reliability of clinical examination of the

Precipitation observations for operational flood forecasting in Scotland: Data availability, limitations and the impact of observational uncertainty

Science.gov (United States)

Parry, Louise; Neely, Ryan, III; Bennett, Lindsay; Collier, Chris; Dufton, David

2017-04-01

point estimates of precipitation as well as catchment average estimates generated using different spatial averaging methods, including the operationally applied Thiessen polygons. In addition, the QPEs were applied to operational PDM models to compare the effect on the simulated runoff. The results highlight the hydrological significance of uncertainty in observed rainfall. Recommendations for future investigations are to improve the estimate of radar QPEs through improvement of the correction for orography and the correction for different precipitation types, as well as to analyse the benefits of the UK Met Office radar-raingauge merged product. In addition, we need to quantity the cost-benefit of deploying more radars in Scotland in light of the problems posed by the orography.

Fault Diagnosis in Dynamic Systems Using Fuzzy Interacting Observers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. V. Kolesov

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A method of fault diagnosis in dynamic systems based on a fuzzy approach is proposed. The new method possesses two basic specific features which distinguish it from the other known fuzzy methods based on the application of fuzzy logic and a bank of state observers. First, this method uses a bank of interacting observers instead of traditional independent observers. The second specific feature of the proposed method is the assumption that there is no strict boundary between the serviceable and disabled technical states of the system, which makes it possible to specify a decision making rule for fault diagnosis.

Using observational methods to evaluate public open spaces and physical activity in Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Hino A A, F; Reis, Rodrigo S; Ribeiro, Isabela C; Parra, Diana C; Brownson, Ross C; Fermino, Rogerio C

2010-07-01

Open public spaces have been identified as important facilities to promote physical activity (PA) at the community level. The main goals of this study are to describe open public spaces user's characteristics and to explore to what extent these characteristics are associated with PA behavior. A system of direct observation was used to evaluate the PA levels on parks and squares (smaller parks) and users's characteristics (gender and age). The 4 parks and 4 squares observed were selected from neighborhoods with different socioeconomic status and environmental characteristics. The settings were observed 3 times a day, 6 days per week, during 2 weeks. More men than women were observed in parks (63.1%) and squares (70.0%) as well as more adults and adolescents than older adults and children. Users were more physically active in parks (men = 34.1%, women = 36.1%) than in squares (men = 25.5%, women 22.8%). The characteristics of public open spaces may affect PA in the observed places. Initiatives to improve PA levels in community settings should consider users' characteristics and preferences to be more effective and reach a larger number of people.

Methodological tools for the collection and analysis of participant observation data using grounded theory.

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Laitinen, Heleena; Kaunonen, Marja; Astedt-Kurki, Päivi

2014-11-01

To give clarity to the analysis of participant observation in nursing when implementing the grounded theory method. Participant observation (PO) is a method of collecting data that reveals the reality of daily life in a specific context. In grounded theory, interviews are the primary method of collecting data but PO gives a distinctive insight, revealing what people are really doing, instead of what they say they are doing. However, more focus is needed on the analysis of PO. An observational study carried out to gain awareness of nursing care and its electronic documentation in four acute care wards in hospitals in Finland. Discussion of using the grounded theory method and PO as a data collection tool. The following methodological tools are discussed: an observational protocol, jotting of notes, microanalysis, the use of questioning, constant comparison, and writing and illustrating. Each tool has specific significance in collecting and analysing data, working in constant interaction. Grounded theory and participant observation supplied rich data and revealed the complexity of the daily reality of acute care. In this study, the methodological tools provided a base for the study at the research sites and outside. The process as a whole was challenging. It was time-consuming and it required rigorous and simultaneous data collection and analysis, including reflective writing. Using these methodological tools helped the researcher stay focused from data collection and analysis to building theory. Using PO as a data collection method in qualitative nursing research provides insights. It is not commonly discussed in nursing research and therefore this study can provide insight, which cannot be seen or revealed by using other data collection methods. Therefore, this paper can produce a useful tool for those who intend to use PO and grounded theory in their nursing research.

Designing monitoring programs for chemicals of emerging concern in potable reuse--what to include and what not to include?

Science.gov (United States)

Drewes, J E; Anderson, P; Denslow, N; Olivieri, A; Schlenk, D; Snyder, S A; Maruya, K A

2013-01-01

This study discussed a proposed process to prioritize chemicals for reclaimed water monitoring programs, selection of analytical methods required for their quantification, toxicological relevance of chemicals of emerging concern regarding human health, and related issues. Given that thousands of chemicals are potentially present in reclaimed water and that information about those chemicals is rapidly evolving, a transparent, science-based framework was developed to guide prioritization of which compounds of emerging concern (CECs) should be included in reclaimed water monitoring programs. The recommended framework includes four steps: (1) compile environmental concentrations (e.g., measured environmental concentration or MEC) of CECs in the source water for reuse projects; (2) develop a monitoring trigger level (MTL) for each of these compounds (or groups thereof) based on toxicological relevance; (3) compare the environmental concentration (e.g., MEC) to the MTL; CECs with a MEC/MTL ratio greater than 1 should be prioritized for monitoring, compounds with a ratio less than '1' should only be considered if they represent viable treatment process performance indicators; and (4) screen the priority list to ensure that a commercially available robust analytical method is available for that compound.

Time-domain simulation of constitutive relations for nonlinear acoustics including relaxation for frequency power law attenuation media modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Jiménez, Noé; Camarena, Francisco; Redondo, Javier; Sánchez-Morcillo, Víctor; Konofagou, Elisa E.

2015-10-01

We report a numerical method for solving the constitutive relations of nonlinear acoustics, where multiple relaxation processes are included in a generalized formulation that allows the time-domain numerical solution by an explicit finite differences scheme. Thus, the proposed physical model overcomes the limitations of the one-way Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov (KZK) type models and, due to the Lagrangian density is implicitly included in the calculation, the proposed method also overcomes the limitations of Westervelt equation in complex configurations for medical ultrasound. In order to model frequency power law attenuation and dispersion, such as observed in biological media, the relaxation parameters are fitted to both exact frequency power law attenuation/dispersion media and also empirically measured attenuation of a variety of tissues that does not fit an exact power law. Finally, a computational technique based on artificial relaxation is included to correct the non-negligible numerical dispersion of the finite difference scheme, and, on the other hand, improve stability trough artificial attenuation when shock waves are present. This technique avoids the use of high-order finite-differences schemes leading to fast calculations. The present algorithm is especially suited for practical configuration where spatial discontinuities are present in the domain (e.g. axisymmetric domains or zero normal velocity boundary conditions in general). The accuracy of the method is discussed by comparing the proposed simulation solutions to one dimensional analytical and k-space numerical solutions.

33 CFR 150.15 - What must the operations manual include?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... containment; (iii) Connecting and disconnecting transfer equipment, including a floating hose string for a...) Connecting and disconnecting of transfer equipment, including to a floating hose string for a SPM; (iv) Line..., bolted flanges, and quick-disconnect coupling. (10) A description of the method used to water and de...

Innovations in Statistical Observations of Consumer Prices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga Stepanovna Oleynik

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the innovative changes in the methodology of statistical surveys of consumer prices. These changes are reflected in the “Official statistical methodology for the organization of statistical observation of consumer prices for goods and services and the calculation of the consumer price index”, approved by order of the Federal State Statistics Service of December 30, 2014 no. 734. The essence of innovation is the use of mathematical methods in determining the range of studies objects of trade and services, in calculating the sufficient observable price quotes based on price dispersion, the proportion of the observed product (service, a representative of consumer spending, as well as the indicator of the complexity of price registration. The authors analyzed the mathematical calculations of the required number of quotations for observation in the Volgograd region in 2016, the results of calculations are compared with the number of quotes included in the monitoring. The authors believe that the implementation of these mathematical models allowed to substantially reduce the influence of the subjective factor in the organization of monitoring of consumer prices, and therefore to increase the objectivity of the resulting statistics on consumer prices and inflation. At the same time, the proposed methodology needs further improvement in terms of payment for goods, products (services by representatives having a minor share in consumer expenditure.

Graphene device and method of using graphene device

Science.gov (United States)

Bouchiat, Vincent; Girit, Caglar; Kessler, Brian; Zettl, Alexander K.

2015-08-11

An embodiment of a graphene device includes a layered structure, first and second electrodes, and a dopant island. The layered structure includes a conductive layer, an insulating layer, and a graphene layer. The electrodes are coupled to the graphene layer. The dopant island is coupled to an exposed surface of the graphene layer between the electrodes. An embodiment of a method of using a graphene device includes providing the graphene device. A voltage is applied to the conductive layer of the graphene device. Another embodiment of a method of using a graphene device includes providing the graphene device without the dopant island. A dopant island is placed on an exposed surface of the graphene layer between the electrodes. A voltage is applied to the conductive layer of the graphene device. A response of the dopant island to the voltage is observed.