A proposed general model of information behaviour.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Presents a critical description of Wilson's (1996 global model of information behaviour and proposes major modification on the basis of research into information behaviour of managers, conducted in Poland. The theoretical analysis and research results suggest that Wilson's model has certain imperfections, both in its conceptual content, and in graphical presentation. The model, for example, cannot be used to describe managers' information behaviour, since managers basically are not the end users of external from organization or computerized information services, and they acquire information mainly through various intermediaries. Therefore, the model cannot be considered as a general model, applicable to every category of information users. The proposed new model encompasses the main concepts of Wilson's model, such as: person-in-context, three categories of intervening variables (individual, social and environmental, activating mechanisms, cyclic character of information behaviours, and the adoption of a multidisciplinary approach to explain them. However, the new model introduces several changes. They include: 1. identification of 'context' with the intervening variables; 2. immersion of the chain of information behaviour in the 'context', to indicate that the context variables influence behaviour at all stages of the process (identification of needs, looking for information, processing and using it; 3. stress is put on the fact that the activating mechanisms also can occur at all stages of the information acquisition process; 4. introduction of two basic strategies of looking for information: personally and/or using various intermediaries.

Characterization of a novel brain barrier ex vivo insect-based P-glycoprotein screening model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersson, O.; Badisco, L.; Hansen, A. H.

2014-01-01

In earlier studies insects were proposed as suitable models for vertebrate blood–brain barrier (BBB) permeability prediction and useful in early drug discovery. Here we provide transcriptome and functional data demonstrating the presence of a P-glycoprotein (Pgp) efflux transporter in the brain b...... has the potential to act as a robust and convenient model for assessing BBB permeability in early drug discovery.......In earlier studies insects were proposed as suitable models for vertebrate blood–brain barrier (BBB) permeability prediction and useful in early drug discovery. Here we provide transcriptome and functional data demonstrating the presence of a P-glycoprotein (Pgp) efflux transporter in the brain...

Recent gestational diabetes was associated with mothers stopping predominant breastfeeding earlier in a multi-ethnic population.

Science.gov (United States)

Baerug, Anne; Sletner, Line; Laake, Petter; Fretheim, Atle; Løland, Beate Fossum; Waage, Christin W; Birkeland, Kåre I; Jenum, Anne Karen

2018-06-01

It has previously been shown that breastfeeding may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in mothers with recent gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). This study compared the cessation of predominant breastfeeding in mothers with and without recent GDM in a multi-ethnic population. From May 2008 to May 2010, healthy pregnant women attending antenatal care provided by community health services in Eastern Oslo, Norway were recruited. We included 616 women-58% non-Western-and interviewed and examined them at a mean of 15 and 28 weeks of gestation and 14 weeks' postpartum. Cox regression models examined the association between GDM, as assessed by the 2013 World Health Organization criteria, and breastfeeding cessation. Overall, 190 of the 616 (31%) mothers had GDM and they ended predominant breastfeeding earlier than mothers without GDM, with an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 1.33 and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of 1.01-1.77. Mothers of South Asian origin ended predominant breastfeeding earlier than Western European mothers in the adjusted analysis (aHR 1.53, 95% CI: 1.04-2.25), but Middle Eastern mothers did not. Recent gestational diabetes was associated with earlier cessation of predominant breastfeeding in Western European and non-Western women. ©2018 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A proposed wind shift model for the German reactor safety study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aldrich, D.C.; Bayer, A.; Schueckler, M.

1979-04-01

To account for hourly wind direction changes, a wind shift model has been proposed. Using hourly recorded wind speed and direction data, the model modifies the angular distribution of radionuclide concentrations calculated by a straightline model, and is intended to better represent the concentrations in areas close to the reactor where potential doses might exceed the threshold level for early fatalities. 115 weather sequences were used, both with and without the proposed wind shift model, to calculate probability distributions for early fatalities. The use of the proposed model results in a reduction of the mean and peak values of that distribution by 36% and 29%, respectively. (orig./HP) [de

Gamification in online education: proposal for a participatory learning model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabiana Bigão Silva

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Empirical studies have suggested limitations on the form of application of gamification mechanics in the context of online education. These mechanics have been applied without reference to a theoretical model dedicated to this type of education. The objective of the paper is to propose a model for a gamified platform for online education that contributes to a more participatory learning, taking into account the different student profiles. Based on literature review about approaches to gamification systems design, a set of steps was followed in order to develop a generic model for a framework dedicated to online education. The model proposed is based on the Educational Gamification Design Principles proposed by Dicheva et al. (2015. The model may contribute to the promotion of participatory learning, taking into account the different student profiles. The results of such evaluation will be published in the future.

A proposed residual stress model for oblique turning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elkhabeery, M. M.

2001-01-01

A proposed mathematical model is presented for predicting the residual stresses caused by turning. Effects of change in tool free length, cutting speed, feed rate, and the tensile strength of work piece material on the maximum residual stress are investigated. The residual stress distribution in the surface region due to turning under unlubricated condition is determined using a deflection etching technique. To reduce the number of experiments required and build the mathematical model for these variables, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is used. In addition, variance analysis and an experimental check are conducted to determine the prominent parameters and the adequacy of the model. The results show that the tensile stress of the work piece material, cutting speed, and feed rate have significant effects on the maximum residual stresses. The proposed model, that offering good correlation between the experimental and predicted results, is useful in selecting suitable cutting parameters for the machining of different materials. (author)

A proposed experiment on ball lightning model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ignatovich, Vladimir K.; Ignatovich, Filipp V.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → We propose to put a glass sphere inside an excited gas. → Then to put a light ray inside the glass in a whispering gallery mode. → If the light is resonant to gas excitation, it will be amplified at every reflection. → In ms time the light in the glass will be amplified, and will melt the glass. → A liquid shell kept integer by electrostriction forces is the ball lightning model. -- Abstract: We propose an experiment for strong light amplification at multiple total reflections from active gaseous media.

Physical optics modeling of modal patterns in a crossed porro prism resonator

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Litvin, IA

2006-07-01

Full Text Available A physical optics model is proposed to describe the transverse modal patterns in crossed Porro prism resonators. The model departs from earlier attempts in that the prisms are modeled as non-classical rotating elements with amplitude and phase...

Earlier time to aerobic exercise is associated with faster recovery following acute sport concussion.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, David Wyndham; Richards, Doug; Comper, Paul; Hutchison, Michael G

2018-01-01

To determine whether earlier time to initiation of aerobic exercise following acute concussion is associated with time to full return to (1) sport and (2) school or work. A retrospective stratified propensity score survival analysis of acute (≤14 days) concussion was used to determine whether time (days) to initiation of aerobic exercise post-concussion was associated with, both, time (days) to full return to (1) sport and (2) school or work. A total of 253 acute concussions [median (IQR) age, 17.0 (15.0-20.0) years; 148 (58.5%) males] were included in this study. Multivariate Cox regression models identified that earlier time to aerobic exercise was associated with faster return to sport and school/work adjusting for other covariates, including quintile propensity strata. For each successive day in delay to initiation of aerobic exercise, individuals had a less favourable recovery trajectory. Initiating aerobic exercise at 3 and 7 days following injury was associated with a respective 36.5% (HR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.53-0.76) and 73.2% (HR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.16-0.45) reduced probability of faster full return to sport compared to within 1 day; and a respective 45.9% (HR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.44-0.66) and 83.1% (HR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.10-0.30) reduced probability of faster full return to school/work. Additionally, concussion history, symptom severity, LOC deleteriously influenced concussion recovery. Earlier initiation of aerobic exercise was associated with faster full return to sport and school or work. This study provides greater insight into the benefits and safety of aerobic exercise within the first week of the injury.

Later endogenous circadian temperature nadir relative to an earlier wake time in older people

Science.gov (United States)

Duffy, J. F.; Dijk, D. J.; Klerman, E. B.; Czeisler, C. A.

1998-01-01

The contribution of the circadian timing system to the age-related advance of sleep-wake timing was investigated in two experiments. In a constant routine protocol, we found that the average wake time and endogenous circadian phase of 44 older subjects were earlier than that of 101 young men. However, the earlier circadian phase of the older subjects actually occurred later relative to their habitual wake time than it did in young men. These results indicate that an age-related advance of circadian phase cannot fully account for the high prevalence of early morning awakening in healthy older people. In a second study, 13 older subjects and 10 young men were scheduled to a 28-h day, such that they were scheduled to sleep at many circadian phases. Self-reported awakening from scheduled sleep episodes and cognitive throughput during the second half of the wake episode varied markedly as a function of circadian phase in both groups. The rising phase of both rhythms was advanced in the older subjects, suggesting an age-related change in the circadian regulation of sleep-wake propensity. We hypothesize that under entrained conditions, these age-related changes in the relationship between circadian phase and wake time are likely associated with self-selected light exposure at an earlier circadian phase. This earlier exposure to light could account for the earlier clock hour to which the endogenous circadian pacemaker is entrained in older people and thereby further increase their propensity to awaken at an even earlier time.

A Proposed Conceptual Model of Military Medical Readiness

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Van Hall, Brian M

2007-01-01

.... The purpose of this research is to consolidate existing literature on the latent variable of medical readiness, and to propose a composite theoretical model of medical readiness that may provide...

Modeling Instruction of David Hestenes: a proposal of thematic modeling cycle and discussion of scientific literacy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ednilson Sergio Ramalho de Souza

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The pedagogical work with mathematical modeling assumes investigate situations of reality. However, mental models formed from the contact with the experiential world are generally incompatible with the conceptual models. So David Hestenes supports the view that one of the biggest challenges of teaching and learning in science and mathematics is to coordinate conceptual models with mental models, which led to the elaboration of a didactic in mathematical modeling: Modeling Instruction. Our goal is to present a proposal for thematic modeling cycle drawn up in hestenesianos assumptions and discuss possibilities for scientific literacy. The main question was to know how to emerge indicators for scientific literacy for the proposed cycle. This is a bibliographic research in order to identify the available literature contributions on the subject and raise the possibility and challenges for the brazilian teaching science and mathematics. Preliminary results indicate that the proposed modeling cycle can develop indicators for scientific literacy of different natures.

A New Proposed Cost Model for List Accessing Problem using Buffering

OpenAIRE

Mohanty, Rakesh; Bhoi, Seetaya; Tripathy, Sasmita

2011-01-01

There are many existing well known cost models for the list accessing problem. The standard cost model developed by Sleator and Tarjan is most widely used. In this paper, we have made a comprehensive study of the existing cost models and proposed a new cost model for the list accessing problem. In our proposed cost model, for calculating the processing cost of request sequence using a singly linked list, we consider the access cost, matching cost and replacement cost. The cost of processing a...

Tacit knowledge in academia: a proposed model and measurement scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Leonard, Nancy; Insch, Gary S

2005-11-01

The authors propose a multidimensional model of tacit knowledge and develop a measure of tacit knowledge in academia. They discuss the theory and extant literature on tacit knowledge and propose a 6-factor model. Experiment 1 is a replication of a recent study of academic tacit knowledge using the scale developed and administered at an Israeli university (A. Somech & R. Bogler, 1999). The results of the replication differed from those found in the original study. For Experiment 2, the authors developed a domain-specific measure of academic tacit knowledge, the Academic Tacit Knowledge Scale (ATKS), and used this measure to explore the multidimensionality of tacit knowledge proposed in the model. The results of an exploratory factor analysis (n=142) followed by a confirmatory factor analysis (n=286) are reported. The sample for both experiments was 428 undergraduate students enrolled at a large public university in the eastern United States. Results indicated that a 5-factor model of academic tacit knowledge provided a strong fit for the data.

Smoking is associated with earlier time to revision of total knee arthroplasty.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Chin Tat; Goodman, Stuart B; Huddleston, James I; Harris, Alex H S; Bhowmick, Subhrojyoti; Maloney, William J; Amanatullah, Derek F

2017-10-01

Smoking is associated with early postoperative complications, increased length of hospital stay, and an increased risk of revision after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, the effect of smoking on time to revision TKA is unknown. A total of 619 primary TKAs referred to an academic tertiary center for revision TKA were retrospectively stratified according to the patient smoking status. Smoking status was then analyzed for associations with time to revision TKA using a Chi square test. The association was also analyzed according to the indication for revision TKA. Smokers (37/41, 90%) have an increased risk of earlier revision for any reason compared to non-smokers (274/357, 77%, p=0.031). Smokers (37/41, 90%) have an increased risk of earlier revision for any reason compared to ex-smokers (168/221, 76%, p=0.028). Subgroup analysis did not reveal a difference in indication for revision TKA (p>0.05). Smokers are at increased risk of earlier revision TKA when compared to non-smokers and ex-smokers. The risk for ex-smokers was similar to that of non-smokers. Smoking appears to have an all-or-none effect on earlier revision TKA as patients who smoked more did not have higher risk of early revision TKA. These results highlight the need for clinicians to urge patients not to begin smoking and encourage smokers to quit smoking prior to primary TKA. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Proposed Systems Model for Socializing the Graduate Writer

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, David R.

2018-01-01

Although researchers chorus the need to support graduate students toward higher levels of writing proficiency, their findings lack a holistic model for doing so. A model emerges upon scrutiny of the factors that have been implicated in supporting writing proficiency. In the proposed model, a socialization theory fits as a proximal process into the…

Main features of the proposed NCRP respiratory tract model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phalen, R.F.; Fisher, G.L.; Moss, O.R.; Schlesinger, R.B.; Swift, D.L.

1991-01-01

The proposed NCRP respiratory tract dosimetry model regions include the naso-oro-pharyngo-laryngeal (NOPL), the tracheobronchial (TB), the pulmonary (P), and the lymph nodes (LN). Input aerosol concentrations are derived from a consideration of particle-size-dependent inspirability. Particle deposition in the respiratory tract is modelled using the mechanisms of inertial impaction, sedimentation and diffusion. The rates of absorption of particles, and transport to the blood, have been derived from clearance data from people and laboratory animals. The effect of body growth on particle deposition is considered. Particle clearance rates are assumed to be independent of age. The proposed respiratory tract model differs significantly from the 1966 Task Group Model in that (1) inspirability is considered; (2) new sub-regions of the respiratory tract are considered; (3) absorption of materials by the blood is treated in a more sophisticated fashion; and (4) body size (and thus age) is taken into account. (author)

Social Security reform: evaluating current proposals. Latest results of the EBRI-SSASIM2 policy simulation model.

Science.gov (United States)

Copeland, C; VanDerhei, J; Salisbury, D L

1999-06-01

The present Social Security program has been shown to be financially unsustainable in the future without modification to the current program. The purpose of this Issue Brief, EBRI's fourth in a series on Social Security reform, is threefold: to illustrate new features of the EBRI-SSASIM2 policy simulation model not available in earlier EBRI publications, to expand quantitative analysis to specific proposals, and to evaluate the uncertainty involved in proposals that rely on equity investment. This analysis compares the Gregg/Breaux-Kolbe/Stenholm (GB-KS) and Moynihan/Kerrey proposals with three generic or "traditional" reforms: increasing taxes, reducing benefits, and/or increasing the retirement age. Both proposals would create individual accounts by "carving out" funds from current Social Security payroll taxes. This analysis also examines other proposed changes that would "add on" to existing Social Security funds through the use of general revenue transfers and/or investment in the equities market. President Clinton has proposed a general revenue transfer and the collective investment of some of the OASDI trust fund assets in equities. Reps. Archer and Shaw have proposed a general revenue tax credit to establish individual accounts that would be invested partially in the equities markets. When comparing Social Security reform proposals that would specifically alter benefit levels, the Moynihan/Kerrey bill compares quite favorably with the other proposals in both benefit levels and payback ratios, when individuals elect to use the individual account option. In contrast, the GB-KS bills do not compare quite as favorably for their benefit levels, but do compare favorably in terms of payback ratios. An important comparison in these bills is the administrative costs of managing the individual accounts, since benefits can be lowered by up to 23 percent when going from the assumed low to high administrative costs. Moreover, allowing individuals to decide whether to

The earlier identification of the seedless characteristic of the wampee

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Jane

2010-12-13

Dec 13, 2010 ... the production of new seedless wampee cultivars in recent years were operated. ... increase burliness rate in hybridization. In order to earlier ... methods is greatly limited due to a long juvenile phase of ... Plant materials .... This fragment may be linked ... reduce high temperature which affected pollen germi-.

Connected word recognition using a cascaded neuro-computational model

Science.gov (United States)

Hoya, Tetsuya; van Leeuwen, Cees

2016-10-01

We propose a novel framework for processing a continuous speech stream that contains a varying number of words, as well as non-speech periods. Speech samples are segmented into word-tokens and non-speech periods. An augmented version of an earlier-proposed, cascaded neuro-computational model is used for recognising individual words within the stream. Simulation studies using both a multi-speaker-dependent and speaker-independent digit string database show that the proposed method yields a recognition performance comparable to that obtained by a benchmark approach using hidden Markov models with embedded training.

Model for lattice dynamics of hexagonal close packed metals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Singh, R K [Tata Inst. of Fundamental Research, Bombay (India); Kumar, S [Meerut Coll. (India). Dept. of Physics

1977-11-19

A lattice dynamical model, which satisfies the requirements of translational invariance as well as the static equilibrium of hexagonal close packed lattice, has been proposed and applied to study the phonon dispersion relations in magnesium. The results revealed by this model have been claimed to be better than earlier ones.

Earlier vegetation green-up has reduced spring dust storms.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Bihang; Guo, Li; Li, Ning; Chen, Jin; Lin, Henry; Zhang, Xiaoyang; Shen, Miaogen; Rao, Yuhan; Wang, Cong; Ma, Lei

2014-10-24

The observed decline of spring dust storms in Northeast Asia since the 1950s has been attributed to surface wind stilling. However, spring vegetation growth could also restrain dust storms through accumulating aboveground biomass and increasing surface roughness. To investigate the impacts of vegetation spring growth on dust storms, we examine the relationships between recorded spring dust storm outbreaks and satellite-derived vegetation green-up date in Inner Mongolia, Northern China from 1982 to 2008. We find a significant dampening effect of advanced vegetation growth on spring dust storms (r = 0.49, p = 0.01), with a one-day earlier green-up date corresponding to a decrease in annual spring dust storm outbreaks by 3%. Moreover, the higher correlation (r = 0.55, p storm outbreak ratio (the ratio of dust storm outbreaks to times of strong wind events) indicates that such effect is independent of changes in surface wind. Spatially, a negative correlation is detected between areas with advanced green-up dates and regional annual spring dust storms (r = -0.49, p = 0.01). This new insight is valuable for understanding dust storms dynamics under the changing climate. Our findings suggest that dust storms in Inner Mongolia will be further mitigated by the projected earlier vegetation green-up in the warming world.

Comprehensive methods for earlier detection and monitoring of forest decline

Science.gov (United States)

Jennifer Pontius; Richard Hallett

2014-01-01

Forested ecosystems are threatened by invasive pests, pathogens, and unusual climatic events brought about by climate change. Earlier detection of incipient forest health problems and a quantitatively rigorous assessment method is increasingly important. Here, we describe a method that is adaptable across tree species and stress agents and practical for use in the...

An Analytical Analysis of Hydraulic Jump in Triangular Channel: A Proposed Model

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, S. A.

2013-05-01

The paper presents the theoretical study of hydraulic jump in triangular channel section. Presuming the jump as one dimensional free shear layer with hydrostatic pressure distribution across it and using momentum equation, specific force equation is obtained. Using the specific force equation and eddy viscosity equation, analytical models for sequent depth, dimensionless profile, turbulent shear stress distribution and energy loss for various initial Froude numbers have been obtained. The proposed models for sequent depth and energy loss are also compared with the other developed models. The proposed energy loss model also provides the energy loss at any point along the jump, while this provision is not available in the models of other investigators. Newton-Raphson and Runge-Kutta methods are used for the solution of the proposed model. The outcome of this study can be used in the design of stilling basin floor and side walls on permeable foundations.

Proposal of a new biokinetic model for niobium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliveira, Roges

2006-01-01

There are two niobium isotopes generated in nuclear power plants: 95 Nb and 94 Nb. Workers and members of the public are subjects to intake these radionuclides in accident situation. For dose calculation purpose, it is very important to develop a model that describes in a more realistic way the kinetics of niobium inside of the human body. Presently the model adopted by ICRP (ICRP, 1989) is based on animal studies and describes the behavior of niobium in human being in a simple manner. The new model proposal describes the kinetics of the niobium from the intake into the blood until the excretion, doing this in a more realistic form and considering not only data from animals but data from human beings as well. For this objective, a workers group of a niobium extraction and processing industry exposed to stable niobium (93 Nb) in oxide insoluble form with associated uranium, was monitored for uranium and niobium determination in urinary and fecal excretion, by mass spectrometry. Based in the ratios of the niobium concentration in urinary and faecal excretion of this workers and animal data study, a new biokinetic model for niobium was proposed, with the followings modifications relative to ICRP model: a new compartment that represents muscular tissue; the fractions which are deposited into the compartment are modified; a third component in the retention equation of the bone tissue; introduction of recirculation between organs and blood. The new model was applied for a case of accidental intake and described adequately the experimental data

A Modified Microfinance Model Proposed for the United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eldon H Bernstein

2014-07-01

While the goal in the traditional model in developing markets is the elimination of poverty, we show how those critical conditions help to explain the lack of success in the United States.  We propose a modified model whose goal is the creation of an entrepreneurial venture or improving the performance of an existing small enterprise.

Proposal for the ZT-40 reversed-field Z-pinch experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, D.A.; Machalek, M.D.

1977-08-01

A next-generation, toroidal, reversed-field Z-pinch experiment to be constructed at LASL is proposed. On the basis of encouraging ZT-I and ZT-S experimental results, a larger device with a 40-cm bore and a 114-cm major radius is proposed, to extend the confinement time by about an order of magnitude. The new experiment will explore the physics of programming reversed-field pinches in a size range unexplored by previous reversed-field pinch experiments. Model reversed-field pinch reactor calculations show that, if stability is assumed, small fusion reactors are possible if the pinch current density is high. A basic aim will be to delineate the plasma and current density ranges in which stable reversed-field pinches can be produced. Improved vacuum techniques will be used to overcome the radiation losses that probably kept electron temperatures low in the earlier, smaller experiments

Linear regression crash prediction models : issues and proposed solutions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-01

The paper develops a linear regression model approach that can be applied to : crash data to predict vehicle crashes. The proposed approach involves novice data aggregation : to satisfy linear regression assumptions; namely error structure normality ...

A Proposed Model of Jazz Theory Knowledge Acquisition

Science.gov (United States)

Ciorba, Charles R.; Russell, Brian E.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesized model that proposes a causal relationship between motivation and academic achievement on the acquisition of jazz theory knowledge. A reliability analysis of the latent variables ranged from 0.92 to 0.94. Confirmatory factor analyses of the motivation (standardized root mean square residual…

Optimal HIV testing and earlier care: the way forward in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Coenen, T; Lundgren, J; Lazarus, Jeff

2008-01-01

The articles in this supplement were developed from a recent pan-European conference entitled 'HIV in Europe 2007: Working together for optimal testing and earlier care', which took place on 26-27 November in Brussels, Belgium. The conference, organized by a multidisciplinary group of experts rep...

Polymorphism in ficolin-1 ( FCN1 ) gene is associated with an earlier ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

-1 (FCN1) gene is associated with an earlier onset of type 1 diabetes mellitus in children and adolescents from northeast Brazil. ZILMA PEREIRA DOS ANJOSA MANUELLA MARIA SILVA SANTOS NATASSIA JAVORSKI RODRIGUES ...

Prescription Stimulant Use is Associated with Earlier Onset of Psychosis

OpenAIRE

Moran, Lauren V.; Masters, Grace A.; Pingali, Samira; Cohen, Bruce M.; Liebson, Elizabeth; Rajarethinam, R.P.; Ongur, Dost

2015-01-01

A childhood history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is common in psychotic disorders, yet prescription stimulants may interact adversely with the physiology of these disorders. Specifically, exposure to stimulants leads to long-term increases in dopamine release. We therefore hypothesized that individuals with psychotic disorders previously exposed to prescription stimulants will have an earlier onset of psychosis. Age of onset of psychosis (AOP) was compared in individuals...

IMPROVING THE INTEROPERABILITY OF DISASTER MODELS: A CASE STUDY OF PROPOSING FIREML FOR FOREST FIRE MODEL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Jiang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a new standardized data format named Fire Markup Language (FireML, extended by the Geography Markup Language (GML of OGC, to elaborate upon the fire hazard model. The proposed FireML is able to standardize the input and output documents of a fire model for effectively communicating with different disaster management systems to ensure a good interoperability. To demonstrate the usage of FireML and testify its feasibility, an adopted forest fire spread model being compatible with FireML is described. And a 3DGIS disaster management system is developed to simulate the dynamic procedure of forest fire spread with the defined FireML documents. The proposed approach will enlighten ones who work on other disaster models' standardization work.

Improving the Interoperability of Disaster Models: a Case Study of Proposing Fireml for Forest Fire Model

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, W.; Wang, F.; Meng, Q.; Li, Z.; Liu, B.; Zheng, X.

2018-04-01

This paper presents a new standardized data format named Fire Markup Language (FireML), extended by the Geography Markup Language (GML) of OGC, to elaborate upon the fire hazard model. The proposed FireML is able to standardize the input and output documents of a fire model for effectively communicating with different disaster management systems to ensure a good interoperability. To demonstrate the usage of FireML and testify its feasibility, an adopted forest fire spread model being compatible with FireML is described. And a 3DGIS disaster management system is developed to simulate the dynamic procedure of forest fire spread with the defined FireML documents. The proposed approach will enlighten ones who work on other disaster models' standardization work.

Proposal for product development model focused on ce certification methodology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nathalia Marcia Goulart Pinheiro

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a critical analysis comparing 21 product development models in order to identify whether these structures meet the demands Product Certification of the European Community (CE. Furthermore, it presents a product development model, comprising the steps in the models analyzed, including improvements in activities for referred product certification. The proposed improvements are justified by the growing quest for the internationalization of products and processes within companies.

The 'OMITRON' and 'MODEL OMITRON' proposed experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sestero, A.

1997-12-01

In the present paper the main features of the OMITRON and MODEL OMITRON proposed high field tokamaks are illustrated. Of the two, OMITRON is an ambitious experiment, aimed at attaining plasma burning conditions. its key physics issues are discussed, and a comparison is carried out with corresponding physics features in ignition experiments such as IGNITOR and ITER. Chief asset and chief challenge - in both OMITRON and MODEL OMITRON is the conspicuous 20 Tesla toroidal field value on the plasma axis. The advanced features of engineering which consent such a reward in terms of toroidal magnet performance are discussed in convenient depth and detail. As for the small, propaedeutic device MODEL OMITRON among its goals one must rank the purpose of testing key engineering issues in vivo, which are vital for the larger and more expensive parent device. Besides that, however - as indicated by ad hoc performed scoping studies - the smaller machine is found capable also of a number of quite interesting physics investigations in its own right

Mathematical modeling of efficacy and safety for anticancer drugs clinical development.

Science.gov (United States)

Lavezzi, Silvia Maria; Borella, Elisa; Carrara, Letizia; De Nicolao, Giuseppe; Magni, Paolo; Poggesi, Italo

2018-01-01

Drug attrition in oncology clinical development is higher than in other therapeutic areas. In this context, pharmacometric modeling represents a useful tool to explore drug efficacy in earlier phases of clinical development, anticipating overall survival using quantitative model-based metrics. Furthermore, modeling approaches can be used to characterize earlier the safety and tolerability profile of drug candidates, and, thus, the risk-benefit ratio and the therapeutic index, supporting the design of optimal treatment regimens and accelerating the whole process of clinical drug development. Areas covered: Herein, the most relevant mathematical models used in clinical anticancer drug development during the last decade are described. Less recent models were considered in the review if they represent a standard for the analysis of certain types of efficacy or safety measures. Expert opinion: Several mathematical models have been proposed to predict overall survival from earlier endpoints and validate their surrogacy in demonstrating drug efficacy in place of overall survival. An increasing number of mathematical models have also been developed to describe the safety findings. Modeling has been extensively used in anticancer drug development to individualize dosing strategies based on patient characteristics, and design optimal dosing regimens balancing efficacy and safety.

[Impact of small-area context on health: proposing a conceptual model].

Science.gov (United States)

Voigtländer, S; Mielck, A; Razum, O

2012-11-01

Recent empirical studies stress the impact of features related to the small-area context on individual health. However, so far there exists no standard explanatory model that integrates the different kinds of such features and that conceptualises their relation to individual characteristics of social inequality. A review of theoretical publications on the relationship between social position and health as well as existing conceptual models for the impact of features related to the small-area context on health was undertaken. In the present article we propose a conceptual model for the health impact of the small-area context. This model conceptualises the location of residence as one dimension of social inequality that affects health through the resources as well as stressors which are inherent in the small-area context. The proposed conceptual model offers an orientation for future empirical studies and can serve as a basis for further discussions concerning the health relevance of the small-area context. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Energy Model of Networks-on-Chip and a Bus

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wolkotte, P.T.; Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria; Kavaldjiev, N.K.; Becker, Jens E.; Becker, Jürgen; Nurmi, J.; Takala, J.; Hamalainen, T.D.

2005-01-01

A Network-on-Chip (NoC) is an energy-efficient onchip communication architecture for Multi-Processor Systemon-Chip (MPSoC) architectures. In earlier papers we proposed two Network-on-Chip architectures based on packet-switching and circuit-switching. In this paper we derive an energy model for both

Non-monotonic reasoning in conceptual modeling and ontology design: A proposal

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Casini, G

2013-06-01

Full Text Available -1 2nd International Workshop on Ontologies and Conceptual Modeling (Onto.Com 2013), Valencia, Spain, 17-21 June 2013 Non-monotonic reasoning in conceptual modeling and ontology design: A proposal Giovanni Casini1 and Alessandro Mosca2 1...

Best practices for system dynamics model design and construction with powersim studio.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malczynski, Leonard A.

2011-06-01

This guide addresses software quality in the construction of Powersim{reg_sign} Studio 8 system dynamics simulation models. It is the result of almost ten years of experience with the Powersim suite of system dynamics modeling tools (Constructor and earlier Studio versions). It is a guide that proposes a common look and feel for the construction of Powersim Studio system dynamics models.

Restructuring proposed for Mexico's Pemex

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari soon will send a legislative proposal to Congress that splits state owned Petroleos Mexicanos into four subsidiaries. This paper reports that Pemex functions will be divided into Pemex Exploration ampersand Production, Pemex Refining, Pemex Gas ampersand Basic Petrochemicals, and Pemex Secondary Chemicals. An earlier report the the company would be split into seven units. Each of the four new operating companies will be an independent business unit with a separate board of directors and its own staff and support functions

An Enhanced Error Model for EKF-Based Tightly-Coupled Integration of GPS and Land Vehicle's Motion Sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Karamat, Tashfeen B; Atia, Mohamed M; Noureldin, Aboelmagd

2015-09-22

Reduced inertial sensor systems (RISS) have been introduced by many researchers as a low-cost, low-complexity sensor assembly that can be integrated with GPS to provide a robust integrated navigation system for land vehicles. In earlier works, the developed error models were simplified based on the assumption that the vehicle is mostly moving on a flat horizontal plane. Another limitation is the simplified estimation of the horizontal tilt angles, which is based on simple averaging of the accelerometers' measurements without modelling their errors or tilt angle errors. In this paper, a new error model is developed for RISS that accounts for the effect of tilt angle errors and the accelerometer's errors. Additionally, it also includes important terms in the system dynamic error model, which were ignored during the linearization process in earlier works. An augmented extended Kalman filter (EKF) is designed to incorporate tilt angle errors and transversal accelerometer errors. The new error model and the augmented EKF design are developed in a tightly-coupled RISS/GPS integrated navigation system. The proposed system was tested on real trajectories' data under degraded GPS environments, and the results were compared to earlier works on RISS/GPS systems. The findings demonstrated that the proposed enhanced system introduced significant improvements in navigational performance.

Proposal for a Method for Business Model Performance Assessment: Toward an Experimentation Tool for Business Model Innovation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Batocchio

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The representation of business models has been recently widespread, especially in the pursuit of innovation. However, defining a company’s business model is sometimes limited to discussion and debates. This study observes the need for performance measurement so that business models can be data-driven. To meet this goal, the work proposed as a hypothesis the creation of a method that combines the practices of the Balanced Scorecard with a method of business models representation – the Business Model Canvas. Such a combination was based on study of conceptual adaptation, resulting in an application roadmap. A case study application was performed to check the functionality of the proposition, focusing on startup organizations. It was concluded that based on the performance assessment of the business model it is possible to propose the search for change through experimentation, a path that can lead to business model innovation.

Model for dynamical chiral symmetry breaking and quark condensate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nekrasov, M.L.; Rochev, V.E.

1986-01-01

In the framework of the model, proposed earlier to describe nonperturbative QCD, the singularity of the type 1/k 4 in the gluon propagator is shown to result in dynamical chiral symmetry breaking and appearance of quark condensate. The value, obtained for quark condensate, is close to the phenomenological one

An Enhanced Error Model for EKF-Based Tightly-Coupled Integration of GPS and Land Vehicle’s Motion Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Karamat, Tashfeen B.; Atia, Mohamed M.; Noureldin, Aboelmagd

2015-01-01

Reduced inertial sensor systems (RISS) have been introduced by many researchers as a low-cost, low-complexity sensor assembly that can be integrated with GPS to provide a robust integrated navigation system for land vehicles. In earlier works, the developed error models were simplified based on the assumption that the vehicle is mostly moving on a flat horizontal plane. Another limitation is the simplified estimation of the horizontal tilt angles, which is based on simple averaging of the accelerometers’ measurements without modelling their errors or tilt angle errors. In this paper, a new error model is developed for RISS that accounts for the effect of tilt angle errors and the accelerometer’s errors. Additionally, it also includes important terms in the system dynamic error model, which were ignored during the linearization process in earlier works. An augmented extended Kalman filter (EKF) is designed to incorporate tilt angle errors and transversal accelerometer errors. The new error model and the augmented EKF design are developed in a tightly-coupled RISS/GPS integrated navigation system. The proposed system was tested on real trajectories’ data under degraded GPS environments, and the results were compared to earlier works on RISS/GPS systems. The findings demonstrated that the proposed enhanced system introduced significant improvements in navigational performance. PMID:26402680

Proposed higher order continuum-based models for an elastic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Three new variants of continuum-based models for an elastic subgrade are proposed. The subgrade is idealized as a homogenous, isotropic elastic layer of thickness H overlying a firm stratum. All components of the stress tensor in the subgrade are taken into account. Reasonable assumptions are made regarding the ...

A proposal for operator team behavior model and operator's thinking mechanism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshimura, Seiichi; Takano, Kenichi; Sasou, Kunihide

1995-01-01

Operating environment in huge systems like nuclear power plants or airplanes is changing rapidly with the advance of computer technology. It is necessary to elucidate thinking process of operators and decision-making process of an operator team in abnormal situations, in order to prevent human errors under such environment. The Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry is promoting a research project to establish human error prevention countermeasures by modeling and simulating the thinking process of operators and decision-making process of an operator team. In the previous paper, application of multilevel flow modeling was proposed to a mental model which conducts future prediction and cause identification, and the characteristics were verified by experienced plant operators. In this paper, an operator team behavior model and a fundamental operator's thinking mechanism especially 'situation understanding' are proposed, and the proposals are evaluated by experiments using a full-scale simulator. The results reveal that some assumptions such as 'communication is done between a leader and a follower' are almost appropriate and that the situation understanding can be represented by 'probable candidates for cause, determination of a parameter which changes when an event occurs, determination of parameters which are influenced by the change of the previous parameter, determination of a principal parameter and future prediction of the principal parameter'. (author)

Do emotional support and classroom organization earlier in the year set the stage for higher quality instruction?

Science.gov (United States)

Curby, Timothy W; Rimm-Kaufman, Sara E; Abry, Tashia

2013-10-01

Many teachers believe that providing greater emotional and organizational supports in the beginning of the year strengthens their ability to teach effectively as the year progresses. Some interventions, such as the Responsive Classroom (RC) approach, explicitly embed this sequence into professional development efforts. We tested the hypothesis that earlier emotional and organizational supports set the stage for improved instruction later in the year in a sample of third- and fourth-grade teachers enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of the RC approach. Further, we examined the extent to which the model generalized for teachers using varying levels of RC practices as well as whether or not teachers were in the intervention or control groups. Teachers' emotional, organizational, and instructional interactions were observed using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008) on five occasions throughout the year. Results indicated a reciprocal relation between emotional and instructional supports. Specifically, higher levels of emotional support earlier in the year predicted higher instructional support later in the year. Also, higher levels of instructional support earlier in the year predicted higher emotional support later in the year. Classroom organization was not found to have longitudinal associations with the other domains across a year. This pattern was robust when controlling for the use of RC practices as well as across intervention and control groups. Further, teachers' use of RC practices predicted higher emotional support and classroom organization throughout the year, suggesting the malleability of this teacher characteristic. Discussion highlights the connection between teachers' emotional and instructional supports and how the use of RC practices improves teachers' emotionally supportive interactions with students. Copyright © 2013 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights

Microeconomics of the ideal gas like market models

Science.gov (United States)

Chakrabarti, Anindya S.; Chakrabarti, Bikas K.

2009-10-01

We develop a framework based on microeconomic theory from which the ideal gas like market models can be addressed. A kinetic exchange model based on that framework is proposed and its distributional features have been studied by considering its moments. Next, we derive the moments of the CC model (Eur. Phys. J. B 17 (2000) 167) as well. Some precise solutions are obtained which conform with the solutions obtained earlier. Finally, an output market is introduced with global price determination in the model with some necessary modifications.

Insight Into Illness and Cognition in Schizophrenia in Earlier and Later Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerretsen, Philip; Voineskos, Aristotle N; Graff-Guerrero, Ariel; Menon, Mahesh; Pollock, Bruce G; Mamo, David C; Mulsant, Benoit H; Rajji, Tarek K

2017-04-01

Impaired insight into illness in schizophrenia is associated with illness severity and deficits in premorbid intellectual function, executive function, and memory. A previous study of patients aged 60 years and older found that illness severity and premorbid intellectual function accounted for variance in insight impairment. As such, we aimed to test whether similar relationships would be observed in earlier life. A retrospective analysis was performed on 1 large sample of participants (n = 171) with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of schizophrenia aged 19 to 79 years acquired from 2 studies: (1) a psychosocial intervention trial for older persons with schizophrenia (June 2008 to May 2014) and (2) a diffusion tensor imaging and genetics study of psychosis across the life span (February 2007 to December 2013). We assessed insight into illness using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) item G12 and explored its relationship to illness severity (PANSS total modified), premorbid intellectual function (Wechsler Test of Adult Reading [WTAR]), and cognition. Insight impairment was more severe in later life (≥ 60 years) than in earlier years (t = -3.75, P insight was explained by PANSS total modified (Exp[B] = 1.070, P insight, they did not independently contribute to its variance. However, the relationships between impaired insight and illness severity and between impaired insight and cognition, particularly working memory, were stronger in later life than in earlier life. These results suggest an opportunity for intervention may exist with cognitive-enhancing neurostimulation or medications to improve insight into illness in schizophrenia across the life span. Original study registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT00832845). © Copyright 2017 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Reduction of Glucose Metabolism in Olfactory Bulb is an Earlier Alzheimer's Disease-related Biomarker in 5XFAD Mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nai-An Xiao

2015-01-01

Conclusions: The decline of (18F-FDG uptake in the olfactory bulb occurs earlier than other incidents, serving as an earlier in vivo biological marker of AD in 5XFAD mice and making early diagnosis of AD possibly.

The adoption of sustainable innovations: The role of instrumental, environmental, and symbolic attributes for earlier and later adopters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H. Noppers, E.; Keizer, K.; Bockarjova, M.; Steg, L.

2015-01-01

We investigated motivations of potential earlier and later adopters for adopting sustainable innovations. A large questionnaire study revealed that potential earlier adopters of innovative cars evaluated the symbolic attributes of electric cars, but not the instrumental and environmental attributes,

Improved gap conductance model for the TRAC code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatch, S.W.; Mandell, D.A.

1980-01-01

The purpose of the present work, as indicated earlier, is to improve the present constant fuel clad spacing in TRAC-P1A without significantly increasing the computer costs. It is realized that the simple model proposed may not be accurate enough for some cases, but for the initial calculations made the DELTAR model improves the predictions over the constant Δr results of TRAC-P1A and the additional computing costs are negligible

Stiefel-Skyrem-Higgs models, their classical static solutions and Yang-Mills-Higgs monopoles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dobrev, V.K.

1981-07-01

A new series of models is introduced by adding Higgs fields to the earlier proposed euclidean four-dimensional Skyrme-like models with Yang-Mills composite fields constructed from Stiefel manifold-valued fields. The classical static versions of these models are discussed. The connection with the monopole solutions of the Yang-Mills-Higgs models in the Prasad-Sommerfield limit is pointed out and the BPS monopole is reobtained as an example. (author)

Development of Shear Capacity Prediction Model for FRP-RC Beam without Web Reinforcement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Md. Arman Chowdhury

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Available codes and models generally use partially modified shear design equation, developed earlier for steel reinforced concrete, for predicting the shear capacity of FRP-RC members. Consequently, calculated shear capacity shows under- or overestimation. Furthermore, in most models some affecting parameters of shear strength are overlooked. In this study, a new and simplified shear capacity prediction model is proposed considering all the parameters. A large database containing 157 experimental results of FRP-RC beams without shear reinforcement is assembled from the published literature. A parametric study is then performed to verify the accuracy of the proposed model. Again, a comprehensive review of 9 codes and 12 available models is done, published back from 1997 to date for comparison with the proposed model. Hence, it is observed that the proposed equation shows overall optimized performance compared to all the codes and models within the range of used experimental dataset.

Bayesian inference of chemical kinetic models from proposed reactions

KAUST Repository

Galagali, Nikhil

2015-02-01

© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. Bayesian inference provides a natural framework for combining experimental data with prior knowledge to develop chemical kinetic models and quantify the associated uncertainties, not only in parameter values but also in model structure. Most existing applications of Bayesian model selection methods to chemical kinetics have been limited to comparisons among a small set of models, however. The significant computational cost of evaluating posterior model probabilities renders traditional Bayesian methods infeasible when the model space becomes large. We present a new framework for tractable Bayesian model inference and uncertainty quantification using a large number of systematically generated model hypotheses. The approach involves imposing point-mass mixture priors over rate constants and exploring the resulting posterior distribution using an adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo method. The posterior samples are used to identify plausible models, to quantify rate constant uncertainties, and to extract key diagnostic information about model structure-such as the reactions and operating pathways most strongly supported by the data. We provide numerical demonstrations of the proposed framework by inferring kinetic models for catalytic steam and dry reforming of methane using available experimental data.

Compulsive Buying: Earlier Illicit Drug Use, Impulse Buying, Depression, and Adult ADHD Symptoms

Science.gov (United States)

Brook, Judith S.; Zhang, Chenshu; Brook, David W.; Leukefeld, Carl G.

2015-01-01

This longitudinal study examined the association between psychosocial antecedents, including illicit drug use, and adult compulsive buying (CB) across a 29-year time period from mean age 14 to mean age 43. Participants originally came from a community-based random sample of residents in two upstate New York counties. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to study the relationship between the participant’s earlier psychosocial antecedents and adult CB in the fifth decade of life. The results of the multivariate linear regression analyses showed that gender (female), earlier adult impulse buying (IB), depressive mood, illicit drug use, and concurrent ADHD symptoms were all significantly associated with adult CB at mean age 43. It is important that clinicians treating CB in adults should consider the role of drug use, symptoms of ADHD, IB, depression, and family factors in CB. PMID:26165963

THE PROPOSED MODEL OF COLLABORATIVE VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR INTRODUCTORY PROGRAMMING COURSE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahfudzah OTHMAN

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the proposed model of the collaborative virtual learning system for the introductory computer programming course which uses one of the collaborative learning techniques known as the “Think-Pair-Share”. The main objective of this study is to design a model for an online learning system that facilitates the collaborative learning activities in a virtual environment such as online communications and pair or small group discussions. In order to model the virtual learning environment, the RUP methodology has been used where it involves the data collection phase and the analysis and design phase. Fifty respondents have been randomly selected to participate in the data collection phase to investigate the students’ interest and learning styles as well as their learning preferences. The results have shown the needs for the development of online small group discussions that can be used as an alternative learning style for programming courses. The proposed design of the virtual learning system named as the Online Collaborative Learning System or OCLS is being depicted using the object-oriented models which are the use-case model and class diagram in order to show the concise processes of virtual “Think-Pair-Share” collaborative activities. The “Think-Pair-Share” collaborative learning technique that is being used in this model has been chosen because of its simplicity and relatively low-risk. This paper also presents the proposed model of the system’s architecture that will become the guidelines for the physical development of OCLS using the web-based applications.

Quantum cosmological models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coule, D H

2005-01-01

We contrast the initial condition requirements of various contemporary cosmological models including inflationary and bouncing cosmologies. Canonical quantization of general relativity is used, as a first approximation to full quantum gravity, to determine whether suitable initial conditions are present. Various proposals such as Hartle-Hawking's 'no boundary' or tunnelling boundary conditions are assessed on grounds of naturalness and fine tuning. Alternatively, a quiescent initial state or an initial closed timelike curve 'time machine' is considered. Possible extensions to brane models are also addressed. Further ideas about universe creation from a meta-universe are outlined. Semiclassical and time asymmetry requirements of cosmology are briefly discussed and contrasted with the black-hole final-state proposal. We compare the recent loop quantum cosmology of Bojowald and co-workers with these earlier schemes. A number of possible difficulties and limitations are outlined. (topical review)

The evaluation of doctoral thesis. A model proposal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

de-Miguel, Mario

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work is the development of a model that can be used as a framework for evaluators and PhD tribunal members, either during the previous administrative processing phase or at the actual exposition and viva on doctoral dissertations. To this end, once reviewed the existing literature and normative, a new proposal is laid out on the main aspects and criteria to be analysed and assessed from any given scientific work, thus introducing a tool that facilitates and specifies this work. Our model is intended to be an open proposal on which we would welcome any contribution and suggestion. El objetivo del presente trabajo es la elaboración de un modelo que pueda ser utilizado como marco de referencia por los evaluadores y miembros de tribunales de las tesis doctorales tanto en la fase previa a la tramitación administrativa como en el acto de exposición y defensa de la misma. Para ello, una vez revisada la literatura y la normativa vigente al respecto, efectuamos una propuesta sobre los principales aspectos y criterios que deben ser objeto de análisis y valoración en todo trabajo científico, y presentamos una herramienta que facilita y precisa esta tarea. Nuestro modelo constituye una propuesta abierta sobre la que esperamos aportaciones y sugerencias.

Alcoholism. Earlier diagnosis and definition of the problem.

Science.gov (United States)

Girard, D E; Carlton, B E

1978-07-01

There are important measurements of alcoholism that are poorly understood by physicians. Professional attitudes toward alcoholic patients are often counterproductive. Americans spend about $30 billion on alcohol a year and most adults drink alcohol. Even though traditional criteria allow for recognition of the disease, diagnosis is often made late in the natural course, when intervention fails. Alcoholism is a major health problem and accounts for 10 percent of total health care costs. Still, this country's 10 million adult alcoholics come from a pool of heavy drinkers with well defined demographic characteristics. These social, cultural and familial traits, along with subtle signs of addiction, allow for earlier diagnosis. Although these factors alone do not establish a diagnosis of alcoholism, they should alert a physician that significant disease may be imminent. Focus must be directed to these aspects of alcoholism if containment of the problem is expected.

Earlier Right Ventricular Pacing in Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy for a Patient with Right Axis Deviation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hattori, Yusuke; Ishibashi, Kohei; Noda, Takashi; Okamura, Hideo; Kanzaki, Hideaki; Anzai, Toshihisa; Yasuda, Satoshi; Kusano, Kengo

2017-09-01

We describe the case of a 37-year-old woman who presented with complete right bundle branch block and right axis deviation. She was admitted to our hospital due to severe heart failure and was dependent on inotropic agents. Cardiac resynchronization therapy was initiated but did not improve her condition. After the optimization of the pacing timing, we performed earlier right ventricular pacing, which led to an improvement of her heart failure. Earlier right ventricular pacing should be considered in patients with complete right bundle branch block and right axis deviation when cardiac resynchronization therapy is not effective.

Money Earlier or Later? Simple Heuristics Explain Intertemporal Choices Better than Delay Discounting1

Science.gov (United States)

Marzilli Ericson, Keith M.; White, John Myles; Laibson, David; Cohen, Jonathan D.

2015-01-01

Heuristic models have been proposed for many domains of choice. We compare heuristic models of intertemporal choice, which can account for many of the known intertemporal choice anomalies, to discounting models. We conduct an out-of-sample, cross-validated comparison of intertemporal choice models. Heuristic models outperform traditional utility discounting models, including models of exponential and hyperbolic discounting. The best performing models predict choices by using a weighted average of absolute differences and relative (percentage) differences of the attributes of the goods in a choice set. We conclude that heuristic models explain time-money tradeoff choices in experiments better than utility discounting models. PMID:25911124

Media Accountability Systems: Models, proposals and outlooks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luiz Martins da Silva

2007-06-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes one of the basic actions of SOS-Imprensa, the mechanism to assure Media Accountability with the goal of proposing a synthesis of models for the Brazilian reality. The article aims to address the possibilities of creating and improving mechanisms to stimulate the democratic press process and to mark out and assure freedom of speech and personal rights with respect to the media. Based on the Press Social Responsibility Theory, the hypothesis is that the experiences analyzed (Communication Council, Press Council, Ombudsman and Readers Council are alternatives for accountability, mediation and arbitration, seeking visibility, trust and public support in favor of fairer media.

The Motivational Knowledge Management Model: proposal to apply it in the library sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel López-Fernández

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In professional environments, attention paid to aspects such as supervisory styles, interpersonal relationships and workers eagerness can have a positive impact on employee motivation and, consequently, on their performance and well-being. To achieve this, knowledge management models such as those presented here can be applied. This model generates diagnoses of motivation and recommendations for improvement, both systematically and scientifically. Consequently, it is especially useful for managers and human resource departments. The proposed model can be adapted to different kinds of professional groups, including those in library and documentation services. The suitability, reliability and usefulness of the proposed model have been empirically checked through case studies with 92 students and 166 professionals. The positive results allow us to conclude that the model is effective and useful for assessing and improving motivation.

Compulsive buying: Earlier illicit drug use, impulse buying, depression, and adult ADHD symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Brook, Judith S; Zhang, Chenshu; Brook, David W; Leukefeld, Carl G

2015-08-30

This longitudinal study examined the association between psychosocial antecedents, including illicit drug use, and adult compulsive buying (CB) across a 29-year time period from mean age 14 to mean age 43. Participants originally came from a community-based random sample of residents in two upstate New York counties. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to study the relationship between the participant's earlier psychosocial antecedents and adult CB in the fifth decade of life. The results of the multivariate linear regression analyses showed that gender (female), earlier adult impulse buying (IB), depressive mood, illicit drug use, and concurrent ADHD symptoms were all significantly associated with adult CB at mean age 43. It is important that clinicians treating CB in adults should consider the role of drug use, symptoms of ADHD, IB, depression, and family factors in CB. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Two-phase flow model with nonequilibrium and critical flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sureau, H.; Houdayer, G.

1976-01-01

The model proposed includes the three conservation equations (mass, momentum, energy) applied to the two phase flows and a fourth partial derivative equation which takes into account the nonequilibriums and describes the mass transfer process. With this model, the two phase critical flow tests performed on the Moby-Dick loop (CENG) with several geometries, are interpreted by a unique law. Extrapolations to industrial dimension problems show that geometry and size effects are different from those obtained with earlier models (Zaloudek, Moody, Fauske) [fr

Money earlier or later? Simple heuristics explain intertemporal choices better than delay discounting does.

Science.gov (United States)

Ericson, Keith M Marzilli; White, John Myles; Laibson, David; Cohen, Jonathan D

2015-06-01

Heuristic models have been proposed for many domains involving choice. We conducted an out-of-sample, cross-validated comparison of heuristic models of intertemporal choice (which can account for many of the known intertemporal choice anomalies) and discounting models. Heuristic models outperformed traditional utility-discounting models, including models of exponential and hyperbolic discounting. The best-performing models predicted choices by using a weighted average of absolute differences and relative percentage differences of the attributes of the goods in a choice set. We concluded that heuristic models explain time-money trade-off choices in experiments better than do utility-discounting models. © The Author(s) 2015.

Patent portfolio management: literature review and a proposed model.

Science.gov (United States)

Conegundes De Jesus, Camila Kiyomi; Salerno, Mario Sergio

2018-05-09

Patents and patent portfolios are gaining attention in the last decades, from the called 'pro-patent era' to the recent billionaire transactions involving patent portfolios. The field is growing in importance, both theoretically and practically and despite having substantial literature on new product development portfolio management, we have not found an article relating this theory to patent portfolios. Areas covered: The paper develops a systematic literature review on patent portfolio management to organize the evolution and tendencies of patent portfolio management, highlighting distinctive features of patent portfolio management. Interview with IP manager of three life sciences companies, including a leading multinational group provided relevant information about patent portfolio management. Expert opinion: Based on the systematic literature review on portfolio management, more specifically, on new product development portfolio theory, and interview the paper proposes the paper proposes a reference model to manage patent portfolios. The model comprises four stages aligned with the three goals of the NPD portfolio management: 1 - Linking strategy of the Company's NPD Portfolio to Patent Portfolio; 2 - Balancing the portfolio in buckets; 3 - Patent Valuation (maximizing valuation); 4 - Regularly reviewing the patent portfolio.

Review Team Focused Modeling Analysis of Radial Collector Well Operation on the Hypersaline Groundwater Plume beneath the Turkey Point Site near Homestead, Florida

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oostrom, Martinus; Vail, Lance W.

2016-01-01

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory served as members of a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission review team for the Florida Power & Light Company's application for two combined construction permits and operating licenses (combined licenses or COLs) for two proposed new reactor units-Turkey Point Units 6 and 7. The review team evaluated the environmental impacts of the proposed action based on the October 29, 2014 revision of the COL application, including the Environmental Report, responses to requests for additional information, and supplemental information. As part of this effort, team members tasked with assessing the environmental effects of proposed construction and operation of Units 6 and 7 at the Turkey Point site reviewed two separate modeling studies that analyzed the interaction between surface water and groundwater that would be altered by the operation of radial collector wells (RCWs) at the site. To further confirm their understanding of the groundwater hydrodynamics and to consider whether certain actions, proposed after the two earlier modeling studies were completed, would alter the earlier conclusions documented by the review team in their draft environmental impact statement (EIS; NRC 2015), a third modeling analysis was performed. The third modeling analysis is discussed in this report.

The cc-bar and bb-bar spectroscopy in the two-step potential model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulshreshtha, D.S.; Kaiserslautern Univ.

1984-07-01

We investigate the spectroscopy of the charmonium (cc-bar) and bottonium (bb-bar) bound states in a static flavour independent nonrelativistic quark-antiquark (qq-bar) two-step potential model proposed earlier. Our predictions are in good agreement with experimental data and with other theoretical predictions. (author)

Robustness analysis of a green chemistry-based model for the classification of silver nanoparticles synthesis processes

Science.gov (United States)

This paper proposes a robustness analysis based on Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding (MCDA). The ensuing model was used to assess the implementation of green chemistry principles in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. Its recommendations were also compared to an earlier develo...

What is a new drug worth? An innovative model for performance-based pricing.

Science.gov (United States)

Dranitsaris, G; Dorward, K; Owens, R C; Schipper, H

2015-05-01

This article focuses on a novel method to derive prices for new pharmaceuticals by making price a function of drug performance. We briefly review current models for determining price for a new product and discuss alternatives that have historically been favoured by various funding bodies. The progressive approach to drug pricing, proposed herein, may better address the views and concerns of multiple stakeholders in a developed healthcare system by acknowledging and incorporating input from disparate parties via comprehensive and successive negotiation stages. In proposing a valid construct for performance-based pricing, the following model seeks to achieve several crucial objectives: earlier and wider access to new treatments; improved transparency in drug pricing; multi-stakeholder involvement through phased pricing negotiations; recognition of innovative product performance and latent changes in value; an earlier and more predictable return for developers without sacrificing total return on investment (ROI); more involved and informed risk sharing by the end-user. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Proposal of a theoretical model for the practical nurse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dolores Abril Sabater

2010-01-01

Full Text Available AIM: To determine which model of nursing is proposed by care professionals and the reason for their choice. METHOD: cross-sectional, descriptive study design. The main variable: Nursing Models and Theories. As secondary variables were collected: age, gender, years of work experience, nursing model of basic training, and course/s related. We used a self-elaborated, anonymous questionnaire, passed between April - May, 2006. Not random sample.RESULTS: 546 nurses were invited, answered 205. 38 % response rate. Virginia Henderson was the more selected model (33%, however, 42% left the question blank, 12% indicated that they wanted to work under the guidance of a model. They selected a specifically model: Knowledge of the model to their training, standardization in other centers, the characteristics of the model itself and identification with its philosophy. They are not decided by a model by ignorance, lack of time and usefulness. CONCLUSIONS: The model chosen mostly for their daily work was Virginia Henderson model, so that knowledge of a model is the main reason for their election. Professionals who choose not to use the model in their practice realize offers and calling for resources, besides to explain the lack of knowledge on this topic. To advance the nursing profession is necessary that nurse is thought over widely on the abstract concepts of the theory in our context.

Do BRCA1/2 mutation carriers have an earlier onset of natural menopause?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Tilborg, Theodora C.; Broekmans, Frank J.; Pijpe, Anouk; Schrijver, Lieske H.; Mooij, Thea M.; Oosterwijk, Jan C.; Verhoef, Senno; Garcia, Encarna B. Gomez; van Zelst-Stams, Wendy A.; Adank, Muriel A.; van Asperen, Christi J.; van Doorn, Helena C.; van Os, Theo A.; Bos, Anna M.; Rookus, Matti A.; Ausems, Margreet G.

Objective: It has been hypothesized that BRCA1/2 mutation carriers have an earlier age at natural menopause (ANM), although to date findings are inconclusive. This study assessed the influence of BRCA mutation status on ANM, and aimed to explore the reasons of inconsistency in the literature.

Proposal of a Model for effective Management and Development of virtual Teams

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petr Skyrik

2010-10-01

Full Text Available The main aim of this paper is to present a pilot proposal of a model of “Virtual Development Management System” (ViDeMaS which will facilitate more effective management and development of virtual teams. Management and development of virtual teams is not a simple concept. It comprises a body of knowledge from a number of fields and scientific disciplines. The complexity of the concept may not be simplified as it is absolutely essential for full understanding of its nature. In order to gain better orientation in the concept, different perspectives will be used in the description of the model, which will enable us to achieve the goal of the work and to present the main results of the work (creation of a model for Virtual Development Management System. The present paper thus describes from different perspectives the proposal of a sufficiently detailed and complex model that may be utilized both on theoretical and application level.

Evaluation of a proposed optimization method for discrete-event simulation models

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Alexandre Ferreira de Pinho

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Optimization methods combined with computer-based simulation have been utilized in a wide range of manufacturing applications. However, in terms of current technology, these methods exhibit low performance levels which are only able to manipulate a single decision variable at a time. Thus, the objective of this article is to evaluate a proposed optimization method for discrete-event simulation models based on genetic algorithms which exhibits more efficiency in relation to computational time when compared to software packages on the market. It should be emphasized that the variable's response quality will not be altered; that is, the proposed method will maintain the solutions' effectiveness. Thus, the study draws a comparison between the proposed method and that of a simulation instrument already available on the market and has been examined in academic literature. Conclusions are presented, confirming the proposed optimization method's efficiency.

Evaluation of six NEHRP B/C crustal amplification models proposed for use in western North America

Science.gov (United States)

Boore, David; Campbell, Kenneth W.

2016-01-01

We evaluate six crustal amplification models based on National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) B/C crustal profiles proposed for use in western North America (WNA) and often used in other active crustal regions where crustal properties are unknown. One of the models is based on an interpolation of generic rock velocity profiles previously proposed for WNA and central and eastern North America (CENA), in conjunction with material densities based on an updated velocity–density relationship. A second model is based on the velocity profile used to develop amplification factors for the Next Generation Attenuation (NGA)‐West2 project. A third model is based on a near‐surface velocity profile developed from the NGA‐West2 site database. A fourth model is based on velocity and density profiles originally proposed for use in CENA but recently used to represent crustal properties in California. We propose two alternatives to this latter model that more closely represent WNA crustal properties. We adopt a value of site attenuation (κ0) for each model that is either recommended by the author of the model or proposed by us. Stochastic simulation is used to evaluate the Fourier amplification factors and their impact on response spectra associated with each model. Based on this evaluation, we conclude that among the available models evaluated in this study the NEHRP B/C amplification model of Boore (2016) best represents median crustal amplification in WNA, although the amplification models based on the crustal profiles of Kamai et al. (2013, 2016, unpublished manuscript, see Data and Resources) and Yenier and Atkinson (2015), the latter adjusted to WNA crustal properties, can be used to represent epistemic uncertainty.

Proposed Model of Information Behaviour in Crisis: The Case of Hurricane Sandy

Science.gov (United States)

Lopatovska, Irene; Smiley, Bobby

2013-01-01

Introduction: The paper proposes a model of information behaviour in crisis. No previous model has attempted to integrate information resources, information behaviour and needs of the storm-affected communities within the temporal stages of a natural disaster. Method: The study was designed as autoethnography. The data were collected through a…

The Proposed Model of Collaborative Virtual Learning Environment for Introductory Programming Course

Science.gov (United States)

Othman, Mahfudzah; Othman, Muhaini

2012-01-01

This paper discusses the proposed model of the collaborative virtual learning system for the introductory computer programming course which uses one of the collaborative learning techniques known as the "Think-Pair-Share". The main objective of this study is to design a model for an online learning system that facilitates the…

An accurate fatigue damage model for welded joints subjected to variable amplitude loading

Science.gov (United States)

Aeran, A.; Siriwardane, S. C.; Mikkelsen, O.; Langen, I.

2017-12-01

Researchers in the past have proposed several fatigue damage models to overcome the shortcomings of the commonly used Miner’s rule. However, requirements of material parameters or S-N curve modifications restricts their practical applications. Also, application of most of these models under variable amplitude loading conditions have not been found. To overcome these restrictions, a new fatigue damage model is proposed in this paper. The proposed model can be applied by practicing engineers using only the S-N curve given in the standard codes of practice. The model is verified with experimentally derived damage evolution curves for C 45 and 16 Mn and gives better agreement compared to previous models. The model predicted fatigue lives are also in better correlation with experimental results compared to previous models as shown in earlier published work by the authors. The proposed model is applied to welded joints subjected to variable amplitude loadings in this paper. The model given around 8% shorter fatigue lives compared to Eurocode given Miner’s rule. This shows the importance of applying accurate fatigue damage models for welded joints.

Development-based Trust: Proposing and Validating a New Trust Measurement Model for Buyer-Seller Relationships

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José Mauro da Costa Hernandez

2010-04-01

Full Text Available This study proposes and validates a trust measurement model for buyer-seller relationships. Baptized as development-based trust, the model encompasses three dimensions of trust: calculus-based, knowledge-based and identification-based. In addition to recognizing that trust is a multidimensional construct, the model also assumes that trust can evolve to take on a different character depending on the stage of the relationship. In order to test the proposed model and compare it to the characteristic-based trust measurement model, the measure most frequently used in the buyer-seller relationship literature, data were collected from 238 clients of an IT product wholesaler. The results show that the scales are valid and reliable and the proposed development-based trust measurement model is superior to the characteristic-based trust measurement model in terms of its ability to explain certain variables of interest in buyer-seller relationships (long-term relationship orientation, information sharing, behavioral loyalty and future intentions. Implications for practice, limitations and suggestions for future studies are discussed.

DEVELOPING AND PROPOSING A CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF THE FLOW EXPERIENCE DURING ONLINE INFORMATION SEARCH

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Lazoc Alina

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Information search is an essential part of the consumer`s decision making process. The online medium offers new opportunities and challenges for information search activities (in and outside the marketing context. We are interested in the way human information experiences and behaviors are affected by this. Very often online games and social web activities are perceived as challenging, engaging and enjoyable, while online information search is far below this evaluation. Our research proposal implies that using the online medium for information search may provoke enjoyable experiences through the flow state, which may in turn positively influence an individual`s exploratory information behavior and encourage his/her pro-active market behavior. The present study sets out to improve the understanding of the online medium`s impact on human`s exploratory behavior. We hypothesize that the inclusion of the online flow experience in our research model will better explain exploratory information search behaviors. A 11-component conceptual framework is proposed to explain the manifestations of flow, its personal and technological determinants and its behavioral consequence in the context of online information search. Our research has the primary purpose to present an integrated online flow model. Its secondary objective is to stimulate extended research in the area of informational behaviors in the digital age. The paper is organized in three sections. In the first section we briefly report the analysis results of the most relevant online flow theory literature and, drawing on it, we are trying to identify variables and relationships among these. In the second part we propose a research model and use prior flow models to specify a range of testable hypothesis. Drawing on the conceptual model developed, the last section of our study presents the final conclusions and proposes further steps in evaluating the model`s validity. Future research directions

Earlier Pulmonary Valve Replacement in Down Syndrome Patients Following Tetralogy of Fallot Repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, Rachel T; Frommelt, Peter C; Hill, Garick D

2017-08-01

The association between Down syndrome and pulmonary hypertension could contribute to more severe pulmonary regurgitation after tetralogy of Fallot repair and possibly earlier pulmonary valve replacement. We compared cardiac magnetic resonance measures of pulmonary regurgitation and right ventricular dilation as well as timing of pulmonary valve replacement between those with and without Down syndrome after tetralogy of Fallot repair. Review of our surgical database from 2000 to 2015 identified patients with tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary stenosis. Those with Down syndrome were compared to those without. The primary outcome of interest was time from repair to pulmonary valve replacement. Secondary outcomes included pulmonary regurgitation and indexed right ventricular volume on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. The cohort of 284 patients included 35 (12%) with Down syndrome. Transannular patch repair was performed in 210 (74%). Down syndrome showed greater degree of pulmonary regurgitation (55 ± 14 vs. 37 ± 16%, p = 0.01) without a significantly greater rate of right ventricular dilation (p = 0.09). In multivariable analysis, Down syndrome (HR 2.3, 95% CI 1.2-4.5, p = 0.02) and transannular patch repair (HR 5.5, 95% CI 1.7-17.6, p = 0.004) were significant risk factors for valve replacement. Those with Down syndrome had significantly lower freedom from valve replacement (p = 0.03). Down syndrome is associated with an increased degree of pulmonary regurgitation and earlier pulmonary valve replacement after tetralogy of Fallot repair. These patients require earlier assessment by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging to determine timing of pulmonary valve replacement and evaluation for and treatment of preventable causes of pulmonary hypertension.

Learning Methods for Dynamic Topic Modeling in Automated Behavior Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Isupova, Olga; Kuzin, Danil; Mihaylova, Lyudmila

2017-09-27

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

The Associative Basis of Scientific Creativity: A Model Proposal

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Esra Kanli

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Creativity is accepted as an important part of scientific skills. Scientific creativity proceeds from a need or urge to solve a problem, and in-volves the production of original and useful ideas or products. Existing scientific creativity theories and tests do not feature the very im-portant thinking processes, such as analogical and associative thinking, which can be consid-ered crucial in creative scientific problem solv-ing. Current study’s aim is to provide an alter-native model and explicate the associative basis of scientific creativity. Emerging from the re-viewed theoretical framework, Scientific Asso-ciations Model is proposed. This model claims that, similarity and mediation constitutes the basis of creativity and focuses on three compo-nents namely; associative thinking, analogical thinking (analogical reasoning & analogical problem solving and insight which are consid-ered to be main elements of scientific associa-tive thinking.

Nutrition factors predict earlier acquisition of motor and language milestones among young children in Haiti.

Science.gov (United States)

Iannotti, Lora; Jean Louis Dulience, Sherlie; Wolff, Patricia; Cox, Katherine; Lesorogol, Carolyn; Kohl, Patricia

2016-09-01

To examine the nutrition-related factors associated with motor and language development among young children living in a poor urban area of Haiti. Children aged 6-11 months (n = 583) were enrolled and followed monthly for one year. World Health Organization motor developmental milestones and vowel and consonant counts were assessed. Longitudinal regression models were applied to assess the association of anthropometric, dietary intake, infectious disease morbidity and socio-economic and demographic factors on developmental outcomes. At baseline, 9.4% were stunted or length-for-age Z score < -2, and 30.2% were mild-to-moderately stunted or length-for-age Z score < -1. Stunting status was significantly associated with motor and phonetic language acquisition at each time point during infancy. Several nutrition factors significantly predicted earlier achievement of motor and language development outcomes in longitudinal models: child anthropometry; breastfeeding and complementary feeding frequencies; dietary diversity; egg and oil intake; and reduced infectious disease morbidities. Increases in the length-for-age Z score significantly predicted all motor and language outcomes and yielded the best fit models compared to other anthropometric indicators (p < 0.001). Child development interventions may be enhanced by incorporating nutrition strategies such as improved diet quality, breastfeeding promotion and diarrhoeal disease mitigation. ©2016 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A mathematical modeling method for determination of local vibroacoustic characteristics of structures

Science.gov (United States)

Tartakovskiy, B. D.; Dubner, A. B.

1973-01-01

A method is proposed for determining vibroacoustic characteristics from the results of measurements of the distribution of vibrational energy in a structure. The method is based on an energy model of a structure studied earlier. Equations are written to describe the distribution of vibrational energy in a hypothetical diffuse energy state in structural elements.

A Framework Proposal For Choosing A New Business Implementation Model In Henkel

OpenAIRE

Li, Tsz Wan

2015-01-01

Henkel's New Business team is a corporate venturing unit that explores corporate entrepreneurial activities on behalf of Henkel Adhesives Technologies. The new business ideas are implemented through one of these models: incubator, venturing or innovation ecosystem. In current practice, there is no systematic framework in place to choose the implementation model. The goal of the thesis is to propose a framework for choosing the most appropriate model for implementation of a new business idea i...

Capturing the role of awareness and information search processes on Choice Set Formation in Models of Activity-Travel Behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arentze, T.A.; Timmermans, H.J.P.

2004-01-01

Individuals choose locations for conducting specific activities generally under limited information conditions and update their mental map during traveling and implementing activities. In an earlier study, we proposed a Bayesian belief network to model an individual's mental map and spatial

Review Team Focused Modeling Analysis of Radial Collector Well Operation on the Hypersaline Groundwater Plume beneath the Turkey Point Site near Homestead, Florida

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oostrom, Martinus [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Vail, Lance W. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2016-08-01

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory served as members of a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission review team for the Florida Power & Light Company’s application for two combined construction permits and operating licenses (combined licenses or COLs) for two proposed new reactor units—Turkey Point Units 6 and 7. The review team evaluated the environmental impacts of the proposed action based on the October 29, 2014 revision of the COL application, including the Environmental Report, responses to requests for additional information, and supplemental information. As part of this effort, team members tasked with assessing the environmental effects of proposed construction and operation of Units 6 and 7 at the Turkey Point site reviewed two separate modeling studies that analyzed the interaction between surface water and groundwater that would be altered by the operation of radial collector wells (RCWs) at the site. To further confirm their understanding of the groundwater hydrodynamics and to consider whether certain actions, proposed after the two earlier modeling studies were completed, would alter the earlier conclusions documented by the review team in their draft environmental impact statement (EIS; NRC 2015), a third modeling analysis was performed. The third modeling analysis is discussed in this report.

Proposal for operator's mental model using the concept of multilevel flow modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshimura, Seiichi; Takano, Kenichi; Sasou, Kunihide

1995-01-01

It is necessary to analyze an operator's thinking process and a operator team's intension forming process for preventing human errors in a highly advanced huge system like a nuclear power plant. Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry is promoting a research project to establish human error prevention countermeasures by modeling the thinking and intension forming process. The important is the future prediction and the cause identification when abnormal situations occur in a nuclear power plant. The concept of Multilevel Flow Modeling (MFM) seems to be effective as an operator's mental model which performs the future prediction and the cause identification. MFM is a concept which qualitatively describes the plant functions by energy and mass flows and also describes the plant status by breaking down the targets in a hierarchical manner which a plant should achieve. In this paper, an operator's mental model using the concept of MFM was proposed and a nuclear power plant diagnosis support system using MFM was developed. The system evaluation test by personnel who have operational experience in nuclear power plants revealed that MFM was superior in the future prediction and the cause identification to a traditional nuclear power plant status display system which used mimics and trends. MFM proved to be useful as an operator's mental model by the test. (author)

Group theoretical construction of two-dimensional models with infinite sets of conservation laws

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Auria, R.; Regge, T.; Sciuto, S.

1980-01-01

We explicitly construct some classes of field theoretical 2-dimensional models associated with symmetric spaces G/H according to a general scheme proposed in an earlier paper. We treat the SO(n + 1)/SO(n) and SU(n + 1)/U(n) case, giving their relationship with the O(n) sigma-models and the CP(n) models. Moreover, we present a new class of models associated to the SU(n)/SO(n) case. All these models are shown to possess an infinite set of local conservation laws. (orig.)

Proposal of a pedagogical model for mathematics teacher education

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Alfonso Jiménez Espinosa

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This research-based article reflects on mathematics teacher education, and proposes a pedagogical model for this purpose, called Gradual Research Pedagogical Model (MPGI. This model considers the central curricular elements of any academic education process: student, teacher and contents, with evaluation as transversal element for analysis and feedback. The training of future teachers is constituted by three moments, each with its specific emphasis: the first is “contextualization”, which aims at having the student understand his or her new academic role, and identify and overcome his or her academic weak points, the second is “knowledge foundation”, which offers basic education in the fields of mathematics and pedagogy, as well as sensibilization towards social issues, opening up the student’s possibilities as leader and agent of change, and lastly, “knowledge immersion”, which is centered on research and the identification and study of topics and problems of the mathematical discipline as well as the pedagogical field.

Hemodynamic parameters change earlier than tissue oxygen tension in hemorrhage.

Science.gov (United States)

Pestel, Gunther J; Fukui, Kimiko; Kimberger, Oliver; Hager, Helmut; Kurz, Andrea; Hiltebrand, Luzius B

2010-05-15

Untreated hypovolemia results in impaired outcome. This study tests our hypothesis whether general hemodynamic parameters detect acute blood loss earlier than monitoring parameters of regional tissue beds. Eight pigs (23-25 kg) were anesthetized and mechanically ventilated. A pulmonary artery catheter and an arterial catheter were inserted. Tissue oxygen tension was measured with Clark-type electrodes in the jejunal and colonic wall, in the liver, and subcutaneously. Jejunal microcirculation was assessed by laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF). Intravascular volume was optimized using difference in pulse pressure (dPP) to keep dPP below 13%. Sixty minutes after preparation, baseline measurements were taken. At first, 5% of total blood volume was withdrawn, followed by another 5% increment, and then in 10% increments until death. After withdrawal of 5% of estimated blood volume, dPP increased from 6.1% +/- 3.0% to 20.8% +/- 2.7% (P < 0.01). Mean arterial pressure (MAP), mean pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) and pulmonary artery occlusion pressure (PAOP) decreased with a blood loss of 10% (P < 0.01). Cardiac output (CO) changed after a blood loss of 20% (P < 0.05). Tissue oxygen tension in central organs, and blood flow in the jejunal muscularis decreased (P < 0.05) after a blood loss of 20%. Tissue oxygen tension in the skin, and jejunal mucosa blood flow decreased (P < 0.05) after a blood loss of 40% and 50%, respectively. In this hemorrhagic pig model systemic hemodynamic parameters were more sensitive to detect acute hypovolemia than tissue oxygen tension measurements or jejunal LDF measurements. Acute blood loss was detected first by dPP. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessment of nutritional status in the elderly: a proposed function-driven model.

Science.gov (United States)

Engelheart, Stina; Brummer, Robert

2018-01-01

There is no accepted or standardized definition of 'malnutrition'. Hence, there is also no definition of what constitutes an adequate nutritional status. In elderly people, assessment of nutritional status is complex and is complicated by multi-morbidity and disabilities combined with nutrition-related problems, such as dysphagia, decreased appetite, fatigue, and muscle weakness. We propose a nutritional status model that presents nutritional status from a comprehensive functional perspective. This model visualizes the complexity of the nutritional status in elderly people. The presented model could be interpreted as the nutritional status is conditional to a person's optimal function or situation. Another way of looking at it might be that a person's nutritional status affects his or her optimal situation. The proposed model includes four domains: (1) physical function and capacity; (2) health and somatic disorders; (3) food and nutrition; and (4) cognitive, affective, and sensory function. Each domain has a major impact on nutritional status, which in turn has a major impact on the outcome of each domain. Nutritional status is a multifaceted concept and there exist several knowledge gaps in the diagnosis, prevention, and optimization of treatment of inadequate nutritional status in elderly people. The nutritional status model may be useful in nutritional assessment research, as well as in the clinical setting.

A proposal on alternative sampling-based modeling method of spherical particles in stochastic media for Monte Carlo simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Song Hyun; Lee, Jae Yong; KIm, Do Hyun; Kim, Jong Kyung [Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Noh, Jae Man [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-08-15

Chord length sampling method in Monte Carlo simulations is a method used to model spherical particles with random sampling technique in a stochastic media. It has received attention due to the high calculation efficiency as well as user convenience; however, a technical issue regarding boundary effect has been noted. In this study, after analyzing the distribution characteristics of spherical particles using an explicit method, an alternative chord length sampling method is proposed. In addition, for modeling in finite media, a correction method of the boundary effect is proposed. Using the proposed method, sample probability distributions and relative errors were estimated and compared with those calculated by the explicit method. The results show that the reconstruction ability and modeling accuracy of the particle probability distribution with the proposed method were considerably high. Also, from the local packing fraction results, the proposed method can successfully solve the boundary effect problem. It is expected that the proposed method can contribute to the increasing of the modeling accuracy in stochastic media.

A proposal on alternative sampling-based modeling method of spherical particles in stochastic media for Monte Carlo simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Song Hyun; Lee, Jae Yong; KIm, Do Hyun; Kim, Jong Kyung; Noh, Jae Man

2015-01-01

Chord length sampling method in Monte Carlo simulations is a method used to model spherical particles with random sampling technique in a stochastic media. It has received attention due to the high calculation efficiency as well as user convenience; however, a technical issue regarding boundary effect has been noted. In this study, after analyzing the distribution characteristics of spherical particles using an explicit method, an alternative chord length sampling method is proposed. In addition, for modeling in finite media, a correction method of the boundary effect is proposed. Using the proposed method, sample probability distributions and relative errors were estimated and compared with those calculated by the explicit method. The results show that the reconstruction ability and modeling accuracy of the particle probability distribution with the proposed method were considerably high. Also, from the local packing fraction results, the proposed method can successfully solve the boundary effect problem. It is expected that the proposed method can contribute to the increasing of the modeling accuracy in stochastic media

Evaluation of the safety of the operating nuclear power plants built to earlier standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menteseoglu, S.

2001-01-01

The objective of this paper is to provide practical assistance on judging the safety of a nuclear power plant, on the basis of a comparison with current safety standards and operational practices. For nuclear power plants built to earlier standards for which there are questions about the adequacy of the maintenance of the plant design and operational practices, a safety review against current standards and practices can be considered a high priority. The objective of reviewing nuclear power plants built to earlier standards against current standards and practices is to determine whether there are any deviations which would have an impact on plant safety. The safety significance of the issues identified should be judged according to their implications for plant design and operation in terms of basic safety concepts such as defence in depth and safety culture. In addition, this paper provides assistance on the prioritization of corrective measures and their implementation so as to approach an acceptable level of safety

A vantage from space can detect earlier drought onset: an approach using relative humidity.

Science.gov (United States)

Farahmand, Alireza; AghaKouchak, Amir; Teixeira, Joao

2015-02-25

Each year, droughts cause significant economic and agricultural losses across the world. The early warning and onset detection of drought is of particular importance for effective agriculture and water resource management. Previous studies show that the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI), a measure of precipitation deficit, detects drought onset earlier than other indicators. Here we show that satellite-based near surface air relative humidity data can further improve drought onset detection and early warning. This paper introduces the Standardized Relative Humidity Index (SRHI) based on the NASA Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) observations. The results indicate that the SRHI typically detects the drought onset earlier than the SPI. While the AIRS mission was not originally designed for drought monitoring, we show that its relative humidity data offers a new and unique avenue for drought monitoring and early warning. We conclude that the early warning aspects of SRHI may have merit for integration into current drought monitoring systems.

Statistical identifiability and convergence evaluation for nonlinear pharmacokinetic models with particle swarm optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Seongho; Li, Lang

2014-02-01

The statistical identifiability of nonlinear pharmacokinetic (PK) models with the Michaelis-Menten (MM) kinetic equation is considered using a global optimization approach, which is particle swarm optimization (PSO). If a model is statistically non-identifiable, the conventional derivative-based estimation approach is often terminated earlier without converging, due to the singularity. To circumvent this difficulty, we develop a derivative-free global optimization algorithm by combining PSO with a derivative-free local optimization algorithm to improve the rate of convergence of PSO. We further propose an efficient approach to not only checking the convergence of estimation but also detecting the identifiability of nonlinear PK models. PK simulation studies demonstrate that the convergence and identifiability of the PK model can be detected efficiently through the proposed approach. The proposed approach is then applied to clinical PK data along with a two-compartmental model. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comment on self-consistent model of black hole formation and evaporation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ho, Pei-Ming

2015-01-01

In an earlier work, Kawai et al. proposed a model of black-hole formation and evaporation, in which the geometry of a collapsing shell of null dust is studied, including consistently the back reaction of its Hawking radiation. In this note, we illuminate the implications of their work, focusing on the resolution of the information loss paradox and the problem of the firewall.

PROPOSAL OF A MODEL MANAGEMENT TO SMALL DESIGN COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Otávio José de OLIVEIRA

2008-11-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of this paper is the proposition of a management model specifically developed for small building design firms, aligned with their needs and particularities. The field research was conducted with a qualitative approach through the analysis of four case studies in small building design firms acting mainly in São Paulo City. The data collection was accomplished through semi-structured interviews, direct observation and analysis of documents. The proposed model includes guidance to the management of the core processes and activities of small building design firms, such as: organizational structure; strategic planning; planning and control of design process; costs management; sales management; information systems; human resources management; services added to the design; and performance evaluation. Key-words: design firms; design process; building construction.

Light pollution is associated with earlier tree budburst across the United Kingdom.

Science.gov (United States)

Ffrench-Constant, Richard H; Somers-Yeates, Robin; Bennie, Jonathan; Economou, Theodoros; Hodgson, David; Spalding, Adrian; McGregor, Peter K

2016-06-29

The ecological impact of night-time lighting is of concern because of its well-demonstrated effects on animal behaviour. However, the potential of light pollution to change plant phenology and its corresponding knock-on effects on associated herbivores are less clear. Here, we test if artificial lighting can advance the timing of budburst in trees. We took a UK-wide 13 year dataset of spatially referenced budburst data from four deciduous tree species and matched it with both satellite imagery of night-time lighting and average spring temperature. We find that budburst occurs up to 7.5 days earlier in brighter areas, with the relationship being more pronounced for later-budding species. Excluding large urban areas from the analysis showed an even more pronounced advance of budburst, confirming that the urban 'heat-island' effect is not the sole cause of earlier urban budburst. Similarly, the advance in budburst across all sites is too large to be explained by increases in temperature alone. This dramatic advance of budburst illustrates the need for further experimental investigation into the impact of artificial night-time lighting on plant phenology and subsequent species interactions. As light pollution is a growing global phenomenon, the findings of this study are likely to be applicable to a wide range of species interactions across the world. © 2016 The Authors.

A Proposed Analytical Model for Integrated Pick-and-Sort Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Recep KIZILASLAN

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In this study we present an analytical approach for integration of order picking and sortation operations which are the most important, labour intensive and costly activity for warehouses. Main aim is to investigate order picking and sorting efficiencies under different design issues as a function of order wave size. Integrated analytical model is proposed to estimate the optimum order picking and order sortation efficiency. The model, which has been tested by simulations with different illustrative examples, calculates the optimum wave size that solves the trade-off between picking and sorting operations and makes the order picking and sortations efficiency maximum. Our model also allow system designer to predict the order picking and sorting capacity for different system configurations. This study presents an innovative approach for integrated warehouse operations.

Spatial and Temporal Variation in Primary Productivity (NDVI) of Coastal Alaskan Tundra: Decreased Vegetation Growth Following Earlier Snowmelt

Science.gov (United States)

Gamon, John A.; Huemmrich, K. Fred; Stone, Robert S.; Tweedie, Craig E.

2015-01-01

In the Arctic, earlier snowmelt and longer growing seasons due to warming have been hypothesized to increase vegetation productivity. Using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from both field and satellite measurements as an indicator of vegetation phenology and productivity, we monitored spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation growth for a coastal wet sedge tundra site near Barrow, Alaska over three growing seasons (2000-2002). Contrary to expectation, earlier snowmelt did not lead to increased productivity. Instead, productivity was associated primarily with precipitation and soil moisture, and secondarily with growing degree days, which, during this period, led to reduced growth in years with earlier snowmelt. Additional moisture effects on productivity and species distribution, operating over a longer time scale, were evident in spatial NDVI patterns associated with microtopography. Lower, wetter regions dominated by graminoids were more productive than higher, drier locations having a higher percentage of lichens and mosses, despite the earlier snowmelt at the more elevated sites. These results call into question the oft-stated hypothesis that earlier arctic growing seasons will lead to greater vegetation productivity. Rather, they agree with an emerging body of evidence from recent field studies indicating that early-season, local environmental conditions, notably moisture and temperature, are primary factors determining arctic vegetation productivity. For this coastal arctic site, early growing season conditions are strongly influenced by microtopography, hydrology, and regional sea ice dynamics, and may not be easily predicted from snowmelt date or seasonal average air temperatures alone. Our comparison of field to satellite NDVI also highlights the value of in-situ monitoring of actual vegetation responses using field optical sampling to obtain detailed information on surface conditions not possible from satellite observations alone.

Earlier nesting by generalist predatory bird is associated with human responses to climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Shawn H; Steenhof, Karen; McClure, Christopher J W; Heath, Julie A

2017-01-01

Warming temperatures cause temporal changes in growing seasons and prey abundance that drive earlier breeding by birds, especially dietary specialists within homogeneous habitat. Less is known about how generalists respond to climate-associated shifts in growing seasons or prey phenology, which may occur at different rates across land cover types. We studied whether breeding phenology of a generalist predator, the American kestrel (Falco sparverius), was associated with shifts in growing seasons and, presumably, prey abundance, in a mosaic of non-irrigated shrub/grasslands and irrigated crops/pastures. We examined the relationship between remotely-sensed normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and abundance of small mammals that, with insects, constitute approximately 93% of kestrel diet biomass. We used NDVI to estimate the start of the growing season (SoGS) in irrigated and non-irrigated lands from 1992 to 2015 and tested whether either estimate of annual SoGS predicted the timing of kestrel nesting. Finally, we examined relationships among irrigated SoGS, weather and crop planting. NDVI was a useful proxy for kestrel prey because it predicted small mammal abundance and past studies showed that NDVI predicts insect abundance. NDVI-estimated SoGS advanced significantly in irrigated lands (β = -1·09 ± 0·30 SE) but not in non-irrigated lands (β = -0·57 ± 0·53). Average date of kestrel nesting advanced 15 days in the past 24 years and was positively associated with the SoGS in irrigated lands, but not the SoGS in non-irrigated lands. Advanced SoGS in irrigated lands was related to earlier planting of crops after relatively warm winters, which were more common in recent years. Despite different patterns of SoGS change between land cover types, kestrel nesting phenology shifted with earlier prey availability in irrigated lands. Kestrels may preferentially track prey in irrigated lands over non-irrigated lands because of higher quality prey on

A proposed model for the transfer of environmental tritium to man and tritium metabolism in model animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saito, Masahiro; Ishida, M.R.

1987-01-01

To evaluate the accumulated dose in human bodies due to the environmental tritium, it is of required to establish an adequate model for the tritium transfer from the environment to man and to obtain enough information on the metabolic behaviour of tritium in animal bodies using model animal system. In this report, first we describe about a proposed model for the transfer of environmental tritium to man and secondly mention briefly about the recent works on the tritium metabolism in newborn animals which have been treated as a model system of tritium intake through food chain. (author)

Does menopause start earlier in smokers? Evidence from the Pro-Saude Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paula de Holanda Mendes

2013-12-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: cigarette smoking has been the modifiable risk factor most consistently associated with earlier menopause. This preliminary study based on cross-sectional data aimed to analyze the association between smoking status and age of onset of menopause in a Brazilian population. METHODS: a cross-sectional study was carried out with 1,222 female employees of Rio de Janeiro university campuses aged over 35 years who were at risk of natural menopause. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to investigate the association between smoking status and age at the onset of menopause, adjusting for education, parity and alcohol consumption. RESULTS: current smokers showed a 56% increase in the risk of menopause, being 1.8 years younger at menopause onset compared with women who had never smoked. However, no differences were observed between former smokers and women who had never smoked. The adjusted median age at menopause was 49.5 years for current smokers and 51.3 years for women who had never smoked (p<0.05. CONCLUSIONS: the results suggest a deleterious but potentially reversible effect of smoking on the age of onset of menopause, which should receive greater attention in tobacco control efforts. Longitudinal analyses of this association will be carried out in the future in a follow-up study of this population.

Clinical presentation of retinoblastoma in Alexandria: A step toward earlier diagnosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Soliman, Sameh E; Eldomiaty, Wesam; Goweida, Mohamed B; Dowidar, Amgad

2017-01-01

To evaluate the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma in Alexandria, Egypt, correlate the timing of accurate diagnosis with the presence of advanced disease and identify causes of delayed presentation. Retrospective noncomparative single institution study reviews demographic and clinical data of all new children with retinoblastoma presenting to Alexandria Main University ocular oncology clinic (OOC) from January 2012 to June 2014. Diagnosis time was from initial parental complaint to retinoblastoma diagnosis and referral time was from retinoblastoma diagnosis to presentation to the Alexandria OCC. Delayed Diagnosis and referral were counted if >2 weeks. Advanced presentation is defined as clinical TNMH (8th edition) staging of cT2 or cT3 (international intraocular retinoblastoma classification group D or E) in at least one eye or the presence of extra-ocular disease (cT4). Seventy eyes of 47 children were eligible: 52% unilateral, 7% with family history and 96% presented with leukocorea. Sixty-four percent of children had advanced intraocular disease and none had extra-ocular disease. Delayed presentation occurred in 58% of children and was significantly associated with advanced disease in both unilaterally and bilaterally affected children (p = 0.003, 0.002 respectively). The delay in diagnosis was more in unilateral cases while the delay in referral was more in bilateral cases. The main cause of delayed presentation in unilateral retinoblastoma was misdiagnosis (30%) while parental shopping for second medical opinion (30%) was the main cause in bilateral children. Delayed diagnosis is a problem affecting retinoblastoma management. Better medical education and training, health education and earlier screening are recommended to achieve earlier diagnosis.

Shock circle model for ejector performance evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, Yinhai; Cai, Wenjian; Wen, Changyun; Li, Yanzhong

2007-01-01

In this paper, a novel shock circle model for the prediction of ejector performance at the critical mode operation is proposed. By introducing the 'shock circle' at the entrance of the constant area chamber, a 2D exponential expression for velocity distribution is adopted to approximate the viscosity flow near the ejector inner wall. The advantage of the 'shock circle' analysis is that the calculation of ejector performance is independent of the flows in the constant area chamber and diffuser. Consequently, the calculation is even simpler than many 1D modeling methods and can predict the performance of critical mode operation ejectors much more accurately. The effectiveness of the method is validated by two experimental results reported earlier. The proposed modeling method using two coefficients is shown to produce entrainment ratio, efficiency and coefficient of performance (COP) accurately and much closer to experimental results than those of 1D analysis methods

Landform Evolution Modeling of Specific Fluvially Eroded Physiographic Units on Titan

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, J. M.; Howard, A. D.; Schenk, P. M.

2015-01-01

Several recent studies have proposed certain terrain types (i.e., physiographic units) on Titan thought to be formed by fluvial processes acting on local uplands of bedrock or in some cases sediment. We have earlier used our landform evolution models to make general comparisons between Titan and other ice world landscapes (principally those of the Galilean satellites) that we have modeled the action of fluvial processes. Here we give examples of specific landscapes that, subsequent to modeled fluvial work acting on the surfaces, produce landscapes which resemble mapped terrain types on Titan.

HIV Cell-to-Cell Spread Results in Earlier Onset of Viral Gene Expression by Multiple Infections per Cell.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mikaël Boullé

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Cell-to-cell spread of HIV, a directed mode of viral transmission, has been observed to be more rapid than cell-free infection. However, a mechanism for earlier onset of viral gene expression in cell-to-cell spread was previously uncharacterized. Here we used time-lapse microscopy combined with automated image analysis to quantify the timing of the onset of HIV gene expression in a fluorescent reporter cell line, as well as single cell staining for infection over time in primary cells. We compared cell-to-cell spread of HIV to cell-free infection, and limited both types of transmission to a two-hour window to minimize differences due to virus transit time to the cell. The mean time to detectable onset of viral gene expression in cell-to-cell spread was accelerated by 19% in the reporter cell line and by 35% in peripheral blood mononuclear cells relative to cell-free HIV infection. Neither factors secreted by infected cells, nor contact with infected cells in the absence of transmission, detectably changed onset. We recapitulated the earlier onset by infecting with multiple cell-free viruses per cell. Surprisingly, the acceleration in onset of viral gene expression was not explained by cooperativity between infecting virions. Instead, more rapid onset was consistent with a model where the fastest expressing virus out of the infecting virus pool sets the time for infection independently of the other co-infecting viruses.

A Modified Approach in Modeling and Calculation of Contact Characteristics of Rough Surfaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.A. Abdo

2005-12-01

Full Text Available A mathematical formulation for the contact of rough surfaces is presented. The derivation of the contact model is facilitated through the definition of plastic asperities that are assumed to be embedded at a critical depth within the actual surface asperities. The surface asperities are assumed to deform elastically whereas the plastic asperities experience only plastic deformation. The deformation of plastic asperities is made to obey the law of conservation of volume. It is believed that the proposed model is advantageous since (a it provides a more accurate account of elasticplastic behavior of surfaces in contact and (b it is applicable to model formulations that involve asperity shoulder-to shoulder contact. Comparison of numerical results for estimating true contact area and contact force using the proposed model and the earlier methods suggest that the proposed approach provides a more realistic prediction of elastic-plastic contact behavior.

Databases for highway inventories. Proposal for a new model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perez Casan, J.A.

2016-07-01

Database models for highway inventories are based on classical schemes for relational databases: many related tables, in which the database designer establishes, a priori, every detail that they consider relevant for inventory management. This kind of database presents several problems. First, adapting the model and its applications when new database features appear is difficult. In addition, the different needs of different sets of road inventory users are difficult to fulfil with these schemes. For example, maintenance management services, road authorities and emergency services have different needs. In addition, this kind of database cannot be adapted to new scenarios, such as other countries and regions (that may classify roads or name certain elements differently). The problem is more complex if the language used in these scenarios is not the same as that used in the database design. In addition, technicians need a long time to learn to use the database efficiently. This paper proposes a flexible, multilanguage and multipurpose database model, which gives an effective and simple solution to the aforementioned problems. (Author)

Accounting for Co-Teaching: A Guide for Policymakers and Developers of Value-Added Models

Science.gov (United States)

Isenberg, Eric; Walsh, Elias

2015-01-01

We outline the options available to policymakers for addressing co-teaching in a value-added model. Building on earlier work, we propose an improvement to a method of accounting for co-teaching that treats co-teachers as teams, with each teacher receiving equal credit for co-taught students. Hock and Isenberg (2012) described a method known as the…

A model for an acoustically driven microbubble inside a rigid tube

KAUST Repository

Qamar, Adnan

2014-09-10

A theoretical framework to model the dynamics of acoustically driven microbubble inside a rigid tube is presented. The proposed model is not a variant of the conventional Rayleigh-Plesset category of models. It is derived from the reduced Navier-Stokes equation and is coupled with the evolving flow field solution inside the tube by a similarity transformation approach. The results are computed, and compared with experiments available in literature, for the initial bubble radius of Ro=1.5μm and 2μm for the tube diameter of D=12μm and 200μm with the acoustic parameters as utilized in the experiments. Results compare quite well with the existing experimental data. When compared to our earlier basic model, better agreement on a larger tube diameter is obtained with the proposed coupled model. The model also predicts, accurately, bubble fragmentation in terms of acoustic and geometric parameters.

Earlier activity from XTE J1739-302/IGR J17391-3021 detected by INTEGRAL

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chenevez, Jérôme; Beckmann, V.; Kuulkers, E.

2008-01-01

The recently reported outburst from the supergiant fast X-ray transient XTE J1739-302/IGR J17391-3021 (ATEL #1466) began already about five hours earlier than the Swift/BAT trigger on 2008-04-08. The INTEGRAL/JEM-X monitor detected a flare starting at 16:18 (UTC) on the same day during recent Gal...

Family history of atrial fibrillation is associated with earlier-onset and more symptomatic atrial fibrillation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gundlund, Anna; Fosbøl, Emil Loldrup; Kim, Sunghee

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: We addressed whether patients with a family history of atrial fibrillation (AF) were diagnosed as having AF earlier in life, were more symptomatic, and had worse outcomes compared with those without a family history of AF. METHODS: Using the ORBIT-AF, we compared symptoms and disease...

Proposed model for fuel-coolant mixing during a core-melt accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corradini, M.L.

1983-01-01

If complete failure of normal and emergency coolant flow occurs in a light water reactor, fission product decay heat would eventually cause melting of the reactor fuel and cladding. The core melt may then slump into the lower plenum and later into the reactor cavity and contact residual liquid water. A model is proposed to describe the fuel-coolant mixing process upon contact. The model is compared to intermediate scale experiments being conducted at Sandia. The modelling of this mixing process will aid in understanding three important processes: (1) fuel debris sizes upon quenching in water, (2) the hydrogen source term during fuel quench, and (3) the rate of steam production. Additional observations of Sandia data indicate that the steam explosion is affected by this mixing process

Proposed experimental test of an alternative electrodynamic theory of superconductors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hirsch, J.E., E-mail: jhirsch@ucsd.edu

2015-01-15

Highlights: • A new experimental test of electric screening in superconductors is proposed. • The electric screening length is predicted to be much larger than in normal metals. • The reason this was not seen in earlier experiments is explained. • This is not predicted by the conventional BCS theory of superconductivity. - Abstract: An alternative form of London’s electrodynamic theory of superconductors predicts that the electrostatic screening length is the same as the magnetic penetration depth. We argue that experiments performed to date do not rule out this alternative formulation and propose an experiment to test it. Experimental evidence in its favor would have fundamental implications for the understanding of superconductivity.

An Efficient Constraint Boundary Sampling Method for Sequential RBDO Using Kriging Surrogate Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jihoon; Jang, Junyong; Kim, Shinyu; Lee, Tae Hee [Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Sugil; Kim, Hyung Woo; Hong, Sup [Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2016-06-15

Reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) requires a high computational cost owing to its reliability analysis. A surrogate model is introduced to reduce the computational cost in RBDO. The accuracy of the reliability depends on the accuracy of the surrogate model of constraint boundaries in the surrogated-model-based RBDO. In earlier researches, constraint boundary sampling (CBS) was proposed to approximate accurately the boundaries of constraints by locating sample points on the boundaries of constraints. However, because CBS uses sample points on all constraint boundaries, it creates superfluous sample points. In this paper, efficient constraint boundary sampling (ECBS) is proposed to enhance the efficiency of CBS. ECBS uses the statistical information of a kriging surrogate model to locate sample points on or near the RBDO solution. The efficiency of ECBS is verified by mathematical examples.

78 FR 38091 - Airworthiness Criteria: Proposed Airship Design Criteria for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Model...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-25

..., 2012 Lockheed Martin Aeronautics submitted an application for type certification for the model LMZ1M..., views, or arguments as they may desire. Commenters should identify the proposed design criteria on the... Lockheed Martin Aeronautics submitted an application for type certification for the model LMZ1M airship...

[Social determinants of odontalgia in epidemiological studies: theoretical review and proposed conceptual model].

Science.gov (United States)

Bastos, João Luiz Dornelles; Gigante, Denise Petrucci; Peres, Karen Glazer; Nedel, Fúlvio Borges

2007-01-01

The epidemiological literature has been limited by the absence of a theoretical framework reflecting the complexity of causal mechanisms for the occurrence of health phenomena / disease conditions. In the field of oral epidemiology, such lack of theory also prevails, since dental caries the leading topic in oral research has been often studied through a biological and reductionist viewpoint. One of the most important consequences of dental caries is dental pain (odontalgia), which has received little attention in studies with sophisticated theoretical models and powerful designs to establish causal relationships. The purpose of this study is to review the scientific literature on the determinants of odontalgia and to discuss theories proposed for the explanation of the phenomenon. Conceptual models and emerging theories on the social determinants of oral health are revised, in an attempt to build up links with the bio-psychosocial pain model, proposing a more elaborate causal model for odontalgia. The framework suggests causal pathways between social structure and oral health through material, psychosocial and behavioral pathways. Aspects of the social structure are highlighted in order to relate them to odontalgia, stressing their importance in discussions of causal relationships in oral health research.

AN EFFECTIVE RISK-PREVENTIVE MODEL PROPOSAL FOR OCCUPATIONAL ACCIDENTS AT SHIPYARDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ozge Acuner

2016-03-01

Full Text Available According to the statistics of occupational accidents, it is observed that the number of accidents occurred in shipbuilding industry is high and the rate of deaths and serious injuries among these accidents is higher than in other industries. However, the number of the studies to prevent these accidents in both industrial and scientific practices is considerably low. Therefore, the objective of this study is to develop an efficient risk preventive model in accordance with occupational health and safety regulations for industrial organizations. The approach proposed in this study differs from those described in the literature, because it is based on fuzzy set theory in order to cope with uncertainties on probability and severity definitions in terms of occupational health and safety. Furthermore, in this paper, risk severity is considered in terms of harm to worker, harm to environment, and harm to hardware, whereas in the literature, risk severity is generally considered solely in terms of only harm to worker. Then, risk magnitude is obtained by utilizing fuzzy inference system. The proposed approach is applied to a shipyard located in the Marmara Region in order to illustrate the applicability of the model.

A Computational Agent-Based Modeling Approach for Competitive Wireless Service Market

KAUST Repository

Douglas, C C

2011-04-01

Using an agent-based modeling method, we study market dynamism with regard to wireless cellular services that are in competition for a greater market share and profit. In the proposed model, service providers and consumers are described as agents who interact with each other and actively participate in an economically well-defined marketplace. Parameters of the model are optimized using the Levenberg-Marquardt method. The quantitative prediction capabilities of the proposed model are examined through data reproducibility using past data from the U.S. and Korean wireless service markets. Finally, we investigate a disruptive market event, namely the introduction of the iPhone into the U.S. in 2007 and the resulting changes in the modeling parameters. We predict and analyze the impacts of the introduction of the iPhone into the Korean wireless service market assuming a release date of 2Q09 based on earlier data. © 2011 IEEE.

A parametric model for analyzing anticipation in genetically predisposed families

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Klaus; Petersen, Janne; Bernstein, Inge

2009-01-01

and are sensitive to right truncation of the data. We propose a normal random effects model that allows for right-censored observations and includes covariates, and draw statistical inference based on the likelihood function. We applied the model to the hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC)/Lynch...... syndrome family cohort from the national Danish HNPCC register. Age-at-onset was analyzed in 824 individuals from 2-4 generations in 125 families with proved disease-predisposing mutations. A significant effect from anticipation was identified with a mean of 3 years earlier age-at-onset per generation...

Earlier BMI rebound and lower pre-rebound BMI as risk of obesity among Japanese preschool children.

Science.gov (United States)

Kato, N; Isojima, T; Yokoya, S; Tanaka, T; Ono, A; Yokomichi, H; Yamagata, Z; Tanaka, S; Matsubara, H; Ishikuro, M; Kikuya, M; Chida, S; Hosoya, M; Kuriyama, S; Kure, S

2018-01-01

Longitudinal growth data of children were analyzed to clarify the relationship between the timing of body mass index (BMI) rebound and obesity risk in later ages. Of 54 558 children born between April 2004 and March 2005 and longitudinally measured in April and October every year in the preschool period, 15 255 children were analyzed wherein no longitudinal measurement is missing after 1 year of age. BMI rebound age was determined as the age with smallest BMI value across longitudinal individual data after 1 year of age. Rebound age was compared between overweight and non-overweight groups. The subjects were divided into groups based on the timing of rebound. The sex- and age-adjusted mean of the BMI, height and weight s.d. scores for age group, along with 6 months weight and height gain, were compared among groups using analysis of covariance. Among those who were overweight at 66-71 months of age, BMI rebound age obtained at approximately 3 years of age was compared with the non-overweight group, whose BMI rebound age was utmost 66 months or later (PBMI age group showed that earlier BMI rebound results in larger BMI (PBMI rebound earlier than 30 months of age, low BMI was observed (PBMI rebound among groups with rebound age earlier than 60 months of age (PBMI rebound timing with pre-rebound low BMI leads to greater childhood obesity risk; hence, early detection and prevention is necessary for such cases.

Skin-to-skin contact is associated with earlier breastfeeding attainment in preterm infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Oras, Paola; Thernström Blomqvist, Ylva; Hedberg Nyqvist, Kerstin; Gradin, Maria; Rubertsson, Christine; Hellström-Westas, Lena; Funkquist, Eva-Lotta

2016-07-01

This study investigated the effects of skin-to-skin contact on breastfeeding attainment, duration and infant growth in preterm infants, as this has not been sufficiently explored. A prospective longitudinal study on Kangaroo mother care was carried out, comprising 104 infants with a gestational age of 28 + 0 to 33 + 6 and followed up to one year of corrected age. Parents and staff recorded the duration of skin-to skin contact during the stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Medical data were collected through patient records, and follow-up questionnaires were filled in by parents. The 53 infants who attained full breastfeeding in the NICU did so at a median (range) of 35 + 0 (32 + 1 to 37 + 5) weeks of postmenstrual age, and skin-to-skin contact was the only factor that influenced earlier attainment in the regression analysis (R(2) 0.215 p skin-to-skin contact during the stay in the NICU did not affect the duration of breastfeeding or infant growth after discharge. Furthermore, infant growth was not affected by the feeding strategy of exclusive, partial breastfeeding or no breastfeeding. A longer daily duration of skin-to-skin contact in the NICU was associated with earlier attainment of exclusive breastfeeding. ©2016 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Proposal of a Modelling of the Innovation Process in an International Manufacturing Company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pauline Lacom

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, to cope with the competition, and to ensure the durability of their activities, companies have to be able to innovate. Manufacturing companies operating in a B2B market often perceive innovation as a technological result. However, innovation is often more characterized as a process. The needs of the users, and not only the technology, can achieve innovation. In this context, our paper intends to determine how to involve better the users in the innovation process of an international manufacturing company, which is, according to us, representative of the current manufacturing companies. The aim of our research paper is to help manufacturing companies to manage innovation led by users, and to implement their innovation process so that they will be able to set up specific tools for each action of the process. The study proposes a diagram-based language Structured Analysis and Design Technique (SADT that is based on the normative guide FD X50-271 of the French national organization for standardization (AFNOR. The SADT model we propose usefully complements this guide, to make the innovation process more understandable, practical and operational, for manufacturing companies, which are often helpless when faced with the subject. A critical analysis of the model we propose completed in a manufacturing company through semi-structured interviews of the innovation team and questionnaire for all the employees shows the application of the model in the company.

QAM: PROPOSED MODEL FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE IN CBSS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Latika Kharb

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Component-based software engineering (CBSE / Component-Based Development (CBD lays emphasis on decomposition of the engineered systems into functional or logical components with well-defined interfaces used for communication across the components. Component-based software development approach is based on the idea to develop software systems by selecting appropriate off-the-shelf components and then to assemble them with a well-defined software architecture. Because the new software development paradigm is much different from the traditional approach, quality assurance for component-based software development is a new topic in the software engineering research community. Because component-based software systems are developed on an underlying process different from that of the traditional software, their quality assurance model should address both the process of components and the process of the overall system. Quality assurance for component-based software systems during the life cycle is used to analyze the components for achievement of high quality component-based software systems. Although some Quality assurance techniques and component based approach to software engineering have been studied, there is still no clear and well-defined standard or guidelines for component-based software systems. Therefore, identification of the quality assurance characteristics, quality assurance models, quality assurance tools and quality assurance metrics, are under urgent need. As a major contribution in this paper, I have proposed QAM: Quality Assurance Model for component-based software development, which covers component requirement analysis, component development, component certification, component architecture design, integration, testing, and maintenance.

New Fokker-Planck derivation of heavy gas models for neutron thermalization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsen, E.W.; Williams, M.M.R.

1990-01-01

This paper is concerned with the derivation of new generalized heavy gas models for the infinite medium neutron energy spectrum equation. Our approach is general and can be used to derive improved Fokker-Planck approximations for other types of kinetic equations. In this paper we obtain two distinct heavy gas models, together with estimates for the corresponding errors. The models are shown in a special case to reduce to modified heavy gas models proposed earlier by Corngold (1962). The error estimates show that both of the new models should be more accurate than Corngold's modified heavy gas model, and that the first of the two new models should generally be more accurate than the second. (author)

Advanced seasonal reproductive development in a male urban bird is reflected in earlier plasma luteinizing hormone rise but not energetic status.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Scott; Behbahaninia, Hirbod; Giraudeau, Mathieu; Meddle, Simone L; Waites, Kyle; Deviche, Pierre

2015-12-01

Urban animals inhabit an environment considerably different than do their non-urban conspecifics, and to persist urban animals must adjust to these novel environments. The timing of seasonal reproductive development (i.e., growth of gonads and secondary sex organs) is a fundamental determinant of the breeding period and is frequently advanced in urban bird populations. However, the underlying mechanism(s) by which birds adjust the timing of reproductive development to urban areas remain(s) largely unknown. Here, we compared the timing of vernal reproductive development in free-ranging urban and non-urban male Abert's Towhees, Melozone aberti, in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, and tested the non-mutually exclusive hypotheses that earlier reproductive development is due to improved energetic status and/or earlier increase in endocrine activity of the reproductive system. We found that urban birds initiated testicular development earlier than non-urban birds, but this disparity was not associated with differences in body condition, fat stores, or innate immune performance. These results provide no support for the hypothesis that energetic constraints are responsible for delayed reproductive development of non-urban relative to urban male Abert's Towhees. Urban birds did, however, increase their plasma luteinizing hormone, but not plasma testosterone, earlier than non-urban birds. These findings suggest that adjustment to urban areas by Abert's Towhees involves increases in the endocrine activity of the anterior pituitary gland and/or hypothalamus earlier than non-urban towhees. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Two-Dimensional Model Test Study of New Western Breakwater Proposal for Port of Hanstholm

OpenAIRE

Eldrup, Mads Røge; Andersen, Thomas Lykke

2016-01-01

The present report presents results from a two-dimensional model test study carried out at Aalborg University in December 2016 with the proposed trunk section for the new western breakwater in Port of Hanstholm. The objectives of the model tests were to study the stability of the armour layer, toe erosion, overtopping and transmission. The scale used for the model tests was 1:61.5. Unless otherwise specified all values given in this report are prototype values converted from the model to prot...

Two-Dimensional Model Test Study of New Western Breakwater Proposal for Port of Hanstholm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eldrup, Mads Røge; Andersen, Thomas Lykke

The present report presents results from a two-dimensional model test study carried out at Aalborg University in December 2016 with the proposed trunk section for the new western breakwater in Port of Hanstholm. The objectives of the model tests were to study the stability of the armour layer, toe...... erosion, overtopping and transmission. The scale used for the model tests was 1:61.5. Unless otherwise specified all values given in this report are prototype values converted from the model to prototype according to the Froude model law....

5 CFR Appendix A to Subpart C of... - Present Value Conversion Factors for Earlier Commencing Date of Annuities of Current and Former...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Present Value Conversion Factors for Earlier Commencing Date of Annuities of Current and Former Spouses of Deceased Separated Employees A...—Present Value Conversion Factors for Earlier Commencing Date of Annuities of Current and Former Spouses of...

Proposal for Classifying the Severity of Speech Disorder Using a Fuzzy Model in Accordance with the Implicational Model of Feature Complexity

Science.gov (United States)

Brancalioni, Ana Rita; Magnago, Karine Faverzani; Keske-Soares, Marcia

2012-01-01

The objective of this study is to create a new proposal for classifying the severity of speech disorders using a fuzzy model in accordance with a linguistic model that represents the speech acquisition of Brazilian Portuguese. The fuzzy linguistic model was run in the MATLAB software fuzzy toolbox from a set of fuzzy rules, and it encompassed…

Use of metformin earlier in pregnancy predicts supplemental insulin therapy in women with gestational diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

McGrath, Rachel T; Glastras, Sarah J; Hocking, Samantha; Fulcher, Gregory R

2016-06-01

The use of metformin in gestational diabetes is safe and effective, yet some women require additional insulin therapy to achieve glycaemic targets. We found a significant association between earlier gestational age at initiation of metformin therapy and the necessity for supplemental insulin in women treated with metformin during pregnancy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling fault rupture hazard for the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coppersmith, K.J.; Youngs, R.R.

1992-01-01

In this paper as part of the Electric Power Research Institute's High Level Waste program, the authors have developed a preliminary probabilistic model for assessing the hazard of fault rupture to the proposed high level waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The model is composed of two parts: the earthquake occurrence model that describes the three-dimensional geometry of earthquake sources and the earthquake recurrence characteristics for all sources in the site vicinity; and the rupture model that describes the probability of coseismic fault rupture of various lengths and amounts of displacement within the repository horizon 350 m below the surface. The latter uses empirical data from normal-faulting earthquakes to relate the rupture dimensions and fault displacement amounts to the magnitude of the earthquake. using a simulation procedure, we allow for earthquake occurrence on all of the earthquake sources in the site vicinity, model the location and displacement due to primary faults, and model the occurrence of secondary faulting in conjunction with primary faulting

An alternative method for centrifugal compressor loading factor modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Galerkin, Y.; Drozdov, A.; Rekstin, A.; Soldatova, K.

2017-08-01

The loading factor at design point is calculated by one or other empirical formula in classical design methods. Performance modelling as a whole is out of consideration. Test data of compressor stages demonstrates that loading factor versus flow coefficient at the impeller exit has a linear character independent of compressibility. Known Universal Modelling Method exploits this fact. Two points define the function - loading factor at design point and at zero flow rate. The proper formulae include empirical coefficients. A good modelling result is possible if the choice of coefficients is based on experience and close analogs. Earlier Y. Galerkin and K. Soldatova had proposed to define loading factor performance by the angle of its inclination to the ordinate axis and by the loading factor at zero flow rate. Simple and definite equations with four geometry parameters were proposed for loading factor performance calculated for inviscid flow. The authors of this publication have studied the test performance of thirteen stages of different types. The equations are proposed with universal empirical coefficients. The calculation error lies in the range of plus to minus 1,5%. The alternative model of a loading factor performance modelling is included in new versions of the Universal Modelling Method.

A data-driven model for influenza transmission incorporating media effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Lewis; Ross, Joshua V

2016-10-01

Numerous studies have attempted to model the effect of mass media on the transmission of diseases such as influenza; however, quantitative data on media engagement has until recently been difficult to obtain. With the recent explosion of 'big data' coming from online social media and the like, large volumes of data on a population's engagement with mass media during an epidemic are becoming available to researchers. In this study, we combine an online dataset comprising millions of shared messages relating to influenza with traditional surveillance data on flu activity to suggest a functional form for the relationship between the two. Using this data, we present a simple deterministic model for influenza dynamics incorporating media effects, and show that such a model helps explain the dynamics of historical influenza outbreaks. Furthermore, through model selection we show that the proposed media function fits historical data better than other media functions proposed in earlier studies.

Assumption and program of the earlier stage construction of L/ILW disposal site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Xuequn; Chen Shi; Li Xinbang

1993-01-01

The authors analysed the production and treatment of low- and intermediate-level radwastes (L/ILW) in China. Some problems and situation in this field are introduced. Over the past ten years, preliminary efforts have been made by CNNC (China National Nuclear Corporation) in policy, law and rules, developing program, management system, siting, engineering techniques, and safety assessment for radwaste disposal. The investment of the earlier stage work of L/ILW disposal site construction is estimated, the program and assumption to disposal site construction of the L/ILW are reviewed

Proposed Model for Integrating RAMS Method in the Design Process in Construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saad Al-Jibouri

2010-05-01

Full Text Available There is a growing trend in the Netherlands for outsourcing public construction activities to the private sector through the use of integrated contracts. There is also an increasing emphasis from public clients on the use of RAMS and life cycle costing (LCC in the design process of infrastructural projects to improve the performance of designed systems and optimize the project cost. RAMS is an acronym for `reliability, availability, maintainability and safety' and represents a collection of techniques to provide predictions of the performance targets of the required system. Increasingly, RAMS targets are being specified in invitation to tender or contract documents and the parties responsible for the design are required to provide evidence of its application in their design. Recent evidence from practice, complemented with a literature study, has shown that the knowledge and application of RAMS in infrastructural designs are in their infancy compared with other industrial sectors and many designers in construction do not have the necessary knowledge and experience to apply it. This paper describes a proposed model for the integration of RAMS and LCC into the design process in construction. A variation of the model for the application of RAMS in `design, build, finance and maintain' (DBFM contracts that include maintenance requirements is also proposed. The two models involve providing guidelines to simplify the application of RAMs by the designers. The model has been validated for its practicality and usefulness during a workshop by experienced designers. DOI: 10.3763/aedm.2008.0100 Published in the Journal AEDM - Volume 5, Number 4, 2009 , pp. 179-192(14

78 FR 27171 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Endangered Status for the Neosho Mucket...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-09

... habitat that is being proposed for designation within States that fall within the jurisdiction of the..., agriculture, and grazing; (3) mining; (4) oil and gas development; (5) transportation (roads, highways... management at $190,000; water quality management at $120,000; and mining at $71,000. As we stated earlier, we...

The vacancy-interstitial model of DX centers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morgan, T.N.

1989-01-01

Recent DLTS (deep level transient spectroscopy) studies of 'DX' centers in dilute Al x Ga 1-x As alloys agree with a model of the deep neutral state in which the donor has moved into an adjacent interstitial site leaving behind a vacancy. The enthalpy and entropy of these states, which depend on the number (0 to 3) of Al atoms adjacent to the donors, have been obtained by fitting the data. This model, which also predicts the large potential barriers between the centered and relaxed states, thus accounting for PPC (persistent photoconductivity), is an extension to large displacement of the displaced donor model proposed earlier. It is equivalent to recent model of the EL2 metastable state based on displaced antisite double-donors. (author) 9 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab

Stress, autonomic imbalance, and the prediction of metabolic risk: A model and a proposal for research.

Science.gov (United States)

Wulsin, Lawson; Herman, James; Thayer, Julian F

2018-03-01

Devising novel prevention strategies for metabolic disorders will depend in part on the careful elucidation of the common pathways for developing metabolic risks. The neurovisceral integration model has proposed that autonomic imbalance plays an important role in the pathway from acute and chronic stress to cardiovascular disease. Though generally overlooked by clinicians, autonomic imbalance (sympathetic overactivity and/or parasympathetic underactivity) can be measured and modified by methods that are available in primary care. This review applies the neurovisceral integration concept to the clinical setting by proposing that autonomic imbalance plays a primary role in the development of metabolic risks. We present a testable model, a systematic review of the evidence in support of autonomic imbalance as a predictor for metabolic risks, and specific approaches to test this model as a guide to future research on the role of stress in metabolic disorders. We propose that autonomic imbalance deserves consideration by researchers, clinicians, and policymakers as a target for early interventions to prevent metabolic disorders. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

A proposed strategy for the validation of ground-water flow and solute transport models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, P.A.; Goodrich, M.T.

1991-01-01

Ground-water flow and transport models can be thought of as a combination of conceptual and mathematical models and the data that characterize a given system. The judgment of the validity or invalidity of a model depends both on the adequacy of the data and the model structure (i.e., the conceptual and mathematical model). This report proposes a validation strategy for testing both components independently. The strategy is based on the philosophy that a model cannot be proven valid, only invalid or not invalid. In addition, the authors believe that a model should not be judged in absence of its intended purpose. Hence, a flow and transport model may be invalid for one purpose but not invalid for another. 9 refs

Information Systems Success In Public Administration: Proposal For An Exploratory Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deyvison de Lima Oliveira

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Investments in Information Systems (IS have been significantly increasing and hence the relevance of the studies on the IS success is persistent. Delone and Mclean (2003 developed an IS successful model which is a benchmark for researches in the area, however, in the perspective of the public sector, studies are still rare. In this research it was sought to propose an exploratory model of successful IS in public administration, from the identification of each construct items of the Delone and McLean (2003 original model, through multiple case studies in three Municipalities and a Town Hall of the Southern Cone of Rondônia state, in Brazil. Based on the empirical research, it was found that the IS success factors in municipal public administration are close to those factors indicated in the reviewed literature, however, showing some particularities of the public sector. A model of successful factors and items of IS, from the confrontation between literature and empirical data, is presented in the end of this work.

The ERICAM model: a proposal for amelioration of nuclear liability by funding on the capital markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tyran, J.R.

1995-01-01

The ERICAM model (Environmental Risk Internalization through Capital Markets) includes the capital markets as a source contributing to the coverage of risks due to nuclear activites, thus enhancing the effectiveness and functions of the nuclear liability law. The model proposed will allow higher amounts for compensation and will increase financial security, flow of information, and efficient use of resources. The implementation of the model can be achieved on the financing side by issuing Nuke bonds, linking accident-specific options to government bonds. This will essentially increase the risk coverage compared to present means, and will be a pin-pointed addition to the existing layer system. There are three institutions proposed to act as mediators in the implementation of the model: A government authority to supervise the trade in Nuke bonds. Risk-bearing associations in oder to enhance the model's efficiency, and to reduce transaction costs. Rating agencies that will reduce the expenditure for information. (orig./HP) [de

A proposed agglomerate model for oxygen reduction in the catalyst layer of proton exchange membrane fuel cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Xiaoxian; Gao, Yuan; Ostadi, Hossein; Jiang, Kyle; Chen, Rui

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We developed a new agglomerate model to describe oxygen reduction reaction. • We showed how to calculate the model parameters from catalyst layer structure. • We verified the agglomerate model. - Abstract: Oxygen diffusion and reduction in the catalyst layer of PEM fuel cell is an important process in fuel cell modelling, but models able to link the reduction rate to catalyst-layer structure are lack; this paper makes such an effort. We first link the average reduction rate over the agglomerate within a catalyst layer to a probability that an oxygen molecule, which is initially on the agglomerate surface, will enter and remain in the agglomerate at any time in the absence of any electrochemical reaction. We then propose a method to directly calculate distribution function of this probability and apply it to two catalyst layers with contrasting structures. A formula is proposed to describe these calculated distribution functions, from which the agglomerate model is derived. The model has two parameters and both can be independently calculated from catalyst layer structures. We verify the model by first showing that it is an improvement and able to reproduce what the spherical model describes, and then testing it against the average oxygen reductions directly calculated from pore-scale simulations of oxygen diffusion and reaction in the two catalyst layers. The proposed model is simple, but significant as it links the average oxygen reduction to catalyst layer structures, and its two parameters can be directly calculated rather than by calibration

Do BRCA1/2 mutation carriers have an earlier onset of natural menopause?

Science.gov (United States)

van Tilborg, Theodora C; Broekmans, Frank J; Pijpe, Anouk; Schrijver, Lieske H; Mooij, Thea M; Oosterwijk, Jan C; Verhoef, Senno; Gómez Garcia, Encarna B; van Zelst-Stams, Wendy A; Adank, Muriel A; van Asperen, Christi J; van Doorn, Helena C; van Os, Theo A; Bos, Anna M; Rookus, Matti A; Ausems, Margreet G

2016-08-01

It has been hypothesized that BRCA1/2 mutation carriers have an earlier age at natural menopause (ANM), although to date findings are inconclusive. This study assessed the influence of BRCA mutation status on ANM, and aimed to explore the reasons of inconsistency in the literature. Cross-sectional assessment from an ongoing nationwide cohort study among members of BRCA1/2 mutated families. Information was obtained by a standardized questionnaire. Kaplan-Meier curves were constructed, and Cox regression was used to assess the association between BRCA1/2 mutation status and ANM. Adjustments were made for birth cohort, family, smoking, use of hormonal contraceptives, and parity. A total of 1,208 BRCA1/2 mutation carriers and 2,211 proven noncarriers were included. Overall, no association was found between BRCA1/2 mutation status and ANM (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 1.06 [95% CI, 0.87-1.30]). We examined if the null finding was due to informative censoring by uptake of risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy. Indeed, within the oldest birth cohort, in which the percentage of surgical menopause events was lowest and comparable between carriers and noncarriers, the HR for earlier natural menopause in carriers was 1.45 (95% CI, 1.09-1.94). The second oldest birth cohort, however, demonstrated a decreased HR (0.67 [95% CI, 0.46-0.98]), and thus no trend over birth cohorts was found. Various types of selection bias hamper the comparison of ANM between BRCA1/2 mutation carriers and noncarriers, genetically tested in the clinic.

PROPOSED SUITE OF MODELS FOR ESTIMATING DOSE RESULTING FROM EXPOSURES BY THE DERMAL ROUTE

Science.gov (United States)

Recent risk assessment guidance emphasizes consideration of mechanistic factors for influencing disposition of a toxicant. To incorporate mechanistic information into risk assessment, a suite of models is proposed for use in characterizing and quantifying dosimetry of toxic age...

Proposal for a model for competitiveness analysis in environmental sustainability in automotive segment companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luís Henrique Rodrigues

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The competitive landscape for companies has been changing over time, featuring an increase in competitiveness in cost, quality, reliability, agility and more recently by a concern for environmental and social factors. This work aims to propose an exploratory analysis model to evaluate companies’ sustainability competitiveness. The model proposes the grouping of companies into clusters, ranking them according to the adoption of lean manufacturing practices, environmental management and human resources, and allocating them into quadrants according to the higher or lower production of waste in their manufacturing processes. The adherence to the model is made with a sample of automotive segment companies (auto parts and motor vehicle manufacturers. The work is classified as one of a practical nature, exploratory, qualitative, and using the survey method. The conclusion that 37.5% of auto parts companies are grouped into clusters that lead to the reduction of waste, with practices in lean manufacturing and environmental management which adjust to competitive factors in the sustainability of motor vehicle manufacturers, is noteworthy.

How to dismember a potent instrument - the intractability of the emission trade proposal of the European Commission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Honkatukia, Juha; Kemppi, Heikki; Perrels, Adriaan

2003-01-01

The initiative of the European Commission to start up an emission trade system is fraught with difficulties. In order to be viable it should provide value added to justify the extra efforts it requires. A review of the draft-directive unveils many critical issues, that undermine the value added. Many proposed measures and conditions increase the cost of participation, and reduce the emission trade market volume, thereby affecting both level and volatility of the permit price. Furthermore, the proposed organisation of the system is unbalanced as it simultaneously leans on a devolution of policy planning tasks, a centralisation of decision rights and, an asymmetry in information levels and deployable specialist knowledge. As a consequence the directive proposals would complicate but not prevent gaming during the establishment and approval phase of the trade system. The paper discusses the burden sharing between trading and non-trading segments in the member countries, with special reference to Finland the possible responses of companies to increased transaction cost and uncertainty, and the consequences of the permit trade requirements for the earlier devised domestic climate policy and as a consequence for energy efficiency policies. The paper is based on a study conducted for the Ministry for the Environment, involving both an in-depth review of the directive and AGE-E3 model based calculations. The paper focuses on the analytical-qualitative clarification of effects. Some model results are added to underline the practical relevance of the identified risks and obstacles

How to dismember a potent instrument - the intractability of the emission trade proposal of the European Commission

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Honkatukia, Juha; Kemppi, Heikki; Perrels, Adriaan [Goverment Inst. of Economic Research, VATT, Helsinki (Finland)

2003-07-01

The initiative of the European Commission to start up an emission trade system is fraught with difficulties. In order to be viable it should provide value added to justify the extra efforts it requires. A review of the draft-directive unveils many critical issues, that undermine the value added. Many proposed measures and conditions increase the cost of participation, and reduce the emission trade market volume, thereby affecting both level and volatility of the permit price. Furthermore, the proposed organisation of the system is unbalanced as it simultaneously leans on a devolution of policy planning tasks, a centralisation of decision rights and, an asymmetry in information levels and deployable specialist knowledge. As a consequence the directive proposals would complicate but not prevent gaming during the establishment and approval phase of the trade system. The paper discusses the burden sharing between trading and non-trading segments in the member countries, with special reference to Finland the possible responses of companies to increased transaction cost and uncertainty, and the consequences of the permit trade requirements for the earlier devised domestic climate policy and as a consequence for energy efficiency policies. The paper is based on a study conducted for the Ministry for the Environment, involving both an in-depth review of the directive and AGE-E3 model based calculations. The paper focuses on the analytical-qualitative clarification of effects. Some model results are added to underline the practical relevance of the identified risks and obstacles.

Proposed Core Competencies and Empirical Validation Procedure in Competency Modeling: Confirmation and Classification.

Science.gov (United States)

Baczyńska, Anna K; Rowiński, Tomasz; Cybis, Natalia

2016-01-01

Competency models provide insight into key skills which are common to many positions in an organization. Moreover, there is a range of competencies that is used by many companies. Researchers have developed core competency terminology to underline their cross-organizational value. The article presents a theoretical model of core competencies consisting of two main higher-order competencies called performance and entrepreneurship. Each of them consists of three elements: the performance competency includes cooperation, organization of work and goal orientation, while entrepreneurship includes innovativeness, calculated risk-taking and pro-activeness. However, there is lack of empirical validation of competency concepts in organizations and this would seem crucial for obtaining reliable results from organizational research. We propose a two-step empirical validation procedure: (1) confirmation factor analysis, and (2) classification of employees. The sample consisted of 636 respondents (M = 44.5; SD = 15.1). Participants were administered a questionnaire developed for the study purpose. The reliability, measured by Cronbach's alpha, ranged from 0.60 to 0.83 for six scales. Next, we tested the model using a confirmatory factor analysis. The two separate, single models of performance and entrepreneurial orientations fit quite well to the data, while a complex model based on the two single concepts needs further research. In the classification of employees based on the two higher order competencies we obtained four main groups of employees. Their profiles relate to those found in the literature, including so-called niche finders and top performers. Some proposal for organizations is discussed.

The QCD model of hadron cores of the meson theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pokrovskii, Y.E.

1985-01-01

It was shown that in the previously proposed QCD model of hadron cores the exchange and self-energy contributions of the virtual quark-antiquark-gluon cloud on the outside of a bag which radius coincides with the hardon core radius of the meson theory (∼ 0.4 Fm) have been taken into account at the phenomenological level. Simulation of this cloud by the meson field results in realistic estimations of the nucleon's electroweak properties, moment fractions carried by gluons, quarks, antiquarks and hadron-hadron interaction cross-sections within a wide range of energies. The authors note that the QCD hadron core model proposed earlier not only realistically reflects the hadron masses, but reflects self-consistently main elements of the structure and interaction of hadrons at the quark-gluon bag radius (R - 0.4Fm) being close to the meson theory core radius

Proposal for intake model for workers at IPEN-CNEN/SP who handle 131 I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Todo, A.S.; Potiens Junior, A.J.; Gaburo, J.C.; Sanches, M.P.; Oliveira, E.M.

1997-01-01

The intake model for the two groups of workers at IPEN-CNEN/SP is presented. They handle iodine compounds during the processing of irradiated targets and at labeling of radiopharmaceutical compounds. The intake model for the workers are proposed from the knowledge of the activities carried out in the plant and the internal monitoring program of the workers. In this study, the intake is considered to be taken uniformly during the days of major activities carried out by the workers. In practice, the application of this model has be shown suitable, for the studied groups

Knowledge Management Implementation at the Women’s Branch of the Institute of Public Administration in Saudi Arabia: A Proposed Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eiman Saud Abokhodiar

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This article aims to introduce a proposed model of knowledge management implementation at the Women’s Branch of the Institute of Public Administration (WIPA. The model was built after a review and analysis of literature related to knowledge management implementation in higher education institutions. The research includes three sections. The first section deals with a theoretical framework of knowledge management, including a knowledge management definition, components of knowledge management systems, an academic knowledge framework, an organizational knowledge framework, and processes of knowledge management. The second section reviews and discusses the proposed model of knowledge management implementation at WIPA. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of the success factors and expected barriers to the proposed model.

Corporate Social Responsibility And Islamic Business Organizations: A Proposed Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rusnah Muhamad

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The issue of corporate social responsibility (CSR has been of growing concern among business communities in recent years. Various corporate leaders maintain that business is considered to contribute fully to the society if it is effi cient, profi table and socially responsible. Islam is considered as addin (a way of life, thus, providing comprehensive guidelines in every aspects of the believers’ life. It is the aim of this paper to propose an Islamic model of corporate social responsibility based on human relationships with the God (hablun min’Allah; with other fellow human being (hablun min’an-nas and with the environment.Keywords : Corporate Social Responsibility, Islamic Business Organization

Earlier adolescent substance use onset predicts stronger connectivity between reward and cognitive control brain networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David G. Weissman

2015-12-01

Discussion: The regions that demonstrated significant positive linear relationships between the number of adolescent years using substances and connectivity with NAcc are nodes in the right frontoparietal network, which is central to cognitive control. The coupling of reward and cognitive control networks may be a mechanism through which earlier onset of substance use is related to brain function over time, a trajectory that may be implicated in subsequent substance use disorders.

Are cause of subfertility and in vitro fertilization treatment risk factors for an earlier start of menopauze?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Boer, E.J.; den Tonkelaar, I.; Burger, C.W.; van Leeuwen, F.E.

2005-01-01

Objective: To study whether women diagnosed with unexplained subfertility reach the menopause transition and natural menopause earlier than women with tubal subfertility, in an in vitro fertilization (FVF)-treated population, and to examine the influence of the number of FVT cycles on the occurrence

Improved bag models of P-wave baryons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Fan; Wong Chunwa

1988-01-01

Problems in two previous bag-model calculations of P-wave baryon states are pointed out. The two-body matrix elements used in one of these models, the Myhrer-Wroldsen bag model, have now been revised and corrected by Myhrer, Umino and Wroldsen. We use their corrected matrix elements to construct simple bag models in which baryon masses are stabilized against collapse by using a finite pion size. We find that baryon masses in both ground and excited states can be fitted with the same model parameters. Models with small-bag baryons of the type proposed by Brown and Rho are then obtained. Typical bag radii are 0.5 fm for N, 0.6 fm for Δ and 0.7 fm for P-wave nonstrange baryons. In these models, the mixing angles are still unsatisfactory, while inadequacy in the treatment of center-of-mass motion found in an earlier paper persists. These results are briefly discussed. especially in connection with skyrmion models. (orig.)

78 FR 17661 - Proposed Reissuance of a General NPDES Permit for Oil and Gas Exploration Facilities in the...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-22

...., whichever is earlier. Hearing statements may be provided orally or in written format. Commenters providing... Administrative Procedure Act (APA), or any other law, to publish general notice of proposed rulemaking.'' The RFA... NPDES general permits are permits, not rulemakings, under the APA and thus not subject to APA rulemaking...

Proposal of Constraints Analysis Method Based on Network Model for Task Planning

Science.gov (United States)

Tomiyama, Tomoe; Sato, Tatsuhiro; Morita, Toyohisa; Sasaki, Toshiro

Deregulation has been accelerating several activities toward reengineering business processes, such as railway through service and modal shift in logistics. Making those activities successful, business entities have to regulate new business rules or know-how (we call them ‘constraints’). According to the new constraints, they need to manage business resources such as instruments, materials, workers and so on. In this paper, we propose a constraint analysis method to define constraints for task planning of the new business processes. To visualize each constraint's influence on planning, we propose a network model which represents allocation relations between tasks and resources. The network can also represent task ordering relations and resource grouping relations. The proposed method formalizes the way of defining constraints manually as repeatedly checking the network structure and finding conflicts between constraints. Being applied to crew scheduling problems shows that the method can adequately represent and define constraints of some task planning problems with the following fundamental features, (1) specifying work pattern to some resources, (2) restricting the number of resources for some works, (3) requiring multiple resources for some works, (4) prior allocation of some resources to some works and (5) considering the workload balance between resources.

Earlier adolescent substance use onset predicts stronger connectivity between reward and cognitive control brain networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Weissman, David G; Schriber, Roberta A; Fassbender, Catherine; Atherton, Olivia; Krafft, Cynthia; Robins, Richard W; Hastings, Paul D; Guyer, Amanda E

2015-12-01

Early adolescent onset of substance use is a robust predictor of future substance use disorders. We examined the relation between age of substance use initiation and resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) of the core reward processing (nucleus accumbens; NAcc) to cognitive control (prefrontal cortex; PFC) brain networks. Adolescents in a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth reported their substance use annually from ages 10 to 16 years. At age 16, 69 adolescents participated in a resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. Seed-based correlational analyses were conducted using regions of interest in bilateral NAcc. The earlier that adolescents initiated substance use, the stronger the connectivity between bilateral NAcc and right dorsolateral PFC, right dorsomedial PFC, right pre-supplementary motor area, right inferior parietal lobule, and left medial temporal gyrus. The regions that demonstrated significant positive linear relationships between the number of adolescent years using substances and connectivity with NAcc are nodes in the right frontoparietal network, which is central to cognitive control. The coupling of reward and cognitive control networks may be a mechanism through which earlier onset of substance use is related to brain function over time, a trajectory that may be implicated in subsequent substance use disorders. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

To achieve an earlier IFN-γ response is not sufficient to control Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Vilaplana, Cristina; Prats, Clara; Marzo, Elena; Barril, Carles; Vegué, Marina; Diaz, Jorge; Valls, Joaquim; López, Daniel; Cardona, Pere-Joan

2014-01-01

The temporo-spatial relationship between the three organs (lung, spleen and lymph node) involved during the initial stages of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection has been poorly studied. As such, we performed an experimental study to evaluate the bacillary load in each organ after aerosol or intravenous infection and developed a mathematical approach using the data obtained in order to extract conclusions. The results showed that higher bacillary doses result in an earlier IFN-γ response, that a certain bacillary load (BL) needs to be reached to trigger the IFN-γ response, and that control of the BL is not immediate after onset of the IFN-γ response, which might be a consequence of the spatial dimension. This study may have an important impact when it comes to designing new vaccine candidates as it suggests that triggering an earlier IFN-γ response might not guarantee good infection control, and therefore that additional properties should be considered for these candidates.

Analysis and Modeling of Process of Residual Deformations Accumulation in Soils and Granular Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Aleksandrov, A. S.; Dolgih, G. V.; Kalinin, A. L.

2017-11-01

It is established that under the influence of repeated loads the process of plastic deformation in soils and discrete materials is hereditary. To perform the mathematical modeling of plastic deformation, the authors applied the integral equation by solution of which they manage to obtain the power and logarithmic dependencies connecting plastic deformation with the number of repeated loads, the parameters of the material and components of the stress tensor in the principal axes. It is shown that these dependences generalize a number of models proposed earlier in Russia and abroad. Based on the analysis of the experimental data obtained during material testing in the dynamic devices of triaxial compression at different values of the stress deviator, the coefficients in the proposed models of deformation are determined. The authors determined the application domain for logarithmic and degree dependences.

The microscopic model of BiFeO3

Science.gov (United States)

Fishman, R. S.

2018-05-01

Many years and great effort have been spent constructing the microscopic model for the room temperature multiferroic BiFeO3. However, earlier models implicitly assumed that the cycloidal wavevector q was confined to one of the three-fold symmetric axes in the hexagonal plane normal to the electric polarization. Because recent measurements indicate that q can be rotated by a magnetic field, it is essential to properly treat the anisotropy that confines q at low fields. We propose that the anisotropy energy -K3S6sin6 θ cos 6 ϕ confines the wavevectors q to the three-fold axis ϕ = 0 and ± 2 π / 3 within the hexagonal plane with θ = π / 2 .

Space-Time Uncertainty and Cosmology: a Proposed Quantum Model of the Universe [ 245Kb

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tosto S.

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The paper introduces a cosmological model of the quantum universe. The aim of the model is (i to identify the possible mechanism that governs the matter/antimatter ratio existing in the universe and concurrently to propose (ii a reasonable growth mechanism of the universe and (iii a possible explanation of the dark energy. The concept of timespace uncertainty, on which is based the present quantum approach, has been proven able to bridge quantum mechanics and relativity.

{theta}-vacua in the light-front quantized Schwinger model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Srivastava, Prem P. [Universidade do Estado, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Inst. de Fisica]|[Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Fisicas (CBPF), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

1996-09-01

The light-front quantization of the bosonized Schwinger model is discussed in the continuum formulation. The proposal, successfully used earlier for describing the spontaneous symmetry breaking on the light-front, of separating first the scalar field into the dynamical condensate and the fluctuation fields before employing the standard Dirac method works here as well. Some topics on the front form theory are summarized in the Appendices and attention is drawn to the fact that the theory quantized, at x{sup +} seems already to carry information on equal x{sup -} commutators as well. (author). 21 refs.

θ-vacua in the light-front quantized Schwinger model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Srivastava, Prem P.

1996-09-01

The light-front quantization of the bosonized Schwinger model is discussed in the continuum formulation. The proposal, successfully used earlier for describing the spontaneous symmetry breaking on the light-front, of separating first the scalar field into the dynamical condensate and the fluctuation fields before employing the standard Dirac method works here as well. Some topics on the front form theory are summarized in the Appendices and attention is drawn to the fact that the theory quantized, at x + seems already to carry information on equal x - commutators as well. (author). 21 refs

Non compact continuum limit of two coupled Potts models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vernier, Éric; Jacobsen, Jesper Lykke; Saleur, Hubert

2014-01-01

We study two Q-state Potts models coupled by the product of their energy operators, in the regime 2  3 (2) vertex model. It corresponds to a selfdual system of two antiferromagnetic Potts models, coupled ferromagnetically. We derive the Bethe ansatz equations and study them numerically for two arbitrary twist angles. The continuum limit is shown to involve two compact bosons and one non compact boson, with discrete states emerging from the continuum at appropriate twists. The non compact boson entails strong logarithmic corrections to the finite-size behaviour of the scaling levels, an understanding of which allows us to correct an earlier proposal for some of the critical exponents. In particular, we infer the full set of magnetic scaling dimensions (watermelon operators) of the Potts model. (paper)

"The Actualized Neurosurgeon": A Proposed Model of Surgical Resident Development.

Science.gov (United States)

Lipsman, Nir; Khan, Osaama; Kulkarni, Abhaya V

2017-03-01

Modern neurosurgical training is both physically and emotionally demanding, posing significant challenges, new and old, to residents as well as programs attempting to train safe, competent surgeons. Models to describe resident development, such as the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education competencies and milestones, address the acquisition of specific skills but largely ignore the stresses and pressures unique to each stage of resident training. We propose an alternative model of resident development adapted from the developmental psychology literature. Our model identifies the challenges that must be met at each stage of junior, intermediate, and senior and chief residency, leading ultimately to an "actualized" neurosurgeon (i.e., one who has maximized his or her potential). Failure to overcome any 1 of these challenges can lead to specific long-lasting consequences, including regret, identity crisis, incompetence, and bitterness. In contrast, the actualized surgeon is one who has successfully acquired the virtues of hope, will, purpose, fidelity, productivity, leadership, competence, and wisdom. The actualized surgeon not only functions safely, confidently, and professionally, but also successfully navigates the challenges of residency and emerges from them having fulfilled his or her maximal potential. This developmental perspective provides an individualized description of healthy surgical development. Our model allows programs to identify the basis for residents who fail to progress, counsel residents during their training, and perhaps help identify resident candidates who are better prepared to meet the developmental challenges of residency training. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Investigation and proposal of the system to affect nuclear fuel type authorization and analysis code certification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-03-01

In order to develop the system to affect more advanced and rational regulations of nuclear fuels and earlier introduction of new technologies in nuclear power plants, domestic and overseas safety regulation systems and state of their implementation for water cooled reactor fuel and safety analysis code had been investigated and new regulation system to affect nuclear fuel type authorization and analysis code certification was proposed. Topical report system for common parts related with nuclear fuel type authorization and analysis code certification was firstly proposed for knowledge base. Maintaining consistent safety examination supported by experts, introduction of domestic efficient system for lead irradiation test fuel, and analysis code certification and quality assurance were also proposed. (T. Tanaka)

Proposal of custom made wrist orthoses based on 3D modelling and 3D printing.

Science.gov (United States)

Abreu de Souza, Mauren; Schmitz, Cristiane; Marega Pinhel, Marcelo; Palma Setti, Joao A; Nohama, Percy

2017-07-01

Accessibility to three-dimensional (3D) technologies, such as 3D scanning systems and additive manufacturing (like 3D printers), allows a variety of 3D applications. For medical applications in particular, these modalities are gaining a lot of attention enabling several opportunities for healthcare applications. The literature brings several cases applying both technologies, but none of them focus on the spreading of how this technology could benefit the health segment. This paper proposes a new methodology, which employs both 3D modelling and 3D printing for building orthoses, which could better fit the demands of different patients. Additionally, there is an opportunity for sharing expertise, as it represents a trendy in terms of the maker-movement. Therefore, as a result of the proposed approach, we present a case study based on a volunteer who needs an immobilization orthosis, which was built for exemplification of the whole process. This proposal also employs freely available 3D models and software, having a strong social impact. As a result, it enables the implementation and effective usability for a variety of built to fit solutions, hitching useful and smarter technologies for the healthcare sector.

A Hepatocellular Carcinoma Case in a Patient Who had Immunity to Hepatitis B Virus Earlier.

Science.gov (United States)

Ates, Ihsan; Kaplan, Mustafa; Demirci, Selim; Altiparmak, Emin

2016-01-01

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common malignant tumor of the liver. Hepatitis B virus infection is one of the most important etilogical factors of HCC. In this case report, a patient with HCC previously infected and having ongoing immunity against hepatitis B virus will be discussed. Ates I, Kaplan M, Demirci S, Altiparmak E. A Hepatocellular Carcinoma Case in a Patient Who had Immunity to Hepatitis B Virus Earlier. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2016;6(1):82-83.

Filarial parasites develop faster and reproduce earlier in response to host immune effectors that determine filarial life expectancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Babayan, Simon A; Read, Andrew F; Lawrence, Rachel A; Bain, Odile; Allen, Judith E

2010-10-19

Humans and other mammals mount vigorous immune assaults against helminth parasites, yet there are intriguing reports that the immune response can enhance rather than impair parasite development. It has been hypothesized that helminths, like many free-living organisms, should optimize their development and reproduction in response to cues predicting future life expectancy. However, immune-dependent development by helminth parasites has so far eluded such evolutionary explanation. By manipulating various arms of the immune response of experimental hosts, we show that filarial nematodes, the parasites responsible for debilitating diseases in humans like river blindness and elephantiasis, accelerate their development in response to the IL-5 driven eosinophilia they encounter when infecting a host. Consequently they produce microfilariae, their transmission stages, earlier and in greater numbers. Eosinophilia is a primary host determinant of filarial life expectancy, operating both at larval and at late adult stages in anatomically and temporally separate locations, and is implicated in vaccine-mediated protection. Filarial nematodes are therefore able to adjust their reproductive schedules in response to an environmental predictor of their probability of survival, as proposed by evolutionary theory, thereby mitigating the effects of the immune attack to which helminths are most susceptible. Enhancing protective immunity against filarial nematodes, for example through vaccination, may be less effective at reducing transmission than would be expected and may, at worst, lead to increased transmission and, hence, pathology.

Filarial parasites develop faster and reproduce earlier in response to host immune effectors that determine filarial life expectancy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon A Babayan

Full Text Available Humans and other mammals mount vigorous immune assaults against helminth parasites, yet there are intriguing reports that the immune response can enhance rather than impair parasite development. It has been hypothesized that helminths, like many free-living organisms, should optimize their development and reproduction in response to cues predicting future life expectancy. However, immune-dependent development by helminth parasites has so far eluded such evolutionary explanation. By manipulating various arms of the immune response of experimental hosts, we show that filarial nematodes, the parasites responsible for debilitating diseases in humans like river blindness and elephantiasis, accelerate their development in response to the IL-5 driven eosinophilia they encounter when infecting a host. Consequently they produce microfilariae, their transmission stages, earlier and in greater numbers. Eosinophilia is a primary host determinant of filarial life expectancy, operating both at larval and at late adult stages in anatomically and temporally separate locations, and is implicated in vaccine-mediated protection. Filarial nematodes are therefore able to adjust their reproductive schedules in response to an environmental predictor of their probability of survival, as proposed by evolutionary theory, thereby mitigating the effects of the immune attack to which helminths are most susceptible. Enhancing protective immunity against filarial nematodes, for example through vaccination, may be less effective at reducing transmission than would be expected and may, at worst, lead to increased transmission and, hence, pathology.

IN BANGLADESH DIABETES STARTS EARLIER NOW THAN 10 YEARS BACK: A BIRDEM STUDY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parvin Akter Khanam

2008-01-01

Full Text Available BIRDEM is the largest referral center of diabetes in the world. It registered more than 300,000 diabetic patients from 1956 to 2005. This retrospective study compared the biophysical characteristics of diabetic patients registered in 1995 to those registered in 2005. Information on social (income, education, clinical (height, weight, blood pressure and oral glucose tolerance (OGTT of patients registered in 1995 and 2005 were retrieved from the BIRDEM registry. The age group ³ 20y was considered eligible. Overall, there were 11489 patients for 1995 and 19580 for 2005. Compared with the registry of 1995, a significant increase of registry for female patients were observed (39.5 vs. 46.7%, p<0.001 and also the rural population (31.9 vs. 47.4%, p<0.001. Likewise, the number of poor social class was also found higher in 2005 (5.2 vs. 25.5%, p<0.001. Young aged (<40y registry was also significantly higher in 2005 (34.4 vs. 37.1%, p<0.001. Compared with the registered patients of 1995, adjusted for sex and area, those of 2005 had a significantly higher BMI, higher FPG and higher 2hPG (for all, p<0.001. In contrast, a significantly lower age, lower height and lower blood pressure were observed in those of 2005. We conclude that the age at registration for diabetes has decreased significantly in 2005 compared to that in 1995 indicating an earlier onset of diabetes. Significantly higher obesity in the year 2005 than 1995 indicates that there has been an increase in obesity that might be an important contributing factor for earlier onset of diabetes. Ibrahim Med. Coll. J. 2008; 2(1: 1-3

A self-report measure for the ICD-11 dimensional trait model proposal: The personality inventory for ICD-11.

Science.gov (United States)

Oltmanns, Joshua R; Widiger, Thomas A

2018-02-01

Proposed for the 11th edition of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) is a dimensional trait model for the classification of personality disorder (Tyrer, Reed, & Crawford, 2015). The ICD-11 proposal consists of 5 broad domains: negative affective, detachment, dissocial, disinhibition, and anankastic (Mulder, Horwood, Tyrer, Carter, & Joyce, 2016). Several field trials have examined this proposal, yet none has included a direct measure of the trait model. The purpose of the current study was to develop and provide initial validation for the Personality Inventory for ICD-11 (PiCD), a self-report measure of this proposed 5-domain maladaptive trait model. Item selection and scale construction proceeded through 3 initial data collections assessing potential item performance. Two subsequent studies were conducted for scale validation. In Study 1, the PiCD was evaluated in a sample of 259 MTurk participants (who were or had been receiving mental health treatment) with respect to 2 measures of general personality structure: The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised and the 5-Dimensional Personality Test. In Study 2, the PiCD was evaluated in an additional sample of 285 participants with respect to 2 measures of maladaptive personality traits: The Personality Inventory for DSM-5 and the Computerized Adaptive Test for Personality Disorders. Study 3 provides an item-level exploratory structural equation model with the combined samples from Studies 1 and 2. The results are discussed with respect to the validity of the measure and the potential benefits for future research in having a direct, self-report measure of the ICD-11 trait proposal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

APC-PC Combined Scheme in Gilbert Two State Model: Proposal and Study

Science.gov (United States)

Bulo, Yaka; Saring, Yang; Bhunia, Chandan Tilak

2017-04-01

In an automatic repeat request (ARQ) scheme, a packet is retransmitted if it gets corrupted due to transmission errors caused by the channel. However, an erroneous packet may contain both erroneous bits and correct bits and hence it may still contain useful information. The receiver may be able to combine this information from multiple erroneous copies to recover the correct packet. Packet combining (PC) is a simple and elegant scheme of error correction in transmitted packet, in which two received copies are XORed to obtain the bit location of erroneous bits. Thereafter, the packet is corrected by bit inversion of bit located as erroneous. Aggressive packet combining (APC) is a logic extension of PC primarily designed for wireless communication with objective of correcting error with low latency. PC offers higher throughput than APC, but PC does not correct double bit errors if occur in same bit location of erroneous copies of the packet. A hybrid technique is proposed to utilize the advantages of both APC and PC while attempting to remove the limitation of both. In the proposed technique, applications of APC-PC on Gilbert two state model has been studied. The simulation results show that the proposed technique offers better throughput than the conventional APC and lesser packet error rate than PC scheme.

The Earlier the Better? Taking the AP® in 10th Grade. Research Report No. 2012-10

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Awilda; McKillip, Mary E. M.; Niu, Sunny X.

2013-01-01

In this report, the authors examine the impact of scoring a 1 or 2 on an AP® Exam in 10th grade on later AP Exam participation and performance. As access to AP courses increases within and across schools, a growing number of students are taking AP courses and exams in the earlier grades of high school. Using a matched sample of AP and no-AP…

The semiquantitative three-phase bone scintigraphy on hemiplegic patients with earlier complex regional pain syndrome

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Fang; Liu Xingdang; Lu Zhihui; Liu Congjin

2010-01-01

Objective: To investigate the difference between the early phases and delay phase of three-phase bone scintigraphy on hemiplegic patients with earlier complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Methods: Twenty-nine stroke patients with hemiplegia complicating CRPS received three-phase bone scintigraphy after intravenous injection of 99 Tc m -methylene diphosphonate (MDP). The region of interest (ROI) technique was used to obtain the radioactive counts of involved joints and contralateral sites on wrists, metacarpophalangeal, proximal interphalangeal and distal interphalangeal joints. The total counts of these four sites in each patient were then obtained and the total uptake ratios of involved joints/contralateral joints for each phase were calculated to compare the difference among the three phases. Wilcoxon test and ANOVA were used in data analyses. Results: The involved joints of hemiplegic side displayed higher tracer uptake. There were significant differences of the radioactive counts between involved joints and uninvolved ones in the perfusion, pool and delay phase (Wilcoxon test, Z: -4.73 to -2.10, P<0.05). There was no significant difference of total uptake ratios of involved joints/contralateral joints among the three phases (ANOVA, F = 0. 807, P < 0.05). Conclusions: Due to higher bone seeking agent accumulation on three-phase bone scintigraphy, both early phases and delay phase imaging showed similar value in stroke patients with hemiplegia complicating earlier CRPS. (authors)

A proposed model of psychodynamic psychotherapy linked to Erik Erikson's eight stages of psychosocial development.

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Knight, Zelda Gillian

2017-09-01

Just as Freud used stages of psychosexual development to ground his model of psychoanalysis, it is possible to do the same with Erik Erikson's stages of development with regards to a model of psychodynamic psychotherapy. This paper proposes an eight-stage model of psychodynamic psychotherapy linked to Erik Erikson's eight stages of psychosocial development. Various suggestions are offered. One such suggestion is that as each of Erikson's developmental stages is triggered by a crisis, in therapy it is triggered by the client's search. The resolution of the search often leads to the development of another search, which implies that the therapy process comprises a series of searches. This idea of a series of searches and resolutions leads to the understanding that identity is developmental and therapy is a space in which a new sense of identity may emerge. The notion of hope is linked to Erikson's stage of Basic Trust and the proposed model of therapy views hope and trust as essential for the therapy process. Two clinical vignettes are offered to illustrate these ideas. Psychotherapy can be approached as an eight-stage process and linked to Erikson's eight stages model of development. Psychotherapy may be viewed as a series of searches and thus as a developmental stage resolution process, which leads to the understanding that identity is ongoing throughout the life span. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Proposal of the mathematical model of the aquifer for interpretation of measurements of natural isotopes in the water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nawalany, M.

1975-01-01

Mathematical models applied in isotope hydrology are presented in the paper. The most commonly used deterministic models are discussed in the first part of the paper including the piston flow and good mixing models. The model of nonideal mixing is introduced by the author into the hydrological considerations. This model is a generalization of the good mixing model and allows for different processes of mixing of natural isotopes in waters of hydrological systems. The most important stochastic model i.e. the dispersive model is discussed too. The ''three-velocities'' model is proposed the first time by the author. The ''three-velocities'' model differs from the other ones in following properties: it includes finite flow velocity of the tracer particles, it takes into account the presence of stagnant water, it satisfied the law of fluid continuity, it is convergent to the piston-flow model in limit. However the model proposed describes dispersion phenomenon and satisfied the tracer conservation law (i.e. standarization) - the two properties characteristic of all the models. The author's strong belief is that the user (hydrologist) having at his disposal given below review of the models will be able to choose the most adequate model in given hydrological conditions. (author)

Child-Labor Proposal Eyes Private Model

Science.gov (United States)

Cech, Scott J.

2007-01-01

Proposed child-labor-rule changes--the most ambitious in 30 years--would carve out a permanent exemption to U.S. Department of Labor regulations for the work-study program run by a national network of Roman Catholic high schools. The program is a requirement of the Chicago-based Cristo Rey Network, which now has 12 high schools around the country…

Natural selection for earlier male arrival to breeding grounds through direct and indirect effects in a migratory songbird

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Velmala, William; Helle, Samuli; Ahola, Markus P.; Klaassen, M.R.J.; Lehikoinen, Esa; Rainio, Kalle; Sirkia, Paivi M.; Laaksonen, Toni

2015-01-01

For migratory birds, the earlier arrival of males to breeding grounds is often expected to have fitness benefits. However, the selection differential on male arrival time has rarely been decomposed into the direct effect of male arrival and potential indirect effects through female traits. We

Effective Solar Indices for Ionospheric Modeling: A Review and a Proposal for a Real-Time Regional IRI

Science.gov (United States)

Pignalberi, A.; Pezzopane, M.; Rizzi, R.; Galkin, I.

2018-01-01

The first part of this paper reviews methods using effective solar indices to update a background ionospheric model focusing on those employing the Kriging method to perform the spatial interpolation. Then, it proposes a method to update the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model through the assimilation of data collected by a European ionosonde network. The method, called International Reference Ionosphere UPdate (IRI UP), that can potentially operate in real time, is mathematically described and validated for the period 9-25 March 2015 (a time window including the well-known St. Patrick storm occurred on 17 March), using IRI and IRI Real Time Assimilative Model (IRTAM) models as the reference. It relies on foF2 and M(3000)F2 ionospheric characteristics, recorded routinely by a network of 12 European ionosonde stations, which are used to calculate for each station effective values of IRI indices IG_{12} and R_{12} (identified as IG_{{12{eff}}} and R_{{12{eff}}}); then, starting from this discrete dataset of values, two-dimensional (2D) maps of IG_{{12{eff}}} and R_{{12{eff}}} are generated through the universal Kriging method. Five variogram models are proposed and tested statistically to select the best performer for each effective index. Then, computed maps of IG_{{12{eff}}} and R_{{12{eff}}} are used in the IRI model to synthesize updated values of foF2 and hmF2. To evaluate the ability of the proposed method to reproduce rapid local changes that are common under disturbed conditions, quality metrics are calculated for two test stations whose measurements were not assimilated in IRI UP, Fairford (51.7°N, 1.5°W) and San Vito (40.6°N, 17.8°E), for IRI, IRI UP, and IRTAM models. The proposed method turns out to be very effective under highly disturbed conditions, with significant improvements of the foF2 representation and noticeable improvements of the hmF2 one. Important improvements have been verified also for quiet and moderately disturbed

Organizational intellectual capital and the role of the nurse manager: A proposed conceptual model.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbert, Jason H; Von Ah, Diane; Broome, Marion E

Nurse managers must leverage both the human capital and social capital of the teams they lead in order to produce quality outcomes. Little is known about the relationship between human capital and social capital and how these concepts may work together to produce organizational outcomes through leadership of nurses. The purpose of this article was to explore the concepts of human capital and social capital as they relate to nursing leadership in health care organizations. Specific aims included (a) to synthesize the literature related to human capital and social capital in leadership, (b) to refine the conceptual definitions of human capital and social capital with associated conceptual antecedents and consequences, and (c) to propose a synthesized conceptual model guiding further empirical research of social capital and human capital in nursing leadership. A systematic integrative review of leadership literature using criteria informed by Whittemore and Knafl (2005) was completed. CINAHL Plus with Full Text, Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier, Health Business FullTEXT, MEDLINE, and PsychINFO databases were searched for the years 1995 to 2016 using terms "human capital," "social capital," and "management." Analysis of conceptual definitions, theoretical and conceptual models, antecedents and consequences, propositions or hypotheses, and empirical support for 37 articles fitting review criteria resulted in the synthesis of the proposed Gilbert Conceptual Model of Organizational Intellectual Capital. The Gilbert Conceptual Model of Organizational Intellectual Capital advances the propositions of human capital theory and social capital theory and is the first model to conceptualize the direct and moderating effects that nurse leaders have on the human capital and social capital of the teams they lead. This model provides a framework for further empirical study and may have implications for practice, organizational policy, and education related to nursing

Health benefits, costs, and cost-effectiveness of earlier eligibility for adult antiretroviral therapy and expanded treatment coverage: a combined analysis of 12 mathematical models.

Science.gov (United States)

Eaton, Jeffrey W; Menzies, Nicolas A; Stover, John; Cambiano, Valentina; Chindelevitch, Leonid; Cori, Anne; Hontelez, Jan A C; Humair, Salal; Kerr, Cliff C; Klein, Daniel J; Mishra, Sharmistha; Mitchell, Kate M; Nichols, Brooke E; Vickerman, Peter; Bakker, Roel; Bärnighausen, Till; Bershteyn, Anna; Bloom, David E; Boily, Marie-Claude; Chang, Stewart T; Cohen, Ted; Dodd, Peter J; Fraser, Christophe; Gopalappa, Chaitra; Lundgren, Jens; Martin, Natasha K; Mikkelsen, Evelinn; Mountain, Elisa; Pham, Quang D; Pickles, Michael; Phillips, Andrew; Platt, Lucy; Pretorius, Carel; Prudden, Holly J; Salomon, Joshua A; van de Vijver, David A M C; de Vlas, Sake J; Wagner, Bradley G; White, Richard G; Wilson, David P; Zhang, Lei; Blandford, John; Meyer-Rath, Gesine; Remme, Michelle; Revill, Paul; Sangrujee, Nalinee; Terris-Prestholt, Fern; Doherty, Meg; Shaffer, Nathan; Easterbrook, Philippa J; Hirnschall, Gottfried; Hallett, Timothy B

2014-01-01

New WHO guidelines recommend initiation of antiretroviral therapy for HIV-positive adults with CD4 counts of 500 cells per μL or less, a higher threshold than was previously recommended. Country decision makers have to decide whether to further expand eligibility for antiretroviral therapy accordingly. We aimed to assess the potential health benefits, costs, and cost-effectiveness of various eligibility criteria for adult antiretroviral therapy and expanded treatment coverage. We used several independent mathematical models in four settings-South Africa (generalised epidemic, moderate antiretroviral therapy coverage), Zambia (generalised epidemic, high antiretroviral therapy coverage), India (concentrated epidemic, moderate antiretroviral therapy coverage), and Vietnam (concentrated epidemic, low antiretroviral therapy coverage)-to assess the potential health benefits, costs, and cost-effectiveness of various eligibility criteria for adult antiretroviral therapy under scenarios of existing and expanded treatment coverage, with results projected over 20 years. Analyses assessed the extension of eligibility to include individuals with CD4 counts of 500 cells per μL or less, or all HIV-positive adults, compared with the previous (2010) recommendation of initiation with CD4 counts of 350 cells per μL or less. We assessed costs from a health-system perspective, and calculated the incremental cost (in US$) per disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) averted to compare competing strategies. Strategies were regarded very cost effective if the cost per DALY averted was less than the country's 2012 per-head gross domestic product (GDP; South Africa: $8040; Zambia: $1425; India: $1489; Vietnam: $1407) and cost effective if the cost per DALY averted was less than three times the per-head GDP. In South Africa, the cost per DALY averted of extending eligibility for antiretroviral therapy to adult patients with CD4 counts of 500 cells per μL or less ranged from $237 to $1691 per

A 2-categorical state sum model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baratin, Aristide, E-mail: abaratin@uwaterloo.ca [Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 (Canada); Freidel, Laurent, E-mail: lfreidel@perimeterinstitute.ca [Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline Str. N, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5 (Canada)

2015-01-15

It has long been argued that higher categories provide the proper algebraic structure underlying state sum invariants of 4-manifolds. This idea has been refined recently, by proposing to use 2-groups and their representations as specific examples of 2-categories. The challenge has been to make these proposals fully explicit. Here, we give a concrete realization of this program. Building upon our earlier work with Baez and Wise on the representation theory of 2-groups, we construct a four-dimensional state sum model based on a categorified version of the Euclidean group. We define and explicitly compute the simplex weights, which may be viewed a categorified analogue of Racah-Wigner 6j-symbols. These weights solve a hexagon equation that encodes the formal invariance of the state sum under the Pachner moves of the triangulation. This result unravels the combinatorial formulation of the Feynman amplitudes of quantum field theory on flat spacetime proposed in A. Baratin and L. Freidel [Classical Quantum Gravity 24, 2027–2060 (2007)] which was shown to lead after gauge-fixing to Korepanov’s invariant of 4-manifolds.

PTSD's latent structure in Malaysian tsunami victims: assessing the newly proposed Dysphoric Arousal model.

Science.gov (United States)

Armour, Cherie; Raudzah Ghazali, Siti; Elklit, Ask

2013-03-30

The underlying latent structure of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is widely researched. However, despite a plethora of factor analytic studies, no single model has consistently been shown as superior to alternative models. The two most often supported models are the Emotional Numbing and the Dysphoria models. However, a recently proposed five-factor Dysphoric Arousal model has been gathering support over and above existing models. Data for the current study were gathered from Malaysian Tsunami survivors (N=250). Three competing models (Emotional Numbing/Dysphoria/Dysphoric Arousal) were specified and estimated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The Dysphoria model provided superior fit to the data compared to the Emotional Numbing model. However, using chi-square difference tests, the Dysphoric Arousal model showed a superior fit compared to both the Emotional Numbing and Dysphoria models. In conclusion, the current results suggest that the Dysphoric Arousal model better represents PTSD's latent structure and that items measuring sleeping difficulties, irritability/anger and concentration difficulties form a separate, unique PTSD factor. These results are discussed in relation to the role of Hyperarousal in PTSD's on-going symptom maintenance and in relation to the DSM-5. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aerosol exposure to Rift Valley fever virus causes earlier and more severe neuropathology in the murine model, which has important implications for therapeutic development.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher Reed

Full Text Available Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV is an important mosquito-borne veterinary and human pathogen that can cause severe disease including acute-onset hepatitis, delayed-onset encephalitis, retinitis and blindness, or a hemorrhagic syndrome. Currently, no licensed vaccine or therapeutics exist to treat this potentially deadly disease. Detailed studies describing the pathogenesis of RVFV following aerosol exposure have not been completed and candidate therapeutics have not been evaluated following an aerosol exposure. These studies are important because while mosquito transmission is the primary means for human infection, it can also be transmitted by aerosol or through mucosal contact. Therefore, we directly compared the pathogenesis of RVFV following aerosol exposure to a subcutaneous (SC exposure in the murine model by analyzing survival, clinical observations, blood chemistry, hematology, immunohistochemistry, and virus titration of tissues. Additionally, we evaluated the effectiveness of the nucleoside analog ribavirin administered prophylactically to treat mice exposed by aerosol and SC. The route of exposure did not significantly affect the survival, chemistry or hematology results of the mice. Acute hepatitis occurred despite the route of exposure. However, the development of neuropathology occurred much earlier and was more severe in mice exposed by aerosol compared to SC exposed mice. Mice treated with ribavirin and exposed SC were partially protected, whereas treated mice exposed by aerosol were not protected. Early and aggressive viral invasion of brain tissues following aerosol exposure likely played an important role in ribavirin's failure to prevent mortality among these animals. Our results highlight the need for more candidate antivirals to treat RVFV infection, especially in the case of a potential aerosol exposure. Additionally, our study provides an account of the key pathogenetic differences in RVF disease following two potential

Quality assessment for radiological model parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Funtowicz, S.O.

1989-01-01

A prototype framework for representing uncertainties in radiological model parameters is introduced. This follows earlier development in this journal of a corresponding framework for representing uncertainties in radiological data. Refinements and extensions to the earlier framework are needed in order to take account of the additional contextual factors consequent on using data entries to quantify model parameters. The parameter coding can in turn feed in to methods for evaluating uncertainties in calculated model outputs. (author)

The 'model omnitron' proposed experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sestero, A.

1997-05-01

The Model Omitron is a compact tokamak experiment which is designed by the Fusion Engineering Unit of ENEA and CITIF CONSORTIUM. The building of Model Omitron would allow for full testing of Omitron engineering, and partial testing of Omitron physics -at about 1/20 of the cost that has been estimated for the larger parent machine. In particular, due to the unusually large ohmic power densities (up to 100 times the nominal value in the Frascati FTU experiment), in Model Omitron the radial energy flux is reaching values comparable or higher than envisaged of the larger ignition experiments Omitron, Ignitor and Iter. Consequently, conditions are expected to occur at the plasma border in the scrape-off layer of Model Omitron, which are representative of the quoted larger experiments. Moreover, since all this will occur under ohmic heating alone, one will hopefully be able to derive an energy transport model fo the ohmic heating regime that is valid over a range of plasma parameters (in particular, of the temperature parameter) wider than it was possible before. In the Model Omitron experiment, finally - by reducing the plasma current and/or the toroidal field down to, say, 1/3 or 1/4 of the nominal values -additional topics can be tackled, such as: large safety-factor configurations (of interest for improving confinement), large aspect-ratio configurations (of interest for the investigation of advanced concepts in tokamaks), high beta (with RF heating -also of interest for the investigation of advanced concepts in tokamaks), long pulse discharges (of interest for demonstrating stationary conditions in the current profile)

Reply to Discussion by Zekai Șen on "Modeling karst spring hydrograph recession based on head drop at sinkholes"

Science.gov (United States)

Field, Malcolm S.; Goldscheider, Nico; Li, Guangquan

2018-02-01

We are pleased to learn that the model presented in our paper dealing with the "modeling karst spring hydrograph recession based on head drop at sinkholes," published in the Journal of Hydrology in 2016 (Li et al., 2016), is of interest to readers of this journal. Our study presented a new non-exponential model for assessing spring hydrographs in terms of head drop at flooded sinkholes, as an extension of an earlier model proposed by Li and Field (2014). In both papers, we used two spring hydrographs measured in the St. Marks Karst Watershed in northwest Florida to test the applicability and to verify the validity of our models.

Decreased length of stay and earlier oral feeding associated with standardized postoperative clinical care for total gastrectomies at a cancer center.

Science.gov (United States)

Selby, Luke V; Rifkin, Marissa B; Yoon, Sam S; Ariyan, Charlotte E; Strong, Vivian E

2016-09-01

Standardization of postoperative care has been shown to decrease postoperative length of stay. In June 2009, we standardized postoperative care for all gastrectomies at our institution. Four years' worth of total gastrectomies (2 years prior to standardization and 2 years after standardization) were reviewed to determine the effect of standardization on postoperative care, length of stay, complications, and readmissions. Between June 2007 and July 2011, 99 patients underwent curative intent open total gastrectomy: 51 patients prior to standardization, and 48 patients poststandardization. Patients were predominantly male (70%); median age was 63; and median body mass index was 26. Standardization of postoperative care was associated with a decrease in median time to beginning both clear liquids and a postgastrectomy diet, earlier removal of epidural catheters, earlier use of oral pain medication, less time receiving intravenous fluids, and decreased length of stay (all P Care Center, or readmission. Institution of standardized postoperative orders for total gastrectomy was associated with a significantly decreased length of stay and earlier oral feeding without increasing postoperative complications, early postoperative outpatient visits, or readmissions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

One-loop potential in the new string model with negative stiffness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kleinert, H.; Chervyakov, A.M.; Nesterenko, V.V.

1996-01-01

The color-electric flux tube between quarks has a finite thickness therefore also a finite curvature stiffness. Contrary to earlier rigid-string proposal by Polyakov and Kleinert and motivated by the properties of a magnetic flux tube in a type-II superconductor, we put forward the hypothesis that the stiffness is negative. We set up and study the properties of an idealized string model with such negative stiffness. In contrast to the rigid string, the propagator in the new model has no unphysical pole. One-loop calculations show that the model generates an interquark potential which does not contain the square root singularity even for moderate values of a negative stiffness. At large distances, the potential has usual linearly rising term with the universal Luescher correction

MMS trims proposed schedule for OCS oil and gas lease sales

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that the U.S. Interior Department has proposed only 18 Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas lease sales in its new 5 year schedule. Eleven of the sales are in the Gulf of Mexico, one off the east Coast, none off the West Coast, and six off Alaska. Congress has 60 days in which to reject the 5 year lease sale plan but is not expected to. An earlier draft plan called for 23 sales. The Minerals Management Service, which administers the offshore leasing program, the the new schedule emphasizes leasing of gas prone areas

Yucca Mountain engineered barrier system corrosion model (EBSCOM)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, F.; Kolar, M.; Kessler, J.H.; Apted, M.

2008-01-01

A revised engineered barrier system model has been developed by the Electric Power Research Institute to predict the time dependence of the failure of the drip shields and waste packages in the proposed Yucca Mountain repository. The revised model is based on new information on various corrosion processes developed by the US Department of Energy and others and for a 20-mm-thick waste package design with a double closure lid system. As with earlier versions of the corrosion model, the new EBSCOM code produces a best-estimate of the failure times of the various barriers. The model predicts that only 15% of waste packages will fail within a period of 1 million years. The times for the first corrosion failures are 40,000 years, 336,000 years, and 375,000 years for the drip shield, waste package, and combination of drip shield and the associated waste package, respectively

Global model of zenith tropospheric delay proposed based on EOF analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Langlang; Chen, Peng; Wei, Erhu; Li, Qinzheng

2017-07-01

Tropospheric delay is one of the main error budgets in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements. Many empirical correction models have been developed to compensate this delay, and models which do not require meteorological parameters have received the most attention. This study established a global troposphere zenith total delay (ZTD) model, called Global Empirical Orthogonal Function Troposphere (GEOFT), based on the empirical orthogonal function (EOF, also known as geographically weighted PCAs) analysis method and the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) Atmosphere data from 2012 to 2015. The results showed that ZTD variation could be well represented by the characteristics of the EOF base function Ek and associated coefficients Pk. Here, E1 mainly signifies the equatorial anomaly; E2 represents north-south asymmetry, and E3 and E4 reflects regional variation. Moreover, P1 mainly reflects annual and semiannual variation components; P2 and P3 mainly contains annual variation components, and P4 displays semiannual variation components. We validated the proposed GEOFT model using tropospheric delay data of GGOS ZTD grid data and the tropospheric product of the International GNSS Service (IGS) over the year 2016. The results showed that GEOFT model has high accuracy with bias and RMS of -0.3 and 3.9 cm, respectively, with respect to the GGOS ZTD data, and of -0.8 and 4.1 cm, respectively, with respect to the global IGS tropospheric product. The accuracy of GEOFT demonstrating that the use of the EOF analysis method to characterize ZTD variation is reasonable.

The New Digital Media Value Network: Proposing an Interactive Model of Digital Media Value Activities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sylvia Chan-Olmsted

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This study models the dynamic nature of today’s media markets using the framework of value-adding activities in the provision and consumption of media products. The proposed user-centric approach introduces the notion that the actions of external users, social media, and interfaces affect the internal value activities of media firms via a feedback loop, and therefore should themselves be considered value activities. The model also suggests a more comprehensive list of indicators for value assessment.

Energetic models: a proposal of integrated planning; Modelos energeticos: uma proposta de planejamento integrado

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pereira Junior, Amaro Olimpio; Soares, Jeferson Borghetti; Araujo, Mauro Almeida [Empresa de Pesquisa Energetica (EPE), Brasilia, DF (Brazil)]. E-mails: amaro.pereira@epe.gov.br; jeferson.soares@epe.gov.br; mauro.almeida@epe.gov.br; La Rovere, Emilio Lebre [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-Graduacao de Engenharia. Programa de Planejamento Estrategico]. E-mail: emilio@ppe.ufrj.br; Costa, Ricardo Cunha da [Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social (BNDES), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)]. E-mail: rcco@bndes.gov.br

2006-07-01

Top-down, bottom-up and hybrid models for representing energy system are often used in energy planning. However, in developing countries some of their assumptions do not apply: markets are not developed and not competitive; informal economies are representative; there are huge social inequalities; regulatory changes are not completed; there exist constraints to capital flow; etc. All theses problems need to be well represented in order to have energy analysis more consistent. In this work, it is proposed a multi-sector dynamic recursive model that incorporates consumer behaviors, energy policies, technical progress and factors of production substitution. The static result feeds detailed energy models that provide updated values for the next step equilibrium. This approach takes advantages not only in terms of computation but also in terms of the consistence between economy and energy modeling. (author)

Earlier (late Pliocene) first appearance of the Caribbean reef-building coral Acropora palmata: Stratigraphic and evolutionary implications

Science.gov (United States)

McNeill, Donald F.; Budd, Ann F.; Borne, Pamela F.

1997-10-01

An integrated stratigraphic study of reefal deposits on the Caribbean side of the Isthmus of Panama (Limon, Costa Rica) has discovered a significantly earlier first appearance of the major reef-building coral Acropora palmata. A. palmata is here reported from the early late Pliocene, constrained in age to within the Gauss chron (ca. 3.6 2.6 Ma). This coral was previously thought to have originated in the earliest Pleistocene and has subsequently been used as a Quaternary marker throughout the Caribbean and the Bahamas. An earlier appearance in the southern Caribbean implies a diachronous first appearance datum relative to the northern Caribbean. This older age also places A. palmata well within the transition phase of a Pliocene (4 1 Ma) faunal turnover that was marked by widespread extinction and origination of Caribbean coral species. An early late Pliocene origination is coincident with formation of the Isthmus, climate reorganization, and frequent sea-level changes associated with onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciations. The rapid growth and accumulation rates that characterize A. palmata may therefore be adaptive to these fluctuating environmental conditions, enabling its success during the subsequent Pleistocene glacial cycles.

A Proposal of New Spherical Particle Modeling Method Based on Stochastic Sampling of Particle Locations in Monte Carlo Simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Song Hyun; Kim, Do Hyun; Kim, Jong Kyung [Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Noh, Jea Man [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2013-10-15

To the high computational efficiency and user convenience, the implicit method had received attention; however, it is noted that the implicit method in the previous studies has low accuracy at high packing fraction. In this study, a new implicit method, which can be used at any packing fraction with high accuracy, is proposed. In this study, the implicit modeling method in the spherical particle distributed medium for using the MC simulation is proposed. A new concept in the spherical particle sampling was developed to solve the problems in the previous implicit methods. The sampling method was verified by simulating the sampling method in the infinite and finite medium. The results show that the particle implicit modeling with the proposed method was accurately performed in all packing fraction boundaries. It is expected that the proposed method can be efficiently utilized for the spherical particle distributed mediums, which are the fusion reactor blanket, VHTR reactors, and shielding analysis.

Methodology Using MELCOR Code to Model Proposed Hazard Scenario

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gavin Hawkley

2010-07-01

This study demonstrates a methodology for using the MELCOR code to model a proposed hazard scenario within a building containing radioactive powder, and the subsequent evaluation of a leak path factor (LPF) (or the amount of respirable material which that escapes a facility into the outside environment), implicit in the scenario. This LPF evaluation will analyzes the basis and applicability of an assumed standard multiplication of 0.5 × 0.5 (in which 0.5 represents the amount of material assumed to leave one area and enter another), for calculating an LPF value. The outside release is dependsent upon the ventilation/filtration system, both filtered and un-filtered, and from other pathways from the building, such as doorways (, both open and closed). This study is presents ed to show how the multiple leak path factorsLPFs from the interior building can be evaluated in a combinatory process in which a total leak path factorLPF is calculated, thus addressing the assumed multiplication, and allowing for the designation and assessment of a respirable source term (ST) for later consequence analysis, in which: the propagation of material released into the environmental atmosphere can be modeled and the dose received by a receptor placed downwind can be estimated and the distance adjusted to maintains such exposures as low as reasonably achievableALARA.. Also, this study will briefly addresses particle characteristics thatwhich affect atmospheric particle dispersion, and compares this dispersion with leak path factorLPF methodology.

Earlier Age of Onset of Chronic Hypertension and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus After a Hypertensive Disorder of Pregnancy or Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

Science.gov (United States)

Heida, Karst Y; Franx, Arie; van Rijn, Bas B; Eijkemans, Marinus J C; Boer, Jolanda M A; Verschuren, Monique W M; Oudijk, Martijn A; Bots, Michiel L; van der Schouw, Yvonne T

2015-12-01

A prospective cohort study was conducted to assess the impact of a history of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (HDP) or gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on the risk and age of onset of hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), and cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life, independent of hypertension and T2D. Between 1993 and 1997, 22 265 ever-pregnant women were included from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-NL study, aged 20 to 70 years at baseline. Details on complications of pregnancy and known hypertension were obtained by questionnaire. Blood pressure was measured at enrollment. Participants were followed for the occurrence of CVD events. Data were analyzed using ANCOVA, multivariable logistic regression, and Cox proportional hazard (with HDP and GDM as time-dependent variables for T2D and CVD) models. At enrollment, women with a HDP reported diagnosis of hypertension 7.7 years earlier (95% confidence interval [CI] 6.9-8.5) and women with GDM reported diagnosis of T2D 7.7 years earlier (95% CI 5.8-9.6) than women without pregnancy complications. After adjustment for potential confounders, HDP was associated with presence of hypertension at enrollment (odds ratio 2.12, 95% CI 1.98-2.28) and onset of CVD later in life (hazard ratio 1.21, 95% CI 1.10-1.32). After including the intermediates hypertension and T2D in the model, the risk of CVD later in life decreased (hazard ratio 1.09, 95% CI 1.00-1.20). GDM was associated with an increased risk of developing T2D later in life (hazard ratio 3.68, 95% CI 2.77-4.90), but not with risk of CVD. HDP and GDM have a substantial impact on the risk of CVD and are potentially important indicators for preventive cardiovascular risk management. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

A theoretical model of job retention for home health care nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellenbecker, Carol Hall

2004-08-01

Predicted severe nursing shortages and an increasing demand for home health care services have made the retention of experienced, qualified nursing staff a priority for health care organizations. The purpose of this paper is to describe a theoretical model of job retention for home health care nurses. The theoretical model is an integration of the findings of empirical research related to intent to stay and retention, components of Neal's theory of home health care nursing practice and findings from earlier work to develop an instrument to measure home health care nurses' job satisfaction. The theoretical model identifies antecedents to job satisfaction of home health care nurses. The antecedents are intrinsic and extrinsic job characteristics. The model also proposes that job satisfaction is directly related to retention and indirectly related to retention though intent to stay. Individual nurse characteristics are indirectly related to retention through intent to stay. The individual characteristic of tenure is indirectly related to retention through autonomy, as an intrinsic characteristic of job satisfaction, and intent to stay. The proposed model can be used to guide research that explores gaps in knowledge about intent to stay and retention among home health care nurses.

Proposing a Qualitative Approach for Corporate Competitive Capability Modeling in High-Tech Business (Case study: Software Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahmoud Saremi Saremi

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The evolution of global business trend for ICT-based products in recent decades shows the intensive activity of pioneer developing countries to gain a powerful competitive position in global software industry. In this research, with regard to importance of competition issue for top managers of Iranian software companies, a conceptual model has been developed for Corporate Competitive Capability concept. First, after describing the research problem, we present a comparative review of recent theories of firm and competition that has been applied by different researchers in the High-Tech and Knowledge Intensive Organization filed. Afterwards, with a detailed review of literature and previous research papers, an initial research framework and applied research method has been proposed. The main and final section of paper assigned to describing the result of research in different steps of qualitative modeling process. The agreed concepts are related to corporate competitive capability, the elicited and analyzed experts Cause Map, the elicited collective causal maps, and the final proposed model for software industry are the modeling results for this paper.

Onset of rigor mortis is earlier in red muscle than in white muscle.

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, M; Takatori, T; Nakajima, M; Sakurada, K; Hatanaka, K; Ikegaya, H; Matsuda, Y; Iwase, H

2000-01-01

Rigor mortis is thought to be related to falling ATP levels in muscles postmortem. We measured rigor mortis as tension determined isometrically in three rat leg muscles in liquid paraffin kept at 37 degrees C or 25 degrees C--two red muscles, red gastrocnemius (RG) and soleus (SO) and one white muscle, white gastrocnemius (WG). Onset, half and full rigor mortis occurred earlier in RG and SO than in WG both at 37 degrees C and at 25 degrees C even though RG and WG were portions of the same muscle. This suggests that rigor mortis directly reflects the postmortem intramuscular ATP level, which decreases more rapidly in red muscle than in white muscle after death. Rigor mortis was more retarded at 25 degrees C than at 37 degrees C in each type of muscle.

Corrosion-induced bond strength degradation in reinforced concrete-Analytical and empirical models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhargava, Kapilesh; Ghosh, A.K.; Mori, Yasuhiro; Ramanujam, S.

2007-01-01

The present paper aims to investigate the relationship between the bond strength and the reinforcement corrosion in reinforced concrete (RC). Analytical and empirical models are proposed for the bond strength of corroded reinforcing bars. Analytical model proposed by Cairns.and Abdullah [Cairns, J., Abdullah, R.B., 1996. Bond strength of black and epoxy-coated reinforcement-a theoretical approach. ACI Mater. J. 93 (4), 362-369] for splitting bond failure and later modified by Coronelli [Coronelli, D. 2002. Corrosion cracking and bond strength modeling for corroded bars in reinforced concrete. ACI Struct. J. 99 (3), 267-276] to consider the corroded bars, has been adopted. Estimation of the various parameters in the earlier analytical model has been proposed by the present authors. These parameters include corrosion pressure due to expansive action of corrosion products, modeling of tensile behaviour of cracked concrete and adhesion and friction coefficient between the corroded bar and cracked concrete. Simple empirical models are also proposed to evaluate the reduction in bond strength as a function of reinforcement corrosion in RC specimens. These empirical models are proposed by considering a wide range of published experimental investigations related to the bond degradation in RC specimens due to reinforcement corrosion. It has been found that the proposed analytical and empirical bond models are capable of providing the estimates of predicted bond strength of corroded reinforcement that are in reasonably good agreement with the experimentally observed values and with those of the other reported published data on analytical and empirical predictions. An attempt has also been made to evaluate the flexural strength of RC beams with corroded reinforcement failing in bond. It has also been found that the analytical predictions for the flexural strength of RC beams based on the proposed bond degradation models are in agreement with those of the experimentally

Radiation Modeling with Direct Simulation Monte Carlo

Science.gov (United States)

Carlson, Ann B.; Hassan, H. A.

1991-01-01

Improvements in the modeling of radiation in low density shock waves with direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) are the subject of this study. A new scheme to determine the relaxation collision numbers for excitation of electronic states is proposed. This scheme attempts to move the DSMC programs toward a more detailed modeling of the physics and more reliance on available rate data. The new method is compared with the current modeling technique and both techniques are compared with available experimental data. The differences in the results are evaluated. The test case is based on experimental measurements from the AVCO-Everett Research Laboratory electric arc-driven shock tube of a normal shock wave in air at 10 km/s and .1 Torr. The new method agrees with the available data as well as the results from the earlier scheme and is more easily extrapolated to di erent ow conditions.

Analytical model of chemical phase and formation of DSB in chromosomes by ionizing radiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Barilla, Jiří; Lokajíček, Miloš; Pisaková, Hana; Simr, Pavel

2013-03-01

Mathematical analytical model of the processes running in individual radical clusters during the chemical phase (under the presence of radiomodifiers) proposed by us earlier has been further developed and improved. It has been applied to the data presented by Blok and Loman characterizing the oxygen effect in SSB and DSB formation (in water solution and at low-LET radiation) also in the region of very small oxygen concentrations, which cannot be studied with the help of experiments done with living cells. In this new analysis the values of all reaction rates and diffusion parameters known from literature have been made use of. The great increase of SSB and DSB at zero oxygen concentration may follow from the fact that at small oxygen concentrations the oxygen absorbs other radicals while at higher concentrations the formation of oxygen radicals prevails. It explains the double oxygen effect found already earlier by Ewing. The model may be easily extended to include also the effects of other radiomodifiers present in medium during irradiation.

Analytical model of chemical phase and formation of DSB in chromosomes by ionizing radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barilla, Jiři; Simr, Pavel; Lokajíček, Miloš; Pisaková, Hana

2013-01-01

Mathematical analytical model of the processes running in individual radical clusters during the chemical phase (under the presence of radiomodifiers) proposed by us earlier has been further developed and improved. It has been applied to the data presented by Blok and Loman characterizing the oxygen effect in SSB and DSB formation (in water solution and at low-LET radiation) also in the region of very small oxygen concentrations, which cannot be studied with the help of experiments done with living cells. In this new analysis the values of all reaction rates and diffusion parameters known from literature have been made use of. The great increase of SSB and DSB at zero oxygen concentration may follow from the fact that at small oxygen concentrations the oxygen absorbs other radicals while at higher concentrations the formation of oxygen radicals prevails. It explains the double oxygen effect found already earlier by Ewing. The model may be easily extended to include also the effects of other radiomodifiers present in medium during irradiation.

Earlier flowering did not alter pollen limitation in an early flowering shrub under short-term experimental warming

OpenAIRE

Pan, Cheng-Chen; Feng, Qi; Zhao, Ha-Lin; Liu, Lin-De; Li, Yu-Lin; Li, Yu-Qiang; Zhang, Tong-Hui; Yu, Xiao-Ya

2017-01-01

In animal pollinated plants, phenological shifts caused by climate change may have important ecological consequences. However, no empirical evidence exists at present on the consequences that flowering phenology shifts have on the strength of pollen limitation under experimental warming. Here, we investigated the effects of experimental warming on flowering phenology, flower density, reproductive success, and pollen limitation intensity in Caragana microphylla and evaluated whether earlier fl...

Earlier anal sexarche and co-occurring sexual risk are associated with current HIV-related risk behaviors among an online sample of men who have sex with men in Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, Doug H.; Suharlim, Christian; Guadamuz, Thomas E.; Lim, Sin How; Koe, Stuart; Wei, Chongyi

2014-01-01

Studies of heterosexual populations across the globe and men who have sex with men (MSM) in a few developed countries showed that earlier sexual debut (sexarche) was associated with higher levels of co-occurring and subsequent HIV risk behaviors. We examined the relationships between earlier anal sexarche, unprotected earlier anal sexarche and current HIV risks among MSM from Asia. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among MSM (N = 10,826) in Asia in 2010. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regressions were used to identify co-occurring (i.e., sexual experiences during sexarche) and current HIV-related risk factors (i.e., past six months) associated with earlier anal sexarche (before the age of 18) and unprotected earlier anal sexarche, respectively. Earlier anal sexarche was significantly associated with lack of condom use, being anal receptive or both receptive and insertive, and having a partner who were older during sexarche. It was also associated with current HIV-related risk behaviors including having multiple male sexual partners, having been paid for sex, and increased frequencies of recreational drug use. Unprotected earlier anal sexarche was significantly associated with inconsistent condom use in the past the six months. Improved and culturally sensitive sex education at schools should be included in national and regional HIV/AIDS prevention programming and policies in Asia. Such sex education programs should incorporate curriculum that address sexuality, sexual orientation, and sexual behaviors beyond those related to reproductive health. PMID:24920344

Efficient sampling techniques for uncertainty quantification in history matching using nonlinear error models and ensemble level upscaling techniques

KAUST Repository

Efendiev, Y.

2009-11-01

The Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) is a rigorous sampling method to quantify uncertainty in subsurface characterization. However, the MCMC usually requires many flow and transport simulations in evaluating the posterior distribution and can be computationally expensive for fine-scale geological models. We propose a methodology that combines coarse- and fine-scale information to improve the efficiency of MCMC methods. The proposed method employs off-line computations for modeling the relation between coarse- and fine-scale error responses. This relation is modeled using nonlinear functions with prescribed error precisions which are used in efficient sampling within the MCMC framework. We propose a two-stage MCMC where inexpensive coarse-scale simulations are performed to determine whether or not to run the fine-scale (resolved) simulations. The latter is determined on the basis of a statistical model developed off line. The proposed method is an extension of the approaches considered earlier where linear relations are used for modeling the response between coarse-scale and fine-scale models. The approach considered here does not rely on the proximity of approximate and resolved models and can employ much coarser and more inexpensive models to guide the fine-scale simulations. Numerical results for three-phase flow and transport demonstrate the advantages, efficiency, and utility of the method for uncertainty assessment in the history matching. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.

Advocating for School Psychologists in Response to the APA's Proposed "Model Act for State Licensure of Psychologists"

Science.gov (United States)

Skalski, Anastasia Kalamaros

2009-01-01

On March 6, 2009, the APA Model Licensure Act Task Force released its second draft of the policy document known as the proposed "Model Act for State Licensure of Psychologists". This policy document serves as guidance to state legislatures for how they should set up their psychology licensing laws. The general expectations promoted in the model…

Competency-Based University Undergraduate Teaching Management: Proposal for a Conceptual Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodolfo Schmal

2005-12-01

Full Text Available The human resources societies and their organizations can count on are more and more relevant. In that sense, a major challenge faced by universities is to give students the appropriate background to be professionals with the profile the current scenario requires. This article focuses the management of university careers. Historically, many careers have emphasized knowledge, especially abstract knowledge. Today, the trend is to address aspects that reach beyond cognition, and focus the attention in effective competencies that include procedures and attitudes. Such approach allows the opportunity of defining a holistic management of careers, reaching beyond the sheer teaching of disciplines. Concurrently, the availability of information methods and tools will contribute for the definition and implementation of a design process that can work with explicit criteria and transformations. The article proposes a conceptual model to represent the objects, and their attributes and associations that are considered of interest for the management of university teaching under a competency focus. A second stage should implement such model through the construction of an information system that supports the management of corresponding careers.

Age of diagnosis of breast cancer in china: almost 10 years earlier than in the United States and the European union.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Qing-Kun; Li, Jing; Huang, Rong; Fan, Jin-Hu; Zheng, Rong-Shou; Zhang, Bao-Ning; Zhang, Bin; Tang, Zhong-Hua; Xie, Xiao-Ming; Yang, Hong-Jian; He, Jian-Jun; Li, Hui; Li, Jia-Yuan; Qiao, You-Lin; Chen, Wan-Qing

2014-01-01

The study aimed to describe the age distribution of breast cancer diagnosis among Chinese females for comparison with the United States and the European Union, and provide evidence for the screening target population in China. Median age was estimated from hospital databases from 7 tertiary hospitals in China. Population-based data in China, United States and European Union was extracted from the National Central Cancer Registry, SEER program and GLOBOCAN 2008, respectively. Age-standardized distribution of breast cancer at diagnosis in the 3 areas was estimated based on the World Standard Population 2000. The median age of breast cancer at diagnosis was around 50 in China, nearly 10 years earlier than United States and European Union. The diagnosis age in China did not vary between subgroups of calendar year, region and pathological characteristics. With adjustment for population structure, median age of breast cancer at diagnosis was 50~54 in China, but 55~59 in United States and European Union. The median diagnosis age of female breast cancer is much earlier in China than in the United States and the European Union pointing to racial differences in genetics and lifestyle. Screening programs should start at an earlier age for Chinese women and age disparities between Chinese and Western women warrant further studies.

Modelling gas migration in compacted bentonite: GAMBIT Club Phase 2. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Swift, B.T.; Hoch, A.R.; Rodwell, W.R. [AEA Technology (United Kingdom)

2001-01-01

This report describes the second phase of a programme of work to develop a computational model of gas migration through highly compacted bentonite. Experimental data that have appeared since the earlier report are reviewed for the additional information they might provide on the mechanism of gas migration in bentonite. Experiments carried out by Horseman and Harrigton (British Geological Survey) continued to provide the main data sets used in model evaluation. The earlier work (POSIVA Report 98-08) had resulted in a preliminary model of gas migration whose main features are gas invasion by microcrack propagation, and dilation of the pathways formed with increasing gas pressure. New work was carried out to further explore the capabilities of this model. In addition, a feature was added to the model to simulate gas pathway creation by water displacement rather than crack propagation. The development of a new alternative gas migration model is described. This is based on a volume-averaged representation of gas migration rather than on a description of flow in discrete pathways. Evaluation of this alternative model showed that it can produce similar agreement with experimental results to the other models examined. The implications of flow geometry, confining conditions and flow boundary conditions on gas migration behaviour in bentonite are reviewed. Proposals are made for the development of the new model into a tool for simulating gas migration through a bentonite buffer around a waste canister, and for possible enhancements to the model that might remove some of its currently perceived deficiencies. (orig.)

A proposed adaptive step size perturbation and observation maximum power point tracking algorithm based on photovoltaic system modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yu

Solar energy becomes one of the major alternative renewable energy options for its huge abundance and accessibility. Due to the intermittent nature, the high demand of Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) techniques exists when a Photovoltaic (PV) system is used to extract energy from the sunlight. This thesis proposed an advanced Perturbation and Observation (P&O) algorithm aiming for relatively practical circumstances. Firstly, a practical PV system model is studied with determining the series and shunt resistances which are neglected in some research. Moreover, in this proposed algorithm, the duty ratio of a boost DC-DC converter is the object of the perturbation deploying input impedance conversion to achieve working voltage adjustment. Based on the control strategy, the adaptive duty ratio step size P&O algorithm is proposed with major modifications made for sharp insolation change as well as low insolation scenarios. Matlab/Simulink simulation for PV model, boost converter control strategy and various MPPT process is conducted step by step. The proposed adaptive P&O algorithm is validated by the simulation results and detail analysis of sharp insolation changes, low insolation condition and continuous insolation variation.

A Proposed Model for Assessing Organisational Culture Towards Achieving Business Objectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hafez Salleh

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Most of the traditional business performances measures are based on productivity and process criteria, which mainly focus on method of investment appraisal such as payback method, return on investment (ROI, cost-benefits analysis (CBA, net present value (NPV, internal rate of return (IRR. However, the measurement scales of business performance are not limited to those measures. One element that has strong correlation to the business performances is ‘organisational culture’. Many studies proved that one of the significant criteria for achieving desired business objectives is the right organisational culture within workplace. Basically, the measurement of organisational culture is reflecting on two distinct elements: organisational culture and business objectives. In broader perspective, an organisation is considered effective if it meets its business objectives. This paper aims to present and discuss the preliminary culture model to indicate the culture performance within organisational. The model has been developed through literature review, expert opinion and experience which is anticipated of being able to potentially measure the culture capability of organisations across industries to “successfully achieve business objectives”. The model is composed of six progressive stages of maturity that an organisation can achieve its culture performance. For each maturity stage, the model describes a set of characteristics that must be in place for the company to achieve each stage. The validity of the proposed model will be tested by a few case studies. The idea is to provide managers with a qualitative measurement tools to enable them to identify where culture improvements are required within their organisations and to indicate their readiness for achieving business objectives.

Proposal of a congestion control technique in LAN networks using an econometric model ARIMA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joaquín F Sánchez

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Hasty software development can produce immediate implementations with source code unnecessarily complex and hardly readable. These small kinds of software decay generate a technical debt that could be big enough to seriously affect future maintenance activities. This work presents an analysis technique for identifying architectural technical debt related to non-uniformity of naming patterns; the technique is based on term frequency over package hierarchies. The proposal has been evaluated on projects of two popular organizations, Apache and Eclipse. The results have shown that most of the projects have frequent occurrences of the proposed naming patterns, and using a graph model and aggregated data could enable the elaboration of simple queries for debt identification. The technique has features that favor its applicability on emergent architectures and agile software development.

The modeling of contaminant flow during proposed treatment of U.S. Department of Energy low-level radioactive mixed wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dolak, D.A.; Wilkins, B.D.; Kotek, T.J.; Wang, Y.Y.; Meshkov, N.K.

1995-01-01

Estimations of waste materials throughput and the potential radiological and chemical releases resulting from the proposed treatment of US Department of Energy (DOE) low-level mixed wastes (LLMWs) were used to support analyses of risks and costs associated with various waste management alternatives outlined in the Office of Environmental Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EM PEIS). The modeling of material flow and contaminant releases through a consolidated waste management flowchart was performed by the WASTE MGMT computational model developed by Argonne National Laboratory. This paper (1) briefly describes the process used to model estimated material and contaminant flow through the proposed treatment scenarios for the EM PEIS, (2) discusses the key site- and/or waste-stream-dependent factors involved in the determination of radiological and chemical emissions, and (3) explains the assumptions used to integrate the available LLMW database with the computational model

Stochastic modeling of oligodendrocyte generation in cell culture: model validation with time-lapse data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noble Mark

2006-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The purpose of this paper is two-fold. The first objective is to validate the assumptions behind a stochastic model developed earlier by these authors to describe oligodendrocyte generation in cell culture. The second is to generate time-lapse data that may help biomathematicians to build stochastic models of cell proliferation and differentiation under other experimental scenarios. Results Using time-lapse video recording it is possible to follow the individual evolutions of different cells within each clone. This experimental technique is very laborious and cannot replace model-based quantitative inference from clonal data. However, it is unrivalled in validating the structure of a stochastic model intended to describe cell proliferation and differentiation at the clonal level. In this paper, such data are reported and analyzed for oligodendrocyte precursor cells cultured in vitro. Conclusion The results strongly support the validity of the most basic assumptions underpinning the previously proposed model of oligodendrocyte development in cell culture. However, there are some discrepancies; the most important is that the contribution of progenitor cell death to cell kinetics in this experimental system has been underestimated.

Proposed shake table studies for NAPP containment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akolkar, P.M.; Khuddus, M.A.

1975-01-01

The proposal for shake table studies on model of containment structure of Narora Atomic Power Project is discussed. The physical characteristics such as the dimensions, connection details of the containment with the internal structure and the dynamic interaction between the two have been described. The dynamic scale factors obtained through similitude requirements and dimensional analysis have been presented and the modelling aspects and the choice of model material and scale have been discussed. The proposed type of tests, necessary measurement and instrumentation have been mentioned. The limitations imposed by similitude requirements on model studies are brought out and the usefulness of the results of the proposed tests in the dynamic design of the containment have been covered. (author)

Tourism Cluster Competitiveness and Sustainability: Proposal for a Systemic Model to Measure the Impact of Tourism on Local Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sieglinde Kindl da Cunha

2005-07-01

Full Text Available This article proposes a model to measure tourism cluster impact on local development with a view to assessing tourism cluster interaction, competitiveness and sustainability impacts on the economy, society and the environment. The theoretical basis for this model is founded on cluster concept and typology adapting and integrating the systemic competitiveness and sustainability concepts within economic, social, cultural, environmental and political dimensions. The proposed model shows a holistic, multidisciplinary and multi-sector view of local development brought back through a systemic approach to the concepts of competitiveness, social equity and sustainability. Its results make possible strategic guidance to agents responsible for public sector tourism policies, as well as the strategies for competitiveness, competition, cooperation and sustainability in private companies and institutions.

FILTER-NET STRUCTURE AND PUMPING ACTIVITY IN THE POLYCHAETE NEREIS-DIVERSICOLOR - EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE AND PUMP-MODELING

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riisgård, H.U.; Vedel, A.; Boye, H.

1992-01-01

on water processing were measured as clearance of suspended algal cells or measured directly. Pumping activity (undulating body movements of worms kept in glass tubes) was monitored using an infrared phototransducer technique. In the temperature interval from 5 to about 15-degrees-C there was a linear...... and a halving of the net cycle length. At low temperatures a tendency towards an extended pause between pumping periods was noticed. The N. diversicolor pump was modelled as a positive displacement leaking unit, and earlier data on back pressure characteristics were examined in light of the proposed model...

Proposals for measuring transversity distributions in deep inelastic electron scattering and a model for E-704 asymmetries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Artru, X.

1993-10-01

The principles of the measurement of the quark transversity distributions in semi-inclusive deep inelastic electron scattering are presented, which form the basis of Hydrogen jet target in the LEP tunnel (HELP) and one of the European Laboratory For Electron (ELFE) proposals. A string model for Collins-type asymmetry in polarized quark fragmentation function is proposed. A possible role of the Collins effect in the single spin asymmetries observed by experiment E 704 at Fermilab is suggested. (author) 13 refs., 3 figs

Geological Site Descriptive Model. A strategy for the model development during site investigations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Munier, Raymond; Stenberg, Leif [Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co., Stockholm (Sweden); Stanfors, Roy [Roy Stanfors Consulting, Lund (Sweden); Milnes, Allan Geoffrey [GEA Consulting, Uppsala (Sweden); Hermanson, Jan [Golder Associates, Stockholm (Sweden); Triumf, Carl-Axel [Geovista, Luleaa (Sweden)

2003-04-01

The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) is at present conducting site investigations as a preliminary to building an underground nuclear waste disposal facility in Sweden. This report presents a methodology for constructing, visualising and presenting 3-dimensional geological models, based on data from the site investigations. The methodology integrates with the overall work-flow of the site investigations, from the collection of raw data to the complete site description, as proposed in several earlier technical reports. Further, it is specifically designed for interaction with SICADA - SKB's Site Characterisation Database - and RVS - SKB's Rock Visualisation System. This report is one in a series of strategy documents intended to demonstrate how modelling is to be performed within each discipline. However, it also has a wider purpose, since the geological site descriptive model provides the basic geometrical framework for all the other disciplines. Hence, the wider aim is to present a practical and clear methodology for the analysis and interpretation of input data for use in the construction of the geology-based 3D geometrical model. In addition to the various aspects of modelling described above, the methodology presented here should therefore also provide: guidelines and directives on how systematic interpretation and integration of geo-scientific data from the different investigation methods should be carried out; guidelines on how different geometries should be created in the geological models; guidelines on how the assignment of parameters to the different geological units in RVS should be accomplished; guidelines on the handling of uncertainty at different points in the interpretation process. In addition, it should clarify the relation between the geological model and other models used in the processes of site characterisation, repository layout and safety analysis. In particular, integration and transparency should be

Geological Site Descriptive Model. A strategy for the model development during site investigations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munier, Raymond; Stenberg, Leif; Stanfors, Roy; Milnes, Allan Geoffrey; Hermanson, Jan; Triumf, Carl-Axel

2003-04-01

The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) is at present conducting site investigations as a preliminary to building an underground nuclear waste disposal facility in Sweden. This report presents a methodology for constructing, visualising and presenting 3-dimensional geological models, based on data from the site investigations. The methodology integrates with the overall work-flow of the site investigations, from the collection of raw data to the complete site description, as proposed in several earlier technical reports. Further, it is specifically designed for interaction with SICADA - SKB's Site Characterisation Database - and RVS - SKB's Rock Visualisation System. This report is one in a series of strategy documents intended to demonstrate how modelling is to be performed within each discipline. However, it also has a wider purpose, since the geological site descriptive model provides the basic geometrical framework for all the other disciplines. Hence, the wider aim is to present a practical and clear methodology for the analysis and interpretation of input data for use in the construction of the geology-based 3D geometrical model. In addition to the various aspects of modelling described above, the methodology presented here should therefore also provide: guidelines and directives on how systematic interpretation and integration of geo-scientific data from the different investigation methods should be carried out; guidelines on how different geometries should be created in the geological models; guidelines on how the assignment of parameters to the different geological units in RVS should be accomplished; guidelines on the handling of uncertainty at different points in the interpretation process. In addition, it should clarify the relation between the geological model and other models used in the processes of site characterisation, repository layout and safety analysis. In particular, integration and transparency should be promoted. The

Modeling and measurement of interfacial area concentration in two-phase flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paranjape, Sidharth; Ishii, Mamoru; Hibiki, Takashi

2010-01-01

This paper presents experimental and modeling approaches in characterizing interfacial structures in gas-liquid two-phase flow. For the modeling of the interfacial structure characterization, the interfacial area transport equation proposed earlier has been studied to provide a dynamic and mechanistic prediction tool for two-phase flow analysis. A state-of-the-art four-sensor conductivity probe technique has been developed to obtain detailed local interfacial structure information in a wide range of flow regimes spanning from bubbly to churn-turbulent flows. Newly obtained interfacial area data in 8 x 8 rod-bundle test section are also presented. This paper also reviews available models of the interfacial area sink and source terms and existing databases. The interfacial area transport equation has been benchmarked using condensation bubbly flow data.

A dry-spot model for the prediction of critical heat flux in water boiling in bubbly flow regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ha, Sang Jun; No, Hee Cheon

1997-01-01

This paper presents a prediction of critical heat flux (CHF) in bubbly flow regime using dry-spot model proposed recently by authors for pool and flow boiling CHF and existing correlations for forced convective heat transfer coefficient, active site density and bubble departure diameter in nucleate boiling region. Without any empirical constants always present in earlier models, comparisons of the model predictions with experimental data for upward flow of water in vertical, uniformly-heated round tubes are performed and show a good agreement. The parametric trends of CHF have been explored with respect to variation in pressure, tube diameter and length, mass flux and inlet subcooling

Proposed retention model for human inhalation exposure to 241AmO2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mewhinney, J.A.; Griffith, W.C.; Muggenburg, B.A.

1980-01-01

A dosimetry model based on a four-year study in Beagle dogs was developed to predict patterns of absorbed radiation doses for people exposed by inhalation to 241 AmO 2 . Following a single inhalation exposure to one of three sizes of monodisperse or a polydisperse aerosol of 241 AmO 2 , pairs of dogs were sacrificed at 8, 32, 64 and 256 days, and 2 and 4 years. For about 80% of the initial lung burden, the retention halftimes were 11, 18, 26 and 27 days for the 0.75, 1.5 and 3.0 μm aerodynamic diameter and the 1.8 μm activity median aerodynamic diameter aerosols, respectively. For the remaining 20% of the initial lung burden, the retention halftimes were between 200 to 300 days with no apparent particle size influence. Additional 241 Am metabolic studies reported in the literature using inhalation exposure or injection of the citrate complex were synthesized in the model as were eleven reported cases of human inhalation exposure. This model is compared to the ICRP II and TGLD lung models, both developed by analogy to Pu metabolism. The proposed model differs from these latter models in two important areas: (a) lung retention of 241 AmO 2 could not be adapted to the classifications used in these models, and (b) the fractional translocation from lung to other organs is 2 to 8 times larger. These factors considerably alter the predicted radiation dose distribution among organs and lead to the conclusion that derived radiation protection standards for 241 AmO 2 inhalation exposure should be modified. (author)

Modeling of Dynamic Responses in Building Insulation

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Anna Antonyová

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In this research a measurement systemwas developedfor monitoring humidity and temperature in the cavity between the wall and the insulating material in the building envelope. This new technology does not disturb the insulating material during testing. The measurement system can also be applied to insulation fixed ten or twenty years earlier and sufficiently reveals the quality of the insulation. A mathematical model is proposed to characterize the dynamic responses in the cavity between the wall and the building insulation as influenced by weather conditions.These dynamic responses are manifested as a delay of both humidity and temperature changes in the cavity when compared with the changes in the ambient surrounding of the building. The process is then modeled through numerical methods and statistical analysis of the experimental data obtained using the new system of measurement.

Subthreshold Current and Swing Modeling of Gate Underlap DG MOSFETs with a Source/Drain Lateral Gaussian Doping Profile

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Kunal; Kumar, Sanjay; Goel, Ekta; Singh, Balraj; Kumar, Mirgender; Dubey, Sarvesh; Jit, Satyabrata

2017-01-01

This paper proposes a new model for the subthreshold current and swing of the short-channel symmetric underlap ultrathin double gate metal oxide field effect transistors with a source/drain lateral Gaussian doping profile. The channel potential model already reported earlier has been utilized to formulate the closed form expression for the subthreshold current and swing of the device. The effects of the lateral straggle and geometrical parameters such as the channel length, channel thickness, and oxide thickness on the off current and subthreshold slope have been demonstrated. The devices with source/drain lateral Gaussian doping profiles in the underlap structure are observed to be highly resistant to short channel effects while improving the current drive. The proposed model is validated by comparing the results with the numerical simulation data obtained by using the commercially available ATLAS™, a two-dimensional (2-D) device simulator from SILVACO.

Proposal of a stationary model of dispersion diagnoses of pollutants chemically non-reactivate, applied for mobile sources in Bogota

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruiz Murcia, Jose Franklln; Pabon Caicedo, Jose Daniel

2002-01-01

The following document presents a semi empirical model to calculate concentrations of monoxide of carbon in surface by mobile sources. This model considers three basic components: meteorology, emissions and atmospheric chemistry. Scientifically, the propose model is sustained en the fact that the quality of the air depends of the weather's conditions and the numbers of source that is emitting

Socio-economic vulnerability to natural hazards - proposal for an indicator-based model

Science.gov (United States)

Eidsvig, U.; McLean, A.; Vangelsten, B. V.; Kalsnes, B.; Ciurean, R. L.; Argyroudis, S.; Winter, M.; Corominas, J.; Mavrouli, O. C.; Fotopoulou, S.; Pitilakis, K.; Baills, A.; Malet, J. P.

2012-04-01

Vulnerability assessment, with respect to natural hazards, is a complex process that must consider multiple dimensions of vulnerability, including both physical and social factors. Physical vulnerability refers to conditions of physical assets, and may be modeled by the intensity and magnitude of the hazard, the degree of physical protection provided by the natural and built environment, and the physical robustness of the exposed elements. Social vulnerability refers to the underlying factors leading to the inability of people, organizations, and societies to withstand impacts from the natural hazards. Social vulnerability models can be used in combination with physical vulnerability models to estimate both direct losses, i.e. losses that occur during and immediately after the impact, as well as indirect losses, i.e. long-term effects of the event. Direct impact of a landslide typically includes casualties and damages to buildings and infrastructure while indirect losses may e.g. include business closures or limitations in public services. The direct losses are often assessed using physical vulnerability indicators (e.g. construction material, height of buildings), while indirect losses are mainly assessed using social indicators (e.g. economical resources, demographic conditions). Within the EC-FP7 SafeLand research project, an indicator-based method was proposed to assess relative socio-economic vulnerability to landslides. The indicators represent the underlying factors which influence a community's ability to prepare for, deal with, and recover from the damage associated with landslides. The proposed model includes indicators representing demographic, economic and social characteristics as well as indicators representing the degree of preparedness and recovery capacity. Although the model focuses primarily on the indirect losses, it could easily be extended to include more physical indicators which account for the direct losses. Each indicator is individually

Proposing a Model to present Factors which Affect e-SCM Risk and their Impacts on Organizational Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ali rajabzadeh ghatari

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Companies strive to improve market share, grow corporate profit, and gain strategic advantage. In order to achieve these goals, supply chain competency must be placed at the heart of a company’s business model. Using e-Commerce and information and communication technologies (ICT in today’s changing demands of business has made organizations more responsive and flexible. E-Commerce and Internet have changed the nature of supply chains and re-defined how customers obtain wisdom of products, services, selection, purchasing and using them. Advent of ICT and new business environment has caused emerge of electronic supply chains. This research has proposed a model for presenting factors which affect electronic supply chain’s risk; besides the influence of the risk on financial and non-financial organization’s performance indicators. Studying the influence of the risk on organization’s performance is conducted in a sample of electronic and telecommunication companies. In order to measure these relationships, using correlation and structural equation modeling (SEM techniques proposed that electronic supply chain risk identification and management have significant impact on organization’s performance improvement.

A predictive estimation method for carbon dioxide transport by data-driven modeling with a physically-based data model

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Jina; Park, Eungyu; Han, Weon Shik; Kim, Kue-Young; Jun, Seong-Chun; Choung, Sungwook; Yun, Seong-Taek; Oh, Junho; Kim, Hyun-Jun

2017-11-01

In this study, a data-driven method for predicting CO2 leaks and associated concentrations from geological CO2 sequestration is developed. Several candidate models are compared based on their reproducibility and predictive capability for CO2 concentration measurements from the Environment Impact Evaluation Test (EIT) site in Korea. Based on the data mining results, a one-dimensional solution of the advective-dispersive equation for steady flow (i.e., Ogata-Banks solution) is found to be most representative for the test data, and this model is adopted as the data model for the developed method. In the validation step, the method is applied to estimate future CO2 concentrations with the reference estimation by the Ogata-Banks solution, where a part of earlier data is used as the training dataset. From the analysis, it is found that the ensemble mean of multiple estimations based on the developed method shows high prediction accuracy relative to the reference estimation. In addition, the majority of the data to be predicted are included in the proposed quantile interval, which suggests adequate representation of the uncertainty by the developed method. Therefore, the incorporation of a reasonable physically-based data model enhances the prediction capability of the data-driven model. The proposed method is not confined to estimations of CO2 concentration and may be applied to various real-time monitoring data from subsurface sites to develop automated control, management or decision-making systems.

A predictive estimation method for carbon dioxide transport by data-driven modeling with a physically-based data model.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Jina; Park, Eungyu; Han, Weon Shik; Kim, Kue-Young; Jun, Seong-Chun; Choung, Sungwook; Yun, Seong-Taek; Oh, Junho; Kim, Hyun-Jun

2017-11-01

In this study, a data-driven method for predicting CO 2 leaks and associated concentrations from geological CO 2 sequestration is developed. Several candidate models are compared based on their reproducibility and predictive capability for CO 2 concentration measurements from the Environment Impact Evaluation Test (EIT) site in Korea. Based on the data mining results, a one-dimensional solution of the advective-dispersive equation for steady flow (i.e., Ogata-Banks solution) is found to be most representative for the test data, and this model is adopted as the data model for the developed method. In the validation step, the method is applied to estimate future CO 2 concentrations with the reference estimation by the Ogata-Banks solution, where a part of earlier data is used as the training dataset. From the analysis, it is found that the ensemble mean of multiple estimations based on the developed method shows high prediction accuracy relative to the reference estimation. In addition, the majority of the data to be predicted are included in the proposed quantile interval, which suggests adequate representation of the uncertainty by the developed method. Therefore, the incorporation of a reasonable physically-based data model enhances the prediction capability of the data-driven model. The proposed method is not confined to estimations of CO 2 concentration and may be applied to various real-time monitoring data from subsurface sites to develop automated control, management or decision-making systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modeling oscillatory dynamics in brain microcircuits as a way to help uncover neurological disease mechanisms: A proposal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Skinner, F. K. [Toronto Western Research Institute, University Health Network, Krembil Discovery Tower, Toronto Western Hospital, 60 Leonard Street, 7th floor, 7KD411, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S8 (Canada); Department of Medicine (Neurology), University of Toronto, 200 Elizabeth Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C4 (Canada); Department of Physiology, University of Toronto Medical Sciences Building, 3rd Floor, 1 King' s College Circle, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8 (Canada); Ferguson, K. A. [Toronto Western Research Institute, University Health Network, Krembil Discovery Tower, Toronto Western Hospital, 60 Leonard Street, 7th floor, 7KD411, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S8 (Canada); Department of Physiology, University of Toronto Medical Sciences Building, 3rd Floor, 1 King' s College Circle, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8 (Canada)

2013-12-15

There is an undisputed need and requirement for theoretical and computational studies in Neuroscience today. Furthermore, it is clear that oscillatory dynamical output from brain networks is representative of various behavioural states, and it is becoming clear that one could consider these outputs as measures of normal and pathological brain states. Although mathematical modeling of oscillatory dynamics in the context of neurological disease exists, it is a highly challenging endeavour because of the many levels of organization in the nervous system. This challenge is coupled with the increasing knowledge of cellular specificity and network dysfunction that is associated with disease. Recently, whole hippocampus in vitro preparations from control animals have been shown to spontaneously express oscillatory activities. In addition, when using preparations derived from animal models of disease, these activities show particular alterations. These preparations present an opportunity to address challenges involved with using models to gain insight because of easier access to simultaneous cellular and network measurements, and pharmacological modulations. We propose that by developing and using models with direct links to experiment at multiple levels, which at least include cellular and microcircuit, a cycling can be set up and used to help us determine critical mechanisms underlying neurological disease. We illustrate our proposal using our previously developed inhibitory network models in the context of these whole hippocampus preparations and show the importance of having direct links at multiple levels.

Distribution of stoneflies of the family Taeniopterygidae (Plecoptera) in the Czech Republic: earlier data, new records and recent distributional changes

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Bojková, J.; Soldán, Tomáš; Špaček, J.; Straka, M.

2011-01-01

Roč. 60, č. 3 (2011), s. 239-258 ISSN 1211-3026 Grant - others:Czech Science Foundation(CZ) GAP505/10/P302 Program:GP Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50070508 Keywords : Plecoptera * Taeniopterygidae * historical and earlier data Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour

A CN-Based Ensembled Hydrological Model for Enhanced Watershed Runoff Prediction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Ajmal

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A major structural inconsistency of the traditional curve number (CN model is its dependence on an unstable fixed initial abstraction, which normally results in sudden jumps in runoff estimation. Likewise, the lack of pre-storm soil moisture accounting (PSMA procedure is another inherent limitation of the model. To circumvent those problems, we used a variable initial abstraction after ensembling the traditional CN model and a French four-parameter (GR4J model to better quantify direct runoff from ungauged watersheds. To mimic the natural rainfall-runoff transformation at the watershed scale, our new parameterization designates intrinsic parameters and uses a simple structure. It exhibited more accurate and consistent results than earlier methods in evaluating data from 39 forest-dominated watersheds, both for small and large watersheds. In addition, based on different performance evaluation indicators, the runoff reproduction results show that the proposed model produced more consistent results for dry, normal, and wet watershed conditions than the other models used in this study.

Evaluating the impact a proposed family planning model would have on maternal and infant mortality in Afghanistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahmani, Ahmad Masoud; Wade, Benjamin; Riley, William

2015-01-01

This study aimed to assess the potential impact a proposed family planning model would have on reducing maternal and infant mortality in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has a high total fertility rate, high infant mortality rate, and high maternal mortality rate. Afghanistan also has tremendous socio-cultural barriers to and misconceptions about family planning services. We applied predictive statistical models to a proposed family planning model for Afghanistan to better understand the impact increased family planning can have on Afghanistan's maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate. We further developed a sensitivity analysis that illustrates the number of maternal and infant deaths that can be averted over 5 years according to different increases in contraceptive prevalence rates. Incrementally increasing contraceptive prevalence rates in Afghanistan from 10% to 60% over the course of 5 years could prevent 11,653 maternal deaths and 317,084 infant deaths, a total of 328,737 maternal and infant deaths averted. Achieving goals in reducing maternal and infant mortality rates in Afghanistan requires a culturally relevant approach to family planning that will be supported by the population. The family planning model for Afghanistan presents such a solution and holds the potential to prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Citygml and the Streets of New York - a Proposal for Detailed Street Space Modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Beil, C.; Kolbe, T. H.

2017-10-01

Three-dimensional semantic city models are increasingly used for the analysis of large urban areas. Until now the focus has mostly been on buildings. Nonetheless many applications could also benefit from detailed models of public street space for further analysis. However, there are only few guidelines for representing roads within city models. Therefore, related standards dealing with street modelling are examined and discussed. Nearly all street representations are based on linear abstractions. However, there are many use cases that require or would benefit from the detailed geometrical and semantic representation of street space. A variety of potential applications for detailed street space models are presented. Subsequently, based on related standards as well as on user requirements, a concept for a CityGML-compliant representation of street space in multiple levels of detail is developed. In the course of this process, the CityGML Transportation model of the currently valid OGC standard CityGML2.0 is examined to discover possibilities for further developments. Moreover, a number of improvements are presented. Finally, based on open data sources, the proposed concept is implemented within a semantic 3D city model of New York City generating a detailed 3D street space model for the entire city. As a result, 11 thematic classes, such as roadbeds, sidewalks or traffic islands are generated and enriched with a large number of thematic attributes.

THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL CONTRIBUTIONS CONCERNING THE PROPOSED MODEL FOR THE DISC-TYPED ROTARY ULTRASONIC MOTOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oana CHIVU

2010-10-01

Full Text Available In this work the proposed model for type-disk, ultrasonic motor rotating, elliptic movement to surface beam. A sinusoidal vibration of the vertical displacement in the z-direction, Assume that the vertical displacement of the neutral plane, equals the product of the slope of the neutral plane and half of the beam height, the tangential velocity vs at the upper surface is given.

Models including electron correlation in relation to Fock's proposed expansion of the ground-state wave function of He-like atomic ions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Glasser, M. L.; March, N. H.; Nieto, L. M. [Departamento de Fisica Teorica, Atomica y Optica, Universidad de Valladolid, ES-47011 Valladolid, Spain and Department of Physics, Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York 13699 (United States); Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, BE-2020 Antwerp, Belgium and Department of Theoretical Chemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2JD (United Kingdom); Departamento de Fisica Teorica, Atomica y Optica, Universidad de Valladolid, ES-47011 Valladolid (Spain)

2011-12-15

Here attention is first drawn to the importance of gaining insight into Fock's early proposal for expanding the ground-state wave function for He-like atomic ions in hyperspherical coordinates. We approach the problem via two solvable models, namely, (i) the s-term model put forth by Temkin [Phys. Rev. 126, 130 (1962)] and (ii) the Hookean atom model proposed by Kestner and Sinanoglu [Phys. Rev. 128, 2687 (1962)]. In both cases the local kinetic energy can be obtained explicitly in hyperspherical coordinates. Separation of variables occurs in both model wave functions, though in a different context in the two cases. Finally, a k-space formulation is proposed that should eventually result in distinctive identifying characteristics of Fock's nonanalyticities for He-like atomic ions when both electrons are close to the nucleus.

Equivalent flow rate concept used in near field transport model COMP23 - Proposed values for SR 97

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moreno, L.

1998-11-01

SKB is using NUCTRAN to calculate transport of radionuclides from a possible defective canister into the far field. NUCTRAN is included in the Performance Assessment model chain that calculates the release from the canister into the biosphere. In the chain, NUCTRAN is denoted COMP23. In order to calculate the transport of radionuclides by diffusion into the flowing water in the rock, NUCTRAN uses the concept of equivalent flow rate, Q eq . To calculate the value of Q eq in the different paths, COMP23 needs information about the Darcy velocity, the geometry of the system, material properties and the flow porosity in the rock. At present, this information is supplied to COMP23 by means of three parameters. The aim of this note is to propose a method to calculate the flow equivalent within the SR 97 project. Estimated intervals of the factors to adopt HYDRASTAR results to COMP23 are presented. Since it is difficult to give general validity to the factors, solely proposed factor intervals are presented to obtain equivalent flow rate values for COMP23. To obtain accurate equivalent flow rate values, information about the hydraulic conditions at canister locations in the groundwater model should be available for the near field model or the Q eq values could be calculated directly in the groundwater flow model. One of the main tasks in the SR 97 project is to show the barrier performance of the rock using different alternative models for flow and transport. In addition, the Alternative Model Project (AMP) aims to show how robust the assessment model description is, in terms of relevant far field performance measures. In the AMP, three main approaches were used, namely, the Stochastic Continuum approach, the Channel Network model and the Discrete Feature Network model

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

WenJun Zhang

2012-06-01

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

Proposed changes to the NDS introductory material. Revisions to the earlier version of this document

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reich, C.W.

2001-01-01

This paper includes some comments of the previously submitted paper under the same title referring especially to the following: general policies in treatment of α decay hindrance factors, ground states, γ and β transitions, magnetic moments, regions of strong nuclear deformation, α decay

Modelling Aṣṭādhyāyī: An Approach Based on the Methodology of Ancillary Disciplines (Vedāṅga)

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Anand

This article proposes a general model based on the common methodological approach of the ancillary disciplines (Vedāṅga) associated with the Vedas taking examples from Śikṣā, Chandas, Vyākaraṇa and Prātiśā khya texts. It develops and elaborates this model further to represent the contents and processes of Aṣṭādhyāyī. Certain key features are added to my earlier modelling of Pāṇinian system of Sanskrit grammar. This includes broader coverage of the Pāṇinian meta-language, mechanism for automatic application of rules and positioning the grammatical system within the procedural complexes of ancillary disciplines.

Efficiency using computer simulation of Reverse Threshold Model Theory on assessing a “One Laptop Per Child” computer versus desktop computer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Supat Faarungsang

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The Reverse Threshold Model Theory (RTMT model was introduced based on limiting factor concepts, but its efficiency compared to the Conventional Model (CM has not been published. This investigation assessed the efficiency of RTMT compared to CM using computer simulation on the “One Laptop Per Child” computer and a desktop computer. Based on probability values, it was found that RTMT was more efficient than CM among eight treatment combinations and an earlier study verified that RTMT gives complete elimination of random error. Furthermore, RTMT has several advantages over CM and is therefore proposed to be applied to most research data.

Proposal of a new biokinetic model for niobium; Proposta de um novo modelo biocinetico para o niobio

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oliveira, Roges

2006-07-01

There are two niobium isotopes generated in nuclear power plants: 95 Nb and 94 Nb. Workers and members of the public are subjects to intake these radionuclides in accident situation. For dose calculation purpose, it is very important to develop a model that describes in a more realistic way the kinetics of niobium inside of the human body. Presently the model adopted by ICRP (ICRP, 1989) is based on animal studies and describes the behavior of niobium in human being in a simple manner. The new model proposal describes the kinetics of the niobium from the intake into the blood until the excretion, doing this in a more realistic form and considering not only data from animals but data from human beings as well. For this objective, a workers group of a niobium extraction and processing industry exposed to stable niobium (93 Nb) in oxide insoluble form with associated uranium, was monitored for uranium and niobium determination in urinary and fecal excretion, by mass spectrometry. Based in the ratios of the niobium concentration in urinary and faecal excretion of this workers and animal data study, a new biokinetic model for niobium was proposed, with the followings modifications relative to ICRP model: a new compartment that represents muscular tissue; the fractions which are deposited into the compartment are modified; a third component in the retention equation of the bone tissue; introduction of recirculation between organs and blood. The new model was applied for a case of accidental intake and described adequately the experimental data.

A proposed model of factors influencing hydrogen fuel cell vehicle acceptance

Science.gov (United States)

Imanina, N. H. Noor; Kwe Lu, Tan; Fadhilah, A. R.

2016-03-01

Issues such as environmental problem and energy insecurity keep worsening as a result of energy use from household to huge industries including automotive industry. Recently, a new type of zero emission vehicle, hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (HFCV) has received attention. Although there are argues on the feasibility of hydrogen as the future fuel, there is another important issue, which is the acceptance of HFCV. The study of technology acceptance in the early stage is a vital key for a successful introduction and penetration of a technology. This paper proposes a model of factors influencing green vehicle acceptance, specifically HFCV. This model is built base on two technology acceptance theories and other empirical studies of vehicle acceptance. It aims to provide a base for finding the key factors influencing new sustainable energy fuelled vehicle, HFCV acceptance which is achieved by explaining intention to accept HFCV. Intention is influenced by attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control from Theory of Planned Behaviour and personal norm from Norm Activation Theory. In the framework, attitude is influenced by perceptions of benefits and risks, and social trust. Perceived behavioural control is influenced by government interventions. Personal norm is influenced by outcome efficacy and problem awareness.

Statistical surrogate model based sampling criterion for stochastic global optimization of problems with constraints

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Su Gil; Jang, Jun Yong; Kim, Ji Hoon; Lee, Tae Hee [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Min Uk [Romax Technology Ltd., Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Choi, Jong Su; Hong, Sup [Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-04-15

Sequential surrogate model-based global optimization algorithms, such as super-EGO, have been developed to increase the efficiency of commonly used global optimization technique as well as to ensure the accuracy of optimization. However, earlier studies have drawbacks because there are three phases in the optimization loop and empirical parameters. We propose a united sampling criterion to simplify the algorithm and to achieve the global optimum of problems with constraints without any empirical parameters. It is able to select the points located in a feasible region with high model uncertainty as well as the points along the boundary of constraint at the lowest objective value. The mean squared error determines which criterion is more dominant among the infill sampling criterion and boundary sampling criterion. Also, the method guarantees the accuracy of the surrogate model because the sample points are not located within extremely small regions like super-EGO. The performance of the proposed method, such as the solvability of a problem, convergence properties, and efficiency, are validated through nonlinear numerical examples with disconnected feasible regions.

A dry-spot model for the prediction of critical heat flux in water boiling in bubbly flow regime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ha, Sang Jun; No, Hee Cheon [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1998-12-31

This paper presents a prediction of critical heat flux (CHF) in bubbly flow regime using dry-spot model proposed recently by authors for pool and flow boiling CHF and existing correlations for forced convective heat transfer coefficient, active site density and bubble departure diameter in nucleate boiling region. Without any empirical constants always present in earlier models, comparisons of the model predictions with experimental data for upward flow of water in vertical, uniformly-heated round tubes are performed and show a good agreement. The parametric trends of CHF have been explored with respect to variations in pressure, tube diameter and length, mass flux and inlet subcooling. 16 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab. (Author)

A dry-spot model for the prediction of critical heat flux in water boiling in bubbly flow regime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ha, Sang Jun; No, Hee Cheon [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1997-12-31

This paper presents a prediction of critical heat flux (CHF) in bubbly flow regime using dry-spot model proposed recently by authors for pool and flow boiling CHF and existing correlations for forced convective heat transfer coefficient, active site density and bubble departure diameter in nucleate boiling region. Without any empirical constants always present in earlier models, comparisons of the model predictions with experimental data for upward flow of water in vertical, uniformly-heated round tubes are performed and show a good agreement. The parametric trends of CHF have been explored with respect to variations in pressure, tube diameter and length, mass flux and inlet subcooling. 16 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab. (Author)

Recursive modeling of loss of control in human and organizational processes: a systemic model for accident analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kontogiannis, Tom; Malakis, Stathis

2012-09-01

A recursive model of accident investigation is proposed by exploiting earlier work in systems thinking. Safety analysts can understand better the underlying causes of decision or action flaws by probing into the patterns of breakdown in the organization of safety. For this deeper analysis, a cybernetic model of organizational factors and a control model of human processes have been integrated in this article (i.e., the viable system model and the extended control model). The joint VSM-ECOM framework has been applied to a case study to help safety practitioners with the analysis of patterns of breakdown with regard to how operators and organizations manage goal conflicts, monitor work progress, recognize weak signals, align goals across teams, and adapt plans on the fly. The recursive accident representation brings together several organizational issues (e.g., the dilemma of autonomy versus compliance, or the interaction between structure and strategy) and addresses how operators adapt to challenges in their environment by adjusting their modes of functioning and recovery. Finally, it facilitates the transfer of knowledge from diverse incidents and near misses within similar domains of practice. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling Chemotherapy-Induced Hair Loss: From Experimental Propositions toward Clinical Reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Botchkarev, Vladimir A; Sharov, Andrey A

2016-03-01

Chemotherapy-induced hair loss is one of the most devastating side effects of cancer treatment. To study the effects of chemotherapeutic agents on the hair follicle, a number of experimental models have been proposed. Yoon et al. report that transplantation of human scalp hair follicles onto chemotherapy-treated immunodeficient mice serves as an excellent in vivo model for chemotherapy-induced hair loss. Yoon et al. demonstrate that (i) the response of human hair follicles grafted onto immunodeficient mice to cyclophosphamide resembles the key features of the chemotherapy-induced hair loss seen in patients with cancer and (ii) this human in vivo model for chemotherapy-induced hair loss is closer to clinical reality than to any earlier models. Undoubtedly, this model will serve as a valuable tool for analyses of the mechanisms that underlie this devastating side effect of anti-cancer therapy. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ecological planning proposal for Kruger National Park

Science.gov (United States)

van Riet, W. F.; Cooks, J.

1990-05-01

This article discusses an application of the ecological planning model proposed by Van Riet and Cooks. The various steps outlined in this model have been applied to Kruger National Park in South Africa. The natural features of Kruger National Park, which form the basis of such an ecological planning exercise and from which the various land use categories, values, and zoning classes can be determined, are discussed in detail. The suitability of each of the various features is analyzed and a final zoning proposal for Kruger National Park is suggested. Furthermore a method for selecting a site for a new camp is illustrated by referring to the site for the new Mopane rest camp which is now under construction in the Kruger National Park. The conclusion is reached that the proposed ecological planning model can be used successfully in planning conservation areas such as Kruger National Park and for the selection of the most desirable sites for the establishment of new rest camps. Its suitability as a practical model in such planning exercises is proven by the fact that the siting proposals of two new camps based on this model have been accepted by the National Parks Board, the controlling body of Kruger National Park.

An inhibitor of polyamine synthesis arrests cells at an earlier stage of G1 than does calcium deprivation.

OpenAIRE

Cheetham, B F

1983-01-01

Methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) completely inhibits the induction of thymidine kinase after serum stimulation of quiescent fibroblasts only if added within 3 h after serum, whereas calcium deprivation blocks this induction up to 12 h after serum stimulation. Experiments in which one of these blocks was imposed as the other was released confirmed that cells blocked by methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) are arrested at an earlier stage in G1 than cells blocked by calcium deprivation.

Folding model analysis of Λ binding energies and three-body ΛNN force

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mian, M.; Rahman Khan, M.Z.

1988-02-01

Working within the framework of the folding model, we analyze the Λ binding energy data of light hypernuclei with effective two-body ΛN plus three-body ΛNN interaction. The two-body density for the core nucleus required for evaluating the three-body force contribution is obtained in terms of the centre of mass pair correlation. It is found that except for Λ 5 He the data are fairly well explained. The three-body force seems to account for the density dependence of the effective two-body ΛN interaction proposed earlier. (author). 13 refs, 2 tabs

Optimal policies of non-cross-resistant chemotherapy on Goldie and Coldman's cancer model.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jeng-Huei; Kuo, Ya-Hui; Luh, Hsing Paul

2013-10-01

Mathematical models can be used to study the chemotherapy on tumor cells. Especially, in 1979, Goldie and Coldman proposed the first mathematical model to relate the drug sensitivity of tumors to their mutation rates. Many scientists have since referred to this pioneering work because of its simplicity and elegance. Its original idea has also been extended and further investigated in massive follow-up studies of cancer modeling and optimal treatment. Goldie and Coldman, together with Guaduskas, later used their model to explain why an alternating non-cross-resistant chemotherapy is optimal with a simulation approach. Subsequently in 1983, Goldie and Coldman proposed an extended stochastic based model and provided a rigorous mathematical proof to their earlier simulation work when the extended model is approximated by its quasi-approximation. However, Goldie and Coldman's analytic study of optimal treatments majorly focused on a process with symmetrical parameter settings, and presented few theoretical results for asymmetrical settings. In this paper, we recast and restate Goldie, Coldman, and Guaduskas' model as a multi-stage optimization problem. Under an asymmetrical assumption, the conditions under which a treatment policy can be optimal are derived. The proposed framework enables us to consider some optimal policies on the model analytically. In addition, Goldie, Coldman and Guaduskas' work with symmetrical settings can be treated as a special case of our framework. Based on the derived conditions, this study provides an alternative proof to Goldie and Coldman's work. In addition to the theoretical derivation, numerical results are included to justify the correctness of our work. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Left ventricular filling rate change as an earlier indicator than ejection fraction of chemotherapeutic cardiotoxicity in cancer paptents' nuclear medicine MUGA scans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miko, T.G.

2004-01-01

According to Wang Siegel has long suggested that an earlier indicator of damage to the hearts of cancer patients undergoing potentially cardiotoxic chemotherapy could be change in the left ventricular filling rate (LVFT) rather than dependence on the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) as a measure for when to discontinue chemotherapy. Currently ejection fraction obtained by performing the nuclear medicine MUGA scan is the gold standard for determining further treatment of patients with these cardiotoxic agents. We are seeking to see if changes in filling rate (LVFR) are an earlier indicator of cardiotoxicity by performing a retrospective analysis of MUGA scans performed at our facility pre- and post-chemotherapy and performing a statistical analysis of changes in ejection fraction us filling rate in patients known to have cardiotoxic changes due to chemotherapy. (authors)

From representing to modelling knowledge: Proposing a two-step training for excellence in concept mapping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joana G. Aguiar

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Training users in the concept mapping technique is critical for ensuring a high-quality concept map in terms of graphical structure and content accuracy. However, assessing excellence in concept mapping through structural and content features is a complex task. This paper proposes a two-step sequential training in concept mapping. The first step requires the fulfilment of low-order cognitive objectives (remember, understand and apply to facilitate novices’ development into good Cmappers by honing their knowledge representation skills. The second step requires the fulfilment of high-order cognitive objectives (analyse, evaluate and create to grow good Cmappers into excellent ones through the development of knowledge modelling skills. Based on Bloom’s revised taxonomy and cognitive load theory, this paper presents theoretical accounts to (1 identify the criteria distinguishing good and excellent concept maps, (2 inform instructional tasks for concept map elaboration and (3 propose a prototype for training users on concept mapping combining online and face-to-face activities. The proposed training application and the institutional certification are the next steps for the mature use of concept maps for educational as well as business purposes.

Development of an alarm analysis system based on multi-level flow models for nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Jiande; Yang Ming; Zhang Zhijian

2008-01-01

An alarm analysis system based on Multi-level Flow Models (MFM) was developed for a PWR NPP. By automatically identifying the primary root causes in complex fault situations, the workload of the operators can be reduced. In addition, because MFM also provides a set of graphical symbols that implies causalities, operators can confirm diagnosis results by semiotic analysis, and hence the understandability of the process of alarm analysis as well as the reliability of maintenance task can be increased. 19 cases of simulation data from RELAP5/MOD2 code were utilized for evaluating the performance of the proposed system. The simulation results show that the proposed alarm analysis system has a good ability to detect and diagnose accidents earlier in time before reactor trip. (authors)

Hydrogeologic modelling in support of a proposed Deep Geologic Repository in Canada for low and intermediate level radioactive waste

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sykes, J.F.; Normani, S.D.; Yin, Y. [Waterloo Univ., ON (Canada). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Sykes, E.A.; Jensen, M.R. [Nuclear Waste Management Organization, Toronto, ON (Canada)

2009-07-01

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has proposed the construction of a Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) for low and intermediate level radioactive waste at the Bruce site on the shore of Lake Huron near Tiverton, Ontario. The DGR is to be excavated at a depth of about 680 m within argillaceous limestones of Ordovician age. A saturated regional-scale and site-scale numerical modelling study has been completed in order to evaluate the safety of storing radioactive waste at the site and to better understand the geochemistry and hydrogeology of the formations surrounding the proposed DGR. This paper reported on the regional-scale base-case modelling and analysis of the measured pressure profile in deep boreholes at the DGR site. The numerical modelling study provided a framework to investigate the groundwater flow system as it relates to, and potentially affects, the safety and long-term performance of the DGR. A saturated groundwater flow model was also developed using FRAC3DVS-OPG. The objective of regional-scale groundwater modelling of the Paleozoic sedimentary sequence underlying southwestern Ontario was to provide a basis for the assembly and integration of site-specific geoscientific data and to explain the influence of parameter and scenario uncertainty on predicted long-term geosphere barrier performance. The base-case analysis showed that solute transport in the Ordovician and lower Silurian is diffusion dominant. For the base-case parameters, the estimated mean life expectancy for the proposed DGR is more than 8 million years. The possible presence of a gas phase in the rock between the Cambrian and the Niagaran was not considered in the analyses of this paper. 9 refs., 2 tabs., 10 figs.

Proposal of a model for sales and operations planning (S&OP maturity evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carolina Belotti Pedroso

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract A successful S&OP implementation can bring many benefits to organizations, and after its implementation, the S&OP process can evolve and reach higher levels of maturity. Considering that, only through a measurement system, goals and benefits can be achieved, thus, it is essential to assess S&OP maturity level. Many papers on literature adopt a quantitative perspective on S&OP, but just few of them deal with uncertainty present in S&OP decision-making, such as maturity model assessment process that carries subjectivity and uncertainty. Thus, this study proposes a decision making model based on fuzzy theory to evaluate and to categorize S&OP maturity levels and to suggest strategies to increase S&OP maturity. A pilot application was conducted in two manufacturing organizations that have implemented the S&OP process. The results, according to the performance presented, suggest different actions must be taken in terms of ensuring enablers to S&OP implementation.

Factors contributing to risk for cancer among HIV-infected individuals, and evidence that earlier combination antiretroviral therapy will alter this risk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borges, Alvaro Humberto Diniz; Dubrow, Robert; Silverberg, Michael J

2014-01-01

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To critically appraise recent published literature about factors associated with cancer risk likely to be influenced by combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in HIV-infected individuals, and the potential of earlier cART initiation to reduce this risk. RECENT FINDINGS: Fact...

Realistic Modeling and Animation of Human Body Based on Scanned Data

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yong-You Ma; Hui Zhang; Shou-Wei Jiang

2004-01-01

In this paper we propose a novel method for building animation model of real human body from surface scanned data.The human model is represented by a triangular mesh and described as a layered geometric model.The model consists of two layers: the control skeleton generating body animation from motion capture data,and the simplified surface model providing an efficient representation of the skin surface shape.The skeleton is generated automatically from surface scanned data using the feature extraction,and thena point-to-line mapping is used to map the surface model onto the underlying skeleton.The resulting model enables real-time and smooth animation by manipulation of the skeleton while maintaining the surface detail.Compared with earlier approach,the principal advantages of our approach are the automated generation of body control skeletons from the scanned data for real-time animation,and the automatic mapping and animation of the captured human surface shape.The human model constructed in this work can be used for applications of ergonomic design,garment CAD,real-time simulating humans in virtual reality environment and so on.

A proposed defect tracking model for classifying the inserted defect reports to enhance software quality control.

Science.gov (United States)

Sultan, Torky; Khedr, Ayman E; Sayed, Mostafa

2013-01-01

NONE DECLARED Defect tracking systems play an important role in the software development organizations as they can store historical information about defects. There are many research in defect tracking models and systems to enhance their capabilities to be more specifically tracking, and were adopted with new technology. Furthermore, there are different studies in classifying bugs in a step by step method to have clear perception and applicable method in detecting such bugs. This paper shows a new proposed defect tracking model for the purpose of classifying the inserted defects reports in a step by step method for more enhancement of the software quality.

An inhibitor of polyamine synthesis arrests cells at an earlier stage of G1 than does calcium deprivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheetham, B F

1983-01-01

Methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) completely inhibits the induction of thymidine kinase after serum stimulation of quiescent fibroblasts only if added within 3 h after serum, whereas calcium deprivation blocks this induction up to 12 h after serum stimulation. Experiments in which one of these blocks was imposed as the other was released confirmed that cells blocked by methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) are arrested at an earlier stage in G1 than cells blocked by calcium deprivation. PMID:6843551

Low protein content of drainage fluid is a good predictor for earlier chest tube removal after lobectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Olgac, Guven; Cosgun, Tugba; Vayvada, Mustafa; Ozdemir, Atilla; Kutlu, Cemal Asim

2014-10-01

Owing to the great absorption capability of the pleura for transudates, the protein content of draining pleural fluid may be considered as a more adequate determinant than its daily draining amount in the decision-making for earlier chest tube removal. In an a priori pilot study, we observed that the initially draining protein-rich exudate converts to a transudate quickly in most patients after lobectomies. Thus, chest tubes draining high-volume but low-protein fluids can safely be removed earlier in the absence of an air leak. This randomized study aims to investigate the validity and clinical applicability of this hypothesis as well as its influence on the timing for chest tube removal and earlier discharge after lobectomy. Seventy-two consecutive patients undergoing straightforward lobectomy were randomized into two groups. Patients with conditions affecting postoperative drainage and with persisting air leaks beyond the third postoperative day were excluded. Drains were removed if the pleural fluid to blood protein ratio (PrRPl/B) was ≤0.5, regardless of its daily draining amount in the study arm (Group S; n = 38), and patients in the control arm (Group C; n = 34) had their tubes removed if daily drainage was ≤250 ml regardless of its protein content. Patients were discharged home immediately or the following morning after removal of the last drain. All cases were followed up regarding the development of symptomatic pleural effusions and hospital readmissions for a redrainage procedure. Demographic and clinical characteristics as well as the pattern of decrease in PrRPl/B were the same between groups. The mean PrRPl/B was 0.65 and 0.67 (95% CI = 0.60-0.69 and 0.62-0.72) on the first postoperative day, and it remarkably dropped down to 0.39 and 0.33 (95% CI = 0.33-0.45 and 0.27-0.39) on the second day in Groups S and C, respectively, and remained below 0.5 on the third day (repeated-measures of ANOVA design, post hoc 'within-group' comparison of the first

A proposed centralised distribution model for the South African automotive component industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Micheline J. Naude

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This article explores the possibility of developing a distribution model, similar to the model developed and implemented by the South African pharmaceutical industry, which could be implemented by automotive component manufacturers for supply to independent retailers. Problem Investigated: The South African automotive components distribution chain is extensive with a number of players of varying sizes, from the larger spares distribution groups to a number of independent retailers. Distributing to the smaller independent retailers is costly for the automotive component manufacturers. Methodology: This study is based on a preliminary study of an explorative nature. Interviews were conducted with a senior staff member from a leading automotive component manufacturer in KwaZulu Natal and nine participants at a senior management level at five of their main customers (aftermarket retailers. Findings: The findings from the empirical study suggest that the aftermarket component industry is mature with the role players well established. The distribution chain to the independent retailer is expensive in terms of transaction and distribution costs for the automotive component manufacturer. A proposed centralised distribution model for supply to independent retailers has been developed which should reduce distribution costs for the automotive component manufacturer in terms of (1 the lowest possible freight rate; (2 timely and controlled delivery; and (3 reduced congestion at the customer's receiving dock. Originality: This research is original in that it explores the possibility of implementing a centralised distribution model for independent retailers in the automotive component industry. Furthermore, there is a dearth of published research on the South African automotive component industry particularly addressing distribution issues. Conclusion: The distribution model as suggested is a practical one and should deliver added value to automotive

On the development of LWR fuel analysis code (1). Analysis of the FEMAXI code and proposal of a new model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lemehov, Sergei; Suzuki, Motoe

2000-01-01

This report summarizes the review on the modeling features of FEMAXI code and proposal of a new theoretical equation model of clad creep on the basis of irradiation-induced microstructure change. It was pointed out that plutonium build-up in fuel matrix and non-uniform radial power profile at high burn-up affect significantly fuel behavior through the interconnected effects with such phenomena as clad irradiation-induced creep, fission gas release, fuel thermal conductivity degradation, rim porous band formation and associated fuel swelling. Therefore, these combined effects should be properly incorporated into the models of the FEMAXI code so that the code can carry out numerical analysis at the level of accuracy and elaboration that modern experimental data obtained in test reactors have. Also, the proposed new mechanistic clad creep model has a general formalism which allows the model to be flexibly applied for clad behavior analysis under normal operation conditions and power transients as well for Zr-based clad materials by the use of established out-of-pile mechanical properties. The model has been tested against experimental data, while further verification is needed with specific emphasis on power ramps and transients. (author)

Exploring a model for finding meaning in the changing world of work (Part 2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel H. Burger

2012-06-01

Research purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore further a model an earlier paper proposed for using employees’ experiences of meaning in work contexts to facilitate changes. Motivation for the study: The researchers could not find a comprehensive model in the literature for addressing employees’ experiences of meaning in, or at, work during organisational changes. A previous paper proposed such a model, but it addressed only one component fully. This article seeks to explore this model further to address this apparent gap in the literature. Research design, approach and method: The researchers used a literature review to conduct the study. The components of the model directed this review in order to find meaning at work. Main findings: The actions of organisations, which aim to create positive organisational contexts (through practices for improving meaning at work and transcendence and to frame changes using ‘Logo-OD’, can improve employees’ experiences of meaning during organisational changes. Practical/managerial implications: Understanding the relationship between meaning and organisational change, and applying the model this article presents, can contribute to the overall success of change initiatives. Contribution/value-add: This study’s primary contribution stems from the novel framework it presents for organisations to use the knowledge about how employees search for meaning to facilitate changes.

Association of Previous Clinical Breast Examination With Reduced Delays and Earlier-Stage Breast Cancer Diagnosis Among Women in Peru.

Science.gov (United States)

Romanoff, Anya; Constant, Tara Hayes; Johnson, Kay M; Guadiamos, Manuel Cedano; Vega, Ana María Burga; Zunt, Joseph; Anderson, Benjamin O

2017-11-01

Mammographic screening is impractical in most of the world where breast cancers are first identified based on clinical signs and symptoms. Clinical breast examination may improve early diagnosis directly by finding breast cancers at earlier stages or indirectly by heightening women's awareness of breast health concerns. To investigate factors that influence time to presentation and stage at diagnosis among patients with breast cancer to determine whether history of previous clinical breast examination is associated with earlier presentation and/or earlier cancer stage at diagnosis. In this cross-sectional analysis of individual patient interviews using a validated Breast Cancer Delay Questionnaire, 113 (71.1%) of 159 women with breast cancer treated at a federally funded tertiary care referral cancer center in Trujillo, Peru, from February 1 through May 31, 2015, were studied. Method of breast cancer detection and factors that influence time to and stage at diagnosis. Of 113 women with diagnosed cancer (mean [SD] age, 54 [10.8] years; age range, 32-82 years), 105 (92.9%) had self-detected disease. Of the 93 women for whom stage was documented, 45 (48.4%) were diagnosed with early-stage disease (American Joint Committee on Cancer [AJCC] stage 0, I, or II), and 48 (51.6%) were diagnosed with late-stage disease (AJCC stage III or IV). Mean (SD) total delay from symptom onset to initiation of treatment was 407 (665) days because of patient (mean [SD], 198 [449] days) and health care system (mean [SD], 241 [556] days) delay. Fifty-two women (46.0%) had a history of clinical breast examination, and 23 (20.4%) had undergone previous mammography. Women who underwent a previous clinical breast examination were more likely to have shorter delays from symptom development to presentation compared with women who had never undergone a previous clinical breast examination (odds ratio, 2.92; 95% CI, 1.30-6.60; P = .01). Women diagnosed with shorter patient delay were more

A Proposed Educational Model to Improve the Operations of Knowledge-Exchange between MOE and Higher Education Institutions in Jordan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Husni Ana,am Ali Salem

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to build a proposed educational model for improving knowledge-exchange processes between the Ministry of Education and Higher Education institutions in Jordan. The sample of the study consisted of (301 educational leaders: (158 academic staff members from the Faculty of Educational Sciences – University of Jordan – and the Faculty of Education in Yarmouk University; and (143 members from the center of Jordanian Ministry of Education for the academic year 2016/2017. To achieve the aims of the study, the researcher built a questionnaire, consisting of (88 items as tool for collecting data. The research tool was checked for its validity and reliability semantics. To analyze the data, means and standard deviation were used. The results of the study showed that the educational leaders rated the degree of practicing knowledge-exchange processes between Jordanian Ministry of Education and Higher Education institutions in Jordan as (moderate. Also, they rated the obstacles that face knowledge-exchange processes as (moderate. The study concluded with a proposed educational model for improving knowledge-exchange processes between the Ministry of Education and Higher Education institutions in Jordan, and recommended to be approved and applied in Jordan. Keywords: A Proposed educational model, Knowledge-exchange processes, Practicing degree, Obstacles, Jordanian Universities, Jordanian Ministry of Education

Inventory Model with Partial Backordering When Backordered Customers Delay Purchase after Stockout-Restoration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ren-Qian Zhang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Many inventory models with partial backordering assume that the backordered demand must be filled instantly after stockout restoration. In practice, however, the backordered customers may successively revisit the store because of the purchase delay behavior, producing a limited backorder demand rate and resulting in an extra inventory holding cost. Hence, in this paper we formulate the inventory model with partial backordering considering the purchase delay of the backordered customers and assuming that the backorder demand rate is proportional to the remaining backordered demand. Particularly, we model the problem by introducing a new inventory cost component of holding the backordered items, which has not been considered in the existing models. We propose an algorithm with a two-layer structure based on Lipschitz Optimization (LO to minimize the total inventory cost. Numerical experiments show that the proposed algorithm outperforms two benchmarks in both optimality and efficiency. We also observe that the earlier the backordered customer revisits the store, the smaller the inventory cost and the fill rate are, but the longer the order cycle is. In addition, if the backordered customers revisit the store without too much delay, the basic EOQ with partial backordering approximates our model very well.

Outcomes of arthroscopic lateral epicondylitis release: Should we treat earlier?

Science.gov (United States)

Soeur, L; Desmoineaux, P; Devillier, A; Pujol, N; Beaufils, P

2016-10-01

When managed conservatively, lateral epicondylitis often subsides only after considerable time, during which social and occupational activities are severely disrupted. If conservative management fails, a recently introduced option is arthroscopic release of the extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB). The primary objective of this study was to compare clinical outcomes of this procedure according to preoperative symptom duration. Earlier arthroscopic release is associated with better functional outcomes. Consecutive patients with arthroscopically managed lateral epicondylitis were included in a retrospective study. Arthroscopy was performed only after at least 6 months of conservative treatment. The criteria to evaluate the clinical outcomes were the Nirschl and Quick-DASH scores, muscle strength, time to pain relief, and percentage of functional recovery. Thirty-five patients were evaluated at a median of 4 years (range: 1-12 years) after surgery. Mean preoperative symptom duration was 18 months (range: 6-106 months) with a mean sick leave duration of 2.3±4.9 months. Postoperatively, mean time to recovery was 37.5 days (range: 7 days to 5 years) and mean sick leave duration was 2.4±2.4 months. The mean Quick-DASH score was 15.9±19.1. The Nirschl score improved significantly, from 26.4±7.9 to 66.3±16.3. The initial muscle strength deficit was 10.1±33.2% and muscle strength at last follow-up was increased by 4.3±30.3%. Symptom duration showed no correlations with any of the clinical outcome measures. Outcomes after arthroscopic release were not associated with symptom duration in this study. Nevertheless, the good clinical outcomes support treatment with arthroscopic release after only 6 months of conservative management. IV, retrospective study. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Earlier Snowmelt Changes the Ratio Between Early and Late Season Forest Productivity

Science.gov (United States)

Knowles, J. F.; Molotch, N. P.; Trujillo, E.; Litvak, M. E.

2017-12-01

Future projections of declining snowpack and increasing potential evaporation associated with climate warming are predicted to advance the timing of snowmelt in mountain ecosystems globally. This scenario has direct implications for snowmelt-driven forest productivity, but the net effect of temporally shifting moisture dynamics is unknown with respect to the annual carbon balance. Accordingly, this study uses both satellite- and tower-based observations to document the forest productivity response to snowpack and potential evaporation variability between 1989 and 2012 throughout the southern Rocky Mountain ecoregion, USA. These results show that a combination of low snow accumulation and record high potential evaporation in 2012 resulted in the 34-year minimum ecosystem productivity that could be indicative of future conditions. Moreover, early and late season productivity were significantly and inversely related, suggesting that future shifts toward earlier or reduced snowmelt could increase late-season moisture stress to vegetation and thus restrict productivity despite a longer growing season. This relationship was further subject to modification by summer precipitation, and the controls on the early/late season productivity ratio are explored within the context of ecosystem carbon storage in the future. Any perturbation to the carbon cycle at this scale represents a potential feedback to climate change since snow-covered forests represent an important global carbon sink.

Nanometrology, Standardization and Regulation of Nanomaterials in Brazil: A Proposal for an Analytical-Prospective Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Rusmerg Giménez Ledesma

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this paper is to propose an analytical-prospective model as a tool to support decision-making processes concerning metrology, standardization and regulation of nanomaterials in Brazil, based on international references and ongoing initiatives in the world. In the context of nanotechnology development in Brazil, the motivation for carrying out this research was to identify potential benefits of metrology, standardization and regulation of nanomaterials production, from the perspective of future adoption of the model by the main stakeholders of development of these areas in Brazil. The main results can be summarized as follows: (i an overview of international studies on metrology, standardization and regulation of nanomaterials, and nanoparticles, in special; (ii the analytical-prospective model; and (iii the survey questionnaire and the roadmapping tool for metrology, standardization and regulation of nanomaterials in Brazil, based on international references and ongoing initiatives in the world.

XML-based formulation of field theoretical models. A proposal for a future standard and data base for model storage, exchange and cross-checking of results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demichev, A.; Kryukov, A.; Rodionov, A.

2002-01-01

We propose an XML-based standard for formulation of field theoretical models. The goal of creation of such a standard is to provide a way for an unambiguous exchange and cross-checking of results of computer calculations in high energy physics. At the moment, the suggested standard implies that models under consideration are of the SM or MSSM type (i.e., they are just SM or MSSM, their submodels, smooth modifications or straightforward generalizations). (author)

MKEM: a Multi-level Knowledge Emergence Model for mining undiscovered public knowledge

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Song Min

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Since Swanson proposed the Undiscovered Public Knowledge (UPK model, there have been many approaches to uncover UPK by mining the biomedical literature. These earlier works, however, required substantial manual intervention to reduce the number of possible connections and are mainly applied to disease-effect relation. With the advancement in biomedical science, it has become imperative to extract and combine information from multiple disjoint researches, studies and articles to infer new hypotheses and expand knowledge. Methods We propose MKEM, a Multi-level Knowledge Emergence Model, to discover implicit relationships using Natural Language Processing techniques such as Link Grammar and Ontologies such as Unified Medical Language System (UMLS MetaMap. The contribution of MKEM is as follows: First, we propose a flexible knowledge emergence model to extract implicit relationships across different levels such as molecular level for gene and protein and Phenomic level for disease and treatment. Second, we employ MetaMap for tagging biological concepts. Third, we provide an empirical and systematic approach to discover novel relationships. Results We applied our system on 5000 abstracts downloaded from PubMed database. We performed the performance evaluation as a gold standard is not yet available. Our system performed with a good precision and recall and we generated 24 hypotheses. Conclusions Our experiments show that MKEM is a powerful tool to discover hidden relationships residing in extracted entities that were represented by our Substance-Effect-Process-Disease-Body Part (SEPDB model.

A Proposed Model for Protein Crystal Nucleation and Growth

Science.gov (United States)

Pusey, Marc; Curreri, Peter A. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

How does one take a molecule, strongly asymmetric in both shape and charge distribution, and assemble it into a crystal? We propose a model for the nucleation and crystal growth process for tetragonal lysozyme, based upon fluorescence, light, neutron, and X-ray scattering data, size exclusion chromatography experiments, dialysis kinetics, AFM, and modeling of growth rate data, from this and other laboratories. The first species formed is postulated to be a 'head to side' dimer. Through repeating associations involving the same intermolecular interactions this grows to a 4(sub 3) helix structure, that in turn serves as the basic unit for nucleation and subsequent crystal growth. High salt attenuates surface charges while promoting hydrophobic interactions. Symmetry facilitates subsequent helix-helix self-association. Assembly stability is enhanced when a four helix structure is obtained, with each bound to two neighbors. Only two unique interactions are required. The first are those for helix formation, where the dominant interaction is the intermolecular bridging anion. The second is the anti-parallel side-by-side helix-helix interaction, guided by alternating pairs of symmetry related salt bridges along each side. At this stage all eight unique positions of the P4(sub3)2(sub 1),2(sub 1) unit cell are filled. The process is one of a) attenuating the most strongly interacting groups, such that b) the molecules begin to self-associate in defined patterns, so that c) symmetry is obtained, which d) propagates as a growing crystal. Simple and conceptually obvious in hindsight, this tells much about what we are empirically doing when we crystallize macromolecules. By adjusting the growth parameters we are empirically balancing the intermolecular interactions, preferentially attenuating the dominant strong (for lysozyme the charged groups) while strengthening the lesser strong (hydrophobic) interactions. In the general case for proteins the lack of a singularly defined

A proposal of parameter determination method in the residual strength degradation model for the prediction of fatigue life (I)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Sang Tae; Jang, Seong Soo

2001-01-01

The static and fatigue tests have been carried out to verify the validity of a generalized residual strength degradation model. And a new method of parameter determination in the model is verified experimentally to account for the effect of tension-compression fatigue loading of spheroidal graphite cast iron. It is shown that the correlation between the experimental results and the theoretical prediction on the statistical distribution of fatigue life by using the proposed method is very reasonable. Furthermore, it is found that the correlation between the theoretical prediction and the experimental results of fatigue life in case of tension-tension fatigue data in composite material appears to be reasonable. Therefore, the proposed method is more adjustable in the determination of the parameter than maximum likelihood method and minimization technique

Integrated Multiregional Analysis Proposing a New Model of Colorectal Cancer Evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Niida, Atsushi; Shimamura, Teppei; Hirata, Hidenari; Sugimachi, Keishi; Sawada, Genta; Iwaya, Takeshi; Kurashige, Junji; Shinden, Yoshiaki; Iguchi, Tomohiro; Eguchi, Hidetoshi; Chiba, Kenichi; Shiraishi, Yuichi; Nagae, Genta; Yoshida, Kenichi; Nagata, Yasunobu; Haeno, Hiroshi; Yamamoto, Hirofumi; Ishii, Hideshi; Doki, Yuichiro; Iinuma, Hisae; Sasaki, Shin; Nagayama, Satoshi; Yamada, Kazutaka; Yachida, Shinichi; Kato, Mamoru; Shibata, Tatsuhiro; Oki, Eiji; Saeki, Hiroshi; Shirabe, Ken; Oda, Yoshinao; Maehara, Yoshihiko; Komune, Shizuo; Mori, Masaki; Suzuki, Yutaka; Yamamoto, Ken; Aburatani, Hiroyuki; Ogawa, Seishi; Miyano, Satoru; Mimori, Koshi

2016-01-01

Understanding intratumor heterogeneity is clinically important because it could cause therapeutic failure by fostering evolutionary adaptation. To this end, we profiled the genome and epigenome in multiple regions within each of nine colorectal tumors. Extensive intertumor heterogeneity is observed, from which we inferred the evolutionary history of the tumors. First, clonally shared alterations appeared, in which C>T transitions at CpG site and CpG island hypermethylation were relatively enriched. Correlation between mutation counts and patients’ ages suggests that the early-acquired alterations resulted from aging. In the late phase, a parental clone was branched into numerous subclones. Known driver alterations were observed frequently in the early-acquired alterations, but rarely in the late-acquired alterations. Consistently, our computational simulation of the branching evolution suggests that extensive intratumor heterogeneity could be generated by neutral evolution. Collectively, we propose a new model of colorectal cancer evolution, which is useful for understanding and confronting this heterogeneous disease. PMID:26890883

An integrated ethical approach to bioethical decision-making: A proposed model for ministers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magdalena C. de Lange

2012-10-01

Full Text Available This article outlined a model for guidance in ‘doing’ bioethics in a Reformed context. The proposed model suggested that in order to arrive at responsible ethical decisions, one must refer to both contextual elements and theory. The theoretical grounding for this model was based on the integration of a deontological and virtue ethics approach, arguing that virtue enables persons to know and desire the right moral ends and motivates them to carry out appropriate action toward achieving these ends. An integrative model opens up the possibility whereby bioethics as a systematic tool provides the individual decision-maker with the critical-reflective skills and justification for the ultimate choice that is lacking in the general decision-making processes. This could lead to clearer thinking and increased confidence in the justification of decisions within the Reformed tradition. The proposed hermeneutical perspective on ethical decision-making represents a shift in views about the nature of knowledge and the process of how we come to know. The key to this hermeneutical approach is to acknowledge the dialectic between the universal and the subjectivity of human relations. Working in specific religious communities, one needs to take cognisance of the fact that knowledge is situated in the context of human relationships in which the interpreter participates when articulating the meaning of bioethical experiences. Another aspect that is anticipated lies in the realisation that people struggling with bioethical dilemmas should not be viewed as isolated individuals, but as members of a broader faith community. ‘n Geïntegreerde etiese benadering tot bioetiese besluitneming: Voorgestelde model vir predikante. Hierdie artikel het ‘n model geskets wat moontlike riglyne aantoon vir die  beoefening  van  bioetiek  binne  ‘n  Gereformeerde  konteks.  Die  voorgestelde  model argumenteer dat verwysing na beide kontekstuele elemente en teorie

Plasmas in particle accelerators: a hydrodynamic model of three-dimensional electrostatic instabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krafft, G.A.; Mark, J.W.K.; Wang, T.S.F.

1983-01-01

In an earlier paper, closed hydrodynamic equations were derived with possible application to the simulation of beam plasmas relevant to designs of heavy ion accelerators for inertial confinement fusion energy applications. The closure equations involved a novel feature of anisotropic stresses even transverse to the beam. A related hydrodynamic model is used in this paper to examine further the boundaries of validity of such hydrodynamic approximations. It is also proposed as a useful tool to provide an economic means for searching the large parameter space relevant to three-dimensional stability problems involving coupling of longitudinal and transverse motions in the presence of wall impedance

Analysis of arrhythmic events is useful to detect lead failure earlier in patients followed by remote monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Nishii, Nobuhiro; Miyoshi, Akihito; Kubo, Motoki; Miyamoto, Masakazu; Morimoto, Yoshimasa; Kawada, Satoshi; Nakagawa, Koji; Watanabe, Atsuyuki; Nakamura, Kazufumi; Morita, Hiroshi; Ito, Hiroshi

2018-03-01

Remote monitoring (RM) has been advocated as the new standard of care for patients with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). RM has allowed the early detection of adverse clinical events, such as arrhythmia, lead failure, and battery depletion. However, lead failure was often identified only by arrhythmic events, but not impedance abnormalities. To compare the usefulness of arrhythmic events with conventional impedance abnormalities for identifying lead failure in CIED patients followed by RM. CIED patients in 12 hospitals have been followed by the RM center in Okayama University Hospital. All transmitted data have been analyzed and summarized. From April 2009 to March 2016, 1,873 patients have been followed by the RM center. During the mean follow-up period of 775 days, 42 lead failure events (atrial lead 22, right ventricular pacemaker lead 5, implantable cardioverter defibrillator [ICD] lead 15) were detected. The proportion of lead failures detected only by arrhythmic events, which were not detected by conventional impedance abnormalities, was significantly higher than that detected by impedance abnormalities (arrhythmic event 76.2%, 95% CI: 60.5-87.9%; impedance abnormalities 23.8%, 95% CI: 12.1-39.5%). Twenty-seven events (64.7%) were detected without any alert. Of 15 patients with ICD lead failure, none has experienced inappropriate therapy. RM can detect lead failure earlier, before clinical adverse events. However, CIEDs often diagnose lead failure as just arrhythmic events without any warning. Thus, to detect lead failure earlier, careful human analysis of arrhythmic events is useful. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Proposed Model for a Streamlined, Cohesive, and Optimized K-12 STEM Curriculum with a Focus on Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Locke, Edward

2009-01-01

This article presents a proposed model for a clear description of K-12 age-possible engineering knowledge content, in terms of the selection of analytic principles and predictive skills for various grades, based on the mastery of mathematics and science pre-requisites, as mandated by national or state performance standards; and a streamlined,…

PROPOSAL FOR A MEASUREMENT MODEL FOR SOFTWARE TESTS WITH A FOCUS ON THE MANAGEMENT OF OUTSOURCED SERVICES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angelica Toffano Seidel Calazans

2012-08-01

Full Text Available The need for outsourcing IT services has shown a significant growth over the past few years. This article presents a proposal for a measurement model for Software Tests with a focus on the management of these outsourced services by governmental organizations. The following specific goals were defined: to identify and analyze the test process; to identify and analyze the existing standards that govern the hiring of IT services and to propose a Measurement Model for outsourced services of this type. As to the analysis of the data collected (documentary research and semi-structured interviews, content analysis was adopted, and in order to prepare the metrics, the GQM – Goal, Questions, Metrics – approach was used. The result was confirmed by semi-structured interviews. Here is what the research identifies as possible: to establish objective and measurable criteria for a measurement size as the input to evaluate the efforts and deadlines involved; to follow up the test sub-processes and to evaluate the service quality. Therefore, the management of this type of service hiring can be done more efficiently.

Coping and emotional distress during acute hospitalization in older persons with earlier trauma: the case of Holocaust survivors.

Science.gov (United States)

Kimron, Lee; Cohen, Miri

2012-06-01

Older persons with earlier trauma are often more vulnerable to stresses of old age. To examine the levels of emotional distress in relation to cognitive appraisal of acute hospitalization and coping strategies in Holocaust survivors compared with an age- and education-matched group of elderly persons without Holocaust experience. This is a cross-sectional study of 63 Holocaust survivors, 65 years and older, hospitalized for an acute illness, and 57 age-, education- and hospital unit-matched people without Holocaust experience. Participants completed appraisal and coping strategies (COPE) questionnaires, and the brief symptoms inventory (BSI-18). Holocaust survivors reported higher levels of emotional distress, appraised the hospitalization higher as a threat and lower as a challenge, and used more emotion-focused and less problem-focused or support-seeking coping strategies than the comparison group. Study variables explained 65% of the variance of emotional distress; significant predictors of emotional distress in the final regression model were not having a partner and more use of emotion-focused coping. The latter mediated the relation of group variable and challenge appraisal to emotional distress. Health professionals must be aware of the potential impact of the hospital environment on the survivors of Holocaust as well as survivors of other trauma. Being sensitive to their specific needs may reduce the negative impact of hospitalization.

Women's Language Model: A Proposal.

Science.gov (United States)

Dumas, Bethany K.

It is possible to think of women's language in terms of the model implied by the following statement. Insofar as native speakers of English are concerned, the language of women in America has four sets of components: those shared with the language of men in America; those shared, in varying proportions, with other women living in patriarchies;…

A Proposed Model for Measuring Performance of the University-Industry Collaboration in Open Innovation

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Anca Draghici

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The paper aims to present a scientific approach to the creation, testing and validation of a model for performance measurement for university-industry collaboration (UIC. The main idea of the design process is to capitalize on existing success factors, facilitators and opportunities (motivation factors, knowledge transfer channels and identified benefits and to diminish or avoid potential threats and barriers that might interfere with such collaborations. The main purpose of the applied methodology is to identify solutions and measures to overcome the disadvantages, conflicts or risk issues and to facilitate the open innovation of industrial companies and universities. The methodology adopted was differentiated by two perspectives: (1 a business model reflecting the university perspective along with an inventory of key performance indicators (KPIs; (2 a performance measurement model (including performance criteria and indicators and an associated methodology (assimilated to an audit that could help companies increase collaboration with universities in the context of open innovation. In addition, in order to operationalize the proposed model (facilitating practical implementation, an Excel tool has been created to help identifying potential sources of innovation. The main contributions of the research concern the expansion of UICs knowledge to enhance open innovation and to define an effective performance measurement model and instrument (tested and validated by a case study for companies.

Real external predictivity of QSAR models: how to evaluate it? Comparison of different validation criteria and proposal of using the concordance correlation coefficient.

Science.gov (United States)

Chirico, Nicola; Gramatica, Paola

2011-09-26

The main utility of QSAR models is their ability to predict activities/properties for new chemicals, and this external prediction ability is evaluated by means of various validation criteria. As a measure for such evaluation the OECD guidelines have proposed the predictive squared correlation coefficient Q(2)(F1) (Shi et al.). However, other validation criteria have been proposed by other authors: the Golbraikh-Tropsha method, r(2)(m) (Roy), Q(2)(F2) (Schüürmann et al.), Q(2)(F3) (Consonni et al.). In QSAR studies these measures are usually in accordance, though this is not always the case, thus doubts can arise when contradictory results are obtained. It is likely that none of the aforementioned criteria is the best in every situation, so a comparative study using simulated data sets is proposed here, using threshold values suggested by the proponents or those widely used in QSAR modeling. In addition, a different and simple external validation measure, the concordance correlation coefficient (CCC), is proposed and compared with other criteria. Huge data sets were used to study the general behavior of validation measures, and the concordance correlation coefficient was shown to be the most restrictive. On using simulated data sets of a more realistic size, it was found that CCC was broadly in agreement, about 96% of the time, with other validation measures in accepting models as predictive, and in almost all the examples it was the most precautionary. The proposed concordance correlation coefficient also works well on real data sets, where it seems to be more stable, and helps in making decisions when the validation measures are in conflict. Since it is conceptually simple, and given its stability and restrictiveness, we propose the concordance correlation coefficient as a complementary, or alternative, more prudent measure of a QSAR model to be externally predictive.

Proposing an Environmental Excellence Self-Assessment Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meulengracht Jensen, Peter; Johansen, John; Wæhrens, Brian Vejrum

2013-01-01

that the EEA model can be used in global organizations to differentiate environmental efforts depending on the maturity stage of the individual sites. Furthermore, the model can be used to support the decision-making process regarding when organizations should embark on more complex environmental efforts......This paper presents an Environmental Excellence Self-Assessment (EEA) model based on the structure of the European Foundation of Quality Management Business Excellence Framework. Four theoretical scenarios for deploying the model are presented as well as managerial implications, suggesting...

A proposal of constitutive creep model for soft rock to be applied to numerical analysis for mechanical interaction in the underground facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sawada, Masataka; Okada, Tetsuji

2005-01-01

In the case that the underground facilities of high-level nuclear waste disposal are constructed in soft rock mass, it is predicted that time-dependent behavior of rock has an important role both on the stability of surrounding rock mass after excavation and on the super long-term stability of barrier system. Existing creep model that has been applied to excavation problems in electric power industry is not sufficient in order to evaluate long-term behavior of the facility constructed in soft rock mass. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an appropriate creep model for soft rock. In this research, we try to develop a prototype of numerical tool for evaluating the stability during and after the excavation and super long-term stability after back-filling. Firstly, a simple rheological model for time-dependent behavior of soft rock is proposed. It is the key feature of this model that two different types of rheological model can be selected in order to describe both failure and non-failure processes. Rock continues to deform until failure in the case where stress applied to the rock exceeds its residual strength, although deformation of the rock finally ceases in the other cases. The applicability of this model is investigated by comparing the calculated results with those in laboratory test results. The proposed model can describe the time-dependent and dilatancy behavior of mudstone of Tertiary period observed in the drained triaxial creep test. Next, we apply the proposed model to the problem of time-dependent behavior of rock mass around a deposition hole. Numerical simulation of excavation problem and long-term mechanical interaction between buffer material and surrounding rock mass is carried out using a hydrological - mechanical coupled FEM code that includes the proposed model. Several mechanical models can be selected in order to apply to the mechanical behavior of materials consisting of underground facility. The main results obtained from this simulation

Proposal of a probabilistic dose-response model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrachina, M.

1997-01-01

A biologically updated dose-response model is presented as an alternative to the linear-quadratic model currently in use for cancer risk assessment. The new model is based on the probability functions for misrepair and/or unrepair of DNA lesions, in terms of the radiation damage production rate in the cell (supposedly, a stem cell) and its repair-rate constant. The model makes use, interpreting it on the basis of misrepair probabilities, of the ''dose and dose-rate effectiveness factor'' of ICRP, and provides the way for a continuous extrapolation between the high and low dose-rate regions, ratifying the ''linear non-threshold hypothesis'' as the main option. Anyhow, the model throws some doubts about the additive property of the dose. (author)

Optimisation of BPMN Business Models via Model Checking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Herbert, Luke Thomas; Sharp, Robin

2013-01-01

We present a framework for the optimisation of business processes modelled in the business process modelling language BPMN, which builds upon earlier work, where we developed a model checking based method for the analysis of BPMN models. We define a structure for expressing optimisation goals...... for synthesized BPMN components, based on probabilistic computation tree logic and real-valued reward structures of the BPMN model, allowing for the specification of complex quantitative goals. We here present a simple algorithm, inspired by concepts from evolutionary algorithms, which iteratively generates...

A data envelopment analysis based model for proposing safety improvements: a FMEA approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia, Pauli A. de A.; Barbosa Junior, Gilberto V.; Melo, P.F. Frutuoso e

2005-01-01

When performing a probabilistic safety assessment, one important step is the identification of the critical or weak points of all systems to be considered. By properly ranking these critical points, improvement recommendations may be proposed, in order to reduce the associated risks. Many tools are available for the identification of critical points, like the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) and the Hazard and Operability Studies (HAZOP). Once the failure modes or deviations are identified, indices associated to the occurrence probabilities, detection potential, and the effects severity, are assigned to them, and so the failure modes or deviations ranking is performed. It is common practice to assign risk priority numbers for this purpose. These numbers are obtained by multiplying the three aforementioned indices, which typically vary from 1 to 10 (natural numbers). Here, the greater the index, the worst the situation. In this paper, a data envelopment analysis (DEA) based model is used to identify the most critical failure modes or deviations and, by means of their respective distances to the boundary, to assess the improvement percentage for each index of each failure mode or deviation. Starting from this identification procedure, the decision maker can more efficiently propose improvement actions, like reliability allocation, detection design, protective barriers, etc. (author)

Global existence and asymptotic behavior of a model for biological control of invasive species via supermale introduction

KAUST Repository

Parshad, Rana

2013-01-01

The purpose of this manuscript is to propose a model for the biological control of invasive species, via introduction of phenotypically modified organisms into a target population. We are inspired by the earlier Trojan Y Chromosome model [J.B. Gutierrez, J.L. Teem, J. Theo. Bio., 241(22), 333-341, 2006]. However, in the current work, we remove the assumption of logisticgrowth rate, and do not consider the addition of sex-reversed supermales. Also the constant birth and death coefficients, considered earlier, are replaced by functionally dependent ones. In this case the nonlinearities present serious difficulties since they change sign, and the components of the solution are not a priori bounded, in some Lp-space for p large, to permit theapplication of the well known regularizing effect principle. Thus functional methods to deducethe global existence in time, for the system in question, are not applicable. Our techniques are based on the Lyapunov functional method. We prove global existence of solutions, as well asexistence of a finite dimensional global attractor, that supports states of extinction. Our analytical finding are in accordance with numerical simulations, which we also present. © 2013 International Press.

Proposal for a New Model for Highway Records in the Republic of Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rinaldo Paar

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Highways are public roads, whose function is to integrate Croatia in the European transport system, link the regions of Croatia and facilitate transit traffic. They are public property for general use, owned by the Republic of Croatia, and they cannot be the subject of acquisition or other proprietary rights of any kind. Today, there are two types of highway record-keeping. The first is conducted by leading companies authorised to manage highways in order to develop a highway database, or create a highway register. The second is conducted by land-management systems; the Cadastre and Land Registry. They are the official public registers for keeping records of land plots, buildings and other structures, and their ownership. Procedures that need to be implemented in the second type of record-keeping often get "stuck" in practice. Based on the problems identified in this model and an analysis of the state of record-keeping, a proposal for a new model for highway records in the Cadastre and Land Registry is given. Keywords: highways; building plot; expropriation; record; Cadastre; Land Registry

Assessment of the Stakeholders’ Importance Using AHP Method – Modeling and Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danka Knezević

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Attention to stakeholders, which means that companies bear responsibility for the implications of their actions, is emerging as a critical strategic issue. Hence, meeting legitimate stakeholders’ requests would enhance the reputation of a company and increase its competitiveness on product markets. That is why an accurate identification of stakeholders and assessment of their importance is so significant for the companies. Through an integration of the earlier models of excellence, models for identification and classification of stakeholders, models for assessing the quality of a company and the AHP method, widely applicable in various fields, a new model for assessment of stakeholders’ significance is proposed in this paper. The model also provides an assessment of a company based on the degree of the importance and satisfaction of stakeholders. The results of this model could be useful for companies and their management when it comes to defining a proper business strategy, monitoring the system changes over time, creating a basis for comparison with other similar systems or with itself. A practical example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the model.

78 FR 51170 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-20

.... This is a very narrow customer base composed of Federally Funded Academic Research and Development... more information on this proposed information collection or to obtain a copy of the proposal and... the dissemination of research and development chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear modeling...

A systematic investigation of computation models for predicting Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs).

Science.gov (United States)

Kuang, Qifan; Wang, MinQi; Li, Rong; Dong, YongCheng; Li, Yizhou; Li, Menglong

2014-01-01

Early and accurate identification of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is critically important for drug development and clinical safety. Computer-aided prediction of ADRs has attracted increasing attention in recent years, and many computational models have been proposed. However, because of the lack of systematic analysis and comparison of the different computational models, there remain limitations in designing more effective algorithms and selecting more useful features. There is therefore an urgent need to review and analyze previous computation models to obtain general conclusions that can provide useful guidance to construct more effective computational models to predict ADRs. In the current study, the main work is to compare and analyze the performance of existing computational methods to predict ADRs, by implementing and evaluating additional algorithms that have been earlier used for predicting drug targets. Our results indicated that topological and intrinsic features were complementary to an extent and the Jaccard coefficient had an important and general effect on the prediction of drug-ADR associations. By comparing the structure of each algorithm, final formulas of these algorithms were all converted to linear model in form, based on this finding we propose a new algorithm called the general weighted profile method and it yielded the best overall performance among the algorithms investigated in this paper. Several meaningful conclusions and useful findings regarding the prediction of ADRs are provided for selecting optimal features and algorithms.

A System Thinking Model Proposal for Enterprise Application Integration (EAI Evaluation Completeness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irene Nakiyimba

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Research has identified a number of approaches for evaluating Enterprise Application Integration (EAI. The majority of these approaches focus primarily on the technical functional and non-functional capabil¬ities of an EAI solution. Although, where the technical dimensions have received considerable attention from researchers, other dimensions needed for EAI evaluation, such as stakeholder feedback, have not re¬ceived explicit consideration. As a result, attaining a consummate EAI solution is still a major challenge for many enterprises. The current EAI evaluation models simply provide piecemeal insights towards the evaluation criteria variables from limited stakeholder perceptions and do not help to understand EAI evaluation as a dynamic, feedback, time based and non-linear problem. Different stakeholders view the outcome of an EAI project from different perspectives and therefore will more likely than not arrive at different conclusions. To achieve a consensus among stakeholder perceptions, we represent EAI evaluation as a feedback analysis problem from multi-stakeholder perceptions for proper alignment with business goals, vision and mission. This paper proposes the application of System Dynamics (SD model towards guiding policy analysis for evaluating criteria factors from multi-stakeholders perceptions for EAI adoption; this will provide for holistic evaluation where emphasis is the importance of evaluation as whole (not piece meal perceptions and the interdependence of evaluation criteria factors from the diverse stakeholder perceptions is analyzed. In this paper we present a case-study performed at a large portion of the East African banking system. A total of 800 responses to questionnaires are analyzed to formulate a systems thinking model, which in turn allows us to analyze feedback loops between different stakeholders with distinct evaluation criteria. Findings result in a structured and holistic systems thinking model which

Earlier visual N1 latencies in expert video-game players: a temporal basis of enhanced visuospatial performance?

Science.gov (United States)

Latham, Andrew J; Patston, Lucy L M; Westermann, Christine; Kirk, Ian J; Tippett, Lynette J

2013-01-01

Increasing behavioural evidence suggests that expert video game players (VGPs) show enhanced visual attention and visuospatial abilities, but what underlies these enhancements remains unclear. We administered the Poffenberger paradigm with concurrent electroencephalogram (EEG) recording to assess occipital N1 latencies and interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT) in expert VGPs. Participants comprised 15 right-handed male expert VGPs and 16 non-VGP controls matched for age, handedness, IQ and years of education. Expert VGPs began playing before age 10, had a minimum 8 years experience, and maintained playtime of at least 20 hours per week over the last 6 months. Non-VGPs had little-to-no game play experience (maximum 1.5 years). Participants responded to checkerboard stimuli presented to the left and right visual fields while 128-channel EEG was recorded. Expert VGPs responded significantly more quickly than non-VGPs. Expert VGPs also had significantly earlier occipital N1s in direct visual pathways (the hemisphere contralateral to the visual field in which the stimulus was presented). IHTT was calculated by comparing the latencies of occipital N1 components between hemispheres. No significant between-group differences in electrophysiological estimates of IHTT were found. Shorter N1 latencies may enable expert VGPs to discriminate attended visual stimuli significantly earlier than non-VGPs and contribute to faster responding in visual tasks. As successful video-game play requires precise, time pressured, bimanual motor movements in response to complex visual stimuli, which in this sample began during early childhood, these differences may reflect the experience and training involved during the development of video-game expertise, but training studies are needed to test this prediction.

Earlier visual N1 latencies in expert video-game players: a temporal basis of enhanced visuospatial performance?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew J Latham

Full Text Available Increasing behavioural evidence suggests that expert video game players (VGPs show enhanced visual attention and visuospatial abilities, but what underlies these enhancements remains unclear. We administered the Poffenberger paradigm with concurrent electroencephalogram (EEG recording to assess occipital N1 latencies and interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT in expert VGPs. Participants comprised 15 right-handed male expert VGPs and 16 non-VGP controls matched for age, handedness, IQ and years of education. Expert VGPs began playing before age 10, had a minimum 8 years experience, and maintained playtime of at least 20 hours per week over the last 6 months. Non-VGPs had little-to-no game play experience (maximum 1.5 years. Participants responded to checkerboard stimuli presented to the left and right visual fields while 128-channel EEG was recorded. Expert VGPs responded significantly more quickly than non-VGPs. Expert VGPs also had significantly earlier occipital N1s in direct visual pathways (the hemisphere contralateral to the visual field in which the stimulus was presented. IHTT was calculated by comparing the latencies of occipital N1 components between hemispheres. No significant between-group differences in electrophysiological estimates of IHTT were found. Shorter N1 latencies may enable expert VGPs to discriminate attended visual stimuli significantly earlier than non-VGPs and contribute to faster responding in visual tasks. As successful video-game play requires precise, time pressured, bimanual motor movements in response to complex visual stimuli, which in this sample began during early childhood, these differences may reflect the experience and training involved during the development of video-game expertise, but training studies are needed to test this prediction.

One-equation modeling and validation of dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator thrust

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Jae-San; Han, Jae-Hung

2014-01-01

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators with an asymmetric electrode configuration can generate a wall-bounded jet without mechanical moving parts, which require considerable modifications of existing aeronautical objects and which incur high maintenance costs. Despite this potential, one factor preventing the wider application of such actuators is the lack of a reliable actuator model. It is difficult to develop such a model because calculating the ion-electric field and fluid interaction consume a high amount calculation effort during the numerical analysis. Thus, the authors proposed a semi-empirical model which predicted the thrust of plasma actuators with a simple equation. It gave a numeric thrust value, and we implemented the value on a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver to describe the two-dimensional flow field induced by the actuator. However, the model had a narrow validation range, depending on the empirical formula, and it did not fully consider environment variables. This study presents an improved model by replacing the empirical formulae in the previous model with physical equations that take into account physical phenomena and environmental variables. During this process, additional operation parameters, such as pressure, temperature and ac waveforms, are newly taken to predict the thrust performance of the actuators with a wider range of existing parameters, the thickness of the dielectric barrier, the exposed electrode, the dielectric constant, the ac frequency and the voltage amplitude. Thrust prediction curves from the model are compared to those of earlier experimental results, showing that the average error is less than 5% for more than one hundred instances of data. As in the earlier work, the predicted thrust value is implemented on a CFD solver, and two-dimensional wall-jet velocity profiles induced by the actuator are compared to the previous experimental results. (paper)

Proposing a model for limiting earning management practices: The case of Jordanian listed firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dea’a Al-Deen Al-Sraheen

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The key objective of this paper is to propose a model for limiting earning management practices among manufacturing firms in Jordan. In order to do so, two independent variables are examined in this paper, namely, political influence and CEO Duality. Discretionary total accruals according to the modified Jones model (1991 was used in order to estimate the level of earnings management, which is the dependent variable. The sample comprised 64 companies for the financial year 2013. The results suggest that a positive and significant association existed among both political influence and CEO duality and earning management. This means that both independent variables exacerbated earnings management. Further research is required to determine what urgent legislation should be developed to restrict the presence of members who have political connections on the board of directors. Also, the need exists for the separation of roles of Chairman and CEO to ensure the independence and complying with the requirements of corporate governance.

Onset Symptoms, Tobacco Smoking, and Progressive-Onset Phenotype Are Associated With a Delayed Onset of Multiple Sclerosis, and Marijuana Use With an Earlier Onset

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chunrong Tao

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Background: Age at symptom onset (ASO is a prognostic factor that could affect the accrual of disability in multiple sclerosis (MS patients. Some factors are known to influence the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS, but their influence on the ASO is less well-investigated.Objective: Examine the associations between known or emerging MS risk factors and ASO.Methods: This was a multicenter study, incident cases (n = 279 with first clinical diagnosis of demyelinating event aged 18–59 years recruited at four Australian centres (latitudes 27°-43°S, from 1 November 2003 to 31 December 2006. Environmental/behavioral variables and initial symptoms were recorded at baseline interview. Linear regression was used to assess the association between risk factors and ASO.Results: Five factors were significantly associated with ASO: a history of tobacco smoking was associated with 3.05-years later ASO (p = 0.002; a history of marijuana use was associated with 6.03-years earlier ASO (p < 0.001; progressive-onset cases had 5.61-years later ASO (p = 0.001; an initial presentation of bowel & bladder and cerebral dysfunctional were associated with 3.39 (p = 0.017 and 4.37-years (p = 0.006 later ASO, respectively. Other factors, including sex, offspring number, latitude of study site, history of infectious mononucleosis, HLA-DR15 & HLA-A2 genotype, 25(OHD levels, and ultraviolet radiation exposure were not associated with ASO. Including all five significant variables into one model explained 12% of the total variance in ASO.Conclusion: We found a novel association between a history of tobacco smoking and later onset, whereas marijuana use was associated with earlier onset. Behavioral factors seem important drivers of MS onset timing although much of the variance remains unexplained.

Cognitive processes and neural basis of language switching: proposal of a new model.

Science.gov (United States)

Moritz-Gasser, Sylvie; Duffau, Hugues

2009-12-09

Although studies on bilingualism are abundant, cognitive processes and neural foundations of language switching received less attention. The aim of our study is to provide new insights to this still open question: do dedicated region(s) for language switching exist or is this function underlain by a distributed circuit of interconnected brain areas, part of a more general cognitive system? On the basis of recent behavioral, neuroimaging, and brain stimulation studies, we propose an original 'hodological' model of language switching. This process might be subserved by a large-scale cortico-subcortical network, with an executive system (prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulum, caudate nucleus) controlling a more dedicated language subcircuit, which involves postero-temporal areas, supramarginal and angular gyri, Broca's area, and the superior longitudinal fasciculus.

User Preference-Based Dual-Memory Neural Model With Memory Consolidation Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Nasir, Jauwairia; Yoo, Yong-Ho; Kim, Deok-Hwa; Kim, Jong-Hwan; Nasir, Jauwairia; Yong-Ho Yoo; Deok-Hwa Kim; Jong-Hwan Kim; Nasir, Jauwairia; Yoo, Yong-Ho; Kim, Deok-Hwa; Kim, Jong-Hwan

2018-06-01

Memory modeling has been a popular topic of research for improving the performance of autonomous agents in cognition related problems. Apart from learning distinct experiences correctly, significant or recurring experiences are expected to be learned better and be retrieved easier. In order to achieve this objective, this paper proposes a user preference-based dual-memory adaptive resonance theory network model, which makes use of a user preference to encode memories with various strengths and to learn and forget at various rates. Over a period of time, memories undergo a consolidation-like process at a rate proportional to the user preference at the time of encoding and the frequency of recall of a particular memory. Consolidated memories are easier to recall and are more stable. This dual-memory neural model generates distinct episodic memories and a flexible semantic-like memory component. This leads to an enhanced retrieval mechanism of experiences through two routes. The simulation results are presented to evaluate the proposed memory model based on various kinds of cues over a number of trials. The experimental results on Mybot are also presented. The results verify that not only are distinct experiences learned correctly but also that experiences associated with higher user preference and recall frequency are consolidated earlier. Thus, these experiences are recalled more easily relative to the unconsolidated experiences.

Modelling of pore coarsening in the high burn-up structure of UO{sub 2} fuel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Veshchunov, M.S.; Tarasov, V.I., E-mail: tarasov@ibrae.ac.ru

2017-05-15

The model for coalescence of randomly distributed immobile pores owing to their growth and impingement, applied by the authors earlier to consideration of the porosity evolution in the high burn-up structure (HBS) at the UO{sub 2} fuel pellet periphery (rim zone), was further developed and validated. Predictions of the original model, taking into consideration only binary impingements of growing immobile pores, qualitatively correctly describe the decrease of the pore number density with the increase of the fractional porosity, however notably underestimate the coalescence rate at high burn-ups attained in the outmost region of the rim zone. In order to overcome this discrepancy, the next approximation of the model taking into consideration triple impingements of growing pores was developed. The advanced model provides a reasonable consent with experimental data, thus demonstrating the validity of the proposed pore coarsening mechanism in the HBS.

Model tracking dual stochastic controller design under irregular internal noises

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jong Bok; Heo, Hoon; Cho, Yun Hyun; Ji, Tae Young

2006-01-01

Although many methods about the control of irregular external noise have been introduced and implemented, it is still necessary to design a controller that will be more effective and efficient methods to exclude for various noises. Accumulation of errors due to model tracking, internal noises (thermal noise, shot noise and l/f noise) that come from elements such as resistor, diode and transistor etc. in the circuit system and numerical errors due to digital process often destabilize the system and reduce the system performance. New stochastic controller is adopted to remove those noises using conventional controller simultaneously. Design method of a model tracking dual controller is proposed to improve the stability of system while removing external and internal noises. In the study, design process of the model tracking dual stochastic controller is introduced that improves system performance and guarantees robustness under irregular internal noises which can be created internally. The model tracking dual stochastic controller utilizing F-P-K stochastic control technique developed earlier is implemented to reveal its performance via simulation

A DYNAMICAL SYSTEM APPROACH IN MODELING TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hennie Husniah

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper we discuss a mathematical model of two parties technology transfer from a leader to a follower. The model is reconstructed via dynamical system approach from a known standard Raz and Assa model and we found some important conclusion which have not been discussed in the original model. The model assumes that in the absence of technology transfer from a leader to a follower, both the leader and the follower have a capability to grow independently with a known upper limit of the development. We obtain a rich mathematical structure of the steady state solution of the model. We discuss a special situation in which the upper limit of the technological development of the follower is higher than that of the leader, but the leader has started earlier than the follower in implementing the technology. In this case we show a paradox stating that the follower is unable to reach its original upper limit of the technological development could appear whenever the transfer rate is sufficiently high.  We propose a new model to increase realism so that any technological transfer rate could only has a positive effect in accelerating the rate of growth of the follower in reaching its original upper limit of the development.

Information-sharing to promote informed choice in prenatal screening in the spirit of the SOGC clinical practice guideline: a proposal for an alternative model.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanstone, Meredith; Kinsella, Elizabeth Anne; Nisker, Jeff

2012-03-01

The 2011 SOGC clinical practice guideline "Prenatal Screening for Fetal Aneuploidy in Singleton Pregnancies" recommends that clinicians offer prenatal screening to all pregnant women and provide counselling in a non-directive manner. Non-directive counselling is intended to facilitate autonomous decision-making and remove the clinician's views regarding a particular course of action. However, recent research in genetic counselling raises concerns that non-directive counselling is neither possible nor desirable, and that it may not be the best way to facilitate informed choice. We propose an alternative model of information-sharing specific to prenatal screening that combines attributes of the models of informative decision-making and shared decision-making. Our proposed model is intended to provide clinicians with a strategy to communicate information about prenatal screening in a way that facilitates a shared deliberative process and autonomous decision-making. Our proposed model may better prepare a pregnant woman to make an informed choice about participating in prenatal screening on the basis of her consideration of the medical information provided by her clinician and her particular circumstances and values.

Modelling and control of bio-methanization for energy production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hess, Jonathan

2007-01-01

Anaerobic digestion involves a complex ecosystem that progressively degrades the organic matter into carbon dioxide and (bio)methane. The biomethane is an highly energetic environmental friendly biofuel which can replace natural gas in the perspective of sustainable development. However biogas is still valorised below its potential. This is mainly due to a lack of dedicated methods that would ensure the anaerobic plant durability and the stability of the biogas composition. Two approaches are considered to improve liquid waste valorisation. On the one hand we develop methods to monitor anaerobic plants instabilities and prevent dysfunctions, and on the other hand we propose to control the biogas quality. These methods require accurate models to predict the process evolution. We propose a fine modeling of the liquid-gas exchange, and we show that the seeming transfer coefficient k L a depends on the biogas flow-rate. This leads to a linear relation between the dissolved CO 2 and the biogas quality, which is used to improve an existing model for anaerobic digestion. A risk index based on a stability analysis of a simple model is introduced. This approach is applied on a real anaerobic plant and we show that the criterion allows to detect a potential destabilisation, earlier than the usual monitored parameters (pH, VFA). Eventually we present a control strategy of the biogas quality based on the regulation of the digester alkalinity. Several control laws are experimentally validated on a pilot plant. (author) [fr

a Proposal for Generalization of 3d Models

Science.gov (United States)

Uyar, A.; Ulugtekin, N. N.

2017-11-01

In recent years, 3D models have been created of many cities around the world. Most of the 3D city models have been introduced as completely graphic or geometric models, and the semantic and topographic aspects of the models have been neglected. In order to use 3D city models beyond the task, a generalization is necessary. CityGML is an open data model and XML-based format for the storage and exchange of virtual 3D city models. Level of Details (LoD) which is an important concept for 3D modelling, can be defined as outlined degree or prior representation of real-world objects. The paper aim is first describes some requirements of 3D model generalization, then presents problems and approaches that have been developed in recent years. In conclude the paper will be a summary and outlook on problems and future work.

A three-dimensional breakdown model of SOI lateral power transistors with a circular layout

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Yufeng; Wang Zhigong; Sheu Gene

2009-01-01

This paper presents an analytical three-dimensional breakdown model of SOI lateral power devices with a circular layout. The Poisson equation is solved in cylindrical coordinates to obtain the radial surface potential and electric field distributions for both fully- and partially-depleted drift regions. The breakdown voltages for N + N and P + N junctions are derived and employed to investigate the impact of cathode region curvature. A modified RESURF criterion is proposed to provide a design guideline for optimizing the breakdown voltage and doping concentration in the drift region in three dimensional space. The analytical results agree well with MEDICI simulation results and experimental data from earlier publications. (semiconductor devices)

Proposal for a model to assess the effect of seismic activity on the triggering of debris flows

Science.gov (United States)

Vidar Vangelsten, Bjørn; Liu, Zhongqiang; Eidsvig, Unni; Luna, Byron Quan; Nadim, Farrokh

2013-04-01

Landslide triggered by earthquakes is a serious threat for many communities around the world, and in some cases is known to have caused 25-50% of the earthquake fatalities. Seismic shaking can contribute to the triggering of debris flows either during the seismic event or indirectly by increasing the susceptibility of the slope to debris flow during intense rainfall in a period after the seismic event. The paper proposes a model to quantify both these effects. The model is based on an infinite slope formulation where precipitation and earthquakes influence the slope stability as follows: (1) During the shaking, the factor of safety is reduced due to cyclic pore pressure build-up where the cyclic pore pressure is modelled as a function of earthquake duration and intensity (measured as number of equivalent shear stress cycles and cyclic shear stress magnitude) and in-situ soil conditions (measured as average normalised shear stress). The model is calibrated using cyclic triaxial and direct simple shear (DSS) test data on clay and sand. (2) After the shaking, the factor of safety is modified using a combined empirical and analytical model that links observed earthquake induced changes in rainfall thresholds for triggering of debris flow to an equivalent reduction in soil shear strength. The empirical part uses data from past earthquakes to propose a conceptual model linking a site-specific reduction factor for rainfall intensity threshold (needed to trigger debris flows) to earthquake magnitude, distance from the epicentre and time period after the earthquake. The analytical part is a hydrological model for transient rainfall infiltration into an infinite slope in order to translate the change in rainfall intensity threshold into an equivalent reduction in soil shear strength. This is generalised into a functional form giving a site-specific shear strength reduction factor as function of earthquake history and soil conditions. The model is suitable for hazard and risk

An effective medium model versus a network model for nano-structured solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minnaert, B.; Grasso, C.; Burgelman, M.

2006-01-01

In this paper, two methods are compared to model the I-V curves of nano-structured solar cells. These cells consist of an interpenetrating network of an n-type transparent semiconductor oxide (e.g. TiO 2 ) and a p-type semiconductor absorber (e.g. CdTe, CuInS 2 ), deposited on TCO covered glass. The methods are also applicable when a dye and an electrolyte replace the p-semiconductor, and even to organic bulk heterojunction cells. A network model (NM) with resistors and diodes has been published by us before. Another method which has been proposed in the literature is an effective medium model (EMM). In this model, the whole p-n nano-structure is represented by one single effective semiconductor layer, which then is fed into a standard solar cell device simulator, e.g. SCAPS. In this work, it is shown that the NM and the EMM can describe the same physical structure, when they are set up properly. As an illustration, some problems are described both by EMM and NM, and the results are compared. The EMM in this work confirms the results obtained earlier with a simplified NM (constant R n , R p ): when illuminating the n-side, the structure is tolerant to R n but not to R p ; the interpenetrating geometry is disadvantageous for V oc . (authors)

An analysis of a three-factor model proposed by the Danish Society of Actuaries for forecasting and risk analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Peter Løchte; Slipsager, Søren Kærgaard

2016-01-01

This paper provides the explicit solution to the three-factor diffusion model recently proposed by the Danish Society of Actuaries to the Danish industry of life insurance and pensions. The solution is obtained by use of the known general solution to multidimensional linear stochastic differential...

RAMI modeling of selected balance of plant systems for the proposed Accelerator Production of Tritium (APT) project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radder, J.A.; Cramer, D.S.

1997-01-01

In order to meet Department of Energy (DOE) Defense Program requirements for tritium in the 2005-2007 time frame, new production capability must be made available. The Accelerator Production of Tritium (APT) Plant is being considered as an alternative to nuclear reactor production of tritium, which has been the preferred method in the past. The proposed APT plant will use a high-power proton accelerator to generate thermal neutrons that will be captured in 3 He to produce tritium (3H). It is expected that the APT Plant will be built and operated at the DOE's Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, South Carolina. Discussion is focused on Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, and Inspectability (RAMI) modeling of recent conceptual designs for balance of plant (BOP) systems in the proposed APT Plant. In the conceptual designs for balance of plant (BOP) systems in the proposed APT Plant. In the conceptual design phase, system RAMI estimates are necessary to identify the best possible system alternative and to provide a valid picture of the cost effectiveness of the proposed system for comparison with other system alternatives. RAMI estimates in the phase must necessarily be based on generic data. The objective of the RAMI analyses at the conceptual design stage is to assist the designers in achieving an optimum design which balances the reliability and maintainability requirements among the subsystems and components

A quantum relativistic integrable model as the continuous limit of the six-vertex model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Y.K.

1992-01-01

The six-vertex model in two-dimensional statistical mechanics is used to construct the L-matrix of a one-dimensional quantum relativistic integrable model through a continuous limit. This is the first step to extend the method used earlier by the author to construct quantum completely integrable systems from other well-known two-dimensional vertex models. (orig.)

Self-rated health, multimorbidity and depression in Mexican older adults: Proposal and evaluation of a simple conceptual model.

Science.gov (United States)

Bustos-Vázquez, Eduardo; Fernández-Niño, Julián Alfredo; Astudillo-Garcia, Claudia Iveth

2017-04-01

Self-rated health is an individual and subjective conceptualization involving the intersection of biological, social and psychological factors. It provides an invaluable and unique evaluation of a person's general health status. To propose and evaluate a simple conceptual model to understand self-rated health and its relationship to multimorbidity, disability and depressive symptoms in Mexican older adults. We conducted a cross-sectional study based on a national representative sample of 8,874 adults of 60 years of age and older. Self-perception of a positive health status was determined according to a Likert-type scale based on the question: "What do you think is your current health status?" Intermediate variables included multimorbidity, disability and depressive symptoms, as well as dichotomous exogenous variables (sex, having a partner, participation in decision-making and poverty). The proposed conceptual model was validated using a general structural equation model with a logit link function for positive self-rated health. A direct association was found between multimorbidity and positive self-rated health (OR=0.48; 95% CI: 0.42-0.55), disability and positive self-rated health (OR=0.35; 95% CI: 0.30-0.40), depressive symptoms and positive self-rated health (OR=0.38; 95% CI: 0.34-0.43). The model also validated indirect associations between disability and depressive symptoms (OR=2.25; 95% CI: 2.01- 2.52), multimorbidity and depressive symptoms (OR=1.79; 95% CI: 1.61-2.00) and multimorbidity and disability (OR=1.98; 95% CI: 1.78-2.20). A parsimonious theoretical model was empirically evaluated, which enabled identifying direct and indirect associations with positive self-rated health.

SST: Single-Stream Temporal Action Proposals

KAUST Repository

Buch, Shyamal; Escorcia, Victor; Shen, Chuanqi; Ghanem, Bernard; Niebles, Juan Carlos

2017-01-01

Our paper presents a new approach for temporal detection of human actions in long, untrimmed video sequences. We introduce Single-Stream Temporal Action Proposals (SST), a new effective and efficient deep architecture for the generation of temporal action proposals. Our network can run continuously in a single stream over very long input video sequences, without the need to divide input into short overlapping clips or temporal windows for batch processing. We demonstrate empirically that our model outperforms the state-of-the-art on the task of temporal action proposal generation, while achieving some of the fastest processing speeds in the literature. Finally, we demonstrate that using SST proposals in conjunction with existing action classifiers results in improved state-of-the-art temporal action detection performance.

SST: Single-Stream Temporal Action Proposals

KAUST Repository

Buch, Shyamal

2017-11-09

Our paper presents a new approach for temporal detection of human actions in long, untrimmed video sequences. We introduce Single-Stream Temporal Action Proposals (SST), a new effective and efficient deep architecture for the generation of temporal action proposals. Our network can run continuously in a single stream over very long input video sequences, without the need to divide input into short overlapping clips or temporal windows for batch processing. We demonstrate empirically that our model outperforms the state-of-the-art on the task of temporal action proposal generation, while achieving some of the fastest processing speeds in the literature. Finally, we demonstrate that using SST proposals in conjunction with existing action classifiers results in improved state-of-the-art temporal action detection performance.

Safety of reactors built according to earlier standards (WWER 440/V230 type)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Misak, J.; Rohar, S.

1995-01-01

The problems of safety of WWER-440/V-230 type reactors are discussed, and the following conclusions are made. (1) The reactors have a very good operational record. (2) The reactors have serious design shortcomings, which should be eliminated by safety upgrading. Core damage frequency should be further reduced. (3) PSA methods constitute an appropriate tool for assessment of plant vulnerability to some initiating events and malfunctions, for prioritization of upgrading measures and for tolerability of deviations from current safety standards. (4) The most important safety merits, such as a large thermal inertia and low rupture probability, should be properly taken into account in the analysis. (5) Extensive safety upgrading is feasible and can lead to a considerable risk reduction. In certain circumstances such upgrading is the least expensive option even though the total cost is much higher than the initial plant construction cost. (6) Properly upgraded, the reactor units may be operable until better power resources are available within the country. (7) The existing gap between the technological and political judgements of nuclear safety should be reduced continuously by information exchange improvements. (8) A unified approach to nuclear safety should be adopted for all nuclear reactors (not just WWERs) built to earlier standards. 5 tabs., 1 fig

A proposed model for assessing service quality in small machining and industrial maintenance companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morvam dos Santos Netto

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Machining and industrial maintenance services include repair (corrective maintenance of equipments, activities involving the assembly-disassembly of equipments, fault diagnosis, machining operations, forming operations, welding processes, assembly and test of equipments. This article proposes a model for assessing the quality of services provided by small machining and industrial maintenance companies, since there is a gap in the literature regarding this issue and because the importance of small service companies in socio-economic development of the country. The model is an adaptation of the SERVQUAL instrument and the criteria determining the quality of services are designed according to the service cycle of a typical small machining and industrial maintenance company. In this sense, the Moments of Truth have been considered in the preparation of two separate questionnaires. The first questionnaire contains 24 statements that reflect the expectations of customers, and the second one contains 24 statements that measure perceptions of service performance. An additional item was included in each questionnaire to assess, respectively, the overall expectation about the services and the overall company performance. Therefore, it is a model that considers the interfaces of the client/supplier relationship, the peculiarities of the machining and industrial maintenance service sector and the company size.

3-Dimensional Flow Modeling of a Proposed Hanford Waste Treatment Plant Ion-Exchange Column Design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

ALEMAN, SEBASTIAN

2002-01-01

Historically, it has been assumed that the inlet and outlet low activity waste plenums would be designed such that a nearly uniform velocity profile would be maintained at every axial cross-section (i.e., providing nearly 100 percent use of the resin bed). With this proposed design, we see a LAW outlet distributor that results in significant non-axial velocity gradients in the bottom regions of the bed with the potential to reduce the effectiveness'' of the overall resin bed. The magnitude of this efficiency reduction depends upon how far up-gradient of the LAW outlet these non-axial velocities persist and to what extent a ''dead-zone'' is established beneath the LAW outlet. This can impact loading and elution performance of the ion-exchange facility. Currently, no experimental studies are planned. The primary objective of this work was, through modeling, to assess the fluid dynamic impact on ''effective'' resin volume of the full-scale column based on its normal operation using a recently proposed LAW outlet distributor. The analysis effort was limited to 3-D flow only analyses (i.e., no follow on transport analyses) with 3-D particle tracking to approximate the impact that a nonaxial velocity profile would have on bed ''effectiveness''. Additional analyses were performed to estimate under nominal operating conditions the thermal temperature rise across a loaded resin bed and within its particles. Hydrogen bubble formation is not considered in the heat transfer analysis or in the determination of minimum flowrate. All modeling objectives were met

Circulation Modeling for Proposed Port Facility at Ponce and Guayanilla, Puerto Rico

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Scheffner, Norman

2002-01-01

... of Ponce and Guayanilla, Puerto Rico. Impacts of the proposed construction were determined by conducting numerical simulations of tidal and storm surge circulation at the project sites using with and without the proposed port facilities...

Multiphysics modeling of two-phase film boiling within porous corrosion deposits

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jin, Miaomiao, E-mail: mmjin@mit.edu; Short, Michael, E-mail: hereiam@mit.edu

2016-07-01

Porous corrosion deposits on nuclear fuel cladding, known as CRUD, can cause multiple operational problems in light water reactors (LWRs). CRUD can cause accelerated corrosion of the fuel cladding, increase radiation fields and hence greater exposure risk to plant workers once activated, and induce a downward axial power shift causing an imbalance in core power distribution. In order to facilitate a better understanding of CRUD's effects, such as localized high cladding surface temperatures related to accelerated corrosion rates, we describe an improved, fully-coupled, multiphysics model to simulate heat transfer, chemical reactions and transport, and two-phase fluid flow within these deposits. Our new model features a reformed assumption of 2D, two-phase film boiling within the CRUD, correcting earlier models' assumptions of single-phase coolant flow with wick boiling under high heat fluxes. This model helps to better explain observed experimental values of the effective CRUD thermal conductivity. Finally, we propose a more complete set of boiling regimes, or a more detailed mechanism, to explain recent CRUD deposition experiments by suggesting the new concept of double dryout specifically in thick porous media with boiling chimneys. - Highlights: • A two-phase model of CRUD's effects on fuel cladding is developed and improved. • This model eliminates the formerly erroneous assumption of wick boiling. • Higher fuel cladding temperatures are predicted when accounting for two-phase flow. • Double-peaks in thermal conductivity vs. heat flux in experiments are explained. • A “double dryout” mechanism in CRUD is proposed based on the model and experiments.

The Proposal Concept of Development and Implementation in Strategy of Sustainable Corporate Social Responsibility in the Context of the HCS Model 3E

Science.gov (United States)

Sakál, Peter; Hrdinová, Gabriela

2016-06-01

This article is the result of a conceptual design methodology for the development of a sustainable strategy of sustainable corporate social responsibility (SCSR) in the context of the HCS model 3E formed, as a co-author within the stated grants and dissertation. On the basis of the use of propositional logic, the SCSR procedure is proposed for incorporation into the corporate strategy of sustainable development and the integrated management system (IMS) of the industrial enterprise. The aim of this article is the proposal of the concept of development and implementation strategy of SCSR in the context of the HCS model 3E.

On the scale similarity in large eddy simulation. A proposal of a new model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pasero, E.; Cannata, G.; Gallerano, F.

2004-01-01

validity of the proposed model was tested through channel flow simulation with friction-velocity-based Reynolds numbers ranging from 180 to 2340. (author)

A Proposed Model for Selecting Measurement Procedures for the Assessment and Treatment of Problem Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

LeBlanc, Linda A; Raetz, Paige B; Sellers, Tyra P; Carr, James E

2016-03-01

Practicing behavior analysts frequently assess and treat problem behavior as part of their ongoing job responsibilities. Effective measurement of problem behavior is critical to success in these activities because some measures of problem behavior provide more accurate and complete information about the behavior than others. However, not every measurement procedure is appropriate for every problem behavior and therapeutic circumstance. We summarize the most commonly used measurement procedures, describe the contexts for which they are most appropriate, and propose a clinical decision-making model for selecting measurement produces given certain features of the behavior and constraints of the therapeutic environment.

Preference and strategy in proposer's prosocial giving in the ultimatum game.

Science.gov (United States)

Inaba, Misato; Inoue, Yumi; Akutsu, Satoshi; Takahashi, Nobuyuki; Yamagishi, Toshio

2018-01-01

The accumulation of findings that most responders in the ultimatum game reject unfair offers provides evidence that humans are driven by social preferences such as preferences for fairness and prosociality. On the other hand, if and how the proposer's behavior is affected by social preferences remains unelucidated. We addressed this question for the first time by manipulating the knowledge that the proposer had about the responder's belief concerning the intentionality of the proposer. In a new game called the "ultimatum game with ambiguous intentions of the proposer (UGAMB)," we made the intentionality of the proposer ambiguous to the recipient. We expected and found that the proposer would make more unfair offers in this new game than in the standard ultimatum game. This expectation can be derived from either the preference-based model or the strategy model of the proposer's giving decision. The additional finding that more unfair giving in the UGAMB was not mediated by the proposer's expectation that the recipient would be more willing to accept unfair offers provided support for the preference-based model. Using a psychological measure of cognitive control, the preference-based model received additional support through a conceptual replication of the previous finding that cognitive control of intuitive drive for prosociality in the dictator game, rather than mind reading in the ultimatum game, is responsible for the difference in giving between the two games.

Crack density and electrical resistance in indium-tin-oxide/polymer thin films under cyclic loading

KAUST Repository

Mora Cordova, Angel; Khan, Kamran; El Sayed, Tamer

2014-01-01

Here, we propose a damage model that describes the degradation of the material properties of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) thin films deposited on polymer substrates under cyclic loading. We base this model on our earlier tensile test model and show

Prioritization Scheme for Proposed Road Weather Information System Sites: Montana Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed Al-Kaisy

2017-08-01

Full Text Available A model for prioritization of new proposed environmental sensor station (ESS sites is developed and presented in this paper. The model assesses the overall merit (OM of a proposed ESS site as part of a Road Weather Information System (RWIS using weather, traffic, and safety data among other variables. The purpose of the proposed model is to help in selecting optimum sites for new ESS locations, which is important in guiding RWIS system expansion. Inputs to the OM model include weather index (WI, traffic index (TI, crash index, geographic coverage, and opportunistic factors. The WI at a proposed site is determined using multiple indicators of weather severity and variability. The crash index, another major input to the OM model, incorporates crash rate along the route and the percentage of weather-related crashes over the analysis period. The TI, in turn, reflects the amount of travel on the highway network in the area surrounding the proposed ESS site. The fourth input to the merit model accounts for the ESS existing coverage in the area where the proposed site is located, while the fifth and last input is concerned with the availability and ease of access to power and communications. Model coefficients are represented by weights that reflect the contribution of each input (variable to the OM of the ESS site. Those weights are user-specified and should be selected to reflect the agency preferences and priorities. The application of the proposed merit model on sample sites in Montana demonstrated the utility of the model in ranking candidate sites using data readily available to highway agencies.

Study on the noncoincidence effect phenomenon using matrix isolated Raman spectra and the proposed structural organization model of acetone in condense phase

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Wenwen; Wu, Fengqi; Zhao, Yanying; Zhou, Ran; Wang, Huigang; Zheng, Xuming; Ni, Bukuo

2017-03-01

The isotropic and anisotropic Raman spectra of acetone and deuterated acetone isolated in an argon matrix have been recorded for the understanding of noncoincidence effect (NCE) phenomenon. According to the matrix isolated Raman spectra and DFT calculations, we proposed aggregated model for the explanations of the acetone C=O vibration NCE phenomenon and its concentration effect. The experimental data were in consistence with the DFT calculations performed at the B3LYP-D3/6-311 G (d,p) levels based on the proposed model. The experimental identification of the monomer, dimer and trimer are reported here, and the dynamic of the transformation from monomer to aggregated structure can be easily controlled by tuning annealing temperature.

FISHRENT; Bio-economic simulation and optimisation model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Salz, P.; Buisman, F.C.; Soma, K.; Frost, H.; Accadia, P.; Prellezo, R.

2011-01-01

Key findings: The FISHRENT model is a major step forward in bio-economic model-ling, combining features that have not been fully integrated in earlier models: 1- Incorporation of any number of species (or stock) and/or fleets 2- Integration of simulation and optimisation over a period of 25 years 3-

Modeling the Hydrogeochemical Transport of Radionuclides through Engineered Barriers System in the Proposed LLW Disposal Site of Taiwan - 12082

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Wen-Sheng [Hydrotech Research Institute, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan (China); Liu, Chen-Wuing; Tsao, Jui-Hsuan [Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan (China); Li, Ming-Hsu [Institute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences, National Central University, Jhongli, Taiwan (China)

2012-07-01

A proposed site for final disposal of low-level radioactive waste located in Daren Township of Taitung County along the southeastern coast has been on the selected list in Taiwan. The geology of the Daren site consists of argillite and meta-sedimentary rocks. A mined cavern design with a tunnel system of 500 m below the surface is proposed. Concrete is used as the main confinement material for the engineered barrier. To investigate the hydrogeochemical transport of radionuclides through engineered barriers system, HYDROGEOCHEM5.0 model was applied to simulate the complex chemical interactions among radionuclides, the cement minerals of the concrete, groundwater flow, and transport in the proposed site. The simulation results showed that the engineered barriers system with the side ditch efficiently drained the ground water and lowered the concentration of the concrete degradation induced species (e.g., hydrogen ion, sulfate, and chloride). The velocity of groundwater observed at side ditch gradually decreased with time due to the fouling of pore space by the mineral formation of ettringite and thaumasite. The short half-life of Co-60, Sr-90 and Cs-137 significantly reduced the concentrations, whereas the long half-life of I-129(1.57x10{sup 7} years) and Am-241(432 years) remain stable concentrations at the interface of waste canister and concrete barrier after 300 years. The mineral saturation index (SI) was much less than zero due to the low aqueous concentration of radionuclide, so that the precipitation formation of Co-60, Sr-90, I-129, Cs-137 and Am-241 related minerals were not found. The effect of adsorption/desorption (i.e., surface complexation model) could be a crucial geochemical mechanism for the modeling of liquid-solid phase behavior of radionuclide in geochemically dynamic environments. Moreover, the development of advanced numerical models that are coupled with hydrogeochemical transport and dose assessment of radionuclide is required in the future

An extended collection length model for the description of keV-electron induced degradation and thermal recovery of p-i-n solar cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, U.; Schroder, B.

1990-01-01

The results of keV-electron degradation and annealing experiments obtained on a-Si:H based p-i-n solar cells are interpretated under inclusion of models developed earlier for the degradation of a-Si:H films and are placed in the framework of an extended collection length model. The strong degradation of the cell parameters j sc and FF due to considerable keV-electron irradiation can be explained quantitatively. This enables a crucial test of the validity of the mathematical models for the keV-electron induced effects developed so far. Furthermore the results of a detailed investigation of the thermal recovery of electron-degraded solar cells can be cleared up consistently. Some unresolved issues are discussed, and experiments to resolve these questions are proposed

Computational Approaches to Modeling Artificial Emotion -– An overview of the Proposed Solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zdzislaw eKOWALCZUK

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Cybernetic approach to modeling artificial emotion through the use of different theories of psychology is considered in this paper, presenting a review of twelve proposed solutions: ActAffAct, FLAME, EMA, ParleE, FearNot!, FAtiMA, WASABI, Cathexis, KARO, MAMID, FCM, and xEmotion. The main motivation for this study is founded on the hypothesis that emotions can play a definite utility role of scheduling variables in the construction of intelligent autonomous systems, agents and mobile robots. In this review we also include an innovative and panoptical, comprehensive system, referred to as the Intelligent System of Decision-making (ISD, which has been employed in practical applications of various autonomous units, and which applies as its part the xEmotion, taking into consideration the personal aspects of emotions, affects (short term emotions and mood (principally, long term emotions.

A model proposal concerning balance scorecard application integrated with resource consumption accounting in enterprise performance management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ORHAN ELMACI

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The present study intended to investigate the “Balance Scorecard (BSC model integrated with Resource Consumption Accounting (RCA” which helps to evaluate the enterprise as matrix structure in its all parts. It aims to measure how much tangible and intangible values (assets of enterprises contribute to the enterprises. In other words, it measures how effectively, actively, and efficiently these values (assets are used. In short, it aims to measure sustainable competency of enterprises. As expressing the effect of tangible and intangible values (assets of the enterprise on the performance in mathematical and statistical methods is insufficient, it is targeted that RCA Method integrated with BSC model is based on matrix structure and control models. The effects of all complex factors in the enterprise on the performance (productivity and efficiency estimated algorithmically with cause and effect diagram. The contributions of matrix structures for reaching the management functional targets of the enterprises that operate in market competitive environment increasing day to day, is discussed. So in the context of modern management theories, as a contribution to BSC approach which is in the foreground in today’s administrative science of enterprises in matrix organizational structures, multidimensional performance evaluation model -RCA integrated with BSC Model proposal- is presented as strategic planning and strategic evaluation instrument.

Neutronic characteristics of coupled moderator proposed in integrated model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teshigawara, Makoto; Meigo, Shin-ichiro; Sakata, Hideaki; Kai, Tetsuya; Harada, Masahide; Ikeda, Yujiro; Watanabe, Noboru

2001-05-01

A pulsed spallation source for the materials science and the life science is currently developing for its construction in the High Intensity Proton Accelerator Project proposed jointly by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK). This report presents the analytical results of the neutronic characteristics of the coupled moderator based on the analytical results obtained by using an integrated model which has established on the extensive neutronic and technical study. Total heat deposition in a hydrogen (H 2 ) moderator working as the main moderator was about 420 W/MW. Maximum nuclear heat density in the H 2 moderator was about 1 W/cm 3 /MW. Also total heat deposition in a premoderator was about 9.2 kW/MW. The heat density of the premoderator was comparable to that of the moderator vessel made of aluminum alloy. The heat density of the premoderator and the moderator vessel is about 1.2-2 times higher than that of the hydrogen moderator. The temperature from 300 K to 400 K of the premoderator did not affect on neutron intensity of the H 2 moderator. This suggested an engineering advantage on the thermal and hydraulic design. 6000 or 7000 type of a aluminum alloy was considered from the viewpoint of the neutron beam transmission. The proton beams scattered by the proton beam window did not affect on the nuclear heating in the H 2 moderator. The heat deposition in the H 2 moderator and the neutron intensity of the H 2 moderator did not depend on the proton beam profile but it did on the distance between the proton beam and the moderator. (author)

Proposal of performance indicators/model for Operational Readiness Verification (ORV) at restart after a planned shutdown

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hollnagel, Erik; Nygren, Magnus

2005-12-01

The objectives of the study reported here were to propose a model that can be used in the analysis of possible future ORV-related events and to outline a set of performance indicators that can be used by the inspectorate to assess a utility's level of readiness if an ORV-event should take place. Together the two objectives serve to improve the inspectorate's ability to ensure that the utilities maintain an adequate capability to respond. The background for the current study is the nine ORV events that occurred in Sweden between 1995- 1998, as well as the findings of a previous study of safety during outage and restart of nuclear power plants project. This study found that the three levels or types of tests that occur in ORV were used according to need rather than according to a predefined arrangement or procedure, and that tasks were adapted relative to the different types of embedding and the degree of correspondence between nominal and actual ORV. The organisation's coping with the complexity of ORV was discussed by the relation between expectations and surprises, how planning was used as control, attention to details, and the practices of shift changes. It is a truism that accidents are analysed and interpreted relative to a commonly accepted understanding of their nature. This understanding is, however, relative rather than absolute, and has changed significantly during the last decade. In the 1990s, accidents were analysed step by step, and explanations and recommendations therefore emphasised specific rather than generic solutions. The present study illustrates this by going through the responses to the nine ORV events. Following that, the nine events are analysed anew using a contemporary understanding of accidents (a systemic model), which emphasises that incidents more often arise from context induced performance variability than from failures of people. The alternative interpretation provided by a systemic model is illustrated by a detailed analysis of

Predicting the effects of proposed Mississippi River diversions on oyster habitat quality; application of an oyster habitat suitability index model

Science.gov (United States)

Soniat, Thomas M.; Conzelmann, Craig P.; Byrd, Jason D.; Roszell, Dustin P.; Bridevaux, Joshua L.; Suir, Kevin J.; Colley, Susan B.

2013-01-01

In an attempt to decelerate the rate of coastal erosion and wetland loss, and protect human communities, the state of Louisiana developed its Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast. The master plan proposes a combination of restoration efforts including shoreline protection, marsh creation, sediment diversions, and ridge, barrier island, and hydrological restoration. Coastal restoration projects, particularly the large-scale diversions of fresh water from the Mississippi River, needed to supply sediment to an eroding coast potentially impact oyster populations and oyster habitat. An oyster habitat suitability index model is presented that evaluates the effects of a proposed sediment and freshwater diversion into Lower Breton Sound. Voluminous freshwater, needed to suspend and broadly distribute river sediment, will push optimal salinities for oysters seaward and beyond many of the existing reefs. Implementation and operation of the Lower Breton Sound diversion structure as proposed would render about 6,173 ha of hard bottom immediately east of the Mississippi River unsuitable for the sustained cultivation of oysters. If historical harvests are to be maintained in this region, a massive and unprecedented effort to relocate private leases and restore oyster bottoms would be required. Habitat suitability index model results indicate that the appropriate location for such efforts are to the east and north of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet.

Numerical Differentiation Methods for Computing Error Covariance Matrices in Item Response Theory Modeling: An Evaluation and a New Proposal

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Wei; Cai, Li; Thissen, David; Xin, Tao

2013-01-01

In item response theory (IRT) modeling, the item parameter error covariance matrix plays a critical role in statistical inference procedures. When item parameters are estimated using the EM algorithm, the parameter error covariance matrix is not an automatic by-product of item calibration. Cai proposed the use of Supplemented EM algorithm for…

Photoelectrolysis at the oxide-electrolyte interface as interpreted through the 'transition' layer model

Science.gov (United States)

Kalia, R. K.; Weber, Michael F.; Schumacher, L.; Dignam, M. J.

1980-12-01

A transition layer model of the oxide-electrolyte interface, proposed earlier by one of us, is outlined and then examined in the light of experimental data relating primarily to photoelectrolysis of water at semiconducting oxide electrodes. The model provides useful insight into the behaviour of the system and allows a calculation of thc minimum bias potential needed for photoelectrolysis, thus illuminating the origin of the requirement for such an external bias. In order to electrolyse water without a bias, the model requires an n-type oxide to be sufficiently reduced so that it is thermodynamically capable of chemically reducing water to produce hydrogen at 1 atm pressure. Similarly, for bias-free operation, a p-type metal oxide must be thermodynamically unstable with respect to the release of oxygen at 1 atm pressure. In the face of these requirements it is apparent that oxide stability is bound to be in general a serious problem for nonstoichiometric single metal oxides.

A systematic investigation of computation models for predicting Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qifan Kuang

Full Text Available Early and accurate identification of adverse drug reactions (ADRs is critically important for drug development and clinical safety. Computer-aided prediction of ADRs has attracted increasing attention in recent years, and many computational models have been proposed. However, because of the lack of systematic analysis and comparison of the different computational models, there remain limitations in designing more effective algorithms and selecting more useful features. There is therefore an urgent need to review and analyze previous computation models to obtain general conclusions that can provide useful guidance to construct more effective computational models to predict ADRs.In the current study, the main work is to compare and analyze the performance of existing computational methods to predict ADRs, by implementing and evaluating additional algorithms that have been earlier used for predicting drug targets. Our results indicated that topological and intrinsic features were complementary to an extent and the Jaccard coefficient had an important and general effect on the prediction of drug-ADR associations. By comparing the structure of each algorithm, final formulas of these algorithms were all converted to linear model in form, based on this finding we propose a new algorithm called the general weighted profile method and it yielded the best overall performance among the algorithms investigated in this paper.Several meaningful conclusions and useful findings regarding the prediction of ADRs are provided for selecting optimal features and algorithms.

Proposing a New Approach for Supplier Selection Based on Kraljic’s Model Using FMEA and Integer Linear Programming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Mohammad Arabzad

2012-06-01

Full Text Available In recent years, numerous methods have been proposed to deal with supplier evaluation and selection problem, but a point which has been usually neglected by researchers is the role of purchasing items. The aim of this paper is to propose an integrated approach to select suppliers and allocate orders on the basis of the nature of the purchasing items which means that this issue plays an important role in supplier selection and order allocation. Therefore, items are first categorized according to the Kraljic’s model by the use of FMEA technique. Then, suppliers are categorized and evaluated in four phases with respect to different types of purchasing items (Strategic, Bottleneck, Leverage and Routine. Finally, an integer linear programming is utilized to allocate purchasing orders to suppliers. Furthermore, an empirical example is conducted to illustrate the stage of proposed approach. Results imply that ranking of suppliers and allocation of purchasing items based on the nature of purchasing items will create more capabilities in managing purchasing items and suppliers .

Proposed Model of Predicting the Reduced Yield Axial Load of Reinforced Concrete Columns Due to Casting Deficiency Effect

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Achillopoulou Dimitra

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The study deals with the investigation of the effect of casting deficiencies- both experimentally and analytically on axial yield load or reinforced concrete columns. It includes 6 specimens of square section (150x150x500 mm of 24.37 MPa nominal concrete strength with 4 longitudinal steel bars of 8 mm (500 MPa nominal strength with confinement ratio ωc=0.15. Through casting procedure the necessary provisions defined by International Standards were not applied strictly in order to create construction deficiencies. These deficiencies are quantified geometrically without the use of expensive and expertise non-destructive methods and their effect on the axial load capacity of the concrete columns is calibrated trough a novel and simplified prediction model extracted by an experimental and analytical investigation that included 6 specimens. It is concluded that: a even with suitable repair, load reduction up to 22% is the outcome of the initial construction damage presence, b the lower dispersion is noted for the section damage index proposed, c extended damage alters the failure mode to brittle accompanied with longitudinal bars buckling, d the proposed model presents more than satisfying results to the load capacity prediction of repaired columns.

The effect of rapid screening for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on the identification and earlier isolation of MRSA-positive patients.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Creamer, Eilish

2010-04-01

(1) To determine whether rapid screening with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays leads to the earlier isolation of patients at risk for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization, (2) to assess compliance with routine MRSA screening protocols, (3) to confirm the diagnostic accuracy of the Xpert MRSA real-time PCR assay (Cepheid) by comparison with culture, and (4) to compare turnaround times for PCR assay results with those for culture results.

The proposed 'concordance-statistic for benefit' provided a useful metric when modeling heterogeneous treatment effects.

Science.gov (United States)

van Klaveren, David; Steyerberg, Ewout W; Serruys, Patrick W; Kent, David M

2018-02-01

Clinical prediction models that support treatment decisions are usually evaluated for their ability to predict the risk of an outcome rather than treatment benefit-the difference between outcome risk with vs. without therapy. We aimed to define performance metrics for a model's ability to predict treatment benefit. We analyzed data of the Synergy between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX) trial and of three recombinant tissue plasminogen activator trials. We assessed alternative prediction models with a conventional risk concordance-statistic (c-statistic) and a novel c-statistic for benefit. We defined observed treatment benefit by the outcomes in pairs of patients matched on predicted benefit but discordant for treatment assignment. The 'c-for-benefit' represents the probability that from two randomly chosen matched patient pairs with unequal observed benefit, the pair with greater observed benefit also has a higher predicted benefit. Compared to a model without treatment interactions, the SYNTAX score II had improved ability to discriminate treatment benefit (c-for-benefit 0.590 vs. 0.552), despite having similar risk discrimination (c-statistic 0.725 vs. 0.719). However, for the simplified stroke-thrombolytic predictive instrument (TPI) vs. the original stroke-TPI, the c-for-benefit (0.584 vs. 0.578) was similar. The proposed methodology has the potential to measure a model's ability to predict treatment benefit not captured with conventional performance metrics. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Proposal of B to B Collaboration Process Model based on a Concept of Service and its Application to Energy Saving Service Business

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qi; Kosaka, Michitaka; Shirahada, Kunio; Yabutani, Takashi

This paper proposes a new framework for B to B collaboration process based on a concept of service. Service value, which gives users satisfaction for provided services, depends on the situation, user characteristics, and user objectives in seeking the service. Vargo proposed Service Dominant Logic (SDL), which determines service value according to “value in use”. This concept illustrates the importance of the relationship between the service itself and its situation. This relationship is analogous to electro-magnetic field theory in physics. We developed the concept of service fields to create service value based on an analogy of the electro-magnetic field. By applying this concept to B to B collaboration, a model of service value co-creation in the collaboration can be formulated. Then, the collaboration can be described by 4 steps of KIKI model (Knowledge sharing related to service system, Identification of service field, Knowledge creation for new service idea, Implementation of service idea). As its application to B to B collaboration, the energy saving service business is reported to demonstrate the validity of the proposed collaboration model. This concept can be applied to make a collaboration process effective.

Proposal optimization in nuclear accident emergency decision based on IAHP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xin Jing

2007-01-01

On the basis of establishing the multi-layer structure of nuclear accident emergency decision, several decision objectives are synthetically analyzed, and an optimization model of decision proposals for nuclear accident emergency based on interval analytic hierarchy process is proposed in the paper. The model makes comparisons among several emergency decision proposals quantified, and the optimum proposal is selected out, which solved the uncertain and fuzzy decision problem of judgments by experts' experiences in nuclear accidents emergency decision. Case study shows that the optimization result is much more reasonable, objective and reliable than subjective judgments, and it could be decision references for nuclear accident emergency. (authors)

Structure-reactivity modeling using mixture-based representation of chemical reactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Polishchuk, Pavel; Madzhidov, Timur; Gimadiev, Timur; Bodrov, Andrey; Nugmanov, Ramil; Varnek, Alexandre

2017-09-01

We describe a novel approach of reaction representation as a combination of two mixtures: a mixture of reactants and a mixture of products. In turn, each mixture can be encoded using an earlier reported approach involving simplex descriptors (SiRMS). The feature vector representing these two mixtures results from either concatenated product and reactant descriptors or the difference between descriptors of products and reactants. This reaction representation doesn't need an explicit labeling of a reaction center. The rigorous "product-out" cross-validation (CV) strategy has been suggested. Unlike the naïve "reaction-out" CV approach based on a random selection of items, the proposed one provides with more realistic estimation of prediction accuracy for reactions resulting in novel products. The new methodology has been applied to model rate constants of E2 reactions. It has been demonstrated that the use of the fragment control domain applicability approach significantly increases prediction accuracy of the models. The models obtained with new "mixture" approach performed better than those required either explicit (Condensed Graph of Reaction) or implicit (reaction fingerprints) reaction center labeling.

Peer review CALMET/CALPUFF dispersion modelling analysis : Proposed Duke Point generation facility Georgia Strait Crossing pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

A peer review of the air quality dispersion modeling analysis for the proposed gas-fired plant at Duke Point in the vicinity of Nanaimo, British Columbia was required, and SENES Consultants Limited (SENES) was commissioned to perform it. British Columbia Hydro had requested that Levelton Engineering Ltd. prepare an air quality impact assessment, and it was submitted to be included in Vancouver Island Generation Project (VIGP) permit application. This permit application was for the Joint Panel Review of the Georgia Strait Crossing Pipeline (GSX) Project and the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office. The CALMET/CALPUFF Modelling System had been used by Levelton to conduct the air quality dispersion modelling analysis. Copies of the input and output files that had been used for the conduct of the modelling analysis were provided to SENES. The ability for SENES to reproduce the modelling results that had been published in the GSX application represented the first step in the peer review. This was accomplished by running the files received from Levelton into the CALMET/CALPUFF models. A detailed review of the methodology selected by Levelton during the conduct of the dispersion modelling analysis was then initiated by SENES. Some deficiencies were identified by SENES, despite concurrence with the overall conceptual approach adopted by Levelton. The deficiencies concerned meteorological data; startup, partial load and upset conditions; pollutant emissions; health risk assessment; cumulative impact on ambient particulate matter 10 concentrations; and collateral environmental impacts. refs., 2 tabs., 21 figs

Improvement of MARS code reflood model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Moonkyu; Chung, Bub-Dong

2011-01-01

A specifically designed heat transfer model for the reflood process which normally occurs at low flow and low pressure was originally incorporated in the MARS code. The model is essentially identical to that of the RELAP5/MOD3.3 code. The model, however, is known to have under-estimated the peak cladding temperature (PCT) with earlier turn-over. In this study, the original MARS code reflood model is improved. Based on the extensive sensitivity studies for both hydraulic and wall heat transfer models, it is found that the dispersed flow film boiling (DFFB) wall heat transfer is the most influential process determining the PCT, whereas the interfacial drag model most affects the quenching time through the liquid carryover phenomenon. The model proposed by Bajorek and Young is incorporated for the DFFB wall heat transfer. Both space grid and droplet enhancement models are incorporated. Inverted annular film boiling (IAFB) is modeled by using the original PSI model of the code. The flow transition between the DFFB and IABF, is modeled using the TRACE code interpolation. A gas velocity threshold is also added to limit the top-down quenching effect. Assessment calculations are performed for the original and modified MARS codes for the Flecht-Seaset test and RBHT test. Improvements are observed in terms of the PCT and quenching time predictions in the Flecht-Seaset assessment. In case of the RBHT assessment, the improvement over the original MARS code is found marginal. A space grid effect, however, is clearly seen from the modified version of the MARS code. (author)

Analyzing “Etka Chain Stores” Strategies and Proposing Optimal Strategies; Using SWOT Model based on Fuzzy Logic

OpenAIRE

Mohammad Aghaei; Amin Asadollahi; Elham Vahedi; Mahdi Pirooz

2013-01-01

To maintain and achieve optimal growth, development and to be more competitive, organizations need a comprehensive and coherent plan compatible with their objectives and goals which is called strategic planning. This research aims to analyse strategically “Etka Chain Stores” and to propose optimal strategies by using SWOT model and based on fuzzy logic. The scope of this research is limited to “Etka Chain stores in Tehran”. As instrumentation, a questioner, consisting of 138 questions, was us...

A proposal for both plasma ion- and electron-temperature diagnostics under simultaneous incidence of particles and x-rays into a semiconductor on the basis of a proposed model for a semiconductor detector response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Numakura, T; Cho, T; Kohagura, J; Hirata, M; Minami, R; Yoshida, M; Nakashima, Y; Tamano, T; Yatsu, K; Miyoshi, S

2003-01-01

A method is proposed for obtaining radial profiles of plasma temperatures of both plasma ion (T i ) and electron (T e ) simultaneously by the use of a semiconductor detector array. The method is based on our developed particle-response model for a semiconductor detector; in particular, the response theory is constructed for giving the applicability in particle energies ranging down to a kiloelectronvolt. Calculated results from our model are in fairly good agreement with experimental data on the detector response of incident particle beams with energies in the range 100 eV to a few kiloelectronvolts. On the basis of the verification of the proposed model, an idea of the use of a developed semiconductor detector array covered with 'reliably unbreakable' ultrathin SiO 2 'dead-layer filters' having various nanometre-order thicknesses is applied for simultaneous T i and T e analyses by using charge-exchange neutral particles and x-rays from plasmas. Radial profiles of T i and T e are obtained in a single plasma discharge alone, and the data reliability is independently cross-checked by a radial scan of a conventional charge-exchange neutral-particle analyser system as well as a 50-channel microchannel plate x-ray diagnostics system in the GAMMA 10 tandem mirror

Adiposity, Dysmetabolic Traits, and Earlier Onset of Female Puberty in Adolescent Offspring of Women With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Clinical Study Within the Danish National Birth Cohort

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grunnet, L. G.; Hansen, S.; Hjort, L.

2017-01-01

and associated cardiometabolic traits in 561 9- to 16-year-old offspring of mothers with GDM and 597 control offspring. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We measured anthropometric characteristics; puberty status; blood pressure; and fasting glucose, insulin, C-peptide, and lipid levels; and conducted a DEXA scan...... in a subset of the cohort. Differences in the outcomes between offspring of mothers with GDM and control subjects were examined using linear and logistic regression models. RESULTS: After adjustment for age and sex, offspring of mothers with GDM displayed higher weight, BMI, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), systolic...... glucose, insulin, C-peptide, HOMA-insulin resistance (IR), and plasma triglyceride levels, whereas fasting plasma HDL cholesterol levels were decreased. Female offspring of mothers with GDM had an earlier onset of puberty than control offspring. Offspring of mothers with GDM had significantly higher BMI...

Cure modeling in real-time prediction: How much does it help?

Science.gov (United States)

Ying, Gui-Shuang; Zhang, Qiang; Lan, Yu; Li, Yimei; Heitjan, Daniel F

2017-08-01

Various parametric and nonparametric modeling approaches exist for real-time prediction in time-to-event clinical trials. Recently, Chen (2016 BMC Biomedical Research Methodology 16) proposed a prediction method based on parametric cure-mixture modeling, intending to cover those situations where it appears that a non-negligible fraction of subjects is cured. In this article we apply a Weibull cure-mixture model to create predictions, demonstrating the approach in RTOG 0129, a randomized trial in head-and-neck cancer. We compare the ultimate realized data in RTOG 0129 to interim predictions from a Weibull cure-mixture model, a standard Weibull model without a cure component, and a nonparametric model based on the Bayesian bootstrap. The standard Weibull model predicted that events would occur earlier than the Weibull cure-mixture model, but the difference was unremarkable until late in the trial when evidence for a cure became clear. Nonparametric predictions often gave undefined predictions or infinite prediction intervals, particularly at early stages of the trial. Simulations suggest that cure modeling can yield better-calibrated prediction intervals when there is a cured component, or the appearance of a cured component, but at a substantial cost in the average width of the intervals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DAPs: Deep Action Proposals for Action Understanding

KAUST Repository

Escorcia, Victor

2016-09-17

Object proposals have contributed significantly to recent advances in object understanding in images. Inspired by the success of this approach, we introduce Deep Action Proposals (DAPs), an effective and efficient algorithm for generating temporal action proposals from long videos. We show how to take advantage of the vast capacity of deep learning models and memory cells to retrieve from untrimmed videos temporal segments, which are likely to contain actions. A comprehensive evaluation indicates that our approach outperforms previous work on a large scale action benchmark, runs at 134 FPS making it practical for large-scale scenarios, and exhibits an appealing ability to generalize, i.e. to retrieve good quality temporal proposals of actions unseen in training.

The differential susceptibility to media effects model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Valkenburg, P.M.; Peter, J.

2013-01-01

In this theoretical article, we introduce the Differential Susceptibility to Media Effects Model (DSMM), a new, integrative model to improve our understanding of media effects. The DSMM organizes, integrates, and extends the insights developed in earlier microlevel media-effects theories. It

Concept Modeling vs. Data modeling in Practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Bodil Nistrup; Erdman Thomsen, Hanne

2015-01-01

This chapter shows the usefulness of terminological concept modeling as a first step in data modeling. First, we introduce terminological concept modeling with terminological ontologies, i.e. concept systems enriched with characteristics modeled as feature specifications. This enables a formal...... account of the inheritance of characteristics and allows us to introduce a number of principles and constraints which render concept modeling more coherent than earlier approaches. Second, we explain how terminological ontologies can be used as the basis for developing conceptual and logical data models....... We also show how to map from the various elements in the terminological ontology to elements in the data models, and explain the differences between the models. Finally the usefulness of terminological ontologies as a prerequisite for IT development and data modeling is illustrated with examples from...

What Factors Lead Companies to Adopt Social Media in their processes: Proposal and Test of a Measurement Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jozé Braz de Araújo

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to understand which factors lead companies to use social media to achieve results. For that, a theoretical model was proposed and tested. Data was collected using a survey of 237 companies. In the analysis we analysis used the structural eq uation modeling technique. The results show that the social media relative advantage and its observability were important factors to social media organizational adoption. We also found that big companies with more formalized organizational structure (OS t end to adopt social media more than small ones with no formal OS. The companies studied showed strong organizational disposition for innovation adoption.

MODEL REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS TO PROVIDE ENERGY AND OTHER ATTRIBUTES FROM AN OFFSHORE WIND POWER PROJECT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeremy Firestone; Dawn Kurtz Crompton

2011-10-22

This document provides a model RFP for new generation. The 'base' RFP is for a single-source offshore wind RFP. Required modifications are noted should a state or utility seek multi-source bids (e.g., all renewables or all sources). The model is premised on proposals meeting threshold requirements (e.g., a MW range of generating capacity and a range in terms of years), RFP issuer preferences (e.g., likelihood of commercial operation by a date certain, price certainty, and reduction in congestion), and evaluation criteria, along with a series of plans (e.g., site, environmental effects, construction, community outreach, interconnection, etc.). The Model RFP places the most weight on project risk (45%), followed by project economics (35%), and environmental and social considerations (20%). However, if a multi-source RFP is put forward, the sponsor would need to either add per-MWh technology-specific, life-cycle climate (CO2), environmental and health impact costs to bid prices under the 'Project Economics' category or it should increase the weight given to the 'Environmental and Social Considerations' category.

Exploring a model for finding meaning in the changing world of work (Part 2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel H. Burger

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Orientation: This article explores the role that meaning, as logotherapy conceptualises it, can play to facilitate organisational changes.Research purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore further a model an earlier paper proposed for using employees’ experiences of meaning in work contexts to facilitate changes.Motivation for the study: The researchers could not find a comprehensive model in the literature for addressing employees’ experiences of meaning in, or at, work during organisational changes. A previous paper proposed such a model, but it addressed only one component fully. This article seeks to explore this model further to address this apparent gap in the literature.Research design, approach and method: The researchers used a literature review to conduct the study. The components of the model directed this review in order to find meaning at work.Main findings: The actions of organisations, which aim to create positive organisational contexts (through practices for improving meaning at work and transcendence and to frame changes using ‘Logo-OD’, can improve employees’ experiences of meaning during organisational changes.Practical/managerial implications: Understanding the relationship between meaning and organisational change, and applying the model this article presents, can contribute to the overall success of change initiatives.Contribution/value-add: This study’s primary contribution stems from the novel framework it presents for organisations to use the knowledge about how employees search for meaning to facilitate changes.

Circulation-based Modeling of Gravity Currents

Science.gov (United States)

Meiburg, E. H.; Borden, Z.

2013-05-01

Atmospheric and oceanic flows driven by predominantly horizontal density differences, such as sea breezes, thunderstorm outflows, powder snow avalanches, and turbidity currents, are frequently modeled as gravity currents. Efforts to develop simplified models of such currents date back to von Karman (1940), who considered a two-dimensional gravity current in an inviscid, irrotational and infinitely deep ambient. Benjamin (1968) presented an alternative model, focusing on the inviscid, irrotational flow past a gravity current in a finite-depth channel. More recently, Shin et al. (2004) proposed a model for gravity currents generated by partial-depth lock releases, considering a control volume that encompasses both fronts. All of the above models, in addition to the conservation of mass and horizontal momentum, invoke Bernoulli's law along some specific streamline in the flow field, in order to obtain a closed system of equations that can be solved for the front velocity as function of the current height. More recent computational investigations based on the Navier-Stokes equations, on the other hand, reproduce the dynamics of gravity currents based on the conservation of mass and momentum alone. We propose that it should therefore be possible to formulate a fundamental gravity current model without invoking Bernoulli's law. The talk will show that the front velocity of gravity currents can indeed be predicted as a function of their height from mass and momentum considerations alone, by considering the evolution of interfacial vorticity. This approach does not require information on the pressure field and therefore avoids the need for an energy closure argument such as those invoked by the earlier models. Predictions by the new theory are shown to be in close agreement with direct numerical simulation results. References Von Karman, T. 1940 The engineer grapples with nonlinear problems, Bull. Am. Math Soc. 46, 615-683. Benjamin, T.B. 1968 Gravity currents and related

A proposed simulation optimization model framework for emergency department problems in public hospital

Science.gov (United States)

Ibrahim, Ireen Munira; Liong, Choong-Yeun; Bakar, Sakhinah Abu; Ahmad, Norazura; Najmuddin, Ahmad Farid

2015-12-01

The Emergency Department (ED) is a very complex system with limited resources to support increase in demand. ED services are considered as good quality if they can meet the patient's expectation. Long waiting times and length of stay is always the main problem faced by the management. The management of ED should give greater emphasis on their capacity of resources in order to increase the quality of services, which conforms to patient satisfaction. This paper is a review of work in progress of a study being conducted in a government hospital in Selangor, Malaysia. This paper proposed a simulation optimization model framework which is used to study ED operations and problems as well as to find an optimal solution to the problems. The integration of simulation and optimization is hoped can assist management in decision making process regarding their resource capacity planning in order to improve current and future ED operations.

Proposing a Capability Perspective on Digital Business Models

OpenAIRE

Bärenfänger, Rieke; Otto, Boris

2015-01-01

Business models comprehensively describe the functioning of businesses in contemporary economic, technological, and societal environments. This paper focuses on the characteristics of digital business models from the perspective of capability research and develops a capability model for digital businesses. Following the design science research (DSR) methodology, multiple evaluation and design iterations were performed. Contributions to the design process came from IS/IT practice and the resea...

Proposed Method for Disaggregation of Secondary Data: The Model for External Reliance of Localities in the Coastal Management Zone (MERLIN-CMZ)

Science.gov (United States)

The Model for External Reliance of Localities In (MERLIN) Coastal Management Zones is a proposed solution to allow scaling of variables to smaller, nested geographies. Utilizing a Principal Components Analysis and data normalization techniques, smaller scale trends are linked to ...

A proposal of ecologic taxes based on thermo-economic performance of heat engine models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barranco-Jimenez, M. A.; Ramos-Gayosso, I.; Rosales, M. A.; Angulo-Brown, F.

2009-01-01

Within the context of Finite-Time Thermodynamics (FTT) a simplified thermal power plant model (the so-called Novikov engine) is analyzed under economical criteria by means of the concepts of profit function and the costs involved in the performance of the power plant. In this study, two different heat transfer laws are used, the so called Newton's law of cooling and the Dulong-Petit's law of cooling. Two FTT optimization criteria for the performance analysis are used: the maximum power regime (MP) and the so-called ecological criterion. This last criterion leads the engine model towards a mode of performance that appreciably diminishes the engine's wasted energy. In this work, it is shown that the energy-unit price produced under maximum power conditions is cheaper than that produced under maximum ecological (ME) conditions. This was accomplished by using a typical definition of profits function stemming from economics. The MP-regime produces considerably more wasted energy toward the environment, thus the MP energy-unit price is subsidized by nature. Due to this fact, an ecological tax is proposed, which could be a certain function of the price difference between the MP and ME modes of power production. (author)

Operator realization of the SU(2) WZNW model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furlan, P.; Hadjiivanov, L.K.; Todorov, I.T.

1996-01-01

Decoupling the chiral dynamics in the canonical approach to the WZNW model requires an extended phase space that includes left and right monodromy variables M and M. Earlier work on the subject, which traced back the quantum group symmetry of the model to the Lie-Poisson symmetry of the chiral symplectic form, left some open questions: - How to reconcile the necessity to set MM -1 =1 (in order to recover the monodromy invariance of the local 2D group valued field g=uu) with the fact the M and M obey different exchange relations? - What is the status of the quantum symmetry in the 2D theory in which the chiral fields u(x-t) and u(x+t) commute? - Is there a consistent operator formalism in the chiral (and the extended 2D) theory in the continuum limit? We propose a constructive affirmative answer to these questions for G=SU(2) by presenting the quantum fields u and u as sums of products of chiral vertex operators and q-Bose creation and annihilation operators. (orig.)

Complementary functions of the two brain hemispheres: comparisons with earlier conceptions and implications for individual and society.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeier, H

1989-07-01

The concept of different functions for the left and right cerebral hemispheres coincides in an astonishing way with earlier philosophical and psychological work which divided the human mind into two complementary functions without having a neurophysiological explanation. Representative are the ideas of Fichte, Hegel and Jung. The latter postulated the two subsystems Ego and Self and associated the conscious functions of the Ego with the intellect, the capacity for rational thought, and the Self with the mind, which also includes the emotional feelings. For the harmonic development and self-realization of man the functions of both systems in complementary interaction are required. Therefore, the current overaccentuation of the intellect and of progress directed technical-scientific thinking should be corrected by making better use of the much neglected functions of the right hemisphere.

Classical nucleation theory in the phase-field crystal model.

Science.gov (United States)

Jreidini, Paul; Kocher, Gabriel; Provatas, Nikolas

2018-04-01

A full understanding of polycrystalline materials requires studying the process of nucleation, a thermally activated phase transition that typically occurs at atomistic scales. The numerical modeling of this process is problematic for traditional numerical techniques: commonly used phase-field methods' resolution does not extend to the atomic scales at which nucleation takes places, while atomistic methods such as molecular dynamics are incapable of scaling to the mesoscale regime where late-stage growth and structure formation takes place following earlier nucleation. Consequently, it is of interest to examine nucleation in the more recently proposed phase-field crystal (PFC) model, which attempts to bridge the atomic and mesoscale regimes in microstructure simulations. In this work, we numerically calculate homogeneous liquid-to-solid nucleation rates and incubation times in the simplest version of the PFC model, for various parameter choices. We show that the model naturally exhibits qualitative agreement with the predictions of classical nucleation theory (CNT) despite a lack of some explicit atomistic features presumed in CNT. We also examine the early appearance of lattice structure in nucleating grains, finding disagreement with some basic assumptions of CNT. We then argue that a quantitatively correct nucleation theory for the PFC model would require extending CNT to a multivariable theory.

Classical nucleation theory in the phase-field crystal model

Science.gov (United States)

Jreidini, Paul; Kocher, Gabriel; Provatas, Nikolas

2018-04-01

A full understanding of polycrystalline materials requires studying the process of nucleation, a thermally activated phase transition that typically occurs at atomistic scales. The numerical modeling of this process is problematic for traditional numerical techniques: commonly used phase-field methods' resolution does not extend to the atomic scales at which nucleation takes places, while atomistic methods such as molecular dynamics are incapable of scaling to the mesoscale regime where late-stage growth and structure formation takes place following earlier nucleation. Consequently, it is of interest to examine nucleation in the more recently proposed phase-field crystal (PFC) model, which attempts to bridge the atomic and mesoscale regimes in microstructure simulations. In this work, we numerically calculate homogeneous liquid-to-solid nucleation rates and incubation times in the simplest version of the PFC model, for various parameter choices. We show that the model naturally exhibits qualitative agreement with the predictions of classical nucleation theory (CNT) despite a lack of some explicit atomistic features presumed in CNT. We also examine the early appearance of lattice structure in nucleating grains, finding disagreement with some basic assumptions of CNT. We then argue that a quantitatively correct nucleation theory for the PFC model would require extending CNT to a multivariable theory.

Initial geomagnetic field model from Magsat vector data

Science.gov (United States)

Langel, R. A.; Mead, G. D.; Lancaster, E. R.; Estes, R. H.; Fabiano, E. B.

1980-01-01

Magsat data from the magnetically quiet days of November 5-6, 1979, were used to derive a thirteenth degree and order spherical harmonic geomagnetic field model, MGST(6/80). The model utilized both scalar and high-accuracy vector data and fit that data with root-mean-square deviations of 8.2, 6.9, 7.6 and 7.4 nT for the scalar magnitude, B(r), B(theta), and B(phi), respectively. The model includes the three first-order coefficients of the external field. Comparison with averaged Dst indicates that zero Dst corresponds with 25 nT of horizontal field from external sources. When compared with earlier models, the earth's dipole moment continues to decrease at a rate of about 26 nT/yr. Evaluation of earlier models with Magsat data shows that the scalar field at the Magsat epoch is best predicted by the POGO(2/72) model but that the WC80, AWC/75 and IGS/75 are better for predicting vector fields.

Improved steamflood analytical model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chandra, S.; Mamora, D.D. [Society of Petroleum Engineers, Richardson, TX (United States)]|[Texas A and M Univ., TX (United States)

2005-11-01

Predicting the performance of steam flooding can help in the proper execution of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes. The Jones model is often used for analytical steam flooding performance prediction, but it does not accurately predict oil production peaks. In this study, an improved steam flood model was developed by modifying 2 of the 3 components of the capture factor in the Jones model. The modifications were based on simulation results from a Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) comparative project case model. The production performance of a 5-spot steamflood pattern unit was simulated and compared with results obtained from the Jones model. Three reservoir types were simulated through the use of 3-D Cartesian black oil models. In order to correlate the simulation and the Jones analytical model results for the start and height of the production peak, the dimensionless steam zone size was modified to account for a decrease in oil viscosity during steam flooding and its dependence on the steam injection rate. In addition, the dimensionless volume of displaced oil produced was modified from its square-root format to an exponential form. The modified model improved results for production performance by up to 20 years of simulated steam flooding, compared to the Jones model. Results agreed with simulation results for 13 different cases, including 3 different sets of reservoir and fluid properties. Reservoir engineers will benefit from the improved accuracy of the model. Oil displacement calculations were based on methods proposed in earlier research, in which the oil displacement rate is a function of cumulative oil steam ratio. The cumulative oil steam ratio is a function of overall thermal efficiency. Capture factor component formulae were presented, as well as charts of oil production rates and cumulative oil-steam ratios for various reservoirs. 13 refs., 4 tabs., 29 figs.

Melanoma Risk Prediction Models

Science.gov (United States)

Developing statistical models that estimate the probability of developing melanoma cancer over a defined period of time will help clinicians identify individuals at higher risk of specific cancers, allowing for earlier or more frequent screening and counseling of behavioral changes to decrease risk.

A study on an efficient prediction of welding deformation for T-joint laser welding of sandwich panel PART I : Proposal of a heat source model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jae Woong Kim

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The use of I-Core sandwich panel has increased in cruise ship deck structure since it can provide similar bending strength with conventional stiffened plate while keeping lighter weight and lower web height. However, due to its thin plate thickness, i.e. about 4~6 mm at most, it is assembled by high power CO2 laser welding to minimize the welding deformation. This research proposes a volumetric heat source model for T-joint of the I-Core sandwich panel and a method to use shell element model for a thermal elasto-plastic analysis to predict welding deformation. This paper, Part I, focuses on the heat source model. A circular cone type heat source model is newly suggested in heat transfer analysis to realize similar melting zone with that observed in experiment. An additional suggestion is made to consider negative defocus, which is commonly applied in T-joint laser welding since it can provide deeper penetration than zero defocus. The proposed heat source is also verified through 3D thermal elasto-plastic analysis to compare welding deformation with experimental results. A parametric study for different welding speeds, defocus values, and welding powers is performed to investigate the effect on the melting zone and welding deformation. In Part II, focuses on the proposed method to employ shell element model to predict welding deformation in thermal elasto-plastic analysis instead of solid element model.

Progressively implementation of the new degrees at E.T.S. of Agriculture Engineering and extinction of the earlier degrees

Science.gov (United States)

Arce, A.; Caniego, J.; Vazquez, J.; Serrano, A.; Tarquis, A. M.; Cartagena, M. C.

2012-04-01

The Bologna process is to improve the quality of education, mobility, diversity and the competitiveness and involves three fundamental changes: transform of the structure of titles, changing in methods of teaching and implementation of the systems of quality assurance. Once that the new degrees have been implemented with this structure, and began at E.T.S. of Agriculture Engineering (ETSIA) at Madrid from 2010-2011 course, the main aim of this work is to deeply study the changes in teaching methodology as well as progressively implementation of the educational planning of the three new degrees: Engineering and Agronomic Graduate, Food Industry Engineering Graduate and Agro-environmental Graduate. Each one of them presents 240 ECTS with a common first course and will have access to an official Master in Agronomic Engineering. As part as an educational innovation project awarded by the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) to improve educational quality, the second course has been designed with the main objective to continue the educative model implemented last course. This model identifies several teaching activities and represents a proper teaching style at ETSIA-UPM. At the same time, a monitoring and development coordination plans have been established. On the other hand, a procedure to extinguish the earlier plans of Agriculture Engineering was also defined. Other activities related to this Project were the information improvement of the grades, in particular at High Schools centers, improving the processes of reception, counseling and tutoring and mentoring. Likewise, cooperative working workshops and programs to support the teaching of English language were implemented. Satisfaction surveys and opinion polls were done to professors and students involved in first course in order to test several aspects of this project. The students surveys were analyzed taking in account the academic results and their participation in mentoring activities giving a highly

Variational multiscale models for charge transport.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Guo-Wei; Zheng, Qiong; Chen, Zhan; Xia, Kelin

2012-01-01

This work presents a few variational multiscale models for charge transport in complex physical, chemical and biological systems and engineering devices, such as fuel cells, solar cells, battery cells, nanofluidics, transistors and ion channels. An essential ingredient of the present models, introduced in an earlier paper (Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 72, 1562-1622, 2010), is the use of differential geometry theory of surfaces as a natural means to geometrically separate the macroscopic domain from the microscopic domain, meanwhile, dynamically couple discrete and continuum descriptions. Our main strategy is to construct the total energy functional of a charge transport system to encompass the polar and nonpolar free energies of solvation, and chemical potential related energy. By using the Euler-Lagrange variation, coupled Laplace-Beltrami and Poisson-Nernst-Planck (LB-PNP) equations are derived. The solution of the LB-PNP equations leads to the minimization of the total free energy, and explicit profiles of electrostatic potential and densities of charge species. To further reduce the computational complexity, the Boltzmann distribution obtained from the Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) equation is utilized to represent the densities of certain charge species so as to avoid the computationally expensive solution of some Nernst-Planck (NP) equations. Consequently, the coupled Laplace-Beltrami and Poisson-Boltzmann-Nernst-Planck (LB-PBNP) equations are proposed for charge transport in heterogeneous systems. A major emphasis of the present formulation is the consistency between equilibrium LB-PB theory and non-equilibrium LB-PNP theory at equilibrium. Another major emphasis is the capability of the reduced LB-PBNP model to fully recover the prediction of the LB-PNP model at non-equilibrium settings. To account for the fluid impact on the charge transport, we derive coupled Laplace-Beltrami, Poisson-Nernst-Planck and Navier-Stokes equations from the variational principle

Variational multiscale models for charge transport

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Guo-Wei; Zheng, Qiong; Chen, Zhan; Xia, Kelin

2012-01-01

This work presents a few variational multiscale models for charge transport in complex physical, chemical and biological systems and engineering devices, such as fuel cells, solar cells, battery cells, nanofluidics, transistors and ion channels. An essential ingredient of the present models, introduced in an earlier paper (Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 72, 1562-1622, 2010), is the use of differential geometry theory of surfaces as a natural means to geometrically separate the macroscopic domain from the microscopic domain, meanwhile, dynamically couple discrete and continuum descriptions. Our main strategy is to construct the total energy functional of a charge transport system to encompass the polar and nonpolar free energies of solvation, and chemical potential related energy. By using the Euler-Lagrange variation, coupled Laplace-Beltrami and Poisson-Nernst-Planck (LB-PNP) equations are derived. The solution of the LB-PNP equations leads to the minimization of the total free energy, and explicit profiles of electrostatic potential and densities of charge species. To further reduce the computational complexity, the Boltzmann distribution obtained from the Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) equation is utilized to represent the densities of certain charge species so as to avoid the computationally expensive solution of some Nernst-Planck (NP) equations. Consequently, the coupled Laplace-Beltrami and Poisson-Boltzmann-Nernst-Planck (LB-PBNP) equations are proposed for charge transport in heterogeneous systems. A major emphasis of the present formulation is the consistency between equilibrium LB-PB theory and non-equilibrium LB-PNP theory at equilibrium. Another major emphasis is the capability of the reduced LB-PBNP model to fully recover the prediction of the LB-PNP model at non-equilibrium settings. To account for the fluid impact on the charge transport, we derive coupled Laplace-Beltrami, Poisson-Nernst-Planck and Navier-Stokes equations from the variational principle

Miedema model based methodology to predict amorphous-forming-composition range in binary and ternary systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Das, N., E-mail: nirupamd@barc.gov.in [Materials Science Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai 400 085 (India); Mittra, J. [Materials Science Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai 400 085 (India); Murty, B.S. [Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai 600 036 (India); Pabi, S.K. [Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721 302 (India); Kulkarni, U.D.; Dey, G.K. [Materials Science Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai 400 085 (India)

2013-02-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A methodology was proposed to predict amorphous forming compositions (AFCs). Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Chemical contribution to enthalpy of mixing {proportional_to} enthalpy of amorphous for AFCs. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Accuracy in the prediction of AFC-range was noticed in Al-Ni-Ti system. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Mechanical alloying (MA) results of Al-Ni-Ti followed the predicted AFC-range. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Earlier MA results of Al-Ni-Ti also conformed to the predicted AFC-range. - Abstract: From the earlier works on the prediction of amorphous forming composition range (AFCR) using Miedema based model and also, on mechanical alloying experiments it has been observed that all amorphous forming compositions of a given alloy system falls within a linear band when the chemical contribution to enthalpy of the solid solution ({Delta}H{sup ss}) is plotted against the enthalpy of mixing in the amorphous phase ({Delta}H{sup amor}). On the basis of this observation, a methodology has been proposed in this article to identify the AFCR of a ternary system that is likely to be more precise than what can be obtained using {Delta}H{sup amor} - {Delta}H{sup ss} < 0 criterion. MA experiments on various compositions of Al-Ni-Ti system, producing amorphous, crystalline, and mixture of amorphous plus crystalline phases have been carried out and the phases have been characterized using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy techniques. Data from the present MA experiments and, also, from the literature have been used to validate the proposed approach. Also, the proximity of compositions, producing a mixture of amorphous and crystalline phases to the boundary of AFCR in the Al-Ni-Ti ternary has been found useful to validate the effectiveness of the prediction.

Modeling particulate removal in plate-plate and wire-plate electrostatic precipitators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S Ramechecandane

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The present study is concerned with the modeling of electrically charged particles in a model plate-plate and a single wire-plate electrostatic precipitator (ESP. The particle concentration distributions for both a plate-plate and a wire-plate ESP are calculated using a modified drift flux model. Numerical investigations are performed using the modified drift flux model for particle number concentration, in addition to the RNG k - ε model for the mean turbulent flow field and the Poisson equation for the electric field. The proposed model and the outlined methodology for coupling the flow field, electric field, charging kinetics and particle concentration is applied to two model precipitators that are truly representative of a wide class of commercialized ESPs. The present investigation is quite different from the earlier studies as it does not make assumptions like a homogeneous electric field or an infinite turbulent diffusivity. The electric field calculated is a strong function of position and controls the migration velocity of particles. Hence, the proposed model can be implemented in a flow solver to obtain a full-fledged solution for any kind of ESP with no limitations on the particle number concentration, as encountered in a Lagrangian approach. The effect of turbulent diffusivity on particle number concentration in a plate-plate ESP is investigated in detail and the results obtained are compared with available experimental data. Similarly, the effect of particle size/diameter and applied electric potential on the accumulative collection performance in the case of a wire-plate ESP is studied and the results obtained are compared with available numerical data. The numerical results obtained using the modified drift flux model for both the plate-plate and wire-plate ESP are in close agreement with available experimental and numerical data.

2011 Annual Survey of Journalism and Mass Communication Enrollments: Enrollments Decline, Reversing the Increase of a Year Earlier, and Suggesting Slow Growth for Future

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, Lee B.; Vlad, Tudor; Kalpen, Konrad

2012-01-01

Enrollments in journalism and mass communication programs declined in the autumn of 2011, compared to a year earlier. Enrollments were down slightly at the senior and junior levels and substantially at the freshman level. Enrollment increased at the sophomore level. The majority of administrators say they have made curricular changes in the past…

Quark parton model with logarithmic scaling violation and high energy neutrino interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Isaev, P.S.; Kovalenko, S.G.

1979-01-01

In the framework of the proposed earlier quark parton model with logarithmic scaling violation the cross sections of deep inelastic ν(anti ν)N interactions are calculated, the contribution of the charmed particle production are evaluated. The kinematical mass corrections to scaling violations and threshold effects are taken into account. Joint analysis of the experimental data on deep inelastic ep, ed scattering and charged current neutrino interaction are performed by using the unique set of free parameters of the model. Evaluations of the c-quark and W-boson masses are obtained. Neutral current data as well are analysed. The analysis is performed with taken into account scaling violation effects. The obtained estimations of the charmed quark mass Msub(c)=3.0+-1.2 GeV. W-boson mass Mw=50+-10 GeV, and the Weinberg angle SINsup(2)THETAsub(w)=0.26+-0.04 are within errors in agreement with the generally accepted ones

Selection for earlier flowering crop associated with climatic variations in the Sahel.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yves Vigouroux

Full Text Available Climate changes will have an impact on food production and will require costly adaptive responses. Adapting to a changing environment will be particularly challenging in sub-Saharan Africa where climate change is expected to have a major impact. However, one important phenomenon that is often overlooked and is poorly documented is the ability of agro-systems to rapidly adapt to environmental variations. Such an adaptation could proceed by the adoption of new varieties or by the adaptation of varieties to a changing environment. In this study, we analyzed these two processes in one of the driest agro-ecosystems in Africa, the Sahel. We performed a detailed study in Niger where pearl millet is the main crop and covers 65% of the cultivated area. To assess how the agro-system is responding to recent recurrent drought, we analyzed samples of pearl millet landraces collected in the same villages in 1976 and 2003 throughout the entire cultivated area of Niger. We studied phenological and morphological differences in the 1976 and 2003 collections by comparing them over three cropping seasons in a common garden experiment. We found no major changes in the main cultivated varieties or in their genetic diversity. However, we observed a significant shift in adaptive traits. Compared to the 1976 samples, samples collected in 2003 displayed a shorter lifecycle, and a reduction in plant and spike size. We also found that an early flowering allele at the PHYC locus increased in frequency between 1976 and 2003. The increase exceeded the effect of drift and sampling, suggesting a direct effect of selection for earliness on this gene. We conclude that recurrent drought can lead to selection for earlier flowering in a major Sahelian crop. Surprisingly, these results suggest that diffusion of crop varieties is not the main driver of short term adaptation to climatic variation.

Continued development of modeling tools and theory for RF heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

Mission Research Corporation (MRC) is pleased to present the Department of Energy (DOE) with its renewal proposal to the Continued Development of Modeling Tools and Theory for RF Heating program. The objective of the program is to continue and extend the earlier work done by the proposed principal investigator in the field of modeling (Radio Frequency) RF heating experiments in the large tokamak fusion experiments, particularly the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) device located at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). An integral part of this work is the investigation and, in some cases, resolution of theoretical issues which pertain to accurate modeling. MRC is nearing the successful completion of the specified tasks of the Continued Development of Modeling Tools and Theory for RF Heating project. The following tasks are either completed or nearing completion. (1) Anisotropic temperature and rotation upgrades; (2) Modeling for relativistic ECRH; (3) Further documentation of SHOOT and SPRUCE. As a result of the progress achieved under this project, MRC has been urged to continue this effort. Specifically, during the performance of this project two topics were identified by PPPL personnel as new applications of the existing RF modeling tools. These two topics concern (a) future fast-wave current drive experiments on the large tokamaks including TFTR and (c) the interpretation of existing and future RF probe data from TFTR. To address each of these topics requires some modification or enhancement of the existing modeling tools, and the first topic requires resolution of certain theoretical issues to produce self-consistent results. This work falls within the scope of the original project and is more suited to the project's renewal than to the initiation of a new project

An exploratory model of girls' vulnerability to commercial sexual exploitation in prostitution.

Science.gov (United States)

Reid, Joan A

2011-05-01

Due to inaccessibility of child victims of commercial sexual exploitation, the majority of emergent research on the problem lacks theoretical framing or sufficient data for quantitative analysis. Drawing from Agnew's general strain theory, this study utilized structural equation modeling to explore: whether caregiver strain is linked to child maltreatment, if experiencing maltreatment is associated with risk-inflating behaviors or sexual denigration of self/others, and if these behavioral and psychosocial dysfunctions are related to vulnerability to commercial sexual exploitation. The proposed model was tested with data from 174 predominately African American women, 12% of whom indicated involvement in prostitution while a minor. Findings revealed child maltreatment worsened with increased caregiver strain. Experiencing child maltreatment was linked to running away, initiating substance use at earlier ages, and higher levels of sexual denigration of self/others. Sexual denigration of self/others was significantly related to the likelihood of prostitution as a minor. The network of variables in the model accounted for 34% of the variance in prostitution as a minor.

Proposal of industrialization process of dredged sediments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachid Hadj Sadok

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Our study will focus on life cycle assessment (LCA of dredged sediments in its environment from sediment extraction to waste treatment. This tool is part of an environmental management approach, to compare the environmental loads of the different stages of the life cycle of the same product and to deduce which stage of the scenario is the most polluting in environmental terms. Optimize the modeling of industrialization process of dredged sediments using the SimaPro 8.2.3 software to propose a model that is the most respectful of the environment. We will focus on the environmental impacts; we will try to propose the most environmentally friendly scenario to exploit these dredged sediments in the field of building construction.

A numerical two layer model for blood oxygenation in lungs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aminatai, A.

2001-01-01

In the modelling of the simultaneous transport of O 2 and CO 2 in the pulmonary circulation described in our earlier studies, the blood has been treated as a homogeneous layer of haemoglobin solution. Since the size of the erythrocyte is not negligible in comparison with that of the capillary, the blood can no longer be considered as a homogeneous fluid and hence, It is worthwhile to consider the blood flow as a two-phase flow consisting of cells and plasma. In the present study, the heterogeneous nature of blood has been proposed by considering the axial train model for the flow [whitmore (1967)], in order to analyze the effect of cell free plasma layer on the process of blood oxygenation in pulmonary capillaries. The proposed model consists of a core of suspended erythrocytes surrounded by a cell free plasma layer near the wall. The coupled system of convective diffusion equaions together with the physiologically relevant boundary, entrance and interface conditions is solved numerically by a four-point semi-implicit scheme to gether with a fixed point iterative technique. The distance traversed by the blood before getting fully oxygenated is computed. It is shown that the core haematocrit and the thickness of the cell depleted layer affect the oxygenation process significantly. It is found that (i) oxygen takes longest and carbondioxide is the fastest to attain equilibraton, (ii) the blood is completely oxygenated within one-fifth part of its transit and (iii) the rate of oxygenation is smaller in case of homogeneous model than that in heterogenous model in the capillary. Finally, the effect of various physiological parameters on the rate of oxygenation has been examined

Proposed best modeling practices for assessing the effects of ecosystem restoration on fish

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Kenneth A; Sable, Shaye; DeAngelis, Donald L.; Yurek, Simeon; Trexler, Joel C.; Graf, William L.; Reed, Denise J.

2015-01-01

Large-scale aquatic ecosystem restoration is increasing and is often controversial because of the economic costs involved, with the focus of the controversies gravitating to the modeling of fish responses. We present a scheme for best practices in selecting, implementing, interpreting, and reporting of fish modeling designed to assess the effects of restoration actions on fish populations and aquatic food webs. Previous best practice schemes that tended to be more general are summarized, and they form the foundation for our scheme that is specifically tailored for fish and restoration. We then present a 31-step scheme, with supporting text and narrative for each step, which goes from understanding how the results will be used through post-auditing to ensure the approach is used effectively in subsequent applications. We also describe 13 concepts that need to be considered in parallel to these best practice steps. Examples of these concepts include: life cycles and strategies; variability and uncertainty; nonequilibrium theory; biological, temporal, and spatial scaling; explicit versus implicit representation of processes; and model validation. These concepts are often not considered or not explicitly stated and casual treatment of them leads to mis-communication and mis-understandings, which in turn, often underlie the resulting controversies. We illustrate a subset of these steps, and their associated concepts, using the three case studies of Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River, the wetlands of coastal Louisiana, and the Everglades. Use of our proposed scheme will require investment of additional time and effort (and dollars) to be done effectively. We argue that such an investment is well worth it and will more than pay back in the long run in effective and efficient restoration actions and likely avoided controversies and legal proceedings.

Unpredictable After All? A short note on exchange rate predictability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

G.A. Moerman (Gerard)

2001-01-01

textabstractEarlier research has shown that it is very hard to outperform the random walk model with respect to forecasting exchange rates. In this paper we propose an extension to the regular regime-switching model in order to capture the exchange rate dynamics. The model is extended by including

A Proposal of Ecologic Taxes Based on Thermo-Economic Performance of Heat Engine Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Angulo-Brown

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Within the context of Finite-Time Thermodynamics (FTT a simplified thermal power plant model (the so-called Novikov engine is analyzed under economical criteria by means of the concepts of profit function and the costs involved in the performance of the power plant. In this study, two different heat transfer laws are used, the so called Newton’s law of cooling and the Dulong-Petit’s law of cooling. Two FTT optimization criteria for the performance analysis are used: the maximum power regime (MP and the so-called ecological criterion. This last criterion leads the engine model towards a mode of performance that appreciably diminishes the engine’s wasted energy. In this work, it is shown that the energy-unit price produced under maximum power conditions is cheaper than that produced under maximum ecological (ME conditions. This was accomplished by using a typical definition of profits function stemming from economics. The MP-regime produces considerably more wasted energy toward the environment, thus the MP energy-unit price is subsidized by nature. Due to this fact, an ecological tax is proposed, which could be a certain function of the price difference between the MP and ME modes of power production.

A proposal of ecologic taxes based on thermo-economic performance of heat engine models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barranco-Jimenez, M. A. [Departamento de Ciencias Basicas, Escuela Superior de Computo del IPN, Av. Miguel Bernal Esq. Juan de Dios Batiz U.P. Zacatenco CP 07738, D.F. (Mexico); Ramos-Gayosso, I. [Unidad de Administracion de Riesgos, Banco de Mexico, 5 de Mayo, Centro, D.F. (Mexico); Rosales, M. A. [Departamento de Fisica y Matematicas, Universidad de las Americas, Puebla Exhacienda Sta. Catarina Martir, Cholula 72820, Puebla (Mexico); Angulo-Brown, F. [Departamento de Fisica, Escuela Superior de Fisica y Matematicas del IPN, Edif. 9 U.P. Zacatenco CP 07738, D.F. (Mexico)

2009-07-01

Within the context of Finite-Time Thermodynamics (FTT) a simplified thermal power plant model (the so-called Novikov engine) is analyzed under economical criteria by means of the concepts of profit function and the costs involved in the performance of the power plant. In this study, two different heat transfer laws are used, the so called Newton's law of cooling and the Dulong-Petit's law of cooling. Two FTT optimization criteria for the performance analysis are used: the maximum power regime (MP) and the so-called ecological criterion. This last criterion leads the engine model towards a mode of performance that appreciably diminishes the engine's wasted energy. In this work, it is shown that the energy-unit price produced under maximum power conditions is cheaper than that produced under maximum ecological (ME) conditions. This was accomplished by using a typical definition of profits function stemming from economics. The MP-regime produces considerably more wasted energy toward the environment, thus the MP energy-unit price is subsidized by nature. Due to this fact, an ecological tax is proposed, which could be a certain function of the price difference between the MP and ME modes of power production. (author)

Modeling commuter preferences for the proposed bus rapid transit in Dar-es-Salaam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nkurunziza, A.; Zuidgeest, M.H.P.; Brussel, M.J.G.; van Maarseveen, M.F.A.M.

2012-01-01

The paper analyzes individual commuter preferences towards the proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. The objective of the survey was to identify how commuters perceive and value the proposed BRT service quality attributes. A stated preference survey of potential users

A proposed model for construction project management ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads. ... (decision-making, problem-solving, listening, verbal competency, motivation, persuasion, ... Keywords: Communication skills and leadership model, construction project management, ...

A proposed model for construction project management ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Keywords: Communication skills and leadership model, construction project ..... help a manager handle stress and break tension (Gido & Clements,. 2012: 331; Harrin .... production and management of projects, the higher the demand for.

Evaluation of the existing triple point path models with new experimental data: proposal of an original empirical formulation

Science.gov (United States)

Boutillier, J.; Ehrhardt, L.; De Mezzo, S.; Deck, C.; Magnan, P.; Naz, P.; Willinger, R.

2018-03-01

With the increasing use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the need for better mitigation, either for building integrity or for personal security, increases in importance. Before focusing on the interaction of the shock wave with a target and the potential associated damage, knowledge must be acquired regarding the nature of the blast threat, i.e., the pressure-time history. This requirement motivates gaining further insight into the triple point (TP) path, in order to know precisely which regime the target will encounter (simple reflection or Mach reflection). Within this context, the purpose of this study is to evaluate three existing TP path empirical models, which in turn are used in other empirical models for the determination of the pressure profile. These three TP models are the empirical function of Kinney, the Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) curves, and the model of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). As discrepancies are observed between these models, new experimental data were obtained to test their reliability and a new promising formulation is proposed for scaled heights of burst ranging from 24.6-172.9 cm/kg^{1/3}.

A Proposed Curriculum Model for Geriatric Optometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenbloom, Albert A.

1985-01-01

A model for a geriatric optometry curriculum that defines key content areas and addresses the values essential for effective practice and basic therapeutic modalities used in treatment regimens with older adults is outlined. (MSE)

Predicting seizure by modeling synaptic plasticity based on EEG signals - a case study of inherited epilepsy

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Honghui; Su, Jianzhong; Wang, Qingyun; Liu, Yueming; Good, Levi; Pascual, Juan M.

2018-03-01

This paper explores the internal dynamical mechanisms of epileptic seizures through quantitative modeling based on full brain electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. Our goal is to provide seizure prediction and facilitate treatment for epileptic patients. Motivated by an earlier mathematical model with incorporated synaptic plasticity, we studied the nonlinear dynamics of inherited seizures through a differential equation model. First, driven by a set of clinical inherited electroencephalogram data recorded from a patient with diagnosed Glucose Transporter Deficiency, we developed a dynamic seizure model on a system of ordinary differential equations. The model was reduced in complexity after considering and removing redundancy of each EEG channel. Then we verified that the proposed model produces qualitatively relevant behavior which matches the basic experimental observations of inherited seizure, including synchronization index and frequency. Meanwhile, the rationality of the connectivity structure hypothesis in the modeling process was verified. Further, through varying the threshold condition and excitation strength of synaptic plasticity, we elucidated the effect of synaptic plasticity to our seizure model. Results suggest that synaptic plasticity has great effect on the duration of seizure activities, which support the plausibility of therapeutic interventions for seizure control.

Nonparametric modeling and analysis of association between Huntington's disease onset and CAG repeats.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Yanyuan; Wang, Yuanjia

2014-04-15

Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with a dominant genetic mode of inheritance caused by an expansion of CAG repeats on chromosome 4. Typically, a longer sequence of CAG repeat length is associated with increased risk of experiencing earlier onset of HD. Previous studies of the association between HD onset age and CAG length have favored a logistic model, where the CAG repeat length enters the mean and variance components of the logistic model in a complex exponential-linear form. To relax the parametric assumption of the exponential-linear association to the true HD onset distribution, we propose to leave both mean and variance functions of the CAG repeat length unspecified and perform semiparametric estimation in this context through a local kernel and backfitting procedure. Motivated by including family history of HD information available in the family members of participants in the Cooperative Huntington's Observational Research Trial (COHORT), we develop the methodology in the context of mixture data, where some subjects have a positive probability of being risk free. We also allow censoring on the age at onset of disease and accommodate covariates other than the CAG length. We study the theoretical properties of the proposed estimator and derive its asymptotic distribution. Finally, we apply the proposed methods to the COHORT data to estimate the HD onset distribution using a group of study participants and the disease family history information available on their family members. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Procedure for the direct numerical simulation of turbulent flows in plane channels and annuli and its application in the development of turbulence models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schumann, U

1973-10-01

Thesis. Submitted to Technische Hochschule, Karlsruhe (West Germany). A numerical difference scheme is described to simulate threedimensional, time- dependent, turbulent flows of incompressible fluids at high Reynolds numbers in a plane channel and in concertric annuli. Starting from the results of Deardorff, the NavierStokes equations, averaged over grid volumes, are integrated. For description of the subgrid scale motion a novel model has been developed which takes into account strongly inhomogeneous turbulence and grid volumes of unequal side lengths. The premises used in the model are described and discussed. Stability criteria are established for this method and for similar difference schemes. For computation of the pressure field the appropriate Poisson's equation is solved accurately, except for rounding errors, by Fast Fourier Transform. The procedure implemented in the TURBIT-1 program is used to simulate turbulent flows in a plane channel and an annulus of 5: 1 ratio of radii. For both types of flow, different cases are realized with a maximum number of grid volumes of 65536. For rather small grid volume numbers the numerical results are in good agreement with experimental values. Especially the velocity profile and the mean velocity fluctuations are computed with significantly better accuracy than in earlier, direct simulations. The energy --length-scale model and the pressurestrain correlation are used as examples to show that the method may be used successfully to evaluate the parameters of turbulence models. Earlier results are reviewed and proposals for future research are made. (auth)

Unblockable Compositions of Software Components

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dong, Ruzhen; Faber, Johannes; Liu, Zhiming

2012-01-01

We present a new automata-based interface model describing the interaction behavior of software components. Contrary to earlier component- or interface-based approaches, the interface model we propose specifies all the non-blockable interaction behaviors of a component with any environment...... composition of interface models preserves unblockable sequences of provided services....

Chemo-elastic modeling of invasive carcinoma development accompanied by oncogenic epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Science.gov (United States)

Bratsun, D. A.; Krasnyakov, I. V.; Pismen, L.

2017-09-01

We present a further development of a multiscale chemo-mechanical model of carcinoma growth in the epithelium tissue proposed earlier. The epithelium is represented by an elastic 2D array of polygonal cells, each with its own gene regulation dynamics. The model allows the simulation of evolution of multiple cells interacting via the chemical signaling or mechanically induced strain. The algorithm takes into account the division and intercalation of cells. The latter is most important since, first of all, carcinoma cells lose cell-cell adhesion and polarity via the oncogenic variant of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) at which cells gain migratory and invasive properties. This process is mediated by E-cadherin repression and requires the differentiation of tumor cells with respect to the edge of the tumor that means that front cells should be most mobile. Taking into account this suggestion, we present the results of simulations demonstrating different patterns of carcinoma invasion. The comparison of our results with recent experimental observations is given and discussed.

Prostate Cancer Risk Prediction Models

Science.gov (United States)

Developing statistical models that estimate the probability of developing prostate cancer over a defined period of time will help clinicians identify individuals at higher risk of specific cancers, allowing for earlier or more frequent screening and counseling of behavioral changes to decrease risk.

Liver Cancer Risk Prediction Models

Science.gov (United States)

Developing statistical models that estimate the probability of developing liver cancer over a defined period of time will help clinicians identify individuals at higher risk of specific cancers, allowing for earlier or more frequent screening and counseling of behavioral changes to decrease risk.

Colorectal Cancer Risk Prediction Models

Science.gov (United States)

Developing statistical models that estimate the probability of developing colorectal cancer over a defined period of time will help clinicians identify individuals at higher risk of specific cancers, allowing for earlier or more frequent screening and counseling of behavioral changes to decrease risk.

Esophageal Cancer Risk Prediction Models

Science.gov (United States)

Developing statistical models that estimate the probability of developing esophageal cancer over a defined period of time will help clinicians identify individuals at higher risk of specific cancers, allowing for earlier or more frequent screening and counseling of behavioral changes to decrease risk.

Bladder Cancer Risk Prediction Models

Science.gov (United States)

Developing statistical models that estimate the probability of developing bladder cancer over a defined period of time will help clinicians identify individuals at higher risk of specific cancers, allowing for earlier or more frequent screening and counseling of behavioral changes to decrease risk.

Lung Cancer Risk Prediction Models

Science.gov (United States)

Developing statistical models that estimate the probability of developing lung cancer over a defined period of time will help clinicians identify individuals at higher risk of specific cancers, allowing for earlier or more frequent screening and counseling of behavioral changes to decrease risk.

Breast Cancer Risk Prediction Models

Science.gov (United States)

Developing statistical models that estimate the probability of developing breast cancer over a defined period of time will help clinicians identify individuals at higher risk of specific cancers, allowing for earlier or more frequent screening and counseling of behavioral changes to decrease risk.

Pancreatic Cancer Risk Prediction Models

Science.gov (United States)

Developing statistical models that estimate the probability of developing pancreatic cancer over a defined period of time will help clinicians identify individuals at higher risk of specific cancers, allowing for earlier or more frequent screening and counseling of behavioral changes to decrease risk.

Ovarian Cancer Risk Prediction Models

Science.gov (United States)

Developing statistical models that estimate the probability of developing ovarian cancer over a defined period of time will help clinicians identify individuals at higher risk of specific cancers, allowing for earlier or more frequent screening and counseling of behavioral changes to decrease risk.

Cervical Cancer Risk Prediction Models

Science.gov (United States)

Developing statistical models that estimate the probability of developing cervical cancer over a defined period of time will help clinicians identify individuals at higher risk of specific cancers, allowing for earlier or more frequent screening and counseling of behavioral changes to decrease risk.

Testicular Cancer Risk Prediction Models

Science.gov (United States)

Developing statistical models that estimate the probability of testicular cervical cancer over a defined period of time will help clinicians identify individuals at higher risk of specific cancers, allowing for earlier or more frequent screening and counseling of behavioral changes to decrease risk.

Non-aligned pulsar magnetosphere: an illustrative model for small obliquity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mestel, L.; Wang, Y.M. (Sussex Univ., Brighton (UK). Astronomy Centre)

1982-02-01

The electromagnetic field outside a pulsar of small obliquity is approximated by Goldreich-Julian (GJ) conditions out to the light-cylinder and by an outgoing vacuum wave beyond, matched by the appropriate surface charge-current distribution. The energy supply for the wave requires current flow between the pulsar and the light-cylinder. As in the earlier proposal for the aligned rotator, the cold electrons carrying the current achieve relativistic energies near the light-cylinder; the consequent inertial and radiation damping forces enable the electrons to drift across the field-lines and so complete their circuits back to the pulsar. It is hypothesized that low-obliquity pulsars are essentially emitters of a plasma-modified low-frequency wave and of gamma-radiation near the light-cylinder. Illustrative models are constructed as perturbations about an analogous approximate model for the aligned case. The precessional torque component accompanying the braking component acts so as to reduce the obliquity. As long as the obliquity is not too large there is no prima facie objection to non-relativistic flow near the star. It is emphasized that fully self-consistent models will have a smooth rather than a sharp transition between the GJ and vacuum domains.

Proposal of a social alliance success model from a relationship marketing perspective: A meta-analytical study of the theoretical foundations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Jesús Barroso-Méndez

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Partnerships between businesses and non-governmental organizations (NGOs have become widely adopted mechanisms for collaboration in addressing complex social issues, the aim being to take advantage of the two types of organizational rationale to generate mutual value. Many such alliances have proved to be unsuccessful, however. To assist managers improve the likelihood of success of their collaborative relationships, the authors propose a success model of business-NGO partnering processes based on Relationship Marketing Theory. They also analyse the theoretical bases of the model's hypotheses through a meta-analytical study of the existing literature.

Analogy, an Alternative Model.
 Critics to the standard model of analogical problems solving and proposals for an alternative one

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo A. Minervino

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The authors made an extension of Hofstadter‘s criticisms against the standard approach in analogical thinking represented by the structure-mapping theory of Gentner and the multiconstraint theory of Holyoak and Thagard. Based on this extension, they proposed a non-serial model of analogical problem solving. Against the standard approach, the model postulates that: (a people detect and evaluate differences between mapped elements before the subprocess of inference generation and consider them in order to control it, and (b properties of an element that explain why the element could fill a certain role in the base problem resolution (PERs play a crucial role in these detection and evaluation operations, and also in post-inferences subprocesses. An experiment showed that: (a people detect and evaluate the relevance of differences between mapped elements before inference generation, (b that they inhibit the generation of literal inferences when they face relevant differences, and (c that they stop the subprocess when they recognize insuperable ones. The results also showed that base PERs are reactivated at different moments of analogical transfer. The data obtained are incompatible with the standard theories of analogical thinking, which treat inference generation as a syntactic mechanism and exclude contextual semantic analysis from the study of analogy. 

Sports Management for Sports Massification Planned and Executed by Social Organizations. Critics to Models, Experiences and Proposal Methodological Accompaniment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorenza Antonia Reyes de Duran

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The proposal analysis, interpretation, disassembly, self-criticism and guidance is born and comes from work experience planned mass sports and social organizations opposed-not in the conventional sense comparative-private business models and sport, state and management. The contribution made by the sports management experience from positions of power, either state or business are undeniable and its impact is difficult to express in numbers for its humanistic value, which is incalculable. However, it is urgent to emphasize the products and results achieved by some social organizations related to sport; as are the reference cases in Higuerón and the municipality Independence of Yaracuy state. From a dialectical analysis of reality, we try to understand the complex system that involves high-level sports management and performance, we introduce in the praxical notions of sporting activity and associated approach applied to social and community work. As opening and closing action research processes, we will make a proposal to accompany sports management concerning overcrowding by and from social organizations. This proposal is constructed from an innovative, flexible, open, inclusive and social, community and organizational curriculum relevance.

Superconducting characteristics of the Penson-Kolb model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Czart, W.R.; Robaszkiewicz, S.

2000-01-01

We study superconducting properties of the Penson-Kolb model, i. e. the tight-binding model with the pair-hopping (intersite charge exchange) interaction J. The evolution of the critical fields, the coherence length, the Ginzburg ratio, and London penetration depth with particle concentration n and pairing strength are determined. The results are compared with those found earlier for the attractive Hubbard model. (author)

Black Hole on a Chip: Proposal for a Physical Realization of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model in a Solid-State System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. I. Pikulin

2017-07-01

Full Text Available A system of Majorana zero modes with random infinite-range interactions—the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK model—is thought to exhibit an intriguing relation to the horizons of extremal black holes in two-dimensional anti–de Sitter space. This connection provides a rare example of holographic duality between a solvable quantum-mechanical model and dilaton gravity. Here, we propose a physical realization of the SYK model in a solid-state system. The proposed setup employs the Fu-Kane superconductor realized at the interface between a three-dimensional topological insulator and an ordinary superconductor. The requisite N Majorana zero modes are bound to a nanoscale hole fabricated in the superconductor that is threaded by N quanta of magnetic flux. We show that when the system is tuned to the surface neutrality point (i.e., chemical potential coincident with the Dirac point of the topological insulator surface state and the hole has sufficiently irregular shape, the Majorana zero modes are described by the SYK Hamiltonian. We perform extensive numerical simulations to demonstrate that the system indeed exhibits physical properties expected of the SYK model, including thermodynamic quantities and two-point as well as four-point correlators, and discuss ways in which these can be observed experimentally.

Locally Simple Models Construction: Methodology and Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. A. Kazakov

2017-12-01

Full Text Available One of the most notable trends associated with the Fourth industrial revolution is a significant strengthening of the role played by semantic methods. They are engaged in artificial intelligence means, knowledge mining in huge flows of big data, robotization, and in the internet of things. Smart contracts also can be mentioned here, although the ’intelligence’ of smart contracts still needs to be seriously elaborated. These trends should inevitably lead to an increased role of logical methods working with semantics, and significantly expand the scope of their application in practice. However, there are a number of problems that hinder this process. We are developing an approach, which makes the application of logical modeling efficient in some important areas. The approach is based on the concept of locally simple models and is primarily focused on solving tasks in the management of enterprises, organizations, governing bodies. The most important feature of locally simple models is their ability to replace software systems. Replacement of programming by modeling gives huge advantages, for instance, it dramatically reduces development and support costs. Modeling, unlike programming, preserves the explicit semantics of models allowing integration with artificial intelligence and robots. In addition, models are much more understandable to general people than programs. In this paper we propose the implementation of the concept of locally simple modeling on the basis of so-called document models, which has been developed by us earlier. It is shown that locally simple modeling is realized through document models with finite submodel coverages. In the second part of the paper an example of using document models for solving a management problem of real complexity is demonstrated.

Algorithms to analyze the quality test parameter values of seafood in the proposed ontology based seafood quality analyzer and miner (ONTO SQAM model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vinu Sherimon

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Ensuring the quality of food, particularly seafood has increasingly become an important issue nowadays. Quality Management Systems empower any organization to identify, measure, control and improve the quality of the products manufactured that will eventually lead to improved business performance. With the advent of new technologies, now intelligent systems are being developed. To ensure the quality of seafood, an ontology based seafood quality analyzer and miner (ONTO SQAM model is proposed. The knowledge is represented using ontology. The domain concepts are defined using ontology. This paper presents the initial part of the proposed model – the analysis of quality test parameter values. Two algorithms are proposed to do the analysis – Comparison Algorithm and Data Store Updater algorithm. The algorithms ensure that the values of various quality tests are in the acceptable range. The real data sets taken from different seafood companies in Kerala, India, and validated by the Marine Product Export Development Authority of India (MPEDA are used for the experiments. The performance of the algorithms is evaluated using standard performance metrics such as precision, recall, and accuracy. The results obtained show that all the three measures achieved good results.

Proposed Model for Translational Research at a Teaching-Intensive College of Pharmacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Ulrich, Erin; Grady, Sarah; Vonderhaar, Jacqueline; Ruplin, Andrew

2017-08-08

Many American colleges of pharmacy are small, private, teaching institutions. Faculty are required to maintain a research agenda, although the publication quota is less compared with their publicly funded college of pharmacy peers. Faculty at these smaller schools conduct research with very little internal or external funding. This tends to lead to smaller, less impactful research findings. Translational research is becoming popular for research faculty as it bridges theory to practice. The Knowledge-to-Action (KTA) framework presents the steps to conduct translational research. To apply and determine if the KTA framework would be able to produce practice-impactful research at an institution that does not depend on grant funding as part of faculty research agendas. An interdisciplinary team was formed with providers at the clinical faculty's practice site. As the team moved through the KTA steps, authors documented the roles of each team member. It was clear that many different types of teams were formed throughout the KTA process. These teams were then categorized according to the Interdisciplinary Teamwork System. The final result is a proposed model of types of teams and required member roles that are necessary within each KTA step for faculty to conduct practice-impactful research at a small, private, teaching institution without substantial grant funding awards. Applying the KTA framework, two impactful original research manuscripts were developed over two academic years. Furthermore, the practitioners at the clinical faculty member's site were very pleased with the ease of conducting research, as they were never required to take a lead role. In addition, both faculty members alternated lead and support role allowing for a decreased burden of workload while producing theory-driven research. The KTA framework can create a model for translational research and may be particularly beneficial to small teaching institutions to conduct impactful research. Copyright �

Sports Management for Sports Massification Planned and Executed by Social Organizations. Critics to Models, Experiences and Proposal Methodological Accompaniment

OpenAIRE

Lorenza Antonia Reyes de Duran

2016-01-01

The proposal analysis, interpretation, disassembly, self-criticism and guidance is born and comes from work experience planned mass sports and social organizations opposed-not in the conventional sense comparative-private business models and sport, state and management. The contribution made by the sports management experience from positions of power, either state or business are undeniable and its impact is difficult to express in numbers for its humanistic value, which is incalculable. Howe...

An analysis of a three-factor model proposed by the Danish Society of Actuaries for forecasting and risk analysis

OpenAIRE

Jørgensen, Peter Løchte; Slipsager, Søren Kærgaard

2016-01-01

This paper provides the explicit solution to the three-factor diffusion model recently proposed by the Danish Society of Actuaries to the Danish industry of life insurance and pensions. The solution is obtained by use of the known general solution to multidimensional linear stochastic differential equation systems. With offset in the explicit solution, we establish the conditional distribution of the future state variables which allows for exact simulation. Using exact simulation, we illustra...

Comparison of two analytical models of blanking and proposal of a new model

NARCIS (Netherlands)