Complexity of the positive semidefinite matrix completion problem with a rank constraint.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M. Eisenberg-Nagy (Marianna); M. Laurent (Monique); A. Varvitsiotis (Antonios)

2012-01-01

htmlabstractWe consider the decision problem asking whether a partial rational symmetric matrix with an all-ones diagonal can be completed to a full positive semidefinite matrix of rank at most k. We show that this problem is NP-hard for any fixed integer k ≥ 2. Equivalently, for k ≥ 2, it is

Mutually unbiased bases and semi-definite programming

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brierley, Stephen; Weigert, Stefan, E-mail: steve.brierley@ulb.ac.be, E-mail: stefan.weigert@york.ac.uk

2010-11-01

A complex Hilbert space of dimension six supports at least three but not more than seven mutually unbiased bases. Two computer-aided analytical methods to tighten these bounds are reviewed, based on a discretization of parameter space and on Groebner bases. A third algorithmic approach is presented: the non-existence of more than three mutually unbiased bases in composite dimensions can be decided by a global optimization method known as semidefinite programming. The method is used to confirm that the spectral matrix cannot be part of a complete set of seven mutually unbiased bases in dimension six.

Mutually unbiased bases and semi-definite programming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brierley, Stephen; Weigert, Stefan

2010-01-01

A complex Hilbert space of dimension six supports at least three but not more than seven mutually unbiased bases. Two computer-aided analytical methods to tighten these bounds are reviewed, based on a discretization of parameter space and on Groebner bases. A third algorithmic approach is presented: the non-existence of more than three mutually unbiased bases in composite dimensions can be decided by a global optimization method known as semidefinite programming. The method is used to confirm that the spectral matrix cannot be part of a complete set of seven mutually unbiased bases in dimension six.

Complexity of the positive semidefinite matrix completion problem with a rank constraint

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nagy, M.; Laurent, M.; Varvitsiotis, A.; Bezdek, K.; Deza, A.; Ye, Y.

2013-01-01

We consider the decision problem asking whether a partial rational symmetric matrix with an all-ones diagonal can be completed to a full positive semidefinite matrix of rank at most k. We show that this problem is NP-hard for any fixed integer k ≥ 2. In other words, for k ≥ 2, it is NP-hard to test

A Sequential Convex Semidefinite Programming Algorithm for Multiple-Load Free Material Optimization

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Stingl, M.; Kočvara, Michal; Leugering, G.

2009-01-01

Roč. 20, č. 1 (2009), s. 130-155 ISSN 1052-6234 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA1075402 Grant - others:commision EU(XE) EU-FP6-30717 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10750506 Keywords : structural optimization * material optimization * semidefinite programming * sequential convex programming Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 1.429, year: 2009

Efficient classification of complete parameter regions based on semidefinite programming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parrilo Pablo A

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Current approaches to parameter estimation are often inappropriate or inconvenient for the modelling of complex biological systems. For systems described by nonlinear equations, the conventional approach is to first numerically integrate the model, and then, in a second a posteriori step, check for consistency with experimental constraints. Hence, only single parameter sets can be considered at a time. Consequently, it is impossible to conclude that the "best" solution was identified or that no good solution exists, because parameter spaces typically cannot be explored in a reasonable amount of time. Results We introduce a novel approach based on semidefinite programming to directly identify consistent steady state concentrations for systems consisting of mass action kinetics, i.e., polynomial equations and inequality constraints. The duality properties of semidefinite programming allow to rigorously certify infeasibility for whole regions of parameter space, thus enabling the simultaneous multi-dimensional analysis of entire parameter sets. Conclusion Our algorithm reduces the computational effort of parameter estimation by several orders of magnitude, as illustrated through conceptual sample problems. Of particular relevance for systems biology, the approach can discriminate between structurally different candidate models by proving inconsistency with the available data.

Low-rank quadratic semidefinite programming

KAUST Repository

Yuan, Ganzhao

2013-04-01

Low rank matrix approximation is an attractive model in large scale machine learning problems, because it can not only reduce the memory and runtime complexity, but also provide a natural way to regularize parameters while preserving learning accuracy. In this paper, we address a special class of nonconvex quadratic matrix optimization problems, which require a low rank positive semidefinite solution. Despite their non-convexity, we exploit the structure of these problems to derive an efficient solver that converges to their local optima. Furthermore, we show that the proposed solution is capable of dramatically enhancing the efficiency and scalability of a variety of concrete problems, which are of significant interest to the machine learning community. These problems include the Top-k Eigenvalue problem, Distance learning and Kernel learning. Extensive experiments on UCI benchmarks have shown the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed method. © 2012.

Low-rank quadratic semidefinite programming

KAUST Repository

Yuan, Ganzhao; Zhang, Zhenjie; Ghanem, Bernard; Hao, Zhifeng

2013-01-01

Low rank matrix approximation is an attractive model in large scale machine learning problems, because it can not only reduce the memory and runtime complexity, but also provide a natural way to regularize parameters while preserving learning accuracy. In this paper, we address a special class of nonconvex quadratic matrix optimization problems, which require a low rank positive semidefinite solution. Despite their non-convexity, we exploit the structure of these problems to derive an efficient solver that converges to their local optima. Furthermore, we show that the proposed solution is capable of dramatically enhancing the efficiency and scalability of a variety of concrete problems, which are of significant interest to the machine learning community. These problems include the Top-k Eigenvalue problem, Distance learning and Kernel learning. Extensive experiments on UCI benchmarks have shown the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed method. © 2012.

Exploiting Group Symmetry in Semidefinite Programming Relaxations of the Quadratic Assignment Problem

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Klerk, E.; Sotirov, R.

2007-01-01

We consider semidefinite programming relaxations of the quadratic assignment problem, and show how to exploit group symmetry in the problem data. Thus we are able to compute the best known lower bounds for several instances of quadratic assignment problems from the problem library: [R.E. Burkard,

On the Lasserre hierarchy of semidefinite programming relaxations of convex polynomial optimization problems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Klerk, E.; Laurent, M.

2011-01-01

The Lasserre hierarchy of semidefinite programming approximations to convex polynomial optimization problems is known to converge finitely under some assumptions. [J. B. Lasserre, Convexity in semialgebraic geometry and polynomial optimization, SIAM J. Optim., 19 (2009), pp. 1995–2014]. We give a

A Class of Weighted Low Rank Approximation of the Positive Semidefinite Hankel Matrix

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianchao Bai

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We consider the weighted low rank approximation of the positive semidefinite Hankel matrix problem arising in signal processing. By using the Vandermonde representation, we firstly transform the problem into an unconstrained optimization problem and then use the nonlinear conjugate gradient algorithm with the Armijo line search to solve the equivalent unconstrained optimization problem. Numerical examples illustrate that the new method is feasible and effective.

A new semidefinite programming relaxation for cycles in binary matroids and cuts in graphs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gouveia, J.; Laurent, M.; Parrilo, P.; Thomas, R.

2012-01-01

The theta bodies of a polynomial ideal are a series of semidefinite programming relaxations of the convex hull of the real variety of the ideal. In this paper we construct the theta bodies of the vanishing ideal of cycles in a binary matroid. Applied to cuts in graphs, this yields a new hierarchy of

An easy way to obtain strong duality results in linear, linear semidefinite and linear semi-infinite programming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pop, P.C.; Still, Georg J.

1999-01-01

In linear programming it is known that an appropriate non-homogeneous Farkas Lemma leads to a short proof of the strong duality results for a pair of primal and dual programs. By using a corresponding generalized Farkas lemma we give a similar proof of the strong duality results for semidefinite

Combining heterogeneous features for colonic polyp detection in CTC based on semi-definite programming

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shijun; Yao, Jianhua; Petrick, Nicholas A.; Summers, Ronald M.

2009-02-01

Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Computed tomographic colonography (CTC) combined with a computer aided detection system provides a feasible combination for improving colonic polyps detection and increasing the use of CTC for colon cancer screening. To distinguish true polyps from false positives, various features extracted from polyp candidates have been proposed. Most of these features try to capture the shape information of polyp candidates or neighborhood knowledge about the surrounding structures (fold, colon wall, etc.). In this paper, we propose a new set of shape descriptors for polyp candidates based on statistical curvature information. These features, called histogram of curvature features, are rotation, translation and scale invariant and can be treated as complementing our existing feature set. Then in order to make full use of the traditional features (defined as group A) and the new features (group B) which are highly heterogeneous, we employed a multiple kernel learning method based on semi-definite programming to identify an optimized classification kernel based on the combined set of features. We did leave-one-patient-out test on a CTC dataset which contained scans from 50 patients (with 90 6-9mm polyp detections). Experimental results show that a support vector machine (SVM) based on the combined feature set and the semi-definite optimization kernel achieved higher FROC performance compared to SVMs using the two groups of features separately. At a false positive per patient rate of 7, the sensitivity on 6-9mm polyps using the combined features improved from 0.78 (Group A) and 0.73 (Group B) to 0.82 (p<=0.01).

Ensemble Clustering using Semidefinite Programming with Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Vikas; Mukherjee, Lopamudra; Peng, Jiming; Xu, Jinhui

2010-05-01

In this paper, we study the ensemble clustering problem, where the input is in the form of multiple clustering solutions. The goal of ensemble clustering algorithms is to aggregate the solutions into one solution that maximizes the agreement in the input ensemble. We obtain several new results for this problem. Specifically, we show that the notion of agreement under such circumstances can be better captured using a 2D string encoding rather than a voting strategy, which is common among existing approaches. Our optimization proceeds by first constructing a non-linear objective function which is then transformed into a 0-1 Semidefinite program (SDP) using novel convexification techniques. This model can be subsequently relaxed to a polynomial time solvable SDP. In addition to the theoretical contributions, our experimental results on standard machine learning and synthetic datasets show that this approach leads to improvements not only in terms of the proposed agreement measure but also the existing agreement measures based on voting strategies. In addition, we identify several new application scenarios for this problem. These include combining multiple image segmentations and generating tissue maps from multiple-channel Diffusion Tensor brain images to identify the underlying structure of the brain.

Quantum algorithms for the ordered search problem via semidefinite programming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Childs, Andrew M.; Landahl, Andrew J.; Parrilo, Pablo A.

2007-01-01

One of the most basic computational problems is the task of finding a desired item in an ordered list of N items. While the best classical algorithm for this problem uses log 2 N queries to the list, a quantum computer can solve the problem using a constant factor fewer queries. However, the precise value of this constant is unknown. By characterizing a class of quantum query algorithms for the ordered search problem in terms of a semidefinite program, we find quantum algorithms for small instances of the ordered search problem. Extending these algorithms to arbitrarily large instances using recursion, we show that there is an exact quantum ordered search algorithm using 4 log 605 N≅0.433 log 2 N queries, which improves upon the previously best known exact algorithm

Spatial and Spin Symmetry Breaking in Semidefinite-Programming-Based Hartree-Fock Theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Nascimento, Daniel R; DePrince, A Eugene

2018-05-08

The Hartree-Fock problem was recently recast as a semidefinite optimization over the space of rank-constrained two-body reduced-density matrices (RDMs) [ Phys. Rev. A 2014 , 89 , 010502(R) ]. This formulation of the problem transfers the nonconvexity of the Hartree-Fock energy functional to the rank constraint on the two-body RDM. We consider an equivalent optimization over the space of positive semidefinite one-electron RDMs (1-RDMs) that retains the nonconvexity of the Hartree-Fock energy expression. The optimized 1-RDM satisfies ensemble N-representability conditions, and ensemble spin-state conditions may be imposed as well. The spin-state conditions place additional linear and nonlinear constraints on the 1-RDM. We apply this RDM-based approach to several molecular systems and explore its spatial (point group) and spin ( Ŝ 2 and Ŝ 3 ) symmetry breaking properties. When imposing Ŝ 2 and Ŝ 3 symmetry but relaxing point group symmetry, the procedure often locates spatial-symmetry-broken solutions that are difficult to identify using standard algorithms. For example, the RDM-based approach yields a smooth, spatial-symmetry-broken potential energy curve for the well-known Be-H 2 insertion pathway. We also demonstrate numerically that, upon relaxation of Ŝ 2 and Ŝ 3 symmetry constraints, the RDM-based approach is equivalent to real-valued generalized Hartree-Fock theory.

Semidefinite linear complementarity problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eckhardt, U.

1978-04-01

Semidefinite linear complementarity problems arise by discretization of variational inequalities describing e.g. elastic contact problems, free boundary value problems etc. In the present paper linear complementarity problems are introduced and the theory as well as the numerical treatment of them are described. In the special case of semidefinite linear complementarity problems a numerical method is presented which combines the advantages of elimination and iteration methods without suffering from their drawbacks. This new method has very attractive properties since it has a high degree of invariance with respect to the representation of the set of all feasible solutions of a linear complementarity problem by linear inequalities. By means of some practical applications the properties of the new method are demonstrated. (orig.) [de

Primal-dual predictor-corrector interior point algorithm for quadratic semidefinite programming%二次半定规划的原始对偶预估校正内点算法

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

黄静静; 商朋见; 王爱文

2011-01-01

将半定规划(Semidefinite Programming,SDP)的内点算法推广到二次半定规划(QuadraticSemidefinite Programming,QSDP),重点讨论了AHO搜索方向的产生方法.首先利用Wolfe对偶理论推导得到了求解二次半定规划的非线性方程组,利用牛顿法求解该方程组,得到了求解QSDP的内点算法的AHO搜索方向,证明了该搜索方向的存在唯一性,最后给出了求解二次半定规划的预估校正内点算法的具体步骤,并对基于不同搜索方向的内点算法进行了数值实验,结果表明基于NT方向的内点算法最为稳健.%This paper extends the interior point algorithm for solving Semidefinite Programming (SDP) to Quadratic Semidefinite Programming(QSDP) and especially discusses the generation of AHO search direction. Firstly, we derive the nonlinear equations for solving QSDP using Wolfe's dual theorem.The AHO search direction is got by applying Newton' s method to the equations. Then we prove the existence and uniqueness of the search direction, and give the detaied steps of predictor-corrector interior-point algorithm. At last, this paper provides a numerical comparison of the algoritms using three different search directions and suggests the algorithm using NT direction is the most robust.

A Sum-of-Squares and Semidefinite Programming Approach for Maximum Likelihood DOA Estimation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shu Cai

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Direction of arrival (DOA estimation using a uniform linear array (ULA is a classical problem in array signal processing. In this paper, we focus on DOA estimation based on the maximum likelihood (ML criterion, transform the estimation problem into a novel formulation, named as sum-of-squares (SOS, and then solve it using semidefinite programming (SDP. We first derive the SOS and SDP method for DOA estimation in the scenario of a single source and then extend it under the framework of alternating projection for multiple DOA estimation. The simulations demonstrate that the SOS- and SDP-based algorithms can provide stable and accurate DOA estimation when the number of snapshots is small and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR is low. Moveover, it has a higher spatial resolution compared to existing methods based on the ML criterion.

Semi-definite relaxations for optimal control problems with oscillation and concentration effects

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Claeys, M.; Henrion, D.; Kružík, Martin

2017-01-01

Roč. 23, č. 1 (2017), s. 95-117 ISSN 1292-8119 Institutional support: RVO:67985556 Keywords : optimal control * impulsive control * semidefinite programming Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics OBOR OECD: Pure mathematics Impact factor: 1.540, year: 2016 http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2017/MTR/kruzik-0470207.pdf

Global solutions of restricted open-shell Hartree-Fock theory from semidefinite programming with applications to strongly correlated quantum systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Veeraraghavan, Srikant; Mazziotti, David A

2014-03-28

We present a density matrix approach for computing global solutions of restricted open-shell Hartree-Fock theory, based on semidefinite programming (SDP), that gives upper and lower bounds on the Hartree-Fock energy of quantum systems. While wave function approaches to Hartree-Fock theory yield an upper bound to the Hartree-Fock energy, we derive a semidefinite relaxation of Hartree-Fock theory that yields a rigorous lower bound on the Hartree-Fock energy. We also develop an upper-bound algorithm in which Hartree-Fock theory is cast as a SDP with a nonconvex constraint on the rank of the matrix variable. Equality of the upper- and lower-bound energies guarantees that the computed solution is the globally optimal solution of Hartree-Fock theory. The work extends a previously presented method for closed-shell systems [S. Veeraraghavan and D. A. Mazziotti, Phys. Rev. A 89, 010502-R (2014)]. For strongly correlated systems the SDP approach provides an alternative to the locally optimized Hartree-Fock energies and densities with a certificate of global optimality. Applications are made to the potential energy curves of C2, CN, Cr2, and NO2.

A positive semi-definite action in a Kaluza-Klein theory with compactification onto time-like extra dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pollock, M.D.

1986-01-01

We consider the (4+N)-dimensional theory whose Lagrangian function is Lsub(4+N)=√-g-circumflex α R-circumflex 2 , where R-circumflex is the Ricci scalar and α is a positive constant. The metric is g-circumflexsub(AB)= diag(gsub(ab), phi -1 g-barsub(mn)). Dimensional reduction leads to an effective four-dimensional Lagrangian of induced-gravity type. The positive semi-definiteness of L avoids the difficulties, pointed out recently by Horowitz and by Rubakov, which can arise in quantum cosmology when the (Euclidean) action becomes negative. The compactification is onto a time-like internal space g-barsub(mn), as suggested by Aref'eva and Volovich, giving a four-dimensional de Sitter space-time with phi=constant, which however is classically unstable on a time scale approx. H -1 . Decrease of the radius phisup(-1/2) of the internal space is ultimately halted by quantum effects, via some V(phi), and L 4 then includes the usual Hilbert term and a cosmological constant. (author)

Bandgap optimization of two-dimensional photonic crystals using semidefinite programming and subspace methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Men, H.; Nguyen, N.C.; Freund, R.M.; Parrilo, P.A.; Peraire, J.

2010-01-01

In this paper, we consider the optimal design of photonic crystal structures for two-dimensional square lattices. The mathematical formulation of the bandgap optimization problem leads to an infinite-dimensional Hermitian eigenvalue optimization problem parametrized by the dielectric material and the wave vector. To make the problem tractable, the original eigenvalue problem is discretized using the finite element method into a series of finite-dimensional eigenvalue problems for multiple values of the wave vector parameter. The resulting optimization problem is large-scale and non-convex, with low regularity and non-differentiable objective. By restricting to appropriate eigenspaces, we reduce the large-scale non-convex optimization problem via reparametrization to a sequence of small-scale convex semidefinite programs (SDPs) for which modern SDP solvers can be efficiently applied. Numerical results are presented for both transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) polarizations at several frequency bands. The optimized structures exhibit patterns which go far beyond typical physical intuition on periodic media design.

Handbook on semidefinite, conic and polynomial optimization

CERN Document Server

Anjos, Miguel F

2012-01-01

This book offers the reader a snapshot of the state-of-the-art in the growing and mutually enriching areas of semidefinite optimization, conic optimization and polynomial optimization. It covers theory, algorithms, software and applications.

Regulation of Dynamical Systems to Optimal Solutions of Semidefinite Programs: Algorithms and Applications to AC Optimal Power Flow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dall' Anese, Emiliano; Dhople, Sairaj V.; Giannakis, Georgios B.

2015-07-01

This paper considers a collection of networked nonlinear dynamical systems, and addresses the synthesis of feedback controllers that seek optimal operating points corresponding to the solution of pertinent network-wide optimization problems. Particular emphasis is placed on the solution of semidefinite programs (SDPs). The design of the feedback controller is grounded on a dual e-subgradient approach, with the dual iterates utilized to dynamically update the dynamical-system reference signals. Global convergence is guaranteed for diminishing stepsize rules, even when the reference inputs are updated at a faster rate than the dynamical-system settling time. The application of the proposed framework to the control of power-electronic inverters in AC distribution systems is discussed. The objective is to bridge the time-scale separation between real-time inverter control and network-wide optimization. Optimization objectives assume the form of SDP relaxations of prototypical AC optimal power flow problems.

A Semidefinite Programming Based Search Strategy for Feature Selection with Mutual Information Measure.

Science.gov (United States)

Naghibi, Tofigh; Hoffmann, Sarah; Pfister, Beat

2015-08-01

Feature subset selection, as a special case of the general subset selection problem, has been the topic of a considerable number of studies due to the growing importance of data-mining applications. In the feature subset selection problem there are two main issues that need to be addressed: (i) Finding an appropriate measure function than can be fairly fast and robustly computed for high-dimensional data. (ii) A search strategy to optimize the measure over the subset space in a reasonable amount of time. In this article mutual information between features and class labels is considered to be the measure function. Two series expansions for mutual information are proposed, and it is shown that most heuristic criteria suggested in the literature are truncated approximations of these expansions. It is well-known that searching the whole subset space is an NP-hard problem. Here, instead of the conventional sequential search algorithms, we suggest a parallel search strategy based on semidefinite programming (SDP) that can search through the subset space in polynomial time. By exploiting the similarities between the proposed algorithm and an instance of the maximum-cut problem in graph theory, the approximation ratio of this algorithm is derived and is compared with the approximation ratio of the backward elimination method. The experiments show that it can be misleading to judge the quality of a measure solely based on the classification accuracy, without taking the effect of the non-optimum search strategy into account.

Bounding Averages Rigorously Using Semidefinite Programming: Mean Moments of the Lorenz System

Science.gov (United States)

Goluskin, David

2018-04-01

We describe methods for proving bounds on infinite-time averages in differential dynamical systems. The methods rely on the construction of nonnegative polynomials with certain properties, similarly to the way nonlinear stability can be proved using Lyapunov functions. Nonnegativity is enforced by requiring the polynomials to be sums of squares, a condition which is then formulated as a semidefinite program (SDP) that can be solved computationally. Although such computations are subject to numerical error, we demonstrate two ways to obtain rigorous results: using interval arithmetic to control the error of an approximate SDP solution, and finding exact analytical solutions to relatively small SDPs. Previous formulations are extended to allow for bounds depending analytically on parametric variables. These methods are illustrated using the Lorenz equations, a system with three state variables ( x, y, z) and three parameters (β ,σ ,r). Bounds are reported for infinite-time averages of all eighteen moments x^ly^mz^n up to quartic degree that are symmetric under (x,y)\\mapsto (-x,-y). These bounds apply to all solutions regardless of stability, including chaotic trajectories, periodic orbits, and equilibrium points. The analytical approach yields two novel bounds that are sharp: the mean of z^3 can be no larger than its value of (r-1)^3 at the nonzero equilibria, and the mean of xy^3 must be nonnegative. The interval arithmetic approach is applied at the standard chaotic parameters to bound eleven average moments that all appear to be maximized on the shortest periodic orbit. Our best upper bound on each such average exceeds its value on the maximizing orbit by less than 1%. Many bounds reported here are much tighter than would be possible without computer assistance.

Moments, positive polynomials and their applications

CERN Document Server

Lasserre, Jean Bernard

2009-01-01

Many important applications in global optimization, algebra, probability and statistics, applied mathematics, control theory, financial mathematics, inverse problems, etc. can be modeled as a particular instance of the Generalized Moment Problem (GMP) . This book introduces a new general methodology to solve the GMP when its data are polynomials and basic semi-algebraic sets. This methodology combines semidefinite programming with recent results from real algebraic geometry to provide a hierarchy of semidefinite relaxations converging to the desired optimal value. Applied on appropriate cones,

Semidefinite Relaxation-Based Optimization of Multiple-Input Wireless Power Transfer Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lang, Hans-Dieter; Sarris, Costas D.

2017-11-01

An optimization procedure for multi-transmitter (MISO) wireless power transfer (WPT) systems based on tight semidefinite relaxation (SDR) is presented. This method ensures physical realizability of MISO WPT systems designed via convex optimization -- a robust, semi-analytical and intuitive route to optimizing such systems. To that end, the nonconvex constraints requiring that power is fed into rather than drawn from the system via all transmitter ports are incorporated in a convex semidefinite relaxation, which is efficiently and reliably solvable by dedicated algorithms. A test of the solution then confirms that this modified problem is equivalent (tight relaxation) to the original (nonconvex) one and that the true global optimum has been found. This is a clear advantage over global optimization methods (e.g. genetic algorithms), where convergence to the true global optimum cannot be ensured or tested. Discussions of numerical results yielded by both the closed-form expressions and the refined technique illustrate the importance and practicability of the new method. It, is shown that this technique offers a rigorous optimization framework for a broad range of current and emerging WPT applications.

Construction of an optimal background profile for the Kuramoto–Sivashinsky equation using semidefinite programming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fantuzzi, G.; Wynn, A.

2015-01-01

A method to construct systematically an optimal background profile for the Kuramoto–Sivashinsky equation is developed by formulating the classical problem as an optimisation problem. In particular, we show that the infinite-dimensional problem can be rewritten as a finite-dimensional convex semidefinite problem, which is solved to construct a background profile and to obtain an upper bound on the energy of the solution ‖u‖ that applies to the infinite-dimensional PDE. The results are compared to existing analytical results, and support the fact that limsup t→∞ ‖u‖≤O(L 3/2 ) is the optimal estimate achievable with the background profile method and a quadratic Lyapunov function. - Highlights: • Optimal background profiles are constructed for the Kuramoto–Sivashinsky equation. • Analytical L 2 bounds for the solution are found using convex optimisation. • The optimal background profile is a double shock profile. • Results attest that L 1.5 scaling is optimal within the classic Lyapunov argument. • We improve the proportionality constant of the scaling law for the attracting set

Positive-definite matrix processes of finite variation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barndorff-Nielsen, Ole Eiler; Stelzer, Robert

2007-01-01

Processes of finite variation, which take values in the positive semidefinite matrices and are representable as the sum of an integral with respect to time and one with respect to an extended Poisson random measure, are considered. For such processes we derive conditions for the square root (and ...

Positive-Definite Matrix Processes of Finite Variation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barndorff-Nielsen, Ole Eiler; Stelzer, Robert

Processes of finite variation, which take values in the positive semidefinite matrices and are representable as the sum of an integral with respect to time and one with respect to an extended Poisson random measure, are considered. For such processes we derive conditions for the square root (and ...

Non-Interior Continuation Method for Solving the Monotone Semidefinite Complementarity Problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Z.H.; Han, J.

2003-01-01

Recently, Chen and Tseng extended non-interior continuation smoothing methods for solving linear/ nonlinear complementarity problems to semidefinite complementarity problems (SDCP). In this paper we propose a non-interior continuation method for solving the monotone SDCP based on the smoothed Fischer-Burmeister function, which is shown to be globally linearly and locally quadratically convergent under suitable assumptions. Our algorithm needs at most to solve a linear system of equations at each iteration. In addition, in our analysis on global linear convergence of the algorithm, we need not use the assumption that the Frechet derivative of the function involved in the SDCP is Lipschitz continuous. For non-interior continuation/ smoothing methods for solving the nonlinear complementarity problem, such an assumption has been used widely in the literature in order to achieve global linear convergence results of the algorithms

A class of singular Ro-matrices and extensions to semidefinite linear complementarity problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sivakumar K.C.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available For ARnxn and qRn, the linear complementarity problem LCP(A, q is to determine if there is xRn such that x ≥ 0; y = Ax + q ≥ 0 and xT y = 0. Such an x is called a solution of LCP(A,q. A is called an Ro-matrix if LCP(A,0 has zero as the only solution. In this article, the class of R0-matrices is extended to include typically singular matrices, by requiring in addition that the solution x above belongs to a subspace of Rn. This idea is then extended to semidefinite linear complementarity problems, where a characterization is presented for the multplicative transformation.

On Positive Semidefinite Modification Schemes for Incomplete Cholesky Factorization

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Scott, J.; Tůma, Miroslav

2014-01-01

Roč. 36, č. 2 (2014), A609-A633 ISSN 1064-8275 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-06684S Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : sparse matrices * sparse linear systems * positive-definite symmetric systems * iterative solvers * preconditioning * incomplete Cholesky factorization Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 1.854, year: 2014

An Augmented Lagrangian Method for a Class of Inverse Quadratic Programming Problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Jianzhong; Zhang Liwei

2010-01-01

We consider an inverse quadratic programming (QP) problem in which the parameters in the objective function of a given QP problem are adjusted as little as possible so that a known feasible solution becomes the optimal one. We formulate this problem as a minimization problem with a positive semidefinite cone constraint and its dual is a linearly constrained semismoothly differentiable (SC 1 ) convex programming problem with fewer variables than the original one. We demonstrate the global convergence of the augmented Lagrangian method for the dual problem and prove that the convergence rate of primal iterates, generated by the augmented Lagrange method, is proportional to 1/r, and the rate of multiplier iterates is proportional to 1/√r, where r is the penalty parameter in the augmented Lagrangian. As the objective function of the dual problem is a SC 1 function involving the projection operator onto the cone of symmetrically semi-definite matrices, the analysis requires extensive tools such as the singular value decomposition of matrices, an implicit function theorem for semismooth functions, and properties of the projection operator in the symmetric-matrix space. Furthermore, the semismooth Newton method with Armijo line search is applied to solve the subproblems in the augmented Lagrange approach, which is proven to have global convergence and local quadratic rate. Finally numerical results, implemented by the augmented Lagrangian method, are reported.

Comparison of Semidefinite Relaxation Detectors for High-Order Modulation MIMO Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. Y. Shao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO system is considered to be one of the key technologies of LTE since it achieves requirements of high throughput and spectral efficiency. The semidefinite relaxation (SDR detection for MIMO systems is an attractive alternative to the optimum maximum likelihood (ML decoding because it is very computationally efficient. We propose a new SDR detector for 256-QAM MIMO system and compare its performance with two other SDR detectors, namely, BC-SDR detector and VA-SDR detector. The tightness and complexity of these three SDR detectors are analyzed. Both theoretical analysis and simulation results demonstrate that the proposed SDR can provide the best BLER performance among the three detectors, while the BC-SDR detector and the VA-SDR detector provide identical BLER performance. Moreover, the BC-SDR has the lowest computational complexity and the VA-SDR has the highest computational complexity, while the proposed SDR is in between.

Integer programming

CERN Document Server

Conforti, Michele; Zambelli, Giacomo

2014-01-01

This book is an elegant and rigorous presentation of integer programming, exposing the subject’s mathematical depth and broad applicability. Special attention is given to the theory behind the algorithms used in state-of-the-art solvers. An abundance of concrete examples and exercises of both theoretical and real-world interest explore the wide range of applications and ramifications of the theory. Each chapter is accompanied by an expertly informed guide to the literature and special topics, rounding out the reader’s understanding and serving as a gateway to deeper study. Key topics include: formulations polyhedral theory cutting planes decomposition enumeration semidefinite relaxations Written by renowned experts in integer programming and combinatorial optimization, Integer Programming is destined to become an essential text in the field.

On bounded rank positive semidefinite matrix completions of extreme partial correlation matrices.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M. Eisenberg-Nagy (Marianna); M. Laurent (Monique); A. Varvitsiotis (Antonios)

2012-01-01

textabstractWe study a new geometric graph parameter $egd(G)$, defined as the smallest integer $r\\ge 1$ for which any partial symmetric matrix which is completable to a correlation matrix and whose entries are specified at the positions of the edges of $G$, can be completed to a matrix in the convex

On bounded rank positive semidefinite matrix completions of extreme partial correlation matrices.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M. Eisenberg-Nagy (Marianna); M. Laurent (Monique); A. Varvitsiotis (Antonios)

2012-01-01

htmlabstractWe study a new geometric graph parameter egd(G), defined as the smallest integer r ≥ 1 for which any partial symmetric matrix which is completable to a correlation matrix and whose entries are specified at the positions of the edges of G, can be completed to a matrix in the convex hull

Positive trigonometric polynomials and signal processing applications

CERN Document Server

Dumitrescu, Bogdan

2017-01-01

This revised edition is made up of two parts: theory and applications. Though many of the fundamental results are still valid and used, new and revised material is woven throughout the text. As with the original book, the theory of sum-of-squares trigonometric polynomials is presented unitarily based on the concept of Gram matrix (extended to Gram pair or Gram set). The programming environment has also evolved, and the books examples are changed accordingly. The applications section is organized as a collection of related problems that use systematically the theoretical results. All the problems are brought to a semi-definite programming form, ready to be solved with algorithms freely available, like those from the libraries SeDuMi, CVX and Pos3Poly. A new chapter discusses applications in super-resolution theory, where Bounded Real Lemma for trigonometric polynomials is an important tool. This revision is written to be more appealing and easier to use for new readers. < Features updated information on LMI...

Positioning the Co-op Program for Maximum Marketing Effectiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Ronald R.

1983-01-01

Examines the concept of positioning, which is the way that individuals perceive and are made aware of a program and believe in its benefit to them and its application to cooperative education programs. Includes a five-step plan for assessing the position of cooperative programs and six ways to implement a positioning strategy. (JOW)

Adaptive Dynamic Programming for Discrete-Time Zero-Sum Games.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Qinglai; Liu, Derong; Lin, Qiao; Song, Ruizhuo

2018-04-01

In this paper, a novel adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) algorithm, called "iterative zero-sum ADP algorithm," is developed to solve infinite-horizon discrete-time two-player zero-sum games of nonlinear systems. The present iterative zero-sum ADP algorithm permits arbitrary positive semidefinite functions to initialize the upper and lower iterations. A novel convergence analysis is developed to guarantee the upper and lower iterative value functions to converge to the upper and lower optimums, respectively. When the saddle-point equilibrium exists, it is emphasized that both the upper and lower iterative value functions are proved to converge to the optimal solution of the zero-sum game, where the existence criteria of the saddle-point equilibrium are not required. If the saddle-point equilibrium does not exist, the upper and lower optimal performance index functions are obtained, respectively, where the upper and lower performance index functions are proved to be not equivalent. Finally, simulation results and comparisons are shown to illustrate the performance of the present method.

Sufficient conditions for positivity of non-Markovian master equations with Hermitian generators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilkie, Joshua; Wong Yinmei

2009-01-01

We use basic physical motivations to develop sufficient conditions for positive semidefiniteness of the reduced density matrix for generalized non-Markovian integrodifferential Lindblad-Kossakowski master equations with Hermitian generators. We show that it is sufficient for the memory function to be the Fourier transform of a real positive symmetric frequency density function with certain properties. These requirements are physically motivated, and are more general and more easily checked than previously stated sufficient conditions. We also explore the decoherence dynamics numerically for some simple models using the Hadamard representation of the propagator. We show that the sufficient conditions are not necessary conditions. We also show that models exist in which the long time limit is in part determined by non-Markovian effects

Distributionally Robust Joint Chance Constrained Problem under Moment Uncertainty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ke-wei Ding

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We discuss and develop the convex approximation for robust joint chance constraints under uncertainty of first- and second-order moments. Robust chance constraints are approximated by Worst-Case CVaR constraints which can be reformulated by a semidefinite programming. Then the chance constrained problem can be presented as semidefinite programming. We also find that the approximation for robust joint chance constraints has an equivalent individual quadratic approximation form.

Positive School and Classroom Environment: Precursors of Successful Implementation of Positive Youth Development Programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel C. F. Sun

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This case study was based on a school where the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. was integrated into the formal curriculum. In this case study, an interview with the school principal, vice-principal, and social worker was conducted in order to understand their perceptions of administrative arrangements and issues in the school, implementation characteristics, program effectiveness, program success, and overall impression. Results showed that several positive school and classroom attributes were conducive to program success, including positive school culture and belief in students' potentials, an inviting school environment, an encouraging classroom environment, high involvement of school administrative personnel, and systematic program arrangement.

APCAL1: Beam Position Monitor Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Early, R.A.

1979-12-01

APCAL1 is an applications program operational on the PEP MODCOMP IV computer for the purpose of converting beam position monitor (BPM) button voltage readings to x,y coordinates. Calibration information and the BPM readings are read from the MODCOMP IV data base. Corresponding x,y coordinates are written in the data base for use by other programs. APCAL1 is normally activated by another program but can be activated by a touch panel for checkout purposes.

Positive semidefinite integrated covariance estimation, factorizations and asynchronicity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boudt, Kris; Laurent, Sébastien; Lunde, Asger

2017-01-01

An estimator of the ex-post covariation of log-prices under asynchronicity and microstructure noise is proposed. It uses the Cholesky factorization of the covariance matrix in order to exploit the heterogeneity in trading intensities to estimate the different parameters sequentially with as many...

Positive Semidefinite Integrated Covariance Estimation, Factorizations and Asynchronicity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boudt, Kris; Laurent, Sébastien; Lunde, Asger

An estimator of the ex-post covariation of log-prices under asynchronicity and microstructure noise is proposed. It uses the Cholesky factorization on the correlation matrix in order to exploit the heterogeneity in trading intensity to estimate the different parameters sequentially with as many...

Numerical studies of entangled positive-partial-transpose states in composite quantum systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leinaas, Jon Magne; Sollid, Per Oyvind; Myrheim, Jan

2010-01-01

We report here on the results of numerical searches for PPT states in a series of bipartite quantum systems of low dimensions. PPT states are represented by density matrices that remain positive semidefinite under partial transposition with respect to one of the subsystems, and our searches are for such states with specified ranks for the density matrix and its partial transpose. For a series of different ranks extremal PPT states and nonextremal entangled PPT states have been found. The results are listed in tables and charted in diagrams. Comparison of the results for systems of different dimensions reveals several regularities. We discuss lower and upper bounds on the ranks of extremal PPT states.

A primal-dual interior point method for large-scale free material optimization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Weldeyesus, Alemseged Gebrehiwot; Stolpe, Mathias

2015-01-01

Free Material Optimization (FMO) is a branch of structural optimization in which the design variable is the elastic material tensor that is allowed to vary over the design domain. The requirements are that the material tensor is symmetric positive semidefinite with bounded trace. The resulting...... optimization problem is a nonlinear semidefinite program with many small matrix inequalities for which a special-purpose optimization method should be developed. The objective of this article is to propose an efficient primal-dual interior point method for FMO that can robustly and accurately solve large...... of iterations the interior point method requires is modest and increases only marginally with problem size. The computed optimal solutions obtain a higher precision than other available special-purpose methods for FMO. The efficiency and robustness of the method is demonstrated by numerical experiments on a set...

Detection of Crossing White Matter Fibers with High-Order Tensors and Rank-k Decompositions

KAUST Repository

Jiao, Fangxiang; Gur, Yaniv; Johnson, Chris R.; Joshi, Sarang

2011-01-01

Fundamental to high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI), is the estimation of a positive-semidefinite orientation distribution function (ODF) and extracting the diffusion properties (e.g., fiber directions). In this work we show that these two goals can be achieved efficiently by using homogeneous polynomials to represent the ODF in the spherical deconvolution approach, as was proposed in the Cartesian Tensor-ODF (CT-ODF) formulation. Based on this formulation we first suggest an estimation method for positive-semidefinite ODF by solving a linear programming problem that does not require special parameterization of the ODF. We also propose a rank-k tensor decomposition, known as CP decomposition, to extract the fibers information from the estimated ODF. We show that this decomposition is superior to the fiber direction estimation via ODF maxima detection as it enables one to reach the full fiber separation resolution of the estimation technique. We assess the accuracy of this new framework by applying it to synthetic and experimentally obtained HARDI data. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.

Enhancing Pseudo-Telepathy in the Magic Square Game

Science.gov (United States)

Pawela, Łukasz; Gawron, Piotr; Puchała, Zbigniew; Sładkowski, Jan

2013-01-01

We study the possibility of reversing an action of a quantum channel. Our principal objective is to find a specific channel that reverses as accurately as possible an action of a given quantum channel. To achieve this goal we use semidefinite programming. We show the benefits of our method using the quantum pseudo-telepathy Magic Square game with noise. Our strategy is to move the pseudo-telepathy region to higher noise values. We show that it is possible to reverse the action of a noise channel using semidefinite programming. PMID:23762246

Variational minimization of atomic and molecular ground-state energies via the two-particle reduced density matrix

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazziotti, David A.

2002-01-01

Atomic and molecular ground-state energies are variationally determined by constraining the two-particle reduced density matrix (2-RDM) to satisfy positivity conditions. Because each positivity condition corresponds to correcting the ground-state energies for a class of Hamiltonians with two-particle interactions, these conditions collectively provide a new approach to many-body theory that, unlike perturbation theory, can capture significantly correlated phenomena including the multireference effects of potential-energy surfaces. The D, Q, and G conditions for the 2-RDM are extended through generalized lifting operators inspired from the formal solution of N-representability. These lifted conditions agree with the hierarchy of positivity conditions presented by Mazziotti and Erdahl [Phys. Rev. A 63, 042113 (2001)]. The connection between positivity and the formal solution explains how constraining higher RDMs to be positive semidefinite improves the N representability of the 2-RDM and suggests using pieces of higher positivity conditions that computationally scale like the D condition. With the D, Q, and G conditions as well as pieces of higher positivity the electronic energies for Be, LiH, H 2 O, and BH are computed through a primal-dual interior-point algorithm for positive semidefinite programming. The variational method produces potential-energy surfaces that are highly accurate even far from the equilibrium geometry where single-reference perturbation-based methods often fail to produce realistic energies

A method for weighted projections to the positive definite cone

KAUST Repository

Valkonen, Tuomo

2014-06-24

© 2014 Taylor & Francis. We study the numerical solution of the problem (Formula presented.) , where (Formula presented.) is a symmetric square matrix, and (Formula presented.) is a linear operator, such that (Formula presented.) is invertible. With (Formula presented.) the desired fractional duality gap, and (Formula presented.) the condition number of (Formula presented.) , we prove (Formula presented.) iteration complexity for a simple primal-dual interior point method directly based on those for linear programs with semi-definite constraints. We do not, however, require the numerically expensive scalings inherent in these methods to force fast convergence. For low-dimensional problems (Formula presented.), our numerical experiments indicate excellent performance and only a very slowly growing dependence of the convergence rate on (Formula presented.). While our algorithm requires somewhat more iterations than existing interior point methods, the iterations are cheaper. This gives better computational times.

A method for weighted projections to the positive definite cone

KAUST Repository

Valkonen, Tuomo

2014-01-01

© 2014 Taylor & Francis. We study the numerical solution of the problem (Formula presented.) , where (Formula presented.) is a symmetric square matrix, and (Formula presented.) is a linear operator, such that (Formula presented.) is invertible. With (Formula presented.) the desired fractional duality gap, and (Formula presented.) the condition number of (Formula presented.) , we prove (Formula presented.) iteration complexity for a simple primal-dual interior point method directly based on those for linear programs with semi-definite constraints. We do not, however, require the numerically expensive scalings inherent in these methods to force fast convergence. For low-dimensional problems (Formula presented.), our numerical experiments indicate excellent performance and only a very slowly growing dependence of the convergence rate on (Formula presented.). While our algorithm requires somewhat more iterations than existing interior point methods, the iterations are cheaper. This gives better computational times.

Simple proof of the impossibility of bit commitment in generalized probabilistic theories using cone programming

Science.gov (United States)

Sikora, Jamie; Selby, John

2018-04-01

Bit commitment is a fundamental cryptographic task, in which Alice commits a bit to Bob such that she cannot later change the value of the bit, while, simultaneously, the bit is hidden from Bob. It is known that ideal bit commitment is impossible within quantum theory. In this work, we show that it is also impossible in generalized probabilistic theories (under a small set of assumptions) by presenting a quantitative trade-off between Alice's and Bob's cheating probabilities. Our proof relies crucially on a formulation of cheating strategies as cone programs, a natural generalization of semidefinite programs. In fact, using the generality of this technique, we prove that this result holds for the more general task of integer commitment.

Value Iteration Adaptive Dynamic Programming for Optimal Control of Discrete-Time Nonlinear Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Qinglai; Liu, Derong; Lin, Hanquan

2016-03-01

In this paper, a value iteration adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) algorithm is developed to solve infinite horizon undiscounted optimal control problems for discrete-time nonlinear systems. The present value iteration ADP algorithm permits an arbitrary positive semi-definite function to initialize the algorithm. A novel convergence analysis is developed to guarantee that the iterative value function converges to the optimal performance index function. Initialized by different initial functions, it is proven that the iterative value function will be monotonically nonincreasing, monotonically nondecreasing, or nonmonotonic and will converge to the optimum. In this paper, for the first time, the admissibility properties of the iterative control laws are developed for value iteration algorithms. It is emphasized that new termination criteria are established to guarantee the effectiveness of the iterative control laws. Neural networks are used to approximate the iterative value function and compute the iterative control law, respectively, for facilitating the implementation of the iterative ADP algorithm. Finally, two simulation examples are given to illustrate the performance of the present method.

INDDGO: Integrated Network Decomposition & Dynamic programming for Graph Optimization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Groer, Christopher S [ORNL; Sullivan, Blair D [ORNL; Weerapurage, Dinesh P [ORNL

2012-10-01

It is well-known that dynamic programming algorithms can utilize tree decompositions to provide a way to solve some \\emph{NP}-hard problems on graphs where the complexity is polynomial in the number of nodes and edges in the graph, but exponential in the width of the underlying tree decomposition. However, there has been relatively little computational work done to determine the practical utility of such dynamic programming algorithms. We have developed software to construct tree decompositions using various heuristics and have created a fast, memory-efficient dynamic programming implementation for solving maximum weighted independent set. We describe our software and the algorithms we have implemented, focusing on memory saving techniques for the dynamic programming. We compare the running time and memory usage of our implementation with other techniques for solving maximum weighted independent set, including a commercial integer programming solver and a semi-definite programming solver. Our results indicate that it is possible to solve some instances where the underlying decomposition has width much larger than suggested by the literature. For certain types of problems, our dynamic programming code runs several times faster than these other methods.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, EMOTIONAL EDUCATION AND THE HAPPY CLASSROOMS PROGRAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Bisquerra Alzina

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Positive psychology has multiple applications. This article is focused on formal education, from the ages of 3 to 18 years. The development of well-being should be one of the aims of education, which would affect teachers, students, families and by extension society at large. This has been a clear aim for emotional education (Bisquerra, 2000, 2009, from the outset. With the emergence of positive psychology, there was a renewed effort in this direction, as a means of providing a better foundation. GROP (Grup de Recerca en Orientación Psicopedagógica [Research in Psychopedagogical Education Group] at the University of Barcelona is conducting research on this subject. The Happy Classrooms (“Aulas felices” program developed by the SATI team is the first program in Spanish aimed at working on positive education. It is designed for children and youths in pre-school, primary and secondary education. The program focuses its applications on character strengths and mindfulness. It is freely available for access and distribution. This article argues for the importance of enhancing well-being in education. Practical activities and intervention strategies are presented, with special reference to the importance of teacher training.

Science.gov (United States)

Trinker, Horst

2011-10-28

We study the distribution of triples of codewords of codes and ordered codes. Schrijver [A. Schrijver, New code upper bounds from the Terwilliger algebra and semidefinite programming, IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory 51 (8) (2005) 2859-2866] used the triple distribution of a code to establish a bound on the number of codewords based on semidefinite programming. In the first part of this work, we generalize this approach for ordered codes. In the second part, we consider linear codes and linear ordered codes and present a MacWilliams-type identity for the triple distribution of their dual code. Based on the non-negativity of this linear transform, we establish a linear programming bound and conclude with a table of parameters for which this bound yields better results than the standard linear programming bound.

Postdoctoral pharmacy industry fellowships: a descriptive analysis of programs and postgraduate positions.

Science.gov (United States)

Melillo, Stephanie; Gangadharan, Amy; Johnson, Hiliary; Schleck, Patrick; Steinberg, Michael; Alexander, James G

2012-01-01

Postdoctoral pharmacy industry fellowship programs and the employment of fellowship graduates are described. A list of postgraduate industry fellowships was gathered from the 2009 ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting. Data regarding program characteristics were collected using the Personnel Placement Service database and program-specific brochures. After data compilation, a standardized survey was sent in January 2010 via e-mail to the point of contact for all programs to confirm the accuracy of the program's characteristics. Only academically affiliated industry fellowship programs were analyzed. Retrospective data were collected regarding the first position of employment for all fellows who graduated from the program between 2005 and 2009 and the position of those same individuals at the time of survey completion. Surveys were sent to 64 postgraduate industry fellowship programs affiliated with a school of pharmacy, 56 (87.5%) of whom responded. The departmental breakdown for positions offered (n = 75) across all academically affiliated industry fellowship programs (including nonresponders) was as follows: medical affairs (38.7%, n = 29), clinical research (32.0%, n = 24), regulatory affairs (9.3%, n = 7), commercial (8.0%, n = 6), health economics and outcomes research (8.0%, n = 6), and pharmacovigilance (4.0%, n = 3). Data from fellows during years 1-5 after completion of the industry fellowship indicated that 90.5% of former fellows remained in the industry (n = 238). The postgraduate industry fellowship programs surveyed indicated that the majority of fellowship graduates continued to hold positions in industry after program completion. The majority of industry fellowships and subsequent job placements occurred in the areas of medical affairs, clinical research, and regulatory affairs.

[Effects of a Positive Psychotherapy Program on Positive Affect, Interpersonal Relations, Resilience, and Mental Health Recovery in Community-Dwelling People with Schizophrenia].

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jinhee; Na, Hyunjoo

2017-10-01

Recently, the interest in positive psychotherapy is growing, which can help to encourage positive relationships and develop strengths of people. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of a positive psychotherapy program on positive affect, interpersonal relations, resilience, and mental health recovery in community-dwelling people with schizophrenia. The research was conducted using a randomized control group pretest-posttest design. A total of 57 adults with schizophrenia participated in this study. The study participants in experimental group received a positive psychotherapy program (n=28) and the participants in control group received only the usual treatment in community centers (n=29). The positive psychotherapy program was provided for 5 weeks (of 10 sessions, held twice/week, for 60 minutes). The study outcomes included positive affect, interpersonal relations, resilience, and mental health recovery. The collected data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA for examining study hypothesis. Results showed that interpersonal relations (F=11.83, p=.001) and resilience (F=9.62, p=.003) significantly increased in the experimental group compared to the control group. Although experimental group showed a slight increase in positive affect, it was not significant. The study findings confirm that the positive psychotherapy program is effective for improving interpersonal relations and resilience of community-dwelling people with schizophrenia. Based on the findings, we believe that the positive psychotherapy program would be acceptable and helpful to improve recovery of mental health in schizophrenia. © 2017 Korean Society of Nursing Science

Tightness of Semidefinite Programming Relaxation to Robust Transmit Beamforming with SINR Constraints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanjun Wang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper considers a multiuser transmit beamforming problem under uncertain channel state information (CSI subject to SINR constraints in a downlink multiuser MISO system. A robust transmit beamforming formulation is proposed. This robust formulation is to minimize the transmission power subject to worst-case signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR constraints on the receivers. The challenging problem is that the worst-case SINR constraints correspond to an infinite number of nonconvex quadratic constraints. In this paper, a natural semidifinite programming (SDP relaxation problem is proposed to solve the robust beamforming problem. The main contribution of this paper is to establish the tightness of the SDP relaxation problem under proper assumption, which means that the SDP relaxation problem definitely yields rank-one solutions under the assumption. Then the SDP relaxation problem provides globally optimum solutions of the primal robust transmit beamforming problem under proper assumption and norm-constrained CSI errors. Simulation results show the correctness of the proposed theoretical results and also provide a counterexample whose solutions are not rank one. The existence of counterexample shows that the guess that the solutions of the SDP relaxation problem must be rank one is wrong, except that some assumptions (such as the one proposed in this paper hold.

Evaluation of the Positive Re-Entry in Corrections Program: A Positive Psychology Intervention With Prison Inmates.

Science.gov (United States)

Huynh, Kim H; Hall, Brittany; Hurst, Mark A; Bikos, Lynette H

2015-08-01

Two groups of male inmates (n = 31, n = 31) participated in the Positive Re-Entry in Corrections Program (PRCP). This positive psychology intervention focused on teaching offenders skills that facilitate re-entry into the community. Offenders participated in weekly lectures, discussions, and homework assignments focused on positive psychology principles. The two groups differed in duration of treatment (8 weeks and 12 weeks). Participants completed pre- and post-intervention measures of gratitude, hope, and life satisfaction. Using a 2 × 2 mixed design ANOVA, we hypothesized that the intervention (with two between-subjects levels of 8 and 12 weeks) and duration (with two repeated measures levels of pre and post) of treatment would moderate pre- to post-intervention change. Results indicated significant differences on pre- and post-intervention scores for both groups of offenders on all measures. The analysis did not yield statistically significant differences between groups, demonstrating no additive benefits from the inclusion of four additional sessions, thus saving time and money for correctional programming and funding. This research supports the use of positive psychology in prison interventions. © The Author(s) 2014.

Optimization of polynomials in non-commuting variables

CERN Document Server

Burgdorf, Sabine; Povh, Janez

2016-01-01

This book presents recent results on positivity and optimization of polynomials in non-commuting variables. Researchers in non-commutative algebraic geometry, control theory, system engineering, optimization, quantum physics and information science will find the unified notation and mixture of algebraic geometry and mathematical programming useful. Theoretical results are matched with algorithmic considerations; several examples and information on how to use NCSOStools open source package to obtain the results provided. Results are presented on detecting the eigenvalue and trace positivity of polynomials in non-commuting variables using Newton chip method and Newton cyclic chip method, relaxations for constrained and unconstrained optimization problems, semidefinite programming formulations of the relaxations and finite convergence of the hierarchies of these relaxations, and the practical efficiency of algorithms.

Systematic review of positive youth development programs for adolescents with chronic illness.

Science.gov (United States)

Maslow, Gary R; Chung, Richard J

2013-05-01

The Positive Youth Development (PYD) framework has been successfully used to support at-risk youth. However, its effectiveness in fostering positive outcomes for adolescents with chronic illness has not been established. We performed a systematic review of PYD-consistent programs for adolescents with chronic illness. Data sources included PubMed, CINAHL, and PsychINFO. Guided by an analytic framework, we searched for studies of PYD-consistent programs serving adolescents and young adults aged 13 through 24 with chronic illness. References were screened iteratively with increasing depth until a focused cohort was obtained and reviewed in full. The authors separately reviewed the studies using structured analysis forms. Relevant study details were abstracted during the review process. Fifteen studies describing 14 programs were included in the analysis. Three comprehensive programs included all 3 core components of a PYD program, including opportunities for youth leadership, skill building, and sustained connections between youth and adults. Four programs were primarily mentoring programs, and 7 others focused on youth leadership. Programs served youth with a variety of chronic illnesses. The quality and type of evaluation varied considerably, with most reporting psychosocial outcomes but only a few including medical outcomes. The PYD-consistent programs identified in this review can serve as models for the development of youth development programs for adolescents with chronic illness. Additional study is needed to evaluate such programs rigorously with respect to both psychosocial and health-related outcomes. PYD-consistent programs have the potential to reach youth with chronic illness and promote positive adult outcomes broadly.

A Clustered Randomized Controlled Trial of the Positive Prevention PLUS Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program.

Science.gov (United States)

LaChausse, Robert G

2016-09-01

To determine the impact of Positive Prevention PLUS, a school-based adolescent pregnancy prevention program on delaying sexual intercourse, birth control use, and pregnancy. I randomly assigned a diverse sample of ninth grade students in 21 suburban public high schools in California into treatment (n = 2483) and control (n = 1784) groups that participated in a clustered randomized controlled trial. Between October 2013 and May 2014, participants completed baseline and 6-month follow-up surveys regarding sexual behavior and pregnancy. Participants in the treatment group were offered Positive Prevention PLUS, an 11-lesson adolescent pregnancy prevention program. The program had statistically significant impacts on delaying sexual intercourse and increasing the use of birth control. However, I detected no program effect on pregnancy rates at 6-month follow-up. The Positive Prevention PLUS program demonstrated positive impacts on adolescent sexual behavior. This suggests that programs that focus on having students practice risk reduction skills may delay sexual activity and increase birth control use.

An Improved Semidefinite Programming Hierarchy for Testing Entanglement

Science.gov (United States)

Harrow, Aram W.; Natarajan, Anand; Wu, Xiaodi

2017-06-01

We present a stronger version of the Doherty-Parrilo-Spedalieri (DPS) hierarchy of approximations for the set of separable states. Unlike DPS, our hierarchy converges exactly at a finite number of rounds for any fixed input dimension. This yields an algorithm for separability testing that is singly exponential in dimension and polylogarithmic in accuracy. Our analysis makes use of tools from algebraic geometry, but our algorithm is elementary and differs from DPS only by one simple additional collection of constraints.

Macau, world capital for gambling: A longitudinal study of a youth program designed to instill positive values

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Leung Luk

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Macau, world capital for gambling: A longitudinal study of a youth program designed to instil positive valuesABSTRACTThis study investigated the effectiveness of a positive youth development program for Chinese Secondary 3 students in two schools, who had been followed up since their entry to Secondary 1. A mixed research method was carried out using a pre- and post-test pre-experimental design and a focus group for the participants. The subjective outcome evaluations included participants’ perceptions of the program, program instructors, benefits of the program and overall satisfaction, and were positive. The longitudinal data from the objective outcome evaluation showed some notable improvements, and the overall effect of the program was also found to be positive for newcomers in the junior secondary years. The focus group interviews revealed mostly positive feedback in terms of the students’ general impressions of the program, with the majority of participants perceiving benefits to themselves from the program. The findings offer positive evidence of the effectiveness of the program. KEYWORDS: adolescents, positive youth development, objective outcome evaluation, subjective outcome evaluation

Evaluation of a Positive Youth Development Program Based on the Repertory Grid Test

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel T. L. Shek

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The repertory grid test, based on personal construct psychology, was used to evaluate the effectiveness of Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes in Hong Kong. One hundred and four program participants (n=104 were randomly invited to complete a repertory grid based on personal construct theory in order to provide both quantitative and qualitative data for measuring self-identity changes after joining the program. Findings generally showed that the participants perceived that they understood themselves better and had stronger resilience after joining the program. Participants also saw themselves as closer to their ideal selves and other positive role figures (but farther away from a loser after joining the program. This study provides additional support for the effectiveness of the Tier 1 Program of Project P.A.T.H.S. in the Chinese context. This study also shows that the repertory grid test is a useful evaluation method to measure self-identity changes in participants in positive youth development programs.

Unambiguous discrimination of mixed states: A description based on system-ancilla coupling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Xiang-Fa; Zhang, Yong-Sheng; Guo, Guang-Can

2007-01-01

We propose a general description for the unambiguous discrimination of mixed states according to the system-environment coupling, and present a procedure to reduce this to a standard semidefinite programming problem. In the two-state case, we introduce the canonical vectors and partly simplify the problem to the case of discrimination between pairs of canonical vectors. By considering the positivity of the 2x2 matrices, we obtain a series of new upper bounds for the total success probability, which depends on both the prior probabilities and specific state structures

Development of a Positive Youth Development Program: Helping Parents to Improve Their Parenting Skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel T.L. Shek

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programs is a positive youth development program that attempts to promote holistic development in adolescents in Hong Kong. In the Tier 2 Program of this project, social workers are expected to develop positive youth development programs for adolescents having greater psychosocial needs. They are required to submit proposals that will be evaluated in terms of whether the proposals are evidence based, and appropriate evaluation mechanisms are included. With reference to the literature on parental control processes that Chinese parents may be loose in their behavioral control and they tend to overemphasize academic excellence, it is argued that improvement of the parenting skills of parents of Chinese adolescents is an important area to be addressed. To facilitate social workers to prepare the related proposals, a sample proposal on how to improve the parenting skills of Chinese parents is described, including its conceptual framework, proposed program, and evaluation plan. It is argued that this supportive approach (i.e., preparation of a sample proposal can help social workers to develop quality proposals on positive youth development programs in Hong Kong.

GloptiPoly: Global optimization over polynomials with Matlab and SeDuMi

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Henrion, Didier; Lasserre, J.-B.

č. 2 (2003), s. 165-194 ISSN 0098-3500 R&D Projects: GA MŠk ME 496 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1075907 Keywords : polynomial programming * semidefinite programming * linear matrix inequality Subject RIV: BC - Control Systems Theory Impact factor: 0.979, year: 2003

Policy Iteration for $H_\\infty $ Optimal Control of Polynomial Nonlinear Systems via Sum of Squares Programming.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yuanheng; Zhao, Dongbin; Yang, Xiong; Zhang, Qichao

2018-02-01

Sum of squares (SOS) polynomials have provided a computationally tractable way to deal with inequality constraints appearing in many control problems. It can also act as an approximator in the framework of adaptive dynamic programming. In this paper, an approximate solution to the optimal control of polynomial nonlinear systems is proposed. Under a given attenuation coefficient, the Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs equation is relaxed to an optimization problem with a set of inequalities. After applying the policy iteration technique and constraining inequalities to SOS, the optimization problem is divided into a sequence of feasible semidefinite programming problems. With the converged solution, the attenuation coefficient is further minimized to a lower value. After iterations, approximate solutions to the smallest -gain and the associated optimal controller are obtained. Four examples are employed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Weapon System Requirements: Detailed Systems Engineering Prior to Product Development Positions Programs for Success

Science.gov (United States)

2016-11-01

modified, replaced, or sustained by consumers or different manufacturers in addition to the manufacturer that developed the system. It also allows...WEAPON SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Detailed Systems Engineering Prior to Product Development Positions Programs for Success...Engineering Prior to Product Development Positions Programs for Success Why GAO Did This Study Cost and schedule growth in DOD major defense

Secondary Data Analyses of Conclusions Drawn by the Program Implementers of a Positive Youth Development Program in Hong Kong

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew M. H. Siu

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes is designed for adolescents with significant psychosocial needs, and its various programs are designed and implemented by social workers (program implementers for specific student groups in different schools. Using subjective outcome evaluation data collected from the program participants (Form C at 207 schools, the program implementers were asked to aggregate data and write down five conclusions (n = 1,035 in their evaluation reports. The conclusions stated in the evaluation reports were further analyzed via secondary data analyses in this study. Results showed that the participants regarded the Tier 2 Program as a success, and was effective in enhancing self-understanding, interpersonal skills, and self-management. They liked the experiential learning approach and activities that are novel, interesting, diversified, adventure-based, and outdoor in nature. They also liked instructors who were friendly, supportive, well-prepared, and able to bring challenges and give positive recognition. Most of the difficulties encountered in running the programs were related to time constraints, clashes with other activities, and motivation of participants. Consistent with the previous evaluation findings, the present study suggests that the Tier 2 Program was well received by the participants and that it was beneficial to the development of the program participants.

Adding Robustness to Support Vector Machines Against Adversarial Reverse Engineering

KAUST Repository

Alabdulmohsin, Ibrahim; Gao, Xin; Zhang, Xiangliang

2014-01-01

their risk. In particular, we derive a semidefinite programming (SDP) formulation for learning a distribution of classifiers subject to the constraint that any single classifier picked at random from such distribution provides reliable predictions with a high

Mandatory Parent Education Programs Can Create Positive Youth Sport Experiences

Science.gov (United States)

Christofferson, Jennifer; Strand, Bradford

2016-01-01

Youth sport leaders must not ignore the influence parents have on creating a positive developmental experience for young athletes. Therefore, expectations involving parental involvement and conduct must be addressed prior to athletes' participation. This article aims to examine the importance of creating mandatory parental training programs for…

Creating a Positive Social-Emotional Climate in Your Elementary Physical Education Program

Science.gov (United States)

Gagnon, Amy G.

2016-01-01

Creating a positive social-emotional climate must be the backbone of a quality elementary physical education program. The need to belong, have friends, and feel emotionally safe are basic needs everyone has, but meeting these needs in the classroom can be challenging at times. Strategies regarding how to implement a positive social-emotional…

Optimization of Structural Topology in the High-Porosity Regime

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kohn, Robert

2004-01-01

...." Moreover there is a simple formula for the Hooke's law of a single-scale laminate. It reduces the task of structural optimization for minimum weight and maximal stiffness to a convex optimization specifically, a problem of semidefinite programming...

A program of positive intervention in the elderly: memories, gratitude and forgiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramírez, Encarnación; Ortega, Ana Raquel; Chamorro, Alberto; Colmenero, José María

2014-05-01

The main goal of this study has been to increase the quality of life in people of over 60 years through a positive psychology intervention. We employed a program which consists of training based on autobiographical memory, forgiveness and gratitude. The sample consisted of 46 participants aged 60-93 years. State and trait anxiety, depression, general memory, specific memories, life satisfaction and subjective happiness were measured. The results revealed that participants who followed the program (experimental group) showed a significant decrease in state anxiety and depression as well as an increase in specific memories, life satisfaction and subjective happiness, compared with the placebo group. Our program offers promising results and provides new evidence for the effectiveness of positive interventions in the field of psychogerontology, helping increase subjective well-being and quality of life in older adults by focusing interventions on the enhancement of personal and social resources for being happy.

Exploiting Sparsity in SDP Relaxation for Sensor Network Localization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

S. Kim (Sunyoung); M. Kojima; H. Waki (Hayato)

2008-01-01

htmlabstract A sensor network localization problem can be formulated as a quadratic optimization problem (QOP). For quadratic optimization problems, semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxation by Lasserre with relaxation order 1 for general polynomial optimization problems (POPs) is known to be

Exploiting Sparsity in SDP Relaxation for Sensor Network Localization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

S. Kim (Sunyoung); M. Kojima; H. Waki (Hayato)

2009-01-01

htmlabstract A sensor network localization problem can be formulated as a quadratic optimization problem (QOP). For quadratic optimization problems, semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxation by Lasserre with relaxation order 1 for general polynomial optimization problems (POPs) is known to be

Large margin classification with indefinite similarities

KAUST Repository

Alabdulmohsin, Ibrahim; Cisse, Moustapha; Gao, Xin; Zhang, Xiangliang

2016-01-01

Classification with indefinite similarities has attracted attention in the machine learning community. This is partly due to the fact that many similarity functions that arise in practice are not symmetric positive semidefinite, i.e. the Mercer

Non-commutative Hardy inequalities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Frank

2009-01-01

We extend Hardy's inequality from sequences of non-negative numbers to sequences of positive semi-definite operators if the parameter p satisfies 1 1. Applications to trace functions are given. We introduce the tracial geometric mean...

Confirmational study: a positive-based thumb and finger sucking elimination program.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Shari E

2010-11-01

This article emphasizes the critical need for information specifically regarding the topic of retained sucking behaviors. The study aimed to confirm results provided by Van Norman of 723 subjects in 1997. Parent surveys were collected on 441 subjects who received an orofacial myofunctional treatment program provided by one certified orofacial myologist. Results of this study do confirm that retained digit sucking behavior may be addressed successfully and expediently by a program based on positive behavior modification techniques.

Design of training programs for a positive youth development program: Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong.

Science.gov (United States)

Shek, Daniel T L; Chak, Yammy L Y

2010-01-01

To facilitate the implementation of the Secondary 1 to Secondary 3 program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong, systematic training programs are designed for the potential program implementers. The rationales, objectives and design of the Secondary 1 to Secondary 3 training programs are outlined in this paper. The training programs cover theories of adolescent development, positive youth development, background and curricula of the Project P.A.T.H.S., factors affecting program implementation quality and evaluation of the project. Besides introducing the curriculum units, the training programs also focus on nature of learning and related theories (particularly experiential learning), teaching methods and instructional techniques, motivating students, and classroom management.

Bounds on Entanglement Dimensions and Quantum Graph Parameters via Noncommutative Polynomial Optimization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gribling, Sander; de Laat, David; Laurent, Monique

2017-01-01

In this paper we study bipartite quantum correlations using techniques from tracial polynomial optimization. We construct a hierarchy of semidefinite programming lower bounds on the minimal entanglement dimension of a bipartite correlation. This hierarchy converges to a new parameter: the minimal

The two-body-problem in quantized, inertia-free mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kreisel, E.

1984-01-01

There do not exist bound states of the two-particle-system in Riemann-Machian quantum mechanics. The spectrum of the energy is necessarily positively semidefinite and continuous, in analogy to the free particle of quantum mechanics. (author)

Dynamic Positioning Capability Analysis for Marine Vessels Based on A DPCap Polar Plot Program

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lei; Yang, Jian-min; Xu, Sheng-wen

2018-03-01

Dynamic positioning capability (DPCap) analysis is essential in the selection of thrusters, in their configuration, and during preliminary investigation of the positioning ability of a newly designed vessel dynamic positioning system. DPCap analysis can help determine the maximum environmental forces, in which the DP system can counteract in given headings. The accuracy of the DPCap analysis is determined by the precise estimation of the environmental forces as well as the effectiveness of the thrust allocation logic. This paper is dedicated to developing an effective and efficient software program for the DPCap analysis for marine vessels. Estimation of the environmental forces can be obtained by model tests, hydrodynamic computation and empirical formulas. A quadratic programming method is adopted to allocate the total thrust on every thruster of the vessel. A detailed description of the thrust allocation logic of the software program is given. The effectiveness of the new program DPCap Polar Plot (DPCPP) was validated by a DPCap analysis for a supply vessel. The present study indicates that the developed program can be used in the DPCap analysis for marine vessels. Moreover, DPCap analysis considering the thruster failure mode might give guidance to the designers of vessels whose thrusters need to be safer.

The Effectiveness of Positive Coping Program on Reduction of Addiction Potential in Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatemeh Nematollahi

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Objective: This study aimed to study the effectiveness of positive coping program on reduction of addiction potential in dormitory girl students. Method: The research method was semi experimental method namely: pre test-post test with witness group. In selection of sample, first addiction potential scale administered among 160 dormitory girl students, and 20 of them who were scored higher than cutoff score on addiction potential scale selected and divided to two experimental and witness groups. Experimental group received 10 sessions training which each session was 90 minutes. Positive coping program was based on three components of Bob Murray’s theory namely: social relationships, goal setting and spirituality. After finishing of training Post test were administered in both experimental and witness groups. Results: The results showed positive coping training was significantly reduced students’ addiction potential. Conclusion: The training of positive coping can be affect on reduction of girl students’ addiction potential.

On the dynamics of superstring compactification

Science.gov (United States)

Pollock, M. D.

2018-05-01

Compactification of the ten-dimensional heterotic superstring theory to four dimensions gives rise to two moduli potentials VA, VB, the positive semi-definiteness of which places constraints on the Euler characteristic \\bar{χ} of the internal space \\bar{g}_{μν}(y^{ξ}) and the adiabatic index γ of the effective matter source of energy-density ρ and pressure p = (γ -1)ρ that generates the physical four-space g_{ij}(xk), namely \\bar{χ} 0, 1 ≤ γ ≤ 4/3. Here, we show how fermion-bilinear condensation in the internal space, first put forward by Helayël-Neto and Smith, determines the field \\tilde{β} ≡ A_r B_r3, thus reducing the moduli space to a single canonical field \\tilde{σ}=2σB with a potential ˜ , which is positive semi-definite under the same conditions that ensure positive semi-definiteness of VA, VB, and has a minimum at a value of \\tilde{β} that is approximately constant far from the Planck era at t ≫ t_P. The fields σA, σB, which are canonically normalized in the zero-slope limit, are modified by contributions originating from the higher-derivative gravitational terms α^' \\hatR_E2 and α^' 3} \\hatR4, but the associated kinetic energy remains positive for times t ≳ t_P/2, guaranteeing classical stability of the solution, since the generalized indeterminacy principle implies a minimum physically measurable time t0 ≈ 50 t_P for the superstring theory.

Time-dependent density functional theory for open systems with a positivity-preserving decomposition scheme for environment spectral functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, RuLin; Zheng, Xiao; Kwok, YanHo; Xie, Hang; Chen, GuanHua; Yam, ChiYung

2015-01-01

Understanding electronic dynamics on material surfaces is fundamentally important for applications including nanoelectronics, inhomogeneous catalysis, and photovoltaics. Practical approaches based on time-dependent density functional theory for open systems have been developed to characterize the dissipative dynamics of electrons in bulk materials. The accuracy and reliability of such approaches depend critically on how the electronic structure and memory effects of surrounding material environment are accounted for. In this work, we develop a novel squared-Lorentzian decomposition scheme, which preserves the positive semi-definiteness of the environment spectral matrix. The resulting electronic dynamics is guaranteed to be both accurate and convergent even in the long-time limit. The long-time stability of electronic dynamics simulation is thus greatly improved within the current decomposition scheme. The validity and usefulness of our new approach are exemplified via two prototypical model systems: quasi-one-dimensional atomic chains and two-dimensional bilayer graphene

Time-dependent density functional theory for open systems with a positivity-preserving decomposition scheme for environment spectral functions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, RuLin; Zheng, Xiao; Kwok, YanHo; Xie, Hang; Chen, GuanHua; Yam, ChiYung

2015-04-14

Understanding electronic dynamics on material surfaces is fundamentally important for applications including nanoelectronics, inhomogeneous catalysis, and photovoltaics. Practical approaches based on time-dependent density functional theory for open systems have been developed to characterize the dissipative dynamics of electrons in bulk materials. The accuracy and reliability of such approaches depend critically on how the electronic structure and memory effects of surrounding material environment are accounted for. In this work, we develop a novel squared-Lorentzian decomposition scheme, which preserves the positive semi-definiteness of the environment spectral matrix. The resulting electronic dynamics is guaranteed to be both accurate and convergent even in the long-time limit. The long-time stability of electronic dynamics simulation is thus greatly improved within the current decomposition scheme. The validity and usefulness of our new approach are exemplified via two prototypical model systems: quasi-one-dimensional atomic chains and two-dimensional bilayer graphene.

LMITOOL: a Package for LMI Optimization in Scilab User's Guide

OpenAIRE

Nikoukhah , Ramine; Delebecque , François; El Ghaoui , Laurent

1995-01-01

Projet META2; This report describes a user-friendly Scilab package, and in particular its two main functions {\\tt lmisolver} and {\\tt lmitool} for solving Linear Matrix Inequalities problems. This package uses Scilab function {\\tt semidef}, an interface to the program Semidefinite Programming {\\bf SP} (Copyright \\copyright 1994 by Lieven Vandenberghe and Stephen Boyd) distributed with Scilab.

The spectral positioning algorithm of new spectrum vehicle based on convex programming in wireless sensor network

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yongjun; Lu, Zhixin

2017-10-01

Spectrum resources are very precious, so it is increasingly important to locate interference signals rapidly. Convex programming algorithms in wireless sensor networks are often used as localization algorithms. But in view of the traditional convex programming algorithm is too much overlap of wireless sensor nodes that bring low positioning accuracy, the paper proposed a new algorithm. Which is mainly based on the traditional convex programming algorithm, the spectrum car sends unmanned aerial vehicles (uses) that can be used to record data periodically along different trajectories. According to the probability density distribution, the positioning area is segmented to further reduce the location area. Because the algorithm only increases the communication process of the power value of the unknown node and the sensor node, the advantages of the convex programming algorithm are basically preserved to realize the simple and real-time performance. The experimental results show that the improved algorithm has a better positioning accuracy than the original convex programming algorithm.

Grid-free compressive beamforming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xenaki, Angeliki; Gerstoft, Peter

2015-01-01

sparsity on a continuous optimization variable. The DOA estimation problem with infinitely many unknowns, i.e., source locations and amplitudes, is solved over a few optimization variables with semidefinite programming. The grid-free CS reconstruction provides high-resolution imaging even with non...

Can Universal SEL Programs Benefit Universally? Effects of the Positive Action Program on Multiple Trajectories of Social-Emotional and Misconduct Behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Duncan, Robert; Washburn, Isaac J; Lewis, Kendra M; Bavarian, Niloofar; DuBois, David L; Acock, Alan C; Vuchinich, Samuel; Flay, Brian R

2017-02-01

Behavioral trajectories during middle childhood are predictive of consequential outcomes later in life (e.g., substance abuse, violence). Social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are designed to promote trajectories that reflect both growth in positive behaviors and inhibited development of negative behaviors. The current study used growth mixture models to examine effects of the Positive Action (PA) program on behavioral trajectories of social-emotional and character development (SECD) and misconduct using data from a cluster-randomized trial that involved 14 schools and a sample of predominately low-income, urban youth followed from 3rd through 8th grade. For SECD, findings indicated that PA was similarly effective at improving trajectories within latent classes characterized as "high/declining" and "low/stable". Favorable program effects were likewise evident to a comparable degree for misconduct across observed latent classes that reflected "low/rising" and "high/rising" trajectories. These findings suggest that PA and perhaps other school-based universal SEL programs have the potential to yield comparable benefits across subgroups of youth with differing trajectories of positive and negative behaviors, making them promising strategies for achieving the intended goal of school-wide improvements in student outcomes.

Growing Plants and Scientists: Fostering Positive Attitudes toward Science among All Participants in an Afterschool Hydroponics Program

Science.gov (United States)

Patchen, Amie K.; Zhang, Lin; Barnett, Michael

2017-06-01

This study examines an out-of-school time program targeting elementary-aged youth from populations that are typically underrepresented in science fields (primarily African-American, Hispanic, and/or English Language Learner participants). The program aimed to foster positive attitudes toward science among youth by engaging them in growing plants hydroponically (in water without soil). Participants' attitudes toward science, including anxiety, desire, and self-concept, were examined through pre-post survey data ( n = 234) over the course of an afterschool program at three separate sites. Data showed that participants' anxiety decreased and desire increased for both male and female participants over the program. Self-concept increased for female participants at all three sites but did not change significantly for male participants. Participants' first language (English or Spanish) was not a factor in attitude outcomes. The primarily positive outcomes suggest that hydroponics can be a useful educational platform for engaging participants in garden-based programming year round, particularly for settings that do not have the physical space or climate to conduct outdoor gardening. Similarities in positive attitude outcomes at the three sites despite differences in format, implementation, and instructor background experience suggest that the program is resilient to variation in context. Understanding which aspects of the program facilitated positive outcomes in the varied contexts could be useful for the design of future programs.

Extendable linearised adjustment model for deformation analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hiddo Velsink

2015-01-01

Author supplied: "This paper gives a linearised adjustment model for the affine, similarity and congruence transformations in 3D that is easily extendable with other parameters to describe deformations. The model considers all coordinates stochastic. Full positive semi-definite covariance matrices

Extendable linearised adjustment model for deformation analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Velsink, H.

2015-01-01

This paper gives a linearised adjustment model for the affine, similarity and congruence transformations in 3D that is easily extendable with other parameters to describe deformations. The model considers all coordinates stochastic. Full positive semi-definite covariance matrices and correlation

The Impact of Personal and Program Characteristics on the Placement of School Leadership Preparation Program Graduates in School Leader Positions

Science.gov (United States)

Fuller, Edward J.; Hollingworth, Liz; An, Brian P.

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of personal and program characteristics on the placement of graduates of principal preparation programs in assistant principal, principal, and school leadership positions. Research Design: This study relies on Texas principal production data from 1993 through 2007 matched to employment…

A numerical evaluation of the bounded degree sum-of-squares hierarchy of Lasserre, Toh, and Yang on the pooling problem

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marandi, Ahmadreza; Dahl, Joachim; de Klerk, Etienne

2017-01-01

The bounded degree sum-of-squares (BSOS) hierarchy of Lasserre, Toh, and Yang [EURO J. Comput. Optim., 2015] constructs lower bounds for a general polynomial optimization problem with compact feasible set, by solving a sequence of semi-definite programming (SDP) problems. Lasserre, Toh, and Yang

Two-level preconditioned conjugate gradient methods with applications to bubbly flow problems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tang, J.M.

2008-01-01

The Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient (PCG) method is one of the most popular iterative methods for solving large linear systems with a symmetric and positive semi-definite coefficient matrix. However, if the preconditioned coefficient matrix is ill-conditioned, the convergence of the PCG method

Evidence in promoting positive parenting through the Program-Guide to Develop Emotional Competences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raquel-Amaya Martínez-González

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This study aims at providing evidence of the effectiveness of the Program-Guide to Develop Emotional Competences in promoting positive parenting. Contextual, institutional, methodological and professional issues were taken into account to develop a social innovation experience to support parenting as a preventive measure to family conflicts. The study describes both the contents of the Program-Guide and the methodological and evaluation issues that trained professionals need to consider when delivering the Program-Guide to families in natural contexts. Information was gathered and analyzed from 259 parents with children of ages 1-18 who participated in 26 parent training groups. A pre- and post-test design showed that after finishing the sessions parents perceived themselves more competent as parents according to the five dimensions of parenting competences considered: (1 emotional self-regulation abilities; (2 self-esteem and assertiveness; (3 communication strategies; (4 strategies to solve conflicts and to negotiate; and (5 strategies to establish coherent norms, limits and consequences to promote positive discipline. The study presents a discussion on these results from evidence-based parenting programs, as well as some strengths and limitations of the study, together with some suggestions for further research.

Triple p-positive parenting program for mothers of ADHD children.

Science.gov (United States)

Aghebati, Asma; Gharraee, Banafsheh; Hakim Shoshtari, Mitra; Gohari, Mahmood Reza

2014-01-01

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic, highly prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder which affects 9% of school-age children. Triple P-Positive Parenting Program is an evidence-based parenting program reported to be useful in the management of this disorder. The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of Triple P in mothers of ADHD children. In this study, 30 mothers with ADHD children aged between 6 to 10 were randomly assigned to two groups (15 participants in each group). Parenting style, mother-child relationship, maternal depression, anxiety and stress, and children's behavioral problems were evaluated. The intervention group received 120 minute sessions for 5 weeks and 15-30 minute telephone contacts for 3 weeks while no intervention was done for the control group. Analysis of covariance revealed that mothers of the Triple P group showed significant (p parenting style, mother-child relationship, and considerable decrease in depression, anxiety and stress. Women trained in the Triple P group also reported significantly lower rates of child misbehavior than women of the control group. Triple P-Positive Parenting intervention is effective and acceptable for mothers of ADHD children. None. Clinical Trial Registration-URL: http://www.irct.ir. Unique identifier: IRCT201111288234N1.

Branding MBA Programs: The Use of Target Market Desired Outcomes for Effective Brand Positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Heslop, Louise A.; Nadeau, John

2010-01-01

Branding is about delivering on desired outcomes. The importance of positioning program offerings on the basis of outcomes sought in the education market is illustrated in this study of choice of an MBA program by prospective students. MBA fair attendees were surveyed and multiple methods were employed to determine the importance of desired…

Generalized noncommutative Hardy and Hardy-Hilbert type inequalities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Frank; Krulic, Kristina; Pecaric, Josip

2010-01-01

We extend and unify several Hardy type inequalities to functions whose values are positive semi-definite operators. In particular, our methods lead to the operator versions of Hardy-Hilbert's and Godunova's inequalities. While classical Hardy type inequalities hold for parameter values p > 1, it ...

Effectiveness of a Positive Youth Development Program for Secondary 1 Students in Macau: A Pilot Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew L. Luk

2011-01-01

Full Text Available With the rapid change to society after the opening of the gaming licensure by the government and the potential attraction to youth caused by the casinos, a well-tested and comprehensive adolescent development program previously established in Hong Kong was adopted and modified to be used in Macau. It is expected to help our adolescents achieve positive growth and be better prepared for future challenges. The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of the modified positive youth development program for Secondary 1 Students in Macau. Specifically, two research questions will be asked: (1 How does the positive youth development program affect positive growth for youth in Macau?; and (2 Is youth growth related to different factors such as gender, age, family financial condition, and parents' marital status? A mixed research method with a quantitative approach using a pre- and post-test pre-experimental design, and a qualitative approach using a focus group for the participants is carried out. The study sample included 232 Secondary 1 Students in two schools. The objective outcome evaluation showed that, overall, 123 (53% of the participants had significant improvement on the total scores of the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale (CPYDS and the two composite scores. However, there were some increases in the behavioral intention of alcohol drinking and participation in gambling activities. The “happiness of the family life” was found to have significant differences in the score of the CPYDS, which was shown to be the factor related to youth growth. The focus group interviews revealed that both positive and negative feedback was obtained from the discussion; however, the majority of the participants perceived benefits to themselves from the program. With reference to the principle of triangulation, the present study suggests that, based on both quantitative and qualitative evaluation findings, it should be concluded that there is

A numerical evaluation of the bounded degree sum-of-squares hierarchy of Lasserre, Toh, and Yang on the pooling problem

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marandi, Ahmadreza; Dahl, Joachim; De Klerk, E.

2018-01-01

The bounded degree sum-of-squares (BSOS) hierarchy of Lasserre et al. (EURO J Comput Optim 1–31, 2015) constructs lower bounds for a general polynomial optimization problem with compact feasible set, by solving a sequence of semi-definite programming (SDP) problems. Lasserre, Toh, and Yang prove

Feasibility of the Positive Thoughts and Actions Prevention Program for Middle Schoolers at Risk for Depression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carolyn A. McCarty

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Despite the importance of adolescent depression, few school-based prevention programs have been developed and tested in the United States with middle school populations. This study examined the acceptability and changes in targeted outcomes for a new preventative program, Positive Thoughts and Actions (PTA. Sixty-seven 7th grade students with elevated depressive symptoms were recruited from public schools and randomized to the 12-week PTA program with a parent-component or to a school-as-usual control group. The PTA prevention program was well received by students and parents, yielding high rates of participation and satisfaction among those randomized to receive the intervention. However, analyses of the efficacy of the program in changing depressive symptoms were not significant. In terms of our proximal program targets, most differences were not statistically significant, though effect sizes suggested advantage of PTA over control group in coping, cognitive style, and parent-child communication. This preliminary research highlights a need for further testing of programs for school-based prevention of depression and promotion of positive emotional health.

Methods used by accredited dental specialty programs to advertise faculty positions: results of a national survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Ballard, Richard W; Hagan, Joseph L; Armbruster, Paul C; Gallo, John R

2011-01-01

The various reasons for the current and projected shortages of dental faculty members in the United States have received much attention. Dental school deans have reported that the top three factors impacting their ability to fill faculty positions are meeting the requirements of the position, lack of response to position announcement, and salary/budget limitations. An electronic survey sent to program directors of specialty programs at all accredited U.S. dental schools inquired about the number of vacant positions, advertised vacant positions, reasons for not advertising, selection of advertising medium, results of advertising, and assistance from professional dental organizations. A total of seventy-three permanently funded full-time faculty positions were reported vacant, with 89.0 percent of these positions having been advertised in nationally recognized professional journals and newsletters. Networking or word-of-mouth was reported as the most successful method for advertising. The majority of those responding reported that professional dental organizations did not help with filling vacant faculty positions, but that they would utilize the American Dental Association's website or their specialty organization's website to post faculty positions if they were easy to use and update.

Optimal multicopy asymmetric Gaussian cloning of coherent states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fiurasek, Jaromir; Cerf, Nicolas J.

2007-01-01

We investigate the asymmetric Gaussian cloning of coherent states which produces M copies from N input replicas in such a way that the fidelity of each copy may be different. We show that the optimal asymmetric Gaussian cloning can be performed with a single phase-insensitive amplifier and an array of beam splitters. We obtain a simple analytical expression characterizing the set of optimal asymmetric Gaussian cloning machines and prove the optimality of these cloners using the formalism of Gaussian completely positive maps and semidefinite programming techniques. We also present an alternative implementation of the asymmetric cloning machine where the phase-insensitive amplifier is replaced with a beam splitter, heterodyne detector, and feedforward

Optimal multicopy asymmetric Gaussian cloning of coherent states

Science.gov (United States)

Fiurášek, Jaromír; Cerf, Nicolas J.

2007-05-01

We investigate the asymmetric Gaussian cloning of coherent states which produces M copies from N input replicas in such a way that the fidelity of each copy may be different. We show that the optimal asymmetric Gaussian cloning can be performed with a single phase-insensitive amplifier and an array of beam splitters. We obtain a simple analytical expression characterizing the set of optimal asymmetric Gaussian cloning machines and prove the optimality of these cloners using the formalism of Gaussian completely positive maps and semidefinite programming techniques. We also present an alternative implementation of the asymmetric cloning machine where the phase-insensitive amplifier is replaced with a beam splitter, heterodyne detector, and feedforward.

The Kerr/fluid duality and the singularity of solutions to the fluid equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujisawa, Ippei; Nakayama, Ryuichi

2016-01-01

An equation for a viscous incompressible fluid on a spheroidal surface that is dual to the perturbation around the near-near-horizon extreme Kerr (near-NHEK) black hole is derived. It is also shown that an expansion scalar θ of a congruence of null geodesics on the perturbed horizon of the perturbed near-NHEK spacetime, which is dual to a viscous incompressible fluid, is not in general positive semidefinite, even if initial conditions on the velocity are smooth. Unless the initial conditions are appropriately adjusted, caustics of null congruence will occur on the perturbed horizon in the future. A similar result is obtained for a perturbed Schwarzschild black hole spacetime, which is dual to a viscous incompressible fluid on S 2 . An initial condition that θ be positive semidefinite at any point on S 2 is a necessary condition for the existence of smooth solutions to the incompressible Navier-Stokes equation on S 2

How to Promote a Technology Education Program: An Effective Campaign Will Increase Student Enrollment, Spread Goodwill, Reflect a Positive Image, and Grow Positive Involvement

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzgerald, Mike

2004-01-01

The advertising, marketing, promotion, and positioning of technology education programs have become increasingly important. Yet the rewards of promoting a program will not only bring more students and resources to the classroom, it will also bring support on a larger scale, resulting in added resources to help all students become more successful.…

Maternal education preferences moderate the effects of mandatory employment and education programs on child positive and problem behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Gassman-Pines, Anna; Godfrey, Erin B; Yoshikawa, Hirokazu

2013-01-01

Grounded in person-environment fit theory, this study examined whether low-income mothers' preferences for education moderated the effects of employment- and education-focused welfare programs on children's positive and problem behaviors. The sample included 1,365 families with children between ages 3 and 5 years at study entry. Results 5 years after random assignment, when children were ages 8-10 years, indicated that mothers' education preferences did moderate program impacts on teacher-reported child behavior problems and positive behavior. Children whose mothers were assigned to the education program were rated by teachers to have less externalizing behavior and more positive behavior than children whose mothers were assigned to the employment program but only when mothers had strong preferences for education. © 2012 The Authors. Child Development © 2012 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Path Following in the Exact Penalty Method of Convex Programming.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Hua; Lange, Kenneth

2015-07-01

Classical penalty methods solve a sequence of unconstrained problems that put greater and greater stress on meeting the constraints. In the limit as the penalty constant tends to ∞, one recovers the constrained solution. In the exact penalty method, squared penalties are replaced by absolute value penalties, and the solution is recovered for a finite value of the penalty constant. In practice, the kinks in the penalty and the unknown magnitude of the penalty constant prevent wide application of the exact penalty method in nonlinear programming. In this article, we examine a strategy of path following consistent with the exact penalty method. Instead of performing optimization at a single penalty constant, we trace the solution as a continuous function of the penalty constant. Thus, path following starts at the unconstrained solution and follows the solution path as the penalty constant increases. In the process, the solution path hits, slides along, and exits from the various constraints. For quadratic programming, the solution path is piecewise linear and takes large jumps from constraint to constraint. For a general convex program, the solution path is piecewise smooth, and path following operates by numerically solving an ordinary differential equation segment by segment. Our diverse applications to a) projection onto a convex set, b) nonnegative least squares, c) quadratically constrained quadratic programming, d) geometric programming, and e) semidefinite programming illustrate the mechanics and potential of path following. The final detour to image denoising demonstrates the relevance of path following to regularized estimation in inverse problems. In regularized estimation, one follows the solution path as the penalty constant decreases from a large value.

Multivariate realised kernels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barndorff-Nielsen, Ole; Hansen, Peter Reinhard; Lunde, Asger

We propose a multivariate realised kernel to estimate the ex-post covariation of log-prices. We show this new consistent estimator is guaranteed to be positive semi-definite and is robust to measurement noise of certain types and can also handle non-synchronous trading. It is the first estimator...

Discrete Green’s function diakoptics for stable FDTD interaction between multiply-connected domains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hon, de B.P.; Arnold, J.M.; Graglia, R.D.

2007-01-01

We have developed FDTD boundary conditions based on discrete Green's function diakoptics for arbitrary multiply-connected 2D domains. The associated Z-domain boundary operator is symmetric, with an imaginary part that can be proved to be positive semi-definite on the upper half of the unit circle in

Financial Analysis of an Intensive Pediatric Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, E Brooks; Fieldston, Evan S; Xanthopoulos, Melissa S; Beck, Suzanne E; Menello, Mary Kate; Matthews, Edward; Marcus, Carole L

2017-02-01

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is effective in treating obstructive sleep apnea in children, but adherence to therapy is low. Our center created an intensive program that aimed to improve adherence. Our objective was to estimate the program's efficacy, cost, revenue and break-even point in a generalizable manner relative to a standard approach. The intensive program included device consignment, behavioral psychology counseling, and follow-up telephone calls. Economic modeling considered the costs, revenue and break-even point. Costs were derived from national salary reports and the Pediatric Health Information System. The 2015 Medicare reimbursement schedule provided revenue estimates. Prior to the intensive CPAP program, only 67.6% of 244 patients initially prescribed CPAP appeared for follow-up visits and only 38.1% had titration polysomnograms. In contrast, 81.4% of 275 patients in the intensive program appeared for follow-up visits (p break-even points would need to be 1.29-2.08 times higher to cover the costs. An intensive CPAP program leads to substantially higher follow-up and CPAP titration rates, but costs are higher. While affordable at our institution due to the local payer mix and revenue, Medicare reimbursement levels would not cover estimated costs. This study highlights the need for enhanced funding for pediatric CPAP programs, due to the special needs of this population and the long-term health risks of suboptimally treated obstructive sleep apnea. © Sleep Research Society 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Sleep Research Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.

Positive Side Effects of a Job-Related Training Program for Older Adults in South Korea

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Minhong; Choi, Jae-Sung

2012-01-01

The objective of the current study was to evaluate empirically positive side effects of a job-related training program on older adults' self-esteem, depression, and social networks. A total of 70 older adults participated in the study after completing the Older Paraprofessional Training Program developed and provided by the Continuing Education…

Applying Positive Deviance for Improving Compliance to Adolescent Anemia Control Program in Tribal Communities of India.

Science.gov (United States)

Sethi, Vani; Sternin, Monique; Sharma, Deepika; Bhanot, Arti; Mebrahtu, Saba

2017-09-01

Positive deviance (PD) is an asset-based social and behavior change communication strategy, utilizing successful outliers within a specific context. It has been applied to tackling major public health problems but not adolescent anemia. The study, first of its kind, used PD to improve compliance to adolescent anemia control program in Jharkhand, India, where anemia prevalence in adolescent girls is 70%, and program compliance is low. With leadership of state government, the study was designed and implemented by a multidisciplinary 42 member PD team, in Khunti district, in 2014. Participatory appraisals were undertaken with 434 adolescent girls, 18 frontline workers, 15 teachers, and 751 community leaders/parents/relatives. Stakeholders were interviewed to identify positive deviants and PD determinants across 17 villages. Perceived benefits of iron folic acid tablet and nutritional care during adolescence are low. Positive deviants exist among adolescent girls (26 of 434), villages (2 of 17), and schools (2 of 17). Positive deviant adolescent girls consumed variety of iron-rich foods and in higher frequency, consumed iron folic acid tablets, and practiced recommended personal hygiene behaviors. Deviant practices in schools included supervision of students during tablet distribution among others. Government-led PD approach uncovered local solutions and provided a forum for government functionaries to listen to and dialogue with, and an opportunity to adapt the program according to the needs of the affected communities, who are missing partners in program design and management.

On the solution of large-scale SDP problems by the modified barrier method using iterative solvers

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kočvara, Michal; Stingl, M.

2007-01-01

Roč. 109, 2-3 (2007), s. 413-444 ISSN 0025-5610 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA1075402 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10750506 Keywords : semidefinite programming * iterative methods * preconditioned conjugate gradient s * augmented lagrangian methods Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 1.475, year: 2007

IGUN-A program for the simulation of positive ion extraction including magnetic fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, R.; Herrmannsfeldt, W.B.

1992-01-01

IGUN is a program for the simulation of positive ion extraction from plasmas. It is based on the well known program EGUN for the calculation of electron and ion trajectories in electron guns and lenses. The mathematical treatment of the plasma sheath is based on a simple analytical model, which provides a numerically stable calculation of the sheath potentials. In contrast to other ion extraction programs, IGUN is able to determine the extracted ion current in succeeding cycles of iteration by itself. However, it is also possible to set values of current, plasma density, or ion current density. Either axisymmetric or rectangular coordinates can be used, including axisymmetric or transverse magnetic fields

igun - A program for the simulation of positive ion extraction including magnetic fields

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, R.; Herrmannsfeldt, W. B.

1992-04-01

igun is a program for the simulation of positive ion extraction from plasmas. It is based on the well known program egun for the calculation of electron and ion trajectories in electron guns and lenses. The mathematical treatment of the plasma sheath is based on a simple analytical model, which provides a numerically stable calculation of the sheath potentials. In contrast to other ion extraction programs, igun is able to determine the extracted ion current in succeeding cycles of iteration by itself. However, it is also possible to set values of current, plasma density, or ion current density. Either axisymmetric or rectangular coordinates can be used, including axisymmetric or transverse magnetic fields.

Enhancing positive attitudes towards disability: evaluation of an integrated physiotherapy program.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Prue Elizabeth; Lo, Kristin

2013-02-01

This study explored whether attitudes towards disability in second year undergraduate physiotherapy students could be enhanced by an on-campus integrated curriculum program. A pre-post design was used. Year 2 (pre-clinical) students participated in a 12-week program focused on optimising attitudes towards people with acquired or developmental neurological disability. The Discomfort subscale of the Interaction with Disabled Persons scale, rated on a six-point Likert scale, was applied prior to and at completion of the 12-week program, and compared to year 4 students, just prior to graduation. Qualitative data from year 2 reflective narratives was also gathered. Forty-seven second year and 45 fourth year physiotherapy students participated. The difference in Discomfort subscale scores between weeks 1 and 12 of year 2 was statistically significant (p = 0.0016). The difference in Discomfort subscale scores between year 2 week 1 and year 4 students was also statistically significant (p = 0.040). There was no significant difference in attitudes between students at the end of year 2 and the end of year 4 (p = 0.703). Qualitative data supported the development of more positive attitudes towards neurological disability across the 12 week year 2 pre-clinical program. Student attitudes towards people with acquired and/or developmental neurological disabilities can be enhanced through an on campus integrated curriculum program.

An evaluation of a positive youth development program for adolescents with chronic illness.

Science.gov (United States)

Maslow, Gary; Adams, Cathleen; Willis, Matthew; Neukirch, Jodie; Herts, Kate; Froehlich, Wendy; Calleson, Diane; Rickerby, Michelle

2013-02-01

Youth with chronic illness often struggle transitioning to adulthood and adult medical care. This article examines the outcomes of a group mentoring program called The Adolescent Leadership Council (TALC) that brings together high school participants and college mentors, all with chronic illness. TALC uses a positive youth development (PYD) approach, emphasizing strong relationships between youth and adults in an environment where youth can learn important life skills and take a leadership role. A pre-/postprogram participant survey was conducted for high school participants using a loneliness scale and a transition readiness survey. An alumni survey was conducted with all high school and college mentor graduates to assess educational-, vocational-, and health care-related outcomes. Program records review and the alumni survey indicated that TALC was consistent with the PYD program model. Twenty high school students participated in the pre-/postprogram outcomes evaluation, which demonstrated a decrease in loneliness from 46 to 38.5 (p < .001) and an increase in health care self-advocacy from 3.8 to 4.2 (p < .001). Thirty-four alumni participated in the alumni survey. All high school and college mentor alumni had graduated from high school and college, respectively, and all were either currently in school or working. The majority of alumni were seeing adult providers for medical care. The TALC program applies the principles of PYD to support positive educational, vocational, and health care outcomes for youth with chronic illness. Program development using the PYD perspective is an important new approach for supporting adult development of youth with chronic illness. Copyright © 2013 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of the Triple P Positive Parenting Program on behavioral problems in children: A meta-analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Graaf, I.; Speetjens, P.; Smit, F.; de Wolff, M.; Tavecchio, L.

2008-01-01

The Triple P Positive Parenting Program is a multilevel parenting program to prevent and offer treatment for severe behavioral, emotional, and developmental problems in children. The aim of this meta-analysis is to assess the effectiveness of Triple P Level 4 interventions in the management of

Finite element historical deformation analysis in piecewise linear plasticity by mathematical programming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Donato, O.; Parisi, M.A.

1977-01-01

When loads increase proportionally beyond the elastic limit in the presence of elastic-plastic piecewise-linear constitutive laws, the problem of finding the whole evolution of the plastic strain and displacements of structures was recently shown to be amenable to a parametric linear complementary problem (PLCP) in which the parameter is represented by the load factor, the matrix is symmetric positive definite or at least semi-definite (for perfect plasticity) and the variables with a direct mechanical meaning are the plastic multipliers. With reference to plane trusses and frames with elastic-plastic linear work-hardening material behaviour numerical solutions were also fairly efficiently obtained using a recent mathematical programming algorithm (due to R.W. Cottle) which is able to provide the whole deformation history of the structure and, at the same time to rule out local unloadings along the given proportional loading process by means of 'a priori' checks carried out before each pivotal step of the procedure. Hence it becomes possible to use the holonomic (reversible, path-independent) constitutive laws in finite terms and to benefit by all the relevant numerical and computational advantages despite the non-holonomic nature of plastic behaviour. In the present paper the method of solution is re-examined in view to overcome an important drawback of the algorithm deriving from the size of PLCP fully populated matrix when structural problems with large number of variables are considered and, consequently, the updating, the storing or, generally, the handling of the current tableau may become prohibitive. (Auth.)

Validation of the Positive Parenting Scale (PPS for evaluating face-to-face and online parenting support programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arminda Suárez

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Following the study presenting the Online Parental Support Scale, as part of the evaluation of the ‘Positive Parent’ online program (http://educarenpositivo.es, this article describes the validation of a new scale that evaluates the principles of positive parenting in users of face-to-face and online parenting support programs. To validate the Positive Parenting Scale (PPS, 323 Spanish and Latin American parents participated, who were enrolled in the online program. To obtain the factor structure, we used exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM with oblimin rotation, and for confirmatory purposes we used as the estimation method the Weighted Least Squares Mean and Variance Adjusted with moving measurement window (WLSMW. We also performed a ROC analysis of rating and continuous diagnostic test results by means of area under the curve (AUC, and tested it by multivariate analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA. The main results showed an optimal factorization of the construct involving a four-factor model with adequate reliability: family involvement, affection and recognition, communication and stress management, and shared activities. Furthermore, discriminative capacity of the scale was proved depending on the levels of Internet experience and educational use of the Internet. The scale shows adequate psychometric properties and its content includes the key aspects of the exercise of positive parenting, which is very useful to evaluate the effectiveness of programs based on this approach.

Constrained blind deconvolution using Wirtinger flow methods

KAUST Repository

Walk, Philipp

2017-09-04

In this work we consider one-dimensional blind deconvolution with prior knowledge of signal autocorrelations in the classical framework of polynomial factorization. In particular this univariate case highly suffers from several non-trivial ambiguities and therefore blind deconvolution is known to be ill-posed in general. However, if additional autocorrelation information is available and the corresponding polynomials are co-prime, blind deconvolution is uniquely solvable up to global phase. Using lifting, the outer product of the unknown vectors is the solution to a (convex) semi-definite program (SDP) demonstrating that -theoretically- recovery is computationally tractable. However, for practical applications efficient algorithms are required which should operate in the original signal space. To this end we also discuss a gradient descent algorithm (Wirtinger flow) for the original non-convex problem. We demonstrate numerically that such an approach has performance comparable to the semidefinite program in the noisy case. Our work is motivated by applications in blind communication scenarios and we will discuss a specific signaling scheme where information is encoded into polynomial roots.

Constrained blind deconvolution using Wirtinger flow methods

KAUST Repository

Walk, Philipp; Jung, Peter; Hassibi, Babak

2017-01-01

In this work we consider one-dimensional blind deconvolution with prior knowledge of signal autocorrelations in the classical framework of polynomial factorization. In particular this univariate case highly suffers from several non-trivial ambiguities and therefore blind deconvolution is known to be ill-posed in general. However, if additional autocorrelation information is available and the corresponding polynomials are co-prime, blind deconvolution is uniquely solvable up to global phase. Using lifting, the outer product of the unknown vectors is the solution to a (convex) semi-definite program (SDP) demonstrating that -theoretically- recovery is computationally tractable. However, for practical applications efficient algorithms are required which should operate in the original signal space. To this end we also discuss a gradient descent algorithm (Wirtinger flow) for the original non-convex problem. We demonstrate numerically that such an approach has performance comparable to the semidefinite program in the noisy case. Our work is motivated by applications in blind communication scenarios and we will discuss a specific signaling scheme where information is encoded into polynomial roots.

A Cloud-Computing-Based Data Placement Strategy in High-Speed Railway

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanning Wang

2012-01-01

Full Text Available As an important component of China’s transportation data sharing system, high-speed railway data sharing is a typical application of data-intensive computing. Currently, most high-speed railway data is shared in cloud computing environment. Thus, there is an urgent need for an effective cloud-computing-based data placement strategy in high-speed railway. In this paper, a new data placement strategy named hierarchical structure data placement strategy is proposed. The proposed method combines the semidefinite programming algorithm with the dynamic interval mapping algorithm. The semi-definite programming algorithm is suitable for the placement of files with various replications, ensuring that different replications of a file are placed on different storage devices, while the dynamic interval mapping algorithm ensures better self-adaptability of the data storage system. A hierarchical data placement strategy is proposed for large-scale networks. In this paper, a new theoretical analysis is provided, which is put in comparison with several other previous data placement approaches, showing the efficacy of the new analysis in several experiments.

Exploring Barriers to Implementing a School-Wide Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support Program

Science.gov (United States)

Gay, Ronald Lynn

2016-01-01

This study examined factors related to the implementation of a School Wide Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (SWPBIS) program at a large middle school in the United States. Parent Teacher Student Association volunteers at the school reported that teacher fidelity to implementation of SWPBIS activities was inconsistent, threatening the…

A Generalized Correction for Attenuation.

Science.gov (United States)

Petersen, Anne C.; Bock, R. Darrell

Use of the usual bivariate correction for attenuation with more than two variables presents two statistical problems. This pairwise method may produce a covariance matrix which is not at least positive semi-definite, and the bivariate procedure does not consider the possible influences of correlated errors among the variables. The method described…

Parallel programming of saccades during natural scene viewing: evidence from eye movement positions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Esther X W; Gilani, Syed Omer; van Boxtel, Jeroen J A; Amihai, Ido; Chua, Fook Kee; Yen, Shih-Cheng

2013-10-24

Previous studies have shown that saccade plans during natural scene viewing can be programmed in parallel. This evidence comes mainly from temporal indicators, i.e., fixation durations and latencies. In the current study, we asked whether eye movement positions recorded during scene viewing also reflect parallel programming of saccades. As participants viewed scenes in preparation for a memory task, their inspection of the scene was suddenly disrupted by a transition to another scene. We examined whether saccades after the transition were invariably directed immediately toward the center or were contingent on saccade onset times relative to the transition. The results, which showed a dissociation in eye movement behavior between two groups of saccades after the scene transition, supported the parallel programming account. Saccades with relatively long onset times (>100 ms) after the transition were directed immediately toward the center of the scene, probably to restart scene exploration. Saccades with short onset times (programming of saccades during scene viewing. Additionally, results from the analyses of intersaccadic intervals were also consistent with the parallel programming hypothesis.

Multistate and multihypothesis discrimination with open quantum systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kiilerich, Alexander Holm; Mølmer, Klaus

2018-05-01

We show how an upper bound for the ability to discriminate any number N of candidates for the Hamiltonian governing the evolution of an open quantum system may be calculated by numerically efficient means. Our method applies an effective master-equation analysis to evaluate the pairwise overlaps between candidate full states of the system and its environment pertaining to the Hamiltonians. These overlaps are then used to construct an N -dimensional representation of the states. The optimal positive-operator valued measure (POVM) and the corresponding probability of assigning a false hypothesis may subsequently be evaluated by phrasing optimal discrimination of multiple nonorthogonal quantum states as a semidefinite programming problem. We provide three realistic examples of multihypothesis testing with open quantum systems.

PROGRAMMED CORRECTIVE EXERCISES IN PCYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES AND LORDOTIC BAD BODY POSITION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zoran Bogdanović

2008-08-01

Full Text Available The subject matter of the research was the influence of specially program medphysical education instruction with specific complexes of exercises of corrective gymnastics at the 5th grade pupils at those with lordotic bad body position established by measuring. The aims were to define the number of children with lordotic bad body position and to eliminate or alleviate the existing disturbance until the end of the experimental programme. The experimental programme was carried out among the 5th grade pupils. Total number of pupils included in this experiment was 434. The methods that were used for the estimation of lordotic bad body position are somatoscopy and somatometry. The plumb, ruler and dermograph were necessary instruments. For the estimation of the states of bad body position, the average value of mild criterion is applied. It can be concluded that during experimental programme even 85.93% of the subjects successfully corrected their bad body position; more exactly completely corrected lordotic bad body position. That percentage is certificate of justification and necessity of application of experimental programme of corrective gymnastics with all his organizational characteristics (the setting, the scope of work, load intensity, directing and controlling the experiment. Muscular-bone system of boys shows the high level of adaptation on the applied experimental factor of corrective gymnastics.

Learning-Based Adaptive Optimal Tracking Control of Strict-Feedback Nonlinear Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Weinan; Jiang, Zhong-Ping; Weinan Gao; Zhong-Ping Jiang; Gao, Weinan; Jiang, Zhong-Ping

2018-06-01

This paper proposes a novel data-driven control approach to address the problem of adaptive optimal tracking for a class of nonlinear systems taking the strict-feedback form. Adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) and nonlinear output regulation theories are integrated for the first time to compute an adaptive near-optimal tracker without any a priori knowledge of the system dynamics. Fundamentally different from adaptive optimal stabilization problems, the solution to a Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation, not necessarily a positive definite function, cannot be approximated through the existing iterative methods. This paper proposes a novel policy iteration technique for solving positive semidefinite HJB equations with rigorous convergence analysis. A two-phase data-driven learning method is developed and implemented online by ADP. The efficacy of the proposed adaptive optimal tracking control methodology is demonstrated via a Van der Pol oscillator with time-varying exogenous signals.

Synthesis of robust disturbance-feedback strategies by using semi-definite programming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Trottemant, E.J.

2015-01-01

Systems in real-life have to deal with uncertainty in such a manner that a high level of performance is guaranteed under all conditions. The objective in this thesis is to obtain robust strategies that provide an upper bound (worst-case) on the performance of an uncertain system against all

Youth Can! Grow Healthy: A Formative Evaluation of a Positive Youth Development Program

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Carberry

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a formative evaluation of an afterschool program that combined positive youth development and school garden curricula. Novel approaches were used to teach elementary school children about gardening and nutrition, and to engage them in advocacy for healthy community physical activity and nutrition environments. The youth development curriculum included sessions on team building, community pride, healthy eating, physical activity, and advocacy. Photovoice methods were used to allow participants to assess their community and communicate findings with community leaders. The school garden curriculum included nutrition and gardening lessons. Formative evaluation was conducted for each session. Themes of the evaluation were: successful methods for engaging youth, issues in the social environment, and implications for program management. Evaluation results are discussed in relationship to relevant youth development literature to provide recommendations that will strengthen future programs.

Growing Plants and Scientists: Fostering Positive Attitudes toward Science among All Participants in an Afterschool Hydroponics Program

Science.gov (United States)

Patchen, Amie K.; Zhang, Lin; Barnett, Michael

2017-01-01

This study examines an out-of-school time program targeting elementary-aged youth from populations that are typically underrepresented in science fields (primarily African-American, Hispanic, and/or English Language Learner participants). The program aimed to foster positive attitudes toward science among youth by engaging them in growing plants…

A Linear Programming Approach to Routing Control in Networks of Constrained Nonlinear Positive Systems with Concave Flow Rates

Science.gov (United States)

Arneson, Heather M.; Dousse, Nicholas; Langbort, Cedric

2014-01-01

We consider control design for positive compartmental systems in which each compartment's outflow rate is described by a concave function of the amount of material in the compartment.We address the problem of determining the routing of material between compartments to satisfy time-varying state constraints while ensuring that material reaches its intended destination over a finite time horizon. We give sufficient conditions for the existence of a time-varying state-dependent routing strategy which ensures that the closed-loop system satisfies basic network properties of positivity, conservation and interconnection while ensuring that capacity constraints are satisfied, when possible, or adjusted if a solution cannot be found. These conditions are formulated as a linear programming problem. Instances of this linear programming problem can be solved iteratively to generate a solution to the finite horizon routing problem. Results are given for the application of this control design method to an example problem. Key words: linear programming; control of networks; positive systems; controller constraints and structure.

The cumulative risk of false-positive screening results across screening centres in the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roman, M., E-mail: Marta.Roman@kreftregisteret.no [Cancer Registry of Norway, Oslo (Norway); Department of Women and Children’s Health, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo (Norway); Skaane, P., E-mail: PERSK@ous-hf.no [Department of Radiology, Oslo University Hospital Ullevaal, University of Oslo, Oslo (Norway); Hofvind, S., E-mail: Solveig.Hofvind@kreftregisteret.no [Cancer Registry of Norway, Oslo (Norway); Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health Science, Oslo (Norway)

2014-09-15

Highlights: • We found variation in early performance measures across screening centres. • Radiologists’ performance may play a key role in the variability. • Potential to improve the effectiveness of breast cancer screening programs. • Continuous surveillance of screening centres and radiologists is essential. - Abstract: Background: Recall for assessment in mammographic screening entails an inevitable number of false-positive screening results. This study aimed to investigate the variation in the cumulative risk of a false positive screening result and the positive predictive value across the screening centres in the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening Program. Methods: We studied 618,636 women aged 50–69 years who underwent 2,090,575 screening exams (1996–2010. Recall rate, positive predictive value, rate of screen-detected cancer, and the cumulative risk of a false positive screening result, without and with invasive procedures across the screening centres were calculated. Generalized linear models were used to estimate the probability of a false positive screening result and to compute the cumulative false-positive risk for up to ten biennial screening examinations. Results: The cumulative risk of a false-positive screening exam varied from 10.7% (95% CI: 9.4–12.0%) to 41.5% (95% CI: 34.1–48.9%) across screening centres, with a highest to lowest ratio of 3.9 (95% CI: 3.7–4.0). The highest to lowest ratio for the cumulative risk of undergoing an invasive procedure with a benign outcome was 4.3 (95% CI: 4.0–4.6). The positive predictive value of recall varied between 12.0% (95% CI: 11.0–12.9%) and 19.9% (95% CI: 18.3–21.5%), with a highest to lowest ratio of 1.7 (95% CI: 1.5–1.9). Conclusions: A substantial variation in the performance measures across the screening centres in the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening Program was identified, despite of similar administration, procedures, and quality assurance requirements. Differences in the

The cumulative risk of false-positive screening results across screening centres in the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roman, M.; Skaane, P.; Hofvind, S.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We found variation in early performance measures across screening centres. • Radiologists’ performance may play a key role in the variability. • Potential to improve the effectiveness of breast cancer screening programs. • Continuous surveillance of screening centres and radiologists is essential. - Abstract: Background: Recall for assessment in mammographic screening entails an inevitable number of false-positive screening results. This study aimed to investigate the variation in the cumulative risk of a false positive screening result and the positive predictive value across the screening centres in the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening Program. Methods: We studied 618,636 women aged 50–69 years who underwent 2,090,575 screening exams (1996–2010. Recall rate, positive predictive value, rate of screen-detected cancer, and the cumulative risk of a false positive screening result, without and with invasive procedures across the screening centres were calculated. Generalized linear models were used to estimate the probability of a false positive screening result and to compute the cumulative false-positive risk for up to ten biennial screening examinations. Results: The cumulative risk of a false-positive screening exam varied from 10.7% (95% CI: 9.4–12.0%) to 41.5% (95% CI: 34.1–48.9%) across screening centres, with a highest to lowest ratio of 3.9 (95% CI: 3.7–4.0). The highest to lowest ratio for the cumulative risk of undergoing an invasive procedure with a benign outcome was 4.3 (95% CI: 4.0–4.6). The positive predictive value of recall varied between 12.0% (95% CI: 11.0–12.9%) and 19.9% (95% CI: 18.3–21.5%), with a highest to lowest ratio of 1.7 (95% CI: 1.5–1.9). Conclusions: A substantial variation in the performance measures across the screening centres in the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening Program was identified, despite of similar administration, procedures, and quality assurance requirements. Differences in the

The positive impact of a facilitated peer mentoring program on academic skills of women faculty.

Science.gov (United States)

Varkey, Prathibha; Jatoi, Aminah; Williams, Amy; Mayer, Anita; Ko, Marcia; Files, Julia; Blair, Janis; Hayes, Sharonne

2012-03-23

In academic medicine, women physicians lag behind their male counterparts in advancement and promotion to leadership positions. Lack of mentoring, among other factors, has been reported to contribute to this disparity. Peer mentoring has been reported as a successful alternative to the dyadic mentoring model for women interested in improving their academic productivity. We describe a facilitated peer mentoring program in our institution's department of medicine. Nineteen women enrolled in the program were divided into 5 groups. Each group had an assigned facilitator. Members of the respective groups met together with their facilitators at regular intervals during the 12 months of the project. A pre- and post-program evaluation consisting of a 25-item self-assessment of academic skills, self-efficacy, and academic career satisfaction was administered to each participant. At the end of 12 months, a total of 9 manuscripts were submitted to peer-reviewed journals, 6 of which are in press or have been published, and another 2 of which have been invited to be revised and resubmitted. At the end of the program, participants reported an increase in their satisfaction with academic achievement (mean score increase, 2.32 to 3.63; P = 0.0001), improvement in skills necessary to effectively search the medical literature (mean score increase, 3.32 to 4.05; P = 0.0009), an improvement in their ability to write a comprehensive review article (mean score increase, 2.89 to 3.63; P = 0.0017), and an improvement in their ability to critically evaluate the medical literature (mean score increased from 3.11 to 3.89; P = 0.0008). This facilitated peer mentoring program demonstrated a positive impact on the academic skills and manuscript writing for junior women faculty. This 1-year program required minimal institutional resources, and suggests a need for further study of this and other mentoring programs for women faculty.

On the mean density of complex eigenvalues for an ensemble of random matrices with prescribed singular values

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei Yi; Fyodorov, Yan V

2008-01-01

Given any fixed N x N positive semi-definite diagonal matrix G ≥ 0 we derive the explicit formula for the density of complex eigenvalues for random matrices A of the form A=U√G where the random unitary matrices U are distributed on the group U(N) according to the Haar measure. (fast track communication)

The effect of positive parenting program on parenting stress of mothers with impaired hearing children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahnaz Aliakbari Dehkordi

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim: Research indicates that impaired hearing is one of the most stressful disabilities. The parenting stress involved could lead to family malfunction and improper parenting. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of positive parenting programs on the parenting stress of mothers with impaired hearing children.Methods: The statistical population comprised mothers of all 7-12-year-old impaired hearing children in Tehran city. Thereafter, using the random sampling method, 24 individuals were shortlisted as research participants and were randomly assigned to two groups: control and experimental. The experimental group was trained with a positive parenting program based on the Sanders program (1993 over eight sessions. The measurement instrument was the Abidin parenting stress questionnaire.Results: The mean score for grades in the experimental groups’ parent and child domains at the pre- and post-test stages had reduced more than that in the control group. In addition, the results of a multivariate covariance analysis indicated that positive parenting training was effective in the reduction of parenting stress scores, reinforcement, and child mood components in the child domain, and in the feelings of competence, relationships with the spouse, and role limitation components (p<0.05 in the parent domain.Conclusion : Considering the benefits of training parents for the reduction of parenting stress of mothers with impaired hearing children, this method is recommended in all learning centers for the deaf.

A Notion of Total Dual Integrality for Convex, Semidefinite, and Extended Formulations

OpenAIRE

Silva, Marcel K. de Carli; Tunçel, Levent

2018-01-01

Total dual integrality is a powerful and unifying concept in polyhedral combinatorics and integer programming that enables the refinement of geometric min-max relations given by linear programming Strong Duality into combinatorial min-max theorems. The definition of total dual integrality (TDI) revolves around the existence of optimal dual solutions that are integral, and thus naturally applies to a host of combinatorial optimization problems that are cast as integer programs whose LP relaxat...

Positive ion portion of the LBL/LLL Neutral Beam Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pyle, R.V.; Baker, W.R.; Anderson, O.A.

1978-06-01

The positive ion portion of the Neutral Beam Development Program at the Lawrence Berkeley (LBL) and Livermore (LLL) Laboratories has two purposes: (a) to carry out general research and development in a timely way to assure that users' needs can be met in principle, and (b) to carry out specific development for users. To meet the first requirement, we have programs to develop sources capable of producing beams with high (85%) atomic fractions, long pulse lengths (10 sec to DC), and at beam energies up to 150 keV. We are also pursuing the development of on-line computer diagnostics and controls, the sophisticated high-power electronics required by neutral beam systems, and energy recovery. To meet the second requirement, we are developing prototype source modules to meet the requirements of the TMX and MFTF experiments at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, the TFTR experiment at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, and the Doublet III experiment at General Atomic Co. The Lawrence Laboratories are also constructing and will demonstrate at LBL a complete prototype neutral injection system for TFTR, and are designing a similar system for Doublet III

A review of positive youth development programs that promote adolescent sexual and reproductive health.

Science.gov (United States)

Gavin, Loretta E; Catalano, Richard F; David-Ferdon, Corinne; Gloppen, Kari M; Markham, Christine M

2010-03-01

Positive youth development (PYD) may be a promising strategy for promoting adolescent health. A systematic review of the published data was conducted to identify and describe PYD programs that improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Eight databases were searched for articles about PYD programs published between 1985 and 2007. Programs included met the following criteria: fostered at least one of 12 PYD goals in multiple socialization domains (i.e., family, school, community) or addressed two or more goals in at least one socialization domain; allocated at least half of the program activities to promoting general PYD outcomes (as compared with a focus on direct sexual health content); included youth younger than 20 years old; and used an experimental or quasi-experimental evaluation design. Thirty programs met the inclusion criteria, 15 of which had evidence of improving at least one adolescent sexual and reproductive health outcome. Program effects were moderate and well-sustained. Program goals addressed by approximately 50% or more of the effective programs included promoting prosocial bonding, cognitive competence, social competence, emotional competence, belief in the future, and self-determination. Effective programs were significantly more likely than those that did not have an impact to strengthen the school context and to deliver activities in a supportive atmosphere. Effective programs were also more likely to build skills, enhance bonding, strengthen the family, engage youth in real roles and activities, empower youth, communicate expectations, and be stable and relatively long-lasting, although these differences between effective and ineffective programs were not statistically significant. PYD programs can promote adolescent sexual and reproductive health, and tested, effective PYD programs should be part of a comprehensive approach to promoting adolescent health. However, more research is needed before a specific list of program

The positive impact of a facilitated peer mentoring program on academic skills of women faculty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Varkey Prathibha

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In academic medicine, women physicians lag behind their male counterparts in advancement and promotion to leadership positions. Lack of mentoring, among other factors, has been reported to contribute to this disparity. Peer mentoring has been reported as a successful alternative to the dyadic mentoring model for women interested in improving their academic productivity. We describe a facilitated peer mentoring program in our institution's department of medicine. Methods Nineteen women enrolled in the program were divided into 5 groups. Each group had an assigned facilitator. Members of the respective groups met together with their facilitators at regular intervals during the 12 months of the project. A pre- and post-program evaluation consisting of a 25-item self-assessment of academic skills, self-efficacy, and academic career satisfaction was administered to each participant. Results At the end of 12 months, a total of 9 manuscripts were submitted to peer-reviewed journals, 6 of which are in press or have been published, and another 2 of which have been invited to be revised and resubmitted. At the end of the program, participants reported an increase in their satisfaction with academic achievement (mean score increase, 2.32 to 3.63; P = 0.0001, improvement in skills necessary to effectively search the medical literature (mean score increase, 3.32 to 4.05; P = 0.0009, an improvement in their ability to write a comprehensive review article (mean score increase, 2.89 to 3.63; P = 0.0017, and an improvement in their ability to critically evaluate the medical literature (mean score increased from 3.11 to 3.89; P = 0.0008. Conclusions This facilitated peer mentoring program demonstrated a positive impact on the academic skills and manuscript writing for junior women faculty. This 1-year program required minimal institutional resources, and suggests a need for further study of this and other mentoring programs for women faculty.

Two-dimensional gauge model with vector U(1) and axial-vector U(1) symmetries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watabiki, Y.

1989-01-01

We have succeeded in constructing a two-dimensional gauge model with both vector U(1) and axial-vector U(1) symmetries. This model is exactly solvable. The Schwinger term vanishes in this model as a consequence of the above symmetries, and negative-norm states appear. However, the norms of physical states are always positive semidefinite due to the gauge symmetries

Quantum resource theory of non-stabilizer states in the one-shot regime

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmadi, Mehdi; Dang, Hoan; Gour, Gilad; Sanders, Barry

Universal quantum computing is known to be impossible using only stabilizer states and stabilizer operations. However, addition of non-stabilizer states (also known as magic states) to quantum circuits enables us to achieve universality. The resource theory of non-stablizer states aims at quantifying the usefulness of non-stabilizer states. Here, we focus on a fundamental question in this resource theory in the so called single-shot regime: Given two resource states, is there a free quantum channel that will (approximately or exactly) convert one to the other?. To provide an answer, we phrase the question as a semidefinite program with constraints on the Choi matrix of the corresponding channel. Then, we use the semidefinite version of the Farkas lemma to derive the necessary and sufficient conditions for the conversion between two arbitrary resource states via a free quantum channel. BCS appreciates financial support from Alberta Innovates, NSERC, China's 1000 Talent Plan and the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter.

Test Review for Preschool-Wide Evaluation Tool (PreSET) Manual: Assessing Universal Program-Wide Positive Behavior Support in Early Childhood

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, Billie Jo

2013-01-01

The Preschool-Wide Evaluation Tool (PreSET; Steed & Pomerleau, 2012) is published by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company in Baltimore, MD. The PreSET purports to measure universal and program-wide features of early childhood programs' implementation fidelity of program-wide positive behavior intervention and support (PW-PBIS) and is,…

Development of the Positive Emotions Program for Schizophrenia (PEPS: an intervention to improve pleasure and motivation in schizophrenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra eNguyen

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The efficacy of drug-based treatments and psychological interventions on the primary negative symptoms of schizophrenia remains limited. Recent literature has distinguished negative symptoms associated with a diminished capacity to experience, from those associated with a limited capacity for expression. The Positive Emotions Program for Schizophrenia (PEPS is a new method that specifically aims to reduce the syndrome of a diminished capacity to experience. Methods: The intervention’s vital ingredients were identified through a literature review of emotion in schizophrenia and positive psychology. The program has been beta-tested on various groups of healthcare professionals. Results: A detailed description of the final version of PEPS is presented here. The French version of the program is freely downloadable. Conclusions: PEPS is a specific, short, easy to use, group-based intervention to improve pleasure and motivation in schizophrenia. It was built considering a recovery-oriented approach to schizophrenia.

Positive effects of a cognitive-behavioral intervention program for family caregivers of demented elderly

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrícia Paes Araujo Fialho

2012-10-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: It was to examine the effects of a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT program administered to family caregivers of dementia patients. METHODS: Forty family caregivers were enrolled in a CBT intervention across eight weekly sessions. Cognitive, functional and behavioral status of patients were evaluated, as well as their own and their family caregivers' perceptions of quality of life. Specific instruments were also applied to evaluate caregiver stress level, coping, anxiety and depression. RESULTS: At the end of the program, family caregivers reported fewer neuropsychiatric symptoms among patients and an improvement in patients' quality of life. In addition, caregivers changed their coping strategies, whereas a significant decrease was observed in their anxiety levels. CONCLUSION: The CBT program employed appears to be a promising and useful tool for clinical practice, displaying positive effects on quality of life and neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia, as well as proving beneficial for alleviating anxiety and stress in family caregivers.

A Framework for Coxeter Spectral Classification of Finite Posets and Their Mesh Geometries of Roots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Simson

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Following our paper [Linear Algebra Appl. 433(2010, 699–717], we present a framework and computational tools for the Coxeter spectral classification of finite posets J≡(J,⪯. One of the main motivations for the study is an application of matrix representations of posets in representation theory explained by Drozd [Funct. Anal. Appl. 8(1974, 219–225]. We are mainly interested in a Coxeter spectral classification of posets J such that the symmetric Gram matrix GJ:=(1/2[CJ+CJtr]∈J(ℚ is positive semidefinite, where CJ∈J(ℤ is the incidence matrix of J. Following the idea of Drozd mentioned earlier, we associate to J its Coxeter matrix CoxJ:=-CJ·CJ-tr, its Coxeter spectrum speccJ, a Coxeter polynomial coxJ(t∈ℤ[t], and a Coxeter number  cJ. In case GJ is positive semi-definite, we also associate to J a reduced Coxeter number   čJ, and the defect homomorphism ∂J:ℤJ→ℤ. In this case, the Coxeter spectrum speccJ is a subset of the unit circle and consists of roots of unity. In case GJ is positive semi-definite of corank one, we relate the Coxeter spectral properties of the posets J with the Coxeter spectral properties of a simply laced Euclidean diagram DJ∈{̃n,̃6,̃7,̃8} associated with J. Our aim of the Coxeter spectral analysis of such posets J is to answer the question when the Coxeter type CtypeJ:=(speccJ,cJ,  čJ of J determines its incidence matrix CJ (and, hence, the poset J uniquely, up to a ℤ-congruency. In connection with this question, we also discuss the problem studied by Horn and Sergeichuk [Linear Algebra Appl. 389(2004, 347–353], if for any ℤ-invertible matrix A∈n(ℤ, there is B∈n(ℤ such that Atr=Btr·A·B and B2=E is the identity matrix.

Limit analysis of solid reinforced concrete structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Kasper Paaske

2009-01-01

Recent studies have shown that Semidefinite Programming (SDP) can be used effectively for limit analysis of isotropic cohesive-frictional continuums using the classical Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion. In this paper we expand on this previous research by adding reinforcement to the model and a solid...... reinforcement and it is therefore possible to analyze structures with complex reinforcement layouts. Tests are conducted to validate the method against well-known analytical solutions....

Contributions to fuzzy polynomial techniques for stability analysis and control

OpenAIRE

Pitarch Pérez, José Luis

2014-01-01

The present thesis employs fuzzy-polynomial control techniques in order to improve the stability analysis and control of nonlinear systems. Initially, it reviews the more extended techniques in the field of Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy systems, such as the more relevant results about polynomial and fuzzy polynomial systems. The basic framework uses fuzzy polynomial models by Taylor series and sum-of-squares techniques (semidefinite programming) in order to obtain stability guarantees...

An evaluation of the efficacy of a triple P-positive parenting program podcast series.

Science.gov (United States)

Morawska, Alina; Tometzki, Helen; Sanders, Matthew R

2014-01-01

Parenting programs based on cognitive-behavioral and social learning principles are effective in changing child behavior problems and parenting styles. However, such programs typically have limited population reach. The current study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a brief radio series that provided parenting advice based on the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program. One hundred thirty-nine parents of children aged 2 to 10 years who had concerns about their child's behavioral and/or emotional adjustment were recruited, randomly assigned to either an intervention or waitlist control group, and completed online self-report measures. Parents in the intervention group were given access to seven Triple P podcasts online over a period of 2 weeks. Parents in the intervention group improved significantly more than parents in the control group, from pre- to postintervention, on measures of child behavioral problems and parenting style, self-efficacy, and confidence. These short-term intervention effects were maintained at the 6-month follow-up. These results suggest that brief radio and online parenting programs can be effective and have the potential to reach a large proportion of parents experiencing child behavior problems. Limitations, clinical significance, and future research suggestions are discussed.

The Effects of the First Step to Success Program on Teacher-Student Positive Interactions

OpenAIRE

Liao, Christy

2012-01-01

Positive student-teacher interactions have been linked to academic and social-success of all students. The present study examined the effects of the First Steps to Success program in improving the teacher-student interaction of three Latino English Language Learners (ELL) participants identified as at risk for behavioral and academic problems. A single subject multiple baseline research design was employed for this study. Data showed a functional relationship between the behavioral interventi...

The positive influence of state agricultural marketing programs on adults' fruit and vegetable consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Howlett, Elizabeth A; Burton, Scot; Newman, Christopher L; Faupel, Michel A

2012-01-01

To assess whether state-sponsored agricultural marketing programs had a positive influence on adult consumers' fruit and vegetable consumption. Differences in fruit and vegetable consumption between 2000 and 2005 in states that initiated marketing campaigns during this period and those that did not were examined. A representative sample (n  =  237,320) of adults aged 18 and older from states with and without marketing programs was used. The study used data from the 2000 and 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The number of fruit and vegetable servings per week and the percentage of respondents consuming five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day were examined. Between-subjects analysis of variance and logistic regression. In the absence of a marketing campaign, there was a significant decrease in fruit and vegetable consumption between 2000 and 2005. In states with campaigns, consumption remained stable or increased. Marketing effects were stronger for women than for men. Conclusions . State-sponsored agricultural marketing programs had favorable effects on consumers' consumption of fruits and vegetables.

THE EXISTENCE OF THE STABILIZING SOLUTION OF THE RICCATI EQUATION ARISING IN DISCRETE-TIME STOCHASTIC ZERO SUM LQ DYNAMIC GAMES WITH PERIODIC COEFFICIENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasile Dr ̆agan

2017-06-01

Full Text Available We investigate the problem for solving a discrete-time periodic gen- eralized Riccati equation with an indefinite sign of the quadratic term. A necessary condition for the existence of bounded and stabilizing solution of the discrete-time Riccati equation with an indefinite quadratic term is derived. The stabilizing solution is positive semidefinite and satisfies the introduced sign conditions. The proposed condition is illustrated via a numerical example.

Factors influencing the quality of implementation of a positive youth development program in Hong Kong.

Science.gov (United States)

Shek, Daniel T L; Law, Moon Y M

2013-01-01

This study examines how social workers collaborate with school teachers in implementing a school-based positive youth development program in Hong Kong. Individual and focus group interviews are conducted with social workers cooperating with school teachers in implementing the Project P.A.T.H.S. in a school context. Through the interviews, strategies for establishing inter-disciplinary collaboration and factors that hinder or facilitate program implementation are identified. This case study highlights factors that facilitate the collaboration between social workers and school teachers, including the following: 1) sufficient training for instructors, 2) sharing of the practice wisdom and teaching experiences, 3) building up mutual support among different parties, 4) use of proactive communication, and 5) demonstration of self-disclosure.

Applications of polynomial optimization in financial risk investment

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Meilan; Fu, Hongwei

2017-09-01

Recently, polynomial optimization has many important applications in optimization, financial economics and eigenvalues of tensor, etc. This paper studies the applications of polynomial optimization in financial risk investment. We consider the standard mean-variance risk measurement model and the mean-variance risk measurement model with transaction costs. We use Lasserre's hierarchy of semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxations to solve the specific cases. The results show that polynomial optimization is effective for some financial optimization problems.

An iteration for indefinite and non-symmetric systems and its application to the Navier-Stokes equations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wathen, A. [Oxford Univ. (United Kingdom); Golub, G. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)

1996-12-31

A simple fixed point linearisation of the Navier-Stokes equations leads to the Oseen problem which after appropriate discretisation yields large sparse linear systems with coefficient matrices of the form (A B{sup T} B -C). Here A is non-symmetric but its symmetric part is positive definite, and C is symmetric and positive semi-definite. Such systems arise in other situations. In this talk we will describe and present some analysis for an iteration based on an indefinite and symmetric preconditioner of the form (D B{sup T} B -C).

Commentary: Positive Youth Development Goes Mainstream.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Kristin A

2017-07-01

Evidence has accumulated that confirms the success of a positive youth development (PYD) approach. Importantly, a positive development approach is just that-an approach. It is not a particular program or curriculum but a set of practices designed to achieve one or more positive outcomes. As such, PYD practices can be added onto other programs to make positive outcomes more likely. For example, a tutoring program can work hard to hire and train staff to work with students in a trusting, respectful relationship. Camp counselors can be encouraged to build rapport and positive bonds among the campers. © 2017 The Author. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Developing Training Programs to Enhance Positive Attitude toward the ASEAN Community and Self-responsibility For Students in the 6th Grade Naku Distric Kalasin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siriporn Chooarerom

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The purposes of this study were to ; 1 Study the status and problem of an through attitude the ASEAN community for grade 6 students. 2 Develop training programs to enhance their positive attitude towards the ASEAN community and self-responsibility for grade 6 students. 3 Experiment training program to enhance their positive attitude towards the ASEAN community and self-responsibility for grade 6 students. The samples of this study were 21 students. They were selected though cluster random sampling method. The research instruments used in the study were the Training programs to enhance their positive attitude towards the ASEAN community and self-responsibility. Surveys of problems from the event ASEAN week. Lenarning ASEAN. Measuring a positive attitude towards the ASEAN community scale with discriminating power ranging 0.375 – 0.793 and Measuring self-responsibility scale with discriminating power ranging 0.411 – 0.893 and a reliability of 0.973. The statistics used for analyzing the collected data were mean, standard deviation, and One-way repeated measure MANOVA The study showed that 1 Study of the attitude of the ASEAN community condition survey found that teachers have trouble understanding, Interested to attend the event and have admired and awareness in preparation the ASEAN community, the levels are minimal. The students realized in preparation, understanding about . Attention to participation and appreciation the ASEAN community, the levels are minimal 2 Training programs to enhance their positive attitude toward the ASEAN community and self-responsibility for grade 6 students was created by. Activities focus on the students involved and take action. Remove group activities used in the event. Stage one consists of two steps leading to the involvement step 3 step 4 step by step analysis and application of the five-stage process and evaluation. By 5 experts have evaluated the overall level more appropriate. 3 Students attend their

Beyond Between-Group Differences: Considering Race, Ethnicity, and Culture in Research on Positive Youth Development Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Joanna L.; Deutsch, Nancy L.

2016-01-01

In this article, we explore how researchers can more fully consider and conceptualize the role of race and ethnicity in studies of youth development programs, with an emphasis on positive youth development (PYD). Such a focus can be integrated in a more meaningful way through the application of a theoretical model that provides a framework for…

Convex Relaxation of OPF in Multiphase Radial Networks with Wye and Delta Connections

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, Changhong [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Dall-Anese, Emiliano [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Low, Steven [California Institute of Technology

2017-08-01

This panel presentation focuses on multiphase radial distribution networks with wye and delta connections, and proposes a semidefinite relaxation of the AC optimal power flow (OPF) problem. Two multiphase power flow models are developed to facilitate the integration of delta-connected loads or generation resources in the OPF problem. The first model is referred to as the extended branch flow model (EBFM). The second model leverages a linear relationship between phase-to-ground power injections and delta connections that holds under a balanced voltage approximation (BVA). Based on these models, pertinent OPF problems are formulated and relaxed to semidefinite programs (SDPs). Numerical studies on IEEE test feeders show that the proposed SDP relaxations can be solved efficiently by a generic optimization solver. Numerical evidence also indicates that solving the resultant SDP under BVA is faster than under EBFM. Moreover, both SDP solutions are numerically exact with respect to voltages and branch flows. It is further shown that the SDP solution under BVA has a small optimality gap, and the BVA model is accurate in the sense that it reproduces actual system voltages.

Optimal Power Flow in Multiphase Radial Networks with Delta Connections: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, Changhong [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Dall-Anese, Emiliano [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Low, Steven H. [California Institute of Technology

2017-11-27

This paper focuses on multiphase radial distribution networks with mixed wye and delta connections, and proposes a semidefinite relaxation of the AC optimal power flow (OPF) problem. Two multiphase power-flow models are developed to facilitate the integration of delta-connected generation units/loads in the OPF problem. The first model extends traditional branch flow models - and it is referred to as extended branch flow model (EBFM). The second model leverages a linear relationship between per-phase power injections and delta connections, which holds under a balanced voltage approximation (BVA). Based on these models, pertinent OPF problems are formulated and relaxed to semidefinite programs (SDPs). Numerical studies on IEEE test feeders show that SDP relaxations can be solved efficiently by a generic optimization solver. Numerical evidences indicate that solving the resultant SDP under BVA is faster than under EBFM. Moreover, both SDP solutions are numerically exact with respect to voltages and branch flows. It is also shown that the SDP solution under BVA has a small optimality gap, while the BVA model is accurate in the sense that it reflects actual system voltages.

Hospital-based, Multidisciplinary, youth mentoring and medical exposure program positively influences and reinforces health care career choice: "The Reach One Each One Program early Experience".

Science.gov (United States)

Danner, Omar K; Lokko, Carl; Mobley, Felicia; Dansby, Montreka; Maze, Michael; Bradley, Brene'; Williams, Elizabeth; Matthews, Leslie Ray; Harrington, Emma; Mack, Lisa; Clark, Clarence; Wilson, Ken; Beech, Derrick; Heron, Sheryl; Childs, Ed

2017-04-01

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, underrepresented minorities (URMs) are more likely to leave science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields at higher rates than their peers during undergraduate studies. Many institutions of higher learning have implemented pipeline programs aimed at preparing and inspiring high school and college aged students in select careers in health sciences with varying levels of success. Research has shown that a health care workforce that mirrors the community they serve is more effective in reducing health disparities and increasing positive health outcomes. We hypothesize that a hospital-based, multidisciplinary youth mentoring and medical exposure program will enhance the decision of URM high school students to choose healthcare careers. A retrospective analysis of the Reach One Each One Program (ROEO) was performed. ROEO is a hospital based, 11-week multidisciplinary youth mentoring and medical exposure program for inner-city high school students. The analysis was based on a phone survey of the twenty-six (26) seniors who completed the program and subsequently graduated from high school between May 2013 and May 2015 to assess the following: 1) College enrollment/attendance, 2) Health profession majors, and 3) Pre-med status. The study was approved by the Morehouse School of Medicine Institutional Review Board. Of the twenty-six students, 23 were female and 3 were male; 25 (96%) of the students were African American and one student was a Caucasian female. Twenty-four (92.3%) of the students were enrolled in college and 2 (7.7%) were scheduled to begin in the spring semester of 2016. Twenty-one of the 24 attending college at the time of the survey (87.5%) were enrolled in a health science degree program and 16 (66.7%) confirmed that they were enrolled in pre-medical (Pre-med) curriculum. Hospital-based, multidisciplinary medical mentoring programs can have a positive impact on the lives and

A comparison of online versus workbook delivery of a self-help positive parenting program.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders, Matthew R; Dittman, Cassandra K; Farruggia, Susan P; Keown, Louise J

2014-06-01

A noninferiority randomized trial design compared the efficacy of two self-help variants of the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program: an online version and a self-help workbook. We randomly assigned families of 193 children displaying early onset disruptive behavior difficulties to the online (N = 97) or workbook (N = 96) interventions. Parents completed questionnaire measures of child behavior, parenting, child maltreatment risk, personal adjustment and relationship quality at pre- and post-intervention and again at 6-month follow up. The short-term intervention effects of the Triple P Online program were not inferior to the workbook on the primary outcomes of disruptive child behavior and dysfunctional parenting as reported by both mothers and fathers. Both interventions were associated with significant and clinically meaningful declines from pre- to post-intervention in levels of disruptive child behavior, dysfunctional parenting styles, risk of child maltreatment, and inter-parental conflict on both mother and father report measures. Intervention effects were largely maintained at 6-month follow up, thus supporting the use of self-help parenting programs within a comprehensive population-based system of parenting support to reduce child maltreatment and behavioral problems in children.

Positive Exchange of Flight Controls Program

Science.gov (United States)

1995-03-10

This advisory circular provides guidance for all pilots, especially student pilots, flight instructors, and pilot examiners, on the recommended procedure to use for the positive exchange of flight controls between pilots when operating an aircraft.

Large scale 2D spectral compressed sensing in continuous domain

KAUST Repository

Cai, Jian-Feng

2017-06-20

We consider the problem of spectral compressed sensing in continuous domain, which aims to recover a 2-dimensional spectrally sparse signal from partially observed time samples. The signal is assumed to be a superposition of s complex sinusoids. We propose a semidefinite program for the 2D signal recovery problem. Our model is able to handle large scale 2D signals of size 500 × 500, whereas traditional approaches only handle signals of size around 20 × 20.

Large scale 2D spectral compressed sensing in continuous domain

KAUST Repository

Cai, Jian-Feng; Xu, Weiyu; Yang, Yang

2017-01-01

We consider the problem of spectral compressed sensing in continuous domain, which aims to recover a 2-dimensional spectrally sparse signal from partially observed time samples. The signal is assumed to be a superposition of s complex sinusoids. We propose a semidefinite program for the 2D signal recovery problem. Our model is able to handle large scale 2D signals of size 500 × 500, whereas traditional approaches only handle signals of size around 20 × 20.

Selecting Candidates for Key Leadership Positions in Program Executive Offices Ground Combat Systems and Combat Service and Combat Service Support

Science.gov (United States)

2016-10-14

start or continue a profitable growth pattern and boost morale and motivation, a poor decision may bring the company to the brink of financial...HON Frank Kendall issued a memorandum titled “Key Leadership Positions and Qualification Criteria” (Kendall, 2013). This memorandum provides a...Chief Developmental Tester • Program Lead, Business Financial Manager SELECTING CANDIDATES FOR KEY LEADERSHIP POSITIONS 4

THE INFLUENCE OF PROGRAMMED CORRECTIVE EXERCISES ON KIFOTIC BAD BODY POSITION AT PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zoran Bogdanović

2008-08-01

Full Text Available The subject matter of the research was the influence of specially programmed physical education instruction with specific complexes of exercises of corrective gymnastics at the 5th grade pupils, on the territory of the city Kragujevac, at those with kifotic bad body position established by measuring. After forming of experimental and control subjects groups, the experiment began. The subjects had the task to do the complete set of corrective exercises, determined before hand, three times a week during one class time. That programme was carried out continuously during the entire school year and the first semester of the following year, except during summer and winter vacation break. It can be concluded that the contents of experimental section of corrective gymnastics had the positive influence on the correction of kifotic bad body position at all the subjects, but with the more effective results at male population where the high percentage of corrected postural disturbance was attained. It can be said that the time period of eighteen months was enough for correction of kifotic bad body position at great number of the subjects. It can be also assumed that the more qualitative and complete improvement will be attained in the case of further continual exercises.

Effectiveness of Group Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) in Changing Child Behavior, Parenting Style, and Parental Adjustment: An Intervention Study in Japan

Science.gov (United States)

Fujiwara, Takeo; Kato, Noriko; Sanders, Matthew R.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a group-based family intervention program known as the Group Positive Parenting Program (Triple P), with families in Japan. Reductions in children's behavioral problems, changes in dysfunctional parenting practices, and affects on parenting adjustment were examined. Participants of…

Innovative Integration of Decommissioning and Deactivation Program with Soil-Groundwater Clean Up Program Has Positive Results on Budget and Schedule: A Case Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schappell, B; Rucker, G

2007-01-01

An innovative approach to integrate the activities of a decommissioning and deactivation program (D and D) with a soil-groundwater clean up program has had significant positive results saving both money and time at the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site. The accomplishments that have been achieved by the combining the two programs have been remarkable including significant cost savings, economies of scale for sampling and document generation, and alignment of common objectives. Because of the coordination of both activities area-wide ''end states'' can be formulated and be consistent with the customers' cleanup goals and federal regulations. This coordinates and aligns both the environmental clean up and D and D objectives because each must be addressed simultaneously and comprehensively. In this respect, resources from both organizations can be pooled to take advantage of the strengths of each. The new approach allows more efficient use of lean financial resources and optimizes workforce activities to attain the common objectives while being more cost effective, more protective of the environment, and optimizing the use existing resources

Development of a Positive Youth Development Program: Promoting the Mental Health of Stressful Adolescents Using Principles of Problem Solving Therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel T.L. Shek

2006-01-01

Full Text Available This paper outlines the proposal for the development, implementation, and evaluation of a positive youth development program that attempts to promote the mental health of stressful Chinese adolescents using principles of Problem Solving Therapy (PST. There are two general aims of PST: to help clients identify life difficulties and resolve them, as well as to teach them skills on how to deal with future problems. The proposed project will utilize the principles of PST as the guiding framework to run two mental health promotion courses for adolescents who are experiencing disturbing stressful responses and students who want to improve their stress management style. Both objective and subjective outcome evaluation strategies will be carried out to assess the effectiveness of the intervention to promote the psychological well-being in adolescents who are experiencing stress. A related sample proposal is described that can give social workers some insight on how to prepare a proposal for developing the Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programs.

Environmental Service and Outdoor Adventure as a Context for Positive Youth Development: An Evaluation of the Crow River Trail Guards Program

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Julie Ernst

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Trail Guards, a community-based organization in Minnesota, offers youth the opportunity to participate in park/trail maintenance and enhancement projects. Through these environmental service projects, Trail Guards seeks to foster the following developmental outcomes in youth participants: self-awareness of skills and strengths; self-worth; personal and social self-efficacy; sense of belonging and acceptance; team work and cooperation skills; and a sense of community responsibility. Trail Guards ultimately aims for youth to transfer these skills and socially appropriate behaviors to settings and activities beyond Trail Guards and to participate in the community in other positive ways. A program evaluation indicated Trail Guards seems to be achieving these youth development outcomes, and that the success of the program may be attributed to the program leader serving as a positive adult role model and providing a safe and caring environment, as well as to community involvement. Implications are discussed.

Modern management positions

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Jovanović Petar M.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we analyze contemporary managerial positions such as program manager, project portfolio manager, crisis manager and others. The idea is to promote managerial positions in Serbia, which is quite unjustifiably undervalued, primarily because of the lack of knowledge in the field of management and other issues related to management education.

Effects of a health education and telephone counseling program on patients with a positive fecal occult blood test result for colorectal cancer screening: A randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiu, Hui-Chuan; Hung, Hsin-Yuan; Lin, Hsiu-Chen; Chen, Shu-Ching

2017-10-01

Our purpose was to evaluate the effects of a health education and telephone counseling program on knowledge and attitudes about colorectal cancer and screening and the psychological impact of positive screening results. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 2 groups using a pretest and posttest measures design. Patients with positive colorectal cancer screening results were selected and randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 51) or control (n = 51) group. Subjects in the experimental group received a health education and telephone counseling program, while the control group received routine care only. Patients were assessed pretest before intervention (first visit to the outpatient) and posttest at 4 weeks after intervention (4 weeks after first visit to the outpatient). Patients in the experimental group had a significantly better level of knowledge about colorectal cancer and the psychological impact of a positive screening result than did the control group. Analysis of covariance revealed that the health education and telephone counseling program had a significant main effect on colorectal cancer knowledge. A health education and telephone counseling program can improve knowledge about colorectal cancer and about the psychological impact in patients with positive colorectal cancer screening results. The health education and telephone counseling program is an easy, simple, and convenient method of improving knowledge, improving attitudes, and alleviating psychological distress in patients with positive colorectal cancer screening results, and this program can be expanded to other types of cancer screening. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Positioning Continuing Education Computer Programs for the Corporate Market.

Science.gov (United States)

Tilney, Ceil

1993-01-01

Summarizes the findings of the market assessment phase of Bellevue Community College's evaluation of its continuing education computer training program. Indicates that marketing efforts must stress program quality and software training to help overcome strong antiacademic client sentiment. (MGB)

The Development of a Canine Para-Agility Program: Positive Affects in Children with Autism and in Therapy Dogs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denisa Pop

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Previous research has demonstrated that both children and dogs might benefir from Animal-Assisted Activities (AAA, with some factors mediating/ moderating the results. The present study took these factors into consideration, by creating an AAA program consisting of two types of human-animal interactions (structured and unstructured activities, with an accent being put on the encouragement of positive behaviors. Differences in the frequency of behavioral indicators of positive affects were compared between sessions, in both species (humans and dogs. The preliminary analysis of the results indicated no significant differences between the structured and unstructured sessions in regards of the behavioral indicators of positive affects in humans and dogs, concluding that children and dogs enjoyed the activities in both types of sessions. A more in depth statistical analysis is currently being performed.

p-Norm SDD tensors and eigenvalue localization

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Qilong Liu

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract We present a new class of nonsingular tensors (p-norm strictly diagonally dominant tensors, which is a subclass of strong H $\\mathcal{H}$ -tensors. As applications of the results, we give a new eigenvalue inclusion set, which is tighter than those provided by Li et al. (Linear Multilinear Algebra 64:727-736, 2016 in some case. Based on this set, we give a checkable sufficient condition for the positive (semidefiniteness of an even-order symmetric tensor.

The efficacy of the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program in improving parenting and child behavior: a comparison with two other treatment conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Bodenmann, Guy; Cina, Annette; Ledermann, Thomas; Sanders, Matthew R

2008-04-01

The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the efficacy of an evidence-based parenting program (the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program), intending to improve parenting skills and children's well-being. Parents participating in a Group Triple P program (n=50 couples) were compared with parents of a non-treated control group (n=50 couples) and parents participating in a marital distress prevention program (couples coping enhancement training (CCET)) (n=50 couples). The two major goals of this study were (a) to evaluate the efficacy of Triple P compared with the two other treatment conditions over a time-span of 1 year and (b) to answer the question whether this program that was developed in Australia is culturally accepted by Swiss parents. Results revealed that Triple P was effective with Swiss families. Mothers of the Triple P group showed significant improvements in parenting, parenting self-esteem, and a decrease in stressors related to parenting. Women trained in Triple P also reported significantly lower rates of child's misbehavior than women of the two other conditions. However, in men only a few significant results were found. Positive effects of the relationship training (CCET) were somewhat lower than those for the Triple P. These findings are further discussed.

The effect of "in favor of myself": preventive program to enhance positive self and body image among adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Golan, Moria; Hagay, Noaa; Tamir, Snait

2013-01-01

Positive self-esteem, emotional well-being, school achievements and family connectedness are considered protective factors against health-compromising behaviors. This study examined the effect of an interactive, community-based, media literacy and dissonance wellness program, In Favor of Myself, on the self-image, body image, eating attitudes and behavior of young adolescents. A preliminary cohort study was conducted among 972 program participants who did not take part in the controlled trial. Over 75% of participants said they would recommend the program to their friends. A controlled trial was conducted to evaluate program acceptability, efficacy and effectiveness among 259 participants (210 in the intervention group and 49 in the control group), aged 12-14 years, who completed questionnaires during at least two assessment times. Program materials were provided, along with leaders' training, in order to ensure quality program delivery and creation of a wide network of committed program leaders. The program significantly reduced drive for thinness and self-worth contingent upon others' approval, the gap between current body figure and ideal figure, and the impact of mood on girls' self-image. Superiority was found among those participating in the intervention group with respect to recognizing media strategies, the influence of media on desire to change, and the influence of appearance on self-confidence and drive for thinness. In Favor of Myself shows promising results for strengthening adolescents' ability to cope with the challenges of their life stage. Suggestions for improving In Favor of Myself are presented.

Positive Mathematical Programming Approaches – Recent Developments in Literature and Applied Modelling

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Thomas Heckelei

2012-05-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews and discusses the more recent literature and application of Positive Mathematical Programming in the context of agricultural supply models. Specifically, advances in the empirical foundation of parameter specifications as well as the economic rationalisation of PMP models – both criticized in earlier reviews – are investigated. Moreover, the paper provides an overview on a larger set of models with regular/repeated policy application that apply variants of PMP. Results show that most applications today avoid arbitrary parameter specifications and rely on exogenous information on supply responses to calibrate model parameters. However, only few approaches use multiple observations to estimate parameters, which is likely due to the still considerable technical challenges associated with it. Equally, we found only limited reflection on the behavioral or technological assumptions that could rationalise the PMP model structure while still keeping the model’s advantages.

Implementation of a program for quality assurance on leaf positioning accuracy using Gafchromic® RTQA2 films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Girardi, Andrea; Anglesio, Silvia; Trevisiol, Edoardo; Amadore, Gianluca; Redda, Maria Grazia Ruo

2014-01-01

In radiotherapy treatments the correct dose delivery to the target volume and the consequent conservation of healthy tissues is affected by multileaf collimator (MLC) leaf positioning accuracy and reproducibility, mostly in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT): For this reason a quality assurance (QA) program is necessary to ensure the best treatment possible to each patient. The aim of this study is the implementation of a method using Gafchromic ® RTQA 2 films to perform routine QA on the MLC, both for qualitative and quantitative analysis. A flatbed document scanner (Epson 10000XL) was used in conjunction with radiochromic detector; a scanning protocol was firstly defined to improve readout accuracy. RTQA2 films were irradiated with 6 MV X-rays at different dose levels to obtain calibration curve. To evaluate the leaf positioning accuracy in different conditions, a rhomboidal shape and a field consisting in three rectangular segments were selected. The images quantitative analysis was handled with a program developed in MATLAB to evaluate the differences between expected and measured leaves positions. The reproducibility and global uncertainty of the method were estimated to be equal to 0.5% and 0.6 mm, respectively. Moreover, a qualitative test was performed: A garden picket fence field, consisting in multiple segments 2 x 22 cm 2 , was realized setting known leaves shifts to test the method sensitivity. The picket fence test shows that the method is able to detect displacements equal to 1 mm. The results suggest that Gafchromic ® RTQA2 films represent a reliable tool to perform MLC routine QA. (author)

Modifying the 'Positive Parenting Program' for parents with intellectual disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Glazemakers, I; Deboutte, D

2013-07-01

Many parents with intellectual disabilities (ID) want and/or need professional guidance and support to learn skills and strategies to prevent and manage child behaviour problems. However, the available support is rarely suitable, and suitable support is rarely available. The aim of this study was to determine whether a popular mainstream parenting training programme, known as 'Group Triple P' (Positive Parenting Program), could be successfully modified for this parent group. A pilot study was undertaken to determine whether a modified version of Group Triple P would engage and retain parents with ID. A non-experimental, pre-test post-test study, involving a total of 30 parents with ID, was then undertaken to obtain preliminary efficacy data. Parent engagement and participation levels were high. No parent 'dropped out' of the programme. After completing the modified Group Triple P programme, parents reported a decrease in psychological distress, maladaptive parenting and child conduct problems. Parents reported high levels of satisfaction with the information and support they received. Research-informed adaptation of mainstream behavioural family interventions, such as Group Triple P, could make 'suitable support' more readily available, and more engaging for parents with ID. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, MENCAP & IASSID.

The Effects of a School-Wide Positive Behavior Intervention Support Program on the Intrinsic Motivation of Third Grade Students

Science.gov (United States)

Amis, Sarah Anne

2013-01-01

This research project sought to determine the effects of a School-Wide Positive Behavior Intervention Support program (SWPBIS) on the intrinsic motivation of third grade students in regard to student achievement, student behavior, and teacher perception. Students of two intermediate schools served as the treatment group and control group, and were…

The efficacy of the enhanced Aussie Optimism Positive Thinking Skills Program in improving social and emotional learning in middle childhood

OpenAIRE

Myles-Pallister, Jacqueline D.; Hassan, Sharinaz; Rooney, Rosanna M.; Kane, Robert T.

2014-01-01

The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of the modified and enhanced Aussie Optimism Positive Thinking Skills Program (AO-PTS) on Year 4 and 5 children's social and emotional learning (SEL) skills. AO-PTS is a universal-school based program that is implemented by class teachers as part of regular school curricula and was developed for the prevention of depression and anxiety. The study comprised a total of 683 Year 4 and 5 students from 10 private primary schools in Wester...

A Case Study on the Implementation of a Positive Youth Development Program (Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong: Learning from the Experimental Implementation Phase

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tak Yan Lee

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This investigation of the implementation of a positive youth development program (Project P.A.T.H.S. was part of a large study undertaken comprehensively to explore how effective the Tier 1 Program was in practice and how the results can shed light on future developments. Utilizing a case study approach, individual and focus group interviews were conducted in 2007 to examine the factors that influence the process and quality of implementation of the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. The focus of this study was on how the implementers of a school made use of the experience gained in the Experimental Implementation Phase (EIP in 2005/06 to improve the program implementation quality in the Full Implementation Phase (FIP in 2006/07. Results showed that the program implementation in the FIP was generally high and the program was well received by the implementers. Factors that facilitated the implementation of the program were identified, including the adoption of an incremental change strategy, the incorporation of the program into both formal and informal curricula, positive perceptions of the program among staff and agency social workers, sufficient school administrative support, excellent cooperation between the school and the social work agency, presence of a dedicated school contact person and instructors who engaged themselves in continuous quality improvement of the implementation, and an emphasis on application of what had been learned. Difficulties encountered by the school in the process of implementation were also observed. Based on the present findings, key process variables that facilitate or impede the implementation of positive youth development programs are discussed. Implications for future program implementation are also discussed.

Seeing is believing: video classification for computed tomographic colonography using multiple-instance learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shijun; McKenna, Matthew T; Nguyen, Tan B; Burns, Joseph E; Petrick, Nicholas; Sahiner, Berkman; Summers, Ronald M

2012-05-01

In this paper, we present development and testing results for a novel colonic polyp classification method for use as part of a computed tomographic colonography (CTC) computer-aided detection (CAD) system. Inspired by the interpretative methodology of radiologists using 3-D fly-through mode in CTC reading, we have developed an algorithm which utilizes sequences of images (referred to here as videos) for classification of CAD marks. For each CAD mark, we created a video composed of a series of intraluminal, volume-rendered images visualizing the detection from multiple viewpoints. We then framed the video classification question as a multiple-instance learning (MIL) problem. Since a positive (negative) bag may contain negative (positive) instances, which in our case depends on the viewing angles and camera distance to the target, we developed a novel MIL paradigm to accommodate this class of problems. We solved the new MIL problem by maximizing a L2-norm soft margin using semidefinite programming, which can optimize relevant parameters automatically. We tested our method by analyzing a CTC data set obtained from 50 patients from three medical centers. Our proposed method showed significantly better performance compared with several traditional MIL methods.

Eigenvectors phase correction in inverse modal problem

Science.gov (United States)

Qiao, Guandong; Rahmatalla, Salam

2017-12-01

The solution of the inverse modal problem for the spatial parameters of mechanical and structural systems is heavily dependent on the quality of the modal parameters obtained from the experiments. While experimental and environmental noises will always exist during modal testing, the resulting modal parameters are expected to be corrupted with different levels of noise. A novel methodology is presented in this work to mitigate the errors in the eigenvectors when solving the inverse modal problem for the spatial parameters. The phases of the eigenvector component were utilized as design variables within an optimization problem that minimizes the difference between the calculated and experimental transfer functions. The equation of motion in terms of the modal and spatial parameters was used as a constraint in the optimization problem. Constraints that reserve the positive and semi-positive definiteness and the inter-connectivity of the spatial matrices were implemented using semi-definite programming. Numerical examples utilizing noisy eigenvectors with augmented Gaussian white noise of 1%, 5%, and 10% were used to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method. The results showed that the proposed method is superior when compared with a known method in the literature.

A Longitudinal Evaluation of the Positive Action Program in a Low-Income, Racially Diverse, Rural County: Effects on Self-Esteem, School Hassles, Aggression, and Internalizing Symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Shenyang; Wu, Qi; Smokowski, Paul R; Bacallao, Martica; Evans, Caroline B R; Cotter, Katie L

2015-12-01

Positive Action is a school-based program that aims to decrease problem behaviors (e.g., violence, substance use) and increase positive behaviors (e.g., school engagement, academic achievement). Although a number of studies have shown that Positive Action successfully achieves these goals, few studies have evaluated the program's effectiveness in rural schools. Given that rural youth are at an increased risk for risky behaviors (e.g., violence, substance use), this is a critical gap in the existing Positive Action research base. The current study assesses the impact of Positive Action on change rates of self-esteem, school hassles, aggression, and internalizing symptoms in a group (N = 1246, 52% female) of ethnically/racially diverse (27% White, 23% African American, 12% mixed race/other, 8% Latino, 30% as American Indian) middle school youth (age range 9-20) located in two violent, low-income rural counties in North Carolina. One county engaged in Positive Action over the 3-year study window while the other county did not. Following multiple imputation and propensity score analysis, 4 two-level hierarchical linear models were run using each of the outcome measures as dependent variables. The results indicate that the program generates statistically significant beneficial effects for youth from the intervention county on self-esteem scores and school hassles scores. Although the program generates beneficial effects for intervention youth on the change in aggression scores, the finding is not statistically significant. The finding on the change in internalizing scores shows a non-significant detrimental effect: the youth from the comparison county have lower internalizing scores than those from the intervention county. Implications are discussed.

Effectiveness of the Triple P Positive Parenting Program on behavioral problems in children: a meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

de Graaf, Ireen; Speetjens, Paula; Smit, Filip; de Wolff, Marianne; Tavecchio, Louis

2008-09-01

The Triple P Positive Parenting Program is a multilevel parenting program to prevent and offer treatment for severe behavioral, emotional, and developmental problems in children. The aim of this meta-analysis is to assess the effectiveness of Triple P Level 4 interventions in the management of behavioral problems in children by pooling the evidence from relevant literature that included Level 4 Triple P interventions. Level 4 intervention is indicated if the child has multiple behavior problems in a variety of settings and there are clear deficits in parenting skills. Results indicate that Level 4 of Triple P interventions reduced disruptive behaviors in children. These improvements were maintained well over time, with further improvements in long-term follow-up. These effects support the widespread adoption and implementation of Triple P that is taking place in an increasing number of countries in quite diverse cultural contexts around the world.

Predicted effect of landscape position on wildlife habitat value of Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program wetlands in a tile-drained agricultural region

Science.gov (United States)

Otis, David L.; Crumpton, William R.; Green, David; Loan-Wilsey, Anna; Cooper, Tom; Johnson, Rex R.

2013-01-01

Justification for investment in restored or constructed wetland projects are often based on presumed net increases in ecosystem services. However, quantitative assessment of performance metrics is often difficult and restricted to a single objective. More comprehensive performance assessments could help inform decision-makers about trade-offs in services provided by alternative restoration program design attributes. The primary goal of the Iowa Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program is to establish wetlands that efficiently remove nitrates from tile-drained agricultural landscapes. A secondary objective is provision of wildlife habitat. We used existing wildlife habitat models to compare relative net change in potential wildlife habitat value for four alternative landscape positions of wetlands within the watershed. Predicted species richness and habitat value for birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles generally increased as the wetland position moved lower in the watershed. However, predicted average net increase between pre- and post-project value was dependent on taxonomic group. The increased average wetland area and changes in surrounding upland habitat composition among landscape positions were responsible for these differences. Net change in predicted densities of several grassland bird species at the four landscape positions was variable and species-dependent. Predicted waterfowl breeding activity was greater for lower drainage position wetlands. Although our models are simplistic and provide only a predictive index of potential habitat value, we believe such assessment exercises can provide a tool for coarse-level comparisons of alternative proposed project attributes and a basis for constructing informed hypotheses in auxiliary empirical field studies.

Comments on Nonlinear Sigma Models Coupled to Supergravity arXiv

CERN Document Server

Ferrara, Sergio

2017-12-10

N=1 , D=4 nonlinear sigma models, parametrized by chiral superfields, usually describe Kählerian geometries, provided that Einstein frame supergravity is used. The sigma model metric is no longer Kähler when local supersymmetry becomes nonlinearly realized through the nilpotency of the supergravity auxiliary fields. In some cases the nonlinear realization eliminates one scalar propagating degree of freedom. This happens when the sigma model conformal-frame metric has co-rank 2. In the geometry of the inflaton, this effect eliminates its scalar superpartner. We show that the sigma model metric remains semidefinite positive in all cases, due the to positivity properties of the conformal-frame sigma model metric.

Return to play in elite rugby union: application of global positioning system technology in return-to-running programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Reid, Laura C; Cowman, Jason R; Green, Brian S; Coughlan, Garrett F

2013-05-01

Global positioning systems (GPS) are widely used in sport settings to evaluate the physical demands on players in training and competition. The use of these systems in the design and implementation of rehabilitation and return-to-running programs has not yet been elucidated. To demonstrate the application of GPS technology in the management of return to play in elite-club Rugby Union. Case series. Professional Rugby Union club team. 8 elite Rugby Union players (age 27.86 ± 4.78 y, height 1.85 ± 0.08 m, weight 99.14 ± 9.96 kg). Players wore GPS devices for the entire duration of a club game. Variables of locomotion speed and distance were measured. Differences in physical demands between playing positions were observed for all variables. An analysis of the position-specific physical demands measured by GPS provides key information regarding the level and volume of loads sustained by a player in a game environment. Using this information, sports-medicine practitioners can develop rehabilitation and return-to-running protocols specific to the player position to optimize safe return to play.

BRST quantization of Polyakov's two-dimensional gravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itoh, Katsumi

1990-01-01

Two-dimensional gravity coupled to minimal models is quantized in the chiral gauge by the BRST method. By using the Wakimoto construction for the gravity sector, we show how the quartet mechanism of Kugo and Ojima works and solve the physical state condition. As a result the positive semi-definiteness of the physical subspace is shown. The formula of Knizhnik et al. for gravitational scaling dimensions is rederived from the physical state condition. We also observe a relation between the chiral gauge and the conformal gauge. (orig.)

Components of Camp Experiences for Positive Youth Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karla A. Henderson

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Youth development specialists advocate that well designed, implemented, and staffed youth centered programs result in positive outcomes for young people. Youth organizations have provided opportunities for young people to participate in camping experiences for over a century. The purpose of this paper is to describe what program components were related to camp environments and positive youth development. We describe these program components related to positive youth development based on a large scale national study of ACA (American Camp Association accredited camps that included independent, religiously affiliated, government, and not-for-profit organizations. Based on the responses given by camp directors, contact and leadership from trained staff and the supportive relationships they provided were essential elements of camp. Other aspects leading to positive youth development in camps were program mission and structure along with elements of accountability, assessment of outcomes, and opportunities for skill building.

28 CFR 345.20 - Position classification.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Position classification. 345.20 Section... INDUSTRIES (FPI) INMATE WORK PROGRAMS Position Classification § 345.20 Position classification. (a) Inmate... the objectives and principles of pay classification as a part of the routine orientation of new FPI...

Replacing stressful challenges with positive coping strategies: a resilience program for clinical placement learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Delany, C; Miller, K J; El-Ansary, D; Remedios, L; Hosseini, A; McLeod, S

2015-12-01

Clinical education is foundational to health professional training. However, it is also a time of increased stress for students. A student's perception of stressors and their capacity to effectively manage them is a legitimate concern for educators, because anxiety and decreased coping strategies can interfere with effective learning, clinical performance and capacity to care for patients. Resilience is emerging as a valuable construct to underpin positive coping strategies for learning and professional practice. We report the development and evaluation of a psycho-education resilience program designed to build practical skills-based resilience capacities in health science (physiotherapy) students. Six final year undergraduate physiotherapy students attended four action research sessions led by a clinical health psychologist. Resilience strategies drawn from cognitive behavioural therapy, and positive and performance psychology were introduced. Students identified personal learning stressors and their beliefs and responses. They chose specific resilience-based strategies to address them, and then reported their impact on learning performance and experiences. Thematic analysis of the audio-recorded and transcribed action research sessions, and students' de identified notes was conducted. Students' initial descriptions of stressors as 'problems' outside their control resulting in poor thinking and communication, low confidence and frustration, changed to a focus on how they managed and recognized learning challenges as normal or at least expected elements of the clinical learning environment. The research suggests that replacing stressful challenges with positive coping strategies offers a potentially powerful tool to build self-efficacy and cognitive control as well as greater self-awareness as a learner and future health practitioner.

Global Positioning System data collection, processing, and analysis conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Jessica R.; Svarc, Jerry L.

2017-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Science Center collects and processes Global Positioning System (GPS) data throughout the western United States to measure crustal deformation related to earthquakes and tectonic processes as part of a long‐term program of research and monitoring. Here, we outline data collection procedures and present the GPS dataset built through repeated temporary deployments since 1992. This dataset consists of observations at ∼1950 locations. In addition, this article details our data processing and analysis procedures, which consist of the following. We process the raw data collected through temporary deployments, in addition to data from continuously operating western U.S. GPS stations operated by multiple agencies, using the GIPSY software package to obtain position time series. Subsequently, we align the positions to a common reference frame, determine the optimal parameters for a temporally correlated noise model, and apply this noise model when carrying out time‐series analysis to derive deformation measures, including constant interseismic velocities, coseismic offsets, and transient postseismic motion.

Nonclassical states of light with a smooth P function

Science.gov (United States)

Damanet, François; Kübler, Jonas; Martin, John; Braun, Daniel

2018-02-01

There is a common understanding in quantum optics that nonclassical states of light are states that do not have a positive semidefinite and sufficiently regular Glauber-Sudarshan P function. Almost all known nonclassical states have P functions that are highly irregular, which makes working with them difficult and direct experimental reconstruction impossible. Here we introduce classes of nonclassical states with regular, non-positive-definite P functions. They are constructed by "puncturing" regular smooth positive P functions with negative Dirac-δ peaks or other sufficiently narrow smooth negative functions. We determine the parameter ranges for which such punctures are possible without losing the positivity of the state, the regimes yielding antibunching of light, and the expressions of the Wigner functions for all investigated punctured states. Finally, we propose some possible experimental realizations of such states.

Prevalence, Predictors, and Same Day Treatment of Positive VIA Enhanced by Digital Cervicography and Histopathology Results in a Cervical Cancer Prevention Program in Cameroon.

Science.gov (United States)

DeGregorio, Geneva A; Bradford, Leslie S; Manga, Simon; Tih, Pius M; Wamai, Richard; Ogembo, Rebecca; Sando, Zacharie; Liu, Yuxin; Schwaiger, Constance; Rao, Sowmya R; Kalmakis, Karen; Kennedy Sheldon, Lisa; Nulah, Kathleen; Welty, Edith; Welty, Thomas; Ogembo, Javier Gordon

2016-01-01

In 2007, the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services (CBCHS) implemented a screen-and-treat cervical cancer prevention program using visual inspection with acetic acid enhanced by digital cervicography (VIA-DC). We retrospectively analyzed 46,048 medical records of women who received care through the CBCHS Women's Health Program from 2007 through 2014 to determine the prevalence and predictors of positive VIA-DC, rates of same day treatment, and cohort prevalence of invasive cervical cancer (ICC). Of the 44,979 women who were screened for cervical cancer, 9.0% were VIA-DC-positive, 66.8% were VIA-DC-negative, 22.0% were VIA-DC-inadequate (normal ectocervix, but portions of the transformation zone were obscured), and 2.2% were VIA-DC-uncertain (cervical abnormalities confounding VIA-DC interpretation). Risk factors significantly associated with VIA-DC-positive screen were HIV-positivity, young age at sexual debut, higher lifetime number of sexual partners, low education status and higher gravidity. In 2014, 31.1% of women eligible for cryotherapy underwent same day treatment. Among the 32,788 women screened from 2007 through 2013, 201 cases of ICC were identified corresponding to a cohort prevalence of 613 per 100,000. High rate of VIA-DC-positive screens suggests a significant burden of potential cervical cancer cases and highlights the need for expansion of cervical cancer screening and prevention throughout the 10 regions of Cameroon. VIA-DC-inadequate rates were also high, especially in older women, and additional screening methods are needed to confirm whether these results are truly negative. In comparison to similar screening programs in sub-Saharan Africa there was low utilization of same day cryotherapy treatment. Further studies are required to characterize possible program specific barriers to treatment, for example cultural demands, health system challenges and cost of procedure. The prevalence of ICC among women who presented for screening was high

The Effect of “In Favor of Myself”: Preventive Program to Enhance Positive Self and Body Image among Adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Golan, Moria; Hagay, Noaa; Tamir, Snait

2013-01-01

Background Positive self-esteem, emotional well-being, school achievements and family connectedness are considered protective factors against health-compromising behaviors. This study examined the effect of an interactive, community-based, media literacy and dissonance wellness program, In Favor of Myself, on the self-image, body image, eating attitudes and behavior of young adolescents. A preliminary cohort study was conducted among 972 program participants who did not take part in the controlled trial. Over 75% of participants said they would recommend the program to their friends. Methods A controlled trial was conducted to evaluate program acceptability, efficacy and effectiveness among 259 participants (210 in the intervention group and 49 in the control group), aged 12–14 years, who completed questionnaires during at least two assessment times. Program materials were provided, along with leaders' training, in order to ensure quality program delivery and creation of a wide network of committed program leaders. Results The program significantly reduced drive for thinness and self-worth contingent upon others' approval, the gap between current body figure and ideal figure, and the impact of mood on girls' self-image. Superiority was found among those participating in the intervention group with respect to recognizing media strategies, the influence of media on desire to change, and the influence of appearance on self-confidence and drive for thinness. Conclusions In Favor of Myself shows promising results for strengthening adolescents' ability to cope with the challenges of their life stage. Suggestions for improving In Favor of Myself are presented. PMID:24265681

Inhomogeneous dusty Universes and their deceleration

CERN Document Server

Giovannini, Massimo

2006-01-01

Exact results stemming directly from Einstein equations imply that inhomogeneous Universes endowed with vanishing pressure density can only decelerate, unless the energy density of the Universe becomes negative. Recent proposals seem to argue that inhomogeneous (but isotropic) space-times, filled only with incoherent matter,may turn into accelerated Universes for sufficiently late times. To scrutinize these scenarios, fully inhomogeneous Einstein equations are discussed in the synchronous system. In a dust-dominated Universe, the inhomogeneous generalization of the deceleration parameter is always positive semi-definite implying that no acceleration takes place.

Back to the basics: identifying positive youth development as the theoretical framework for a youth drug prevention program in rural Saskatchewan, Canada amidst a program evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Dell, Colleen Anne; Duncan, Charles Randy; DesRoches, Andrea; Bendig, Melissa; Steeves, Megan; Turner, Holly; Quaife, Terra; McCann, Chuck; Enns, Brett

2013-10-22

Despite endorsement by the Saskatchewan government to apply empirically-based approaches to youth drug prevention services in the province, programs are sometimes delivered prior to the establishment of evidence-informed goals and objectives. This paper shares the 'preptory' outcomes of our team's program evaluation of the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region Mental Health and Addiction Services' Outreach Worker Service (OWS) in eight rural, community schools three years following its implementation. Before our independent evaluation team could assess whether expectations of the OWS were being met, we had to assist with establishing its overarching program goals and objectives and 'at-risk' student population, alongside its alliance with an empirically-informed theoretical framework. A mixed-methods approach was applied, beginning with in-depth focus groups with the OWS staff to identify the program's goals and objectives and targeted student population. These were supplemented with OWS and school administrator interviews and focus groups with school staff. Alignment with a theoretical focus was determined though a review of the OWS's work to date and explored in focus groups between our evaluation team and the OWS staff and validated with the school staff and OWS and school administration. With improved understanding of the OWS's goals and objectives, our evaluation team and the OWS staff aligned the program with the Positive Youth Development theoretical evidence-base, emphasizing the program's universality, systems focus, strength base, and promotion of assets. Together we also gained clarity about the OWS's definition of and engagement with its 'at-risk' student population. It is important to draw on expert knowledge to develop youth drug prevention programming, but attention must also be paid to aligning professional health care services with a theoretically informed evidence-base for evaluation purposes. If time does not permit for the establishment of

Interference MAC: Impact of improper Gaussian signaling on the rate region Pareto boundary

KAUST Repository

Kariminezhad, Ali

2017-11-02

Meeting the challenges of 5G demands better exploitation of the available spectrum by allowing multiple parties to share resources. For instance, a secondary unlicensed system can share resources with the cellular uplink of a primary licensed system for an improved spectral efficiency. This induces interference which has to be taken into account when designing such a system. A simple yet robust strategy is treating interference as noise (TIN), which is widely adapted in practice. It is thus important to study the capabilities and limitations of TIN in such scenarios. In this paper, we study this scenario modelled as multiple access channel (MAC) interfered by a Point-to-Point (P2P) channel, where we focus on the characterization of the rate region. We use improper Gaussian signaling (instead of proper) at the transmitters to increase the design flexibility, which offers the freedom of optimizing the transmit signal pseudo-variance in addition to its variance. We formulate the weighted max-min problem as a semidefinite program, and use semidefinite relaxation (SDR) to obtain a near-optimal solution. Numerical optimizations show that, by improper Gaussian signaling the achievable rates can be improved upto three times when compared to proper Gaussian signaling.

Teaching Money Literacy in a Positive Youth Development Program: The Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tak Yan Lee

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In view of the high impact of materialistic orientation among children and adolescents, financial educational programs are provided as preventive measures. Without a clear framework, it is impossible to evaluate these programs. The goals of this paper are threefold. Firstly, the phenomena related to adolescent materialistic orientation and its associated problems in Hong Kong are examined. Secondly, the concept of financial education as a preventive measure is reviewed. Both board and narrow definitions of money literacy are examined. A framework on money literacy for children and adolescents as a founding stone for financial education is proposed. The framework finds its support from a typology proposed by the authors and results from an integration of research findings on dimensions of the concepts of money and success. Finally, curriculum units for Grades 7 to 9 students in a positive youth development program (the Project P.A.T.H.S. are developed using the framework.

Teaching Money Literacy in a Positive Youth Development Program: The Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Tak Yan; Law, Ben M. F.

2011-01-01

In view of the high impact of materialistic orientation among children and adolescents, financial educational programs are provided as preventive measures. Without a clear framework, it is impossible to evaluate these programs. The goals of this paper are threefold. Firstly, the phenomena related to adolescent materialistic orientation and its associated problems in Hong Kong are examined. Secondly, the concept of financial education as a preventive measure is reviewed. Both board and narrow definitions of money literacy are examined. A framework on money literacy for children and adolescents as a founding stone for financial education is proposed. The framework finds its support from a typology proposed by the authors and results from an integration of research findings on dimensions of the concepts of money and success. Finally, curriculum units for Grades 7 to 9 students in a positive youth development program (the Project P.A.T.H.S.) are developed using the framework. PMID:22194664

Online Coaching of Emotion-Regulation Strategies for Parents: Efficacy of the Online Rational Positive Parenting Program and Attention Bias Modification Procedures.

Science.gov (United States)

David, Oana A; Capris, David; Jarda, Alexandra

2017-01-01

Parenting programs are currently treatment of choice for behavioral disorders in children and one of their main components is reducing the negativity bias in the child-parent dyad. The Rational Positive Parenting Program (rPPP) is a program with a special focus on parent emotion-regulation functional reappraisal strategies, which has recently received consistent support for reducing child externalizing and internalizing disorders. In the last years, online interventions were proliferated and the Attention Bias Modification (ABM) becoming a promising implicit therapeutic intervention based on attention deployment emotion-regulation strategy, or adjunctive module to usual treatments, with results in multiple domains, varying from pain to self-esteem and emotional disorders (e.g., anxiety). We conducted two studies to investigate (1) the efficacy of the ABM procedures applied to parents and (2) the efficacy of the online version of the rPPP augmented with an ABM module. A total of 42 parents of children aged 2-12 years old participated in the first study, being allocated either to the ABM training or wait-list. Positive results were reported by the parents participating in the ABM group for own distress, satisfaction, positive interactions with the child, and child's strengths. In the second study, 53 parents and their children were allocated either in the rPPP group or in the rPPP + ABM group. Results show that ABM training can boost the effects of the rPPP on the strengths of children reported by the parents after the intervention. Findings are discussed in the light of limited research on using online tools for coaching effective emotion-regulation strategies for parents.

Improvement of local position accuracy of robots for off-line programming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borm, Jin Hwan; Choi, Jong Cheon

1992-01-01

For the implementation of industrial robots in a CIM environment, it is necessary to be able to position their end-effectors to an abstractly defined cartesian position with desired accuracy. In other words, it is necessary to find accurate actuator command values corresponding to given goal positions which are expressed with respect to a certain coordinate frame. If the teaching -by-doing method is used, very accurate actuator command values are obtained from transducer readings. For the case when the goal positions are mathematically expressed, however, the actuator command values for the goal positions must be calculated using robot kinematics. It is, however, well known that the position errors in the order of 10 mm is not unusual while many industrial robots have the repeatability in the order of 0.1mm. In here, the position error is referred to as the difference between the specified goal position and the position where a robot is actually controlled. To reduce the position errors, many researchers proposed calibration methods which are based on robot kinematic identification. However, those methods are quite complex and require an accurate position measuring device. In this paper, a new method which dose not require the accurate kinematic identification, is introduced. In this method, the accurate actuator command values are calculated using the nominal kinematic model which is appropriatly altered based on the available encoder readings of the several reference frames. To demonstrate the simplicity and the effectiveness of the method, computer simulations as well as experimental studies are performed and their results are discussed. (Author)

Contextual positive psychology: Policy recommendations for implementing positive psychology into schools.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph Ciarrochi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available There has been a rapid growth in positive psychology, a research and intervention approach that focuses on promoting optimal functioning and well-being. Positive psychology interventions are now making their way into classrooms all over the world. However, positive psychology has been criticized for being decontextualized and coercive, and for putting an excessive emphasis on positive states, whilst failing to adequately consider negative experiences. Given this, how should policy be used to regulate and evaluate these interventions? We review evidence that suggests these criticisms may be valid, but only for those interventions that focus almost exclusively on changing the content of people’s inner experience (e.g., make it more positive and personality (improving character strength, and overemphasize the idea that inner experience causes action. We describe a contextualized form of positive psychology that not only deals with the criticisms, but also has clear policy implications for how to best implement and evaluate positive education programs so that they do not do more harm than good.

Distributionally robust hydro-thermal-wind economic dispatch

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Yue; Wei, Wei; Liu, Feng; Mei, Shengwei

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A two-stage distributionally robust hydro-thermal-wind model is proposed. • A semi-definite programing equivalent and its algorithm are developed. • Cases that demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model are included. - Abstract: With the penetration of wind energy increasing, uncertainty has become a major challenge in power system dispatch. Hydro power can change rapidly and is regarded as one promising complementary energy resource to mitigate wind power fluctuation. Joint scheduling of hydro, thermal, and wind energy is attracting more and more attention nowadays. This paper proposes a distributionally robust hydro-thermal-wind economic dispatch (DR-HTW-ED) method to enhance the flexibility and reliability of power system operation. In contrast to the traditional stochastic optimization (SO) and adjustable robust optimization (ARO) method, distributionally robust optimization (DRO) method describes the uncertain wind power output by all possible probability distribution functions (PDFs) with the same mean and variance recovered from the forecast data, and optimizes the expected operation cost in the worst distribution. Traditional DRO optimized the random parameter in entire space, which is sometimes contradict to the actual situation. In this paper, we restrict the wind power uncertainty in a bounded set, and derive an equivalent semi-definite programming (SDP) for the DR-HTW-ED using S-lemma. A delayed constraint generation algorithm is suggested to solve it in a tractable manner. The proposed DR-HTW-ED is compared with the existing ARO based hydro-thermal-wind economic dispatch (AR-HTW-ED). Their respective features are shown from the perspective of computational efficiency and conservativeness of dispatch strategies.

(2,2) superconformal bootstrap in two dimensions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Ying-Hsuan [Jefferson Physical Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Shao, Shu-Heng [Jefferson Physical Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ 08540 (United States); Wang, Yifan [Center for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Joseph Henry Laboratories, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Yin, Xi [Jefferson Physical Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

2017-05-19

We find a simple relation between two-dimensional BPS N=2 superconformal blocks and bosonic Virasoro conformal blocks, which allows us to analyze the crossing equations for BPS 4-point functions in unitary (2,2) superconformal theories numerically with semidefinite programming. We constrain gaps in the non-BPS spectrum through the operator product expansion of BPS operators, in ways that depend on the moduli of exactly marginal deformations through chiral ring coefficients. In some cases, our bounds on the spectral gaps are observed to be saturated by free theories, by N=2 Liouville theory, and by certain Landau-Ginzburg models.

Local Model Predictive Control for T-S Fuzzy Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Donghwan; Hu, Jianghai

2017-09-01

In this paper, a new linear matrix inequality-based model predictive control (MPC) problem is studied for discrete-time nonlinear systems described as Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy systems. A recent local stability approach is applied to improve the performance of the proposed MPC scheme. At each time k , an optimal state-feedback gain that minimizes an objective function is obtained by solving a semidefinite programming problem. The local stability analysis, the estimation of the domain of attraction, and feasibility of the proposed MPC are proved. Examples are given to demonstrate the advantages of the suggested MPC over existing approaches.

Optimal Control for a Class of Chaotic Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianxiong Zhang

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes the optimal control methods for a class of chaotic systems via state feedback. By converting the chaotic systems to the form of uncertain piecewise linear systems, we can obtain the optimal controller minimizing the upper bound on cost function by virtue of the robust optimal control method of piecewise linear systems, which is cast as an optimization problem under constraints of bilinear matrix inequalities (BMIs. In addition, the lower bound on cost function can be achieved by solving a semidefinite programming (SDP. Finally, numerical examples are given to illustrate the results.

Stable Blind Deconvolution over the Reals from Additional Autocorrelations

KAUST Repository

Walk, Philipp

2017-10-22

Recently the one-dimensional time-discrete blind deconvolution problem was shown to be solvable uniquely, up to a global phase, by a semi-definite program for almost any signal, provided its autocorrelation is known. We will show in this work that under a sufficient zero separation of the corresponding signal in the $z-$domain, a stable reconstruction against additive noise is possible. Moreover, the stability constant depends on the signal dimension and on the signals magnitude of the first and last coefficients. We give an analytical expression for this constant by using spectral bounds of Vandermonde matrices.

Evaluating dosage effects for the positive action program: How implementation impacts internalizing symptoms, aggression, school hassles, and self-esteem.

Science.gov (United States)

Smokowski, Paul R; Guo, Shenyang; Wu, Qi; Evans, Caroline B R; Cotter, Katie L; Bacallao, Martica

2016-01-01

Positive Action (PA) is a school-based intervention for elementary-, middle-, and high-school students that aims to decrease problem behaviors (e.g., violence, substance use) and increase positive behaviors (e.g., academic achievement, school engagement). PA has a long history of documented success achieving these aims, making it an Evidence Based Practice (EBP). Intervention research on EBP's has established the importance of implementation fidelity, especially with regard to program dosage; failure to properly implement an EBP can have negative consequences on targeted outcomes, especially if participants are exposed to a low dosage of the program (e.g., fewer lessons than specified). Much of the current research on PA has neglected to examine how program dosage impacts PA's effect on targeted outcomes. Using propensity score models, multiple imputation, and a 2-level hierarchical linear model, the current study fills this gap and examines how different dosages of PA as measured by years participating in PA and number of PA lessons, impacts adolescent internalizing symptoms, aggression, perceptions of school hassles, and self-esteem over a 3-year period. The current sample included middle school students in grades 6, 7, and 8 (N = 5,894). The findings indicate that students who received 3 years of the PA intervention and a high number of PA lessons had a significantly higher self-esteem score than those who received 0 years of PA or zero lessons. Participants who received 1 year of PA also reported significantly lower school hassle scores than those who received 0 years. Dosage had no statistically significant effects on aggression or internalizing score. Implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

38 CFR 1.892 - Review of positions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... PROVISIONS Part-Time Career Employment Program § 1.892 Review of positions. Positions becoming vacant, unless... 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Review of positions. 1...-time. Among the criteria which may be used when conducting this review are: (a) Mission requirements...

Position paper: recommendations for a digital mammography quality assurance program V4.0.

Science.gov (United States)

Heggie, J C P; Barnes, P; Cartwright, L; Diffey, J; Tse, J; Herley, J; McLean, I D; Thomson, F J; Grewal, R K; Collins, L T

2017-09-01

In 2001 the ACPSEM published a position paper on quality assurance in screen film mammography which was subsequently adopted as a basis for the quality assurance programs of both the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) and of BreastScreen Australia. Since then the clinical implementation of digital mammography has been realised and it has become evident that existing screen-film protocols were not appropriate to assure the required image quality needed for reliable diagnosis or to address the new dose implications resulting from digital technology. In addition, the advantages and responsibilities inherent in teleradiology are most critical in mammography and also need to be addressed. The current document is the result of a review of current overseas practice and local experience in these areas. At this time the technology of digital imaging is undergoing significant development and there is still a lack of full international consensus about some of the detailed quality control (QC) tests that should be included in quality assurance (QA) programs. This document describes the current status in digital mammography QA and recommends test procedures that may be suitable in the Australasian environment. For completeness, this document also includes a review of the QA programs required for the various types of digital biopsy units used in mammography. In the future, international harmonisation of digital quality assurance in mammography and changes in the technology may require a review of this document. Version 2.0 represented the first of these updates and key changes related to image quality evaluation, ghost image evaluation and interpretation of signal to noise ratio measurements. In Version 3.0 some significant changes, made in light of further experience gained in testing digital mammography equipment were introduced. In Version 4.0, further changes have been made, most notably digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) testing and QC have

Positive Peer Culture with German Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Steinebach, Christoph; Steinebach, Ursula

2009-01-01

Children and youth develop the ability to surmount difficult life challenges through a combination of external supports and internal strengths. Positive peers can contribute substantially to growth in resilient coping and problem-solving skills. Positive Peer Culture (PPC) programs are designed to strengthen supportive social bonds, competence,…

Program Leadership from a Nordic Perspective - Program Leaders' Power to Influence Their Program

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Högfeldt, Anna-Karin; Strömberg, Emma; Jerbrant, Anna

2013-01-01

research demonstrated that program leaders have quite different positions, strategies and methods when it comes to monitoring and developing their programs. In this paper, a deeper investigation is carried out of the (im-) possibilities to make real influence on the study courses that constitutes...... the respective Engineering study programs. Eight program leaders from the five N5T universities have been interviewed, and the analysis of these studies, has culminated in a model for the analysis of program leadership for Engineering education development....

75 FR 77783 - Designation of National Security Positions

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-14

... requiring eligibility for access to Top Secret or ``Q'' classified information; (ii) Positions involving... at the Top Secret or ``Q'' level; (xix) Positions working with significant life-critical/mission... Sensitive information, requiring involvement in Top Secret Special Access Programs (SAP), or positions which...

A Pilot of a Brief Positive Parenting Program on Children Newly Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Zand, Debra H; Bultas, Margaret W; McMillin, Stephen Edward; Halloran, Donna; White, Taryn; McNamara, Donnamarie; Pierce, Katherine J

2017-12-14

Disruptive behaviors can be of comparable or greater concern to parents than the core symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Provision of effective interventions to address these behaviors within the first year of initial diagnosis holds great potential for improving the child's, parents', and family's functioning. We piloted a four-session, manualized, positive parenting program on 21 parents of newly diagnosed children ages 2 through 12 years using a mixed methods design. Seventy-five percent of parents completed four sessions, with 100% reporting high levels of service satisfaction. Preliminary results indicated clinically and statistically significant reductions in child maladaptive behaviors, as well as improvements in parental and family functioning. Practitioners and parents identified several potential implementation adaptations, including additional sessions to focus on ASD education and real-time parent-child interactions. Taken as a whole, these data suggest that a brief positive parenting intervention may be a feasible way to improve child, parent, and family functioning during the first year of ASD diagnosis. Findings point to the need for additional research to determine treatment efficacy and to assist with the identification of moderators and mediators of effects. © 2017 Family Process Institute.

MDEP Generic Common Position No DICWG-05. Common position on the treatment of hardware description language (HDL) programmed devices for use in nuclear safety systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-01-01

Following other industries, the nuclear industry developed increasing interest in the use of programmable logic components that are implemented using hardware description language (HDL) such as such as FPGAs, CPLDs or ASICs. HDL programmed devices (HPD) has both characteristics of software and hardware. Therefore applications using HPDs has many similarities with the traditional software (in particular the design may be affected by errors) and characteristics of traditional electronic design (e.g. electronic-level timing and electrical issues). However, due to the unique nature of HPDs, there exist several differences between HPDs and traditional software. Some key differences include: - HPDs use parallel processing with dedicated hardware for each function instead of executing instructions sequentially as in the case of traditional software. - Safety critical software uses imperative languages which specify each instruction of the program whereas HPDs use declarative languages. - The target of software is a microprocessor, which guarantees properties such as memory consistency after each instruction. Such properties are not inherent in HPDs and thus the design process needs different steps to build and guarantee behavioural properties. - Translation of the HDL description to bit-streams in HPDs is much more involved than the translation of source code to binary in software compilation. In the HPD case, this process is not fully automatic, and therefore designer must guide the tools, which may result in undetectable errors. The Digital Instrumentation and Controls Working Group (DICWG) has agreed that a common position on this topic is warranted given the increase of use of Digital I and C in new reactor designs, its safety implications, and the need to develop a common understanding from the perspectives of regulatory authorities. This action follows the DICWG examination of the regulatory requirements of the participating members and of relevant industry

An Efficient Topology-Based Algorithm for Transient Analysis of Power Grid

KAUST Repository

Yang, Lan

2015-08-10

In the design flow of integrated circuits, chip-level verification is an important step that sanity checks the performance is as expected. Power grid verification is one of the most expensive and time-consuming steps of chip-level verification, due to its extremely large size. Efficient power grid analysis technology is highly demanded as it saves computing resources and enables faster iteration. In this paper, a topology-base power grid transient analysis algorithm is proposed. Nodal analysis is adopted to analyze the topology which is mathematically equivalent to iteratively solving a positive semi-definite linear equation. The convergence of the method is proved.

Multivariate realised kernels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barndorff-Nielsen, Ole Eiler; Hansen, Peter Reinhard; Lunde, Asger

2011-01-01

We propose a multivariate realised kernel to estimate the ex-post covariation of log-prices. We show this new consistent estimator is guaranteed to be positive semi-definite and is robust to measurement error of certain types and can also handle non-synchronous trading. It is the first estimator...... which has these three properties which are all essential for empirical work in this area. We derive the large sample asymptotics of this estimator and assess its accuracy using a Monte Carlo study. We implement the estimator on some US equity data, comparing our results to previous work which has used...

Non-cooperative detection of weak spread-spectrum signals in AWGN

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Vlok, JD

2012-11-01

Full Text Available . The average execution time was measured by counting the number of processing cycles required by the section of C code that calculates the test statistic. The implementation of technique 1 was also enhanced using basic linear algebra sub- 0 0.2 0.4 0... N? n=1 d2n ] cT c = cT c (9) which is a positive-semidefinite (and by definition symmetric) matrix [13]. The simplification in (9) follows from the fact that d2n = 1 for all values of n. By performing elementary row operations on R(X0) it can...

Fock representation of the renormalized higher powers of White noise and the centreless Virasoro (or Witt)-Zamolodchikov-w∞*-Lie algebra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Accardi, Luigi; Boukas, Andreas

2008-01-01

The identification of the *-Lie algebra of the renormalized higher powers of White noise (RHPWN) and the analytic continuation of the second quantized centreless Virasoro (or Witt)-Zamolodchikov-w ∞ *-Lie algebra of conformal field theory and high-energy physics, was recently established on results obtained. In the present paper, we show how the RHPWN Fock kernels must be truncated in order to be positive semi-definite and we obtain a Fock representation of the two algebras. We show that the truncated renormalized higher powers of White noise (TRHPWN) Fock spaces of order ≥2 host the continuous binomial and beta processes

Technology-aided Programs to Support Positive Verbal and PhysicalEngagement in Persons with Moderate or Severe Alzheimer’s Disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giulio E. Lancioni

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Pilot studies using technology-aided programs to promote verbal reminiscence and mild physical activity (i.e., positive forms of engagement in persons with moderate or severe Alzheimer’s disease have provided promising results (Lancioni et al., 2015a, b. The present two studies were aimed at upgrading and/or extending the assessment of those programs. Specifically, Study 1 upgraded the program for verbal reminiscence and assessed it with eight new participants. The upgraded version automatically monitored the participants’ verbal behavior during the sessions, in which photos and brief videos were used to foster verbal reminiscence. Monitoring allowed computer approval and reminders to be consistent with the participants’ behavior. Study 2 extended the assessment of the program for promoting mild physical activity with 10 new participants for whom arm-raising responses were targeted. The results of Study 1 showed that the participants’ mean percentages of intervals with verbal engagement/reminiscence were below 10 during baseline and control sessions and between above 50 and nearly 80 during the intervention. The results of Study 2 showed that the mean frequencies of arm-raising responses were about or below four and between about 10 and 19 per session during the baseline and the intervention, respectively. The general implications of the aforementioned results and the need for new research in the area were discussed.

Bystander Position Taking in School Bullying: The Role of Positive Identity, Self-Efficacy, and Self-Determination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra K. M. Tsang

2011-01-01

Full Text Available School bullying has become an explicit, burgeoning problem challenging the healthy development of children and adolescents in Hong Kong. Many bullying prevention and intervention programs focus on victims and bullies, with bystanders treated as either nonexistent or irrelevant. This paper asserts that bystanders actually play pivotal roles in deciding whether the bullying process and dynamics are benign or adversarial. Bystanders' own abilities and characteristics often influence how they respond to victims and bullies. “P.A.T.H.S. to Adulthood: A Jockey Club Youth Enhancement Scheme” (P.A.T.H.S. = Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes is an evidence-based positive youth development program which shows that primary intervention programs have constructive impacts on junior secondary school students' beliefs and behavior. This paper asserts that intrapsychic qualities, namely identity, self-efficacy, and self-determination, greatly influence how bystanders react in school bullying situations. The paper also explains how classroom-based educational programs based on the P.A.T.H.S. model have been designed to help junior secondary school students strengthen these characteristics, so that they can be constructive bystanders when they encounter school bullying.

Deceleration system for kinematic linkages of positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Stan, G.

2017-08-01

Flexible automation is used more and more in various production processes, so that both machining itself on CNC machine tools and workpiece handling means are performed through programming the needed working cycle. In order to obtain a successful precise positioning, each motion degree needs a certain deceleration before stopping at a programmed point. The increase of motion speed of moving elements within the manipulators structure depends directly on deceleration duty quality before the programmed stop. Proportional valves as well as servo-valves that can perform hydraulic decelerations are well known, but they feature several disadvantages, such as: high price, severe conditions for oil filtering and low reliability under industrial conditions. This work presents a new deceleration system that allows adjustment of deceleration slope according to actual conditions: inertial mass, speed etc. The new solution of hydraulic decelerator allows its integration to a position loop or its usage in case of positioning large elements that only perform fixed cycles. The results being obtained on the positioning accuracy of a linear axis using the new solution of the hydraulic decelerator are presented, too. The price of the new deceleration system is much lower compared to the price of proportional valves or servo-valves.

Intervention Programmes for Developing Positive Self-Concepts in Hospitalized Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Lizasoain, Olga; Polaino, Aquilino

1993-01-01

Describes a program implemented in Navarra, Spain, to prepare children for hospitalization and to provide psychopedagogical follow-up to develop positive self-concepts. Describes the effects of the program on 40 hospitalized children between the ages of 8 and 12, reporting a more positive self-concept among the children who received the…

The positive deviance/hearth approach to reducing child malnutrition: systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bisits Bullen, Piroska A

2011-11-01

The Positive Deviance/Hearth approach aims to rehabilitate malnourished children using practices from mothers in the community who have well-nourished children despite living in poverty. This study assesses its effectiveness in a range of settings. Systematic review of peer reviewed intervention trials and grey literature evaluation reports of child malnutrition programs using the Positive Deviance/Hearth approach. Ten peer reviewed studies and 14 grey literature reports met the inclusion criteria. These described results for 17 unique Positive Deviance/Hearth programs in 12 countries. Nine programs used a pre- and post-test design without a control, which limited the conclusions that could be drawn. Eight used more robust designs such as non-randomized trials, non-randomized cross-sectional sibling studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Of the eight programs that reported nutritional outcomes, five reported some type of positive result in terms of nutritional status - although the improvement was not always as large as predicted, or across the entire target population. Both the two RCTs demonstrated improvements in carer feeding practices. Qualitative results unanimously reported high levels of satisfaction from participants and recipient communities. Overall this study shows mixed results in terms of program effectiveness, although some Positive Deviance/Hearth programs have clearly been successful in particular settings. Sibling studies suggest that the Positive Deviance/Hearth approach may have a role in preventing malnutrition, not just rehabilitation. Further research is needed using more robust study designs and larger sample sizes. Issues related to community participation and consistency in reporting results need to be addressed. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Stanford Linear Collider magnet positioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wand, B.T.

1991-08-01

For the installation of the Stanford Linear Collider (SLC) the positioning and alignment of the beam line components was performed in several individual steps. In the following the general procedures for each step are outlined. The calculation of ideal coordinates for the magnets in the entire SLC will be discussed in detail. Special emphasis was given to the mathematical algorithms and geometry used in the programs to calculate these ideal positions. 35 refs., 21 figs

Design of Robust Pulses to Insufficient Synchronization for OFDM/OQAM Systems in Doubly Dispersive Channels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu Zhao

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a pulse shaping method robust to insufficient synchronization in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing with offset quadrature amplitude modulation (OFDM/OQAM systems over doubly dispersive (DD channels. The proposed pulse is designed as a linear combination of several well localized Hermite functions. The coefficients optimization problem is modeled as a nonconvex constrained fractional programming problem based on the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR maximization criterion. An efficient iterative algorithm is applied to simplify the problem to a series of quadratically constrained quadratic program (QCQP problems which can be solved by semidefinite relaxation (SDR method. Simulation results show that the proposed pulse is superior to traditional pulses with respect to SIR performance over DD channels in the presence of carrier frequency offset (CFO and timing offset (TO.

Using School Lunch Programs To Promote Positive Dietary Habits.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoff, Mary E.

2002-01-01

The variety of school lunch foods available has dramatically expanded as school food managers strive to increase sales and generate revenue. Though lunchtime offerings are often based on student preferences versus nutritional value, with a small investment of effort and commitment to student well-being, schools can create lunch programs that…

Administrative organization in diagnostic radiology residency program leadership.

Science.gov (United States)

Webber, Grant R; Mullins, Mark E; Chen, Zhengjia; Meltzer, Carolyn C

2012-04-01

The aim of this study was to document the current state of administrative structure in US diagnostic radiology (DR) residency program leadership. A secondary objective was to assess for correlation(s), if any, with DR residency programs that equipped positions such as assistant, associate, and emeritus program director (PD) with respect to residency size and region of the country. The Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database, as well as direct communication and programmatic Web site searches, were used to gather data regarding current US DR residency leadership. Data collected included the presence of additional leadership titles, including assistant PD, associate PD, and PD emeritus, and how many faculty members currently held each position. Programs were excluded if results could not be identified. Analysis of variance and t tests were used to estimate the correlations of the size of a residency with having additional or shared PD positions and the types of positions, respectively. Chi-square tests were used to assess for any regional differences. As of the time of this project, the Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database defined 186 US DR residency programs. A total of 173 programs (93%) were included in the analysis; the remainder were excluded because of unavailability of relevant data. Seventy-two percent (124 of 173) of programs had additional DR leadership positions. Of these, 30 programs (17%) had more than one such position. There were no significant differences in the sizes of the programs that used these additional positions (mean, 25 ± 12; range, 6-72) compared with those that did not (mean, 24 ± 12; range, 7-51). There were no significant differences between programs that had additional positions with respect to region of the country. The majority of US DR residency programs used some form of additional DR leadership position. In the majority of cases, this was in the form of an assistant or associate PD. Nearly one

Gender Related Differences in Response to “In Favor of Myself” Wellness Program to Enhance Positive Self & Body Image among Adolescents

OpenAIRE

Golan, Moria; Hagay, Noa; Tamir, Snait

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Physical, neurological and psychological changes are often experienced differently by male and female adolescents. Positive self-esteem, emotional well-being, school achievements, and family connectedness are considered as protective factors against health-compromising behaviors. This study examines the gender differences in respect to the effect of a school-based interactive wellness program--"In Favor of Myself"--on self-image, body image, eating attitudes and behaviors of young...

Human Reliability Program Overview

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bodin, Michael

2012-09-25

This presentation covers the high points of the Human Reliability Program, including certification/decertification, critical positions, due process, organizational structure, program components, personnel security, an overview of the US DOE reliability program, retirees and academia, and security program integration.

Interval Breast Cancer Rates and Histopathologic Tumor Characteristics after False-Positive Findings at Mammography in a Population-based Screening Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Hofvind, Solveig; Sagstad, Silje; Sebuødegård, Sofie; Chen, Ying; Roman, Marta; Lee, Christoph I

2018-04-01

Purpose To compare rates and tumor characteristics of interval breast cancers (IBCs) detected after a negative versus false-positive screening among women participating in the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening Program. Materials and Methods The Cancer Registry Regulation approved this retrospective study. Information about 423 445 women aged 49-71 years who underwent 789 481 full-field digital mammographic screening examinations during 2004-2012 was extracted from the Cancer Registry of Norway. Rates and odds ratios of IBC among women with a negative (the reference group) versus a false-positive screening were estimated by using logistic regression models adjusted for age at diagnosis and county of residence. Results A total of 1302 IBCs were diagnosed after 789 481 screening examinations, of which 7.0% (91 of 1302) were detected among women with a false-positive screening as the most recent breast imaging examination before detection. By using negative screening as the reference, adjusted odds ratios of IBCs were 3.3 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.6, 4.2) and 2.8 (95% CI: 1.8, 4.4) for women with a false-positive screening without and with needle biopsy, respectively. Women with a previous negative screening had a significantly lower proportion of tumors that were 10 mm or less (14.3% [150 of 1049] vs 50.0% [seven of 14], respectively; P false-positive screening with benign biopsy. A retrospective review of the screening mammographic examinations identified 42.9% (39 of 91) of the false-positive cases to be the same lesion as the IBC. Conclusion By using a negative screening as the reference, a false-positive screening examination increased the risk of an IBC three-fold. The tumor characteristics of IBC after a negative screening were less favorable compared with those detected after a previous false-positive screening. © RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Long-term outcome of a randomized controlled universal prevention trial through a positive parenting program: is it worth the effort?

Science.gov (United States)

Hahlweg, Kurt; Heinrichs, Nina; Kuschel, Annett; Bertram, Heike; Naumann, Sebastian

2010-05-16

Approximately 20% of children experience internalizing or externalizing DSM-IV-TR disorders. This prevalence rate cannot be reduced through treatment only. Effective preventive interventions are therefore urgently needed. The aim of the current investigation is to evaluate the two-year efficacy of the group Triple P parenting program administered universally for the prevention of child behavior problems. Based on their respective preschool, N = 280 families were randomly assigned either to the parent training or to the control group. The efficacy was analyzed using multi-source assessments, including questionnaires by mother and father, behavioral observation of mother-child interaction, and teacher evaluations. At the 2-year follow-up, both parents in the Triple P intervention reported significant reductions in dysfunctional parenting behavior, and mothers also an increase in positive parenting behavior. In addition, mothers reported significant reductions in internalizing and externalizing child behavior. Single-parent mothers in the Triple P intervention did not report significant changes in parenting or child problem behavior which is primarily due to inexplicable high positive effects in single parent mothers of the control group. Neither mother-child interactions nor teacher ratings yielded significant results. The results support the long-term efficacy of the Triple P - group program as a universal prevention intervention for changing parenting behavior in two-parent households, but not necessarily in single-parent mothers.

Long-term outcome of a randomized controlled universal prevention trial through a positive parenting program: is it worth the effort?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bertram Heike

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Approximately 20% of children experience internalizing or externalizing DSM-IV-TR disorders. This prevalence rate cannot be reduced through treatment only. Effective preventive interventions are therefore urgently needed. The aim of the current investigation is to evaluate the two-year efficacy of the group Triple P parenting program administered universally for the prevention of child behavior problems. Methods Based on their respective preschool, N = 280 families were randomly assigned either to the parent training or to the control group. The efficacy was analyzed using multi-source assessments, including questionnaires by mother and father, behavioral observation of mother-child interaction, and teacher evaluations. Results At the 2-year follow-up, both parents in the Triple P intervention reported significant reductions in dysfunctional parenting behavior, and mothers also an increase in positive parenting behavior. In addition, mothers reported significant reductions in internalizing and externalizing child behavior. Single-parent mothers in the Triple P intervention did not report significant changes in parenting or child problem behavior which is primarily due to inexplicable high positive effects in single parent mothers of the control group. Neither mother-child interactions nor teacher ratings yielded significant results. Conclusions The results support the long-term efficacy of the Triple P - group program as a universal prevention intervention for changing parenting behavior in two-parent households, but not necessarily in single-parent mothers.

Fast entanglement detection for unknown states of two spatial qutrits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lima, G.; Gomez, E. S.; Saavedra, C.; Vargas, A.; Vianna, R. O.

2010-01-01

We investigate the practicality of the method proposed by Maciel et al. [Phys. Rev. A. 80, 032325 (2009).] for detecting the entanglement of two spatial qutrits (three-dimensional quantum systems), which are encoded in the discrete transverse momentum of single photons transmitted through a multislit aperture. The method is based on the acquisition of partial information of the quantum state through projective measurements, and a data processing analysis done with semidefinite programs. This analysis relies on generating gradually an optimal entanglement witness operator, and numerical investigations have shown that it allows for the entanglement detection of unknown states with a cost much lower than full state tomography.

Finite-Time Stability and Controller Design of Continuous-Time Polynomial Fuzzy Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoxing Chen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Finite-time stability and stabilization problem is first investigated for continuous-time polynomial fuzzy systems. The concept of finite-time stability and stabilization is given for polynomial fuzzy systems based on the idea of classical references. A sum-of-squares- (SOS- based approach is used to obtain the finite-time stability and stabilization conditions, which include some classical results as special cases. The proposed conditions can be solved with the help of powerful Matlab toolbox SOSTOOLS and a semidefinite-program (SDP solver. Finally, two numerical examples and one practical example are employed to illustrate the validity and effectiveness of the provided conditions.

OPTIMIZATION-BASED APPROACH TO TILING OF FINITE AREAS WITH ARBITRARY SETS OF WANG TILES

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Marek Tyburec

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Wang tiles proved to be a convenient tool for the design of aperiodic tilings in computer graphics and in materials engineering. While there are several algorithms for generation of finite-sized tilings, they exploit the specific structure of individual tile sets, which prevents their general usage. In this contribution, we reformulate the NP-complete tiling generation problem as a binary linear program, together with its linear and semidefinite relaxations suitable for the branch and bound method. Finally, we assess the performance of the established formulations on generations of several aperiodic tilings reported in the literature, and conclude that the linear relaxation is better suited for the problem.

Promoting Positive Citizenship: Priming Youth for Action. CIRCLE Working Paper 05

Science.gov (United States)

Zaff, Jonathon F.; Malanchuk, Oksana; Michelsen, Erik; Eccles, Jacquelynne

2003-01-01

Researchers have theorized that programs to promote positive citizenship should begin with an opportunity for adolescents to participate in civic activities, such as community service or political volunteering. In this report, authors expand this theoretical perspective by arguing that programs to promote positive citizenship may need to begin by…

SPOT Program

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Jason T.; Welsh, Sam J.; Farinetti, Antonio L.; Wegner, Tim; Blakeslee, James; Deboeck, Toni F.; Dyer, Daniel; Corley, Bryan M.; Ollivierre, Jarmaine; Kramer, Leonard;

A Pilot Study of the Feasibility and Efficacy of the Strategies to Enhance Positive Parenting (STEPP) Program for Single Mothers of Children with ADHD

Science.gov (United States)

Chacko, Anil; Wymbs, Brian T.; Flammer-Rivera, Lizette M.; Pelham, William E.; Walker, Kathryn S.; Arnold, Fran W.; Visweswaraiah, Hema; Swanger-Gagne, Michelle; Girio, Erin L.; Pirvics, Lauma L.; Herbst, Laura

2008-01-01

Objective: The Strategies to Enhance Positive Parenting (STEPP) program was developed to address putative factors related to poor engagement in and outcomes following traditional behavioral parent training (BPT) for single mothers of children diagnosed with ADHD. Method: Twelve single mothers of children with ADHD were enrolled in an initial…

A different perspective: introducing positive criminology.

Science.gov (United States)

Ronel, Natti; Elisha, Ety

2011-04-01

Positive criminology is a new conceptual perspective of criminology, encompassing several theories and models. Positive criminology refers to a focus on individuals' encounters with forces and influences that are experienced as positive, which distance them from deviance and crime, whether by means of formal and informal therapy programs and interventions, such as self-help groups; through emphasis of positive social elements, such as exposure to goodness, social acceptance, and reintegrative shaming; or based on positive personal traits, such as resilience and coherence. The perspective of positive criminology broadens that of traditional criminology, which focuses mainly on understanding the factors and processes that lead individuals and groups to what is defined as deviant and criminal behavior. Positive criminology is implemented in treatment and rehabilitation of individuals and groups that have demonstrated deviant and criminal behavior, by emphasizing positive experiences that may potentially prevent or discourage continued criminal behavior. Positive criminology is also expressed in prevention based on a positive approach.

38 CFR 1.893 - Establishing and converting part-time positions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... converting part-time positions. 1.893 Section 1.893 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS GENERAL PROVISIONS Part-Time Career Employment Program § 1.893 Establishing and converting part-time positions. Position management and other internal reviews may indicate that positions may be...

Adolescent developmental issues in Hong Kong: Relevance to positive youth development programs in Hong Kong.

Science.gov (United States)

Shek, Daniel T L

2006-01-01

Several adolescent developmental issues and problems in Hong Kong are examined in this paper. First, the changing adolescent substance abuse patterns are described. Second, although the overall youth crime trend was relatively stable in the past decade, shoplifting and stealing crimes deserve our concern. Third, adolescent mental health problem is a growing problem. Fourth, statistics show that unhealthy life styles, such as smoking, early sex and moral confusion are issues of concern. Fifth, the proportion of adolescents experiencing economic disadvantage has increased. Sixth, youth unemployment and non-engaged youth are growing problems when the economy of Hong Kong is undergoing re-structuring. Seventh, family and parenting problems in families with adolescents deserve our attention. Finally, the Social Development Index showed that the development of young people has gradually deteriorated in the past decade. These adolescent issues and problems provide useful pointers for designing the positive youth development program financially sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.

Attractive electron-electron interactions within robust local fitting approximations.

Science.gov (United States)

Merlot, Patrick; Kjærgaard, Thomas; Helgaker, Trygve; Lindh, Roland; Aquilante, Francesco; Reine, Simen; Pedersen, Thomas Bondo

2013-06-30

An analysis of Dunlap's robust fitting approach reveals that the resulting two-electron integral matrix is not manifestly positive semidefinite when local fitting domains or non-Coulomb fitting metrics are used. We present a highly local approximate method for evaluating four-center two-electron integrals based on the resolution-of-the-identity (RI) approximation and apply it to the construction of the Coulomb and exchange contributions to the Fock matrix. In this pair-atomic resolution-of-the-identity (PARI) approach, atomic-orbital (AO) products are expanded in auxiliary functions centered on the two atoms associated with each product. Numerical tests indicate that in 1% or less of all Hartree-Fock and Kohn-Sham calculations, the indefinite integral matrix causes nonconvergence in the self-consistent-field iterations. In these cases, the two-electron contribution to the total energy becomes negative, meaning that the electronic interaction is effectively attractive, and the total energy is dramatically lower than that obtained with exact integrals. In the vast majority of our test cases, however, the indefiniteness does not interfere with convergence. The total energy accuracy is comparable to that of the standard Coulomb-metric RI method. The speed-up compared with conventional algorithms is similar to the RI method for Coulomb contributions; exchange contributions are accelerated by a factor of up to eight with a triple-zeta quality basis set. A positive semidefinite integral matrix is recovered within PARI by introducing local auxiliary basis functions spanning the full AO product space, as may be achieved by using Cholesky-decomposition techniques. Local completion, however, slows down the algorithm to a level comparable with or below conventional calculations. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

22 CFR 506.2 - Review of positions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Review of positions. 506.2 Section 506.2 Foreign Relations BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS PART-TIME CAREER EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM § 506.2 Review of positions... feasibility of converting them to part-time. Among the criteria which may be used when conducting this review...

Gender related differences in response to "in favor of myself" wellness program to enhance positive self & body image among adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Golan, Moria; Hagay, Noa; Tamir, Snait

2014-01-01

Physical, neurological and psychological changes are often experienced differently by male and female adolescents. Positive self-esteem, emotional well-being, school achievements, and family connectedness are considered as protective factors against health-compromising behaviors. This study examines the gender differences in respect to the effect of a school-based interactive wellness program--"In Favor of Myself"--on self-image, body image, eating attitudes and behaviors of young adolescents. Two hundred and ten adolescents (mean age 13.5) participated in the intervention group, 55% were girls and 45% boys. Program consisted of eight 90-minutes structured sessions integrated into a regular school coping skills curriculum. The program focused on self-esteem, self-image, body image, media literacy and cognitive dissonance. The overall impact of the program and the study protocol were previously published. Overall, there are gender related differences in respect to body image and self-image in young adolescents in response to "In Favor of Myself". Compared to boys, girls reported at baseline higher self-esteem, being more contingent by appearance, and their self-image was more influenced by popularity, appearance, interpersonal communication and admired people. Furthermore girls presented greater gap between current body figure and perceived ideal figure. Not only were girls more dissatisfied with their body, but they were more active in attempts to become and/or remain "thin". At program termination, gender × time effect was detected in reduction of self-worth contingent by others, change in importance given to achievements at schools, parents' perceptions, as well as the impact of comparisons to friends and family members on self-image. Girls exhibited more gains than boys from 'In Favor of Myself' which raise the questions about how effective would be the program when delivered in mixed gender groups vs. mono-gender groups.

Gender related differences in response to "in favor of myself" wellness program to enhance positive self & body image among adolescents.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moria Golan

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Physical, neurological and psychological changes are often experienced differently by male and female adolescents. Positive self-esteem, emotional well-being, school achievements, and family connectedness are considered as protective factors against health-compromising behaviors. This study examines the gender differences in respect to the effect of a school-based interactive wellness program--"In Favor of Myself"--on self-image, body image, eating attitudes and behaviors of young adolescents. METHODS: Two hundred and ten adolescents (mean age 13.5 participated in the intervention group, 55% were girls and 45% boys. Program consisted of eight 90-minutes structured sessions integrated into a regular school coping skills curriculum. The program focused on self-esteem, self-image, body image, media literacy and cognitive dissonance. The overall impact of the program and the study protocol were previously published. RESULTS: Overall, there are gender related differences in respect to body image and self-image in young adolescents in response to "In Favor of Myself". Compared to boys, girls reported at baseline higher self-esteem, being more contingent by appearance, and their self-image was more influenced by popularity, appearance, interpersonal communication and admired people. Furthermore girls presented greater gap between current body figure and perceived ideal figure. Not only were girls more dissatisfied with their body, but they were more active in attempts to become and/or remain "thin". At program termination, gender × time effect was detected in reduction of self-worth contingent by others, change in importance given to achievements at schools, parents' perceptions, as well as the impact of comparisons to friends and family members on self-image. CONCLUSIONS: Girls exhibited more gains than boys from 'In Favor of Myself' which raise the questions about how effective would be the program when delivered in mixed gender groups

Fungible Correlation Matrices: A Method for Generating Nonsingular, Singular, and Improper Correlation Matrices for Monte Carlo Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Waller, Niels G

2016-01-01

For a fixed set of standardized regression coefficients and a fixed coefficient of determination (R-squared), an infinite number of predictor correlation matrices will satisfy the implied quadratic form. I call such matrices fungible correlation matrices. In this article, I describe an algorithm for generating positive definite (PD), positive semidefinite (PSD), or indefinite (ID) fungible correlation matrices that have a random or fixed smallest eigenvalue. The underlying equations of this algorithm are reviewed from both algebraic and geometric perspectives. Two simulation studies illustrate that fungible correlation matrices can be profitably used in Monte Carlo research. The first study uses PD fungible correlation matrices to compare penalized regression algorithms. The second study uses ID fungible correlation matrices to compare matrix-smoothing algorithms. R code for generating fungible correlation matrices is presented in the supplemental materials.

Learning-based Nonlinear Model Predictive Control to Improve Vision-based Mobile Robot Path Tracking

Science.gov (United States)

2015-07-01

corresponding cost function to be J(u) = ( xd − x)TQx ( xd − x) + uTRu, (20) where Qx ∈ RKnx×Knx is positive semi-definite, R and u are as in (3), xd is a...sequence of desired states, xd = ( xd ,k+1, . . . , xd ,k+K), x is a sequence of predicted states, x = (xk+1, . . . ,xk+K), and K is the given prediction...vact,k−1+b, ωact,k−1+b), based ωk θk vk xd ,i−1 xd ,i xd ,i+1 xk yk Figure 5: Definition of the robot velocities, vk and ωk, and three pose variables

Scalar hairy black holes and solitons in asymptotically flat spacetimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nucamendi, Ulises; Salgado, Marcelo

2003-01-01

A numerical analysis shows that the Einstein field equations allow static and spherically symmetric black hole solutions with scalar-field hair in asymptotically flat spacetimes. When regularity at the origin is imposed (i.e., in the absence of a horizon) globally regular scalar solitons are found. The asymptotically flat solutions are obtained provided that the scalar potential V(φ) of the theory is not positive semidefinite and such that its local minimum is also a zero of the potential, the scalar field settling asymptotically at that minimum. The configurations, although unstable under spherically symmetric linear perturbations, are regular and thus can serve as counterexamples to the no-scalar-hair conjecture

Three-dimensional image reconstruction. I. Determination of pattern orientation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blankenbecler, Richard

2004-01-01

The problem of determining the Euler angles of a randomly oriented three-dimensional (3D) object from its 2D Fraunhofer diffraction patterns is discussed. This problem arises in the reconstruction of a positive semidefinite 3D object using oversampling techniques. In such a problem, the data consist of a measured set of magnitudes from 2D tomographic images of the object at several unknown orientations. After the orientation angles are determined, the object itself can then be reconstructed by a variety of methods using oversampling, the magnitude data from the 2D images, physical constraints on the image, and then iteration to determine the phases

Subjective Outcome Evaluation of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Secondary 2 Program: Views of the Program Participants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel T. L. Shek

2009-01-01

Full Text Available A total of 196 secondary schools participated in the Secondary 2 Program of the Full Implementation Phase of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes. After completion of the Tier 1 Program, 30,731 students responded to the Subjective Outcome Evaluation Form (Form A to assess their perceptions of the program, instructors, and perceived effectiveness of the program. Based on the consolidated reports submitted by the schools to the funding body, the research team aggregated the consolidated data to form a “reconstructed” overall profile on the perceptions of the program participants. Findings demonstrated that high proportions of the respondents had positive perceptions of the program and the instructors, and roughly four-fifths of the respondents regarded the program as beneficial to them. Correlation analyses showed that perceived program and instructor characteristics were positively associated with perceived benefits of the program.

Development and Implementation of a Training-of-Trainers Program for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure in Neonatal and Pediatric Patients in Five Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Patrick T; Benckert, Megan M; Moresky, Rachel T; Morris, Marilyn C

2017-10-01

We describe a pragmatic training-of-trainers program for the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for neonatal and pediatric patients. The program is designed for medical professionals working in low- and middle-income countries and involves 2 days of in-class training followed by 1 day of in-service training. The program was created after training in Cambodia, Ghana, Honduras, Kenya and Rwanda and addresses the issues of resource availability, cultural context and local buy-in and partnership in low- and middle-income countries. We hope others will use the training program to increase knowledge and use of CPAP with the ultimate goal of improving neonatal and pediatric survival globally. © The Author [2017]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Position Paper: Dental General Practice Residency Programs: Financing and Operations.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanson, Paul W.

1983-01-01

A discussion of changeable economic issues that can affect dental general practice residency program planning includes costs and resource allocation, maximizing efficiency and productivity, ambulatory and inpatient revenue sources, management functions, faculty as practitioners, faculty appointments, and marketing. (MSE)

UHV photoelectron x-ray beam position monitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, E.D.; Oversluizen, T.

1989-01-01

As part of our research program to develop viable beam position monitors for both the X-ray and VUV beamlines at the NSLS, we have constructed vertical photon beam position monitors which are presently mounted in two front-ends in the X-ray ring. These area-type detectors are located before the safety shutters and are, therefore, able to monitor the beam position even during injection. The features of this type of monitor which contribute to its long-term stability, position sensitivity, and immunity to horizontal beam motion have been examined and will be discussed. 6 refs., 4 figs

A setup for measurement of beam stability and position using position sensitive detector for Indus-1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nathwani, R.K.; Joshi, D.K.; Tyagi, Y.; Soni, R.S.; Puntambekar, T.A.; Pithawa, C.K.

2009-01-01

The 450 MeV electron synchrotron radiation source Indus-1 is operational at RRCAT. A set-up has been developed to measure the relative transverse positional stability of the electron beam and its position with microns resolution using position sensitive photodiodes. The set-up has been installed at the diagnostics beam line of Indus-1. Synchrotron light from photo physics beamline was reflected out by inserting a Ni coated mirror and was focused onto a duo-lateral position sensitive photodiode by using two mirrors of 1.25 meter focal length to obtain unity magnification. The set-up consists of a duo-lateral position sensitive detector (PSD), precision processing electronics and a PC based data acquisition system. A computer program captures the processed signals on to a PC using GPIB interface and displays vertical position of the beam in real time. The paper describes the salient features of the setup developed for measurement of beam stability. (author)

Educational Evaluators--A Model for Task Oriented Position Development

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, David; and others

1970-01-01

An outline of 44 evaluator tasks is discussed in terms of its usefulness in defining, evaluating, and improving the position of "educational evaluator ; in adapting the position to the needs of particular institutions; and in designing appropriate evaluator training programs. (JES)

22 CFR 506.3 - Establishing and converting part-time positions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Establishing and converting part-time positions. 506.3 Section 506.3 Foreign Relations BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS PART-TIME CAREER EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM § 506.3 Establishing and converting part-time positions. Position management and other internal...

IMPACT OF THE U.S. SUPPORT PROGRAM SAFEGUARDS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

PEPPER, S.; OSIECKI, C.

2006-01-01

The U.S. Support Program began funding an internship program in the IAEA Department of Safeguards in 2002. Since that time, 39 U.S. citizens and permanent residents have been placed in one-year, paid internships with the IAEA. The management of the internship program was originally the responsibility of the International Safeguards Project Office but was transferred to the Office of Educational Programs at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 2004. Feedback on the internship program from the U.S. government and the IAEA has been positive. The interns have completed basic yet essential work for the Department of Safeguards and freed IAEA staff members to perform more complex tasks. The cost of an intern is low relative to other forms of human resources support. After the conclusion of their assignments, many of the interns go on to work for the U.S. government, the national laboratories, or companies in international safeguards and nonproliferation. This paper will discuss the work done by the interns for the IAEA, factors influencing the success of the internship program, and the effects the program has had on the careers of interns, in preparing the next generation to work in the nuclear industry, participation in INMM activities, and recruitment for U.S. citizens for safeguards positions

Experiences with an identification and quantification program for inhibitor-positive milk samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Kress, Claudia; Seidler, Caroline; Kerp, Bianca; Schneider, Elisabeth; Usleber, Ewald

2007-03-14

Beta-lactam antibiotics (penicillins, cephalosporins) are still the most commonly used antibiotics for dairy cows in Germany. In routine milk testing, according to the German milk quality regulation, a positive result obtained for bulk tank milk by microbiological inhibitor tests needs no further confirmation, but results in reduced milk payment of 0.05 euros kg(-1) for one month. In some cases, however, further identification of the causative agent can be of interest, either if antimicrobial drugs have not knowingly been used recently, or if improper use of such drugs is denied. As a service for milk producers, our laboratory offers further analyses of violative milk samples, aiming at the identification and quantification of the inhibitor(s). In this program, a panel of microbiological inhibitor tests, receptor tests, and enzyme immunoassays (EIA) is used in a step-by-step analysis, which primarily focusses on beta-lactams, but also includes other compounds such as sulfonamides or tetracyclines, respectively. Here we report results for violative milk samples (n=63) analysed between 2003 and 2005. In most cases (95%), beta-lactam antibiotics could be identified, although not always at levels exceeding the respective MRL values. Penicillin G (mostly together with benzylpenicilloyl metabolites) could be identified in 74.6% of all samples. Other compounds identified were, in decreasing order, ceftiofur (11%), ampicillin/amoxicillin (6.3%), isoxazolyl penicillins (3.2%), and sulfonamides (1.6%). The results indicate that penicillin G is still the predominant antibiotic responsible for violative bulk tank milk samples as detected during regulatory control.

Prevention of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Adolescents: 42 and 54 Months Follow-Up of the Aussie Optimism Program-Positive Thinking Skills.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julie eJohnstone

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Anxiety and depression are the most commonly reported mental health problems amongst Australian children and adolescents. The Aussie Optimism Program: Positive Thinking Skills (AOP- PTS is a universal intervention program based on cognitive and behavioral strategies and aimed to prevent anxiety and depression in the middle primary school children aged 9-10 years old. 370 students randomly assigned to the intervention and control condition participated in the 42 and 54 months follow – up study. The intervention group received the AOP-PTS 10-week program and the control group received the regular Health Education curriculum. Students were assessed on anxiety, depression and attribution style at school whilst parents reported on their child’s externalizing and internalising problems at home. Results showed there were no significant reduction across groups in the depressive and anxiety symptoms, and attribution style at either 42 or 54 months follow-up. These findings suggest that AOP-PTS has short and medium term effects but were not sustained in longer term period. Future strategies to achieve the desirable outcomes in a longitudinal study are discussed.

Some quantum Lie algebras of type Dn positive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bautista, Cesar; Juarez-Ramirez, Maria Araceli

2003-01-01

A quantum Lie algebra is constructed within the positive part of the Drinfeld-Jimbo quantum group of type D n . Our quantum Lie algebra structure includes a generalized antisymmetry property and a generalized Jacobi identity closely related to the braid equation. A generalized universal enveloping algebra of our quantum Lie algebra of type D n positive is proved to be the Drinfeld-Jimbo quantum group of the same type. The existence of such a generalized Lie algebra is reduced to an integer programming problem. Moreover, when the integer programming problem is feasible we show, by means of the generalized Jacobi identity, that the Poincare-Birkhoff-Witt theorem (basis) is still true

Review of HRP Positions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Center for Reliability Studies

2007-01-01

The Department of Energy (DOE) Human Reliability Program (HRP), published as 10 CFR Part 712, is currently being reviewed and revised to address concerns identified during its implementation. Although these ''page changes'' primarily incorporate clarification of terms and language, the following discussion relates to broadening the definition of positions that require HRP certification that is found in {section}712.10.

Optimized entanglement witnesses for Dicke states

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bergmann, Marcel; Guehne, Otfried [Naturwissenschaftlich-Technische Fakultaet, Universitaet Siegen, Department Physik, Walter-Flex-Strasse 3, D-57068 Siegen (Germany)

2013-07-01

Quantum entanglement is an important resource for applications in quantum information processing like quantum teleportation and cryptography. Moreover, the number of particles that can be entangled experimentally using polarized photons or ion traps has been significantly enlarged. Therefore, criteria to decide the question whether a given multi-particle state is entangled or not have to be improved. Our approach to this problem uses the notion of PPT mixtures which form an approximation to the set of bi-separable states. With this method, entanglement witnesses can be obtained in a natural manner via linear semi-definite programming. In our contribution, we will present analytical results for entanglement witnesses for Dicke states. This allows to overcome the limitations of convex optimization.

One-way quantum key distribution: Simple upper bound on the secret key rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moroder, Tobias; Luetkenhaus, Norbert; Curty, Marcos

2006-01-01

We present a simple method to obtain an upper bound on the achievable secret key rate in quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols that use only unidirectional classical communication during the public-discussion phase. This method is based on a necessary precondition for one-way secret key distillation; the legitimate users need to prove that there exists no quantum state having a symmetric extension that is compatible with the available measurements results. The main advantage of the obtained upper bound is that it can be formulated as a semidefinite program, which can be efficiently solved. We illustrate our results by analyzing two well-known qubit-based QKD protocols: the four-state protocol and the six-state protocol

Gender Related Differences in Response to “In Favor of Myself” Wellness Program to Enhance Positive Self & Body Image among Adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Golan, Moria; Hagay, Noa; Tamir, Snait

2014-01-01

Background Physical, neurological and psychological changes are often experienced differently by male and female adolescents. Positive self-esteem, emotional well-being, school achievements, and family connectedness are considered as protective factors against health-compromising behaviors. This study examines the gender differences in respect to the effect of a school-based interactive wellness program – “In Favor of Myself” – on self-image, body image, eating attitudes and behaviors of young adolescents. Methods Two hundred and ten adolescents (mean age 13.5) participated in the intervention group, 55% were girls and 45% boys. Program consisted of eight 90-minutes structured sessions integrated into a regular school coping skills curriculum. The program focused on self-esteem, self-image, body image, media literacy and cognitive dissonance. The overall impact of the program and the study protocol were previously published. Results Overall, there are gender related differences in respect to body image and self-image in young adolescents in response to “In Favor of Myself”. Compared to boys, girls reported at baseline higher self-esteem, being more contingent by appearance, and their self-image was more influenced by popularity, appearance, interpersonal communication and admired people. Furthermore girls presented greater gap between current body figure and perceived ideal figure. Not only were girls more dissatisfied with their body, but they were more active in attempts to become and/or remain “thin”. At program termination, gender × time effect was detected in reduction of self-worth contingent by others, change in importance given to achievements at schools, parents' perceptions, as well as the impact of comparisons to friends and family members on self-image. Conclusions Girls exhibited more gains than boys from ‘In Favor of Myself’ which raise the questions about how effective would be the program when delivered in mixed gender groups vs

GPS Software Packages Deliver Positioning Solutions

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

"To determine a spacecraft s position, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) developed an innovative software program called the GPS (global positioning system)-Inferred Positioning System and Orbit Analysis Simulation Software, abbreviated as GIPSY-OASIS, and also developed Real-Time GIPSY (RTG) for certain time-critical applications. First featured in Spinoff 1999, JPL has released hundreds of licenses for GIPSY and RTG, including to Longmont, Colorado-based DigitalGlobe. Using the technology, DigitalGlobe produces satellite imagery with highly precise latitude and longitude coordinates and then supplies it for uses within defense and intelligence, civil agencies, mapping and analysis, environmental monitoring, oil and gas exploration, infrastructure management, Internet portals, and navigation technology."

Knowledge, skills, and abilities for key radiation protection positions at DOE facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

This document provides detailed qualification criteria for contractor key radiation protection personnel. Although federal key radiation protection positions are also identified, qualification standards for federal positions are provided in DOE O 360.1 and the DOE Technical Qualifications Program. Appendices B and D provide detailed listings for knowledge, skills, and abilities for contractor and DOE federal key radiation protection positions. This information may be used in developing position descriptions and individual development plans. Information provided in Appendix C may be useful in developing performance measures and assessing an individual's performance in his or her specific position. Additionally, Federal personnel may use this information to augment their Office/facility qualification standards under the Technical Qualifications Program

78 FR 22554 - Nationwide Differential Global Positioning System (NDGPS)

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-16

... accuracy and integrity of the Global Positioning System (GPS) derived positions for surface transportation..., contact LT Luke Byrd, Coast Guard, NDGPS Program Manager, telephone 202-372-1547 or email Robert.l.byrd... The NDGPS augments GPS with an additional differential correction signal. Differential GPS (DGPS...

A centrally generated primary care physician audit report does not improve colonoscopy uptake after a positive result on a fecal occult blood test in Ontario's ColonCancerCheck program.

Science.gov (United States)

Stock, D; Rabeneck, L; Baxter, N N; Paszat, L F; Sutradhar, R; Yun, L; Tinmouth, J

2017-02-01

Timely follow-up of fecal occult blood screening with colonoscopy is essential for achieving colorectal cancer mortality reduction. In the present study, we evaluated the effectiveness of centrally generated, physician-targeted audit and feedback to improve colonoscopy uptake after a positive fecal occult blood test (fobt) result within Ontario's population-wide ColonCancerCheck Program. This prospective cohort study used data sets from Ontario's ColonCancerCheck Program (2008-2011) that were linked to provincial administrative health databases. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the effect of centralized, physician-targeted audit and feedback on colonoscopy uptake in an Ontario-wide fobt-positive cohort. A mailed physician audit and feedback report identifying individuals outstanding for colonoscopy for 3 or more months after a positive fobt result did not increase the likelihood of colonoscopy uptake (hazard ratio: 0.95; 95% confidence interval: 0.79 to 1.13). Duration of positive fobt status was strongly inversely associated with the hazard of follow-up colonoscopy ( p for linear trend: audit and feedback reports does not improve colonoscopy uptake for screening participants with a positive fobt result outstanding for 3 or more months. Mailed physician-targeted screening audit and feedback reports alone are unlikely to improve compliance with follow-up colonoscopy in Ontario. Other interventions such as physician audits or automatic referrals, demonstrated to be effective in other jurisdictions, might be warranted.

An Introduction to the SMARTRISK Heroes Program: Positive Social Marketing for Adolescent Injury Prevention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philip R. Groff

2006-09-01

Full Text Available This article provides background on the SMARTRISK Heroes Program, a mobile stage production that introduces young people to the prevalence of unintentional injury for their age group and presents them with a series of strategies that will reduce the likelihood that they will be unintentionally injured or killed. The program logic is consistent with theoretical work from the area of health promotion including the Protection Motivation Theory and the Transtheoretical Model of Stages of Change. The SMARTRISK Heroes Program has been the subject of a number of past evaluations that are briefly described. The program logic model was included in this article. Additional information on the program and its evaluations can be found at http://www.smartrisk.ca by selecting SMARTRISK Heroes, under the “Youth Tab.”

13 CFR 120.395 - What is SBA's collateral position?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false What is SBA's collateral position? 120.395 Section 120.395 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUSINESS LOANS Special Purpose Loans Builders Loan Program § 120.395 What is SBA's collateral position? SBA will require...

Lessons from Canada's health program.

Science.gov (United States)

Terris, M

1990-01-01

The Canadian health program is described and analyzed. Positive features include financing through progressive taxation; complete coverage of physician and hospital services; complete absence of deductibles, copayments, and extra charges by physicians and hospitals; lower administrative costs because private insurance companies are excluded from the program; and avoidance of the straitjacket of a single federal program by decentralization to the provinces. Negative features include ever-rising costs due to the almost complete dominance of fee-for-service payment to physicians; failure to monitor the quality of care; and neglect of serious support for preventive services and improved living standards--the two most important determinants of health status. Recommendations are made for a U.S. national health program that would incorporate the positive features of the Canadian program and avoid its deficiencies.

Group intervention: A way to improve working teams' positive psychological capital.

Science.gov (United States)

Harty, Bo; Gustafsson, John-Anders; Björkdahl, Ann; Möller, Anders

2015-01-01

Positive psychological capital is reported to have positive effects on people's well-being and attitudes to their working lives. The objective of this study was to investigate if it is possible to increase the level of positive psychological capital by two group intervention programs. The research design was a controlled study with 2 × 2 experimental groups and two control groups. Two of the experimental groups received intervention I (IG I), the other two experimental groups received intervention II (IG II). Assessments were made before and after the intervention programs, with a follow-up at six months post-intervention. Instruments measuring the fundamentals of psychological capital: self-efficacy, hope, optimism, as well as health and job satisfaction were used. The results show that it is possible to increase the level of positive emotions, self-efficacy and job satisfaction of members of a working team by using group intervention methods. The positive changes observed at the end of the program remained six months after the intervention, with the exception of job satisfaction in IG II. It seems that the intervention had a greater influence on those persons who at the start of the study reported a low level of self-enhancement. The results were more pronounced in intervention group I where reinforcement of the resources and positive aspects of the work place environment were provided. A 10-week group intervention program that focused on learned optimism proved to be successful in increasing levels of self-efficacy and job satisfaction. While improvement was maintained six months post-intervention the small sample size and the attrition rate are limitations. Results are promising and further research is warranted.

The multivariate supOU stochastic volatility model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barndorff-Nielsen, Ole; Stelzer, Robert

Using positive semidefinite supOU (superposition of Ornstein-Uhlenbeck type) processes to describe the volatility, we introduce a multivariate stochastic volatility model for financial data which is capable of modelling long range dependence effects. The finiteness of moments and the second order...... structure of the volatility, the log returns, as well as their "squares" are discussed in detail. Moreover, we give several examples in which long memory effects occur and study how the model as well as the simple Ornstein-Uhlenbeck type stochastic volatility model behave under linear transformations....... In particular, the models are shown to be preserved under invertible linear transformations. Finally, we discuss how (sup)OU stochastic volatility models can be combined with a factor modelling approach....

Market segmentation and positioning: matching creativity with fiscal responsibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiener, M E

1989-01-01

This paper describes an approach to continuing professional education (CPE) program development in nursing within a university environment that utilizes the concepts of market segmentation and positioning. Use of these strategies enables the academic CPE enterprise to move beyond traditional needs assessment practices to create more successful and better-managed CPE programs.

Preserving the nuclear option: The AIAA position paper on space nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen, D.M.; Bennett, G.L.; El-Genk, M.S.; Newhouse, A.R.; Rose, M.F.; Rovang, R.D.

1996-01-01

In response to published reports about the decline in funding for space nuclear power, the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) approved a position paper in March 1995 that recommends (1) development and support of an integrated space nuclear power program by DOE, NASA and DoD; (2) Congressional support for the program; (3) advocacy of the program by government and industry leaders; and (4) continuation of cooperation between the U.S. and other countries to advance nuclear power source technology and to promote safety. This position paper has been distributed to various people having oversight of the U.S. space nuclear power program. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

Prevention of Internalising Disorders in 9-10 year old children: Efficacy of the Aussie Optimism Positive Thinking Skills Program at 30-month follow-up

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David eMorrison

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The Aussie Optimism: Positive Thinking Skills Program (AOPTP is a school-based prevention program aimed at addressing anxious and depressive symptoms in children aged 9-10 years. Nine-hundred and ten students from 22 Australian primary schools situated in low socio-economic areas were randomly assigned to either an intervention or control group, and assessed at a 30-month follow up. Those in the intervention group received the AOPTP program, where the control group continued to receive the regular health education course. Students completed self-report measures regarding their levels of depression, anxiety, and attribution style. Parents also reported on their children’s externalising and internalising problems outside of school. There were no significant differences between groups in regard to anxiety or depression, as well as no significant differences in attributional styles. Parents reported significantly less hyperactive behaviours from children in the intervention group. This finding suggests that AOP-PTS has the capacity to treat externalising problems at a medium term effect. The decrease in the externalising problems provides evidence of a partial medium term intervention effect. Future studies should continue to evaluate the program at a long term follow up.

The 3-year disease management effect: understanding the positive return on investment.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyman, John A; Jeffery, Molly Moore; Abraham, Jean M; Jutkowitz, Eric; Dowd, Bryan E

2013-11-01

Conventional wisdom suggests that health promotion programs yield a positive return on investment (ROI) in year 3. In the case of the University of Minnesota's program, a positive ROI was achieved in the third year, but it was due entirely to the effectiveness of the disease management (DM) program. The objective of this study is to investigate why. Differences-in-differences regression equations were estimated to determine the effect of DM participation on spending (overall and service specific), hospitalizations, and avoidable hospitalizations. Disease management participation reduced expenditures overall, and especially in the third year for employees, and reduced hospitalizations and avoidable hospitalizations. The positive ROI at Minnesota was due to increased effectiveness of DM in the third year (mostly due to fewer hospitalizations) but also to the simple durability of the average DM effect.

Evaluation of the Tier 1 Program of Project P.A.T.H.S.: Secondary Data Analyses of Conclusions Drawn by the Program Implementers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel T. L. Shek

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes is a curricula-based positive youth development program. In the experimental implementation phase, 52 schools participated in the program. Based on subjective outcome evaluation data collected from the program participants (Form A and program implementers (Form B in each school, the program implementers were invited to write down five conclusions based on an integration of the evaluation findings (N = 52. The conclusions stated in the 52 evaluation reports were further analyzed via secondary data analyses in this paper. Results showed that most of the conclusions concerning perceptions of the Tier 1 Program, instructors, and effectiveness of the programs were positive in nature. There were also conclusions reflecting the respondents’ appreciation of the program. Finally, responses on the difficulties encountered and suggestions for improvements were observed. In conjunction with the previous evaluation findings, the present study suggests that the Tier 1 Program was well received by the stakeholders and the program was beneficial to the development of the program participants.

The Efficacy of the Enhanced Aussie Optimism Positive Thinking Skills Program in Improving Social and Emotional Learning in Middle Childhood

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacqueline D Myles-Pallister

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of the modified and enhanced Aussie Optimism Positive Thinking Skills Program (AO-PTS on Year 4 and 5 children’s social and emotional learning (SEL skills. AO-PTS is a universal-school based program that is implemented by class teachers as part of regular school curricula and was developed for the prevention of depression and anxiety. The study comprised a total of 683 Year 4 and 5 students from 10 private primary schools in Western Australia. Students were assessed on two subscales of emotional attribution at school whilst parents reported on their children’s externalizing and internalizing problems outside of school and at home. Two analyses were conducted: seven intervention schools were assessed at pre- and post-test (Analysis 1 and pre-post change in three intervention schools were compared to pre-post change in three matched control schools (Analysis 2. Results from Analysis 1 showed that the intervention children had increased in their overall emotional attribution accuracy and decreased in total difficulties and hyperactivity; Results from Analysis 2 revealed no intervention effect on emotional attribution accuracy or internalizing or externalizing problems. These findings suggest that the enhanced AO-PTS’s effects on SEL were not evident in the short-term period after intervention. The non-significant findings and future directions for AO-PTS research and program modification were discussed.

Mammography Clinical Image Quality and the False Positive Rate in a Canadian Breast Cancer Screening Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Guertin, Marie-Hélène; Théberge, Isabelle; Zomahoun, Hervé Tchala Vignon; Dufresne, Michel-Pierre; Pelletier, Éric; Brisson, Jacques

2018-05-01

The study sought to determine if mammography quality is associated with the false positive (FP) rate in the Quebec breast cancer screening program in 2004 and 2005. Mammography quality of a random sample of screen-film mammograms was evaluated by an expert radiologist following the criteria of the Canadian Association of Radiologists. For each screening examination, scores ranging from 1 (poor quality) to 5 (excellent quality) were attributed for positioning, compression, contrast, exposure level, sharpness, and artifacts. A final overall quality score (lower or higher) was also given. Poisson regression models with robust estimation of variance and adjusted for potential confounding factors were used to assess associations of mammography quality with the FP rate. Among 1,209 women without cancer, there were 104 (8.6%) FPs. Lower overall mammography quality is associated with an increase in the FP rate (risk ratio [RR], 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0-2.1; P = .07) but this increase was not statistically significant. Artifacts were associated with an increase in the FP rate (RR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.3-3.3; P = .01) whereas lower quality of exposure level was related to a reduction of the FP rate (RR, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.1-1.0; P = .01). Lower quality scores for all other quality attributes were related to a nonstatistically significant increase in the FP rate of 10%-30%. Artifacts can have a substantial effect on the FP rate. The effect of overall mammography quality on the FP rate may also be substantial and needs to be clarified. Copyright © 2017 Canadian Association of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

POSITIVE LIFE CHANGE AFTER CANCER: THE KEY INGREDIENTS TO FACILITATE IT AND EFFECTS ON WELL-BEING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristian Ochoa Arnedo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Over the last decades, Positive Psychology (PP has promoted the scientific study of positive life changes in the aftermath of cancer. These have been integrated within negative life changes, based on the same human experience framework. Innovative interventions have been designed, prioritizing the pathways to the reduction of emotional distress and psychopathology in cancer, through the facilitation of positive psychological functioning. These interventions have achieved promising results. A theoretical and integrative review of the PP-related constructs was performed in the relevant databases (PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, etc.. These constructs have been linked to positive life changes after cancer and their therapeutic potential. Finally, we provide a summary of a positive psychotherapy program for cancer survivors, indicating the therapeutic strategies that facilitate positive life changes in the aftermath of cancer. Positive life changes after suffering cancer are more the norm than the exception. These changes play an important role in psychosocial adjustment, adherence to cancer treatments, well-being and quality of life. Psychological treatment programs based on PP achieve promising results with cancer. These programs are capable of complementing and improving the outcomes achieved by traditional stress-management programs.

Effectiveness and Successful Program Elements of SOAR’s Afterschool Programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janet L. Johnson

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Project SOAR provided after-school programs that afforded expanded learning opportunities to help students succeed in local public schools and to contribute to the general welfare of the community. Program components focused on building students’ academic skills and positive attitudes, aided by teachers, mentors, parent education, and local agencies. Instructional programs were conducted to help reduce drug use and violence. Activities included academic assistance, technology training, mentoring, service learning projects, and education in life skills and the arts. Parent involvement was encouraged. Behavioral and academic outcomes—especially at the high school level—were analyzed to determine program effectiveness regarding academic achievement, dropout rates, and rates and frequency of suspensions. Successful program elements and strategies are noted.

Monitoring positive mental health and its determinants in Canada: the development of the Positive Mental Health Surveillance Indicator Framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Orpana

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The Mental Health Strategy for Canada identified a need to enhance the collection of data on mental health in Canada. While surveillance systems on mental illness have been established, a data gap for monitoring positive mental health and its determinants was identified. The goal of this project was to develop a Positive Mental Health Surveillance Indicator Framework, to provide a picture of the state of positive mental health and its determinants in Canada. Data from this surveillance framework will be used to inform programs and policies to improve the mental health of Canadians. Methods: A literature review and environmental scan were conducted to provide the theoretical base for the framework, and to identify potential positive mental health outcomes and risk and protective factors. The Public Health Agency of Canada’s definition of positive mental health was adopted as the conceptual basis for the outcomes of this framework. After identifying a comprehensive list of risk and protective factors, mental health experts, other governmental partners and non-governmental stakeholders were consulted to prioritize these indicators. Subsequently, these groups were consulted to identify the most promising measurement approaches for each indicator. Results: A conceptual framework for surveillance of positive mental health and its determinants has been developed to contain 5 outcome indicators and 25 determinant indicators organized within 4 domains at the individual, family, community and societal level. This indicator framework addresses a data gap identified in Canada’s strategy for mental health and will be used to inform programs and policies to improve the mental health status of Canadians throughout the life course.

Alignment and position visualization methods for the biomedical imaging and therapy (BMIT) MRT lift

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bree, Michael; Miller, Denise; Kerr, Graham; Belev, George; Wysokinski, Tomasz W.; Dolton, Wade

2016-01-01

The Microbeam Radiation Therapy (MRT) Lift is an eight stage positioning and scanning system at the Canadian Light Source’s BMIT Facility. Alignment of the sample with the beam using the MRT Lift is a time consuming and challenging task. The BMIT Group has developed a Python-based MRT Lift positioning and control program that uses a combination of computational and iterative methods to independently adjust the sample’s X, Y, Z, pitch and roll positions. The program offers “1-Click” alignment of the sample to the beam. Use of a wireframe visualization technique enables even minute movements to be illustrated. Proposed movements and the resulting MRT Lift position can be manually verified before being applied. Optional integration with the SolidWorks modelling platform allows high quality renderings of the MRT Lift in its current or proposed position to be displayed in real time. Human factors principles are incorporated into the program with the objective of delivering easy to use controls for this complex device.

Alignment and position visualization methods for the biomedical imaging and therapy (BMIT) MRT lift

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bree, Michael, E-mail: michael.bree@lightsource.ca; Miller, Denise; Kerr, Graham; Belev, George; Wysokinski, Tomasz W.; Dolton, Wade [Canadian Light Source Inc., 44 Innovation Blvd, Saskatoon, SK S7N 2V3 Canada (Canada)

2016-07-27

The Microbeam Radiation Therapy (MRT) Lift is an eight stage positioning and scanning system at the Canadian Light Source’s BMIT Facility. Alignment of the sample with the beam using the MRT Lift is a time consuming and challenging task. The BMIT Group has developed a Python-based MRT Lift positioning and control program that uses a combination of computational and iterative methods to independently adjust the sample’s X, Y, Z, pitch and roll positions. The program offers “1-Click” alignment of the sample to the beam. Use of a wireframe visualization technique enables even minute movements to be illustrated. Proposed movements and the resulting MRT Lift position can be manually verified before being applied. Optional integration with the SolidWorks modelling platform allows high quality renderings of the MRT Lift in its current or proposed position to be displayed in real time. Human factors principles are incorporated into the program with the objective of delivering easy to use controls for this complex device.

Internal maternal position of women who became pregnant using IVF

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vera A. Yakupova

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Nowadays in vitro fertilization procedure is widespread. Due to improvements in medical technology parenting has become possible for couples who were doomed to childlessness. Practical request for psychological support couples who have decided to take part in the IVF program has been raised. Shaping the internal position of the IVF parent takes place in special psychological conditions. The IVF procedure is preceded by a period of infertility, the procedure is often the last chance to have a baby alone. Participation in the IVF program involves regular contact with doctors, medical personnel access to the intimate sphere of life couples. The paper analyzes the attitude of women participating in the IVF pregnancy program, the unborn baby and parenting - the elements constituting the parent position. The study which was attended by 224 pregnant women, 62 participants of IVF program and 162 women with physiological pregnancy was carried out on the basis of Kulakov Scientific Centre for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology. When analyzing the data obtained we were able to identify features of the internal position of women who became pregnant using IVF. In comparison with a group of women with physiological pregnancy, the IVF program participants tend to romanticize the role of parent and child. IVF program participants demonstrate unwillingness to take on the role of parent. The main motivation of mothers in the IVF group concentrated on the very fact of pregnancy and childbirth, proper parenting, while care and support for children is not appealing to women who became pregnant using IVF. Important conditions for becoming a parent are the experience of motherhood and the time of pregnancy expectation.

System and method for acquisition management of subject position information

Science.gov (United States)

Carrender, Curt

2005-12-13

A system and method for acquisition management of subject position information that utilizes radio frequency identification (RF ID) to store position information in position tags. Tag programmers receive position information from external positioning systems, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), from manual inputs, such as keypads, or other tag programmers. The tag programmers program each position tag with the received position information. Both the tag programmers and the position tags can be portable or fixed. Implementations include portable tag programmers and fixed position tags for subject position guidance, and portable tag programmers for collection sample labeling. Other implementations include fixed tag programmers and portable position tags for subject route recordation. Position tags can contain other associated information such as destination address of an affixed subject for subject routing.

System and method for acquisition management of subject position information

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carrender, Curt [Morgan Hill, CA

2007-01-23

A system and method for acquisition management of subject position information that utilizes radio frequency identification (RF ID) to store position information in position tags. Tag programmers receive position information from external positioning systems, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), from manual inputs, such as keypads, or other tag programmers. The tag programmers program each position tag with the received position information. Both the tag programmers and the position tags can be portable or fixed. Implementations include portable tag programmers and fixed position tags for subject position guidance, and portable tag programmers for collection sample labeling. Other implementations include fixed tag programmers and portable position tags for subject route recordation. Position tags can contain other associated information such as destination address of an affixed subject for subject routing.

Implementation of a Radiological Safety Coach program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Konzen, K.K. [Safe Sites of Colorado, Golden, CO (United States). Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site; Langsted, J.M. [M.H. Chew and Associates, Golden, CO (United States)

1998-02-01

The Safe Sites of Colorado Radiological Safety program has implemented a Safety Coach position, responsible for mentoring workers and line management by providing effective on-the-job radiological skills training and explanation of the rational for radiological safety requirements. This position is significantly different from a traditional classroom instructor or a facility health physicist, and provides workers with a level of radiological safety guidance not routinely provided by typical training programs. Implementation of this position presents a challenge in providing effective instruction, requiring rapport with the radiological worker not typically developed in the routine radiological training environment. The value of this unique training is discussed in perspective with cost-savings through better radiological control. Measures of success were developed to quantify program performance and providing a realistic picture of the benefits of providing one-on-one or small group training. This paper provides a description of the unique features of the program, measures of success for the program, a formula for implementing this program at other facilities, and a strong argument for the success (or failure) of the program in a time of increased radiological safety emphasis and reduced radiological safety budgets.

Implementation of a Radiological Safety Coach program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konzen, K.K.

1998-01-01

The Safe Sites of Colorado Radiological Safety program has implemented a Safety Coach position, responsible for mentoring workers and line management by providing effective on-the-job radiological skills training and explanation of the rational for radiological safety requirements. This position is significantly different from a traditional classroom instructor or a facility health physicist, and provides workers with a level of radiological safety guidance not routinely provided by typical training programs. Implementation of this position presents a challenge in providing effective instruction, requiring rapport with the radiological worker not typically developed in the routine radiological training environment. The value of this unique training is discussed in perspective with cost-savings through better radiological control. Measures of success were developed to quantify program performance and providing a realistic picture of the benefits of providing one-on-one or small group training. This paper provides a description of the unique features of the program, measures of success for the program, a formula for implementing this program at other facilities, and a strong argument for the success (or failure) of the program in a time of increased radiological safety emphasis and reduced radiological safety budgets

A new necessary condition for Turing instabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Elragig, Aiman; Townley, Stuart

2012-09-01

Reactivity (a.k.a initial growth) is necessary for diffusion driven instability (Turing instability). Using a notion of common Lyapunov function we show that this necessary condition is a special case of a more powerful (i.e. tighter) necessary condition. Specifically, we show that if the linearised reaction matrix and the diffusion matrix share a common Lyapunov function, then Turing instability is not possible. The existence of common Lyapunov functions is readily checked using semi-definite programming. We apply this result to the Gierer-Meinhardt system modelling regenerative properties of Hydra, the Oregonator, to a host-parasite-hyperparasite system with diffusion and to a reaction-diffusion-chemotaxis model for a multi-species host-parasitoid community. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A SDP based design of relay precoding for the power minimization of MIMO AF-relay networks

KAUST Repository

Rao, Anlei

2015-09-11

Relay precoding for multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) relay networks has been approached by either optimizing the efficiency performance with given power consumption constraints or minimizing the power consumption with quality-of-service (QoS) requirements. For the later type design, previous works has worked on minimizing the approximated power consumption. In this paper, exact power consumption for all relays is derived into a quadratic form by diagonalizing the minimum-square error (MSE) matrix, and the relay precoding matrix is designed by optimizing this quadratic form with the help of semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxation. Our simulation results show that such a design can achieve a gain of around 3 dB against the previous design, which optimized the approximated power consumption. © 2015 IEEE.

Optimal bounds and extremal trajectories for time averages in nonlinear dynamical systems

Science.gov (United States)

Tobasco, Ian; Goluskin, David; Doering, Charles R.

2018-02-01

For any quantity of interest in a system governed by ordinary differential equations, it is natural to seek the largest (or smallest) long-time average among solution trajectories, as well as the extremal trajectories themselves. Upper bounds on time averages can be proved a priori using auxiliary functions, the optimal choice of which is a convex optimization problem. We prove that the problems of finding maximal trajectories and minimal auxiliary functions are strongly dual. Thus, auxiliary functions provide arbitrarily sharp upper bounds on time averages. Moreover, any nearly minimal auxiliary function provides phase space volumes in which all nearly maximal trajectories are guaranteed to lie. For polynomial equations, auxiliary functions can be constructed by semidefinite programming, which we illustrate using the Lorenz system.

Spatial distribution of potential and positive Aedes aegypti breeding sites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Elías Cuartas

2017-03-01

Conclusions: The spatial relationship between positive and potential A. aegypti breeding sites both indoors and outdoors is dynamic and highly sensitive to the characteristics of each territory. Knowing how positive and potential breeding sites are distributed contributes to the prioritization of resources and actions in vector control programs.

Social Validity of a Positive Behavior Interventions and Support Model

Science.gov (United States)

Miramontes, Nancy Y.; Marchant, Michelle; Heath, Melissa Allen; Fischer, Lane

2011-01-01

As more schools turn to positive behavior interventions and support (PBIS) to address students' academic and behavioral problems, there is an increased need to adequately evaluate these programs for social relevance. The present study used social validation measures to evaluate a statewide PBIS initiative. Active consumers of the program were…

Global Positioning System: Observations on Quarterly Reports from the Air Force

Science.gov (United States)

2016-10-17

Positioning System : Observations on Quarterly Reports from the Air Force The satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) provides positioning , navigation...infrastructure, and transportation safety. The Department of Defense (DOD)—specifically, the Air Force—develops and operates the GPS system , which...programs, including the most recent detailed assessment of the next generation operational control system (OCX)

NEWTONP - CUMULATIVE BINOMIAL PROGRAMS

Science.gov (United States)

Bowerman, P. N.

1994-01-01

The cumulative binomial program, NEWTONP, is one of a set of three programs which calculate cumulative binomial probability distributions for arbitrary inputs. The three programs, NEWTONP, CUMBIN (NPO-17555), and CROSSER (NPO-17557), can be used independently of one another. NEWTONP can be used by statisticians and users of statistical procedures, test planners, designers, and numerical analysts. The program has been used for reliability/availability calculations. NEWTONP calculates the probably p required to yield a given system reliability V for a k-out-of-n system. It can also be used to determine the Clopper-Pearson confidence limits (either one-sided or two-sided) for the parameter p of a Bernoulli distribution. NEWTONP can determine Bayesian probability limits for a proportion (if the beta prior has positive integer parameters). It can determine the percentiles of incomplete beta distributions with positive integer parameters. It can also determine the percentiles of F distributions and the midian plotting positions in probability plotting. NEWTONP is designed to work well with all integer values 0 < k <= n. To run the program, the user simply runs the executable version and inputs the information requested by the program. NEWTONP is not designed to weed out incorrect inputs, so the user must take care to make sure the inputs are correct. Once all input has been entered, the program calculates and lists the result. It also lists the number of iterations of Newton's method required to calculate the answer within the given error. The NEWTONP program is written in C. It was developed on an IBM AT with a numeric co-processor using Microsoft C 5.0. Because the source code is written using standard C structures and functions, it should compile correctly with most C compilers. The program format is interactive. It has been implemented under DOS 3.2 and has a memory requirement of 26K. NEWTONP was developed in 1988.

Developmental programming of happiness.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Louis A; Fortier, Paz; Lahat, Ayelet; Tang, Alva; Mathewson, Karen J; Saigal, Saroj; Boyle, Michael H; Van Lieshout, Ryan J

2017-09-01

Being born at an extremely low birth weight (ELBW; programming hypotheses. Interfacing prenatal programming and differential susceptibility hypotheses, we tested whether individuals with ELBW in different childhood rearing environments showed different attention biases to positive and negative facial emotions in adulthood. Using the oldest known, prospectively followed cohort of ELBW survivors, we found that relative to normal birth weight controls (NBW; >2,500 grams), ELBW survivors displayed the highest and lowest attention bias to happy faces at age 30-35, depending on whether their total family income at age 8 was relatively low (environmental match) or high (environmental mismatch), respectively. This bias to happy faces was associated with a reduced likelihood of emotional problems. Findings suggest that differential susceptibility to positive emotions may be prenatally programmed, with effects lasting into adulthood. We discuss implications for integrating prenatal programming and differential susceptibility hypotheses, and the developmental origins of postnatal plasticity and resilience. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Positive and Negative Effects of a Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Taal, Margot; Edelaar, Monique

1997-01-01

Evaluation of a Dutch sexual abuse prevention program, "Right for Security," for elementary school children (ages 8 to 12) found differences in short-term and long-term effects. In the long run, children thought refusing to cooperate with the intruder more feasible and younger children showed less social anxiousness. However, the oldest…

Do Loyalty Programs Enhance Behavioral Loyalty : An Empirical Analysis Accounting for Program Design and Competitive Effects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leenheer, J.; Bijmolt, T.H.A.; van Heerde, H.J.; Smidts, A.

2002-01-01

This paper studies the effects of loyalty programs on share-of-wallet using market-wide household panel data on supermarket purchases.We find that loyalty programs relate positively to share-of-wallet, but the programs differ in effectiveness and some are ineffective.Both a saving component and a

Static analysis: from theory to practice; Static analysis of large-scale embedded code, generation of abstract domains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monniaux, D.

2009-06-01

Software operating critical systems (aircraft, nuclear power plants) should not fail - whereas most computerised systems of daily life (personal computer, ticket vending machines, cell phone) fail from time to time. This is not a simple engineering problem: it is known, since the works of Turing and Cook, that proving that programs work correctly is intrinsically hard. In order to solve this problem, one needs methods that are, at the same time, efficient (moderate costs in time and memory), safe (all possible failures should be found), and precise (few warnings about nonexistent failures). In order to reach a satisfactory compromise between these goals, one can research fields as diverse as formal logic, numerical analysis or 'classical' algorithmics. From 2002 to 2007 I participated in the development of the Astree static analyser. This suggested to me a number of side projects, both theoretical and practical (use of formal proof techniques, analysis of numerical filters...). More recently, I became interested in modular analysis of numerical property and in the applications to program analysis of constraint solving techniques (semi-definite programming, SAT and SAT modulo theory). (author)

PROGRAMMING IS GOOD FOR CHILDREN? A CRITICAL VIEW ABOUT TEACHING PROGRAMMING IN SCHOOLS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wendell Bento Geraldes

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article presents reflections on teaching programming in schools and the positive and negative impact of this new methodology today. The study also discusses the initiatives relating to teaching programming in schools, considering also the opinion of experts on the subject. The following questions are addressed: Is it good for children to learn to program computers in schools? Can all people learn to program computers? What is the importance of learning for today's society? The pros and cons regarding teaching programming in schools will be discussed in search of answers to these questions.

Exact results relating spin-orbit interactions in two-dimensional strongly correlated systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kucska, Nóra; Gulácsi, Zsolt

2018-06-01

A 2D square, two-bands, strongly correlated and non-integrable system is analysed exactly in the presence of many-body spin-orbit interactions via the method of Positive Semidefinite Operators. The deduced exact ground states in the high concentration limit are strongly entangled, and given by the spin-orbit coupling are ferromagnetic and present an enhanced carrier mobility, which substantially differs for different spin projections. The described state emerges in a restricted parameter space region, which however is clearly accessible experimentally. The exact solutions are provided via the solution of a matching system of equations containing 74 coupled, non-linear and complex algebraic equations. In our knowledge, other exact results for 2D interacting systems with spin-orbit interactions are not present in the literature.

Two new eigenvalue localization sets for tensors and theirs applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhao Jianxing

2017-10-01

Full Text Available A new eigenvalue localization set for tensors is given and proved to be tighter than those presented by Qi (J. Symbolic Comput., 2005, 40, 1302-1324 and Li et al. (Numer. Linear Algebra Appl., 2014, 21, 39-50. As an application, a weaker checkable sufficient condition for the positive (semi-definiteness of an even-order real symmetric tensor is obtained. Meanwhile, an S-type E-eigenvalue localization set for tensors is given and proved to be tighter than that presented by Wang et al. (Discrete Cont. Dyn.-B, 2017, 22(1, 187-198. As an application, an S-type upper bound for the Z-spectral radius of weakly symmetric nonnegative tensors is obtained. Finally, numerical examples are given to verify the theoretical results.

Neighbors Based Discriminative Feature Difference Learning for Kinship Verification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Duan, Xiaodong; Tan, Zheng-Hua

2015-01-01

In this paper, we present a discriminative feature difference learning method for facial image based kinship verification. To transform feature difference of an image pair to be discriminative for kinship verification, a linear transformation matrix for feature difference between an image pair...... than the commonly used feature concatenation, leading to a low complexity. Furthermore, there is no positive semi-definitive constrain on the transformation matrix while there is in metric learning methods, leading to an easy solution for the transformation matrix. Experimental results on two public...... databases show that the proposed method combined with a SVM classification method outperforms or is comparable to state-of-the-art kinship verification methods. © Springer International Publishing AG, Part of Springer Science+Business Media...

13 CFR 120.1702 - Program fee.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 13 Business Credit and Assistance 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Program fee. 120.1702 Section 120.1702 Business Credit and Assistance SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUSINESS LOANS Establishment of SBA Secondary Market Guarantee Program for First Lien Position 504 Loan Pools § 120.1702 Program fee. Ongoing...

High speed USB data logger for position sensitive detector data acquisition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poudel, S.K.; Kulkarni, V.B.; Kumar, Santosh; Chandak, R.M.; Krishna, P.S.R.; Mukhopadhyay, R.

2010-01-01

Ratio ADC (RDC) module used in neutron Position Sensitive Detector (PSD) data acquisition, gives digital code signifying the position of neutron event. A High Speed USB based RDC Data Logger card has been made for logging data from multiple RDCs to PC. A CPLD on the card continuously polls the RDCs for data, and fills it in the FIFO memory of a high speed USB microcontroller. A VC++ program for neutron scattering experiments reads event codes from FIFO of microcontroller and builds spectrum on PC. This program sweeps physical parameters of sample and collects PSD data for pre-determined monitor counts. (author)

Sustained Implementation Support Scale: Validation of a Measure of Program Characteristics and Workplace Functioning for Sustained Program Implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodge, Lauren M; Turner, Karen M T; Sanders, Matthew R; Filus, Ania

2017-07-01

An evaluation measure of enablers and inhibitors to sustained evidence-based program (EBP) implementation may provide a useful tool to enhance organizations' capacity. This paper outlines preliminary validation of such a measure. An expert informant and consumer feedback approach was used to tailor constructs from two existing measures assessing key domains associated with sustained implementation. Validity and reliability were evaluated for an inventory composed of five subscales: Program benefits, Program burden, Workplace support, Workplace cohesion, and Leadership style. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with a sample of 593 Triple P-Positive Parenting Program-practitioners led to a 28-item scale with good reliability and good convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity. Practitioners sustaining implementation at least 3 years post-training were more likely to have supervision/peer support, reported higher levels of program benefit, workplace support, and positive leadership style, and lower program burden compared to practitioners who were non-sustainers.

The Triple P-Positive Parenting Program: a systematic review and meta-analysis of a multi-level system of parenting support.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders, Matthew R; Kirby, James N; Tellegen, Cassandra L; Day, Jamin J

2014-06-01

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the effects of the multilevel Triple P-Positive Parenting Program system on a broad range of child, parent and family outcomes. Multiple search strategies identified 116 eligible studies conducted over a 33-year period, with 101 studies comprising 16,099 families analyzed quantitatively. Moderator analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling. Risk of bias within and across studies was assessed. Significant short-term effects were found for: children's social, emotional and behavioral outcomes (d=0.473); parenting practices (d=0.578); parenting satisfaction and efficacy (d=0.519); parental adjustment (d=0.340); parental relationship (d=0.225) and child observational data (d=0.501). Significant effects were found for all outcomes at long-term including parent observational data (d=0.249). Moderator analyses found that study approach, study power, Triple P level, and severity of initial child problems produced significant effects in multiple moderator models when controlling for other significant moderators. Several putative moderators did not have significant effects after controlling for other significant moderators. The positive results for each level of the Triple P system provide empirical support for a blending of universal and targeted parenting interventions to promote child, parent and family wellbeing. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Some quantum Lie algebras of type D{sub n} positive

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bautista, Cesar [Facultad de Ciencias de la Computacion, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Edif 135, 14 sur y Av San Claudio, Ciudad Universitaria, Puebla Pue. CP 72570 (Mexico); Juarez-Ramirez, Maria Araceli [Facultad de Ciencias Fisico-Matematicas, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Edif 158 Av San Claudio y Rio Verde sn Ciudad Universitaria, Puebla Pue. CP 72570 (Mexico)

2003-03-07

A quantum Lie algebra is constructed within the positive part of the Drinfeld-Jimbo quantum group of type D{sub n}. Our quantum Lie algebra structure includes a generalized antisymmetry property and a generalized Jacobi identity closely related to the braid equation. A generalized universal enveloping algebra of our quantum Lie algebra of type D{sub n} positive is proved to be the Drinfeld-Jimbo quantum group of the same type. The existence of such a generalized Lie algebra is reduced to an integer programming problem. Moreover, when the integer programming problem is feasible we show, by means of the generalized Jacobi identity, that the Poincare-Birkhoff-Witt theorem (basis) is still true.

Programming in Context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bennedsen, J.; Caspersen, M.E.

2004-01-01

The recommendations of the Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula 2001 encompass suggestions for an object-first introductory programming course. We have identified conceptual modeling as a lacking perspective in the suggestions for CS1. Conceptual modeling is the defining characteristic of object...... approach to programming; both of these are a big help to newcomers. The approach has a very positive impact on the number of students passing the course....

Evaluation of a parenting skills program in Russia.

Science.gov (United States)

MacKinnon, Lee

2013-01-01

This article analyzes participant interviews and the photovoice project of 15 young disadvantaged mothers in Pskov, Russia. The women's statements and photovoice were part of a formative evaluation of the Pskov Positive Parenting Program, designed by the University of Massachusetts Institute for Global Health (IGH) and funded by USAID. The evaluation revealed that the Program met its goal of helping the women learn sensitive caregiving behaviors. The mothers emphasized that the Program met their need for social connection. The young mothers' participation in the positive social network of the group may have been a key ingredient to the Program's success and may have implications for the design of parenting programs cross-culturally.

A general framework for unambiguous detection of quantum states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eldar, Y.

2004-01-01

Full Text:The problem of detecting information stored in the state of a quantum system is a fundamental problem in quantum information theory. Several approaches have emerged to distinguishing between a collection of non-orthogonal quantum states. We consider the problem of unambiguous detection where we seek a measurement that with a certain probability returns an inconclusive result, but such that if the measurement returns an answer, then the answer is correct with probability 1. We begin by considering unambiguous discrimination between a set of linearly independent pure quantum states. We show that the design of the optimal measurement that minimizes the probability of an inconclusive result can be formulated as a semidefinite programming problem. Based on this formulation, we develop a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for an optimal quantum measurement. We show that the optimal measurement can be computed very efficiently in polynomial time by exploiting the many well-known algorithms for solving semidefinite programs, which are guaranteed to converge to the global optimum. Using the general conditions for optimality, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions so that the measurement that results in an equal probability of an inconclusive result for each one of the quantum states is optimal. We refer to this measurement as the equal-probability measurement (EPM). We then show that for any state set, the prior probabilities of the states can be chosen such that the EPM is optimal. Finally, we consider state sets with strong symmetry properties and equal prior probabilities for which the EPM is optimal. We next develop a general framework for unambiguous state discrimination between a collection of mixed quantum states, which can be applied to any number of states with arbitrary prior probabilities. In particular, we derive a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for an optimal measurement that minimizes the probability of an inconclusive

Positive Youth Development from Sport to Life: Explicit or Implicit Transfer?

Science.gov (United States)

Turnnidge, Jennifer; Côté, Jean; Hancock, David J.

2014-01-01

While previous studies indicate that participation in sport has the potential to facilitate positive developmental outcomes, there is a lack of consensus regarding the possible transfer of these outcomes to other environments (i.e., school or work). An important issue within the positive development literature concerns how sport programs should…

In Vitro Activity of Imipenem against Carbapenemase-Positive Enterobacteriaceae Isolates Collected by the SMART Global Surveillance Program from 2008 to 2014.

Science.gov (United States)

Karlowsky, James A; Lob, Sibylle H; Kazmierczak, Krystyna M; Badal, Robert E; Young, Katherine; Motyl, Mary R; Sahm, Daniel F

2017-06-01

The Study for Monitoring Antimicrobial Resistance Trends (SMART) global surveillance program collected 103,960 isolates of Enterobacteriaceae from 2008 to 2014. From this isolate collection, all ertapenem-nonsusceptible isolates (MIC, ≥1 μg/ml; n = 3,428) and 9,371 isolates of Escherichia coli , Klebsiella pneumoniae , Klebsiella oxytoca , and Proteus mirabilis with an ertapenem-susceptible extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL)-positive phenotype were assessed for the presence of common carbapenemase genes using a Check-MDR CT101 microarray (Check-Points, Wageningen, the Netherlands) and published multiplex PCR assays. Testing identified 1,493 isolates that harbored a carbapenemase gene (1,485 ertapenem-nonsusceptible isolates and 8 ertapenem-susceptible ESBL-positive isolates) and accounted for 1.4% (1,493/103,960) of all isolates of Enterobacteriaceae The most frequently identified carbapenemase genes were the KPC ( n = 794), OXA-48-like ( n = 300), and NDM ( n = 290) genes. Carbapenemase genes were most frequently identified in Klebsiella pneumoniae ( n = 1,127), Escherichia coli ( n = 149), and Enterobacter cloacae ( n = 110). Among the carbapenemase-positive isolates, 66.7% (2/3), 37.0% (111/300), 20.0% (8/40), 3.3% (3/92), 2.3% (18/794), and 0% (0/290) of the isolates with genes for GES, OXA-48-like, IMP, VIM, KPC, and NDM, respectively, were susceptible to imipenem (MIC, ≤1 μg/ml). Isolates that tested as susceptible to imipenem were not uncommon among carbapenemase-positive isolates (9.4%, 141/1,493) and most frequently carried OXA-48-like enzymes (78.7%; 111/141); however, overall, these isolates remained rare (0.1%, 141/103,960). The practice of screening clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae that test as susceptible to carbapenems in vitro for the presence of carbapenemase genes remains controversial and requires further study. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

A 12-week resistance training program elicits positive changes in hemodynamic responses in the elderly

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cinthya Campos Salazar

2009-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study was to determine the effect of a resistance training program in hemodynamic responses and adaptations in 60 yr. old elderly. Volunteers were 60 healthy-elderly who underwent a training program 3 times/wk. for 12 wk. Participants were randomly assigned to either a control group, an exercise group who trained at 30% intensity of 5 maximal repetitions (5RM (30% of 5RM or an exercise group at an intensity of 70% (70% of 5RM. Hemodynamic variables measured were mean arterial pressure (MAP, calculated before and immediately after the training session, and rate pressure product (RPP, estimated once a month and before and after finishing the program. Results indicated that resistance exercise training at 30% and 70% of 5RM, with a total exercise work of 872.7 and 890.9 kg did not elicited cardiovascular risks for the elderly. A 12-wk resistance exercise training reduced the cardiovascular strain as shown by the RPP (~16% and the MAP (~9%, with no adverse effects throughout the program. Unfortunately, all the hemodynamic benefits were reverted 6 days following completion of the program. In conclusion, a healthy elderly population must perform resistance training exercises to significantly reduce the cardiovascular stress. We suggest to conduct further research that looks into different exercise intensities in longer program duration and to determine the mechanisms responsible for the deleterious effects of the detraining by using physiological, biochemical and biomechanical variables.

Modeling Customer Behavior in Loyalty Programs

OpenAIRE

Taylor, Wayne

2017-01-01

Loyalty programs have exploded in popularity in recent decades. In the United States alone, membership has reached 1.3 billion (Ferguson and Hlavinka, 2007). In spite of their continued popularity, the effectiveness of these programs has been long debated in the literature, with mostly mixed results. Verhoef (2003) finds that the effects are positive but very small, DeWulf et al. (2001) finds no support for positive effects of direct mail, Shugan (2005) finds that firms gain short term revenu...

Primary prevention research: a preliminary review of program outcome studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Schaps, E; Churgin, S; Palley, C S; Takata, B; Cohen, A Y

1980-07-01

This article reviews 35 drug abuse prevention program evaluations employing drug-specific outcome measures. Many of these evaluations assessed the effects of "new generation" prevention strategies: affective, peer-oriented, and multidimensional approaches. Only 14 studies evaluated purely informational programs. Evaluations were analyzed to ascertain (1) characteristics of the programs under study, (2) characteristics of the research designs, and (3) patterns among findings. This review provides some evidence that the newer prevention strategies may produce more positive and fewer negative outcomes than did older drug information approaches. Over 70% of the programs using the newer strategies produced some positive effects; only 29% showed negative effects. In contrast, 46% of informational programs showed positive effects; 46% showed negative effects. These findings must be approached with great caution, since the research was frequently scientifically inadequate, and since rigor of research was negatively correlated with intensity and duration of program services.

5 CFR 720.204 - Agency programs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... continuing program for the recruitment of minorities and women for positions in the agency and its components... out as part of their periodic performance appraisals. (b) Programs established under this subpart must... underrepresentation in the agency work force. ...

Distributionally Robust Return-Risk Optimization Models and Their Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Yang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Based on the risk control of conditional value-at-risk, distributionally robust return-risk optimization models with box constraints of random vector are proposed. They describe uncertainty in both the distribution form and moments (mean and covariance matrix of random vector. It is difficult to solve them directly. Using the conic duality theory and the minimax theorem, the models are reformulated as semidefinite programming problems, which can be solved by interior point algorithms in polynomial time. An important theoretical basis is therefore provided for applications of the models. Moreover, an application of the models to a practical example of portfolio selection is considered, and the example is evaluated using a historical data set of four stocks. Numerical results show that proposed methods are robust and the investment strategy is safe.

SINR balancing in the downlink of cognitive radio networks with imperfect channel knowledge

KAUST Repository

Hanif, Muhammad Fainan

2010-01-01

In this paper we consider the problem of signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) balancing in the downlink of cognitive radio (CR) networks while simultaneously keeping interference levels at primary user (PU) receivers (RXs) below an acceptable threshold with uncertain channel state information available at the CR base-station (BS). We optimize the beamforming vectors at the CR BS so that the worst user SINR is maximized and transmit power constraints at the CR BS and interference constraints at the PU RXs are satisfied. With uncertainties in the channel bounded by a Euclidean ball, the semidefinite program (SDP) modeling the balancing problem is solved using the recently developed convex iteration technique without relaxing the rank constraints. Numerical simulations are conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed technique in comparison to known approximations.

Low Complexity Beampattern Design in MIMO Radars Using Planar Array

KAUST Repository

Bouchoucha, Taha

2015-01-07

In multiple-input multiple-output radar systems, it is usually desirable to steer transmitted power in the region-of-interest. To do this, conventional methods optimize the waveform covariance matrix, R, for the desired beampattern, which is then used to generate actual transmitted waveforms. Both steps require constrained optimization, therefore, use iterative and expensive algorithms. In this paper, we provide a closed-form solution to design covariance matrix for the given beampattern using the planar array, which is then used to derive a novel closed-form algorithm to directly design the finite-alphabet constant-envelope (FACE) waveforms. The proposed algorithm exploits the two-dimensional fast-Fourier-transform. The performance of our proposed algorithm is compared with existing methods that are based on semi-definite quadratic programming with the advantage of a considerably reduced complexity.

Finite Range Decomposition of Gaussian Processes

CERN Document Server

Brydges, C D; Mitter, P K

2003-01-01

Let $D$ be the finite difference Laplacian associated to the lattice $bZ^{d}$. For dimension $dge 3$, $age 0$ and $L$ a sufficiently large positive dyadic integer, we prove that the integral kernel of the resolvent $G^{a}:=(a-D)^{-1}$ can be decomposed as an infinite sum of positive semi-definite functions $ V_{n} $ of finite range, $ V_{n} (x-y) = 0$ for $|x-y|ge O(L)^{n}$. Equivalently, the Gaussian process on the lattice with covariance $G^{a}$ admits a decomposition into independent Gaussian processes with finite range covariances. For $a=0$, $ V_{n} $ has a limiting scaling form $L^{-n(d-2)}Gamma_{ c,ast }{bigl (frac{x-y}{ L^{n}}bigr )}$ as $nrightarrow infty$. As a corollary, such decompositions also exist for fractional powers $(-D)^{-alpha/2}$, $0

Final waste classification and waste form technical position papers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-05-01

The waste classification technical position paper describes overall procedures acceptable to NRC staff which may be used by licensees to determine the presence and concentrations of the radionuclides listed in section 61.55, and thereby classifying waste for near-surface disposal. This technical position paper also provides guidance on the types of information which should be included in shipment manifests accompanying waste shipments to near-surface disposal facilities. The technical position paper on waste form provides guidance to waste generators on test methods and results acceptable to NRC staff for implementing the 10 CFR Part 61 waste form requirements. It can be used as an acceptable approach for demonstrating compliance with the 10 CFR Part 61 waste structural stability criteria. This technical position paper includes guidance on processing waste into an acceptable stable form, designing acceptable high-integrity containers, packaging cartridge filters, and minimizing radiation effects on organic ion-exchange resins. The guidance in the waste form technical position paper may be used by licensees as the basis for qualifying process control programs to meet the waste form stability requirements, including tests which can be used to demonstrate resistance to degradation arising from the effects of compression, moisture, microbial activity, radiation, and chemical changes. Generic test data (e.g., topical reports prepared by vendors who market solidification technology) may be used for process control program qualification where such generic data is applicable to the particular types of waste generated by a licensee

10578 IMPACT EVALUATION OF POSITIVE DEVIANCE HEARTH IN ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Charles Anino

nutrition program for children who are at risk for protein-energy malnutrition in a low ... method was used to collect data and perform statistical analyses. ... Studies have identified Positive Deviance (PD) Hearth approach as the most .... Germany). ... The questionnaire was tested for internal reliability using Cronbach.

Architecture of the software for LAMOST fiber positioning subsystem

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Xiaobo; Xing, Xiaozheng; Hu, Hongzhuan; Zhai, Chao; Li, Weimin

2004-09-01

The architecture of the software which controls the LAMOST fiber positioning sub-system is described. The software is composed of two parts as follows: a main control program in a computer and a unit controller program in a MCS51 single chip microcomputer ROM. And the function of the software includes: Client/Server model establishment, observation planning, collision handling, data transmission, pulse generation, CCD control, image capture and processing, and data analysis etc. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which different parts of the software can communicate. Also software techniques for multi threads, SOCKET programming, Microsoft Windows message response, and serial communications are discussed.

Do Loyalty Programs Enhance Behavioral Loyalty: An Empirical Analysis Accounting for Program Design and Competitive Effects

OpenAIRE

Leenheer, J.; Bijmolt, T.H.A.; van Heerde, H.J.; Smidts, A.

2002-01-01

This paper studies the effects of loyalty programs on share-of-wallet using market-wide household panel data on supermarket purchases.We find that loyalty programs relate positively to share-of-wallet, but the programs differ in effectiveness and some are ineffective.Both a saving component and a multi-vendor structure enhance the effectiveness of a loyalty program, but high discounts do not lead to higher share-of-wallets.Further, if households have multiple loyalty cards, the effectiveness ...

Canadian fusion program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, T.S.

1982-06-01

The National Research Council of Canada is establishing a coordinated national program of fusion research and development that is planned to grow to a total annual operating level of about $20 million in 1985. The long-term objective of the program is to put Canadian industry in a position to manufacture sub-systems and components of fusion power reactors. In the near term the program is designed to establish a minimum base of scientific and technical expertise sufficient to make recognized contributions and thereby gain access to the international effort. The Canadian program must be narrowly focussed on a few specializations where Canada has special indigenous skills or technologies. The programs being funded are the Tokamak de Varennes, the Fusion Fuels Technology Project centered on tritium management, and high-power gas laser technology and associated diagnostic instrumentation

Optimal Embeddings of Distance Regular Graphs into Euclidean Spaces

NARCIS (Netherlands)

F. Vallentin (Frank)

2008-01-01

htmlabstractIn this paper we give a lower bound for the least distortion embedding of a distance regular graph into Euclidean space. We use the lower bound for finding the least distortion for Hamming graphs, Johnson graphs, and all strongly regular graphs. Our technique involves semidefinite

Hidden conic quadratic representation of some nonconvex quadratic optimization problems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ben-Tal, A.; den Hertog, D.

The problem of minimizing a quadratic objective function subject to one or two quadratic constraints is known to have a hidden convexity property, even when the quadratic forms are indefinite. The equivalent convex problem is a semidefinite one, and the equivalence is based on the celebrated

Promoting Self-Esteem in a Caring Positive Classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodges, Linda; Wolf, Carolyn J.

Noting that low self-esteem negatively affects student achievement, this action research project implemented and evaluated a program for increasing student self-esteem through a caring and positive classroom environment incorporating cooperative learning and the use of praise and rewards. The targeted population consisted of fifth grade physical…

Modeling And Position Control Of Scara Type 3D Printer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmet Saygamp305n Ogulmuamp351

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In this work a scara robot type 3D printer system is dynamically modeled and position control of the system is realized. For this aim computer aided design model of three degrees of freedom robotic system is created using SolidWorks program then obtained model is exported to MATLABSimMechanics software for position control. Also mathematical model of servo motors used in robotic 3D printer system is included in control methodology to design proportional controllers. Uncontrolled and controlled position results are simulated and given in the form of the graphics.

Positive emotions in earthquake survivors in El Salvador (2001).

Science.gov (United States)

Vázquez, Carmelo; Cervellón, Priscilla; Pérez-Sales, Pau; Vidales, Diana; Gaborit, Mauricio

2005-01-01

The purpose of this study was to analyze, within a more extensive intervention program, the existence of positive emotions and positive coping in the refugees at the two largest shelters created after the earthquakes of El Salvador in January, 2001. One hundred and fifteen survivors were interviewed in the shelters about different aspects related to positive cognitions and emotions experienced during their sojourn at the camps, as well as their perception of aspects of posttraumatic growth. The results show that most of the people affected by the earthquake revealed a consistent pattern of positive reactions and emotions. The potential implications of these results in the individual sphere, as buffering elements to protect people from the effects of a traumatic experience receive comment.

Evaluation Program initiative

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rich, B.L.

1987-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to provide the Department of Energy's (DOE) safeguards and security community with some insights on an important management initiative by the Office of Security Evaluations (OSE). The paper will present the ''what, where, who, when, and why'' of a new Evaluation Program. The Evaluation Program will be comprised of a continuing series of regular and special evaluations of DOE safeguards and security programs and policies. The evaluations will be integrative and ''crosscutting,'' i.e. will extend across DOE organizational lines. Evaluations will be offered as positive advisories to DOE managers with safeguards and security responsibilities and will not be rated. They will complement the ongoing OSE Inspection Program of inspections conducted by OSE's Inspection Division. The purpose for the evaluations is to establish an accurate and current assessment of the effectiveness and status of safeguards and security programs and policies and to provide DOE managers with required information on program and policy effectiveness

The SOS Club: A Practical Peer Helper Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Scarborough, Janna L.

1997-01-01

Describes a peer helper program developed for students in grades K-5. The program applies the concept that each student has something positive to offer the school and is responsible for providing that service. Discusses program goals and objectives, ways to gain support for the program, training, implementation, and evaluation. (RJM)

Upregulation of the Chemokine Receptor CCR2B in Epstein‒Barr Virus-Positive Burkitt Lymphoma Cell Lines with the Latency III Program

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Svetlana Kozireva

2018-05-01

Full Text Available CCR2 is the cognate receptor to the chemokine CCL2. CCR2–CCL2 signaling mediates cancer progression and metastasis dissemination. However, the role of CCR2–CCL2 signaling in pathogenesis of B-cell malignancies is not clear. Previously, we showed that CCR2B was upregulated in ex vivo peripheral blood B cells upon Epstein‒Barr virus (EBV infection and in established lymphoblastoid cell lines with the EBV latency III program. EBV latency III is associated with B-cell lymphomas in immunosuppressed patients. The majority of EBV-positive Burkitt lymphoma (BL tumors are characterized by latency I, but the BL cell lines drift towards latency III during in vitro culture. In this study, the CCR2A and CCR2B expression was assessed in the isogenic EBV-positive BL cell lines with latency I and III using RT-PCR, immunoblotting, and immunostaining analyses. We found that CCR2B is upregulated in the EBV-positive BL cells with latency III. Consequently, we detected the migration of latency III cells toward CCL2. Notably, the G190A mutation, corresponding to SNP CCR2-V64I, was found in one latency III cell line with a reduced migratory response to CCL2. The upregulation of CCR2B may contribute to the enhanced migration of malignant B cells into CCL2-rich compartments.

Advanced Industrial Materials Program

Science.gov (United States)

Stooksbury, F.

1994-06-01

The mission of the Advanced Industrial Materials (AIM) program is to commercialize new/improved materials and materials processing methods that will improve energy efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness. Program investigators in the DOE national laboratories are working with about 100 companies, including 15 partners in CRDA's. Work is being done on intermetallic alloys, ceramic composites, metal composites, polymers, engineered porous materials, and surface modification. The program supports other efforts in the Office of Industrial Technologies to assist the energy-consuming process industries. The aim of the AIM program is to bring materials from basic research to industrial application to strengthen the competitive position of US industry and save energy.

Beyond computer literacy: supporting youth's positive development through technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bers, Marina Umaschi

2010-01-01

In a digital era in which technology plays a role in most aspects of a child's life, having the competence and confidence to use computers might be a necessary step, but not a goal in itself. Developing character traits that will serve children to use technology in a safe way to communicate and connect with others, and providing opportunities for children to make a better world through the use of their computational skills, is just as important. The Positive Technological Development framework (PTD), a natural extension of the computer literacy and the technological fluency movements that have influenced the world of educational technology, adds psychosocial, civic, and ethical components to the cognitive ones. PTD examines the developmental tasks of a child growing up in our digital era and provides a model for developing and evaluating technology-rich youth programs. The explicit goal of PTD programs is to support children in the positive uses of technology to lead more fulfilling lives and make the world a better place. This article introduces the concept of PTD and presents examples of the Zora virtual world program for young people that the author developed following this framework.

Effect of standardized orders and provider education on head-of-bed positioning in mechanically ventilated patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Helman, Donald L; Sherner, John H; Fitzpatrick, Thomas M; Callender, Marcia E; Shorr, Andrew F

2003-09-01

Semirecumbent head-of-bed positioning in mechanically ventilated patients decreases the risk of developing ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). The purpose of this study was to determine whether the addition of a standardized order followed by the initiation of a provider education program would increase the frequency with which our patients were maintained in the semirecumbent position. Prospective, pre-, and postintervention observational study. A tertiary care, U.S. Army teaching hospital. Mechanically ventilated medical and surgical intensive care unit patients. The first intervention involved the addition of an order for semirecumbent head-of-bed positioning to our intensive care unit order sets. This was followed 2 months later with a second intervention, which was a nurse and physician education program emphasizing semirecumbent positioning. Data regarding head-of-bed positioning were collected on 100 patient observations at baseline and at 1 and 2 months after each of our interventions. The mean angle of head of bed increased from 24 +/- 9 degrees at baseline to 35 +/- 9 degrees (p 45 degrees increased from 3% to 16% 2 months after the standardized order (p patients with head of bed >45 degrees was 29% (p = NS compared with values after the first intervention). Data collected 6 months after completion of our education programs showed that these improvements were maintained. Standardizing the process of care via the addition of an order specifying head-of-bed position significantly increased the number of patients who were placed in the semirecumbent position. In an era of cost-conscious medicine, interventions that utilize protocols and education programs should be emphasized.

78 FR 31847 - Designation of National Security Positions in the Competitive Service, and Related Matters

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-28

...) Positions requiring eligibility for access to Top Secret or ``Q'' classified information; (ii) Positions... information classified at the Top Secret or ``Q'' level; (xix) Positions working with significant life... intelligence-related Special Sensitive information, requiring involvement in Top Secret Special Access Programs...

Researches on the Orbit Determination and Positioning of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program

Science.gov (United States)

Li, P. J.

2015-07-01

This dissertation studies the precise orbit determination (POD) and positioning of the Chinese lunar exploration spacecraft, emphasizing the variety of VLBI (very long baseline interferometry) technologies applied for the deep-space exploration, and their contributions to the methods and accuracies of the precise orbit determination and positioning. In summary, the main contents are as following: In this work, using the real-time data measured by the CE-2 (Chang'E-2) detector, the accuracy of orbit determination is analyzed for the domestic lunar probe under the present condition, and the role played by the VLBI tracking data is particularly reassessed through the precision orbit determination experiments for CE-2. The experiments of the short-arc orbit determination for the lunar probe show that the combination of the ranging and VLBI data with the arc of 15 minutes is able to improve the accuracy by 1-1.5 order of magnitude, compared to the cases for only using the ranging data with the arc of 3 hours. The orbital accuracy is assessed through the orbital overlapping analysis, and the results show that the VLBI data is able to contribute to the CE-2's long-arc POD especially in the along-track and orbital normal directions. For the CE-2's 100 km× 100 km lunar orbit, the position errors are better than 30 meters, and for the CE-2's 15 km× 100 km orbit, the position errors are better than 45 meters. The observational data with the delta differential one-way ranging (Δ DOR) from the CE-2's X-band monitoring and control system experimental are analyzed. It is concluded that the accuracy of Δ DOR delay is dramatically improved with the noise level better than 0.1 ns, and the systematic errors are well calibrated. Although it is unable to support the development of an independent lunar gravity model, the tracking data of CE-2 provided the evaluations of different lunar gravity models through POD, and the accuracies are examined in terms of orbit-to-orbit solution

The Evolution of Global Positioning System (GPS) Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Sameer; Moore, Kevin B.

2002-01-01

Describes technological advances in the Global Positioning System (GPS), which is also known as the NAVSTAR GPS satellite constellation program developed in 1937, and changes in the nature of our world by GPS in the areas of agriculture, health, military, transportation, environment, wildlife biology, surveying and mapping, space applications, and…

Woman Position In Iron Man Movies

OpenAIRE

ANINDITHA, ANNISA

2014-01-01

Aninditha, Annisa. 2014. Woman Position in Iron Man movies. Study Program ofEnglish, Department of Language and Literature, Faculty of Cultural Studies,Universitas Brawijaya, Malang. Supervisor: Fariska Pujiyanti. Co Supervisor: NurulLaily Nadhifah. Keywords: Movie, Patriarchal, Iron Man. Movie is one of literary works and electronic media. Movie becomes the best strategy to communicate and deliver message about what happens in this world. The movie makers or directors can express critics, co...

Effect of radiologist experience on the risk of false-positive results in breast cancer screening programs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zubizarreta Alberdi, Raquel; Llanes, Ana B.F.; Ortega, Raquel Almazan; Exposito, Ruben Roman; Collado, Jose M.V.; Oliveres, Xavier Castells; Queiro Verdes, Teresa; Natal Ramos, Carmen; Sanz, Maria Ederra; Salas Trejo, Dolores

2011-01-01

To evaluate the effect of radiologist experience on the risk of false-positive results in population-based breast cancer screening programmes. We evaluated 1,440,384 single-read screening mammograms, corresponding to 471,112 women aged 45-69 years participating in four Spanish programmes between 1990 and 2006. The mammograms were interpreted by 72 radiologists. The overall percentage of false-positive results was 5.85% and that for false-positives resulting in an invasive procedure was 0.38%. Both the risk of false-positives overall and of false-positives leading to an invasive procedure significantly decreased (p 14,999 mammograms with respect to the reference category (<500). The risk of both categories of false-positives was also significantly reduced (p < 0.001) as radiologists' years of experience increased: OR 0.96 and OR 0.84, respectively, for 1 year's experience and OR 0.72 and OR 0.73, respectively, for more than 4 years' experience with regard to the category of <1 year's experience. Radiologist experience is a determining factor in the risk of a false-positive result in breast cancer screening. (orig.)

Positive emotional change: mediating effects of forgiveness and spirituality.

Science.gov (United States)

Levenson, Michael R; Aldwin, Carolyn M; Yancura, Loriena

2006-01-01

We evaluated the efficacy of an emotional education program that seeks to reduce the intergenerational transmission of negative interaction patterns by increasing forgiveness and spirituality. We examined both reduction of psychological symptoms and increase in positive psychological outcomes over the course of a year, as well as the mediators of this change. At baseline, the sample consisted of 99 participants and 47 waiting list controls. Comparisons of scores from baseline (Time 1) to one week after the Hoffman Quadrinity Process (Time 2) showed large declines in negative affect (depressive symptoms) and increases in both positive outcomes (mastery, empathy, emotional intelligence, life satisfaction, forgiveness, and spiritual experience) and health and well-being. Over the course of a year, most of these gains were sustained, in comparison with the control group. Further, increases in forgiveness and spirituality mediated the effect of program participation on depressive symptoms.

Moment matrices, border bases and radical computation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lasserre, J.B.; Laurent, M.; Mourrain, B.; Rostalski, P.; Trébuchet, P.

2013-01-01

In this paper, we describe new methods to compute the radical (resp. real radical) of an ideal, assuming its complex (resp. real) variety is finite. The aim is to combine approaches for solving a system of polynomial equations with dual methods which involve moment matrices and semi-definite

Complete family of separability criteria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doherty, Andrew C.; Spedalieri, Federico M.; Parrilo, Pablo A.

2004-01-01

We introduce a family of separability criteria that are based on the existence of extensions of a bipartite quantum state ρ to a larger number of parties satisfying certain symmetry properties. It can be easily shown that all separable states have the required extensions, so the nonexistence of such an extension for a particular state implies that the state is entangled. One of the main advantages of this approach is that searching for the extension can be cast as a convex optimization problem known as a semidefinite program. Whenever an extension does not exist, the dual optimization constructs an explicit entanglement witness for the particular state. These separability tests can be ordered in a hierarchical structure whose first step corresponds to the well-known positive partial transpose (Peres-Horodecki) criterion, and each test in the hierarchy is at least as powerful as the preceding one. This hierarchy is complete, in the sense that any entangled state is guaranteed to fail a test at some finite point in the hierarchy, thus showing it is entangled. The entanglement witnesses corresponding to each step of the hierarchy have well-defined and very interesting algebraic properties that, in turn, allow for a characterization of the interior of the set of positive maps. Coupled with some recent results on the computational complexity of the separability problem, which has been shown to be NP hard, this hierarchy of tests gives a complete and also computationally and theoretically appealing characterization of mixed bipartite entangled states

Rank restriction for the variational calculation of two-electron reduced density matrices of many-electron atoms and molecules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naftchi-Ardebili, Kasra; Hau, Nathania W.; Mazziotti, David A.

2011-01-01

Variational minimization of the ground-state energy as a function of the two-electron reduced density matrix (2-RDM), constrained by necessary N-representability conditions, provides a polynomial-scaling approach to studying strongly correlated molecules without computing the many-electron wave function. Here we introduce a route to enhancing necessary conditions for N representability through rank restriction of the 2-RDM. Rather than adding computationally more expensive N-representability conditions, we directly enhance the accuracy of two-particle (2-positivity) conditions through rank restriction, which removes degrees of freedom in the 2-RDM that are not sufficiently constrained. We select the rank of the particle-hole 2-RDM by deriving the ranks associated with model wave functions, including both mean-field and antisymmetrized geminal power (AGP) wave functions. Because the 2-positivity conditions are exact for quantum systems with AGP ground states, the rank of the particle-hole 2-RDM from the AGP ansatz provides a minimum for its value in variational 2-RDM calculations of general quantum systems. To implement the rank-restricted conditions, we extend a first-order algorithm for large-scale semidefinite programming. The rank-restricted conditions significantly improve the accuracy of the energies; for example, the percentages of correlation energies recovered for HF, CO, and N 2 improve from 115.2%, 121.7%, and 121.5% without rank restriction to 97.8%, 101.1%, and 100.0% with rank restriction. Similar results are found at both equilibrium and nonequilibrium geometries. While more accurate, the rank-restricted N-representability conditions are less expensive computationally than the full-rank conditions.

A program to compute geographical positions of underwater artifact based on linear measurements

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Ganesan, P.

System) or any hydrographic post processing software, excellent site plans and other related maps can be prepared on any convenient scale. This user friendly program enables the marine archaeologists to process their field measurements much faster...

One School Librarian Plus Positive Attitude Equals a Quality School Library Program

Science.gov (United States)

Terrell, Nancy

2011-01-01

Since getting books into the hands of her students was of utmost importance to her, this author began to look at areas that took away from the time she had to work with the students. In this article, the author offers suggestions on how to have a successful school library program, regardless of reductions in budget and/or staff. She mentions that…

A dynamic programming algorithm for the space allocation and aisle positioning problem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bodnar, Peter; Lysgaard, Jens

2014-01-01

The space allocation and aisle positioning problem (SAAPP) in a material handling system with gravity flow racks is the problem of minimizing the total number of replenishments over a period subject to practical constraints related to the need for aisles granting safe and easy access to storage...

Impact evaluation of positive deviance hearth in Migori County, Kenya

African Journals Online (AJOL)

based nutrition program for children who are at risk for protein-energy malnutrition in a low resource community. The intervention uses the 'Positive Deviance' approach to identify those behaviors practiced by the mothers or caretakers of ...

Position detectors, methods of detecting position, and methods of providing positional detectors

Science.gov (United States)

Weinberg, David M.; Harding, L. Dean; Larsen, Eric D.

2002-01-01

Position detectors, welding system position detectors, methods of detecting various positions, and methods of providing position detectors are described. In one embodiment, a welding system positional detector includes a base that is configured to engage and be moved along a curved surface of a welding work piece. At least one position detection apparatus is provided and is connected with the base and configured to measure angular position of the detector relative to a reference vector. In another embodiment, a welding system positional detector includes a weld head and at least one inclinometer mounted on the weld head. The one inclinometer is configured to develop positional data relative to a reference vector and the position of the weld head on a non-planar weldable work piece.

Efficacy of the Positive Parenting Program (Triple-P for a Group of Parents of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehdi Tehranidoost

2008-07-01

Full Text Available "nObjective: To evaluate the efficacy of the Positive Parenting Program (Triple-P for parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD. "nMethod:  Sixty families who had at least one child with clinically diagnosed ADHD aged between 6 to12 were recruited from the consecutive referrals to a child and adolescent psychiatric clinic. Families were randomly assigned to the intervention group (who participated in an 8- week- group Triple-P, N=30 and a control group (N=30. Parents completed the battery of self-report questionnaires of triple-P at the beginning and after the 8th session. "nResults: There were no significant differences in pre intervention measures between the two groups. Comparing the pre and post intervention data, the Triple- P group was associated with significantly lower levels of parent reported child behavior problems (P=0.001, lower levels of dysfunctional parenting (P=0.001 and greater parental competence (P=0.001 than the control group. The parents the in triple-P group had significant improvement on measures of depression, anxiety and stress, in comparison with the control group (P=0.001. This study did not follow the long term effect which marks its limitation. "nConclusion: The Triple-P program can be recommended for parents of children with ADHD to reduce the problem behavior of their children and to improve their abilities.

Pre/post evaluation of a pilot prevention with positives training program for healthcare providers in North West Province, Republic of South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Kemp, Christopher G; de Kadt, Julia; Pillay, Erushka; Gilvydis, Jennifer M; Naidoo, Evasen; Grignon, Jessica; Weaver, Marcia R

2017-05-02

Prevention interventions for people living with HIV/AIDS are an important component of HIV programs. We report the results of a pilot evaluation of a four-hour, clinic-based training for healthcare providers in South Africa on HIV prevention assessments and messages. This pre/post pilot evaluation examined whether the training was associated with providers delivering more prevention messages. Seventy providers were trained at four public primary care clinics with a high volume of HIV patients. Pre- and post-training patient exit surveys were conducted using Audio-Computer Assisted Structured Interviews. Seven provider appropriate messaging outcomes and one summary provider outcome were compared pre- and post-training using Poisson regression. Four hundred fifty-nine patients pre-training and 405 post-training with known HIV status were interviewed, including 175 and 176 HIV positive patients respectively. Among HIV positive patients, delivery of all appropriate messages by providers declined post-training. The summary outcome decreased from 56 to 50%; adjusted rate ratio 0.92 (95% CI = 0.87-0.97). Sensitivity analyses adjusting for training coverage and time since training detected fewer declines. Among HIV negative patients the summary score was stable at 32% pre- and post-training; adjusted rate ratio 1.05 (95% CI = 0.98-1.12). Surprisingly, this training was associated with a decrease in prevention messages delivered to HIV positive patients by providers. Limited training coverage and delays between training and post-training survey may partially account for this apparent decrease. A more targeted approach to prevention messages may be more effective.

Loyalty programs and their impact on consumer

OpenAIRE

Rothmajerová, Jaroslava

2010-01-01

The thesis is focused on loyalty programs. The aim of the thesis is to show how the loyalty program works by using a particular example and how it affects consumers. In the theoretical part, there is explained the position of loyalty programs in marketing. The thesis also deals with media, which use loyalty programs in marketing communication. In the practical part, the loyalty program of Nestlé is analysed, which is aimed at children as consumers. Awareness and satisfaction with loyalty prog...

Static analysis: from theory to practice; Static analysis of large-scale embedded code, generation of abstract domains; Analyse statique: de la theorie a la pratique; analyse statique de code embarque de grande taille, generation de domaines abstraits

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Monniaux, D.

2009-06-15

Software operating critical systems (aircraft, nuclear power plants) should not fail - whereas most computerised systems of daily life (personal computer, ticket vending machines, cell phone) fail from time to time. This is not a simple engineering problem: it is known, since the works of Turing and Cook, that proving that programs work correctly is intrinsically hard. In order to solve this problem, one needs methods that are, at the same time, efficient (moderate costs in time and memory), safe (all possible failures should be found), and precise (few warnings about nonexistent failures). In order to reach a satisfactory compromise between these goals, one can research fields as diverse as formal logic, numerical analysis or 'classical' algorithmics. From 2002 to 2007 I participated in the development of the Astree static analyser. This suggested to me a number of side projects, both theoretical and practical (use of formal proof techniques, analysis of numerical filters...). More recently, I became interested in modular analysis of numerical property and in the applications to program analysis of constraint solving techniques (semi-definite programming, SAT and SAT modulo theory). (author)

A Targeted and Tailored eHealth Weight Loss Program for Young Women: The Be Positive Be Healthe Randomized Controlled Trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melinda J. Hutchesson

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Young women are gaining weight rapidly. Evidence for effective weight loss interventions targeting young women is lacking. This randomized controlled trial assessed the efficacy and acceptability of a six-month targeted and tailored eHealth weight loss program for young women (Be Positive Be Healthe (BPBH. Women aged 18–35 years were randomized to BPBH (n = 29 or control (n = 28. BPBH supported participants to modify diet and physical activity behaviours using evidenced-based strategies (e.g., self-monitoring tailored for young women and delivered using e-health (website, social media, smartphone application, email, text messages. The primary outcome was a change in weight (kg at six months. Acceptability was assessed via a process evaluation survey and usage of intervention components. No significant between-group differences were observed for weight, with significant mean differences favouring the intervention group observed for body fat (kg (−3.10 (−5.69, 0.52, p = 0.019 and intakes of alcohol (g (−0.69 (−1.33, 0.04, p = 0.037, vegetables (% energy/day (4.71 (−2.20, 7.22, p < 0.001 and energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods (% energy/day (−9.23 (−16.94, 1.52, p = 0.018. Retention, intervention usage and satisfaction were moderate. BPBH facilitated positive improvements in body fat and dietary intake, but not weight. Intervention acceptability findings support the use of some intervention components (e.g., Facebook, Smartphone app with young women.

ASSESSMENT OF PERDA, E-COMMUNITY PROGRAM, PULAU PINANG

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheah Fee Lian

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to assess the e-community program launched by Penang Regional Development Authority (PERDA based on participants. 276 survey forms were distributed randomly throughout four zones Multimedia Training Centers in Penang. Generally, the respondents admitted that PERDA’s e-community program had positive elements towards them. It was found that interpersonal source such as peers, neighbours and family members were main sources to provided information regarding PERDA’s e-community program to the respondents. The results showed that most respondents had positive attitude towards competence, ability to try and complexity of computer and the Internet after going through the program. However, there were respondents which had negative attitudes towards their ability to try using the computer and Internet after involving in this program. The results also found that features in PERDA’s ecommunity program become the core into such involvement. Therefore, efforts are needed now and then in order to enhance the quality of this program thus encouraging more participation in the future.

Current models of positive mental health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stanojević Dragana Z.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The concept of positive mental health represents not merely the absence of mental disease but presence of high level of happiness and well-being. In this paper we mentioned shortly the earliest concept of mental health, presented by Marie Jahoda in the mid-twentieth century. After that, we described two traditions in understanding and researching of subjective well-being: hedonic and eudaimonic approach. First approach focuses on investigation of positive affects and happiness as emotional and life satisfaction as cognitive component of subjective well-being. Second tradition emphasizes potentials and competences that person develops to the highest level, in personal and social area. Both psychological and social well-being are core concept of positive mental health psychology, designated together as positive functioning. The psychological well-being comprises six dimensions: self-acceptance, positive relations with others, environmental mastery, autonomy, purpose of life and personal growth. Social well-being consists of five dimensions: social integration, social acceptance, social contribution, social actualization and social coherence. By integrating hedonic and eudaimonic well-being as well as absence of mental disease, Corey Keyes introduced concept of complete mental health. People with complete mental health have reported absence of disease during past year and presence of high level of emotional, psychological and social well-being (flourishing. People with incomplete mental health have also reported absence of mental disease but low level of positive functioning (languishing. Keyes thought there are people with complete and incomplete mental illness; both groups report presence of mental disease, but second group has high level of positive functioning. Models of positive mental health are widely used in research studies as well as in programs for prevention and promotion of mental health. .

Exploring social support and job satisfaction among associate degree program directors in California.

Science.gov (United States)

Mintz-Binder, Ronda D; Fitzpatrick, Joyce J

2009-01-01

A troubling trend noted in California has been an increase in the number of open positions for program directors of associate degree registered nursing (ADRN) programs. Positions remain open for extended periods of time, and the number of qualified applicants for such positions is insufficient. The loss of and ensuing slow replacement of ADRN program directors can put these programs in jeopardy of student admission suspension, or, worse yet, closure by the state nursing board. In this exploratory study, variables of social support and job satisfaction were studied. Variables were found to be limited opportunities for peer interaction, expressed discontent, and retention concerns. A significant positive relationship between job satisfaction and social support was noted. Recommendations for future research are offered.

Positive deviance study to inform a Chagas disease control program in southern Ecuador.

Science.gov (United States)

Nieto-Sanchez, Claudia; Baus, Esteban G; Guerrero, Darwin; Grijalva, Mario J

2015-05-01

Chagas disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, which is mainly transmitted by the faeces of triatomine insects that find favourable environments in poorly constructed houses. Previous studies have documented persistent triatomine infestation in houses in the province of Loja in southern Ecuador despite repeated insecticide and educational interventions. We aim to develop a sustainable strategy for the interruption of Chagas disease transmission by promoting living environments that are designed to prevent colonisation of rural houses by triatomines. This study used positive deviance to inform the design of an anti-triatomine prototype house by identifying knowledge, attitudes and practices used by families that have remained triatomine-free (2010-2012). Positive deviants reported practices that included maintenance of structural elements of the house, fumigation of dwellings and animal shelters, sweeping with "insect repellent" plants and relocation of domestic animals away from the house, among others. Participants favoured construction materials that do not drastically differ from those currently used (adobe walls and tile roofs). They also expressed their belief in a clear connection between a clean house and health. The family's economic dynamics affect space use and must be considered in the prototype's design. Overall, the results indicate a positive climate for the introduction of housing improvements as a protective measure against Chagas disease in this region.

Yoga as a School-Wide Positive Behavior Support

Science.gov (United States)

Accardo, Amy L.

2017-01-01

A yoga-based school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) may provide a foundation for teaching mindfulness and self-regulation in K-12 schools. Here, the use of yoga as a SWPBS was examined through a review of existing literature and interviews of yoga program facilitators. Yoga was reported to be effective as a pedagogical approach, and found…

Perceptions of Interior Design Program Chairs Regarding Credentials for Faculty

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Beth R.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether program chairs in interior design have a preferred degree credential for candidates seeking a full-time, tenure-track position or other full-time position at their institution and to determine if there is a correlation between this preference and the program chair's university's demographics,…

Photoelectric effect photon beam position monitors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1991-01-01

Stability of the electron orbit is of critical importance at the NSLS. Many experimenters utilizing the NSLS photon beams can take full advantage of the small transverse dimensions of the source only if the electron orbit variation is kept below 10 to 20% of the transverse electron bunch size. Clearly the first step in a program to stabilize the orbit is to develop position monitors with the required sensitivity, reliability and dynamic range. Of great importance are monitors detecting the photon beams themselves, and also monitors measuring the position of the electron beam. In this section the authors discuss photon beam position monitors utilizing the photoelectric effects, and in the following section the use of capacitively coupled pick-up electrodes to detect electron beam position will be described. In what follows they shall proceed to consider two generic types of monitor geometries (1) Gap monitors, which are designed with the idea that the fringes of the synchrotron radiation will be measured, and the hot or fundamental beam will pass through the monitor unimpeded. (2) Area monitors, which are comprised of two triangular elements nested together similar to the electrodes of a split ion chamber or the diodes described by Siddons and Kraner or Mitsuhashi et al

Advances in beam position monitoring methods at GSI synchrotrons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Singh, Rahul; Reiter, Andreas; Forck, Peter; Kowina, Piotr; Lang, Kevin; Miedzik, Piotr [GSI, Darmstadt (Germany)

2016-07-01

At the GSI synchrotron facilities, capacitive beam pick-up signals for position evaluation are immediately digitized within the acquisition electronics due to availability of reliable, fast and high resolution ADCs. The signal processing aspects are therefore fully dealt with in the digital domain. Novel digital techniques for asynchronous and synchronous (bunch-by-bunch) beam position estimation have been developed at GSI SIS-18 and CRYRING as part of FAIR development program. This contribution will highlight the advancements and its impact on the operational ease and high availability of the BPM systems.

Effect of radiologist experience on the risk of false-positive results in breast cancer screening programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zubizarreta Alberdi, Raquel [Galician Breast Cancer Screening Programme, Public Health and Planning Directorate, Health Office, Galicia (Spain); Edificio Administrativo da Conselleria de Sanidade, Servicio de Programas Poboacionais de Cribado, Direccion Xeral de Saude Publica e Planificacion, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia (Spain); Llanes, Ana B.F.; Ortega, Raquel Almazan [Galician Breast Cancer Screening Programme, Public Health and Planning Directorate, Health Office, Galicia (Spain); Exposito, Ruben Roman; Collado, Jose M.V.; Oliveres, Xavier Castells [Department of Epidemiology and Evaluation, Institut Municipal d' Investigacio Medica-Parc de Salut Mar. CIBERESP, Barcelona (Spain); Queiro Verdes, Teresa [Galician Agency for Health Technology Assessment, Public Health and Planning Directorate, Health Office, Galicia (Spain); Natal Ramos, Carmen [Principality of Asturias Breast Cancer Screening Programme, Principality of Asturias (Spain); Sanz, Maria Ederra [Public Health Institute, Navarra Breast Cancer Screening Programme, Pamplona (Spain); Salas Trejo, Dolores [General Directorate Public Health and Centre for Public Health Research (CSISP), Valencia Breast Cancer Screening Programme, Valencia (Spain)

2011-10-15

To evaluate the effect of radiologist experience on the risk of false-positive results in population-based breast cancer screening programmes. We evaluated 1,440,384 single-read screening mammograms, corresponding to 471,112 women aged 45-69 years participating in four Spanish programmes between 1990 and 2006. The mammograms were interpreted by 72 radiologists. The overall percentage of false-positive results was 5.85% and that for false-positives resulting in an invasive procedure was 0.38%. Both the risk of false-positives overall and of false-positives leading to an invasive procedure significantly decreased (p < 0.001) with greater reading volume in the previous year: OR 0.77 and OR 0.78, respectively, for a reading volume 500-1,999 mammograms and OR 0.59 and OR 0.60 for a reading volume of >14,999 mammograms with respect to the reference category (<500). The risk of both categories of false-positives was also significantly reduced (p < 0.001) as radiologists' years of experience increased: OR 0.96 and OR 0.84, respectively, for 1 year's experience and OR 0.72 and OR 0.73, respectively, for more than 4 years' experience with regard to the category of <1 year's experience. Radiologist experience is a determining factor in the risk of a false-positive result in breast cancer screening. (orig.)

Near-field self-interference cancellation and quality of service multicast beamforming in full-duplex

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Fei; Shao, Shihai; Tang, Youxi

2016-10-01

To enable simultaneous multicast downlink transmit and receive operations on the same frequency band, also known as full-duplex links between an access point and mobile users. The problem of minimizing the total power of multicast transmit beamforming is considered from the viewpoint of ensuring the suppression amount of near-field line-of-sight self-interference and guaranteeing prescribed minimum signal-to-interference-plus-noise-ratio (SINR) at each receiver of the multicast groups. Based on earlier results for multicast groups beamforming, the joint problem is easily shown to be NP-hard. A semidefinite relaxation (SDR) technique with linear program power adjust method is proposed to solve the NP-hard problem. Simulation shows that the proposed method is feasible even when the local receive antenna in nearfield and the mobile user in far-filed are in the same direction.

Modular constraints on conformal field theories with currents

Science.gov (United States)

Bae, Jin-Beom; Lee, Sungjay; Song, Jaewon

2017-12-01

We study constraints coming from the modular invariance of the partition function of two-dimensional conformal field theories. We constrain the spectrum of CFTs in the presence of holomorphic and anti-holomorphic currents using the semi-definite programming. In particular, we find the bounds on the twist gap for the non-current primaries depend dramatically on the presence of holomorphic currents, showing numerous kinks and peaks. Various rational CFTs are realized at the numerical boundary of the twist gap, saturating the upper limits on the degeneracies. Such theories include Wess-Zumino-Witten models for the Deligne's exceptional series, the Monster CFT and the Baby Monster CFT. We also study modular constraints imposed by W -algebras of various type and observe that the bounds on the gap depend on the choice of W -algebra in the small central charge region.

Energy efficiency and SINR maximization beamformers for cognitive radio utilizing sensing information

KAUST Repository

Alabbasi, Abdulrahman

2014-06-01

In this paper we consider a cognitive radio multi-input multi-output environment in which we adapt our beamformer to maximize both energy efficiency and signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) metrics. Our design considers an underlaying communication using adaptive beamforming schemes combined with the sensing information to achieve an optimal energy efficient system. The proposed schemes maximize the energy efficiency and SINR metrics subject to cognitive radio and quality of service constraints. Since the optimization of energy efficiency problem is not a convex problem, we transform it into a standard semi-definite programming (SDP) form to guarantee a global optimal solution. Analytical solution is provided for one scheme, while the other scheme is left in a standard SDP form. Selected numerical results are used to quantify the impact of the sensing information on the proposed schemes compared to the benchmark ones.

Convex relaxation of Optimal Power Flow in Distribution Feeders with embedded solar power

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hermann, Alexander Niels August; Wu, Qiuwei; Huang, Shaojun

2016-01-01

There is an increasing interest in using Distributed Energy Resources (DER) directly coupled to end user distribution feeders. This poses an array of challenges because most of today’s distribution feeders are designed for unidirectional power flow. Therefore when installing DERs such as solar...... panels with uncontrolled inverters, the upper limit of installable capacity is quickly reached in many of today’s distribution feeders. This problem can often be mitigated by optimally controlling the voltage angles of inverters. However, the optimal power flow problem in its standard form is a large...... scale non-convex optimization problem, and thus can’t be solved precisely and also is computationally heavy and intractable for large systems. This paper examines the use of a convex relaxation using Semi-definite programming to optimally control solar power inverters in a distribution grid in order...

Design of polynomial fuzzy observer-controller for nonlinear systems with state delay: sum of squares approach

Science.gov (United States)

Gassara, H.; El Hajjaji, A.; Chaabane, M.

2017-07-01

This paper investigates the problem of observer-based control for two classes of polynomial fuzzy systems with time-varying delay. The first class concerns a special case where the polynomial matrices do not depend on the estimated state variables. The second one is the general case where the polynomial matrices could depend on unmeasurable system states that will be estimated. For the last case, two design procedures are proposed. The first one gives the polynomial fuzzy controller and observer gains in two steps. In the second procedure, the designed gains are obtained using a single-step approach to overcome the drawback of a two-step procedure. The obtained conditions are presented in terms of sum of squares (SOS) which can be solved via the SOSTOOLS and a semi-definite program solver. Illustrative examples show the validity and applicability of the proposed results.

Component-oriented programming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bosch, J; Szyperski, C; Weck, W; Buschmann, F; Buchmann, AP; Cilia, MA

2003-01-01

This report covers the eighth Workshop on Component-Oriented Programming (WCOP). WCOP has been affiliated with ECOOP since its inception in 1996. The report summarizes the contributions made by authors of accepted position papers as well as those made by all attendees of the workshop sessions.

The School Nurse's Role in Behavioral Health of Students. Position Statement

Science.gov (United States)

McDermott, Elizabeth; Bohnenkamp, Jill Haak; Freedland, Mary; Baker, Dian; Palmer, Karla

2017-01-01

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that registered, professional school nurses (hereinafter referred to as school nurses) serve a vital role in promoting positive behavioral health outcomes in students through evidence-based programs and curricula in schools and communities. Behavioral health is as critical to…

Overview of US Fusion Energy Programs: January 1993

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crandall, D.H.

1994-01-01

The US Fusion Program is in open-quotes Transition.close quotes This happens so infrequently that no one knows exactly what to expect; it makes everyone a little skittish. Program leadership does make a difference; Secretary Watkins was a positive force for fusion. Energy Research Director Happer remains in his position and is a positive force for scientific quality. Secretary O'Leary has stated that open-quotes Fusion energy holds great promise as an element of the nation's long-term energy supply.close quotes While new leaders may seek new directions with important implications for fusion, it seems reasonable to expect that, for fusion, such changes are likely to emerge slowly. Thus the assumption now is that the fusion priorities remain unchanged. In the spirit of optimism surrounding the new administration, the Fusion Energy Program's intention is to make as much progress as possible on the course presently established

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) Technology to Study Vector-Pathogen-Host Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

2016-12-01

Award Number: W81XWH-11-2-0175 TITLE: Global Positioning Systems (GPS) Technology to Study Vector-Pathogen-Host Interactions PRINCIPAL...Positioning Systems (GPS) Technology to Study Vector-Pathogen-Host Interactions 5b. GRANT NUMBER W81XWH-11-2-0175 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S...genetic diversity in the population, in hospitalized children with severe dengue illness and cluster investigation of their neighborhoods, and by using

Choose Health: Food, Fun, and Fitness Youth Curriculum Promotes Positive Behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolfe, Wendy S; Scott-Pierce, Michelle; Dollahite, Jamie

2017-11-20

Evaluate whether participation in Choose Health: Food, Fun, and Fitness (CHFFF), a hands-on, experiential curriculum aimed at third- to sixth-graders, resulted in improvements in the targeted obesity and chronic disease prevention behaviors. The researchers evaluated CHFFF in low-income youth participating in 2 federal programs in New York State during 2013-2015. Food and activity behaviors were assessed using the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program third- through fifth- and sixth- through eighth-grade pre-post surveys, along with 2 sets of added CHFFF-specific items completed by subsamples. Educators trained in CHFFF had youth complete the surveys as they delivered the curriculum, primarily in schools and after-school programs. Paired t tests showed significant (P < .01) positive changes before to after CHFFF education for consumption of vegetables, fruits, sweetened drinks, nutrition label reading, and other food and activity behaviors. Results provide practice-based evidence that CHFFF promotes positive behavior change in participating youth. Copyright © 2017 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Image superresolution using support vector regression.

Science.gov (United States)

Ni, Karl S; Nguyen, Truong Q

2007-06-01

A thorough investigation of the application of support vector regression (SVR) to the superresolution problem is conducted through various frameworks. Prior to the study, the SVR problem is enhanced by finding the optimal kernel. This is done by formulating the kernel learning problem in SVR form as a convex optimization problem, specifically a semi-definite programming (SDP) problem. An additional constraint is added to reduce the SDP to a quadratically constrained quadratic programming (QCQP) problem. After this optimization, investigation of the relevancy of SVR to superresolution proceeds with the possibility of using a single and general support vector regression for all image content, and the results are impressive for small training sets. This idea is improved upon by observing structural properties in the discrete cosine transform (DCT) domain to aid in learning the regression. Further improvement involves a combination of classification and SVR-based techniques, extending works in resolution synthesis. This method, termed kernel resolution synthesis, uses specific regressors for isolated image content to describe the domain through a partitioned look of the vector space, thereby yielding good results.

Effectiveness of the triple P positive parenting program on parenting: A meta-analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Graaf, I. de; Speetjens, P.; Smit, F.; Wolff, M. de; Tavecchio, L.

2008-01-01

Triple P is a parenting program intended to prevent and to provide treatment for severe behavioral, emotional, and developmental problems in children. The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess the effectiveness of Triple P Level 4 interventions on parenting styles and parental competency. Level 4

Starting a new residency program: a step-by-step guide for institutions, hospitals, and program directors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michelle Barajaz

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Although our country faces a looming shortage of doctors, constraints of space, funding, and patient volume in many existing residency programs limit training opportunities for medical graduates. New residency programs need to be created for the expansion of graduate medical education training positions. Partnerships between existing academic institutions and community hospitals with a need for physicians can be a very successful means toward this end. Baylor College of Medicine and The Children's Hospital of San Antonio were affiliated in 2012, and subsequently, we developed and received accreditation for a new categorical pediatric residency program at that site in 2014. We share below a step-by-step guide through the process that includes building of the infrastructure, educational development, accreditation, marketing, and recruitment. It is our hope that the description of this process will help others to spur growth in graduate medical training positions.

Positive deviance study to inform a Chagas disease control program in southern Ecuador

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Nieto-Sanchez

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Chagas disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, which is mainly transmitted by the faeces of triatomine insects that find favourable environments in poorly constructed houses. Previous studies have documented persistent triatomine infestation in houses in the province of Loja in southern Ecuador despite repeated insecticide and educational interventions. We aim to develop a sustainable strategy for the interruption of Chagas disease transmission by promoting living environments that are designed to prevent colonisation of rural houses by triatomines. This study used positive deviance to inform the design of an anti-triatomine prototype house by identifying knowledge, attitudes and practices used by families that have remained triatomine-free (2010-2012. Positive deviants reported practices that included maintenance of structural elements of the house, fumigation of dwellings and animal shelters, sweeping with "insect repellent" plants and relocation of domestic animals away from the house, among others. Participants favoured construction materials that do not drastically differ from those currently used (adobe walls and tile roofs. They also expressed their belief in a clear connection between a clean house and health. The family's economic dynamics affect space use and must be considered in the prototype's design. Overall, the results indicate a positive climate for the introduction of housing improvements as a protective measure against Chagas disease in this region.

Learning from the community to improve maternal-child health and nutrition: the Positive Deviance/Hearth approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Schooley, Janine; Morales, Linda

2007-01-01

The "traditional" use of the Positive Deviance approach to behavior change involves studying children who thrive despite adversity, identifying uncommon model behaviors among Positive Deviant families, and then designing and implementing an intervention to replicate these behaviors among mothers of malnourished children. This article presents the results of a literature review designed to gather information on the role of the Positive Deviance/Hearth methodology in social and behavior change. Examples of how the methodology has been applied beyond infant and child malnutrition to address other health areas, such as improving pregnancy outcomes, are explored. An analysis of Positive Deviance programming being carried out by Project Concern International in Guatemala and Indonesia is conducted. The role of cultural context in the design and implementation of Positive Deviance/Hearth, as well as the role of Positive Deviance in affecting social and behavior change, require further exploration. The issues related to cultural context and the challenges for monitoring and evaluation of program outcomes are presented.

Partial Support of MAST Academy Outreach Program

Science.gov (United States)

1993-05-25

Another very positive aspect of the student-mentor relationship occured when young women served their internship with a woman scientist or the... siences has indirectly led to the initiation of similar programs in other academic areas. APPENDIX A JOB DESCRIPTIONS FOR MAST ACADEMY OUTREACH PROGRAM

CAUSE-FIT, POSITIVE ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS WITHIN HYBRID COLOMBIAN ORGANIZATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Pablo Román-Calderón

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Socially oriented ventures have provided livelihoods and social recognition to disadvantaged communities in different corners of the world. In some cases, these ventures are the result of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR programs. In Latin America, this type of undertaking has responded positively to unmet social needs. The social cause drives these organizations and their human resources and they give high value to organizational cause-fit. This paper presents empirical evidence of the effects of perceived cause-fit on several worker attitudes and behaviors. Psychological contract theory was adopted as theoretical background. Employees working in a hybrid (for-profit/socially oriented Colombian organization created by a CSR program participated in the survey. Data provided by 218 employees were analyzed using PLS structural equation modeling. The results suggest the ideological components of the employee-employer relationship predict positive attitudes and cooperative organizational behaviors towards hybrid organizations.

Medical student education program in Alzheimer’s disease: The PAIRS Program

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jefferson Angela L

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background As life expectancy increases, dementia incidence will also increase, creating a greater need for physicians well-trained to provide integrated geriatric care. However, research suggests medical students have limited knowledge or interest in pursuing geriatric or dementia care. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the PAIRS Program and its effectiveness in enhancing medical education as a service-learning activity and replication model for the Buddy ProgramTM. Methods Between 2007 and 2011, four consecutive classes of first year Boston University School of Medicine students (n = 45; 24 ± 3 years, 58% female, 53% White participated in a year-long program in which they were paired with a patient with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD. Assessments included pre- and post-program dementia knowledge tests and a post-program reflective essay. Results Program completion was 100% (n = 45. A paired-sample t-test revealed a modest improvement in dementia knowledge post-program (p  Conclusions Quantitative and qualitative findings suggest that the PAIRS Program can enhance the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and positive attitudes regarding geriatric healthcare in future generations of physicians, a skill set that is becoming increasingly relevant in light of the rapidly aging population. Furthermore, results suggest that The Buddy ProgramTM model can be successfully replicated.

[Design of a program for the positive development of schoolchildren and characteristics of participants (Medellin, Colombia)].

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández, Dora María; Duque, Luis Fernando; Restrepo, Alexandra

2014-01-01

The design of the program for the promotion of personal potential and prevention of risky health behaviors in school-aged children, PILAS! Better Adults, Better Kids, was based on local and international evidence on programs for the prevention of school-based violence. The program offers a training process for parents and teachers through active methodologies and advice (provided for 10 months) based on topics that encourage individual child development and the delegitimization of violence in everyday interactions. A total of 306 teachers, 800 parents and 12,800 children benefited from the program. An initial measurement was conducted using a scale ranging from 0 to 100 in a sample of 1751 children. The results showed an average of 80 in the children's social skills, but caregivers reported high levels of aggression. Communication and supervision failures were found among parents, as well as punishment practices through psychological and physical aggression. Another finding was low social cohesion in the neighborhood. Copyright © 2013 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Developing An Internship Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Chase, Valerie

1984-01-01

Provided are suggestions for developing museum/aquarium internship programs. These include writing detailed job descriptions, advertising, designing application forms asking all the information needed, supervising the interns, interviewing applicants as they were applying for a paid position, and others. (JN)

Can a Clinician-Scientist Training Program Develop Academic Orthopaedic Surgeons? One Program's Thirty-Year Experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Brandt, Aaron M; Rettig, Samantha A; Kale, Neel K; Zuckerman, Joseph D; Egol, Kenneth A

2017-10-25

Clinician-scientist numbers have been stagnant over the past few decades despite awareness of this trend. Interventions attempting to change this problem have been seemingly ineffective, but research residency positions have shown potential benefit. We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of a clinician-scientist training program (CSTP) in an academic orthopedic residency in improving academic productivity and increasing interest in academic careers. Resident training records were identified and reviewed for all residents who completed training between 1976 and 2014 (n = 329). There were no designated research residents prior to 1984 (pre-CSTP). Between 1984 and 2005, residents self-selected for the program (CSTP-SS). In 2005, residents were selected by program before residency (CSTP-PS). Residents were also grouped by program participation, research vs. clinical residents (RR vs. CR). Data were collected on academic positions and productivity through Internet-based and PubMed search, as well as direct e-mail or phone contact. Variables were then compared based on the time duration and designation. Comparing all RR with CR, RR residents were more likely to enter academic practice after training (RR, 34%; CR, 20%; p = 0.0001) and were 4 times more productive based on median publications (RR, 14; CR, 4; p scientists. Copyright © 2017 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploring Chlamydia Positivity among Females on College Campuses, 2008-2010

Science.gov (United States)

Habel, Melissa A.; Leichliter, Jami S.; Torrone, Elizabeth

2016-01-01

Objective: Describe chlamydia positivity among young women tested at college health centers by student characteristics: age, race/ethnicity, and institution type. Participants: During 2008-2010, colleges participating in a national infertility prevention program provided chlamydia testing data from females aged 18-24. Methods: Chlamydia positivity…

When public health and genetic privacy collide: positive and normative theories explaining how ACA's expansion of corporate wellness programs conflicts with GINA's privacy rules.

Science.gov (United States)

Bard, Jennifer S

2011-01-01

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) contains many provisions intended to increase access to and lower the cost of health care by adopting public health measures. One of these promotes the use of at-work wellness programs by both providing employers with grants to develop these programs and also increasing their ability to tie the price employees pay for health insurance for participating in these programs and meeting specific health goals. Yet despite ACA's specific alteration of three different statues which had in the past shielded employees from having to contribute to the cost of their health insurance based on their achieving employer-designated health markers, it chose to leave alone recently enacted rules implementing the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act (GINA), which prohibits employers from asking employees about their family health history in any context, including assessing their risk for setting wellness targets. This article reviews how both the changes made by ACA and the restrictions recently put place by GINA will affect the way employers are likely to structure Wellness Programs. It also considers how these changes reflect the competing social goals of both ACA, which seeks to expand access to the population by lowering costs, and GINA, which seeks to protect individuals from discrimination. It does so by analyzing both positive theories about how these new laws will function and normative theories explaining the likelihood of future friction between the interests of the population of the United States as a whole who are in need of increased and affordable access to health care, and of the individuals living in this country who risk discrimination, as science and medicine continue to make advances in linking genetic make-up to risk of future illness. © 2011 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

Positive and Negative Peer Influence in Residential Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Huefner, Jonathan C; Smith, Gail L; Stevens, Amy L

2017-10-13

The potential for negative peer influence has been well established in research, and there is a growing interest in how positive peer influence also impacts youth. No research, however, has concurrently examined positive and negative peer influence in the context of residential care. Clinical records for 886 residential care youth were used in a Hierarchical Linear Model analysis to examine the impact of negative and positive peer influence on naturally occurring patterns of serious problem behavior over time. Negative peer influence, where the majority of youth in a home manifested above the average number of serious behavior problems, occurred 13.7% of the time. Positive peer influence, where the majority of youth manifested no serious problem behaviors for the month, occurred 47.7% of the time. Overall, youth problem behavior improved over time. There were significantly lower rates of serious problem behavior in target youth during positive peer influence months. Conversely, there were significantly higher rates of serious problem behaviors in target youth during negative peer influence months. Negative peer influence had a relatively greater impact on target peers' serious behavior problems than did positive peer influence. Caregiver experience significantly reduced the impact of negative peer influence, but did not significantly augment positive peer influence. Months where negative peer influence was combined with inexperienced caregivers produced the highest rates of serious problem behavior. Our results support the view that residential programs for troubled youth need to create circumstances that promote positive and control for negative peer influence.

A reliability program for emergency diesel generators at nuclear power plants: Program structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lofgren, E.V.; DeMoss, G.M.; Fragola, J.R.; Appignani, P.L.; Delarche, G.; Boccio, J.

1988-04-01

The purpose of this report is to provide technical guidelines for NRC staff use in the development of positions for evaluating emergency diesel generator (EDG) reliability programs. Such reviews will likely result following resolution of USI A-44 and GSI B-56. The diesel generator reliability program is a management system for achieving and maintaining a selected (or target) level of reliability. This can be achieved by: (1) understanding the factors that control the EDG reliability and (2) then applying reliability and maintenance techniques in the proper proportion to achieve selected performance goals. The concepts and guidelines discussed in this report are concepts and approaches that have been successful in applications where high levels of reliability must be maintained. Both an EDG reliability program process and a set of review items for NRC use are provided. The review items represent a checklist for reviewing EDG reliability programs. They do not, in themselves, constitute a reliability program. Rather, the review items are those distinctive features of a reliability program that must be present for the program to be effective

Risk factors for VIA positivity and determinants of screening attendances in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kahesa, Crispin; Kjaer, Susanne Kruger; Ngoma, Twalib

2012-01-01

. CONCLUSION: Women who are widowed/separated, of high parity, of low education and married at a young age are more likely to be VIA positive and thus at risk of developing cervical cancer. The study further documents that a referral linkage between the HIV care and treatment program and the cervical cancer...... screening program is in place in the setting studied, where HIV positive were more likely to participate in the cervical cancer screening program than HIV negative women.......ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Tanzania is among the countries in the world where the cervical cancer incidence is estimated to be highest. Acknowledging an increase in the burden of cervical cancer, VIA was implemented as a regional cervical cancer screening strategy in Tanzania in 2002. With the aim...

Kentucky DOE-EPSCoR Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stencel, J.M.; Ochsenbein, M.P.

2003-04-14

The KY DOE EPSCoR Program included efforts to impact positively the pipeline of science and engineering students and to establish research, education and business infrastructure, sustainable beyond DOE EPSCoR funding.

Relationship between internal medicine program board examination pass rates, accreditation standards, and program size.

Science.gov (United States)

Falcone, John L; Gonzalo, Jed D

2014-01-19

To determine Internal Medicine residency program compliance with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education 80% pass-rate standard and the correlation between residency program size and performance on the American Board of Internal Medicine Certifying Examination. Using a cross-sectional study design from 2010-2012 American Board of Internal Medicine Certifying Examination data of all Internal Medicine residency pro-grams, comparisons were made between program pass rates to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education pass-rate standard. To assess the correlation between program size and performance, a Spearman's rho was calculated. To evaluate program size and its relationship to the pass-rate standard, receiver operative characteristic curves were calculated. Of 372 Internal Medicine residency programs, 276 programs (74%) achieved a pass rate of =80%, surpassing the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education minimum standard. A weak correlation was found between residency program size and pass rate for the three-year period (p=0.19, pInternal Medicine residency programs complied with Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education pass-rate standards, a quarter of the programs failed to meet this requirement. Program size is positively but weakly associated with American Board of Internal Medicine Certifying Examination performance, suggesting other unidentified variables significantly contribute to program performance.

OCCUPATIONAL EDUCATION--PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING. VOLUME TWO.

Science.gov (United States)

KOTZ, ARNOLD

ADDITIONAL POSITION PAPERS BASED ON INFORMATION GATHERED IN THE RECONNAISSANCE SURVEYS OF PLANNING AND PROGRAMING IN OCCUPATIONAL EDUCATION, REPORTED IN VOLUME ONE (VT 005 041), ARE PRESENTED. PART IV, CONCERNED WITH PROGRAM STRUCTURE AND BUDGETING AND THEIR RELATION TO THE PLANNING PROCESS, INCLUDES THE PAPERS--(1) "CURRENT POLICIES AND…

Rx for a Healthy School Nutrition Program

Science.gov (United States)

Boettger, Julie

2009-01-01

School nutrition directors face challenges on many fronts, from changing nutrition standards to addressing community interest in sustainability and local food sourcing. Programs are constantly changing to meet these new demands. How does a school business administrator know which changes will affect his/her school nutrition program positively? The…

Character Development Pilot Evaluation of Two Programs for Youth with Chronic Illness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gary Maslow

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This article describes the pilot evaluation of two Positive Youth Development (PYD programs for youth with child onset chronic illness (COCI, reporting how the programs influenced participants’ character development. College students with COCI led high school students with COCI through activities pertaining to different aspects of growing up with a chronic illness. Participants completed the Positive Youth Development Inventory-Short Form (PYDI-S, which measures seven domains of youth perceptions of the contribution to their development from the program. Participants reported that both programs helped them the most with personal standards, which corresponds well to character development on the full version of the Positive Youth Development Inventory (PYDI. They also had high scores on prosocial behavior and future orientation, both important domains for character development. We discuss the idea that interventions promoting character development for youth with COCI are critical for promoting a positive narrative for chronically-ill youth, their parents, and society.

On the rate of convergence of the alternating projection method in finite dimensional spaces

Science.gov (United States)

Galántai, A.

2005-10-01

Using the results of Smith, Solmon, and Wagner [K. Smith, D. Solomon, S. Wagner, Practical and mathematical aspects of the problem of reconstructing objects from radiographs, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 83 (1977) 1227-1270] and Nelson and Neumann [S. Nelson, M. Neumann, Generalizations of the projection method with application to SOR theory for Hermitian positive semidefinite linear systems, Numer. Math. 51 (1987) 123-141] we derive new estimates for the speed of the alternating projection method and its relaxed version in . These estimates can be computed in at most O(m3) arithmetic operations unlike the estimates in papers mentioned above that require spectral information. The new and old estimates are equivalent in many practical cases. In cases when the new estimates are weaker, the numerical testing indicates that they approximate the original bounds in papers mentioned above quite well.

A solid criterion based on strict LMI without invoking equality constraint for stabilization of continuous singular systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xuefeng; Chen, YangQuan

2017-11-01

The paper considers the stabilization issue of linear continuous singular systems by dealing with strict linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) without invoking equality constraint and proposes a complete and effective solved LMIs formulation. The criterion is necessary and sufficient condition and can be directly solved the feasible solutions with LMI toolbox and is much more tractable and reliable in numerical simulation than existing results, which involve positive semi-definite LMIs with equality constraints. The most important property of the criterion proposed in the paper is that it can overcome the drawbacks of the invalidity caused by the singularity of Ω=PE T +SQ for stabilization of singular systems. Two counterexamples are presented to avoid the disadvantages of the existing condition of stabilization of continuous singular systems. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

School Health Education about Human Sexuality. Position Statement. Revised

Science.gov (United States)

Bradley, Beverly J.; Mancuso, Patty; Cagginello, Joan B.; Board, Connie; Clark, Sandra; Harvel, Robin; Kelts, Susan

2012-01-01

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that age-appropriate health education about human sexuality should be included as part of a comprehensive school health education program and be accessible to all students in schools. NASN recognizes the role of parents and families as the primary source of education about…

Music Education: A Vehicle for Fostering Positive Youth Development

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In the contemporary Nigerian society, many youths are faced with various challenges. The inability of these young people to cope with these challenges result in all-risk behavior such as lack of confidence, low self-esteem, low motivation, etc. Over the years, indulging in music program has proved to yield positive results in ...

Sounds and Noises. A Position Paper on Noise Pollution.

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Thomas L.

This position paper focuses on noise pollution and the problems and solutions associated with this form of pollution. The paper is divided into the following five sections: Noise and the Ear, Noise Measurement, III Effects of Noise, Acoustics and Action, and Programs and Activities. The first section identifies noise and sound, the beginnings of…

Program Management Plan for the Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., Oak Ridge National Laboratory Site Environmental Restoration Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-07-01

This program management plan describes the scope, objectives, and method of accomplishment for the Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. (Energy Systems) Oak Ridge National laboratory (ORNL) Environmental Restoration (ER) Program. The ORNL ER Program is one of five site program, receiving guidance from and reporting to the Energy Systems ER Division. Therefore, all ORNL ER policies and procedures are consistent with ER Division policies and procedures. This plan covers all ORNL ER activities, the participants involved in these activities (and their roles and responsibilities), and all phases of the remediation process. This plan will also serve as a template that may be supplemented as necessary to produce individual project management plans for specific projects. This document explains how the Energy Systems ORNL ER Program does business, so the ORNL ER Program`s management structure is illustrated in detail. Personnel are matrixed to the ER Program from other organizations to assist with specific projects. This plan identifies positions at the program level and discusses responsibilities and interactions with positions at the project level. This plan includes sections that describe requirements for project plans, work breakdown structures, schedules, project management and cost control systems, and information and reporting. Project management plans will utilize the work breakdown structure and dictionary pages in the appropriate life cycle baseline report This plan describes the information that should be contained in ORNL ER project management plans. The most important milestones are primary documents relating to the management and remediation of contaminated sites. Primary document milestones are subject to stipulated penalties and receive paramount attention.

Program for advanced study in public science policy and administration

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenthal, A. H.

1976-01-01

The results and conclusions of the six-year effort concerned with the development and implementation of a university educational program intended to prepare scientists and engineers for upper-level management and administrative positions (as distinct from senior technical positions) were presented. This interdisciplinary program is at the graduate level, leading to a Master of Arts degree, and is given within a Division of Public Administration.

Mentoring program and its impact on individuals’ advancement in the Malaysian context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Azman Ismail

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The literature on workplace training highlights that the mentoring program is an important employee development method practiced in successful organizations. The ability of mentors either informally or formally to implement the mentoring program activities may lead to higher individuals’ psychosocial support and career development. The nature of this relationship is interesting, but the role of the mentoring program as a predicting variable of individuals’ advancement (psychosocial support & career development has been given less attention in mentoring program models especially in the Malaysian organizational context. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the direct effect of a mentoring program on individuals’ advancement using a 153 usable questionnaire gathered from employees who have worked in a public university in East Malaysia. The outcomes of regression analysis showed four important findings: Firstly, formal mentoring positively and significantly correlated with individuals’ psychosocial support. Secondly, informal mentoring positively and significantly correlated with individuals’ career development. Thirdly, formal mentoring positively and significantly correlated with individuals’ career development. Fourthly, informal mentoring positively and significantly correlated with individuals’ psychosocial support. The results have empirically confirmed that properly implemented mentoring programs can lead to increased individuals’ advancement in the studied organization. In addition, implications and discussions are also elaborated.

Worker-Level and Firm-Level Effects of a Wage Subsidy Program for Highly Educated Labor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaiser, Ulrich; Kuhn, Johan Moritz

and firms, we find that the program had positive effects on employment and wages the year individuals participate in the program. For wages, we also find positive and statistically significant effects for the two subsequent years. At the program participating firm level, we find statistically significant...

Analisis Hotel Experience Dalam Hubungan Terhadap Positive Ewom Motivation Di Surabaya

OpenAIRE

Wibisana, Kharisadi; Handojono, Vincentius Kusuma

2016-01-01

: This study was conducted to analyze the positive motivation that drives people of Surabaya to share their experience at hotel online review website based on hotel experience. Variables used are price fairness, service quality and atmosphere which are three main variables of hotel experience.The method used is Linear Multiple Regression with SPSS program. The results showed that the variables that have the most influence toward customer's positive motivation to do the online review is price...

Using Technology to Enhance an Automotive Program

Science.gov (United States)

Ashton, Denis

2009-01-01

Denis Ashton uses technology in his automotive technology program at East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT) to positively impact student outcomes. Ashton, the department chair for the automotive programs at EVIT, in Mesa, Arizona, says that using an interactive PowerPoint curriculum makes learning fun for students and provides immediate…

POSITIVE study: physical exercise program in non-operable lung cancer patients undergoing palliative treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiskemann, Joachim; Hummler, Simone; Diepold, Christina; Keil, Melanie; Abel, Ulrich; Steindorf, Karen; Beckhove, Philipp; Ulrich, Cornelia M; Steins, Martin; Thomas, Michael

2016-07-19

Patients with advanced stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or small cell lung cancer (SCLC) often experience multidimensional impairments, affecting quality of life during their course of disease. In lung cancer patients with operable disease, several studies have shown that exercise has a positive impact on quality of life and physical functioning. There is limited evidence regarding efficacy for advanced lung cancer patients undergoing palliative treatment. Therefore, the POSITIVE study aims to evaluate the benefit of a 24-week exercise intervention during palliative treatment in a randomized controlled setting. The POSITIVE study is a randomized, controlled trial investigating the effects of a 24-week exercise intervention during palliative treatment on quality of life, physical performance and immune function in advanced, non-operable lung cancer patients. 250 patients will be recruited in the Clinic for Thoracic Diseases in Heidelberg, enrolment begun in November 2013. Main inclusion criterion is histologically confirmed NSCLC (stage IIIa, IIIb, IV) or SCLC (Limited Disease-SCLC, Extensive Disease-SCLC) not amenable to surgery. Patients are randomized into two groups. Both groups receive weekly care management phone calls (CMPCs) with the goal to assess symptoms and side effects. Additionally, one group receives a combined resistance and endurance training (3x/week). Primary endpoints are quality of life assessed by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy for patients with lung cancer (FACT-L, subcategory Physical Well-Being) and General Fatigue measured by the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20). Secondary endpoints are physical performance (maximal voluntary isometric contraction, 6-min walk distance), psychosocial (depression and anxiety) and immunological parameters and overall survival. The aim of the POSITIVE trial is the evaluation of effects of a 24-week structured and guided exercise intervention during palliative treatment stages

Designing and Managing Successful International Joint Development Programs

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-30

joint development programs are important because of their potential to reduce costs and increase partnership benefits such as interoperability, economies ...have actualized by discussing what characteristics research has shown as crucial to international joint development program outcomes. The study team... characteristics of international joint development programs that result in positive or negative cost, scheduling, and end-product outcomes, such as a final

A study of ECPs (Employee Concerns Programs), a corporate allegation program at U.S. nuclear industries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanabe, Tomoyuki; Suzuki, Tatsujiro

2004-01-01

Introduction of whistleblower protection system in the U.S. federal nuclear safety regulations has encouraged developments of ECPs (Employee Concerns Programs) as corporate allegation programs at utility companies in the U.S. It is found that as ECPs improve, fewer complainants are reported to the NRC each year. It seems that the introduction of whistleblower protection has had positive impacts on corporate compliance activities. In short, improved corporate compliance programs will be likely to contribute to more effective nuclear whistleblower protection system, as well as to enhance safety of nuclear power plants. (author)

KiloPower Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McClure, Patrick Ray [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-08-04

These are the slides for a phone interview with Aerospace America magazine of the AIAA. It goes over the KiloPower Program at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and covers the following: 1 kWe Kilopower, 10 kWe Kilopower, Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology (KRUSTY) Integration Test (DAF), Reactor Configuration, and Platen Positions.

Randomized Trial of Asprin as Adjuvant Therapy for Node-Positive Breast Cancer

Science.gov (United States)

2017-10-01

AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-15-1-0268 TITLE: Randomized Trial of Asprin as Adjuvant Therapy for Node-Positive Breast Cancer PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR...Eric Winer CONTRACTING ORGANIZATION: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Boston, MA 02215 REPORT DATE: OCTOBER 2017 TYPE OF REPORT: ANNUAL PREPARED FOR...CONTRACT NUMBER Randomized Trial of Asprin as Adjuvant Therapy for Node- Positive Breast Cancer 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR

Postdoctoral program guidelines.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Teich-McGoldrick, Stephanie; Miller, Andrew W.; Sava, Dorina Florentina; Liu, Yanli; Ferreira, Summer Rhodes; Biedermann, Laura Butler; Cruz-Campa, Jose Luis; Hall, Lisa Michelle; Liu, Xiaohua H.; Ekoto, Isaac

2012-04-01

We, the Postdoc Professional Development Program (PD2P) leadership team, wrote these postdoc guidelines to be a starting point for communication between new postdocs, their staff mentors, and their managers. These guidelines detail expectations and responsibilities of the three parties, as well as list relevant contacts. The purpose of the Postdoc Program is to bring in talented, creative people who enrich Sandia's environment by performing innovative R&D, as well as by stimulating intellectual curiosity and learning. Postdocs are temporary employees who come to Sandia for career development and advancement reasons. In general, the postdoc term is 1 year, renewable up to five times for a total of six years. However, center practices may vary; check with your manager. At term, a postdoc may apply for a staff position at Sandia or choose to move to university, industry or another lab. It is our vision that those who leave become long-term collaborators and advocates whose relationships with Sandia have a positive effect upon our national constituency.

Dielectric lattice gauge theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mack, G.

1983-06-01

Dielectric lattice gauge theory models are introduced. They involve variables PHI(b)epsilong that are attached to the links b = (x+esub(μ),x) of the lattice and take their values in the linear space g which consists of real linear combinations of matrices in the gauge group G. The polar decomposition PHI(b)=U(b)osub(μ)(x) specifies an ordinary lattice gauge field U(b) and a kind of dielectric field epsilonsub(ij)proportionalosub(i)osub(j)sup(*)deltasub(ij). A gauge invariant positive semidefinite kinetic term for the PHI-field is found, and it is shown how to incorporate Wilson fermions in a way which preserves Osterwalder Schrader positivity. Theories with G = SU(2) and without matter fields are studied in some detail. It is proved that confinement holds, in the sense that Wilson loop expectation values show an area law decay, if the Euclidean action has certain qualitative features which imply that PHI = 0 (i.e. dielectric field identical 0) is the unique maximum of the action. (orig.)

Dielectric lattice gauge theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mack, G.

1984-01-01

Dielectric lattice gauge theory models are introduced. They involve variables PHI(b)element ofG that are attached to the links b = (x+esub(μ), x) of the lattice and take their values in the linear space G which consists of real linear combinations of matrices in the gauge group G. The polar decomposition PHI(b)=U(b)sigmasub(μ)(x) specifies an ordinary lattice gauge field U(b) and a kind of dielectric field epsilonsub(ij)proportional sigmasub(i)sigmasub(j)sup(*)deltasub(ij). A gauge invariant positive semidefinite kinetic term for the PHI-field is found, and it is shown how to incorporate Wilson fermions in a way which preserves Osterwalder-Schrader positivity. Theories with G = SU(2) and without matter fields are studied in some detail. It is proved that confinement holds, in the sense that Wilson-loop expectation values show an area law decay, if the euclidean action has certain qualitative features which imply that PHI=0 (i.e. dielectric field identical 0) is the unique maximum of the action. (orig.)

Effective Summer Programming: What Educators and Policymakers Should Know

Science.gov (United States)

McEachin, Andrew; Augustine, Catherine H.; McCombs, Jennifer

2018-01-01

The evidence suggests that many types of summer learning programs have the potential to reduce summer learning losses and perhaps create learning gains. However, implementing a summer program does not guarantee positive effects on students' learning. A key question then is: What factors make a summer learning program effective? This article, drawn…

Process improvement program evolves into compliance program at an integrated delivery system.

Science.gov (United States)

Tyk, R C; Hylton, P G

1998-09-01

An integrated delivery system discovered questionable practices when it undertook a process-improvement initiative for its revenue-to-cash cycle. These discoveries served as a wake-up call to the organization that it needed to develop a comprehensive corporate compliance program. The organization engaged legal counsel to help it establish such a program. A corporate compliance officer was hired, and a compliance committee was set up. They worked with counsel to develop the structure and substance of the program and establish a corporate code of conduct that became a part of the organization's policies and procedures. Teams were formed in various areas of the organization to review compliance-related activities and suggest improvements. Clinical and nonclinical staff attended mandatory educational sessions about the program. By approaching compliance systematically, the organization has put itself in an excellent position to avoid fraudulent and abusive activities- and the government scrutiny they invite.

New possibilities in the prevention of eating disorders: The introduction of positive body image measures.

Science.gov (United States)

Piran, Niva

2015-06-01

Delineating positive psychological processes in inhabiting the body, as well as quantitative measures to assess them, can facilitate progress in the field of prevention of eating disorders by expanding outcome evaluation of prevention interventions, identifying novel mediators of change, and increasing highly needed research into protective factors. Moreover, enhancing positive ways of inhabiting the body may contribute toward the maintenance of gains of prevention interventions. Integrated social etiological models to eating disorders that focus on gender and other social variables, such as the Developmental Theory of Embodiment (Piran & Teall, 2012a), can contribute to positive body image intervention development and research within the prevention field. Using the Developmental Theory of Embodiment as a lens, this article explores whether existing prevention programs (i.e., Cognitive Dissonance and Media Smart) may already work to promote positive body image, and whether prevention programs need to be expanded toward this goal. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Randomized Effectiveness Trial of a Behavioral Teacher Program Targeting ADHD Symptoms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veenman, B.Y.; Luman, M.; Oosterlaan, J.

2016-01-01

Objective: This study investigated the effectiveness of the Positivity & Rules Program (PR program), a behavioral teacher program targeting ADHD symptoms in the classroom involving both student-focused and classroom-focused programs. Method: Primary school children with ADHD symptoms (N = 114) were

Program Management Plan for the Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., Oak Ridge National Laboratory Site Environmental Restoration Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-07-01

This program management plan describes the scope, objectives, and method of accomplishment for the Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. (Energy Systems) Oak Ridge National laboratory (ORNL) Environmental Restoration (ER) Program. The ORNL ER Program is one of five site program, receiving guidance from and reporting to the Energy Systems ER Division. Therefore, all ORNL ER policies and procedures are consistent with ER Division policies and procedures. This plan covers all ORNL ER activities, the participants involved in these activities (and their roles and responsibilities), and all phases of the remediation process. This plan will also serve as a template that may be supplemented as necessary to produce individual project management plans for specific projects. This document explains how the Energy Systems ORNL ER Program does business, so the ORNL ER Program's management structure is illustrated in detail. Personnel are matrixed to the ER Program from other organizations to assist with specific projects. This plan identifies positions at the program level and discusses responsibilities and interactions with positions at the project level. This plan includes sections that describe requirements for project plans, work breakdown structures, schedules, project management and cost control systems, and information and reporting. Project management plans will utilize the work breakdown structure and dictionary pages in the appropriate life cycle baseline report This plan describes the information that should be contained in ORNL ER project management plans. The most important milestones are primary documents relating to the management and remediation of contaminated sites. Primary document milestones are subject to stipulated penalties and receive paramount attention

A Cognitive Behavioral Depression Prevention Program for Early Adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Miloseva, Lence

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to present results of our one year experience with Cognitive Behavioral Psychology Program, in order to contribute to the building of whole school approach and positive psychology preventive mental health problems model. Based on Penn Resilience program (PRP), we modify and create program for early adolescents: how to…

Introducing Program Evaluation Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raluca GÂRBOAN

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Programs and project evaluation models can be extremely useful in project planning and management. The aim is to set the right questions as soon as possible in order to see in time and deal with the unwanted program effects, as well as to encourage the positive elements of the project impact. In short, different evaluation models are used in order to minimize losses and maximize the benefits of the interventions upon small or large social groups. This article introduces some of the most recently used evaluation models.

The Effectiveness of CASAs in Achieving Positive Outcomes for Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Litzelfelner, Pat

2000-01-01

Evaluated effectiveness of court-appointed special advocates (CASAs) in achieving positive outcomes for children in the child welfare system, using data from court and CASA program files on 200 children. Found that CASAs may have reduced the number of placements and court continuances children experienced. More services were provided to children…

Marketing for Special Libraries and Information Centers: The Positioning Process.

Science.gov (United States)

Sterngold, Arthur

1982-01-01

The positioning process of marketing used by special libraries and information centers involves two key decisions from which other decisions are derived: to which user groups marketing programs and services will be directed; and which information needs will be served. Two cases are discussed and a bibliography is provided. (EJS)

An Assessment of the Senior Enlisted Leader Program at the United States Naval Academy

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Richardson, David

2000-01-01

.... The data analysis yielded eight themes related to the Senior Enlisted Leader Program. Six of these themes present positive aspects of the program, and two of these themes address areas for improvement. Overall, the data suggest that the Senior Enlisted Leader Program has had a significant positive impact on the leadership development of midshipmen and the Naval Academy as a whole.

Effectiveness of a positive psychology intervention combined with cognitive behavioral therapy in university students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosario-Josefa Marrero

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to design and implement a positive intervention combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy to enhance subjective and psychological well-being and other positive functioning constructs in a convenience sample. Participants analysed were 48 university students (mean age 22.25, 25 assigned nonrandomized to intervention condition and 23 to no-treatment waiting-list control condition. All participants were assessed pre- and post-intervention to test the treatment program effectiveness. Repeated-measures ANCOVAs, controlling baseline differences between the two groups, indicated that the intervention group reported greater social support after the intervention period than the waiting-list control group. Within-group differences were found for happiness, selfacceptance, positive relations with others, optimism, and self-esteem in the intervention group; these differences did not appear in the waiting-list control group. These findings suggest the limited capacity of this intervention program for improving well-being through positive activities combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy. Future research should analyse what kind of activities could be more effective in promoting well-being depending on the characteristics of participants.

Configuring Airspace Sectors with Approximate Dynamic Programming

Science.gov (United States)

Bloem, Michael; Gupta, Pramod

2010-01-01

In response to changing traffic and staffing conditions, supervisors dynamically configure airspace sectors by assigning them to control positions. A finite horizon airspace sector configuration problem models this supervisor decision. The problem is to select an airspace configuration at each time step while considering a workload cost, a reconfiguration cost, and a constraint on the number of control positions at each time step. Three algorithms for this problem are proposed and evaluated: a myopic heuristic, an exact dynamic programming algorithm, and a rollouts approximate dynamic programming algorithm. On problem instances from current operations with only dozens of possible configurations, an exact dynamic programming solution gives the optimal cost value. The rollouts algorithm achieves costs within 2% of optimal for these instances, on average. For larger problem instances that are representative of future operations and have thousands of possible configurations, excessive computation time prohibits the use of exact dynamic programming. On such problem instances, the rollouts algorithm reduces the cost achieved by the heuristic by more than 15% on average with an acceptable computation time.

Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, and School Nutrition Association: Comprehensive Nutrition Programs and Services in Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, Dayle; Contento, Isobel R; Weekly, Carol

2018-05-01

It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, School Nutrition Association, and Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior that comprehensive, integrated nutrition programs in preschool through high school are essential to improve the health, nutritional status, and academic performance of our nation's children. Through the continued use of multidisciplinary teams, local school needs will be better identified and addressed within updated wellness policies. Updated nutrition standards are providing students with a wider variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, while limiting sodium, calories, and saturated fat. Millions of students enjoy school meals every day in the US, with the majority of these served to children who are eligible for free and reduced-priced meals. To maximize impact, the Academy, School Nutrition Association, and Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior recommend specific strategies in the following key areas: food and nutrition services available throughout the school campus, nutrition initiatives such as farm to school and school gardens, wellness policies, nutrition education and promotion, food and beverage marketing at school, and consideration of roles and responsibilities. It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, School Nutrition Association, and Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior that comprehensive, integrated nutrition programs in preschool through high school are essential to improve the health, nutritional status, and academic performance of our nation's children. To maximize impact, the Academy, School Nutrition Association, and Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior recommend specific strategies in the following key areas: food and nutrition services available throughout the school campus; nutrition initiatives such as farm to school and school gardens; wellness policies; nutrition education and promotion; food and beverage marketing at school; and consideration of

Neuroscientists' classroom visits positively impact student attitudes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janet L Fitzakerley

Full Text Available The primary recommendation of the 2010 President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology report on K-12 education was to inspire more students so that they are motivated to study science. Scientists' visits to classrooms are intended to inspire learners and increase their interest in science, but verifications of this impact are largely qualitative. Our primary goal was to evaluate the impact of a longstanding Brain Awareness classroom visit program focused on increasing learners understanding of their own brains. Educational psychologists have established that neuroscience training sessions can improve academic performance and shift attitudes of students from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. Our secondary goal was to determine whether short interactive Brain Awareness scientist-in-the-classroom sessions could similarly alter learners' perceptions of their own potential to learn. Teacher and student surveys were administered in 4(th-6(th grade classrooms throughout Minnesota either before or after one-hour Brain Awareness sessions that engaged students in activities related to brain function. Teachers rated the Brain Awareness program as very valuable and said that the visits stimulated students' interest in the brain and in science. Student surveys probed general attitudes towards science and their knowledge of neuroscience concepts (particularly the ability of the brain to change. Significant favorable improvements were found on 10 of 18 survey statements. Factor analyses of 4805 responses demonstrated that Brain Awareness presentations increased positive attitudes toward science and improved agreement with statements related to growth mindset. Overall effect sizes were small, consistent with the short length of the presentations. Thus, the impact of Brain Awareness presentations was positive and proportional to the efforts expended, demonstrating that short, scientist-in-the-classroom visits can make a positive contribution to

Entanglement negativity bounds for fermionic Gaussian states

Science.gov (United States)

Eisert, Jens; Eisler, Viktor; Zimborás, Zoltán

2018-04-01

The entanglement negativity is a versatile measure of entanglement that has numerous applications in quantum information and in condensed matter theory. It can not only efficiently be computed in the Hilbert space dimension, but for noninteracting bosonic systems, one can compute the negativity efficiently in the number of modes. However, such an efficient computation does not carry over to the fermionic realm, the ultimate reason for this being that the partial transpose of a fermionic Gaussian state is no longer Gaussian. To provide a remedy for this state of affairs, in this work, we introduce efficiently computable and rigorous upper and lower bounds to the negativity, making use of techniques of semidefinite programming, building upon the Lagrangian formulation of fermionic linear optics, and exploiting suitable products of Gaussian operators. We discuss examples in quantum many-body theory and hint at applications in the study of topological properties at finite temperature.

Preamble and pilot symbol design for channel estimation in OFDM systems with null subcarriers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ohno Shuichi

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract In this article, design of preamble for channel estimation and pilot symbols for pilot-assisted channel estimation in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system with null subcarriers is studied. Both the preambles and pilot symbols are designed to minimize the l 2 or the l ∞ norm of the channel estimate mean-squared errors (MSE in frequency-selective environments. We use convex optimization technique to find optimal power distribution to the preamble by casting the MSE minimization problem into a semidefinite programming problem. Then, using the designed optimal preamble as an initial value, we iteratively select the placement and optimally distribute power to the selected pilot symbols. Design examples consistent with IEEE 802.11a as well as IEEE 802.16e are provided to illustrate the superior performance of our proposed method over the equi-spaced equi-powered pilot symbols and the partially equi-spaced pilot symbols.

Achieving the Heisenberg limit in quantum metrology using quantum error correction.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Sisi; Zhang, Mengzhen; Preskill, John; Jiang, Liang

2018-01-08

Quantum metrology has many important applications in science and technology, ranging from frequency spectroscopy to gravitational wave detection. Quantum mechanics imposes a fundamental limit on measurement precision, called the Heisenberg limit, which can be achieved for noiseless quantum systems, but is not achievable in general for systems subject to noise. Here we study how measurement precision can be enhanced through quantum error correction, a general method for protecting a quantum system from the damaging effects of noise. We find a necessary and sufficient condition for achieving the Heisenberg limit using quantum probes subject to Markovian noise, assuming that noiseless ancilla systems are available, and that fast, accurate quantum processing can be performed. When the sufficient condition is satisfied, a quantum error-correcting code can be constructed that suppresses the noise without obscuring the signal; the optimal code, achieving the best possible precision, can be found by solving a semidefinite program.

Joint source and relay optimization for interference MIMO relay networks

Science.gov (United States)

Khandaker, Muhammad R. A.; Wong, Kai-Kit

2017-12-01

This paper considers multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relay communication in multi-cellular (interference) systems in which MIMO source-destination pairs communicate simultaneously. It is assumed that due to severe attenuation and/or shadowing effects, communication links can be established only with the aid of a relay node. The aim is to minimize the maximal mean-square-error (MSE) among all the receiving nodes under constrained source and relay transmit powers. Both one- and two-way amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying mechanisms are considered. Since the exactly optimal solution for this practically appealing problem is intractable, we first propose optimizing the source, relay, and receiver matrices in an alternating fashion. Then we contrive a simplified semidefinite programming (SDP) solution based on the error covariance matrix decomposition technique, avoiding the high complexity of the iterative process. Numerical results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed schemes.

Joint optimization of MIMO radar waveform and biased estimator with prior information in the presence of clutter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu Hongwei

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract In this article, we consider the problem of joint optimization of multi-input multi-output (MIMO radar waveform and biased estimator with prior information on targets of interest in the presence of signal-dependent noise. A novel constrained biased Cramer-Rao bound (CRB based method is proposed to optimize the waveform covariance matrix (WCM and biased estimator such that the performance of parameter estimation can be improved. Under a simplifying assumption, the resultant nonlinear optimization problem is solved resorting to a convex relaxation that belongs to the semidefinite programming (SDP class. An optimal solution of the initial problem is then constructed through a suitable approximation to an optimal solution of the relaxed one (in a least squares (LS sense. Numerical results show that the performance of parameter estimation can be improved considerably by the proposed method compared to uncorrelated waveforms.

Joint Power Allocation and Beamforming in Amplify-and-Forward Relay Networks under Per-Node Power Constraint

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farzin Azami

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Two-way relay networks (TWRN have been intensively investigated over the past decade due to their ability to enhance the performance assessment of networks in terms of cellular coverage and spectral efficiency. Yet, power control in such systems is a nontrivial issue, particularly in multirelay networks where relays are deployed to ensure a required Quality of Service (QoS. In this paper, we envision to address this critical issue by minimizing the sum-power with respect to per-node power consumption and acceptable users’ rates. To tackle this, we employ a variable transformation to turn the fractional quadratically constrained quadratic problem (QCQP into semidefinite programming (SDP. This algorithm is also extended to a distributed format. Simulation results of deploying 10 relay stations reveal that the total power consumption will decrease to approximately 8 dBW for 6 bps/Hz sum-rate.

Analysis of Engineering Content within Technology Education Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Fantz, Todd D.; Katsioloudis, Petros J.

2011-01-01

In order to effectively teach engineering, technology teachers need to be taught engineering content, concepts, and related pedagogy. Some researchers posit that technology education programs may not have enough content to prepare technology teachers to teach engineering design. Certain technology teacher education programs have responded by…

Extension of the surveillance program at NPP Paks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gillemot, F.

1992-01-01

In WWER-440 reactors the surveillance specimens are located in accelerated irradiation positions. After five years all specimens are withdrawn and the operational changes are not monitored. At Paks NPP a new surveillance program extension is started to eliminate of this disadvantage of the original program. (author)