How applicable is even-aged silviculture in the northeast?

Science.gov (United States)

Ralph H. Griffin

1977-01-01

The applicability of even-aged silviculture in the management of forest stands in the Northeast is examined through consideration of the forest stand, stand development, intermediate cuttings, and regeneration methods. It is concluded that even-aged silviculture is quite applicable in the management of forest stands in the Northeast.

A Review of Relationships Between Wood Quality and Silvicultural Practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomy Listyanto

2009-07-01

Full Text Available The effect of silviculture on wood quality has been approached from different perspectives. This relationship is being a critical concern of forest managers, landowners, and also researchers. Reliable information is needed to support forest managers in predicting the consequences of various silvicultural practices in terms of quantity and wood quality. Wood has beed used for a variety of products. Each product has particular requirements regarding quality. The variation of wood quality requirement allows industries to decide to use timber resource appropriate for their products. Silvicultural practives cover all treatments applied in forest stand management especially to improve the quality of stand, including manipulation of the availability of sunlight, nutrient and water by using several treatments such as thinning, control of spacing, fertilizing, and pruning. The quality of stand is aimed to achieve particular forest management objectives including higher wood quality. There is no broad generalization regarding the relation between silvicultural practice and wood quality. Many investigators showed positive results in relation to producing high quality of wood products, while other researchers revealed negative effects. Reliable information is needed to support forest managers in predicting the consequences of various silvicultural practices in relation to the wood quantity and quality. Continuous research is needed to find methods of producing wood of high quality based on silvicultural practices and genetic improvement which can be used in wider area by considering limitation including environment and geographic variation.

Shifting conceptions of complexity in forest management and silviculture

Science.gov (United States)

Robert T. Fahey; Brandon C. Alveshere; Julia I. Burton; Anthony W. D' Amato; Yvette L. Dickinson; William S. Keeton; Christel C. Kern; Andrew J. Larson; Brian J. Palik; Klaus J. Puettmann; Michael R. Saunders; Christopher R. Webster; Jeff W. Atkins; Christopher M. Gough; Brady S. Hardiman

2018-01-01

In the past several decades, a trend in forestry and silviculture has been toward promoting complexity in forest ecosystems, but how complexity is conceived and described has shifted over time as new ideas and terminology have been introduced. Historically, ecologically-focused silviculture has focused largely on manipulation of structural complexity, but often with...

Variable-retention harvesting as a silvicultural option for lodgepole pine

Science.gov (United States)

Christopher R. Keyes; Thomas E. Perry; Elaine K. Sutherland; David K. Wright; Joel M. Egan

2014-01-01

Bark beetle-induced mortality in forested landscapes of structurally uniform, even-aged lodgepole pine stands has inspired a growing interest in the potential of silvicultural treatments to enhance resilience by increasing spatial and vertical complexity. Silvicultural treatments can simulate mixed-severity disturbances that create multiaged lodgepole pine stands,...

Preliminary recommendations of the Noise Working Group

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Legerton, M.L.

1995-01-01

In 1993 the DTI set up a Working Group largely consisting of independent experts on wind turbine noise. The main objectives of the Working Group were to define a framework which can be used to measure and rate the noise from wind turbines and to provide indicative noise levels thought to offer a reasonable degree of protection to wind farm neighbours and encourage best practice in turbine design and wind farm siting and layout. This paper presents the preliminary recommendations of the Working Group. (Author)

Silviculture of southwestern ponderosa pine: The status of our knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Gilbert H. Schubert

1974-01-01

Describes the status of our knowledge of ponderosa pine silviculture in the southwestern States of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Economic value, impact on other uses, and the timber resource are discussed first, followed by ecological background, site quality, growth and yield, and silviculture and management. Relevant literature is discussed along with...

Communicating the role of silviculture in managing the national forests: Proceedings of the National Silviculture Workshop

Science.gov (United States)

Northeastern Forest Experiment Station

1997-01-01

Contains 32 articles on communicating the values and benefits of silviculture in managing the national forests. Specific topics addressed are how communications affect: policymakers, inventory and monitoring, resource management, research, education and demonstration, and partnerships.

ORGEST: Regional guidelines and silvicultural models for sustainable forest management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Piqué, Míriam; Vericat, Pau; Beltrán, Mario

2017-11-01

Aim of the study: To develop regional guidelines for sustainable forest management. Area of the study: Forests of Catalonia (NE Spain). Material and methods: The process of developing the forest management guidelines (FMG) started by establishing a thorough classification of forest types at stand level. This classification hinges on two attributes: tree species composition and site quality based on ecological variables, which together determine potential productivity. From there, the management guidelines establish certain objectives and silvicultural models for each forest type. The forest type classifications, like the silvicultural models, were produced using both existing and newly-built growth models based on data from the National Forest Inventory (NFI) and expert knowledge. The effort involved over 20 expert working groups in order to better integrate the expertise and vision of different sectorial agents. Main results: The FMG consist in quantitative silvicultural models that include typical silvicultural variables, technical descriptions of treatments and codes of good practice. Guidelines now cover almost all forest types in Catalonia (spanning up to 90% of the Catalan forest area). Different silvicultural models have been developed for pure and mixed stands, different site quality classes (2–3 classes per species), and even- and multi-aged stands. Research highlights: FMG: i) orient the management of private and public forests, (ii) provide a technical scaffold for efficient allocation/investment of public subsidies in forest management, and (iii) bridge forest planning instruments at regional (strategic-tactical) and stand (operational) level.

ORGEST: Regional guidelines and silvicultural models for sustainable forest management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piqué, Míriam; Vericat, Pau; Beltrán, Mario

2017-01-01

Aim of the study: To develop regional guidelines for sustainable forest management. Area of the study: Forests of Catalonia (NE Spain). Material and methods: The process of developing the forest management guidelines (FMG) started by establishing a thorough classification of forest types at stand level. This classification hinges on two attributes: tree species composition and site quality based on ecological variables, which together determine potential productivity. From there, the management guidelines establish certain objectives and silvicultural models for each forest type. The forest type classifications, like the silvicultural models, were produced using both existing and newly-built growth models based on data from the National Forest Inventory (NFI) and expert knowledge. The effort involved over 20 expert working groups in order to better integrate the expertise and vision of different sectorial agents. Main results: The FMG consist in quantitative silvicultural models that include typical silvicultural variables, technical descriptions of treatments and codes of good practice. Guidelines now cover almost all forest types in Catalonia (spanning up to 90% of the Catalan forest area). Different silvicultural models have been developed for pure and mixed stands, different site quality classes (2–3 classes per species), and even- and multi-aged stands. Research highlights: FMG: i) orient the management of private and public forests, (ii) provide a technical scaffold for efficient allocation/investment of public subsidies in forest management, and (iii) bridge forest planning instruments at regional (strategic-tactical) and stand (operational) level.

Selecting a silvicultural system

Science.gov (United States)

Richard M. Godman

1992-01-01

Sometimes a name creates a problem. The name of a silvicultural system usually refers to the way a stand is cut to get regeneration-"single tree selection"-for example. Trouble is, the name suggests that the regeneration cut will be the first treatment applied to the stand. Not so. We are now mostly making "intermediate" cuts in our Lake States...

The Ecology and Silviculture of Oaks, Second Edition: A new book

Science.gov (United States)

Paul S. Johnson; Stephen R. Shifley; Robert. Rogers

2011-01-01

The second edition of The Ecology and Silviculture of Oaks was recently published (Johnson and others 2009). The approach of the book is fundamentally silvicultural, but the content is based on the premise that eff ective and environmentally sound management and protection of oak forests and associated landscapes must be grounded in ecological...

EFFECT OF POST-LOGGING SILVICULTURAL TREATMENT ON GROWTH RATES OF RESIDUAL STAND IN A TROPICAL FOREST

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haruni Krisnawati

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Post-logging silvicultural treatments are generally performed to improve yields of the remaining tree species by increasing their growth rate. In this study the effects of silvicultural treatment on the growth rates of commercial (dipterocarps and non-dipterocarps as well as non- commercial tree species in a tropical forest in West Kalimantan were examined and were compared to a control treatment. Silvicultural treatment applied was liberation of future crop trees from lianas and neighbouring competing trees. Treatments were applied to six plots of 80 m x 80 m each. The plots comprised 64 quadrats of 10 m x 10 m to allow better control of measurements. The treatment and control plots were established 6 years after logging. Effects were measured 2,4 and 7 years after treatment application. In all obser vation periods, the growth rates increased with silvicultural treatment. Overall, commercial dipterocarps, commercial non-dipterocarps and non-commercial tree species groups differed in response to silvicultural treatment. The growth rates of commercial tree species in plots that received silvicultural treatment were 62–97% higher than in the control plots. For non-commercial tree species, the increase of growth rates was 20–58%, compared to the control plots. These results indicate that the application of silvicultural treatments after logging could help improve the growth of the residual stands. These provide quantitative information that silvicultural treatments in logged-over forest should be considered as a viable management option and may guide the choice of cutting cycle.

Vegetation structure, logging damage and silviculture in a tropical rain forest in Suriname

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jonkers, W.B.J.

1987-01-01

In the first publication in this series, a polycyclic forest management system was formulated, in which three silvicultural treatments (refinements) were scheduled in a cutting cycle of twenty years. This system, which is referred to as the Celos Silvicultural System, is developed further

Multifunctional natural forest silviculture economics revised: Challenges in meeting landowners’ and society's wants. A review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pablo Campos

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Aim of study: This paper objective focuses on the contribution of multifunctional natural forest silviculture, incorporating both private and public product managements, to forest and woodland economics. Area of study: Spain and California (USA. Material and methods: This conceptual article has developed a critical revision of the existing literature on the main economic issues for multifunctional natural forest silviculture in the last decades. Main results: Multifunctional natural silviculture has secular roots as a local practice, but as a science of the natural environment applied to the economic management of forest lands it is still in the process of maturation. Timber silviculture remains the central concern of forest economics investment in scientific publications. By contrast, silvicultural modeling of the natural growth of firewood, browse and other non-timber forest products from trees and shrubs receives scant attention in scientific journals. Even rarer are publications on multifunctional natural silviculture for forest and woodland managements, including environmental services geared to people’s active and passive consumption. Under this umbrella, private environmental self-consumption is represented by the amenities enjoyed by private non-industrial landowners. As for environmental public products, the most relevant are carbon, water, mushrooms, recreation, landscape and threatened biodiversity. Research highlights: This paper is a good example for the conceptual research on forestry techniques and economic concepts applied to multifunctional silviculture in Mediterranean areas of Spain and California. The combination of technical knowledge and private and public economic behaviors definitively contributes to the multifunctional management of natural forest systems.

Multifunctional natural forest silviculture economics revised: Challenges in meeting landowners’ and society's wants. A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campos, P.; Caparrós, A.; Cerdá, E.; Diaz-Balteiro, L.; Herruzo, A.C.; Huntsinger, L.; Martín-Barroso, D.; Martínez-Jauregui, M.; Ovando, P.; Oviedo, J.L.; Pasalodos-Tato, M.; Romero, C.; Soliño, M.; Standiford, R.B.

2017-01-01

Aim of study: This paper objective focuses on the contribution of multifunctional natural forest silviculture, incorporating both private and public product managements, to forest and woodland economics. Area of study: Spain and California (USA). Material and methods: This conceptual article has developed a critical revision of the existing literature on the main economic issues about the multifunctional natural forest silviculture in the last decades. Main results: Multifunctional natural silviculture has secular roots as a local practice, but as a science of the natural environment applied to the economic management of forest lands it is still in the process of maturation. Timber silviculture remains the central concern of forest economics investment in scientific publications. By contrast, silvicultural modeling of the natural growth of firewood, browse and other non-timber forest products of trees and shrubs receives scant attention in scientific journals. Even rarer are publications on multifunctional natural silviculture of forest and woodland managements, including environmental services geared to people’s active and passive consumption. Under this umbrella, private environmental self-consumption is represented by the amenities enjoyed by private non-industrial landowners. As for environmental public products, the most relevant are carbon, water, mushrooms, recreation, landscape and threatened biodiversity. Research highlights: This paper is a good example about the conceptual research on forestry techniques and economic concepts applied to multifunctional silviculture in Mediterranean areas of Spain and California. The combination of technical knowledge and private and public economic behaviors definitively contributes to the multifunctional management of natural forest systems.

Using Live-Crown Ratio to Control Wood Quality: An Example of Quantitative Silviculture

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas J. Dean

1999-01-01

Quantitative silviculture is the application of biological relationships in meeting specific, quantitative management objectives. It is a two-sided approach requiring the identification and application of biological relationships. An example of quantitative silviculture is presented that uses a relationship between average-live crown ratio and relative stand density...

Ecology and silviculture of the spruce-fir forests of eastern North America

Science.gov (United States)

Marinus. Westveld

1953-01-01

Using the climax forest as a guide to growing the species best suited to the climate and the site, the author offers a silvicultural system for managing the spruce-fir forests of eastern North America. Based on ecological principles, such silviculture is aimed to bring about forests that are inherently healthy and have a natural resistance to insects and disease.

Putting out fire with gasoline: pitfalls in the silvicultural treatment of canopy fuels

Science.gov (United States)

Christopher R. Keyes; J. Morgan Varner

2007-01-01

There is little question that forest stand structure is directly related to fire behavior, and that canopy fuel structure may be altered using silvicultural methods to successfully modify forest fire behavior and reduce susceptibility to crown fire initiation and spread. Silvicultural treatments can remediate hazardous stand structures that have developed as a result...

The Effect of Silvicultural Management on Regeneration, Growth ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

improved management, including protection from interference, culm yield of ... silvicultural measure helped boosting up of bamboo productivity (Midmore 2009). .... experiment was replicated three times, making the total number of plots ( ...

ICT and UD: Preliminary Study for Recommendations to Design Accessible University Courses.

Science.gov (United States)

Pagliara, Silvio Marcello; Sánchez Utgé, Marta; De Anna, Lucia

2017-01-01

Starting from the Universal Design in the educational context principles, the experiences gained during the FIRB project "Net@ccessibility" and the high-education courses for teachers' specialization on special education, this research will focus on preliminary studies in order to define the recommendations for designing accessible university courses.

75 FR 984 - Draft Recommended Interim Preliminary Remediation Goals for Dioxin in Soil at CERCLA and RCRA Sites

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-07

...The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is announcing a 50-day public comment period for draft recommended interim preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) developed in the Draft Recommended Interim Preliminary Remediation Goals for Dioxin in Soil at Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Sites. EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency and Emergency Response (OSWER) has developed the draft recommended interim PRGs for dioxin in soil. These draft recommended interim PRGs were calculated using existing, peer- reviewed toxicity values and current EPA equations and default exposure assumptions. This Federal Register notice is intended to provide an opportunity for public comment on the draft recommended interim PRGs. EPA will consider any public comments submitted in accordance with this notice and may revise the draft recommended interim PRGs thereafter.

The influence of evaluation recommendations on instrumental and conceptual uses: A preliminary analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bourgeois, Isabelle; Whynot, Jane

2018-06-01

Evaluation recommendations are sometimes included in evaluation reports to highlight specific actions to be taken to improve a program or to make other changes to its operational context. This preliminary study sought to examine evaluation recommendations drawn from 25 evaluation reports published by Canadian federal government departments and agencies, in order to examine the evaluation issues covered and the focus of the recommendations. Our results show that in keeping with policy requirements, the evaluation recommendations focused on program relevance, effectiveness and efficiency and economy. Furthermore, a significant number of recommendations also focused on the implementation of more rigorous performance measurement strategies. The focus of the recommendations did not vary by publication date, recommendation type, and organizational sector. The findings also show that for the most part, the management responses produced as part of the broader evaluation process support the recommendations included in the report and identify specific timelines for implementation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Basic principles, mosaic of knowledges and adaptive silviculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Borghetti M

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Achievements of ecological science and direct experience are of great help for the interpretation of forest ecosystem dynamics and the definition of adaptive procedures for forest manipulation, i.e. adaptive silviculture.

Silvicultural madness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Basnyat, Bijendra; Treue, Thorsten; Pokharel, R.K.

2018-01-01

Following a case study approach, this paper explains how scientific forest management plans were developed and implemented in community forests of a mid-hill district in Nepal. Field observations were carried over a period of two years (December 2014 to December 2016) in two community forests. User...... guidelines with little reference to the actual site quality, management objectives, and forest stand conditions. Apart from harvesting of trees, users hardly implemented the plans‘ silvicultural prescriptions and forest restoration activities. Moreover forest officials administratively reduced the number...... of trees that users could harvest to around half of what the plans allow. Accordingly, forest user groups face a paradoxical forest administration that promotes timber harvesting according to so-called scientific principles, which it then brushes aside to satisfy bureaucratic demands. The study concludes...

75 FR 7591 - Guidance on Recommended Interim Preliminary Remediation Goals for Dioxin in Soil at CERCLA and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-22

... ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [EPA-HQ-SFUND-2009-0907; FRL-9114-6] RIN 2050-ZA05 Guidance on Recommended Interim Preliminary Remediation Goals for Dioxin in Soil at CERCLA and RCRA Sites; Extension of... Interim Preliminary Remediation Goals for Dioxin in Soil at Comprehensive Environmental Response...

Multifunctional natural forest silviculture economics revised: Challenges in meeting landowners’ and society's wants. A review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Campos, P.; Caparrós, A.; Cerdá, E.; Diaz-Balteiro, L.; Herruzo, A.C.; Huntsinger, L.; Martín-Barroso, D.; Martínez-Jauregui, M.; Ovando, P.; Oviedo, J.L.; Pasalodos-Tato, M.; Romero, C.; Soliño, M.; Standiford, R.B.

2017-11-01

Aim of study: This paper objective focuses on the contribution of multifunctional natural forest silviculture, incorporating both private and public product managements, to forest and woodland economics. Area of study: Spain and California (USA). Material and methods: This conceptual article has developed a critical revision of the existing literature on the main economic issues about the multifunctional natural forest silviculture in the last decades. Main results: Multifunctional natural silviculture has secular roots as a local practice, but as a science of the natural environment applied to the economic management of forest lands it is still in the process of maturation. Timber silviculture remains the central concern of forest economics investment in scientific publications. By contrast, silvicultural modeling of the natural growth of firewood, browse and other non-timber forest products of trees and shrubs receives scant attention in scientific journals. Even rarer are publications on multifunctional natural silviculture of forest and woodland managements, including environmental services geared to people’s active and passive consumption. Under this umbrella, private environmental self-consumption is represented by the amenities enjoyed by private non-industrial landowners. As for environmental public products, the most relevant are carbon, water, mushrooms, recreation, landscape and threatened biodiversity. Research highlights: This paper is a good example about the conceptual research on forestry techniques and economic concepts applied to multifunctional silviculture in Mediterranean areas of Spain and California. The combination of technical knowledge and private and public economic behaviors definitively contributes to the multifunctional management of natural forest systems.

Age structure of a southern pine stand following 72 years of uneven-aged silviculture

Science.gov (United States)

Don C. Bragg

2012-01-01

Work on uneven-aged silviculture in southern pine stands on the Crossett Experimental Forest (CEF) began in the 1930s, when a number of 16.2-ha compartments were placed into a series of demonstration projects and studies (Reynolds 1980). Two of these compartments, the Good and Poor Farm Forestry Forties, have been maintained continuously in this silvicultural regime...

Efficient silvicultural practices for eastern hardwood management

Science.gov (United States)

Gary W. Miller; John E. Baumgras

1994-01-01

Eastern hardwood forests are now managed to meet a wide range of objectives, resulting in the need for silvicultural alternatives that provide timber, wildlife, aesthetics, recreation, and other benefits. However, forest management practices must continue to be efficient in terms of profiting from current harvests, protecting the environment, and sustaining production...

Silvicultural systems for southern bottomland hardwood forests

Science.gov (United States)

James S. Meadows; John A. Stanturf

1997-01-01

Silvicultural systems integrate both regeneration and intermediate operations in an orderly process for managing forest stands. The clearcutting method of regeneration favors the development of species that are moderately intolerant to intolerant of shade. In fact, clearcutting is the most proven and widely used method of successfully regenerating bottomland oak...

[Silvicultural treatments and their selection effects].

Science.gov (United States)

Vincent, G

1973-01-01

Selection can be defined in terms of its observable consequences as the non random differential reproduction of genotypes (Lerner 1958). In the forest stands we are selecting during the improvements-fellings and reproduction treatments the individuals surpassing in growth or in production of first-class timber. However the silvicultural treatments taken in forest stands guarantee a permanent increase of forest production only in such cases, if they have been taken with respect to the principles of directional (dynamic) selection. These principles require that the trees determined for further growing and for forest regeneration are selected by their hereditary properties, i.e. by their genotypes.For making this selection feasible, our study deals with the genetic parameters and gives some examples of the application of the response, the selection differential, the heritability in the narrow and in the broad sense, as well as of the genetic and genotypic gain. On the strength of this parameter we have the possibility to estimate the economic success of several silvicultural treatments in forest stands.The mentioned examples demonstrate that the selection measures of a higher intensity will be manifested in a higher selection differential, in a higher genetic and genotypic gain and that the mentioned measures show more distinct effects in the variable populations - in natural forest - than in the population characteristic by a smaller variability, e.g. in many uniform artificially established stands.The examples of influences of different selection on the genotypes composition of population prove that genetics instructs us to differentiate the different genotypes of the same species and gives us at the same time a new criterions for evaluating selectional treatments. These criterions from economic point of view is necessary to consider in silviculture as advantageous even for the reason that we can judge from these criterions the genetical composition of forest stands

Geographical information systems (GIS), a great tool for urban silviculture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otaya Burbano, Leodan Andres; Sanchez Zapata, Robinson de Jesus; Morales Soto, Leon; Botero Fernandez, Veronica

2006-01-01

As a pilot phase, to acquire experience, define methodologies and determine the advantages of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for applying to urban silviculture and inventory, diagnosis, management plan and economic appraisal were made for the urban forest in the Magnolia neighborhood of the Envigado municipality, department of Antioquia, Colombia. for the management and analysis of the data collected in field, a database was designed using the software microsoft Access. The species inventoried were mapped digitally and the conditions there were analyzed using some tools and extensions of technological architecture ArcGIS 8.3 such as: characteristics, silviculture practices required, and environmental conflicts. It was determined that the GIS analysis of the urban forest conducted for a specific neighborhood can be a tool that permits environmental authorities and interested researchers to have agile and easy access to the information stored in it; it permits programming of required silviculture activities; it also permits having a general vision of the urban forest according to the infrastructure of the neighborhood, complemented by photographs of the area for improved illustration; it permits the inclusion or elimination of information in a rapid and simple manner, thus facilitating decision making with relation to management of the urban woodland and for comparison with other similar studies

Forest management practices and silviculture. Chapter 12.

Science.gov (United States)

Donald A. Perala; Elon S. Verry

2011-01-01

This chapter is an overview of forest management and silviculture practices, and lessons learned, on the Marcell Experimental Forest (MEF). The forests there are a mosaic of natural regeneration and conifer plantations. Verry (1969) described forest-plant communities in detail for the study watersheds (Sl through S6) on the MEF. The remaining area is described in...

Habitat use by bats in two Indiana forests prior to silvicultural treatments for oak regeneration

Science.gov (United States)

Jeremy J. Sheets; Joseph E. Duchamp; Megan K. Caylor; Laura D' Acunto; John O. Whitaker; Virgil Jr. Brack; Dale W. Sparks

2013-01-01

As part of a study examining the effects of silvicultural treatments for oak regeneration on habitat use by bats, we surveyed forest stands prior to the implementation of treatments in two state forests in Indiana. Interior forest sites corresponding to areas designated for silvicultural treatments were surveyed for 2 nights each during the summers of 2007 and 2008....

Large-scale, long-term silvicultural experiments in the United States: historical overview and contemporary examples.

Science.gov (United States)

R. S. Seymour; J. Guldin; D. Marshall; B. Palik

2006-01-01

This paper provides a synopsis of large-scale, long-term silviculture experiments in the United States. Large-scale in a silvicultural context means that experimental treatment units encompass entire stands (5 to 30 ha); long-term means that results are intended to be monitored over many cutting cycles or an entire rotation, typically for many decades. Such studies...

Resistance and resilience: A conceptual framework for silviculture

Science.gov (United States)

Robert J. DeRose; James N. Long

2014-01-01

Increasingly, forest management goals include building or maintaining resistance and/or resilience to disturbances in the face of climate change. Although a multitude of descriptive definitions for resistance and resilience exist, to evaluate whether specific management activities (silviculture) are effective, prescriptive characterizations are necessary. We introduce...

Plantation Forestry in Sub Saharan Africa: Silvicultural, Ecological ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper discusses the potentials of meeting the wood demand and achieving SFM in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) through the establishment of forest plantations. The paper reviews forest plantation ownership and distribution patterns in SSA and the factors –silvicultural, ecological, and economic that affect supply and ...

A financial evaluation of two contrasting silvicultural systems ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantation area in north-east Uruguay was 108 000 ha in 2008. Recent industrial capacity developments have resulted in major structural changes. Silvicultural system selection depends on site productivity, costs, timber prices and public policies. This study aimed to assess economic ...

History of silviculture on public lands

Science.gov (United States)

James M. Guldin

2014-01-01

There are many instances in scholarly activity where the writing of a colleague is made more vivid when one knows him or her personally—and Eric Zenner’s essay is certainly no exception! I can see Eric at a podium of a forestry school in the United States or Europe, emphatically proclaiming that “Silviculture is the pen with which our profession writes, but too often...

A special issue of the Journal of Forestry---proceedings of the 2013 National Silviculture Workshop

Science.gov (United States)

James M. Guldin; Marilyn A. Buford

2014-01-01

This special issue of the Journal of Forestry presents the Proceedings of the 2013 National Silviculture Workshop (NSW), which was held as one of the concurrent sessions of the 2013 national convention of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) and sponsored by the D-2 Silviculture Working Group. This marks the first time the NSW has been held in conjunction with the...

The Effects of Silvicultural Treatment on Sirex noctilio Attacks and Tree Health in Northeastern United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kevin J. Dodds

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The invasive woodwasp Sirex noctilio (Hymenoptera: Siricidae is established in east-central North America. A replicated case study testing the effectiveness of silvicultural treatments for reducing the number of S. noctilio attacked trees in a stand was conducted in New York, USA. Silvicultural treatments reduced S. noctilio attacked trees by approximately 75% over the course of the study. There was no tree growth response to silvicultural treatments in the four years after thinning, but targeted removal of weakened trees removed potential S. noctilio habitat from treated stands. Two spectral vegetation indices were used to determine tree health in each treatment and potentially provide guidance for detection efforts. Silvicultural treatment significantly influenced the Red Edge Inflection Point, a strong indicator of chlorophyll content, and the Moisture Stress Index, a reflectance measurement sensitive to changes in foliar leaf water content, with the greatest differences occurring between control and treated blocks. Vegetation indices showed promise as a tool for aiding in stand prioritization for S. noctilio surveys or management activities.

Evolution of silvicultural thinning: from rejection to transcendence

Science.gov (United States)

Boris Zeide

2006-01-01

Our views on a main tool of forestry, silvicultural thinning, have changed greatly since the beginning of forestry over 200 years ago. At first, thinning was rejected as something unnatural and destructive. It was believed that the densest stands were the most productive and any thinning only detracted from maximum growth produced by nature. This philosophy was still...

Adjusting slash pine growth and yield for silvicultural treatments

Science.gov (United States)

Stephen R. Logan; Barry D. Shiver

2006-01-01

With intensive silvicultural treatments such as fertilization and competition control now commonplace in today's slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm.) plantations, a method to adjust current growth and yield models is required to accurately account for yield increases due to these practices. Some commonly used ad-hoc methods, such as raising site...

Uneven-aged silviculture can enhance within stand heterogeneity and beetle diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Joelsson, Klara; Hjältén, Joakim; Work, Timothy

2018-01-01

Uneven-aged silviculture may better maintain species assemblages associated with old-growth forests than clear felling in part due to habitat heterogeneity created by maintaining standing retention strips adjacent to harvest trails. Retention strips and harvest trails created at the time of tree removal will likely have different microclimate and may harbor different assemblages. In some cases, the resultant stand heterogeneity associated with uneven-aged silviculture may be similar to natural small-scale disturbances. For beetles, increased light and temperature as well as potential access to young vegetation and deadwood substrates present in harvset trails may harbor beetle assemblages similar to those found in natural gaps. We sampled saproxylic beetles using flight intercept traps placed in harvest corridors and retention strips in 9 replicated uneven-aged spruce stands in central Sweden. We compared abundance, species richness and composition between harvest corridors and retention strips using generalized linear models, rarefaction, permutational multivariate analysis of variance and indicator species analysis. Canopy openness doubled, mean temperature and variability in daily temperature increased and humidity decreased on harvest trails. Beetle richness and abundance were greater in harvests trails than in retention strips and the beetle species composition differed significantly between habitats. Twenty-five species were associated with harvest trails, including three old-growth specialists such as Agathidium discoideum (Erichson), currently red-listed. We observed only one species, Xylechinus pilosus (Ratzeburg) that strongly favored retention strips. Harvest trails foster both open habitat species and old-growth species while retention strips harbored forest interior specialists. The combination of closed canopy, stratified forest in the retention strips and gap-like conditions on the harvest trails thus increases overall species richness and maintains

Large-scale silviculture experiments of western Oregon and Washington.

Science.gov (United States)

Nathan J. Poage; Paul D. Anderson

2007-01-01

We review 12 large-scale silviculture experiments (LSSEs) in western Washington and Oregon with which the Pacific Northwest Research Station of the USDA Forest Service is substantially involved. We compiled and arrayed information about the LSSEs as a series of matrices in a relational database, which is included on the compact disc published with this report and...

Proceedings of the 12th biennial southern silvicultural research conference

Science.gov (United States)

Kristina F. Connor; [Editor

2004-01-01

Ninety-two papers and thirty-six poster summaries address a range of issues affecting southern forests. Papers are grouped in 15 sessions that include wildlife ecology; fire ecology; natural pine management; forest health; growth and yield; upland hardwoods - natural regeneration; hardwood intermediate treatments; longleaf pine; pine plantation silviculture; site...

Proceedings of the 14th biennial southern silvicultural research conference

Science.gov (United States)

John A. Stanturf

2010-01-01

A range of issues affecting southern forests are addressed in 113 papers. Papers are grouped into 12 sessions that include carbon; pine silviculture; invasive species; site preparation; hardwood artificial regeneration; longleaf pine; forest health and fire; growth and yield; hardwood intermediate treatments; hardwood natural regeneration; wildlife; and posters.

Use of microcomputers for planning and managing silviculture habitat relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

B.G. Marcot; R.S. McNay; R.E. Page

1988-01-01

Microcomputers aid in monitoring, modeling, and decision support for integrating objectives of silviculture and wildlife habitat management. Spreadsheets, data bases, statistics, and graphics programs are described for use in monitoring. Stand growth models, modeling languages, area and geobased information systems, and optimization models are discussed for use in...

Nonnative invasive plants in the Penobscot Experimental Forest in Maine, USA: influence of site, silviculture, and land use history

Science.gov (United States)

Elizabeth Olson; Laura S. Kenefic; Alison C. Dibble; John C. Brissette

2011-01-01

We investigated the occurrence of nonnative invasive plants on approximately 175 ha comprising a long-term, 60-year-old U.S. Forest Service silvicultural experiment and old-field stands in the Penobscot Experimental Forest (PEF) in central Maine. Stands in the silvicultural experiment were never cleared for agriculture, but have been repeatedly partially cut. Our...

Beyond 2001: a silvicultural odyssey to sustaining terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems? Proceedings of the 2001 national silviculture workshop, May 6-10, Hood River, Oregon.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharon Parker; Susan Stevens. Hummel

2002-01-01

The 2001 National Silviculture Workshop was held in Hood River, Oregon, and hosted by the Mt. Hood National Forest, the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, and the Pacific Northwest Research Station. The Washington Office Vegetation Management and Protection Research and Forest and Grassland staffs are ongoing sponsors of the biennial workshop, which began in 1973 in...

Silvicultural approaches to animal damage management in Pacific Northwest forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Hugh C. Black

1992-01-01

This book examines the potential of Silvicultural approaches for managing animal damage in forests at two levels: management of free-to-grow stands and sitespecific practices that foster prompt and successful regeneration. Introductory chapters provide a historical perspective of animal damage management in the Pacific Northwest, describe the elements of an integrated...

Silviculture-ecology of forest-zone hardwoods in the Sierra Nevada

Science.gov (United States)

Philip M. McDonald; John C. Tappeiner

1996-01-01

Although the principal hardwood species in the forest zone of the Sierra Nevada (California black oak, tanoak, Pacific madrone, and canyon live oak) are key components of many ecosystems, they have received comparatively little study. Currently they are underutilized and unmanaged. This paper brings together what is known on the silviculture-ecology of these species...

Silviculture: what is it like, and where have we journeyed?

Science.gov (United States)

Ralph D. Nyland

1997-01-01

The philosophy of ecosystem management calls for a new way of doing business. It represents an evolution of thinking and acting that began during the era of dominant use, and continued through the time of multiple use. As such, ecosystem management represents a maturing of thought about silviculture and other aspects of natural resources management and use. It stresses...

Combining Silviculture and Landscape Architecture to Enhance the Roadside View

Science.gov (United States)

Philip M. McDonald; R. Burton Litton Jr.

1998-01-01

On a high-quality site in the mixed conifer forest of northern California, understory and overstory vegetation along a 3-mile paved county road were manipulated to enhance the view for the traveler. Traditional silvicultural cutting methods and landscape architectural techniques were blended to give contrast and variability to the vegetation along both sides of the...

Effect of Silviculture on the Yield and Quality of Veneers

Science.gov (United States)

Leslie H. Groom; Ray Newbold; Jim Guldin

2002-01-01

The structural and aesthetic value of wood is typically sacrificed in an attempt to meet demand. This paper addresses the financial and quality aspects of silvicultural choices as it relates to wood veneers. Five trees each were harvested from an uneven-aged stand and from the following even- aged stands: intensive plantation, conventional plantation, and natural...

Physiology and silviculture of black walnut for combined timber and nut production

Science.gov (United States)

J. W. Van Sambeek; George Rink

1981-01-01

Research literature was reviewed for evidence supporting the management of black walnut plantations for combined timber and nut production. The silviculture of the species is discussed in relation to dual cropping. Stimulation and phenology of flowering and fruiting are reviewed.

Forest structure of oak plantations after silvicultural treatment to enhance habitat for wildlife

Science.gov (United States)

Twedt, Daniel J.; Phillip, Cherrie-Lee P.; Guilfoyle, Michael P.; Wilson, R. Randy; Schweitzer, Callie Jo; Clatterbuck, Wayne K.; Oswalt, Christopher M.

2016-01-01

During the past 30 years, thousands of hectares of oak-dominated bottomland hardwood plantations have been planted on agricultural fields in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Many of these plantations now have closed canopies and sparse understories. Silvicultural treatments could create a more heterogeneous forest structure, with canopy gaps and increased understory vegetation for wildlife. Lack of volume sufficient for commercial harvest in hardwood plantations has impeded treatments, but demand for woody biomass for energy production may provide a viable means to introduce disturbance beneficial for wildlife. We assessed forest structure in response to prescribed pre-commercial perturbations in hardwood plantations resulting from silvicultural treatments: 1) row thinning by felling every fourth planted row; 2) multiple patch cuts with canopy gaps of gaps appear likely to be filled by regenerating saplings.

Comparing Floristic Diversity between a Silviculturally Managed Arboretum and a Forest Reserve in Dambulla, Sri Lanka

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. D. Madurapperuma

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Repeated slash and burn cultivation creates wasteland with thorny shrubs, which then takes a long time to become secondary forests through serial stages of succession. Assisted natural regeneration through silvicultural management is a useful restoration method to accelerate succession. This survey evaluates the effectiveness of a simple silvicultural method for the rehabilitation of degraded lands to productive forest, thereby increasing floristic wealth. Field-based comparative analyses of floristic composition were carried out at a silviculturally managed forest (Popham Arboretum and a primary forest (Kaludiyapokuna Forest Reserve which is located in Dambulla in Sri Lanka. Floristic analysis was used to examine the effectiveness of silvicultural techniques for successful restoration of degraded forest in the dry zone. Nine 20 m × 20 m plots in each forest were enumerated and the vegetation ≥ 10 cm girth at breast height was quantitatively analyzed. Cluster analysis resulted in five distinguishable clusters (two from Popham Arboretum and three from Kaludiyapokuna Forest Reserve. Similarity indices were generated to compare the plots within and between sites. Floristic similarity was higher in forest reserve plots compared to arboretum plots. A total of 72 plant species belonging to 60 genera and 26 families were recorded from the study sites. Of the recorded species, Grewia damine and Syzygium cumini (Importance Value Index, IVI = 24 and 23 respectively were the ecologically co-dominant taxa at the Popham Arboretum. In contrast, Mischodon zeylanicus (IVI = 31, Schleichera oleosa (IVI = 25 and Diospyros ebenum (IVI = 21 were the abundant taxa in the forest reserve.

Forest adaptation to global climate change through silvicultural treatments and genetic improvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farnum, P.

1991-01-01

The research being conducted by one forest products company into silviculture and plant genetics as a response to future problems caused by the greenhouse effect is reviewed. The company's research priorities have been adjusted to be technologically prepared for greenhouse-effect warming, including the effects of fire, shorter planting seasons, insect problems, and drought-related mortality. The review focuses on research into improving drought-related mortality by developing drought-resistant trees and then growing such trees by making use of biotechnological techniques such as somatic embryogenesis. In silvicultural research, emphasis is placed on quantifying how thinning can mitigate the effects of drought by stand density control. In genetics and physiology research, the applicability of greenhouse studies of drought resistance to stands of older trees was tested. This research led to an examination of the role of root systems and identification of possible characteristics to screen for in genetic tests. 2 refs

Short-term response of small mammals following oak regeneration silviculture treatments.

Science.gov (United States)

Amy L. Raybuck; Christopher E. Moorman; Christopher S. DePerno; Kevin Gross; Dean M. Simon; Gordon S. Warburton

2012-01-01

Upland, mixed-oak forests in the eastern United States have experienced widespread oak regeneration failure, largely due to cessation of anthropogenic disturbance. Silvicultural practices used to promote advance oak regeneration may affect ground-dwelling mammals. From May to August 2008 (pre-treatment), 2010 (first year post-treatment), and 2011 (second year post-...

Carbon rentals and silvicultural subsidies for private forests as climate policy instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uusivuori, J.; Laturi, J.

2007-01-01

The impacts of potential climate policy instruments on the carbon production of privately owned and operated forests were investigated. A forest model with an endogenous growth description and age-class structure was used to describe both the output supply and input demand decisions of a private non-industrial landowner with optimized consumption flow, harvest timing, and an intertemporal allocation of forest investments. Two scenarios were examined, notably (1) a scenario in which the landowner was granted periodic carbon rental payments; and (2) a scenario in which the government subsidized the costs of silvicultural investments. The intended and unintended effects of the policies were examined. Models were used to demonstrate that the effectiveness of the instruments was significantly influenced by the age-class structure of forests when future carbon benefits were discounted. It was concluded that carbon rental payments were a more effective policy for older age-class structured forests. Silvicultural subsidies were more beneficial for forests with younger age-class structures. 21 refs., 6 figs

Subdivide or silviculture: choices facing family forest owners in the redwood region

Science.gov (United States)

William Stewart; Shasta Ferranto; Gary Nakamura; Christy Getz; Lynn Huntsinger; Maggi. Kelly

2012-01-01

Families or family businesses own nearly all of the private redwood forestland in California. Family forest owners have practiced both subdivision and silviculture for decades but the dominant theme for most family owners is environmental stewardship. Parcel size is more important than expressed values as a predictor of resource management activities. All landowners...

Using silviculture to influence carbon sequestration in southern Appalachian spruce-fir forests

Science.gov (United States)

Patrick T. Moore; R. Justin DeRose; James N. Long; Helga. van Miegroet

2012-01-01

Enhancement of forest growth through silvicultural modification of stand density is one strategy for increasing carbon (C) sequestration. Using the Fire and Fuels Extension of the Forest Vegetation Simulator, the effects of even-aged, uneven-aged and no-action management scenarios on C sequestration in a southern Appalachian red spruce-Fraser fir forest were modeled....

Restoring old-growth southern pine ecosystems: strategic lessons from long-term silvicultural research

Science.gov (United States)

Don C. Bragg; Michael G. Shelton; James M. Guldin

2008-01-01

The successful restoration of old-growth-like loblolly (Pinus taeda) and shortleaf (Pinus echinata) pine-dominated forests requires the integration of ecological information with long-term silvicultural research from places such as the Crossett Experimental Forest (CEF). Conventional management practices such as timber harvesting or competition control have supplied...

Silvicultural treatments enhance growth rates of future crop trees in a tropical dry forest

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Villegas, Z.; Peña-Claros, M.; Mostacedo, B.; Alarcón, A.; Licona, J.C.; Leaño, C.; Pariona, W.; Choque, U.

2009-01-01

Silvicultural treatments are often needed in selectively logged tropical forest to enhance the growth rates of many commercial tree species and, consequently, for recovering a larger proportion of the initial volume harvested over the next cutting cycle. The available data in the literature suggest,

Silviculture of eucaliptus plantations in the Paraiba do Sul basin, Brazil, and its potential implication on the basin ecohydrology.

Science.gov (United States)

Carriello, Felix; Andres Rodriguez, Daniel; Marques Neves, Otto; Vicens, Raul

2014-05-01

Silviculture of eucaliptus plantations is an important driver of the Mata Atlântica biome conversion into another land use in the Paraíba do Sul basin, in the southeastern of Brazil. This region is located in one of the most developed areas in Brazil, between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, the most important cities in Brazil, linked by Presidente Dutra highway. Between both cities there are another cities that produce a variety of goods - from meat to planes, cars and mobile phones. This area is, at the same time, one the most important hot spot for the Mata Atlântica biome. Here we have a large Mata Atlântica fragment protected by law and others fragments being conversed to pasture, agriculture, silviculture and urban areas. Paraiba do Sul river drains the region and runs into Rio de Janeiro State. The basin is highly anthropized, with multiple approaches of its waters resources. Its waters also serve Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area. Because land use and land cover changes impact the water yield in a basin, the study of its dynamic its of great importance for water resources management. We study the land use and land cover change in the region between 1986 and 2010, focusing in the development of silviculture of eucaliptus plantations. We used the HAND (Height Above Nearest Drainage) approach that uses the height above the nearest water body, acquired from SRTM Data and transformed into a Terrain Numeric Mode, to classify the landscape into three different ecohydrological environments: floodplain, mountain top and hillslope. This classes were intersected with 1986 and 2010 land use and cover change classification obtained from Landsat imagery. Results show that silviculture has increased in the region from 1986 to 2010. In both years, silviculture areas are mainly located at the hillslope (47%), while floodplain and mountain top share 28 % and 23 % respectively. Available census data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, IBGE, for 1995 and

POTENTIAL OF MULTI-TEMPORAL UAV-BORNE LIDAR IN ASSESSING EFFECTIVENESS OF SILVICULTURAL TREATMENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

U. Vepakomma

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Silvicultural treatments are practiced to control resource competition and direct forest stand development to meet management objectives. Effective tracking of thinning and partial cutting treatments help in timely mitigation and ensuring future stand productivity. Based on a study conducted in autumn 2015, our findings in a white pine dominant forest stand in Petawawa (Ontario, Canada showed that almost all individual trees were detectable, structure of individual trees and undergrowth was well pronounced and underlying terrain below dense undisturbed canopy was well captured with UAS based Riegl Vux-1 lidar even at a range of 150 m. Thereafter, the site was re-scanned the following summer with the same system. Besides understanding the difference in distribution patterns due to foliage conditions, co-registering the two datasets, in the current study, we tested the potential of quantifying effectiveness of a partial cutting silvicultural system especially in terms of filling of 3D spaces through vertical or lateral growth and mortality in a very short period of time.

Proceedings of the National Silviculture Workshop: Density of Stocking Control; Eugene, Oregon; October 13-15, 1976

Science.gov (United States)

Jack H. Usher; Daniel B. Jones; A. R. Stage; Benjamin A. Roach; Gilbert B. Schubert; Darrell W. Crawford; Gilbert H. Schubert; Walter Fox; Edward A. Smith; Richard E. Lowrey Sofes; Richard F. Watt

1976-01-01

The 1976 National Silviculture Workshop was held in Eugene, Oregon, on October 13-15, 1976. The objectives were to discuss second growth management of individual stands, with particular emphasis on the control of stand density.

Suitability of close-to-nature silviculture for adapting temperate European forests to climate change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brang, P.; Spathelf, P.; Larsen, J.B.; Bauhus, J.; Boncina, A.; Mohren, G.M.J.

2014-01-01

In many parts of Europe, close-to-nature silviculture (CNS) has been widely advocated as being the best approach for managing forests to cope with future climate change. In this review, we identify and evaluate six principles for enhancing the adaptive capacity of European temperate forests in a

Silvicultural research and the evolution of forest practices in the Douglas-fir region.

Science.gov (United States)

Robert O. Curtis; Dean S. DeBell; Richard E. Miller; Michael Newton; J. Bradley St. Clair; William I. Stein

2007-01-01

Silvicultural practices in the Douglas-fir region evolved through a combination of formal research, observation, and practical experience of forest managers and silviculturists, and changing economic and social factors. This process began more than a century ago and still continues. It has had a great influence on the economic well-being of the region and on the...

Effects of silviculture on neotropical migratory birds in central and southeastern oak pine forests

Science.gov (United States)

James G. Dickson; Frank R. Thompson; Richard N. Conner; Kathleen E. Franzreb

1993-01-01

Avian communities that are associated with forest habitat attributes are affected by silvicultural and other stand influences. Some species have specific habitat requirements, whereas others occupy a broad range of vegetative conditions. In general, bird species richness and density are positively related to stand foliage volume and diversity. Bird density and...

Preliminary recommendations on the design of the characterization program for the Hanford Site single-shell tanks: A system analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buck, J.W.; Peffers, M.S.; Hwang, S.T.

1991-11-01

The work described in this volume was conducted by Pacific Northwest Laboratory to provide preliminary recommendations on data quality objectives (DQOs) to support the Waste Characterization Plan (WCP) and closure decisions for the Hanford Site single-shell tanks (SSTs). The WCP describes the first of a two-phase characterization program that will obtain information to assess and implement disposal options for SSTs. This work was performed for the Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC), the current operating contractor on the Hanford Site. The preliminary DQOs contained in this volume deal with the analysis of SST wastes in support of the WCP and final closure decisions. These DQOs include information on significant contributors and detection limit goals (DLGs) for SST analytes based on public health risk

40 CFR 122.27 - Silvicultural activities (applicable to State NPDES programs, see § 123.25).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM Permit Application and Special NPDES Program Requirements § 122.27... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Silvicultural activities (applicable to State NPDES programs, see § 123.25). 122.27 Section 122.27 Protection of Environment...

Scope and purpose of the preliminary planning work

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalas, P.

1976-01-01

The results of preliminary planning work are usually expressed in a number of recommendations covering mainly: long-term national policy in the field of energy resources and selection of projects to be further studied at the feasibility level. Moreover, recommendations on further actions are made including: inventory of generation and transmission facilities recommended for the implementation in order to meet the load forecasted for medium-term period, preparation of a preliminary calender of decisions to be taken for the implementation of the projects recommended, preparation of a preliminary construction schedule, preparation of a preliminary investment program, preparation of a program of necessary engineering works, and performance of study on electricity rates which would adjust existing tariffs to proposed development program of the utility. (HP) [de

Silviculture and the assessment of climate change genetic risk for southern Appalachian forest tree species

Science.gov (United States)

Kevin M. Potter; Barbara S. Crane

2012-01-01

Changing climate conditions and increasing insect and pathogen infestations will increase the likelihood that forest trees could experience population-level extirpation or species-level extinction during the next century. Gene conservation and silvicultural efforts to preserve forest tree genetic diversity present a particular challenge in species-rich regions such as...

Mid-rotation silviculture timing influences nitrogen mineralization of loblolly pine plantations in the mid-south USA

Science.gov (United States)

Michael A. Blazier; D. Andrew Scott; Ryan Coleman

2015-01-01

Intensively managed loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations often develop nutrient deficiencies near mid-rotation. Common silvicultural treatments for improving stand nutrition at this stage include thinning, fertilization, and vegetation control. It is important to better understand the influence of timing fertilization and vegetation control...

Post-harvesting silvicultural treatments in logging gaps: A comparison between enrichment planting and tending of natural regeneration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schwartz, G.; Lopes, J.C.A.; Mohren, G.M.J.; Peña-Claros, M.

2013-01-01

Despite greatly improved forest management in recent decades, long-term assessments show that if current harvesting volumes and cutting cycles are maintained, future volume yields of commercial species will decrease. A possible solution is to apply post-harvesting silvicultural treatments to

Silvicultural treatments for converting loblolly pine to longleaf pine dominance: Effects on planted longleaf pine seedlings

Science.gov (United States)

Huifeng Hu; G.Geoff Wang; Joan L. Walker; Benjamin O. Knapp

2012-01-01

A field study was installed to test silvicultural treatments for establishing longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill) in loblolly pine (P. taeda L.) stands. Harvesting was used to create seven canopy treatments, four with uniformly distributed canopies at different residual basal areas [Control (16.2 m2/ha),...

Response of the boreal forest ecosystem to climatic change and its silvicultural implications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kellomaeki, S; Haenninen, H; Karjalainen, T [Joensuu Univ. (Finland). Faculty of Forestry; and others

1997-12-31

During the next 100 years, the mean annual temperature is expected to be 1-6 deg C higher than at present. It is also expected to be accompanied by a lengthening of the thermal growing season and increased precipitation. Consequently, climatic change will increase the uncertainty of the management of forest ecosystems in the future. In this context, this research project aimed to outline the ecological and silvicultural implications of climatic change with regard to (1) how the expected climatic change might modify the functioning and structure of the boreal forest ecosystem, and (2) how the silvicultural management of the forest ecosystem should be modified in order to maintain sustainable forest yield under changing climatic conditions. The experimental component of the project concerned first the effect that elevating temperature and elevating concentration of atmospheric carbon have on the ontogenetic development of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L) and on the subsequent increase in frost damage during winter. The second part of the study looked the effect of elevating temperature and elevating concentration of atmospheric carbon on the growth of Scots pine through photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, nutrient supply, and changes in crown structure. This experiment was utilised in several subprojects of the overall project

Response of the boreal forest ecosystem to climatic change and its silvicultural implications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kellomaeki, S.; Haenninen, H.; Karjalainen, T. [Joensuu Univ. (Finland). Faculty of Forestry] [and others

1996-12-31

During the next 100 years, the mean annual temperature is expected to be 1-6 deg C higher than at present. It is also expected to be accompanied by a lengthening of the thermal growing season and increased precipitation. Consequently, climatic change will increase the uncertainty of the management of forest ecosystems in the future. In this context, this research project aimed to outline the ecological and silvicultural implications of climatic change with regard to (1) how the expected climatic change might modify the functioning and structure of the boreal forest ecosystem, and (2) how the silvicultural management of the forest ecosystem should be modified in order to maintain sustainable forest yield under changing climatic conditions. The experimental component of the project concerned first the effect that elevating temperature and elevating concentration of atmospheric carbon have on the ontogenetic development of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L) and on the subsequent increase in frost damage during winter. The second part of the study looked the effect of elevating temperature and elevating concentration of atmospheric carbon on the growth of Scots pine through photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, nutrient supply, and changes in crown structure. This experiment was utilised in several subprojects of the overall project

Tackling U.S. energy challenges and opportunities: preliminary policy recommendations for enhancing energy innovation in the United States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anadon, Laura Diaz; Gallagher, Kelly Sims; Bunn, Matthew; Jones, Charles

2009-02-18

The report offers preliminary recommendations for near-term actions to strengthen the U.S. effort to develop and deploy advanced energy technologies. The report comes as the Obama Administration and the 111th U.S. Congress face enormous challenges and opportunities in tackling the pressing security, economic, and environmental problems posed by the energy sector. Improving the technologies of energy supply and end-use is a prerequisite for surmounting these challenges in a timely and cost-effective way, and this report elaborates on how policy can support develop of these important energy technologies.

Development of silvicultural systems for maintaining old-growth conditions in the temperate rainforest of southeast Alaska.

Science.gov (United States)

Michael H. McClellan

2004-01-01

In the old-growth temperate rainforests of southeast Alaska, concerns over clearcutting effects on habitat, visual quality, slope stability, and biodiversity have created a demand for the use of other silvicultural systems. The forest vegetation and animal taxa of southeast Alaska appear to be well adapted to frequent, widespread, small-scale disturbance, suggesting...

State survey of silviculture nonpoint source programs: a comparison of the 2000 northeastern and national results

Science.gov (United States)

Pamela J. Edwards; Gordon W. Stuart

2002-01-01

The National Association of State Foresters conducts surveys of silviculture nonpoint source (NPS) pollution control programs to measure progress and identify needs. The 2000 survey results are summarized here for the nation and for the 20-state northeastern region. Current emphasis of NPS pollution programs is on education, training, and monitoring. Educational...

Proceedings of the National Silviculture Workshop: The Shelterwood Regeneration Method; Charleston, South Carolina September 17-21, 1979

Science.gov (United States)

Dan Cramsey; Carl Puuri; Dick Miller; Billy E. Page; David Smith; David Marquis; Jack Usher; Bob Naumann; William Beaufait; Robert Loomis; Edward Smith; David Loftis; Gordon Langdon; Thomas Croker; William Boyer; Jim Edgren; Douglas Roy; John Hughes; Charles Boldt; Glenn Jacobson; Dick Godman; Carl Tubbs; Ivan Sander; Bob Blomquist

1979-01-01

Historic Charleston, South Carolina was the site of the 1979 Silviculture Workshop. The objective of the meeting was to discuss state of the art application of the shelterwood regeneration method to forests of the United States. These proceedings include the presentations of the individuals on the program.

Woodland salamander responses to a shelterwood harvest-prescribed burn silvicultural treatment within Appalachian mixed-oak forests

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, W. Mark; Mahoney, Kathleen R.; Russell, Kevin R.; Rodrigue, Jane L.; Riddle, Jason D.; Schuler, Thomas M.; Adams, Mary Beth

2015-01-01

Forest management practices that mimic natural canopy disturbances, including prescribed fire and timber harvests, may reduce competition and facilitate establishment of favorable vegetative species within various ecosystems. Fire suppression in the central Appalachian region for almost a century has contributed to a transition from oak-dominated to more mesophytic, fire-intolerant forest communities. Prescribed fire coupled with timber removal is currently implemented to aid in oak regeneration and establishment but responses of woodland salamanders to this complex silvicultural system is poorly documented. The purpose of our research was to determine how woodland salamanders respond to shelterwood harvests following successive burns in a central Appalachian mixed-oak forest. Woodland salamanders were surveyed using coverboard arrays in May, July, and August–September 2011 and 2012. Surveys were conducted within fenced shelterwood-burn (prescribed fires, shelterwood harvest, and fencing to prevent white-tailed deer [Odocoileus virginianus] herbivory), shelterwood-burn (prescribed fires and shelterwood harvest), and control plots. Relative abundance was modeled in relation to habitat variables measured within treatments for mountain dusky salamanders (Desmognathus ochrophaeus), slimy salamanders (Plethodon glutinosus), and eastern red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus). Mountain dusky salamander relative abundance was positively associated with canopy cover and there were significantly more individuals within controls than either shelterwood-burn or fenced shelterwood-burn treatments. Conversely, habitat variables associated with slimy salamanders and eastern red-backed salamanders did not differ among treatments. Salamander age-class structure within controls did not differ from shelterwood-burn or fenced shelterwood-burn treatments for any species. Overall, the woodland salamander assemblage remained relatively intact throughout the shelterwoodburn

Nonnative plant response to silvicultural treatments: A model based on disturbance, propagule pressure, and competitive abilities

Science.gov (United States)

Steve Sutherland; Cara R. Nelson

2010-01-01

Invasion by nonnative plants can result in substantial adverse effects on the functions of native forest ecosystems, including nutrient cycling and fire regimes. Thus, forest managers need to be aware of the potential impacts of management activities, including silvicultural treatments, on nonnative vegetation. To aid in that effort, we created a conceptual model of...

Changes in down dead wood volume across a chronosequence of silvicultural openings in southern Indiana forests

Science.gov (United States)

Michael A. Jenkins; George R. Parker

1997-01-01

The volume and decay stages of down dead wood were evaluated across a chronosequence of 46 silvicultural openings and 10 uncut control stands to determine how down dead wood volume changes with stand development. Openings ranged in age from 8 to 26 years and were divided into three age groups: (1) 16 years. Individual logs...

Nitrogen dynamics across silvicultural canopy gaps in young forests of western Oregon

Science.gov (United States)

Thiel, A.L.; Perakis, S.S.

2009-01-01

Silvicultural canopy gaps are emerging as an alternative management tool to accelerate development of complex forest structure in young, even-aged forests of the Pacific Northwest. The effect of gap creation on available nitrogen (N) is of concern to managers because N is often a limiting nutrient in Pacific Northwest forests. We investigated patterns of N availability in the forest floor and upper mineral soil (0-10 cm) across 6-8-year-old silvicultural canopy gaps in three 50-70-year-old Douglas-fir forests spanning a wide range of soil N capital in the Coast Range and Cascade Mountains of western Oregon. We used extractable ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3-) pools, net N mineralization and nitrification rates, and NH4+ and NO3- ion exchange resin (IER) concentrations to quantify N availability along north-south transects run through the centers of 0.4 and 0.1 ha gaps. In addition, we measured several factors known to influence N availability, including litterfall, moisture, temperature, and decomposition rates. In general, gap-forest differences in N availability were more pronounced in the mineral soil than in the forest floor. Mineral soil extractable NH4+ and NO3- pools, net N mineralization and nitrification rates, and NH4+ and NO3- IER concentrations were all significantly elevated in gaps relative to adjacent forest, and in several cases exhibited significantly greater spatial variability in gaps than forest. Nitrogen availability along the edges of gaps more often resembled levels in the adjacent forest than in gap centers. For the majority of response variables, there were no significant differences between northern and southern transect positions, nor between 0.4 and 0.1 ha gaps. Forest floor and mineral soil gravimetric percent moisture and temperature showed few differences along transects, while litterfall carbon (C) inputs and litterfall C:N ratios in gaps were significantly lower than in the adjacent forest. Reciprocal transfer incubations of

Using Silviculture to Influence Carbon Sequestration in Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick T. Moore

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Enhancement of forest growth through silvicultural modification of stand density is one strategy for increasing carbon (C sequestration. Using the Fire and Fuels Extension of the Forest Vegetation Simulator, the effects of even-aged, uneven-aged and no-action management scenarios on C sequestration in a southern Appalachian red spruce-Fraser fir forest were modeled. We explicitly considered C stored in standing forest stocks and the fate of forest products derived from harvesting. Over a 100-year simulation period the even-aged scenario (250 Mg C ha⁻¹ outperformed the no-action scenario (241 Mg C ha⁻¹ in total carbon (TC sequestered. The uneven-aged scenario approached 220 Mg C ha⁻¹, but did not outperform the no-action scenario within the simulation period. While the average annual change in C (AAC of the no-action scenario approached zero, or carbon neutral, during the simulation, both the even-aged and uneven-aged scenarios surpassed the no-action by year 30 and maintained positive AAC throughout the 100-year simulation. This study demonstrates that silvicultural treatment of forest stands can increase potential C storage, but that careful consideration of: (1 accounting method (i.e., TC versus AAC; (2 fate of harvested products and; (3 length of the planning horizon (e.g., 100 years will strongly influence the evaluation of C sequestration.

Two-age silviculture: an innovative tool for enhancing species diversity and vertical structure in Appalachian hardwoods

Science.gov (United States)

Gary W. Miller; Petra B. Wood; Jeffrey V. Nichols; Jeffrey V. Nichols

1995-01-01

Silvicultural practices that promote a two-age stand structure provide an opportunity to maintain diversity of woody species and vertical structure for extended periods of time in Appalachian hardwoods. Data from four two-age stands initiated by deferment cutting in West Virginia are summarized for the first 10 to 15 years after treatment. Results indicated that 15...

Specific phobia: a review of DSM-IV specific phobia and preliminary recommendations for DSM-V.

Science.gov (United States)

LeBeau, Richard T; Glenn, Daniel; Liao, Betty; Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich; Beesdo-Baum, Katja; Ollendick, Thomas; Craske, Michelle G

2010-02-01

The present review was conducted in order to evaluate the current diagnostic criteria for specific phobia (SP) in light of the empirical evidence gathered since DSM-IV and to propose changes to DSM-V where change is clearly and reliably indicated by the evidence. In response to questions put forth by the DSM-V Anxiety, OC Spectrum, Posttraumatic, and Dissociative Disorder Work Group, four primary areas were determined for this review: the accuracy and utility of the current SP type classification system, the validity of test anxiety as a type of SP, the boundary between agoraphobia and SP, and the reliability and utility of the diagnostic criteria for SP. Developmental issues are addressed within each area. Literature reviews examining academic findings published between 1994 and 2009 were carried out and the results are included herein. The review presents a number of options and preliminary recommendations to be considered for DSM-V. All of these recommendations should be considered tentative as they await the field trials and expert consensus necessary prior to their inclusion in the DSM-V. The present review also reveals a great need for future research in the area of SP and directions for such research is provided.

MEMORANDUM: Application of Best Management Practices to Mechanical Silvicultural Site Preparation Activities for the Establishment of Pine Plantations in the Southeast

Science.gov (United States)

Memorandum to the Field, November 28, 1995, clarifying the applicability of forested wetlands best management practices to mechanical silvicultural site preparation activities for the establishment of pine plantations in the Southeast.

A Sentiment-Enhanced Hybrid Recommender System for Movie Recommendation: A Big Data Analytics Framework

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Yibo Wang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Movie recommendation in mobile environment is critically important for mobile users. It carries out comprehensive aggregation of user’s preferences, reviews, and emotions to help them find suitable movies conveniently. However, it requires both accuracy and timeliness. In this paper, a movie recommendation framework based on a hybrid recommendation model and sentiment analysis on Spark platform is proposed to improve the accuracy and timeliness of mobile movie recommender system. In the proposed approach, we first use a hybrid recommendation method to generate a preliminary recommendation list. Then sentiment analysis is employed to optimize the list. Finally, the hybrid recommender system with sentiment analysis is implemented on Spark platform. The hybrid recommendation model with sentiment analysis outperforms the traditional models in terms of various evaluation criteria. Our proposed method makes it convenient and fast for users to obtain useful movie suggestions.

Methanol production from Eucalyptus wood chips. Working document I. The Florida Eucalyptus energy farm: silvicultural methods and considerations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fishkind, H.H.

1982-04-01

The silvicultural matrix within which the nation's first large scale wood energy plantation will develop is described in detail. The relevant literature reviewed is identified and distilled. The plantation history, site preparation, planting, species selection, maintenance and management, harvesting, and the Eucalyptus biomass production estimates are presented.

Physiological responses of eastern hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis) to biological control and silvicultural release: implications for hemlock restoration

Science.gov (United States)

Chelcy F. Miniat; David Zeitlow; Steven T. Brantley; Albert (Bud) Mayfield; Rusty Rhea; Robert Jetton; Paul.  Arnold

2016-01-01

The rapid loss of eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) from riparian zones in the southern Appalachian Mountains due to Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelgis tsugae, HWA) infestation has resulted in changes to watershed structure and function. Several restoration strategies have been proposed, including silvicultural treatments that increase incident light in forest...

Recommended well drilling and testing program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Long, J.; Wilson, C.

1978-07-01

A well drilling and testing program is recommended by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory to identify the hydrology of deep basalts in the Pasco Basin. The ultimate objective of this program is to assist in determining the feasibility of locating a nuclear waste repository on the Hanford Reservation. The recommended program has been staged for maximum effectiveness. In the first stage, six wells have been identified for drilling and testing which, when coupled with existing wells, will provide sufficient data for a preliminary overview of basin hydrology and a preliminary determination of the hydrologic suitability of the deep basalt for a repository site. The rate at which the first stage wells are drilled and tested will depend upon the date at which a preliminary determination of site suitability is required. It was assumed that a preliminary determination of suitability would be required in 1980, in which case all six first stage wells would be drilled in FY 1979. If the results of the first stage analysis are favorable for repository siting, tentative repository sites can be identified and a second stage hydrology program can be implemented to provide the necessary details of the flow system. To accomplish this stage, a number of deep wells would be required at locations both inside and outside the basin, with specific sites to be identified as the work progresses to obtain maximum utility of existing data. A program is recommended for testing in each new well and for completion of testing in each existing well. Recommended tests include borehole geophysics, pressure and permeability testing, geochemical sampling, tracer testing, hydrofracturing and borehole fracture logging. The entire data collection program is oriented toward providing the information required to establish and verify an accurate numerical model of the Pasco Basin

Disturbances and structural development of natural forest ecosystems with silvicultural implications, using Douglas-fir forests as an example.

Science.gov (United States)

J.F. Franklin; T.A. Spies; R.V. Pelt; A.B. Carey; D.A. Thornburgh; D.R. Berg; D.B. Lindenmayer; M.E. Harmon; W.S. Keeton; D.C. Shaw; K. Bible; J. Chen

2002-01-01

Forest managers need a comprehensive scientific understanding of natural stand development processes when designing silvicultural systems that integrate ecological and economic objectives, including a better appreciation of the nature of disturbance regimes and the biological legacies, such as live trees, snags, and logs, that they leave behind. Most conceptual forest...

Modeling silviculture after natural disturbance to sustain biodiversity in the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystem : balancing complexity and implementation

Science.gov (United States)

Brian J. Palik; Robert J. Mitchell; J. Kevin Hiers

2002-01-01

Modeling silviculture after natural disturbance to maintain biodiversity is a popular concept, yet its application remains elusive. We discuss difficulties inherent to this idea, and suggest approaches to facilitate implementation, using longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) as an example. Natural disturbance regimes are spatially and temporally variable. Variability...

Interactions between near-ground temperature and radiation, silvicultural treatments and frost damage to Norway spruce seedlings

OpenAIRE

Langvall, Ola

2000-01-01

Several different silvicultural treatments were studied in two experiments. In the first, mechanical scarification, slash removal, vegetation control, clear-cut age and seedling types were investigated with respect to frost injury to Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) seedlings. Frost damage was also related to near-ground minimum temperature. In the other experiment, the effects of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris (L.)) shelterwood density gradients, ranging from dense, uncut forest to comp...

Recommending Multidimensional Queries

Science.gov (United States)

Giacometti, Arnaud; Marcel, Patrick; Negre, Elsa

Interactive analysis of datacube, in which a user navigates a cube by launching a sequence of queries is often tedious since the user may have no idea of what the forthcoming query should be in his current analysis. To better support this process we propose in this paper to apply a Collaborative Work approach that leverages former explorations of the cube to recommend OLAP queries. The system that we have developed adapts Approximate String Matching, a technique popular in Information Retrieval, to match the current analysis with the former explorations and help suggesting a query to the user. Our approach has been implemented with the open source Mondrian OLAP server to recommend MDX queries and we have carried out some preliminary experiments that show its efficiency for generating effective query recommendations.

Development of the selection system in northern hardwood forests of the Lake States: an 80-year silviculture research legacy

Science.gov (United States)

Christel Kern; Gus Erdmann; Laura Kenefic; Brian Palik; Terry. Strong

2014-01-01

The northern hardwood research program at the Dukes Experimental Forest in Michigan and Argonne Experimental Forest in Wisconsin has been adapting to changing management and social objectives for more than 80 years. In 1926, the first northern hardwood silviculture study was established in old-growth stands at the Dukes Experimental Forest. In response to social...

Influence of residual basal area on longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) first year germination and establishment under selection silviculture

Science.gov (United States)

Ferhat Kara; Edward F. Loewenstein

2015-01-01

Even-aged silvicultural methods have been successfully used to manage longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests for wood production; however, successful use of uneven-aged methods to manage this ecosystem is less well documented. In this study, the effects of varying levels of residual basal area (RBA) (9.2, 13.8, and 18.4 m2...

Medium-long term soil resilience against different disturbances: wildfires, silvicultural treatments and climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Hedo de Santiago, Javier; Borja, Manuel Esteban Lucas; de las Heras, Jorge

2016-04-01

Soils of semiarid Mediterranean forest ecosystems are very fragile and sensitive to changes due to different anthropogenic and natural disturbances. The increasing vulnerability of semiarid lands within this world framework has generated growing awareness in the field of research, with highly intensified study into soils properties. One of the main problems of Mediterranean forests is wildfire disturbance. Fire should be considered more an ecological factor but, in contrast to the role of fire, it is now a closely related factor to human action. On the other hand, to improve the recovery of forest communities after fire, silvicultural treatments are needed and, for that matter, another disturbance is added to the ecosystem. By last, climate change is also affecting the fire regime increasing fire frequency and burned area, enhancing the destructiveness to Mediterranean ecosystems. After all of these three disturbances, changes in vegetation dynamics and soil properties are expected to occur due to the plant-soil feedback. Soil plays an essential role in the forest ecosystem's fertility and stability and specifically soil microorganisms, which accomplish reactions to release soil nutrients for vegetation development, for that is essential to enlarge knowledge about soil properties resilience in semiarid forest ecosystems. Physico-chemical and microbiological soil properties, and enzyme activities have been studied in two Aleppo pine forest stands that have suffered three disturbances: 1) a wildfire event, 2) silvicultural treatments (thinning) and 3) an artificial drought (simulating climate change) and results showed that soil recovered after 15 years. Final results showed that soils have been recovered from the three disturbances at the medium-long term.

Ecology and silvicultural management for the rehabilitation in rain forests of low altitude on complex metamorphic

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Gonzalo Cantos Cevallos

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In order to characterize ecology and silvicultural management for the rehabilitation of the low altitude rain forest on a metamorphic complex, Quibiján-Naranjal del Toa sector, a floristic inventory was carried out, 36 sample plots of 20 x 25 m in the forest in both sides of Toa's riverside. Tree species with d1,3 e» 5 cm were measured, a total of 1507 individuals represented in 52 species belonging to 49 genera and 24 families were identified and evaluated. Both forests were statistically compared in terms of richness, composition, structure, diversity and abundance, with a high alpha and beta diversity. The species with the highest value index of ecological importance were determined. The families Fabaceae, Moraceae, Lauraceae and Meliaceae are the most representative in terms of species and genera. The most important species are Hibiscus elatus, Calophyllum utile, Carapa guianensis, Buhenavia capitata, y Guarea guara, among others, which stand out as the most abundant. Economic occupation was adequate in a few plots and incomplete in most of the sampling units. Taking into account the results obtained, we propose silvicultural actions aimed at sustainable forest management through the application of improvement shorts and the method of enrichment in dense spaced-groups for the rehabilitation and the achievement of the expected multiethane forest.

Silvicultural manipulation and site effect on above and belowground biomass equations for young Pinus radiata

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rubilar, Rafael A.; Allen, H. Lee; Alvarez, Jose S.; Albaugh, Timothy J.; Fox, Thomas R.; Stape, Jose L.

2010-01-01

There is little understanding of how silvicultural treatments, during the early stages of tree development, affect allometric relationships. We developed and compared stem, branch, foliage, coarse and fine root biomass, and leaf area estimation equations, for four-year-old genetically improved radiata pine trees grown on three contrasting soil-site conditions. At each site, selected trees were destructively sampled from a control (shovel planted, no weed control, fertilized with 2 g of boron), a shovel planted + weed control (2 first years) + complete fertilization (nitrogen + phosphorus + boron 2 first years + potassium 2nd year), and a soil tillage (subsoil at 60 cm) + weed control (first 2 years) + complete fertilization treatment. Tissues were separated into foliage, branch, stem, fine and coarse roots (>2 mm). Regression equations for each tree biomass tissue versus leaf area were fit for each site and compared among treatments and sites with the same genetic material. Our results indicated that individual tree biomasses for young plantations are affected by silvicultural treatment and site growing conditions. Higher variability in estimates was found for foliage and branches due to the ephemeral nature of these components. Stem biomass equations vary less, but differences in biomass equations were found among sites and treatments. Coarse root biomass estimates were variable but less than expected, considering the gradient among sites. Similar to stem biomass, a simple positive general linear relationship between root collar diameter, or diameter at breast height with coarse roots biomass was developed across sites and treatments.

Fire performance in traditional silvicultural and fire and fire surrogate treatments in Sierran mixed-conifer forests: a brief summary

Science.gov (United States)

Jason J. Moghaddas; Scott L. Stephens

2007-01-01

Mixed conifer forests cover 7.9 million acres of California’s total land base. Forest structure in these forests has been influenced by harvest practices and silvicultural systems implemented since the beginning of the California Gold Rush in 1849. Today, the role of fire in coniferous forests, both in shaping past stand structure and its ability to shape future...

A Review of the Characteristics of Small-Leaved Lime (Tilia cordata Mill. and Their Implications for Silviculture in a Changing Climate

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Tanguy De Jaegere

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Tilia cordata Mill. is a minor European broadleaved species with a wide but scattered distribution. Given its scarcity and low value in the wood market, it has received little attention from researchers and forest managers. This review summarizes the main aspects of T. cordata ecology and growth. Its main limiting factor is its need for warm summer temperatures to ensure successful seed production. It has a height growth pattern relatively similar to that of Acer pseudoplatanus L., with a slight delay in the early stages. Yield tables report great productivity, especially in eastern Europe. T. cordata used to be a major species in Europe, in contrast to its present distribution, but it is very likely to receive renewed interest in the future. Indeed, with the potential change of competition between species in some regions and the need for important diversification in others, T. cordata may play an important role in forest adaptation to climate change, especially owing to its wide ecological tolerance and its numerous ecosystem services. It is necessary to increase our knowledge about its regeneration and its responses to environmental and silvicultural factors, to establish clear management recommendations.

Preliminary guidelines for the evaluation and management of dyslipidemia in adults infected with human immunodeficiency virus and receiving antiretroviral therapy: Recommendations of the Adult AIDS Clinical Trial Group Cardiovascular Disease Focus Group

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dubé, M. P.; Sprecher, D.; Henry, W. K.; Aberg, J. A.; Torriani, F. J.; Hodis, H. N.; Schouten, J. [=Judith; Levin, J.; Myers, G.; Zackin, R.; Nevin, T.; Currier, J. S.

2000-01-01

Dyslipidemia is a prevalent condition that affects patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who are receiving antiretroviral therapy, These preliminary recommendations summarize the current understanding in this area and propose guidelines for management. Existing guidelines for the

Silvicultural Attempts to Induce Browse Resistance in Conifer Seedlings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruce A. Kimball

2011-01-01

Full Text Available A multiyear study was conducted to determine if soil amendment combined with topical application of elemental sulfur could be employed to reduce deer browse damage to four conifer species. Fertilizer and sulfur were applied to conifer seedlings at seven sites near Corvallis, OR. Growth and browse damage data were collected for all seedlings over a period of 17 months. Additionally, foliar concentrations of monoterpenes and simple carbohydrates were assessed in western redcedar (Thuja plicata seedlings over a period of three years. Fertilization and sulfur treatments had a moderate impact on growth and no influence on browse damage or the chemical responses. Over the course of the study, browse damage diminished while foliar monoterpene concentrations increased in redcedar. It appears that silvicultural manipulation via sulfur application and/or soil amendment cannot accelerate or alter the ontogenetical changes that may naturally defend seedlings against mammalian herbivores. In a brief trial with captive deer, redcedar browse resistance was influenced by seedling maturation, but not monoterpene content. Other maturation effects may yield significant browse protection to young seedlings.

Eastern hemlock response to even- and uneven-age management in the Acadian forest: results from the Penobscot Experimental Forest long-term silviculture study

Science.gov (United States)

John C. Brissette; Laura S. Kenefic

2000-01-01

Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.) is an important tree species in the mixed-species conifer forests of northern New England and adjacent Canada. Hemlock is very tolerant of understory conditions; consequently, it responds differently to various silvicultural treatments. In a long-term study at the Penobscot Experimental Forest in east-...

Recommendations for NEAMS Engagement with the NRC: Preliminary Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernholdt, David E.

2012-01-01

The vision of the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program is to bring a new generation of analytic tools to the nuclear engineering community in order to facilitate students, faculty, industry and laboratory researchers in investigating advanced reactor and fuel cycle designs. Although primarily targeting at advance nuclear technologies, it is anticipated that these new capabilities will also become interesting and useful to the nuclear regulator Consequently, the NEAMS program needs to engage with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as the software is being developed to ensure that they are familiar with and ready to respond to this novel approach when the need arises. Through discussions between key NEAMS and NRC staff members, we tentatively recommend annual briefings to the Division of Systems Analysis in the NRC's Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. However the NEAC subcommittee review of the NEAMS program may yield recommendations that would need to be considered before finalizing this plan.

Recommendations for NEAMS Engagement with the NRC: Preliminary Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bernholdt, David E [ORNL

2012-06-01

The vision of the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program is to bring a new generation of analytic tools to the nuclear engineering community in order to facilitate students, faculty, industry and laboratory researchers in investigating advanced reactor and fuel cycle designs. Although primarily targeting at advance nuclear technologies, it is anticipated that these new capabilities will also become interesting and useful to the nuclear regulator Consequently, the NEAMS program needs to engage with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as the software is being developed to ensure that they are familiar with and ready to respond to this novel approach when the need arises. Through discussions between key NEAMS and NRC staff members, we tentatively recommend annual briefings to the Division of Systems Analysis in the NRC's Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. However the NEAC subcommittee review of the NEAMS program may yield recommendations that would need to be considered before finalizing this plan.

Forest Planning Heuristics—Current Recommendations and Research Opportunities for s-Metaheuristics

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Pete Bettinger

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Adaptive forest management requires planning and implementation of activities designed to maintain or improve forest conditions, and in support of these endeavors knowledge of silviculture, economics, operations research, and other allied fields are necessary. With regard to forest planning, traditional (exact mathematical techniques along with heuristics have been demonstrated as useful in developing alternative courses of action for forest managers to consider. In this discussion paper, we present six areas of future work with regard to investigations into the development of heuristics, along with several recommendations that are based on our experiences. These areas include process improvements, reversion strategies, destruction and reconstruction strategies, intelligent or dynamic parameterization approaches, intelligent termination or transitioning approaches, and seeding strategies. We chose the six areas based on our experiences in developing forest planning heuristics. These areas reflect our opinion of where future research might concentrate. All of these areas of work have the potential to enhance the capabilities and effectiveness of heuristic approaches when applied to adaptive forest management problems.

Clinical practice recommendations for bipolar disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Malhi, G S; Adams, D; Lampe, L; Paton, M; O'Connor, N; Newton, L A; Walter, G; Taylor, A; Porter, R; Mulder, R T; Berk, M

2009-01-01

To provide clinically relevant evidence-based recommendations for the management of bipolar disorder in adults that are informative, easy to assimilate and facilitate clinical decision-making. A comprehensive literature review of over 500 articles was undertaken using electronic database search engines (e.g. MEDLINE, PsychINFO and Cochrane reviews). In addition articles, book chapters and other literature known to the authors were reviewed. The findings were then formulated into a set of recommendations that were developed by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians who routinely deal with mood disorders. These preliminary recommendations underwent extensive consultative review by a broader advisory panel that included experts in the field, clinical staff and patient representatives. The clinical practice recommendations for bipolar disorder (bipolar CPR) summarise evidence-based treatments and provide a synopsis of recommendations relating to each phase of the illness. They are designed for clinical use and have therefore been presented succinctly in an innovative and engaging manner that is clear and informative. These up-to-date recommendations provide an evidence-based framework that incorporates clinical wisdom and consideration of individual factors in the management of bipolar disorder. Further, the novel style and practical approach should promote their uptake and implementation.

Recommendations for space reactor R ampersand D tasks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wiley, R.L.; Marshall, A.C.

1995-01-01

A rationale was developed to determine which technologies a space nuclear reactor technology based program pursue based on the fact that budgets would be limited. A preliminary evaluation was conducted to identify key technical issues and to recommend a prioritized set of candidate research projects that could be undertaken as part of the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) program in the near term. The recommendations made have not been adopted formally by the DNA's Topaz International Program process. (TIP), but serve as inputs to the program plannin process

Silviculture and biology of short-rotation woody crops in temperate regions: Then and now

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dickmann, Donald I. [Department of Forestry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1222 (United States)

2006-08-15

Although its roots are in antiquity, the current concept of short-rotation woody crops (SRWC) for fiber and energy evolved scientifically from pioneering tree breeding work begun in the early 20th century. A natural outgrowth of this work was the culture of fast-growing trees on rotations of 1-15 years. Close-spaced tree culture received further impetus with the introduction of the 'silage sycamore' concept in the southeastern US in the mid-1960s and the OPEC oil embargo in 1973, leading to statistically designed trials at numerous locations in North America, Europe, and Scandinavia. Early silvicultural research focused on spacing and species trials, propagation methods, site preparation, weed management, nutrition, growth, and yield. Because these trials were based on small plots, and the importance of pest depredations or site variation were not fully recognized, early biomass yield predictions tended to be overly optimistic. Soon physiologists and ecologists began to unravel the biological characteristics of SRWC plantations and their responses to environment. Knowledge of the influence and diversity of pests-insects, diseases, and animals-provided a necessary reality check. Many hardwood tree species and a few conifers have been evaluated over the years for SRWC in temperate regions of the world. Clones of Populus and Salix, however, became the dominant plantation material because of their inherently rapid growth and ease of propagation by hardwood cuttings. Among conifers, loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) also shows promise. Because genetic variation is readily exploitable in the dominant SRWC taxa, strongly focused breeding programs began to provide highly productive genotypes and seed sources in the last decades of the 20th century. A new plateau, with significant practical potential, was reached in the late 20th century when biotechnological methods were applied to tree taxa. Recently, the DNA in the Populus genome was sequenced. Thus, the few current

Soil microbial activity in Aleppo pine stands naturally regenerated after fire: silvicultural management and induced drought

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Moya

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In post-fire restoration, early monitoring is mandatory to check impacts and ecosystem responses to apply proper management according to social standards and ecological conditions. In areas where the natural regeneration was successful, excessive tree density can be found which induces to high intraspecific competence and assisted restoration management could be adequate. In addition, climatic changes will have large impacts on vegetation productivity and resilience since the regional models for south-eastern Spain predicts a rainfall decrease of about 20% and temperature increase of 4.5 ºC. The microbial biomass could be used as indicator of ecosystem recovery, since it is negatively affected by wildfires and depends on fire characteristics, vegetation and soil properties. Our aim is to determine how forest management may affect the ecosystem recovery in different climatic scenarios, included drought scenarios with and without forest management (thinning.We compared soil physicochemical properties and microbial activity in four scenarios: unmanaged and thinned stands in two rainfall scenarios (under induced drought. The study areas were set close to Yeste (Albacete where Aleppo pine forest were burned in summer 1994 (nearly 14000 ha. We set sixteen rectangular plots (150 m2; 15 m ×10 m implementing experimental silvicultural treatments: thinning eight plots in 2004, reducing the naturally recovered tree density from about 12000 to 1600 pine trees ha-1. In addition, in half the plots, we induced drought conditions from about 500 to 400 mm (20% from March 2009. In every plot, we monitored temperature at ground level (Ts, 10 cm depth (T10d and soil relative humidity (RH. Taking into account season of the year and canopy coverage, we collected soil samples in mid-winter (ending January 2011 and mid-spring (ending May 2011 under pine trees and in bare soil. The soil samples were used to evaluate soil physicochemical properties and soil microbial

COMPORTAMENTO DA ERVA-MATE (Ilex paraguariensis St. Hil. EM CONSÓRCIO SILVICULTURAL

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Odilson dos Santos Oliveira

1995-12-01

Full Text Available O presente trabalho foi realizado no Campus da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria e teve por objetivo determinar o comportamento da erva-mate (Ilex paraguariensis St. Hil. cultivada em sistemas de consórcio silvicultural. A metodologia adotada constituiu-se da implantação de três tratamentos, cortes aos sistemas de consórcio erva-mate x Pinus sp., erva-mate x bracatinga e erva-mate x capoeira. A análise dos resultados levou às setes conclusões: os melhores resultados de desenvolvimento de erva-mate são obdos nos consórcios com bracatinga e Pinus sp. e, o pior, na capoeira; as vazes extremas dos fatores do meio são amenizadas pelas outras espécies do consórcio; índices elevados de luminosidade não promovem maior produção de matéria seca, nem os índices muito baixos.

Proceedings. Larch genetics and breeding. Research findings and ecological-silvicultural demands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martinsson, Owe [ed.

1995-12-31

The genus Larix Mill. (larch) represents a great part of the boreal and alpine forests. Larch species are the most common conifers in Siberia and they have an important role in European and North American forest ecosystems and forest economies. The value of these group of species are expected to increase in the future. There are at least three different reasons for that assumption: 1. Larch has highly appreciated technical wood properties., 2. Intensive cutting during the past three centuries has made larch a threatened group of species in some parts of the world., 3. Increasing access to Siberia will make forestry and forest harvest of larch an important part of the forest economy and ecology. In August 1995 a group of forest scientists gathered under the framework of IUFRO working group S2.02-07 in southern Sweden for exchange of experience in the fields of breeding and silviculture of larch. This proceedings was compiled on the basis of the presentations of this working group. Separate abstracts have been prepared for 12 of the 17 papers

Proceedings. Larch genetics and breeding. Research findings and ecological-silvicultural demands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martinsson, Owe [ed.

1996-12-31

The genus Larix Mill. (larch) represents a great part of the boreal and alpine forests. Larch species are the most common conifers in Siberia and they have an important role in European and North American forest ecosystems and forest economies. The value of these group of species are expected to increase in the future. There are at least three different reasons for that assumption: 1. Larch has highly appreciated technical wood properties., 2. Intensive cutting during the past three centuries has made larch a threatened group of species in some parts of the world., 3. Increasing access to Siberia will make forestry and forest harvest of larch an important part of the forest economy and ecology. In August 1995 a group of forest scientists gathered under the framework of IUFRO working group S2.02-07 in southern Sweden for exchange of experience in the fields of breeding and silviculture of larch. This proceedings was compiled on the basis of the presentations of this working group. Separate abstracts have been prepared for 12 of the 17 papers

Integrated management of carbon sequestration and biomass utilization opportunities in a changing climate: Proceedings of the 2009 National Silviculture Workshop; 2009 June 15-18; Boise, ID.

Science.gov (United States)

Theresa B. Jain; Russell T. Graham; Jonathan Sandquist

2010-01-01

Forests are important for carbon sequestration and how they are manipulated either through natural or human induced disturbances can have an effect on CO2 emissions and carbon sequestration. The 2009 National Silviculture Workshop presented scientific information and management strategies to meet a variety of objectives while simultaneously addressing carbon...

Tropical forest recovery from logging: a 24 year silvicultural experiment from Central Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Gourlet-Fleury, Sylvie; Mortier, Frédéric; Fayolle, Adeline; Baya, Fidèle; Ouédraogo, Dakis; Bénédet, Fabrice; Picard, Nicolas

2013-01-01

Large areas of African moist forests are being logged in the context of supposedly sustainable management plans. It remains however controversial whether harvesting a few trees per hectare can be maintained in the long term while preserving other forest services as well. We used a unique 24 year silvicultural experiment, encompassing 10 4 ha plots established in the Central African Republic, to assess the effect of disturbance linked to logging (two to nine trees ha⁻¹ greater than or equal to 80 cm DBH) and thinning (11-41 trees ha⁻¹ greater than or equal to 50 cm DBH) on the structure and dynamics of the forest. Before silvicultural treatments, above-ground biomass (AGB) and timber stock (i.e. the volume of commercial trees greater than or equal to 80 cm DBH) in the plots amounted 374.5 ± 58.2 Mg ha⁻¹ and 79.7 ± 45.9 m³ ha⁻¹, respectively. We found that (i) natural control forest was increasing in AGB (2.58 ± 1.73 Mg dry mass ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) and decreasing in timber stock (-0.33 ± 1.57 m³ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹); (ii) the AGB recovered very quickly after logging and thinning, at a rate proportional to the disturbance intensity (mean recovery after 24 years: 144%). Compared with controls, the gain almost doubled in the logged plots (4.82 ± 1.22 Mg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) and tripled in the logged + thinned plots (8.03 ± 1.41 Mg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹); (iii) the timber stock recovered slowly (mean recovery after 24 years: 41%), at a rate of 0.75 ± 0.51 m³ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ in the logged plots, and 0.81 ± 0.74 m³ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ in the logged + thinned plots. Although thinning significantly increased the gain in biomass, it had no effect on the gain in timber stock. However, thinning did foster the growth and survival of small- and medium-sized timber trees and should have a positive effect over the next felling cycle.

A Federated Search and Social Recommendation Widget

OpenAIRE

Govaerts, Sten; El Helou, Sandy; Gillet, Denis; Duval, Erik

2011-01-01

This paper presents a federated search and social recommen- dation widget. It describes the widget’s interface and the un- derlying social recommendation engine. A preliminary eval- uation of the widget’s usability and usefulness involving 15 subjects is also discussed. The evaluation helped identify us- ability problems that will be addressed prior to the widget’s usage in a real learning context.

Preliminary design analysis of the ALT-II limiter for TEXTOR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koski, J.A.; Boyd, R.D.; Kempka, S.M.; Romig, A.D. Jr.; Smith, M.F.; Watson, R.D.; Whitley, J.B.; Conn, R.W.; Grotz, S.P.

1984-01-01

Installation of a large toroidal belt pump limiter, Advanced Limiter Test II (ALT-II), on the TEXTOR tokamak at Juelich, FRG is anticipated for early 1986. This paper discusses the preliminary mechanical design and materials considerations undertaken as part of the feasibility study phase for ALT-II. Since the actively cooled limiter blade is the component in direct contact with the plasma edge, and thus subject to the severe plasma environment, most preliminary design efforts have concentrated on analysis of the blade. The screening process which led to the recommended preliminary design consisting of a dispersion strenghthened copper or OFHC copper cover plate over an austenitic stainless steel base plate is discussed. A 1 to 3 mm thick low atomic number coating consisting of a graded plasma-sprayed Silicon Carbide-Aluminium composite is recommended subject to further experiment and evaluation. Thermal-hydraulic and stress analyses of the limiter blade are also discussed. (orig.)

The Turkey oak high forests in the Molise region (central Italy. Analysis of past silvicultural system and current management choices.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paolo Cantiani

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 14 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Aim of the work is to provide further knowledge on the silvicultural system applied to Quercus cerris hight forests in the Molise Region (Central Italy. An historical analysis, based on a number of forest management plans applied since 1940 referred to 19 municipalities and on other historical documents, is provided in the paper. Forest management has been traditionally applied in the Molise Region and therefore is at now possible to reconstruct in detail the management of the forests of Molise Region. The historical study has been integrated with the analysis of a chronosequence including four steps of stand development in a Turkey oak stand: the regeneration phase (1-2 yrs - the unthinned young stand (46 yrs - the unthinned adult stand (aged 60 to 100 - the mature stand (126 yrs. Mensurational surveys were carried out at each phase in order to characterize both stand structure and derive information on the silvicultural practices applied in the past, but not documented in the available papers. The stand age was determined by tree coring and count of annual rings. At the beginning of the last century, the silvicultural system to be applied in oak high forests wasn’t strictly defined and a particular kind of selection cutting was carried out. It was named taglio a salto per sezioni i.e. “compartment selection cutting”, partly leading back to a real selection cutting, partly to a shelterwood system. The use of the reported silvicultural system gave rise to irregular forest structures and led to management problems well-described in the management plans at the end of 1940s. Another consequence of the applied practices was the absence or the inadequate natural regeneration establishment. The contemporary unregulated practice of grazing the forest floor contributed to the unsuccessful regeneration and made the situation worse. The presence of an understorey layer made up by sproutings

17 CFR 242.100 - Preliminary note; definitions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... with the distribution participant, issuer, or selling security holder that direct, effect, or recommend... course of its business. Distribution means an offering of securities, whether or not subject to... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Preliminary note; definitions...

Are post-fire silvicultural treatments a useful tool to fight the climate change threat in terms of plant diversity?

Science.gov (United States)

Hedo de Santiago, Javier; Esteban Lucasr Borja, Manuel; de las Heras, Jorge

2016-04-01

Adaptative forest management demands a huge scientific knowledge about post-fire vegetation dynamics, taking into account the current context of global change. We hypothesized that management practices should be carry out taking into account the climate change effect, to obtain better results in the biodiversity maintenance across time. All of this with respect to diversity and species composition of the post-fire naturally regenerated Aleppo pine forests understory. The study was carried out in two post-fire naturally regenerated Aleppo pine forests in the Southeastern of the Iberian Peninsula, under contrasting climatic conditions: Yeste (Albacete) shows a dry climate and Calasparra (Murcia) shows a semiarid climate. Thinning as post-fire silvicultural treatment was carried out five years after the wildfire event, in the year 1999. An experiment of artificial drought was designed to evacuate 15% of the natural rainfall in both sites, Yeste and Calasparra, to simulate climate change. Taking into account all the variables (site, silvicultural treatment and artificial drought), alpha diversity indices including species richness, Shannon and Simpson diversity indices, and plant cover, were analyzed as a measure of vegetation abundance. The results showed that plant species were affected by thinning, whereas induced drought affected total cover and species, with lower values at Yeste. Significant site variation was also observed in soil properties, species richness and total plant cover, conversely to the plant species diversity indices. We conclude that the plant community shows different responses to a simulated environment of climate change depending on the experimental site.

Silviculture and economic benefits of producing wood energy from conventional forestry systems and measures to mitigate negative impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manley, A.; Richardson, J.

1995-01-01

Activity ''Forest Energy Production'' focused on the development and evaluation, in the context of conventional forestry systems, silvicultural and forest management practices which optimise productivity for traditional products and wood for energy, while safeguarding the forest ecosystem. A series of meetings, workshops, and review papers involving the three participating countries of Canada, Sweden, and the United Kingdom were planned and completed. An additional workshop in Switzerland was also held. Increasing production of biomass for energy is generally found to be positive, from silvicultural, economic, and environmental perspectives. Eight specific forest management systems were investigated and/or reported: five conventional systems involving multiple products in softwood and mixed wood, and three hardwood systems emphasising production of biomass for energy. Modifications in silvercultural practice to also produce biomass for energy included increased opportunities for thinnings, intermediate cuttings, and stand and site rehabilitation as well as more flexible and efficient harvesting systems. Economic benefits accrued from increased investment in harvesting and burning technology, improvements in stand quality and site utilisation, and substitution for more expensive fuels, especially if all costs are considered. Environmental effects were found to be generally positive, but negative effects of nutrient and organic matter removal on the overall sustainability of specific systems are possible. These need to be addressed. Harvest and management guidelines are being designed and put into practice. Social, institutional, and technical barriers to the increased use of biomass for energy are being addressed by specific strategies and initiatives involving programs and incentives for production, market development, research and education. Net positive effects indicate increased use of forest biomass for energy, in the short and long term. (Abstract Truncated)

Notification: Follow-Up on Significant Information Technology Security Findings and Recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

Project #OA-FY14-0056, January 17, 2014. The EPA OIG plans to begin preliminary research to follow up on recommendations issued in its final reports between specific fiscal years, and reports associated with the FY 2013 OIG Management Challenges memo.

A silvicultura e os recursos hídricos superficiais Superficial hydric resources and the silviculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Zoboli Guimarães

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Realizou-se um monitoramento da qualidade da água superficial em áreas de reflorestamento com
espécies de Pinus taeda e Pinus ellioti no Município de Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brasil, no período de setembro
de 2005 a julho de 2006. Fez-se a comparação entre os resultados obtidos no monitoramento em talhões de
diferentes idades de reflorestamento e comparou-se com áreas de mata nativa. Utilizaram-se no monitoramento
os parâmetros de temperatura, pH, oxigênio dissolvido (OD, demanda bioquímica de oxigênio (DBO, sólidos
dissolvidos totais, turbidez, e coliformes termotolerantes (CT. Os resultados mais significativos foram: aumento
médio de 0,4 unidades de pH, de 42 NMP/100mL de CT, comparando a qualidade da água na entrada e saída do
reflorestamento. Houve maior estabilidade na variação espacial e temporal do parâmetro pH nos reflorestamentos
mais velhos. Preliminarmente, esta pesquisa mostrou que a atividade de silvicultura não interfere de forma
considerável na qualidade das águas superficiais.Superficial water quality was monitored in plantation areas with exotic species (Pinus taeda e Pinus ellioti in Joinville coutry, Santa Catarina, Brazil, between September 2005 and July 2006. The results, obtained in the monitoring area through the comparison of different forested catchments of different forestry ages, were compared with the ones of the native forest. The parameters used in monitoring were temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO, oxygen biochemist demand (OBD, total solids dissolved (TSD, turbidity, and thermo tolerant coliforms (TC. The most significant result was: an average increase of 0,4 units of pH, 42 NMP/100 mL of TC, comparing the water quality in the entrance and exit of the forestry. It had greater stability at temporal and spatial variation in pH values in the oldest forestry. Preliminary, this research showed that the silviculture does not considerably intervene

Brief Report: Service Implementation and Maternal Distress Surrounding Evaluation Recommendations for Young Children Diagnosed with Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Warren, Zachary; Vehorn, Alison; Dohrmann, Elizabeth; Newsom, Cassandra; Taylor, Julie Lounds

2013-01-01

There is limited evidence surrounding the ability of families of children with autism spectrum disorders to access and implement recommended interventions following diagnosis. The distress a family may encounter with regard to inability to access recommended services is also poorly understood. In this study, we present preliminary data regarding…

Preliminary ethical appraisal of a trial - what's it all about?

Science.gov (United States)

Siipi, Helena

Preliminary ethical appraisal of medical trials is often based on the following four principles: respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. Preliminary ethical appraisal should, however, not be understood solely as application of these four principles to practice. Ethical committees will inevitably interpret the principles and make decisions about their reciprocal importance in connection with each trial. Reasoning does not always proceed from above towards practical recommendations of action, but can instead also be based on a moral rule or practice relating to a certain action. A good preliminary ethical appraisal will also take into account everyday standards of morality, law and shared moral values of the society.

Silvicultural recommendations for the management of ponderosa pine forest

Science.gov (United States)

Martin Alfonso Mendoza Briseno; Mary Ann Fajvan; Juan Manuel Chacon Sotelo; Alejandro Velazquez Martinez; Antonio Quinonez. Silva

2014-01-01

Ponderosa pines are the most important timber producing species in Mexico, and they also represent a major portion of the Usa and Canada timber production. These pines form near pure stands with simple and stable stand structure. They suffer only occasional disturbances, and they sustain a limited capacity to hold biodiversity and other senvironmental services. The...

Improving Recommendations in Tag-based Systems with Spectral Clustering of Tag Neighbors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pan, Rong; Xu, Guandong; Dolog, Peter

2012-01-01

Tag as a useful metadata reflects the collaborative and conceptual features of documents in social collaborative annotation systems. In this paper, we propose a collaborative approach for expanding tag neighbors and investigate the spectral clustering algorithm to filter out noisy tag neighbors...... in order to get appropriate recommendation for users. The preliminary experiments have been conducted on MovieLens dataset to compare our proposed approach with the traditional collaborative filtering recommendation approach and naive tag neighbors expansion approach in terms of precision, and the result...... demonstrates that our approach could considerably improve the performance of recommendations....

Comportamento da erva-mate (Ilex paraguariensis St. Hil. em consórcio silvicultural.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luisilvio Pes

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 21 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 O presente trabalho foi realizado no Campus da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria e teve por objetivo determinar o comportamento da erva-mate (Ilex paraguariensis St. Hil. cultivada em sistema de consórcio silvicultural. A metodologia adotada constituiu-se da implantação de três tratamentos, correspondentes aos sistemas de consórcio erva-mata x Pinus sp., erva-mate x bracatinga e erva-mate x capoeira. A análise dos resultados levou às seguintes conclusões: os melhores resultados de desenvolvimento da erva-mate são obtidos nos consórcios com bracatinga e Pins sp. e, o pior, na caopeira; as variações externas dos fatores do meio são amenizadas pelas outras espécies do consórcio; índices elevados de luminosidade não promovem maior produção de matéria seca, nem os índices muito baixos.

Performance evaluation of recommendation algorithms on Internet of Things services

Science.gov (United States)

Mashal, Ibrahim; Alsaryrah, Osama; Chung, Tein-Yaw

2016-06-01

Internet of Things (IoT) is the next wave of industry revolution that will initiate many services, such as personal health care and green energy monitoring, which people may subscribe for their convenience. Recommending IoT services to the users based on objects they own will become very crucial for the success of IoT. In this work, we introduce the concept of service recommender systems in IoT by a formal model. As a first attempt in this direction, we have proposed a hyper-graph model for IoT recommender system in which each hyper-edge connects users, objects, and services. Next, we studied the usefulness of traditional recommendation schemes and their hybrid approaches on IoT service recommendation (IoTSRS) based on existing well known metrics. The preliminary results show that existing approaches perform reasonably well but further extension is required for IoTSRS. Several challenges were discussed to point out the direction of future development in IoTSR.

Forest-food nexus: a topical opportunity for human well-being and silviculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piermaria Corona

2016-07-01

Full Text Available As population will reach over 9 billion by 2050, interest in the forest-food nexus is rising. Forests play an important role in food production and nutrition. Forests can provide nutritionally-balanced diets, woodfuel for cooking and a broad set of ecosystem services. A large body of evidence recommends multi-functional and integrated landscape approaches to reimagine forestry and agriculture systems. Here, after a commented discussion of the literature produced in the last decade about the role for forests with respect to the food security global emergency, we summarize the state of the art in Italy as a representative country-case-study. The aim is to increase awareness about the potential of silviculture in Italy for combining ecological resilience with economic resilience, and reducing the pressure over tropical and sub-tropical forests by means of a sustainable intensification of forest management at national level. Although a quantification of the Italian non-wood forest products is difficult, the potential of this sector for the Italian bioeconomy is relatively high. Italy is among the four top European exporters of cork stoppers, is one of the three top countries for chestnut seed processing, and is among the leading exporters of wild mushroom, while it is the only European country among the top five global importers of tannins. In order to develop this sector for the food industry, more research is needed on non-wood forest products, the scale of production, emerging markets, marketing and production innovation. On the other hand, chain-supply fragmentation, landowner inertia, and lack of governance and cooperation may hamper an effective exploitation of non-wood products. A renewed joint impulse for exploitation of wood and non-wood products may come from a sustainable intensification of forest management. The strategies to guarantee an effective supply of non-wood products require appropriate business skills and the presence of a

Implications of the timing of the preliminary determination of suitability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cotton, T.A.

1986-01-01

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 requires that the Enviromental Impact Statement prepared for the recommendation of a repository site must consider three sites -- the one selected for the repository and at least two alternatives. All of these sites must have been characterized, and the Secretary of Energy must have made a preliminary determination that each is suitable for development as a repository. There is great disagreement about whether that ''preliminary determination of suitability'' is to be made before or after site characterization. If the Act is interpreted as requiring the determination to be made after characterization is completed, DOE cannot recommend the first site for licensing until it has three sites that appear suitable after full characterization; if the determination can be made before characterization, DOE can proceed to licensing even if only one site survives characterization. While DOE plans to make the preliminary determination before starting characterization, the uncertainty about how a court might ultimately interpret the Act injects a significant institutional uncertainty into the schedule for the repository, and complicates contingency planning for the siting process. Early resolution of the interpretation would greatly aid DOE's planning for the siting program

Workshops for state review of site suitability criteria for high-level radioactive waste repositories: analysis and recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-02-01

The purpose of this report is to present the views and recommendations of invited State officials and legislators participating in a workshop concerned with preliminary site suitability criteria for high level radioactive waste repositories. The workshops were open to the public and were conducted by the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) during September 1977 in three regional locations across the United States. This contractor report is the second of two reports and consolidates the discussion by State officials on the role of a State in siting a repository, NRC's waste management program, the transportation of high level wastes, the number and location of repositories and concerns with the socio-economic impacts of siting a repository in a community. The recommendations to the NRC can be categorized into four areas. These were: (1) general recommendations, (2) procedural recommendations, (3) recommendations for improving communications, and (4) specific recommendations on the preliminary siting criteria. The recommendations emphasized the need for early State involvement in the siting process, the need for an impacted State to assess repository operations, the need for early solution of waste transportation concerns, and the requirement that any repository developed insure the protection of the public health and safety as its most important characteristic. Other participant recommendations are included in the body of the report

75 FR 47307 - Center for Devices and Radiological Health 510(k) Working Group Preliminary Report and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-05

..., and Task Force on the Utilization of Science in Regulatory Decision Making Preliminary Report and...: The 510(k) Working Group and the Task Force on the Utilization of Science in Regulatory Decision Making. Volume I is entitled ``510(k) Working Group Preliminary Report and Recommendations.'' Volume II...

Silvicultural operation on the forest ecosystems: Methodology for forest hydrological monitoring; Effetti del taglio sugli ecosistemi forestali in ambiente montamo: Proposte metologiche per il monitoraggio dell`idrologia forestale

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andreotti, A; Collina, M; Serra, F; Naviglio, L [ENEA, Centro Ricerche Brasimone, Bologna (Italy). Dipt. Ambiente; Bonora, P [ENEA, Centro Ricerche ` E. Clementel` , Bologna (Italy). Dipt. Ambiente; Gregori, E; Napoli, R [Istituto Sperimentale per lo Studio e la Difesa del Suolo, Firenze (Italy)

1997-03-01

During 1994, Ente Nazionale per l`Energia Elettrica, with the contribution of the Ministry of Agricultural, Alimentary and Forest Resources, started a research program to assess the effects of the silvicultural operations on the forest ecosystems, investigating particularly the hydrological aspects, the erosion and the nutrient cycle. The research must monitor two forest plots coinciding with two secondary watersheds in the Torto stream valley (Northern Italy - high Bolognan Appennines) during about ten years. One plot will be let naturally evolve, while the other one, after a period of 3-5 years, must be subject to a cut; the comparison between the two plots will allow us to evaluate the nature and the size of the changes induced in the ecosystem by man through the silvicultural operations. Because of the complexity of the environmental parameters the authors want to study, initially it was necessary to determine methodology and instruments required for attaining the set goals. In this technical report are shown the results the authors obtained at the end of this first testing and setting up period, and therefore it assumes the form of a methodological protocol for carrying out the research itself.

TECHNOLOGY FOR INSTALLATION OF REINFORCED CONCRETE FLOOR SLABS LIGHTENED BY CORE DRIVERS WITH PRELIMINARY REINFORCEMENT STRESS

OpenAIRE

S. N. Leonovich; I. I. Peredkov

2015-01-01

The paper presents technology for installation of floor slabs lightened by plastic core drivers which are preliminary stressed under construction conditions.  Efficiency of such constructive solution is justified by the action of preliminary concrete compression in the tensile zone while reducing structure dead weight due to void arrangement.  The paper provides classification of systems for preliminary stress and contains recommendations on selection of the system depending on peculiariar fe...

A Preliminary Human Rights Analysis of the Working Group Report and Recommendations on Direct Provision

OpenAIRE

Thornton, Liam

2015-01-01

Overall, the Report contains a mix of significant recommendations on the protection process and processing of asylum claims. However, I argue, there are significant concerns with the recommendations that have emerged as regards direct provision accommodation and supports for asylum applicants. The focus of this working paper relates to categorising some of the recommendations contained in the McMahon Report and providing some initial analysis. This analysis is not an exhaustive exploration...

Effect of the silvicultural treatment on canopy properties, litter and seed production in beech coppices under conversion to high forest.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Cutini

2010-12-01

Full Text Available European beech (Fagus sylvatica L. is widely distributed in Italy where it covers 1035103 ha, mainly concentrated in the mountainous areas at altitudes above 900 m. The major part is represented by high forest often issued from the conversion of coppice woods, which in the past was the silvicultural system most widely applied mainly to provide fire wood. The social changes occurred in the second half of the last century –fire wood market crisis and the increasing importance of environmental issues- enhanced the conversion into high forest of large areas previously managed as coppice by means of different silvicultural treatments and practices. Nevertheless, the environmental benefits of this choice were not adequately investigated. Results of annual measurements (1992-2009 made in a beech coppice stand aged 65 are here reported. The study area is located on the Alpe di Catenaia, a pre-Apennine outcrop close to Arezzo (Central Italy. Variables strictly related to stand productivity and dynamics such as annual litter and seed production, leaf area index (LAI and transmittance (PAR were measured in the research area of Buca Zamponi to estimate the effects of two theses, natural evolution (TEST and conversion into high forest (DIR. Three thinnings were undertaken in the latter thesis in 1972, 1987 and 2002. Additional theses of natural evolution (CONTR and advance seed cutting (TS were added in 2002 in a nearby study area (Eremo della Casella. Results showed the high productivity of coppice stands, under conversion to high forest, with mean values of annual total litter, leaf litter and leaf area index of 5 Mg ha-1, 3 Mg ha-1 and 6 m2m-2, respectively. These findings confirm both the prompt response of beech to intensive thinning cycles and the reliability of undertaking coppice conversion into high forest. Furthermore, the positive trend observed in the ecological parameters and the high consistency of leaf fraction, highlight the still juvenile

The recommendations of the noise working group

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Legerton, M.L.

1997-01-01

In 1993 the DTI set up a Working Group to define a framework which can be used to measure and rate the noise from wind turbines. The final report of the Noise Working Group is now available for publication. The advice on the setting of noise limits for wind farms is largely unaltered from the preliminary recommendations presented at the 17th BWEA Annual Conference [1]. This paper recaps on those recommendations and provides additional information on the measurement procedures to be used with the recommendations on noise limits. The paper describes the measurement of the existing background noise climate on which the limits are based and the procedure to be used for the measurement of turbine noise levels in the investigation of complaints. The noise limits are rated noise levels in that they can include a penalty for tones present in the noise. The level of penalty depends upon the audibility of the tone and measurement procedure for determining audibility and the associated penalty system are also described. (author)

Barrier analogs: Long-term performance issues, preliminary studies, and recommendations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Waugh, W.J. [Rust Geotech, Inc., Grand Junction, CO (United States). Environmental Sciences Lab.; Chatters, J.C.; Last, G.V.; Bjornstad, B.N.; Link, S.O. [Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States); Hunter, C.R. [Cascade Earth Sciences, La Grande, OR (United States)

1994-02-01

The US Department of Energy`s Hanford Protective Barrier Development Program is funding studies of natural analogs of the long-term performance of waste site covers. Natural-analog studies examine past environments as evidence for projecting the future performance of engineered structures. The information generated by analog studies is needed to (1) evaluate the designs and results of short term experiments and demonstrations, (2) formulate performance-modeling problems that bound expected changes in waste site environments, and (3) understand emergent system attributes that cannot be evaluated with short-term experiments or computer models. Waste site covers will be part of dynamic environmental systems with attributes that transcend the traits of engineered components. This report discusses results of the previously unreported preliminary studies conducted in 1983 and 1984. These results indicate that analogs could play an important role in predicting the long-term behavior of engineered waste covers. Layered exposures of glacial-flood-deposited gravels mantled with silt or sand that resemble contemporary barrier designs were examined. Bergmounds, another anomaly left by cataclysmic glacial floods, were also examined as analogs of surface gravel.

Work-life integration in neuropsychology: a review of the existing literature and preliminary recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Feigon, Maia; Block, Cady; Guidotti Breting, Leslie; Boxley, Laura; Dawson, Erica; Cobia, Derin

2018-02-01

The purpose of the current review paper is to identify and describe challenges to work-life integration in neuropsychology, and from this review extrapolate an initial set of recommendations and present a set of scenarios in which the recommendations might apply in the hopes of improving quality of life for current and prospective neuropsychologists. Specific areas of focus include diversity, early and mid-career transitions, and potential barriers to advancement in specific practice settings. A broad review was conducted of extant literature on work-life integration. There is scant scientific literature in this area that is specific to neuropsychologists, or even psychology as a whole. Subsequently, the majority of this review was collected from more developed literatures in business and medical fields. The authors then provided recommendations based on experiences in their respective careers. Attempts were made to promote generalizability of recommendations for neuropsychologists in different settings. Evidence supports a potentially adverse impact on quality of life and overall life satisfaction when work and personal lives conflict. This manuscript identifies some of the potential risks when work and life responsibilities are not well integrated. It is anticipated this will serve as a catalyst for future studies on work-life integration in the field of neuropsychology, specifically.

Maximizing carbon storage in the Appalachians: A method for considering the risk of disturbance events

Science.gov (United States)

Michael R. Vanderberg; Kevin Boston; John. Bailey

2011-01-01

Accounting for the probability of loss due to disturbance events can influence the prediction of carbon flux over a planning horizon, and can affect the determination of optimal silvicultural regimes to maximize terrestrial carbon storage. A preliminary model that includes forest disturbance-related carbon loss was developed to maximize expected values of carbon stocks...

Silvicultural study of Sapindus saponaria L. (Jaboncillo), as foundation for its silvo-industrial use

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez Buitrago Jose Alejandro; Silva Herrera Luis Jairo

2008-01-01

A silvicultural study of Sapindus saponaria L. was carried out including sexual and asexual propagation tests, provenance test, phenological surveillance, and quantification of fruits production. The sexual propagation test was carried out using five source localities, being the best those seeds from Santa Cruz (Bolivia). The asexual propagation test had a negative result because the cuttings did not root, making it necessary to try different methods for asexual reproduction. The seedlings obtained from the sexual propagation test were used to establish a plantation in Otanche (Boyaca) in order to evaluate growth and mortality. After five months, the highest growth was found in those seeds from Santa Cruz (Bolivia). However, this result was not significant from a statistical point of view. The best results regarding mortality came from the seeds from Viota (Cundinamarca), while those from Palmira (Valle) showed the highest levels of mortality. Fruit production was measured and related to the DBH and the canopy wide. Flowering and fruiting periods as well as the harvest season of the fruits in Viota (Cundinamarca) were established. Some methods for fruit harvesting and planting of the species are proposed.

Lifestyle change recommendations in major depression: Do they work?

Science.gov (United States)

Serrano Ripoll, M J; Oliván-Blázquez, B; Vicens-Pons, E; Roca, M; Gili, M; Leiva, A; García-Campayo, J; Demarzo, M P; García-Toro, M

2015-09-01

Modifying some lifestyle factors can be useful in depression, at least as an adjuvant treatment. Combining different lifestyle interventions seems to be an adequate strategy to increase their antidepressant efficacy according with preliminary studies, but this issue has not been enough investigated. The present study is a randomized, double-blinded, multicentre, two arm-parallel clinical trials, with a 12 month follow-up. The sample consisted of 273 Primary Care patients. Four combined hygienic-dietary written recommendations were given to the patients about diet, exercise, light exposure and sleep hygiene. Both active and control interventions were associated with improvement on BDI (Beck Depression Inventory) scores. However, there were not statistically significant differences (7.0 vs. 7.6; p=0.594). We were unable to monitor whether patients carry out recommendations. Intervention could be too difficult to accomplish for depressed patients without enough support and supervision. Just giving written lifestyle recommendations are not enough for depressive patients to benefit from them, so perhaps lifestyle change recommendations work or do not work on Depression depending on how they are presented to patients and on monitoring systems of their implementation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Lockheed Martin T-Rex: Preliminary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

T-Rex is a robot which may be used in toxic or flammable environments. The assessment of the T-Rex conducted at the Lockheed Martin facility was limited in its scope. The scope of the assessment was directed by the type of equipment being used and the amount of accessibility to the equipment. Due to severe time constraints--the assessment was conducted in one day--human factors interface activities were limited. This should be considered a preliminary assessment. This report covers aspects of the technology that were available to the assessment team. Recommendations for future evaluation of this technology are also included. The contents are as follows: Electrical Considerations; General Electrical Consideration; Trailing Cables; Grounding; Surface High Voltage Distribution; Low and Medium Voltage Alternating Current Circuits; Potential for Harmful Human Factor Incidents and Enterprise Disablement; Exclusion Zone Emergency Maintenance; and Recommendations

Business System Planning Project, Preliminary System Design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

EVOSEVICH, S.

2000-01-01

CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc. (CHG) is currently performing many core business functions including, but not limited to, work control, planning, scheduling, cost estimating, procurement, training, and human resources. Other core business functions are managed by or dependent on Project Hanford Management Contractors including, but not limited to, payroll, benefits and pension administration, inventory control, accounts payable, and records management. In addition, CHG has business relationships with its parent company CH2M HILL, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of River Protection and other River Protection Project contractors, government agencies, and vendors. The Business Systems Planning (BSP) Project, under the sponsorship of the CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc. Chief Information Officer (CIO), have recommended information system solutions that will support CHG business areas. The Preliminary System Design was developed using the recommendations from the Alternatives Analysis, RPP-6499, Rev 0 and will become the design base for any follow-on implementation projects. The Preliminary System Design will present a high-level system design, providing a high-level overview of the Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) modules and identify internal and external relationships. This document will not define data structures, user interface components (screens, reports, menus, etc.), business rules or processes. These in-depth activities will be accomplished at implementation planning time

A preliminary social and economic assessment of the Basalt Waste Isolation Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cluett, C.; Bolton, P.; York, K.; Wood, M.; Radford, L.

1981-07-01

This report provides a preliminary assessment of the social and economic impacts that could be caused by the construction and operation of a nuclear waste repository on the Hanford Site near Richland, Washington. This assessment involved assembling a comprehensive data base for the local Tri-Cities impact area and the surrounding region, establishing a network of local and regional contacts, making preliminary judgments about potential social impacts caused by the proposed repository, and recommending further research. This report concludes that growth effects under the anticipated work force scenario are expected to be relatively minor. With a strong public involvement program on the part of the project developers, including an ongoing dialogue with local and regional planners, potential socio-economic impacts can be anticipated and managed effectively. Specific recommendations are made for filling gaps in the available data, exploring key issues in more detail, and improving the analysis of social impacts. The report was prepared by the Battelle-Human Affairs Research Center in 1980 and 1981

Silvicultural evaluations on maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton plantations in Istanbul

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Safa Balekoğlu

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Industrial plantations have substantially reduced the pressure on natural forests. There are approximately 80.000 hectares of industrial plantations, established with fast growing coniferous species, 77.000 hectares of which are maritime pine plantations in Turkey. Furthermore, approximately 16.000 hectares of maritime pine plantations, which amount to about 20 percent of all maritime pine plantations in Turkey, occur in Istanbul. The aim of this study is to determine the growth pattern of maritime pine plantations located in Anatolian and European Istanbul: Kanlıca, Beykoz, Sultanbeyli and Şile-Sahilköy; and Bahçeköy-Bentler, Arnavutköy and Terkos-Durusu respectively. Specifically, the study examined individual trees within the above-mentioned sites to determine the first thinning age of the plantations. In addition, some specific silvicultural suggestions were offered for the plantations. The minimum and maximum recorded values for the trees’ age, DBH, height and stem volume were found in the range of 22-50 years, 26.6-46.8 cm, 14.0-23.0 m and 0.5150-1.8560 m3 respectively. In order to take advantage of the fast growing attributes of maritime pine which was found to grow fast within first 10 years, the first thinning should commence at the age of 11-12 years; thereafter, the second thinning should commence at the age of 18-20 years; finally, the final cut should be performed when the plantation is approximately 30 years of age. If rotation age is considered 40 years, the third thinning should commence at the age of 30 years.

Twelve recommendations for integrating existing systematic reviews into new reviews: EPC guidance.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Karen A; Chou, Roger; Berkman, Nancy D; Newberry, Sydne J; Fu, Rongwei; Hartling, Lisa; Dryden, Donna; Butler, Mary; Foisy, Michelle; Anderson, Johanna; Motu'apuaka, Makalapua; Relevo, Rose; Guise, Jeanne-Marie; Chang, Stephanie

2016-02-01

As time and cost constraints in the conduct of systematic reviews increase, the need to consider the use of existing systematic reviews also increases. We developed guidance on the integration of systematic reviews into new reviews. A workgroup of methodologists from Evidence-based Practice Centers developed consensus-based recommendations. Discussions were informed by a literature scan and by interviews with organizations that conduct systematic reviews. Twelve recommendations were developed addressing selecting reviews, assessing risk of bias, qualitative and quantitative synthesis, and summarizing and assessing body of evidence. We provide preliminary guidance for an efficient and unbiased approach to integrating existing systematic reviews with primary studies in a new review. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

OMEGA Upgrade preliminary design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Craxton, R.S.

1989-10-01

The OMEGA laser system at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics of the University of Rochester is the only major facility in the United States capable of conducting fully diagnosed, direct-drive, spherical implosion experiments. As such, it serves as the national Laser Users Facility, benefiting scientists throughout the country. The University's participation in the National Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program underwent review by a group of experts under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences (the Happer Committee) in 1985. The Happer Committee recommended that the OMEGA laser be upgraded in energy to 30 kJ. To this end, Congress appropriated $4,000,000 for the preliminary design of the OMEGA Upgrade, spread across FY88 and FY89. This document describes the preliminary design of the OMEGA Upgrade. The proposed enhancements to the existing OMEGA facility will result in a 30-kHJ, 351-nm, 60-beam direct-drive system, with a versatile pulse-shaping facility and a 1%--2% uniformity of target drive. The Upgrade will allow scientists to explore the ignition-scaling regime, and to study target behavior that is hydrodynamically equivalent to that of targets appropriate for a laboratory microfusion facility (LMF). In addition, it will be possible to perform critical interaction experiments with large-scale-length uniformly irradiated plasmas

Cognitive Task Analysis of Business Jet Pilots' Weather Flying Behaviors: Preliminary Results

Science.gov (United States)

Latorella, Kara; Pliske, Rebecca; Hutton, Robert; Chrenka, Jason

2001-01-01

This report presents preliminary findings from a cognitive task analysis (CTA) of business aviation piloting. Results describe challenging weather-related aviation decisions and the information and cues used to support these decisions. Further, these results demonstrate the role of expertise in business aviation decision-making in weather flying, and how weather information is acquired and assessed for reliability. The challenging weather scenarios and novice errors identified in the results provide the basis for experimental scenarios and dependent measures to be used in future flight simulation evaluations of candidate aviation weather information systems. Finally, we analyzed these preliminary results to recommend design and training interventions to improve business aviation decision-making with weather information. The primary objective of this report is to present these preliminary findings and to document the extended CTA methodology used to elicit and represent expert business aviator decision-making with weather information. These preliminary findings will be augmented with results from additional subjects using this methodology. A summary of the complete results, absent the detailed treatment of methodology provided in this report, will be documented in a separate publication.

TECHNOLOGY FOR INSTALLATION OF REINFORCED CONCRETE FLOOR SLABS LIGHTENED BY CORE DRIVERS WITH PRELIMINARY REINFORCEMENT STRESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. N. Leonovich

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents technology for installation of floor slabs lightened by plastic core drivers which are preliminary stressed under construction conditions.  Efficiency of such constructive solution is justified by the action of preliminary concrete compression in the tensile zone while reducing structure dead weight due to void arrangement.  The paper provides classification of systems for preliminary stress and contains recommendations on selection of the system depending on peculiariar features of the designed construction.  Main products and materials required for execution of works , requirements to stressed wire rope reinforcement, its main characteristics have been considered in the paper.Principal diagram of the lightened preliminary stressed slab stipulates arrangement of so called  dummy caisson. Strands of reinforcement ropes are located within the framework of bars passing over supporting structures (over vertical bearing structures of  the framework and voids are formed in the cells between bars by laying hollow plastic items joined together by a cage. The paper presents technological sequence of operations required for arrangement of the lightened preliminary stressed slab, schemes for equipment arrangement and characteristics of the applied devices and units (pushing device for reinforcement ropes, hydraulic jack with delivery hydraulic pump, mixing station, injection pump and others.  Recommendations have been given for execution of works in cold weather. The paper considers problems pertaining to control quality of the materials and items which are supplied to a construction site and directly execution of works on preliminary stress of a cellular slab.The executed analysis of technology permits to conclude that it is characterized by high level of applicability for import substitution. It is necessary to consider the possibility to apply the technology at objects of various application while comparing it with other

Development of a preliminary decommissioning plan of the reactor IPEN/MB-01

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vivas, Ary de Souza; Carneiro, Alvaro Luiz Guimaraes

2013-01-01

Around the world, many nuclear plants were built and need to be turned off at a certain time because they are close to their recommended time of use is approximately 50 years. So the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), seeks to guide and recommend, through publications, guidelines for the conduct of activities both for decommissioning nuclear power plants and for research reactors, with special attention to countries that do not have a framework regulatory Legal that sustain the activities of decommissioning. Brazil, so far, does not have a specific standard to guide the steps of the guidelines regarding decommissioning research reactors, having only a standard applied to decommissioning power plants which was published in November 2012. The Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN) has two research reactors one being the reactor IPEN/MB-01. The aim of this work is to develop a preliminary plan for decommissioning of nuclear reactor research, considering the technical documentation of the system (RAS-Safety Analysis Report), the existing rules of CNEN (National Nuclear Energy Commission), as well as regulatory instructions and recommendations of the IAEA. The preliminary decommissioning plan consists of the presentation of actions and steps required as well as the strategies to be adopted for the shutdown of the facility under the technical and administrative, seeking the safety, health workers and the general public, minimizing environmental impacts. (author)

Preliminary nuclear power reactor technology qualitative assessment for Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shamsul Amri Sulaiman

2011-01-01

Since the worlds first nuclear reactor major breakthrough in December 02, 1942, the nuclear power industry has undergone tremendous development and evolution for more than half a century. After surpassing moratorium of nuclear power plant construction caused by catastrophic accidents at Three-mile island (1979) and Chernobyl (1986), today, nuclear energy is back on the policy agendas of many countries, both developed and developing, signaling nuclear revival or nuclear renaissance. Selection of suitable nuclear power technology has thus been subjected to primary attention. This short paper attempts to draw preliminary technology assessment for the first nuclear power reactor technology for Malaysia. Methodology employed is qualitative analysis collating recent finding of tnb-kepco preliminary feasibility study for nuclear power program in peninsular malaysia and other published presentations and/or papers by multiple experts. The results suggested that pressurized water reactor (PWR) is the prevailing technology in terms of numbers and plant performances, and while the commercialization of generation IV reactors is remote (e.g. Not until 2030), generation III/ III+ NPP models are commercially available on the market today. Five (5) major steps involved in reactor technology selection were introduced with a focus on introducing important aspects of selection criteria. Three (3) categories for the of reactor technology selection were used for the cursory evaluation. The outcome of these analyses shall lead to deeper and full analyses of the recommended reactor technologies for a comprehensive feasibility study in the near future. Recommendations for reactor technology option were also provided for both strategic and technical recommendations. The paper shall also implore the best way to select systematically the first civilian nuclear power reactor. (Author)

Mathematical modelling in volume per hectare of Pinus caribaea Morelet var. caribaea Barret y Golfari at the «Jazmines» silvicultural unit, Viñales

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juana Teresa Suárez Sarria

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Mathematical modelling constitutes a very useful tool for the planning and administration of the forest ecosystems. With the objective of predicting the behavior of volume by hectare of Pinus caribaea Moreletvar. caribaea. Barret y Golfari plantations at the «Jazmines» Silvicultural Unit, Viñales, seven non-lineal regression models were evaluated. The best goodness of fit model was the volume per hectare was the one designed by Hossfeld I, with a determining coefficient of 63, 9 % with a high significance parameter (P <0.001. The description curves for the annual mean increment with the time (IMA and the annual periodical increment (ICA of this variables were provided.

Preliminary safety analysis methodology for the SMART

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bae, Kyoo Hwan; Chung, Y. J.; Kim, H. C.; Sim, S. K.; Lee, W. J.; Chung, B. D.; Song, J. H. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea)

2000-03-01

This technical report was prepared for a preliminary safety analysis methodology of the 330MWt SMART (System-integrated Modular Advanced ReacTor) which has been developed by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) since July 1996. This preliminary safety analysis methodology has been used to identify an envelope for the safety of the SMART conceptual design. As the SMART design evolves, further validated final safety analysis methodology will be developed. Current licensing safety analysis methodology of the Westinghouse and KSNPP PWRs operating and under development in Korea as well as the Russian licensing safety analysis methodology for the integral reactors have been reviewed and compared to develop the preliminary SMART safety analysis methodology. SMART design characteristics and safety systems have been reviewed against licensing practices of the PWRs operating or KNGR (Korean Next Generation Reactor) under construction in Korea. Detailed safety analysis methodology has been developed for the potential SMART limiting events of main steam line break, main feedwater pipe break, loss of reactor coolant flow, CEA withdrawal, primary to secondary pipe break and the small break loss of coolant accident. SMART preliminary safety analysis methodology will be further developed and validated in parallel with the safety analysis codes as the SMART design further evolves. Validated safety analysis methodology will be submitted to MOST as a Topical Report for a review of the SMART licensing safety analysis methodology. Thus, it is recommended for the nuclear regulatory authority to establish regulatory guides and criteria for the integral reactor. 22 refs., 18 figs., 16 tabs. (Author)

Magmaris preliminary recommendation upon commercial launch: a consensus from the expert panel on 14 April 2016.

Science.gov (United States)

Fajadet, Jean; Haude, Michael; Joner, Michael; Koolen, Jacques; Lee, Michael; Tölg, Ralph; Waksman, Ron

2016-09-18

Bioresorbable scaffolds represent an exciting milestone in the development of coronary stent technology with the potential to substantially improve the management of patients with coronary artery disease. In an attempt to provide first recommendations for the technology, experienced experts involved in the first-in-man studies met in Zurich on the 14 April 2016 in order to reach consensus on a responsible market introduction. This document will be updated regularly as new information from clinical trials becomes available and should be understood as a review of current data, opportunities, expectations, advice, and recommendations for future investigations.

Remote Sensing of Complex Flows by Doppler Wind Lidar: Issues and Preliminary Recommendations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clifton, Andrew [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Boquet, Matthieu [Leosphere, Orsay (France); Burin Des Roziers, Edward [UL International Gmbh, Freemont, CA (United States); Westerhellweg, Annette [UL International Gmbh, Freemont, CA (United States); Hofsass, Martin [Univ. of Stuttgart (Germany). Stuttgart Wind Energy; Klaas, Tobias [Fraunhofer Inst. for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology, Freiburg (Germany); Vogstad, Klaus [Meventus, Hamburg (Germany); Clive, Peter [Sgurr Energy, Glasgow (United Kingdom); Harris, Mike [ZephIR Limited, Kirkcudbrightshire (United Kingdom); Wylie, Scott [ZephIR Limited, Kirkcudbrightshire (United Kingdom); Osler, Evan [Renewable NRG Systems, Hinesburg, VT (United States); Banta, Bob [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States); Choukulkar, Aditya [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States); Lundquist, Julie [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Aitken, Matthew [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)

2015-12-01

Remote sensing of winds using lidar has become popular and useful in the wind energy industry. Extensive experience has been gained with using lidar for applications including land-based and offshore resource assessment, plant operations, and turbine control. Prepared by members of International Energy Agency Task 32, this report describes the state of the art in the use of Doppler wind lidar for resource assessment in complex flows. The report will be used as input for future recommended practices on this topic.

Romancing the Crop Tree

Science.gov (United States)

Allan E. Houston; Edward R. Buckner; James S. Meadows

1995-01-01

Foresters and landowners alike desire alternatives to traditional silvicultural techniques. For example, many landowners arc unwilling to clearcut their forest. They want economic return, but not at the expense of removing the entire forest. Yet, in the South, most knowledgeable foresters are reluctant to recommend selection cutting because it too readily drifts...

Preliminary heat treatment of 4KhM2Fch die steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leonidov, V.M.; Berezkin, Y.A.; Nikitenko, E.V.

1986-01-01

To improve the machinability and preparation of the structure for hardening, die steels are given a preliminary treatment which provides a reduction in hardness as a result of separation in the structure of the carbide and ferrite phases, coagulation of the carbides, and acquisition by them of a granular form and also the obtaining of fine grains and a uniform distribution of the structural constituents. The microstructure was evaluated after etching in 4% nital on an MIM-8M microscope. The 4KhM2Fch steel was given a preliminary heat treatment of normalize and anneal. It was concluded that for 4KhM2Fch steel a preliminary heat treatment of normalizing from 950 0 C with a hold of 1.5-2 h, annealing at 750-760 0 C with a hold of 2-3 h, cooling to the isothermal temperature of 670-680 0 C with a hold of 3-4 h, and further air cooling is recommended. The structure after such a heat is granular pearlite with a rating 1-2 and a hardness of 220-250 HB

Structural Complexity and Ecosystem Functions in a Natural Mixed Forest under a Single-Tree Selection Silviculture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Toshiya Yoshida

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The objective of forest management has become broader, and it is essential to harmonize timber production with conservation of the forest ecosystem. Selection cutting is recognized as a major alternative of clear-cutting, because it can maintain the complexity and heterogeneity of a natural forest; however, its long-term evaluations are limited. This study compared various attributes of stand structures, which are indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem carbon stock between managed and unmanaged blocks (12.6 ha area in total in a natural mixed forest in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. We found that 30 years’ implementation of single-tree selection did not affect the volume, size structure, species diversity nor spatial distribution of overstory trees in the managed stands. Also, the total carbon stock in the managed stands was almost equal to that of the unmanaged stands. In contrast, several structural attributes and indicator elements that are significant for biodiversity (such as large-diameter live trees, dead trees, cavities, epiphytic bryophytes, and some avian guilds showed marked decrease in the managed stands. We conclude that it is required to leave these structures and elements to some extent for deriving the merit of the management as an alternative silvicultural regime in the region.

Advance Care Planning Documentation in Electronic Health Records: Current Challenges and Recommendations for Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamas, Daniela; Panariello, Natalie; Henrich, Natalie; Hammes, Bernard; Hanson, Laura C; Meier, Diane E; Guinn, Nancy; Corrigan, Janet; Hubber, Sean; Luetke-Stahlman, Hannah; Block, Susan

2018-04-01

To develop a set of clinically relevant recommendations to improve the state of advance care planning (ACP) documentation in the electronic health record (EHR). Advance care planning (ACP) is a key process that supports goal-concordant care. For preferences to be honored, clinicians must be able to reliably record, find, and use ACP documentation. However, there are no standards to guide ACP documentation in the electronic health record (EHR). We interviewed 21 key informants to understand the strengths and weaknesses of EHR documentation systems for ACP and identify best practices. We analyzed these interviews using a qualitative content analysis approach and subsequently developed a preliminary set of recommendations. These recommendations were vetted and refined in a second round of input from a national panel of content experts. Informants identified six themes regarding current inadequacies in documentation and accessibility of ACP information and opportunities for improvement. We offer a set of concise, clinically relevant recommendations, informed by expert opinion, to improve the state of ACP documentation in the EHR.

Preliminary seismic design cost-benefit assessment of the tuff repository waste-handling facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Subramanian, C.V.; Abrahamson, N.; Hadjian, A.H.

1989-02-01

This report presents a preliminary assessment of the costs and benefits associated with changes in the seismic design basis of waste-handling facilities. The objectives of the study are to understand the capability of the current seismic design of the waste-handling facilities to mitigate seismic hazards, evaluate how different design levels and design measures might be used toward mitigating seismic hazards, assess the costs and benefits of alternative seismic design levels, and develop recommendations for possible modifications to the seismic design basis. This preliminary assessment is based primarily on expert judgment solicited in an interdisciplinary workshop environment. The estimated costs for individual attributes and the assumptions underlying these cost estimates (seismic hazard levels, fragilities, radioactive-release scenarios, etc.) are subject to large uncertainties, which are generally identified but not treated explicitly in this preliminary analysis. The major conclusions of the report do not appear to be very sensitive to these uncertainties. 41 refs., 51 figs., 35 tabs

A Hybrid Recommender System Based on User-Recommender Interaction

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Heng-Ru; Min, Fan; He, Xu; Xu, Yuan-Yuan

2015-01-01

Recommender systems are used to make recommendations about products, information, or services for users. Most existing recommender systems implicitly assume one particular type of user behavior. However, they seldom consider user-recommender interactive scenarios in real-world environments. In this paper, we propose a hybrid recommender system based on user-recommender interaction and evaluate its performance with recall and diversity metrics. First, we define the user-recommender interaction...

Recommendations for the development of high temperature reactors (HTRs)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bastien, D.; Chevalier, A.; Haverkate, B.R.W.; Hittner, D.; Magill, J.; Proto, G.; Reutler, H.; Taylor, N.; Lensa, W. von

2001-01-01

The Concerted Action ''Assessment of safety and innovative technology for an HTR power generating plant (INNOHTR)'' is funded by the European Commission within its 4th RTD Framework Programme. It is a joint project of four European nuclear industry organisations and five European research centres. This paper presents the preliminary conclusions of the INNOHTR Concerted Action. It addresses existing experience in designing, building, and operating HTRs in the areas of fuel, reactor core, and plant systems. It also addresses the need for additional research and development to support forthcoming industrial prototypes as well as for long term advanced system development. Specific areas of development are recommended along with the need for international cooperation. (author)

Moral and Property Harm as Consequence of Violation of Reasonable Time of Preliminary Investigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ibiamin N. Nuriev

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The relevance of the article is that it examines the provisions of the criminal procedure law on a reasonable time of preliminary investigation, the consequences of violation of a reasonable period of preliminary investigation. A formula is proposed that makes it possible to make a clearer idea of a reasonable time as a border in the criminal procedural time between conditionally permitted and absolutely unacceptable. In the Author's opinion, the consequences of a violation of a reasonable period is the person's moral and (or property damage. The Author recommends that in the Federal Law of April 30, 2010, No. 68-FZ, replace the concept of “significance of consequences” with the notion of “harm”.

JacketSE: An Offshore Wind Turbine Jacket Sizing Tool; Theory Manual and Sample Usage with Preliminary Validation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Damiani, Rick [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2016-02-08

This manual summarizes the theory and preliminary verifications of the JacketSE module, which is an offshore jacket sizing tool that is part of the Wind-Plant Integrated System Design & Engineering Model toolbox. JacketSE is based on a finite-element formulation and on user-prescribed inputs and design standards' criteria (constraints). The physics are highly simplified, with a primary focus on satisfying ultimate limit states and modal performance requirements. Preliminary validation work included comparing industry data and verification against ANSYS, a commercial finite-element analysis package. The results are encouraging, and future improvements to the code are recommended in this manual.

A fast-track preliminary thermo-mechanical design of oil export pipelines from P-56 platform

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Solano, Rafael F.; Mendonca, Salete M. de [PETROBRAS S.A., Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Franco, Luciano D.; Walker, Alastair; El-Gebaly, Sherif H. [INTECSEA, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2009-12-19

The oil export pipelines of Marlim Sul field Module 3, Campus Basin, offshore Brazil, will operate in high pressure and temperature conditions, and will be laid on seabed crossing ten previously laid pipelines along the routes. In terms of thermo-mechanical design, these conditions turn out to be great challenges. In order to obtain initial results and recommendations for detail design, a preliminary thermo-mechanical design of pipelines was carried out as a fast-track design before the bid. This way, PETROBRAS can assess and emphasize the susceptibility of these lines to lateral buckling and pipeline walking behavior. Therefore, PETROBRAS can present a preliminary mitigation strategy for lateral buckling showing solutions based on displacement controlled criteria and by introducing buckle initiation along the pipeline using distribution buoyancy. Besides that, axial displacements and loads at the pipeline ends can be furnished also in order to provide a basis for the detailed design. The work reported in this paper follows the SAFEBUCK JIP methodology and recommendation, which were used to determine the allowable strain and maximum allowable VAS (Virtual Anchor Spacing) considered in the buckling mitigation strategy. The paper presents also the formation of uncontrolled buckles on the seabed and the propensity for pipeline walking in its sections between buckles. The buckling mitigation strategy established in this preliminary design confirms that the oil pipeline specifications are adequate to maintain integrity during design life. (author)

Preliminary study of soil permeability properties using principal component analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Yulianti, M.; Sudriani, Y.; Rustini, H. A.

2018-02-01

Soil permeability measurement is undoubtedly important in carrying out soil-water research such as rainfall-runoff modelling, irrigation water distribution systems, etc. It is also known that acquiring reliable soil permeability data is rather laborious, time-consuming, and costly. Therefore, it is desirable to develop the prediction model. Several studies of empirical equations for predicting permeability have been undertaken by many researchers. These studies derived the models from areas which soil characteristics are different from Indonesian soil, which suggest a possibility that these permeability models are site-specific. The purpose of this study is to identify which soil parameters correspond strongly to soil permeability and propose a preliminary model for permeability prediction. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to 16 parameters analysed from 37 sites consist of 91 samples obtained from Batanghari Watershed. Findings indicated five variables that have strong correlation with soil permeability, and we recommend a preliminary permeability model, which is potential for further development.

The effect of plantation silviculture on soil organic matter and particle-size fractions in Amazonia O efeito de manejo silvicultural de eucalipto sobre matéria orgânica e frações de solo na Amazônia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Troy Patrick Beldini

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Eucalyptus grandis and other clonal plantations cover about 3.5 million ha in Brazil. The impacts of intensively-managed short-rotation forestry on soil aggregate structure and Carbon (C dynamics are largely undocumented in tropical ecosystems. Long-term sustainability of these systems is probably in part linked to maintenance of soil organic matter and good soil structure and aggregation, especially in areas with low-fertility soils. This study investigated soil aggregate dynamics on a clay soil and a sandy soil, each with a Eucalyptus plantation and an adjacent primary forest. Silvicultural management did not reduce total C stocks, and did not change soil bulk density. Aggregates of the managed soils did not decrease in mass as hypothesized, which indicates that soil cultivation in 6 year cycles did not cause large decreases in soil aggregation in either soil texture. Silt, clay, and C of the sandy plantation soil shifted to greater aggregate protection, which may represent a decrease in C availability. The organic matter in the clay plantation soil increased in the fractions considered less protected while this shift from C to structural forms considered more protected was not observed.Este trabalho teve como objetivo investigar a dinâmica dos agregados do solo e das suas frações derivadas dos mesmos em duas texturas de solo, cada uma com uma plantação de Eucalipto e uma floresta primaria imediatamente adjacente. Eucalyptus grandis e outros clones cultivados em plantações cobrem aproximadamente 3,5 milhões de hectares no Brasil. Os impactos de manejo intensivo de plantações de rotação curta sobre a estrutura de solo e a dinâmica de carbono (C são em grande parte desconhecidos em ecossistemas tropicais. No longo prazo, a sustentabilidade desses sistemas é provavelmente ligada à manutenção da matéria orgânica e à estrutura de agregação do solo, principalmente em áreas de solos de baixa fertilidade. Manejo silvicultural n

Preliminary decommissioning plan of the reactor IPEN-MB01

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vivas, Ary de Souza

2014-01-01

Around the world, many nuclear plants were built and need to be turned off at a certain time because they are close to their recommended time of use is approximately 50 years. So the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), seeks to guide and recommend a set of guidelines for the conduct of activities of nuclear facilities, with special attention to countries that do not have a framework regulatory Legal that sustain the activities of decommissioning. Brazil, so far, does not have a specific standard to guide the steps of the guidelines regarding decommissioning research reactors. However, in March 2011 a study committee was formed with the main task facing the issues of decommissioning of nuclear installations in Brazil, culminating in Resolution 133 of November 8, 2012, a standard project that treat about the Decommissioning of nucleoelectric plants. O Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN) has two research reactors one being the reactor IPEN/MB-01. The purpose of this master dissertation is to develop a preliminary plan for decommissioning this research reactor, considering the technical documentation of the facility (RAS-Safety Analysis Report), the existing standards of CNEN (National Nuclear Energy Commission), as well as IAEA recommendations. In terms of procedures for decommissioning research reactors, this work was based on what is most modern in experiences, strategies and lessons learned performed and documented in IAEA publications covering techniques and technologies for decommissioning. Considering these technical knowledge and due to the peculiarities of the facility, was selected to immediate dismantling strategy, which corresponds to the start of decommissioning activities once the installation is switched off, dividing it into work sectors. As a resource for monitoring and project management of reactor decommissioning and maintenance of records, we developed a database using Microsoft Access 2007, which contain all the items and

Mining and representing recommendations in actively evolving recommender systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Assent, Ira

2010-01-01

Recommender systems provide an automatic means of filtering out interesting items, usually based on past similarity of user ratings. In previous work, we have suggested a model that allows users to actively build a recommender network. Users express trust, obtain transparency, and grow (anonymous......) recommender connections. In this work, we propose mining such active systems to generate easily understandable representations of the recommender network. Users may review these representations to provide active feedback. This approach further enhances the quality of recommendations, especially as topics...... of interest change over time. Most notably, it extends the amount of control users have over the model that the recommender network builds of their interests....

Compliance with dental treatment recommendations by rural paediatric patients after a live-video teledentistry consultation: A preliminary report.

Science.gov (United States)

McLaren, Sean W; Kopycka-Kedzierawski, Dorota T

2016-04-01

The purpose of this research was to assess the compliance rate with recommended dental treatment by rural paediatric dental patients after a live-video teledentistry consultation. A retrospective dental chart review was completed for 251 rural paediatric patients from the Finger Lakes region of New York State who had an initial teledentistry appointment with a paediatric dentist located remotely at the Eastman Institute for Oral Health in Rochester, NY. The recommended treatment modalities were tabulated and comprehensive dental treatment completion rates were obtained. The recommended treatment modality options of: treatment in the paediatric dental clinic; treatment using nitrous oxide anxiolysis; treatment with oral sedation; treatment in the operating room with general anaesthesia; or teleconsultation were identified for the 251 patients. Compliance rates for completed dental treatment based on initial teleconsultation recommendations were: 100% for treatment in the paediatric dental clinic; 56% for nitrous oxide patients; 87% for oral sedation; 93% for operating room; and 90% for teleconsultations. The differences in the compliance rates for all treatment modalities were not statistically significant (Fisher's exact test, p > 0.05). Compliance rates for completed comprehensive dental treatment for this rural population of paediatric dental patients were quite high, ranging from 56% to 100%, and tended to be higher when treatment was completed in fewer visits. Live-video teledentistry consultations conducted among rural paediatric patients and a paediatric dentist in the specialty clinic were feasible options for increasing dental treatment compliance rates when treating complex paediatric dental cases. © The Author(s) 2015.

PV GRID Advisory Paper. Consultation version: key recommendations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barth, Bianca; Concas, Giorgia; Cossent, Rafael; Franz, Oliver; Frias, Pablo; Hermes, Roland; Lama, Riccardo; Loew, Holger; Mateo, Carlos; Rekinger, Manoel; Sonvilla, Paolo Michele; Vandenbergh, Michel

2014-01-15

PV GRID is a transnational collaborative effort under the umbrella of the Intelligent Energy Europe programme. The main project goal is to enhance photovoltaic (PV) hosting capacity in distribution grids while overcoming regulatory and normative barriers hampering the application of available technical solutions. The European PV GRID advisory paper aims at providing an overview of the issues and barriers that need to be addressed in order to enhance the distribution grid hosting capacity for PV and other distributed generation (DG).To this purpose, barriers are classified as either cross-cutting challenges or specific barriers, depending on whether they have an overarching, system-wide character or rather focus on one single issue such as curtailment, self-consumption or storage. Finally, a set of preliminary recommendations on how to overcome these issues is presented, allowing for the implementation of the identified technical solutions.

Biomass utilization opportunities to achieve diverse silvicultural goals

Science.gov (United States)

Barry Wynsma; Christopher R. Keyes

2010-01-01

Silviculturists and ecologists may recommend land management prescriptions that are designed to be resilient to changing climatic conditions. When considering biomass utilization opportunities that may result from climate-change treatments, it really doesn’t matter what species mix or stocking levels are to be retained: if there are trees that need to be harvested,...

Using Facebook in a Healthy Lifestyle Intervention: Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, Jiying; Robbins, Lorraine B; Zhang, Nanhua; Kerver, Jean M; Lyons, Haley; Wieber, Nicole; Zhang, Mi

2018-02-01

The purpose of this pilot quasi-experimental study was to examine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of using Facebook in a 10-week lifestyle intervention with Head Start caregiver-preschooler dyads to improve healthy behaviors and reduce body mass index. Sixty-nine dyads participated with 39 in the intervention group. Average preschooler attendance rate for the Head Start center-based program was 77%, and caregiver participation rate was 87%. About 94% of the caregivers were satisfied with the program, and 97% would recommend the program to others and/or participate again. The intervention decreased preschoolers' body mass index z score (Cohen's d = -.30) and screen time ( d = -.21), and increased their fruit and vegetable intake ( d = .40) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity ( d = .42). The intervention increased caregivers' fruit and vegetable intake ( d = .40). The intervention is feasible, and preliminary efficacy is encouraging, but further investigation using a rigorous study design is warranted.

Small-scale bioenergy initiatives: brief description and preliminary lessons on livelihood impacts from case studies in Asia, Latin America and Afica. Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2009-01-15

Fifteen case studies from Africa, Asia, and Latin America were undertaken to assess the impacts that different types of local-level bioenergy initiatives can have on rural livelihoods. The report concludes with preliminary lessons and recommendations for further work.

Recommended data for capture cross sections in B5+ + H collisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Errea, L F; Guzman, F; Illescas, Clara; Mendez, L; Pons, B; Riera, A; Suarez, J

2006-01-01

Recommended values for state selective capture cross sections are presented for the collision B 5+ + H(1s) in the energy range from 0.05 to 1000 keV amu -1 . Special attention is focused on capture processes to n = 7 states of B 4+ , which play an important role in spectral diagnostics in fusion plasmas. In order to completely cover the intermediate impact energy domain, quantal, semi-classical and classical treatments have been employed for low, low-intermediate and intermediate-high energies, respectively. We also give some guidelines about the domain of accuracy of the methodologies employed. Additionally, preliminary cross sections of the B 5+ + H(2s) collision are also provided

Classification of Recommender Expertise in the Wikipedia Recommender System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Christian D.; Pilkauskas, Povilas; Lefévre, Thomas

2011-01-01

to the quality of articles. The Wikipedia Recommender System (WRS) was developed to help users determine the credibility of articles based on feedback from other Wikipedia users. The WRS implements a collaborative filtering system with trust metrics, i.e., it provides a rating of articles which emphasizes...... an evaluation of four existing knowledge classification schemes with respect to these requirements. This evaluation helped us identify a classification scheme, which we have implemented in the current version of the Wikipedia Recommender System....... feedback from recommenders that the user has agreed with in the past. This exposes the problem that most recommenders are not equally competent in all subject areas. The first WRS prototype did not include an evaluation of the areas of expertise of recommenders, so the trust metric used in the article...

Classification of Recommender Expertise in the Wikipedia Recommender System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Christian D.; Pilkauskas, Povilas; Lefevre, Thomas

2011-01-01

to the quality of articles. The Wikipedia Recommender System (WRS) was developed to help users determine the credibility of articles based on feedback from other Wikipedia users. The WRS implements a collaborative filtering system with trust metrics, i.e., it provides a rating of articles "which emphasizes...... an evaluation of four existing knowledge classification schemes with respect to these requirements. This evaluation helped us identify a classification scheme, which we have implemented in the current version of the Wikipedia Recommender System....... feedback from recommenders that the user has agreed with in the past. This exposes the problem that most recommenders are not equally competent in all subject areas. The first WRS prototype did not include an evaluation of the areas of expertise of recommenders, so the trust metric used in the article...

Preliminary design studies on the Broad Application Test Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terry, W.J.; Terry, W.K.; Ryskamp, J.M.; Jahshan, S.N.; Fletcher, C.D.; Moore, R.L.; Leyse, C.F.; Ottewitte, E.H.; Motloch, C.G.; Lacy, J.M.

1992-08-01

This report describes progress made at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory during the first three quarters of Fiscal Year (FY) 1992 on the Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project to perform preliminary design studies on the Broad Application Test Reactor (BATR). This work builds on the FY-92 BATR studies, which identified anticipated mission and safety requirements for BATR and assessed a variety of reactor concepts for their potential capability to meet those requirements. The main accomplishment of the FY-92 BATR program is the development of baseline reactor configurations for the two conventional conceptual test reactors recommended in the FY-91 report. Much of the present report consists of descriptions and neutronics and thermohydraulics analyses of these baseline configurations. In addition, we considered reactor safety issues, compared the consequences of steam explosions for alternative conventional fuel types, explored a Molten Chloride Fast Reactor concept as an alternate BATR design, and examined strategies for the reduction of operating costs. Work planned for the last quarter of FY-92 is discussed, and recommendations for future work are also presented

Effects of basal area on survival and growth of longleaf pine when practicing selection silviculture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kara, F.; Loewenstein, E.F.; Brockway, D.G.

2017-01-01

Aim of study: Uneven-aged (UEA) management systems can achieve multiple-use objectives, however, use of UEA techniques to manage longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests are still open to question, because of the species’ intolerance of competition. It was our aim to examine the influence of different levels (9.2, 13.8 and 18.4 m2 ha-1) of residual basal area (RBA) on longleaf pine seedling survival and growth following three growing seasons. Area of study: This study was conducted at the Escambia Experimental Forest, located on the Southern Coastal Plain of Alabama, in the southeastern United States. Material and Methods: Selection silviculture was implemented with the Proportional-Basal Area (Pro-B) method. Prescribed burning was conducted before seed dispersal and in the second year after germination. Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was measured under the canopy in the study plots. Survival and growth of longleaf pine seedlings were observed for three growing seasons. Main results: An inverse relationship was found between the number of germinants and RBA, but the mortality of germinants and planted seedlings was not affected by RBA. At age three, an inverse relationship was observed between root-collar diameter (RCD) growth of the germinants and RBA, but RCD growth of planted seedlings was not affected by RBA. Most of the study plots contained more than the projected number of seedlings needed to sustain the target diameter structure. Research highlights: Long-term continuous monitoring of seedling development and recruitment into canopy is required to determine the efficacy of UEA management. However, current data suggest that UEA methods may be a viable alternative to the use of even-aged (EA) methods in longleaf ecosystems.

Effects of basal area on survival and growth of longleaf pine when practicing selection silviculture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kara, F.; Loewenstein, E.F.; Brockway, D.G.

2017-11-01

Aim of study: Uneven-aged (UEA) management systems can achieve multiple-use objectives, however, use of UEA techniques to manage longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests are still open to question, because of the species’ intolerance of competition. It was our aim to examine the influence of different levels (9.2, 13.8 and 18.4 m2 ha-1) of residual basal area (RBA) on longleaf pine seedling survival and growth following three growing seasons. Area of study: This study was conducted at the Escambia Experimental Forest, located on the Southern Coastal Plain of Alabama, in the southeastern United States. Material and Methods: Selection silviculture was implemented with the Proportional-Basal Area (Pro-B) method. Prescribed burning was conducted before seed dispersal and in the second year after germination. Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was measured under the canopy in the study plots. Survival and growth of longleaf pine seedlings were observed for three growing seasons. Main results: An inverse relationship was found between the number of germinants and RBA, but the mortality of germinants and planted seedlings was not affected by RBA. At age three, an inverse relationship was observed between root-collar diameter (RCD) growth of the germinants and RBA, but RCD growth of planted seedlings was not affected by RBA. Most of the study plots contained more than the projected number of seedlings needed to sustain the target diameter structure. Research highlights: Long-term continuous monitoring of seedling development and recruitment into canopy is required to determine the efficacy of UEA management. However, current data suggest that UEA methods may be a viable alternative to the use of even-aged (EA) methods in longleaf ecosystems.

Preliminary Study on Management of Agricultural Scientific Research Projects in the New Situation

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Haiyan LUO; Qingqun YAO; Lizhen CHEN; Yu ZHENG

2015-01-01

Project management of agricultural scientific research institutions is an important section of agricultural scientific research plan management. It is of great significance for sustainable development of scientific research work of scientific research institutions. According to a series of opinions and notices about scientific and technological system reform issued by the state,and combining current situations of management of scientific research projects in scientific research institutions,this paper made a preliminary study on management of agricultural scientific research projects in the new trend. Finally,on the basis of the current situations of management of agricultural scientific research projects,it came up with pertinent recommendations,including strengthening communication and cooperation and actively declaring projects,strengthening preliminary planning of projects and establishing project information database,reinforcing project process management,ensuring on-time and high quality completion of projects,and strengthening learning and improving quality of management personnel.

Relations of meeting national public health recommendations for muscular strengthening activities with strength, body composition, and obesity: the Women's Injury Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Trudelle-Jackson, Elaine; Jackson, Allen W; Morrow, James R

2011-10-01

We examined the relations of meeting or not meeting the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommendations for muscular strengthening activities with percentage of body fat, body mass index (BMI; defined as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters, squared), muscular strength, and obesity classification in women. We analyzed data on 918 women aged 20 to 83 years in the Women's Injury Study from 2007 to 2009. A baseline orthopedic examination included measurement of height, body weight, skinfolds, and muscle strength. Women who met muscle strengthening activity recommendations had significantly lower BMI and percentage of body fat and higher muscle strength. Women not meeting those recommendations were more likely to be obese (BMI ≥ 30) compared with women who met the recommendations after we adjusted for age, race, and aerobic physical activity (odds ratio = 2.28; 95% confidence interval = 1.61, 3.23). There was a small but significant positive association between meeting muscle strengthening activity recommendations and muscular strength, a moderate inverse association with body fat percentage, and a strong inverse association with obesity classification, providing preliminary support for the muscle strengthening activity recommendation for women.

Heat recovery and seed recovery development project: preliminary design report (PDR)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arkett, A. H.; Alexander, K. C.; Bolek, A. D.; Blackman, B. K.; Kurrle, P. E.; Tram, S. V.; Warren, A. M.; Ziobrowski, A. J.

1981-06-01

The preliminary design and performance characteristics are described of the 20 MWt heat recovery and seed recovery (HRSR) system to be fabricated, installed, and evaluated to provide a technological basis for the design of commercial size HRSR systems for coal-fired open-cycle MHD power plants. The system description and heat and material balances, equipment description and functional requirements, controls, interfacing systems, and operation and maintenance are detailed. Appendices include: (1) recommended environmental requirements for compliance with federal and state of Tennessee regulations, (2) channel and diffuser simulator, (3) equipment arrangement drawings, and (4) channel and diffuser simulator barrel drawings. (WHK)

Preliminary scenarios for the release of radioactive waste from a hypothetical repository in basalt of the Columbia Plateau

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hunter, R.L.

1983-10-01

Nine release phenomena - normal flow of water, tectonic disturbance of the fracture network, intersection of a new fault with the repository, glaciation, fluvia erosion, thermomechanical disturbances, subsidence, seal failure, and drilling - give rise to 318 preliminary scenarios for the release of waste from a hypothetical high-level-waste repository in basalt. The scenarios have relative probabilities that range over several orders of magnitude. The relative probabilities provide a means of screening the scenarios for the more limited set to be subjected to consequence analysis. Lack of data and of preliminary modeling, however, lead to great uncertainties in the highly conservative probabilities assigned here. As a result, the recommendations in this report are directed at resolution of the major uncertainties in the relative probabilities of the preliminary scenarios. The resolution of some of the uncertainties should help in the selection of the suite of scenarios for final consequence analysis. 38 references, 22 figures, 18 tables

Recommendations and Suggestions of the IRRS Mission in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novosel, N.

2016-01-01

According to the Act on Radiological and Nuclear Safety, Director General of the State Office for Radiological and Nuclear Safety (SORNS) is obliged to conduct self-assessment of the national legislative framework and of the competent authorities and to provide for international audit of important segments of the national legislative framework and competent authorities with the purpose of continuous improvement of radiological and nuclear safety. SORNS as a state administration body competent for activities pertaining to radiological and nuclear safety, submitted in April 2013 the request to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct an Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission. SORNS conducted a self-assessment in preparation for the mission and prepared a preliminary action plan. The results of SORNS self-assessment and supporting documentation were provided to the IRRS review team as advance reference material for the mission. IRRS mission took place in Zagreb from 7 to 17 Jun 2015. The IRRS team carried out the review in the following areas: responsibilities and functions of the government; the global nuclear safety regime; responsibilities and functions of the regulatory body; the management system of the regulatory body; the activities of the regulatory body including authorization, review and assessment, inspection and enforcement processes; development and content of regulations and guides; emergency preparedness and response; occupational radiation protection, patient protection, public and environmental exposure control, waste management and decommissioning. The IRRS team identified a number of recommendations and suggestions where improvements in the area of radiological and nuclear safety are necessary or desirable. Those recommendations and suggestions were translated and approved by the Government in the form of the Governmental conclusion. This conclusion presents the action plan for the SORNS and other governmental bodies and

Classification and Clinical Diagnosis of Fibromyalgia Syndrome: Recommendations of Recent Evidence-Based Interdisciplinary Guidelines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary-Ann Fitzcharles

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives. Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS, characterized by subjective complaints without physical or biomarker abnormality, courts controversy. Recommendations in recent guidelines addressing classification and diagnosis were examined for consistencies or differences. Methods. Systematic searches from January 2008 to February 2013 of the US-American National Guideline Clearing House, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, Guidelines International Network, and Medline for evidence-based guidelines for the management of FMS were conducted. Results. Three evidence-based interdisciplinary guidelines, independently developed in Canada, Germany, and Israel, recommended that FMS can be clinically diagnosed by a typical cluster of symptoms following a defined evaluation including history, physical examination, and selected laboratory tests, to exclude another somatic disease. Specialist referral is only recommended when some other physical or mental illness is reasonably suspected. The diagnosis can be based on the (modified preliminary American College of Rheumatology (ACR 2010 diagnostic criteria. Discussion. Guidelines from three continents showed remarkable consistency regarding the clinical concept of FMS, acknowledging that FMS is neither a distinct rheumatic nor mental disorder, but rather a cluster of symptoms, not explained by another somatic disease. While FMS remains an integral part of rheumatology, it is not an exclusive rheumatic condition and spans a broad range of medical disciplines.

Non-IID Recommender Systems: A Review and Framework of Recommendation Paradigm Shifting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Longbing Cao

2016-06-01

Full Text Available While recommendation plays an increasingly critical role in our living, study, work, and entertainment, the recommendations we receive are often for irrelevant, duplicate, or uninteresting products and services. A critical reason for such bad recommendations lies in the intrinsic assumption that recommended users and items are independent and identically distributed (IID in existing theories and systems. Another phenomenon is that, while tremendous efforts have been made to model specific aspects of users or items, the overall user and item characteristics and their non-IIDness have been overlooked. In this paper, the non-IID nature and characteristics of recommendation are discussed, followed by the non-IID theoretical framework in order to build a deep and comprehensive understanding of the intrinsic nature of recommendation problems, from the perspective of both couplings and heterogeneity. This non-IID recommendation research triggers the paradigm shift from IID to non-IID recommendation research and can hopefully deliver informed, relevant, personalized, and actionable recommendations. It creates exciting new directions and fundamental solutions to address various complexities including cold-start, sparse data-based, cross-domain, group-based, and shilling attack-related issues.

RILEM recommendations for the prevention of damage by alkali-aggregate reactions in new concrete structures state-of-the-art report of the RILEM technical committee 219-ACS

CERN Document Server

Sims, Ian

2016-01-01

This book contains the full set of RILEM Recommendations which have been produced to enable engineers, specifiers and testing houses to design and produce concrete which will not suffer damage arising from alkali reactions in the concrete. There are five recommended test methods for aggregates (designated AAR-1 to AAR-5), and an overall recommendation which describes how these should be used to enable a comprehensive aggregate assessment (AAR-0). Additionally, there are two Recommended International Specifications for concrete (AAR-7.1 & 7.2) and a Preliminary International Specification for dams and other hydro structures (AAR-7.3), which describe how the aggregate assessment can be combined with other measures in the design of the concrete to produce a concrete with a minimised risk of developing damage from alkali-aggregate reactions.

Preliminary Monthly Climatological Summaries

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Preliminary Local Climatological Data, recorded since 1970 on Weather Burean Form 1030 and then National Weather Service Form F-6. The preliminary climate data pages...

Context-aware recommender system based on ontology for recommending tourist destinations at Bandung

Science.gov (United States)

Rizaldy Hafid Arigi, L.; Abdurahman Baizal, Z. K.; Herdiani, Anisa

2018-03-01

Recommender System is software that is able to provide personalized recommendation suits users’ needs. Recommender System has been widely implemented in various domains, including tourism. One approach that can be done for more personalized recommendations is the use of contextual information. This paper proposes a context aware recommender based ontology system in the tourism domain. The system is capable of recommending tourist destinations by using user preferences of the categories of tourism and contextual information such as user locations, weather around tourist destinations and close time of destination. Based on the evaluation, the system has accuracy of of 0.94 (item recommendation precision evaluated by expert) and 0.58 (implicitly from system-end user interaction). Based on the evaluation of user satisfaction, the system provides a satisfaction level of more than 0.7 (scale 0 to 1) for speed factors for providing liked recommendations (PE), informative description of recommendations (INF) and user trust (TR).

Preliminary risk assessment of Power Plant Plomin site contaminated by radioactive slag and ash

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skanata, D.; Sinka, D.; Lokner, V.; Schaller, A.

1996-01-01

There is a certain number of radioactively contaminated sites in the Republic of Croatia, one of them being known as Power Plant Plomin site, which contains radioactive slag and ash. Due to a relatively high quantity of the deposited material, as well as relatively high population density of the neighbouring area, it is very important to assess the impact of the site on human health and environment. Using RESRAD computer code and PATHRAE method a preliminary assessment of doses and radiation risks for the workers who spend most of their working day at the pile has been performed. PATHRAE method has also been used for the assessment of radiation risks for the neighbouring population. The assessment is preliminary in its character due to the lack of input data. On the basis of assessment results, recommendations are being given comprising measurements to be taken with a view to coming up with the final risk assessment, as well as protective measures which should be undertaken in the meantime. (author)

Recommendation in evolving online networks

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xiao; Zeng, An; Shang, Ming-Sheng

2016-02-01

Recommender system is an effective tool to find the most relevant information for online users. By analyzing the historical selection records of users, recommender system predicts the most likely future links in the user-item network and accordingly constructs a personalized recommendation list for each user. So far, the recommendation process is mostly investigated in static user-item networks. In this paper, we propose a model which allows us to examine the performance of the state-of-the-art recommendation algorithms in evolving networks. We find that the recommendation accuracy in general decreases with time if the evolution of the online network fully depends on the recommendation. Interestingly, some randomness in users' choice can significantly improve the long-term accuracy of the recommendation algorithm. When a hybrid recommendation algorithm is applied, we find that the optimal parameter gradually shifts towards the diversity-favoring recommendation algorithm, indicating that recommendation diversity is essential to keep a high long-term recommendation accuracy. Finally, we confirm our conclusions by studying the recommendation on networks with the real evolution data.

The scientific activities of CERN and budget estimates for the years 2003-2010 - preliminary orientations

CERN Document Server

2002-01-01

This paper presents preliminary orientations for the Long-Term Plan 2003-2010. It focuses on choices in the scientific programme, savings, organisational measures and financial scenarios to deal with the cost increase of the LHC project. The paper is presented for discussion. The outcome of this discussion, as well as the observations and recommendations of the External Review Committee, which started its work while this paper was in preparation, will be taken into account for the plan which the Management is preparing for June 2002.

The scientific activities of CERN and budget estimates for the years 2003-2010 - Preliminary orientations

CERN Document Server

2002-01-01

This paper presents preliminary orientations for the Long-Term Plan 2003-2010. It focuses on choices in the scientific programme, savings, organisational measures and financial scenarios to deal with the cost increase of the LHC project. The paper is presented for discussion. The outcome of this discussion, as well as the observations and recommendations of the External Review Committee, which started its work while this paper was in preparation, will be taken into account for the plan which the Management is preparing for June 2002.

Forest fire occurrence and silvicultural-economic prerequisites for protection improvement in forest regions of Krasnoyarsk Krai

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. V. Furyaev

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The territory of the Krasnoyarsk Krai is substantially diverse in terms of climatic, silvicultural and economic conditions owing to its sufficient spread from the North to the South. These differences were to some extent taken into account when the forest fund of the Krasnoyarsk Krai was divided into seven forest regions: forest tundra of Central Siberia, highland taiga of Central Siberia, plain taiga of West Siberia, Angara region, subtaiga forest steppe of Central Siberia, Altai-Sayanskiy highland, Altai-Sayanskiy highland forest steppe. The regions show different levels of fire occurrence and different fire effects that require different levels of protection from forest fires. Optimization of the protection is based on activities that combine prevention and timely detection of fires depending on development of forest regions and intensity of forest management. The main focus of the paper is on possibility or inadvisability of prescribed fires, fire-use fires (fires that started naturally but were then managed for their beneficial effects and the system of activities increasing fire resistance of the most valuable forests. It is justified that taking into account the effects of forest fires, selective protection of forests is expedient in forest-tundra Middle Siberia and highland taiga of Middle Siberia regions. The whole area of plain taiga of West Siberia region should be subject to protection but with various levels of intensity in different parts of it. The forest fund of Angara, subtaiga forest steppe of Middle Siberia, Altai-Sayanskiy highland, Altai-Sayanskiy highland forest steppe regions should be protected on the whole area. Application of prescribed fires is relevant in the subzone of South taiga, in the forest steppe zone as well as in the submontane and lowland taiga belts. Fire-use fires are admissible on limited areas in the subzones of Middle and North taiga.

Preliminary investigation of liquid phase sintering in ferrous systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klein, J.

1975-04-01

Liquid phase sintering was utilized to achieve, by a simple compaction and sintering procedure involving short times and moderate temperatures, a virtually full dense high carbon Fe:C alloy and high boron Fe:B alloy. Parameters such as powder characteristics and mixing, compacting pressure, heating program and the liquid phase fraction were found to influence the sintered density. The response of the Fe:C alloy to a heat treatment is reported along with preliminary experiments in the iron base ternary system Fe:W:C. Residual porosities observed in microstructures of certain liquid phase sintered compacts were accounted for by a proposed capillary flow of the liquid phase and a local densification competing against an overall densification. Some general recommendations are made for liquid phase sintering of powder aggregates. 15 fig., 7 tables

Recommender systems

OpenAIRE

Lu L.; Medo M.; Yeung C.H.; Zhang Y.-C.; Zhang Z.-K.; Zhou T.

2012-01-01

The ongoing rapid expansion of the Internet greatly increases the necessity of effective recommender systems for filtering the abundant information. Extensive research for recommender systems is conducted by a broad range of communities including social and computer scientists, physicists, and interdisciplinary researchers. Despite substantial theoretical and practical achievements, unification and comparison of different approaches are lacking, which impedes further advances. In this article...

Preliminary study on detection of irradiated foodstuffs from the Romanian market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cutrubinis, Mihalis; Chirita, Daniel; Savu, Diana; Elisabeta Secu, Corina; Mihai, Radu; Secu, Mihai; Ponta, Corneliu

2007-01-01

In order to fulfil the European task for market survey in food irradiation the first Romanian laboratory for detection of irradiated foodstuffs was established at IRASM Irradiation Centre. In this preliminary study, a wide range of Romanian food samples (spices, vegetables and meat) gamma irradiated at IRASM have been studied using different detection methods: (1) DNA comet assay, (2) thermoluminescence (TL) and (3) electron spin resonance (ESR) for foodstuffs containing bone or cellulose. The results suggest that there is no general available detection method and there is no perfect detection method. In conclusion, in order to carry out a correct identification of radiation treatment of a food sample it is recommended to use at least two standardised detection methods

Trust for intelligent recommendation

CERN Document Server

Bhuiyan, Touhid

2013-01-01

Recommender systems are one of the recent inventions to deal with the ever-growing information overload in relation to the selection of goods and services in a global economy. Collaborative Filtering (CF) is one of the most popular techniques in recommender systems. The CF recommends items to a target user based on the preferences of a set of similar users known as the neighbors, generated from a database made up of the preferences of past users. In the absence of these ratings, trust between the users could be used to choose the neighbor for recommendation making. Better recommendations can b

BIPS-FS preliminary design, miscellaneous notes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1976-01-01

A compendium of flight system preliminary design internal memos and progress report extracts for the Brayton Isotope Power System Preliminary Design Review to be held July 20, 21, and 22, 1975 is presented. The purpose is to bring together those published items which relate only to the preliminary design of the Flight System, Task 2 of Phase I. This preliminary design effort was required to ensure that the Ground Demonstration System will represent the Flight System as closely as possible

45 CFR 150.217 - Preliminary determination.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Preliminary determination. 150.217 Section 150.217... Are Failing To Substantially Enforce HIPAA Requirements § 150.217 Preliminary determination. If, at... designees). (b) Notifies the State of CMS's preliminary determination that the State has failed to...

NCBO Ontology Recommender 2.0: an enhanced approach for biomedical ontology recommendation.

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-Romero, Marcos; Jonquet, Clement; O'Connor, Martin J; Graybeal, John; Pazos, Alejandro; Musen, Mark A

2017-06-07

Ontologies and controlled terminologies have become increasingly important in biomedical research. Researchers use ontologies to annotate their data with ontology terms, enabling better data integration and interoperability across disparate datasets. However, the number, variety and complexity of current biomedical ontologies make it cumbersome for researchers to determine which ones to reuse for their specific needs. To overcome this problem, in 2010 the National Center for Biomedical Ontology (NCBO) released the Ontology Recommender, which is a service that receives a biomedical text corpus or a list of keywords and suggests ontologies appropriate for referencing the indicated terms. We developed a new version of the NCBO Ontology Recommender. Called Ontology Recommender 2.0, it uses a novel recommendation approach that evaluates the relevance of an ontology to biomedical text data according to four different criteria: (1) the extent to which the ontology covers the input data; (2) the acceptance of the ontology in the biomedical community; (3) the level of detail of the ontology classes that cover the input data; and (4) the specialization of the ontology to the domain of the input data. Our evaluation shows that the enhanced recommender provides higher quality suggestions than the original approach, providing better coverage of the input data, more detailed information about their concepts, increased specialization for the domain of the input data, and greater acceptance and use in the community. In addition, it provides users with more explanatory information, along with suggestions of not only individual ontologies but also groups of ontologies to use together. It also can be customized to fit the needs of different ontology recommendation scenarios. Ontology Recommender 2.0 suggests relevant ontologies for annotating biomedical text data. It combines the strengths of its predecessor with a range of adjustments and new features that improve its reliability

Exploratory shaft facility preliminary designs - Permian Basin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-09-01

The purpose of the Preliminary Design Report, Permian Basin, is to provide a description of the preliminary design for an Exploratory Shaft Facility in the Permian Basin, Texas. This issue of the report describes the preliminary design for constructing the exploratory shaft using the Large Hole Drilling method of construction and outlines the preliminary design and estimates of probable construction cost. The Preliminary Design Report is prepared to complement and summarize other documents that comprise the design at the preliminary stage of completion, December 1982. Other design documents include drawings, cost estimates and schedules. The preliminary design drawing package, which includes the construction schedule drawing, depicts the descriptions in this report. For reference, a list of the drawing titles and corresponding numbers are included in the Appendix. The report is divided into three principal sections: Design Basis, Facility Description, and Construction Cost Estimate. 30 references, 13 tables

Towards the development of multifunctional molecular indicators combining soil biogeochemical and microbiological variables to predict the ecological integrity of silvicultural practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Peck, Vincent; Quiza, Liliana; Buffet, Jean-Philippe; Khdhiri, Mondher; Durand, Audrey-Anne; Paquette, Alain; Thiffault, Nelson; Messier, Christian; Beaulieu, Nadyre; Guertin, Claude; Constant, Philippe

2016-05-01

The impact of mechanical site preparation (MSP) on soil biogeochemical structure in young larch plantations was investigated. Soil samples were collected in replicated plots comprising simple trenching, double trenching, mounding and inverting site preparation. Unlogged natural mixed forest areas were used as a reference. Analysis of soil nutrients, abundance of bacteria and gas exchanges unveiled no significant difference among the plots. However, inverting site preparation resulted in higher variations of gas exchanges when compared with trenching, mounding and unlogged natural forest. A combination of the biological and physicochemical variables was used to define a multifunctional classification of the soil samples into four distinct groups categorized as a function of their deviation from baseline ecological conditions. According to this classification model, simple trenching was the approach that represented the lowest ecological risk potential at the microsite level. No relationship was observed between MSP method and soil bacterial community structure as assessed by high-throughput sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA gene; however, indicator genotypes were identified for each multifunctional soil class. This is the first identification of multifunctional molecular indicators for baseline and disturbed ecological conditions in soil, demonstrating the potential of applied microbial ecology to guide silvicultural practices and ecological risk assessment. © 2016 The Authors. Microbial Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for Applied Microbiology.

Recommender systems and the social web leveraging tagging data for recommender systems

CERN Document Server

Gedikli, Fatih

2013-01-01

There is an increasing demand for recommender systems due to the information overload users are facing on the Web. The goal of a recommender system is to provide personalized recommendations of products or services to users. With the advent of the Social Web, user-generated content has enriched the social dimension of the Web. As user-provided content data also tells us something about the user, one can learn the user's individual preferences from the Social Web. This opens up completely new opportunities and challenges for recommender systems research. Fatih Gedikli deals with the question of

Hardware performance assessment recommendations and tools for baropodometric sensor systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Giacomozzi

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Accurate plantar pressure measurements are mandatory in both clinical and research contexts. Differences in accuracy, precision, reliability of pressure measurement devices (PMDs prevented so far the onset of standardization processes and of reliable reference datasets. The Italian National Institute of Health (ISS approved and conducted a scientific project aimed to design, validate and implement dedicated testing methods for both in-factory and on-the-field PMD assessment. A general-purpose experimental set-up was built, complete and suitable for the assessment of PMDs based on different sensor technology, electronic conditioning and mechanical solutions. Preliminary assessments have been conducted on 5 commercial PMDs. The study lead to the definition of: i an appropriate set of instruments and procedures for PMD technical assessment; ii a minimum set of significant parameters for the technical characterization of the PMD performance; iii some recommendations to both manufacturers and end users for an appropriate use in clinics and in research context

Verbal and numerical consumer recommendations: switching between recommendation formats leads to preference inconsistencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Maciejovsky, Boris; Budescu, David V

2013-06-01

Many Web sites provide consumers with product recommendations, which are typically presented by a sequence of verbal reviews and numerical ratings. In three experiments, we demonstrate that when participants switch between formats (e.g., from verbal to numerical), they are more prone to preference inconsistencies than when they aggregate the recommendations within the same format (e.g., verbal). When evaluating recommendations, participants rely primarily on central-location measures (e.g., mean) and less on other distribution characteristics (e.g., variance). We explain our findings within the theoretical framework of stimulus-response compatibility and we make practical recommendations for the design of recommendation systems and Web portals.

Recommender systems in knowledge-mining

Science.gov (United States)

Volna, Eva

2017-07-01

The subject of the paper is to analyse the possibilities of application of recommender systems in the field of data mining. The work focuses on three basic types of recommender systems (collaborative, content-based and hybrid). The goal of the article is to evaluate which of these three concepts of recommender systems provides forecast with the lowest error rate in the domain of recommending movies. This target is fulfilled by the practical part of the work - at first, the own recommender system was designed and created, capable of obtaining movies recommendation from the database based on the user's preferences. Next, we verified experimentally which recommender system produces more accurate results.

Semantically Enhanced Recommender Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz-Montiel, Manuela; Aldana-Montes, José F.

Recommender Systems have become a significant area in the context of web personalization, given the large amount of available data. Ontologies can be widely taken advantage of in recommender systems, since they provide a means of classifying and discovering of new information about the items to recommend, about user profiles and even about their context. We have developed a semantically enhanced recommender system based on this kind of ontologies. In this paper we present a description of the proposed system.

Towards Information Enrichment through Recommendation Sharing

Science.gov (United States)

Weng, Li-Tung; Xu, Yue; Li, Yuefeng; Nayak, Richi

Nowadays most existing recommender systems operate in a single organisational basis, i.e. a recommender system recommends items to customers of one organisation based on the organisation's datasets only. Very often the datasets of a single organisation do not have sufficient resources to be used to generate quality recommendations. Therefore, it would be beneficial if recommender systems of different organisations with similar nature can cooperate together to share their resources and recommendations. In this chapter, we present an Ecommerce-oriented Distributed Recommender System (EDRS) that consists of multiple recommender systems from different organisations. By sharing resources and recommendations with each other, these recommenders in the distributed recommendation system can provide better recommendation service to their users. As for most of the distributed systems, peer selection is often an important aspect. This chapter also presents a recommender selection technique for the proposed EDRS, and it selects and profiles recommenders based on their stability, average performance and selection frequency. Based on our experiments, it is shown that recommenders' recommendation quality can be effectively improved by adopting the proposed EDRS and the associated peer selection technique.

Undetected latent failures of safety-related systems. Preliminary survey of events in nuclear power plants 1980-1997

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lydell, B.

1998-03-01

This report summarizes results and insights from a preliminary survey of events involving undetected, latent failures of safety-related systems. The survey was limited to events where mispositioned equipment (e.g., valves, switches) remained undetected, thus rendering standby equipment or systems unavailable for short or long time periods. Typically, these events were symptoms of underlying latent errors (e.g., design errors, procedure errors, unanalyzed safety conditions) and programmatic errors. The preliminary survey identified well over 300 events. Of these, 95 events are documented in this report. Events involving mispositioned equipment are commonplace. Most events are discovered soon after occurrence, however. But as evidenced by the survey results, some events remained undetected beyond several shift changes. The recommendations developed by the survey emphasize the importance of applying modern root cause analysis techniques to the event analysis to ensure that the causes and implications of occurred events are fully understood

Nuclear maintenance strategy and first steps for preliminary maintenance plan of the EU HCLL & HCPB Test Blanket Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Galabert, Jose, E-mail: jose.galabert@f4e.europa.eu [F4E Fusion for Energy, EU Domestic Agency, c/Josep Pla, 2. B3, 08019, Barcelona (Spain); Hopper, Dave [AMEC Foster Wheeler, Faraday Street, Birchwood Park, WA3 6GN (United Kingdom); Neviere, Jean-Cristophe [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon-sur-Verdon, CS 90046, 13067, St. Paul Lez Durance Cedex (France); Nodwell, David [CCFE, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, OX14 3DB, Oxfordshire (United Kingdom); Pascal, Romain [ITER Organization, Route de Vinon-sur-Verdon, CS 90046, 13067, St. Paul Lez Durance Cedex (France); Poitevin, Yves; Ricapito, Italo [F4E Fusion for Energy, EU Domestic Agency, c/Josep Pla, 2. B3, 08019, Barcelona (Spain); White, Gareth [AMEC Foster Wheeler, Faraday Street, Birchwood Park, WA3 6GN (United Kingdom)

2017-03-15

Highlights: • Nuclear maintenance strategy for the two European (EU) Test Blanket Systems (TBS): i/. Helium Cooled Lead Lithium (HCLL) and ii/. Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB). • Preliminary identification of maintenance tasks for most relevant components of the EU HCLL & HCPB TBS. • Preliminary feasibility analysis for hands-on maintenance tasks of some relevant components of the European Test Blanket Systems. • Design recommendations for enhancement of the European Test Blanket Systems maintainability. - Abstract: This paper gives an overview of nuclear maintenance strategy to be followed for the European HCLL & HCPB Test Blanket Systems (TBS) to be installed in ITER. One of the several core documents to prepare in view of their licensing is their respective ‘Maintenance Plan’. This document is fundamental for ensuring sound performance and safety of the TBS during ITER’s operational phase and shall include, amongst others, relevant information on: maintenance organization, preventive and corrective maintenance task procedures, condition monitoring for key components, maintenance work planning, and a spare parts plan, just to mention some of the key topics. In compliance with the ITER Plant Maintenance policy, first steps have been taken aimed at defining nuclear maintenance strategy for some of the most relevant HCLL & HCPB TBS components, conducted by F4E in collaboration with industry. After a brief recall of maintenance strategy of the TBM Program (PBS-56), this paper analyses main features of EU HCLL & HCPB TBS maintainability and identifies, at their conceptual design phase, a preliminary list of maintenance tasks to be developed for their most representative components. In addition, the paper also presents the first nuclear maintenance studies conducted for replacement of the Q{sub 2} Getter Beds, identifying some design recommendations for their sound maintainability.

Nuclear maintenance strategy and first steps for preliminary maintenance plan of the EU HCLL & HCPB Test Blanket Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galabert, Jose; Hopper, Dave; Neviere, Jean-Cristophe; Nodwell, David; Pascal, Romain; Poitevin, Yves; Ricapito, Italo; White, Gareth

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Nuclear maintenance strategy for the two European (EU) Test Blanket Systems (TBS): i/. Helium Cooled Lead Lithium (HCLL) and ii/. Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB). • Preliminary identification of maintenance tasks for most relevant components of the EU HCLL & HCPB TBS. • Preliminary feasibility analysis for hands-on maintenance tasks of some relevant components of the European Test Blanket Systems. • Design recommendations for enhancement of the European Test Blanket Systems maintainability. - Abstract: This paper gives an overview of nuclear maintenance strategy to be followed for the European HCLL & HCPB Test Blanket Systems (TBS) to be installed in ITER. One of the several core documents to prepare in view of their licensing is their respective ‘Maintenance Plan’. This document is fundamental for ensuring sound performance and safety of the TBS during ITER’s operational phase and shall include, amongst others, relevant information on: maintenance organization, preventive and corrective maintenance task procedures, condition monitoring for key components, maintenance work planning, and a spare parts plan, just to mention some of the key topics. In compliance with the ITER Plant Maintenance policy, first steps have been taken aimed at defining nuclear maintenance strategy for some of the most relevant HCLL & HCPB TBS components, conducted by F4E in collaboration with industry. After a brief recall of maintenance strategy of the TBM Program (PBS-56), this paper analyses main features of EU HCLL & HCPB TBS maintainability and identifies, at their conceptual design phase, a preliminary list of maintenance tasks to be developed for their most representative components. In addition, the paper also presents the first nuclear maintenance studies conducted for replacement of the Q_2 Getter Beds, identifying some design recommendations for their sound maintainability.

Partitioning planning studies: Preliminary evaluation of metal and radionuclide partitioning the high-temperature thermal treatment systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liekhus, K.; Grandy, J.; Chambers, A.

1997-03-01

A preliminary study of toxic metals and radionuclide partitioning during high-temperature processing of mixed waste has been conducted during Fiscal Year 1996 within the Environmental Management Technology Evaluation Project. The study included: (a) identification of relevant partitioning mechanisms that cause feed material to be distributed between the solid, molten, and gas phases within a thermal treatment system; (b) evaluations of existing test data from applicable demonstration test programs as a means to identify and understand elemental and species partitioning; and, (c) evaluation of theoretical or empirical partitioning models for use in predicting elemental or species partitioning in a thermal treatment system. This preliminary study was conducted to identify the need for and the viability of developing the tools capable of describing and predicting toxic metals and radionuclide partitioning in the most applicable mixed waste thermal treatment processes. This document presents the results and recommendations resulting from this study that may serve as an impetus for developing and implementing these predictive tools

Partitioning planning studies: Preliminary evaluation of metal and radionuclide partitioning the high-temperature thermal treatment systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liekhus, K.; Grandy, J.; Chambers, A. [and others

1997-03-01

A preliminary study of toxic metals and radionuclide partitioning during high-temperature processing of mixed waste has been conducted during Fiscal Year 1996 within the Environmental Management Technology Evaluation Project. The study included: (a) identification of relevant partitioning mechanisms that cause feed material to be distributed between the solid, molten, and gas phases within a thermal treatment system; (b) evaluations of existing test data from applicable demonstration test programs as a means to identify and understand elemental and species partitioning; and, (c) evaluation of theoretical or empirical partitioning models for use in predicting elemental or species partitioning in a thermal treatment system. This preliminary study was conducted to identify the need for and the viability of developing the tools capable of describing and predicting toxic metals and radionuclide partitioning in the most applicable mixed waste thermal treatment processes. This document presents the results and recommendations resulting from this study that may serve as an impetus for developing and implementing these predictive tools.

Tidal extension and sea-level rise: recommendations for a research agenda

Science.gov (United States)

Ensign, Scott H.; Noe, Gregory

2018-01-01

Sea-level rise is pushing freshwater tides upstream into formerly non-tidal rivers. This tidal extension may increase the area of tidal freshwater ecosystems and offset loss of ecosystem functions due to salinization downstream. Without considering how gains in ecosystem functions could offset losses, landscape-scale assessments of ecosystem functions may be biased toward worst-case scenarios of loss. To stimulate research on this concept, we address three fundamental questions about tidal extension: Where will tidal extension be most evident, and can we measure it? What ecosystem functions are influenced by tidal extension, and how can we measure them? How do watershed processes, climate change, and tidal extension interact to affect ecosystem functions? Our preliminary answers lead to recommendations that will advance tidal extension research, enable better predictions of the impacts of sea-level rise, and help balance the landscape-scale benefits of ecosystem function with costs of response.

Recommender systems

CERN Document Server

Kembellec, Gérald; Saleh, Imad

2014-01-01

Acclaimed by various content platforms (books, music, movies) and auction sites online, recommendation systems are key elements of digital strategies. If development was originally intended for the performance of information systems, the issues are now massively moved on logical optimization of the customer relationship, with the main objective to maximize potential sales. On the transdisciplinary approach, engines and recommender systems brings together contributions linking information science and communications, marketing, sociology, mathematics and computing. It deals with the understan

Preliminary evaluation of techniques for transforming regional climate model output to the potential repository site in support of Yucca Mountain future climate synthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Church, H.W.; Zak, B.D.; Behl, Y.K.

1995-06-01

The report describes a preliminary evaluation of models for transforming regional climate model output from a regional to a local scale for the Yucca Mountain area. Evaluation and analysis of both empirical and numerical modeling are discussed which is aimed at providing site-specific, climate-based information for use by interfacing activities. Two semiempirical approaches are recommended for further analysis

Recommender Systems in Commercial Use

OpenAIRE

Aldrich, Susan E.

2011-01-01

Commercial recommender systems are deployed by marketing teams to increase revenue and/or personalize user experience. Marketers evaluate recommender systems not on its algorithms but on how well the vendor‘s expertise and interfaces will support achieving business goals. Driven by a business model that pays based on recommendation success, vendors guide clients through continuous optimization of recommendations. While recommender technology is mature, the solutions and market are still young...

The SNS target station preliminary Title I shielding analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, J.O.; Santoro, R.T.; Lillie, R.A.; Barnes, J.M.; McNeilly, G.S.

2000-01-01

The Department of Energy (DOE) has given the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) project approval to begin Title I design of the proposed facility to be built at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). During the conceptual design phase of the SNS project, the target station bulk-biological shield was characterized and the activation of the major targets station components was calculated. Shielding requirements were assessed with respect to weight, space, and dose-rate constraints for operating, shut-down, and accident conditions utilizing the SNS shield design criteria, DOE Order 5480.25, and requirements specified in 10 CFR 835. Since completion of the conceptual design phase, there have been major design changes to the target station as a result of the initial shielding and activation analyses, modifications brought about due to engineering concerns, and feedback from numerous external review committees. These design changes have impacted the results of the conceptual design analyses, and consequently, have required a re-investigation of the new design. Furthermore, the conceptual design shielding analysis did not address many of the details associated with the engineering design of the target station. In this paper, some of the proposed SNS target station preliminary Title I shielding design analyses will be presented. The SNS facility (with emphasis on the target station), shielding design requirements, calculational strategy, and source terms used in the analyses will be described. Preliminary results and conclusions, along with recommendations for additional analyses, will also be presented. (author)

A Flexible Electronic Commerce Recommendation System

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Songjie

Recommendation systems have become very popular in E-commerce websites. Many of the largest commerce websites are already using recommender technologies to help their customers find products to purchase. An electronic commerce recommendation system learns from a customer and recommends products that the customer will find most valuable from among the available products. But most recommendation methods are hard-wired into the system and they support only fixed recommendations. This paper presented a framework of flexible electronic commerce recommendation system. The framework is composed by user model interface, recommendation engine, recommendation strategy model, recommendation technology group, user interest model and database interface. In the recommender strategy model, the method can be collaborative filtering, content-based filtering, mining associate rules method, knowledge-based filtering method or the mixed method. The system mapped the implementation and demand through strategy model, and the whole system would be design as standard parts to adapt to the change of the recommendation strategy.

An international survey and recommendations for modern hydrokinetic systems

Science.gov (United States)

Valyrakis, Manousos; Basnet, Bipin; Dunsmore, Ian

2017-04-01

This study presents the results of a survey on some of the advantages of the novel and uniquehydrokinetic energy generation systems over other technologies available today. Recently, a comprehensive assessment study for the application of internationally leading hydrokinetic technologies in water engineering has been conducted. The study was carried with the collaboration of the School of Engineering, University of Glasgow and Scottish Water Horizons Ltd. The assessment involved the information collection, critical analysis of various features and financial viability analysis of various hydrokinetic systems available at this time. The outcomes of the study are summarized below: - The preliminary assessment of the hydrokinetic system and their application were carried out. The technologies were divided into different categories as per their core theory, scope of application as well as positive and negatives effects of their application. - A variety of criteria were used to assess the technical, economical and ecological potential from the application of hydrokinetic systems. - A number of companies representing a wide range of technologies available worldwide were ranked considering the performance of these against the above criteria. - Only a couple of the companies could satisfy the selection condition to be adopted into select sites of low flow and low pressure head. - A more detailed assessment for specific sites and further testing of these technologies is recommended to further assess the advantages and optimal performance of the selected technologies. A preliminary evaluation of the best performing systems demonstrates its effectiveness, particularly over other existing hydrokinetic technologies, when ecology of the open water surface system is considered. Specifically it will be of interest to use the selected technology in combination with a fish passage, as compared with other technologies this system has a minimal amount of fast moving components.

Recommendations: Procedure to develop a preliminary safety report as part of the radioactive waste repository construction licensing process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

The structure of a preliminary safety report for the title purpose should be as follows: A. Textual part: 1. General (Introduction, Basic information about the construction, Timetable); 2. Site information (Siting, Geography and demography, Meteorology and climatic situation, Hydrology, Geology and hydrogeology); 3. Repository design description (Basic function and performance requirements, Design, Auxiliary systems, Fire prevention/protection, Emergency plans); 4. Operation of the repository (Waste acceptance and inspection, Waste handling and interim storage, Waste disposal, Operating monitoring), 5. Health and environmental impact assessment (Radionuclide inventory, Radionuclide transport paths and mechanisms of release into the environment, Radionuclide release in normal and emergency situations, Radiation protection - health impact assessment and regulatory compliance, Draft operating limits and conditions, Proposed ways of assuring physical protection, Uncertainty assessment), 6. Safe repository shutdown/decommissioning concept, 7 Quality assurance assessment, 8. List of selected equipment. B. Annexes: Maps, Drawings, Diagrams, Miscellaneous; C. Documentation: Previous safety report amendments, Protocols, Miscellaneous. (P.A.)

A Sentiment-Enhanced Hybrid Recommender System for Movie Recommendation: A Big Data Analytics Framework

OpenAIRE

Wang, Yibo; Wang, Mingming; Xu, Wei

2018-01-01

Movie recommendation in mobile environment is critically important for mobile users. It carries out comprehensive aggregation of user’s preferences, reviews, and emotions to help them find suitable movies conveniently. However, it requires both accuracy and timeliness. In this paper, a movie recommendation framework based on a hybrid recommendation model and sentiment analysis on Spark platform is proposed to improve the accuracy and timeliness of mobile movie recommender system. In the propo...

Area Recommendation Report for the Crystalline Repository Project: Volume 1, Draft

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-01-01

This Draft Area Recommendation Report for the Crystalline Repository Project identifies portions of crystalline rock bodies as proposed potentially acceptable sites for consideration in the second high-level radioactive waste repository program. The US Department of Energy evaluated available geologic and environmental data for 235 crystalline rock bodies in the North Central, Northeastern, and Southeastern regions to identify preliminary candidate areas. Further evaluation of these preliminary candidate areas resulted in the selection of 12 as proposed potentially acceptable sites. The 12 proposed potentially acceptable sites are located in the States of Georgia (1), Maine (2), Minnesota (3), New Hampshire (1), North Carolina (2), Virginia (2), and Wisconsin (1). The data, analyses, and rationale with which the 12 proposed potentially acceptable sites were selected are presented in this draft report. The analyses presented demonstrate that the evidence available for each proposed potentially acceptable site supports (1) a finding that the site is not disqualified in accordance with the application requirements of Appendix III of the siting guidelines and (2) a decision to proceed with the continued investigation of the site on the basis of the favorable and potentially adverse conditions identified to date. Once this report is finalized, potentially acceptable sites in crystalline rock will be formally identified by the Secretary of Energy, in accordance with the DOE siting guidelines. These potentially acceptable sites will be investigated and evaluated in more detail during the area phase of the siting process. An additional eight areas, which meet the requirements for identification as potentially acceptable sites, will retain their designation as candidate areas

Undetected latent failures of safety-related systems. Preliminary survey of events in nuclear power plants 1980-1997

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lydell, B. [RSA Technologies, Vista, CA (United States)

1998-03-01

This report summarizes results and insights from a preliminary survey of events involving undetected, latent failures of safety-related systems. The survey was limited to events where mispositioned equipment (e.g., valves, switches) remained undetected, thus rendering standby equipment or systems unavailable for short or long time periods. Typically, these events were symptoms of underlying latent errors (e.g., design errors, procedure errors, unanalyzed safety conditions) and programmatic errors. The preliminary survey identified well over 300 events. Of these, 95 events are documented in this report. Events involving mispositioned equipment are commonplace. Most events are discovered soon after occurrence, however. But as evidenced by the survey results, some events remained undetected beyond several shift changes. The recommendations developed by the survey emphasize the importance of applying modern root cause analysis techniques to the event analysis to ensure that the causes and implications of occurred events are fully understood. 7 refs, 4 tabs, 3 figs. Also available at the SKI Home page: //www.ski.se.

A Personalized Electronic Movie Recommendation System Based on Support Vector Machine and Improved Particle Swarm Optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xibin; Luo, Fengji; Qian, Ying; Ranzi, Gianluca

2016-01-01

With the rapid development of ICT and Web technologies, a large an amount of information is becoming available and this is producing, in some instances, a condition of information overload. Under these conditions, it is difficult for a person to locate and access useful information for making decisions. To address this problem, there are information filtering systems, such as the personalized recommendation system (PRS) considered in this paper, that assist a person in identifying possible products or services of interest based on his/her preferences. Among available approaches, collaborative Filtering (CF) is one of the most widely used recommendation techniques. However, CF has some limitations, e.g., the relatively simple similarity calculation, cold start problem, etc. In this context, this paper presents a new regression model based on the support vector machine (SVM) classification and an improved PSO (IPSO) for the development of an electronic movie PRS. In its implementation, a SVM classification model is first established to obtain a preliminary movie recommendation list based on which a SVM regression model is applied to predict movies' ratings. The proposed PRS not only considers the movie's content information but also integrates the users' demographic and behavioral information to better capture the users' interests and preferences. The efficiency of the proposed method is verified by a series of experiments based on the MovieLens benchmark data set.

Commentary Considerations for Recommending Extended Use and Limited Reuse of Filtering Facepiece Respirators in Health Care Settings

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Edward M.; Shaffer, Ronald E.

2015-01-01

Public health organizations, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are increasingly recommending the use of N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) in health care settings. For infection control purposes, the usual practice is to discard FFRs after close contact with a patient (“single use”). However, in some situations, such as during contact with tuberculosis patients, limited FFR reuse (i.e., repeated donning and doffing of the same FFR by the same person) is practiced. A related practice, extended use, involves wearing the same FFR for multiple patient encounters without doffing. Extended use and limited FFR reuse have been recommended during infectious disease outbreaks and pandemics to conserve FFR supplies. This commentary examines CDC recommendations related to FFR extended use and limited reuse and analyzes available data from the literature to provide a relative estimate of the risks of these practices compared to single use. Analysis of the available data and the use of disease transmission models indicate that decisions regarding whether FFR extended use or reuse should be recommended should continue to be pathogen- and event-specific. Factors to be included in developing the recommendations are the potential for the pathogen to spread via contact transmission, the potential that the event could result in or is currently causing a FFR shortage, the protection provided by FFR use, human factors, potential for self-inoculation, the potential for secondary exposures, and government policies and regulations. While recent findings largely support the previous recommendations for extended use and limited reuse in certain situations, some new cautions and limitations should be considered before issuing recommendations in the future. In general, extended use of FFRs is preferred over limited FFR reuse. Limited FFR reuse would allow the user a brief respite from extended wear times, but increases the risk of self-inoculation and

[Clinical recommendations for sport practice in diabetic patients (RECORD Guide). Diabetes Mellitus Working Group of the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition (SEEN)].

Science.gov (United States)

Gargallo-Fernández, Manuel; Escalada San Martín, Javier; Gómez-Peralta, Fernando; Rozas Moreno, Pedro; Marco Martínez, Amparo; Botella-Serrano, Marta; Tejera Pérez, Cristina; López Fernández, Judith

2015-01-01

Sporting activity is becoming a common practice in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). This situation requires both a preliminary medical assessment and a wide range of changes in treatment which have scarcely been addressed in medical literature. To prepare a clinical guideline on the medical approach to patients with diabetes who practice sport regularly. An expert panel from the Diabetes Mellitus Working Group of the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition (SEEN) reviewed the most relevant literature in each of the sections. Based both on this review and on data from the experience of a number of athletes with DM, a number of recommendations were agreed within each section. Finally, the Working Group and representatives of the SEEN jointly discussed all these recommendations. The guideline provides recommendations ranging from medical assessment before patients with DM start to practice sport to actions during and after physical activity. Recommendations are also given on aspects such as the impact of sport on blood glucose control, training schemes, or special risk situations. Copyright © 2015 SEEN. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Preliminary acclimation strategies for successful startup in conventional biofilters.

Science.gov (United States)

Elías, Ana; Barona, Astrid; Gallastegi, Gorka; Rojo, Naiara; Gurtubay, Luis; Ibarra-Berastegi, Gabriel

2010-08-01

The question of how to obtain the best inocula for conventional biofilters arises when an acclimation/adaptation procedure is to be applied. Bearing in mind that no standardized procedure for acclimating inocula exists, certain preliminary strategies for obtaining an active inoculum from wastewater treatment sludge are proposed in this work. Toluene was the contaminant to be degraded. Concerning the prior separation of sludge phases, no obvious advantage was found in separating the supernatant phase of the sludge before acclimation. As far as a continuous or discontinuous acclimation mode is concerned, the latter is recommended for rapidly obtaining acclimated sludge samples by operating the system for no longer than 1 month. The continuous mode rendered similar degradation rates, although it required longer operating time. Nevertheless, the great advantage of the continuous system lay in the absence of daily maintenance and the ready availability of the activated sample.

An assessment of space reactor technology needs and recommendations for development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marshall, A.C.; Wiley, R.L.

1996-01-01

In order to provide a strategy for space reactor technology development, the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) has authorized a brief review of potential national needs that may be addressed by space reactor systems. A systematic approach was used to explore needs at several levels that are increasingly specific. sm-bullet Level 0 emdash General Trends and Issues sm-bullet Level 1 emdash Generic Space Capabilities to Address Trends sm-bullet Level 2 emdash Requirements to Support Capabilities sm-bullet Level 3 emdash System Types Capable of Meeting Requirements sm-bullet Level 4 emdash Generic Reactor System Types sm-bullet Level 5 emdash Specific Baseline Systems Using these findings, a strategy was developed to support important space reactor technologies within a limited budget. A preliminary evaluation identified key technical issues and provide a prioritized set of candidate research projects. The evaluation of issues and the recommended research projects are presented in a companion paper. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

Recommendations for Planning and Managing International Short-term Pharmacy Service Trips.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Kalin L; Alsharif, Naser Z; Rovers, John; Connor, Sharon; White, Nicole D; Hogue, Michael D

2017-03-25

International pharmacy service trips by schools and colleges of pharmacy allow students to provide health care to medically underserved areas. A literature review (2000-2016) in databases and Internet searches with specific keywords or terms was performed to assess current practices to establish and maintain successful pharmacy service trips. Educational documents such as syllabi were obtained from pharmacy programs and examined. A preliminary draft was developed and authors worked on sections of interest and expertise. Considerations and current recommendations are provided for the key aspects of the home institution and the host country requirements for pharmacy service trips based on findings from a literature search and the authors' collective, extensive experience. Evaluation of the trip and ethical considerations are also discussed. This article serves as a resource for schools and colleges of pharmacy that are interested in the development of new pharmacy service trips and provides key considerations for continuous quality improvement of current or future activities.

28 CFR 2.48 - Revocation: Preliminary interview.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Revocation: Preliminary interview. 2.48....48 Revocation: Preliminary interview. (a) Interviewing officer. A parolee who is retaken on a warrant issued by a Commissioner shall be given a preliminary interview by an official designated by the Regional...

A review of promoting access to medicines in China - problems and recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Jing; Hu, Cecile Jia; Stuntz, Mark; Hogerzeil, Hans; Liu, Yuanli

2018-02-20

Despite recent reforms, distorting funding mechanisms and over-prescribing still maintain severe financial barriers to medicines access in China. Complicated and interrelated problems in the pharmaceutical sector require a common framework to be resolved as fragmented solutions do not work. We present a preliminary assessment of the impact of the national healthcare reforms on access to medicines, and propose policy recommendations for promoting universal access to medicines in China. Drawing on multiple sources of information, including a review of published literatures and official national data, field investigations in six provinces and interviews with key opinion leaders, this paper presents a preliminary assessment of the impact of the national healthcare reforms on access to medicines, and proposes policy recommendations for promoting universal access to medicines in China. Public expenditure on medicines has been strictly controlled since the national healthcare reforms of 2009. Yet total pharmaceutical expenditure (TPE) and total health expenditure growth rates continuously outpaced the growth of gross domestic product (GDP). With 2.4% of GDP, TPE now exceeds that of most high income countries. The distorted provider and consumer incentives in the Chinese health system have not fundamentally changed. Price-setting and reimbursement mechanisms do not promote cost-effective use of medicines. Inappropriate price controls and perverse financial incentives are the un-resolved root causes of preference of originator brands for some major diseases and shortages of low-cost and low-consumption medicines. In addition, access to expensive life-saving medicines is yet systematically addressed. The complicated and interdependent problems interact in a way that leads to significant system problems in China, which create dual challenges that both the developing country and the developed countries are facing. To further promote access to medicines, China should speed up

A review of promoting access to medicines in China - problems and recommendations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing Sun

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Despite recent reforms, distorting funding mechanisms and over-prescribing still maintain severe financial barriers to medicines access in China. Complicated and interrelated problems in the pharmaceutical sector require a common framework to be resolved as fragmented solutions do not work. We present a preliminary assessment of the impact of the national healthcare reforms on access to medicines, and propose policy recommendations for promoting universal access to medicines in China. Methods Drawing on multiple sources of information, including a review of published literatures and official national data, field investigations in six provinces and interviews with key opinion leaders, this paper presents a preliminary assessment of the impact of the national healthcare reforms on access to medicines, and proposes policy recommendations for promoting universal access to medicines in China. Results Public expenditure on medicines has been strictly controlled since the national healthcare reforms of 2009. Yet total pharmaceutical expenditure (TPE and total health expenditure growth rates continuously outpaced the growth of gross domestic product (GDP. With 2.4% of GDP, TPE now exceeds that of most high income countries. The distorted provider and consumer incentives in the Chinese health system have not fundamentally changed. Price-setting and reimbursement mechanisms do not promote cost-effective use of medicines. Inappropriate price controls and perverse financial incentives are the un-resolved root causes of preference of originator brands for some major diseases and shortages of low-cost and low-consumption medicines. In addition, access to expensive life-saving medicines is yet systematically addressed. Conclusions The complicated and interdependent problems interact in a way that leads to significant system problems in China, which create dual challenges that both the developing country and the developed countries are

Toward Privacy-Preserving Personalized Recommendation Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cong Wang

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Recommendation systems are crucially important for the delivery of personalized services to users. With personalized recommendation services, users can enjoy a variety of targeted recommendations such as movies, books, ads, restaurants, and more. In addition, personalized recommendation services have become extremely effective revenue drivers for online business. Despite the great benefits, deploying personalized recommendation services typically requires the collection of users’ personal data for processing and analytics, which undesirably makes users susceptible to serious privacy violation issues. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to develop practical privacy-preserving techniques to maintain the intelligence of personalized recommendation services while respecting user privacy. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey of the literature related to personalized recommendation services with privacy protection. We present the general architecture of personalized recommendation systems, the privacy issues therein, and existing works that focus on privacy-preserving personalized recommendation services. We classify the existing works according to their underlying techniques for personalized recommendation and privacy protection, and thoroughly discuss and compare their merits and demerits, especially in terms of privacy and recommendation accuracy. We also identity some future research directions. Keywords: Privacy protection, Personalized recommendation services, Targeted delivery, Collaborative filtering, Machine learning

The Impact of 2008 Global Financial Crisis on the Performance of Selected Indonesian Stocks: A Preliminary Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edwin Suparman

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This research is a preliminary study that analyzes the impact of the US financial markets on Indonesian financial markets during the 2008 global financial crisis. It specifically investigates the occurrence of contagion effect in the Indonesian IHSG index and selected LQ45 stocks with the US S&P500 index by the measurement of correlation using simple correlation, EWMA, OGARCH, and DCC GARCH. It also attempts to discuss on the decoupling of Indonesian market and provide recommendations on dealing with future similar events.

Preliminary study of the 129I distribution in environment of La Hague reprocessing plant with the help of a terrestrial moss: Homalotecium sericeum. Study report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

The preliminary study of the 129 I distribution has allowed to underline the limits of use of a Homalotecium sericeum type terrestrial moss as biological indicator. However, this preliminary study allowed all the same to give a spatial distribution of this radioelement around La Hague reprocessing plant (source term) that underlines the existence of four geographic areas in function of collected activities. The levels are generally under 99 Bq/kg dry. It is recommended to improve the knowledge that we can have of transfers and quantity of iodine 129 from the marine environment to the terrestrial environment, but also, the one that we can have of factors able to modify the spatial distribution of this radionuclide. (N.C.)

RARD: The Related-Article Recommendation Dataset

OpenAIRE

Beel, Joeran; Carevic, Zeljko; Schaible, Johann; Neusch, Gabor

2017-01-01

Recommender-system datasets are used for recommender-system evaluations, training machine-learning algorithms, and exploring user behavior. While there are many datasets for recommender systems in the domains of movies, books, and music, there are rather few datasets from research-paper recommender systems. In this paper, we introduce RARD, the Related-Article Recommendation Dataset, from the digital library Sowiport and the recommendation-as-a-service provider Mr. DLib. The dataset contains ...

On Preliminary Test Estimator for Median

OpenAIRE

Okazaki, Takeo; 岡崎, 威生

1990-01-01

The purpose of the present paper is to discuss about estimation of median with a preliminary test. Two procedures are presented, one uses Median test and the other uses Wilcoxon two-sample test for the preliminary test. Sections 3 and 4 give mathematical formulations of such properties, including mean square errors with one specified case. Section 5 discusses their optimal significance levels of the preliminary test and proposes their numerical values by Monte Carlo method. In addition to mea...

Preliminary risk assessment for nuclear waste disposal in space. Volume I. Executive summary of technical report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rice, E.E.; Denning, R.S.; Friedlander, A.L.

1982-01-01

Three major conclusions come from this preliminary risk assessment of nuclear waste disposal in space. Preliminary estimates of space disposal risk are low, even with the estimated uncertainty bounds. If calculated mined geologic repository (MGR) release risks remain low, and the EPA requirements continue to be met, then no additional space disposal study effort is warranted. If risks perceived by the public are significant in the acceptance of mined geologic repositories, then consideration of space disposal as an MGR complement is warranted. As a result of this study, the following recommendations are made to NASA and the US DOE: During the continued evaluation of the mined geologic repository risk over the years ahead by DOE, if any significant increase in the calculated health risk is predicted for the MGR, then space disposal should be reevaluated at that time. The risks perceived by the public for the MGR should be evaluated on a broad basis by an independent organization to evaluate acceptance. If, in the future, MGR risks are found to be significant due to some presently unknown technical or social factor, and space disposal is selected as an alternative that may be useful in mitigating the risks, then the following space disposal study activities are recommended: improvement in chemical processing technology for wastes; payload accident response analysis; risk uncertainty analysis for both MGR and space disposal; health risk modeling that includes pathway and dose estimates; space disposal cost modeling; assessment of space disposal perceived (by public) risk benefit; and space systems analysis supporting risk and cost modeling

Receiving recommendations and providing feedback : the user-experience of a recommender system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Knijnenburg, B.P.; Willemsen, M.C.; Hirtbach, S.; Buccafurri, F.; Semeraro, G.

2010-01-01

This paper systematically evaluates the user experience of a recommender system. Using both behavioral data and subjective measures of user experience, we demonstrate that choice satisfaction and system effectiveness increase when a system provides personalized recommendations (compared to the same

Preliminary concepts: materials management in an internationally safeguarded nuclear-waste geologic repository

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ostenak, C.A.; Whitty, W.J.; Dietz, R.J.

1979-11-01

Preliminary concepts of materials accountability are presented for an internationally safeguarded nuclear-waste geologic repository. A hypothetical reference repository that receives nuclear waste for emplacement in a geologic medium serves to illustrate specific safeguards concepts. Nuclear wastes received at the reference repository derive from prior fuel-cycle operations. Alternative safeguards techniques ranging from item accounting to nondestructive assay and waste characteristics that affect the necessary level of safeguards are examined. Downgrading of safeguards prior to shipment to the repository is recommended whenever possible. The point in the waste cycle where international safeguards may be terminate depends on the fissile content, feasibility of separation, and practicable recoverability of the waste: termination may not be possible if spent fuels are declared as waste

Recommendation systems in software engineering

CERN Document Server

Robillard, Martin P; Walker, Robert J; Zimmermann, Thomas

2014-01-01

With the growth of public and private data stores and the emergence of off-the-shelf data-mining technology, recommendation systems have emerged that specifically address the unique challenges of navigating and interpreting software engineering data.This book collects, structures and formalizes knowledge on recommendation systems in software engineering. It adopts a pragmatic approach with an explicit focus on system design, implementation, and evaluation. The book is divided into three parts: "Part I - Techniques" introduces basics for building recommenders in software engineering, including techniques for collecting and processing software engineering data, but also for presenting recommendations to users as part of their workflow.?"Part II - Evaluation" summarizes methods and experimental designs for evaluating recommendations in software engineering.?"Part III - Applications" describes needs, issues and solution concepts involved in entire recommendation systems for specific software engineering tasks, fo...

Effects of silvicultural treatments on forest birds in the Rocky Mountains: implications and management recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

Richard L. Hutto; Sallie J. Hejl; Charles R. Preston; Deborah M. Finch

1993-01-01

The short-term effects of timber harvesting practices on landbird species vary widely among species. Thus, the maintenance of populations of all species will require a long-term management strategy that involves maintenance of a variety of habitats over a broad landscape.

Summary (and) recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

This report looks at the Health and Safety record at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston. The last outside report was by Pochin in 1978 which recommended that staffing for health physicists and maintenance staff should be increased and that some buildings where solid and liquid radioactive wastes were processed should be replaced. A new facility to process contaminated heavy equipment was also recommended. This report finds that none of the recommendations have been fully implemented. It also lists accidents, fires and worker contamination. It is concluded that some of the problems are that nuclear weapons production is inherently unsafe and cannot be made safe, that the secrecy surrounding the establishments' safety record is not good for improving it and finally the report calls for production at Aldermaston to be halted. (UK)

Avoiding congestion in recommender systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren, Xiaolong; Lü, Linyuan; Liu, Runran; Zhang, Jianlin

2014-01-01

Recommender systems use the historical activities and personal profiles of users to uncover their preferences and recommend objects. Most of the previous methods are based on objects’ (and/or users’) similarity rather than on their difference. Such approaches are subject to a high risk of increasingly exposing users to a narrowing band of popular objects. As a result, a few objects may be recommended to an enormous number of users, resulting in the problem of recommendation congestion, which is to be avoided, especially when the recommended objects are limited resources. In order to quantitatively measure a recommendation algorithm's ability to avoid congestion, we proposed a new metric inspired by the Gini index, which is used to measure the inequality of the individual wealth distribution in an economy. Besides this, a new recommendation method called directed weighted conduction (DWC) was developed by considering the heat conduction process on a user–object bipartite network with different thermal conductivities. Experimental results obtained for three benchmark data sets showed that the DWC algorithm can effectively avoid system congestion, and greatly improve the novelty and diversity, while retaining relatively high accuracy, in comparison with the state-of-the-art methods. (paper)

Recommendation Sets and Choice Queries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Viappiani, Paolo Renato; Boutilier, Craig

2011-01-01

Utility elicitation is an important component of many applications, such as decision support systems and recommender systems. Such systems query users about their preferences and offer recommendations based on the system's belief about the user's utility function. We analyze the connection between...... the problem of generating optimal recommendation sets and the problem of generating optimal choice queries, considering both Bayesian and regret-based elicitation. Our results show that, somewhat surprisingly, under very general circumstances, the optimal recommendation set coincides with the optimal query....

Foraging behavioral of Phylloscartes ventralis (Aves, Tyrannidae in native and planted forests of southern Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

André de Mendonça-Lima

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Few studies have related the effects of silviculture practices to the behavior of bird species in the Neotropics. The present study examined the foraging behavior of Phylloscartes ventralis (Temminck, 1824 in a native forest and in silviculture areas of Pinus elliotti and Araucaria angustifolia with different structures and ages. We tested two general hypotheses: (1 areas of commercial forest plantation change the foraging behavior of P. ventralis in relation to native forest, and (2 the foraging behavior of P. ventralis in silviculture areas with understories (complex structures is different from its behavior in areas without understory. The results showed that P. ventralis changed its foraging behavior depending on the type of forest, and on the presence of an understory in silviculture areas. Main changes involved the height and angle of substrate where the prey was captured. Phylloscartes ventralis showed the same set of attack maneuvers, with more maneuvers type in young Pinus planted without understory. The frequency of use of attack maneuvers was more similar in areas of silviculture with understory and in the native forest. The results highlight the importance of an understory structure and the utilization of native plant species in silviculture practices, to the foraging behavior of native bird species.

Care Management Medical Home Center Model: Preliminary Results of a Patient-Centered Approach to Improving Care Quality for Diabetic Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Page, Timothy F; Amofah, St Anthony; McCann, Shelia; Rivo, Julie; Varghese, Asha; James, Terisa; Rivo, Marc; Williams, Mark L

2015-07-01

This article presents preliminary findings of the impact of an innovative care management model for diabetic patients. The model was implemented by seven Federally Qualified Health Centers serving 10,000 diabetic patients in Miami-Dade County. A primary intervention of this model is a centralized care management team that makes previsit phone calls to diabetic patients who have scheduled appointments. These previsit phone calls optimize patient knowledge and self-management goals, and provide patient care coordinators with relevant clinical information to optimize the office visit and help to ensure completion of recommended diabetic preventive and chronic care services. Data suggest that following the implementation of this care management model, more diabetic patients are receiving regular care, and compliance with recommended tests and screenings has improved. © 2015 Society for Public Health Education.

A heterogeneous graph-based recommendation simulator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yeonchan, Ahn [Seoul National University; Sungchan, Park [Seoul National University; Lee, Matt Sangkeun [ORNL; Sang-goo, Lee [Seoul National University

2013-01-01

Heterogeneous graph-based recommendation frameworks have flexibility in that they can incorporate various recommendation algorithms and various kinds of information to produce better results. In this demonstration, we present a heterogeneous graph-based recommendation simulator which enables participants to experience the flexibility of a heterogeneous graph-based recommendation method. With our system, participants can simulate various recommendation semantics by expressing the semantics via meaningful paths like User Movie User Movie. The simulator then returns the recommendation results on the fly based on the user-customized semantics using a fast Monte Carlo algorithm.

1990 recommendations of ICRP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clarke, R.H.

1991-01-01

The Main Commission of ICRP finalised its new recommendations during its November 1990 meeting. The recommendations will appear in the Annals of the ICRP in 1991 as Publication 60. This paper represents a personal summary of these recommendations. It covers the basic biological risk estimates and the conceptual framework of the system of radiological protection, the definition of radiation detriment and its use both in the definition of radiation quantities and in the establishment of the dose limits adopted by the Main Commissions. (author)

Introduction on health recommender systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez-Bocanegra, C L; Sanchez-Laguna, F; Sevillano, J L

2015-01-01

People are looking for appropriate health information which they are concerned about. The Internet is a great resource of this kind of information, but we have to be careful if we don't want to get harmful info. Health recommender systems are becoming a new wave for apt health information as systems suggest the best data according to the patients' needs.The main goals of health recommender systems are to retrieve trusted health information from the Internet, to analyse which is suitable for the user profile and select the best that can be recommended, to adapt their selection methods according to the knowledge domain and to learn from the best recommendations.A brief definition of recommender systems will be given and an explanation of how are they incorporated in the health sector. A description of the main elementary recommender methods as well as their most important problems will also be made. And, to finish, the state of the art will be described.

Recommended system of application and development

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wei

2018-04-01

A recommender system is a project that helps users identify their wishes and needs. The recommender system has been successfully applied to many e-commerce environments, such as news, film, music, books and other areas of recommendation. This paper mainly discusses the application of recommendation technology in software engineering, data and knowledge engineering, configurable projects and persuasion technology, and summarizes the development trend of recommendation technology in the future.

23 CFR 645.109 - Preliminary engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Preliminary engineering. 645.109 Section 645.109 Highways FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING AND TRAFFIC OPERATIONS UTILITIES Utility Relocations, Adjustments, and Reimbursement § 645.109 Preliminary engineering. (a) As...

OARSI Clinical Trials Recommendations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

McAlindon, T. E.; Driban, J. B.; Henrotin, Y.

2015-01-01

The goal of this document is to update the original OARSI recommendations specifically for the design, conduct, and reporting of clinical trials that target symptom or structure modification among individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA). To develop recommendations for the design, conduct...

Use of lecture recordings in dental education: assessment of status quo and recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Horvath, Zsuzsa; O'Donnell, Jean A; Johnson, Lynn A; Karimbux, Nadeem Y; Shuler, Charles F; Spallek, Heiko

2013-11-01

This research project was part of a planned initiative at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine to incorporate lecture recordings as standard educational support technologies. The goal of an institutional survey was 1) to gather current data about how dental educators across the United States and Canada use lecture recordings; 2) determine dental educators' perceived value and outcomes of using lecture recordings; and 3) develop recommendations based on #1 and #2 for the dental education community. Of the sixty-six North American dental schools at the time of the study, forty-five schools responded to the survey, for a 68 percent response rate. Of the respondents, twenty-eight schools were found to currently conduct lecture recording; these comprised the study sample. This study focused on the dental schools' past experiences with lecture recording; thus, those not currently engaged in lecture recording were excluded from further analysis. The survey questions covered a wide range of topics, such as the scope of the lecture recording, logistics, instructional design considerations, outcomes related to student learning, evaluation and reception, barriers to lecture recording, and issues related to copyright and intellectual property. The literature review and results from the survey showed that no common guidelines for best practice were available regarding lecture recordings in dental education. The article concludes with some preliminary recommendations based on this study.

Research on Long Tail Recommendation Algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xuezhi; Zhang, Chuang; Wu, Ming; Zeng, Yang

2017-10-01

Most recommendation systems in the major electronic commerce platforms are influenced by the long tail effect more or less. There are sufficient researches of how to assess recommendation effect while no criteria to evaluate long tail recommendation rate. In this study, we first discussed the existing problems of recommending long tail products through specific experiments. Then we proposed a long tail evaluation criteria and compared the performance in long tail recommendation between different models.

Archaeology in the Kilauea East Rift Zone: Part 2, A preliminary sample survey, Kapoho, Kamaili and Kilauea geothermal subzones, Puna District, Hawaii island

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sweeney, M.T.K.; Burtchard, G.C. [International Archaeological Research Inst., Inc., Honolulu, HI (United States)

1995-05-01

This report describes a preliminary sample inventory and offers an initial evaluation of settlement and land-use patterns for the Geothermal Resources Subzones (GRS) area, located in Puna District on the island of Hawaii. The report is the second of a two part project dealing with archaeology of the Puna GRS area -- or more generally, the Kilauea East Rift Zone. In the first phase of the project, a long-term land-use model and inventory research design was developed for the GRS area and Puna District generally. That report is available under separate cover as Archaeology in the Kilauea East Rift Zone, Part I: Land-Use Model and Research Design. The present report gives results of a limited cultural resource survey built on research design recommendations. It offers a preliminary evaluation of modeled land-use expectations and offers recommendations for continuing research into Puna`s rich cultural heritage. The present survey was conducted under the auspices of the United States Department of Energy, and subcontracted to International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc. (IARII) by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. The purpose of the archaeological work is to contribute toward the preparation of an environmental impact statement by identifying cultural materials which could be impacted through completion of the proposed Hawaii Geothermal Project.

Preliminary design county plan Zeeland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-01-01

The preliminary design 'Streekplan Zeeland' (Country plan Zeeland, with regard to the location of additional nuclear power plants in Zeeland, the Netherlands) has passed through a consultation and participation round. Thereupon 132 reactions have been received. These have been incorporated and answered in two notes. This proposal deals with the principal points of the preliminary design and treats also the remarks of the committees Environmental (town and country) Planning (RO), Provincial (town and country) Planning Committee (PPC) and Association of Communities of Zeeland (VZG), on the reply notes. The preliminary design with the modifications, collected in appendix 3, is proposed to be the starting point in the drawing-up of the design-country-plan. This design subsequently will pass the formal country-plan procedure. (author). 1 fig

Preliminary assessment of the Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Offer program using IPMVP guidelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kaiser, Mark J.; Pulsipher, Allan G. [Center for Energy Studies, Louisiana State University, Energy Coast and Environment Building, Nicholson Extension Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 (United States)

2010-02-15

The Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Offer (HERO) is a residential energy conservation program established in 1999 to provide rebates for qualified applicants to build new homes that are more energy efficient or improve the energy efficiency of existing homes. Energy conservation programs require careful evaluation because of the high cost to implement the measures and the expectation that they will reduce energy use. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that residential energy conservation measures in a hot and humid climate can be evaluated using the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP), a best practice methodology commonly used in industrial and commercial performance-based contracts, but rarely, if ever, applied to residential programs. Using a random sample of 60 HERO participants, we were able to construct statistically significant electricity consumption baseline models for 90% of households. We determined that more than half of the sample participants consumed more electricity after their efficiency improvement, with an average net household savings of 172 kWh/yr, about 1% pre-retrofit consumption. A description of the baseline model construction, preliminary program evaluation, and recommendations are provided. All program conclusions are considered preliminary until a larger and more comprehensive study is conducted. (author)

Preliminary assessment of the Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Offer program using IPMVP guidelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaiser, Mark J.; Pulsipher, Allan G.

2010-01-01

The Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Offer (HERO) is a residential energy conservation program established in 1999 to provide rebates for qualified applicants to build new homes that are more energy efficient or improve the energy efficiency of existing homes. Energy conservation programs require careful evaluation because of the high cost to implement the measures and the expectation that they will reduce energy use. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that residential energy conservation measures in a hot and humid climate can be evaluated using the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP), a best practice methodology commonly used in industrial and commercial performance-based contracts, but rarely, if ever, applied to residential programs. Using a random sample of 60 HERO participants, we were able to construct statistically significant electricity consumption baseline models for 90% of households. We determined that more than half of the sample participants consumed more electricity after their efficiency improvement, with an average net household savings of 172 kWh/yr, about 1% pre-retrofit consumption. A description of the baseline model construction, preliminary program evaluation, and recommendations are provided. All program conclusions are considered preliminary until a larger and more comprehensive study is conducted.

Defining and Supporting Narrative-driven Recommendation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bogers, Toine; Koolen, Marijn

2017-01-01

Research into recommendation algorithms has made great strides in recent years. However, these algorithms are typically applied in relatively straightforward scenarios: given information about a user's past preferences, what will they like in the future? Recommendation is often more complex......: evaluating recommended items never takes place in a vacuum, and it is often a single step in the user's more complex background task. In this paper, we define a specific type of recommendation scenario called narrative-driven recommendation, where the recommendation process is driven by both a log...... of the user's past transactions as well as a narrative description of their current interest(s). Through an analysis of a set of real-world recommendation narratives from the LibraryThing forums, we demonstrate the uniqueness and richness of this scenario and highlight common patterns and properties...

Hybrid context aware recommender systems

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, Rajshree; Tyagi, Jaya; Singh, Sandeep Kumar; Alam, Taj

2017-10-01

Recommender systems and context awareness is currently a vital field of research. Most hybrid recommendation systems implement content based and collaborative filtering techniques whereas this work combines context and collaborative filtering. The paper presents a hybrid context aware recommender system for books and movies that gives recommendations based on the user context as well as user or item similarity. It also addresses the issue of dimensionality reduction using weighted pre filtering based on dynamically entered user context and preference of context. This unique step helps to reduce the size of dataset for collaborative filtering. Bias subtracted collaborative filtering is used so as to consider the relative rating of a particular user and not the absolute values. Cosine similarity is used as a metric to determine the similarity between users or items. The unknown ratings are calculated and evaluated using MSE (Mean Squared Error) in test and train datasets. The overall process of recommendation has helped to personalize recommendations and give more accurate results with reduced complexity in collaborative filtering.

Exploratory shaft facility preliminary designs - Paradox Basin. Technical report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-09-01

The purpose of the Preliminary Design Report, Paradox Basin, is to provide a description of the preliminary design for an Exploratory Shaft Facility in the Paradox Basin, Utah. This issue of the report describes the preliminary design for constructing the exploratory shaft using the Large Hole Drilling Method of construction and outlines the preliminary design and estimates of probable construction cost. The Preliminary Design Report is prepared to complement and summarize other documents that comprise the design at the preliminary stage of completion, December 1982. Other design documents include drawings, cost estimates and schedules. The preliminary design drawing package, which includes the construction schedule drawing, depicts the descriptions in this report. For reference, a list of the drawing titles and corresponding numbers is included in the Appendix. The report is divided into three principal sections: Design Basis, Facility Description, and Construction Cost Estimate. 30 references

Recommender Systems for Learning

CERN Document Server

Manouselis, Nikos; Verbert, Katrien; Duval, Erik

2013-01-01

Technology enhanced learning (TEL) aims to design, develop and test sociotechnical innovations that will support and enhance learning practices of both individuals and organisations. It is therefore an application domain that generally covers technologies that support all forms of teaching and learning activities. Since information retrieval (in terms of searching for relevant learning resources to support teachers or learners) is a pivotal activity in TEL, the deployment of recommender systems has attracted increased interest. This brief attempts to provide an introduction to recommender systems for TEL settings, as well as to highlight their particularities compared to recommender systems for other application domains.

International recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindell, Bo

1986-01-01

Full text: This short presentation will indicate the general radiation protection background to protective measures against foodstuffs contaminated with radioactive substances. A number of international organizations are involved in various aspects of radiation protection, for example, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Health Organization (WHO). Two international organizations, however, provide the basic background. These are the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). UNSCEAR provides the scientific information on radiation levels and effects. It consists of 21 member countries, with truly international coverage. It issues reports to the UN General Assembly, including comprehensive scientific annexes. Its latest comprehensive report was issued in 1982, the next is expected to be published in 1988. That report will include an assessment of the radiological consequences of the Chernobyl accident. The ICRP is a non-governmental organization. It has issued recommendations on radiation protection since 1928. The postulated biological basis for radiation protection recommendations involves two types of biological effects. The so-called non-stochastic effects, mainly due to cell death, appear only when the radiation doses exceed a certain threshold value. These effects, therefore, can only appear after high accidental exposures. After the Chernobyl accident, they only affected about 200 individuals involved in fire extinction and rescue work at the damaged nuclear power plant. Stochastic effects, with some simplification, may be seen as the result of initial changes in the genetic code of some surviving cells. If these cells are germ cells, this may lead to hereditary harm. If they are somatic cells, the result could be cancer

Preliminary results of the analysis of the administered activities in diagnostic studies of nuclear medicine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopez Bejerano, G.; Sed, L.J.

2001-01-01

The worldwide use of Nuclear Medicine diagnostic procedures and the tendency to its increment, infers an important exposure of the population to ionising radiation; it has motivated that the IAEA in the International Basic Safety Standards (BSS), emits recommendations for the establishment of guidance levels of activities administered to the patients in diagnostic procedures. Taking into account the above-mentioned and that in Cuba there exist 20 departments of Nuclear Medicine that in the majority possess equipment with more than 20 years of operation, which influences directly the medical exposure. A survey was designed and applied in 10 of these departments. The survey evaluates the compliance with the BSS requirements, and specifically, the activities administered to the patients in Nuclear Medicine diagnostic procedures are analysed. In the present work the obtained preliminary results of the statistical analysis carried out on the activity values used in Nuclear Medicine departments are presented, and comparisons made for a proposal of guidance levels for the national practice, which is compared with those recommended internationally. (author)

Results of the preliminary radiological survey at the former Diamond Magnesium Company site, Luckey, Ohio (DML001)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foley, R.D.; Crutcher, J.W.

1990-02-01

As part of the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, the US Department of Energy (DOE) is implementing a radiological survey program to determine the radiological conditions at sites that were used by the department's predecessor agencies. One such site is the former Diamond Magnesium Company facility in Luckey, Ohio. The preliminary radiological survey discussed in this report was conducted at the request of DOE by members of the Measurement Applications and Development group of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in December 1988. The former Diamond Magnesium Company site in Luckey, Ohio, was used as a magnesium reduction plant during World War 2. It was closed in 1945 and reopened in 1949 as a beryllium production facility, operated by Brush Wellman for the US Atomic Energy Commission. The preliminary radiological survey included: a surface gamma scan of part of the property outdoors, collection of surface and subsurface soil samples, and collection of water samples. Laboratory analysis of soil samples showed concentrations of 226 Ra in excess of applicable DOE guidelines. A follow-up, detailed survey is recommended. 9 refs., 10 figs., 4 tabs

Clinical practice recommendations for depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Malhi, G S; Adams, D; Porter, R; Wignall, A; Lampe, L; O'Connor, N; Paton, M; Newton, L A; Walter, G; Taylor, A; Berk, M; Mulder, R T

2009-01-01

To provide clinically relevant evidence-based recommendations for the management of depression in adults that are informative, easy to assimilate and facilitate clinical decision making. A comprehensive literature review of over 500 articles was undertaken using electronic database search engines (e.g. MEDLINE, PsychINFO and Cochrane reviews). In addition articles, book chapters and other literature known to the authors were reviewed. The findings were then formulated into a set of recommendations that were developed by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians who routinely deal with mood disorders. The recommendations then underwent consultative review by a broader advisory panel that included experts in the field, clinical staff and patient representatives. The clinical practice recommendations for depression (Depression CPR) summarize evidence-based treatments and provide a synopsis of recommendations relating to each phase of the illness. They are designed for clinical use and have therefore been presented succinctly in an innovative and engaging manner that is clear and informative. These up-to-date recommendations provide an evidence-based framework that incorporates clinical wisdom and consideration of individual factors in the management of depression. Further, the novel style and practical approach should promote uptake and implementation.

32 CFR 644.30 - Preliminary real estate work.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Preliminary real estate work. 644.30 Section 644... PROPERTY REAL ESTATE HANDBOOK Project Planning Military (army and Air Force) and Other Federal Agencies § 644.30 Preliminary real estate work. (a) Preliminary real estate work is defined as that action taken...

New Insulin Delivery Recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Frid, Anders H; Kreugel, Gillian; Grassi, Giorgio; Halimi, Serge; Hicks, Debbie; Hirsch, Laurence J; Smith, Mike J; Wellhoener, Regine; Bode, Bruce W; Hirsch, Irl B; Kalra, Sanjay; Ji, Linong; Strauss, Kenneth W

2016-09-01

Many primary care professionals manage injection or infusion therapies in patients with diabetes. Few published guidelines have been available to help such professionals and their patients manage these therapies. Herein, we present new, practical, and comprehensive recommendations for diabetes injections and infusions. These recommendations were informed by a large international survey of current practice and were written and vetted by 183 diabetes experts from 54 countries at the Forum for Injection Technique and Therapy: Expert Recommendations (FITTER) workshop held in Rome, Italy, in 2015. Recommendations are organized around the themes of anatomy, physiology, pathology, psychology, and technology. Key among the recommendations are that the shortest needles (currently the 4-mm pen and 6-mm syringe needles) are safe, effective, and less painful and should be the first-line choice in all patient categories; intramuscular injections should be avoided, especially with long-acting insulins, because severe hypoglycemia may result; lipohypertrophy is a frequent complication of therapy that distorts insulin absorption, and, therefore, injections and infusions should not be given into these lesions and correct site rotation will help prevent them; effective long-term therapy with insulin is critically dependent on addressing psychological hurdles upstream, even before insulin has been started; inappropriate disposal of used sharps poses a risk of infection with blood-borne pathogens; and mitigation is possible with proper training, effective disposal strategies, and the use of safety devices. Adherence to these new recommendations should lead to more effective therapies, improved outcomes, and lower costs for patients with diabetes. Copyright © 2016 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hybrid recommendation methods in complex networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiasconaro, A; Tumminello, M; Nicosia, V; Latora, V; Mantegna, R N

2015-07-01

We propose two recommendation methods, based on the appropriate normalization of already existing similarity measures, and on the convex combination of the recommendation scores derived from similarity between users and between objects. We validate the proposed measures on three data sets, and we compare the performance of our methods to other recommendation systems recently proposed in the literature. We show that the proposed similarity measures allow us to attain an improvement of performances of up to 20% with respect to existing nonparametric methods, and that the accuracy of a recommendation can vary widely from one specific bipartite network to another, which suggests that a careful choice of the most suitable method is highly relevant for an effective recommendation on a given system. Finally, we study how an increasing presence of random links in the network affects the recommendation scores, finding that one of the two recommendation algorithms introduced here can systematically outperform the others in noisy data sets.

Assessment of Soil Protection to Support Forest Planning: an Experience in Southern Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabrizio Ferretti

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Aim of study: to support landscape planning when soil-erosion control and water cycle regulation represent relevant issues for forest management. A methodological approach - based on simplified index – is proposed in order to assess the protective efficacy of forests on soils (indirect protection. This method is aimed at supporting technicians who are requested to define the most suitable management guidelines and silvicultural treatments.Area of study: Southern Apennines (Alto Agri district – Basilicata Region - Italy, where a landscape planning experimentation was implemented. Material and Methods: The data to estimate the parameters used for the simplified index calculation are retrieved from a non aligned systematic forest inventory. The method considers: 1 the tendency towards instability, 2 the protective action of forest cover and 3 different silvicultural options.Main results: For the analysed forest categories, the results indicate the situations in which hydrogeological hazard is high. The cross-reading of these data with the values based on years of partial and total uncovering of the ground according to different silvicultural options (for each forest category in the reference period of 100 years has supported the definition of silviculture treatments and management options suitable for the considered forest formations.Research highlights: The proposed method can effectively support technicians in the field by highlighting situations of major hazard risk. Thanks to the joined assessment of different silvicultural options for each forest category, a series of silvicultural treatments, capable of better protecting the soil, can be already defined in the field survey phase.Key words: Alto Agri district (Italy; Forest Landscape Management Planning (FLMP; management; silvicultural treatment; protective function and soil erosion.

Assessment of Soil Protection to Support Forest Planning: an Experience in Southern Italy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferreti, F.; Cantiani, P.; Meo, I. de; Paletto, A.

2014-06-01

Aim of study: To support landscape planning when soil-erosion control and water cycle regulation represent relevant issues for forest management. A methodological approach -based on simplified index- is proposed in order to assess the protective efficacy of forests on soils (indirect protection). This method is aimed at supporting technicians who are requested to define the most suitable management guidelines and silviculture treatments. Area of study: Southern Apennines (Alto Agri district -Basilicata Region- Italy), where a landscape planning experimentation was implemented. Material and methods: The data to estimate the parameters used for the simplified index calculation are retrieved from a non aligned systematic forest inventory. The method considers: 1) the tendency towards instability, 2) the protective action of forest cover and 3) different silviculture options. Main results: For the analysed forest categories, the results indicate the situations in which hydrogeological hazard is high. The cross-reading of these data with the values based on years of partial and total uncovering of the ground according to different silviculture options (for each forest category in the reference period of 100 years) has supported the definition of silviculture treatments and management options suitable for the considered forest formations. Research highlights The proposed method can effectively support technicians in the field by highlighting situations of major hazard risk. Thanks to the joined assessment of different silviculture options for each forest category, a series of silviculture treatments, capable of better protecting the soil, can be already defined in the field survey phase. Key words: Alto Agri district (Italy); Forest Landscape Management Planning (FLMP); management; silviculture treatment; protective function e soil erosion. (Author)

Biological waste by-production costs in forest management and possibilities for their reduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiří Kadlec

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Biological wastes in forestry were observed from view of their by-production in silvicultural and logging operations. There were identified points where biological waste was produced in this paper, waste costs ratio for silvicultural and logging operations and were made suggestions for reduction of these costs. Biological waste costs give 34.4% of total costs of silvicultural operations and 30% of total costs of logging operations. Natural regeneration and minor forest produce operations are opportunities for reduction of these costs.

Feasibility studies for final disposal of low and intermediate radioactive waste - summary with main conclusions and recommendations from three parallel studies. Report to the cross-departmental working group for preparing a decision basis for establishing a Danish radioactive waste disposal facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-05-01

In 2003, the Danish Parliament in resolution No. B 48 on the dismantling of the nuclear facilities at Risoe gave consent to the government to begin preparation of a decision basis for a Danish final repository for low and intermediate level waste. As a result, a working group under the Ministry of Health and Prevention in 2008 prepared the report 'Decision basis for a Danish final repository for low and medium level radioactive waste'. In this report it was recommended to prepare three parallel preliminary studies: one about the repository concepts with the aim to obtain the necessary decision-making basis for selecting which concepts to analyze within the process of establishing a final repository, one on transportation of radioactive waste to the depot and one about regional mapping with the aim to characterize areas as suitable or unsuitable for locating a repository. The present report contains the main conclusions of each of the three parallel studies in relation to the further localization process. The preliminary studies suggest 22 areas, of which it is recommended to proceed with six in the selection process. The preliminary studies also show that all investigated storage concepts will be possible solutions from a security standpoint. However, there will be greater risks associated with depots near the surface, because they are more subjected to intentional or accidental intrusion. Overall, a medium deep repository will be the most appropriate solution, but it is also a more expensive solution than the near-surface repository. Both subsurface and the deep repositories may be reversible, but it is estimated to increase overall costs and may increase risk related to accidents. The preliminary studies establishes a set of conclusions and recommendations concerning future studies related to repository concepts and safety analyses, including in relation to the specific geology at the selected locations. The transportation studies show that radio

USGEO DMWG Cloud Computing Recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

de la Beaujardiere, J.; McInerney, M.; Frame, M. T.; Summers, C.

2017-12-01

The US Group on Earth Observations (USGEO) Data Management Working Group (DMWG) has been developing Cloud Computing Recommendations for Earth Observations. This inter-agency report is currently in draft form; DMWG hopes to have released the report as a public Request for Information (RFI) by the time of AGU. The recommendations are geared toward organizations that have already decided to use the Cloud for some of their activities (i.e., the focus is not on "why you should use the Cloud," but rather "If you plan to use the Cloud, consider these suggestions.") The report comprises Introductory Material, including Definitions, Potential Cloud Benefits, and Potential Cloud Disadvantages, followed by Recommendations in several areas: Assessing When to Use the Cloud, Transferring Data to the Cloud, Data and Metadata Contents, Developing Applications in the Cloud, Cost Minimization, Security Considerations, Monitoring and Metrics, Agency Support, and Earth Observations-specific recommendations. This talk will summarize the recommendations and invite comment on the RFI.

Recommendation System for Adaptive Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yunxiao; Li, Xiaoou; Liu, Jingchen; Ying, Zhiliang

2018-01-01

An adaptive learning system aims at providing instruction tailored to the current status of a learner, differing from the traditional classroom experience. The latest advances in technology make adaptive learning possible, which has the potential to provide students with high-quality learning benefit at a low cost. A key component of an adaptive learning system is a recommendation system, which recommends the next material (video lectures, practices, and so on, on different skills) to the learner, based on the psychometric assessment results and possibly other individual characteristics. An important question then follows: How should recommendations be made? To answer this question, a mathematical framework is proposed that characterizes the recommendation process as a Markov decision problem, for which decisions are made based on the current knowledge of the learner and that of the learning materials. In particular, two plain vanilla systems are introduced, for which the optimal recommendation at each stage can be obtained analytically.

Fusing Recommendations for Social Bookmarking Websites

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bogers, Toine; van den Bosch, Antal

2011-01-01

Social bookmarking websites are rapidly growing in popularity. Recommender systems, a promising remedy to the information overload accompanying the explosive growth in content, are designed to identify which unseen content might be of interest to a particular user, based on his or her past...... that use tag overlap and metadata provide better results for social bookmarking data sets than the transaction patterns that are used traditionally in recommender systems research. In addition, we investigate how to fuse different recommendation approaches to further improve recommendation accuracy. We...... preferences. Most previous work in recommendation for social bookmarking suffers from a lack of comparisons between the different available approaches. In this article, we address this issue by comparing and evaluating eight recommendation approaches on four data sets from two domains. We find that approaches...

Plutonium Immobilization Can Loading Preliminary Specifications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kriikku, E.

1998-11-25

This report discusses the Plutonium Immobilization can loading preliminary equipment specifications and includes a process block diagram, process description, equipment list, preliminary equipment specifications, plan and elevation sketches, and some commercial catalogs. This report identifies loading pucks into cans and backfilling cans with helium as the top priority can loading development areas.

Preliminary Estimates of Specific Discharge and Transport Velocities near Borehole NC-EWDP-24PB

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freifeld, Barry; Doughty, Christine; Finsterle, Stefan

2006-01-01

This report summarizes fluid electrical conductivity (FEC) and thermal logging data collected in Borehole NC-EWDP-24PB, located approximately 15 km south of the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain. Preliminary analyses of a small fraction of the FEC and temperature data indicate that relatively large, localized fluid fluxes are likely to exist at this location. The implication that considerable flow is induced by small gradients, and that flow is highly localized, is significant for the estimation of groundwater transport velocities and radionuclide travel times. The sensitivity of the data to potential perturbations during testing (i.e., internal wellbore flow in the case of FEC data, and buoyancy effects in the case of thermal logging data) make it difficult to conclusively derive fluid fluxes and transport velocities without a detailed analysis of all data and processes involved. Such a comprehensive analysis has not yet been performed. However, the preliminary results suggest that the ambient component of the estimated flow rates is significant and on the order of liters per minute, yielding groundwater transport velocities in the range of kilometers per year. One particular zone in the Bullfrog tuff exhibits estimated velocities on the order of 10 km/yr. Given that the preliminary estimates of ambient flow rates and transport velocities are relatively high, and considering the potential impact of high rates and velocities on saturated-zone flow and transport behavior, we recommend that a comprehensive analysis of all the available data be performed. Moreover, additional data sets at other locations should be collected to examine whether the current data set is representative of the regional flow system near Yucca Mountain

OARSI Clinical Trials Recommendations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Emery, C. A.; Roos, Ewa M.; Verhagen, E.

2015-01-01

The risk of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) substantially increases following joint injury. Research efforts should focus on investigating the efficacy of preventative strategies in high quality randomized controlled trials (RCT). The objective of these OARSI RCT recommendations is to inform...... the design, conduct and analytical approaches to RCTs evaluating the preventative effect of joint injury prevention strategies. Recommendations regarding the design, conduct, and reporting of RCTs evaluating injury prevention interventions were established based on the consensus of nine researchers...... internationally with expertise in epidemiology, injury prevention and/or osteoarthritis (OA). Input and resultant consensus was established through teleconference, face to face and email correspondence over a 1 year period. Recommendations for injury prevention RCTs include context specific considerations...

Network-based recommendation algorithms: A review

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Fei; Zeng, An; Gillard, Sébastien; Medo, Matúš

2016-06-01

Recommender systems are a vital tool that helps us to overcome the information overload problem. They are being used by most e-commerce web sites and attract the interest of a broad scientific community. A recommender system uses data on users' past preferences to choose new items that might be appreciated by a given individual user. While many approaches to recommendation exist, the approach based on a network representation of the input data has gained considerable attention in the past. We review here a broad range of network-based recommendation algorithms and for the first time compare their performance on three distinct real datasets. We present recommendation topics that go beyond the mere question of which algorithm to use-such as the possible influence of recommendation on the evolution of systems that use it-and finally discuss open research directions and challenges.

Hybrid employment recommendation algorithm based on Spark

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zuoquan; Lin, Yubei; Zhang, Xingming

2017-08-01

Aiming at the real-time application of collaborative filtering employment recommendation algorithm (CF), a clustering collaborative filtering recommendation algorithm (CCF) is developed, which applies hierarchical clustering to CF and narrows the query range of neighbour items. In addition, to solve the cold-start problem of content-based recommendation algorithm (CB), a content-based algorithm with users’ information (CBUI) is introduced for job recommendation. Furthermore, a hybrid recommendation algorithm (HRA) which combines CCF and CBUI algorithms is proposed, and implemented on Spark platform. The experimental results show that HRA can overcome the problems of cold start and data sparsity, and achieve good recommendation accuracy and scalability for employment recommendation.

A preliminary safety evaluation of polyhexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride.

Science.gov (United States)

Asiedu-Gyekye, Isaac Julius; Mahmood, Seidu Abdulai; Awortwe, Charles; Nyarko, Alexander Kwadwo

2014-01-01

Polyhexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride (PHMGH) is used worldwide as an antimicrobial agent with broad spectra of activity and also for treating pool water. This non-GLP preliminary study aims at investigating in a subchronic toxicity study possible effects at supra-optimal doses of this biocide. Both acute and subchronic toxicity studies were conducted. LD(50) for PHMGH was estimated to be 600 mg/kg (ie LC(50) 2 ml of 7.5% solution) when administered as a single dose by gavage via a stomach tube in accordance with the expected route of administration. The acute studies showed that the median lethal dose (LD(50)) of 600 mg/kg was accompanied by signs of neurotoxicity. Haematological and biochemical parameters of subchronic toxicity studies were non-significant. Subchronic doses of 0.006 mg/kg, 0.012 mg/kg and 0.036 mg/kg were administered. 20% of the animals at a dose of 0.006 mg/kg and 0.036 mg/kg showed mild degrees of hydropic changes in proximal tubules while 10% of animals at all the doses had their liver tissues showing local areas of mild pericentral hepatocytes degeneration. PHMGH did not produce any major organ defect with regard to the kidney, heart, and liver. The LD(50) was much higher than the recommended dosage by a factor of about 50,000. The recommended residual concentration is far less than the median lethal dose using rats as test subjects. These results could serve as a basis for investigating the full toxicological profile if it is to be used for the treatment of raw water to make it potable. © The Author(s) 2014.

Recommendations for pacemaker implantation for the treatment of atrial tachyarrhythmias and resynchronisation therapy for heart failure

Science.gov (United States)

van Hemel, N.M.; Dijkman, B.; de Voogt, W.G.; Beukema, W.P.; Bosker, H.A.; de Cock, C.C.; Jordaens, L.J.L.M.; van Gelder, I.C.; van Gelder, L.M.; van Mechelen, R.; Ruiter, J.H.; Sedney, M.I.; Slegers, L.C.

2004-01-01

Today, new pacing algorithms and stimulation methods for the prevention and interruption of atrial tachyarrhythmias can be applied on patients who need bradycardia pacing for conventional reasons. In addition, biventricular pacing as additive treatment for patients with severe congestive heart failure due to ventricular systolic dysfunction and prolonged intraventricular conduction has shown to improve symptoms and reduce hospital admissions. These new pacing technologies and the optimising of the pacing programmes are complex, expensive and time-consuming. Based on many clinical studies the indications for these devices are beginning to emerge. To support the cardiologist's decision-making and to prevent waste of effort and resources, the 'ad hoc committee' has provided preliminary recommendations for implantable devices to treat atrial tachyarrhythmias and to extend the treatment of congestive heart failure respectively. PMID:25696255

National Recommended Water Quality Criteria

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The National Recommended Water Quality Criteria is a compilation of national recommended water quality criteria for the protection of aquatic life and human health...

From micronutrient recommendations to policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Timotijevic, Lada; Raats, Monique M.; Barnett, Julie

2010-01-01

towards achieving a greater link between micronutrient recommendations and behaviour. This study aims to examine the rationale and processes associated with consumer and stakeholder involvement in setting micronutrient recommendations across Europe. Subjects/Methods: Using the contacts established through......Background/Objectives: To achieve the nutritional goals stipulated by micronutrient recommendations, greater attention must be paid to the behavioural routes to such nutritional outcomes. Coopting stakeholders and consumers into decisions regarding micronutrient recommendations is an important step...... countries and its effect on final decisions. Stakeholders were not involved at the outset of the process ('framing' of the problem) in any of the countries, and there was no evidence of consumer involvement and open public fora. Conclusions: Some of the key explanatory factors for diversity in the degree...

Cryptographically-Enhanced Privacy for Recommender Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jeckmans, Arjan

2014-01-01

Automated recommender systems are used to help people find interesting content or persons in the vast amount of information available via the internet. There are different types of recommender systems, for example collaborative filtering systems and content-based recommender systems. However, all

Great Explanations: Opinionated Explanations for Recommendation

OpenAIRE

Muhammad, Khalil; Lawlor, Aonghus; Rafter, Rachael; Smyth, Barry

2015-01-01

Explaining recommendations helps users to make better, more satisfying decisions. We describe a novel approach to explanation for recommender systems, one that drives the recommendation process, while at the same time providing the user with useful insights into the reason why items have been chosen and the trade-os they may need to consider when making their choice. We describe this approach in the context ofa case-based recommender system that harnesses opinions mined from user-generated re...

RECOMMENDER SYSTEMS IN E-COMMERCE APPLICATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gyöngyvér KOVÁCS

2016-12-01

Full Text Available One of the major problem with online shopping is finingd the right product, because finding the right product presumes that we know its name, but in most cases it is not so. For this reason the users need help in the process of online searching/shopping. Recommender systems have became a popular technique and strategy for helping users to select desirable products or services. In the past few years the recommender systems have changed from novelties used by a few big e-commerce sites, to serious business tools that are re-shaping the world of e-commerce. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of the classification of recommendation systems based on technology used to create recommendations, and inputs they need from the customers. Furthermore we analyze a few algorithms used by recommender systems and we will also present some marketing recommender systems and their comparative analysis.

Paired analyst recommendations and internet IPOs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Goot, T.; van Giersbergen, N.

2008-01-01

The paper investigates analyst recommendations for internet firms that went public during 1997-2000. Our contribution to the literature is that we match recommendations for the same firm issued by different investment banks that have published the recommendations in an interval around the same date.

Archetypal Game Recommender Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sifa, Rafet; Bauckhage, C.; Drachen, Anders

2014-01-01

Contemporary users (players, consumers) of digital games have thousands of products to choose from, which makes nding games that t their interests challenging. Towards addressing this challenge, in this paper two dierent formulations of Archetypal Analysis for Top-L recommender tasks using implicit...... feedback are presented: factor- and neighborhood-oriented models. These form the rst application of rec- ommender systems to digital games. Both models are tested on a dataset of 500,000 users of the game distribution platform Steam, covering game ownership and playtime data across more than 3000 games....... Compared to four other recommender models (nearest neighbor, two popularity mod- els, random baseline), the archetype based models provide the highest recall rates showing that Archetypal Analysis can be successfully applied for Top-L recommendation purposes...

Uncovering the information core in recommender systems

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Wei; Zeng, An; Liu, Hao; Shang, Ming-Sheng; Zhou, Tao

2014-08-01

With the rapid growth of the Internet and overwhelming amount of information that people are confronted with, recommender systems have been developed to effectively support users' decision-making process in online systems. So far, much attention has been paid to designing new recommendation algorithms and improving existent ones. However, few works considered the different contributions from different users to the performance of a recommender system. Such studies can help us improve the recommendation efficiency by excluding irrelevant users. In this paper, we argue that in each online system there exists a group of core users who carry most of the information for recommendation. With them, the recommender systems can already generate satisfactory recommendation. Our core user extraction method enables the recommender systems to achieve 90% of the accuracy of the top-L recommendation by taking only 20% of the users into account. A detailed investigation reveals that these core users are not necessarily the large-degree users. Moreover, they tend to select high quality objects and their selections are well diversified.

Recommended Vaccines for Healthcare Workers

Science.gov (United States)

... Vaccination Resources for Healthcare Professionals Recommended Vaccines for Healthcare Workers Recommend on Facebook Tweet Share Compartir On ... for More Information Resources for Those Vaccinating HCWs Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at risk for exposure to ...

Exploratory shaft facility preliminary designs - Gulf Interior Region salt domes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-09-01

The purpose of the Preliminary Design Report, Gulf Interior Region, is to provide a description of the preliminary design for an Exploratory Shaft Facility on the Richton Dome, Mississippi. This issue of the report describes the preliminary design for constructing the exploratory shaft using the Large Hole Drilling method of construction and outlines the preliminary design and estimates of probable construction cost. The Preliminary Design Report is prepared to complement and summarize other documents that comprise the design at the preliminary stage of completion, December 1982. Other design documents include drawings, cost estimates and schedules. The preliminary design drawing package, which includes the construction schedule drawing, depicts the descriptions in this report. For reference, a list of the drawing titles and corresponding numbers are included in the Appendix. The report is divided into three principal sections: Design Basis, Facility Description and Construction Cost Estimate

Recommender Systems for the Social Web

CERN Document Server

Pazos Arias, José J; Díaz Redondo, Rebeca P

2012-01-01

The recommendation of products, content and services cannot be considered newly born, although its widespread application is still in full swing. While its growing success in numerous sectors, the progress of the  Social Web has revolutionized the architecture of participation and relationship in the Web, making it necessary to restate recommendation and reconciling it with Collaborative Tagging, as the popularization of authoring in the Web, and  Social Networking, as the translation of personal relationships to the Web. Precisely, the convergence of recommendation with the above Social Web pillars is what motivates this book, which has collected contributions from well-known experts in the academy and the industry to provide a broader view of the problems that Social Recommenders might face with.  If recommender systems have proven their key role in facilitating the user access to resources on the Web, when sharing resources has become social, it is natural for recommendation strategies in the Social Web...

A Group Recommender System for Tourist Activities

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, Inma; Sebastia, Laura; Onaindia, Eva; Guzman, Cesar

This paper introduces a method for giving recommendations of tourist activities to a group of users. This method makes recommendations based on the group tastes, their demographic classification and the places visited by the users in former trips. The group recommendation is computed from individual personal recommendations through the use of techniques such as aggregation, intersection or incremental intersection. This method is implemented as an extension of the e-Tourism tool, which is a user-adapted tourism and leisure application, whose main component is the Generalist Recommender System Kernel (GRSK), a domain-independent taxonomy-driven search engine that manages the group recommendation.

Decision-Guided Recommenders with Composite Alternatives

Science.gov (United States)

Alodhaibi, Khalid

2011-01-01

Recommender systems aim to support users in their decision-making process while interacting with large information spaces and recommend items of interest to users based on preferences they have expressed, either explicitly or implicitly. Recommender systems are increasingly used with product and service selection over the Internet. Although…

From recommendation to action: psychosocial factors influencing physician intention to use Health Technology Assessment (HTA recommendations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sánchez Emília

2006-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Evaluating the impact of recommendations based upon health technology assessment (HTA represents a challenge for both HTA agencies and healthcare policy-makers. Using a psychosocial theoretical framework, this study aimed at exploring the factors affecting physician intention to adopt HTA recommendations. The selected recommendations were prioritisation systems for patients on waiting lists for two surgical procedures: hip and knee replacement and cataract surgery. Methods Determinants of physician intention to use HTA recommendations for patient prioritisation were assessed by a questionnaire based upon the Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour. A total of 96 physicians from two medical specialties (ophthalmology and orthopaedic surgery responded to the questionnaire (response rate 44.2%. A multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA was performed to assess differences between medical specialties on the set of theoretical variables. Given the main effect difference between specialties, two regression models were tested separately to assess the psychosocial determinants of physician intention to use HTA recommendations for the prioritisation of patients on waiting lists for surgical procedures. Results Factors influencing physician intention to use HTA recommendations differ between groups of specialists. Intention to use the prioritisation system for patients on waiting lists for cataract surgery among ophthalmologists was related to attitude towards the behaviour, social norms, as well as personal normative beliefs. Intention to use HTA recommendations for patient prioritisation for hip and knee replacement among orthopaedic surgeons was explained by: perception of conditions that facilitated the realisation of the behaviour, personal normative beliefs, and habit of using HTA recommendations in clinical work. Conclusion This study offers a model to assess factors influencing the intention to adopt recommendations from health

Improving integration and coordination of funding, technical assistance, and reporting/data collection: recommendations from CDC and USAPI stakeholders.

Science.gov (United States)

Ka'opua, Lana Sue I; White, Susan F; Rochester, Phyllis F; Holden, Debra J

2011-03-01

Current US Federal funding mechanisms may foster program silos that disable sharing of resources and information across programs within a larger system of public health services. Such silos present challenges to USAPI communities where human resources, health infrastructure, and health financing are limited. Integrative and coordinated approaches have been recommended. The CDC Pacific Islands Integration and Coordination project was initiated by the CDC Division of Cancer Prevention and Control (DCPC). The project aim was to identify ways for the CDC to collaborate with the USAPI in improving CDC activities and processes related to chronic disease. This article focuses on recommendations for improving coordination and integration in three core areas of health services programming: funding, program reporting/data collection and analysis, and technical assistance. Preliminary information on challenges and issues relevant to the core areas was gathered through site visits, focus groups, key informant interviews, and other sources. This information was used by stakeholder groups from the CDC and the USAPI to develop recommendations in the core programming areas. Recommendations generated at the CDC and USAPI stakeholder meetings were prepared into a single set of recommendations and stakeholders reviewed the document for accuracy prior to its dissemination to CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion programs management and staff. Key recommendations, include: (1) consideration of resources and other challenges unique to the USAPI when reviewing funding applications, (2) consideration of ways to increase flexibility in USAPI use of program funds, (3) dedication of funding and human resources for technical assistance, (4) provision of opportunities for capacity-building across programs and jurisdictions, (5) consideration of ways to more directly link program reporting with technical assistance. This project provided a unique opportunity

The Definition of Novelty in Recommendation System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Zhang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available With the development of information technology and application of the Internet, People gradually entered the time of information overload from information scarcity. User satisfaction with recommender systems is related not only to how accurately the system recommends but also to how much it supports the user’s decision making. Novelty is one of the important metrics of customer satisfaction. There is an increasing realization in the Recommender Systems (RS field that novelty is fundamental qualities of recommendation effectiveness and added-value. This paper combed research results about definition and algorithm of novel recommendation, and starting from the meaning of "novel", defined novelty of item in recommendation system. Experiment proved using the definition of novelty to recommend can effectively recognize the item that the user is familiar with and ensure certain accuracy.

An Agent Framework of Tourism Recommender System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jia Zhi Yang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes the development of an Agent framework for tourism recommender system. The recommender system can be featured as an online web application which is capable of generating a personalized list of preference attractions for tourists. Traditional technologies of classical recommender system application domains, such as collaborative filtering, content-based filtering and content-based filtering are effectively adopted in the framework. In the framework they are constructed as Agents that can generate recommendations respectively. Recommender Agent can generate recommender information by integrating the recommendations of Content-based Agent, collaborative filtering-based Agent and constraint-based Agent. In order to make the performance more effective, linear combination method of data fusion is applied. User interface is provided by the tourist Agent in form of webpages and mobile app.

Preliminary study of PCBs in raccoons living on or near the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Kentucky

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Halbrook, Richard S. [Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale, IL (United States). Dept. of Zoology. Cooperative Wildlife Research Lab. Kentucky Research Consortium for Energy and Environment

2016-01-15

The “Ecological Monitoring at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant: Historical Evaluation and Guidelines for Future Monitoring” report (Halbrook, et al. 2007) recommended the raccoon as a species for study at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP). This species was selected to fill data gaps in ecological resources and provide resource managers with knowledge that will be valuable in making decisions and implementing specific actions to safeguard ecological resources and reduce human exposure. The current paper reports results of a preliminary evaluation to establish protocols for collection of tissues and initial screening of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in raccoons collected near the PGDP. These data are useful in developing future more comprehensive studies.

Options for maintaining forest productivity after natural disturbance: A principal–agent approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bogle, T.; Kooten, van G.C.

2013-01-01

Historically, British Columbia mandated silvicultural outcomes on public forestland because timber had a sufficiently high value to produce high resource rents. The mountain pine beetle altered the value of pine, reducing rents and impacting the silvicultural re-imbursement of regulated practices.

Status of Progress Made Toward Preliminary Design Concepts for the Inventory in Select Media for DOE-Managed HLW/SNF

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matteo, Edward N. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Hardin, Ernest L. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Hadgu, Teklu [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Park, Heeho Daniel [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Rigali, Mark J. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Jove-Colon, Carlos F. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2016-09-30

As the title suggests, this report provides a summary of the status and progress for the Preliminary Design Concepts Work Package. Described herein are design concepts and thermal analysis for crystalline and salt host media. The report concludes that thermal management of defense waste, including the relatively small subset of high thermal output waste packages, is readily achievable. Another important conclusion pertains to engineering feasibility, and design concepts presented herein are based upon established and existing elements and/or designs. The multipack configuration options for the crystalline host media pose the greatest engineering challenges, as these designs involve large, heavy waste packages that pose specific challenges with respect to handling and emplacement. Defense-related Spent Nuclear Fuel (DSNF) presents issues for post-closure criticality control, and a key recommendation made herein relates to the need for special packaging design that includes neutron-absorbing material for the DSNF. Lastly, this report finds that the preliminary design options discussed are tenable for operational and post-closure safety, owing to the fact that these concepts have been derived from other published and well-studied repository designs.

Therapy Decision Support Based on Recommender System Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Gräßer, Felix; Beckert, Stefanie; Küster, Denise; Schmitt, Jochen; Abraham, Susanne; Malberg, Hagen; Zaunseder, Sebastian

2017-01-01

We present a system for data-driven therapy decision support based on techniques from the field of recommender systems. Two methods for therapy recommendation, namely, Collaborative Recommender and Demographic-based Recommender , are proposed. Both algorithms aim to predict the individual response to different therapy options using diverse patient data and recommend the therapy which is assumed to provide the best outcome for a specific patient and time, that is, consultation. The proposed methods are evaluated using a clinical database incorporating patients suffering from the autoimmune skin disease psoriasis. The Collaborative Recommender proves to generate both better outcome predictions and recommendation quality. However, due to sparsity in the data, this approach cannot provide recommendations for the entire database. In contrast, the Demographic-based Recommender performs worse on average but covers more consultations. Consequently, both methods profit from a combination into an overall recommender system.

46 CFR 176.635 - Preliminary examination requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Preliminary examination requirements. 176.635 Section... (UNDER 100 GROSS TONS) INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION Hull and Tailshaft Examinations § 176.635 Preliminary examination requirements. (a) If you exclusively use divers to examine the underwater hull plating, you must...

12 CFR 13.4 - Recommendations to customers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Recommendations to customers. 13.4 Section 13.4... PRACTICES § 13.4 Recommendations to customers. In recommending to a customer the purchase, sale or exchange... reasonable grounds for believing that the recommendation is suitable for the customer upon the basis of the...

Preference-Based Recommendations for OLAP Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Jerbi, Houssem; Ravat, Franck; Teste, Olivier; Zurfluh, Gilles

This paper presents a framework for integrating OLAP and recommendations. We focus on the anticipatory recommendation process that assists the user during his OLAP analysis by proposing to him the forthcoming analysis step. We present a context-aware preference model that matches decision-makers intuition, and we discuss a preference-based approach for generating personalized recommendations.

Preliminary results of steel containment vessel model test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsumoto, T.; Komine, K.; Arai, S.

1997-01-01

A high pressure test of a mixed-scaled model (1:10 in geometry and 1:4 in shell thickness) of a steel containment vessel (SCV), representing an improved boiling water reactor (BWR) Mark II containment, was conducted on December 11-12, 1996 at Sandia National Laboratories. This paper describes the preliminary results of the high pressure test. In addition, the preliminary post-test measurement data and the preliminary comparison of test data with pretest analysis predictions are also presented

Therapy Decision Support Based on Recommender System Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felix Gräßer

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We present a system for data-driven therapy decision support based on techniques from the field of recommender systems. Two methods for therapy recommendation, namely, Collaborative Recommender and Demographic-based Recommender, are proposed. Both algorithms aim to predict the individual response to different therapy options using diverse patient data and recommend the therapy which is assumed to provide the best outcome for a specific patient and time, that is, consultation. The proposed methods are evaluated using a clinical database incorporating patients suffering from the autoimmune skin disease psoriasis. The Collaborative Recommender proves to generate both better outcome predictions and recommendation quality. However, due to sparsity in the data, this approach cannot provide recommendations for the entire database. In contrast, the Demographic-based Recommender performs worse on average but covers more consultations. Consequently, both methods profit from a combination into an overall recommender system.

Technetium removal: preliminary flowsheet options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eager, K.M.

1995-01-01

This document presents the results of a preliminary investigation into options for preliminary flowsheets for 99Tc removal from Hanford Site tank waste. A model is created to show the path of 99Tc through pretreatment to disposal. The Tank Waste Remediation (TWRS) flowsheet (Orme 1995) is used as a baseline. Ranges of important inputs to the model are developed, such as 99Tc inventory in the tanks and important splits through the TWRS flowsheet. Several technetium removal options are discussed along with sensitivities of the removal schemes to important model parameters

Teacher Leadership: Federal Policy Recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

Gran, Jackie; Young, Margaret; Broin, Alexandra

2015-01-01

This policy brief was developed specifically for federal policymakers, and builds upon the policy recommendations included in "Leading from Every Seat: Empowering Principals to Cultivate Teacher Leadership for School Improvement." The recommendations in this report include the following: (1) Uncover New Leadership Ideas and Seed…

ISFG: Recommendations on biostatistics in paternity testing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gjertson, David W; Brenner, Charles H; Baur, Max P

2007-01-01

The Paternity Testing Commission (PTC) of the International Society for Forensic Genetics has taken up the task of establishing the biostatistical recommendations in accordance with the ISO 17025 standards and a previous set of ISFG recommendations specific to the genetic investigations...... in paternity cases. In the initial set, the PTC recommended that biostatistical evaluations of paternity are based on a likelihood ratio principle - yielding the paternity index, PI. Here, we have made five supplementary biostatistical recommendations. The first recommendation clarifies and defines basic...... concepts of genetic hypotheses and calculation concerns needed to produce valid PIs. The second and third recommendations address issues associated with population genetics (allele probabilities, Y-chromosome markers, mtDNA, and population substructuring) and special circumstances (deficiency...

The ICRP 2007 recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Streffer, C.

2007-01-01

The last comprehensive International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommendations have been published in 1991(1). Since that time new data in physics and biology that are relevant for radiological protection have appeared in the scientific literature. Also, the general thinking about safety standards at the workplace as well as for the protection of the public has developed. Thus, a review of the recommendations is needed. However, as the present standards have worked well, these new recommendations should build on the present ones. Only a process of further development should take place allowing for the following key points: - new biological and physical information and trends in the setting of safety standards; - improvement in the presentation of the recommendations; as much stability in the recommendations as is consistent with the new information and environmental aspects will be included. The fundamental principles of radiological protection will remain the same as they have been described in ICRP publication 60(1): Justification: Actions involving new exposures or changes in exposures of individuals have to be justified in advance. A positive net benefit must result. Optimisation: Exposures should be as low as reasonably achievable and should be optimised in relation to with dose constraints. Dose limits: The values will not to be changed from Publication 60. Dose constraints: Development of the concept proposed in Publication 60 will be explained. The ICRP Committees have prepared foundation documents in the fields for which they are responsible and their members have the corresponding expertise. These foundation documents will support the decisions and explain the various statements of the Main Commission in a broader sense. Some of them will be published as Annexes to the recommendations (Annex A: Biological and Epidemiological Information on Health Risks Attributable to Ionising Radiation; Annex B: Quantities used in Radiological

The ICRP 2007 recommendations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Streffer, C. [Chairman of ICRP Committee 2, Institute of Science and Ethics, University Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen (Germany)

2007-07-01

The last comprehensive International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommendations have been published in 1991(1). Since that time new data in physics and biology that are relevant for radiological protection have appeared in the scientific literature. Also, the general thinking about safety standards at the workplace as well as for the protection of the public has developed. Thus, a review of the recommendations is needed. However, as the present standards have worked well, these new recommendations should build on the present ones. Only a process of further development should take place allowing for the following key points: - new biological and physical information and trends in the setting of safety standards; - improvement in the presentation of the recommendations; as much stability in the recommendations as is consistent with the new information and environmental aspects will be included. The fundamental principles of radiological protection will remain the same as they have been described in ICRP publication 60(1): Justification: Actions involving new exposures or changes in exposures of individuals have to be justified in advance. A positive net benefit must result. Optimisation: Exposures should be as low as reasonably achievable and should be optimised in relation to with dose constraints. Dose limits: The values will not to be changed from Publication 60. Dose constraints: Development of the concept proposed in Publication 60 will be explained. The ICRP Committees have prepared foundation documents in the fields for which they are responsible and their members have the corresponding expertise. These foundation documents will support the decisions and explain the various statements of the Main Commission in a broader sense. Some of them will be published as Annexes to the recommendations (Annex A: Biological and Epidemiological Information on Health Risks Attributable to Ionising Radiation; Annex B: Quantities used in Radiological

7 CFR 1780.55 - Preliminary engineering reports and Environmental Reports.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Preliminary engineering reports and Environmental..., Designing, Bidding, Contracting, Constructing and Inspections § 1780.55 Preliminary engineering reports and Environmental Reports. Preliminary engineering reports (PERs) must conform to customary professional standards...

Preliminary Context Analysis of Community Informatics Social ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Preliminary context analysis is always part of the feasibility study phase in the development of information system for Community Development (CD) purposes. In this paper, a context model and a preliminary context analysis are presented for Social Network Web Application (SNWA) for CD in the Niger Delta region of ...

Data Center Energy Efficiency Standards in India: Preliminary Findings from Global Practices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Raje, Sanyukta; Maan, Hermant; Ganguly, Suprotim; Singh, Tanvin; Jayaram, Nisha; Ghatikar, Girish; Greenberg, Steve; Kumar, Satish; Sartor, Dale

2015-06-01

Global data center energy consumption is growing rapidly. In India, information technology industry growth, fossil-fuel generation, and rising energy prices add significant operational costs and carbon emissions from energy-intensive data centers. Adoption of energy-efficient practices can improve the global competitiveness and sustainability of data centers in India. Previous studies have concluded that advancement of energy efficiency standards through policy and regulatory mechanisms is the fastest path to accelerate the adoption of energy-efficient practices in the Indian data centers. In this study, we reviewed data center energy efficiency practices in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Using evaluation metrics, we identified an initial set of energy efficiency standards applicable to the Indian context using the existing policy mechanisms. These preliminary findings support next steps to recommend energy efficiency standards and inform policy makers on strategies to adopt energy-efficient technologies and practices in Indian data centers.

A general framework for intelligent recommender systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jose Aguilar

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a general framework for an intelligent recommender system that extends the concept of a knowledge-based recommender system. The intelligent recommender system exploits knowledge, learns, discovers new information, infers preferences and criticisms, among other things. For that, the framework of an intelligent recommender system is defined by the following components: knowledge representation paradigm, learning methods, and reasoning mechanisms. Additionally, it has five knowledge models about the different aspects that we can consider during a recommendation: users, items, domain, context and criticisms. The mix of the components exploits the knowledge, updates it and infers, among other things. In this work, we implement one intelligent recommender system based on this framework, using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs. Next, we test the performance of the intelligent recommender system with specialized criteria linked to the utilization of the knowledge in order to test the versatility and performance of the framework.

45 CFR 1616.4 - Recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... recipient shall similarly notify and seek recommendations from other organizations, deemed appropriate by the recipient, that have knowledge of the legal needs of persons in the community unable to afford... § 1616.4 Recommendations. (a) Before filling an attorney position, a recipient shall notify the organized...

Multirelational Social Recommendations via Multigraph Ranking.

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Mingsong; Lu, Jie; Zhang, Guangquan; Zhang, Jinlong

2017-12-01

Recommender systems aim to identify relevant items for particular users in large-scale online applications. The historical rating data of users is a valuable input resource for many recommendation models such as collaborative filtering (CF), but these models are known to suffer from the rating sparsity problem when the users or items under consideration have insufficient rating records. With the continued growth of online social networks, the increased user-to-user relationships are reported to be helpful and can alleviate the CF rating sparsity problem. Although researchers have developed a range of social network-based recommender systems, there is no unified model to handle multirelational social networks. To address this challenge, this paper represents different user relationships in a multigraph and develops a multigraph ranking model to identify and recommend the nearest neighbors of particular users in high-order environments. We conduct empirical experiments on two real-world datasets: 1) Epinions and 2) Last.fm, and the comprehensive comparison with other approaches demonstrates that our model improves recommendation performance in terms of both recommendation coverage and accuracy, especially when the rating data are sparse.

RECOMMENDER SYSTEMS IN SOCIAL NETWORKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cleomar Valois Batista Jr

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The continued and diversified growth of social networks has changed the way in which users interact with them. With these changes, what once was limited to social contact is now used for exchanging ideas and opinions, creating the need for new features. Users have so much information at their fingertips that they are unable to process it by themselves; hence, the need to develop new tools. Recommender systems were developed to address this need and many techniques were used for different approaches to the problem. To make relevant recommendations, these systems use large sets of data, not taking the social network of the user into consideration. Developing a recommender system that takes into account the social network of the user is another way of tackling the problem. The purpose of this project is to use the theory of six degrees of separation (Watts 2003 amongst users of a social network to enhance existing recommender systems.

Effects of group-selection timber harvest in bottomland hardwoods on fall migrant birds

Science.gov (United States)

John C. Kilgo; Karl V. Miller; Winston P. Smith

1999-01-01

Due to projected demands for hardwood timber, development of silvicultural practices that provide for adequate regeneration in southeastern bottomland hardwoods without causing undue harm to wildlife resources is critical. Group-selection silviculture involves harvesting a small group of trees, which creates a canopy gap (usually

Preliminary Hazard Classification for the 105-B Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kerr, N.R.

1997-08-01

This document summarizes the inventories of radioactive and hazardous materials present within the 105-B Reactor and uses the inventory information to determine the preliminary hazard classification for the surveillance and maintenance activities of the facility. The result of this effort was the preliminary hazard classification for the 105-B Building surveillance and maintenance activities. The preliminary hazard classification was determined to be Nuclear Category 3. Additional hazard and accident analysis will be documented in a separate report to define the hazard controls and final hazard classification

The new ICRP general recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasaki, Y.; Lochard, J.; Holm, L.E.; Niwa, O.; Ishigure, N.; Kosako, T.; Kai, M.

2007-01-01

The new draft ICRP recommendations was presented by the ICRP chair, Professor Lars-Eric Holm. His presentation was followed by presentations by Japanese members of the various (CRP committees, discussing their views of the draft recommendations based on their own technical experience. After these presentations, questions from the floor raised many of the key issues of the conference: dose constrains, the LNT hypothesis, dose bands, etc. This showed that the conference participants had carefully and completely read the draft, and were very interested in building a final ICRP recommendation that appropriately addresses all their concerns. These issues were also discussed throughout the entire conference. (author)

Do recommender systems benefit users? a modeling approach

Science.gov (United States)

Yeung, Chi Ho

2016-04-01

Recommender systems are present in many web applications to guide purchase choices. They increase sales and benefit sellers, but whether they benefit customers by providing relevant products remains less explored. While in many cases the recommended products are relevant to users, in other cases customers may be tempted to purchase the products only because they are recommended. Here we introduce a model to examine the benefit of recommender systems for users, and find that recommendations from the system can be equivalent to random draws if one always follows the recommendations and seldom purchases according to his or her own preference. Nevertheless, with sufficient information about user preferences, recommendations become accurate and an abrupt transition to this accurate regime is observed for some of the studied algorithms. On the other hand, we find that high estimated accuracy indicated by common accuracy metrics is not necessarily equivalent to high real accuracy in matching users with products. This disagreement between estimated and real accuracy serves as an alarm for operators and researchers who evaluate recommender systems merely with accuracy metrics. We tested our model with a real dataset and observed similar behaviors. Finally, a recommendation approach with improved accuracy is suggested. These results imply that recommender systems can benefit users, but the more frequently a user purchases the recommended products, the less relevant the recommended products are in matching user taste.

Nuclear Security Recommendations on Nuclear and Other Radioactive Material out of Regulatory Control: Recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

This publication presents recommendations for the nuclear security of nuclear and other radioactive material that is out of regulatory control. It is based on national experiences and practices and guidance publications in the field of security as well as the nuclear security related international instruments. The recommendations include guidance for States with regard to the nuclear security of nuclear and other radioactive material that has been reported as being out of regulatory control as well as for material that is lost, missing or stolen but has not been reported as such, or has been otherwise discovered. In addition, these recommendations adhere to the detection and assessment of alarms and alerts and to a graded response to criminal or unauthorized acts with nuclear security implications

Probabilistic approaches to recommendations

CERN Document Server

Barbieri, Nicola; Ritacco, Ettore

2014-01-01

The importance of accurate recommender systems has been widely recognized by academia and industry, and recommendation is rapidly becoming one of the most successful applications of data mining and machine learning. Understanding and predicting the choices and preferences of users is a challenging task: real-world scenarios involve users behaving in complex situations, where prior beliefs, specific tendencies, and reciprocal influences jointly contribute to determining the preferences of users toward huge amounts of information, services, and products. Probabilistic modeling represents a robus

Promoting cold-start items in recommender systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jin-Hu; Zhou, Tao; Zhang, Zi-Ke; Yang, Zimo; Liu, Chuang; Li, Wei-Min

2014-01-01

As one of the major challenges, cold-start problem plagues nearly all recommender systems. In particular, new items will be overlooked, impeding the development of new products online. Given limited resources, how to utilize the knowledge of recommender systems and design efficient marketing strategy for new items is extremely important. In this paper, we convert this ticklish issue into a clear mathematical problem based on a bipartite network representation. Under the most widely used algorithm in real e-commerce recommender systems, the so-called item-based collaborative filtering, we show that to simply push new items to active users is not a good strategy. Interestingly, experiments on real recommender systems indicate that to connect new items with some less active users will statistically yield better performance, namely, these new items will have more chance to appear in other users' recommendation lists. Further analysis suggests that the disassortative nature of recommender systems contributes to such observation. In a word, getting in-depth understanding on recommender systems could pave the way for the owners to popularize their cold-start products with low costs.

Promoting Cold-Start Items in Recommender Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jin-Hu; Zhou, Tao; Zhang, Zi-Ke; Yang, Zimo; Liu, Chuang; Li, Wei-Min

2014-01-01

As one of the major challenges, cold-start problem plagues nearly all recommender systems. In particular, new items will be overlooked, impeding the development of new products online. Given limited resources, how to utilize the knowledge of recommender systems and design efficient marketing strategy for new items is extremely important. In this paper, we convert this ticklish issue into a clear mathematical problem based on a bipartite network representation. Under the most widely used algorithm in real e-commerce recommender systems, the so-called item-based collaborative filtering, we show that to simply push new items to active users is not a good strategy. Interestingly, experiments on real recommender systems indicate that to connect new items with some less active users will statistically yield better performance, namely, these new items will have more chance to appear in other users' recommendation lists. Further analysis suggests that the disassortative nature of recommender systems contributes to such observation. In a word, getting in-depth understanding on recommender systems could pave the way for the owners to popularize their cold-start products with low costs. PMID:25479013

Space reactor preliminary mechanical design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meier, K.L.

1983-01-01

An analysis was performed on the SABRE reactor space power system to determine the effect of the number and size of heat pipes on the design parameters of the nuclear subsystem. Small numbers of thin walled heat pipes were found to give a lower subsystem mass, but excessive fuel swelling resulted. The SP-100 preliminary design uses 120 heat pipes because of acceptable fuel swelling and a minimum nuclear subsystem mass of 1875 kg. Salient features of the reactor preliminary design are: individual fuel modules, ZrO 2 block core mounts, bolted collar fuel module restraints, and a BeO central plug

A bottom-up approach to MEDLINE indexing recommendations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jimeno-Yepes, Antonio; Wilkowski, Bartlomiej; Mork, James/G

2011-01-01

in which the abstract is searched for indicators for a specific MeSH recommendation in a two-step process. Supervised machine learning combined with triage rules improves sensitivity of recommendations while keeping the number of recommended terms relatively small. Improvement in recommendations observed...... in this work warrants further exploration of this approach to MTI recommendations on a larger set of MeSH headings....

Safety of high speed ground transportation systems: X2000 US demonstration vehicle dynamics trials, preliminary test report. Report for October 1992-January 1993

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Whitten, B.T.; Kesler, J.K.

1993-01-01

The report documents the procedures, events, and results of vehicle dynamic tests carried out on the ASEA-Brown Boveri (ABB) X2000 tilt body trainset in the US between October 1992 and January 1993. These tests, sponsored by Amtrak and supported by the FRA, were conducted to assess the suitability of the X2000 trainset for safe operation at elevated cant deficiencies and speeds in Amtrak's Northeast Corridor under existing track conditions in a revenue service demonstration. The report describes the safety criteria against which the performance of the X2000 test train was examined, the instrumentation used, the test locations, and the track conditions. Preliminary results are presented from tests conducted on Amtrak lines between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, PA, and between Washington DC and New York NY, in which cant deficiencies of 12.5 inches and speeds of 154 mph were reached in a safe and controlled manner. The significance of the results is discussed, and preliminary conclusions and recommendations are presented.

Preliminary Analysis and Selection of Mooring Solution Candidates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Jonas Bjerg; Delaney, Martin

This report covers a preliminary analysis of mooring solutions candidates for four large floating wave energy converters. The work is part of the EUDP project “Mooring Solutions for Large Wave Energy Converters” and is the outcome of "Work Package 3: Preliminary Analysis". The report further...... compose the "Milestone 4: Report on results of preliminary analysis and selection of final candidates. The report is produced by Aalborg University with input from the partner WECs Floating Power Plant, KNSwing, LEANCON and Wave Dragon. Tension Technology International (TTI) has provided a significant...

Preliminary Assessment of Potential Avian Interactions at Four Proposed Wind Energy Facilities on Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2004-08-01

The United States Air Force (USAF) is investigating whether to install wind turbines to provide a supplemental source of electricity at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) near Lompoc, California. As part of that investigation, VAFB sought assistance from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to provide a preliminary characterization of the potential risk to wildlife resources (mainly birds and bats) from wind turbine installations. With wind power development expanding throughout North America and Europe, concerns have surfaced over the number of bird fatalities associated with wind turbines. Guidelines developed for the wind industry by the National Wind Coordinating Committee (NWCC) recommend assessing potential impacts to birds, bats, and other potentially sensitive resources before construction. The primary purpose of an assessment is to identify potential conflicts with sensitive resources, to assist developers with identifying their permitting needs, and to develop strategies to avoid impacts or to mitigate their effects. This report provides a preliminary (Phase I) biological assessment of potential impacts to birds and bats that might result from construction and operation of the proposed wind energy facilities on VAFB.

Explaining the user experience of recommender systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Knijnenburg, B.P.; Willemsen, M.C.; Gantner, Z.; Soncu, H.; Newell, C.

2012-01-01

Research on recommender systems typically focuses on the accuracy of prediction algorithms. Because accuracy only partially constitutes the user experience of a recommender system, this paper proposes a framework that takes a user-centric approach to recommender system evaluation. The framework

ICRS Recommendation Document

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roos, Ewa M.; Engelhart, Luella; Ranstam, Jonas

2011-01-01

and function evaluated for validity and psychometric properties in patients with articular cartilage lesions. Results: The knee-specific instruments, titled the International Knee Documentation Committee Subjective Knee Form and the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis and Outcome Score, both fulfill the basic......Abstract Objective: The purpose of this article is to describe and recommend patient-reported outcome instruments for use in patients with articular cartilage lesions undergoing cartilage repair interventions. Methods: Nonsystematic literature search identifying measures addressing pain...... constructs at all levels according to the International Classification of Functioning. Conclusions: Because there is no obvious superiority of either instrument at this time, both outcome measures are recommended for use in cartilage repair. Rescaling of the Lysholm Scoring Scale has been suggested...

Current Trends in Radiation Protection Recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomaa, M.A.

2008-01-01

The third generation of the ICRP recommendations was adopted in April 2007. The recommendations rely on situations (planned, emergency and existing), individual (occupational, public and patient) and radiation protection system (justification, optimization and dose limits). In the present work attention is paid to discuss the new recommendations and role of IAEA in updating its Basic Safety Standards for protection against ionizing radiation and safety of radiation sources and its impact for the national regulations

Preliminary hazards analysis of thermal scrap stabilization system. Revision 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, W.S.

1994-01-01

This preliminary analysis examined the HA-21I glovebox and its supporting systems for potential process hazards. Upon further analysis, the thermal stabilization system has been installed in gloveboxes HC-21A and HC-21C. The use of HC-21C and HC-21A simplified the initial safety analysis. In addition, these gloveboxes were cleaner and required less modification for operation than glovebox HA-21I. While this document refers to glovebox HA-21I for the hazards analysis performed, glovebox HC-21C is sufficiently similar that the following analysis is also valid for HC-21C. This hazards analysis document is being re-released as revision 1 to include the updated flowsheet document (Appendix C) and the updated design basis (Appendix D). The revised Process Flow Schematic has also been included (Appendix E). This Current revision incorporates the recommendations provided from the original hazards analysis as well. The System Design Description (SDD) has also been appended (Appendix H) to document the bases for Safety Classification of thermal stabilization equipment

Preliminary studies to determine the shelf life of HEPA filters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gilbert, H.; Fretthold, J.K.; Rainer, F. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA (United States)] [and others

1995-02-01

We have completed a preliminary study using filter media tests and filter qualification tests to investigate the effect of shelf-life on HEPA filter performance. Our media studies showed that the tensile strength decreased with age, but the data were not sufficient to establish a shelf-life. Thermogravimetric analyses demonstrated that one manufacturer had media with low tensile strength due to insufficient binder. The filter qualification tests (heated air and overpressure) conducted on different aged filters showed that filter age is not the primary factor affecting filter performance; materials and the construction design have a greater effect. An unexpected finding of our study was that sub-standard HEPA filters have been installed in DOE facilities despite existing regulations and filter qualification tests. We found that the filter with low tensile strength failed the overpressure test. The same filter had passed the heated air test, but left the filter so structurally weak, it was prone to blow-out. We recommend that DOE initiate a filter qualification program to prevent this occurrence.

Research on personalized recommendation algorithm based on spark

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zeng; Liu, Yu

2018-04-01

With the increasing amount of data in the past years, the traditional recommendation algorithm has been unable to meet people's needs. Therefore, how to better recommend their products to users of interest, become the opportunities and challenges of the era of big data development. At present, each platform enterprise has its own recommendation algorithm, but how to make efficient and accurate push information is still an urgent problem for personalized recommendation system. In this paper, a hybrid algorithm based on user collaborative filtering and content-based recommendation algorithm is proposed on Spark to improve the efficiency and accuracy of recommendation by weighted processing. The experiment shows that the recommendation under this scheme is more efficient and accurate.

Ubiquitous Multicriteria Clinic Recommendation System.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Toly

2016-05-01

Advancements in information, communication, and sensor technologies have led to new opportunities in medical care and education. Patients in general prefer visiting the nearest clinic, attempt to avoid waiting for treatment, and have unequal preferences for different clinics and doctors. Therefore, to enable patients to compare multiple clinics, this study proposes a ubiquitous multicriteria clinic recommendation system. In this system, patients can send requests through their cell phones to the system server to obtain a clinic recommendation. Once the patient sends this information to the system, the system server first estimates the patient's speed according to the detection results of a global positioning system. It then applies a fuzzy integer nonlinear programming-ordered weighted average approach to assess four criteria and finally recommends a clinic with maximal utility to the patient. The proposed methodology was tested in a field experiment, and the experimental results showed that it is advantageous over two existing methods in elevating the utilities of recommendations. In addition, such an advantage was shown to be statistically significant.

Panorama of Recommender Systems to Support Learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Drachsler, Hendrik; Verbert, Katrien; Santos, Olga C.; Manouselis, Nikos

2015-01-01

This chapter presents an analysis of recommender systems in TechnologyEnhanced Learning along their 15 years existence (2000-2014). All recommender systems considered for the review aim to support educational stakeholders by personalising the learning process. In this meta-review 82 recommender

Recommendation System Based on Fuzzy Cognitive Map

OpenAIRE

Wei Liu; Linzhi Gao

2014-01-01

With the increase of data volume and visitor volume, the website faces great challenge in the environment of network. How to know the users’ requirements rapidly and effectively and recommend the required information to the user becomes the research direction of all websites. The researchers of recommendation system propose a series of recommendation system models and algorithms for the user. The common challenge faced by these algorithms is how to judge the user intention and recommend...

Recommender system based on scarce information mining.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Wei; Chung, Fu-Lai; Lai, Kunfeng; Zhang, Liang

2017-09-01

Guessing what user may like is now a typical interface for video recommendation. Nowadays, the highly popular user generated content sites provide various sources of information such as tags for recommendation tasks. Motivated by a real world online video recommendation problem, this work targets at the long tail phenomena of user behavior and the sparsity of item features. A personalized compound recommendation framework for online video recommendation called Dirichlet mixture probit model for information scarcity (DPIS) is hence proposed. Assuming that each clicking sample is generated from a representation of user preferences, DPIS models the sample level topic proportions as a multinomial item vector, and utilizes topical clustering on the user part for recommendation through a probit classifier. As demonstrated by the real-world application, the proposed DPIS achieves better performance in accuracy, perplexity as well as diversity in coverage than traditional methods. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Personalized recommendation with corrected similarity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, Xuzhen; Tian, Hui; Cai, Shimin

2014-01-01

Personalized recommendation has attracted a surge of interdisciplinary research. Especially, similarity-based methods in applications of real recommendation systems have achieved great success. However, the computations of similarities are overestimated or underestimated, in particular because of the defective strategy of unidirectional similarity estimation. In this paper, we solve this drawback by leveraging mutual correction of forward and backward similarity estimations, and propose a new personalized recommendation index, i.e., corrected similarity based inference (CSI). Through extensive experiments on four benchmark datasets, the results show a greater improvement of CSI in comparison with these mainstream baselines. And a detailed analysis is presented to unveil and understand the origin of such difference between CSI and mainstream indices. (paper)

2016 Updated MASCC/ESMO Consensus Recommendations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Herrstedt, Jørn; Roila, Fausto; Warr, David

2017-01-01

PURPOSE: This review summarizes the recommendations for the prophylaxis of nausea and vomiting in adults receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC) which includes cisplatin, mechlorethamine, streptozocin, cyclophosphamide >1500 mg/m(2), carmustine, dacarbazine, and the combination of an anthr......PURPOSE: This review summarizes the recommendations for the prophylaxis of nausea and vomiting in adults receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC) which includes cisplatin, mechlorethamine, streptozocin, cyclophosphamide >1500 mg/m(2), carmustine, dacarbazine, and the combination...... antagonists (netupitant and rolapitant) have been included in the updated recommendations as additional options to aprepitant or fosaprepitant. Addition of one of these NK1-receptor antagonists to a combination of a 5-HT3-receptor antagonist and dexamethasone is recommended in both non-AC HEC and AC HEC...

[The latest in paediatric resuscitation recommendations].

Science.gov (United States)

López-Herce, Jesús; Rodríguez, Antonio; Carrillo, Angel; de Lucas, Nieves; Calvo, Custodio; Civantos, Eva; Suárez, Eva; Pons, Sara; Manrique, Ignacio

2017-04-01

Cardiac arrest has a high mortality in children. To improve the performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, it is essential to disseminate the international recommendations and the training of health professionals and the general population in resuscitation. This article summarises the 2015 European Paediatric Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation recommendations, which are based on a review of the advances in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and consensus in the science and treatment by the International Council on Resuscitation. The Spanish Paediatric Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation recommendations, developed by the Spanish Group of Paediatric and Neonatal Resuscitation, are an adaptation of the European recommendations, and will be used for training health professionals and the general population in resuscitation. This article highlights the main changes from the previous 2010 recommendations on prevention of cardiac arrest, the diagnosis of cardiac arrest, basic life support, advanced life support and post-resuscitation care, as well as reviewing the algorithms of treatment of basic life support, obstruction of the airway and advanced life support. Copyright © 2016. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U.

Nebraska family practitioners' infant feeding recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Auerbach, K G; Walburn, J

1987-01-01

The authors conducted an anonymous survey of 220 Nebraska family and general practitioners' attitudes and practice recommendations for infant feeding. Most practitioners' attitudes reflect published American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines regarding using commercial formula for bottle-feeding babies rather than evaporated milk-based formulations. Ninety-two per cent agreed with recommendations relating to the need for fluoride supplementation when fluoride was unavailable in the water supply and 93% agreed that whole cow's milk was inappropriate in the infant's first year. Another 68% felt similarly about evaporated milk formulas. However, 32% of board certified and 53% of nonboard certified physicians continue to believe that early solid foods will reduce night waking. In 80% of the cases, practice recommendations disagreed with AAP guidelines by prescribing vitamin supplements for bottle-feeding babies receiving proprietary infant formulas. Additionally, two-thirds of the practitioners recommended unnecessary water complements and 62% suggested formula supplementation for breastfeeding babies. Solid foods and whole cow's milk for both breastfeeding and bottle-feeding babies often were recommended earlier than the second half of the first year.

Growing Wikipedia Across Languages via Recommendation

Science.gov (United States)

Wulczyn, Ellery; West, Robert; Zia, Leila; Leskovec, Jure

2016-01-01

The different Wikipedia language editions vary dramatically in how comprehensive they are. As a result, most language editions contain only a small fraction of the sum of information that exists across all Wikipedias. In this paper, we present an approach to filling gaps in article coverage across different Wikipedia editions. Our main contribution is an end-to-end system for recommending articles for creation that exist in one language but are missing in another. The system involves identifying missing articles, ranking the missing articles according to their importance, and recommending important missing articles to editors based on their interests. We empirically validate our models in a controlled experiment involving 12,000 French Wikipedia editors. We find that personalizing recommendations increases editor engagement by a factor of two. Moreover, recommending articles increases their chance of being created by a factor of 3.2. Finally, articles created as a result of our recommendations are of comparable quality to organically created articles. Overall, our system leads to more engaged editors and faster growth of Wikipedia with no effect on its quality. PMID:27819073

Review of ICRP recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldfinch, E.P.

1987-01-01

Events in both the scientific world and in the public domain have added pressure to review the recommendations of the ICRP on which radiation protection legislation in most countries is founded. A brief editorial pleads for clarity in ICRP recommendations, suggests the use solely of cumulative with age individual occupational dose limits, suggests that collective doses including both occupational and to the public should be kept as low as reasonably achievable, judged on quantitative economic grounds, and suggests the setting of a probability for serious accidents which may be disregarded in planning. (UK)

Recent developments in affective recommender systems

Science.gov (United States)

Katarya, Rahul; Verma, Om Prakash

2016-11-01

Recommender systems (RSs) are playing a significant role since 1990s as they provide relevant, personalized information to the users over the internet. Lots of work have been done in information filtering, utilization, and application related to RS. However, an important area recently draws our attention which is affective recommender system. Affective recommender system (ARS) is latest trending area of research, as publication in this domain are few and recently published. ARS is associated with human behaviour, human factors, mood, senses, emotions, facial expressions, body gesture and physiological with human-computer interaction (HCI). Due to this assortment and various interests, more explanation is required, as it is in premature phase and growing as compared to other fields. So we have done literature review (LR) in the affective recommender systems by doing classification, incorporate reputed articles published from the year 2003 to February 2016. We include articles which highlight, analyse, and perform a study on affective recommender systems. This article categorizes, synthesizes, and discusses the research and development in ARS. We have classified and managed ARS papers according to different perspectives: research gaps, nature, algorithm or method adopted, datasets, the platform on executed, types of information and evaluation techniques applied. The researchers and professionals will positively support this survey article for understanding the current position, research in affective recommender systems and will guide future trends, opportunity and research focus in ARS.

IRCAD recommendation on safe laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Conrad, Claudius; Wakabayashi, Go; Asbun, Horacio J; Dallemagne, Bernard; Demartines, Nicolas; Diana, Michele; Fuks, David; Giménez, Mariano Eduardo; Goumard, Claire; Kaneko, Hironori; Memeo, Riccardo; Resende, Alexandre; Scatton, Olivier; Schneck, Anne-Sophie; Soubrane, Olivier; Tanabe, Minoru; van den Bos, Jacqueline; Weiss, Helmut; Yamamoto, Masakazu; Marescaux, Jacques; Pessaux, Patrick

2017-11-01

An expert recommendation conference was conducted to identify factors associated with adverse events during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) with the goal of deriving expert recommendations for the reduction of biliary and vascular injury. Nineteen hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) surgeons from high-volume surgery centers in six countries comprised the Research Institute Against Cancer of the Digestive System (IRCAD) Recommendations Group. Systematic search of PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase was conducted. Using nominal group technique, structured group meetings were held to identify key items for safer LC. Consensus was achieved when 80% of respondents ranked an item as 1 or 2 (Likert scale 1-4). Seventy-one IRCAD HPB course participants assessed the expert recommendations which were compared to responses of 37 general surgery course participants. The IRCAD recommendations were structured in seven statements. The key topics included exposure of the operative field, appropriate use of energy device and establishment of the critical view of safety (CVS), systematic preoperative imaging, cholangiogram and alternative techniques, role of partial and dome-down (fundus-first) cholecystectomy. Highest consensus was achieved on the importance of the CVS as well as dome-down technique and partial cholecystectomy as alternative techniques. The put forward IRCAD recommendations may help to promote safe surgical practice of LC and initiate specific training to avoid adverse events. © 2017 Japanese Society of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery.

Recommendations for reducing ambiguity in written procedures.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matzen, Laura E.

2009-11-01

Previous studies in the nuclear weapons complex have shown that ambiguous work instructions (WIs) and operating procedures (OPs) can lead to human error, which is a major cause for concern. This report outlines some of the sources of ambiguity in written English and describes three recommendations for reducing ambiguity in WIs and OPs. The recommendations are based on commonly used research techniques in the fields of linguistics and cognitive psychology. The first recommendation is to gather empirical data that can be used to improve the recommended word lists that are provided to technical writers. The second recommendation is to have a review in which new WIs and OPs and checked for ambiguities and clarity. The third recommendation is to use self-paced reading time studies to identify any remaining ambiguities before the new WIs and OPs are put into use. If these three steps are followed for new WIs and OPs, the likelihood of human errors related to ambiguity could be greatly reduced.

Trust-aware recommendation for improving aggregate diversity

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Haifeng; Bai, Xiaomei; Yang, Zhuo; Tolba, Amr; Xia, Feng

2015-10-01

Recommender systems are becoming increasingly important and prevalent because of the ability of solving information overload. In recent years, researchers are paying increasing attention to aggregate diversity as a key metric beyond accuracy, because improving aggregate recommendation diversity may increase long tails and sales diversity. Trust is often used to improve recommendation accuracy. However, how to utilize trust to improve aggregate recommendation diversity is unexplored. In this paper, we focus on solving this problem and propose a novel trust-aware recommendation method by incorporating time factor into similarity computation. The rationale underlying the proposed method is that, trustees with later creation time of trust relation can bring more diverse items to recommend to their trustors than other trustees with earlier creation time of trust relation. Through relevant experiments on publicly available dataset, we demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the baseline method in terms of aggregate diversity while maintaining almost the same recall.

Riparian buffer and density management influences on microclimate of young headwater forests of Western Oregon.

Science.gov (United States)

Paul D. Anderson; David J. Larson; Samuel S. Chan

2007-01-01

Thinning of 30- to 70-year-old Douglas-fir (Psuedotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) stands is a common silvicultural activity on federal forest lands of the Pacific Northwest, United States. Empirical relationships among riparian functions, silvicultural treatments, and different riparian buffer widths are not well documented for small headwater...

Possible implications of draft ICRP recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

The Committee on Radiation Protection and Public Health (CRPPH) of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) has, since its inception, worked to develop and improve international norms in the area of radiological protection of the public, workers and the environment. International radiological protection norms continue to evolve, with significant new steps having been taken by the International Radiological Protection Commission (ICRP). Since the issuance of its 1990 recommendations, which form the basis of the international system of radiological protection, the ICRP has continued to add to them. The sum of these recommendations has become overly complicated and at times incoherent. In 1999 the ICRP therefore began to re-evaluate its recommendations with the aim of consolidation, simplification and clarification. New ICRP recommendations are due to be published in 2005. The CRPPH is contributing to the development of these new recommendations by providing the views of regulators and practitioners from its member countries. This report summarises the views of the CRPPH regarding the conceptual framework that the ICRP has recently proposed as the basis for its forthcoming detailed recommendations. The CRPPH highly appreciates the open stakeholder process that the ICRP has initiated to gather input for the development of new recommendations. This document, which is supported by the NEA Committee on Radiation Protection and Public Health, and by the NEA Radioactive Waste Management Committee, provides detailed suggestions with regard to the proposed ICRP framework. The stakeholder views expressed in this report have been presented to the ICRP at the second NEA/ICRP Forum in April 2003, and have persuaded the ICRP to reintroduce several key concepts into its proposed new system. (author)

Web Page Recommendation Using Web Mining

OpenAIRE

Modraj Bhavsar; Mrs. P. M. Chavan

2014-01-01

On World Wide Web various kind of content are generated in huge amount, so to give relevant result to user web recommendation become important part of web application. On web different kind of web recommendation are made available to user every day that includes Image, Video, Audio, query suggestion and web page. In this paper we are aiming at providing framework for web page recommendation. 1) First we describe the basics of web mining, types of web mining. 2) Details of each...

Item-Based Top-N Recommendation Algorithms

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Deshpande, Mukund; Karypis, George

2003-01-01

... items that will be of interest to a certain user. User-based collaborative filtering is the most successful technology for building recommender systems to date, and is extensively used in many commercial recommender systems...

Preliminary design report for the NAC combined transport cask

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-04-01

Nuclear Assurance Corporation (NAC) is under contract to the United States Department of Energy (DOE) to design, license, develop and test models, and fabricate a prototype cask transportation system for nuclear spent fuel. The design of this combined transport (rail/barge) transportation system has been divided into two phases, a preliminary design phase and a final design phase. This Preliminary Design Package (PDP) describes the NAC Combined Transport Cask (NAC-CTC), the results of work completed during the preliminary design phase and identifies the additional detailed analyses, which will be performed during final design. Preliminary analytical results are presented in the appropriate sections and supplemented by summaries of procedures and assumptions for performing the additional detailed analyses of the final design. 60 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs

12 CFR 368.4 - Recommendations to customers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Recommendations to customers. 368.4 Section 368... POLICY GOVERNMENT SECURITIES SALES PRACTICES § 368.4 Recommendations to customers. In recommending to a customer the purchase, sale or exchange of a government security, a bank that is a government securities...

32 CFR 700.304 - Recommendations to Congress.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 5 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Recommendations to Congress. 700.304 Section 700... The Secretary of the Navy § 700.304 Recommendations to Congress. After first informing the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Navy may make such recommendations to Congress relating to the...

International and national radiation protection standards and recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swindon, T.N.

1989-01-01

The recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and their basis are discussed with particular emphasis on the extensive review of its earlier recommendations undertaken by the ICRP during the 1970s. The new recommendations issued in 1977 after this review are described. The dose limits for various organs and tissues before and after 1977 are compared. The optimization principle contained in the 1977 recommendations is assessed. The implementation of the 1977 recommendations, the subsequent changes to them and the ICRP's 1987 statement on cancer risk assessments are discussed. The National Radiological Protection Board's October 1987 radiation protection recommendations are outlined. 8 refs., 1 fig

45 CFR 671.15 - Publication of preliminary determination

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Publication of preliminary determination 671.15... Publication of preliminary determination Prior to any designation or redesignation of substances pursuant to... Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies, within 30 days after the date of publication of...

I should not recommend it to you even if you will like it: the ethics of recommender systems

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Tiffany Ya; Winoto, Pinata

2016-01-01

In this paper, we extend the current research in the recommendation system community by showing that users did attach ethical consideration to items. In an experiment (N = 111) that manipulated several moral factors regarding the potentially harmful content in movies, books, and games, users were asked to evaluate the appropriateness of recommending these items to teenagers and adult couples. Results agreed with previous studies in that gender plays a key role in making moral judgment, especially regarding the ethical appropriateness of an item. The pilot study further identifies degrees of aversion regarding the appeal of these elements in media for ethical recommendations. Based on the study, we propose a user-initiated ethical recommender system to help users pick up morally appropriate items during the post-recommendation process. We believe that the ethical appropriateness of items perceived by end users could predict the trust and credibility of the system.

78 FR 64478 - Request for Comments on the Preliminary Cybersecurity Framework

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-29

...-01] Request for Comments on the Preliminary Cybersecurity Framework AGENCY: National Institute of... Cybersecurity Framework (``preliminary Framework''). The preliminary Framework was developed by NIST using... Cybersecurity'' (``Executive Order''). Under the Executive Order, the Secretary of Commerce is tasked to direct...

Preliminary designs: passive solar manufactured housing. Technical status report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1980-05-12

The criteria established to guide the development of the preliminary designs are listed. Three preliminary designs incorporating direct gain and/or sunspace are presented. Costs, drawings, and supporting calculations are included. (MHR)

Natural disturbance and stand development principles for ecological forestry

Science.gov (United States)

Jerry F. Franklin; Robert J. Mitchell; Brian J. Palik

2007-01-01

Foresters use natural disturbances and stand development processes as models for silvicultural practices in broad conceptual ways. Incorporating an understanding of natural disturbance and stand development processes more fully into silvicultural practice is the basis for an ecological forestry approach. Such an approach must include 1) understanding the importance of...

Semantic content-based recommendations using semantic graphs.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Weisen; Kraines, Steven B

2010-01-01

Recommender systems (RSs) can be useful for suggesting items that might be of interest to specific users. Most existing content-based recommendation (CBR) systems are designed to recommend items based on text content, and the items in these systems are usually described with keywords. However, similarity evaluations based on keywords suffer from the ambiguity of natural languages. We present a semantic CBR method that uses Semantic Web technologies to recommend items that are more similar semantically with the items that the user prefers. We use semantic graphs to represent the items and we calculate the similarity scores for each pair of semantic graphs using an inverse graph frequency algorithm. The items having higher similarity scores to the items that are known to be preferred by the user are recommended.

Personalized recommendation via unbalance full-connectivity inference

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Wenping; Ren, Chen; Wu, Yue; Wang, Shanfeng; Feng, Xiang

2017-10-01

Recommender systems play an important role to help us to find useful information. They are widely used by most e-commerce web sites to push the potential items to individual user according to purchase history. Network-based recommendation algorithms are popular and effective in recommendation, which use two types of elements to represent users and items respectively. In this paper, based on consistence-based inference (CBI) algorithm, we propose a novel network-based algorithm, in which users and items are recognized with no difference. The proposed algorithm also uses information diffusion to find the relationship between users and items. Different from traditional network-based recommendation algorithms, information diffusion initializes from users and items, respectively. Experiments show that the proposed algorithm is effective compared with traditional network-based recommendation algorithms.

[Management of breast nipple discharge: Recommendations].

Science.gov (United States)

Ouldamer, L; Kellal, I; Legendre, G; Ngô, C; Chopier, J; Body, G

2015-12-01

To investigate diagnostic value of imaging procedures and management strategies of the patients with nipple discharge (ND) to establish management recommendations. Bibliographical search in French and English languages by consultation of PubMed, Cochrane and Embase databases. Although, all ND require an systematic evaluation guided by clinical data, bloody ND could be a predictor of breast cancer risk among different colors of discharge particularly in patients of more than 50 years (LE2). The mammography and breast ultrasography are the imaging procedures to realize in first intention (grade C) but they turn out useful only when they detect radiological abnormalities (LE4). Galactography has only a localizing value of possible ductal abnormalities (when standard imaging procedures is not contributive) (LE4). Thus, in the diagnostic investigation of a suspicious ND, galactography it is not recommended in standard practice (grade C). The breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is recommended when breast standard imaging procedures are not contributive (grade C). The ND cytology is useful only if it is positive (i.e. reveal cancer cells). There is no proof on the diagnostic performance of the cytological analysis of the ND to allow a recommendation on its realization or not. In front of a suspicious ND, when breast-imaging procedures reveals an associated radiological lesion, an adapted percutaneous biopsy is recommended by percutaneous way (grade C). Vacuum-assisted breast biopsies is a diagnostic tool but can also be therapeutic allowing to avoid surgery in case of benign lesion but current literature data do not allow recommendations on the therapeutic aspect of vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (LE4). In the absence of associated radiological signal, and in case of reproducible bloody persistent ND, a pyramidectomy is recommended (grade C). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Guidance for performing preliminary assessments under CERCLA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1991-09-01

EPA headquarters and a national site assessment workgroup produced this guidance for Regional, State, and contractor staff who manage or perform preliminary assessments (PAs). EPA has focused this guidance on the types of sites and site conditions most commonly encountered. The PA approach described in this guidance is generally applicable to a wide variety of sites. However, because of the variability among sites, the amount of information available, and the level of investigative effort required, it is not possible to provide guidance that is equally applicable to all sites. PA investigators should recognize this and be aware that variation from this guidance may be necessary for some sites, particularly for PAs performed at Federal facilities, PAs conducted under EPA`s Environmental Priorities Initiative (EPI), and PAs at sites that have previously been extensively investigated by EPA or others. The purpose of this guidance is to provide instructions for conducting a PA and reporting results. This guidance discusses the information required to evaluate a site and how to obtain it, how to score a site, and reporting requirements. This document also provides guidelines and instruction on PA evaluation, scoring, and the use of standard PA scoresheets. The overall goal of this guidance is to assist PA investigators in conducting high-quality assessments that result in correct site screening or further action recommendations on a nationally consistent basis.

Clustering recommendations to compute agent reputation

Science.gov (United States)

Bedi, Punam; Kaur, Harmeet

2005-03-01

Traditional centralized approaches to security are difficult to apply to multi-agent systems which are used nowadays in e-commerce applications. Developing a notion of trust that is based on the reputation of an agent can provide a softer notion of security that is sufficient for many multi-agent applications. Our paper proposes a mechanism for computing reputation of the trustee agent for use by the trustier agent. The trustier agent computes the reputation based on its own experience as well as the experience the peer agents have with the trustee agents. The trustier agents intentionally interact with the peer agents to get their experience information in the form of recommendations. We have also considered the case of unintentional encounters between the referee agents and the trustee agent, which can be directly between them or indirectly through a set of interacting agents. The clustering is done to filter off the noise in the recommendations in the form of outliers. The trustier agent clusters the recommendations received from referee agents on the basis of the distances between recommendations using the hierarchical agglomerative method. The dendogram hence obtained is cut at the required similarity level which restricts the maximum distance between any two recommendations within a cluster. The cluster with maximum number of elements denotes the views of the majority of recommenders. The center of this cluster represents the reputation of the trustee agent which can be computed using c-means algorithm.

White paper: Preliminary assessment of LNG vehicle technology, economics, and safety issues (Revision 1). Topical report, April-August 1991

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Powars, C.; Lucher, D.; Moyer, C.; Browning, L.

1992-01-01

The objective of the study is to evaluate the potential of LNG as a vehicle fuel, to determine market niches, and to identify needed technology improvements. The white paper is being issued when the work is approximately 30 percent complete to preview the study direction, draw preliminary conclusions, and make initial recommendations. Interim findings relative to LNG vehicle technology, economics, and safety are presented. It is important to decide if heavier hydrocarbons should be allowed in LNG vehicle fuel. Development of suitable refueling couplings and vehicle fuel supply pressure systems are recommended. Initial economics analyses considered transit buses and pickup and delivery trucks fueled via onsite liquefiers and imported LNG. Net user costs were more than (but in some cases close to) those for diesel fuel and gasoline. Lowering the cost of small-scale liquefiers would significantly improve the economics of LNG vehicles. New emissions regulations may introduce considerations beyond simple cost comparisons. LNG vehicle safety and available accident data are reviewed. Consistent codes for LNG vehicles and refueling facilities are needed

Recommender Systems in Technology Enhanced Learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Manouselis, Nikos; Drachsler, Hendrik; Vuorikari, Riina; Hummel, Hans; Koper, Rob

2010-01-01

Manouselis, N., Drachsler, H., Vuorikari, R., Hummel, H. G. K., & Koper, R. (2011). Recommender Systems in Technology Enhanced Learning. In P. B. Kantor, F. Ricci, L. Rokach, & B. Shapira (Eds.), Recommender Systems Handbook (pp. 387-415). Berlin: Springer.

UVISS preliminary visibility analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Betto, Maurizio

1998-01-01

The goal of this work is to obtain a preliminary assessment of the sky visibility for anastronomical telescope located on the express pallet of the International SpaceStation (ISS)} taking into account the major constraints imposed on the instrument by the ISSattitude and structure. Part of the w......The goal of this work is to obtain a preliminary assessment of the sky visibility for anastronomical telescope located on the express pallet of the International SpaceStation (ISS)} taking into account the major constraints imposed on the instrument by the ISSattitude and structure. Part...... of the work is also to setup the kernel of a software tool for the visibility analysis thatshould be easily expandable to consider more complex strucures for future activities.This analysis is part of the UVISS assessment study and it is meant to provide elementsfor the definition and the selection...

Personalized recommendation based on unbiased consistence

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Xuzhen; Tian, Hui; Zhang, Ping; Hu, Zheng; Zhou, Tao

2015-08-01

Recently, in physical dynamics, mass-diffusion-based recommendation algorithms on bipartite network provide an efficient solution by automatically pushing possible relevant items to users according to their past preferences. However, traditional mass-diffusion-based algorithms just focus on unidirectional mass diffusion from objects having been collected to those which should be recommended, resulting in a biased causal similarity estimation and not-so-good performance. In this letter, we argue that in many cases, a user's interests are stable, and thus bidirectional mass diffusion abilities, no matter originated from objects having been collected or from those which should be recommended, should be consistently powerful, showing unbiased consistence. We further propose a consistence-based mass diffusion algorithm via bidirectional diffusion against biased causality, outperforming the state-of-the-art recommendation algorithms in disparate real data sets, including Netflix, MovieLens, Amazon and Rate Your Music.

Recommendations of the French academy of medicine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The, G. de; Tubiana, M.

2002-01-01

Recently the French academy of medicine (FAM) decided to make a point concerning radiological protection and issued the 6 following recommendations and statements: 1) FAM recommends the global reduction of the radiation dose received by patients during medical examination; 2) FAM recommends to promote and develop the research work concerning the biological effects of doses lower than 100 mSv; 3) FAM recommends to reject the linear-non threshold model for low dose radiation; 4) FAM agrees with the UNSCEAR report about the consequences of the Chernobyl accident, apart from the early fatalities in rescue workers, the main health effect is an increase risk of thyroid cancer in children, in particular, there has been no evidence of increase in other cancer incidence or in congenital malformation; 5) FAM recommends the introduction of the dari as a practical dose sub-unit, 1 dari represents the dose received by the whole body for 1 year due to natural radioactivity; and 6) FAM recommends that the European directive concerning the annual limit dose, maintains its value to 100 mSv a year. (A.C.)

Social assessment methods recommendation report: Draft, May 1986

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-11-01

These recommendations reflect the Peer Review Panel positions on each issue. The recommendations were developed following a day-long discussion held by the Review Panel. These recommendations were reviewed by each Panelist. Significant disagreements within the Panel are noted, and, of course, not all members shared identical perspectives on each issue. The order in which these recommendations are listed and discussed also reflects a general prioritizing by the Panel, although the Panel also agrees that all recommendations included here are of major importance to the project

The direction of ICRP - new recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clarke, R.H.

2004-01-01

ICRP has been stimulating discussion, during the past three years, on the best way of expressing protection philosophy for the next publication of its Recommendations, which it hopes will be by 2005. The present recommendations were initiated by Publication 60 in 1990 and have subsequently been complemented by additional publications over the last twelve years. In this paper the totality of those recommendations is summarised and used to indicate a way forward to produce a simplified and more coherent statement of protection philosophy for the start of the 21. century. (author)

Recommendations of ICRP for radiation protection in 2005

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holm, L. E.

2004-01-01

The present recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) were published in 1991, and since then, the ICRP has provided additional recommendations. The system of protection has become increasingly co plex with time, and the Commission has decided to adopt a new set of recommendations in 2005- These should be seen as a consolidation of earlier recommendations. The new recommendations will recognize where the responsibility for justifying the introduction of a new practice lies, maintain the existing dose limits for individuals, develop the concept of dose constraints, require optimisation of protection from any source to ensure that exposures are as law as reasonably achievable, include of a policy for protection of non-human species, and clarify the dramatics quantities. The Commission intends to adopt the new recommendations in 2005, and this will be 15 years after the current recommendations were adopted. (Author) 13 refs

Modeling mutual feedback between users and recommender systems

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, An; Yeung, Chi Ho; Medo, Matúš; Zhang, Yi-Cheng

2015-07-01

Recommender systems daily influence our decisions on the Internet. While considerable attention has been given to issues such as recommendation accuracy and user privacy, the long-term mutual feedback between a recommender system and the decisions of its users has been neglected so far. We propose here a model of network evolution which allows us to study the complex dynamics induced by this feedback, including the hysteresis effect which is typical for systems with non-linear dynamics. Despite the popular belief that recommendation helps users to discover new things, we find that the long-term use of recommendation can contribute to the rise of extremely popular items and thus ultimately narrow the user choice. These results are supported by measurements of the time evolution of item popularity inequality in real systems. We show that this adverse effect of recommendation can be tamed by sacrificing part of short-term recommendation accuracy.

Interpreting Contextual Effects By Contextual Modeling In Recommender Systems

OpenAIRE

Zheng, Yong

2017-01-01

Recommender systems have been widely applied to assist user's decision making by providing a list of personalized item recommendations. Context-aware recommender systems (CARS) additionally take context information into considering in the recommendation process, since user's tastes on the items may vary from contexts to contexts. Several context-aware recommendation algorithms have been proposed and developed to improve the quality of recommendations. However, there are limited research which...

ICRP-26, the recommendations on radiological protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jun, J.S.

1983-01-01

Since the last ICRP recommendations on radiological protection was pubished in 1966 as it's publication 9, the revised edition of the recommendations had first been published in 1977, accommodating up-to-date knowledge of radiobiology and operational experiences of radiation protection built up for over a decade. In this article, the new version of the recommendations is reviewed in comparison with those of the publication 9, while the corrections and modifications made afterward are introduced together with the recent trends and responses of the experts in various countries for the pracical adoption or legislation of the recommendations. (Author)

Noise exposure in movie theaters: a preliminary study of sound levels during the showing of 25 films.

Science.gov (United States)

Warszawa, Anna; Sataloff, Robert T

2010-09-01

The harmful effects of noise exposure during leisure-time activities are beginning to receive some scrutiny. We conducted a preliminary study to investigate the noise levels during the showings of 25 different films. During each screening, various sound measurements were made with a dosimeter. The movies were classified on the basis of both their Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rating and their genre, and the size of the theater and the size of the audience were taken into consideration in the final analysis. Our findings suggest that the sound levels of many movies might be harmful to hearing, although we can draw no definitive conclusions. We did not discern any relationship between noise levels and either MPAA rating or genre. Further studies are recommended.

POTENCY OF RAMIN (Gonystylus bancanus Kurtz. AND OTHER COMMERCIAL SPECIES IN PEAT SWAMP FOREST MANAGED WITH TPTI SILVICULTURAL SYSTEM IN BAGAN, RIAU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hendromono Hendromono

2005-07-01

Full Text Available Ramin  (Gonystylus bancanus Kurtz.  is one  of  the  tree  species in  peat-swamp  forest  that  is endangered due to excessive exploitation. The objective of this research was to assess the potency of rarnin and other commercial tree species in primary and logged over peat-swamp forests at Bagan, Riau. The tree stands were inventoried in primary forest of the 2004 and 2006 Annual Work Plan (RKTs and in  the  1997  and  2001  RKTs  managed  with  Indonesian  Selective Cutting  and  Planting  (TPTI silvicultural system.  The  result  showed  that  rarnin in  Bagan peat-swamp  forest  was not  evenly distributed. The total number of ramin  in tree stage in primary forests was fewer than that in  logged over forests.  The total number of ramin species at tree stage in primary forest was between 4.5  and 5 trees ha·' with the important value index (IVI of 10.3  to 12.0%,  whereas the one at logged over forest were between 2.5 and 15  trees ha·' with theM    indices of 7.9 to 20.4%.  Commercial species of swamp meranti (Shorea uliginosaand S. teysmaniana and balam/ suntai or (Palaqqiumspp. were dominant at tree stage both in the primary and the logged over forests. Enrichment in logged over forests is not needed since the total number of seedlings and saplings  is enough. The total number of potential core trees in logged over forests was enough for the next cutting cycle. The effort that must be done in logged over forests is to protect them from illegal logging.

The Comparison of Personalization Recommendation for E-Commerce

Science.gov (United States)

Ya, Luo

Personalization recommendation is the key technology in E-commerce, which affects the performance of E-commerce system. This paper mainly introduces personalization recommendation system and its role, and several widely used recommendation technology. Through comparing and analyzing on the strengths and weaknesses of recommendation technology, it concludes that the combined application for a variety of techniques should satisfy the actual needs better.

Volume and crown characteristics of juvenile loblolly pine grown at various ratios of between and within row spacings

Science.gov (United States)

John R. Britt; Jason P. Reynolds

2013-01-01

In plantation forestry, several silvicultural treatments can be row oriented. When rows are treated individually, planting trees in wider rows may result in lower silvicultural treatment cost, facilitate future operations, such as thinning and fire fighting, and provide a longer period with open canopy conditions. All these scenarios could provide benefit to landowners...

Privacy-Preserving Content-Based Recommender System

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Erkin, Zekeriya; Erkin, Z.; Beye, M.; Veugen, T.; Lagendijk, R.L.

2012-01-01

By offering personalized content to users, recommender systems have become a vital tool in e-commerce and online media applications. Content-based algorithms recommend items or products to users, that are most similar to those previously purchased or consumed. Unfortunately, collecting and storing

Alleviating bias leads to accurate and personalized recommendation

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Tian; Wang, Tian-Tian; Zhang, Zi-Ke; Zhong, Li-Xin; Chen, Guang

2013-11-01

Recommendation bias towards objects has been found to have an impact on personalized recommendation, since objects present heterogeneous characteristics in some network-based recommender systems. In this article, based on a biased heat conduction recommendation algorithm (BHC) which considers the heterogeneity of the target objects, we propose a heterogeneous heat conduction algorithm (HHC), by further taking the heterogeneity of the source objects into account. Tested on three real datasets, the Netflix, RYM and MovieLens, the HHC algorithm is found to present better recommendation in both the accuracy and diversity than two benchmark algorithms, i.e., the original BHC and a hybrid algorithm of heat conduction and mass diffusion (HHM), while not requiring any other accessorial information or parameter. Moreover, the HHC algorithm also elevates the recommendation accuracy on cold objects, referring to the so-called cold-start problem. Eigenvalue analyses show that, the HHC algorithm effectively alleviates the recommendation bias towards objects with different level of popularity, which is beneficial to solving the accuracy-diversity dilemma.

A Policy Language for Modelling Recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

Abou El Kalam, Anas; Balbiani, Philippe

While current and emergent applications become more and more complex, most of existing security policies and models only consider a yes/no response to the access requests. Consequently, modelling, formalizing and implementing permissions, obligations and prohibitions do not cover the richness of all the possible scenarios. In fact, several applications have access rules with the recommendation access modality. In this paper we focus on the problem of formalizing security policies with recommendation needs. The aim is to provide a generic domain-independent formal system for modelling not only permissions, prohibitions and obligations, but also recommendations. In this respect, we present our logic-based language, the semantics, the truth conditions, our axiomatic as well as inference rules. We also give a representative use case with our specification of recommendation requirements. Finally, we explain how our logical framework could be used to query the security policy and to check its consistency.

Surgery for constipation : systematic review and practice recommendations : Graded practice and future research recommendations

OpenAIRE

Knowles, C. H.; Grossi, U.; Horrocks, E. J.; Pares, D.; Vollebregt, P. F.; Chapman, M.; Brown, S.; Mercer-Jones, M.; Williams, A. B.; Yiannakou, Y.; Hooper, R. J.; Stevens, N.; Mason, James; HASH(0x55897e1f8d68); HASH(0x55897e16c5e8)

2017-01-01

Aim\\ud \\ud This manuscript forms the final of seven that address the surgical management of chronic constipation (CC) in adults. The content coalesces results from the five systematic reviews that precede it and of the European Consensus process to derive graded practice recommendations (GPR).\\ud Methods\\ud \\ud Summary of review data, development of GPR and future research recommendations as outlined in detail in the ‘introduction and methods’ paper.\\ud Results\\ud \\ud The overall quality of d...

Preliminary site survey report for the Uniroyal Chemical Company, formerly the Diamond Magnesium Company, 720 Fairport-Nursery Road, Painesville, Ohio (DMP001)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foley, R.D.; Floyd, L.M.

1990-03-01

At the request of the US Department of Energy (DOE), a group from Oak Ridge National Laboratory conducted a preliminary radiological survey at the Uniroyal Chemical Company, formerly the Diamond Magnesium Company, 720 Fairport-Nursery Road, Painesville, Ohio (DMP001), in 1988. The purpose of the survey was to determine whether the property was contaminated with radioactive residues from the former Manhattan Engineer District (MED) project. The scope of this preliminary survey primarily covered the area west of the buildings around the railroad car spill containment basin. The survey included direct measurement of gamma radiation levels at the surface and soil sampling for radionuclide analyses. Results of the survey demonstrated radionuclide concentrations in excess of the DOE Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program criteria for both 238 U and 226 Ra in soil. Based on the results of this radiological assessment, it is recommended that a follow-up, detailed radiological survey of both surface and subsurface environs be performed to more precisely define the extent of the contamination. 5 refs., 10 figs., 3 tabs

[Organizational recommendations for day surgery].

Science.gov (United States)

Bontemps, Gilles

2014-03-01

In France, the delayed development of day surgery compared to other countries led the ANAP and the HAS in 2011 to enter into a joint work program to provide some reference guide for hospitals to change their practices to outpatient. In this context, organizational guidelines and operational tools were published in May 2013. The method of construction of the recommendations resulting from an original work that combined a three-fold approach: field vision by identifying the highlights of 15 hospitals selected for their representative performance and analyzing the risks of five voluntary hospitals, mobilization organizational theories from the social sciences, using 53 professional experts. The work concluded on 16 organizational recommendations under four forms (basic principles, strategic elements, operational elements and perspectives). These recommendations are accompanied by tools and guides diagnosis and implementation, as well as productions for further reflection. These organizational recommendations confirmed the specificity of day surgery, which is not related to the act, but to the organization, management and optimization of different flows of a hospital (patient flow, professional flows, logistical, informational…). The performance of a day surgery organization is linked to its ability to control its flow and anticipation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Recommendation 93-5 Implementation Plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

On July 19, 1993, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) provided to the Secretary of Energy its Recommendation 93-5, which commented on the Hanford Tank Waste Characterization effort. Recommendation 93-5 highlighted the need to accelerate the characterization of the Hanford Site tank wastes to expedite the resolution of identified tank safety issues, and to provide timely design data in support of activities addressing the disposal of the tank wastes. The Department of Energy (DOE) and its prime contractor, Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC), are in full agreement with the content of Recommendation 93-5 and have prepared this Implementation Plan to document those actions that have been or will be taken to meet Recommendation 93-5. The new Characterization Strategy embodied by this Plan acknowledges that waste distribution within a tank is the critical unknown with respect to successfully characterizing the tank for any Tank Waste Remediation Systems (TWRS) programmatic need. The new strategy has been incorporated into the following seven task: (1) strengthen technical management; (2) accelerate safety related characterization; (3) improve the quality and quantity of sampling (4) streamline tank access; (5) improve the quality and quantity of analyses; (6) improve data management; and (7) change control

Silviculture and electric energy distribution; Arborizacao e a distribuicao de energia eletrica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, Eyde Cristianne Saraiva dos; Oliveira, Fernanda Miranda de; Figueiredo Junior, Jackson de Freitas; Moura, Rodolfo Pessoa de Melo [Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM), Manaus, AM (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Agricola e Solos], e-mail: eyde_cristianne@yahoo.com.br

2008-07-01

The electricity transmission line route travels long distances to reach the point of delivery. But along that route are the components of trees that if not managed properly touch the drivers or processors can turn off part of the network, causing inconvenience to consumers and urgency in the maintenance of the network by the concessionaire of electric energy. To avoid such problems it is necessary to adopt a program of pruning trees and set components with characteristics of easy management. The research aims to contribute presented with recommendations concerning the establishment of post and trees, respecting environmental legislation. (author)

Reducing Delay in Diagnosis: Multistage Recommendation Tracking.

Science.gov (United States)

Wandtke, Ben; Gallagher, Sarah

2017-11-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a multistage tracking system could improve communication between health care providers, reducing the risk of delay in diagnosis related to inconsistent communication and tracking of radiology follow-up recommendations. Unconditional recommendations for imaging follow-up of all diagnostic imaging modalities excluding mammography (n = 589) were entered into a database and tracked through a multistage tracking system for 13 months. Tracking interventions were performed for patients for whom completion of recommended follow-up imaging could not be identified 1 month after the recommendation due date. Postintervention compliance with the follow-up recommendation required examination completion or clinical closure (i.e., biopsy, limited life expectancy or death, or subspecialist referral). Baseline radiology information system checks performed 1 month after the recommendation due date revealed timely completion of 43.1% of recommended imaging studies at our institution before intervention. Three separate tracking interventions were studied, showing effectiveness between 29.0% and 57.8%. The multistage tracking system increased the examination completion rate to 70.5% (a 52% increase) and reduced the rate of unknown follow-up compliance and the associated risk of delay in diagnosis to 13.9% (a 74% decrease). Examinations completed after tracking intervention generated revenue of 4.1 times greater than the labor cost. Performing sequential radiology recommendation tracking interventions can substantially reduce the rate of unknown follow-up compliance and add value to the health system. Unknown follow-up compliance is a risk factor for delay in diagnosis, a form of preventable medical error commonly identified in malpractice claims involving radiologists and office-based practitioners.

40 CFR 231.5 - Recommended determination.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Recommended determination. 231.5... 404(c) PROCEDURES § 231.5 Recommended determination. (a) The Regional Administrator or his designee... public notice of the proposed determination, either withdraw the proposed determination or prepare a...

Recommender Systems in Technology Enhanced Learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Manouselis, Nikos; Drachsler, Hendrik; Verbert, Katrien; Santos, Olga

2010-01-01

Manouselis, N., Drachsler, H., Verbert, K., & Santos, C. S. (Eds.) (2010). Recommender System in Technology Enhanced Learning. Elsevier Procedia Computer Science: Volume 1, Issue 2. Proceedings of the 1st Workshop on Recommender Systems for Technology Enhanced Learning (RecSysTEL). September, 29-30,

Preliminary design and economic investigations of Diffuser-Augmented Wind Turbines (DAWT)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Foreman, K.M.

1981-12-01

A preferred design and configuration approach is suggested for the DAWT innovative wind energy conversion system. A preliminary economic asessment is made for limited production rates of units between 5 and 150 kw rated output. Nine point designs are used to arrive at the conclusions regarding best construction material for the diffuser and busbar cost of electricity (COE). It is estimated that for farm and REA cooperative end users, the COE can range between 2 and 3.5 cents/kWh for sites with annual average wind speeds of 16 and 12 mph (25.7 and 19.3 km/h) respectively, and 150 kW rated units. No tax credits are included in these COE figures. For commercial end users of these 150 kW units the COE ranges between 4.0 and 6.5 cents/kWh for 16 and 12 mph sites. These estimates in 1979 dollars are lower than DOE goals set in 1978 for the rating size and end applications. Recommendations are made for future activities to maintain steady, systematic progress toward mature development of the DAWT.

The new ICRP general recommendations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mason, Ch.; Kosako, T.; Kuniyoshi, H.; Kiryu, Y.; Choi, H.S.; Burns, P.A.; Pan, Z.Q.; Xia, Y.

2007-01-01

Regulatory views from Japan, South Korea, Australia, China and Indonesia were explained based on their regional context. Some issues, for example 'optimisation', 'dose constrains', 'natural radioactivity', were addressed from the viewpoint of how each country's current regulation system would adopt these new recommendations. It was noted that there would be a need for some flexibility in applying these new recommendations since different countries have different regulatory criteria and benchmarks as well different decision-making processes. It was also noted that definitions and terminologies should be given serious consideration with regard to non-English speaking countries to assure that the new ICRP recommendations are clearly understood, not misinterpreted, easily translated and finally applied in the field of radiation protection. In addition, some recent radiation protection activities, as well as views on utilisation of nuclear power in several countries were presented. (authors)

A Classification-based Review Recommender

Science.gov (United States)

O'Mahony, Michael P.; Smyth, Barry

Many online stores encourage their users to submit product/service reviews in order to guide future purchasing decisions. These reviews are often listed alongside product recommendations but, to date, limited attention has been paid as to how best to present these reviews to the end-user. In this paper, we describe a supervised classification approach that is designed to identify and recommend the most helpful product reviews. Using the TripAdvisor service as a case study, we compare the performance of several classification techniques using a range of features derived from hotel reviews. We then describe how these classifiers can be used as the basis for a practical recommender that automatically suggests the mosthelpful contrasting reviews to end-users. We present an empirical evaluation which shows that our approach achieves a statistically significant improvement over alternative review ranking schemes.

Stakeholders' Recommendations to Improve Patient-centered "LGBTQ" Primary Care in Rural and Multicultural Practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Kano, Miria; Silva-Bañuelos, Alma Rosa; Sturm, Robert; Willging, Cathleen E

2016-01-01

Individuals among gender/sexual minorities share experiences of stigma and discrimination, yet have distinctive health care needs influenced by ethnic/racial minority and rural realities. We collected qualitative data from lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) and queer persons across the largely rural, multicultural state of New Mexico, particularly those from understudied ethnic groups, regarding factors facilitating or impeding patient-centered primary care. The themes identified formed the basis for a statewide summit on LGBT health care guidelines and strategies for decreasing treatment gaps. Three to 15 individuals, ages 18 to 75 years, volunteered for 1 of 4 town hall dialogues (n = 32), and 175 people took part in the summit. Participants acknowledged health care gaps pertinent to LGBT youth, elders, American Indians, and Latinos/Latinas, expressing specific concern for rural residents. This preliminary research emphasizes the need to improve primary care practices that treat rural and ethnic-minority LGBT people and offers patient-driven recommendations to enhance care delivery while clinic-level transformations are implemented. © Copyright 2016 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

A Location-Based Business Information Recommendation Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shudong Liu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, many researches on information (e.g., POI, ADs recommendation based on location have been done in both research and industry. In this paper, we firstly construct a region-based location graph (RLG, in which region node respectively connects with user node and business information node, and then we propose a location-based recommendation algorithm based on RLG, which can combine with user short-ranged mobility formed by daily activity and long-distance mobility formed by social network ties and sequentially can recommend local business information and long-distance business information to users. Moreover, it can combine user-based collaborative filtering with item-based collaborative filtering, and it can alleviate cold start problem which traditional recommender systems often suffer from. Empirical studies from large-scale real-world data from Yelp demonstrate that our method outperforms other methods on the aspect of recommendation accuracy.

Recommendation-Aware Smartphone Sensing System

OpenAIRE

Chen, Mu-Yen; Wu, Ming-Ni; Chen, Chia-Chen; Chen, Young-Long; Lin, Hsien-En

2014-01-01

The context-aware concept is to reduce the gap between users and information systems so that the information systems actively get to understand users’ context and demand and in return provide users with better experience. This study integrates the concept of context-aware with association algorithms to establish the context-aware recommendation systems (CARS). The CARS contains three modules and provides the product recommendations for users with their smartphone. First, the simple RSSI Indoo...

TOURISM RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM: EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

OpenAIRE

Biljana PETREVSKA; Saso KOCESKI

2012-01-01

The paper makes an attempt to justify the necessity of implementing recommendation system which will assist tourists in identification of their ideal holiday. The proposed recommendation system based on collaborative filtering notes positive impulses in the case of Macedonia. A software module is developed being capable to generate a personalized list of favorable and tailor-made items. The research outcomes indicate that the designed national tourism web portal can provide satisfactory perfo...

Smart Mirror: Intelligent Makeup Recommendation and Synthesis

OpenAIRE

Nguyen, Tam V.; Liu, Luoqi

2017-01-01

The female facial image beautification usually requires professional editing softwares, which are relatively difficult for common users. In this demo, we introduce a practical system for automatic and personalized facial makeup recommendation and synthesis. First, a model describing the relations among facial features, facial attributes and makeup attributes is learned as the makeup recommendation model for suggesting the most suitable makeup attributes. Then the recommended makeup attributes...

weHelp: A Reference Architecture for Social Recommender Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheth, Swapneel; Arora, Nipun; Murphy, Christian; Kaiser, Gail

2010-01-01

Recommender systems have become increasingly popular. Most of the research on recommender systems has focused on recommendation algorithms. There has been relatively little research, however, in the area of generalized system architectures for recommendation systems. In this paper, we introduce weHelp : a reference architecture for social recommender systems - systems where recommendations are derived automatically from the aggregate of logged activities conducted by the system's users. Our architecture is designed to be application and domain agnostic. We feel that a good reference architecture will make designing a recommendation system easier; in particular, weHelp aims to provide a practical design template to help developers design their own well-modularized systems.

EURRECA—Principles and Future for Deriving Micronutrient Recommendations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Claessens, M.; Contor, L.; Dhonukshe-Rutten, R.; Groot, L.C.P.Q.M. de; Fairweather-Tait, S.J.; Gurinovic, M.; Koletzko, B.; Ommen, B. van; Raats, M.M.; Veer, P. van 't

2013-01-01

The EURopean micronutrient RECommendations Aligned (EURRECA) Network of Excellence (NoE) explored an approach for settingmicronutrient recommendations, which would address the variation in recommendations across Europe. Therefore, a framework for deriving and using micronutrient Dietary Reference

A procedure for selection on marking in hardwoods

Science.gov (United States)

George R., Jr. Trimble; Joseph J. Mendel; Richard A. Kennell

1974-01-01

This method of applying individual-tree selection silviculture to hardwood stands combines silvicultural considerations with financial maturity guidelines into a tree-marking system. To develop this system it was necessary to determine rates of return based on 4/4 lumber, for many of the important Appalachian species. Trees were viewed as capital investments that...

EURRECA—Evidence-Based Methodology for Deriving Micronutrient Recommendations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dhonukshe-Rutten, R.A.M.; Bouwman, J.; Brown, K.A.; Cavelaars, A.E.J.M.; Collings, R.; Grammatikaki, E.; Groot, L.C.P.G.M. de; Gurinovic, M.; Harvey, L.J.; Hermoso, M.; Hurst, R.; Kremer, S.H.A.; Ngo, J.; Novakovic, R.; Raats, M.M.; Rollin, F.; Serra-Majem, L.; Souverein, O.W.; Timotijevic, L.; Veer, P. van 't

2013-01-01

The EURopean micronutrient RECommendations Aligned (EURRECA) Network of Excellence explored the process of setting micronutrient recommendations to address the variance in recommendations across Europe. Work centered upon the transparent assessment of nutritional requirements via a series of

North-Karelian forest owners' attitude to nature-emulating forestry work methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jouhiaho, A.

1999-01-01

The TTS-Institute conducted a mail-questionnaire study of forest owners' opinions in the Province of North Karelia (Pohjois-Karjala) concerning work methods as applied in silviculture and logging. In addition, the study looked into the matter of the forest owners' willingness to pay for the implementation of nature-emulating silviculture and logging. The response percentage was 57 % with 344 forest owners responding to the questionnaire. The majority of the forest owners understood nature-emulating silviculture and logging as worthwhile objectives and as actions aimed at economically advantageous outcomes. Nature-emulating work methods involve the use of method emulating the natural development dynamics of forest ecosystems and causing minimum disturbance to the ecosystem. The term 'nature-emulating' was also seen to include forest treatment with awareness of landscape management viewpoints. Less than half of the forest owners were willing to pay for the implementation of nature-emulating silviculture and logging. Of those willing to pay, half were prepared to pay an extra 6 - 10 % for sivicultural and 1 - 5 % for logging on top of the costs. (orig.)

Preliminary assessments the shortcut to remediation (category III-surplus facility assessments)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byars, L.L.

1995-01-01

This report presents the details of the preliminary assessments for the shortcut of decontamination of surplus nuclear facilities. Topics discussed include: environment, health and safety concerns; economic considerations; reduction of transition time; preliminary characterization reports; preliminary project plan; health and safety plan; quality assurance plan; surveillance and maintenance plan; and waste management plan

DEVELOPMENT OF A GENERIC RECOMMENDER SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Munteanu

2004-12-01

Full Text Available his paper presents a recommender system for textual documents taken from web (given as bookmarks. The system uses for classification a combination of content, event and collaborative filters and for recommendation a modified Pearson-r algorithm. It uses implicit and explicit feedback for evaluating documents.

Personalized Recommender System for Digital Libraries

Science.gov (United States)

Omisore, M. O.; Samuel, O. W.

2014-01-01

The huge amount of information available online has given rise to personalization and filtering systems. Recommender systems (RS) constitute a specific type of information filtering technique that present items according to user's interests. In this research, a web-based personalized recommender system capable of providing learners with books that…

Recommender systems for location-based social networks

CERN Document Server

Symeonidis, Panagiotis; Manolopoulos, Yannis

2014-01-01

Online social networks collect information from users' social contacts and their daily interactions (co-tagging of photos, co-rating of products etc.) to provide them with recommendations of new products or friends. Lately, technological progressions in mobile devices (i.e. smart phones) enabled the incorporation of geo-location data in the traditional web-based online social networks, bringing the new era of Social and Mobile Web. The goal of this book is to bring together important research in a new family of recommender systems aimed at serving Location-based Social Networks (LBSNs). The chapters introduce a wide variety of recent approaches, from the most basic to the state-of-the-art, for providing recommendations in LBSNs. The book is organized into three parts. Part 1 provides introductory material on recommender systems, online social networks and LBSNs. Part 2 presents a wide variety of recommendation algorithms, ranging from basic to cutting edge, as well as a comparison of the characteristics of t...

Physical activity recommendations for health: what should Europe do?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fogelholm Mikael

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Accumulating scientific evidence shows physical activity to have profound health benefits amenable to substantial public health gains. Accordingly, recommendations on how much and what kind of physical activity enhances health have been issued. The 1995 recommendation from the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine has been adapted worldwide, including Europe. Recently an extensive review of new evidence was undertaken and refined recommendations were issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We summarise the development of physical activity recommendations and consider the need and possible ways to update the current European situation. Discussion The new recommendations include several new elements when compared to the 1995 recommendation, the most notable being the greater emphasis on the contribution of vigorous-intensity activities, and the inclusion of activities for muscle strength and bone health. They also include specific recommendations for young people, middle-aged adults, older adults and some special groups. The existing Pan-European and national physical activity recommendations in Europe are mostly based on the 1995 recommendation and primarily target adults and young people. Thus the degree to which they are compatible with the new recommendations varies. In view of the growing public health importance of physical activity, we discuss the need to review the existing physical activity recommendations at the European level and assess their consistency with the new evidence and the new recommendations. Summary We argue that a review of the current physical activity recommendations in Europe should be undertaken in view of the most recent research evidence. We recommend that such a task should be taken on by WHO Europe in parallel with the ongoing work by WHO global Headquarters. Following this, each country should develop communication

Selection and durability of seal materials for a bedded salt repository: preliminary studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, D.M.; Grutzeck, M.W.; Wakeley, L.D.

1983-11-01

This report details preliminary results of both experimental and theoretical studies of cementitious seal materials for use in a proposed nuclear waste repository in bedded salt. Effects of changes in bulk composition and environment upon phase stability and physical/mechanical properties have been evaluated for more than 25 formulations. Bonding and interfacial characteristics of the region between host rock and seal material or concrete aggregate and cementitious matrix for selected formulations have been studied. Compatibilities of clays and zeolites in brines typical of the SE New Mexico region have been investigated, and their stabilities reviewed. Results of these studies have led to the conclusion that cementitious materials can be formulated which are compatible with the major rock types in a bedded salt repository environment. Strengths are more than adequate, permeabilities are consistently very low, and elastic moduli generally increase only very slightly with time. Seal formulation guidelines and recommendations for present and future work are presented. 73 references, 25 figures, 61 tables

Moral hazard, doctors, and absenteism in France. Preliminary analysis based on aggregate data.

Science.gov (United States)

Grignon, M; Renaud, T

2007-08-01

This article provides a simple and preliminary study of variations in the number of days of work lost to illness and injury in France, over time and across jurisdictions. We test the hypothesis that workers use their physicians to cheat the system and increase their leisure time paid for by the sickness fund. Firstly, using time series analysis, we check that change in the unemployment rate correlates unequivocally and negatively with the absence rate. We then show, based on geographical aggregate level data, that physicians' density is not positively correlated to sick leaves, which runs contrary to the idea of cheating helped by doctors. We suggest and test for alternative factors, such as baseline population health. If the increase in the number of days lost to illness is seen as a matter of concern, our recommended policy would be to target demand side as well as supply side in the labour market.

V/STOL tilt rotor aircraft study. Volume 2: Preliminary design of research aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

1972-01-01

A preliminary design study was conducted to establish a minimum sized, low cost V/STOL tilt-rotor research aircraft with the capability of performing proof-of-concept flight research investigations applicable to a wide range of useful military and commercial configurations. The analysis and design approach was based on state-of-the-art methods and maximum use of off-the-shelf hardware and systems to reduce development risk, procurement cost and schedules impact. The rotors to be used are of 26 foot diameter and are the same as currently under construction and test as part of NASA Tilt-Rotor Contract NAS2-6505. The aircraft has a design gross weight of 12,000 lbs. The proposed engines to be used are Lycoming T53-L-13B rated at 1550 shaft horsepower which are fully qualified. A flight test investigation is recommended which will determine the capabilities and limitations of the research aircraft.

Development and preliminary validation of the physician support of skin self-examination scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Coroiu, Adina; Moran, Chelsea; Garland, Rosalind; Körner, Annett

2018-05-01

Skin self-examination (SSE) is a crucial preventive health behaviour in melanoma survivors, as it facilitates early detection. Physician endorsement of SSE is important for the initiation and maintenance of this behaviour. This study focussed on the preliminary validation of a new nine-item measure assessing physician support of SSE in melanoma patients. English and French versions of this measure were administered to 188 patients diagnosed with melanoma in the context of a longitudinal study investigating predictors and facilitators of SSE. Structural validity was investigated using exploratory factor analysis conducted in Mplus and convergent and divergent validity was assessed using bivariate correlations conducted in spss. Results suggest that the scale is a unidimensional and reliable measure of physician support for SSE. Given the uncertainty regarding the optimal frequency of SSE for at-risk individuals, we recommend that future psychometric evaluations of this scale consider tailoring items according to the most up-to-date research on SSE effectiveness.

Panorama of recommender systems to support learning

OpenAIRE

Drachsler, Hendrik; Verbert, Katrien; Santos, Olga; Manouselis, Nikos

2015-01-01

This chapter presents an analysis of recommender systems in Technology-Enhanced Learning along their 15 years existence (2000-2014). All recommender systems considered for the review aim to support educational stakeholders by personalising the learning process. In this meta-review 82 recommender systems from 35 different countries have been investigated and categorised according to a given classification framework. The reviewed systems have been classified into 7 clusters according to their c...

A trajectory-based recommender system for tourism

OpenAIRE

Baraglia, Ranieri; Frattari, Claudio; Muntean, Cristina Ioana; Nardini, Franco Maria; Silvestri, Fabrizio

2012-01-01

Recommendation systems provide focused information to users on a set of objects belonging to a specific domain. The proposed recommender system provides personalized suggestions about touristic points of interest. The system generates recommendations, consisting of touristic places, according to the current position of a tourist and previously collected data describing tourist movements in a touristic location/city. The touristic sites correspond to a set of points of interest identified a pr...

BROND: USSR recommended evaluated neutron data library

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manokhin, V.N.

1988-03-01

BROND is the recommended evaluated data library of the USSR for neutron induced nuclear reactions. It is a computer library recorded on magnetic tape presented in the internationally recommended format ENDF-5. It contains 65 files with recommended data for 65 elements or isotopes. For each file the present report gives a summary documentation on the contents, the evaluation methods and the originators of the files. (author). Refs

Low-pressure injection molding of alumina ceramics using a carnauba wax binder: preliminary results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quevedo Nogueira, R.E.F.; Bezerra, A.C.; Santos, F.C. dos [Dept. de Engenharia Mecanica, Centro de Tecnologia-UFC, Fortaleza, CE (Brazil); Sousa, M.R. de; Acchar, W. [Dept. de Engenharia Mecanica, Univ. Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, UFRN-Campus Univ., Natal, RN (Brazil)

2001-07-01

Carnauba wax, a natural product from Northeastern Brazil, has found application in the processing of ceramics. However, the use of pure carnauba wax is not recommended due to its narrow melting range and poor mechanical properties. In the present work carnauba wax based organic vehicles with the addition of low-density polyethylene and stearic acid were developed for use in the low-pressure injection molding of alumina ceramics. Viscosimetric testing was employed for the determination of optimal composition of the organic vehicle. The optimal content of ceramic powder in the mixture was also determined. All the materials used are easily available in the Brazilian market. A simple ceramic part was injected at low pressures (0.6 MPa) using a semi-automatic injection molding machine. For this purpose a double cavity mold was designed and built. Preliminary results demonstrate the technical viability of the process using the organic vehicle developed. (orig.)

Recommendation Report: EJournals/EBooks A-Z Management System

KAUST Repository

Ramli, Rindra M.

2014-01-01

This is a recommendation report for KAUST Library on the Ejournals / EBooks AZ Management systems project. It briefly described the issues faced by the ERM Team, project plan overview and the project findings as well as the recommendation(s).

ERG and GRG review of the draft of ''preliminary test plan for in situ testing from an exploratory shaft in salt - October 1983''

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalia, H.N.

1986-03-01

The Engineering Review Group (ERG) and Geologic Review Group (GRG) were established by the Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation (ONWI) to help evaluate engineering- and geologic-related issues in the US Department of Energy's nuclear waste repository program. The January 1984 meeting of the ERG and GRG reviewed the In Situ Test Plan (ISTP) titled ''Preliminary Test Plan for In Situ Testing From an Exploratory Shaft in Salt - October 1983.'' This report documents the ERG's and GRG's comments and recommendations on this subject and the ONWI responses to the specific points raised by the ERG and GRG. 6 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab

Movie Recommendation using Random Walks over the Contextual Graph

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bogers, Toine

Recommender systems have become an essential tool in fighting information overload. However, the majority of recommendation algorithms focus only on using ratings information, while disregarding information about the context of the recommendation process. We present ContextWalk, a recommendation...

Radioactive waste shredding: Preliminary evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soelberg, N.R.; Reimann, G.A.

1994-07-01

The critical constraints for sizing solid radioactive and mixed wastes for subsequent thermal treatment were identified via a literature review and a survey of shredding equipment vendors. The types and amounts of DOE radioactive wastes that will require treatment to reduce the waste volume, destroy hazardous organics, or immobilize radionuclides and/or hazardous metals were considered. The preliminary steps of waste receipt, inspection, and separation were included because many potential waste treatment technologies have limits on feedstream chemical content, physical composition, and particle size. Most treatment processes and shredding operations require at least some degree of feed material characterization. Preliminary cost estimates show that pretreatment costs per unit of waste can be high and can vary significantly, depending on the processing rate and desired output particle size

The Physician Recommendation Coding System (PhyReCS): A Reliable and Valid Method to Quantify the Strength of Physician Recommendations During Clinical Encounters.

Science.gov (United States)

Scherr, Karen A; Fagerlin, Angela; Williamson, Lillie D; Davis, J Kelly; Fridman, Ilona; Atyeo, Natalie; Ubel, Peter A

2017-01-01

Physicians' recommendations affect patients' treatment choices. However, most research relies on physicians' or patients' retrospective reports of recommendations, which offer a limited perspective and have limitations such as recall bias. To develop a reliable and valid method to measure the strength of physician recommendations using direct observation of clinical encounters. Clinical encounters (n = 257) were recorded as part of a larger study of prostate cancer decision making. We used an iterative process to create the 5-point Physician Recommendation Coding System (PhyReCS). To determine reliability, research assistants double-coded 50 transcripts. To establish content validity, we used 1-way analyses of variance to determine whether relative treatment recommendation scores differed as a function of which treatment patients received. To establish concurrent validity, we examined whether patients' perceived treatment recommendations matched our coded recommendations. The PhyReCS was highly reliable (Krippendorf's alpha = 0.89, 95% CI [0.86, 0.91]). The average relative treatment recommendation score for each treatment was higher for individuals who received that particular treatment. For example, the average relative surgery recommendation score was higher for individuals who received surgery versus radiation (mean difference = 0.98, SE = 0.18, P recommendations matched coded recommendations 81% of the time. The PhyReCS is a reliable and valid way to capture the strength of physician recommendations. We believe that the PhyReCS would be helpful for other researchers who wish to study physician recommendations, an important part of patient decision making. © The Author(s) 2016.

Ebola virus: recommendations

CERN Multimedia

CERN Medical Service

2014-01-01

The CERN Medical Service has been closely following, in particular via the WHO, the development of the Ebola virus outbreak currently affecting some African countries. This infectious disease may be passed on through direct contact with the bodily fluids of a sick person.   Based on the recommendations of the WHO and the two Host States, Switzerland and France, as updated on their respective websites, so far there has been no ban on travel to the countries concerned. However, unless it is absolutely essential, you are advised not to visit any of the countries affected by Ebola (Guinea, Republic of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria). The two Host States have established an alert system, and a check is carried out on departure from the airports of those countries. It is strongly recommended that you contact the Medical Service if you are travelling to those countries. We remind you to observe the basic rules of hygiene such as frequent hand washing, whatever your destination. The Medical Service is...

Nuclear Security Recommendations on Nuclear and other Radioactive Material out of Regulatory Control: Recommendations (Spanish Edition)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

This publication presents recommendations for the nuclear security of nuclear and other radioactive material that is out of regulatory control. It is based on national experiences and practices and guidance publications in the field of security as well as the nuclear security related international instruments. The recommendations include guidance for States with regard to the nuclear security of nuclear and other radioactive material that has been reported as being out of regulatory control as well as for material that is lost, missing or stolen but has not been reported as such, or has been otherwise discovered. In addition, these recommendations adhere to the detection and assessment of alarms and alerts and to a graded response to criminal or unauthorized acts with nuclear security implications.

Nuclear Security Recommendations on Nuclear and Other Radioactive Material out of Regulatory Control: Recommendations (Arabic Edition)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

This publication presents recommendations for the nuclear security of nuclear and other radioactive material that is out of regulatory control. It is based on national experiences and practices and guidance publications in the ? field of security as well as the nuclear security related international instruments. The recommendations include guidance for States with regard to the nuclear security of nuclear and other radioactive material that has been reported as being out of regulatory control as well as for material that is lost, missing or stolen but has not been reported as such, or has been otherwise discovered. In addition, these recommendations adhere to the detection and assessment of alarms and alerts and to a graded response to criminal or unauthorized acts with nuclear security implications.

Nuclear Security Recommendations on Nuclear and Other Radioactive Material out of Regulatory Control: Recommendations (Russian Edition)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

This publication presents recommendations for the nuclear security of nuclear and other radioactive material that is out of regulatory control. It is based on national experiences and practices and guidance publications in the field of security as well as the nuclear security related international instruments. The recommendations include guidance for States with regard to the nuclear security of nuclear and other radioactive material that has been reported as being out of regulatory control as well as for material that is lost, missing or stolen but has not been reported as such, or has been otherwise discovered. In addition, these recommendations adhere to the detection and assessment of alarms and alerts and to a graded response to criminal or unauthorized acts with nuclear security implications.

Recommendations for codes and standards to be used for design and fabrication of high level waste canister

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bermingham, A.J.; Booker, R.J.; Booth, H.R.; Ruehle, W.G.; Shevekov, S.; Silvester, A.G.; Tagart, S.W.; Thomas, J.A.; West, R.G.

1978-01-01

This study identifies codes, standards, and regulatory requirements for developing design criteria for high-level waste (HLW) canisters for commercial operation. It has been determined that the canister should be designed as a pressure vessel without provision for any overpressure protection type devices. It is recommended that the HLW canister be designed and fabricated to the requirements of the ASME Section III Code, Division 1 rules, for Code Class 3 components. Identification of other applicable industry and regulatory guides and standards are provided in this report. Requirements for the Design Specification are found in the ASME Section III Code. It is recommended that design verification be conducted principally with prototype testing which will encompass normal and accident service conditions during all phases of the canister life. Adequacy of existing quality assurance and licensing standards for the canister was investigated. One of the recommendations derived from this study is a requirement that the canister be N stamped. In addition, acceptance standards for the HLW waste should be established and the waste qualified to those standards before the canister is sealed. A preliminary investigation of use of an overpack for the canister has been made, and it is concluded that the use of an overpack, as an integral part of overall canister design, is undesirable, both from a design and economics standpoint. However, use of shipping cask liners and overpack type containers at the Federal repository may make the canister and HLW management safer and more cost effective. There are several possible concepts for canister closure design. These concepts can be adapted to the canister with or without an overpack. A remote seal weld closure is considered to be one of the most suitable closure methods; however, mechanical seals should also be investigated

Generating private recommendations in a social trust network

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Erkin, Z.; Veugen, P.J.M.; Lagendijk, R.L.

2011-01-01

Recommender systems have become increasingly important in e-commerce as they can guide customers with finding personalized services and products. A variant of recommender systems that generates recommendations from a set of trusted people is recently getting more attention in social networks.

Western gulf culture-density study-early results

Science.gov (United States)

Mohd S. Rahman; Michael G. Messina; Richard F. Fisher; Alan B. Wilson; Nick Chappell; Conner Fristoe; Larry Anderson

2006-01-01

The Western Gulf Culture-Density Study is a collaborative research effort between Texas A&M University and five forest products companies to examine the effects of early silvicultural treatment intensity and a wide range of both densities and soil types on performance of loblolly pine. The study tests 2 silvicultural intensities, 5 planting densities (200 to 1,200...

A Transitive Recommendation System for Information Technology Communities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hesham Ali

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Social networks have become a new trend for research among computer scientist around the world. Social network had an impact on users' way of life. One of social network usages is recommendation systems. The need of recommendation systems is arising when users try to know best choice for them in many items types (books, experts, locations, technologies...etc. The problem is that a single person can't try all alternatives in all possibles life goals to compare. Thus, a person has to use his friends' expertise to select better option in any item category. This process is the main idea of “Recommendation Systems”. Recommendation systems usually depend on users-to-items ratings in a network (graph. Two main challenges for recommendation systems are accuracy of recommendation and computation size. The main objective of this paper is to introduce a suggested technique for transitive recommendation system based on users' collaborative ratings, and also to balance loading of computation. All this has to be applied on a special type of social network. Our work studied the transitivity usage in connections to get a relation (path as a recommendation for nodes not directly connected. The target social network has eight types of nodes. So, there are techniques that are not suitable to this complex type of network. Those we can present a new support for recommending items of several types to users with several types. We believe that this functionality hasn't been fully provided elsewhere. We have suggested using single source shortest path algorithm combined with Map Reduce technique, and mathematically deduced that we have a speeding up of algorithm by 10% approximately. Our testing results shows an accuracy of 89% and false rejection of 99% compared to traditional algorithms with less configuration parameters and more steady count of recommendations.

Rating Methods for Proactive Recommendation on Smartwatches

OpenAIRE

Janosch Maier, Wolfgang Wörndl

2015-01-01

This paper analyzes possible interaction methods for using a recommender system on a smartwatch. As prerequisite, we describe interaction patterns currently used by Android Wear applications. Based on a prototype implementation the interaction methods action buttons, two button card and swipes are compared against each other. In a user study, 31 participating students were asked to rate restaurant recommendations offered in the setting of a context-aware, proactive recommender system. For eac...

Learning Points and Routes to Recommend Trajectories

OpenAIRE

Chen, Dawei; Ong, Cheng Soon; Xie, Lexing

2016-01-01

The problem of recommending tours to travellers is an important and broadly studied area. Suggested solutions include various approaches of points-of-interest (POI) recommendation and route planning. We consider the task of recommending a sequence of POIs, that simultaneously uses information about POIs and routes. Our approach unifies the treatment of various sources of information by representing them as features in machine learning algorithms, enabling us to learn from past behaviour. Info...

Recommendation advertising method based on behavior retargeting

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yao; YIN, Xin-Chun; CHEN, Zhi-Min

2011-10-01

Online advertising has become an important business in e-commerce. Ad recommended algorithms are the most critical part in recommendation systems. We propose a recommendation advertising method based on behavior retargeting which can avoid leakage click of advertising due to objective reasons and can observe the changes of the user's interest in time. Experiments show that our new method can have a significant effect and can be further to apply to online system.

Preliminary systems engineering evaluations for the National Ecological Observatory Network.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robertson, Perry J.; Kottenstette, Richard Joseph; Crouch, Shannon M.; Brocato, Robert Wesley; Zak, Bernard Daniel; Osborn, Thor D.; Ivey, Mark D.; Gass, Karl Leslie; Heller, Edwin J.; Dishman, James Larry; Schubert, William Kent; Zirzow, Jeffrey A.

2008-11-01

The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is an ambitious National Science Foundation sponsored project intended to accumulate and disseminate ecologically informative sensor data from sites among 20 distinct biomes found within the United States and Puerto Rico over a period of at least 30 years. These data are expected to provide valuable insights into the ecological impacts of climate change, land-use change, and invasive species in these various biomes, and thereby provide a scientific foundation for the decisions of future national, regional, and local policy makers. NEON's objectives are of substantial national and international importance, yet they must be achieved with limited resources. Sandia National Laboratories was therefore contracted to examine four areas of significant systems engineering concern; specifically, alternatives to commercial electrical utility power for remote operations, approaches to data acquisition and local data handling, protocols for secure long-distance data transmission, and processes and procedures for the introduction of new instruments and continuous improvement of the sensor network. The results of these preliminary systems engineering evaluations are presented, with a series of recommendations intended to optimize the efficiency and probability of long-term success for the NEON enterprise.

37 CFR 1.480 - Demand for international preliminary examination.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Demand for international... Provisions International Preliminary Examination § 1.480 Demand for international preliminary examination. (a) On the filing of a proper Demand in an application for which the United States International...

An Analysis of Overstory Tree Canopy Cover in Sites Occupied by Native and Introduced Cottontails in the Northeastern United States with Recommendations for Habitat Management for New England Cottontail.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bill Buffum

Full Text Available The New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis is a high conservation priority in the Northeastern United States and has been listed as a candidate species under the Endangered Species Act. Loss of early successional habitat is the most common explanation for the decline of the species, which is considered to require habitat with dense low vegetation and limited overstory tree canopy. Federal and state wildlife agencies actively encourage landowners to create this habitat type by clearcutting blocks of forest. However, there are recent indications that the species also occupies sites with moderate overstory tree canopy cover. This is important because many landowners have negative views about clearcutting and are more willing to adopt silvicultural approaches that retain some overstory trees. Furthermore, it is possible that clearcuts with no overstory canopy cover may attract the eastern cottontail (S. floridanus, an introduced species with an expanding range. The objective of our study was to provide guidance for future efforts to create habitat that would be more favorable for New England cottontail than eastern cottontail in areas where the two species are sympatric. We analyzed canopy cover at 336 cottontail locations in five states using maximum entropy modelling and other statistical methods. We found that New England cottontail occupied sites with a mean overstory tree canopy cover of 58% (SE±1.36, and was less likely than eastern cottontail to occupy sites with lower overstory canopy cover and more likely to occupy sites with higher overstory canopy cover. Our findings suggest that silvicultural approaches that retain some overstory canopy cover may be appropriate for creating habitat for New England cottontail. We believe that our results will help inform critical management decisions for the conservation of New England cottontail, and that our methodology can be applied to analyses of habitat use of other critical wildlife

Treatment Recommendation Actions, Contingencies, and Responses: An Introduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Stivers, Tanya; Barnes, Rebecca K

2017-08-21

In the era of patient participation in health care decision making, we know surprisingly little about the ways in which treatment recommendations are made, the contexts that shape their formulation, and the consequences of these formulations. In this article, we introduce a systematic collective investigation of how recommendations for medications are responded to and made in primary versus secondary care, in the US versus the UK, and in contexts where the medication was over the counter versus by prescription. This article provides an overview of the coding system that was used in this project including describing what constitutes a recommendation, the primary action types clinicians use for recommendations, and the types of responses provided by patients to recommendations.

Review of Preliminary Analysis Techniques for Tension Structures.

Science.gov (United States)

1984-02-01

however,a linear dinamic analysis can be conducted for purposes of preliminary design, relative to the static configuration. It is noted that the amount of...16 Chapter 3. PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF TENSION STRUCTURES . . .. .. .. .... 22 S.3.1 Cable Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .... 23...3.1.1 Singly-Connected Segments. .. .... ... 24 3.1.2 Multiply-Connected Segments . . .. .. .. .. 27 3.1.3 Linearized Dynamics of Cable Systems . . . . 29

Contemporaneous International Asthma Guidelines Present Differing Recommendations: An Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samir Gupta

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Several international groups develop asthma guidelines. Conflicting recommendations across guidelines have been described in several disease areas and may contribute to practice variability. Accordingly, we compared the latest Canadian Thoracic Society (CTS asthma guideline with contemporaneous international asthma guidelines to evaluate conflicting recommendations and their causes. Methods. We identified the latest CTS asthma guideline update (2012 and the following societies which also updated their guidelines in 2012: the British Thoracic Society and Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network and the Global Initiative for Asthma. We compared these three guidelines on (1 key methodological factors and (2 adult pharmacotherapy recommendations. Results. Methods used and documentation provided for literature search strategy and dates, evidence synthesis, outcomes considered, evidence appraisal, and recommendation formulation varied between guidelines. Criteria used to define suboptimal asthma control varied widely between guidelines. Inhaled corticosteroid dosing recommendations diverged, as did recommendations surrounding use of budesonide/formoterol as a reliever and controller and recommendations in the subsequent step. Conclusions. There are important differences between recommendations provided in contemporaneous asthma guidelines. Causes include differences in methods used for interpreting evidence and formulating recommendations. Adopting a common set of valid and explicit methods across international societies could harmonize recommendations and facilitate guideline implementation.

Search and Recommendation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bogers, Toine

2014-01-01

In just a little over half a century, the field of information retrieval has experienced spectacular growth and success, with IR applications such as search engines becoming a billion-dollar industry in the past decades. Recommender systems have seen an even more meteoric rise to success with wide...

Building resilience: A preliminary exploration of women's perceptions of the use of acupuncture as an adjunct to In Vitro Fertilisation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paterson Charlotte

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF is now an accepted and effective treatment for infertility, however IVF is acknowledged as contributing to, rather than lessening, the overall psychosocial effects of infertility. Psychological and counselling interventions have previously been widely recommended in parallel with infertility treatments but whilst in many jurisdictions counselling is recommended or mandatory, it may not be widely used. Acupuncture is increasingly used as an adjunct to IVF, in this preliminary study we sought to investigate the experience of infertile women who had used acupuncture to improve their fertility. Methods A sample of 20 women was drawn from a cohort of women who had attended for a minimum of four acupuncture sessions in the practices of two acupuncturists in South Australia. Eight women were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Six had sought acupuncture during IVF treatment and two had begun acupuncture to enhance their fertility and had later progressed to IVF. Descriptive content analysis was employed to analyse the data. Results Four major categories of perceptions about acupuncture in relation to reproductive health were identified: (a Awareness of, and perceived benefits of acupuncture; (b perceptions of the body and the impact of acupuncture upon it; (c perceptions of stress and the impact of acupuncture on resilience; and (d perceptions of the intersection of medical treatment and acupuncture. Conclusion This preliminary exploration, whilst confined to a small sample of women, confirms that acupuncture is indeed perceived by infertile women to have an impact to their health. All findings outlined here are reported cautiously because they are limited by the size of the sample. They suggest that further studies of acupuncture as an adjunct to IVF should systematically explore the issues of wellbeing, anxiety, personal and social resilience and women's identity in relation to sexuality

A collaborative approach for research paper recommender system.

Science.gov (United States)

Haruna, Khalid; Akmar Ismail, Maizatul; Damiasih, Damiasih; Sutopo, Joko; Herawan, Tutut

2017-01-01

Research paper recommenders emerged over the last decade to ease finding publications relating to researchers' area of interest. The challenge was not just to provide researchers with very rich publications at any time, any place and in any form but to also offer the right publication to the right researcher in the right way. Several approaches exist in handling paper recommender systems. However, these approaches assumed the availability of the whole contents of the recommending papers to be freely accessible, which is not always true due to factors such as copyright restrictions. This paper presents a collaborative approach for research paper recommender system. By leveraging the advantages of collaborative filtering approach, we utilize the publicly available contextual metadata to infer the hidden associations that exist between research papers in order to personalize recommendations. The novelty of our proposed approach is that it provides personalized recommendations regardless of the research field and regardless of the user's expertise. Using a publicly available dataset, our proposed approach has recorded a significant improvement over other baseline methods in measuring both the overall performance and the ability to return relevant and useful publications at the top of the recommendation list.

An incentive-based architecture for social recommendations

KAUST Repository

Bhattacharjee, Rajat; Goel, Ashish; Kollias, Konstantinos

2009-01-01

We present an incentive-based architecture for providing recommendations in a social network. We maintain a distinct reputation system for each individual and we rely on users to identify appropriate correlations and rate the items using a system-provided recommendation language. The key idea is to design an incentive structure and a ranking system such that any inaccuracy in the recommendations implies the existence of a profitable arbitrage opportunity, hence making the system resistant to malicious spam and presentation bias. We also show that, under mild assumptions, our architecture provides users with incentive to minimize the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the ratings and the actual item qualities, quickly driving the system to an equilibrium state with accurate recommendations. Copyright 2009 ACM.

Supplements in pregnancy: the latest recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez García, Rosa María

2016-07-12

Pregnancy is a challenge from the nutritional point of view, because nutrient requirements are increased and alter its intake can affect maternal and fetal health. Micronutrient defi ciency states are related to preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, abortion and congenital anomalies. Currently, the diet of many expectant mothers is insufficient in micronutrients, in this cases supplementation is necessary. It is recommended supplementation with folic acid in doses of 400 mcg / day and 5 mg/day in risk pregnant, and should begin at least one month before conception and during the first 12 weeks gestation, and extend it throughout pregnancy in mothers with nutritional risk. It is important to keep watch the proper dose of folic acid to prevent possible adverse effects of unmetabolized accumulation in plasma. A high percentage of pregnant women presented iron deficiency anemia, being recommended intermittent use of iron supplements (with lower gastrointestinal alteration and oxidative stress); not recommended for mothers without anemia (hemoglobin> 13.5 g / L). Since calcium absorption is increased up to 40% in gestation, its supplementation is not recommended for mothers with adequate intakes (3 dairy / day), and its use must be reserved to women with inadequate intakes and / or high risk of preeclampsia. Regarding the iodine, there are confl icting positions by different working groups established potassium iodide supplementation in women who do not reach their recommended intake (3 servings of milk and dairy products + 2 g of iodized salt), with their diets. Given that vitamin A and D can be toxic to mother and fetus, it is not recommended its supplementation except in cases of deficiency. Although the use of multiple micronutrients supplements may favorably impact the outcome of pregnancy, more scientific evidence is needed to establish the replacement of iron and folic acid with a multiple micronutrient supplement.

Efficient Tensor Strategy for Recommendation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aboagye Emelia Opoku

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The era of big data has witnessed the explosion of tensor datasets, and large scale Probabilistic Tensor Factorization (PTF analysis is important to accommodate such increasing trend of data. Sparsity, and Cold-Start are some of the inherent problems of recommender systems in the era of big data. This paper proposes a novel Sentiment-Based Probabilistic Tensor Analysis technique senti-PTF to address the problems. The propose framework first applies a Natural Language Processing technique to perform sentiment analysis taking advantage of the huge sums of textual data generated available from the social media which are predominantly left untouched. Although some current studies do employ review texts, many of them do not consider how sentiments in reviews influence recommendation algorithm for prediction. There is therefore this big data text analytics gap whose modeling is computationally expensive. From our experiments, our novel machine learning sentiment-based tensor analysis is computationally less expensive, and addresses the cold-start problem, for optimal recommendation prediction.

Recommendations of International Commission of Radiation Protection 1990

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

The book summarizes the recommendations on radiation protection of International of Radiation Protection. The main chapters are: 1.- Rates in radiation protection 2.- Biological aspects of radiation protection 3.- Framework of radiation protection. 4.- System of protection. 5.- Implantation of commission's recommendations. 6.- Summary of recommendations

Improved personalized recommendation based on a similarity network

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ximeng; Liu, Yun; Xiong, Fei

2016-08-01

A recommender system helps individual users find the preferred items rapidly and has attracted extensive attention in recent years. Many successful recommendation algorithms are designed on bipartite networks, such as network-based inference or heat conduction. However, most of these algorithms define the resource-allocation methods for an average allocation. That is not reasonable because average allocation cannot indicate the user choice preference and the influence between users which leads to a series of non-personalized recommendation results. We propose a personalized recommendation approach that combines the similarity function and bipartite network to generate a similarity network that improves the resource-allocation process. Our model introduces user influence into the recommender system and states that the user influence can make the resource-allocation process more reasonable. We use four different metrics to evaluate our algorithms for three benchmark data sets. Experimental results show that the improved recommendation on a similarity network can obtain better accuracy and diversity than some competing approaches.

Improved collaborative filtering recommendation algorithm of similarity measure

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Baofu; Yuan, Baoping

2017-05-01

The Collaborative filtering recommendation algorithm is one of the most widely used recommendation algorithm in personalized recommender systems. The key is to find the nearest neighbor set of the active user by using similarity measure. However, the methods of traditional similarity measure mainly focus on the similarity of user common rating items, but ignore the relationship between the user common rating items and all items the user rates. And because rating matrix is very sparse, traditional collaborative filtering recommendation algorithm is not high efficiency. In order to obtain better accuracy, based on the consideration of common preference between users, the difference of rating scale and score of common items, this paper presents an improved similarity measure method, and based on this method, a collaborative filtering recommendation algorithm based on similarity improvement is proposed. Experimental results show that the algorithm can effectively improve the quality of recommendation, thus alleviate the impact of data sparseness.

TDCCREC: AN EFFICIENT AND SCALABLE WEB-BASED RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K.Latha

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Web browsers are provided with complex information space where the volume of information available to them is huge. There comes the Recommender system which effectively recommends web pages that are related to the current webpage, to provide the user with further customized reading material. To enhance the performance of the recommender systems, we include an elegant proposed web based recommendation system; Truth Discovery based Content and Collaborative RECommender (TDCCREC which is capable of addressing scalability. Existing approaches such as Learning automata deals with usage and navigational patterns of users. On the other hand, Weighted Association Rule is applied for recommending web pages by assigning weights to each page in all the transactions. Both of them have their own disadvantages. The websites recommended by the search engines have no guarantee for information correctness and often delivers conflicting information. To solve them, content based filtering and collaborative filtering techniques are introduced for recommending web pages to the active user along with the trustworthiness of the website and confidence of facts which outperforms the existing methods. Our results show how the proposed recommender system performs better in predicting the next request of web users.

Research on E-Commerce Platform-Based Personalized Recommendation Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhijun Zhang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Aiming at data sparsity and timeliness in traditional E-commerce collaborative filtering recommendation algorithms, when constructing user-item rating matrix, this paper utilizes the feature that commodities in E-commerce system belong to different levels to fill in nonrated items by calculating RF/IRF of the commodity’s corresponding level. In the recommendation prediction stage, considering timeliness of the recommendation system, time weighted based recommendation prediction formula is adopted to design a personalized recommendation model by integrating level filling method and rating time. The experimental results on real dataset verify the feasibility and validity of the algorithm and it owns higher predicting accuracy compared with present recommendation algorithms.

Pickering safeguards: a preliminary analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Todd, J.L.; Hodgkinson, J.G.

1977-05-01

A summary is presented of thoughts relative to a systems approach for implementing international safeguards. Included is a preliminary analysis of the Pickering Generating Station followed by a suggested safeguards system for the facility

EULAR revised recommendations for the management of fibromyalgia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Macfarlane, G J; Kronisch, C; Dean, L E

2017-01-01

and Evaluation system was used for making recommendations. RESULTS: 2979 titles were identified: from these 275 full papers were selected for review and 107 reviews (and/or meta-analyses) evaluated as eligible. Based on meta-analyses, the only 'strong for' therapy-based recommendation in the guidelines......OBJECTIVE: The original European League Against Rheumatism recommendations for managing fibromyalgia assessed evidence up to 2005. The paucity of studies meant that most recommendations were 'expert opinion'. METHODS: A multidisciplinary group from 12 countries assessed evidence with a focus...... on systematic reviews and meta-analyses concerned with pharmacological/non-pharmacological management for fibromyalgia. A review, in May 2015, identified eligible publications and key outcomes assessed were pain, fatigue, sleep and daily functioning. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development...

Australian health professionals' health website recommendation trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Usher, Wayne T

2011-08-01

This study was concerned with indentifying motivations and trends associated with a health website recommendation from eight of Australia's major health professions to the health consumer. Health professions included in this study are: psychiatrists, general practitioners, social workers, dietitians, chiropractors, physiotherapists, optometrists and pharmacists. An online survey (www.limesurvey.org) was developed from a common set of questions negotiated between all eight health professions. Survey questions were constructed in an attempt to identify participants' reasons for or against recommending a health website to a patient. A 5-point scale (not, slightly, neutral, moderately, strongly) to measure influence was used throughout the question set. This study indicates that Australian general practitioners (GPs) were the highest Australian health professionals to undertake a health website recommendation (86%), followed by psychiatrists (80%), with the lowest being physiotherapists (42%) and optometrists (33%). A profile of the Australian health professional who recommends a health website is identified as male, aged above 50 years, has had more than 10 years experience, works in a major city, is in private practice and has patient numbers exceeding 500 in a 12-month period (2009). Recommendations from this study include the need to develop mechanisms that identify high-quality online medical information and the development and implementation of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses which up-skill health professionals concerning the recommendation of health websites for health care delivery.

Solving the stability-accuracy-diversity dilemma of recommender systems

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Lei; Liu, Kecheng; Liu, Jianguo; Zhang, Runtong

2017-02-01

Recommender systems are of great significance in predicting the potential interesting items based on the target user's historical selections. However, the recommendation list for a specific user has been found changing vastly when the system changes, due to the unstable quantification of item similarities, which is defined as the recommendation stability problem. To improve the similarity stability and recommendation stability is crucial for the user experience enhancement and the better understanding of user interests. While the stability as well as accuracy of recommendation could be guaranteed by recommending only popular items, studies have been addressing the necessity of diversity which requires the system to recommend unpopular items. By ranking the similarities in terms of stability and considering only the most stable ones, we present a top- n-stability method based on the Heat Conduction algorithm (denoted as TNS-HC henceforth) for solving the stability-accuracy-diversity dilemma. Experiments on four benchmark data sets indicate that the TNS-HC algorithm could significantly improve the recommendation stability and accuracy simultaneously and still retain the high-diversity nature of the Heat Conduction algorithm. Furthermore, we compare the performance of the TNS-HC algorithm with a number of benchmark recommendation algorithms. The result suggests that the TNS-HC algorithm is more efficient in solving the stability-accuracy-diversity triple dilemma of recommender systems.

Computational Techniques for More Accurate and Diverse Recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, YoungOk

2011-01-01

Recommender systems are becoming an increasingly important research area due to the growing demand for personalized recommendations. The volume of information available to each user and the number of products carried in e-commerce marketplaces have grown tremendously. Thus, recommender systems are needed to help individual users find the most…

Primary HPV testing recommendations of US providers, 2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Crystale Purvis; Saraiya, Mona

2017-12-01

To investigate the HPV testing recommendations of US physicians who perform cervical cancer screening. Data from the 2015 DocStyles survey of U.S. health care providers were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression to identify provider characteristics associated with routine recommendation of primary HPV testing for average-risk, asymptomatic women ≥30years old. The analysis was limited to primary care physicians and obstetrician-gynecologists who performed cervical cancer screening (N=843). Primary HPV testing for average-risk, asymptomatic women ≥30years old was recommended by 40.8% of physicians who performed cervical cancer screening, and 90.1% of these providers recommended primary HPV testing for women of all ages. The screening intervals most commonly recommended for primary HPV testing with average-risk, asymptomatic women ≥30years old were every 3years (35.5%) and annually (30.2%). Physicians who reported that patient HPV vaccination status influenced their cervical cancer screening practices were almost four times more likely to recommend primary HPV testing for average-risk, asymptomatic women ≥30years old than other providers (Adj OR=3.96, 95% CI=2.82-5.57). Many US physicians recommended primary HPV testing for women of all ages, contrary to guidelines which limit this screening approach to women ≥25years old. The association between provider recommendation of primary HPV testing and patient HPV vaccination status may be due to anticipated reductions in the most oncogenic HPV types among vaccinated women. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Preliminary I&C Design for LORELEI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korotkin, S.; Kaufman, Y.; Guttmann, E. B.; Levy, S.; Amidan, D.; Gdalyho, B.; Cahana, T.; Ellenbogen, A.; Arad, M.; Weiss, Y.; Sasson, A.; Ferry, L.; Bourrelly, F.; Cohen, Y.

2014-01-01

This document summarizes the preliminary I&C design for LORELEI experiment The preliminary design deals with considerations regarding appropriate safety and service instrumentation. The determined closed loop control rules for temperature and position will be implemented in the detailed design. The Computer Aided Operator Decisions System (CAODS) will be used for prediction of hot spot temperature and thickness of oxidation layer using Baker-Just correlation. The proposed hybrid simulation system comprising of both virtual and real hardware will be in-cooperated for LORELEI verification. It will perform both integration cold tests for a partial hardware loop and virtual tests for the final I&C design

Preventive Care Recommendations for Adults with MS

Science.gov (United States)

... risk factors including prolonged use of steroids or anticonvulsants, a family history of osteoporosis, and a sedentary ... care provider. Yearly. Monthly. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends starting at age eighteen. Preventive Care Recommendations | ...

Cell emulation and preliminary results.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-07-01

This report details preliminary results of the testing plan implemented by the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute to evaluate Electric Vehicle (EV) battery durability and reliability under electric utility grid operations. Commercial EV battery cells ar...

Private personalized social recommendations in an IPTV system

Science.gov (United States)

Elmisery, Ahmed M.

2014-04-01

In our connected world, recommender systems have become widely known for their ability to provide expert and personalize referrals to end-users in different domains. The rapid growth of social networks and new kinds of systems so called "social recommender systems" are rising, where recommender systems can be utilized to find a suitable content according to end-users' personal preferences. However, preserving end-users' privacy in social recommender systems is a very challenging problem that might prevent end-users from releasing their own data, which detains the accuracy of extracted referrals. In order to gain accurate referrals, social recommender systems should have the ability to preserve the privacy of end-users registered in this system. In this paper, we present a middleware that runs on end-users' Set-top boxes to conceal their profile data when released for generating referrals, such that computation of recommendation proceeds over the concealed data. The proposed middleware is equipped with two concealment protocols to give users a complete control on the privacy level of their profiles. We present an IPTV network scenario and perform a number of different experiments to test the efficiency and accuracy of our protocols. As supported by the experiments, our protocols maintain the recommendations accuracy with acceptable privacy level.

Recommending Ads from Trustworthy Relationships in Pervasive Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco Martinez-Pabon

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The use of pervasive computing technologies for advertising purposes is an interesting emergent field for large, medium, and small companies. Although recommender systems have been a traditional solution to decrease users’ cognitive effort to find good and personalized items, the classic collaborative filtering needs to include contextual information to be more effective. The inclusion of users’ social context information in the recommendation algorithm, specifically trust in other users, may be a mechanism for obtaining ads’ influence from other users in their closest social circle. However, there is no consensus about the variables to use during the trust inference process, and its integration into a classic collaborative filtering recommender system deserves a deeper research. On the other hand, the pervasive advertising domain demands a recommender system evaluation from a novelty/precision perspective. The improvement of the precision/novelty balance is not only a matter related to the recommendation algorithm itself but also a better recommendations’ display strategy. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for a collaborative filtering recommender system based on trust, which was tested throughout a digital signage prototype using a multiscreen scheme for recommendations delivery to evaluate our proposal using a novelty/precision approach.