Invalidating Policies using Structural Information

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kammuller, Florian; Probst, Christian W.

2014-01-01

by invalidating policies using structural information of the organisational model. Based on this structural information and a description of the organisation’s policies, our approach invalidates the policies and identifies exemplary sequences of actions that lead to a violation of the policy in question. Based...... on these examples, the organisation can identify real attack vectors that might result in an insider attack. This information can be used to refine access control systems or policies. We provide case studies showing how mechanical verification tools, i.e. modelchecking with MCMAS and interactive theorem proving...

Analysis of crack propagation in concrete structures with structural information entropy

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2010-01-01

The propagation of cracks in concrete structures causes energy dissipation and release, and also causes energy redistribution in the structures. Entropy can characterize the energy redistribution. To investigate the relation between the propagation of cracks and the entropy in concrete structures, cracked concrete structures are treated as dissipative structures. Structural information entropy is defined for concrete structures. A compact tension test is conducted. Meanwhile, numerical simulations are also carried out. Both the test and numerical simulation results show that the structural information entropy in the structures can characterize the propagation of cracks in concrete structures.

Visual working memory supports the inhibition of previously processed information: evidence from preview search.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Aidroos, Naseem; Emrich, Stephen M; Ferber, Susanne; Pratt, Jay

2012-06-01

In four experiments we assessed whether visual working memory (VWM) maintains a record of previously processed visual information, allowing old information to be inhibited, and new information to be prioritized. Specifically, we evaluated whether VWM contributes to the inhibition (i.e., visual marking) of previewed distractors in a preview search. We evaluated this proposal by testing three predictions. First, Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrate that preview inhibition is more effective when the number of previewed distractors is below VWM capacity than above; an effect that can only be observed at small preview set sizes (Experiment 2A) and when observers are allowed to move their eyes freely (Experiment 2B). Second, Experiment 3 shows that, when quantified as the number of inhibited distractors, the magnitude of the preview effect is stable across different search difficulties. Third, Experiment 4 demonstrates that individual differences in preview inhibition are correlated with individual differences in VWM capacity. These findings provide converging evidence that VWM supports the inhibition of previewed distractors. More generally, these findings demonstrate how VWM contributes to the efficiency of human visual information processing--VWM prioritizes new information by inhibiting old information from being reselected for attention.

User Needs and Strategies in Structured Information Retrieval

NARCIS (Netherlands)

G. Ramirez Camps (Georgina)

2005-01-01

textabstractStructured information retrieval studies the combination of the content and the structure information of documents to perform different IR tasks. Different approaches make use of the structural information of documents to improve information retrieval effectiveness. However, most of

Information-preserving structures: A general framework for quantum zero-error information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blume-Kohout, Robin; Ng, Hui Khoon; Poulin, David; Viola, Lorenza

2010-01-01

Quantum systems carry information. Quantum theory supports at least two distinct kinds of information (classical and quantum), and a variety of different ways to encode and preserve information in physical systems. A system's ability to carry information is constrained and defined by the noise in its dynamics. This paper introduces an operational framework, using information-preserving structures, to classify all the kinds of information that can be perfectly (i.e., with zero error) preserved by quantum dynamics. We prove that every perfectly preserved code has the same structure as a matrix algebra, and that preserved information can always be corrected. We also classify distinct operational criteria for preservation (e.g., 'noiseless','unitarily correctible', etc.) and introduce two natural criteria for measurement-stabilized and unconditionally preserved codes. Finally, for several of these operational criteria, we present efficient (polynomial in the state-space dimension) algorithms to find all of a channel's information-preserving structures.

Computerized management information systems and organizational structures

Science.gov (United States)

Zannetos, Z. S.; Sertel, M. R.

1970-01-01

The computerized management of information systems and organizational structures is discussed. The subjects presented are: (1) critical factors favoring centralization and decentralization of organizations, (2) classification of organizations by relative structure, (3) attempts to measure change in organization structure, and (4) impact of information technology developments on organizational structure changes.

Fear appeals and confronting information campaigns. [Previously: Fear-based information campaigns.

OpenAIRE

2007-01-01

Fear appeals or confronting information campaigns confront people in an often hard and sometimes even shocking way with the consequences of risky behaviour. This can have a positive impact on the attitudes and behavioural intentions of the target group, but only if key conditions are met. Those conditions are that the information does not only evoke fear, but also informs the target group individuals of their personal risk and provides them with feasible and effective behavioural alternatives...

Development of the structural materials information center

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oland, C.B.; Naus, D.J.

1990-01-01

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has initiated a Structural Aging Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to identify potential structural safety issues related to continued service of nuclear power plants and to establish criteria for evaluating and resolving these issues. One of the tasks in this program focuses on the establishment of a Structural Materials Information Center where data and information on the time variation of concrete and other structural material properties under the influence of pertinent environmental stressors and aging factors are being collected and assembled into a database. This database will be used to assist in the prediction of potential long-term deterioration of critical structural components in nuclear power plants and to establish limits on hostile environmental exposure for these structures and materials. Two complementary database formats have been developed. The Structural Materials Handbook is an expandable, hard copy handbook that contains complete sets of data and information for selected portland cement concrete, metallic reinforcement, prestressing tendon, and structural steel materials. The Structural Materials Electronic Database is accessible by an IBM-compatible personal computer and provides an efficient means for searching the various database files to locate materials with similar properties. The database formats have been developed to accommodate data and information on the time-variation of concrete and other structural material properties. To date, the database includes information on concrete, reinforcement, prestressing, and structural steel materials

INFORMATION STRUCTURE IN EFL TEACHING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gültekin Boran

2015-07-01

Full Text Available When speaking or writing in a foreign language, being grammatically and semantically competent may not be enough to convey the necessary information to the interlocutors in dual conversations or to the readers who read our texts in various genres such as personal letters, formal letters, e-mails, etc. Namely, individuals who communicate in a foreign language may generate grammatically and semantically well-formed sentences or phrases but their sentences and phrases may still not be comprehensible enough because they fail in highlighting the new information (unfamiliar information and deemphasizing the given (old information. Therefore, teaching how to utilize intonation, sentence stress and pitch when speaking English and teaching how to utilize various syntactic constructions such as fronting, left-dislocation, clefting, pseudoclefting, passive structures and word order in order to highlight new information and deemphasise given information when both speaking English and writing a text in English are of great importance in foreign language teaching. In this article, the concept of information structure is reviewed, examples are given both in Turkish and English and suggestions are made for English as a Foreign Language (EFL classes.

Development of the Structural Materials Information Center

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oland, C.B.; Naus, D.J.

1990-01-01

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has initiated a Structural Aging Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to identify potential structural safety issues related to continued service of nuclear power plants and to establish criteria for evaluating and resolving these issues. One of the tasks in this program focuses on the establishment of a Structural Materials Information Center where data and information on the time variation of concrete and other structural material properties under the influence of pertinent environmental stressors and aging factors are being collected and assembled into a data base. This data base will be used to assist in the prediction of potential long-term deterioration of critical structural components in nuclear power plants and to establish limits on hostile environmental exposure for these structures and materials. Two complementary data base formats have been developed. The Structural Materials Handbook is an expandable, hard-copy reference document that contains complete sets of data and information for selected portland cement concrete, metallic reinforcement, prestressing tendon, and structural steel materials. Baseline data, reference properties and environmental information are presented in the handbook as tables, notes and graphs. The handbook, which will be published in four volumes, serves as the information source for the electronic data base. The Structural Materials Electronic Data Base is accessible by an IBM-compatible personal computer and provides an efficient means for searching the various data base files to locate materials with similar properties. Properties will be reported in the International System of Units (SI) and in customary units whenever possible. 7 refs., 3 figs., 4 tabs

Temporal and Statistical Information in Causal Structure Learning

Science.gov (United States)

McCormack, Teresa; Frosch, Caren; Patrick, Fiona; Lagnado, David

2015-01-01

Three experiments examined children's and adults' abilities to use statistical and temporal information to distinguish between common cause and causal chain structures. In Experiment 1, participants were provided with conditional probability information and/or temporal information and asked to infer the causal structure of a 3-variable mechanical…

Problem communication (homeostatic structuring of information)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bogdanov, N I

1982-01-01

This paper investigates the fundamental connection of intellectual and homeostatic levels of treating information which appear in information structuring. The laws obtained can be applied to artificial intelligence in studies of communication and education. 4 references.

Risk Informed Structural Systems Integrity Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Michael Havbro Faber

2017-01-01

The present paper is predominantly a conceptual contribution with an appraisal of major developments in risk informed structural integrity management for offshore installations together with a discussion of their merits and the challenges which still lie ahead. Starting point is taken in a selected...... overview of research and development contributions which have formed the basis for Risk Based Inspection Planning (RBI) as we know it today. Thereafter an outline of the methodical basis for risk informed structural systems integrity management, i.e. the Bayesian decision analysis is provided in summary....... The main focus is here directed on RBI for offshore facilities subject to fatigue damages. New ideas and methodical frameworks in the area of robustness and resilience modeling of structural systems are then introduced, and it is outlined how these may adequately be utilized to enhance Structural Integrity...

Use of prosody and information structure in high functioning adults with Autism in relation to language ability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne-Marie R DePape

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abnormal prosody is a striking feature of the speech of those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD, but previous reports suggest large variability among those with ASD. Here we show that part of this heterogeneity can be explained by level of language functioning. We recorded semi-spontaneous but controlled conversations in adults with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder and measured features related to pitch and duration to determine (1 general use of prosodic features, (2 prosodic use in relation to marking information structure, specifically, the emphasis of new information in a sentence (focus as opposed to information already given in the conversational context (topic, and (3 the relation between prosodic use and level of language function. We found that, compared to typical adults, those with ASD with high language functioning generally used a larger pitch range than controls but did not mark information structure, whereas those with moderate language functioning generally used a smaller pitch range than controls but marked information structure appropriately to a large extent. Both impaired general prosodic use and impaired marking of information structure would be expected to seriously impact social communication and thereby lead to increased difficulty in personal domains, such as making and keeping friendships, and in professional domains, such as competing for employment opportunities.

The impact of information technology on productivity using structural equations technique in Iran Behnoush Company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mina Beig

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Information technology plays an important role on increasing productivity in many organizations. The primary objective of the present survey is to study the impact of information technology on productivity and find a positive and significant relationship between these two factors. Structural equations technique and LISREL software are used for analysis of the questionnaires distributed among managers and some employees of Iran Behnoush Company. Organizations try to improve their performance by investment in information technology. However, many of the previous studies indicate insignificance of the impact of information technology on productivity of the organizations. The present survey studies the impact of information technology on organizations' productivity through the collected data from the above company. Results confirm existence of a positive relationship between information technology and productivity.

Topic structure for information retrieval

NARCIS (Netherlands)

He, J.; Sanderson, M.; Zhai, C.; Zobel, J.; Allan, J.; Aslam, J.A.

2009-01-01

In my research, I propose a coherence measure, with the goal of discovering and using topic structures within and between documents, of which I explore its extensions and applications in information retrieval.

Accurate protein structure modeling using sparse NMR data and homologous structure information.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, James M; Sgourakis, Nikolaos G; Liu, Gaohua; Rossi, Paolo; Tang, Yuefeng; Mills, Jeffrey L; Szyperski, Thomas; Montelione, Gaetano T; Baker, David

2012-06-19

While information from homologous structures plays a central role in X-ray structure determination by molecular replacement, such information is rarely used in NMR structure determination because it can be incorrect, both locally and globally, when evolutionary relationships are inferred incorrectly or there has been considerable evolutionary structural divergence. Here we describe a method that allows robust modeling of protein structures of up to 225 residues by combining (1)H(N), (13)C, and (15)N backbone and (13)Cβ chemical shift data, distance restraints derived from homologous structures, and a physically realistic all-atom energy function. Accurate models are distinguished from inaccurate models generated using incorrect sequence alignments by requiring that (i) the all-atom energies of models generated using the restraints are lower than models generated in unrestrained calculations and (ii) the low-energy structures converge to within 2.0 Å backbone rmsd over 75% of the protein. Benchmark calculations on known structures and blind targets show that the method can accurately model protein structures, even with very remote homology information, to a backbone rmsd of 1.2-1.9 Å relative to the conventional determined NMR ensembles and of 0.9-1.6 Å relative to X-ray structures for well-defined regions of the protein structures. This approach facilitates the accurate modeling of protein structures using backbone chemical shift data without need for side-chain resonance assignments and extensive analysis of NOESY cross-peak assignments.

Fear appeals and confronting information campaigns. [Previously: Fear-based information campaigns.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2007-01-01

Fear appeals or confronting information campaigns confront people in an often hard and sometimes even shocking way with the consequences of risky behaviour. This can have a positive impact on the attitudes and behavioural intentions of the target group, but only if key conditions are met. Those

Information Structures in Nash and Leader-Follower Strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

1981-01-01

OICkASSIPICATION/ OOWNGRAOING IS. OISTNIIIUTION STATEMINT (ao tD. esPort ) * Approved for public release; distribution unlimited. 17. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT...problems and two market models of duopoly ith this type of information structure are extensively analyzed and examined. DO jAN7, 1473 EDIION OF NV SS IS...information 3 structure is employed in both Nash games and optimal coordination problems and two market models of duopoly with this type of information

Matrix structure for information-driven polarimeter design

Science.gov (United States)

Alenin, Andrey S.

intended for channeled and partial systems are combined to form a previously undiscussed class of channeled partial Mueller matrix polarimeters (c-pMMPs). These systems leverage the gained understanding in manipulating the structure of the measurement to design modulations such that the desired pieces of information are mapped into channels with favorable reconstruction characteristics.

Information Entropy Measures for Stand Structural Diversity:Joint Entropy

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Lei Xiangdong; Lu Yuanchang

2004-01-01

Structural diversity is the key attribute of a stand. A set of biodiversity measures in ecology was introduced in forest management for describing stand structure, of which Shannon information entropy (Shannon index) has been the most widely used measure of species diversity. It is generally thought that tree size diversity could serve as a good proxy for height diversity. However, tree size diversity and height diversity for stand structure is not completely consistent. Stand diameter cannot reflect height information completely. Either tree size diversity or height diversity is one-dimensional information entropy measure. This paper discussed the method of multiple-dimensional information entropy measure with the concept of joint entropy. It is suggested that joint entropy is a good measure for describing overall stand structural diversity.

Structure information from fusion barriers

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Pb, using the coupled reaction channel (CRC) method and correct structure information, have been analysed. The barrier distributions derived from these excitation functions including many of the significant channels are featureless, although these channels have considerable effects on the fusion excitation function.

Standardized structure of electronic records for information exchange

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galabova, Sevdalina; Trencheva, Tereza; Trenchev, Ivan

2009-01-01

In the paper is presented the structure of the electronic record whose form is standardized in ISO 2709:2008. This International Standard describes a generalized structure, a framework designed specially for communications between data processing systems and not for use as a processing format within systems.Basic terms are defined as follows: character, data field, directory, directory map, field, field separator etc. It’s presented the general structure of a record. The application analysis of this structure shows the effective information exchange in the widest range.The purpose of this research is to find out advantages and structure of the information exchange format standardized in ISO 2709:2008. Key words: Standardized structure, electronic records, exchange formats, data field, directory, directory map, indicators, identifiers

In the Information Age, do dementia caregivers get the information they need? Semi-structured interviews to determine informal caregivers' education needs, barriers, and preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, Kendra; Hahn, Howard; Lee, Amber J; Madison, Catherine A; Atri, Alireza

2016-09-23

Most patients with dementia or cognitive impairment receive care from family members, often untrained for this challenging role. Caregivers may not access publicly available caregiving information, and caregiver education programs are not widely implemented clinically. Prior large surveys yielded broad quantitative understanding of caregiver information needs, but do not illuminate the in-depth, rich, and nuanced caregiver perspectives that can be gleaned using qualitative methodology. We aimed to understand perspectives about information sources, barriers and preferences, through semi-structured interviews with 27 caregivers. Content analysis identified important themes. We interviewed 19 women, 8 men; mean age 58.5 years; most adult children (15) or spouses (8) of the care recipient. Dementia symptoms often developed insidiously, with delayed disease acknowledgement and caregiver self-identification. While memory loss was common, behavioral symptoms were most troublesome, often initially unrecognized as disease indicators. Emerging themes: 1.) Barriers to seeking information often result from knowledge gaps, rather than reluctance to assume the caregiver role; 2.) Most caregivers currently receive insufficient information. Caregivers are open to many information sources, settings, and technologies, including referrals to other healthcare professionals, print material, and community and internet resources, but expect the primary care provider (PCP) to recommend, endorse, and guide them to specific sources. These findings replicated and expanded on results from previous quantitative surveys and, importantly, revealed a previously unrecognized essential factor: despite receiving insufficient information, caregivers place critical value on their relationship with care recipient PCPs to receive recommendations, guidance and endorsement to sources of caregiving information. Implications include: 1.) Greater public education is needed to help caregivers identify and

Methodology for Simulation and Analysis of Complex Adaptive Supply Network Structure and Dynamics Using Information Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joshua Rodewald

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Supply networks existing today in many industries can behave as complex adaptive systems making them more difficult to analyze and assess. Being able to fully understand both the complex static and dynamic structures of a complex adaptive supply network (CASN are key to being able to make more informed management decisions and prioritize resources and production throughout the network. Previous efforts to model and analyze CASN have been impeded by the complex, dynamic nature of the systems. However, drawing from other complex adaptive systems sciences, information theory provides a model-free methodology removing many of those barriers, especially concerning complex network structure and dynamics. With minimal information about the network nodes, transfer entropy can be used to reverse engineer the network structure while local transfer entropy can be used to analyze the network structure’s dynamics. Both simulated and real-world networks were analyzed using this methodology. Applying the methodology to CASNs allows the practitioner to capitalize on observations from the highly multidisciplinary field of information theory which provides insights into CASN’s self-organization, emergence, stability/instability, and distributed computation. This not only provides managers with a more thorough understanding of a system’s structure and dynamics for management purposes, but also opens up research opportunities into eventual strategies to monitor and manage emergence and adaption within the environment.

Community structure informs species geographic distributions

KAUST Repository

Montesinos-Navarro, Alicia

2018-05-23

Understanding what determines species\\' geographic distributions is crucial for assessing global change threats to biodiversity. Measuring limits on distributions is usually, and necessarily, done with data at large geographic extents and coarse spatial resolution. However, survival of individuals is determined by processes that happen at small spatial scales. The relative abundance of coexisting species (i.e. \\'community structure\\') reflects assembly processes occurring at small scales, and are often available for relatively extensive areas, so could be useful for explaining species distributions. We demonstrate that Bayesian Network Inference (BNI) can overcome several challenges to including community structure into studies of species distributions, despite having been little used to date. We hypothesized that the relative abundance of coexisting species can improve predictions of species distributions. In 1570 assemblages of 68 Mediterranean woody plant species we used BNI to incorporate community structure into Species Distribution Models (SDMs), alongside environmental information. Information on species associations improved SDM predictions of community structure and species distributions moderately, though for some habitat specialists the deviance explained increased by up to 15%. We demonstrate that most species associations (95%) were positive and occurred between species with ecologically similar traits. This suggests that SDM improvement could be because species co-occurrences are a proxy for local ecological processes. Our study shows that Bayesian Networks, when interpreted carefully, can be used to include local conditions into measurements of species\\' large-scale distributions, and this information can improve the predictions of species distributions.

Informational laws of genome structures

Science.gov (United States)

Bonnici, Vincenzo; Manca, Vincenzo

2016-06-01

In recent years, the analysis of genomes by means of strings of length k occurring in the genomes, called k-mers, has provided important insights into the basic mechanisms and design principles of genome structures. In the present study, we focus on the proper choice of the value of k for applying information theoretic concepts that express intrinsic aspects of genomes. The value k = lg2(n), where n is the genome length, is determined to be the best choice in the definition of some genomic informational indexes that are studied and computed for seventy genomes. These indexes, which are based on information entropies and on suitable comparisons with random genomes, suggest five informational laws, to which all of the considered genomes obey. Moreover, an informational genome complexity measure is proposed, which is a generalized logistic map that balances entropic and anti-entropic components of genomes and is related to their evolutionary dynamics. Finally, applications to computational synthetic biology are briefly outlined.

Structure Of Management Information In SNMP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oancea DANIEL

2003-12-01

Full Text Available In this article we present the Structure of Management Information from SNMP, for all three versions of SNMP, as well as the main differences between them. In the first part, two version of SNMP are presented: version 1, version 2; and in the last part the third version, that uses a security model for information protection, is presented.

Triangle network motifs predict complexes by complementing high-error interactomes with structural information.

Science.gov (United States)

Andreopoulos, Bill; Winter, Christof; Labudde, Dirk; Schroeder, Michael

2009-06-27

A lot of high-throughput studies produce protein-protein interaction networks (PPINs) with many errors and missing information. Even for genome-wide approaches, there is often a low overlap between PPINs produced by different studies. Second-level neighbors separated by two protein-protein interactions (PPIs) were previously used for predicting protein function and finding complexes in high-error PPINs. We retrieve second level neighbors in PPINs, and complement these with structural domain-domain interactions (SDDIs) representing binding evidence on proteins, forming PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles. We find low overlap between PPINs, SDDIs and known complexes, all well below 10%. We evaluate the overlap of PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles with known complexes from Munich Information center for Protein Sequences (MIPS). PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles have ~20 times higher overlap with MIPS complexes than using second-level neighbors in PPINs without SDDIs. The biological interpretation for triangles is that a SDDI causes two proteins to be observed with common interaction partners in high-throughput experiments. The relatively few SDDIs overlapping with PPINs are part of highly connected SDDI components, and are more likely to be detected in experimental studies. We demonstrate the utility of PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles by reconstructing myosin-actin processes in the nucleus, cytoplasm, and cytoskeleton, which were not obvious in the original PPIN. Using other complementary datatypes in place of SDDIs to form triangles, such as PubMed co-occurrences or threading information, results in a similar ability to find protein complexes. Given high-error PPINs with missing information, triangles of mixed datatypes are a promising direction for finding protein complexes. Integrating PPINs with SDDIs improves finding complexes. Structural SDDIs partially explain the high functional similarity of second-level neighbors in PPINs. We estimate that relatively little structural information would be sufficient

Multivariate information-theoretic measures reveal directed information structure and task relevant changes in fMRI connectivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Lizier, Joseph T; Heinzle, Jakob; Horstmann, Annette; Haynes, John-Dylan; Prokopenko, Mikhail

2011-02-01

The human brain undertakes highly sophisticated information processing facilitated by the interaction between its sub-regions. We present a novel method for interregional connectivity analysis, using multivariate extensions to the mutual information and transfer entropy. The method allows us to identify the underlying directed information structure between brain regions, and how that structure changes according to behavioral conditions. This method is distinguished in using asymmetric, multivariate, information-theoretical analysis, which captures not only directional and non-linear relationships, but also collective interactions. Importantly, the method is able to estimate multivariate information measures with only relatively little data. We demonstrate the method to analyze functional magnetic resonance imaging time series to establish the directed information structure between brain regions involved in a visuo-motor tracking task. Importantly, this results in a tiered structure, with known movement planning regions driving visual and motor control regions. Also, we examine the changes in this structure as the difficulty of the tracking task is increased. We find that task difficulty modulates the coupling strength between regions of a cortical network involved in movement planning and between motor cortex and the cerebellum which is involved in the fine-tuning of motor control. It is likely these methods will find utility in identifying interregional structure (and experimentally induced changes in this structure) in other cognitive tasks and data modalities.

Impact of Students’ Class Attendance on Recalling Previously Acquired Information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camellia Hemyari

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Background: In recent years, availability of class material including typed lectures, the professor’s Power Point slides, sound recordings, and even videos made a group of students feel that it is unnecessary to attend the classes. These students usually read and memorize typed lectures within two or three days prior to the exams and usually pass the tests even with low attendance rate. Thus, the question is how effective is this learning system and how long the one-night memorized lessons may last.Methods: A group of medical students (62 out of 106 students, with their class attendance and educational achievements in the Medical Mycology and Parasitology course being recorded since two years ago, was selected and their knowledge about this course was tested by multiple choice questions (MCQ designed based on the previous lectures.Results: Although the mean re-exam score of the students at the end of the externship was lower than the corresponding final score, a significant association was found between the scores of the students in these two exams (r=0.48, P=0.01. Moreover, a significant negative association was predicted between the number of absences and re-exam scores (r=-0.26, P=0.037.Conclusion: As our findings show, the phenomenon of recalling the acquired lessons is preserved for a long period of time and it is associated with the students’ attendance. Many factors including generation effect (by taking notes and cued-recall (via slide picture might play a significant role in the better recalling of the learned information in students with good class attendance.Keywords: STUDENT, MEMORY, LONG-TERM, RECALL, ABSENTEEISM, LEARNING

Designing quantum information processing via structural physical approximation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bae, Joonwoo

2017-10-01

In quantum information processing it may be possible to have efficient computation and secure communication beyond the limitations of classical systems. In a fundamental point of view, however, evolution of quantum systems by the laws of quantum mechanics is more restrictive than classical systems, identified to a specific form of dynamics, that is, unitary transformations and, consequently, positive and completely positive maps to subsystems. This also characterizes classes of disallowed transformations on quantum systems, among which positive but not completely maps are of particular interest as they characterize entangled states, a general resource in quantum information processing. Structural physical approximation offers a systematic way of approximating those non-physical maps, positive but not completely positive maps, with quantum channels. Since it has been proposed as a method of detecting entangled states, it has stimulated fundamental problems on classifications of positive maps and the structure of Hermitian operators and quantum states, as well as on quantum measurement such as quantum design in quantum information theory. It has developed efficient and feasible methods of directly detecting entangled states in practice, for which proof-of-principle experimental demonstrations have also been performed with photonic qubit states. Here, we present a comprehensive review on quantum information processing with structural physical approximations and the related progress. The review mainly focuses on properties of structural physical approximations and their applications toward practical information applications.

Determining root correspondence between previously and newly detected objects

Science.gov (United States)

Paglieroni, David W.; Beer, N Reginald

2014-06-17

A system that applies attribute and topology based change detection to networks of objects that were detected on previous scans of a structure, roadway, or area of interest. The attributes capture properties or characteristics of the previously detected objects, such as location, time of detection, size, elongation, orientation, etc. The topology of the network of previously detected objects is maintained in a constellation database that stores attributes of previously detected objects and implicitly captures the geometrical structure of the network. A change detection system detects change by comparing the attributes and topology of new objects detected on the latest scan to the constellation database of previously detected objects.

Quantification of the Value of Structural Health Monitoring Information for Fatigue Deteriorating Structural Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thöns, Sebastian; Schneider, Ronald; Faber, Michael Havbro

2015-01-01

This paper addresses the quantification of the value of structural health monitoring (SHM) before its implementation for structural systems on the basis of its Value of Information (VoI). The value of SHM is calculated utilizing the Bayesian pre-posterior decision analysis modelling the structural...... life cycle performance, the integrity management and the structural risks. The relevance and precision of SHM information for the reduction of the structural system risks and the expected cost of the structural integrity management throughout the life cycle constitutes the value of SHM...... and is quantified with this framework. The approach is focused on fatigue deteriorating structural steel systems for which a continuous resistance deterioration formulation is introduced. In a case study, the value of SHM for load monitoring is calculated for a Daniels system subjected to fatigue deterioration...

Impact of previously disadvantaged land-users on sustainable ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Impact of previously disadvantaged land-users on sustainable agricultural ... about previously disadvantaged land users involved in communal farming systems ... of input, capital, marketing, information and land use planning, with effect on ...

Value of Information Analysis in Structural Safety

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Konakli, Katerina; Faber, Michael Havbro

2014-01-01

of structural systems. In this context, experiments may refer to inspections or techniques of structural health monitoring. The Value of Information concept provides a powerful tool for determining whether the experimental cost is justified by the expected benefit and for identifying the optimal among different...... possible experimental schemes. This concept is elaborated through principal examples for structural components and system models. Sensitivity analyses are performed to investigate how the decision problem is influenced by the level of uncertainty that characterizes the structural properties, the amount...

Information transfer in community structured multiplex networks

Science.gov (United States)

Solé Ribalta, Albert; Granell, Clara; Gómez, Sergio; Arenas, Alex

2015-08-01

The study of complex networks that account for different types of interactions has become a subject of interest in the last few years, specially because its representational power in the description of users interactions in diverse online social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.). The mathematical description of these interacting networks has been coined under the name of multilayer networks, where each layer accounts for a type of interaction. It has been shown that diffusive processes on top of these networks present a phenomenology that cannot be explained by the naive superposition of single layer diffusive phenomena but require the whole structure of interconnected layers. Nevertheless, the description of diffusive phenomena on multilayer networks has obviated the fact that social networks have strong mesoscopic structure represented by different communities of individuals driven by common interests, or any other social aspect. In this work, we study the transfer of information in multilayer networks with community structure. The final goal is to understand and quantify, if the existence of well-defined community structure at the level of individual layers, together with the multilayer structure of the whole network, enhances or deteriorates the diffusion of packets of information.

Information transfer in community structured multiplex networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Albert eSolé Ribalta

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The study of complex networks that account for different types of interactions has become a subject of interest in the last few years, specially because its representational power in the description of users interactions in diverse online social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.. The mathematical description of these interacting networks has been coined under the name of multilayer networks, where each layer accounts for a type of interaction. It has been shown that diffusive processes on top of these networks present a phenomenology that cannot be explained by the naive superposition of single layer diffusive phenomena but require the whole structure of interconnected layers. Nevertheless, the description of diffusive phenomena on multilayer networks has obviated the fact that social networks have strong mesoscopic structure represented by different communities of individuals driven by common interests, or any other social aspect. In this work, we study the transfer of information in multilayer networks with community structure. The final goal is to understand and quantify, if the existence of well-defined community structure at the level of individual layers, together with the multilayer structure of the whole network, enhances or deteriorates the diffusion of packets of information.

Organizational Information Requirements, Media Richness and Structural Design

OpenAIRE

Richard L. Daft; Robert H. Lengel

1986-01-01

This paper answers the question, "Why do organizations process information?" Uncertainty and equivocality are defined as two forces that influence information processing in organizations. Organization structure and internal systems determine both the amount and richness of information provided to managers. Models are proposed that show how organizations can be designed to meet the information needs of technology, interdepartmental relations, and the environment. One implication for managers i...

Conceptual distortions of hand structure are robust to changes in stimulus information.

Science.gov (United States)

Ambroziak, Klaudia B; Tamè, Luigi; Longo, Matthew R

2018-05-01

Previous studies showed stereotyped distortions in hand representations. People judge their knuckles as farther forward in the hand than they actually are. The cause of this bias remains unclear. We tested whether both visual and tactile information contribute to the bias. In Experiment 1, participants judged the location of their knuckles by pointing to the location on their palm with: (1) a metal baton (using vision and touch), (2) a metal baton while blindfolded (using touch), or (3) a laser pointer (using vision). Distal mislocalisations were found in all conditions. In Experiment 2, we investigated whether judgments are influenced by visual landmarks such as creases. Participants localized their knuckles on either a photograph of their palm or a silhouette. Distal mislocalisations were apparent in both conditions. These results show that distal biases are resistant to changes in stimulus information, suggesting that such mislocalisations reflect a conceptual mis-representation of hand structure. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Informational technologies in modern educational structure

Science.gov (United States)

Fedyanin, A. B.

2017-01-01

The article represents the structure of informational technologies complex that is applied in modern school education, describes the most important educational methods, shows the results of their implementation. It represents the forms and methods of educational process informative support usage, examined in respects of different aspects of their using that take into account also the psychological features of students. A range of anxious facts and dangerous trends connected with the usage and distribution of the informational technologies that are to be taken into account in the educational process of informatization is also indicated in the article. Materials of the article are based on the experience of many years in operation and development of the informational educational sphere on the basis of secondary school of the physics and mathematics specialization.

Information processing for aerospace structural health monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Lichtenwalner, Peter F.; White, Edward V.; Baumann, Erwin W.

1998-06-01

Structural health monitoring (SHM) technology provides a means to significantly reduce life cycle of aerospace vehicles by eliminating unnecessary inspections, minimizing inspection complexity, and providing accurate diagnostics and prognostics to support vehicle life extension. In order to accomplish this, a comprehensive SHM system will need to acquire data from a wide variety of diverse sensors including strain gages, accelerometers, acoustic emission sensors, crack growth gages, corrosion sensors, and piezoelectric transducers. Significant amounts of computer processing will then be required to convert this raw sensor data into meaningful information which indicates both the diagnostics of the current structural integrity as well as the prognostics necessary for planning and managing the future health of the structure in a cost effective manner. This paper provides a description of the key types of information processing technologies required in an effective SHM system. These include artificial intelligence techniques such as neural networks, expert systems, and fuzzy logic for nonlinear modeling, pattern recognition, and complex decision making; signal processing techniques such as Fourier and wavelet transforms for spectral analysis and feature extraction; statistical algorithms for optimal detection, estimation, prediction, and fusion; and a wide variety of other algorithms for data analysis and visualization. The intent of this paper is to provide an overview of the role of information processing for SHM, discuss various technologies which can contribute to accomplishing this role, and present some example applications of information processing for SHM implemented at the Boeing Company.

Triangle network motifs predict complexes by complementing high-error interactomes with structural information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Labudde Dirk

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A lot of high-throughput studies produce protein-protein interaction networks (PPINs with many errors and missing information. Even for genome-wide approaches, there is often a low overlap between PPINs produced by different studies. Second-level neighbors separated by two protein-protein interactions (PPIs were previously used for predicting protein function and finding complexes in high-error PPINs. We retrieve second level neighbors in PPINs, and complement these with structural domain-domain interactions (SDDIs representing binding evidence on proteins, forming PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles. Results We find low overlap between PPINs, SDDIs and known complexes, all well below 10%. We evaluate the overlap of PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles with known complexes from Munich Information center for Protein Sequences (MIPS. PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles have ~20 times higher overlap with MIPS complexes than using second-level neighbors in PPINs without SDDIs. The biological interpretation for triangles is that a SDDI causes two proteins to be observed with common interaction partners in high-throughput experiments. The relatively few SDDIs overlapping with PPINs are part of highly connected SDDI components, and are more likely to be detected in experimental studies. We demonstrate the utility of PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles by reconstructing myosin-actin processes in the nucleus, cytoplasm, and cytoskeleton, which were not obvious in the original PPIN. Using other complementary datatypes in place of SDDIs to form triangles, such as PubMed co-occurrences or threading information, results in a similar ability to find protein complexes. Conclusion Given high-error PPINs with missing information, triangles of mixed datatypes are a promising direction for finding protein complexes. Integrating PPINs with SDDIs improves finding complexes. Structural SDDIs partially explain the high functional similarity of second-level neighbors in PPINs. We estimate that

Low-dose computed tomography image restoration using previous normal-dose scan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, Jianhua; Huang, Jing; Feng, Qianjin; Zhang, Hua; Lu, Hongbing; Liang, Zhengrong; Chen, Wufan

2011-01-01

Purpose: In current computed tomography (CT) examinations, the associated x-ray radiation dose is of a significant concern to patients and operators. A simple and cost-effective means to perform the examinations is to lower the milliampere-seconds (mAs) or kVp parameter (or delivering less x-ray energy to the body) as low as reasonably achievable in data acquisition. However, lowering the mAs parameter will unavoidably increase data noise and the noise would propagate into the CT image if no adequate noise control is applied during image reconstruction. Since a normal-dose high diagnostic CT image scanned previously may be available in some clinical applications, such as CT perfusion imaging and CT angiography (CTA), this paper presents an innovative way to utilize the normal-dose scan as a priori information to induce signal restoration of the current low-dose CT image series. Methods: Unlike conventional local operations on neighboring image voxels, nonlocal means (NLM) algorithm utilizes the redundancy of information across the whole image. This paper adapts the NLM to utilize the redundancy of information in the previous normal-dose scan and further exploits ways to optimize the nonlocal weights for low-dose image restoration in the NLM framework. The resulting algorithm is called the previous normal-dose scan induced nonlocal means (ndiNLM). Because of the optimized nature of nonlocal weights calculation, the ndiNLM algorithm does not depend heavily on image registration between the current low-dose and the previous normal-dose CT scans. Furthermore, the smoothing parameter involved in the ndiNLM algorithm can be adaptively estimated based on the image noise relationship between the current low-dose and the previous normal-dose scanning protocols. Results: Qualitative and quantitative evaluations were carried out on a physical phantom as well as clinical abdominal and brain perfusion CT scans in terms of accuracy and resolution properties. The gain by the use

75 FR 50772 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Importation Bond Structure

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-17

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Importation Bond Structure AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland... information collection requirement concerning the: Importation Bond Structure. This request for comment is...

Digital Learning Characteristics and Principles of Information Resources Knowledge Structuring

Science.gov (United States)

Belichenko, Margarita; Davidovitch, Nitza; Kravchenko, Yuri

2017-01-01

Analysis of principles knowledge representation in information systems led to the necessity of improving the structuring knowledge. It is caused by the development of software component and new possibilities of information technologies. The article combines methodological aspects of structuring knowledge and effective usage of information…

Structural information theory and visual form

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leeuwenberg, E.L.J.; Kaernbach, C.; Schroeger, E.; Mueller, H.

2003-01-01

The paper attends to basic characteristics of visual form as approached by Structural information theory, or SIT, (Leeuwenberg, Van der Helm and Van Lier). The introduction provides a global survey of this approach. The main part of the paper focuses on three characteristics of SIT. Each one is made

Reading in Healthy Aging: Selective Use of Information Structuring Cues

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Jessica M.; Sanford, Anthony J.

2018-01-01

Previous research has shown that information referring to a named character or to information in the main clause of a sentence is more accessible and facilitates the processing of anaphoric references. We investigated whether the use of such cues are maintained in healthy aging. We present two experiments investigating whether information…

Cognitive Structures in Vocational Information Processing and Decision Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Nevill, Dorothy D.; And Others

1986-01-01

Tested the assumptions that the structural features of vocational schemas affect vocational information processing and career self-efficacy. Results indicated that effective vocational information processing was facilitated by well-integrated systems that processed information along fewer dimensions. The importance of schematic organization on the…

Teaching Text Structure: Examining the Affordances of Children's Informational Texts

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Cindy D.; Clark, Sarah K.; Reutzel, D. Ray

2016-01-01

This study investigated the affordances of informational texts to serve as model texts for teaching text structure to elementary school children. Content analysis of a random sampling of children's informational texts from top publishers was conducted on text structure organization and on the inclusion of text features as signals of text…

Mass-media information campaigns about road safety. [previously known as: Public information about road safety.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2009-01-01

In the Netherlands, public information is often used as an instrument to improve road safety. The purpose of each public information campaign is a voluntary and lasting change in traffic behaviour. This requires road users to have sufficient knowledge about a problem and to adapt their behaviour.

A hierarachical data structure representation for fusing multisensor information

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maren, A.J. [Tennessee Univ., Tullahoma, TN (United States). Space Inst.; Pap, R.M.; Harston, C.T. [Accurate Automation Corp., Chattanooga, TN (United States)

1989-12-31

A major problem with MultiSensor Information Fusion (MSIF) is establishing the level of processing at which information should be fused. Current methodologies, whether based on fusion at the data element, segment/feature, or symbolic levels, are each inadequate for robust MSIF. Data-element fusion has problems with coregistration. Attempts to fuse information using the features of segmented data relies on a Presumed similarity between the segmentation characteristics of each data stream. Symbolic-level fusion requires too much advance processing (including object identification) to be useful. MSIF systems need to operate in real-time, must perform fusion using a variety of sensor types, and should be effective across a wide range of operating conditions or deployment environments. We address this problem through developing a new representation level which facilitates matching and information fusion. The Hierarchical Data Structure (HDS) representation, created using a multilayer, cooperative/competitive neural network, meets this need. The HDS is an intermediate representation between the raw or smoothed data stream and symbolic interpretation of the data. it represents the structural organization of the data. Fused HDSs will incorporate information from multiple sensors. Their knowledge-rich structure aids top-down scene interpretation via both model matching and knowledge-based region interpretation.

A hierarachical data structure representation for fusing multisensor information

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maren, A.J. (Tennessee Univ., Tullahoma, TN (United States). Space Inst.); Pap, R.M.; Harston, C.T. (Accurate Automation Corp., Chattanooga, TN (United States))

1989-01-01

A major problem with MultiSensor Information Fusion (MSIF) is establishing the level of processing at which information should be fused. Current methodologies, whether based on fusion at the data element, segment/feature, or symbolic levels, are each inadequate for robust MSIF. Data-element fusion has problems with coregistration. Attempts to fuse information using the features of segmented data relies on a Presumed similarity between the segmentation characteristics of each data stream. Symbolic-level fusion requires too much advance processing (including object identification) to be useful. MSIF systems need to operate in real-time, must perform fusion using a variety of sensor types, and should be effective across a wide range of operating conditions or deployment environments. We address this problem through developing a new representation level which facilitates matching and information fusion. The Hierarchical Data Structure (HDS) representation, created using a multilayer, cooperative/competitive neural network, meets this need. The HDS is an intermediate representation between the raw or smoothed data stream and symbolic interpretation of the data. it represents the structural organization of the data. Fused HDSs will incorporate information from multiple sensors. Their knowledge-rich structure aids top-down scene interpretation via both model matching and knowledge-based region interpretation.

Axiomatic Evaluation Method and Content Structure for Information Appliances

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Yinni

2010-01-01

Extensive studies have been conducted to determine how best to present information in order to enhance usability, but not what information is needed to be presented for effective decision making. Hence, this dissertation addresses the factor structure of the nature of information needed for presentation and proposes a more effective method than…

77 FR 70176 - Previous Participation Certification

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-23

... participants' previous participation in government programs and ensure that the past record is acceptable prior... information is designed to be 100 percent automated and digital submission of all data and certifications is... government programs and ensure that the past record is acceptable prior to granting approval to participate...

Characterization and visualization of RNA secondary structure Boltzmann ensemble via information theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Luan; McKerrow, Wilson H; Richards, Bryce; Phonsom, Chukiat; Lawrence, Charles E

2018-03-05

The nearest neighbor model and associated dynamic programming algorithms allow for the efficient estimation of the RNA secondary structure Boltzmann ensemble. However because a given RNA secondary structure only contains a fraction of the possible helices that could form from a given sequence, the Boltzmann ensemble is multimodal. Several methods exist for clustering structures and finding those modes. However less focus is given to exploring the underlying reasons for this multimodality: the presence of conflicting basepairs. Information theory, or more specifically mutual information, provides a method to identify those basepairs that are key to the secondary structure. To this end we find most informative basepairs and visualize the effect of these basepairs on the secondary structure. Knowing whether a most informative basepair is present tells us not only the status of the particular pair but also provides a large amount of information about which other pairs are present or not present. We find that a few basepairs account for a large amount of the structural uncertainty. The identification of these pairs indicates small changes to sequence or stability that will have a large effect on structure. We provide a novel algorithm that uses mutual information to identify the key basepairs that lead to a multimodal Boltzmann distribution. We then visualize the effect of these pairs on the overall Boltzmann ensemble.

[Construction of chemical information database based on optical structure recognition technique].

Science.gov (United States)

Lv, C Y; Li, M N; Zhang, L R; Liu, Z M

2018-04-18

To create a protocol that could be used to construct chemical information database from scientific literature quickly and automatically. Scientific literature, patents and technical reports from different chemical disciplines were collected and stored in PDF format as fundamental datasets. Chemical structures were transformed from published documents and images to machine-readable data by using the name conversion technology and optical structure recognition tool CLiDE. In the process of molecular structure information extraction, Markush structures were enumerated into well-defined monomer molecules by means of QueryTools in molecule editor ChemDraw. Document management software EndNote X8 was applied to acquire bibliographical references involving title, author, journal and year of publication. Text mining toolkit ChemDataExtractor was adopted to retrieve information that could be used to populate structured chemical database from figures, tables, and textual paragraphs. After this step, detailed manual revision and annotation were conducted in order to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the data. In addition to the literature data, computing simulation platform Pipeline Pilot 7.5 was utilized to calculate the physical and chemical properties and predict molecular attributes. Furthermore, open database ChEMBL was linked to fetch known bioactivities, such as indications and targets. After information extraction and data expansion, five separate metadata files were generated, including molecular structure data file, molecular information, bibliographical references, predictable attributes and known bioactivities. Canonical simplified molecular input line entry specification as primary key, metadata files were associated through common key nodes including molecular number and PDF number to construct an integrated chemical information database. A reasonable construction protocol of chemical information database was created successfully. A total of 174 research

Provision of a draft version for standard classification structure for information of radiation technologies through analyzing their information and derivation of its applicable requirements to the information system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Sol Ah; Kim, Joo Yeon; Yoo, Ji Yup; Shin, Woo Ho; Park, Tai Jin; Song, Myung Jae

2015-01-01

Radiation technology is the one for developing new products or processes by applying radiation or for creating new functions in industry, research and medical fields, and its application is increasing consistently. For securing an advanced technology competitiveness, it is required to create a new added value by information consumer through providing an efficient system for supporting information, which is the infrastructure for research and development, contributed to its collection, analysis and use with a rapidity and structure in addition to some direct research and development. Provision of the management structure for information resources is especially crucial for efficient operating the system for supporting information in radiation technology, and then a standard classification structure of information must be first developed as the system for supporting information will be constructed. The standard classification structure has been analyzed by reviewing the definition of information resources in radiation technology, and those classification structures in similar systems operated by institute in radiation and other scientific fields. And, a draft version of the standard classification structure has been then provided as 7 large, 25 medium and 71 small classifications, respectively. The standard classification structure in radiation technology will be developed in 2015 through reviewing this draft version and experts' opinion. Finally, developed classification structure will be applied to the system for supporting information by considering the plan for constructing this system and database, and requirements for designing the system. Furthermore, this structure will be designed in the system for searching information by working to the individual need of information consumers

Provision of a draft version for standard classification structure for information of radiation technologies through analyzing their information and derivation of its applicable requirements to the information system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jang, Sol Ah; Kim, Joo Yeon; Yoo, Ji Yup; Shin, Woo Ho; Park, Tai Jin; Song, Myung Jae [Korean Association for Radiation Application, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2015-02-15

Radiation technology is the one for developing new products or processes by applying radiation or for creating new functions in industry, research and medical fields, and its application is increasing consistently. For securing an advanced technology competitiveness, it is required to create a new added value by information consumer through providing an efficient system for supporting information, which is the infrastructure for research and development, contributed to its collection, analysis and use with a rapidity and structure in addition to some direct research and development. Provision of the management structure for information resources is especially crucial for efficient operating the system for supporting information in radiation technology, and then a standard classification structure of information must be first developed as the system for supporting information will be constructed. The standard classification structure has been analyzed by reviewing the definition of information resources in radiation technology, and those classification structures in similar systems operated by institute in radiation and other scientific fields. And, a draft version of the standard classification structure has been then provided as 7 large, 25 medium and 71 small classifications, respectively. The standard classification structure in radiation technology will be developed in 2015 through reviewing this draft version and experts' opinion. Finally, developed classification structure will be applied to the system for supporting information by considering the plan for constructing this system and database, and requirements for designing the system. Furthermore, this structure will be designed in the system for searching information by working to the individual need of information consumers.

RNACompress: Grammar-based compression and informational complexity measurement of RNA secondary structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Chun

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background With the rapid emergence of RNA databases and newly identified non-coding RNAs, an efficient compression algorithm for RNA sequence and structural information is needed for the storage and analysis of such data. Although several algorithms for compressing DNA sequences have been proposed, none of them are suitable for the compression of RNA sequences with their secondary structures simultaneously. This kind of compression not only facilitates the maintenance of RNA data, but also supplies a novel way to measure the informational complexity of RNA structural data, raising the possibility of studying the relationship between the functional activities of RNA structures and their complexities, as well as various structural properties of RNA based on compression. Results RNACompress employs an efficient grammar-based model to compress RNA sequences and their secondary structures. The main goals of this algorithm are two fold: (1 present a robust and effective way for RNA structural data compression; (2 design a suitable model to represent RNA secondary structure as well as derive the informational complexity of the structural data based on compression. Our extensive tests have shown that RNACompress achieves a universally better compression ratio compared with other sequence-specific or common text-specific compression algorithms, such as Gencompress, winrar and gzip. Moreover, a test of the activities of distinct GTP-binding RNAs (aptamers compared with their structural complexity shows that our defined informational complexity can be used to describe how complexity varies with activity. These results lead to an objective means of comparing the functional properties of heteropolymers from the information perspective. Conclusion A universal algorithm for the compression of RNA secondary structure as well as the evaluation of its informational complexity is discussed in this paper. We have developed RNACompress, as a useful tool

A cross-sectional survey assessing factors associated with reading cancer screening information: previous screening behaviour, demographics and decision-making style

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alex Ghanouni

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background There is broad agreement that cancer screening invitees should know the risks and benefits of testing before deciding whether to participate. In organised screening programmes, a primary method of relaying this information is via leaflets provided at the time of invitation. Little is known about why individuals do not engage with this information. This study assessed factors associated with reading information leaflets provided by the three cancer screening programmes in England. Methods A cross-sectional survey asked screening-eligible members of the general population in England about the following predictor variables: uptake of previous screening invitations, demographic characteristics, and ‘decision-making styles’ (i.e. the extent to which participants tended to make decisions in a way that was avoidant, rational, intuitive, spontaneous, or dependent. The primary outcome measures were the amount of the leaflet that participants reported having read at their most recent invitation, for any of the three programmes for which they were eligible. Associations between these outcomes and predictor variables were assessed using binary or ordinal logistic regression. Results After exclusions, data from 275, 309, and 556 participants were analysed in relation to the breast, cervical, and bowel screening programmes, respectively. Notable relationships included associations between regularity of screening uptake and reading (more of the information leaflets for all programmes (e.g. odds ratio: 0.16 for participants who never/very rarely attended breast screening vs. those who always attended previously; p = .009. Higher rational decision-making scores were associated with reading more of the cervical and bowel screening leaflets (OR: 1.13, p < .0005 and OR: 1.11, p = .045, respectively. Information engagement was also higher for White British participants compared with other ethnic groups for breast (OR: 3.28, p = .008

A cross-sectional survey assessing factors associated with reading cancer screening information: previous screening behaviour, demographics and decision-making style.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghanouni, Alex; Renzi, Cristina; Waller, Jo

2017-04-18

There is broad agreement that cancer screening invitees should know the risks and benefits of testing before deciding whether to participate. In organised screening programmes, a primary method of relaying this information is via leaflets provided at the time of invitation. Little is known about why individuals do not engage with this information. This study assessed factors associated with reading information leaflets provided by the three cancer screening programmes in England. A cross-sectional survey asked screening-eligible members of the general population in England about the following predictor variables: uptake of previous screening invitations, demographic characteristics, and 'decision-making styles' (i.e. the extent to which participants tended to make decisions in a way that was avoidant, rational, intuitive, spontaneous, or dependent). The primary outcome measures were the amount of the leaflet that participants reported having read at their most recent invitation, for any of the three programmes for which they were eligible. Associations between these outcomes and predictor variables were assessed using binary or ordinal logistic regression. After exclusions, data from 275, 309, and 556 participants were analysed in relation to the breast, cervical, and bowel screening programmes, respectively. Notable relationships included associations between regularity of screening uptake and reading (more of) the information leaflets for all programmes (e.g. odds ratio: 0.16 for participants who never/very rarely attended breast screening vs. those who always attended previously; p = .009). Higher rational decision-making scores were associated with reading more of the cervical and bowel screening leaflets (OR: 1.13, p < .0005 and OR: 1.11, p = .045, respectively). Information engagement was also higher for White British participants compared with other ethnic groups for breast (OR: 3.28, p = .008) and bowel (OR: 2.58, p = .015) information; an

Automatic treatment planning implementation using a database of previously treated patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moore, J A; Evans, K; Yang, W; Herman, J; McNutt, T

2014-01-01

Purpose: Using a database of prior treated patients, it is possible to predict the dose to critical structures for future patients. Automatic treatment planning speeds the planning process by generating a good initial plan from predicted dose values. Methods: A SQL relational database of previously approved treatment plans is populated via an automated export from Pinnacle 3 . This script outputs dose and machine information and selected Regions of Interests as well as its associated Dose-Volume Histogram (DVH) and Overlap Volume Histograms (OVHs) with respect to the target structures. Toxicity information is exported from Mosaiq and added to the database for each patient. The SQL query is designed to ask the system for the lowest achievable dose for a specified region of interest (ROI) for each patient with a given volume of that ROI being as close or closer to the target than the current patient. Results: The additional time needed to calculate OVHs is approximately 1.5 minutes for a typical patient. Database lookup of planning objectives takes approximately 4 seconds. The combined additional time is less than that of a typical single plan optimization (2.5 mins). Conclusions: An automatic treatment planning interface has been successfully used by dosimetrists to quickly produce a number of SBRT pancreas treatment plans. The database can be used to compare dose to individual structures with the toxicity experienced and predict toxicities before planning for future patients.

ERP evidence on the interaction between information structure and emotional salience of words.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lin; Bastiaansen, Marcel; Yang, Yufang; Hagoort, Peter

2013-06-01

Both emotional words and words focused by information structure can capture attention. This study examined the interplay between emotional salience and information structure in modulating attentional resources in the service of integrating emotional words into sentence context. Event-related potentials (ERPs) to affectively negative, neutral, and positive words, which were either focused or nonfocused in question-answer pairs, were evaluated during sentence comprehension. The results revealed an early negative effect (90-200 ms), a P2 effect, as well as an effect in the N400 time window, for both emotional salience and information structure. Moreover, an interaction between emotional salience and information structure occurred within the N400 time window over right posterior electrodes, showing that information structure influences the semantic integration only for neutral words, but not for emotional words. This might reflect the fact that the linguistic salience of emotional words can override the effect of information structure on the integration of words into context. The interaction provides evidence for attention-emotion interactions at a later stage of processing. In addition, the absence of interaction in the early time window suggests that the processing of emotional information is highly automatic and independent of context. The results suggest independent attention capture systems of emotional salience and information structure at the early stage but an interaction between them at a later stage, during the semantic integration of words.

Correlating Structural Order with Structural Rearrangement in Dusty Plasma Liquids: Can Structural Rearrangement be Predicted by Static Structural Information?

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Yen-Shuo; Liu, Yu-Hsuan; I, Lin

2012-11-01

Whether the static microstructural order information is strongly correlated with the subsequent structural rearrangement (SR) and their predicting power for SR are investigated experimentally in the quenched dusty plasma liquid with microheterogeneities. The poor local structural order is found to be a good alarm to identify the soft spot and predict the short term SR. For the site with good structural order, the persistent time for sustaining the structural memory until SR has a large mean value but a broad distribution. The deviation of the local structural order from that averaged over nearest neighbors serves as a good second alarm to further sort out the short time SR sites. It has the similar sorting power to that using the temporal fluctuation of the local structural order over a small time interval.

Information Architecture and the Comic Arts: Knowledge Structure and Access

Science.gov (United States)

Farmer, Lesley S. J.

2015-01-01

This article explains information architecture, focusing on comic arts' features for representing and structuring knowledge. Then it details information design theory and information behaviors relative to this format, also noting visual literacy. Next , applications of comic arts in education are listed. With this background, several research…

Sparse regularization for EIT reconstruction incorporating structural information derived from medical imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Bo; Schullcke, Benjamin; Krueger-Ziolek, Sabine; Mueller-Lisse, Ullrich; Moeller, Knut

2016-06-01

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) reconstructs the conductivity distribution of a domain using electrical data on its boundary. This is an ill-posed inverse problem usually solved on a finite element mesh. For this article, a special regularization method incorporating structural information of the targeted domain is proposed and evaluated. Structural information was obtained either from computed tomography images or from preliminary EIT reconstructions by a modified k-means clustering. The proposed regularization method integrates this structural information into the reconstruction as a soft constraint preferring sparsity in group level. A first evaluation with Monte Carlo simulations indicated that the proposed solver is more robust to noise and the resulting images show fewer artifacts. This finding is supported by real data analysis. The structure based regularization has the potential to balance structural a priori information with data driven reconstruction. It is robust to noise, reduces artifacts and produces images that reflect anatomy and are thus easier to interpret for physicians.

Analysis of public consciousness structure and consideration of information supply against the nuclear power generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimooka, Hiroshi

2001-01-01

The Energy Engineering Research Institute carried out six times of questionnaire on analysis of public consciousness structure for fiscal years for 1986 to 1999, to obtain a lot of informations on public recognition against the nuclear power generation. In recent, as a feasibility on change of consciousness against the power generation was supposed by occurrence of the JCO critical accident forming the first victim in Japan on September, 1999 after investigation in fiscal year 1998, by carrying out the same questionnaire as one in previous fiscal year to the same objects after the accident, to analyze how evaluation, behavior determining factor and so forth on the power generation changed by the accident. In this paper, on referring to results of past questionnaires, were introduced on the questionnaire results and their analysis carried out before and after the JCO critical accident, to consider on information supply referred by them. (G.K.)

Simulated environmental transport distances of Lepeophtheirus salmonis in Loch Linnhe, Scotland, for informing aquaculture area management structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Salama, N K G; Murray, A G; Rabe, B

2016-04-01

In the majority of salmon farming countries, production occurs in zones where practices are coordinated to manage disease agents such as Lepeophtheirus salmonis. To inform the structure of zones in specific systems, models have been developed accounting for parasite biology and system hydrodynamics. These models provide individual system farm relationships, and as such, it may be beneficial to produce more generalized principles for informing structures. Here, we use six different forcing scenarios to provide simulations from a previously described model of the Loch Linnhe system, Scotland, to assess the maximum dispersal distance of lice particles released from 12 sites transported over 19 day. Results indicate that the median distance travelled is 6.1 km from release site with management areas developed for infectious salmon anaemia control may also have properties appropriate for salmon lice management in Scottish coastal waters. Additionally, general numerical descriptors of the simulated relative lice abundance reduction with increased distance from release location are proposed. © 2015 Crown copyright. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Risk Management of Large RC Structures within Spatial Information System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Qin, Jianjun; Faber, Michael Havbro

2012-01-01

Abstract: The present article addresses the development of a spatial information system (SIS), which aims to facilitate risk management of large‐scale concrete structures. The formulation of the SIS is based on ideas developed in the context of indicator‐based risk modeling for concrete structures...... subject to corrosion and geographical information system based risk modeling concerning large‐scale risk management. The term “risk management” here refers in particular to the process of condition assessment and optimization of the inspection and repair activities. The SIS facilitates the storage...... and handling of all relevant information to the risk management. The probabilistic modeling utilized in the condition assessment takes basis in a Bayesian hierarchical modeling philosophy. It facilitates the updating of risks as well as optimizing inspection plans whenever new information about the condition...

Direct Patlak Reconstruction From Dynamic PET Data Using the Kernel Method With MRI Information Based on Structural Similarity.

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Kuang; Cheng-Liao, Jinxiu; Wang, Guobao; Chen, Kevin T; Catana, Ciprian; Qi, Jinyi

2018-04-01

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a functional imaging modality widely used in oncology, cardiology, and neuroscience. It is highly sensitive, but suffers from relatively poor spatial resolution, as compared with anatomical imaging modalities, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). With the recent development of combined PET/MR systems, we can improve the PET image quality by incorporating MR information into image reconstruction. Previously, kernel learning has been successfully embedded into static and dynamic PET image reconstruction using either PET temporal or MRI information. Here, we combine both PET temporal and MRI information adaptively to improve the quality of direct Patlak reconstruction. We examined different approaches to combine the PET and MRI information in kernel learning to address the issue of potential mismatches between MRI and PET signals. Computer simulations and hybrid real-patient data acquired on a simultaneous PET/MR scanner were used to evaluate the proposed methods. Results show that the method that combines PET temporal information and MRI spatial information adaptively based on the structure similarity index has the best performance in terms of noise reduction and resolution improvement.

Value of information-based inspection planning for offshore structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Irman, Arifian Agusta; Thöns, Sebastian; Leira, Bernt J.

2017-01-01

with each inspection strategy. A simplified and generic risk-based inspection planning utilizing pre- posterior Bayesian decision analysis had been proposed by Faber et al. [1] and Straub [2]. This paper provides considerations on the theoretical background and a Value of Information analysis......-based inspection planning. The paper will start out with a review of the state-of-art RBI planning procedure based on Bayesian decision theory and its application in offshore structure integrity management. An example of the Value of Information approach is illustrated and it is pointed to further research......Asset integrity and management is an important part of the oil and gas industry especially for existing offshore structures. With declining oil price, the production rate is an important factor to be maintained that makes integrity of the structures one of the main concerns. Reliability based...

Informed consent: using a structured interview changes patients' attitudes towards informed consent.

Science.gov (United States)

Dawes, P J; O'Keefe, L; Adcock, S

1993-09-01

Patients want to know more about their condition and its proposed treatment. Gaining patients' confidence before treatment reduces the changes of their seeking legal redress for an unexpected outcome. As part of a prospective study of informed consent for surgery we have assessed the attitudes of patients towards informed consent when different types of consent interview are used. We found that most patients are happy to do as their doctor advises but think the informal consent interview is important because it gives them information; they also want to know about most, but not all, complications of the procedure. One quarter worried about the anaesthetic, about one eighth worried about 'not waking up' and similar proportions worried about complications and other things such as pain and nausea. Most patients think that the consent form is a legal document. In addition patients who had an informal interview felt obliged to sign the consent form and thought it had medicolegal implications. In contrast those who had a structured interview felt less obliged to sign the consent form and more involved in the decision to operate.

Competing Structure, Competing Views: The Role of Formal and Informal Social Structures in Shaping Stakeholder Perceptions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christina Prell

2010-12-01

Full Text Available What is social structure, and how does it influence the views and behaviors of land managers? In this paper, we unpack the term "social structure" in the context of current research on institutions, social networks, and their role(s in resource management. We identify two different kinds of structure, formal and informal, and explore how these link to views of land management and management practice. Formal structures refer to intentionally designed organizations that arise out of larger institutional arrangements; informal ones refer to social networks, based on the communication contacts individuals possess. Our findings show significant correlations between respondents' views regarding land management and their social networks; it is these informal structures that have greater influence on what stakeholders perceive. These findings suggest that stakeholders are less influenced by their particular organizational affiliation or category (e.g., "conservationist" versus "farmer", and more by whom they speak with on a regular basis regarding land management. We conclude with a discussion on the practical implications for resource managers wishing to "design" participatory management, arguing that, if "diversity" is the goal in designing such participatory processes, then diversity needs to translate beyond stakeholder categories to include consideration for the personal, social networks surrounding stakeholders.

Information transfer across intra/inter-structure of CDS and stock markets

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Kyuseong; Kim, Sehyun; Kim, Soo Yong

2017-11-01

We investigate the information flow between industrial sectors in credit default swap and stock markets in the United States based on transfer entropy. Both markets have been studied with respect to dynamics and relations. Our approach considers the intra-structure of each financial market as well as the inter-structure between two markets through a moving window in order to scan a period from 2005 to 2012. We examine the information transfer with different k, especially k = 3, k = 5 and k = 7. Analysis indicates that the cases with k = 3 and k = 7 show the opposite trends but similar characteristics. Change in transfer entropy for intra-structure of CDS market precedes that of stock market in view of the entire time windows. Abrupt rise and fall in inter-structural information transfer between two markets are detected at the periods related to the financial crises, which can be considered as early warnings.

Profiles and Context for Structured Text Retrieval

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koolen, Marijn; Bogers, Toine

2017-01-01

The combination of structured information retrieval with user profile information represents the scenario where systems search with an explicit statement of the information need—a search query—as well as a profile of a user, which can contain information about previous interactions, search histor...

Postposing and Information Structure in English and Farsi/Persian

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shafiei Soheila

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The term postposing denotes any construction in which a phrasal constituent appears to the right of its canonical position, leaving its initial position either empty or occupied by an expletive. Ward and Birner (2004 argue that postposed constructions preserve the old-before-new information structure paradigm in English. The present paper investigates postposed constituents in Persian to find out the information structure paradigm of such constructions. The data have been taken from 34 interviews. The findings show that various constituents might undergo postposing in spoken Farsi (known as Tehrani dialect, and, in contrast to English, NPs were found to be triggered in postposed position when the referent was hearer-old.

Acoustic fine structure may encode biologically relevant information for zebra finches.

Science.gov (United States)

Prior, Nora H; Smith, Edward; Lawson, Shelby; Ball, Gregory F; Dooling, Robert J

2018-04-18

The ability to discriminate changes in the fine structure of complex sounds is well developed in birds. However, the precise limit of this discrimination ability and how it is used in the context of natural communication remains unclear. Here we describe natural variability in acoustic fine structure of male and female zebra finch calls. Results from psychoacoustic experiments demonstrate that zebra finches are able to discriminate extremely small differences in fine structure, which are on the order of the variation in acoustic fine structure that is present in their vocal signals. Results from signal analysis methods also suggest that acoustic fine structure may carry information that distinguishes between biologically relevant categories including sex, call type and individual identity. Combined, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that zebra finches can encode biologically relevant information within the fine structure of their calls. This study provides a foundation for our understanding of how acoustic fine structure may be involved in animal communication.

Separable processes before, during, and after the N400 elicited by previously inferred and new information: evidence from time-frequency decompositions.

Science.gov (United States)

Steele, Vaughn R; Bernat, Edward M; van den Broek, Paul; Collins, Paul F; Patrick, Christopher J; Marsolek, Chad J

2013-01-25

Successful comprehension during reading often requires inferring information not explicitly presented. This information is readily accessible when subsequently encountered, and a neural correlate of this is an attenuation of the N400 event-related potential (ERP). We used ERPs and time-frequency (TF) analysis to investigate neural correlates of processing inferred information after a causal coherence inference had been generated during text comprehension. Participants read short texts, some of which promoted inference generation. After each text, they performed lexical decisions to target words that were unrelated or inference-related to the preceding text. Consistent with previous findings, inference-related words elicited an attenuated N400 relative to unrelated words. TF analyses revealed unique contributions to the N400 from activity occurring at 1-6 Hz (theta) and 0-2 Hz (delta), supporting the view that multiple, sequential processes underlie the N400. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

15 CFR 50.5 - Fee structure for age search and citizenship information.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... THE CENSUS § 50.5 Fee structure for age search and citizenship information. Type of service Fee... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fee structure for age search and citizenship information. 50.5 Section 50.5 Commerce and Foreign Trade Regulations Relating to Commerce and...

Information on Quantifiers and Argument Structure in English Learner's Dictionaries.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Thomas Hun-tak

1993-01-01

Lexicographers have been arguing for the inclusion of abstract and complex grammatical information in dictionaries. This paper examines the extent to which information about quantifiers and the argument structure of verbs is encoded in English learner's dictionaries. The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (1989), the Longman Dictionary of…

On the Tengiz petroleum deposit previous study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nysangaliev, A.N.; Kuspangaliev, T.K.

1997-01-01

Tengiz petroleum deposit previous study is described. Some consideration about structure of productive formation, specific characteristic properties of petroleum-bearing collectors are presented. Recommendation on their detail study and using of experience on exploration and development of petroleum deposit which have analogy on most important geological and industrial parameters are given. (author)

Graduating to Postdoc: Information-Sharing in Support of Organizational Structures and Needs

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, Richard M.; Lucas, Paul J.; Compton, Michael M.; Stewart, Helen J.; Baya, Vinod; DelAlto, Martha

1999-01-01

The deployment of information-sharing systems in large organizations can significantly impact existing policies and procedures with regard to authority and control over information. Unless information-sharing systems explicitly support organizational structures and needs, these systems will be rejected summarily. The Postdoc system is a deployed Web-based information-sharing system created specifically to address organizational needs. Postdoc contains various organizational support features including a shared, globally navigable document space, as well as specialized access control, distributed administration, and mailing list features built around the key notion of hierarchical group structures. We review successes and difficulties in supporting organizational needs with Postdoc

Information structure design for databases a practical guide to data modelling

CERN Document Server

Mortimer, Andrew J

2014-01-01

Computer Weekly Professional Series: Information Structure Design for Databases: A Practical Guide to Data modeling focuses on practical data modeling covering business and information systems. The publication first offers information on data and information, business analysis, and entity relationship model basics. Discussions cover degree of relationship symbols, relationship rules, membership markers, types of information systems, data driven systems, cost and value of information, importance of data modeling, and quality of information. The book then takes a look at entity relationship mode

78 FR 71712 - Request for Comments of a Previously Approved Information Collection

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-29

... during the operations by the Armed forces of the United States in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and... of information on respondents, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995; 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended; and...

Word order and information structure in Makhuwa-Enahara

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wal, Guenever Johanna van der

2009-01-01

This thesis investigates the grammar of Makhuwa-Enahara, a Bantu language spoken in the north of Mozambique. The information structure is an influential factor in this language, determining the word order and the use of special conjugations known as conjoint and disjoint verb forms. The thesis

A hierarchical structure approach to MultiSensor Information Fusion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maren, A.J. (Tennessee Univ., Tullahoma, TN (United States). Space Inst.); Pap, R.M.; Harston, C.T. (Accurate Automation Corp., Chattanooga, TN (United States))

1989-01-01

A major problem with image-based MultiSensor Information Fusion (MSIF) is establishing the level of processing at which information should be fused. Current methodologies, whether based on fusion at the pixel, segment/feature, or symbolic levels, are each inadequate for robust MSIF. Pixel-level fusion has problems with coregistration of the images or data. Attempts to fuse information using the features of segmented images or data relies an a presumed similarity between the segmentation characteristics of each image or data stream. Symbolic-level fusion requires too much advance processing to be useful, as we have seen in automatic target recognition tasks. Image-based MSIF systems need to operate in real-time, must perform fusion using a variety of sensor types, and should be effective across a wide range of operating conditions or deployment environments. We address this problem through developing a new representation level which facilitates matching and information fusion. The Hierarchical Scene Structure (HSS) representation, created using a multilayer, cooperative/competitive neural network, meets this need. The MSS is intermediate between a pixel-based representation and a scene interpretation representation, and represents the perceptual organization of an image. Fused HSSs will incorporate information from multiple sensors. Their knowledge-rich structure aids top-down scene interpretation via both model matching and knowledge-based,region interpretation.

A hierarchical structure approach to MultiSensor Information Fusion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maren, A.J. [Tennessee Univ., Tullahoma, TN (United States). Space Inst.; Pap, R.M.; Harston, C.T. [Accurate Automation Corp., Chattanooga, TN (United States)

1989-12-31

A major problem with image-based MultiSensor Information Fusion (MSIF) is establishing the level of processing at which information should be fused. Current methodologies, whether based on fusion at the pixel, segment/feature, or symbolic levels, are each inadequate for robust MSIF. Pixel-level fusion has problems with coregistration of the images or data. Attempts to fuse information using the features of segmented images or data relies an a presumed similarity between the segmentation characteristics of each image or data stream. Symbolic-level fusion requires too much advance processing to be useful, as we have seen in automatic target recognition tasks. Image-based MSIF systems need to operate in real-time, must perform fusion using a variety of sensor types, and should be effective across a wide range of operating conditions or deployment environments. We address this problem through developing a new representation level which facilitates matching and information fusion. The Hierarchical Scene Structure (HSS) representation, created using a multilayer, cooperative/competitive neural network, meets this need. The MSS is intermediate between a pixel-based representation and a scene interpretation representation, and represents the perceptual organization of an image. Fused HSSs will incorporate information from multiple sensors. Their knowledge-rich structure aids top-down scene interpretation via both model matching and knowledge-based,region interpretation.

Attribute and topology based change detection in a constellation of previously detected objects

Science.gov (United States)

Paglieroni, David W.; Beer, Reginald N.

2016-01-19

A system that applies attribute and topology based change detection to networks of objects that were detected on previous scans of a structure, roadway, or area of interest. The attributes capture properties or characteristics of the previously detected objects, such as location, time of detection, size, elongation, orientation, etc. The topology of the network of previously detected objects is maintained in a constellation database that stores attributes of previously detected objects and implicitly captures the geometrical structure of the network. A change detection system detects change by comparing the attributes and topology of new objects detected on the latest scan to the constellation database of previously detected objects.

Visualization of hierarchically structured information for human-computer interaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheon, Suh Hyun; Lee, J. K.; Choi, I. K.; Kye, S. C.; Lee, N. K. [Dongguk University, Seoul (Korea)

2001-11-01

Visualization techniques can be used to support operator's information navigation tasks on the system especially consisting of an enormous volume of information, such as operating information display system and computerized operating procedure system in advanced control room of nuclear power plants. By offering an easy understanding environment of hierarchically structured information, these techniques can reduce the operator's supplementary navigation task load. As a result of that, operators can pay more attention on the primary tasks and ultimately improve the cognitive task performance. In this report, an interface was designed and implemented using hyperbolic visualization technique, which is expected to be applied as a means of optimizing operator's information navigation tasks. 15 refs., 19 figs., 32 tabs. (Author)

ERP evidence on the interaction between information structure and emotional salience of words

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, L.; Bastiaansen, M.C.M.; Yang, Y.; Hagoort, P.

2013-01-01

Both emotional words and words focused by information structure can capture attention. This study examined the interplay between emotional salience and information structure in modulating attentional resources in the service of integrating emotional words into sentence context. Event-related

ROS-TMS and Big Sensor Box: Platforms for Informationally Structured Environment

OpenAIRE

倉爪, 亮; ユンソク, ピョ; 辻, 徳生; 河村, 晃宏

2017-01-01

This paper proposes new software and hardware platforms for an informationally structured environment named ROS-TMS and Big Sensor Box. We started the development of a management system for an informationally structured environment named TMS (Town Management System) in Robot Town Project in 2005. Since then we are continuing our efforts for the improvement of the performance and the enhancement of the functions of the TMS. Recently, we launched a new version of TMS named ROS-TMS, which resolv...

Structures data collection for The National Map using volunteered geographic information

Science.gov (United States)

Poore, Barbara S.; Wolf, Eric B.; Korris, Erin M.; Walter, Jennifer L.; Matthews, Greg D.

2012-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has historically sponsored volunteered data collection projects to enhance its topographic paper and digital map products. This report describes one phase of an ongoing project to encourage volunteers to contribute data to The National Map using online editing tools. The USGS recruited students studying geographic information systems (GIS) at the University of Colorado Denver and the University of Denver in the spring of 2011 to add data on structures - manmade features such as schools, hospitals, and libraries - to four quadrangles covering metropolitan Denver. The USGS customized a version of the online Potlatch editor created by the OpenStreetMap project and populated it with 30 structure types drawn from the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), a USGS database of geographic features. The students corrected the location and attributes of these points and added information on structures that were missing. There were two rounds of quality control. Student volunteers reviewed each point, and an in-house review of each point by the USGS followed. Nine-hundred and thirty-eight structure points were initially downloaded from the USGS database. Editing and quality control resulted in 1,214 structure points that were subsequently added to The National Map. A post-project analysis of the data shows that after student edit and peer review, 92 percent of the points contributed by volunteers met National Map Accuracy Standards for horizontal accuracy. Lessons from this project will be applied to later phases. These include: simplifying editing tasks and the user interfaces, stressing to volunteers the importance of adding structures that are missing, and emphasizing the importance of conforming to editorial guidelines for formatting names and addresses of structures. The next phase of the project will encompass the entire State of Colorado and will allow any citizen to contribute structures data. Volunteers will benefit from this

WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE FORMATION FOR IT-PROJECT OF INFORMATION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Виктор Макарович ЛЕВЫКИН

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The approach for modeling the structure of IT-works project to create an information system as a forest domain ontology. The main features of information technology to manage such IT-projects.

Information Propagation in Complex Networks : Structures and Dynamics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Märtens, M.

2018-01-01

This thesis is a contribution to a deeper understanding of how information propagates and what this process entails. At its very core is the concept of the network: a collection of nodes and links, which describes the structure of the systems under investigation. The network is a mathematical model

Ancestral informative marker selection and population structure visualization using sparse Laplacian eigenfunctions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Zhang

Full Text Available Identification of a small panel of population structure informative markers can reduce genotyping cost and is useful in various applications, such as ancestry inference in association mapping, forensics and evolutionary theory in population genetics. Traditional methods to ascertain ancestral informative markers usually require the prior knowledge of individual ancestry and have difficulty for admixed populations. Recently Principal Components Analysis (PCA has been employed with success to select SNPs which are highly correlated with top significant principal components (PCs without use of individual ancestral information. The approach is also applicable to admixed populations. Here we propose a novel approach based on our recent result on summarizing population structure by graph laplacian eigenfunctions, which differs from PCA in that it is geometric and robust to outliers. Our approach also takes advantage of the priori sparseness of informative markers in the genome. Through simulation of a ring population and the real global population sample HGDP of 650K SNPs genotyped in 940 unrelated individuals, we validate the proposed algorithm at selecting most informative markers, a small fraction of which can recover the similar underlying population structure efficiently. Employing a standard Support Vector Machine (SVM to predict individuals' continental memberships on HGDP dataset of seven continents, we demonstrate that the selected SNPs by our method are more informative but less redundant than those selected by PCA. Our algorithm is a promising tool in genome-wide association studies and population genetics, facilitating the selection of structure informative markers, efficient detection of population substructure and ancestral inference.

Knowledge structure representation and automated updates in intelligent information management systems

Science.gov (United States)

Corey, Stephen; Carnahan, Richard S., Jr.

1990-01-01

A continuing effort to apply rapid prototyping and Artificial Intelligence techniques to problems associated with projected Space Station-era information management systems is examined. In particular, timely updating of the various databases and knowledge structures within the proposed intelligent information management system (IIMS) is critical to support decision making processes. Because of the significantly large amounts of data entering the IIMS on a daily basis, information updates will need to be automatically performed with some systems requiring that data be incorporated and made available to users within a few hours. Meeting these demands depends first, on the design and implementation of information structures that are easily modified and expanded, and second, on the incorporation of intelligent automated update techniques that will allow meaningful information relationships to be established. Potential techniques are studied for developing such an automated update capability and IIMS update requirements are examined in light of results obtained from the IIMS prototyping effort.

A Review of Organizational Structures of Personal Information Management

OpenAIRE

Indratmo, J; Vassileva, Julita

2008-01-01

Personal information management (PIM) covers a large area of research fragmented into separate sub-areas such as file management, web bookmark organization, and email management. Consequently, it is hard to obtain a unified view of the various approaches to PIM developed in these different sub-areas. In this article, we synthesize and classify existing research on PIM based on the approach used to organize information items. We classify the organizational structures into five categories: hier...

A glimpsing account of the role of temporal fine structure information in speech recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Apoux, Frédéric; Healy, Eric W

2013-01-01

Many behavioral studies have reported a significant decrease in intelligibility when the temporal fine structure (TFS) of a sound mixture is replaced with noise or tones (i.e., vocoder processing). This finding has led to the conclusion that TFS information is critical for speech recognition in noise. How the normal -auditory system takes advantage of the original TFS, however, remains unclear. Three -experiments on the role of TFS in noise are described. All three experiments measured speech recognition in various backgrounds while manipulating the envelope, TFS, or both. One experiment tested the hypothesis that vocoder processing may artificially increase the apparent importance of TFS cues. Another experiment evaluated the relative contribution of the target and masker TFS by disturbing only the TFS of the target or that of the masker. Finally, a last experiment evaluated the -relative contribution of envelope and TFS information. In contrast to previous -studies, however, the original envelope and TFS were both preserved - to some extent - in all conditions. Overall, the experiments indicate a limited influence of TFS and suggest that little speech information is extracted from the TFS. Concomitantly, these experiments confirm that most speech information is carried by the temporal envelope in real-world conditions. When interpreted within the framework of the glimpsing model, the results of these experiments suggest that TFS is primarily used as a grouping cue to select the time-frequency regions -corresponding to the target speech signal.

Exploring the structure and organization of information within nursing clinical handovers.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Maree; Jefferies, Diana; Nicholls, Daniel

2012-10-01

Clinical handover is the primary source of patient information for nurses; however, inadequate information transfer compromises patient safety. We investigated the content and organization of information conveyed at 81 handovers. A structure that captures and presents the information transferred at handover emerged: identification of the patient and clinical risks, clinical history/presentation, clinical status, care plan and outcomes/goals of care (ICCCO). This approach covers essential information while allowing for prioritization of information when required. Further research into the impact of ICCCO on patient safety is in progress. © 2012 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Numerical Investigations into the Value of Information in Lifecycle Analysis of Structural Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Konakli, Katerina; Sudret, Bruno; Faber, Michael Havbro

2015-01-01

of decisions related to maintenance of structural systems. In this context, experiments may refer to inspections or structural health monitoring. The value-of-information concept comprises a powerful tool for determining whether the experimental cost is justified by the expected gained benefit during...... investigations demonstrate how the decision problem is influenced by the assumed probabilistic models, including the type of probability distribution and the degree of uncertainty reflected in the coefficient of variation, the degradation law, the quantity and quality of information, and the probabilistic...... dependencies between the components of a system. Furthermore, challenges and potentials in value-of-information analysis for structural systems are discussed....

Modeling the Informal Economy in Mexico. A Structural Equation Approach

OpenAIRE

Brambila Macias, Jose

2008-01-01

This paper uses annual data for the period 1970-2006 in order to estimate and investigate the evolution of the Mexican informal economy. In order to do so, we model the informal economy as a latent variable and try to explain it through relationships between possible cause and indicator variables using structural equation modeling (SEM). Our results indicate that the Mexican informal sector at the beginning of the 1970’s initially accounted for 40 percent of GDP while slightly decreasing to s...

Cosmological parameters from large scale structure - geometric versus shape information

CERN Document Server

Hamann, Jan; Lesgourgues, Julien; Rampf, Cornelius; Wong, Yvonne Y Y

2010-01-01

The matter power spectrum as derived from large scale structure (LSS) surveys contains two important and distinct pieces of information: an overall smooth shape and the imprint of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). We investigate the separate impact of these two types of information on cosmological parameter estimation, and show that for the simplest cosmological models, the broad-band shape information currently contained in the SDSS DR7 halo power spectrum (HPS) is by far superseded by geometric information derived from the baryonic features. An immediate corollary is that contrary to popular beliefs, the upper limit on the neutrino mass m_\

Towards a Structurational Theory of Information Systems: a substantive case analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rose, Jeremy; Hackney, R. H

2003-01-01

This paper employs the analysis of an interpretive case study within a Regional Train Operating Company (RTOC) to arrive at theoretical understandings of Information Systems (IS). Giddens’ ‘structuration theory’ is developed which offers an account of structure and agency; social practices develo...

Laboratory information management system for membrane protein structure initiative--from gene to crystal.

Science.gov (United States)

Troshin, Petr V; Morris, Chris; Prince, Stephen M; Papiz, Miroslav Z

2008-12-01

Membrane Protein Structure Initiative (MPSI) exploits laboratory competencies to work collaboratively and distribute work among the different sites. This is possible as protein structure determination requires a series of steps, starting with target selection, through cloning, expression, purification, crystallization and finally structure determination. Distributed sites create a unique set of challenges for integrating and passing on information on the progress of targets. This role is played by the Protein Information Management System (PIMS), which is a laboratory information management system (LIMS), serving as a hub for MPSI, allowing collaborative structural proteomics to be carried out in a distributed fashion. It holds key information on the progress of cloning, expression, purification and crystallization of proteins. PIMS is employed to track the status of protein targets and to manage constructs, primers, experiments, protocols, sample locations and their detailed histories: thus playing a key role in MPSI data exchange. It also serves as the centre of a federation of interoperable information resources such as local laboratory information systems and international archival resources, like PDB or NCBI. During the challenging task of PIMS integration, within the MPSI, we discovered a number of prerequisites for successful PIMS integration. In this article we share our experiences and provide invaluable insights into the process of LIMS adaptation. This information should be of interest to partners who are thinking about using LIMS as a data centre for their collaborative efforts.

Interference from previous distraction disrupts older adults' memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Biss, Renée K; Campbell, Karen L; Hasher, Lynn

2013-07-01

Previously relevant information can disrupt the ability of older adults to remember new information. Here, the researchers examined whether prior irrelevant information, or distraction, can also interfere with older adults' memory for new information. Younger and older adults first completed a 1-back task on pictures that were superimposed with distracting words. After a delay, participants learned picture-word paired associates and memory was tested using picture-cued recall. In 1 condition (high interference), some pairs included pictures from the 1-back task now paired with new words. In a low-interference condition, the transfer list used all new items. Older adults had substantially lower cued-recall performance in the high- compared with the low-interference condition. In contrast, younger adults' performance did not vary across conditions. These findings suggest that even never-relevant information from the past can disrupt older adults' memory for new associations.

The influence of the chain and network information and communication structure on sustainable business development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bremmers, H.J.; Haverkamp, D.J.; Omta, S.W.F.

2005-01-01

This article links the public-private information and communication structure (IC-structure) and Ajzen¿s model of planned behaviour to explain the development of environmental management systems (EMSs). The structure of the IC-system, especially the public-private information exchange, can influence

Description of the Structural Materials Information Center being established at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oland, B.

1990-01-01

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has initiated a Structural aging Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to identify potential structural safety issues related to continued service of nuclear power plants and to establish criteria for evaluating and resolving these issues. One of the tasks in this program focuses on the establishment of a Structural Materials Information Center where data and information on the time variation of concrete and concrete-related material properties under the influence of pertinent environmental stressors and aging factors will be collected and assembled into a database. This database will be used to assist in the prediction of potential long-term deterioration of critical structural components in nuclear power plants and to establish limits on hostile environmental exposure for these structures and materials. Materials property data and information will be collected at the Structural Materials Information Center from open literature, published references, and identifiable sources. Initially, the database will include portland cement concrete, metallic reinforcement, prestressing tendon and structural steel materials. Then, as data and information for other material systems are obtained, the database will be expanded and updated. The database will be developed and presented in two complementary formats. The Structural Materials Handbook will be published in four volumes as an expandable, hard copy handbook. The Materials Electronic Database will be developed to reflect the same information as contained in the handbook, but will be formatted for use on an IBM or IBM-compatible personal computer

Information structures in economics studies in the theory of markets with imperfect information

CERN Document Server

Nermuth, Manfred

1982-01-01

This book is intended as a contribution to the theory of markets with imperfect information. The subject being nearly limitless, only certain selected topics are discussed. These are outlined in the Introduction (Ch. 0). The remainder of the book is divided into three parts. All results of economic significance are contained in Parts II & III. Part I introduces the main tools for the analysis, in particular the concept of an information structure. Although most of the material presented in Part I is not original, it is hoped that the detailed and self-contained exposition will help the reader to understand not only the following pages, but also the existing technical and variegated literature on markets with imperfect information. The mathematical prerequisites needed, but not explained in the text rarely go beyond elementary calculus and probability theory. Whenever more advanced concepts are used, I have made an effort to give an intuitive explanation as well, so that the argument can also be followed o...

78 FR 57351 - A Reinstatement of a Previously Approved Information Collection

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-18

..., Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977, as amended (7 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.); the Smith-Lever Act (7 U.S.C... research information. This mission supports one of NIFA's primary functions, as stated in the agency... users keep abreast of the latest developments in agriculture, food science, human nutrition, and...

77 FR 36286 - Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Comment Request; Previous Participation Certification

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-18

... 7th Street SW., Washington, DC 20410, Room 9120 or the number for the Federal Information Relay...., permitting electronic submission of responses. This Notice also lists the following information: Title of... provide for both electronic and paper submissions until it publishes revised regulations. Agency form...

Enhancing community detection by using local structural information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiang, Ju; Bao, Mei-Hua; Tang, Liang; Li, Jian-Ming; Hu, Ke; Chen, Benyan; Hu, Jing-Bo; Zhang, Yan; Tang, Yan-Ni; Gao, Yuan-Yuan

2016-01-01

Many real-world networks, such as gene networks, protein–protein interaction networks and metabolic networks, exhibit community structures, meaning the existence of groups of densely connected vertices in the networks. Many local similarity measures in the networks are closely related to the concept of the community structures, and may have a positive effect on community detection in the networks. Here, various local similarity measures are used to extract local structural information, which is then applied to community detection in the networks by using the edge-reweighting strategy. The effect of the local similarity measures on community detection is carefully investigated and compared in various networks. The experimental results show that the local similarity measures are crucial for the improvement of community detection methods, while the positive effect of the local similarity measures is closely related to the networks under study and applied community detection methods. (paper: interdisciplinary statistical mechanics)

An information integration system for structured documents, Web, and databases

OpenAIRE

Morishima, Atsuyuki

1998-01-01

Rapid advance in computer network technology has changed the style of computer utilization. Distributed computing resources over world-wide computer networks are available from our local computers. They include powerful computers and a variety of information sources. This change is raising more advanced requirements. Integration of distributed information sources is one of such requirements. In addition to conventional databases, structured documents have been widely used, and have increasing...

Quantifying information transfer by protein domains: Analysis of the Fyn SH2 domain structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Serrano Luis

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Efficient communication between distant sites within a protein is essential for cooperative biological response. Although often associated with large allosteric movements, more subtle changes in protein dynamics can also induce long-range correlations. However, an appropriate formalism that directly relates protein structural dynamics to information exchange between functional sites is still lacking. Results Here we introduce a method to analyze protein dynamics within the framework of information theory and show that signal transduction within proteins can be considered as a particular instance of communication over a noisy channel. In particular, we analyze the conformational correlations between protein residues and apply the concept of mutual information to quantify information exchange. Mapping out changes of mutual information on the protein structure then allows visualizing how distal communication is achieved. We illustrate the approach by analyzing information transfer by the SH2 domain of Fyn tyrosine kinase, obtained from Monte Carlo dynamics simulations. Our analysis reveals that the Fyn SH2 domain forms a noisy communication channel that couples residues located in the phosphopeptide and specificity binding sites and a number of residues at the other side of the domain near the linkers that connect the SH2 domain to the SH3 and kinase domains. We find that for this particular domain, communication is affected by a series of contiguous residues that connect distal sites by crossing the core of the SH2 domain. Conclusion As a result, our method provides a means to directly map the exchange of biological information on the structure of protein domains, making it clear how binding triggers conformational changes in the protein structure. As such it provides a structural road, next to the existing attempts at sequence level, to predict long-range interactions within protein structures.

Impact of Information Technology Governance Structures on Strategic Alignment

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Fitzroy R.

2013-01-01

This dissertation is a study of the relationship between Information Technology (IT) strategic alignment and IT governance structure within the organization. This dissertation replicates Asante (2010) among a different population where the prior results continue to hold, the non-experimental approach explored two research questions but include two…

An Informationally Structured Room for Robotic Assistance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tokuo Tsuji

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The application of assistive technologies for elderly people is one of the most promising and interesting scenarios for intelligent technologies in the present and near future. Moreover, the improvement of the quality of life for the elderly is one of the first priorities in modern countries and societies. In this work, we present an informationally structured room that is aimed at supporting the daily life activities of elderly people. This room integrates different sensor modalities in a natural and non-invasive way inside the environment. The information gathered by the sensors is processed and sent to a centralized management system, which makes it available to a service robot assisting the people. One important restriction of our intelligent room is reducing as much as possible any interference with daily activities. Finally, this paper presents several experiments and situations using our intelligent environment in cooperation with our service robot.

Research Note Effects of previous cultivation on regeneration of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

We investigated the effects of previous cultivation on regeneration potential under miombo woodlands in a resettlement area, a spatial product of Zimbabwe's land reforms. We predicted that cultivation would affect population structure, regeneration, recruitment and potential grazing capacity of rangelands. Plant attributes ...

Ensuring the integrity of information resources based methods dvooznakovoho structural data encoding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

О.К. Юдін

2009-01-01

Full Text Available  Developed methods of estimation of noise stability and correction of structural code constructions to distortion in comunication of data in informatively communication systems and networks taking into account providing of integrity of informative resource.

Reinforcing Visual Grouping Cues to Communicate Complex Informational Structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Bae, Juhee; Watson, Benjamin

2014-12-01

In his book Multimedia Learning [7], Richard Mayer asserts that viewers learn best from imagery that provides them with cues to help them organize new information into the correct knowledge structures. Designers have long been exploiting the Gestalt laws of visual grouping to deliver viewers those cues using visual hierarchy, often communicating structures much more complex than the simple organizations studied in psychological research. Unfortunately, designers are largely practical in their work, and have not paused to build a complex theory of structural communication. If we are to build a tool to help novices create effective and well structured visuals, we need a better understanding of how to create them. Our work takes a first step toward addressing this lack, studying how five of the many grouping cues (proximity, color similarity, common region, connectivity, and alignment) can be effectively combined to communicate structured text and imagery from real world examples. To measure the effectiveness of this structural communication, we applied a digital version of card sorting, a method widely used in anthropology and cognitive science to extract cognitive structures. We then used tree edit distance to measure the difference between perceived and communicated structures. Our most significant findings are: 1) with careful design, complex structure can be communicated clearly; 2) communicating complex structure is best done with multiple reinforcing grouping cues; 3) common region (use of containers such as boxes) is particularly effective at communicating structure; and 4) alignment is a weak structural communicator.

The Generalization of Mutual Information as the Information between a Set of Variables: The Information Correlation Function Hierarchy and the Information Structure of Multi-Agent Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, David R.

2004-01-01

The topic of this paper is a hierarchy of information-like functions, here named the information correlation functions, where each function of the hierarchy may be thought of as the information between the variables it depends upon. The information correlation functions are particularly suited to the description of the emergence of complex behaviors due to many- body or many-agent processes. They are particularly well suited to the quantification of the decomposition of the information carried among a set of variables or agents, and its subsets. In more graphical language, they provide the information theoretic basis for understanding the synergistic and non-synergistic components of a system, and as such should serve as a forceful toolkit for the analysis of the complexity structure of complex many agent systems. The information correlation functions are the natural generalization to an arbitrary number of sets of variables of the sequence starting with the entropy function (one set of variables) and the mutual information function (two sets). We start by describing the traditional measures of information (entropy) and mutual information.

Evaluating the impact of investments in information technology on structural inertia in health organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Bewley, Lee W

2010-01-01

Structural inertia is the overall capacity of an organization to adapt within a market environment. This paper reviews the impact of healthcare investments in information management/information technology (IM/IT) on the strategic management concept of structural inertia. Research indicates that healthcare executives should consider the relative state of structural inertia for their firms and match them with potential IM/IT solutions. Additionally, organizations should favorably consider IM/IT solutions that are comparatively less complex.

How Investor Structure Influences the Yield, Information Dissemination Efficiency, and Liquidity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongli Che

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This essay focuses on the investor structure of the stock index futures market and uses agent-based computational finance method to discuss how the volume-synchronized probability of informed trading (VPIN affects market absolute yield, information dissemination efficiency, and liquidity with different ratios of informed traders in the market. The result shows that the higher the proportion of informed traders is, the more the volatility of the market is. Furthermore, the result indicates that when the proportion of informed traders in the stock index futures market accounts for 1/3-1/2, the transparency and liquidity of the market will be better.

10 CFR 50.69 - Risk-informed categorization and treatment of structures, systems and components for nuclear...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

..., systems and components for nuclear power reactors. (a) Definitions. Risk-Informed Safety Class (RISC)-1... functions. Risk-Informed Safety Class (RISC)-2 structures, systems and components (SSCs) means nonsafety-related SSCs that perform safety significant functions. Risk-Informed Safety Class (RISC)-3 structures...

Automated extraction of chemical structure information from digital raster images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shedden Kerby A

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To search for chemical structures in research articles, diagrams or text representing molecules need to be translated to a standard chemical file format compatible with cheminformatic search engines. Nevertheless, chemical information contained in research articles is often referenced as analog diagrams of chemical structures embedded in digital raster images. To automate analog-to-digital conversion of chemical structure diagrams in scientific research articles, several software systems have been developed. But their algorithmic performance and utility in cheminformatic research have not been investigated. Results This paper aims to provide critical reviews for these systems and also report our recent development of ChemReader – a fully automated tool for extracting chemical structure diagrams in research articles and converting them into standard, searchable chemical file formats. Basic algorithms for recognizing lines and letters representing bonds and atoms in chemical structure diagrams can be independently run in sequence from a graphical user interface-and the algorithm parameters can be readily changed-to facilitate additional development specifically tailored to a chemical database annotation scheme. Compared with existing software programs such as OSRA, Kekule, and CLiDE, our results indicate that ChemReader outperforms other software systems on several sets of sample images from diverse sources in terms of the rate of correct outputs and the accuracy on extracting molecular substructure patterns. Conclusion The availability of ChemReader as a cheminformatic tool for extracting chemical structure information from digital raster images allows research and development groups to enrich their chemical structure databases by annotating the entries with published research articles. Based on its stable performance and high accuracy, ChemReader may be sufficiently accurate for annotating the chemical database with links

Do family physicians retrieve synopses of clinical research previously read as email alerts?

Science.gov (United States)

Grad, Roland; Pluye, Pierre; Johnson-Lafleur, Janique; Granikov, Vera; Shulha, Michael; Bartlett, Gillian; Marlow, Bernard

2011-11-30

A synopsis of new clinical research highlights important aspects of one study in a brief structured format. When delivered as email alerts, synopses enable clinicians to become aware of new developments relevant for practice. Once read, a synopsis can become a known item of clinical information. In time-pressured situations, remembering a known item may facilitate information retrieval by the clinician. However, exactly how synopses first delivered as email alerts influence retrieval at some later time is not known. We examined searches for clinical information in which a synopsis previously read as an email alert was retrieved (defined as a dyad). Our study objectives were to (1) examine whether family physicians retrieved synopses they previously read as email alerts and then to (2) explore whether family physicians purposefully retrieved these synopses. We conducted a mixed-methods study in which a qualitative multiple case study explored the retrieval of email alerts within a prospective longitudinal cohort of practicing family physicians. Reading of research-based synopses was tracked in two contexts: (1) push, meaning to read on email and (2) pull, meaning to read after retrieval from one electronic knowledge resource. Dyads, defined as synopses first read as email alerts and subsequently retrieved in a search of a knowledge resource, were prospectively identified. Participants were interviewed about all of their dyads. Outcomes were the total number of dyads and their type. Over a period of 341 days, 194 unique synopses delivered to 41 participants resulted in 4937 synopsis readings. In all, 1205 synopses were retrieved over an average of 320 days. Of the 1205 retrieved synopses, 21 (1.7%) were dyads made by 17 family physicians. Of the 1205 retrieved synopses, 6 (0.5%) were known item type dyads. However, dyads also occurred serendipitously. In the single knowledge resource we studied, email alerts containing research-based synopses were rarely retrieved

"Information in Context": Co-Designing Workplace Structures and Systems for Organizational Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Somerville, Mary M.; Howard, Zaana

2010-01-01

Introduction: This paper discusses an "information in context" design project at Auraria Library in Denver, Colorado which aims to collaboratively create organizational structures and communication systems with and for library employees. Method: This action research project is founded within shared leadership, informed learning and…

Encoding information into precipitation structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martens, Kirsten; Bena, Ioana; Droz, Michel; Rácz, Zoltan

2008-01-01

Material design at submicron scales would be profoundly affected if the formation of precipitation patterns could be easily controlled. It would allow the direct building of bulk structures, in contrast to traditional techniques which consist of removing material in order to create patterns. Here, we discuss an extension of our recent proposal of using electrical currents to control precipitation bands which emerge in the wake of reaction fronts in A + + B – → C reaction–diffusion processes. Our main result, based on simulating the reaction–diffusion–precipitation equations, is that the dynamics of the charged agents can be guided by an appropriately designed time-dependent electric current so that, in addition to the control of the band spacing, the width of the precipitation bands can also be tuned. This makes straightforward the encoding of information into precipitation patterns and, as an amusing example, we demonstrate the feasibility by showing how to encode a musical rhythm

Full information estimations of a system of simultaneous equations with error component structure

OpenAIRE

Balestra, Pietro; Krishnakumar, Jaya

1987-01-01

In this paper we develop full information methods for estimating the parameters of a system of simultaneous equations with error component struc-ture and establish relationships between the various structural estimat

An information offering system for operation support based on plant functional structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohga, Yukiharu; Seki, Hiroshi

1995-01-01

A plant information offering system was proposed to support operators in their selection and confirmation of the required information for plant operation under transient conditions in nuclear power plants. The system features include an automatic selection method for information and a dialog input method. The former selects plant information in response to plant status changes and operators' demands. The selection is performed based on the knowledge and data as structured by the plant functional structure; i.e. a means-ends abstraction hierarchy model. In the latter, both speech and CRT touch inputs are transformed into words in Japanese to realize an arbitrary input mode combination. The words are analyzed as a sentence before transforming them into a demand for related programs. A prototype system was evaluated using a BWR simulator, assuming abnormal transients such as loss of feedwater. The contents of the offered information were checked based on emergency operation guidelines. It was confirmed that appropriate information items are automatically selected in real time. Answers are generated in reply to the operators' demands. They include information added to reflect the plant conditions. As for dialog, simple and quick input is realized by combining speech and CRT touch according to the operating situation. (author)

Reconstructing Information in Large-Scale Structure via Logarithmic Mapping

Science.gov (United States)

Szapudi, Istvan

We propose to develop a new method to extract information from large-scale structure data combining two-point statistics and non-linear transformations; before, this information was available only with substantially more complex higher-order statistical methods. Initially, most of the cosmological information in large-scale structure lies in two-point statistics. With non- linear evolution, some of that useful information leaks into higher-order statistics. The PI and group has shown in a series of theoretical investigations how that leakage occurs, and explained the Fisher information plateau at smaller scales. This plateau means that even as more modes are added to the measurement of the power spectrum, the total cumulative information (loosely speaking the inverse errorbar) is not increasing. Recently we have shown in Neyrinck et al. (2009, 2010) that a logarithmic (and a related Gaussianization or Box-Cox) transformation on the non-linear Dark Matter or galaxy field reconstructs a surprisingly large fraction of this missing Fisher information of the initial conditions. This was predicted by the earlier wave mechanical formulation of gravitational dynamics by Szapudi & Kaiser (2003). The present proposal is focused on working out the theoretical underpinning of the method to a point that it can be used in practice to analyze data. In particular, one needs to deal with the usual real-life issues of galaxy surveys, such as complex geometry, discrete sam- pling (Poisson or sub-Poisson noise), bias (linear, or non-linear, deterministic, or stochastic), redshift distortions, pro jection effects for 2D samples, and the effects of photometric redshift errors. We will develop methods for weak lensing and Sunyaev-Zeldovich power spectra as well, the latter specifically targetting Planck. In addition, we plan to investigate the question of residual higher- order information after the non-linear mapping, and possible applications for cosmology. Our aim will be to work out

75 FR 68809 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Importation Bond Structure

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-09

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs And Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Importation Bond Structure AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland... collection: 1651-0050. SUMMARY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the Department of Homeland...

Systematizing Web Search through a Meta-Cognitive, Systems-Based, Information Structuring Model (McSIS)

Science.gov (United States)

Abuhamdieh, Ayman H.; Harder, Joseph T.

2015-01-01

This paper proposes a meta-cognitive, systems-based, information structuring model (McSIS) to systematize online information search behavior based on literature review of information-seeking models. The General Systems Theory's (GST) prepositions serve as its framework. Factors influencing information-seekers, such as the individual learning…

Computer Simulation of Atoms Nuclei Structure Using Information Coefficients of Proportionality

OpenAIRE

Labushev, Mikhail M.

2012-01-01

The latest research of the proportionality of atomic weights of chemical elements made it possible to obtain 3 x 3 matrices for the calculation of information coefficients of proportionality Ip that can be used for 3D modeling of the structure of atom nucleus. The results of computer simulation show high potential of nucleus structure research for the characterization of their chemical and physical properties.

The Protein Model Portal--a comprehensive resource for protein structure and model information.

Science.gov (United States)

Haas, Juergen; Roth, Steven; Arnold, Konstantin; Kiefer, Florian; Schmidt, Tobias; Bordoli, Lorenza; Schwede, Torsten

2013-01-01

The Protein Model Portal (PMP) has been developed to foster effective use of 3D molecular models in biomedical research by providing convenient and comprehensive access to structural information for proteins. Both experimental structures and theoretical models for a given protein can be searched simultaneously and analyzed for structural variability. By providing a comprehensive view on structural information, PMP offers the opportunity to apply consistent assessment and validation criteria to the complete set of structural models available for proteins. PMP is an open project so that new methods developed by the community can contribute to PMP, for example, new modeling servers for creating homology models and model quality estimation servers for model validation. The accuracy of participating modeling servers is continuously evaluated by the Continuous Automated Model EvaluatiOn (CAMEO) project. The PMP offers a unique interface to visualize structural coverage of a protein combining both theoretical models and experimental structures, allowing straightforward assessment of the model quality and hence their utility. The portal is updated regularly and actively developed to include latest methods in the field of computational structural biology. Database URL: http://www.proteinmodelportal.org.

The Protein Model Portal—a comprehensive resource for protein structure and model information

Science.gov (United States)

Haas, Juergen; Roth, Steven; Arnold, Konstantin; Kiefer, Florian; Schmidt, Tobias; Bordoli, Lorenza; Schwede, Torsten

2013-01-01

The Protein Model Portal (PMP) has been developed to foster effective use of 3D molecular models in biomedical research by providing convenient and comprehensive access to structural information for proteins. Both experimental structures and theoretical models for a given protein can be searched simultaneously and analyzed for structural variability. By providing a comprehensive view on structural information, PMP offers the opportunity to apply consistent assessment and validation criteria to the complete set of structural models available for proteins. PMP is an open project so that new methods developed by the community can contribute to PMP, for example, new modeling servers for creating homology models and model quality estimation servers for model validation. The accuracy of participating modeling servers is continuously evaluated by the Continuous Automated Model EvaluatiOn (CAMEO) project. The PMP offers a unique interface to visualize structural coverage of a protein combining both theoretical models and experimental structures, allowing straightforward assessment of the model quality and hence their utility. The portal is updated regularly and actively developed to include latest methods in the field of computational structural biology. Database URL: http://www.proteinmodelportal.org PMID:23624946

Likeness and Likeliness: Exploring Multidimensional Classification for the Multiverse of Information

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Heuvel, C.; Smiraglia, R.P.

2014-01-01

In previous studies grouped under the common denominator "Idea Collider," the CERN Hadron-Collider was used as a metaphor to explore the meaning of breaking down existing structured and less-structured clusters of information into the finest particles to get a better understanding of the laws and

[Electronic cigarettes - effects on health. Previous reports].

Science.gov (United States)

Napierała, Marta; Kulza, Maksymilian; Wachowiak, Anna; Jabłecka, Katarzyna; Florek, Ewa

2014-01-01

Currently very popular in the market of tobacco products have gained electronic cigarettes (ang. E-cigarettes). These products are considered to be potentially less harmful in compared to traditional tobacco products. However, current reports indicate that the statements of the producers regarding to the composition of the e- liquids not always are sufficient, and consumers often do not have reliable information on the quality of the product used by them. This paper contain a review of previous reports on the composition of e-cigarettes and their impact on health. Most of the observed health effects was related to symptoms of the respiratory tract, mouth, throat, neurological complications and sensory organs. Particularly hazardous effects of the e-cigarettes were: pneumonia, congestive heart failure, confusion, convulsions, hypotension, aspiration pneumonia, face second-degree burns, blindness, chest pain and rapid heartbeat. In the literature there is no information relating to passive exposure by the aerosols released during e-cigarette smoking. Furthermore, the information regarding to the use of these products in the long term are not also available.

PROGRAM SYSTEM AND INFORMATION METADATA BANK OF TERTIARY PROTEIN STRUCTURES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. A. Nikitin

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the architecture of metadata storage model for check results of three-dimensional protein structures. Concept database model was built. The service and procedure of database update as well as data transformation algorithms for protein structures and their quality were presented. Most important information about entries and their submission forms to store, access, and delivery to users were highlighted. Software suite was developed for the implementation of functional tasks using Java programming language in the NetBeans v.7.0 environment and JQL to query and interact with the database JavaDB. The service was tested and results have shown system effectiveness while protein structures filtration.

Deriving Structural Information from Experimentally Measured Data on Biomolecules.

Science.gov (United States)

van Gunsteren, Wilfred F; Allison, Jane R; Daura, Xavier; Dolenc, Jožica; Hansen, Niels; Mark, Alan E; Oostenbrink, Chris; Rusu, Victor H; Smith, Lorna J

2016-12-23

During the past half century, the number and accuracy of experimental techniques that can deliver values of observables for biomolecular systems have been steadily increasing. The conversion of a measured value Q exp of an observable quantity Q into structural information is, however, a task beset with theoretical and practical problems: 1) insufficient or inaccurate values of Q exp , 2) inaccuracies in the function Q(r→) used to relate the quantity Q to structure r→ , 3) how to account for the averaging inherent in the measurement of Q exp , 4) how to handle the possible multiple-valuedness of the inverse r→(Q) of the function Q(r→) , to mention a few. These apply to a variety of observable quantities Q and measurement techniques such as X-ray and neutron diffraction, small-angle and wide-angle X-ray scattering, free-electron laser imaging, cryo-electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, electron paramagnetic resonance, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, circular dichroism, Förster resonance energy transfer, atomic force microscopy and ion-mobility mass spectrometry. The process of deriving structural information from measured data is reviewed with an eye to non-experts and newcomers in the field using examples from the literature of the effect of the various choices and approximations involved in the process. A list of choices to be avoided is provided. © 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

77 FR 59242 - Extension of a Previously Approved Collection; Public Charters

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-26

... previous notice. DATES: Comments on this notice should be received by October 26, 2012: attention OMB/OST... operator's advertising, selling or operating the charter. If the prospectus information were not collected...

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance in adults with previous cardiovascular surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

von Knobelsdorff-Brenkenhoff, Florian; Trauzeddel, Ralf Felix; Schulz-Menger, Jeanette

2014-03-01

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is a versatile non-invasive imaging modality that serves a broad spectrum of indications in clinical cardiology and has proven evidence. Most of the numerous applications are appropriate in patients with previous cardiovascular surgery in the same manner as in non-surgical subjects. However, some specifics have to be considered. This review article is intended to provide information about the application of CMR in adults with previous cardiovascular surgery. In particular, the two main scenarios, i.e. following coronary artery bypass surgery and following heart valve surgery, are highlighted. Furthermore, several pictorial descriptions of other potential indications for CMR after cardiovascular surgery are given.

Resistance and Security Index of Networks: Structural Information Perspective of Network Security.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Angsheng; Hu, Qifu; Liu, Jun; Pan, Yicheng

2016-06-03

Recently, Li and Pan defined the metric of the K-dimensional structure entropy of a structured noisy dataset G to be the information that controls the formation of the K-dimensional structure of G that is evolved by the rules, order and laws of G, excluding the random variations that occur in G. Here, we propose the notion of resistance of networks based on the one- and two-dimensional structural information of graphs. Given a graph G, we define the resistance of G, written , as the greatest overall number of bits required to determine the code of the module that is accessible via random walks with stationary distribution in G, from which the random walks cannot escape. We show that the resistance of networks follows the resistance law of networks, that is, for a network G, the resistance of G is , where and are the one- and two-dimensional structure entropies of G, respectively. Based on the resistance law, we define the security index of a network G to be the normalised resistance of G, that is, . We show that the resistance and security index are both well-defined measures for the security of the networks.

Resistance and Security Index of Networks: Structural Information Perspective of Network Security

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Angsheng; Hu, Qifu; Liu, Jun; Pan, Yicheng

2016-01-01

Recently, Li and Pan defined the metric of the K-dimensional structure entropy of a structured noisy dataset G to be the information that controls the formation of the K-dimensional structure of G that is evolved by the rules, order and laws of G, excluding the random variations that occur in G. Here, we propose the notion of resistance of networks based on the one- and two-dimensional structural information of graphs. Given a graph G, we define the resistance of G, written , as the greatest overall number of bits required to determine the code of the module that is accessible via random walks with stationary distribution in G, from which the random walks cannot escape. We show that the resistance of networks follows the resistance law of networks, that is, for a network G, the resistance of G is , where and are the one- and two-dimensional structure entropies of G, respectively. Based on the resistance law, we define the security index of a network G to be the normalised resistance of G, that is, . We show that the resistance and security index are both well-defined measures for the security of the networks. PMID:27255783

Resistance and Security Index of Networks: Structural Information Perspective of Network Security

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Angsheng; Hu, Qifu; Liu, Jun; Pan, Yicheng

2016-06-01

Recently, Li and Pan defined the metric of the K-dimensional structure entropy of a structured noisy dataset G to be the information that controls the formation of the K-dimensional structure of G that is evolved by the rules, order and laws of G, excluding the random variations that occur in G. Here, we propose the notion of resistance of networks based on the one- and two-dimensional structural information of graphs. Given a graph G, we define the resistance of G, written , as the greatest overall number of bits required to determine the code of the module that is accessible via random walks with stationary distribution in G, from which the random walks cannot escape. We show that the resistance of networks follows the resistance law of networks, that is, for a network G, the resistance of G is , where and are the one- and two-dimensional structure entropies of G, respectively. Based on the resistance law, we define the security index of a network G to be the normalised resistance of G, that is, . We show that the resistance and security index are both well-defined measures for the security of the networks.

Information structure and reference tracking in complex sentences

CERN Document Server

Gijn, Rik van; Matic, Dejan

2014-01-01

This paper discusses argument marking and reference tracking in Mekens complex clauses and their correlation to information structure. The distribution of pronominal arguments in Mekens simple clauses follows an absolutive pattern with main verbs. Complex clauses maintain the morphological absolutive argument marking, but show a nominative pattern with respect to argument reference tracking, since transitive and intransitive subjects function as syntactic pivots. The language extends the use of argument-marking verb morphology to control the reference of discourse participants across clauses.

Annotating the protein-RNA interaction sites in proteins using evolutionary information and protein backbone structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Tao; Li, Qian-Zhong

2012-11-07

RNA-protein interactions play important roles in various biological processes. The precise detection of RNA-protein interaction sites is very important for understanding essential biological processes and annotating the function of the proteins. In this study, based on various features from amino acid sequence and structure, including evolutionary information, solvent accessible surface area and torsion angles (φ, ψ) in the backbone structure of the polypeptide chain, a computational method for predicting RNA-binding sites in proteins is proposed. When the method is applied to predict RNA-binding sites in three datasets: RBP86 containing 86 protein chains, RBP107 containing 107 proteins chains and RBP109 containing 109 proteins chains, better sensitivities and specificities are obtained compared to previously published methods in five-fold cross-validation tests. In order to make further examination for the efficiency of our method, the RBP107 dataset is used as training set, RBP86 and RBP109 datasets are used as the independent test sets. In addition, as examples of our prediction, RNA-binding sites in a few proteins are presented. The annotated results are consistent with the PDB annotation. These results show that our method is useful for annotating RNA binding sites of novel proteins.

Value of information: A roadmap to quantifying the benefit of structural health monitoring

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Straub, D.; Chatzi, E.; Bismut, E.

2017-01-01

The concept of value of information (VoI) enables quantification of the benefits provided by structural health monitoring (SHM) systems – in principle. Its implementation is challenging, as it requires an explicit modelling of the structural system’s life cycle, in particular of the decisions...... that are taken based on the SHM information. In this paper, we approach the VoI analysis through an influence diagram (ID), which supports the modelling process. We provide a simple example for illustration and discuss challenges associated with real-life implementation....

Structured information analysis for human reliability analysis of emergency tasks in nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jung, Won Dea; Kim, Jae Whan; Park, Jin Kyun; Ha, Jae Joo [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea)

2000-02-01

More than twenty HRA (Human Reliability Analysis) methodologies have been developed and used for the safety analysis in nuclear field during the past two decades. However, no methodology appears to have universally been accepted, as various limitations have been raised for more widely used ones. One of the most important limitations of conventional HRA is insufficient analysis of the task structure and problem space. To resolve this problem, we suggest SIA (Structured Information Analysis) for HRA. The proposed SIA consists of three parts. The first part is the scenario analysis that investigates the contextual information related to the given task on the basis of selected scenarios. The second is the goals-means analysis to define the relations between the cognitive goal and task steps. The third is the cognitive function analysis module that identifies the cognitive patterns and information flows involved in the task. Through the three-part analysis, systematic investigation is made possible from the macroscopic information on the tasks to the microscopic information on the specific cognitive processes. It is expected that analysts can attain a structured set of information that helps to predict the types and possibility of human error in the given task. 48 refs., 12 figs., 11 tabs. (Author)

78 FR 77202 - Request for Comments of a Previously Approved Information Collection

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2013-12-20

... below is being forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comments. A Federal... FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lauren Brand, Director, Office of Marine Highways and Passenger Services, MAR... 20590. Telephone: 202-366-7057; or email lauren.brand@dot.gov . Copies of this collection also can be...

78 FR 64262 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Request for Comments of a Previously Approved...

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2013-10-28

... represented a collection site that performs DOT urine collections and pre-employment medical exams. Our... Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing Programs. This request for a renewal of the information collection for... workplace. The MIS form includes employer specific drug and alcohol testing information such as the reason...

11Li structural information from inclusive break-up measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernández-García J. P.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Structure information of 11Li halo nucleus has been obtained from the inclusive break-up measurements of the 11Li+208Pb reactions at energies around the Coulomb barrier (Elab = 24.3 and 29.8 MeV. The effective break-up energy and the slope of B(E1 distribution close to the threshold have been extracted from the experimental data.

The Transparency of Reporting Information as a Guarantee to the Sustainable Development of Corporate Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivchenko Viktoriia V.

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In the article, the author substantiates the view that one of the problematic aspects of the modern corporate reporting model is its low transparency, imperfection of the methods for generating indicators, which in turn does not allow for a comprehensive analysis of the activity of corporate structure. As a possible variant to improve the existing reporting model, it has been suggested to consider the basic concepts of sustainable development when disclosing information. In this context, corporate structures should also disclose the social and environmental aspects for a wide range of users – stakeholders. In the process of research, direct correlation between the transparency of banking information and the achievement of sustainable development has been substantiated; cautions regarding the asymmetry in information of banking institutions have been considered. Directions for further scientific research could be a study on the two-way communication system between the corporate structure and users of information; developing an integrated system of assessments of transparency and its impact on the sustainable development of corporate structure.

Stochastic and information-thermodynamic structures of population dynamics in a fluctuating environment

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Tetsuya J.; Sughiyama, Yuki

2017-07-01

Adaptation in a fluctuating environment is a process of fueling environmental information to gain fitness. Living systems have gradually developed strategies for adaptation from random and passive diversification of the phenotype to more proactive decision making, in which environmental information is sensed and exploited more actively and effectively. Understanding the fundamental relation between fitness and information is therefore crucial to clarify the limits and universal properties of adaptation. In this work, we elucidate the underlying stochastic and information-thermodynamic structure in this process, by deriving causal fluctuation relations (FRs) of fitness and information. Combined with a duality between phenotypic and environmental dynamics, the FRs reveal the limit of fitness gain, the relation of time reversibility with the achievability of the limit, and the possibility and condition for gaining excess fitness due to environmental fluctuation. The loss of fitness due to causal constraints and the limited capacity of real organisms is shown to be the difference between time-forward and time-backward path probabilities of phenotypic and environmental dynamics. Furthermore, the FRs generalize the concept of the evolutionary stable state (ESS) for fluctuating environment by giving the probability that the optimal strategy on average can be invaded by a suboptimal one owing to rare environmental fluctuation. These results clarify the information-thermodynamic structures in adaptation and evolution.

The prospective relationship between satisfaction with information and symptoms of depression and anxiety in breast cancer: A structural equation modeling analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Faller, Hermann; Strahl, André; Richard, Matthias; Niehues, Christiane; Meng, Karin

2017-11-01

Previous research has demonstrated associations between satisfaction with information and reduced emotional distress in cancer patients. However, as most studies were cross-sectional, the direction of this relationship remained unclear. We therefore aimed to test whether information satisfaction predicted subsequent depression and anxiety levels, and, reciprocally, depression and anxiety levels predicted subsequent information satisfaction, thus clarifying the direction of impact. We performed a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study with 436 female breast cancer patients (mean age 51 years). We measured information satisfaction with 2 self-developed items, symptoms of depression with the 2-item Patient Heath Questionnaire and symptoms of anxiety with the 2-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale. We created 2 structural equation models, 1 for depression and 1 for anxiety, that examined the prediction of 1-year depression (or anxiety) levels by baseline information satisfaction and, in the same model, 1-year information satisfaction by baseline depression (or anxiety) levels (cross-lagged panel analysis). Baseline information satisfaction predicted 1-year levels of both depression (beta = -0.17, P satisfaction, adjusting for its baseline score. Our results suggest a bidirectional relationship between information satisfaction and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Thus, provision of information may reduce subsequent depression and anxiety, while reducing depression and anxiety levels may increase satisfaction with received information. Combining the provision of information with emotional support may be particularly beneficial. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

University Students' Knowledge Structures and Informal Reasoning on the Use of Genetically Modified Foods: Multidimensional Analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Ying-Tien

2013-10-01

This study aims to provide insights into the role of learners' knowledge structures about a socio-scientific issue (SSI) in their informal reasoning on the issue. A total of 42 non-science major university students' knowledge structures and informal reasoning were assessed with multidimensional analyses. With both qualitative and quantitative analyses, this study revealed that those students with more extended and better-organized knowledge structures, as well as those who more frequently used higher-order information processing modes, were more oriented towards achieving a higher-level informal reasoning quality. The regression analyses further showed that the "richness" of the students' knowledge structures explained 25 % of the variation in their rebuttal construction, an important indicator of reasoning quality, indicating the significance of the role of students' sophisticated knowledge structure in SSI reasoning. Besides, this study also provides some initial evidence for the significant role of the "core" concept within one's knowledge structure in one's SSI reasoning. The findings in this study suggest that, in SSI-based instruction, science instructors should try to identify students' core concepts within their prior knowledge regarding the SSI, and then they should try to guide students to construct and structure relevant concepts or ideas regarding the SSI based on their core concepts. Thus, students could obtain extended and well-organized knowledge structures, which would then help them achieve better learning transfer in dealing with SSIs.

Review of "Conceptual Structures: Information Processing in Mind and Machine."

Science.gov (United States)

Smoliar, Stephen W.

This review of the book, "Conceptual Structures: Information Processing in Mind and Machine," by John F. Sowa, argues that anyone who plans to get involved with issues of knowledge representation should have at least a passing acquaintance with Sowa's conceptual graphs for a database interface. (Used to model the underlying semantics of…

Information and Informality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsson, Magnus; Segerstéen, Solveig; Svensson, Cathrin

2011-01-01

leaders on the basis of their possession of reliable knowledge in technical as well as organizational domains. The informal leaders engaged in interpretation and brokering of information and knowledge, as well as in mediating strategic values and priorities on both formal and informal arenas. Informal...... leaders were thus seen to function on the level of the organization as a whole, and in cooperation with formal leaders. Drawing on existing theory of leadership in creative and professional contexts, this cooperation can be specified to concern task structuring. The informal leaders in our study...... contributed to task structuring through sensemaking activities, while formal leaders focused on aspects such as clarifying output expectations, providing feedback, project structure, and diversity....

Mnemonic transmission, social contagion, and emergence of collective memory: Influence of emotional valence, group structure, and information distribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Hae-Yoon; Kensinger, Elizabeth A; Rajaram, Suparna

2017-09-01

Social transmission of memory and its consequence on collective memory have generated enduring interdisciplinary interest because of their widespread significance in interpersonal, sociocultural, and political arenas. We tested the influence of 3 key factors-emotional salience of information, group structure, and information distribution-on mnemonic transmission, social contagion, and collective memory. Participants individually studied emotionally salient (negative or positive) and nonemotional (neutral) picture-word pairs that were completely shared, partially shared, or unshared within participant triads, and then completed 3 consecutive recalls in 1 of 3 conditions: individual-individual-individual (control), collaborative-collaborative (identical group; insular structure)-individual, and collaborative-collaborative (reconfigured group; diverse structure)-individual. Collaboration enhanced negative memories especially in insular group structure and especially for shared information, and promoted collective forgetting of positive memories. Diverse group structure reduced this negativity effect. Unequally distributed information led to social contagion that creates false memories; diverse structure propagated a greater variety of false memories whereas insular structure promoted confidence in false recognition and false collective memory. A simultaneous assessment of network structure, information distribution, and emotional valence breaks new ground to specify how network structure shapes the spread of negative memories and false memories, and the emergence of collective memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Identification of balanced chromosomal rearrangements previously unknown among participants in the 1000 Genomes Project: implications for interpretation of structural variation in genomes and the future of clinical cytogenetics.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Zirui; Wang, Huilin; Chen, Haixiao; Jiang, Hui; Yuan, Jianying; Yang, Zhenjun; Wang, Wen-Jing; Xu, Fengping; Guo, Xiaosen; Cao, Ye; Zhu, Zhenzhen; Geng, Chunyu; Cheung, Wan Chee; Kwok, Yvonne K; Yang, Huanming; Leung, Tak Yeung; Morton, Cynthia C; Cheung, Sau Wai; Choy, Kwong Wai

2017-11-02

PurposeRecent studies demonstrate that whole-genome sequencing enables detection of cryptic rearrangements in apparently balanced chromosomal rearrangements (also known as balanced chromosomal abnormalities, BCAs) previously identified by conventional cytogenetic methods. We aimed to assess our analytical tool for detecting BCAs in the 1000 Genomes Project without knowing which bands were affected.MethodsThe 1000 Genomes Project provides an unprecedented integrated map of structural variants in phenotypically normal subjects, but there is no information on potential inclusion of subjects with apparent BCAs akin to those traditionally detected in diagnostic cytogenetics laboratories. We applied our analytical tool to 1,166 genomes from the 1000 Genomes Project with sufficient physical coverage (8.25-fold).ResultsWith this approach, we detected four reciprocal balanced translocations and four inversions, ranging in size from 57.9 kb to 13.3 Mb, all of which were confirmed by cytogenetic methods and polymerase chain reaction studies. One of these DNAs has a subtle translocation that is not readily identified by chromosome analysis because of the similarity of the banding patterns and size of exchanged segments, and another results in disruption of all transcripts of an OMIM gene.ConclusionOur study demonstrates the extension of utilizing low-pass whole-genome sequencing for unbiased detection of BCAs including translocations and inversions previously unknown in the 1000 Genomes Project.GENETICS in MEDICINE advance online publication, 2 November 2017; doi:10.1038/gim.2017.170.

A method for partitioning the information contained in a protein sequence between its structure and function.

Science.gov (United States)

Possenti, Andrea; Vendruscolo, Michele; Camilloni, Carlo; Tiana, Guido

2018-05-23

Proteins employ the information stored in the genetic code and translated into their sequences to carry out well-defined functions in the cellular environment. The possibility to encode for such functions is controlled by the balance between the amount of information supplied by the sequence and that left after that the protein has folded into its structure. We study the amount of information necessary to specify the protein structure, providing an estimate that keeps into account the thermodynamic properties of protein folding. We thus show that the information remaining in the protein sequence after encoding for its structure (the 'information gap') is very close to what needed to encode for its function and interactions. Then, by predicting the information gap directly from the protein sequence, we show that it may be possible to use these insights from information theory to discriminate between ordered and disordered proteins, to identify unknown functions, and to optimize artificially-designed protein sequences. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Communications tools in research projects to support Semi and Non Structured Information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Astrid Jaime

2005-06-01

Full Text Available Innovation and thus the production of knowledge becomes a factor of competitiveness. In this context quality management could be complemented by knowledge management to aim the improvement of knowledge production by research activities process. To this end, after describing knowledge and informa-tion typologies in engineering activities, a knowledge man-agement system is proposed. The goal is to support: (1 Semi-Structured Information (e.g. reports, etc. thanks to the BASIC-Lab tool functions, which are based on attributing points of view and annotations to documents and document zones, and (2 Non-Structured Information (such as mail, dialogues, etc., thanks to MICA-Graph approach which intends to support ex-change of technical messages that concerns common resolution of research problems within project teams and to capitalise relevant knowledge. For the both approaches, prototype tools have been developed and evaluated, primarily to feed back with manufacturing knowledge in the EADS industrial envi-ronment.

A large scale analysis of information-theoretic network complexity measures using chemical structures.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthias Dehmer

Full Text Available This paper aims to investigate information-theoretic network complexity measures which have already been intensely used in mathematical- and medicinal chemistry including drug design. Numerous such measures have been developed so far but many of them lack a meaningful interpretation, e.g., we want to examine which kind of structural information they detect. Therefore, our main contribution is to shed light on the relatedness between some selected information measures for graphs by performing a large scale analysis using chemical networks. Starting from several sets containing real and synthetic chemical structures represented by graphs, we study the relatedness between a classical (partition-based complexity measure called the topological information content of a graph and some others inferred by a different paradigm leading to partition-independent measures. Moreover, we evaluate the uniqueness of network complexity measures numerically. Generally, a high uniqueness is an important and desirable property when designing novel topological descriptors having the potential to be applied to large chemical databases.

Wireless sensor placement for structural monitoring using information-fusing firefly algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Guang-Dong; Yi, Ting-Hua; Xie, Mei-Xi; Li, Hong-Nan

2017-10-01

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are promising technology in structural health monitoring (SHM) applications for their low cost and high efficiency. The limited wireless sensors and restricted power resources in WSNs highlight the significance of optimal wireless sensor placement (OWSP) during designing SHM systems to enable the most useful information to be captured and to achieve the longest network lifetime. This paper presents a holistic approach, including an optimization criterion and a solution algorithm, for optimally deploying self-organizing multi-hop WSNs on large-scale structures. The combination of information effectiveness represented by the modal independence and the network performance specified by the network connectivity and network lifetime is first formulated to evaluate the performance of wireless sensor configurations. Then, an information-fusing firefly algorithm (IFFA) is developed to solve the OWSP problem. The step sizes drawn from a Lévy distribution are adopted to drive fireflies toward brighter individuals. Following the movement with Lévy flights, information about the contributions of wireless sensors to the objective function as carried by the fireflies is fused and applied to move inferior wireless sensors to better locations. The reliability of the proposed approach is verified via a numerical example on a long-span suspension bridge. The results demonstrate that the evaluation criterion provides a good performance metric of wireless sensor configurations, and the IFFA outperforms the simple discrete firefly algorithm.

Modeling the Structure and Effectiveness of Intelligence Organizations: Dynamic Information Flow Simulation

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Behrman, Robert; Carley, Kathleen

2003-01-01

This paper describes the Dynamic Information Flow Simulation (DIFS), an abstract model for analyzing the structure and function of intelligence support organizations and the activities of entities within...

Development of a geo-information system for the evaluation of active faults

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hwang, Sang Gi; Lim, Yu Jin [Paichai Univ., Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

2001-04-15

This project aims to develop an effective field system and database structure by analyzing the quantitative and qualitative geological data and establish its application plan. The contents and the scope of this study are as follows : developing a geo-information software, producing digital data from previous works and information-geological, age dating, trench information, topographic and geologic maps, establish a home page.

Measuring Dynamic and Kinetic Information in the Previously Inaccessible Supra-tc Window of Nanoseconds to Microseconds by Solution NMR Spectroscopy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donghan Lee

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR spectroscopy is a powerful tool that has enabled experimentalists to characterize molecular dynamics and kinetics spanning a wide range of time-scales from picoseconds to days. This review focuses on addressing the previously inaccessible supra-τc window (defined as τc < supra-τc < 40 μs; in which τc is the overall tumbling time of a molecule from the perspective of local inter-nuclear vector dynamics extracted from residual dipolar couplings (RDCs and from the perspective of conformational exchange captured by relaxation dispersion measurements (RD. The goal of the first section is to present a detailed analysis of how to extract protein dynamics encoded in RDCs and how to relate this information to protein functionality within the previously inaccessible supra-τc window. In the second section, the current state of the art for RD is analyzed, as well as the considerable progress toward pushing the sensitivity of RD further into the supra-τc scale by up to a factor of two (motion up to 25 ms. From the data obtained with these techniques and methodology, the importance of the supra-τ c scale for protein function and molecular recognition is becoming increasingly clearer as the connection between motion on the supra-τc scale and protein functionality from the experimental side is further strengthened with results from molecular dynamics simulations.

Functional classification of protein structures by local structure matching in graph representation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mills, Caitlyn L; Garg, Rohan; Lee, Joslynn S; Tian, Liang; Suciu, Alexandru; Cooperman, Gene; Beuning, Penny J; Ondrechen, Mary Jo

2018-03-31

As a result of high-throughput protein structure initiatives, over 14,400 protein structures have been solved by structural genomics (SG) centers and participating research groups. While the totality of SG data represents a tremendous contribution to genomics and structural biology, reliable functional information for these proteins is generally lacking. Better functional predictions for SG proteins will add substantial value to the structural information already obtained. Our method described herein, Graph Representation of Active Sites for Prediction of Function (GRASP-Func), predicts quickly and accurately the biochemical function of proteins by representing residues at the predicted local active site as graphs rather than in Cartesian coordinates. We compare the GRASP-Func method to our previously reported method, structurally aligned local sites of activity (SALSA), using the ribulose phosphate binding barrel (RPBB), 6-hairpin glycosidase (6-HG), and Concanavalin A-like Lectins/Glucanase (CAL/G) superfamilies as test cases. In each of the superfamilies, SALSA and the much faster method GRASP-Func yield similar correct classification of previously characterized proteins, providing a validated benchmark for the new method. In addition, we analyzed SG proteins using our SALSA and GRASP-Func methods to predict function. Forty-one SG proteins in the RPBB superfamily, nine SG proteins in the 6-HG superfamily, and one SG protein in the CAL/G superfamily were successfully classified into one of the functional families in their respective superfamily by both methods. This improved, faster, validated computational method can yield more reliable predictions of function that can be used for a wide variety of applications by the community. © 2018 The Authors Protein Science published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Protein Society.

ProCKSI: a decision support system for Protein (Structure Comparison, Knowledge, Similarity and Information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Błażewicz Jacek

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background We introduce the decision support system for Protein (Structure Comparison, Knowledge, Similarity and Information (ProCKSI. ProCKSI integrates various protein similarity measures through an easy to use interface that allows the comparison of multiple proteins simultaneously. It employs the Universal Similarity Metric (USM, the Maximum Contact Map Overlap (MaxCMO of protein structures and other external methods such as the DaliLite and the TM-align methods, the Combinatorial Extension (CE of the optimal path, and the FAST Align and Search Tool (FAST. Additionally, ProCKSI allows the user to upload a user-defined similarity matrix supplementing the methods mentioned, and computes a similarity consensus in order to provide a rich, integrated, multicriteria view of large datasets of protein structures. Results We present ProCKSI's architecture and workflow describing its intuitive user interface, and show its potential on three distinct test-cases. In the first case, ProCKSI is used to evaluate the results of a previous CASP competition, assessing the similarity of proposed models for given targets where the structures could have a large deviation from one another. To perform this type of comparison reliably, we introduce a new consensus method. The second study deals with the verification of a classification scheme for protein kinases, originally derived by sequence comparison by Hanks and Hunter, but here we use a consensus similarity measure based on structures. In the third experiment using the Rost and Sander dataset (RS126, we investigate how a combination of different sets of similarity measures influences the quality and performance of ProCKSI's new consensus measure. ProCKSI performs well with all three datasets, showing its potential for complex, simultaneous multi-method assessment of structural similarity in large protein datasets. Furthermore, combining different similarity measures is usually more robust than

Unsupervised information extraction by text segmentation

CERN Document Server

Cortez, Eli

2013-01-01

A new unsupervised approach to the problem of Information Extraction by Text Segmentation (IETS) is proposed, implemented and evaluated herein. The authors' approach relies on information available on pre-existing data to learn how to associate segments in the input string with attributes of a given domain relying on a very effective set of content-based features. The effectiveness of the content-based features is also exploited to directly learn from test data structure-based features, with no previous human-driven training, a feature unique to the presented approach. Based on the approach, a

A cautionary note on the use of information fit indexes in covariance structure modeling with means

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wicherts, J.M.; Dolan, C.V.

2004-01-01

Information fit indexes such as Akaike Information Criterion, Consistent Akaike Information Criterion, Bayesian Information Criterion, and the expected cross validation index can be valuable in assessing the relative fit of structural equation models that differ regarding restrictiveness. In cases

Designing a clinical dashboard to fill information gaps in the emergency department.

Science.gov (United States)

Swartz, Jordan L; Cimino, James J; Fred, Matthew R; Green, Robert A; Vawdrey, David K

2014-01-01

Data fragmentation within electronic health records causes gaps in the information readily available to clinicians. We investigated the information needs of emergency medicine clinicians in order to design an electronic dashboard to fill information gaps in the emergency department. An online survey was distributed to all emergency medicine physicians at a large, urban academic medical center. The survey response rate was 48% (52/109). The clinical information items reported to be most helpful while caring for patients in the emergency department were vital signs, electrocardiogram (ECG) reports, previous discharge summaries, and previous lab results. Brief structured interviews were also conducted with 18 clinicians during their shifts in the emergency department. From the interviews, three themes emerged: 1) difficulty accessing vital signs, 2) difficulty accessing point-of-care tests, and 3) difficulty comparing the current ECG with the previous ECG. An emergency medicine clinical dashboard was developed to address these difficulties.

Structure, context, complexity, organization: physical aspects of information and value

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Eriksson, Karl-Erik; Lindgren, Kristian; Månsson, Bengt Å

1987-01-01

... and of information theory are general enough to play such a role. The authors have been involved in studies of the handling of natural resources in human societies. There we met problems and ideas which led us to the theme of this book: a perspective and a set of concepts, useful for describing and understanding processes in which structure emerges. T...

Reaching Agreement: The Structure & Pragmatics of Critical Care Nurses' Informal Argument

Science.gov (United States)

Hagler, Debra A.; Brem, Sarah K.

2008-01-01

The hospital critical care unit provides an authentic, high-stakes setting for studying reasoning, argumentation, and discourse. In particular, it allows examination of structural and pragmatic features of informal collaborative argument created while participants are engaged in familiar, meaningful activities central to their work. The nursing…

STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL MODEL OF FORMING INFORMATIONAL COMPETENCE OF TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taras Ostapchuk

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The article elaborates and analyses the structural and functional model of formation of information competence of technical university students. The system and mutual relationships between its elements are revealed. It is found out that the presence of the target structure of the proposed model, process and result-evaluative blocks ensure its functioning and the opportunity to optimize the learning process for technical school students’ information training. It is established that the formation of technical university students’ information competence based on components such as motivational value, as well as operational activity, cognitive, and reflexive one. These criteria (motivation, operational and activity, cognitive, reflective, indexes and levels (reproductive, technologized, constructive forming technical university students’ information competence are disclosed. Expediency of complex organizational and educational conditions in the stages of information competence is justified. The complex organizational and pedagogical conditions include: orientation in the organization and implementation of class work for technical university students’ positive value treatment; the issue of forming professionalism; informatization of educational and socio-cultural environment of higher technical educational institutions; orientation of technical university students’ training to the demands of European and international standards on information competence as a factor in the formation of competitiveness at the labor market; introducing a special course curriculum that will provide competence formation due to the use of information technology in professional activities. Forms (lecture, visualization, problem lecture, combined lecture, scientific online conference, recitals, excursions, etc., tools (computer lab, multimedia projector, interactive whiteboard, multimedia technology (audio, video, the Internet technologies; social networks, etc

Detection of image structures using the Fisher information and the Rao metric.

Science.gov (United States)

Maybank, Stephen J

2004-12-01

In many detection problems, the structures to be detected are parameterized by the points of a parameter space. If the conditional probability density function for the measurements is known, then detection can be achieved by sampling the parameter space at a finite number of points and checking each point to see if the corresponding structure is supported by the data. The number of samples and the distances between neighboring samples are calculated using the Rao metric on the parameter space. The Rao metric is obtained from the Fisher information which is, in turn, obtained from the conditional probability density function. An upper bound is obtained for the probability of a false detection. The calculations are simplified in the low noise case by making an asymptotic approximation to the Fisher information. An application to line detection is described. Expressions are obtained for the asymptotic approximation to the Fisher information, the volume of the parameter space, and the number of samples. The time complexity for line detection is estimated. An experimental comparison is made with a Hough transform-based method for detecting lines.

Use of Statistical Information for Damage Assessment of Civil Engineering Structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkegaard, Poul Henning; Andersen, P.

This paper considers the problem of damage assessment of civil engineering structures using statistical information. The aim of the paper is to review how researchers recently have tried to solve the problem. It is pointed out that the problem consists of not only how to use the statistical...

SAPIENS: Spreading Activation Processor for Information Encoded in Network Structures. Technical Report No. 296.

Science.gov (United States)

Ortony, Andrew; Radin, Dean I.

The product of researchers' efforts to develop a computer processor which distinguishes between relevant and irrelevant information in the database, Spreading Activation Processor for Information Encoded in Network Structures (SAPIENS) exhibits (1) context sensitivity, (2) efficiency, (3) decreasing activation over time, (4) summation of…

Structural investigation of e-beam cured epoxy resins through solid state NMR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alessi, Sabina; Spinella, Alberto; Caponetti, Eugenio; Dispenza, Clelia; Spadaro, Giuseppe

2012-01-01

In this paper the network structure of e-beam cured DGEBF based epoxy resins is investigated. Two epoxy systems, having different reactivity and cured in different process conditions, were analyzed through solid state NMR spectroscopy. The analysis shows that the more reactive system has higher cross-linking density and higher uniformity of network distribution. Similar information were obtained, in a previous work, on the same systems through dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. It is worth noting that unlike DMTA tests, which interfere with the molecular structure of the analyzed material, due to the heating during the analysis itself, more reliable information, without any artefact, are obtained by solid state NMR, carried out at constant room temperature. - Highlights: ► The structure of two e-beam cured epoxy systems is investigated through solid state NMR. ► The aim is to have direct information about the structure without inducing modifications. ► The different molecular structures are able to emphasize the response of solid state NMR. ► T 1 H, T 1ρ H and T CH measurements indicate different cross-linking degrees. ► The NMR results are in agreement with DMTA analysis performed in a previous paper.

75 FR 54215 - Agency Request for Approval of a Previously Approved Information Collection(s): Uniform...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-03

... about our intention to request Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to renew a previously... because of management and oversight responsibilities of the agency imposed by OMB Circular 2 CFR 215 (A... Department has terminated Financial Status Report (SF-269 and SF-269A) and Federal Cash Transactions Report...

Signalign: An Ontology of DNA as Signal for Comparative Gene Structure Prediction Using Information-Coding-and-Processing Techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Ning; Guo, Xuan; Gu, Feng; Pan, Yi

2016-03-01

Conventional character-analysis-based techniques in genome analysis manifest three main shortcomings-inefficiency, inflexibility, and incompatibility. In our previous research, a general framework, called DNA As X was proposed for character-analysis-free techniques to overcome these shortcomings, where X is the intermediates, such as digit, code, signal, vector, tree, graph network, and so on. In this paper, we further implement an ontology of DNA As Signal, by designing a tool named Signalign for comparative gene structure analysis, in which DNA sequences are converted into signal series, processed by modified method of dynamic time warping and measured by signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The ontology of DNA As Signal integrates the principles and concepts of other disciplines including information coding theory and signal processing into sequence analysis and processing. Comparing with conventional character-analysis-based methods, Signalign can not only have the equivalent or superior performance, but also enrich the tools and the knowledge library of computational biology by extending the domain from character/string to diverse areas. The evaluation results validate the success of the character-analysis-free technique for improved performances in comparative gene structure prediction.

77 FR 65586 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Emergency Reinstatement of Previously Approved Collection

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-29

... misleading character (the right to a hearing is conditional on a finding of jurisdiction). The appellant's... information about non-retirement actions in this part and then subsequently cites to affirmative defenses to... addressing your retirement rights or benefits. Certain actions that might not otherwise be appealable to the...

Charged-particle thermonuclear reaction rates: IV. Comparison to previous work

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iliadis, C.; Longland, R.; Champagne, A.E.; Coc, A.

2010-01-01

We compare our Monte Carlo reaction rates (see Paper II of this issue) to previous results that were obtained by using the classical method of computing thermonuclear reaction rates. For each reaction, the comparison is presented using two types of graphs: the first shows the change in reaction rate uncertainties, while the second displays our new results normalized to the previously recommended reaction rate. We find that the rates have changed significantly for almost all reactions considered here. The changes are caused by (i) our new Monte Carlo method of computing reaction rates (see Paper I of this issue), and (ii) newly available nuclear physics information (see Paper III of this issue).

Revisiting Organizations as Information Processors: Organizational Structure as a Predictor of Noise Filtering

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Fournier, Kevin L

2008-01-01

.... The results of the exploration, though mostly inconclusive, call into question both intuition and literature regarding organizational structure as well as literature in information and knowledge sharing...

Bayesian comparison of protein structures using partial Procrustes distance.

Science.gov (United States)

Ejlali, Nasim; Faghihi, Mohammad Reza; Sadeghi, Mehdi

2017-09-26

An important topic in bioinformatics is the protein structure alignment. Some statistical methods have been proposed for this problem, but most of them align two protein structures based on the global geometric information without considering the effect of neighbourhood in the structures. In this paper, we provide a Bayesian model to align protein structures, by considering the effect of both local and global geometric information of protein structures. Local geometric information is incorporated to the model through the partial Procrustes distance of small substructures. These substructures are composed of β-carbon atoms from the side chains. Parameters are estimated using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach. We evaluate the performance of our model through some simulation studies. Furthermore, we apply our model to a real dataset and assess the accuracy and convergence rate. Results show that our model is much more efficient than previous approaches.

Instruction in Information Structuring Improves Bayesian Judgment in Intelligence Analysts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David R. Mandel

2015-04-01

Full Text Available An experiment was conducted to test the effectiveness of brief instruction in information structuring (i.e., representing and integrating information for improving the coherence of probability judgments and binary choices among intelligence analysts. Forty-three analysts were presented with comparable sets of Bayesian judgment problems before and immediately after instruction. After instruction, analysts’ probability judgments were more coherent (i.e., more additive and compliant with Bayes theorem. Instruction also improved the coherence of binary choices regarding category membership: after instruction, subjects were more likely to invariably choose the category to which they assigned the higher probability of a target’s membership. The research provides a rare example of evidence-based validation of effectiveness in instruction to improve the statistical assessment skills of intelligence analysts. Such instruction could also be used to improve the assessment quality of other types of experts who are required to integrate statistical information or make probabilistic assessments.

On the Value of Structural Health Monitoring Information for the Operation of Wind Parks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thöns, Sebastian; Faber, Michael H.; Val, Dimitri V.

2017-01-01

wind turbine systems and its components is developed accounting for the wind park functionality, i.e. power production, its operation and its cascading damage and failure scenarios. This system model facilitates to quantify the expected benefits and risks throughout the service life accounting......In the present paper, an approach for the quantification of the Value of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) Information building upon a framework for infrastructure system utility and decision analysis is developed and applied to the operation of wind parks. The quantification of the value of SHM...... facilitates a benefit and risk informed assessment and optimization of SHM strategies and encompasses models for the infrastructure functionality, the structural constituent and system risks and its management as well as the performance of SHM strategies. A wind park system model incorporating the structural...

Structural analysis of eight novel and 112 previously reported missense mutations in the interactive FXI mutation database reveals new insight on FXI deficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Saunders, Rebecca E; Shiltagh, Nuha; Gomez, Keith; Mellars, Gillian; Cooper, Carolyn; Perry, David J; Tuddenham, Edward G; Perkins, Stephen J

2009-08-01

Factor XI (FXI) functions in blood coagulation. FXI is composed of four apple (Ap) domains and a serine protease (SP) domain. Deficiency of FXI leads to an injury-related bleeding disorder, which is remarkable for the lack of correlation between bleeding symptoms and FXI coagulant activity (FXI:C). The number of mutations previously reported in our interactive web database (http://www.FactorXI.org) is now significantly increased to 183 through our new patient studies and from literature surveys. Eight novel missense mutations give a total of 120 throughout the FXI gene (F11). The most abundant defects in FXI are revealed to be those from low-protein plasma levels (Type I: CRM-) that originate from protein misfolding, rather than from functional defects (Type II: CRM+). A total of 70 Ap missense mutations were analysed using a consensus Ap domain structure generated from the FXI dimer crystal structure. This showed that all parts of the Ap domain were affected. The 47 SP missense mutations were also distributed throughout the SP domain structure. The periphery of the Ap beta-sheet structure is sensitive to structural perturbation caused by residue changes throughout the Ap domain, yet this beta-sheet is crucial for FXI dimer formation. Residues located at the Ap4:Ap4 interface in the dimer are much less directly involved. We conclude that the abundance of Type I defects in FXI results from the sensitivity of the Ap domain folding to residue changes within this, and discuss how structural knowledge of the mutations improves our understanding of FXI deficiencies.

Supporting the Bronze CastingThrough Information Structuring Based on Ontology application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Górny Z.

2014-03-01

Full Text Available A significant part of the knowledge used in the production processes is represented with natural language. Yet, the use of that knowledge in computer-assisted decision-making requires the application of appropriate formal and development tools. An interesting possibility is created by the use of an ontology that is understandable both for humans and for the computer. This paper presents a proposal for structuring the information about the foundry processes, based on the definition of ontology adapted to the physical structure of the ongoing technological operations that make up the process of producing castings.

University Students' Knowledge Structures and Informal Reasoning on the Use of Genetically Modified Foods: Multidimensional Analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Ying-Tien

2013-01-01

This study aims to provide insights into the role of learners' knowledge structures about a socio-scientific issue (SSI) in their informal reasoning on the issue. A total of 42 non-science major university students' knowledge structures and informal reasoning were assessed with multidimensional analyses. With both qualitative and…

MATHEMATICAL AND INFORMATION SUPPORT FOR CALCULATION AND DESIGN OF TUBE GAS HEATERS LOCATED IN STRUCTURES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CHORNOMORETS H. Y.

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Raising of problem. For the design and construction of tube gas heaters in building structures to need solve the problems of analysis and synthesis of such heating system. The mathematical model of this system is consists of: mathematical model of the tube gas heater, mathematical model of heat distribution in the building structure and corresponding boundary conditions. To solve the tasks of analysis and synthesis must be appropriate mathematical and information support. Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to describe the developed mathematical and information support that solve the problems of analysis and synthesis of heating systems with gas tube heaters, located in building constructions.Conclusion. Mathematical support includes the development of algorithms and software for the numerical solution of problems analysis and synthesis heating system. Information support includes all the necessary parameters characterizing the thermal properties of materials which used in the heating system, and the parameters characterizing the heat exchange between the coolant and components of the heating system. It was developed algorithms for solving problems of analysis and synthesis heating system with tube gas heater located in structures to use evolutionary search algorithm and software. It was made experimental study and was obtained results allow to calculate the heat transfer from the gas-air mixture to the boundary surface of the building structure. This results and computation will provide full information support for solving problems of analysis and synthesis of the heating system. Was developed mathematical and software support, which allows to solve the problems of analysis and synthesis heating systems with gas tube heaters, located in building structures. Tube gas heaters located in the building structures allows with small capital expenditures to provide space heating. Is necessary to solve the problems of analysis (calculation and

Assessing the value of information for long-term structural health monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Pozzi, Matteo; Der Kiureghian, Armen

2011-04-01

In the field of Structural Health Monitoring, tests and sensing systems are intended as tools providing diagnoses, which allow the operator of the facility to develop an efficient maintenance plan or to require extraordinary measures on a structure. The effectiveness of these systems depends directly on their capability to guide towards the most optimal decision for the prevailing circumstances, avoiding mistakes and wastes of resources. Though this is well known, most studies only address the accuracy of the information gained from sensors without discussing economic criteria. Other studies evaluate these criteria separately, with only marginal or heuristic connection with the outcomes of the monitoring system. The concept of "Value of Information" (VoI) provides a rational basis to rank measuring systems according to a utility-based metric, which fully includes the decision-making process affected by the monitoring campaign. This framework allows, for example, an explicit assessment of the economical justifiability of adopting a sensor depending on its precision. In this paper we outline the framework for assessing the VoI, as applicable to the ranking of competitive measuring systems. We present the basic concepts involved, highlight issues related to monitoring of civil structures, address the problem of non-linearity of the cost-to-utility mapping, and introduce an approximate Monte Carlo approach suitable for the implementation of time-consuming predictive models.

Modelling information flow along the human connectome using maximum flow.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyoo, Youngwook; Kim, Jieun E; Yoon, Sujung

2018-01-01

The human connectome is a complex network that transmits information between interlinked brain regions. Using graph theory, previously well-known network measures of integration between brain regions have been constructed under the key assumption that information flows strictly along the shortest paths possible between two nodes. However, it is now apparent that information does flow through non-shortest paths in many real-world networks such as cellular networks, social networks, and the internet. In the current hypothesis, we present a novel framework using the maximum flow to quantify information flow along all possible paths within the brain, so as to implement an analogy to network traffic. We hypothesize that the connection strengths of brain networks represent a limit on the amount of information that can flow through the connections per unit of time. This allows us to compute the maximum amount of information flow between two brain regions along all possible paths. Using this novel framework of maximum flow, previous network topological measures are expanded to account for information flow through non-shortest paths. The most important advantage of the current approach using maximum flow is that it can integrate the weighted connectivity data in a way that better reflects the real information flow of the brain network. The current framework and its concept regarding maximum flow provides insight on how network structure shapes information flow in contrast to graph theory, and suggests future applications such as investigating structural and functional connectomes at a neuronal level. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Laser-induced blurring of molecular structure information in high harmonic spectroscopy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Risoud, Francois; Leveque, Camille; Labeye, Marie

2017-01-01

High harmonic spectroscopy gives access to molecular structure with Angstrom resolution. Such information is encoded in the destructive interferences occurring between the harmonic emissions from the different parts of the molecule. By solving the time-dependent Schrodinger equation, either....... These findings have important consequences for molecular imaging and orbital tomography using high harmonic spectroscopy....

Risk-informed assessment of degraded containment structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spencer, B.W.; Kunsman, D.M.; Graves, H.L.

2003-01-01

As nuclear power plants age, a number of degradation mechanisms may begin to affect the ability of critical containment structures to prevent radiation release during a severe accident. A research program is underway to quantify the effects of various types of containment degradation in a risk-informed manner. In this paper, corrosion is assumed to occur in the liner of a reinforced concrete containment at a 'typical' U.S. pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant, and its effect is investigated. Latin hypercube sampling is used in conjunction with finite element models of a typical steel-lined reinforced concrete containment to generate overpressurization fragilities of the containment with and without corrosion. An existing probabilistic risk assessment model of the plant is then used with these fragilities to determine the increase in risk caused by the corrosion. (author)

Legendre transform structure and extremal properties of the relative Fisher information

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Venkatesan, R.C., E-mail: ravi@systemsresearchcorp.com [Systems Research Corporation, Aundh, Pune 411007 (India); Plastino, A., E-mail: plastino@fisica.unlp.edu.ar [IFLP, National University La Plata and National Research Council (CONICET) C.C., 727 1900 La Plata (Argentina)

2014-04-01

Variational extremization of the relative Fisher information (RFI, hereafter) is performed. Reciprocity relations, akin to those of thermodynamics are derived, employing the extremal results of the RFI expressed in terms of probability amplitudes. A time independent Schrödinger-like equation (Schrödinger-like link) for the RFI is derived. The concomitant Legendre transform structure (LTS, hereafter) is developed by utilizing a generalized RFI-Euler theorem, which shows that the entire mathematical structure of thermodynamics translates into the RFI framework, both for equilibrium and non-equilibrium cases. The qualitatively distinct nature of the present results vis-á-vis those of prior studies utilizing the Shannon entropy and/or the Fisher information measure (FIM, hereafter) is discussed. A principled relationship between the RFI and the FIM frameworks is derived. The utility of this relationship is demonstrated by an example wherein the energy eigenvalues of the Schrödinger-like link for the RFI are inferred solely using the quantum mechanical virial theorem and the LTS of the RFI.

Scatter networks: a new approach for analysing information scatter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adamic, Lada A; Suresh, K; Shi Xiaolin

2007-01-01

Information on any given topic is often scattered across the Web. Previously this scatter has been characterized through the inequality of distribution of facts (i.e. pieces of information) across webpages. Such an approach conceals how specific facts (e.g. rare facts) occur in specific types of pages (e.g. fact-rich pages). To reveal such regularities, we construct bipartite networks, consisting of two types of vertices: the facts contained in webpages and the webpages themselves. Such a representation enables the application of a series of network analysis techniques, revealing structural features such as connectivity, robustness and clustering. Not only does network analysis yield new insights into information scatter, but we also illustrate the benefit of applying new and existing analysis techniques directly to a bipartite network as opposed to its one-mode projection. We discuss the implications of each network feature to the users' ability to find comprehensive information online. Finally, we compare the bipartite graph structure of webpages and facts with the hyperlink structure between the webpages

A condensed review of the intelligent user modeling of information retrieval system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Kwang

2001-10-01

This study discussed theoretical aspects of user modeling, modeling cases of commecial systems and elements that need consideration when constructing user models. The results of this study are 1) Comprehensive and previous analysis of system users is required to bulid user model. 2) User information is collected from users directly and inference. 3) Frame structure is compatible to build user model. 4) Prototype user model is essential to bulid a user model and based on previous user analysis. 5) User model builder has interactive information collection, inference, flexibility, model updating functions. 6) User model builder has to reflect user's feedback

A condensed review of the intelligent user modeling of information retrieval system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Kwang

2001-10-01

This study discussed theoretical aspects of user modeling, modeling cases of commecial systems and elements that need consideration when constructing user models. The results of this study are 1) Comprehensive and previous analysis of system users is required to bulid user model. 2) User information is collected from users directly and inference. 3) Frame structure is compatible to build user model. 4) Prototype user model is essential to bulid a user model and based on previous user analysis. 5) User model builder has interactive information collection, inference, flexibility, model updating functions. 6) User model builder has to reflect user's feedback.

Toward 3D structural information from quantitative electron exit wave analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borisenko, Konstantin B; Moldovan, Grigore; Kirkland, Angus I; Wang, Amy; Van Dyck, Dirk; Chen, Fu-Rong

2012-01-01

Simulations show that using a new direct imaging detector and accurate exit wave restoration algorithms allows nearly quantitative restoration of electron exit wave phase, which can be regarded as only qualitative for conventional indirect imaging cameras. This opens up a possibility of extracting accurate information on 3D atomic structure of the sample even from a single projection.

Application of information technology in the process analysis of structural subdivisions of light industry enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Тарана Тахир кызы Мусаева

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The problems of application of information technologies in the process analysis of structural subdivisions of the enterprises of light industry enterprises are considered. For the functional cost analysis in the company it was prepared a computerized structure of the workplace and its principle of operation is described. The functionality of the computerized workplace is tested for textile enterprises. The results showed that the use of information technology has good prospects at the implementation of the quality management system at the textile enterprises

Market structure and the role of consumer information in the physician services industry: an empirical test.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, H S

1996-04-01

This paper applies Panzar and Rosse's (1987) econometric test of market structure to examine two long-debated issues: What is the market structure for physician services? Do more physicians in a market area raise the search cost of obtaining consumer information and increase prices (Satterthwaite, 1979, 1985)? For primary care and general and family practice physicians, the monopolistically competitive model prevailed over the competing hypotheses--monopoly, perfect competition, and monopolistic competition characterized by consumer informational confusion. Although less conclisive, there is some evidence to support the monopolistically competitive model for surgeons and the consumer informational confusion model for internal medicine physicians.

Protein Function Prediction Based on Sequence and Structure Information

KAUST Repository

Smaili, Fatima Z.

2016-05-25

The number of available protein sequences in public databases is increasing exponentially. However, a significant fraction of these sequences lack functional annotation which is essential to our understanding of how biological systems and processes operate. In this master thesis project, we worked on inferring protein functions based on the primary protein sequence. In the approach we follow, 3D models are first constructed using I-TASSER. Functions are then deduced by structurally matching these predicted models, using global and local similarities, through three independent enzyme commission (EC) and gene ontology (GO) function libraries. The method was tested on 250 “hard” proteins, which lack homologous templates in both structure and function libraries. The results show that this method outperforms the conventional prediction methods based on sequence similarity or threading. Additionally, our method could be improved even further by incorporating protein-protein interaction information. Overall, the method we use provides an efficient approach for automated functional annotation of non-homologous proteins, starting from their sequence.

Statistical Inference on Memory Structure of Processes and Its Applications to Information Theory

Science.gov (United States)

2016-05-12

Distribution Unlimited UU UU UU UU 12-05-2016 15-May-2014 14-Feb-2015 Final Report: Statistical Inference on Memory Structure of Processes and Its Applications ...ES) U.S. Army Research Office P.O. Box 12211 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 mathematical statistics ; time series; Markov chains; random...journals: Final Report: Statistical Inference on Memory Structure of Processes and Its Applications to Information Theory Report Title Three areas

The Structure of the Enterprise’s Information Potential in the Context of Carrying out Strategic Analysis

OpenAIRE

Saukh Iryna V.

2017-01-01

The article is aimed at studying the structure of the enterprise’s information potential, evaluating its subsystems and the depth of strategic analysis based on the level of strategic uncertainty. It has been proven that information potential as a system includes the subsystem of incoming strategic information; the subsystem of evaluation of the information received; the subsystem for processing and transmission of strategic information. An assessment of the level of information saturation of...

Outcomes after radical prostatectomy in men receiving previous pelvic radiation for non-prostate malignancies.

Science.gov (United States)

Masterson, Timothy A; Wedmid, Alexei; Sandhu, Jaspreet S; Eastham, James A

2009-08-01

To report the perioperative and functional outcomes of nine patients treated at our institution who had radical prostatectomy (RP) after previous pelvic radiotherapy (RT) for non-prostate malignancies. From 1993 to 2007, nine patients had RP after external beam RT for testicular seminoma (six), anorectal cancer (two) and colon cancer (one). Clinical information was obtained from a prospective prostate cancer database. RP was completed with no identifiable injury to adjacent structures in all nine patients. Four patients had significant pelvic fibrosis, and three required bilateral neurovascular bundle (NVB) resection. The NVB was preserved in the remaining six patients, four with good preoperative erectile function. However, no patient recovered erectile function after RP at a median (range) follow-up of 75 (12-172) months. Of seven men continent before RP, four required one or fewer pads daily and three were completely dry, achieving complete urinary control at a median (range) time of 7.5 (2-20) months. Two patients developed an anastomotic stricture, one being associated with concomitant ureteric stricture. RP after pelvic RT for non-prostate malignancies was not associated with increased intraoperative morbidity. However, rates of anastomotic stricture, erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence appeared to be higher than those reported after RP in men with no previous RT, and comparable with those seen in the salvage RP setting.

A Review of Previous Studies on Information Processing in Career Decision Making among University Students

OpenAIRE

池田, 智子; Satoko, Ikeda

2018-01-01

This review of the researches of career choice of Japanese university students focused the studies on decision-making theory conducted in Japan. The present review suggested the necessity of examination of the effect of self-efficacy about career information search on the process of career choice. It is also needed to examine the relationship between specific self-efficacy about career information search and career decision-making self-efficacy, moreover, general self-efficacy.

On the Information in the Interest Rate Term Structure and Option Prices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong, F.; Driessen, J.; Pelsser, A.

2004-01-01

We examine whether the information in cap and swaption prices is consistent with realized movements of the interest rate term structure. To extract an option-implied interest rate covariance matrix from cap and swaption prices, we use Libor market models as a modelling framework. We propose a

Information structure in Russian Sign Language and Sign Language of the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kimmelman, V.

2014-01-01

This dissertation explores Information Structure in two sign languages: Sign Language of the Netherlands and Russian Sign Language. Based on corpus data and elicitation tasks we show how topic and focus are expressed in these languages. In particular, we show that topics can be marked syntactically

Multi-UAV Flight using Virtual Structure Combined with Behavioral Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kownacki Cezary

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Implementations of multi-UAV systems can be divided mainly into two different approaches, centralised system that synchronises positions of each vehicle by a ground station and an autonomous system based on decentralised control, which offers more flexibility and independence. Decentralisation of multi-UAV control entails the need for information sharing between all vehicles, what in some cases could be problematic due to a significant amount of data to be sent over the wireless network. To improve the reliability and the throughput of information sharing inside the formation of UAVs, this paper proposes an approach that combines virtual structure with a leader and two flocking behaviours. Each UAV has assigned different virtual migration point referenced to the leader's position which is simultaneously the origin of a formation reference frame. All migration points create together a virtual rigid structure. Each vehicle uses local behaviours of cohesion and repulsion respectively, to track its own assigned point in the structure and to avoid a collision with the previous UAV in the structure. To calculate parameters of local behaviours, each UAV should know position and attitude of the leader to define the formation reference frame and also the actual position of the previous UAV in the structure. Hence, information sharing can be based on a chain of local peer-to-peer communication between two consecutive vehicles in the structure. In such solution, the information about the leader could be sequentially transmitted from one UAV to another. Numerical simulations were prepared and carried out to verify the effectiveness of the presented approach. Trajectories recorded during those simulations show collective, coherence and collision-free flights of the formation created with five UAVs.

Optimal physiological structure of small neurons to guarantee stable information processing

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, S. Y.; Zhang, Z. Z.; Wei, D. Q.; Luo, X. S.; Tang, W. Y.; Zeng, S. W.; Wang, R. F.

2013-02-01

Spike is the basic element for neuronal information processing and the spontaneous spiking frequency should be less than 1 Hz for stable information processing. If the neuronal membrane area is small, the frequency of neuronal spontaneous spiking caused by ion channel noise may be high. Therefore, it is important to suppress the deleterious spontaneous spiking of the small neurons. We find by simulation of stochastic neurons with Hodgkin-Huxley-type channels that the leakage system is critical and extremely efficient to suppress the spontaneous spiking and guarantee stable information processing of the small neurons. However, within the physiological limit the potassium system cannot do so. The suppression effect of the leakage system is super-exponential, but that of the potassium system is quasi-linear. With the minor physiological cost and the minimal consumption of metabolic energy, a slightly lower reversal potential and a relatively larger conductance of the leakage system give the optimal physiological structure to suppress the deleterious spontaneous spiking and guarantee stable information processing of small neurons, dendrites and axons.

Wives without husbands: gendered vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections among previously married women in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Walters, Kimberly; Dandona, Rakhi; Walters, Lawrence C; Lakshmi, Vemu; Dandona, Lalit; Schneider, John A

2012-01-01

Using population-based and family structural data from a high HIV-prevalence district of Southern India, this paper considers four suggested social scenarios used to explain the positive correlation between HIV prevalence and previously married status among Indian women: (1) infection from and then bereavement of an infected husband; (2) abandonment after husbands learn of their wives' HIV status; (3) economic instability after becoming previously married, leading women to seek financial support through male partners; and (4) the social status of being previously married exposing women to sexual harassment and predation. By also considering seroprevalence of two other common sexually transmitted infections (STIs), herpes and syphilis, in a combined variable with HIV, we limit the likelihood of the first two scenarios accounting for the greater part of this correlation. Through a nuanced analysis of household residences patterns (family structure), standard of living, and education, we also limit the probability that scenario three explains a greater portion of the correlation. Scenario four emerges as the most likely explanation for this correlation, recognizing that other scenarios are also possible. Further, the interdisciplinary literature on the social position of previously married women in India strongly supports the suggestion that, as a population, previously married women are sexually vulnerable in India. Previously married status as an STI risk factor requires further biosocial research and warrants concentrated public health attention.

Previous Experiences with Epilepsy and Effectiveness of Information to Change Public Perception of Epilepsy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gutteling, Jan M.; Seydel, E.R.; Wiegman, O.

1986-01-01

Differences with regard to the effectiveness of health information and attitude change are suggested between people with direct, behavioral experiences with a health topic and people with indirect, nonbehavioral experiences. The effects of three different methods of health education about epilepsy,

An approach to knowledge structuring for advanced phases of the Technical and Management Information System (TMIS)

Science.gov (United States)

Goranson, H. T.

1986-01-01

The Technical and Management Information System (TMIS) must employ on enlightened approach to its object structure, but basic issues in conceptual structuring remain to be resolved. Sirius outlines the necessary agenda and reports on progress toward solutions.

Information Security: A Scientometric Study of the Profile, Structure, and Dynamics of an Emerging Scholarly Specialty

Science.gov (United States)

Olijnyk, Nicholas Victor

2014-01-01

The central aim of the current research is to explore and describe the profile, dynamics, and structure of the information security specialty. This study's objectives are guided by four research questions: 1. What are the salient features of information security as a specialty? 2. How has the information security specialty emerged and evolved from…

Molecular structure descriptors in the computer-aided design of biologically active compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raevsky, Oleg A

1999-01-01

The current state of description of molecular structure in computer-aided molecular design of biologically active compounds by means of descriptors is analysed. The information contents of descriptors increases in the following sequence: element-level descriptors-structural formulae descriptors-electronic structure descriptors-molecular shape descriptors-intermolecular interaction descriptors. Each subsequent class of descriptors normally covers information contained in the previous-level ones. It is emphasised that it is practically impossible to describe all the features of a molecular structure in terms of any single class of descriptors. It is recommended to optimise the number of descriptors used by means of appropriate statistical procedures and characteristics of structure-property models based on these descriptors. The bibliography includes 371 references.

Accurate facade feature extraction method for buildings from three-dimensional point cloud data considering structural information

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yongzhi; Ma, Yuqing; Zhu, A.-xing; Zhao, Hui; Liao, Lixia

2018-05-01

Facade features represent segmentations of building surfaces and can serve as a building framework. Extracting facade features from three-dimensional (3D) point cloud data (3D PCD) is an efficient method for 3D building modeling. By combining the advantages of 3D PCD and two-dimensional optical images, this study describes the creation of a highly accurate building facade feature extraction method from 3D PCD with a focus on structural information. The new extraction method involves three major steps: image feature extraction, exploration of the mapping method between the image features and 3D PCD, and optimization of the initial 3D PCD facade features considering structural information. Results show that the new method can extract the 3D PCD facade features of buildings more accurately and continuously. The new method is validated using a case study. In addition, the effectiveness of the new method is demonstrated by comparing it with the range image-extraction method and the optical image-extraction method in the absence of structural information. The 3D PCD facade features extracted by the new method can be applied in many fields, such as 3D building modeling and building information modeling.

Response to health insurance by previously uninsured rural children.

Science.gov (United States)

Tilford, J M; Robbins, J M; Shema, S J; Farmer, F L

1999-08-01

To examine the healthcare utilization and costs of previously uninsured rural children. Four years of claims data from a school-based health insurance program located in the Mississippi Delta. All children who were not Medicaid-eligible or were uninsured, were eligible for limited benefits under the program. The 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) was used to compare utilization of services. The study represents a natural experiment in the provision of insurance benefits to a previously uninsured population. Premiums for the claims cost were set with little or no information on expected use of services. Claims from the insurer were used to form a panel data set. Mixed model logistic and linear regressions were estimated to determine the response to insurance for several categories of health services. The use of services increased over time and approached the level of utilization in the NMES. Conditional medical expenditures also increased over time. Actuarial estimates of claims cost greatly exceeded actual claims cost. The provision of a limited medical, dental, and optical benefit package cost approximately $20-$24 per member per month in claims paid. An important uncertainty in providing health insurance to previously uninsured populations is whether a pent-up demand exists for health services. Evidence of a pent-up demand for medical services was not supported in this study of rural school-age children. States considering partnerships with private insurers to implement the State Children's Health Insurance Program could lower premium costs by assembling basic data on previously uninsured children.

Deciphering the structure of isomeric oligosaccharides in a complex mixture by tandem mass spectrometry: Photon activation with vacuum ultra-violet brings unique information and enables definitive structure assignment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ropartz, David, E-mail: David.Ropartz@nantes.inra.fr [INRA, UR1268 Biopolymers Interactions Assemblies, F-44316 Nantes (France); Lemoine, Jérôme [Institut des Sciences Analytiques, UMR 5280, Université Lyon 1-CNRS, Université de Lyon, F-69622 Villeurbanne cedex (France); Giuliani, Alexandre [Synchrotron SOLEIL, L’Orme des Merisiers, F-91190 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); UAR 1008 CEPIA, INRA, F-44316 Nantes (France); Bittebière, Yann [INRA, UR1268 Biopolymers Interactions Assemblies, F-44316 Nantes (France); Enjalbert, Quentin [Institut des Sciences Analytiques, UMR 5280, Université Lyon 1-CNRS, Université de Lyon, F-69622 Villeurbanne cedex (France); Institut Lumière Matière, UMR5306, Université Lyon 1-CNRS, Université de Lyon, F-69622 Villeurbanne cedex (France); Antoine, Rodolphe; Dugourd, Philippe [Institut Lumière Matière, UMR5306, Université Lyon 1-CNRS, Université de Lyon, F-69622 Villeurbanne cedex (France); Ralet, Marie-Christine; Rogniaux, Hélène [INRA, UR1268 Biopolymers Interactions Assemblies, F-44316 Nantes (France)

2014-01-07

Graphical abstract: -- Highlights: •A complex mixture of methylated oligogalacturonans was fractionated by IP-RP-UHPLC. •Synchrotron-radiation in VUV range was used as an activation process for tandem MS. •VUV activation brought rich structural information compared to LE-CAD. •Resolution of more than 35 structures, including isomers, was successfully completed. -- Abstract: Carbohydrates have a wide variety of structures whose complexity and heterogeneity challenge the field of analytical chemistry. Tandem mass spectrometry, with its remarkable sensitivity and high information content, provides key advantages to addressing the structural elucidation of polysaccharides. Yet, classical fragmentation by collision-activated dissociation (CAD) in many cases fails to reach a comprehensive structural determination, especially when isomers have to be differentiated. In this work, for the first time, vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) synchrotron radiation is used as the activation process in tandem mass spectrometry of large oligosaccharides. Compared to low energy CAD (LE-CAD), photon activated dissociation brought more straightforward and valuable structural information. The outstanding feature was that complete series of informative ions were produced, with only minor neutral losses. Moreover, systematic fragmentation rules could be drawn thus facilitating the definitive assignments of fragment identities. As a result, most of the structures present in a complex mixture of oligogalacturonans could be comprehensively resolved, including many isomers differing in the position of methyl groups along the galacturonic acid backbone.

The study of features of the structural organization of the au-tomated information processing system of the collective type

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolaev, V. N.; Titov, D. V.; Syryamkin, V. I.

2018-05-01

The comparative assessment of the level of channel capacity of different variants of the structural organization of the automated information processing systems is made. The information processing time assessment model depending on the type of standard elements and their structural organization is developed.

Informal Mealtime Pedagogies: Exploring the Influence of Family Structure on Young People's Healthy Eating Dispositions

Science.gov (United States)

Quarmby, Thomas; Dagkas, Symeon

2015-01-01

Families are increasingly recognised as informal sites of learning, especially with regard to healthy eating. Through the use of Bourdieu's conceptual tools, this paper explores the role of family meals within different family structures and the informal pedagogic encounters that take place. How they help to construct young people's healthy eating…

Glycan structures contain information for the spatial arrangement of glycoproteins in the plasma membrane.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Kristen Hall

Full Text Available Glycoconjugates at the cell surface are crucial for cells to communicate with each other and the extracellular microenvironment. While it is generally accepted that glycans are vectorial biopolymers, their information content is unclear. This report provides evidence that distinct N-glycan structures influence the spatial arrangement of two integral membrane glycoproteins, Kv3.1 and E-cadherin, at the adherent membrane which in turn alter cellular properties. Distinct N-glycan structures were generated by heterologous expression of these glycoproteins in parental and glycosylation mutant Chinese hamster ovary cell lines. Unlike the N-linked glycans, the O-linked glycans of the mutant cell lines are similar to those of the parental cell line. Western and lectin blots of total membranes and GFP immunopurified samples, combined with glycosidase digestion reactions, were employed to verify the glycoproteins had predominantly complex, oligomannose, and bisecting type N-glycans from Pro(-5, Lec1, and Lec10B cell lines, respectively. Based on total internal reflection fluorescence and differential interference contrast microscopy techniques, and cellular assays of live parental and glycosylation mutant CHO cells, we propose that glycoproteins with complex, oligomannose or bisecting type N-glycans relay information for localization of glycoproteins to various regions of the plasma membrane in both a glycan-specific and protein-specific manner, and furthermore cell-cell interactions are required for deciphering much of this information. These distinct spatial arrangements also impact cell adhesion and migration. Our findings provide direct evidence that N-glycan structures of glycoproteins contribute significantly to the information content of cells.

Electronic structure of atoms: atomic spectroscopy information system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kazakov, V V; Kazakov, V G; Kovalev, V S; Meshkov, O I; Yatsenko, A S

2017-01-01

The article presents a Russian atomic spectroscopy, information system electronic structure of atoms (IS ESA) (http://grotrian.nsu.ru), and describes its main features and options to support research and training. The database contains over 234 000 records, great attention paid to experimental data and uniform filling of the database for all atomic numbers Z, including classified levels and transitions of rare earth and transuranic elements and their ions. Original means of visualization of scientific data in the form of spectrograms and Grotrian diagrams have been proposed. Presentation of spectral data in the form of interactive color charts facilitates understanding and analysis of properties of atomic systems. The use of the spectral data of the IS ESA together with its functionality is effective for solving various scientific problems and training of specialists. (paper)

Electronic structure of atoms: atomic spectroscopy information system

Science.gov (United States)

Kazakov, V. V.; Kazakov, V. G.; Kovalev, V. S.; Meshkov, O. I.; Yatsenko, A. S.

2017-10-01

The article presents a Russian atomic spectroscopy, information system electronic structure of atoms (IS ESA) (http://grotrian.nsu.ru), and describes its main features and options to support research and training. The database contains over 234 000 records, great attention paid to experimental data and uniform filling of the database for all atomic numbers Z, including classified levels and transitions of rare earth and transuranic elements and their ions. Original means of visualization of scientific data in the form of spectrograms and Grotrian diagrams have been proposed. Presentation of spectral data in the form of interactive color charts facilitates understanding and analysis of properties of atomic systems. The use of the spectral data of the IS ESA together with its functionality is effective for solving various scientific problems and training of specialists.

YAdumper: extracting and translating large information volumes from relational databases to structured flat files.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández, José M; Valencia, Alfonso

2004-10-12

Downloading the information stored in relational databases into XML and other flat formats is a common task in bioinformatics. This periodical dumping of information requires considerable CPU time, disk and memory resources. YAdumper has been developed as a purpose-specific tool to deal with the integral structured information download of relational databases. YAdumper is a Java application that organizes database extraction following an XML template based on an external Document Type Declaration. Compared with other non-native alternatives, YAdumper substantially reduces memory requirements and considerably improves writing performance.

Investigating dynamical information transfer in the brain following a TMS pulse: Insights from structural architecture.

Science.gov (United States)

Amico, Enrico; Van Mierlo, Pieter; Marinazzo, Daniele; Laureys, Steven

2015-01-01

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been used for more than 20 years to investigate connectivity and plasticity in the human cortex. By combining TMS with high-density electroencephalography (hd-EEG), one can stimulate any cortical area and measure the effects produced by this perturbation in the rest of the cerebral cortex. The purpose of this paper is to investigate changes of information flow in the brain after TMS from a functional and structural perspective, using multimodal modeling of source reconstructed TMS/hd-EEG recordings and DTI tractography. We prove how brain dynamics induced by TMS is constrained and driven by its structure, at different spatial and temporal scales, especially when considering cross-frequency interactions. These results shed light on the function-structure organization of the brain network at the global level, and on the huge variety of information contained in it.

Word order and information structure in Czech 3-and 4-year-olds' comprehension.

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Smolík, Filip

2015-01-01

Roč. 35, č. 3 (2015), s. 237-253 ISSN 0142-7237 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-26779S Institutional support: RVO:68081740 Keywords : Case marking * grammar comprehension * information structure Subject RIV: AN - Psychology Impact factor: 1.254, year: 2015

Qualia could arise from information processing in local cortical networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Orpwood, Roger

2013-01-01

Re-entrant feedback, either within sensory cortex or arising from prefrontal areas, has been strongly linked to the emergence of consciousness, both in theoretical and experimental work. This idea, together with evidence for local micro-consciousness, suggests the generation of qualia could in some way result from local network activity under re-entrant activation. This paper explores the possibility by examining the processing of information by local cortical networks. It highlights the difference between the information structure (how the information is physically embodied), and the information message (what the information is about). It focuses on the network's ability to recognize information structures amongst its inputs under conditions of extensive local feedback, and to then assign information messages to those structures. It is shown that if the re-entrant feedback enables the network to achieve an attractor state, then the message assigned in any given pass of information through the network is a representation of the message assigned in the previous pass-through of information. Based on this ability the paper argues that as information is repeatedly cycled through the network, the information message that is assigned evolves from a recognition of what the input structure is, to what it is like, to how it appears, to how it seems. It could enable individual networks to be the site of qualia generation. The paper goes on to show networks in cortical layers 2/3 and 5a have the connectivity required for the behavior proposed, and reviews some evidence for a link between such local cortical cyclic activity and conscious percepts. It concludes with some predictions based on the theory discussed.

AMPLIFICATION AND COMPRESSION OF THE TEXT AND ITS TITLE AS A MEANS OF CONVEYING THE INFORMATION STRUCTURE

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Buyanova, E.V.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This article takes stock of the basic notions of information structure. There are two communicative goals to satisfy: making the information conveyed by the discourse easier for the reader/hearer to understand; indicating what the enunciator considers to be the most important. When translating from one language into another the information structure in most cases remains unchanged. However the text in the target language may not always be completely clear to the new recipient for a number of reasons, such as social and national differences between speakers of the two languages, or lack of realia in the target language. In this case the information structure needs extension in the form of descriptions, definitions, commentaries. This results either in amplification of the text in the target language or in its compression. The present work is based on an analysis of papers from American and British journals and periodicals. The article also deals with the peculiarities of the metaphor as a means of broader text compression in the titles of newspaper articles.

Structural synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus induced by spatial experience and its implications in information processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Carasatorre, M; Ramírez-Amaya, V; Díaz Cintra, S

2016-10-01

Long-lasting memory formation requires that groups of neurons processing new information develop the ability to reproduce the patterns of neural activity acquired by experience. Changes in synaptic efficiency let neurons organise to form ensembles that repeat certain activity patterns again and again. Among other changes in synaptic plasticity, structural modifications tend to be long-lasting which suggests that they underlie long-term memory. There is a large body of evidence supporting that experience promotes changes in the synaptic structure, particularly in the hippocampus. Structural changes to the hippocampus may be functionally implicated in stabilising acquired memories and encoding new information. Copyright © 2012 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

RStrucFam: a web server to associate structure and cognate RNA for RNA-binding proteins from sequence information.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, Pritha; Mathew, Oommen K; Sowdhamini, Ramanathan

2016-10-07

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) interact with their cognate RNA(s) to form large biomolecular assemblies. They are versatile in their functionality and are involved in a myriad of processes inside the cell. RBPs with similar structural features and common biological functions are grouped together into families and superfamilies. It will be useful to obtain an early understanding and association of RNA-binding property of sequences of gene products. Here, we report a web server, RStrucFam, to predict the structure, type of cognate RNA(s) and function(s) of proteins, where possible, from mere sequence information. The web server employs Hidden Markov Model scan (hmmscan) to enable association to a back-end database of structural and sequence families. The database (HMMRBP) comprises of 437 HMMs of RBP families of known structure that have been generated using structure-based sequence alignments and 746 sequence-centric RBP family HMMs. The input protein sequence is associated with structural or sequence domain families, if structure or sequence signatures exist. In case of association of the protein with a family of known structures, output features like, multiple structure-based sequence alignment (MSSA) of the query with all others members of that family is provided. Further, cognate RNA partner(s) for that protein, Gene Ontology (GO) annotations, if any and a homology model of the protein can be obtained. The users can also browse through the database for details pertaining to each family, protein or RNA and their related information based on keyword search or RNA motif search. RStrucFam is a web server that exploits structurally conserved features of RBPs, derived from known family members and imprinted in mathematical profiles, to predict putative RBPs from sequence information. Proteins that fail to associate with such structure-centric families are further queried against the sequence-centric RBP family HMMs in the HMMRBP database. Further, all other essential

Linear versus non-linear structural information limit in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Aert, S.; Chen, J.H.; Van Dyck, D.

2010-01-01

A widely used performance criterion in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) is the information limit. It corresponds to the inverse of the maximum spatial object frequency that is linearly transmitted with sufficient intensity from the exit plane of the object to the image plane and is limited due to partial temporal coherence. In practice, the information limit is often measured from a diffractogram or from Young's fringes assuming a weak phase object scattering beyond the inverse of the information limit. However, for an aberration corrected electron microscope, with an information limit in the sub-angstrom range, weak phase objects are no longer applicable since they do not scatter sufficiently in this range. Therefore, one relies on more strongly scattering objects such as crystals of heavy atoms observed along a low index zone axis. In that case, dynamical scattering becomes important such that the non-linear and linear interaction may be equally important. The non-linear interaction may then set the experimental cut-off frequency observed in a diffractogram. The goal of this paper is to quantify both the linear and the non-linear information transfer in terms of closed form analytical expressions. Whereas the cut-off frequency set by the linear transfer can be directly related with the attainable resolution, information from the non-linear transfer can only be extracted using quantitative, model-based methods. In contrast to the historic definition of the information limit depending on microscope parameters only, the expressions derived in this paper explicitly incorporate their dependence on the structure parameters as well. In order to emphasize this dependence and to distinguish from the usual information limit, the expressions derived for the inverse cut-off frequencies will be referred to as the linear and non-linear structural information limit. The present findings confirm the well-known result that partial temporal coherence has

78 FR 76050 - Airworthiness Directives; EADS CASA (Type Certificate Previously Held by Construcciones...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-16

... Airworthiness Directives; EADS CASA (Type Certificate Previously Held by Construcciones Aeron[aacute]uticas, S.A... rule. SUMMARY: We are adopting a new airworthiness directive (AD) for certain EADS CASA (Type...., Washington, DC. For EADS-CASA service information identified in this AD, contact EADS-CASA, Military...

Developing an Interpretive Structural Modeling(ISM in order to Achieve Agility via Information Technology in Manufacturing Organization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Mohammadi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Agility is considered the ability to respond quickly to changes and a major factor for success and survival in today's business. The purpose of this research is to offer a conceptual model using Interpretive Structural Modeling(ISM. To this end after reviewing literature and theoretical background, the indices related to achieving agility via information technology (IT have been identified and then the Interpretive Structural Model in four levels has been represented. Findings show that tendency and commitment of top managers, organizational climate and strategic planning alignment with information technology planning is the major factors affecting agility achievement via information technology (IT.

Use of volunteers' information to support proactive inspection of hydraulic structures

Science.gov (United States)

Cortes Arevalo, Juliette; Sterlacchini, Simone; Bogaard, Thom; Frigerio, Simone; Junier, Sandra; Schenato, Luca; van den Giesen, Nick

2016-04-01

Proactive management is particularly important to deal with the increasing occurrence of hydro-meteorological hazards in mountain areas were threats are often caused by multiple and sudden onset hazards such as debris flows. Citizen volunteers can be involved in supporting technicians on inspecting the structures' functional status. Such collaborative effort between managing organizations and local volunteers becomes more important under limited resources. To consider volunteers' information in support of proactive inspection of hydraulic structures, we developed a methodology applicable in day-to-day risk management. At first, in collaboration with technicians-in-charge, a data collection approach was developed for first level or pre-screening visual inspections that can be performed by volunteers. Methods comprise of a data collection exercise, an inspection forms and a learning session based on existent procedures in the FVG region and neighbouring regions. To systematically evaluate the individual inspection reports, we designed a support method by means of a multi-criteria method with fuzzy terms. The method allows the technicians-in-charge to categorize the reports in one of three levels, each corresponding with a course of action. To facilitate the evaluation of inspection reports, we transformed the decision support method into a prototype Web-GIS application. The design process of the Web-GIS framework followed a user-centred approach. The conceptual design incorporates four modules for managing the inspection reports: 1) Registered users, 2) Inspection planning; 3) Available reports and 4) Evaluation of reports. The development of the prototype focused on the evaluation module and was implemented based on standard and interoperable open source tools. Finally, we organized a workshop with technicians in the study area to test the decision support method and get insights about the usefulness of the Web-GIS framework. Participants that took part of the

National Rates of Uterine Rupture are not Associated with Rates of Previous Caesarean Delivery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Colmorn, Lotte B.; Langhoff-Roos, Jens; Jakobsson, Maija

2017-01-01

% of all Nordic deliveries. Information on the comparison population was retrieved from the national medical birth registers. Incidence rate ratios by previous caesarean delivery and intended mode of delivery after caesarean were modelled using Poisson regression. RESULTS: The incidence of uterine rupture......BACKGROUND: Previous caesarean delivery and intended mode of delivery after caesarean are well-known individual risk factors for uterine rupture. We examined if different national rates of uterine rupture are associated with differences in national rates of previous caesarean delivery and intended...... was 7.8/10 000 in Finland and 4.6/10 000 in Denmark. Rates of caesarean (21.3%) and previous caesarean deliveries (11.5%) were highest in Denmark, while the rate of intended vaginal delivery after caesarean was highest in Finland (72%). National rates of uterine rupture were not associated...

Doing the Organizational Tango: Symbiotic Relationship between Formal and Informal Organizational Structures for an Agile Organization

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Irena Malgorzata Ali

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This paper reports on research with a broad objective to examine the relationship between two organizational entities, the formally structured organization and informal organizational structures, in a changing operational environment, more specifically during military deployments. The paper draws on organizational and complexity paradigms; based on empirical evidence obtained through qualitative techniques, it describes mechanisms that enable a symbiotic relationship between these two organizational structures in a complex operational landscape. Substantive findings provide insights into the dynamics of the interactions between these structures and illuminate the relationship between three enabling factors – accountability, responsible autonomy, and command and control arrangements – that need to be considered to fully exploit the strengths inherent in both formal and informal structures. Based on these findings, a model for enhancement of organizational agility in response to changes in a complex operational environment is described. The model is predicated on feedback and mutual adjustment of the organization, institution and individual through sensemaking; it illustrates the dynamic nature of interactions that are required for such a response.

Improvising information technology projects through the duality of structure

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Tiko Iyamu

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Background: There is always emphasis on information technology (IT projects because of their significance in organisations. Thus, efforts and resources are reciprocally committed to ensure the successes. Still, failure of IT projects in many organisations remains high and affects competitiveness. As recourse for remedy, different techniques and approaches have been employed. However, little or no progress has been made in increasing the success rate of IT projects in many organisations. Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the factors that influence and impact IT projects, improvisation and how improvisation manifests. Method: The study was carried out using a single case study approach. Qualitative data were collected and duality of structure from the perspective of structuration theory was used as lens to guide the analysis. Results: Findings from this study reveal how reproduction of actions manifests from non-technical factors, such as cultural value, organisational structure, power relationship, human capacity, know-how and change management. These factors help to gain a more constructive and better understanding of how IT projects improvisation is influenced or impacted by non-technical factors in organisations. Conclusion: The study is intended to benefit both practitioners and academics. Some of the benefits will be gained from fresh perspectives on the complexities of IT projects improvisation, which are often caused by various seen and unforeseen non-technical factors. This includes how actions from relationship, know-how about facilities and communicative scheme are produced and reproduced.

Geometric structure and information change in phase transitions

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Eun-jin; Hollerbach, Rainer

2017-06-01

We propose a toy model for a cyclic order-disorder transition and introduce a geometric methodology to understand stochastic processes involved in transitions. Specifically, our model consists of a pair of forward and backward processes (FPs and BPs) for the emergence and disappearance of a structure in a stochastic environment. We calculate time-dependent probability density functions (PDFs) and the information length L , which is the total number of different states that a system undergoes during the transition. Time-dependent PDFs during transient relaxation exhibit strikingly different behavior in FPs and BPs. In particular, FPs driven by instability undergo the broadening of the PDF with a large increase in fluctuations before the transition to the ordered state accompanied by narrowing the PDF width. During this stage, we identify an interesting geodesic solution accompanied by the self-regulation between the growth and nonlinear damping where the time scale τ of information change is constant in time, independent of the strength of the stochastic noise. In comparison, BPs are mainly driven by the macroscopic motion due to the movement of the PDF peak. The total information length L between initial and final states is much larger in BPs than in FPs, increasing linearly with the deviation γ of a control parameter from the critical state in BPs while increasing logarithmically with γ in FPs. L scales as |lnD | and D-1 /2 in FPs and BPs, respectively, where D measures the strength of the stochastic forcing. These differing scalings with γ and D suggest a great utility of L in capturing different underlying processes, specifically, diffusion vs advection in phase transition by geometry. We discuss physical origins of these scalings and comment on implications of our results for bistable systems undergoing repeated order-disorder transitions (e.g., fitness).

Structuring heterogeneous biological information using fuzzy clustering of k-partite graphs

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Theis Fabian J

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Extensive and automated data integration in bioinformatics facilitates the construction of large, complex biological networks. However, the challenge lies in the interpretation of these networks. While most research focuses on the unipartite or bipartite case, we address the more general but common situation of k-partite graphs. These graphs contain k different node types and links are only allowed between nodes of different types. In order to reveal their structural organization and describe the contained information in a more coarse-grained fashion, we ask how to detect clusters within each node type. Results Since entities in biological networks regularly have more than one function and hence participate in more than one cluster, we developed a k-partite graph partitioning algorithm that allows for overlapping (fuzzy clusters. It determines for each node a degree of membership to each cluster. Moreover, the algorithm estimates a weighted k-partite graph that connects the extracted clusters. Our method is fast and efficient, mimicking the multiplicative update rules commonly employed in algorithms for non-negative matrix factorization. It facilitates the decomposition of networks on a chosen scale and therefore allows for analysis and interpretation of structures on various resolution levels. Applying our algorithm to a tripartite disease-gene-protein complex network, we were able to structure this graph on a large scale into clusters that are functionally correlated and biologically meaningful. Locally, smaller clusters enabled reclassification or annotation of the clusters' elements. We exemplified this for the transcription factor MECP2. Conclusions In order to cope with the overwhelming amount of information available from biomedical literature, we need to tackle the challenge of finding structures in large networks with nodes of multiple types. To this end, we presented a novel fuzzy k-partite graph partitioning

Do attitudes of families concerned influence features of children who claim to remember previous lives?

Science.gov (United States)

Pasricha, Satwant K

2011-01-01

Reported cases of nearly 2600 children (subjects) who claim to remember previous lives have been investigated in cultures with and without belief in reincarnation. The authenticity in most cases has been established. To study the influence of attitudes of parents of the subjects, families of the deceased person with whom they are identified and attention paid by others on the features of the cases. The study is based on field investigations. Data is derived from analysis of a larger series of an ongoing project. Information on initial and subsequent attitudes of subjects' mothers was available for 292 and 136 cases, respectively; attitudes of 227 families of deceased person (previous personality) with whom he is identified, and the extent of attention received from outsiders for 252 cases. Observations and interviews with multiple firsthand informants on both sides of the case as well as some neutral informants supplemented by examination of objective data were the chief methods of investigation. The initial attitude of mothers varied from encouragement (21%) to neutral or tolerance (51%) to discouragement (28%). However, it changed significantly from neutrality to taking measures to induce amnesia in their children for previous life memories due to various psychosocial pressures and prevalent beliefs. Families of the previous personalities, once convinced, showed complete acceptance in a majority of cases. Outside attention was received in 58% cases. The positive attitude of parents might facilitate expression of memories but subsequently attitudes of persons concerned do not seem to alter features of the cases.

Information diffusion in structured online social networks

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Pei; Zhang, Yini; Qiao, Fengcai; Wang, Hui

2015-05-01

Nowadays, due to the word-of-mouth effect, online social networks have been considered to be efficient approaches to conduct viral marketing, which makes it of great importance to understand the diffusion dynamics in online social networks. However, most research on diffusion dynamics in epidemiology and existing social networks cannot be applied directly to characterize online social networks. In this paper, we propose models to characterize the information diffusion in structured online social networks with push-based forwarding mechanism. We introduce the term user influence to characterize the average number of times that messages are browsed which is incurred by a given type user generating a message, and study the diffusion threshold, above which the user influence of generating a message will approach infinity. We conduct simulations and provide the simulation results, which are consistent with the theoretical analysis results perfectly. These results are of use in understanding the diffusion dynamics in online social networks and also critical for advertisers in viral marketing who want to estimate the user influence before posting an advertisement.

Insight into the informational-structure behavior of the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and maleic anhydride.

Science.gov (United States)

Molina-Espíritu, Moyocoyani; Esquivel, Rodolfo O; Kohout, Miroslav; Angulo, Juan Carlos; Dobado, José A; Dehesa, Jesús S; LópezRosa, Sheila; Soriano-Correa, Catalina

2014-08-01

The course of the Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene and maleic anhydride were studied. Two reaction paths were modelled: endo- and exo-selective paths. All structures within the transient region were characterized and analyzed by means of geometrical descriptors, physicochemical parameters and information-theoretical measures in order to observe the linkage between chemical behavior and the carriage of information. We have shown that the information-theoretical characterization of the chemical course of the reaction is in complete agreement with its phenomenological behavior in passing from reactants to products. In addition, we were able to detect the main differences between the two reaction mechanisms. This type of informational analysis serves to provide tools to help understand the chemical reactivity of the two simplest Diels-Alder reactions, which permits the establishment of a connection between the quantum changes that molecular systems exert along reaction coordinates and standard physicochemical phenomenology. In the present study, we have shown that every reaction stage has a family of subsequent structures that are characterized not solely by their phenomenological behavior but also by informational properties of their electronic density distribution (localizability, order, uniformity). Moreover, we were able to describe the main differences between endo-adduct and exo-adduct pathways. With the advent of new experimental techniques, it is in principle possible to observe the structural changes in the transient regions of chemical reactions. Indeed, through this work we have provided the theoretical concepts needed to unveil the concurrent processes associated with chemical reactions.

Perceptual learning is specific to the trained structure of information.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Yamit; Daikhin, Luba; Ahissar, Merav

2013-12-01

What do we learn when we practice a simple perceptual task? Many studies have suggested that we learn to refine or better select the sensory representations of the task-relevant dimension. Here we show that learning is specific to the trained structural regularities. Specifically, when this structure is modified after training with a fixed temporal structure, performance regresses to pretraining levels, even when the trained stimuli and task are retained. This specificity raises key questions as to the importance of low-level sensory modifications in the learning process. We trained two groups of participants on a two-tone frequency discrimination task for several days. In one group, a fixed reference tone was consistently presented in the first interval (the second tone was higher or lower), and in the other group the same reference tone was consistently presented in the second interval. When following training, these temporal protocols were switched between groups, performance of both groups regressed to pretraining levels, and further training was needed to attain postlearning performance. ERP measures, taken before and after training, indicated that participants implicitly learned the temporal regularity of the protocol and formed an attentional template that matched the trained structure of information. These results are consistent with Reverse Hierarchy Theory, which posits that even the learning of simple perceptual tasks progresses in a top-down manner, hence can benefit from temporal regularities at the trial level, albeit at the potential cost that learning may be specific to these regularities.

Kidnapping Detection and Recognition in Previous Unknown Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Tian

2017-01-01

Full Text Available An unaware event referred to as kidnapping makes the estimation result of localization incorrect. In a previous unknown environment, incorrect localization result causes incorrect mapping result in Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM by kidnapping. In this situation, the explored area and unexplored area are divided to make the kidnapping recovery difficult. To provide sufficient information on kidnapping, a framework to judge whether kidnapping has occurred and to identify the type of kidnapping with filter-based SLAM is proposed. The framework is called double kidnapping detection and recognition (DKDR by performing two checks before and after the “update” process with different metrics in real time. To explain one of the principles of DKDR, we describe a property of filter-based SLAM that corrects the mapping result of the environment using the current observations after the “update” process. Two classical filter-based SLAM algorithms, Extend Kalman Filter (EKF SLAM and Particle Filter (PF SLAM, are modified to show that DKDR can be simply and widely applied in existing filter-based SLAM algorithms. Furthermore, a technique to determine the adapted thresholds of metrics in real time without previous data is presented. Both simulated and experimental results demonstrate the validity and accuracy of the proposed method.

Microbial community structure of relict niter-beds previously used for saltpeter production.

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Takashi Narihiro

Full Text Available From the 16th to the 18th centuries in Japan, saltpeter was produced using a biological niter-bed process and was formed under the floor of gassho-style houses in the historic villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama, which are classified as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The relict niter-beds are now conserved in the underfloor space of gassho-style houses, where they are isolated from destabilizing environmental factors and retain the ability to produce nitrate. However, little is known about the nitrifying microbes in such relict niter-bed ecosystems. In this study, the microbial community structures within nine relict niter-bed soils were investigated using 454 pyrotag analysis targeting the 16S rRNA gene and the bacterial and archaeal ammonia monooxygenase gene (amoA. The 16S rRNA gene pyrotag analysis showed that members of the phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes, and Planctomycetes were major microbial constituents, and principal coordinate analysis showed that the NO3-, Cl-, K+, and Na+ contents were potential determinants of the structures of entire microbial communities in relict niter-bed soils. The bacterial and archaeal amoA libraries indicated that members of the Nitrosospira-type ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB and "Ca. Nitrososphaera"-type ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA, respectively, predominated in relict niter-bed soils. In addition, soil pH and organic carbon content were important factors for the ecological niche of AOB and AOA in relict niter-bed soil ecosystems.

The Effect of Screen Size on Mobile Phone User Comprehension of Health Information and Application Structure: An Experimental Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Al Ghamdi, Ebtisam; Yunus, Faisal; Da'ar, Omar; El-Metwally, Ashraf; Khalifa, Mohamed; Aldossari, Bakheet; Househ, Mowafa

2016-01-01

This research analyzes the impact of mobile phone screen size on user comprehension of health information and application structure. Applying experimental approach, we asked randomly selected users to read content and conduct tasks on a commonly used diabetes mobile application using three different mobile phone screen sizes. We timed and tracked a number of parameters, including correctness, effectiveness of completing tasks, content ease of reading, clarity of information organization, and comprehension. The impact of screen size on user comprehension/retention, clarity of information organization, and reading time were mixed. It is assumed on first glance that mobile screen size would affect all qualities of information reading and comprehension, including clarity of displayed information organization, reading time and user comprehension/retention of displayed information, but actually the screen size, in this experimental research, did not have significant impact on user comprehension/retention of the content or on understanding the application structure. However, it did have significant impact on clarity of information organization and reading time. Participants with larger screen size took shorter time reading the content with a significant difference in the ease of reading. While there was no significant difference in the comprehension of information or the application structures, there were a higher task completion rate and a lower number of errors with the bigger screen size. Screen size does not directly affect user comprehension of health information. However, it does affect clarity of information organization, reading time and user's ability to recall information.

Correlation Between Information Technology And Management Information Systems Quality

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Annisa Fitri Anggraeni

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research is to find out the correlation between Information Technology and Management Information System Quality. This research applies literature review from various theories and previously conducted research where controversies between Information Technology and Management Information Systems. The result of this research shows that Information Technology is a part of Management Information System and supports the performance of Management Information Systems.

Quantifying information transfer by protein domains: Analysis of the Fyn SH2 domain structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lenaerts, Tom; Ferkinghoff-Borg, Jesper; Stricher, Francois

2008-01-01

instance of communication over a noisy channel. In particular, we analyze the conformational correlations between protein residues and apply the concept of mutual information to quantify information exchange. Mapping out changes of mutual information on the protein structure then allows visualizing how...... distal communication is achieved. We illustrate the approach by analyzing information transfer by the SH2 domain of Fyn tyrosine kinase, obtained from Monte Carlo dynamics simulations. Our analysis reveals that the Fyn SH2 domain forms a noisy communication channel that couples residues located......Background: Efficient communication between distant sites within a protein is essential for cooperative biological response. Although often associated with large allosteric movements, more subtle changes in protein dynamics can also induce long-range correlations. However, an appropriate formalism...

Predicting RNA Structure Using Mutual Information

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Freyhult, E.; Moulton, V.; Gardner, P. P.

2005-01-01

, to display and predict conserved RNA secondary structure (including pseudoknots) from an alignment. Results: We show that MIfold can be used to predict simple pseudoknots, and that the performance can be adjusted to make it either more sensitive or more selective. We also demonstrate that the overall...... package. Conclusion: MIfold provides a useful supplementary tool to programs such as RNA Structure Logo, RNAalifold and COVE, and should be useful for automatically generating structural predictions for databases such as Rfam. Availability: MIfold is freely available from http......Background: With the ever-increasing number of sequenced RNAs and the establishment of new RNA databases, such as the Comparative RNA Web Site and Rfam, there is a growing need for accurately and automatically predicting RNA structures from multiple alignments. Since RNA secondary structure...

Laparoscopy After Previous Laparotomy

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Zulfo Godinjak

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Following the abdominal surgery, extensive adhesions often occur and they can cause difficulties during laparoscopic operations. However, previous laparotomy is not considered to be a contraindication for laparoscopy. The aim of this study is to present that an insertion of Veres needle in the region of umbilicus is a safe method for creating a pneumoperitoneum for laparoscopic operations after previous laparotomy. In the last three years, we have performed 144 laparoscopic operations in patients that previously underwent one or two laparotomies. Pathology of digestive system, genital organs, Cesarean Section or abdominal war injuries were the most common causes of previouslaparotomy. During those operations or during entering into abdominal cavity we have not experienced any complications, while in 7 patients we performed conversion to laparotomy following the diagnostic laparoscopy. In all patients an insertion of Veres needle and trocar insertion in the umbilical region was performed, namely a technique of closed laparoscopy. Not even in one patient adhesions in the region of umbilicus were found, and no abdominal organs were injured.

Processing information about support exchanges in close relationships: The role of a knowledge structure

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Bulent eTuran

2016-02-01

Full Text Available People develop knowledge of interpersonal interaction patterns (e.g., prototypes and schemas, which shape how they process incoming information. One such knowledge structure based on attachment theory was examined: the secure base script (the prototypic sequence of events when an attachment figure comforts a close relationship partner in distress. In two studies (N = 53 and N = 119, participants were shown animated film clips in which geometric figures depicted the secure base script and asked to describe the animations. Both studies found that many people readily recognize the secure-base script from these minimal cues quite well, suggesting that this script is not only available in the context of specific relationships (i.e., a relationship-specific knowledge: The generalized (abstract structure of the script is also readily accessible, which would make it possible to apply it to any relationship (including new relationships. Regression analyses suggested that participants who recognized the script were more likely to (a include more animation elements when describing the animations, (b see a common theme in different animations, (c create better organized stories, and (d later recall more details of the animations. These findings suggest that access to this knowledge structure helps a person organize and remember relevant incoming information. Furthermore, in both Study 1 and Study 2, individual differences in the ready recognition of the script were associated with individual differences in having access to another related knowledge: indicators suggesting that a potential relationship partner can be trusted to be supportive and responsive at times of stress. Results of Study 2 also suggest that recognizing the script is associated with those items of an attachment measure that concern giving and receiving support. Thus, these knowledge structures may shape how people process support-relevant information in their everyday lives, potentially

Some Problems of Information-Communication Technologies Implementation in the Activity of Enterprise Structures of Education and Science

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Alexander A. Galushkin

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In this article author examines some of the issues of information and communication technologies in the activity of enterprise structures of education and science. During study author analyzes views of some eminent scientists, with formulate their own point of view. The study emphasizes that the introduction of information products in the deeper stages of the structure of education and science, implementing educational programs, as a rule, is facing a number of serious difficulties. In conclusion, the author cites 3 evidence-based conclusions.

Quantifying the information in the long-range order of words: semantic structures and universal linguistic constraints.

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Montemurro, Marcelo A

2014-06-01

We review some recent progress on the characterisation of long-range patterns of word use in language using methods from information theory. In particular, two levels of structure in language are considered. The first level corresponds to the patterns of words usage over different contextual domains. A direct application of information theory to quantify the specificity of words across different sections of a linguistic sequence leads to a measure of semantic information. Moreover, a natural scale emerges that characterises the typical size of semantic structures. Since the information measure is made up of additive contributions from individual words, it is possible to rank the words according to their overall weight in the total information. This allows the extraction of keywords most relevant to the semantic content of the sequence without any prior knowledge of the language. The second level considered is the complex structure of correlations among words in linguistic sequences. The degree of order in language can be quantified by means of the entropy. Reliable estimates of the entropy were obtained from corpora of texts from several linguistic families by means of lossless compression algorithms. The value of the entropy fluctuates across different languages since it depends on linguistic organisation at various levels. However, when a measure of relative entropy that specifically quantifies the degree of word ordering in language is estimated, it presents an almost constant value over all the linguistic families studied. This suggests that the entropy of word ordering is a novel quantitative linguistic universal. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of task autonomy on performance: an extended model considering motivational, informational, and structural mechanisms.

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Langfred, Claus W; Moye, Neta A

2004-12-01

A model explaining the relationship between task autonomy and performance is proposed that incorporates 3 different causal mechanisms. The performance benefits of task autonomy may be realized by increased motivation (motivational mechanisms), by capitalization of information asymmetries (informational mechanisms), or by better alignment with task and organizational structures (structural mechanisms). Further, it is proposed that these performance benefits are moderated by a variety of variables ranging from individual traits to organizational design. This model may provide a means for accounting for the sometimes inconsistent findings in the empirical literature exploring the relationship between autonomy and performance. The model also offers guidance in the search for additional boundary conditions as well as prescriptive guidelines for the allocation of autonomy in practice. 2004 APA, all rights reserved

Pre-School Students' Informal Acquisitions Regarding the Concepts of Point and Straight Line

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Orbay, Keziban; Develi, Mehmet Hikmet

2015-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the informal cognitive structures regarding "point" and "straight line"--two basic and undefined terms of geometry--in children registered in preschool--the previous step before in-class formal education process. The study was conducted with the participation of 50 children enrolled in nursery,…

Musical information processing reflecting its structure

OpenAIRE

Hiraga, Rumi

1999-01-01

In pursuit of generating expressive musical rendition with rules, the computer music project Psyche has greatly concerned musical structure. Although described implicitly, musical structure exists innately and absolutely in musical scores. This thesis demonstrates the successful introduction of musical structure to computer music systems that are related to performance synthesis. Two systems, a performance visualization system and a computer-assisted musical analysis system Daphne, are descri...

Algorithm-structured computer arrays and networks architectures and processes for images, percepts, models, information

CERN Document Server

Uhr, Leonard

1984-01-01

Computer Science and Applied Mathematics: Algorithm-Structured Computer Arrays and Networks: Architectures and Processes for Images, Percepts, Models, Information examines the parallel-array, pipeline, and other network multi-computers.This book describes and explores arrays and networks, those built, being designed, or proposed. The problems of developing higher-level languages for systems and designing algorithm, program, data flow, and computer structure are also discussed. This text likewise describes several sequences of successively more general attempts to combine the power of arrays wi

Do previous sports experiences influence the effect of an enrichment programme in basketball skills?

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Santos, Sara; Mateus, Nuno; Sampaio, Jaime; Leite, Nuno

2017-09-01

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of an enrichment programme in motor, technical and tactical basketball skills, when accounting for the age of youth sport specialisation. Seventy-six college students (age: M = 20.4, SD = 1.9) were allocated according to three different paths: (i) non-structured (n = 14), (ii) early specialisation (n = 34), and (iii) late specialisation (n = 28), according to information previously provided by the participants about the quantity and type of sporting activities performed throughout their sporting careers. Then, the participants of each path were randomly distributed across control and experimental groups. Variables under study included agility, technical skills circuit, as well as tactical actions performed in a 4-on-4 full-court basketball game. The results indicated improvements in the early and late specialisation paths namely in the experimental training groups. However, the late specialisation path revealed larger benefits, in contrast with the non-structured path, which showed less sensitivity to the enrichment programme, mostly sustained in physical literacy and differential learning. Higher improvements were observed in agility, and also in reducing the number of unsuccessful actions performed during the game. Overall, this study provided evidence of how early sports experiences affect basketball skill acquisition and contribute to adapt to new contexts with motor and technical-tactical challenges. In addition, a path supported by late specialisation might present several advantages in sport performance achievement.

THE PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF INFORMATION AND EDUCATIONAL SPACE SEMANTIC STRUCTURING BASED ON ONTOLOGIC APPROACH REALIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yurij F. Telnov

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This article reveals principles of semantic structuring of information and educational space of objects of knowledge and scientific and educational services with use of methods of ontologic engineering. Novelty of offered approach is interface of ontology of a content and ontology of scientific and educational services that allows to carry out effective composition of services and objects of knowledge according to models of professional competences and requirements being trained. As a result of application of methods of information and educational space semantic structuring integration of use of the diverse distributed scientific and educational content by educational institutions for carrying out scientific researches, methodical development and training is provided.

Steller sea lion sightings or recaptures of previously marked animals throughout their range, 1987-2014

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset contains information regarding the sighting and capture of previously marked Steller sea lions from 1987 to the present. Marks are seen and documented...

Information structure and organisation in change of shift reports: An observational study of nursing hand-offs in a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.

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Foster-Hunt, Tara; Parush, Avi; Ellis, Jacqueline; Thomas, Margot; Rashotte, Judy

2015-06-01

Patient hand-offs involve the exchange of critical information. Ineffective hand-offs can result in reduced patient safety by leading to wrong treatment, delayed diagnoses or other outcomes that can negatively affect the healthcare system. The objectives of this study were to uncover the structure of the information conveyed during patient hand-offs and look for principles characterising the organisation of the information. With an observational study approach, data was gathered during the morning and evening nursing change of shift hand-offs in a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. Content analysis identified a common meta-structure used for information transfer that contained categories with varying degrees of information integration and the repetition of high consequence information. Differences were found in the organisation of the hand-off structures, and these varied as a function of nursing experience. The findings are discussed in terms of the potential benefits of computerised tools which utilise standardised structure for information transfer and the implications for future education and critical care skill acquisition. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Information Geometry of Positive Measures and Positive-Definite Matrices: Decomposable Dually Flat Structure

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Shun-ichi Amari

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Information geometry studies the dually flat structure of a manifold, highlighted by the generalized Pythagorean theorem. The present paper studies a class of Bregman divergences called the (ρ,τ-divergence. A (ρ,τ -divergence generates a dually flat structure in the manifold of positive measures, as well as in the manifold of positive-definite matrices. The class is composed of decomposable divergences, which are written as a sum of componentwise divergences. Conversely, a decomposable dually flat divergence is shown to be a (ρ,τ -divergence. A (ρ,τ -divergence is determined from two monotone scalar functions, ρ and τ. The class includes the KL-divergence, α-, β- and (α, β-divergences as special cases. The transformation between an affine parameter and its dual is easily calculated in the case of a decomposable divergence. Therefore, such a divergence is useful for obtaining the center for a cluster of points, which will be applied to classification and information retrieval in vision. For the manifold of positive-definite matrices, in addition to the dually flatness and decomposability, we require the invariance under linear transformations, in particular under orthogonal transformations. This opens a way to define a new class of divergences, called the (ρ,τ -structure in the manifold of positive-definite matrices.

Preoperative screening: value of previous tests.

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Macpherson, D S; Snow, R; Lofgren, R P

1990-12-15

To determine the frequency of tests done in the year before elective surgery that might substitute for preoperative screening tests and to determine the frequency of test results that change from a normal value to a value likely to alter perioperative management. Retrospective cohort analysis of computerized laboratory data (complete blood count, sodium, potassium, and creatinine levels, prothrombin time, and partial thromboplastin time). Urban tertiary care Veterans Affairs Hospital. Consecutive sample of 1109 patients who had elective surgery in 1988. At admission, 7549 preoperative tests were done, 47% of which duplicated tests performed in the previous year. Of 3096 previous results that were normal as defined by hospital reference range and done closest to the time of but before admission (median interval, 2 months), 13 (0.4%; 95% CI, 0.2% to 0.7%), repeat values were outside a range considered acceptable for surgery. Most of the abnormalities were predictable from the patient's history, and most were not noted in the medical record. Of 461 previous tests that were abnormal, 78 (17%; CI, 13% to 20%) repeat values at admission were outside a range considered acceptable for surgery (P less than 0.001, frequency of clinically important abnormalities of patients with normal previous results with those with abnormal previous results). Physicians evaluating patients preoperatively could safely substitute the previous test results analyzed in this study for preoperative screening tests if the previous tests are normal and no obvious indication for retesting is present.

78 FR 36089 - Airworthiness Directives; Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (Type Certificate Previously Held by...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-17

... Corporation (Type Certificate Previously Held by Raytheon Aircraft Company) Model BAe.125 Series 800A... structural damage or lead to divergent flutter, and result in loss of integrity of the wing, loss of control... to divergent flutter, and result in loss of integrity of the wing, loss of control of the airplane...

Remote monitoring of instrumented structures using the Internet information superhighway

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Fuhr, Peter L.; Huston, Dryver R.; Ambrose, Timothy P.

1994-09-01

The requirements of sensor monitoring associated with instrumented civil structures poses potential logistical constraints on manpower, training, and costs. The need for frequent or even continuous data monitoring places potentially severe constraints on overall system performance given real-world factors such as available manpower, geographic separation of the instrumented structures, and data archiving as well as the training and cost issues. While the pool of available low wage, moderate skill workers available to the authors is sizable (undergraduate engineering students), the level of performance of such workers is quite variable leading to data acquisition integrity and continuity issues - matters that are not acceptable in the practical field implementation of such developed systems. In the case of acquiring data from the numerous sensors within the civil structures which the authors have instrumented (e.g., a multistory building, roadway/railway bridges, and a hydroelectric dam), we have found that many of these concerns may be alleviated through the use of an automated data acquisition system which archives the acquired information in an electronic location remotely accessible through the Internet global computer network. It is therefore a possible for the data monitoring to be performed at a remote location with the only requirements for data acquisition being Internet accessibility. A description of the developed scheme is presented as well as guiding philosophies.

Information content and acoustic structure of male African elephant social rumbles.

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Stoeger, Angela S; Baotic, Anton

2016-06-08

Until recently, the prevailing theory about male African elephants (Loxodonta africana) was that, once adult and sexually mature, males are solitary and targeted only at finding estrous females. While this is true during the state of 'musth' (a condition characterized by aggressive behavior and elevated androgen levels), 'non-musth' males exhibit a social system seemingly based on companionship, dominance and established hierarchies. Research on elephant vocal communication has so far focused on females, and very little is known about the acoustic structure and the information content of male vocalizations. Using the source and filter theory approach, we analyzed social rumbles of 10 male African elephants. Our results reveal that male rumbles encode information about individuality and maturity (age and size), with formant frequencies and absolute fundamental frequency values having the most informative power. This first comprehensive study on male elephant vocalizations gives important indications on their potential functional relevance for male-male and male-female communication. Our results suggest that, similar to the highly social females, future research on male elephant vocal behavior will reveal a complex communication system in which social knowledge, companionship, hierarchy, reproductive competition and the need to communicate over long distances play key roles.

Text Processing of Domain-Related Information for Individuals with High and Low Domain Knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Spilich, George J.; And Others

1979-01-01

The way in which previously acquired knowledge affects the processing on new domain-related information was investigated. Text processing was studied in two groups differing in knowledge of the domain of baseball. A knowledge structure for the domain was constructed, and text propositions were classified. (SW)

Vertical structure of predictability and information transport over the Northern Hemisphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng Ai-Xia; Wang Qi-Gang; Gong Zhi-Qiang; Feng Guo-Lin

2014-01-01

Based on nonlinear prediction and information theory, vertical heterogeneity of predictability and information loss rate in geopotential height field are obtained over the Northern Hemisphere. On a seasonal-to-interannual time scale, the predictability is low in the lower troposphere and high in the mid-upper troposphere. However, within mid-upper troposphere over the subtropics ocean area, there is a relatively poor predictability. These conclusions also fit the seasonal time scale. Moving to the interannual time scale, the predictability becomes high in the lower troposphere and low in the mid-upper troposphere, contrary to the former case. On the whole the interannual trend is more predictable than the seasonal trend. The average information loss rate is low over the mid-east Pacific, west of North America, Atlantic and Eurasia, and the atmosphere over other places has a relatively high information loss rate on all-time scales. Two channels are found steadily over the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean in subtropics. There are also unstable channels. The four-season influence on predictability and information communication are studied. The predictability is low, no matter which season data are removed and each season plays an important role in the existence of the channels, except for the winter. The predictability and teleconnections are paramount issues in atmospheric science, and the teleconnections may be established by communication channels. So, this work is interesting since it reveals the vertical structure of predictability distribution, channel locations, and the contributions of different time scales to them and their variations under different seasons. (geophysics, astronomy, and astrophysics)

The H0 function, a new index for detecting structural/topological complexity information in undirected graphs

Science.gov (United States)

Buscema, Massimo; Asadi-Zeydabadi, Masoud; Lodwick, Weldon; Breda, Marco

2016-04-01

Significant applications such as the analysis of Alzheimer's disease differentiated from dementia, or in data mining of social media, or in extracting information of drug cartel structural composition, are often modeled as graphs. The structural or topological complexity or lack of it in a graph is quite often useful in understanding and more importantly, resolving the problem. We are proposing a new index we call the H0function to measure the structural/topological complexity of a graph. To do this, we introduce the concept of graph pruning and its associated algorithm that is used in the development of our measure. We illustrate the behavior of our measure, the H0 function, through different examples found in the appendix. These examples indicate that the H0 function contains information that is useful and important characteristics of a graph. Here, we restrict ourselves to undirected.

Classification of Hyperspectral Images by SVM Using a Composite Kernel by Employing Spectral, Spatial and Hierarchical Structure Information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi Wang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we introduce a novel classification framework for hyperspectral images (HSIs by jointly employing spectral, spatial, and hierarchical structure information. In this framework, the three types of information are integrated into the SVM classifier in a way of multiple kernels. Specifically, the spectral kernel is constructed through each pixel’s vector value in the original HSI, and the spatial kernel is modeled by using the extended morphological profile method due to its simplicity and effectiveness. To accurately characterize hierarchical structure features, the techniques of Fish-Markov selector (FMS, marker-based hierarchical segmentation (MHSEG and algebraic multigrid (AMG are combined. First, the FMS algorithm is used on the original HSI for feature selection to produce its spectral subset. Then, the multigrid structure of this subset is constructed using the AMG method. Subsequently, the MHSEG algorithm is exploited to obtain a hierarchy consist of a series of segmentation maps. Finally, the hierarchical structure information is represented by using these segmentation maps. The main contributions of this work is to present an effective composite kernel for HSI classification by utilizing spatial structure information in multiple scales. Experiments were conducted on two hyperspectral remote sensing images to validate that the proposed framework can achieve better classification results than several popular kernel-based classification methods in terms of both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Specifically, the proposed classification framework can achieve 13.46–15.61% in average higher than the standard SVM classifier under different training sets in the terms of overall accuracy.

On the Value of Monitoring Information for the Structural Integrity and Risk Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thöns, Sebastian

2018-01-01

facilitates the assessment of the value of information associated with SHM. The principal approach for the quantification of the value of SHM is formulated by modeling the fundamental decision of performing SHM or not in conjunction with their expected utilities. The expected utilities are calculated....... The calculation of the expected utilities necessitates a comprehensive and rigorous modeling, which is introduced close to the original formulations and for which analysis characteristics and simplifications are described and derived. The framework provides the basis for the optimization of the structural risk......This article introduces an approach and framework for the quantification of the value of structural health monitoring (SHM) in the context of the structural risk and integrity management for systems.The quantification of the value of SHM builds upon the Bayesian decision and utility theory, which...

The architecture of enterprise hospital information system.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Xudong; Duan, Huilong; Li, Haomin; Zhao, Chenhui; An, Jiye

2005-01-01

Because of the complexity of the hospital environment, there exist a lot of medical information systems from different vendors with incompatible structures. In order to establish an enterprise hospital information system, the integration among these heterogeneous systems must be considered. Complete integration should cover three aspects: data integration, function integration and workflow integration. However most of the previous design of architecture did not accomplish such a complete integration. This article offers an architecture design of the enterprise hospital information system based on the concept of digital neural network system in hospital. It covers all three aspects of integration, and eventually achieves the target of one virtual data center with Enterprise Viewer for users of different roles. The initial implementation of the architecture in the 5-year Digital Hospital Project in Huzhou Central hospital of Zhejiang Province is also described.

Active learning-based information structure analysis of full scientific articles and two applications for biomedical literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Yufan; Silins, Ilona; Stenius, Ulla; Korhonen, Anna

2013-06-01

Techniques that are capable of automatically analyzing the information structure of scientific articles could be highly useful for improving information access to biomedical literature. However, most existing approaches rely on supervised machine learning (ML) and substantial labeled data that are expensive to develop and apply to different sub-fields of biomedicine. Recent research shows that minimal supervision is sufficient for fairly accurate information structure analysis of biomedical abstracts. However, is it realistic for full articles given their high linguistic and informational complexity? We introduce and release a novel corpus of 50 biomedical articles annotated according to the Argumentative Zoning (AZ) scheme, and investigate active learning with one of the most widely used ML models-Support Vector Machines (SVM)-on this corpus. Additionally, we introduce two novel applications that use AZ to support real-life literature review in biomedicine via question answering and summarization. We show that active learning with SVM trained on 500 labeled sentences (6% of the corpus) performs surprisingly well with the accuracy of 82%, just 2% lower than fully supervised learning. In our question answering task, biomedical researchers find relevant information significantly faster from AZ-annotated than unannotated articles. In the summarization task, sentences extracted from particular zones are significantly more similar to gold standard summaries than those extracted from particular sections of full articles. These results demonstrate that active learning of full articles' information structure is indeed realistic and the accuracy is high enough to support real-life literature review in biomedicine. The annotated corpus, our AZ classifier and the two novel applications are available at http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/yg244/12bioinfo.html

Prediction of RNA secondary structure using generalized centroid estimators.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamada, Michiaki; Kiryu, Hisanori; Sato, Kengo; Mituyama, Toutai; Asai, Kiyoshi

2009-02-15

Recent studies have shown that the methods for predicting secondary structures of RNAs on the basis of posterior decoding of the base-pairing probabilities has an advantage with respect to prediction accuracy over the conventionally utilized minimum free energy methods. However, there is room for improvement in the objective functions presented in previous studies, which are maximized in the posterior decoding with respect to the accuracy measures for secondary structures. We propose novel estimators which improve the accuracy of secondary structure prediction of RNAs. The proposed estimators maximize an objective function which is the weighted sum of the expected number of the true positives and that of the true negatives of the base pairs. The proposed estimators are also improved versions of the ones used in previous works, namely CONTRAfold for secondary structure prediction from a single RNA sequence and McCaskill-MEA for common secondary structure prediction from multiple alignments of RNA sequences. We clarify the relations between the proposed estimators and the estimators presented in previous works, and theoretically show that the previous estimators include additional unnecessary terms in the evaluation measures with respect to the accuracy. Furthermore, computational experiments confirm the theoretical analysis by indicating improvement in the empirical accuracy. The proposed estimators represent extensions of the centroid estimators proposed in Ding et al. and Carvalho and Lawrence, and are applicable to a wide variety of problems in bioinformatics. Supporting information and the CentroidFold software are available online at: http://www.ncrna.org/software/centroidfold/.

Twelve previously unknown phage genera are ubiquitous in global oceans.

Science.gov (United States)

Holmfeldt, Karin; Solonenko, Natalie; Shah, Manesh; Corrier, Kristen; Riemann, Lasse; Verberkmoes, Nathan C; Sullivan, Matthew B

2013-07-30

Viruses are fundamental to ecosystems ranging from oceans to humans, yet our ability to study them is bottlenecked by the lack of ecologically relevant isolates, resulting in "unknowns" dominating culture-independent surveys. Here we present genomes from 31 phages infecting multiple strains of the aquatic bacterium Cellulophaga baltica (Bacteroidetes) to provide data for an underrepresented and environmentally abundant bacterial lineage. Comparative genomics delineated 12 phage groups that (i) each represent a new genus, and (ii) represent one novel and four well-known viral families. This diversity contrasts the few well-studied marine phage systems, but parallels the diversity of phages infecting human-associated bacteria. Although all 12 Cellulophaga phages represent new genera, the podoviruses and icosahedral, nontailed ssDNA phages were exceptional, with genomes up to twice as large as those previously observed for each phage type. Structural novelty was also substantial, requiring experimental phage proteomics to identify 83% of the structural proteins. The presence of uncommon nucleotide metabolism genes in four genera likely underscores the importance of scavenging nutrient-rich molecules as previously seen for phages in marine environments. Metagenomic recruitment analyses suggest that these particular Cellulophaga phages are rare and may represent a first glimpse into the phage side of the rare biosphere. However, these analyses also revealed that these phage genera are widespread, occurring in 94% of 137 investigated metagenomes. Together, this diverse and novel collection of phages identifies a small but ubiquitous fraction of unknown marine viral diversity and provides numerous environmentally relevant phage-host systems for experimental hypothesis testing.

Research and design of the structure of information support of road transport

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. G. Kozlov

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The main issue is to study the interaction between the system of road transport and security of its information systems. The mechanism of this interaction is studied only on the basis of studies of the learning process. These two interacting systems through training react to each other. Due to the strong correlation between these two systems offer the development of the basics of management information support to carry out complex, without violating the integrity of the systems. As the methods of research used methods of system analysis and probability theory. The criteria for the study of the interaction of systems: full-scale technological and economic indicators. By the technological parameters include: completeness of use of the system (load, and performance of information security; to full-scale - the cost of labor, energy, materials; to the economic - the cost, payback, profit, profit. The stages of the development of the structure of information support: the definition of objectives; study of the problems and the choice of solution to the problem; agreed solutions (thematic plan; approval of decisions; Management and Implementation; verification of the effectiveness of decisions. Established shortcomings in the existing system of information support of decentralization processes interrelated technical planning; territorial, institutional and administrative divisions of organizations taking interdependent solutions; the lack of control most of the organizations operating information support for road transport; incomplete information of the absolute majority of publishing houses in the needs of motorists; duplication of the work of many publishers. There are two mechanisms of control information management system. Control enhances performance management system, improves the output characteristics of the system.

Predicting Genes Involved in Human Cancer Using Network Contextual Information

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Rahmani Hossein

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI networks have been widely used for the task of predicting proteins involved in cancer. Previous research has shown that functional information about the protein for which a prediction is made, proximity to specific other proteins in the PPI network, as well as local network structure are informative features in this respect. In this work, we introduce two new types of input features, reflecting additional information: (1 Functional Context: the functions of proteins interacting with the target protein (rather than the protein itself; and (2 Structural Context: the relative position of the target protein with respect to specific other proteins selected according to a novel ANOVA (analysis of variance based measure. We also introduce a selection strategy to pinpoint the most informative features. Results show that the proposed feature types and feature selection strategy yield informative features. A standard machine learning method (Naive Bayes that uses the features proposed here outperforms the current state-of-the-art methods by more than 5% with respect to F-measure. In addition, manual inspection confirms the biological relevance of the top-ranked features.

Structural biology at York Structural Biology Laboratory; laboratory information management systems for structural genomics

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Dohnálek, Jan

2005-01-01

Roč. 12, č. 1 (2005), s. 3 ISSN 1211-5894. [Meeting of Structural Biologists /4./. 10.03.2005-12.03.2005, Nové Hrady] R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) 1K05008 Keywords : structural biology * LIMS * structural genomics Subject RIV: CD - Macromolecular Chemistry

Visualizing information across multidimensional post-genomic structured and textual databases.

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Ying; Friedman, Carol; Lussier, Yves A

2005-04-15

Visualizing relationships among biological information to facilitate understanding is crucial to biological research during the post-genomic era. Although different systems have been developed to view gene-phenotype relationships for specific databases, very few have been designed specifically as a general flexible tool for visualizing multidimensional genotypic and phenotypic information together. Our goal is to develop a method for visualizing multidimensional genotypic and phenotypic information and a model that unifies different biological databases in order to present the integrated knowledge using a uniform interface. We developed a novel, flexible and generalizable visualization tool, called PhenoGenesviewer (PGviewer), which in this paper was used to display gene-phenotype relationships from a human-curated database (OMIM) and from an automatic method using a Natural Language Processing tool called BioMedLEE. Data obtained from multiple databases were first integrated into a uniform structure and then organized by PGviewer. PGviewer provides a flexible query interface that allows dynamic selection and ordering of any desired dimension in the databases. Based on users' queries, results can be visualized using hierarchical expandable trees that present views specified by users according to their research interests. We believe that this method, which allows users to dynamically organize and visualize multiple dimensions, is a potentially powerful and promising tool that should substantially facilitate biological research. PhenogenesViewer as well as its support and tutorial are available at http://www.dbmi.columbia.edu/pgviewer/ Lussier@dbmi.columbia.edu.

Multi-information fusion sparse coding with preserving local structure for hyperspectral image classification

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Xiaohui; Zhu, Wen; Liao, Bo; Gu, Changlong; Li, Weibiao

2017-10-01

The key question of sparse coding (SC) is how to exploit the information that already exists to acquire the robust sparse representations (SRs) of distinguishing different objects for hyperspectral image (HSI) classification. We propose a multi-information fusion SC framework, which fuses the spectral, spatial, and label information in the same level, to solve the above question. In particular, pixels from disjointed spatial clusters, which are obtained by cutting the given HSI in space, are individually and sparsely encoded. Then, due to the importance of spatial structure, graph- and hypergraph-based regularizers are enforced to motivate the obtained representations smoothness and to preserve the local consistency for each spatial cluster. The latter simultaneously considers the spectrum, spatial, and label information of multiple pixels that have a great probability with the same label. Finally, a linear support vector machine is selected as the final classifier with the learned SRs as input. Experiments conducted on three frequently used real HSIs show that our methods can achieve satisfactory results compared with other state-of-the-art methods.

Interaction of negation with tense, modality and information structure in Standard Arabic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nasser Al-Horais

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to consider the interaction of tense, mood and focus with negation in Standard Arabic. This interaction can be observed via marking the tense and mood of the sentence, or via selecting a particular type of tense, or being associated with Information Structure. Building on this fact, the current paper provides a unified analysis, in which negation in Arabic can be accounted for without a NegP projection.

Information matrix estimation procedures for cognitive diagnostic models.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yanlou; Xin, Tao; Andersson, Björn; Tian, Wei

2018-03-06

Two new methods to estimate the asymptotic covariance matrix for marginal maximum likelihood estimation of cognitive diagnosis models (CDMs), the inverse of the observed information matrix and the sandwich-type estimator, are introduced. Unlike several previous covariance matrix estimators, the new methods take into account both the item and structural parameters. The relationships between the observed information matrix, the empirical cross-product information matrix, the sandwich-type covariance matrix and the two approaches proposed by de la Torre (2009, J. Educ. Behav. Stat., 34, 115) are discussed. Simulation results show that, for a correctly specified CDM and Q-matrix or with a slightly misspecified probability model, the observed information matrix and the sandwich-type covariance matrix exhibit good performance with respect to providing consistent standard errors of item parameter estimates. However, with substantial model misspecification only the sandwich-type covariance matrix exhibits robust performance. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

AQUIS: An air quality and permit information management system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, A.E.; Huber, C.C.; Tschanz, J. (Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)); Ryckman, S.J. Jr. (Air Force Logistics Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (USA))

1991-01-01

The Air Quality Utility Information System (AQUIS) is a data base management system that operates on a dedicated, IBM-compatible personal computer using dBASE IV. AQUIS is in operation at six of the seven US Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC) bases to assist with the management of the source inventory, permit tracking, and the estimating and tracking of emissions. The system also provides environmental management personnel with information on regulatory requirements and other compliance information. An AFLC base can have over 500 regulated or unregulated emission sources, and the task of tracking and correlating emissions, sources, and permits is substantial. AQUIS is a comprehensive management tool that provides a single system for storing and accessing information previously available only in multiple, uncorrelated files. This paper discusses the development of the system and provides an overview of the system structure and the relationship of that structure to sources in the field. Certain features such as the linking capability and compound-specific emissions are highlighted. The experience of environmental managers, the ultimate system users, is discussed, including specific ways in which AQUIS has proven useful in responding to managers' needs for air quality information. 10 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

Information, optoelectronics, and information technologies (historic, philosophical, and logical aspects)

Science.gov (United States)

Dzhaliashvili, Zurab O.; Suhorukova, Marina V.

2001-06-01

For a civilization of the post-industrial society which is defined as 'informational civilization,' the heightened interest to new technological expedients of any interaction with the information is characteristic. Now concept 'information' is defined as an independent category. The organization, storage, transmission and displaying of information, in essence, is one of the ways of its self- organization for a civilization of such type. Therefore branches bound with generating and support of information highways, are in the center of attention those who tries to capture strategic favorable positions in world community. The reasons of the geopolitical and economic strategy in this case are direct, 'easy-to-see' mechanisms of creation of the structures in investigation activity and industry, 'Easy-to- see,' analyzable, even predictable -- but not defining. The modern science knows the physical laws of composite system's self-organization, and, as clear now, the unclosed nonequilibrium system, which one is a World Net, is subject to the laws of such system's self-organization. Nowadays the fractal nature of all Webs' infrastructures as super complex self-organizing transport-information system is established. Besides, in a row of its performances we observe an openness, coherence, nonlinearly, that together with other aspects allows to identify it as physical fractal structure living on the laws of self-organization. The interest to this phenomenon is quite clear. We have to know the laws of behavior of a Web because it is one of the sides of appearance of Noosphere, and we must adequately interact with it. There are numerous important problems, bound with a Web, and attempts to resolve them are the first task of human community, as nevertheless the human person creates the Web (or nature by hand of the person?) It's very interesting to analyze the previous history of occurrence of such phenomenon, as a Web, and to do the attempts of the prognoses on the future. For

Integrating genomic information with protein sequence and 3D atomic level structure at the RCSB protein data bank.

Science.gov (United States)

Prlic, Andreas; Kalro, Tara; Bhattacharya, Roshni; Christie, Cole; Burley, Stephen K; Rose, Peter W

2016-12-15

The Protein Data Bank (PDB) now contains more than 120,000 three-dimensional (3D) structures of biological macromolecules. To allow an interpretation of how PDB data relates to other publicly available annotations, we developed a novel data integration platform that maps 3D structural information across various datasets. This integration bridges from the human genome across protein sequence to 3D structure space. We developed novel software solutions for data management and visualization, while incorporating new libraries for web-based visualization using SVG graphics. The new views are available from http://www.rcsb.org and software is available from https://github.com/rcsb/. andreas.prlic@rcsb.orgSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Histofluorescent labelling of catecholaminergic structures in rotifers (Aschelminthes). II. Males of Brachionus plicatilis and structures from sectioned females.

Science.gov (United States)

Keshmirian, J; Nogrady, T

1988-01-01

1. Catecholaminergic structures in the male Brachionus plicatilis were investigated, using aqueous dansylpropranolol as fluorescent label of neurotransmitter receptors. 2. All major organs of the male are innervated by catecholaminergic systems, that may also be involved in the regulation of copulatory behavior. 3. Cryostat-sectioned preparations of the female B. plicatilis were also investigated. They provided additional information to findings on whole animals reported in our previous paper (Keshmirian and Nogrady 1987 a).

Structure and navigation for electronic publishing

Science.gov (United States)

Tillinghast, John; Beretta, Giordano B.

1998-01-01

The sudden explosion of the World Wide Web as a new publication medium has given a dramatic boost to the electronic publishing industry, which previously was a limited market centered around CD-ROMs and on-line databases. While the phenomenon has parallels to the advent of the tabloid press in the middle of last century, the electronic nature of the medium brings with it the typical characteristic of 4th wave media, namely the acceleration in its propagation speed and the volume of information. Consequently, e-publications are even flatter than print media; Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet share the same computer screen with a home-made plagiarized copy of Deep Throat. The most touted tool for locating useful information on the World Wide Web is the search engine. However, due to the medium's flatness, sought information is drowned in a sea of useless information. A better solution is to build tools that allow authors to structure information so that it can easily be navigated. We experimented with the use of ontologies as a tool to formulate structures for information about a specific topic, so that related concepts are placed in adjacent locations and can easily be navigated using simple and ergonomic user models. We describe our effort in building a World Wide Web based photo album that is shared among a small network of people.

HemeBIND: a novel method for heme binding residue prediction by combining structural and sequence information

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Hu Jianjun

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Accurate prediction of binding residues involved in the interactions between proteins and small ligands is one of the major challenges in structural bioinformatics. Heme is an essential and commonly used ligand that plays critical roles in electron transfer, catalysis, signal transduction and gene expression. Although much effort has been devoted to the development of various generic algorithms for ligand binding site prediction over the last decade, no algorithm has been specifically designed to complement experimental techniques for identification of heme binding residues. Consequently, an urgent need is to develop a computational method for recognizing these important residues. Results Here we introduced an efficient algorithm HemeBIND for predicting heme binding residues by integrating structural and sequence information. We systematically investigated the characteristics of binding interfaces based on a non-redundant dataset of heme-protein complexes. It was found that several sequence and structural attributes such as evolutionary conservation, solvent accessibility, depth and protrusion clearly illustrate the differences between heme binding and non-binding residues. These features can then be separately used or combined to build the structure-based classifiers using support vector machine (SVM. The results showed that the information contained in these features is largely complementary and their combination achieved the best performance. To further improve the performance, an attempt has been made to develop a post-processing procedure to reduce the number of false positives. In addition, we built a sequence-based classifier based on SVM and sequence profile as an alternative when only sequence information can be used. Finally, we employed a voting method to combine the outputs of structure-based and sequence-based classifiers, which demonstrated remarkably better performance than the individual classifier alone

Visual sensory networks and effective information transfer in animal groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Strandburg-Peshkin, Ariana; Twomey, Colin R; Bode, Nikolai W F; Kao, Albert B; Katz, Yael; Ioannou, Christos C; Rosenthal, Sara B; Torney, Colin J; Wu, Hai Shan; Levin, Simon A; Couzin, Iain D

2013-09-09

Social transmission of information is vital for many group-living animals, allowing coordination of motion and effective response to complex environments. Revealing the interaction networks underlying information flow within these groups is a central challenge. Previous work has modeled interactions between individuals based directly on their relative spatial positions: each individual is considered to interact with all neighbors within a fixed distance (metric range), a fixed number of nearest neighbors (topological range), a 'shell' of near neighbors (Voronoi range), or some combination (Figure 1A). However, conclusive evidence to support these assumptions is lacking. Here, we employ a novel approach that considers individual movement decisions to be based explicitly on the sensory information available to the organism. In other words, we consider that while spatial relations do inform interactions between individuals, they do so indirectly, through individuals' detection of sensory cues. We reconstruct computationally the visual field of each individual throughout experiments designed to investigate information propagation within fish schools (golden shiners, Notemigonus crysoleucas). Explicitly considering visual sensing allows us to more accurately predict the propagation of behavioral change in these groups during leadership events. Furthermore, we find that structural properties of visual interaction networks differ markedly from those of metric and topological counterparts, suggesting that previous assumptions may not appropriately reflect information flow in animal groups. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study of functional-performance deficits in athletes with previous ankle sprains

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hamid Babaee

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background: Despite the importance of functional-performance deficits in athletes with history of ankle sprain few, studies have been carried out in this area. The aim of this research was to study relationship between previous ankle sprains and functional-performance deficits in athletes. Materials and methods: The subjects were 40 professional athletes selected through random sampling among volunteer participants in soccer, basketball, volleyball and handball teams of Lorestan province. The subjects were divided into 2 groups: Injured group (athletes with previous ankle sprains and healthy group (athletes without previous ankle sprains. In this descriptive study we used Functional-performance tests (figure 8 hop test and side hop test to determine ankle deficits and limitations. They participated in figure 8 hop test including hopping in 8 shape course with the length of 5 meters and side hop test including 10 side hop repetitions in course with the length of 30 centimeters. Time were recorded via stopwatch. Results: After data gathering and assessing information distributions, Pearson correlation was used to assess relationships, and independent T test to assess differences between variables. Finally the results showed that there is a significant relationship between previous ankle sprains and functional-performance deficits in the athletes. Conclusion: The athletes who had previous ankle sprains indicated functional-performance deficits more than healthy athletes in completion of mentioned functional-performance tests. The functional-performance tests (figure 8 hop test and side hop test are sensitive and suitable to assess and detect functional-performance deficits in athletes. Therefore we can use the figure 8 hop and side hop tests for goals such as prevention, assessment and rehabilitation of ankle sprains without spending too much money and time.

Differences in the impacts of formal and informal recreational trails on urban forest loss and tree structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Ballantyne, Mark; Pickering, Catherine Marina

2015-08-15

Recreational trails are one of the most common types of infrastructure used for nature-based activities such as hiking and mountain biking worldwide. Depending on their design, location, construction, maintenance and use, these trails differ in their environmental impacts. There are few studies, however, comparing the impacts of different trail types including between formal management-created trails and informal visitor-created trails. Although both types of trails can be found in remote natural areas, dense networks of them often occur in forests close to cities where they experience intense visitor use. To assess the relative impacts of different recreational trails in urban forests, we compared the condition of the trail surface, loss of forest strata and changes in tree structure caused by seven types of trails (total network 46.1 km) traversing 17 remnants of an endangered urban forest in Australia. After mapping and classifying all trails, we assessed their impact on the forest condition at 125 sites (15 sites per trail type, plus 15 control sites within undisturbed forest). On the trail sites, the condition of the trail surface, distance from the trail edge to four forest strata (litter, understory, midstorey and tree cover) and structure of the tree-line were assessed. Informal trails generally had poorer surface conditions and were poorly-designed and located. Per site, formal and informal trails resulted in similar loss of forest strata, with wider trails resulting in greater loss of forest. Because there were more informal trails, however, they accounted for the greatest cumulative forest loss. Structural impacts varied, with the widest informal trails and all formal hardened trails resulting in similar reductions in canopy cover and tree density but an increase in saplings. These structural impacts are likely a function of the unregulated and intense use of large informal trails, and disturbance from the construction and maintenance of formal trails

Improving 3D structure prediction from chemical shift data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schot, Gijs van der [Utrecht University, Computational Structural Biology, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science-Chemistry (Netherlands); Zhang, Zaiyong [Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Biomolecular NMR and Munich Center for Integrated Protein Science, Department Chemie (Germany); Vernon, Robert [University of Washington, Department of Biochemistry (United States); Shen, Yang [National Institutes of Health, Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (United States); Vranken, Wim F. [VIB, Department of Structural Biology (Belgium); Baker, David [University of Washington, Department of Biochemistry (United States); Bonvin, Alexandre M. J. J., E-mail: a.m.j.j.bonvin@uu.nl [Utrecht University, Computational Structural Biology, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science-Chemistry (Netherlands); Lange, Oliver F., E-mail: oliver.lange@tum.de [Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Biomolecular NMR and Munich Center for Integrated Protein Science, Department Chemie (Germany)

2013-09-15

We report advances in the calculation of protein structures from chemical shift nuclear magnetic resonance data alone. Our previously developed method, CS-Rosetta, assembles structures from a library of short protein fragments picked from a large library of protein structures using chemical shifts and sequence information. Here we demonstrate that combination of a new and improved fragment picker and the iterative sampling algorithm RASREC yield significant improvements in convergence and accuracy. Moreover, we introduce improved criteria for assessing the accuracy of the models produced by the method. The method was tested on 39 proteins in the 50-100 residue size range and yields reliable structures in 70 % of the cases. All structures that passed the reliability filter were accurate (<2 A RMSD from the reference)

Epistemic Information in Stratified M-Spaces

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Mark Burgin

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Information is usually related to knowledge. However, the recent development of information theory demonstrated that information is a much broader concept, being actually present in and virtually related to everything. As a result, many unknown types and kinds of information have been discovered. Nevertheless, information that acts on knowledge, bringing new and updating existing knowledge, is of primary importance to people. It is called epistemic information, which is studied in this paper based on the general theory of information and further developing its mathematical stratum. As a synthetic approach, which reveals the essence of information, organizing and encompassing all main directions in information theory, the general theory of information provides efficient means for such a study. Different types of information dynamics representation use tools of mathematical disciplines such as the theory of categories, functional analysis, mathematical logic and algebra. Here we employ algebraic structures for exploration of information and knowledge dynamics. In Introduction (Section 1, we discuss previous studies of epistemic information. Section 2 gives a compressed description of the parametric phenomenological definition of information in the general theory of information. In Section 3, anthropic information, which is received, exchanged, processed and used by people is singled out and studied based on the Componential Triune Brain model. One of the basic forms of anthropic information called epistemic information, which is related to knowledge, is analyzed in Section 4. Mathematical models of epistemic information are studied in Section 5. In Conclusion, some open problems related to epistemic information are given.

Job-Structure and Job-Related Information

OpenAIRE

川上, 善郎

1981-01-01

The requirements of job-related information in many domain, such as personnel selection, placement, training, personnel appraisal, job evaluation, job design etc, have developed many techniques of job analysis.In this paper, several approaches to analyze the job characteristics are reviewed; (a) conventional approach, (b) worker-oriented approach, and (c) perceived job characteristics approach.In addition, new direction of job-related information is discussed.

Automated error-tolerant macromolecular structure determination from multidimensional nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectra and chemical shift assignments: improved robustness and performance of the PASD algorithm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuszewski, John J.; Thottungal, Robin Augustine [National Institutes of Health, Imaging Sciences Laboratory, Center for Information Technology (United States); Clore, G. Marius [National Institutes of Health, Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (United States)], E-mail: mariusc@mail.nih.gov; Schwieters, Charles D. [National Institutes of Health, Imaging Sciences Laboratory, Center for Information Technology (United States)], E-mail: Charles.Schwieters@nih.gov

2008-08-15

We report substantial improvements to the previously introduced automated NOE assignment and structure determination protocol known as PASD (Kuszewski et al. (2004) J Am Chem Soc 26:6258-6273). The improved protocol includes extensive analysis of input spectral data to create a low-resolution contact map of residues expected to be close in space. This map is used to obtain reasonable initial guesses of NOE assignment likelihoods which are refined during subsequent structure calculations. Information in the contact map about which residues are predicted to not be close in space is applied via conservative repulsive distance restraints which are used in early phases of the structure calculations. In comparison with the previous protocol, the new protocol requires significantly less computation time. We show results of running the new PASD protocol on six proteins and demonstrate that useful assignment and structural information is extracted on proteins of more than 220 residues. We show that useful assignment information can be obtained even in the case in which a unique structure cannot be determined.

Impact of Health Information Exchange on Emergency Medicine Clinical Decision Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Bradley D; Bernard, Kyle; Salzman, Josh; Whitebird, Robin R

2015-12-01

The objective of the study was to understand the immediate utility of health information exchange (HIE) on emergency department (ED) providers by interviewing them shortly after the information was retrieved. Prior studies of physician perceptions regarding HIE have only been performed outside of the care environment. Trained research assistants interviewed resident physicians, physician assistants and attending physicians using a semi-structured questionnaire within two hours of making a HIE request. The responses were recorded, then transcribed for qualitative analysis. The transcribed interviews were analyzed for emerging qualitative themes. We analyzed 40 interviews obtained from 29 providers. Primary qualitative themes discovered included the following: drivers for requests for outside information; the importance of unexpected information; historical lab values as reference points; providing context when determining whether to admit or discharge a patient; the importance of information in refining disposition; improved confidence of provider; and changes in decisions for diagnostic imaging. ED providers are driven to use HIE when they're missing a known piece of information. This study finds two additional impacts not previously reported. First, providers sometimes find additional unanticipated useful information, supporting a workflow that lowers the threshold to request external information. Second, providers sometimes report utility when no changes to their existing plan are made as their confidence is increased based on external records. Our findings are concordant with previous studies in finding exchanged information is useful to provide context for interpreting lab results, making admission decisions, and prevents repeat diagnostic imaging.

PROJECT EVALUATION OF TECHNICAL CONDITION OF SHIP STRUCTURES WITH USE OF INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Юлия Алексеевна КАЗИМИРЕНКО

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The mechanisms for evaluation of technical conditions of ship constructions were investigated and was developed a new specialized informational and search system for the collection, analysis and processing the defects of new materials during the designing, construction, operation of ships and floating structures for transportation of goods 1, 4, 6-8 classes of danger.

Validation and calibration of structural models that combine information from multiple sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Dahabreh, Issa J; Wong, John B; Trikalinos, Thomas A

2017-02-01

Mathematical models that attempt to capture structural relationships between their components and combine information from multiple sources are increasingly used in medicine. Areas covered: We provide an overview of methods for model validation and calibration and survey studies comparing alternative approaches. Expert commentary: Model validation entails a confrontation of models with data, background knowledge, and other models, and can inform judgments about model credibility. Calibration involves selecting parameter values to improve the agreement of model outputs with data. When the goal of modeling is quantitative inference on the effects of interventions or forecasting, calibration can be viewed as estimation. This view clarifies issues related to parameter identifiability and facilitates formal model validation and the examination of consistency among different sources of information. In contrast, when the goal of modeling is the generation of qualitative insights about the modeled phenomenon, calibration is a rather informal process for selecting inputs that result in model behavior that roughly reproduces select aspects of the modeled phenomenon and cannot be equated to an estimation procedure. Current empirical research on validation and calibration methods consists primarily of methodological appraisals or case-studies of alternative techniques and cannot address the numerous complex and multifaceted methodological decisions that modelers must make. Further research is needed on different approaches for developing and validating complex models that combine evidence from multiple sources.

The Structure of the Enterprise’s Information Potential in the Context of Carrying out Strategic Analysis

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Saukh Iryna V.

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The article is aimed at studying the structure of the enterprise’s information potential, evaluating its subsystems and the depth of strategic analysis based on the level of strategic uncertainty. It has been proven that information potential as a system includes the subsystem of incoming strategic information; the subsystem of evaluation of the information received; the subsystem for processing and transmission of strategic information. An assessment of the level of information saturation of the external environment together with the extent to which the information potential is used depending on the allocated criteria has beens made. A descriptive model of information potential has been developed, application of which will make possible to assess its level of development in terms of financial, based on external and internal information received, and a methodical approach to determining the depth of strategic analysis, depending on the level of strategic uncertainties in the external environment, using the matrix method (based on assessment of the ratio of impact of the environmental factors and the urgency of strategic decision-making has been suggested.

A database paradigm for the management of DICOM-RT structure sets using a geographic information system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shao, Weber; Kupelian, Patrick A; Wang, Jason; Low, Daniel A; Ruan, Dan

2014-01-01

We devise a paradigm for representing the DICOM-RT structure sets in a database management system, in such way that secondary calculations of geometric information can be performed quickly from the existing contour definitions. The implementation of this paradigm is achieved using the PostgreSQL database system and the PostGIS extension, a geographic information system commonly used for encoding geographical map data. The proposed paradigm eliminates the overhead of retrieving large data records from the database, as well as the need to implement various numerical and data parsing routines, when additional information related to the geometry of the anatomy is desired.

A database paradigm for the management of DICOM-RT structure sets using a geographic information system

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Weber; Kupelian, Patrick A.; Wang, Jason; Low, Daniel A.; Ruan, Dan

2014-03-01

We devise a paradigm for representing the DICOM-RT structure sets in a database management system, in such way that secondary calculations of geometric information can be performed quickly from the existing contour definitions. The implementation of this paradigm is achieved using the PostgreSQL database system and the PostGIS extension, a geographic information system commonly used for encoding geographical map data. The proposed paradigm eliminates the overhead of retrieving large data records from the database, as well as the need to implement various numerical and data parsing routines, when additional information related to the geometry of the anatomy is desired.

Towards Information Lasers

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Andrei Khrennikov

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Recently, the methods of quantum theory (QT, especially quantum information and probability, started to be widely applied outside of physics: in cognitive, social and political sciences, psychology, economics, finances, decision making, molecular biology and genetics. Such models can be called quantum-like, in contrast to real quantum physical cognitive and biological models. Quantum-like means that only the information and probability structures of QT are explored. This approach matches the information interpretation of QT well (e.g., Zeilinger and Brukner, Fuchs and Mermin, D’Ariano, as well as the informational viewpoint on physics in general (e.g., Wheeler’s “it from bit” paradigm. In this paper, we propose a quantum-like model of an information laser by precessing the assumptions on the structure of state spaces of information processors, “information atoms” (i-atoms and information fields. The basic assumption is the discrete structure of state spaces related to quantization of an information analog of energy. To analyze a possible structure of the state space of i-atoms leading to the possibility to create information lasers, we have to develop a purely information version of quantum thermodynamics. We did this by placing the main attention on the derivation of the conditions for the equilibrium of information exchange between i-atoms and a quantized information field.

Personal Information as Communicative Acts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mai, Jens-Erik

2016-01-01

The paper extends previous accounts of informational privacy as a contextual notion. Where previous accounts have focused on interpretations of the privacy context itself as being contextual and open for negotiation and interpretation, this paper extends those analyses and shows that personal...... information itself is in fact best understood as contextual and situational—and as such open for interpretation. The paper reviews the notion of information as it has been applied in informational privacy and philosophy of information, and suggests that personal information ought to be regarded...... as communicative acts. The paper suggests a reconceptualization of informational privacy from having its focus on controlling, limiting, and restricting access to material carriers of information to a focus on a regulation of the use, analysis, and interpretation of personal information....

Information and information flow an introduction

CERN Document Server

Bremer, Manuel

2004-01-01

This book is conceived as an introductory text into the theory of syntactic and semantic information, and information flow. Syntactic information theory is concerned with the information contained in the very fact that some signal has a non-random structure. Semantic information theory is concerned with the meaning or information content of messages and the like. The theory of information flow is concerned with deriving some piece of information from another. The main part will take us to situation semantics as a foundation of modern approaches in information theory. We give a brief overview o

Managing Information Uncertainty in Wave Height Modeling for the Offshore Structural Analysis through Random Set

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keqin Yan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This chapter presents a reliability study for an offshore jacket structure with emphasis on the features of nonconventional modeling. Firstly, a random set model is formulated for modeling the random waves in an ocean site. Then, a jacket structure is investigated in a pushover analysis to identify the critical wave direction and key structural elements. This is based on the ultimate base shear strength. The selected probabilistic models are adopted for the important structural members and the wave direction is specified in the weakest direction of the structure for a conservative safety analysis. The wave height model is processed in a P-box format when it is used in the numerical analysis. The models are applied to find the bounds of the failure probabilities for the jacket structure. The propagation of this wave model to the uncertainty in results is investigated in both an interval analysis and Monte Carlo simulation. The results are compared in context of information content and numerical accuracy. Further, the failure probability bounds are compared with the conventional probabilistic approach.

Toward Accessing Spatial Structure from Building Information Models

Science.gov (United States)

Schultz, C.; Bhatt, M.

2011-08-01

Data about building designs and layouts is becoming increasingly more readily available. In the near future, service personal (such as maintenance staff or emergency rescue workers) arriving at a building site will have immediate real-time access to enormous amounts of data relating to structural properties, utilities, materials, temperature, and so on. The critical problem for users is the taxing and error prone task of interpreting such a large body of facts in order to extract salient information. This is necessary for comprehending a situation and deciding on a plan of action, and is a particularly serious issue in time-critical and safety-critical activities such as firefighting. Current unifying building models such as the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), while being comprehensive, do not directly provide data structures that focus on spatial reasoning and spatial modalities that are required for high-level analytical tasks. The aim of the research presented in this paper is to provide computational tools for higher level querying and reasoning that shift the cognitive burden of dealing with enormous amounts of data away from the user. The user can then spend more energy and time in planning and decision making in order to accomplish the tasks at hand. We present an overview of our framework that provides users with an enhanced model of "built-up space". In order to test our approach using realistic design data (in terms of both scale and the nature of the building models) we describe how our system interfaces with IFC, and we conduct timing experiments to determine the practicality of our approach. We discuss general computational approaches for deriving higher-level spatial modalities by focusing on the example of route graphs. Finally, we present a firefighting scenario with alternative route graphs to motivate the application of our framework.

Solving crystal structures from powder data. I. The role of the prior information in the two-stage method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Altomare, A.; Carrozzini, B.; Giacovazzo, C.; Guagliardi, A.; Moliterni, A.G.G.; Rizzi, R.

1996-01-01

For pt.II see ibid., p.674-81, 1996. The principal limitation of the diffraction methods for crystal structure analysis from powder data is originated by the collapse of the three-dimensional reciprocal space into the one dimension of the powder diffraction pattern. The degradation of the information can make difficult even the solution of small crystal structures and can generate inefficiencies in the least-squares methods devoted to crystal structure refinement. In this paper, the current two-stage procedures, the first stage dedicated to powder-pattern decomposition and the second to direct phasing of powder data, are analysed. It is shown that in the first stage such procedures disregard a large amount of information that can become available during the process of crystal structure solution and analysis. The use of such information is essential for making direct-methods procedures more robust and for improving the accuracy of the least-squares techniques. The performances of EXTRA [Altomare, Burla, Cascarano, Giacovazzo, Guagliardi, Moliterni and Polidori (1995). J. Appl. Cryst. 28, 842-846], a program for full-pattern decomposition based on the Le Bail algorithm, and of SIRPOW.92 [Altomare, Burla, Cascarano, Giacovazzo, Guagliardi, Polidori and Camalli (1994). J. Appl. Cryst. 27, 435-436], a direct-methods program optimized for powder data, are discussed in order to offer to the reader a logical pathway for the analysis of the traditional techniques and for the proposition of a new approach. It is shown that pattern-decomposition programs based on the Le Bail algorithm are able to exploit the prior information in a more effective way than Pawley-method-based decomposition programs. (orig.)

Regional dGEMRIC analysis in patients at risk of osteoarthritis provides additional information about activity related changes in cartilage structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hawezi, Z K; Lammentausta, E; Svensson, J

2016-01-01

. PURPOSE: To improve the knowledge about exercise effects on cartilage structure by re-analyzing previous images with regional dGEMRIC analysis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty patients (age range, 38-50 years) with a previous medial meniscus resection were divided into three groups according to self...... the joint, the largest improvement being observed in lateral posterior cartilage, i.e. the load-bearing cartilage in the compartment without a meniscus lesion. The effects of exercise do not seem to vary with cartilage depth....

A user needs assessment to inform health information exchange design and implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Strauss, Alexandra T; Martinez, Diego A; Garcia-Arce, Andres; Taylor, Stephanie; Mateja, Candice; Fabri, Peter J; Zayas-Castro, Jose L

2015-10-12

Important barriers for widespread use of health information exchange (HIE) are usability and interface issues. However, most HIEs are implemented without performing a needs assessment with the end users, healthcare providers. We performed a user needs assessment for the process of obtaining clinical information from other health care organizations about a hospitalized patient and identified the types of information most valued for medical decision-making. Quantitative and qualitative analysis were used to evaluate the process to obtain and use outside clinical information (OI) using semi-structured interviews (16 internists), direct observation (750 h), and operational data from the electronic medical records (30,461 hospitalizations) of an internal medicine department in a public, teaching hospital in Tampa, Florida. 13.7 % of hospitalizations generate at least one request for OI. On average, the process comprised 13 steps, 6 decisions points, and 4 different participants. Physicians estimate that the average time to receive OI is 18 h. Physicians perceived that OI received is not useful 33-66 % of the time because information received is irrelevant or not timely. Technical barriers to OI use included poor accessibility and ineffective information visualization. Common problems with the process were receiving extraneous notes and the need to re-request the information. Drivers for OI use were to trend lab or imaging abnormalities, understand medical history of critically ill or hospital-to-hospital transferred patients, and assess previous echocardiograms and bacterial cultures. About 85 % of the physicians believe HIE would have a positive effect on improving healthcare delivery. Although hospitalists are challenged by a complex process to obtain OI, they recognize the value of specific information for enhancing medical decision-making. HIE systems are likely to have increased utilization and effectiveness if specific patient-level clinical information is

Previous experience in manned space flight: A survey of human factors lessons learned

Science.gov (United States)

Chandlee, George O.; Woolford, Barbara

1993-01-01

Previous experience in manned space flight programs can be used to compile a data base of human factors lessons learned for the purpose of developing aids in the future design of inhabited spacecraft. The objectives are to gather information available from relevant sources, to develop a taxonomy of human factors data, and to produce a data base that can be used in the future for those people involved in the design of manned spacecraft operations. A study is currently underway at the Johnson Space Center with the objective of compiling, classifying, and summarizing relevant human factors data bearing on the lessons learned from previous manned space flights. The research reported defines sources of data, methods for collection, and proposes a classification for human factors data that may be a model for other human factors disciplines.

78 FR 13057 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Information Collection; IT Dashboard Feedback Mechanism

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-26

... Information Collection Activities; Information Collection; IT Dashboard Feedback Mechanism AGENCY: Office of... previously approved information collection requirement regarding IT Dashboard Feedback Mechanism. DATES... Collection 3090- 0285, IT Dashboard Feedback Mechanism, by any of the following methods: Regulations.gov...

Non-Price Competition and the Structure of the Online Information Industry: Q-Analysis of Medical Databases and Hosts.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Roy

1987-01-01

Discussion of the online information industry emphasizes the effects of non-price competition on its structure and the firms involved. Q-analysis is applied to data on medical databases and hosts, changes over a three-year period are identified, and an optimum structure for the industry based on economic theory is considered. (Author/LRW)

Dam safety review using non-destructive methods for reinforced concrete structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Philibert, Alain; Saint-Pierre, Francois; Turcotte, Bernard [Le Groupe S.M. International Inc., Sherbrooke, (Canada)

2010-07-01

Dams built at the beginning of the twentieth century include concrete structures that were put in under rehabilitation works. In some cases, the details of the structures are not well documented. In other cases, concrete damage can be hidden under new layers of undamaged material. This requires that the dam safety review in a real investigation gather the information necessary for carrying out the hydraulic and stability studies required by the Dam Safety Act. This paper presented the process of dam safety review using non-destructive methods for reinforced concrete structures. Two reinforced concrete dams built in the 1900's, the Eustic dam on the Coaticook River and the Frontenac dam on the Magog River near Sherbrooke, were evaluated by S.M. International using non-destructive methods such as sonic and ground penetrating radar methods. The studies allowed mapping of concrete damage and provided geometric information on some non visible structure elements that were part of previous reinforcement operations.

Shallow structure of the Somma Vesuvius volcano from 3D inversion of gravity data

Science.gov (United States)

Cella, Federico; Fedi, Maurizio; Florio, Giovanni; Grimaldi, Marino; Rapolla, Antonio

2007-04-01

A gravity investigation was carried out in the Somma-Vesuvius complex area (Campania, Italy) based on a dataset recently enlarged with new measurements. These cover the volcanic top and fill some other important spatial gaps in previous surveys. Besides the new gravity map of the Vesuvius, we also present the results of a 3D inverse modelling, carried out by using constraints from deep well exploration and seismic reflection surveys. The resulting density model provides a complete reconstruction of the top of the carbonate basement. This is relevant mostly on the western side of the survey area, where no significant information was previously available. Other new information regards the Somma-Vesuvius structure. It consists of an annular volume of rocks around the volcanic vent and that extends down to the carbonate basement. It results to be denser with respect to the surrounding sedimentary cover of the Campanian Plain and to the material located just along the central axis of the volcanic structure. The coherence between these features and other geophysical evidences from previous studies, will be discussed together with the other results of this research.

Delivering Breast Reconstruction Information to Patients: Women Report on Preferred Information Delivery Styles and Options.

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, Carmen; Sharma, Vishal; Temple-Oberle, Claire

2018-02-01

To discover missed opportunities for providing information to women undergoing breast reconstruction in an effort to decrease regret and improve patient education, teaching modalities, and satisfaction. Thirty- to 45-minute semi-structured interviews were conducted exploring patient experiences with information provision on breast reconstruction. Purposeful sampling was used to include women with a variety of reconstruction types at different time points along their recovery. Using grounded theory methodology, 2 independent reviewers analyzed the transcripts and generated thematic codes based on patient responses. BREAST-Q scores were also collected to compare satisfaction scores with qualitative responses. Patients were interested in a wide variety of topics related to breast reconstruction including the pros and cons of different options, nipple-sparing mastectomies, immediate breast reconstruction, oncological safety/monitoring and the impact of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, secondary procedures (balancing, nipple reconstruction), post-operative recovery, and long-term expectations. Patients valued accessing information from multiple sources, seeing numerous photographs, being guided to reliable information online, and having access to a frequently asked questions file or document. Information delivery via interaction with medical personnel and previously reconstructed patients was most appreciated. Compared with BREAST-Q scores for satisfaction with the plastic surgeon (mean: 95.7, range: 60-100), informational satisfaction scores were lower at 74.7 (50-100), confirming the informational gaps expressed by interviewees. Women having recently undergone breast reconstruction reported key deficiencies in information provided prior to surgery and identified preferred information delivery options. Addressing women's educational needs is important to achieve appropriate expectations and improve satisfaction.

ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION - THE FOUNDATION OF STRUCTURING FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND THEIR FUNDAMENTAL ROLE IN CREATING THE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY OF COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Igor ZDRAVKOSKI

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Scope of the economies of countries and manner of operation in various business entities and institutions creates the amount and importance of information as a whole. Diversity of the structure of information conceives the method and the need for its distribution to those who are interested in it. Hence, the question arises - how to get to the right information? Consumers in order to create their goals and tasks group themselves and search through the pile of information and data for anything that would enable better planning and creating a more secure future. Therefore, accounting managers perceive this very accurately and carefully conceive balance reports by inserting financial data and information that form the bedrock in their future structuring. Namely, the creating of financial statements provides disclosure of accounting and financial information for certain business transactions and actions of the company in a given period.

Investigation of RNA structure in satellite panicum mosaic virus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makino, D.L.; Day, J.; Larson, S.B.; McPherson, A.

2006-01-01

Three new crystal forms of satellite panicum mosaic virus (SPMV) were grown and their structures solved from X-ray diffraction data using molecular replacement techniques. The crystals were grown under conditions of pH and ionic strength that were appreciably different then those used for the original structure determination. In rhombohedral crystals grown at pH 8.5 and low ionic strength PEG 3350 solutions, Fourier syntheses revealed segments, ten amino acid residues long, of amino-terminal polypeptides not previously seen, as well as masses of electron density within concavities on the interior of the capsid, which appeared in the neighborhoods of icosahedral five- and threefold axes. The densities were compatible with secondary structural domains of RNA, and they included a segment of double helical RNA of about four to five base pairs oriented, at least approximately, along the fivefold axes. The distribution of RNA observed for SPMV appears to be distinctly different than the encapsidated nucleic acid conformation previously suggested for another satellite virus, satellite tobacco mosaic virus. This study further shows that analysis of viruses in crystals grown under different chemical conditions may reveal additional information regarding the structure of encapsidated RNA

Structural Information Inference from Lanthanoid Complexing Systems: Photoluminescence Studies on Isolated Ions

Science.gov (United States)

Greisch, Jean Francois; Harding, Michael E.; Chmela, Jiri; Klopper, Willem M.; Schooss, Detlef; Kappes, Manfred M.

2016-06-01

The application of lanthanoid complexes ranges from photovoltaics and light-emitting diodes to quantum memories and biological assays. Rationalization of their design requires a thorough understanding of intramolecular processes such as energy transfer, charge transfer, and non-radiative decay involving their subunits. Characterization of the excited states of such complexes considerably benefits from mass spectrometric methods since the associated optical transitions and processes are strongly affected by stoichiometry, symmetry, and overall charge state. We report herein spectroscopic measurements on ensembles of ions trapped in the gas phase and soft-landed in neon matrices. Their interpretation is considerably facilitated by direct comparison with computations. The combination of energy- and time-resolved measurements on isolated species with density functional as well as ligand-field and Franck-Condon computations enables us to infer structural as well as dynamical information about the species studied. The approach is first illustrated for sets of model lanthanoid complexes whose structure and electronic properties are systematically varied via the substitution of one component (lanthanoid or alkali,alkali-earth ion): (i) systematic dependence of ligand-centered phosphorescence on the lanthanoid(III) promotion energy and its impact on sensitization, and (ii) structural changes induced by the substitution of alkali or alkali-earth ions in relation with structures inferred using ion mobility spectroscopy. The temperature dependence of sensitization is briefly discussed. The focus is then shifted to measurements involving europium complexes with doxycycline an antibiotic of the tetracycline family. Besides discussing the complexes' structural and electronic features, we report on their use to monitor enzymatic processes involving hydrogen peroxide or biologically relevant molecules such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL CONTENT OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE AS A PART OF THE PROSPECTIVE MUSIC TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lyudmila Gavrilova

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to an actual problem of modern art, especially music, education – analysis of the structure and content of the professional competence of the future teachers of music. By studying the basic categories of competence approach, analyzing the research of domestic and foreign scholars, the author offers his own interpretation of the term “professional competence of the future teachers of music”. Systemic analysis of the phenomenon of competence as specific integral ability which provides efficiency of music pedagogy enabled to define professional competence of future music teachers in the context of informatization as a complex dynamic unity of three segments (pedagogy, musical proficiency, exploitation of information and communication technologies, each comprising cognitive, practical, emotive and evaluative spheres of personal development. Special accent is made on the structure and content of the information and communication competence, the importance of its formation confirmed by numerous scientists’ research. The author identifies the following components of the structure of future music teachers’ information and communication competence: - cognitive component (the necessary volume of theoretical knowledge in the area of information and communication technologies, including multimedia; - practical skills working in Information and Communication Pedagogical Environment, the ability to use multimedia educational tools for solving problems of professional activity (ready to use electronic manuals and independently develop their own computer books, skills of the online communication; - interest and positive attitude to the use of computer technology in professional musical and educational activities.

Team locus-of-control composition, leadership structure, information acquisition, and financial performance: A business simulation study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boone, Christophe; Van Olffen, W; van Witteloostuijn, A

2005-01-01

We argue that team information acquisition mediates the effect of the relationship of team locus-of-control composition and leadership structure on team financial performance in a decision-making context. Hypotheses were tested on 44 teams participating in an elaborate and lengthy international

Sleep Benefits Memory for Semantic Category Structure While Preserving Exemplar-Specific Information.

Science.gov (United States)

Schapiro, Anna C; McDevitt, Elizabeth A; Chen, Lang; Norman, Kenneth A; Mednick, Sara C; Rogers, Timothy T

2017-11-01

Semantic memory encompasses knowledge about both the properties that typify concepts (e.g. robins, like all birds, have wings) as well as the properties that individuate conceptually related items (e.g. robins, in particular, have red breasts). We investigate the impact of sleep on new semantic learning using a property inference task in which both kinds of information are initially acquired equally well. Participants learned about three categories of novel objects possessing some properties that were shared among category exemplars and others that were unique to an exemplar, with exposure frequency varying across categories. In Experiment 1, memory for shared properties improved and memory for unique properties was preserved across a night of sleep, while memory for both feature types declined over a day awake. In Experiment 2, memory for shared properties improved across a nap, but only for the lower-frequency category, suggesting a prioritization of weakly learned information early in a sleep period. The increase was significantly correlated with amount of REM, but was also observed in participants who did not enter REM, suggesting involvement of both REM and NREM sleep. The results provide the first evidence that sleep improves memory for the shared structure of object categories, while simultaneously preserving object-unique information.

The RCSB protein data bank: integrative view of protein, gene and 3D structural information.

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Peter W; Prlić, Andreas; Altunkaya, Ali; Bi, Chunxiao; Bradley, Anthony R; Christie, Cole H; Costanzo, Luigi Di; Duarte, Jose M; Dutta, Shuchismita; Feng, Zukang; Green, Rachel Kramer; Goodsell, David S; Hudson, Brian; Kalro, Tara; Lowe, Robert; Peisach, Ezra; Randle, Christopher; Rose, Alexander S; Shao, Chenghua; Tao, Yi-Ping; Valasatava, Yana; Voigt, Maria; Westbrook, John D; Woo, Jesse; Yang, Huangwang; Young, Jasmine Y; Zardecki, Christine; Berman, Helen M; Burley, Stephen K

2017-01-04

The Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics Protein Data Bank (RCSB PDB, http://rcsb.org), the US data center for the global PDB archive, makes PDB data freely available to all users, from structural biologists to computational biologists and beyond. New tools and resources have been added to the RCSB PDB web portal in support of a 'Structural View of Biology.' Recent developments have improved the User experience, including the high-speed NGL Viewer that provides 3D molecular visualization in any web browser, improved support for data file download and enhanced organization of website pages for query, reporting and individual structure exploration. Structure validation information is now visible for all archival entries. PDB data have been integrated with external biological resources, including chromosomal position within the human genome; protein modifications; and metabolic pathways. PDB-101 educational materials have been reorganized into a searchable website and expanded to include new features such as the Geis Digital Archive. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Reliability of containment and safety-related structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nessim, M.A.

1995-09-01

A research program on Reliability of Containment and Safety-related Structures has been developed and is described in this document. This program is designed to support AECB's regulatory activities aimed at ensuring the safety of these structures. These activities include evaluating submissions by operators and requesting special assessments when necessary. The results of the proposed research will also be useful in revising and enhancing the CSA design standards for containment and safety-related structures. The process of developing the research program started with an information collection and review phase. The sources of information included C-FER's previous work in the area, various recent research publications, regulatory documents and relevant design standards, and a detailed discussion with AECB staff. The second step was to outline the process of reliability evaluation, and identify the required models and parameters. Comparison between the required and available information was used to identify gaps in the state-of-the-art, and the research program was designed to fill these gaps. The program is organized in four major topics, namely: development of an approach for reliability analysis; compilation and development of the required analysis tools; application to specific problems related to design, assessment, maintenance and testing of structures; and testing and validation. It is suggested that the program should be supported by an on-going process of communication and consultation between AECB staff and industry experts. This will lend credibility to the results and facilitate their future application. (author). 1 fig

SU-G-JeP3-04: Estimating 4D CBCT from Prior Information and Extremely Limited Angle Projections Using Structural PCA and Weighted Free-Form Deformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harris, W; Yin, F; Zhang, Y; Ren, L

2016-01-01

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of using structure-based principal component analysis (PCA) motion-modeling and weighted free-form deformation to estimate on-board 4D-CBCT using prior information and extremely limited angle projections for potential 4D target verification of lung radiotherapy. Methods: A technique for lung 4D-CBCT reconstruction has been previously developed using a deformation field map (DFM)-based strategy. In the previous method, each phase of the 4D-CBCT was generated by deforming a prior CT volume. The DFM was solved by a motion-model extracted by global PCA and a free-form deformation (GMM-FD) technique, using data fidelity constraint and the deformation energy minimization. In this study, a new structural-PCA method was developed to build a structural motion-model (SMM) by accounting for potential relative motion pattern changes between different anatomical structures from simulation to treatment. The motion model extracted from planning 4DCT was divided into two structures: tumor and body excluding tumor, and the parameters of both structures were optimized together. Weighted free-form deformation (WFD) was employed afterwards to introduce flexibility in adjusting the weightings of different structures in the data fidelity constraint based on clinical interests. XCAT (computerized patient model) simulation with a 30 mm diameter lesion was simulated with various anatomical and respirational changes from planning 4D-CT to onboard volume. The estimation accuracy was evaluated by the Volume-Percent-Difference (VPD)/Center-of-Mass-Shift (COMS) between lesions in the estimated and “ground-truth” on board 4D-CBCT. Results: Among 6 different XCAT scenarios corresponding to respirational and anatomical changes from planning CT to on-board using single 30° on-board projections, the VPD/COMS for SMM-WFD was reduced to 10.64±3.04%/1.20±0.45mm from 21.72±9.24%/1.80±0.53mm for GMM-FD. Using 15° orthogonal projections, the VPD/COMS was

SU-G-JeP3-04: Estimating 4D CBCT from Prior Information and Extremely Limited Angle Projections Using Structural PCA and Weighted Free-Form Deformation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harris, W; Yin, F; Zhang, Y; Ren, L [Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of using structure-based principal component analysis (PCA) motion-modeling and weighted free-form deformation to estimate on-board 4D-CBCT using prior information and extremely limited angle projections for potential 4D target verification of lung radiotherapy. Methods: A technique for lung 4D-CBCT reconstruction has been previously developed using a deformation field map (DFM)-based strategy. In the previous method, each phase of the 4D-CBCT was generated by deforming a prior CT volume. The DFM was solved by a motion-model extracted by global PCA and a free-form deformation (GMM-FD) technique, using data fidelity constraint and the deformation energy minimization. In this study, a new structural-PCA method was developed to build a structural motion-model (SMM) by accounting for potential relative motion pattern changes between different anatomical structures from simulation to treatment. The motion model extracted from planning 4DCT was divided into two structures: tumor and body excluding tumor, and the parameters of both structures were optimized together. Weighted free-form deformation (WFD) was employed afterwards to introduce flexibility in adjusting the weightings of different structures in the data fidelity constraint based on clinical interests. XCAT (computerized patient model) simulation with a 30 mm diameter lesion was simulated with various anatomical and respirational changes from planning 4D-CT to onboard volume. The estimation accuracy was evaluated by the Volume-Percent-Difference (VPD)/Center-of-Mass-Shift (COMS) between lesions in the estimated and “ground-truth” on board 4D-CBCT. Results: Among 6 different XCAT scenarios corresponding to respirational and anatomical changes from planning CT to on-board using single 30° on-board projections, the VPD/COMS for SMM-WFD was reduced to 10.64±3.04%/1.20±0.45mm from 21.72±9.24%/1.80±0.53mm for GMM-FD. Using 15° orthogonal projections, the VPD/COMS was

The overlapping community structure of structural brain network in young healthy individuals.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kai Wu

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Community structure is a universal and significant feature of many complex networks in biology, society, and economics. Community structure has also been revealed in human brain structural and functional networks in previous studies. However, communities overlap and share many edges and nodes. Uncovering the overlapping community structure of complex networks remains largely unknown in human brain networks. Here, using regional gray matter volume, we investigated the structural brain network among 90 brain regions (according to a predefined anatomical atlas in 462 young, healthy individuals. Overlapped nodes between communities were defined by assuming that nodes (brain regions can belong to more than one community. We demonstrated that 90 brain regions were organized into 5 overlapping communities associated with several well-known brain systems, such as the auditory/language, visuospatial, emotion, decision-making, social, control of action, memory/learning, and visual systems. The overlapped nodes were mostly involved in an inferior-posterior pattern and were primarily related to auditory and visual perception. The overlapped nodes were mainly attributed to brain regions with higher node degrees and nodal efficiency and played a pivotal role in the flow of information through the structural brain network. Our results revealed fuzzy boundaries between communities by identifying overlapped nodes and provided new insights into the understanding of the relationship between the structure and function of the human brain. This study provides the first report of the overlapping community structure of the structural network of the human brain.

Getting meaningful informed consent from older adults: a structured literature review of empirical research.

Science.gov (United States)

Sugarman, J; McCrory, D C; Hubal, R C

1998-04-01

To perform a structured literature review of the published empirical research on informed consent with older adults in order to make recommendations to improve the informed consent process and to highlight areas needing further examination. Relevant literature was identified by searching electronic databases (AGELINE, BIOETHICSLINE, CancerLit, Ethics Index, Health, LegalTrac, MEDLINE, PAIS International, PsycInfo, and Sociofile). Studies were included if they were reports of primary research data about informed consent and, if patients or other subjects were used, older subjects were included in the sample. Data related to the aspect of informed consent under study (recruitment, decision-making capacity, voluntariness, disclosure of information, understanding of information, consent forms, authorization, and policies and procedures) were abstracted and entered into a specially designed database. Characterization of the population, age of subjects, setting, whether informed consent was being studied in the context of research or treatment, study design, the nature of outcome or dependent variables, independent variables (e.g., experimental conditions in a randomized controlled trial or patient/subject characteristics in a nonrandomized comparison), and results according to the aspect of informed consent under study. A total of 99 articles met all the inclusion criteria and posed 289 unique research questions covering a wide range of aspects of informed consent: recruitment (60); decision making capacity (21); voluntariness (6); disclosure (30); understanding (139); consent forms (7); authorization (11); policies (13); and other (2). In the secondary analyses of numerous studies, diminished understanding of informed consent information was associated with older age and fewer years of education. Older age was also sometimes associated with decreased participation in research. Studies of disclosure of informed consent information suggest strategies to improve

Typography, Color, and Information Structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Keyes, Elizabeth

1993-01-01

Focuses on how typography and color complement and differ from each other in signaling an underlying content structure; the synergism between typography, color, and page layout (use of white space) that aids audience understanding and use; and the characteristics of typography and of color that are most important in these contexts. (SR)

Accessing Queensland's soil information - an open data revolution!

Science.gov (United States)

Bryant, Kelly; O'Brien, Lauren; Brough, Daniel

2015-07-01

The Queensland government is the custodian of soil and land resource information with an estimated value of 75 million. The Soil and Land Information (SALI) system houses this data from over 600 distinct studies with some 96,000 soil observations dating back to the 1940s. This data is now not only used by government but by universities, councils, landowners, consultants and schools. Providing this information to the public in an easy and accessible way, with a focus towards online delivery is crucial. Previous issues with distribution of online soils information in Queensland have stemmed not only from limits to technology but also, changing departmental structures and multiple websites. The department which manages soils information in Queensland has undergone nine name changes in the last 12 years due to Machinery of Government (MoG) restructures. This constantly changing web presence and branding is as confusing for people sourcing soils information as it is for those providing it. The Queensland government has now moved to a whole of government online environment. This is a single website with no reference to the convoluted structures within government or department names. The aim is to prevent impacts from future MoG changes on the provision of data and information to the public. Queensland government soils now has a single dedicated website (qld.gov.au/environment/land/soil) which has allowed us to start to build a repository for soils information and is a single portal for people to access soils data. It has been demonstrated that this consistent approach to websites improves trust and confidence of users [1] and from this, confidence in using Queensland soils information and data and ultimately better land management decisions.

Contracts and Information Structure in a Supply Chain with Operations and Marketing Interaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

El Ouardighi, F.; Erickson, G.; Grass, D.

2016-01-01

and the consumer price. The state of the game is summarized in the firms' backlogs and the manufacturer's advertising goodwill. Depending on whether the supply chain members have and share state information, they may either make decisions contingent on the current state of the game (feedback Nash strategy......The objective of the paper is to study how wholesale price and revenue sharing contracts affect operations and marketing decisions in a supply chain under different dynamic informational structures. We suggest a differential game model of a supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a single...... retailer that agree on the contract parameters at the outset of the game. The model includes key operational and marketing activities related to a single product in the supply chain. The manufacturer sets a production rate and the rate of advertising efforts while the retailer chooses a purchase rate...

Verbal Working Memory Performance Correlates with Regional White Matter Structures in the Frontoparietal Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Takeuchi, Hikaru; Taki, Yasuyuki; Sassa, Yuko; Hashizume, Hiroshi; Sekiguchi, Atsushi; Fukushima, Ai; Kawashima, Ryuta

2011-01-01

Working memory is the limited capacity storage system involved in the maintenance and manipulation of information over short periods of time. Previous imaging studies have suggested that the frontoparietal regions are activated during working memory tasks; a putative association between the structure of the frontoparietal regions and working…

Contingency Table Browser - prediction of early stage protein structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalinowska, Barbara; Krzykalski, Artur; Roterman, Irena

2015-01-01

The Early Stage (ES) intermediate represents the starting structure in protein folding simulations based on the Fuzzy Oil Drop (FOD) model. The accuracy of FOD predictions is greatly dependent on the accuracy of the chosen intermediate. A suitable intermediate can be constructed using the sequence-structure relationship information contained in the so-called contingency table - this table expresses the likelihood of encountering various structural motifs for each tetrapeptide fragment in the amino acid sequence. The limited accuracy with which such structures could previously be predicted provided the motivation for a more indepth study of the contingency table itself. The Contingency Table Browser is a tool which can visualize, search and analyze the table. Our work presents possible applications of Contingency Table Browser, among them - analysis of specific protein sequences from the point of view of their structural ambiguity.

Protein Supplement Usage Among Male University Students: Comparisons Between Current and Previous Users.

Science.gov (United States)

Sung, Youngmo; Choi, Jinkyung

2018-02-01

Interest in specialized dietary supplements is leading market growth, and protein supplements are popular for increasing muscle mass among young males. Therefore, this study investigated the attitudes toward and satisfaction with protein supplements to identify detailed consumer behaviors related to the consumption of protein supplements. The study sample includes male university students in their 20s in South Korea. In total, 223 responses were entered for analysis. Questions related to attitudes, satisfaction, and future behavioral intentions were asked using 5-point Likert scales. The responses were divided into two groups, current and previous users, to identify significant differences in terms of attitudes, satisfaction, and future behavioral intentions. A descriptive analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multiple regression were run. The majority of respondents prefer the powdered form of supplements in bulk with a price range between 30,000 won and 60,000 won. Online shopping was preferred, while word of mouth and friends/family were considered credible information sources. The most common side effects experienced were problems with digestion and hives, although more than 78% did not experience side effects. In comparison between current and previous users in terms of attitudes and satisfaction, the following areas showed significances. Regarding attitudes, the importance of brand, preference for products from overseas, the search for nutritional facts, and reading carefully all product information were significant, while regarding satisfaction, price, effectiveness, and ease of consumption were significant. All significances showed that current users had more positive attitudes and greater satisfaction. Overall, consumers' satisfaction regarding ease of consumption influenced future behavioral intentions. The market for protein supplements has been growing, so measuring consumers' attitudes and satisfaction would help attract potential consumers. In

Feature binding and attention in working memory: a resolution of previous contradictory findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Richard J; Hitch, Graham J; Mate, Judit; Baddeley, Alan D

2012-01-01

We aimed to resolve an apparent contradiction between previous experiments from different laboratories, using dual-task methodology to compare effects of a concurrent executive load on immediate recognition memory for colours or shapes of items or their colour-shape combinations. Results of two experiments confirmed previous evidence that an irrelevant attentional load interferes equally with memory for features and memory for feature bindings. Detailed analyses suggested that previous contradictory evidence arose from limitations in the way recognition memory was measured. The present findings are inconsistent with an earlier suggestion that feature binding takes place within a multimodal episodic buffer Baddeley, ( 2000 ) and support a subsequent account in which binding takes place automatically prior to information entering the episodic buffer Baddeley, Allen, & Hitch, ( 2011 ). Methodologically, the results suggest that different measures of recognition memory performance (A', d', corrected recognition) give a converging picture of main effects, but are less consistent in detecting interactions. We suggest that this limitation on the reliability of measuring recognition should be taken into account in future research so as to avoid problems of replication that turn out to be more apparent than real.

Information density converges in dialogue: Towards an information-theoretic model.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Yang; Reitter, David

2018-01-01

The principle of entropy rate constancy (ERC) states that language users distribute information such that words tend to be equally predictable given previous contexts. We examine the applicability of this principle to spoken dialogue, as previous findings primarily rest on written text. The study takes into account the joint-activity nature of dialogue and the topic shift mechanisms that are different from monologue. It examines how the information contributions from the two dialogue partners interactively evolve as the discourse develops. The increase of local sentence-level information density (predicted by ERC) is shown to apply to dialogue overall. However, when the different roles of interlocutors in introducing new topics are identified, their contribution in information content displays a new converging pattern. We draw explanations to this pattern from multiple perspectives: Casting dialogue as an information exchange system would mean that the pattern is the result of two interlocutors maintaining their own context rather than sharing one. Second, we present some empirical evidence that a model of Interactive Alignment may include information density to explain the effect. Third, we argue that building common ground is a process analogous to information convergence. Thus, we put forward an information-theoretic view of dialogue, under which some existing theories of human dialogue may eventually be unified. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improve accuracy and sensibility in glycan structure prediction by matching glycan isotope abundance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Guang; Liu Xin; Liu Qingyan; Zhou Yanhong; Li Jianjun

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► A glycan isotope pattern recognition strategy for glycomics. ► A new data preprocessing procedure to detect ion peaks in a giving MS spectrum. ► A linear soft margin SVM classification for isotope pattern recognition. - Abstract: Mass Spectrometry (MS) is a powerful technique for the determination of glycan structures and is capable of providing qualitative and quantitative information. Recent development in computational method offers an opportunity to use glycan structure databases and de novo algorithms for extracting valuable information from MS or MS/MS data. However, detecting low-intensity peaks that are buried in noisy data sets is still a challenge and an algorithm for accurate prediction and annotation of glycan structures from MS data is highly desirable. The present study describes a novel algorithm for glycan structure prediction by matching glycan isotope abundance (mGIA), which takes isotope masses, abundances, and spacing into account. We constructed a comprehensive database containing 808 glycan compositions and their corresponding isotope abundance. Unlike most previously reported methods, not only did we take into count the m/z values of the peaks but also their corresponding logarithmic Euclidean distance of the calculated and detected isotope vectors. Evaluation against a linear classifier, obtained by training mGIA algorithm with datasets of three different human tissue samples from Consortium for Functional Glycomics (CFG) in association with Support Vector Machine (SVM), was proposed to improve the accuracy of automatic glycan structure annotation. In addition, an effective data preprocessing procedure, including baseline subtraction, smoothing, peak centroiding and composition matching for extracting correct isotope profiles from MS data was incorporated. The algorithm was validated by analyzing the mouse kidney MS data from CFG, resulting in the identification of 6 more glycan compositions than the previous annotation

A Structural Contingency Theory Model of Library and Technology Partnerships within an Academic Library Information Commons

Science.gov (United States)

Tuai, Cameron K.

2011-01-01

The integration of librarians and technologists to deliver information services represents a new and potentially costly organizational challenge for many library administrators. To understand better how to control the costs of integration, the research presented here will use structural contingency theory to study the coordination of librarians…

Repeat immigration: A previously unobserved source of heterogeneity?

Science.gov (United States)

Aradhya, Siddartha; Scott, Kirk; Smith, Christopher D

2017-07-01

Register data allow for nuanced analyses of heterogeneities between sub-groups which are not observable in other data sources. One heterogeneity for which register data is particularly useful is in identifying unique migration histories of immigrant populations, a group of interest across disciplines. Years since migration is a commonly used measure of integration in studies seeking to understand the outcomes of immigrants. This study constructs detailed migration histories to test whether misclassified migrations may mask important heterogeneities. In doing so, we identify a previously understudied group of migrants called repeat immigrants, and show that they differ systematically from permanent immigrants. In addition, we quantify the degree to which migration information is misreported in the registers. The analysis is carried out in two steps. First, we estimate income trajectories for repeat immigrants and permanent immigrants to understand the degree to which they differ. Second, we test data validity by cross-referencing migration information with changes in income to determine whether there are inconsistencies indicating misreporting. From the first part of the analysis, the results indicate that repeat immigrants systematically differ from permanent immigrants in terms of income trajectories. Furthermore, income trajectories differ based on the way in which years since migration is calculated. The second part of the analysis suggests that misreported migration events, while present, are negligible. Repeat immigrants differ in terms of income trajectories, and may differ in terms of other outcomes as well. Furthermore, this study underlines that Swedish registers provide a reliable data source to analyze groups which are unidentifiable in other data sources.

Information processing in decision-making systems.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Meer, Matthijs; Kurth-Nelson, Zeb; Redish, A David

2012-08-01

Decisions result from an interaction between multiple functional systems acting in parallel to process information in very different ways, each with strengths and weaknesses. In this review, the authors address three action-selection components of decision-making: The Pavlovian system releases an action from a limited repertoire of potential actions, such as approaching learned stimuli. Like the Pavlovian system, the habit system is computationally fast but, unlike the Pavlovian system permits arbitrary stimulus-action pairings. These associations are a "forward'' mechanism; when a situation is recognized, the action is released. In contrast, the deliberative system is flexible but takes time to process. The deliberative system uses knowledge of the causal structure of the world to search into the future, planning actions to maximize expected rewards. Deliberation depends on the ability to imagine future possibilities, including novel situations, and it allows decisions to be taken without having previously experienced the options. Various anatomical structures have been identified that carry out the information processing of each of these systems: hippocampus constitutes a map of the world that can be used for searching/imagining the future; dorsal striatal neurons represent situation-action associations; and ventral striatum maintains value representations for all three systems. Each system presents vulnerabilities to pathologies that can manifest as psychiatric disorders. Understanding these systems and their relation to neuroanatomy opens up a deeper way to treat the structural problems underlying various disorders.

Gaining knowledge from previously unexplained spectra-application of the PTM-Explorer software to detect PTM in HUPO BPP MS/MS data.

Science.gov (United States)

Chamrad, Daniel C; Körting, Gerhard; Schäfer, Heike; Stephan, Christian; Thiele, Herbert; Apweiler, Rolf; Meyer, Helmut E; Marcus, Katrin; Blüggel, Martin

2006-09-01

A novel software tool named PTM-Explorer has been applied to LC-MS/MS datasets acquired within the Human Proteome Organisation (HUPO) Brain Proteome Project (BPP). PTM-Explorer enables automatic identification of peptide MS/MS spectra that were not explained in typical sequence database searches. The main focus was detection of PTMs, but PTM-Explorer detects also unspecific peptide cleavage, mass measurement errors, experimental modifications, amino acid substitutions, transpeptidation products and unknown mass shifts. To avoid a combinatorial problem the search is restricted to a set of selected protein sequences, which stem from previous protein identifications using a common sequence database search. Prior to application to the HUPO BPP data, PTM-Explorer was evaluated on excellently manually characterized and evaluated LC-MS/MS data sets from Alpha-A-Crystallin gel spots obtained from mouse eye lens. Besides various PTMs including phosphorylation, a wealth of experimental modifications and unspecific cleavage products were successfully detected, completing the primary structure information of the measured proteins. Our results indicate that a large amount of MS/MS spectra that currently remain unidentified in standard database searches contain valuable information that can only be elucidated using suitable software tools.

49 CFR 173.23 - Previously authorized packaging.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Previously authorized packaging. 173.23 Section... REQUIREMENTS FOR SHIPMENTS AND PACKAGINGS Preparation of Hazardous Materials for Transportation § 173.23 Previously authorized packaging. (a) When the regulations specify a packaging with a specification marking...

A New Variable Selection Method Based on Mutual Information Maximization by Replacing Collinear Variables for Nonlinear Quantitative Structure-Property Relationship Models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ghasemi, Jahan B.; Zolfonoun, Ehsan [Toosi University of Technology, Tehran (Korea, Republic of)

2012-05-15

Selection of the most informative molecular descriptors from the original data set is a key step for development of quantitative structure activity/property relationship models. Recently, mutual information (MI) has gained increasing attention in feature selection problems. This paper presents an effective mutual information-based feature selection approach, named mutual information maximization by replacing collinear variables (MIMRCV), for nonlinear quantitative structure-property relationship models. The proposed variable selection method was applied to three different QSPR datasets, soil degradation half-life of 47 organophosphorus pesticides, GC-MS retention times of 85 volatile organic compounds, and water-to-micellar cetyltrimethylammonium bromide partition coefficients of 62 organic compounds.The obtained results revealed that using MIMRCV as feature selection method improves the predictive quality of the developed models compared to conventional MI based variable selection algorithms.

A New Variable Selection Method Based on Mutual Information Maximization by Replacing Collinear Variables for Nonlinear Quantitative Structure-Property Relationship Models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghasemi, Jahan B.; Zolfonoun, Ehsan

2012-01-01

Selection of the most informative molecular descriptors from the original data set is a key step for development of quantitative structure activity/property relationship models. Recently, mutual information (MI) has gained increasing attention in feature selection problems. This paper presents an effective mutual information-based feature selection approach, named mutual information maximization by replacing collinear variables (MIMRCV), for nonlinear quantitative structure-property relationship models. The proposed variable selection method was applied to three different QSPR datasets, soil degradation half-life of 47 organophosphorus pesticides, GC-MS retention times of 85 volatile organic compounds, and water-to-micellar cetyltrimethylammonium bromide partition coefficients of 62 organic compounds.The obtained results revealed that using MIMRCV as feature selection method improves the predictive quality of the developed models compared to conventional MI based variable selection algorithms

Unbiased structural search of small copper clusters within DFT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cogollo-Olivo, Beatriz H., E-mail: bcogolloo@unicartagena.edu.co [Maestría en Ciencias Físicas, Universidad de Cartagena, 130001 Cartagena de Indias, Bolívar (Colombia); Seriani, Nicola, E-mail: nseriani@ictp.it [Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics Section, The Abdus Salam ICTP, Strada Costiera 11, 34151 Trieste (Italy); Montoya, Javier A., E-mail: jmontoyam@unicartagena.edu.co [Instituto de Matemáticas Aplicadas, Universidad de Cartagena, 130001 Cartagena de Indias, Bolívar (Colombia); Associates Program, The Abdus Salam ICTP, Strada Costiera 11, 34151 Trieste (Italy)

2015-11-05

Highlights: • We have been able to identify novel metastable structures for small Cu clusters. • We have shown that a linear structure reported for Cu{sub 3} is actually a local maximum. • Some of the structures reported in literature are actually unstable within DFT. • Some of the isomer structures found shows the limits of educated guesses. - Abstract: The atomic structure of small Cu clusters with 3–6 atoms has been investigated by density functional theory and random search algorithm. New metastable structures have been found that lie merely tens of meV/atom above the corresponding ground state, and could therefore be present at thermodynamic equilibrium at room temperature or slightly above. Moreover, we show that the previously proposed linear configuration for Cu{sub 3} is in fact a local maximum of the energy. Finally, we argue that the random search algorithm also provides qualitative information about the attraction basin of each structure in the energy landscape.

Unbiased structural search of small copper clusters within DFT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cogollo-Olivo, Beatriz H.; Seriani, Nicola; Montoya, Javier A.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We have been able to identify novel metastable structures for small Cu clusters. • We have shown that a linear structure reported for Cu_3 is actually a local maximum. • Some of the structures reported in literature are actually unstable within DFT. • Some of the isomer structures found shows the limits of educated guesses. - Abstract: The atomic structure of small Cu clusters with 3–6 atoms has been investigated by density functional theory and random search algorithm. New metastable structures have been found that lie merely tens of meV/atom above the corresponding ground state, and could therefore be present at thermodynamic equilibrium at room temperature or slightly above. Moreover, we show that the previously proposed linear configuration for Cu_3 is in fact a local maximum of the energy. Finally, we argue that the random search algorithm also provides qualitative information about the attraction basin of each structure in the energy landscape.

22 CFR 40.91 - Certain aliens previously removed.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Certain aliens previously removed. 40.91... IMMIGRANTS UNDER THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT, AS AMENDED Aliens Previously Removed § 40.91 Certain aliens previously removed. (a) 5-year bar. An alien who has been found inadmissible, whether as a result...

A distribution benefits model for improved information on worldwide crop production. Volume 1: Model structure and application to wheat

Science.gov (United States)

Andrews, J.

1976-01-01

The improved model is suitable for the study of benefits of worldwide information on a variety of crops. Application to the previously studied case of worldwide wheat production shows that about $108 million per year of distribution benefits to the United States would be achieved by a satellite-based wheat information system meeting the goals of LACIE. The model also indicates that improved information alone will not change world stock levels unless production itself is stabilized. The United States benefits mentioned above are associated with the reduction of price fluctuations within the year and the more effective use of international trade to balance supply and demand. Price fluctuations from year to year would be reduced only if production variability were itself reduced.

The Swedish strategy and method for development of a national healthcare information architecture.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenälv, Jessica; Lundell, Karl-Henrik

2012-01-01

"We need a precise framework of regulations in order to maintain appropriate and structured health care documentation that ensures that the information maintains a sufficient level of quality to be used in treatment, in research and by the actual patient. The users shall be aided by clearly and uniformly defined terms and concepts, and there should be an information structure that clarifies what to document and how to make the information more useful. Most of all, we need to standardize the information, not just the technical systems." (eHälsa - nytta och näring, Riksdag report 2011/12:RFR5, p. 37). In 2010, the Swedish Government adopted the National e-Health - the national strategy for accessible and secure information in healthcare. The strategy is a revision and extension of the previous strategy from 2006, which was used as input for the most recent efforts to develop a national information structure utilizing business-oriented generic models. A national decision on healthcare informatics standards was made by the Swedish County Councils, which decided to follow and use EN/ISO 13606 as a standard for the development of a universally applicable information structure, including archetypes and templates. The overall aim of the Swedish strategy for development of National Healthcare Information Architecture is to achieve high level semantic interoperability for clinical content and clinical contexts. High level semantic interoperability requires consistently structured clinical data and other types of data with coherent traceability to be mapped to reference clinical models. Archetypes that are formal definitions of the clinical and demographic concepts and some administrative data were developed. Each archetype describes the information structure and content of overarching core clinical concepts. Information that is defined in archetypes should be used for different purposes. Generic clinical process model was made concrete and analyzed. For each decision

Genome Scan for Selection in Structured Layer Chicken Populations Exploiting Linkage Disequilibrium Information.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahmood Gholami

Full Text Available An increasing interest is being placed in the detection of genes, or genomic regions, that have been targeted by selection because identifying signatures of selection can lead to a better understanding of genotype-phenotype relationships. A common strategy for the detection of selection signatures is to compare samples from distinct populations and to search for genomic regions with outstanding genetic differentiation. The aim of this study was to detect selective signatures in layer chicken populations using a recently proposed approach, hapFLK, which exploits linkage disequilibrium information while accounting appropriately for the hierarchical structure of populations. We performed the analysis on 70 individuals from three commercial layer breeds (White Leghorn, White Rock and Rhode Island Red, genotyped for approximately 1 million SNPs. We found a total of 41 and 107 regions with outstanding differentiation or similarity using hapFLK and its single SNP counterpart FLK respectively. Annotation of selection signature regions revealed various genes and QTL corresponding to productions traits, for which layer breeds were selected. A number of the detected genes were associated with growth and carcass traits, including IGF-1R, AGRP and STAT5B. We also annotated an interesting gene associated with the dark brown feather color mutational phenotype in chickens (SOX10. We compared FST, FLK and hapFLK and demonstrated that exploiting linkage disequilibrium information and accounting for hierarchical population structure decreased the false detection rate.

Structural studies on Langmuir-Blodgett ultra-thin films on tin (IV) stearate using X-ray diffraction technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohamad Deraman; Muhamad Mat Salleh; Mohd Ali Sulaiman; Mohd Ali Sufi

1991-01-01

X-ray diffraction measurements were carried out on Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) ultra-thin films of tin (IV) stearate for different numbers of layers. The structural information such as interplanar spacing, unit cells spacing, molecular length and orientation of molecular chains were obtained from the diffraction data. This information is discussed and compared with that previously published for LB ultra-thin films of manganese stearate and cadmium stearate

Information, Overconfidence and Trading: Do the Sources of Information Matter?

OpenAIRE

Margarida Abreu; Victor Mendes

2011-01-01

We investigate how the strength of the positive association between frequency of trading and information acquisition is dependent on investors’ self‐confidence and on the sources of information used by investors. Our results confirm that the more frequently individual investors invest in information, the more they trade in financial products. Our results also confirm previous findings that overconfident investors, who show a better than average bias, trade more frequently. In this paper, we a...

76 FR 18033 - Airworthiness Directives; Piper Aircraft, Inc. (Type Certificate Previously Held by The New Piper...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-01

... Airworthiness Directives; Piper Aircraft, Inc. (Type Certificate Previously Held by The New Piper Aircraft, Inc... applies to certain Piper Aircraft, Inc. Models PA-46-310P and PA- 46-350P airplanes that are equipped with... information identified in this AD, contact Piper Aircraft, Inc., 2926 Piper Drive, Vero Beach, Florida 32960...

Spreading the load: mobile information and communications technologies and their effect on information overload

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D.K. Allan

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. We report on a small-scale research project which examined the impact of mobile technologies on the users' experience of information overload. The project focused on a group of worker who have had relatively little attention in both the mobile technology and information overload literatures: senior managers. Method. The case study approach was adopted, as complementary to an incremental approach to theory building. An inductive approach is adopted, in which data are collected and the findings are interpreted in the light of previous work. The case site was West Yorkshire Police Force in the UK where BlackBerry handhelds were being used by senior officers. Analysis. A semi-structured interview schedule was developed and applied in face-to-face interviews with the Senior Management Team and their secretaries. All interviews were recorded and the transcripts of the interviews analysed, using qualitative coding. Results. A conceptual model of the interactions and relationships among the key elements that drive and mediate the information flows and information behaviour within a complex organizational environment was developed. Managers' information behaviour and coping strategies were found to have changed since the introduction of mobile devices. Officers are more likely to deal with information received sooner, thereby resulting in less queuing of messages (although filtering strategies still prevail. Approximation (responding in a non-precise way was also found to have increased. In this particular implementation, the mobile technology has not altered the information-pull behaviour of managers. Conclusion. The main finding is that personal information management is now distributed more evenly throughout the day. Thus, the technology has enabled officers to 'spread the load' and, in doing so, has helped to ease some of the pressures created by information overload.

Relationship between the public's belief in recovery, level of mental illness stigma, and previous contact.

Science.gov (United States)

Barczyk, Amanda N

2015-01-01

Disbelief exits that individuals who have a mental health condition are able to recover and fully function in life. This study analyzed 1,437 adults from the 2006 General Social Survey. Structural equation modeling (1) examined the relationship between respondents' level of prejudicial attitudes and social distance (i.e., stigma) toward individuals who have a mental health condition and their belief in the potential of recovery (2) tested whether previous contact with an individual who received treatment was a mediator. Findings indicated that the belief in recovery led to lower levels of social distance. Prejudicial attitudes were found to be a predictor of one's level of social distance. Previous contact was not a mediator however; males, minorities and those with less education were less likely to have had previous contact. Results indicated a need to emphasize the probability of recovering from a mental health condition when developing target-specific stigma reducing strategies.

CEFR information management system solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Fei; Zhao Jia'ning

2011-01-01

Based on finished information resources planning scheme for China sodium cooled experimental fast breeder reactor and the advanced information resources management solution concepts were applied, we got the building solution of CEFR information management systems. At the same time, the technical solutions of systems structures, logic structures, physical structures, development platforms and operation platforms for information resources management system in fast breeder reactors were developed, which provided programmatic introductions for development works in future. (authors)

Prior information in structure estimation

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kárný, Miroslav; Nedoma, Petr; Khailova, Natalia; Pavelková, Lenka

2003-01-01

Roč. 150, č. 6 (2003), s. 643-653 ISSN 1350-2379 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IBS1075102; GA AV ČR IBS1075351; GA ČR GA102/03/0049 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1075907 Keywords : prior knowledge * structure estimation * autoregressive models Subject RIV: BC - Control Systems Theory Impact factor: 0.745, year: 2003 http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/historie/karny-0411258.pdf

Combining cognitive engineering and information fusion architectures to build effective joint systems

Science.gov (United States)

Sliva, Amy L.; Gorman, Joe; Voshell, Martin; Tittle, James; Bowman, Christopher

2016-05-01

The Dual Node Decision Wheels (DNDW) architecture concept was previously described as a novel approach toward integrating analytic and decision-making processes in joint human/automation systems in highly complex sociotechnical settings. In this paper, we extend the DNDW construct with a description of components in this framework, combining structures of the Dual Node Network (DNN) for Information Fusion and Resource Management with extensions on Rasmussen's Decision Ladder (DL) to provide guidance on constructing information systems that better serve decision-making support requirements. The DNN takes a component-centered approach to system design, decomposing each asset in terms of data inputs and outputs according to their roles and interactions in a fusion network. However, to ensure relevancy to and organizational fitment within command and control (C2) processes, principles from cognitive systems engineering emphasize that system design must take a human-centered systems view, integrating information needs and decision making requirements to drive the architecture design and capabilities of network assets. In the current work, we present an approach for structuring and assessing DNDW systems that uses a unique hybrid DNN top-down system design with a human-centered process design, combining DNN node decomposition with artifacts from cognitive analysis (i.e., system abstraction decomposition models, decision ladders) to provide work domain and task-level insights at different levels in an example intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) system setting. This DNDW structure will ensure not only that the information fusion technologies and processes are structured effectively, but that the resulting information products will align with the requirements of human decision makers and be adaptable to different work settings .

Proteomics Analysis Reveals Previously Uncharacterized Virulence Factors in Vibrio proteolyticus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ann Ray

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Members of the genus Vibrio include many pathogens of humans and marine animals that share genetic information via horizontal gene transfer. Hence, the Vibrio pan-genome carries the potential to establish new pathogenic strains by sharing virulence determinants, many of which have yet to be characterized. Here, we investigated the virulence properties of Vibrio proteolyticus, a Gram-negative marine bacterium previously identified as part of the Vibrio consortium isolated from diseased corals. We found that V. proteolyticus causes actin cytoskeleton rearrangements followed by cell lysis in HeLa cells in a contact-independent manner. In search of the responsible virulence factor involved, we determined the V. proteolyticus secretome. This proteomics approach revealed various putative virulence factors, including active type VI secretion systems and effectors with virulence toxin domains; however, these type VI secretion systems were not responsible for the observed cytotoxic effects. Further examination of the V. proteolyticus secretome led us to hypothesize and subsequently demonstrate that a secreted hemolysin, belonging to a previously uncharacterized clan of the leukocidin superfamily, was the toxin responsible for the V. proteolyticus-mediated cytotoxicity in both HeLa cells and macrophages. Clearly, there remains an armory of yet-to-be-discovered virulence factors in the Vibrio pan-genome that will undoubtedly provide a wealth of knowledge on how a pathogen can manipulate host cells.

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Structures

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

The Impact of Complexity, Rate of Change and Information Availability on the Production Planning and Control Structure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.F. van Assen (Marcel); S.L. van de Velde (Steef)

2003-01-01

textabstractThe organizational theory literature argues that the more uncertain the environment, the more likely the firm’s operational decision structure is decentralized. However, it remains unclear which uncertainty dimensions (i.e. complexity, rate of change and lack of information) impacts the

Indiana pouch continent urinary reservoir in patients with previous pelvic irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mannel, R.S.; Braly, P.S.; Buller, R.E.

1990-01-01

Little information exists on the use of continent urinary reservoirs in patients with previous pelvic irradiation. We report the use of the Indiana pouch urinary reservoir in ten women with a history of pelvic irradiation for cervical cancer, of whom eight underwent a total pelvic exenteration for recurrent pelvic tumor and two had diversion for radiation-induced vesicovaginal fistula. All ten women achieved daytime continence, with a median time between catheterizations of 4.5 hours and a median pouch capacity of 500 mL. There was no evidence of leakage from the reservoir or significant ureteral reflux or obstruction on postoperative radiographic evaluation. No patient has required reoperation or had significant postoperative complications with the technique described

Information system success model for customer relationship management system in health promotion centers.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Wona; Rho, Mi Jung; Park, Jiyun; Kim, Kwang-Jum; Kwon, Young Dae; Choi, In Young

2013-06-01

Intensified competitiveness in the healthcare industry has increased the number of healthcare centers and propelled the introduction of customer relationship management (CRM) systems to meet diverse customer demands. This study aimed to develop the information system success model of the CRM system by investigating previously proposed indicators within the model. THE EVALUATION AREAS OF THE CRM SYSTEM INCLUDES THREE AREAS: the system characteristics area (system quality, information quality, and service quality), the user area (perceived usefulness and user satisfaction), and the performance area (personal performance and organizational performance). Detailed evaluation criteria of the three areas were developed, and its validity was verified by a survey administered to CRM system users in 13 nationwide health promotion centers. The survey data were analyzed by the structural equation modeling method, and the results confirmed that the model is feasible. Information quality and service quality showed a statistically significant relationship with perceived usefulness and user satisfaction. Consequently, the perceived usefulness and user satisfaction had significant influence on individual performance as well as an indirect influence on organizational performance. This study extends the research area on information success from general information systems to CRM systems in health promotion centers applying a previous information success model. This lays a foundation for evaluating health promotion center systems and provides a useful guide for successful implementation of hospital CRM systems.

Information System Success Model for Customer Relationship Management System in Health Promotion Centers

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Wona; Rho, Mi Jung; Park, Jiyun; Kim, Kwang-Jum; Kwon, Young Dae

2013-01-01

Objectives Intensified competitiveness in the healthcare industry has increased the number of healthcare centers and propelled the introduction of customer relationship management (CRM) systems to meet diverse customer demands. This study aimed to develop the information system success model of the CRM system by investigating previously proposed indicators within the model. Methods The evaluation areas of the CRM system includes three areas: the system characteristics area (system quality, information quality, and service quality), the user area (perceived usefulness and user satisfaction), and the performance area (personal performance and organizational performance). Detailed evaluation criteria of the three areas were developed, and its validity was verified by a survey administered to CRM system users in 13 nationwide health promotion centers. The survey data were analyzed by the structural equation modeling method, and the results confirmed that the model is feasible. Results Information quality and service quality showed a statistically significant relationship with perceived usefulness and user satisfaction. Consequently, the perceived usefulness and user satisfaction had significant influence on individual performance as well as an indirect influence on organizational performance. Conclusions This study extends the research area on information success from general information systems to CRM systems in health promotion centers applying a previous information success model. This lays a foundation for evaluating health promotion center systems and provides a useful guide for successful implementation of hospital CRM systems. PMID:23882416

Impact of soil-structure interaction on the probabilistic frequency variation of concrete structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hadjian, A.H.; Hamilton, C.W.

1975-01-01

Earthquake response of equipment in nuclear power plants is characterized by floor response spectra. Since these spectra peak at the natural frequencies of the structure, it is important, both from safety and cost standpoints, to determine the degree of the expected variability of the calculated structural frequencies. A previous work is extended on the variability of the natural frequencies of structures due to the variations of concrete properties and a rigorous approach is presented to evaluate frequency variations based on the probability distributions of both the structural and soil parameters and jointly determine the distributions of the natural frequencies. It is assumed that the soil-structure interaction coefficients are normally distributed. With the proper choice of coordinates, the simultaneous random variations of both the structural properties and the interaction coefficients can be incorporated in the eigenvalue problem. The key methodology problem is to obtain the probability distribution of eigenvalues of matrices with random variable elements. Since no analytic relation exists between the eigenvalues and the elements, a numerical procedure had to be designed. It was found that the desired accuracy can be best achieved by splitting the joint variation into two parts: the marginal distribution of soil variations and the conditional distribution of structural variations at specific soil fractiles. Then after calculating the actual eigenvalues at judiciously selected paired values of soil and structure parameters, this information is recombined to obtain the desired cumulative distribution of natural frequencies

Exploring the Complex Pattern of Information Spreading in Online Blog Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Pei, Sen; Muchnik, Lev; Tang, Shaoting; Zheng, Zhiming; Makse, Hernán A.

2015-01-01

Information spreading in online social communities has attracted tremendous attention due to its utmost practical values in applications. Despite that several individual-level diffusion data have been investigated, we still lack the detailed understanding of the spreading pattern of information. Here, by comparing information flows and social links in a blog community, we find that the diffusion processes are induced by three different spreading mechanisms: social spreading, self-promotion and broadcast. Although numerous previous studies have employed epidemic spreading models to simulate information diffusion, we observe that such models fail to reproduce the realistic diffusion pattern. In respect to users behaviors, strikingly, we find that most users would stick to one specific diffusion mechanism. Moreover, our observations indicate that the social spreading is not only crucial for the structure of diffusion trees, but also capable of inducing more subsequent individuals to acquire the information. Our findings suggest new directions for modeling of information diffusion in social systems, and could inform design of efficient propagation strategies based on users behaviors. PMID:25985081

Influence of computer technology on the automation of oil and gas fields and on the companies' information structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Graf, H.G.

1984-02-01

Exemplified by a Direct Digital Control System, the fundamentals of process automation are demonstrated. Description of the so-called ''General-purpose computers'' and their peripherals which are used in the mineral oil industry. Explanation of individual types of information processing such as data, process and text processing. Broad outline of typical applications of EDP Systems in the mineral oil/natural gas producing industries. Further chapters deal with the incompany information structure and with economic shaping of the information system.

Inequalities for quantum skew information

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Audenaert, Koenraad; Cai, Liang; Hansen, Frank

2008-01-01

relation on the set of functions representing quantum Fisher information that renders the set into a lattice with an involution. This order structure generates new inequalities for the metric adjusted skew informations. In particular, the Wigner-Yanase skew information is the maximal skew information...... with respect to this order structure in the set of Wigner-Yanase-Dyson skew informations....

[Forming of the visual cognitive structures in the monkey conditioned-reflex behaviour: the dependence on the sensory information].

Science.gov (United States)

Dudkin, K N; Chueva, I V

2008-01-01

In monkeys, changes in size and shape of figures led to a significant decrease of correct solutions in training and a considerable increase of refusals from solution of tasks as well as the time of their motor response. The invariance of differentiation in this case was achieved after additional training. The data obtained show that, based on the stimulus sensory processing in conditioned-reflex training, in the long-term memory some differentiating signs are formed: the cognitive structures (the functional neurophysiological mechanisms) maintaining the classification of visual images. With these structures, temporary conditioned connection will be established. Their formation will be determined by the type of sensory information and provided for by existence in the long-term memory of separate subsystems for spatial as well as non-spatial information.

The Protein Information Management System (PiMS): a generic tool for any structural biology research laboratory.

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Chris; Pajon, Anne; Griffiths, Susanne L; Daniel, Ed; Savitsky, Marc; Lin, Bill; Diprose, Jonathan M; da Silva, Alan Wilter; Pilicheva, Katya; Troshin, Peter; van Niekerk, Johannes; Isaacs, Neil; Naismith, James; Nave, Colin; Blake, Richard; Wilson, Keith S; Stuart, David I; Henrick, Kim; Esnouf, Robert M

2011-04-01

The techniques used in protein production and structural biology have been developing rapidly, but techniques for recording the laboratory information produced have not kept pace. One approach is the development of laboratory information-management systems (LIMS), which typically use a relational database schema to model and store results from a laboratory workflow. The underlying philosophy and implementation of the Protein Information Management System (PiMS), a LIMS development specifically targeted at the flexible and unpredictable workflows of protein-production research laboratories of all scales, is described. PiMS is a web-based Java application that uses either Postgres or Oracle as the underlying relational database-management system. PiMS is available under a free licence to all academic laboratories either for local installation or for use as a managed service.

The Protein Information Management System (PiMS): a generic tool for any structural biology research laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morris, Chris; Pajon, Anne; Griffiths, Susanne L.; Daniel, Ed; Savitsky, Marc; Lin, Bill; Diprose, Jonathan M.; Wilter da Silva, Alan; Pilicheva, Katya; Troshin, Peter; Niekerk, Johannes van; Isaacs, Neil; Naismith, James; Nave, Colin; Blake, Richard; Wilson, Keith S.; Stuart, David I.; Henrick, Kim; Esnouf, Robert M.

2011-01-01

The Protein Information Management System (PiMS) is described together with a discussion of how its features make it well suited to laboratories of all sizes. The techniques used in protein production and structural biology have been developing rapidly, but techniques for recording the laboratory information produced have not kept pace. One approach is the development of laboratory information-management systems (LIMS), which typically use a relational database schema to model and store results from a laboratory workflow. The underlying philosophy and implementation of the Protein Information Management System (PiMS), a LIMS development specifically targeted at the flexible and unpredictable workflows of protein-production research laboratories of all scales, is described. PiMS is a web-based Java application that uses either Postgres or Oracle as the underlying relational database-management system. PiMS is available under a free licence to all academic laboratories either for local installation or for use as a managed service

The Protein Information Management System (PiMS): a generic tool for any structural biology research laboratory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morris, Chris [STFC Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington WA4 4AD (United Kingdom); Pajon, Anne [Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton CB10 1SD (United Kingdom); Griffiths, Susanne L. [University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD (United Kingdom); Daniel, Ed [STFC Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington WA4 4AD (United Kingdom); Savitsky, Marc [University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN (United Kingdom); Lin, Bill [STFC Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington WA4 4AD (United Kingdom); Diprose, Jonathan M. [University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN (United Kingdom); Wilter da Silva, Alan [Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton CB10 1SD (United Kingdom); Pilicheva, Katya [University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN (United Kingdom); Troshin, Peter [STFC Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington WA4 4AD (United Kingdom); Niekerk, Johannes van [University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, Scotland (United Kingdom); Isaacs, Neil [University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland (United Kingdom); Naismith, James [University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9ST, Scotland (United Kingdom); Nave, Colin; Blake, Richard [STFC Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington WA4 4AD (United Kingdom); Wilson, Keith S. [University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD (United Kingdom); Stuart, David I. [University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN (United Kingdom); Henrick, Kim [Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton CB10 1SD (United Kingdom); Esnouf, Robert M., E-mail: robert@strubi.ox.ac.uk [University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN (United Kingdom); STFC Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington WA4 4AD (United Kingdom)

2011-04-01

The Protein Information Management System (PiMS) is described together with a discussion of how its features make it well suited to laboratories of all sizes. The techniques used in protein production and structural biology have been developing rapidly, but techniques for recording the laboratory information produced have not kept pace. One approach is the development of laboratory information-management systems (LIMS), which typically use a relational database schema to model and store results from a laboratory workflow. The underlying philosophy and implementation of the Protein Information Management System (PiMS), a LIMS development specifically targeted at the flexible and unpredictable workflows of protein-production research laboratories of all scales, is described. PiMS is a web-based Java application that uses either Postgres or Oracle as the underlying relational database-management system. PiMS is available under a free licence to all academic laboratories either for local installation or for use as a managed service.

Community structure informs species geographic distributions

KAUST Repository

Montesinos-Navarro, Alicia; Estrada, Alba; Font, Xavier; Matias, Miguel G.; Meireles, Catarina; Mendoza, Manuel; Honrado, Joao P.; Prasad, Hari D.; Vicente, Joana R.; Early, Regan

2018-01-01

spatial resolution. However, survival of individuals is determined by processes that happen at small spatial scales. The relative abundance of coexisting species (i.e. 'community structure') reflects assembly processes occurring at small scales

Imperfect information facilitates the evolution of reciprocity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kurokawa, Shun

2016-06-01

The existence of cooperation demands explanation since cooperation is costly to the actor. Reciprocity has long been regarded as a potential explanatory mechanism for the existence of cooperation. Reciprocity is a mechanism wherein a cooperator responds to an opponent's behavior by switching his/her own behavior. Hence, a possible problematic case relevant to the theory of reciprocity evolution arises when the mechanism is such that the information regarding an opponent's behavior is imperfect. Although it has been confirmed also by previous theoretical studies that imperfect information interferes with the evolution of reciprocity, this argument is based on the assumption that there are no mistakes in behavior. And, a previous study presumed that it might be expected that when such mistakes occur, reciprocity can more readily evolve in the case of imperfect information than in the case of perfect information. The reason why the previous study considers so is that in the former case, reciprocators can miss defections incurred by other reciprocators' mistakes due to imperfect information, allowing cooperation to persist when such reciprocators meet. However, contrary to this expectation, the previous study has shown that even when mistakes occur, imperfect information interferes with the evolution of reciprocity. Nevertheless, the previous study assumed that payoffs are linear (i.e., that the effect of behavior is additive and there are no synergetic effects). In this study, we revisited the same problem but removed the assumption that payoffs are linear. We used evolutionarily stable strategy analysis to compare the condition for reciprocity to evolve when mistakes occur and information is imperfect with the condition for reciprocity to evolve when mistakes occur and information is perfect. Our study revealed that when payoffs are not linear, imperfect information can facilitate the evolution of reciprocity when mistakes occur; while when payoffs are linear

Information from processes about the nature of information creation, use, and representation

CERN Document Server

Losee, Robert M

2012-01-01

Information is an important concept that is studied extensively across a range of disciplines, from the physical sciences to genetics to psychology to epistemology. Information continues to increase in importance, and the present age has been referred to as the ""Information Age."" One may understand information in a variety of ways. For some, information is found in facts that were previously unknown. For others, a fact must have some economic value to be considered information. Other people emphasize the movement through a communication channel from one location to another when describing in

EUFODOS: European Forest Downstream Services - Improved Information on Forest Structure and Damage

Science.gov (United States)

Hirschmugl, M.; Gallaun, H.; Wack, R.; Granica, K.; Schardt, M.

2013-05-01

Forests play a key role in the European economy and environment. This role incorporates ecological functions which can be affected by the occurrence of insect infestations, forest fire, heavy snowfall or windfall events. Local or Regional Authorities (LRAs) thus require detailed information on the degradation status of their forests to be able to take appropriate measures for their forest management plans. In the EUFODOS project, state-of-the-art satellite and laser scanning technologies are used to provide forest authorities with cost-effective and comprehensive information on forest structure and damage. One of the six test sites is located in the Austrian province of Styria where regional forest authorities have expressed a strong need for detailed forest parameters in protective forest. As airborne laser-scanning data is available, it will be utilized to derive detailed forest parameters such as the upper forest border line, tree height, growth classes, forest density, vertical structure or volume. At the current project status, the results of (i) the forest border line, (ii) the segmentation of forest stands and (iii) the tree top detection are available and presented including accuracy assessment and interim results are shown for timber volume estimations. The final results show that the forest border can be mapped operationally with an overall accuracy of almost 99% from LiDAR data. For the segmentation of forest stands, a comparison of the automatically derived result with visual-manual delineation showed in general a more detailed segmentation result, but for all visual-manual segments a congruence of 87% within a 4 m buffer. Tree top detections were compared to stem numbers estimated based on angle-count samplings in a field campaign, which led to a correlation coefficient (R) of 0.79.

Structural Study and Evaluation of Previous Restoration Work of Mohammad 'Ali Pasha Mosque at the Citadel in Cairo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

dr.Yaser Yehya Amin Abdel-Aty

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Mohammad 'Ali Pasha Mosque at the Citadel in Cairo is considered one of the main landmarks in Egypt. It majestically stands at a northwestern bend of the Citadel and it is visible from numerous locations in Cairo. It has become the symbol of the Citadel, to the point that its name is given to the whole complex in the colloquial Egyptian parlance. This paper studies analytically the static and dynamic structural behavior of this great mosque using computer numerical modeling techniques, to reach the main reasons for past cracking and failures in its domed-roof and other structural elements, which occurred by the end of 19th Century. A number of 3D-models are analyzed to study the mosque, in both original and after restoration conditions, under static (i.e. dead and live loads and dynamic (i.e. Eigenvector modal analysis, response-spectrum and time-history cases of loading. Besides, structural evaluation of major restoration project, in 1930s, is conducted to determine the current structural safety status of the mosque

The Effects of Information Technology on Library and Documentation Centers: A Review of Social, Structural, Managerial and Functional Aspects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mesut Kurulgan

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In the context of protecting academic and cultural heritage, the purpose of libraries and information and documentation centers is to research, document, and archive and to transfer to future generations, domestically and internationally, a society ’s culture. This study examines the structural, functional and administrative innovations that have resulted from the implementation of information technology (IT in libraries since the 1990 ’s. The study also mentions how IT can be used in an efficient way in libraries and information and documentation centers.

Modality-dependent effect of motion information in sensory-motor synchronised tapping.

Science.gov (United States)

Ono, Kentaro

2018-05-14

Synchronised action is important for everyday life. Generally, the auditory domain is more sensitive for coding temporal information, and previous studies have shown that auditory-motor synchronisation is much more precise than visuo-motor synchronisation. Interestingly, adding motion information improves synchronisation with visual stimuli and the advantage of the auditory modality seems to diminish. However, whether adding motion information also improves auditory-motor synchronisation remains unknown. This study compared tapping accuracy with a stationary or moving stimulus in both auditory and visual modalities. Participants were instructed to tap in synchrony with the onset of a sound or flash in the stationary condition, while these stimuli were perceived as moving from side to side in the motion condition. The results demonstrated that synchronised tapping with a moving visual stimulus was significantly more accurate than tapping with a stationary visual stimulus, as previous studies have shown. However, tapping with a moving auditory stimulus was significantly poorer than tapping with a stationary auditory stimulus. Although motion information impaired audio-motor synchronisation, an advantage of auditory modality compared to visual modality still existed. These findings are likely the result of higher temporal resolution in the auditory domain, which is likely due to the physiological and structural differences in the auditory and visual pathways in the brain. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Previous experiences and emotional baggage as barriers to lifestyle change - a qualitative study of Norwegian Healthy Life Centre participants.

Science.gov (United States)

Følling, Ingrid S; Solbjør, Marit; Helvik, Anne-S

2015-06-23

Changing lifestyle is challenging and difficult. The Norwegian Directorate of Health recommends that all municipalities establish Healthy Life Centres targeted to people with lifestyle issues. Little is known about the background, experiences and reflections of participants. More information is needed about participants to shape effective lifestyle interventions with lasting effect. This study explores how participants in a lifestyle intervention programme describe previous life experiences in relation to changing lifestyle. Semi-structured qualitative in-depth interviews were performed with 23 participants (16 women and 7 men) aged 18 - 70 years. The data were analysed using systematic text condensation searching for issues describing participants' responses, and looking for the essence, aiming to share the basis of life-world experiences as valid knowledge. Participants identified two main themes: being stuck in old habits, and being burdened with emotional baggage from their previous negative experiences. Participants expressed a wish to change their lifestyles, but were unable to act in accordance with the health knowledge they possessed. Previous experiences with lifestyle change kept them from initiating attempts without professional assistance. Participants also described being burdened by an emotional baggage with problems from childhood and/or with family, work and social life issues. Respondents said that they felt that emotional baggage was an important explanation for why they were stuck in old habits and that conversely, being stuck in old habits added load to their already emotional baggage and made it heavier. Behavioural change can be hard to perform as psychological distress from life baggage can influence the ability to change. The study participants' experience of being stuck in old habits and having substantial emotional baggage raises questions as to whether or not Healthy Life Centres are able to help participants who need to make a lifestyle

Organizational Structure and Dynamic Information Awareness in Command Teams

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Baker, Keith; Entin, Elliot E; See, Katrina; Baker, Bonnie S; Downes-Martin, Stephen; Cecchetti, Jon

2004-01-01

...) structures for the future. One such C2 structure is FORCEnet. Modeling of various FORCEnet-derived structures produced a prediction that a C2 structure that includes an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR...

Using Dedal to share and reuse distributed engineering design information

Science.gov (United States)

Baya, Vinod; Baudin, Catherine; Mabogunje, Ade; Das, Aseem; Cannon, David M.; Leifer, Larry J.

1994-01-01

The overall goal of the project is to facilitate the reuse of previous design experience for the maintenance, repair and redesign of artifacts in the electromechanical engineering domain. An engineering team creates information in the form of meeting summaries, project memos, progress reports, engineering notes, spreadsheet calculations and CAD drawings. Design information captured in these media is difficult to reuse because the way design concepts are referred to evolve over the life of a project and because decisions, requirements and structure are interrelated but rarely explicitly linked. Based on protocol analysis of the information seeking behavior of designer's, we defined a language to describe the content and the form of design records and implemented this language in Dedal, a tool for indexing, modeling and retrieving design information. We first describe the approach to indexing and retrieval in Dedal. Next we describe ongoing work in extending Dedal's capabilities to a distributed environment by integrating it with World Wide Web. This will enable members of a design team who are not co-located to share and reuse information.

Efficient structure from motion on large scenes using UAV with position and pose information

Science.gov (United States)

Teng, Xichao; Yu, Qifeng; Shang, Yang; Luo, Jing; Wang, Gang

2018-04-01

In this paper, we exploit prior information from global positioning systems and inertial measurement units to speed up the process of large scene reconstruction from images acquired by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. We utilize weak pose information and intrinsic parameter to obtain the projection matrix for each view. As compared to unmanned aerial vehicles' flight altitude, topographic relief can usually be ignored, we assume that the scene is flat and use weak perspective camera to get projective transformations between two views. Furthermore, we propose an overlap criterion and select potentially matching view pairs between projective transformed views. A robust global structure from motion method is used for image based reconstruction. Our real world experiments show that the approach is accurate, scalable and computationally efficient. Moreover, projective transformations between views can also be used to eliminate false matching.

Chemical Bonding and Structural Information of Black CarbonReference Materials and Individual Carbonaceous AtmosphericAerosols

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hopkins, Rebecca J.; Tivanski, Alexei V.; Marten, Bryan D.; Gilles, Mary K.

2007-04-25

The carbon-to-oxygen ratios and graphitic nature of a rangeof black carbon standard reference materials (BC SRMs), high molecularmass humic-like substances (HULIS) and atmospheric particles are examinedusing scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) coupled with nearedge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. UsingSTXM/NEXAFS, individual particles with diameter>100 nm are studied,thus the diversity of atmospheric particles collected during a variety offield missions is assessed. Applying a semi-quantitative peak fittingmethod to the NEXAFS spectra enables a comparison of BC SRMs and HULIS toparticles originating from anthropogenic combustion and biomass burns,thus allowing determination of the suitability of these materials forrepresenting atmospheric particles. Anthropogenic combustion and biomassburn particles can be distinguished from one another using both chemicalbonding and structural ordering information. While anthropogeniccombustion particles are characterized by a high proportion ofaromatic-C, the presence of benzoquinone and are highly structurallyordered, biomass burn particles exhibit lower structural ordering, asmaller proportion of aromatic-C and contain a much higher proportion ofoxygenated functional groups.

A Novel Riemannian Metric Based on Riemannian Structure and Scaling Information for Fixed Low-Rank Matrix Completion.

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Shasha; Xiong, Lin; Jiao, Licheng; Feng, Tian; Yeung, Sai-Kit

2017-05-01

Riemannian optimization has been widely used to deal with the fixed low-rank matrix completion problem, and Riemannian metric is a crucial factor of obtaining the search direction in Riemannian optimization. This paper proposes a new Riemannian metric via simultaneously considering the Riemannian geometry structure and the scaling information, which is smoothly varying and invariant along the equivalence class. The proposed metric can make a tradeoff between the Riemannian geometry structure and the scaling information effectively. Essentially, it can be viewed as a generalization of some existing metrics. Based on the proposed Riemanian metric, we also design a Riemannian nonlinear conjugate gradient algorithm, which can efficiently solve the fixed low-rank matrix completion problem. By experimenting on the fixed low-rank matrix completion, collaborative filtering, and image and video recovery, it illustrates that the proposed method is superior to the state-of-the-art methods on the convergence efficiency and the numerical performance.

A study of symbol segmentation method for handwritten mathematical formula recognition using mathematical structure information

OpenAIRE

Toyozumi, Kenichi; Yamada, Naoya; Kitasaka, Takayuki; Mori, Kensaku; Suenaga, Yasuhito; Mase, Kenji; Takahashi, Tomoichi

2004-01-01

Symbol segmentation is very important in handwritten mathematical formula recognition, since it is the very first portion of the recognition, since it is the very first portion of the recognition process. This paper proposes a new symbol segmentation method using mathematical structure information. The base technique of symbol segmentation employed in theexisting methods is dynamic programming which optimizes the overall results of individual symbol recognition. The new method we propose here...

Database structure and file layout of Nuclear Power Plant Database. Database for design information on Light Water Reactors in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, Nobuo; Izumi, Fumio.

1995-12-01

The Nuclear Power Plant Database (PPD) has been developed at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) to provide plant design information on domestic Light Water Reactors (LWRs) to be used for nuclear safety research and so forth. This database can run on the main frame computer in the JAERI Tokai Establishment. The PPD contains the information on the plant design concepts, the numbers, capacities, materials, structures and types of equipment and components, etc, based on the safety analysis reports of the domestic LWRs. This report describes the details of the PPD focusing on the database structure and layout of data files so that the users can utilize it efficiently. (author)

An Alternative Organizational Structure to Address the Technology Requirements in Health Science Library Information in the '80's

Science.gov (United States)

Winant, Richard M.

1983-01-01

Virginia Commonwealth University's University Library Services offers through its organizational structure an opportunity for librarians to work directly with media experts. University Library Services envisions the future librarian as an information manager, information specialist, and teacher. In joining together Technical Services, Public Services, Collection Management, Special Collections, Learning Resource Centers, Media Production Center, AV Services, TV Services, Engineering and Telecommunications, the librarian is in an environment which gives the opportunity for growth and support by media expertise.

Obligation for the reporting of events and internal organization structure for information of the authorities by the utility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, H.J.; Scheer, J.

1997-01-01

The obligation of the utilities for the reporting of events to the authorities responsible for nuclear regulation and safety of the public is shown in this report. As an example the nuclear power plants of PreussenElektra Brokdorf and Stade are taken. The internal organization structure and the ways of communication to the authorities are discribed. Furthermore, the outlook and structure of the report which is used for alarm and information of the authorities is shown. (orig.) [de

The phase-space structure of nearby dark matter as constrained by the SDSS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leclercq, Florent; Percival, Will; Jasche, Jens; Lavaux, Guilhem; Wandelt, Benjamin

2017-01-01

Previous studies using numerical simulations have demonstrated that the shape of the cosmic web can be described by studying the Lagrangian displacement field. We extend these analyses, showing that it is now possible to perform a Lagrangian description of cosmic structure in the nearby Universe based on large-scale structure observations. Building upon recent Bayesian large-scale inference of initial conditions, we present a cosmographic analysis of the dark matter distribution and its evolution, referred to as the dark matter phase-space sheet, in the nearby universe as probed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey main galaxy sample. We consider its stretchings and foldings using a tetrahedral tessellation of the Lagrangian lattice. The method provides extremely accurate estimates of nearby density and velocity fields, even in regions of low galaxy density. It also measures the number of matter streams, and the deformation and parity reversals of fluid elements, which were previously thought inaccessible using observations. We illustrate the approach by showing the phase-space structure of known objects of the nearby Universe such as the Sloan Great Wall, the Coma cluster and the Boötes void. We dissect cosmic structures into four distinct components (voids, sheets, filaments, and clusters), using the Lagrangian classifiers DIVA, ORIGAMI, and a new scheme which we introduce and call LICH. Because these classifiers use information other than the sheer local density, identified structures explicitly carry physical information about their formation history. Accessing the phase-space structure of dark matter in galaxy surveys opens the way for new confrontations of observational data and theoretical models. We have made our data products publicly available.

The phase-space structure of nearby dark matter as constrained by the SDSS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leclercq, Florent; Percival, Will [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation (ICG), University of Portsmouth, Dennis Sciama Building, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Jasche, Jens [Excellence Cluster Universe, Technische Universität München, Boltzmannstrasse 2, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Lavaux, Guilhem; Wandelt, Benjamin, E-mail: florent.leclercq@polytechnique.org, E-mail: lavaux@iap.fr, E-mail: jasche@iap.fr, E-mail: wandelt@iap.fr, E-mail: will.percival@port.ac.uk [Institut d' Astrophysique de Paris (IAP), UMR 7095, CNRS – UPMC Université Paris 6, Sorbonne Universités, 98bis boulevard Arago, F-75014 Paris (France)

2017-06-01

Previous studies using numerical simulations have demonstrated that the shape of the cosmic web can be described by studying the Lagrangian displacement field. We extend these analyses, showing that it is now possible to perform a Lagrangian description of cosmic structure in the nearby Universe based on large-scale structure observations. Building upon recent Bayesian large-scale inference of initial conditions, we present a cosmographic analysis of the dark matter distribution and its evolution, referred to as the dark matter phase-space sheet, in the nearby universe as probed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey main galaxy sample. We consider its stretchings and foldings using a tetrahedral tessellation of the Lagrangian lattice. The method provides extremely accurate estimates of nearby density and velocity fields, even in regions of low galaxy density. It also measures the number of matter streams, and the deformation and parity reversals of fluid elements, which were previously thought inaccessible using observations. We illustrate the approach by showing the phase-space structure of known objects of the nearby Universe such as the Sloan Great Wall, the Coma cluster and the Boötes void. We dissect cosmic structures into four distinct components (voids, sheets, filaments, and clusters), using the Lagrangian classifiers DIVA, ORIGAMI, and a new scheme which we introduce and call LICH. Because these classifiers use information other than the sheer local density, identified structures explicitly carry physical information about their formation history. Accessing the phase-space structure of dark matter in galaxy surveys opens the way for new confrontations of observational data and theoretical models. We have made our data products publicly available.

Orthodontic informed consent considering information load and serial position effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Pawlak, Caroline E; Fields, Henry W; Beck, F Michael; Firestone, Allen R

2015-03-01

Previous research has demonstrated that current methods of informed consent are relatively ineffective as shown by poor recall and comprehension by adolescent patients and their parents. The purpose of this study was to determine whether adding a short videotape presentation reiterating the issues related to informed consent to a modified informed consent document that emphasizes a limited number of core and patient-specific custom "chunks" at the beginning of an informed consent presentation improved the recall and comprehension of the risks, benefits, and alternatives of orthodontic treatment. A second objective was to evaluate the current related data for recommendable practices. Seventy patient-parent pairs were randomly divided into 2 groups. The intervention group (group A) patients and parents together reviewed a customized slide show and a short videotape presentation describing the key risks of orthodontic treatment. Group B followed the same protocol without viewing the videotape. All patients and parents were interviewed independently by research assistants using an established measurement tool with open-ended questions. Interviews were transcribed and scored for the appropriateness of responses using a previously established codebook. Lastly, the patients and parents were given 2 reading literacy tests, 1 related to health and 1 with general content followed by the self-administered demographic and psychological state questionnaires. There were no significant differences between the groups for sociodemographic variables. There were no significant differences between the groups for overall recall and comprehension; recall and comprehension for the domains of treatment, risk, and responsibility; and recall and comprehension for core, general, and custom items. The positional effects were limited in impact. When compared with previous studies, these data further demonstrate the benefit of improved readability and audiovisual supplementation with the

Information Security Role Model for Staff of Banking Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. O. Vybornov

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Categories roles of information security employees of the banking organization are defined. Functional roles are described. The relationship between functional roles, employees, functions and authority are defined. The role of information security employees of the banking organization for information security system and information security management system are described. Recommendations for the implementation phases of the selection and appointment of the functional roles and to control the selection and role assignment information security employees of the banking organization are stated.

Aerospace structural design process improvement using systematic evolutionary structural modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Robert Michael

2000-10-01

A multidisciplinary team tasked with an aircraft design problem must understand the problem requirements and metrics to produce a successful design. This understanding entails not only knowledge of what these requirements and metrics are, but also how they interact, which are most important (to the customer as well as to aircraft performance), and who in the organization can provide pertinent knowledge for each. In recent years, product development researchers and organizations have developed and successfully applied a variety of tools such as Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to coordinate multidisciplinary team members. The effectiveness of these methods, however, depends on the quality and fidelity of the information that team members can input. In conceptual aircraft design, structural information is of lower quality compared to aerodynamics or performance because it is based on experience rather than theory. This dissertation shows how advanced structural design tools can be used in a multidisciplinary team setting to improve structural information generation and communication through a systematic evolution of structural detail. When applied to conceptual design, finite element-based structural design tools elevate structural information to the same level as other computationally supported disciplines. This improved ability to generate and communicate structural information enables a design team to better identify and meet structural design requirements, consider producibility issues earlier, and evaluate structural concepts. A design process experiment of a wing structural layout in collaboration with an industrial partner illustrates and validates the approach.

A new adaptive mesh refinement data structure with an application to detonation

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Ji, Hua; Lien, Fue-Sang; Yee, Eugene

2010-11-01

A new Cell-based Structured Adaptive Mesh Refinement (CSAMR) data structure is developed. In our CSAMR data structure, Cartesian-like indices are used to identify each cell. With these stored indices, the information on the parent, children and neighbors of a given cell can be accessed simply and efficiently. Owing to the usage of these indices, the computer memory required for storage of the proposed AMR data structure is only {5}/{8} word per cell, in contrast to the conventional oct-tree [P. MacNeice, K.M. Olson, C. Mobary, R. deFainchtein, C. Packer, PARAMESH: a parallel adaptive mesh refinement community toolkit, Comput. Phys. Commun. 330 (2000) 126] and the fully threaded tree (FTT) [A.M. Khokhlov, Fully threaded tree algorithms for adaptive mesh fluid dynamics simulations, J. Comput. Phys. 143 (1998) 519] data structures which require, respectively, 19 and 2{3}/{8} words per cell for storage of the connectivity information. Because the connectivity information (e.g., parent, children and neighbors) of a cell in our proposed AMR data structure can be accessed using only the cell indices, a tree structure which was required in previous approaches for the organization of the AMR data is no longer needed for this new data structure. Instead, a much simpler hash table structure is used to maintain the AMR data, with the entry keys in the hash table obtained directly from the explicitly stored cell indices. The proposed AMR data structure simplifies the implementation and parallelization of an AMR code. Two three-dimensional test cases are used to illustrate and evaluate the computational performance of the new CSAMR data structure.

The linguistic realization of information packaging

OpenAIRE

Vallduví, Enric; Engdahl, Elisabet

1996-01-01

There is increasing awareness of the large degree of crosslinguistic diversity involved in the structural realization of information packaging (or information structure). Whereas English and many Germanic languages primarily exploit intonation for informational purposes, in other languages, like Catalan, syntax plays the primary role in the realization of information packaging and intonation is reduced to a secondary role. In yet another group of languages the primary structural correlate is ...

A Weld Position Recognition Method Based on Directional and Structured Light Information Fusion in Multi-Layer/Multi-Pass Welding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinle Zeng

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Multi-layer/multi-pass welding (MLMPW technology is widely used in the energy industry to join thick components. During automatic welding using robots or other actuators, it is very important to recognize the actual weld pass position using visual methods, which can then be used not only to perform reasonable path planning for actuators, but also to correct any deviations between the welding torch and the weld pass position in real time. However, due to the small geometrical differences between adjacent weld passes, existing weld position recognition technologies such as structured light methods are not suitable for weld position detection in MLMPW. This paper proposes a novel method for weld position detection, which fuses various kinds of information in MLMPW. First, a synchronous acquisition method is developed to obtain various kinds of visual information when directional light and structured light sources are on, respectively. Then, interferences are eliminated by fusing adjacent images. Finally, the information from directional and structured light images is fused to obtain the 3D positions of the weld passes. Experiment results show that each process can be done in 30 ms and the deviation is less than 0.6 mm. The proposed method can be used for automatic path planning and seam tracking in the robotic MLMPW process as well as electron beam freeform fabrication process.

A Weld Position Recognition Method Based on Directional and Structured Light Information Fusion in Multi-Layer/Multi-Pass Welding.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Jinle; Chang, Baohua; Du, Dong; Wang, Li; Chang, Shuhe; Peng, Guodong; Wang, Wenzhu

2018-01-05

Multi-layer/multi-pass welding (MLMPW) technology is widely used in the energy industry to join thick components. During automatic welding using robots or other actuators, it is very important to recognize the actual weld pass position using visual methods, which can then be used not only to perform reasonable path planning for actuators, but also to correct any deviations between the welding torch and the weld pass position in real time. However, due to the small geometrical differences between adjacent weld passes, existing weld position recognition technologies such as structured light methods are not suitable for weld position detection in MLMPW. This paper proposes a novel method for weld position detection, which fuses various kinds of information in MLMPW. First, a synchronous acquisition method is developed to obtain various kinds of visual information when directional light and structured light sources are on, respectively. Then, interferences are eliminated by fusing adjacent images. Finally, the information from directional and structured light images is fused to obtain the 3D positions of the weld passes. Experiment results show that each process can be done in 30 ms and the deviation is less than 0.6 mm. The proposed method can be used for automatic path planning and seam tracking in the robotic MLMPW process as well as electron beam freeform fabrication process.

Exploring the Structure of Library and Information Science Web Space Based on Multivariate Analysis of Social Tags

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Joo, Soohyung; Kipp, Margaret E. I.

2015-01-01

Introduction: This study examines the structure of Web space in the field of library and information science using multivariate analysis of social tags from the Website, Delicious.com. A few studies have examined mathematical modelling of tags, mainly examining tagging in terms of tripartite graphs, pattern tracing and descriptive statistics. This…

Structural Fingerprints of Transcription Factor Binding Site Regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Willett

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Fourier transforms are a powerful tool in the prediction of DNA sequence properties, such as the presence/absence of codons. We have previously compiled a database of the structural properties of all 32,896 unique DNA octamers. In this work we apply Fourier techniques to the analysis of the structural properties of human chromosomes 21 and 22 and also to three sets of transcription factor binding sites within these chromosomes. We find that, for a given structural property, the structural property power spectra of chromosomes 21 and 22 are strikingly similar. We find common peaks in their power spectra for both Sp1 and p53 transcription factor binding sites. We use the power spectra as a structural fingerprint and perform similarity searching in order to find transcription factor binding site regions. This approach provides a new strategy for searching the genome data for information. Although it is difficult to understand the relationship between specific functional properties and the set of structural parameters in our database, our structural fingerprints nevertheless provide a useful tool for searching for function information in sequence data. The power spectrum fingerprints provide a simple, fast method for comparing a set of functional sequences, in this case transcription factor binding site regions, with the sequences of whole chromosomes. On its own, the power spectrum fingerprint does not find all transcription factor binding sites in a chromosome, but the results presented here show that in combination with other approaches, this technique will improve the chances of identifying functional sequences hidden in genomic data.

Design of Composite Structures Using Knowledge-Based and Case Based Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Lambright, Jonathan Paul

1996-01-01

A method of using knowledge based and case based reasoning to assist designers during conceptual design tasks of composite structures was proposed. The cooperative use of heuristics, procedural knowledge, and previous similar design cases suggests a potential reduction in design cycle time and ultimately product lead time. The hypothesis of this work is that the design process of composite structures can be improved by using Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) and Knowledge-Based (KB) reasoning in the early design stages. The technique of using knowledge-based and case-based reasoning facilitates the gathering of disparate information into one location that is easily and readily available. The method suggests that the inclusion of downstream life-cycle issues into the conceptual design phase reduces potential of defective, and sub-optimal composite structures. Three industry experts were interviewed extensively. The experts provided design rules, previous design cases, and test problems. A Knowledge Based Reasoning system was developed using the CLIPS (C Language Interpretive Procedural System) environment and a Case Based Reasoning System was developed using the Design Memory Utility For Sharing Experiences (MUSE) xviii environment. A Design Characteristic State (DCS) was used to document the design specifications, constraints, and problem areas using attribute-value pair relationships. The DCS provided consistent design information between the knowledge base and case base. Results indicated that the use of knowledge based and case based reasoning provided a robust design environment for composite structures. The knowledge base provided design guidance from well defined rules and procedural knowledge. The case base provided suggestions on design and manufacturing techniques based on previous similar designs and warnings of potential problems and pitfalls. The case base complemented the knowledge base and extended the problem solving capability beyond the existence of

MODELLING THE INHIBITORY ACTIVITY ON CARBONIC ANHYDRASE IV OF SUBSTITUTED THIADIAZOLE - AND THIADIAZOLINE - DISULFONAMIDES: INTEGRATION OF STRUCTURE INFORMATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sorana Daniela Bolboaca

2006-07-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT:Purpose: To analyze the relationships between inhibitory activities on carbonic anhydrase IV and structures of substituted 1,3,4-thiadiazole and 1,3,4-thiadiazoline disulfonamide through integration of compounds complex structure information by the use of Molecular Descriptors Family.Method: A number of forty compounds were used to generate and compute the molecular descriptors family and to build structure-activity relationships models. The obtained multi-varied models (the models with two, respectively with four descriptors were validated by computing the cross-validation leave-one-out score (r2cv-loo, and analyzed through assessment of the squared correlation coefficients (r2, and the models stability (r2 - r2cv-loo. The estimation abilities of the multi-varied MDF-SAR model with four descriptors were analyzed in training and test sets.Results: Analysis of the obtained models shows that the best results was obtained by the multi-varied model with four molecular descriptors (r2 = 0.920. The prediction abilities of this model is sustained by the cross validation leave-one-out score (r2cv-loo = 0.903, the model stability (r2 - r2cv-loo = 0.017, and the results on training versus test analysis (no significant differences between correlation coefficients in training and test sets, p > 0.05. The multi-varied model which used four descriptors proved to render higher value of correlation coefficient comparing with previous reported models (p 0.05. El modelo multivariante que utilizó cuatro descriptores mostró un valor más alto del coeficiente de correlación en comparación con los modelos divulgados anteriormente (p < 0.01.Conclusión: El modelo multivariante con cuatro descriptores es sólido y fiable e indica que la actividad de la inhibición en la carboanhidrasa IV producida por las sufonamidas sustituidas del 1,3,4-tiadiazol- y de la 1,3,4-tiadiazolina- dependen de la naturaleza de la geometría y de la topología del compuesto

The biomechanics of running in athletes with previous hamstring injury: A case-control study.

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Daly, C; Persson, U McCarthy; Twycross-Lewis, R; Woledge, R C; Morrissey, D

2016-04-01

Hamstring injury is prevalent with persistently high reinjury rates. We aim to inform hamstring rehabilitation by exploring the electromyographic and kinematic characteristics of running in athletes with previous hamstring injury. Nine elite male Gaelic games athletes who had returned to sport after hamstring injury and eight closely matched controls sprinted while lower limb kinematics and muscle activity of the previously injured biceps femoris, bilateral gluteus maximus, lumbar erector spinae, rectus femoris, and external oblique were recorded. Intergroup comparisons of muscle activation ratios and kinematics were performed. Previously injured athletes demonstrated significantly reduced biceps femoris muscle activation ratios with respect to ipsilateral gluteus maximus (maximum difference -12.5%, P = 0.03), ipsilateral erector spinae (maximum difference -12.5%, P = 0.01), ipsilateral external oblique (maximum difference -23%, P = 0.01), and contralateral rectus femoris (maximum difference -22%, P = 0.02) in the late swing phase. We also detected sagittal asymmetry in hip flexion (maximum 8°, P = 0.01), pelvic tilt (maximum 4°, P = 0.02), and medial rotation of the knee (maximum 6°, P = 0.03) effectively putting the hamstrings in a lengthened position just before heel strike. Previous hamstring injury is associated with altered biceps femoris associated muscle activity and potentially injurious kinematics. These deficits should be considered and addressed during rehabilitation. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.