Providing Access to Library Automation Systems for Students with Disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

California Community Colleges, Sacramento. High-Tech Center for the Disabled.

This document provides information on the integration of assistive computer technologies and library automation systems at California Community Colleges in order to ensure access for students with disabilities. Topics covered include planning, upgrading, purchasing, implementing and using these technologies with library systems. As information…

Access to water provides economic relief through enhanced relationships in Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Zolnikov, Tara Rava; Blodgett-Salafia, Elizabeth

2017-03-01

Sub-Saharan Africa is comprised of low- and middle-income countries subject to the residual effects of chronic poverty. Poverty contributes to health disparities and social inequities. Public health strategies and solutions seek to remedy the effects of poverty. Providing access to quality water is one priority public health project that alleviates adverse health effects, but may have additional outcomes. Previous research has not thoroughly reviewed the economic relief and relationship changes from implemented water interventions. A qualitative phenomenological approach used 52 semi-structured interviews to understand relationship experiences among primary water gatherers and their families after implemented water interventions in a community. This study took place throughout the historically semi-arid eastern region in Kitui, Kenya, where community members have been beneficiaries of various water interventions. Prior to the water intervention, relationships were strained because of economic hardships. Households experienced economic difficulties in paying for children's school fees, buying bricks for housing structures, having water for house gardens, trees for shade in the compound, crops and providing water for their animals. After receiving access to water, relationships improved, because families were able to discuss and address economic challenges. Additional financial revenue was gained and used to pay for water to make bricks to sell or use on housing structures, expand on house gardens and agricultural crops, build new businesses, purchase water for animals, and construct local water spouts near the household. Access to water improved relationships, which encouraged economic growth. This information provides a critical component in understanding the interconnected nature between access to water, poverty and family relationships. Ultimately, this research suggests an increased need for access to quality water worldwide to improve both economic situations

Bring Your Own Device - Providing Reliable Model of Data Access

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stąpór Paweł

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The article presents a model of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD as a model network, which provides the user reliable access to network resources. BYOD is a model dynamically developing, which can be applied in many areas. Research network has been launched in order to carry out the test, in which as a service of BYOD model Work Folders service was used. This service allows the user to synchronize files between the device and the server. An access to the network is completed through the wireless communication by the 802.11n standard. Obtained results are shown and analyzed in this article.

Assessing health systems for type 1 diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa: developing a 'Rapid Assessment Protocol for Insulin Access'

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beran, David; Yudkin, John S; de Courten, Maximilian

2006-01-01

In order to improve the health of people with Type 1 diabetes in developing countries, a clear analysis of the constraints to insulin access and diabetes care is needed. We developed a Rapid Assessment Protocol for Insulin Access, comprising a series of questionnaires as well as a protocol...... for the gathering of other data through site visits, discussions, and document reviews....

Empowering Learners with Mobile Open-Access Learning Initiatives

Science.gov (United States)

Mills, Michael, Ed.; Wake, Donna, Ed.

2017-01-01

Education has been progressing at a rapid pace ever since educators have been able to harness the power of mobile technology. Open-access learning techniques provide more students with the opportunity to engage in educational opportunities that may have been previously restricted. "Empowering Learners with Mobile Open-Access Learning…

34 CFR 364.37 - What access to records must be provided?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... SPECIAL EDUCATION AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION STATE INDEPENDENT LIVING SERVICES... Requirements? § 364.37 What access to records must be provided? For the purpose of conducting audits, examinations, and compliance reviews, the State plan must include satisfactory assurances that all recipients...

Does the edge effect impact on the measure of spatial accessibility to healthcare providers?

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Fei; Kihal, Wahida; Le Meur, Nolwenn; Souris, Marc; Deguen, Séverine

2017-12-11

Spatial accessibility indices are increasingly applied when investigating inequalities in health. Although most studies are making mentions of potential errors caused by the edge effect, many acknowledge having neglected to consider this concern by establishing spatial analyses within a finite region, settling for hypothesizing that accessibility to facilities will be under-reported. Our study seeks to assess the effect of edge on the accuracy of defining healthcare provider access by comparing healthcare provider accessibility accounting or not for the edge effect, in a real-world application. This study was carried out in the department of Nord, France. The statistical unit we use is the French census block known as 'IRIS' (Ilot Regroupé pour l'Information Statistique), defined by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. The geographical accessibility indicator used is the "Index of Spatial Accessibility" (ISA), based on the E2SFCA algorithm. We calculated ISA for the pregnant women population by selecting three types of healthcare providers: general practitioners, gynecologists and midwives. We compared ISA variation when accounting or not edge effect in urban and rural zones. The GIS method was then employed to determine global and local autocorrelation. Lastly, we compared the relationship between socioeconomic distress index and ISA, when accounting or not for the edge effect, to fully evaluate its impact. The results revealed that on average ISA when offer and demand beyond the boundary were included is slightly below ISA when not accounting for the edge effect, and we found that the IRIS value was more likely to deteriorate than improve. Moreover, edge effect impact can vary widely by health provider type. There is greater variability within the rural IRIS group than within the urban IRIS group. We found a positive correlation between socioeconomic distress variables and composite ISA. Spatial analysis results (such as Moran's spatial

The changing face of government information providing access in the twenty-first century

CERN Document Server

Kumar, Suhasini L

2006-01-01

Learn what innovative changes lie in the future of government information The Changing Face of Government Information comprehensively examines the way government documents' librarians acquire, provide access, and provide reference services in the new electronic environment. Noted experts discuss the impact electronic materials have had on the Government Printing Office (GPO), the reference services within the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), and the new opportunities in the transition from paper-based information policy to an electronic e-government. This source reveals the latest changes in the field of government documents librarianship and the knowledge and expertise needed to teach users how to access what they need from this enormous wealth of government information. Major changes have taken place in the way government information is created, disseminated, accessed, and preserved. The Changing Face of Government Information explains in detail the tremendous change taking place in libraries and ...

What Type of Knowledge Provides Valid Housing Standards Addressing Accessibility?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Helle, Tina; Brandt, Åse; Iwarsson, Susanne

evaluations of task-surface heights in elderly people’s homes. Applied Ergonomics, 31, 109-119. Kohlbacher, F. (2006). The use of qualitative content analysis in case study research. Forum: Qualitative social research sozialforschung (FQS), Open Journal Systems, vol 7, No1. Kozey, J.W. & Das, B. (2004...... accessibility aspects such as either reach, seat height or space requirements • Targeted primarily industrial workstation design and only wheelchair/scooter users • Addressed positions (standing/seated) and sex difference with respect to reach • Was generated in lab-like environments, using methods...... of the validity of housing standards. Therefore, it is reasonable to question what type of knowledge that provides the most valid standards addressing accessibility and explore the consequences of using an alternative approach. The idea was thus to examine the validity of a set of housing standards using a so...

Secret Shoppers Find Access To Providers And Network Accuracy Lacking For Those In Marketplace And Commercial Plans.

Science.gov (United States)

Haeder, Simon F; Weimer, David L; Mukamel, Dana B

2016-07-01

The adequacy of provider networks for plans sold through insurance Marketplaces established under the Affordable Care Act has received much scrutiny recently. Various studies have established that networks are generally narrow. To learn more about network adequacy and access to care, we investigated two questions. First, no matter the nominal size of a network, can patients gain access to primary care services from providers of their choice in a timely manner? Second, how does access compare to plans sold outside insurance Marketplaces? We conducted a "secret shopper" survey of 743 primary care providers from five of California's nineteen insurance Marketplace pricing regions in the summer of 2015. Our findings indicate that obtaining access to primary care providers was generally equally challenging both inside and outside insurance Marketplaces. In less than 30 percent of cases were consumers able to schedule an appointment with an initially selected physician provider. Information about provider networks was often inaccurate. Problems accessing services for patients with acute conditions were particularly troubling. Effectively addressing issues of network adequacy requires more accurate provider information. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Health care access and quality for persons with disability: Patient and provider recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

McClintock, Heather F; Kurichi, Jibby E; Barg, Frances K; Krueger, Alice; Colletti, Patrice M; Wearing, Krizia A; Bogner, Hillary R

2018-07-01

Significant disparities in health care access and quality persist between persons with disabilities (PWD) and persons without disabilities (PWOD). Little research has examined recommendations of patients and providers to improve health care for PWD. We sought to explore patient and health care provider recommendations to improve health care access and quality for PWD through focus groups in the physical world in a community center and in the virtual world in an online community. In all, 17 PWD, 4 PWOD, and 6 health care providers participated in 1 of 5 focus groups. Focus groups were conducted in the virtual world in Second Life ® with Virtual Ability, an online community, and in the physical world at Agape Community Center in Milwaukee, WI. Focus group data were analyzed using a grounded theory methodology. Themes that emerged in focus groups among PWD and PWOD as well as health care providers to improve health care access and quality for PWD were: promoting advocacy, increasing awareness and knowledge, improving communication, addressing assumptions, as well as modifying and creating policy. Many participants discussed political empowerment and engagement as central to health care reform. Both PWD and PWOD as well as health care providers identified common themes potentially important for improving health care for PWD. Patient and health care provider recommendations highlight a need for modification of current paradigms, practices, and approaches to improve the quality of health care provision for PWD. Participants emphasized the need for greater advocacy and political engagement. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An improved synthesis of pentacene: rapid access to a benchmark organic semiconductor.

Science.gov (United States)

Pramanik, Chandrani; Miller, Glen P

2012-04-20

Pentacene is an organic semiconductor used in a variety of thin-film organic electronic devices. Although at least six separate syntheses of pentacene are known (two from dihydropentacenes, two from 6,13-pentacenedione and two from 6,13-dihydro-6,13-dihydroxypentacene), none is ideal and several utilize elevated temperatures that may facilitate the oxidation of pentacene as it is produced. Here, we present a fast (-2 min of reaction time), simple, high-yielding (≥ 90%), low temperature synthesis of pentacene from readily available 6,13-dihydro-6,13-dihydroxypentacene. Further, we discuss the mechanism of this highly efficient reaction. With this improved synthesis, researchers gain rapid, affordable access to high purity pentacene in excellent yield and without the need for a time consuming sublimation.

Technology for People, Not Disabilities: Ensuring Access and Inclusion

Science.gov (United States)

Foley, Alan; Ferri, Beth A.

2012-01-01

The potential of technology to connect people and provide access to education, commerce, employment and entertainment has never been greater or more rapidly changing. Communication technologies and new media promise to "revolutionize our lives" by breaking down barriers and expanding access for disabled people. Yet, it is also true that technology…

A Flexible Visualization Tool for Rapid Access to EFIT Results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Ruirui; Xiao Bingjia; Luo Zhengping

2014-01-01

This paper introduces the design and implementation of an interactive tool, the EASTViewer, for the visualization of plasma equilibrium reconstruction results for EAST (the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak). Aimed at the operating system independently, Python, when combined with the PyGTK toolkit, is used as the programming language. Using modular design, the EASTViewer provides a unified interface with great flexibility. It is easy to access numerous data sources either from local data files or an MDSplus tree, and with the pre-defined configuration files, it can be extended to other tokamaks. The EASTViewer has been used as the major tool to visualize equilibrium data since the second EAST campaign in 2008, and it has been verified that the EASTViewer features a user-friendly interface, and has easy access to numerous data sources and cross-platforms. (fusion engineering)

Barriers to accessing ATLS provider course for junior doctors at a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Barriers to accessing ATLS provider course for junior doctors at a major university hospital in South Africa. ... South African Journal of Surgery ... Subgroup analysis comparing the reasons for PGY1s vs PGY2s demonstrated that not being able to secure a place on course was more common among PGY2s [19% vs 33%, ...

Virtual Library: Providing Accessible Online Resources.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Rob

2001-01-01

Describes e-global library, a virtual library based on the Jones International University's library that organizes Internet resources to make them more accessible to students at all skill levels. Highlights include online tutorials; research guides; financial aid and career development information; and possible partnerships with other digital…

Providing Social Enterprises with Better Access to Public Procurement : The Development of Supportive Legal Frameworks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Argyrou, A.

2017-01-01

This article discusses the issue of social enterprises gaining access to public procurement processes and contracts at the EU and national level. It primarily examines the opportunities for social enterprises to access public procurement contracts provided for in the Public Procurement Directive

An Improved Synthesis of Pentacene: Rapid Access to a Benchmark Organic Semiconductor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Glen P. Miller

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Pentacene is an organic semiconductor used in a variety of thin-film organic electronic devices. Although at least six separate syntheses of pentacene are known (two from dihydropentacenes, two from 6,13-pentacenedione and two from 6,13-dihydro-6,13-dihydroxypentacene, none is ideal and several utilize elevated temperatures that may facilitate the oxidation of pentacene as it is produced. Here, we present a fast (~2 min of reaction time, simple, high-yielding (≥90%, low temperature synthesis of pentacene from readily available 6,13-dihydro-6,13-dihydroxypentacene. Further, we discuss the mechanism of this highly efficient reaction. With this improved synthesis, researchers gain rapid, affordable access to high purity pentacene in excellent yield and without the need for a time consuming sublimation.

Association of mandated language access programming and quality of care provided by mental health agencies.

Science.gov (United States)

McClellan, Sean R; Snowden, Lonnie

2015-01-01

This study examined the association between language access programming and quality of psychiatric care received by persons with limited English proficiency (LEP). In 1999, the California Department of Mental Health required county Medicaid agencies to implement a "threshold language access policy" to meet the state's Title VI obligations. This policy required Medi-Cal agencies to provide language access programming, including access to interpreters and translated written material, to speakers of languages other than English if the language was spoken by at least 3,000, or 5%, of the county's Medicaid population. Using a longitudinal study design with a nonequivalent control group, this study examined the quality of care provided to Spanish speakers with LEP and a severe mental illness before and after implementation of mandatory language access programming. Quality was measured by receipt of at least two follow-up medication visits within 90 days or three visits within 180 days of an initial medication visit over a period of 38 quarter-years. On average, only 40% of Spanish-speaking clients received at least three medication follow-up visits within 180 days. In multivariate analyses, language access programming was not associated with receipt of at least two medication follow-up visits within 90 days or at least three visits within 180 days. This study found no evidence that language access programming led to increased rates of follow-up medication visits for clients with LEP.

Do Your School Policies Provide Equal Access to Computers? Are You Sure?

Science.gov (United States)

DuBois, Phyllis A.; Schubert, Jane G.

1986-01-01

Outlines how school policies can unintentionally perpetuate gender discrimination in student computer use and access. Describes four areas of administrative policies that can cause inequities and provides ways for administrators to counteract these policies. Includes discussion of a program to balance computer use, and an abstract of an article…

The Mission Accessibility of Near-Earth Asteroids

Science.gov (United States)

Barbee, Brent W.; Abell, P. A.; Adamo, D. R.; Mazanek, D. D.; Johnson, L. N.; Yeomans, D. K.; Chodas, P. W.; Chamberlin, A. B.; Benner, L. A. M.; Taylor, P.;

Access to finance from different finance provider types: Farmer knowledge of the requirements

OpenAIRE

Wulandari, Eliana; Meuwissen, Miranda P. M.; Karmana, Maman H.; Oude Lansink, Alfons G. J. M.

2017-01-01

Analysing farmer knowledge of the requirements of finance providers can provide valuable insights to policy makers about ways to improve farmers' access to finance. This study compares farmer knowledge of the requirements to obtain finance with the actual requirements set by different finance provider types, and investigates the relation between demographic and socioeconomic factors and farmer knowledge of finance requirements. We use a structured questionnaire to collect data from a sample o...

Optical code division multiple access secure communications systems with rapid reconfigurable polarization shift key user code

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Kaiqiang; Wu, Chongqing; Sheng, Xinzhi; Shang, Chao; Liu, Lanlan; Wang, Jian

2015-09-01

An optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) secure communications system scheme with rapid reconfigurable polarization shift key (Pol-SK) bipolar user code is proposed and demonstrated. Compared to fix code OCDMA, by constantly changing the user code, the performance of anti-eavesdropping is greatly improved. The Pol-SK OCDMA experiment with a 10 Gchip/s user code and a 1.25 Gb/s user data of payload has been realized, which means this scheme has better tolerance and could be easily realized.

Providing Internet Access to the Ohio Career Information System for All Residents: A Feasibility Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Morgan V.

Expanded Internet access to the Ohio Career Information System (OCIS) would provide adults in Ohio who need to or wish to make career changes with the best available information about occupations, education and training programs, and financial aid. In order to determine the feasibility of improving access without cost to users, an advisory group,…

Online medical books: their availability and an assessment of how health sciences libraries provide access on their public Websites.

Science.gov (United States)

MacCall, Steven L

2006-01-01

The objective of this study was to determine the number and topical range of available online medical books and to assess how health sciences libraries were providing access to these resources on their public Websites. The collection-based evaluative technique of list checking was used to assess the number and topical range of online medical books of the six largest publishers. Publisher inventory lists were downloaded over a two-day period (May 16-17, 2004). Titles were counted and compared with the 2003 Brandon/Hill list. A sample of health sciences libraries was subsequently derived by consulting the 2004 "Top Medical Schools-Research" in U.S. News & World Report. Bibliographic and bibliothecal access methods were evaluated based on an inspection of the publicly available Websites of the sample libraries. Of 318 currently published online medical books, 151 (47%) were Brandon/Hill titles covering 42 of 59 Brandon/Hill topics (71%). These 151 titles represented 22% (N = 672) of the Brandon/Hill list, which further broke down as 52 minimal core, 41 initial purchase, and 58 other recommended Brandon/Hill titles. These numbers represented 50%, 28%, and 12%, respectively, of all Brandon/Hill titles corresponding to those categories. In terms of bibliographic access, 20 of 21 of sampled libraries created catalog records for their online medical books, 1 of which also provided analytical access at the chapter level, and none provided access at the chapter section level. Of the 21 libraries, 19 had library Website search engines that provided title-level access and 4 provided access at the chapter level and none that at the chapter section level. For bibliothecal access, 19 of 21 libraries provided title-level access to medical books, 8 of which provided classified and alphabetic arrangements, 1 provided a classified arrangement only, and 10 provided an alphabetic arrangement only. No library provided a bibliothecal arrangement for medical book chapters or chapter

SalanderMaps: A rapid overview about felt earthquakes through data mining of web-accesses

Science.gov (United States)

Kradolfer, Urs

2013-04-01

While seismological observatories detect and locate earthquakes based on measurements of the ground motion, they neither know a priori whether an earthquake has been felt by the public nor is it known, where it has been felt. Such information is usually gathered by evaluating feedback reported by the public through on-line forms on the web. However, after a felt earthquake in Switzerland, many people visit the webpages of the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at the ETH Zurich and each such visit leaves traces in the logfiles on our web-servers. Data mining techniques, applied to these logfiles and mining publicly available data bases on the internet open possibilities to obtain previously unknown information about our virtual visitors. In order to provide precise information to authorities and the media, it would be desirable to rapidly know from which locations these web-accesses origin. The method 'Salander' (Seismic Activitiy Linked to Area codes - Nimble Detection of Earthquake Rumbles) will be introduced and it will be explained, how the IP-addresses (each computer or router directly connected to the internet has a unique IP-address; an example would be 129.132.53.5) of a sufficient amount of our virtual visitors were linked to their geographical area. This allows us to unprecedentedly quickly know whether and where an earthquake was felt in Switzerland. It will also be explained, why the method Salander is superior to commercial so-called geolocation products. The corresponding products of the Salander method, animated SalanderMaps, which are routinely generated after each earthquake with a magnitude of M>2 in Switzerland (http://www.seismo.ethz.ch/prod/salandermaps/, available after March 2013), demonstrate how the wavefield of earthquakes propagates through Switzerland and where it was felt. Often, such information is available within less than 60 seconds after origin time, and we always get a clear picture within already five minutes after origin time

Free Access to Point of Care Resource Results in Increased Use and Satisfaction by Rural Healthcare Providers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lindsay Alcock

2016-12-01

Full Text Available A Review of: Eldredge, J. D., Hall, L. J., McElfresh, K. R., Warner, T. D., Stromberg, T. L., Trost, J. T., & Jelinek, D. A. (2016. Rural providers’ access to online resources: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 104(1, 33-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.104.1.005 Objective – To determine whether free access to the point of care (PoC resource Dynamed or the electronic book collection AccessMedicine was more useful to rural health care providers in answering clinical questions in terms of usage and satisfaction. Design – Randomized controlled trial. Setting – Rural New Mexico. Subjects – Twenty-eight health care providers (physicians, nurses, physician assistants, and pharmacists with no reported access to PoC resources, (specifically Dynamed and AccessMedicine or electronic textbook collections prior to enrollment.

Provider Perspectives on School-Based Mental Health for Urban Minority Youth: Access and Services

Science.gov (United States)

Gamble, Brandon E.; Lambros, Katina M.

2014-01-01

This article provides results from a qualitative study on the efforts of school-based mental health providers (SBMHPs) who serve students in urban, suburban, and ethnically diverse settings to help families access quality mental health services. School-based mental health plays a key role in the provision of direct and indirect intervention…

Technology solutions to support supervisory activities and also to provide information access to the society

Science.gov (United States)

Paladini, D.; Mello, A. B.

2016-07-01

Inmetro's data about the conformity of certificated products, process and services are, usually, displayed at fragmented databases of difficult access for several reasons, for instance, the lack of computational solutions which allow this kind of access to its users. A discussion about some of the technological solutions to support supervisory activities by the appropriate regulatory bodies and also to provide information access to society in general is herein presented, along with a theoretical explanation of the pros and cons of such technologies to the conclusion that a mobile platform seems to be the best tool for the requirements of Inmetro.

Changing access to mental health care and social support when people living with HIV/AIDS become service providers.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Alan Tai-Wai; Wales, Joshua; Wong, Josephine Pui-Hing; Owino, Maureen; Perreault, Yvette; Miao, Andrew; Maseko, Precious; Guiang, Charlie

2015-01-01

As people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) achieve more stable health, many have taken on active peer support and professional roles within AIDS service organizations. Although the increased engagement has been associated with many improved health outcomes, emerging program and research evidence have identified new challenges associated with such transition. This paper reports on the results of a qualitative interpretive study that explored the effect of this role transition on PHA service providers' access to mental health support and self care. A total of 27 PHA service providers of diverse ethno-racial backgrounds took part in the study. Results show that while role transition often improves access to financial and health-care benefits, it also leads to new stress from workload demands, emotional triggers from client's narratives, feeling of burnout from over-immersion in HIV at both personal and professional levels, and diminished self care. Barriers to seeking support included: concerns regarding confidentiality; self-imposed and enacted stigma associated with accessing mental health services; and boundary issues resulting from changes in relationships with peers and other service providers. Evolving support mechanisms included: new formal and informal peer support networks amongst colleagues or other PHA service providers to address both personal and professional challenges, and having access to professional support offered through the workplace. The findings suggest the need for increased organizational recognition of HIV support work as a form of emotional labor that places complex demands on PHA service providers. Increased access to employer-provided mental health services, supportive workplace policies, and adequate job-specific training will contribute to reduced work-related stress. Community level strategies that support expansion of social networks amongst PHA service providers would reduce isolation. Systemic policies to increase access to insurance

Interconnection blocks: a method for providing reusable, rapid, multiple, aligned and planar microfluidic interconnections

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sabourin, David; Snakenborg, Detlef; Dufva, Hans Martin

2009-01-01

In this paper a method is presented for creating 'interconnection blocks' that are re-usable and provide multiple, aligned and planar microfluidic interconnections. Interconnection blocks made from polydimethylsiloxane allow rapid testing of microfluidic chips and unobstructed microfluidic observ...

Rrsm: The European Rapid Raw Strong-Motion Database

Science.gov (United States)

Cauzzi, C.; Clinton, J. F.; Sleeman, R.; Domingo Ballesta, J.; Kaestli, P.; Galanis, O.

2014-12-01

We introduce the European Rapid Raw Strong-Motion database (RRSM), a Europe-wide system that provides parameterised strong motion information, as well as access to waveform data, within minutes of the occurrence of strong earthquakes. The RRSM significantly differs from traditional earthquake strong motion dissemination in Europe, which has focused on providing reviewed, processed strong motion parameters, typically with significant delays. As the RRSM provides rapid open access to raw waveform data and metadata and does not rely on external manual waveform processing, RRSM information is tailored to seismologists and strong-motion data analysts, earthquake and geotechnical engineers, international earthquake response agencies and the educated general public. Access to the RRSM database is via a portal at http://www.orfeus-eu.org/rrsm/ that allows users to query earthquake information, peak ground motion parameters and amplitudes of spectral response; and to select and download earthquake waveforms. All information is available within minutes of any earthquake with magnitude ≥ 3.5 occurring in the Euro-Mediterranean region. Waveform processing and database population are performed using the waveform processing module scwfparam, which is integrated in SeisComP3 (SC3; http://www.seiscomp3.org/). Earthquake information is provided by the EMSC (http://www.emsc-csem.org/) and all the seismic waveform data is accessed at the European Integrated waveform Data Archive (EIDA) at ORFEUS (http://www.orfeus-eu.org/index.html), where all on-scale data is used in the fully automated processing. As the EIDA community is continually growing, the already significant number of strong motion stations is also increasing and the importance of this product is expected to also increase. Real-time RRSM processing started in June 2014, while past events have been processed in order to provide a complete database back to 2005.

Outcomes of patients presenting to a dedicated rapid access lung cancer clinic.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Dunican, E

2012-02-01

We examined the outcomes of the first 500 patients referred to a dedicated Rapid Access Lung Cancer Clinic. A total of 206 patients (41.2%) were diagnosed with a thoracic malignancy; 179 had primary lung cancer and 27 had secondary or other thoracic cancers. Pulmonary nodules requiring ongoing surveillance were found in a further 79 patients (15.8%). Of those patients found to have primary lung cancer, 24 (13.4%) had Small Cell and 145 (81%) had Non Small Cell Lung Cancer. In patients with Non small cell tumours, 26 (21.1%) were stage 1, 14 (11.4%) stage II, 37 (30.1%) stage III and 46 (37.4%) stage IV at diagnosis. For the 129 patients (72%) in whom the thoracic MDT recommended active treatment, primary therapy was surgical resection in 44 (24.6%), combined chemoradiation in 31 patients (17.3%), chemotherapy alone in 39 (21.8%) and radiation in 15 (8.4%).

An Introduction to Web Accessibility, Web Standards, and Web Standards Makers

Science.gov (United States)

McHale, Nina

2011-01-01

Librarians and libraries have long been committed to providing equitable access to information. In the past decade and a half, the growth of the Internet and the rapid increase in the number of online library resources and tools have added a new dimension to this core duty of the profession: ensuring accessibility of online resources to users with…

Access to finance from different finance provider types: Farmer knowledge of the requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

Wulandari, Eliana; Meuwissen, Miranda P M; Karmana, Maman H; Oude Lansink, Alfons G J M

2017-01-01

Analysing farmer knowledge of the requirements of finance providers can provide valuable insights to policy makers about ways to improve farmers' access to finance. This study compares farmer knowledge of the requirements to obtain finance with the actual requirements set by different finance provider types, and investigates the relation between demographic and socioeconomic factors and farmer knowledge of finance requirements. We use a structured questionnaire to collect data from a sample of finance providers and farmers in Java Island, Indonesia. We find that the most important requirements to acquire finance vary among different finance provider types. We also find that farmers generally have little knowledge of the requirements, which are important to each type of finance provider. Awareness campaigns are needed to increase farmer knowledge of the diversity of requirements among the finance provider types.

Policies to Spur Energy Access. Executive Summary; Volume 1, Engaging the Private Sector in Expanding Access to Electricity; Volume 2, Case Studies to Public-Private Models to Finance Decentralized Electricity Access

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walters, Terri [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Rai, Neha [International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London (England); Esterly, Sean [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Cox, Sadie [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Reber, Tim [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Muzammil, Maliha [Univ. of Oxford (United Kingdom); Mahmood, Tasfiq [International Center for Climate Change and Development, Baridhara (Bangladesh); Kaur, Nanki [International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London (England); Tesfaye, Lidya [Echnoserve Consulting (Ethiopia); Mamuye, Simret [Echnoserve Consulting (Ethiopia); Knuckles, James [Univ. of London (England). Cass Business School; Morris, Ellen [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States); de Been, Merijn [Delft Univ. of Technology (Netherlands); Steinbach, Dave [International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London (England); Acharya, Sunil [Digo Bikas Inst. (Nepal); Chhetri, Raju Pandit [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bhushal, Ramesh [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2015-09-01

Government policy is one of the most important factors in engaging the private sector in providing universal access to electricity. In particular, the private sector is well positioned to provide decentralized electricity products and services. While policy uncertainty and regulatory barriers can keep enterprises and investors from engaging in the market, targeted policies can create opportunities to leverage private investment and skills to expand electricity access. However, creating a sustainable market requires policies beyond traditional electricity regulation. The report reviews the range of policy issues that impact the development and expansion of a market for decentralized electricity services from establishing an enabling policy environment to catalyzing finance, building human capacity, and integrating energy access with development programs. The case studies in this report show that robust policy frameworks--addressing a wide range of market issues--can lead to rapid transformation in energy access. The report highlights examples of these policies in action Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Mali, Mexico, and Nepal.

Rapid Deterioration of Basic Life Support Skills in Dentists With Basic Life Support Healthcare Provider.

Science.gov (United States)

Nogami, Kentaro; Taniguchi, Shogo; Ichiyama, Tomoko

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between basic life support skills in dentists who had completed the American Heart Association's Basic Life Support (BLS) Healthcare Provider qualification and time since course completion. Thirty-six dentists who had completed the 2005 BLS Healthcare Provider course participated in the study. We asked participants to perform 2 cycles of cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a mannequin and evaluated basic life support skills. Dentists who had previously completed the BLS Healthcare Provider course displayed both prolonged reaction times, and the quality of their basic life support skills deteriorated rapidly. There were no correlations between basic life support skills and time since course completion. Our results suggest that basic life support skills deteriorate rapidly for dentists who have completed the BLS Healthcare Provider. Newer guidelines stressing chest compressions over ventilation may help improve performance over time, allowing better cardiopulmonary resuscitation in dental office emergencies. Moreover, it may be effective to provide a more specialized version of the life support course to train the dentists, stressing issues that may be more likely to occur in the dental office.

Interactive Rapid Dose Assessment Model (IRDAM): user's guide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poeton, R.W.; Moeller, M.P.; Laughlin, G.J.; Desrosiers, A.E.

1983-05-01

As part of the continuing emphasis on emergency preparedness the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) sponsored the development of a rapid dose assessment system by Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL). This system, the Interactive Rapid Dose Assessment Model (IRDAM) is a micro-computer based program for rapidly assessing the radiological impact of accidents at nuclear power plants. This User's Guide provides instruction in the setup and operation of the equipment necessary to run IRDAM. Instructions are also given on how to load the magnetic disks and access the interactive part of the program. Two other companion volumes to this one provide additional information on IRDAM. Reactor Accident Assessment Methods (NUREG/CR-3012, Volume 2) describes the technical bases for IRDAM including methods, models and assumptions used in calculations. Scenarios for Comparing Dose Assessment Models (NUREG/CR-3012, Volume 3) provides the results of calculations made by IRDAM and other models for specific accident scenarios

The Encyclopedia of Life v2: Providing Global Access to Knowledge About Life on Earth

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Abstract The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL, http://eol.org) aims to provide unprecedented global access to a broad range of information about life on Earth. It currently contains 3.5 million distinct pages for taxa and provides content for 1.3 million of those pages. The content is primarily contributed by EOL content partners (providers) that have a more limited geographic, taxonomic or topical scope. EOL aggregates these data and automatically integrates them based on associated scientific names and other classification information. EOL also provides interfaces for curation and direct content addition. All materials in EOL are either in the public domain or licensed under a Creative Commons license. In addition to the web interface, EOL is also accessible through an Application Programming Interface. In this paper, we review recent developments added for Version 2 of the web site and subsequent releases through Version 2.2, which have made EOL more engaging, personal, accessible and internationalizable. We outline the core features and technical architecture of the system. We summarize milestones achieved so far by EOL to present results of the current system implementation and establish benchmarks upon which to judge future improvements. We have shown that it is possible to successfully integrate large amounts of descriptive biodiversity data from diverse sources into a robust, standards-based, dynamic, and scalable infrastructure. Increasing global participation and the emergence of EOL-powered applications demonstrate that EOL is becoming a significant resource for anyone interested in biological diversity. PMID:24891832

Does the public deserve free access to climate system science?

Science.gov (United States)

Grigorov, Ivo

2010-05-01

Some time ago it was the lack of public access to medical research data that really stirred the issue and gave inertia for legislation and a new publishing model that puts tax payer-funded medical research in the hands of those who fund it. In today's age global climate change has become the biggest socio-economic challenge, and the same argument resonates: climate affects us all and the publicly-funded science quantifying it should be freely accessible to all stakeholders beyond academic research. Over the last few years the ‘Open Access' movement to remove as much as possible subscription, and other on-campus barriers to academic research has rapidly gathered pace, but despite significant progress, the climate system sciences are not among the leaders in providing full access to their publications and data. Beyond the ethical argument, there are proven and tangible benefits for the next generation of climate researchers to adapt the way their output is published. Through the means provided by ‘open access', both data and ideas can gain more visibility, use and citations for the authors, but also result in a more rapid exchange of knowledge and ideas, and ultimately progress towards a sought solution. The presentation will aim to stimulate discussion and seek progress on the following questions: Should free access to climate research (& data) be mandatory? What are the career benefits of using ‘open access' for young scientists? What means and methods should, or could, be incorporated into current European graduate training programmes in climate research, and possible ways forward?

A restricted access material for rapid analysis of [11C]-labeled radiopharmaceuticals and their metabolites in plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gillings, Nic

2009-01-01

Introduction: Analysis of the radioactive components in plasma taken during positron emission tomography (PET) measurements is often vital for the correct quantification of the PET data. The described high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed to provide a fast, sensitive and robust method for the measurement of plasma samples from PET studies using [ 11 C]-labeled radiopharmaceuticals. Methods: Unadulterated plasma samples were analyzed directly, following a simple filtration, by the use of a small extraction column, containing a restricted access material, combined with a monolithic analysis column in a column-switching HPLC system. Results: Up to 4 ml of plasma was analyzed by this method within 4.5-7 min in a fully automated process. Because of the rapid analysis, a large number of samples could be analyzed during a 90-min PET scan. The extraction column could be used for analysis of up to 500 ml of plasma before replacement was required. Conclusions: The described method is fast and robust and the large sample volumes allow for accurate determination of the radioactive components in plasma even at 90 min after injection of a [ 11 C]-labeled radiopharmaceutical.

Low-cost access to development and manufacturing of photonic integrated circuits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smit, M.K.

2014-01-01

Generic photonic integration technology is rapidly gaining popularity. It applies the methodology that is so successful in microelectronics (CMOS technology) to the domain of photonics: providing lowcost access to highly standardized high-performance processes that support integration in a single

Patient- and Provider-Centered Design of an Outpatient Diabetes Technology Clinic

OpenAIRE

Cramer, Angela M.; Scalzo, Patricia; Bach, Sarah M.; Kudva, Yogish C.

2016-01-01

The number of US patients using diabetes technology is increasing, and sophisticated technologies continue to emerge. Patients using diabetes technology require access to providers prepared to offer care in this rapidly changing field. The authors sought to identify factors important to both patients using diabetes technology and providers caring for such patients. They redesigned the Diabetes Technology Clinic at an academic group practice in response to the needs of patients and providers. ...

Web Accessibility and Guidelines

Science.gov (United States)

Harper, Simon; Yesilada, Yeliz

Access to, and movement around, complex online environments, of which the World Wide Web (Web) is the most popular example, has long been considered an important and major issue in the Web design and usability field. The commonly used slang phrase ‘surfing the Web’ implies rapid and free access, pointing to its importance among designers and users alike. It has also been long established that this potentially complex and difficult access is further complicated, and becomes neither rapid nor free, if the user is disabled. There are millions of people who have disabilities that affect their use of the Web. Web accessibility aims to help these people to perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with, as well as contribute to, the Web, and thereby the society in general. This accessibility is, in part, facilitated by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) currently moving from version one to two. These guidelines are intended to encourage designers to make sure their sites conform to specifications, and in that conformance enable the assistive technologies of disabled users to better interact with the page content. In this way, it was hoped that accessibility could be supported. While this is in part true, guidelines do not solve all problems and the new WCAG version two guidelines are surrounded by controversy and intrigue. This chapter aims to establish the published literature related to Web accessibility and Web accessibility guidelines, and discuss limitations of the current guidelines and future directions.

Healthcare provider perspectives on barriers to HIV-care access and utilisation among Latinos living with HIV in the US-Mexico border.

Science.gov (United States)

Servin, Argentina E; Muñoz, Fátima A; Zúñiga, María Luisa

2014-01-01

Latinos living with HIV residing in the US-Mexico border region frequently seek care on both sides of the border. Given this fact, a border health perspective to understanding barriers to care is imperative to improve patient health outcomes. This qualitative study describes and compares experiences and perceptions of Mexican and US HIV care providers regarding barriers to HIV care access for Latino patients living in the US-Mexico border region. In 2010, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with HIV care providers in Tijuana (n = 10) and San Diego (n = 9). We identified important similarities and differences between Mexican and US healthcare provider perspectives on HIV care access and barriers to service utilisation. Similarities included the fact that HIV-positive Latino patients struggle with access to ART medication, mental health illness, substance abuse and HIV-related stigma. Differences included Mexican provider perceptions of medication shortages and US providers feeling that insurance gaps influenced medication access. Differences and similarities have important implications for cross-border efforts to coordinate health services for patients who seek care in both countries.

Hand Society and Matching Program Web Sites Provide Poor Access to Information Regarding Hand Surgery Fellowship.

Science.gov (United States)

Hinds, Richard M; Klifto, Christopher S; Naik, Amish A; Sapienza, Anthony; Capo, John T

2016-08-01

The Internet is a common resource for applicants of hand surgery fellowships, however, the quality and accessibility of fellowship online information is unknown. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the accessibility of hand surgery fellowship Web sites and to assess the quality of information provided via program Web sites. Hand fellowship Web site accessibility was evaluated by reviewing the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) on November 16, 2014 and the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) fellowship directories on February 12, 2015, and performing an independent Google search on November 25, 2014. Accessible Web sites were then assessed for quality of the presented information. A total of 81 programs were identified with the ASSH directory featuring direct links to 32% of program Web sites and the NRMP directory directly linking to 0%. A Google search yielded direct links to 86% of program Web sites. The quality of presented information varied greatly among the 72 accessible Web sites. Program description (100%), fellowship application requirements (97%), program contact email address (85%), and research requirements (75%) were the most commonly presented components of fellowship information. Hand fellowship program Web sites can be accessed from the ASSH directory and, to a lesser extent, the NRMP directory. However, a Google search is the most reliable method to access online fellowship information. Of assessable programs, all featured a program description though the quality of the remaining information was variable. Hand surgery fellowship applicants may face some difficulties when attempting to gather program information online. Future efforts should focus on improving the accessibility and content quality on hand surgery fellowship program Web sites.

Providing Access to Census-based Interaction Data in the UK: That's WICID!

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Stillwell

2006-08-01

Full Text Available The Census Interaction Data Service (CIDS is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council in the UK to provide access for social science researchers and students to the detailed migration and journey-to-work statistics that are collected by the national statistical agencies. These interaction data sets are known collectively as the Special Migration Statistics (SMS and the Special Workplace Statistics (SWS. This paper outlines how problems of user access to these data have been tackled through the development of a web-based system known as WICID (Web-based Interface to Census Interaction Data. The paper illustrates various interface features including some of the query building facilities that enable users to extract counts of flows of particular groups of individuals between selected origin and destination areas. New tools are outlined for assisting area selection using digital maps of census geographies, for planning output and for adding value to the data through analysis. Mapping of flows of migrants between London boroughs and the rest of the UK demonstrates the value of the data. The paper begins with a summary of the data sets that are contained within the system and an outline of the system architecture.

College Students’ Preferences for Health Care Providers when Accessing Sexual Health Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, Carolyn M.; Lechner, Kate E.; Frerich, Ellen A.; Lust, Katherine A.; Eisenberg, Marla E.

2017-01-01

Objective Many emerging adults (18–25 year olds) report unmet health needs and disproportionately experience problems such as sexually transmitted infections. This study was conducted to examine college students’ perceptions of health care providers, specifically in the context of accessing sexual health resources. Design and Sample Students (N=52) were recruited from five diverse colleges in one state to participate in a one-to-one interview that involved walking and virtually exploring resources on and near campus. Interviews were conducted from May to November 2010. Results Inductive qualitative analysis yielded six themes summarizing students’ perceptions of provider characteristics, health care resources, the role of their peers, and students’ suggestions for strengthening health care services. Importantly, students consider a variety of staff—and their student peers—to be resources for sexual health information and services. Conclusions Findings emphasize the importance of collaboration between health service staff and broader campus staff because students often turn to campus staff initially. Post-secondary students welcome opportunities to know a provider through interactive websites that include details about providers on campus; their decisions to seek sexual health care services are influenced by their perceptions of providers’ characteristics and interpersonal skills. PMID:25159532

College students' preferences for health care providers when accessing sexual health resources.

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, Carolyn M; Lechner, Kate E; Frerich, Ellen A; Lust, Katherine A; Eisenberg, Marla E

2014-01-01

Many emerging adults (18-25 year olds) report unmet health needs and disproportionately experience problems such as sexually transmitted infections. This study was conducted to examine college students' perceptions of health care providers, specifically in the context of accessing sexual health resources. Students (N = 52) were recruited from five diverse colleges in one state to participate in a one-to-one interview that involved walking and virtually exploring resources on and near campus. Interviews were conducted from May to November 2010. Open-ended one-to-one interview questions. Inductive qualitative analysis yielded six themes summarizing students' perceptions of provider characteristics, health care resources, the role of their peers, and students' suggestions for strengthening health care services. Importantly, students consider a variety of staff-and their student peers-to be resources for sexual health information and services. Findings emphasize the importance of collaboration between health service staff and broader campus staff because students often turn to campus staff initially. Postsecondary students welcome opportunities to know a provider through interactive websites that include details about providers on campus; their decisions to seek sexual health care services are influenced by their perceptions of providers' characteristics and interpersonal skills. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Lexical semantic access and letter access are involved in different aspects of reading

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Mads

). In this subset sample, both letter access and lexical access accounted for unique variance in reading fluency. The pattern of effects for lexical access did not change by controlling for serial rapid naming (RAN). Conclusions: The results suggest that letter access and lexical access are important for different......Purpose: This study investigated the effects of lexical access speed and letter access speed on reading fluency and reading comprehension. We hypothesized that 1) letter access speed would correlate with reading fluency but not comprehension, while 2) lexical access speed would influence reading...... comprehension. For readers who are struggling with recoding, most of the reading effort is probably tied up with recoding, leaving little to be explained by lexical access. Therefore we expected that 3) lexical access speed would primarily predict reading fluency for readers who were no longer struggling...

Electric Energy Access in Bangladesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Taheruzzaman

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This paper represents the overall electrical energy profile and access in Bangladesh. In the recent past Bangladesh has been experiencing shortage of electricity, and about 42 % of population no access to the electricity. The electricity consumption has rapidly increased over last decade. The demand and consumption will intensify in the remote future as overall development and future growth. To set “vision 2021” of Bangladesh; government of Bangladesh has devoted to ensuring access of affordable and reliable electricity for all by 2021. In the modern time, energy is the vital ingredient for socioeconomic growth in the developing country i.e., alleviating poverty. Along with electricity access in Bangladesh strived to become middle income country by 2021. Bangladesh has experienced that energy consumption inclines to increase rapidly when per capita income researches between US$ 1,000 and US$ 10,000, and a country’s

Geographic Disparities in Access to Agencies Providing Income-Related Social Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Scott R; Monuteaux, Michael C; Fleegler, Eric W

2015-10-01

Geographic location is an important factor in understanding disparities in access to health-care and social services. The objective of this cross-sectional study is to evaluate disparities in the geographic distribution of income-related social service agencies relative to populations in need within Boston. Agency locations were obtained from a comprehensive database of social services in Boston. Geographic information systems mapped the spatial relationship of the agencies to the population using point density estimation and was compared to census population data. A multivariate logistic regression was conducted to evaluate factors associated with categories of income-related agency density. Median agency density within census block groups ranged from 0 to 8 agencies per square mile per 100 population below the federal poverty level (FPL). Thirty percent (n = 31,810) of persons living below the FPL have no access to income-related social services within 0.5 miles, and 77 % of persons living below FPL (n = 83,022) have access to 2 or fewer agencies. 27.0 % of Blacks, 30.1 % of Hispanics, and 41.0 % of non-Hispanic Whites with incomes below FPL have zero access. In conclusion, some neighborhoods in Boston with a high concentration of low-income populations have limited access to income-related social service agencies.

Integration of mental health resources in a primary care setting leads to increased provider satisfaction and patient access.

Science.gov (United States)

Vickers, Kristin S; Ridgeway, Jennifer L; Hathaway, Julie C; Egginton, Jason S; Kaderlik, Angela B; Katzelnick, David J

2013-01-01

This evaluation assessed the opinions and experiences of primary care providers and their support staff before and after implementation of expanded on-site mental health services and related system changes in a primary care clinic. Individual semistructured interviews, which contained a combination of open-ended questions and rating scales, were used to elicit opinions about mental health services before on-site system and resource changes occurred and repeated following changes that were intended to improve access to on-site mental health care. In the first set of interviews, prior to expanding mental health services, primary care providers and support staff were generally dissatisfied with the availability and scheduling of on-site mental health care. Patients were often referred outside the primary care clinic for mental health treatment, to the detriment of communication and coordinated care. Follow-up interviews conducted after expansion of mental health services, scheduling refinements and other system changes revealed improved provider satisfaction in treatment access and coordination of care. Providers appreciated immediate and on-site social worker availability to triage mental health needs and help access care, and on-site treatment was viewed as important for remaining informed about patient care the primary care providers are not delivering directly. Expanding integrated mental health services resulted in increased staff and provider satisfaction. Our evaluation identified key components of satisfaction, including on-site collaboration and assistance triaging patient needs. The sustainability of integrated models of care requires additional study. © 2013.

Area-Based Partnerships in Rural Poland: The Post-Accession Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Furmankiewicz, Marek; Thompson, Nicola; Zielinska, Marta

2010-01-01

The paper examines the characteristics of area-based partnerships in rural Poland. It is based on the study of partnerships created after the accession to the European Union in 2004. Partnership structures have been rapidly adopted in rural Poland due to opportunities provided by the LEADER+ Pilot Programme. However, the research showed that…

Rapid Access to β-Trifluoromethyl-Substituted Ketones: Harnessing Inductive Effects in Wacker-Type Oxidations of Internal Alkenes

KAUST Repository

Lerch, Michael M.; Morandi, Bill; Wickens, Zachary K.; Grubbs, Robert H.

2014-01-01

We present a practical trifluoromethyl-directed Wacker-type oxidation of internal alkenes that enables rapid access to β-trifluoromethyl-substituted ketones. Allylic trifluoromethyl-substituted alkenes bearing a wide range of functional groups can be oxidized in high yield and regioselectivity. The distance dependence of the regioselectivity was established by systematic variation of the number of methylene units between the double bond and the trifluoromethyl group. The regioselectivity enforced by traditional directing groups could even be reversed by introduction of a competing trifluoromethyl group. Besides being a new powerful synthetic method to prepare fluorinated molecules, this work directly probes the role of inductive effects on nucleopalladation events. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Rapid Access to β-Trifluoromethyl-Substituted Ketones: Harnessing Inductive Effects in Wacker-Type Oxidations of Internal Alkenes

KAUST Repository

Lerch, Michael M.

2014-07-18

We present a practical trifluoromethyl-directed Wacker-type oxidation of internal alkenes that enables rapid access to β-trifluoromethyl-substituted ketones. Allylic trifluoromethyl-substituted alkenes bearing a wide range of functional groups can be oxidized in high yield and regioselectivity. The distance dependence of the regioselectivity was established by systematic variation of the number of methylene units between the double bond and the trifluoromethyl group. The regioselectivity enforced by traditional directing groups could even be reversed by introduction of a competing trifluoromethyl group. Besides being a new powerful synthetic method to prepare fluorinated molecules, this work directly probes the role of inductive effects on nucleopalladation events. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Providing comprehensive and consistent access to astronomical observatory archive data: the NASA archive model

Science.gov (United States)

McGlynn, Thomas; Fabbiano, Giuseppina; Accomazzi, Alberto; Smale, Alan; White, Richard L.; Donaldson, Thomas; Aloisi, Alessandra; Dower, Theresa; Mazzerella, Joseph M.; Ebert, Rick; Pevunova, Olga; Imel, David; Berriman, Graham B.; Teplitz, Harry I.; Groom, Steve L.; Desai, Vandana R.; Landry, Walter

2016-07-01

Since the turn of the millennium a constant concern of astronomical archives have begun providing data to the public through standardized protocols unifying data from disparate physical sources and wavebands across the electromagnetic spectrum into an astronomical virtual observatory (VO). In October 2014, NASA began support for the NASA Astronomical Virtual Observatories (NAVO) program to coordinate the efforts of NASA astronomy archives in providing data to users through implementation of protocols agreed within the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA). A major goal of the NAVO collaboration has been to step back from a piecemeal implementation of IVOA standards and define what the appropriate presence for the US and NASA astronomy archives in the VO should be. This includes evaluating what optional capabilities in the standards need to be supported, the specific versions of standards that should be used, and returning feedback to the IVOA, to support modifications as needed. We discuss a standard archive model developed by the NAVO for data archive presence in the virtual observatory built upon a consistent framework of standards defined by the IVOA. Our standard model provides for discovery of resources through the VO registries, access to observation and object data, downloads of image and spectral data and general access to archival datasets. It defines specific protocol versions, minimum capabilities, and all dependencies. The model will evolve as the capabilities of the virtual observatory and needs of the community change.

Interconnection blocks: a method for providing reusable, rapid, multiple, aligned and planar microfluidic interconnections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sabourin, D; Snakenborg, D; Dufva, M

2009-01-01

In this paper a method is presented for creating 'interconnection blocks' that are re-usable and provide multiple, aligned and planar microfluidic interconnections. Interconnection blocks made from polydimethylsiloxane allow rapid testing of microfluidic chips and unobstructed microfluidic observation. The interconnection block method is scalable, flexible and supports high interconnection density. The average pressure limit of the interconnection block was near 5.5 bar and all individual results were well above the 2 bar threshold considered applicable to most microfluidic applications

An application-layer based centralized information access control for VPN

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

OUYANG Kai; ZHOU Jing-li; XIA Tao; YU Sheng-sheng

2006-01-01

With the rapid development of Virtual Private Network (VPN), many companies and organizations use VPN to implement their private communication. Traditionally, VPN uses security protocols to protect the confidentiality of data, the message integrity and the endpoint authentication. One core technique of VPN is tunneling, by which clients can access the internal servers traversing VPN. However, the tunneling technique also introduces a concealed security hole. It is possible that ifone vicious user can establish tunneling by the VPN server, he can compromise the internal servers behind the VPN server. So this paper presents a novel Application-layer based Centralized Information Access Control (ACIAC) for VPN to solve this problem.To implement an efficient, flexible and multi-decision access control model, we present two key techniques to ACIAC-the centralized management mechanism and the stream-based access control. Firstly, we implement the information center and the constraints/events center for ACIAC. By the two centers, we can provide an abstract access control mechanism, and the material access control can be decided dynamically by the ACIAC's constraint/event mechanism. Then we logically classify the VPN communication traffic into the access stream and the data stream so that we can tightly couple the features of VPN communication with the access control model. We also provide the design of our ACIAC prototype in this paper.

Provider-related barriers to rapid HIV testing in U.S. urban non-profit community clinics, community-based organizations (CBOs) and hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Bogart, Laura M; Howerton, Devery; Lange, James; Setodji, Claude Messan; Becker, Kirsten; Klein, David J; Asch, Steven M

2010-06-01

We examined provider-reported barriers to rapid HIV testing in U.S. urban non-profit community clinics, community-based organizations (CBOs), and hospitals. 12 primary metropolitan statistical areas (PMSAs; three per region) were sampled randomly, with sampling weights proportional to AIDS case reports. Across PMSAs, all 671 hospitals and a random sample of 738 clinics/CBOs were telephoned for a survey on rapid HIV test availability. Of the 671 hospitals, 172 hospitals were randomly selected for barriers questions, for which 158 laboratory and 136 department staff were eligible and interviewed in 2005. Of the 738 clinics/CBOs, 276 were randomly selected for barriers questions, 206 were reached, and 118 were eligible and interviewed in 2005-2006. In multivariate models, barriers regarding translation of administrative/quality assurance policies into practice were significantly associated with rapid HIV testing availability. For greater rapid testing diffusion, policies are needed to reduce administrative barriers and provide quality assurance training to non-laboratory staff.

An oncofetal glycosaminoglycan modification provides therapeutic access to Cisplatin-resistant bladder cancer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seiler, Roland; Oo, Htoo Zarni; Tortora, Davide

2017-01-01

the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, we can target these sugar chains, and our results showed a significant antitumor effect in cisplatin-resistant bladder cancer. This novel treatment paradigm provides therapeutic access to bladder cancers not responding to cisplatin.......BACKGROUND: Although cisplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) improves survival of unselected patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), only a minority responds to therapy and chemoresistance remains a major challenge in this disease setting. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical...... significance of oncofetal chondroitin sulfate (ofCS) glycosaminoglycan chains in cisplatin-resistant MIBC and to evaluate these as targets for second-line therapy. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: An ofCS-binding recombinant VAR2CSA protein derived from the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum (rVAR2...

Designing a system for patients controlling providers' access to their electronic health records: organizational and technical challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Leventhal, Jeremy C; Cummins, Jonathan A; Schwartz, Peter H; Martin, Douglas K; Tierney, William M

2015-01-01

Electronic health records (EHRs) are proliferating, and financial incentives encourage their use. Applying Fair Information Practice principles to EHRs necessitates balancing patients' rights to control their personal information with providers' data needs to deliver safe, high-quality care. We describe the technical and organizational challenges faced in capturing patients' preferences for patient-controlled EHR access and applying those preferences to an existing EHR. We established an online system for capturing patients' preferences for who could view their EHRs (listing all participating clinic providers individually and categorically-physicians, nurses, other staff) and what data to redact (none, all, or by specific categories of sensitive data or patient age). We then modified existing data-viewing software serving a state-wide health information exchange and a large urban health system and its primary care clinics to allow patients' preferences to guide data displays to providers. Patients could allow or restrict data displays to all clinicians and staff in a demonstration primary care clinic, categories of providers (physicians, nurses, others), or individual providers. They could also restrict access to all EHR data or any or all of five categories of sensitive data (mental and reproductive health, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, and substance abuse) and for specific patient ages. The EHR viewer displayed data via reports, data flowsheets, and coded and free text data displayed by Google-like searches. Unless patients recorded restrictions, by default all requested data were displayed to all providers. Data patients wanted restricted were not displayed, with no indication they were redacted. Technical barriers prevented redacting restricted information in free textnotes. The program allowed providers to hit a "Break the Glass" button to override patients' restrictions, recording the date, time, and next screen viewed. Establishing patient

The universal access handbook

CERN Document Server

Stephanidis, Constantine

2009-01-01

In recent years, the field of Universal Access has made significant progress in consolidating theoretical approaches, scientific methods and technologies, as well as in exploring new application domains. Increasingly, professionals in this rapidly maturing area require a comprehensive and multidisciplinary resource that addresses current principles, methods, and tools. Written by leading international authorities from academic, research, and industrial organizations and nonmarket institutions, The Universal Access Handbook covers the unfolding scientific, methodological, technological, and pol

Single-centre experience with Renal PatientView, a web-based system that provides patients with access to their laboratory results.

Science.gov (United States)

Woywodt, Alexander; Vythelingum, Kervina; Rayner, Scott; Anderton, John; Ahmed, Aimun

2014-10-01

Renal PatientView (RPV) is a novel, web-based system in the UK that provides patients with access to their laboratory results, in conjunction with patient information. To study how renal patients within our centre access and use RPV. We sent out questionnaires in December 2011 to all 651 RPV users under our care. We collected information on aspects such as the frequency and timing of RPV usage, the parameters viewed by users, and the impact of RPV on their care. A total of 295 (45 %) questionnaires were returned. The predominant users of RPV were transplant patients (42 %) followed by pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease patients (37 %). Forty-two percent of RPV users accessed their results after their clinic appointments, 38 % prior to visiting the clinic. The majority of patients (76 %) had used the system to discuss treatment with their renal physician, while 20 % of patients gave permission to other members of their family to use RPV to monitor results on their behalf. Most users (78 %) reported accessing RPV on average 1-5 times/month. Most patients used RPV to monitor their kidney function, 81 % to check creatinine levels, 57 % to check potassium results. Ninety-two percent of patients found RPV easy to use and 93 % felt that overall the system helps them in taking care of their condition; 53 % of patients reported high satisfaction with RPV. Our results provide interesting insight into use of a system that gives patients web-based access to laboratory results. The fact that 20 % of patients delegate access to relatives also warrants further study. We propose that online access to laboratory results should be offered to all renal patients, although clinicians need to be mindful of the 'digital divide', i.e. part of the population that is not amenable to IT-based strategies for patient empowerment.

Provider perceptions of stigma and discrimination experienced by adolescents and young adults with pHiV while accessing sexual and reproductive health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Fair, Cynthia D; Berk, Meredith

2018-02-01

Historically, children with perinatally-acquired HIV (PHIV) were viewed as the "innocent victims" as their HIV infection was not acquired through sexual/drug related means. Today, adolescents with PHIV are surviving into young adulthood and are engaging in developmentally expected behaviors such as establishing intimate, sexual relationships. Like other youth, those living with PHIV often need to access sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. Previous research has documented stigma and discrimination experienced by adult women living with HIV as they try to access SRH care. However, little is known about the experiences of stigma and discrimination encountered by the maturing adolescents and young adults (AYA) with PHIV when accessing services. HIV health care providers (HHCPs) who frequently care for this population are in a unique position to learn about and understand the stigma and discrimination experienced by their patients in formal service settings. HHCPs (n = 57, 28 medical and 29 social service providers) were recruited using snowball sampling, and completed an online survey based on patient-shared experiences of stigma and discrimination when accessing SRH-related health care and social services. Thirty-eight percent (22/57) of providers reported that their patients with PHIV had shared encounters of stigma or discrimination when accessing SRH services. Coded open-ended provider comments indicated that AYA patients experienced challenges with providers who were unfamiliar with PHIV and expressed surprise that someone with PHIV was still alive. Analyses also revealed prejudicial attitudes towards women with HIV. Patients reported being counseled to terminate their pregnancy and lectured about their "poor choices." As AYA with PHIV transition out of pediatric and adolescent care, it is important for providers to simultaneously help them navigate care in other health settings, as well as educate adult health care providers about possible

‘Doing the hard yards’: carer and provider focus group perspectives of accessing Aboriginal childhood disability services

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Despite a high prevalence of disability, Aboriginal Australians access disability services in Australia less than non-Aboriginal Australians with a disability. The needs of Aboriginal children with disability are particularly poorly understood. They can endure long delays in treatment which can impact adversely on development. This study sought to ascertain the factors involved in accessing services and support for Aboriginal children with a disability. Methods Using the focus group method, two community forums, one for health and service providers and one for carers of Aboriginal children with a disability, were held at an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS) in the Sydney, metropolitan area of New South Wales, Australia. Framework analysis was applied to qualitative data to elucidate key issues relevant to the dimensions of access framework. Independent coding consistency checks were performed and consensus of analysis verified by the entire research team, several of whom represented the local Aboriginal community. Results Seventeen health and social service providers representing local area government and non-government-funded health and social service organisations and five carers participated in two separate forums between September and October 2011. Lack of awareness of services and inadequate availability were prominent concerns in both groups despite geographic proximity to a major metropolitan area with significant health infrastructure. Carers noted racism, insufficient or non-existent services, and the need for an enhanced role of ACCHSs and AHWs in disability support services. Providers highlighted logistical barriers and cultural and historical issues that impacted on the effectiveness of mainstream services for Aboriginal people. Conclusions Despite dedicated disability services in an urban community, geographic proximity does not mitigate lack of awareness and availability of support. This paper has enumerated a number of

Will the Pell Grant Have the Ability To Provide Access and Choice to Low-Income Students in the Future?

Science.gov (United States)

Lechuga, Vicente M.

This paper provides a basic understanding of the Pell Grant program and summarizes the evidence regarding its effectiveness. The Basic Educational Opportunities Program, known as the Pell Grant program, began in 1973 as a means of providing disadvantaged students access to a postsecondary education. The Pell Grant program has tried to keep up with…

42 CFR 433.127 - Termination of FFP for failure to provide access to claims processing and information retrieval...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... claims processing and information retrieval systems. 433.127 Section 433.127 Public Health CENTERS FOR... PROGRAMS STATE FISCAL ADMINISTRATION Mechanized Claims Processing and Information Retrieval Systems § 433.127 Termination of FFP for failure to provide access to claims processing and information retrieval...

The climate4impact platform: Providing, tailoring and facilitating climate model data access

Science.gov (United States)

Pagé, Christian; Pagani, Andrea; Plieger, Maarten; Som de Cerff, Wim; Mihajlovski, Andrej; de Vreede, Ernst; Spinuso, Alessandro; Hutjes, Ronald; de Jong, Fokke; Bärring, Lars; Vega, Manuel; Cofiño, Antonio; d'Anca, Alessandro; Fiore, Sandro; Kolax, Michael

2017-04-01

One of the main objectives of climate4impact is to provide standardized web services and tools that are reusable in other portals. These services include web processing services, web coverage services and web mapping services (WPS, WCS and WMS). Tailored portals can be targeted to specific communities and/or countries/regions while making use of those services. Easier access to climate data is very important for the climate change impact communities. To fulfill this objective, the climate4impact (http://climate4impact.eu/) web portal and services has been developed, targeting climate change impact modellers, impact and adaptation consultants, as well as other experts using climate change data. It provides to users harmonized access to climate model data through tailored services. It features static and dynamic documentation, Use Cases and best practice examples, an advanced search interface, an integrated authentication and authorization system with the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF), a visualization interface with ADAGUC web mapping tools. In the latest version, statistical downscaling services, provided by the Santander Meteorology Group Downscaling Portal, were integrated. An innovative interface to integrate statistical downscaling services will be released in the upcoming version. The latter will be a big step in bridging the gap between climate scientists and the climate change impact communities. The climate4impact portal builds on the infrastructure of an international distributed database that has been set to disseminate the results from the global climate model results of the Coupled Model Intercomparison project Phase 5 (CMIP5). This database, the ESGF, is an international collaboration that develops, deploys and maintains software infrastructure for the management, dissemination, and analysis of climate model data. The European FP7 project IS-ENES, Infrastructure for the European Network for Earth System modelling, supports the European

Artificial intelligence applications of fast optical memory access

Science.gov (United States)

Henshaw, P. D.; Todtenkopf, A. B.

The operating principles and performance of rapid laser beam-steering (LBS) techniques are reviewed and illustrated with diagrams; their applicability to fast optical-memory (disk) access is evaluated; and the implications of fast access for the design of expert systems are discussed. LBS methods examined include analog deflection (source motion, wavefront tilt, and phased arrays), digital deflection (polarization modulation, reflectivity modulation, interferometric switching, and waveguide deflection), and photorefractive LBS. The disk-access problem is considered, and typical LBS requirements are listed as 38,000 beam positions, rotational latency 25 ms, one-sector rotation time 1.5 ms, and intersector space 87 microsec. The value of rapid access for increasing the power of expert systems (by permitting better organization of blocks of information) is illustrated by summarizing the learning process of the MVP-FORTH system (Park, 1983).

The rapid access palliative radiotherapy program: blueprint for initiation of a one-stop multidisciplinary bone metastases clinic.

Science.gov (United States)

Fairchild, A; Pituskin, E; Rose, B; Ghosh, S; Dutka, J; Driga, A; Tachynski, P; Borschneck, J; Gagnon, L; Macdonnell, S; Middleton, J; Thavone, K; Carstairs, S; Brent, D; Severin, D

2009-02-01

Radiotherapy (RT) for palliation of pain due to bone metastases (BM) is effective but underutilized likely due to the traditional practice of separate clinic visits for consultation, treatment planning, and RT delivery. However, recent evidence proves one RT treatment is as effective as multiple for analgesia, enabling investigation of an alternative model of RT delivery, the rapid access palliative radiotherapy program (RAPRP). Prior to the start of the program, needs assessment was performed to determine the composition of the optimal team. Screening tools were implemented to streamline holistic, multidisciplinary assessment. An advertising strategy, treatment and research protocols, and mechanisms for patient feedback were established. After RAPRP implementation, patient outcomes such as symptom relief were tracked. Eighty-six patients with painful BM were referred over the 25-week pilot. Median age was 69.9 years; 64% had prostate cancer, and median performance status was 70. Patient-rated pain was on average 6.1/10 at baseline, improving to 2.6/10 by week 4 post-RT. On average, 6.2 symptoms were reported (baseline) compared to 5.2 (week 4). Team members assessed 10-100% of patients and were successful in stabilizing or improving all symptoms in >75% contacted at week 4. One hundred percent of patients surveyed were satisfied with their experience. Early needs assessment was advantageous in determining the optimal team and methods of assessment for our 'one-stop' BM clinic. This approach was successful in improving pain and other symptoms, and the convenience of seeing multiple providers on 1 day was appreciated by the patients.

HIV rapid diagnostic testing by lay providers in a key population-led health service programme in Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Wongkanya, Rapeeporn; Pankam, Tippawan; Wolf, Shauna; Pattanachaiwit, Supanit; Jantarapakde, Jureeporn; Pengnongyang, Supabhorn; Thapwong, Prasopsuk; Udomjirasirichot, Apichat; Churattanakraisri, Yutthana; Prawepray, Nanthika; Paksornsit, Apiluk; Sitthipau, Thidadaow; Petchaithong, Sarayut; Jitsakulchaidejt, Raruay; Nookhai, Somboon; Lertpiriyasuwat, Cheewanan; Ongwandee, Sumet; Phanuphak, Praphan; Phanuphak, Nittaya

2018-01-01

Introduction:  Rapid diagnostic testing (RDT) for HIV has a quick turn-around time, which increases the proportion of people testing who receive their result. HIV RDT in Thailand has traditionally been performed only by medical technologists (MTs), which is a barrier to its being scaled up. We evaluated the performance of HIV RDT conducted by trained lay providers who were members of, or worked closely with, a group of men who have sex with men (MSM) and with transgender women (TG) communities, and compared it to tests conducted by MTs. Methods:  Lay providers received a 3-day intensive training course on how to perform a finger-prick blood collection and an HIV RDT as part of the Key Population-led Health Services (KPLHS) programme among MSM and TG. All the samples were tested by lay providers using Alere Determine HIV 1/2. HIV-reactive samples were confirmed by DoubleCheckGold Ultra HIV 1&2 and SD Bioline HIV 1/2. All HIV-positive and 10% of HIV-negative samples were re-tested by MTs using Serodia HIV 1/2. Results:  Of 1680 finger-prick blood samples collected and tested using HIV RDT by lay providers in six drop-in centres in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chonburi and Songkhla, 252 (15%) were HIV-positive. MTs re-tested these HIV-positive samples and 143 randomly selected HIV-negative samples with 100% concordant test results. Conclusion:  Lay providers in Thailand can be trained and empowered to perform HIV RDT as they were found to achieve comparable results in sample testing with MTs. Based on the task-shifting concept, this rapid HIV testing performed by lay providers as part of the KPLHS programme has great potential to enhance HIV prevention and treatment programmes among key at-risk populations.

JISC Open Access Briefing Paper

OpenAIRE

Swan, Alma

2005-01-01

What Open Access is. What Open Access is not. How is Open Access provided? Open Access archives or repositories. Open Access journals. Why should authors provide Open Access to their work? Further information and resources

Women's Access and Provider Practices for the Case Management of Malaria during Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hill, Jenny; D'Mello-Guyett, Lauren; Hoyt, Jenna; van Eijk, Anna M.; ter Kuile, Feiko O.; Webster, Jayne

2014-01-01

Background: WHO recommends prompt diagnosis and quinine plus clindamycin for treatment of uncomplicated malaria in the first trimester and artemisinin-based combination therapies in subsequent trimesters. We undertook a systematic review of women's access to and healthcare provider adherence to WHO

Providing Equal Access to Education--A Formidable Challenge for China

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Narelle; Maxwell, Bev; Palmer, Bill

1996-01-01

The People's Republic of China has seen a dramatic growth in its economy in recent years. It has a rapidly increasing population of approximately 1.2 billion people, though the population is still largely rural with about 80% of people living outside urban areas. China in its Education Law (1995) restated its commitment to universal education. In…

An examination of within-session responding following access to reinforcing stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Rispoli, Mandy; O'Reilly, Mark; Lang, Russell; Machalicek, Wendy; Kang, Soyeon; Davis, Tonya; Neely, Leslie

2016-01-01

Previous research has shown tangibly maintained challenging behavior can be temporarily decreased by providing presession access to the relevant tangible. However, the duration of this beneficial effect is unknown. We measured the subsequent duration of behavior reduction effects following presession access during extended classroom observation sessions by analyzing within-session patterns of responding in three children with autism. An alternating treatments design was used to analyze within- and across-session responding following presession access and presession restriction conditions. The cumulative frequency of challenging behavior was higher following the presession restriction condition for all participants and lower following presession access. Within-session analysis revealed the same basic pattern of responding across participants. Specifically, the first half of the sessions contained very little, if any, challenging behavior; however, after 60 min, the rate of challenging behavior began to increase rapidly for two of the three participants. Results are discussed in terms of implications for practitioners, satiation, habituation, and behavioral contrast. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Accessing the SEED genome databases via Web services API: tools for programmers.

Science.gov (United States)

Disz, Terry; Akhter, Sajia; Cuevas, Daniel; Olson, Robert; Overbeek, Ross; Vonstein, Veronika; Stevens, Rick; Edwards, Robert A

2010-06-14

The SEED integrates many publicly available genome sequences into a single resource. The database contains accurate and up-to-date annotations based on the subsystems concept that leverages clustering between genomes and other clues to accurately and efficiently annotate microbial genomes. The backend is used as the foundation for many genome annotation tools, such as the Rapid Annotation using Subsystems Technology (RAST) server for whole genome annotation, the metagenomics RAST server for random community genome annotations, and the annotation clearinghouse for exchanging annotations from different resources. In addition to a web user interface, the SEED also provides Web services based API for programmatic access to the data in the SEED, allowing the development of third-party tools and mash-ups. The currently exposed Web services encompass over forty different methods for accessing data related to microbial genome annotations. The Web services provide comprehensive access to the database back end, allowing any programmer access to the most consistent and accurate genome annotations available. The Web services are deployed using a platform independent service-oriented approach that allows the user to choose the most suitable programming platform for their application. Example code demonstrate that Web services can be used to access the SEED using common bioinformatics programming languages such as Perl, Python, and Java. We present a novel approach to access the SEED database. Using Web services, a robust API for access to genomics data is provided, without requiring large volume downloads all at once. The API ensures timely access to the most current datasets available, including the new genomes as soon as they come online.

“Basically... porn is everywhere”: a rapid evidence assessment on the effects that access and exposure to pornography has on children and young people

OpenAIRE

Horvath, M.; Alys, L.; Massey, K.; Pina, A.; Scally, M.; Adler, J.

2013-01-01

This Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) was commissioned by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) as part of its Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups (CSEGG). It was conducted by a consortium led by Middlesex University, to explore the effects that exposure and access to pornography have on children and young people. The CSEGG Inquiry was launched in October 2011 to better understand the scale, scope, extent and nature of child sexual exploitation in gangs and gro...

Mobile work: Ergonomics in a rapidly changing work environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Honan, Meg

2015-01-01

Places of work have been completely transformed by innovations in mobile work tools and ever-present access to internet data. This article characterizes use patterns and provides preliminary considerations for productive and comfortable use of common mobile devices. Two surveys described trends in mobile work. In the first, ergonomics professionals who oversee programs reported common mobile devices, their users and what data is accessed. The second, an end user survey, explored common activities performed on mobile devices, duration of use and locations where mobile work is common. The survey results provide a baseline data point for the status of mobile work in early 2014. Research indicates that additional risks have been introduced to the neck, thumbs and hands when using mobile devices. Possible trends regarding device use and work locations emerge. Intervention studies provide some direction for the practitioner. Practical strategies are outlined to reduce exposure intensity and duration. Contemporary mobile work presents tremendous change and opportunity for ergonomists and researchers to keep pace with fitting the changing models of work to the person. Continued research is needed on current mobile device use patterns to better understand ergonomic risk exposure in this rapidly changing realm.

Providing open-access online materials and hands-on sessions for GIS exercises

Science.gov (United States)

Oguchi, T.; Yamauchi, H.; Hayakawa, Y. S.

2017-12-01

Researchers of GIS (Geographical Information Systems/Sciences) in Japan have collaborated to provide materials for GIS lecture classes in universities for the last 20 years. The major outcomes include 1) a GIS core curriculum, 2) a GIS "body of knowledge" explaining the details of the curriculum, 3) a series of PowerPoint presentations, and 4) a comprehensive GIS textbook. However, materials for GIS exercises at university classes using GIS software have been limited in Japan. Therefore, we launched a project to provide such materials which will be available online and accessible by anybody. The materials cover broad basic aspects of GIS including geoscientific applications such as terrain analysis using digital elevation models. The materials utilize public-domain and open-source software packages such as QGIS and GRASS. The data used are also freely available ones such as those from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan. The use of the GitHub platform to distribute the materials allow easier online interactions by both material producers and users. Selected sets of the materials have been utilized for hands-on activities including both official university classes and public instructions. We have been updating the materials based on the opinions of people who took the hands-on courses for better GIS education. The current materials are in Japanese, but we plan to translate some of them into English.

The IRIS Education and Outreach Program: Providing access to data and equipment for educational and public use

Science.gov (United States)

Taber, J.; Toigo, M.; Bravo, T. K.; Hubenthal, M.; McQuillan, P. J.; Welti, R.

2009-12-01

The IRIS Education and Outreach Program has been an integral part of IRIS for the past 10 years and during that time has worked to advance awareness and understanding of seismology and earth science while inspiring careers in geophysics. The focus on seismology and the use of seismic data has allowed the IRIS E&O program to develop and disseminate a unique suite of products and services for a wide range of audiences. One result of that effort has been increased access to the IRIS Data Management System by non-specialist audiences and simplified use of location and waveform data. The Seismic Monitor was one of the first Web-based tools for observing near-real-time seismicity. It continues to be the most popular IRIS web page, and thus it presents aspects of seismology to a very wide audience. For individuals interested in more detailed ground motion information, waveforms can be easily viewed using the Rapid Earthquake Viewer, developed by the University of South Carolina in collaboration with IRIS E&O. The Seismographs in Schools program gives schools the opportunity to apply for a low-cost educational seismograph and to receive training for its use in the classroom. To provide better service to the community, a new Seismographs in Schools website was developed in the past year with enhanced functions to help teachers improve their teaching of seismology. The site encourages schools to make use of seismic data and communicate with other educational seismology users throughout the world. Users can view near-real-time displays of other participating schools, upload and download data, and use the “find a teacher” tool to contact nearby schools that also may be operating seismographs. In order to promote and maintain program participation and communication, the site features a discussion forum to encourage and support the growing global community of educational seismograph users. Any data that is submitted to the Seismographs in Schools Website is also accessible

Consciousness: physiological dependence on rapid memory access.

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, Arthur J

2009-01-01

Consciousness develops from birth during the early months as the senses and other nervous system functions mature sufficiently to receive, process and store information. Among these is the ascending reticular activating (arousal) system in the brain stem that is responsible for wakefulness and was proposed by Penfield and Jasper more than 50 years ago as the "controlling mechanism for states of consciousness". This concept has remained the most advanced physiological interpretation of consciousness although recent developments offer greater insights into its nature. The ascending arousal system is the source of activation of the thalamocortical and cortical mechanisms for sensory input and facilitates the rapid matching of sensory input and the binding of memory during cognitive processing. Nonetheless, it is proposed that memory is the critical element through which our connection with the world exists without which, despite a fully functional arousal system, consciousness as we know it could not exist. Evidence is presented in support of this concept in addition to the physiological difficulties that must be resolved if consciousness is to be understood.

Computer-facilitated rapid HIV testing in emergency care settings: provider and patient usability and acceptability.

Science.gov (United States)

Spielberg, Freya; Kurth, Ann E; Severynen, Anneleen; Hsieh, Yu-Hsiang; Moring-Parris, Daniel; Mackenzie, Sara; Rothman, Richard

2011-06-01

Providers in emergency care settings (ECSs) often face barriers to expanded HIV testing. We undertook formative research to understand the potential utility of a computer tool, "CARE," to facilitate rapid HIV testing in ECSs. Computer tool usability and acceptability were assessed among 35 adult patients, and provider focus groups were held, in two ECSs in Washington State and Maryland. The computer tool was usable by patients of varying computer literacy. Patients appreciated the tool's privacy and lack of judgment and their ability to reflect on HIV risks and create risk reduction plans. Staff voiced concerns regarding ECS-based HIV testing generally, including resources for follow-up of newly diagnosed people. Computer-delivered HIV testing support was acceptable and usable among low-literacy populations in two ECSs. Such tools may help circumvent some practical barriers associated with routine HIV testing in busy settings though linkages to care will still be needed.

A method to provide rapid in situ determination of tip radius in dynamic atomic force microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santos, Sergio; Guang Li; Souier, Tewfik; Gadelrab, Karim; Chiesa, Matteo; Thomson, Neil H.

2012-01-01

We provide a method to characterize the tip radius of an atomic force microscopy in situ by monitoring the dynamics of the cantilever in ambient conditions. The key concept is that the value of free amplitude for which transitions from the attractive to repulsive force regimes are observed, strongly depends on the curvature of the tip. In practice, the smaller the value of free amplitude required to observe a transition, the sharper the tip. This general behavior is remarkably independent of the properties of the sample and cantilever characteristics and shows the strong dependence of the transitions on the tip radius. The main advantage of this method is rapid in situ characterization. Rapid in situ characterization enables one to continuously monitor the tip size during experiments. Further, we show how to reproducibly shape the tip from a given initial size to any chosen larger size. This approach combined with the in situ tip size monitoring enables quantitative comparison of materials measurements between samples. These methods are set to allow quantitative data acquisition and make direct data comparison readily available in the community.

The Virtual Space Physics Observatory: Quick Access to Data and Tools

Science.gov (United States)

Cornwell, Carl; Roberts, D. Aaron; McGuire, Robert E.

2006-01-01

The Virtual Space Physics Observatory (VSPO; see http://vspo.gsfc.nasa.gov) has grown to provide a way to find and access about 375 data products and services from over 100 spacecraft/observatories in space and solar physics. The datasets are mainly chosen to be the most requested, and include most of the publicly available data products from operating NASA Heliophysics spacecraft as well as from solar observatories measuring across the frequency spectrum. Service links include a "quick orbits" page that uses SSCWeb Web Services to provide a rapid answer to questions such as "What spacecraft were in orbit in July 1992?" and "Where were Geotail, Cluster, and Polar on 2 June 2001?" These queries are linked back to the data search page. The VSPO interface provides many ways of looking for data based on terms used in a registry of resources using the SPASE Data Model that will be the standard for Heliophysics Virtual Observatories. VSPO itself is accessible via an API that allows other applications to use it as a Web Service; this has been implemented in one instance using the ViSBARD visualization program. The VSPO will become part of the Space Physics Data Facility, and will continue to expand its access to data. A challenge for all VOs will be to provide uniform access to data at the variable level, and we will be addressing this question in a number of ways.

Future Trends in Vascular Access Creation.

Science.gov (United States)

Shenoy, Surendra

2017-01-01

Delivery of a prescribed dialysis dose, which is critical for longevity on hemodialysis, is directly dependent on vascular access (VA). However, VA is fraught with high failure rates and has room for innovation. Arteriovenous fistula (AVF), considered the 'best choice', has a high 'failure to mature' rate. Arteriovenous grafts (AVGs) are considered when patients are poor candidates for or have failed AVF, but have a high incidence of infections and thrombosis. Due to associated morbidity and mortality from complications, central venous catheters are considered only as 'bridging short-term access' when there is an urgent need for dialysis. The observation from current data that there is a significant center effect in the rate of AVF maturation supports investigation to identify factors that contribute to success in high-performing centers that create AVF and establish 'best practice' approaches to improve outcomes. Biocompatible AVG constructs that promote rapid tissue incorporation withstand needle punctures due to better integrity and can improve current AVG outcomes. Stenosis in the 'access circuit' is a major cause for short- and long-term permanent access failure. While the pathology of stenosis development is well understood, factors responsible for this problem are poorly studied. Increased flow in the access circuit likely plays a major role in the development of such stenosis. Investigation into understanding the hemodynamics of this flow may help identify etiology and stenosis sites perhaps even prior to the event, thus providing potential targets to mitigate the stenotic response. In summary, this chapter reflects on the shortcomings of current access modalities and discusses potential avenues to improve VA outcomes in the future. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Open Access in Turkey and Comparison with Other Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bülent Karasözen

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The number of open access journals and institutional repositories, as a product of open access movement has grown rapidly in recent years. Open access research articles remove the barriers in accessing scientific research results and accelerate the communication among the scientist worldwide. In many countries the number of institutional archives and open access journal are increasing. In this article, the recent developments in open access journals, institutional repositories and open courseware in Turkey are summarized and compared with some countries. A sample mandatory institutional repository policy document is given with some suggestion for establishing open access in Turkey.

Unifying Water Data Sources: How the CUAHSI Water Data Center is Enabling and Improving Access to a Growing Catalog of over 100 Data Providers

Science.gov (United States)

Pollak, J.; Berry, K.; Couch, A.; Arrigo, J.; Hooper, R. P.

2013-12-01

Scientific data about water are collected and distributed by numerous sources which can differ tremendously in scale. As competition for water resources increases, increasing access to and understanding of information about water will be critical. The mission of the new CUAHSI Water Data Center (WDC) is to provide those researchers who collect data a medium to publish their datasets and give those wanting to discover data the proper tools to efficiently find the data that they seek. These tools include standards-based data publication, data discovery tools based upon faceted and telescoping search, and a data analysis tool HydroDesktop that downloads and unifies data in standardized formats. The CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System (HIS) is a community developed and open source system for sharing water data. As a federated, web service oriented system it enables data publication for a diverse user population including scientific investigators (Research Coordination Networks, Critical Zone Observatories), government agencies (USGS, NASA, EPA), and citizen scientists (watershed associations). HydroDesktop is an end user application for data consumption in this system that the WDC supports. This application can be used for finding, downloading, and analyzing data from the HIS. It provides a GIS interface that allows users to incorporate spatial data that are not accessible via HIS, simple analysis tools to facilitate graphing and visualization, tools to export data to common file types, and provides an extensible architecture that developers can build upon. HydroDesktop, however, is just one example of a data access client for HIS. The web service oriented architecture enables data access by an unlimited number of clients provided they can consume the web services used in HIS. One such example developed at the WDC is the 'Faceted Search Client', which capitalizes upon exploratory search concepts to improve accuracy and precision during search. We highlight such

An investigation of an open-access model for scaling up methadone maintenance treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Madden, Lynn M; Farnum, Scott O; Eggert, Kathryn F; Quanbeck, Andrew R; Freeman, Robert M; Ball, Samuel A; Schottenfeld, Richard S; Shi, Julia M; Savage, Mary Ellen; Barry, Declan T

2018-02-17

To examine retrospectively patient and programmatic outcomes following the development and implementation of an 'open-access' model in which prospective patients were enrolled rapidly in methadone maintenance treatment, irrespective of ability to pay, and provided real-time access to multiple voluntary treatment options. Medical and administrative records were abstracted to compare data for 1 year before and 9 years after initiating the implementation of an open-access treatment model in May 2007. Methadone maintenance treatment center in Connecticut, USA. Individuals with opioid use disorder entering treatment between July 2006 and June 2015. In June 2015, 64% (n = 2594) of the sample were men and 80% (n = 3133) reported that they were white. The Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment-informed open-access treatment model uses process improvement strategies to improve treatment access and capacity. Census, waiting time, retention, non-medical opioid use, patient mortality and financial sustainability (net income and state-block grants as proportions of revenue). In the 9 years following the initial implementation of the open-access model, patient census increased by 183% from 1431 to 4051, and average waiting-time days decreased from 21 to 0.3 (same day) without apparent deleterious effects on rates of retention, non-medical opioid use or mortality. Between fiscal years (FY) 06 and FY 15, net operating margin rose from 2 to 10%, while state-block grant revenues declined 14% and the proportion of total revenue from state-block grant revenue decreased from 49 to 24%. An open-access model for rapid enrolment of people with opioid use disorder in methadone treatment appears to improve treatment access, capacity, and financial sustainability without evidence of deleterious effects on treatment outcomes. © 2018 Society for the Study of Addiction.

A Novel Method for Intraoral Access to the Superior Head of the Human Lateral Pterygoid Muscle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleli Tôrres Oliveira

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background. The uncoordinated activity of the superior and inferior parts of the lateral pterygoid muscle (LPM has been suggested to be one of the causes of temporomandibular joint (TMJ disc displacement. A therapy for this muscle disorder is the injection of botulinum toxin (BTX, of the LPM. However, there is a potential risk of side effects with the injection guide methods currently available. In addition, they do not permit appropriate differentiation between the two bellies of the muscle. Herein, a novel method is presented to provide intraoral access to the superior head of the human LPM with maximal control and minimal hazards. Methods. Computational tomography along with digital imaging software programs and rapid prototyping techniques were used to create a rapid prototyped guide to orient BTX injections in the superior LPM. Results. The method proved to be feasible and reliable. Furthermore, when tested in one volunteer it allowed precise access to the upper head of LPM, without producing side effects. Conclusions. The prototyped guide presented in this paper is a novel tool that provides intraoral access to the superior head of the LPM. Further studies will be necessary to test the efficacy and validate this method in a larger cohort of subjects.

Mitsunobu mischief: Neighbor-directed histidine N(π)–alkylation provides access to peptides containing selectively functionalized imidazolium heterocycles

Science.gov (United States)

Qian, Wen-Jian

2015-01-01

There are few methodologies that yield peptides containing His residues with selective N(π), N(π)-bis-alkylated imidazole rings. We have found that, under certain conditions, on-resin Mitsunobu coupling of alcohols with peptides having a N(π)-alkylated His residue results in selective and high-yield alkylation of the imidazole N(π) nitrogen. The reaction requires the presence of a proximal phosphoric, carboxylic or sulfonic acid, and proceeds through an apparent intramolecular mechanism involving Mitsunobu intermediates. These transformations have particular application to phosphopeptides, where “charge masking” of one phosphoryl anionic charge by the cationic histidine imidazolium ion is now possible. This chemistry opens selective access to peptides containing differentially functionalized imidazolium heterocycles, which provide access to new classes of peptides and peptide mimetics. PMID:25739367

Perilous terra incognita--open-access journals.

Science.gov (United States)

Balon, Richard

2014-04-01

The author focuses on a new rapidly spreading practice of publication in open-access journals. The pros and cons of open-access journals are discussed. Publishing in these journals may be cost prohibitive for educators and junior faculty members. Some authors may be lured by the ease of publishing in open-access journals (and their, at times, inflated self-description, e.g., "international", "scientific"), and their possibly valuable contributions will escape the attention of Academic Psychiatry readership in the vast sea of open-access journals. The readership may be flooded with a large number of low-quality articles (maybe not even properly peer-reviewed) from open-access journals. It may take some time to sort out what is and what is not relevant and useful. Open-access publishing represents a problematic and controversial practice and may be associated with a conflict of interest for the editors and publishers of these journals.

Remote Internet access to advanced analytical facilities: a new approach with Web-based services.

Science.gov (United States)

Sherry, N; Qin, J; Fuller, M Suominen; Xie, Y; Mola, O; Bauer, M; McIntyre, N S; Maxwell, D; Liu, D; Matias, E; Armstrong, C

2012-09-04

Over the past decade, the increasing availability of the World Wide Web has held out the possibility that the efficiency of scientific measurements could be enhanced in cases where experiments were being conducted at distant facilities. Examples of early successes have included X-ray diffraction (XRD) experimental measurements of protein crystal structures at synchrotrons and access to scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and NMR facilities by users from institutions that do not possess such advanced capabilities. Experimental control, visual contact, and receipt of results has used some form of X forwarding and/or VNC (virtual network computing) software that transfers the screen image of a server at the experimental site to that of the users' home site. A more recent development is a web services platform called Science Studio that provides teams of scientists with secure links to experiments at one or more advanced research facilities. The software provides a widely distributed team with a set of controls and screens to operate, observe, and record essential parts of the experiment. As well, Science Studio provides high speed network access to computing resources to process the large data sets that are often involved in complex experiments. The simple web browser and the rapid transfer of experimental data to a processing site allow efficient use of the facility and assist decision making during the acquisition of the experimental results. The software provides users with a comprehensive overview and record of all parts of the experimental process. A prototype network is described involving X-ray beamlines at two different synchrotrons and an SEM facility. An online parallel processing facility has been developed that analyzes the data in near-real time using stream processing. Science Studio and can be expanded to include many other analytical applications, providing teams of users with rapid access to processed results along with the means for detailed

Vascular Access in Children

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krishnamurthy, Ganesh; Keller, Marc S.

2011-01-01

Establishment of stable vascular access is one of the essential and most challenging procedures in a pediatric hospital. Many clinical specialties provide vascular service in a pediatric hospital. At the top of the “expert procedural pyramid” is the pediatric interventional radiologist, who is best suited and trained to deliver this service. Growing awareness regarding the safety and high success rate of vascular access using image guidance has led to increased demand from clinicians to provide around-the-clock vascular access service by pediatric interventional radiologists. Hence, the success of a vascular access program, with the pediatric interventional radiologist as the key provider, is challenging, and a coordinated multidisciplinary team effort is essential for success. However, there are few dedicated pediatric interventional radiologists across the globe, and also only a couple of training programs exist for pediatric interventions. This article gives an overview of the technical aspects of pediatric vascular access and provides useful tips for obtaining vascular access in children safely and successfully using image guidance.

Rapid Prototyping Modules for Remote Engineering Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karsten Henke

2008-07-01

Full Text Available This contribution describes the concept and implementation for an integration of microcontroller and FPGA based Rapid Prototyping modules into a Remote Lab system. This implementation enables a Web-based access to electro-mechanical models. A student uploads a source file implementation to the Remote Lab server in order to test an implementation directly within a hardware environment. The Remote Lab server offers the interfaces to integrate specific project and hardware plug-ins. These plug-ins access a hardware specific software environment to automatically compile and program the resulting firmware. To stimulate this design, the Remote Lab server exchanges digital signals via a serial interface. To allow the student to compare architectures of different designs using the same hardware model, a specific controller (using the Remote Lab interface can be selected. For this, an IP-based multiplexer provides the control connection between the respective controller and the hardware model. In our contribution we would like to give examples of such a complex design task and how the students can use different tools during several design steps.

Open-access databases as unprecedented resources and drivers of cultural change in fisheries science

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McManamay, Ryan A [ORNL; Utz, Ryan [National Ecological Observatory Network

2014-01-01

Open-access databases with utility in fisheries science have grown exponentially in quantity and scope over the past decade, with profound impacts to our discipline. The management, distillation, and sharing of an exponentially growing stream of open-access data represents several fundamental challenges in fisheries science. Many of the currently available open-access resources may not be universally known among fisheries scientists. We therefore introduce many national- and global-scale open-access databases with applications in fisheries science and provide an example of how they can be harnessed to perform valuable analyses without additional field efforts. We also discuss how the development, maintenance, and utilization of open-access data are likely to pose technical, financial, and educational challenges to fisheries scientists. Such cultural implications that will coincide with the rapidly increasing availability of free data should compel the American Fisheries Society to actively address these problems now to help ease the forthcoming cultural transition.

Access to and use of sexual and reproductive health services provided by midwives among rural immigrant women in Spain: midwives’ perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Otero-Garcia, Laura; Goicolea, Isabel; Gea-Sánchez, Montserrat; Sanz-Barbero, Belen

2013-01-01

Background There is insufficient information regarding access and participation of immigrant women in Spain in sexual and reproductive health programs. Recent studies show their lower participation rate in gynecological cancer screening programs; however, little is known about the participation in other sexual and reproductive health programs by immigrant women living in rural areas with high population dispersion. Objectives The objective of this study is to explore the perceptions of midwives who provide these services regarding immigrant women's access and participation in sexual and reproductive health programs offered in a rural area. Design A qualitative study was performed, within a larger ethnographic study about rural primary care, with data collection based on in-depth interviews and field notes. Participants were the midwives in primary care serving 13 rural basic health zones (BHZ) of Segovia, a region of Spain with high population dispersion. An interview script was designed to collect information about midwives’ perceptions on immigrant women's access to and use of the healthcare services that they provide. Interviews were recorded and transcribed with participant informed consent. Data were analyzed based on the qualitative content analysis approach and triangulation of results with fieldwork notes. Results Midwives perceive that immigrants in general, and immigrant women in particular, underuse family planning services. This underutilization is associated with cultural differences and gender inequality. They also believe that the number of voluntary pregnancy interruptions among immigrant women is elevated and identify childbearing and childrearing-related tasks and the language barrier as obstacles to immigrant women accessing the available prenatal and postnatal healthcare services. Conclusions Immigrant women's underutilization of midwifery services may be linked to the greater number of unintended pregnancies, pregnancy terminations, and the

Access to and use of sexual and reproductive health services provided by midwives among rural immigrant women in Spain: midwives' perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Otero-Garcia, Laura; Goicolea, Isabel; Gea-Sánchez, Montserrat; Sanz-Barbero, Belen

2013-11-08

There insufficient information regarding access and participation of immigrant women in Spain in sexual and reproductive health programs. Recent studies show their lower participation rate in gynecological cancer screening programs; however, little is known about the participation in other sexual and reproductive health programs by immigrant women living in rural areas with high population dispersion. The objective of this study is to explore the perceptions of midwives who provide these services regarding immigrant women's access and participation in sexual and reproductive health programs offered in a rural area. A qualitative study was performed, within a larger ethnographic study about rural primary care, with data collection based on in-depth interviews and field notes. Participants were the midwives in primary care serving 13 rural basic health zones (BHZ) of Segovia, a region of Spain with high population dispersion. An interview script was designed to collect information about midwives' perceptions on immigrant women's access to and use of the healthcare services that they provide. Interviews were recorded and transcribed with participant informed consent. Data were analyzed based on the qualitative content analysis approach and triangulation of results with fieldwork notes. Midwives perceive that immigrants in general, and immigrant women in particular, underuse family planning services. This underutilization is associated with cultural differences and gender inequality. They also believe that the number of voluntary pregnancy interruptions among immigrant women is elevated and identify childbearing and childrearing-related tasks and the language barrier as obstacles to immigrant women accessing the available prenatal and postnatal healthcare services. Immigrant women's underutilization of midwifery services may be linked to the greater number of unintended pregnancies, pregnancy terminations, and the delay in the first prenatal visit, as discerned by

Access to and use of sexual and reproductive health services provided by midwives among rural immigrant women in Spain: midwives’ perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Otero-Garcia

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Background: There insufficient information regarding access and participation of immigrant women in Spain in sexual and reproductive health programs. Recent studies show their lower participation rate in gynecological cancer screening programs; however, little is known about the participation in other sexual and reproductive health programs by immigrant women living in rural areas with high population dispersion. Objectives: The objective of this study is to explore the perceptions of midwives who provide these services regarding immigrant women's access and participation in sexual and reproductive health programs offered in a rural area. Design: A qualitative study was performed, within a larger ethnographic study about rural primary care, with data collection based on in-depth interviews and field notes. Participants were the midwives in primary care serving 13 rural basic health zones (BHZ of Segovia, a region of Spain with high population dispersion. An interview script was designed to collect information about midwives’ perceptions on immigrant women's access to and use of the healthcare services that they provide. Interviews were recorded and transcribed with participant informed consent. Data were analyzed based on the qualitative content analysis approach and triangulation of results with fieldwork notes. Results: Midwives perceive that immigrants in general, and immigrant women in particular, underuse family planning services. This underutilization is associated with cultural differences and gender inequality. They also believe that the number of voluntary pregnancy interruptions among immigrant women is elevated and identify childbearing and childrearing-related tasks and the language barrier as obstacles to immigrant women accessing the available prenatal and postnatal healthcare services. Conclusions: Immigrant women's underutilization of midwifery services may be linked to the greater number of unintended pregnancies, pregnancy

Biological approaches for addressing the grand challenge of providing access to clean drinking water

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

The U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) recently published a document presenting "Grand Challenges for Engineering". This list was proposed by leading engineers and scientists from around the world at the request of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). Fourteen topics were selected for these grand challenges, and at least seven can be addressed using the tools and methods of biological engineering. Here we describe how biological engineers can address the challenge of providing access to clean drinking water. This issue must be addressed in part by removing or inactivating microbial and chemical contaminants in order to properly deliver water safe for human consumption. Despite many advances in technologies this challenge is expanding due to increased pressure on fresh water supplies and to new opportunities for growth of potentially pathogenic organisms. PMID:21453515

Digital Scholarship and Open Access

Science.gov (United States)

Losoff, Barbara; Pence, Harry E.

2010-01-01

Open access publications provide scholars with unrestricted access to the "conversation" that is the basis for the advancement of knowledge. The large number of open access journals, archives, and depositories already in existence demonstrates the technical and economic viability of providing unrestricted access to the literature that is the…

49 CFR 37.59 - Differences in accessibility completion dates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... accessible path from common elements of the station to portions of the facility directly serving the rail... both rapid and commuter rail systems), accessibility to the following elements of the station shall be achieved by the earlier of the completion dates involved: (a) Common elements of the station; (b) Portions...

Email based remote access and surveillance system for smart home infrastructure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pooshkar Rajiv

2016-09-01

Full Text Available With the rapid rise of Internet of Things in public domain, people expect fast, reliable and on-demand home security via the Internet. However, existing remote home surveillance systems place a very rigid constraint on authentication and require customized hardware and software. In this paper we have proposed an ingenious and reliable internet based, home access system for smart homes that can be easily deployed on generic hardware. The proposed architecture uses popular email service providers to notify and update the user about the home access. It sends an email to the owner with the attached picture of the person who is at the door. It also incorporates a protected mechanism to give access of the door to a remote user by responding to that email. It essentially means that we can view and give access to the person at our door via sending and receiving an email. Furthermore, an image processing based mechanism has also been incorporated to provide access without email, to few selected personnel who are trusted by the owner. It works by capturing and comparing the visitor's image with the stored images in the database. Perceptual hashing or fingerprint matching algorithm is used for comparison purposes. Similarity percentage based on hamming distance was evaluated, and the similarity threshold for providing access was set. The simulations were performed in rigorous environment. The efficiency of the hashing algorithm was found to be 97% at the similarity threshold of 95%. The results validate that the average latency is only 155 ms with low standard deviation. The CPU utilization remained quite low with a minimum value of 10 MHz and a maximum value of 30 MHz when the payload size of the sent mail was increased to 1500 kB. Thus, the proposed system can be used for developing a larger low power infrastructure.

Rapid Prototyping in Orthopaedic Surgery: A User's Guide

OpenAIRE

Frame, Mark; Huntley, James S.

2012-01-01

Rapid prototyping (RP) is applicable to orthopaedic problems involving three dimensions, particularly fractures, deformities, and reconstruction. In the past, RP has been hampered by cost and difficulties accessing the appropriate expertise. Here we outline the history of rapid prototyping and furthermore a process using open-source software to produce a high fidelity physical model from CT data. This greatly mitigates the expense associated with the technique, allowing surgeons to produce pr...

What Remains on Your Mind After You Are Done?: Flexible Regulation of Knowledge Accessibility

Science.gov (United States)

Hedberg, Per H.; Higgins, E. Tory

2011-01-01

The accessibility of stored knowledge has been found to decline over time after activation without further stimulation. A special case is goal pursuit; goal-related knowledge remains accessible until goal completion, and then its accessibility declines rapidly. We hypothesized that after goal completion the decline in accessibility of goal-related knowledge would be especially rapid for strong promotion-focused individuals because their motivation to eagerly advance beyond the status quo would make accessibility of this knowledge an irrelevant detriment. We hypothesized an opposite effect for strongly prevention-predominant individuals because their motivation to vigilantly maintain a satisfactory state would make accessibility of this knowledge continually relevant. The results of two studies supported both these predicted moderators of accessibility change. Indeed, we found that for strongly prevention-predominant participants, knowledge accessibility actually increased over time after goal completion. We discuss how even basic cognitive mechanisms, like changes in accessibility, can be affected by general motivational concerns. PMID:21765541

Gardening in the desert: a spatial optimization approach to locating gardens in rapidly expanding urban environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Mack, Elizabeth A; Tong, Daoqin; Credit, Kevin

2017-10-16

Food access is a global issue, and for this reason, a wealth of studies are dedicated to understanding the location of food deserts and the benefits of urban gardens. However, few studies have linked these two strands of research together to analyze whether urban gardening activity may be a step forward in addressing issues of access for food desert residents. The Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area is used as a case to demonstrate the utility of spatial optimization models for siting urban gardens near food deserts and on vacant land. The locations of urban gardens are derived from a list obtained from the Maricopa County Cooperative Extension office at the University of Arizona which were geo located and aggregated to Census tracts. Census tracts were then assigned to one of three categories: tracts that contain a garden, tracts that are immediately adjacent to a tract with a garden, and all other non-garden/non-adjacent census tracts. Analysis of variance is first used to ascertain whether there are statistical differences in the demographic, socio-economic, and land use profiles of these three categories of tracts. A maximal covering spatial optimization model is then used to identify potential locations for future gardening activities. A constraint of these models is that gardens be located on vacant land, which is a growing problem in rapidly urbanizing environments worldwide. The spatial analysis of garden locations reveals that they are centrally located in tracts with good food access. Thus, the current distribution of gardens does not provide an alternative food source to occupants of food deserts. The maximal covering spatial optimization model reveals that gardens could be sited in alternative locations to better serve food desert residents. In fact, 53 gardens may be located to cover 96.4% of all food deserts. This is an improvement over the current distribution of gardens where 68 active garden sites provide coverage to a scant 8.4% of food desert

Enterprise wide transparent information access

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, J.

1995-05-01

The information management needs of the Department of Energy (DOE) represents a fertile domain for the development of highly sophisticated yet intuitive enterprise-wide computing solutions. These solutions must support business operations, research agendas, technology development efforts, decision support, and other application areas with a user base ranging from technical staff to the highest levels of management. One area of primary interest is in the Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Branch of DOE. In this arena, the issue of tracking and managing nuclear waste related to the long legacy of prior defense production and research programs is one of high visibility and great concern. The Tank Waste Information Network System (TWINS) application has been created by the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) for the DOE to assist in managing and accessing the information related to this mission. The TWINS solution addresses many of the technical issues faced by other efforts to provide integrated information access to a wide variety of stakeholders. TWINS provides secure transparent access to distributed heterogeneous multimedia information sources from around the DOE complex. The users interact with the information through a consistent user interface that presents the desired data in a common format regardless of the structure of the source information. The solutions developed by the TWINS project represent an integration of several technologies and products that can be applied to other mission areas within DOE and other government agencies. These solutions are now being applied to public and private sector problem domains as well. The successful integration and inter-operation of both commercial and custom modules into a flexible and extensible information architecture will help ensure that new problems facing DOE and other clients can be addressed more rapidly in the future by re-use of existing tools and techniques proven viable through the TWINS efforts

Rapidly Moving Divertor Plates In A Tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zweben, S.

2011-01-01

It may be possible to replace conventional actively cooled tokamak divertor plates with a set of rapidly moving, passively cooled divertor plates on rails. These plates would absorb the plasma heat flux with their thermal inertia for ∼10-30 sec, and would then be removed from the vessel for processing. When outside the tokamak, these plates could be cooled, cleaned, recoated, inspected, and then returned to the vessel in an automated loop. This scheme could provide nearoptimal divertor surfaces at all times, and avoid the need to stop machine operation for repair of damaged or eroded plates. We describe various possible divertor plate designs and access geometries, and discuss an initial design for a movable and removable divertor module for NSTX-U.

Accessibility of antiretroviral therapy in Ghana: convenience of access.

Science.gov (United States)

Addo-Atuah, Joyce; Gourley, Dick; Gourley, Greta; White-Means, Shelley I; Womeodu, Robin J; Faris, Richard J; Addo, Nii Akwei

2012-01-01

The convenience of accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART) is important for initial access to care and subsequent adherence to ART. We conducted a qualitative study of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and ART healthcare providers in Ghana in 2005. The objective of this study was to explore the participants' perceived convenience of accessing ART by PLWHA in Ghana. The convenience of accessing ART was evaluated from the reported travel and waiting times to receive care, the availability, or otherwise, of special considerations, with respect to the waiting time to receive care, for those PLWHA who were in active employment in the formal sector, the frequency of clinic visits before and after initiating ART, and whether the PLWHA saw the same or different providers at each clinic visit (continuity of care). This qualitative study used in-depth interviews based on Yin's case-study research design to collect data from 20 PLWHA and 24 ART healthcare providers as study participants. • Reported travel time to receive ART services ranged from 2 to 12 h for 30% of the PLWHA. • Waiting time to receive care was from 4 to 9 h. • While known government workers, such as teachers, were attended to earlier in some of the centres, this was not a consistent practice in all the four ART centres studied. • The PLWHA corroborated the providers' description of the procedure for initiating and monitoring ART in Ghana. • PLWHA did not see the same provider every time, but they were assured that this did not compromise the continuity of their care. Our study suggests that convenience of accessing ART is important to both PLWHA and ART healthcare providers, but the participants alluded to other factors, including open provider-patient communication, which might explain the PLWHA's understanding of the constraints under which they were receiving care. The current nation-wide coverage of the ART programme in Ghana, however, calls for the replication of this study to identify

Accessing Electronic Journals.

Science.gov (United States)

McKay, Sharon Cline

1999-01-01

Discusses issues librarians need to consider when providing access to electronic journals. Topics include gateways; index and abstract services; validation and pay-per-view; title selection; integration with OPACs (online public access catalogs)or Web sites; paper availability; ownership versus access; usage restrictions; and services offered…

20 CFR 652.207 - How does a State meet the requirement for universal access to services provided under the Act?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false How does a State meet the requirement for universal access to services provided under the Act? 652.207 Section 652.207 Employees' Benefits EMPLOYMENT... exercising this discretion, a State must meet the Act's requirements. (b) These requirements are: (1) Labor...

Rapid improvement teams.

Science.gov (United States)

Alemi, F; Moore, S; Headrick, L; Neuhauser, D; Hekelman, F; Kizys, N

1998-03-01

Suggestions, most of which are supported by empirical studies, are provided on how total quality management (TQM) teams can be used to bring about faster organizationwide improvements. Ideas are offered on how to identify the right problem, have rapid meetings, plan rapidly, collect data rapidly, and make rapid whole-system changes. Suggestions for identifying the right problem include (1) postpone benchmarking when problems are obvious, (2) define the problem in terms of customer experience so as not to blame employees nor embed a solution in the problem statement, (3) communicate with the rest of the organization from the start, (4) state the problem from different perspectives, and (5) break large problems into smaller units. Suggestions for having rapid meetings include (1) choose a nonparticipating facilitator to expedite meetings, (2) meet with each team member before the team meeting, (3) postpone evaluation of ideas, and (4) rethink conclusions of a meeting before acting on them. Suggestions for rapid planning include reducing time spent on flowcharting by focusing on the future, not the present. Suggestions for rapid data collection include (1) sample patients for surveys, (2) rely on numerical estimates by process owners, and (3) plan for rapid data collection. Suggestions for rapid organizationwide implementation include (1) change membership on cross-functional teams, (2) get outside perspectives, (3) use unfolding storyboards, and (4) go beyond self-interest to motivate lasting change in the organization. Additional empirical investigations of time saved as a consequence of the strategies provided are needed. If organizations solve their problems rapidly, fewer unresolved problems may remain.

The challenges of rapid urbanization on sustainable development of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The challenges of rapid urbanization on sustainable development of Nyanya, Federal Capital ... PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH ... unaffordable health care facilities, poor environmental health and traffic congestion on the ...

Variable primary coordination environments of Cd(ɪɪ) binding to three helix bundles provide a pathway for rapid metal exchange

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tebo, Alison G.; Hemmingsen, Lars Bo Stegeager; Pecoraro, Vincent L.

2015-01-01

exchange between CdS3O and CdS4 coordination spheres. Correlation of (111m)Cd PAC spectroscopy and (113)Cd NMR spectroscopy suggests that Cd(ii) coordinated to CadC is in fast exchange between CdS3O and CdS4 forms, which may provide a mechanism for rapid sensing of heavy metal contaminants...

Android Access Control Extension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anton Baláž

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this work is to analyze and extend security model of mobile devices running on Android OS. Provided security extension is a Linux kernel security module that allows the system administrator to restrict program's capabilities with per-program profiles. Profiles can allow capabilities like network access, raw socket access, and the permission to read, write, or execute files on matching paths. Module supplements the traditional Android capability access control model by providing mandatory access control (MAC based on path. This extension increases security of access to system objects in a device and allows creating security sandboxes per application.

A randomized trial of motivational interviewing and facilitated contraceptive access to prevent rapid repeat pregnancy among adolescent mothers.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevens, Jack; Lutz, Robyn; Osuagwu, Ngozi; Rotz, Dana; Goesling, Brian

2017-10-01

Most interventions designed to reduce teen pregnancy rates have not focused on pregnant and/or parenting adolescents. Therefore, a large randomized controlled trial was conducted regarding a motivational interviewing program entitled Teen Options to Prevent Pregnancy in a low-income sample of adolescent mothers. This program recommended monthly sessions between a participant and a registered nurse over 18 months. This program also featured facilitated birth control access through transportation assistance and a part-time contraceptive clinic. The impact of this program on rapid repeat pregnancies at 18 months after enrollment was evaluated. Five hundred ninety-eight adolescent females were enrolled from 7 obstetrics-gynecology clinics and 5 postpartum units of a large hospital system in a Midwestern city. Each participant was enrolled at least 28 weeks pregnant or less than 9 weeks postpartum. Each participant was randomized to either the Teen Options to Prevent Pregnancy intervention or a usual-care control condition. Intervention participants averaged 4.5 hours of assistance. Participants were contacted by blinded research staff at 6 and 18 months to complete self-report surveys. Differences in outcomes between the intervention and control groups were assessed using ordinary least-squares regression. There was an 18.1% absolute reduction in self-reported repeat pregnancy in the intervention group relative to the control group (20.5% vs 38.6%%; P Teen Options to Prevent Pregnancy program represents one of the few evidence-based interventions to reduce rapid repeat teen pregnancy. This relatively brief intervention may be a viable alternative to more time-intensive programs that adolescent mothers may be unable or unwilling to receive. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Policy principles for expanding financial access: report of the CGD task force on access to financial services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Claessens, S.; Honohan, P.; Rojas-Suarez, L.

2009-01-01

Despite the rapid growth in finance worldwide over the past quarter-century — now interrupted by the global financial crisis — many low-income households and small firms remain excluded from access to many financial services, especially in developing countries. While traditionally seen by many

Fishing Access Areas

Data.gov (United States)

Vermont Center for Geographic Information — The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department maintains developed fishing access areas. These sites provide public access to waters in Vermont for shore fishing...

ProteoWizard: open source software for rapid proteomics tools development.

Science.gov (United States)

Kessner, Darren; Chambers, Matt; Burke, Robert; Agus, David; Mallick, Parag

2008-11-01

The ProteoWizard software project provides a modular and extensible set of open-source, cross-platform tools and libraries. The tools perform proteomics data analyses; the libraries enable rapid tool creation by providing a robust, pluggable development framework that simplifies and unifies data file access, and performs standard proteomics and LCMS dataset computations. The library contains readers and writers of the mzML data format, which has been written using modern C++ techniques and design principles and supports a variety of platforms with native compilers. The software has been specifically released under the Apache v2 license to ensure it can be used in both academic and commercial projects. In addition to the library, we also introduce a rapidly growing set of companion tools whose implementation helps to illustrate the simplicity of developing applications on top of the ProteoWizard library. Cross-platform software that compiles using native compilers (i.e. GCC on Linux, MSVC on Windows and XCode on OSX) is available for download free of charge, at http://proteowizard.sourceforge.net. This website also provides code examples, and documentation. It is our hope the ProteoWizard project will become a standard platform for proteomics development; consequently, code use, contribution and further development are strongly encouraged.

Evolution of Network Access Points (NAPs and agreements among Internet Service Providers (ISPs in South America

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernando Beltrán

2006-05-01

Full Text Available Este artículo presenta los aspectos principales del desarrollo histórico y de asuntos actuales en el mercado suramericano de acceso a Internet: los acuerdos de interconexión para el intercambio de tráfico local y regional en Suramérica, los incentivos que tienen los proveedores de acceso a Internet para mantener o modificar la naturaleza de los acuerdos y los métodos de recuperación de costos en los puntos de intercambio de tráfico. El artículo también identifica algunas amenazas a la estabilidad de los puntos de intercambio de tráfico y las ilustra con dos casos. / This paper presents the main aspects of the historical development and the current issues at stake in the South American Internet access market: the interconnection schemes for the exchange of local and regional traffic in the South American region, the incentives Internet access providers have for keeping or modifying the nature of the agreements, and the cost recovery methods at the traffic exchange points. Some threats to the stability of the scheme for domestic traffic exchange adopted throughout the region are also identified and subsequently illustrated with country-cases.

Perspectives on providing good access to dental services for elderly people: patient selection, dentists' responsibility and budget management.

Science.gov (United States)

Grytten, Jostein; Holst, Dorthe

2013-06-01

To suggest a model for organizing and financing dental services for elderly people so that they have good access to services. There are few studies on how dental services for elderly people should be organized and financed. This is surprising if we take into consideration the fact that the proportion of elderly people is growing faster than any other group in the population, and that elderly people have more dental diseases and poorer access to dental services than the rest of the adult population. In several countries, dental services are characterized by private providers who often operate in a market with competition and free price-setting. Private dentists have no community responsibility, and they are free to choose which patients they treat. Literature review and critical reasoning. In order to avoid patient selection, a patient list system for elderly people is recommended, with per capita remuneration for the patients that the dentist is given responsibility for. The patient list system means that the dentist assumes responsibility for a well-defined list of elderly people. Our model will lead to greater security in the dentist/patient relationship, and patients with great treatment needs will be ensured access to dental services. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S and The Gerodontology Society. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Frontline health workers as brokers: provider perceptions, experiences and mitigating strategies to improve access to essential medicines in South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Magadzire, Bvudzai Priscilla; Budden, Ashwin; Ward, Kim; Jeffery, Roger; Sanders, David

2014-11-05

Front-line health providers have a unique role as brokers (patient advocates) between the health system and patients in ensuring access to medicines (ATM). ATM is a fundamental component of health systems. This paper examines in a South African context supply- and demand- ATM barriers from the provider perspective using a five dimensional framework: availability (fit between existing resources and clients' needs); accessibility (fit between physical location of healthcare and location of clients); accommodation (fit between the organisation of services and clients' practical circumstances); acceptability (fit between clients' and providers' mutual expectations and appropriateness of care) and affordability (fit between cost of care and ability to pay). This cross-sectional, qualitative study uses semi-structured interviews with nurses, pharmacy personnel and doctors. Thirty-six providers were purposively recruited from six public sector Community Health Centres in two districts in the Eastern Cape Province representing both rural and urban settings. Content analysis combined structured coding and grounded theory approaches. Finally, the five dimensional framework was applied to illustrate the interconnected facets of the issue. Factors perceived to affect ATM were identified. Availability of medicines was hampered by logistical bottlenecks in the medicines supply chain; poor public transport networks affected accessibility. Organization of disease programmes meshed poorly with the needs of patients with comorbidities and circular migrants who move between provinces searching for economic opportunities, proximity to services such as social grants and shopping centres influenced where patients obtain medicines. Acceptability was affected by, for example, HIV related stigma leading patients to seek distant services. Travel costs exacerbated by the interplay of several ATM barriers influenced affordability. Providers play a brokerage role by adopting flexible

The impact of providing rapid diagnostic malaria tests on fever management in the private retail sector in Ghana: a cluster randomized trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Ansah, Evelyn K; Narh-Bana, Solomon; Affran-Bonful, Harriet; Bart-Plange, Constance; Cundill, Bonnie; Gyapong, Margaret; Whitty, Christopher J M

2015-03-04

To examine the impact of providing rapid diagnostic tests for malaria on fever management in private drug retail shops where most poor rural people with fever present, with the aim of reducing current massive overdiagnosis and overtreatment of malaria. Cluster randomized trial of 24 clusters of shops. Dangme West, a poor rural district of Ghana. Shops and their clients, both adults and children. Providing rapid diagnostic tests with realistic training. The primary outcome was the proportion of clients testing negative for malaria by a double-read research blood slide who received an artemisinin combination therapy or other antimalarial. Secondary outcomes were use of antibiotics and antipyretics, and safety. Of 4603 clients, 3424 (74.4%) tested negative by double-read research slides. The proportion of slide-negative clients who received any antimalarial was 590/1854 (32%) in the intervention arm and 1378/1570 (88%) in the control arm (adjusted risk ratio 0.41 (95% CI 0.29 to 0.58), Pretail sector significantly reduced dispensing of antimalarials to patients without malaria, did not reduce prescribing of antimalarials to true malaria cases, and appeared safe. Rapid diagnostic tests should be considered for the informal private drug retail sector.Registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01907672. © Ansah et al 2015.

Designing a Secure E-commerce with Credential Purpose-based Access Control

OpenAIRE

Norjihan Abdul Ghani; Harihodin Selamat; Zailani Mohamed Sidek

2014-01-01

The rapid growth of e-commerce has created a great opportunities for both businesses and end users. The essential e-commerce process is required for the successful operation and management of e-commerce activities. One of the processes is access control and security. E-commerce must establish a secure access between the parties in an e-commerce transaction by authenticating users, authorizing access, and enforcing security features. The e-commerce application must authorize access to only tho...

Assessing internet access and use in a medically underserved population: implications for providing enhanced health information services.

Science.gov (United States)

Zach, Lisl; Dalrymple, Prudence W; Rogers, Michelle L; Williver-Farr, Heather

2012-03-01

The relationship between health information seeking, patient engagement and health literacy is not well understood. This is especially true in medically underserved populations, which are often viewed as having limited access to health information. To improve communication between an urban health centre and the community it serves, a team of library and information science researchers undertook an assessment of patients' level and methods of access to and use of the Internet. Data were collected in 53 face-to-face anonymous interviews with patients at the centre. Interviews were tape-recorded for referential accuracy, and data were analysed to identify patterns of access and use. Seventy-two percentage of study participants reported having access to the Internet through either computers or cell phones. Barriers to Internet access were predominantly lack of equipment or training rather than lack of interest. Only 21% of those with Internet access reported using the Internet to look for health information. The findings suggest that lack of access to the Internet in itself is not the primary barrier to seeking health information in this population and that the digital divide exists not at the level of information access but rather at the level of information use. © 2011 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2011 Health Libraries Group.

Imaging findings and referral outcomes of rapid assessment stroke clinics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Widjaja, E.; Manuel, D.; Hodgson, T.J.; Connolly, D.J.A.; Coley, S.C.; Romanowski, C.A.J.; Gaines, P.; Cleveland, T.; Thomas, S.; Griffiths, P.D.; Doyle, C.; Venables, G.S.

2005-01-01

AIM: A rapid assessment stroke clinic (RASC) was established to provide a rapid diagnostic service to individuals with suspected transient cerebral or ocular ischaemia or recovered non-hospitalized strokes. In this report we review imaging findings and clinical outcomes of patients proceeding to the carotid surgery programme. METHODS: Between October 2000 and December 2002, 1339 people attended the RASC. The findings of head CT and carotid Doppler ultrasound of the 1320 patients who underwent brain and carotid imaging were reviewed, and the number subsequently proceeding to carotid angiography and intervention was reported. RESULTS: CT head scans were normal in 57% of cases; 38% demonstrated ischaemia or infarction; and 3% yielded incidental or other significant findings not related to ischaemia. On screening with carotid Doppler ultrasound, 7.5% showed greater than 50% stenosis on the symptomatic side. A total of 83 patients (6.2%) proceeded to cerebral angiography and 65 (4.8%) underwent carotid endarterectomy or endovascular repair. CONCLUSION: Rapid-access neurovascular clinics are efficient in selecting patients for carotid intervention, but this is at a cost and the number of potential strokes prevented is small. Alternative management pathways based on immediate medical treatment need to be evaluated

Open Access @ DTU

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ekstrøm, Jeannette

Open Access is high on the agenda in Denmark and internationally. Denmark has announced a national strategy for Open Access that aims to achieve Open Access to 80% in 2017 and 100% in 2022 to peer review research articles. All public Danish funders as well as H2020 requires that all peer review...... articles that is an outcome of their funding will be Open Access. Uploading your full texts (your final author manuscript after review ) to DTU Orbit is a fundamental part of providing Open Access to your research. We are here to answer all your questions with regards to Open Access and related topics...... such as copyright, DTU Orbit, Open Access journals, APCs, Vouchers etc....

Selective Access to Heterocyclic Sulfonamides and Sulfonyl Fluorides via a Parallel Medicinal Chemistry Enabled Method.

Science.gov (United States)

Tucker, Joseph W; Chenard, Lois; Young, Joseph M

2015-11-09

A sulfur-functionalized aminoacrolein derivative is used for the efficient and selective synthesis of heterocyclic sulfonyl chlorides, sulfonyl fluorides, and sulfonamides. The development of a 3-step parallel medicinal chemistry (PMC) protocol for the synthesis of pyrazole-4-sulfonamides effectively demonstrates the utility of this reagent. This reactivity was expanded to provide rapid access to other heterocyclic sulfonyl fluorides, including pyrimidines and pyridines, whose corresponding sulfonyl chlorides lack suitable chemical stability.

Producing More Actionable Science Isn't the Problem; It's Providing Decision-Makers with Access to Right Actionable Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Trexler, M.

2017-12-01

Policy-makers today have almost infinite climate-relevant scientific and other information available to them. The problem for climate change decision-making isn't missing science or inadequate knowledge of climate risks; the problem is that the "right" climate change actionable knowledge isn't getting to the right decision-maker, or is getting there too early or too late to effectively influence her decision-making. Actionable knowledge is not one-size-fit-all, and for a given decision-maker might involve scientific, economic, or risk-based information. Simply producing more and more information as we are today is not the solution, and actually makes it harder for individual decision-makers to access "their" actionable knowledge. The Climatographers began building the Climate Web five years ago to test the hypothesis that a knowledge management system could help navigate the gap between infinite information and individual actionable knowledge. Today the Climate Web's more than 1,500 index terms allow instant access to almost any climate change topic. It is a curated public-access knowledgebase of more than 1,000 books, 2,000 videos, 15,000 reports and articles, 25,000 news stories, and 3,000 websites. But it is also much more, linking together tens of thousands of individually extracted ideas and graphics, and providing Deep Dives into more than 100 key topics from changing probability distributions of extreme events to climate communications best practices to cognitive dissonance in climate change decision-making. The public-access Climate Web is uniquely able to support cross-silo learning, collaboration, and actionable knowledge dissemination. The presentation will use the Climate Web to demonstrate why knowledge management should be seen as a critical component of science and policy-making collaborations.

Barriers and facilitators to intraosseous access in adult resuscitations when peripheral intravenous access is not achievable.

Science.gov (United States)

James Cheung, Warren; Rosenberg, Hans; Vaillancourt, Christian

2014-03-01

Studies suggest that intraosseous (IO) access is underutilized in adult resuscitations, despite recommendations from advanced trauma and cardiac life support guidelines. The objective was to determine factors associated with IO access use by physicians during adult resuscitations when intravenous (IV) access is not immediately achievable. This study was an online survey among physicians purposefully recruited from various clinical care areas at three teaching hospitals. Questions were generated from the qualitative results of 20 iterative interviews, verified for internal validity, and piloted. The interview guide was based on the constructs of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), which elicits salient attitudes, social influences, and control beliefs that potentially influence intention to use IO access. Recruitment took place in September 2012 until reaching more than 100% of the required sample size (n = 200). Internal consistency was measured using Cronbach's alpha, and the effect of TPB constructs and specific beliefs were assessed with regression analyses. For the 205 respondents, the mean age was 35 years (range = 20 to 66 years), and 53.3% were male. Participants' departmental affiliations were 50.3% emergency medicine (EM), 16.9% internal medicine, 14.9% anesthesia, 10.8% general surgery, and 7.2% critical care. Residents comprised 60.7% of the sample, and 39.3% were attending physicians. Median intention to use IO access when IV is not immediately achievable was 4.67 (interquartile range [IQR] = 4 to 5) out of 5 (5 highest) and predicted by the following TPB constructs: attitudes (AdjCoefficients = 0.504; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.334 to 0.673), social influences (AdjCoefficients = 0.285; 95% CI = 0.172 to 0.398), and control beliefs (AdjCoefficients 0.217; 95% CI = 0.113 to 0.320). Physicians were more likely to use IO access if they believed that it provided rapid vascular access for delivering large volumes of fluids, could prevent delays in

Tablet based simulation provides a new solution to accessing laparoscopic skills training.

Science.gov (United States)

Bahsoun, Ali Nehme; Malik, Mohsan Munir; Ahmed, Kamran; El-Hage, Oussama; Jaye, Peter; Dasgupta, Prokar

2013-01-01

Access to facilities that allow trainees to develop their laparoscopic skills is very limited in the hospital environment and courses can be very expensive. We set out to build an inexpensive yet effective trainer to allow laparoscopic skill acquisition in the home or classroom environment based on using a tablet as a replacement for the laparoscopic stack and camera. The cavity in which to train was made from a cardboard box; we left the sides and back open to allow for natural light to fill the cavity. An iPad 2 (Apple Inc.) was placed over the box to act as our camera and monitor. We provided 10 experienced laparoscopic surgeons with the task of passing a suture needle through 3 hoops; then they filled in a questionnaire to assess Face (training capacity) and Content (performance) validity. On a 5-point Likert scale, the tablet-based laparoscopic trainer scored a mean 4.2 for training capacity (hand eye coordination, development, and maintenance of lap skills) and for performance (graphics, video, and lighting quality) it scored a mean 4.1. The iPad 2-based laparoscopic trainer was successfully validated for training. It allows students and trainees to practice at their own pace and for inexpensive training on the go. Future "app-"based skills are planned. Copyright © 2013 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Pediatric vascular access

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donaldson, James S.

2006-01-01

Pediatric interventional radiologists are ideally suited to provide vascular access services to children because of inherent safety advantages and higher success from using image-guided techniques. The performance of vascular access procedures has become routine at many adult interventional radiology practices, but this service is not as widely developed at pediatric institutions. Although interventional radiologists at some children's hospitals offer full-service vascular access, there is little or none at others. Developing and maintaining a pediatric vascular access service is a challenge. Interventionalists skilled in performing such procedures are limited at pediatric institutions, and institutional support from clerical staff, nursing staff, and technologists might not be sufficiently available to fulfill the needs of such a service. There must also be a strong commitment by all members of the team to support such a demanding service. There is a slippery slope of expected services that becomes steeper and steeper as the vascular access service grows. This review is intended primarily as general education for pediatric radiologists learning vascular access techniques. Additionally, the pediatric or adult interventional radiologist seeking to expand services might find helpful tips. The article also provides education for the diagnostic radiologist who routinely interprets radiographs containing vascular access devices. (orig.)

Cognitive Self-Scheduled Mechanism for Access Control in Noisy Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mario Manzano

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Within the challenging environment of intelligent transportation systems (ITS, networked control systems such as platooning guidance of autonomous vehicles require innovative mechanisms to provide real-time communications. Although several proposals are currently under discussion, the design of a rapid, efficient, flexible, and reliable medium access control mechanism which meets the specific constraints of such real-time communications applications remains unsolved in this highly dynamic environment. However, cognitive radio (CR combines the capacity to sense the radio spectrum with the flexibility to adapt to transmission parameters in order to maximize system performance and has thus become an effective approach for the design of dynamic spectrum access (DSA mechanisms. This paper presents the enhanced noncooperative cognitive division multiple access (ENCCMA proposal combining time division multiple access (TDMA and frequency division multiple access (FDMA schemes with CR techniques to obtain a mechanism fulfilling the requirements of real-time communications. The analysis presented here considers the IEEE WAVE and 802.11p as reference standards; however, the proposed medium access control (MAC mechanism can be adapted to operate on the physical layer of different standards. The mechanism also offers the advantage of avoiding signaling, thus enhancing system autonomy as well as behavior in adverse scenarios.

The DEDUCE Guided Query tool: providing simplified access to clinical data for research and quality improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Horvath, Monica M; Winfield, Stephanie; Evans, Steve; Slopek, Steve; Shang, Howard; Ferranti, Jeffrey

2011-04-01

In many healthcare organizations, comparative effectiveness research and quality improvement (QI) investigations are hampered by a lack of access to data created as a byproduct of patient care. Data collection often hinges upon either manual chart review or ad hoc requests to technical experts who support legacy clinical systems. In order to facilitate this needed capacity for data exploration at our institution (Duke University Health System), we have designed and deployed a robust Web application for cohort identification and data extraction--the Duke Enterprise Data Unified Content Explorer (DEDUCE). DEDUCE is envisioned as a simple, web-based environment that allows investigators access to administrative, financial, and clinical information generated during patient care. By using business intelligence tools to create a view into Duke Medicine's enterprise data warehouse, DEDUCE provides a Guided Query functionality using a wizard-like interface that lets users filter through millions of clinical records, explore aggregate reports, and, export extracts. Researchers and QI specialists can obtain detailed patient- and observation-level extracts without needing to understand structured query language or the underlying database model. Developers designing such tools must devote sufficient training and develop application safeguards to ensure that patient-centered clinical researchers understand when observation-level extracts should be used. This may mitigate the risk of data being misunderstood and consequently used in an improper fashion. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of the role of access providers. Discussion of Dutch Pirate Bay case law and introducing principles on directness, effectiveness, costs, relevance, and time

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lodder, A.R.; van der Meulen, N.S.

2013-01-01

Internet service providers (ISPs) play a pivotal role in contemporary society because they provide access to the Internet. The primary task of ISPs – to blindly transfer information across the network – has recently come under pressure, as has their status as neutral third parties. Both the public

Evaluating accessibility to Bangkok Metro Systems using multi-dimensional criteria across user groups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duangporn Prasertsubpakij

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Metro systems act as fast and efficient transport systems for many modern metropolises; however, enhancing higher usage of such systems often conflicts with providing suitable accessibility options. The traditional approach of metro accessibility studies seems to be an ineffective measure to gage sustainable access in which the equal rights of all users are taken into account. Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR transportation has increasingly relied on the role of two mass rapid transport systems publicly called “BTS Skytrain” and “MRT Subway”, due to limited availability of land and massive road congestion; however, access to such transit arguably treats some vulnerable groups, especially women, the elderly and disabled people unfairly. This study constructs a multi-dimensional assessment of accessibility considerations to scrutinize how user groups access metro services based on BMR empirical case. 600 individual passengers at various stations were asked to rate the questionnaire that simultaneously considers accessibility aspects of spatial, feeder connectivity, temporal, comfort/safety, psychosocial and other dimensions. It was interestingly found by user disaggregated accessibility model that the lower the accessibility perceptions—related uncomfortable and unsafe environment conditions, the greater the equitable access to services, as illustrated by MRT — Hua Lumphong and MRT — Petchaburi stations. The study suggests that, to balance the access priorities of groups on services, policy actions should emphasize acceptably safe access for individuals, cost efficient feeder services connecting the metro lines, socioeconomic influences and time allocation. Insightful discussions on integrated approach balancing different dimensions of accessibility and recommendations would contribute to accessibility-based knowledge and potential propensity to use the public transits towards transport sustainability.

Do Women Have a Choice? Care Providers' and Decision Makers' Perspectives on Barriers to Access of Health Services for Birth after a Previous Cesarean.

Science.gov (United States)

Munro, Sarah; Kornelsen, Jude; Corbett, Kitty; Wilcox, Elizabeth; Bansback, Nick; Janssen, Patricia

2017-06-01

Repeat cesarean delivery is the single largest contributor to the escalating cesarean rate worldwide. Approximately 80 percent of women with a past cesarean are candidates for vaginal birth after a cesarean (VBAC), but in Canada less than one-third plan VBAC. Emerging evidence suggests that these trends may be due in part to nonclinical factors, including care provider practice patterns and delays in access to surgical and anesthesia services. This study sought to explore maternity care providers' and decision makers' attitudes toward and experiences with providing and planning services for women with a previous cesarean. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with family physicians, midwives, obstetricians, nurses, anesthetists, and health service decision makers recruited from three rural and two urban Canadian communities. Constructivist grounded theory informed iterative data collection and analysis. Analysis of interviews (n = 35) revealed that the factors influencing decisions resulted from interactions between the clinical, organizational, and policy levels of the health care system. Physicians acted as information providers of clinical risks and benefits, with limited discussion of patient preferences. Decision makers serving large hospitals revealed concerns related to liability and patient safety. These stemmed from competing access to surgical resources. To facilitate women's increased access to planned VBAC, it is necessary to address the barriers perceived by care providers and decision makers. Strategies to mitigate concerns include initiating decision support immediately after the primary cesarean, addressing the social risks that influence women's preferences, and managing perceptions of patient and litigation risks through shared decision making. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Preservation of and Permanent Access to Electronic Information Resources

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hodge, Gail

2004-01-01

The rapid growth in the creation and dissemination of electronic information has emphasized the digital environment's speed and ease of dissemination with little regard for its long-term preservation and access...

Process measures or patient reported experience measures (PREMs) for comparing performance across providers? A study of measures related to access and continuity in Swedish primary care.

Science.gov (United States)

Glenngård, Anna H; Anell, Anders

2018-01-01

Aim To study (a) the covariation between patient reported experience measures (PREMs) and registered process measures of access and continuity when ranking providers in a primary care setting, and (b) whether registered process measures or PREMs provided more or less information about potential linkages between levels of access and continuity and explaining variables. Access and continuity are important objectives in primary care. They can be measured through registered process measures or PREMs. These measures do not necessarily converge in terms of outcomes. Patient views are affected by factors not necessarily reflecting quality of services. Results from surveys are often uncertain due to low response rates, particularly in vulnerable groups. The quality of process measures, on the other hand, may be influenced by registration practices and are often more easy to manipulate. With increased transparency and use of quality measures for management and governance purposes, knowledge about the pros and cons of using different measures to assess the performance across providers are important. Four regression models were developed with registered process measures and PREMs of access and continuity as dependent variables. Independent variables were characteristics of providers as well as geographical location and degree of competition facing providers. Data were taken from two large Swedish county councils. Findings Although ranking of providers is sensitive to the measure used, the results suggest that providers performing well with respect to one measure also tended to perform well with respect to the other. As process measures are easier and quicker to collect they may be looked upon as the preferred option. PREMs were better than process measures when exploring factors that contributed to variation in performance across providers in our study; however, if the purpose of comparison is continuous learning and development of services, a combination of PREMs and

Can a rapid measure of self-exposure to drugs of abuse provide dimensional information on depression comorbidity?

Science.gov (United States)

Butelman, Eduardo Roque; Bacciardi, Silvia; Maremmani, Angelo Giovanni Icro; Darst-Campbell, Maya; Correa da Rosa, Joel; Kreek, Mary Jeanne

2017-09-01

Addictions to heroin or to cocaine are associated with substantial psychiatric comorbidity, including depression. Poly-drug self-exposure (eg, to heroin, cocaine, cannabis, or alcohol) is also common, and may further affect depression comorbidity. This case-control study examined the relationship of exposure to the above drugs and depression comorbidity. Participants were recruited from methadone maintenance clinics, and from the community. Adult male and female participants (n = 1,201) were ascertained consecutively by experienced licensed clinicians. The instruments used were the SCID-I, and Kreek-McHugh-Schluger-Kellogg (KMSK) scales, which provide a rapid dimensional measure of maximal lifetime self-exposure to each of the above drugs. This measure ranges from no exposure to high unit dose, high frequency, and long duration of exposure. A multiple logistic regression with stepwise variable selection revealed that increasing exposure to heroin or to cocaine was associated greater odds of depression, with all cases and controls combined. In cases with an opioid dependence diagnosis, increasing cocaine exposure was associated with a further increase in odds of depression. However, in cases with a cocaine dependence diagnosis, increasing exposure to either cannabis or alcohol, as well as heroin, was associated with a further increase in odds of depression. This dimensional analysis of exposure to specific drugs provides insights on depression comorbidity with addictive diseases, and the impact of poly-drug exposure. A rapid analysis of exposure to drugs of abuse reveals how specific patterns of drug and poly-drug exposure are associated with increasing odds of depression. This approach detected quantitatively how different patterns of poly-drug exposure can result in increased odds of depression comorbidity, in cases diagnosed with opioid versus cocaine dependence. (Am J Addict 2017;26:632-639). © 2017 American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry.

Evaluating quality management systems for HIV rapid testing services in primary healthcare clinics in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

OpenAIRE

Jaya, Ziningi; Drain, Paul K.; Mashamba-Thompson, Tivani P.

2017-01-01

Introduction Rapid HIV tests have improved access to HIV diagnosis and treatment by providing quick and convenient testing in rural clinics and resource-limited settings. In this study, we evaluated the quality management system for voluntary and provider-initiated point-of-care HIV testing in primary healthcare (PHC) clinics in rural KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa. Material and methods We conducted a quality assessment audit in eleven PHC clinics that offer voluntary HIV testing and couns...

A Survey on Use of Rapid Tests and Tuberculosis Diagnostic Practices by Primary Health Care Providers in South Africa: Implications for the Development of New Point-of-Care Tests.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Malika Davids

Full Text Available Effective infectious disease control requires early diagnosis and treatment initiation. Point-of-care testing offers rapid turn-around-times, facilitating same day clinical management decisions. To maximize the benefits of such POC testing programs, we need to understand how rapid tests are used in everyday clinical practice.In this cross-sectional survey study, 400 primary healthcare providers in two cities in South Africa were interviewed on their use of rapid tests in general, and tuberculosis diagnostic practices, between September 2012 and June 2013. Public healthcare facilities were selected using probability-sampling techniques and private healthcare providers were randomly selected from the Health Professional Council of South Africa list. To ascertain differences between the two healthcare sectors 2-sample z-tests were used to compare sample proportions.The numbers of providers interviewed were equally distributed between the public (n = 200 and private sector (n = 200. The most frequently reported tests in the private sector include blood pressure (99.5%, glucose finger prick (89.5% and urine dipstick (38.5%; and in the public sector were pregnancy (100%, urine dipstick (100%, blood pressure (100%, glucose finger prick (99% and HIV rapid test (98%. The majority of TB testing occurs in the public sector, where significantly more providers prefer Xpert MTB/RIF assay, the designated clinical TB diagnostic tool by the national TB program, as compared to the private sector (87% versus 71%, p-value >0.0001. Challenges with regard to TB diagnosis included the long laboratory turn-around-time, difficulty in obtaining sputum samples and lost results. All providers indicated that a new POC test for TB should be rapid and cheap, have good sensitivity and specificity, ease of sample acquisition, detect drug-resistance and work in HIV-infected persons.The existing centralized laboratory services, poor quality assurance, and lack of staff capacity

Professional Access 2013 programming

CERN Document Server

Hennig, Teresa; Hepworth, George; Yudovich, Dagi (Doug)

2013-01-01

Authoritative and comprehensive coverage for building Access 2013 Solutions Access, the most popular database system in the world, just opened a new frontier in the Cloud. Access 2013 provides significant new features for building robust line-of-business solutions for web, client and integrated environments.  This book was written by a team of Microsoft Access MVPs, with consulting and editing by Access experts, MVPs and members of the Microsoft Access team. It gives you the information and examples to expand your areas of expertise and immediately start to develop and upgrade projects. Exp

Access 2010 Programmer's Reference

CERN Document Server

Hennig, Teresa; Griffith, Geoffrey L

2010-01-01

A comprehensive guide to programming for Access 2010 and 2007. Millions of people use the Access database applications, and hundreds of thousands of developers work with Access daily. Access 2010 brings better integration with SQL Server and enhanced XML support; this Wrox guide shows developers how to take advantage of these and other improvements. With in-depth coverage of VBA, macros, and other programming methods for building Access applications, this book also provides real-world code examples to demonstrate each topic.: Access is the leading database that is used worldwide; While VBA rem

Access 2013 bible

CERN Document Server

Alexander, Michael

2013-01-01

A comprehensive reference to the updated and new features of Access 2013 As the world's most popular database management tool, Access enables you to organize, present, analyze, and share data as well as build powerful database solutions. However, databases can be complex. That's why you need the expert guidance in this comprehensive reference. Access 2013 Bible helps you gain a solid understanding of database purpose, construction, and application so that whether you're new to Access or looking to upgrade to the 2013 version, this well-rounded resource provides you with a th

Rapid formation of complexity in the total synthesis of natural products enabled by oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptene building blocks.

Science.gov (United States)

Schindler, Corinna S; Carreira, Erick M

2009-11-01

This critical review showcases examples of rapid formation of complexity in total syntheses starting from 7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-ene derivatives. An overview of methods allowing synthetic access to these building blocks is provided and their application in recently developed synthetic transformations to structurally complex systems is illustrated. In addition, the facile access to a novel oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptene derived building block is presented which significantly enlarges the possibilities of previously known chemical transformations and is highlighted in the enantioselective route to the core of the banyaside and suomilide natural products (107 references).

Mobile and Accessible Learning for MOOCs

Science.gov (United States)

Sharples, Mike; Kloos, Carlos Delgado; Dimitriadis, Yannis; Garlatti, Serge; Specht, Marcus

2015-01-01

Many modern web-based systems provide a "responsive" design that allows material and services to be accessed on mobile and desktop devices, with the aim of providing "ubiquitous access." Besides offering access to learning materials such as podcasts and videos across multiple locations, mobile, wearable and ubiquitous…

Rapid Prototyping in Orthopaedic Surgery: A User's Guide

Science.gov (United States)

Frame, Mark; Huntley, James S.

2012-01-01

Rapid prototyping (RP) is applicable to orthopaedic problems involving three dimensions, particularly fractures, deformities, and reconstruction. In the past, RP has been hampered by cost and difficulties accessing the appropriate expertise. Here we outline the history of rapid prototyping and furthermore a process using open-source software to produce a high fidelity physical model from CT data. This greatly mitigates the expense associated with the technique, allowing surgeons to produce precise models for preoperative planning and procedure rehearsal. We describe the method with an illustrative case. PMID:22666160

A case study of the Secure Anonymous Information Linkage (SAIL) Gateway: A privacy-protecting remote access system for health-related research and evaluation☆

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Kerina H.; Ford, David V.; Jones, Chris; Dsilva, Rohan; Thompson, Simon; Brooks, Caroline J.; Heaven, Martin L.; Thayer, Daniel S.; McNerney, Cynthia L.; Lyons, Ronan A.

2014-01-01

With the current expansion of data linkage research, the challenge is to find the balance between preserving the privacy of person-level data whilst making these data accessible for use to their full potential. We describe a privacy-protecting safe haven and secure remote access system, referred to as the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Gateway. The Gateway provides data users with a familiar Windows interface and their usual toolsets to access approved anonymously-linked datasets for research and evaluation. We outline the principles and operating model of the Gateway, the features provided to users within the secure environment, and how we are approaching the challenges of making data safely accessible to increasing numbers of research users. The Gateway represents a powerful analytical environment and has been designed to be scalable and adaptable to meet the needs of the rapidly growing data linkage community. PMID:24440148

Rapid access to information resources in clinical biochemistry: medical applications of Personal Digital Assistants (PDA).

Science.gov (United States)

Serdar, Muhittin A; Turan, Mustafa; Cihan, Murat

2008-06-01

Laboratory specialists currently need to access scientific-based information at anytime and anywhere. A considerable period of time and too much effort are required to access this information through existing accumulated data. Personal digital assistants (PDA) are supposed to provide an effective solution with commercial software for this problem. In this study, 11 commercial software products (UpToDate, ePocrates, Inforetrive, Pepid, eMedicine, FIRST Consult, and 5 laboratory e-books released by Skyscape and/or Isilo) were selected and the benefits of their use were evaluated by seven laboratory specialists. The assessment of the software was performed based on the number of the tests included, the software content of detailed information for each test-like process, method, interpretation of results, reference ranges, critical values, interferences, equations, pathophysiology, supplementary technical details such as sample collection principles, and additional information such as linked references, evidence-based data, test cost, etc. In terms of technique, the following items are considered: the amount of memory required to run the software, the graphical user interface, which is a user-friendly instrument, and the frequency of new and/or up-date releases. There is still no perfect program, as we have anticipated. Interpretation of laboratory results may require software with an integrated program. However, methodological data are mostly not included in the software evaluated. It seems that these shortcomings will be fixed in the near future, and PDAs and relevant medical applications will also become indispensable for all physicians including laboratory specialists in the field of training/education and in patient care.

Access Denied! Contrasting Data Access in the United States and Ireland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grogan Samuel

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The ability of an Internet user to access data collected about himself as a result of his online activity is a key privacy safeguard. Online, data access has been overshadowed by other protections such as notice and choice. This paper describes attitudes about data access. 873 US and Irish Internet users participated in a survey designed to examine views on data access to information held by online companies and data brokers. We observed low levels of awareness of access mechanisms along with a high desire for access in both participant groups. We tested three proposed access systems in keeping with industry programs and regulatory proposals. User response was positive. We conclude that access remains an important privacy protection that is inadequately manifested in practice. Our study provides insight for lawmakers and policymakers, as well as computer scientists who implement these systems.

Preferensi Konsumen Terhadap Transportasi Publik (Studi Kasus Bus Rapid Transit (BRT Kota Semarang

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ichwinsyah Azali

2018-01-01

Abstract Semarang as the capital city of Central Java Province has a population density of 4.269 per square kilometer in 2015. Due to high population density, communities’ mobility will also be increasing. Government arranged the policy related to traffic and public transportation in the Law Number 22 Year 2009 article 158 paragraph 1, the government of Semarang City has guaranteed the availability of road-based transportation in Urban Areas by providing public transportation namely Bus Rapid Transit (BRT Trans Semarang. This research aims to analyze communities’ preference in terms of price, convenience, reliability, accessibility, and safety toward the possibility of BRT and Non BRT transportation modes selection. This research uses 100 respondents by Purposive Sampling. Binary Logistic Regression model is applied to determine the effect of independent variable towards dependent variable of BRT and Non BRT transportation modes selection. The result of this research indicated that BRT and Non BRT transportation modes selection in Semarang City are dominated by 82 respondents of BRT users and 18 respondents of Non BRT users. BRT and Non BRT transportation modes selection are affected by the factor of price, convenience, reliability, accessibility, and safety. Keywords: Modes selection, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT Trans Semarang, Principal Component Analysis, Binary Logistic Regression.

Moving toward a universally accessible web: Web accessibility and education.

Science.gov (United States)

Kurt, Serhat

2017-12-08

The World Wide Web is an extremely powerful source of information, inspiration, ideas, and opportunities. As such, it has become an integral part of daily life for a great majority of people. Yet, for a significant number of others, the internet offers only limited value due to the existence of barriers which make accessing the Web difficult, if not impossible. This article illustrates some of the reasons that achieving equality of access to the online world of education is so critical, explores the current status of Web accessibility, discusses evaluative tools and methods that can help identify accessibility issues in educational websites, and provides practical recommendations and guidelines for resolving some of the obstacles that currently hinder the achievability of the goal of universal Web access.

Motivation and challenges for use of malaria rapid diagnostic tests among informal providers in Myanmar: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sudhinaraset, May; Briegleb, Christina; Aung, Moe; Khin, Hnin Su Su; Aung, Tin

2015-02-06

Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria enable proper diagnosis and have been shown to reduce overuse of artemisinin combination therapy. Few studies have evaluated the feasibility and use of RDTs in the private sector in Myanmar. The objectives of the study were to: 1) understand the acceptability of using RDTs in the informal sector in Myanmar; 2) examine motivations for use among informal providers; and, 3) highlight decision-making and knowledge of providers for diagnostic testing and treatment. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 30 informal providers. Purposeful sampling was used to enrol study participants in the Mon and Shan State in Myanmar. All interviews were conducted in Burmese, translated into English, and two researchers coded all interviews using Atlas ti. Major themes identified included: 1) informal provider and outlet characteristics, including demographic and background characteristics; 2) the benefits and challenges of using RDTs according to providers; 3) provider experiences with using RDTs, including motivations for using the RDT; 4) adherence to test results, either positive or negative; and, 5) recommendations from informal providers to promote increased use of RDTs in their communities. This study found that introducing RDTs to informal providers in Myanmar was feasible, resulting in improved provider empowerment and patient-provider relationships. Specific challenges included facility infrastructure to use and dispose RDTs and provider knowledge. This varied across the type of informal provider, with itinerant drug vendors more comfortable and knowledgeable about RDTs compared to general retail sellers and medical drug representatives. This study found informal providers in Myanmar found the introduction of RDTs to be highly acceptable. Providers discussed improvement in service quality including provider empowerment and patient-provider relationships. The study also highlighted a number of challenges that informal providers

A DNA 'barcode blitz': rapid digitization and sequencing of a natural history collection.

Science.gov (United States)

Hebert, Paul D N; Dewaard, Jeremy R; Zakharov, Evgeny V; Prosser, Sean W J; Sones, Jayme E; McKeown, Jaclyn T A; Mantle, Beth; La Salle, John

2013-01-01

DNA barcoding protocols require the linkage of each sequence record to a voucher specimen that has, whenever possible, been authoritatively identified. Natural history collections would seem an ideal resource for barcode library construction, but they have never seen large-scale analysis because of concerns linked to DNA degradation. The present study examines the strength of this barrier, carrying out a comprehensive analysis of moth and butterfly (Lepidoptera) species in the Australian National Insect Collection. Protocols were developed that enabled tissue samples, specimen data, and images to be assembled rapidly. Using these methods, a five-person team processed 41,650 specimens representing 12,699 species in 14 weeks. Subsequent molecular analysis took about six months, reflecting the need for multiple rounds of PCR as sequence recovery was impacted by age, body size, and collection protocols. Despite these variables and the fact that specimens averaged 30.4 years old, barcode records were obtained from 86% of the species. In fact, one or more barcode compliant sequences (>487 bp) were recovered from virtually all species represented by five or more individuals, even when the youngest was 50 years old. By assembling specimen images, distributional data, and DNA barcode sequences on a web-accessible informatics platform, this study has greatly advanced accessibility to information on thousands of species. Moreover, much of the specimen data became publically accessible within days of its acquisition, while most sequence results saw release within three months. As such, this study reveals the speed with which DNA barcode workflows can mobilize biodiversity data, often providing the first web-accessible information for a species. These results further suggest that existing collections can enable the rapid development of a comprehensive DNA barcode library for the most diverse compartment of terrestrial biodiversity - insects.

Accessing patient-centered care using the advanced access model.

Science.gov (United States)

Tantau, Catherine

2009-01-01

Waits and delays for healthcare are legendary. These delays are not only frustrating and potentially hazardous for patients and providers but also represent significant cost to office practices. The traditional medical model that defines urgent care versus routine care is a vain and futile attempt to sort demand. This approach is at constant odds with patients' definition of urgency. Trusting patients to determine when and how they want to access care makes sense from a customer service perspective. If approached systematically using the principles of Advanced Access, patient demand patterns can be tracked to forecast demand. These demand patterns become the template for deploying the resources necessary to meet patients' needs. Although not a simple journey, the transformation to Advanced Access provides an entree to patient-centered care where patients can say, "I get exactly the care I want and need, when I want and need it."

Notified Access: Extending Remote Memory Access Programming Models for Producer-Consumer Synchronization

KAUST Repository

Belli, Roberto; Hoefler, Torsten

2015-01-01

Remote Memory Access (RMA) programming enables direct access to low-level hardware features to achieve high performance for distributed-memory programs. However, the design of RMA programming schemes focuses on the memory access and less on the synchronization. For example, in contemporary RMA programming systems, the widely used producer-consumer pattern can only be implemented inefficiently, incurring in an overhead of an additional round-trip message. We propose Notified Access, a scheme where the target process of an access can receive a completion notification. This scheme enables direct and efficient synchronization with a minimum number of messages. We implement our scheme in an open source MPI-3 RMA library and demonstrate lower overheads (two cache misses) than other point-to-point synchronization mechanisms for each notification. We also evaluate our implementation on three real-world benchmarks, a stencil computation, a tree computation, and a Colicky factorization implemented with tasks. Our scheme always performs better than traditional message passing and other existing RMA synchronization schemes, providing up to 50% speedup on small messages. Our analysis shows that Notified Access is a valuable primitive for any RMA system. Furthermore, we provide guidance for the design of low-level network interfaces to support Notified Access efficiently.

Notified Access: Extending Remote Memory Access Programming Models for Producer-Consumer Synchronization

KAUST Repository

Belli, Roberto

2015-05-01

Remote Memory Access (RMA) programming enables direct access to low-level hardware features to achieve high performance for distributed-memory programs. However, the design of RMA programming schemes focuses on the memory access and less on the synchronization. For example, in contemporary RMA programming systems, the widely used producer-consumer pattern can only be implemented inefficiently, incurring in an overhead of an additional round-trip message. We propose Notified Access, a scheme where the target process of an access can receive a completion notification. This scheme enables direct and efficient synchronization with a minimum number of messages. We implement our scheme in an open source MPI-3 RMA library and demonstrate lower overheads (two cache misses) than other point-to-point synchronization mechanisms for each notification. We also evaluate our implementation on three real-world benchmarks, a stencil computation, a tree computation, and a Colicky factorization implemented with tasks. Our scheme always performs better than traditional message passing and other existing RMA synchronization schemes, providing up to 50% speedup on small messages. Our analysis shows that Notified Access is a valuable primitive for any RMA system. Furthermore, we provide guidance for the design of low-level network interfaces to support Notified Access efficiently.

Access to healthcare, HIV/STI testing, and preferred pre-exposure prophylaxis providers among men who have sex with men and men who engage in street-based sex work in the US.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristen Underhill

Full Text Available Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP is a promising strategy for HIV prevention among men who have sex with men (MSM and men who engage in sex work. But access will require routine HIV testing and contacts with healthcare providers. This study investigated men's healthcare and HIV testing experiences to inform PrEP implementation.We conducted 8 focus groups (n = 38 in 2012 and 56 in-depth qualitative interviews in 2013-14 with male sex workers (MSWs (n = 31 and other MSM (n = 25 in Providence, RI. MSWs primarily met clients in street-based sex work venues. Facilitators asked participants about access to healthcare and HIV/STI testing, healthcare needs, and preferred PrEP providers.MSWs primarily accessed care in emergency rooms (ERs, substance use clinics, correctional institutions, and walk-in clinics. Rates of HIV testing were high, but MSWs reported low access to other STI testing, low insurance coverage, and unmet healthcare needs including primary care, substance use treatment, and mental health services. MSM not engaging in sex work were more likely to report access to primary and specialist care. Rates of HIV testing among these MSM were slightly lower, but they reported more STI testing, more insurance coverage, and fewer unmet needs. Preferred PrEP providers for both groups included primary care physicians, infectious disease specialists, and psychiatrists. MSWs were also willing to access PrEP in substance use treatment and ER settings.PrEP outreach efforts for MSWs and other MSM should engage diverse providers in many settings, including mental health and substance use treatment, ERs, needle exchanges, correctional institutions, and HIV testing centers. Access to PrEP will require financial assistance, but can build on existing healthcare contacts for both populations.

Access to healthcare, HIV/STI testing, and preferred pre-exposure prophylaxis providers among men who have sex with men and men who engage in street-based sex work in the US.

Science.gov (United States)

Underhill, Kristen; Morrow, Kathleen M; Colleran, Christopher M; Holcomb, Richard; Operario, Don; Calabrese, Sarah K; Galárraga, Omar; Mayer, Kenneth H

2014-01-01

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a promising strategy for HIV prevention among men who have sex with men (MSM) and men who engage in sex work. But access will require routine HIV testing and contacts with healthcare providers. This study investigated men's healthcare and HIV testing experiences to inform PrEP implementation. We conducted 8 focus groups (n = 38) in 2012 and 56 in-depth qualitative interviews in 2013-14 with male sex workers (MSWs) (n = 31) and other MSM (n = 25) in Providence, RI. MSWs primarily met clients in street-based sex work venues. Facilitators asked participants about access to healthcare and HIV/STI testing, healthcare needs, and preferred PrEP providers. MSWs primarily accessed care in emergency rooms (ERs), substance use clinics, correctional institutions, and walk-in clinics. Rates of HIV testing were high, but MSWs reported low access to other STI testing, low insurance coverage, and unmet healthcare needs including primary care, substance use treatment, and mental health services. MSM not engaging in sex work were more likely to report access to primary and specialist care. Rates of HIV testing among these MSM were slightly lower, but they reported more STI testing, more insurance coverage, and fewer unmet needs. Preferred PrEP providers for both groups included primary care physicians, infectious disease specialists, and psychiatrists. MSWs were also willing to access PrEP in substance use treatment and ER settings. PrEP outreach efforts for MSWs and other MSM should engage diverse providers in many settings, including mental health and substance use treatment, ERs, needle exchanges, correctional institutions, and HIV testing centers. Access to PrEP will require financial assistance, but can build on existing healthcare contacts for both populations.

Rapid penetration into granular media visualizing the fundamental physics of rapid earth penetration

CERN Document Server

Iskander, Magued

2015-01-01

Rapid Penetration into Granular Media: Visualizing the Fundamental Physics of Rapid Earth Penetration introduces readers to the variety of methods and techniques used to visualize, observe, and model the rapid penetration of natural and man-made projectiles into earth materials. It provides seasoned practitioners with a standard reference that showcases the topic's most recent developments in research and application. The text compiles the findings of new research developments on the subject, outlines the fundamental physics of rapid penetration into granular media, and assembles a com

Physical Science Informatics: Providing Open Science Access to Microheater Array Boiling Experiment Data

Science.gov (United States)

McQuillen, John; Green, Robert D.; Henrie, Ben; Miller, Teresa; Chiaramonte, Fran

2014-01-01

The Physical Science Informatics (PSI) system is the next step in this an effort to make NASA sponsored flight data available to the scientific and engineering community, along with the general public. The experimental data, from six overall disciplines, Combustion Science, Fluid Physics, Complex Fluids, Fundamental Physics, and Materials Science, will present some unique challenges. Besides data in textual or numerical format, large portions of both the raw and analyzed data for many of these experiments are digital images and video, requiring large data storage requirements. In addition, the accessible data will include experiment design and engineering data (including applicable drawings), any analytical or numerical models, publications, reports, and patents, and any commercial products developed as a result of the research. This objective of paper includes the following: Present the preliminary layout (Figure 2) of MABE data within the PSI database. Obtain feedback on the layout. Present the procedure to obtain access to this database.

Ballistic representation for kinematic access

Science.gov (United States)

Alfano, Salvatore

2011-01-01

This work uses simple two-body orbital dynamics to initially determine the kinematic access for a ballistic vehicle. Primarily this analysis was developed to assess when a rocket body might conjunct with an orbiting satellite platform. A family of access opportunities can be represented as a volume for a specific rocket relative to its launch platform. Alternately, the opportunities can be represented as a geographical footprint relative to aircraft or satellite position that encompasses all possible launcher locations for a specific rocket. A thrusting rocket is treated as a ballistic vehicle that receives all its energy at launch and follows a coasting trajectory. To do so, the rocket's burnout energy is used to find its equivalent initial velocity for a given launcher's altitude. Three kinematic access solutions are then found that account for spherical Earth rotation. One solution finds the maximum range for an ascent-only trajectory while another solution accommodates a descending trajectory. In addition, the ascent engagement for the descending trajectory is used to depict a rapid access scenario. These preliminary solutions are formulated to address ground-, sea-, or air-launched vehicles.

Improving access to oral health care services among underserved populations in the U.S.: is there a role for mid-level dental providers?

Science.gov (United States)

Shaefer, H Luke; Miller, Matthew

2011-08-01

Nearly one-third of U.S. citizens lack access to basic preventive and primary oral health care services, which is primarily the result of the high costs of care and the uneven geographic distribution of dental providers. This article examines the case for and against one possible solution to address these barriers to oral health care: the introduction of a mid-level dental provider (MDP) position within the dental field.

The Increasing Incidence of Thyroid Cancer: The Influence of Access to Care

Science.gov (United States)

Sikora, Andrew G.; Tosteson, Tor D.

2013-01-01

Background The rapidly rising incidence of papillary thyroid cancer may be due to overdiagnosis of a reservoir of subclinical disease. To conclude that overdiagnosis is occurring, evidence for an association between access to health care and the incidence of cancer is necessary. Methods We used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data to examine U.S. papillary thyroid cancer incidence trends in Medicare-age and non–Medicare-age cohorts over three decades. We performed an ecologic analysis across 497 U.S. counties, examining the association of nine county-level socioeconomic markers of health care access and the incidence of papillary thyroid cancer. Results Papillary thyroid cancer incidence is rising most rapidly in Americans over age 65 years (annual percentage change, 8.8%), who have broad health insurance coverage through Medicare. Among those under 65, in whom health insurance coverage is not universal, the rate of increase has been slower (annual percentage change, 6.4%). Over three decades, the mortality rate from thyroid cancer has not changed. Across U.S. counties, incidence ranged widely, from 0 to 29.7 per 100,000. County papillary thyroid cancer incidence was significantly correlated with all nine sociodemographic markers of health care access: it was positively correlated with rates of college education, white-collar employment, and family income; and negatively correlated with the percentage of residents who were uninsured, in poverty, unemployed, of nonwhite ethnicity, non-English speaking, and lacking high school education. Conclusion Markers for higher levels of health care access, both sociodemographic and age-based, are associated with higher papillary thyroid cancer incidence rates. More papillary thyroid cancers are diagnosed among populations with wider access to healthcare. Despite the threefold increase in incidence over three decades, the mortality rate remains unchanged. Together with the large subclinical reservoir of

A case study of the Secure Anonymous Information Linkage (SAIL) Gateway: a privacy-protecting remote access system for health-related research and evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Kerina H; Ford, David V; Jones, Chris; Dsilva, Rohan; Thompson, Simon; Brooks, Caroline J; Heaven, Martin L; Thayer, Daniel S; McNerney, Cynthia L; Lyons, Ronan A

2014-08-01

With the current expansion of data linkage research, the challenge is to find the balance between preserving the privacy of person-level data whilst making these data accessible for use to their full potential. We describe a privacy-protecting safe haven and secure remote access system, referred to as the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Gateway. The Gateway provides data users with a familiar Windows interface and their usual toolsets to access approved anonymously-linked datasets for research and evaluation. We outline the principles and operating model of the Gateway, the features provided to users within the secure environment, and how we are approaching the challenges of making data safely accessible to increasing numbers of research users. The Gateway represents a powerful analytical environment and has been designed to be scalable and adaptable to meet the needs of the rapidly growing data linkage community. Copyright © 2014 The Aurthors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Access to Investigational Drugs: FDA Expanded Access Programs or "Right-to-Try" Legislation?

Science.gov (United States)

Holbein, M E Blair; Berglund, Jelena P; Weatherwax, Kevin; Gerber, David E; Adamo, Joan E

2015-10-01

The Food and Drug Administration Expanded Access (EA) program and "Right-to-Try" legislation aim to provide seriously ill patients who have no other comparable treatment options to gain access to investigational drugs and biological agents. Physicians and institutions need to understand these programs to respond to questions and requests for access. FDA EA programs and state and federal legislative efforts to provide investigational products to patients by circumventing FDA regulations were summarized and compared. The FDA EA program includes Single Patient-Investigational New Drug (SP-IND), Emergency SP-IND, Intermediate Sized Population IND, and Treatment IND. Approval rates for all categories exceed 99%. Approval requires FDA and Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, and cooperation of the pharmaceutical partner is essential. "Right-to-Try" legislation bypasses some of these steps, but provides no regulatory or safety oversight. The FDA EA program is a reasonable option for patients for whom all other therapeutic interventions have failed. The SP-IND not only provides patient access to new drugs, but also maintains a balance between immediacy and necessary patient protection. Rather than circumventing existing FDA regulations through proposed legislation, it seems more judicious to provide the knowledge and means to meet the EA requirements. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Rapid and accurate processing method for amide proton exchange rate measurement in proteins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koskela, Harri; Heikkinen, Outi; Kilpelaeinen, Ilkka; Heikkinen, Sami

2007-01-01

Exchange between protein backbone amide hydrogen and water gives relevant information about solvent accessibility and protein secondary structure stability. NMR spectroscopy provides a convenient tool to study these dynamic processes with saturation transfer experiments. Processing of this type of NMR spectra has traditionally required peak integration followed by exponential fitting, which can be tedious with large data sets. We propose here a computer-aided method that applies inverse Laplace transform in the exchange rate measurement. With this approach, the determination of exchange rates can be automated, and reliable results can be acquired rapidly without a need for manual processing

Design of Provider-Provisioned Website Protection Scheme against Malware Distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Yagi, Takeshi; Tanimoto, Naoto; Hariu, Takeo; Itoh, Mitsutaka

Vulnerabilities in web applications expose computer networks to security threats, and many websites are used by attackers as hopping sites to attack other websites and user terminals. These incidents prevent service providers from constructing secure networking environments. To protect websites from attacks exploiting vulnerabilities in web applications, service providers use web application firewalls (WAFs). WAFs filter accesses from attackers by using signatures, which are generated based on the exploit codes of previous attacks. However, WAFs cannot filter unknown attacks because the signatures cannot reflect new types of attacks. In service provider environments, the number of exploit codes has recently increased rapidly because of the spread of vulnerable web applications that have been developed through cloud computing. Thus, generating signatures for all exploit codes is difficult. To solve these problems, our proposed scheme detects and filters malware downloads that are sent from websites which have already received exploit codes. In addition, to collect information for detecting malware downloads, web honeypots, which automatically extract the communication records of exploit codes, are used. According to the results of experiments using a prototype, our scheme can filter attacks automatically so that service providers can provide secure and cost-effective network environments.

[Introduction of rapid syphilis and HIV testing in prenatal care in Colombia: qualitative analysis].

Science.gov (United States)

Ochoa-Manjarrés, María Teresa; Gaitán-Duarte, Hernando Guillermo; Caicedo, Sidia; Gómez, Berta; Pérez, Freddy

2016-12-01

Interpret perceptions of Colombian health professionals concerning factors that obstruct and facilitate the introduction of rapid syphilis and HIV testing in prenatal care services. A qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews was carried out. A convenience sample was selected with 37 participants, who included health professionals involved in prenatal care services, programs for pregnant women, clinical laboratories, and directors of health care units or centers, as well as representatives from regional departments and the Ministry of Health. Colombia does not do widespread screening with rapid syphilis and HIV tests in prenatal care. The professionals interviewed stated they did not have prior experience in the use of rapid tests-except for laboratory staff-or in the course of action in response to a positive result. The insurance system hinders access to timely diagnosis and treatment. Health authorities perceive a need to review existing standards, strengthen the first level of care, and promote comprehensive prenatal care starting with contracts between insurers and health service institutional providers. Participants recommended staff training and integration between health-policymaking and academic entities for updating training programs. The market approach and the characteristics of the Colombian health system constitute the main barriers to implementation of rapid testing as a strategy for elimination of mother-to-child transmission of syphilis and HIV. Measures identified include making changes in contracts between insurers and health service institutional providers, adapting the timing and duration of prenatal care procedures, and training physicians and nurses involved in prenatal care.

Location-aware network operation for cloud radio access network

KAUST Repository

Wang, Fanggang; Ruan, Liangzhong; Win, Moe Z.

2017-01-01

One of the major challenges in effectively operating a cloud radio access network (C-RAN) is the excessive overhead signaling and computation load that scale rapidly with the size of the network. In this paper, the exploitation of location

Optical Subsystems for Next Generation Access Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lazaro, J.A; Polo, V.; Schrenk, B.

2011-01-01

Recent optical technologies are providing higher flexibility to next generation access networks: on the one hand, providing progressive FTTx and specifically FTTH deployment, progressively shortening the copper access network; on the other hand, also opening fixed-mobile convergence solutions...... in next generation PON architectures. It is provided an overview of the optical subsystems developed for the implementation of the proposed NG-Access Networks....

Accessing diabetes care in rural Uganda

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jannie; Bahendeka, Silver K.; Bygbjerg, Ib C.

2017-01-01

Non-communicable diseases including type 2 diabetes (T2D) are increasing rapidly in most Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries like Uganda. Little attention has been given to how patients with T2D try to achieve treatment when the availability of public health care for their disease is limited......, as is the case in most SSA countries. In this paper we focus on the landscape of availability of care and the therapeutic journeys of patients within that landscape. Based on fieldwork in south-western Uganda including 10 case studies, we explore the diabetes treatment options in the area and what it takes...... to access the available treatment. We analyse the resources patients need to use the available treatment options, and demonstrate that the patients’ journeys to access and maintain treatment are facilitated by the knowledge and support of their therapy management groups. Patients access treatment more...

A randomized trial comparing two intraosseous access devices in intrahospital healthcare providers with a focus on retention of knowledge, skill, and self-efficacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Derikx, H J G M; Gerritse, B M; Gans, R; van der Meer, N J M

2014-10-01

Intraosseous access is recommended in vitally compromised patients if an intravenous access cannot be easily obtained. Intraosseous infusion can be initiated by various healthcare providers. Currently, there are two mechanical intraosseous devices approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in adults and children. A comparison is made in this study of the theoretical and practical performance by anesthesiologists and registered nurses of anesthesia (RNAs) in the use of the battery-powered device (device A) versus the spring-loaded needle device (device B). This study entailed a 12-month follow-up of knowledge, skill retention, and self-efficacy measured by standardized testing. A prospective randomized trial was performed, initially comparing 15 anesthesiologists and 15 RNAs, both on using the two types of intraosseous devices. A structured lecture and skill station was given with the educational aids provided by the respective manufacturers. Individual knowledge and practical skills were tested at 0, 3, and 12 months after the initial course. There was no statistical significant difference in the retention of theoretical knowledge between RNAs and anesthesiologists on all testing occasions. However, the self-efficacy of the anesthesiologists is significantly higher (p intraosseous access has been disproven, as anesthesiologists were as successful as RNAs. However, the low self-efficacy of RNAs in the use of intraosseous devices could diminish the chance of them actually using one.

Timing of the brain events underlying access to consciousness during the attentional blink.

Science.gov (United States)

Sergent, Claire; Baillet, Sylvain; Dehaene, Stanislas

2005-10-01

In the phenomenon of attentional blink, identical visual stimuli are sometimes fully perceived and sometimes not detected at all. This phenomenon thus provides an optimal situation to study the fate of stimuli not consciously perceived and the differences between conscious and nonconscious processing. We correlated behavioral visibility ratings and recordings of event-related potentials to study the temporal dynamics of access to consciousness. Intact early potentials (P1 and N1) were evoked by unseen words, suggesting that these brain events are not the primary correlates of conscious perception. However, we observed a rapid divergence around 270 ms, after which several brain events were evoked solely by seen words. Thus, we suggest that the transition toward access to consciousness relates to the optional triggering of a late wave of activation that spreads through a distributed network of cortical association areas.

Providing Open-Access Know How for Directors of Quantitative and Mathematics Support Centers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Schuckers

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this editorial is to introduce the quantitative literacy community to the newly published A Handbook for Directors of Quantitative and Mathematics Centers. QMaSCs (pronounced “Q-masks” can be broadly defined as centers that have supporting students in quantitative fields of study as part of their mission. Some focus only on calculus or mathematics; others concentrate on numeracy or quantitative literacy, and some do all of that. A QMaSC may be embedded in a mathematics department, or part of a learning commons, or a stand-alone center. There are hundreds of these centers in the U.S. The new handbook, which is the outgrowth of a 2013 NSF-sponsored, national workshop attended by 23 QMaSC directors from all quarters of the U.S., is available open access on the USF Scholar Commons and in hard copy from Amazon.com. This editorial by the handbook’s editors provides background and overview of the 20 detailed chapters on center leadership and management; community interactions; staffing, hiring and training; center assessment; and starting a center; and then a collection of ten case studies from research universities, four-year state colleges, liberal arts colleges, and a community college. The editorial ends by pointing out the need and potential benefits of a professional organization for QMaSC directors.

Lightweight methodology to improve web accessibility

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Greeff, M

2009-10-01

Full Text Available to improve score. Colour Contrast Fujitsu ColorSelector [9] Each colour combination has to be selected manually. Didn’t identify colour contrast problems that were highlighted by the other two tools. JuicyStudio Colour Contrast Analyser Firefox..., but this is not tested by AccessKeys AccessColor. However, AccessKeys AccessColor provides a link to the specific line in the code where the problem occurs. This is not provided by JuicyStudio Colour Contrast Analyser. According to these two tools, many colour...

Report Focuses on Integrity and Accessibility of Research Data

Science.gov (United States)

Showstack, Randy

2009-08-01

Rapid advances in digital technologies and enormous increases in the amount of data generated by research projects and a variety of instruments and sensors are providing new research opportunities. These advances, however, also can present challenges for ensuring that digital technologies are not used inappropriately and for managing an increasing amount of data, according to a new report issued by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine on 22 July. The new report, entitled “Ensuring the integrity, accessibility, and stewardship of research data in the digital age,” provides general principles and recommendations about the handling of research data. The report notes that the development of policies, standards, and infrastructure “is a critically important task” that will require a sustained effort from stakeholders including researchers, research institutions and sponsors, and professional societies and journals.

The Net Neutrality Debate: Analysis of economic implications of net neutrality on internet service providers, content providers and internet users

OpenAIRE

Møinichen, Jørgen

2014-01-01

This thesis studies the economic implications of a transition from a neutral to a non-neutral network. A mathematical model with an end to end ecosystem is developed, which includes a backbone internet service provider that provides connectivity for the content providers. The model also includes internet users that pay an access internet service provider for connectivity to interact with the content providers, advertisers that pay the content providers, and access internet service providers t...

Toward a strategy of patient-centered access to primary care.

Science.gov (United States)

Berry, Leonard L; Beckham, Dan; Dettman, Amy; Mead, Robert

2014-10-01

Patient-centered access (PCA) to primary care services is rapidly becoming an imperative for efficiently delivering high-quality health care to patients. To enhance their PCA-related efforts, some medical practices and health systems have begun to use various tactics, including team-based care, satellite clinics, same-day and group appointments, greater use of physician assistants and nurse practitioners, and remote access to health services. However, few organizations are addressing the PCA imperative comprehensively by integrating these various tactics to develop an overall PCA management strategy. Successful integration means taking into account the changing competitive and reimbursement landscape in primary care, conducting an evidence-based assessment of the barriers and benefits of PCA implementation, and attending to the particular needs of the institution engaged in this important effort. This article provides a blueprint for creating a multifaceted but coordinated PCA strategy-one aimed squarely at making patient access a centerpiece of how health care is delivered. The case of a Wisconsin-based health system is used as an illustrative example of how other institutions might begin to conceive their fledgling PCA strategies without proposing it as a one-size-fits-all model. Copyright © 2014 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Optical Access Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Jun; Ansari, Nirwan

2005-06-01

Call for Papers: Optical Access Networks With the wide deployment of fiber-optic technology over the past two decades, we have witnessed a tremendous growth of bandwidth capacity in the backbone networks of today's telecommunications infrastructure. However, access networks, which cover the "last-mile" areas and serve numerous residential and small business users, have not been scaled up commensurately. The local subscriber lines for telephone and cable television are still using twisted pairs and coaxial cables. Most residential connections to the Internet are still through dial-up modems operating at a low speed on twisted pairs. As the demand for access bandwidth increases with emerging high-bandwidth applications, such as distance learning, high-definition television (HDTV), and video on demand (VoD), the last-mile access networks have become a bandwidth bottleneck in today's telecommunications infrastructure. To ease this bottleneck, it is imperative to provide sufficient bandwidth capacity in the access networks to open the bottleneck and thus present more opportunities for the provisioning of multiservices. Optical access solutions promise huge bandwidth to service providers and low-cost high-bandwidth services to end users and are therefore widely considered the technology of choice for next-generation access networks. To realize the vision of optical access networks, however, many key issues still need to be addressed, such as network architectures, signaling protocols, and implementation standards. The major challenges lie in the fact that an optical solution must be not only robust, scalable, and flexible, but also implemented at a low cost comparable to that of existing access solutions in order to increase the economic viability of many potential high-bandwidth applications. In recent years, optical access networks have been receiving tremendous attention from both academia and industry. A large number of research activities have been carried out or

Due diligence in the open-access explosion era: choosing a reputable journal for publication.

Science.gov (United States)

Masten, Yondell; Ashcraft, Alyce

2017-11-15

Faculty are required to publish. Naïve and "in-a-hurry-to-publish" authors seek to publish in journals where manuscripts are rapidly accepted. Others may innocently submit to one of an increasing number of questionable/predatory journals, where predatory is defined as practices of publishing journals for exploitation of author-pays, open-access publication model by charging authors publication fees for publisher profit without provision of expected services (expert peer review, editing, archiving, and indexing published manuscripts) and promising almost instant publication. Authors may intentionally submit manuscripts to predatory journals for rapid publication without concern for journal quality. A brief summary of the open access "movement," suggestions for selecting reputable open access journals, and suggestion for avoiding predatory publishers/journals are described. The purpose is to alert junior and seasoned faculty about predatory publishers included among available open access journal listings. Brief review of open access publication, predatory/questionable journal characteristics, suggestions for selecting reputable open access journals and avoiding predatory publishers/journals are described. Time is required for intentionally performing due diligence in open access journal selection, based on publisher/journal quality, prior to manuscript submission or authors must be able to successfully withdraw manuscripts when submission to a questionable or predatory journal is discovered. © FEMS 2017.

Location-aware network operation for cloud radio access network

KAUST Repository

Wang, Fanggang

2017-06-20

One of the major challenges in effectively operating a cloud radio access network (C-RAN) is the excessive overhead signaling and computation load that scale rapidly with the size of the network. In this paper, the exploitation of location information of the mobile devices is proposed to address this challenge. We consider an approach in which location-assisted channel state information (CSI) acquisition methods are introduced to complement conventional pilot-based CSI acquisition methods and avoid excessive overhead signaling. A low-complexity algorithm is designed to maximize the sum rate. An adaptive algorithm is also proposed to address the uncertainty issue in CSI acquisition. Both theoretical and numerical analyses show that location information provides a new dimension to improve throughput for next-generation massive cooperative networks.

Spin-Label CW Microwave Power Saturation and Rapid Passage with Triangular Non-Adiabatic Rapid Sweep (NARS) and Adiabatic Rapid Passage (ARP) EPR Spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Kittell, Aaron W.; Hyde, James S.

2015-01-01

Non-adiabatic rapid passage (NARS) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was introduced by Kittell, A.W., Camenisch, T.G., Ratke, J.J. Sidabras, J.W., Hyde, J.S., 2011 as a general purpose technique to collect the pure absorption response. The technique has been used to improve sensitivity relative to sinusoidal magnetic field modulation, increase the range of inter-spin distances that can be measured under near physiological conditions, and enhance spectral resolution in copper (II) spectra. In the present work, the method is extended to CW microwave power saturation of spin-labeled T4 Lysozyme (T4L). As in the cited papers, rapid triangular sweep of the polarizing magnetic field was superimposed on slow sweep across the spectrum. Adiabatic rapid passage (ARP) effects were encountered in samples undergoing very slow rotational diffusion as the triangular magnetic field sweep rate was increased. The paper reports results of variation of experimental parameters at the interface of adiabatic and non-adiabatic rapid sweep conditions. Comparison of the forward (up) and reverse (down) triangular sweeps is shown to be a good indicator of the presence of rapid passage effects. Spectral turning points can be distinguished from spectral regions between turning points in two ways: differential microwave power saturation and differential passage effects. Oxygen accessibility data are shown under NARS conditions that appear similar to conventional field modulation data. However, the sensitivity is much higher, permitting, in principle, experiments at substantially lower protein concentrations. Spectral displays were obtained that appear sensitive to rotational diffusion in the range of rotational correlation times of 10−3 to 10−7 s in a manner that is analogous to saturation transfer spectroscopy. PMID:25917132

Access to Investigational Drugs: FDA Expanded Access Programs or “Right‐to‐Try” Legislation?

Science.gov (United States)

Berglund, Jelena P.; Weatherwax, Kevin; Gerber, David E.; Adamo, Joan E.

2015-01-01

Abstract Purpose The Food and Drug Administration Expanded Access (EA) program and “Right‐to‐Try” legislation aim to provide seriously ill patients who have no other comparable treatment options to gain access to investigational drugs and biological agents. Physicians and institutions need to understand these programs to respond to questions and requests for access. Methods FDA EA programs and state and federal legislative efforts to provide investigational products to patients by circumventing FDA regulations were summarized and compared. Results The FDA EA program includes Single Patient‐Investigational New Drug (SP‐IND), Emergency SP‐IND, Intermediate Sized Population IND, and Treatment IND. Approval rates for all categories exceed 99%. Approval requires FDA and Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, and cooperation of the pharmaceutical partner is essential. “Right‐to‐Try” legislation bypasses some of these steps, but provides no regulatory or safety oversight. Conclusion The FDA EA program is a reasonable option for patients for whom all other therapeutic interventions have failed. The SP‐IND not only provides patient access to new drugs, but also maintains a balance between immediacy and necessary patient protection. Rather than circumventing existing FDA regulations through proposed legislation, it seems more judicious to provide the knowledge and means to meet the EA requirements. PMID:25588691

Air-stable magnesium nanocomposites provide rapid and high-capacity hydrogen storage without using heavy-metal catalysts

Science.gov (United States)

Jeon, Ki-Joon; Moon, Hoi Ri; Ruminski, Anne M.; Jiang, Bin; Kisielowski, Christian; Bardhan, Rizia; Urban, Jeffrey J.

2011-04-01

Hydrogen is a promising alternative energy carrier that can potentially facilitate the transition from fossil fuels to sources of clean energy because of its prominent advantages such as high energy density (142 MJ kg-1 ref. 1), great variety of potential sources (for example water, biomass, organic matter), light weight, and low environmental impact (water is the sole combustion product). However, there remains a challenge to produce a material capable of simultaneously optimizing two conflicting criteria—absorbing hydrogen strongly enough to form a stable thermodynamic state, but weakly enough to release it on-demand with a small temperature rise. Many materials under development, including metal-organic frameworks, nanoporous polymers, and other carbon-based materials, physisorb only a small amount of hydrogen (typically 1-2 wt%) at room temperature. Metal hydrides were traditionally thought to be unsuitable materials because of their high bond formation enthalpies (for example MgH2 has a ΔHf˜75 kJ mol-1), thus requiring unacceptably high release temperatures resulting in low energy efficiency. However, recent theoretical calculations and metal-catalysed thin-film studies have shown that microstructuring of these materials can enhance the kinetics by decreasing diffusion path lengths for hydrogen and decreasing the required thickness of the poorly permeable hydride layer that forms during absorption. Here, we report the synthesis of an air-stable composite material that consists of metallic Mg nanocrystals (NCs) in a gas-barrier polymer matrix that enables both the storage of a high density of hydrogen (up to 6 wt% of Mg, 4 wt% for the composite) and rapid kinetics (loading in <30 min at 200 °C). Moreover, nanostructuring of the Mg provides rapid storage kinetics without using expensive heavy-metal catalysts.

Open Access and repositories beyond green and gold

CERN Document Server

2007-01-01

Access to previous results and their reuse in new research are at the very basis of scientific progress. In the era of e-Science and when the Open Access paradigm is changing scholarly communication, there is an unprecedented need for rapid and effective online access to scientific information. High-Energy Physics (HEP) pioneered innovation in scholarly communication with the invention of the Web, originally a vehicle of scientific information, and with the inception of online preprint repositories, introducing Open Access to preliminary scientific results. With the imminent start-up of the CERN LHC accelerator, one of the flagships of European science, the HEP community urgently needs a new platform for scientific information. A multi-disciplinary collaboration of academies, research laboratories and industrial partners has developed a vision to build such an innovative e-infrastructure: HEPIS (High Energy Physics Information System). HEPIS will integrate present European and American databases and repositor...

Vascular access in pediatric patients in the emergency department: types of access, indications, and complications [digest].

Science.gov (United States)

Whitney, Rachel; Langhan, Melissa; Pade, Kathryn H

2017-06-22

Vascular access is a potentially life-saving procedure that is a mainstay of emergency medicine practice. There are a number of challenges associated with obtaining and maintaining vascular access, and the choice of the route of access and equipment used will depend on patient- and provider-specific factors. In this issue, the indications and complications of peripheral intravenous access, intraosseous access, and central venous access are reviewed. Timely and effective assessment and management of difficult-access patients, pain control techniques that can assist vascular access, and contraindications to each type of vascular access are also discussed. [Points & Pearls is a digest of Pediatric Emergency Medicine Practice].

Rapid application development by KEKB accelerator operators using EPICS/Python

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, M.; Satoh, Y.; Kitabayashi, T.

2004-01-01

In the KEKB accelerator facility, the control system is constructed based on the framework of EPICS. By using EPICS/Python API, which is originated from KEK, we can develop an EPICS channel access application based on simple Python technology with only a few knowledge of EPICS channel access protocols. The operator's new tuning ideas are quickly implemented to the control system. In this paper, we introduce the EPICS/Python API and report the effectiveness of rapid application development by the KEKB operators using the API. (author)

Glyphosate resistance in Ambrosia trifida: Part 1. Novel rapid cell death response to glyphosate.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Horn, Christopher R; Moretti, Marcelo L; Robertson, Renae R; Segobye, Kabelo; Weller, Stephen C; Young, Bryan G; Johnson, William G; Schulz, Burkhard; Green, Amanda C; Jeffery, Taylor; Lespérance, Mackenzie A; Tardif, François J; Sikkema, Peter H; Hall, J Christopher; McLean, Michael D; Lawton, Mark B; Sammons, R Douglas; Wang, Dafu; Westra, Philip; Gaines, Todd A

2018-05-01

Glyphosate-resistant (GR) Ambrosia trifida is now present in the midwestern United States and in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Two distinct GR phenotypes are known, including a rapid response (GR RR) phenotype, which exhibits cell death within hours after treatment, and a non-rapid response (GR NRR) phenotype. The mechanisms of resistance in both GR RR and GR NRR remain unknown. Here, we present a description of the RR phenotype and an investigation of target-site mechanisms on multiple A. trifida accessions. Glyphosate resistance was confirmed in several accessions, and whole-plant levels of resistance ranged from 2.3- to 7.5-fold compared with glyphosate-susceptible (GS) accessions. The two GR phenotypes displayed similar levels of resistance, despite having dramatically different phenotypic responses to glyphosate. Glyphosate resistance was not associated with mutations in EPSPS sequence, increased EPSPS copy number, EPSPS quantity, or EPSPS activity. These encompassing results suggest that resistance to glyphosate in these GR RR A. trifida accessions is not conferred by a target-site resistance mechanism. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

OPERATIONAL SAR DATA PROCESSING IN GIS ENVIRONMENTS FOR RAPID DISASTER MAPPING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Meroni

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Having access to SAR data can be highly important and critical especially for disaster mapping. Updating a GIS with contemporary information from SAR data allows to deliver a reliable set of geospatial information to advance civilian operations, e.g. search and rescue missions. Therefore, we present in this paper the operational processing of SAR data within a GIS environment for rapid disaster mapping. This is exemplified by the November 2010 flash flood in the Veneto region, Italy. A series of COSMO-SkyMed acquisitions was processed in ArcGIS® using a single-sensor, multi-mode, multi-temporal approach. The relevant processing steps were combined using the ArcGIS ModelBuilder to create a new model for rapid disaster mapping in ArcGIS, which can be accessed both via a desktop and a server environment.

KAUST Open Access policy

KAUST Repository

Baessa, Mohamed A.

2017-03-07

The transition to open access (OA) is being driven by funders, libraries, researchers and publishers around the world, and is having an impact on us all. It is inevitable that different countries, organisations and disciplines are moving at different rates towards an OA model, and it is this that we will focus on in this session. Drawing on experiences from across Europe and the Middle East we will provide perspectives from both a global publisher and institutions based in the region. Taylor & Francis take a flexible, evidence-based approach to open access, providing a choice of publication routes for our authors, and a choice of agreements for our library customers. Carolyn will outline some of the open access developments, opportunities and challenges at Taylor & Francis. The library plays a critical role in facilitating open access for their researchers, from managing a repository to providing support and information on the OA publication process to their authors. Janis Tyhurst and Dr Imad Bachir will each give an overview of how this is being managed by their institution. There will be an opportunity for questions and discussion with the panel.

Delivery of HIV care during the 2007 post-election crisis in Kenya: a case study analyzing the response of the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) program.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodrich, Suzanne; Ndege, Samson; Kimaiyo, Sylvester; Some, Hosea; Wachira, Juddy; Braitstein, Paula; Sidle, John E; Sitienei, Jackline; Owino, Regina; Chesoli, Cleophas; Gichunge, Catherine; Komen, Fanice; Ojwang, Claris; Sang, Edwin; Siika, Abraham; Wools-Kaloustian, Kara

2013-12-01

Widespread violence followed the 2007 presidential elections in Kenya resulting in the deaths of a reported 1,133 people and the displacement of approximately 660,000 others. At the time of the crisis the United States Agency for International Development-Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (USAID-AMPATH) Partnership was operating 17 primary HIV clinics in western Kenya and treating 59,437 HIV positive patients (23,437 on antiretroviral therapy (ART)). This case study examines AMPATH's provision of care and maintenance of patients on ART throughout the period of disruption. This was accomplished by implementing immediate interventions including rapid information dissemination through the media, emergency hotlines and community liaisons; organization of a Crisis Response leadership team; the prompt assembly of multidisciplinary teams to address patient care, including psychological support staff (in clinics and in camps for internally displaced persons (IDP)); and the use of the AMPATH Medical Records System to identify patients on ART who had missed clinic appointments. These interventions resulted in the opening of all AMPATH clinics within five days of their scheduled post-holiday opening dates, 23,949 patient visits in January 2008 (23,259 previously scheduled), uninterrupted availability of antiretrovirals at all clinics, treatment of 1,420 HIV patients in IDP camps, distribution of basic provisions, mobilization of outreach services to locate missing AMPATH patients and delivery of psychosocial support to 300 staff members and 632 patients in IDP camps. Key lessons learned in maintaining the delivery of HIV care in a crisis situation include the importance of advance planning to develop programs that can function during a crisis, an emphasis on a rapid programmatic response, the ability of clinics to function autonomously, patient knowledge of their disease, the use of community and patient networks, addressing staff needs and developing effective

Positioning Your Library in an Open-Access Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Bhatt, Anjana H.

2010-01-01

This paper is a summary of the project that the author completed at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) library for providing online access to 80 open access E-journals and digital collections. Although FGCU uses SerialsSolutions products to establish online access, any one can provide access to these collections as they are free for all. Paper…

How Rapid is Rapid Prototyping? Analysis of ESPADON Programme Results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ian D. Alston

2003-05-01

Full Text Available New methodologies, engineering processes, and support environments are beginning to emerge for embedded signal processing systems. The main objectives are to enable defence industry to field state-of-the-art products in less time and with lower costs, including retrofits and upgrades, based predominately on commercial off the shelf (COTS components and the model-year concept. One of the cornerstones of the new methodologies is the concept of rapid prototyping. This is the ability to rapidly and seamlessly move from functional design to the architectural design to the implementation, through automatic code generation tools, onto real-time COTS test beds. In this paper, we try to quantify the term “rapid” and provide results, the metrics, from two independent benchmarks, a radar and sonar beamforming application subset. The metrics show that the rapid prototyping process may be sixteen times faster than a conventional process.

The Mission Accessible Near-Earth Object Survey (MANOS): Project Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Moskovitz, Nicholas; Polishook, David; Thomas, Cristina; Willman, Mark; DeMeo, Francesca; Mommert, Michael; Endicott, Thomas; Trilling, David; Binzel, Richard; Hinkle, Mary; Siu, Hosea; Neugent, Kathryn; Christensen, Eric; Person, Michael; Burt, Brian; Grundy, Will; Roe, Henry; Abell, Paul; Busch, Michael

2014-11-01

The Mission Accessible Near-Earth Object Survey (MANOS) began in August 2013 as a multi-year physical characterization survey that was awarded survey status by NOAO. MANOS will target several hundred mission-accessible NEOs across visible and near-infrared wavelengths, ultimately providing a comprehensive catalog of physical properties (astrometry, light curves, spectra). Particular focus is paid to sub-km NEOs, for which little data currently exists. These small bodies are essential to understanding the link between meteorites and asteroids, pose the most immediate impact hazard to the Earth, and are highly relevant to a variety of planetary mission scenarios. Accessing these targets is enabled through a combination of classical, queue, and target-of-opportunity observations carried out at 1- to 8-meter class facilities in both the northern and southern hemispheres. The MANOS observing strategy is specifically designed to rapidly characterize newly discovered NEOs before they fade beyond observational limits. MANOS will provide major advances in our understanding of the NEO population as a whole and for specific objects of interest. Here we present an overview of the survey, progress to date, and early science highlights including: (1) an estimate of the taxonomic distribution of spectral types for NEOs smaller than ~100 meters, (2) the distribution of rotational properties for approximately 100 previously unstudied objects, (3) models for the dynamical evolution of the overall NEO population over the past 0.5 Myr, and (4) progress in developing a new set of online tools at asteroid.lowell.edu that will enable near realtime public dissemination of our data while providing a portal to facilitate coordination efforts within the small body observer community.MANOS is supported through telescope allocations from NOAO and Lowell Observatory. We acknowledge funding support from an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to N. Moskovitz and NASA NEOO grant

Measurement of Double Longitudinal Spin Asymmetry, ALL, for Inclusive 0̂ Production at Forward Rapidity in PHENIX for √s=200 and 500 GeV

Science.gov (United States)

Wolin, Scott

2010-11-01

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) is the world's only source of polarized proton-proton collisions which provides access at leading order to δ G(x), the gluon contribution to the proton spin. Previously, PHENIX has only been sensitive to truncated moments of δ G over the limited Bjorken-x range of 0.05 Piston Calorimeter (MPC) at forward rapidity, di-hadron measurements with hadrons at both forward and central rapidities are now possible in PHENIX. Two forward hadrons extend the kinematic coverage for gluons down to x˜10-3. Such an asymmetry measurement for di-hadrons and single hadrons at forward rapidity can be used to improve the constraints on δ G(x) at small x. Here, we discuss the status of these measurements at forward rapidity in PHENIX using the MPC.

U.S. military enlisted accession mental health screening: history and current practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Cardona, Robert Andrew; Ritchie, Elspeth Cameron

2007-01-01

Through the stimulus of war and concerns about neuropsychiatric disability, the U.S. military developed methods to rapidly screen the mental health of World War I and II draftees. Intelligence testing and brief psychiatric screening expanded the accession physical examination and underwent revision to identify only gross mental health disability. Supplemental psychiatric evaluations and written psychological screening tools were abandoned after postwar assessments; they demonstrated poor predictive power in evaluating recruit service capacity for combat environments. Currently, only three mental health accession tools are used to screen applicants before their entrance into military service, namely, educational achievement, cognitive testing, and a cursory psychiatric evaluation. The Navy and Air Force use a fourth screening measure during entry-level training. Educational attainment with high school graduation has been the strongest predictor of finishing a service term. The purpose of this article is to provide both a historical review and a review of testing efforts.

Gene alterations at Drosophila inversion breakpoints provide prima facie evidence for natural selection as an explanation for rapid chromosomal evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Guillén, Yolanda; Ruiz, Alfredo

2012-02-01

Chromosomal inversions have been pervasive during the evolution of the genus Drosophila, but there is significant variation between lineages in the rate of rearrangement fixation. D. mojavensis, an ecological specialist adapted to a cactophilic niche under extreme desert conditions, is a chromosomally derived species with ten fixed inversions, five of them not present in any other species. In order to explore the causes of the rapid chromosomal evolution in D. mojavensis, we identified and characterized all breakpoints of seven inversions fixed in chromosome 2, the most dynamic one. One of the inversions presents unequivocal evidence for its generation by ectopic recombination between transposon copies and another two harbor inverted duplications of non-repetitive DNA at the two breakpoints and were likely generated by staggered single-strand breaks and repair by non-homologous end joining. Four out of 14 breakpoints lay in the intergenic region between preexisting duplicated genes, suggesting an adaptive advantage of separating previously tightly linked duplicates. Four out of 14 breakpoints are associated with transposed genes, suggesting these breakpoints are fragile regions. Finally two inversions contain novel genes at their breakpoints and another three show alterations of genes at breakpoints with potential adaptive significance. D. mojavensis chromosomal inversions were generated by multiple mechanisms, an observation that does not provide support for increased mutation rate as explanation for rapid chromosomal evolution. On the other hand, we have found a number of gene alterations at the breakpoints with putative adaptive consequences that directly point to natural selection as the cause of D. mojavensis rapid chromosomal evolution.

Gene alterations at Drosophila inversion breakpoints provide prima facie evidence for natural selection as an explanation for rapid chromosomal evolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guillén Yolanda

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Chromosomal inversions have been pervasive during the evolution of the genus Drosophila, but there is significant variation between lineages in the rate of rearrangement fixation. D. mojavensis, an ecological specialist adapted to a cactophilic niche under extreme desert conditions, is a chromosomally derived species with ten fixed inversions, five of them not present in any other species. Results In order to explore the causes of the rapid chromosomal evolution in D. mojavensis, we identified and characterized all breakpoints of seven inversions fixed in chromosome 2, the most dynamic one. One of the inversions presents unequivocal evidence for its generation by ectopic recombination between transposon copies and another two harbor inverted duplications of non-repetitive DNA at the two breakpoints and were likely generated by staggered single-strand breaks and repair by non-homologous end joining. Four out of 14 breakpoints lay in the intergenic region between preexisting duplicated genes, suggesting an adaptive advantage of separating previously tightly linked duplicates. Four out of 14 breakpoints are associated with transposed genes, suggesting these breakpoints are fragile regions. Finally two inversions contain novel genes at their breakpoints and another three show alterations of genes at breakpoints with potential adaptive significance. Conclusions D. mojavensis chromosomal inversions were generated by multiple mechanisms, an observation that does not provide support for increased mutation rate as explanation for rapid chromosomal evolution. On the other hand, we have found a number of gene alterations at the breakpoints with putative adaptive consequences that directly point to natural selection as the cause of D. mojavensis rapid chromosomal evolution.

Gene alterations at Drosophila inversion breakpoints provide prima facie evidence for natural selection as an explanation for rapid chromosomal evolution

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Chromosomal inversions have been pervasive during the evolution of the genus Drosophila, but there is significant variation between lineages in the rate of rearrangement fixation. D. mojavensis, an ecological specialist adapted to a cactophilic niche under extreme desert conditions, is a chromosomally derived species with ten fixed inversions, five of them not present in any other species. Results In order to explore the causes of the rapid chromosomal evolution in D. mojavensis, we identified and characterized all breakpoints of seven inversions fixed in chromosome 2, the most dynamic one. One of the inversions presents unequivocal evidence for its generation by ectopic recombination between transposon copies and another two harbor inverted duplications of non-repetitive DNA at the two breakpoints and were likely generated by staggered single-strand breaks and repair by non-homologous end joining. Four out of 14 breakpoints lay in the intergenic region between preexisting duplicated genes, suggesting an adaptive advantage of separating previously tightly linked duplicates. Four out of 14 breakpoints are associated with transposed genes, suggesting these breakpoints are fragile regions. Finally two inversions contain novel genes at their breakpoints and another three show alterations of genes at breakpoints with potential adaptive significance. Conclusions D. mojavensis chromosomal inversions were generated by multiple mechanisms, an observation that does not provide support for increased mutation rate as explanation for rapid chromosomal evolution. On the other hand, we have found a number of gene alterations at the breakpoints with putative adaptive consequences that directly point to natural selection as the cause of D. mojavensis rapid chromosomal evolution. PMID:22296923

Rapid Prototyping Laboratory

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — The ARDEC Rapid Prototyping (RP) Laboratory was established in December 1992 to provide low cost RP capabilities to the ARDEC engineering community. The Stratasys,...

Open Access Publishing - Strengths and Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Rasmussen, Martin

2010-05-01

The journal crisis and the demand for free accessibility to the results of publicly funded research were the main drivers of the Open Access movement since the late 1990's. Besides many academic institutions that support the different ways of Open Access publishing, there is a growing number of publishing houses that are specialized on this new access and business model of scholarly literature. The lecture provides an overview of the different kinds of Open Access publishing, discusses the variety of underlying business models, names the advantages and potentials for researches and the public, and overcomes some objections against Open Access. Besides the increased visibility and information supply, the topic of copyrights and exploitation rights will be discussed. Furthermore, it is a central aim of the presentation to show that Open Access does not only support full peer-review, but also provides the potential for even enhanced quality assurance. The financing of business models based on open accessible literature is another important part to be outlined in the lecture.

EPICS: Channel Access security design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraimer, M.; Hill, J.

1994-05-01

This document presents the design for implementing the requirements specified in: EPICS -- Channel Access Security -- functional requirements, Ned. D. Arnold, 03/09/92. Use of the access security system is described along with a summary of the functional requirements. The programmer's interface is given. Security protocol is described and finally aids for reading the access security code are provided

Holistic approaches to e-learning accessibility

OpenAIRE

Phipps, Lawrie; Kelly, Brian

2006-01-01

The importance of accessibility to digital e-learning resources is widely acknowledged. The World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative has played a leading role in promoting the importance of accessibility and developing guidelines that can help when developing accessible web resources. The accessibility of e-learning resources provides additional challenges. While it is important to consider the technical and resource related aspects of e-learning when designing and developing re...

Equity for open-access journal publishing.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stuart M Shieber

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Open-access journals, which provide access to their scholarly articles freely and without limitations, are at a systematic disadvantage relative to traditional closed-access journal publishing and its subscription-based business model. A simple, cost-effective remedy to this inequity could put open-access publishing on a path to become a sustainable, efficient system.

Assessment, authorization and access to medicaid managed mental health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Masland, Mary C; Snowden, Lonnie R; Wallace, Neal T

2007-11-01

Examined were effects on access of managed care assessment and authorization processes in California's 57 county mental health plans. Primary data on managed care implementation were collected from surveys of county plan administrators; secondary data were from Medicaid claims and enrollment files. Using multivariate fixed effects regression, we found that following implementation of managed care, greater access occurred in county plans where assessments and treatment were performed by the same clinician, and where service authorizations were made more rapidly. Lower access occurred in county plans where treating clinicians authorized services themselves. Results confirm the significant effects of managed care processes on outcomes and highlight the importance of system capacity.

Rapid mask prototyping for microfluidics.

Science.gov (United States)

Maisonneuve, B G C; Honegger, T; Cordeiro, J; Lecarme, O; Thiry, T; Fuard, D; Berton, K; Picard, E; Zelsmann, M; Peyrade, D

2016-03-01

With the rise of microfluidics for the past decade, there has come an ever more pressing need for a low-cost and rapid prototyping technology, especially for research and education purposes. In this article, we report a rapid prototyping process of chromed masks for various microfluidic applications. The process takes place out of a clean room, uses a commercially available video-projector, and can be completed in less than half an hour. We quantify the ranges of fields of view and of resolutions accessible through this video-projection system and report the fabrication of critical microfluidic components (junctions, straight channels, and curved channels). To exemplify the process, three common devices are produced using this method: a droplet generation device, a gradient generation device, and a neuro-engineering oriented device. The neuro-engineering oriented device is a compartmentalized microfluidic chip, and therefore, required the production and the precise alignment of two different masks.

[Access to health care in Dakar (Senegal): frequency, type of provider, and non-communicable chronic diseases].

Science.gov (United States)

Duboz, P; Gueye, L; Boetsch, G; Macia, E

2015-01-01

(1) To describe access to health care in the population of Dakar; (2) to analyze the influence of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics on access to health care; (3) and to describe the fraction of consultations accounted for by chronic non-communicable diseases. These data come from a 2009 survey of 600 individuals aged 20 years and over. Socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and information about access to health care were collected. Chi-square tests and binary logistic regressions were used for the statistical analyses. Men, people with no schooling, and poor people were underrepresented among users of health care services. Moreover, the majority of Dakar residents who sought health care during the year preceding the survey went to see a doctor (as opposed to a traditional healer, pharmacist, nurse, midwife, or dentist). Finally, chronic diseases accounted for the smallest fraction of reasons for medical consultations; they were mentioned most often by those aged 50 years or older who consult more than 5 times a year. Dakar residents have an access to health care similar to that of people in other African countries, but this conclusion hides major inequalities. Moreover, at the same time that Senegal is undergoing an epidemiological transition, chronic non-communicable diseases are not a major reason for consultations. The epidemiological projections made for Africa for the next 15 years indicate that the development of strategies to avert the development of these diseases in Senegal must be a priority objective.

Improving Data Discovery, Access, and Analysis to More Than Three Decades of Oceanographic and Geomorphologic Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Forte, M.; Hesser, T.; Knee, K.; Ingram, I.; Hathaway, K. K.; Brodie, K. L.; Spore, N.; Bird, A.; Fratantonio, R.; Dopsovic, R.; Keith, A.; Gadomski, K.

2016-02-01

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's (USACE ERDC) Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL) Coastal Observations and Analysis Branch (COAB) Measurements Program has a 35-year record of coastal observations. These datasets include oceanographic point source measurements, Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS bathymetry surveys, and remote sensing data from both the Field Research Facility (FRF) in Duck, NC and from other project and experiment sites around the nation. The data has been used to support a variety of USACE mission areas, including coastal wave model development, beach and bar response, coastal project design, coastal storm surge, and other coastal hazard investigations. Furthermore these data have been widely used by a number of federal and state agencies, academic institutions, and private industries in hundreds of scientific and engineering investigations, publications, conference presentations and model advancement studies. A limiting factor to the use of FRF data has been rapid, reliable access and publicly available metadata for each data type. The addition of web tools, accessible data files, and well-documented metadata will open the door to much future collaboration. With the help of industry partner RPS ASA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District Spatial Data Branch, a Data Integration Framework (DIF) was developed. The DIF represents a combination of processes, standards, people, and tools used to transform disconnected enterprise data into useful, easily accessible information for analysis and reporting. A front-end data portal connects the user to the framework that integrates both oceanographic observation and geomorphology measurements using a combination of ESRI and open-source technology while providing a seamless data discovery, access, and analysis experience to the user. The user interface was built with ESRI's JavaScript API and all project metadata is managed using Geoportal. The geomorphology data is made

Precision Neutron Time-of-Flight Detectors Provide Insight into NIF Implosion Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Schlossberg, David; Eckart, M. J.; Grim, G. P.; Hartouni, E. P.; Hatarik, R.; Moore, A. S.; Waltz, C. S.

2017-10-01

During inertial confinement fusion, higher-order moments of neutron time-of-flight (nToF) spectra can provide essential information for optimizing implosions. The nToF diagnostic suite at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) was recently upgraded to include novel, quartz Cherenkov detectors. These detectors exploit the rapid Cherenkov radiation process, in contrast with conventional scintillator decay times, to provide high temporal-precision measurements that support higher-order moment analyses. Preliminary measurements have been made on the NIF during several implosions and initial results are presented here. Measured line-of-sight asymmetries, for example in ion temperatures, will be discussed. Finally, advanced detector optimization is shown to advance accessible physics, with possibilities for energy discrimination, gamma source identification, and further reduction in quartz response times. Work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

Improving governance, voice and access to justice in Ghana's ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

In Ghana, many urban residents have yet to reap the benefit of the country's democratic stability and recent economic growth. About 40% of the urban population is trapped in poorly planned, overcrowded informal settlements with unsanitary conditions and low access to basic services. Rapid population growth and ...

Software Defined Networking for Next Generation Converged Metro-Access Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Ruffini, M.; Slyne, F.; Bluemm, C.; Kitsuwan, N.; McGettrick, S.

2015-12-01

While the concept of Software Defined Networking (SDN) has seen a rapid deployment within the data center community, its adoption in telecommunications network has progressed slowly, although the concept has been swiftly adopted by all major telecoms vendors. This paper presents a control plane architecture for SDN-driven converged metro-access networks, developed through the DISCUS European FP7 project. The SDN-based controller architecture was developed in a testbed implementation targeting two main scenarios: fast feeder fiber protection over dual-homed Passive Optical Networks (PONs) and dynamic service provisioning over a multi-wavelength PON. Implementation details and results of the experiment carried out over the second scenario are reported in the paper, showing the potential of SDN in providing assured on-demand services to end-users.

Optical Access Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Jun; Ansari, Nirwan

2005-01-01

Call for Papers: Optical Access Networks Guest Editors Jun Zheng, University of Ottawa Nirwan Ansari, New Jersey Institute of Technology Submission Deadline: 1 June 2005 Background With the wide deployment of fiber-optic technology over the past two decades, we have witnessed a tremendous growth of bandwidth capacity in the backbone networks of today's telecommunications infrastructure. However, access networks, which cover the "last-mile" areas and serve numerous residential and small business users, have not been scaled up commensurately. The local subscriber lines for telephone and cable television are still using twisted pairs and coaxial cables. Most residential connections to the Internet are still through dial-up modems operating at a low speed on twisted pairs. As the demand for access bandwidth increases with emerging high-bandwidth applications, such as distance learning, high-definition television (HDTV), and video on demand (VoD), the last-mile access networks have become a bandwidth bottleneck in today's telecommunications infrastructure. To ease this bottleneck, it is imperative to provide sufficient bandwidth capacity in the access networks to open the bottleneck and thus present more opportunities for the provisioning of multiservices. Optical access solutions promise huge bandwidth to service providers and low-cost high-bandwidth services to end users and are therefore widely considered the technology of choice for next-generation access networks. To realize the vision of optical access networks, however, many key issues still need to be addressed, such as network architectures, signaling protocols, and implementation standards. The major challenges lie in the fact that an optical solution must be not only robust, scalable, and flexible, but also implemented at a low cost comparable to that of existing access solutions in order to increase the economic viability of many potential high-bandwidth applications. In recent years, optical access networks

Replacing the Ethernet access mechanism with the real-time access mechanism of Twentenet

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pras, Aiko

1989-01-01

The way in which a Local Area Network access mechanism (Medium Access Control protocol) designed for a specific type of physical service can be used on top of another type of physical service is discussed using a particular example. In the example, an Ethernet physical layer is used to provide

Checklist "Open Access Policies": Analysis of the Open Access Policies of Public Universities in Austria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruno Bauer

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This checklist provides an overview of the Open Access policies implemented at Austrian universities and extramural research institutions. Furthermore, the polices adopted at nine public universities are analyzed and the respective text modules are categorized thematically. The second part of the checklist presents measures for the promotion of Open Access following the implementation of an Open Access policy.

U.S. Government Open Internet Access to Sub-meter Satellite Data

Science.gov (United States)

Neigh, Christopher S. R> Masek, Jeffery G.; Nickeson, Jaime E.

2012-01-01

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has contracted United States commercial remote sensing companies GeoEye and Digital Globe to provide very high resolution commercial quality satellite imagery to federal/state government agencies and those projects/people who support government interests. Under NextView contract terms, those engaged in official government programs/projects can gain online access to NGA's vast global archive. Additionally, data from vendor's archives of IKONOS-2 (IK-2), OrbView-3 (OB-3), GeoEye-1 (GE-1), QuickBird-1 (QB-1), WorldView-1 (WV-1), and WorldView-2 (WV-2), sensors can also be requested under these agreements. We report here the current extent of this archive, how to gain access, and the applications of these data by Earth science investigators to improve discoverability and community use of these data. Satellite commercial quality imagery (CQI) at very high resolution (source to U.S. federal, state, and local governments for many different purposes. The rapid growth of free global CQI data has been slow to disseminate to NASA Earth Science community and programs such as the Land-Cover Land-Use Change (LCLUC) program which sees potential benefit from unprecedented access. This article evolved from a workshop held on February 23rd, 2012 between representatives from NGA, NASA, and NASA LCLUC Scientists discussion on how to extend this resource to a broader license approved community. Many investigators are unaware of NGA's archive availability or find it difficult to access CQI data from NGA. Results of studies, both quality and breadth, could be improved with CQI data by combining them with other moderate to coarse resolution passive optical Earth observation remote sensing satellites, or with RADAR or LiDAR instruments to better understand Earth system dynamics at the scale of human activities. We provide the evolution of this effort, a guide for qualified user access, and describe current to potential use of these data in

The Economic and Social Benefits and the Barriers of Providing People with Disabilities Accessible Clean Water and Sanitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregor Wolbring

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Resolution A/HRC/RES/16/2 adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on 8 April 2011 declared access to safe drinking water and sanitation a human right. However many people around the globe including people with disabilities do not have access to safe drinking water, hygiene or sanitation facilities. Inaccessibility of clean water sources, hygiene and sanitation facilities negatively impacts among others health, education, the ability to work, and the ability to partake in social activities. This paper looks at the benefits of, and access barriers to, clean water and sanitation for people with disabilities.

Developing a Holistic Approach for E-Learning Accessibility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian Kelly

2004-10-01

Full Text Available The importance of accessibility to digital resources is now widely acknowledged. The W3C WAI has played a significant role in promoting the importance of accessibility and developing a framework for accessible Web resources. The accessibility of e-learning provides additional challenges that may not be faced when providing access to other Web resources. The authors argue that there is a need for a more sophisticated model for addressing e-learning accessibility which takes into account the usability of e-learning, pedagogic issues and student learning styles in addition to technical and resource issues. The authors expand on these issues and propose a holistic model for the development of accessible e-learning resources.

elevatr: Access Elevation Data from Various APIs | Science ...

Science.gov (United States)

Several web services are available that provide access to elevation data. This package provides access to several of those services and returns elevation data either as a SpatialPointsDataFrame from point elevation services or as a raster object from raster elevation services. Currently, the package supports access to the Mapzen Elevation Service, Mapzen Terrain Service, and the USGS Elevation Point Query Service. The R language for statistical computing is increasingly used for spatial data analysis . This R package, elevatr, is in response to this and provides access to elevation data from various sources directly in R. The impact of `elevatr` is that it will 1) facilitate spatial analysis in R by providing access to foundational dataset for many types of analyses (e.g. hydrology, limnology) 2) open up a new set of users and uses for APIs widely used outside of R, and 3) provide an excellent example federal open source development as promoted by the Federal Source Code Policy (https://sourcecode.cio.gov/).

BIOREACTOR WITH LID FOR EASY ACCESS TO INCUBATION CAVITY

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2012-01-01

There is provided a bioreactor which is provided with a lid (13) that facilitates access to the incubation cavity. Specifically the end wall of the incubation cavity is constituted by the lid (13) so that removal of the cap renders the incubation cavity fully accessible.......There is provided a bioreactor which is provided with a lid (13) that facilitates access to the incubation cavity. Specifically the end wall of the incubation cavity is constituted by the lid (13) so that removal of the cap renders the incubation cavity fully accessible....

How to achieve ultrasound-guided femoral venous access: the new standard of care in the electrophysiology laboratory.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiles, Benedict M; Child, Nicholas; Roberts, Paul R

2017-06-01

Bedside vascular ultrasound machines are increasingly available. They are used to facilitate safer vascular access across a number of different specialties. In the electrophysiology laboratory however, where patients are frequently anticoagulated and require the insertion of multiple venous sheaths, anatomical landmark techniques predominate. Despite the high number of vascular complications associated with electrophysiological procedures and the increasing evidence to support its use in electrophysiology, ultrasound remains underutilised. A new standard of care is required. A comprehensive technical report, providing a detailed explanation of this important technique, will provide other electrophysiology centres with the knowledge and justification for adopting ultrasound guidance as their standard practice. We review the increasing body of evidence which demonstrates that routine ultrasound usage can substantially improve the safety of femoral venous access in the electrophysiology laboratory. We offer a comprehensive technical report to guide operators through the process of ultrasound-guided venous access, with a specific focus on the electrophysiology laboratory. Additionally, we detail a novel technique which utilises real-time colour Doppler ultrasound to accurately identify needle tip location during venous puncture. The use of vascular ultrasound to guide femoral venous cannulation is rapid, inexpensive and easily learnt. Ultrasound is readily available and offers the potential to significantly reduce vascular complications in the unique setting of the electrophysiology laboratory. Ultrasound guidance to achieve femoral venous access should be the new standard of care in electrophysiology.

Robotics and telecommunication systems to provide better access to ultrasound expertise in the OR.

Science.gov (United States)

Angelini, L; Papaspyropoulos, V

2000-01-01

Surgery has begun to evolve as a result of the intense use of technological innovations. The result of this is better services for patients and enormous opportunities for the producers of biomedical instruments. The surgeon and the technologist are fast becoming allies in applying the latest developments of robotics, image treatment, simulation, sensors and telecommunications to surgery, in particular to the emerging field of minimally-invasive surgery. Ultrasonography is at present utilised both for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in various fields. Intraoperative US examination can be of primary importance, especially when dealing with space-occupying lesions. The widening use of minimally-invasive surgery has furthered the development of US for use during this type of surgery. The success of a US examination requires not only a correct execution of the procedure, but also a correct interpretation of the images. We describe two projects that combine robotics and telecommunication systems to provide better access to US expertise in the operating room. The Midstep project has as its object the realisation of two robotic arms, one for the distant control of the US probe during laparoscopic surgery and the second to perform tele-interventional US. The second project, part of the Strategic CNR Project-'Robotics in Surgery', involves the realisation of a common platform for tracking and targeting surgical instruments in video-assisted surgery.

Properties of the particles emitted at mid-rapidity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lefort, T.; Cussol, D; Peter, J.; Bocage, F.; Bougault, R.; Brou, R.; Colin, J; Durand, D.; Genouin-Duhamel, E.; Gulminelli, F.; Lecolley, J.F.; Le Neindre, N.; Lopez, O.; Louvel, M.; Nguyen, A.D.; Steckmeyer, J. C.; Tamain, B.; Vient, E.

1997-01-01

Mid-rapidity emission studies allow the access at the very first instances of collision between two nuclei. Its study as a function of the energy of incident projectile permits to follow the evolution of the phenomena in the entrance channel from the lowest energies where these phenomena are essentially collective up to high energies where they are essentially governed by nucleon-nucleon collisions. The first method called the 'method E' consists in evaluating first the contribution of the quasi-projectile to the rapidity distribution and then to subtract it from the total spectrum to obtain the contribution from the mid-rapidity particles. For light particles the mid-rapidity emissions have a spectrum extended up to rapidities close to that of the quasi-projectile. This method under-estimates the contribution due to mid-rapidity. The second method called the 'method M' consists in determining directly the contribution from the mid-rapidity particles supposing that their rapidity spectrum is homothetic to the triton spectrum. This method over-estimates the contribution of mid-rapidity particles to the measure where the rapidity spectrum of the evaporated particles may extend up to Y nn , the rapidity of the nucleon-nucleon frame. The relative proportion of the particles coming from mid-rapidity emissions as a function of the experimental impact parameter and incident energy for the system Ar+Ni is shown. Also, results concerning the energy spectrum of light particles emitted at mid-rapidity as a function of the excitation energy of quasi-projectile are shown for the same system. Conclusions concerning the mid-rapidity emission are the following: the amount of particles depends essentially on the geometric overlap between the projectile and the target; these particles are issued out of a zone richer in neutrons than the total system; the energy per nucleon stored in this zone is independent of the violence of collision what indicates a production process essentially

Highly Reliable PON Optical Splitters for Optical Access Networks in Outside Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Watanabe, Hiroshi; Araki, Noriyuki; Fujimoto, Hisashi

Broadband optical access services are spreading throughout the world, and the number of fiber to the home (FTTH) subscribers is increasing rapidly. Telecom operators are constructing passive optical networks (PONs) to provide optical access services. Externally installed optical splitters for PONs are very important passive devices in optical access networks, and they must provide satisfactory performance as outdoor plant over long periods. Therefore, we calculate the failure rate of optical access networks and assign a failure rate to the optical splitters in optical access networks. The maximum cumulative failure rate of 1 × 8 optical splitters was calculated as 0.025 for an optical access fiber length of 2.1km and a 20-year operating lifetime. We examined planar lightwave circuit (PLC) type optical splitters for use as outside plant in terms of their optical characteristics and environmental reliability. We confirmed that PLC type optical splitters have sufficient optical performance for a PON splitter and sufficient reliability as outside plant in accordance with ITU-T standard values. We estimated the lifetimes of three kinds of PLC type optical splitters by using accelerated aging tests. The estimated failure rate of these splitters installed in optical access networks was below the target value for the cumulative failure rate, and we confirmed that they have sufficient reliability to maintain the quality of the network service. We developed 1 × 8 optical splitter modules with plug and socket type optical connectors and optical fiber cords for optical aerial closures designed for use as outside plant. These technologies make it easy to install optical splitters in an aerial optical closure. The optical splitter modules have sufficient optical performance levels for PONs because the insertion loss at the commercially used wavelengths of 1.31 and 1.55µm is less than the criterion established by ITU-T Recommendation G.671 for optical splitters. We performed a

Removing the bottleneck in whole genome sequencing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis for rapid drug resistance analysis: a call to action

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruth McNerney

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Whole genome sequencing (WGS can provide a comprehensive analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis mutations that cause resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs. With the deployment of bench-top sequencers and rapid analytical software, WGS is poised to become a useful tool to guide treatment. However, direct sequencing from clinical specimens to provide a full drug resistance profile remains a serious challenge. This article reviews current practices for extracting M. tuberculosis DNA and possible solutions for sampling sputum. Techniques under consideration include enzymatic digestion, physical disruption, chemical degradation, detergent solubilization, solvent extraction, ligand-coated magnetic beads, silica columns, and oligonucleotide pull-down baits. Selective amplification of genomic bacterial DNA in sputum prior to WGS may provide a solution, and differential lysis to reduce the levels of contaminating human DNA is also being explored. To remove this bottleneck and accelerate access to WGS for patients with suspected drug-resistant tuberculosis, it is suggested that a coordinated and collaborative approach be taken to more rapidly optimize, compare, and validate methodologies for sequencing from patient samples.

Access to emergency hospital care provided by the public sector in sub-Saharan Africa in 2015: a geocoded inventory and spatial analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ouma, Paul O; Maina, Joseph; Thuranira, Pamela N; Macharia, Peter M; Alegana, Victor A; English, Mike; Okiro, Emelda A; Snow, Robert W

2018-03-01

%) women of child bearing age are located more than 2-h travel time from the nearest hospital. Marked differences were observed within and between countries, ranging from less than 25% of the population within 2-h travel time of a public hospital in South Sudan to more than 90% in Nigeria, Kenya, Cape Verde, Swaziland, South Africa, Burundi, Comoros, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Zanzibar. Only 16 countries reached the international benchmark of more than 80% of their populations living within a 2-h travel time of the nearest hospital. Physical access to emergency hospital care provided by the public sector in Africa remains poor and varies substantially within and between countries. Innovative targeting of emergency care services is necessary to reduce these inequities. This study provides the first spatial census of public hospital services in Africa. Wellcome Trust and the UK Department for International Development. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Rapidity dependence of strangeness enhancement factor at FAIR energies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dey, Kalyan; Bhattacharjee, B.

2014-01-01

Strange particles are produced only at the time of collisions and thus expected to carry important information of collision dynamics. Strangeness enhancement is considered to be one of the traditional signatures of formation of Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP). Due to the limitation of the detector acceptance, the past and ongoing heavy ion experiments could measure the strangeness enhancement at midrapidity only. But the future heavy ion experiment CBM at FAIR will have the access to the entire forward rapidity hemisphere and thus the experimental determination of rapidity dependent strangeness enhancement is a possibility. In this work, an attempt has therefore been made to study the rapidity dependent strangeness enhancement at FAIR energies with the help of a string based hadronic model (UrQMD). A sum of 93 million minimum biased UrQMD events have been used for the present analysis

Tsunami Rapid Assessment Using High Resolution Images and Field Surveys: the 2010 , Central Chile, and the 2011, Tohoku Tsunamis

Science.gov (United States)

Ramirez-Herrera, M.; Navarrete-Pacheco, J.; Lagos, M.; Arcas, D.

2013-12-01

Recent extreme tsunamis have shown their major socioeconomic impact and imprint in the coastal landscape. Extensive destruction, erosion, sediment transport and deposition resculpted coastal landscape within few minutes along hundreds of kilometers of the Central Chile, in 2010, and the Northeast coast of Japan, in 2011. In the central coast of Chile, we performed a post-tsunami survey a week after the tsunami due to access restrictions. Our observations focus on the inundation and geomorphic effects of the 2010 tsunami and included an air reconnaissance flight, analysis of pre- and post-event low fly air-photographs and Google Earth satellite images, together with ground reconnaissance and mapping in the field, including topographic transects, during a period of 13 days. Eyewitness accounts enabled us to confirm our observations on effects produced by the tsunami along ~ 500km along the coastline landscape in central Chile For the Tohoku case study, we assessed in a day tsunami inundation distances and runup heights using satellite data (very high resolution satellite images from the GeoEye1 satellite and from the DigitalGlobe worldview through the Google crisis response project, SRTM and ASTER GDEM) of the Tohoku region, Northeast Japan. Field survey data by Japanese, other international scientists and us validated our results. The rapid assessment of damage using high-resolution images has proven to be an excellent tool neccessary for effcient postsunami surveys as well as for rapid assessment of areas with access restrictions. All countries, in particular those with less access to technology and infrastructure, can benefit from the use of freely available satellite imagery and DEMs for an initial, pre-field survey, rapid estimate of inundated areas, distances and runup, tsunami effects in the coastal geomorphology and for assisting in hazard management and mitigation after a natural disaster. These data provide unprecedented opportunities for rapid assessment

Virtual Mission Operations Center -Explicit Access to Small Satellites by a Net Enabled User Base

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, E.; Medina, O.; Paulsen, P.; Hopkins, J.; Long, C.; Holloman, K.

2008-08-01

The Office of Naval Research (ON R), The Office of the Secr etary of Defense (OSD) , Th e Operationally Responsive Space Off ice (ORS) , and th e National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are funding the development and integration of key technologies and new processes that w ill allow users across th e bread th of operations the ab ility to access, task , retr ieve, and collaborate w ith data from various sensors including small satellites v ia the Intern et and the SIPRnet. The V irtual Mission Oper ations Center (VMO C) facilitates the dynamic apportionmen t of space assets, allows scalable mission man agement of mu ltiple types of sensors, and provid es access for non-space savvy users through an intu itive collaborative w eb site. These key technologies are b eing used as experimentation pathfinders fo r th e Do D's Operationally Responsiv e Sp ace (O RS) initiative and NASA's Sensor W eb. The O RS initiative seeks to provide space assets that can b e rapid ly tailored to meet a commander's in telligen ce or commun ication needs. For the DoD and NASA the V MO C provid es ready and scalab le access to space b ased assets. To the commercial space sector the V MO C may provide an analog to the innovativ e fractional ownersh ip approach represen ted by FlexJet. This pap er delves in to the technology, in tegration, and applicability of th e V MO C to th e DoD , NASA , and co mmer cial sectors.

Globus Identity, Access, and Data Management: Platform Services for Collaborative Science

Science.gov (United States)

Ananthakrishnan, R.; Foster, I.; Wagner, R.

2016-12-01

Globus is software-as-a-service for research data management, developed at, and operated by, the University of Chicago. Globus, accessible at www.globus.org, provides high speed, secure file transfer; file sharing directly from existing storage systems; and data publication to institutional repositories. 40,000 registered users have used Globus to transfer tens of billions of files totaling hundreds of petabytes between more than 10,000 storage systems within campuses and national laboratories in the US and internationally. Web, command line, and REST interfaces support both interactive use and integration into applications and infrastructures. An important component of the Globus system is its foundational identity and access management (IAM) platform service, Globus Auth. Both Globus research data management and other applications use Globus Auth for brokering authentication and authorization interactions between end-users, identity providers, resource servers (services), and a range of clients, including web, mobile, and desktop applications, and other services. Compliant with important standards such as OAuth, OpenID, and SAML, Globus Auth provides mechanisms required for an extensible, integrated ecosystem of services and clients for the research and education community. It underpins projects such as the US National Science Foundation's XSEDE system, NCAR's Research Data Archive, and the DOE Systems Biology Knowledge Base. Current work is extending Globus services to be compliant with FEDRAMP standards for security assessment, authorization, and monitoring for cloud services. We will present Globus IAM solutions and give examples of Globus use in various projects for federated access to resources. We will also describe how Globus Auth and Globus research data management capabilities enable rapid development and low-cost operations of secure data sharing platforms that leverage Globus services and integrate them with local policy and security.

Accessible Geoscience - Digital Fieldwork

Science.gov (United States)

Meara, Rhian

2017-04-01

Accessible Geoscience is a developing field of pedagogic research aimed at widening participation in Geography, Earth and Environmental Science (GEES) subjects. These subjects are often less commonly associated with disabilities, ethnic minorities, low income socio-economic groups and females. While advancements and improvements have been made in the inclusivity of these subject areas in recent years, access and participation of disabled students remains low. While universities are legally obligated to provide reasonable adjustments to ensure accessibility, the assumed incompatibility of GEES subjects and disability often deters students from applying to study these courses at a university level. Instead of making reasonable adjustments if and when they are needed, universities should be aiming to develop teaching materials, spaces and opportunities which are accessible to all, which in turn will allow all groups to participate in the GEES subjects. With this in mind, the Swansea Geography Department wish to enhance the accessibility of our undergraduate degree by developing digital field work opportunities. In the first instance, we intend to digitise three afternoon excursions which are run as part of a 1st year undergraduate module. Each of the field trips will be digitized into English- and Welsh-medium formats. In addition, each field trip will be digitized into British Sign Language (BSL) to allow for accessibility for D/deaf and hard of hearing students. Subtitles will also be made available in each version. While the main focus of this work is to provide accessible fieldwork opportunities for students with disabilities, this work also has additional benefits. Students within the Geography Department will be able to revisit the field trips, to revise and complete associated coursework. The use of digitized field work should not replace opportunities for real field work, but its use by the full cohort of students will begin to "normalize" accessible field

Rapid charging of nickel-cadmium accumulators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bruck, F

1972-01-01

Four types of charging of gas-tight Ni-Cd accumulators (a) normal; (b) accelerated; (c) rapid; and (d) ultra-rapid are described. For rapid charging, a built-in temperature sensor cuts off charging current at a prescribed point. In ultra-rapid charging, 50% charge can be attained in 3.5 min. and 25% charge within 50 sec. In the second phase of ultra-rapid charging, a surplus of oxygen is released at the positive electrode and a safety valve is provided for pressure reduction. Characteristic curves are given for various rates of charging and some data on discharge rates is also given.

Credential Service Provider (CSP)

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Veterans Affairs — Provides a VA operated Level 1 and Level 2 credential for individuals who require access to VA applications, yet cannot obtain a credential from another VA accepted...

Pyrimidine dimers in Drosophila chromatin become increasingly accessible after irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harris, P.V.; Boyd, J.B.

1987-01-01

A prokaryotic DNA-repair enzyme has been utilized as a probe for changes in the accessibility of pyrimidine dimers in Drosophila chromatin following UV irradiation. The results demonstrate a rapid cellular response to physiologically relevant doses of radiation which results in at least a 40% increase in accessible dimers. This increase occurs in two incision-deficient mutants which indicates that the excision-repair process, at or beyond the incision step, is not required or responsible for the increase. In the absence of excision the increase in accessibility persists for a least 2 days following irradiation. The observed increase in accessibility is inhibited by both novobiocin and coumermycin. These inhibitors do not inhibit the initial rate of incision, but do reduce dimer excision measured over more extended periods. A pre-incision process is proposed which actively exposes DNA lesions to excision repair. A fraction of the genome is postulated to be accessible without the intervention of that process. (Auth.)

The Healthcare Improvement Scotland evidence note rapid review process: providing timely, reliable evidence to inform imperative decisions on healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

McIntosh, Heather M; Calvert, Julie; Macpherson, Karen J; Thompson, Lorna

2016-06-01

Rapid review has become widely adopted by health technology assessment agencies in response to demand for evidence-based information to support imperative decisions. Concern about the credibility of rapid reviews and the reliability of their findings has prompted a call for wider publication of their methods. In publishing this overview of the accredited rapid review process developed by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, we aim to raise awareness of our methods and advance the discourse on best practice. Healthcare Improvement Scotland produces rapid reviews called evidence notes using a process that has achieved external accreditation through the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Key components include a structured approach to topic selection, initial scoping, considered stakeholder involvement, streamlined systematic review, internal quality assurance, external peer review and updating. The process was introduced in 2010 and continues to be refined over time in response to user feedback and operational experience. Decision-makers value the responsiveness of the process and perceive it as being a credible source of unbiased evidence-based information supporting advice for NHSScotland. Many agencies undertaking rapid reviews are striving to balance efficiency with methodological rigour. We agree that there is a need for methodological guidance and that it should be informed by better understanding of current approaches and the consequences of different approaches to streamlining systematic review methods. Greater transparency in the reporting of rapid review methods is essential to enable that to happen.

Accessing and disclosing protected resources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Henning; Khajuria, Samant

2014-01-01

TODAY, DATA IS MONEY. Whether it is private users’ personal data or confidential data and assets belonging to service providers, all parties have a strong need to protect their resources when interacting with each other, i.e. for access control and authorization. For service providers and enterpr......TODAY, DATA IS MONEY. Whether it is private users’ personal data or confidential data and assets belonging to service providers, all parties have a strong need to protect their resources when interacting with each other, i.e. for access control and authorization. For service providers...... and enterprises resources are usually well safeguarded, while private users are often missing the tools and the know-how to protect their own data and preserve their privacy. The user’s personal data have become an economic asset, not necessarily to the owners of these data, but to the service providers, whose...... business mod- els often includes the use of these data. In this paper we focus on the user – service provider interaction and discuss how recent technological progress, in particular the framework of User Managed Access (UMA), can enable users to understand the value of their protected resources...

The role of tablets in accessing information throughout undergraduate medical education in Botswana.

Science.gov (United States)

Witt, Rachel E; Kebaetse, Masego B; Holmes, John H; Littman-Quinn, Ryan; Ketshogileng, Dineo; Antwi, Cynthia; Kovarik, Carrie; Nkomazana, Oathokwa

2016-04-01

Mobile learning (mLearning) uses wireless networks and mobile devices to expand physician trainees' and healthcare providers' access to and exchange of medical information. Opportunities to increase implementation and expand use of mobile devices to support health care information access and delivery in Africa are vast, but the rapid growth of mLearning has caused project implementation to outpace objective measurement of impact. This study makes a contribution to the existing body of literature regarding mLearning implementation in Africa through its focus on the use of smart devices (tablets) in undergraduate medical education and medical students' perceptions of the effects on their learning environment. The population of this prospective mixed-methods study consisted of 82 undergraduate medical students (45 third year and 37 fourth year) at the University of Botswana Faculty of Medicine. They received tablets in the earliest phase of the mLearning project implementation (between November 2012 and January 2013), when they were in the third and fourth year of their medical training. Usage of the tablets was assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively, through both application usage tracking and focus groups. Based on application usage data and coding and analysis of focus group discussions, undergraduate medical students indicated that tablets were useful in their medical education, allowing them continual access to information and opportunities for communication. Participants noted that the primary barrier to use of tablets was the lack of mobile cellular Internet beyond the Wi-Fi zones at the training sites. Moreover, participants offered suggestions for improvements to the implementation process. Even in resource-limited settings where Internet access can be unreliable and intermittent, the adoption of tablets can have benefits to medical education by providing consistent access to extensive and current medical information resources. This study highlights

49 CFR 37.79 - Purchase or lease of new rail vehicles by public entities operating rapid or light rail systems.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... entities operating rapid or light rail systems. 37.79 Section 37.79 Transportation Office of the Secretary... operating rapid or light rail systems. Each public entity operating a rapid or light rail system making a... system shall ensure that the vehicle is readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities...

Access 2010 for dummies

CERN Document Server

Ulrich Fuller, Laurie

2010-01-01

A friendly, step-by-step guide to the Microsoft Office database application Access may be the least understood and most challenging application in the Microsoft Office suite. This guide is designed to help anyone who lacks experience in creating and managing a database learn to use Access 2010 quickly and easily. In the classic For Dummies tradition, the book provides an education in Access, the interface, and the architecture of a database. It explains the process of building a database, linking information, sharing data, generating reports, and much more.As the Micr

Mobile authentication and access: any time, any place, any device?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Williams

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The move from IP-based authentication to that of federated access has seen the sector support single sign-on to web-based resources, but the simplified user experience is at risk due to the rapid growth of mobile platforms and increasing variety of accompanying access methods for such devices. The user authentication experience on mobile devices is often further complicated by the poor discovery and delivery design of websites. While the introduction of tools such as Raptor permit accurate tracking of usage statistics via the UK Access Management Federation, the variety of mobile authentication methods such as native apps on devices and device paring pose additional challenges to librarians trying to gather a complete picture of resource use within their institution. In this article we examine the access challenges posed by the explosion of mobile device use.

OGIS Access System

Data.gov (United States)

National Archives and Records Administration — The OGIS Access System (OAS) provides case management, stakeholder collaboration, and public communications activities including a web presence via a web portal.

What Can Nature Teach Us About Improving Earth Science Data Access?

Science.gov (United States)

Young, S.

2012-12-01

Humans have collected earth observations data for centuries, helping us understand present conditions, allowing us to forecast the future, and giving us a window billions of years into the past. In the last 40 years the collection of earth observations data has increased on a truly massive and accelerating scale. Our abilities to collect new data have outpaced our abilities to access and use the data in all the ways users may expect. Mobile technology is a prime example. Smart telephones and tablet devices are proliferating rapidly; by 2016 there likely will be more smartphones than PCs on the planet. Earth data providers need to plan for and evolve to meet the needs, expectations, and capabilities of vast new numbers of mobile users. These users will not only consume data; many of them will also want to provide data via crowdsourcing or "citizen science" efforts. Can we channel the desire to provide citizen data in ways that help to ground-truth other observations, enrich the observations base, and improve data quality? Innovation will be key to meeting such challenges. Is it possible to innovate by studying the past? Does the earth system itself hold lessons that we can apply? We will examine what nature can teach us to foster sustainable innovation in our information technologies. Simplicity enables complexity; understanding complexity requires a return to simplicity. This presentation describes several user scenarios and examples of simplicity-complexity interactions to illustrate the connections with earth science data access.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) rationing and access mechanisms and their impact on youth ART utilization in Malawi.

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, Jimmy-Gama; Gibson, Sarah; McPake, Barbara; Maleta, Ken

2011-06-01

The World Health Organization (WHO) staging is a commonly used rationing mechanism for highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) among various HIV infected populations including youths in most developing countries. Rationing is defined as any policy or practice that restricts consumption of or access to certain goods due to its limited supply. However, as HIV prevalence is rapidly increasing among youth, understanding the capacity of the staging approach to achieve HAART uptake in youth is of considerable importance. This study aimed to explore how HAART rationing and access mechanisms impact on youth's utilization of HAART in Malawi. The study used mixed methods with quantitative analysis of existing Ministry of Health Clinical HIV Unit data used to determine existing levels of youth HAART use. Qualitative methods employed in-depth interviews that interviewed nine ART providers, nine HIV positive youth on HAART and nine HIV positive youth not on HAART; and field observations to nine ART clinics were used to understand HAART rationing and access mechanisms and how such mechanisms impact youth uptake of HAART. The findings revealed that ART providers use both explicit rationing mechanisms like WHO clinical staging and implicit rationing mechanisms like use of waiting lists, queues and referral in ART provision. However, the WHO staging approach had some challenges in its implementation. It was also observed that factors like non-comprehensive approach to HAART provision, costs incurred to access HAART, negative beliefs and misconceptions about HAART and HIV were among the key factors that limit youth access to HAART. The study recommends that while WHO staging is successful as a rationing mechanism in Malawi, measures should be put in place to improve access to CD4 assessment for clients who may need it. ART providers also need to be made aware of the implicit rationing mechanisms that may affect HAART access. There is also need to improve monitoring of those HIV

Health service providers in Somalia: their readiness to provide malaria case-management.

Science.gov (United States)

Noor, Abdisalan M; Rage, Ismail A; Moonen, Bruno; Snow, Robert W

2009-05-13

Studies have highlighted the inadequacies of the public health sector in sub-Saharan African countries in providing appropriate malaria case management. The readiness of the public health sector to provide malaria case-management in Somalia, a country where there has been no functioning central government for almost two decades, was investigated. Three districts were purposively sampled in each of the two self-declared states of Puntland and Somaliland and the south-central region of Somalia, in April-November 2007. A survey and mapping of all public and private health service providers was undertaken. Information was recorded on services provided, types of anti-malarial drugs used and stock, numbers and qualifications of staff, sources of financial support and presence of malaria diagnostic services, new treatment guidelines and job aides for malaria case-management. All settlements were mapped and a semi-quantitative approach was used to estimate their population size. Distances from settlements to public health services were computed. There were 45 public health facilities, 227 public health professionals, and 194 private pharmacies for approximately 0.6 million people in the three districts. The median distance to public health facilities was 6 km. 62.3% of public health facilities prescribed the nationally recommended anti-malarial drug and 37.7% prescribed chloroquine as first-line therapy. 66.7% of public facilities did not have in stock the recommended first-line malaria therapy. Diagnosis of malaria using rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) or microscopy was performed routinely in over 90% of the recommended public facilities but only 50% of these had RDT in stock at the time of survey. National treatment guidelines were available in 31.3% of public health facilities recommended by the national strategy. Only 8.8% of the private pharmacies prescribed artesunate plus sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine, while 53.1% prescribed chloroquine as first-line therapy. 31.4% of

Health service providers in Somalia: their readiness to provide malaria case-management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moonen Bruno

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Studies have highlighted the inadequacies of the public health sector in sub-Saharan African countries in providing appropriate malaria case management. The readiness of the public health sector to provide malaria case-management in Somalia, a country where there has been no functioning central government for almost two decades, was investigated. Methods Three districts were purposively sampled in each of the two self-declared states of Puntland and Somaliland and the south-central region of Somalia, in April-November 2007. A survey and mapping of all public and private health service providers was undertaken. Information was recorded on services provided, types of anti-malarial drugs used and stock, numbers and qualifications of staff, sources of financial support and presence of malaria diagnostic services, new treatment guidelines and job aides for malaria case-management. All settlements were mapped and a semi-quantitative approach was used to estimate their population size. Distances from settlements to public health services were computed. Results There were 45 public health facilities, 227 public health professionals, and 194 private pharmacies for approximately 0.6 million people in the three districts. The median distance to public health facilities was 6 km. 62.3% of public health facilities prescribed the nationally recommended anti-malarial drug and 37.7% prescribed chloroquine as first-line therapy. 66.7% of public facilities did not have in stock the recommended first-line malaria therapy. Diagnosis of malaria using rapid diagnostic tests (RDT or microscopy was performed routinely in over 90% of the recommended public facilities but only 50% of these had RDT in stock at the time of survey. National treatment guidelines were available in 31.3% of public health facilities recommended by the national strategy. Only 8.8% of the private pharmacies prescribed artesunate plus sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine, while 53

49 CFR 238.114 - Rescue access windows.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Rescue access windows. 238.114 Section 238.114... § 238.114 Rescue access windows. (a) Number and location. Except as provided in paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of... rescue access windows. At least one rescue access window shall be located in each side of the car...

Open access in the critical care environment.

Science.gov (United States)

South, Tabitha; Adair, Brigette

2014-12-01

Open access has become an important topic in critical care over the last 3 years. In the past, critical care had restricted access and set visitation guidelines to protect patients. This article provides a review of the literature related to open access in the critical care environment, including the impact on patients, families, and health care providers. The ultimate goal is to provide care centered on patients and families and to create a healing environment to ensure safe passage of patients through their hospital stays. This outcome could lead to increased patient/family satisfaction. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Systematic Scheme for Multiple Access in Ethernet Passive Optical Access Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Maode; Zhu, Yongqing; Hiang Cheng, Tee

2005-11-01

While backbone networks have experienced substantial changes in the last decade, access networks have not changed much. Recently, passive optical networks (PONs) seem to be ready for commercial deployment as access networks, due to the maturity of a number of enabling technologies. Among the PON technologies, Ethernet PON (EPON) standardized by the IEEE 802.3ah Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) Task Force is the most attractive one because of its high speed, low cost, familiarity, interoperability, and low overhead. In this paper, we consider the issue of upstream channel sharing in the EPONs. We propose a novel multiple-access control scheme to provide bandwidth-guaranteed service for high-demand customers, while providing best effort service to low-demand customers according to the service level agreement (SLA). The analytical and simulation results prove that the proposed scheme performs best in what it is designed to do compared to another well-known scheme that has not considered providing differentiated services. With business customers preferring premium services with guaranteed bandwidth and residential users preferring low-cost best effort services, our scheme could benefit both groups of subscribers, as well as the operators.

The Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) Project: Providing Standard and On-Demand SAR products for Hazard Science and Hazard Response

Science.gov (United States)

Owen, S. E.; Hua, H.; Rosen, P. A.; Agram, P. S.; Webb, F.; Simons, M.; Yun, S. H.; Sacco, G. F.; Liu, Z.; Fielding, E. J.; Lundgren, P.; Moore, A. W.

2017-12-01

A new era of geodetic imaging arrived with the launch of the ESA Sentinel-1A/B satellites in 2014 and 2016, and with the 2016 confirmation of the NISAR mission, planned for launch in 2021. These missions assure high quality, freely and openly distributed regularly sampled SAR data into the indefinite future. These unprecedented data sets are a watershed for solid earth sciences as we progress towards the goal of ubiquitous InSAR measurements. We now face the challenge of how to best address the massive volumes of data and intensive processing requirements. Should scientists individually process the same data independently themselves? Should a centralized service provider create standard products that all can use? Are there other approaches to accelerate science that are cost effective and efficient? The Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) project, a joint venture co-sponsored by California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and by NASA through the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is focused on rapidly generating higher level geodetic imaging products and placing them in the hands of the solid earth science and local, national, and international natural hazard communities by providing science product generation, exploration, and delivery capabilities at an operational level. However, there are challenges in defining the optimal InSAR data products for the solid earth science community. In this presentation, we will present our experience with InSAR users, our lessons learned the advantages of on demand and standard products, and our proposal for the most effective path forward.

Rapid synthesis of polyprenylated acylphloroglucinol analogs via dearomative conjunctive allylic annulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Grenning, Alexander J; Boyce, Jonathan H; Porco, John A

2014-08-20

Polyprenylated acylphloroglucinols (PPAPs) are structurally complex natural products with promising biological activities. Herein, we present a biosynthesis-inspired, diversity-oriented synthesis approach for rapid construction of PPAP analogs via double decarboxylative allylation (DcA) of acylphloroglucinol scaffolds to access allyl-desoxyhumulones followed by dearomative conjunctive allylic alkylation (DCAA).

Fixed Access Network Sharing

Science.gov (United States)

Cornaglia, Bruno; Young, Gavin; Marchetta, Antonio

2015-12-01

Fixed broadband network deployments are moving inexorably to the use of Next Generation Access (NGA) technologies and architectures. These NGA deployments involve building fiber infrastructure increasingly closer to the customer in order to increase the proportion of fiber on the customer's access connection (Fibre-To-The-Home/Building/Door/Cabinet… i.e. FTTx). This increases the speed of services that can be sold and will be increasingly required to meet the demands of new generations of video services as we evolve from HDTV to "Ultra-HD TV" with 4k and 8k lines of video resolution. However, building fiber access networks is a costly endeavor. It requires significant capital in order to cover any significant geographic coverage. Hence many companies are forming partnerships and joint-ventures in order to share the NGA network construction costs. One form of such a partnership involves two companies agreeing to each build to cover a certain geographic area and then "cross-selling" NGA products to each other in order to access customers within their partner's footprint (NGA coverage area). This is tantamount to a bi-lateral wholesale partnership. The concept of Fixed Access Network Sharing (FANS) is to address the possibility of sharing infrastructure with a high degree of flexibility for all network operators involved. By providing greater configuration control over the NGA network infrastructure, the service provider has a greater ability to define the network and hence to define their product capabilities at the active layer. This gives the service provider partners greater product development autonomy plus the ability to differentiate from each other at the active network layer.

Using Motion Planning to Determine the Existence of an Accessible Route in a CAD Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Xiaoshan; Han, Charles S.; Law, Kincho H.

2010-01-01

We describe an algorithm based on motion-planning techniques to determine the existence of an accessible route through a facility for a wheeled mobility device. The algorithm is based on LaValle's work on rapidly exploring random trees and is enhanced to take into consideration the particularities of the accessible route domain. Specifically, the…

Accessibility issues with long-term disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Sebring-Cale, Nancy J

2008-06-01

Home modifications for barrier-free accessibility will assist the physically challenged populations by increasing their independence. By providing an accessible environment, an individual can become more independent and require less assistance for functional activities, such as kitchen appliance access, door widening, open floor plan, elevated electric outlets, roll-under sinks, roll-in showers and MobiLife elevating wheelchair.

Synthesis and use of 2-[¹⁸F]fluoromalondialdehyde, an accessible synthon for bioconjugation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hooker, Jacob M. [Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA (United States)

2017-03-16

We proposed methods for the synthesis and purification of 2-[¹⁸F]fluoromalondialdehyde, which will be a readily accessible synthon for bioconjugation. Our achievements in these areas will specifically address a stated goal of the DOE providing a transformational technology for macromolecule radiolabeling. Accomplishment of our aims will serve both DOE mission-related research as well as nuclear medicine research supported by the NIH and industry. At the heart of our proposal is the aim to “improve synthetic methodology for rapidly and efficiently incorporating radionuclides into a wide range of organic compounds.”

Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schenck, C H; Montplaisir, J Y; Frauscher, B

2013-01-01

We aimed to provide a consensus statement by the International Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder Study Group (IRBD-SG) on devising controlled active treatment studies in rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and devising studies of neuroprotection against Parkinson disease (PD...

Access to the city

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreasen, Manja Hoppe; Møller-Jensen, Lasse

2017-01-01

This paper is concerned with access to the city for urban residents living in the periphery of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The paper presents an analysis of the mobility practices of residents and investigates the mobility constraints they experience in relation to the limited accessibility provided...... mobility and access to the city for residents in the periphery. Regular mobility is an ingrained part of residents' livelihood strategies. The majority of households rely on one or more members regularly travelling to central parts of the city in relation to their livelihood activities. The analysis...... by road and traffic conditions and highlights how accessibility problems of peripheral settlements are not easily understood separately from the general dysfunctions of the overall mobility system of city....

The Rapid Ice Sheet Change Observatory (RISCO)

Science.gov (United States)

Morin, P.; Howat, I. M.; Ahn, Y.; Porter, C.; McFadden, E. M.

2010-12-01

The recent expansion of observational capacity from space has revealed dramatic, rapid changes in the Earth’s ice cover. These discoveries have fundamentally altered how scientists view ice-sheet change. Instead of just slow changes in snow accumulation and melting over centuries or millennia, important changes can occur in sudden events lasting only months, weeks, or even a single day. Our understanding of these short time- and space-scale processes, which hold important implications for future global sea level rise, has been impeded by the low temporal and spatial resolution, delayed sensor tasking, incomplete coverage, inaccessibility and/or high cost of data available to investigators. New cross-agency partnerships and data access policies provide the opportunity to dramatically improve the resolution of ice sheet observations by an order of magnitude, from timescales of months and distances of 10’s of meters, to days and meters or less. Advances in image processing technology also enable application of currently under-utilized datasets. The infrastructure for systematically gathering, processing, analyzing and distributing these data does not currently exist. Here we present the development of a multi-institutional, multi-platform observatory for rapid ice change with the ultimate objective of helping to elucidate the relevant timescales and processes of ice sheet dynamics and response to climate change. The Rapid Ice Sheet Observatory (RISCO) gathers observations of short time- and space-scale Cryosphere events and makes them easily accessible to investigators, media and general public. As opposed to existing data centers, which are structured to archive and distribute diverse types of raw data to end users with the specialized software and skills to analyze them, RISCO focuses on three types of geo-referenced raster (image) data products in a format immediately viewable with commonly available software. These three products are (1) sequences of images

Benthic data from rapid assessment transects, 2001-2004, in the Hawaiian Islands (NODC Accession 0002464)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset consists of CRAMP Rapid Assessment Transect surveys taken in 2001-2004 and includes quantitative estimates of substrate type and species. The types and...

College Access and Success for Students Experiencing Homelessness: A Toolkit for Educators and Service Providers

Science.gov (United States)

Dukes, Christina

2013-01-01

This toolkit serves as a comprehensive resource on the issue of higher education access and success for homeless students, including information on understanding homeless students, assisting homeless students in choosing a school, helping homeless students pay for application-related expenses, assisting homeless students in finding financial aid…

Better governance, better access: practising responsible data sharing in the METADAC governance infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Murtagh, Madeleine J; Blell, Mwenza T; Butters, Olly W; Cowley, Lorraine; Dove, Edward S; Goodman, Alissa; Griggs, Rebecca L; Hall, Alison; Hallowell, Nina; Kumari, Meena; Mangino, Massimo; Maughan, Barbara; Mills, Melinda C; Minion, Joel T; Murphy, Tom; Prior, Gillian; Suderman, Matthew; Ring, Susan M; Rogers, Nina T; Roberts, Stephanie J; Van der Straeten, Catherine; Viney, Will; Wiltshire, Deborah; Wong, Andrew; Walker, Neil; Burton, Paul R

2018-04-26

Genomic and biosocial research data about individuals is rapidly proliferating, bringing the potential for novel opportunities for data integration and use. The scale, pace and novelty of these applications raise a number of urgent sociotechnical, ethical and legal questions, including optimal methods of data storage, management and access. Although the open science movement advocates unfettered access to research data, many of the UK's longitudinal cohort studies operate systems of managed data access, in which access is governed by legal and ethical agreements between stewards of research datasets and researchers wishing to make use of them. Amongst other things, these agreements aim to respect the reasonable expectations of the research participants who provided data and samples, as expressed in the consent process. Arguably, responsible data management and governance of data and sample use are foundational to the consent process in longitudinal studies and are an important source of trustworthiness in the eyes of those who contribute data to genomic and biosocial research. This paper presents an ethnographic case study exploring the foundational principles of a governance infrastructure for Managing Ethico-social, Technical and Administrative issues in Data ACcess (METADAC), which are operationalised through a committee known as the METADAC Access Committee. METADAC governs access to phenotype, genotype and 'omic' data and samples from five UK longitudinal studies. Using the example of METADAC, we argue that three key structural features are foundational for practising responsible data sharing: independence and transparency; interdisciplinarity; and participant-centric decision-making. We observe that the international research community is proactively working towards optimising the use of research data, integrating/linking these data with routine data generated by health and social care services and other administrative data services to improve the analysis

78 FR 10166 - Access Interpreting; Transfer of Data

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-13

... regulations. Access Interpreting has been awarded a contract to perform work for OPP, and access to this information will enable Access Interpreting to fulfill the obligations of the contract. DATES: Access.... Contractor Requirements Under Contract No. EP10H000109, this contract is to provide the Environmental...

Integrating Attributes into Role-Based Access Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mahmood Rajpoot, Qasim; Jensen, Christian D.; Krishnan, Ram

2015-01-01

of research recently. We propose an access control model that combines the two models in a novel way in order to unify their benefits. Our approach provides a fine-grained access control mechanism that takes into account the current contextual information while making the access control decisions....

A Global Comparative Evaluation of Commercial Immunochromatographic Rapid Diagnostic Tests for Visceral Leishmaniasis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cunningham, Jane; Hasker, Epco; Das, Pradeep; El Safi, Sayda; Goto, Hiro; Mondal, Dinesh; Mbuchi, Margaret; Mukhtar, Maowia; Rabello, Ana; Rijal, Suman; Sundar, Shyam; Wasunna, Monique; Adams, Emily; Menten, Joris; Peeling, Rosanna; Boelaert, Marleen; Khanal, Basudha; Das, Murari; Oliveira, Edward; de Assis, Tália Machado; Costa, Dorcas Lamounier; Bhaskar, Khondaker Rifathassan; Huda, M. Mamun; Hassan, Mukidul; Abdoun, Asim Osman; Awad, Aymen; Osman, Mohamed; Prajapati, Dinesh Kumar; Gidwani, Kamlesh; Tiwary, Puja; Paniago, Anamaria Mello Miranda; Sanchez, Maria Carmen Arroyo; Celeste, Beatriz Julieta; Jacquet, Diane; Magiri, Charles; Muia, A.; Kesusu, J.; Ageed, Al Farazdag; Galal, Nuha; Osman, Osman Salih; Gupta, A. K.; Bimal, Afrad S.; Das, V. N. R.

2012-01-01

Background. Poor access to diagnosis stymies control of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Antibody-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) can be performed in peripheral health settings. However, there are many brands available and published reports of variable accuracy. Methods. Commercial VL RDTs

Support for a tax increase to provide unrestricted access to an Alzheimer's disease medication: a survey of the general public in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Oremus, Mark; Tarride, Jean-Eric; Clayton, Natasha; Raina, Parminder

2009-12-29

Public drug insurance plans provide limited reimbursement for Alzheimer's disease (AD) medications in many jurisdictions, including Canada and the United Kingdom. This study was conducted to assess Canadians' level of support for an increase in annual personal income taxes to fund a public program of unrestricted access to AD medications. A telephone survey was administered to a national sample of 500 adult Canadians. The survey contained four scenarios describing a hypothetical, new AD medication. Descriptions varied across scenarios: the medication was alternatively described as being capable of treating the symptoms of cognitive decline or of halting the progression of cognitive decline, with either no probability of adverse effects or a 30% probability of primarily gastrointestinal adverse effects. After each scenario, participants were asked whether they would support a tax increase to provide unrestricted access to the drug. Participants who responded affirmatively were asked whether they would pay an additional $75, $150, or $225 per annum in taxes. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the determinants of support for a tax increase. Eighty percent of participants supported a tax increase for at least one scenario. Support was highest (67%) for the most favourable scenario (halt progression - no adverse effects) and lowest (49%) for the least favourable scenario (symptom treatment - 30% chance of adverse effects). The odds of supporting a tax increase under at least one scenario were approximately 55% less for participants who attached higher ratings to their health state under the assumption that they had moderate AD and almost five times greater if participants thought family members or friends would somewhat or strongly approve of their decision to support a tax increase. A majority of participants would pay an additional $150 per annum in taxes, regardless of scenario. Less than 50% would pay $225. Four out of five persons

Rapid deployment intrusion detection system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graham, R.H.

1997-01-01

A rapidly deployable security system is one that provides intrusion detection, assessment, communications, and annunciation capabilities; is easy to install and configure; can be rapidly deployed, and is reusable. A rapidly deployable intrusion detection system (RADIDS) has many potential applications within the DOE Complex: back-up protection for failed zones in a perimeter intrusion detection and assessment system, intrusion detection and assessment capabilities in temporary locations, protection of assets during Complex reconfiguration, and protection in hazardous locations, protection of assets during Complex reconfiguration, and protection in hazardous locations. Many DOE user-need documents have indicated an interest in a rapidly deployable intrusion detection system. The purpose of the RADIDS project is to design, develop, and implement such a system. 2 figs

Resources and Capabilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs to Provide Timely and Accessible Care to Veterans

Science.gov (United States)

Hussey, Peter S.; Ringel, Jeanne S.; Ahluwalia, Sangeeta; Price, Rebecca Anhang; Buttorff, Christine; Concannon, Thomas W.; Lovejoy, Susan L.; Martsolf, Grant R.; Rudin, Robert S.; Schultz, Dana; Sloss, Elizabeth M.; Watkins, Katherine E.; Waxman, Daniel; Bauman, Melissa; Briscombe, Brian; Broyles, James R.; Burns, Rachel M.; Chen, Emily K.; DeSantis, Amy Soo Jin; Ecola, Liisa; Fischer, Shira H.; Friedberg, Mark W.; Gidengil, Courtney A.; Ginsburg, Paul B.; Gulden, Timothy; Gutierrez, Carlos Ignacio; Hirshman, Samuel; Huang, Christina Y.; Kandrack, Ryan; Kress, Amii; Leuschner, Kristin J.; MacCarthy, Sarah; Maksabedian, Ervant J.; Mann, Sean; Matthews, Luke Joseph; May, Linnea Warren; Mishra, Nishtha; Miyashiro, Lisa; Muchow, Ashley N.; Nelson, Jason; Naranjo, Diana; O'Hanlon, Claire E.; Pillemer, Francesca; Predmore, Zachary; Ross, Rachel; Ruder, Teague; Rutter, Carolyn M.; Uscher-Pines, Lori; Vaiana, Mary E.; Vesely, Joseph V.; Hosek, Susan D.; Farmer, Carrie M.

2016-01-01

Abstract The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 addressed the need for access to timely, high-quality health care for veterans. Section 201 of the legislation called for an independent assessment of various aspects of veterans' health care. The RAND Corporation was tasked with an assessment of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) current and projected health care capabilities and resources. An examination of data from a variety of sources, along with a survey of VA medical facility leaders, revealed the breadth and depth of VA resources and capabilities: fiscal resources, workforce and human resources, physical infrastructure, interorganizational relationships, and information resources. The assessment identified barriers to the effective use of these resources and capabilities. Analysis of data on access to VA care and the quality of that care showed that almost all veterans live within 40 miles of a VA health facility, but fewer have access to VA specialty care. Veterans usually receive care within 14 days of their desired appointment date, but wait times vary considerably across VA facilities. VA has long played a national leadership role in measuring the quality of health care. The assessment showed that VA health care quality was as good or better on most measures compared with other health systems, but quality performance lagged at some VA facilities. VA will require more resources and capabilities to meet a projected increase in veterans' demand for VA care over the next five years. Options for increasing capacity include accelerated hiring, full nurse practice authority, and expanded use of telehealth. PMID:28083424

Open Access to essential health care information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pandey Manoj

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Open Access publishing is a valuable resource for the synthesis and distribution of essential health care information. This article discusses the potential benefits of Open Access, specifically in terms of Low and Middle Income (LAMI countries in which there is currently a lack of informed health care providers – mainly a consequence of poor availability to information. We propose that without copyright restrictions, Open Access facilitates distribution of the most relevant research and health care information. Furthermore, we suggest that the technology and infrastructure that has been put in place for Open Access could be used to publish download-able manuals, guides or basic handbooks created by healthcare providers in LAMI countries.

Questioning the efficacy of 'gold' open access to published articles.

Science.gov (United States)

Fredericks, Suzanne

2015-07-01

To question the efficacy of 'gold' open access to published articles. Open access is unrestricted access to academic, theoretical and research literature that is scholarly and peer-reviewed. Two models of open access exist: 'gold' and 'green'. Gold open access provides everyone with access to articles during all stages of publication, with processing charges paid by the author(s). Green open access involves placing an already published article into a repository to provide unrestricted access, with processing charges incurred by the publisher. This is a discussion paper. An exploration of the relative benefits and drawbacks of the 'gold' and 'green' open access systems. Green open access is a more economic and efficient means of granting open access to scholarly literature but a large number of researchers select gold open access journals as their first choices for manuscript submissions. This paper questions the efficacy of gold open access models and presents an examination of green open access models to encourage nurse researchers to consider this approach. In the current academic environment, with increased pressures to publish and low funding success rates, it is difficult to understand why gold open access still exists. Green open access enhances the visibility of an academic's work, as increased downloads of articles tend to lead to increased citations. Green open access is the cheaper option, as well as the most beneficial choice, for universities that want to provide unrestricted access to all literature at minimal risk.

Access Agent Improving The Performance Of Access Control Lists

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thelis R. S.

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The main focus of the proposed research is maintaining the security of a network. Extranet is a popular network among most of the organizations where network access is provided to a selected group of outliers. Limiting access to an extranet can be carried out using Access Control Lists ACLs method. However handling the workload of ACLs is an onerous task for the router. The purpose of the proposed research is to improve the performance and to solidify the security of the ACLs used in a small organization. Using a high performance computer as a dedicated device to share and handle the router workload is suggested in order to increase the performance of the router when handling ACLs. Methods of detecting and directing sensitive data is also discussed in this paper. A framework is provided to help increase the efficiency of the ACLs in an organization network using the above mentioned procedures thus helping the organizations ACLs performance to be improved to be more secure and the system to perform faster. Inbuilt methods of Windows platform or Software for open source platforms can be used to make a computer function as a router. Extended ACL features allow the determining of the type of packets flowing through the router. Combining these mechanisms allows the ACLs to be improved and perform in a more efficient manner.

Five Steps to an Accessible Classroom Website

Science.gov (United States)

Amundson, Linda

2009-01-01

When teachers or technology coordinators publish a website, they are providing a product for a diverse group of people. That's why website design should follow accessibility guidelines. Websites should be accessible to those with visual, hearing, movement, cognitive, and speech disabilities. Good design means greater accessibility for all. This…

Cost-effectiveness analysis of malaria rapid diagnostic test incentive schemes for informal private healthcare providers in Myanmar.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ingrid T; Aung, Tin; Thant, Hnin Nwe Nwe; Sudhinaraset, May; Kahn, James G

2015-02-05

The emergence of artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum parasites in Southeast Asia threatens global malaria control efforts. One strategy to counter this problem is a subsidy of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) within the informal private sector, where the majority of malaria care in Myanmar is provided. A study in Myanmar evaluated the effectiveness of financial incentives vs information, education and counselling (IEC) in driving the proper use of subsidized malaria RDTs among informal private providers. This cost-effectiveness analysis compares intervention options. A decision tree was constructed in a spreadsheet to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) among four strategies: no intervention, simple subsidy, subsidy with financial incentives, and subsidy with IEC. Model inputs included programmatic costs (in dollars), malaria epidemiology and observed study outcomes. Data sources included expenditure records, study data and scientific literature. Model outcomes included the proportion of properly and improperly treated individuals with and without P. falciparum malaria, and associated disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Results are reported as ICERs in US dollars per DALY averted. One-way sensitivity analysis assessed how outcomes depend on uncertainty in inputs. ICERs from the least to most expensive intervention are: $1,169/DALY averted for simple subsidy vs no intervention, $185/DALY averted for subsidy with financial incentives vs simple subsidy, and $200/DALY averted for a subsidy with IEC vs subsidy with financial incentives. Due to decreasing ICERs, each strategy was also compared to no intervention. The subsidy with IEC was the most favourable, costing $639/DALY averted compared with no intervention. One-way sensitivity analysis shows that ICERs are most affected by programme costs, RDT uptake, treatment-seeking behaviour, and the prevalence and virulence of non

An Intelligent Terminal for Access to a Medical Database

Science.gov (United States)

Womble, M. E.; Wilson, S. D.; Keiser, H. N.; Tworek, M. L.

1978-01-01

Very powerful data base management systems (DBMS) now exist which allow medical personnel access to patient record data bases. DBMS's make it easy to retrieve either complete or abbreviated records of patients with similar characteristics. In addition, statistics on data base records are immediately accessible. However, the price of this power is a large computer with the inherent problems of access, response time, and reliability. If a general purpose, time-shared computer is used to get this power, the response time to a request can be either rapid or slow, depending upon loading by other users. Furthermore, if the computer is accessed via dial-up telephone lines, there is competition with other users for telephone ports. If either the DBMS or the host machine is replaced, the medical users, who are typically not sophisticated in computer usage, are forced to learn the new system. Microcomputers, because of their low cost and adaptability, lend themselves to a solution of these problems. A microprocessor-based intelligent terminal has been designed and implemented at the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine to provide a transparent interface between the user and his data base. The intelligent terminal system includes multiple microprocessors, floppy disks, a CRT terminal, and a printer. Users interact with the system at the CRT terminal using menu selection (framing). The system translates the menu selection into the query language of the DBMS and handles all actual communication with the DBMS and its host computer, including telephone dialing and sign on procedures, as well as the actual data base query and response. Retrieved information is stored locally for CRT display, hard copy production, and/or permanent retention. Microprocessor-based communication units provide security for sensitive medical data through encryption/decryption algorithms and high reliability error detection transmission schemes. Highly modular software design permits adapation to a

Principles of wireless access and localization

CERN Document Server

Pahlavan, Kaveh

2013-01-01

A comprehensive, encompassing and accessible text examining a wide range of key Wireless Networking and Localization technologies This book provides a unified treatment of issues related to all wireless access and wireless localization techniques.  The book reflects principles of design and deployment of infrastructure for wireless access and localization for wide, local, and personal networking.   Description of wireless access methods includes design and deployment of traditional TDMA and CDMA technologies and emerging Long Term Evolution (LTE) techniques for wide area cellular networks, the

Rapid prototyping model for percutaneous nephrolithotomy training.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruyère, Franck; Leroux, Cecile; Brunereau, Laurent; Lermusiaux, Patrick

2008-01-01

Rapid prototyping is a technique used for creating computer images in three dimensions more efficiently than classic techniques. Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is a popular method to remove kidney stones; however, broader use by the urologic community has been hampered by the morbidity associated with needle puncture to gain access to the renal calix (bleeding, pneumothorax, hydrothorax, inadvertent colon injury). A training model to improve technique and understanding of renal anatomy could improve complications related to renal puncture; however, no model currently exists for resident training. We created a training model using the rapid prototyping technique based on abdominal CT images of a patient scheduled to undergo PCNL. This allowed our staff and residents to train on the model before performing the operation. This model allowed anticipation of particular difficulties inherent to the patient's anatomy. After training, the procedure proceeded without complication, and the patient was discharged at postoperative day 1 without problems. We hypothesize that rapid prototyping could be useful for resident education, allowing the creation of numerous models for research and surgical training. In addition, we anticipate that experienced urologists could find this technique helpful in preparation for difficult PCNL operations.

The Role of Women's Colleges and Universities in Providing Access to Postsecondary Education

Science.gov (United States)

Renn, Kristen A.

2017-01-01

Based on a qualitative, comparative, multiple case study of the contributions and status of 21st century women's colleges and universities, this article analyzes the topic of women's access to postsecondary education in ten nations. Despite decreasing numbers of women-only institutions in some regions (e.g., North America), the sector is growing…

Data bases for rapid response to power reactor problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maskewitz, B.F.

1980-01-01

The urgency of the TMI-2 incident demanded prompt answers to an imperious situation. In responding to these challenging circumstances, both government and industry recognized deficiencies in both availability of essential retrievable data and calculational capabilities designed to respond immediately to actual abnormal events. Each responded by initiating new programs to provide a remedy for the deficiencies and to generally improve all safety measures in the nuclear power industry. Many data bases and information centers offer generic data and other technology resources which are generally useful in support of nuclear safety programs. A few centers can offer rapid access to calculational methods and associated data and more will make an effort to do so. As a beneficial spin-off from the lessons learned from TMI-2, more technical effort and financial resources will be devoted to the prevention of accidents, and to improvement of safety measures in the immediate future and for long term R and D programs by both government and the nuclear power industry

The role of decentralized systems in providing universal electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa – A model-based approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dagnachew, Anteneh G.; Lucas, Paul L.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/272607444; Hof, Andries F.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/240412397; Gernaat, David E.H.J.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/372664636; de Boer, Harmen Sytze; van Vuuren, Detlef P.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/11522016X

2017-01-01

Poverty and lack of access to electricity are highly correlated. In Sub-Saharan Africa, one of the poorest regions in the world, two in every three people have no access to electricity. This paper describes a purpose designed model to explore and project the development in the Sub-Saharan African

Editorial: Next Generation Access Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Ruffini, Marco; Cincotti, Gabriella; Pizzinat, Anna; Vetter, Peter

2015-12-01

Over the past decade we have seen an increasing number of operators deploying Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) solutions in access networks, in order to provide home users with a much needed network access upgrade, to support higher peak rates, higher sustained rates and a better and more uniform broadband coverage of the territory.

Improving the Accessibility and Efficiency of Point-of-Care Diagnostics Services in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Lean and Agile Supply Chain Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuupiel, Desmond; Bawontuo, Vitalis; Mashamba-Thompson, Tivani P

2017-11-29

Access to point-of-care (POC) diagnostics services is essential for ensuring rapid disease diagnosis, management, control, and surveillance. POC testing services can improve access to healthcare especially where healthcare infrastructure is weak and access to quality and timely medical care is a challenge. Improving the accessibility and efficiency of POC diagnostics services, particularly in resource-limited settings, may be a promising route to improving healthcare outcomes. In this review, the accessibility of POC testing is defined as the distance/proximity to the nearest healthcare facility for POC diagnostics service. This review provides an overview of the impact of POC diagnostics on healthcare outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and factors contributing to the accessibility of POC testing services in LMICs, focusing on characteristics of the supply chain management and quality systems management, characteristics of the geographical location, health infrastructure, and an enabling policy framework for POC diagnostics services. Barriers and challenges related to the accessibility of POC diagnostics in LMICs were also discussed. Bearing in mind the reported barriers and challenges as well as the disease epidemiology in LMICs, we propose a lean and agile supply chain management framework for improving the accessibility and efficiency of POC diagnostics services in these settings.

Improving the Accessibility and Efficiency of Point-of-Care Diagnostics Services in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Lean and Agile Supply Chain Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Desmond Kuupiel

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Access to point-of-care (POC diagnostics services is essential for ensuring rapid disease diagnosis, management, control, and surveillance. POC testing services can improve access to healthcare especially where healthcare infrastructure is weak and access to quality and timely medical care is a challenge. Improving the accessibility and efficiency of POC diagnostics services, particularly in resource-limited settings, may be a promising route to improving healthcare outcomes. In this review, the accessibility of POC testing is defined as the distance/proximity to the nearest healthcare facility for POC diagnostics service. This review provides an overview of the impact of POC diagnostics on healthcare outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs and factors contributing to the accessibility of POC testing services in LMICs, focusing on characteristics of the supply chain management and quality systems management, characteristics of the geographical location, health infrastructure, and an enabling policy framework for POC diagnostics services. Barriers and challenges related to the accessibility of POC diagnostics in LMICs were also discussed. Bearing in mind the reported barriers and challenges as well as the disease epidemiology in LMICs, we propose a lean and agile supply chain management framework for improving the accessibility and efficiency of POC diagnostics services in these settings.

Access Control of Web- and Java-Based Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Tso, Kam S.; Pajevski, Michael J.

2013-01-01

Cybersecurity has become a great concern as threats of service interruption, unauthorized access, stealing and altering of information, and spreading of viruses have become more prevalent and serious. Application layer access control of applications is a critical component in the overall security solution that also includes encryption, firewalls, virtual private networks, antivirus, and intrusion detection. An access control solution, based on an open-source access manager augmented with custom software components, was developed to provide protection to both Web-based and Javabased client and server applications. The DISA Security Service (DISA-SS) provides common access control capabilities for AMMOS software applications through a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) and network- accessible security services for authentication, single sign-on, authorization checking, and authorization policy management. The OpenAM access management technology designed for Web applications can be extended to meet the needs of Java thick clients and stand alone servers that are commonly used in the JPL AMMOS environment. The DISA-SS reusable components have greatly reduced the effort for each AMMOS subsystem to develop its own access control strategy. The novelty of this work is that it leverages an open-source access management product that was designed for Webbased applications to provide access control for Java thick clients and Java standalone servers. Thick clients and standalone servers are still commonly used in businesses and government, especially for applications that require rich graphical user interfaces and high-performance visualization that cannot be met by thin clients running on Web browsers

Access to emergency hospital care provided by the public sector in sub-Saharan Africa in 2015: a geocoded inventory and spatial analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul O Ouma, MSc

2018-03-01

 282 013 (29·0% people and 64 495 526 (28·2% women of child bearing age are located more than 2-h travel time from the nearest hospital. Marked differences were observed within and between countries, ranging from less than 25% of the population within 2-h travel time of a public hospital in South Sudan to more than 90% in Nigeria, Kenya, Cape Verde, Swaziland, South Africa, Burundi, Comoros, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Zanzibar. Only 16 countries reached the international benchmark of more than 80% of their populations living within a 2-h travel time of the nearest hospital. Interpretation: Physical access to emergency hospital care provided by the public sector in Africa remains poor and varies substantially within and between countries. Innovative targeting of emergency care services is necessary to reduce these inequities. This study provides the first spatial census of public hospital services in Africa. Funding: Wellcome Trust and the UK Department for International Development.

A re-conceptualization of access for 21st century healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Fortney, John C; Burgess, James F; Bosworth, Hayden B; Booth, Brenda M; Kaboli, Peter J

2011-11-01

Many e-health technologies are available to promote virtual patient-provider communication outside the context of face-to-face clinical encounters. Current digital communication modalities include cell phones, smartphones, interactive voice response, text messages, e-mails, clinic-based interactive video, home-based web-cams, mobile smartphone two-way cameras, personal monitoring devices, kiosks, dashboards, personal health records, web-based portals, social networking sites, secure chat rooms, and on-line forums. Improvements in digital access could drastically diminish the geographical, temporal, and cultural access problems faced by many patients. Conversely, a growing digital divide could create greater access disparities for some populations. As the paradigm of healthcare delivery evolves towards greater reliance on non-encounter-based digital communications between patients and their care teams, it is critical that our theoretical conceptualization of access undergoes a concurrent paradigm shift to make it more relevant for the digital age. The traditional conceptualizations and indicators of access are not well adapted to measure access to health services that are delivered digitally outside the context of face-to-face encounters with providers. This paper provides an overview of digital "encounterless" utilization, discusses the weaknesses of traditional conceptual frameworks of access, presents a new access framework, provides recommendations for how to measure access in the new framework, and discusses future directions for research on access.

Rapid MR imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edelman, R.R.; Buxton, R.B.; Brady, T.J.

1988-01-01

Conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging methods typically require several minutes to produce an image, but the periods of respiration, cardiac motion and peristalsis are on the order of seconds or less. The need to reduce motion artifact, as well as the need to reduce imaging time for patient comfort and efficiency, have provided a strong impetus for the development of rapid imaging methods. For abdominal imaging, motion artifacts due to respiration can be significantly reduced by collecting the entire image during one breath hold. For other applications, such as following the kinetics of administered contrast agents, rapid imaging is essential to achieve adequate time resolution. A shorter imaging time entails a cost in image signal/noise (S/N), but improvements in recent years in magnet homogeneity, gradient and radiofrequency coil design have led to steady improvements in S/N and consequently in image quality. For many chemical applications the available S/N is greater than needed, and a trade-off of lower S/N for a shorter imaging time is acceptable. In this chapter, the authors consider the underlying principles of rapid imaging as well as clinical applications of these methods. The bulk of this review concentrates on short TR imaging, but methods that provide for a more modest decrease in imaging time as well as or those that dramatically shorten the imaging time to tens of milliseconds are also discussed

Melinda - A custom search engine that provides access to locally-developed content using the HL7 Infobutton standard.

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Yik-Ki J; Staes, Catherine J

2016-01-01

Healthcare organizations use care pathways to standardize care, but once developed, adoption rates often remain low. One challenge for usage concerns clinicians' difficulty in accessing guidance when it is most needed. Although the HL7 'Infobutton Standard' allows clinicians easier access to external references, access to locally-developed resources often requires clinicians to deviate from their normal electronic health record (EHR) workflow to use another application. To address this gap between internal and external resources, we reviewed the literature and existing practices at the University of Utah Health Care. We identify the requirements to meet the needs of a healthcare enterprise and clinicians, describe the design and development of a prototype to aggregate both internal and external resources from within or outside the EHR, and evaluated strengths and limitations of the prototype. The system is functional but not implemented in a live EHR environment. We suggest next steps and enhancements.

Rapid assessment of disability in the Philippines: understanding prevalence, well-being, and access to the community for people with disabilities to inform the W-DARE project.

Science.gov (United States)

Marella, Manjula; Devine, Alexandra; Armecin, Graeme Ferdinand; Zayas, Jerome; Marco, Ma Jesusa; Vaughan, Cathy

2016-01-01

International recognition that people with disabilities were excluded from the Millennium Development Goals has led to better inclusion of people with disabilities in the recently agreed Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs) 2015-2030. Given the current global agenda for disability inclusion, it is crucial to increase the understanding of the situation of people with disabilities in the Philippines. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of disability and compare the well-being and access to the community between people with and without disabilities. A population-based survey was undertaken in District 2 of Quezon City and in Ligao City. 60 clusters of 50 people aged 18 years and older were selected with probability proportion to size sampling from both locations. The Rapid Assessment of Disability (RAD) survey was used to identify people with disabilities based on their responses to activity limitations. The levels of well-being and access to the community for people with disabilities were compared with controls matched by age, gender, and cluster. Information on barriers to accessing the community was also collected. The prevalence of disability was 6.8 (95 % CI: 5.9, 7.9) and 13.6 % (95 % CI: 11.4, 16.2) in Quezon City and Ligao City respectively. Psychological distress was the most commonly reported condition in both locations, although it was often reported with a co-morbid condition related to sensory, physical, cognitive, and communication difficulties. The prevalence of disability was associated with age and no schooling, but not associated with poverty. People with disabilities had significantly lower well-being scores and reduced access to health services, work, rehabilitation, education, government social welfare, and disaster management than people without disability. Having a disability and negative family attitudes were reported as barriers for people with disabilities participating in work, community meetings, religious

The ATS Web Page Provides "Tool Boxes" for: Access Opportunities, Performance, Interfaces, Volume, Environments, "Wish List" Entry and Educational Outreach

Science.gov (United States)

1999-01-01

This viewgraph presentation gives an overview of the Access to Space website, including information on the 'tool boxes' available on the website for access opportunities, performance, interfaces, volume, environments, 'wish list' entry, and educational outreach.

Attributes Enhanced Role-Based Access Control Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mahmood Rajpoot, Qasim; Jensen, Christian D.; Krishnan, Ram

2015-01-01

as an important area of research. In this paper, we propose an access control model that combines the two models in a novel way in order to unify their benefits. Our approach provides a fine-grained access control mechanism that not only takes contextual information into account while making the access control...... decisions but is also suitable for applications where access to resources is controlled by exploiting contents of the resources in the policy....

Review article: Methodology for the 'rapid review' series on musculoskeletal injuries in the emergency department.

Science.gov (United States)

Strudwick, Kirsten; McPhee, Megan; Bell, Anthony; Martin-Khan, Melinda; Russell, Trevor

2018-02-01

Musculoskeletal injuries are a common presentation to the ED, with significant costs involved in the management of these injuries, variances in care within the ED and associated morbidity. A series of rapid review papers were completed to guide best practice for the assessment and management of common musculoskeletal injuries presenting to the ED. This paper presents the methodology used across the rapid reviews. PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, TRIP and the grey literature, including relevant organisational websites, were searched in 2015. The search was repeated consistently for each topic area (injuries of the foot and ankle, knee, hand and wrist, elbow, shoulder, lumbar spine and cervical spine). English-language primary studies, systematic reviews and guidelines that were published in the last 10 years and addressed acute musculoskeletal injury management were considered for inclusion. Data extraction of each included article was conducted, followed by a quality appraisal. The extracted data from each article was synthesised to group similar evidence together. For each rapid review, the evidence has been organised in a way that a clinician can direct their attention to a specific component of the clinical cycle of care in the ED, such as the assessment, diagnostic tests, management and follow-up considerations from ED. The series of rapid reviews are designed to foster evidence-based practice within the ED, targeting the injuries most commonly presenting. The reviews provide clinicians in EDs with rapid access to the best current evidence, which has been synthesised and organised to assist decision-making. © 2017 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.

Legislation should support optimal breastfeeding practices and access to low-cost, high-quality complementary foods: Indonesia provides a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Soekarjo, Damayanti; Zehner, Elizabeth

2011-10-01

It is important to support women to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months and continue breastfeeding for 24 months and beyond. It is also necessary to provide the poor with access to affordable ways to improve the quality of complementary foods. Currently, many countries do not have the legal and policy environment necessary to support exclusive and continued breastfeeding. Legislative and policy changes are also necessary for introducing complementary food supplements, allowing them to be marketed to those who need them, and ensuring that marketing remains appropriate and in full compliance with the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. This paper aims to illustrate the above with examples from Indonesia and to identify legislative requirements for supporting breastfeeding and enabling appropriate access to high-quality complementary food supplements for children 6-24 months of age. Requirements include improved information, training, monitoring and enforcement systems for the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes; implementation and monitoring of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative; establishment of a registration category for complementary food supplements to enhance availability of high-quality, low-cost fortified products to help improve young child feeding; clear identification and marketing of these products as complementary food supplements for 6-24-month-olds so as to promote proper use and not interfere with breastfeeding. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Gambling accessibility: a scale to measure gambler preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Susan M; Thomas, Anna C; Kyrios, Michael; Bates, Glen; Meredyth, Denise

2011-03-01

Geographic closeness of gambling venues is not the only aspect of accessibility likely to affect gambling frequency. Perceived accessibility of gambling venues may include other features such as convenience (e.g., opening hours) or "atmosphere". The aim of the current study was to develop a multidimensional measure of gamblers' perceptions of accessibility, and present evidence for its reliability and validity. We surveyed 303 gamblers with 43 items developed to measure different dimensions of accessibility. Factor analysis of the items produced a two factor solution. The first, Social Accessibility related to the level at which gambling venues were enjoyed because they were social places, provided varying entertainment options and had a pleasant atmosphere. The second factor, Accessible Retreat related to the degree to which venues were enjoyed because they were geographically and temporally available and provided a familiar and anonymous retreat with few interruptions or distractions. Both factors, developed as reliable subscales of the new Gambling Access Scale, demonstrated construct validity through their correlations with other gambling-related measures. Social Accessibility was moderately related to gambling frequency and amount spent, but not to problem gambling, while, as hypothesised, Accessible Retreat was associated with stronger urges to gamble and gambling problems.

Some Programs Should Not Run on Laptops - Providing Programmatic Access to Applications Via Web Services

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, V.; Gupta, N.; Gupta, S.; Field, E.; Maechling, P.

2003-12-01

Modern laptop computers, and personal computers, can provide capabilities that are, in many ways, comparable to workstations or departmental servers. However, this doesn't mean we should run all computations on our local computers. We have identified several situations in which it preferable to implement our seismological application programs in a distributed, server-based, computing model. In this model, application programs on the user's laptop, or local computer, invoke programs that run on an organizational server, and the results are returned to the invoking system. Situations in which a server-based architecture may be preferred include: (a) a program is written in a language, or written for an operating environment, that is unsupported on the local computer, (b) software libraries or utilities required to execute a program are not available on the users computer, (c) a computational program is physically too large, or computationally too expensive, to run on a users computer, (d) a user community wants to enforce a consistent method of performing a computation by standardizing on a single implementation of a program, and (e) the computational program may require current information, that is not available to all client computers. Until recently, distributed, server-based, computational capabilities were implemented using client/server architectures. In these architectures, client programs were often written in the same language, and they executed in the same computing environment, as the servers. Recently, a new distributed computational model, called Web Services, has been developed. Web Services are based on Internet standards such as XML, SOAP, WDSL, and UDDI. Web Services offer the promise of platform, and language, independent distributed computing. To investigate this new computational model, and to provide useful services to the SCEC Community, we have implemented several computational and utility programs using a Web Service architecture. We have

Access 2013 all-in-one for dummies

CERN Document Server

Barrows, Alison; Taylor, Allen G

2013-01-01

Get started with the new Access 2013 with this impressive all-in-one reference! Microsoft Access allows you to store, organize, view, analyze, and share data; the new release enables you to build even more powerful, custom database solutions that integrate with the web and enterprise data sources. This compilation of nine indispensible minibooks is exactly what you need to get up to speed on the latest changes to Access. This easy-to-understand resource provides both new and experienced Access users with invaluable advice for connecting Access to SQL Server, manipulating data local

Open Access and ORCID poster presentation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elbæk, Mikael Karstensen; Ekstrøm, Jeannette

2014-01-01

and related topics such as copyright, DTU Orbit, Open Access journals, APCs, Vouchers etc. ORCID ORCID – Open Research & Contributor ID – is an internationally recognized and widely used researcher-ID. ORCID makes it easy to reuse your data across disciplines, publishers and databases – all you need to do......Open Access Open Access is high on the agenda in Denmark and internationally. Denmark has announced a national strategy for Open Access that aims to achieve Open Access to 80% in 2017 and 100% in 2022 to peer review research articles. All public Danish funders as well as H2020 requires that all...... peer review articles that is an outcome of their funding will be Open Access. Uploading your full texts (your final author manuscript after review ) to DTU Orbit is a fundamental part of providing Open Access to your research. We are here to answer all your questions with regards to Open Access...

Achieving open access to conservation science.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuller, Richard A; Lee, Jasmine R; Watson, James E M

2014-12-01

Conservation science is a crisis discipline in which the results of scientific enquiry must be made available quickly to those implementing management. We assessed the extent to which scientific research published since the year 2000 in 20 conservation science journals is publicly available. Of the 19,207 papers published, 1,667 (8.68%) are freely downloadable from an official repository. Moreover, only 938 papers (4.88%) meet the standard definition of open access in which material can be freely reused providing attribution to the authors is given. This compares poorly with a comparable set of 20 evolutionary biology journals, where 31.93% of papers are freely downloadable and 7.49% are open access. Seventeen of the 20 conservation journals offer an open access option, but fewer than 5% of the papers are available through open access. The cost of accessing the full body of conservation science runs into tens of thousands of dollars per year for institutional subscribers, and many conservation practitioners cannot access pay-per-view science through their workplace. However, important initiatives such as Research4Life are making science available to organizations in developing countries. We urge authors of conservation science to pay for open access on a per-article basis or to choose publication in open access journals, taking care to ensure the license allows reuse for any purpose providing attribution is given. Currently, it would cost $51 million to make all conservation science published since 2000 freely available by paying the open access fees currently levied to authors. Publishers of conservation journals might consider more cost effective models for open access and conservation-oriented organizations running journals could consider a broader range of options for open access to nonmembers such as sponsorship of open access via membership fees. © 2014 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of the Society for

Open access to scientific articles: a review of benefits and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Björk, Bo-Christer

2017-03-01

The Internet has fundamentally changed the publishing of scholarly peer reviewed journals, and the way readers find and access articles. Digital access is nowadays the norm, in particular for researchers. The Internet has enabled a totally new business model, Open Access (OA), in which an article is openly available in full text for anyone with Internet access. This article reviews the different options to achieve this, whether by journals changing their revenue structures from subscription to publishing charges, or authors utilizing a number of options for posting OA versions of article manuscripts in repositories. It also discusses the regrettable emergence of "predatory" publishers, who spam academics, and make money by promising them rapid publication with only the semblance of peer review. The situation is further discussed from the viewpoints of different stakeholders, including academics as authors and readers, practicing physicians and the general public.

Rapid learning: a breakthrough agenda.

Science.gov (United States)

Etheredge, Lynn M

2014-07-01

A "rapid-learning health system" was proposed in a 2007 thematic issue of Health Affairs. The system was envisioned as one that uses evidence-based medicine to quickly determine the best possible treatments for patients. It does so by drawing on electronic health records and the power of big data to access large volumes of information from a variety of sources at high speed. The foundation for a rapid-learning health system was laid during 2007-13 by workshops, policy papers, large public investments in databases and research programs, and developing learning systems. Challenges now include implementing a new clinical research system with several hundred million patients, modernizing clinical trials and registries, devising and funding research on national priorities, and analyzing genetic and other factors that influence diseases and responses to treatment. Next steps also should aim to improve comparative effectiveness research; build on investments in health information technology to standardize handling of genetic information and support information exchange through apps and software modules; and develop new tools, data, and information for clinical decision support. Further advances will require commitment, leadership, and public-private and global collaboration. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Remote Sensing Open Access Journal: Increasing Impact through Quality Publications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prasad S. Thenkabail

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Remote Sensing, an open access journal (http://www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing has grown at rapid pace since its first publication five years ago, and has acquired a strong reputation. It is a “pathfinder” being the first open access journal in remote sensing. For those academics who were used to waiting a year or two for their peer-reviewed scientific work to be reviewed, revised, edited, and published, Remote Sensing offers a publication time frame that is unheard of (in most cases, less than four months. However, we do this after multiple peer-reviews, multiple revisions, much editorial scrutiny and decision-making, and professional editing by an editorial office before a paper is published online in our tight time frame, bringing a paradigm shift in scientific publication. As a result, there has been a swift increase in submissions of higher and higher quality manuscripts from the best authors and institutes working on Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS, GIScience, and all related geospatial science and technologies from around the world. The purpose of this editorial is to update everyone interested in Remote Sensing on the progress made over the last year, and provide an outline of our vision for the immediate future. [...

Implementation of accessible tourism concept at museums in Jakarta

Science.gov (United States)

Wiastuti, R. D.; Adiati, M. P.; Lestari, N. S.

2018-03-01

Accessibility, sustainability and equitable participation by all makeup what is known as Tourism for All. Tourism product must be designed for all people despite the age, gender and ability as one of the requirements to comply the accessible tourism concept. Museum as one of the elements of tourism chain must adhere to accessible tourism concept thus able to be enjoyed for everyone regardless of one’s abilities. The aim of this study is to identify the implementation of accessible tourism concept at the museum in Jakarta and to provide practical accessibility- improvement measures for the museum in Jakarta towards accessible tourism concept. This research is qualitative- explorative research. Jakarta Tourism Board website was used as the main reference to obtain which museum that was selected. Primary data collect from direct field observations and interview. The results outline museum implementation of accessible tourism that classified into five criteria; information, transport, common requirements, universal design, and accessibility. The implication of this study provides recommendations to enhance museums’ accessibility performance expected to be in line with accessible tourism concept.

CameraCast: flexible access to remote video sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Jiantao; Ganev, Ivan; Schwan, Karsten; Widener, Patrick

2007-01-01

New applications like remote surveillance and online environmental or traffic monitoring are making it increasingly important to provide flexible and protected access to remote video sensor devices. Current systems use application-level codes like web-based solutions to provide such access. This requires adherence to user-level APIs provided by such services, access to remote video information through given application-specific service and server topologies, and that the data being captured and distributed is manipulated by third party service codes. CameraCast is a simple, easily used system-level solution to remote video access. It provides a logical device API so that an application can identically operate on local vs. remote video sensor devices, using its own service and server topologies. In addition, the application can take advantage of API enhancements to protect remote video information, using a capability-based model for differential data protection that offers fine grain control over the information made available to specific codes or machines, thereby limiting their ability to violate privacy or security constraints. Experimental evaluations of CameraCast show that the performance of accessing remote video information approximates that of accesses to local devices, given sufficient networking resources. High performance is also attained when protection restrictions are enforced, due to an efficient kernel-level realization of differential data protection.

The Access Pricing Problem: A Synthesis.

OpenAIRE

Armstrong, Mark; Doyle, Chris; Vickers, John

1996-01-01

The Baumol-Willig efficient component pricing rule states that it is efficient to set the price of access to an essential facility equal to the direct cost of access plus the opportunity cost to the integrated access provider. The authors analyze the relevant notion of 'opportunity cost' under various assumptions about demand and supply conditions, including product differentiation, bypass, and substitution possibilities, which all reduce opportunity cost compared to the benchmark case. They ...

Internet-accessible real-time weather information system

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Desai, R.G.P.; Joseph, A.; Desa, E.; Mehra, P.; Desa, E.; Gouveia, A.D.

An internet-accessible real-time weather information system has been developed. This system provides real-time accessibility to weather information from a multitude of spatially distributed weather stations. The Internet connectivity also offers...

Teenagers’ access to contraception in Mexico City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sofía Gómez-Inclán

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Objective. To study and understand the phenomenon of access to contraceptive methods in Mexican teenages, through the use of the Levesque model, which allows for the observation of both the system and the system and the user´s participation in the access process. Materials and methods. A qualitative study was conducted with focus groups technique in a middle and high school of Mexico City. Results. The perception of ability to access to health care is limited, teenagers do not know the mechanisms of care or supply of contraceptive methods. Prejudices of service providers provoke a negative reaction. The family is a source of information for adolescents to make decisions. Conclusions. The model allowed the assessment of access to contraceptive methods in teenagers. It were identified dif­ferent aspects that act as barriers to access and may inform health care providers about this population in their sexual and reproductive health.

Wireless Multi Hop Access Networks and Protocols

OpenAIRE

Nilsson Plymoth, Anders

2007-01-01

As more and more applications and services in our society now depend on the Internet, it is important that dynamically deployed wireless multi hop networks are able to gain access to the Internet and other infrastructure networks and services. This thesis proposes and evaluates solutions for providing multi hop Internet Access. It investigates how ad hoc networks can be combined with wireless and mesh networks in order to create wireless multi hop access networks. When several access points t...

An end-to-end secure patient information access card system.

Science.gov (United States)

Alkhateeb, A; Singer, H; Yakami, M; Takahashi, T

2000-03-01

The rapid development of the Internet and the increasing interest in Internet-based solutions has promoted the idea of creating Internet-based health information applications. This will force a change in the role of IC cards in healthcare card systems from a data carrier to an access key medium. At the Medical Informatics Department of Kyoto University Hospital we are developing a smart card patient information project where patient databases are accessed via the Internet. Strong end-to-end data encryption is performed via Secure Socket Layers, transparent to transmit patient information. The smart card is playing the crucial role of access key to the database: user authentication is performed internally without ever revealing the actual key. For easy acceptance by healthcare professionals, the user interface is integrated as a plug-in for two familiar Web browsers, Netscape Navigator and MS Internet Explorer.

Accessibility Guidelines for Astronomy and Astrophysics Meetings

Science.gov (United States)

Monkiewicz, Jacqueline; Murphy, Nicholas; Diaz-Merced, Wanda Liz; Aarnio, Alicia; Knierman, Karen; AAS Working Group for Accessibility and Disability

2018-01-01

Attendance at meetings and conferences is a critical component of an astronomer's professional life, providing opportunities for presenting one's work, staying current in the field, career networking, and scientific collaboration. Exclusion from these gatherings due to lack of accessibility and accommodation failure is a reality for disabled astronomers, and contributes substantially to low levels of representation in the senior-most levels of the field. We present a preview of the AAS Working Group for Accessibility and Disability's best practice recommendations for meetings accessibility. Applying the principles of universal access and barrier-free design, we model a paradigm of anticipating and removing accessibility barriers in advance, rather than putting the burden of requesting accommodation solely on disabled astronomers and students. We cite several professional and nonprofessional societies identified as meetings accessibility exemplars, and model our guidelines on their best practices. We establish standards for accessibility budgeting, venue choice, publication of policies online, designating point persons, and identifying barriers. We make recommendations for oral and poster presentations, event registration, receptions and banquets, excursions, and other typical conference activities. For meetings which are constrained by fixed budgets and venue choice, we identify a number of low cost/high reward accessibility steps which might still have a large beneficial impact. We likewise provide adapted recommendations for low budget meetings. THIS IS A POSTER LOCATED IN THE AAS BOOTH

ASAView: Database and tool for solvent accessibility representation in proteins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fawareh Hamed

2004-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Accessible surface area (ASA or solvent accessibility of amino acids in a protein has important implications. Knowledge of surface residues helps in locating potential candidates of active sites. Therefore, a method to quickly see the surface residues in a two dimensional model would help to immediately understand the population of amino acid residues on the surface and in the inner core of the proteins. Results ASAView is an algorithm, an application and a database of schematic representations of solvent accessibility of amino acid residues within proteins. A characteristic two-dimensional spiral plot of solvent accessibility provides a convenient graphical view of residues in terms of their exposed surface areas. In addition, sequential plots in the form of bar charts are also provided. Online plots of the proteins included in the entire Protein Data Bank (PDB, are provided for the entire protein as well as their chains separately. Conclusions These graphical plots of solvent accessibility are likely to provide a quick view of the overall topological distribution of residues in proteins. Chain-wise computation of solvent accessibility is also provided.

Open Access to Mexican Academic Production

Science.gov (United States)

Adame, Silvia I.; Llorens, Luis

2016-01-01

This paper presents a description of the metadata harvester software development. This system provides access to reliable and quality educational resources, shared by Mexican Universities through their repositories, to anyone with Internet Access. We present the conceptual and contextual framework, followed by the technical basis, the results and…

A novel IPTV program multiplex access system to EPON

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Xian; Liu, Deming; He, Wei; Lu, Xi

2007-11-01

With the rapid development of high speed networks, such as Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON), traffic patterns in access networks have evolved from traditional text-oriented service to the mixed text-, voice- and video- based services, leading to so called "Triple Play". For supporting IPTV service in EPON access network infrastructure, in this article we propose a novel IPTV program multiplex access system to EPON, which enables multiple IPTV program source servers to seamlessly access to IPTV service access port of optical line terminal (OLT) in EPON. There are two multiplex schemes, namely static multiplex scheme and dynamic multiplex scheme, in implementing the program multiplexing. Static multiplex scheme is to multiplex all the IPTV programs and forward them to the OLT, regardless of the need of end-users. While dynamic multiplex scheme can dynamically multiplex and forward IPTV programs according to what the end-users actually demand and those watched by no end-user would not be multiplexed. By comparing these two schemes, a reduced traffic of EPON can be achieved by using dynamic multiplex scheme, especially when most end-users are watching the same few IPTV programs. Both schemes are implemented in our system, with their hardware and software designs described.

Access control within military C4ISR systems

Science.gov (United States)

Maschino, Mike

2003-07-01

Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) tactical battlefield systems must provide the right information and resources to the right individuals at the right time. At the same time, the C4ISR system must enforce access controls to prevent the wrong individuals from obtaining sensitive information, or consuming scarce resources. Because lives, missions and property depend upon them, these access control mechanisms must be effective, reliable, efficient and flexible. The mechanisms employed must suit the nature of the items that are to be protected, as well as the varieties of access policies that must be enforced, and the types of access that will be made to these items. Some access control technologies are inherently centralized, while others are suitable for distributed implementation. The C4ISR architect must select from among the available technologies a combination of mechanisms that eases the burden of policy administration, but is inherently survivable, accurate, resource efficient, and which provides low latency. This paper explores various alternative access enforcement mechanisms, and assesses their effectiveness in managing policy-driven access control within the battlespace.

Marginalized Student Access to Technology Education

Science.gov (United States)

Kurtcu, Wanda M.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a teacher can disrupt an established curriculum that continues the cycle of inequity of access to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curriculum by students in alternative education. For this paper, I will focus on the technology components of the STEM curriculum. Technology in the United States, if not the world economy, is developing at a rapid pace. Many areas of day to day living, from applying for a job to checking one's bank account online, involve a component of science and technology. The 'gap' in technology education is emphasized between the 'haves and have-nots', which is delineated along socio-economic lines. Marginalized students in alternative education programs use this equipment for little else than remedial programs and credit recovery. This level of inequity further widens in alternative education programs and affects the achievement of marginalized students in credit recovery or alternative education classes instead of participation technology classes. For the purposes of this paper I focus on how can I decrease the inequity of student access to 21st century technology education in an alternative education program by addressing the established curriculum of the program and modifying structural barriers of marginalized student access to a technology focused curriculum.

Patient choice of providers in a preferred provider organization.

Science.gov (United States)

Wouters, A V; Hester, J

1988-03-01

This article is an analysis of patient choice of providers by the employees of the Security Pacific Bank of California and their dependents who have access to the Med Network Preferred Provider Organization (PPO). The empirical results show that not only is the PPO used by individuals who require relatively little medical care (as measured by predicted office visit charges) but that the PPO is most intensively used for low-risk services such as treatment for minor illness and preventive care. Also, the most likely Security Pacific Health Care beneficiary to use a PPO provider is a recently hired employee who lives in the south urban region, has a relatively low income, does not have supplemental insurance coverage, and is without previous attachments to non-PPO primary care providers. In order to maximize their ability to reduce plan paid benefits, insurers who contract with PPOs should focus on increasing PPO utilization among poorer health risks.

Association of State Access Standards With Accessibility to Specialists for Medicaid Managed Care Enrollees.

Science.gov (United States)

Ndumele, Chima D; Cohen, Michael S; Cleary, Paul D

2017-10-01

Medicaid recipients have consistently reported less timely access to specialists than patients with other types of coverage. By 2018, state Medicaid agencies will be required by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to enact time and distance standards for managed care organizations to ensure an adequate supply of specialist physicians for enrollees; however, there have been no published studies of whether these policies have significant effects on access to specialty care. To compare ratings of access to specialists for adult Medicaid and commercial enrollees before and after the implementation of specialty access standards. We used Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey data to conduct a quasiexperimental difference-in-differences (DID) analysis of 20 163 nonelderly adult Medicaid managed care (MMC) enrollees and 54 465 commercially insured enrollees in 5 states adopting access standards, and 37 290 MMC enrollees in 5 matched states that previously adopted access standards. Reported access to specialty care in the previous 6 months. Seven thousand six hundred ninety-eight (69%) Medicaid enrollees and 28 423 (75%) commercial enrollees reported that it was always or usually easy to get an appointment with a specialist before the policy implementation (or at baseline) compared with 11 889 (67%) of Medicaid enrollees in states that had previously implemented access standards. Overall, there was no significant improvement in timely access to specialty services for MMC enrollees in the period following implementation of standard(s) (adjusted difference-in-differences, -1.2 percentage points; 95% CI, -2.7 to 0.1), nor was there any impact of access standards on insurance-based disparities in access (0.6 percentage points; 95% CI, -4.3 to 5.4). There was heterogeneity across states, with 1 state that implemented both time and distance standards demonstrating significant improvements in access and reductions in disparities

Biometrics: Accessibility challenge or opportunity?

Science.gov (United States)

Blanco-Gonzalo, Ramon; Lunerti, Chiara; Sanchez-Reillo, Raul; Guest, Richard Michael

2018-01-01

Biometric recognition is currently implemented in several authentication contexts, most recently in mobile devices where it is expected to complement or even replace traditional authentication modalities such as PIN (Personal Identification Number) or passwords. The assumed convenience characteristics of biometrics are transparency, reliability and ease-of-use, however, the question of whether biometric recognition is as intuitive and straightforward to use is open to debate. Can biometric systems make some tasks easier for people with accessibility concerns? To investigate this question, an accessibility evaluation of a mobile app was conducted where test subjects withdraw money from a fictitious ATM (Automated Teller Machine) scenario. The biometric authentication mechanisms used include face, voice, and fingerprint. Furthermore, we employed traditional modalities of PIN and pattern in order to check if biometric recognition is indeed a real improvement. The trial test subjects within this work were people with real-life accessibility concerns. A group of people without accessibility concerns also participated, providing a baseline performance. Experimental results are presented concerning performance, HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) and accessibility, grouped according to category of accessibility concern. Our results reveal links between individual modalities and user category establishing guidelines for future accessible biometric products.

Biometrics: Accessibility challenge or opportunity?

Science.gov (United States)

Lunerti, Chiara; Sanchez-Reillo, Raul; Guest, Richard Michael

2018-01-01

Biometric recognition is currently implemented in several authentication contexts, most recently in mobile devices where it is expected to complement or even replace traditional authentication modalities such as PIN (Personal Identification Number) or passwords. The assumed convenience characteristics of biometrics are transparency, reliability and ease-of-use, however, the question of whether biometric recognition is as intuitive and straightforward to use is open to debate. Can biometric systems make some tasks easier for people with accessibility concerns? To investigate this question, an accessibility evaluation of a mobile app was conducted where test subjects withdraw money from a fictitious ATM (Automated Teller Machine) scenario. The biometric authentication mechanisms used include face, voice, and fingerprint. Furthermore, we employed traditional modalities of PIN and pattern in order to check if biometric recognition is indeed a real improvement. The trial test subjects within this work were people with real-life accessibility concerns. A group of people without accessibility concerns also participated, providing a baseline performance. Experimental results are presented concerning performance, HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) and accessibility, grouped according to category of accessibility concern. Our results reveal links between individual modalities and user category establishing guidelines for future accessible biometric products. PMID:29565989

Holistic approaches to e-learning accessibility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lawrie Phipps

2006-12-01

Full Text Available The importance of accessibility to digital e-learning resources is widely acknowledged. The World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative has played a leading role in promoting the importance of accessibility and developing guidelines that can help when developing accessible web resources. The accessibility of e-learning resources provides additional challenges. While it is important to consider the technical and resource related aspects of e-learning when designing and developing resources for students with disabilities, there is a need to consider pedagogic and contextual issues as well. A holistic framework is therefore proposed and described, which in addition to accessibility issues takes into account learner needs, learning outcomes, local factors, infrastructure, usability and quality assurance. The practical application and implementation of this framework is discussed and illustrated through the use of examples and case studies.

Development of Disruptive Open Access Journals

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Terry; McConkey, Brigette

2009-01-01

Open access (OA) publication has emerged, with disruptive effects, as a major outlet for scholarly publication. OA publication is usually associated with on-line distribution and provides access to scholarly publications to anyone, anywhere--regardless of their ability to pay subscription fees or their association with an educational institution.…

Integrated social facility location planning for decision support: Accessibility studies provide support to facility location and integration of social service provision

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Green, Cheri A

2012-09-01

Full Text Available for two or more facilities to create an integrated plan for development Step 6 Costing of development plan Case Study Access norms and thresholds guidelines in accessibility analysis Appropriate norms/provision guidelines facilitate both service... access norms and threshold standards ?Test the relationship between service demand and the supply (service capacity) of the facility provision points within a defined catchment area ?Promote the ?right?sizing? of facilities relative to the demand...

Workshop AccessibleTV "Accessible User Interfaces for Future TV Applications"

Science.gov (United States)

Hahn, Volker; Hamisu, Pascal; Jung, Christopher; Heinrich, Gregor; Duarte, Carlos; Langdon, Pat

Approximately half of the elderly people over 55 suffer from some type of typically mild visual, auditory, motor or cognitive impairment. For them interaction, especially with PCs and other complex devices is sometimes challenging, although accessible ICT applications could make much of a difference for their living quality. Basically they have the potential to enable or simplify participation and inclusion in their surrounding private and professional communities. However, the availability of accessible user interfaces being capable to adapt to the specific needs and requirements of users with individual impairments is very limited. Although there are a number of APIs [1, 2, 3, 4] available for various platforms that allow developers to provide accessibility features within their applications, today none of them provides features for the automatic adaptation of multimodal interfaces being capable to automatically fit the individual requirements of users with different kinds of impairments. Moreover, the provision of accessible user interfaces is still expensive and risky for application developers, as they need special experience and effort for user tests. Today many implementations simply neglect the needs of elderly people, thus locking out a large portion of their potential users. The workshop is organized as part of the dissemination activity for the European-funded project GUIDE "Gentle user interfaces for elderly people", which aims to address this situation with a comprehensive approach for the realization of multimodal user interfaces being capable to adapt to the needs of users with different kinds of mild impairments. As application platform, GUIDE will mainly target TVs and Set-Top Boxes, such as the emerging Connected-TV or WebTV platforms, as they have the potential to address the needs of the elderly users with applications such as for home automation, communication or continuing education.

Rural adolescents' access to adolescent friendly health services.

Science.gov (United States)

Secor-Turner, Molly A; Randall, Brandy A; Brennan, Alison L; Anderson, Melinda K; Gross, Dean A

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to assess rural North Dakota adolescents' experiences in accessing adolescent-friendly health services and to examine the relationship between rural adolescents' communication with health care providers and risk behaviors. Data are from the Rural Adolescent Health Survey (RAHS), an anonymous survey of 14- to 19-year-olds (n = 322) attending secondary schools in four frontier counties of North Dakota. Descriptive statistics were used to assess participants' access to adolescent-friendly health services characterized as accessible, acceptable, and appropriate. Logistic regressions were used to examine whether participant-reported risk behaviors predicted communication with health care providers about individual health risk behaviors. Rural adolescents reported high access to acceptable primary health care services but low levels of effective health care services. Participant report of engaging in high-risk behaviors was associated with having received information from health care providers about the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. These findings reveal missed opportunities for primary care providers in rural settings to provide fundamental health promotion to adolescents. Copyright © 2014 National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Food (In)Security in Rapidly Urbanising, Low-Income Contexts

OpenAIRE

Cecilia Tacoli

2017-01-01

Urbanisation in low and middle-income nations presents both opportunities and immense challenges. As urban centres grow rapidly, inadequate housing and the lack of basic infrastructure and services affect a large and growing proportion of their population. There is also a growing body of evidence on urban poverty and its links with environmental hazards. There is, however, limited knowledge of how these challenges affect the ways in which poor urban residents gain access to food and secure he...

Access Structures in a Standard Translation Dictionary | Louw ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The access structure is the primary guide structure in the central texts of any standard translation dictionary. The metalexicographical term "guide structures" refers to the set of structures that provides a framework within which the accessibility and availability of information types in the dictionary can be evaluated. The access ...

Open-Access Electronic Textbooks: An Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Ovadia, Steven

2011-01-01

Given the challenging economic climate in the United States, many academics are looking to open-access electronic textbooks as a way to provide students with traditional textbook content at a more financially advantageous price. Open access refers to "the free and widely available information throughout the World Wide Web. Once an article's…

Online Access Patterns and Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nasir Butrous

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The paper follows accessing patterns of five cohorts of postgraduate students enrolled in a core unit within a master of business administration (MBA program. The unit is designed to provide numerous opportunities for student participation in Discussion Boards using Blackboard technology. Discussion Boards create numerous opportunities for interaction amongst online learners to share and exchange their experiences, creating a sense of a virtual community. Relationships between accessing patterns for each week of the semester for each student are explored in relation to their performance using course statistics generated by the Blackboard technology. Close examination of the significant differences in access patterns to the course window and its components of communication, content, and student areas reveal middle of the semester (week 7 as the common critical point that differentiates high achieving students from low achieving students. Identifying critical points provides the faculty staff member an opportunity to introduce intervention strategies in order to improve the learning experience of all the students.

Primary care access for mental illness in Australia: Patterns of access to general practice from 2006 to 2016.

Science.gov (United States)

Farrer, Louise M; Walker, Jennie; Harrison, Christopher; Banfield, Michelle

2018-01-01

General practice has an important role within the Australian healthcare system to provide access to care and effective management of chronic health conditions. However, people with serious mental illness experience challenges associated with service access. The current paper seeks to examine drivers of access to general practice for people with common and serious mental disorders, compared with people who access care for type II diabetes, a common physical health problem managed in general practice. The Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) programme provides the most comprehensive and objective measurement of general practitioner activity in Australia. Using BEACH data, this study compared general practice encounters for depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and type II diabetes during a 10-year period between 2006 and 2016. Analysis revealed more frequent encounters for depression compared to anxiety, and a higher representation of women in encounters for bipolar disorder compared to men. The relationship between number of encounters and patient age was strongly associated with the life course and mortality characteristics associated with each disorder. The findings highlight specific challenges associated with access to primary care for people with serious mental illness, and suggest areas of focus to improve the ability of these patients to access and navigate the health system.

Access control system operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, L.D.

1981-06-01

An automated method for the control and monitoring of personnel movement throughout the site was developed under contract to the Department of Energy by Allied-General Nuclear Services (AGNS) at the Barnwell Nuclear Fuel Plant (BNFP). These automated features provide strict enforcement of personnel access policy without routine patrol officer involvement. Identification methods include identification by employee ID number, identification by voice verification and identification by physical security officer verification. The ability to grant each level of access authority is distributed over the organization to prevent any single individual at any level in the organization from being capable of issuing an authorization for entry into sensitive areas. Each access event is recorded. As access events occur, the inventory of both the entered and the exited control area is updated so that a current inventory is always available for display. The system has been operated since 1979 in a development mode and many revisions have been implemented in hardware and software as areas were added to the system. Recent changes have involved the installation of backup systems and other features required to achieve a high reliability. The access control system and recent operating experience are described

Black Carbon and Kerosene Lighting: An Opportunity for Rapid Action on Climate Change and Clean Energy for Development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jacobson, Arne [Humboldt State Univ., MN (United States). Schatz Energy Research Center; Bond, Tami C. [Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Lam, Nicholoas L. [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Environmental Health Sciences; Hultman, Nathan [The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC (United States)

2013-04-15

Replacing inefficient kerosene lighting with electric lighting or other clean alternatives can rapidly achieve development and energy access goals, save money and reduce climate warming. Many of the 250 million households that lack reliable access to electricity rely on inefficient and dangerous simple wick lamps and other kerosene-fueled light sources, using 4 to 25 billion liters of kerosene annually to meet basic lighting needs. Kerosene costs can be a significant household expense and subsidies are expensive. New information on kerosene lamp emissions reveals that their climate impacts are substantial. Eliminating current annual black carbon emissions would provide a climate benefit equivalent to 5 gigatons of carbon dioxide reductions over the next 20 years. Robust and low-cost technologies for supplanting simple wick and other kerosene-fueled lamps exist and are easily distributed and scalable. Improving household lighting offers a low-cost opportunity to improve development, cool the climate and reduce costs.

The development of open access journal publishing from 1993 to 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

Laakso, Mikael; Welling, Patrik; Bukvova, Helena; Nyman, Linus; Björk, Bo-Christer; Hedlund, Turid

2011-01-01

Open Access (OA) is a model for publishing scholarly peer reviewed journals, made possible by the Internet. The full text of OA journals and articles can be freely read, as the publishing is funded through means other than subscriptions. Empirical research concerning the quantitative development of OA publishing has so far consisted of scattered individual studies providing brief snapshots, using varying methods and data sources. This study adopts a systematic method for studying the development of OA journals from their beginnings in the early 1990s until 2009. Because no comprehensive index of OA articles exists, systematic manual data collection from journal web sites was conducted based on journal-level data extracted from the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Due to the high number of journals registered in the DOAJ, almost 5000 at the time of the study, stratified random sampling was used. A separate sample of verified early pioneer OA journals was also studied. The results show a very rapid growth of OA publishing during the period 1993-2009. During the last year an estimated 191 000 articles were published in 4769 journals. Since the year 2000, the average annual growth rate has been 18% for the number of journals and 30% for the number of articles. This can be contrasted to the reported 3,5% yearly volume increase in journal publishing in general. In 2009 the share of articles in OA journals, of all peer reviewed journal articles, reached 7,7%. Overall, the results document a rapid growth in OA journal publishing over the last fifteen years. Based on the sampling results and qualitative data a division into three distinct periods is suggested: The Pioneering years (1993-1999), the Innovation years (2000-2004), and the Consolidation years (2005-2009).

Accessing and disclosing protected resources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Henning; Khajuria, Samant

2015-01-01

Today, data is money. Whether it is private users' personal data or confidential data and assets belonging to service providers, all parties have a strong need to protect their resources when interacting with each other, i.e. for access control and authorization measures to be deployed. Enabling...... advanced user controlled privacy is essential to realize the visions of 5G applications and services. For service providers and enterprises resources are usually well safeguarded, while private users are often missing the tools and the know-how to protect their own data and preserve their privacy. The user...... the framework of User Managed Access (UMA), can enable users to understand the value of their protected resources and possibly give them control of how their data will be used by service providers....

Eight new genomes and synthetic controls increase the accessibility of rapid melt-MAMA SNP typing of Coxiella burnetii.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edvin Karlsson

Full Text Available The case rate of Q fever in Europe has increased dramatically in recent years, mainly because of an epidemic in the Netherlands in 2009. Consequently, there is a need for more extensive genetic characterization of the disease agent Coxiella burnetii in order to better understand the epidemiology and spread of this disease. Genome reference data are essential for this purpose, but only thirteen genome sequences are currently available. Current methods for typing C. burnetii are criticized for having problems in comparing results across laboratories, require the use of genomic control DNA, and/or rely on markers in highly variable regions. We developed in this work a method for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP typing of C. burnetii isolates and tissue samples based on new assays targeting ten phylogenetically stable synonymous canonical SNPs (canSNPs. These canSNPs represent previously known phylogenetic branches and were here identified from sequence comparisons of twenty-one C. burnetii genomes, eight of which were sequenced in this work. Importantly, synthetic control templates were developed, to make the method useful to laboratories lacking genomic control DNA. An analysis of twenty-one C. burnetii genomes confirmed that the species exhibits high sequence identity. Most of its SNPs (7,493/7,559 shared by >1 genome follow a clonal inheritance pattern and are therefore stable phylogenetic typing markers. The assays were validated using twenty-six genetically diverse C. burnetii isolates and three tissue samples from small ruminants infected during the epidemic in the Netherlands. Each sample was assigned to a clade. Synthetic controls (vector and PCR amplified gave identical results compared to the corresponding genomic controls and are viable alternatives to genomic DNA. The results from the described method indicate that it could be useful for cheap and rapid disease source tracking at non-specialized laboratories, which requires accurate

Public Access for Teaching Genomics, Proteomics, and Bioinformatics

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, A. Malcolm

2003-01-01

When the human genome project was conceived, its leaders wanted all researchers to have equal access to the data and associated research tools. Their vision of equal access provides an unprecedented teaching opportunity. Teachers and students have free access to the same databases that researchers are using. Furthermore, the recent movement to…

Health Care Access Among Deaf People.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuenburg, Alexa; Fellinger, Paul; Fellinger, Johannes

2016-01-01

Access to health care without barriers is a clearly defined right of people with disabilities as stated by the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. The present study reviews literature from 2000 to 2015 on access to health care for deaf people and reveals significant challenges in communication with health providers and gaps in global health knowledge for deaf people including those with even higher risk of marginalization. Examples of approaches to improve access to health care, such as providing powerful and visually accessible communication through the use of sign language, the implementation of important communication technologies, and cultural awareness trainings for health professionals are discussed. Programs that raise health knowledge in Deaf communities and models of primary health care centers for deaf people are also presented. Published documents can empower deaf people to realize their right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Efficient Access Control in Multimedia Social Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Sachan, Amit; Emmanuel, Sabu

Multimedia social networks (MMSNs) have provided a convenient way to share multimedia contents such as images, videos, blogs, etc. Contents shared by a person can be easily accessed by anybody else over the Internet. However, due to various privacy, security, and legal concerns people often want to selectively share the contents only with their friends, family, colleagues, etc. Access control mechanisms play an important role in this situation. With access control mechanisms one can decide the persons who can access a shared content and who cannot. But continuously growing content uploads and accesses, fine grained access control requirements (e.g. different access control parameters for different parts in a picture), and specific access control requirements for multimedia contents can make the time complexity of access control to be very large. So, it is important to study an efficient access control mechanism suitable for MMSNs. In this chapter we present an efficient bit-vector transform based access control mechanism for MMSNs. The proposed approach is also compatible with other requirements of MMSNs, such as access rights modification, content deletion, etc. Mathematical analysis and experimental results show the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed approach.

KAUST Open Access policy

KAUST Repository

Baessa, Mohamed A.

2017-01-01

The library plays a critical role in facilitating open access for their researchers, from managing a repository to providing support and information on the OA publication process to their authors. Janis Tyhurst and Dr Imad

34 CFR 21.1 - Equal Access to Justice Act.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 34 Education 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Equal Access to Justice Act. 21.1 Section 21.1 Education Office of the Secretary, Department of Education EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE General § 21.1 Equal Access to Justice Act. (a) The Equal Access to Justice Act (the Act) provides for the award of fees and...

Biometrics: Accessibility challenge or opportunity?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramon Blanco-Gonzalo

Full Text Available Biometric recognition is currently implemented in several authentication contexts, most recently in mobile devices where it is expected to complement or even replace traditional authentication modalities such as PIN (Personal Identification Number or passwords. The assumed convenience characteristics of biometrics are transparency, reliability and ease-of-use, however, the question of whether biometric recognition is as intuitive and straightforward to use is open to debate. Can biometric systems make some tasks easier for people with accessibility concerns? To investigate this question, an accessibility evaluation of a mobile app was conducted where test subjects withdraw money from a fictitious ATM (Automated Teller Machine scenario. The biometric authentication mechanisms used include face, voice, and fingerprint. Furthermore, we employed traditional modalities of PIN and pattern in order to check if biometric recognition is indeed a real improvement. The trial test subjects within this work were people with real-life accessibility concerns. A group of people without accessibility concerns also participated, providing a baseline performance. Experimental results are presented concerning performance, HCI (Human-Computer Interaction and accessibility, grouped according to category of accessibility concern. Our results reveal links between individual modalities and user category establishing guidelines for future accessible biometric products.

Public Funding and Budgetary Challenges to Providing Universal Access to Primary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Omwami, Edith Mukudi; Keller, Edmond J.

2010-01-01

Budgetary capacity that would allow for the public funding of the provision of universal access to primary education is lacking in many sub-Saharan economies. National revenues significantly lag behind the overall economic productivity measure of GDP. Analysis of data derived from UNESCO and UNDP for 2004 shows that governments in the region spend…

University access for social justice: a capabilities perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Merridy Wilson-Strydom

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The closely related, but often contradictory, issues of increasing access to university and improving students' chances of success in their university studies have been and continue to be an important research focus within higher education studies and policy in South Africa and beyond. More recently, the challenge of underpreparedness of students entering university has gained prominence as universities struggle to increase their throughput rates. It can be argued that increasing access, without increasing chances of success, is becoming a new form of social exclusion within higher education. Thispaperproposes that approaching issues of access from a capabilities perspective (as developed by Amartya Sen provides a means of fostering access for social justice and countering access that leads to social exclusion. As such, this is a theoretical paper building on existing work on the capabilities approach within education to argue that the notion of capabilities provides a useful theoretical and conceptual framework for understanding the complexities of meaningful access to university in a deeply divided society like South Africa.

Web accessibility and open source software.

Science.gov (United States)

Obrenović, Zeljko

2009-07-01

A Web browser provides a uniform user interface to different types of information. Making this interface universally accessible and more interactive is a long-term goal still far from being achieved. Universally accessible browsers require novel interaction modalities and additional functionalities, for which existing browsers tend to provide only partial solutions. Although functionality for Web accessibility can be found as open source and free software components, their reuse and integration is complex because they were developed in diverse implementation environments, following standards and conventions incompatible with the Web. To address these problems, we have started several activities that aim at exploiting the potential of open-source software for Web accessibility. The first of these activities is the development of Adaptable Multi-Interface COmmunicator (AMICO):WEB, an infrastructure that facilitates efficient reuse and integration of open source software components into the Web environment. The main contribution of AMICO:WEB is in enabling the syntactic and semantic interoperability between Web extension mechanisms and a variety of integration mechanisms used by open source and free software components. Its design is based on our experiences in solving practical problems where we have used open source components to improve accessibility of rich media Web applications. The second of our activities involves improving education, where we have used our platform to teach students how to build advanced accessibility solutions from diverse open-source software. We are also partially involved in the recently started Eclipse projects called Accessibility Tools Framework (ACTF), the aim of which is development of extensible infrastructure, upon which developers can build a variety of utilities that help to evaluate and enhance the accessibility of applications and content for people with disabilities. In this article we briefly report on these activities.

Public Interest in Accessing the INIS Collection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Savić, Dobrica

2016-01-01

Since its creation in 1970, the International Nuclear Information System (INIS) has collected and provided access to more than 3.8 million bibliographic references to publications, documents, technical reports, non‐copyrighted documentation, and other grey literature, as well as over a million full texts. Overall, there are 800 GB of data in the INIS repository. Public interest in accessing this collection has been remarkable. This year alone, there were more than one million sessions and almost two million page views. During the same period, there were 1.6 million full text document downloads. The INIS collection consists of seven types of literature – computer media, patents, books, reports, journal articles, miscellaneous and audio‐visuals. This paper provides an overview of the INIS collection subject coverage, and the distribution of different types of grey literature. It also provides INIS repository access statistics based on Google Analytics and other Web search data pertaining to public interest in accessing these different types of literature and the uniqueness of the collection. As one of the world's largest collections of published information on the peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology, INIS represents an extraordinary example of world cooperation. 154 INIS members share and allow access to their valuable nuclear information resources, preserving them for future generations and offering a freely available nuclear knowledge repository. (author)

Health Care Access among Deaf People

Science.gov (United States)

Kuenburg, Alexa; Fellinger, Paul; Fellinger, Johannes

2016-01-01

Access to health care without barriers is a clearly defined right of people with disabilities as stated by the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. The present study reviews literature from 2000 to 2015 on access to health care for deaf people and reveals significant challenges in communication with health providers and gaps in…

Facilitators of prenatal care access in rural Appalachia.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillippi, Julia C; Myers, Carole R; Schorn, Mavis N

2014-12-01

There are many providers and models of prenatal care, some more effective than others. However, quantitative research alone cannot determine the reasons beneficial models of care improve health outcomes. Perspectives of women receiving care from effective clinics can provide valuable insight. We surveyed 29 women receiving care at a rural, Appalachian birth center in the United States with low rates of preterm birth. Semi-structured interviews and demographic questionnaires were analyzed using conventional qualitative content analysis of manifest content. Insurance was the most common facilitator of prenatal access. Beneficial characteristics of the provider and clinic included: personalized care, unrushed visits, varied appointment times, short waits, and choice in the type and location of care. There is a connection between compassionate and personalized care and positive birth outcomes. Women were willing to overcome barriers to access care that met their needs. To facilitate access to prenatal care and decrease health disparities, healthcare planners, and policy makers need to ensure all women can afford to access prenatal care and allow women a choice in their care provider. Clinic administrators should create a welcoming clinic environment with minimal wait time. Unrushed, woman-centered prenatal visits can increase access to and motivation for care and are easily integrated into prenatal care with minimal cost. Copyright © 2014 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of ultrasound-guided vascular access in dogs.

Science.gov (United States)

Chamberlin, Scott C; Sullivan, Lauren A; Morley, Paul S; Boscan, Pedro

2013-01-01

To describe the technique and determine the feasibility, success rate, perceived difficulty, and time to vascular access using ultrasound guidance for jugular vein catheterization in a cardiac arrest dog model. Prospective descriptive study. University teaching hospital. Nine Walker hounds. A total of 27 jugular catheterizations were performed postcardiac arrest using ultrasound guidance. Catheterizations were recorded based on the order in which they were performed and presence/absence of a hematoma around the vein. Time (minutes) until successful vascular access and perceived difficulty in achieving vascular access (scale of 1 = easy to 10 = difficult) were recorded for each catheterization. Mean time to vascular access was 1.9 minutes (95% confidence interval, 1.1-3.4 min) for catheterizations without hematoma, versus 4.3 minutes (1.8-10.1 min) for catheterizations with hematoma (P = 0.1). Median perceived difficulty was 2 of 10 (range 1-7) for catheterizations without hematoma, versus 2 of 10 (range 1-8) for catheterizations with hematoma (P = 0.3). A learning curve was evaluated by comparing mean time to vascular access and perceived difficulty in initial versus subsequent catheterizations. Mean time to vascular access was 2.5 minutes (1.0-6.4 min) in the initial 13 catheterizations versus 3.3 minutes (1.5-7.5 min) in the subsequent 14 catheterizations (P = 0.6). Median perceived difficulty in the first 13 catheterizations (3, range 1-8) was significantly greater (P = 0.049) than median perceived difficulty in the subsequent 14 catheterizations (2, range 1-6). Ultrasound-guided jugular catheterization is associated with a learning curve but is successful in obtaining rapid vascular access in dogs. Further prospective studies are warranted to confirm the utility of this technique in a clinical setting. © Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society 2013.

Frequent inaccuracies in ABCD(2) scoring in non-stroke specialists' referrals to a daily Rapid Access Stroke Prevention service.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Bradley, David

2013-09-15

The \\'accuracy\\' of age, blood pressure, clinical features, duration and diabetes (ABCD(2)) scoring by non-stroke specialists referring patients to a daily Rapid Access Stroke Prevention (RASP) service is unclear, as is the accuracy of ABCD(2) scoring by trainee residents. In this prospective study, referrals were classified as \\'confirmed TIAs\\' if the stroke specialist confirmed a clinical diagnosis of possible, probable or definite TIA, and \\'non-TIAs\\' if patients had a TIA mimic or completed stroke. ABCD(2) scores from referring physicians were compared with scores by experienced stroke specialists and neurology\\/geriatric medicine residents at a daily RASP clinic; inter-observer agreement was examined. Data from 101 referrals were analysed (mean age=60.0years, 58% male). The median interval between referral and clinic assessment was 1day. Of 101 referrals, 52 (52%) were \\'non-TIAs\\': 45 (86%) of 52 were \\'TIA mimics\\' and 7 (14%) of 52 were completed strokes. There was only \\'fair\\' agreement in total ABCD(2) scoring between referring physicians and stroke specialists (κ=0.37). Agreement was \\'excellent\\' between residents and stroke specialists (κ=0.91). Twenty of 29 patients scored as \\'moderate to high risk\\' (score 4-6) by stroke specialists were scored \\'low risk\\' (score 0-3) by referring physicians. ABCD(2) scoring by referring doctors is frequently inaccurate, with a tendency to underestimate stroke risk. These findings emphasise the importance of urgent specialist assessment of suspected TIA patients, and that ABCD(2) scores by non-stroke specialists cannot be relied upon in isolation to risk-stratify patients. Inter-observer agreement in ABCD(2) scoring was \\'excellent\\' between residents and stroke specialists, indicating short-term training may improve accuracy.

Random access procedures and radio access network (RAN) overload control in standard and advanced long-term evolution (LTE and LTE-A) networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kiilerich Pratas, Nuno; Thomsen, Henning; Popovski, Petar

2015-01-01

In this chapter, we describe and discuss the current LTE random access procedure and the Radio Access Network Load Control solution within LTE/LTE-A. We provide an overview of the several considered load control solutions and give a detailed description of the standardized Extended Access Class B...

Access control and personal identification systems

CERN Document Server

Bowers, Dan M

1988-01-01

Access Control and Personal Identification Systems provides an education in the field of access control and personal identification systems, which is essential in selecting the appropriate equipment, dealing intelligently with vendors in purchases of the equipment, and integrating the equipment into a total effective system. Access control devices and systems comprise an important part of almost every security system, but are seldom the sole source of security. In order for the goals of the total system to be met, the other portions of the security system must also be well planned and executed

A plan for transmission access and pricing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oldak, M.

1990-01-01

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) believes that while access to the interconnected transmission system (grid) is necessary to provide the most efficient and economical development and use of the bulk power supply system, the grid cannot be unconditionally opened. Additionally, access should be provided only under reasonable terms, conditions, and cost-based compensation, within a framework of joint planning and coordinated operations. NRECA describes here its transmission policy, a coordinated planning and utilization model (CPU)

Does Access Trump Ownership? Exploring Consumer Acceptance of Access-Based Consumption in the Case of Smartphones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flora Poppelaars

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Value creation in a circular economy is based on products being returned after use. In the case of smartphones, most are never returned and tend to be kept in drawers. Smartphone access services (e.g., leasing or upgrade have been experimented with in the Netherlands but have been largely unsuccessful. This study explores the reasons why consumers rejected these access-based smartphone services and is one of the very few to address this topic. The findings are compared with the case of car access services, which are socially better accepted, to identify potential areas for improvement. The qualitative study consists of in-depth interviews with consumers (n = 18 who either adopted and used a smartphone or car access service, or had considered a new smartphone or car but did not choose access-based consumption. The findings of this small-scale study suggest that the main reasons for the rejection of smartphone access services are a lack of awareness, misunderstanding of terms and conditions, and unsatisfactory compensation for their sacrifice of not owning. Smartphone access providers could thus clearly communicate customers’ rights and responsibilities, offer an excellent service experience (especially during repair by taking over the burdens of ownership, and stimulate the societal logic shift from ownership to access.

Reasoning with alternative explanations in physics: The cognitive accessibility rule

Science.gov (United States)

Heckler, Andrew F.; Bogdan, Abigail M.

2018-06-01

A critical component of scientific reasoning is the consideration of alternative explanations. Recognizing that decades of cognitive psychology research have demonstrated that relative cognitive accessibility, or "what comes to mind," strongly affects how people reason in a given context, we articulate a simple "cognitive accessibility rule", namely that alternative explanations are considered less frequently when an explanation with relatively high accessibility is offered first. In a series of four experiments, we test the cognitive accessibility rule in the context of consideration of alternative explanations for six physical scenarios commonly found in introductory physics curricula. First, we administer free recall and recognition tasks to operationally establish and distinguish between the relative accessibility and availability of common explanations for the physical scenarios. Then, we offer either high or low accessibility explanations for the physical scenarios and determine the extent to which students consider alternatives to the given explanations. We find two main results consistent across algebra- and calculus-based university level introductory physics students for multiple answer formats. First, we find evidence that, at least for some contexts, most explanatory factors are cognitively available to students but not cognitively accessible. Second, we empirically verify the cognitive accessibility rule and demonstrate that the rule is strongly predictive, accounting for up to 70% of the variance of the average student consideration of alternative explanations across scenarios. Overall, we find that cognitive accessibility can help to explain biases in the consideration of alternatives in reasoning about simple physical scenarios, and these findings lend support to the growing number of science education studies demonstrating that tasks relevant to science education curricula often involve rapid, automatic, and potentially predictable processes and

Free access to INIS database provides a gateway to nuclear energy research results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tolonen, E.; Malmgren, M.

2009-01-01

Free access to INIS database was opened to all the Internet users around the world on May, 2009. The article reviews the history of INIS (the International Nuclear Information System), data aquisition process, database content and search possibilities. INIS is focused on the worldwide literature of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and the database is produced in close collaboration with the IEA/ETDE World Energy Base (ETDEWEB), a database focusing on all aspects of energy. Nuclear Science Abstracts database (NSA), which is a comprehensive collection of international nuclear science and technology literature for the period 1948 through 1976, is also briefly discussed in the article. In Finland, the recently formed Aalto University is responsible for collecting and disseminating information (literature) and for the preparation of input to the INIS and IEA/ETDE Databases on the national level

Tradeoff between User Quality-Of-Experience and Service Provider Profit in 5G Cloud Radio Access Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahbuba Afrin

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In recent years, the Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN has become a promising solution for increasing network capacity in terms of high data rates and low latencies for fifth-generation (5G cellular networks. In CRAN, the traditional base stations (BSs are decoupled into remote radio heads (RRHs and base band units (BBUs that are respectively responsible for radio and baseband functionalities. The RRHs are geographically proximated whereas the the BBUs are pooled in a centralized cloud named BBU pool. This virtualized architecture facilitates the system to offer high computation and communication loads from the impetuous rise of mobile devices and applications. Heterogeneous service requests from the devices to different RRHs are now sent to the BBUs to process centrally. Meeting the baseband processing of heterogeneous requests while keeping their Quality-of-Service (QoS requirements with the limited computational resources as well as enhancing service provider profit is a challenging multi-constraint problem. In this work, a multi-objective non-linear programming solution to the Quality-of-Experience (QoE and Profit-aware Resource Allocation problem is developed which makes a trade-off in between the two. Two computationally viable scheduling algorithms, named First Fit Satisfaction and First Fit Profit algorithms, are developed to focus on maximization of user QoE and profit, respectively, while keeping the minimum requirement level for the other one. The simulation environment is built on a relevant simulation toolkit. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system outperforms state-of-the-art works well across the requests QoS, average waiting time, user QoE, and service provider profit.

Decision Analysis of Dynamic Spectrum Access Rules

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Juan D. Deaton; Luiz A. DaSilva; Christian Wernz

2011-12-01

A current trend in spectrum regulation is to incorporate spectrum sharing through the design of spectrum access rules that support Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA). This paper develops a decision-theoretic framework for regulators to assess the impacts of different decision rules on both primary and secondary operators. We analyze access rules based on sensing and exclusion areas, which in practice can be enforced through geolocation databases. Our results show that receiver-only sensing provides insufficient protection for primary and co-existing secondary users and overall low social welfare. On the other hand, using sensing information between the transmitter and receiver of a communication link, provides dramatic increases in system performance. The performance of using these link end points is relatively close to that of using many cooperative sensing nodes associated to the same access point and large link exclusion areas. These results are useful to regulators and network developers in understanding in developing rules for future DSA regulation.

Real-time data access layer for MDSplus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manduchi, G.; Luchetta, A.; Taliercio, C.; Fredian, T.; Stillerman, J.

2008-01-01

Recent extensions to MDSplus allow data handling in long discharges and provide a real-time data access and communication layer. The real-time data access layer is an additional component of MDSplus: it is possible to use the traditional MDSplus API during normal operation, and to select a subset of data items to be used in real time. Real-time notification is provided by a communication layer using a publish-subscribe pattern. The notification covers processes sharing the same data items even running on different machines, thus allowing the implementation of distributed control systems. The real-time data access layer has been developed for Windows, Linux, and VxWorks; it is currently being ported to Linux RTAI. In order to quantify the fingerprint of the presented system, the performance of the real-time access layer approach is compared with that of an ad hoc, manually optimized program in a sample real-time application

Reactome graph database: Efficient access to complex pathway data

Science.gov (United States)

Korninger, Florian; Viteri, Guilherme; Marin-Garcia, Pablo; Ping, Peipei; Wu, Guanming; Stein, Lincoln; D’Eustachio, Peter

2018-01-01

Reactome is a free, open-source, open-data, curated and peer-reviewed knowledgebase of biomolecular pathways. One of its main priorities is to provide easy and efficient access to its high quality curated data. At present, biological pathway databases typically store their contents in relational databases. This limits access efficiency because there are performance issues associated with queries traversing highly interconnected data. The same data in a graph database can be queried more efficiently. Here we present the rationale behind the adoption of a graph database (Neo4j) as well as the new ContentService (REST API) that provides access to these data. The Neo4j graph database and its query language, Cypher, provide efficient access to the complex Reactome data model, facilitating easy traversal and knowledge discovery. The adoption of this technology greatly improved query efficiency, reducing the average query time by 93%. The web service built on top of the graph database provides programmatic access to Reactome data by object oriented queries, but also supports more complex queries that take advantage of the new underlying graph-based data storage. By adopting graph database technology we are providing a high performance pathway data resource to the community. The Reactome graph database use case shows the power of NoSQL database engines for complex biological data types. PMID:29377902

Reactome graph database: Efficient access to complex pathway data.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Fabregat

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Reactome is a free, open-source, open-data, curated and peer-reviewed knowledgebase of biomolecular pathways. One of its main priorities is to provide easy and efficient access to its high quality curated data. At present, biological pathway databases typically store their contents in relational databases. This limits access efficiency because there are performance issues associated with queries traversing highly interconnected data. The same data in a graph database can be queried more efficiently. Here we present the rationale behind the adoption of a graph database (Neo4j as well as the new ContentService (REST API that provides access to these data. The Neo4j graph database and its query language, Cypher, provide efficient access to the complex Reactome data model, facilitating easy traversal and knowledge discovery. The adoption of this technology greatly improved query efficiency, reducing the average query time by 93%. The web service built on top of the graph database provides programmatic access to Reactome data by object oriented queries, but also supports more complex queries that take advantage of the new underlying graph-based data storage. By adopting graph database technology we are providing a high performance pathway data resource to the community. The Reactome graph database use case shows the power of NoSQL database engines for complex biological data types.

Reactome graph database: Efficient access to complex pathway data.

Science.gov (United States)

Fabregat, Antonio; Korninger, Florian; Viteri, Guilherme; Sidiropoulos, Konstantinos; Marin-Garcia, Pablo; Ping, Peipei; Wu, Guanming; Stein, Lincoln; D'Eustachio, Peter; Hermjakob, Henning

2018-01-01

Reactome is a free, open-source, open-data, curated and peer-reviewed knowledgebase of biomolecular pathways. One of its main priorities is to provide easy and efficient access to its high quality curated data. At present, biological pathway databases typically store their contents in relational databases. This limits access efficiency because there are performance issues associated with queries traversing highly interconnected data. The same data in a graph database can be queried more efficiently. Here we present the rationale behind the adoption of a graph database (Neo4j) as well as the new ContentService (REST API) that provides access to these data. The Neo4j graph database and its query language, Cypher, provide efficient access to the complex Reactome data model, facilitating easy traversal and knowledge discovery. The adoption of this technology greatly improved query efficiency, reducing the average query time by 93%. The web service built on top of the graph database provides programmatic access to Reactome data by object oriented queries, but also supports more complex queries that take advantage of the new underlying graph-based data storage. By adopting graph database technology we are providing a high performance pathway data resource to the community. The Reactome graph database use case shows the power of NoSQL database engines for complex biological data types.

Rapid interactions between lexical semantic and word form analysis during word recognition in context: evidence from ERPs.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Albert; Lai, Vicky

2012-05-01

We used ERPs to investigate the time course of interactions between lexical semantic and sublexical visual word form processing during word recognition. Participants read sentence-embedded pseudowords that orthographically resembled a contextually supported real word (e.g., "She measured the flour so she could bake a ceke…") or did not (e.g., "She measured the flour so she could bake a tont…") along with nonword consonant strings (e.g., "She measured the flour so she could bake a srdt…"). Pseudowords that resembled a contextually supported real word ("ceke") elicited an enhanced positivity at 130 msec (P130), relative to real words (e.g., "She measured the flour so she could bake a cake…"). Pseudowords that did not resemble a plausible real word ("tont") enhanced the N170 component, as did nonword consonant strings ("srdt"). The effect pattern shows that the visual word recognition system is, perhaps, counterintuitively, more rapidly sensitive to minor than to flagrant deviations from contextually predicted inputs. The findings are consistent with rapid interactions between lexical and sublexical representations during word recognition, in which rapid lexical access of a contextually supported word (CAKE) provides top-down excitation of form features ("cake"), highlighting the anomaly of an unexpected word "ceke."

High Rates of Access to Health Care, Disclosure of Sexuality and Gender Identity to Providers Among House and Ball Community Members in New York City.

Science.gov (United States)

Cahill, Sean; Trieweiler, Sarah; Guidry, John; Rash, Nelisa; Stamper, Layla; Conron, Kerith; Turcotte, Nicole; Gratch, Ilana; Lowery, Paige

2018-01-01

The House and Ball community is an important cultural manifestation of resiliency for Black and Latino gay and bisexual men and transgender women. Participants at the August 2013 House of Latex Ball in New York City were surveyed about insurance coverage, health care access, experiences in health care, and housing instability. The sample (n = 367) was 58% Black/African American and 20% Hispanic/Latino, with a mean age of 31. Fifty-five percent were gay and bisexual men. Although only 6% identified as transgender, nearly one half were gender nonconforming. Strong majorities had health insurance, were in regular medical care, and were "out" to their providers. Some were unstably housed and had recently exchanged sex for shelter or money. High rates of health care access and disclosure indicate resiliency and agency. Unstable housing and income insecurity may be structural drivers of vulnerability for this population to HIV infection and other health risks.

Streamlining On-Demand Access to Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Data Products for Weather Forecasting

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, J. D.; Tislin, D.

2017-12-01

Observations from the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) support National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters, whose Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) Data Delivery (DD) will access JPSS data products on demand from the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) Product Distribution and Access (PDA) service. Based on the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Coverage Service, this on-demand service promises broad interoperability and frugal use of data networks by serving only the data that a user needs. But the volume, velocity, and variety of JPSS data products impose several challenges to such a service. It must be efficient to handle large volumes of complex, frequently updated data, and to fulfill many concurrent requests. It must offer flexible data handling and delivery, to work with a diverse and changing collection of data, and to tailor its outputs into products that users need, with minimal coordination between provider and user communities. It must support 24x7 operation, with no pauses in incoming data or user demand; and it must scale to rapid changes in data volume, variety, and demand as new satellites launch, more products come online, and users rely increasingly on the service. We are addressing these challenges in order to build an efficient and effective on-demand JPSS data service. For example, on-demand subsetting by many users at once may overload a server's processing capacity or its disk bandwidth - unless alleviated by spatial indexing, geolocation transforms, or pre-tiling and caching. Filtering by variable (/ band / layer) may also alleviate network loads, and provide fine-grained variable selection; to that end we are investigating how best to provide random access into the variety of spatiotemporal JPSS data products. Finally, producing tailored products (derivatives, aggregations) can boost flexibility for end users; but some tailoring operations may impose significant server loads

Access to scientific publications: the scientist's perspective.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yegor Voronin

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Scientific publishing is undergoing significant changes due to the growth of online publications, increases in the number of open access journals, and policies of funders and universities requiring authors to ensure that their publications become publicly accessible. Most studies of the impact of these changes have focused on the growth of articles available through open access or the number of open-access journals. Here, we investigated access to publications at a number of institutes and universities around the world, focusing on publications in HIV vaccine research--an area of biomedical research with special importance to the developing world. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We selected research papers in HIV vaccine research field, creating: 1 a first set of 50 most recently published papers with keywords "HIV vaccine" and 2 a second set of 200 articles randomly selected from those cited in the first set. Access to the majority (80% of the recently published articles required subscription, while cited literature was much more accessible (67% freely available online. Subscriptions at a number of institutions around the world were assessed for providing access to subscription-only articles from the two sets. The access levels varied widely, ranging among institutions from 20% to 90%. Through the WHO-supported HINARI program, institutes in low-income countries had access comparable to that of institutes in the North. Finally, we examined the response rates for reprint requests sent to corresponding authors, a method commonly used before internet access became widespread. Contacting corresponding authors with requests for electronic copies of articles by email resulted in a 55-60% success rate, although in some cases it took up to 1.5 months to get a response. CONCLUSIONS: While research articles are increasingly available on the internet in open access format, institutional subscriptions continue to play an important role. However

Automated Computer Access Request System

Science.gov (United States)

Snook, Bryan E.

2010-01-01

The Automated Computer Access Request (AutoCAR) system is a Web-based account provisioning application that replaces the time-consuming paper-based computer-access request process at Johnson Space Center (JSC). Auto- CAR combines rules-based and role-based functionality in one application to provide a centralized system that is easily and widely accessible. The system features a work-flow engine that facilitates request routing, a user registration directory containing contact information and user metadata, an access request submission and tracking process, and a system administrator account management component. This provides full, end-to-end disposition approval chain accountability from the moment a request is submitted. By blending both rules-based and rolebased functionality, AutoCAR has the flexibility to route requests based on a user s nationality, JSC affiliation status, and other export-control requirements, while ensuring a user s request is addressed by either a primary or backup approver. All user accounts that are tracked in AutoCAR are recorded and mapped to the native operating system schema on the target platform where user accounts reside. This allows for future extensibility for supporting creation, deletion, and account management directly on the target platforms by way of AutoCAR. The system s directory-based lookup and day-today change analysis of directory information determines personnel moves, deletions, and additions, and automatically notifies a user via e-mail to revalidate his/her account access as a result of such changes. AutoCAR is a Microsoft classic active server page (ASP) application hosted on a Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS).

Accessible Earth: Enhancing diversity in the Geosciences through accessible course design

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, R. A.; Lamb, D. A.

2017-12-01

The tradition of field-based instruction in the geoscience curriculum, which culminates in a capstone geological field camp, presents an insurmountable barrier to many disabled students who might otherwise choose to pursue geoscience careers. There is a widespread perception that success as a practicing geoscientist requires direct access to outcrops and vantage points available only to those able to traverse inaccessible terrain. Yet many modern geoscience activities are based on remotely sensed geophysical data, data analysis, and computation that take place entirely from within the laboratory. To challenge the perception of geoscience as a career option only for the non-disabled, we have created the capstone Accessible Earth Study Abroad Program, an alternative to geologic field camp for all students, with a focus on modern geophysical observation systems, computational thinking, data science, and professional development.In this presentation, we will review common pedagogical approaches in geosciences and current efforts to make the field more inclusive. We will review curricular access and inclusivity relative to a wide range of learners and provide examples of accessible course design based on our experiences in teaching a study abroad course in central Italy, and our plans for ongoing assessment, refinement, and dissemination of the effectiveness of our efforts.

Transportation Accessibility and Location Choice of Japanese-Funded Electronic Information Manufacturing Firms in Shanghai

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haining Jiang

2018-02-01

Full Text Available With the rapid development of globalization, information communication and transportation, it is argued that the effect of transportation accessibility in the location choice of manufacturing firms has diminished. However, comprehensive and systematic research on the impact of transportation accessibility on firm location choice in cities remains scarce. Taking Shanghai as the research area, this paper uses a catalog of Japanese-funded electronic information manufacturing firms to explore the influence of transportation accessibility on their location choice. The paper first describes firm distribution using the nuclear density estimation method. The Poisson regression model is then used to estimate the significance of transportation accessibility in influencing firm location. The empirical results show that most of the firms are concentrated in the inner suburbs of Shanghai, with only a small number in the outer suburban areas. The spatial coupling relationship between firm distribution and transportation accessibility is significant. These firms tend to choose areas with good accessibility to transportation infrastructure, and, in particular, the effect of airport accessibility is significant. Compared with the joint venture enterprises, wholly-owned Japanese enterprises are more inclined to be in areas with better transportation accessibility.

Patient-reported access to primary care in Ontario: effect of organizational characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Muggah, Elizabeth; Hogg, William; Dahrouge, Simone; Russell, Grant; Kristjansson, Elizabeth; Muldoon, Laura; Devlin, Rose Anne

2014-01-01

To describe patient-reported access to primary health care across 4 organizational models of primary care in Ontario, and to explore how access is associated with patient, provider, and practice characteristics. Cross-sectional survey. One hundred thirty-seven randomly selected primary care practices in Ontario using 1 of 4 delivery models (fee for service, established capitation, reformed capitation, and community health centres). Patients included were at least 18 years of age, were not severely ill or cognitively impaired, were not known to the survey administrator, had consenting providers at 1 of the participating primary care practices, and were able to communicate in English or French either directly or through a translator. Patient-reported access was measured by a 4-item scale derived from the previously validated adult version of the Primary Care Assessment Tool. Questions were asked about physician availability during and outside of regular office hours and access to health information via telephone. Responses to the scale were normalized, with higher scores reflecting greater patient-reported access. Linear regressions were used to identify characteristics independently associated with access to care. Established capitation model practices had the highest patient-reported access, although the difference in scores between models was small. Our multilevel regression model identified several patient factors that were significantly (P = .05) associated with higher patient-reported access, including older age, female sex, good-to-excellent self-reported health, less mental health disability, and not working. Provider experience (measured as years since graduation) was the only provider or practice characteristic independently associated with improved patient-reported access. This study adds to what is known about access to primary care. The study found that established capitation models outperformed all the other organizational models, including reformed

[Vascular access guidelines for hemodialysis].

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez Hernández, J A; González Parra, E; Julián Gutiérrez, J M; Segarra Medrano, A; Almirante, B; Martínez, M T; Arrieta, J; Fernández Rivera, C; Galera, A; Gallego Beuter, J; Górriz, J L; Herrero, J A; López Menchero, R; Ochando, A; Pérez Bañasco, V; Polo, J R; Pueyo, J; Ruiz, Camps I; Segura Iglesias, R

2005-01-01

Quality of vascular access (VA) has a remarkable influence in hemodialysis patients outcomes. Dysfunction of VA represents a capital cause of morbi-mortality of these patients as well an increase in economical. Spanish Society of Neprhology, aware of the problem, has decided to carry out a revision of the issue with the aim of providing help in comprehensión and treatment related with VA problems, and achieving an homogenization of practices in three mayor aspects: to increase arteriovenous fistula utilization as first vascular access, to increment vascular access monitoring practice and rationalise central catheters use. We present a consensus document elaborated by a multidisciplinar group composed by nephrologists, vascular surgeons, interventional radiologysts, infectious diseases specialists and nephrological nurses. Along six chapters that cover patient education, creation of VA, care, monitoring, complications and central catheters, we present the state of the art and propose guidelines for the best practice, according different evidence based degrees, with the intention to provide help at the professionals in order to make aproppiate decissions. Several quality standars are also included.

Pacific Islands Coral Reef Ecosystems Division (CRED) Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) algae species lists (NODC Accession 0010352)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Quadrats were sampled along consecutively placed transect lines as part of Rapid Ecological Assessments conducted at sites in American Pacific Islands: CRED REA...

Librarians and Libraries Supporting Open Access Publishing

Science.gov (United States)

Richard, Jennifer; Koufogiannakis, Denise; Ryan, Pam

2009-01-01

As new models of scholarly communication emerge, librarians and libraries have responded by developing and supporting new methods of storing and providing access to information and by creating new publishing support services. This article will examine the roles of libraries and librarians in developing and supporting open access publishing…

National Radiobiology Archives Distributed Access user's manual

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watson, C.; Smith, S.; Prather, J.

1991-11-01

This User's Manual describes installation and use of the National Radiobiology Archives (NRA) Distributed Access package. The package consists of a distributed subset of information representative of the NRA databases and database access software which provide an introduction to the scope and style of the NRA Information Systems

The welfare effects of restricting off-highway vehicle access to public lands

Science.gov (United States)

Paul M. Jakus; John E. Keith; Lu Liu; Dale Blahna

2010-01-01

Off-highway vehicle (OHV) use is a rapidly growing outdoor activity that results in a host of environmental and management problems. Federal agencies have been directed to develop travel management plans to improve recreation experiences, reduce social conflicts, and diminish environmental impacts of OHVs. We examine the effect of land access restrictions on the...

Pocket pathologist: A mobile application for rapid diagnostic surgical pathology consultation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Douglas J Hartman

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Telepathology allows the digital transmission of images for rapid access to pathology experts. Recent technologic advances in smartphones have allowed them to be used to acquire and transmit digital images of the glass slide, representing cost savings and efficiency gains over traditional forms of telepathology. We report our experience with developing an iPhone application (App - Pocket Pathologist to facilitate rapid diagnostic pathology teleconsultation utilizing a smartphone. Materials and Methods: A secure, web-based portal (http://pathconsult.upmc.com/ was created to facilitate remote transmission of digital images for teleconsultation. The App augments functionality of the web-based portal and allows the user to quickly and easily upload digital images for teleconsultation. Image quality of smartphone cameras was evaluated by capturing images using different adapters that directly attach phones to a microscope ocular lens. Results: The App was launched in August 2013. The App facilitated easy submission of cases for teleconsultation by limiting the number of data entry fields for users and enabling uploading of images from their smartphone′s gallery wirelessly. Smartphone cameras properly attached to a microscope create static digital images of similar quality to a commercial digital microscope camera. Conclusion: Smartphones have great potential to support telepathology because they are portable, provide ubiquitous internet connectivity, contain excellent digital cameras, and can be easily attached to a microscope. The Pocket Pathologist App represents a significant reduction in the cost of creating digital images and submitting them for teleconsultation. The iPhone App provides an easy solution for global users to submit digital pathology images to pathology experts for consultation.

Airport Surface Access and Mobile Apps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis Martin-Domingo

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Airport Surface Access faces two main opposite issues: (1 cars, being the main transport mode, contribute to the increasing level of congestion and pollution of cities; and (2 simultaneously, parking fees are one important source of airports commercial revenue, creating a dilemma for airports when facing the problem. Following the recent trend of air passengers travelling with Smartphone (78% in 2013, the purpose of this paper is to monitor the adoption of mobile Applications (Apps by airports and to analyze if the information and functions provided in those Apps can help to overcome the above two issues. Design/methodology/approach: 31 iPhone App of some of the largest European airports were evaluated in the lab using the evaluation model of Destinations Mobile Applications (Scolari and Fernández-Cavia 2014 adapted for for the Airport Surface Access on Airport Apps Findings and Originality/value: The Apps evaluated provided a very limited functionality to help passengers to plan and book their trips to/from the airports on public transports and gave high priority to parking information and services. Originality/value: Although Airport Surface Access has been a widely researched, the originality of this paper is the analysis of airport mobile Apps as a potential tool for airports to deal with the surface airport access problems.Access, Airports, Mobile Internet, Commercial Revenues

Study of Womens Health Across the Nation (SWAN) Data: Investigator Access

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The SWAN Coordinating Center provides SWAN data access to SWAN Investigators through the study website. The SWAN website provides access to longitudinal data...

Local government broadband policies for areas with limited Internet access

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoshio Arai

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Despite their wide diffusion in developed countries, broadband services are still limited in areas where providing them is not profitable for private telecom carriers. To address this, many local governments in Japan have implemented broadband deployment projects subsidized by the national government. In this paper, we discuss local government broadband policies based on survey data collected from municipalities throughout the country. With the support of national promotion policies, broadband services were rapidly introduced to most local municipalities in Japan during the 2000s. Local government deployment policies helped to reduce the number of areas with no broadband access. A business model based on the Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU contract between a private telecom carrier and a local government has been developed in recent years. Even local governments without the technical capacity to operate a broadband business can introduce broadband services into their territory using the IRU business model.

47 CFR 79.2 - Accessibility of programming providing emergency information.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

..., widespread fires, discharge of toxic gases, widespread power failures, industrial explosions, civil disorders... of programming providing emergency information. (a) Definitions. (1) For purposes of this section, the definitions in §§ 79.1 and 79.3 apply. (2) Emergency information. Information, about a current...

The AAS Working Group on Accessibility and Disability (WGAD) Year 1 Highlights and Database Access

Science.gov (United States)

Knierman, Karen A.; Diaz Merced, Wanda; Aarnio, Alicia; Garcia, Beatriz; Monkiewicz, Jacqueline A.; Murphy, Nicholas Arnold

2017-06-01

The AAS Working Group on Accessibility and Disability (WGAD) was formed in January of 2016 with the express purpose of seeking equity of opportunity and building inclusive practices for disabled astronomers at all educational and career stages. In this presentation, we will provide a summary of current activities, focusing on developing best practices for accessibility with respect to astronomical databases, publications, and meetings. Due to the reliance of space sciences on databases, it is important to have user centered design systems for data retrieval. The cognitive overload that may be experienced by users of current databases may be mitigated by use of multi-modal interfaces such as xSonify. Such interfaces would be in parallel or outside the original database and would not require additional software efforts from the original database. WGAD is partnering with the IAU Commission C1 WG Astronomy for Equity and Inclusion to develop such accessibility tools for databases and methods for user testing. To collect data on astronomical conference and meeting accessibility considerations, WGAD solicited feedback from January AAS attendees via a web form. These data, together with upcoming input from the community and analysis of accessibility documents of similar conferences, will be used to create a meeting accessibility document. Additionally, we will update the progress of journal access guidelines and our social media presence via Twitter. We recommend that astronomical journals form committees to evaluate the accessibility of their publications by performing user-centered usability studies.

Web accessibility of public universities in Andalusia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis Alejandro Casasola Balsells

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This paper describes an analysis conducted in 2015 to evaluate the accessibility of content on Andalusian public university websites. In order to determinate whether these websites are accessible, an assessment has been carried out to check conformance with the latest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0 established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C. For this purpose, we have designed a methodology for analysis that combines the use of three automatic tools (eXaminator, MINHAP web accessibility tool, and TAW with a manual analysis to provide a greater reliability and validity of the results. Although the results are acceptable overall, a detailed analysis shows that more is still needed for achieving full accessibility for the entire university community. In this respect, we suggest several corrections to common accessibility errors for facilitating the design of university web portals.

Remote access to mathematical software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dolan, E.; Hovland, P.; More, J.; Norris, B.; Smith, B.

2001-01-01

The network-oriented application services paradigm is becoming increasingly common for scientific computing. The popularity of this approach can be attributed to the numerous advantages to both user and developer provided by network-enabled mathematical software. The burden of installing and maintaining complex systems is lifted from the user, while enabling developers to provide frequent updates without disrupting service. Access to software with similar functionality can be unified under the same interface. Remote servers can utilize potentially more powerful computing resources than may be available locally. We discuss some of the application services developed by the Mathematics and Computer Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory, including the Network Enabled Optimization System (NEOS) Server and the Automatic Differentiation of C (ADIC) Server, as well as preliminary work on Web access to the Portable Extensible Toolkit for Scientific Computing (PETSc). We also provide a brief survey of related work

H1DS: A new web-based data access system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pretty, D.G., E-mail: david.pretty@anu.edu.au; Blackwell, B.D.

2014-05-15

Highlights: • We present H1DS, a new RESTful web service for accessing fusion data. • We examine the scalability and extensibility of H1DS. • We present a fast and user friendly web browser client for the H1DS web service. • A summary relational database is presented as an application of the H1DS API. - Abstract: A new data access system, H1DS, has been developed and deployed for the H-1 Heliac at the Australian Plasma Fusion Research Facility. The data system provides access to fusion data via a RESTful web service. With the URL acting as the API to the data system, H1DS provides a scalable and extensible framework which is intuitive to new users, and allows access from any internet connected device. The H1DS framework, originally designed to work with MDSplus, has a modular design which can be extended to provide access to alternative data storage systems.

H1DS: A new web-based data access system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pretty, D.G.; Blackwell, B.D.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We present H1DS, a new RESTful web service for accessing fusion data. • We examine the scalability and extensibility of H1DS. • We present a fast and user friendly web browser client for the H1DS web service. • A summary relational database is presented as an application of the H1DS API. - Abstract: A new data access system, H1DS, has been developed and deployed for the H-1 Heliac at the Australian Plasma Fusion Research Facility. The data system provides access to fusion data via a RESTful web service. With the URL acting as the API to the data system, H1DS provides a scalable and extensible framework which is intuitive to new users, and allows access from any internet connected device. The H1DS framework, originally designed to work with MDSplus, has a modular design which can be extended to provide access to alternative data storage systems

IP access networks with QoS support

Science.gov (United States)

Sargento, Susana; Valadas, Rui J. M. T.; Goncalves, Jorge; Sousa, Henrique

2001-07-01

The increasing demand of new services and applications is pushing for drastic changes on the design of access networks targeted mainly for residential and SOHO users. Future access networks will provide full service integration (including multimedia), resource sharing at the packet level and QoS support. It is expected that using IP as the base technology, the ideal plug-and-play scenario, where the management actions of the access network operator are kept to a minimum, will be achieved easily. This paper proposes an architecture for access networks based on layer 2 or layer 3 multiplexers that allows a number of simplifications in the network elements and protocols (e.g. in the routing and addressing functions). We discuss two possible steps in the evolution of access networks towards a more efficient support of IP based services. The first one still provides no QoS support and was designed with the goal of reusing as much as possible current technologies; it is based on tunneling to transport PPP sessions. The second one introduces QoS support through the use of emerging technologies and protocols. We illustrate the different phases of a multimedia Internet access session, when using SIP for session initiation, COPS for the management of QoS policies including the AAA functions and RSVP for resource reservation.

Cost-Effectiveness of Access Expansion to Treatment of Hepatitis C Virus Infection Through Primary Care Providers.

Science.gov (United States)

Rattay, Thilo; Dumont, Ian P; Heinzow, Hauke S; Hutton, David W

2017-12-01

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major burden on individuals and health care systems. The Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (Project ECHO) enables primary care providers to deliver best-practice care for complex conditions to underserved populations. The US Congress passed the ECHO Act in late 2016, requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate the model. We performed a cost-effectiveness analysis to assess diagnosis and treatment of HCV infection in a primary care patient panel with and without the implementation of Project ECHO. We used Markov models to simulate disease progression, quality of life, and life expectancy among individuals with HCV infection and for the general population. Data from the University of New Mexico's ECHO operation for HCV show an increase in treatment rates. Corresponding increases in survival, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), costs, and resulting budget impact between ECHO and non-ECHO patients with HCV were then compared. Project ECHO increased costs and QALYs. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of ECHO was $10,351 per QALY compared with the status quo; >99.9% of iterations fell below the willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000 per QALY. We were unable to confirm whether the increase in rates of treatment associated with Project ECHO were due to increased or more targeted screening, higher adherence, or access to treatment. Our sensitivity analyses show that the results are largely independent of the cause. Budget impact analysis shows payers would have to invest an additional $339.54 million over a 5-year period to increase treatment by 4446 patients, per 1 million covered lives. Using a simulated primary care patient panel, we showed that Project ECHO is a cost-effective way to find and treat patients with HCV infection at scale using existing primary care providers. This approach could substantially reduce the burden of chronic HCV infection in the United States, but high

A rapid protection switching method in carrier ethernet ring networks

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Liang; Ji, Meng

2008-11-01

Abstract: Ethernet is the most important Local Area Network (LAN) technology since more than 90% data traffic in access layer is carried on Ethernet. From 10M to 10G, the improving Ethernet technology can be not only used in LAN, but also a good choice for MAN even WAN. MAN are always constructed in ring topology because the ring network could provide resilient path protection by using less resource (fibre or cable) than other network topologies. In layer 2 data networks, spanning tree protocol (STP) is always used to protect transmit link and preventing the formation of logic loop in networks. However, STP cannot guarantee the efficiency of service convergence when link fault happened. In fact, convergent time of networks with STP is about several minutes. Though Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) and Multi-Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP) improve the STP technology, they still need a couple of seconds to achieve convergence, and can not provide sub-50ms protection switching. This paper presents a novel rapid ring protection method (RRPM) for carrier Ethernet. Unlike other link-fault detection method, it adopts distributed algorithm to detect link fault rapidly (sub-50ms). When networks restore from link fault, it can revert to the original working state. RRPM can provide single ring protection and interconnected ring protection without the formation of super loop. In normal operation, the master node blocks the secondary port for all non-RRPM Ethernet frames belonging to the given RRPM Ring, thereby avoiding a loop in the ring. When link fault happens, the node on which the failure happens moves from the "ring normal" state to the "ring fault" state. It also sends "link down" frame immediately to other nodes and blocks broken port and flushes its forwarding database. Those who receive "link down" frame will flush forwarding database and master node should unblock its secondary port. When the failure restores, the whole ring will revert to the normal state. That is

Light vector meson production at forward rapidity in pp collisions at the LHC with the ALICE detector

CERN Document Server

Incani, Elisa; Usai, Gianluca

Low-mass vector mesons ($\\rho$, $\\omega$ and $\\phi$) give us information on the hot and dense state of strongly interacting matter produced in heavy ion collisions. In fact, in the QGP an enhancement of the strange particle production should be present (strangeness enhancement), which means a N$\\phi$ /N$\\rho+\\omega$ ratio increasing in A-A collisions with respect to pp collisions; pp collisions provide a reference for these studies. Vector meson production in pp collisions is also useful by itself, to study soft Quantum ChromoDynamics (QCD) in the LHC energy range, since calculations in this regime are based on QCD inspired phenomenological models that must be tuned to the data. The ALICE experiment at the LHC can access vector mesons produced at forward rapidity through their decays in muon pairs. We will show the ratio $N\\phi$ /N$\\rho+\\omega$ vs pT, the ratios $\\sigma_\\rho/\\sigma_\\omega$ and $\\sigma_\\phi/\\sigma_\\omega$, and the $\\phi$ and $\\omega$ pT and rapidity differential cross sections for the data sam...

Tri-party agreement databases, access mechanism and procedures. Revision 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brulotte, P.J.

1996-01-01

This document contains the information required for the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to access databases related to the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (Tri-Party Agreement). It identifies the procedure required to obtain access to the Hanford Site computer networks and the Tri-Party Agreement related databases. It addresses security requirements, access methods, database availability dates, database access procedures, and the minimum computer hardware and software configurations required to operate within the Hanford Site networks. This document supersedes any previous agreements including the Administrative Agreement to Provide Computer Access to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Administrative Agreement to Provide Computer Access to Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology), agreements that were signed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Richland Operations Office (RL) in June 1990, Access approval to EPA and Ecology is extended by RL to include all Tri-Party Agreement relevant databases named in this document via the documented access method and date. Access to databases and systems not listed in this document will be granted as determined necessary and negotiated among Ecology, EPA, and RL through the Tri-Party Agreement Project Managers. The Tri-Party Agreement Project Managers are the primary points of contact for all activities to be carried out under the Tri-Party Agreement. Action Plan. Access to the Tri-Party Agreement related databases and systems does not provide or imply any ownership on behalf of Ecology or EPA whether public or private of either the database or the system. Access to identified systems and databases does not include access to network/system administrative control information, network maps, etc

Gold open access: the best of both worlds.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Heyden, M A G; van Veen, T A B

2018-01-01

Gold open access provides free distribution of trustworthy scientific knowledge for everyone. As publication modus, it has to withstand the bad reputation of predatory journals and overcome the preconceptions of those who believe that open access is synonymous with poor quality articles and high costs. Gold open access has a bright future and will serve the scientific community, clinicians without academic affiliations and the general public.

Structure for common access and support of fuel cell stacks

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Michael M.

2000-01-01

A structure provides common support and access to multiple fuel cells externally mounted thereto. The structure has openings leading to passages defined therein for providing the access. Various other fuel cell power system components are connected at the openings, such as reactant and coolant sources.

Towards an Approach of Semantic Access Control for Cloud Computing

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Luokai; Ying, Shi; Jia, Xiangyang; Zhao, Kai

With the development of cloud computing, the mutual understandability among distributed Access Control Policies (ACPs) has become an important issue in the security field of cloud computing. Semantic Web technology provides the solution to semantic interoperability of heterogeneous applications. In this paper, we analysis existing access control methods and present a new Semantic Access Control Policy Language (SACPL) for describing ACPs in cloud computing environment. Access Control Oriented Ontology System (ACOOS) is designed as the semantic basis of SACPL. Ontology-based SACPL language can effectively solve the interoperability issue of distributed ACPs. This study enriches the research that the semantic web technology is applied in the field of security, and provides a new way of thinking of access control in cloud computing.

A Rapid Prototyping Environment for Wireless Communication Embedded Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bryan A. Jones

2003-05-01

Full Text Available This paper introduces a rapid prototyping methodology which overcomes important barriers in the design and implementation of digital signal processing (DSP algorithms and systems on embedded hardware platforms, such as cellular phones. This paper describes rapid prototyping in terms of a simulation/prototype bridge and in terms of appropriate language design. The simulation/prototype bridge combines the strengths of simulation and of prototyping, allowing the designer to develop and evaluate next-generation communications systems, partly in simulation on a host computer and partly as a prototype on embedded hardware. Appropriate language design allows designers to express a communications system as a block diagram, in which each block represents an algorithm specified by a set of equations. Software tools developed for this paper implement both concepts, and have been successfully used in the development of a next-generation code division multiple access (CDMA cellular wireless communications system.

47 CFR 76.971 - Commercial leased access terms and conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... operators that have not satisfied their statutory leased access requirements shall accommodate part-time..., educational and governmental access programming, provided that the operator's franchise agreement requires it... leased commercial channels. Cable operators may impose reasonable insurance requirements on leased access...

Patient specific ankle-foot orthoses using rapid prototyping.

Science.gov (United States)

Mavroidis, Constantinos; Ranky, Richard G; Sivak, Mark L; Patritti, Benjamin L; DiPisa, Joseph; Caddle, Alyssa; Gilhooly, Kara; Govoni, Lauren; Sivak, Seth; Lancia, Michael; Drillio, Robert; Bonato, Paolo

2011-01-12

Prefabricated orthotic devices are currently designed to fit a range of patients and therefore they do not provide individualized comfort and function. Custom-fit orthoses are superior to prefabricated orthotic devices from both of the above-mentioned standpoints. However, creating a custom-fit orthosis is a laborious and time-intensive manual process performed by skilled orthotists. Besides, adjustments made to both prefabricated and custom-fit orthoses are carried out in a qualitative manner. So both comfort and function can potentially suffer considerably. A computerized technique for fabricating patient-specific orthotic devices has the potential to provide excellent comfort and allow for changes in the standard design to meet the specific needs of each patient. In this paper, 3D laser scanning is combined with rapid prototyping to create patient-specific orthoses. A novel process was engineered to utilize patient-specific surface data of the patient anatomy as a digital input, manipulate the surface data to an optimal form using Computer Aided Design (CAD) software, and then download the digital output from the CAD software to a rapid prototyping machine for fabrication. Two AFOs were rapidly prototyped to demonstrate the proposed process. Gait analysis data of a subject wearing the AFOs indicated that the rapid prototyped AFOs performed comparably to the prefabricated polypropylene design. The rapidly prototyped orthoses fabricated in this study provided good fit of the subject's anatomy compared to a prefabricated AFO while delivering comparable function (i.e. mechanical effect on the biomechanics of gait). The rapid fabrication capability is of interest because it has potential for decreasing fabrication time and cost especially when a replacement of the orthosis is required.

Accessibility, Availability, and Potential Benefits of Psycho-Oncology Services: The Perspective of Community-Based Physicians Providing Cancer Survivorship Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmermann-Schlegel, Verena; Hartmann, Mechthild; Sklenarova, Halina; Herzog, Wolfgang; Haun, Markus W

2017-06-01

As persons of trust, community-based physicians providing survivorship care (e.g., general practitioners [GPs]) often serve as the primary contacts for cancer survivors disclosing distress. From the perspective of physicians providing survivorship care for cancer patients, this study explores (a) the accessibility, availability, and potential benefits of psycho-oncology services; (b) whether physicians themselves provide psychosocial support; and (c) predictors for impeded referrals of survivors to services. In a cross-sectional survey, all GPs and community-based specialists in a defined region were interviewed. In addition to descriptive analyses, categorical data were investigated by applying chi-square tests. Predictors for impeded referrals were explored through logistic regression. Of 683 responding physicians, the vast majority stated that survivors benefit from psycho-oncology services (96.8%), but the physicians also articulated that insufficient coverage of psycho-oncology services (90.9%) was often accompanied by impeded referrals (77.7%). A substantial proportion (14.9%) of physicians did not offer any psychosocial support. The odds of physicians in rural areas reporting impeded referrals were 1.91 times greater than the odds of physicians in large urban areas making a similar report (95% confidence interval [1.07, 3.40]). Most community-based physicians providing survivorship care regard psycho-oncology services as highly beneficial. However, a large number of physicians report tremendous difficulty referring patients. Focusing on those physicians not providing any psychosocial support, health policy approaches should specifically (a) raise awareness of the role of physicians as persons of trust for survivors, (b) highlight the effectiveness of psycho-oncology services, and (c) encourage a proactive attitude toward the assessment of unmet needs and the initiation of comprehensive care. Community-based physicians providing survivorship care for cancer

Knowledge of HIV-related disabilities and challenges in accessing care: Qualitative research from Zimbabwe.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lena Morgon Banks

Full Text Available While the rapid expansion in antiretroviral therapy access in low and middle income countries has resulted in dramatic declines in mortality rates, many people living with HIV face new or worsening experiences of disability. As nearly 1 in 20 adults are living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa-many of whom are likely to develop disabling sequelae from long-term infection, co-morbidities and side effects of their treatment-understanding the availability and accessibility of services to address HIV-related disabilities is of vital importance. The aim of this study thus is to explore knowledge of HIV-related disabilities amongst stakeholders working in the fields of HIV and disability and factors impacting uptake and provision of interventions for preventing, treating or managing HIV-related disabilities.In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten stakeholders based in Harare, Zimbabwe, who were working in the fields of either disability or HIV. Stakeholders were identified through a priori stakeholder analysis. Thematic Analysis, complemented by constant comparison as described in Grounded Theory, was used to analyse findings.All key informants reported some level of knowledge of HIV-related disability, mostly from observations made in their line of work. However, they reported no interventions or policies were in place specifically to address HIV-related disability. While referrals between HIV and rehabilitation providers were not uncommon, no formal mechanisms had been established for collaborating on prevention, identification and management. Additional barriers to accessing and providing services to address HIV-related disabilities included: the availability of resources, including trained professionals, supplies and equipment in both the HIV and rehabilitation sectors; lack of disability-inclusive adaptations, particularly in HIV services; heavy centralization of available services in urban areas, without accessible, affordable

Revisiting the picture-superiority effect in symbolic comparisons: do pictures provide privileged access?

Science.gov (United States)

Amrhein, Paul C; McDaniel, Mark A; Waddill, Paula

2002-09-01

In 4 experiments, symbolic comparisons were investigated to test semantic-memory retrieval accounts espousing processing advantages for picture over word stimuli. In Experiment 1, participants judged pairs of animal names or pictures by responding to questions probing concrete or abstract attributes (texture or size, ferocity or intelligence). Per pair, attributes were salient or nonsalient concerning their prerated relevance to animals being compared. Distance (near or far) between attribute magnitudes was also varied. Pictures did not significantly speed responding relative to words across all other variables. Advantages were found forfar attribute magnitudes (i.e., the distance effect) and salient attributes. The distance effect was much less for salient than nonsalient concrete-attribute comparisons. These results were consistently found in additional experiments with increased statistical power to detect modality effects. Our findings argue against dual-coding and some common-code accounts of conceptual attribute processing, urging reexamination of the assumption that pictures confer privileged access to long-term knowledge.

Characterization of reaction conditions providing rapid and specific cysteine alkylation for peptide-based mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Paulech, Jana; Solis, Nestor; Cordwell, Stuart J

2013-01-01

Alkylation converts Cys thiols to thioethers and prevents unwanted side reactions, thus facilitating mass spectrometric identification of Cys-containing peptides. Alkylation occurs preferentially at Cys due to its high nucleophilicity, however reactions at other such sites are possible. N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) shows rapid reaction kinetics with Cys and careful definition of reaction conditions results in little reactivity at other sites. Analysis of a protein standard alkylated under differing reaction conditions (pH, NEM concentrations and reaction times) was performed using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and selected reaction monitoring (SRM) of NEM-modified and unmodified peptide pairs. Mis-alkylation sites at primary and secondary amines were identified and limited to one equivalent of NEM. No evidence for hydroxyl or thioether alkylation was observed. Improved specificity was achieved by restricting the pH below neutral, NEM concentration below 10mM and/or reaction time to below 5min. Maximal removal of Cys activity was observed in tissue homogenates at 40mM NEM within 1min, dependent upon efficient protein denaturation. SRM assays identified peptide-specific levels of mis-alkylation, indicating that NEM-modified to unmodified ratios did not exceed 10%, with the exception of Cys alkylation that proceeded to 100%, and some Lys residues that resulted in tryptic missed cleavages. High reactivity was observed for His residues considering their relatively low abundance. These data indicate that rapid and specific Cys alkylation is possible with NEM under relatively mild conditions, with more abrasive conditions leading to increased non-specific alkylation without appreciable benefit for MS-based proteomics. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

XACML to build access control policies for Internet of Things

OpenAIRE

Atlam, Hany F.; Alassafi, Madini, Obad; Alenezi, Ahmed; Walters, Robert; Wills, Gary

2018-01-01

Although the Internet of things (IoT) brought unlimited benefits, it also brought many security issues. The access control is one of the main elements to address these issues. It provides the access to system resources only to authorized users and ensures that they behave in an authorized manner during their access sessions. One of the significant components of any access control model is access policies. They are used to build the criteria to permit or deny any access request. Building an ef...

Providing Web Interfaces to the NSF EarthScope USArray Transportable Array

Science.gov (United States)

Vernon, Frank; Newman, Robert; Lindquist, Kent

2010-05-01

Since April 2004 the EarthScope USArray seismic network has grown to over 850 broadband stations that stream multi-channel data in near real-time to the Array Network Facility in San Diego. Providing secure, yet open, access to real-time and archived data for a broad range of audiences is best served by a series of platform agnostic low-latency web-based applications. We present a framework of tools that mediate between the world wide web and Boulder Real Time Technologies Antelope Environmental Monitoring System data acquisition and archival software. These tools provide comprehensive information to audiences ranging from network operators and geoscience researchers, to funding agencies and the general public. This ranges from network-wide to station-specific metadata, state-of-health metrics, event detection rates, archival data and dynamic report generation over a station's two year life span. Leveraging open source web-site development frameworks for both the server side (Perl, Python and PHP) and client-side (Flickr, Google Maps/Earth and jQuery) facilitates the development of a robust extensible architecture that can be tailored on a per-user basis, with rapid prototyping and development that adheres to web-standards. Typical seismic data warehouses allow online users to query and download data collected from regional networks, without the scientist directly visually assessing data coverage and/or quality. Using a suite of web-based protocols, we have recently developed an online seismic waveform interface that directly queries and displays data from a relational database through a web-browser. Using the Python interface to Datascope and the Python-based Twisted network package on the server side, and the jQuery Javascript framework on the client side to send and receive asynchronous waveform queries, we display broadband seismic data using the HTML Canvas element that is globally accessible by anyone using a modern web-browser. We are currently creating

National Geothermal Data System: an Exemplar of Open Access to Data

Science.gov (United States)

Allison, M. L.; Richard, S. M.; Blackman, H.; Anderson, A.

2013-12-01

The National Geothermal Data System's (NGDS - www.geothermaldata.org) formal launch in 2014 will provide open access to millions of datasets, sharing technical geothermal-relevant data across the geosciences to propel geothermal development and production. With information from all of the Department of Energy's sponsored development and research projects and geologic data from all 50 states, this free, interactive tool is opening new exploration opportunities and shortening project development by making data easily discoverable and accessible. We continue to populate our prototype functional data system with multiple data nodes and nationwide data online and available to the public. Data from state geological surveys and partners includes more than 5 million records online, including 1.48 million well headers (oil and gas, water, geothermal), 732,000 well logs, and 314,000 borehole temperatures and is growing rapidly. There are over 250 Web services and another 138 WMS (Web Map Services) registered in the system as of August, 2013. Companion projects run by Boise State University, Southern Methodist University, and USGS are adding millions of additional data records. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is managing the Geothermal Data Repository which will serve as a system node and clearinghouse for data from hundreds of DOE-funded geothermal projects. NGDS is built on the US Geoscience Information Network data integration framework, which is a joint undertaking of the USGS and the Association of American State Geologists (AASG). NGDS is fully compliant with the White House Executive Order of May 2013, requiring all federal agencies to make their data holdings publicly accessible online in open source, interoperable formats with common core and extensible metadata. The National Geothermal Data System is being designed, built, deployed, and populated primarily with grants from the US Department of Energy, Geothermal Technologies Office. To keep this operational

Accessible Knowledge - Knowledge on Accessibility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkeby, Inge Mette

2015-01-01

Although serious efforts are made internationally and nationally, it is a slow process to make our physical environment accessible. In the actual design process, architects play a major role. But what kinds of knowledge, including research-based knowledge, do practicing architects make use of when...... designing accessible environments? The answer to the question is crucially important since it affects how knowledge is distributed and how accessibility can be ensured. In order to get first-hand knowledge about the design process and the sources from which they gain knowledge, 11 qualitative interviews...... were conducted with architects with experience of designing for accessibility. The analysis draws on two theoretical distinctions. The first is research-based knowledge versus knowledge used by architects. The second is context-independent knowledge versus context-dependent knowledge. The practitioners...

M2M massive wireless access

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zanella, Andrea; Zorzi, Michele; Santos, André F.

2013-01-01

In order to make the Internet of Things a reality, ubiquitous coverage and low-complexity connectivity are required. Cellular networks are hence the most straightforward and realistic solution to enable a massive deployment of always connected Machines around the globe. Nevertheless, a paradigm...... shift in the conception and design of future cellular networks is called for. Massive access attempts, low-complexity and cheap machines, sporadic transmission and correlated signals are among the main properties of this new reality, whose main consequence is the disruption of the development...... Access Reservation, Coded Random Access and the exploitation of multiuser detection in random access. Additionally, we will show how the properties of machine originated signals, such as sparsity and spatial/time correlation can be exploited. The end goal of this paper is to provide motivation...

Examining data access and use in science

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yan, E.; Zhao, M.

2016-07-01

In this research-in-progress paper, we provide preliminary evidence of data access and use in scientific literature based on a content analysis of 600 stratified sampled PLOS ONE publications. Results show that data access and use varied greatly from one paper to another in terms of how datasets were collected, referenced, and curated. (Author)

Interactive access to LP DAAC satellite data archives through a combination of open-source and custom middleware web services

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Brian N.; Werpy, Jason; Friesz, Aaron M.; Impecoven, Kevin; Quenzer, Robert; Maiersperger, Tom; Meyer, David J.

2015-01-01

Current methods of searching for and retrieving data from satellite land remote sensing archives do not allow for interactive information extraction. Instead, Earth science data users are required to download files over low-bandwidth networks to local workstations and process data before science questions can be addressed. New methods of extracting information from data archives need to become more interactive to meet user demands for deriving increasingly complex information from rapidly expanding archives. Moving the tools required for processing data to computer systems of data providers, and away from systems of the data consumer, can improve turnaround times for data processing workflows. The implementation of middleware services was used to provide interactive access to archive data. The goal of this middleware services development is to enable Earth science data users to access remote sensing archives for immediate answers to science questions instead of links to large volumes of data to download and process. Exposing data and metadata to web-based services enables machine-driven queries and data interaction. Also, product quality information can be integrated to enable additional filtering and sub-setting. Only the reduced content required to complete an analysis is then transferred to the user.

Making the library accessible for all a practical guide for librarians

CERN Document Server

Vincent, Jane

2014-01-01

Accessibility is becoming an issue that libraries can no longer ignore. Making the Library Accessible for All provides a holistic guide to accessibility that addresses common issues and gives strategies for responding to unique situations. This book is a single-source guide relevant to all library functions that librarians can easily refer to when planning, remediating, or evaluating for accessibility. It has a unique holistic perspective, as well as an emphasis on perceiving people with disabilities as providing resources to meet a common goal rather than as a population to be "served."

Accessing antiretroviral therapy for children: Caregivers' voices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margaret (Maggie Williams

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Despite efforts to scale up access to antiretroviral therapy (ART, particularly at primary health care (PHC facilities, antiretroviral therapy (ART continues to be out of reach formany human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-positive children in sub-Saharan Africa. In resource limited settings decentralisation of ART is required to scale up access to essential medication. Traditionally, paediatric HIV care has been provided in tertiary care facilities which have better human and material resources, but limited accessibility in terms of distance for caregivers of HIV-positive children. The focus of this article is on the experiences of caregivers whilst accessing ART for HIV-positive children at PHC (decentralised care facilities in Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was used. The target population comprised caregivers of HIV-positive children. Data were collected by means of indepth individual interviews, which were thematically analysed. Guba's model was usedto ensure trustworthiness. Barriers to accessing ART at PHC clinics for HIV-positive children included personal issues, negative experiences, lack of support and finance, stigma and discrimination. The researchers recommend standardised programmes be developed and implemented in PHC clinics to assist in providing treatment, care and support for HIV positive children.

Accessing antiretroviral therapy for children: Caregivers' voices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margaret (Maggie Williams

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Despite efforts to scale up access to antiretroviral therapy (ART, particularly at primary health care (PHC facilities, antiretroviral therapy (ART continues to be out of reach for many human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-positive children in sub-Saharan Africa. In resource limited settings decentralisation of ART is required to scale up access to essential medication. Traditionally, paediatric HIV care has been provided in tertiary care facilities which have better human and material resources, but limited accessibility in terms of distance for caregivers of HIV-positive children. The focus of this article is on the experiences of caregivers whilst accessing ART for HIV-positive children at PHC (decentralised care facilities in Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was used. The target population comprised caregivers of HIV-positive children. Data were collected by means of in-depth individual interviews, which were thematically analysed. Guba's model was used to ensure trustworthiness. Barriers to accessing ART at PHC clinics for HIV-positive children included personal issues, negative experiences, lack of support and finance, stigma and discrimination. The researchers recommend standardised programmes be developed and implemented in PHC clinics to assist in providing treatment, care and support for HIV-positive children.

NASA Access Mechanism - Graphical user interface information retrieval system

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Judy F.; Generous, Curtis; Duncan, Denise

1993-01-01

Access to online information sources of aerospace, scientific, and engineering data, a mission focus for NASA's Scientific and Technical Information Program, has always been limited by factors such as telecommunications, query language syntax, lack of standardization in the information, and the lack of adequate tools to assist in searching. Today, the NASA STI Program's NASA Access Mechanism (NAM) prototype offers a solution to these problems by providing the user with a set of tools that provide a graphical interface to remote, heterogeneous, and distributed information in a manner adaptable to both casual and expert users. Additionally, the NAM provides access to many Internet-based services such as Electronic Mail, the Wide Area Information Servers system, Peer Locating tools, and electronic bulletin boards.

NASA access mechanism: Graphical user interface information retrieval system

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Judy; Generous, Curtis; Duncan, Denise

1993-01-01

Access to online information sources of aerospace, scientific, and engineering data, a mission focus for NASA's Scientific and Technical Information Program, has always been limited to factors such as telecommunications, query language syntax, lack of standardization in the information, and the lack of adequate tools to assist in searching. Today, the NASA STI Program's NASA Access Mechanism (NAM) prototype offers a solution to these problems by providing the user with a set of tools that provide a graphical interface to remote, heterogeneous, and distributed information in a manner adaptable to both casual and expert users. Additionally, the NAM provides access to many Internet-based services such as Electronic Mail, the Wide Area Information Servers system, Peer Locating tools, and electronic bulletin boards.

Rapid-scan EPR imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Eaton, Sandra S; Shi, Yilin; Woodcock, Lukas; Buchanan, Laura A; McPeak, Joseph; Quine, Richard W; Rinard, George A; Epel, Boris; Halpern, Howard J; Eaton, Gareth R

2017-07-01

In rapid-scan EPR the magnetic field or frequency is repeatedly scanned through the spectrum at rates that are much faster than in conventional continuous wave EPR. The signal is directly-detected with a mixer at the source frequency. Rapid-scan EPR is particularly advantageous when the scan rate through resonance is fast relative to electron spin relaxation rates. In such scans, there may be oscillations on the trailing edge of the spectrum. These oscillations can be removed by mathematical deconvolution to recover the slow-scan absorption spectrum. In cases of inhomogeneous broadening, the oscillations may interfere destructively to the extent that they are not visible. The deconvolution can be used even when it is not required, so spectra can be obtained in which some portions of the spectrum are in the rapid-scan regime and some are not. The technology developed for rapid-scan EPR can be applied generally so long as spectra are obtained in the linear response region. The detection of the full spectrum in each scan, the ability to use higher microwave power without saturation, and the noise filtering inherent in coherent averaging results in substantial improvement in signal-to-noise relative to conventional continuous wave spectroscopy, which is particularly advantageous for low-frequency EPR imaging. This overview describes the principles of rapid-scan EPR and the hardware used to generate the spectra. Examples are provided of its application to imaging of nitroxide radicals, diradicals, and spin-trapped radicals at a Larmor frequency of ca. 250MHz. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using QR codes to enable quick access to information in acute cancer care.

Science.gov (United States)

Upton, Joanne; Olsson-Brown, Anna; Marshall, Ernie; Sacco, Joseph

2017-05-25

Quick access to toxicity management information ensures timely access to steroids/immunosuppressive treatment for cancer patients experiencing immune-related adverse events, thus reducing length of hospital stays or avoiding hospital admission entirely. This article discusses a project to add a QR (quick response) code to a patient-held immunotherapy alert card. As QR code generation is free and the immunotherapy clinical management algorithms were already publicly available through the trust's clinical network website, the costs of integrating a QR code into the alert card, after printing, were low, while the potential benefits are numerous. Patient-held alert cards are widely used for patients receiving anti-cancer treatment, and this established standard of care has been modified to enable rapid access of information through the incorporation of a QR code.

Vascular access: a never-ending story.

Science.gov (United States)

Hedin, U

2014-12-01

Vascular surgeons are more and more becoming responsible for "life-line" creation well functioning and maintenance of hemodialysis patients and to provide a well functioning and multidisciplinary access service together with nefrologists, dialysis staff, and interventional radiology. For many, this sometimes arduous surgery with associated complicated clinical decision making, becomes a constant and challenging burden but much through the appearance of national and international guidelines and especially the endovascular technology, feasible solutions are easily at hand and the life as an access surgeon more pleasant. Here, basics in dialysis access care are presented together with some examples of novel available solutions to troublesome clinical problems.

Suspect online sellers and contraceptive access.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Bryan A; Mackey, Tim K; Lovett, Kimberly M

2012-11-01

Issues surrounding contraception access have been a national focus. During this debate, adolescent and adult women may seek these products online. Due to safety concerns, including potential counterfeit forms, we wished to assess whether online "no prescription" contraceptives were available. We assessed online availability of reversible, prescription contraceptive methods resulting in online pharmacy marketing is shifting from direct search engine access to social media (Facebook, Twitter, Slidehare, flickr). Online contraceptive sales represent patient safety risks and a parallel system of high-risk product access absent professional guidance. Providers should educate patients, while policy makers employ legal strategies to address these systemic risks. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Integrated Coherent Radio-over-Fiber Units for Millimeter-Wave Wireless Access

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stöhr, A.; Babiel, S.; Chuenchom, M.

2015-01-01

For providing wireless access as a complementary access technology to direct optical access, supporting 1–10 Gb/s per client, we propose a novel scheme based upon the transparent integration of coherent Radio-over-Fiber (CRoF) units with next generation optical access (NGOA) networks using dense ...

Gold open access : the best of both worlds

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Heyden, M A G; van Veen, T A B

Gold open access provides free distribution of trustworthy scientific knowledge for everyone. As publication modus, it has to withstand the bad reputation of predatory journals and overcome the preconceptions of those who believe that open access is synonymous with poor quality articles and high

49 CFR 28.149 - Program accessibility: Discrimination prohibited.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Program accessibility: Discrimination prohibited... § 28.149 Program accessibility: Discrimination prohibited. Except as otherwise provided in § 28.150, no... otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity conducted by the Department. ...

76 FR 56499 - Financial Access Activities; Comment Request.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-13

... development of sustainable financial services and products related to accounts? Are there opportunities for... Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Act), to expand access to mainstream financial... develop and provide account products and services that are appropriate and accessible for low- and...

The impact of access to immunization information on vaccine acceptance in three countries.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lori K Handy

Full Text Available Vaccine acceptance is a critical component of sustainable immunization programs, yet rates of vaccine hesitancy are rising. Increased access to misinformation through media and anti-vaccine advocacy is an important contributor to hesitancy in the United States and other high-income nations with robust immunization programs. Little is known about the content and effect of information sources on attitudes toward vaccination in settings with rapidly changing or unstable immunization programs.The objective of this study was to explore knowledge and attitudes regarding vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases among caregivers and immunization providers in Botswana, the Dominican Republic, and Greece and examine how access to information impacts reported vaccine acceptance.We conducted 37 focus groups and 14 semi-structured interviews with 96 providers and 153 caregivers in Botswana, the Dominican Republic, and Greece. Focus groups were conducted in Setswana, English, Spanish, or Greek; digitally recorded; and transcribed. Transcripts were translated into English, coded in qualitative data analysis software (NVivo 10, QSR International, Melbourne, Australia, and analyzed for common themes.Dominant themes in all three countries included identification of health care providers or medical literature as the primary source of vaccine information, yet participants reported insufficient communication about vaccines was available. Comments about level of trust in the health care system and government contrasted between sites, with the highest level of trust reported in Botswana but lower levels of trust in Greece.In Botswana, the Dominican Republic, and Greece, participants expressed reliance on health care providers for information and demonstrated a need for more communication about vaccines. Trust in the government and health care system influenced vaccine acceptance differently in each country, demonstrating the need for country-specific data that focus

Direct and indirect patient costs of dermatology clinic visits and their impact on access to care and provider preference.

Science.gov (United States)

Rothstein, Brooke E; Gonzalez, Jessica; Cunningham, Kiera; Saraiya, Ami; Dornelles, Adriana C; Nguyen, Bichchau M

2017-12-01

The direct and indirect costs of dermatology clinic visits are infrequently quantified. Indirect costs, such as the time spent traveling to and from appointments and the value of lost earnings from time away from work, are substantial costs that often are not included in economic analyses but may pose barriers to receiving care. Due to the national shortage of dermatologists, patients may have to wait longer for appointments or travel further to see dermatologists outside of their local community, resulting in high time and travel costs for patients. Patients' lost time and earnings comprise the opportunity cost of obtaining care. A monetary value for this opportunity cost can be calculated by multiplying a patient's hourly wage by the number of hours that the patient dedicated to attending the dermatology appointment. Using a single institution survey, this study quantified the direct and indirect patient costs, including opportunity costs and time burden, associated with dermatology clinic visits to better appreciate the impact of these factors on health care access and dermatologic provider preference.

The “jaundice hotline” for the rapid assessment of patients with jaundice

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Jonathan; Hussaini, Hyder; McGovern, Dermot; Farrow, Richard; Maskell, Giles; Dalton, Harry

2002-01-01

Problem Patients with jaundice require rapid diagnosis and treatment, yet such patients are often subject to delay. Design An open referral, rapid access jaundice clinic was established by reorganisation of existing services and without the need for significant extra resources. Background and setting A large general hospital in a largely rural and geographically isolated area. Key measures for improvement Waiting times for referral, consultation, diagnosis, and treatment, length of stay in hospital, and general practitioners' and patients' satisfaction with the service. Strategies for change Referrals were made through a 24 hour telephone answering machine and fax line. Initial assessment of patients was carried out by junior staff as part of their working week. Dedicated ultrasonography appointments were made available. Effects of change Of 107 patients seen in the first year of the service, 62 had biliary obstruction. The mean time between referral and consultation was 2.5 days. Patients who went on to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography waited 5.7 days on average. The mean length of stay in hospital in the 69 patients who were admitted was 6.1 days, compared with 11.5 days in 1996, as shown by audit data. Nearly all the 36 general practices (95%) and the 30 consecutive patients (97%) that were surveyed rated the service as above average or excellent. Lessons learnt An open referral, rapid access service for patients with jaundice can shorten time to diagnosis and treatment and length of stay in hospital. These improvements can occur through the reorganisation of existing services and with minimal extra cost. PMID:12142314

34 CFR 395.12 - Access to program and financial information.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 34 Education 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Access to program and financial information. 395.12... information. Each blind vendor under this part shall be provided access to all financial data of the State... annual financial reports, provided that such disclosure does not violate applicable Federal or State laws...

IMPACT OF ROMANIA’S ACCESSION TO THE EUROPEAN UNION ON THE AUSTRIAN TRADE, FDI AND LABOUR MARKET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gábor Hunya

2006-05-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the potential impact of Romania’s accession to the European Union on Austria in three major fields: foreign trade, FDI and labour market. While conditions of doing business in Romania have improved in recent years, they are still more complicated than in old and new EU member states. Romania remains a rapidly growing market for investment goods, consumer goods and services alike providing good opportunities for Austrian companies. While the effect of Eastern European labour immigration to Austria can be expected to be marginal on total employment and wages, it may affect specific segments of the labour market. Overall, labour immigration from Romania will remain relatively unproblematic.