Flextube reflectometry and pressure recordings for level diagnosis in obstructive sleep apnoea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Faber, C E; Grymer, L; Hilberg, O

2002-01-01

The objective of this study was to compare sound reflections in a flexible tube (flextube reflectometry) with pressure-catheter recordings (ApneaGraph) for identifying the predominant obstructive level of the upper airway during sleep. Seventeen males with suspected obstructive sleep apnoea...... results were found in flextube reflectometry studies and pressure-recordings performed on different nights regarding the level distribution of obstructions during sleep. Possible explanations of this discrepancy are discussed....

Identifying FRBR Work-Level Data in MARC Bibliographic Records for Manifestations of Moving Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lynne Bisko

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The library metadata community is dealing with the challenge of implementing the conceptual model, Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR. In response, the Online Audiovisual Catalogers (OLAC created a task force to study the issues related to creating and using FRBR-based work-level records for moving images. This article presents one part of the task force's work: it looks at the feasibility of creating provisional FRBR work-level records for moving images by extracting data from existing manifestation-level bibliographic records. Using a sample of 941 MARC records, a subgroup of the task force conducted a pilot project to look at five characteristics of moving image works. Here they discuss their methodology; analysis; selected results for two elements, original date (year and director name; and conclude with some suggested changes to MARC coding and current cataloging policy.

A new Arctic 25-year Altimetric Sea-level Record (1992-2016) and Initial look at Arctic Sea Level Budget Closure

OpenAIRE

Andersen O.B., Passaro M., Benveniste J., Piccioni G.

2016-01-01

A new initiative within the ESA Sea Level Climate Change initiative (SL-cci) framework to improve the Arctic sea level record has been initiated as a combined effort to reprocess and retrack past altimetry to create a 25-year combined sea level record for sea level research studies. One of the objectives is to retracked ERS-2 dataset for the high latitudes based on the ALES retracking algorithm through adapting the ALES retracker for retracking of specular surfaces (leads). Secondly a reproce...

Stream Habitat Reach Summary - NCWAP [ds158

Data.gov (United States)

California Natural Resource Agency — The Stream Habitat - NCWAP - Reach Summary [ds158] shapefile contains in-stream habitat survey data summarized to the stream reach level. It is a derivative of the...

Observations of long-term tide-gauge records for indications of accelerated sea-level rise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gornitz, V.; Solow, A.

1990-01-01

Long-term tide-gauge records have been examined for indications of accelerated sea-level rise. An initial evaluation of 21 records was made, using least-squares linear regression. Four of the longest records were selected for more formal statistical analysis. The regional-mean sea-level curve for west-central Europe displays an upswing after 1900. However, individual stations vary considerably over short distances. Results from other regions are less conclusive. Application of univariate and multivariate techniques to the four longest records yields strong evidence for the presence of a non-global, nonlinear component. However, the three longest European records show some common nonlinear features, implying the presence of a regional component. There is some weak statistical evidence for a common changepoint around 1895 in the long-term European records, particularly for Amsterdam and Brest

Time to reach a given level of number of neutrons is stochastic analog of reactor period

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryazanov, V.V.

2012-01-01

In theory and in practice the operation of nuclear reactors to control the safety of the reactor is widely used deterministic value - the period of the reactor. It is proposed along with the period of the reactor using a stochastic analogue of this magnitude - a random amount of time to achieve a given level of a random process for the number of neutrons in the reactor. The paper discusses various features of the behavior of the mean and variance of time to achieve a specified level. This kind of features can be associated with impaired behavior of the reactor system. Introduced the value of time required to reach the level can be used to monitor and improve the safety of nuclear power plants

60-year Nordic and arctic sea level reconstruction based on a reprocessed two decade altimetric sea level record and tide gauges

OpenAIRE

Svendsen, Peter Limkilde; Andersen, Ole Baltazar; Nielsen, Allan Aasbjerg

2015-01-01

Due to the sparsity and often poor quality of data, reconstructing Arctic sea level is highly challenging. We present a reconstruction of Arctic sea level covering 1950 to 2010, using the approaches from Church et al. (2004) and Ray and Douglas (2011). This involves decomposition of an altimetry calibration record into EOFs, and fitting these patterns to a historical tide gauge record.

The non-fisheries biological resources of the Hanford reach of the Columbia River

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rickard, W.H.; Hanson, W.C.; Fitzner, R.E.

1982-01-01

The Hanford Reach is the only undammed segment of the Columbia River in the United States upstream from Bonneville Dam. The non-agricultural and non-recreational land-use policies imposed by the Department of Energy have permitted the Hanford Site to function as a refugium for wildlife for 35 years. The protection offered by the Hanford Site has been especially important for the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leurocephalus), mule deer (Odocileus hemionus), coyote (Canis latrans), and resident Great Basin Canada Goose (Branta canadensis moffitti). Island habitats are especially important for nesting geese and for mule deer fawning. Coyotes are important predators upon nesting geese and mule deer fawns. Salmon carcasses are an important winter food for Bald Eagles. Riparian plant communities along the Columbia River have been changing in response to changing water level fluctuations largely regulated by power generation schedules at upstream hydroelectric dams. There are no studies presently established to record the response of Columbia River shoreline plant communities to these kinds of fluctuating water levels. The existing information is summarized on birds and mammals closely allied with the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River. High trophic level wild animals are discussed as indicators of chemical contamination of food chains

Experimental Measures of Bus Comfort Levels Using Kinematic Parameters Recorded by Smartphone

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aquila, S. dell' ; Eboli, L.; Futia, G.; Mazzulla, G.; Pungillo, G.

2016-07-01

Comfort on board plays an essential role in the levels of satisfaction of a bus service perceived by passengers. The aim of this paper is to propose a measure of comfort based on two kinds of data: perceptions of passengers (subjective data) and accelerations of bus (objective data). For the collection of subjective data a questionnaire was addressed to a sample of university students, while a smartphone, equipped with GPS device and 3-axis accelerometer, was used to record the accelerations. Based on the recorded parameters, we determined the thresholds of the acceleration values beyond which the level of comfort cannot be considered as good.. (Author)

Contrasting records of sea-level change in the eastern and western North Atlantic during the last 300 years

Science.gov (United States)

Long, A. J.; Barlow, N. L. M.; Gehrels, W. R.; Saher, M. H.; Woodworth, P. L.; Scaife, R. G.; Brain, M. J.; Cahill, N.

2014-02-01

We present a new 300-year sea-level reconstruction from a salt marsh on the Isle of Wight (central English Channel, UK) that we compare to other salt-marsh and long tide-gauge records to examine spatial and temporal variability in sea-level change in the North Atlantic. Our new reconstruction identifies an overall rise in relative sea level (RSL) of c. 0.30 m since the start of the eighteenth century at a rate of 0.9±0.3 mm yr. Error-in-variables changepoint analysis indicates that there is no statistically significant deviation from a constant rate within the dataset. The reconstruction is broadly comparable to other tide-gauge and salt-marsh records from the European Atlantic, demonstrating coherence in sea level in this region over the last 150-300 years. In contrast, we identify significant differences in the rate and timing of RSL with records from the east coast of North America. The absence of a strong late 19th/early 20th century RSL acceleration contrasts with that recorded in salt marsh sediments along the eastern USA coastline, in particular in a well-dated and precise sea-level reconstruction from North Carolina. This suggests that this part of the North Carolina sea level record represents a regionally specific sea level acceleration. This is significant because the North Carolina record has been used as if it were globally representative within semi-empirical parameterisations of past and future sea-level change. We conclude that regional-scale differences of sea-level change highlight the value of using several, regionally representative RSL records when calibrating and testing semi-empirical models of sea level against palaeo-records. This is because by using records that potentially over-estimate sea-level rise in the past such models risk over-estimating sea-level rise in the future.

Remarks on the sea level records of the north Indian ocean

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Unnikrishnan, A.S.

variability in the tide gauge records along the coasts of the north Indian Ocean A. S. Unnikrishnan National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa, India 403004 e-mail: unni@nio.org Introduction Global sea-level rise has been relatively well... studied by making use of the coastal tide gauge data that are available (Woodworth and Player, 2003) through the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL). However, studies on regional sea level rise have not gathered momentum, similar to those on a...

Mass-induced sea level variations in the Red Sea from GRACE, steric-corrected altimetry, in situ bottom pressure records, and hydrographic observations

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, W.; Lemoine, J.-M.; Zhong, M.; Hsu, H. T.

2014-08-01

An annual amplitude of ∼18 cm mass-induced sea level variations (SLV) in the Red Sea is detected from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites and steric-corrected altimetry from 2003 to 2011. The annual mass variations in the region dominate the mean SLV, and generally reach maximum in late January/early February. The annual steric component of the mean SLV is relatively small (mass-induced SLV. In situ bottom pressure records at the eastern coast of the Red Sea validate the high mass variability observed by steric-corrected altimetry and GRACE. In addition, the horizontal water mass flux of the Red Sea estimated from GRACE and steric-corrected altimetry is validated by hydrographic observations.

Analysis of land use and climate change impacts by comparing river flow records for headwaters and lowland reaches

Science.gov (United States)

Fazel, Nasim; Torabi Haghighi, Ali; Kløve, Bjørn

2017-11-01

The natural flow regime of rivers has been strongly altered world-wide, resulting in ecosystem degradation and lakes drying up, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Determining whether this is due mainly to climate change or to water withdrawal for direct human use (e.g. irrigation) is difficult, particularly for saline lake basins where hydrology data are scarce. In this study, we developed an approach for assessing climate and land use change impacts based on river flow records for headwater and lowland reaches of rivers, using the case of Lake Urmia basin, in north-westen Iran. Flow regimes at upstream and downstream stations were studied before and after major dam construction and irrigation projects. Data from 57 stations were used to establish five different time intervals representing 10 different land use development periods (scenarios) for upstream (not impacted) and downstream (impacted) systems. An existing river impact (RI) index was used to assess changes in three main characteristics of flow (magnitude, timing and, intra-annual variability). The results showed that irrigation was by far the main driving force for river flow regime changes in the lake basin. All stations close to the lake and on adjacent plains showed significantly higher impacts of land use change than headwaters. As headwaters are relatively unaffected by agriculture, the non-significant changes observed in headwater flow regimes indicate a minor effect of climate change on river flows in the region. The benefit of the method developed is clear interpretation of results based on river flow records, which is useful in communicating land use and climate change information to decision makers and lake restoration planners.

Functional reach and lateral reach tests adapted for aquatic physical therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Angélica Ribeiro de Lima

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction: Functional reach (FR and lateral reach (LR tests are widely used in scientific research and clinical practice. Assessment tools are useful in assessing subjects with greater accuracy and are usually adapted according to the limitations of each condition. Objective: To adapt FR and LR tests for use in an aquatic environment and assess the performance of healthy young adults. Methods: We collected anthropometric data and information on whether the participant exercised regularly or not. The FR and LR tests were adapted for use in an aquatic environment and administered to 47 healthy subjects aged 20-30 years. Each test was repeated three times. Results: Forty-one females and six males were assessed. The mean FR test score for men was 24.06 cm, whereas the mean value for right lateral reach (RLR was 10.94 cm and for left lateral reach (LLR was 9.78 cm. For females, the mean FR score was 17.57 cm, while the mean values for RLR was 8.84cm and for LLR was 7.76 cm. Men performed better in the FR (p < 0.001 and RLR tests than women (p = 0.037. Individuals who exercised regularly showed no differences in performance level when compared with their counterparts. Conclusion: The FR and LR tests were adapted for use in an aquatic environment. Males performed better on the FR and RLR tests, when compared to females. There was no correlation between the FR and LR tests and weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI, foot length or length of the dominant upper limb.

Mental workload and motor performance dynamics during practice of reaching movements under various levels of task difficulty.

Science.gov (United States)

Shuggi, Isabelle M; Oh, Hyuk; Shewokis, Patricia A; Gentili, Rodolphe J

2017-09-30

The assessment of mental workload can inform attentional resource allocation during task performance that is essential for understanding the underlying principles of human cognitive-motor behavior. While many studies have focused on mental workload in relation to human performance, a modest body of work has examined it in a motor practice/learning context without considering individual variability. Thus, this work aimed to examine mental workload by employing the NASA TLX as well as the changes in motor performance resulting from the practice of a novel reaching task. Two groups of participants practiced a reaching task at a high and low nominal difficulty during which a group-level analysis assessed the mental workload, motor performance and motor improvement dynamics. A secondary cluster analysis was also conducted to identify specific individual patterns of cognitive-motor responses. Overall, both group- and cluster-level analyses revealed that: (i) all participants improved their performance throughout motor practice, and (ii) an increase in mental workload was associated with a reduction of the quality of motor performance along with a slower rate of motor improvement. The results are discussed in the context of the optimal challenge point framework and in particular it is proposed that under the experimental conditions employed here, functional task difficulty: (i) would possibly depend on an individuals' information processing capabilities, and (ii) could be indexed by the level of mental workload which, when excessively heightened can decrease the quality of performance and more generally result in delayed motor improvements. Copyright © 2017 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Changes in Purkinje cell simple spike encoding of reach kinematics during adaption to a mechanical perturbation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hewitt, Angela L; Popa, Laurentiu S; Ebner, Timothy J

2015-01-21

The cerebellum is essential in motor learning. At the cellular level, changes occur in both the simple spike and complex spike firing of Purkinje cells. Because simple spike discharge reflects the main output of the cerebellar cortex, changes in simple spike firing likely reflect the contribution of the cerebellum to the adapted behavior. Therefore, we investigated in Rhesus monkeys how the representation of arm kinematics in Purkinje cell simple spike discharge changed during adaptation to mechanical perturbations of reach movements. Monkeys rapidly adapted to a novel assistive or resistive perturbation along the direction of the reach. Adaptation consisted of matching the amplitude and timing of the perturbation to minimize its effect on the reach. In a majority of Purkinje cells, simple spike firing recorded before and during adaptation demonstrated significant changes in position, velocity, and acceleration sensitivity. The timing of the simple spike representations change within individual cells, including shifts in predictive versus feedback signals. At the population level, feedback-based encoding of position increases early in learning and velocity decreases. Both timing changes reverse later in learning. The complex spike discharge was only weakly modulated by the perturbations, demonstrating that the changes in simple spike firing can be independent of climbing fiber input. In summary, we observed extensive alterations in individual Purkinje cell encoding of reach kinematics, although the movements were nearly identical in the baseline and adapted states. Therefore, adaption to mechanical perturbation of a reaching movement is accompanied by widespread modifications in the simple spike encoding. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/351106-19$15.00/0.

Fundamental Adriatic seiche recorded by current meters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Leder

2004-04-01

Full Text Available Currents recorded at two stations positioned at the Adriatic shelf break between 17 February and 6 March 1989 were considered. They provided the first evidence of current variability related to the Adriatic-wide seiches. Current spectra were dominated by a peak at 21.1h – a well-known period of the fundamental Adriatic mode. Amplitudes of oscillations were considerable, occasionally greater than 30cm/s. Both along- and cross-basin currents were recorded, thus signalling the importance of rotational effects. Comparison of the current data with the sea-level measurements performed simultaneously along the east Adriatic coast showed that the 21-h currents flowing in the Adriatic preceded sea levels by a quarter of a cycle, as would be expected from a simple model of bay seiches. Sea-level amplitudes reached 40cm in the North Adriatic, thus marking the event as one of the strongest on record. Seiching was triggered by a suddenly changing sirocco wind, as is usually the case in the Adriatic. The most important features of the seiche event were reproduced with a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model of the Adriatic Sea, forced by the sea-level residuals measured at Otranto and the air pressure and wind data recorded at Lastovo. The model showed that the seiche-related currents were relatively strong in the area where the current measurements were performed and further north – between Zadar and Ancona. Key words. Oceanography: general (continental shelf processes – Oceanography: physical (sea-level variations, currents

Neurons in Primary Motor Cortex Encode Hand Orientation in a Reach-to-Grasp Task.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Chaolin; Ma, Xuan; Fan, Jing; He, Jiping

2017-08-01

It is disputed whether those neurons in the primary motor cortex (M1) that encode hand orientation constitute an independent channel for orientation control in reach-to-grasp behaviors. Here, we trained two monkeys to reach forward and grasp objects positioned in the frontal plane at different orientation angles, and simultaneously recorded the activity of M1 neurons. Among the 2235 neurons recorded in M1, we found that 18.7% had a high correlation exclusively with hand orientation, 15.9% with movement direction, and 29.5% with both movement direction and hand orientation. The distributions of neurons encoding hand orientation and those encoding movement direction were not uniform but coexisted in the same region. The trajectory of hand rotation was reproduced by the firing patterns of the orientation-related neurons independent of the hand reaching direction. These results suggest that hand orientation is an independent component for the control of reaching and grasping activity.

Constraints on sea level during the Pliocene: Records from the deep Pacific Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Woodard, S. C.; Rosenthal, Y.; Miller, K. G.; Wright, J. D.; Chiu, B. K.

2013-12-01

To reconstruct sea level during the transition from peak late Pliocene warmth (~3.15 Ma) to the onset of N. Hemisphere glaciation (~2.75 Ma), we generated high resolution stable isotope (δ18O, δ13C) and trace metal (Mg/Ca) records using benthic foraminifera, Uvigerina sp., from northwest Pacific ODP Site 1208 (3350 m water depth). During the peak late Pliocene warmth Mg/Ca-derived temperature records indicate deep Pacific interglacial temperatures were not significantly warmer (+0.6 ×0.8°C) than modern and glacial temperatures were near freezing similar to the LGM. In contrast, the deep N. Atlantic (Site 607) was apparently ~3°C warmer than the modern during both Pliocene glacial and interglacial periods (Sosdian and Rosenthal, 2009), based on the Mg/Ca of P. wuellerstorfi, which may be influenced by carbonate ion effect (Elderfield et al., 2009 and refs therein). δ18O records indicate a significant long-term increase in benthic δ18O in both the N. Atlantic and N. Pacific, although the rate of increase (Δδ18O) in the N. Atlantic is approximately 3x that of the N. Pacific (Site 1208), based on least squares regressions of all glacial-interglacial data. The discrepancy in the Δδ18O between the two basins is explained by Mg/Ca-derived temperature records. Results from Site 1208 show that the deep Pacific experienced no long-term cooling over the period 3.15-2.7 Ma when the deep N. Atlantic cooled by ~2.5°C on average. The relatively stable Pacific deep-water record provides the more reliable reconstructions of sea-level changes. From 3.15-2.7 Ma, Pacific δ18O data records an average increase of ~0.19× 0.08 per mil implying a sea level drop of 19 m × 8 m. After correcting the N. Atlantic record for temperature, we find the long term δ18O change from 3.15-2.7 Ma is ~0.23×0.1 per mil which equates to a peak of 23 m × 10 m. Our estimates are further corroborated by foraminiferal calcite δ18O recorded during Pliocene peak interglacials KM3 and G17. The �

Postural and Object-Oriented Experiences Advance Early Reaching, Object Exploration, and Means-End Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Lobo, Michele A.; Galloway, James C.

2008-01-01

The effects of 3 weeks of social (control), postural, or object-oriented experiences on 9- to 21-week-old infants' (N = 42) reaching, exploration, and means-end behaviors were assessed. Coders recorded object contacts, mouthing, fingering, attention, and affect from video. Postural and object-oriented experiences advanced reaching, haptic…

Reaching the hard-to-reach.

Science.gov (United States)

Valdes, C

1992-01-01

Guatemala's family planning (FP) programs are innovative but contraceptive use is only 23%. Total fertility is 5.3 children/woman, and the 9.5 million population will double in 23 years. The problem is poverty and illiteracy among rural residents removed from health services. 80% live in poverty and 80% are illiterate. Government effort is devoted to combating diseases such as diarrhea so there are few funds for implementing a comprehensive population policy. There is support within the national government but FP lacks priority status. APROFAM's goals are to use innovative marketing methods to inform the rural population who lack access to and knowledge about FP. Service delivery is constrained by the difficulty in reaching remote areas where 4 out of 10 indigenous Guatemalans live. Infant mortality can reach as high as 200/1000 live births. Population growth has slowed, and APROFAM plans to reach 16,000 more in the future. Promotions are conducted in several languages and aired on radio, television, and in the print media. It has been found that market research is the most effective strategy in reaching indigenous families. APROFAM has also been effective in upgrading service facilities through training, client surveys, and setting improved clinic standards. Breastfeeding, training, and voluntary sterilization programs contribute to the primary care effort. The example is given of Paulina Lebron from a very poor area who has learned how to space her children and thus improve the standard of living for her family. Eventually, she convinced herself and her family that sterilization was necessary, and now the couple enjoy the bliss of newlyweds without fear of pregnancy.

Mass-induced sea level variations in the Red Sea from steric-corrected altimetry, GRACE, in-situ bottom pressure records, and hydrographic observations

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Wei; Lemoine, Jean-Michel; Zhong, Min; Xu, Houze

2014-05-01

An annual amplitude of ~18 cm mass-induced sea level variations (SLV) in the Red Sea is detected from steric-corrected altimetry and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites from 2003 to 2011, which dominates the mean sea level in the region. Seawater mass variations here generally reach maximum in late January/early February. The steric component of SLV calculated from oceanographic temperature and salinity data is relatively small and peaks about seven months later than mass variations. The phase difference between the steric SLV and the mass-induced SLV indicates that when the Red Sea gains the mass from inflow water in winter, the steric SLV fall, and vice versa in summer. In-situ bottom pressure records in the eastern coast of the Red Sea validate the high mass variability observed by steric-corrected altimetry and GRACE. Furthermore, we compare the horizontal water mass flux in the Red Sea from steric-corrected altimetry and GRACE with that estimated from hydrographic observations.

Determination of nitrogen reduction levels necessary to reach groundwater quality targets in Slovenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Andelov, Miso; Kunkel, Ralf; Uhan, Jože; Wendland, Frank

2014-09-01

Within a collaborative project between Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO) and Research Center Jülich (FZJ), nitrogen reduction levels necessary to reach groundwater quality targets in Slovenia were assessed. For this purpose the hydrological model GROWA-DENUZ was coupled with agricultural N balances and applied consistently to the whole territory of Slovenia in a spatial resolution of 100×100m. GROWA was used to determine the water balance in Slovenia for the hydrologic period 1971-2000. Simultaneously, the displaceable N load in soil was assessed from agricultural Slovenian N surpluses for 2011 and the atmospheric N deposition. Subsequently, the DENUZ model was used to assess the nitrate degradation in soil and, in combination with the percolation water rates from the GROWA model, to determine nitrate concentration in the leachate. The areas showing predicted nitrate concentrations in the leachate above the EU groundwater quality standard of 50mg NO3(-)/L have been identified as priority areas for implementing nitrogen reduction measures. For these "hot spot" areas DENUZ was used in a backward mode to quantify the maximal permissible nitrogen surplus levels in agriculture to guarantee a nitrate concentration in percolation water below 50mg NO3(-)/L. Model results indicate that additional N reduction measures should be implemented in priority areas rather than area-covering. Research work will directly support the implementation of the European Union Water Framework Directive in Slovenia, e.g., by using the maximal permissible nitrogen surplus levels as a framework for the derivation of regionally adapted and hence effective nitrogen reduction measures. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Stream Habitat Reach Summary - North Coast [ds63

Data.gov (United States)

California Natural Resource Agency — The shapefile is based on habitat unit level data summarized at the stream reach level. The database represents salmonid stream habitat surveys from 645 streams of...

A 500 kyr record of global sea-level oscillations in the Gulf of Lion, Mediterranean Sea: new insights into MIS 3 sea-level variability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Frigola

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Borehole PRGL1-4 drilled in the upper slope of the Gulf of Lion provides an exceptional record to investigate the impact of late Pleistocene orbitally-driven glacio-eustatic sea-level oscillations on the sedimentary outbuilding of a river fed continental margin. High-resolution grain-size and geochemical records supported by oxygen isotope chronostratigraphy allow reinterpreting the last 500 ka upper slope seismostratigraphy of the Gulf of Lion. Five main sequences, stacked during the sea-level lowering phases of the last five glacial-interglacial 100-kyr cycles, form the upper stratigraphic outbuilding of the continental margin. The high sensitivity of the grain-size record down the borehole to sea-level oscillations can be explained by the great width of the Gulf of Lion continental shelf. Sea level driven changes in accommodation space over the shelf cyclically modified the depositional mode of the entire margin. PRGL1-4 data also illustrate the imprint of sea-level oscillations at millennial time-scale, as shown for Marine Isotopic Stage 3, and provide unambiguous evidence of relative high sea-levels at the onset of each Dansgaard-Oeschger Greenland warm interstadial. The PRGL1-4 grain-size record represents the first evidence for a one-to-one coupling of millennial time-scale sea-level oscillations associated with each Dansgaard-Oeschger cycle.

Assessment of impacts from water level fluctuations on fish in the Hanford Reach, Columbia River

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Becker, C.D.; Fickeisen, D.H.; Montgomery, J.C.

1981-05-01

Observations on the effects of water level fluctuations in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River, Washington, were made in 1976 and 1977. The two years provided contrasting flow regimes: high water and fluctuations of greater magnitude prevailed in 1976; low water and higher temperatures prevailed in 1977. Situations where fish and other aquatic organisms were destroyed by changing water levels were observed and evaluated each year in three study areas: Hanford, F-Area, and White Bluffs sloughs. Losses primarily were due to stranding, entrapment (with or without complete dewatering), and predation. Juvenile fish were more susceptible to entrapment and stranding than were adult fish. Estimates of actual losses were biased and conservative because relatively few fish could be found after each decline of water level and dewatering. The most valued species of fish affected by water level fluctuations at Hanford were the anadromus fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and the resident smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui). Crucial periods for chinook salmon occurred during winter when incubating eggs were in the gravel of the main channel, and before and during seaward migration in the spring when fry were abundant in shoreline zones. The crucial period for smallmouth bass was during spring and early summer when adults were spawning in warmed sloughs and shoreline zones. Chinook salmon and smallmouth bass fry were vulnerable to stranding and entrapment, and smallmouth bass nests were susceptible to exposure and temperature changes resulting from repeated water level fluctuations. Thus, flow manipulation may be crucial to their survival. The extent to which other species of riverine fish were affected by water level fluctuations depended upon their use of shoreline zones for spawning and rearing young.

85 km Long Reach PON System Using a Reflective SOA-EA Modulator and Distributed Raman Fiber Amplification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tafur Monroy, Idelfonso; Öhman, Filip; Yvind, Kresten

2006-01-01

We report on a bidirectional 85 km long reach PON system supported by distributed fiber Raman amplification with a record 7.5 Gb/s remote carrier modulated upstream signal by employing a reflective SOA-EA monolithically integrated circuit......We report on a bidirectional 85 km long reach PON system supported by distributed fiber Raman amplification with a record 7.5 Gb/s remote carrier modulated upstream signal by employing a reflective SOA-EA monolithically integrated circuit...

More than 70 years of continuous sea level records on the Santander Bay.

Science.gov (United States)

Lavín, Alicia; Tel, Elena; Molinero, Joaquin; Rodriguez, Carmen

2017-04-01

The knowledge of sea level height is important for many different sectors as navigation, transport, building infrastructures, tourism, or maritime sports, between others. Tides are mainly composed of an astronomical part and a meteorological one. Sometimes, their joined action is the responsible of extreme behaviors in the sea level. Influence of pressure differences, as well as related winds, is important in the behavior of sea level to analyze. The first system for reading the sea level was a tide board attached at the pier. In Spain the first modern tide gauge was installed in the Port of Alicante, Mediterranean Sea, in 1873 depending of the National Geographic Institute (IGN). Just the following year, a similar tide gauge was installed at the entrance of the Santander Bay. "La Magdalena" tide gauge was working during two periods 1876-1928 and 1963-1975. Together with Cádiz, the IGN tide gauges were used to determinate the national datum for terrestrial cartography. The Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) tide gauge network was initiated in 1943 with the installation of tide gauges along the Spanish coast. One of them was located in Santander and has been working since then. At the beginning it was a float tide gauge connected to a graphical continuous recorder. Nowadays, it also has a digital encoder and a remote connection that allow using the recorded data for operational purposes. Later a Radar system was added. This tide gauge is referred to the Tide Gauge Zero and also calibrated to a benchmark in order to have a unique reference. This high quality sea level information is required for international and regional research activities, as Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS). In particular, long time series are widely used for climate change detection. The sea level long term variability studies require a very good quality data focus in the reference of the data along the whole period and also it will be more precisely if we can remove the crustal

Simulation of Columbia River Floods in the Hanford Reach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Waichler, Scott R.; Serkowski, John A.; Perkins, William A.; Richmond, Marshall C.

2017-01-30

Columbia River water elevations and flows in the Hanford Reach affect the environment and facilities along the shoreline, including movement of contaminants in groundwater, fish habitat, and infrastructure subject to flooding. This report describes the hydraulic simulation of hypothetical flood flows using the best available topographic and bathymetric data for the Hanford Reach and the Modular Aquatic Simulation System in 1 Dimension (MASS1) hydrodynamic model. The MASS1 model of the Hanford Reach was previously calibrated to field measurements of water surface elevations. The current model setup can be used for other studies of flow, water levels, and temperature in the Reach. The existing MASS1 channel geometry and roughness and other model configuration inputs for the Hanford Reach were used for this study, and previous calibration and validation results for the model are reprinted here for reference. The flood flows for this study were simulated by setting constant flow rates obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for the Columbia, Snake, and Yakima Rivers, and a constant water level at McNary Dam, and then running the model to steady state. The discharge levels simulated were all low-probability events; for example, a 100-year flood is one that would occur on average every 100 years, or put another way, in any given year there is a 1% chance that a discharge of that level or higher will occur. The simulated floods and their corresponding Columbia River discharges were 100-year (445,000 cfs), 500-year (520,000 cfs), and the USACE-defined Standard Project Flood (960,000 cfs). The resulting water levels from the steady-state floods can be viewed as “worst case” outcomes for the respective discharge levels. The MASS1 output for water surface elevations was converted to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 and projected across the channel and land surface to enable mapping of the floodplain for each scenario. Floodplain maps show that for

Decoding natural reach-and-grasp actions from human EEG

Science.gov (United States)

Schwarz, Andreas; Ofner, Patrick; Pereira, Joana; Ioana Sburlea, Andreea; Müller-Putz, Gernot R.

2018-02-01

Objective. Despite the high number of degrees of freedom of the human hand, most actions of daily life can be executed incorporating only palmar, pincer and lateral grasp. In this study we attempt to discriminate these three different executed reach-and-grasp actions utilizing their EEG neural correlates. Approach. In a cue-guided experiment, 15 healthy individuals were asked to perform these actions using daily life objects. We recorded 72 trials for each reach-and-grasp condition and from a no-movement condition. Main results. Using low-frequency time domain features from 0.3 to 3 Hz, we achieved binary classification accuracies of 72.4%, STD  ±  5.8% between grasp types, for grasps versus no-movement condition peak performances of 93.5%, STD  ±  4.6% could be reached. In an offline multiclass classification scenario which incorporated not only all reach-and-grasp actions but also the no-movement condition, the highest performance could be reached using a window of 1000 ms for feature extraction. Classification performance peaked at 65.9%, STD  ±  8.1%. Underlying neural correlates of the reach-and-grasp actions, investigated over the primary motor cortex, showed significant differences starting from approximately 800 ms to 1200 ms after the movement onset which is also the same time frame where classification performance reached its maximum. Significance. We could show that it is possible to discriminate three executed reach-and-grasp actions prominent in people’s everyday use from non-invasive EEG. Underlying neural correlates showed significant differences between all tested conditions. These findings will eventually contribute to our attempt of controlling a neuroprosthesis in a natural and intuitive way, which could ultimately benefit motor impaired end users in their daily life actions.

Effects of RoHs and REACH regulations on firm-level production and export, and the role of global value chains : the cases of Malaysia and Vietnam

OpenAIRE

Otsuki, Tsunehiro; Honda, Keiichiro; Michida, Etsuyo; Nabeshima, Kaoru; Ueki, Yasushi

2015-01-01

This paper uses firm-level data to examine the impact of foreign chemical safety regulations such as RoHS and REACH on the production costs and export performance of firms in Malaysia and Vietnam. This paper also investigates the role of global value chains in enhancing the likelihood that a firm complies with RoHS and REACH. We find that in addition to the initial setup costs for compliance, EU RoHS (REACH) implementation imposes on firms additional variable production costs by requiring add...

Ice volume and climate changes from a 6000 year sea-level record in French Polynesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallmann, N; Camoin, G; Eisenhauer, A; Botella, A; Milne, G A; Vella, C; Samankassou, E; Pothin, V; Dussouillez, P; Fleury, J; Fietzke, J

2018-01-18

Mid- to late-Holocene sea-level records from low-latitude regions serve as an important baseline of natural variability in sea level and global ice volume prior to the Anthropocene. Here, we reconstruct a high-resolution sea-level curve encompassing the last 6000 years based on a comprehensive study of coral microatolls, which are sensitive low-tide recorders. Our curve is based on microatolls from several islands in a single region and comprises a total of 82 sea-level index points. Assuming thermosteric contributions are negligible on millennial time scales, our results constrain global ice melting to be 1.5-2.5 m (sea-level equivalent) since ~5500 years before present. The reconstructed curve includes isolated rapid events of several decimetres within a few centuries, one of which is most likely related to loss from the Antarctic ice sheet mass around 5000 years before present. In contrast, the occurrence of large and flat microatolls indicates periods of significant sea-level stability lasting up to ~300 years.

Long-term cyclicities in Phanerozoic sea-level sedimentary record and their potential drivers

Science.gov (United States)

Boulila, Slah; Laskar, Jacques; Haq, Bilal U.; Galbrun, Bruno; Hara, Nathan

2018-06-01

Cyclic sedimentation has varied at several timescales and this variability has been geologically well documented at Milankovitch timescales, controlled in part by climatically (insolation) driven sea-level changes. At the longer (tens of Myr) timescales connection between astronomical parameters and sedimentation via cyclic solar-system motions within the Milky Way has also been proposed, but this hypothesis remains controversial because of the lack of long geological records. In addition, the absence of a meaningful physical mechanism that could explain the connection between climate and astronomy at these longer timescales led to the more plausible explanation of plate motions as the main driver of climate and sedimentation through changes in ocean and continent mass distribution on Earth. Here we statistically show a prominent and persistent 36 Myr sedimentary cyclicity superimposed on two megacycles ( 250 Myr) in a relatively well-constrained sea-level (SL) record of the past 542 Myr (Phanerozoic eon). We also show two other significant 9.3 and 91 Myr periodicities, but with lower amplitudes. The 9.3 Myr cyclicity was previously attributed to long-period Milankovitch band based on the Cenozoic record. However, the 91 Myr cyclicity has never been observed before in the geologic record. The 250 Myr cyclicity was attributed to the Wilson tectonic (supercontinent) cycle. The 36 Myr periodicity, also detected for the first time in SL record, has previously been ascribed either to tectonics or to astronomical cyclicity. Given the possible link between amplitudes of the 36 and 250 Myr cyclicities in SL record and the potential that these periodicities fall into the frequency band of solar system motions, we suggest an astronomical origin, and model these periodicities as originating from the path of the solar system in the Milky Way as vertical and radial periods that modulate the flux of cosmic rays on Earth. Our finding of the 36 Myr SL cyclicity lends credibility

First direct evidence of a vertebrate three-level trophic chain in the fossil record.

Science.gov (United States)

Kriwet, Jürgen; Witzmann, Florian; Klug, Stefanie; Heidtke, Ulrich H J

2008-01-22

We describe the first known occurrence of a Permian shark specimen preserving two temnospondyl amphibians in its digestive tract as well as the remains of an acanthodian fish, which was ingested by one of the temnospondyls. This exceptional find provides for the first time direct evidence of a vertebrate three-level food chain in the fossil record with the simultaneous preservation of three trophic levels. Our analysis shows that small-sized Lower Permian xenacanthid sharks of the genus Triodus preyed on larval piscivorous amphibians. The recorded trophic interaction can be explained by the adaptation of certain xenacanthids to fully freshwater environments and the fact that in these same environments, large temnospondyls occupied the niche of modern crocodiles. This unique faunal association has not been documented after the Permian and Triassic. Therefore, this Palaeozoic three-level food chain provides strong and independent support for changes in aquatic trophic chain structures through time.

Covariance functions across herd production levels for test day records on milk, fat, and protein yields

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veerkamp, R.F.; Goddard, M.E.

1998-01-01

Multiple-trait BLUP evaluations of test day records require a large number of genetic parameters. This study estimated covariances with a reduced model that included covariance functions in two dimensions (stage of lactation and herd production level) and all three yield traits. Records came from

Sedimentary geochemical record of human-induced environmental changes in Huanggaihu Lake in the middle reach of the Yangtze River, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuchun Yao

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Total organic carbon (TOC, total nitrogen (TN, total phosphorus (TP and heavy metals were determined along with stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen (δ13Corg and δ15N in an 86 cm sediment core from Huanggaihu Lake, located in the middle reach of the Yangtze River, China. These geochemical and isotopic records provide a continuous history of lake productivity and the trophic state of Huanggaihu Lake over the past 150 years. Before the 1960s, organic matter, nutrients and heavy metal contents were low, revealing the low trophic state and pollution inputs at Huanggaihu Lake. High sediment mass accumulation rates and low clay content suggested increased catchment erosion related to human activities such as railway construction and forest clearing during the 1910s-1940s in the catchment area. Since the 1960s, TOC, TN and δ15N have increased along with decreased δ13Corg, indicating an increase in the primary productivity of Huanggaihu Lake. After the year 2000, the TOC, TN and TP decreased or remained stable, and the δ13Corg and δ15N dropped slightly, indicating minor improvement in the lake’s water quality.

Younger Dryas sea level and meltwater pulse 1B recorded in Barbados reef crest coral Acropora palmata

Science.gov (United States)

Abdul, N. A.; Mortlock, R. A.; Wright, J. D.; Fairbanks, R. G.

2016-02-01

The Younger Dryas climate event occurred during the middle of the last deglacial cycle and is marked by an abrupt shift in the North Atlantic polar front almost to its former glacial position, trending east to west. Using high-precision and high-accuracy U-Th-dated Barbados reef crest coral, Acropora palmata, we generate a detailed sea level record from 13.9 to 9000 years before present (kyr B.P.) and reconstruct the ice volume response to the Younger Dryas cooling. From the mid-Allerød (13.9 kyr B.P.) to the end of the Younger Dryas (11.65 kyr B.P.), rates of sea level rise decreased smoothly from 20 mm yr-1 to 4 mm yr-1, culminating in a 400 year "slow stand" before accelerating into meltwater pulse 1B (MWP-1B). The MWP-1B event at Barbados is better constrained as beginning by 11.45 kyr B.P. and ending at 11.1 kyr B.P. during which time sea level rose 14 ± 2 m and rates of sea level rise reached 40 mm yr-1. We propose that MWP-1B is the direct albeit lagged response of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets to the rapid warming marking the end of the Younger Dryas coinciding with rapid warming in the circum-North Atlantic region and the polar front shift from its zonal to meridional position 11.65 kyr B.P. As predicted by glaciological models, the ice sheet response to rapid North Atlantic warming was lagged by 400 years due to the thermal inertia of large ice sheets. The regional circum-North Atlantic Younger Dryas climate event is elevated to a global response through sea level changes, starting with the global slowdown in sea level rise during the Younger Dryas and culminating with MWP-1B. No meltwater pulses are evident at the initiation of the Younger Dryas climate event as is often speculated.

Adaptive mixed reality rehabilitation improves quality of reaching movements more than traditional reaching therapy following stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Duff, Margaret; Chen, Yinpeng; Cheng, Long; Liu, Sheng-Min; Blake, Paul; Wolf, Steven L; Rikakis, Thanassis

2013-05-01

Adaptive mixed reality rehabilitation (AMRR) is a novel integration of motion capture technology and high-level media computing that provides precise kinematic measurements and engaging multimodal feedback for self-assessment during a therapeutic task. We describe the first proof-of-concept study to compare outcomes of AMRR and traditional upper-extremity physical therapy. Two groups of participants with chronic stroke received either a month of AMRR therapy (n = 11) or matched dosing of traditional repetitive task therapy (n = 10). Participants were right handed, between 35 and 85 years old, and could independently reach to and at least partially grasp an object in front of them. Upper-extremity clinical scale scores and kinematic performances were measured before and after treatment. Both groups showed increased function after therapy, demonstrated by statistically significant improvements in Wolf Motor Function Test and upper-extremity Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) scores, with the traditional therapy group improving significantly more on the FMA. However, only participants who received AMRR therapy showed a consistent improvement in kinematic measurements, both for the trained task of reaching to grasp a cone and the untrained task of reaching to push a lighted button. AMRR may be useful in improving both functionality and the kinematics of reaching. Further study is needed to determine if AMRR therapy induces long-term changes in movement quality that foster better functional recovery.

LHC Report: staying cool despite record highs

CERN Document Server

Jorg Wenninger for the LHC team

2016-01-01

These two last weeks have been a highlight of LHC operation so far, delivering record luminosity.   LHC integrated luminosity in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2016. It’s been a record-breaking period for the LHC. On the evening of Wednesday, 1 June, the maximum number of bunches achievable with the current configuration, based on the injection of 72-bunch trains with a spacing of 25 ns, was reached. 2040 bunches were circulating in the machine. The rest of the week continued in a similar vein: the luminosity record at 6.5 TeV was broken with a peak luminosity of just over 8 x 1033 cm-2s-1, reaching 80% of the design luminosity. This was followed by a new record for integrated luminosity in a single fill, with 370 pb-1 delivered in 18 hours of colliding beams. Finally, a third record was broken later in the week: with an availability for collisions of around 75% (the annual average is normally around 35%) and 6 long fills of particles brought into collision one...

A distributed water level network in ephemeral river reaches to identify hydrological processes within anthropogenic catchments

Science.gov (United States)

Sarrazin, B.; Braud, I.; Lagouy, M.; Bailly, J. S.; Puech, C.; Ayroles, H.

2009-04-01

In order to study the impact of land use change on the water cycle, distributed hydrological models are more and more used, because they have the ability to take into account the land surface heterogeneity and its evolution due to anthropogenic pressure. These models provide continuous distributed simulations of streamflow, runoff, soil moisture, etc, which, ideally, should be evaluated against continuous distributed measurements, taken at various scales and located in nested sub-catchments. Distributed network of streamflow gauging stations are in general scarce and very expensive to maintain. Furthermore, they can hardly be installed in the upstream parts of the catchments where river beds are not well defined. In this paper, we present an alternative to these standard streamflow gauging stations network, based on self powered high resolution water level sensors using a capacitive water height data logger. One of their advantages is that they can be installed even in ephemeral reaches and from channel head locations to high order streams. Furthermore, these innovative and easily adaptable low cost sensors offer the possibility to develop in the near future, a wireless network application. Such a network, including 15 sensors has been set up on nested watersheds in small and intermittent streams of a 7 km² catchment, located in the mountainous "Mont du Lyonnais" area, close to the city of Lyon, France. The land use of this catchment is mostly pasture, crop and forest, but the catchment is significantly affected by human activities, through the existence of a dense roads and paths network and urbanized areas. The equipment provides water levels survey during precipitation events in the hydrological network with a very accurate time step (2 min). Water levels can be related to runoff production and catchment response as a function of scale. This response will depend, amongst other, on variable soil water storage capacity, physiographic data and characteristics of

Olefins and chemical regulation in Europe: REACH.

Science.gov (United States)

Penman, Mike; Banton, Marcy; Erler, Steffen; Moore, Nigel; Semmler, Klaus

2015-11-05

REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) is the European Union's chemical regulation for the management of risk to human health and the environment (European Chemicals Agency, 2006). This regulation entered into force in June 2007 and required manufacturers and importers to register substances produced in annual quantities of 1000 tonnes or more by December 2010, with further deadlines for lower tonnages in 2013 and 2018. Depending on the type of registration, required information included the substance's identification, the hazards of the substance, the potential exposure arising from the manufacture or import, the identified uses of the substance, and the operational conditions and risk management measures applied or recommended to downstream users. Among the content developed to support this information were Derived No-Effect Levels or Derived Minimal Effect Levels (DNELs/DMELs) for human health hazard assessment, Predicted No Effect Concentrations (PNECs) for environmental hazard assessment, and exposure scenarios for exposure and risk assessment. Once registered, substances may undergo evaluation by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) or Member State authorities and be subject to requests for additional information or testing as well as additional risk reduction measures. To manage the REACH registration and related activities for the European olefins and aromatics industry, the Lower Olefins and Aromatics REACH Consortium was formed in 2008 with administrative and technical support provided by Penman Consulting. A total of 135 substances are managed by this group including 26 individual chemical registrations (e.g. benzene, 1,3-butadiene) and 13 categories consisting of 5-26 substances. This presentation will describe the content of selected registrations prepared for 2010 in addition to the significant post-2010 activities. Beyond REACH, content of the registrations may also be relevant to other European activities, for

From reaching every district to reaching every community: analysis and response to the challenge of equity in immunization in Cambodia

Science.gov (United States)

Chan Soeung, Sann; Grundy, John; Duncan, Richard; Thor, Rasoka; Bilous, Julian B

2013-01-01

Background An international review of the Cambodian Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in 2010 and other data show that despite immunization coverage increases and vaccine preventable diseases incidence reductions, inequities in access to immunization services exist. Utilizing immunization and health systems literature, analysis of global health databases and the EPI review findings, this paper examines the characteristics of immunization access and outcome inequities, and describes proposed longer-term strategic and operational responses to these problems. Findings The national programme has evolved from earlier central and provincial level planning to strengthening routine immunization coverage through the District level ‘Reaching Every District Strategy’. However, despite remarkable improvements, the review found over 20% of children surveyed were not fully immunized, primarily from communities where inequities of both access and impact persist. These inequities relate mainly to socio-economic exposures including wealth and education level, population mobility and ethnicity. To address these problems, a shift in strategic and operational response is proposed that will include (a) a re-focus of planning on facility level to detect disadvantaged communities, (b) establishment of monitoring systems to provide detailed information on community access and utilization, (c) development of communication strategies and health networks that enable providers to adjust service delivery according to the needs of vulnerable populations, and (d) securing financial, management and political commitment for ‘reaching every community’. Conclusions For Cambodia to achieve its immunization equity objectives and disease reduction goals, a shift of emphasis to health centre and community is needed. This approach will maximize the benefits of new vaccine introduction in the coming ‘Decade of Vaccines’, plus potentially extend the reach of other life-saving maternal

Detection of a dynamic topography signal in last interglacial sea-level records.

Science.gov (United States)

Austermann, Jacqueline; Mitrovica, Jerry X; Huybers, Peter; Rovere, Alessio

2017-07-01

Estimating minimum ice volume during the last interglacial based on local sea-level indicators requires that these indicators are corrected for processes that alter local sea level relative to the global average. Although glacial isostatic adjustment is generally accounted for, global scale dynamic changes in topography driven by convective mantle flow are generally not considered. We use numerical models of mantle flow to quantify vertical deflections caused by dynamic topography and compare predictions at passive margins to a globally distributed set of last interglacial sea-level markers. The deflections predicted as a result of dynamic topography are significantly correlated with marker elevations (>95% probability) and are consistent with construction and preservation attributes across marker types. We conclude that a dynamic topography signal is present in the elevation of last interglacial sea-level records and that the signal must be accounted for in any effort to determine peak global mean sea level during the last interglacial to within an accuracy of several meters.

An improved and homogeneous altimeter sea level record from the ESA Climate Change Initiative

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Legeais, Jean-Francois; Ablain, Michael; Zawadzki, Lionel

2018-01-01

, the sea level ECV has been measured from space by different altimetry missions that have provided global and regional observations of sea level variations. As part of the Climate Change Initiative (CCI) program of the European Space Agency (ESA) (established in 2010), the Sea Level project (SL_cci) aimed...... to provide an accurate and homogeneous long-term satellite-based sea level record. At the end of the first phase of the project (2010-2013), an initial version (v1.1) of the sea level ECV was made available to users (Ablain et al., 2015). During the second phase of the project (2014-2017), improved altimeter...

Coralgal reef morphology records punctuated sea-level rise during the last deglaciation.

Science.gov (United States)

Khanna, Pankaj; Droxler, André W; Nittrouer, Jeffrey A; Tunnell, John W; Shirley, Thomas C

2017-10-19

Coralgal reefs preserve the signatures of sea-level fluctuations over Earth's history, in particular since the Last Glacial Maximum 20,000 years ago, and are used in this study to indicate that punctuated sea-level rise events are more common than previously observed during the last deglaciation. Recognizing the nature of past sea-level rises (i.e., gradual or stepwise) during deglaciation is critical for informing models that predict future vertical behavior of global oceans. Here we present high-resolution bathymetric and seismic sonar data sets of 10 morphologically similar drowned reefs that grew during the last deglaciation and spread 120 km apart along the south Texas shelf edge. Herein, six commonly observed terrace levels are interpreted to be generated by several punctuated sea-level rise events forcing the reefs to shrink and backstep through time. These systematic and common terraces are interpreted to record punctuated sea-level rise events over timescales of decades to centuries during the last deglaciation, previously recognized only during the late Holocene.

Provincial prenatal record revision: a multiple case study of evidence-based decision-making at the population-policy level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olson Joanne

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background There is a significant gap in the knowledge translation literature related to how research evidence actually contributes to health care decision-making. Decisions around what care to provide at the population (rather than individual level are particularly complex, involving considerations such as feasibility, cost, and population needs in addition to scientific evidence. One example of decision-making at this "population-policy" level involves what screening questions and intervention guides to include on standardized provincial prenatal records. As mandatory medical reporting forms, prenatal records are potentially powerful vehicles for promoting population-wide evidence-based care. However, the extent to which Canadian prenatal records reflect best-practice recommendations for the assessment of well-known risk factors such as maternal smoking and alcohol consumption varies markedly across Canadian provinces and territories. The goal of this study is to better understand the interaction of contextual factors and research evidence on decision-making at the population-policy level, by examining the processes by which provincial prenatal records are reviewed and revised. Methods Guided by Dobrow et al.'s (2004 conceptual model for context-based evidence-based decision-making, this study will use a multiple case study design with embedded units of analysis to examine contextual factors influencing the prenatal record revision process in different Canadian provinces and territories. Data will be collected using multiple methods to construct detailed case descriptions for each province/territory. Using qualitative data analysis techniques, decision-making processes involving prenatal record content specifically related to maternal smoking and alcohol use will be compared both within and across each case, to identify key contextual factors influencing the uptake and application of research evidence by prenatal record review

Improving exposure scenario definitions within REACH

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lee, Jihyun; Pizzol, Massimo; Thomsen, Marianne

In recent years, the paradigm of chemical management system has changed from being toxicity oriented and media based to being risk oriented and receptor based. This trend is evident not only regarding environmental quality standards, but also for industrial chemical regulations. Political...... instruments to support a precautionary chemicals management system and to protect receptor’s health have also been increasing. Since 2007, the European Union adopted REACH (the Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals): REACH makes industry responsible for assessing...... and managing the risks posed by industrial chemicals and providing appropriate safety information to their users (EC, 2007). However, to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment, there is a need to consider ‘aggregate exposure’ including background exposures from environment which...

Levoglucosan Levels in Alaskan Ice Cores as a Record of Past Wildfires

Science.gov (United States)

Dunham, M. E.; Osterberg, E. C.; Kehrwald, N. M.; Kennedy, J.; Ferris, D. G.

2017-12-01

Glaciers in southeast Alaska are significant contributors to global sea-level rise, and therefore understanding the mechanisms driving their recent mass loss is crucial for predicting future sea-level change. Fire activity in Alaska has increased dramatically during the last decade, adding a potential new source of light-absorbing organic material (soot) to the Juneau Icefield that can reduce albedo and enhance surface melt rates. The goal of this project is to create an accurate record of Alaskan wildfires to understand how Alaskan glacial mass balance is affected by the deposition of organic aerosols from wildfires. Previously, oxalate, ammonia, and potassium ion levels have been used as proxies for past wildfire activity, but these ions all have broader emission sources in addition to wildfires. Here we develop a record of past Alaskan fire events and climate from: (1) levels of a biomass burning indicator, levoglucosan, which only forms when cellulose is burned over 300 °C, (2) major ions including oxalate, ammonia, and potassium; (3) the number and size distribution of particles to quantify trace amounts of soot from wildfires; and (4) stable water isotope ratios as a proxy for past temperature in ice cores. We utilize a total of four shallow ice cores, ranging from 7 to 9 m in length, that were collected by a biogeochemistry team during the Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) in 2016. Complications include our limited understanding of the conservation and degradation of levoglucosan over time or during the firnification process. We hypothesize that particle counts will be correlated with levoglucosan peaks, co-varying with wildfire frequency and temperatures over time. Based on previous work, we also expect to find correlations between levoglucosan and oxalate ion concentrations, even though oxalate ions have sources in addition to wildfire activity.

LHC Report: Back to record performance

CERN Multimedia

Jan Uythoven for the LHC Team

2012-01-01

The technical issues that caused a rocky re-start after the technical stop and a relatively low performance of the machine have been tackled and resolved in the past days. The LHC is back to record collision rates and matching the 2011 data set now seems within reach for the summer conferences.   The technical stop at the end of April was followed by a period in which increased beam losses were observed before the beams were brought into collision, causing reduced peak luminosities. This issue was tackled by optimising the beams in the injector chain, making a fine adjustment of the orbit during the energy ramp-up and ensuring precise bunch collisions in ATLAS and CMS. These measures brought the peak luminosity at the beginning of a fill up to record levels of 6 x1033 cm-2s-1, but the fills were short as there were still sudden losses of some bunches that triggered the beam dump. The lost bunches were identified as bunches that only collide in LHCb. These bunches see fewer collisions, so the &am...

Slow physics: recording the ascent and descent of a water column

Science.gov (United States)

Lindén, Johan; Källman, Kjell-Mikael; Holm, Erik

2018-07-01

A glass filled with carbon dioxide gas upside down on a plate of water constitutes an excellent demonstration of the solubility of gases. If the water level on the plate is maintained the CO2 will slowly dissolve and the column of water will rise inside the glass, without quite reaching the ceiling, before an opposite process sets in: the water level will even more slowly begin to sink in a process which will take several years. We followed the process for several months, recording images of the water column with 10 min to 1 h intervals. The physics of the process is discussed and modeled quantitatively.

Meningkatkan Kematangan Karier Peserta Didik SMA dengan Pelatihan Reach Your Dreams dan Konseling Karier

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Saifuddin

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Career maturity is a condition that needed to choice the program in higher level study. Henceforth, the low level of career maturity in senior high school student has to be solved with the comprehensive intervention as soon as possible. The purpose of this research is to know the effectivity of Reach Your Dreams Training and career counseling for improving career maturity in senior high school student. This research used Solomon Six Group Design. Subjects of this research are 42 senior high school students with average level of career maturity who are divided into two groups given Reach Your Dreams Training, two groups given career counseling, and two control groups. According to the result, the conclusion of this research is Reach Your Dreams Training and Counseling Career can improve career maturity level in senior high school students effectively. It is caused by the effect of Reach Your Dreams Training and career counseling, and not caused by the effect of pretest.

Record prices [crude oil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon

2006-01-01

Crude oil prices climbed to new record levels on fears of a future loss of supplies from Iran as Washington stepped up its efforts to persuade Tehran to abandon its programme to produce nuclear fuel. IPE's December Brent contract set a new record for the exchange by trading at $75.80/bbl on 21st April. On the same day October WTI reached an all-time high of $77.30/bbl on Nymex. US product prices gained as refiners struggled to produce sufficient middle distillate. Alarmed by the rising retail price of gasoline, the US Senate debated a reduction in the already low US tax rate on motor spirit. The House of Representatives passed a measure to prohibit overcharging for petrol, diesel and heating oil, but Democrats rejected a Republican proposal to speed-up the process for approving new refineries. President George W Bush announced a temporary easing of new gasoline and diesel specifications (see 'Focus', March 2006) to allow more fuel to be produced. He also agreed to delay the repayment of some 2.1 mn bbl of crude oil lent to companies after last year's hurricanes from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. California announced an inquiry into alleged overcharging for fuel by oil companies operating in the state. (author)

Pilot study to test effectiveness of video game on reaching performance in stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Acosta, Ana Maria; Dewald, Hendrik A; Dewald, Jules P A

2011-01-01

Robotic systems currently used in upper-limb rehabilitation following stroke rely on some form of visual feedback as part of the intervention program. We evaluated the effect of a video game environment (air hockey) on reaching in stroke with various levels of arm support. We used the Arm Coordination Training 3D system to provide variable arm support and to control the hockey stick. We instructed seven subjects to reach to one of three targets covering the workspace of the impaired arm during the reaching task and to reach as far as possible while playing the video game. The results from this study showed that across subjects, support levels, and targets, the reaching distances achieved with the reaching task were greater than those covered with the video game. This held even after further restricting the mapped workspace of the arm to the area most affected by the flexion synergy (effectively forcing subjects to fight the synergy to reach the hockey puck). The results from this study highlight the importance of designing video games that include specific reaching targets in the workspace compromised by the expression of the flexion synergy. Such video games would also adapt the target location online as a subject's success rate increases.

Patterns of arm muscle activation involved in octopus reaching movements.

Science.gov (United States)

Gutfreund, Y; Flash, T; Fiorito, G; Hochner, B

1998-08-01

The extreme flexibility of the octopus arm allows it to perform many different movements, yet octopuses reach toward a target in a stereotyped manner using a basic invariant motor structure: a bend traveling from the base of the arm toward the tip (Gutfreund et al., 1996a). To study the neuronal control of these movements, arm muscle activation [electromyogram (EMG)] was measured together with the kinematics of reaching movements. The traveling bend is associated with a propagating wave of muscle activation, with maximal muscle activation slightly preceding the traveling bend. Tonic activation was occasionally maintained afterward. Correlation of the EMG signals with the kinematic variables (velocities and accelerations) reveals that a significant part of the kinematic variability can be explained by the level of muscle activation. Furthermore, the EMG level measured during the initial stages of movement predicts the peak velocity attained toward the end of the reaching movement. These results suggest that feed-forward motor commands play an important role in the control of movement velocity and that simple adjustment of the excitation levels at the initial stages of the movement can set the velocity profile of the whole movement. A simple model of octopus arm extension is proposed in which the driving force is set initially and is then decreased in proportion to arm diameter at the bend. The model qualitatively reproduces the typical velocity profiles of octopus reaching movements, suggesting a simple control mechanism for bend propagation in the octopus arm.

Brest sea level record: a time series construction back to the early eighteenth century

Science.gov (United States)

Wöppelmann, Guy; Pouvreau, Nicolas; Simon, Bernard

2006-12-01

The completeness and the accuracy of the Brest sea level time series dating from 1807 make it suitable for long-term sea level trend studies. New data sets were recently discovered in the form of handwritten tabulations, including several decades of the eighteenth century. Sea level observations have been made in Brest since 1679. This paper presents the historical data sets which have been assembled so far. These data sets span approximately 300 years and together constitute the longest, near-continuous set of sea level information in France. However, an important question arises: Can we relate the past and the present-day records? We partially provide an answer to this question by analysing the documents of several historical libraries with the tidal data using a ‘data archaeology’ approach advocated by Woodworth ( Geophys Res Lett 26:1589 1592, 1999b). A second question arises concerning the accuracy of such records. Careful editing was undertaken by examining the residuals between tidal predictions and observations. It proved useful to remove the worst effects of timing errors, in particular the sundial correction to be applied prior to August 1, 1714. A refined correction based on sundial literature [Savoie, La gnomique, Editions Les Belles Lettres, Paris, 2001] is proposed, which eliminates the systematic offsets seen in the discrepancies in timing of the sea level measurements. The tidal analysis has also shown that shallow-water tidal harmonics at Brest causes a systematic difference of 0.023 m between mean sea level (MSL) and mean tide level (MTL). Thus, MTL should not be mixed with the time series of MSL because of this systematic offset. The study of the trends in MTL and MSL however indicates that MTL can be used as a proxy for MSL. Three linear trend periods are distinguished in the Brest MTL time series over the period 1807 2004. Our results support the recent findings of Holgate and Woodworth ( Geophys Res Lett) of an enhanced coastal sea level

Characterizing and predicting submovements during human three-dimensional arm reaches.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James Y Liao

Full Text Available We have demonstrated that 3D target-oriented human arm reaches can be represented as linear combinations of discrete submovements, where the submovements are a set of minimum-jerk basis functions for the reaches. We have also demonstrated the ability of deterministic feed-forward Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs to predict the parameters of the submovements. ANNs were trained using kinematic data obtained experimentally from five human participants making target-directed movements that were decomposed offline into minimum-jerk submovements using an optimization algorithm. Under cross-validation, the ANNs were able to accurately predict the parameters (initiation-time, amplitude, and duration of the individual submovements. We also demonstrated that the ANNs can together form a closed-loop model of human reaching capable of predicting 3D trajectories with VAF >95.9% and RMSE ≤4.32 cm relative to the actual recorded trajectories. This closed-loop model is a step towards a practical arm trajectory generator based on submovements, and should be useful for the development of future arm prosthetic devices that are controlled by brain computer interfaces or other user interfaces.

Sea-level records from the U.S. mid-Atlantic constrain Laurentide Ice Sheet extent during Marine Isotope Stage 3.

Science.gov (United States)

Pico, T; Creveling, J R; Mitrovica, J X

2017-05-30

The U.S. mid-Atlantic sea-level record is sensitive to the history of the Laurentide Ice Sheet as the coastline lies along the ice sheet's peripheral bulge. However, paleo sea-level markers on the present-day shoreline of Virginia and North Carolina dated to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3, from 50 to 35 ka, are surprisingly high for this glacial interval, and remain unexplained by previous models of ice age adjustment or other local (for example, tectonic) effects. Here, we reconcile this sea-level record using a revised model of glacial isostatic adjustment characterized by a peak global mean sea level during MIS 3 of approximately -40 m, and far less ice volume within the eastern sector of the Laurentide Ice Sheet than traditional reconstructions for this interval. We conclude that the Laurentide Ice Sheet experienced a phase of very rapid growth in the 15 kyr leading into the Last Glacial Maximum, thus highlighting the potential of mid-field sea-level records to constrain areal extent of ice cover during glacial intervals with sparse geological observables.

Inactivation of Parietal Reach Region Affects Reaching But Not Saccade Choices in Internally Guided Decisions.

Science.gov (United States)

Christopoulos, Vassilios N; Bonaiuto, James; Kagan, Igor; Andersen, Richard A

2015-08-19

The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) has traditionally been considered important for awareness, spatial perception, and attention. However, recent findings provide evidence that the PPC also encodes information important for making decisions. These findings have initiated a running argument of whether the PPC is critically involved in decision making. To examine this issue, we reversibly inactivated the parietal reach region (PRR), the area of the PPC that is specialized for reaching movements, while two monkeys performed a memory-guided reaching or saccade task. The task included choices between two equally rewarded targets presented simultaneously in opposite visual fields. Free-choice trials were interleaved with instructed trials, in which a single cue presented in the peripheral visual field defined the reach and saccade target unequivocally. We found that PRR inactivation led to a strong reduction of contralesional choices, but only for reaches. On the other hand, saccade choices were not affected by PRR inactivation. Importantly, reaching and saccade movements to single instructed targets remained largely intact. These results cannot be explained as an effector-nonspecific deficit in spatial attention or awareness, since the temporary "lesion" had an impact only on reach choices. Hence, the PPR is a part of a network for reach decisions and not just reach planning. There has been an ongoing debate on whether the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) represents only spatial awareness, perception, and attention or whether it is also involved in decision making for actions. In this study we explore whether the parietal reach region (PRR), the region of the PPC that is specialized for reaches, is involved in the decision process. We inactivated the PRR while two monkeys performed reach and saccade choices between two targets presented simultaneously in both hemifields. We found that inactivation affected only the reach choices, while leaving saccade choices intact

Records on the water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Regula, E.

2003-01-01

In this paper the electric power generation in hydro-power plants in the Slovak Republic during 2002 is reviewed. Year 2002 was rich on precipitation and the Hydro Power Plants (plants of the Slovenske elektrarne, a.s.) has reached record in generation of electric power when altogether the Water Power Plants produced 5,168.5 GWh. (author)

Changes in ultraviolet radiation reaching the earth's surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Madronich, S.; McKenzie, R.L.; Caldwell, M.M.; Bjorn, L.O.

1995-01-01

The quality and quantity of UV measurements have increased greatly in the last few years. Variations among measurements from different instruments are diminishing toward the 5 level. Long-term trend detection is still a problem, with little historical data available for baseline estimations. Enhanced UV levels are clearly associated with the antartic springtime ozone reductions. Measurements show that maximum UV levels at the South Pole are reached well before the summer solstice, and DNA-damaging radiation at Palmer Station, Antarctica (64§S) during the springtime ozone depletion can exceed maximum summer values at San Diego, USA (32§N). UV increases al mid-latitudes are smaller. However, increases associated with the record low ozone column of 1992-93 in the Northern Hemisphere are evident when examined on a wavelength-specific basis. Measurements in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, and Australia show relatively high spheric latitudes, with differences in both stratospheric ozone and tropospheric pollutants likely to be playing a role. Tropospheric ozone and aerosols can reduce global UV-B irradiances appreciably. At some locations, tropospheric pollution has increased since pre-industrial times, leading to decreases in surface UV radiation. However, recent trends in tropospheric pollution probably had only minor effects on UV trends relative to the effect of stratospheric ozone reductions. Global ozone measurements from satellites over the period 1979-1993 imply significant UV-B increases at high and mid-latitudes of both hemispheres, but only small changes in the tropics. Such estimates however assume that cloud cover and tropospheric pollution have remained constant over this time period. Under the current CFC phase-out schedules, global UV levels are predicted to peak around the turn of the century in association with peak loading of chlorine in the stratosphere and the concomitant ozone reductions. The recovery to pre-ozone depletion levels is expected to

Whisker and Nose Tactile Sense Guide Rat Behavior in a Skilled Reaching Task

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pierantonio Parmiani

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Skilled reaching is a complex movement in which a forelimb is extended to grasp food for eating. Video-recordings analysis of control rats enables us to distinguish several components of skilled reaching: Orient, approaching the front wall of the reaching box and poking the nose into the slot to locate the food pellet; Transport, advancing the forelimb through the slot to reach-grasp the pellet; and Withdrawal of the grasped food to eat. Although food location and skilled reaching is guided by olfaction, the importance of whisker/nose tactile sense in rats suggests that this too could play a role in reaching behavior. To test this hypothesis, we studied skilled reaching in rats trained in a single-pellet reaching task before and after bilateral whisker trimming and bilateral infraorbital nerve (ION severing. During the task, bilaterally trimmed rats showed impaired Orient with respect to controls. Specifically, they detected the presence of the wall by hitting it with their nose (rather than their whiskers, and then located the slot through repetitive nose touches. The number of nose touches preceding poking was significantly higher in comparison to controls. On the other hand, macrovibrissae trimming resulted in no change in reaching/grasping or withdrawal components of skilled reaching. Bilaterally ION-severed rats, displayed a marked change in the structure of their skilled reaching. With respect to controls, in ION-severed rats: (a approaches to the front wall were significantly reduced at 3–5 and 6–8 days; (b nose pokes were significantly reduced at 3–5 days, and the slot was only located after many repetitive nose touches; (c the reaching-grasping-retracting movement never appeared at 3–5 days; (d explorative paw movements, equal to zero in controls, reached significance at 9–11 days; and (e the restored reaching-grasping-retracting sequence was globally slower than in controls, but the success rate was the same. These findings

Remote-Handled Low-Level Waste Disposal Project Code of Record

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

S.L. Austad, P.E.; L.E. Guillen, P.E.; C. W. McKnight, P.E.; D. S. Ferguson, P.E.

2012-06-01

The Remote-Handled Low-Level Waste (LLW) Disposal Project addresses an anticipated shortfall in remote-handled LLW disposal capability following cessation of operations at the existing facility, which will continue until it is full or until it must be closed in preparation for final remediation of the Subsurface Disposal Area (approximately at the end of Fiscal Year 2017). Development of a new onsite disposal facility will provide necessary remote-handled LLW disposal capability and will ensure continuity of operations that generate remote-handled LLW. This report documents the Code of Record for design of a new LLW disposal capability. The report is owned by the Design Authority, who can authorize revisions and exceptions. This report will be retained for the lifetime of the facility.

Remote-Handled Low-Level Waste Disposal Project Code of Record

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

S.L. Austad, P.E.; L.E. Guillen, P.E.; C. W. McKnight, P.E.; D. S. Ferguson, P.E.

2014-06-01

The Remote-Handled Low-Level Waste (LLW) Disposal Project addresses an anticipated shortfall in remote-handled LLW disposal capability following cessation of operations at the existing facility, which will continue until it is full or until it must be closed in preparation for final remediation of the Subsurface Disposal Area (approximately at the end of Fiscal Year 2017). Development of a new onsite disposal facility will provide necessary remote-handled LLW disposal capability and will ensure continuity of operations that generate remote-handled LLW. This report documents the Code of Record for design of a new LLW disposal capability. The report is owned by the Design Authority, who can authorize revisions and exceptions. This report will be retained for the lifetime of the facility.

Remote-Handled Low-Level Waste Disposal Project Code of Record

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Austad, S. L. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Guillen, L. E. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); McKnight, C. W. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Ferguson, D. S. [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2015-04-01

The Remote-Handled Low-Level Waste (LLW) Disposal Project addresses an anticipated shortfall in remote-handled LLW disposal capability following cessation of operations at the existing facility, which will continue until it is full or until it must be closed in preparation for final remediation of the Subsurface Disposal Area (approximately at the end of Fiscal Year 2017). Development of a new onsite disposal facility will provide necessary remote-handled LLW disposal capability and will ensure continuity of operations that generate remote-handled LLW. This report documents the Code of Record for design of a new LLW disposal capability. The report is owned by the Design Authority, who can authorize revisions and exceptions. This report will be retained for the lifetime of the facility.

An improved and homogeneous altimeter sea level record from the ESA Climate Change Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Legeais, Jean-François; Ablain, Michaël; Zawadzki, Lionel; Zuo, Hao; Johannessen, Johnny A.; Scharffenberg, Martin G.; Fenoglio-Marc, Luciana; Joana Fernandes, M.; Baltazar Andersen, Ole; Rudenko, Sergei; Cipollini, Paolo; Quartly, Graham D.; Passaro, Marcello; Cazenave, Anny; Benveniste, Jérôme

2018-02-01

Sea level is a very sensitive index of climate change since it integrates the impacts of ocean warming and ice mass loss from glaciers and the ice sheets. Sea level has been listed as an essential climate variable (ECV) by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). During the past 25 years, the sea level ECV has been measured from space by different altimetry missions that have provided global and regional observations of sea level variations. As part of the Climate Change Initiative (CCI) program of the European Space Agency (ESA) (established in 2010), the Sea Level project (SL_cci) aimed to provide an accurate and homogeneous long-term satellite-based sea level record. At the end of the first phase of the project (2010-2013), an initial version (v1.1) of the sea level ECV was made available to users (Ablain et al., 2015). During the second phase of the project (2014-2017), improved altimeter standards were selected to produce new sea level products (called SL_cci v2.0) based on nine altimeter missions for the period 1993-2015 (https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-sea_level_cci-1993_2015-v_2.0-201612; Legeais and the ESA SL_cci team, 2016c). Corresponding orbit solutions, geophysical corrections and altimeter standards used in this v2.0 dataset are described in detail in Quartly et al. (2017). The present paper focuses on the description of the SL_cci v2.0 ECV and associated uncertainty and discusses how it has been validated. Various approaches have been used for the quality assessment such as internal validation, comparisons with sea level records from other groups and with in situ measurements, sea level budget closure analyses and comparisons with model outputs. Compared with the previous version of the sea level ECV, we show that use of improved geophysical corrections, careful bias reduction between missions and inclusion of new altimeter missions lead to improved sea level products with reduced uncertainties on different spatial and temporal scales. However, there

Lactation yield: Interval level comparison of milk records for genetic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Milk recording intervals was studied by analysing 1220 lactation records of Friesian x Arsi crossbred cows kept in south eastern highlands of Ethiopia. Milk Recording Intervals (MRI) comparison was made at 15, 30 and 45 day's length. Accuracy was measured in terms of percentage difference between actual and estimated ...

Reach Address Database (RAD)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Reach Address Database (RAD) stores the reach address of each Water Program feature that has been linked to the underlying surface water features (streams,...

Motor Cortical Networks for Skilled Movements Have Dynamic Properties That Are Related to Accurate Reaching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David F. Putrino

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Neurons in the Primary Motor Cortex (MI are known to form functional ensembles with one another in order to produce voluntary movement. Neural network changes during skill learning are thought to be involved in improved fluency and accuracy of motor tasks. Unforced errors during skilled tasks provide an avenue to study network connections related to motor learning. In order to investigate network activity in MI, microwires were implanted in the MI of cats trained to perform a reaching task. Spike trains from eight groups of simultaneously recorded cells (95 neurons in total were acquired. A point process generalized linear model (GLM was developed to assess simultaneously recorded cells for functional connectivity during reaching attempts where unforced errors or no errors were made. Whilst the same groups of neurons were often functionally connected regardless of trial success, functional connectivity between neurons was significantly different at fine time scales when the outcome of task performance changed. Furthermore, connections were shown to be significantly more robust across multiple latencies during successful trials of task performance. The results of this study indicate that reach-related neurons in MI form dynamic spiking dependencies whose temporal features are highly sensitive to unforced movement errors.

Development of reaching during mid-childhood from a Developmental Systems perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Golenia, Laura; Schoemaker, Marina M; Otten, Egbert; Mouton, Leonora J; Bongers, Raoul M

2018-01-01

Inspired by the Developmental Systems perspective, we studied the development of reaching during mid-childhood (5-10 years of age) not just at the performance level (i.e., endpoint movements), as commonly done in earlier studies, but also at the joint angle level. Because the endpoint position (i.e., the tip of the index finger) at the reaching target can be achieved with multiple joint angle combinations, we partitioned variability in joint angles over trials into variability that does not (goal-equivalent variability, GEV) and that does (non-goal-equivalent variability, NGEV) influence the endpoint position, using the Uncontrolled Manifold method. Quantifying this structure in joint angle variability allowed us to examine whether and how spatial variability of the endpoint at the reaching target is related to variability in joint angles and how this changes over development. 6-, 8- and 10-year-old children and young adults performed reaching movements to a target with the index finger. Polynomial trend analysis revealed a linear and a quadratic decreasing trend for the variable error. Linear decreasing and cubic trends were found for joint angle standard deviations at movement end. GEV and NGEV decreased gradually with age, but interestingly, the decrease of GEV was steeper than the decrease of NGEV, showing that the different parts of the joint angle variability changed differently over age. We interpreted these changes in the structure of variability as indicating changes over age in exploration for synergies (a family of task solutions), a concept that links the performance level with the joint angle level. Our results suggest changes in the search for synergies during mid-childhood development.

Experiments of Multi-Level Read-Only Recording Using Readout Signal Wave-Shape Modulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yi, Tang; Jing, Pei; Long-Fa, Pan; Yi, Ni; Hua, Hu; Bu-Qing, Zhang

2008-01-01

An innovative multilevel read-only recording method is proposed. In this method, a short pit/land is deliberately inserted to the original land/pit. This modifies the wave-shape of readout signal. Taking the wave-shape as the symbol of level detection, a signal wave-shape modulation (SWSM) multilevel method is realized. This method is carried out and validated on the DVD read-only manufacture and readout system. A capacity of 15 GB can be expected, and a bit error rate of 10 −4 is achieved. The capacity can meet the demand of high definition movie publication. This method also provides a potential multi-level solution for other storage formats and systems. (fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications))

SEA-LEVEL RISE. Sea-level rise due to polar ice-sheet mass loss during past warm periods.

Science.gov (United States)

Dutton, A; Carlson, A E; Long, A J; Milne, G A; Clark, P U; DeConto, R; Horton, B P; Rahmstorf, S; Raymo, M E

2015-07-10

Interdisciplinary studies of geologic archives have ushered in a new era of deciphering magnitudes, rates, and sources of sea-level rise from polar ice-sheet loss during past warm periods. Accounting for glacial isostatic processes helps to reconcile spatial variability in peak sea level during marine isotope stages 5e and 11, when the global mean reached 6 to 9 meters and 6 to 13 meters higher than present, respectively. Dynamic topography introduces large uncertainties on longer time scales, precluding robust sea-level estimates for intervals such as the Pliocene. Present climate is warming to a level associated with significant polar ice-sheet loss in the past. Here, we outline advances and challenges involved in constraining ice-sheet sensitivity to climate change with use of paleo-sea level records. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Learning to control a brain-machine interface for reaching and grasping by primates.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jose M Carmena

2003-11-01

Full Text Available Reaching and grasping in primates depend on the coordination of neural activity in large frontoparietal ensembles. Here we demonstrate that primates can learn to reach and grasp virtual objects by controlling a robot arm through a closed-loop brain-machine interface (BMIc that uses multiple mathematical models to extract several motor parameters (i.e., hand position, velocity, gripping force, and the EMGs of multiple arm muscles from the electrical activity of frontoparietal neuronal ensembles. As single neurons typically contribute to the encoding of several motor parameters, we observed that high BMIc accuracy required recording from large neuronal ensembles. Continuous BMIc operation by monkeys led to significant improvements in both model predictions and behavioral performance. Using visual feedback, monkeys succeeded in producing robot reach-and-grasp movements even when their arms did not move. Learning to operate the BMIc was paralleled by functional reorganization in multiple cortical areas, suggesting that the dynamic properties of the BMIc were incorporated into motor and sensory cortical representations.

Detailed Sea Level Record from Barbados Spanning 13,000 to 11,000 Years Before Present

Science.gov (United States)

Abdul, N. A.; Mortlock, R. A.; Wright, J. D.; Fairbanks, R. G.

2013-12-01

Th/U dated reef-crest corals (Acropora palmata) obtained from new Barbados offshore drill cores provide a local sea level reconstruction in unprecedented detail. The time interval, 13,000 to 11,000 years before present (BP), spans the well-studied Younger Dryas pollen zone, a period that has given rise to more than three decades of sensational climate interpretations and popular press. Widely described as a time when Earth's climate reverted to "glacial-like conditions" the various hypotheses that attempt to explain the "cause" of the Younger Dryas climate event have their staunch supporters as well as their critics but there remains little consensus. The Barbados sea level record for this time interval shows that sea level continued to rise during the Younger Dryas, albeit at a slower rate than prior to 13,000 or following 11,000 years BP. The decrease in the rate of sea level rise can simply be explained by the slow expansion of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet beginning 12,800 years BP followed by its faster demise contributing to a period of rapid sea level increase known as Melt Water Pulse 1B. We calculate the ice volume history of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet and it compares favorably to the moraine history and ice models. The Younger Dryas climate event is most often defined by the rapid shifts in atmospheric proxies measured in ice cores from Greenland. The ice core proxies shift into and out of the Younger Dryas climate event in only a few years to a few decades. Abrupt shifts in the climate state associated with the onset and termination of the Younger Dryas as revealed in Greenland Ice cores are not expressed in the smooth Barbados deglacial sea level record. We make the case that these Greenland atmospheric records mark regional atmospheric frontal shifts and changes in air mass sources over an ice sheet that largely did not participate in the deglaciation or sea level change. As proposed decades ago, the warming of the North Atlantic between 14,000 and 13

Maximum Acceleration Recording Circuit

Science.gov (United States)

Bozeman, Richard J., Jr.

1995-01-01

Coarsely digitized maximum levels recorded in blown fuses. Circuit feeds power to accelerometer and makes nonvolatile record of maximum level to which output of accelerometer rises during measurement interval. In comparison with inertia-type single-preset-trip-point mechanical maximum-acceleration-recording devices, circuit weighs less, occupies less space, and records accelerations within narrower bands of uncertainty. In comparison with prior electronic data-acquisition systems designed for same purpose, circuit simpler, less bulky, consumes less power, costs and analysis of data recorded in magnetic or electronic memory devices. Circuit used, for example, to record accelerations to which commodities subjected during transportation on trucks.

Le CERN dans le livre des records

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

The book of Records does not only quote Sausages-eaters or best Frog-throwers, CERN makes its entry in it: he succeeded in tranferring data between the Geneva site and California to a very high speed, never reached before

85 km long reach PON system using a reflective SOA-EA modulator and distributed Raman fiber amplification

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tafur Monroy, I.; Öhman, F.; Yvind, K.; Kjaer, R.; Peucheret, C.; Koonen, A.M.J.; Jeppesen, P.

2006-01-01

We report on a bidirectional 85 km long reach PON system supported by distributed fiber Raman amplification with a record 7.5 Gb/s remote carrier modulated upstream signal by employing a reflective SOA-EA monolithically integrated circuit.

Record keeping for the disposal of very low-level concrete waste at the Tokai-Mura site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuji, Tomoyuki

2015-01-01

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), who conducted the dismantling project of Japan Power Demonstration Reactor (JPDR) completed in March 1996, has been performing the safe demonstration test of near-surface disposal of very low-level (VLL) concrete waste at its Tokai-Mura site. Approximately 1 700 tons of VLL concrete wastes arising from the JPDR dismantling were placed in a simple disposal facility from November 1995 until March 1996, its dimensions were 45 m x 16 m and 3.5 m in depth without any engineered barrier, and covered with soil of 2.5 m thickness. The safe demonstration test of near-surface disposal of VLL concrete waste consists of an operation stage (1995-1996) and a management stage (1996-2024). During the operation stage, the radiation dose around the disposal facility was measured, and groundwater and soil were analysed for radioactivity concentrations. After entering the management stage, radiation monitoring was continued for an additional three years. Inspections for potential outflows, cracks and soil-cover subsidence are conducted once a week. Regarding VLL concrete waste, it has been required to record its radioactivity concentrations and preserve the record until the end of institutional control period in accordance with the Act on the Regulation of Nuclear Source Material, Nuclear Fuel Material and Reactors. JAEA has been required to preserve these records until the end of the institutional control period. It is planned to preserve the radiation monitoring data during the operation stage and until the end of institutional control period. Inspection data are preserved in accordance with the act. When amending the act in 2013, the requirements to implement the periodic safety review were added. For this purpose, it has been required to record in the management stage the following measures: a level of groundwater, radioactivity concentrations in groundwater, rainfall and total amount of rainfall a month. These records will have been

Investigation of PAM-4 for extending reach in data center interconnect applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vegas Olmos, Juan José; Teipen, Brian; Eiselt, Nicklas

2015-01-01

Optical four-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) is being widely studied for various short-reach optical interfaces, motivated by the need to keep cost structure low, and to increase link capacity despite various constraints in component bandwidth. When considering PAM-4 in applications...... with reach significantly greater than 10km, such as in extended data center interconnects which require optical amplification, impairments such as chromatic dispersion, optical filtering, and ASE must be controlled. We investigate and report on requirements of PAM-4 for extended-reach, data center...

Reaching the Millennium Development Goals : Mauritania Should Care

OpenAIRE

Magnoli Bocchi, Alessandro; Pontara, Nicola; Fall, Khayar; Tejada, Catalina M.; Gallego Cuervo, Pablo

2008-01-01

Mauritania is a resource-rich developing country. As many other African nations, it will not reach most of the Millennium Development Goals, unless the authorities commit to accelerating progress. To succeed by 2015, the government needs to: mobilize additional financial resources, introduce policy changes at the sector level, and strengthen the links between strategic objectives and the b...

New evidence for "far-field" Holocene sea level oscillations and links to global climate records

Science.gov (United States)

Leonard, N. D.; Welsh, K. J.; Clark, T. R.; Feng, Y.-x.; Pandolfi, J. M.; Zhao, J.-x.

2018-04-01

Rising sea level in the coming century is of significant concern, yet predicting relative sea level change in response to eustatic sea level variability is complex. Potential analogues are provided by the recent geological past but, until recently, many sea level reconstructions have been limited to millennial scale interpretations due to age uncertainties and paucity in proxy derived records. Here we present a sea level history for the tectonically stable "far-field" Great Barrier Reef, Australia, derived from 94 high precision uranium-thorium dates of sub-fossil coral microatolls. Our results provide evidence for at least two periods of relative sea level instability during the Holocene. These sea level oscillations are broadly synchronous with Indo-Pacific negative sea surface temperature anomalies, rapid global cooling events and glacial advances. We propose that the pace and magnitude of these oscillations are suggestive of eustatic/thermosteric processes operating in conjunction with regional climatic controls.

Why and how to make a REACH registration of combustion ash; Moejligheter vid REACH-registrering av energiaskor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loevgren, Linnea; Wik, Ola

2009-10-15

substances from construction products were initiated in 2006 on the EU level. The proposed method s are similar to leaching methods used today in characterization of waste properties for landfill. The report describes pros and cons with REACH registration of ashes. It is believed that uses of ashes will more easily be available if the ashes are registered according to REACH. The reason is that a REACH registration generates extensive information about properties and emissions during uses and that safety instructions will be available to guarantee that emissions will not be higher than what man and nature can sustain. The fee for a joint submission of a REACH registration is 23,250 Euro per legal entity if the company put more than 1,000 tonnes of the dry substance on the market per year.

Reaching record-low β* at the CERN Large Hadron Collider using a novel scheme of collimator settings and optics

Science.gov (United States)

Bruce, R.; Bracco, C.; De Maria, R.; Giovannozzi, M.; Mereghetti, A.; Mirarchi, D.; Redaelli, S.; Quaranta, E.; Salvachua, B.

2017-03-01

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is built to collide intense proton beams with an unprecedented energy of 7 TeV. The design stored energy per beam of 362 MJ makes the LHC beams highly destructive, so that any beam losses risk to cause quenches of superconducting magnets or damage to accelerator components. Collimators are installed to protect the machine and they define a minimum normalized aperture, below which no other element is allowed. This imposes a limit on the achievable luminosity, since when squeezing β* (the β-function at the collision point) to smaller values for increased luminosity, the β-function in the final focusing system increases. This leads to a smaller normalized aperture that risks to go below the allowed collimation aperture. In the first run of the LHC, this was the main limitation on β*, which was constrained to values above the design specification. In this article, we show through theoretical and experimental studies how tighter collimator openings and a new optics with specific phase-advance constraints allows a β* as small as 40 cm, a factor 2 smaller than β*=80 cm used in 2015 and significantly below the design value β*=55 cm, in spite of a lower beam energy. The proposed configuration with β*=40 cm has been successfully put into operation and has been used throughout 2016 as the LHC baseline. The decrease in β* compared to 2015 has been an essential contribution to reaching and surpassing, in 2016, the LHC design luminosity for the first time, and to accumulating a record-high integrated luminosity of around 40 fb-1 in one year, in spite of using less bunches than in the design.

Gaze anchoring guides real but not pantomime reach-to-grasp: support for the action-perception theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuntz, Jessica R; Karl, Jenni M; Doan, Jon B; Whishaw, Ian Q

2018-04-01

Reach-to-grasp movements feature the integration of a reach directed by the extrinsic (location) features of a target and a grasp directed by the intrinsic (size, shape) features of a target. The action-perception theory suggests that integration and scaling of a reach-to-grasp movement, including its trajectory and the concurrent digit shaping, are features that depend upon online action pathways of the dorsal visuomotor stream. Scaling is much less accurate for a pantomime reach-to-grasp movement, a pretend reach with the target object absent. Thus, the action-perception theory proposes that pantomime movement is mediated by perceptual pathways of the ventral visuomotor stream. A distinguishing visual feature of a real reach-to-grasp movement is gaze anchoring, in which a participant visually fixates the target throughout the reach and disengages, often by blinking or looking away/averting the head, at about the time that the target is grasped. The present study examined whether gaze anchoring is associated with pantomime reaching. The eye and hand movements of participants were recorded as they reached for a ball of one of three sizes, located on a pedestal at arms' length, or pantomimed the same reach with the ball and pedestal absent. The kinematic measures for real reach-to-grasp movements were coupled to the location and size of the target, whereas the kinematic measures for pantomime reach-to-grasp, although grossly reflecting target features, were significantly altered. Gaze anchoring was also tightly coupled to the target for real reach-to-grasp movements, but there was no systematic focus for gaze, either in relation with the virtual target, the previous location of the target, or the participant's reaching hand, for pantomime reach-to-grasp. The presence of gaze anchoring during real vs. its absence in pantomime reach-to-grasp supports the action-perception theory that real, but not pantomime, reaches are online visuomotor actions and is discussed in

[Effects of groundwater level on chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics of Tamarix hispida in lower reaches of Tarim River].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Cheng-gang; Li, Wei-hong; Ma, Jian-xin; Ma, Xiao-dong

2010-07-01

Based on the monitoring data of groundwater level at the typical sections in lower reaches of Tarim River, three survey plots nearby the ecological monitoring wells with groundwater depths > 6 m were selected to investigate the chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics of Tamarix hispida and its photosynthetic activity of PSII under effects of different groundwater depths. With increasing groundwater depth, the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters such as actual photochemical efficiency of PSII in the light (phi(PSII)), electron transport rate (ETR), and photochemistry quenching (q(p)) of T. hispida decreased, while the non-photochemistry quenching (q(N), NPQ) and the yield for dissipation by down-regulation (Y(NPQ)) increased remarkably, and the maximal photochemical efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm) maintained an optimum value. All the results suggested that the PSII photosynthetic activity of T. hispida under drought stress declined with increasing groundwater depth, and the greater excess energy could result in more risk of photo-inhibition. However, the good adaptability and drought tolerance of T. hispida could make its PSII not seriously damaged, though the drought stress actually existed.

Differential Recruitment of Parietal Cortex during Spatial and Non-spatial Reach Planning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pierre-Michel Bernier

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The planning of goal-directed arm reaching movements is associated with activity in the dorsal parieto-frontal cortex, within which multiple regions subserve the integration of arm- and target-related sensory signals to encode a motor goal. Surprisingly, many of these regions show sustained activity during reach preparation even when target location is not specified, i.e., when a motor goal cannot be unambiguously formed. The functional role of these non-spatial preparatory signals remains unresolved. Here this process was investigated in humans by comparing reach preparatory activity in the presence or absence of information regarding upcoming target location. In order to isolate the processes specific to reaching and to control for visuospatial attentional factors, the reaching task was contrasted to a finger movement task. Functional MRI and electroencephalography (EEG were used to characterize the spatio-temporal pattern of reach-related activity in the parieto-frontal cortex. Reach planning with advance knowledge of target location induced robust blood oxygenated level dependent and EEG responses across parietal and premotor regions contralateral to the reaching arm. In contrast, reach preparation without knowledge of target location was associated with a significant BOLD response bilaterally in the parietal cortex. Furthermore, EEG alpha- and beta-band activity was restricted to parietal scalp sites, the magnitude of the latter being correlated with reach reaction times. These results suggest an intermediate stage of sensorimotor transformations in bilateral parietal cortex when target location is not specified.

A compact self-recording pressure based sea level gauge suitable for deployments at harbour and offshore environments

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Desa, E.; Peshwe, V.B.; Joseph, A.; Mehra, P.; Naik, G.P.; Kumar, V.; Desa, E.S.; Desai, R.G.P.; Nagvekar, S.; Desai, S.P.

A compact and lightweight self-recording pressure based sea level gauge has been designed to suit deployments from harbour and offshore environments. A novel hydraulic coupling device designed in-house was used to transfer the seawater pressure...

Estimating decadal variability in sea level from tide gauge records: An application to the North Sea

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frederikse, Thomas; Riva, R.E.M.; Slobbe, Cornelis; Broerse, D.B.T.; Verlaan, Martin

2016-01-01

One of the primary observational data sets of sea level is represented by the tide gauge record. We propose a new method to estimate variability on decadal time scales from tide gauge data by using a state space formulation, which couples the direct observations to a predefined state space model by

Estimating decadal variability in sea level from tide gauge records : An application to the North Sea

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frederikse, T.; Riva, R.E.M.; Slobbe, D.C.; Broerse, D.B.T.; Verlaan, M.

2016-01-01

One of the primary observational data sets of sea level is represented by the tide gauge record. We propose a new method to estimate variability on decadal time scales from tide gauge data by using a state space formulation, which couples the direct observations to a predefined state space model

Emergent coordination underlying learning to reach to grasp with a brain-machine interface.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaidya, Mukta; Balasubramanian, Karthikeyan; Southerland, Joshua; Badreldin, Islam; Eleryan, Ahmed; Shattuck, Kelsey; Gururangan, Suchin; Slutzky, Marc; Osborne, Leslie; Fagg, Andrew; Oweiss, Karim; Hatsopoulos, Nicholas G

2018-04-01

The development of coordinated reach-to-grasp movement has been well studied in infants and children. However, the role of motor cortex during this development is unclear because it is difficult to study in humans. We took the approach of using a brain-machine interface (BMI) paradigm in rhesus macaques with prior therapeutic amputations to examine the emergence of novel, coordinated reach to grasp. Previous research has shown that after amputation, the cortical area previously involved in the control of the lost limb undergoes reorganization, but prior BMI work has largely relied on finding neurons that already encode specific movement-related information. In this study, we taught macaques to cortically control a robotic arm and hand through operant conditioning, using neurons that were not explicitly reach or grasp related. Over the course of training, stereotypical patterns emerged and stabilized in the cross-covariance between the reaching and grasping velocity profiles, between pairs of neurons involved in controlling reach and grasp, and to a comparable, but lesser, extent between other stable neurons in the network. In fact, we found evidence of this structured coordination between pairs composed of all combinations of neurons decoding reach or grasp and other stable neurons in the network. The degree of and participation in coordination was highly correlated across all pair types. Our approach provides a unique model for studying the development of novel, coordinated reach-to-grasp movement at the behavioral and cortical levels. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Given that motor cortex undergoes reorganization after amputation, our work focuses on training nonhuman primates with chronic amputations to use neurons that are not reach or grasp related to control a robotic arm to reach to grasp through the use of operant conditioning, mimicking early development. We studied the development of a novel, coordinated behavior at the behavioral and cortical level, and the neural

High-level-waste records management system: the NRC pilot project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bender, A.; Altomare, P.

1987-01-01

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the US Dept. of Energy (DOE) have agreed to develop a licensing support system (LSS) to address the records management requirements created by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA). The NRC is planning to conduct a negotiated rule making the modify 10CFR2, including rules governing discovery, so that parties to the licensing process will use a single information management system as a source for all licensing-related documents. The successful demonstration of the pilot project has resulted in an operational on-line record management system for NRC-related HLW documents. Both incoming and outgoing documents are being scanned and stored on a mainframe system and on an optical disk. At this writing the optical disk portion of the system is being tested to evaluate its potential use as a future archival and distribution medium for licensing records. Experience gained from this project is being shared with other government agencies that are in the process of using similar technologies to come to grips with the complex records management problem endemic to our information-based society

A feasibility study of multi-site,intracellular recordings from mammalian neurons by extracellular gold mushroom-shaped microelectrodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Ojovan, Silviya M; Rabieh, Noha; Shmoel, Nava; Erez, Hadas; Maydan, Eilon; Cohen, Ariel; Spira, Micha E

2015-09-14

The development of multi-electrode array platforms for large scale recording of neurons is at the forefront of neuro-engineering research efforts. Recently we demonstrated, at the proof-of-concept level, a breakthrough neuron-microelectrode interface in which cultured Aplysia neurons tightly engulf gold mushroom-shaped microelectrodes (gMμEs). While maintaining their extracellular position, the gMμEs record synaptic- and action-potentials with characteristic features of intracellular recordings. Here we examined the feasibility of using gMμEs for intracellular recordings from mammalian neurons. To that end we experimentally examined the innate size limits of cultured rat hippocampal neurons to engulf gMμEs and measured the width of the "extracellular" cleft formed between the neurons and the gold surface. Using the experimental results we next analyzed the expected range of gMμEs-neuron electrical coupling coefficients. We estimated that sufficient electrical coupling levels to record attenuated synaptic- and action-potentials can be reached using the gMμE-neuron configuration. The definition of the engulfment limits of the gMμEs caps diameter at ≤2-2.5 μm and the estimated electrical coupling coefficients from the simulations pave the way for rational development and application of the gMμE based concept for in-cell recordings from mammalian neurons.

Temporal-spatial parameters of the upper limb during a Reach & Grasp Cycle for children.

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, Erin E; Ladd, Amy L; Lamont, Lauren E; Rose, Jessica

2010-07-01

The objective of this study was to characterize normal temporal-spatial patterns during the Reach & Grasp Cycle and to identify upper limb motor deficits in children with cerebral palsy (CP). The Reach & Grasp Cycle encompasses six sequential tasks: reach, grasp cylinder, transport to self (T(1)), transport back to table (T(2)), release cylinder, and return to initial position. Three-dimensional motion data were recorded from 25 typically developing children (11 males, 14 females; ages 5-18 years) and 12 children with hemiplegic CP (2 males, 10 females; ages 5-17 years). Within-day and between-day coefficients of variation for the control group ranged from 0 to 0.19, indicating good repeatability of all parameters. The mean duration of the Cycle for children with CP was nearly twice as long as controls, 9.5±4.3s versus 5.1±1.2s (U=37.0, P=.002), partly due to prolonged grasp and release durations. Peak hand velocity occurred at approximately 40% of each phase and was greater during the transport (T(1), T(2)) than non-transport phases (reach, return) in controls (PGrasp Cycle (rho=.957, PGrasp Cycle for quantitative evaluation of upper limb motor deficits. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Records for radioactive waste management up to repository closure: Managing the primary level information (PLI) set

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-07-01

The objective of this publication is to highlight the importance of the early establishment of a comprehensive records system to manage primary level information (PLI) as an integrated set of information, not merely as a collection of information, throughout all the phases of radioactive waste management. Early establishment of a comprehensive records system to manage Primary Level Information as an integrated set of information throughout all phases of radioactive waste management is important. In addition to the information described in the waste inventory record keeping system (WIRKS), the PLI of a radioactive waste repository consists of the entire universe of information, data and records related to any aspect of the repository's life cycle. It is essential to establish PLI requirements based on integrated set of needs from Regulators and Waste Managers involved in the waste management chain and to update these requirements as needs change over time. Information flow for radioactive waste management should be back-end driven. Identification of an Authority that will oversee the management of PLI throughout all phases of the radioactive waste management life cycle would guarantee the information flow to future generations. The long term protection of information essential to future generations can only be assured by the timely establishment of a comprehensive and effective RMS capable of capturing, indexing and evaluating all PLI. The loss of intellectual control over the PLI will make it very difficult to subsequently identify the ILI and HLI information sets. At all times prior to the closure of a radioactive waste repository, there should be an identifiable entity with a legally enforceable financial and management responsibility for the continued operation of a PLI Records Management System. The information presented in this publication will assist Member States in ensuring that waste and repository records, relevant for retention after repository closure

Setting the scene for SWOT: global maps of river reach hydrodynamic variables

Science.gov (United States)

Schumann, Guy J.-P.; Durand, Michael; Pavelsky, Tamlin; Lion, Christine; Allen, George

2017-04-01

Credible and reliable characterization of discharge from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission using the Manning-based algorithms needs a prior estimate constraining reach-scale channel roughness, base flow and river bathymetry. For some places, any one of those variables may exist locally or even regionally as a measurement, which is often only at a station, or sometimes as a basin-wide model estimate. However, to date none of those exist at the scale required for SWOT and thus need to be mapped at a continental scale. The prior estimates will be employed for producing initial discharge estimates, which will be used as starting-guesses for the various Manning-based algorithms, to be refined using the SWOT measurements themselves. A multitude of reach-scale variables were derived, including Landsat-based width, SRTM slope and accumulation area. As a possible starting point for building the prior database of low flow, river bathymetry and channel roughness estimates, we employed a variety of sources, including data from all GRDC records, simulations from the long-time runs of the global water balance model (WBM), and reach-based calculations from hydraulic geometry relationships as well as Manning's equation. Here, we present the first global maps of this prior database with some initial validation, caveats and prospective uses.

City Reach Code Technical Support Document

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Athalye, Rahul A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Chen, Yan [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Zhang, Jian [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Liu, Bing [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Frankel, Mark [New Buildings Inst., Portland, OR (United States); Lyles, Mark [New Buildings Inst., Portland, OR (United States)

2017-10-31

This report describes and analyzes a set of energy efficiency measures that will save 20% energy over ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2013. The measures will be used to formulate a Reach Code for cities aiming to go beyond national model energy codes. A coalition of U.S. cities together with other stakeholders wanted to facilitate the development of voluntary guidelines and standards that can be implemented in stages at the city level to improve building energy efficiency. The coalition's efforts are being supported by the U.S. Department of Energy via Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and in collaboration with the New Buildings Institute.

ADULT CADDISFLY (TRICHOPTERA) PHENOLOGY AT THE HANFORD REACH NATIONAL MONUMENT, WASHINGTON STATE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zack, Richard S.; Ruiter, David E.; Strenge, Dennis L.; Landolt, Peter J.

2006-01-01

Adult caddisflies were sampled on the Wahluke Wildlife Area and Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge subunits of the newly created (2000) Hanford Reach National Monument using 15-watt ''black lights'' from April 2002 through April 2003. A diverse fauna consisting of nine families, 21 genera, and 33 species were collected. Protoptila Coloma Ross, Agraylea multipunctata Curtis, Hydroptila xera Ross, Ceraclea alagma (Ross), Nectopsych Iahontanensis Haddock Oecetis cinerascens (Hagen), and Ylodes reuteri (MacLachlan) represent new records for Washington State. Species composition and phenology are presented in tabular form

An investigation of the neural circuits underlying reaching and reach-to-grasp movements: from planning to execution.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chiara eBegliomini

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Experimental evidence suggests the existence of a sophisticated brain circuit specifically dedicated to reach-to-grasp planning and execution, both in human and non human primates (Castiello, 2005. Studies accomplished by means of neuroimaging techniques suggest the hypothesis of a dichotomy between a reach-to-grasp circuit, involving the intraparietal area (AIP, the dorsal and ventral premotor cortices (PMd and PMv - Castiello and Begliomini, 2008; Filimon, 2010 and a reaching circuit involving the medial intraparietal area (mIP and the Superior Parieto-Occipital Cortex (SPOC (Culham et al., 2006. However, the time course characterizing the involvement of these regions during the planning and execution of these two types of movements has yet to be delineated. A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI study has been conducted, including reach-to grasp and reaching only movements, performed towards either a small or a large stimulus, and Finite Impulse Response model (FIR - Henson, 2003 was adopted to monitor activation patterns from stimulus onset for a time window of 10 seconds duration. Data analysis focused on brain regions belonging either to the reaching or to the grasping network, as suggested by Castiello & Begliomini (2008.Results suggest that reaching and grasping movements planning and execution might share a common brain network, providing further confirmation to the idea that the neural underpinnings of reaching and grasping may overlap in both spatial and temporal terms (Verhagen et al., 2013.

Influência do nível de habilidade e posição corporal no alcance de lactentes Influence of skill level and body position on infants’ reaching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

RP Carvalho

2008-06-01

Full Text Available CONTEXTUALIZAÇÃO: Embora o desenvolvimento do alcance em diferentes posições corporais tem sido amplamente estudado, há poucas pesquisas sobre este assunto, considerando o nível de habilidade do lactente. Objetivo: Verificar como as posições corporais afetam os ajustes proximais e distais do alcance manual de lactentes de quatro a seis meses. MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: Dez lactentes classificados como menos (n=6 e mais habilidosos (n=4 foram avaliados no mês de aquisição do alcance (M1 e após um mês de prática espontânea (M2, nas posições supina (0º, reclinada (45º e sentada (70º. Foram analisados os ajustes proximais (alcances uni ou bimanuais e distais (mão aberta, semi-aberta ou fechada, posição das mãos no início do movimento (perto ou longe do corpo e movimentos de preensão. RESULTADOS: Houve predomínio de alcances unimanuais para os lactentes mais habilidosos. Os lactentes menos habilidosos apresentaram maior freqüência de alcances unimanuais em M1 (sentado e M2 (supino e sentado. Houve predomínio de alcances com as mãos semi-abertas, exceto para lactentes mais habilidosos em M2 na posição reclinada. Lactentes menos habilidosos apresentaram mãos próximas ao corpo em M1 (reclinado e sentado e M2 (reclinado, enquanto os mais habilidosos iniciaram seus alcances com as mãos longe do corpo em M2 (supino. Lactentes mais habilidosos fizeram mais alcances seguidos de preensão em M2 nas posições supina e sentada. CONCLUSÕES: A posição corporal afeta os ajustes proximais e distais do alcance, de acordo com o nível de habilidade do lactente.BACKGROUND: Although the development of reaching under different body position conditions has been widely studied, little research has addressed this issue considering the infant’s skill level. OBJECTIVE: To investigate how different body positions affect proximal and distal reaching adjustments among four to six-month-old infants. Methods: Ten infants classified as less (n

REACH: impact on the US cosmetics industry?

Science.gov (United States)

Pouillot, Anne; Polla, Barbara; Polla, Ada

2009-03-01

The Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and restriction of Chemicals (REACH) is a recent European regulation on chemical substances meant to protect human health and the environment. REACH imposes the "precautionary principle" where additional data and definitive action are required when uncertainty is identified. The cosmetics industry is only partially concerned by REACH: while the stages of registration and evaluation apply to cosmetics, those of authorization and restriction most likely will not, as cosmetic ingredients are already subject to regulation by various agencies and directives. REACH has potential benefits to the industry including the possibility of reassuring consumers and improving their image of chemicals and cosmetics. However, REACH also has potential disadvantages, mainly with regard to impeding innovation. The American cosmetics industry will be affected by REACH, because all US manufacturers who export substances to Europe will have to fully comply with REACH.

Your Turn to Run Your Country Just Ended: Global-Reach Regime Replacement

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Scott, Paul J

2007-01-01

Global-Reach Regime Replacement, alternately referred to as GR3, is a proposed method to forcibly remove an existing regime from power, replace it with a new government, and conduct appropriate levels...

Integrating Records Management (RM) and Information Technology (IT)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NUSBAUM,ANNA W.; CUSIMANO,LINDA J.

2000-03-02

Records Managers are continually exploring ways to integrate their services with those offered by Information Technology-related professions to capitalize on the advantages of providing customers a total solution to managing their records and information. In this day and age, where technology abounds, there often exists a fear on the part of records management that this integration will result in a loss of identity and the focus of one's own mission - a fear that records management may become subordinated to the fast-paced technology fields. They need to remember there is strength in numbers and it benefits RM, IT, and the customer when they can bring together the unique offerings each possess to reach synergy for the benefit of all the corporations. Records Managers, need to continually strive to move ''outside the records management box'', network, expand their knowledge, and influence the IT disciplines to incorporate the concept of ''management'' into their customer solutions.

VIIRS Ocean Color Reprocessed Science Quality Environmental Data Record (EDR) Level 3 products from 2012-01 to the present

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset contains VIIRS Ocean Color Reprocessed Environmental Data Record (EDR) Level 3 products produced by the NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and...

VIIRS Ocean Color Reprocessed Science Quality Environmental Data Record (EDR) Level 2 products from 2012-01 to the present

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset contains VIIRS Ocean Color Reprocessed Environmental Data Record (EDR) Level 2 products produced by the NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and...

The impact of accelerometer mounting methods on the level of vibrations recorded at ground surface

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krzysztof Czech

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the results of field research based on the measurements of accelerations recorded at ground surface. The source of the vibration characterized by high repetition rate of pulse parameters was light falling weight deflectometer ZFG-01. Measurements of vibrations have been carried out using top quality high-precision measuring system produced by Brüel&Kiær. Accelerometers were mounted on a sandy soil surface at the measuring points located radially at 5-m and 10-m distances from the source of vibration. The paper analyses the impact that the method of mounting accelerometers on the ground has on the level of the recorded values of accelerations of vibrations. It has been shown that the method of attaching the sensor to the surface of the ground is crucial for the credibility of the performed measurements.[b]Keywords[/b]: geotechnics, surface vibrations, ground, vibration measurement

The Glacial-Interglacial summer monsoon recorded in southwest Sulawesi speleothems: Evidence for sea level thresholds driving tropical monsoon strength

Science.gov (United States)

Kimbrough, A. K.; Gagan, M. K.; Dunbar, G. B.; Krause, C.; Di Nezio, P. N.; Hantoro, W. S.; Cheng, H.; Edwards, R. L.; Shen, C. C.; Sun, H.; Cai, B.; Rifai, H.

2016-12-01

Southwest Sulawesi lies within the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP), at the center of atmospheric convection for two of the largest circulation cells on the planet, the meridional Hadley Cell and zonal Indo-Pacific Walker Circulation. Due to the geographic coincidence of these circulation cells, southwest Sulawesi serves as a hotspot for changes in tropical Pacific climate variability and Australian-Indonesian summer monsoon (AISM) strength over glacial-interglacial (G-I) timescales. The work presented here spans 386 - 127 ky BP, including glacial terminations IV ( 340 ky BP) and both phases of TIII (TIII 248 ky BP and TIIIa 217 ky BP). This record, along with previous work from southwest Sulawesi spanning the last 40 kyr, reveals coherent climatic features over three complete G-I cycles. The multi-stalagmite Sulawesi speleothem δ18O record demonstrates that on G-I timescales, the strength of the AISM is most sensitive to changes in sea level and its impact on the regional distribution of land and shallow ocean. Stalagmite δ18O and trace element (Mg/Ca) data indicate a rapid increase in rainfall at glacial terminations and wet interglacials. TIV, TIII, TIIIa, and TI are each characterized by an abrupt 3‰ decrease in δ18O that coincides with sea level rise and flooding of the Sunda and Sahul shelves. Strong evidence for a sea level (flooding/exposure) threshold is found throughout the southwest Sulawesi record. This is most clearly demonstrated over the period 230 - 212 ky BP (MIS 7d-7c), when a sea level fall to only -80 to -60 m for 10 kyr results in a weakened AISM and glacial conditions, followed by a full termination. Taken together, both glaciations and glacial terminations imply a sea level threshold driving the AISM between two primary levels of intensity (`interglacial' & `glacial'). These massive, sea-level driven shifts in AISM strength are superimposed on precession-scale variability associated with boreal fall insolation at the equator, indicating

Mechanisms of Short-Term Training-Induced Reaching Improvement in Severely Hemiparetic Stroke Patients: A TMS Study

Science.gov (United States)

Harris-Love, Michelle L.; Morton, Susanne M.; Perez, Monica A.; Cohen, Leonardo G.

2011-01-01

Background The neurophysiological mechanisms underlying improved upper-extremity motor skills have been partially investigated in patients with good motor recovery but are poorly understood in more impaired individuals, the majority of stroke survivors. Objective The authors studied changes in primary motor cortex (M1) excitability (motor evoked potentials [MEPs], contralateral and ipsilateral silent periods [CSPs and ISPs] using transcranial magnetic stimulation [TMS]) associated with training-induced reaching improvement in stroke patients with severe arm paresis (n = 11; Upper-Extremity Fugl-Meyer score (F-M) = 27 ± 6). Methods All patients underwent a single session of reaching training focused on moving the affected hand from a resting site to a target placed at 80% of maximum forward reaching amplitude in response to a visual “GO” cue. Triceps contribute primarily as agonist and biceps primarily as antagonist to the trained forward reaching movement. Response times were recorded for each reaching movement. Results Preceding training (baseline), greater interhemispheric inhibition (measured by ISP) in the affected triceps muscle, reflecting inhibition from the nonlesioned to the lesioned M1, was observed in patients with lower F-M scores (more severe motor impairment). Training-induced improvements in reaching were greater in patients with slower response times at baseline. Increased MEP amplitudes and decreased ISPs and CSPs were observed in the affected triceps but not in the biceps muscle after training. Conclusion These results indicate that along with training-induced motor improvements, training-specific modulation of intrahemispheric and interhemispheric mechanisms occurs after reaching practice in chronic stroke patients with substantial arm impairment. PMID:21343522

Spectral analysis in overmodulated holographic reflection gratings recorded with BB640 ultrafine grain emulsion

Science.gov (United States)

Mas-Abellán, P.; Madrigal, R.; Fimia, A.

2015-05-01

Silver halide emulsions have been considered one of the most energetic sensitive materials for holographic applications. Nonlinear recording effects on holographic reflection gratings recorded on silver halide emulsions have been studied by different authors obtaining excellent experimental results. In this communication specifically we focused our investigation on the effects of refractive index modulation, trying to get high levels of overmodulation. We studied the influence of the grating thickness on the overmodulation and its effects on the transmission spectra for a wide exposure range by use of two different thickness ultrafine grain emulsion BB640, thin films (6 μm) and thick films (9 μm), exposed to single collimated beams using a red He-Ne laser (wavelength 632.8 nm) with Denisyuk configuration obtaining a spatial frequency of 4990 l/mm recorded on the emulsion. The experimental results show that high overmodulation levels of refractive index could offer some benefits such as high diffraction efficiency (reaching 90 %), increase of grating bandwidth (close to 80 nm), making lighter holograms, or diffraction spectra deformation, transforming the spectrum from sinusoidal to approximation of square shape. Based on these results, we demonstrate that holographic reflection gratings spectra recorded with overmodulation of refractive index is formed by the combination of several non-linear components due to very high overmodulation. This study is the first step to develop a new easy multiplexing technique based on the use of high index modulation reflection gratings.

Google Hangouts: Leveraging Social Media to Reach the Education Community

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenhamer, Bonnie; Summers, Frank; McCallister, Dan; Ryer, Holly

2015-01-01

Research shows that educator professional development is most effective when it is sustained and/or when a follow-on component is included to support the learning process. In order to create more comprehensive learning experiences for our workshop participants, the education team at the Space Telescope Science Institute is working collaboratively with scientific staff and other experts to create a follow-on component for our professional development program. The new component utilizes video conferencing platforms, such as Google's Hangouts On Air, to provide educators with content updates and extended learning opportunities in between in-person professional development experiences. The goal is to enhance our professional development program in a cost-effective way while reaching a greater cross-section of educators. Video broadcasts go live on Google+, YouTube, and our website - thus providing access to any user with a web browser. Additionally, the broadcasts are automatically recorded and archived for future viewing on our YouTube channel. This provides educators with anywhere, anytime training that best suits their needs and schedules. This poster will highlight our new Hangouts for educators as well as our cross-departmental efforts to expand the reach of our Hubble Hangouts for the public through a targeted recruitment strategy.

Historical atmospheric pollution trends in Southeast Asia inferred from lake sediment records.

Science.gov (United States)

Engels, S; Fong, L S R Z; Chen, Q; Leng, M J; McGowan, S; Idris, M; Rose, N L; Ruslan, M S; Taylor, D; Yang, H

2018-04-01

Fossil fuel combustion leads to increased levels of air pollution, which negatively affects human health as well as the environment. Documented data for Southeast Asia (SEA) show a strong increase in fossil fuel consumption since 1980, but information on coal and oil combustion before 1980 is not widely available. Spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs) and heavy metals, such as mercury (Hg), are emitted as by-products of fossil fuel combustion and may accumulate in sediments following atmospheric fallout. Here we use sediment SCP and Hg records from several freshwater lentic ecosystems in SEA (Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore) to reconstruct long-term, region-wide variations in levels of these two key atmospheric pollution indicators. The age-depth models of Philippine sediment cores do not reach back far enough to date first SCP presence, but single SCP occurrences are first observed between 1925 and 1950 for a Malaysian site. Increasing SCP flux is observed at our sites from 1960 onward, although individual sites show minor differences in trends. SCP fluxes show a general decline after 2000 at each of our study sites. While the records show broadly similar temporal trends across SEA, absolute SCP fluxes differ between sites, with a record from Malaysia showing SCP fluxes that are two orders of magnitude lower than records from the Philippines. Similar trends in records from China and Japan represent the emergence of atmospheric pollution as a broadly-based inter-region environmental problem during the 20th century. Hg fluxes were relatively stable from the second half of the 20th century onward. As catchment soils are also contaminated with atmospheric Hg, future soil erosion can be expected to lead to enhanced Hg flux into surface waters. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Patient and public attitudes towards informed consent models and levels of awareness of Electronic Health Records in the UK

Science.gov (United States)

Riordan, Fiona; Papoutsi, Chrysanthi; Reed, Julie E.; Marston, Cicely; Bell, Derek; Majeed, Azeem

2015-01-01

Background The development of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) forms an integral part of the information strategy for the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, with the aim of facilitating health information exchange for patient care and secondary use, including research and healthcare planning. Implementing EHR systems requires an understanding of patient expectations for consent mechanisms and consideration of public awareness towards information sharing as might be made possible through integrated EHRs across primary and secondary health providers. Objectives To explore levels of public awareness about EHRs and to examine attitudes towards different consent models with respect to sharing identifiable and de-identified records for healthcare provision, research and planning. Methods A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was administered to adult patients and members of the public in primary and secondary care clinics in West London, UK in 2011. In total, 5331 individuals participated in the survey, and 3157 were included in the final analysis. Results The majority (91%) of respondents expected to be explicitly asked for consent for their identifiable records to be accessed for health provision, research or planning. Half the respondents (49%) did not expect to be asked for consent before their de-identified records were accessed. Compared with White British respondents, those from all other ethnic groups were more likely to anticipate their permission would be obtained before their de-identified records were used. Of the study population, 59% reported already being aware of EHRs before the survey. Older respondents and individuals with complex patterns of interaction with healthcare services were more likely to report prior awareness of EHRs. Individuals self-identifying as belonging to ethnic groups other than White British, and those with lower educational qualifications were less likely to report being aware of EHRs than White British respondents and

Predictors of Adoption and Reach Following Dialectical Behavior Therapy Intensive Training™.

Science.gov (United States)

Navarro-Haro, Maria V; Harned, Melanie S; Korslund, Kathryn E; DuBose, Anthony; Chen, Tianying; Ivanoff, André; Linehan, Marsha M

2018-03-05

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based treatment for borderline personality disorder. The DBT Intensive Training™ is widely used to train community clinicians to deliver DBT, but little is known about its effectiveness. This study prospectively evaluated predictors of adoption and reach of DBT among 52 community teams (212 clinicians) after DBT Intensive Training™. Pre-post training questionnaires were completed by trainees and a follow-up survey by team leaders approximately 8 months later. Overall, 75% of teams adopted all DBT modes and delivered DBT to an average of 118 clients. Lower training and program needs, fewer bachelor's-level clinicians, and greater prior DBT experience predicted adoption of more DBT modes. More prior DBT experience, smaller team size, more negative team functioning, and staff with lower job satisfaction, growth, efficacy, and influence predicted greater DBT reach. DBT Intensive Training™ appears effective in promoting DBT adoption and reach in routine clinical practice settings.

Role of limb and target vision in the online control of memory-guided reaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Heath, Matthew

2005-07-01

This investigation tested the proposal that a "highly accurate" and temporally unstable stored target representation is available to the motor system for the online control of memory-guided reaches. Participants reached to a target that was: (a) visible during the response, (b) extinguished at movement onset, and (c) occluded for 0, 500, 1,500 and 2,500 ms in advance of response cueing. Additionally, trials were performed with (i.e., limb visible) and without (i.e., limb occluded) vision of the reaching limb. Results showed that limb occluded trials undershot the target location in each target condition, and were characterized by a primarily offline mode of control. In contrast, limb visible trials showed a consistent level of endpoint accuracy for each target condition and elicited more online reaching corrections than limb occluded trials. It is therefore proposed that a reasonably accurate and temporally stable stored target representation can be combined with vision of the moving limb for the online control of memory-guided reaches.

A 150-year record of recent changes in human activity and eutrophication of Lake Wushan from the middle reach of the Yangze River, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiangdong YANG

2010-08-01

Full Text Available In order to determine baseline conditions (pre-impact and recent changes to lakes on the middle reach of the Yangtze River, China, a lake sediment core was extracted from Lake Wushan covering the last ca 150 years. Detailed chemical, biological (subfossil chironomids, and physical analyses of the lake sediments were undertaken. The data showed consistent trends of increased productivity since the early 1920s, notably significant changes in the chironomid fauna which were associated with changes in the sedimentological and stable isotope proxies. More typically eutrophic chironomid taxa first appeared around this time that had not been present in the lake since at least the 1860s. Further increases in productivity occurred around the 1950s which coincided with the local decline and extirpation of some chironomid taxa, particularly macrophyte associated taxa, which had been present in the lake since at least the late 19th Century. A chironomid-inferred water total phosphorus (CI-TP reconstruction produced accurate levels of water TP compared with contemporary measurements (207.4 μg L-1 TP, and suggested that levels for the late 19th Century were relatively low (50-60 μg L-1 TP. These reconstructions illustrate the baseline levels that existed pre-impact and provide potential targets for restoration, but they also show the magnitude of human impact in this region, which has increased the nutrient content of Lake Wushan fourfold within the last ca 100 years.

Reach and get capability in a computing environment

Science.gov (United States)

Bouchard, Ann M [Albuquerque, NM; Osbourn, Gordon C [Albuquerque, NM

2012-06-05

A reach and get technique includes invoking a reach command from a reach location within a computing environment. A user can then navigate to an object within the computing environment and invoke a get command on the object. In response to invoking the get command, the computing environment is automatically navigated back to the reach location and the object copied into the reach location.

First ATLAS Events Recorded Underground

CERN Multimedia

Teuscher, R

As reported in the CERN Bulletin, Issue No.30-31, 25 July 2005 The ATLAS barrel Tile calorimeter has recorded its first events underground using a cosmic ray trigger, as part of the detector commissioning programme. This is not a simulation! A cosmic ray muon recorded by the barrel Tile calorimeter of ATLAS on 21 June 2005 at 18:30. The calorimeter has three layers and a pointing geometry. The light trapezoids represent the energy deposited in the tiles of the calorimeter depicted as a thick disk. On the evening of June 21, the ATLAS detector, now being installed in the underground experimental hall UX15, reached an important psychological milestone: the barrel Tile calorimeter recorded the first cosmic ray events in the underground cavern. An estimated million cosmic muons enter the ATLAS cavern every 3 minutes, and the ATLAS team decided to make good use of some of them for the commissioning of the detector. Although only 8 of the 128 calorimeter slices ('superdrawers') were included in the trigg...

Individual to Community-Level Faunal Responses to Environmental Change from a Marine Fossil Record of Early Miocene Global Warming

Science.gov (United States)

Belanger, Christina L.

2012-01-01

Modern climate change has a strong potential to shift earth systems and biological communities into novel states that have no present-day analog, leaving ecologists with no observational basis to predict the likely biotic effects. Fossil records contain long time-series of past environmental changes outside the range of modern observation, which are vital for predicting future ecological responses, and are capable of (a) providing detailed information on rates of ecological change, (b) illuminating the environmental drivers of those changes, and (c) recording the effects of environmental change on individual physiological rates. Outcrops of Early Miocene Newport Member of the Astoria Formation (Oregon) provide one such time series. This record of benthic foraminiferal and molluscan community change from continental shelf depths spans a past interval environmental change (∼20.3-16.7 mya) during which the region warmed 2.1–4.5°C, surface productivity and benthic organic carbon flux increased, and benthic oxygenation decreased, perhaps driven by intensified upwelling as on the modern Oregon coast. The Newport Member record shows that (a) ecological responses to natural environmental change can be abrupt, (b) productivity can be the primary driver of faunal change during global warming, (c) molluscs had a threshold response to productivity change while foraminifera changed gradually, and (d) changes in bivalve body size and growth rates parallel changes in taxonomic composition at the community level, indicating that, either directly or indirectly through some other biological parameter, the physiological tolerances of species do influence community change. Ecological studies in modern and fossil records that consider multiple ecological levels, environmental parameters, and taxonomic groups can provide critical information for predicting future ecological change and evaluating species vulnerability. PMID:22558424

Reaching the unreached.

Science.gov (United States)

Ariyaratne, A T

1989-01-01

Embodied in the child survival revolution are ideological, methodological, and organizational innovations aimed at radical change in the condition of the world's children as rapidly as possible. In countries such as Sri Lanka, child survival and health for all by the year 2000 often seem to be impossible goals, given the tumultuous socioeconomic and political conditions. In Sri Lanka, the quality of life has been eroded, not enhanced, by the importation of Western technology and managerial capitalism and the destruction of indigenous processes. The chaos and violence that have been brought into the country have made it difficult to reach the poor children, women, and refugees in rural areas with primary health care interventions. Sri Lanka's unreachable--the decision making elites--have blocked access to the unreached--the urban and rural poor. If governments are to reach the unreached, they must remove the obstacles to a people-centered, community development process. It is the people themselves, and the institutions of their creation, that can reach the children amidst them in greatest need. To achieve this task, local communities must be provided with basic human rights, the power to make decisions that affect their lives, necessary resources, and appropriate technologies. Nongovernmental organizations can play a crucial role as bridges between the unreached and the unreachable by promoting community empowerment, aiding in the formation of networks of community organizations, and establishing linkages with government programs. If the ruling elites in developing countries can be persuaded to accommodate the needs and aspirations of those who, to date, have been excluded from the development process, the child survival revolution can be a nonviolent one.

Integrating phenotypic data from electronic patient records with molecular level systems biology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brunak, Søren

2011-01-01

Electronic patient records remain a rather unexplored, but potentially rich data source for discovering correlations between diseases. We describe a general approach for gathering phenotypic descriptions of patients from medical records in a systematic and non-cohort dependent manner. By extracti...... Classification of Disease ontology and is therefore in principle language independent. As a use case we show how records from a Danish psychiatric hospital lead to the identification of disease correlations, which subsequently are mapped to systems biology frameworks....

Context Matters: Team and Organizational Factors Associated with Reach of Evidence-Based Psychotherapies for PTSD in the Veterans Health Administration.

Science.gov (United States)

Sayer, Nina A; Rosen, Craig S; Bernardy, Nancy C; Cook, Joan M; Orazem, Robert J; Chard, Kathleen M; Mohr, David C; Kehle-Forbes, Shannon M; Eftekhari, Afsoon; Crowley, Jill; Ruzek, Josef I; Smith, Brandy N; Schnurr, Paula P

2017-11-01

Evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD are often underused. The objective of this mixed-method study was to identify organizational and clinic factors that promote high levels of reach of evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD 10 years into their dissemination throughout the Veterans Health Administration. We conducted 96 individual interviews with staff from ten outpatient PTSD teams at nine sites that differed in reach of evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD. Major themes associated with reach included clinic mission, clinic leader and staff engagement, clinic operations, staff perceptions, and the practice environment. Strategies to improve reach of evidence-based psychotherapies should attend to organizational and team-level factors.

Matrix Metalloproteinase Activities And Some Hormones Levels During Gestation Period In Cows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

TEAMA, F.E.

2010-01-01

Many factors including proteases, growth factors and hormones play important role in implantation and tissue remodelling of endometrium during different stages of gestation.Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) such as gelatinases mainly MMP-2 and MMP-9 are implicated in the degradation of extracellular matrix for tissue remodelling.The aim of the present study is to evaluate the role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) and hormones including progesterone (P4) and estradiol (E2) in the gestation process. The enzyme activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in serum collected from 8 Brown Swiss cows during different periods of gestation using zymography technique were examined. Hormonal levels for both P4 and E2 were determined using radioimmunoassay and also total proteins were estimated. A significant increase in MMP-2 activity by about 98%, 115% and 110% in the 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd trimester of gestation were recorded, respectively, whereas it increased to be 185% in the pre-partum period as compared to non-pregnant cows (P nd trimester was recorded where the activity elevated by about 85% of non-pregnant controls (P st and 3 rd trimesters, the enzyme activity was not detectable. P4 level was increased gradually until its maximum at the 2 nd trimester then decreased until pre-partum.E2 level recorded too little increase at the beginning of the 1 st and 2 nd trimesters then sharply increased at the 3 rd one reached its maximum at pre-partum. There were significant decreases in total protein concentrations in the 2 nd and 3 rd trimesters then reached the lowest level before parturition .It could be concluded that the high activity of MMP-2 but not MMP-9 enzyme has important role throughout the gestation period in cows and P4 has important role in the fetal growth and E2 in the placental loss.

Recovery of Three Arctic Stream Reaches From Experimental Nutrient Enrichment.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, A. C.; Benstead, J. P.; Deegan, L. A.; Peterson, B. J.; Bowden, W. B.; Huryn, A. D.; Slavik, K.; Hershey, A. E.

2005-05-01

We examined multi-year patterns in community recovery from experimental low-concentration nutrient (N+P and P only) enrichment in three reaches of two Arctic tundra streams (Kuparuk River and Oksrukuyik Creek) on the North Slope of Alaska (USA). Rates of recovery varied among community components and depended on duration of enrichment (2 to 13 consecutive growing seasons). Biomass and C:P ratio of epilithic algae returned to reference levels rapidly (within 2 years), regardless of enrichment duration. Bryophyte cover, which increased greatly after long-term enrichment (>8 years), recovered to reference levels only after 7 years, when a storm scoured most remnant moss in the recovering reach. Persistence of bryophytes slowed recovery rates of insect taxa that had either been positively (e.g., Ephemerella, most chironomid taxa) or negatively (e.g., Orthocladius rivulorum) affected by this shift in dominant primary producer and its consequence for benthic habitat. Growth of Arctic grayling (adults and young-of-year), the top predator, returned to reference rates within two years. Recovery of these Arctic stream ecosystems from nutrient enrichment was consequently controlled largely by interactions between duration of enrichment and physical disturbance, mediated through physical habitat shifts caused by bryophytes.

Added value from 576 years of tree-ring records in the prediction of the Great Salt Lake level

Science.gov (United States)

Robert R. Gillies; Oi-Yu Chung; S.-Y. Simon Wang; R. Justin DeRose; Yan Sun

2015-01-01

Predicting lake level fluctuations of the Great Salt Lake (GSL) in Utah - the largest terminal salt-water lake in the Western Hemisphere - is critical from many perspectives. The GSL integrates both climate and hydrological variations within the region and is particularly sensitive to low-frequency climate cycles. Since most hydroclimate variable records cover...

Partnerships: The Key to Sustainability and Reach for E/PO

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenhamer, Bonnie; McCallister, D.; Ryer, H.

2013-06-01

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is the home institution for the E/PO activities of the Hubble and future James Webb space telescopes. Over time, STScI’s Office of Public Outreach has established the infrastructure needed for an E/PO program that reaches various audiences at the local, regional, and national levels. Partnerships are a critical element of this infrastructure, and sustainability of our E/PO program is ensured through our ongoing partnerships with organizations and institutions with staying power and reach. We have learned from past efforts that strategic partnerships can foster innovation, support diversity initiatives, and increase impact in a cost-effective way while providing target audiences with greater access to NASA SMD science and resources. Partnerships are utilized to field-test educational products and programs, disseminate materials and initiatives, and support professional development activities. Partners are selected based upon specific criteria such as potential for reach, the percentage of underrepresented educators and students served, complementary program goals, and willingness to collect and share evaluation data and results with us. This poster will highlight examples and benefits of strategic partnerships over time.

Training and development needs of medical record staff at the Korle ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ghana Library Journal ... Though the medical record services play an important role in health care delivery, indications are that the ... This neglect has far reaching implications for the quality of service required from the Ghana Health Service.

A 700 year record of combustion-derived pollution in northern Spain: Tools to identify the Holocene/Anthropocene transition in coastal environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leorri, Eduardo; Mitra, Siddhartha; Irabien, María Jesús; Zimmerman, Andrew R.; Blake, William H.; Cearreta, Alejandro

2014-01-01

There is an uneven geographical distribution of historic records of atmospheric pollutants from SW Europe and those that exist are very limited in temporal extent. Alternative data source is required to understand temporal trends in human impacts on atmospheric pollution. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metal content and stable Pb isotopic ratios in a sediment core from a salt marsh in northern Spain were used to reconstruct the regional history of contaminant inputs over the last 700 years. Pre-1800s concentrations of Pb and PAHs represented baseline concentrations, i.e. pre-Industrial, conditions. During the initial stages of the Industrial Revolution, 1800s to 1860s, PAH concentrations increased by a factor of about two above baseline levels in the sediment column. By the 1930s, PAH levels reached ca. 10 times pre-Industrial levels and, along with Pb, reached a peak at ca. 1975 CE. Since then, sedimentary PAH and Pb concentrations decreased significantly. A combination of PAH isomer and Pb stable isotope ratios suggests that the contaminant sources are regional, likely derived partially from wood, but mainly coal used by the metallurgic industry in the Basque country since the 1800s and until the 1970s when leaded petrol saw increased use. This chronology of regional atmosphere-derived pollution expands current southwest Europe emission records and shows coastal salt marsh sediments to be useful in reconstructing the Anthropocene. - Highlights: • Historic records of atmospheric pollutant emissions in SW Europe are needed. • PAH and Pb concentrations and ratios from a north Spain salt marsh core were used. • Atmosphere emissions mainly from regional coal burning increased in the early 1800s. • Emissions associated with leaded gasoline peaked in 1975 CE. • The results suggest 1800 CE as the Holocene/Anthropocene transition

A 700 year record of combustion-derived pollution in northern Spain: Tools to identify the Holocene/Anthropocene transition in coastal environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leorri, Eduardo, E-mail: leorrie@ecu.edu [Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Graham Building 103B, Greenville, NC 27858 (United States); Mitra, Siddhartha, E-mail: mitras@ecu.edu [Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Graham Building 103B, Greenville, NC 27858 (United States); Irabien, María Jesús, E-mail: mariajesus.irabien@ehu.es [Departamento de Mineralogía y Petrología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Apartado 644, 48080 Bilbao (Spain); Zimmerman, Andrew R., E-mail: azimmer@ufl.edu [Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, 241 Williamson Hall, P.O. Box 112120, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States); Blake, William H., E-mail: william.blake@plymouth.ac.uk [Consolidated Radioisotope Facility, University of Plymouth, Plymouth (United Kingdom); Cearreta, Alejandro, E-mail: alejandro.cearreta@ehu.es [Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Apartado 644, 48080 Bilbao (Spain)

2014-02-01

There is an uneven geographical distribution of historic records of atmospheric pollutants from SW Europe and those that exist are very limited in temporal extent. Alternative data source is required to understand temporal trends in human impacts on atmospheric pollution. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metal content and stable Pb isotopic ratios in a sediment core from a salt marsh in northern Spain were used to reconstruct the regional history of contaminant inputs over the last 700 years. Pre-1800s concentrations of Pb and PAHs represented baseline concentrations, i.e. pre-Industrial, conditions. During the initial stages of the Industrial Revolution, 1800s to 1860s, PAH concentrations increased by a factor of about two above baseline levels in the sediment column. By the 1930s, PAH levels reached ca. 10 times pre-Industrial levels and, along with Pb, reached a peak at ca. 1975 CE. Since then, sedimentary PAH and Pb concentrations decreased significantly. A combination of PAH isomer and Pb stable isotope ratios suggests that the contaminant sources are regional, likely derived partially from wood, but mainly coal used by the metallurgic industry in the Basque country since the 1800s and until the 1970s when leaded petrol saw increased use. This chronology of regional atmosphere-derived pollution expands current southwest Europe emission records and shows coastal salt marsh sediments to be useful in reconstructing the Anthropocene. - Highlights: • Historic records of atmospheric pollutant emissions in SW Europe are needed. • PAH and Pb concentrations and ratios from a north Spain salt marsh core were used. • Atmosphere emissions mainly from regional coal burning increased in the early 1800s. • Emissions associated with leaded gasoline peaked in 1975 CE. • The results suggest 1800 CE as the Holocene/Anthropocene transition.

Interaction torque contributes to planar reaching at slow speed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hoshi Fumihiko

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background How the central nervous system (CNS organizes the joint dynamics for multi-joint movement is a complex problem, because of the passive interaction among segmental movements. Previous studies have demonstrated that the CNS predictively compensates for interaction torque (INT which is arising from the movement of the adjacent joints. However, most of these studies have mainly examined quick movements, presumably because the current belief is that the effects of INT are not significant at slow speeds. The functional contribution of INT for multijoint movements performed in various speeds is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine the contribution of INT to a planer reaching in a wide range of motion speeds for healthy subjects. Methods Subjects performed reaching movements toward five targets under three different speed conditions. Joint position data were recorded using a 3-D motion analysis device (50 Hz. Torque components, muscle torque (MUS, interaction torque (INT, gravity torque (G, and net torque (NET were calculated by solving the dynamic equations for the shoulder and elbow. NET at a joint which produces the joint kinematics will be an algebraic sum of torque components; NET = MUS - G - INT. Dynamic muscle torque (DMUS = MUS-G was also calculated. Contributions of INT impulse and DMUS impulse to NET impulse were examined. Results The relative contribution of INT to NET was not dependent on speed for both joints at every target. INT was additive (same direction to DMUS at the shoulder joint, while in the elbow DMUS counteracted (opposed to INT. The trajectory of reach was linear and two-joint movements were coordinated with a specific combination at each target, regardless of motion speed. However, DMUS at the elbow was opposed to the direction of elbow movement, and its magnitude varied from trial to trial in order to compensate for the variability of INT. Conclusion Interaction torque was important at

Water resources data for Virginia, water year 1991. Volume 2. Ground-water-level and ground-water-quality records. Water-data report (Annual), 1 October 1991-30 September 1992

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prugh, B.J.; Powell, E.D.

1993-01-01

Water-resources data for the 1992 water year for Virginia consist of records of water levels and water quality of ground-water wells. The report (Volume 2. Ground-Water-Level and Ground-Water-Quality Records) contains water levels at 356 observation wells and water quality at 2 wells. Locations of these wells are given in the report

Bimanual reach to grasp movements after cervical spinal cord injury.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Britten

Full Text Available Injury to the cervical spinal cord results in bilateral deficits in arm/hand function reducing functional independence and quality of life. To date little research has been undertaken to investigate control strategies of arm/hand movements following cervical spinal cord injury (cSCI. This study aimed to investigate unimanual and bimanual coordination in patients with acute cSCI using 3D kinematic analysis as they performed naturalistic reach to grasp actions with one hand, or with both hands together (symmetrical task, and compare this to the movement patterns of uninjured younger and older adults. Eighteen adults with a cSCI (mean 61.61 years with lesions at C4-C8, with an American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA grade B to D and 16 uninjured younger adults (mean 23.68 years and sixteen uninjured older adults (mean 70.92 years were recruited. Participants with a cSCI produced reach-to-grasp actions which took longer, were slower, and had longer deceleration phases than uninjured participants. These differences were exacerbated during bimanual reach-to-grasp tasks. Maximal grasp aperture was no different between groups, but reached earlier by people with cSCI. Participants with a cSCI were less synchronous than younger and older adults but all groups used the deceleration phase for error correction to end the movement in a synchronous fashion. Overall, this study suggests that after cSCI a level of bimanual coordination is retained. While there seems to be a greater reliance on feedback to produce both the reach to grasp, we observed minimal disruption of the more impaired limb on the less impaired limb. This suggests that bimanual movements should be integrated into therapy.

Planning of the Extended Reach well Dieksand 2; Planung der Extended Reach Bohrung Dieksand 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frank, U.; Berners, H. [RWE-DEA AG, Hamburg (Germany). Drilling Team Mittelplate und Dieksand; Hadow, A.; Klop, G.; Sickinger, W. [Wintershall AG Erdoelwerke, Barnstdorf (Germany); Sudron, K.

1998-12-31

The Mittelplate oil field is located 7 km offshore the town of Friedrichskoog. Reserves are estimated at 30 million tonnes of oil. At a production rate of 2,500 t/d, it will last about 33 years. The transport capacity of the offshore platform is limited, so that attempts were made to enhance production by constructing the extended reach borehole Dieksand 2. Details are presented. (orig.) [Deutsch] Das Erdoelfeld Mittelplate liegt am suedlichen Rand des Nationalparks Schleswig Holsteinisches Wattenmeer, ca. 7000 m westlich der Ortschaft Friedrichskoog. Die gewinnbaren Reserven betragen ca. 30 Millionen t Oel. Bei einer Foerderkapazitaet von 2.500 t/Tag betraegt die Foerderdauer ca. 33 Jahre. Aufgrund der begrenzten Transportkapazitaeten von der Insel, laesst sich durch zusaetzliche Bohrungen von der kuenstlichen Insel Mittelplate keine entscheidende Erhoehung der Foerderkapazitaet erzielen. Ab Sommer 1996 wurde erstmals die Moeglichkeit der Lagerstaettenerschliessung von Land untersucht. Ein im Mai 1997 in Hamburg etabliertes Drilling Team wurde mit der Aufgabe betraut, die Extended Reach Bohrung Dieksand 2 zu planen und abzuteufen. Die Planungsphasen fuer die Extended Reach Bohrung Dieksand 2 wurden aufgezeigt. Die fuer den Erfolg einer Extended Reach Bohrung wichtigen Planungsparameter wurden erlaeutert. Es wurden Wege gezeigt, wie bei diesem Projekt technische und geologische Risiken in der Planung mit beruecksichtigt und nach Beginn der Bohrung weiter bearbeitet werden koennen. (orig.)

Awareness and Use of Electronic Health Records in Entry-Level Occupational Therapy and Occupational Therapy Assistant Curricula

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Louis F. Dmytryk

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE requires programs to instruct entrylevel occupational therapy (OT and occupational therapy assistant (OTA students in technology that may include electronic documentation systems, distance communication, virtual environments, and telehealth (standard B1.8. At this time, there are no publications describing if and how electronic health record (EHR instruction is implemented in entry-level OT and OTA programs. The purpose of this study is to investigate awareness and use of EHRs in entry-level OT and OTA curricula. Respondents from 76 nationally accredited entry-level programs (two OT doctoral, 24 OT masters, two OT combined bachelors/masters, and 48 OTA completed a survey. The findings showed inconsistent and incomplete EHR instruction in entry-level OT and OTA education. This study provides a baseline for investigating best practices in EHR education for entrylevel OT and OTA students

Factors associated with reaching or not reaching target HbA1c after initiation of basal or premixed insulin in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Scheen, A J; Schmitt, H; Jiang, H H; Ivanyi, T

2017-02-01

To evaluate factors associated with reaching or not reaching target glycated haemoglobin (HbA 1c ) levels by analysing the respective contributions of fasting hyperglycaemia (FHG), also referred to as basal hyperglycaemia, vs postprandial hyperglycaemia (PHG) before and after initiation of a basal or premixed insulin regimen in patients with type 2 diabetes. This post-hoc analysis of insulin-naïve patients in the DURABLE study randomised to receive either insulin glargine or insulin lispro mix 25 evaluated the percentages of patients achieving a target HbA 1c of <7.0% (<53mmol/mol) per baseline HbA 1c quartiles, and the effect of each insulin regimen on the relative contributions of PHG and FHG to overall hyperglycaemia. Patients had comparable demographic characteristics and similar HbA 1c and FHG values at baseline in each HbA 1c quartile regardless of whether they reached the target HbA 1c . The higher the HbA 1c quartile, the greater was the decrease in HbA 1c , but also the smaller the percentage of patients achieving the target HbA 1c . HbA 1c and FHG decreased more in patients reaching the target, resulting in significantly lower values at endpoint in all baseline HbA 1c quartiles with either insulin treatment. Patients not achieving the target HbA 1c had slightly higher insulin doses, but lower total hypoglycaemia rates. Smaller decreases in FHG were associated with not reaching the target HbA 1c , suggesting a need to increase basal or premixed insulin doses to achieve targeted fasting plasma glucose and improve patient response before introducing more intensive prandial insulin regimens. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Teratology testing under REACH.

Science.gov (United States)

Barton, Steve

2013-01-01

REACH guidelines may require teratology testing for new and existing chemicals. This chapter discusses procedures to assess the need for teratology testing and the conduct and interpretation of teratology tests where required.

Action without awareness: reaching to an object you do not remember seeing.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew Heath

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Previous work by our group has shown that the scaling of reach trajectories to target size is independent of obligatory awareness of that target property and that "action without awareness" can persist for up to 2000 ms of visual delay. In the present investigation we sought to determine if the ability to scale reaching trajectories to target size following a delay is related to the pre-computing of movement parameters during initial stimulus presentation or the maintenance of a sensory (i.e., visual representation for on-demand response parameterization. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Participants completed immediate or delayed (i.e., 2000 ms perceptual reports and reaching responses to different sized targets under non-masked and masked target conditions. For the reaching task, the limb associated with a trial (i.e., left or right was not specified until the time of response cuing: a manipulation that prevented participants from pre-computing the effector-related parameters of their response. In terms of the immediate and delayed perceptual tasks, target size was accurately reported during non-masked trials; however, for masked trials only a chance level of accuracy was observed. For the immediate and delayed reaching tasks, movement time as well as other temporal kinematic measures (e.g., times to peak acceleration, velocity and deceleration increased in relation to decreasing target size across non-masked and masked trials. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results demonstrate that speed-accuracy relations were observed regardless of whether participants were aware (i.e., non-masked trials or unaware (i.e., masked trials of target size. Moreover, the equivalent scaling of immediate and delayed reaches during masked trials indicates that a persistent sensory-based representation supports the unconscious and metrical scaling of memory-guided reaching.

Estimating decadal variability in sea level from tide gauge records: An application to the North Sea

OpenAIRE

Frederikse, Thomas; Riva, R.E.M.; Slobbe, Cornelis; Broerse, D.B.T.; Verlaan, Martin

2016-01-01

One of the primary observational data sets of sea level is represented by the tide gauge record. We propose a new method to estimate variability on decadal time scales from tide gauge data by using a state space formulation, which couples the direct observations to a predefined state space model by using a Kalman filter. The model consists of a time-varying trend and seasonal cycle, and variability induced by several physical processes, such as wind, atmospheric pressure changes and teleconne...

Continuous sea-level reconstructions beyond the Pleistocene: improving the Mediterranean sea-level method

Science.gov (United States)

Grant, K.; Rohling, E. J.; Amies, J.

2017-12-01

Sea-level (SL) reconstructions over glacial-interglacial timeframes are critical for understanding the equilibrium response of ice sheets to sustained warming. In particular, continuous and high-resolution SL records are essential for accurately quantifying `natural' rates of SL rise. Global SL changes are well-constrained since the last glacial maximum ( 20,000 years ago, ky) by radiometrically-dated corals and paleoshoreline data, and fairly well-constrained over the last glacial cycle ( 150 ky). Prior to that, however, studies of ice-volume:SL relationships tend to rely on benthic δ18O, as geomorphological evidence is far more sparse and less reliably dated. An alternative SL reconstruction method (the `marginal basin' approach) was developed for the Red Sea over 500 ky, and recently attempted for the Mediterranean over 5 My (Rohling et al., 2014, Nature). This method exploits the strong sensitivity of seawater δ18O in these basins to SL changes in the relatively narrow and shallow straits which connect the basins with the open ocean. However, the initial Mediterranean SL method did not resolve sea-level highstands during Northern Hemisphere insolation maxima, when African monsoon run-off - strongly depleted in δ18O - reached the Mediterranean. Here, we present improvements to the `marginal basin' sea-level reconstruction method. These include a new `Med-Red SL stack', which combines new probabilistic Mediterranean and Red Sea sea-level stacks spanning the last 500 ky. We also show how a box model-data comparison of water-column δ18O changes over a monsoon interval allows us to quantify the monsoon versus SL δ18O imprint on Mediterranean foraminiferal carbonate δ18O records. This paves the way for a more accurate and fully continuous SL reconstruction extending back through the Pliocene.

Climate and lake-level history of the northern Altiplano, Bolivia, as recorded in Holocene sediments of the Rio Desaguadero

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baucom, P.C.; Rigsby, C.A. [East Carolina Univ., Greenville, NC (United States). Dept. of Geology

1999-05-01

Strata exposed in terraces and modern cutbanks along the Rio Desaguadero contain a variety of lithofacies that were deposited in four distinct facies associations. These facies associations document a history of aggradation and downcutting that is linked to Holocene climate change on the Altiplano. Braided-stream, meandering-stream, deltaic and shoreline, and lacustrine sediments preserved in multi-level terraces in the northern Rio Desaguadero valley record two high-water intervals: one between 4,500 and 3,900 yr BP and another between 2,000 and 2,200 yr BP. These wet periods were interrupted by three periods of fluvial downcutting, centered at approximately 4,000 yr BP, 3,600 yr BP, and after 2,000 yr BP. Braided-river sediments preserved in a single terrace level in the southern Rio Desaguadero valley record a history of nearly continuous fluvial sedimentation from at least 7,000 yr BP until approximately 3,200 yr BP that was followed by a single episode (post-3,210 yr BP) of down-cutting and lateral migration. The deposition and subsequent fluvial downcutting of the northern strata was controlled by changes in effective moisture that can be correlated to Holocene water-level fluctuations of Lake Titicaca. The deposition and dissection of braided-stream sediments to the south are more likely controlled by a combination of base-level change and sediment input from the Rio Mauri.

Impulsivity modulates performance under response uncertainty in a reaching task.

Science.gov (United States)

Tzagarakis, C; Pellizzer, G; Rogers, R D

2013-03-01

We sought to explore the interaction of the impulsivity trait with response uncertainty. To this end, we used a reaching task (Pellizzer and Hedges in Exp Brain Res 150:276-289, 2003) where a motor response direction was cued at different levels of uncertainty (1 cue, i.e., no uncertainty, 2 cues or 3 cues). Data from 95 healthy adults (54 F, 41 M) were analysed. Impulsivity was measured using the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale version 11 (BIS-11). Behavioral variables recorded were reaction time (RT), errors of commission (referred to as 'early errors') and errors of precision. Data analysis employed generalised linear mixed models and generalised additive mixed models. For the early errors, there was an interaction of impulsivity with uncertainty and gender, with increased errors for high impulsivity in the one-cue condition for women and the three-cue condition for men. There was no effect of impulsivity on precision errors or RT. However, the analysis of the effect of RT and impulsivity on precision errors showed a different pattern for high versus low impulsives in the high uncertainty (3 cue) condition. In addition, there was a significant early error speed-accuracy trade-off for women, primarily in low uncertainty and a 'reverse' speed-accuracy trade-off for men in high uncertainty. These results extend those of past studies of impulsivity which help define it as a behavioural trait that modulates speed versus accuracy response styles depending on environmental constraints and highlight once more the importance of gender in the interplay of personality and behaviour.

REACH: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary

Science.gov (United States)

Sibieta, Luke

2016-01-01

REACH is a targeted reading support programme designed to improve reading accuracy and comprehension in pupils with reading difficulties in Years 7 and 8. It is based on research by the Centre for Reading and Language at York and is delivered by specially trained teaching assistants (TAs). This evaluation tested two REACH interventions, one based…

Locating Ground-Water Discharge in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, D.R.; Geist, D.R.; Saldi, K.; Hartwig, D.; Cooper, T.

1997-01-01

A bottom-contacting probe for measuring electrical conductivity at the sediment-water interface was used to scan the bed of the Columbia River adjacent to the Hanford Site in southeast Washington State during a 10-day investigation. Four river-sections, each about a kilometer in length, were scanned for variations in electrical conductivity. The probe was towed along the riverbed at a speed of 1 m/s and is position was recorded using a Global Positioning System. The bottom tows revealed several areas of elevated electrical conductivity. Where these anomalies were relatively easy to access, piezometers were driven into the riverbed and porewater electrical conductivity ranged from 111 to 150 uS/cm. The piezometers, placed in electrical conductivity ''hotspots'' yielded chemical or isotopic data consistent with previous analyses of water taken from monitoring wells and visible shoreline seeps. Tritium, nitrate, and chromium exceeded water quality standards in some porewaters. The highest tritium and nitrate levels were found near the Old Hanford Townsite at 120,000 pCi/L (+ 5,880 pCi/L total propagated analytical uncertainty) and ug/L (+ 5,880 ug/L), respectively. The maximum chromium (total and hexavalent) levels were found near 100-H reactor area where unfiltered porewater total chromium was 1,900 ug/L (+ 798 ug/L) and hexavalent chromium was 20 ug/L. The electrical conductivity probe provided rapid, cost-effective reconnaissance for ground-water discharge areas when used in combination with conventional piezometers. It may be possible to obtain quantitative estimates of both natural and contaminated ground-water discharge in the Hanford Reach with more extensive surveys of river bottom

Global reach and engagement

Science.gov (United States)

2016-09-01

Popular culture reflects both the interests of and the issues affecting the general public. As concerns regarding climate change and its impacts grow, is it permeating into popular culture and reaching that global audience?

The reach and adoption of a coach-led exercise training programme in community football.

Science.gov (United States)

Finch, Caroline F; Diamantopoulou, Kathy; Twomey, Dara M; Doyle, Tim L A; Lloyd, David G; Young, Warren; Elliott, Bruce C

2014-04-01

To determine the reach and adoption of a coach-led exercise training programme for lower limb injury prevention. Secondary analysis of data from a group-clustered randomised controlled trial. A periodised exercise training warm-up programme was delivered to players during training sessions over an 8-week preseason (weeks 1-8) and 18-week playing season. 1564 community Australian football players. Reach, measured weekly, was the number of players who attended training sessions. Adoption was the number of attending players who completed the programme in full, partially or not at all. Reasons for partial or non-participation were recorded. In week 1, 599 players entered the programme; 55% attended 1 training session and 45% attended > 1 session. By week 12, 1540 players were recruited but training attendance (reach) decreased to <50%. When players attended training, the majority adopted the full programme-ranging from 96% (week 1) to above 80% until week 20. The most common reasons for low adoption were players being injured, too sore, being late for training or choosing their own warm-up. The training programme's reach was highest preseason and halved at the playing season's end. However, when players attended training sessions, their adoption was high and remained close to 70% by season end. For sports injury prevention programmes to be fully effective across a season, attention also needs to be given to (1) encouraging players to attend formal training sessions and (2) considering the possibility of some form of programme delivery outside of formal training.

NRPB TLD and dose record keeping service - further progress

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greenslade, E.

1979-01-01

Various aspects of the National Radiological Protection Board's service are described. An increasing number of UK employers are transferring from film monitors, and record keeping is now provided for both large and small groups of workers. Data entry directly from punched cards prepared by the larger employers has reduced initial costs and therefore carries a reduced registration fee for these users. Computerized dose record keeping allows automatic retrieval of cumulative dose information from any NRPB record of previous employment, thus safeguarding itinerant workers. Warning Dose Reports are issued automatically when cumulative dose totals reach or exceed 60% of a limit, or when a dose rate greater than 0.1 rem per 4 weeks is recorded. Flexibility in wearing period results in dosemeter economy and reduces laboratory work load. High recorded doses can be checked by UV stimulation of both disks to confirm the accuracy of the previous measurement. Employers are provided with a comprehensive and accurate monitoring package, fulfilling HSE requirements and exempting employers from their former responsibility to keep their own comprehensive records. (UK)

High-density optical data storage based on grey level recording in photobleaching polymers using two-photon excitation under ultrashort pulse and continuous wave illumination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganic, D.; Day, D.; Gu, M.

1999-01-01

Full text: Two-photon excitation has been employed in three-dimensional optical data storage by many researchers in an attempt to increase the storage density of a given material. The probability of two-photon excitation is proportional to the squared intensity of the incident light; this effect produces excitation only within a small region of the focus spot. Another advantage of two-photon excitation is the use of infrared illumination, which results in the reduction of scattering and enables the recording of layers at a deep depth in a thick material. The storage density thus obtained using multi-layered bit optical recording can be as high as Tbit/cm 3 . To increase this storage density even further, grey level recording can be employed. This method utilises variable exposure times of a laser beam focused into a photobleaching sample. As a result, the bleached area possesses a certain pixel value which depends upon the exposure time; this can increase the storage density many times depending upon the number of grey levels used. Our experiment shows that it is possible to attain grey level recording using both ultrashort pulsed and continuous-wave illumination. Although continuous wave illumination requires an average power of approximately 2 orders of magnitude higher than that for ultrashort pulsed illumination, it is a preferred method of recording due to its relatively low system cost and compactness. Copyright (1999) Australian Optical Society

Fukushima Nuclear Accident Recorded in Tibetan Plateau Snow Pits

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ninglian; Wu, Xiaobo; Kehrwald, Natalie; Li, Zhen; Li, Quanlian; Jiang, Xi; Pu, Jianchen

2015-01-01

The β radioactivity of snow-pit samples collected in the spring of 2011 on four Tibetan Plateau glaciers demonstrate a remarkable peak in each snow pit profile, with peaks about ten to tens of times higher than background levels. The timing of these peaks suggests that the high radioactivity resulted from the Fukushima nuclear accident that occurred on March 11, 2011 in eastern Japan. Fallout monitoring studies demonstrate that this radioactive material was transported by the westerlies across the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The depth of the peak β radioactivity in each snow pit compared with observational precipitation records, suggests that the radioactive fallout reached the Tibetan Plateau and was deposited on glacier surfaces in late March 2011, or approximately 20 days after the nuclear accident. The radioactive fallout existed in the atmosphere over the Tibetan Plateau for about one month. PMID:25658094

Has Athletic Performance Reached its Peak?

Science.gov (United States)

Berthelot, Geoffroy; Sedeaud, Adrien; Marck, Adrien; Antero-Jacquemin, Juliana; Schipman, Julien; Saulière, Guillaume; Marc, Andy; Desgorces, François-Denis; Toussaint, Jean-François

2015-09-01

Limits to athletic performance have long been a topic of myth and debate. However, sport performance appears to have reached a state of stagnation in recent years, suggesting that the physical capabilities of humans and other athletic species, such as greyhounds and thoroughbreds, cannot progress indefinitely. Although the ultimate capabilities may be predictable, the exact path for the absolute maximal performance values remains difficult to assess and relies on technical innovations, sport regulation, and other parameters that depend on current societal and economic conditions. The aim of this literature review was to assess the possible plateau of top physical capabilities in various events and detail the historical backgrounds and sociocultural, anthropometrical, and physiological factors influencing the progress and regression of athletic performance. Time series of performances in Olympic disciplines, such as track and field and swimming events, from 1896 to 2012 reveal a major decrease in performance development. Such a saturation effect is simultaneous in greyhound, thoroughbred, and frog performances. The genetic condition, exhaustion of phenotypic pools, economic context, and the depletion of optimal morphological traits contribute to the observed limitation of physical capabilities. Present conditions prevailing, we approach absolute physical limits and endure a continued period of world record scarcity. Optional scenarios for further improvements will mostly depend on sport technology and modification competition rules.

Exploring REACH as a potential data source for characterizing ecotoxicity in life cycle assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Nienke; de Zwart, Dick; Hauschild, Michael; Kijko, Gaël; Fantke, Peter

2017-02-01

Toxicity models in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) currently only characterize a small fraction of marketed substances, mostly because of limitations in the underlying ecotoxicity data. One approach to improve the current data situation in LCIA is to identify new data sources, such as the European Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) database. The present study explored REACH as a potential data source for LCIA based on matching reported ecotoxicity data for substances that are currently also included in the United Nations Environment Programme/Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (UNEP/SETAC) scientific consensus model USEtox for characterizing toxicity impacts. Data are evaluated with respect to number of data points, reported reliability, and test duration, and are compared with data listed in USEtox at the level of hazardous concentration for 50% of the covered species per substance. The results emphasize differences between data available via REACH and in USEtox. The comparison of ecotoxicity data from REACH and USEtox shows potential for using REACH ecotoxicity data in LCIA toxicity characterization, but also highlights issues related to compliance of submitted data with REACH requirements as well as different assumptions underlying regulatory risk assessment under REACH versus data needed for LCIA. Thus, further research is required to address data quality, pre-processing, and applicability, before considering data submitted under REACH as a data source for use in LCIA, and also to explore additionally available data sources, published studies, and reports. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:492-500. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

Can text messages reach the parts other process measures cannot reach: an evaluation of a behavior change intervention delivered by mobile phone?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linda Irvine

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Process evaluation is essential in developing, piloting and evaluating complex interventions. This often involves observation of intervention delivery and interviews with study participants. Mobile telephone interventions involve no face to face contact, making conventional process evaluation difficult. This study assesses the utility of novel techniques for process evaluation involving no face to face contact. METHODS: Text messages were delivered to 34 disadvantaged men as part of a feasibility study of a brief alcohol intervention. Process evaluation focused on delivery of the text messages and responses received from study participants. The computerized delivery system captured data on receipt of the messages. The text messages, delivered over 28 days, included nine which asked questions. Responses to these questions served as one technique for process evaluation by ascertaining the nature of engagement with the study and with steps on the causal chain to behavior change. RESULTS: A total of 646 SMS text messages were sent to participants. Of these, 613 messages (95% were recorded as delivered to participants' telephones. 88% of participants responded to messages that asked questions. There was little attenuation in responses to the questions across the intervention period. Content analysis of the responses revealed that participants engaged with text messages, thought deeply about their content and provided carefully considered personal responses to the questions. CONCLUSIONS: Socially disadvantaged men, a hard to reach population, engaged in a meaningful way over a sustained period with an interactive intervention delivered by text message. The novel process measures used in the study are unobtrusive, low cost and collect real-time data on all participants. They assessed the fidelity of delivery of the intervention and monitored retention in the study. They measured levels of engagement and identified participants' reactions to

Operational Reach: Is Current Army Doctrine Adequate?

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Heintzelman, Scott

2003-01-01

The term operational reach, an element of operational design, is new to U.S. Army doctrine. Operational reach is not found in the previous edition of the Army's basic operational doctrine, Field Manual...

Density limits imposed by the microstructure of magnetic recording media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richter, H.J.

2009-01-01

The fundamental limit of magnetic recording density on conventional media is set by the grain size. Once this grain size limit is reached, only a reduction of the grain size allows an increased SNR and thus an increased areal density. It is shown that, whilst maintaining thermal stability, scaling demands that the required anisotropy energy density K is proportional to the areal density, or the square of the areal density if the medium thickness reaches the critical thickness 4√(A/K) (A is the exchange stiffness of the material). Recording onto materials with such a high anisotropy requires some form of a write-assist. It is furthermore shown that the grain size limit cannot be obtained with intergranular exchange present, and six different requirements are listed that constitute ideal media. An alternative path for increasing areal density of magnetic recording is to use patterned media, where each bit contains only one grain. In this case, written-in errors dominate system performance and the maximum achievable areal density is estimated to be about 6 Tbit/in 2 . Patterned media need to exhibit narrow distributions of their physical and structural properties with standard deviations of the order of 5% or less

Comparison Of Blood Proteins And Some Hormonal Levels In Pregnant And Non-Pregnant Cows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

TEAMA, F.E.

2010-01-01

The aim of this study is to determine the changes in serum protein and its fractions by using electrophoresis in Holstein cows during different months of pregnancy in comparison with non-pregnant cows and to determine hormonal levels including T4, T3 and progesterone hormones. The samples were taken from 40 pregnant cows during deferent months and 10 non-pregnant cows. Significant decrease in the levels of total protein, albumin and globulin were observed in the third and late month of pregnancy than in mid pregnancy where the values were 6.5, 3.1 and 3.4 g/dl for early months and 6.5, 3.2 and 3.3 g/dl for late month as compared to the non-pregnant cows. Significant increase in α-1globulin was observed during months of pregnancy by about 33.3%. The decrease in the levels of α-2, β and γ-globulins were recorded by about 10%, 45.3% and 21.6%, respectively. A marked decrease in T4 hormone (5.0 μg/dl) was observed in pregnant cows than in non-pregnant ones (7.1 μg/dl). Also, a decreasing T3 level (169 ng/dl) was recorded as compared to non-pregnant cows (221 ng/dl). High significant increase in progesterone level was recorded in the mid pregnancy until reached the maximum value (49.94 ng/ml) at the 7 th month of pregnancy then declined (2.42 ng/ml) at the late month of pregnancy. In conclusion, during pregnancy of Holstein dairy cows, a decline in protein fractions and thyroid hormonal levels were recorded during different months as compared to non- pregnant cows. The opposite trend was observed in progesterone levels. The increasing progesterone level at the mid pregnancy indicated its importance in the continuation of pregnancy and maintenance of fetus against maternal rejection.

Regional, holocene records of the human dimension of global change: sea-level and land-use change in prehistoric Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Sluyter, Andrew

1997-02-01

Regional, Holocene records hold particular relevance for understanding the reciprocal nature of global environmental change and one of its major human dimensions: "sustainable agriculture", i.e., food production strategies which entail fewer causes of and are less susceptible to environmental change. In an epoch of accelerating anthropogenic transformation, those records reveal the protracted regional causes and consequences of change (often agricultural) in the global system as well as informing models of prehistoric, intensive agriculture which, because of long tenures and high productivities, suggest strategies for sustainable agricultural in the present. This study employs physiographic analysis and the palynological, geochemical record from cores of basin fill to understand the reciprocal relation between environmental and land-use change in the Gulf of Mexico tropical lowland, focusing on a coastal basin sensitive to sea-level change and containing vestiges of prehistoric settlement and wetland agriculture. Fossil pollen reveals that the debut of maize cultivation in the Laguna Catarina watershed dates to ca. 4100 BC, predating the earliest evidence for that cultivar anywhere else in the lowlands of Middle America. Such an early date for a cultivar so central to Neotropical agroecology and environmental change, suggests the urgency of further research in the study region. Moreover, the longest period of continuous agriculture in the basin lasted nearly three millennia (ca. 2400 BC-AD 550) despite eustatic sea-level rise. Geochemical fluxes reveal the reciprocity between land-use and environmental change: slope destabilization, basin aggradation, and eutrophication. The consequent theoretical implications pertain to both applied and basic research. Redeploying ancient agroecologies in dynamic environments necessitates reconstructing the changing operational contexts of putative high productivity and sustainability. Adjusting land use in the face of global

Revised paleoenvironmental analysis of the Holocene portion of the Barbados sea-level record: Cobbler's Reef revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Toscano, Marguerite A.

2016-06-01

Sample elevations corrected for tectonic uplift and assessed relative to local modeled sea levels provide a new perspective on paleoenvironmental history at Cobbler's Reef, Barbados. Previously, 14C-dated surface samples of fragmented Acropora palmata plotted above paleo sea level based on their present (uplifted) elevations, suggesting supratidal rubble deposited during a period of extreme storms (4500-3000 cal BP), precipitating reef demise. At several sites, however, A. palmata persisted, existing until ~370 cal BP. Uplift-corrected A. palmata sample elevations lie below the western Atlantic sea-level curve, and ~2 m below ICE-6G-modeled paleo sea level, under slow rates of sea-level rise, negating the possibility that Cobbler's Reef is a supratidal storm ridge. Most sites show limited age ranges from corals likely damaged/killed on the reef crest, not the mixed ages of rubble ridges, strongly suggesting the reef framework died off in stages over 6500 yr. Reef crest death assemblages invoke multiple paleohistoric causes, from ubiquitous hurricanes to anthropogenic impacts. Comparison of death assemblage ages to dated regional paleotempestological sequences, proxy-based paleotemperatures, recorded hurricanes, tsunamis, European settlement, deforestation, and resulting turbidity, reveals many possible factors inimical to the survival of A. palmata along Cobbler's Reef.

Microcomputer sunshine recorder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benincasa, F.; Fasano, G.; Materassi, A.

1986-01-01

The Campbell-Stokes recorder is the most frequently used sunshine recorder. However, it cannot be used for automatic data acquisitions and the threshold level is not well defined. This paper describes an instrument in which the threshold for minimum sunshine is strictly established. The instrument not only gives the parameter but three other analogical signals: direct, diffuse and global radiation. All of this as been done with only two silicon cells [it

Basin Visual Estimation Technique (BVET) and Representative Reach Approaches to Wadeable Stream Surveys: Methodological Limitations and Future Directions

Science.gov (United States)

Lance R. Williams; Melvin L. Warren; Susan B. Adams; Joseph L. Arvai; Christopher M. Taylor

2004-01-01

Basin Visual Estimation Techniques (BVET) are used to estimate abundance for fish populations in small streams. With BVET, independent samples are drawn from natural habitat units in the stream rather than sampling "representative reaches." This sampling protocol provides an alternative to traditional reach-level surveys, which are criticized for their lack...

Why Do At-Risk Mothers Fail To Reach Referral Level? Barriers ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In southern Tanzania, few high-risk pregnancies are channeled through antenatal care to the referral level. We studied the influences that make pregnant women heed or reject referral advice. Semi-structured interviews with sixty mothers-to-be, twenty-six health workers and six key-informants to identify barriers to use of ...

Copulation is reactivated by bromocriptine in male rats after reaching sexual satiety with a same sexual mate.

Science.gov (United States)

Rojas-Hernández, Jorge; Juárez, Jorge

2015-11-01

Male sexual satiety has been associated with a decrease in dopamine levels. Spontaneous recovery of copulatory behavior begins at least 72 h after sexual satiety is reached or in the condition in which a sexually-satiated male is exposed to a new receptive female distinct from the one with which sexual satiety was reached. The aim of the present study was to explore whether dopaminergic activation by bromocriptine (BrCr) can reactivate copulatory behavior with the same sexual mate immediately after sexual satiety is reached. Male rats were divided into three groups exposed to one of the following three conditions: 1) administration of 2 mg/kgs.c. of BrCr and exposure to the same female with whom sexual satiety was previously reached; 2) administration of 0.3 mLs.c. of the vehicle solution with exposure to the same female with whom sexual satiety was reached; and, 3) exposure to a new receptive female after sexual satiety was reached. Results showed that BrCr significantly reactivated copulatory capability in sexually-satiated males with the same receptive female. In contrast, no males in the vehicle group ejaculated with the same female after reaching sexual exhaustion. Copulation was reactivated by BrCr in a way similar to that observed in untreated males exposed to a new receptive female (i.e., the Coolidge effect). The reversal of sexual satiety in the males treated with BrCr could be explained by its action on D2 family receptors, which promotes a reactivation of sexual motivation at a level sufficient to allow renewed copulation with the same female mate. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Clastic sediment flux to tropical Andean lakes: records of glaciation and soil erosion

Science.gov (United States)

Rodbell, Donald T.; Seltzer, Geoffrey O.; Mark, Bryan G.; Smith, Jacqueline A.; Abbott, Mark B.

2008-08-01

. The interval between 20 and 18 ka was marked by near-Holocene levels of clastic sediment flux, and appears to have been an interval of much reduced ice extent. An abrupt increase in clastic sediment flux 18 ka heralded the onset of an interval of expanded ice cover that lasted until ˜14 ka. Clastic sediment flux declined thereafter to reach the lowest levels of the entire length of record during the early-middle Holocene. A middle Holocene climatic transition is apparent in nearly all records and likely reflects the onset of Neoglaciation and/or enhanced soil erosion in the tropical Andes.

Outcomes of senior reach gatekeeper referrals: comparison of the Spokane gatekeeper program, Colorado Senior Reach, and Mid-Kansas Senior Outreach.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartsch, David A; Rodgers, Vicki K; Strong, Don

2013-01-01

Outcomes of older adults referred for care management and mental health services through the senior reach gatekeeper model of case finding were examined in this study and compared with the Spokane gatekeeper model Colorado Senior Reach and the Mid-Kansas Senior Outreach (MKSO) programs are the two Senior Reach Gatekeeper programs modeled after the Spokane program, employing the same community education and gatekeeper model and with mental health treatment for elderly adults in need of support. The three mature programs were compared on seniors served isolation, and depression ratings. Nontraditional community gatekeepers were trained and referred seniors in need. Findings indicate that individuals served by the two Senior Reach Gatekeeper programs demonstrated significant improvements. Isolation indicators such as social isolation decreased and depression symptoms and suicide ideation also decreased. These findings for two Senior Reach Gatekeeper programs demonstrate that the gatekeeper approach to training community partners worked in referring at-risk seniors in need in meeting their needs, and in having a positive impact on their lives.

Medical record search engines, using pseudonymised patient identity: an alternative to centralised medical records.

Science.gov (United States)

Quantin, Catherine; Jaquet-Chiffelle, David-Olivier; Coatrieux, Gouenou; Benzenine, Eric; Allaert, François-André

2011-02-01

The purpose of our multidisciplinary study was to define a pragmatic and secure alternative to the creation of a national centralised medical record which could gather together the different parts of the medical record of a patient scattered in the different hospitals where he was hospitalised without any risk of breaching confidentiality. We first analyse the reasons for the failure and the dangers of centralisation (i.e. difficulty to define a European patients' identifier, to reach a common standard for the contents of the medical record, for data protection) and then propose an alternative that uses the existing available data on the basis that setting up a safe though imperfect system could be better than continuing a quest for a mythical perfect information system that we have still not found after a search that has lasted two decades. We describe the functioning of Medical Record Search Engines (MRSEs), using pseudonymisation of patients' identity. The MRSE will be able to retrieve and to provide upon an MD's request all the available information concerning a patient who has been hospitalised in different hospitals without ever having access to the patient's identity. The drawback of this system is that the medical practitioner then has to read all of the information and to create his own synthesis and eventually to reject extra data. Faced with the difficulties and the risks of setting up a centralised medical record system, a system that gathers all of the available information concerning a patient could be of great interest. This low-cost pragmatic alternative which could be developed quickly should be taken into consideration by health authorities. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Implementing Electronic Health Record Default Settings to Reduce Opioid Overprescribing: A Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zivin, Kara; White, Jessica O; Chao, Sandra; Christensen, Anna L; Horner, Luke; Petersen, Dana M; Hobbs, Morgan R; Capreol, Grace; Halbritter, Kevin A; Jones, Christopher M

2018-01-09

To pilot test the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of instituting a 15-pill quantity default in the electronic health record for new Schedule II opioid prescriptions. A mixed-methods pilot study in two health systems, including pre-post analysis of prescribed opioid quantity and focus groups or interviews with prescribers and health system administrators. We implemented a 15-pill electronic health record default for new Schedule II opioids and assessed opioid quantity before and after implementation using electronic health record data on 6,390 opioid prescriptions from 448 prescribers. We then analyzed themes from focus groups and interviews with four staff members and six prescribers. The proportion of opioid prescriptions for 15 pills increased at both sites after adding an electronic health record default, with one reaching statistical significance (from 4.1% to 7.2% at CHC, P = 0.280, and 15.9% to 37.2% at WVU, P default, although ease of implementation varied by electronic health record vendor. Most prescribers were not aware of the default change and stated that they made prescribing decisions based on patient clinical characteristics rather than defaults. This pilot provides initial evidence that changing default settings can increase the number of prescriptions at the default level. This low-cost and relatively simple intervention could have an impact on opioid overprescribing. However, default settings should be selected carefully to avoid unintended consequences. © 2018 American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

The Challenge of Reaching Transparency: 'T-readiness' of Enterprises and Sector Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melanie Fritz

2010-10-01

Full Text Available  Discussions on the safety and quality of food as well as growing interest in the sustainability of the production, distribution and consumption of food have contributed to the emergence of ‘transparency’ as a critical success factor for the food sector. However, reaching transparency for different stakeholders from different backgrounds and cultural identities is a dynamic process which depends on certain capabilities of enterprises and organizations along the food value chain but also on the realization of a fitting communication scheme within the sector. This discussion asks for the identification and utilization of an indicator that could identify deficiencies and support enterprises and the sector in reaching a level of transparency that could serve specified transparency needs.

NORMAL VALUES AND FACTORS AFFECTING FUNCTIONAL REACH TEST IN SAUDI ARABIA SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hatem A. Emara

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Background: The most critical feature of motor development is the ability to balance the body in sitting or standing. Impaired balance limits a child’s ability to recover from unexpected threats to stability. The functional reach test (FRT defines the maximal distance an individual is able to reach forward beyond arm’s length in a standing position without loss of balance, taking a step, or touching the wall. The Purpose of this study was to establish the normal values for FRT in Saudi Arabia school children with typical development and to study the correlation of anthropometric measures with FRT values. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Almadinah Almonawarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A total of 280 children without disabilities aged 6 to 12 years were randomly selected. Functional reach was assessed by having subjects extend their arms to 90 degrees and reach as far forward as they could without taking a step. Reach distance was recorded by noting the beginning and final position of the subject's extended arm parallel to a yard stick attached to the wall. Three successive trials of FRT were performed and the mean of the three trials was calculated. Pearson product moment correlation was used to examine the association of FR to age, and anthropometric measures. Results: Normal mean values of FR ranged from 24.2cm to 33.95cm. Age, height and weight significantly correlate with FRT. Conclusion: The FRT is a feasible test to examine the balance of 6-12 year-old children. FRT may be useful for detecting balance impairment, change in balance performance over time.

Perceiver as polar planimeter: Direct perception of jumping, reaching, and jump-reaching affordances for the self and others.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Brandon J; Hawkins, Matthew M; Nalepka, Patrick

2017-03-30

Runeson (Scandanavian Journal of Psychology 18:172-179, 1977) suggested that the polar planimeter might serve as an informative model system of perceptual mechanism. The key aspect of the polar planimeter is that it registers a higher order property of the environment without computational mediation on the basis of lower order properties, detecting task-specific information only. This aspect was posited as a hypothesis for the perception of jumping and reaching affordances for the self and another person. The findings supported this hypothesis. The perception of reaching while jumping significantly differed from an additive combination of jump-without-reaching and reach-without-jumping perception. The results are consistent with Gibson's (The senses considered as perceptual systems, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA; Gibson, The senses considered as perceptual systems, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA, 1966; The ecological approach to visual perception, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA; Gibson, The ecological approach to visual perception, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA, 1979) theory of information-that aspects of the environment are specified by patterns in energetic media.

Sea level change: lessons from the geologic record

Science.gov (United States)

,

1995-01-01

Rising sea level is potentially one of the most serious impacts of climatic change. Even a small sea level rise would have serious economic consequences because it would cause extensive damage to the world's coastal regions. Sea level can rise in the future because the ocean surface can expand due to warming and because polar ice sheets and mountain glaciers can melt, increasing the ocean's volume of water. Today, ice caps on Antarctica and Greenland contain 91 and 8 percent of the world's ice, respectively. The world's mountain glaciers together contain only about 1 percent. Melting all this ice would raise sea level about 80 meters. Although this extreme scenario is not expected, geologists know that sea level can rise and fall rapidly due to changing volume of ice on continents. For example, during the last ice age, about 18,000 years ago, continental ice sheets contained more than double the modem volume of ice. As ice sheets melted, sea level rose 2 to 3 meters per century, and possibly faster during certain times. During periods in which global climate was very warm, polar ice was reduced and sea level was higher than today.

Urban Noise Recorded by Stationary Monitoring Stations

Science.gov (United States)

Bąkowski, Andrzej; Radziszewski, Leszek; Dekýš, Vladimir

2017-10-01

The paper presents the analysis results of equivalent sound level recorded by two road traffic noise monitoring stations. The stations were located in Kielce (an example of a medium-size town in Poland) at the roads in the town in the direction of Łódź and Lublin. The measurements were carried out through stationary stations monitoring the noise and traffic of motor vehicles. The RMS values based on A-weighted sound level were recorded every 1 s in the buffer and the results were registered every 1 min over the period of investigations. The registered data were the basis for calculating the equivalent sound level for three time intervals: from 6:00 to 18:00, from 18:00 to 22:00 and from 22:00 to 6:00. Analysis included the values of the equivalent sound level recorded for different days of the week split into 24h periods, nights, days and evenings. The data analysed included recordings from 2013. The agreement of the distribution of the variable under analysis with normal distribution was evaluated. It was demonstrated that in most cases (for both roads) there was sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis at the significance level of 0.05. It was noted that compared with Łódź Road, in the case of Lublin Road data, more cases were recorded for which the null hypothesis could not be rejected. Uncertainties of the equivalent sound level measurements were compared within the periods under analysis. The standard deviation, coefficient of variation, the positional coefficient of variation, the quartile deviation was proposed for performing a comparative analysis of the obtained data scattering. The investigations indicated that the recorded data varied depending on the traffic routes and time intervals. The differences concerned the values of uncertainties and coefficients of variation of the equivalent sound levels.

Reaching Hard-to-Reach Individuals: Nonselective Versus Targeted Outbreak Response Vaccination for Measles

Science.gov (United States)

Minetti, Andrea; Hurtado, Northan; Grais, Rebecca F.; Ferrari, Matthew

2014-01-01

Current mass vaccination campaigns in measles outbreak response are nonselective with respect to the immune status of individuals. However, the heterogeneity in immunity, due to previous vaccination coverage or infection, may lead to potential bias of such campaigns toward those with previous high access to vaccination and may result in a lower-than-expected effective impact. During the 2010 measles outbreak in Malawi, only 3 of the 8 districts where vaccination occurred achieved a measureable effective campaign impact (i.e., a reduction in measles cases in the targeted age groups greater than that observed in nonvaccinated districts). Simulation models suggest that selective campaigns targeting hard-to-reach individuals are of greater benefit, particularly in highly vaccinated populations, even for low target coverage and with late implementation. However, the choice between targeted and nonselective campaigns should be context specific, achieving a reasonable balance of feasibility, cost, and expected impact. In addition, it is critical to develop operational strategies to identify and target hard-to-reach individuals. PMID:24131555

A 31,000 year record of paleoenvironmental and lake-level change from Harding Lake, Alaska, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Finkenbinder, Matthew S.; Abbott, Mark B.; Edwards, Mary E.; Langdon, Catherine T.; Steinman, Byron A.; Finney, Bruce P.

2014-03-01

Physical and geochemical proxy analyses of sediment cores from Harding Lake in central Alaska are used to reconstruct paleoenvironmental change and millennial scale fluctuations in lake level for the last ˜31,000 years. We analyzed a composite 422 cm core from the lake depocenter (42.1 m water depth) and identified 4 distinct lithologic units based on variability in dry bulk density, organic matter, biogenic silica, carbon to nitrogen mass ratios (C/N), organic matter carbon isotopes (δ13C), pollen, and elemental abundances via scanning X-ray fluorescence, with age control provided by 16 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry radiocarbon dates and 210Pb dating. In addition, we analyzed a transect of cores from 7.1 m, 10.75 m, 15.91 m, and 38.05 m water depths to identify lake level fluctuations and to characterize sediment compositional changes as a function of water depth. Organic matter content and magnetic susceptibility values in surface sediments from all transect cores show a strong correlation with water depth. Interpretation of four lithologic units with well-dated contacts produced a record of water-depth variations that is consistent with independent climate records from eastern Beringia. Basal coarse-grained sediments (quartz pebble diamicton) were deposited prior to 30,700 calendar years before present (yr BP), possibly from fluvial reworking or deflation during a period of severe aridity. Unit 1 sediments were deposited between 30,700 and 15,700 yr BP and are characterized by a low organic matter content, a high magnetic susceptibility, and low biogenic silica concentrations resulting from very low lake levels, low terrestrial and in-lake productivity and a high flux of clastic sediment. An abrupt increase in organic matter and biogenic silica concentration marks the transition into Unit 2 sediments, which were deposited between 15,700 and 9,400 yr BP when lake levels were higher and variable (relative to Unit 1). The transition to full interglacial

Automating occupational protection records systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lyon, M.; Martin, J.B.

1991-10-01

Occupational protection records have traditionally been generated by field and laboratory personnel, assembled into files in the safety office, and eventually stored in a warehouse or other facility. Until recently, these records have been primarily paper copies, often handwritten. Sometimes, the paper is microfilmed for storage. However, electronic records are beginning to replace these traditional methods. The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance for making the transition to automated record keeping and retrieval using modern computer equipment. This paper describes the types of records most readily converted to electronic record keeping and a methodology for implementing an automated record system. The process of conversion is based on a requirements analysis to assess program needs and a high level of user involvement during the development. The importance of indexing the hard copy records for easy retrieval is also discussed. The concept of linkage between related records and its importance relative to reporting, research, and litigation will be addressed. 2 figs

Seventh meeting of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis: reaching the vision by scaling up, scaling down, and reaching out

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

This report summarizes the 7th meeting of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GAELF), Washington DC, November 18–19, 2012. The theme, “A Future Free of Lymphatic Filariasis: Reaching the Vision by Scaling Up, Scaling Down and Reaching Out”, emphasized new strategies and partnerships necessary to reach the 2020 goal of elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) as a public-health problem. PMID:24450283

Quantitative model of transport-aperture coordination during reach-to-grasp movements.

Science.gov (United States)

Rand, Miya K; Shimansky, Y P; Hossain, Abul B M I; Stelmach, George E

2008-06-01

It has been found in our previous studies that the initiation of aperture closure during reach-to-grasp movements occurs when the hand distance to target crosses a threshold that is a function of peak aperture amplitude, hand velocity, and hand acceleration. Thus, a stable relationship between those four movement parameters is observed at the moment of aperture closure initiation. Based on the concept of optimal control of movements (Naslin 1969) and its application for reach-to-grasp movement regulation (Hoff and Arbib 1993), it was hypothesized that the mathematical equation expressing that relationship can be generalized to describe coordination between hand transport and finger aperture during the entire reach-to-grasp movement by adding aperture velocity and acceleration to the above four movement parameters. The present study examines whether this hypothesis is supported by the data obtained in experiments in which young adults performed reach-to-grasp movements in eight combinations of two reach-amplitude conditions and four movement-speed conditions. It was found that linear approximation of the mathematical model described the relationship among the six movement parameters for the entire aperture-closure phase with very high precision for each condition, thus supporting the hypothesis for that phase. Testing whether one mathematical model could approximate the data across all the experimental conditions revealed that it was possible to achieve the same high level of data-fitting precision only by including in the model two additional, condition-encoding parameters and using a nonlinear, artificial neural network-based approximator with two hidden layers comprising three and two neurons, respectively. This result indicates that transport-aperture coordination, as a specific relationship between the parameters of hand transport and finger aperture, significantly depends on the condition-encoding variables. The data from the aperture-opening phase also fit a

Electromyographic activity of beating and reaching during simulated boardsailing.

Science.gov (United States)

Buchanan, M; Cunningham, P; Dyson, R J; Hurrion, P D

1996-04-01

This study examined the responses of six competitive boardsailors (three males, three females) during laboratory-based simulation tasks while the electromyographic activity of up to 13 muscles was recorded. A sailboard, mounted in a steel frame and resting on a waterbed, allowed simulation of roll and pitch movements. Wind force was simulated by attaching the boom to a weight stack with a hydraulically controlled buffered release phase. The progression of the simulation test was controlled by the sailor copying movements on an edited video of each subject boardsailing on the open water. Analysis of individual pumping movements for mean peak percentage of maximal enveloped voluntary contraction (%MEVC) in 'beating' and 'reaching' showed that muscular activity in the arm (flexor carpi ulnaris, extensor carpi radialis and biceps brachii) was greatest (66-94% MEVC), with considerable activity (58-75% MEVC) in the deltoid and trapezius shoulder muscles, but much less activity in the leg muscles (16-40% MEVC). For the combined upper and lower body muscles there was a significant difference (P reflecting the current dynamic nature of the sport.

U.N. climate convention goals may be out of reach

Science.gov (United States)

Wakefield, J.

The chief goal of the 1992 Rio climate convention may be unobtainable, recent reports indicate, as nations are gearing up for the first conference on the U.N. framework in Geneva, August 22—September 2. And even if the convention goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000 is reached, some experts say, little would actually be accomplished to stabilize global climate change.For starters, reports earlier this month revealed that Japan and Australia, to name a couple, may be off the target. On a national level, Japan is projected to come in about 3% above the mark. Australia may even withdraw from the convention for economic reasons, according to Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans.

REACH: next step to a sound chemicals management.

Science.gov (United States)

Van der Wielen, Arnold

2007-12-01

REACH is the new European Regulation for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. It entered into force on 1st June 2007 to streamline and improve the former legislative framework on new and on existing chemical substances of the European Union. Companies which manufacture or import more than 1 tonne of a substance per year will be required to register the substance at the new EU Chemicals Agency located in Helsinki. REACH places greater responsibility on industry to manage the risks that chemicals may pose to the health and the environment and to provide safety information that will be passed down the supply chain. In principle, REACH applies to all chemicals as such, as components in preparations and as used in articles. REACH is a radical step forward in the EU chemicals management. The onus will move from the authorities to industry. In addition, REACH will allow the further evaluation of substances where there are grounds for concern, foresees an authorisation system for the use of substances of very high concern and a system of restrictions, where applicable, for substances of concern. The Authorisation system will require companies to switch progressively to safer alternatives where a suitable alternative exists. Current use restrictions will remain under REACH system.

Reach-scale land use drives the stress responses of a resident stream fish.

Science.gov (United States)

Blevins, Zachary W; Wahl, David H; Suski, Cory D

2014-01-01

Abstract To date, relatively few studies have tried to determine the practicality of using physiological information to help answer complex ecological questions and assist in conservation actions aimed at improving conditions for fish populations. In this study, the physiological stress responses of fish were evaluated in-stream between agricultural and forested stream reaches to determine whether differences in these responses can be used as tools to evaluate conservation actions. Creek chub Semotilus atromaculatus sampled directly from forested and agricultural stream segments did not show differences in a suite of physiological indicators. When given a thermal challenge in the laboratory, creek chub sampled from cooler forested stream reaches had higher cortisol levels and higher metabolic stress responses to thermal challenge than creek chub collected from warmer and more thermally variable agricultural reaches within the same stream. Despite fish from agricultural and forested stream segments having different primary and secondary stress responses, fish were able to maintain homeostasis of other physiological indicators to thermal challenge. These results demonstrate that local habitat conditions within discrete stream reaches may impact the stress responses of resident fish and provide insight into changes in community structure and the ability of tolerant fish species to persist in agricultural areas.

Peer Support for the Hardly Reached: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Sokol, Rebeccah; Fisher, Edwin

2016-07-01

Health disparities are aggravated when prevention and care initiatives fail to reach those they are intended to help. Groups can be classified as hardly reached according to a variety of circumstances that fall into 3 domains: individual (e.g., psychological factors), demographic (e.g., socioeconomic status), and cultural-environmental (e.g., social network). Several reports have indicated that peer support is an effective means of reaching hardly reached individuals. However, no review has explored peer support effectiveness in relation to the circumstances associated with being hardly reached or across diverse health problems. To conduct a systematic review assessing the reach and effectiveness of peer support among hardly reached individuals, as well as peer support strategies used. Three systematic searches conducted in PubMed identified studies that evaluated peer support programs among hardly reached individuals. In aggregate, the searches covered articles published from 2000 to 2015. Eligible interventions provided ongoing support for complex health behaviors, including prioritization of hardly reached populations, assistance in applying behavior change plans, and social-emotional support directed toward disease management or quality of life. Studies were excluded if they addressed temporally isolated behaviors, were limited to protocol group classes, included peer support as the dependent variable, did not include statistical tests of significance, or incorporated comparison conditions that provided appreciable social support. We abstracted data regarding the primary health topic, categorizations of hardly reached groups, program reach, outcomes, and strategies employed. We conducted a 2-sample t test to determine whether reported strategies were related to reach. Forty-seven studies met our inclusion criteria, and these studies represented each of the 3 domains of circumstances assessed (individual, demographic, and cultural-environmental). Interventions

Electronic records' 1.4 m pounds annual saving.

Science.gov (United States)

Baillie, Jonathan

2011-03-01

The St. Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust says it has reached a significant milestone in a major project via which it aims to cease completely using paper-based patient records and other patient-related information such as discharge summaries and X-ray results by converting all such documentation to online electronic form. With the purchase of three Kodak high-speed document scanners, which digitise the files, and a tailored version of C Cube Solutions' electronic document management software (EDMS), all 27 hospital departments at the Trust's two main acute hospitals have now "gone live" with the radical new system for medical records, and, as HEJ editor Jonathan Baillie reports, preparations are in hand to convert other important patient documentation into electronic form.

Improving the quality of endodontic record keeping through clinical audit.

Science.gov (United States)

King, E; Shekaran, L; Muthukrishnan, A

2017-03-10

Introduction Record keeping is an essential part of day-to-day practice and plays an important role in treatment, audit and dento-legal procedures. Creating effective endodontic records is challenging due to the scope of information required for comprehensive notes. Two audits were performed to assess the standards of endodontic record keeping by dentists in a restorative dentistry department and students on an endodontic MSc course.Methods Fifty sets of departmental records and 10 sets of student records were retrospectively evaluated against the European Society of Endodontology 2006 guidelines. Results of the first cycle of both audits were presented to departmental staff and MSc students, alongside an educational session. Additionally, departmental guidelines, consent leaflets and endodontic record keeping forms were developed. Both audits were repeated using the same number of records, thus completing both audit cycles.Results The most commonly absent records included consent, anaesthetic details, rubber dam method, working length reference point, irrigation details and obturation technique. Almost all areas of record keeping improved following the second audit cycle, with some areas reaching 100% compliance when record keeping forms were used. Statistically significant improvements were seen in 24 of the 29 areas in the departmental audit and 14 of the 29 areas in the MSc audit (P = 0.05).Conclusions Significant improvements in endodontic record keeping can be achieved through the provision of education, departmental guidelines, consent leaflets and endodontic record keeping forms.

Reaching ignition in the tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furth, H.P.

1985-06-01

This review covers the following areas: (1) the physics of burning plasmas, (2) plasma physics requirements for reaching ignition, (3) design studies for ignition devices, and (4) prospects for an ignition project

Do working environment interventions reach shift workers?

Science.gov (United States)

Nabe-Nielsen, Kirsten; Jørgensen, Marie Birk; Garde, Anne Helene; Clausen, Thomas

2016-01-01

Shift workers are exposed to more physical and psychosocial stressors in the working environment as compared to day workers. Despite the need for targeted prevention, it is likely that workplace interventions less frequently reach shift workers. The aim was therefore to investigate whether the reach of workplace interventions varied between shift workers and day workers and whether such differences could be explained by the quality of leadership exhibited at different times of the day. We used questionnaire data from 5361 female care workers in the Danish eldercare sector. The questions concerned usual working hours, quality of leadership, and self-reported implementation of workplace activities aimed at stress reduction, reorganization of the working hours, and participation in improvements of working procedures or qualifications. Compared with day workers, shift workers were less likely to be reached by workplace interventions. For example, night workers less frequently reported that they had got more flexibility (OR 0.5; 95 % CI 0.3-0.7) or that they had participated in improvements of the working procedures (OR 0.6; 95 % CI 0.5-0.8). Quality of leadership to some extent explained the lack of reach of interventions especially among fixed evening workers. In the light of the evidence of shift workers' stressful working conditions, we suggest that future studies focus on the generalizability of results of the present study and on how to reach this group and meet their needs when designing and implementing workplace interventions.

Data Quality in the Application of Tailored Calendar Methods in Hard-to-Reach Populations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Navarra, M.Q.; Vaart, van der W.; Niehof, Anke

2012-01-01

Abstract A tailored calendar method was used to collect retrospective data from hard-to-reach populations: people with very low levels of income, education and literacy that live in complex societal situations and have low trust in authorities. Recognizing the serious threats to data quality in

Guaranteed performance in reaching mode of sliding mode ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

R. Narasimhan (Krishtel eMaging) 1461 1996 Oct 15 13:05:22

addresses the design of constant plus proportional rate reaching law-based SMC for second-order ... Reaching mode; sliding mode controlled systems; output tracking ... The uncertainty in the input distribution function g is expressed as.

Electronic system for recording proportional counter rare pulses with the pulse shape analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barabanov, I.R.; Gavrin, V.N.; Zakharov, Yu.I.; Tikhonov, A.A.

1984-01-01

The anutomated system for recording proportional counter rare pulses is described. The proportional counters are aimed at identification of 37 Ar and H7 1 Gr decays in chemical radiation detectors of solar neutrino. Pulse shape recording by means of a storage oscilloscope and a TV display is performed in the system considered besides two-parametric selection of events (measurement of pulse amplitude in a slow channel and the amplitude of pulse differentiated with time constant of about 10 ns in a parallel fast channel). Pulse discrimination by a front rise rate provides background decrease in the 55 Fe range (5.9 keV) by 6 times; the visual analysis of pulse shapes recorded allows to decrease the background additionally by 25-30%. The background counting rate in the 55 Fe range being equal to 1 pulse per 1.5 days, is obtained when using the installation described above, as well as the passive Pb shield 5 cm thick, and the active shield based on the anticoincidence NaI(Tl) detector with the cathode 5.6 mm in-diameter made of Fe fabircated by zone melting. The installation described allows to reach the background level of 0.6 pulse/day (the total coefficient of background attenuation is 400). Further background decrease is supposed to be provided by installation allocation in the low-noise underground laboratory of the Baksan Neutrino Observatory

The first confirmed breeding record and new distribution data for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

On 17 November 2007 during fieldwork for the Tanzania Birds Atlas in western Tanzania, we were ... The nest was about 5 m high on the end of a thin downward branch and could not be reached to check the ... Region of W Tanzania at 5-7ºS.” The Tanzania Bird Atlas currently holds 72 records for this species for all.

Accelerating the Adoption of Second-Tier Reach Standards forApplicable Appliance Products in China

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Jiang; Fridley, David

2007-03-01

The minimum energy efficiency standards program for household appliances in China was initiated in 1989. Since 1996, CLASP and its implementing partner, LBNL, have assisted China in developing 11 minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for 9 products and endorsement labels for 11 products including: refrigerators; air conditioners; clothes washers; televisions; printers; computers; monitors; fax machines; copiers; DVD/VCD players; external power supplies; and set-top boxes (under development). Before 2003, China's traditional approach to standards development involved small increases in efficiency requirements for implementation within 6 months of a standard's approval. Since 2003, China has adopted a new approach in setting MEPS. This new approach involves the development of two tiers of standards--one for initial implementation and a second tier at a more aggressive level of energy efficiency for implementation three to five years later. The second-tier standard is also referred to as a 'reach standard'. Reach standards have now been developed in China for: color TVs; refrigerators; air conditioners; and external power supplies. This report is presented in five sections. After the introduction in Section 1, Section 2 analyzes the distribution of the efficiency of refrigerators and air-conditioners in China based on data collected by the China Energy Label Center for the mandatory energy information label program. The results provide an assessment of the adoption of reach standards for these two products. Section 3 summarizes on-going collaborations with Shanghai related to early local adoption of reach standards, and presents both the impact and an analysis of barriers to the local adoption of reach standard for air-conditioners. Section 4 offers suggestions for local governments on how to move forward in adopting reach standards in their localities and concludes with a summary of the results and a plan for developing local capacity in

Design of a medical record review study on the incidence and preventability of adverse events requiring a higher level of care in Belgian hospitals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vlayen Annemie

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Adverse events are unintended patient injuries that arise from healthcare management resulting in disability, prolonged hospital stay or death. Adverse events that require intensive care admission imply a considerable financial burden to the healthcare system. The epidemiology of adverse events in Belgian hospitals has never been assessed systematically. Findings A multistage retrospective review study of patients requiring a transfer to a higher level of care will be conducted in six hospitals in the province of Limburg. Patient records are reviewed starting from January 2012 by a clinical team consisting of a research nurse, a physician and a clinical pharmacist. Besides the incidence and the level of causation and preventability, also the type of adverse events and their consequences (patient harm, mortality and length of stay will be assessed. Moreover, the adequacy of the patient records and quality/usefulness of the method of medical record review will be evaluated. Discussion This paper describes the rationale for a retrospective review study of adverse events that necessitate a higher level of care. More specifically, we are particularly interested in increasing our understanding in the preventability and root causes of these events in order to implement improvement strategies. Attention is paid to the strengths and limitations of the study design.

The use of a proactive dissemination strategy to optimize reach of an internet-delivered computer tailored lifestyle intervention

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background The use of reactive strategies to disseminate effective Internet-delivered lifestyle interventions restricts their level of reach within the target population. This stresses the need to invest in proactive strategies to offer these interventions to the target population. The present study used a proactive strategy to increase reach of an Internet-delivered multi component computer tailored intervention, by embedding the intervention in an existing online health monitoring system of the Regional Public Health Services in the Netherlands. Methods The research population consisted of Dutch adults who were invited to participate in the Adult Health Monitor (N = 96,388) offered by the Regional Public Health Services. This Monitor consisted of an online or a written questionnaire. A prospective design was used to determine levels of reach, by focusing on actual participation in the lifestyle intervention. Furthermore, adequacy of reach among the target group was assessed by composing detailed profiles of intervention users. Participants’ characteristics, like demographics, behavioral and mental health status and quality of life, were included in the model as predictors. Results A total of 41,155 (43%) people participated in the Adult Health Monitor, of which 41% (n = 16,940) filled out the online version. More than half of the online participants indicated their interest (n = 9169; 54%) in the computer tailored intervention and 5168 participants (31%) actually participated in the Internet-delivered computer tailored intervention. Males, older respondents and individuals with a higher educational degree were significantly more likely to participate in the intervention. Furthermore, results indicated that especially participants with a relatively healthier lifestyle and a healthy BMI were likely to participate. Conclusions With one out of three online Adult Health Monitor participants actually participating in the computer tailored lifestyle

The use of a proactive dissemination strategy to optimize reach of an internet-delivered computer tailored lifestyle intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Francine; Schulz, Daniela N; Pouwels, Loes H L; de Vries, Hein; van Osch, Liesbeth A D M

2013-08-05

The use of reactive strategies to disseminate effective Internet-delivered lifestyle interventions restricts their level of reach within the target population. This stresses the need to invest in proactive strategies to offer these interventions to the target population. The present study used a proactive strategy to increase reach of an Internet-delivered multi component computer tailored intervention, by embedding the intervention in an existing online health monitoring system of the Regional Public Health Services in the Netherlands. The research population consisted of Dutch adults who were invited to participate in the Adult Health Monitor (N = 96,388) offered by the Regional Public Health Services. This Monitor consisted of an online or a written questionnaire. A prospective design was used to determine levels of reach, by focusing on actual participation in the lifestyle intervention. Furthermore, adequacy of reach among the target group was assessed by composing detailed profiles of intervention users. Participants' characteristics, like demographics, behavioral and mental health status and quality of life, were included in the model as predictors. A total of 41,155 (43%) people participated in the Adult Health Monitor, of which 41% (n = 16,940) filled out the online version. More than half of the online participants indicated their interest (n = 9169; 54%) in the computer tailored intervention and 5168 participants (31%) actually participated in the Internet-delivered computer tailored intervention. Males, older respondents and individuals with a higher educational degree were significantly more likely to participate in the intervention. Furthermore, results indicated that especially participants with a relatively healthier lifestyle and a healthy BMI were likely to participate. With one out of three online Adult Health Monitor participants actually participating in the computer tailored lifestyle intervention, the employed proactive

Action plans can interact to hinder or facilitate reach performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Fournier, Lisa R; Wiediger, Matthew D; Taddese, Ezana F

2015-11-01

Executing a reach action can be delayed while retaining another action in working memory (WM) if the two action plans partly overlap rather than do not overlap. This delay (partial repetition cost) occurs when reach responses are under cognitive control. In this study, we investigated whether facilitation (a partial repetition benefit) occurs when reach responses are automatic. We also examined whether the hemisphere controlling the limb or selection of the preferred limb (based on a free-reach task) influences reach performance when the actions partly overlap. Left- and right-handers reached to different stimulus locations to the left and right of body midline with their ipsilateral hand while maintaining an action plan in WM that required the same or the different hand. The results showed a partial repetition benefit for spatially compatible reaches to left and right stimulus locations far from the body midline, but not for those near the body midline. Also, no partial repetition cost was found at any of the stimulus-reach locations. This indicates that automatic reach responses that partly overlap with an action plan maintained in WM are not delayed, but instead can be facilitated (partial repetition benefit). The roles of hemisphere and reach-hand preference in action control and the importance of the degree of feature overlap in obtaining a partial repetition benefit (and cost) are discussed.

CORRELATION OF LOW BACK PAIN WITH BODY MASS INDEX, FUNCTIONAL REACH TEST AMONG FEMALE NURSING PROFESSIONALS

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Shameela .T .V

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Among health care workers the highest level of work related back injuries are more affected in nurses. There were many studies done to assess low back pain by using different tools. So this study aimed to identify the prevalence low back pain disability among female nursing professionals and the association between BMI, functional reach test and low back pain, so that a better tool can be used during the clinical examination for the betterment of the patient. The objective of the study is to identify the prevalence of low back pain disability, the association of Low Back Pain(LBP with BMI and functional reach test among female nursing professionals. Methods: A total of 256 subjects were assessed for disability due to back pain using OswestryLBP Disability Questionnaire and the prevalence of disability was determined. The sit and reach test, forward reach test and their BMI were calculated for those who had a disability score of 20 and above (n=87. Results: Data was analyzed using Pearson’s correlation.The study result showed a significant correlation (p=0.03 of sit and reach test with low back pain disability scores. There was a negative correlationseen among BMI and LBP disability score forward reach test and LBP disability score, and BMI and no low back pain disability score. Conclusion: The prevalence of LBP disability among nursing professionals was 33.9%. This study suggest that sit and reach test can be used as an indicator of low back pain. Whereas BMI and forward reach test do not indicate low back pain.

Task-dependent vestibular feedback responses in reaching.

Science.gov (United States)

Keyser, Johannes; Medendorp, W Pieter; Selen, Luc P J

2017-07-01

When reaching for an earth-fixed object during self-rotation, the motor system should appropriately integrate vestibular signals and sensory predictions to compensate for the intervening motion and its induced inertial forces. While it is well established that this integration occurs rapidly, it is unknown whether vestibular feedback is specifically processed dependent on the behavioral goal. Here, we studied whether vestibular signals evoke fixed responses with the aim to preserve the hand trajectory in space or are processed more flexibly, correcting trajectories only in task-relevant spatial dimensions. We used galvanic vestibular stimulation to perturb reaching movements toward a narrow or a wide target. Results show that the same vestibular stimulation led to smaller trajectory corrections to the wide than the narrow target. We interpret this reduced compensation as a task-dependent modulation of vestibular feedback responses, tuned to minimally intervene with the task-irrelevant dimension of the reach. These task-dependent vestibular feedback corrections are in accordance with a central prediction of optimal feedback control theory and mirror the sophistication seen in feedback responses to mechanical and visual perturbations of the upper limb. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Correcting limb movements for external perturbations is a hallmark of flexible sensorimotor behavior. While visual and mechanical perturbations are corrected in a task-dependent manner, it is unclear whether a vestibular perturbation, naturally arising when the body moves, is selectively processed in reach control. We show, using galvanic vestibular stimulation, that reach corrections to vestibular perturbations are task dependent, consistent with a prediction of optimal feedback control theory. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Guiding Warfare to Reach Sustainable Peace

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vestenskov, David; Drewes, Line

The conference report Guiding Warfare to Reach Sustainable Peace constitutes the primary outcome of the conference It is based on excerpts from the conference presenters and workshop discussions. Furthermore, the report contains policy recommendations and key findings, with the ambition of develo......The conference report Guiding Warfare to Reach Sustainable Peace constitutes the primary outcome of the conference It is based on excerpts from the conference presenters and workshop discussions. Furthermore, the report contains policy recommendations and key findings, with the ambition...... of developing best practices in the education and implementation of IHL in capacity building of security forces....

The 1996 CFM results. Record natural gas sales figure in 1996

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1997-01-01

The French Methane Company (CFM) provides about 20% of the French natural gas market with its pipes network. Its sales wined a new record in 1996 with 86 billions of kWh which corresponds to a 20% increase in two years. This growth reached 12% in the domestic sector with respect to 1995 and is explained by colder climatic conditions and to the efficient promotional policy of Gaz de France. In the industrial sector, a 10% growth is recorded due to the start up a new cogeneration installations in which CFM is considerably involved (short note). (J.S.)

Fecal estradiol and progesterone metabolite levels in the three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegatus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Mühlbauer

2006-02-01

Full Text Available The present study was carried out to assess the possibility of measuring fecal steroid hormone metabolites as a noninvasive technique for monitoring reproductive function in the three-toed sloth, Bradypus variegatus. Levels of the estradiol (E2 and progesterone (P4 metabolites were measured by radioimmunoassay in fecal samples collected over 12 weeks from 4 captive female B. variegatus sloths. The validation of the radioimmunoassay for evaluation of fecal steroid metabolites was carried out by collecting 10 blood samples on the same day as defecation. There was a significant direct correlation between the plasma and fecal E2 and P4 levels (P < 0.05, Pearson's test, thereby validating this noninvasive technique for the study of the estrous cycle in these animals. Ovulation was detected in two sloths (SL03 and SL04 whose E2 levels reached 2237.43 and 6713.26 pg/g wet feces weight, respectively, for over four weeks, followed by an increase in P4 metabolites reaching 33.54 and 3242.68 ng/g wet feces weight, respectively. Interestingly, SL04, which presented higher levels of E2 and P4 metabolites, later gave birth to a healthy baby sloth. The results obtained indicate that this is a reliable technique for recording gonadal steroid secretion and thereby reproduction in sloths.

Nanomaterials under REACH. Nanosilver as a case study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pronk MEJ; Wijnhoven SWP; Bleeker EAJ; Heugens EHW; Peijnenburg WJGM; Luttik R; Hakkert BC; SEC; SIR; LER

2009-01-01

Om de risico's van nanomaterialen te kunnen inschatten en beheersen, zijn enkele aanpassingen nodig in de Europese chemicalienwetgeving REACH. De gegevens over stoffen waar REACH standaard om vraagt, zijn namelijk onvoldoende om de specifieke eigenschappen van nanomaterialen te bepalen. Hetzelfde

Cost-effectiveness of increasing the reach of smoking cessation interventions in Germany: results from the EQUIPTMOD.

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Manuel B; Präger, Maximilian; Coyle, Kathryn; Coyle, Doug; Lester-George, Adam; Trapero-Bertran, Marta; Nemeth, Bertalan; Cheung, Kei Long; Stark, Renee; Vogl, Matthias; Pokhrel, Subhash; Leidl, Reiner

2017-12-15

To evaluate costs, effects and cost-effectiveness of increased reach of specific smoking cessation interventions in Germany. A Markov-based state transition return on investment model (EQUIPTMOD) was used to evaluate current smoking cessation interventions as well as two prospective investment scenarios. A health-care perspective (extended to include out-of-pocket payments) with life-time horizon was considered. A probabilistic analysis was used to assess uncertainty concerning predicted estimates. Germany. Cohort of current smoking population (18+ years) in Germany. Interventions included group-based behavioural support, financial incentive programmes and varenicline. For prospective scenario 1 the reach of group-based behavioral support, financial incentive programme and varenicline was increased by 1% of yearly quit attempts (= 57 915 quit attempts), while prospective scenario 2 represented a higher reach, mirroring the levels observed in England. EQUIPTMOD considered reach, intervention cost, number of quitters, quality-of-life years (QALYs) gained, cost-effectiveness and return on investment. The highest returns through reduction in smoking-related health-care costs were seen for the financial incentive programme (€2.71 per €1 invested), followed by that of group-based behavioural support (€1.63 per €1 invested), compared with no interventions. Varenicline had lower returns (€1.02 per €1 invested) than the other two interventions. At the population level, prospective scenario 1 led to 15 034 QALYs gained and €27 million cost-savings, compared with current investment. Intervention effects and reach contributed most to the uncertainty around the return-on-investment estimates. At a hypothetical willingness-to-pay threshold of only €5000, the probability of being cost-effective is approximately 75% for prospective scenario 1. Increasing the reach of group-based behavioural support, financial incentives and varenicline for smoking cessation by

Independent development of the Reach and the Grasp in spontaneous self-touching by human infants in the first 6 months.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Brittany L; Karl, Jenni M; Whishaw, Ian Q

2014-01-01

The Dual Visuomotor Channel Theory proposes that visually guided reaching is a composite of two movements, a Reach that advances the hand to contact the target and a Grasp that shapes the digits for target purchase. The theory is supported by biometric analyses of adult reaching, evolutionary contrasts, and differential developmental patterns for the Reach and the Grasp in visually guided reaching in human infants. The present ethological study asked whether there is evidence for a dissociated development for the Reach and the Grasp in nonvisual hand use in very early infancy. The study documents a rich array of spontaneous self-touching behavior in infants during the first 6 months of life and subjected the Reach movements to an analysis in relation to body target, contact type, and Grasp. Video recordings were made of resting alert infants biweekly from birth to 6 months. In younger infants, self-touching targets included the head and trunk. As infants aged, targets became more caudal and included the hips, then legs, and eventually the feet. In younger infants hand contact was mainly made with the dorsum of the hand, but as infants aged, contacts included palmar contacts and eventually grasp and manipulation contacts with the body and clothes. The relative incidence of caudal contacts and palmar contacts increased concurrently and were significantly correlated throughout the period of study. Developmental increases in self-grasping contacts occurred a few weeks after the increase in caudal and palmar contacts. The behavioral and temporal pattern of these spontaneous self-touching movements suggest that the Reach, in which the hand extends to make a palmar self-contact, and the Grasp, in which the digits close and make manipulatory movements, have partially independent developmental profiles. The results additionally suggest that self-touching behavior is an important developmental phase that allows the coordination of the Reach and the Grasp prior to and

Cambro-ordovician sea-level fluctuations and sequence boundaries: The missing record and the evolution of new taxa

Science.gov (United States)

Lehnert, O.; Miller, J.F.; Leslie, Stephen A.; Repetski, J.E.; Ethington, Raymond L.

2005-01-01

The evolution of early Palaeozoic conodont faunas shows a clear connection to sea-level changes. One way that this connection manifests itself is that thick successions of carbonates are missing beneath major sequence boundaries due to karstification and erosion. From this observation arises the question of how many taxa have been lost from different conodont lineages in these incomplete successions. Although many taxa suffered extinction due to the environmental stresses associated with falling sea-levels, some must have survived in these extreme conditions. The number of taxa missing in the early Palaeozoic tropics always will be unclear, but it will be even more difficult to evaluate the missing record in detrital successions of higher latitudes. A common pattern in the evolution of Cambrian-Ordovician conodont lineages is appearances of new species at sea-level rises and disappearances at sea-level drops. This simple picture can be complicated by intervals that consistently have no representatives of a particular lineage, even after extensive sampling of the most complete sections. Presumably the lineages survived in undocumented refugia. In this paper, we give examples of evolution in Cambrian-Ordovician shallowmarine conodont faunas and highlight problems of undiscovered or truly missing segments of lineages. ?? The Palaeontological Association.

Product-line administration: a framework for redefining medical record department services.

Science.gov (United States)

Postal, S N

1990-06-01

Product-line administration is a viable approach for managing medical records services in an environment that demands high quantity and quality service levels. Product-line administration directs medical record department team members to look outside of the department and seek input from the customers it is intended to serve. The feedback received may be alarming at first, as the current state of products usually reveals a true lack of customer input. As the planning, defining, managing, and marketing phases are implemented, the road will not be easy and rewards will be slow to come. Product-line administration does not provide quick fixes, but it does provide long-term problem resolution as products are refined and new products developed to meet customer needs and expectations. In addition to better meeting the needs of the department's external customers, the department's internal customers' needs and expectations will be addressed. The participative management approach will help nurture each team member's creativity. The team members will have the opportunity to reach their full potential while reaping the rewards and benefits of providing products and services that meet the needs and expectations of all department customers. The future of the health care industry promises more changes as the country moves toward some form of prospective payment in the ambulatory setting. Reactive management and the constant struggle to catch up can no longer be accepted as a management approach. It is imperative that the medical record department be viewed as a business with product lines composed of quality products. The planning, defining, managing, and marketing components of product-line administration afford responsiveness to the current situation and the development of quality products that will ensure that medical record departments are prepared for the future.

Reaching the hard to reach.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhiwandi, P; Campbell, M; Potts, M

1994-01-01

The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development proposed increasing contraceptive couple protection from 550 million in 1995 to 880 million in 2015. The task for family planning (FP) programs is to provide access to services for, sometimes, inaccessible rural populations. FP need based on desire for no more children has ranged from under 20% in Senegal to almost 80% in Peru. Socioeconomic development was found not to be a prerequisite for fertility change. Gender inequalities in education and social autonomy must be changed. FP access is very important among women with a disadvantaged background or among women unsure about FP. Bangladesh is a good example of a country with increased contraceptive prevalence despite low income. The rule of thumb is that contraception increases of 15% contribute to a drop in family size of about one child. Program effectiveness is related to a variety of factors: contraceptive availability at many locations, acceptable price of contraception, delivery of the oral contraceptives without prescriptions, and other strategies. FP is a service not a medical treatment. A range of methods must be promoted and available from a range of facilities. Contraceptive use is dependent on the woman's stage in her lifecycle and is dependent on informed choice. Community-based distribution systems are effective, whereas free distribution by poorly-trained field workers is not always very effective because patient payment of all or part of the cost assures quality and freedom of choice. Effective programs for underprivileged groups involve aggressive, easy to manage programs that can be replicated rapidly. FP serves a useful function in depressing maternal mortality among the poor in Africa, who have no access to quality health services. Social marketing is an effective strategy for reaching remote areas. Political will and robust management are necessary commodities.

Visuomotor signals for reaching movements in the rostro-dorsal sector of the monkey thalamic reticular nucleus.

Science.gov (United States)

Saga, Yosuke; Nakayama, Yoshihisa; Inoue, Ken-Ichi; Yamagata, Tomoko; Hashimoto, Masashi; Tremblay, Léon; Takada, Masahiko; Hoshi, Eiji

2017-05-01

The thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) collects inputs from the cerebral cortex and thalamus and, in turn, sends inhibitory outputs to the thalamic relay nuclei. This unique connectivity suggests that the TRN plays a pivotal role in regulating information flow through the thalamus. Here, we analyzed the roles of TRN neurons in visually guided reaching movements. We first used retrograde transneuronal labeling with rabies virus, and showed that the rostro-dorsal sector of the TRN (TRNrd) projected disynaptically to the ventral premotor cortex (PMv). In other experiments, we recorded neurons from the TRNrd or PMv while monkeys performed a visuomotor task. We found that neurons in the TRNrd and PMv showed visual-, set-, and movement-related activity modulation. These results indicate that the TRNrd, as well as the PMv, is involved in the reception of visual signals and in the preparation and execution of reaching movements. The fraction of neurons that were non-selective for the location of visual signals or the direction of reaching movements was greater in the TRNrd than in the PMv. Furthermore, the fraction of neurons whose activity increased from the baseline was greater in the TRNrd than in the PMv. The timing of activity modulation of visual-related and movement-related neurons was similar in TRNrd and PMv neurons. Overall, our data suggest that TRNrd neurons provide motor thalamic nuclei with inhibitory inputs that are predominantly devoid of spatial selectivity, and that these signals modulate how these nuclei engage in both sensory processing and motor output during visually guided reaching behavior. © 2016 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

COLLABORATIVE MULTI-LEVEL PLAN MONITORING

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Mohamad K. ALLOUCHE

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The recent worldwide connectivity and the net-centricity of military operations (coalition-based operations are witnessing an increasing need for the monitoring of plan execution for enhanced resource management and decision making. Monitoring of ongoing operations is the process of continuous observation recording and reporting. In this process the plan becomes a resource that needs to be managed effi ciently. The centralized approach to plan monitoring soon reaches its limits when plan execution is distributed across different organizations/countries. We propose a new framework that would allow different monitoring nodes distributed across the network. An effi cient propagation mechanism that allows information exchange between the different nodes would also be needed. The main purpose of this mechanism is to present the right information, to the right person, at the right time. To cope with a rapid increase of information fl ow through the network, an effi cient alarm management mechanism allows the presentation of the information with an appropriate level of details.

Cerebellar inactivation impairs memory of learned prism gaze-reach calibrations.

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, Scott A; Hathaway, Emily N; Taylor, Jordan A; Thach, W Thomas

2011-05-01

Three monkeys performed a visually guided reach-touch task with and without laterally displacing prisms. The prisms offset the normally aligned gaze/reach and subsequent touch. Naive monkeys showed adaptation, such that on repeated prism trials the gaze-reach angle widened and touches hit nearer the target. On the first subsequent no-prism trial the monkeys exhibited an aftereffect, such that the widened gaze-reach angle persisted and touches missed the target in the direction opposite that of initial prism-induced error. After 20-30 days of training, monkeys showed long-term learning and storage of the prism gaze-reach calibration: they switched between prism and no-prism and touched the target on the first trials without adaptation or aftereffect. Injections of lidocaine into posterolateral cerebellar cortex or muscimol or lidocaine into dentate nucleus temporarily inactivated these structures. Immediately after injections into cortex or dentate, reaches were displaced in the direction of prism-displaced gaze, but no-prism reaches were relatively unimpaired. There was little or no adaptation on the day of injection. On days after injection, there was no adaptation and both prism and no-prism reaches were horizontally, and often vertically, displaced. A single permanent lesion (kainic acid) in the lateral dentate nucleus of one monkey immediately impaired only the learned prism gaze-reach calibration and in subsequent days disrupted both learning and performance. This effect persisted for the 18 days of observation, with little or no adaptation.

Variation of precipitation for the last 300 years over the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHENG; Jingyun; HAO; Zhixin; GE; Quansheng

2005-01-01

The precipitation at 17 stations over the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River is reconstructed during the period of 1736―1910, using the snow and rainfall records in the Qing Dynasty, together with the instrumental observation data of precipitation and farmland soil moisture content. The soil physics model related to rainfall infiltration and the surface water balance equation are taken as main reconstruction methodology. The field infiltration experiment by artificial rainfall is conducted to check the reliability. And the precipitation series over the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and its 4 sub-regions are established, going back to 1736. Analysis of the time series indicates that the abrupt change of precipitation from high to low occurs around 1915 over the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. During the three periods of 1791―1805, 1816―1830 and 1886―1895, the precipitation is markedly higher than the mean of the series. While both the periods of 1916―1945 and 1981―2000 are characterized by less precipitation. Three periodicities of 22―25a, 3.9a and 2.7a are shown in the precipitation fluctuation over the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. Moreover, the periodical signal of 22―25a becomes weaker and weaker since the abrupt change of 1915 and disappears in the late 1940s, and then the periodical signal of 35―40a appears instead.

Impulse radio ultra wideband wireless transmission of dopamine concentration levels recorded by fast-scan cyclic voltammetry.

Science.gov (United States)

Ebrazeh, Ali; Bozorgzadeh, Bardia; Mohseni, Pedram

2015-01-01

This paper demonstrates the feasibility of utilizing impulse radio ultra wideband (IR-UWB) signaling technique for reliable, wireless transmission of dopamine concentration levels recorded by fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) at a carbon-fiber microelectrode (CFM) to address the problem of elevated data rates in high-channel-count neurochemical monitoring. Utilizing an FSCV-sensing chip fabricated in AMS 0.35μm 2P/4M CMOS, a 3-5-GHz, IR-UWB transceiver (TRX) chip fabricated in TSMC 90nm 1P/9M RF CMOS, and two off-chip, miniature, UWB antennae, wireless transfer of pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS) data at 50Mbps over a distance of wireless transmission of dopamine concentration levels prerecorded with FSCV at a CFM during flow injection analysis (FIA) is also demonstrated with transmitter (TX) power dissipation of only ~4.4μW from 1.2V, representing two orders of magnitude reduction in TX power consumption compared to that of a conventional frequency-shift-keyed (FSK) link operating at ~433MHz.

Variations of Hydrological Regime in the Jingjiang Reach of the Yangtze River after Operation of the Three Gorges Project

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Y.-H.; Guo, X.-H.; Hu, W.; Qu, G.; He, G.-S.

2012-04-01

The Three Gorges Project (TGP) of China has been in operation since 2003. In October 2010 the water level at the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) rose to the normal storage water level of 175 m, indicting the realization of the integrated targets of the TGP in terms of flood protection, electricity generation, navigation, etc. The operation of the TGP has changed the flow and sediment conditions (i.e. the hydrological regime) of the river channel downstream. The 347.2 km Jingjiang Reach, part of the middle reach of the Yangtze River, is very closely dowstream of the TGD and is affected relatively earlier and significant by the project operation. Based on the measured prototype hydrological data from 1950 to 2010, variations of the hydrological regime in the Jingjiang Reach after operation of the TGP are analyzed. The results showing that the runoff of the river is of no clear variation tendency during the last 60 years. However, after the operation of the TGP, the sediment concentration of the flow in the Jingjiang Reach decreased by 75%; coarsening of the suspended load and bed load in the river is evident; the water level at the same flow rate has a tendency to decline, with the margin of decline of the upper Jingjiang Reach being larger than that of the lower Reach, and that at smaller flow rate being larger than at larger flow rate. The flow and sediment diversion from the Yangtze River to the Dongting Lake via the three outlets also has a tendency to decrease; the degree of dcrease of the sediment diversion is much larger than that of the flow diversion. After the operation of the TGP, except the 2006 is a special low flow year, in which the decrease of the ratios of flow and sediment diversion are relatively large, the ratios are of no clear unidirectional variation tendency in the other years. Due to the operation of the TGP, within one year, the flow diversion in October is decreased comparing with that before the operation. Keywords: The Three Gorges Project, the

Comment on "Younger Dryas sea level and meltwater pulse 1B recorded in Barbados reefal crest coral Acropora palmata" by N. A. Abdul et al.

Science.gov (United States)

Bard, Edouard; Hamelin, Bruno; Deschamps, Pierre; Camoin, Gilbert

2016-12-01

Based on new U-Th ages of corals drilled offshore Barbados, Abdul et al. (2016) have confirmed the existence of the abrupt stratigraphic feature called meltwater pulse 1B (MWP-1B), which they interpret as being due to a very large and global sea level step change dated at about 11.3 kyr before present (approximately 15 m and equivalent to twice the amount of water stored in the present Greenland ice sheet). This contrasts with the Tahiti record, in which MWP-1B is essentially absent or very small, as Carlson and Clark (2012) and Lambeck et al. (2014) also conclude in their recent reviews of deglacial sea levels at the global scale. However, the evidence provided by Abdul et al. and their main conclusions are not convincing as they are affected by the following three main problems, which may explain the apparent discrepancies: Problem #1/Barbados is located in a subduction zone, which was also active throughout the Late Glacial period. Furthermore, the Barbados cores studied by Abdul et al. were drilled on both sides of the extension of a tectonic feature identified at the southern tip of Barbados (South Point) as underlined by several studies of the Barbados stratigraphy. Problem #2/Fossil samples of Acropora palmata may not be reliable sea level markers during rapid and large sea level rises. Indeed, the asexual reproduction strategy of this species may not be optimal to keep up when the water depth is increasing very rapidly. This may in part explain why the living depth of A. palmata at Barbados was significantly greater than 5 m during some periods of the last deglaciation, notably between 14.5 and 14 kyr B.P. and possibly between 14 and 11.5 kyr B.P. Problem #3/The slow glacio-isostatic adjustment and the rapid responses due to gravitational changes of ice and water masses complicate the interpretation of individual relative sea level (RSL) records at specific locations. Therefore, the Barbados and Tahiti record cannot be compared directly in terms of absolute

Recording Information on Architectural Heritage Should Meet the Requirements for Conservation Digital Recording Practices at the Summer Palace

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, L.; Cong, Y.; Wu, C.; Bai, C.; Wu, C.

2017-08-01

The recording of Architectural heritage information is the foundation of research, conservation, management, and the display of architectural heritage. In other words, the recording of architectural heritage information supports heritage research, conservation, management and architectural heritage display. What information do we record and collect and what technology do we use for information recording? How do we determine the level of accuracy required when recording architectural information? What method do we use for information recording? These questions should be addressed in relation to the nature of the particular heritage site and the specific conditions for the conservation work. In recent years, with the rapid development of information acquisition technology such as Close Range Photogrammetry, 3D Laser Scanning as well as high speed and high precision Aerial Photogrammetry, many Chinese universities, research institutes and heritage management bureaux have purchased considerable equipment for information recording. However, the lack of understanding of both the nature of architectural heritage and the purpose for which the information is being collected has led to several problems. For example: some institutions when recording architectural heritage information aim solely at high accuracy. Some consider that advanced measuring methods must automatically replace traditional measuring methods. Information collection becomes the purpose, rather than the means, of architectural heritage conservation. Addressing these issues, this paper briefly reviews the history of architectural heritage information recording at the Summer Palace (Yihe Yuan, first built in 1750), Beijing. Using the recording practices at the Summer Palace during the past ten years as examples, we illustrate our achievements and lessons in recording architectural heritage information with regard to the following aspects: (buildings') ideal status desired, (buildings') current status

Chronic repetitive reaching and grasping results in decreased motor performance and widespread tissue responses in a rat model of MSD.

Science.gov (United States)

Barbe, Mary F; Barr, Ann E; Gorzelany, Irene; Amin, Mamta; Gaughan, John P; Safadi, Fayez F

2003-01-01

This study investigated changes in motor skills and tissues of the upper extremity (UE) with regard to injury and inflammatory reactions resulting from performance of a voluntary forelimb repetitive reaching and grasping task in rats. Rats reached for food at a rate of 4 reaches/min, 2 h/day, and 3 days/week for up to 8 weeks during which reach rate, task duration and movement strategies were observed. UE tissues were collected bilaterally at weekly time points of 3-8 weeks and examined for morphological changes. Serum was tested for levels of interleukin-1alpha (IL-1) protein. The macrophage-specific antibody, ED1, was used to identify infiltrating macrophages and the ED2 antibody was used to identify resident macrophages. Rats were unable to maintain baseline reach rate in weeks 5 and 6 of task performance. Alternative patterns of movement emerged. Fraying of tendon fibrils was observed after 6 weeks in the mid-forelimb. After 4 weeks, a general elevation of ED1-IR macrophages were seen in all tissues examined bilaterally including the contralateral, uninvolved forelimb and hindlimbs. Significantly more resident macrophages were seen at 6 and 8 weeks in the reach limb. At 8 weeks, serum levels of IL-1alpha increased significantly above week 0. Our results demonstrate that performance of repetitive tasks elicits motor decrements, signs of injury and a cellular and tissue responses associated with inflammation.

First records of Casiornis rufus (Vieillot, 1816) (Aves, Tyrannidae) for the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vizentin-Bugoni, Jeferson; Bellagamba-Oliveira, Danielle; Bellagamba, Gina

2015-01-01

The Rufous Casiornis, Casiornis rufus (Vielliot, 1916), is widespread in central South America, reaching its southernmost distribution in northern Argentina and Uruguay. Here we present the first nine records of the species for Rio Grande do Sul state, southern Brazil. The records were documented...

Probing the reaching-grasping network in humans through multivoxel pattern decoding.

Science.gov (United States)

Di Bono, Maria Grazia; Begliomini, Chiara; Castiello, Umberto; Zorzi, Marco

2015-11-01

The quest for a putative human homolog of the reaching-grasping network identified in monkeys has been the focus of many neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies in recent years. These studies have shown that the network underlying reaching-only and reach-to-grasp movements includes the superior parieto-occipital cortex (SPOC), the anterior part of the human intraparietal sulcus (hAIP), the ventral and the dorsal portion of the premotor cortex, and the primary motor cortex (M1). Recent evidence for a wider frontoparietal network coding for different aspects of reaching-only and reach-to-grasp actions calls for a more fine-grained assessment of the reaching-grasping network in humans by exploiting pattern decoding methods (multivoxel pattern analysis--MVPA). Here, we used MPVA on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data to assess whether regions of the frontoparietal network discriminate between reaching-only and reach-to-grasp actions, natural and constrained grasping, different grasp types, and object sizes. Participants were required to perform either reaching-only movements or two reach-to-grasp types (precision or whole hand grasp) upon spherical objects of different sizes. Multivoxel pattern analysis highlighted that, independently from the object size, all the selected regions of both hemispheres contribute in coding for grasp type, with the exception of SPOC and the right hAIP. Consistent with recent neurophysiological findings on monkeys, there was no evidence for a clear-cut distinction between a dorsomedial and a dorsolateral pathway that would be specialized for reaching-only and reach-to-grasp actions, respectively. Nevertheless, the comparison of decoding accuracy across brain areas highlighted their different contributions to reaching-only and grasping actions. Altogether, our findings enrich the current knowledge regarding the functional role of key brain areas involved in the cortical control of reaching-only and reach-to-grasp actions

Switching from reaching to navigation: differential cognitive strategies for spatial memory in children and adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Belmonti, Vittorio; Cioni, Giovanni; Berthoz, Alain

2015-07-01

Navigational and reaching spaces are known to involve different cognitive strategies and brain networks, whose development in humans is still debated. In fact, high-level spatial processing, including allocentric location encoding, is already available to very young children, but navigational strategies are not mature until late childhood. The Magic Carpet (MC) is a new electronic device translating the traditional Corsi Block-tapping Test (CBT) to navigational space. In this study, the MC and the CBT were used to assess spatial memory for navigation and for reaching, respectively. Our hypothesis was that school-age children would not treat MC stimuli as navigational paths, assimilating them to reaching sequences. Ninety-one healthy children aged 6 to 11 years and 18 adults were enrolled. Overall short-term memory performance (span) on both tests, effects of sequence geometry, and error patterns according to a new classification were studied. Span increased with age on both tests, but relatively more in navigational than in reaching space, particularly in males. Sequence geometry specifically influenced navigation, not reaching. The number of body rotations along the path affected MC performance in children more than in adults, and in women more than in men. Error patterns indicated that navigational sequences were increasingly retained as global paths across development, in contrast to separately stored reaching locations. A sequence of spatial locations can be coded as a navigational path only if a cognitive switch from a reaching mode to a navigation mode occurs. This implies the integration of egocentric and allocentric reference frames, of visual and idiothetic cues, and access to long-term memory. This switch is not yet fulfilled at school age due to immature executive functions. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Determining suitable dimensions for dairy goat feeding places by evaluating body posture and feeding reach.

Science.gov (United States)

Keil, Nina M; Pommereau, Marc; Patt, Antonia; Wechsler, Beat; Gygax, Lorenz

2017-02-01

Confined goats spend a substantial part of the day feeding. A poorly designed feeding place increases the risk of feeding in nonphysiological body postures, and even injury. Scientifically validated information on suitable dimensions of feeding places for loose-housed goats is almost absent from the literature. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to determine feeding place dimensions that would allow goats to feed in a species-appropriate, relaxed body posture. A total of 27 goats with a height at the withers of 62 to 80 cm were included in the study. Goats were tested individually in an experimental feeding stall that allowed the height difference between the feed table, the standing area of the forelegs, and a feeding area step (difference in height between forelegs and hind legs) to be varied. The goats accessed the feed table via a palisade feeding barrier. The feed table was equipped with recesses at varying distances to the feeding barrier (5-55 cm in 5-cm steps) at angles of 30°, 60°, 90°, 120°, or 150° (feeding angle), which were filled with the goats' preferred food. In 18 trials, balanced for order across animals, each animal underwent all possible combinations of feeding area step (3 levels: 0, 10, and 20 cm) and of difference in height between feed table and standing area of forelegs (6 levels: 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 cm). The minimum and maximum reach at which the animals could reach feed on the table with a relaxed body posture was determined for each combination. Statistical analysis was performed using mixed-effects models. The animals were able to feed with a relaxed posture when the feed table was at least 10 cm higher than the standing height of the goats' forelegs. Larger goats achieved smaller minimum reaches and minimum reach increased if the goats' head and neck were angled. Maximum reach increased with increasing height at withers and height of the feed table. The presence of a feeding area step had no influence on minimum and

GAP-REACH

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis-Fernández, Roberto; Raggio, Greer A.; Gorritz, Magdaliz; Duan, Naihua; Marcus, Sue; Cabassa, Leopoldo J.; Humensky, Jennifer; Becker, Anne E.; Alarcón, Renato D.; Oquendo, María A.; Hansen, Helena; Like, Robert C.; Weiss, Mitchell; Desai, Prakash N.; Jacobsen, Frederick M.; Foulks, Edward F.; Primm, Annelle; Lu, Francis; Kopelowicz, Alex; Hinton, Ladson; Hinton, Devon E.

2015-01-01

Growing awareness of health and health care disparities highlights the importance of including information about race, ethnicity, and culture (REC) in health research. Reporting of REC factors in research publications, however, is notoriously imprecise and unsystematic. This article describes the development of a checklist to assess the comprehensiveness and the applicability of REC factor reporting in psychiatric research publications. The 16-itemGAP-REACH© checklist was developed through a rigorous process of expert consensus, empirical content analysis in a sample of publications (N = 1205), and interrater reliability (IRR) assessment (N = 30). The items assess each section in the conventional structure of a health research article. Data from the assessment may be considered on an item-by-item basis or as a total score ranging from 0% to 100%. The final checklist has excellent IRR (κ = 0.91). The GAP-REACH may be used by multiple research stakeholders to assess the scope of REC reporting in a research article. PMID:24080673

Deconvolution of the tree ring based delta13C record

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, T.; Broecker, W.S.; Freyer, H.D.; Trumbore, S.

1983-01-01

We assumed that the tree-ring based 13 C/ 12 C record constructed by Freyer and Belacy (1983) to be representative of the fossil fuel and forest-soil induced 13 C/ 12 C change for atmospheric CO 2 . Through the use of a modification of the Oeschger et al. ocean model, we have computed the contribution of the combustion of coal, oil, and natural gas to this observed 13 C/ 12 C change. A large residual remains when the tree-ring-based record is corrected for the contribution of fossil fuel CO 2 . A deconvolution was performed on this residual to determine the time history and magnitude of the forest-soil reservoir changes over the past 150 years. Several important conclusions were reached. (1) The magnitude of the integrated CO 2 input from these sources was about 1.6 times that from fossil fuels. (2) The forest-soil contribution reached a broad maximum centered at about 1900. (3) Over the 2 decade period covered by the Mauna Loa atmospheric CO 2 content record, the input from forests and soils was about 30% that from fossil fuels. (4) The 13 C/ 12 C trend over the last 20 years was dominated by the input of fossil fuel CO 2 . (5) The forest-soil release did not contribute significantly to the secular increase in atmospheric CO 2 observed over the last 20 years. (6) The pre-1850 atmospheric p2 values must have been in the range 245 to 270 x 10 -6 atmospheres

Reach/frequency for printed media: Personal probabilities or models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Peter Stendahl

2000-01-01

The author evaluates two different ways of estimating reach and frequency of plans for printed media. The first assigns reading probabilities to groups of respondents and calculates reach and frequency by simulation. the second estimates parameters to a model for reach/frequency. It is concluded ...... and estiamtes from such models are shown to be closer to panel data. the problem, however, is to get valid input for such models from readership surveys. Means for this are discussed....

Access and Attitudes to HPV Vaccination amongst Hard-To-Reach Populations in Kenya.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deborah Watson-Jones

Full Text Available Sub-Saharan Africa bears the greatest burden of cervical cancer. Human papillomavirus (HPV vaccination programmes to prevent the disease will need to reach vulnerable girls who may not be able access health and screening services in the future. We conducted formative research on facilitators and barriers to HPV vaccination and potential acceptability of a future HPV vaccination programme amongst girls living in hard-to-reach populations in Kenya.Stakeholder interviews with Ministry of Health staff explored barriers to and support for the uptake of HPV vaccination. A situation assessment was conducted to assess community services in Maasai nomadic pastoralist communities in Kajiado County and in Korogocho informal settlement in Nairobi city, followed by focus group discussions (n=14 and semi-structured interviews (n=28 with health workers, parents, youth, and community and religious leaders. These covered marriage, knowledge of cervical cancer and HPV, factors that might inhibit or support HPV vaccine uptake and intention to accept HPV vaccine if a programme was in place.Reported challenges to an HPV vaccination programme included school absenteeism and drop-out, early age of sex and marriage, lack of parental support, population mobility and distance from services. Despite little prior knowledge of cervical cancer and HPV, communities were interested in receiving HPV vaccination. Adequate social mobilisation and school-based vaccination, supplemented by out-reach activities, were considered important facilitating factors to achieve high coverage. There was some support for a campaign approach to vaccine delivery.Given the high level of support for a vaccine against cervical cancer and the experience of reaching pastoralist and slum-dwellers for other immunizations, implementing an HPV vaccine programme should be feasible in such hard-to-reach communities. This may require additional delivery strategies in addition to the standard school

Independent development of the Reach and the Grasp in spontaneous self-touching by human infants in the first six months

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brittany L Thomas

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The Dual Visuomotor Channel Theory proposes that visually guided reaching is a composite of two movements, a Reach that advances the hand to contact the target and a Grasp that shapes the digits for target purchase. The theory is supported by biometric analyses of adult reaching, evolutionary contrasts, and differential developmental patterns for the Reach and the Grasp in visually guided reaching in human infants. The present ethological study asked whether there is evidence for a dissociated development for the Reach and the Grasp in nonvisual hand use in very early infancy. The study documents a rich array of spontaneous self-touching behavior in infants during the first six months of life and subjects the movements to analyses of body target, contact type, and Grasp. Video recordings were made of resting alert infants biweekly from birth to 6 months. In younger infants, self-touching targets included the head and trunk. As infants aged, targets became more caudal including the hips, legs, and feet. In younger infants hand contact was mainly made with the dorsum of the hand, but as infants aged contacts included palmar and eventually grasp and manipulatory contacts with the body and clothes. The relative incidence of caudal contacts and palmar contacts increased concurrently and were significantly correlated throughout the period of study. In contrast, developmental increases in self grasping emerged a few weeks after the increases observed in caudal and palmar contacts. The behavioral and temporal pattern of these spontaneous self-touching movements suggest that the Reach, in which the hand extends to make a palmar self-contact, and the Grasp, in which the digits close and make manipulatory movements, have partially independent developmental profiles. The results additionally suggest that self-touching behavior is an important developmental phase that allows for the coordination of the Reach and the Grasp prior to their use under visual

[The REACH legislation: the consumer and environment protection perspective].

Science.gov (United States)

Gundert-Remy, Ursula

2008-12-01

REACH has been initiated with the aim of improving existing legislation. In order to assist in the interpretation of the REACH legislation, guidance documents have been developed, which have only lately become available. According to the REACH annexes and supported by guidance documents, waiving of test requirements will be possible, thus, opening the possibility that under REACH no new (eco)toxicological data will be required. Concerning products, a guidance document was released in April 2008 stating that the substance concentration threshold of 0.1 % (w/w) applies to the article as produced or imported and it does not relate to the homogeneous materials or parts of an article, but relates to the article as such (i.e., as produced or imported). Hence, notification will not be required for many products containing chemicals with properties which place them on the candidate list for authorization. In summary, it is at present not foreseeable whether the expected benefit of the REACH legislation will materialise for the environment and for the health of consumers and at the work place.

The effects of urgency to reach agreement on the process and outcome of multi-party natural resource negotiations

Science.gov (United States)

Lamb, B.L.; Taylor, J.G.; Burkardt, N.; Gillette, S.C.

2005-01-01

We studied seven hydropower license consultations to examine the role of a sense of urgency to reach agreement. Hydropower licensing consultations were studied because the statutory requirement for consultation encourages negotiation, all such consultations are similar, and a negotiated settlement is not a foregone result. Cases selected for analysis met screening criteria. Structured interviews were conducted with participants after the negotiations had been concluded. Respondent recollections were checked against the documentary record. A sense of urgency to reach agreement was a significant factor in the completion of these negotiations; where there was no shared sense of urgency, purposeful delay adversely affected the negotiations. Although a sense of urgency was experienced by at least one party in each case, only a shared sense of urgency at the end of the process proved significant. Delay did not prevent ultimate agreement but a shared sense of urgency brought speedier agreement and greater satisfaction with the negotiation.

Simulated and observed 2010 floodwater elevations in selected river reaches in the Pawtuxet River Basin, Rhode Island

Science.gov (United States)

Zarriello, Phillip J.; Olson, Scott A.; Flynn, Robert H.; Strauch, Kellan R.; Murphy, Elizabeth A.

2014-01-01

Heavy, persistent rains from late February through March 2010 caused severe flooding that set, or nearly set, peaks of record for streamflows and water levels at many long-term streamgages in Rhode Island. In response to this event, hydraulic models were updated for selected reaches covering about 56 river miles in the Pawtuxet River Basin to simulate water-surface elevations (WSEs) at specified flows and boundary conditions. Reaches modeled included the main stem of the Pawtuxet River, the North and South Branches of the Pawtuxet River, Pocasset River, Simmons Brook, Dry Brook, Meshanticut Brook, Furnace Hill Brook, Flat River, Quidneck Brook, and two unnamed tributaries referred to as South Branch Pawtuxet River Tributary A1 and Tributary A2. All the hydraulic models were updated to Hydrologic Engineering Center-River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) version 4.1.0 using steady-state simulations. Updates to the models included incorporation of new field-survey data at structures, high resolution land-surface elevation data, and updated flood flows from a related study. The models were assessed using high-water marks (HWMs) obtained in a related study following the March– April 2010 flood and the simulated water levels at the 0.2-percent annual exceedance probability (AEP), which is the estimated AEP of the 2010 flood in the basin. HWMs were obtained at 110 sites along the main stem of the Pawtuxet River, the North and South Branches of the Pawtuxet River, Pocasset River, Simmons Brook, Furnace Hill Brook, Flat River, and Quidneck Brook. Differences between the 2010 HWM elevations and the simulated 0.2-percent AEP WSEs from flood insurance studies (FISs) and the updated models developed in this study varied with most differences attributed to the magnitude of the 0.2-percent AEP flows. WSEs from the updated models generally are in closer agreement with the observed 2010 HWMs than with the FIS WSEs. The improved agreement of the updated simulated water elevations to

Metasurface holograms reaching 80% efficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Guoxing; Mühlenbernd, Holger; Kenney, Mitchell; Li, Guixin; Zentgraf, Thomas; Zhang, Shuang

2015-04-01

Surfaces covered by ultrathin plasmonic structures--so-called metasurfaces--have recently been shown to be capable of completely controlling the phase of light, representing a new paradigm for the design of innovative optical elements such as ultrathin flat lenses, directional couplers for surface plasmon polaritons and wave plate vortex beam generation. Among the various types of metasurfaces, geometric metasurfaces, which consist of an array of plasmonic nanorods with spatially varying orientations, have shown superior phase control due to the geometric nature of their phase profile. Metasurfaces have recently been used to make computer-generated holograms, but the hologram efficiency remained too low at visible wavelengths for practical purposes. Here, we report the design and realization of a geometric metasurface hologram reaching diffraction efficiencies of 80% at 825 nm and a broad bandwidth between 630 nm and 1,050 nm. The 16-level-phase computer-generated hologram demonstrated here combines the advantages of a geometric metasurface for the superior control of the phase profile and of reflectarrays for achieving high polarization conversion efficiency. Specifically, the design of the hologram integrates a ground metal plane with a geometric metasurface that enhances the conversion efficiency between the two circular polarization states, leading to high diffraction efficiency without complicating the fabrication process. Because of these advantages, our strategy could be viable for various practical holographic applications.

Computational analysis of network activity and spatial reach of sharp wave-ripples.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sadullah Canakci

Full Text Available Network oscillations of different frequencies, durations and amplitudes are hypothesized to coordinate information processing and transfer across brain areas. Among these oscillations, hippocampal sharp wave-ripple complexes (SPW-Rs are one of the most prominent. SPW-Rs occurring in the hippocampus are suggested to play essential roles in memory consolidation as well as information transfer to the neocortex. To-date, most of the knowledge about SPW-Rs comes from experimental studies averaging responses from neuronal populations monitored by conventional microelectrodes. In this work, we investigate spatiotemporal characteristics of SPW-Rs and how microelectrode size and distance influence SPW-R recordings using a biophysical model of hippocampus. We also explore contributions from neuronal spikes and synaptic potentials to SPW-Rs based on two different types of network activity. Our study suggests that neuronal spikes from pyramidal cells contribute significantly to ripples while high amplitude sharp waves mainly arise from synaptic activity. Our simulations on spatial reach of SPW-Rs show that the amplitudes of sharp waves and ripples exhibit a steep decrease with distance from the network and this effect is more prominent for smaller area electrodes. Furthermore, the amplitude of the signal decreases strongly with increasing electrode surface area as a result of averaging. The relative decrease is more pronounced when the recording electrode is closer to the source of the activity. Through simulations of field potentials across a high-density microelectrode array, we demonstrate the importance of finding the ideal spatial resolution for capturing SPW-Rs with great sensitivity. Our work provides insights on contributions from spikes and synaptic potentials to SPW-Rs and describes the effect of measurement configuration on LFPs to guide experimental studies towards improved SPW-R recordings.

Comparison of Athletics Records of Intellectually Disabled Persons with Records of Intact Athletes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavel Tilinger

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Comparison of Athletics Records of Intellectually Disabled Persons with Records of Intact Athletes Comparative studies between intact and ID (Intellectually Disabled individuals have been carried out in many areas (psychic, somatic characteristics, motor skills of individuals with ID, comparison of the level of intellect and motor performance. The study compares the records of intellectually disabled athletes with the records of majority population athletes. For comparison, we have used the existing world records registered by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF, and Inas, (International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability. To compare the best Czech records with world records, the best performances of women registered by the ČSMPS (Czech Sports Association for the Mentally Handicapped were used. If we compare the World Records (IAAF and Inas, we can find differences ranging from 8.2 to 45.3%. The differences between intact and intellectually disabled men are approx. by 2 to 10% lower than in women’s similar events. It is only in three events that the differences between intact and ID are slightly lower in women than in men (high jump, discus throw, javelin throw. The smallest differences between the IAAF and Inas records are in sprints events and middle running distances of men and women (10% men, or 15% women respectively. The differences in long distances reach 18% (men and 23% (women. The differences in jumping events are very different, accounting for 20% for men and 24% for women with some generalization. Throwing events for practically both sexes bring differences above 40% (except for shot put. Srovnání atletických rekordů intelektově postižených osob s rekordy intaktních sportovců Srovnávací studie mezi IP a intaktními byly realizovány v řadě oblastí (psychika, somatické charakteristiky, motorika jedinců s IP, srovnání úrovně intelektu a motorické v

Dorsal premotor cortex: neural correlates of reach target decisions based on a color-location matching rule and conflicting sensory evidence

OpenAIRE

Coallier, Émilie; Michelet, Thomas; Kalaska, John F.

2015-01-01

We recorded single-neuron activity in dorsal premotor (PMd) and primary motor cortex (M1) of two monkeys in a reach-target selection task. The monkeys chose between two color-coded potential targets by determining which target's color matched the predominant color of a multicolored checkerboard-like Decision Cue (DC). Different DCs contained differing numbers of colored squares matching each target. The DCs provided evidence about the correct target ranging from unambiguous (one color only) t...

Quality of nursing documentation: Paper-based health records versus electronic-based health records.

Science.gov (United States)

Akhu-Zaheya, Laila; Al-Maaitah, Rowaida; Bany Hani, Salam

2018-02-01

To assess and compare the quality of paper-based and electronic-based health records. The comparison examined three criteria: content, documentation process and structure. Nursing documentation is a significant indicator of the quality of patient care delivery. It can be either paper-based or organised within the system known as the electronic health records. Nursing documentation must be completed at the highest standards, to ensure the safety and quality of healthcare services. However, the evidence is not clear on which one of the two forms of documentation (paper-based versus electronic health records is more qualified. A retrospective, descriptive, comparative design was used to address the study's purposes. A convenient number of patients' records, from two public hospitals, were audited using the Cat-ch-Ing audit instrument. The sample size consisted of 434 records for both paper-based health records and electronic health records from medical and surgical wards. Electronic health records were better than paper-based health records in terms of process and structure. In terms of quantity and quality content, paper-based records were better than electronic health records. The study affirmed the poor quality of nursing documentation and lack of nurses' knowledge and skills in the nursing process and its application in both paper-based and electronic-based systems. Both forms of documentation revealed drawbacks in terms of content, process and structure. This study provided important information, which can guide policymakers and administrators in identifying effective strategies aimed at enhancing the quality of nursing documentation. Policies and actions to ensure quality nursing documentation at the national level should focus on improving nursing knowledge, competencies, practice in nursing process, enhancing the work environment and nursing workload, as well as strengthening the capacity building of nursing practice to improve the quality of nursing care and

Do working environment interventions reach shift workers?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nabe-Nielsen, Kirsten; Jørgensen, Marie Birk; Garde, Anne Helene

2016-01-01

PURPOSE: Shift workers are exposed to more physical and psychosocial stressors in the working environment as compared to day workers. Despite the need for targeted prevention, it is likely that workplace interventions less frequently reach shift workers. The aim was therefore to investigate whether...... the reach of workplace interventions varied between shift workers and day workers and whether such differences could be explained by the quality of leadership exhibited at different times of the day. METHODS: We used questionnaire data from 5361 female care workers in the Danish eldercare sector...

Neurosignal record with a Brain-Computer interface to estimate the level of stress in a student during a class

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luz Angela Moreno Cueva

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction: This work shows an individual study of the capture, recording, and analysis of the level of stress of a university student during a class that involves an evaluation. The stress information was estimated using a commercial and low-cost computer-brain interface. This allows solving the problem of easily obtaining quantitative and not only qualitative measures. Objective: The aim of this article is to analyze the behavior of neural signals to estimate the level of stress in a student to some verbal and nonverbal events generated by a teacher. Methodology: An experimental design of individual character was developed taking as disturbances the level of stress, events such as questions, time limits, and gestures. Results: Some events that caused stress in students produced by the verbal and non-verbal language of the teacher when teaching the class were evidenced. Conclusions: Teachers are encouraged to moderate their body language during assessments by avoiding actions that emulate anxieties or pressures in unnecessary times.

Reaching Adolescents and Youth in Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau

African Journals Online (AJOL)

AJRH Managing Editor

typical profile of individuals in contact with peer educators or attending youth ... being reached (versus not reached) by programs ... characteristics in order to serve groups that may be ... places for counseling services but the frequency of.

Simulated and observed 2010 flood-water elevations in selected river reaches in the Moshassuck and Woonasquatucket River Basins, Rhode Island

Science.gov (United States)

Zarriello, Phillip J.; Straub, David E.; Westenbroek, Stephen M.

2014-01-01

Heavy persistent rains from late February through March 2010 caused severe flooding and set, or nearly set, peaks of record for streamflows and water levels at many long-term U.S. Geological Survey streamgages in Rhode Island. In response to this flood, hydraulic models were updated for selected reaches covering about 33 river miles in Moshassuck and Woonasquatucket River Basins from the most recent approved Federal Emergency Management Agency flood insurance study (FIS) to simulate water-surface elevations (WSEs) from specified flows and boundary conditions. Reaches modeled include the main stem of the Moshassuck River and its main tributary, the West River, and three tributaries to the West River—Upper Canada Brook, Lincoln Downs Brook, and East Branch West River; and the main stem of the Woonasquatucket River. All the hydraulic models were updated to Hydrologic Engineering Center-River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) version 4.1.0 and incorporate new field-survey data at structures, high-resolution land-surface elevation data, and flood flows from a related study. The models were used to simulate steady-state WSEs at the 1- and 2-percent annual exceedance probability (AEP) flows, which is the estimated AEP of the 2010 flood in the Moshassuck River Basin and the Woonasquatucket River, respectively. The simulated WSEs were compared to the high-water mark (HWM) elevation data obtained in these basins in a related study following the March–April 2010 flood, which included 18 HWMs along the Moshassuck River and 45 HWMs along the Woonasquatucket River. Differences between the 2010 HWMs and the simulated 2- and 1-percent AEP WSEs from the FISs and the updated models developed in this study varied along the reach. Most differences could be attributed to the magnitude of the 2- and 1-percent AEP flows used in the FIS and updated model flows. Overall, the updated model and the FIS WSEs were not appreciably different when compared to the observed 2010 HWMs along the

Memory-guided reaching in a patient with visual hemiagnosia.

Science.gov (United States)

Cornelsen, Sonja; Rennig, Johannes; Himmelbach, Marc

2016-06-01

The two-visual-systems hypothesis (TVSH) postulates that memory-guided movements rely on intact functions of the ventral stream. Its particular importance for memory-guided actions was initially inferred from behavioral dissociations in the well-known patient DF. Despite of rather accurate reaching and grasping movements to visible targets, she demonstrated grossly impaired memory-guided grasping as much as impaired memory-guided reaching. These dissociations were later complemented by apparently reversed dissociations in patients with dorsal damage and optic ataxia. However, grasping studies in DF and optic ataxia patients differed with respect to the retinotopic position of target objects, questioning the interpretation of the respective findings as a double dissociation. In contrast, the findings for reaching errors in both types of patients came from similar peripheral target presentations. However, new data on brain structural changes and visuomotor deficits in DF also questioned the validity of a double dissociation in reaching. A severe visuospatial short-term memory deficit in DF further questioned the specificity of her memory-guided reaching deficit. Therefore, we compared movement accuracy in visually-guided and memory-guided reaching in a new patient who suffered a confined unilateral damage to the ventral visual system due to stroke. Our results indeed support previous descriptions of memory-guided movements' inaccuracies in DF. Furthermore, our data suggest that recently discovered optic-ataxia like misreaching in DF is most likely caused by her parieto-occipital and not by her ventral stream damage. Finally, multiple visuospatial memory measurements in HWS suggest that inaccuracies in memory-guided reaching tasks in patients with ventral damage cannot be explained by visuospatial short-term memory or perceptual deficits, but by a specific deficit in visuomotor processing. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

REACH and nanomaterials: current status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alessandrelli, Maria; Di Prospero Fanghella, Paola; Polci, Maria Letizia; Castelli, Stefano; Pettirossi, Flavio

2015-01-01

New challenges for regulators are emerging about a specific assessment and appropriate management of the potential risks of nanomaterials. In the framework of European legislation on chemicals, Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 REACH aims to ensure the safety of human health and the environment through the collection of information on the physico-chemical characteristics of the substances and on their profile (eco) toxicological and the identification of appropriate risk management linked to 'exposure to these substances without impeding scientific progress and the competitiveness of industry. In order to cover the current shortage of information on the safety of nanomaterials and tackle the acknowledged legal vacuum, are being a rich activities, carried out both by regulators both by stake holders, and discussions on the proposals for adapting the European regulatory framework for chemicals . The European Commission is geared to strengthen the REACH Regulation by means of updates of its annexes. The importance of responding to the regulatory requirements has highlighted the need for cooperation between European organizations, scientists and industries to promote and ensure the safe use of nanomaterials. [it

Contribution of long-range transport to the ozone levels recorded in the Northeast of Portugal

Science.gov (United States)

Gama, C.; Nunes, T.; Marques, M. C.; Ferreira, F.

2009-04-01

In the past four years (2004-2007), measurements carried out at Lamas de Olo, the only air quality monitoring background station in the Northeast of Portugal, showed high ozone concentrations (97,7±29,7 g.m-3). This remote site, located in the middle of Alvão Natural Park, in Portugal, 1086 m asl, plays a significant role on the total amount of exceedances registered in the national air quality network. The analysis of the data recorded at this monitoring station revealed an annual cycle of ozone concentrations similar to the ones observed in other background sites of the Northern Hemisphere (Monks, 2000; Vingarzan and Taylor, 2003). This common feature comprises a distinct maximum during spring (peaking during the month of April). Nevertheless it is during the summer that the hourly concentrations are higher, due to the typical atmospheric and meteorological conditions that promote photochemical pollution episodes. Photochemical pollution episodes can be related with production of ozone in a local scale or in a global scale due to the transportation of polluted air masses. For this reason analysing these events is crucial to fully understand the behaviour of ozone in the Northeast of Portugal, in order to adopt the correct long-term policies. With the purpose of studying the influence of long-range transport on the ozone levels recorded at Lamas de Olo, a cluster analysis was performed on 96-hour back trajectories air masses. Different trajectory clusters represent air masses with different source regions of atmospheric pollutants and the influence of these regions on the atmospheric composition at the arrival point (receptor) of the trajectories can therefore be assessed (EMPA, 2008). The back trajectories were simulated 4 times per day, using HYSPLIT model. A "bottom-up" cluster methodology was used to group trajectories into clusters according to their characteristics, for several time periods with similar ozone levels and/or distributions. Ozone average

Reflex-based grasping, skilled forelimb reaching, and electrodiagnostic evaluation for comprehensive analysis of functional recovery-The 7-mm rat median nerve gap repair model revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Stößel, Maria; Rehra, Lena; Haastert-Talini, Kirsten

2017-10-01

The rat median nerve injury and repair model gets increasingly important for research on novel bioartificial nerve grafts. It allows follow-up evaluation of the recovery of the forepaw functional ability with several sensitive techniques. The reflex-based grasping test, the skilled forelimb reaching staircase test, as well as electrodiagnostic recordings have been described useful in this context. Currently, no standard values exist, however, for comparison or comprehensive correlation of results obtained in each of the three methods after nerve gap repair in adult rats. Here, we bilaterally reconstructed 7-mm median nerve gaps with autologous nerve grafts (ANG) or autologous muscle-in-vein grafts (MVG), respectively. During 8 and 12 weeks of observation, functional recovery of each paw was separately monitored using the grasping test (weekly), the staircase test, and noninvasive electrophysiological recordings from the thenar muscles (both every 4 weeks). Evaluation was completed by histomorphometrical analyses at 8 and 12 weeks postsurgery. The comprehensive evaluation detected a significant difference in the recovery of forepaw functional motor ability between the ANG and MVG groups. The correlation between the different functional tests evaluated precisely displayed the recovery of distinct levels of forepaw functional ability over time. Thus, this multimodal evaluation model represents a valuable preclinical model for peripheral nerve reconstruction approaches.

THE REACH AND RICHNESS OF WIKINOMICS: IS THE FREE WEB-BASED ENCYCLOPEDIA WIKIPEDIA ONLY FOR RICH COUNTRIES?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rask, Morten

2007-01-01

In this article, a model of the patterns of correlation in Wikipedia, reach and richness, lays the foundation for studying whether the free Web-based encyclopedia Wikipedia is only for developed countries. Based on data from 12 different Wikipedia language editions, the author finds that the cent......In this article, a model of the patterns of correlation in Wikipedia, reach and richness, lays the foundation for studying whether the free Web-based encyclopedia Wikipedia is only for developed countries. Based on data from 12 different Wikipedia language editions, the author finds...... that the central structural effect is on the level of human development in the current country. In other words, Wikipedia is in general more for rich countries than for less developed countries. It is suggested that policy makers make investments in increasing the general level of literacy, education, and standard...

Attentional Demand of a Virtual Reality-Based Reaching Task in Nondisabled Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yi-An; Chung, Yu-Chen; Proffitt, Rachel; Wade, Eric; Winstein, Carolee

2015-01-01

Attention during exercise is known to affect performance; however, the attentional demand inherent to virtual reality (VR)-based exercise is not well understood. We used a dual-task paradigm to compare the attentional demands of VR-based and non-VR-based (conventional, real-world) exercise: 22 non-disabled older adults performed a primary reaching task to virtual and real targets in a counterbalanced block order while verbally responding to an unanticipated auditory tone in one third of the trials. The attentional demand of the primary reaching task was inferred from the voice response time (VRT) to the auditory tone. Participants' engagement level and task experience were also obtained using questionnaires. The virtual target condition was more attention demanding (significantly longer VRT) than the real target condition. Secondary analyses revealed a significant interaction between engagement level and target condition on attentional demand. For participants who were highly engaged, attentional demand was high and independent of target condition. However, for those who were less engaged, attentional demand was low and depended on target condition (i.e., virtual > real). These findings add important knowledge to the growing body of research pertaining to the development and application of technology-enhanced exercise for elders and for rehabilitation purposes. PMID:27004233

Attentional Demand of a Virtual Reality-Based Reaching Task in Nondisabled Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yi-An; Chung, Yu-Chen; Proffitt, Rachel; Wade, Eric; Winstein, Carolee

2015-12-01

Attention during exercise is known to affect performance; however, the attentional demand inherent to virtual reality (VR)-based exercise is not well understood. We used a dual-task paradigm to compare the attentional demands of VR-based and non-VR-based (conventional, real-world) exercise: 22 non-disabled older adults performed a primary reaching task to virtual and real targets in a counterbalanced block order while verbally responding to an unanticipated auditory tone in one third of the trials. The attentional demand of the primary reaching task was inferred from the voice response time (VRT) to the auditory tone. Participants' engagement level and task experience were also obtained using questionnaires. The virtual target condition was more attention demanding (significantly longer VRT) than the real target condition. Secondary analyses revealed a significant interaction between engagement level and target condition on attentional demand. For participants who were highly engaged, attentional demand was high and independent of target condition. However, for those who were less engaged, attentional demand was low and depended on target condition (i.e., virtual > real). These findings add important knowledge to the growing body of research pertaining to the development and application of technology-enhanced exercise for elders and for rehabilitation purposes.

High diffraction efficiency polarization gratings recorded by biphotonic holography in an azobenzene liquid crystalline polyester

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sánchez, C; Alcalá, R; Hvilsted, Søren

2001-01-01

High diffraction efficiencies have been achieved with polarization gratings recorded in thin films of an azobenzene side-chain liquid crystalline polyester by means of biphotonic processes. Efficiency values up to 30% have been reached after an induction period of 300 s and subsequent evolution...

FEATURES OF MULTIPLEXED HOLOGRAMS RECORDING IN PHOTO-THERMO-REFRACTIVE GLASS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. A. Ivanov

2016-05-01

Full Text Available We have carried out calculations of recording conditions for multiplexed holograms in photo-thermo-refractive (PTR glass. The proposed calculation sets the link between such parameters as: the angle between recording beams and the angle of sample rotation, operating wavelength, the angle of incidence on the element, output angle. To study recording features of multiplexed holograms on PTR glass several elements was made. Six holograms in each element were recorded with various exposures. All samples were heat-treated at one temperature around glass transition temperature. It has been demonstrated that at the recording of several gratings with a total exposure exceeding an optimal value for a given material, the total value of the refractive index modulation amplitude (n1 reaches the maximum attainable magnitude that is equivalent to a value of a single hologram with optimal exposure. It has been found that refractive index dynamic range of the material distributes between the gratings in accordance with the ratio between exposure times if holograms exposures have significant differences. In the present paper six-channel multiplexer was recorded for a wavelength equal to 632.8 nm (He-Ne laser. The diffraction angles correspond to calculations mentioned above. The n1 value in each grating is equal to the value of the highest attainable value of the value of n1 divided by the total number of multiplexed holograms.

Status report - FoodReach Toronto: lowering food costs for social agencies and community groups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Coleman

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Toronto has the largest absolute number of food insecure households for any metropolitan census area in Canada: of its 2.1 million households, roughly 252 000 households (or 12% experience some level of food insecurity. Community organizations (including social agencies, school programs, and child care centres serve millions of meals per year to the city’s most vulnerable citizens, but often face challenges accessing fresh produce at affordable prices. Therefore in 2015, Toronto Public Health, in collaboration with public- and private-sector partners, launched the FoodReach program to improve the efficiency of food procurement among community organizations by consolidating their purchasing power. Since being launched, FoodReach has been used by more than 50 community organizations to provide many of Toronto’s most marginalised groups with regular access to healthy produce.

SVHC in imported articles: REACH authorisation requirement justified under WTO rules.

Science.gov (United States)

Schenten, Julian; Führ, Martin

2016-01-01

The purpose of the REACH Regulation is to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment as well as the free circulation of substances on the internal market while enhancing competitiveness and innovation. To this end, REACH introduces, among other instruments, the authorisation regime for substances of very high concern (SVHC) that are listed on Annex XIV of the regulation. After expiration of the transitional period for each Annex XIV-SVHC, articles, such as most products of daily use, produced in the European Economic Area (EEA) may not contain such substances unless an authorisation was granted for the specific use or this use falls within the scope of an exemption from the authorisation requirement. The authorisation scheme does, however, only apply to SVHC used in the EEA. As a consequence, REACH does not regulate SVHC entering the European market as part of imported articles which burden human health and the environment. Moreover, from an economic perspective, domestic articles are subject to stricter requirements than those which are produced abroad, putting actors from within the EEA at competitive disadvantage and thus impeding the intention of REACH to enhance competitiveness and innovation. One option to close this regulatory gap could be to extend the authorisation requirement to SVHC present in imported articles. A legal appraisal on behalf of the German Environment Agency (UBA) assesses whether such option would be in accordance with the specifications of WTO world trade law. It concludes that, measured by the standards of the WTO dispute settlement practice, such an extended authorisation scheme would neither violate the principles of national treatment and most-favoured nation treatment. Also, such regulation would not constitute an unnecessary obstacle to trade, since the extended authorisation requirement would pursue a legitimate objective covered by the regulatory autonomy of the EU and, furthermore, the regulation would

An electronic record system in nursing education: evaluation and utilization.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Víctor Manuel González-Chordá

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The main objective of the present work is to analyze the results of the utilization and evaluation of the LORETO Record System (LRS, providing improvement areas in the teaching-learning process and technology, in second year nursing students. A descriptive, prospective, cross sectional study using inferential statics has been carried out on all electronic records reported by 55 nursing students during clinical internships (April 1º-June 26º, 2013. Electronic record average rated 7.22 points (s=0.6; CV=0.083, with differences based on the clinical practice units (p<0,05. Three items assessed did not exceed the quality threshold set at 0.7 (p<0.05. Record Rate exceeds the quality threshold set at 80% for the overall sample, with differences based on the practice units.  Only two clinical practice units rated above the minimum threshold (p <0.05. Record of care provision every 3 days did not reach the estimated quality threshold (p <0.05. There is a dichotomy between qualitative and quantitative results of LRS. Improvement areas in theoretical education have been identified. The LRS seems an appropriate learning and assessment tool, although the development of a new APP version and the application of principles of gamification should be explored.

LHC Report: Records are made to be broken

CERN Document Server

CERN Bulletin

2011-01-01

The LHC has spent the last couple of weeks delivering collisions to the four main experiments. At the same time the number of bunches in the beam has been steadily increased.   Since the scrubbing run the LHC has passed through 228, 336, 480 and 624 bunches per beam to reach the latest total of 768 . As can be seen, each step-up is 144 bunches, which represents two extra injections of 72 bunches from the SPS when filling the machine. A few days is spent delivering physics after each step-up to check the performance of the machine and make sure that no intensity-dependent effects are compromising machine protection. The rewards have been impressive. Each step-up, naturally enough, brings a new in-house record for peak luminosity. In addition, on 21April, with 480 bunches, the LHC set a new world record for luminosity at a hadron collider of around 4.4x1032 cm-2s-1. This exceeded the previous high of 4.024x1032 cm-2s-1 set by Fermilab’s Tevatron collider in 2010. The new record itself last...

Morphological adjustments in a meandering reach of the middle Yangtze River caused by severe human activities

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Meirong; Xia, Junqiang; Lu, Jinyou; Deng, Shanshan; Lin, Fenfen

2017-05-01

In the past 50 years, the Shishou reach in the middle Yangtze River underwent significant channel evolution owing to the implementation of an artificial cutoff, the construction of bank revetment works and the operation of the Three Gorges Project (TGP). Based on the measured hydrological data and topographic data, the processes of channel evolution in this reach were investigated mainly from the adjustments in planform and cross-sectional geometries. The variation in planform geometry obtained in this study indicates that (i) the artificial cutoff at Zhongzhouzi caused the river regime to adjust drastically, with the mean rate of thalweg migration at reach scale of 42.0 m/a over the period 1966-1975; (ii) then the effect of this artificial cutoff reduced gradually, with the mean migration rate decreasing to 40 m/a owing to the occurrence of high water levels in 1993-1998; and (iii) the average annual rate of thalweg migration decreased to 29.3 m/a because of the impacts of various bank protection engineering and the TGP operation during the period 2002-2015. However, remarkable thalweg migration processes still occurred in local regions after the TGP operation, which resulted in significant bankline migration in local reaches of Beimenkou, Shijiatai, and Tiaoxiankou. In addition, the adjustments of bankfull channel geometry were investigated at section and reach scales after the TGP operation. Calculated results show that lateral channel migration in this reach was restricted by various river regulation works and that channel evolution was mainly characterized by an increase in bankfull depth and cross-sectional area. Empirical relationships were developed between the reach-scale bankfull dimensions (depth and area), the bankfull widths at specified sections, and the previous 5-year average fluvial erosion intensity during flood seasons, with high correlation degrees between them being obtained.

Commissioning and validation of the ATLAS Level-1 topological trigger

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(SzGeCERN)788741; The ATLAS collaboration; Hong, Tae Min

2017-01-01

The ATLAS experiment has recently commissioned a new hardware component of its first-level trigger: the topological processor (L1Topo). This innovative system, using state-of-the-art FPGA processors, selects events by applying kinematic and topological requirements on candidate objects (energy clusters, jets, and muons) measured by calorimeters and muon sub-detectors. Since the first-level trigger is a synchronous pipelined system, such requirements are applied within a latency of 200ns. We will present the first results from data recorded using the L1Topo trigger; these demonstrate a significantly improved background event rejection, thus allowing for a rate reduction without efficiency loss. This improvement has been shown for several physics processes leading to low-$P_{T}$ leptons, including $H\\to{}\\tau{}\\tau{}$ and $J/\\Psi\\to{}\\mu{}\\mu{}$. In addition, we will discuss the use of an accurate L1Topo simulation as a powerful tool to validate and optimize the performance of this new trigger system. To reach ...

Decoding complete reach and grasp actions from local primary motor cortex populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Vargas-Irwin, Carlos E; Shakhnarovich, Gregory; Yadollahpour, Payman; Mislow, John M K; Black, Michael J; Donoghue, John P

2010-07-21

How the activity of populations of cortical neurons generates coordinated multijoint actions of the arm, wrist, and hand is poorly understood. This study combined multielectrode recording techniques with full arm motion capture to relate neural activity in primary motor cortex (M1) of macaques (Macaca mulatta) to arm, wrist, and hand postures during movement. We find that the firing rate of individual M1 neurons is typically modulated by the kinematics of multiple joints and that small, local ensembles of M1 neurons contain sufficient information to reconstruct 25 measured joint angles (representing an estimated 10 functionally independent degrees of freedom). Beyond showing that the spiking patterns of local M1 ensembles represent a rich set of naturalistic movements involving the entire upper limb, the results also suggest that achieving high-dimensional reach and grasp actions with neuroprosthetic devices may be possible using small intracortical arrays like those already being tested in human pilot clinical trials.

Recent advances in recording electrophysiological data simultaneously with magnetic resonance imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laufs, H. [Univ Frankfurt, Zentrum Neurol and Neurochirurg, Neurol Klin, D-60590 Frankfurt (Germany); Laufs, H. [Univ Frankfurt, Dept Neurol, D-60590 Frankfurt (Germany); Laufs, H. [Univ Frankfurt, Brain Imaging Ctr, D-60590 Frankfurt (Germany); Laufs, H.; Carmichael, D.W. [UCL, Inst Neurol, Dept Clin and Expt Epilepsy, London (United Kingdom); Daunizeau, J. [Wellcome Trust Ctr Neuroimaging, London (United Kingdom); Kleinschmidt, A. [INSERM, Unite 562, F-91191 Gif SurYvette (France); Kleinschmidt, A. [CEA, DSV, I2BM, NeuroSpin, F-91191 Gif Sur Yvette (France); Kleinschmidt, A. [Univ Paris 11, F-91405 Orsay (France)

2008-07-01

Simultaneous recording of brain activity by different neuro-physiological modalities can yield insights that reach beyond those obtained by each technique individually, even when compared to those from the post-hoc integration of results from each technique recorded sequentially. Success in the endeavour of real-time multimodal experiments requires special hardware and software as well as purpose-tailored experimental design and analysis strategies. Here,we review the key methodological issues in recording electrophysiological data in humans simultaneously with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), focusing on recent technical and analytical advances in the field. Examples are derived from simultaneous electro-encephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) during functional MRI in cognitive and systems neuroscience as well as in clinical neurology, in particular in epilepsy and movement disorders. We conclude with an outlook on current and future efforts to achieve true integration of electrical and haemodynamic measures of neuronal activity using data fusion models. (authors)

Adaptation, plant evolution, and the fossil record

Science.gov (United States)

Knoll, A. H.; Niklas, K. J.

1987-01-01

The importance of adaptation in determining patterns of evolution has become an important focus of debate in evolutionary biology. As it pertains to paleobotany, the issue is whether or not adaptive evolution mediated by natural selection is sufficient to explain the stratigraphic distributions of taxa and character states observed in the plant fossil record. One means of addressing this question is the functional evaluation of stratigraphic series of plant organs set in the context of paleoenvironmental change and temporal patterns of floral composition within environments. For certain organ systems, quantitative estimates of biophysical performance can be made on the basis of structures preserved in the fossil record. Performance estimates for plants separated in time or space can be compared directly. Implicit in different hypotheses of the forces that shape the evolutionary record (e.g. adaptation, mass extinction, rapid environmental change, chance) are predictions about stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental trends in the efficacy of functional performance. Existing data suggest that following the evolution of a significant structural innovation, adaptation for improved functional performance can be a major determinant of evolutionary changes in plants; however, there are structural and development limits to functional improvement, and once these are reached, the structure in question may no longer figure strongly in selection until and unless a new innovation evolves. The Silurian-Devonian paleobotanical record is consistent with the hypothesis that the succession of lowland floodplain dominants preserved in the fossil record of this interval was determined principally by the repeated evolution of new taxa that rose to ecological importance because of competitive advantages conferred by improved biophysical performance. This does not seem to be equally true for Carboniferous-Jurassic dominants of swamp and lowland floodplain environments. In these cases

A 80 km reach fully passive WDM-PON based on reflective ONUs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Presi, Marco; Proietti, Roberto; Prince, Kamau

2008-01-01

We propose a novel line coding combination (Inverse RZ coding in downlink and RZ in uplink) that extends the reach of WDM Passive Optical Networks based on Reflective SOAs with no in-line amplification. We achieved full downstream remodulation even when feeding the reflective SOA with power level...... as low as -35dBm, thus increasing the system power budget. We experimentally assessed this scheme for a fully passive, full-duplex and symmetrical 1.25Gb/s WDM-PON over a 80km G.652 feeder....

Channel morphology and its impact on flood passage, the Tianjiazhen reach of the middle Yangtze River

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Yafeng; Zhang, Qiang; Chen, Zhongyuan; Jiang, Tong; Wu, Jinglu

2007-03-01

The Tianjiazhen reach of the middle Yangtze is about 8 km long, and characterized by a narrow river width of 650 m and local water depth of > 90 m in deep inner troughs, of which about 60 m is below the mean sea level. The troughs in the channel of such a large river are associated with regional tectonics and local lithology. The channel configuration plays a critical role in modifying the height and duration of river floods and erosion of the riverbed. The formation of the troughs in the bed of the Yangtze is considered to be controlled by sets of NW-SE-oriented neotectonic fault zones, in which some segments consist of highly folded thick Triassic limestone crossed by the Yangtze River. Several limestone hills, currently located next to the river channel, serve as nodes that create large vortices in the river, thereby accelerating downcutting on the riverbed composed of limestone highly susceptible to physical corrosion and chemical dissolution. Hydrological records indicate that the nodal hills and channel configuration at Tianjiazhen do not impact on normal flow discharges but discharges > 50,000 m 3s - 1 are slowed down for 2-3 days. Catastrophic floods are held up for even longer periods. These inevitably result in elevated flood stages upstream of prolonged duration, affecting large cities such as Wuhan and a very large number of people.

Variability of road traffic noise recorded by stationary monitoring stations

Science.gov (United States)

Bąkowski, Andrzej; Radziszewski, Leszek

2017-11-01

The paper presents the analysis results of equivalent sound level recorded by two road traffic noise monitoring stations. The stations were located in Kielce (an example of a medium-size town in Poland) at the roads out of the town in the direction of Kraków and Warszawa. The measurements were carried out through stationary stations monitoring the noise and traffic of motor vehicles. The RMS values based on A-weighted sound level were recorded every 1 s in the buffer and the results were registered every 1 min over the period of investigations. The registered data were the basis for calculating the equivalent sound level for three time intervals: from 6:00 to 18:00, from 18:00 to 22:00 and from 22:00 to 6:00. Analysis included the values of the equivalent sound level recorded for different days of the week split into 24h periods, nights, days and evenings. The data analysed included recordings from 2013. The coefficient of variation and positional variation were proposed for performing comparative analysis of the obtained data scattering. The investigations indicated that the recorded data varied depending on the traffic routes. The differences concerned the values of coefficients of variation of the equivalent sound levels.

Proprioceptive body illusions modulate the visual perception of reaching distance.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agustin Petroni

Full Text Available The neurobiology of reaching has been extensively studied in human and non-human primates. However, the mechanisms that allow a subject to decide-without engaging in explicit action-whether an object is reachable are not fully understood. Some studies conclude that decisions near the reach limit depend on motor simulations of the reaching movement. Others have shown that the body schema plays a role in explicit and implicit distance estimation, especially after motor practice with a tool. In this study we evaluate the causal role of multisensory body representations in the perception of reachable space. We reasoned that if body schema is used to estimate reach, an illusion of the finger size induced by proprioceptive stimulation should propagate to the perception of reaching distances. To test this hypothesis we induced a proprioceptive illusion of extension or shrinkage of the right index finger while participants judged a series of LEDs as reachable or non-reachable without actual movement. Our results show that reach distance estimation depends on the illusory perceived size of the finger: illusory elongation produced a shift of reaching distance away from the body whereas illusory shrinkage produced the opposite effect. Combining these results with previous findings, we suggest that deciding if a target is reachable requires an integration of body inputs in high order multisensory parietal areas that engage in movement simulations through connections with frontal premotor areas.

Electrophysiological Recordings from Lobula Plate Tangential Cells in Drosophila.

Science.gov (United States)

Mauss, Alex S; Borst, Alexander

2016-01-01

Drosophila has emerged as an important model organism for the study of the neural basis of behavior. Its main asset is the experimental accessibility of identified neurons by genetic manipulation and physiological recordings. Drosophila therefore offers the opportunity to reach an integrative understanding of the development and neural underpinnings of behavior at all processing stages, from sensing to motor control, in a single species. Here, we will provide an account of the procedures involved in recording the electrical potential of individual neurons in the visual system of adult Drosophila using the whole-cell patch-clamp method. To this end, animals are fixed to a holder and mounted below a recording chamber. The head capsule is cut open and the glial sheath covering the brain is ruptured by a combination of shearing and enzymatic digest. Neuronal somata are thus exposed and targeted by low-resistance patch electrodes. After formation of a high resistance seal, electrical access to the cell is gained by small current pulses and suction. Stable recordings of large neurons are feasible for >1 h and can be combined with controlled visual stimulation as well as genetic and pharmacological manipulation of upstream circuit elements to infer circuit function in great detail.

REACH-related substitution within the Danish printing industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Henrik Fred; Bøg, Carsten; Markussen, Helene

are running a substitution project. A major part of the work has been mapping the presence of chemicals which are potential candidates for substitution (e.g. PBT, CMR, vPvB, EDS) within the Danish printing industry. The mapping comprises a combination of a literature study and an investigation of the actual......The accomplishment of the EU REACH regulation will most probably promote substitution within sectors handling a lot of different chemicals like the printing industry. With the aim of being at the cutting edge of this development the Danish EPA together with the Danish printing industry and IPU...... fulfil one or more of the criteria (e.g. CMR, EDS) for the REACH Annex XIV candidate list (authorisation). The paper presents the results of the mapping of chemical candidates and the first results of the actual substitutions. Keywords: REACH, chemicals, substitution, printing industry....

Keeping electronic records secure.

Science.gov (United States)

Easton, David

2013-10-01

Are electronic engineering maintenance records relating to the hospital estate or a medical device as important as electronic patient records? Computer maintenance management systems (CMMS) are increasingly being used to manage all-round maintenance activities. However, the accuracy of the data held on them, and a level of security that prevents tampering with records, or other unauthorised changes to them to 'cover' poor practice, are both essential, so that, should an individual be injured or killed on hospital grounds, and a law suit follow, the estates team can be confident that it has accurate data to prove it has fulfilled its duty of care. Here David Easton MSc CEng FIHEEM MIET, director of Zener Engineering Services, and chair of IHEEM's Medical Devices Advisory Group, discusses the issues around maintenance databases, and the security and integrity of maintenance data.

Records via probability theory

CERN Document Server

Ahsanullah, Mohammad

2015-01-01

A lot of statisticians, actuarial mathematicians, reliability engineers, meteorologists, hydrologists, economists. Business and sport analysts deal with records which play important roles in various fields of statistics and its application. This book enables a reader to check his/her level of understanding of the theory of record values. We give basic formulae which are more important in the theory and present a lot of examples which illustrate the theoretical statements. For a beginner in record statistics, as well as for graduate students the study of our book needs the basic knowledge of the subject. A more advanced reader can use our book to polish his/her knowledge. An upgraded list of bibliography which will help a reader to enrich his/her theoretical knowledge and widen the experience of dealing with ordered observations, is also given in the book.

A Laboratory Experiment on the Evolution of a Sand Gravel Reach Under a Lack of Sediment Supply

Science.gov (United States)

Orru, C.; Chavarrias, V.; Ferrara, V.; Blom, A.

2014-12-01

A flume experiment was conducted to examine the evolution of a sand-gravel reach under a lack of sediment supply. The experimental data are used to validate a numerical sand-gravel model. A bed composed of a bi-modal sediment mixture is installed with a uniform slope and an imposed gradual fining pattern. Initially, the sand fraction gradually increases in streamwise direction until the bed is fully composed of sand. The water discharge and downstream water level were constant, and the sediment feed rate was equal to zero. The experiment was dominated by bed load, partial transport, and a subcritical flow regime was imposed. The flow rate was such that only sand was mobile (partial transport), which led to a coarsening over the upstream reach and a gradual reduction of the sediment transport rate during the experiment. New equipment was used to measure the evolution of the grain size distribution of the bed surface during the experiment over the entire flume using image analysis. In the upstream reach we observed a gradual coarsening over time and the formation of an armour layer, which resulted in a more abrupt transition in grain size of the bed surface. Bed degradation increased in streamwise direction. This is due to the initial streamwise increase in the availability of sand in the bed. The different volume fraction content of sand in the bed allowed for the gravel to sink more in the downstream part of the upstream reach. The sand reach suffered from a larger degradation. Finally, we see one reach dominated by sand, small bedforms, and a small bed slope, and a gravel reach dominated by a larger bed slope.

LQ optimal and reaching law-based sliding modes for inventory management systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ignaciuk, Przemysław; Bartoszewicz, Andrzej

2012-01-01

In this article, the theory of discrete sliding-mode control is used to design new supply strategies for periodic-review inventory systems. In the considered systems, the stock used to fulfil an unknown, time-varying demand can be replenished from a single supply source or from multiple suppliers procuring orders with different delays. The proposed strategies guarantee that demand is always entirely satisfied from the on-hand stock (yielding the maximum service level), and the warehouse capacity is not exceeded (which eliminates the cost of emergency storage). In contrast to the classical, stochastic approaches, in this article, we focus on optimising the inventory system dynamics. The parameters of the first control strategy are selected by minimising a quadratic cost functional. Next, it is shown how the system dynamical performance can be improved by applying the concept of a reaching law with the appropriately adjusted reaching phase. The stable, nonoscillatory behaviour of the closed-loop system is demonstrated and the properties of the designed controllers are discussed and strictly proved.

Blood corticosterone concentration reaches critical illness levels early during acute malnutrition in the weanling mouse.

Science.gov (United States)

Monk, Jennifer M; Makinen, Kimberley; Shrum, Bradly; Woodward, Bill

2006-03-01

Acute (i.e., wasting) pediatric malnutrition consistently elevates blood glucocorticoid levels, but neither the magnitude of the rise in concentration nor its kinetics is clear. Male and female C57BL/6J mice, initially 19 days old, and CBA/J mice, initially 23 days old, consumed a complete purified diet either ad libitum (age-matched control) or in restricted daily quantities (mimicking marasmus), or they consumed a purified isocaloric low-protein diet ad libitum (mimicking incipient kwashiorkor). Serum levels of corticosterone were assessed by double antibody radioimmunoassay after 3, 6, and 14 days (C57BL/6J strain) or after 6 and 14 days in the genetically distant CBA/J strain. Age-matched control groups of both strains exhibited mean corticosterone levels of 5-30 ng/ml, whereas the acutely malnourished groups exhibited mean levels of this hormone that were elevated by more than an order of magnitude as early as 3 days after initiation of weight loss. This outcome was confirmed in a second experiment in which the serum corticosterone level of C57BL/6J weanlings was examined by competitive binding enzyme immunoassay 3 and 14 days after initiation of the dietary protocols. Therefore, deficits of protein and/or energy in weanling murine systems relevant to acute pediatric malnutrition elicit early elevations in blood glucocorticoid levels to a magnitude reminiscent of critical illness and multiple trauma. The key to this novel finding was an exsanguination method that permitted accurate assessment of the blood corticosterone level of the healthy, quiescent mouse. Overall, the results of this investigation provide a new perspective on the glucocorticoids as part of the early hormonal response to acute weanling malnutrition coincident with the shift toward catabolic metabolism and the initiation of depression in cellular immune competence.

77 FR 3238 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-23

... Logistics Agency Primary Level Field Activities. Addresses may be obtained from the System manager below...; System of Records AGENCY: Defense Logistics Agency, DoD. ACTION: Notice To Amend a System of Records. SUMMARY: The Defense Logistics Agency is proposing to amend a system of records in its inventory of record...

76 FR 12076 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-04

.... For a list of system managers at the Defense Logistics Agency Primary Level Field Activities write to... managers at the Defense Logistics Agency Primary Level Field Activities, write to the Project Manager...; System of Records AGENCY: Defense Logistics Agency, DoD. ACTION: Notice to amend a system of records...

Environmental stressors afflicting tailwater stream reaches across the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, Leandro E.; Krogman, R. M.

2014-01-01

The tailwater is the reach of a stream immediately below an impoundment that is hydrologically, physicochemically and biologically altered by the presence and operation of a dam. The overall goal of this study was to gain a nationwide awareness of the issues afflicting tailwater reaches in the United States. Specific objectives included the following: (i) estimate the percentage of reservoirs that support tailwater reaches with environmental conditions suitable for fish assemblages throughout the year, (ii) identify and quantify major sources of environmental stress in those tailwaters that do support fish assemblages and (iii) identify environmental features of tailwater reaches that determine prevalence of key fish taxa. Data were collected through an online survey of fishery managers. Relative to objective 1, 42% of the 1306 reservoirs included in this study had tailwater reaches with sufficient flow to support a fish assemblage throughout the year. The surface area of the reservoir and catchment most strongly delineated reservoirs maintaining tailwater reaches with or without sufficient flow to support a fish assemblage throughout the year. Relative to objective 2, major sources of environmental stress generally reflected flow variables, followed by water quality variables. Relative to objective 3, zoogeography was the primary factor discriminating fish taxa in tailwaters, followed by a wide range of flow and water quality variables. Results for objectives 1–3 varied greatly among nine geographic regions distributed throughout the continental United States. Our results provide a large-scale view of the effects of reservoirs on tailwater reaches and may help guide research and management needs.

Arctic Sea Level Reconstruction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svendsen, Peter Limkilde

Reconstruction of historical Arctic sea level is very difficult due to the limited coverage and quality of tide gauge and altimetry data in the area. This thesis addresses many of these issues, and discusses strategies to help achieve a stable and plausible reconstruction of Arctic sea level from...... 1950 to today.The primary record of historical sea level, on the order of several decades to a few centuries, is tide gauges. Tide gauge records from around the world are collected in the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) database, and includes data along the Arctic coasts. A reasonable...... amount of data is available along the Norwegian and Russian coasts since 1950, and most published research on Arctic sea level extends cautiously from these areas. Very little tide gauge data is available elsewhere in the Arctic, and records of a length of several decades,as generally recommended for sea...

The Analysis and Suppression of the spike noise in vibrator record

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, H.; Jiang, T.; Xu, X.; Ge, L.; Lin, J.; Yang, Z.

2013-12-01

During the seismic exploration with vibrator, seismic recording systems have often been affected by random spike noise in the background, which leads to strong data distortions as a result of the cross-correlation processing of the vibrator method. Partial or total loss of the desired seismic information is possible if no automatic spike reduction is available in the field prior to correlation of the field record. Generally speaking, original record of vibrator is uncorrelated data, in which the signal is non-wavelet form. In order to obtain the seismic record similar to explosive source, the signal of uncorrelated data needs to use the correlation algorithm to compress into wavelet form. The correlation process results in that the interference of spike in correlated data is not only being suppressed, but also being expanded. So the spike noise suppression of vibrator is indispensable. According to numerical simulation results, the effect of spike in the vibrator record is mainly affected by the amplitude and proportional points in the uncorrelated record. When the spike noise ratio in uncorrelated record reaches 1.5% and the average amplitude exceeds 200, it will make the SNR(signal-to-noise ratio) of the correlated record lower than 0dB, so that it is difficult to separate the signal. While the amplitude and ratio is determined by the intensity of background noise. Therefore, when the noise level is strong, in order to improve SNR of the seismic data, the uncorrelated record of vibrator need to take necessary steps to suppress spike noise. For the sake of reducing the influence of the spike noise, we need to make the detection and suppression of spike noise process for the uncorrelated record. Because vibrator works by inputting sweep signal into the underground long time, ideally, the peak and valley values of each trace have little change. On the basis of the peak and valley values, we can get a reference amplitude value. Then the spike can be detected and

Scientific governance and the process for exposure scenario development in REACH

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Money, C.D.; Hemmen, J.J. van; Vermeire, T.G.

2007-01-01

The primary process established by the European Commission to address the science needed to define key REACH concepts and to help rationally implement REACH's ambitions is enshrined in a series of activities known as the REACH Implementation Projects (RIPs). These are projects that aim to define the

Building a national electronic medical record exchange system - experiences in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yu-Chuan Jack; Yen, Ju-Chuan; Chiu, Wen-Ta; Jian, Wen-Shan; Syed-Abdul, Shabbir; Hsu, Min-Huei

2015-08-01

There are currently 501 hospitals and about 20,000 clinics in Taiwan. The National Health Insurance (NHI) system, which is operated by the NHI Administration, uses a single-payer system and covers 99.9% of the nation's total population of 23,000,000. Taiwan's NHI provides people with a high degree of freedom in choosing their medical care options. However, there is the potential concern that the available medical resources will be overused. The number of doctor consultations per person per year is about 15. Duplication of laboratory tests and prescriptions are not rare either. Building an electronic medical record exchange system is a good method of solving these problems and of improving continuity in health care. In November 2009, Taiwan's Executive Yuan passed the 'Plan for accelerating the implementation of electronic medical record systems in medical institutions' (2010-2012; a 3-year plan). According to this plan, a patient can, at any hospital in Taiwan, by using his/her health insurance IC card and physician's medical professional IC card, upon signing a written agreement, retrieve all important medical records for the past 6 months from other participating hospitals. The focus of this plan is to establish the National Electronic Medical Record Exchange Centre (EEC). A hospital's information system will be connected to the EEC through an electronic medical record (EMR) gateway. The hospital will convert the medical records for the past 6 months in its EMR system into standardized files and save them on the EMR gateway. The most important functions of the EEC are to generate an index of all the XML files on the EMR gateways of all hospitals, and to provide search and retrieval services for hospitals and clinics. The EEC provides four standard inter-institution EMR retrieval services covering medical imaging reports, laboratory test reports, discharge summaries, and outpatient records. In this system, we adopted the Health Level 7 (HL7) Clinical Document

Quality assurance records and records' system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Link, M.; Martinek, J.

1980-01-01

For nuclear power plants extensive proof of quality is required which has to be documented reliably by quality records. With respect to the paper volume it is the most comprehensive 'curriculum vitae' of the technique. Traditional methods of information and recording are unsatisfactory for meeting regulatory requirements for maintaining the QA-aspects of status reporting, completeness, traceability and retrieval. Therefore KWU has established a record (documentation) subsystem within the overall component qualification system. Examples of the general documentation requirements, the procedure and handling in accordance with this subsystem for mechanical equipment are to be described examplarily. Topics are: - National and international requirements - Definition of QA records - Modular and product orientated KWU-record subsystem - Criteria for developing records - Record control, distribution, collection, storage - New documentation techniques (microfilm, data processing) - Education and training of personnel. (orig./RW)

The effect of signal acquisition and processing choices on ApEn values: towards a "gold standard" for distinguishing effort levels from isometric force records.

Science.gov (United States)

Forrest, Sarah M; Challis, John H; Winter, Samantha L

2014-06-01

Approximate entropy (ApEn) is frequently used to identify changes in the complexity of isometric force records with ageing and disease. Different signal acquisition and processing parameters have been used, making comparison or confirmation of results difficult. This study determined the effect of sampling and parameter choices by examining changes in ApEn values across a range of submaximal isometric contractions of the first dorsal interosseus. Reducing the sample rate by decimation changed both the value and pattern of ApEn values dramatically. The pattern of ApEn values across the range of effort levels was not sensitive to the filter cut-off frequency, or the criterion used to extract the section of data for analysis. The complexity increased with increasing effort levels using a fixed 'r' value (which accounts for measurement noise) but decreased with increasing effort level when 'r' was set to 0.1 of the standard deviation of force. It is recommended isometric force records are sampled at frequencies >200Hz, template length ('m') is set to 2, and 'r' set to measurement system noise or 0.1SD depending on physiological process to be distinguished. It is demonstrated that changes in ApEn across effort levels are related to changes in force gradation strategy. Copyright © 2014 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Accurate blood pressure recording: is it difficult?

Science.gov (United States)

Bhalla, A; Singh, R; D'cruz, S; Lehl, S S; Sachdev, A

2005-11-01

Blood pressure (BP) measurement is a routine procedure but errors are frequently committed during BP recording. AIMS AND SETTINGS: The aim of the study was to look at the prevalent practices in the institute regarding BP recording. The study was conducted in the Medicine Department at Government Medical College, Chandigarh, a teaching institute for MBBS students. A prospective, observational study was performed amongst the 80 doctors in a tertiary care hospital. All of them were observed by a single observer during the act of BP recording. The observer was well versed with the guidelines issued by British Hypertension Society (BHS) and the deviations from the standard set of guidelines issued by BHS were noted. The errors were defined as deviations from these guidelines. The results were recorded as percentage of doctors committing these errors. In our study, 90% used mercury type sphygmomanometer. Zero error of the apparatus, hand dominance was not noted by any one. Every one used the standard BP cuff for recording BP. 70% of them did not let the patient rest before recording BP. 80% did not remove the clothing from the arm. None of them recorded BP in both arms. In out patient setting, 80% recorded blood pressure in sitting position and 14% in supine position. In all the patients where BP was recorded in sitting position BP apparatus was below the level of heart and 20% did not have their arm supported. 60% did not use palpatory method for noticing systolic BP and 70% did not raise pressure 30-40 mm Hg above the systolic level before checking the BP by auscultation. 80% lowered the BP at a rate of more than 2 mm/s and 60% rounded off the BP to nearest 5-10 mm Hg. 70% recorded BP only once and 90% of the rest re inflated the cuff without completely deflating and allowing rest before a second reading was obtained. The practice of recording BP in our hospital varies from the standard guidelines issued by the BHS.

Solar Hydrogen Reaching Maturity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rongé Jan

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Increasingly vast research efforts are devoted to the development of materials and processes for solar hydrogen production by light-driven dissociation of water into oxygen and hydrogen. Storage of solar energy in chemical bonds resolves the issues associated with the intermittent nature of sunlight, by decoupling energy generation and consumption. This paper investigates recent advances and prospects in solar hydrogen processes that are reaching market readiness. Future energy scenarios involving solar hydrogen are proposed and a case is made for systems producing hydrogen from water vapor present in air, supported by advanced modeling.

The Cognition of Maximal Reach Distance in Parkinson’s Disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Satoru Otsuki

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to investigate whether the cognition of spatial distance in reaching movements was decreased in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD and whether this cognition was associated with various symptoms of PD. Estimated and actual maximal reaching distances were measured in three directions in PD patients and healthy elderly volunteers. Differences between estimated and actual measurements were compared within each group. In the PD patients, the associations between “error in cognition” of reaching distance and “clinical findings” were also examined. The results showed that no differences were observed in any values regardless of dominance of hand and severity of symptoms. The differences between the estimated and actual measurements were negatively deviated in the PD patients, indicating that they tended to underestimate reaching distance. “Error in cognition” of reaching distance correlated with the items of posture in the motor section of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. This suggests that, in PD patients, postural deviation and postural instability might affect the cognition of the distance from a target object.

Children's Visual Processing of Egocentric Cues in Action Planning for Reach

Science.gov (United States)

Cordova, Alberto; Gabbard, Carl

2011-01-01

In this study the authors examined children's ability to code visual information into an egocentric frame of reference for planning reach movements. Children and adults estimated reach distance via motor imagery in immediate and response-delay conditions. Actual maximum reach was compared to estimates in multiple locations in peripersonal and…

Drive-based recording analyses at >800 Gfc/in2 using shingled recording

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

William Cross, R.; Montemorra, Michael

2012-01-01

Since the introduction of perpendicular recording, conventional perpendicular scaling has enabled the hard disk drive industry to deliver products ranging from ∼130 to well over 500 Gb/in 2 in a little over 4 years. The incredible areal density growth spurt enabled by perpendicular recording is now endangered by an inability to effectively balance writeability with erasure effects at the system level. Shingled magnetic recording (SMR) offers an effective means to continue perpendicular areal density growth using conventional heads and tuned media designs. The use of specially designed edge-write head structures (also known as 'corner writers') should further increase the AD gain potential for shingled recording. In this paper, we will demonstrate the drive-based recording performance characteristics of a shingled recording system at areal densities in excess of 800 Gb/in 2 using a conventional head. Using a production drive base, developmental heads/media and a number of sophisticated analytical routines, we have studied the recording performance of a shingled magnetic recording subsystem. Our observations confirm excellent writeability in excess of 400 ktpi and a perpendicular system with acceptable noise balance, especially at extreme ID and OD skews where the benefits of SMR are quite pronounced. We believe that this demonstration illustrates that SMR is not only capable of productization, but is likely the path of least resistance toward production drive areal density closer to 1 Tb/in 2 and beyond. - Research highlights: → Drive-based recording demonstrations at 805 Gf/in 2 has been demonstrated using both 95 and 65 mm drive platforms at roughly 430 ktpi and 1.87 Mfci. → Limiting factors for shingled recording include side reading, which is dominated by the reader crosstrack skirt profile, MT10 being a representative metric. → Media jitter and associated DC media SNR further limit areal density, dominated by crosstrack transition curvature, downtrack

Spinstand demonstration of areal density enhancement using two-dimensional magnetic recording (invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Lippman, Thomas; Brockie, Richard; Coker, Jon; Contreras, John; Galbraith, Rick; Garzon, Samir; Hanson, Weldon; Leong, Tom; Marley, Arley; Wood, Roger; Zakai, Rehan; Zolla, Howard; Duquette, Paul; Petrizzi, Joe

2015-05-01

Exponential growth of the areal density has driven the magnetic recording industry for almost sixty years. But now areal density growth is slowing down, suggesting that current technologies are reaching their fundamental limit. The next generation of recording technologies, namely, energy-assisted writing and bit-patterned media, remains just over the horizon. Two-Dimensional Magnetic Recording (TDMR) is a promising new approach, enabling continued areal density growth with only modest changes to the heads and recording electronics. We demonstrate a first generation implementation of TDMR by using a dual-element read sensor to improve the recovery of data encoded by a conventional low-density parity-check (LDPC) channel. The signals are combined with a 2D equalizer into a single modified waveform that is decoded by a standard LDPC channel. Our detection hardware can perform simultaneous measurement of the pre- and post-combined error rate information, allowing one set of measurements to assess the absolute areal density capability of the TDMR system as well as the gain over a conventional shingled magnetic recording system with identical components. We discuss areal density measurements using this hardware and demonstrate gains exceeding five percent based on experimental dual reader components.

Spinstand demonstration of areal density enhancement using two-dimensional magnetic recording (invited)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lippman, Thomas; Brockie, Richard; Contreras, John; Garzon, Samir; Leong, Tom; Marley, Arley; Wood, Roger; Zakai, Rehan; Zolla, Howard; Coker, Jon; Galbraith, Rick; Hanson, Weldon; Duquette, Paul; Petrizzi, Joe

2015-01-01

Exponential growth of the areal density has driven the magnetic recording industry for almost sixty years. But now areal density growth is slowing down, suggesting that current technologies are reaching their fundamental limit. The next generation of recording technologies, namely, energy-assisted writing and bit-patterned media, remains just over the horizon. Two-Dimensional Magnetic Recording (TDMR) is a promising new approach, enabling continued areal density growth with only modest changes to the heads and recording electronics. We demonstrate a first generation implementation of TDMR by using a dual-element read sensor to improve the recovery of data encoded by a conventional low-density parity-check (LDPC) channel. The signals are combined with a 2D equalizer into a single modified waveform that is decoded by a standard LDPC channel. Our detection hardware can perform simultaneous measurement of the pre- and post-combined error rate information, allowing one set of measurements to assess the absolute areal density capability of the TDMR system as well as the gain over a conventional shingled magnetic recording system with identical components. We discuss areal density measurements using this hardware and demonstrate gains exceeding five percent based on experimental dual reader components

Spinstand demonstration of areal density enhancement using two-dimensional magnetic recording (invited)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lippman, Thomas, E-mail: Thomas.Lippman@hgst.com; Brockie, Richard; Contreras, John; Garzon, Samir; Leong, Tom; Marley, Arley; Wood, Roger; Zakai, Rehan; Zolla, Howard [HGST, a Western Digital Company, San Jose, California 95119 (United States); Coker, Jon; Galbraith, Rick; Hanson, Weldon [HGST, a Western Digital Company, Rochester, Minnesota 55901 (United States); Duquette, Paul; Petrizzi, Joe [Avago Technologies, San Jose, California 95131 (United States)

2015-05-07

Exponential growth of the areal density has driven the magnetic recording industry for almost sixty years. But now areal density growth is slowing down, suggesting that current technologies are reaching their fundamental limit. The next generation of recording technologies, namely, energy-assisted writing and bit-patterned media, remains just over the horizon. Two-Dimensional Magnetic Recording (TDMR) is a promising new approach, enabling continued areal density growth with only modest changes to the heads and recording electronics. We demonstrate a first generation implementation of TDMR by using a dual-element read sensor to improve the recovery of data encoded by a conventional low-density parity-check (LDPC) channel. The signals are combined with a 2D equalizer into a single modified waveform that is decoded by a standard LDPC channel. Our detection hardware can perform simultaneous measurement of the pre- and post-combined error rate information, allowing one set of measurements to assess the absolute areal density capability of the TDMR system as well as the gain over a conventional shingled magnetic recording system with identical components. We discuss areal density measurements using this hardware and demonstrate gains exceeding five percent based on experimental dual reader components.

Muscle Synergies Control during Hand-Reaching Tasks in Multiple Directions Post-stroke

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sharon Israely

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose: A muscle synergies model was suggested to represent a simplifying motor control mechanism by the brainstem and spinal cord. The aim of the study was to investigate the feasibility of such control mechanisms in the rehabilitation of post-stroke individuals during the execution of hand-reaching movements in multiple directions, compared to non-stroke individuals.Methods: Twelve non-stroke and 13 post-stroke individuals participated in the study. Muscle synergies were extracted from EMG data that was recorded during hand reaching tasks, using the NMF algorithm. The optimal number of synergies was evaluated in both groups using the Variance Accounted For (VAF and the Mean Squared Error (MSE. A cross validation procedure was carried out to define a representative set of synergies. The similarity index and the K-means algorithm were applied to validate the existence of such a set of synergies, but also to compare the modulation properties of synergies for different movement directions between groups. The similarity index and hierarchical cluster analysis were also applied to compare between group synergies.Results: Four synergies were chosen to optimally capture the variances in the EMG data, with mean VAF of 0.917 ± 0.034 and 0.883 ± 0.046 of the data variances, with respective MSE of 0.007 and 0.016, in the control and study groups, respectively. The representative set of synergies was set to be extracted from movement to the center of the reaching space. Two synergies had different muscle activation balance between groups. Seven and 17 clusters partitioned the muscle synergies of the control and study groups. The control group exhibited a gradual change in the activation in the amplitude in the time domain (modulation of synergies, as reflected by the similarity index, whereas the study group exhibited consistently significant differences between all movement directions and the representative set of synergies. The study findings support

Key Design Requirements for Long-Reach Manipulators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwon, D.S.

2001-01-01

Long-reach manipulators differ from industrial robots and teleoperators typically used in the nuclear industry in that the aspect ratio (length to diameter) of links is much greater and link flexibility, as well as joint or drive train flexibility, is likely to be significant. Long-reach manipulators will be required for a variety of applications in the Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Program. While each application will present specific functional, kinematic, and performance requirements, an approach for determining the kinematic applicability and performance characteristics is presented, with a focus on waste storage tank remediation. Requirements are identified, kinematic configurations are considered, and a parametric study of link design parameters and their effects on performance characteristics is presented.

Key design requirements for long-reach manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, D.S.; March-Leuba, S.; Babcock, S.M.; Hamel, W.R.

1993-09-01

Long-reach manipulators differ from industrial robots and teleoperators typically used in the nuclear industry in that the aspect ratio (length to diameter) of links is much greater and link flexibility, as well as joint or drive train flexibility, is likely to be significant. Long-reach manipulators will be required for a variety of applications in the Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Program. While each application will present specific functional kinematic, and performance requirements an approach for determining the kinematic applicability and performance characteristics is presented, with a focus on waste storage tank remediation. Requirements are identified, kinematic configurations are considered, and a parametric study of link design parameters and their effects on performance characteristics is presented

Key Design Requirements for Long-Reach Manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, D.S.

2001-01-01

Long-reach manipulators differ from industrial robots and teleoperators typically used in the nuclear industry in that the aspect ratio (length to diameter) of links is much greater and link flexibility, as well as joint or drive train flexibility, is likely to be significant. Long-reach manipulators will be required for a variety of applications in the Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Program. While each application will present specific functional, kinematic, and performance requirements, an approach for determining the kinematic applicability and performance characteristics is presented, with a focus on waste storage tank remediation. Requirements are identified, kinematic configurations are considered, and a parametric study of link design parameters and their effects on performance characteristics is presented

ATLAS Level-1 Topological Trigger : Commissioning and Validation in Run 2

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(SzGeCERN)788741; The ATLAS collaboration; Hong, Tae Min

2017-01-01

The ATLAS experiment has recently commissioned a new hardware component of its first-level trigger: the topological processor (L1Topo). This innovative system, using state-of-the-art FPGA processors, selects events by applying kinematic and topological requirements on candidate objects (energy clusters, jets, and muons) measured by calorimeters and muon sub-detectors. Since the first-level trigger is a synchronous pipelined system, such requirements are applied within a latency of 200ns. We will present the first results from data recorded using the L1Topo trigger; these demonstrate a significantly improved background event rejection, thus allowing for a rate reduction without efficiency loss. This improvement has been shown for several physics processes leading to low-$P_{T}$ leptons, including $H\\to{}\\tau{}\\tau{}$ and $J/\\Psi\\to{}\\mu{}\\mu{}$. In addition, we will discuss the use of an accurate L1Topo simulation as a powerful tool to validate and optimize the performance of this new trigger system. To reach ...

Sea-level variability over five glacial cycles.

Science.gov (United States)

Grant, K M; Rohling, E J; Ramsey, C Bronk; Cheng, H; Edwards, R L; Florindo, F; Heslop, D; Marra, F; Roberts, A P; Tamisiea, M E; Williams, F

2014-09-25

Research on global ice-volume changes during Pleistocene glacial cycles is hindered by a lack of detailed sea-level records for time intervals older than the last interglacial. Here we present the first robustly dated, continuous and highly resolved records of Red Sea sea level and rates of sea-level change over the last 500,000 years, based on tight synchronization to an Asian monsoon record. We observe maximum 'natural' (pre-anthropogenic forcing) sea-level rise rates below 2 m per century following periods with up to twice present-day ice volumes, and substantially higher rise rates for greater ice volumes. We also find that maximum sea-level rise rates were attained within 2 kyr of the onset of deglaciations, for 85% of such events. Finally, multivariate regressions of orbital parameters, sea-level and monsoon records suggest that major meltwater pulses account for millennial-scale variability and insolation-lagged responses in Asian monsoon records.

Dynamic channel adjustments in the Jingjiang Reach of the Middle Yangtze River

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Junqiang; Deng, Shanshan; Lu, Jinyou; Xu, Quanxi; Zong, Quanli; Tan, Guangming

2016-03-01

Significant channel adjustments have occurred in the Jingjiang Reach of the Middle Yangtze River, because of the operation of the Three Gorges Project (TGP). The Jingjiang Reach is selected as the study area, covering the Upper Jingjiang Reach (UJR) and Lower Jingjiang Reach (LJR). The reach-scale bankfull channel dimensions in the study reach were calculated annually from 2002 to 2013 by means of a reach-averaged approach and surveyed post-flood profiles at 171 sections. We find from the calculated results that: the reach-scale bankfull widths changed slightly in the UJR and LJR, with the corresponding depths increasing by 1.6 m and 1.0 m the channel adjustments occurred mainly with respect to bankfull depth because of the construction of large-scale bank revetment works, although there were significant bank erosion processes in local regions without the bank protection engineering. The reach-scale bankfull dimensions in the UJR and LJR generally responded to the previous five-year average fluvial erosion intensity during flood seasons, with higher correlations being obtained for the depth and cross-sectional area. It is concluded that these dynamic adjustments of the channel geometry are a direct result of recent human activities such as the TGP operation.

77 FR 40863 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-11

... media. Retrievability: Records are retrieved by the individual's name. Safeguards: Records are... personal information necessary to locate the record sought. While the Social Security Number (SSN) is not required, providing it will expedite the authentication of the requestor's identity and clearance level. In...

Impact of Austrian hydropower plants on the flood control safety of the Hungarian Danube reach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zsuffa, I.

1999-01-01

Statistical analysis of daily water level data from four gauging stations along the Hungarian Danube reach has been carried out with the purpose of analysing the impact of the Austrian hydropower plants on the floods of the river. Conditional probability distribution functions of annual flood load maxima and annual number of floods were generated for the periods 1957-1976 and 1977-1996. By comparing these distribution functions, it could be shown that the flood load maxima have decreased, while the number of small and medium floods have increased during the past forty years. These changes indicate a decreased rate of flood superposition resulting from the barrages constructed in this period. The significantly decreased flood load maxima indicate that the Austrian barrage system has positive impact on the flood control safety of the Hungarian Danube reach

The interaction between schema matching and record matching in data integration (extended abstract)

KAUST Repository

Gu, Binbin; Li, Zhixu; Zhang, Xiangliang; Liu, An; Liu, Guanfeng; Zheng, Kai; Zhao, Lei; Zhou, Xiaofang

2017-01-01

Schema Matching (SM) and Record Matching (RM) are two necessary steps in integrating multiple relational tables of different schemas, where SM unifies the schemas and RM detects records referring to the same real-world entity. The two processes have been thoroughly studied separately, but few attention has been paid to the interaction of SM and RM. In this work we find that, even alternating them in a simple manner, SM and RM can benefit from each other to reach a better integration performance (i.e., in terms of precision and recall). Therefore, combining SM and RM is a promising solution for improving data integration.

The interaction between schema matching and record matching in data integration (extended abstract)

KAUST Repository

Gu, Binbin

2017-05-18

Schema Matching (SM) and Record Matching (RM) are two necessary steps in integrating multiple relational tables of different schemas, where SM unifies the schemas and RM detects records referring to the same real-world entity. The two processes have been thoroughly studied separately, but few attention has been paid to the interaction of SM and RM. In this work we find that, even alternating them in a simple manner, SM and RM can benefit from each other to reach a better integration performance (i.e., in terms of precision and recall). Therefore, combining SM and RM is a promising solution for improving data integration.

Authentication Assurance Levels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kouzes, Richard T.; Cash, James R.; Devaney, David M.; Geelhood, Bruce D.; Hansen, Randy R.; Melton, Ronald B.; Pitts, W. Karl

2002-01-01

This Common Criteria approach has been applied to create a definition of Authentication Assurance Levels that can quantify the level of assurance reached for a system subject to a set of authentication procedures. The arms-control authentication application of the Common Criteria expands on more typical information security evaluations in that it must contend with information barriers and preclude sophisticated intentional subversion attempts.

Efficacy of REACH Forgiveness across cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Yin; Worthington, Everett L; Griffin, Brandon J; Greer, Chelsea L; Opare-Henaku, Annabella; Lavelock, Caroline R; Hook, Joshua N; Ho, Man Yee; Muller, Holly

2014-09-01

This study investigates the efficacy of the 6-hour REACH Forgiveness intervention among culturally diverse undergraduates. Female undergraduates (N = 102) and foreign extraction (46.2%) and domestic (43.8%) students in the United States were randomly assigned to immediate treatment or waitlist conditions. Treatment efficacy and the effect of culture on treatment response were assessed using measures of emotional and decisional forgiveness across 3 time periods. Students in the treatment condition reported greater improvement in emotional forgiveness, but not decisional forgiveness, relative to those in the waitlist condition. Gains were maintained at a 1-week follow-up. Although culture did not moderate the effect of treatment, a main effect of culture on emotional forgiveness and marginally significant interaction effect of culture on decisional forgiveness were found. The REACH Forgiveness intervention was efficacious for college students from different cultural backgrounds when conducted in the United States. However, some evidence may warrant development of culturally adapted forgiveness interventions. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Local field potential recordings in a non-human primate model of Parkinsons disease using the Activa PC + S neurostimulator

Science.gov (United States)

Connolly, Allison T.; Muralidharan, Abirami; Hendrix, Claudia; Johnson, Luke; Gupta, Rahul; Stanslaski, Scott; Denison, Tim; Baker, Kenneth B.; Vitek, Jerrold L.; Johnson, Matthew D.

2015-12-01

Objective. Using the Medtronic Activa® PC + S system, this study investigated how passive joint manipulation, reaching behavior, and deep brain stimulation (DBS) modulate local field potential (LFP) activity in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and globus pallidus (GP). Approach. Five non-human primates were implanted unilaterally with one or more DBS leads. LFPs were collected in montage recordings during resting state conditions and during motor tasks that facilitate the expression of parkinsonian motor signs. These recordings were made in the naïve state in one subject, in the parkinsonian state in two subjects, and in both naïve and parkinsonian states in two subjects. Main results. LFPs measured at rest were consistent over time for a given recording location and parkinsonian state in a given subject; however, LFPs were highly variable between subjects, between and within recording locations, and across parkinsonian states. LFPs in both naïve and parkinsonian states across all recorded nuclei contained a spectral peak in the beta band (10-30 Hz). Moreover, the spectral content of recorded LFPs was modulated by passive and active movement of the subjects’ limbs. LFPs recorded during a cued-reaching task displayed task-related beta desynchronization in STN and GP. The bidirectional capabilities of the Activa® PC + S also allowed for recording LFPs while delivering DBS. The therapeutic effect of STN DBS on parkinsonian rigidity outlasted stimulation for 30-60 s, but there was no correlation with beta band power. Significance. This study emphasizes (1) the variability in spontaneous LFPs amongst subjects and (2) the value of using the Activa® PC + S system to record neural data in the context of behavioral tasks that allow one to evaluate a subject’s symptomatology.

Local field potential recordings in a non-human primate model of Parkinsons disease using the Activa PC + S neurostimulator

Science.gov (United States)

Connolly, Allison T; Muralidharan, Abirami; Hendrix, Claudia; Johnson, Luke; Gupta, Rahul; Stanslaski, Scott; Denison, Tim; Baker, Kenneth B; Vitek, Jerrold L; Johnson, Matthew D

2016-01-01

Objective Using the Medtronic Activa® PC + S system, this study investigated how passive joint manipulation, reaching behavior, and deep brain stimulation (DBS) modulate local field potential (LFP) activity in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and globus pallidus (GP). Approach Five non-human primates were implanted unilaterally with one or more DBS leads. LFPs were collected in montage recordings during resting state conditions and during motor tasks that facilitate the expression of parkinsonian motor signs. These recordings were made in the naïve state in one subject, in the parkinsonian state in two subjects, and in both naïve and parkinsonian states in two subjects. Main results LFPs measured at rest were consistent over time for a given recording location and parkinsonian state in a given subject; however, LFPs were highly variable between subjects, between and within recording locations, and across parkinsonian states. LFPs in both naïve and parkinsonian states across all recorded nuclei contained a spectral peak in the beta band (10–30 Hz). Moreover, the spectral content of recorded LFPs was modulated by passive and active movement of the subjects’ limbs. LFPs recorded during a cued-reaching task displayed task-related beta desynchronization in STN and GP. The bidirectional capabilities of the Activa® PC + S also allowed for recording LFPs while delivering DBS. The therapeutic effect of STN DBS on parkinsonian rigidity outlasted stimulation for 30–60 s, but there was no correlation with beta band power. Significance This study emphasizes (1) the variability in spontaneous LFPs amongst subjects and (2) the value of using the Activa® PC + S system to record neural data in the context of behavioral tasks that allow one to evaluate a subject’s symptomatology. PMID:26469737

Hydrodynamic Simulation of the Columbia River, Hanford Reach, 1940--2004

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Waichler, Scott R.; Perkins, William A.; Richmond, Marshall C.

2005-06-15

Many hydrological and biological problems in the Columbia River corridor through the Hanford Site require estimates of river stage (water surface elevation) or river flow and velocity. Systematic collection of river stage data at locations in the Hanford Reach began in 1991, but many environmental projects need river stage information at unmeasured locations or over longer time periods. The Modular Aquatic Simulation System 1D (MASS1), a one-dimensional, unsteady hydrodynamic and water quality model, was used to simulate the Columbia River from Priest Rapids Dam to McNary Dam from 1940 to 2004, providing estimates of water surface elevation, volumetric flow rate, and flow velocity at 161 locations on the Hanford Reach. The primary input data were bathymetric/topographic cross sections of the Columbia River channel, flow rates at Priest Rapids Dam, and stage at McNary Dam. Other inputs included Yakima River and Snake River inflows. Available flow data at a gaging station just below Priest Rapids Dam was mean daily flow from 1940 to 1986 and hourly thereafter. McNary dam was completed in 1957, and hourly stage data are available beginning in 1975. MASS1 was run at an hourly timestep and calibrated and tested using 1991--2004 river stage data from six Hanford Reach locations (areas 100B, 100N, 100D, 100H, 100F, and 300). Manning's roughness coefficient in the Reach above each river recorder location was adjusted using an automated genetic algorithm and gradient search technique in three separate calibrations, corresponding to different data subsets, with minimization of mean absolute error as the objective. The primary calibration was based on 1999, a representative year, and included all locations. The first alternative calibration also used all locations but was limited in time to a high-flow period during spring and early summer of 1997. The second alternative calibration was based on 1999 and included only 300 Area stage data. Model goodness-of-fit for all

Learning a Health Knowledge Graph from Electronic Medical Records.

Science.gov (United States)

Rotmensch, Maya; Halpern, Yoni; Tlimat, Abdulhakim; Horng, Steven; Sontag, David

2017-07-20

Demand for clinical decision support systems in medicine and self-diagnostic symptom checkers has substantially increased in recent years. Existing platforms rely on knowledge bases manually compiled through a labor-intensive process or automatically derived using simple pairwise statistics. This study explored an automated process to learn high quality knowledge bases linking diseases and symptoms directly from electronic medical records. Medical concepts were extracted from 273,174 de-identified patient records and maximum likelihood estimation of three probabilistic models was used to automatically construct knowledge graphs: logistic regression, naive Bayes classifier and a Bayesian network using noisy OR gates. A graph of disease-symptom relationships was elicited from the learned parameters and the constructed knowledge graphs were evaluated and validated, with permission, against Google's manually-constructed knowledge graph and against expert physician opinions. Our study shows that direct and automated construction of high quality health knowledge graphs from medical records using rudimentary concept extraction is feasible. The noisy OR model produces a high quality knowledge graph reaching precision of 0.85 for a recall of 0.6 in the clinical evaluation. Noisy OR significantly outperforms all tested models across evaluation frameworks (p < 0.01).

Reaching High Interactive Levels with Situated Agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guzmán-Obando J.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available El documento presenta un proceso coordinado a través del cual los agentes situados son capaces de trabajar en forma conjunta con el conocimiento de sus habilidades para interactuar con otras entidades similares. Una buena coordinación se deriva de que cada agente situado es capaz de representar sus tasas de idoneidad para llevar a cabo cualquier acción de una manera eficaz. Además de utilizar dichas tasas, un agente puede coordinar sus acciones con otros agentes. En este sentido, cada agente situado trata de seleccionar y realizar sólo las acciones con los mayores índices de ejecución. Algunos experimentos en un verdadero fútbol robótico banco de pruebas están diseñadas para poner en práctica el enfoque coordinado propuesto. Observaciones finales concluir la eficacia y las ventajas de la obra presentada con el fin de aumentar el rendimiento de un equipo integrado por agentes situados cuando tienen que resolver tareas complejas en un escenario dinámico, competitivo e impredecible.

Reach and grasp by people with tetraplegia using a neurally controlled robotic arm

Science.gov (United States)

Hochberg, Leigh R.; Bacher, Daniel; Jarosiewicz, Beata; Masse, Nicolas Y.; Simeral, John D.; Vogel, Joern; Haddadin, Sami; Liu, Jie; Cash, Sydney S.; van der Smagt, Patrick; Donoghue, John P.

2012-01-01

Paralysis following spinal cord injury (SCI), brainstem stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other disorders can disconnect the brain from the body, eliminating the ability to carry out volitional movements. A neural interface system (NIS)1–5 could restore mobility and independence for people with paralysis by translating neuronal activity directly into control signals for assistive devices. We have previously shown that people with longstanding tetraplegia can use an NIS to move and click a computer cursor and to control physical devices6–8. Able-bodied monkeys have used an NIS to control a robotic arm9, but it is unknown whether people with profound upper extremity paralysis or limb loss could use cortical neuronal ensemble signals to direct useful arm actions. Here, we demonstrate the ability of two people with long-standing tetraplegia to use NIS-based control of a robotic arm to perform three-dimensional reach and grasp movements. Participants controlled the arm over a broad space without explicit training, using signals decoded from a small, local population of motor cortex (MI) neurons recorded from a 96-channel microelectrode array. One of the study participants, implanted with the sensor five years earlier, also used a robotic arm to drink coffee from a bottle. While robotic reach and grasp actions were not as fast or accurate as those of an able-bodied person, our results demonstrate the feasibility for people with tetraplegia, years after CNS injury, to recreate useful multidimensional control of complex devices directly from a small sample of neural signals. PMID:22596161

Channel morphodynamics in four reaches of the Lower Missouri River, 2006-07

Science.gov (United States)

Elliott, Caroline M.; Reuter, Joanna M.; Jacobson, Robert B.

2009-01-01

Channel morphodynamics in response to flow modifications from Gavins Point Dam are examined in four reaches of the Lower Missouri River. Measures include changes in channel morphology and indicators of sediment transport in four 6 kilometer long reaches located downstream from Gavins Point Dam, near Yankton, South Dakota, Kenslers Bend, Nebraska, Little Sioux, Iowa, and Miami, Missouri. Each of the four reaches was divided into 300 transects with a 20-meter spacing and surveyed during the summer in 2006 and 2007. A subset of 30 transects was randomly selected and surveyed 7-10 times in 2006-07 over a wide range of discharges including managed and natural flow events. Hydroacoustic mapping used a survey-grade echosounder and a Real Time Kinematic Global Positioning System to evaluate channel change. Acoustic Doppler current profiler measurements were used to evaluate bed-sediment velocity. Results indicate varying amounts of deposition, erosion, net change, and sediment transport in the four Lower Missouri River reaches. The Yankton reach was the most stable over monthly and annual time-frames. The Kenslers Bend and Little Sioux reaches exhibited substantial amounts of deposition and erosion, although net change was generally low in both reaches. Total, or gross geomorphic change was greatest in the Kenslers Bend reach. The Miami reach exhibited varying rates of deposition and erosion, and low net change. The Yankton, Kenslers Bend, and Miami reaches experienced net erosion during the time period that bracketed the managed May 2006 spring rise event from Gavins Point Dam.

How infants' reaches reveal principles of sensorimotor decision making

Science.gov (United States)

Dineva, Evelina; Schöner, Gregor

2018-01-01

In Piaget's classical A-not-B-task, infants repeatedly make a sensorimotor decision to reach to one of two cued targets. Perseverative errors are induced by switching the cue from A to B, while spontaneous errors are unsolicited reaches to B when only A is cued. We argue that theoretical accounts of sensorimotor decision-making fail to address how motor decisions leave a memory trace that may impact future sensorimotor decisions. Instead, in extant neural models, perseveration is caused solely by the history of stimulation. We present a neural dynamic model of sensorimotor decision-making within the framework of Dynamic Field Theory, in which a dynamic instability amplifies fluctuations in neural activation into macroscopic, stable neural activation states that leave memory traces. The model predicts perseveration, but also a tendency to repeat spontaneous errors. To test the account, we pool data from several A-not-B experiments. A conditional probabilities analysis accounts quantitatively how motor decisions depend on the history of reaching. The results provide evidence for the interdependence among subsequent reaching decisions that is explained by the model, showing that by amplifying small differences in activation and affecting learning, decisions have consequences beyond the individual behavioural act.

Muscle synergy extraction during arm reaching movements at different speeds.

Science.gov (United States)

Sabzevari, Vahid Reza; Jafari, Amir Homayoun; Boostani, Reza

2017-01-01

Muscle synergy is the activation of a group of muscles that contribute to a particular movement. The goal of the present study is to examine the hypothesis that human reaching movements at different speeds share similar muscle synergies and to investigate the kinesiology basis and innervation of muscles. Electromyographic activity from six muscles of the upper limb and shoulder girdle were recorded during three movements at different speeds, i.e. slow, moderate and fast. The effect of window length on the RMS signal of the EMG was analyzed and then EMG envelope signals were decomposed using non-negative matrix factorization. For each of the ten subjects, three synergies were extracted which accounted for at least 99% of the VAF. For each movement, the muscle synergies and muscle activation coefficients of all participants were clustered in to three partitions. Investigation showed a high similarity and dependency of cluster members due to the cosine similarity and mutual information in muscle synergy clustering. For further verification, the EMG envelope signals for all subjects were reconstructed. The results indicated a lower reconstruction error using the center of the muscle synergy clusters in comparison with the average of the activation coefficients, which confirms the current research's hypothesis.

Amplified Erosion above Waterfalls and Oversteepened Bedrock Reaches

Science.gov (United States)

Haviv, I.; Enzel, Y.; Whipple, K. X.; Zilberman, E.; Stone, J.; Matmon, A.; Fifield, K. L.

2005-12-01

Although waterfalls are abundant along steep bedrock channels, none of the conventional erosion laws can predict incision at the lip of a waterfall where flow is non-uniform and bed slope can be vertical. Considering the expected increase in flow velocity and shear stress at the lip of a vertical waterfall we determine erosion amplification at a waterfall lip as: Elip/Enormal= (1+0.4/Fr2)3n, where Fr is the Froude number and n ranges between 0.5-1.7. This amplification expression suggests that erosion at the lip could be as much as 2-5 times higher than normally expected in a setting with identical hydraulic geometry. It also demonstrates that a freefall is expected to amplify upstream incision rates even when the flow approaching the waterfall is highly supercritical. Utilizing this erosion amplification expression in numerical simulations in conjunction with a standard detachment-limited incision model we demonstrate its impact on reach-scale morphology above waterfalls. These simulations indicate that amplified erosion at the lip of a waterfall can trigger the formation of an oversteepened reach whose length is longer than the flow acceleration zone, provided incision velocity (Vi) at the edge of the flow acceleration zone is higher than the retreat velocity of the waterfall face. Such an oversteepened reach is expected to be more pronounced when Vi increases with increasing slope. The simulations also suggest that oversteepening can eventually lead to quasi steady-state gradients upstream from a waterfall provided Vi decreases with increasing slope. Flow acceleration above waterfalls can thus account, at least partially, for oversteepened bedrock reaches that are prevalent above waterfalls. Such reaches have been reported for the escarpments of southeast Australia, western Dead Sea, and at Niagara Falls. Using the cosmogenic isotope 36Cl we demonstrate that Vi upstream of a waterfall at the Dead Sea western escarpment is high enough for freefall

Occurrence of Hirudinea species in a post urban reach of a Patagonian mountain stream

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Laura Miserendino

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Temporal (May 2005 to February 2006 and habitat distribution (pools and riffles of Hirudinea species was analyzed at a post urban reach from Esquel stream (Chubut province, Patagonia, Argentina. Site was located 5.7 km downstream a Waste Treatment Plant. Mean values of nutrients: ammonia, nitrates and soluble reactive phosphate, as well water conductivity, turbidity and total suspended solids indicated physical and organic pollution. Leeches assemblage was composed by the glossiphonids: Helobdella scutifera Blanchard, 1900, H. michaelseni (Blanchard, 1900, H. simplex (Moore, 1911, Helobdella sp., H. hyalina Ringuelet, 1942, H. obscura Ringuelet, 1942 and the semiscolecid Patagoniobdella variabilis (Blanchard, 1900. From these H. hyalina and H. obscura are new records for Chubut province. Helobdella hyalina (810 ind.m-2 and H. simplex (465 ind. m-2 clearly dominated the assemblage at the reach. Only H. simplex displayed a spatial preference being significantly more abundant in pools than in riffle habitats (p<0.001. Species recruitment occurred mostly at September, December and March when juveniles were very abundant. Although several species of Helobdella were able to live in the disturbed section of the stream, only H. simplex and H. hyalina sustained large populations at the site and can be considered as tolerant to organic enrichment. This information is valuable to future studies on stream condition assessment in mountainous areas in Patagonia, and in other areas in which these species are present.

The importance of reaching lipid targets: statins and the prevention of atherosclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwandt, P

2003-06-01

To help prevent the development of coronary heart disease (CHD), the European and NCEP guidelines have recommended target cholesterol levels for all individuals. Lifestyle changes are advocated for individuals not achieving these targets. Intervention with lipid-modifying agents may be required for patients at high risk of a cardiovascular event and statins are generally recognised as first-line therapy. Unfortunately, large numbers of patients at risk of cardiovascular events are not being treated to the guideline targets. Primary care physicians are in a good position to improve lipid management by assessing risk factors, implementing lipid management strategies, monitoring whether targets are being reached and amending treatment appropriately. Furthermore, by educating and motivating patients,primary care physicians may improve compliance with lifestyle changes and medication. These approaches may help more patients to achieve recommended lipid levels and prevent the development of cardiovascular disease.

Reaching the Overlooked Student in Physical Education

Science.gov (United States)

Esslinger, Keri; Esslinger, Travis; Bagshaw, Jarad

2015-01-01

This article describes the use of live action role-playing, or "LARPing," as a non-traditional activity that has the potential to reach students who are not interested in traditional physical education.

System-Level Design of a 64-Channel Low Power Neural Spike Recording Sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Delgado-Restituto, Manuel; Rodriguez-Perez, Alberto; Darie, Angela; Soto-Sanchez, Cristina; Fernandez-Jover, Eduardo; Rodriguez-Vazquez, Angel

2017-04-01

This paper reports an integrated 64-channel neural spike recording sensor, together with all the circuitry to process and configure the channels, process the neural data, transmit via a wireless link the information and receive the required instructions. Neural signals are acquired, filtered, digitized and compressed in the channels. Additionally, each channel implements an auto-calibration algorithm which individually configures the transfer characteristics of the recording site. The system has two transmission modes; in one case the information captured by the channels is sent as uncompressed raw data; in the other, feature vectors extracted from the detected neural spikes are released. Data streams coming from the channels are serialized by the embedded digital processor. Experimental results, including in vivo measurements, show that the power consumption of the complete system is lower than 330 μW.

Adaptive upstream rate adjustment by RSOA-ONU depending on different injection power of seeding light in standard-reach and long-reach PON systems

Science.gov (United States)

Yeh, C. H.; Chow, C. W.; Shih, F. Y.; Pan, C. L.

2012-08-01

The wavelength division multiplexing-time division multiplexing (WDM-TDM) passive optical network (PON) using reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA)-based colorless optical networking units (ONUs) is considered as a promising candidate for the realization of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH). And this architecture is actively considered by Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) for the realization of FTTH in Taiwan. However, different fiber distances and optical components would introduce different power budgets to different ONUs in the PON. Besides, due to the aging of optical transmitter (Tx), the power decay of the distributed optical carrier from the central office (CO) could also reduce the injection power into each ONU. The situation will be more severe in the long-reach (LR) PON, which is considered as an option for the future access. In this work, we investigate a WDM-TDM PON using RSOA-based ONU for upstream data rate adjustment depending on different continuous wave (CW) injection powers. Both standard-reach (25 km) and LR (100 km) transmissions are evaluated. Moreover, a detail analysis of the upstream signal bit-error rate (BER) performances at different injection powers, upstream data rates, PON split-ratios under stand-reach and long-reach is presented.

Do high sound pressure levels of crowing in roosters necessitate passive mechanisms for protection against self-vocalization?

Science.gov (United States)

Claes, Raf; Muyshondt, Pieter G G; Dirckx, Joris J J; Aerts, Peter

2018-02-01

High sound pressure levels (>120dB) cause damage or death of the hair cells of the inner ear, hence causing hearing loss. Vocalization differences are present between hens and roosters. Crowing in roosters is reported to produce sound pressure levels of 100dB measured at a distance of 1m. In this study we measured the sound pressure levels that exist at the entrance of the outer ear canal. We hypothesize that roosters may benefit from a passive protective mechanism while hens do not require such a mechanism. Audio recordings at the level of the entrance of the outer ear canal of crowing roosters, made in this study, indeed show that a protective mechanism is needed as sound pressure levels can reach amplitudes of 142.3dB. Audio recordings made at varying distances from the crowing rooster show that at a distance of 0.5m sound pressure levels already drop to 102dB. Micro-CT scans of a rooster and chicken head show that in roosters the auditory canal closes when the beak is opened. In hens the diameter of the auditory canal only narrows but does not close completely. A morphological difference between the sexes in shape of a bursa-like slit which occurs in the outer ear canal causes the outer ear canal to close in roosters but not in hens. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Record High US Measles Cases: Patient Vaccination, Clinical Assessment and Management

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

This podcast is an overview of the Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA) Call: Record High US Measles Cases: Patient Vaccination, Clinical Assessment and Management. In May 2014, the United States recorded the largest number of reported measles cases since 1994 and the number continues to rise. Most cases reported have been acquired in the U.S. and are associated with importations from countries where measles is still common. This highly contagious, acute viral illness spreads quickly in unvaccinated populations once reaching the U.S. The recent measles outbreaks highlight the importance of maintaining high vaccination coverage in the U.S. and ensuring age-appropriate vaccination for international travelers. During this COCA call, clinicians will learn the status of measles in the U.S. and CDC vaccination recommendations and guidelines for patient assessment and management.

Proximal and distal adjustments of reaching behavior in preterm infants.

Science.gov (United States)

de Toledo, Aline Martins; Soares, Daniele de Almeida; Tudella, Eloisa

2011-01-01

The authors aimed to investigate proximal and distal adjustments of reaching behavior and grasping in 5-, 6-, and 7-month-old preterm infants. Nine low-risk preterm and 10 full-term infants participated. Both groups showed the predominance of unimanual reaching, an age-related increase in the frequency of vertical-oriented and open hand movement, and also an increase in successful grasping from 6 to 7 months. The frequency of open hand was higher in the preterm group at 6 months. Intrinsic restrictions imposed by prematurity did not seem to have impaired reaching performance of preterm infants throughout the months of age.

VIIRS Climate Raw Data Record (C-RDR) from Suomi NPP, Version 1

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Suomi NPP Climate Raw Data Record (C-RDR) developed at the NOAA NCDC is an intermediate product processing level (NOAA Level 1b) between a Raw Data Record (RDR)...

Emerging role of HPV self-sampling in cervical cancer screening for hard-to-reach women: Focused literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Madzima, Tina R; Vahabi, Mandana; Lofters, Aisha

2017-08-01

To provide a focused critical review of the literature on the acceptability, feasibility, and uptake of human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling among hard-to-reach women. A focused search to obtain relevant literature published in English between 1997 and 2015 was done using PubMed and EMBASE using search terms including HPV self-test or HPV self-sample or HPV kit in combination with acceptability or feasibility . Only studies that focused on never-screened or underscreened populations were included in this review. Human papillomavirus self-sampling was found to be highly acceptable and feasible among these hard-to-reach women across most studies. Mailing of self-sampling kits has been shown to increase participation among hard-to reach women. Some concerns remain regarding adherence to further follow-up among high-risk women with positive test results for HPV after screening. There is a strong body of evidence to support the usefulness of HPV self-sampling in increasing participation of hard-to-reach women in screening programs (level I evidence). Convenience, privacy, ease of use, and, likely, cost-effectiveness of HPV self-sampling are driving forces in its emerging role in cervical cancer screening among hard-to-reach women. Key barriers to participation could be addressed by overcoming disparities in HPV-related knowledge and perceptions about cervical cancer screening. Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

Does workplace health promotion reach shift workers?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nabe-Nielsen, Kirsten; Garde, Anne Helene; Clausen, Thomas

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVES: One reason for health disparities between shift and day workers may be that workplace health promotion does not reach shift workers to the same extent as it reaches day workers. This study aimed to investigate the association between shift work and the availability of and participation...... in workplace health promotion. METHODS: We used cross-sectional questionnaire data from a large representative sample of all employed people in Denmark. We obtained information on the availability of and participation in six types of workplace health promotion. We also obtained information on working hours, ie......). RESULTS: In the general working population, fixed evening and fixed night workers, and employees working variable shifts including night work reported a higher availability of health promotion, while employees working variable shifts without night work reported a lower availability of health promotion...

Telerobotic operation of structurally flexible, long-reach manipulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, D.S.; Hwang, D.H.; Babcock, S.M.

1994-01-01

As a part of the Department of Energy's Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Program, long-reach manipulators are being considered for the retrieval of waste from large storage tanks. Long-reach manipulators may have characteristics significantly different from those of typical industrial robots because of the flexibility of long links needed to cover the large workspace. To avoid structural vibrations during operation, control algorithms employing various types of shaping filters were investigated. A new approach that uses embedded simulation was developed and compared with others. In the new approach, generation of joint trajectories considering link flexibility was also investigated

Application of Biota Dose Assessment Committee Methodology to Assess Radiological Risk to Salmonids in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poston, Ted M.; Antonio, Ernest J.; Peterson, Robert E.

2002-01-01

Protective guidance for biota in the U.S. Department of Energy's Graded Approach for Evaluating Radiation Doses to Aquatic and Terrestrial Biota is based on population level protection guides of 10 or 1 mGy.d-1, respectively. Several 'ecologically significant units' of Pacific salmon are listed under the Endangered Species Act. The Middle Columbia Steelhead unit is endangered and the adult steelhead spawn in the reach. The reach also supports one of the largest spawning populations of fall chinook salmon in the Northwest. The existence of the major spawning areas in the Hanford Reach has focused considerable attention on their ecological health by the U.S. Department of Energy, other federal and state regulatory agencies, and special interest groups. Dose assessments for developing salmonid embryos were performed for the hypothetical exposure to tritium, strontium-90, technetium-99, iodine-129, and uranium isotopes at specific sites on the Hanford Reach. These early life stages are potentially exposed in some areas of the Hanford Reach to radiological contaminants that enter the river via shoreline seeps and upwelling through the river substrate. At the screening level, one site approached the dose guideline of 10 mGy.d-1 established with the RAD-BCG methodology and exceeded a precautionary benchmark of 2.5 mGy.d-1. Special status of listed species affords these populations more consideration when assessing potential impacts of exposure to radionuclides and other contaminants associated with the Hanford Site operations. The evolution of dose benchmarks for aquatic organisms and consideration of precautionary principal and cumulative impacts are discussed in this paper.

Compact muon solenoid magnet reaches full field

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

Scientist of the U.S. Department of Energy in Fermilab and collaborators of the US/CMS project announced that the world's largest superconducting solenoid magnet has reached full field in tests at CERN. (1 apge)

Reach-to-grasp movement as a minimization process.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Fang; Feldman, Anatol G

2010-02-01

It is known that hand transport and grasping are functionally different but spatially coordinated components of reach-to-grasp (RTG) movements. As an extension of this notion, we suggested that body segments involved in RTG movements are controlled as a coherent ensemble by a global minimization process associated with the necessity for the hand to reach the motor goal. Different RTG components emerge following this process without pre-programming. Specifically, the minimization process may result from the tendency of neuromuscular elements to diminish the spatial gap between the actual arm-hand configuration and its virtual (referent) configuration specified by the brain. The referent configuration is specified depending on the object shape, localization, and orientation. Since the minimization process is gradual, it can be interrupted and resumed following mechanical perturbations, at any phase during RTG movements, including hand closure. To test this prediction of the minimization hypothesis, we asked subjects to reach and grasp a cube placed within the reach of the arm. Vision was prevented during movement until the hand returned to its initial position. As predicted, by arresting wrist motion at different points of hand transport in randomly selected trials, it was possible to halt changes in hand aperture at any phase, not only during hand opening but also during hand closure. Aperture changes resumed soon after the wrist was released. Another test of the minimization hypothesis was made in RTG movements to an object placed beyond the reach of the arm. It has previously been shown (Rossi et al. in J Physiol 538:659-671, 2002) that in such movements, the trunk motion begins to contribute to hand transport only after a critical phase when the shifts in the referent arm configuration have finished (at about the time when hand velocity is maximal). The minimization rule suggests that when the virtual contribution of the arm to hand transport is completed

Should these potential CMR substances have been registered under REACH?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wedebye, Eva Bay; Nikolov, Nikolai Georgiev; Dybdahl, Marianne

2013-01-01

(Q)SAR models were applied to screen around 68,000 REACH pre-registered substances for CMR properties (carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction). Predictions from 14 relevant models were combined to reach overall calls for C, M and R. Combining predictions may reduce “noise” and increase...

Multi-scale dynamical analysis (MSDA) of sea level records versus PDO, AMO, and NAO indexes

OpenAIRE

Scafetta, Nicola

2013-01-01

Herein I propose a multi-scale dynamical analysis to facilitate the physical interpretation of tide gauge records. The technique uses graphical diagrams. It is applied to six secular-long tide gauge records representative of the world oceans: Sydney, Pacific coast of Australia; Fremantle, Indian Ocean coast of Australia; New York City, Atlantic coast of USA; Honolulu, U.S. state of Hawaii; San Diego, U.S. state of California; and Venice, Mediterranean Sea, Italy. For comparison, an equivalent...

Hydrologic influences on water-level changes in the Eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at and near the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, 1949-2014

Science.gov (United States)

Bartholomay, Roy C.; Twining, Brian V.

2015-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, has maintained a water-level monitoring program at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) since 1949 to systematically measure water levels to provide long-term information on groundwater recharge, discharge, movement, and storage in the eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) aquifer. During 2014, water levels in the ESRP aquifer reached all-time lows for the period of record, prompting this study to assess the effect that future water-level declines may have on pumps and wells. Water-level data were compared with pump-setting depth to determine the hydraulic head above the current pump setting. Additionally, geophysical logs were examined to address changes in well productivity with water-level declines. Furthermore, hydrologic factors that affect water levels in different areas of the INL were evaluated to help understand why water-level changes occur.

Do children perceive postural constraints when estimating reach or action planning?

Science.gov (United States)

Gabbard, Carl; Cordova, Alberto; Lee, Sunghan

2009-03-01

Estimation of whether an object is reachable from a specific body position constitutes an important aspect in effective motor planning. Researchers who estimate reachability by way of motor imagery with adults consistently report the tendency to overestimate, with some evidence of a postural effect (postural stability hypothesis). This idea suggests that perceived reaching limits depend on an individual's perceived postural constraints. Based on previous work with adults, the authors expected a significant postural effect with the Reach 2 condition, as evidenced by reduced overestimation. Furthermore, the authors hypothesized that the postural effect would be greater in younger children. They then tested these propositions among children aged 7, 9, and 11 years by asking them to estimate reach while seated (Reach 1) and in the more demanding posture of standing on 1 foot and leaning forward (Reach 2). Results indicated no age or condition difference, therefore providing no support for a postural effect. When the authors compared these data to a published report of adults, a developmental difference emerged. That is, adults recognize the perceived postural constraint of the standing position resulting in under- rather than overestimation, as displayed in the seated condition. Although preliminary, these observations suggest that estimates of reach (action planning) continue to be refined between late childhood and young adulthood.

Optical recording of neuronal activity with a genetically-encoded calcium indicator in anesthetized and freely moving mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henry Lütcke

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Fluorescent calcium (Ca2+ indicator proteins (FCIPs are promising tools for functional imaging of cellular activity in living animals. However, they have still not reached their full potential for in vivo imaging of neuronal activity due to limitations in expression levels, dynamic range, and sensitivity for reporting action potentials. Here, we report that viral expression of the ratiometric Ca2+ sensor yellow cameleon 3.60 (YC3.60 in pyramidal neurons of mouse barrel cortex enables in vivo measurement of neuronal activity with high dynamic range and sensitivity across multiple spatial scales. By combining juxtacellular recordings and two-photon imaging in vitro and in vivo, we demonstrate that YC3.60 can resolve single action potential (AP-evoked Ca2+ transients and reliably reports bursts of APs with negligible saturation. Spontaneous and whisker-evoked Ca2+ transients were detected in individual apical dendrites and somata as well as in local neuronal populations. Moreover, bulk measurements using wide-field imaging or fiber-optics revealed sensory-evoked YC3.60 signals in large areas of the barrel field. Fiber-optic recordings in particular enabled measurements in awake, freely moving mice and revealed complex Ca2+ dynamics, possibly reflecting different behavior-related brain states. Viral expression of YC3.60 - in combination with various optical techniques - thus opens a multitude of opportunities for functional studies of the neural basis of animal behavior, from dendrites to the levels of local and large-scale neuronal populations.

Simultaneous recording of the field-EPSP as well as the population spike in the CA1 region in freely moving rats by using a fixed "double"-recording electrode.

Science.gov (United States)

Scherf, Thomas; Frey, Julietta U; Frey, Sabine

2010-04-30

The recording of field potentials in freely moving rats is a very appropriate and commonly used method to describe changes in cellular mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity. Recently, we introduced a method for the simultaneous recording of both the field-EPSP as well as the population spike in the dentate gyrus of freely moving rats. We used self-made "double"-recording electrodes, consisting of two wires straighten together with a constant distance between both tips. This method was now further developed to obtain stable long-term recordings of CA1 field potentials. Rats were chronically implanted with a bipolar recording electrode; one tip of which reached the stratum radiatum to record the field-EPSP, the other tip was lowered into the stratum pyramidale of the same neuron population to record the population spike by stimulation of the contralateral CA3 (cCA3). In such prepared rats, simultaneously recorded field-EPSP as well as the population spike where thus obtained from their places of generation in a very reliable manner. This kind of preparation allowed a better standardization of stimulation intensities between different animals and stable electrophysiological recordings of both CA1-potentials over a time period of at least 24h in freely behaving animals. Furthermore, primed burst stimulation of the cCA3 (a single biphasic priming pulse was followed by a burst of 10 pulses (frequency of 100 Hz) 190 ms later; pulse duration per half-wave: 0.1 ms) resulted in an early-LTP of both measured parameters, the field-EPSP and the population spike in the CA1 region of freely moving rats. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Locations of serial reach targets are coded in multiple reference frames.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Aidan A; Henriques, Denise Y P

2010-12-01

Previous work from our lab, and elsewhere, has demonstrated that remembered target locations are stored and updated in an eye-fixed reference frame. That is, reach errors systematically vary as a function of gaze direction relative to a remembered target location, not only when the target is viewed in the periphery (Bock, 1986, known as the retinal magnification effect), but also when the target has been foveated, and the eyes subsequently move after the target has disappeared but prior to reaching (e.g., Henriques, Klier, Smith, Lowy, & Crawford, 1998; Sorrento & Henriques, 2008; Thompson & Henriques, 2008). These gaze-dependent errors, following intervening eye movements, cannot be explained by representations whose frame is fixed to the head, body or even the world. However, it is unknown whether targets presented sequentially would all be coded relative to gaze (i.e., egocentrically/absolutely), or if they would be coded relative to the previous target (i.e., allocentrically/relatively). It might be expected that the reaching movements to two targets separated by 5° would differ by that distance. But, if gaze were to shift between the first and second reaches, would the movement amplitude between the targets differ? If the target locations are coded allocentrically (i.e., the location of the second target coded relative to the first) then the movement amplitude should be about 5°. But, if the second target is coded egocentrically (i.e., relative to current gaze direction), then the reaches to this target and the distances between the subsequent movements should vary systematically with gaze as described above. We found that requiring an intervening saccade to the opposite side of 2 briefly presented targets between reaches to them resulted in a pattern of reaching error that systematically varied as a function of the distance between current gaze and target, and led to a systematic change in the distance between the sequential reach endpoints as predicted by

Synchronous Spike Patterns in Macaque Motor Cortex during an Instructed-Delay Reach-to-Grasp Task.

Science.gov (United States)

Torre, Emiliano; Quaglio, Pietro; Denker, Michael; Brochier, Thomas; Riehle, Alexa; Grün, Sonja

2016-08-10

The computational role of spike time synchronization at millisecond precision among neurons in the cerebral cortex is hotly debated. Studies performed on data of limited size provided experimental evidence that low-order correlations occur in relation to behavior. Advances in electrophysiological technology to record from hundreds of neurons simultaneously provide the opportunity to observe coordinated spiking activity of larger populations of cells. We recently published a method that combines data mining and statistical evaluation to search for significant patterns of synchronous spikes in massively parallel spike trains (Torre et al., 2013). The method solves the computational and multiple testing problems raised by the high dimensionality of the data. In the current study, we used our method on simultaneous recordings from two macaque monkeys engaged in an instructed-delay reach-to-grasp task to determine the emergence of spike synchronization in relation to behavior. We found a multitude of synchronous spike patterns aligned in both monkeys along a preferential mediolateral orientation in brain space. The occurrence of the patterns is highly specific to behavior, indicating that different behaviors are associated with the synchronization of different groups of neurons ("cell assemblies"). However, pooled patterns that overlap in neuronal composition exhibit no specificity, suggesting that exclusive cell assemblies become active during different behaviors, but can recruit partly identical neurons. These findings are consistent across multiple recording sessions analyzed across the two monkeys. Neurons in the brain communicate via electrical impulses called spikes. How spikes are coordinated to process information is still largely unknown. Synchronous spikes are effective in triggering a spike emission in receiving neurons and have been shown to occur in relation to behavior in a number of studies on simultaneous recordings of few neurons. We recently published

Translating the REACH Caregiver Intervention for Use by Area Agency on Aging Personnel: the REACH OUT Program

Science.gov (United States)

Burgio, Louis D.; Collins, Irene B.; Schmid, Bettina; Wharton, Tracy; McCallum, Debra; DeCoster, Jamie

2009-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this study was to translate the evidence-based Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health (REACH) II intervention for use in 4 Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs). A secondary aim was to examine possible moderators of treatment outcome. Design and Methods: We used a quasi-experimental pre-post treatment design with no…

Analysis of reaching movements of upper arm in robot assisted exercises. Kinematic assessment of robot assisted upper arm reaching single-joint movements.

Science.gov (United States)

Iuppariello, Luigi; D'Addio, Giovanni; Romano, Maria; Bifulco, Paolo; Lanzillo, Bernardo; Pappone, Nicola; Cesarelli, Mario

2016-01-01

Robot-mediated therapy (RMT) has been a very dynamic area of research in recent years. Robotics devices are in fact capable to quantify the performances of a rehabilitation task in treatments of several disorders of the arm and the shoulder of various central and peripheral etiology. Different systems for robot-aided neuro-rehabilitation are available for upper limb rehabilitation but the biomechanical parameters proposed until today, to evaluate the quality of the movement, are related to the specific robot used and to the type of exercise performed. Besides, none study indicated a standardized quantitative evaluation of robot assisted upper arm reaching movements, so the RMT is still far to be considered a standardised tool. In this paper a quantitative kinematic assessment of robot assisted upper arm reaching movements, considering also the effect of gravity on the quality of the movements, is proposed. We studied a group of 10 healthy subjects and results indicate that our advised protocol can be useful for characterising normal pattern in reaching movements.

Students’ thinking level based on intrapersonal intelligence

Science.gov (United States)

Sholikhati, Rahadian; Mardiyana; Retno Sari Saputro, Dewi

2017-12-01

This research aims to determine the students’ thinking level based on bloom taxonomy guidance and reviewed from students' Intrapersonal Intelligence. Taxonomy bloom is a taxonomy that classifies the students' thinking level into six, ie the remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, creating, and evaluating levels. Students' Intrapersonal Intelligence is the intelligence associated with awareness and knowledge of oneself. The type of this research is descriptive research with qualitative approach. The research subject were taken by one student in each Intrapersonal Intelligence category (high, moderate, and low) which then given the problem solving test and the result was triangulated by interview. From this research, it is found that high Intrapersonal Intelligence students can achieve analyzing thinking level, subject with moderate Intrapersonal Intelligence being able to reach the level of applying thinking, and subject with low Intrapersonal Intelligence able to reach understanding level.

Enhancing US Operational Reach in Southeast Asia

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hitchcock, David

2003-01-01

.... While this treat continues to exist, the US Pacific Command (PACOM) must also pursue a neat term methodology to expand its operational reach and ability to respond to contingencies throughout the East Asian littoral, especially within Southeast Asia...

Development of a Web Application: Recording Learners' Mouse Trajectories and Retrieving their Study Logs to Identify the Occurrence of Hesitation in Solving Word-Reordering Problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mitsumasa Zushi

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Most computer marking systems evaluate the results of the answers reached by learners without looking into the process by which the answers are produced, which will be insufficient to ascertain learners' understanding level because correct answers may well include lucky hunches, namely accidentally correct but not confident answers. In order to differentiate these lucky answers from confident correct ones, we have developed a Web application that can record mouse trajectories during the performance of tasks. Mathematical analyses of these trajectories have revealed that some parameters for mouse movements can be useful indicators to identify the occurrence of hesitation resulting from lack of knowledge or confidence in solving problems.

Dynamic model of the octopus arm. II. Control of reaching movements.

Science.gov (United States)

Yekutieli, Yoram; Sagiv-Zohar, Roni; Hochner, Binyamin; Flash, Tamar

2005-08-01

The dynamic model of the octopus arm described in the first paper of this 2-part series was used here to investigate the neural strategies used for controlling the reaching movements of the octopus arm. These are stereotypical extension movements used to reach toward an object. In the dynamic model, sending a simple propagating neural activation signal to contract all muscles along the arm produced an arm extension with kinematic properties similar to those of natural movements. Control of only 2 parameters fully specified the extension movement: the amplitude of the activation signal (leading to the generation of muscle force) and the activation traveling time (the time the activation wave takes to travel along the arm). We found that the same kinematics could be achieved by applying activation signals with different activation amplitudes all exceeding some minimal level. This suggests that the octopus arm could use minimal amplitudes of activation to generate the minimal muscle forces required for the production of the desired kinematics. Larger-amplitude signals would generate larger forces that increase the arm's stability against perturbations without changing the kinematic characteristics. The robustness of this phenomenon was demonstrated by examining activation signals with either a constant or a bell-shaped velocity profile. Our modeling suggests that the octopus arm biomechanics may allow independent control of kinematics and resistance to perturbation during arm extension movements.

Reach the sky

Science.gov (United States)

Mariana Peicuti, Cristina

2017-04-01

I am working as primary teacher at Scoala Gimnaziala Dumbrava,Timis County, Romania & my pupils has 6 to 10 years old. I was&I am a main pillar in my community, always disseminating knowledge and experience to students, other teachers in the school area &Timis County.Astronomy is the must favorite subject of my students from my classes. They are very courious & always come to me with questions about Earth and Sky because Curriculum scientific disciplines provides too little information about Earth and Sky.I need to know more about how to teach space contents into my classes&what competencies can form in elementary school and also to share my experience to the others.As a result of participation at this meeting I want to attract as many students to astronomy,science/STEM disciplines&space technologies, to astronomy topics and exploration of outer space.Schools needs to be prepared for social life needs,new generations needs,on science/space technologies,which are one of the key points for developing the knowledge society.I intend to introduce new scientific activities as part of the existing curriculum.I am passionate about astronomy,I need to know new approaches and new ideas for primary because I think Science is very important in daily life. Here are some developed activities with pupils from K-2 grade levels wich I wish share with colleagues in Viena. Subject: MATHEMATICS. Primary Topic: MEASUREMENT : -+= ☼ Rockets by Size. Students cut out,color and sequence paper rockets/Read the information on the International Space Station and rockets/Gather pictures of different types of rockets/Print/cut out/color&laminate rocket drawings/Find objects in the room to put in order by height. ☼ Oil Spot Photometer - Measure the brightness of the sun using cooking oil and a white card. A smear of oil on a white card becomes a powerful tool for comparing the brightness of two light sources, including the sun. ☼ The Sundial & Making Shadows-device to measure time by the

Sea Levels Online: Sea Level Variations of the United States Derived from National Water Level Observation Network Stations

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Water level records are a combination of the fluctuations of the ocean and the vertical land motion at the location of the station. Monthly mean sea level (MSL)...

Behavioral and emotional dynamics of two people struggling to reach consensus about a topic on which they disagree.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Levent Kurt

Full Text Available We studied the behavioral and emotional dynamics displayed by two people trying to resolve a conflict. 59 groups of two people were asked to talk for 20 minutes to try to reach a consensus about a topic on which they disagreed. The topics were abortion, affirmative action, death penalty, and euthanasia. Behavior data were determined from audio recordings where each second of the conversation was assessed as proself, neutral, or prosocial. We determined the probability density function of the durations of time spent in each behavioral state. These durations were well fit by a stretched exponential distribution, [Formula: see text] with an exponent, [Formula: see text], of approximately 0.3. This indicates that the switching between behavioral states is not a random Markov process, but one where the probability to switch behavioral states decreases with the time already spent in that behavioral state. The degree of this "memory" was stronger in those groups who did not reach a consensus and where the conflict grew more destructive than in those that did. Emotion data were measured by having each person listen to the audio recording and moving a computer mouse to recall their negative or positive emotional valence at each moment in the conversation. We used the Hurst rescaled range analysis and power spectrum to determine the correlations in the fluctuations of the emotional valence. The emotional valence was well described by a random walk whose increments were uncorrelated. Thus, the behavior data demonstrated a "memory" of the duration already spent in a behavioral state while the emotion data fluctuated as a random walk whose steps did not have a "memory" of previous steps. This work demonstrates that statistical analysis, more commonly used to analyze physical phenomena, can also shed interesting light on the dynamics of processes in social psychology and conflict management.

The Record Los Angeles Heat Event of September 2010: 1. Synoptic-Scale-Meso-β-Scale Analyses of Interactive Planetary Wave Breaking, Terrain- and Coastal-Induced Circulations

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Michael L.; Tilley, Jeffrey S.; Hatchett, Benjamin J.; Smith, Craig M.; Walston, Joshua M.; Shourd, Kacie N.; Lewis, John M.

2017-10-01

On 27 September 2010 the Los Angeles Civic Center reached its all-time record maximum temperature of 45°C before 1330 local daylight time with several other regional stations observing all-time record breaking heat early in that afternoon. This record event is associated with a general circulation pattern predisposed to hemispheric wave breaking. Three days before the event, wave breaking organizes complex terrain- and coastal-induced processes that lead to isentropic surface folding into the Los Angeles Basin. The first wave break occurs over the western two thirds of North America leading to trough elongation across the southwestern U.S. Collocated with this trough is an isentropic potential vorticity filament that is the locus of a thermally indirect circulation central to warming and associated thickness increases and ridging westward across the Great Basin. In response to this circulation, two subsynoptic wave breaks are triggered along the Pacific coast. The isentropic potential vorticity filament is coupled to the breaking waves and the interaction produces a subsynoptic low-pressure center and a deep vortex aloft over the southeastern California desert. This coupling leads to advection of an elevated mixed layer over Point Conception the night before the record-breaking heat that creates a coastally trapped low-pressure area southwest of Los Angeles. The two low-pressure centers create a low-level pressure gradient and east-southeasterly jet directed offshore over the Los Angeles Basin by sunrise on 27 September. This allows the advection of low-level warm air from the inland terrain toward the coastally trapped disturbance and descending circulation resulting in record heating.

Muscle activation patterns in acceleration-based phases during reach-to-grasp movement.

Science.gov (United States)

Tokuda, Keisuke; Lee, Bumsuk; Shiihara, Yasufumi; Takahashi, Kazuhiro; Wada, Naoki; Shirakura, Kenji; Watanabe, Hideomi

2016-11-01

[Purpose] An earlier study divided reaching activity into characteristic phases based on hand velocity profiles. By synchronizing muscle activities and the acceleration profile, a phasing approach for reaching movement, based on hand acceleration profiles, was attempted in order to elucidate the roles of individual muscle activities in the different phases of the acceleration profile in reaching movements. [Subjects and Methods] Ten healthy volunteer subjects participated in this study. The aim was to electromyographically evaluate muscles around the shoulder, the upper trapezius, the anterior deltoid, the biceps brachii, and the triceps brachii, most of which have been used to evaluate arm motion, as well as the acceleration of the upper limb during simple reaching movement in the reach-to-grasp task. [Results] Analysis showed the kinematic trajectories of the acceleration during a simple biphasic profile of the reaching movement could be divided into four phases: increasing acceleration (IA), decreasing acceleration (DA), increasing deceleration (ID), and decreasing deceleration (DD). Muscles around the shoulder showed different activity patterns, which were closely associated with these acceleration phases. [Conclusion] These results suggest the important role of the four phases, derived from the acceleration trajectory, in the elucidation of the muscular mechanisms which regulate and coordinate the muscles around the shoulder in reaching movements.

ATLAS Barrel Toroid magnet reached nominal field

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

 On 9 November the barrel toroid magnet reached its nominal field of 4 teslas, with an electrical current of 21 000 amperes (21 kA) passing through the eight superconducting coils as shown on this graph

Validity of (Ultra-Short Recordings for Heart Rate Variability Measurements.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Loretto Munoz

Full Text Available In order to investigate the applicability of routine 10s electrocardiogram (ECG recordings for time-domain heart rate variability (HRV calculation we explored to what extent these (ultra-short recordings capture the "actual" HRV.The standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals (SDNN and the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD were measured in 3,387 adults. SDNN and RMSSD were assessed from (ultrashort recordings of 10s(3x, 30s, and 120s and compared to 240s-300s (gold standard measurements. Pearson's correlation coefficients (r, Bland-Altman 95% limits of agreement and Cohen's d statistics were used as agreement analysis techniques.Agreement between the separate 10s recordings and the 240s-300s recording was already substantial (r = 0.758-0.764/Bias = 0.398-0.416/d = 0.855-0.894 for SDNN; r = 0.853-0.862/Bias = 0.079-0.096/d = 0.150-0.171 for RMSSD, and improved further when three 10s periods were averaged (r = 0.863/Bias = 0.406/d = 0.874 for SDNN; r = 0.941/Bias = 0.088/d = 0.167 for RMSSD. Agreement increased with recording length and reached near perfect agreement at 120s (r = 0.956/Bias = 0.064/d = 0.137 for SDNN; r = 0.986/Bias = 0.014/d = 0.027 for RMSSD. For all recording lengths and agreement measures, RMSSD outperformed SDNN.Our results confirm that it is unnecessary to use recordings longer than 120s to obtain accurate measures of RMSSD and SDNN in the time domain. Even a single 10s (standard ECG recording yields a valid RMSSD measurement, although an average over multiple 10s ECGs is preferable. For SDNN we would recommend either 30s or multiple 10s ECGs. Future research projects using time-domain HRV parameters, e.g. genetic epidemiological studies, could calculate HRV from (ultra-short ECGs enabling such projects to be performed at a large scale.

76 FR 43666 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-21

..., home of record state, sex, race, education level; VA disability payment records; digital signatures... conducting an on-going computer matching program with state Medicaid agencies to determine the extent to... the identity of [[Page 43668

Decoding Grasping Movements from the Parieto-Frontal Reaching Circuit in the Nonhuman Primate.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelissen, Koen; Fiave, Prosper Agbesi; Vanduffel, Wim

2018-04-01

Prehension movements typically include a reaching phase, guiding the hand toward the object, and a grip phase, shaping the hand around it. The dominant view posits that these components rely upon largely independent parieto-frontal circuits: a dorso-medial circuit involved in reaching and a dorso-lateral circuit involved in grasping. However, mounting evidence suggests a more complex arrangement, with dorso-medial areas contributing to both reaching and grasping. To investigate the role of the dorso-medial reaching circuit in grasping, we trained monkeys to reach-and-grasp different objects in the dark and determined if hand configurations could be decoded from functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) responses obtained from the reaching and grasping circuits. Indicative of their established role in grasping, object-specific grasp decoding was found in anterior intraparietal (AIP) area, inferior parietal lobule area PFG and ventral premotor region F5 of the lateral grasping circuit, and primary motor cortex. Importantly, the medial reaching circuit also conveyed robust grasp-specific information, as evidenced by significant decoding in parietal reach regions (particular V6A) and dorsal premotor region F2. These data support the proposed role of dorso-medial "reach" regions in controlling aspects of grasping and demonstrate the value of complementing univariate with more sensitive multivariate analyses of functional MRI (fMRI) data in uncovering information coding in the brain.

Variations in the microseismic noise level observed at the Bucovina Seismic Array (BURAR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghica, Daniela; Radulian, Mircea; Popa, Mihaela

2005-01-01

The microseismic noise level analysis for a seismic array is an essential step to accurately process the data recorded by the system. Basically, the observed background noise is a complex combination of natural and cultural sources as local geology, specific area activity (roads traffic, agricultural and industrial activities) or weather conditions.The understanding of the BURAR site noise characteristics is important for the array specific techniques (beamforming, f-k analysis), to apply the correct bandpass filtering, in order to obtain noise suppression and conservation of the 'true' seismic signal. The array monitoring potential of very small earthquakes and explosions will be enhanced, based on the best signal-to-noise ratio.The noise study at BURAR was carried out over one-year period, considering the noise power spectra in a 0.1 to 10 Hz frequency interval, for every 24 hours: 5 minutes during day and 5 minutes during night. Only short-period vertical sensors were considered. Systematic variations in the microseismic noise level at the BURAR site were observed:- diurnal: a decreasing of about 40% in night noise level at 1 Hz frequency; at 6 Hz frequency, the decreasing could reach 80-90% for 'non-winter' months (May to October); - seasonal: during the winter time, a lower noise level is observed, due to the restraining of the local specific activity (especially agriculture and farming) and of the road traffic. To summarize the level of microseismic noise observed at BURAR for one-year observations, a model curve for array noise level has been estimated, including upper and lower bounds of noise power density together with average spectrum. The BURAR noise model will be useful in the process of local site conditions estimation, by eliminating the noise contribution from the array recording. Also, the detection processing, phase identification and events location procedures will be significantly improved. (authors)

The Ability of Sheep to Reach for Food Through Tombstone Barriers ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

animal enterprises. (McIntire ... models for predicting forwards and sideways hori- zontal~~ach at different feeding-platform heights. Since the study ... models for predicting horizontal reach included body weight and withers height. Vertical reach.

Verification of the causes of glaciations and sea level changes using the records of calcite speleothems.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shopov Yavor Y.

2000-01-01

Full Text Available The luminescence of calcite speleothems displays an exponential dependence on soil temperature unless there is a dense cover of forest over the cave to dampen it. This relationship is determined primarily by the strength of solar visible and infrared radiation. It is suggested that, as a consequence, the microzonal variations of luminescence often found in speleothems can be used as a proxy index of Solar Insolation. The luminescence solar insolation proxy record of a speleothem from Jewel Cave, South Dakota, USA, was found to display millenial and centennial cycles in the record. It exhibits a rapid increase in solar insolation at 139 ± 5.5 kyrs. This increase precedes that suggested by the Orbital theory by about 10,000 years and is due to superimposition of the most powerful cycle in solar luminosity of 11.5 kyrs, upon the curve of orbital variations. The record from a speleothem in Duhlata Cave, Bulgaria matches that of South Dakota within the limits of dating error, indicating that both of these records (which are 10,000 km apart measure global solar insolation controls rather than local paleotemperature variations.

EEG Theta Dynamics within Frontal and Parietal Cortices for Error Processing during Reaching Movements in a Prism Adaptation Study Altering Visuo-Motor Predictive Planning.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pieranna Arrighi

Full Text Available Modulation of frontal midline theta (fmθ is observed during error commission, but little is known about the role of theta oscillations in correcting motor behaviours. We investigate EEG activity of healthy partipants executing a reaching task under variable degrees of prism-induced visuo-motor distortion and visual occlusion of the initial arm trajectory. This task introduces directional errors of different magnitudes. The discrepancy between predicted and actual movement directions (i.e. the error, at the time when visual feedback (hand appearance became available, elicits a signal that triggers on-line movement correction. Analysis were performed on 25 EEG channels. For each participant, the median value of the angular error of all reaching trials was used to partition the EEG epochs into high- and low-error conditions. We computed event-related spectral perturbations (ERSP time-locked either to visual feedback or to the onset of movement correction. ERSP time-locked to the onset of visual feedback showed that fmθ increased in the high- but not in the low-error condition with an approximate time lag of 200 ms. Moreover, when single epochs were sorted by the degree of motor error, fmθ started to increase when a certain level of error was exceeded and, then, scaled with error magnitude. When ERSP were time-locked to the onset of movement correction, the fmθ increase anticipated this event with an approximate time lead of 50 ms. During successive trials, an error reduction was observed which was associated with indices of adaptations (i.e., aftereffects suggesting the need to explore if theta oscillations may facilitate learning. To our knowledge this is the first study where the EEG signal recorded during reaching movements was time-locked to the onset of the error visual feedback. This allowed us to conclude that theta oscillations putatively generated by anterior cingulate cortex activation are implicated in error processing in semi

EEG Theta Dynamics within Frontal and Parietal Cortices for Error Processing during Reaching Movements in a Prism Adaptation Study Altering Visuo-Motor Predictive Planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Arrighi, Pieranna; Bonfiglio, Luca; Minichilli, Fabrizio; Cantore, Nicoletta; Carboncini, Maria Chiara; Piccotti, Emily; Rossi, Bruno; Andre, Paolo

2016-01-01

Modulation of frontal midline theta (fmθ) is observed during error commission, but little is known about the role of theta oscillations in correcting motor behaviours. We investigate EEG activity of healthy partipants executing a reaching task under variable degrees of prism-induced visuo-motor distortion and visual occlusion of the initial arm trajectory. This task introduces directional errors of different magnitudes. The discrepancy between predicted and actual movement directions (i.e. the error), at the time when visual feedback (hand appearance) became available, elicits a signal that triggers on-line movement correction. Analysis were performed on 25 EEG channels. For each participant, the median value of the angular error of all reaching trials was used to partition the EEG epochs into high- and low-error conditions. We computed event-related spectral perturbations (ERSP) time-locked either to visual feedback or to the onset of movement correction. ERSP time-locked to the onset of visual feedback showed that fmθ increased in the high- but not in the low-error condition with an approximate time lag of 200 ms. Moreover, when single epochs were sorted by the degree of motor error, fmθ started to increase when a certain level of error was exceeded and, then, scaled with error magnitude. When ERSP were time-locked to the onset of movement correction, the fmθ increase anticipated this event with an approximate time lead of 50 ms. During successive trials, an error reduction was observed which was associated with indices of adaptations (i.e., aftereffects) suggesting the need to explore if theta oscillations may facilitate learning. To our knowledge this is the first study where the EEG signal recorded during reaching movements was time-locked to the onset of the error visual feedback. This allowed us to conclude that theta oscillations putatively generated by anterior cingulate cortex activation are implicated in error processing in semi-naturalistic motor

In silico models for predicting ready biodegradability under REACH: a comparative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Pizzo, Fabiola; Lombardo, Anna; Manganaro, Alberto; Benfenati, Emilio

2013-10-01

REACH (Registration Evaluation Authorization and restriction of Chemicals) legislation is a new European law which aims to raise the human protection level and environmental health. Under REACH all chemicals manufactured or imported for more than one ton per year must be evaluated for their ready biodegradability. Ready biodegradability is also used as a screening test for persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) substances. REACH encourages the use of non-testing methods such as QSAR (quantitative structure-activity relationship) models in order to save money and time and to reduce the number of animals used for scientific purposes. Some QSAR models are available for predicting ready biodegradability. We used a dataset of 722 compounds to test four models: VEGA, TOPKAT, BIOWIN 5 and 6 and START and compared their performance on the basis of the following parameters: accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and Matthew's correlation coefficient (MCC). Performance was analyzed from different points of view. The first calculation was done on the whole dataset and VEGA and TOPKAT gave the best accuracy (88% and 87% respectively). Then we considered the compounds inside and outside the training set: BIOWIN 6 and 5 gave the best results for accuracy (81%) outside training set. Another analysis examined the applicability domain (AD). VEGA had the highest value for compounds inside the AD for all the parameters taken into account. Finally, compounds outside the training set and in the AD of the models were considered to assess predictive ability. VEGA gave the best accuracy results (99%) for this group of chemicals. Generally, START model gave poor results. Since BIOWIN, TOPKAT and VEGA models performed well, they may be used to predict ready biodegradability. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Task-dependent vestibular feedback responses in reaching

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Keyser, J.; Medendorp, W.P.; Selen, L.P.J.

2017-01-01

When reaching for an earth-fixed object during self-rotation, the motor system should appropriately integrate vestibular signals and sensory predictions to compensate for the intervening motion and its induced inertial forces. While it is well established that this integration occurs rapidly, it is

Coal-tar pitch high temperature (CTPHT), transitional arrangements and way forward under REACH. REACH-SEA report of scoping study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beekman M; Boersma AHR; Sijm DTHM; SEC

2009-01-01

Een beperking of autorisatie binnen de Europese wetgeving REACH is niet de meest geeigende manier om de risico's aan te pakken van PAK-emissies. Deze emissies, die vooral vrijkomen tijdens productie- of verbrandingsprocessen, worden namelijk niet goed ondervangen in deze wetgeving. Dit

International reach of tobacco marketing among young children.

Science.gov (United States)

Borzekowski, Dina L G; Cohen, Joanna E

2013-10-01

Prosmoking messages, delivered through marketing and the media, can reach very young children and influence attitudes and behaviors around smoking. This study examined the reach of tobacco marketing to 5 and 6 year olds in 6 low- and middle-income countries. Researchers worked one-on-one with 5 and 6 year olds in Brazil, China, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Russia (N = 2423). The children were asked to match logos with pictures of products, including 8 logos for cigarette brands. Analyses examined, overall and by country, whether gender, age, location, household use of tobacco, and knowledge of media characters were associated with awareness of cigarette brand logos. Additional analyses considered the relationship between cigarette brand logo awareness and intentions to smoke. Overall, 68% of 5 and 6 year olds could identify at least 1 cigarette brand logo, ranging from 50% in Russia to 86% in China. Across countries, being slightly older and having someone in the household who used tobacco, were significantly associated with greater odds of being able to identify at least 1 cigarette brand logo. The majority of young children from low- and middle-income countries are familiar with cigarette brands. This study's findings suggest that more effective measures are needed to restrict the reach of tobacco marketing.

Reach of the Fermilab Tevatron and CERN LHC for gaugino mediated SUSY breaking models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baer, Howard; Belyaev, Alexander; Krupovnickas, Tadas; Tata, Xerxes

2002-01-01

In supersymmetric models with gaugino mediated SUSY breaking (gMSB), it is assumed that SUSY breaking on a hidden brane is communicated to the visible brane via gauge superfields which propagate in the bulk. This leads to GUT models where the common gaugino mass m 1/2 is the only soft SUSY breaking term to receive contributions at the tree level. To obtain a viable phenomenology, it is assumed that the gaugino mass is induced at some scale M c beyond the GUT scale, and that additional renormalization group running takes place between M c and M GUT as in a SUSY GUT. We assume an SU(5) SUSY GUT above the GUT scale, and compute the SUSY particle spectrum expected in models with gMSB. We use the Monte Carlo program ISAJET to simulate signals within the gMSB model, and compute the SUSY reach including cuts and triggers appropriate to Fermilab Tevatron and CERN LHC experiments. We find no reach for SUSY by the Tevatron collider in the trilepton channel. At the CERN LHC, values of m 1/2 =1000 (1160) GeV can be probed with 10 (100) fb -1 of integrated luminosity, corresponding to a reach in terms of m g-tilde of 2150 (2500) GeV. The gMSB model and MSUGRA can likely only be differentiated at a linear e + e - collider with sufficient energy to produce sleptons and charginos

Virtual reality training improves turning capacity and functional reach in stroke patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malik, A.N.; Masood, T.

2017-01-01

Objective: To determine the added effects of virtual reality training on turning capacity, gait parameters and functional reach capacity of stroke patients compared to task oriented training alone. Methodology: A randomized control trial was conducted from February 2016 to July 2106 at Physical Rehabilitation Department Pakistan Railway Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Twenty stroke patients were selected through purposive sampling. The patients were randomly assigned through sealed envelope method into two groups; Task Oriented Training (TOT) and Virtual Reality Training (VRT) Group. The standardized tools were used for assessment. The TOT was provided for 4 days per week for 6 weeks while VRT group received additional exer-gaming training during sessions. Results: Significant improvement was observed in both groups regarding reaching forward, turning 360, gait pivot turn (p a 0.01) and FRT (p a 0.001). The two groups were statistically different from each other in terms of turning capacity, reaching forward, gait pivot turn and functional reach after 6 weeks of intervention (p a 0.05) Conclusion: Addition of virtual reality training further improves the significant improvement caused by task oriented training on turning capacity, reaching forward, gait pivot turn and functional reach in stroke patients. (author)

Dry Stream Reaches in Carbonate Terranes: Surface Indicators of Ground-Water Reservoirs

Science.gov (United States)

Brahana, J.V.; Hollyday, E.F.

1988-01-01

In areas where dry stream reaches occur, subsurface drainage successfully competes with surface drainage, and sheet-like dissolution openings have developed parallel to bedding creating the ground-water reservoir. Union Hollow in south-central Tennessee is the setting for a case study that illustrates the application of the dry stream reach technique. In this technique, dry stream reach identification is based on two types of readily acquired information: remotely sensed black and white infrared aerial photography; and surface reconnaissance of stream channel characteristics. Test drilling in Union Hollow subsequent to identification of the dry reach proved that a localized ground-water reservoir was present.

A Novel Line Coding Pair for Fully Passive Long Reach {WDM-PON}s

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Presi, Marco; Proietti, Roberto; Prince, Kamau

2008-01-01

A novel line coding pair allows to use unsaturated flective-SOAs as upstream remodulator in long-reach WDM-PONs. Full-duplex and symmetric 80 km reach is demonstrated without in-line amplification at 1.25 Gb/s......A novel line coding pair allows to use unsaturated flective-SOAs as upstream remodulator in long-reach WDM-PONs. Full-duplex and symmetric 80 km reach is demonstrated without in-line amplification at 1.25 Gb/s...

Exploring REACH as a potential data source for characterizing ecotoxicity in life cycle assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Müller, Nienke; de Zwart, Dick; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

2017-01-01

Toxicity models in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) currently only characterize a small fraction of marketed substances, mostly because of limitations in the underlying ecotoxicity data. One approach to improve the current data situation in LCIA is to identify new data sources, such as the Eur......Toxicity models in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) currently only characterize a small fraction of marketed substances, mostly because of limitations in the underlying ecotoxicity data. One approach to improve the current data situation in LCIA is to identify new data sources......, such as the European Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) database. The present study explored REACH as a potential data source for LCIA based on matching reported ecotoxicity data for substances that are currently also included in the United Nations Environment Programme....../Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (UNEP/SETAC) scientific consensus model USEtox for characterizing toxicity impacts. Data are evaluated with respect to number of data points, reported reliability, and test duration, and are compared with data listed in USEtox at the level of hazardous concentration for 50...

76 FR 11213 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-01

..., ``Federal Agency Responsibilities for Maintaining Records About Individuals,'' dated February 8, 1996... system: Delete entry and replace with ``Records contain individual's name, Social Security Number (SSN....C. 8032, The Air Staff: general duties; Air Force Instruction 36-2102, Base-Level Relocation...

Redesigning Schools to Reach Every Student with Excellent Teachers: Change Management--Key Theories to Consider when Extending Reach

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Sharon Kebschull

2012-01-01

As schools, their teachers, and outside facilitators redesign jobs and incorporate technology to extend the reach of excellent teachers to more students and develop an Opportunity Culture for all, choosing the right school models is just one part of the task. The human experience--and experience in education--says that even perfect design will not…

The ground level event 70 on december 13, 2006 and related effective doses at aviation altitudes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthia, D.; Heber, B.; Reitz, G.; Sihver, L.; Berger, T.; Meier, M.

2009-01-01

The 70. ground level event in the records of the Neutron Monitor network occurred on 13 December 2006 reaching a maximum count rate increase at the Oulu station of more than 90% during the 5 min interval 3.05-3.10 UTC. Thereafter, count rates gradually decreased registering increases of a few per cent above the galactic cosmic ray background after a few hours. The primary proton spectrum during the first 6 h after the onset of the event is characterised in this work by fitting the energy and angular distribution by a power law in rigidity and a linear dependence in the pitch angle using a minimisation technique. The results were obtained by analysing the data from 28 Neutron Monitor stations. At very high northern and southern latitudes, the effective dose rates were estimated to reach values of 25-30 μSv h -1 at atmospheric depth of 200 g cm -2 during the maximum of the event. The increase in effective dose during north atlantic and polar flights was estimated to be in the order of 20%. (authors)

Interactions REACH and other chemical legislation. Setting of environmental quality standards

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bodar CWM; Janssen MPM; Zweers PGPC; Sijm DTHM; SEC; mev

2010-01-01

Via de Europese wet- en regelgeving REACH wordt aangetoond of het gebruik van chemische stoffen veilig is. De informatie die REACH oplevert is gedeeltelijk bruikbaar voor andere beleidskaders waar normen een rol spelen, zoals de Kaderrichtlijn Water (KRW), het Nederlandse stoffenbeleid en

Development of river flood model in lower reach of urbanized river basin

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshimura, Kouhei; Tajima, Yoshimitsu; Sanuki, Hiroshi; Shibuo, Yoshihiro; Sato, Shinji; Lee, SungAe; Furumai, Hiroaki; Koike, Toshio

2014-05-01

Japan, with its natural mountainous landscape, has demographic feature that population is concentrated in lower reach of elevation close to the coast, and therefore flood damage with large socio-economic value tends to occur in low-lying region. Modeling of river flood in such low-lying urbanized river basin is complex due to the following reasons. In upstream it has been experienced urbanization, which changed land covers from natural forest or agricultural fields to residential or industrial area. Hence rate of infiltration and runoff are quite different from natural hydrological settings. In downstream, paved covers and construct of sewerage system in urbanized areas affect direct discharges and it enhances higher and faster flood peak arrival. Also tidal effect from river mouth strongly affects water levels in rivers, which must be taken into account. We develop an integrated river flood model in lower reach of urbanized areas to be able to address above described complex feature, by integrating model components: LSM coupled distributed hydrological model that models anthropogenic influence on river discharges to downstream; urban hydrological model that simulates run off response in urbanized areas; Saint Venant's equation approximated river model that integrates upstream and urban hydrological models with considering tidal effect from downstream. These features are integrated in a common modeling framework so that model interaction can be directly performed. The model is applied to the Tsurumi river basin, urbanized low-lying river basin in Yokohama and model results show that it can simulate water levels in rivers with acceptable model errors. Furthermore the model is able to install miscellaneous water planning constructs, such as runoff reduction pond in urbanized area, flood control field along the river channel, levee, etc. This can be a useful tool to investigate cost performance of hypothetical water management plan against impact of climate change in

Access to expert stroke care with telemedicine: REACH MUSC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abby Swanson Kazley

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability, and rtPA can significantly reduce the long-term impact of acute ischemic stroke (AIS if given within 3 hours of symptom onset. South Carolina is located in the stroke belt and has a high rate of stroke and stroke mortality. Many small rural SC hospitals do not maintain the expertise needed to treat AIS patients with rtPA. MUSC is an academic medical center using REACH MUSC telemedicine to deliver stroke care to 15 hospitals in the state, increasing the likelihood of timely treatment with rtPA. The purpose of this study is to determine the increase in access to rtPA through the use of telemedicine for AIS in the general population and in specific segments of the population based on age, gender, race, ethnicity, education, urban/rural residence, poverty, and stroke mortality.We used a retrospective cross-sectional design examining Census data from 2000 and Geographic Information Systems (GIS analysis to identify South Carolina residents that live within 30 or 60 minutes of a Primary Stroke Center (PSC or a REACH MUSC site. We include all South Carolina citizens in our analysis and specifically examine the population’s age, gender, race, ethnicity, education, urban/rural residence, poverty, and stroke mortality. Our sample includes 4,012,012 South Carolinians. The main measure is access to expert stroke care at a Primary Stroke Center (PSC or a REACH MUSC hospital within 30 or 60 minutes. We find that without REACH MUSC, only 38% of the population has potential access to expert stroke care in SC within sixty minutes given that most PSCs will maintain expert stroke coverage. REACH MUSC allows 76% of the population to be within sixty minutes of expert stroke care, and 43% of the population to be within 30 minute drive time of expert stroke care. These increases in access are especially significant for groups that have faced disparities in care and high rates of AIS. The use of telemedicine can

Interrupted object-based updating of reach program leads to a negative compatibility effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Vainio, Lari

2009-07-01

The author investigated how the motor program elicited by an object's orientation is updated by object-based information while a participant reaches for the object. Participants selected the hand of response according to the thickness of the graspable object and then reached toward the location in which the object appeared. Reach initiation times decreased when the handle of the object was oriented toward the responding hand. This positive compatibility effect turned into a negative compatibility effect (NCE) during reach execution when the object was removed from the display 300 ms after object onset or replaced with a mask at movement onset. The results demonstrate that interrupted object-based updating of an ongoing reach movement triggers the NCE.

Improving Metadata Compliance for Earth Science Data Records

Science.gov (United States)

Armstrong, E. M.; Chang, O.; Foster, D.

2014-12-01

One of the recurring challenges of creating earth science data records is to ensure a consistent level of metadata compliance at the granule level where important details of contents, provenance, producer, and data references are necessary to obtain a sufficient level of understanding. These details are important not just for individual data consumers but also for autonomous software systems. Two of the most popular metadata standards at the granule level are the Climate and Forecast (CF) Metadata Conventions and the Attribute Conventions for Dataset Discovery (ACDD). Many data producers have implemented one or both of these models including the Group for High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature (GHRSST) for their global SST products and the Ocean Biology Processing Group for NASA ocean color and SST products. While both the CF and ACDD models contain various level of metadata richness, the actual "required" attributes are quite small in number. Metadata at the granule level becomes much more useful when recommended or optional attributes are implemented that document spatial and temporal ranges, lineage and provenance, sources, keywords, and references etc. In this presentation we report on a new open source tool to check the compliance of netCDF and HDF5 granules to the CF and ACCD metadata models. The tool, written in Python, was originally implemented to support metadata compliance for netCDF records as part of the NOAA's Integrated Ocean Observing System. It outputs standardized scoring for metadata compliance for both CF and ACDD, produces an objective summary weight, and can be implemented for remote records via OPeNDAP calls. Originally a command-line tool, we have extended it to provide a user-friendly web interface. Reports on metadata testing are grouped in hierarchies that make it easier to track flaws and inconsistencies in the record. We have also extended it to support explicit metadata structures and semantic syntax for the GHRSST project that can be

Rainfall-runoff modelling and palaeoflood hydrology applied to reconstruct centennial scale records of flooding and aquifer recharge in ungauged ephemeral rivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Benito

2011-04-01

Full Text Available In this study we propose a multi-source data approach for quantifying long-term flooding and aquifer recharge in ungauged ephemeral rivers. The methodology is applied to the Buffels River, at 9000 km² the largest ephemeral river in Namaqualand (NW South Africa, a region with scarce stream flow records limiting research investigating hydrological response to global change. Daily discharge and annual flood series (1965–2006 were estimated from a distributed rainfall-runoff hydrological model (TETIS using rainfall gauge records located within the catchment. The model was calibrated and validated with data collected during a two year monitoring programme (2005–2006 at two stream flow stations, one each in the upper and lower reaches of the catchment. In addition to the modelled flow records, non-systematic flood data were reconstructed using both sedimentary and documentary evidence. The palaeoflood record identified at least 25 large floods during the last 700 yr; with the largest floods reaching a minimum discharge of 255 m³ s⁻¹ (450 yr return period in the upper basin, and 510 m³ s⁻¹ (100 yr return period in the lower catchment. Since AD 1925, the flood hydrology of the Buffels River has been characterised by a decrease in the magnitude and frequency of extreme floods, with palaeoflood discharges (period 1500–1921 five times greater than the largest modelled floods during the period 1965–2006. Large floods generated the highest hydrograph volumes, however their contribution to aquifer recharge is limited as this depends on other factors such as flood duration and storage capacity of the unsaturated zone prior to the flood. Floods having average return intervals of 5–10 yr (120–140 m³ s⁻¹ and flowing for 12 days are able to fully saturate the Spektakel aquifer in the lower Buffels River basin. Alluvial aquifer storage capacity limiting potential recharge

Do older adults perceive postural constraints for reach estimation?

Science.gov (United States)

Cordova, Alberto; Gabbard, Carl

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: Recent evidence indicates that older persons have difficulty mentally representing intended movements. Furthermore, in an estimation of reach paradigm using motor imagery, a form of mental representation, older persons significantly overestimated their ability compared with young adults. The authors tested the notion that older adults may also have difficulty perceiving the postural constraints associated with reach estimation. The authors compared young (Mage = 22 years) and older (Mage = 67) adults on reach estimation while seated and in a more postural demanding standing and leaning forward position. The expectation was a significant postural effect with the standing condition, as evidenced by reduced overestimation. Whereas there was no difference between groups in the seated condition (both overestimated), older adults underestimated whereas the younger group once again overestimated in the standing condition. From one perspective, these results show that older adults do perceive postural constraints in light of their own physical capabilities. That is, that group perceived greater postural demands with the standing posture and elected to program a more conservative strategy, resulting in underestimation.

Media Competition Implementation for the Massachusetts Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Study (MA-CORD: Adoption and Reach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaniece Criss

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The Massachusetts Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Study (MA-CORD was a multi-level, multi-sector community intervention with a media competition component to provide an overarching synergy and promote awareness of target behaviors to reduce childhood obesity. Students participating in the media competition were tasked with developing videos, song/rap lyrics, and artwork that reflected the goals. The aim of this study is to document the process used to develop and implement the media competition along with its reach and adoption. An adapted version of Neta and colleagues’ 2015 framework on dissemination and implementation was used to summarize the process by which the media competition was developed and implemented. Adoption was defined by whether eligible schools or afterschool programs decided to implement the media competition. Reach was defined by student participation rates within schools/programs and the number of votes cast for the finalists on the coalition website and students’ paper ballots. A total of 595 students participated in the media competition from 18 school and afterschool programs in two communities. Adoption of the media competitions ranged from 22% to 100% in programs and reach ranged from 3% to 33% of the student population. The documentation of the implementation should contribute to the replication of the media competition.

Spatial and temporal variability of soil moisture in a restored reach of an Alpine river

Science.gov (United States)

Luster, Jörg

2010-05-01

In order to assess the effects of river restoration on water quality, the biogeochemical functions of restored river reaches have to be quantified, and soil moisture is a key environmental variable controlling this functionality. Restored sections of rivers often are characterized by a dynamic mosaic of riparian zones with varying exposure to flooding. In this presentation, the spatial and temporal variability of soil moisture in riparian soils of a restored reach of the Alpine river Thur in northeastern Switzerland is shown. The study was part of the interdisciplinary project cluster RECORD, which was initiated to advance the mechanistic understanding of coupled hydrological and ecological processes in river corridors. The studied river reach comprised the following three functional processing zones (FPZ) representing a lateral successional gradient with decreasing hydrological connectivity (i.e. decreasing flooding frequency and duration). (i) The grass zone developed naturally on a gravel bar after restoration of the channelized river section (mainly colonized by canary reed grass Phalaris arundinacae). The soil is loamy sand to sandy loam composed of up to 80 cm thick fresh sediments trapped and stabilized by the grass roots. (ii) The bush zone is composed of young willow trees (Salix viminalis) planted during restoration to stabilize older overbank deposits with a loamy fine earth. (iii) The mixed forest is a mature riparian hardwood forest with ash and maple as dominant trees developed on older overbank sediments with a silty loamy fine earth. The study period was between spring 2009 and winter 2009/2010 including three flood events in June, July and December 2009. The first and third flood inundated the grass zone and lower part of the bush zone while the second flood was bigger and swept through all the FPZs. Water contents in several soil depths were measured continuously in 30 minute intervals using Decagon EC-5 and EC-TM sensors. There were six spatial

Prediction of Reach Goals in Depth and Direction from the Parietal Cortex

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matteo Filippini

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Summary: The posterior parietal cortex is well known to mediate sensorimotor transformations during the generation of movement plans, but its ability to control prosthetic limbs in 3D environments has not yet been fully demonstrated. With this aim, we trained monkeys to perform reaches to targets located at various depths and directions and tested whether the reach goal position can be extracted from parietal signals. The reach goal location was reliably decoded with accuracy close to optimal (>90%, and this occurred also well before movement onset. These results, together with recent work showing a reliable decoding of hand grip in the same area, suggest that this is a suitable site to decode the entire prehension action, to be considered in the development of brain-computer interfaces. : Filippini et al. show that it is possible to use parietal cortex activity to predict in which direction the arm will move and how far it will reach. This opens up the possibility of neural prostheses that can accurately guide reach and grasp using signals from this part of the brain. Keywords: neuroprosthetics, offline neural decoding, reaching in depth, monkey, V6A, machine learning, visuomotor transformations, hand guidance, prehension, robotics

Contribution of River Mouth Reach to Sediment Load of the Yangtze River

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Wang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examined the sediment gain and loss in the river mouth reach of the Yangtze River by considering sediment load from the local tributaries, erosion/accretion of the river course, impacts of sand mining, and water extraction. A quantitative estimation of the contribution of the river mouth reach to the sediment load of the Yangtze River was conducted before and after impoundment of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD in 2003. The results showed that a net sediment load loss of 1.78 million ton/yr (Mt/yr occurred from 1965 to 2002 in the study area. The contribution of this reach to the sediment discharge into the sea is not as high as what was expected before the TGD. With impoundment of the TGD, channel deposition (29.90 Mt/yr and a net sediment loss of 30.89 Mt/yr occurred in the river mouth reach from 2003 to 2012. The river mouth reach has acted as a sink but not a source of sediment since impoundment of the TGD, which has exacerbated the decrease in sediment load. Technologies should be advanced to measure changes in river channel morphology, as well as in water and sediment discharges at the river mouth reach.

Reaching Reluctant Students: Insights from Torey Hayden.

Science.gov (United States)

Marlowe, Mike

1999-01-01

Illustrates principles of reaching students who fight or avoid adults by using examples drawn from the writings of Torey Hayden. Presents ten concepts that can serve as guidelines for building relationships with resistant children, and gives excerpts from Hayden's works to illustrate each concept. Demonstrates how books provide teachers with…

Let's talk sex on the air: ReachOut launches radio campaign.

Science.gov (United States)

This article reports on the launching of the National Radio and Public Relations Campaign to Promote Modern Methods of Contraception by the ReachOut AIDS Foundation Incorporated in the Philippines. ReachOut has tapped radio veteran Tiya Dely Magpayo as the official campaign spokesperson, thus, putting a mother's touch to a serious promotional drive to reach the far-flung areas of the country. It is noted that the project promotes the wider use of modern methods of contraception as its contribution to the Philippines Population Program goals of controlling the population rate. Since radio is the most patronized media in the country, ReachOut hopes that the radio soap opera format will attract the listeners to use contraceptives. The campaign encourages men and women of reproductive age to seek information and services regarding modern methods of contraception from health service providers in their respective areas. The Department of Health will provide the technical support to ensure that the campaign is keeping with the government's programs.

The German REACH Congress 2016: a workshop report.

Science.gov (United States)

Reihlen, Antonia; Jepsen, Dirk; Broschinski, Lutz; Luch, Andreas; Schulte, Agnes

2018-03-01

In October 2016, the German REACH Congress was held at the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in Berlin. Here, the associated improvement made in the fields of consumer protection and the progress in and experiences gained from the implementation of the authorisation procedure were discussed. Several speakers from EU institutions, German authorities, industry, and civil society organisations were invited to present their views. There was a shared consensus that REACH contributes to the advancement of consumer protection against chemical risks, mainly because more and higher quality information on substance-related hazards and potential exposures becomes available. In addition, risk management measures, particularly regarding restrictions on uses, scale down consumer exposures to chemicals. Opportunities for improvements identified at the congress include the quality of registration dossiers and the management of and communication on substances of very high concern (SVHC) that may be present in consumer articles. Although regarded as being in an early implementation phase, the authorisation process was generally found to be operational and progressing well. Criticism was expressed with regard to the consistency of authorisation decisions and the costs and uncertainties related to authorisation applications. Consumer protection legislation consists of several legal provisions which are interlinked. The congress participants agreed that REACH is an important element of this legal framework as it enhances and complements other legal provisions.

Distractor interference during a choice limb reaching task.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew Ray

Full Text Available According to action-centered models of attention, the patterns of distractor interference that emerge in selective reaching tasks are related to the time and effort required to resolve a race for activation between competing target and non-target response producing processes. Previous studies have only used unimanual aiming tasks and, as such, only examined the effects of competition that occurs within a limb. The results of studies using unimanual aiming movements often reveal an "ipsilateral effect"--distractors on the same side of space as the effector cause greater interference than distractors on the opposite side of space. The cost of the competition when response selection is between the limbs has yet to be addressed. Participants in the present study executed reaching movements to 1 of 4 (2 left, 2 right possible target locations with and without a distractor. Participants made ipsilateral reaches (left hand to left targets, right hand to right targets. In contrast to studies using unimanual aiming movements, a "contralateral effect" was observed; distractors affording responses for the other hand (in contralateral space caused more interference than distractors affording responses for the same hand. The findings from the present research demonstrate that when certain portions of response planning must be resolved prior to response initiation, distractors that code for that dimension cause the greatest interference.

Infant manual performance during reaching and grasping for objects moving in depth.

Science.gov (United States)

Domellöf, Erik; Barbu-Roth, Marianne; Rönnqvist, Louise; Jacquet, Anne-Yvonne; Fagard, Jacqueline

2015-01-01

Few studies have investigated manual performance in infants when reaching and grasping for objects moving in directions other than across the fronto-parallel plane. The present preliminary study explored object-oriented behavioral strategies and side preference in 8- and 10-month-old infants during reaching and grasping for objects approaching in depth from three positions (midline, and 27° diagonally from the left and right). Effects of task constraint by using objects of three different types and two sizes were further examined for behavioral strategies and hand opening prior to grasping. Additionally, assessments of hand preference by a dedicated handedness test were performed. Regardless of object starting position, the 8-month-old infants predominantly displayed right-handed reaches for objects approaching in depth. In contrast, the older infants showed more varied strategies and performed more ipsilateral reaches in correspondence with the side of the approaching object. Conversely, 10-month-old infants were more successful than the younger infants in grasping the objects, independent of object starting position. The findings regarding infant hand use strategies when reaching and grasping for objects moving in depth are similar to those from earlier studies using objects moving along a horizontal path. Still, initiation times of reaching onset were generally long in the present study, indicating that the object motion paths seemingly affected how the infants perceived the intrinsic properties and spatial locations of the objects, possibly with an effect on motor planning. Findings are further discussed in relation to future investigations of infant reaching and grasping for objects approaching in depth.

76 FR 49755 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-11

... aircraft. Categories of records in the system: Name, last four of Social Security Number (SSN), squadron ID... of Appendix I to OMB Circular No. A-130, ``Federal Agency Responsibilities for Maintaining records... Military Flight Operations Quality Assurance System location: Primary databases (Enterprise Level Servers...

Digital Immigrants, Digital Learning: Reaching Adults through Information Literacy Instruction Online

Science.gov (United States)

Rapchak, Marcia; Behary, Robert

2013-01-01

As information literacy programs become more robust, finding methods of reaching students beyond the traditional undergraduate has become a priority for many institutions. At Duquesne University, efforts have been made to reach adult learners in an accelerated program targeted to nontraditional students, much of which is provided online. This…

Development of Reaching and Grasping skills in infants with Down syndrome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Campos, A.C.; Rocha, N.A.C.F.; Savelsbergh, G.J.P.

2010-01-01

Reaching and grasping skills have been described to emerge from a dynamic interaction between intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The aims of the study were to investigate the effect of such intrinsic factors as age and Down syndrome on the development of reaching and grasping skills and on overall

High construal level can help negotiators to reach integrative agreements: The role of information exchange and judgement accuracy.

Science.gov (United States)

Wening, Stefanie; Keith, Nina; Abele, Andrea E

2016-06-01

In negotiations, a focus on interests (why negotiators want something) is key to integrative agreements. Yet, many negotiators spontaneously focus on positions (what they want), with suboptimal outcomes. Our research applies construal-level theory to negotiations and proposes that a high construal level instigates a focus on interests during negotiations which, in turn, positively affects outcomes. In particular, we tested the notion that the effect of construal level on outcomes was mediated by information exchange and judgement accuracy. Finally, we expected the mere mode of presentation of task material to affect construal levels and manipulated construal levels using concrete versus abstract negotiation tasks. In two experiments, participants negotiated in dyads in either a high- or low-construal-level condition. In Study 1, high-construal-level dyads outperformed dyads in the low-construal-level condition; this main effect was mediated by information exchange. Study 2 replicated both the main and mediation effects using judgement accuracy as mediator and additionally yielded a positive effect of a high construal level on a second, more complex negotiation task. These results not only provide empirical evidence for the theoretically proposed link between construal levels and negotiation outcomes but also shed light on the processes underlying this effect. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Solid expandable systems put deepwater targets within reach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perez-Roca, Eduardo [Enventure Global Technology L.L.C., Houston, TX (United States). Latin America; Fristch, Jerry [Enventure Global Technology L.L.C., Houston, TX (United States)

2008-07-01

Enabling technologies that take drilling operations to deeper objectives have made a significant impact on the practicality of many projects, especially deep water offshore targets. Increasing vertical depth and lateral reach requires adequate hole size to attain the desired objectives of the well bore. Solid expandable technology can maintain and retain hole size to address both the physical limitations and the economic feasibility of deep water operations. With each and every casing point, the potential for adequate hole size at total depth (TD) decreases. Solid expandable open hole liners and single-diameter systems reduce and eliminate, respectively, the well bore tapering that dictates hole size at TD and subsequent completion size. Successful mitigation of this tapering, whether through the entire well bore or through select zones, enables operators to gain access to previously unreachable reserves. Solid expandable systems have proven to be reliable and effective with over 1,000 installations in a myriad of conditions and environments worldwide. To date, over 115 of those applications have been in deep water environments. The current operating envelope for solid expandable systems include the deepest installation at {approx}28,750 ft (8,763 m) and the longest at 6,867 ft (2,083 m) in water depth over 3,150 ft (960 m). This record-length application consisted of an open hole liner installed and expanded in a single run. This paper will discuss the effectiveness of solid expandable systems in deep water operations and how the technology brings value to offshore projects especially when planned into the initial design. Case histories will be used to further illustrate the features, advantages, and benefits of expandable technology. In addition, this paper will examine the state of the solid expandable technology and its continuing evolution to provide even more drilling solutions. (author)

Ambition to reach zero level failure in VVER 1000 with russian fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mečíř, V.

2015-01-01

The purpose of “The Zero Failure Level Project” is to bring to real operation of VVER 1000 units the dream of all utilities such as problem free and cost effective operation. This essentially turns into requirement on failure free fuel operation. At the same time the general requirements such as safety, cost effectiveness, operational flexibility, fuel cycle and fuel flexibility need to be satisfied. Several specific tasks were performed and many of them are still in process. Specific failure tree was developed in a format, which allows step by step failure tree improvement. Fuel types and its modifications, taking into account manufacturing conditions, were specified. In parallel with fuel types classification, real operational conditions were evaluated based on approximately 280 parameters by fuel assembly design features, operational procedures and practices and about 250 reactor unit parameters. As a result of this stage, groups of units with similar fuel operational conditions should be revealed and experience sharing database created. It is also recognized a need for consistent methods of operational data and data from pool side fuel assembly inspection. In the area of Foreign Material Exclusion activities closer cooperation between utility and supplier should be established including foreign material classification and improvement in root cause investigation

Two-dimensional numerical modelling of sediment and chemical constituent transport within the lower reaches of the Athabasca River.

Science.gov (United States)

Kashyap, Shalini; Dibike, Yonas; Shakibaeinia, Ahmad; Prowse, Terry; Droppo, Ian

2017-01-01

Flows and transport of sediment and associated chemical constituents within the lower reaches of the Athabasca River between Fort McMurray and Embarrass Airport are investigated using a two-dimensional (2D) numerical model called Environmental Fluid Dynamics Code (EFDC). The river reach is characterized by complex geometry, including vegetated islands, alternating sand bars and an unpredictable thalweg. The models were setup and validated using available observed data in the region before using them to estimate the levels of cohesive sediment and a select set of chemical constituents, consisting of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metals, within the river system. Different flow scenarios were considered, and the results show that a large proportion of the cohesive sediment that gets deposited within the study domain originates from the main stem upstream inflow boundary, although Ells River may also contribute substantially during peak flow events. The floodplain, back channels and islands in the river system are found to be the major areas of concern for deposition of sediment and associated chemical constituents. Adsorbed chemical constituents also tend to be greater in the main channel water column, which has higher levels of total suspended sediments, compared to in the flood plain. Moreover, the levels of chemical constituents leaving the river system are found to depend very much on the corresponding river bed concentration levels, resulting in higher outflows with increases in their concentration in the bed sediment.

Dynamics of marsh-mangrove ecotone since the mid-Holocene: A palynological study of mangrove encroachment and sea level rise in the Shark River Estuary, Florida.

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Qiang; Liu, Kam-Biu

2017-01-01

Sea level rise and the associated inland shift of the marsh-mangrove ecotone in south Florida have raised many scientific and management concerns in recent years. Holocene paleoecological records can provide an important baseline to shed light on the long-term dynamics of vegetation changes across this ecotone in the past, which is needed to predict the future. In this study, we present palynological, X-ray fluorescence, and loss-on ignition data from four sedimentary cores recovered from a 20-km marine-to-freshwater transect along the Shark River Estuary, southwest Everglades, to document the patterns and processes of coastal vegetation changes in response to sea level rise since the mid-Holocene. Our record indicates that freshwater marsh progressively replaced marl prairies at the Shark River Estuary between 5700 and 4400 cal yr BP. As marine transgression continued, marine influence reached the threshold necessary for mangroves to establish at the current mouth of the Shark River Slough at 3800 cal yr BP. During the next 3000 years, although sea level rise in the Western North Atlantic slowed down to 0.4 mm/yr, a spatial and temporal gradient was evident as the marsh-mangrove ecotone shifted inland by 20 km from 3800 to 800 cal yr BP, accompanied by a gradual landward replacement of freshwater marsh by mangrove forest. If sea level continues to rise at 2.33 mm/yr in the 21st century in south Florida, it is possible that marine influence will reach the threshold for mangroves to establish in the central Everglades, and we could expect a much more aggressive mangrove encroachment toward the northern and interior parts of south Florida in the next few centuries.

Nineteenth century US African-American and white female statures: Insight from US prison records

OpenAIRE

Carson, Scott A.

2010-01-01

Using a new source of 19th century state prison records, this study contrasts the biological living conditions of comparable US African-American and white female statures during economic development. Black and white female statures varied regionally, and white Southeastern and black Southwestern females reached the tallest statures. White females were consistently taller than black females. Black and white female statures also varied over time with emancipation and were similar to black male ...

Long-reach manipulators for decommissioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webster, D.A.; Challinor, S.F.

1993-01-01

A survey of redundant facilities at Sellafield has identified that in many cases the conventional means of deploying remote handling equipment are not appropriate and that novel means must be employed. However, decommissioning is not a value adding activity and so expensive one off designs must be avoided. The paper will describe BNFL's approach to the synthesis from proprietary parts of a manipulator which can lift 3 te at a horizontal reach of over 5 metres and yet can still perform the dextrous manipulation necessary to remove small items. It will also cover the development of the manipulator control systems and the adaption of commercial handtools to be manipulator friendly. (author)

Comparing the Advanced REACH Tool's (ART) Estimates With Switzerland's Occupational Exposure Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Savic, Nenad; Gasic, Bojan; Schinkel, Jody; Vernez, David

2017-10-01

The Advanced REACH Tool (ART) is the most sophisticated tool used for evaluating exposure levels under the European Union's Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of CHemicals (REACH) regulations. ART provides estimates at different percentiles of exposure and within different confidence intervals (CIs). However, its performance has only been tested on a limited number of exposure data. The present study compares ART's estimates with exposure measurements collected over many years in Switzerland. Measurements from 584 cases of exposure to vapours, mists, powders, and abrasive dusts (wood/stone and metal) were extracted from a Swiss database. The corresponding exposures at the 50th and 90th percentiles were calculated in ART. To characterize the model's performance, the 90% CI of the estimates was considered. ART's performance at the 50th percentile was only found to be insufficiently conservative with regard to exposure to wood/stone dusts, whereas the 90th percentile showed sufficient conservatism for all the types of exposure processed. However, a trend was observed with the residuals, where ART overestimated lower exposures and underestimated higher ones. The median was more precise, however, and the majority (≥60%) of real-world measurements were within a factor of 10 from ART's estimates. We provide recommendations based on the results and suggest further, more comprehensive, investigations. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society.

National electronic medical records integration on cloud computing system.

Science.gov (United States)

Mirza, Hebah; El-Masri, Samir

2013-01-01

Few Healthcare providers have an advanced level of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) adoption. Others have a low level and most have no EMR at all. Cloud computing technology is a new emerging technology that has been used in other industry and showed a great success. Despite the great features of Cloud computing, they haven't been utilized fairly yet in healthcare industry. This study presents an innovative Healthcare Cloud Computing system for Integrating Electronic Health Record (EHR). The proposed Cloud system applies the Cloud Computing technology on EHR system, to present a comprehensive EHR integrated environment.

High diffraction efficiency polarization gratings recorded by biphotonic holography in an azobenzene liquid crystalline polyester

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez, C.; Alcala, R.; Hvilsted, S.; Ramanujam, P. S.

2001-01-01

High diffraction efficiencies have been achieved with polarization gratings recorded in thin films of an azobenzene side-chain liquid crystalline polyester by means of biphotonic processes. Efficiency values up to 30% have been reached after an induction period of 300 s and subsequent evolution with the sample in darkness. These values are at least two orders of magnitude higher than those previously reported for biphotonic recording. The gratings can be erased with unpolarized blue light and partial recovery of the diffraction efficiency has been observed after the erasure process when the sample is kept in darkness. Red light illumination of the erased film increases the recovered efficiency value and the recovery rate. [copyright] 2001 American Institute of Physics

21 CFR 225.102 - Master record file and production records.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... or production run of medicated feed to which it pertains. The Master Record File or card shall... 21 Food and Drugs 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Master record file and production records. 225.102....102 Master record file and production records. (a) The Master Record File provides the complete...

Grip type and task goal modify reach-to-grasp performance in post-stroke hemiparesis

Science.gov (United States)

Schaefer, Sydney Y.; DeJong, Stacey L.; Cherry, Kendra M.; Lang, Catherine E.

2011-01-01

This study investigated whether grip type and/or task goal influenced reaching and grasping performance in post-stroke hemiparesis. Sixteen adults with post-stroke hemiparesis and twelve healthy adults reached to and grasped a cylindrical object using one of two grip types (3-finger or palmar) to achieve one of two task goals (hold or lift). Performance of the stroke group was characteristic of hemiparetic limb movement during reach-to-grasp, with more curved handpaths and slower velocities compared to the control group. These effects were present regardless of grip type or task goal. Other measures of reaching (reach time and reach velocity at object contact) and grasping (peak thumb-index finger aperture during the reach and peak grip force during the grasp) were differentially affected by grip type, task goal, or both, despite the presence of hemiparesis, providing new evidence that changes in motor patterns after stroke may occur to compensate for stroke-related motor impairment. PMID:22357103

Grip type and task goal modify reach-to-grasp performance in post-stroke hemiparesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Schaefer, Sydney Y; DeJong, Stacey L; Cherry, Kendra M; Lang, Catherine E

2012-04-01

This study investigated whether grip type and/or task goal influenced reaching and grasping performance in poststroke hemiparesis. Sixteen adults with poststroke hemiparesis and twelve healthy adults reached to and grasped a cylindrical object using one of two grip types (3-finger or palmar) to achieve one of two task goals (hold or lift). Performance of the stroke group was characteristic of hemiparetic limb movement during reach-to-grasp, with more curved handpaths and slower velocities compared with the control group. These effects were present regardless of grip type or task goal. Other measures of reaching (reach time and reach velocity at object contact) and grasping (peak thumb-index finger aperture during the reach and peak grip force during the grasp) were differentially affected by grip type, task goal, or both, despite the presence of hemiparesis, providing new evidence that changes in motor patterns after stroke may occur to compensate for stroke-related motor impairment.

LTRM Fish Sampling Strata, UMRS La Grange Reach

Data.gov (United States)

Department of the Interior — The data set includes delineation of sampling strata for the six study reaches of the UMRR Program’s LTRM element. Separate strata coverages exist for each of the...

Correlation between single-trial visual evoked potentials and the blood oxygenation level dependent response in simultaneously recorded electroencephalography-functional magnetic resonance imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fuglø, Dan; Pedersen, Henrik; Rostrup, Egill

2012-01-01

in different occipital and extraoccipital cortical areas not explained by the boxcar regressor. The results suggest that the P1-N2 regressor is the best EEG-based regressor to model the visual paradigm, but when looking for additional effects like habituation or attention modulation that cannot be modeled......To compare different electroencephalography (EEG)-based regressors and their ability to predict the simultaneously recorded blood oxygenation level dependent response during blocked visual stimulation, simultaneous EEG-functional magnetic resonance imaging in 10 healthy volunteers was performed....... The performance of different single-trial EEG regressors was compared in terms of predicting the measured blood oxygenation level dependent response. The EEG-based regressors were the amplitude and latency of the primary positive (P1) and negative (N2) peaks of the visual evoked potential, the combined P1-N2...

Taking family planning services to hard-to-reach populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Donovan, P

1996-01-01

Interviews were conducted in 1995 among 100 US family planning program personnel who serve hard-to-reach populations, such as drug abusers, prisoners, the disabled, homeless persons, and non-English speaking minorities. Findings indicate that a range of services is available for hard-to-reach groups. Most family planning agencies focus on drug abusers because of the severity of HIV infections and the availability of funding. This article describes the activities of various agencies in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts that serve substance abuse centers with family planning services. One recommendation for a service provider is to present services in an environment where it is safe to talk about a person's needs. One other program offered personal greetings upon arrival and the continuity of having a familiar face to oversee all reproductive and health needs. Programs for prisoners ranged from basic sex education classes to comprehensive reproductive health care. Some prisons offered individual counseling. Some programs were presented in juvenile offender facilities. Outreach to the homeless involved services at homeless shelters, outreach workers who recruited women into traditional family planning clinics, and establishment of nontraditional sites for the homeless and other hard-to-reach persons. One provider's suggestion was to offer services where high-risk women already go for other services. Most services to the disabled target the developmentally disabled rather than the physically disabled. Experience has shown that many professionals working with the disabled do not recognize their clients' sexual needs. Other hard-to-reach groups include women in housing projects and shelters for battered women, welfare applicants, and sex workers. Key to service provision is creating trust, overcoming language and cultural differences, and subsidizing the cost of care.

Application of active electrode compensation to perform continuous voltage-clamp recordings with sharp microelectrodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez-González, J F; Destexhe, A; Bal, T

2014-10-01

Electrophysiological recordings of single neurons in brain tissues are very common in neuroscience. Glass microelectrodes filled with an electrolyte are used to impale the cell membrane in order to record the membrane potential or to inject current. Their high resistance induces a high voltage drop when passing current and it is essential to correct the voltage measurements. In particular, for voltage clamping, the traditional alternatives are two-electrode voltage-clamp technique or discontinuous single electrode voltage-clamp (dSEVC). Nevertheless, it is generally difficult to impale two electrodes in a same neuron and the switching frequency is limited to low frequencies in the case of dSEVC. We present a novel fully computer-implemented alternative to perform continuous voltage-clamp recordings with a single sharp-electrode. To reach such voltage-clamp recordings, we combine an active electrode compensation algorithm (AEC) with a digital controller (AECVC). We applied two types of control-systems: a linear controller (proportional plus integrative controller) and a model-based controller (optimal control). We compared the performance of the two methods to dSEVC using a dynamic model cell and experiments in brain slices. The AECVC method provides an entirely digital method to perform continuous recording and smooth switching between voltage-clamp, current clamp or dynamic-clamp configurations without introducing artifacts.

Workspace location influences joint coordination during reaching in post-stroke hemiparesis

Science.gov (United States)

Reisman, Darcy S.; Scholz, John P.

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of workspace location on joint coordination in persons with post-stroke hemiparesis when trunk motion was required to complete reaches beyond the arm’s functional reach length. Seven subjects with mild right hemiparesis following a stroke and seven age and gender matched control subjects participated. Joint motions and characteristics of hand and trunk movement were measured over multiple repetitions. The variance (across trials) of joint combinations was partitioned into two components at every point in the hand’s trajectory using the uncontrolled manifold approach; the first component is a measure of the extent to which equivalent joint combinations are used to control a given hand path, and reflects performance flexibility. The second component of joint variance reflects the use of non-equivalent joint combinations, which lead to hand path error. Compared to the control subjects, persons with hemiparesis demonstrated a significantly greater amount of non-equivalent joint variability related to control of the hand’s path and of the hand’s position relative to the trunk when reaching toward the hemiparetic side (ipsilaterally), but not when reaching to the less involved side. The relative timing of the hand and trunk was also altered when reaching ipsilaterally. The current findings support the idea that the previously proposed “arm compensatory synergy” may be deficient in subjects with hemiparesis. This deficiency may be due to one or a combination of factors: changes in central commands that are thought to set the gain of the arm compensatory synergy; a limited ability to combine shoulder abduction and elbow extension that limits the expression of an appropriately set arm compensatory synergy; or a reduction of the necessary degrees-of-freedom needed to adequately compensate for poor trunk control when reaching ipsilaterally. PMID:16328275

Three measures of longevity: time trends and record values

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Canudas-Romo, V

2010-01-01

at birth increased from a level of 44 years in Sweden in 1840 to 82 years in Japan in 2005. The record median age at death shows increasing patterns similar to those observed in life expectancy at birth. However, the record modal age at death changes very little until the second half of the twentieth......This article examines the trend over time in the measures of “typical” longevity experienced by members of a population: life expectancy at birth, and the median and modal ages at death. The article also analyzes trends in record values observed for all three measures. The record life expectancy...... time from a dominance of child mortality reductions to a dominance of adult mortality reductions, which became evident by studying trends in the record modal age at death....

Acculturation level and caregiver outcomes from a randomized intervention trial to enhance caregivers' health: evidence from REACH II.

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Oanh L; Liu, Xiaoyan Lucia; Tancredi, Daniel; Ramirez, A Susana; Schulz, Richard; Hinton, Ladson

2018-06-01

Latinos comprise a growing segment of the caregiver population and vary widely in acculturation, yet little is known regarding how acculturation might affect caregiver stress or intervention outcomes. This study examined the relationship between acculturation and burden, bother, and depression in Latino dementia caregivers at baseline and following an intervention. This was a secondary data analysis of 211 Latino caregivers of older adults with dementia from Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health (REACH) II, a multisite randomized trial of caregiver interventions. Baseline and follow-up data were used to run mixed-effects models examining the main and moderating effect of acculturation on caregiver stress. No significant main effect of acculturation was found for any of the outcome measures, controlling for demographic covariates. Acculturation moderated the effect of the intervention on caregiver burden: those who were more acculturated benefited more from the intervention. Differential acculturation for Latino caregivers was not directly associated with caregiver burden, bother, or depression, but was associated with reducing burden from the intervention. Future research should explore by what mechanism acculturation influences caregiver burden following an intervention.

Luminosity performance reach after LS1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herr, W.

2012-01-01

Based on past experience (2010/2011), in particular expected limitations from beam-beam effects, and taking into account the expected beam quality from the LHC injectors, the peak and integrated luminosity at top energy is discussed for different scenarios (e.g. bunch spacing, beta*). In particular it will be shown which are the key parameters to reach the nominal luminosity and it is also shown that peak luminosities two times larger than nominal (or higher) are possible. Possible test in 2012 are discussed

Development of Reaching and Grasping Skills in Infants with Down Syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

de Campos, Ana Carolina; Rocha, Nelci Adriana Cicuto Ferreira; Savelsbergh, Geert J. P.

2010-01-01

Reaching and grasping skills have been described to emerge from a dynamic interaction between intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The aims of the study were to investigate the effect of such intrinsic factors as age and Down syndrome on the development of reaching and grasping skills and on overall gross motor skill, and to test the influence of the…

The influence of subway station design on noise levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Shah, Ravi R; Suen, Jonathan J; Cellum, Ilana P; Spitzer, Jaclyn B; Lalwani, Anil K

2017-05-01

To investigate the impact of subway station design on platform noise levels. Observational. Continuous A-weighted decibel (dBA) sound levels were recorded in 20 New York City subway stations, where trains entered on either a straight track or curved track in 10 stations each. Equivalent continuous noise levels (L eq ) at various locations on the boarding platform (inbound end, midplatform, and outbound end) during train entry and exit were compared between the straight and curved stations in broadband as well as narrow one-third octave bands. Overall, curved stations trended louder than straight stations, although the difference in broadband L eq did not reach statistical significance (curve, 83.4 dBA; straight, 82.6 dBA; P = .054). Noise levels were significantly louder at the inbound end of the platform during train entry (inbound, 89.7 dBA; mid, 85.5 dBA; outbound, 78.7 dBA; P < .001) and at the outbound end during train exit (inbound, 79.7 dBA; mid, 85.3 dBA; outbound, 89.1 dBA; P < .001). Narrow band analysis showed that curved stations were significantly louder than straight stations at 100 Hz and high frequencies from 8 to 20 kHz. Peak impact levels ranged from 104 to 121 dBA. Curved stations have a different noise profile compared to straight stations and are significantly louder than straight stations at high frequencies. Designing stations with straight tracks within the platform can help reduce commuter noise exposure. NA Laryngoscope, 127:1169-1174, 2017. © 2016 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Comparing cycling world hour records, 1967-1996: modeling with empirical data.

Science.gov (United States)

Bassett, D R; Kyle, C R; Passfield, L; Broker, J P; Burke, E R

1999-11-01

The world hour record in cycling has increased dramatically in recent years. The present study was designed to compare the performances of former/current record holders, after adjusting for differences in aerodynamic equipment and altitude. Additionally, we sought to determine the ideal elevation for future hour record attempts. The first step was constructing a mathematical model to predict power requirements of track cycling. The model was based on empirical data from wind-tunnel tests, the relationship of body size to frontal surface area, and field power measurements using a crank dynamometer (SRM). The model agreed reasonably well with actual measurements of power output on elite cyclists. Subsequently, the effects of altitude on maximal aerobic power were estimated from published research studies of elite athletes. This information was combined with the power requirement equation to predict what each cyclist's power output would have been at sea level. This allowed us to estimate the distance that each rider could have covered using state-of-the-art equipment at sea level. According to these calculations, when racing under equivalent conditions, Rominger would be first, Boardman second, Merckx third, and Indurain fourth. In addition, about 60% of the increase in hour record distances since Bracke's record (1967) have come from advances in technology and 40% from physiological improvements. To break the current world hour record, field measurements and the model indicate that a cyclist would have to deliver over 440 W for 1 h at sea level, or correspondingly less at altitude. The optimal elevation for future hour record attempts is predicted to be about 2500 m for acclimatized riders and 2000 m for unacclimatized riders.

Cu-Si bilayers as storage medium in optical recording

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuiper, A.E. T.; Vullers, R.J.M.; Pasquariello, D.; Naburgh, E.P.

2005-01-01

Instead of a phase change or a dye layer, a Cu/Si bilayer can be applied as the recording medium in a write-once Blu-ray Disc. The write process basically comprises the formation of a CuSi alloy containing 25-30 at. % Si, while any excess of Si is left behind as unreacted film. Auger analyses of the laser-written layers indicate that recording consists primarily of the diffusion of Si into Cu. The data allow for discrimination between the various models presented in literature for Cu/Si-based recording and to optimize the stack. Very low jitter levels of typically 4% proved to be achievable with equally thick films of Cu and Si as recording medium

Simulation and Validation of the ATLAS Level-1 Topological Trigger

CERN Document Server

Bakker, Pepijn Johannes; The ATLAS collaboration

2017-01-01

The ATLAS experiment has recently commissioned a new component of its first-level trigger: the L1 topological trigger. This system, using state-of-the-art FPGA processors, makes it possible to reject events by applying topological requirements, such as kinematic criteria involving clusters, jets, muons, and total transverse energy. The data recorded using the L1Topological trigger demonstrates that this innovative trigger strategy allows for an improved rejection rate without efficiency loss. This improvement has been shown for several relevant physics processes leading to low-$p_T$ leptons, including $H\\to{}\\tau{}\\tau{}$ and $J/\\Psi\\to{}\\mu{}\\mu{}$. In addition, an accurate simulation of the L1Topological trigger is used to validate and optimize the performance of this trigger. To reach such an accuracy, this simulation must take into account the fact that the firmware algorithms are executed on a FPGA architecture, while the simulation is executed on a floating point architecture.

Stability of Phase Relationships While Coordinating Arm Reaches with Whole Body Motion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Romy S Bakker

Full Text Available The human movement repertoire is characterized by the smooth coordination of several body parts, including arm movements and whole body motion. The neural control of this coordination is quite complex because the various body parts have their own kinematic and dynamic properties. Behavioral inferences about the neural solution to the coordination problem could be obtained by examining the emerging phase relationship and its stability. Here, we studied the phase relationships that characterize the coordination of arm-reaching movements with passively-induced whole-body motion. Participants were laterally translated using a vestibular chair that oscillated at a fixed frequency of 0.83 Hz. They were instructed to reach between two targets that were aligned either parallel or orthogonal to the whole body motion. During the first cycles of body motion, a metronome entrained either an in-phase or an anti-phase relationship between hand and body motion, which was released at later cycles to test phase stability. Results suggest that inertial forces play an important role when coordinating reaches with cyclic whole-body motion. For parallel reaches, we found a stable in-phase and an unstable anti-phase relationship. When the latter was imposed, it readily transitioned or drifted back toward an in-phase relationship at cycles without metronomic entrainment. For orthogonal reaches, we did not find a clear difference in stability between in-phase and anti-phase relationships. Computer simulations further show that cost models that minimize energy expenditure (i.e. net torques or endpoint variance of the reach cannot fully explain the observed coordination patterns. We discuss how predictive control and impedance control processes could be considered important mechanisms underlying the rhythmic coordination of arm reaches and body motion.

Infant manual performance during reaching and grasping for objects moving in depth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erik eDomellöf

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Few studies have observed investigated manual asymmetries performance in infants when reaching and grasping for objects moving in directions other than across the fronto-parallel plane. The present preliminary study explored manual object-oriented behavioral strategies and hand side preference in 8- and 10-month-old infants during reaching and grasping for objects approaching in depth from three positions (midline, and 27° diagonally from the left, and right, midline. Effects of task constraint by using objects of three different types and two sizes were further examined for behavioral strategies and . The study also involved measurements of hand position opening prior to grasping., and Additionally, assessments of general hand preference by a dedicated handedness test were performed. Regardless of object starting position, the 8-month-old infants predominantly displayed right-handed reaches for objects approaching in depth. In contrast, the older infants showed more varied strategies and performed more ipsilateral reaches in correspondence with the side of the approaching object. Conversely, 10-month-old infants were more successful than the younger infants in grasping the objects, independent of object starting position. The findings support the possibility of a shared underlying mechanism regarding for infant hand use strategies when reaching and grasping for horizontally objects moving in depth are similar to those from earlier studies using objects moving along a horizontal pathand vertically moving objects. Still, initiation times of reaching onset were generally long in the present study, indicating that the object motion paths seemingly affected how the infants perceived the intrinsic properties and spatial locations of the objects, possibly with an effect on motor planning. Findings are further discussed in relation to future investigations of infant reaching and grasping for objects approaching in depth.

76 FR 28757 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-18

... online tool helps the staff members at all four levels (school, district, area, and headquarters) apply... to paragraph 4c of Appendix I to OMB Circular No. A-130, ``Federal Agency Responsibilities for.... Categories of records in the system: Records consist of first name, last name, Social Security Number (SSN...

Decoding 3D reach and grasp from hybrid signals in motor and premotor cortices: spikes, multiunit activity, and local field potentials.

Science.gov (United States)

Bansal, Arjun K; Truccolo, Wilson; Vargas-Irwin, Carlos E; Donoghue, John P

2012-03-01

Neural activity in motor cortex during reach and grasp movements shows modulations in a broad range of signals from single-neuron spiking activity (SA) to various frequency bands in broadband local field potentials (LFPs). In particular, spatiotemporal patterns in multiband LFPs are thought to reflect dendritic integration of local and interareal synaptic inputs, attentional and preparatory processes, and multiunit activity (MUA) related to movement representation in the local motor area. Nevertheless, the relationship between multiband LFPs and SA, and their relationship to movement parameters and their relative value as brain-computer interface (BCI) control signals, remain poorly understood. Also, although this broad range of signals may provide complementary information channels in primary (MI) and ventral premotor (PMv) areas, areal differences in information have not been systematically examined. Here, for the first time, the amount of information in SA and multiband LFPs was compared for MI and PMv by recording from dual 96-multielectrode arrays while monkeys made naturalistic reach and grasp actions. Information was assessed as decoding accuracy for 3D arm end point and grip aperture kinematics based on SA or LFPs in MI and PMv, or combinations of signal types across areas. In contrast with previous studies with ≤16 simultaneous electrodes, here ensembles of >16 units (on average) carried more information than multiband, multichannel LFPs. Furthermore, reach and grasp information added by various LFP frequency bands was not independent from that in SA ensembles but rather typically less than and primarily contained within the latter. Notably, MI and PMv did not show a particular bias toward reach or grasp for this task or for a broad range of signal types. For BCIs, our results indicate that neuronal ensemble spiking is the preferred signal for decoding, while LFPs and combined signals from PMv and MI can add robustness to BCI control.

Prevention of postpartum haemorrhage by community-based auxiliary midwives in hard-to-reach areas of Myanmar: a qualitative inquiry into acceptability and feasibility of task shifting.

Science.gov (United States)

Than, Kyu Kyu; Mohamed, Yasmin; Oliver, Victoria; Myint, Theingi; La, Thazin; Beeson, James G; Luchters, Stanley

2017-05-17

In Myanmar, postpartum haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal mortality and contributes to around 30% of all maternal deaths. The World Health Organization recommends training and supporting auxiliary midwives to administer oral misoprostol for prevention of postpartum haemorrhage in resource-limited settings. However, use of misoprostol by auxiliary midwives has not formally been approved in Myanmar. Our study aimed to explore community and provider perspectives on the roles of auxiliary midwives and community-level provision of oral misoprostol by auxiliary midwives. A qualitative inquiry was conducted in Ngape Township, Myanmar. A total of 15 focus group discussions with midwives, auxiliary midwives, community members and mothers with children under the age of three were conducted. Ten key informant interviews were performed with national, district and township level health planners and implementers of maternal and child health services. All audio recordings were transcribed verbatim in Myanmar language. Transcripts of focus group discussions were fully translated into English before coding, while key informants' data were coded in Myanmar language. Thematic analysis was done using ATLAS.ti software. Home births are common and auxiliary midwives were perceived as an essential care provider during childbirth in hard-to-reach areas. Main reasons provided were that auxiliary midwives are more accessible than midwives, live in the hard-to-reach areas, and are integrated in the community and well connected with midwives. Auxiliary midwives generally reported that their training involved instruction on active management of the third stage of labour, including use of misoprostol, but not all auxiliary midwives reported using misoprostol in practice. Supportive reasons for task-shifting administration of oral misoprostol to auxiliary midwives included discussions around the good relationship and trust between auxiliary midwives and midwives, whereby midwives felt

The Relationship Between Magnet Designation, Electronic Health Record Adoption, and Medicare Meaningful Use Payments.

Science.gov (United States)

Lippincott, Christine; Foronda, Cynthia; Zdanowicz, Martin; McCabe, Brian E; Ambrosia, Todd

2017-08-01

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between nursing excellence and electronic health record adoption. Of 6582 US hospitals, 4939 were eligible for the Medicare Electronic Health Record Incentive Program, and 6419 were eligible for evaluation on the HIMSS Analytics Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model. Of 399 Magnet hospitals, 330 were eligible for the Medicare Electronic Health Record Incentive Program, and 393 were eligible for evaluation in the HIMSS Analytics Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model. Meaningful use attestation was defined as receipt of a Medicare Electronic Health Record Incentive Program payment. The adoption electronic health record was defined as Level 6 and/or 7 on the HIMSS Analytics Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model. Logistic regression showed that Magnet-designated hospitals were more likely attest to Meaningful Use than non-Magnet hospitals (odds ratio = 3.58, P electronic health records than non-Magnet hospitals (Level 6 only: odds ratio = 3.68, P electronic health record use, which involves earning financial incentives for successful adoption. Continued investigation is needed to examine the relationships between the quality of nursing care, electronic health record usage, financial implications, and patient outcomes.

Requirements for multi-level systems pharmacology models to reach end-usage : The case of type 2 diabetes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nyman, E.; Rozendaal, Y.J.W.; Helmlinger, G.; Hamrén, B.; Kjellsson, M.C.; Strålfors, P.; van Riel, N.A.W.; Gennemark, P.; Cedersund, G.

2016-01-01

We are currently in the middle of a major shift in biomedical research: unprecedented and rapidly growing amounts of data may be obtained today, from in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies, at molecular, physiological and clinical levels. To make use of these large-scale, multi-level datasets,

Requirements for multi-level systems pharmacology models to reach end-usage: the case of type 2 diabetes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nyman, Elin; Rozendaal, Yvonne J. W.; Helmlinger, Gabriel; Hamrén, Bengt; Kjellsson, Maria C.; Strålfors, Peter; van Riel, Natal A. W.; Gennemark, Peter; Cedersund, Gunnar

2016-01-01

We are currently in the middle of a major shift in biomedical research: unprecedented and rapidly growing amounts of data may be obtained today, from in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies, at molecular, physiological and clinical levels. To make use of these large-scale, multi-level datasets,

What can be learnt from an ecotoxicity database in the framework of the REACh regulation?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henegar, Adina; Mombelli, Enrico; Pandard, Pascal; Pery, Alexandre R.R.

2011-01-01

Since REACh applies in all of EU, special emphasis has been put on the reduction of systematic ecotoxicity testing. In this context, it is important to extract a maximum of information from existing ecotoxicity databases in order to propose alternative methods aimed at replacing and reducing experimental testing. Consequently, we analyzed a database of new chemicals registered in France and Europe during the last twenty years reporting aquatic ecotoxicity data with respect to three trophic levels (i.e., Algae EC50 72 h, Daphnia EC50 48 h and Fish LC50 96 h). In order to ensure the relevance of the comparison between these three experimental tests, we performed a stringent data selection based on the pertinence and quality of available ecotoxicological information. At the end of this selection, less than 5% of the initial number of chemicals was retained for subsequent analysis. Such an analysis showed that fish was the least sensitive trophic level, whereas Daphnia had the highest sensitivity. Moreover, thanks to an analysis of the relative sensitivity of trophic levels, it was possible to establish that respective correction factors of 50 and 10 would be necessary if only one or two test values were available. From a physicochemical point of view, it was possible to characterize two significant correlations relating the sensitivity of the aforementioned trophic levels with the chemical structure of the retained substances. This analysis showed that algae displayed a higher sensitivity towards chemicals containing acid fragments whereas fish presented a higher sensitivity towards chemicals containing aromatic ether fragments. Overall, our work suggests that statistical analysis of historical data combined with data yielded by the REACh regulation should permit the derivation of robust safety factors, testing strategies and mathematical models. These alternative methods, in turn, could allow a replacement and reduction of ecotoxicological testing. - Research

Principles of record keeping for decommissioning purposes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laraia, M.

2003-01-01

of future generations' and 'Burden on future generations' as highlighted in the top-level IAEA document on Principles of Radioactive Waste Management. It should be noted that other programmes of the IAEA have addressed record keeping for radioactive waste management and disposal facilities. A newly-published IAEA report provides guidance in records relevant to decommissioning and its key statements are summarised in this paper. The contents is as follows: 1. Introduction; 2. Design and Operational Data Required for Decommissioning; 2.1. Decommissioning Strategy; 2.2 Primary Data Sources for Decommissioning; 2.2.1 Design, construction and modification data; 2.2.2. Operating, shutdown and post-shutdown data; 3. The Process of Selecting Decommissioning Records; 3.1 Establishing the Records Management System; 3.2 Selection of Decommissioning Records; 3.3. Documentation Prepared for Decommissioning; 4. Record Medium and Location

Monitoring performance, pituitary-adrenal hormones and mood profiles: how to diagnose non-functional over-reaching in male elite junior soccer players.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmikli, Sándor L; de Vries, Wouter R; Brink, Michel S; Backx, Frank Jg

2012-11-01

To verify if in male elite junior soccer players a minimum 1-month performance decrease is accompanied by a mood profile and hormone levels typical of non-functional over-reaching (NFOR). A prospective case-control study using a monthly performance monitor with a standardised field test to detect the performance changes. Players with a performance decrease lasting at least 1 month were compared with control players without a performance decrease on mood scores and pre-exercise and postexercise levels of stress hormones. Sporting field and sports medical laboratory. Ninety-four young elite soccer players were monitored during the 2006-2008 seasons. Twenty-one players were invited to the laboratory, seven of whom showed a significant performance decrease. Performance change over time, scores on the profile of mood states and premaximal and postmaximal exercise serum levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), growth hormone (GH) and cortisol. Players with a performance decrease showed psychological and hormonal changes typical of the non-functional state of over-reaching. Scores were higher on depression and anger, whereas the resting GH levels and ACTH levels after maximal exercise were reduced. ACTH and GH were capable of classifying all but one player correctly as either NFOR or control. Performance-related criteria in field tests are capable of identifying players with worsened mood and adaptations of the endocrine system that fit the definition of NFOR. Performance, mood and hormone levels may therefore be considered as valid instruments to diagnose NFOR in young elite soccer players.

Mechanical energy expenditures and movement efficiency in full body reaching movements.

Science.gov (United States)

Sha, Daohang; France, Christopher R; Thomas, James S

2010-02-01

The effect of target location, speed, and handedness on the average total mechanical energy and movement efficiency is studied in 15 healthy subjects (7 males and 8 females with age 22.9 +/- 1.79 years old) performing full body reaching movements. The average total mechanical energy is measured as the time average of integration of joint power, potential energy, and kinetic energy respectively. Movement efficiency is calculated as the ratio of total kinetic energy to the total joint power and potential energy. Results show that speed and target location have significant effects on total mechanical energy and movement efficiency, but reaching hand only effects kinetic energy. From our findings we conclude that (1) efficiency in whole body reaching is dependent on whether the height of the body center of mass is raised or lowered during the task; (2) efficiency is increased as movement speed is increased, in part because of greater changes in potential energy; and (3) the CNS does not appear to use movement efficiency as a primary planning variable in full body reaching. It may be dependent on a combination of other factors or constraints.

Sliding Mode Tracking Control of Manipulator Based on the Improved Reaching Law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei-Na ZHAI

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Due to the mechanical hand often have serious uncertainty, as the state in which the different and external changes, also its parameters are changing, this is very adverse to achieve precise control. In this paper, the traditional sliding mode variable structure was improved, the sign function is replaced by saturated function based on the double power reaching law, by adjusting the values of e1, e2, a, b, g and k to effectively improve the manipulator joint reaching speed, track expected trajectory fast and shorten the system response time. Finally, the method is used for simulation of manipulator trajectory tracking, compared to two reaching law control algorithms. The simulation results show that the control algorithm has good dynamic performance, which can effectively restrain the chattering and quickly track the desired trajectory. Therefore, the improved reaching law can effectively improve the performance of robotic manipulator.

The richness and reach of Wikinomics: Is the free web-based encyclopedia Wikipedia only for the rich countries?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rask, Morten

2007-01-01

In this paper, a model of the patterns of correlation in Wikipedia, reach and richness, lays the foundation for studying whether or not the free web-based encyclopedia Wikipedia is only for developed countries. Based upon data from 12 different Wikipedia language editions, we find that the central...... structural effect is on the level of human development in the current country. In other words, Wikipedia is in general, more for rich countries than for less developed countries. It is suggested that policy makers make investments in increasing the general level of literacy, education, and standard of living...

Evaluation of Electronic Health Record Implementation in Hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Tubaishat, Ahmad

2017-07-01

The effectiveness of electronic health records has not previously been widely evaluated. Thus, this national cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate electronic health records, from the perspective of nurses, by examining how they use the records, their opinions on the quality of the systems, and their overall levels of satisfaction with electronic health records. The relationship between these constructs was measured, and its predictors were investigated. A random sample of Jordanian hospitals that used electronic health records was selected, and data were gathered using a self-administered questionnaire, based on the DeLone and McLean Information Systems Success model. In total, 1648 nurses from 17 different hospitals participated in the study. Results indicated that nurses were largely positive about the use and quality of the systems and were satisfied with electronic health records. Significant positive correlations were found between these constructs, and a number of demographical and situational factors were found to have an effect on nurses' perceptions. The study provides a systematic evaluation of different facets of electronic health records, which is fundamental for recognizing the motives and challenges for success and for further enhancing this success. The work proves that nurses favor the use of electronic health records and are satisfied with it and perceive its high quality, and the findings should therefore encourage their ongoing implementation.

Bioactive antibiotic levels in the human aorta.

Science.gov (United States)

Mutch, D; Richards, G; Brown, R A; Mulder, D S

1982-12-01

A new bioassay was used to determine the level of active antibiotic within the aortic wall in 24 patients undergoing elective aortic surgery involving prosthetic grafts. The patients were divided into three groups and received either cefazolin, clindamycin, or cefoxitin intravenously at the induction of general anesthesia. Cefazolin and cefoxitin attained satisfactory tissue levels. Clindamycin did not reach therapeutic levels in the aortic wall. Blood levels did not correlate well with tissue levels.

Size stratification in a Gilbert delta due to a varying base level: flume experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Chavarrias, Victor; Orru, Clara; Viparelli, Enrica; Vide, Juan Pedro Martin; Blom, Astrid

2014-05-01

A foreset-dominated Gilbert delta is a delta that is dominated by sediment avalanches (i.e., discontinuous grain flows) over its front. It forms when a river flows into a basin or sea characterized by a flow depth that is much larger than the one in the fluvial reach, and the conditions are such that the transported sediment passing the brinkpoint forms a wedge at the topmost part of the foreset, which results in avalanches down the foreset and a fining upward pattern within the foreset deposit. A Gilbert delta is typically described in terms of a low-slope topset (resulting from deposition over the fluvial reach), a steep-slope foreset (resulting from sediment avalanches over the lee face), and a bottomset (resulting from deposition of fine sediment passing the brinkpoint as suspended load). The objective of the present study is to gain insight into the mechanisms taking part in Gilbert delta formation and progradation under variable base level conditions. In order to do so, three flume experiments were conducted in which the water discharge and sediment feed rate were maintained constant but the base level varied between the experiments: (I) constant base level, (II) a gradually rising base level, and (III) a slowly varying base level. The stratigraphy within the delta deposit was measured using image analysis combined with particle coloring. A steady base level resulted in aggradation over the fluvial reach in order to maintain a slope required to transport the supplied sediment downstream. Sea level rise enhanced the amount of aggradation over the fluvial reach due to the presence of an M1 backwater curve. The aggrading flux to the substrate was slightly coarser than the fed sediment. The sediment at the base of the foreset deposit appeared to become coarser in streamwise direction. Eventually, a fall of the base level induced an M2 backwater curve over the fluvial reach that caused degradation of the fluvial reach. Base level fall first induced erosion of the

REACH MUSC: A Telemedicine Facilitated Network for Stroke: Initial Operational Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Robert J.; Debenham, Ellen; Chalela, Julio; Chimowitz, Marc; Hays, Angela; Hill, Cody; Holmstedt, Christine; Jauch, Edward; Kitch, Alec; Lazaridis, Christos; Turan, Tanya N.

2012-01-01

REACH Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) provides stroke consults via the internet in South Carolina. From May 2008 to April 2011 231 patients were treated with intravenous (IV) thrombolysis and 369 were transferred to MUSC including 42 for intra-arterial revascularization [with or without IV tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)]. Medical outcomes and hemorrhage rates, reported elsewhere, were good (Lazaridis et al., 2011). Here we report operational features of REACH MUSC which covers 15 sites with 2,482 beds and 471,875 Emergency Department (ED) visits per year. Eight Academic Faculty from MUSC worked with 165 different physicians and 325 different nurses in the conduct of 1085 consults. For the 231 who received tPA, time milestones (in minutes) were: Onset to Door: 62 (mean), 50 (median); Door to REACH Consult: 43 and 33, Consult Request to Consult Start: was 9 and 7, Consult Start to tPA Decision: 31 and 25; Decision to Infusion: 20 and 14, and total Door to Needle: 98 and 87. The comparable times for the 854 not receiving tPA were: Onset to Door: 140 and 75; Door to REACH Consult: 61 and 41; Consult Request to Consult Start: 9 and 7, Consult Start to tPA Decision: 27 and 23. While the consultants respond to consult requests in <10, there is a long delay between arrival and Consult request. Tracking of operations indicates if we target shortening Door to Call time and time from tPA decision to start of drug infusion we may be able to improve Door to Needle times to target of <60. The large number of individuals involved in the care of these patients, most of whom had no training in REACH usage, will require novel approaches to staff education in ED based operations where turnover is high. Despite these challenges, this robust system delivered tPA safely and in a high fraction of patients evaluated using the REACH MUSC system. PMID:22435064

REACH MUSC: A telemedicine facilitated network for urgent stroke: initial experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert J. Adams

2012-03-01

Full Text Available REACH MUSC provides stroke consults via the internet in South Carolina. From May 2008 to April 2011 231 patients were treated with intravenous (IV thrombolysis and 369 were transferred to Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC including 42 for intra-arterial revascularization (with or without IV tPA. Medical outcomes and hemorrhage rates, reported elsewhere, were good (Lazaridis et al. 2011, in press. Here we report operational features of REACH MUSC which covers 15 sites with 2,482 beds and 471,875 Emergency Department (ED visits per year. Eight Academic Faculty from MUSC worked with 165 different physicians and 325 different nurses in the conduct of 1085 consults. For the 231 who received tissue plasminogen activator (tPA, time milestones were: Onset to Door: 62 min (mean, 50 (median; Door to REACH Consult: 43 and 33, Consult Request to Consult Start: was 9 and 7 minutes, Consult Start to tPA Decision: 31 and 25 minutes; Decision to Infusion: 20 and 14 minutes, and total Door to Needle: 98 and 87 minutes. The comparable times for the 854 not receiving tPA were: Onset to Door: 140 and 75 minutes; Door to REACH Consult: 61 and 41 minutes; Consult Request to Consult Start 9 and 7 minutes, Consult Start to tPA Decision 27 and 23 minutes. While the consultants respond to consult requests in < 10 minutes, there is a long delay between arrival and Consult request. Tracking of operations indicates if we target shortening Door to Call time and time from tPA decision to start of drug infusion we may be able to improve Door to Needle times to target of < 60 minutes. The large number of individuals involved in the care of these patients, most of whom had no training in REACH usage,will require novel approaches to staff education in ED based operations where turnover is high. Despite these challenges this robust system delivered tPA safely and in a high fraction of patients evaluated using the REACH MUSC system.

Composite Coiled Tubing for Extended Reach in Horizontal Oil Wells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Costache, Andrei; Berggreen, Christian

2017-01-01

Conventional steel coiled tubing cannot reach along the entire length of very long horizontal oil wells. A lighter and more buoyant coiled tube is made possible using composite materials. The high stiffness to weight ratio of fiber reinforced polymers, coupled with a lower coefficient of friction......, has the potential of greatly extending the reach in horizontal oil wells. This study shows how to design composite coiled tubing and gives a comprehensive discussion about the most influential parameters. Several solutions, using glass-fiber and carbon are considered. Finite element models are used...

Monitoring performance, pituitary-adrenal hormones and mood profiles : how to diagnose non-functional over-reaching in male elite junior soccer players

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schmikli, Sandor L.; de Vries, Wouter R.; Brink, Michel S.; Backx, Frank J. G.

2012-01-01

Objective To verify if in male elite junior soccer players a minimum 1-month performance decrease is accompanied by a mood profile and hormone levels typical of non-functional over-reaching (NFOR). Design A prospective case-control study using a monthly performance monitor with a standardised field

Pros and Cons of Adopting Water-Wise Approaches in the Lower Reaches of the Amu Darya: A Socio-Economic View

OpenAIRE

Bekchanov; Lamers; Martius

2010-01-01

The increased frequency of water shortages parallel to growing demands for agricultural commodities in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya River, Central Asia, calls for improving the system-level water use efficiency, by using interventions at the field level. Despite the existence of various best practices of effective water use (defined here as “water-wise options”), they are not widely adopted by farmers owing to high initial costs of investment and lack of the necessary knowledge and skil...

Assessing the role of syringe dispensing machines and mobile van outlets in reaching hard-to-reach and high-risk groups of injecting drug users (IDUs: a review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Islam Md Mofizul

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Reaching hard-to-reach and high-risk injecting drug users (IDUs is one of the most important challenges for contemporary needle syringe programs (NSPs. The aim of this review is to examine, based upon the available international experience, the effectiveness of syringe vending machines and mobile van/bus based NSPs in making services more accessible to these hard-to-reach and high-risk groups of IDUs. A literature search revealed 40 papers/reports, of which 18 were on dispensing machines (including vending and exchange machines and 22 on mobile vans. The findings demonstrate that syringe dispensing machines and mobile vans are promising modalities of NSPs, which can make services more accessible to the target group and in particular to the harder-to-reach and higher-risk groups of IDUs. Their anonymous and confidential approaches make services attractive, accessible and acceptable to these groups. These two outlets were found to be complementary to each other and to other modes of NSPs. Services through dispensing machines and mobile vans in strategically important sites are crucial elements in continuing efforts in reducing the spread of HIV and other blood borne viruses among IDUs.

Quality assurance records system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1979-01-01

This Safety Guide was prepared as part of the Agency's programme, referred to as the NUSS programme, for establishing Codes of Practice and Safety Guides relating to nuclear power plants. It supplements the IAEA Code of Practice on Quality Assurance for Safety in Nuclear Power Plants (IAEA Safety Series No.50-C-QA), which requires that for each nuclear power plant a system for the generation, identification, collection, indexing, filing, storing, maintenance and disposition of quality assurance records shall be established and executed in accordance with written procedures and instructions. The purpose of this Safety Guide is to provide assistance in the establishment and operation of such a system. An orderly established and maintained records system is considered to be part of the means of providing a basis for an appropriate level of confidence that the activities which affect the quality of a nuclear power plant have been performed in accordance with the specific requirements and that the required quality has been achieved and is maintained

Riparian Vegetation Mapping Along the Hanford Reach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

FOGWELL, T.W.

2003-01-01

During the biological survey and inventory of the Hanford Site conducted in the mid-1990s (1995 and 1996), preliminary surveys of the riparian vegetation were conducted along the Hanford Reach. These preliminary data were reported to The Nature Conservancy (TNC), but were not included in any TNC reports to DOE or stakeholders. During the latter part of FY2001, PNNL contracted with SEE Botanical, the parties that performed the original surveys in the mid 1990s, to complete the data summaries and mapping associated with the earlier survey data. Those data sets were delivered to PNNL and the riparian mapping by vegetation type for the Hanford Reach is being digitized during the first quarter of FY2002. These mapping efforts provide the information necessary to create subsequent spatial data layers to describe the riparian zone according to plant functional types (trees, shrubs, grasses, sedges, forbs). Quantification of the riparian zone by vegetation types is important to a number of DOE'S priority issues including modeling contaminant transport and uptake in the near-riverine environment and the determination of ecological risk. This work included the identification of vegetative zones along the Reach by changes in dominant plant species covering the shoreline from just to the north of the 300 Area to China Bar near Vernita. Dominant and indicator species included Agropyron dasytachyudA. smithii, Apocynum cannabinum, Aristida longiseta, Artemisia campestris ssp. borealis var scouleriana, Artemisa dracunculus, Artemisia lindleyana, Artemisia tridentata, Bromus tectorum, Chrysothamnus nauseosus, Coreopsis atkinsoniana. Eleocharis palustris, Elymus cinereus, Equisetum hyemale, Eriogonum compositum, Juniperus trichocarpa, Phalaris arundinacea, Poa compressa. Salk exigua, Scirpus acutus, Solidago occidentalis, Sporobolus asper,and Sporobolus cryptandrus. This letter report documents the data received, the processing by PNNL staff, and additional data gathered in FY2002

Riparian Vegetation Mapping Along the Hanford Reach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

FOGWELL, T.W.

2003-07-11

During the biological survey and inventory of the Hanford Site conducted in the mid-1990s (1995 and 1996), preliminary surveys of the riparian vegetation were conducted along the Hanford Reach. These preliminary data were reported to The Nature Conservancy (TNC), but were not included in any TNC reports to DOE or stakeholders. During the latter part of FY2001, PNNL contracted with SEE Botanical, the parties that performed the original surveys in the mid 1990s, to complete the data summaries and mapping associated with the earlier survey data. Those data sets were delivered to PNNL and the riparian mapping by vegetation type for the Hanford Reach is being digitized during the first quarter of FY2002. These mapping efforts provide the information necessary to create subsequent spatial data layers to describe the riparian zone according to plant functional types (trees, shrubs, grasses, sedges, forbs). Quantification of the riparian zone by vegetation types is important to a number of DOE'S priority issues including modeling contaminant transport and uptake in the near-riverine environment and the determination of ecological risk. This work included the identification of vegetative zones along the Reach by changes in dominant plant species covering the shoreline from just to the north of the 300 Area to China Bar near Vernita. Dominant and indicator species included Agropyron dasytachyudA. smithii, Apocynum cannabinum, Aristida longiseta, Artemisia campestris ssp. borealis var scouleriana, Artemisa dracunculus, Artemisia lindleyana, Artemisia tridentata, Bromus tectorum, Chrysothamnus nauseosus, Coreopsis atkinsoniana. Eleocharis palustris, Elymus cinereus, Equisetum hyemale, Eriogonum compositum, Juniperus trichocarpa, Phalaris arundinacea, Poa compressa. Salk exigua, Scirpus acutus, Solidago occidentalis, Sporobolus asper,and Sporobolus cryptandrus. This letter report documents the data received, the processing by PNNL staff, and additional data gathered in FY

Structure and performance of a real-time algorithm to detect tsunami or tsunami-like alert conditions based on sea-level records analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Bressan

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The goal of this paper is to present an original real-time algorithm devised for detection of tsunami or tsunami-like waves we call TEDA (Tsunami Early Detection Algorithm, and to introduce a methodology to evaluate its performance. TEDA works on the sea level records of a single station and implements two distinct modules running concurrently: one to assess the presence of tsunami waves ("tsunami detection" and the other to identify high-amplitude long waves ("secure detection". Both detection methods are based on continuously updated time functions depending on a number of parameters that can be varied according to the application. In order to select the most adequate parameter setting for a given station, a methodology to evaluate TEDA performance has been devised, that is based on a number of indicators and that is simple to use. In this paper an example of TEDA application is given by using data from a tide gauge located at the Adak Island in Alaska, USA, that resulted in being quite suitable since it recorded several tsunamis in the last years using the sampling rate of 1 min.

Attitudes toward inter-hospital electronic patient record exchange: discrepancies among physicians, medical record staff, and patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jong-Yi; Ho, Hsiao-Yun; Chen, Jen-De; Chai, Sinkuo; Tai, Chih-Jaan; Chen, Yung-Fu

2015-07-12

In this era of ubiquitous information, patient record exchange among hospitals still has technological and individual barriers including resistance to information sharing. Most research on user attitudes has been limited to one type of user or aspect. Because few analyses of attitudes toward electronic patient records (EPRs) have been conducted, understanding the attitudes among different users in multiple aspects is crucial to user acceptance. This proof-of-concept study investigated the attitudes of users toward the inter-hospital EPR exchange system implemented nationwide and focused on discrepant behavioral intentions among three user groups. The system was designed by combining a Health Level 7-based protocol, object-relational mapping, and other medical informatics techniques to ensure interoperability in realizing patient-centered practices. After implementation, three user-specific questionnaires for physicians, medical record staff, and patients were administered, with a 70 % response rate. The instrument showed favorable convergent construct validity and internal consistency reliability. Two dependent variables were applied: the attitudes toward privacy and support. Independent variables comprised personal characteristics, work characteristics, human aspects, and technology aspects. Major statistical methods included exploratory factor analysis and general linear model. The results from 379 respondents indicated that the patients highly agreed with privacy protection by their consent and support for EPRs, whereas the physicians remained conservative toward both. Medical record staff was ranked in the middle among the three groups. The three user groups demonstrated discrepant intentions toward privacy protection and support. Experience of computer use, level of concerns, usefulness of functions, and specifically, reason to use electronic medical records and number of outpatient visits were significantly associated with the perceptions. Overall, four

Seasonal variations in composite riverbank stability in the Lower Jingjiang Reach, China

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Junqiang; Zong, Quanli; Deng, Shanshan; Xu, Quanxi; Lu, Jinyou

2014-11-01

Bank erosion is a key process in a fluvial system in the context of river dynamics and geomorphology. Since the operation of the Three Gorges Project (TGP), the Lower Jingjiang Reach (LJR) below the dam has experienced continuous channel degradation, with the phenomenon of bank erosion occurring frequently in local reaches. Therefore it is necessary to quantitatively investigate seasonal variations in the stability of composite riverbanks along the reach in order to better understand the fluvial processes in the reach. Laboratory tests were conducted for the sampled soils at six riverbanks during a field survey, with various bank soil properties being presented for the first time. These test results show that: the cohesive bank soils are relatively loose due to the high water contents of 28.5-40.0% and the low dry densities of 1.31-1.47 tonnes/m3; and the cohesion or angle of internal friction generally decreases with an increase in water content of the cohesive soil. Based on the measured cross-sectional profiles and interpolated hydrological data, the near-bank hydrodynamic conditions and soil parameters of two typical composite riverbanks were then determined during the 2007 hydrological year. An improved method was proposed for calculating the stability at the mode of cantilever failure for the overhanging block of a composite riverbank, and the stability degrees of these two riverbanks were calculated at different stages. These results reveal that: (i) the incipient velocity of the non-cohesive lower bank had a magnitude of 0.4 m/s, less than the mean near-bank velocity of about 1.0 m/s, which led to intensive basal erosion especially during the flood season; (ii) the cohesive upper bank before failure had sufficient strength to resist direct fluvial erosion, but the failed soil mass deposited in the near-bank zone was disintegrated easily with the submerged immersion and was then transported downstream by fluvial entrainment; (iii) the degree of bank

Reaching remote areas in Latin America.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaimes, R

1994-01-01

Poor communities in remote and inaccessible areas tend to not only be cut off from family planning education and services, but they are also deprived of basic primary health care services. Efforts to bring family planning to such communities and populations should therefore be linked with other services. The author presents three examples of programs to bring effective family planning services to remote communities in Central and South America. Outside of the municipal center in the Tuxtlas region of Mexico, education and health levels are low and people live according to ancient customs. Ten years ago with the help of MEXFAM, the IPPF affiliate in Mexico, two social promoters established themselves in the town of Catemaco to develop a community program of family planning and health care offering education and prevention to improve the quality of people's lives. Through their health brigades taking health services to towns without an established health center, the program has influenced an estimated 100,000 people in 50 villages and towns. The program also has a clinic. In Guatemala, the Family Welfare Association (APROFAM) gave bicycles to 240 volunteer health care workers to facilitate their outreach work in rural areas. APROFAM since 1988 has operated an integrated program to treat intestinal parasites and promote family planning in San Lucas de Toliman, an Indian town close to Lake Atitlan. Providing health care to more than 10,000 people, the volunteer staff has covered the entire department of Solola, reaching each family in the area. Field educators travel on motorcycles through the rural areas of Guatemala coordinating with the health volunteers the distribution of contraceptives at the community level. The Integrated Project's Clinic was founded in 1992 and currently carries out pregnancy and Pap tests, as well as general lab tests. Finally, Puna is an island in the middle of the Gulf of Guayaquil, Ecuador. Women on the island typically have 10

Reach and uptake of Internet- and phone-based smoking cessation interventions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skov-Ettrup, L S; Dalum, P; Ekholm, O

2014-01-01

To study whether demographic and smoking-related characteristics are associated with participation (reach) in a smoking cessation trial and subsequent use (uptake) of two specific smoking interventions (Internet-based program and proactive telephone counseling).......To study whether demographic and smoking-related characteristics are associated with participation (reach) in a smoking cessation trial and subsequent use (uptake) of two specific smoking interventions (Internet-based program and proactive telephone counseling)....

Analysis of infant cortical synchrony is constrained by the number of recording electrodes and the recording montage.

Science.gov (United States)

Tokariev, Anton; Vanhatalo, Sampsa; Palva, J Matias

2016-01-01

To assess how the recording montage in the neonatal EEG influences the detection of cortical source signals and their phase interactions. Scalp EEG was simulated by forward modeling 20-200 simultaneously active sources covering the cortical surface of a realistic neonatal head model. We assessed systematically how the number of scalp electrodes (11-85), analysis montage, or the size of cortical sources affect the detection of cortical phase synchrony. Statistical metrics were developed for quantifying the resolution and reliability of the montages. The findings converge to show that an increase in the number of recording electrodes leads to a systematic improvement in the detection of true cortical phase synchrony. While there is always a ceiling effect with respect to discernible cortical details, we show that the average and Laplacian montages exhibit superior specificity and sensitivity as compared to other conventional montages. Reliability in assessing true neonatal cortical synchrony is directly related to the choice of EEG recording and analysis configurations. Because of the high conductivity of the neonatal skull, the conventional neonatal EEG recordings are spatially far too sparse for pertinent studies, and this loss of information cannot be recovered by re-montaging during analysis. Future neonatal EEG studies will need prospective planning of recording configuration to allow analysis of spatial details required by each study question. Our findings also advice about the level of details in brain synchrony that can be studied with existing datasets or by using conventional EEG recordings. Copyright © 2015 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Awareness of forensic odontology among dentists in Australia; are they keeping forensically valuable dental records?

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Azri, Abdul Rahman; Harford, Jane; James, Helen

2015-03-30

Forensic odontologists provide an important service to the community by identifying unknown deceased people, allowing both legal outcomes and family closure. Non-visual identification may be achieved by comparison of post-mortem data with ante-mortem dental records provided by oral health practitioners. Success is dependent largely on the accuracy and adequacy of data in the dental records. An online self-administered questionnaire evaluated Australian dentists' knowledge and behaviours relevant to forensic odontology. Reported record keeping practices were assessed for detail, legibility, accessibility and retention. Behaviours were classified according to the frequency of response. Dentists reported overall reasonable awareness of the major applications of forensic odontology. Personal information and details of restorative treatment were recorded at high levels, while tooth anomalies, photography, additional patient details and denture marking were recorded inadequately. Legible tooth coding was reported at a high level, while other key legibility practices were recorded inadequately. Few of the behaviours related to retention or to maximise accessibility were recorded at a high level. Australian dentists have high expectations of the forensic value of their dental records; however many practices that would enhance the diagnostic, medico-legal and forensic value of dental records are not routinely applied. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Tool Kit Helps Digitize Tide Gauge Records

Science.gov (United States)

Ullmann, Albin; Pons, Frédéric; Moron, Vincent

2005-09-01

The Numérisation des Niveaux d'Eau (NUNIEAU) is an integrated and automated MATLAB computer program tool kit for digitizing, transforming, and validating paper records of sea level variations, called marigrams (Figure 1a), that can cut in half the time required to digitize paper records. This tool kit developed in 2004 by F. Pons is currently obtainable by request from the developer, but will be available online on the IMPLIT (Impact des événements extremes sur les hydro-systèmes du litoral méditerranéen français) Web site in early 2006.

PNW River Reach Files -- 1:100k Waterbodies (polygons)

Data.gov (United States)

Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission — This feature class includes the POLYGON waterbody features from the 2001 version of the PNW River Reach files Arc/INFO coverage. Separate, companion feature classes...

Design and Evaluation of the Electronic Class Record for LPU-Laguna International School

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

RHOWEL M. DELLOSA

2014-08-01

Full Text Available - This study aimed to design, develop, deploy and evaluate an electronic class record (e-class record. Microsoft Excel is used to develop the electronic class record and several Microsoft Excel arithmetic operands and functions like VLOOKUP, IF, AVERAGE, COUNTIF are used. A worksheet template was developed to accept name of teacher, course code, course title, section, schedule, room, student number, student name, grade level, gender, date of each classes, base grade, test items attendance, and performance of the students. These serve as the input of the e-class record. The e-class record automatically computes the grades of the students following the standard grading system. Developmental process and prototyping method were utilized to develop the e-class record. Testing, deployment and evaluation have been initiated to observe its acceptability. It is found out that the e-class record can generate the quarterly and final grade of the students, total number of absences and tardiness of the students, grade sheet with corresponding level of evaluation of each student in the class and summary of the total number of students for each of the level of proficiency. It is recommended that further study may be initiated to utilize the output of this study as an input of an online application such as online grade viewer. Security of previous submitted grades from being changed by the teacher accidentally or intentionally must be also taken into consideration. A report card may be also included in the system.