Capstone Renaissance = Simulation + Interaction + DSS.

Science.gov (United States)

Jauch, Lawrence R.; And Others

1989-01-01

Reviews the development of integrated business policy and strategic management courses, or capstone courses, in business school curricula. A simulation game is described that incorporates the need for computer literacy, decision support systems (DSS), and interaction to effectively meet the needs for a capstone course. (14 references) (LRW)

A Decision Support System (DSS for Project Management in the Bio-diesel Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alin Paul OLTEANU

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The European biodiesel industry is currently facing several challenges affecting the profitability of investment projects in the industry. Among these challenges are higher prices for oilseeds, which are the main input for biodiesel production, lower fiscal support by national governments for biodiesel producers and high price volatility of oil markets. Thus identifying all opportunities for optimizing the value chain and lower the production cost of biodiesel is a main requirement for an efficient project management in the biodiesel industry. The paper addresses this topic by developing a decision support system tailored to the needs of Romanian investors in biodiesel production. The system optimizes the main activities of the biodiesel value chain and supports the decision making process at management level. In addition the DSS enables the user to perform sensitivity analysis based on varying various input parameter.

COSIMA-DSS Evaluation System: A new Decision Support System for Large-Scale Transport Infrastructure Projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salling, Kim Bang; Jensen, Anders Vestergaard; Leleur, Steen

2005-01-01

This paper presents a new decision support model COSIMA-DSS that examines socio-economic feasibility risks involved in the implementation of transport infrastructure projects. The model makes use of conventionally cost-benefit analysis embedded within a wider multi-criteria analysis. The basic...... approach set out in the paper looks upon the mix between so-called “hard” and “soft” evaluation criteria. Finally, a Monte-Carlo simulation is used to take account of the varying information relating to the different criteria....

Dss1 interaction with Brh2 as a regulatory mechanism for recombinational repair

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhou, Qingwen; Kojic, Milorad; Cao, Zhimin

2007-01-01

Brh2, the BRCA2 ortholog in Ustilago maydis, enables recombinational repair of DNA by controlling Rad51 and is in turn regulated by Dss1. Interplay with Rad51 is conducted via the BRC element located in the N-terminal region of the protein and through an unrelated domain, CRE, at the C terminus....... Mutation in either BRC or CRE severely reduces functional activity, but repair deficiency of the brh2 mutant can be complemented by expressing BRC and CRE on different molecules. This intermolecular complementation is dependent upon the presence of Dss1. Brh2 molecules associate through the region...... overlapping with the Dss1-interacting domain to form at least dimer-sized complexes, which in turn, can be dissociated by Dss1 to monomer. We propose that cooperation between BRC and CRE domains and the Dss1-provoked dissociation of Brh2 complexes are requisite features of Brh2's molecular mechanism...

Multi-criteria Decision Support System (DSS) for optimal locations of Soil Aquifer Treatment (SAT) facilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsangaratos, P; Kallioras, A; Pizpikis, Th; Vasileiou, E; Ilia, I; Pliakas, F

2017-12-15

Managed Aquifer Recharge is a wide-spread well-established groundwater engineering method which is largely seen as sound and sustainable solution to water scarcity hydrologically sensitive areas, such as the Circum Mediterranean. The process of site selection for the installation of a MAR facility is of paramount importance for the feasibility and effectiveness of the project itself, especially when the facility will include the use of waters of impaired quality as a recharge source, as in the case of Soil-Aquifer-Treatment systems. The main objective of this study is to present the developed framework of a multi-criteria Decision Support System (DSS) that integrates within a dynamic platform the main groundwater engineering parameters associated with MAR applications together with the general geographical features which determine the effectiveness of such a project. The proposed system will provide an advanced coupled DSS-GIS tool capable of handling local MAR-related issues -such as hydrogeology, topography, soil, climate etc., and spatially distributed variables -such as societal, economic, administrative, legislative etc., with special reference to Soil-Aquifer-Treatment technologies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Decision Support System (DSS to Select the Premier Fuel to Develop in the Value Chain of Natural Gas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Mousaei

2015-07-01

Full Text Available A value chain is a series of events that takes a raw material and with each step adds value to it. Global interest in the application of natural gas (NG in production and transportation has grown dramatically, representing a long-term, low-cost, domestic, and secure alternative to petroleum-based fuels. Many technological solutions are currently considered on the market or in development, which address the challenge and opportunity of NG. In this paper, a decision support system (DSS is introduced for selecting the best fuel to develop in the value chain of NG through four options, namely compressed NG (CNG, liquefied NG (LNG, dimethyl ether (DME, and gas-to-liquids (GTL. The DSS includes a model which uses the technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS to select the best fuel in the value chain of NG based on the attributes such as market situations, technology availability, and transportation infrastructure. The model recommends some key guidelines for two branches of countries, i.e. those which have NG resources and the others. We believe that applying the proposed DSS helps the oil and gas/energy ministries in a most effective and productive manner dealing with the complicated fuel-related production and transportation decision-making situations.

The Architecture of a Complex GIS & Spreadsheet Based DSS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dinu Airinei

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The decision support applications available on today market use to combine the decision analysis of historical databased on On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP products or spreadsheet pivot tables with some new reporting facilities as alerts or key performance indicators available in portal dashboards or in complex spreadsheet-like reports, both corresponding to a new approach of the field called Business Intelligence. Moreover the geographical features of GIS added to DSS applications become more and more required by many kinds of businesses. In fact they are more useful this way than as distinctive parts.The paper tries to present a certain DSS architecture based on the association between such approaches and technologies. The particular examples are meant to support all the theoretical arguments and to complete the understanding of the interaction schemas available.

Prophylactic role of curcumin in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis murine model.

Science.gov (United States)

Arafa, Hossam M M; Hemeida, Ramadan A; El-Bahrawy, Ali I M; Hamada, Farid M A

2009-06-01

We have addressed in this study the possible protective role of the main principle of turmeric pigment; curcumin on a murine model of ulcerative colitis (UC). Colitis was induced by administration of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) (3% W/V) in drinking water to male Swiss albino rats for 5 consecutive days. DSS challenge induced UC model that was well characterized morphologically and biochemically. DSS produced shrinkage of colon length and increased the relative colon weight/length ratio accompanied by mucosal edema and bloody stool. Histologically, DSS produced submucosal erosions, ulceration, inflammatory cell infiltration and crypt abscess as well as epithelioglandular hyperplasia. The model was confirmed biochemically, and the test battery entailed elevated serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) and colonic activity of myleoperoxidase (MPO). Colonic glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activity and its substrate concentration; GSH, were notably reduced, while lipid peroxidation, expressed as malondialdehyde (MDA) level, and total nitric oxide (NO) were significantly increased. Prior administration of curcumin (100mg/kg, IP) for 7 consecutive days ahead of DSS challenge mitigated the injurious effects of DSS and ameliorated all the altered biochemical parameters. These results suggest that curcumin could possibly have a protective role in ulcerative colitis probably via regulation of oxidant/anti-oxidant balance and modulation of the release of some inflammatory endocoids, namely TNF-alpha and NO.

A cytochrome P450, OsDSS1, is involved in growth and drought stress responses in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Tamiru, Muluneh; Undan, Jerwin R; Takagi, Hiroki; Abe, Akira; Yoshida, Kakoto; Undan, Jesusa Q; Natsume, Satoshi; Uemura, Aiko; Saitoh, Hiromasa; Matsumura, Hideo; Urasaki, Naoya; Yokota, Takao; Terauchi, Ryohei

2015-05-01

Cytochrome P450s are among the largest protein coding gene families in plant genomes. However, majority of the genes remain uncharacterized. Here, we report the characterization of dss1, a rice mutant showing dwarfism and reduced grain size. The dss1 phenotype is caused by a non-synonymous point mutation we identified in DSS1, which is member of a P450 gene cluster located on rice chromosome 3 and corresponds to the previously reported CYP96B4/SD37 gene. Phenotypes of several dwarf mutants characterized in rice are associated with defects in the biosynthesis or perception of the phytohormones gibberellins (GAs) and brassinosteroids (BRs). However, both GA and BR failed to rescue the dss1 phenotype. Hormone profiling revealed the accumulation of abscisic acid (ABA) and ABA metabolites, as well as significant reductions in GA19 and GA53 levels, precursors of the bioactive GA1, in the mutant. The dss1 contents of cytokinin and auxins were not significantly different from wild-type plants. Consistent with the accumulation of ABA and metabolites, germination and early growth was delayed in dss1, which also exhibited an enhanced tolerance to drought. Additionally, expressions of members of the DSS1/CYP96B gene cluster were regulated by drought stress and exogenous ABA. RNA-seq-based transcriptome profiling revealed, among others, that cell wall-related genes and genes involved in lipid metabolism were up- and down-regulated in dss1, respectively. Taken together, these findings suggest that DSS1 mediates growth and stress responses in rice by fine-tuning GA-to-ABA balance, and might as well play a role in lipid metabolism.

Decision support tools for policy and planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacyk, P.; Schultz, D.; Spangenberg, L.

1995-01-01

A decision support system (DSS) is being developed at the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The DSS will be used to evaluate alternatives for improving LANL's existing central radioactive waste water treatment plant and to evaluate new site-wide liquid waste treatment schemes that are required in order to handle the diverse waste streams produced at LANL. The decision support system consists of interacting modules that perform the following tasks: rigorous process simulation, configuration management, performance analysis, cost analysis, risk analysis, environmental impact assessment, transportation modeling, and local, state, and federal regulation compliance checking. Uncertainty handling techniques are used with these modules and also with a decision synthesis module which combines results from the modules listed above. We believe the DSS being developed can be applied to almost any other industrial water treatment facility with little modification because in most situations the waste streams are less complex, fewer regulations apply, and the political environment is simpler. The techniques being developed are also generally applicable to policy and planning decision support systems in the chemical process industry

On DSS Implementation in the Dynamic Model of the Digital Oil field

Science.gov (United States)

Korovin, Iakov S.; Khisamutdinov, Maksim V.; Kalyaev, Anatoly I.

2018-02-01

Decision support systems (DSS), especially based on the artificial intelligence (AI) techniques are been widely applied in different domains nowadays. In the paper we depict an approach of implementing DSS in to Digital Oil Field (DOF) dynamic model structure in order to reduce the human factor influence, considering the automation of all production processes to be the DOF model clue element. As the basic tool of data handling we propose the hybrid application on artificial neural networks and evolutional algorithms.

A Development-Oriented IS Evaluation Approach: Case Demonstration for DSS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shah J Miah

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Information systems (IS development research needs a broader conceptual lens for evaluating IS design qualities. Most conventional IS evaluation approaches are focused on narrow objectives, such as the process and content rather than the development process as a whole. This paper describes a qualitative evaluation of a new approach that extends evaluation strategies to incorporate development phases, specifically within decision support systems (DSS development. The conceptual approach is based on a mental model from the design science research paradigm and evaluates DSS development at various design checkpoints. This paper also describes qualitative findings on the applicability of the conceptual approach in a socio-technical design context.

iNOS-dependent increase in colonic mucus thickness in DSS-colitic rats.

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Olof Schreiber

Full Text Available AIM: To investigate colonic mucus thickness in vivo in health and during experimental inflammatory bowel disease. METHODS: Colitis was induced with 5% DSS in drinking water for 8 days prior to experiment, when the descending colonic mucosa of anesthetized rats was studied using intravital microscopy. Mucus thickness was measured with micropipettes attached to a micromanipulator. To assess the contributions of NOS and prostaglandins in the regulation of colonic mucus thickness, the non-selective NOS-inhibitor L-NNA (10 mg/kg bolus followed by 3 mg/kg/h, the selective iNOS-inhibitor L-NIL (10 mg/kg bolus followed by 3 mg/kg/h and the non-selective COX-inhibitor diclofenac (5 mg/kg were administered intravenously prior to experiment. To further investigate the role of iNOS in the regulation of colonic mucus thickness, iNOS -/- mice were used. RESULTS: Colitic rats had a thicker firmly adherent mucus layer following 8 days of DSS treatment than untreated rats (88±2 µm vs 76±1 µm. During induction of colitis, the thickness of the colonic mucus layer initially decreased but was from day 3 significantly thicker than in untreated rats. Diclofenac reduced the mucus thickness similarly in colitic and untreated rats (-16±5 µm vs -14±2 µm. While L-NNA had no effect on colonic mucus thickness in DSS or untreated controls (+3±2 µm vs +3±1 µm, L-NIL reduced the mucus thickness significantly more in colitic rats than in controls (-33±4 µm vs -10±3 µm. The importance of iNOS in regulating the colonic mucus thickness was confirmed in iNOS-/- mice, which had thinner colonic mucus than wild-type mice (35±3 µm vs 50±2 µm, respectively. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry revealed increased levels of iNOS in the colonic surface epithelium following DSS treatment. CONCLUSION: Both prostaglandins and nitric oxide regulate basal colonic mucus thickness. During onset of colitis, the thickness of the mucus layer is initially reduced followed by an i

Verkkokauppa PCI DSS - standardin mukaiseksi : case Scandinavian Outdoor

OpenAIRE

Kiiski, Tomi

2015-01-01

Tämän opinnäytetyön tavoitteena on selvittää, mitä toimia verkkokaupalta vaaditaan PCI DSS - standardin mukaisuuteen sekä mikä PCI DSS -standardi on ja mitä se sisältää. Työn toimeksiantaja on Scandinavian Outdoor Oy. Toimeksiantajan edellinen PCI DSS -auditointi on suoritettu standardin vanhalla versiolla ja standardista on nyt uusi versio. Työn teoriaosa käsittelee yleisesti PCI DSS -standardia, sen sisältöä sekä vaatimuksia. Työn tärkeimpänä lähteenä on käytetty PCI SSC:n ju...

The development of an EDSS: Lessons learned and implications for DSS research

Science.gov (United States)

El-Gayar, O.; Deokar, A.; Michels, L.; Fosnight, G.

2011-01-01

The Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) project is focused on providing renewable energy (RE) planning resources to the public. Examples include wind, solar, and hydro assessments. SWERA DSS consists of three major components. First, SWERA 'Product Archive' provides for a discovery DSS upon which users can find and access renewable energy data and supporting models. Second, the 'Renewable Resource EXplorer' (RREX) component serves as a web-based, GIS analysis tool for viewing RE resource data available through the SWERA Product Archive. Third, the SWERA web service provides computational access to the data available in the SWERA spatial database through a location based query, and is also utilized in the RREX component. We provide a discussion of various design decisions used in the construction of this EDSS, followed by project experiences and implications for EDSS and broader DSS research. ?? 2011 IEEE.

A Decision Support System (DSS) to Select the Premier Fuel to Develop in the Value Chain of Natural Gas

OpenAIRE

Ahmad Mousaei; Mohammad Ali Hatefi

2015-01-01

A value chain is a series of events that takes a raw material and with each step adds value to it. Global interest in the application of natural gas (NG) in production and transportation has grown dramatically, representing a long-term, low-cost, domestic, and secure alternative to petroleum-based fuels. Many technological solutions are currently considered on the market or in development, which address the challenge and opportunity of NG. In this paper, a decision support system (DSS) is int...

Dietary Selenium Deficiency Exacerbates DSS-Induced Epithelial Injury and AOM/DSS-Induced Tumorigenesis

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Caitlyn W.; Singh, Kshipra; Motley, Amy K.; Lintel, Mary K.; Matafonova, Elena; Bradley, Amber M.; Ning, Wei; Poindexter, Shenika V.; Parang, Bobak; Reddy, Vishruth K.; Chaturvedi, Rupesh; Fingleton, Barbara M.; Washington, Mary K.; Wilson, Keith T.; Davies, Sean S.; Hill, Kristina E.; Burk, Raymond F.; Williams, Christopher S.

2013-01-01

Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient that exerts its functions via selenoproteins. Little is known about the role of Se in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Epidemiological studies have inversely correlated nutritional Se status with IBD severity and colon cancer risk. Moreover, molecular studies have revealed that Se deficiency activates WNT signaling, a pathway essential to intestinal stem cell programs and pivotal to injury recovery processes in IBD that is also activated in inflammatory neoplastic transformation. In order to better understand the role of Se in epithelial injury and tumorigenesis resulting from inflammatory stimuli, we examined colonic phenotypes in Se-deficient or -sufficient mice in response to dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis, and azoxymethane (AOM) followed by cyclical administration of DSS, respectively. In response to DSS alone, Se-deficient mice demonstrated increased morbidity, weight loss, stool scores, and colonic injury with a concomitant increase in DNA damage and increases in inflammation-related cytokines. As there was an increase in DNA damage as well as expression of several EGF and TGF-β pathway genes in response to inflammatory injury, we sought to determine if tumorigenesis was altered in the setting of inflammatory carcinogenesis. Se-deficient mice subjected to AOM/DSS treatment to model colitis-associated cancer (CAC) had increased tumor number, though not size, as well as increased incidence of high grade dysplasia. This increase in tumor initiation was likely due to a general increase in colonic DNA damage, as increased 8-OHdG staining was seen in Se-deficient tumors and adjacent, non-tumor mucosa. Taken together, our results indicate that Se deficiency worsens experimental colitis and promotes tumor development and progression in inflammatory carcinogenesis. PMID:23861820

Analysis of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard [PCI DSS] Compliance by Confluence of COBIT 5 Framework

OpenAIRE

Ashish Ukidve; Ds S SMantha; Milind Tadvalkar

2017-01-01

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) aims to enhance the security of cardholder data and is required when cardholder data or authentication data are stored, processed or transmitted. The implementation of enabling processes from COBIT 5 can complement compliance to PCI DSS. COBIT 5 assists enterprises in governance and management of enterprise IT and, at the same time, supports the need to meet security requirements with supporting processes and management activities. Th...

Radon levels in dwelling shielded spaces (DSS) in Israel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haquin, G.; Margaliot, M.; Riemer, T.; Shamash, S.; Even, O.; Shamai, Y.

2002-01-01

Exposure to radon gas is known as the major contributor to the general public exposure to ionizing radiation. The typical radon concentration in Israeli houses with a direct ground contact is about 50 Bq/m 3 , attributed mainly to soil gas penetration into the house. All newly constructed buildings (since 1991) must include Dwelling Shielded Spaces (DSS) which are rooms made of massive solid concrete, equipped with air-tight steel door and window. The DSS serve as shelters against both explosive and chemical warfare. In normal practice, the DSS serves as a conventional room in the household. Standard size DSS contain a mass of around 35 tons of concrete with typical 2 26R a activity concentration of 30 Bq/kg. This mass of concrete is expected to increase the radon concentration in the DSS room due to exhalation from the building material. Published exhalation rate values from concrete in the US and Europe vary from 0.1 to 8 mBq/m 2 sec. (0.5 - 30 Bq/m 2 h). This work presents short and long-term radon measurements performed in high-rise building DSS's. Measurements of the free exhalation rate and wall exhalation rate as well as ventilation rate in DSS are also presented and the relation between these quantities is analyzed

DECISIONS, METHODS AND TECHNIQUES RELATED TO DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS (DSS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boghean Florin

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Generalised uncertainty, a phenomenon that today’s managers are facing as part of their professional experience, makes it impossible to anticipate the way the business environment will evolve or what will be the consequences of the decisions they plan to implement. Any decision making process within the company entails the simultaneous presence of a number of economic, technical, juridical, human and managerial variables. The development and the approval of a decision is the result of decision making activities developed by the decision maker and sometimes by a decision support team or/and a decision support system (DSS. These aspects related to specific applications of decision support systems in risk management will be approached in this research paper. Decisions in general and management decisions in particular are associated with numerous risks, due to their complexity and increasing contextual orientation. In each business entity, there are concerns with the implementation of risk management in order to improve the likelihood of meeting objectives, the trust of the parties involved, increase the operational safety and security as well as the protection of the environment, minimise losses, improve organisational resilience in order to diminish the negative impact on the organisation and provide a solid foundation for decision making. Since any business entity is considered to be a wealth generator, the analysis of their performance should not be restricted to financial efficiency alone, but will also encompass their economic efficiency as well. The type of research developed in this paper entails different dimensions: conceptual, methodological, as well as empirical testing. Subsequently, the conducted research entails a methodological side, since the conducted activities have resulted in the presentation of a simulation model that is useful in decision making processes on the capital market. The research conducted in the present paper

Modelling decision support and uncertainty for large transport infrastructure projects: The CLG-DSS model of the Øresund Fixed Link

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salling, Kim Bang; Leleur, Steen; Jensen, Anders Vestergaard

2007-01-01

and Freight Transport (CLG), the CLG-DSS model, is based on cost-benefit analysis (CBA) embedded in a wider multi-criteria analysis (MCA) by some principles for composite modelling assessment (COSIMA). The CLG-DSS model is set-up to make use of scenario analysis (SA) and Monte Carlo simulation (MCS...

GL-V9, a new synthetic flavonoid derivative, ameliorates DSS-induced colitis against oxidative stress by up-regulating Trx-1 expression via activation of AMPK/FOXO3a pathway.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yue; Sun, Yang; Ding, Youxiang; Wang, Xiaoping; Zhou, Yuxin; Li, Wenjun; Huang, Shaoliang; Li, Zhiyu; Kong, Lingyi; Guo, Qinglong; Lu, Na

2015-09-22

GL-V9, a new synthesized flavonoid derivative, has been reported to possess anti-cancer properties in our previous studies. Uncontrolled overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been implicated in oxidative damage of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In this study, we aimed to investigate the protective effect of GL-V9 against dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis. GL-V9 attenuated DSS-induced body weight loss, colon length shortening and colonic pathological damage. GL-V9 also inhibited inflammatory cells infiltration and decreased myeloperoxidase (MPO) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activities. Moreover, GL-V9 inhibited ROS and malondialdehyde (MDA) generation, but enhanced superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH) and total antioxidant capacity. GL-V9 reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines production in serum and colon as well. Mechanically, GL-V9 could increase Trx-1 via activation of AMPK/FOXO3a to suppress DSS-induced colonic oxidative stress. Furthermore, GL-V9 decreased pro-inflammatory cytokines and ROS production and increased the antioxidant defenses in the mouse macrophage cells RAW264.7 by promoting Trx-1 expression. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that GL-V9 attenuated DSS-induced colitis against oxidative stress by up-regulating Trx-1 via activation of AMPK/FOXO3a pathway, suggesting that GL-V9 might be a potential effective drug for colitis.

Designing a Decision Support System (DSS for Supplier Selection in Multiple Discount Environment

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Marzieh Shahrezaee

2012-09-01

Full Text Available This research aims at developing original components of Decision Support System (DSS in order to support the evaluation and selection of suppliers in multi products having limited capacity. To achieve this purpose, researchers have proposed three different models based on which suppliers allow selecting their own desired type of discount. Firstly based on the performed studies, some criteria have been suggested for evaluating the suppliers’ capability. These criteria will be selected by the buyer with respect to the purchase condition and type of the industry, and their importance level will be determined. Then based on multi-criteria decision models, evaluation of all the suppliers will be done. In this study fuzzy numbers are applied so as to translate qualitative criteria into quantitative one. Suppliers have been ranked according to the scores they have gained and the selection share of each from the whole quantity has been determined based on the multi-objective mathematical model. The existing model has exerted practical ways such as taking loans with determined interest as well as certain variables in order to compensate the shortage of budget the buyer encounters with. Outputs, which are, the selective suppliers and orders assigned to each of them are also to be considered by using Genetic Algorithm in MATLAB software for three parts in Emersan Company accordingly.

Design and analysis of stochastic DSS query optimizers in a distributed database system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manik Sharma

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Query optimization is a stimulating task of any database system. A number of heuristics have been applied in recent times, which proposed new algorithms for substantially improving the performance of a query. The hunt for a better solution still continues. The imperishable developments in the field of Decision Support System (DSS databases are presenting data at an exceptional rate. The massive volume of DSS data is consequential only when it is able to access and analyze by distinctive researchers. Here, an innovative stochastic framework of DSS query optimizer is proposed to further optimize the design of existing query optimization genetic approaches. The results of Entropy Based Restricted Stochastic Query Optimizer (ERSQO are compared with the results of Exhaustive Enumeration Query Optimizer (EAQO, Simple Genetic Query Optimizer (SGQO, Novel Genetic Query Optimizer (NGQO and Restricted Stochastic Query Optimizer (RSQO. In terms of Total Costs, EAQO outperforms SGQO, NGQO, RSQO and ERSQO. However, stochastic approaches dominate in terms of runtime. The Total Costs produced by ERSQO is better than SGQO, NGQO and RGQO by 12%, 8% and 5% respectively. Moreover, the effect of replicating data on the Total Costs of DSS query is also examined. In addition, the statistical analysis revealed a 2-tailed significant correlation between the number of join operations and the Total Costs of distributed DSS query. Finally, in regard to the consistency of stochastic query optimizers, the results of SGQO, NGQO, RSQO and ERSQO are 96.2%, 97.2%, 97.45 and 97.8% consistent respectively.

A web-based spatial decision supporting system (S-DSS) for grapevine quality: the viticultural tool of the SOILCONS-WEB Project

Science.gov (United States)

Manna, Piero; Bonfante, Antonello; Basile, Angelo; Langella, Giuliano; Agrillo, Antonietta; De Mascellis, Roberto; Florindo Mileti, Antonio; Minieri, Luciana; Orefice, Nadia; Terribile, Fabio

2014-05-01

The SOILCONSWEB Project aims to create a decision support system operating at the landscape scale (Spatial-DSS) for the protection and the management of soils in both agricultural and environmental issues; it is a cyber-infrastructure built on remote servers operating through the web at www.landconsultingweb.eu. It includes - among others - a series of tools specifically designed to a Viticulture aiming at high quality wines production. The system is realized thanks to a collaboration between the University of Naples Federico II, CNR ISAFoM, Ariespace srl and SeSIRCA-Campania Region within a 5-years LIFE+ project funded by European Community. The system includes tools based on modelling procedures at different level of complexity some of which specifically designed for viticulture issues. One of the implemented models arise from the original desktop based SWAP model (Kroes et al, 2008). It can be run "on the fly" through a very user friendly web-interface. The specific tool, thanks to the model based on the Richard's equation can produce data on vineyard water stress, simulating the soil water balances of the different soil types within an area of interest. Thanks to a specific program developed within the project activities, the Spatial-DSS every day acquires punctual weather data and automatically spatialize them with geostatistical approaches in order to use the data as input for the SPA (Soil Plant Atmosphere ) model running. In particular for defining the upper boundary condition (rainfall and temperatures to estimate ET0 by the Hargraves model). Soil hydraulic properties (47 soil profiles within the study area), also essential for modelling simulation, were measured in laboratory using the Wind's approach or estimated through HYPRES PTF. Water retention and hydraulic conductivity relationships were parameterized according to the van Genuchten-Mualem model; Decision makers (individuals, groups of interests and public bodies) through the DSS can have real

To Make Good Decision: A Group DSS for Multiple Criteria Alternative Rank and Selection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen-Shu Wang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Decision making is a recursive process and usually involves multiple decision criteria. However, such multiple criteria decision making may have a problem in which partial decision criteria may conflict with each other. An information technology, such as the decision support system (DSS and group DSS (GDSS, emerges to assist decision maker for decision-making process. Both the DSS and GDSS should integrate with a symmetrical approach to assist decision maker to take all decision criteria into consideration simultaneously. This study proposes a GDSS architecture named hybrid decision-making support model (HDMSM and integrated four decision approaches (Delphi, DEMATEL, ANP, and MDS to help decision maker to rank and select appropriate alternatives. The HDMSM consists of five steps, namely, criteria identification, criteria correlation calculation, criteria evaluation, critical criteria selection, and alternative rank and comparison. Finally, to validate the proposed feasibility of the proposed model, this study also conducts a case study to find out the important indexes of corporate social responsibility (CSR from multiple perspectives. As the case study demonstrates the proposed HDMSM enables a group of decision makers to implement the MCDM effectively and help them to analyze the relation and degree of mutual influence among different evaluation factors.

The Concept of Data Collection and Processing System for Audit according to the PCI DSS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. N. Makrushin

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The objects of the research are verification procedures meet the requirements of the standard of the documents supporting the information security standard in the payment card industry (PCI DSS.

Effect of welding parameters on pitting behavior of GTAW of DSS and super DSS weldments

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Prabhu Paulraj

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This work focuses on the effect of welding parameters on corrosion behavior of welded duplex stainless steel (DSS and super duplex stainless steel (SDSS. The effect of welding parameters, such as heat input, inter-pass temperature, cooling rate, shielding/back purging gas, on corrosion behavior was studied. DSS and SDSS pipes were welded with Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW process. After welding, the test samples were non-destructively tested to ensure no defects and test samples were prepared for microstructural examinations and ferrite content measurements. The root region had complex microstructure because of the repetitive heating of the zone during different weld layers. It was observed that at low heat input desirable microstructure was formed. The test samples were subjected to corrosion tests, i.e. ASTM G48 test for the determination of pitting corrosion rate, potentiodynamic polarization tests, and potentiostatic tests to verify susceptibility of the alloys to corrosion attack. DSS weldments had CPT in between 23 °C to 27 °C and SDSS weldments had CPT between 37 °C to 41 °C in potentiostatic measurements. The corrosion test results were correlated to the microstructures of the weldments. The pitting resistance of individual phases was studied and the effect of secondary austenite on corrosion attack was also observed.

Dextran sodium sulfate (DSS induces necrotizing enterocolitis-like lesions in neonatal mice.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Ginzel

Full Text Available Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC is an inflammatory bowel disease of preterm human newborns with yet unresolved etiology. An established neonatal murine model for NEC employs oral administration of lipopolysaccharides (LPS combined with hypoxia/hypothermia. In adult mice, feeding dextran sodium sulfate (DSS represents a well-established model for experimental inflammatory bowel disease. Here we investigated the effect of DSS administration on the neonatal murine intestine in comparison with the established NEC model.3-day-old C57BL/6J mice were either fed formula containing DSS or LPS. LPS treated animals were additionally stressed by hypoxia/hypothermia twice daily. After 72 h, mice were euthanized, their intestinal tissue harvested and analyzed by histology, qRT-PCR and flow cytometry. For comparison, adult C57BL/6J mice were fed with DSS for 8 days and examined likewise. Untreated, age matched animals served as controls.Adult mice treated with DSS exhibited colonic inflammation with significantly increased Cxcl2 mRNA expression. In contrast, tissue inflammation in neonatal mice treated with DSS or LPS plus hypoxia/hypothermia was present in colon and small intestine as well. Comparative analysis of neonatal mice revealed a significantly increased lesion size and intestinal Cxcl2 mRNA expression after DSS exposure. Whereas LPS administration mainly induced local neutrophil recruitment, DSS treated animals displayed increased monocytes/macrophages infiltration.Our study demonstrates the potential of DSS to induce NEC-like lesions accompanied by a significant humoral and cellular immune response in the small and large intestine of neonatal mice. The new model therefore represents a good alternative to LPS plus hypoxia/hypothermia administration requiring no additional physical stress.

Comparing decision-support systems in adopting sustainable intensification criteria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bouda eVosough Ahmadi

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Sustainable intensification (SI is a multifaceted concept incorporating the ambition to increase or maintain the current level of agricultural yields while reduce negative ecological and environmental impacts. Decision-support systems (DSS that use integrated analytical methods are often used to support decision making processes in agriculture. However, DSS often consist of set of values, objectives and assumptions that may be inconsistent or in conflict with merits and objectives of SI. These potential conflicts will have consequences for adoption and up-take of agricultural research, technologies and related policies and regulations such as genetic technology in pursuit of SI. This perspective paper aimed at comparing a number of frequently used socio-economic DSS with respect to their capacity in incorporating various dimensions of SI, and discussing their application to analyzing farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR policies. The case of FAnGR policies was chosen because of its great potential in delivering merits of SI. It was concluded that flexible DSS, with great integration capacity with various natural and social sciences, are needed to provide guidance on feasibility, practicality and policy implementation for SI.

DSS1/Sem1, a multifunctional and intrinsically disordered protein

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kragelund, Birthe Brandt; Schenstrøm, Signe Marie; Rebula, Caio A.

2016-01-01

DSS1/Sem1 is a versatile intrinsically disordered protein. Besides being a bona fide subunit of the 26S proteasome, DSS1 associates with other protein complexes, including BRCA2-RPA, involved in homologous recombination; the Csn12-Thp3 complex, involved in RNA splicing; the integrator, involved...

Security Assessment of Payment Systems under PCI DSS Incompatibilities

OpenAIRE

Bahtiyar , Şerif; Gür , Gürkan; Altay , Levent

2014-01-01

Part 9: Malicious Behavior and Fraud; International audience; With the ubiquitous proliferation of electronic payment systems, data and application security has become more critical for financial operations. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) has been developed by the payment industry to provide a widely-applicable and definitive security compliance among all components in electronic payment infrastructure. However, the security impact of PCI DSS incompatibilities and ...

The Role of Decision Support System (DSS) in Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. Anchala (Raghupathy); M.P. Pinto (Maria); A. Shroufi (Amir); R. Chowdhury (Rajiv); J. Sanderson (Jean); L.A. Johnson (Laura); P. Blanco (Patricia); D. Prabhakaran (Dorairaj); O.H. Franco (Oscar)

2012-01-01

textabstractBackground: The potential role of DSS in CVD prevention remains unclear as only a few studies report on patient outcomes for cardiovascular disease. Methods and Results: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and observational studies was done using

DSS and GIS in Knowledge Transformation Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klimešová Dana

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Knowledge is an important resource for successful decision-making process in the whole society today. The special procedures of control and management of knowledge therefore have to be used. In the area of knowledge management and knowledge engineering basic terms of these disciplines are data, information, knowledge and knowledge transformation. The knowledge can be defined as a dynamic human process of justifying personal beliefs. Knowledge is a product of successful decision-making process. Knowledge transformation is a spiralling process of interactions between explicit and tacit knowledge that leads to the new knowledge. Nonaka and all show, that the combination of these two categories makes possible to conceptualise four conversion steps: Socialisation, Externalisation, Combination and Internalisation (SECI model. Another model of knowledge creation is the Knowledge Transformation Continuum (BCI Knowledge Group that begins with the articulation of a specific instruction representing the best way that a specific task, or series of tasks, should be performed. Knowledge modelling and knowledge representation is an important field of research also in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. The definition of knowledge in Artificial Intelligence is a noticeable different, because Artificial Intelligence is typically dealing with formalized knowledge (e.g. ontology. The development of knowledge-based systems was seen as a process of transferring human knowledge to an implemented knowledge base. Decision Support Systems (DSS, Geographical Information Systems (GIS and Operations Research/Management Science (OR/MS modelling process support decision-making process, therefore they also produce a new knowledge. A Decision Support Systems are an interactive computer-based systems helping decision makers complete decision process. Geographic Information Systems provide essential marketing and customer intelligence solutions that lead to better

Promotion of BRCA2-Dependent Homologous Recombination by DSS1 via RPA Targeting and DNA Mimicry.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Weixing; Vaithiyalingam, Sivaraja; San Filippo, Joseph; Maranon, David G; Jimenez-Sainz, Judit; Fontenay, Gerald V; Kwon, Youngho; Leung, Stanley G; Lu, Lucy; Jensen, Ryan B; Chazin, Walter J; Wiese, Claudia; Sung, Patrick

2015-07-16

The tumor suppressor BRCA2 is thought to facilitate the handoff of ssDNA from replication protein A (RPA) to the RAD51 recombinase during DNA break and replication fork repair by homologous recombination. However, we find that RPA-RAD51 exchange requires the BRCA2 partner DSS1. Biochemical, structural, and in vivo analyses reveal that DSS1 allows the BRCA2-DSS1 complex to physically and functionally interact with RPA. Mechanistically, DSS1 acts as a DNA mimic to attenuate the affinity of RPA for ssDNA. A mutation in the solvent-exposed acidic domain of DSS1 compromises the efficacy of RPA-RAD51 exchange. Thus, by targeting RPA and mimicking DNA, DSS1 functions with BRCA2 in a two-component homologous recombination mediator complex in genome maintenance and tumor suppression. Our findings may provide a paradigm for understanding the roles of DSS1 in other biological processes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fundamental research of decision support systems: Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurstedt, H.A. Jr.

1986-01-01

Through an iterative application of Decision Support Systems (DSS) apparatus and evolution of DSS concepts, we redefined DSS from a systems perspective. By focusing on successful DSS and the definition of success for the newly-defined DSS, we generated a paradigm for understanding, applying, and improving DSS. The significance of the research is that we now: (1) understand the various roles management tools play within the new DSS concept; (2) recognize the need for characterizing the domain of responsibility of a manager to obtain a successful DSS; and (3) have learned special characteristics of government agencies like Nuclear Materials (NM) to identify what features of the new DSS concept can be expected to improve performance

Application of a participative process for DSS development in soil remediation

Science.gov (United States)

José Blanco-Velázquez, Francisco; Muñoz-Vallés, Sara; Anaya-Romero, María

2017-04-01

A wide range of current legislation concerning environmental protection and public health at the national and international level include mandatory actions related to site characterization and the implementation of effective soil remediation measures. The efficiency, in terms of reliability and costs, of this kind of assessment, involves the development and linkage of integrated-harmonized databases, simulating models and specialization tools. So far, no data/knowledge engineering technologies in the academy or market provides the possibility for simulating soil remediation processes for hypothetic spatio-temporal scenarios in a harmonized manner across Europe. In this context, under the framework of RECARE (Preventing and Remediating degradation of Soils in Europe through Land Care) project, we are designing a Decision Support System (DSS) comprising a large database of knowledge including soil, climatic and socio-economic attributes, focused on soil remediation techniques that allows the user to automatically perform a more accurate quantifying of soil pollution, spatial identification of vulnerable zones and formulation of action programs to deal with the particular problem under scenarios of climate and land-use changes. The pilot study area is the Guadiamar valley (SW Spain) where the main threat is soil contamination, after a mine spill occurred on April 1998. About four hm3 of acid waters and two hm3 of mud, rich in heavy metals, were released into the Agrio and Guadiamar rivers affecting more than 4,600 ha of agricultural and pasture land. Consequently, the area was subjected to a large-scale phyto-management project, including the removal of sludge and topsoil, the addition of amendments, and plantation of native shrubs and trees. The objective of this research is to test the feasibility of the DSS concept as well as the likelihood to establish a solid high-potential innovation tool, aligned with the scientific and market strategy and within a European

Implementation of GIS-DSS PRANA within sustainable rehabilitation of radioactive contaminated territories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yatsalo, B.

2003-01-01

Full text: Analysis of the current situation in contaminated farms and settlements of Bryansk region is based on the monitoring data and model estimates. Model assessments of agricultural produce contamination, doses to the local population, radiological risk and results of countermeasure (CM) implementation have been carried out with the use of PRANA GIS-DSS. Applied Geographic Information System (GIS) PRANA is a Decision Support System (DSS) for implementation within the rehabilitation of radioactive contaminated territories. PRANA has been introduced for practical use in Bryansk as a GIS-DSS system for monitoring networking support and countermeasure analysis. The main blocks of the PRANA DSS are: libraries of electronic maps, including different layers of vector maps of landuse for all contaminated districts of Bryansk region: Novozybkov, Klintsy, Gordeevsky, Krasnogorsky, Zlynkovsky and Klimovsky (more than 30000 polygons of vector electronic maps); databases (radioecological, ecological, economic, demographic and other monitoring data and model parameters, including attributive information of vector electronic maps); model blocks for assessing: contamination of agricultural production, external and internal doses to the local population, radiological risks and corresponding results of CMs implementation; evaluation of CMs effectiveness and decision-making support an protection of the population and rehabilitation of radioactive contaminated territories both on local and regional/district levels (from separate settlement/field up to group of settlements/farms and region as a whole). The following 'risk indices' are considered within decision-making an Risk Based Land Management (RBLM) with the use of PRANA DSS: surface density contamination of territory with radionuclides ( 137 Cs, 90 Sr); contamination of agricultural production (plant growing and animal husbandry, including farm and private production); external and internal doses to the local population

A DSS based on GIS and Tabu search for solving the CVRP: The Tunisian case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sami Faiz

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (CVRP is a well known optimization problem applied in numerous applications. It consists of delivering items to some geographically dispersed customers using a set of vehicles operating from a single depot. As the CVRP is known to be NP-hard, approximate methods perform well when generating promising sub-optimal solutions in a reasonable computation time. In this paper, we develop a Decision Support System (DSS for solving the CVRP that integrates a Geographical Information System (GIS enriched by a Tabu search (TS module. In order to demonstrate the performance of the proposed DSS in terms of CPU runtime and minimized traveled distance, we apply it on a large-sized real case. The results are then highlighted in a cartographic format using Google Maps.

Computer Based ex-ante Evaluation of the Planned Railway Line between Copenhagen and Ringsted by use of a Decision Support System named COSIMA-DSS

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salling, Kim Bang; Landex, Alex

2006-01-01

This paper presents an appraisal study concerning the extension of the main railway line between Copenhagen and Ringsted by use of a software system named COSIMA-DSS. The modelling system is based upon a multi-methodological approach combining a cost-benefit analysis together with a multi......-criteria analysis. One of the key impacts in cost-benefit analyses is the time benefit which depends on the timetabling. The paper describes some of the challenges related to the calculation of the time benefits and how the time benefits can be implemented in the decision support system. At the end of the paper...

Bridging EOS remote sensing measurements and fire emissions, smoke dispersion, and air quality DSS in the Eastern US

Science.gov (United States)

John J. Qu; Xianjun Hao; Ruixin Yang; Swarvanu Dasgupta; Sanjeeb Bhoi; Menas Kafatos

1999-01-01

Fire eniissions, smoke dispersiotl. ancl air quality are very important for fire fighting and planing of prescribed burning. BlueskyRATNS (BSR) is a comprehenisive and state-of-the-art Decision Support System (DSS) for fire managers and air quality managers to plan fiiels treatments and support state air qiiality smoke regulatory actions, especially related to...

Decision Support System (DSS) for MSMA Integrated Stormwater Management Ecohydrology for Sustainable Green Infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Sidek, L. M.; Mohiyaden, H. A.; Haris, H.; Basri, H.; Muda, Z. C.; Roseli, Z. A.; Norlida, M. D.

2016-03-01

Rapid urbanization has known to have several adverse impacts towards hydrological cycle due to increasing impervious surface and degradation of water quality in stormwater runoff. In the past, urban waterways have been confined to narrow river corridors with the channels canalised and concrete and other synthetic materials forming the bed and banks of the river. Apart from that, stormwater pollutants such as litter, debris and sediments in drainage system are common problems that can lead to flooding and the degradation of water quality. To solve this problem, implementing stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) proves very promising due to its near natural characteristics and multiple effects on the drainage of stormwater runoff in urban areas. This judgment of using BMPs depends on not only relevant theoretical considerations, but also a large amount of practical experience and the availability of relevant data, as well. To fulfil this task, the so-called Decision Support System (DSS) in MSMA Design Aid and Database system are able to assist engineers and developers in management and improvement of water quantity and quality entering urban rivers from urban regions. This system is also helpful when an expert level judgment procure some repetitive and large amount of cases, like in the planning of stormwater BMPs systems for an entire city catchment. One of the advantages of an expert system is that it provides automation of expert-level judgement using availability of checking tools system.

Impact of basal diet on dextran sodium sulphate (DSS)-induced colitis in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Boussenna, Ahlem; Goncalves-Mendes, Nicolas; Joubert-Zakeyh, Juliette; Pereira, Bruno; Fraisse, Didier; Vasson, Marie-Paule; Texier, Odile; Felgines, Catherine

2015-12-01

Dextran sodium sulphate (DSS)-induced colitis is a widely used model for inflammatory bowel disease. However, various factors including nutrition may affect the development of this colitis. This study aimed to compare and characterize the impact of purified and non-purified basal diets on the development of DSS-induced colitis in the rat. Wistar rats were fed a non-purified or a semi-synthetic purified diet for 21 days. Colitis was then induced in half of the rats by administration of DSS in drinking water (4% w/v) during the last 7 days of experimentation. At the end of the experimental period, colon sections were taken for histopathological examination, determination of various markers of inflammation (myeloperoxidase: MPO, cytokines) and oxidative stress (superoxide dismutase: SOD, catalase: CAT, glutathione peroxidase: GPx and glutathione reductase: GRed activities), and evaluation of the expression of various genes implicated in this disorder. DSS ingestion induced a more marked colitis in animals receiving the purified diet, as reflected by higher histological score and increased MPO activity. A significant decrease in SOD and CAT activities was also observed in rats fed the purified diet. Also, in these animals, administration of DSS induced a significant increase in interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-1β and IL-6. In addition, various genes implicated in inflammation were over-expressed after ingestion of DSS by rats fed the purified diet. These results show that a purified diet promotes the onset of a more severe induced colitis than a non-purified one, highlighting the influence of basal diet in colitis development.

PCI DSS: Security Standard and Security in Fact

OpenAIRE

M. V. Kuzin

2011-01-01

The article focuses on Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements and practices, especially it’s issues and disadvantages to achieve the main goal — security of payment cards infrastructure.

No Protection against DSS-induced Colitis by Short-term Pretreatment with Seal or Fish Oils in Rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gülen Arslan

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Omega-3 (n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs have modulating effects in several chronic inflammatory conditions. The aim of the present study was to test whether prior short-term dietary supplementation with n-3 (fish or seal oil or n-6 (soy oil PUFA rich oils would protect the development of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS-induced colitis in rats.Methods: Forty-eight male Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups: no intervention, sham, DSS, seal oil + DSS, fi sh oil +DSS and soy oil + DSS. Following 7 days of acclimatisation, 1 mL oil (seal, fish or soy or distilled water (sham was administered by gavage day 8 to 14. Colitis was induced by 5% DSS in drinking water from day 15 to 21. Rats were sacrificed on day 23. Histological colitis (crypt and inflammation scores, faecal granulocyte marker protein (GMP and quantitative fatty acid composition in red blood cells were measured.Results: Pretreatment with fish or seal oils did not significantly influence DSS induced inflammation. In fact, all the oils tended to exacerbate the inflammation. Soy oil increased the mean crypt score (P < 0.04, but not the inflammation score or GMP. The ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids (FAs was 11 to 1 and 10 to 1 in standard diet and in red blood cells of control rats, respectively. Following administration of DSS, the ratio fell in all treatment groups (P < 0.001. The lowest ratios were seen in the groups receiving DSS + fi sh or seal oils (around 6 to 1.Conclusion: Short-term pretreatment with fish or seal oils did not protect against subsequent induction of colitis by DSS in this rat model. Whether the high ratio of n-6 to n-3 FAs in the standard diet concealed effects of n-3 FA supplementation should be further investigated.

PCI DSS: Security Standard and Security in Fact

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. V. Kuzin

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The article focuses on Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS requirements and practices, especially it’s issues and disadvantages to achieve the main goal — security of payment cards infrastructure.

Sex Differences in the Effect of Resveratrol on DSS-Induced Colitis in Mice

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Alexandra Wagnerova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Resveratrol is a natural polyphenol studied for its possible protective properties in inflammatory bowel diseases. Moreover, it has been shown to interact with estrogen receptors. In the present study, we aimed to investigate possible diverse effects of resveratrol on female and male mice in DSS-induced colitis. Thirty-seven C57BL/6 mice (21 female and 16 male were divided into three groups for each sex. The first group received pure water (CTRL. The other two groups received 1.5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS to induce colitis from which one group was treated with resveratrol (DSS + RSV. Intake of 1.5% DSS caused weight loss in all DSS groups compared to control mice. Weight loss, stool consistency, and discomfort did not show any protective effect of resveratrol in males and showed even adverse effects in females. In females, the activity of myeloperoxidase was lower compared to that in males. However, colon length and spleen weight showed no sex differences, which can indicate the induction of only mild colitis in mice. Resveratrol did not have any effect on TNF-alpha levels. Taken together, these results for the first time propose possible diverse effects of resveratrol in DSS-induced colitis model depending on the sex of the animal. However, this conclusion must be confirmed by further analyses.

Integrating economy, ecology and uncertainty in an oil-spill DSS: The Prestige accident in Spain, 2002

Science.gov (United States)

Wirtz, Kai W.; Liu, Xin

2006-12-01

Major accidental oil spills still affect sensitive marine areas and shorelines around the world, constituting a challenge for operational as well as strategic contingency management. As a rationale basis for addressing both issues we here propose a Decision Support System (DSS) consisting of a combination of modelling and evaluation methods which in particular assesses various impacts on habitats and local economies. By integrating the state-of-the-art oil spill contingency simulation system OSCAR with wind and current forecasts, environmental GIS data and multi-criteria analysis techniques, the DSS is able to rank different response actions to a chemical or oil spill. In this study, the usefulness of the approach is tested by hindcasting the Prestige accident off the coast of Spain in 2002. In particular, the short- to mid-term economic and ecological consequences of different mitigation measures are estimated. We identified clearly one worst option matching the actual decision taken by the responsible parties and one or two almost equally well performing routes. Two procedures of including uncertainty at various stages of the DSS are tested. The first method averages ensembles of outcomes between each modelling/evaluation stage, while the second one preserves the entire degree of freedom till the final ranking procedure. Results in the Prestige case turned out to be rather insensitive against both ways to account for uncertainties. The robustness as well as clarity of the DSS has the potential to enhance the efficiency of decision making even in politically sensitive situations. Limitations as well as ongoing improvements of the system are highlighted, in particular emphasizing linkages to environmental economics.

FLIRE DSS: A web tool for the management of floods and wildfires in urban and periurban areas

Science.gov (United States)

Kochilakis, Giorgos; Poursanidis, Dimitris; Chrysoulakis, Nektarios; Varella, Vassiliki; Kotroni, Vassiliki; Eftychidis, Giorgos; Lagouvardos, Kostas; Papathanasiou, Chrysoula; Karavokyros, George; Aivazoglou, Maria; Makropoulos, Christos; Mimikou, Maria

2016-01-01

A web-based Decision Support System, named FLIRE DSS, for combined forest fire control and planning as well as flood risk management, has been developed and is presented in this paper. State of the art tools and models have been used in order to enable Civil Protection agencies and local stakeholders to take advantage of the web based DSS without the need of local installation of complex software and their maintenance. Civil protection agencies can predict the behavior of a fire event using real time data and in such a way plan its efficient elimination. Also, during dry periods, agencies can implement "what-if" scenarios for areas that are prone to fire and thus have available plans for forest fire management in case such scenarios occur. Flood services include flood maps and flood-related warnings and become available to relevant authorities for visualization and further analysis on a daily basis. When flood warnings are issued, relevant authorities may proceed to efficient evacuation planning for the areas that are likely to flood and thus save human lives. Real-time weather data from ground stations provide the necessary inputs for the calculation of the fire model in real-time, and a high resolution weather forecast grid supports flood modeling as well as the development of "what-if" scenarios for the fire modeling. All these can be accessed by various computer sources including PC, laptop, Smartphone and tablet either by normal network connection or by using 3G and 4G cellular network. The latter is important for the accessibility of the FLIRE DSS during firefighting or rescue operations during flood events. All these methods and tools provide the end users with the necessary information to design an operational plan for the elimination of the fire events and the efficient management of the flood events in almost real time. Concluding, the FLIRE DSS can be easily transferred to other areas with similar characteristics due to its robust architecture and its

FLIRE DSS: A web tool for the management of floods and wildfires in urban and periurban areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kochilakis Giorgos

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A web-based Decision Support System, named FLIRE DSS, for combined forest fire control and planning as well as flood risk management, has been developed and is presented in this paper. State of the art tools and models have been used in order to enable Civil Protection agencies and local stakeholders to take advantage of the web based DSS without the need of local installation of complex software and their maintenance. Civil protection agencies can predict the behavior of a fire event using real time data and in such a way plan its efficient elimination. Also, during dry periods, agencies can implement “what-if” scenarios for areas that are prone to fire and thus have available plans for forest fire management in case such scenarios occur. Flood services include flood maps and flood-related warnings and become available to relevant authorities for visualization and further analysis on a daily basis. When flood warnings are issued, relevant authorities may proceed to efficient evacuation planning for the areas that are likely to flood and thus save human lives. Real-time weather data from ground stations provide the necessary inputs for the calculation of the fire model in real-time, and a high resolution weather forecast grid supports flood modeling as well as the development of “what-if” scenarios for the fire modeling. All these can be accessed by various computer sources including PC, laptop, Smartphone and tablet either by normal network connection or by using 3G and 4G cellular network. The latter is important for the accessibility of the FLIRE DSS during firefighting or rescue operations during flood events. All these methods and tools provide the end users with the necessary information to design an operational plan for the elimination of the fire events and the efficient management of the flood events in almost real time. Concluding, the FLIRE DSS can be easily transferred to other areas with similar characteristics due to its

DSS colitis promotes tumorigenesis and fibrogenesis in a choline-deficient high-fat diet-induced NASH mouse model.

Science.gov (United States)

Achiwa, Koichi; Ishigami, Masatoshi; Ishizu, Yoji; Kuzuya, Teiji; Honda, Takashi; Hayashi, Kazuhiko; Hirooka, Yoshiki; Katano, Yoshiaki; Goto, Hidemi

2016-01-29

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) patients progress to liver cirrhosis and even hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Several lines of evidence indicate that accumulation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and disruption of gut microbiota play contributory roles in HCC. Moreover, in a dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis model in mice, a high-fat diet increases portal LPS level and promotes hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. However, this diet-induced NASH model requires at least 50 weeks for carcinogenesis. In this study, we sought to determine whether increased intestinal permeability would aggravate liver inflammation and fibrosis and accelerate tumorigenesis in a diet-induced NASH model. Mice were fed a choline-deficient high-fat (CDHF) diet for 4 or 12 weeks. The DSS group was fed CDHF and intermittently received 1% DSS in the drinking water. Exposure to DSS promoted mucosal changes such as crypt loss and increased the number of inflammatory cells in the colon. In the DSS group, portal LPS levels were elevated at 4 weeks, and the proportions of Clostridium cluster XI in the fecal microbiota were elevated. In addition, levels of serum transaminase, number of lobular inflammatory cells, F4/80 staining-positive area, and levels of inflammatory cytokines were all elevated in the DSS group. Liver histology in the DSS group revealed severe fibrosis at 12 weeks. Liver tumors were detected in the DSS group at 12 weeks, but not in the other groups. Thus, DSS administration promoted liver tumors in a CDHF diet-induced NASH mouse over the short term, suggesting that the induction of intestinal inflammation and gut disruption of microbiota in NASH promote hepatic tumorigenesis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dihydrotanshinone I, a natural product, ameliorates DSS-induced experimental ulcerative colitis in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Yanling; Wu, Xiaxia; Wu, Qin; Lu, Yuanfu; Shi, Jingshan; Chen, Xiuping

2018-04-01

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic and relapsing inflammatory disorder of the colon and rectum with increasing morbidity in recent years. 15,16-dihydrotanshinone Ӏ (DHT) is a natural product with multiple bioactivities. In this study, we aimed to investigate the protective effect and potential mechanisms of DHT on UC. Dextran sulfate sodium salt (DSS) was administrated in drinking water for 7 days to induce UC in mice. DHT (10 and 25 mg/kg) significantly alleviated DSS-induced body weight loss, disease activity index (DAI) scores, and improved histological alterations of colon tissues. DHT inhibited the myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in colon tissues and decreased serum levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1). Furthermore, increased expression of kinases receptor-interacting protein 1 (RIP1), RIP3, mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein (MLKL) and decreased expression of caspase-8 in colon tissues were partially restored by DHT. In LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages, DHT significantly inhibited generation of nitric oxide, IL-6, TNF-α and protein expression of iNOS, COX-2. In addition, increased expression of iNOS, COX-2, and phosphorylated RIP1, RIP3, MLKL in response to LPS plus Z-VAD (LZ) were also suppressed by DHT. DHT had no effect on TNF-α + BV6 + Z-VAD (TBZ) induced phosphorylation of RIPs and MLKL in HT29 cells. Especially, DHT showed no effect on LZ and TBZ-induced necroptosis in RAW264.7 and HT29 cells, respectively. In summary, DHT alleviated DSS-induced UC in mice by suppressing pro-inflammatory mediators and regulating RIPs-MLKL-caspase-8 axis. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Suppressor of cytokine signaling 2 (Socs2 deletion protects bone health of mice with DSS-induced inflammatory bowel disease

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Ross Dobie

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Individuals with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD often present with poor bone health. The development of targeted therapies for this bone loss requires a fuller understanding of the underlying cellular mechanisms. Although bone loss in IBD is multifactorial, the altered sensitivity and secretion of growth hormone (GH and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1 in IBD is understood to be a critical contributing mechanism. The expression of suppressor of cytokine signaling 2 (SOCS2, a well-established negative regulator of GH signaling, is stimulated by proinflammatory cytokines. Therefore, it is likely that SOCS2 expression represents a critical mediator through which proinflammatory cytokines inhibit GH/IGF-1 signaling and decrease bone quality in IBD. Using the dextran sodium sulfate (DSS model of colitis, we reveal that endogenously elevated GH function in the Socs2−/− mouse protects the skeleton from osteopenia. Micro-computed tomography assessment of DSS-treated wild-type (WT mice revealed a worsened trabecular architecture compared to control mice. Specifically, DSS-treated WT mice had significantly decreased bone volume, trabecular thickness and trabecular number, and a resulting increase in trabecular separation. In comparison, the trabecular bone of Socs2-deficient mice was partially protected from the adverse effects of DSS. The reduction in a number of parameters, including bone volume, was less, and no changes were observed in trabecular thickness or separation. This protected phenotype was unlikely to be a consequence of improved mucosal health in the DSS-treated Socs2−/− mice but rather a result of unregulated GH signaling directly on bone. These studies indicate that the absence of SOCS2 is protective against bone loss typical of IBD. This study also provides an improved understanding of the relative effects of GH/IGF-1 signaling on bone health in experimental colitis, information that is essential before these drugs are

LandCaRe-DSS - model based tools for irrigation management under climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Dotterweich, Markus; Wilkinson, Kristina; Cassel, Martin; Scherzer, Jörg; Köstner, Barbara; Berg, Michael; Grocholl, Jürgen

2015-04-01

Climate change is expected to have a strong influence on agricultural systems in the future. It will be important for decision makers and stakeholders to assess the impact of climate change at the farm and regional level in order to facilitate and maintain a sustainable and profitable farming infrastructure. Climate change impact studies have to incorporate aspects of uncertainty and the underlying knowledge is constantly expanding and improving. Decision support systems (DSS) with flexible data bases are therefore a useful tool for management and planning: different models can be applied under varying boundary conditions within a conceptual framework and the results can be used e.g. to show the effects of climate change scenarios and different land management options. Within this project, the already existing LandCaRe DSS will be further enhanced and improved. A first prototype had been developed for two regions in eastern Germany, mainly to show the effects of climate change on yields, nutrient balances and farm economy. The new model version will be tested and applied for a region in north-western Germany (Landkreis Uelzen) where arable land makes up about 50% of overall land-use and where 80 % of the arable land is already irrigated. For local decision makers, it will be important to know how water demand and water availability are likely to change in the future: Is more water needed for irrigation? Is more water actually available for irrigation? Will the existing limits for ground water withdrawal be sufficient for farmers to irrigate their crops? How can the irrigation water demand be influenced by land management options like the use of different crops and varieties or different farming and irrigation techniques? The main tasks of the project are (I) the integration of an improved irrigation model, (II) the development of a standardized interface to apply the DSS in different regions, (III) to optimize the graphical user interface, (IV) to transfer and

[Information technology as a support in the area of education].

Science.gov (United States)

Sabanović, Z

1999-01-01

Decision Support Systems (DSS) are more and more used and developed, mainly within the management area. It is used at strategic level for global planning and managing the organization; at tactical level for short-term planning, process realization and control. Although many authors state that DSS are used only at global and tactical level, some of them--through practical applications--show that specific DSS can be created in order to support decision in other areas than classical management. Paper describes computer application that efficiently supports organisation of exams at The Department for Medical Informatics of Medical Faculty in Tuzla.

AOM/DSS Model of Colitis-Associated Cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Parang, Bobak; Barret, Caitlyn W.; Williams, Christopher S.

2016-01-01

Summary Our understanding of colitis-associated carcinoma (CAC) has benefited substantially from mouse models that faithfully recapitulate human CAC. Chemical models, in particular, have enabled fast and efficient analysis of genetic and environmental modulators of CAC without the added requirement of time-intensive genetic crossings. Here we describe the Azoxymethane (AOM)/Dextran Sodium Sulfate (DSS) mouse model of inflammatory colorectal cancer. PMID:27246042

AOM/DSS Model of Colitis-Associated Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Parang, Bobak; Barrett, Caitlyn W; Williams, Christopher S

2016-01-01

Our understanding of colitis-associated carcinoma (CAC) has benefited substantially from mouse models that faithfully recapitulate human CAC. Chemical models, in particular, have enabled fast and efficient analysis of genetic and environmental modulators of CAC without the added requirement of time-intensive genetic crossings. Here we describe the Azoxymethane (AOM)/Dextran Sodium Sulfate (DSS) mouse model of inflammatory colorectal cancer.

Development of a Prototype Web-Based Decision Support System for Watershed Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dejian Zhang

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Using distributed hydrological models to evaluate the effectiveness of reducing non-point source pollution by applying best management practices (BMPs is an important support to decision making for watershed management. However, complex interfaces and time-consuming simulations of the models have largely hindered the applications of these models. We designed and developed a prototype web-based decision support system for watershed management (DSS-WMRJ, which is user friendly and supports quasi-real-time decision making. DSS-WMRJ is based on integrating an open-source Web-based Geographical Information Systems (Web GIS tool (Geoserver, a modeling component (SWAT, Soil and Water Assessment Tool, a cloud computing platform (Hadoop and other open source components and libraries. In addition, a private cloud is used in an innovative manner to parallelize model simulations, which are time consuming and computationally costly. Then, the prototype DSS-WMRJ was tested with a case study. Successful implementation and testing of the prototype DSS-WMRJ lay a good foundation to develop DSS-WMRJ into a fully-fledged tool for watershed management. DSS-WMRJ can be easily customized for use in other watersheds and is valuable for constructing other environmental decision support systems, because of its performance, flexibility, scalability and economy.

Towards An Intelligent Model-Based Decision Support System For An Integrated Oil Company (EGPC)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khorshid, M.; Hassan, H.; Abdel Latife, M.A.

2004-01-01

Decision Support System (DSS) is an interactive, flexible and adaptable computer-based support system specially developed for supporting the solution of unstructured management problems [31] DSS has become widespread for oil industry domain in recent years. The computer-based DSS, which were developed and implemented in oil industry, are used to address the complex short-term planning and operational issues associated with downstream industry. Most of these applications concentrate on the data-centered tools, while the model-centered applications of DSS are still very limited up till now [20]. This study develops an Intelligent Model-Based DSS for an integrated oil company, to help policy makers and petroleum planner in improving the effectiveness of the strategic planning in oil sector. This domain basically imposes semi-structured or unstructured decisions and involves a very complex modeling process

The Intelligent Ventilator Project: Application of Physiological Models in Decision Support

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rees, Stephen Edward; Karbing, Dan Stieper; Allerød, Charlotte

2011-01-01

Management of mechanical ventilation in intensive care patients is complicated by conflicting clinical goals. Decision support systems (DSS) may support clinicians in finding the correct balance. The objective of this study was to evaluate a computerized model-based DSS for its advice on inspired...

Excretory/secretory products from Trichinella spiralis adult worms ameliorate DSS-induced colitis in mice.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaodi Yang

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Many evidences show the inverse correlation between helminth infection and allergic or autoimmune diseases. Identification and characterization of the active helminth-derived products responsible for the beneficial effects on allergic or inflammatory diseases will provide another feasible approach to treat these diseases. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Colitis was induced in C57BL/6 mice by giving 3% DSS orally for 7 days. During this period, the mice were treated daily with the excretory/secretory products from T. spiralis adult worms (AES intraperitoneally. The severity of colitis was monitored by measuring body weight, stool consistency or bleeding, colon length and inflammation. To determine the T. spiralis AES product-induced immunological response, Th1, Th2, Th17 and regulatory cytokine profiles were measured in lymphocytes isolated from colon, mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN, and the spleen of treated mice. The CD4+ CD25+ FOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs were also measured in the spleens and MLN of treated mice. Mice treated with AES significantly ameliorated the severity of the DSS-induced colitis indicated by the reduced disease manifestations, improved macroscopic and microscopic inflammation correlated with the up-regulation of Treg response (increased regulatory cytokines IL-10, TGF-beta and regulatory T cells and down-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IFN-gamma, IL-6 and IL-17 in the spleens, MLN and colon of treated mice. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide direct evidences that T. spiralis AES have a therapeutic potential for alleviating inflammatory colitis in mice. This effect is possibly mediated by the immunomodulation of regulatory T cells to produce regulatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines and inhibit pro-inflammatory cytokines.

A Hyperknowledge Framework of Decision Support Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Ai-Mei; And Others

1994-01-01

Presents a hyperknowledge framework of decision support systems (DSS). This framework formalizes specifics about system functionality, representation of knowledge, navigation of the knowledge system, and user-interface traits as elements of a DSS environment that conforms closely to human cognitive processes in decision making. (Contains 52…

Aspectos relevantes dos SAD nas organizações: um estudo exploratório Relevant aspects from DSS in organizations: an empirical investigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriana Zenaide Clericuzi

2006-04-01

Full Text Available A informação vem auxiliando as organizações a alcançarem seus objetivos num ambiente de crescente concorrência, exigindo delas rapidez, flexibilidade e alta percepção. A abrangência cada vez maior do uso dos Sistemas de Apoio à Decisão (SAD como suporte na solução de problemas tem como proposta o processamento de informação para reduzir a incerteza e resolver conflitos. Este artigo tem como objetivo fazer uma investigação sobre os SAD nas organizações brasileiras. Para tal, foi conduzida uma pesquisa exploratória e descritiva, sobre o assunto, foram utilizados questionários que investigaram os SAD nas empresas brasileiras e aspectos relevantes destes sistemas.Information is supporting organizations to reach theirs objectives. Competition is increasing in organizational environment, requiring capability, flexibility and high perception. Decision Support Systems (DSS are becoming greater as a tool for solution of problems, processing information to reduce uncertain in decision problems and deciding conflicts. The objective of this paper is reports a study about DSS in organizations. For such an empirical investigation of literature in DSS and an empirical research were done. Questionnaires had been used to investigate the relevant aspects of SAD in the Brazilian companies.

New methods to measure and model logistics and goods effects by the use of the CLG-DSS Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salling, Kim Bang; Jensen, Anders Vestergaard

2004-01-01

This paper concerns the assessment and modelling of so-called logistics and goods effects (LG-effects) as part of a wider economic analysis by use of the developed CLG-DSS model. The results presented are based an on-going study, Task 9 about evaluation modelling and decision support systems (DSS......) in the Centre for Logistics and Goods Transport (CLG) 2001-2005 funded by the Danish Council for Technical-Scientific Research (STVF). Within the area of research on logistics the interaction between logistics and transportation is of great relevance. Task 9 and other recent studies have found that several...... companies are taking account of logistics and transport by setting up, among other things, specific departments to improve their handling. Some aspects in the transport sector concerning goods movement and consequences have not so far got the attention they deserve. In CLG Task 9 four LG-effects have been...

PCI DSS a practical guide to implementing and maintaining compliance

CERN Document Server

Wright, Steve

2011-01-01

This newly revised, practical guide, gives you a step by step guide to achieving Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance - showing you how to create, design and build a PCI compliance framework.

2-D Crustal thermal structure along Thuadara–Sindad DSS profile ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Thuadara–Sindad Deep Seismic Sounding (DSS) profile which runs almost in the N–S direction ... These studies include four Deep Seis- ... Geology and tectonic frame work ..... alous high-velocity layer at shallow crustal depths in the.

How Can We Make Progress with Decision Support Systems in Landscape and River Basin Management? Lessons Learned from a Comparative Analysis of Four Different Decision Support Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Volk, Martin; Lautenbach, Sven; van Delden, Hedwig; Newham, Lachlan T. H.; Seppelt, Ralf

2010-12-01

This article analyses the benefits and shortcomings of the recently developed decision support systems (DSS) FLUMAGIS, Elbe-DSS, CatchMODS, and MedAction. The analysis elaborates on the following aspects: (i) application area/decision problem, (ii) stakeholder interaction/users involved, (iii) structure of DSS/model structure, (iv) usage of the DSS, and finally (v) most important shortcomings. On the basis of this analysis, we formulate four criteria that we consider essential for the successful use of DSS in landscape and river basin management. The criteria relate to (i) system quality, (ii) user support and user training, (iii) perceived usefulness and (iv) user satisfaction. We can show that the availability of tools and technologies for DSS in landscape and river basin management is good to excellent. However, our investigations indicate that several problems have to be tackled. First of all, data availability and homogenisation, uncertainty analysis and uncertainty propagation and problems with model integration require further attention. Furthermore, the appropriate and methodological stakeholder interaction and the definition of `what end-users really need and want' have been documented as general shortcomings of all four examples of DSS. Thus, we propose an iterative development process that enables social learning of the different groups involved in the development process, because it is easier to design a DSS for a group of stakeholders who actively participate in an iterative process. We also identify two important lines of further development in DSS: the use of interactive visualization tools and the methodology of optimization to inform scenario elaboration and evaluate trade-offs among environmental measures and management alternatives.

Disaster Metrics: Evaluation of de Boer's Disaster Severity Scale (DSS) Applied to Earthquakes.

Science.gov (United States)

Bayram, Jamil D; Zuabi, Shawki; McCord, Caitlin M; Sherak, Raphael A G; Hsu, Edberdt B; Kelen, Gabor D

2015-02-01

Quantitative measurement of the medical severity following multiple-casualty events (MCEs) is an important goal in disaster medicine. In 1990, de Boer proposed a 13-point, 7-parameter scale called the Disaster Severity Scale (DSS). Parameters include cause, duration, radius, number of casualties, nature of injuries, rescue time, and effect on surrounding community. Hypothesis This study aimed to examine the reliability and dimensionality (number of salient themes) of de Boer's DSS scale through its application to 144 discrete earthquake events. A search for earthquake events was conducted via National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and US Geological Survey (USGS) databases. Two experts in the field of disaster medicine independently reviewed and assigned scores for parameters that had no data readily available (nature of injuries, rescue time, and effect on surrounding community), and differences were reconciled via consensus. Principle Component Analysis was performed using SPSS Statistics for Windows Version 22.0 (IBM Corp; Armonk, New York USA) to evaluate the reliability and dimensionality of the DSS. A total of 144 individual earthquakes from 2003 through 2013 were identified and scored. Of 13 points possible, the mean score was 6.04, the mode = 5, minimum = 4, maximum = 11, and standard deviation = 2.23. Three parameters in the DSS had zero variance (ie, the parameter received the same score in all 144 earthquakes). Because of the zero contribution to variance, these three parameters (cause, duration, and radius) were removed to run the statistical analysis. Cronbach's alpha score, a coefficient of internal consistency, for the remaining four parameters was found to be robust at 0.89. Principle Component Analysis showed uni-dimensional characteristics with only one component having an eigenvalue greater than one at 3.17. The 4-parameter DSS, however, suffered from restriction of scoring range on both parameter and scale levels. Jan de Boer

Knowledge representation for decision support systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Methlie, L.B.

1985-01-01

This book is organized into three sections in accordance with the structure of the conference program. First section contains four major papers which were commissioned by the Programme Committee to set the tone for the conference and to provide a structured source of relevant material from contributing disciplines. The second section contains specific papers submitted to the conference, and concerned with the following topics of specific interest: epistemological issues for decision support systems (DSS), capturing organizational knowledge for DSS, complementarity between human and formal DSS, and representations for adaption. The third section contains the short papers on any topic of relevance to the theme of the conference. It is hoped that the two working conferences organized by WG 8.3 will contribute to the development of a coherent knowledge and understanding of the class of computerized information systems called Decision Support Systems. (Auth.)

Identifying Opportunities for Decision Support Systems in Support of Regional Resource Use Planning: An Approach Through Soft Systems Methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu; Dale

2000-10-01

/ Regional resource use planning relies on key regional stakeholder groups using and having equitable access to appropriate social, economic, and environmental information and assessment tools. Decision support systems (DSS) can improve stakeholder access to such information and analysis tools. Regional resource use planning, however, is a complex process involving multiple issues, multiple assessment criteria, multiple stakeholders, and multiple values. There is a need for an approach to DSS development that can assist in understanding and modeling complex problem situations in regional resource use so that areas where DSSs could provide effective support can be identified, and the user requirements can be well established. This paper presents an approach based on the soft systems methodology for identifying DSS opportunities for regional resource use planning, taking the Central Highlands Region of Queensland, Australia, as a case study.

Processed coffee alleviates DSS-induced colitis in mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernd L. Fiebich

2013-05-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACTBackground: Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world and it has been demonstrated that it has important therapeutic activities not only because of its caffeine content but also owing to the presence of other biologically active small molecules such as chlorogenic acid, trigonelline and cyclopentadiones. However, chlorogenic acid is degraded into catechol, pyrogallol and hydroxyhydroquinone, which are thought to induce irritation of the gastric mucosa. To reduce the content of irritant compounds processing methods have been developed prior to roasting the coffee beans.Objectives: The aim of this study was to study the anti-inflammatory and gastro-protective effects of processed coffee (Idee-Kaffee on in LPS-treated human primary monocytes and in a murine model of colon inflammation (IBD model.Results: In this study we have analyzed the effects on inflammatory events in cultured cells and in mice drinking a commercially available processed coffee. The processed coffee inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS-induced proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL-1, tumor necrosis factor (TNF, IL-6 and IL-8, and other inflammatory mediators such as prostaglandin (PGE2 and 8-isoprostane in cultured human primary monocytes. Oral administration of dissolved processed coffee, i.e., in its usual beverage form, improved greatly the adverse macroscopic and histological features of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS-induced colitis in mice in a dose-dependent manner. Processed coffee not only largely prevented DSS-induced colitis but also dramatically suppressed in vivo NF-B and STAT3 activities through inhibition of IB and STAT3 phosphorylation. Furthermore, this solubleFunctional Foods in Health and Disease 2013; 3(5:133-145coffee bean extract reduced the expression of proinflammatory cytokines TNF, IL-11, and IL-6 and the expression of cyclooxygenase (COX-2 in colonic tissues.Conclusions: This work identified

Evaluation of selected environmental decision support software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sullivan, T.M.; Moskowitz, P.D.; Gitten, M.

1997-06-01

Decision Support Software (DSS) continues to be developed to support analysis of decisions pertaining to environmental management. Decision support systems are computer-based systems that facilitate the use of data, models, and structured decision processes in decision making. The optimal DSS should attempt to integrate, analyze, and present environmental information to remediation project managers in order to select cost-effective cleanup strategies. The optimal system should have a balance between the sophistication needed to address the wide range of complicated sites and site conditions present at DOE facilities, and ease of use (e.g., the system should not require data that is typically unknown and should have robust error checking of problem definition through input, etc.). In the first phase of this study, an extensive review of the literature, the Internet, and discussions with sponsors and developers of DSS led to identification of approximately fifty software packages that met the preceding definition

Use of the Decision Support System for VA cost-effectiveness research.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnett, P G; Rodgers, J H

1999-04-01

The Department of Veterans Affairs is adopting the Decision Support System (DSS), computer software and databases which include a cost-accounting system which determines the cost of health care products and patient encounters. A system for providing cost data for cost-effectiveness analysis should be provide valid, detailed, and comprehensive data that can be aggregated. The design of DSS is described and compared with those criteria. Utilization data from DSS was compared with other VA utilization data. Aggregate DSS cost data from 35 medical centers was compared with relative resource weights developed for the Medicare program. Data on hospital stays at 3 facilities found that 3.7% of the stays in DSS were not in the VA discharge database, whereas 7.6% of the stays in the discharge data were not in DSS. DSS reported between 68.8% and 97.1% of the outpatient encounters reported by six facilities in the ambulatory care data base. Relative weights for each Diagnosis Related Group based on DSS data from 35 VA facilities correlated with Medicare weights (correlation coefficient of .853). DSS will be useful for research if certain problems are overcome. It is difficult to distinguish long-term from acute hospital care. VA does not have a complete database of all inpatient procedures, so DSS has not assigned them a specific cost. The authority to access encounter-level DSS data needs to be centralized. Researchers can provide the feedback needed to improve DSS cost estimates. A comprehensive encounter-level extract would facilitate use of DSS for research.

An Analysis of Disability, Academic Performance, and Seeking Support in One University Setting

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Shengli; Lucas, Margaretha S.

2016-01-01

This study focused on the academic performance and use of disability support services (DSS) of students with different types of disabilities who attend a postsecondary education institution. Findings show different patterns of academic success over four semesters as well as different patterns of DSS usage. Students who requested support from DSS…

Designing of a Decision Support System (DSS for resource allocation with genetic algorithm approach (Case Study: Central Library of Tarbiat Modares University

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alireza Hasanzadeh

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The allocation of information is one of the main responsibilities of a manager. In case there is a limitation in the available resources, the issue of resources allocation is raised. Universities and post graduate centers have faced limitations in accessing resources such as budget, human resources, physical space, etc. This problem results in inappropriate use of the approved budget in buying and sharing the different types of information resources, lack of easy access to information resources by users, and users’ dissatisfaction. This paper is intended to see whether the model of genetic algorithm can be used in helping library heads of university to develop a support system for the proper allocation of resources. The data of the central library of a university as the main core of DSS through using genetic algorithm in MATLAB was used in order to come up with a better distribution of effective resources. Research methodology used in this paper was field study and survey. The findings indicated that genetic algorithm was successful in achieving this end.

Design science research for decision support systems development: recent publication trends in the premier IS journals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shah J Miah

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a contemporary literature review of design science research (DSR studies in the domain of decision support systems (DSS development. The latest studies in the DSS design domain claim that DSR methodologies are the most popular design approach, but many details are still yet to be revealed for supporting this claim. In particular, it is important to thoroughly investigate the trends in either the form or deeper insights in use of DSR in this field. The aim of this study is to analyse the existing DSS design science studies to reveal insights into the use of DSR, so that we can outline research agenda for a special issue, based on findings of analysis. We selected articles (from 2005 to 2014 that were published in seven selected premier IS journals (ranked as A* in the ABDC journal ranking. The selected 57 sample articles are representative of DSS design studies that used DSR in theorising, designing, implementing, and evaluating DSS solutions. We discuss the theoretical positions of DSR for DSS development through six categories: DSS artefacts, DSR methods, DSR views, user involvement, DSS design innovations and problem domains. The findings indicate that new studies are needed to fill the knowledge gap in DSS design science, for more solid theoretical basis in near future.

Validation of dispersion model of RTARC-DSS based on ''KIT'' field experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duran, J.

2000-01-01

The aim of this study is to present the performance of the Gaussian dispersion model RTARC-DSS (Real Time Accident Release Consequences - Decision Support System) at the 'Kit' field experiments. The Model Validation Kit is a collection of three experimental data sets from Kincaid, Copenhagen, Lillestrom and supplementary Indianopolis experimental campaigns accompanied by software for model evaluation. The validation of the model has been performed on the basis of the maximum arc-wise concentrations using the Bootstrap resampling procedure the variation of the model residuals. Validation was performed for the short-range distances (about 1 - 10 km, maximum for Kincaid data set - 50 km from source). Model evaluation procedure and amount of relative over- or under-prediction are discussed and compared with the model. (author)

Factors of accepting pain management decision support systems by nurse anesthetists

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Pain management is a critical but complex issue for the relief of acute pain, particularly for postoperative pain and severe pain in cancer patients. It also plays important roles in promoting quality of care. The introduction of pain management decision support systems (PM-DSS) is considered a potential solution for addressing the complex problems encountered in pain management. This study aims to investigate factors affecting acceptance of PM-DSS from a nurse anesthetist perspective. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data from nurse anesthetists in a case hospital. A total of 113 questionnaires were distributed, and 101 complete copies were returned, indicating a valid response rate of 89.3%. Collected data were analyzed by structure equation modeling using the partial least square tool. Results The results show that perceived information quality (γ=.451, pDSS. Information quality (γ=.267, pDSS ease of use. Furthermore, both perceived ease of use (β=.436, pDSS acceptance (R2=.640). Thus, the critical role of information quality in the development of clinical decision support system is demonstrated. Conclusions The findings of this study enable hospital managers to understand the important considerations for nurse anesthetists in accepting PM-DSS, particularly for the issues related to the improvement of information quality, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of the system. In addition, the results also provide useful suggestions for designers and implementers of PM-DSS in improving system development. PMID:23360305

Oral administration of Lentinus edodes β-glucans ameliorates DSS-induced ulcerative colitis in mice via MAPK-Elk-1 and MAPK-PPARγ pathways.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Limin; Lin, Qinlu; Yang, Tao; Nie, Ying; Li, Xinhua; Liu, Bo; Shen, Junjun; Liang, Ying; Tang, Yiping; Luo, Feijun

2016-11-09

To evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of β-glucans from Lentinus edodes, and its molecular mechanism, the dextran sulfate sodium salt (DSS) induced colitis model of mice and the LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cell inflammation model were used in this study. 40 ICR male mice were randomly divided into 4 groups: Control, DSS (DSS treated only), DSS + low-βGs (500 mg kg -1 d -1 ) and DSS + high-βGs (1000 mg kg -1 d -1 ). The body weight of the mice with Lentinus edodes β-glucan supplementation increased significantly compared to the DSS group and the disease activity index (DAI) was improved in both βG-treated groups. Compared with the DSS group, histopathological analysis showed that the infiltration of inflammatory cells of both βG-treated groups decreased significantly in colonic tissues. Furthermore, oral administration of β-glucans decreases the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) and inhibits the expression of iNOS and several inflammatory factors: TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 as well as nitric oxide (NO) of the colonic tissues. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway is closely related to the expression of pro-inflammatory factors. In the DSS-induced colitis model and the LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cell model, βGs inhibited the expression of pro-inflammatory factors and blocked the phosphorylation of JNK/ERK1/2 and p38; βGs also suppress the phosphorylation of Elk-1 at Ser84 and the phosphorylation of PPARγ at Ser112. Altogether, these results suggest that Lentinus edodes βGs could inhibit the DSS-induced ulcerative colitis and decrease inflammatory factor expressions. The molecular mechanism may be involved in suppressing MAPK signaling and inactivation of Elk-1 and activation of PPARγ.

Tailoring decision support to suit user needs: a diagnostic imaging example.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffith, Janessa; Borycki, Elizabeth M; Kushniruk, Andre W

2013-01-01

Unnecessary diagnostic imaging (DI) examinations raise concerns for patient safety and place stress on human and financial resources. To reduce unnecessary DI examinations, several Canadian pilot studies have investigated how decision support systems (DSS) could be utilized. Based on interview results from our previous research, in addition to a literature review, themes emerged that influenced the features and design of a DI DSS prototype. Features include having the referring professional indicate how the results of the examination will be utilized (i.e. for diagnosis or patient management), increasing communication between referring physicians/nurse practitioners and radiologists, and displaying previous DI examinations (or orders that are scheduled to take place) to avoid duplicate orders. Presenting a patient's cumulative radiation exposure, and having resources for information support to guide physicians through challenging clinical decisions are two other features included in the DSS prototype. By incorporating physician perspectives and current literature into the design, this DSS aims to promote the appropriate use of DI resources by supporting physicians and nurse practitioners in their DI ordering practices.

Do Pre-Existing Diabetes Social Support or Depressive Symptoms Influence the Effectiveness of a Diabetes Management Intervention?

Science.gov (United States)

Rosland, Ann-Marie; Kieffer, Edith; Spencer, Michael; Sinco, Brandy; Palmisano, Gloria; Valerio, Melissa; Nicklett, Emily; Heisler, Michele

2015-01-01

Objective Examine influences of diabetes-specific social support (D-SS) and depressive symptoms on glycemic control over time, among adults randomized to a diabetes self-management education and support (DSME/S) intervention or usual care. Methods Data were from 108 African-American and Latino participants in a six-month intervention trial. Multivariable linear regression models assessed associations between baseline D-SS from family and friends and depressive symptoms with changes in HbA1c. We then examined whether baseline D-SS or depression moderated intervention-associated effects on HbA1c. Results Higher baseline D-SS was associated with larger improvements in HbA1c (adjusted ΔHbA1c -0.39% for each +1-point D-SS, p=0.02), independent of intervention-associated HbA1c decreases. Baseline depressive symptoms had no significant association with subsequent HbA1c change. Neither D-SS nor depression moderated intervention-associated effects on HbA1c. Conclusions and Practice Implications Diabetes self-management education and support programs have potential to improve glycemic control for participants starting with varying levels of social support and depressive symptoms. Participants starting with more support for diabetes management from family and friends improved HbA1c significantly more over six months than those with less support, independent of additional significant DSME/S intervention-associated HbA1c improvements. Social support from family and friends may improve glycemic control in ways additive to DSME/S. PMID:26234800

A decision support system for adaptive real-time management ofseasonal wetlands in California

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quinn, Nigel W.T.; Hanna, W. Mark

2001-10-16

This paper describes the development of a comprehensive flow and salinity monitoring system and application of a decision support system (DSS) to improve management of seasonal wetlands in the San Joaquin Valley of California. The Environmental Protection Agency regulates salinity discharges from non-point sources to the San Joaquin River using a procedure known as the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) to allocate the assimilative capacity of the River for salt among watershed sources. Management of wetland sources of salt load will require the development of monitoring systems, more integrative management strategies and coordination with other entities. To obtain local cooperation the Grassland Water District, whose primary function is to supply surface water to private duck clubs and managed wetlands, needs to communicate to local landowners the likely impacts of salinity regulation on the long term health and function of wildfowl habitat. The project described in this paper will also provide this information. The models that form the backbone of the DSS develop salinity balances at both a regional and local scale. The regional scale concentrates on deliveries to and exports from the Grasland Water District while the local scale focuses on an individual wetland unit where more intensive monitoring is being conducted. The design of the DSS is constrained to meet the needs of busy wetland managers and is being designed from the bottom up utilizing tools and procedures familiar to these individuals.

The DSS-14 C-band exciter

Science.gov (United States)

Rowan, D. R.

1989-01-01

The development and implementation of a C-band exciter for use with the Block IV Receiver-Exciter Subsystem at Deep Space Station 14 (DSS-14) has been completed. The exciter supplements the standard capabilities of the Block IV system by providing a drive signal for the C-band transmitter while generating coherent translation frequencies for C-band (5-GHz) to S-band (2.2- to 2.3-GHz) Doppler extraction, C-band to L-band (1.6-GHz) zero delay measurements, and a level calibrated L-band test signal. Exciter functions are described, and a general explanation and description of the C-band uplink controller is presented.

Prevention of Chronic Experimental Colitis Induced by Dextran Sulphate Sodium (DSS in Mice Treated with FR91

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valter R. M. Lombardi

2012-01-01

Full Text Available One of the main treatments currently used in humans to fight cancer is chemotherapy. A huge number of compounds with antitumor activity are present in nature, and many of their derivatives are produced by microorganisms. However, the search for new drugs still represents a main objective for cancer therapy, due to drug toxicity and resistance to multiple chemotherapeutic drugs. In animal models, a short-time oral administration of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS induces colitis, which exhibits several clinical and histological features similar to ulcerative colitis (UC. However, the pathogenic factors responsible for DSS-induced colitis and the subsequent colon cancer also remain unclear. We investigated the effect of FR91, a standardized lysate of microbial cells belonging to the Bacillus genus which has been previously shown to have significant immunomodulatory effects, against intestinal inflammation. Colitis was induced in mice during 5 weeks by oral administration 2% (DSS. Morphological changes in the colonic mucosa were evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunohistochemistry methods. Adenocarcinoma and cryptal cells of the dysplastic epithelium showed cathenin-β, MLH1, APC, and p53 expression, together with increased production of IFN-γ. In our model, the optimal dose response was the 20% FR91 concentration, where no histological alterations or mild DSS-induced lesions were observed. These results indicate that FR91 may act as a chemopreventive agent against inflammation in mice DSS-induced colitis.

A Benchmark Usability Study of the Tactical Decision Making Under Stress Decision Support System

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Schmorrow, Dylan

1998-01-01

This study evaluates the usability of a U.S. Navy Decision Support System (DSS). The DSS was developed to enhance the performance of tactical decision makers within a Navy Combat Information Center...

A Decision Support System for Optimum Use of Fertilizers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

R. L. Hoskinson; J. R. Hess; R. K. Fink

1999-07-01

The Decision Support System for Agriculture (DSS4Ag) is an expert system being developed by the Site-Specific Technologies for Agriculture (SST4Ag) precision farming research project at the INEEL. DSS4Ag uses state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and computer science technologies to make spatially variable, site-specific, economically optimum decisions on fertilizer use. The DSS4Ag has an open architecture that allows for external input and addition of new requirements and integrates its results with existing agricultural systems' infrastructures. The DSS4Ag reflects a paradigm shift in the information revolution in agriculture that is precision farming. We depict this information revolution in agriculture as an historic trend in the agricultural decision-making process.

A Decision Support System for Optimum Use of Fertilizers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoskinson, Reed Louis; Hess, John Richard; Fink, Raymond Keith

1999-07-01

The Decision Support System for Agriculture (DSS4Ag) is an expert system being developed by the Site-Specific Technologies for Agriculture (SST4Ag) precision farming research project at the INEEL. DSS4Ag uses state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and computer science technologies to make spatially variable, site-specific, economically optimum decisions on fertilizer use. The DSS4Ag has an open architecture that allows for external input and addition of new requirements and integrates its results with existing agricultural systems’ infrastructures. The DSS4Ag reflects a paradigm shift in the information revolution in agriculture that is precision farming. We depict this information revolution in agriculture as an historic trend in the agricultural decision-making process.

Zonulin transgenic mice show altered gut permeability and increased morbidity/mortality in the DSS colitis model.

Science.gov (United States)

Sturgeon, Craig; Lan, Jinggang; Fasano, Alessio

2017-06-01

Increased small intestinal permeability (IP) has been proposed to be an integral element, along with genetic makeup and environmental triggers, in the pathogenies of chronic inflammatory diseases (CIDs). We identified zonulin as a master regular of intercellular tight junctions linked to the development of several CIDs. We aim to study the role of zonulin-mediated IP in the pathogenesis of CIDs. Zonulin transgenic Hp2 mice (Ztm) were subjected to dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) treatment for 7 days, followed by 4-7 days' recovery and compared to C57Bl/6 (wild-type (WT)) mice. IP was measured in vivo and ex vivo, and weight, histology, and survival were monitored. To mechanistically link zonulin-dependent impairment of small intestinal barrier function with clinical outcome, Ztm were treated with the zonulin inhibitor AT1001 added to drinking water in addition to DSS. We observed increased morbidity (more pronounced weight loss and colitis) and mortality (40-70% compared with 0% in WT) at 11 days post-DSS treatment in Ztm compared with WT mice. Both in vivo and ex vivo measurements showed an increased IP at baseline in Ztm compared to WT mice, which was exacerbated by DSS treatment and was associated with upregulation of zonulin gene expression (fourfold in the duodenum, sixfold in the jejunum). Treatment with AT1001 prevented the DSS-induced increased IP both in vivo and ex vivo without changing zonulin gene expression and completely reverted morbidity and mortality in Ztm. Our data show that zonulin-dependent small intestinal barrier impairment is an early step leading to the break of tolerance with subsequent development of CIDs. © 2017 New York Academy of Sciences.

Modem: data exchange among decision support systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baig, S.; Zaehringer, M.

2003-01-01

The aim of the European Research and Development project MODEM (Monitoring Data and Information Exchange Among Decision Support Systems) is to achieve practical improvements for data exchange among decision support systems (DSS). Hence, the results of model calculations become comparable. This is a precondition for harmonised decision making. Based on the analysis of existing procedures, it was decided to use the PUSH-PULL concept. Notifications are actively and automatically sent by the DSS (PUSH). The data can then be downloaded form an in-formation server (PULL). The format of the data is defined in XML (extended markup language). Participants of the project are the DSS: RODOS, ARGOS and RECASS. First, the data is comprised of the source term and meteorological information. Results of the prognoses and measurement data are also to be exchanged. Exercises testing and improving the pro-cedures form an integral part of the project. (orig.)

Decision support for sustainable forestry: enhancing the basic rational model.

Science.gov (United States)

H.R. Ekbia; K.M. Reynolds

2007-01-01

Decision-support systems (DSS) have been extensively used in the management of natural resources for nearly two decades. However, practical difficulties with the application of DSS in real-world situations have become increasingly apparent. Complexities of decisionmaking, encountered in the context of ecosystem management, are equally present in sustainable forestry....

A geospatial soil-based DSS to reconcile landscape management and land protection

Science.gov (United States)

Manna, Piero; Basile, Angelo; Bonfante, Antonello; D'Antonio, Amedeo; De Michele, Carlo; Iamarino, Michela; Langella, Giuliano; Florindo Mileti, Antonio; Pileri, Paolo; Vingiani, Simona; Terribile, Fabio

2017-04-01

The implementation of UN Agenda 2030 may represent a great opportunity to place soil science at the hearth of many Sustainable Development Goals (e.g. SDGs 2, 3, 13, 15, 15.3, 16.7). On the other side the high complexity embedded in the factual implementation of SDG and many others ambitious objectives (e.g. FAO goals) may cause new frustrations if these policy documents will not bring real progresses. The scientific communities are asked to contribute to disentangle this complexity and possibly identifying a "way to go". This may help the large number of European directives (e.g. WFD, EIA), regulations and communications aiming to achieve a better environment but still facing large difficulties in their full implementation (e.g. COM2015/120; COM2013/683). This contribution has the motivation to provide a different perspective, thinking that the full implementation of SDGs and integrated land policies requires to challenge some key overlooked issues including full competence (and managing capability) about the landscape variability, its multi-functionalities (e.g. agriculture / environment) and its dynamic nature (many processes, including crops growth and fate of pollutants, are dynamic); moreover, it requires to support actions at a very detailed local scale since many processes and problems are site specific. The landscape and all the above issues have the soil as pulsing heart. Accordingly, we aim to demonstrate the multiple benefits in using a smart geoSpatial Decision Support System (S-DSS) grounded on soil modelling, called SOILCONSWEB (EU LIFE+ project and its extensions). It is a freely-accessible web platform based on a Geospatial Cyber-Infrastructure (GCI) and developed in Valle Telesina (South Italy) over an area of 20,000 ha. It supports a multilevel decision-making in agriculture and environment including the interaction with other land uses (such as landscape and urban planning) and thus it simultaneously delivers to SDGs 2, 3, 13, 15, 15.3, 16.7.

Disruption of Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor-Associated Factor 5 Exacerbates Murine Experimental Colitis via Regulating T Helper Cell-Mediated Inflammation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian Shang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Tumor necrosis factor (TNF receptor-associated factor 5 (TRAF5 is a key mediator of TNF receptor superfamily members and is important in both T helper (Th cell immunity and the regulation of multiple signaling pathways. To clarify TRAF5’s influence on inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs, we investigated TRAF5 deficiency’s effect on dextran sulfate sodium- (DSS- induced colitis. Colitis was induced in TRAF5 knockout (KO mice and their wild-type (WT littermates by administering 3% DSS orally for 7 days. The mice were then sacrificed, and their colons were removed. Our data suggested that KO mice were more susceptible to DSS-induced colitis. TRAF5 deficiency significantly enhanced IFN-γ, IL-4, and IL-17a mRNA and protein levels in the colons of DSS-fed mice, and the mRNA expression of T-bet and GATA-3 was also markedly elevated. However, ROR-α and ROR-γt mRNA levels did not differ between DSS-induced KO and WT mice. Flow cytometry showed increased frequencies of Th2 and IFN-γ/IL-17a-coproducing CD4+ T cells in the colons of DSS-induced KO mice. Additionally, TRAF5 deficiency significantly enhanced the activation of NF-κB in CD4+ T cells after DSS administration. These results indicated that TRAF5 deficiency significantly aggravated DSS-induced colitis, most likely by regulating Th cell-mediated inflammation.

A decision support system improves the interpretation of myocardial perfusion imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tagil, K.; Bondouy, M.; Chaborel, J.P.

2008-01-01

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of a computer-based decision support system (DSS) on performance and inter-observer variability of interpretations regarding ischaemia and infarction in myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS). METHODS: Seven physicians independently...... with the advice of the DSS showed less inter-observer variability than those made without advice. CONCLUSION: This study shows that a DSS can improve performance and reduces the inter-observer variability of interpretations in myocardial perfusion imaging. Both experienced and, especially, inexperienced...

Lactobacillus casei secreting alpha-MSH induces the therapeutic effect on DSS-induced acute colitis in Balb/c Mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Sun-Woo; Lee, Chul-Ho; Kim, Jeong-Yoon; Kim, Jie-Youn; Sung, Moon-Hee; Poo, Haryoung

2008-12-01

The neuropeptide alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha- MSH) has anti-inflammatory property by downregulating the expressions of proinflammatory cytokines. Because alpha-MSH elicits the anti-inflammatory effect in various inflammatory disease models, we examined the therapeutic effect of oral administration of recombinant Lactobacillus casei, which secretes alpha-MSH (L. casei-alpha-MSH), on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in Balb/c mice. Thus, we constructed the alpha-MSH-secreting Lactobacillus casei by the basic plasmid, pLUAT-ss, which was composed of a PldhUTLS promoter and alpha-amylase signal sequence from Streptococcus bovis strain. Acute colitis was induced by oral administration of 5% DSS in drinking water for 7 days. To investigate the effect of L. casei-alpha-MSH on the colitis, L. casei or L. casei-alpha-MSH was orally administered for 7 days and their effects on body weight, mortality rate, cytokine production, and tissue myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity were observed. Administration of L. casei-alpha-MSH reduced the symptom of acute colitis as assessed by body weight loss (DSS alone: 14.45+/-0. 2 g; L. casei-alpha- MSH: 18.2+/-0.12 g), colitis score (DSS alone: 3.6+/-0.4; L. casei-alpha-MSH: 1.4+/-0.6), MPO activity (DSS alone: 42.7+/-4.5 U/g; L. casei-alpha-MSH: 10.25+/-0.5 U/g), survival rate, and histological damage compared with the DSS alone mice. L. casei-alpha-MSH-administered entire colon showed reduced in vitro production of proinflammatory cytokines and NF-kappaB activation. The alpha-MSH-secreting recombinant L. casei showed significant anti-inflammatory effects in the murine model of acute colitis and suggests a potential therapeutic role for this agent in clinical inflammatory bowel diseases.

Development and testing of a scale to assess physician attitudes about handheld computers with decision support.

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Midge N; Houston, Thomas K; Yu, Feliciano B; Menachemi, Nir; Maisiak, Richard S; Allison, Jeroan J; Berner, Eta S

2006-01-01

The authors developed and evaluated a rating scale, the Attitudes toward Handheld Decision Support Software Scale (H-DSS), to assess physician attitudes about handheld decision support systems. The authors conducted a prospective assessment of psychometric characteristics of the H-DSS including reliability, validity, and responsiveness. Participants were 82 Internal Medicine residents. A higher score on each of the 14 five-point Likert scale items reflected a more positive attitude about handheld DSS. The H-DSS score is the mean across the fourteen items. Attitudes toward the use of the handheld DSS were assessed prior to and six months after receiving the handheld device. Cronbach's Alpha was used to assess internal consistency reliability. Pearson correlations were used to estimate and detect significant associations between scale scores and other measures (validity). Paired sample t-tests were used to test for changes in the mean attitude scale score (responsiveness) and for differences between groups. Internal consistency reliability for the scale was alpha = 0.73. In testing validity, moderate correlations were noted between the attitude scale scores and self-reported Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) usage in the hospital (correlation coefficient = 0.55) and clinic (0.48), p DSS scale was reliable, valid, and responsive. The scale can be used to guide future handheld DSS development and implementation.

Effect of vitamin C on azoxymethane (AOM)/dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis-associated early colon cancer in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeon, Hee-Jin; Yeom, Yiseul; Kim, Yoo-Sun; Kim, Eunju; Shin, Jae-Ho; Seok, Pu Reum; Woo, Moon Jea; Kim, Yuri

2018-04-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of vitamin C on inflammation, tumor development, and dysbiosis of intestinal microbiota in an azoxymethane (AOM)/dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced inflammation-associated early colon cancer mouse model. Male BALB/c mice were injected intraperitoneally with AOM [10 mg/kg body weight (b.w)] and given two 7-d cycles of 2% DSS drinking water with a 14 d inter-cycle interval. Vitamin C (60 mg/kg b.w. and 120 mg/kg b.w.) was supplemented by gavage for 5 weeks starting 2 d after the AOM injection. The vitamin C treatment suppressed inflammatory morbidity, as reflected by disease activity index (DAI) in recovery phase and inhibited shortening of the colon, and reduced histological damage. In addition, vitamin C supplementation suppressed mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory mediators and cytokines, including cyclooxygenase-2, microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-2, tumor necrosis factor-α, Interleukin (IL)-1β , and IL-6 , and reduced expression of the proliferation marker, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, compared to observations of AOM/DSS animals. Although the microbial composition did not differ significantly between the groups, administration of vitamin C improved the level of inflammation-related Lactococcus and JQ084893 to control levels. Vitamin C treatment provided moderate suppression of inflammation, proliferation, and certain inflammation-related dysbiosis in a murine model of colitis associated-early colon cancer. These findings support that vitamin C supplementation can benefit colonic health. Long-term clinical studies with various doses of vitamin C are warranted.

Pterostilbene 4′-β-Glucoside Protects against DSS-Induced Colitis via Induction of Tristetraprolin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yingqing Chen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Pterostilbene, a dimethyl ester analog of resveratrol, has anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects and alters cell proliferation. Tristetraprolin (TTP promotes the degradation of proinflammatory mediators via binding to adenosine and uridine- (AU- rich elements (ARE located in the 3′-untranslated regions of mRNAs. Here, we utilized pterostilbene 4′-β-glucoside (4-PG, a compound derived from pterostilbene, to investigate whether it has anti-inflammatory effects on dextran sulfate sodium- (DSS- induced colitis via TTP enhancement. TTP expression was increased in 4-PG dose- and time-dependent manners in RAW264.7 cells. The production of proinflammatory cytokine, such as TNF-α, was reduced by 4-PG in vitro. To investigate the role of TTP in the anti-inflammatory effects of 4-PG, we used DSS-induced colitis in TTP WT and KO mice as models. The expression levels of TTP and proinflammatory cytokines were determined in serum and colon tissue. 4-PG increased the expression of TTP while suppressing proinflammatory cytokines both in vitro and in vivo. These findings suggest that treatment with 4-PG mediates the anti-inflammatory effects of 4-PG on DSS-induced colitis via enhancing TTP expression.

Actor-network-theory perspective on a forestry decision support system design

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boerboom, L.G.J.; Ferritti, V.

2014-01-01

Use of decision support systems (DSS) has thus far been framed as a social process of adoption or technical process of usability. We analyze the development of a DSS as a process of institutionalization of new as well as drift of existing practices. We write an Actor-Network-Theory (ANT) account,

Network Regulation and Support Schemes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ropenus, Stephanie; Schröder, Sascha Thorsten; Jacobsen, Henrik

2009-01-01

-in tariffs to market-based quota systems, and network regulation approaches, comprising rate-of-return and incentive regulation. National regulation and the vertical structure of the electricity sector shape the incentives of market agents, notably of distributed generators and network operators......At present, there exists no explicit European policy framework on distributed generation. Various Directives encompass distributed generation; inherently, their implementation is to the discretion of the Member States. The latter have adopted different kinds of support schemes, ranging from feed....... This article seeks to investigate the interactions between the policy dimensions of support schemes and network regulation and how they affect the deployment of distributed generation. Firstly, a conceptual analysis examines how the incentives of the different market agents are affected. In particular...

An overview of emerging technologies in contemporary decision support system development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nursal, Ahmad Taufik, E-mail: taufiknursal@yahoo.com, E-mail: faizal-omar@uum.edu.my; Omar, Mohd Faizal, E-mail: taufiknursal@yahoo.com, E-mail: faizal-omar@uum.edu.my [School of Quantitative Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010 Sintok, Kedah (Malaysia); Nawi, Mohd Nasrun Mohd, E-mail: nasrun@uum.edu.my [School of Technology Management and Logistics, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010 Sintok, Kedah (Malaysia)

2014-12-04

The rapid development of Web technology has opened a new approach to Decision Support System (DSS) development. For instance, Social Media is one of the Web 2.0 digital platforms that allow the creation and exchanges of user-generate content through an interactive interface, high user control and mass participation. The concept and characteristics of Web 2.0 such as remote, platform-independent, context-rich and easy to use, which is fulfill the concept and purpose of DSS. This paper outlines some of the elementary concepts of Web 2.0 and social media technology which can be potentially integrated within DSS to enhance the decision-making process. Our initial investigation indicates that there is limited study attempt to embed Web 2.0 into DSS. Thus, this paper highlights the importance of Web 2.0 technology in order to foster the betterment of DSS development and its usability.

An overview of emerging technologies in contemporary decision support system development

Science.gov (United States)

Nursal, Ahmad Taufik; Omar, Mohd Faizal; Nawi, Mohd Nasrun Mohd

2014-12-01

The rapid development of Web technology has opened a new approach to Decision Support System (DSS) development. For instance, Social Media is one of the Web 2.0 digital platforms that allow the creation and exchanges of user-generate content through an interactive interface, high user control and mass participation. The concept and characteristics of Web 2.0 such as remote, platform-independent, context-rich and easy to use, which is fulfill the concept and purpose of DSS. This paper outlines some of the elementary concepts of Web 2.0 and social media technology which can be potentially integrated within DSS to enhance the decision-making process. Our initial investigation indicates that there is limited study attempt to embed Web 2.0 into DSS. Thus, this paper highlights the importance of Web 2.0 technology in order to foster the betterment of DSS development and its usability.

An overview of emerging technologies in contemporary decision support system development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nursal, Ahmad Taufik; Omar, Mohd Faizal; Nawi, Mohd Nasrun Mohd

2014-01-01

The rapid development of Web technology has opened a new approach to Decision Support System (DSS) development. For instance, Social Media is one of the Web 2.0 digital platforms that allow the creation and exchanges of user-generate content through an interactive interface, high user control and mass participation. The concept and characteristics of Web 2.0 such as remote, platform-independent, context-rich and easy to use, which is fulfill the concept and purpose of DSS. This paper outlines some of the elementary concepts of Web 2.0 and social media technology which can be potentially integrated within DSS to enhance the decision-making process. Our initial investigation indicates that there is limited study attempt to embed Web 2.0 into DSS. Thus, this paper highlights the importance of Web 2.0 technology in order to foster the betterment of DSS development and its usability

An integrated information management system based DSS for problem solving and decision making in open & distance learning institutions of India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pankaj Khanna

2014-04-01

Full Text Available An integrated information system based DSS is developed for Open and Distance Learning (ODL institutions in India. The system has been web structured with the most suitable newly developed modules. A DSS model has been developed for solving semi-structured and unstructured problems including decision making with regard to various programmes and activities operating in the ODLIs. The DSS model designed for problem solving is generally based on quantitative formulas, whereas for problems involving imprecision and uncertainty, a fuzzy theory based DSS is employed. The computer operated system thus developed would help the ODLI management to quickly identify programmes and activities that require immediate attention. It shall also provide guidance for obtaining the most appropriate managerial decisions without any loss of time. As a result, the various subsystems operating in the ODLI are able to administer its activities more efficiently and effectively to enhance the overall performance of the concerned ODL institution to a new level.

Propolis from Different Geographic Origins Suppress Intestinal Inflammation in a Model of DSS-Induced Colitis is Associated with Decreased Bacteroides spp. in the Gut.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Kai; Jin, Xiaolu; Li, Qiangqiang; Sawaya, Alexandra Christine Helena Frankland; Leu, Richard K Le; Conlon, Michael A; Wu, Liming; Hu, Fuliang

2018-06-11

Dietary supplementation with polyphenol-rich propolis can protect against experimentally-induced colitis. We examined whether different polyphenol compositions of Chinese propolis (CP) and Brazilian propolis (BP) influences their ability to protect against dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in rats. HPLC-DAD/Q-TOF-MS analysis confirmed that polyphenol compositions of CP and BP were dissimilar. Rats were given CP or BP by gavage (300 mg/kg body weight) throughout the study, starting 1 week prior to DSS treatment for 1 week followed by 3 d without DSS. CP and BP significantly reduced the colitis disease activity index relative to controls not receiving propolis, prevented significant DSS-induced colonic tissue damage and increased resistance to DSS-induced colonic oxidative stress as shown by reduced malonaldehyde levels and increased T-AOC levels. CP and BP significantly reduced DSS-induced colonic apoptosis. Colonic inflammatory markers IL-1β, IL-6 and MCP-1 were suppressed by CP and BP, whereas only BP induced expression of TGF-β. CP, not BP, increased the diversity and richness of gut microbiota populations. Both forms of propolis significantly reduced populations of Bacteroides spp. Despite the dissimilar polyphenol compositions of CP and BP, their ability to protect against DSS-induced colitis is similar. Nevertheless, some different physiological impacts were observed. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Bilirubin prevents acute DSS-induced colitis by inhibiting leukocyte infiltration and suppressing upregulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase.

Science.gov (United States)

Zucker, Stephen D; Vogel, Megan E; Kindel, Tammy L; Smith, Darcey L H; Idelman, Gila; Avissar, Uri; Kakarlapudi, Ganesh; Masnovi, Michelle E

2015-11-15

Bilirubin is thought to exert anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1)-dependent leukocyte migration and by suppressing the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). As VCAM-1 and iNOS are important mediators of tissue injury in the dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) murine model of inflammatory colitis, we examined whether bilirubin prevents colonic injury in DSS-treated mice. Male C57BL/6 mice were administered 2.5% DSS in the drinking water for 7 days, while simultaneously receiving intraperitoneal injections of bilirubin (30 mg/kg) or potassium phosphate vehicle. Disease activity was monitored, peripheral blood counts and serum nitrate levels were determined, and intestinal specimens were analyzed for histological injury, leukocyte infiltration, and iNOS expression. The effect of bilirubin on IL-5 production by HSB-2 cells and on Jurkat cell transendothelial migration also was determined. DSS-treated mice that simultaneously received bilirubin lost less body weight, had lower serum nitrate levels, and exhibited reduced disease severity than vehicle-treated animals. Concordantly, histopathological analyses revealed that bilirubin-treated mice manifested significantly less colonic injury, including reduced infiltration of eosinophils, lymphocytes, and monocytes, and diminished iNOS expression. Bilirubin administration also was associated with decreased eosinophil and monocyte infiltration into the small intestine, with a corresponding increase in peripheral blood eosinophilia. Bilirubin prevented Jurkat migration but did not alter IL-5 production. In conclusion, bilirubin prevents DSS-induced colitis by inhibiting the migration of leukocytes across the vascular endothelium and by suppressing iNOS expression. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

Aplicación de los sistemas de soporte a la decisión (DSS en el comercio electrónico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra Ruiz G.

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Los sistemas de soporte a la decisión (DSS y el comercio electrónico (CE han surgido como áreas individuales. Sin embargo, actualmente, y desde hace unos años, los DSS y el CE se han fusionado para traer mayores ventajas y valor agregado a los clientes. Es sabido que existen diversos tipos de DSS y de categorías y modelos de negocio de CE. Por tal razón, la aplicabilidad de una área sobre la otra se expande a las posibles combinaciones que se puedan realizar entre esta diversidad de categorías. Algunos ejemplos representativos están relacionados con, por ejemplo, los sitios de subastas que a través de la aplicación de a- gentes inteligentes se pueda saber sobre cuál producto ofertar o cuándo y dónde vender; los portales web para clientes y em- pleados, los DSS permiten controlar la información de la empresa a la que pueden acceder y de esta forma tomar decisiones; las tiendas virtuales se pueden afectar positivamente con la aplicación de data mining y data warehouse; en los sistemas de ser- vicio al cliente se podrían usar complejos algoritmos de predicción y análisis “qué sucedería si” para identificar oportunidades de ingresos en mercados competitivos; y un sinnúmero más de aplicaciones, en donde el limite es la imaginación. Se requiere que las investigaciones en DSS/CE sean continuas debido al constante surgimiento de nuevos modelos de negocio y de subsiste- mas DSS. Para cada uno, las aplicaciones pueden ser variadas y aportar de forma bidireccional. Los nuevos mecanismos de in- teracción y los esfuerzos por satisfacer al cliente son también el centro de inspiración para nuevas aplicaciones de sistemas DSS en el comercio electrónico.

Allicin Alleviates Dextran Sodium Sulfate- (DSS- Induced Ulcerative Colitis in BALB/c Mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashok Kumar Pandurangan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of allicin (10 mg/kg body weight, orally in an experimental murine model of UC by administering 2.5% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS in drinking water to BALB/c mice. DSS-induced mice presented reduced body weight, which was improved by allicin administration. We noted increases in CD68 expression, myeloperoxidase (MPO activities, and Malonaldehyde (MDA and mRNA levels of proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor- (TNF- α, interleukin- (IL- 1β, IL-6, and IL-17, and decrease in the activities of enzymic antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD, Catalase (CAT, Glutathione reductase (GR, and Glutathione peroxidase (GPx in DSS-induced mice. However, allicin treatment significantly decreased CD68, MPO, MDA, and proinflammatory cytokines and increased the enzymic antioxidants significantly (P<0.05. In addition, allicin was capable of reducing the activation and nuclear accumulation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3, thereby preventing degradation of the inhibitory protein IκB and inducing inhibition of the nuclear translocation of nuclear factor (NF-κB-p65 in the colonic mucosa. These findings suggest that allicin exerts clinically useful anti-inflammatory effects mediated through the suppression of the NF-κB and IL-6/p-STAT3Y705 pathways.

Project management in mine actions using Multi-Criteria-Analysis-based decision support system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marko Mladineo

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a Web-based Decision Support System (Web DSS, that supports humanitarian demining operations and restoration of mine-contaminated areas, is presented. The financial shortage usually triggers a need for priority setting in Project Management in Mine actions. As part of the FP7 Project TIRAMISU, a specialized Web DSS has been developed to achieve a fully transparent priority setting process. It allows stakeholders and donors to actively join the decision making process using a user-friendly and intuitive Web application. The main advantage of this Web DSS is its unique way of managing a mine action project using Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA, namely the PROMETHEE method, in order to select priorities for demining actions. The developed Web DSS allows decision makers to use several predefined scenarios (different criteria weights or to develop their own, so it allows project managers to compare different demining possibilities with ease.

A Descriptive Analysis of Decision Support Systems Research Between 1990 and 2003

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Arnott

2005-05-01

Full Text Available This paper is the first major report of a project that is investigating the theoretic foundations of decision support systems (DSS. The project was principally motivated by a concern for the direction and relevance of DSS research. The main areas of research focus are the decision and judgement theoretic base of the discipline, the research strategies used in published articles, and the professional relevance of DSS research. The project has analysed 926 DSS articles published in 14 major journals from 1990 to 2003. The findings indicate that DSS research is more dominated by positivist research than general information systems (in particular experiments, surveys, and descriptions of specific applications and systems, is heavily influenced by the work of Herbert Simon, is poorly grounded in contemporary judgement and decision-making research, and falls down in the identification of the nature of clients and users. Of great concern is the finding that DSS research has relatively low professional relevance. An overview of the direction of further analysis is presented.

The use of AQUATOOL DSS applied to the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water (SEEAW)

Science.gov (United States)

Pedro-Monzonís, María; Jiménez-Fernández, Pedro; Solera, Abel; Jiménez-Gavilán, Pablo

2016-02-01

Currently, water accounts are one of the next steps to be implemented in European River Basin Management Plans. Building water accounts is a complex task, mainly due to the lack of common European definitions and procedures. For their development, when data is not systematically measured, simulation models and estimations are necessary. The main idea of this paper is to present a new approach which enables the combined use of hydrological models and water resources models developed with AQUATOOL Decision Support System (DSS) to fill in the physical water supply and use tables and the asset accounts presented in the System of Economic and Environmental Accounts for Water (SEEAW). The case study is the Vélez River Basin, located in the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula in Spain. In addition to obtaining the physical water supply and use tables and the asset accounts in this river basin, we present here the indicators as a result thereof. These indicators cover many critical aspects of water management, showing a general description of the river basin and allowing decision-makers to characterise the pressures on water resources. As a general conclusion, the union of AQUATOOL DSS and SEEAW will provide more complete information to decision-makers and it enables to introduce these methodological decisions in order to guarantee consistency and comparability of the results between different river basins.

A Decision Support Tool for Planning the Sampling of Tank 19

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edwards, T.B.

2002-01-01

The Statistical Consulting Section (SCS) of the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) was asked to develop a decision support system (DSS) to aid in the planning of the process to characterize the heel of Tank 19. This characterization is to be based on samples of the tank heel, and the DSS is to be used to help determine the number of samples that might be needed to provide a meaningful characterization based upon assumptions for relevant variations and volumes. The objective of this report is to describe the framework used to develop the DSS and to document its calculations. The DSS was developed as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Detailed input and output for two test cases are provided in the appendix as part of the documentation of this spreadsheet

Computer-Based Decision Support for Railroad Transportation Systems: an Investment Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luminita DUTA

2009-01-01

Full Text Available In the last decade the development of the economical and social life increased the complexity of transportation systems. In this context, the role of Decision Support Systems (DSS became more and more important. The paper presents the characteristics, necessity, and usage of DSS in transportation and describes a practical application in the railroad field. To compute the optimal transportation capacity and flow on a certain railroad, specialized decision-support software which is available on the market was used.

A decision support system for stress only myocardial perfusion scintigraphy may save unnecessary rest studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tägil, K; Jakobsson, D; Lomsky, M

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of a computer-based decision support system (DSS) on performance and inter-observer variability of interpretations regarding ischaemia and infarction in myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS).......The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of a computer-based decision support system (DSS) on performance and inter-observer variability of interpretations regarding ischaemia and infarction in myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS)....

The Intelligent Ventilator Project: Application of Physiological Models in Decision Support

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rees, Stephen Edward; Karbing, Dan Stieper; Allerød, Charlotte

2011-01-01

Management of mechanical ventilation in intensive care patients is complicated by conflicting clinical goals. Decision support systems (DSS) may support clinicians in finding the correct balance. The objective of this study was to evaluate a computerized model-based DSS for its advice on inspired...... in cardiac output (CO) was evaluated. Compared to the baseline ventilator settings set as part of routine clinical care, the system suggested lower tidal volumes and inspired oxygen fraction, but higher frequency, with all suggestions and the model simulated outcome comparing well with the respiratory goals...

Towards a decision support system for control of multiple food safety hazards in raw milk production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spiegel, van der M.; Sterrenburg, P.; Haasnoot, W.; Fels-Klerx, van der H.J.

2013-01-01

Decision support systems (DSS) for controlling multiple food safety hazards in raw milk production have not yet been developed, but the underlying components are fragmentarily available. This article presents the state-of-the-art of essential DSS elements for judging food safety compliance of raw

Flexible Decision Support in Dynamic Interorganizational Networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. Collins (John); W. Ketter (Wolfgang); M. Gini (Maria)

2008-01-01

textabstractAn effective Decision Support System (DSS) should help its users improve decision-making in complex, information-rich, environments. We present a feature gap analysis that shows that current decision support technologies lack important qualities for a new generation of agile business

Loss of PACS-2 delays regeneration in DSS-induced colitis but does not affect the ApcMin model of colorectal cancer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dombernowsky, Sarah L.; Schwarz, Jeanette; Samsøe-Petersen, Jacob

2017-01-01

in these processes. Specifically, we analyzed the role of Pacs2- deficiency in a DSS-induced colitis model as well as in the genetic ApcMin colon cancer model. We now report that loss of PACS-2 delays tissue regeneration after colonic injury with little effect on key inflammatory parameters. We did however...... not observe any apparent effects on tumor formation driven by excessive proliferative signaling downstream from APC-deficiency. Our findings reveal that the role of PACS- 2 in regulating ADAM17-mediated shedding is not an obligate requirement for the epithelium to respond to the strong inflammatory...

The impact of a diagnostic decision support system on the consultation: perceptions of GPs and patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Porat, Talya; Delaney, Brendan; Kostopoulou, Olga

2017-06-02

Clinical decision support systems (DSS) aimed at supporting diagnosis are not widely used. This is mainly due to usability issues and lack of integration into clinical work and the electronic health record (EHR). In this study we examined the usability and acceptability of a diagnostic DSS prototype integrated with the EHR and in comparison with the EHR alone. Thirty-four General Practitioners (GPs) consulted with 6 standardised patients (SPs) using only their EHR system (baseline session); on another day, they consulted with 6 different but matched for difficulty SPs, using the EHR with the integrated DSS prototype (DSS session). GPs were interviewed twice (at the end of each session), and completed the Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire at the end of the DSS session. The SPs completed the Consultation Satisfaction Questionnaire after each consultation. The majority of GPs (74%) found the DSS useful: it helped them consider more diagnoses and ask more targeted questions. They considered three user interface features to be the most useful: (1) integration with the EHR; (2) suggested diagnoses to consider at the start of the consultation and; (3) the checklist of symptoms and signs in relation to each suggested diagnosis. There were also criticisms: half of the GPs felt that the DSS changed their consultation style, by requiring them to code symptoms and signs while interacting with the patient. SPs sometimes commented that GPs were looking at their computer more than at them; this comment was made more often in the DSS session (15%) than in the baseline session (3%). Nevertheless, SP ratings on the satisfaction questionnaire did not differ between the two sessions. To use the DSS effectively, GPs would need to adapt their consultation style, so that they code more information during rather than at the end of the consultation. This presents a potential barrier to adoption. Training GPs to use the system in a patient-centred way, as well as improvement of the

Guideline-based decision support for the mobile patient incorporating data streams from a body sensor network

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fung, L.S.N.; Jones, Valerie M.; Bults, Richard G.A.; Hermens, Hermanus J.

2014-01-01

We present a mobile decision support system (mDSS) which helps patients adhere to best clinical practice by providing pervasive and evidence-based health guidance via their smartphones. Similar to some existing clinical DSSs, the mDSS is designed to execute clinical guidelines, but it operates on

No Ameliorating Effect of Surfactant Protein D on DSS-Induced Colitis in Mice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nexøe, Anders Bathum; Pilecki, Bartosz; Husby, Steffen

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are disorders associated to a pathological immune response. Surfactant protein D (SP-D) is part of the innate host defense and has known anti-inflammatory effects. We hypothesize that SP-D dampens dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis by reducing innate...

Parental Support, Mental Health, and Alcohol and Marijuana Use in National and High-Risk African-American Adolescent Samples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julie Maslowsky

2015-01-01

Full Text Available African-American adolescents experience disproportionate rates of negative consequences of substance use despite using substances at average or below-average rates. Due to underrepresentation of African-American adolescents in etiological literature, risk and protective processes associated with their substance use require further study. This study examines the role of parental support in adolescents’ conduct problems (CPs, depressive symptoms (DSs, and alcohol and marijuana use in a national sample and a high-risk sample of African-American adolescents. In both samples, parental support was inversely related to adolescent CPs, DSs, and alcohol and marijuana use. CPs, but not DSs, partially mediated the relation of parental support to substance use. Results were consistent across the national and high-risk samples, suggesting that the protective effect of parental support applies to African-American adolescents from a range of demographic backgrounds.

A REAL TIME DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR THE ADJUSTMENT OF SAILBOAT RIGGING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inmaculada Ortigosa

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The operational complexity and performance requirements of modern racing yachts demand the use of advanced applications, such as a decision support system (DSS able to assist crew members during navigation. In this article, the authors describe a near-time computational solver as the main piece of a DSS which analyses and monitors the behaviour of sails and rigging. The solver is made up of two different interconnected tools: an iterative Fluid-Structure Interaction algorithm and an advanced Wireless Sensor Network to monitor rigging. The real-time DSS quantifies crew manoeuvres in physical terms, which are reproduced by a simulation program. It can be used in the design phase of sailing yachts and as an aid for real-time boat performance optimisation and accident prevention. This novel DSS is a useful tool for navigation, especially in races.

Validation and comparison of dispersion models of RTARC DSS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duran, J.; Pospisil, M.

2004-01-01

RTARC DSS (Real Time Accident Release Consequences - Decision Support System) is a computer code developed at the VUJE Trnava, Inc. (Stubna, M. et al, 1993). The code calculations include atmospheric transport and diffusion, dose assessment, evaluation and displaying of the affected zones, evaluation of the early health effects, concentration and dose rate time dependence in the selected sites etc. The simulation of the protective measures (sheltering, iodine administration) is involved. The aim of this paper is to present the process of validation of the RTARC dispersion models. RTARC includes models for calculations of release for very short (Method Monte Carlo - MEMOC), short (Gaussian Straight-Line Model) and long distances (Puff Trajectory Model - PTM). Validation of the code RTARC was performed using the results of comparisons and experiments summarized in the Table 1.: 1. Experiments and comparisons in the process of validation of the system RTARC - experiments or comparison - distance - model. Wind tunnel experiments (Universitaet der Bundeswehr, Muenchen) - Area of NPP - Method Monte Carlo. INEL (Idaho National Engineering Laboratory) - short/medium - Gaussian model and multi tracer atmospheric experiment - distances - PTM. Model Validation Kit - short distances - Gaussian model. STEP II.b 'Realistic Case Studies' - long distances - PTM. ENSEMBLE comparison - long distances - PTM (orig.)

Action of arginine for protection of ulcerative colitis by dextran sodium sulphate (DSS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andrade, Maria Emilia Rabelo

2016-01-01

Recent studies have demonstrated the benefits of immunomodulators, such as arginine, in the regulation of inflammatory responses and trophism of the intestinal mucosa. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible mechanisms action of arginine (pretreatment or treatment) in experimental model of ulcerative colitis induced by dextran sodium sulfate (DSS). C57BL/6 mice were randomized into 5 groups: Control group (C): standard diet and water; Arginine group (ARG): diet supplementation with arginine and water; Colitis group (COL): standard diet and DSS solution; Pretreated group (PT): diet supplementation with arginine before and during colitis induction; Treated group (T): diet supplementation with arginine during colitis induction. Colitis was induced by administration of 1.5% DSS for 5 days. After this, all the mice were euthanized and blood, organs and intestinal fluid were collected for carrying out analyzes. Parameters such as intestinal permeability (IP), bacterial translocation (BT), histological analysis (histological score, morphometric analysis, collagen and mucins stain), nitrate and nitrite, cytokines and chemokines, secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), inflammatory infiltrate and oxidative stress were performed. The ARG group did not show difference compared to group C in the investigated parameters (C vs ARG: p> 0.05). The COL group showed increased IP (C vs COL: p < 0.05) and BT (C vs COL: p <0.05). In the histological analysis, the COL group showed severe inflammation and reduction the crypts length. In addition, in the group COL observed increase infiltration of eosinophils, neutrophils and macrophages in the colon, increase cytokine IL-17 and chemokine KC in serum and oxidative stress in the colon (COL vs C: p <0.05). In the arginine-supplemented groups (PT and T) was observed decrease IP and BT to blood, liver and lung (PT and T vs Col: p <0.05). Histological analysis showed that the arginine (PT and T) preserved the intestinal mucosa and crypts

A Framework for a Decision Support System in a Hierarchical Extended Enterprise Decision Context

Science.gov (United States)

Boza, Andrés; Ortiz, Angel; Vicens, Eduardo; Poler, Raul

Decision Support System (DSS) tools provide useful information to decision makers. In an Extended Enterprise, a new goal, changes in the current objectives or small changes in the extended enterprise configuration produce a necessary adjustment in its decision system. A DSS in this context must be flexible and agile to make suitable an easy and quickly adaptation to this new context. This paper proposes to extend the Hierarchical Production Planning (HPP) structure to an Extended Enterprise decision making context. In this way, a framework for DSS in Extended Enterprise context is defined using components of HPP. Interoperability details have been reviewed to identify the impact in this framework. The proposed framework allows overcoming some interoperability barriers, identifying and organizing components for a DSS in Extended Enterprise context, and working in the definition of an architecture to be used in the design process of a flexible DSS in Extended Enterprise context which can reuse components for futures Extended Enterprise configurations.

Brh2-Dss1 interplay enables properly controlled recombination in Ustilago maydis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kojic, Milorad; Zhou, Qingwen; Lisby, Michael

2005-01-01

after DNA damage was almost fully restored by a chimeric form of Brh2 having a DNA-binding domain from RPA70 fused to the Brh2 N-terminal domain, but Rad51 focus formation and mitotic recombination were elevated above wild-type levels. The results provide evidence for a mechanism in which Dss1 activates...

Exosomes Derived from Dendritic Cells Treated with Schistosoma japonicum Soluble Egg Antigen Attenuate DSS-Induced Colitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lifu Wang

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Exosomes are 30–150 nm small membrane vesicles that are released into the extracellular medium via cells that function as a mode of intercellular communication. Dendritic cell (DC-derived exosomes modulate immune responses and prevent the development of autoimmune diseases. Moreover, Schistosoma japonicum eggs show modulatory effects in a mouse model of colitis. Therefore, we hypothesized that exosomes derived from DCs treated with S. japonicum soluble eggs antigen (SEA; SEA-treated DC exosomes would be useful for treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD. Exosomes were purified from the supernatant of DCs treated or untreated with SEA and identified via transmission electron microscopy, western blotting and NanoSight. Acute colitis was induced via the administration of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS in drinking water (5.0%, wt/vol. Treatment with exosomes was conducted via intraperitoneal injection (i.p.; 50 μg per mouse from day 0 to day 6. Clinical scores were calculated based on weight loss, stool type, and bleeding. Colon length was measured as an indirect marker of inflammation, and colon macroscopic characteristics were determined. Body weight loss and the disease activity index of DSS-induced colitis mice decreased significantly following treatment with SEA-treated DC exosomes. Moreover, the colon lengths of SEA-treated DC exosomes treated colitis mice improved, and their mean colon macroscopic scores decreased. In addition, histologic examinations and histological scores showed that SEA-treated DC exosomes prevented colon damage in acute DSS-induced colitis mice. These results indicate that SEA-treated DC exosomes attenuate the severity of acute DSS-induced colitis mice more effectively than DC exosomes. The current work suggests that SEA-treated DC exosomes may be useful as a new approach to treat IBD.

Supporting the self-regulatory resource: does conscious self-regulation incidentally prime nonconscious support processes?

Science.gov (United States)

Dorris, Derek C

2009-11-01

Ego-depletion (depletion of self-regulatory strength) can impair conscious efforts at self-regulation. Research into nonconscious self-regulation has demonstrated that preconscious automaticity and implementation intentions can automatically carry out regulatory tasks during times of ego-depletion. However, preconscious automaticity can only emerge during well-practiced tasks while implementation intentions can only support tasks that have been explicitly planned. Thus, when it comes to supporting the conscious self-regulation of nonroutine and unplanned behaviour during times of ego-depletion these processes should be ineffective. However, it is argued here that because the conscious self-regulation of nonroutine and unplanned behaviour can incidentally prime the underlying mental representations those primed representations can be postconsciously re-activated to support that behaviour during times of ego-depletion. Postconscious self-regulation might, therefore, support a type of self-regulatory behaviour that has, thus far, not been associated with any form of support.

A step towards risk-based decision support for ships - Evaluation of limit states using parallel system analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Ulrik Dam; Friis-Hansen, Peter; Jensen, Jørgen Juncher

2009-01-01

Onboard decision support systems (DSS) are used to increase the operational safety of ships. Ideally, DSS can estimate future ship responses within a time scale of the order of 1–3 h taking into account speed and course changes, assuming stationary sea states. In principle, the calculations depen...

The usefulness of Decision Support Systems in participatory forest planning: a comparison between Finland and Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. De Meo

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Aim of study: Participation of stakeholders is considered an essential element in producing, at different spatial and temporal scales, forest plans accepted by local community and fulfilling the requirements of Sustainable Forest Management. Increasingly, computer-based decision support systems (DSS and tools are being introduced to assist stakeholders and decision-makers in coping with the complexities inherent in participatory forest planning. The study aimed to investigate how useful the users and researchers see DSS tools and which opportunities they perceive DSS might carry for enhancing participatory forest planning in their field of activity.Area of study: 15 Italian and Finnish researchers and practitioners were interviewed.Material and Methods:  Face-to-face structured interviews were used to collect opinions and experiences. Quantitative and qualitative information were analyzed to investigate differences between Italian and Finnish respondents as well as between researchers and practitionersMain results: Results showed that in Italy there has been more focus on forest-level and medium-term problems and the intelligence phase, while in Finland there has been more attention to region-level and long-term problems and equally intelligence, design, and choice phases of decision-making. Deviations probably reflect different planning contexts and culture, variability in experiences and expertise in DSS and in availability of suitable DSS.Research highlights: The study suggests to pay attention to evaluating the success criteria of participatory planning when preparing for the use of DSS and related tools in practical forest planning processes. Experience sharing is a key to reaching more successful use of DSS.Keywords: computer-based decision support; participatory processes; spatial scale; success criteria; temporal scale; users' perception.

Industrial Decision Support System with Assistance of 3D Game Engine

OpenAIRE

Zou, Ming

2015-01-01

Context. Industrial Decision Support System(DSS) traditionally relies on 2D approach to visualize the scenarios. For some abstract information, like chronological sequence of tasks or data trend, it provides a good visualization. For concrete information, such as location and spatial relationships, 2D visualizations are too abstract. Techniques from Game design, 3D modeling, virtual reality(VR) and animation provides many inspiration to develop a DSS tools for industrial applications. Objecti...

A decision support system for strategic planning on pig farms

OpenAIRE

Backus, Ge B.C.; Timmer, G. Th.; Dijkhuizen, A.A.; Eidman, V.R.; Vos, F.

1995-01-01

This paper reported on a decision support system (DSS) for strategic planning on pig farms. The DSS was based . on a stochastic simulation model of investment decisions (ISM). ISM described a farm with one loan and one building using 23 variables. The simulation model calculated the results of a strategic plan for an individual pig farm over a time horizon of a maximum of 20 years for a given scenario. For six distinct replacement strategies, regression metamodels were specified to describe t...

A decision support system for assessing offshore wind energy potential in the North Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schillings, Christoph; Wanderer, Thomas; Cameron, Lachlan; Tjalling van der Wal, Jan; Jacquemin, Jerome; Veum, Karina

2012-01-01

Offshore wind energy (OWE) in the North Sea has the potential to meet large share of Europe’s future electricity demand. To deploy offshore wind parks in a rational way, the overall OWE potential has to be realistically determined. This has to be done on an international, cross-border level and by taking into account the existing man-made and nature-related uses of the North Sea. As spatial conflicts will arise between existing uses and the new OWE uses, a Decision Support System (DSS) based on a Geographic Information System (GIS) was developed. Based on data of existing sea uses and calculation rules for spatial prioritisation analysis, the DSS helps in identifying areas that are (1) generally suitable for offshore wind power, (2) strictly excluded or (3) negotiable with respect to other existing sea uses. The combination of this conflict analysis together with cost assumptions for offshore wind farms and their expected electricity yield leads to identification of favourable areas for OWE deployment in the North Sea. This approach helps to reduce the conflict between offshore wind deployment and existing sea uses in the North Sea for future planning. The results can assist decision makers in developing transnational roadmaps for OWE. - Highlights: ► Decision Support System (DSS) to identify offshore wind energy (OWE) potential in the North Sea. ► Spatial analysis of existing sea use functions and offshore wind energy potential. ► Input parameters of DSS depend on the level of OWE spatial priority assumed by the user. ► DSS performs the required calculations and provides results in form of maps and statistics. ► DSS available after registration at (www.windspeed.eu).

A decision support system for the reading of ancient documents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roued-Cunliffe, Henriette

2011-01-01

The research presented in this thesis is based in the Humanities discipline of Ancient History and begins by attempting to understand the interpretation process involved in reading ancient documents and how this process can be aided by computer systems such as Decision Support Systems (DSS...... this process in the five areas: remembering complex reasoning, searching huge datasets, international collaboration, publishing editions, and image enhancement. This research contains a large practical element involving the development of a DSS prototype. The prototype is used to illustrate how a DSS......, by remembering complex reasoning, can aid the process of interpretation that is reading ancient documents. It is based on the idea that the interpretation process goes through a network of interpretation. The network of interpretation illustrates a recursive process where scholars move between reading levels...

Evaluation of computerized decision support for oral anticoagulation management based in primary care.

OpenAIRE

Fitzmaurice, D A; Hobbs, F D; Murray, E T; Bradley, C P; Holder, R

1996-01-01

BACKGROUND: Increasing indications for oral anticoagulation has led to pressure on general practices to undertake therapeutic monitoring. Computerized decision support (DSS) has been shown to be effective in hospitals for improving clinical management. Its usefulness in primary care has previously not been investigated. AIM: To test the effectiveness of using DSS for oral anticoagulation monitoring in primary care by measuring the proportions of patients adequately controlled, defined as with...

Evaluation of computerized decision support for oral anticoagulation management based in primary care.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzmaurice, D A; Hobbs, F D; Murray, E T; Bradley, C P; Holder, R

1996-09-01

Increasing indications for oral anticoagulation has led to pressure on general practices to undertake therapeutic monitoring. Computerized decision support (DSS) has been shown to be effective in hospitals for improving clinical management. Its usefulness in primary care has previously not been investigated. To test the effectiveness of using DSS for oral anticoagulation monitoring in primary care by measuring the proportions of patients adequately controlled, defined as within the appropriate therapeutic range of International Normalised Ratio (INR). All patients receiving warfarin from two Birmingham inner city general practices were invited to attend a practice-based anticoagulation clinic. In practice A all patients were managed using DSS. In practice B patients were randomized to receive dosing advice either through DSS or through the local hospital laboratory. Clinical outcomes, adverse events and patient acceptability were recorded. Forty-nine patients were seen in total. There were significant improvements in INR control from 23% to 86% (P > 0.001) in the practice where all patients received dosing through DSS. In the practice where patients were randomized to either DSS or hospital dosing, logistic regression showed a significant trend for improvement in intervention patients which was not apparent in the hospital-dosed patients (P DSS through the full 12 months (24 days to 36 days) (P = 0.033). Adverse events were comparable between hospital and practice-dosed patients, although a number of esoteric events occurred. Patient satisfaction with the practice clinics was high. Computerized DSS enables the safe and effective transfer of anticoagulation management from hospital to primary care and may result in improved patient outcome in terms of the level of control, frequency of review and general acceptability.

A Case Study: Climate Change Decision Support for the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, Flint Basins

Science.gov (United States)

Day, G. N.; McMahon, G.; Friesen, N.; Carney, S.

2011-12-01

Riverside Technology, inc. has developed a Climate Change Decision Support System (DSS) to provide water managers with a tool to explore a range of current Global Climate Model (GCM) projections to evaluate their potential impacts on streamflow and the reliability of future water supplies. The system was developed as part of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project. The DSS uses downscaled GCM data as input to small-scale watershed models to produce time series of projected undepleted streamflow for various emission scenarios and GCM simulations. Until recently, water managers relied on historical streamflow data for water resources planning. In many parts of the country, great effort has been put into estimating long-term historical undepleted streamflow accounting for regulation, diversions, and return flows to support planning and water rights administration. In some cases, longer flow records have been constructed using paleohydrologic data in an attempt to capture climate variability beyond what is evident during the observed historical record. Now, many water managers are recognizing that historical data may not be representative of an uncertain climate future, and they have begun to explore the use of climate projections in their water resources planning. The Climate Change DSS was developed to support water managers in planning by accounting for both climate variability and potential climate change. In order to use the information for impact analysis, the projected streamflow time series can be exported and substituted for the historical streamflow data traditionally applied in their system operations models for water supply planning. This paper presents a case study in which climate-adjusted flows are coupled with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) ResSim model for the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Flint (ACF) River basins. The study demonstrates how climate scenarios can be used

Pilot Operation of Ex-core Neutron Sensors of Divers Shutdown System (DSS) Unit 2 Ignalina NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jakshtonis, Z.; Krivoshei, G.

2006-01-01

The Ignalina Safety Assessment, which was completed in December 1996, recommended the installation of a diverse shutdown system on the 2nd unit at Ignalina. During the PPR-2004 in the DSS project are created two independent shutdown systems by separating the absorber rods into two independent groups as follows: 1. One system (designated AZ) consists of the existing 24 BAZ rods and 49 AZ/BSM rods that together are used for reliable reactor shutdown (including Control and Protection System (CPS) circuit voiding accident). This system performs the emergency protection function. 2. The other system (designated BSM) comprises the remaining absorber rods and the 49 AZ/BSM rods. Thus 49 AZ/BSM rods are actuated from AZ initiating equipment as well as from BSM initiating equipment. The BSM system performs the normal reactor shutdown function and is able to ensure long-term maintenance of the reactor in the sub-critical state. Along with implementation of DSS was modernized existing Emergency Process Protection System, which was divided into two independent Sets of initiating equipment. The DSS is independent and diverse initiating equipment from the existing 1st Set equipment; with each set having its own independent in-core and ex-core sensors for measurement of neutron flux and process parameters. The 2nd Set of initiating equipment for measuring ex-core neutron flux, was modernized with new design of 4 Ex-Core detectors each have a single low level neutron flux detector and two high range neutron detectors. They are comprising: 1. A fission chamber which operates in pulse mode to cover the low flux levels. 2. A compensated ionisation chamber in current mode to operate at high flux level. This detector is doubled to give a measurement of the axial deviation. Two detectors are enough to produce the axial power deviation. The results of testing and analysis of pilot operation of ex-core neutron sensors of DSS will be shown on the Report. (author)

Effectively marketing prepaid medical care with decision support systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Forgionne, G A

1991-01-01

The paper reports a decision support system (DSS) that enables health plan administrators to quickly and easily: (1) manage relevant medical care market (consumer preference and competitors' program) information and (2) convert the information into appropriate medical care delivery and/or payment policies. As the paper demonstrates, the DSS enables providers to design cost efficient and market effective medical care programs. The DSS provides knowledge about subscriber preferences, customer desires, and the program offerings of the competition. It then helps administrators structure a medical care plan in a way that best meets consumer needs in view of the competition. This market effective plan has the potential to generate substantial amounts of additional revenue for the program. Since the system's data base consists mainly of the provider's records, routine transactions, and other readily available documents, the DSS can be implemented at a nominal incremental cost. The paper also evaluates the impact of the information system on the general financial performance of existing dental and mental health plans. In addition, the paper examines how the system can help contain the cost of providing medical care while providing better services to more potential beneficiaries than current approaches.

Multilevel Flow Modeling Based Decision Support System and Its Task Organization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Xinxin; Lind, Morten; Ravn, Ole

2013-01-01

For complex engineering systems, there is an increasing demand for safety and reliability. Decision support system (DSS) is designed to offer su-pervision and analysis about operational situations. A proper model representa-tion is required for DSS to understand the process knowledge. Multilevel ...... techniques of MFM reasoning and less mature yet relevant MFM concepts are considered. It also offers an architecture design of task organization for MFM software tools by using the concept of agent and technology of multiagent software system....

Fundamental research of decision support systems. Progress report, March 1983-September 1984

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-01-01

The objective of the research effort is to investigate and formulate methods and tools to improve the decision-making processes of managers in uncertain environments by researching decision support systems (DSS). DSS was coined by researchers in the field to describe a system which integrates extensive decision analysis with a comprehensive management information system (MIS). The results of this research are expected to enhance management decision-making in uncertain environments where traditional management techniques have failed

Design of multilevel flow modelling-based decision support system by using multiagent platform

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Xinxin; Lind, Morten; Ravn, Ole

2015-01-01

For complex engineering systems, there is an increasing demand forsafety and reliability. Decision support system (DSS) is designed to offersupervision and analysis about operational situations. A proper modelrepresentation is required for DSS to understand the process knowledge.Multilevel flow...... available techniques of MFM reasoning and less matureyet relevant MFM concepts are considered. It also offers an architecture designof task organisation for MFM software tools by using the concept of agent andtechnology of multiagent software system...

Using a decision support system to optimize production of agricultural crop residue Biofeedstock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoskinson, Reed L.; Rope, Ronald C.; Fink, Raymond K.

2007-01-01

For several years the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been developing a Decision Support System for Agriculture (DSS4Ag) which determines the economically optimum recipe of various fertilizers to apply at each site in a field to produce a crop, based on the existing soil fertility at each site, as well as historic production information and current prices of fertilizers and the forecast market price of the crop at harvest. In support of the growing interest in agricultural crop residues as a bioenergy feedstock, we have extended the capability of the DSS4Ag to develop a variable-rate fertilizer recipe for the simultaneous economically optimum production of both grain and straw. In this paper we report the results of 2 yr of field research testing and enhancing the DSS4Ag's ability to economically optimize the fertilization for the simultaneous production of both grain and its straw, where the straw is an agricultural crop residue that can be used as a biofeedstock. For both years, the DSS4Ag reduced the cost and amount of fertilizers used and increased grower profit, while reducing the biomass produced. The DSS4Ag results show that when a biorefinery infrastructure is in place and growers have a strong market for their straw it is not economically advantageous to increase fertilization in order to try to produce more straw. This suggests that other solutions, such as single-pass selective harvest, must be implemented to meet national goals for the amount of biomass that will be available for collection and use for bioenergy. (author)

A decision support system-based procedure for evaluation and ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

with an overview of the web-based Decision Support System (DSS) developed to facilitate its wide adop- tion. .... contributes significant catchment management and water supply functions .... experience in engagement and facilitation methods.

Calculating Outcrossing Rates used in Decision Support Systems for Ships

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Ulrik Dam

2008-01-01

Onboard decision support systems (DSS) are used to increase the operational safety of ships. Ideally, DSS can estimate - in the statistical sense - future ship responses on a time scale of the order of 1-3 hours taking into account speed and course changes. The calculations depend on both...... analysis, and the paper derives and describes the main ideas. The concept is illustrated by an example, where the limit state of a non-linear ship response is considered. The results from the parallel system analysis are in agreement with corresponding Monte Carlo simulations. However, the computational...

Anti-inflammatory effects of Lactobacillus casei BL23 producing or not a manganese-dependant catalase on DSS-induced colitis in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Rochat, Tatiana; Bermúdez-Humarán, Luis; Gratadoux, Jean-Jacques; Fourage, Christel; Hoebler, Christine; Corthier, Gérard; Langella, Philippe

2007-07-20

Human immune cells generate large amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) throughout the respiratory burst that occurs during inflammation. In inflammatory bowel diseases, a sustained and abnormal activation of the immune system results in oxidative stress in the digestive tract and in a loss of intestinal homeostasis. We previously showed that the heterologous production of the Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC14431 manganese-dependant catalase (MnKat) in Lb. casei BL23 successfully enhances its survival when exposed to oxidative stress. In this study, we evaluated the preventive effects of this antioxidative Lb. casei strain in a murine model of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced moderate colitis. Either Lb. casei BL23 MnKat- or MnKat+ was administered daily to mice treated with DSS for 10 days. In contrast to control mice treated with PBS for which DSS induced bleeding diarrhea and mucosal lesions, mice treated with both Lb. casei strains presented a significant (p casei as an anti-inflammatory probiotic strain.

A new composite decision support framework for strategic and sustainable transport appraisals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barfod, Michael Bruhn; Salling, Kim Bang

2015-01-01

. The proposed framework is based on the use of cost-benefit analysis featuring feasibility risk assessment in combination with multi-criteria decision analysis and is supported by the concept of decision conferencing. The framework is applied for a transport related case study dealing with the complex decision....... The outcome of the case study demonstrates the decision making framework as a valuable decision support system (DSS), and it is concluded that appraisals of transport projects can be effectively supported by the use of the DSS. Finally, perspectives of the future modelling work are given.......This paper concerns the development of a new decision support framework for the appraisal of transport infrastructure projects. In such appraisals there will often be a need for including both conventional transport impacts as well as criteria of a more strategic and/or sustainable character...

Decision support system of e-book provider selection for library using Simple Additive Weighting

Science.gov (United States)

Ciptayani, P. I.; Dewi, K. C.

2018-01-01

Each library has its own criteria and differences in the importance of each criterion in choosing an e-book provider for them. The large number of providers and the different importance levels of each criterion make the problem of determining the e-book provider to be complex and take a considerable time in decision making. The aim of this study was to implement Decision support system (DSS) to assist the library in selecting the best e-book provider based on their preferences. The way of DSS works is by comparing the importance of each criterion and the condition of each alternative decision. SAW is one of DSS method that is quite simple, fast and widely used. This study used 9 criteria and 18 provider to demonstrate how SAW work in this study. With the DSS, then the decision-making time can be shortened and the calculation results can be more accurate than manual calculations.

Integration of Automated Decision Support Systems with Data Mining Abstract: A Client Perspective

OpenAIRE

Abdullah Saad AL-Malaise

2013-01-01

Customer’s behavior and satisfaction are always play important role to increase organization’s growth and market value. Customers are on top priority for the growing organization to build up their businesses. In this paper presents the architecture of Decision Support Systems (DSS) in connection to deal with the customer’s enquiries and requests. Main purpose behind the proposed model is to enhance the customer’s satisfaction and behavior using DSS. We proposed model by extension in tradition...

Decision support system development at the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Timothy J.; Nelson, J. C.; Rohweder, Jason J.

2014-01-01

A Decision Support System (DSS) can be defined in many ways. The working definition used by the U.S. Geological Survey Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) is, “A spatially based computer application or data that assists a researcher or manager in making decisions.” This is quite a broad definition—and it needs to be, because the possibilities for types of DSSs are limited only by the user group and the developer’s imagination. There is no one DSS; the types of DSSs are as diverse as the problems they help solve. This diversity requires that DSSs be built in a variety of ways, using the most appropriate methods and tools for the individual application. The skills of potential DSS users vary widely as well, further necessitating multiple approaches to DSS development. Some small, highly trained user groups may want a powerful modeling tool with extensive functionality at the expense of ease of use. Other user groups less familiar with geographic information system (GIS) and spatial data may want an easy-to-use application for a nontechnical audience. UMESC has been developing DSSs for almost 20 years. Our DSS developers offer our partners a wide variety of technical skills and development options, ranging from the most simple Web page or small application to complex modeling application development.

Development of a GIS-Based Decision Support System for Diagnosis of River System Health and Restoration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jihong Xia

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The development of a decision support system (DSS to inform policy making has been progressing rapidly. This paper presents a generic framework and the development steps of a decision tool prototype of geographic information systems (GIS-based decision support system of river health diagnosis (RHD-DSS. This system integrates data, calculation models, and human knowledge of river health status assessment, causal factors diagnosis, and restoration decision making to assist decision makers during river restoration and management in Zhejiang Province, China. Our RHD-DSS is composed of four main elements: the graphical user interface (GUI, the database, the model base, and the knowledge base. It has five functional components: the input module, the database management, the diagnostic indicators management, the assessment and diagnosis, and the visual result module. The system design is illustrated with particular emphasis on the development of the database, model schemas, diagnosis and analytical processing techniques, and map management design. Finally, the application of the prototype RHD-DSS is presented and implemented for Xinjiangtang River of Haining County in Zhejiang Province, China. This case study is used to demonstrate the advantages gained by the application of this system. We conclude that there is great potential for using the RHD-DSS to systematically manage river basins in order to effectively mitigate environmental issues. The proposed approach will provide river managers and designers with improved insight into river degradation conditions, thereby strengthening the assessment process and the administration of human activities in river management.

Development of a decision support system to manage contamination in marine ecosystems.

Science.gov (United States)

Dagnino, A; Viarengo, A

2014-01-01

In recent years, contamination and its interaction with climate-change variables have been recognized as critical stressors in coastal areas, emphasizing the need for a standardized framework encompassing chemical and biological data into risk indices to support decision-making. We therefore developed an innovative, expert decision support system (Exp-DSS) for the management of contamination in marine coastal ecosystems. The Exp-DSS has two main applications: (i) to determine environmental risk and biological vulnerability in contaminated sites; and (ii) to support the management of waters and sediments by assessing the risk due to the exposure of biota to these matrices. The Exp-DSS evaluates chemical data, both as single compounds and as total toxic pressure of the mixture, to compare concentrations to effect-based thresholds (TELs and PELs). Sites are then placed into three categories of contamination: uncontaminated, mildly contaminated, and highly contaminated. In highly contaminated sites, effects on high-level ecotoxicological endpoints (i.e. survival and reproduction) are used to determine risk at the organism-population level, while ecological parameters (i.e. alterations in community structure and ecosystem functions) are considered for assessing effects on biodiversity. Changes in sublethal biomarkers are utilized to assess the stress level of the organisms in mildly contaminated sites. In Triad studies, chemical concentrations, ecotoxicological high-level effects, and ecological data are combined to determine the level of environmental risk in highly contaminated sites; chemical concentration and ecotoxicological sublethal effects are evaluated to determine biological vulnerability in mildly contaminated sites. The Exp-DSS was applied to data from the literature about sediment quality in estuarine areas of Spain, and ranked risks related to exposure to contaminated sediments from high risk (Huelva estuary) to mild risk (Guadalquivir estuary and Bay of

WIND-STORM: A Decision Support System for the Strategic Management of Windthrow Crises by the Forest Community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon Riguelle

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Storms are one of the most damaging agents for European forests and can cause huge and long-term economic impacts on the forest sector. Recent events and research haves contributed to a better understanding and management of destructive storms, but public authorities still lack appropriate decision-support tools for evaluating their strategic decisions in the aftermath of a storm. This paper presents a decision support system (DSS that compares changes in the dynamics of the regional forest-based sector after storm events under various crisis management options. First, the development and implementation of a regional forest model is addressed; then, the potential application of the model-based DSS WIND-STORM is illustrated. The results of simulated scenarios reveal that this DSS type is useful for designing a cost-effective regional strategy for storm-damage management in the context of scarce public resources and that public strategies must encompass the whole forest-based sector to be efficient. Additional benefits of such a DSS is to bring together decision-makers and forest stakeholders for a common objective and therefore to enhance participatory approaches to crisis management.

THE DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM IN ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana V.Monica POP

2013-10-01

Full Text Available In the present paper we will try to analyze the Decision Support System (DSS and the way in which it is applied or not in the Romanian Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs (with examples. We also will see if the system is beneficial for these Romanian Enterprises. We analyzed through interviews 50 small and medium-sized Romanian enterprises. They do not accept their name to be published. As a consequence, we will present only the results. It is underlined in the conclusions the differences between the small and the medium size enterprises in respect of the models they are using. The most important benefits of DSS (generally are represented by increased efficiency, competitive advantages and better managerial process.

MODIS-Based Products for Operational Decision Support Systems, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — SMH Consulting proposes to develop a web-based decision support system to assist in Rapid Assessment, Monitoring, and Management (RAMM-DSS) on a regional scale. SMH...

Antenna servo control system characterization: Rate loop analysis for 34-m antenna at DSS 15

Science.gov (United States)

Nickerson, J. A.; Cox, D. G.; Smith, H. K.; Engel, J. H.; Ahlstrom, H. G.

1986-01-01

The elevation and azimuth servo rate loops at the 34-m High Efficiency Deep Space Station 15 (DSS 15) are described. Time and frequency response performance criteria were measured. The results are compared to theoretically deduced performance criteria. Unexpected anomalies in the frequency response are observed and identified.

A new screening instrument for disability in low-income and middle-income settings: application at the Iganga-Mayuge Demographic Surveillance System (IM-DSS), Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Bachani, Abdulgafoor M; Galiwango, Edward; Kadobera, Daniel; Bentley, Jacob A; Bishai, David; Wegener, Stephen; Hyder, Adnan A

2014-12-19

The measurement of disability in low-income countries is recognised as a major deficiency in health information systems, especially in Africa. The Iganga and Mayuge Demographic Surveillance System (IM-DSS) in Uganda provides a special opportunity to develop population-based data to inform national health policies and evaluate innovations in assessing the burden of disability in Uganda. In this study, we apply a new instrument to screen for physical disabilities at the IM-DSS. The study utilised a modified version of the short set of questions proposed by the Washington Group on Disability Statistics. The instrument was applied at the household level and information was collected on all individuals over the age of 5, who were residents of the IM-DSS. The study was based at the IM-DSS, which covers the parts of Iganga and Mayuge districts in Eastern Uganda. 57,247 individuals were included in the survey, with 51% of the study population being women. Activity limitations The overall prevalence of physical disability at the IM-DSS was 9.4%, with vision being the most common type of difficulty reported in this population, and communication being least prevalent. Disability was less likely to be observed among males than their female counterparts (OR 0.75; 95% CI 0.71 to 0.81; pdisability and increasing age, as well as disability and decreasing household wealth status. This study shows that the modified short set of questions can be readily applied in a DSS setting to obtain estimates on the prevalence and types of disability at the population level. This instrument could be adapted for use to screen for disability in other LMIC settings, providing estimates that are comparable across different global regions and populations. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

A pilot Diabetic Support Service based on family practice attenders: comparison with diabetic clinics in east London.

Science.gov (United States)

Boucher, B J; Claff, H R; Edmonson, M; Evans, S; Harris, B T; Hull, S A; Jones, E J; Mellins, D H; Safir, J G; Taylor, B

1987-01-01

A pilot Diabetic Support Service (DSS) based on a computer register was devised for diabetic patients identified within three group practices in an inner city district of London. Of 159 eligible diabetics, 142 were followed over 2 years. Glycosylated haemoglobin (GHb) monitoring and adequacy of clinic reviews were audited. Care achieved by the DSS was compared with conventional Diabetic Clinic (DC) management of a sample of 200 diabetics from the same district. Serial GHb measurements were made on 66.2% of DSS and 44.5% of DC patients: GHb fell significantly only in DSS patients (13.1% to 11.4%). Proportional falls in GHb were comparable in each DSS treatment group (diet alone, oral hypoglycaemic agents, and insulin) and for hospital attenders and non-attenders equally. The planned clinical reviews were achieved in 40.1% of DSS patients entered (29% GP only, 54% of clinic attenders) and in 15% of DC patients (plus 75% fundal and blood pressure examination). The study led to provision of a formal diabetic clinic annual review system, diabetic mini-clinics in two of the three group practices, and the appointment of two Diabetic Liaison Sisters. With administrative simplification the system is to be made available to all diabetics in the District through their GPs during 1986-8.

Evaluation of changes in serum chemistry in association with feed withdrawal or high dose oral gavage with Dextran Sodium Sulfate (DSS) induced gut leakage in broiler chickens

Science.gov (United States)

Dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) has been shown to be effective at inducing enteric inflammation in broiler chickens, resulting in increased leakage of orally administered fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran to circulation. In a previous study, two doses of DSS (0.45g/dose) administered as oral gavage re...

Examination of decision support systems for composite CBA & MCDA assessments of transport infrastructure projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barfod, Michael Bruhn; Jensen, Anders Vestergaard; Leleur, Steen

This paper examines decision support systems (DSS) for composite appraisals of transport infrastructure projects comprising both cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and multi-criteria analysis (MCA). Two DSS are in this context examined and compared using a case study dealing with alternatives for a new...... for conducting composite appraisals of transport infrastructure projects, and research questions defining future work in the context of composite DSS and their use in decision making processes are set out....... high-speed railway line between the two cities, Norrköping and Bäckeby, in Sweden. Both systems are based on additive value functions and makes use of pair wise comparisons. The first system examined, which is widely used and based on acknowledged methods, comprises the REMBRANDT technique using pair...

GP Supervisors' Experience in Supporting Self-Regulated Learning: A Balancing Act

Science.gov (United States)

Sagasser, Margaretha H.; Kramer, Anneke W. M.; van Weel, Chris; van der Vleuten, Cees P. M.

2015-01-01

Self-regulated learning is essential for professional development and lifelong learning. As self-regulated learning has many inaccuracies, the need to support self-regulated learning has been recommended. Supervisors can provide such support. In a prior study trainees reported on the variation in received supervisor support. This study aims at…

Ensemble Artifact Design For Context Sensitive Decision Support

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shah J Miah

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Although an improvement of design knowledge is an essential goal of design research, current design research predominantly focuses on knowledge concerning the IT artifact (tool design process, rather than a more holistic understanding encompassing the dynamic usage contexts of a technological artifact. Conceptualising a design in context as an “ensemble artifact” (Sein et al., 2011 provides the basis for a more rigorous treatment. This paper describes an IS artifact design framework that has been generated from the development of several practitioner-oriented decision support systems (DSS in which contextual aspects relevant to practitioners’ decision making are considered as integral design themes. We describe five key dimensions of an ensemble artifact design and show their value in designing practitioner-oriented DSS. The features are user centredness, knowledge sharing, situation-specific customisation, reduced model orientation, and practice based secondary design abilities. It is argued that this understanding can contribute to design research knowledge more effectively both to develop dynamic DSS, and by its extensibility to other artifact designs.

Use of the self-organising map network (SOMNet) as a decision support system for regional mental health planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Younjin; Salvador-Carulla, Luis; Salinas-Pérez, José A; Uriarte-Uriarte, Jose J; Iruin-Sanz, Alvaro; García-Alonso, Carlos R

2018-04-25

Decision-making in mental health systems should be supported by the evidence-informed knowledge transfer of data. Since mental health systems are inherently complex, involving interactions between its structures, processes and outcomes, decision support systems (DSS) need to be developed using advanced computational methods and visual tools to allow full system analysis, whilst incorporating domain experts in the analysis process. In this study, we use a DSS model developed for interactive data mining and domain expert collaboration in the analysis of complex mental health systems to improve system knowledge and evidence-informed policy planning. We combine an interactive visual data mining approach, the self-organising map network (SOMNet), with an operational expert knowledge approach, expert-based collaborative analysis (EbCA), to develop a DSS model. The SOMNet was applied to the analysis of healthcare patterns and indicators of three different regional mental health systems in Spain, comprising 106 small catchment areas and providing healthcare for over 9 million inhabitants. Based on the EbCA, the domain experts in the development team guided and evaluated the analytical processes and results. Another group of 13 domain experts in mental health systems planning and research evaluated the model based on the analytical information of the SOMNet approach for processing information and discovering knowledge in a real-world context. Through the evaluation, the domain experts assessed the feasibility and technology readiness level (TRL) of the DSS model. The SOMNet, combined with the EbCA, effectively processed evidence-based information when analysing system outliers, explaining global and local patterns, and refining key performance indicators with their analytical interpretations. The evaluation results showed that the DSS model was feasible by the domain experts and reached level 7 of the TRL (system prototype demonstration in operational environment). This

EXPERTCHOICE© DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION FOR VEHICLE SELECTION IN A COLOMBIAN SHIPYARD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

JULIAN ANDRES ZAPATA CORTES

2012-01-01

Full Text Available El presente artículo muestra la aplicación del sistema de soporte de decisiones ¿ DSS (Decision support systems para la selección de automóviles tipo camionetas en un astillero colombiano. El artículo comienza con una descripción acerca de estos sistemas de soporte de decisión, se analiza la disponibilidad de los mismos en el mercado y finaliza con la aplicación del sistema DSS Expertchoice© para la selección de las camionetas en la empresa de estudio.

The usefulness of Decision Support Systems in participatory forest planning: a comparison between Finland and Italy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meo, I. de; Ferretti, F.; Hujala, T.; Kangas, A.

2013-09-01

Aim of study: Participation of stake holders is considered an essential element in producing, at different spatial and temporal scales, forest plans accepted by local community and fulfilling the requirements of Sustainable Forest Management. Increasingly, computer-based decision support systems (DSS) and tools are being introduced to assist stake holders and decision-makers in coping with the complexities inherent in participatory forest planning. The study aimed to investigate how useful the users and researchers see DSS tools and which opportunities they perceive DSS might carry for enhancing participatory forest planning in their field of activity. Area of study: 15 Italian and Finnish researchers and practitioners were interviewed. Material and methods: Face-to-face structured interviews were used to collect opinions and experiences. Quantitative and qualitative information were analyzed to investigate differences between Italian and Finnish respondents as well as between researchers and practitioners Main results: Results showed that in Italy there has been more focus on forest-level and medium-term problems and the intelligence phase, while in Finland there has been more attention to region-level and long-term problems and equally intelligence, design, and choice phases of decision-making. Deviations probably reflect different planning contexts and culture, variability in experiences and expertise in DSS and in availability of suitable DSS. Research highlights: The study suggests to pay attention to evaluating the success criteria of participatory planning when preparing for the use of DSS and related tools in practical forest planning processes. Experience sharing is a key to reaching more successful use of DSS. (Author)

A maritime decision support system to assess risk in the presence of environmental uncertainties: the REP10 experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Grasso, Raffaele; Cococcioni, Marco; Mourre, Baptiste; Chiggiato, Jacopo; Rixen, Michel

2012-03-01

The aim of this work is to report on an activity carried out during the 2010 Recognized Environmental Picture experiment, held in the Ligurian Sea during summer 2010. The activity was the first at-sea test of the recently developed decision support system (DSS) for operation planning, which had previously been tested in an artificial experiment. The DSS assesses the impact of both environmental conditions (meteorological and oceanographic) and non-environmental conditions (such as traffic density maps) on people and assets involved in the operation and helps in deciding a course of action that allows safer operation. More precisely, the environmental variables (such as wind speed, current speed and significant wave height) taken as input by the DSS are the ones forecasted by a super-ensemble model, which fuses the forecasts provided by multiple forecasting centres. The uncertainties associated with the DSS's inputs (generally due to disagreement between forecasts) are propagated through the DSS's output by using the unscented transform. In this way, the system is not only able to provide a traffic light map ( run/ not run the operation), but also to specify the confidence level associated with each action. This feature was tested on a particular type of operation with underwater gliders: the glider surfacing for data transmission. It is also shown how the availability of a glider path prediction tool provides surfacing options along the predicted path. The applicability to different operations is demonstrated by applying the same system to support diver operations.

Energy consumption analysis of the Venus Deep Space Station (DSS-13)

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, N. V.

1983-01-01

This report continues the energy consumption analysis and verification study of the tracking stations of the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, and presents an audit of the Venus Deep Space Station (DSS 13). Due to the non-continuous radioastronomy research and development operations at the station, estimations of energy usage were employed in the energy consumption simulation of both the 9-meter and 26-meter antenna buildings. A 17.9% decrease in station energy consumption was experienced over the 1979-1981 years under study. A comparison of the ECP computer simulations and the station's main watt-hour meter readings showed good agreement.

Complexity in electronic negotiation support systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Griessmair, Michele; Strunk, Guido; Vetschera, Rudolf; Koeszegi, Sabine T

2011-10-01

It is generally acknowledged that the medium influences the way we communicate and negotiation research directs considerable attention to the impact of different electronic communication modes on the negotiation process and outcomes. Complexity theories offer models and methods that allow the investigation of how pattern and temporal sequences unfold over time in negotiation interactions. By focusing on the dynamic and interactive quality of negotiations as well as the information, choice, and uncertainty contained in the negotiation process, the complexity perspective addresses several issues of central interest in classical negotiation research. In the present study we compare the complexity of the negotiation communication process among synchronous and asynchronous negotiations (IM vs. e-mail) as well as an electronic negotiation support system including a decision support system (DSS). For this purpose, transcripts of 145 negotiations have been coded and analyzed with the Shannon entropy and the grammar complexity. Our results show that negotiating asynchronically via e-mail as well as including a DSS significantly reduces the complexity of the negotiation process. Furthermore, a reduction of the complexity increases the probability of reaching an agreement.

Increasing Personal Value Congruence in Computerized Decision Support Using System Feedback

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bryan Hosack

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The Theory of Universals in Values (TUV, a reliable and validated conceptualization of personal values used in psychology, is used to examine the effect of system feedback delivered by a Decision Support System (DSS on personal values. The results indicate that value-based decision-making behavior can be influenced by DSS feedback to address value congruence in decision-making. User behavior was shown to follow the outcomes expected by operant theory when feedback was supportive and to follow the outcomes of reactance theory when feedback was challenging. This result suggests that practitioners and Information System (IS researchers should consider user values when designing computerized decision feedback to adjust a system’s design such that the potential user backlash is avoided or congruence between organizational and personal values is achieved.

GP supervisors' experience in supporting self-regulated learning: a balancing act

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sagasser, M.H.; Kramer, A.W.M.; Weel, C. van; Vleuten, C.P.M. van der

2015-01-01

Self-regulated learning is essential for professional development and lifelong learning. As self-regulated learning has many inaccuracies, the need to support self-regulated learning has been recommended. Supervisors can provide such support. In a prior study trainees reported on the variation in

Decision Support Systems: Usage And Applications In Logistics Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eyüp AKÇETİN

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Competitive advantage in logistics operations is possible by analyzing data to create information and turning that information into decision. Supply chain optimization depends on effective management of chain knowledge. Analyzing data from supply chain and making a decision creates complex operations. Therefore, these operations require benefitting from information technology. In today’s global world, businesses use outsourcing for logistics services to focus on their own field, so are seeking to achieve competitive advantage against competitors. Outsourcing requires sharing of various information and data with companies that provide logistical support. Effective strategies are based on well-analyzed the data and information. Best options for right decisions can be created only from good analysis. That’s why companies that supply logistics services achieve competitive advantage using decision support systems (DSS in industrial competition. In short, DSS has become driving force for every business in today’s knowledge-based economy.

Decision Support Systems for Research and Management in Advanced Life Support

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriquez, Luis F.

2004-01-01

Decision support systems have been implemented in many applications including strategic planning for battlefield scenarios, corporate decision making for business planning, production planning and control systems, and recommendation generators like those on Amazon.com(Registered TradeMark). Such tools are reviewed for developing a similar tool for NASA's ALS Program. DSS are considered concurrently with the development of the OPIS system, a database designed for chronicling of research and development in ALS. By utilizing the OPIS database, it is anticipated that decision support can be provided to increase the quality of decisions by ALS managers and researchers.

Anti-inflammatory effects of Lactobacillus casei BL23 producing or not a manganese-dependant catalase on DSS-induced colitis in mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corthier Gérard

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Human immune cells generate large amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS throughout the respiratory burst that occurs during inflammation. In inflammatory bowel diseases, a sustained and abnormal activation of the immune system results in oxidative stress in the digestive tract and in a loss of intestinal homeostasis. We previously showed that the heterologous production of the Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC14431 manganese-dependant catalase (MnKat in Lb. casei BL23 successfully enhances its survival when exposed to oxidative stress. In this study, we evaluated the preventive effects of this antioxidative Lb. casei strain in a murine model of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS-induced moderate colitis. Results Either Lb. casei BL23 MnKat- or MnKat+ was administered daily to mice treated with DSS for 10 days. In contrast to control mice treated with PBS for which DSS induced bleeding diarrhea and mucosal lesions, mice treated with both Lb. casei strains presented a significant (p Conclusion No contribution of MnKat to the protective effect from epithelial damage has been observed in the tested conditions. In contrast, these results confirm the high interest of Lb. casei as an anti-inflammatory probiotic strain.

PATHway: Decision Support in Exercise Programmes for Cardiac Rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Filos, Dimitris; Triantafyllidis, Andreas; Chouvarda, Ioanna; Buys, Roselien; Cornelissen, Véronique; Budts, Werner; Walsh, Deirdre; Woods, Catherine; Moran, Kieran; Maglaveras, Nicos

2016-01-01

Rehabilitation is important for patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) to improve health outcomes and quality of life. However, adherence to current exercise programmes in cardiac rehabilitation is limited. We present the design and development of a Decision Support System (DSS) for telerehabilitation, aiming to enhance exercise programmes for CVD patients through ensuring their safety, personalising the programme according to their needs and performance, and motivating them toward meeting their physical activity goals. The DSS processes data originated from a Microsoft Kinect camera, a blood pressure monitor, a heart rate sensor and questionnaires, in order to generate a highly individualised exercise programme and improve patient adherence. Initial results within the EU-funded PATHway project show the potential of our approach.

Perancangan Tata Kelola Teknologi Informasi di BAPAPSI Pemkab Bandung Menggunakan framework COBIT 5 Pada Domain EDM dan DSS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rati Amanda Fajrin

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Information technology has an important role to support the implementation of public information. Bandung regency government has one of the bodies, named BAPAPSI. The existing problems in BAPAPSI, especially in PPI are uneven internet network in all districts, bad internet connection, bad handling of the incident, and the procurement of servers that do not support the use of the application in BAPAPSI. Therefore, 7 lifecycle COBIT 5 methodology is used to solve the problems in BAPAPSI. COBIT 5 provides complete, comprehensive guidelines in helping organizations to achieve the effective use of IT. The first stage in this research is assess capability level, then the next stage are mapping governance objective, enterprise goals, IT Related Goals and IT Process on COBIT 5. So, the results are the priority process on EDM04 and DSS01 domain to be analyzed and to design procedure IT governance using COBIT 5. This research also recommends the target of organizational structure in accordance with the needs of the Bandung regency government.

Assisting Sustainable Forest Management and Forest Policy Planning with the Sim4Tree Decision Support System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Floris Dalemans

2015-03-01

Full Text Available As European forest policy increasingly focuses on multiple ecosystem services and participatory decision making, forest managers and policy planners have a need for integrated, user-friendly, broad spectrum decision support systems (DSS that address risks and uncertainties, such as climate change, in a robust way and that provide credible advice in a transparent manner, enabling effective stakeholder involvement. The Sim4Tree DSS has been accordingly developed as a user-oriented, modular and multipurpose toolbox. Sim4Tree supports strategic and tactical forestry planning by providing simulations of forest development, ecosystem services potential and economic performance through time, from a regional to a stand scale, under various management and climate regimes. Sim4Tree allows comparing the performance of different scenarios with regard to diverse criteria so as to optimize management choices. This paper explains the concept, characteristics, functionalities, components and use of the current Sim4Tree DSS v2.5, which was parameterized for the region of Flanders, Belgium, but can be flexibly adapted to allow a broader use. When considering the current challenges for forestry DSS, an effort has been made towards the participatory component and towards integration, while the lack of robustness remains Sim4Tree’s weakest point. However, its structural flexibility allows many possibilities for future improvement and extension.

Decision support at home (DS@HOME – system architectures and requirements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marschollek Michael

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Demographic change with its consequences of an aging society and an increase in the demand for care in the home environment has triggered intensive research activities in sensor devices and smart home technologies. While many advanced technologies are already available, there is still a lack of decision support systems (DSS for the interpretation of data generated in home environments. The aim of the research for this paper is to present the state-of-the-art in DSS for these data, to define characteristic properties of such systems, and to define the requirements for successful home care DSS implementations. Methods A literature review was performed along with the analysis of cross-references. Characteristic properties are proposed and requirements are derived from the available body of literature. Results 79 papers were identified and analyzed, of which 20 describe implementations of decision components. Most authors mention server-based decision support components, but only few papers provide details about the system architecture or the knowledge base. A list of requirements derived from the analysis is presented. Among the primary drawbacks of current systems are the missing integration of DSS in current health information system architectures including interfaces, the missing agreement among developers with regard to the formalization and customization of medical knowledge and a lack of intelligent algorithms to interpret data from multiple sources including clinical application systems. Conclusions Future research needs to address these issues in order to provide useful information – and not only large amounts of data – for both the patient and the caregiver. Furthermore, there is a need for outcome studies allowing for identifying successful implementation concepts.

NOAA Climate Information and Tools for Decision Support Services

Science.gov (United States)

Timofeyeva, M. M.; Higgins, W.; Strager, C.; Horsfall, F. M.

2013-12-01

NOAA is an active participant of the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) contributing data, information, analytical capabilities, forecasts, and decision support services to the Climate Services Partnership (CSP). These contributions emerge from NOAA's own climate services, which have evolved to respond to the urgent and growing need for reliable, trusted, transparent, and timely climate information across all sectors of the U.S. economy. Climate services not only enhance development opportunities in many regions, but also reduce vulnerability to climate change around the world. The NOAA contribution lies within the NOAA Climate Goal mission, which is focusing its efforts on four key climate priority areas: water, extremes, coastal inundation, and marine ecosystems. In order to make progress in these areas, NOAA is exploiting its fundamental capabilities, including foundational research to advance understanding of the Earth system, observations to preserve and build the climate data record and monitor changes in climate conditions, climate models to predict and project future climate across space and time scales, and the development and delivery of decision support services focused on risk management. NOAA's National Weather Services (NWS) is moving toward provision of Decision Support Services (DSS) as a part of the Roadmap on the way to achieving a Weather Ready National (WRN) strategy. Both short-term and long-term weather, water, and climate information are critical for DSS and emergency services and have been integrated into NWS in the form of pilot projects run by National and Regional Operations Centers (NOC and ROCs respectively) as well as several local offices. Local offices with pilot projects have been focusing their efforts on provision of timely and actionable guidance for specific tasks such as DSS in support of Coastal Environments and Integrated Environmental Studies. Climate information in DSS extends the concept of climate services to

An Integrated Web-based Decision Support System in Disaster Risk Management

Science.gov (United States)

Aye, Z. C.; Jaboyedoff, M.; Derron, M. H.

2012-04-01

Nowadays, web based decision support systems (DSS) play an essential role in disaster risk management because of their supporting abilities which help the decision makers to improve their performances and make better decisions without needing to solve complex problems while reducing human resources and time. Since the decision making process is one of the main factors which highly influence the damages and losses of society, it is extremely important to make right decisions at right time by combining available risk information with advanced web technology of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Decision Support System (DSS). This paper presents an integrated web-based decision support system (DSS) of how to use risk information in risk management efficiently and effectively while highlighting the importance of a decision support system in the field of risk reduction. Beyond the conventional systems, it provides the users to define their own strategies starting from risk identification to the risk reduction, which leads to an integrated approach in risk management. In addition, it also considers the complexity of changing environment from different perspectives and sectors with diverse stakeholders' involvement in the development process. The aim of this platform is to contribute a part towards the natural hazards and geosciences society by developing an open-source web platform where the users can analyze risk profiles and make decisions by performing cost benefit analysis, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) with the support of others tools and resources provided. There are different access rights to the system depending on the user profiles and their responsibilities. The system is still under development and the current version provides maps viewing, basic GIS functionality, assessment of important infrastructures (e.g. bridge, hospital, etc.) affected by landslides and visualization of the impact

Predicting the surface roughness in the dry machining of duplex stainless steel (DSS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Krolczyk

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the influence of cutting parameters, namely cutting speed, feed and depth of cut onto surface roughness after DSS turning process. The study included developing a mathematical model to determine the surface roughness. Verification research has been carried out on CNC lathe; hence the test plan has been adjusted to the possibility of programmable machines controlling GE Fanuc Series 0-T. The comparison of results obtained by given experimental plan was performed in industrial company.

Decision Support System for Reservoir Management and Operation in Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Navar, D. A.

2016-12-01

Africa is currently experiencing a surge in dam construction for flood control, water supply and hydropower production, but ineffective reservoir management has caused problems in the region, such as water shortages, flooding and loss of potential hydropower generation. Our research aims to remedy ineffective reservoir management by developing a novel Decision Support System(DSS) to equip water managers with a technical planning tool based on the state of the art in hydrological sciences. The DSS incorporates a climate forecast model, a hydraulic model of the watershed, and an optimization model to effectively plan for the operation of a system of cascade large-scale reservoirs for hydropower production, while treating water supply and flood control as constraints. Our team will use the newly constructed hydropower plants in the Omo Gibe basin of Ethiopia as the test case. Using the basic HIDROTERM software developed in Brazil, the General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) utilizes a combination of linear programing (LP) and non-linear programming (NLP) in conjunction with real time hydrologic and energy demand data to optimize the monthly and daily operations of the reservoir system. We compare the DSS model results with the current reservoir operating policy used by the water managers of that region. We also hope the DSS will eliminate the current dangers associated with the mismanagement of large scale water resources projects in Africa.

Regulators debate support of natural gas in electricity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1993-01-01

State regulators recently tabled a controversial proposal to encourage natural gas use in electricity generation. Proponents of natural gas support such an endorsement since state regulators can influence utility fuel-supply choices through planning incentives and disincentives. Members of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners vowed to take up the matter at their Winter Committee Meetings, February 28 to March 4 in Washington, DC. NARUC's Gas Committee offered the resolution at the NARUC Annual Convention in Los Angeles in November. Presentations and debate covered the merits and drawbacks of formal support for natural gas. Natural gas generation has fast construction and low capital-cost benefits, air quality and fuel handling advantages over other fossil fuels. Still, regulators and utility representatives expressed concern over long-term availability, over reliance on one resource and price

Sustainable transport project evaluation and decision support: indicators and planning criteria for sustainable development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salling, Kim Bang; Pryn, Marie Ridley

2015-01-01

is adopted. The SUSTAIN-DSS model rests upon multi-criteria decision analysis and planning workshops in order to combine the use of qualitative and quantitative assessments. This article stresses the necessity of revising current planning paradigms such as cost-benefit analysis (CBA) but also to make clear......This article will expose the necessity for a sustainable planning and decision support framework for transport infrastructure assessment. This will be operationalized through a set of planning criteria and scenario alternatives, which is assessed in the SUSTAIN decision support system (SUSTAIN......-DSS) model. A part of the decision support framework will be tested in a case study in Denmark, concerning the problem of congestion on the current bridge crossing Roskilde Fjord in the city of Frederikssund. This article suggests including in a combination both reference class forecasting and quantitative...

Layers of Self- and Co-Regulation: Teachers Working Collaboratively to Support Adolescents' Self-Regulated Learning through Reading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deborah L. Butler

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper reports findings from a longitudinal project in which secondary teachers were working collaboratively to support adolescents' self-regulated learning through reading (LTR in subject-area classrooms. We build from prior research to “connect the dots” between teachers' engagement in self- and co-regulated inquiry, associated shifts in classroom practice, and student self-regulation. More specifically, we investigated whether and how teachers working within a community of inquiry were mobilizing research to shape classroom practice and advance student learning. Drawing on evidence from 18 teachers and their respective classrooms, we describe findings related to the following research questions: (1 While engaged in self- and co-regulated inquiry, what types of practices did teachers enact to support LTR in their subject-area classrooms? (2 How did teachers draw on research-based resources to inform practice development? (3 What kinds of practices could be associated with gains in students' self-regulated LTR? In our discussion, we highlight contributions to understanding how teachers can be supported to situate research in authentic classroom environments and about qualities of practices supportive of students' self-regulated LTR. We also identify limitations of this work and important future directions.

Tactical decision making under stress (TADMUS) decision support system

OpenAIRE

Morrison, Jeffrey G.; Kelly, Richard T.; Moore, Ronald A.; Hutchins, Susan G.

1996-01-01

A prototype decision support system (DSS) was developed to enhance Navy tactical decision making based on naturalistic decision processes. Displays were developed to support critical decision making tasks through recognition-primed and explanation-based reasoning processes and cognitive analysis of the decision making problems faced by Navy tactical officers in a shipboard Combat Information Center. Baseline testing in high intensity, peace keeping, littoral scenarios indicated...

Intestinal Anti-inflammatory Effects of Outer Membrane Vesicles from Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 in DSS-Experimental Colitis in Mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María-José Fábrega

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN is a probiotic strain with proven efficacy in inducing and maintaining remission of ulcerative colitis. However, the microbial factors that mediate these beneficial effects are not fully known. Gram-negative bacteria release outer membrane vesicles (OMVs as a direct pathway for delivering selected bacterial proteins and active compounds to the host. In fact, vesicles released by gut microbiota are emerging as key players in signaling processes in the intestinal mucosa. In the present study, the dextran sodium sulfate (DSS-induced colitis mouse model was used to investigate the potential of EcN OMVs to ameliorate mucosal injury and inflammation in the gut. The experimental protocol involved pre-treatment with OMVs for 10 days before DSS intake, and a 5-day recovery period. Oral administration of purified EcN OMVs (5 μg/day significantly reduced DSS-induced weight loss and ameliorated clinical symptoms and histological scores. OMVs treatment counteracted altered expression of cytokines and markers of intestinal barrier function. This study shows for the first time that EcN OMVs can mediate the anti-inflammatory and barrier protection effects previously reported for this probiotic in experimental colitis. Remarkably, translation of probiotics to human healthcare requires knowledge of the molecular mechanisms involved in probiotic–host interactions. Thus, OMVs, as a non-replicative bacterial form, could be explored as a new probiotic-derived therapeutic approach, with even lower risk of adverse events than probiotic administration.

[Human body meridian spatial decision support system for clinical treatment and teaching of acupuncture and moxibustion].

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Dehua

2016-01-01

The spatial position and distribution of human body meridian are expressed limitedly in the decision support system (DSS) of acupuncture and moxibustion at present, which leads to the failure to give the effective quantitative analysis on the spatial range and the difficulty for the decision-maker to provide a realistic spatial decision environment. Focusing on the limit spatial expression in DSS of acupuncture and moxibustion, it was proposed that on the basis of the geographic information system, in association of DSS technology, the design idea was developed on the human body meridian spatial DSS. With the 4-layer service-oriented architecture adopted, the data center integrated development platform was taken as the system development environment. The hierarchical organization was done for the spatial data of human body meridian via the directory tree. The structured query language (SQL) server was used to achieve the unified management of spatial data and attribute data. The technologies of architecture, configuration and plug-in development model were integrated to achieve the data inquiry, buffer analysis and program evaluation of the human body meridian spatial DSS. The research results show that the human body meridian spatial DSS could reflect realistically the spatial characteristics of the spatial position and distribution of human body meridian and met the constantly changeable demand of users. It has the powerful spatial analysis function and assists with the scientific decision in clinical treatment and teaching of acupuncture and moxibustion. It is the new attempt to the informatization research of human body meridian.

Construction and Use of a ‘Green Growth’ Tourism Decision Support System: A Multi-Model Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G Michael McGrath

2016-11-01

Full Text Available For design, development, implementation and use of an information system (IS to constitute a valid research activity, the system should support the solution of a non-trivial and important problem and it should be original, drawing on existing theories and knowledge. The design of one such system is described in this paper: specifically, a decision support system (DSS designed to support the development of ‘Green Growth’ (GG strategies for Travelism (Travel & Tourism destinations. A sound GG strategy is important: first, because tourism is a major contributor to the global economy - particularly for developing and island states; second because it represents some 5% of greenhouse gas (GHG emissions and these are increasing faster than the global norm; and third because the environment is an essential element of destination attractiveness. Thus, the problem domain is certainly non-trivial and important. It is further argued that the design of the DSS artefact described is original and novel in the sense that: i it supports the entire GG strategy development process (which is actually cyclical; ii it allows for the sharing of data, functionality and knowledge between different DSS applications and different strategy development exercises in a seamless, integrated manner; and iii it will be deployed in a global community based program in 2016. System design draws heavily on previous IS, information management and software engineering research; particularly with regard to use of abstraction and interfaces in support of component sharing and reuse.

A Decision Support System for Business Location Based on Open GIS Technology and Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cornel Ghita

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This article presents the architecture, features, and operating mode of a DSS (Decision Support System aiming to assist entrepreneurs and managers in the process of location decision making. The research assembled concepts derived from theory, findings of empirical studies, together with open GIS (Geographical Information System software and data, and modelled them into a DSS software tool, according to an original methodology and design. The users are guided step-by-step to input information on their businesses into the DSS (industry, preferences for land-use areas and facility types, weights of key location factors, and are returned two sets of results: one based on own options, and another one aggregate for the industry they operate in. The results consist in the top five locations for the user's firm, as well as for the industry, depicted both in a graphical report (map and a text report (explanation of results.

Decision Support Systems for Water Resources Management in Developing Countries: Learning from Experiences in Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlo Giupponi

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Decision support system (DSS tools are rather popular in the literature on water resources management. The European Project “Splash” conducted a survey of the literature and of DSS implementation in developing countries with specific reference on Africa. Experts in the field were consulted through an ad hoc questionnaire and interviews. The results of the survey indicate that the exchange of experiences amongst projects with similar objectives or even the same case study is very limited, with a tendency towards restarting every time from scratch. As a consequence, it seems that DSS developments have produced only limited positive impacts. Most experts contacted shared either the frustration deriving from the limited impacts on intended end-users, who rarely used the tool after the project end, or in the case of ongoing projects, the preoccupation for future maintenance. Responses from the questionnaires indicate that priority efforts should not focus on developing the tools, but rather on improving the effectiveness and applicability of integrated water resource management legislative and planning frameworks, training and capacity building, networking and cooperation, harmonization of transnational data infrastructures and, very importantly, learning from past experiences and adopting enhanced protocols for DSS development.

Chapter three Bridging the gaps between design and use: Developing tools to support environmental management and policy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

McIntosh, B.S.; Giupponi, C.; Voinov, A.A.; Smith, C.; Matthews, K.B.; Monticino, M.; Kolkman, M.J.; Crossman, N.; Ittersum, van M.K.; Haase, D.; Haase, A.; Mysiak, J.; Groot, J.C.J.; Sieber, S.; Verweij, P.; Quinn, N.; Waeger, P.; Gaber, N.; Hepting, D.; Scholten, H.; Sulis, A.; Delden, van H.; Gaddis, E.; Assaf, H.

2008-01-01

Integrated assessment models, decision support systems (DSS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are examples of a growing number of computer-based tools designed to provide decision and information support to people engaged in formulating and implementing environmental policy and management.

Emotional and organizational supports for preschoolers' emotion regulation: Relations with school adjustment.

Science.gov (United States)

Bailey, Craig S; Denham, Susanne A; Curby, Timothy W; Bassett, Hideko H

2016-03-01

Preschool teachers, like parents, support children in ways that promote the regulation capacities that drive school adjustment, especially for children struggling to succeed in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to explore the emotionally and organizationally supportive classroom processes that contribute to the development of children's emotion regulation and executive control. Emotion regulation and executive control were assessed in 312 3-, 4- and 5-year-old children. The 44 teachers of these children completed questionnaires asking about 3 components of children's school adjustment: Positive/Engaged, Independent/Motivated, and Prosocial/Connected. Observations of classroom emotional and organizational supports were conducted. Results of multilevel models indicated emotion regulation was significantly associated with the Positive/Engaged school adjustment component, but only when teachers' emotional and organizational supports were taken into account. Children with lower levels of emotion regulation, who were also in less supportive classrooms, had the lowest scores on the Positive/Engaged component. Children's executive control was associated with the Independent/Motivated and Prosocial/Connected components independently of teacher effects. In general, moderate support was found for the notion that teachers' supports can be particularly helpful for children struggling to regulate their emotions to be better adjusted to school. Children's emotionally salient classroom behaviors, and teachers' emotion scaffolding, are discussed. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Integrating climatic and fuels information into National Fire Risk Decision Support Tools

Science.gov (United States)

W. Cooke; V. Anantharaj; C. Wax; J. Choi; K. Grala; M. Jolly; G.P. Dixon; J. Dyer; D.L. Evans; G.B. Goodrich

2007-01-01

The Wildland Fire Assessment System (WFAS) is a component of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Decision Support Systems (DSS) that support fire potential modeling. Fire potential models for Mississippi and for Eastern fire environments have been developed as part of a National Aeronautic and Space Agency-funded study aimed at demonstrating the utility...

The American Petroleum Institute's Decision Support System for performing exposure and risk assessments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spence, L.R.

1994-01-01

The author has developed the American Petroleum Institute's (API) Exposure and Risk Assessment Decision Support System (DSS) to assist environmental professionals in estimating human exposure and risk from sites contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. The DSS is a valuable, user-friendly tool that can be used to (1) estimate site-specific risks, (2) identify the need for site remediation, (3) develop and negotiate site-specific cleanup levels with regulatory agencies, and (4) efficiently and effectively evaluate the effect of parameter uncertainty and variability on estimated risk. API DSS Version 1.0 consists of four modules. Specifically, the Development of Risk Scenario module allows the user to develop a conceptual model for estimating the risk. The Fate and Transport module includes a number of contaminant fate and transport models to estimate receptor point concentrations using site-specific hydrogeological and meteorological data entered by the user. The Chemical Intake and Risk Calculation module uses estimated or user-entered receptor point concentrations to estimate chemical intake by a human receptor for several different exposure routes. Finally, the Risk Presentation module allows the user to view the results of the analysis in tabular and graphical formats. The DSS includes chemical databases for 25 hydrocarbons containing transport and toxicity information. These databases may be expanded to include many additional (non-hydrocarbon) chemicals. The computational modules of the DSS can be implemented in either a deterministic or a Monte Carlo simulation mode. The latter is used to quantify the uncertainty in the exposure and risk results due to uncertainty in the input parameters

Microhardness changes gradient of the duplex stainless steel (DSS surface layer after dry turning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Krolczyk

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The article presents the gradient of microhardness changes as a function of the distance from the material surface after turning with a wedge provided with a coating with a ceramic intermediate layer. The investigation comprised the influence of cutting speed on surface integrity microhardness in dry machining. The tested material was duplex stainless steel (DSS with two-phase, ferritic-austenitic structure. The tests have been performed under production conditions during machining of parts for electric motors and deep-well pumps.

Frondanol, a Nutraceutical Extract from Cucumaria frondosa, Attenuates Colonic Inflammation in a DSS-Induced Colitis Model in Mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandeep B. Subramanya

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Frondanol is a nutraceutical lipid extract of the intestine of the edible Atlantic sea cucumber, Cucumaria frondosa, with potent anti-inflammatory effects. In the current study, we investigated Frondanol as a putative anti-inflammatory compound in an experimental model of colonic inflammation. C57BL/6J male black mice (C57BL/6J were given 3% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS in drinking water for 7 days to induce colitis. The colitis group received oral Frondanol (100 mg/kg body weight/per day by gavage and were compared with a control group and the DSS group. Disease activity index (DAI and colon histology were scored for macroscopic and microscopic changes. Colonic tissue length, myeloperoxidase (MPO concentration, neutrophil and macrophage marker mRNA, pro-inflammatory cytokine proteins, and their respective mRNAs were measured using ELISA and real-time RT-PCR. The tissue content of leukotriene B4 (LTB4 was also measured using ELISA. Frondanol significantly decreased the DAI and reduced the inflammation-associated changes in colon length as well as macroscopic and microscopic architecture of the colon. Changes in tissue MPO concentrations, neutrophil and macrophage mRNA expression (F4/80 and MIP-2, and pro-inflammatory cytokine content (IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α both at the protein and mRNA level were significantly reduced by Frondanol. The increase in content of the pro-inflammatory mediator leukotriene B4 (LTB4 induced by DSS was also significantly inhibited by Frondanol. It was thus found that Frondanol supplementation attenuates colon inflammation through its potent anti-inflammatory activity.

Development of a hybrid genetic algorithm based decision support system for vehicle routing and scheduling in supply chain logistics managment

OpenAIRE

Khanian, Seyed Mohammad Shafi

2007-01-01

Vehicle Routing and Scheduling (VRS) constitute an important part of logistics management. Given the fact that the worldwide cost on physical distribution is evermore increasing, the global competition and the complex nature of logistics problems, one area, which determines the efficiency of all others, is the VRS activities. The application of Decision Support Systems (DSS) to assist logistics management with an efficient VRS could be of great benefit. Although the benefits of DSS in VRS are...

Decision support systems in nuclear emergencies: harmonizing domestic and reference tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vamanu, D.; Mateescu, Gh.; Berinde, A.; Slavnicu, D.; Acasandrei, V.; Slavnicu, E.

2001-01-01

The paper addresses the issue of securing the compatibility and inter-operability of computer packages designed to perform as decision support tools in the management of radiological emergencies, over the transition times towards the implementation and uniform acceptance and uniform acceptance of internationally-shared reference tools such as the European Union's RODOS (Real Time On-Line Decision Support System for Off-Site Nuclear Emergencies in Europe). One submits that a harmonization between the currently operational, domestic, and the reference tool can be contemplated, based on extensive code comparison and benchmarking. A case in point is presented, paralleling selected RODOS applications on simulated abnormal nuclear events, and the concurrent application of a resident software package, NOTEPAD, developed to emulate RODOS-wise function at IFIH-HH Bucharest. The reproducible similarity may make domestic decision support system (DSS) facilities useful as both practical tools and factors promoting the emergency preparedness awareness, during the interim time laps till the full development and deployment of RODOS as a reference DSS in Europe. (authors)

An Integrated Decision Support System with Hydrological Processes and Socio-economic Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Yang; Disse, Markus; Yu, Ruide

2017-04-01

The debate over the effectiveness of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in practice has lasted for years. As the complexity and scope of IWRM increases, the difficulties of hydrological modeling is shifting from the model itself into the links with other cognate sciences, to understand the interactions among water, earth, ecosystem and humans. This work presents the design and development of a decision support system (DSS) that links the outputs of hydrological models with real-time decision making on social-economic assessments and land use changes. Discharge and glacier geometry changes were simulated with hydrological model WASA. Irrigation and ecological water were simulated by a new commercial software MIKE HYDRO. Groundwater was simulated by MODFLOW. All the outputs of theses hydrological models were integrated as inputs into the DSS in three types of links: regression equations, stationary data inputs, or dynamic data inputs into DSS as the models running parallel in the simulation periods. Within DSS, three types of logics were established: equations, conditional statements and fuzzy logics. The programming was realized in C++. The implementation of DSS takes place in the Tarim River Basin. With the mainstream of 1,321km and located in an arid area in northwest China, the Tarim River is China's longest inland river. The Tarim basin on the northern edge of the Taklamakan desert is an extremely arid region. In this region, agricultural water consumption and allocation management are crucial to address the conflicts among irrigation water users from upstream to downstream. Since 2011, the German Ministry of Science and Education BMBF established the Sino-German SuMaRiO project, for the sustainable management of river oases along the Tarim River. Project SuMaRiO focus on realizable management strategies, considering social, economic and ecological criteria. This will have positive effects for nearly 10 million inhabitants of different ethnic groups

Design and implementation of wireless dose logger network for radiological emergency decision support system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gopalakrishnan, V.; Baskaran, R.; Venkatraman, B.

2016-01-01

A decision support system (DSS) is implemented in Radiological Safety Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research for providing guidance for emergency decision making in case of an inadvertent nuclear accident. Real time gamma dose rate measurement around the stack is used for estimating the radioactive release rate (source term) by using inverse calculation. Wireless gamma dose logging network is designed, implemented, and installed around the Madras Atomic Power Station reactor stack to continuously acquire the environmental gamma dose rate and the details are presented in the paper. The network uses XBee–Pro wireless modules and PSoC controller for wireless interfacing, and the data are logged at the base station. A LabView based program is developed to receive the data, display it on the Google Map, plot the data over the time scale, and register the data in a file to share with DSS software. The DSS at the base station evaluates the real time source term to assess radiation impact.

Design and implementation of wireless dose logger network for radiological emergency decision support system.

Science.gov (United States)

Gopalakrishnan, V; Baskaran, R; Venkatraman, B

2016-08-01

A decision support system (DSS) is implemented in Radiological Safety Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research for providing guidance for emergency decision making in case of an inadvertent nuclear accident. Real time gamma dose rate measurement around the stack is used for estimating the radioactive release rate (source term) by using inverse calculation. Wireless gamma dose logging network is designed, implemented, and installed around the Madras Atomic Power Station reactor stack to continuously acquire the environmental gamma dose rate and the details are presented in the paper. The network uses XBee-Pro wireless modules and PSoC controller for wireless interfacing, and the data are logged at the base station. A LabView based program is developed to receive the data, display it on the Google Map, plot the data over the time scale, and register the data in a file to share with DSS software. The DSS at the base station evaluates the real time source term to assess radiation impact.

Design and implementation of wireless dose logger network for radiological emergency decision support system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gopalakrishnan, V.; Baskaran, R.; Venkatraman, B. [Radiation Impact Assessment Section, Radiological Safety Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam 603102 (India)

2016-08-15

A decision support system (DSS) is implemented in Radiological Safety Division, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research for providing guidance for emergency decision making in case of an inadvertent nuclear accident. Real time gamma dose rate measurement around the stack is used for estimating the radioactive release rate (source term) by using inverse calculation. Wireless gamma dose logging network is designed, implemented, and installed around the Madras Atomic Power Station reactor stack to continuously acquire the environmental gamma dose rate and the details are presented in the paper. The network uses XBee–Pro wireless modules and PSoC controller for wireless interfacing, and the data are logged at the base station. A LabView based program is developed to receive the data, display it on the Google Map, plot the data over the time scale, and register the data in a file to share with DSS software. The DSS at the base station evaluates the real time source term to assess radiation impact.

THE ONTOLOGY OF VIEWS ON THE DEVELOPMENT STAGES OF DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS IN THE CONTEXT OF TRANSITION TO THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga E. Bashina

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article is dedicated to the actual economic problem of decision-making for management. Decision support systems (DSS belong to a class of information systems which are set of toolkits for supporting such processes as creating choices and making (selecting a decision. These systems contain tools for combining management both on strategic and operative levels with advanced analytics. Such information systems based on different tools for supporting all stages of decision making and implementation are of current importance and in demand. In the article there is a result of analyses of current methods and computer tools used for decision support. DSS are of particular importance in the network economy as an integral part of information society development where the speed of decision making is a key success factor.

TNF-a-induced down-regulation of CDX2 suppresses MEP1A expression in colitis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Coskun, Mehmet; Olsen, Anders Krüger; Holm, Thomas Lindebo

2012-01-01

was investigated in colonic biopsies of ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and in dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis. CDX2 protein expression was investigated by immunoblotting and immunohistochemical procedures. CDX2 and MEP1A regulation was examined in TNF-a-treated Caco-2 cells by reverse transcription...

Implications of Decision Making Research for Decision Support and Displays

OpenAIRE

Morrison, Jeffrey G.; Kelly, Richard T.; Moore, Ronald A.; Hutchins, Susan G.

1998-01-01

To appear in J. A. Cannon-Bowers & E. Salas (Eds.), Decision Making Under Stress: Implications for Training and Simulation. A prototype decision support system (DSS) was developed to enhance Navy tactical decision making based on naturalistic decision processes. Displays were developed to support critical decision making tasks through recognition-primed and explanation-based reasoning processes, and cognitive analysis was conducted of the decision making problems faced by Navy ...

Decision support systems for incurable non-small cell lung cancer: A systematic review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Révész, D. (D.); Engelhardt, E.G. (E. G.); Tamminga, J.J. (J. J.); F.M.N.H. Schramel (Franz); B.D. Onwuteaka-Philipsen (Bregje); E.M.W. van de Garde (Ewoudt); E.W. Steyerberg (Ewout); Jansma, E.P. (E. P.); H.C. de Vet (Henrica C); V.M.H. Coupé (Veerle)

2017-01-01

textabstractBackground: Individually tailored cancer treatment is essential to ensure optimal treatment and resource use. Treatments for incurable metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are evolving rapidly, and decision support systems (DSS) for this patient population have been developed to

Decision support systems for incurable non-small cell lung cancer : a systematic review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Révész, D; Engelhardt, E G; Tamminga, J J; Schramel, Franz M N H; Onwuteaka-Philipsen, B.D.; van de Garde, E M W; Steyerberg, E.W.; Jansma, E P; de Vet, Henrica C W; Coupé, V.M.H.

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: Individually tailored cancer treatment is essential to ensure optimal treatment and resource use. Treatments for incurable metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are evolving rapidly, and decision support systems (DSS) for this patient population have been developed to balance

Enhancing guideline-based decision support with distributed computation through local mobile application

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Shalom, Erez; Shahar, Yuval; Goldstein, Ayelet; Ariel, Elior; Quaglini, Silvana; Sacchi, Lucia; Fung, L.S.N.; Jones, Valerie M.; Broens, T.H.F.; García-Sáez, Gema; Hernando, Elena

2014-01-01

We introduce the need for a distributed guideline-based decision support (DSS) process, describe its characteristics, and explain how we implemented this process within the European Union’s MobiGuide project. In particular, we have developed a mechanism of sequential, piecemeal projection, i.e.,

Decision support for customers in electronic environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

František Dařena

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the rapid spread of computer technologies into day-to-day lives many purchases or purchase-related decisions are made in the electronic environment of the Web. In order to handle information overload that is the result of the availability of many web-based stores, products and services, consumers use decision support aids that help with need recognition, information retrieval, filtering, comparisons and choice making. Decision support systems (DSS discipline spreads about 40 years back and was mostly focused on assisting managers. However, online environments and decision support in such environments bring new opportunities also to the customers. The focus on decision support for consumers is also not investigated to the large extent and not documented in the literature. Providing customers with well designed decision aids can lead to lower cognitive decision effort associated with the purchase decision which results in significant increase of consumer’s confidence, satisfaction, and cost savings. During decision making process the subjects can chose from several methods (optimizing, reasoning, analogizing, and creating, DSS types (data-, model-, communication-, document-driven, and knowledge-based and benefit from different modern technologies. The paper investigates popular customer decision making aids, such as search, filtering, comparison, ­e-negotiations and auctions, recommendation systems, social network systems, product design applications, communication support etc. which are frequently related to e-commerce applications. Results include the overview of such decision supporting tools, specific examples, classification according the way how the decisions are supported, and possibilities of applications of progressive technologies. The paper thus contributes to the process of development of the interface between companies and the customers where customer decisions take place.

Decision support systems - The evaluation of health and environmental impact in a radioactive release

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slavnicu, D. S.; Vamanu, D. V.; Gheeorghiu, D.; Vamanu, B. I.; Acasandrei, V. T.; Gheorghiu, A.

2008-01-01

The paper illustrates, on a couple of case histories, the experience of a research-oriented team in NIPNE, that is routinely involved in nuclear emergency preparedness and response management activities, with the assimilation, implementation, and application of decision support systems (DSS) of continental reference in Europe, and the development of supportive, domestic radiological assessment tools. (authors)

Rapid learning in practice: A lung cancer survival decision support system in routine patient care data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dekker, Andre; Vinod, Shalini; Holloway, Lois; Oberije, Cary; George, Armia; Goozee, Gary; Delaney, Geoff P.; Lambin, Philippe; Thwaites, David

2014-01-01

Background and purpose: A rapid learning approach has been proposed to extract and apply knowledge from routine care data rather than solely relying on clinical trial evidence. To validate this in practice we deployed a previously developed decision support system (DSS) in a typical, busy clinic for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Material and methods: Gender, age, performance status, lung function, lymph node status, tumor volume and survival were extracted without review from clinical data sources for lung cancer patients. With these data the DSS was tested to predict overall survival. Results: 3919 lung cancer patients were identified with 159 eligible for inclusion, due to ineligible histology or stage, non-radical dose, missing tumor volume or survival. The DSS successfully identified a good prognosis group and a medium/poor prognosis group (2 year OS 69% vs. 27/30%, p < 0.001). Stage was less discriminatory (2 year OS 47% for stage I–II vs. 36% for stage IIIA–IIIB, p = 0.12) with most good prognosis patients having higher stage disease. The DSS predicted a large absolute overall survival benefit (∼40%) for a radical dose compared to a non-radical dose in patients with a good prognosis, while no survival benefit of radical radiotherapy was predicted for patients with a poor prognosis. Conclusions: A rapid learning environment is possible with the quality of clinical data sufficient to validate a DSS. It uses patient and tumor features to identify prognostic groups in whom therapy can be individualized based on predicted outcomes. Especially the survival benefit of a radical versus non-radical dose predicted by the DSS for various prognostic groups has clinical relevance, but needs to be prospectively validated

A Decision Support Framework for Automated Screening of Diabetic Retinopathy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The early signs of diabetic retinopathy (DR are depicted by microaneurysms among other signs. A prompt diagnosis when the disease is at the early stage can help prevent irreversible damages to the diabetic eye. In this paper, we propose a decision support system (DSS for automated screening of early signs of diabetic retinopathy. Classification schemes for deducing the presence or absence of DR are developed and tested. The detection rule is based on binary-hypothesis testing problem which simplifies the problem to yes/no decisions. An analysis of the performance of the Bayes optimality criteria applied to DR is also presented. The proposed DSS is evaluated on the real-world data. The results suggest that by biasing the classifier towards DR detection, it is possible to make the classifier achieve good sensitivity.

CLIPS based decision support system for water distribution networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Sandeep

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The difficulty in knowledge representation of a water distribution network (WDN problem has contributed to the limited use of artificial intelligence (AI based expert systems (ES in the management of these networks. This paper presents a design of a Decision Support System (DSS that facilitates "on-demand'' knowledge generation by utilizing results of simulation runs of a suitably calibrated and validated hydraulic model of an existing aged WDN corresponding to emergent or even hypothetical but likely scenarios. The DSS augments the capability of a conventional expert system by integrating together the hydraulic modelling features with heuristics based knowledge of experts under a common, rules based, expert shell named CLIPS (C Language Integrated Production System. In contrast to previous ES, the knowledge base of the DSS has been designed to be dynamic by superimposing CLIPS on Structured Query Language (SQL. The proposed ES has an inbuilt calibration module that enables calibration of an existing (aged WDN for the unknown, and unobservable, Hazen-Williams C-values. In addition, the daily run and simulation modules of the proposed ES further enable the CLIPS inference engine to evaluate the network performance for any emergent or suggested test scenarios. An additional feature of the proposed design is that the DSS integrates computational platforms such as MATLAB, open source Geographical Information System (GIS, and a relational database management system (RDBMS working under the umbrella of the Microsoft Visual Studio based common user interface. The paper also discusses implementation of the proposed framework on a case study and clearly demonstrates the utility of the application as an able aide for effective management of the study network.

Hydroeconomic DSS for optimal hydrology-oriented forest management in semiarid areas

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia-Prats, A.; del Campo, A.; Pulido-Velazquez, M.

2016-12-01

In semiarid regions like the Mediterranean, managing the upper-catchment forests for water provision goals (hydrology-oriented silviculture) offers a strategy to increase the resilience of catchments to droughts and lower precipitation and higher evapotranspiration due to climate change. Understanding the effects of forest management on vegetation water use and groundwater recharge is particularly important in those regions. Despite the essential role that forests play in the water cycle on the provision of water resources, this contribution is often neither quantified nor explicitly valued. The aim of this work is to develop a novel decision support system (DSS) based on hydro-economic modelling, for assessing and designing the optimal integrated forest and water management for forested catchments. Hydro-economic modelling may support the design of economically efficient strategies integrating the hydrologic, engineering, environmental and economic aspects of water resources systems within a coherent framework. The optimization model explicitly integrates changes in water yield (increase n groundwater recharge) induced by the management of forest density, and the value of the additional water provided to the system. This latter component could serve as an indicator for the design of a "payment for environmental services" scheme in which groundwater beneficiaries could contribute towards funding and promoting efficient forest management operations. Besides, revenues from timber logging are also articulated in the modelling. The case study was an Aleppo pine forest in south-western Valencia province (Spain), using a typical 100-year rotation horizon. The model determines the optimal schedule of thinning interventions in the stands in order to maximize the total net benefits in the system (timber and water). Canopy cover and biomass evolution over time were simulated using growth and yield allometric equations specific for the species in Mediterranean conditions

Impact of double-tiered subchondral support procedure with a polyaxial locking plate on the stability of distal radius fractures using fresh cadaveric forearms: Biomechanical and radiographic analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsutsui, Sadaaki; Kawasaki, Keikichi; Yamakoshi, Ken-Ichi; Uchiyama, Eiichi; Aoki, Mitsuhiro; Inagaki, Katsunori

2016-09-01

The present study compared the changes in biomechanical and radiographic properties under cyclic axial loadings between the 'double-tiered subchondral support' (DSS) group (wherein two rows of screws were used) and the 'non-DSS' (NDSS) group (wherein only one row of distal screws was used) using cadaveric forearm models of radius fractures fixed with a polyaxial locking plate. Fifteen fresh cadaveric forearms were surgically operated to generate an Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen (AO) type 23-C2 fracture model with the fixation of polyaxial volar locking plates. The model specimens were randomized into two groups: DSS (n = 7) and NDSS (n = 8). Both the groups received 4 locking screws in the most distal row, as is usually applied, whereas the DSS group received 2 additional screws in the second row inserted at an inclination of about 15° to support the dorsal aspect of the dorsal subchondral bone. Cyclic axial compression test was performed (3000 cycles; 0-250 N; 60 mm/min) to measure absolute rigidity and displacement, after 1, 1000, 2000 and 3000 cycles, and values were normalized relative to cycle 1. These absolute and normalized values were compared between those two groups. Radiographic images were taken before and after the cyclic loading to measure changes in volar tilt (ΔVT) and radial inclination (ΔRI). The DSS group maintained significantly higher rigidity and lower displacement values than the NDSS group during the entire loading period. Radiographic analysis indicated that the ΔVT values of the DSS group were lower than those of the NDSS group. In contrast, the fixation design did not influence the impact of loading on the ΔRI values. Biomechanical and radiographic analyses demonstrated that two rows of distal locking screws in the DSS procedure conferred higher stability than one row of distal locking screws. Copyright © 2016 The Japanese Orthopaedic Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A decision-support system for sustainable urban metabolism in Europe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonzalez, Ainhoa, E-mail: ainhoag@yahoo.com [Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2 (Ireland); Donnelly, Alison, E-mail: donnelac@tcd.ie [Centre for the Environment, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin (Ireland); Jones, Mike, E-mail: mike.jones@tcd.ie [Discipline of Botany, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin (Ireland); Chrysoulakis, Nektarios, E-mail: zedd2@iacm.forth.gr [Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics (Greece); Lopes, Myriam, E-mail: myr@ua.pt [Departamento de Ambiente e Ordenamento and CESAM, University of Aveiro (Portugal)

2013-01-15

Urban metabolism components define the energy and material exchanges within a city and, therefore, can provide valuable information on the environmental quality of urban areas. Assessing the potential impact of urban planning alternatives on urban metabolism components (such as energy, water, carbon and pollutants fluxes) can provide a quantitative estimation of their sustainability performance. Urban metabolism impact assessment can, therefore, contribute to the identification of sustainable urban structures with regards, for example, to building types, materials and layout, as well as to location and capacity of transportation and infrastructural developments. In this way, it enables the formulation of planning and policy recommendations to promote efficient use of resources and enhance environmental quality in urban areas. The European FP7 project BRIDGE (sustainaBle uRban plannIng Decision support accountinG for urban mEtabolism) has developed a decision-support system (DSS) that systematically integrates urban metabolism components into impact assessment processes with the aim of accurately quantifying the potential effects of proposed planning interventions. The DSS enables integration of multiple spatial and non-spatial datasets (e.g. physical flows of energy and material with variables of social and economic change) in a systematic manner to obtain spatially defined assessment results and to thus inform planners and decision-makers. This multi-criteria approach also enables incorporation of stakeholders' perceptions in order to prioritise decisive assessment criteria. This paper describes the methodological framework used to develop the DSS and critically examines the results of its practical application in five European cities. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Urban metabolism in sustainability assessment of planning alternatives. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer European FP7 project applied to 5 real life case studies across Europe. Black

A decision-support system for sustainable urban metabolism in Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

González, Ainhoa; Donnelly, Alison; Jones, Mike; Chrysoulakis, Nektarios; Lopes, Myriam

2013-01-01

Urban metabolism components define the energy and material exchanges within a city and, therefore, can provide valuable information on the environmental quality of urban areas. Assessing the potential impact of urban planning alternatives on urban metabolism components (such as energy, water, carbon and pollutants fluxes) can provide a quantitative estimation of their sustainability performance. Urban metabolism impact assessment can, therefore, contribute to the identification of sustainable urban structures with regards, for example, to building types, materials and layout, as well as to location and capacity of transportation and infrastructural developments. In this way, it enables the formulation of planning and policy recommendations to promote efficient use of resources and enhance environmental quality in urban areas. The European FP7 project BRIDGE (sustainaBle uRban plannIng Decision support accountinG for urban mEtabolism) has developed a decision-support system (DSS) that systematically integrates urban metabolism components into impact assessment processes with the aim of accurately quantifying the potential effects of proposed planning interventions. The DSS enables integration of multiple spatial and non-spatial datasets (e.g. physical flows of energy and material with variables of social and economic change) in a systematic manner to obtain spatially defined assessment results and to thus inform planners and decision-makers. This multi-criteria approach also enables incorporation of stakeholders' perceptions in order to prioritise decisive assessment criteria. This paper describes the methodological framework used to develop the DSS and critically examines the results of its practical application in five European cities. - Highlights: ► Urban metabolism in sustainability assessment of planning alternatives. ► European FP7 project applied to 5 real life case studies across Europe. ► Decision support system enables incorporating scientific

A Decision Support System for Plant Optimization in Urban Areas with Diversified Solar Radiation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heyi Wei

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Sunshine is an important factor which limits the choice of urban plant species, especially in environments with high-density buildings. In practice, plant selection and configuration is a key step of landscape architecture, which has relied on an experience-based qualitative approach. However, the rationality and efficiency of this need to be improved. To maintain the diversity of plant species and to ensure their ecological adaptability (solar radiation in the context of sustainable development, we developed the Urban Plants Decision Support System (UP-DSS for assisting plant selection in urban areas with diversified solar radiation. Our methodology mainly consists of the solar radiation model and calibration, the urban plant database, and information retrieval model. The structure of UP-DSS is also presented at the end of the methodology section, which is based on the platform of Geographic Information Systems (GIS and Microsoft Excel. An application of UP-DSS is demonstrated in a residential area of Wuhan, China. The results show that UP-DSS can provide a very scientific and stable tool for the adaptive planning of shade-tolerant plants and photoperiod-sensitive plants, meanwhile, it also provides a specific plant species and the appropriate types of plant community for user decision-making according to different sunshine radiation conditions and the designer’s preferences.

A decision-support scheme for mapping endangered areas in pest risk analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baker, R.H.A.; Benninga, J.; Bremmer, J.; Brunel, S.; Dupin, M.; Eyre, D.; Ilieva, Z.; Jarosik, V.; Kehlenbeck, H.; Kriticos, D.J.; Makowski, D.; Pergl, J.; Reynaud, P.; Robinet, C.; Soliman, T.; Werf, van der W.; Worner, S.

2012-01-01

This paper describes a decision-support scheme (DSS) for mapping the area where economically important loss is likely to occur (the endangered area). It has been designed by the PRATIQUE project to help pest risk analysts address the numerous risk mapping challenges and decide on the most suitable

Deep structure of crust and the upper mantle of the Mendeleev Rise on the Arktic­-2012 DSS profile

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kashubin, Sergey; Petrov, Oleg; Artemieva, Irina

2016-01-01

During high­latitude combined geological and geophysical expedition “Arctic­-2012”, deep seismic sounding (DSS) with ocean bottom seismometers were carried out in the Arctic Ocean along the line 740 km long, crossing the Mendeleev Rise at about 77° N. Crustal and upper mantle Vp­velocity and Vp...

The application of VR-GIS to decommissioning decision support system (DDSS) of nuclear reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu Bo

2005-01-01

Advanced management technique and Decision Support System (DSS) are needed to solve the problems of the nuclear reactor decommissioning decision-making. In this study, a kind of new DSS technique for nuclear reactor decommissioning is introduced. It is based on the Virtual Reality (VR) and Geography Information System (GIS), which combine with the scientific management method, operational research, cybernetics and behavior science. The proposed DDSS (Decommissioning Decision Support System) can provide decision-maker the real time 3-D virtual Environment, GIS information and background material of the decommissioning reactor, help to ascertain the decision-making target, modify the decision module and optimize the dismantling plan. The data from three modules (VR Environment Module, VR-DOSE Management Module and Route Layout GIS Module) are used to continuously update and show the statistic at the same time, and the final advice will be given to decision-maker. (authors)

The impact of Ag nanoparticles on the parameters of DSS- cells sensitized by Z907

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ibrayev, N Kh; Aimukhanov, A K; Zeinidenov, A K

2016-01-01

Research of influence of Ag nanoparticles are in-process undertaken on absorption and on parameters CVC DSS-cells sensitized Z907. It is set that with the height of concentration Ag nanoparticles in tape to the concentration of 0.3% wt%. the absorbance of Z907 in a short-wave stripe grew to the value 1,6. It is set that under reaching the concentration of Ag nanoparticles in the cell of value the 0.3% wt%. efficiency of cell increased to 2.2%. (paper)

Understanding, Evaluating, and Supporting Self-Regulated Learning Using Learning Analytics

Science.gov (United States)

Roll, Ido; Winne, Philip H.

2015-01-01

Self-regulated learning is an ongoing process rather than a single snapshot in time. Naturally, the field of learning analytics, focusing on interactions and learning trajectories, offers exciting opportunities for analyzing and supporting self-regulated learning. This special section highlights the current state of research at the intersection of…

Technical support organization of national regulators: Challenges and strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mallick, S.A.; Maqbul, N.; Kanwal, S.; Hashmi, J.A.

2007-01-01

Design, construction and operation of nuclear power plants has always been a complex activity and so is regulating the nuclear power plants. The rapid innovation in design of nuclear power plants with substantial increase in design life from 40 years to 60 years is now considered a norm. The public acceptability of nuclear as a clean source of energy is also on the increase but with this increase is also the demand for more safety against accidental release of radioactivity. It is therefore essential that high standards of nuclear and radiation safety should be maintained and applied all over the world. However the increase acceptability will also lead to a rapid growth in nuclear energy generation capacity both in terms of construction of new nuclear power plants as well as life extension of older nuclear power plants. This will result in an unprecedented pressure on the national regulators during the licensing process. Nuclear and radiation safety are based on technical, administrative and organizational provisions. There is, therefore, a need to separate the technical review and assessment work from the main licensing process by delegating this responsibility to the technical support organizations so that regulatory decision making is not driven by the time constraints imposed by the licensing process. The paper examines the role technical support organization can play to enhance quality of technical review and thereby the effectiveness of national regulators. For the national regulators that belong to countries that import nuclear power plants and may lack an advanced industrial infrastructure at par with other exporting countries, the establishment of technical support organization within a regulatory body or as a separate organization is gaining increased importance. Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) has realized this importance and proposed the Government of Pakistan for allocation of Rs. 480.00 million ($ 8 million) for the establishment of

Designing an automated clinical decision support system to match clinical practice guidelines for opioid therapy for chronic pain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clark Michael E

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Opioid prescribing for chronic pain is common and controversial, but recommended clinical practices are followed inconsistently in many clinical settings. Strategies for increasing adherence to clinical practice guideline recommendations are needed to increase effectiveness and reduce negative consequences of opioid prescribing in chronic pain patients. Methods Here we describe the process and outcomes of a project to operationalize the 2003 VA/DOD Clinical Practice Guideline for Opioid Therapy for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain into a computerized decision support system (DSS to encourage good opioid prescribing practices during primary care visits. We based the DSS on the existing ATHENA-DSS. We used an iterative process of design, testing, and revision of the DSS by a diverse team including guideline authors, medical informatics experts, clinical content experts, and end-users to convert the written clinical practice guideline into a computable algorithm to generate patient-specific recommendations for care based upon existing information in the electronic medical record (EMR, and a set of clinical tools. Results The iterative revision process identified numerous and varied problems with the initially designed system despite diverse expert participation in the design process. The process of operationalizing the guideline identified areas in which the guideline was vague, left decisions to clinical judgment, or required clarification of detail to insure safe clinical implementation. The revisions led to workable solutions to problems, defined the limits of the DSS and its utility in clinical practice, improved integration into clinical workflow, and improved the clarity and accuracy of system recommendations and tools. Conclusions Use of this iterative process led to development of a multifunctional DSS that met the approval of the clinical practice guideline authors, content experts, and clinicians involved in testing. The

007 to the Rescue – Cognitive Fit of Operations Research and Agent-based Decision Support

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Krauth, Elfriede I.; van Hillegersberg, Jos; van de Velde, Steef L.

2007-01-01

Adoption rates of traditional Operations Research (OR) based decision support systems (DSS) suffer from perceived complexity of the underlying model and its detrimental effect on user-friendliness. The mental effort required to understand abstract models can hinder adoption. This barrier may seem

Teacher regulation of multiple computer-supported collaborating groups

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Leeuwen, Anouschka; Janssen, Jeroen; Erkens, Gijsbert; Brekelmans, Mieke

2015-01-01

Teachers regulating groups of students during computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) face the challenge of orchestrating their guidance at student, group, and class level. During CSCL, teachers can monitor all student activity and interact with multiple groups at the same time. Not much is

The use of earth observation and decision support systems for the restoration of open-cast nickel mines in Evia, central Greece

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ganas, A.; Aerts, J.C.J.H.; Astaras, T.; de Vente, J.; Frogoudakis, E.; Labrinos, N.

2004-01-01

We have developed a decision support system (DSS) for open mining areas which reflects and simulates the major decision steps of a mining expert (engineer, manager) during the formulation of a restoration plan. The software supports the mining expert to structure the various restoration alternatives

Adaptive Regulation of the Northern California Reservoir System for Water, Energy, and Environmental Management

Science.gov (United States)

Georgakakos, A. P.; Kistenmacher, M.; Yao, H.; Georgakakos, K. P.

2014-12-01

The 2014 National Climate Assessment of the US Global Change Research Program emphasizes that water resources managers and planners in most US regions will have to cope with new risks, vulnerabilities, and opportunities, and recommends the development of adaptive capacity to effectively respond to the new water resources planning and management challenges. In the face of these challenges, adaptive reservoir regulation is becoming all the more ncessary. Water resources management in Northern California relies on the coordinated operation of several multi-objective reservoirs on the Trinity, Sacramento, American, Feather, and San Joaquin Rivers. To be effective, reservoir regulation must be able to (a) account for forecast uncertainty; (b) assess changing tradeoffs among water uses and regions; and (c) adjust management policies as conditions change; and (d) evaluate the socio-economic and environmental benefits and risks of forecasts and policies for each region and for the system as a whole. The Integrated Forecast and Reservoir Management (INFORM) prototype demonstration project operated in Northern California through the collaboration of several forecast and management agencies has shown that decision support systems (DSS) with these attributes add value to stakeholder decision processes compared to current, less flexible management practices. Key features of the INFORM DSS include: (a) dynamically downscaled operational forecasts and climate projections that maintain the spatio-temporal coherence of the downscaled land surface forcing fields within synoptic scales; (b) use of ensemble forecast methodologies for reservoir inflows; (c) assessment of relevant tradeoffs among water uses on regional and local scales; (d) development and evaluation of dynamic reservoir policies with explicit consideration of hydro-climatic forecast uncertainties; and (e) focus on stakeholder information needs.This article discusses the INFORM integrated design concept, underlying

Relational Algebra in Spatial Decision Support Systems Ontologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Diomidous, Marianna; Chardalias, Kostis; Koutonias, Panagiotis; Magnita, Adrianna; Andrianopoulos, Charalampos; Zimeras, Stelios; Mechili, Enkeleint Aggelos

2017-01-01

Decision Support Systems (DSS) is a powerful tool, for facilitates researchers to choose the correct decision based on their final results. Especially in medical cases where doctors could use these systems, to overcome the problem with the clinical misunderstanding. Based on these systems, queries must be constructed based on the particular questions that doctors must answer. In this work, combination between questions and queries would be presented via relational algebra.

Public Support for Electronic Cigarette Regulation in Hong Kong: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheung, Yee Tak Derek; Wang, Man Ping; Ho, Sai Yin; Jiang, Nan; Kwong, Antonio; Lai, Vienna; Lam, Tai Hing

2017-06-30

This study aimed to gauge the Hong Kong's public support towards new e-cigarette regulation, and examine the associated factors of the support. We conducted a two-stage, randomized cross-sectional telephone-based survey to assess the public support towards the banning of e-cigarette promotion and advertisement, its use in smoke-free venues, the sale to people aged under 18, and regulating the sale of nicotine-free e-cigarettes. Adults (aged 15 years or above) who were never smoking ( n = 1706), ex-smoking ( n = 1712) or currently smoking ( n = 1834) were included. Over half (57.8%) supported all the four regulations. Banning of e-cigarette promotion and advertisement (71.7%) received slightly less support than the other three regulations (banning of e-cigarette use in smoke-free venues (81.5%); banning of e-cigarette sale to minors (93.9%); sale restriction of nicotine-free e-cigarettes (80.9%)). Current smokers, and perceiving e-cigarettes as less harmful than traditional cigarettes or not knowing the harmfulness, were associated with a lower level of support. Our findings showed a strong public support for further regulation of e-cigarettes in Hong Kong. Current stringent measures on tobacco and e-cigarettes, and media reports on the harmfulness of e-cigarettes may underpin the strong support for the regulation.

Decision support system emergency planning, creating evacuation strategies in the event of flooding

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Windhouwer, C.J.; Klunder, G.A.; Sanders, F.M.

2005-01-01

The Decision Support System (DSS) Emergency Planning is designed for use in the event of sea or river flooding. It makes accessible all the information related to the decision whether to evacuate an area. An important factor in this decision is the time required for the evacuation. The model used by

Suppressive effect of pectic polysaccharides extracted from Rauwolfia verticillata (Lour.) Baill.var.hainanensis Tsiang on inflammation by regulation of NF- κ B pathway and interleukin-17 in mice with dextran sulphatesodium-induced ulcerative colitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Miao, Xin-Pu; Sun, Xiao-Ning; Cui, Lu-Jia; Cao, Qin-Fang; Zhuang, Gui-Feng; Deng, Tao-Zhi; Zhang, Dong-Yan

2015-02-01

To investigate the effects of pectic polysaccharides extracted from Rauwolfia verticillata (Lour.) Baill.var.hainanensis Tsiang on an experimental murine colitis model. Experimental colitis was induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS), and mice were divided into 4 groups: control, DSS alone, DSS plus SASP, DSS plus pectic polysaccharides. The disease activity index (DAI) and histological score were observed. The tumor necrosis factor (TNF)- α and interleukin (IL)-17 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. I κ B and NF- κ B p65 expression were assessed by western blot analysis. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity was determined by using MPO assay kit. Administration of pectic polysaccharides significantly reduced the severity of DSS-induced colitis as assessed by DAI and histological score, and resulted in down regulation of MPO activity and NF- κ B p65 expression and subsequent degradation of I κ B protein, strikingly reduced the production of TNF- a and IL-17. Pectic polysaccharides extracted from Rauvolfia verticillata (Lour.)Baill.var. hainanensis Tsiang exerts beneficial effects in experimental colitis and may therefore provide a useful therapeutic approach for the treatment of UC. Copyright © 2015 Hainan Medical College. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interaction Analysis for Supporting Students' Self-Regulation during Blog-Based CSCL Activities

Science.gov (United States)

Michailidis, Nikolaos; Kapravelos, Efstathios; Tsiatsos, Thrasyvoulos

2018-01-01

Self-regulated learning is an important means of supporting students' self-awareness and self-regulation level so as to enhance their motivation and engagement. Interaction Analysis (IA) contributes to this end, and its use in studying learning dynamics involved in asynchronous Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) activities has…

Development of a decision support system for precision management of conjunctive use of treated wastewater for irrigation in Oman

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hemanatha P. W. Jayasuriya

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This research aimed at finding alternative options for conjunctive use of treated wastewater (TW with groundwater (GW minimizing the irrigation water from aquifers in the Al-Batinah region with the assistance of a Decision Support System (DSS. Oman is facing a three-facet problem of lowering of GW table, wastewater over-production and excess TW. Approved guidelines for use of TW with tertiary treatments are of two classes: class-A (for vegetables consumed raw, class-B (after cooking. The developed DSS is comprised of four management subsystems: (1 data management in Excel, (2 model and knowledge management by macro programming in Excel, (3 with linear programming (LP optimization models including transportation algorithms, and (4 user interface with Excel or Visual Basic (VB. The results are based on two extreme scenarios: zero TW excess, and zero GW used for irrigation. The DSS could predict water balance for number of crop rotations, and based on adjustable cost variables farmer profit margins could be created. Crop selections and rotation could be done using LP optimizations while transportation algorithm could organize best locations and capacities for treatment plants and the wastewater collection and transportation to farming areas via treatment plants. The developed DSS will be very useful as a water management, optimization and planning tool.

Decision support system to select cover systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bostick, K.V.

1995-01-01

The objective of this technology is to provide risk managers with a defensible, objective way to select capping alternatives for remediating radioactive and mixed waste landfills. The process of selecting containment cover technologies for mixed waste landfills requires consideration of many complex and interrelated technical, regulatory, and economic issues. A Decision Support System (DSS) is needed to integrate the knowledge of experts from scientific, engineering, and management disciplines to help in selecting the best capping practice for the site

Public Support for Electronic Cigarette Regulation in Hong Kong: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yee Tak Derek Cheung

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to gauge the Hong Kong’s public support towards new e-cigarette regulation, and examine the associated factors of the support. We conducted a two-stage, randomized cross-sectional telephone-based survey to assess the public support towards the banning of e-cigarette promotion and advertisement, its use in smoke-free venues, the sale to people aged under 18, and regulating the sale of nicotine-free e-cigarettes. Adults (aged 15 years or above who were never smoking (n = 1706, ex-smoking (n = 1712 or currently smoking (n = 1834 were included. Over half (57.8% supported all the four regulations. Banning of e-cigarette promotion and advertisement (71.7% received slightly less support than the other three regulations (banning of e-cigarette use in smoke-free venues (81.5%; banning of e-cigarette sale to minors (93.9%; sale restriction of nicotine-free e-cigarettes (80.9%. Current smokers, and perceiving e-cigarettes as less harmful than traditional cigarettes or not knowing the harmfulness, were associated with a lower level of support. Our findings showed a strong public support for further regulation of e-cigarettes in Hong Kong. Current stringent measures on tobacco and e-cigarettes, and media reports on the harmfulness of e-cigarettes may underpin the strong support for the regulation.

The roles of a decision support system in applying forest ecosystem management in Northeast China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

DAI; Limin; ZHENG; Bofu; Guofan; Shao; ZHOU; Li

2006-01-01

Forest ecosystems provide a variety of services and forest ecosystem management (FEM) is an effective approach to maximize the services. Because of the complexity of forest ecosystems, the applications of FEM can be facilitated with decision support systems (DSS) that recognize and incorporate ecological and socio-economic variables. With the rapid development of computation and information technologies, DSS have been advanced in many ways. Traditional forest management within a forestry unit in China is planned on a yearly basis. The planning itself remains primarily a verbal concept as there are no quantitative decision-support tools available to translate the concept into forest management actions. For the purposes of FEM at the management level, a forest management DFF, FORESTAR(R), has been developed under a framework of geographic information system (GIS) and forest models. The paper explained the intelligent modeling mechanisms and demonstrated how the applications of FEM can be strengthened with the applications of FORESTAR(R).

Perceived maternal autonomy-support and early adolescent emotion regulation: a longitudinal study

OpenAIRE

Brenning, Katrijn; Soenens, Bart; Van Petegem, Stijn; Vansteenkiste, Maarten

2015-01-01

This study investigated longitudinal associations between perceived maternal autonomy-supportive parenting and early adolescents' use of three emotion regulation (ER) styles: emotional integration, suppressive regulation, and dysregulation. We tested whether perceived maternal autonomy support predicted changes in ER and whether these ER styles, in turn, related to changes in adjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms, self-esteem). Participants (N= 311, mean age at Time 1 = 12.04) reported on per...

The integration of expert knowledge in decision support systems for facility location planning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arentze, T.A.; Borgers, A.W.J.; Timmermans, H.J.P.

1995-01-01

The integration of expert systems in DSS has led to a new generation of systems commonly referred to as knowledge-based or intelligent DSS. This paper investigates the use of expert system technology for the development of a knowledge-based DSS for the planning of retail and service facilities. The

Korean Solar Salt Ameliorates Colon Carcinogenesis in an AOM/DSS-Induced C57BL/6 Mouse Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Ju, Jaehyun; Kim, Yeung-Ju; Park, Eui Seong; Park, Kun-Young

2017-06-01

The effects of Korean solar salt on an azoxymethane (AOM)/dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colon cancer C57BL/6 mouse model were studied. Korean solar salt samples (SS-S, solar salt from S salt field; SS-Yb, solar salt from Yb salt field), nine-time-baked bamboo salt (BS-9x, made from SS-Yb), purified salt (PS), and SS-G (solar salt from Guérande, France) were orally administered at a concentration of 1% during AOM/DSS colon cancer induction, and compared for their protective effects during colon carcinogenesis in C57BL/6 mice. SS-S and SS-Yb suppressed colon length shortening and tumor counts in mouse colons. Histological evaluation by hematoxylin and eosin staining also revealed suppression of tumorigenesis by SS-S. Conversely, PS and SS-G did not show a similar suppressive efficacy as Korean solar salt. SS-S and SS-Yb promoted colon mRNA expression of an apoptosis-related factor and cell-cycle-related gene and suppressed pro-inflammatory factor. SS-Yb baked into BS-9x further promoted these anti-carcinogenic efficacies. Taken together, the results indicate that Korean solar salt, especially SS-S and SS-Yb, exhibited anti-cancer activity by modulating apoptosis- and inflammation-related gene expression during colon carcinogenesis in mice, and bamboo salt baked from SS-Yb showed enhanced anti-cancer functionality.

Strategies to facilitate stakeholder and regulator support for technology deployment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burford, T.D.

1997-01-01

Implementation and deployment of new and innovative environmental technologies is impossible without regulator, enduser and stakeholder support. Technologies being developed for different needs require different strategies to facilitate this endorsement. Areas addressed will include technologies developed to meet site specific cleanup needs and those developed for multiple site applications. A third area deals with using site specific technologies at previously unidentified locations. In order to expand the application of these technologies to other sites a plan to include potential site regulators and stakeholders early in the development process should be considered. The Subsurface Contaminant Focus Area has developed a Stakeholder Communication Plan. This plan, in addition to lessons learned from current technology development projects that have successfully obtained this type of support, will provide the basis for the information provided in this paper. The object of this paper is to suggest strategies that could facilitate the implementation and deployment of technologies at environmental sites by involving regulators and stakeholders at the proper time for various applications

Safe Transport of Radioactive Material, International Regulations and its Supporting Documents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Shinawy, R.M.K.

2005-01-01

Safe transport of radioactive material regulations issued by IAEA since 1961, provide standards for insuring a high level of safety of people,transport workers, property and environment against radiation, contamination and criticality hazards as well as thermal effects associated with the transport of the radioactive wastes and material. The history ,development, philosophy and scope of these international regulations were mentioned as well as the different supporting documents to the regulations for safe transport of radioactive material were identified.The first supporting document , namely TS - G-1.1 ( ST-2) ,Advisory material is also issued by the IAEA.It contains both the advisory and explanatory materials previously published in safety series No 7 and 37 and therefore TS-G-1.1 (ST-2) will supersede safety series No 7 and 37. The second supporting document namely TS-G-1.2 (ST-3), planning and preparing for emergency response to transport accidents involving radioactive material ,which will supersede safety series No 87. In addition to quality assurance (SS=113), compliance assurance (SS=112), the training manual and other

Safe Transport of Radioactive Material, International Regulations and its Supporting Documents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

El-Shinawy, R M.K. [Radiation Protection Dept., NRC, Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo (Egypt)

2005-04-01

Safe transport of radioactive material regulations issued by IAEA since 1961, provide standards for insuring a high level of safety of people,transport workers, property and environment against radiation, contamination and criticality hazards as well as thermal effects associated with the transport of the radioactive wastes and material. The history ,development, philosophy and scope of these international regulations were mentioned as well as the different supporting documents to the regulations for safe transport of radioactive material were identified.The first supporting document , namely TS - G-1.1 ( ST-2) ,Advisory material is also issued by the IAEA.It contains both the advisory and explanatory materials previously published in safety series No 7 and 37 and therefore TS-G-1.1 (ST-2) will supersede safety series No 7 and 37. The second supporting document namely TS-G-1.2 (ST-3), planning and preparing for emergency response to transport accidents involving radioactive material ,which will supersede safety series No 87. In addition to quality assurance (SS=113), compliance assurance (SS=112), the training manual and other.

Using tablets to support self-regulated learning in a longitudinal integrated clerkship

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dylan Archbold Hufty Alegría

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The need to train physicians committed to learning throughout their careers has prompted medical schools to encourage the development and practice of self-regulated learning by students. Longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs require students to exercise self-regulated learning skills. As mobile tools, tablets can potentially support self-regulation among LIC students. Methods: We provided 15 LIC students with tablet computers with access to the electronic health record (EHR, to track their patient cohort, and a multiplatform online notebook, to support documentation and retrieval of self-identified clinical learning issues. Students received a 1-hour workshop on the relevant features of the tablet and online notebook. Two focus groups with the students were used to evaluate the program, one early and one late in the year and were coded by two raters. Results: Students used the tablet to support their self-regulated learning in ways that were unique to their learning styles and increased access to resources and utilization of down-time. Students who used the tablet to self-monitor and target learning demonstrated the utility of tablets as learning tools. Conclusions: LICs are environments rich in opportunity for self-regulated learning. Tablets can enhance students’ ability to develop and employ self-regulatory skills in a clinical context.

Using tablets to support self-regulated learning in a longitudinal integrated clerkship.

Science.gov (United States)

Alegría, Dylan Archbold Hufty; Boscardin, Christy; Poncelet, Ann; Mayfield, Chandler; Wamsley, Maria

2014-01-01

The need to train physicians committed to learning throughout their careers has prompted medical schools to encourage the development and practice of self-regulated learning by students. Longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs) require students to exercise self-regulated learning skills. As mobile tools, tablets can potentially support self-regulation among LIC students. We provided 15 LIC students with tablet computers with access to the electronic health record (EHR), to track their patient cohort, and a multiplatform online notebook, to support documentation and retrieval of self-identified clinical learning issues. Students received a 1-hour workshop on the relevant features of the tablet and online notebook. Two focus groups with the students were used to evaluate the program, one early and one late in the year and were coded by two raters. Students used the tablet to support their self-regulated learning in ways that were unique to their learning styles and increased access to resources and utilization of down-time. Students who used the tablet to self-monitor and target learning demonstrated the utility of tablets as learning tools. LICs are environments rich in opportunity for self-regulated learning. Tablets can enhance students' ability to develop and employ self-regulatory skills in a clinical context.

Using tablets to support self-regulated learning in a longitudinal integrated clerkship

Science.gov (United States)

Alegría, Dylan Archbold Hufty; Boscardin, Christy; Poncelet, Ann; Mayfield, Chandler; Wamsley, Maria

2014-01-01

Introduction The need to train physicians committed to learning throughout their careers has prompted medical schools to encourage the development and practice of self-regulated learning by students. Longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs) require students to exercise self-regulated learning skills. As mobile tools, tablets can potentially support self-regulation among LIC students. Methods We provided 15 LIC students with tablet computers with access to the electronic health record (EHR), to track their patient cohort, and a multiplatform online notebook, to support documentation and retrieval of self-identified clinical learning issues. Students received a 1-hour workshop on the relevant features of the tablet and online notebook. Two focus groups with the students were used to evaluate the program, one early and one late in the year and were coded by two raters. Results Students used the tablet to support their self-regulated learning in ways that were unique to their learning styles and increased access to resources and utilization of down-time. Students who used the tablet to self-monitor and target learning demonstrated the utility of tablets as learning tools. Conclusions LICs are environments rich in opportunity for self-regulated learning. Tablets can enhance students’ ability to develop and employ self-regulatory skills in a clinical context. PMID:24646438

The early activation marker CD69 regulates the expression of chemokines and CD4 T cell accumulation in intestine.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarina Radulovic

Full Text Available Migration of naïve and activated lymphocytes is regulated by the expression of various molecules such as chemokine receptors and ligands. CD69, the early activation marker of C-type lectin domain family, is also shown to regulate the lymphocyte migration by affecting their egress from the thymus and secondary lymphoid organs. Here, we aimed to investigate the role of CD69 in accumulation of CD4 T cells in intestine using murine models of inflammatory bowel disease. We found that genetic deletion of CD69 in mice increases the expression of the chemokines CCL-1, CXCL-10 and CCL-19 in CD4(+ T cells and/or CD4(- cells. Efficient in vitro migration of CD69-deficient CD4 T cells toward the chemokine stimuli was the result of increased expression and/or affinity of chemokine receptors. In vivo CD69(-/- CD4 T cells accumulate in the intestine in higher numbers than B6 CD4 T cells as observed in competitive homing assay, dextran sodium sulphate (DSS-induced colitis and antigen-specific transfer colitis. In DSS colitis CD69(-/- CD4 T cell accumulation in colonic lamina propria (cLP was associated with increased expression of CCL-1, CXCL-10 and CCL-19 genes. Furthermore, treatment of DSS-administrated CD69(-/- mice with the mixture of CCL-1, CXCL-10 and CCL-19 neutralizing Abs significantly decreased the histopathological signs of colitis. Transfer of OT-II×CD69(-/- CD45RB(high CD4 T cells into RAG(-/- hosts induced CD4 T cell accumulation in cLP. This study showed CD69 as negative regulator of inflammatory responses in intestine as it decreases the expression of chemotactic receptors and ligands and reduces the accumulation of CD4 T cells in cLP during colitis.

Development of Generic Tools for Coastal Early Warning and Decision Support

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogaard Tom

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Recent and historic high-impact events demonstrated coastal risk (Xynthia, Europe, 2010; Katrina, USA, 2005. This is only to get worse, because risk is increasing due to increase in both hazard intensity, frequency and increase in consequences (increased coastal development. Adaptation requires a re-evaluation of coastal disaster risk reduction (DRR strategies and a new mix of prevention, mitigation (e.g. limiting construction in flood-prone areas and preparedness (e.g. Early warning systems, EWS measures. Within the EU funded project RISC-KIT the focus is on preparedness measures and its aim is to demonstrate robustness and applicability of coastal EWS (Early Warning Systems and DSS (Decision Support Systems. Delft-FEWS, a generic tool for Early Warning Systems has been extended, to be applied at sites all across Europe. The challenges for developing a modern EWS are found in the integration of large data sets, specialised modules to process the data, and open interfaces to allow easy integration of existing modelling capacities. In response to these challenges, Delft-FEWS provides a state of the art EWS framework, which is highly customizable to the specific requirements of an individual organisation. For ten case study sites on all EU regional seas a EWS has been developed, to provide real-time (short-term forecasts and early warnings. The EWS component is a 2D model framework of hydro-meteo and morphological models which computes hazard intensities. The total expected impact of a hazard can be obtained by using a Bayesian network DSS. This DSS, which is incorporated in the Delft-FEWS platform is a tool that links coastal multi-hazards to their socioeconomic and environmental consequences. An important innovation of the EWS/DSS lies in its application in dual mode: as a forecast and warning system and as a consistent ex-ante planning tool to evaluate the long-term vulnerability due to multiple (low-frequency coastal hazards, under various

The development of a knowledge-based decision support system for retail and service planning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arentze, T.A.; Borgers, A.W.J.; Timmermans, H.J.P.

1995-01-01

The integration of expert systems in DSS has led to a new generation of systems commonly referred to as know edge-based or intelligent DSS. This paper investigates the use of expert system technology for the development of a know edge-based DSS for the planning of retail and service facilities. The

A quality-of-data aware mobile decision support system for patients with chronic illnesses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Larburu Rubio, Nekane; van Schooten, B.W.; Shalom, Erez; Fung, L.S.N.; van Sinderen, Marten J.; Hermens, Hermanus J.; Jones, Valerie M.; Riano, David; Lenz, Richard; Miksch, Silvia; Peleg, Mor; Reichert, M.U.; ten Teije, Annette

2015-01-01

We present a mobile decision support system (mDSS) which runs on a patient Body Area Network consisting of a smartphone and a set of biosensors. Quality-of-Data (QoD) awareness in decision making is achieved by means of a component known as the Quality-of-Data Broker, which also runs on the

The relations between interpersonal self-support traits and emotion regulation strategies: a longitudinal study.

Science.gov (United States)

Xia, Ling-Xiang; Gao, Xin; Wang, Qian; Hollon, Steven D

2014-08-01

Although several cross-sectional surveys have shown that certain traits such as extraversion and neuroticism are related to emotion regulation, few studies have explored the nature of this relationship. The present study tried to explore the longitudinal relation between traits and emotion regulation strategies. The Interpersonal Self-Support Scale for Middle School Students (ISSS-MSS) and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) were administrated to 374 middle school students two times across a 6-month interval. A path analysis via structural equation modeling of the five interpersonal self-support traits and the two emotion regulation strategies was tested. The results showed that interpersonal independence predicted expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal, and that interpersonal initiative also predicted reappraisal, while reappraisal predicted interpersonal flexibility and interpersonal openness 6 month later. These results support the hypotheses that some personality traits influence certain emotion regulation strategies, while other traits may be influenced by specific emotion regulation strategies. Copyright © 2014 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nuclear emergency response exercises and decision support systems - integrating domestic experience with international reference systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slavnicu, D.S.; Vamanu, D.V.; Gheorghiu, D.; Acasandrei, V.T.; Slavnicu, E.

2010-01-01

The paper glosses on the experience of a research-oriented team routinely involved in emergency preparedness and response management activities, with the assimilation, implementation, and application of decision support systems (DSS) of continental reference in Europe, and the development of supportive, domestic radiological assessment tools. Two exemplary nuclear alert exercises are discussed, along with solutions that emerged during drill planning and execution, to make decision support tools of various origins and strength to work synergistically and complement each other. (authors)

Bacterial Feeders, the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the Flagellate Cercomonas longicauda, have different Effects on Outcome of Competition among the Pseudomonas Biocontrol Strains CHA0 and DSS73

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Annette; Nybroe, Ole; Winding, Anne

2009-01-01

How bacterial feeding fauna affects colonization and survival of bacteria in soil is not well understood, which constrains the applicability of bacterial inoculants in agriculture. This study aimed to unravel how food quality of bacteria and bacterial feeders with different feeding habits (the......50090 or one of two biocontrol strains P. fluorescens CHA0 or Pseudomonas sp. DSS73) or combinations of two bacterial strains. DSM50090 is a suitable food bacterium, DSS73 is of intermediate food quality, and CHA0 is inedible to the bacterial feeders. Bacterial and protozoan cell numbers were measured...... predation pressure. Hence, the results suggested that the outcome of competition among bacteria depended on their ability to cope with the prevailing bacterial predator....

Prioritization of information using decision support systems for seismic risk in Bucharest city

Science.gov (United States)

Armas, Iuliana; Gheorghe, Diana

2014-05-01

Nowadays, because of the ever increasing volume of information, policymakers are faced with decision making problems. Achieving an objective and suitable decision making may become a challenge. In such situations decision support systems (DSS) have been developed. DSS can assist in the decision making process, offering support on how a decision should be made, rather than what decision should be made (Simon, 1979). This in turn potentially involves a huge number of stakeholders and criteria. Regarding seismic risk, Bucharest City is highly vulnerable (Mandrescu et al., 2007). The aim of this study is to implement a spatial decision support system in order to secure a suitable shelter in case of an earthquake occurrence in the historical centre of Bucharest City. In case of a seismic risk, a shelter is essential for sheltering people who lost their homes or whose homes are in danger of collapsing while people at risk receive first aid in the post-disaster phase. For the present study, the SMCE Module for ILWIS 3.4 was used. The methodology included structuring the problem by creating a decision tree, standardizing and weighting of the criteria. The results showed that the most suitable buildings are Tania Hotel, Hanul lui Manuc, The National Bank of Romania, The Romanian Commercial Bank and The National History Museum.

Implementing the Payment Card Industry (PCI Data Security Standard (DSS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John O' Raw

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Underpinned by the rise in online criminality, the payment card industry (PCI data security standards (DSS were introduced which outlines a subset of the core principals and requirements that must be followed, including precautions relating to the software that processes credit card data. The necessity to implement these requirements in existing software applications can present software owners and developers with a range of issues. We present here a generic solution to the sensitive issue of PCI compliance where aspect orientated programming (AOP can be applied to meet the requirement of masking the primary account number (PAN. Our architecture allows a definite amount of code to be added which intercepts all the methods specified in the aspect, regardless of future additions to the system thus reducing the amount of work required to the maintain aspect. We believe that the concepts here will provide an insight into how to approach the PCI requirements to undertake the task. The software artefact should also serve as a guide to developers attempting to implement new applications, where security and design are fundamental elements that should be considered through each phase of the software development lifecycle and not as an afterthought.

APLIKASI DECISSION SUPPORT SYSTEM UNTUK TROUBLESHOOTING PADA OPERASIONAL GENSET DI KAPAL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Untung Budiarto

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Studi ini merupakan langkah awal untuk membantu dalam memperbaiki genset tanpa perlu bantuan teknisi profesional. Dengan metode Decision Support System (DSS dalam pemilihan jenis kerusakan, sebagai operator mesin kapal mampu menemukan dan menganalisa serta menghasilkan solusi yang sesuai dengan kerusakan yang terjadi. DSS ini menggunakan software via web yang di integrasikan dengan database My SQL dan dimaksudkan agar lebih mudah menjangkau dalam mengakses berbagai macam solusi kerusakan pada genset di kapal, sehingga mempermudah pengerjaan. Beberapa jenis kerusakan pada genset terbagi menjadi 2(dua bagian, yaitu pada bagian mesin penggerak generator serta generator itu sendiri. Dalam prakteknya, generator lebih jarang mengalami kerusakan. Hal ini disebabkan genset digerakkan oleh mesin penggerak berupa diesel motor, yang diketahui lebih sering mengalami kerusakan . Sehingga  fokus pengerjaan web diutamakan pada mesin penggerak generator. Hasil penelitian ini menghasilkan web dengan integrasi database My SQL menunjukkan jumlah kerusakan sebanyak 305 (tiga ratus lima jenis kerusakan dengan 423 (empat ratus dua puluh tiga jenis gejala.

A decision support framework for characterizing and managing dermal exposures to chemicals during Emergency Management and Operations.

Science.gov (United States)

Dotson, G Scott; Hudson, Naomi L; Maier, Andrew

2015-01-01

Emergency Management and Operations (EMO) personnel are in need of resources and tools to assist in understanding the health risks associated with dermal exposures during chemical incidents. This article reviews available resources and presents a conceptual framework for a decision support system (DSS) that assists in characterizing and managing risk during chemical emergencies involving dermal exposures. The framework merges principles of three decision-making techniques: 1) scenario planning, 2) risk analysis, and 3) multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA). This DSS facilitates dynamic decision making during each of the distinct life cycle phases of an emergency incident (ie, preparedness, response, or recovery) and identifies EMO needs. A checklist tool provides key questions intended to guide users through the complexities of conducting a dermal risk assessment. The questions define the scope of the framework for resource identification and application to support decision-making needs. The framework consists of three primary modules: 1) resource compilation, 2) prioritization, and 3) decision. The modules systematically identify, organize, and rank relevant information resources relating to the hazards of dermal exposures to chemicals and risk management strategies. Each module is subdivided into critical elements designed to further delineate the resources based on relevant incident phase and type of information. The DSS framework provides a much needed structure based on contemporary decision analysis principles for 1) documenting key questions for EMO problem formulation and 2) a method for systematically organizing, screening, and prioritizing information resources on dermal hazards, exposures, risk characterization, and management.

A decision support system-based procedure for evaluation and monitoring of protected areas sustainability for the Mediterranean region

Science.gov (United States)

Pediaditi, K.; Buono, F.; Pompigna, F.; Bogliotti, C.; Nurlu, E.; Ladisa, G.; Petropoulos, G. P.

2011-10-01

Despite common acknowledgement of the value of protected areas as instruments in ensuring sustainability, and their promotion for the achievement of policies on halting the loss of biodiversity, there is no common approach today for monitoring and evaluating them. This paper presents a novel integrated nature conservation management procedure developed to monitor and evaluate the sustainability of Mediterranean protected areas. This procedure was successfully implemented and formally evaluated by protected area managers in six Mediterranean countries, results of which are presented here together with an overview of the web-based Decision Support System (DSS) developed to facilitate its wide adoption. The DSS and procedure has been designed and evaluated by managers as a useful tool, which facilitates and provides needed procedural guidance for protected area monitoring whilst minimizing input requirements to do so. The procedure and DSS were developed following a review of existing protected area assessment tools and a detailed primary investigation of the needs and capacity of its intended users. Essentially, the procedure and DSS guides provide the facilities for protected area managers, in following a participatory approach to develop a context-specific sustainability monitoring strategy, for their protected area. Consequently, the procedure is, by design, participatory, context specific, holistic and relevant to protected area management and institutional procedures. The procedure was piloted and formally evaluated in Greece, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Malta and Cyprus. Feedback collected from the pilot evaluations is also summarised herein.

78 FR 30233 - Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement; Government Support Contractor Access to...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-22

... Number 0750-AG38 Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement; Government Support Contractor Access... Government support contractors to have access to proprietary technical data belonging to prime contractors and other third parties, provided that the technical data owner may require the support contractor to...

A Nationwide Survey of Disability Support Personnel regarding Transition and Services for Postsecondary Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Muenke, Raychel C.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this exploratory study was to analyze the perceptions (through survey data) of Disability Support Services (DSS) personnel regarding the transition process for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) from secondary to postsecondary institutions. Participants from 408 postsecondary institutions completed the survey with 60.4%…

A web-based Decision Support System for the optimal management of construction and demolition waste.

Science.gov (United States)

Banias, G; Achillas, Ch; Vlachokostas, Ch; Moussiopoulos, N; Papaioannou, I

2011-12-01

Wastes from construction activities constitute nowadays the largest by quantity fraction of solid wastes in urban areas. In addition, it is widely accepted that the particular waste stream contains hazardous materials, such as insulating materials, plastic frames of doors, windows, etc. Their uncontrolled disposal result to long-term pollution costs, resource overuse and wasted energy. Within the framework of the DEWAM project, a web-based Decision Support System (DSS) application - namely DeconRCM - has been developed, aiming towards the identification of the optimal construction and demolition waste (CDW) management strategy that minimises end-of-life costs and maximises the recovery of salvaged building materials. This paper addresses both technical and functional structure of the developed web-based application. The web-based DSS provides an accurate estimation of the generated CDW quantities of twenty-one different waste streams (e.g. concrete, bricks, glass, etc.) for four different types of buildings (residential, office, commercial and industrial). With the use of mathematical programming, the DeconRCM provides also the user with the optimal end-of-life management alternative, taking into consideration both economic and environmental criteria. The DSS's capabilities are illustrated through a real world case study of a typical five floor apartment building in Thessaloniki, Greece. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relationship between cognitive emotion regulation, social support, resilience and acute stress responses in Chinese soldiers: Exploring multiple mediation model.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Wen-Peng; Pan, Yu; Zhang, Shui-Miao; Wei, Cun; Dong, Wei; Deng, Guang-Hui

2017-10-01

The current study aimed to explore the association of cognitive emotion regulation, social support, resilience and acute stress responses in Chinese soldiers and to understand the multiple mediation effects of social support and resilience on the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation and acute stress responses. A total of 1477 male soldiers completed mental scales, including the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire-Chinese version, the perceived social support scale, the Chinese version of the Connor-Davidson resilience scale, and the military acute stress scale. As hypothesized, physiological responses, psychological responses, and acute stress were associated with negative-focused cognitive emotion regulation, and negatively associated with positive-focused cognitive emotion regulation, social supports and resilience. Besides, positive-focused cognitive emotion regulation, social support, and resilience were significantly associated with one another, and negative-focused cognitive emotion regulation was negatively associated with social support. Regression analysis and bootstrap analysis showed that social support and resilience had partly mediating effects on negative strategies and acute stress, and fully mediating effects on positive strategies and acute stress. These results thus indicate that military acute stress is significantly associated with cognitive emotion regulation, social support, and resilience, and that social support and resilience have multiple mediation effects on the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation and acute stress responses. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Crucial involvement of tumor-associated neutrophils in the regulation of chronic colitis-associated carcinogenesis in mice.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kun Shang

Full Text Available Ulcerative colitis (UC is a major form of chronic inflammation that can frequently progress to colon cancer. Several studies have demonstrated massive infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages into the lamina propria and submucosa in the progression of UC-associated colon carcinogenesis. Macrophages contribute to the development of colitis-associated colon cancer (CAC. However, the role of neutrophils is not well understood. To better understand the involvement of tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs in the regulation of CAC, we used a mouse CAC model produced by administering azoxymethane (AOM, followed by repeated dextran sulfate sodium (DSS ingestion. This causes severe colonic inflammation and subsequent development of multiple tumors in mice colon. We observed that colorectal mucosal inflammation became increasingly severe with AOM and DSS treatment. Macrophages infiltrated the lamina propria and submucosa, together with a marked increase in neutrophil infiltration. The chemokine CXCL2 increased in the lamina propria and submucosal regions of the colons of the treated mice, together with the infiltration of neutrophils expressing CXCR2, a specific receptor for CXCL2. This process was followed by neoplastic transformation. After AOM and DSS treatment, the mice showed enhanced production of metalloproteinase (MMP-9 and neutrophil elastase (NE, accompanied by excessive vessel generation and cell proliferation. Moreover, CXCL2 promoted neutrophil recruitment and induced neutrophils to express MMP-9 and NE in vitro. Furthermore, administration of neutrophil-neutralizing antibodies after the last DSS cycle markedly reduced the number and size of tumors and decreased the expression of CXCR2, CXCL2, MMP-9, and NE. These observations indicate a crucial role for TANs in the initiation and progression of CAC and suggest that the CXCL2-CXCR2 axis might be useful in reducing the risk of UC-associated colon cancer.

Crucial Involvement of Tumor-Associated Neutrophils in the Regulation of Chronic Colitis-Associated Carcinogenesis in Mice

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Wang, Chen; Wang, Zhen; Gu, Hong-Yu; Du, Xiang; Zhou, Xiao-Yan; Zheng, Chun-Lei; Chi, Ya-Yun; Mukaida, Naofumi; Li, Ying-Yi

2012-01-01

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a major form of chronic inflammation that can frequently progress to colon cancer. Several studies have demonstrated massive infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages into the lamina propria and submucosa in the progression of UC-associated colon carcinogenesis. Macrophages contribute to the development of colitis-associated colon cancer (CAC). However, the role of neutrophils is not well understood. To better understand the involvement of tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) in the regulation of CAC, we used a mouse CAC model produced by administering azoxymethane (AOM), followed by repeated dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) ingestion. This causes severe colonic inflammation and subsequent development of multiple tumors in mice colon. We observed that colorectal mucosal inflammation became increasingly severe with AOM and DSS treatment. Macrophages infiltrated the lamina propria and submucosa, together with a marked increase in neutrophil infiltration. The chemokine CXCL2 increased in the lamina propria and submucosal regions of the colons of the treated mice, together with the infiltration of neutrophils expressing CXCR2, a specific receptor for CXCL2. This process was followed by neoplastic transformation. After AOM and DSS treatment, the mice showed enhanced production of metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 and neutrophil elastase (NE), accompanied by excessive vessel generation and cell proliferation. Moreover, CXCL2 promoted neutrophil recruitment and induced neutrophils to express MMP-9 and NE in vitro. Furthermore, administration of neutrophil-neutralizing antibodies after the last DSS cycle markedly reduced the number and size of tumors and decreased the expression of CXCR2, CXCL2, MMP-9, and NE. These observations indicate a crucial role for TANs in the initiation and progression of CAC and suggest that the CXCL2–CXCR2 axis might be useful in reducing the risk of UC-associated colon cancer. PMID:23272179

MOIRA-PLUS: A decision support system for the management of complex fresh water ecosystems contaminated by radionuclides and heavy metals

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Monte, Luigi; Brittain, John E.; Gallego, Eduardo; Håkanson, Lars; Hofman, Dmitry; Jiménez, Antonio

2009-05-01

The accidental release of radioactive substances into the environment leads to the necessity of applying suitable countermeasures for the restoration of the polluted environment. However, despite their obvious benefits, such interventions may result in detrimental effects of an economic, ecological and social nature that must be carefully evaluated. MOIRA-PLUS is a PC-based user-friendly, computerised decision support system (DSS) that helps decision makers to choose optimal countermeasure strategies for different kinds of aquatic ecosystems and contamination scenarios. The DSS MOIRA-PLUS is based on: Validated models to evaluate the behaviour of radionuclides in contaminated water bodies and biota and to assess the effect of countermeasures on contamination levels; Models to assess the radiation dose to people and biota (fish) by relevant exposure pathways, the effect of countermeasures, and the associated economic impact; A multi-attribute analysis (MAA) module to evaluate the effectiveness of different countermeasure strategies by accounting for the social, ecological and economic detriments and costs in relation to their benefits; A software system consisting of: (1) software realisation of the mathematical models; (2) a Geographic Information System (GIS) and associated databases to select the aquatic system of interest and, if necessary, the default environmental data required to run the models; (3) a graphical user interface (GUI); (4) an operating system connecting all the above parts. The flexible structures of the environmental models implemented in MOIRA-PLUS DSS give the potential for the application of these models to several other types of pollutants, such as heavy metals. The DSS can be applied to complex water systems comprising lakes, reservoirs and rivers. In this paper, the main principles underpinning the functioning of the DSS MOIRA-PLUS are described and discussed.

Internal and External Regulation to Support Knowledge Construction and Convergence in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL)

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Romero, Margarida; Lambropoulos, Niki

2011-01-01

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) activities aim to promote collaborative knowledge construction and convergence. During the CSCL activity, the students should regulate their learning activity, at the individual and collective level. This implies an organisation cost related to the coordination of the activity with the team-mates…

Polysaccharide of Hericium erinaceus attenuates colitis in C57BL/6 mice via regulation of oxidative stress, inflammation-related signaling pathways and modulating the composition of the gut microbiota.

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Ren, Yilin; Geng, Yan; Du, Yan; Li, Wang; Lu, Zhen-Ming; Xu, Hong-Yu; Xu, Guo-Hua; Shi, Jin-Song; Xu, Zheng-Hong

2018-03-16

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a disease caused by a dysregulated immune with unknown etiology. Hericium erinaceus (H. erinaceus) is a Chinese medicinal fungus, with the effect of prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. In this study, we have tested the anti-inflammatory effect of polysaccharide of H. erinaceus (HECP, Mw: 86.67 kDa) in the model of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in C57BL/6 mice. Our data indicated that HECP could improve clinical symptoms and down-regulate key markers of oxidative stresses, including nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), and myeloperoxidase (MPO). HECP also suppressed the secretion of interleukin (IL)-6, interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and decreased the expression of related mRNA. Meanwhile, HECP blocked phosphorylation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) p65, NF-κB inhibitor alpha (IκB-α), mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) and Protein kinase B (Akt) in DSS-treated mice. Moreover, HECP reversed DSS-induced gut dysbiosis and maintained intestinal barrier integrity. In conclusion, HECP ameliorates DSS-induced intestinal injury in mice, which suggests that HECP can serve as a protective dietary nutrient against IBD. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Development of a decision support tool for water and resource management using biotic, abiotic, and hydrological assessments of Topock Marsh, Arizona

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Holmquist-Johnson, Christopher; Hanson, Leanne; Daniels, Joan; Talbert, Colin; Haegele, Jeanette

2016-05-23

Topock Marsh is a large wetland adjacent to the Colorado River and the main feature of Havasu National Wildlife Refuge (Havasu NWR) in southern Arizona. In 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and Bureau of Reclamation began a project to improve water management capabilities at Topock Marsh and protect habitats and species. Initial construction required a drawdown, which caused below-average inflows and water depths in 2010–11. U.S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) scientists collected an assemblage of biotic, abiotic, and hydrologic data from Topock Marsh during the drawdown and immediately after, thus obtaining valuable information needed by FWS.Building upon that work, FORT developed a decision support system (DSS) to better understand ecosystem health and function of Topock Marsh under various hydrologic conditions. The DSS was developed using a spatially explicit geographic information system package of historical data, habitat indices, and analytical tools to synthesize outputs for hydrologic time periods. Deliverables include high-resolution orthorectified imagery of Topock Marsh; a DSS tool that can be used by Havasu NWR to compare habitat availability associated with three hydrologic scenarios (dry, average, wet years); and this final report which details study results. This project, therefore, has addressed critical FWS management questions by integrating ecologic and hydrologic information into a DSS framework. This DSS will assist refuge management to make better informed decisions about refuge operations and better understand the ecological results of those decisions by providing tools to identify the effects of water operations on species-specific habitat and ecological processes. While this approach was developed to help FWS use the best available science to determine more effective water management strategies at Havasu NWR, technologies used in this study could be applied elsewhere within the region.

Self-entrustment: how trainees' self-regulated learning supports participation in the workplace.

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Sagasser, Margaretha H; Kramer, Anneke W M; Fluit, Cornelia R M G; van Weel, Chris; van der Vleuten, Cees P M

2017-10-01

Clinical workplaces offer postgraduate trainees a wealth of opportunities to learn from experience. To promote deliberate and meaningful learning self-regulated learning skills are foundational. We explored trainees' learning activities related to patient encounters to better understand what aspects of self-regulated learning contribute to trainees' development, and to explore supervisor's role herein. We conducted a qualitative non-participant observational study in seven general practices. During two days we observed trainee's patient encounters, daily debriefing sessions and educational meetings between trainee and supervisor and interviewed them separately afterwards. Data collection and analysis were iterative and inspired by a phenomenological approach. To organise data we used networks, time-ordered matrices and codebooks. Self-regulated learning supported trainees to increasingly perform independently. They engaged in self-regulated learning before, during and after encounters. Trainees' activities depended on the type of medical problem presented and on patient, trainee and supervisor characteristics. Trainees used their sense of confidence to decide if they could manage the encounter alone or if they should consult their supervisor. They deliberately used feedback on their performance and engaged in reflection. Supervisors appeared vital in trainees' learning by reassuring trainees, discussing experience, knowledge and professional issues, identifying possible unawareness of incompetence, assessing performance and securing patient safety. Self-confidence, reflection and feedback, and support from the supervisor are important aspects of self-regulated learning in practice. The results reflect how self-regulated learning and self-entrustment promote trainees' increased participation in the workplace. Securing organized moments of interaction with supervisors is beneficial to trainees' self-regulated learning.

Portulaca Extract Attenuates Development of Dextran Sulfate Sodium Induced Colitis in Mice through Activation of PPARγ.

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Kong, Rui; Luo, Hui; Wang, Nan; Li, Jingjing; Xu, Shizan; Chen, Kan; Feng, Jiao; Wu, Liwei; Li, Sainan; Liu, Tong; Lu, Xiya; Xia, Yujing; Shi, Yanhong; Zhou, Yingqun; He, Weigang; Dai, Qi; Zheng, Yuejuan; Lu, Jie

2018-01-01

Portulaca oleracea L. is a traditional Chinese medicine, which has been used as adjuvant therapy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the mechanism of its activity in IBD still remains unclear. Since previous studies have documented the anti-inflammatory effect of peroxisome proliferator activated receptors- γ (PPAR- γ ), Portulaca regulation of PPAR- γ in inflammation was examined in current study. Ulcerative colitis (UC) was generated by 5% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in mice and four groups were established as normal control, DSS alone, DSS plus mesalamine, and DSS plus Portulaca . Severity of UC was evaluated by body weight, stool blood form, and length of colorectum. Inflammation was examined by determination of inflammatory cytokines (TNF-a, IL-6, and IL-1a). Portulaca extract was able to attenuate development of UC in DSS model similar to the treatment of mesalazine. Moreover, Portulaca extract inhibited proinflammatory cytokines release and reduced the level of DSS-induced NF- κ B phosphorylation. Furthermore, Portulaca extract restored PPAR- γ level, which was reduced by DSS. In addition, Portulaca extract protected DSS induced apoptosis in mice. In conclusion, Portulaca extract can alleviate colitis in mice through regulation of inflammatory reaction, apoptosis, and PPAR- γ level; therefore, Portulaca extract can be a potential candidate for the treatment of IBD.

Perceived autonomy support, motivation regulations and the self-evaluative tendencies of student dancers.

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Quested, Eleanor; Duda, Joan L

2011-03-01

Limited research has considered the social-environmental and motivational processes predictive of self evaluations and body-related concerns. Evidence suggests that low self-esteem, poor body evaluations, and associated anxieties are particularly prevalent among the student dance population. Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT), this study examined the relationships among perceptions of autonomy support, motivation regulations, and self-evaluations of body-related concerns in the context of vocational dance. Three hundred and ninety-two dancers completed questionnaires regarding their perceptions of autonomy support in their dance school, reasons for engaging in dance, self-esteem, social physique anxiety (SPA), and body dissatisfaction. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that perceived autonomy support predicted intrinsic motivation (+) and amotivation (-). Extrinsic regulation positively predicted SPA. Amotivation mediated the associations between perceptions of autonomy support and dancers' self-esteem, SPA, and body dissatisfaction. The utility of SDT in understanding predictors of self-worth, physical evaluations, and associated concerns was supported. Moreover, this study provides preliminary evidence supporting the applicability of SDT in dance contexts.

Expectancies for Social Support and Negative Mood Regulation Mediate the Relationship between Childhood Maltreatment and Self-Injury

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Fiona Tresno

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI is common among young people. A majority of individuals who injure themselves do so to alleviate negative affect, as most self-injurers report difficulties with mood regulation. Trauma in childhood is an important risk factor that may cause individuals to develop poor interpersonal relations and impaired emotion-regulation, leading to the use of non-adaptive coping strategies such as NSSI. This study examined factors contributing to self-injury, focusing on the link from childhood maltreatment, through mood regulation expectancies and expectancies for social support (father, mother, and friends, to self-injury. Understanding how these variables relate to NSSI is crucial for early identification of individuals at risk of NSSI. Participants were 377 Japanese university students. Lifetime prevalence of self-injury was 20% among the sample. Results showed childhood maltreatment is a strong predictor that increases the risk for NSSI. However, expectancies for social support and mood regulation seem to be potential protective factors. Mood regulation expectancies mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and self-injury. In addition, expectancies for social support were indirectly linked with NSSI through negative mood regulation expectancies. It appears that perceived support from father and friends increases one's confidence in regulating difficult emotions, which in turn reduces risk for NSSI. Results suggest that strong expectancies for social support, especially from friends, increase one's confidence in regulating emotion, which contributes as a protective factor against self-injury.

A Decision Support System for Assessing Trade-Offs between Ecosystem Management Goals: An Application in Portugal

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Jordi Garcia-Gonzalo

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Cork oak (Quercus suber L. and holm oak (Quercus rotundifolia ecosystems are characteristic of Mediterranean forestry in Portugal. Even though cork is the most valuable product, these ecosystems provide multiple products and services. Assessing trade-offs between multiple goals is thus critical for the effectiveness of oak ecosystem management planning. This paper focuses on the development of a decision support system for oak ecosystems’ scenario analysis including multiple criteria. It includes an innovative decision support systems (DSS functionality to assess trade-offs between the criteria that may support negotiation and consensus building between decision-makers and forest stakeholders. Specifically, a module that encapsulates the Feasible Goals Method/Interactive Decision Maps (FGM/IDM technique is developed for interactive visualization of the Pareto frontier. The Pareto frontier illustrates the degree to which improving one particular criterion requires accepting sacrifices in the achievements of others. It thus provides information about trade-offs between competing decision-makers’ preferences. Results are discussed for a large-scale application encompassing over 1 million ha of cork and holm oak forest ecosystems in Southern Portugal. This study demonstrates the potential of the new DSS functionality to enhance multi-objective forest planning, namely by facilitating participation by stakeholders and providing transparency to the decision-making processes.

Total staff costs to implement a decision support system in nursing

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Valéria Castilho

2014-01-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: to identify the direct labor (DL costs to put in practice a decision support system (DSS in nursing at the University Hospital of the University of São Paulo (HU-USP. METHOD: the development of the DSS was mapped in four sub-processes: Conception, Elaboration, Construction and Transition. To calculate the DL, the baseline salary per professional category was added to the five-year additional remuneration, representation fees and social charges, and then divided by the number of hours contracted, resulting in the hour wage/professional, which was multiplied by the time spend on each activity in the sub-processes. RESULTS: the DL cost corresponded to R$ 752,618.56 (100%, R$ 26,000.00 (3.45% of which were funded by a funding agency, while R$ 726,618.56 (96,55% came from Hospital and University resources. CONCLUSION: considering the total DL cost, 72.1% related to staff wages for the informatics consulting company and 27.9% to the DL of professionals at the HU and the School of Nursing.

Dacfood: a knowledge-based system for decision support in case of radiological contamination of foodstuffs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diaz, A.; Despres, A.; Soulatges, D.

1991-01-01

In case of radiological contamination of foodstuffs, the introduction of a countermeasure has to be justified by balancing its advantages and drawbacks, as recommended by ICRP. Also, to provide authorities with information about the decision context, it has been decided to develop a Decision Support System (DSS). A knowledge-based approach is used for the DSS. Indeed, it allows: . better modelling thanks to, for instance, object oriented programming and rules, . ability to introduce more knowledge thanks to an easier consistency and validity control of the knowledge base, . handling of uncertainties (incomplete, uncertain or evolving knowledge). The present state of the system is presented. DACFOOD is a decision aiding system for contamined foodstuffs, based on a knowledge-based approach. A demonstration model has been developed in a post-Chernobyl CEC research program. It evaluates the sanitary situation, the alternative actions through costs and sanitary effects, and gives information on the decisional background

Elements of a decision support system for real-time management ofdissolved oxygen in the San Joaquin River deep water ship channel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quinn, N.W.T.; Jacobs, Karl; Chen, Carl W.; Stringfellow, WilliamT.

2004-07-15

A decision support system (DSS) has been designed and will be implemented over the next three years to assist in the control and management of episodes of low dissolved oxygen (DO) in a Deep Water Ship Channel (DWSC), located near Stockton, California. The DSS integrates three information technology functions. The first part is the collection and management of data on flow, pollution loads and water quality. The second part is the simulation model which can forecast the dissolved oxygen sag in the DWSC and determine management actions necessary to improve dissolved oxygen concentrations. The third part is the graphical user interface, which facilitates the computer simulations and posting of the forecasted dissolved oxygen and remedial measures to a stakeholder group for implementations.

Pathways from maternal effortful control to child self-regulation: The role of maternal emotional support.

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Zeytinoglu, Selin; Calkins, Susan D; Swingler, Margaret M; Leerkes, Esther M

2017-03-01

This study examined the direct and indirect pathways from maternal effortful control to 2 aspects of children's self-regulation-executive functioning and behavioral regulation-via maternal emotional support. Two hundred seventy-eight children and their primary caregivers (96% mothers) participated in laboratory visits when children were 4 and 5 years, and teachers reported on children's behavior at kindergarten. At the 4-year assessment, maternal effortful control was measured using the Adult Temperament Questionnaire (Evans & Rothbart, 2007) and maternal emotional support was observed during a semistructured mother-child problem-solving task. At the 5-year assessment, children's executive functioning was measured using laboratory tasks designed to assess updating/working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility, whereas behavioral regulation was assessed via teacher-report questionnaires on children's attention control, discipline and persistence, and work habits. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that, after controlling for child gender and minority status, and maternal education, maternal effortful control was indirectly associated with both child executive functioning and behavioral regulation through maternal emotional support. Maternal effortful control had a direct association with children's teacher-reported behavioral regulation but not observed executive functioning. These findings suggest that maternal effortful control may be a key contributing factor to the development of children's self-regulatory competencies through its impact on maternal emotional support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Broad support for regulating the clinical implementation of future reproductive techniques.

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Hendriks, S; Vliegenthart, R; Repping, S; Dancet, E A F

2018-01-01

Do gynaecologists, infertile patients and the general public, consider that regulation of the clinical implementation of stem cell-based fertility treatments is required? There is broad support from gynaecologists, patients and the general public for regulating the clinical implementation of future stem cell-based fertility treatments. There is debate on the need to regulate the clinical implementation of novel techniques. Regulation may hinder their swift adoption and delay benefits for patients, but may prevent the implementation of ineffective or harmful techniques. Stem cell-based fertility treatments, which involve creating oocytes or spermatozoa by manipulating stem cells, are likely to be implemented in clinical practice in the near future and will probably impact future generations as well as the current one. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among gynaecologists working in fertility clinics (n = 179), patients with severe infertility (n = 348) and a representative sample of the general public (n = 1250). The questionnaire was disseminated in the Netherlands in the winter of 2015-2016. The newly developed questionnaire was reviewed by experts and tested among the general public. The questionnaire assessed whether participants wanted each of nine potential negative consequences of the clinical implementation of stem cell-based fertility treatments to be regulated. In addition, the importance of all negative and positive potential consequences, the appropriate regulatory body and its need to consult with advisors from various backgrounds was questioned. In total, 958 respondents completed the questionnaire (response rate: 54%). A large majority of each participant group (>85%) wanted regulation, for at least one potential negative consequence of the clinical implementation of stem cell-based fertility treatments. The majority of all participant groups wanted regulation for serious health risks for intended parents, serious health risks for children and

Model Development of Rainwater Management for Agriculture Decision Support System in Semi Arid Area

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Tunggul S.

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Land cultivation for agricultural purposes in semiarid area is usually carried out only once a year specifically during the rainy season. The condition is even worse since it is not without the risk of failure because of dry-spell or water-logging. To cope with this situation, the researchers developed a model of Rainwater Management for Agriculture Decision Supporting System (RMA-DSS. The objective of this RMA-DSS is to facilitate the decision making to build water infrastructure. Using this program it is hoped that sufficient water supply for specific crops with correct planting time can be guaranteed, which in turn will optimize harvest. The model consists of three parts, namely, rainfall-runoff-infiltration model, crop water requirement-irrigation-drainage model and rainwater management for agriculture model. The Models are designed using Microsoft Excel’s Macro Visual Basic and finalized with Visual Basic language program for operating spatial database of map object and non spatial database.

Evolution of Decision Support Systems Research Field in Numbers

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Ana-Maria SUDUC

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The scientific production in a certain field shows, in great extent, the research interests in that field. Decision Support Systems are a particular class of information systems which are gaining more popularity in various domains. In order to identify the evolution in time of the publications number, authors, subjects, publications in the Decision Support Systems (DSS field, and therefore the scientific world interest for this field, in November 2010 there have been organized a series of queries on three major international scientific databases: ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore Digital Library and ACM Digital Library. The results presented in this paper shows that, even the decision support systems research field started in 1960s, the interests for this type of systems grew exponentially with each year in the last decades.

Decision Support Systems and the Conflict Model of Decision Making: A Stimulus for New Computer-Assisted Careers Guidance Systems.

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Ballantine, R. Malcolm

Decision Support Systems (DSSs) are computer-based decision aids to use when making decisions which are partially amenable to rational decision-making procedures but contain elements where intuitive judgment is an essential component. In such situations, DSSs are used to improve the quality of decision-making. The DSS approach is based on Simon's…

Trends and issues of regulative support use during inquiry learning: patterns from three studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Manlove, S.A.; Lazonder, Adrianus W.; de Jong, Anthonius J.M.

2009-01-01

This paper looks across three experimental studies that examined supports designed to assist high-school students (age 15–19) with cognitive regulation of their physics inquiry learning efforts in a technology-enhanced learning environment called Co-Lab. Cognitive regulation involves the recursive

Computer-Based Support of Decision Making Processes during Biological Incidents

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Karel Antos

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The paper describes contextual analysis of a general system that should provide a computerized support of decision making processes related to response operations in case of a biological incident. This analysis is focused on information systems and information resources perspective and their integration using appropriate tools and technology. In the contextual design the basic modules of BioDSS system are suggested and further elaborated. The modules deal with incident description, scenarios development and recommendation of appropriate countermeasures. Proposals for further research are also included.

NRC safety research in support of regulation. Selected highlights

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-05-01

The report presents selected highlights of how research has contributed to the regulatory effort. It explains the research role of the NRC and nuclear safety research contributions in the areas of: pressure vessel integrity, piping, small- and large-break loss-of-coolant accidents, hydrogen and containment, source term analysis, seismic hazards and high-level waste management. The report also provides a summary of current and future research directions in support of regulation

A generic approach for the design of organizational decision support systems (ODSS)

OpenAIRE

Chalal, Rachid; National Institute of Computer Science; Nader, Fahima; National Institute of Computer Science

2007-01-01

The paper proposes a generic approach to design and develop an Organizational Decision Support System (ODSS). This approach is based at the follows definition: the ODSS is considered as the experts' memory and their decision-taking. Therefore, the ODSS is constituted by two elements, a strategic DSS and a specific referential of the decision situation. Our generic approach for ODSS design is based on the MUSIC (Management and Use of Co-operative Information Systems) model. An illustration of ...

In-Depth Analysis of Exoproteomes from Marine Bacteria by Shotgun Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry: the Ruegeria pomeroyi DSS-3 Case-Study

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Jean Armengaud

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Microorganisms secrete into their extracellular environment numerous compounds that are required for their survival. Many of these compounds could be of great interest for biotechnology applications and their genes used in synthetic biology design. The secreted proteins and the components of the translocation systems themselves can be scrutinized in-depth by the most recent proteomic tools. While the secretomes of pathogens are well-documented, those of non-pathogens remain largely to be established. Here, we present the analysis of the exoproteome from the marine bacterium Ruegeria pomeroyi DSS-3 grown in standard laboratory conditions. We used a shotgun approach consisting of trypsin digestion of the exoproteome, and identification of the resulting peptides by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Three different proteins that have domains homologous to those observed in RTX toxins were uncovered and were semi-quantified as the most abundantly secreted proteins. One of these proteins clearly stands out from the catalogue, representing over half of the total exoproteome. We also listed many soluble proteins related to ABC and TRAP transporters implied in the uptake of nutrients. The Ruegeria pomeroyi DSS-3 case-study illustrates the power of the shotgun nano-LC-MS/MS strategy to decipher the exoproteome from marine bacteria and to contribute to environmental proteomics.

Action of arginine for protection of ulcerative colitis by dextran sodium sulphate (DSS); Acao da arginina na protecao da colite ulcerativa induzida por sulfato de sodio dextrano

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andrade, Maria Emilia Rabelo

2016-10-01

Recent studies have demonstrated the benefits of immunomodulators, such as arginine, in the regulation of inflammatory responses and trophism of the intestinal mucosa. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible mechanisms action of arginine (pretreatment or treatment) in experimental model of ulcerative colitis induced by dextran sodium sulfate (DSS). C57BL/6 mice were randomized into 5 groups: Control group (C): standard diet and water; Arginine group (ARG): diet supplementation with arginine and water; Colitis group (COL): standard diet and DSS solution; Pretreated group (PT): diet supplementation with arginine before and during colitis induction; Treated group (T): diet supplementation with arginine during colitis induction. Colitis was induced by administration of 1.5% DSS for 5 days. After this, all the mice were euthanized and blood, organs and intestinal fluid were collected for carrying out analyzes. Parameters such as intestinal permeability (IP), bacterial translocation (BT), histological analysis (histological score, morphometric analysis, collagen and mucins stain), nitrate and nitrite, cytokines and chemokines, secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), inflammatory infiltrate and oxidative stress were performed. The ARG group did not show difference compared to group C in the investigated parameters (C vs ARG: p> 0.05). The COL group showed increased IP (C vs COL: p < 0.05) and BT (C vs COL: p <0.05). In the histological analysis, the COL group showed severe inflammation and reduction the crypts length. In addition, in the group COL observed increase infiltration of eosinophils, neutrophils and macrophages in the colon, increase cytokine IL-17 and chemokine KC in serum and oxidative stress in the colon (COL vs C: p <0.05). In the arginine-supplemented groups (PT and T) was observed decrease IP and BT to blood, liver and lung (PT and T vs Col: p <0.05). Histological analysis showed that the arginine (PT and T) preserved the intestinal mucosa and crypts

Multi-objective, multiple participant decision support for water management in the Andarax catchment, Almeria

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van Cauwenbergh, N.; Pinte, D.; Tilmant, A.; Frances, I.; Pulido-Bosch, A.; Vanclooster, M.

2008-04-01

Water management in the Andarax river basin (Almeria, Spain) is a multi-objective, multi-participant, long-term decision-making problem that faces several challenges. Adequate water allocation needs informed decisions to meet increasing socio-economic demands while respecting the environmental integrity of this basin. Key players in the Andarax water sector include the municipality of Almeria, the irrigators involved in the intensive greenhouse agricultural sector, and booming second residences. A decision support system (DSS) is developed to rank different sustainable planning and management alternatives according to their socio-economic and environmental performance. The DSS is intimately linked to sustainability indicators and is designed through a public participation process. Indicators are linked to criteria reflecting stakeholders concerns in the 2005 field survey, such as fulfilling water demand, water price, technical and economical efficiency, social and environmental impacts. Indicators can be partly quantified after simulating the operation of the groundwater reservoir over a 20-year planning period and partly through a parallel expert evaluation process. To predict the impact of future water demand in the catchment, several development scenarios are designed to be evaluated in the DSS. The successive multi-criteria analysis of the performance indicators permits the ranking of the different management alternatives according to the multiple objectives formulated by the different sectors/participants. This allows more informed and transparent decision-making processes for the Andarax river basin, recognizing both the socio-economic and environmental dimensions of water resources management.

Multi-criteria decision analysis using hydrological indicators for decision support - a conceptual framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Butchart-Kuhlmann, Daniel; Kralisch, Sven; Meinhardt, Markus; Fleischer, Melanie

2017-04-01

Assessing the quantity and quality of water available in water stressed environments under various potential climate and land-use changes is necessary for good water and environmental resources management and governance. Within the region covered by the Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL) project, such areas are common. One goal of the SASSCAL project is to develop and provide an integrated decision support system (DSS) with which decision makers (DMs) within a given catchment can obtain objective information regarding potential changes in water flow quantity and timing. The SASSCAL DSS builds upon existing data storage and distribution capability, through the SASSCAL Information System (IS), as well as the J2000 hydrological model. Using output from validated J2000 models, the SASSCAL DSS incorporates the calculation of a range of hydrological indicators based upon Indicators of Hydrological Alteration/Environmental Flow Components (IHA/EFC) calculated for a historic time series (pre-impact) and a set of model simulations based upon a selection of possible climate and land-use change scenarios (post-impact). These indicators, obtained using the IHA software package, are then used as input for a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) undertaken using the open source diviz software package. The results of these analyses will provide DMs with an indication as to how various hydrological indicators within a catchment may be altered under different future scenarios, as well providing a ranking of how each scenario is preferred according to different DM preferences. Scenarios are represented through a combination of model input data and parameter settings in J2000, and preferences are represented through criteria weighting in the MCDA. Here, the methodology is presented and applied to the J2000 Luanginga model results using a set of hypothetical decision maker preference values as input for an MCDA based on

Development of decision support system for oil spill management in the Mediterranean Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Liubartseva, Svitlana; Coppini, Giovanni; Pinardi, Nadia; De Dominicis, Michela; Marra, Palmalisa; Lecci, Rita; Turrisi, Giuseppe; Creti, Sergio; Martinelli, Sara; Agostini, Paola; Palermo, Francesco

2016-04-01

Possible oil spill accidents and operational pollution could have severe impacts on the Mediterranean basin. It is therefore crucial to provide decision makers, stakeholders, and public with trustworthy DSS (Decision Support System) based on the environmental monitoring, state-of-the-art modeling and innovative technology platforms. Innovative web-based decision support system, called WITOL (Where Is The Oil http://www.witoil.com), has been developed to maintain emergency management in case of oil spill accidents. WITOIL embraces (1) Lagrangian oil spill model MEDSLIK-II (De Dominicis et al., 2013 http://medslikii.bo.ingv.it) coupled with the basin-scale and regional operational oceanographic services; (2) two-modular block of oil spill forecast and uncertainty evaluation; (3) user visualization tool including web and mobile interface with visualization of geospatial information by means of Google Maps. Service-oriented approach plays a key role in the WITOIL DSS development. The system meets the real-time requirements in terms of performance and in dynamic service delivery. Client part of WITOIL is presented by a 8-language GUI (Graphical User Interface) supplied with a great variety of user services including a video tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj_GokYy8MU). GUI allows users to configure and activate the system, visualize the results using Google Maps, and save them afterwards. Not only does a new generation of DSS require the oil spill forecast, but it also needs the evaluation of uncertainty, which is critical for efficient response, recovery, and mitigation. Uncertainty in prediction of the oil transport and transformation stems from the uncertain environment and data-sparse. A new methodology of uncertainty calculation with respect to initial conditions is incorporated in WITOIL DSS. The results are presented in probability terms. Special application to Android has been implemented to support users involved in the field operations. The system is

User's manual for the upper Delaware River riverine environmental flow decision support system (REFDSS), Version 1.1.2

Science.gov (United States)

Talbert, Colin; Maloney, Kelly O.; Holmquist-Johnson, Chris; Hanson, Leanne

2014-01-01

Between 2002 and 2006, the Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted field surveys, organized workshops, and performed analysis of habitat for trout and shad in the Upper Delaware River Basin. This work culminated in the development of decision support system software (the Delaware River DSS–DRDSS, Bovee and others, 2007) that works in conjunction with the Delaware River Basin Commission’s reservoir operations model, OASIS, to facilitate comparison of the habitat and water-delivery effects of alternative operating scenarios for the Basin. This original DRDSS application was developed in Microsoft Excel and is available to all interested parties through the FORT web site (http://www.fort.usgs.gov/Products/Software/DRDSS/). Initial user feedback on the original Excel-based DSS highlighted the need for a more user-friendly and powerful interface to effectively deliver the complex data and analyses encapsulated in the DSS. In order to meet this need, the USGS FORT and Northern Appalachian Research Branch (NARB) developed an entirely new graphical user interface (GUI) application. Support for this research was through the DOI WaterSmart program (http://www.doi.gov/watersmart/html/index.php) of which the USGS component is the National Water Census (http://water.usgs.gov/watercensus/WaterSMART.html). The content and methodology of the new GUI interface emulates those of the original DSS with a few exceptions listed below. Refer to Bovee and others (2007) for the original information. Significant alterations to the original DSS include: • We moved from Excel-based data storage and processing to a more powerful database back end powered by SQLite. The most notable effect of this is that the previous maximum temporal extent of 10 years has been replaced by a dynamic extent that can now cover the entire period of record for which we have data (1928–2000). • We incorporated interactive geographic information system (GIS

Emotion Regulation as the Foundation of Political Attitudes: Does Reappraisal Decrease Support for Conservative Policies?

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jooa Julia; Sohn, Yunkyu; Fowler, James H.

2013-01-01

Cognitive scientists, behavior geneticists, and political scientists have identified several ways in which emotions influence political attitudes, and psychologists have shown that emotion regulation can have an important causal effect on physiology, cognition, and subjective experience. However, no work to date explores the possibility that emotion regulation may shape political ideology and attitudes toward policies. Here, we conduct four studies that investigate the role of a particular emotion regulation strategy – reappraisal in particular. Two observational studies show that individual differences in emotion regulation styles predict variation in political orientations and support for conservative policies. In the third study, we experimentally induce disgust as the target emotion to be regulated and show that use of reappraisal reduces the experience of disgust, thereby decreasing moral concerns associated with conservatism. In the final experimental study, we show that use of reappraisal successfully attenuates the relationship between trait-level disgust sensitivity and support for conservative policies. Our findings provide the first evidence of a critical link between emotion regulation and political attitudes. PMID:24367583

Emotion regulation as the foundation of political attitudes: does reappraisal decrease support for conservative policies?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jooa Julia Lee

Full Text Available Cognitive scientists, behavior geneticists, and political scientists have identified several ways in which emotions influence political attitudes, and psychologists have shown that emotion regulation can have an important causal effect on physiology, cognition, and subjective experience. However, no work to date explores the possibility that emotion regulation may shape political ideology and attitudes toward policies. Here, we conduct four studies that investigate the role of a particular emotion regulation strategy--reappraisal in particular. Two observational studies show that individual differences in emotion regulation styles predict variation in political orientations and support for conservative policies. In the third study, we experimentally induce disgust as the target emotion to be regulated and show that use of reappraisal reduces the experience of disgust, thereby decreasing moral concerns associated with conservatism. In the final experimental study, we show that use of reappraisal successfully attenuates the relationship between trait-level disgust sensitivity and support for conservative policies. Our findings provide the first evidence of a critical link between emotion regulation and political attitudes.

Longitudinal Relations between Beliefs Supporting Aggression,Anger Regulation, and Dating Aggression among Early Adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, Terri N; Garthe, Rachel C; Goncy, Elizabeth A; Carlson, Megan M; Behrhorst, Kathryn L

2017-05-01

Dating aggression occurs frequently in early to mid-adolescence and has negative repercussions for psychosocial adjustment and physical health. The patterns of behavior learned during this developmental timeframe may persist in future dating relationships, underscoring the need to identify risk factors for this outcome. The current study examined longitudinal relations between beliefs supporting aggression, anger regulation, and dating aggression. Participants were 176 middle school students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade (50 % female; 82 % African American). No direct effects were found between beliefs supporting reactive or proactive aggression and dating aggression. Beliefs supporting reactive aggression predicted increased rates of anger dysregulation, and beliefs supporting proactive aggression led to subsequent increases in anger inhibition. Anger dysregulation and inhibition were associated with higher frequencies of dating aggression. An indirect effect was found for the relation between beliefs supporting reactive aggression and dating aggression via anger dysregulation. Another indirect effect emerged for the relation between beliefs supporting proactive aggression and dating aggression through anger inhibition. The study's findings suggested that beliefs supporting proactive and reactive aggression were differentially related to emotion regulation processes, and identified anger dysregulation and inhibition as risk factors for dating aggression among adolescents.

Smokers' attitudes and support for e-cigarette policies and regulation in the USA.

Science.gov (United States)

Wackowski, Olivia A; Delnevo, Cristine D

2015-11-01

In April 2014, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a rule to extend its tobacco regulatory authority to e-cigarettes, which have been unregulated and growing in use since their 2006-2007 US introduction. The FDA will issue a final rule based on comments and data received from researchers, tobacco companies and the public. We aimed to present data about current smokers' awareness of and attitudes towards potential e-cigarette regulation and various policies in the USA. We conducted a cross-sectional online e-cigarette focused survey of 519 adult current smokers in April 2014, before the FDA's proposed rule was announced. Participants were recruited from a private research panel (GFK's Knowledge Networks) designed to be representative of the US population. The majority of respondents (62.5%) did not know that e-cigarettes are unregulated by the FDA but agreed that e-cigarettes should be regulated by the FDA for safety and quality (83.5%), carry warning labels about their potential risks (86.6%) and have the same legal age of sale as other tobacco (87.7%). Support was similarly high among current e-cigarette users. Support was substantial though lower overall for policies to restrict e-cigarette indoor use (41.2%), flavouring (44.3%) and advertising (55.5%), and was negatively associated with current e-cigarette use. Support for many e-cigarette regulatory policies is strong among smokers, including for policies that the FDA has recently proposed and potential future regulations. States considering indoor e-cigarette restrictions should know that a substantial number of current smokers support such regulations. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

The ESPAT tool: a general-purpose DSS shell for solving stochastic optimization problems in complex river-aquifer systems

Science.gov (United States)

Macian-Sorribes, Hector; Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel; Tilmant, Amaury

2015-04-01

Stochastic programming methods are better suited to deal with the inherent uncertainty of inflow time series in water resource management. However, one of the most important hurdles in their use in practical implementations is the lack of generalized Decision Support System (DSS) shells, usually based on a deterministic approach. The purpose of this contribution is to present a general-purpose DSS shell, named Explicit Stochastic Programming Advanced Tool (ESPAT), able to build and solve stochastic programming problems for most water resource systems. It implements a hydro-economic approach, optimizing the total system benefits as the sum of the benefits obtained by each user. It has been coded using GAMS, and implements a Microsoft Excel interface with a GAMS-Excel link that allows the user to introduce the required data and recover the results. Therefore, no GAMS skills are required to run the program. The tool is divided into four modules according to its capabilities: 1) the ESPATR module, which performs stochastic optimization procedures in surface water systems using a Stochastic Dual Dynamic Programming (SDDP) approach; 2) the ESPAT_RA module, which optimizes coupled surface-groundwater systems using a modified SDDP approach; 3) the ESPAT_SDP module, capable of performing stochastic optimization procedures in small-size surface systems using a standard SDP approach; and 4) the ESPAT_DET module, which implements a deterministic programming procedure using non-linear programming, able to solve deterministic optimization problems in complex surface-groundwater river basins. The case study of the Mijares river basin (Spain) is used to illustrate the method. It consists in two reservoirs in series, one aquifer and four agricultural demand sites currently managed using historical (XIV century) rights, which give priority to the most traditional irrigation district over the XX century agricultural developments. Its size makes it possible to use either the SDP or

Design document for landfill capping Prototype Decision Support System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stone, J.J.; Paige, G.; Hakonson, T.E.; Lane, L.J.

1994-01-01

The overall objective of the Prototype Decision Support System for shallow land burial project is to ''Develop a Decision Support System tool which incorporates simulation modeling and multi-objective decision theory for the purpose of designing and evaluating alternative trench cap designs for mixed waste landfill covers. The goal is to improve the quality of technical information used by the risk manager to select landfill cover designs while taking into account technological, economical, and regulatory factors.'' The complexity of the technical and non-technical information, and how the information varies in importance across sites, points to the need for decision analysis tools that provide a common basis for integrating, synthesizing, and valuing the decision input. Because the cost of remediating thousands of contaminated DOE sites is projected to be in the 10's--100's of billions of dollars, methods will be needed to establish cleanup priorities and to help in the selection and evaluation of cost effective remediation alternatives. Even at this early stage in DOE's cleanup program, it is certain that capping technologies will be heavily relied upon to remediate the 3000+ landfills on DOE property. Capping is favored in remediating most DOE landfills because, based on preliminary baseline risk assessments, human and ecological risks are considered to be low at most of these sites and the regulatory requirements for final closure of old landfills can be met using a well designed cap to isolate the buried waste. This report describes a program plan to design, develop, and test a decision support system (DSS) for assisting the DOE risk manager in evaluating capping alternatives for radioactive and hazardous waste landfills. The DOE DSS will incorporate methods for calculating, integrating and valuing technical, regulatory, and economic criteria

Collection of Medical Original Data with Search Engine for Decision Support.

Science.gov (United States)

Orthuber, Wolfgang

2016-01-01

Medicine is becoming more and more complex and humans can capture total medical knowledge only partially. For specific access a high resolution search engine is demonstrated, which allows besides conventional text search also search of precise quantitative data of medical findings, therapies and results. Users can define metric spaces ("Domain Spaces", DSs) with all searchable quantitative data ("Domain Vectors", DSs). An implementation of the search engine is online in http://numericsearch.com. In future medicine the doctor could make first a rough diagnosis and check which fine diagnostics (quantitative data) colleagues had collected in such a case. Then the doctor decides about fine diagnostics and results are sent (half automatically) to the search engine which filters a group of patients which best fits to these data. In this specific group variable therapies can be checked with associated therapeutic results, like in an individual scientific study for the current patient. The statistical (anonymous) results could be used for specific decision support. Reversely the therapeutic decision (in the best case with later results) could be used to enhance the collection of precise pseudonymous medical original data which is used for better and better statistical (anonymous) search results.

The State Regulation and Accounting and Analytical Support of the Development of E-Commerce in the Consumer Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koval Viktor V

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to study the theoretical and methodological principles of the state regulation and accounting and analytical support of the development of e-commerce in the consumer sector. The peculiarities of the state regulation and accounting and analytical support of the development of e-commerce in the consumer sector have been considered. The international and domestic experience in the field of regulatory support of e-commerce is studied. There systematized the ways of solving the problems of e-commerce in Ukraine based on the need to minimize the direct regulation with the perfection of the institutional environment to improve business conditions including the issues of the fiscal regime and simplification of the customs tariff regulation. The state regulation of e-commerce should constructively contribute to the development of entrepreneurship among other measures by solving the problem of financial control of electronic transactions and supporting the payment infrastructure of e-commerce in the consumer market on the basis of its corresponding accounting and analytical support. Prospects of further research in this direction are definition of a clear and harmonized with international standards state policy in the sphere of regulation of e-commerce in the consumer market on the basis of the relevant accounting and analytical support, since the appearance of new objects and forms of economic activity sets new tasks for the accounting, which develops in parallel with these changes and generates information for managing at both the micro and macro level.

NRC safety research in support of regulation, 1986

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-09-01

This report is the second in a series of annual reports responding to congressional inquiries as to the utilization of nuclear regulatory research. NUREG-1175, ''NRC Safety Research in Support of Regulation,'' published in May 1986, reported major research accomplishments between about FY 1980 and FY 1985. This report narrates the accomplishments of FY 1986 and does not restate earlier accomplishments. Earlier research results are mentioned in the context of current results in the interest of continuity. Both the direct contributions to scientific and technical knowledge and their regulatory applications, when there has been a definite regulatory outcome during FY 1986, have been described

Autonomy promotion, responsiveness, and emotion regulation promote effective social support in times of stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Cutrona, Carolyn E; Russell, Daniel W

2017-02-01

Adult attachment theory provides guidance for providing optimal social support in intimate relationships. According to attachment theory, facilitating autonomy (secure base support) sometimes is more important than providing nurturance (safe haven support). In addition, it is important that couples celebrate one another's triumphs and successes (another form of secure base support). A key construct that explains the development of attachment is responsiveness to the individual's needs. Support that is delivered in a responsive manner (i.e., that leads the individual to feel understood, validated, and cared for) is more likely to enhance the relationship and less likely to damage self-esteem than assistance that is not responsive. A responsive exchange is more likely if emotion dysregulation can be prevented. Attachment theory offers explanations for why people vary in their effectiveness at emotion regulation. Appropriate emotion regulation is more likely if disclosures of current difficulties can be made in a way that is not defensive or accusatory, an ability that varies as a function of attachment orientation. Attachment theory also offers guidance regarding the optimal forms of social support for specific individuals. All these insights from adult attachment theory can be integrated into interventions to help couples become more effective support providers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Celecoxib prevents colitis associated colon carcinogenesis: an upregulation of apoptosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Setia, Shruti; Nehru, Bimla; Sanyal, Sankar N

2014-12-01

Uncontrolled cell proliferation and suppressed apoptosis are the critical events transforming a normal cell to a cancerous one wherein the inflammatory microenvironment supports this oncogenic transformation. The process of colon carcinogenesis may be aggravated in chronic inflammatory conditions such as ulcerative colitis where non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may effectively prevent the cellular and molecular events. Western blots and immunofluorescent analysis of DNA mismatch repair enzymes, cell cycle regulators and pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins were performed in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis and 1,2-dimethyl benz(a)anthracene (DMH)-induced colon cancer. Also, apoptotic studies were done in isolated colonocytes using fluorescent staining and in paraffin sections using TUNEL assay. An upregulation of cell cycle regulators: cyclin D1/cdk4 and cyclin E/cdk2 and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, along with the suppression of DNA repair enzymes: MLH1 and MSH2; tumour suppressors: p53, p21and Rb and pro-apoptotic proteins: Bax and Bad were observed in the DSS, DMH and DSS+DMH groups. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was also overexpressed in these groups. The ultimate executioner of the apoptotic pathway; caspase-3, was suppressed in these groups. Apoptotic studies in colonocytes and paraffin sections revealed suppressed apoptosis in these groups. These effects were corrected with the administration of a second generation NSAID, celecoxib along with the treatment of DSS and DMH. The chemopreventive action of celecoxib in colitis mediated colon carcinogenesis may include the regulation of DNA mismatch repair enzymes, cell cycle check points, cell proliferation and apoptosis. Copyright © 2014 Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier Urban & Partner Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved.

Suicide ideation among high-risk adolescent females: Examining the interplay between parasympathetic regulation and friendship support

Science.gov (United States)

GILETTA, MATTEO; HASTINGS, PAUL D.; RUDOLPH, KAREN D.; BAUER, DANIEL J.; NOCK, MATTHEW K.; PRINSTEIN, MITCHELL J.

2018-01-01

Poor physiological self-regulation has been proposed as a potential biological vulnerability for adolescent suicidality. This study tested this hypothesis by examining the effect of parasympathetic stress responses on future suicide ideation. In addition, drawing from multilevel developmental psychopathology theories, the interplay between parasympathetic regulation and friendship support, conceptualized as an external source of regulation, was examined. At baseline, 132 adolescent females (M age = 14.59, SD = 1.39) with a history of mental health concerns participated in an in vivo interpersonal stressor (a laboratory speech task) and completed self-report measures of depressive symptoms and perceived support within a close same-age female friendship. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was measured before and during the speech task. Suicide ideation was assessed at baseline and at 3, 6, and 9 months follow-up. The results revealed that females with greater relative RSA decreases to the laboratory stressor were at higher risk for reporting suicide ideation over the subsequent 9 months. Moreover, parasympathetic responses moderated the effect of friendship support on suicide ideation; among females with mild changes or higher relative increases in RSA, but not more pronounced RSA decreases, friendship support reduced risk for future suicide ideation. Findings highlight the crucial role of physiological and external regulation sources as protective factors for youth suicidality. PMID:28031059

Bifidobacterium longum CCM 7952 Promotes Epithelial Barrier Function and Prevents Acute DSS-Induced Colitis in Strictly Strain-Specific Manner.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dagmar Srutkova

Full Text Available Reduced microbial diversity has been associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD and probiotic bacteria have been proposed for its prevention and/or treatment. Nevertheless, comparative studies of strains of the same subspecies for specific health benefits are scarce. Here we compared two Bifidobacterium longum ssp. longum strains for their capacity to prevent experimental colitis.Immunomodulatory properties of nine probiotic bifidobacteria were assessed by stimulation of murine splenocytes. The immune responses to B. longum ssp. longum CCM 7952 (Bl 7952 and CCDM 372 (Bl 372 were further characterized by stimulation of bone marrow-derived dendritic cell, HEK293/TLR2 or HEK293/NOD2 cells. A mouse model of dextran sulphate sodium (DSS-induced colitis was used to compare their beneficial effects in vivo.The nine bifidobacteria exhibited strain-specific abilities to induce cytokine production. Bl 372 induced higher levels of both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in spleen and dendritic cell cultures compared to Bl 7952. Both strains engaged TLR2 and contain ligands for NOD2. In a mouse model of DSS-induced colitis, Bl 7952, but not Bl 372, reduced clinical symptoms and preserved expression of tight junction proteins. Importantly, Bl 7952 improved intestinal barrier function as demonstrated by reduced FITC-dextran levels in serum.We have shown that Bl 7952, but not Bl 372, protected mice from the development of experimental colitis. Our data suggest that although some immunomodulatory properties might be widespread among the genus Bifidobacterium, others may be rare and characteristic only for a specific strain. Therefore, careful selection might be crucial in providing beneficial outcome in clinical trials with probiotics in IBD.

Tsunami early warning and decision support

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T. Steinmetz

2010-09-01

Full Text Available An innovative newly developed modular and standards based Decision Support System (DSS is presented which forms part of the German Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS. The GITEWS project stems from the effort to implement an effective and efficient Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System for the coast of Indonesia facing the Sunda Arc along the islands of Sumatra, Java and Bali. The geological setting along an active continental margin which is very close to densely populated areas is a particularly difficult one to cope with, because potential tsunamis' travel times are thus inherently short. National policies require an initial warning to be issued within the first five minutes after an earthquake has occurred. There is an urgent requirement for an end-to-end solution where the decision support takes the entire warning chain into account. The system of choice is based on pre-computed scenario simulations and rule-based decision support which is delivered to the decision maker through a sophisticated graphical user interface (GUI using information fusion and fast information aggregation to create situational awareness in the shortest time possible. The system also contains risk and vulnerability information which was designed with the far end of the warning chain in mind – it enables the decision maker to base his acceptance (or refusal of the supported decision also on regionally differentiated risk and vulnerability information (see Strunz et al., 2010. While the system strives to provide a warning as quickly as possible, it is not in its proper responsibility to send and disseminate the warning to the recipients. The DSS only broadcasts its messages to a dissemination system (and possibly any other dissemination system which is operated under the responsibility of BMKG – the meteorological, climatological and geophysical service of Indonesia – which also hosts the tsunami early warning center. The system is to be seen

Web-Based Group Decision Support System: an Economic Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ion ISTUDOR

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Decision Support Systems (DSS form a specific class of computerized information systems that support business and managerial decision-making activities. Making the right decision in business primarily depends on the quality of data. It also depends on the ability to analyze the data with a view to identifying trends that can suggest solutions and strategies. A “cooperative” decision support system means the data are collected, analyzed and then provided to a human agent who can help the system to revise or refine the data. It means that both a human component and computer component work together to come up with the best solution. This paper describes the usage of a software product (Vanguard System to a specific economic application (evaluating the financial risk assuming that the rate of the economic profitability can be under the value of the interest rate.

Soybean and fish oil mixture increases IL-10, protects against DNA damage and decreases colonic inflammation in rats with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS colitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carvalho Patrícia O

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract It was investigated whether dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA could influence colonic injury, tissue DNA damage, cytokines and myeloperoxidase activity (MPO and plasma corticosterone in DSS-induced colitis rats. Male weaning Wistar rats were fed for 47 days with an AIN-93 diet with control (C, fish (F or a mixture of fish and soybean oil (SF. The colitis was induced from day 36 until day 42 by 3% DSS in drinking water. On day 48, blood samples were collected for corticosterone determination. The distal colon was excised for histological analysis and to quantify the cytokine (IL-4, IL-10 and INF-γ, MPO and DNA damage. The disease activity index (DAI was recorded daily during colitis induction. The DAI, MPO, histological analyses showed decreases only in the SF group compared with the C group. IL-10 was increased and DNA damage was reduced in the groups F and SF, and an inverse correlation between these variables was found. There were no differences in corticosterone, IFN-γ and IL-4 levels. Soybean and fish oil mixture may be effective in improving colonic injury and DNA damage, and it could be an important complementary therapy in UC to reduce the use of anti-inflammatory drugs and prevent colorectal cancer.

RODOS: a comprehensive European - integrated decision support system for Romania

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mateescu, Gh.; Gheorghiu, Adriana; Gheorghiu, Dorina; Slavnicu, Dan; Craciunescu, Teddy

1998-01-01

This work is basically dedicated to RODOS (Real-time On-line DecisiOn support System), a comprehensive (computerized) decision support system ((C)DSS), integrated at European scale, which is in progress to be customized and implemented also for Romania to cope with the off-site response to nuclear emergencies. The first part deals with a short introduction regarding the need for a decision support system especially in case of a nuclear accident; there are also briefly reviewed the criteria one could demand that a CDSS should fulfill and the need for CDSS to give unequivocal answers to all encountered matters. Subsequently, there are mentioned some of the most known DSS in the world for off-site response to nuclear emergencies together with certain recent accomplishment of the IAEA in this field. The next chapter is dedicated to the four basic related projects (ECURIE, EURDEP, OSEP and RODOS) of the European Commission whose purpose consists in the optimisation of the nuclear emergency preparedness and response everywhere in Europe. Further on there are presented the basic features (the overall structure and functions), along with component software subsystems of the RODOS and, then, the background of RODOS implementation in Romania is reviewed (Romanian reasons to adhere to the RODOS project, needs, national legal framework and competent authorities in the nuclear domain, national radiological and meteorological networks. Finally, it is shortly reported the present status of RODOS customization and implementation in Romania (RODOS dedicated technical environment, collection of data and their transfer into RoGIS database, real-time on-line connection to networks, collection of data for countermeasure modules, source term assessment for CANDU-reactor, other related achievements) together with some concluding remarks. (authors)

Differential intestinal anti-inflammatory effects of Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus salivarius in DSS mouse colitis: impact on microRNAs expression and microbiota composition.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez-Nogales, Alba; Algieri, Francesca; Garrido-Mesa, Jose; Vezza, Teresa; Utrilla, M Pilar; Chueca, Natalia; Garcia, Federico; Olivares, Mónica; Rodríguez-Cabezas, M Elena; Gálvez, Julio

2017-11-01

To compare the intestinal anti-inflammatory effects of two probiotics Lactobacillus fermentum and Lactobacillus salivarius in mouse colitis, focusing on their impact on selected miRNAs and microbiota composition. Male C57BL/6J mice were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 10): non-colitic, DSS colitic and two colitic groups treated with probiotics (5 × 10 8 CFU/mouse/day). Both probiotics ameliorated macroscopic colonic damage. They improved the colonic expression of markers involved in the immune response, and the expression of miR-155 and miR-223. L. fermentum also restored miR-150 and miR-143 expression, also linked to the preservation of the intestinal barrier function. Besides, these beneficial effects were associated with the amelioration of the microbiota dysbiosis and a recovery of the SCFAs- and lactic acid-producing bacterial populations, although only L. fermentum improved Chao richness, Pielou evenness and Shannon diversity. Moreover, L. fermentum also restored the Treg cell population in MLNs and the Th1/Th2 cytokine balance. Both probiotics exerted intestinal anti-inflammatory effects in DSS-mouse colitis, maybe due to their ability to restore the intestinal microbiota homeostasis and modulate the immune response. L. fermentum showed a greater beneficial effect compared to L. salivarius, which makes it more interesting for future studies. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Regulation and inspection support radiation protection in nuclear and other installations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, M.K.; Potter, C.; Harbison, S.A.

1996-01-01

Over the past fifty years, radiation protection legislation in the UK has developed from a narrow industry-specific base to a comprehensive package of regulations and supporting Approved Code of Practice, with additional provisions for nuclear installations. Development of this legislation mirrors progress in international understanding about the risks from exposure to ionising radiation. The current Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985 largely implement the Euratom 1980 Basic Safety Standards Directive and place particular emphasis on the need to keep exposure as low as reasonably practicable. The regulations have been underpinned by the development of the concept of the Tolerability of Risk and the application of the ALARP/ALARA principle, particularly at nuclear installations. Analysis of dose data on HSE's Central Index of Dose Information has shown the general success of this approach in the UK; the data have also allowed targeting of inspection effort. Currently, the Health and Safety Commission and Executive are developing plans for implementing the revised EU Basic Safety Standards Directive. (author)

Physicochemical and nutraceutical properties of moringa (Moringa oleifera) leaves and their effects in an in vivo AOM/DSS-induced colorectal carcinogenesis model.

Science.gov (United States)

Cuellar-Nuñez, M L; Luzardo-Ocampo, I; Campos-Vega, R; Gallegos-Corona, M A; González de Mejía, E; Loarca-Piña, G

2018-03-01

Moringa (Moringa oleifera) is a plant that has generated great interest in recent years because of its attributed medicinal properties. The aim of this study was to characterize the bioactive compounds of moringa leaves (MO) and evaluate their effect on a colorectal carcinogenesis model. Twenty-four male CD-1 mice were divided into 4 groups: Group 1 fed with basal diet (negative control/NC); Group 2 received AOM/DSS (positive control); Groups 3 and 4 were fed with basal diet supplemented with moringa leaves (2.5% w/w and 5% w/w, respectively) for 12weeks. Moringa leaves exhibited a high content of dietary fiber (~18.75%) and insoluble dietary fiber (2.29%). There were identified 9 phenolic compounds whereas the chlorogenic and ρ-coumaric acid showed the higher contents (44.23-63.34μg/g and 180.45-707.42μg/g, respectively). Moringa leaves decreased the activity of harmful fecal enzymes (β-glucosidase, β-glucuronidase, tryptophanase and urease up to 40%, 43%, 103% and 266%, respectively) as well tumors incidence in male CD1-mice (~50% with 5% w/v of moringa dose). These findings suggest that the bioactive compounds of moringa such as total dietary fiber and phenolic compounds may have chemopreventive capacity. This is the first study of the suppressive effect of moringa leaves in an in vivo model of AOM/DSS-induced colorectal carcinogenesis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Generalized DSS shell for developing simulation and optimization hydro-economic models of complex water resources systems

Science.gov (United States)

Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel; Lopez-Nicolas, Antonio; Harou, Julien J.; Andreu, Joaquin

2013-04-01

functionality is not typically included in other water DSS. Based on the resulting water resources allocation, the model calculates operating and water scarcity costs caused by supply deficits based on economic demand functions for each demand node. The optimization model allocates the available resource over time based on economic criteria (net benefits from demand curves and cost functions), minimizing the total water scarcity and operating cost of water use. This approach provides solutions that optimize the economic efficiency (as total net benefit) in water resources management over the optimization period. Both models must be used together in water resource planning and management. The optimization model provides an initial insight on economically efficient solutions, from which different operating rules can be further developed and tested using the simulation model. The hydro-economic simulation model allows assessing economic impacts of alternative policies or operating criteria, avoiding the perfect foresight issues associated with the optimization. The tools have been applied to the Jucar river basin (Spain) in order to assess the economic results corresponding to the current modus operandi of the system and compare them with the solution from the optimization that maximizes economic efficiency. Acknowledgments: The study has been partially supported by the European Community 7th Framework Project (GENESIS project, n. 226536) and the Plan Nacional I+D+I 2008-2011 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CGL2009-13238-C02-01 and CGL2009-13238-C02-02).

All black swans? : showcasing three U.S. postsecondary institution's disability support services for students with learning disabilities

OpenAIRE

Rice, Travis A.

2010-01-01

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the disability support service (DSS) office designs at three varying U.S. postsecondary institutions and their relationship to the experiences of students with a learning disability. The three postsecondary institutions represent a community college, a medium sized university and a large research university all-residing in a single bellwether state. Selection of the cases and postsecondary institutions was carefully done in order to investig...

Decision support system for the operating room rescheduling problem.

Science.gov (United States)

van Essen, J Theresia; Hurink, Johann L; Hartholt, Woutske; van den Akker, Bernd J

2012-12-01

Due to surgery duration variability and arrivals of emergency surgeries, the planned Operating Room (OR) schedule is disrupted throughout the day which may lead to a change in the start time of the elective surgeries. These changes may result in undesirable situations for patients, wards or other involved departments, and therefore, the OR schedule has to be adjusted. In this paper, we develop a decision support system (DSS) which assists the OR manager in this decision by providing the three best adjusted OR schedules. The system considers the preferences of all involved stakeholders and only evaluates the OR schedules that satisfy the imposed resource constraints. The decision rules used for this system are based on a thorough analysis of the OR rescheduling problem. We model this problem as an Integer Linear Program (ILP) which objective is to minimize the deviation from the preferences of the considered stakeholders. By applying this ILP to instances from practice, we determined that the given preferences mainly lead to (i) shifting a surgery and (ii) scheduling a break between two surgeries. By using these changes in the DSS, the performed simulation study shows that less surgeries are canceled and patients and wards are more satisfied, but also that the perceived workload of several departments increases to compensate this. The system can also be used to judge the acceptability of a proposed initial OR schedule.

NRC safety research in support of regulation, 1988

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-05-01

This report, the fourth in a series of annual reports, was prepared in response to Congressional inquiries concerning how nuclear regulatory research is used. It summarizes the accomplishments of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research during 1988. The goal of this office is to ensure that safety-related research provides the technical bases for rulemaking and for related decisions in support of NRC licensing and inspection activities. This research is necessary to make certain that the regulations that are imposed on licensees provide an adequate margin of safety so as to protect the health and safety of the public. This report describes both the direct contributions to scientific and technical knowledge with regard to nuclear safety and their regulatory applications

Surface motility in Pseudomonas sp DSS73 is required for efficient biological containment of the root-pathogenic microfungi Rhizoctonia solani and Pythium ultimum

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Jens Bo; Koch, Birgit; Nielsen, T.H.

2003-01-01

Pseudomonas sp. DSS73 was isolated from the rhizoplane of sugar beet seedlings. This strain exhibits antagonism towards the root-pathogenic microfungi Pythium ultimum and Rhizoctonia solani. Production of the cyclic lipopeptide amphisin in combination with expression of flagella enables the growing......-pathogenic microfungi is shown to arise from amphisin-dependent surface translocation and growth by which the bacterium can lay siege to the fungi. The synergistic effects of surface motility and synthesis of a battery of antifungal compounds efficiently contain and terminate growth of the microfungi....

Decision support in hierarchical planning systems: The case of procurement planning in oil refining industries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kallestrup, Kasper Bislev; Lynge, Lasse Hadberg; Akkerman, Renzo

2014-01-01

In this paper, we discuss the development of decision support systems for hierarchically structured planning approaches, such as commercially available advanced planning systems. We develop a framework to show how such a decision support system can be designed with the existing organization in mind...... and from the perspective of the organizational aspects involved. To exemplify and develop our framework, we use a case study of crude oil procurement planning in the refining industry. The results of the case study indicate an improved organizational embedding of the DSS, leading to significant savings...... in terms of planning efforts and procurement costs. In general, our framework aims to support the continuous improvement of advanced planning systems, increasing planning quality in complex supply chain settings....

VIDENTE: a graphical user interface and decision support system for stochastic modelling of water table fluctuations at a single location; includes documentation of the programs KALMAX, KALTFN, SSD and EMERALD and introductions to stochastic modellin

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bierkens, M.F.P.; Bron, W.A.

2000-01-01

The VIDENTE program contains a decision support system (DSS) to choose between different models for stochastic modelling of water-table depths, and a graphical user interface to facilitate operating and running four implemented models: KALMAX, KALTFN,SSDS and EMERALD. In self-contained parts each of

Information Engineering and Workflow Design in a Clinical Decision Support System for Colorectal Cancer Screening in Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Maserat, Elham; Seied Farajollah, Seiede Sedigheh; Safdari, Reza; Ghazisaeedi, Marjan; Aghdaei, Hamid Asadzadeh; Zali, Mohammad Reza

2015-01-01

Colorectal cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Colorectal cancer screening is an optimal way for reducing of morbidity and mortality and a clinical decision support system (CDSS) plays an important role in predicting success of screening processes. DSS is a computer-based information system that improves the delivery of preventive care services. The aim of this article was to detail engineering of information requirements and work flow design of CDSS for a colorectal cancer screening program. In the first stage a screening minimum data set was determined. Developed and developing countries were analyzed for identifying this data set. Then information deficiencies and gaps were determined by check list. The second stage was a qualitative survey with a semi-structured interview as the study tool. A total of 15 users and stakeholders' perspectives about workflow of CDSS were studied. Finally workflow of DSS of control program was designed by standard clinical practice guidelines and perspectives. Screening minimum data set of national colorectal cancer screening program was defined in five sections, including colonoscopy data set, surgery, pathology, genetics and pedigree data set. Deficiencies and information gaps were analyzed. Then we designed a work process standard of screening. Finally workflow of DSS and entry stage were determined. A CDSS facilitates complex decision making for screening and has key roles in designing optimal interactions between colonoscopy, pathology and laboratory departments. Also workflow analysis is useful to identify data reconciliation strategies to address documentation gaps. Following recommendations of CDSS should improve quality of colorectal cancer screening.

Protective effects of polyphenol-rich infusions from carob (Ceratonia siliqua) leaves and cladodes of Opuntia ficus-indica against inflammation associated with diet-induced obesity and DSS-induced colitis in Swiss mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Aboura, Ikram; Nani, Abdelhafid; Belarbi, Meriem; Murtaza, Babar; Fluckiger, Aurélie; Dumont, Adélie; Benammar, Chahid; Tounsi, Moufida Saidani; Ghiringhelli, François; Rialland, Mickaël; Khan, Naim Akhtar; Hichami, Aziz

2017-12-01

In the present study, we have investigated the effects of polyphenol-rich infusions from carob leaves and OFI-cladodes on inflammation associated with obesity and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis in Swiss mice. In vitro studies revealed that aqueous extracts of carob leaves and OFI-cladodes exhibited anti-inflammatory properties marked by the inhibition of IL-6, TNF-α and nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells concomitant with NF-κβ nucleus translocation inhibition. For in vivo investigations, Swiss male mice were subjected to control or high fat diet (HFD). At the 8th week after the start of study, animals received or not 1% infusion of either carob leaves or OFI-cladode for 4 weeks and were subjected to 2% DSS administration in drinking water over last 7 days. After sacrifice, pro-inflammatory cytokines levels in plasma and their mRNA expression in different organs were determined. Results showed that carob leaf and OFI-cladode infusions reduced inflammation severity associated with HFD-induced obesity and DSS-induced acute colitis indicated by decrease in pro-inflammatory cytokines expression (as such TNF-α, IL1b and IL-6) in colon, adipose tissue and spleen. In addition, plasma levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were also curtailed in response to infusions treatment. Thus, carob leaf and OFI-cladode infusions prevented intestinal permeability through the restoration of tight junction proteins (Zo1, occludins) and immune homeostasis. Hence, the anti-inflammatory effect of carob leaves and OFI-cladodes could be attributed to their polyphenols which might alleviate inflammation severity associated with obesity and colitis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

mHealth App for iOS to Help in Diagnostic Decision in Ophthalmology to Primary Care Physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

López, Marta Manovel; López, Miguel Maldonado; de la Torre Díez, Isabel; Jimeno, José Carlos Pastor; López-Coronado, Miguel

2017-05-01

Decision support systems (DSS) are increasingly demanded due that diagnosis is one of the main activities that physicians accomplish every day. This fact seems critical when primary care physicians deal with uncommon problems belonging to specialized areas. The main objective of this paper is the development and user evaluation of a mobile DSS for iOS named OphthalDSS. This app has as purpose helping in anterior segment ocular diseases' diagnosis, besides offering educative content about ophthalmic diseases to users. For the deployment of this work, firstly it has been used the Apple IDE, Xcode, to develop the OphthalDSS mobile application using Objective-C as programming language. The core of the decision support system implemented by OphthalDSS is a decision tree developed by expert ophthalmologists. In order to evaluate the Quality of Experience (QoE) of primary care physicians after having tried the OphthalDSS app, a written inquiry based on the Likert scale was used. A total of 50 physicians answered to it, after trying the app during 1 month in their medical consultation. OphthalDSS is capable of helping to make diagnoses of diseases related to the anterior segment of the eye. Other features of OphthalDSS are a guide of each disease and an educational section. A 70% of the physicians answered in the survey that OphthalDSS performs in the way that they expected, and a 95% assures their trust in the reliability of the clinical information. Moreover, a 75% of them think that the decision system has a proper performance. Most of the primary care physicians agree with that OphthalDSS does the function that they expected, it is a user-friendly and the contents and structure are adequate. We can conclude that OphthalDSS is a practical tool but physicians require extra content that makes it a really useful one.

Loss of Dok-1 and Dok-2 in mice causes severe experimental colitis accompanied by reduced expression of IL-17A and IL-22

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waseda, Masazumi; Arimura, Sumimasa; Shimura, Eri; Nakae, Susumu; Yamanashi, Yuji

2016-01-01

Appropriate immune responses and mucosal barrier functions are required for the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis. Defects in this defense system may lead to inflammatory disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease. Downstream of tyrosine kinases 1 (Dok-1) and its closest homolog, Dok-2, are preferentially expressed in immune cells, and play essential roles in the negative regulation of multiple signaling pathways in both innate and adaptive immunity. However, the function of these proteins in intestinal homeostasis remained unclear. Here we show that Dok-1/-2 double knockout (DKO) mice were highly susceptible to dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis compared with Dok-1 or Dok-2 single KO and wild type (WT) mice. Furthermore, DSS-treated Dok-1/-2 DKO mice exhibited increased colonic tissue damage accompanied by reduced proliferation of the epithelial cells relative to WT controls, suggesting that Dok-1/-2 DKO mice have defects in the repair of intestinal epithelial lesions. In addition, the levels of the Th17 cytokines IL-17A and IL-22, which have protective roles in DSS-induced colitis, were reduced in DSS-treated Dok-1/-2 DKO mice compared with WT mice. Taken together, our results demonstrate that Dok-1 and Dok-2 negatively regulate intestinal inflammation, apparently through the induction of IL-17A and IL-22 expression. - Highlights: • Dok-1 and Dok-2 play a cooperative role in protection against DSS-induced colitis. • Dok-1/-2 double KO (DKO) mice show extensive ulceration of the colon after DSS treatment. • Proliferation of colonic epithelium is inhibited in DSS-treated Dok-1/-2 DKO mice. • Expression of IL-17A and IL-22 is reduced in the colon of DSS-treated Dok-1/-2 DKO mice.

Loss of Dok-1 and Dok-2 in mice causes severe experimental colitis accompanied by reduced expression of IL-17A and IL-22

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Waseda, Masazumi; Arimura, Sumimasa [Division of Genetics, Department of Cancer Biology, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-8639 (Japan); Shimura, Eri [Laboratory of Systems Biology, Center for Experimental Medicine and Systems Biology, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-8639 (Japan); Nakae, Susumu [Laboratory of Systems Biology, Center for Experimental Medicine and Systems Biology, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-8639 (Japan); Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology (PRESTO), Japan Science and Technology Agency, Saitama, 332-0012 (Japan); Yamanashi, Yuji, E-mail: yyamanas@ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp [Division of Genetics, Department of Cancer Biology, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-8639 (Japan)

2016-09-09

Appropriate immune responses and mucosal barrier functions are required for the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis. Defects in this defense system may lead to inflammatory disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease. Downstream of tyrosine kinases 1 (Dok-1) and its closest homolog, Dok-2, are preferentially expressed in immune cells, and play essential roles in the negative regulation of multiple signaling pathways in both innate and adaptive immunity. However, the function of these proteins in intestinal homeostasis remained unclear. Here we show that Dok-1/-2 double knockout (DKO) mice were highly susceptible to dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis compared with Dok-1 or Dok-2 single KO and wild type (WT) mice. Furthermore, DSS-treated Dok-1/-2 DKO mice exhibited increased colonic tissue damage accompanied by reduced proliferation of the epithelial cells relative to WT controls, suggesting that Dok-1/-2 DKO mice have defects in the repair of intestinal epithelial lesions. In addition, the levels of the Th17 cytokines IL-17A and IL-22, which have protective roles in DSS-induced colitis, were reduced in DSS-treated Dok-1/-2 DKO mice compared with WT mice. Taken together, our results demonstrate that Dok-1 and Dok-2 negatively regulate intestinal inflammation, apparently through the induction of IL-17A and IL-22 expression. - Highlights: • Dok-1 and Dok-2 play a cooperative role in protection against DSS-induced colitis. • Dok-1/-2 double KO (DKO) mice show extensive ulceration of the colon after DSS treatment. • Proliferation of colonic epithelium is inhibited in DSS-treated Dok-1/-2 DKO mice. • Expression of IL-17A and IL-22 is reduced in the colon of DSS-treated Dok-1/-2 DKO mice.

Identifying the decision to be supported: a review of papers from environmental modelling and software

Science.gov (United States)

Sojda, Richard S.; Chen, Serena H.; El Sawah, Sondoss; Guillaume, Joseph H.A.; Jakeman, A.J.; Lautenbach, Sven; McIntosh, Brian S.; Rizzoli, A.E.; Seppelt, Ralf; Struss, Peter; Voinov, Alexey; Volk, Martin

2012-01-01

Two of the basic tenets of decision support system efforts are to help identify and structure the decisions to be supported, and to then provide analysis in how those decisions might be best made. One example from wetland management would be that wildlife biologists must decide when to draw down water levels to optimise aquatic invertebrates as food for breeding ducks. Once such a decision is identified, a system or tool to help them make that decision in the face of current and projected climate conditions could be developed. We examined a random sample of 100 papers published from 2001-2011 in Environmental Modelling and Software that used the phrase “decision support system” or “decision support tool”, and which are characteristic of different sectors. In our review, 41% of the systems and tools related to the water resources sector, 34% were related to agriculture, and 22% to the conservation of fish, wildlife, and protected area management. Only 60% of the papers were deemed to be reporting on DSS. This was based on the papers reviewed not having directly identified a specific decision to be supported. We also report on the techniques that were used to identify the decisions, such as formal survey, focus group, expert opinion, or sole judgment of the author(s). The primary underlying modelling system, e.g., expert system, agent based model, Bayesian belief network, geographical information system (GIS), and the like was categorised next. Finally, since decision support typically should target some aspect of unstructured decisions, we subjectively determined to what degree this was the case. In only 23% of the papers reviewed, did the system appear to tackle unstructured decisions. This knowledge should be useful in helping workers in the field develop more effective systems and tools, especially by being exposed to the approaches in different, but related, disciplines. We propose that a standard blueprint for reporting on DSS be developed for

Advanced policy options to regulate sugar-sweetened beverages to support public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Pomeranz, Jennifer L

2012-02-01

Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) has increased worldwide. As public health studies expose the detrimental impact of SSBs, consumer protection and public health advocates have called for increased government control. A major focus has been on restricting marketing of SSBs to children, but many innovative policy options--legally defensible ways to regulate SSBs and support public health--are largely unexplored. We describe the public health, economic, and retail marketing research related to SSBs (including energy drinks). We review policy options available to governments, including mandatory factual disclosures, earmarked taxation, and regulating sales, including placement within retail and food service establishments, and schools. Our review describes recent international initiatives and classifies options available in the United States by jurisdiction (federal, state, and local) based on legal viability.

δ- and γ-tocopherols inhibit phIP/DSS-induced colon carcinogenesis by protection against early cellular and DNA damages.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jayson X; Liu, Anna; Lee, Mao-Jung; Wang, Hong; Yu, Siyuan; Chi, Eric; Reuhl, Kenneth; Suh, Nanjoo; Yang, Chung S

2017-01-01

Tocopherols, the major forms of vitamin E, are a family of fat-soluble compounds that exist in alpha (α-T), beta (β-T), gamma (γ-T), and delta (δ-T) variants. A cancer preventive effect of vitamin E is suggested by epidemiological studies. However, past animal studies and human intervention trials with α-T, the most active vitamin E form, have yielded disappointing results. A possible explanation is that the cancer preventive activity of α-T is weak compared to other tocopherol forms. In the present study, we investigated the effects of δ-T, γ-T, and α-T (0.2% in diet) in a novel colon cancer model induced by the meat-derived dietary carcinogen, 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) and promoted by dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis in CYP1A-humanized (hCYP1A) mice. PhIP/DSS treatments induced multiple polypoid tumors, mainly tubular adenocarcinomas, in the middle to distal colon of the hCYP1A mice after 10 wk. Dietary supplementation with δ-T and γ-T significantly reduced colon tumor formation and suppressed markers of oxidative and nitrosative stress (i.e., 8-oxo-dG and nitrotyrosine) as well as pro-inflammatory mediators (i.e., NF-κB p65 and p-STAT3) in tumors and adjacent tissues. By administering δ-T at different time periods, we obtained results suggesting that the inhibitory effect of δ-T against colon carcinogenesis is mainly due to protection against early cellular and DNA damages caused by PhIP. α-T was found to be ineffective in inhibiting colon tumors and less effective in attenuating the molecular changes. Altogether, we demonstrated strong cancer preventive effects of δ-T and γ-T in a physiologically relevant model of human colon cancer. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

NRC safety research in support of regulation--FY 1989

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-04-01

This report, the fifth in a series of annual reports, was prepared in response to congressional inquiries concerning how nuclear regulatory research is used. It summarizes the accomplishments of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research during FY 1989. The goal of this office is to ensure that safety-related research provides the technical bases for rulemaking and for related decisions in support of NRC licensing and inspection activities. This research is necessary to make certain that the regulations that are imposed on licensees provide an adequate margin of safety so as to protect the health and safety of the public. This report describes both the direct contributions to scientific and technical knowledge with regard to nuclear safety and their regulatory applications

NRC safety research in support of regulation, FY 1991

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-04-01

This report, the seventh in a series of annual reports, was prepared in response to congressional inquiries concerning how nuclear regulatory research is used. It summarizes the accomplishments of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research during FY 1991. The goal of this office is to ensure that safety-related research provides the technical bases for rulemaking and for related decisions in support of NRC licensing and inspection activities. This research is necessary to make certain that the regulations that are imposed on licensees provide an adequate margin of safety so as to protect the health and safety of the public. This report describes both the direct contributions to scientific and technical knowledge with regard to nuclear safety and their regulatory applications

NRC safety research in support of regulation, FY 1990

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-04-01

This report, the sixth in a series of annual reports, was prepared in response to congressional inquiries concerning how nuclear regulatory research is used. It summarizes the accomplishments of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research during FY 1990. The goal of this office is to ensure that safety-related research provides the technical bases for rulemaking and for related decisions in support of NRC licensing and inspection activities. This research is necessary to make certain that the regulations that are imposed on licensees provide an adequate margin of safety so as to protect the health and safety of the public. This report describes both the direct contributions to scientific and technical knowledge with regard to nuclear safety and their regulatory applications

Decision support systems and applications in ophthalmology: literature and commercial review focused on mobile apps.

Science.gov (United States)

de la Torre-Díez, Isabel; Martínez-Pérez, Borja; López-Coronado, Miguel; Díaz, Javier Rodríguez; López, Miguel Maldonado

2015-01-01

The growing importance that mobile devices have in daily life has also reached health care and medicine. This is making the paradigm of health care change and the concept of mHealth or mobile health more relevant, whose main essence is the apps. This new reality makes it possible for doctors who are not specialist to have easy access to all the information generated in different corners of the world, making them potential keepers of that knowledge. However, the new daily information exceeds the limits of the human intellect, making Decision Support Systems (DSS) necessary for helping doctors to diagnose diseases and also help them to decide the attitude that has to be taken towards these diagnoses. These could improve the health care in remote areas and developing countries. All of this is even more important in diseases that are more prevalent in primary care and that directly affect the people's quality of life, this is the case in ophthalmological problems where in first patient care a specialist in ophthalmology is not involved. The goal of this paper is to analyse the state of the art of DSS in Ophthalmology. Many of them focused on diseases affecting the eye's posterior pole. For achieving the main purpose of this research work, a literature review and commercial apps analysis will be done. The used databases and systems will be IEEE Xplore, Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, and PubMed. The search is limited to articles published from 2000 until now. Later, different Mobile Decision Support System (MDSS) in Ophthalmology will be analyzed in the virtual stores for Android and iOS. 37 articles were selected according their thematic (posterior pole, anterior pole, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), cloud, data mining, algorithms and structures for DSS, and other) from a total of 600 found in the above cited databases. Very few mobile apps were found in the different stores. It can be concluded that almost all existing mobile apps are focused on the eye's posterior

Evaluating Ethical Responsibility in Inverse Decision Support

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad M. Kabil

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Decision makers have considerable autonomy on how they make decisions and what type of support they receive. This situation places the DSS analyst in a different relationship with the client than his colleagues who support regular MIS applications. This paper addresses an ethical dilemma in “Inverse Decision Support,” when the analyst supports a decision maker who requires justification for a preconceived selection that does not correspond to the best option that resulted from the professional resolution of the problem. An extended application of the AHP model is proposed for evaluating the ethical responsibility in selecting a suboptimal alternative. The extended application is consistent with the Inverse Decision Theory that is used extensively in medical decision making. A survey of decision analysts is used to assess their perspective of using the proposed extended application. The results show that 80% of the respondents felt that the proposed extended application is useful in business practices. 14% of them expanded the usability of the extended application to academic teaching of the ethics theory. The extended application is considered more usable in a country with a higher Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (TICPI than in a country with a lower one.

Decision-making support system based on MAS for emergency response to nuclear accidents of marine pressurized-water reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Dengke; Zhang Dafa; Jiang Wei; Chen Yonghong

2007-01-01

Emergency decision-making to Marine Pressurized-Water Reactor (MPWR) was severely restricted by the complex environment. To enhance the emergency decision-making ability of MPWR, reducing the effect of emergencies, an emergency Decision-making Support System (DSS) which based on Multi-agent System (MAS) was presented. In the system, the HLA/RTI was used as the support environment, and the structure and the Control Agent (SCA), Analyse Agent (AA), Countermeasure Agent (CA), Evaluation Agent (EVA) and Environment Agent (ENA) were designed. The MAS were with the characteristics of autonomy, reactivity and initiative, which were fully used in the system to make effective decision for emergencies. (authors)

Evaluation of the Preschool Situational Self-Regulation Toolkit (PRSIST) Program for Supporting children's early self-regulation development: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Howard, Steven J; Vasseleu, Elena; Neilsen-Hewett, Cathrine; Cliff, Ken

2018-01-24

For children with low self-regulation in the preschool years, the likelihood of poorer intellectual, health, wealth and anti-social outcomes in adulthood is overwhelming. Yet this knowledge has not yielded a framework for understanding self-regulatory change, nor generated particularly successful methods for enacting this change. Reconciling insights from cross-disciplinary theory, research and practice, this study seeks to implement a newly developed program of low-cost and routine practices and activities for supporting early self-regulatory development within preschool contexts and to evaluate its effect on children's self-regulation, executive function and school readiness; and educator perceived knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy related to self-regulation. The Early Start to Self-Regulation study is a cluster randomized, controlled trial for evaluating benefits of the Preschool Situational Self-Regulation Toolkit (PRSIST) program, when implemented by early childhood educators, compared with routine practice. The PRSIST program combines professional learning, adult practices, child activities and connections to the home to support children's self-regulation development. Fifty preschool centers in New South Wales, Australia, will be selected to ensure a range of characteristics, namely: National Quality Standards (NQS) ratings, geographic location and socioeconomic status. After collection of baseline child and educator data, participating centers will then be randomly allocated to one of two groups, stratified by NQS rating: (1) an intervention group (25 centers) that will implement the PRSIST program; or (2) a control group (25 centers) that will continue to engage in practice as usual. Primary outcomes at the child level will be two measures of self-regulation: Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task and the PRSIST observational assessment. Secondary outcomes at the child level will be adult-reported measures of child self-regulation, executive function and

Genetic deletion of IL-25 (IL-17E) confers resistance to dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis in mice

Science.gov (United States)

IL-25 is emerging as a key regulator of inflammation in the intestinal mucosa because of its ability to promote Th2 while suppressing Th1 and Th17 cytokine responses. We investigated the contribution of endogenous IL-25 to DSS-induced colitis in mice. Mice were exposed to DSS in drinking water ad li...

Support of the management of climatic risks and chances; Unterstuetzung des Managements von Klimarisiken und -chancen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kind, Christian; Mohns, Till [adelphi research gGmbH, Berlin (Germany); Sartorius, Christian [Fraunhofer-Institut fuer Systemtechnik und Innovationsforschung, Karlsruhe (Germany)

2011-03-15

The far-reaching effects of irreversible climatic changes should inform on the expected changes, risks and opportunities. The project 'Support of the management of climate risks and opportunities' contributes to this. As part of this project, an information and decision support system (DSS) is developed which should enable public and private organizations (a) to identify possible risks of climatic change; (b) to avoid possible damages from adjustments; (c) to use possible opportunities of climatic change. The authors of the contribution under consideration develop a profound, scientific basis for the structure and content of the compass-EUS. To this end, various aspects are discussed that are important for the design of such a system.

Support of the management of climatic risks and chances; Unterstuetzung des Managements von Klimarisiken und -chancen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kind, Christian; Mohns, Till [adelphi research gGmbH, Berlin (Germany); Sartorius, Christian [Fraunhofer-Institut fuer Systemtechnik und Innovationsforschung, Karlsruhe (Germany)

2011-03-15

The far-reaching effects of irreversible climatic changes should inform on the expected changes, risks and opportunities. The project 'Support of the management of climate risks and opportunities' contributes to this. As part of this project, an information and decision support system (DSS) is developed which should enable public and private organizations (a) to identify possible risks of climatic change; (b) to avoid possible damages from adjustments; (c) to use possible opportunities of climatic change. The authors of the contribution under consideration develop a profound, scientific basis for the structure and content of the compass-EUS. To this end, various aspects are discussed that are important for the design of such a system.

Diseño de un esquema metodológico para evaluar el uso y ejecución de la normativa PCI-DSS en una entidad bancaria

OpenAIRE

Caranqui Romero, Kleber Giovanny

2017-01-01

Visa, MasterCard, American Express, y otras asociaciones de tarjetas han definido la normalización de seguridad de datos Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) para proteger la información de los usuarios y de esta manera mitigar de alguna manera el riesgo de ataques bajo los diferentes escenarios utilizados por los delincuentes para realizar fraudes tecnológicos. El presente trabajo se plantea frente a las enormes pérdidas económicas producidas como consecuencia del creciente...

A decision support system for a multi stakeholder’s decision process in a Portuguese National Forest

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Garcia-Gonzalo

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Aim of study: In this paper, we present a decision support system (DSS to support decision making where different stakeholders have to generate landscape and forest level strategic plans. We further present an interactive approach that may take advantage of a posteriori preference modelling (i.e. Pareto frontier technique to facilitate the specification of the levels of achievement of various objectives.Area of study: The approach was applied to one planning cycle of a real world study case, the Leiria National Forest in Portugal. The Leiria National Forest, a managed area of approximately eleven thousand hectares in which 8,679 hectares are even aged stands of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait aimed at the production of wood.Material and methods: The interactive approach, at first, tries to generate Pareto efficient frontiers for different objectives. Then, multiple decision makers are involved in the process to seek an agreement towards the definition of a consensual strategic plan.Main results: The system developed in this article integrates an information management subsystem, a module to generate alternative management regimes, growth model routines and a decision module that generates and solves mathematical formulations. It also provides a module to display reports and view the resulting solutions (management plans. We also build the Pareto frontier for different criteria. The results show that the proposed DSS can help solve strategic planning problems subject to sustainable management constraints where people organize themselves and participate jointly to manage their natural resources.Research highlights: The interactive approach facilitates the involvement of multiple stakeholders in the decision making process.Keywords: decision support system; participatory planning; linear programming; mixed integer goal programming; sustainable forest management.

Implications of resolved hypoxemia on the utility of desaturation alerts sent from an anesthesia decision support system to supervising anesthesiologists.

Science.gov (United States)

Epstein, Richard H; Dexter, Franklin

2012-10-01

Hypoxemia (oxygen saturation operating room settings. Alarm management functionality can be added to decision support systems (DSS) to send text alerts about vital signs outside specified thresholds, using data in anesthesia information management systems. We considered enhancing our DSS to send hypoxemia alerts to the text pagers of supervising anesthesiologists. As part of a voluntary application for an investigative device exemption from our IRB to implement such functionality, we evaluated the maximum potential utility of such an alert system. Pulse oximetry values (Spo(2)) were extracted from our anesthesia information management systems for all cases performed in our main operating rooms and ambulatory surgical center between September 1, 2011, and February 4, 2012 (n = 16,870). Hypoxemic episodes (Spo(2) operating room. These results suggest that the principal research focus should be on developing more sophisticated alerts and processes within rooms for the anesthesia care provider to initiate treatment promptly, to interpret or correct artifacts, and to make it easier to call for assistance via a rapid communication system.

A decision support system for assessing offshore wind energy potential in the North Sea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wanderer, T.; Schillings, C. [German Aerospace Center (DLR), Systems Analysis and Technology Assessment, Stuttgart (Germany); Cameron, L.; Veum, K. [Energy research Center of the Netherlands ECN, Policy Studies Department, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Tjalling van der Wal, J. [IMARES, Wageningen UR, Den Helder (Netherlands); Jacquemin, J. [GL Garrad Hassan, Paris (France)

2012-10-15

Offshore wind energy (OWE) in the North Sea has the potential to meet large share of Europe's future electricity demand. To deploy offshore wind parks in a rational way, the overall OWE potential has to be realistically determined. This has to be done on an international, cross-border level and by taking into account the existing man-made and nature-related uses of the North Sea. As spatial conflicts will arise between existing uses and the new OWE uses, a Decision Support System (DSS) based on a Geographic Information System (GIS) was developed. Based on data of existing sea uses and calculation rules for spatial prioritisation analysis, the DSS helps in identifying areas that are (1) generally suitable for offshore wind power, (2) strictly excluded or (3) negotiable with respect to other existing sea uses. The combination of this conflict analysis together with cost assumptions for offshore wind farms and their expected electricity yield leads to identification of favourable areas for OWE deployment in the North Sea. This approach helps to reduce the conflict between offshore wind deployment and existing sea uses in the North Sea for future planning. The results can assist decision makers in developing transnational roadmaps for OWE.

Strategy-aligned fuzzy approach for market segment evaluation and selection: a modular decision support system by dynamic network process (DNP)

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammadi Nasrabadi, Ali; Hosseinpour, Mohammad Hossein; Ebrahimnejad, Sadoullah

2013-05-01

In competitive markets, market segmentation is a critical point of business, and it can be used as a generic strategy. In each segment, strategies lead companies to their targets; thus, segment selection and the application of the appropriate strategies over time are very important to achieve successful business. This paper aims to model a strategy-aligned fuzzy approach to market segment evaluation and selection. A modular decision support system (DSS) is developed to select an optimum segment with its appropriate strategies. The suggested DSS has two main modules. The first one is SPACE matrix which indicates the risk of each segment. Also, it determines the long-term strategies. The second module finds the most preferred segment-strategies over time. Dynamic network process is applied to prioritize segment-strategies according to five competitive force factors. There is vagueness in pairwise comparisons, and this vagueness has been modeled using fuzzy concepts. To clarify, an example is illustrated by a case study in Iran's coffee market. The results show that success possibility of segments could be different, and choosing the best ones could help companies to be sure in developing their business. Moreover, changing the priority of strategies over time indicates the importance of long-term planning. This fact has been supported by a case study on strategic priority difference in short- and long-term consideration.

A decision support system prototype including human factors based on the TOGA meta-theory approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cappelli, M.; Memmi, F.; Gadomski, A. M.; Sepielli, M.

2012-01-01

The human contribution to the risk of operation of complex technological systems is often not negligible and sometimes tends to become significant, as shown by many reports on incidents and accidents occurred in the past inside Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). An error of a human operator of a NPP can derive by both omission and commission. For instance, complex commission errors can also lead to significant catastrophic technological accidents, as for the case of the Three Mile Island accident. Typically, the problem is analyzed by focusing on the single event chain that has provoked the incident or accident. What is needed is a general framework able to include as many parameters as possible, i.e. both technological and human factors. Such a general model could allow to envisage an omission or commission error before it can happen or, alternatively, suggest preferred actions to do in order to take countermeasures to neutralize the effect of the error before it becomes critical. In this paper, a preliminary Decision Support System (DSS) based on the so-called (-) TOGA meta-theory approach is presented. The application of such a theory to the management of nuclear power plants has been presented in the previous ICAPP 2011. Here, a human factor simulator prototype is proposed in order to include the effect of human errors in the decision path. The DSS has been developed using a TRIGA research reactor as reference plant, and implemented using the LabVIEW programming environment and the Finite State Machine (FSM) model The proposed DSS shows how to apply the Universal Reasoning Paradigm (URP) and the Universal Management Paradigm (UMP) to a real plant context. The DSS receives inputs from instrumentation data and gives as output a suggested decision. It is obtained as the result of an internal elaborating process based on a performance function. The latter, describes the degree of satisfaction and efficiency, which are dependent on the level of responsibility related to

RISICO: A decision support system (DSS) for dynamic wildfire risk evaluation in Italy

Science.gov (United States)

D'Andrea, Mirko; Fiorucci, Paolo; Gaetani, Francesco; Negro, Dario

2010-05-01

The system RISICO provides Italian Civil Protection Department (DPC) with daily wildland fire risk forecast maps relevant to the whole national territory since 2003. RISICO support the activities relating to Italian national forest fires warning system and National fires fighting air fleet. The RISICO system has a complex software architecture based on a framework able to manage geospatial data as well as time dependent information (e.g, Numerical Weather Prediction, real time meteorological observations, and satellite data). Within the system semi-physical models, able to simulate in space and time the variability of the fuel moisture content, are implemented. This parameter represents the main variable related with the ignition of a fire. Based on this information and introducing information on topography and wind field the model provides the rate of spread and the linear intensity of a potential fire generated by accidental or deliberate ignition. The model takes into account the vegetation patterns, in terms of fuel load and flammability. It needs territorial and meteorological data. Territorial data used by the system are vegetation cover and topography. Meteorological data are mainly represented by Numerical Weather Prediction (Limited Area model). Meteorological data provided in real time by a meteorological network are also used by the model as well as satellite data (e.g., vegetation index, snow cover). The output information are provided on a web-gis based system according with the OGC-INSPIRE standard. In 2007 the system has been improved introducing some changes both in the model structure and its functionality. Spatial resolution is increased up to 100m in the implementation at regional level. The fine fuel moisture model has been changed, introducing the FFMC of the CFFDRS with some slightly differences. In addition, a different nominal rate of spread (no-wind on flat terrain) has been introduced for each different class of vegetation. The operational

Evaluation of a decision support strategy for the control of powdery mildew, Erysiphe necator (Schw.) Burr., in grapevine in the central region of Chile.

Science.gov (United States)

Valdés-Gómez, Héctor; Araya-Alman, Miguel; Pañitrur-De la Fuente, Carolina; Verdugo-Vásquez, Nicolás; Lolas, Mauricio; Acevedo-Opazo, César; Gary, Christian; Calonnec, Agnès

2017-09-01

The primary strategy to control powdery mildew in Chilean vineyards involves periodic fungicide spraying, which may lead to many environmental and human health risks. This study aimed to implement and evaluate the effectiveness and economic feasibility of a novel decision support strategy (DSS) to limit the number of treatments against this pathogen. An experiment was conducted between the 2010 and 2013 seasons in two irrigated vine fields, one containing a cultivar of Cabernet Sauvignon (CS) and the other a cultivar of Chardonnay (CH). The results showed that the DSS effectively controlled powdery mildew in CS and CH vine fields, as evidenced by a disease severity lower than 3%, which was lower than that observed in untreated vines (approximately 10 and 40% for CS and CH respectively). The DS strategy required the application of only 2-3 fungicide treatments per season in key vine phenological stages, and the cost fluctuated between $US 322 and 415 ha -1 , which was 40-60% cheaper than the traditional strategy employed by vine growers. The decision support strategy evaluated in this trial allows a good control of powdery mildew for various types of epidemic with an early and late initiation. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

The EVOTION Decision Support System: Utilizing It for Public Health Policy-Making in Hearing Loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Katrakazas, Panagiotis; Trenkova, Lyubov; Milas, Josip; Brdaric, Dario; Koutsouris, Dimitris

2017-01-01

As Decision Support Systems start to play a significant role in decision making, especially in the field of public-health policy making, we present an initial attempt to formulate such a system in the concept of public health policy making for hearing loss related problems. Justification for the system's conceptual architecture and its key functionalities are presented. The introduction of the EVOTION DSS sets a key innovation and a basis for paradigm shift in policymaking, by incorporating relevant models, big data analytics and generic demographic data. Expected outcomes for this joint effort are discussed from a public-health point of view.

Organic Micropollutants Removal from Water by Oxidation and Other Processes:QSAR Models, Decision Support System and Hybrids of Processes

KAUST Repository

Sudhakaran, Sairam

2013-08-01

The presence of organic micropollutants (OMPs) in water is of great environmental concern. OMPs such as endocrine disruptors and certain pharmaceuticals have shown alarming effects on aquatic life. OMPs are included in the priority list of contaminants in several government directorate frameworks. The low levels of OMPs concentration (ng/L to μg/L) force the use of sophisticated analytical instruments. Although, the techniques to detect OMPs are progressing, the focus of current research is only on limited, important OMPs due to the high amount of time, cost and effort involved in analyzing them. Alternatively, quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) models help to screen processes and propose appropriate options without considerable experimental effort. QSAR models are well-established in regulatory bodies as a method to screen toxic chemicals. The goal of the present thesis was to develop QSAR models for OMPs removal by oxidation. Apart from the QSAR models, a decision support system (DSS) based on multi-criteria analysis (MCA) involving socio-economic-technical and sustainability aspects was developed. Also, hybrids of different water treatment processes were studied to propose a sustainable water treatment train for OMPs removal. In order to build the QSAR models, the ozone/hydroxyl radical rate constants or percent removals of the OMPs were compiled. Several software packages were used to 5 compute the chemical properties of OMPs and perform statistical analyses. For DSS, MCA was used since it allows the comparison of qualitative (non-monetary, non-metric) and quantitative criteria (e.g., costs). Quadrant plots were developed to study the hybrid of natural and advanced water treatment processes. The QSAR models satisfied both chemical and statistical criteria. The DSS resulted in natural treatment and ozonation as the preferred processes for OMPs removal. The QSAR models can be used as a screening tool for OMPs removal by oxidation. Moreover, the

Application of ONERS decision support system for off-site emergency exercise at Kalpakkam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baskaran, R.; Srinivas, C.V.; Rakesh, P.T.; Venkatesan, R.; Venkatraman, B.

2016-01-01

A radiation accident in any of the nuclear facilities leading to release of large quantities of radioactivity to environment calls for quick estimation of likely radiation doses to the public, environmental monitoring and its projection on spatial maps for taking necessary actions for mitigation. The MAPS in association with other DAE units and district administration conducted off site emergency exercise (OSEE) on 18 th August 2015 in the Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) around the Kalpakkam site. The Online Nuclear Emergency Response System (ONERS) - Decision Support System (DSS) developed by IGCAR in collaboration with ISRO was used for generating radiological dose estimates for preparation of event chronology during the OSEE-2015

Systems Analysis and Design for Decision Support Systems on Economic Feasibility of Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Balaji, S. Arun

2010-11-01

This paper discuss about need for development of the Decision Support System (DSS) software for economic feasibility of projects in Rwanda, Africa. The various economic theories needed and the corresponding formulae to compute payback period, internal rate of return and benefit cost ratio of projects are clearly given in this paper. This paper is also deals with the systems flow chart to fabricate the system in any higher level computing language. The various input requirements from the projects and the output needed for the decision makers are also included in this paper. The data dictionary used for input and output data structure is also explained.

A water management decision support system contributing to sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Horváth, Klaudia; van Esch, Bart; Baayen, Jorn; Pothof, Ivo; Talsma, Jan; van Heeringen, Klaas-Jan

2017-04-01

Deltares and Eindhoven University of Technology are developing a new decision support system (DSS) for regional water authorities. In order to maintain water levels in the Dutch polder system, water should be drained and pumped out from the polders to the sea. The time and amount of pumping depends on the current sea level, the water level in the polder, the weather forecast and the electricity price forecast and possibly local renewable power production. This is a multivariable optimisation problem, where the goal is to keep the water level in the polder within certain bounds. By optimizing the operation of the pumps the energy usage and costs can be reduced, hence the operation of the regional water authorities can be more sustainable, while also anticipating on increasing share of renewables in the energy mix in a cost-effective way. The decision support system, based on Delft-FEWS as operational data-integration platform, is running an optimization model built in RTC-Tools 2, which is performing real-time optimization in order to calculate the pumping strategy. It is taking into account the present and future circumstances. As being the core of the real time decision support system, RTC-Tools 2 fulfils the key requirements to a DSS: it is fast, robust and always finds the optimal solution. These properties are associated with convex optimization. In such problems the global optimum can always be found. The challenge in the development is to maintain the convex formulation of all the non-linear components in the system, i.e. open channels, hydraulic structures, and pumps. The system is introduced through 4 pilot projects, one of which is a pilot of the Dutch Water Authority Rivierenland. This is a typical Dutch polder system: several polders are drained to the main water system, the Linge. The water from the Linge can be released to the main rivers that are subject to tidal fluctuations. In case of low tide, water can be released via the gates. In case of high

Web-Based Analysis for Decision Support Systems

African Journals Online (AJOL)

pc

2018-03-05

Mar 5, 2018 ... such as web mining, social analytics, and data mining were examined. ... Additionally, the systems possess superb interaction capability which enables .... technologies has a significant impact on DSS design especially ..... Evaluating the Impact of User Characteristics and Different Layouts on an Interactive ...

System Dynamics Approach for Critical Infrastructure and Decision Support. A Model for a Potable Water System.

Science.gov (United States)

Pasqualini, D.; Witkowski, M.

2005-12-01

The Critical Infrastructure Protection / Decision Support System (CIP/DSS) project, supported by the Science and Technology Office, has been developing a risk-informed Decision Support System that provides insights for making critical infrastructure protection decisions. The system considers seventeen different Department of Homeland Security defined Critical Infrastructures (potable water system, telecommunications, public health, economics, etc.) and their primary interdependencies. These infrastructures have been modeling in one model called CIP/DSS Metropolitan Model. The modeling approach used is a system dynamics modeling approach. System dynamics modeling combines control theory and the nonlinear dynamics theory, which is defined by a set of coupled differential equations, which seeks to explain how the structure of a given system determines its behavior. In this poster we present a system dynamics model for one of the seventeen critical infrastructures, a generic metropolitan potable water system (MPWS). Three are the goals: 1) to gain a better understanding of the MPWS infrastructure; 2) to identify improvements that would help protect MPWS; and 3) to understand the consequences, interdependencies, and impacts, when perturbations occur to the system. The model represents raw water sources, the metropolitan water treatment process, storage of treated water, damage and repair to the MPWS, distribution of water, and end user demand, but does not explicitly represent the detailed network topology of an actual MPWS. The MPWS model is dependent upon inputs from the metropolitan population, energy, telecommunication, public health, and transportation models as well as the national water and transportation models. We present modeling results and sensitivity analysis indicating critical choke points, negative and positive feedback loops in the system. A general scenario is also analyzed where the potable water system responds to a generic disruption.

Glycyrrhetic Acid Ameliorates Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Ulcerative Colitis in Vivo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yong-Deok Jeon

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Glycyrrhizae Radix (GR is a Korean traditional herb medicine that is widely used in clinical health care. Glycyrrhetic acid (GA is an aglycone saponin extracted from GR that has anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-viral effects. However, the anti-inflammatory effects of GA in colitis have not been reported. This study investigated the role of GA on ulcerative colitis in a dextran sulfate sodium (DSS-induced mouse colitis model. DSS-treated mice displayed weight loss and shortened colon length compared with control mice. Mice administered GA showed less weight loss and longer colon length than the DSS-treated group. Interleukin (IL-6, IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were decreased by GA treatment. GA treatment also reduced DSS-induced microscopic damage to colon tissue. GA regulates the phosphorylation of transcription factors including nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB and IκB alpha, and regulates the expression of cycloxygenase-2 and prostaglandin E2. GA thus showed beneficial effects in a mouse model of colitis, implicating GA might be a useful herb-derived medicine in the treatment of ulcerative colitis.

A multiobjective decision support/numerical modeling approach for design and evaluation of shallow landfill burial systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ascough, J.C. II

1992-05-01

The capability to objectively evaluate design performance of shallow landfill burial (SLB) systems is of great interest to diverse scientific disciplines, including hydrologists, engineers, environmental scientists, and SLB regulators. The goal of this work was to develop and validate a procedure for the nonsubjective evaluation of SLB designs under actual or simulated environmental conditions. A multiobjective decision module (MDM) based on scoring functions (Wymore, 1988) was implemented to evaluate SLB design performance. Input values to the MDM are provided by hydrologic models. The MDM assigns a total score to each SLB design alternative, thereby allowing for rapid and repeatable design performance evaluation. The MDM was validated for a wide range of SLB designs under different climatic conditions. Rigorous assessment of SLB performance also requires incorporation of hydrologic probabilistic analysis and hydrologic risk into the overall design. This was accomplished through the development of a frequency analysis module. The frequency analysis module allows SLB design event magnitudes to be calculated based on the hydrologic return period. The multiobjective decision and freqeuncy anslysis modules were integrated in a decision support system (DSS) framework, SLEUTH (Shallow Landfill Evaluation Using Transport and Hydrology). SLEUTH is a Microsoft Windows trademark application, and is written in the Knowledge Pro Windows (Knowledge Garden, Inc., 1991) development language

A multiobjective decision support/numerical modeling approach for design and evaluation of shallow landfill burial systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ascough, II, James Clifford [Purdue Univ., Lafayette, IN (United States)

1992-05-01

The capability to objectively evaluate design performance of shallow landfill burial (SLB) systems is of great interest to diverse scientific disciplines, including hydrologists, engineers, environmental scientists, and SLB regulators. The goal of this work was to develop and validate a procedure for the nonsubjective evaluation of SLB designs under actual or simulated environmental conditions. A multiobjective decision module (MDM) based on scoring functions (Wymore, 1988) was implemented to evaluate SLB design performance. Input values to the MDM are provided by hydrologic models. The MDM assigns a total score to each SLB design alternative, thereby allowing for rapid and repeatable design performance evaluation. The MDM was validated for a wide range of SLB designs under different climatic conditions. Rigorous assessment of SLB performance also requires incorporation of hydrologic probabilistic analysis and hydrologic risk into the overall design. This was accomplished through the development of a frequency analysis module. The frequency analysis module allows SLB design event magnitudes to be calculated based on the hydrologic return period. The multiobjective decision and freqeuncy anslysis modules were integrated in a decision support system (DSS) framework, SLEUTH (Shallow Landfill Evaluation Using Transport and Hydrology). SLEUTH is a Microsoft Windows {trademark} application, and is written in the Knowledge Pro Windows (Knowledge Garden, Inc., 1991) development language.

An Intelligent Agent based Architecture for Visual Data Mining

OpenAIRE

Hamdi Ellouzi; Hela Ltifi; Mounir Ben Ayed

2016-01-01

the aim of this paper is to present an intelligent architecture of Decision Support System (DSS) based on visual data mining. This architecture applies the multi-agent technology to facilitate the design and development of DSS in complex and dynamic environment. Multi-Agent Systems add a high level of abstraction. To validate the proposed architecture, it is implemented to develop a distributed visual data mining based DSS to predict nosocomial infectionsoccurrence in intensive care units. Th...

The Establishment of Regulation for Supporting the Development of the First Nuclear Power Plant in Indonesia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mardha, Amil

2011-01-01

To support construction and operation of the first Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Government of Indonesia through BAPETEN as a national authority in nuclear energy usage has pushed ahead in enhancing the development of regulatory system. BAPETEN is currently focusing its activities to the development of regulations in the form of Chairman Decree, the development of licensing and inspection system, and manpower for NPP regulators. The process of the establishment of national legislation is based on the Act No.10 Year 2004 on The establishment of legislation. The process of legal drafting to establish or to revise a regulation for controlling of the use of nuclear energy shall comply with the constitutional and institutional requirements of national political and legal system. In drafting the regulation of nuclear safety of NPP, BAPETEN has been involving some other agencies or other related government agencies, and also stakeholders such as utility, academic institutions, and publics. In general, in the process of legal drafting, international publications or other country regulations can be a reference. Present paper deals with the legal basis of regulation, the establishment of legislation in Indonesia, the process in legal drafting regulations of NPP, and the current status of NPP regulations. (author)

To Regulate or Not to Regulate? Views on Electronic Cigarette Regulations and Beliefs about the Reasons for and against Regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders-Jackson, Ashley; Tan, Andy S L; Bigman, Cabral A; Mello, Susan; Niederdeppe, Jeff

2016-01-01

Policies designed to restrict marketing, access to, and public use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are increasingly under debate in various jurisdictions in the US. Little is known about public perceptions of these policies and factors that predict their support or opposition. Using a sample of US adults from Amazon Mechanical Turk in May 2015, this paper identifies beliefs about the benefits and costs of regulating e-cigarettes and identifies which of these beliefs predict support for e-cigarette restricting policies. A higher proportion of respondents agreed with 8 different reasons to regulate e-cigarettes (48.5% to 83.3% agreement) versus 7 reasons not to regulate e-cigarettes (11.5% to 18.9%). The majority of participants agreed with 7 out of 8 reasons for regulation. When all reasons to regulate or not were included in a final multivariable model, beliefs about protecting people from secondhand vapor and protecting youth from trying e-cigarettes significantly predicted stronger support for e-cigarette restricting policies, whereas concern about government intrusion into individual choices was associated with reduced support. This research identifies key beliefs that may underlie public support or opposition to policies designed to regulate the marketing and use of e-cigarettes. Advocates on both sides of the issue may find this research valuable in developing strategic campaigns related to the issue. Specific beliefs of potential benefits and costs of e-cigarette regulation (protecting youth, preventing exposure to secondhand vapor, and government intrusion into individual choices) may be effectively deployed by policy makers or health advocates in communicating with the public.

To Regulate or Not to Regulate? Views on Electronic Cigarette Regulations and Beliefs about the Reasons for and against Regulation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashley Sanders-Jackson

Full Text Available Policies designed to restrict marketing, access to, and public use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes are increasingly under debate in various jurisdictions in the US. Little is known about public perceptions of these policies and factors that predict their support or opposition.Using a sample of US adults from Amazon Mechanical Turk in May 2015, this paper identifies beliefs about the benefits and costs of regulating e-cigarettes and identifies which of these beliefs predict support for e-cigarette restricting policies.A higher proportion of respondents agreed with 8 different reasons to regulate e-cigarettes (48.5% to 83.3% agreement versus 7 reasons not to regulate e-cigarettes (11.5% to 18.9%. The majority of participants agreed with 7 out of 8 reasons for regulation. When all reasons to regulate or not were included in a final multivariable model, beliefs about protecting people from secondhand vapor and protecting youth from trying e-cigarettes significantly predicted stronger support for e-cigarette restricting policies, whereas concern about government intrusion into individual choices was associated with reduced support.This research identifies key beliefs that may underlie public support or opposition to policies designed to regulate the marketing and use of e-cigarettes. Advocates on both sides of the issue may find this research valuable in developing strategic campaigns related to the issue.Specific beliefs of potential benefits and costs of e-cigarette regulation (protecting youth, preventing exposure to secondhand vapor, and government intrusion into individual choices may be effectively deployed by policy makers or health advocates in communicating with the public.

The INTERPRET Decision-Support System version 3.0 for evaluation of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy data from human brain tumours and other abnormal brain masses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mercadal Guillem

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Proton Magnetic Resonance (MR Spectroscopy (MRS is a widely available technique for those clinical centres equipped with MR scanners. Unlike the rest of MR-based techniques, MRS yields not images but spectra of metabolites in the tissues. In pathological situations, the MRS profile changes and this has been particularly described for brain tumours. However, radiologists are frequently not familiar to the interpretation of MRS data and for this reason, the usefulness of decision-support systems (DSS in MRS data analysis has been explored. Results This work presents the INTERPRET DSS version 3.0, analysing the improvements made from its first release in 2002. Version 3.0 is aimed to be a program that 1st, can be easily used with any new case from any MR scanner manufacturer and 2nd, improves the initial analysis capabilities of the first version. The main improvements are an embedded database, user accounts, more diagnostic discrimination capabilities and the possibility to analyse data acquired under additional data acquisition conditions. Other improvements include a customisable graphical user interface (GUI. Most diagnostic problems included have been addressed through a pattern-recognition based approach, in which classifiers based on linear discriminant analysis (LDA were trained and tested. Conclusions The INTERPRET DSS 3.0 allows radiologists, medical physicists, biochemists or, generally speaking, any person with a minimum knowledge of what an MR spectrum is, to enter their own SV raw data, acquired at 1.5 T, and to analyse them. The system is expected to help in the categorisation of MR Spectra from abnormal brain masses.

A decision support system for real-time management of dissolvedoxygen in the Stockton deep water ship channel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quinn, N.W.T.; Chen, Carl W.; Stringfellow, William T.

2003-07-16

A decision support system(DSS)is under development to assistin the control and management of episodes of dissolved oxygen sag in aDeep Water Ship Channel (DWSC), located in Stockton, California. The DWSCwas formed by excavating the bed of the San Joaquin River in the 1950'sto allow navigation by ocean-going cargo ships to the Port of Stockton.The deepened channel has the effect of increasing hydraulic residencetime by a factor of ten. allowing accumulation of decaying algae andother oxygen demanding substances - which creates a barrier to themigration of anadromous fish. This problem, which manifests itself inlate summer and early autumn, is an impediment to a multimillion dollarhabitat restoration effort for the salmon fishery in the San JoaquinRiver basin (SJRB). A hydrodynamic and water quality model of the Deltaand San Joaquin River forms the basis of the DSS which will provideforecasts of dissolved oxygen sag in the DWSC and provide modelingsupport for management actions such as forced aeration to improvedissolved oxygen concentrations in the Ship Channel. A graphical userinterlace, currently used for displaying flow and salinity forecasts onthe San Joaquin River, is being adapted to allow the display of dissolvedoxygen forecasts and to encourage the formation of a stakeholder-ledentity or institution to adaptively manage the problem.

PRANA - Geoinformation decision support system for rehabilitation of radioactively contaminated territories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yatsalo, B.I.; Mirzeabassov, O.A.; Okhrimenko, I.V.; Pichugina, I.A.

2002-01-01

The Applied Geographic Information System (GIS) PRANA (1998), is a Decision Support System (DSS) for countermeasure analysis in agriculture in the long-term period of mitigation the consequences of a nuclear accident. This system has been introduced at the Chernobyl Department (Ministry of Agriculture) and at the Bryansk Centre of Agrochemical Radiology for practical needs as GIS-system for monitoring network support and analysis of countermeasure scenarios. Developed electronic maps, databases of attributive information, the main tasks of PRANA implementation for assessing contamination of agricultural production, doses to the local population, results and effectiveness of countermeasure implementation along with examples of model assessments are pointed out. The tasks on local and regional analysis of various aspects under consideration within the PRANA and methods of their realisation are considerable different from other works/systems in this field of R and D.This work has been carried out by a group of Russian scientists and EU/Norway collaborators within the ISTC project No. 1224. (author)

MOIRA Software Framework - Integrated User-friendly Shell for The Environmental Decision Support Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hofman, Dmitry; Nordlinder, Sture

2003-01-01

MOIRA DSS is a model-based computerised system for the identification of optimal remedial strategies to restore radionuclide contaminated fresh water environment The examples of the questions which decision-maker could address to the system are 'Is lake liming effective in reducing the radiocesium uptake by fish?', C an control of catchment run-off be an effective measure against further redistribution of radionuclides by river?', 'Is sediment removal worthwhile to reduce further contamination of the aquatic environment?'. The MOIRA system could help decision-maker to avoid implementation of inappropriate and expensive countermeasures. MOIRA gives the possibility to predict effeas of implementation of different types of the countermeasures and evaluate both 'ecological' and 'social' effect of the countermeasures. Decision support process using MOIRA DSS can be subdivided to the following steps: Definition of the site-specific environmental and socio-economic parameters using GIS-based data. Unknown site-specific data could be estimated using GIS-based models, default data for the socio-economic parameters, data directly provided by user. Providing data about fallout of the radionuclides. Definition of the time interval for which prognosis will be made. Definition of the alternative strategies of the countermeasures. Evaluation of the sequences of the implementation of the user-defined strategies and 'no actions' strategy using predictive models. Ranking strategies using Multi-Attribute Analysis Module (MAA) Preparation of the recommendations in the form of report. This process requires usage of several computerised tools such as predictive models, multi-attribute analysis software, geographical information system, data base. MOIRA software framework could be used as the basis for the creation of the wide range of the user-friendly and easy-to-learn decision support systems. It can also provide the advanced graphical user interface and data checking system for the

Journal of Earth System Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

This procedure was successfully implemented and formally evaluated by protected area managers in six Mediterranean countries, results of which are presented here together with an overview of the web-based Decision Support System (DSS) developed to facilitate its wide adoption. The DSS and procedure has been ...

Comparison of Multi-Criteria Decision Support Methods (AHP, TOPSIS, SAW & PROMENTHEE) for Employee Placement

Science.gov (United States)

Widianta, M. M. D.; Rizaldi, T.; Setyohadi, D. P. S.; Riskiawan, H. Y.

2018-01-01

The right decision in placing employees in an appropriate position in a company will support the quality of management and will have an impact on improving the quality of human resources of the company. Such decision-making can be assisted by an approach through the Decision Support System (DSS) to improve accuracy in the employee placement process. The purpose of this paper is to compare the four methods of Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), ie Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), Simple Additive Weighting (SAW), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Of Evaluations (PROMETHEE) for the application of employee placement in accordance with predetermined criteria. The ranking results and the accuracy level obtained from each method are different depending on the different scaling and weighting processes in each method.

COSIMA - A New Decision Support System for the Assessment of Large Transport Infrastructure Projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Salling, Kim Bang; Jensen, Anders Vestergaard; Holvad, Torben

2005-01-01

This paper presents a new proto-type decision support system named COSIMA-DSS for composite method for assessment - decision support system. This userfriendly system makes it possible for decision makers to assess large infrastructure projects and take special account of various uncertainties...... in a systematic and explicit way. The model applied is based on cost-benefit analysis (CBA) embedded in a wider multi-criteria analysis (MCA) and makes use of scenario analysis (SA) and Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). A particular concern of the model is the handling of varying information across the assessment...... criteria and the application of SA to inform the MCS parameter setting. After the presentation of the modelling principles, some ex-post case calculations for the Øresund Fixed Link connecting Denmark and Sweden are presented. These illuminate different aspects of appraisal uncertainty and demonstrate...

Hierarchically sinergistical integration of Social Media Analytics/Social CRM with Business Intelligence and with the Geographic Information System

OpenAIRE

Круковський, Ігор Анатолійович; Хомів, Богдан Арсенович; Гаврилюк, Всеволод Леонідович

2014-01-01

The actuality of integration of Social Media Analytics/Social CRM with Decision Support Systems on the basis of Business Intelligence 2.0 (DSS/BI 2.0) and with the Geographic Information System is presented. On the basis of their integration a new type of DSS is offered - Social Media Spatial DSS/BI. The variant is shown of this system realization on the programmatic platform of Social Media Analytics of the SemanticForce Company, which has its own semantic analyzer Blueberry. The suitability...

Next Generation Life Support (NGLS): Variable Oxygen Regulator

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The objective of the Variable Oxygen Regulator Element is to develop an oxygen-rated, contaminant-tolerant oxygen regulator to control suit pressure with a...

Application of a support vector machine algorithm to the safety precaution technique of medium-low pressure gas regulators

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Xuejun; An, Xaioran; Wu, Bo; He, Shaoping

2018-02-01

In the gas pipeline system, safe operation of a gas regulator determines the stability of the fuel gas supply, and the medium-low pressure gas regulator of the safety precaution system is not perfect at the present stage in the Beijing Gas Group; therefore, safety precaution technique optimization has important social and economic significance. In this paper, according to the running status of the medium-low pressure gas regulator in the SCADA system, a new method for gas regulator safety precaution based on the support vector machine (SVM) is presented. This method takes the gas regulator outlet pressure data as input variables of the SVM model, the fault categories and degree as output variables, which will effectively enhance the precaution accuracy as well as save significant manpower and material resources.

Development of WMS Capabilities to Support NASA Disasters Applications and App Development

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, J. R.; Burks, J. E.; Molthan, A.; McGrath, K. M.

2013-12-01

During the last year several significant disasters have occurred such as Superstorm Sandy on the East coast of the United States, and Typhoon Bopha in the Phillipines, along with several others. In support of these disasters NASA's Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center delivered various products derived from satellite imagery to help in the assessment of damage and recovery of the affected areas. To better support the decision makers responding to the disasters SPoRT quickly developed several solutions to provide the data using open Geographical Information Service (GIS) formats. Providing the data in open GIS standard formats allowed the end user to easily integrate the data into existing Decision Support Systems (DSS). Both Tile Mapping Service (TMS) and Web Mapping Service (WMS) were leveraged to quickly provide the data to the end-user. Development of the deliver methodology allowed quick response to rapidly developing disasters and enabled NASA SPoRT to bring science data to decision makers in a successful research to operations transition.

Prototype development of a web-based participative decision support platform in risk management

Science.gov (United States)

Aye, Zar Chi; Olyazadeh, Roya; Jaboyedoff, Michel; Derron, Marc-Henri

2014-05-01

This paper discusses the proposed background architecture and prototype development of an internet-based decision support system (DSS) in the field of natural hazards and risk management using open-source geospatial software and web technologies. It is based on a three-tier, client-server architecture with the support of boundless (opengeo) framework and its client side SDK application environment using customized gxp components and data utility classes. The main purpose of the system is to integrate the workflow of risk management systematically with the diverse involvement of stakeholders from different organizations dealing with natural hazards and risk for evaluation of management measures through the active online participation approach. It aims to develop an adaptive user friendly, web-based environment that allows the users to set up risk management strategies based on actual context and data by integrating web-GIS and DSS functionality associated with process flow and other visualization tools. Web-GIS interface has been integrated within the DSS to deliver maps and provide certain geo-processing capabilities on the web, which can be easily accessible and shared by different organizations located in case study sites of the project. This platform could be envisaged not only as a common web-based platform for the centralized sharing of data such as hazard maps, elements at risk maps and additional information but also to ensure an integrated platform of risk management where the users could upload data, analyze risk and identify possible alternative scenarios for risk reduction especially for floods and landslides, either quantitatively or qualitatively depending on the risk information provided by the stakeholders in case study regions. The level of involvement, access to and interaction with the provided functionality of the system varies depending on the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders, for example, only the experts (planners, geological

Abbreviated Resonant Frequency Training to Augment Heart Rate Variability and Enhance On-Demand Emotional Regulation in Elite Sport Support Staff.

Science.gov (United States)

Gross, Mike J; Shearer, David A; Bringer, Joy D; Hall, Ross; Cook, Christian J; Kilduff, Liam P

2016-09-01

Support and management staff in elite sport experience work-related stress and emotional disturbance to a similar extent as athletes (Fletcher and Wagstaff 2009). The resonant frequency breathing technique (Lehrer et al. 2000) can inhibit autonomic changes associated with stressful situations or events and as such provides a potential emotional regulation tool. The present study utilised five practitioner-led heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback sessions and home practice via mobile applications to train support and management staff (n = 9) in resonant frequency breathing techniques. Although baseline HRV did not change from pre to post training, participants increased total HRV (i.e., SDNN; p = .006), parasympathetic HRV (i.e., RMSSD; p = .028) and HRV reflective of baroreflex function (i.e., low frequency power; p = .018) while accurately performing resonant frequency breathing without a breath pacer. Post-intervention questionnaire data revealed an increase (p = .032) in habitual use of somatic strategies for emotional regulation, and social validation data suggested that the technique enhanced emotional regulation at home, work and during international competition. HRV biofeedback and the resonant frequency technique provided an on-demand emotional regulation technique for elite sport support and management staff.

The society-supporting self: system justification and cultural worldview defense as different forms of self-regulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rutjens, B.T.; Loseman, A.

2010-01-01

Justifying social systems and defending cultural worldviews may seem to resemble the same human need to protect what is known and predictable. The current paper would like to argue that these society-supporting tendencies concern two different forms of self-regulation: the need for control and the

Support for the revision of regulation on CO2 emissions from light commercial vehicles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smokers, R.; Fraga, F.; Verbeek, M.; Willems, F.; Massink, R.; Spreen, J. [TNO, Delft (Netherlands); Norris, J.; Martinez, C. [AEA Technology plc, London (United Kingdom); Kampman, B.; Brinke, L.; Van Essen, H. [CE Delft, Delft (Netherlands); Schilling, S.; Gruhlke, A.; Sander, K. [Institut fuer Oekologie und Politik Oekopol, Hamburg (Netherlands); Breemersch, T.; De Ceuster, G.; Vanherle, K.; Heyndrickx, C. [Transport and Mobility Leuven TML, Leuven (Belgium); Wrigley, S.; O' Brien, S.; Johnson, A. [Ricardo UK, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex (United Kingdom); Buttigieg, D.; Sima, L.; Pagnac, J.; Dhaene, G. [IHS Global Insight, Nijmegen (Netherlands)

2012-04-15

Road vehicles make a major contribution to transport sector CO2 emissions and the European Union has several policies in place to reduce their emissions. One of these is the regulation to reduce the CO2 emissions of light commercial vehicles (LCVs or vans), Regulation (EU) 510/2011, often referred to as the vans regulation. This contains a number of review clauses, which require the European Commission to carry out an impact assessment on the 2020 target of 147 gCO2/km, and to assess a number of further issues. The ensuing study addresses a wide range of topics relating to this regulation, and includes the development of cost curves for different LCV segments, the evaluation of different utility parameters, a comparison with the effort needed to reduce the CO2 emissions of passenger cars, an assessment of the impact of electric vehicle penetration and calculation of the effects on the total cost of ownership and the societal abatement costs associated with the 2020 target. CE Delft contributed to this study by developing scenarios for the market uptake of electric vehicles in this vehicle segment, and by providing support to the Commission regarding the economic aspects of the Impact Analysis.

Análisis forense a paquetes de datos en la red lan de la Universidad Tecnológica Equinoccial como aporte al cumplimiento de las Normas PCI-DSS

OpenAIRE

Chumi Sarmiento, William; Flores Escobar, Daniel

2014-01-01

Este trabajo no solo representa un análisis forense al interior de la Universidad Tecnológica Equinoccial, sino también una idea aproximada del estado actual en el que se encuentra la institución educativa como institución participante en el procesamiento, transmisión o almacenamiento de información de tarjetas de crédito en la aplicación del estándar Payment Card Industry - Data Security Standard (PCI - DSS), la cual tiene como finalidad la reducción del fraude relacionado con las tarjetas d...

Development, Deployment, and Cost Effectiveness of a Self-Administered Stereo Non Mydriatic Automated Retinal Camera (SNARC) Containing Automated Retinal Lesion (ARL) Detection Using Adaptive Optics

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

Physician (PCP), triggers a clinical decision support system ( DSS ) for the providers can be expected to improve quality of care and efficiency of care...for each patient by the Primary Care Physician (PCP), triggers a clinical decision support system ( DSS ) for the providers can be expected to improve... hospitalizations and emergency room visits, c) the control of co-morbidities, hyperlipidemia and hypertension, d) the number of clinic visits, e) the change in

Distinct Roles for Intestinal Epithelial Cell-Specific Hdac1 and Hdac2 in the Regulation of Murine Intestinal Homeostasis.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonneaud, Alexis; Turgeon, Naomie; Boudreau, François; Perreault, Nathalie; Rivard, Nathalie; Asselin, Claude

2016-02-01

The intestinal epithelium responds to and transmits signals from the microbiota and the mucosal immune system to insure intestinal homeostasis. These interactions are in part conveyed by epigenetic modifications, which respond to environmental changes. Protein acetylation is an epigenetic signal regulated by histone deacetylases, including Hdac1 and Hdac2. We have previously shown that villin-Cre-inducible intestinal epithelial cell (IEC)-specific Hdac1 and Hdac2 deletions disturb intestinal homeostasis. To determine the role of Hdac1 and Hdac2 in the regulation of IEC function and the establishment of the dual knockout phenotype, we have generated villin-Cre murine models expressing one Hdac1 allele without Hdac2, or one Hdac2 allele without Hdac1. We have also investigated the effect of short-term deletion of both genes in naphtoflavone-inducible Ah-Cre and tamoxifen-inducible villin-Cre(ER) mice. Mice with one Hdac1 allele displayed normal tissue architecture, but increased sensitivity to DSS-induced colitis. In contrast, mice with one Hdac2 allele displayed intestinal architecture defects, increased proliferation, decreased goblet cell numbers as opposed to Paneth cells, increased immune cell infiltration associated with fibrosis, and increased sensitivity to DSS-induced colitis. In comparison to dual knockout mice, intermediary activation of Notch, mTOR, and Stat3 signaling pathways was observed. While villin-Cre(ER) Hdac1 and Hdac2 deletions led to an impaired epithelium and differentiation defects, Ah-Cre-mediated deletion resulted in blunted proliferation associated with the induction of a DNA damage response. Our results suggest that IEC determination and intestinal homeostasis are highly dependent on Hdac1 and Hdac2 activity levels, and that changes in the IEC acetylome may alter the mucosal environment. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Formal structures for extracting analytically justifiable decisions from ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper identifies the benefits of transforming business process models into Decision Support Systems (DSS). However, the literature reveals that a business process model “should have a formal foundation” as a major requirement for transforming it into a DSS. The paper further ascertains that formal structures refer to ...

Geocapacity: economic feasibility of CCS in networked systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Neele, F.; Hendriks, C.; Brandsma, R.

2009-01-01

A Decision Support System (DSS) has been developed to evaluate the technical and economical feasibility of CO2 storage in the subsurface. The DSS performs a detailed, stochastic analysis of the technical and economical aspects of a CCS project, which consists of any number of CO2 sources and sinks

Development of System Regulating and Support for Nuclear Security in Belarus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lobach, D.; Astashka, R.; Lugovskaya, O.

2015-01-01

A safeguards strengthening in Belarus is realized as complex for measures of legal authorities building, advance staff education and international cooperation. The main scope of complex coordinated activities is to provide the sustainable development of national regulatory system and support for current and future challenges in a more globalized world to assure relevant safeguards measures and implements, to get the sustainable international and regional cooperation. Collected and implemented information and knowledge, analytical thinking of involved specialists will improve cooperation between IAEA and States to optimize technical support and experience exchange. Some authorities are responsible in regulating and oversighting for nuclear security in Belarus. The main challenge of national system development is realization the conception of effective coordination. The nuclear regulatory authority (the Ministry for Emergency Situations/ Gosatomnadzor) has the responsibility either to build up own technical capabilities for detailed review and assessment of processes and activities of the NPP operator or to make sure that a technical support organization equipped with sufficient knowledge and structural capabilities is involved in assessment and analysis of processes at all phases of the NPP use. There is developed the conception for creation of analytical and technical support laboratory including both stationary and mobile equipment and techniques for nuclear security prevention and control measures and arrangements. It is actually the realization of conception the Joint Center for Nuclear Security Competence in Belarus for national and cooperational purposes. The implementation of strengthening plans and put-up arrangements will lead to integrated regulatory activities in order to allow practical optimization of the resources to get benefits from exchange of experience and issues from safety analysis and oversighting as synergy effect. (author)

Simulation model for longterm management of Avena fatua L. in winter wheat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jäck, Ortrud

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Decision support systems (DSS are used for weed control decisions worldwide. Several DSS for weed management have been published. However they mostly rely on full herbicide dosages and do not take weed population dynamics into account. We developed a modular DSS for long-term Avena fatua L. control in winter wheat. The DSS was parameterized with three year field experiment datasets covering yield loss data, densitydependent population dynamics data as well as data on dose dependent herbicide efficacy and dosedependent population dynamics. The DSS aims to control the A. fatua in the long run. Our hypothesis is that the optimized DSS reduces herbicide input while keeping the population density at low level, maintaining high grain yields and net return. The DSS comprises four sub-models calculating crop yield loss, A. fatua population dynamics as well as dose dependent herbicide efficacy and economics of the weed control decision. The economic sub-model calculates net return in dependency of the herbicide dosage and thus the resulting crop yield. First results of a 10-year simulation showed that herbicide input could be reduced by 40% compared to the economic threshold strategy, while the population density of A. fatua is controlled. Up to now the DSS has been parameterized for the herbicides Ralon Super, Axial 50 and Broadway. The results show the great potential of reducing herbicide input and point out the importance of including population dynamics models into DSS.

The neural network as a part of decision support system for quality management for production objects in machining process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cherepanska I.Yu.

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The research discusses the use of artificial neural networks (ANN as components of a decision support system (DSS to automate quality control manufacturing facilities machining business at the production, which should be focused on the analysis of large amounts of heterogeneous information. The necessity to use ANN as a part of DSS is justified by the fact that quality control during production is multistage and time-consuming process that is formalized difficult, and moreover requires considerable information and material costs for the efficiency of manufacturing operations performed. Taking into account the existing experience of successful use of ANN to solve difficult formal problems associated with handling large volumes of diverse and rapidly changing information, the authors synthesized ANN for automated determination of the causes deterioration of the quality of production objects (PO in the performance of manufacturing operations application. Particular attention is paid to the definition of the dimension of the hidden layer ANN synthesized due to the fact that today still there is no analytical expression to determine the dimension of the hidden layer ANN and size of the latter is determined only by the experimental results of ANN several different structures by comparison the results, in particular the value of mean square error.

Development of Web Mapping Service Capabilities to Support NASA Disasters Applications/App Development

Science.gov (United States)

Burks, Jason E.; Molthan, Andrew L.; McGrath, Kevin M.

2014-01-01

During the last year several significant disasters have occurred such as Superstorm Sandy on the East coast of the United States, and Typhoon Bopha in the Phillipines, along with several others. In support of these disasters NASA's Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center delivered various products derived from satellite imagery to help in the assessment of damage and recovery of the affected areas. To better support the decision makers responding to the disasters SPoRT quickly developed several solutions to provide the data using open Geographical Information Service (GIS) formats. Providing the data in open GIS standard formats allowed the end user to easily integrate the data into existing Decision Support Systems (DSS). Both Tile Mapping Service (TMS) and Web Mapping Service (WMS) were leveraged to quickly provide the data to the end-user. Development of the deliver methodology allowed quick response to rapidly developing disasters and enabled NASA SPoRT to bring science data to decision makers in a successful research to operations transition.

Intelligent Case Based Decision Support System for Online Diagnosis of Automated Production System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ben Rabah, N; Saddem, R; Carre-Menetrier, V; Ben Hmida, F; Tagina, M

2017-01-01

Diagnosis of Automated Production System (APS) is a decision-making process designed to detect, locate and identify a particular failure caused by the control law. In the literature, there are three major types of reasoning for industrial diagnosis: the first is model-based, the second is rule-based and the third is case-based. The common and major limitation of the first and the second reasonings is that they do not have automated learning ability. This paper presents an interactive and effective Case Based Decision Support System for online Diagnosis (CB-DSSD) of an APS. It offers a synergy between the Case Based Reasoning (CBR) and the Decision Support System (DSS) in order to support and assist Human Operator of Supervision (HOS) in his/her decision process. Indeed, the experimental evaluation performed on an Interactive Training System for PLC (ITS PLC) that allows the control of a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), simulating sensors or/and actuators failures and validating the control algorithm through a real time interactive experience, showed the efficiency of our approach. (paper)

Chronic Supplementation of Paeonol Combined with Danshensu for the Improvement of Vascular Reactivity in the Cerebral Basilar Artery of Diabetic Rats

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Jing; Li, Ya-Ling; Li, Zi-Lin; Li, Hua; Zhou, Xuan-Xuan; Qiu, Peng-Cheng; Yang, Qian; Wang, Si-Wang

2012-01-01

One of the leading causes of death in the world is cerebrovascular disease. Numerous Chinese traditional medicines, such as Cortex Moutan (root bark of Paeonia suffruticosa Andrew) and Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae (root and rhizome of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge), protect against cerebrovascular diseases and exhibit anti-atherosclerotic effects. Traditional medicines have been routinely used for a long time in China. In addition, these two herbs are prescribed together in clinical practice. Therefore, the pharmacodynamic interactions between the active constituents of these two herbs, which are paeonol (Pae) and danshensu (DSS), should be particularly studied. The study of Pae and DSS can provide substantial foundations in understanding their mechanisms and empirical evidence to support clinical practice. This study investigated the effects and possible mechanisms of the pharmacodynamic interaction between Pae and DSS on cerebrovascular malfunctioning in diabetes. Experimental diabetes was induced in rats, which was then treated with Pae, DSS, and Pae + DSS for eight weeks. Afterward, cerebral arteries from all groups were isolated and equilibrated in an organ bath with Krebs buffer and ring tension. Effects of Pae, DSS, and Pae + DSS were observed on vessel relaxation with or without endothelium as well as on the basal tonus of vessels from normal and diabetic rats. Indexes about oxidative stress were also determined. We report that the cerebral arteries from diabetic rats show decreased vascular reactivity to acetylcholine (ACh) which was corrected in Pae, DSS, and Pae + DSS treated groups. Furthermore, phenylephrine (PE)-induced contraction response decreased in the treated groups. Phenylephrine and CaCl2-induced vasoconstrictions are partially inhibited in the three treated groups under Ca2+-free medium. Pre-incubated with tetraethylammonium, a non-selective K+ channel blocker, the antagonized relaxation responses increased in DSS and Pae + DSS treated diabetic

The Lower Sevier River Basin Crop Monitor and Forecast Decision Support System: Exploiting Landsat Imagery to Provide Continuous Information to Farmers and Water Managers

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Rua, A. F.; Walker, W. R.; McKee, M.

2013-12-01

The last century has seen a large number of innovations in agriculture such as better policies for water control and management, upgraded water conveyance, irrigation, distribution, and monitoring systems, and better weather forecasting products. In spite of this, irrigation management and irrigation water deliveries by farmers/water managers is still based on factors like water share amounts, tradition, and past experience on irrigation. These factors are not necessarily related to the actual crop water use; they are followed because of the absence of related information provided in a timely manner at an affordable cost. Thus, it is necessary to develop means to deliver continuous and personalized information about crop water requirements to water users/managers at the field and irrigation system levels so managers at these levels can better quantify the required versus available water for irrigation during the irrigation season. This study presents a new decision support system (DSS) platform that addresses the absence of information on actual crop water requirements and crop performance by providing continuous updated farm-based crop water use along with other farm performance indicators such as crop yield and farm management to irrigators and water managers. This DSS exploits the periodicity of the Landsat Satellite Mission (8 to 16 days, depending on the period of interest) to provide remote monitoring at the individual field and irrigation system levels. The Landsat satellite images are converted into information about crop water use, yield performance and field management through application of state-of-the-art semi-physical and statistical algorithms that provide this information at a pixel basis that are ultimately aggregated to field and irrigation system levels. A version of the DSS has been implemented for the agricultural lands in the Lower Sevier River, Utah, and has been operational since the beginning of the 2013 irrigation season. The main goal of

Desicion Support System For Natural Hazards

Science.gov (United States)

Vyazilov, E.

2009-04-01

recommendations should be reasonable. To resolve the above problems or to make them less significant it is necessary to develop decision support systems (DSS). DMs need not tables with initial data, analytical, forecasting and climatic information, but messages containing warnings on critical value accidence, information on probability of hazards, information on potential losses, and information on hazardous impacts and recommendations on decision making. DSS can do the following: take into account impacts on specific points and on the total area under consideration; allow for the effects of the environment on economic entities (objects) in any geographical region to be analyzed; distinguish impacts and changes caused both by different phenomena and by their combination; signal when objects are or can be in adverse environmental conditions, e.g. in the area affected by fog, storm, tropical cyclone or in the area where the probability of hazardous ice events is very high, etc. The main component of DSS is a knowledge base based on the following concept: if we know environmental conditions it is possible to predict potential impacts on the economy; if we know impacts it is possible to give a set of recommendations on how to prevent (reduce) losses or how to use natural resources most efficiently. Decision making criteria are safety of people and property, reduction of losses, increase of profit, materials saving, etc. Knowledge base is a set of rules formulated in a formalized way using if, that, else. If "Water level in S.-Petersburg >150 cm" that "To give out warning information "Hazards for building on coastal river Neva is possible" and recommendations "The valuable goods carry out in second floor" else "To switch another rule". To have a knowledge base in place it is necessary to: develop tools of identifying and getting knowledge from experts; arrange the information flow from available information systems (operational data, analyses, forecasts, climatic information) through

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SUPPORTIVE EDUCATIVE IN INCREASING SELF REGULATION, SELF EFFICACY, AND SELF CARE AGENCY TO CONTROL GLICHEMIC INDEX IN PATIENT WITH TYPE II DIABETES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darmansyah AF

2017-04-01

control and diet, physical exercise, medication, blood sugar control and foot care (p = <0.05, self efficacy (p = 0,05, self care agency (p = <0,05. Test result of the correlation among the variables using Partial Least Square (PLS suggest supportive educative model and the obtained value of self regulation is (0,561, self effi cacy is (0,548 self regulation to self care agency (0,592, self effi cacy to self regulation (0,162, self regulation to self care agency (0,094, and self care agency to HbA1c (0,130. Discussion and Conclusion: Novelty in this study indicated that supportive educative is able to improve self care agency patient and HbA1c through increasing self regulation. It is recommended that model of supportive educative could be applied in health service in Indonesia in regard to be independency patient with type 2 DM and other chronical disease.

Análisis de la implementación del estándar PCI-DSS en la seguridad de la información dentro de una institución financiera.

OpenAIRE

Calle Parrales, Zoila Alexandra; Mejía Villegas, Andrea Jacqueline

2015-01-01

El presente trabajo propone el análisis de la implementación del estándar de seguridad de datos para la industria de tarjetas de pago, conocido por su siglas en inglés PCI-DSS (Payment Card industry – Data Security Standard), como medida de seguridad para prevenir fraudes en las transacciones que impliquen el uso de tarjetas de crédito y débito, como ayuda al cumplimiento de las exigencias de la Superintendencia de Bancos y Seguros, respecto al procesamiento de las mismas. Este estándar e...

The Role of Social Support and Coping Skills in Promoting Self-Regulated Learning among Urban Youth

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, Justin C.; Fisher, Alexandra L.; Caemmerer, Jacqueline M.; Keith, Timothy Z.; Poklar, Ashley E.

2018-01-01

Self-regulation is a well-known construct in educational and psychological research, as it is often related to academic success and well-being. Drawing from criticisms of a lack of context applied to the investigation of this construct, the current study examined the multi-dimensional role of social support (teachers, parents, peers) and coping…

Central thalamic deep brain stimulation for support of forebrain arousal regulation in the minimally conscious state.

Science.gov (United States)

Schiff, Nicholas D

2013-01-01

This chapter considers the use of central thalamic deep brain stimulation (CT/DBS) to support arousal regulation mechanisms in the minimally conscious state (MCS). CT/DBS for selected patients in a MCS is first placed in the historical context of prior efforts to use thalamic electrical brain stimulation to treat the unconscious clinical conditions of coma and vegetative state. These previous studies and a proof of concept result from a single-subject study of a patient in a MCS are reviewed against the background of new population data providing benchmarks of the natural history of vegetative and MCSs. The conceptual foundations for CT/DBS in selected patients in a MCS are then presented with consideration of both circuit and cellular mechanisms underlying recovery of consciousness identified from empirical studies. Directions for developing future generalizable criteria for CT/DBS that focus on the integrity of necessary brain systems and behavioral profiles in patients in a MCS that may optimally response to support of arousal regulation mechanisms are proposed. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Human Variant of Glucose-Regulated Protein 94 That Inefficiently Supports IGF Production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marzec, Michal; Hawkes, Colin P; Eletto, Davide

2016-01-01

IGFs are critical for normal intrauterine and childhood growth and sustaining health throughout life. We showed previously that the production of IGF-1 and IGF-2 requires interaction with the chaperone glucose-regulated protein 94 (GRP94) and that the amount of secreted IGFs is proportional...... in a child with primary IGF deficiency and was later shown to be a noncommon single-nucleotide polymorphism with frequencies of 1%-4% in various populations. When tested in the grp94(-/-) cell-based complementation assay, P300L supported only approximately 58% of IGF secretion relative to wild-type GRP94....... Furthermore, recombinant P300L showed impaired nucleotide binding activity. These in vitro data strongly support a causal relationship between the GRP94 variant and the decreased concentration of circulating IGF-1, as observed in human carriers of P300L. Thus, mutations in GRP94 that affect its IGF chaperone...

A decision support system using combined-classifier for high-speed data stream in smart grid

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Hang; Li, Peng; He, Zhian; Guo, Xiaobin; Fong, Simon; Chen, Huajun

2016-11-01

Large volume of high-speed streaming data is generated by big power grids continuously. In order to detect and avoid power grid failure, decision support systems (DSSs) are commonly adopted in power grid enterprises. Among all the decision-making algorithms, incremental decision tree is the most widely used one. In this paper, we propose a combined classifier that is a composite of a cache-based classifier (CBC) and a main tree classifier (MTC). We integrate this classifier into a stream processing engine on top of the DSS such that high-speed steaming data can be transformed into operational intelligence efficiently. Experimental results show that our proposed classifier can return more accurate answers than other existing ones.

Model based decision support system of operating settings for MMAT nozzles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fritz Bradley Keith

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Droplet size, which is affected by nozzle type, nozzle setups and operation, and spray solution, is one of the most critical factors influencing spray performance, environment pollution, food safety, and must be considered as part of any application scenario. Characterizing spray nozzles can be a timely and expensive proposition if the entire operational space (all combinations of spray pressure and orifice size, what influence flow rate is to be evaluated. This research proposes a structured, experimental design that allows for the development of computational models for droplet size based on any combination of a nozzle’s potential operational settings. The developed droplet size determination model can be used as Decision Support System (DSS for precise selection of sprayer working parameters to adapt to local field scenarios. Five nozzle types (designs were evaluated across their complete range of orifice size (flow rate* and spray pressures using a response surface experimental design. Several of the models showed high level fits of the modeled to the measured data while several did not as a result of the lack of significant effect from either orifice size (flow rate* or spray pressure. The computational models were integrated into a spreadsheet based user interface for ease of use. The proposed experimental design provides for efficient nozzle evaluations and development of computational models that allow for the determination of droplet size spectrum and spraying classification for any combination of a given nozzle’s operating settings. The proposed DSS will allow for the ready assessment and modification of a sprayers performance based on the operational settings, to ensure the application is made following recommendations in plant protection products (PPP labels.

Assessments of risk indices and decision-making support within risk based land management and sustainable rehabilitation of radioactive contaminated territories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yatsalo, B.; Didenko, V.; Golikov, V.

2002-01-01

Description of the applied Geoinformation Decision-Support System PRANA for risk based land management and rehabilitation of territories of Bryansk region (Russia), subjected to radioactive contamination as a result of the Chernobyl accident, is presented. The main blocks of PRANA DSS, including electronic maps, databases and models are described. Implementation of vector land use map with corresponding integration of different models allows integrating both local and regional level of analysis and practical implementation (from each field and settlement up to farm and district and regional levels). Some examples of model assessments (map of countermeasures and doses) are presented

Age-related slowing of digit symbol substitution revisited: what do longitudinal age changes reflect?

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, Stuart W S; Hultsch, David F; Strauss, Esther; Dixon, Roger A

2003-05-01

A previous investigation reported that cross-sectional age differences in Digit Symbol Substitution (DSS) test performance reflect declines in perceptual processing speed. Support for the tenability of the processing speed hypothesis requires examining whether longitudinal age-related change in DSS performance is largely mediated by changes in speed. The present study used data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study to examine patterns and predictors of longitudinal change in DSS for 512 older adults (M(age) = 68.37 years, SD = 7.43). On the basis of multilevel modeling, baseline DSS performance was poorer for older participants and men, with longitudinal declines more pronounced with increasing age and decreasing speed. In contrast to the present cross-sectional findings, statistical control of change trajectories in perceptual speed using the same data did not substantially attenuate age changes. These discrepancies suggest different sources of variance may underlie cross-sectional age differences and longitudinal age changes for DSS.

Energy-water analysis of the 10-year WECC transmission planning study cases.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tidwell, Vincent Carroll; Passell, Howard David; Castillo, Cesar; Moreland, Barbara

2011-11-01

In 2011 the Department of Energy's Office of Electricity embarked on a comprehensive program to assist our Nation's three primary electric interconnections with long term transmission planning. Given the growing concern over water resources in the western U.S. the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) requested assistance with integrating water resource considerations into their broader electric transmission planning. The result is a project with three overarching objectives: (1) Develop an integrated Energy-Water Decision Support System (DSS) that will enable planners in the Western Interconnection to analyze the potential implications of water stress for transmission and resource planning. (2) Pursue the formulation and development of the Energy-Water DSS through a strongly collaborative process between the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), Western Governors Association (WGA), the Western States Water Council (WSWC) and their associated stakeholder teams. (3) Exercise the Energy-Water DSS to investigate water stress implications of the transmission planning scenarios put forward by WECC, WGA, and WSWC. The foundation for the Energy-Water DSS is Sandia National Laboratories Energy-Power-Water Simulation (EPWSim) model (Tidwell et al. 2009). The modeling framework targets the shared needs of energy and water producers, resource managers, regulators, and decision makers at the federal, state and local levels. This framework provides an interactive environment to explore trade-offs, and 'best' alternatives among a broad list of energy/water options and objectives. The decision support framework is formulated in a modular architecture, facilitating tailored analyses over different geographical regions and scales (e.g., state, county, watershed, interconnection). An interactive interface allows direct control of the model and access to real-time results displayed as charts, graphs and maps. The framework currently supports

Network Regulation and Support Schemes - How Policy Interactions Affect the Integration of Distributed Generation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ropenus, Stephanie; Jacobsen, Henrik; Schröder, Sascha Thorsten

2011-01-01

This article seeks to investigate the interactions between the policy dimensions of support schemes and network regulation and how they affect distributed generation. Firstly, the incentives of distributed generators and distribution system operators are examined. Frequently there exists a trade......-off between the incentives for these two market agents to facilitate the integration of distributed generation. Secondly, the interaction of these policy dimensions is analyzed, including case studies based on five EU Member States. Aspects of operational nature and investments in grid and distributed...

Evaluation of decision support systems for nuclear accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sdouz, G.; Mueck, K.

1998-05-01

In order to adopt countermeasures to protect the public after an accident in a nuclear power plant in an appropriate and optimum way, decision support systems offer a valuable assistance in supporting the decision maker in choosing and optimizing protective actions. Such decision support systems may range from simple systems to accumulate relevant parameters for the evaluation of the situation over prediction models for the rapid evaluation of the dose to be expected to systems which permit the evaluation and comparison of possible countermeasures. Since the establishment of a decision support systems obviously is also required in Austria, an evaluation of systems available or in the state of development in other countries or unions was performed. The aim was to determine the availability of decision support systems in various countries and to evaluate them with regard to depth and extent of the system. The evaluation showed that in most industrialized countries the requirement for a decision support system was realized, but in only few countries actual systems are readily available and operable. Most systems are limited to early phase consequences, i.e. dispersion calculations of calculated source terms and the estimation of exposure in the vicinity of the plant. Only few systems offer the possibility to predict long-term exposures by ingestion. Few systems permit also an evaluation of potential countermeasures, in most cases, however, limited to a few short-term countermeasures. Only one system which is presently not operable allows the evaluation of a large number of agricultural countermeasures. In this report the different systems are compared. The requirements with regard to an Austrian decision support system are defined and consequences for a possible utilization of a DSS or parts thereof for the Austrian decision support system are derived. (author)

HTA decision support system for sustainable business continuity management in hospitals. The case of surgical activity at the University Hospital in Florence.

Science.gov (United States)

Miniati, Roberto; Dori, Fabrizio; Cecconi, Giulio; Gusinu, Roberto; Niccolini, Fabrizio; Gentili, Guido Biffi

2013-01-01

A fundamental element of the social and safety function of a health structure is the need to guarantee continuity of clinical activity through the continuity of technology. This paper aims to design a Decision Support System (DSS) for medical technology evaluations based on the use of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) in order to provide a multi-disciplinary valuation of a technology in a health structure. The methodology used in planning the DSS followed the following key steps: the definition of relevant KPIs, the development of a database to calculate the KPIs, the calculation of the defined KPIs and the resulting study report. Finally, the clinical and economic validation of the system was conducted though a case study of Business Continuity applied in the operating department of the Florence University Hospital AOU Careggi in Italy. A web-based support system was designed for HTA in health structures. The case study enabled Business Continuity Management (BCM) to be implemented in a hospital department in relation to aspects of a single technology and the specific clinical process. Finally, an economic analysis of the procedure was carried out. The system is useful for decision makers in that it precisely defines which equipment to include in the BCM procedure, using a scale analysis of the specific clinical process in which the equipment is used. In addition, the economic analysis shows how the cost of the procedure is completely covered by the indirect costs which would result from the expenses incurred from a broken device, hence showing the complete auto-sustainability of the methodology.

Developing electricity distribution networks and their regulation to support sustainable energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaw, Rita; Attree, Mike; Jackson, Tim

2010-01-01

A more sustainable energy system will alter the current patterns of electricity demand and generation. This means technical, commercial and regulatory change for electricity network systems such as distribution networks. This paper traces the links in Great Britain between changes in energy policy since privatisation, changes in the objectives of the electricity regulator and changes in the objectives of the distribution networks and their owners, the distribution network operators (DNOs). The paper identifies tensions in regulatory policy and suggests reforms to the regulatory framework to support a lower-carbon future. DNOs are licensed regional infrastructure providers. In addition to their network services, the network companies can potentially deliver public policy objectives to facilitate heat infrastructure, energy-efficiency and distributed renewables. The paper identifies the potential benefits of a novel approach to facilitating renewable energy feed-in tariffs for electricity and heat, using DNOs.

Relational regulation theory and the role of social support and organisational fairness for nurses in a general acute context.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodwell, John; Munro, Louise

2013-11-01

To present a novel approach to nurse stress by exploring the demand-control-support model with organisational justice through the lens of relational regulation theory. Nursing is often stressful due to high demands and dissatisfaction with pay, which impacts the mental well-being and productivity of nurses. A cross-sectional design. A validated questionnaire was sent to the work addresses of all nursing and midwifery staff in a medium-sized general acute hospital in Australia. A total of 190 nurses and midwives returned completed questionnaires for the analyses. The multiple regression analyses demonstrated that the model applies to the prototypical context of a general acute hospital and that job control, supervisor support and outside work support improve the job satisfaction and mental health of nurses. Most importantly, supervisor support was found to buffer the impact of excessive work demands. Fairness of procedures, distribution of resources and the quality and consistency of information are also beneficial. Relational regulation theory is applied to these findings as a novel way to conceptualise the mechanisms of support and fairness in nursing. The importance of nurses' well-being and job satisfaction is a priority for improving clinical outcomes. Practically, this means nurse managers should be encouraging nurses in the pursuit of diverse relational activities both at work and outside work. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Investing in the Early Childhood Mental Health Workforce Development: Enhancing Professionals' Competencies to Support Emotion and Behavior Regulation in Young Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Ritblatt, Shulamit N; Hokoda, Audrey; Van Liew, Charles

2017-09-19

This paper delineates a preventive approach to early childhood mental health by preparing the workforce to provide relational, sensitive care to young children ages 0-5. One of the most prevalent issues in early childhood is behavioral challenges and the inability of young children to regulate themselves. This leads to an expulsion rate in early childhood (3-4 times higher than K-12 expulsion rate) and future mental health issues. The Early Childhood Social-Emotional and Behavior Regulation Intervention Specialist (EC-SEBRIS) graduate level certificate program was created to strengthen early care and education providers with the knowledge and practice of how to support emotion and behavior regulation in young children in their groups. Evaluation data provide evidence that early care and education professionals increased in their perception of self-efficacy and in their sensitivity of care and skills to support behavioral health in young children. Results indicated that the children in their care showed less challenging behaviors and increased social competencies. This manuscript highlights the importance of prevention and the dire need to provide young children with high-quality, appropriate care to support their mental health.

Intra- and interregional cortical interactions related to sharp-wave ripples and dentate spikes.

Science.gov (United States)

Headley, Drew B; Kanta, Vasiliki; Paré, Denis

2017-02-01

The hippocampus generates population events termed sharp-wave ripples (SWRs) and dentate spikes (DSs). While little is known about DSs, SWR-related hippocampal discharges during sleep are thought to replay prior waking activity, reactivating the cortical networks that encoded the initial experience. During slow-wave sleep, such reactivations likely occur during up-states, when most cortical neurons are depolarized. However, most studies have examined the relationship between SWRs and up-states measured in single neocortical regions. As a result, it is currently unclear whether SWRs are associated with particular patterns of widely distributed cortical activity. Additionally, no such investigation has been carried out for DSs. The present study addressed these questions by recording SWRs and DSs from the dorsal hippocampus simultaneously with prefrontal, sensory (visual and auditory), perirhinal, and entorhinal cortices in naturally sleeping rats. We found that SWRs and DSs were associated with up-states in all cortical regions. Up-states coinciding with DSs and SWRs exhibited increased unit activity, power in the gamma band, and intraregional gamma coherence. Unexpectedly, interregional gamma coherence rose much more strongly in relation to DSs than to SWRs. Whereas the increase in gamma coherence was time locked to DSs, that seen in relation to SWRs was not. These observations suggest that SWRs are related to the strength of up-state activation within individual regions throughout the neocortex but not so much to gamma coherence between different regions. Perhaps more importantly, DSs coincided with stronger periods of interregional gamma coherence, suggesting that they play a more important role than previously assumed. Off-line cortico-hippocampal interactions are thought to support memory consolidation. We surveyed the relationship between hippocampal sharp-wave ripples (SWRs) and dentate spikes (DSs) with up-states across multiple cortical regions. SWRs and

Developing Self-Regulation by Using Reflective Support in a Video-Digital Microteaching Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zehavit Kohen

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Recent research efforts have established that self-regulated learning (SRL is necessary for teachers to attain successful professional development. Our study addresses two central questions: under what conditions in preservice teachers' education can SRL processes be enhanced to the optimum level, and how can we assess these processes? The participants of the study were ninety-seven preservice teachers, who were engaged in real-time teaching in a video-digital Microteaching environment. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of two groups: reflective support (RS for SRL or no support (NS for SRL. Participants in the RS group were explicitly exposed to SRL aspects and were directed to address these aspects in their reflective discussions of the teaching experience. The SRL process was measured as an online event during real-time teaching exercises, based on a coding scheme developed for this study to identify and assess the SRL skills by two major aspects: metacognition (planning, information management, monitoring, debugging, and evaluating and motivation (interest and value, self-efficacy, and teaching anxiety. Results indicate that the RS group outperformed the NS group in all SRL measures. Implications for reflective support for SRL and event measures of real-time observations of preservice teachers' SRL are discussed.

Computer-Mediated Counter-Arguments and Individual Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Jack Shih-Chieh; Huang, Hsieh-Hong; Linden, Lars P.

2011-01-01

This study explores a de-bias function for a decision support systems (DSS) that is designed to help a user avoid confirmation bias by increasing the user's learning opportunities. Grounded upon the theory of mental models, the use of DSS is viewed as involving a learning process, whereby a user is directed to build mental models so as to reduce…

DNA secondary structures are associated with recombination in major Plasmodium falciparum variable surface antigen gene families

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sander, Adam F.; Lavstsen, Thomas; Rask, Thomas Salhøj

2014-01-01

falciparum-erythrocyte membrane protein 1 class on the infected erythrocyte surface. Recombination clearly generates var diversity, but the nature and control of the genetic exchanges involved remain unclear. By experimental and bioinformatic identification of recombination events and genome...... of recombination during DNA replication in P. falciparum sexual stages, and that these DSS-regulated genetic exchanges generate functional and diverse P. falciparum adhesion antigens. DSS-induced recombination may represent a common mechanism for optimizing the evolvability of virulence gene families in pathogens....

Sustainable management of agriculture activity on areas with soil vulnerability to compaction trough a developed decision support system (DSS)

Science.gov (United States)

Moretto, Johnny; Fantinato, Luciano; Rasera, Roberto

2017-04-01

One of the main environmental effects of agriculture is the negative impacts on areas with soil vulnerability to compaction and undersurface water derived from inputs and treatment distributions. A solution may represented from the "Precision Farming". Precision Farming refers to a management concept focusing on (near-real time) observation, measurement and responses to inter- and intra-variability in crops, fields and animals. Potential benefits may include increasing crop yields and animal performance, cost and labour reduction and optimisation of process inputs, all of which would increase profitability. At the same time, Precision Farming should increase work safety and reduce the environmental impacts of agriculture and farming practices, thus contributing to the sustainability of agricultural production. The concept has been made possible by the rapid development of ICT-based sensor technologies and procedures along with dedicated software that, in the case of arable farming, provides the link between spatially-distributed variables and appropriate farming practices such as tillage, seeding, fertilisation, herbicide and pesticide application, and harvesting. Much progress has been made in terms of technical solutions, but major steps are still required for the introduction of this approach over the common agricultural practices. There are currently a large number of sensors capable of collecting data for various applications (e.g. Index of vegetation vigor, soil moisture, Digital Elevation Models, meteorology, etc.). The resulting large volumes of data need to be standardised, processed and integrated using metadata analysis of spatial information, to generate useful input for decision-support systems. In this context, a user-friendly IT applications has been developed, for organizing and processing large volumes of data from different types of remote sensing and meteorological sensors, and for integrating these data into user-friendly farm management support

Emotion regulation choice : A conceptual framework and supporting evidence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sheppes, Gal; Scheibe, Susanne; Suri, Gaurav; Radu, Peter; Blechert, Jens; Gross, James J.

Choice behavior is considered the fundamental means by which individuals exert control over their environments. One important choice domain that remains virtually unexplored is that of emotion regulation. This is surprising given that healthy adaptation requires flexibly choosing between regulation

Design and implementation of a decision support system for breast cancer treatment based on clinical practice guidelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skevofilakas, M.T.; Nikita, K.S.; Templaleksis, P.H.; Birbas, K.N.; Kaklamanos, I.G.; Bonatsos, G.N.

2007-01-01

Evidence based medicine is the clinical practice that uses medical data and proof in order to make efficient clinical decisions. Information technology (IT) can play a crucial role in exploiting the huge size of raw medical data involved. In an attempt to improve clinical efficacy, health care society nowadays also utilizes a new assistant, clinical guidelines. Our research concerns the medical domain of the breast cancer disease. Our research's focus is twofold; our primary goal is to ensure consistency in clinical practice by importing clinical guidelines in an IT driven decision support system (DSS). Furthermore, we seek to improve visualization of disease specific, clinical data, providing for it's faster and more efficient use. (orig.)

Epigenetic influences on sensory regeneration: histone deacetylases regulate supporting cell proliferation in the avian utricle.

Science.gov (United States)

Slattery, Eric L; Speck, Judith D; Warchol, Mark E

2009-09-01

The sensory hair cells of the cochlea and vestibular organs are essential for normal hearing and balance function. The mammalian ear possesses a very limited ability to regenerate hair cells and their loss can lead to permanent sensory impairment. In contrast, hair cells in the avian ear are quickly regenerated after acoustic trauma or ototoxic injury. The very different regenerative abilities of the avian vs. mammalian ear can be attributed to differences in injury-evoked expression of genes that either promote or inhibit the production of new hair cells. Gene expression is regulated both by the binding of cis-regulatory molecules to promoter regions as well as through structural modifications of chromatin (e.g., methylation and acetylation). This study examined effects of histone deacetylases (HDACs), whose main function is to modify histone acetylation, on the regulation of regenerative proliferation in the chick utricle. Cultures of regenerating utricles and dissociated cells from the utricular sensory epithelia were treated with the HDAC inhibitors valproic acid, trichostatin A, sodium butyrate, and MS-275. All of these molecules prevent the enzymatic removal of acetyl groups from histones, thus maintaining nuclear chromatin in a "relaxed" (open) configuration. Treatment with all inhibitors resulted in comparable decreases in supporting cell proliferation. We also observed that treatment with the HDAC1-, 2-, and 3-specific inhibitor MS-275 was sufficient to reduce proliferation and that two class I HDACs--HDAC1 and HDAC2--were expressed in the sensory epithelium of the utricle. These results suggest that inhibition of specific type I HDACs is sufficient to prevent cell cycle entry in supporting cells. Notably, treatment with HDAC inhibitors did not affect the differentiation of replacement hair cells. We conclude that histone deacetylation is a positive regulator of regenerative proliferation but is not critical for avian hair cell differentiation.

Regulating the Balance of Th17/Treg via Electroacupuncture and Moxibustion: An Ulcerative Colitis Mice Model Based Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jungang Sun

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. To investigate the relationship between the effects of electroacupuncture/moxibustion and the balance of Th17/Treg in treating ulcerative colitis (UC and to preliminary compare the effects of the above two methods. Methods. DSS-induced UC mice were treated by electroacupuncture and moxibustion. Disease activity index (DAI was scored; intestinal pathological structure and ultrastructure were observed. The levels of IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, IL-17F, and TGF-β in plasma were measured by ELISA. The percentages of Treg and Th17 in spleen lymphocytes were analyzed by flow cytometry. Also, the expressions of TLR2, TLR4, RORγt, and FOXP3 in the distal colon were detected by immunohistochemistry or western blot. Results. Both electroacupuncture and moxibustion can relieve UC. These effects are further supported by ELISA results. In addition, the ratio of Treg and Th17 in spleen lymphocytes and the expression of TLR2 and TLR4 are significantly improved. Also, the expression of RORγt and FOXP3 in distal colon were improved. Besides, the effect of moxibustion is better than that of electroacupuncture on TLR2, TLR4, and FOXP3 expression (P<0.05. Conclusion. Both electroacupuncture and moxibustion may ameliorate UC by regulating the balance of Th17/Treg. Whether moxibustion has better efficacy than electroacupuncture needs further study.

Characteristics of Differently Located Colorectal Cancers Support Proximal and Distal Classification: A Population-Based Study of 57,847 Patients.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiao Yang

Full Text Available It has been suggested that colorectal cancer be regarded as several subgroups defined according to tumor location rather than as a single entity. The current study aimed to identify the most useful method for grouping colorectal cancer by tumor location according to both baseline and survival characteristics.Cases of pathologically confirmed colorectal adenocarcinoma diagnosed from 2000 to 2012 were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database and categorized into three groups: right colon cancer (RCC, left colon cancer (LCC, and rectal cancer (ReC. Adjusted hazard ratios for known predictors of disease-specific survival (DSS in colorectal cancer were obtained using a Cox proportional hazards regression model.The study included 57847 patients: 43.5% with RCC, 37.7% with LCC, and 18.8% with ReC. Compared with LCC and ReC, RCC was more likely to affect old patients and women, and to be at advanced stage, poorly differentiated or un-differentiated, and mucinous. Patients with LCC or ReC had better DSS than those with RCC in subgroups including stage III or IV disease, age ≤70 years and non-mucinous adenocarcinoma. Conversely, patients with LCC or ReC had worse DSS than those with RCC in subgroups including age ˃70 years and mucinous adenocarcinoma.RCC differed from both LCC and ReC in several clinicopathologic characteristics and in DSS. It seems reasonable to group colorectal cancer into right-sided (i.e., proximal and left-sided (i.e., distal ones.

Developing electricity distribution networks and their regulation to support sustainable energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shaw, Rita; Attree, Mike [Electricity North West Ltd., 304 Bridgewater Place, Birchwood, Warrington, Cheshire WA3 6XG (United Kingdom); Jackson, Tim [RESOLVE, Centre for Environmental Strategy D3, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH (United Kingdom)

2010-10-15

A more sustainable energy system will alter the current patterns of electricity demand and generation. This means technical, commercial and regulatory change for electricity network systems such as distribution networks. This paper traces the links in Great Britain between changes in energy policy since privatisation, changes in the objectives of the electricity regulator and changes in the objectives of the distribution networks and their owners, the distribution network operators (DNOs). The paper identifies tensions in regulatory policy and suggests reforms to the regulatory framework to support a lower-carbon future. DNOs are licensed regional infrastructure providers. In addition to their network services, the network companies can potentially deliver public policy objectives to facilitate heat infrastructure, energy-efficiency and distributed renewables. The paper identifies the potential benefits of a novel approach to facilitating renewable energy feed-in tariffs for electricity and heat, using DNOs. (author)

Identifying Configurations of Perceived Teacher Autonomy Support and Structure: Associations with Self-Regulated Learning, Motivation and Problem Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Vansteenkiste, Maarten; Sierens, Eline; Goossens, Luc; Soenens, Bart; Dochy, Filip; Mouratidis, Athanasios; Aelterman, Nathalie; Haerens, Leen; Beyers, Wim

2012-01-01

Grounded in self-determination theory, the aim of this study was (a) to examine naturally occurring configurations of perceived teacher autonomy support and clear expectations (i.e., a central aspect of teacher structure), and (b) to investigate associations with academic motivation, self-regulated learning, and problem behavior. Based on…

Formal analysis of the surgical pathway and development of a new software tool to assist surgeons in the decision making in primary breast surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Catanuto, Giuseppe; Pappalardo, Francesco; Rocco, Nicola; Leotta, Marco; Ursino, Venera; Chiodini, Paolo; Buggi, Federico; Folli, Secondo; Catalano, Francesca; Nava, Maurizio B

2016-10-01

The increased complexity of the decisional process in breast cancer surgery is well documented. With this study we aimed to create a software tool able to assist patients and surgeons in taking proper decisions. We hypothesized that the endpoints of breast cancer surgery could be addressed combining a set of decisional drivers. We created a decision support system software tool (DSS) and an interactive decision tree. A formal analysis estimated the information gain derived from each feature in the process. We tested the DSS on 52 patients and we analyzed the concordance of decisions obtained by different users and between the DSS suggestions and the actual surgery. We also tested the ability of the system to prevent post breast conservation deformities. The information gain revealed that patients preferences are the root of our decision tree. An observed concordance respectively of 0.98 and 0.88 was reported when the DSS was used twice by an expert operator or by a newly trained operator vs. an expert one. The observed concordance between the DSS suggestion and the actual decision was 0.69. A significantly higher incidence of post breast conservation defects was reported among patients who did not follow the DSS decision (Type III of Fitoussi, N = 4; 33.3%, p = 0.004). The DSS decisions can be reproduced by operators with different experience. The concordance between suggestions and actual decision is quite low, however the DSS is able to prevent post- breast conservation deformities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Regulation of NO synthesis, local inflammation, and innate immunity to pathogens by BET family proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Wienerroither, Sebastian; Rauch, Isabella; Rosebrock, Felix; Jamieson, Amanda M; Bradner, James; Muhar, Matthias; Zuber, Johannes; Müller, Mathias; Decker, Thomas

2014-02-01

Transcriptional activation of the Nos2 gene, encoding inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), during infection or inflammation requires coordinate assembly of an initiation complex by the transcription factors NF-κB and type I interferon-activated ISGF3. Here we show that infection of macrophages with the intracellular bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes caused binding of the BET proteins Brd2, Brd3, and, most prominently, Brd4 to the Nos2 promoter and that a profound reduction of Nos2 expression occurred in the presence of the BET inhibitor JQ1. RNA polymerase activity at the Nos2 gene was regulated through Brd-mediated C-terminal domain (CTD) phosphorylation at serine 5. Underscoring the critical importance of Brd for the regulation of immune responses, application of JQ1 reduced NO production in mice infected with L. monocytogenes, as well as innate resistance to L. monocytogenes and influenza virus. In a murine model of inflammatory disease, JQ1 treatment increased the colitogenic activity of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS). The data presented in our study suggest that BET protein inhibition in a clinical setting poses the risk of altering the innate immune response to infectious or inflammatory challenge.

Autonomy supported, learner-controlled or system-controlled learning in hypermedia environments and the influence of academic self-regulation style

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gorissen, Chantal; Kester, Liesbeth; Brand-Gruwel, Saskia; Martens, Rob

2012-01-01

This study focuses on learning in three different hypermedia environments that either support autonomous learning, learner-controlled learning or system-controlled learning and explores the mediating role of academic self-regulation style ( ASRS; i.e., a macro level of motivation) on learning. This

Autonomy supported, learner-controlled or system-controlled learning in hypermedia environments and the influence of academic self-regulation style

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gorissen, Chantal J J; Kester, Liesbeth; Brand-Gruwel, Saskia; Martens, Rob

2015-01-01

This study focuses on learning in three different hypermedia environments that either support autonomous learning, learner-controlled learning or system-controlled learning and explores the mediating role of academic self-regulation style (ASRS; i.e. a macro level of motivation) on learning. This

Puberty is delayed in male mice with dextran sodium sulfate colitis out of proportion to changes in food intake, body weight, and serum levels of leptin.

Science.gov (United States)

Deboer, Mark D; Li, Yongli

2011-01-01

In boys, inflammatory bowel disease often results in delayed puberty associated with decreased bone mineral density and decreased linear growth. Our goal was to investigate whether pubertal timing and levels of leptin differed between prepubertal male mice with colitis and food-restricted (FR) mice maintained at a similar weight. We induced colitis in 32-d-old male mice using dextran sodium sulfate (DSS), resulting in 10 d of worsening colitis. We followed up these mice for separation of the prepuce from the glans penis as a marker of pubertal progression. Compared with free-feeding control mice, DSS and FR mice had significantly lower weight on d 7-10 of treatment. DSS mice had later puberty than control and FR mice. DSS mice also had smaller testes, lower FSH levels, increased systemic cytokines, and increased colonic inflammation by histology. Leptin levels were similar between DSS and FR mice, whereas both had decreases in leptin compared with controls. We conclude that DSS colitis causes delayed puberty in sexually immature male mice beyond what is seen among FR mice of similar weight, food intake, and leptin levels. These experiments provide support for the hypothesis that pubertal delay in colitis is influenced by factors beyond poor weight gain alone.

Applying sustainability theory to transport infrastructure assessment using a multiplicative ahp decision support model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pryn, Marie Ridley; Cornet, Yannick; Salling, Kim Bang

2015-01-01

report, which is used to validate the nested model of sustainability for countries operating under the paradox of affluence. This provides a theoretical rationale for prioritising longer-term ecological integrity over shorter-term economic concerns, in line with the stronger conceptualisation......It is generally expected that the three dimensions of the economy, society and the environment must be included in any measurable sustainability pathway. However, these do not provide much guidance as to how to prioritize impacts within and between the dimensions. A conceptualized approach...... to sustainability based on the nested model is therefore presented seeking to provide an alternative approach to sustainable transportation assessment, namely the SUSTAIN Decision Support System (DSS) model. This model is based on a review of basic notions of sustainability presented by the Brundtland Commission...

A Prognostic Model for Development of Profound Shock among Children Presenting with Dengue Shock Syndrome.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Phung Khanh Lam

Full Text Available To identify risk factors and develop a prediction model for the development of profound and recurrent shock amongst children presenting with dengue shock syndrome (DSS.We analyzed data from a prospective cohort of children with DSS recruited at the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit of the Hospital for Tropical Disease in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The primary endpoint was "profound DSS", defined as ≥2 recurrent shock episodes (for subjects presenting in compensated shock, or ≥1 recurrent shock episodes (for subjects presenting initially with decompensated/hypotensive shock, and/or requirement for inotropic support. Recurrent shock was evaluated as a secondary endpoint. Risk factors were pre-defined clinical and laboratory variables collected at the time of presentation with shock. Prognostic model development was based on logistic regression and compared to several alternative approaches.The analysis population included 1207 children of whom 222 (18% progressed to "profound DSS" and 433 (36% had recurrent shock. Independent risk factors for both endpoints included younger age, earlier presentation, higher pulse rate, higher temperature, higher haematocrit and, for females, worse hemodynamic status at presentation. The final prognostic model for "profound DSS" showed acceptable discrimination (AUC=0.69 for internal validation and calibration and is presented as a simple score-chart.Several risk factors for development of profound or recurrent shock among children presenting with DSS were identified. The score-chart derived from the prognostic models should improve triage and management of children presenting with DSS in dengue-endemic areas.

Decision support software technology demonstration plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

SULLIVAN,T.; ARMSTRONG,A.

1998-09-01

The performance evaluation of innovative and alternative environmental technologies is an integral part of the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) mission. Early efforts focused on evaluating technologies that supported the implementation of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts. In 1986 the Agency began to demonstrate and evaluate the cost and performance of remediation and monitoring technologies under the Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) program (in response to the mandate in the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA)). In 1990, the US Technology Policy was announced. This policy placed a renewed emphasis on making the best use of technology in achieving the national goals of improved quality of life for all Americans, continued economic growth, and national security. In the spirit of the technology policy, the Agency began to direct a portion of its resources toward the promotion, recognition, acceptance, and use of US-developed innovative environmental technologies both domestically and abroad. Decision Support Software (DSS) packages integrate environmental data and simulation models into a framework for making site characterization, monitoring, and cleanup decisions. To limit the scope which will be addressed in this demonstration, three endpoints have been selected for evaluation: Visualization; Sample Optimization; and Cost/Benefit Analysis. Five topics are covered in this report: the objectives of the demonstration; the elements of the demonstration plan; an overview of the Site Characterization and Monitoring Technology Pilot; an overview of the technology verification process; and the purpose of this demonstration plan.

Probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 inhibits leaky gut by enhancing mucosal integrity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sya N Ukena

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Probiotics are proposed to positively modulate the intestinal epithelial barrier formed by intestinal epithelial cells (IECs and intercellular junctions. Disruption of this border alters paracellular permeability and is a key mechanism for the development of enteric infections and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs.To study the in vivo effect of probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN on the stabilization of the intestinal barrier under healthy conditions, germfree mice were colonized with EcN or K12 E. coli strain MG1655. IECs were isolated and analyzed for gene and protein expression of the tight junction molecules ZO-1 and ZO-2. Then, in order to analyze beneficial effects of EcN under inflammatory conditions, the probiotic was orally administered to BALB/c mice with acute dextran sodium sulfate (DSS induced colitis. Colonization of gnotobiotic mice with EcN resulted in an up-regulation of ZO-1 in IECs at both mRNA and protein levels. EcN administration to DSS-treated mice reduced the loss of body weight and colon shortening. In addition, infiltration of the colon with leukocytes was ameliorated in EcN inoculated mice. Acute DSS colitis did not result in an anion secretory defect, but abrogated the sodium absorptive function of the mucosa. Additionally, intestinal barrier function was severely affected as evidenced by a strong increase in the mucosal uptake of Evans blue in vivo. Concomitant administration of EcN to DSS treated animals resulted in a significant protection against intestinal barrier dysfunction and IECs isolated from these mice exhibited a more pronounced expression of ZO-1.This study convincingly demonstrates that probiotic EcN is able to mediate up-regulation of ZO-1 expression in murine IECs and confer protection from the DSS colitis-associated increase in mucosal permeability to luminal substances.

The role of knowledge management tools in supporting sustainable forest management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vacik, H.; Torresan, C.; Hujala, T.; Khadka, C.; Reynolds, K.

2013-07-01

Aim of study: Knowledge Management (KM) tools facilitate the implementation of knowledge processes by identifying, creating, structuring, and sharing knowledge through use of information technology in order to improve decision-making. In this contribution, we review the way in which KM tools and techniques are used in forest management, and categorize a selected set of them according to their contribution to support decision makers in the phases of problem identification, problem modelling, and problem solving. Material and methods: Existing examples of cognitive mapping tools, web portals, work flow systems, best practices, and expert systems as well as intelligent agents are screened for their applicability and use in the context of decision support for sustainable forest management. Evidence from scientific literature and case studies is utilized to evaluate the contribution of the different KM tools to support problem identification, problem modelling, and problem solving. Main results: Intelligent agents, expert systems and cognitive maps support all phases of the forest planning process strongly. Web based tools have good potential to support participatory forest planning. Based on the needs of forest management decision support and the thus-far under utilized capabilities of KM tools it becomes evident that future decision analysis will have to consider the use of KM more intensively. Research highlights: As the problem-solving process is the vehicle for connecting both knowledge and decision making performance, the next generation of DSS will need to better encapsulate practices that enhance and promote knowledge management. Web based tools will substitute desktop applications by utilizing various model libraries on the internet. (Author)

CD73 Is Critical for the Resolution of Murine Colonic Inflammation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margaret S. Bynoe

2012-01-01

Full Text Available CD73 is a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-(GPI- linked membrane protein that catalyzes the extracellular dephosphorylation of adenosine monophosphate (AMP to adenosine. Adenosine is a negative regulator of inflammation and prevents excessive cellular damage. We investigated the role of extracellular adenosine in the intestinal mucosa during the development of Dextran-Sulfate-Sodium-(DSS-salt-induced colitis in mice that lack CD73 (CD73−/− and are unable to synthesize extracellular adenosine. We have found that, compared to wild-type (WT mice, CD73−/− mice are highly susceptible to DSS-induced colitis. CD73−/− mice exhibit pronounced weight loss, slower weight recovery, an increase in gut permeability, a decrease in expression of tight junctional adhesion molecules, as well as unresolved inflammation following the removal of DSS. Moreover, colonic epithelia in CD73−/− mice exhibited increased TLR9 expression, high levels of IL-1β and TNF-α, and constitutive activation of NF-κB. We conclude that CD73 expression in the colon is critical for regulating the magnitude and the resolution of colonic immune responses.

Dietary supplementation and doping-related factors in high-level sailing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodek Jelena

2012-12-01

nutrition and DSs, further studies are necessary to determine the knowledge about nutrition, DSs and doping problems among athletes and their support teams (i.e., coaches, physicians, and strength and conditioning specialists.

The role of knowledge management tools in supporting sustainable forest management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Vacik

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Aim of study: Knowledge Management (KM tools facilitate the implementation of knowledge processes by identifying, creating, structuring, and sharing knowledge through use of information technology in order to improve decision-making. In this contribution, we review the way in which KM tools and techniques are used in forest management, and categorize a selected set of them according to their contribution to support decision makers in the phases of problem identification, problem modelling, and problem solving.Material and Methods: Existing examples of cognitive mapping tools, web portals, workflow systems, best practices, and expert systems as well as intelligent agents are screened for their applicability and use in the context of decision support for sustainable forest management. Evidence from scientific literature and case studies is utilized to evaluate the contribution of the different KM tools to support problem identification, problem modelling, and problem solving.Main results: Intelligent agents, expert systems and cognitive maps support all phases of the forest planning process strongly. Web based tools have good potential to support participatory forest planning. Based on the needs of forest management decision support and the thus-far underutilized capabilities of KM tools it becomes evident that future decision analysis will have to consider the use of KM more intensively. Research highlights: As the problem-solving process is the vehicle for connecting both knowledge and decision making performance, the next generation of DSS will need to better encapsulate practices that enhance and promote knowledge management. Web based tools will substitute desktop applications by utilizing various model libraries on the internet.Keywords: best practices; cognitive mapping; expert systems; intelligent agents; web portals; workflow systems; Decision Support Systems. 

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Behavior Regulation and Virtual School Support.

Science.gov (United States)

Wallace, Claire; Ievers-Landis, Carolyn E; Scherer, Catherine; Roizen, Nancy; Augustyn, Marilyn

Tony is a 6-year-old multiracial boy diagnosed as having attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-combined type who is followed in your primary care practice and has started on a stimulant medication. Tony continues to have difficulty with emotion regulation and impulse control both at home and at school. He was asked to leave his private school soon after beginning first grade because of physical fighting, emotional outbursts, and arguing with teachers.His mother made the decision to enroll Tony in online virtual schooling for the remainder of the academic year, with the plan to transition back to traditional school for the next academic year. They have enrolled in a program that offers lessons online and sends materials to the home for the child to use to complete certain types of assignments (e.g., science experiments). Virtual schools are different from traditional home schooling because children receive their instruction from teachers online with parental assistance as opposed to parents being responsible for teaching all material. Tony's mother comes to your practice requesting assistance with setting up an appropriate school environment for her son at home, where she can monitor and support his academic progress.Tony is a bright child, with an Intelligence Quotient in the superior range. He has advanced academic skills, but he becomes dysregulated if he is told he is wrong or that he has answered a question incorrectly. For example, if he answered a question incorrectly in class, he would become verbally abusive toward his teacher and often have temper tantrums. This challenging behavior occurred daily at school and was one of the factors leading to his expulsion. The behavior had predated the introduction of stimulant medication and had remained consistent after he began medication.Tony's parents are highly educated, and both parents hold professional jobs with steady income. His parents have good command of typical behavior management strategies such as

Evaluating the role of vegetation on the transport of contaminants associated with a mine tailing using the Phyto-DSS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cano-Resendiz, Omar; Rosa, Guadalupe de la; Cruz-Jimenez, Gustavo; Gardea-Torresdey, Jorge L.; Robinson, Brett H.

2011-01-01

We identified contaminants associated with the Cata mine tailing depot located in the outskirts of the city of Guanajuato, Mexico. We also investigated strategies for their phytomanagement. Silver and antimony were present at 39 and 31 mg kg -1 , respectively, some twofold higher than the Dutch Intervention Values. Total and extractable boron (B) occurred at concentrations of 301 and 6.3 mg L -1 , respectively. Concentrations of B in soil solution above 1.9 mg L -1 have been shown to be toxic to plants. Plant growth may also be inhibited by the low concentrations of extractable plant nutrients. Analysis of the aerial portions of Aloe vera (L. Burm.f.) revealed that this plant accumulates negligible concentrations of the identified contaminants. Calculations using a whole system model (Phyto-DSS) showed that establishing a crop of A. vera would have little effect on the drainage or leaching from the site. However, this plant would reduce wind and water erosion and potentially produce valuable cosmetic products. In contrast, crops of poplar, a species that is tolerant to high soil B concentrations, would mitigate leaching from this site. Alternate rows of trees could be periodically harvested and be used for timber or bioenergy.

Evaluating the role of vegetation on the transport of contaminants associated with a mine tailing using the Phyto-DSS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cano-Resendiz, Omar [Departamento de Ingenieria Quimica, Universidad de Guanajuato, Noria Alta s/n, CP 36050 Guanajuato (Mexico); Rosa, Guadalupe de la, E-mail: delarosa@quijote.ugto.mx [Departamento de Ingenieria Quimica, Universidad de Guanajuato, Noria Alta s/n, CP 36050 Guanajuato (Mexico); Cruz-Jimenez, Gustavo [Departamento de Farmacia, Universidad de Guanajuato, Noria Alta s/n, CP 36050 Guanajuato (Mexico); Gardea-Torresdey, Jorge L. [Chemistry Department and Environmental Science and Engineering, Ph.D. Program, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 W. University Ave., 79968 El Paso, TX (United States); Robinson, Brett H. [Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, P.O. Box 84 Lincoln, Canterbury 7646 (New Zealand)

2011-05-15

We identified contaminants associated with the Cata mine tailing depot located in the outskirts of the city of Guanajuato, Mexico. We also investigated strategies for their phytomanagement. Silver and antimony were present at 39 and 31 mg kg{sup -1}, respectively, some twofold higher than the Dutch Intervention Values. Total and extractable boron (B) occurred at concentrations of 301 and 6.3 mg L{sup -1}, respectively. Concentrations of B in soil solution above 1.9 mg L{sup -1} have been shown to be toxic to plants. Plant growth may also be inhibited by the low concentrations of extractable plant nutrients. Analysis of the aerial portions of Aloe vera (L. Burm.f.) revealed that this plant accumulates negligible concentrations of the identified contaminants. Calculations using a whole system model (Phyto-DSS) showed that establishing a crop of A. vera would have little effect on the drainage or leaching from the site. However, this plant would reduce wind and water erosion and potentially produce valuable cosmetic products. In contrast, crops of poplar, a species that is tolerant to high soil B concentrations, would mitigate leaching from this site. Alternate rows of trees could be periodically harvested and be used for timber or bioenergy.

INTEGRATED AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURING SUPPLY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P.J.S. Van Dyk

2012-01-01

Full Text Available

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Supply planning and traffic flow planning are major activities in the automotive manufacturing environment worldwide. Traditionally, the impact of supply planning strategies on plant traffic is rarely considered. This paper describes the development of a Decision Support System (DSS that will assist automotive manufacturers to analyse the effect of supply planning decisions on plant traffic during the supply planning phase of their logistics planning process. In essence, this DSS consists of a Supply Medium Decision Support Tool (SMDST (an interactive MS-Excel model with Visual Basic interfacing and a traffic flow simulation model tool (using eMPlant simulation software.

AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Verskaffingsbeplanning en verkeersvloeibeplanning is belangrike aktiwiteite in die motorvervaardigingsbedryf wêreldwyd. Tradisioneel word die uitwerking van verskaffings-beplanningsstrategië op aanlegverkeer selde in ag geneem. Hierdie artikel beskryf die ontwikkeling van ’n Besluitnemings Ondersteuningstelsel (DSS wat motorvervaardigers sal ondersteun in die analise van die effek van verskaffingsbeplanningbesluite op aanlegverkeer tydens die verskaffingsbeplanningsfase van hulle logistieke beplanningsproses. Hierdie DSS bestaan hoofsaaklik uit ’n Verskaffings-vervoermiddel Besluitnemingshulpmiddel (SMDST (’n interaktiewe MS-Excel model met “Visual Basic” koppelling asook ’n simulasiemodel van verkeersvloei (met eM-Plant simulasiesagteware.

Autonomy Supported, Learner-Controlled or System-Controlled Learning in Hypermedia Environments and the Influence of Academic Self-Regulation Style

Science.gov (United States)

Gorissen, Chantal J. J.; Kester, Liesbeth; Brand-Gruwel, Saskia; Martens, Rob

2015-01-01

This study focuses on learning in three different hypermedia environments that either support autonomous learning, learner-controlled learning or system-controlled learning and explores the mediating role of academic self-regulation style (ASRS; i.e. a macro level of motivation) on learning. This research was performed to gain more insight in the…

A conceptual methodology to design a decision support system to leak detection programs in water networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Federico, V.; Bottarelli, M.; Di Federico, I.

2005-01-01

The paper outlines a conceptual methodology to develop a decision support system to assist technicians managing water networks in selecting the appropriate leak detection method(s). First, the necessary knowledge about the network is recapitulated: location and characteristics of its physical components, but also water demand, breaks in pipes, and water quality data. Second, the water balance in a typical Italian Agency is discussed, suggesting method and procedures to evacuate and/or estimate each term in the mass balance equation. Then the available methods for leak detection are described in detail, from those useful in the pre-localization phase to those commonly adopted to pinpoint pipe failures and allow a rapid repair. Criteria to estimate costs associated with each of these methods are provided. Finally, the proposed structure of the DSS is described [it

[Changes of expression of miR-155 in colitis-associated colonic carcinogenesis].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Weiwei; Han, Wenxiao; Zhao, Xinhua; Wang, Hongying

2014-04-01

To investigate the changes of miR-155 and its target genes in colitis-associated carcinogenesis. Colitis-associated colon cancer was induced by azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in C57BL/6 mice. Mice of three different stages during the development of colon cancer were obtained, named AD1, AD2 and AD3, respectively. A control group of mice without any treatment and a DSS only group representing chronic inflammation without cancer were set up as well. Colon tissue was collected and expression of miR-155 in the colon tissues was measured by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR. TargetScan and PicTar were used to predict potential target genes of miR-155, which were then preliminarily screened with our gene expression microarray database of AOM-DSS mouse model. Regular PCR was used to confirm the changes of the expression of these potential target genes in AOM-DSS mouse model. Colitis-associated colon cancer was effectively induced by azoxymethane and dextran sulfate sodium in C57BL/6 mice. Histological examination revealed that the evolution process was sequentially from normal, mild dysplasia, moderate dysplasia, and severe dysplasia to adenocarcinoma in the AOM-DSS mouse model. The level of miR-155 was gradually elevated with the formation of colitis-associated colon cancer. There was no significant difference between the levels of miR-155 expression in the DSS group (0.005 6 ± 0.003 7) and control group (0.012 0 ± 0.005 1) (P > 0.05), but the level of miR-155 in the AD3 group (0.054 4 ± 0.027 0) was significantly higher than that of the DSS group (0.005 6 ± 0.003 7)(P Bcorl1, Cacna1c, Rspo2 and Foxo3 were potential target genes of miR-155 in the AOM-DSS mouse model. Changes of Kcna1 and Cacna1c in the AOM-DSS mouse model were validated to be consistent with the changes obtained with the gene expression microarray. The up-regulation of miR-155 is related to colitis-associated carcinogenesis, but is irrelevant to chronic inflammation in the

Why decision support systems are important for medical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Konstantinidis, Stathis Th; Bamidis, Panagiotis D

2016-03-01

During the last decades, the inclusion of digital tools in health education has rapidly lead to a continuously enlarging digital era. All the online interactions between learners and tutors, the description, creation, reuse and sharing of educational digital resources and the interlinkage between them in conjunction with cheap storage technology has led to an enormous amount of educational data. Medical education is a unique type of education due to accuracy of information needed, continuous changing competences required and alternative methods of education used. Nowadays medical education standards provide the ground for organising the educational data and the paradata. Analysis of such education data through education data mining techniques is in its infancy, but decision support systems (DSSs) for medical education need further research. To the best of our knowledge, there is a gap and a clear need for identifying the challenges for DSSs in medical education in the era of medical education standards. Thus, in this Letter the role and the attributes of such a DSS for medical education are delineated and the challenges and vision for future actions are identified.

Regulating the Regulator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1992-08-26

The article reports on a challenge to the UK electricity regulator to defend his record by the Coalition for Fair Electricity Regulation (COFFER). The challenge centres on whether the obligation for the regional electric companies (REC) to purchase power from the cheapest source is being enforced. This is related to the wider issue of whether the REC's support of combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) is economic. COFFER considers that uneconomic gas-fired power plants are being allowed to displace economic coal-fired stations. Aspects discussed include the background to the dispute and the costs of CCGT and coal fired power generation. 1 fig., 1 tab.

Interpersonal emotion regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaki, Jamil; Williams, W Craig

2013-10-01

Contemporary emotion regulation research emphasizes intrapersonal processes such as cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, but people experiencing affect commonly choose not to go it alone. Instead, individuals often turn to others for help in shaping their affective lives. How and under what circumstances does such interpersonal regulation modulate emotional experience? Although scientists have examined allied phenomena such as social sharing, empathy, social support, and prosocial behavior for decades, there have been surprisingly few attempts to integrate these data into a single conceptual framework of interpersonal regulation. Here we propose such a framework. We first map a "space" differentiating classes of interpersonal regulation according to whether an individual uses an interpersonal regulatory episode to alter their own or another person's emotion. We then identify 2 types of processes--response-dependent and response-independent--that could support interpersonal regulation. This framework classifies an array of processes through which interpersonal contact fulfills regulatory goals. More broadly, it organizes diffuse, heretofore independent data on "pieces" of interpersonal regulation, and identifies growth points for this young and exciting research domain.

MTGR1 Is Required for Tumorigenesis in the Murine AOM/DSS Colitis-Associated Carcinoma Model

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Caitlyn W.; Fingleton, Barbara; Williams, Amanda; Ning, Wei; Fischer, Melissa A.; Washington, Mary K.; Chaturvedi, Rupesh; Wilson, Keith T.; Hiebert, Scott W.; Williams, Christopher S.

2011-01-01

Myeloid Translocation Gene, Related-1 (MTGR1) CBFA2T2 is a member of the Myeloid Translocation Gene (MTG) family of transcriptional corepressors. The remaining two family members, MTG8 (RUNX1T1) and MTG16 (CBFA2T3) are identified as targets of chromosomal translocations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Mtgr1−/− mice have defects in intestinal lineage allocation and wound healing. Moreover, these mice show signs of impaired intestinal stem cell function. Based on these phenotypes, we hypothesized that MTGR1 may influence tumorigenesis arising in an inflammatory background. We report that Mtgr1−/− mice were protected from tumorigenesis when injected with azoxymethane (AOM) and then subjected to repeated cycles of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS). Tumor cell proliferation was comparable, but Mtgr1−/− tumors had significantly higher apoptosis rates. These phenotypes were dependent on epithelial injury, the resultant inflammation, or a combination of both as there was no difference in aberrant crypt foci (ACF) or tumor burden when animals were treated with AOM as the sole agent. Gene expression analysis indicated that Mtgr1−/− tumors had significant upregulation of inflammatory networks, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) for immune cell subsets revealed a marked multilineage increase in infiltrates, consisting predominately of CD3+ and natural killer T (NKT) cells as well as macrophages. Transplantation of wild type (WT) bone marrow into Mtgr1−/− mice, and the reciprocal transplant, did not alter the phenotype, ruling out an MTGR1 hematopoietic cell-autonomous mechanism. Our findings indicate that MTGR1 is required for efficient inflammatory carcinogenesis in this model, and implicate its dysfunction in colitis-associated carcinoma. This represents the first report functionally linking MTGR1 to intestinal tumorigenesis. PMID:21303973

Aplicación del modelo multicriterio WARPLAM DSS, en el ordenamiento de cuencas hidrográficas para la definición del consejos de recursos hídricos en el Perú, 2015

OpenAIRE

Baldoceda Ponce, Yordan Américo

2015-01-01

El presente trabajo de investigación titulado: “Aplicación del Modelo Multicriterio WARPLAM DSS, en el Ordenamiento de Cuencas Hidrográficas para la Definición del Consejos de Recursos Hídricos en el Perú, 2015”, está orientado a establecer las relaciones e interacciones entre cuencas hidrográficas y números de consejos de recursos hídricos. OBJETIVO: Determinar el número de consejos de recursos hídricos en el Perú, para la adecuada implementación de la Gestión Integral de Recursos hídric...

Comparative Multi-Criteria Assessment of Climate Policies and Sustainable Development Strategies in Cameroon: Towards a GIS Decision-Support Tool for the Design of an Optimal REDD+ Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anderson Gwanyebit Kehbila

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Cameroon is committed to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation plus conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of carbon stocks (REDD+. To achieve this goal, the government has introduced a series of policy reforms and formulated a number of key strategic planning documents to advance the REDD+ readiness process in Cameroon. This paper assesses the extent to which major cross-sectoral policies support or impede the development and implementation of an optimal REDD+ strategy in Cameroon from a comparative multi-criteria perspective. Study results reveal that a majority of the policy instruments reviewed appeared to be less prescriptive in terms of any tangible REDD+ strategy, as they do not have provisions for tangible measures to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. Given the lack of adequate flexibility, prompt review and responsiveness of these cross-sectoral policies to adapt themselves to new realities and respond to a changing environment, this paper introduces a GIS-REDD+ decision support system (GIS-REDD+DSS that is necessary to support the adaptive element of an adaptive REDD+ strategy in Cameroon. The GIS-REDD+DSS, an electronic REDD+agri intermediary hub, serves the following purpose: (1 host a database of locally-relevant climate information, improved input technologies, best practices as well as land use and forest cover geo-spatial maps; (2 host a virtual economic tool that performs economic valuations (costs and benefits and financial analysis of REDD+agri projects to aid investment decision-making; and (3 host an electronic marketplace to mediate any-to-any transactions among REDD+agri project developers, service providers, input suppliers, private and institutional investors and buyers (wholesalers and retailers, thereby creating value in two ways: aggregation and matching. This decision support tool, we argue, is a fundamental prerequisite for “policy and REDD+ safeguard

Web services for distributed and interoperable hydro-information systems

Science.gov (United States)

Horak, J.; Orlik, A.; Stromsky, J.

2008-03-01

Web services support the integration and interoperability of Web-based applications and enable machine-to-machine interaction. The concepts of web services and open distributed architecture were applied to the development of T-DSS, the prototype customised for web based hydro-information systems. T-DSS provides mapping services, database related services and access to remote components, with special emphasis placed on the output flexibility (e.g. multilingualism), where SOAP web services are mainly used for communication. The remote components are represented above all by remote data and mapping services (e.g. meteorological predictions), modelling and analytical systems (currently HEC-HMS, MODFLOW and additional utilities), which support decision making in water management.

A multicriteria decision making model for assessment and selection of an ERP in a logistics context

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, Teresa; Ferreira, Fernanda A.

2017-07-01

The aim of this work is to apply a methodology of decision support based on a multicriteria decision analyses (MCDA) model that allows the assessment and selection of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in a Portuguese logistics company by Group Decision Maker (GDM). A Decision Support system (DSS) that implements a MCDA - Multicriteria Methodology for the Assessment and Selection of Information Systems / Information Technologies (MMASSI / IT) is used based on its features and facility to change and adapt the model to a given scope. Using this DSS it was obtained the information system that best suited to the decisional context, being this result evaluated through a sensitivity and robustness analysis.

Integrated Data-Driven DSS in a Laboratory Environment

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Hargrave, Brian L

2008-01-01

...) can potentially increase a user's ability to create more complex decision support projects. A well-designed IDTE will allow users to identify, learn about, access, execute and integrate disparate decision technologies...

Marine Waves Energy: A spatio-temporal DSS-WebGIS to support the wave-energy potential assessment in the Mediterranean Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pollino, Maurizio; La Porta, Luigi; Caiaffa, Emanuela

2015-01-01

GIS technologies are able to provide a useful tool for estimating the energy resource from the sea waves, assessing whether this energy flux is exploitable and evaluating the social and environmental impacts in deep water and/or in the seaboard. The DDS-WebGIS 'Energy Waves' represents a tool for displaying and sharing geo spatial data and maps, as well as a valuable support for new installations planning, forecasting system and existing infrastructure management. [it

Penyusunan Panduan Pengelolaan Keamanan Informasi Untuk Firewall Configuration Berdasarkan Kerangka Kerja PCI DSS v.3.1 dan COBIT 5

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bagus Puji Santoso

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Information security systems must be protected from all attacks and interuptions by an unauthorized user. Firewall is a mechanism that can be applied to improve the security information which done by filtering data packets that enter and exit the network. IT governance is needed to manage good information security. IT governance can use to make the arrangement of guidelines for the management of information security. This research aims to create a reference guide to information security such as an information security management guide for firewall configuration that refers to the framework of PCI DSS v.3.1 and COBIT 5 by taking a case study at the DSIK Universitas Airlangga.Arrangement of guidelines for information security management for firewall configuration will be done in three stages. The first stage was the arrangement of information security management procedures for firewall configuration which consists of mapping analysis stage process, arrangement procedure’s stage and determining roles and job description’s stage. In the second stage was the verification of the information security management guidance using a questionnaire. The third stage was improvement of the information security management guidance. These improvements was done to correct deficiencies that were produced when verification. The verification results show that 42.86% of respondents said that management guidelines are operationally very easy to be implemented.

Does buccal cancer have worse prognosis than other oral cavity cancers?

Science.gov (United States)

Camilon, P Ryan; Stokes, William A; Fuller, Colin W; Nguyen, Shaun A; Lentsch, Eric J

2014-06-01

To determine whether buccal squamous cell carcinoma has worse overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) than cancers in the rest of the oral cavity. Retrospective analysis of a large population database. We began with a Kaplan-Meier analysis of OS and DSS for buccal versus nonbuccal tumors with unmatched data, followed by an analysis of cases matched for race, age at diagnosis, stage at diagnosis, and treatment modality. This was supported by a univariate Cox regression comparing buccal cancer to nonbuccal cancer, followed by a multivariate Cox regression that included all significant variables studied. With unmatched data, buccal cancer had significantly lesser OS and DSS values than cancers in the rest of the oral cavity (P cancer versus nonbuccal oral cancer were no longer significant. Univariate Cox regression models with respect to OS and DSS showed a significant difference between buccal cancer and nonbuccal cancer. However, with multivariate analysis, buccal hazard ratios for OS and DSS were not significant. With the largest series of buccal carcinoma to date, our study concludes that the OS and DSS of buccal cancer are similar to those of cancers in other oral cavity sites once age at diagnosis, tumor stage, treatment, and race are taken into consideration. The previously perceived poor prognosis of buccal carcinoma may be due to variations in tumor presentation, such as later stage and older patient age. 2b. © 2014 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Emotion regulation in interpersonal problems: the role of cognitive-emotional complexity, emotion regulation goals, and expressivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Coats, Abby Heckman; Blanchard-Fields, Fredda

2008-03-01

Young, middle-aged, and older adults' emotion regulation strategies in interpersonal problems were examined. Participants imagined themselves in anger- or sadness-eliciting situations with a close friend. Factor analyses of a new questionnaire supported a 4-factor model of emotion regulation strategies, including passivity, expressing emotions, seeking emotional information or support, and solving the problem. Results suggest that age differences in emotion regulation (such as older adults' increased endorsement of passive emotion regulation relative to young adults) are partially due to older adults' decreased ability to integrate emotion and cognition, increased prioritization of emotion regulation goals, and decreased tendency to express anger. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

Status of the support researches for the regulation of nuclear facilities decommissioning in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masuda, Yusuke; Iguchi, Yukihiro; Kawasaki, Satoru; Kato, Masami

2011-01-01

In Japan, 4 nuclear power stations are under decommissioning and some nuclear fuel cycle facilities are expected to be decommissioned in the future. On the other hand, the safety regulation of decommissioning of nuclear facilities was changed by amending act in 2005. An approval system after review process of decommissioning plan was adopted and applied to the power stations above. In this situation, based on the experiences of the new regulatory system, the system should be well established and moreover, it should be improved and enhanced in the future. Nuclear Industry and Safety Agency (NISA) is in charge of regulation of commercial nuclear facilities in Japan and decommissioning of them is included. Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES) is in charge of technical supports for NISA as a TSO (Technical Support Organization) also in this field. As for decommissioning, based on regulatory needs, JNES has been continuing research activities from October 2003, when JNES has been established. Considering the 'Prioritized Nuclear Safety Research Plan (August 2009)' of the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan and the situation of operators facilities, 'Regulatory Support Research Plan between FY 2010-2014' was established in November 2009, which shows the present regulatory needs and a research program. This program consists of researches for 1. review process of decommissioning plan of power reactors, 2. review process of decommissioning plan of nuclear fuel cycle facilities, 3. termination of license at the end of decommissioning and 4. management of decommissioning waste. For the item 1, JNES studied safety assessment methods of dismantling, e.g. obtaining data and analysis of behavior of dust diffusion and risk assessment during decommissioning, which are useful findings for the review process. For the item 2, safety requirements for the decommissioning of nuclear fuel cycle facilities was compiled, which will be used in the future review. For the item 3

Summary of breakout Session F3: F3, decision support systems: Requirements, architecture and innovations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

The discussions in breakout session F3 are summarized. The topics discussed include DSS architecture, map characteristics, database requirements, model requirements, knowledge base requirements, artificial intelligence applications, and user interface requirements. General comments, concerns, major research areas, and coordination and overlap reduction are presented

Distinct Immunomodulatory Effects of Spermine Oxidase in Colitis Induced by Epithelial Injury or Infection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alain P. Gobert

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Polyamines have been implicated in numerous biological processes, including inflammation and carcinogenesis. Homeostatic regulation leads to interconversion of the polyamines putrescine and the downstream metabolites spermidine and spermine. The enzyme spermine oxidase (SMOX, which back-converts spermine to spermidine, contributes to regulation of polyamine levels, but can also have other effects. We have implicated SMOX in gastric inflammation and carcinogenesis due to infection by the pathogen Helicobacter pylori. In addition, we reported that SMOX can be upregulated in humans with inflammatory bowel disease. Herein, we utilized Smox-deficient mice to examine the role of SMOX in two murine colitis models, Citrobacter rodentium infection and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS-induced epithelial injury. In C. rodentium-infected wild-type (WT mice, there were marked increases in colon weight/length and histologic injury, with mucosal hyperplasia and inflammatory cell infiltration; these changes were ameliorated in Smox−/− mice. In contrast, with DSS, Smox−/− mice exhibited substantial mortality, and increased body weight loss, colon weight/length, and histologic damage. In C. rodentium-infected WT mice, there were increased colonic levels of the chemokines CCL2, CCL3, CCL4, CXCL1, CXCL2, and CXCL10, and the cytokines IL-6, TNF-α, CSF3, IFN-γ, and IL-17; each were downregulated in Smox−/− mice. In DSS colitis, increased levels of IL-6, CSF3, and IL-17 were further increased in Smox−/− mice. In both models, putrescine and spermidine were increased in WT mice; in Smox−/− mice, the main effect was decreased spermidine and spermidine/spermine ratio. With C. rodentium, polyamine levels correlated with histologic injury, while with DSS, spermidine was inversely correlated with injury. Our studies indicate that SMOX has immunomodulatory effects in experimental colitis via polyamine flux. Thus, SMOX contributes to the immunopathogenesis of

Knowledge-based system for automatic MBR control.

Science.gov (United States)

Comas, J; Meabe, E; Sancho, L; Ferrero, G; Sipma, J; Monclús, H; Rodriguez-Roda, I

2010-01-01

MBR technology is currently challenging traditional wastewater treatment systems and is increasingly selected for WWTP upgrading. MBR systems typically are constructed on a smaller footprint, and provide superior treated water quality. However, the main drawback of MBR technology is that the permeability of membranes declines during filtration due to membrane fouling, which for a large part causes the high aeration requirements of an MBR to counteract this fouling phenomenon. Due to the complex and still unknown mechanisms of membrane fouling it is neither possible to describe clearly its development by means of a deterministic model, nor to control it with a purely mathematical law. Consequently the majority of MBR applications are controlled in an "open-loop" way i.e. with predefined and fixed air scour and filtration/relaxation or backwashing cycles, and scheduled inline or offline chemical cleaning as a preventive measure, without taking into account the real needs of membrane cleaning based on its filtration performance. However, existing theoretical and empirical knowledge about potential cause-effect relations between a number of factors (influent characteristics, biomass characteristics and operational conditions) and MBR operation can be used to build a knowledge-based decision support system (KB-DSS) for the automatic control of MBRs. This KB-DSS contains a knowledge-based control module, which, based on real time comparison of the current permeability trend with "reference trends", aims at optimizing the operation and energy costs and decreasing fouling rates. In practice the automatic control system proposed regulates the set points of the key operational variables controlled in MBR systems (permeate flux, relaxation and backwash times, backwash flows and times, aeration flow rates, chemical cleaning frequency, waste sludge flow rate and recycle flow rates) and identifies its optimal value. This paper describes the concepts and the 3-level architecture

Penggunaan Algoritma Multi Criteria Decision Making Dengan Metode Topsis Dalam Penempatan Karyawan

OpenAIRE

Pramudhita, Agung N; Suyono, Hadi; Yudaningtyas, Erni

2015-01-01

The employees are a major asset in the company so that the company can operate properly. In employees pacement, often a mismatch between the positions of the competence of employees. As a result, many employees resigned because of the mismatch. MultiCriteria Decision Making (MCDM) algorithms can be used to overcome these problems. This research builds on a Decision Support System (DSS) to assist managers in the process of employees placement . DSS is built by one of the methods contained in...

Heterogeneous data fusion and intelligent techniques embedded in a mobile application for real-time chronic disease management.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellos, Christos; Papadopoulos, Athanassios; Rosso, Roberto; Fotiadis, Dimitrios I

2011-01-01

CHRONIOUS system is an integrated platform aiming at the management of chronic disease patients. One of the most important components of the system is a Decision Support System (DSS) that has been developed in a Smart Device (SD). This component decides on patient's current health status by combining several data, which are acquired either by wearable sensors or manually inputted by the patient or retrieved from the specific database. In case no abnormal situation has been tracked, the DSS takes no action and remains deactivated until next abnormal situation pack of data are being acquired or next scheduled data being transmitted. The DSS that has been implemented is an integrated classification system with two parallel classifiers, combining an expert system (rule-based system) and a supervised classifier, such as Support Vector Machines (SVM), Random Forests, artificial Neural Networks (aNN like the Multi-Layer Perceptron), Decision Trees and Naïve Bayes. The above categorized system is useful for providing critical information about the health status of the patient.

DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM PEMBERIAN BONUS TAHUNAN PADA KARYAWAN BERDASARKAN KINERJA KARYAWAN MENGGUNAKAN METODE SIMPLE ADDITIVE WEIGHTING (STUDY KASUS : STMIK PRINGSEWU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zulkifli Zulkifli

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Bonuses is one method that is widely used as a form of tribute to workers whose performance so far can be considered satisfactory by the company. So is the case with STMIK Pringsewu that rewards Her staff as a token of appreciation for its performance over the years. However, the annual bonus is only given to employees who are considered berprestasit. It required a decision support system (DSS or decesion support system that can take into account all the criteria that support and to help facilitate the decision making process. This decision support system using Simple Additive Wighting (SAW. The issue of decision support is basically a form of election of the various alternative actions that may be selected include discipline or the number of absences in a year, length of employment, crafts, and work in a year that the process through specific mechanisms, in hopes of generating a best decision. Employees who got the votes of 100% working receive an annual bonus that is the departure of the hajj, work evaluation 87.5% earn an annual bonus that is the departure of Umrah, and the assessment work 75% earn an annual bonus that is the departure of the general allowance.

Visualization of regulations to support design and quality control--a long-term study.

Science.gov (United States)

Blomé, Mikael

2012-01-01

The aim of the study was to visualize design regulations of furniture by means of interactive technology based on earlier studies and practical examples. The usage of the visualized regulations was evaluated on two occasions: at the start when the first set of regulations was presented, and after six years of usage of all regulations. The visualized regulations were the result of a design process involving experts and potential users in collaboration with IKEA of Sweden AB. The evaluations by the different users showed a very positive response to using visualized regulations. The participative approach, combining expertise in specific regulations with visualization of guidelines, resulted in clear presentations of important regulations, and great attitudes among the users. These kinds of visualizations have proved to be applicable in a variety of product areas at IKEA, with a potential for further dissemination. It is likely that the approaches to design and visualized regulations in this case study could function in other branches.

The international radioactive transportation regulations: A model for national regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pope, R.B.; Rawl, R.R.

1990-06-01

The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material, Safety Series No. 6 (herein after denoted as the ''International Regulations'') serve as the model for the regulations for individual countries and international modal organizations controlling the packaging and transportation of radioactive materials. The purpose of this paper is to outline the background and history of the International Regulations, the general principles behind the requirements of the International Regulations, the structure and general contents of the latest edition of the International Regulations, and the roles of various international bodies in the development and implementation of the International Regulations and the current status of regulatory and supportive document development at both the international and domestic level. This review will provide a basis for users and potential users to better understand the source and application of the International Regulations. 1 tab