Financial Literacy and Financial Sophistication in the Older Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Lusardi, Annamaria; Mitchell, Olivia S; Curto, Vilsa

2014-10-01

Using a special-purpose module implemented in the Health and Retirement Study, we evaluate financial sophistication in the American population over the age of 50. We combine several financial literacy questions into an overall index to highlight which questions best capture financial sophistication and examine the sensitivity of financial literacy responses to framing effects. Results show that many older respondents are not financially sophisticated: they fail to grasp essential aspects of risk diversification, asset valuation, portfolio choice, and investment fees. Subgroups with notable deficits include women, the least educated, non-Whites, and those over age 75. In view of the fact that retirees increasingly must take on responsibility for their own retirement security, such meager levels of knowledge have potentially serious and negative implications.

The Impact of Financial Sophistication on Adjustable Rate Mortgage Ownership

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Hyrum; Finke, Michael S.; Huston, Sandra J.

2011-01-01

The influence of a financial sophistication scale on adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) borrowing is explored. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis using recent data from the Survey of Consumer Finances reveal that ARM borrowing is driven by both the least and most financially sophisticated households but for different reasons. Less…

Cognitive Load and Strategic Sophistication

OpenAIRE

Allred, Sarah; Duffy, Sean; Smith, John

2013-01-01

We study the relationship between the cognitive load manipulation and strategic sophistication. The cognitive load manipulation is designed to reduce the subject's cognitive resources that are available for deliberation on a choice. In our experiment, subjects are placed under a large cognitive load (given a difficult number to remember) or a low cognitive load (given a number which is not difficult to remember). Subsequently, the subjects play a one-shot game then they are asked to recall...

A Case Study on E - Banking Security – When Security Becomes Too Sophisticated for the User to Access Their Information

OpenAIRE

Aaron M. French

2012-01-01

While eBanking security continues to increase in sophistication to protect against threats, the usability of the eBanking decreases resulting in poor security behaviors by the users. The current research evaluates se curity risks and measures taken for eBanking solutions. A case study is presented describing how increased complexity decreases vulnerabilities online but increases vulnerabilities from internal threats and eBanking users

Moral foundations and political attitudes: The moderating role of political sophistication.

Science.gov (United States)

Milesi, Patrizia

2016-08-01

Political attitudes can be associated with moral concerns. This research investigated whether people's level of political sophistication moderates this association. Based on the Moral Foundations Theory, this article examined whether political sophistication moderates the extent to which reliance on moral foundations, as categories of moral concerns, predicts judgements about policy positions. With this aim, two studies examined four policy positions shown by previous research to be best predicted by the endorsement of Sanctity, that is, the category of moral concerns focused on the preservation of physical and spiritual purity. The results showed that reliance on Sanctity predicted political sophisticates' judgements, as opposed to those of unsophisticates, on policy positions dealing with equal rights for same-sex and unmarried couples and with euthanasia. Political sophistication also interacted with Fairness endorsement, which includes moral concerns for equal treatment of everybody and reciprocity, in predicting judgements about equal rights for unmarried couples, and interacted with reliance on Authority, which includes moral concerns for obedience and respect for traditional authorities, in predicting opposition to stem cell research. Those findings suggest that, at least for these particular issues, endorsement of moral foundations can be associated with political attitudes more strongly among sophisticates than unsophisticates. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

Aristotle and Social-Epistemic Rhetoric: The Systematizing of the Sophistic Legacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, James E.

While Aristotle's philosophical views are more foundational than those of many of the Older Sophists, Aristotle's rhetorical theories inherit and incorporate many of the central tenets ascribed to Sophistic rhetoric, albeit in a more systematic fashion, as represented in the "Rhetoric." However, Aristotle was more than just a rhetorical…

A novel asynchronous access method with binary interfaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Torres-Solis Jorge

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Traditionally synchronous access strategies require users to comply with one or more time constraints in order to communicate intent with a binary human-machine interface (e.g., mechanical, gestural or neural switches. Asynchronous access methods are preferable, but have not been used with binary interfaces in the control of devices that require more than two commands to be successfully operated. Methods We present the mathematical development and evaluation of a novel asynchronous access method that may be used to translate sporadic activations of binary interfaces into distinct outcomes for the control of devices requiring an arbitrary number of commands to be controlled. With this method, users are required to activate their interfaces only when the device under control behaves erroneously. Then, a recursive algorithm, incorporating contextual assumptions relevant to all possible outcomes, is used to obtain an informed estimate of user intention. We evaluate this method by simulating a control task requiring a series of target commands to be tracked by a model user. Results When compared to a random selection, the proposed asynchronous access method offers a significant reduction in the number of interface activations required from the user. Conclusion This novel access method offers a variety of advantages over traditionally synchronous access strategies and may be adapted to a wide variety of contexts, with primary relevance to applications involving direct object manipulation.

Estudo teórico das transições eletrônicas usando métodos simples e sofisticados Theoretical study of electronic transitions using simple and sophisticated methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nelson H. Morgon

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the use of both simple and sophisticated models in the study of electronic transitions was explored for a set of molecular systems: C2H4, C4H4, C4H6, C6H6, C6H8, "C8", C60, and [H2NCHCH(CHCHkCHNH2]+, where k = 0 to 4. The simple model of the free particle (1D, 2D, and 3D boxes, rings or spherical surfaces, considering the boundary conditions, was found to yield similar results to the sophisticated theoretical methods such as EOM-CCSD/6-311++G** or TD(NStates=5,Root=1-M06-2X/6-311++G**.

Statistical Approaches Used to Assess the Equity of Access to Food Outlets: A Systematic Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen E. Lamb

2015-07-01

Full Text Available BackgroundInequalities in eating behaviours are often linked to the types of food retailers accessible in neighbourhood environments. Numerous studies have aimed to identify if access to healthy and unhealthy food retailers is socioeconomically patterned across neighbourhoods, and thus a potential risk factor for dietary inequalities. Existing reviews have examined differences between methodologies, particularly focussing on neighbourhood and food outlet access measure definitions. However, no review has informatively discussed the suitability of the statistical methodologies employed; a key issue determining the validity of study findings. Our aim was to examine the suitability of statistical approaches adopted in these analyses.MethodsSearches were conducted for articles published from 2000-2014. Eligible studies included objective measures of the neighbourhood food environment and neighbourhood-level socio-economic status, with a statistical analysis of the association between food outlet access and socio-economic status.ResultsFifty-four papers were included. Outlet accessibility was typically defined as the distance to the nearest outlet from the neighbourhood centroid, or as the number of food outlets within a neighbourhood (or buffer. To assess if these measures were linked to neighbourhood disadvantage, common statistical methods included ANOVA, correlation, and Poisson or negative binomial regression. Although all studies involved spatial data, few considered spatial analysis techniques or spatial autocorrelation.ConclusionsWith advances in GIS software, sophisticated measures of neighbourhood outlet accessibility can be considered. However, approaches to statistical analysis often appear less sophisticated. Care should be taken to consider assumptions underlying the analysis and the possibility of spatially correlated residuals which could affect the results.

The predictors of economic sophistication: media, interpersonal communication and negative economic experiences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kalogeropoulos, A.; Albæk, E.; de Vreese, C.H.; van Dalen, A.

2015-01-01

In analogy to political sophistication, it is imperative that citizens have a certain level of economic sophistication, especially in times of heated debates about the economy. This study examines the impact of different influences (media, interpersonal communication and personal experiences) on

PAUL AND SOPHISTIC RHETORIC: A PERSPECTIVE ON HIS ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

use of modern rhetorical theories but analyses the letter in terms of the clas- ..... If a critical reader would have had the traditional anti-sophistic arsenal ..... pressions and that 'rhetoric' is mainly a matter of communicating these thoughts.

Isocratean Discourse Theory and Neo-Sophistic Pedagogy: Implications for the Composition Classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Blair, Kristine L.

With the recent interest in the fifth century B.C. theories of Protagoras and Gorgias come assumptions about the philosophical affinity of the Greek educator Isocrates to this pair of older sophists. Isocratean education in discourse, with its emphasis on collaborative political discourse, falls within recent definitions of a sophist curriculum.…

SMEs and new ventures need business model sophistication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kesting, Peter; Günzel-Jensen, Franziska

2015-01-01

, and Spreadshirt, this article develops a framework that introduces five business model sophistication strategies: (1) uncover additional functions of your product, (2) identify strategic benefits for third parties, (3) take advantage of economies of scope, (4) utilize cross-selling opportunities, and (5) involve...

METHOD AND ABSTRACT MODEL FOR CONTROL AND ACCESS RIGHTS BY REQUESTS REDIRECTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. A. Shcheglov

2015-11-01

Full Text Available We have researched implementation problems of control and access rights of subjects to objects in modern computer systems. We have suggested access control method based on objects access requests redirection. The method possesses a distinctive feature as compared to discretional access control. In case when a subject needs to deny writing (object modification, it is not denied but redirected (access rights are not changed, but operation is performed with another object. This gives the possibility to implement access policies to system objects without breaking the system and applications operability, and share correctly access objects between subjects. This important property of suggested access control method enables to solve fundamentally new system objects securing problems like system resources virtualization aimed to protect system objects from users’ and applications attacks. We have created an abstract model, and it shows that this method (access control from subjects to objects based on requests redirection can be used as self-sufficient access control method, implementing any access control policy (from subjects to objects, thus being an alternative to discretional access control method.

Developing a Holistic Approach for E-Learning Accessibility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian Kelly

2004-10-01

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

Cognitive ability rivals the effect of political sophistication on ideological voting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hebbelstrup Rye Rasmussen, Stig

2016-01-01

This article examines the impact of cognitive ability on ideological voting. We find, using a US sample and a Danish sample, that the effect of cognitive ability rivals the effect of the traditionally strongest predicter of ideological voting political sophistication. Furthermore, the results...... are consistent with the effect of cognitive ability being partly mediated by political sophistication. Much of the effect of cognitive ability remains however and is not explained by differences in education or Openness to experience either. The implications of these results for democratic theory are discussed....

Analytical resource assessment method for continuous (unconventional) oil and gas accumulations - The "ACCESS" Method

Science.gov (United States)

Crovelli, Robert A.; revised by Charpentier, Ronald R.

2012-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) periodically assesses petroleum resources of areas within the United States and the world. The purpose of this report is to explain the development of an analytic probabilistic method and spreadsheet software system called Analytic Cell-Based Continuous Energy Spreadsheet System (ACCESS). The ACCESS method is based upon mathematical equations derived from probability theory. The ACCESS spreadsheet can be used to calculate estimates of the undeveloped oil, gas, and NGL (natural gas liquids) resources in a continuous-type assessment unit. An assessment unit is a mappable volume of rock in a total petroleum system. In this report, the geologic assessment model is defined first, the analytic probabilistic method is described second, and the spreadsheet ACCESS is described third. In this revised version of Open-File Report 00-044 , the text has been updated to reflect modifications that were made to the ACCESS program. Two versions of the program are added as appendixes.

Statistical Approaches Used to Assess the Equity of Access to Food Outlets: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamb, Karen E; Thornton, Lukar E; Cerin, Ester; Ball, Kylie

2015-01-01

Inequalities in eating behaviours are often linked to the types of food retailers accessible in neighbourhood environments. Numerous studies have aimed to identify if access to healthy and unhealthy food retailers is socioeconomically patterned across neighbourhoods, and thus a potential risk factor for dietary inequalities. Existing reviews have examined differences between methodologies, particularly focussing on neighbourhood and food outlet access measure definitions. However, no review has informatively discussed the suitability of the statistical methodologies employed; a key issue determining the validity of study findings. Our aim was to examine the suitability of statistical approaches adopted in these analyses. Searches were conducted for articles published from 2000-2014. Eligible studies included objective measures of the neighbourhood food environment and neighbourhood-level socio-economic status, with a statistical analysis of the association between food outlet access and socio-economic status. Fifty-four papers were included. Outlet accessibility was typically defined as the distance to the nearest outlet from the neighbourhood centroid, or as the number of food outlets within a neighbourhood (or buffer). To assess if these measures were linked to neighbourhood disadvantage, common statistical methods included ANOVA, correlation, and Poisson or negative binomial regression. Although all studies involved spatial data, few considered spatial analysis techniques or spatial autocorrelation. With advances in GIS software, sophisticated measures of neighbourhood outlet accessibility can be considered. However, approaches to statistical analysis often appear less sophisticated. Care should be taken to consider assumptions underlying the analysis and the possibility of spatially correlated residuals which could affect the results.

The Relationship between Logistics Sophistication and Drivers of the Outsourcing of Logistics Activities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Wanke

2008-10-01

Full Text Available A strong link has been established between operational excellence and the degree of sophistication of logistics organization, a function of factors such as performance monitoring, investment in Information Technology [IT] and the formalization of logistics organization, as proposed in the Bowersox, Daugherty, Dröge, Germain and Rogers (1992 Leading Edge model. At the same time, shippers have been increasingly outsourcing their logistics activities to third party providers. This paper, based on a survey with large Brazilian shippers, addresses a gap in the literature by investigating the relationship between dimensions of logistics organization sophistication and drivers of logistics outsourcing. To this end, the dimensions behind the logistics sophistication construct were first investigated. Results from factor analysis led to the identification of six dimensions of logistics sophistication. By means of multivariate logistical regression analyses it was possible to relate some of these dimensions, such as the formalization of the logistics organization, to certain drivers of the outsourcing of logistics activities of Brazilian shippers, such as cost savings. These results indicate the possibility of segmenting shippers according to characteristics of their logistics organization, which may be particularly useful to logistics service providers.

Lexical Complexity Development from Dynamic Systems Theory Perspective: Lexical Density, Diversity, and Sophistication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reza Kalantari

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This longitudinal case study explored Iranian EFL learners’ lexical complexity (LC through the lenses of Dynamic Systems Theory (DST. Fifty independent essays written by five intermediate to advanced female EFL learners in a TOEFL iBT preparation course over six months constituted the corpus of this study. Three Coh-Metrix indices (Graesser, McNamara, Louwerse, & Cai, 2004; McNamara & Graesser, 2012, three Lexical Complexity Analyzer indices (Lu, 2010, 2012; Lu & Ai, 2011, and four Vocabprofile indices (Cobb, 2000 were selected to measure different dimensions of LC. Results of repeated measures analysis of variance (RM ANOVA indicated an improvement with regard to only lexical sophistication. Positive and significant relationships were found between time and mean values in Academic Word List and Beyond-2000 as indicators of lexical sophistication. The remaining seven indices of LC, falling short of significance, tended to flatten over the course of this writing program. Correlation analyses among LC indices indicated that lexical density enjoyed positive correlations with lexical sophistication. However, lexical diversity revealed no significant correlations with both lexical density and lexical sophistication. This study suggests that DST perspective specifies a viable foundation for analyzing lexical complexity

A Method for Upper Bounding on Network Access Speed

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Thomas Phillip; Patel, A.; Pedersen, Jens Myrup

2004-01-01

This paper presents a method for calculating an upper bound on network access speed growth and gives guidelines for further research experiments and simulations. The method is aimed at providing a basis for simulation of long term network development and resource management.......This paper presents a method for calculating an upper bound on network access speed growth and gives guidelines for further research experiments and simulations. The method is aimed at providing a basis for simulation of long term network development and resource management....

Purification through Emotions: The Role of Shame in Plato's "Sophist" 230B4-E5

Science.gov (United States)

Candiotto, Laura

2018-01-01

This article proposes an analysis of Plato's "Sophist" (230b4--e5) that underlines the bond between the logical and the emotional components of the Socratic "elenchus", with the aim of depicting the social valence of this philosophical practice. The use of emotions characterizing the 'elenctic' method described by Plato is…

Data mining methods and applications

CERN Document Server

Lawrence, Kenneth D; Klimberg, Ronald K

2007-01-01

With today's information explosion, many organizations are now able to access a wealth of valuable data. Unfortunately, most of these organizations find they are ill-equipped to organize this information, let alone put it to work for them. Gain a Competitive Advantage Employ data mining in research and forecasting Build models with data management tools and methodology optimization Gain sophisticated breakdowns and complex analysis through multivariate, evolutionary, and neural net methodsLearn how to classify data and maintain qualityTransform Data into Business Acumen Data Mining Methods and

Research Investigation of Information Access Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Heinrichs, John H.; Sharkey, Thomas W.; Lim, Jeen-Su

2006-01-01

This study investigates the satisfaction of library users at Wayne State University who utilize alternative information access methods. The LibQUAL+[TM] desired and perceived that satisfaction ratings are used to determine the user's "superiority gap." By focusing limited library resources to address "superiority gap" issues identified by each…

A New Key-lock Method for User Authentication and Access Control

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

JI Dongyao; ZHANG Futai; WANG Yumin

2001-01-01

We propose a new key-lock methodfor user authentication and access control based onChinese remainder theorem, the concepts of the ac-cess control matrix, key-lock-pair, time stamp, and the NS public key protocol. Our method is dynamicand needs a minimum amount of computation in thesense that it only updates at most one key/lock foreach access request. We also demonstrate how an au-thentication protocol can be integrated into the ac-cess control method. By applying a time stamp, themethod can not only withstand replay attack, butalso strengthen the authenticating mechanism, whichcould not be achieved simultaneously in previous key-lock methods.

The musicality of non-musicians: an index for assessing musical sophistication in the general population.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Müllensiefen

Full Text Available Musical skills and expertise vary greatly in Western societies. Individuals can differ in their repertoire of musical behaviours as well as in the level of skill they display for any single musical behaviour. The types of musical behaviours we refer to here are broad, ranging from performance on an instrument and listening expertise, to the ability to employ music in functional settings or to communicate about music. In this paper, we first describe the concept of 'musical sophistication' which can be used to describe the multi-faceted nature of musical expertise. Next, we develop a novel measurement instrument, the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI to assess self-reported musical skills and behaviours on multiple dimensions in the general population using a large Internet sample (n = 147,636. Thirdly, we report results from several lab studies, demonstrating that the Gold-MSI possesses good psychometric properties, and that self-reported musical sophistication is associated with performance on two listening tasks. Finally, we identify occupation, occupational status, age, gender, and wealth as the main socio-demographic factors associated with musical sophistication. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical accounts of implicit and statistical music learning and with regard to social conditions of sophisticated musical engagement.

The musicality of non-musicians: an index for assessing musical sophistication in the general population.

Science.gov (United States)

Müllensiefen, Daniel; Gingras, Bruno; Musil, Jason; Stewart, Lauren

2014-01-01

Musical skills and expertise vary greatly in Western societies. Individuals can differ in their repertoire of musical behaviours as well as in the level of skill they display for any single musical behaviour. The types of musical behaviours we refer to here are broad, ranging from performance on an instrument and listening expertise, to the ability to employ music in functional settings or to communicate about music. In this paper, we first describe the concept of 'musical sophistication' which can be used to describe the multi-faceted nature of musical expertise. Next, we develop a novel measurement instrument, the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI) to assess self-reported musical skills and behaviours on multiple dimensions in the general population using a large Internet sample (n = 147,636). Thirdly, we report results from several lab studies, demonstrating that the Gold-MSI possesses good psychometric properties, and that self-reported musical sophistication is associated with performance on two listening tasks. Finally, we identify occupation, occupational status, age, gender, and wealth as the main socio-demographic factors associated with musical sophistication. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical accounts of implicit and statistical music learning and with regard to social conditions of sophisticated musical engagement.

Building Models in the Classroom: Taking Advantage of Sophisticated Geomorphic Numerical Tools Using a Simple Graphical User Interface

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, S. G.; Koons, P. O.; Gerbi, C. C.; Capps, D. K.; Tucker, G. E.; Rogers, Z. A.

2014-12-01

Sophisticated numerical tools exist for modeling geomorphic processes and linking them to tectonic and climatic systems, but they are often seen as inaccessible for users with an exploratory level of interest. We have improved the accessibility of landscape evolution models by producing a simple graphics user interface (GUI) that takes advantage of the Channel-Hillslope Integrated Landscape Development (CHILD) model. Model access is flexible: the user can edit values for basic geomorphic, tectonic, and climate parameters, or obtain greater control by defining the spatiotemporal distributions of those parameters. Users can make educated predictions by choosing their own parametric values for the governing equations and interpreting the results immediately through model graphics. This method of modeling allows users to iteratively build their understanding through experimentation. Use of this GUI is intended for inquiry and discovery-based learning activities. We discuss a number of examples of how the GUI can be used at the upper high school, introductory university, and advanced university level. Effective teaching modules initially focus on an inquiry-based example guided by the instructor. As students become familiar with the GUI and the CHILD model, the class can shift to more student-centered exploration and experimentation. To make model interpretations more robust, digital elevation models can be imported and direct comparisons can be made between CHILD model results and natural topography. The GUI is available online through the University of Maine's Earth and Climate Sciences website, through the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS) model repository, or by contacting the corresponding author.

The New Toxicology of Sophisticated Materials: Nanotoxicology and Beyond

Science.gov (United States)

Maynard, Andrew D.; Warheit, David B.; Philbert, Martin A.

2011-01-01

It has long been recognized that the physical form of materials can mediate their toxicity—the health impacts of asbestiform materials, industrial aerosols, and ambient particulate matter are prime examples. Yet over the past 20 years, toxicology research has suggested complex and previously unrecognized associations between material physicochemistry at the nanoscale and biological interactions. With the rapid rise of the field of nanotechnology and the design and production of increasingly complex nanoscale materials, it has become ever more important to understand how the physical form and chemical composition of these materials interact synergistically to determine toxicity. As a result, a new field of research has emerged—nanotoxicology. Research within this field is highlighting the importance of material physicochemical properties in how dose is understood, how materials are characterized in a manner that enables quantitative data interpretation and comparison, and how materials move within, interact with, and are transformed by biological systems. Yet many of the substances that are the focus of current nanotoxicology studies are relatively simple materials that are at the vanguard of a new era of complex materials. Over the next 50 years, there will be a need to understand the toxicology of increasingly sophisticated materials that exhibit novel, dynamic and multifaceted functionality. If the toxicology community is to meet the challenge of ensuring the safe use of this new generation of substances, it will need to move beyond “nano” toxicology and toward a new toxicology of sophisticated materials. Here, we present a brief overview of the current state of the science on the toxicology of nanoscale materials and focus on three emerging toxicology-based challenges presented by sophisticated materials that will become increasingly important over the next 50 years: identifying relevant materials for study, physicochemical characterization, and

A Method for Automated Planning of FTTH Access Network Infrastructures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riaz, Muhammad Tahir; Pedersen, Jens Myrup; Madsen, Ole Brun

2005-01-01

In this paper a method for automated planning of Fiber to the Home (FTTH) access networks is proposed. We introduced a systematic approach for planning access network infrastructure. The GIS data and a set of algorithms were employed to make the planning process more automatic. The method explains...... method. The method, however, does not fully automate the planning but make the planning process significantly fast. The results and discussion are presented and conclusion is given in the end....

Procles the Carthaginian: A North African Sophist in Pausanias’ Periegesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Pablo Sánchez Hernández

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Procles, cited by Pausanias (in the imperfect tense about a display in Rome and for an opinion about Pyrrhus of Epirus, probably was not a historian of Hellenistic date, but a contemporary sophist whom Pausanias encountered in person in Rome.

Understanding differences in access to water fountains and sugar-sweetened beverages in children׳s environments: a pilot study in high and low deprivation neighbourhoods.

Science.gov (United States)

Pearson, Amber L; de Latour, Phillip; Kemp, Gabrielle; Findlay, Nohoana; Halim, Angela; Atkinson, Nicola; Chong, Mark; Cameron, Rose; Brown, Courtney; Kim, Grace; Campbell, Paul; Hills, Toby; Jayawant, Aditya; Chae, Matthew; Bhagavan, Chiranth; French, Claire; Jenkin, Gabrielle; Smith, Moira; Signal, Louise

2014-11-01

Access to water fountains and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in children׳s environments may impact on child obesity and may vary with neighbourhood deprivation. Our pilot analyses of access to water fountains and SSBs in Wellington, New Zealand revealed that water fountain access was high in school environments and low in recreational environments. There were also differences in water fountain and SSB access points by neighbourhood deprivation. The methods piloted in this study could be translated in a larger study, more capable of detecting significant differences in access and allowing for more sophisticated analyses. Such future studies may provide important evidence for the improvement of children׳s health and well-being. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

THE HIGH LEVEL ACCESSION DIALOGUE FOR MACEDONIA: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mladen Karadjoski

2015-04-01

Full Text Available One of the strategic goals for the Republic of Macedonia is membership in the European Union. At the end of 2011, the Commission launched a so-called High Level Accession Dialogue for Macedonia, with a possibility to start the negotiations after the fulfillment of the Dialogue goals and benchmarks. For these reasons, the main goal of this paper will be to give an answer of the dilemma whether the Accession Dialogue for Macedonia is an accelerator of the entrance in the European Union, or is just a sophisticated tool for delay of the start of the negotiations for final accession. The expected results will correspond with the future EU plans for Macedonia, but also for the other Western Balkan countries, i.e. we will try to examine whether these countries have a realistic perspective for entrance in the European Union, or they are just a “declarative décor” for the vocabulary of the Brussels diplomats and member countries representatives. That will help to determine i.e. to try to predict the next steps of these countries, connected with the European integration, regardless of the actual constellation in the European Union concerning the Enlargement policy. The descriptive method, content analyses method, comparative method, but also the inductive and deductive methods will be used in this paper.

Does underground storage still require sophisticated studies?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marsily, G. de

1997-01-01

Most countries agree to the necessity of burying high or medium-level wastes in geological layers situated at a few hundred meters below the ground level. The advantages and disadvantages of different types of rock such as salt, clay, granite and volcanic material are examined. Sophisticated studies are lead to determine the best geological confinement but questions arise about the time for which safety must be ensured. France has chosen 3 possible sites. These sites are geologically described in the article. The final place will be proposed after a testing phase of about 5 years in an underground facility. (A.C.)

A Framework for Federated Two-Factor Authentication Enabling Cost-Effective Secure Access to Distributed Cyberinfrastructure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ezell, Matthew A [ORNL; Rogers, Gary L [University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK); Peterson, Gregory D. [University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK)

2012-01-01

As cyber attacks become increasingly sophisticated, the security measures used to mitigate the risks must also increase in sophistication. One time password (OTP) systems provide strong authentication because security credentials are not reusable, thus thwarting credential replay attacks. The credential changes regularly, making brute-force attacks significantly more difficult. In high performance computing, end users may require access to resources housed at several different service provider locations. The ability to share a strong token between multiple computing resources reduces cost and complexity. The National Science Foundation (NSF) Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) provides access to digital resources, including supercomputers, data resources, and software tools. XSEDE will offer centralized strong authentication for services amongst service providers that leverage their own user databases and security profiles. This work implements a scalable framework built on standards to provide federated secure access to distributed cyberinfrastructure.

Finding the Fabulous Few: Why Your Program Needs Sophisticated Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfizenmaier, Emily

1981-01-01

Fund raising, it is argued, needs sophisticated prospect research. Professional prospect researchers play an important role in helping to identify prospective donors and also in helping to stimulate interest in gift giving. A sample of an individual work-up on a donor and a bibliography are provided. (MLW)

Kinds of access: different methods for report reveal different kinds of metacognitive access

Science.gov (United States)

Overgaard, Morten; Sandberg, Kristian

2012-01-01

In experimental investigations of consciousness, participants are asked to reflect upon their own experiences by issuing reports about them in different ways. For this reason, a participant needs some access to the content of her own conscious experience in order to report. In such experiments, the reports typically consist of some variety of ratings of confidence or direct descriptions of one's own experiences. Whereas different methods of reporting are typically used interchangeably, recent experiments indicate that different results are obtained with different kinds of reporting. We argue that there is not only a theoretical, but also an empirical difference between different methods of reporting. We hypothesize that differences in the sensitivity of different scales may reveal that different types of access are used to issue direct reports about experiences and metacognitive reports about the classification process. PMID:22492747

Reading wild minds: A computational assay of Theory of Mind sophistication across seven primate species.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marie Devaine

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Theory of Mind (ToM, i.e. the ability to understand others' mental states, endows humans with highly adaptive social skills such as teaching or deceiving. Candidate evolutionary explanations have been proposed for the unique sophistication of human ToM among primates. For example, the Machiavellian intelligence hypothesis states that the increasing complexity of social networks may have induced a demand for sophisticated ToM. This type of scenario ignores neurocognitive constraints that may eventually be crucial limiting factors for ToM evolution. In contradistinction, the cognitive scaffolding hypothesis asserts that a species' opportunity to develop sophisticated ToM is mostly determined by its general cognitive capacity (on which ToM is scaffolded. However, the actual relationships between ToM sophistication and either brain volume (a proxy for general cognitive capacity or social group size (a proxy for social network complexity are unclear. Here, we let 39 individuals sampled from seven non-human primate species (lemurs, macaques, mangabeys, orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees engage in simple dyadic games against artificial ToM players (via a familiar human caregiver. Using computational analyses of primates' choice sequences, we found that the probability of exhibiting a ToM-compatible learning style is mainly driven by species' brain volume (rather than by social group size. Moreover, primates' social cognitive sophistication culminates in a precursor form of ToM, which still falls short of human fully-developed ToM abilities.

A method to evaluate equitable accessibility : Combining ethical theories and accessibility-based approaches

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lucas, K.; Van Wee, G.P.; Maat, C.

2015-01-01

In this paper, we present the case that traditional transport appraisal methods do not sufficiently capture the social dimensions of mobility and accessibility. However, understanding this is highly relevant for policymakers to understand the impacts of their transport decisions. These dimensions

Lexical Sophistication as a Multidimensional Phenomenon: Relations to Second Language Lexical Proficiency, Development, and Writing Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Minkyung; Crossley, Scott A.; Kyle, Kristopher

2018-01-01

This study conceptualizes lexical sophistication as a multidimensional phenomenon by reducing numerous lexical features of lexical sophistication into 12 aggregated components (i.e., dimensions) via a principal component analysis approach. These components were then used to predict second language (L2) writing proficiency levels, holistic lexical…

Few remarks on chiral theories with sophisticated topology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golo, V.L.; Perelomov, A.M.

1978-01-01

Two classes of the two-dimensional Euclidean chiral field theoreties are singled out: 1) the field phi(x) takes the values in the compact Hermitiam symmetric space 2) the field phi(x) takes the values in an orbit of the adjoint representation of the comcompact Lie group. The theories have sophisticated topological and rich analytical structures. They are considered with the help of topological invariants (topological charges). Explicit formulae for the topological charges are indicated, and the lower bound extimate for the action is given

Nanotube structures, methods of making nanotube structures, and methods of accessing intracellular space

Science.gov (United States)

VanDersarl, Jules J.; Xu, Alexander M.; Melosh, Nicholas A.; Tayebi, Noureddine

2016-02-23

In accordance with the purpose(s) of the present disclosure, as embodied and broadly described herein, embodiments of the present disclosure, in one aspect, relate to methods of making a structure including nanotubes, a structure including nanotubes, methods of delivering a fluid to a cell, methods of removing a fluid to a cell, methods of accessing intracellular space, and the like.

A sophisticated simulation for the fracture behavior of concrete material using XFEM

Science.gov (United States)

Zhai, Changhai; Wang, Xiaomin; Kong, Jingchang; Li, Shuang; Xie, Lili

2017-10-01

The development of a powerful numerical model to simulate the fracture behavior of concrete material has long been one of the dominant research areas in earthquake engineering. A reliable model should be able to adequately represent the discontinuous characteristics of cracks and simulate various failure behaviors under complicated loading conditions. In this paper, a numerical formulation, which incorporates a sophisticated rigid-plastic interface constitutive model coupling cohesion softening, contact, friction and shear dilatation into the XFEM, is proposed to describe various crack behaviors of concrete material. An effective numerical integration scheme for accurately assembling the contribution to the weak form on both sides of the discontinuity is introduced. The effectiveness of the proposed method has been assessed by simulating several well-known experimental tests. It is concluded that the numerical method can successfully capture the crack paths and accurately predict the fracture behavior of concrete structures. The influence of mode-II parameters on the mixed-mode fracture behavior is further investigated to better determine these parameters.

Kinds of access: Different methods for report reveal different kinds of metacognitive access

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Overgaard, Morten; Sandberg, Kristian

2012-01-01

that there is not only a theoretical, but also an empirical difference between different methods of reporting. We hypothesize that differences in the sensitivity of different scales may reveal that different types of access are used to issue direct reports about experiences and metacognitive reports about...

Differential ethnic associations between maternal flexibility and play sophistication in toddlers born very low birth weight

Science.gov (United States)

Erickson, Sarah J.; Montague, Erica Q.; Maclean, Peggy C.; Bancroft, Mary E.; Lowe, Jean R.

2013-01-01

Children born very low birth weight (development of self-regulation and effective functional skills, and play serves as an important avenue of early intervention. The current study investigated associations between maternal flexibility and toddler play sophistication in Caucasian, Spanish speaking Hispanic, English speaking Hispanic, and Native American toddlers (18-22 months adjusted age) in a cross-sectional cohort of 73 toddlers born VLBW and their mothers. We found that the association between maternal flexibility and toddler play sophistication differed by ethnicity (F(3,65) = 3.34, p = .02). In particular, Spanish speaking Hispanic dyads evidenced a significant positive association between maternal flexibility and play sophistication of medium effect size. Results for Native Americans were parallel to those of Spanish speaking Hispanic dyads: the relationship between flexibility and play sophistication was positive and of small-medium effect size. Findings indicate that for Caucasians and English speaking Hispanics, flexibility evidenced a non-significant (negative and small effect size) association with toddler play sophistication. Significant follow-up contrasts revealed that the associations for Caucasian and English speaking Hispanic dyads were significantly different from those of the other two ethnic groups. Results remained unchanged after adjusting for the amount of maternal language, an index of maternal engagement and stimulation; and after adjusting for birth weight, gestational age, gender, test age, cognitive ability, as well maternal age, education, and income. Our results provide preliminary evidence that ethnicity and acculturation may mediate the association between maternal interactive behavior such as flexibility and toddler developmental outcomes, as indexed by play sophistication. Addressing these association differences is particularly important in children born VLBW because interventions targeting parent interaction strategies such as

Access to Justice for Communications Surveillance and Interception : Scrutinising Intelligence Gathering Reform Legislation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Quirine Eijkman

2018-01-01

By analysing intelligence-gathering reform legislation this article discusses access to justice for communications interception by the intelligence and security services. In the aftermath of the Snowden revelations, sophisticated oversight systems for bulk communications surveillance are being

Sophisticated Search Capabilities in the ADS Abstract Service

Science.gov (United States)

Eichhorn, G.; Accomazzi, A.; Grant, C. S.; Henneken, E.; Kurtz, M. J.; Murray, S. S.

2003-12-01

The ADS provides access to over 940,000 references from astronomy and planetary sciences publications and 1.5 million records from physics publications. It is funded by NASA and provides free access to these references, as well as to 2.4 million scanned pages from the astronomical literature. These include most of the major astronomy and several planetary sciences journals, as well as many historical observatory publications. The references now include the abstracts from all volumes of the Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR) since the beginning of 2002. We get these abstracts on a regular basis. The Kluwer journal Solar Physics has been scanned back to volume 1 and is available through the ADS. We have extracted the reference lists from this and many other journals and included them in the reference and citation database of the ADS. We have recently scanning Earth, Moon and Planets, another Kluwer journal, and will scan other Kluwer journals in the future as well. We plan on extracting references from these journals as well in the near future. The ADS has many sophisticated query features. These allow the user to formulate complex queries. Using results lists to get further information about the selected articles provide the means to quickly find important and relevant articles from the database. Three advanced feedback queries are available from the bottom of the ADS results list (in addition to regular feedback queries already available from the abstract page and from the bottom of the results list): 1. Get reference list for selected articles: This query returns all known references for the selected articles (or for all articles in the first list). The resulting list will be ranked according to how often each article is referred to and will show the most referenced articles in the field of study that created the first list. It presumably shows the most important articles in that field. 2. Get citation list for selected articles: This returns all known articles

Does a more sophisticated storm erosion model improve probabilistic erosion estimates?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ranasinghe, R.W.M.R.J.B.; Callaghan, D.; Roelvink, D.

2013-01-01

The dependency between the accuracy/uncertainty of storm erosion exceedance estimates obtained via a probabilistic model and the level of sophistication of the structural function (storm erosion model) embedded in the probabilistic model is assessed via the application of Callaghan et al.'s (2008)

Remote Access to Instrumental Analysis for Distance Education in Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dietmar Kennepohl

2005-11-01

Full Text Available Remote access to experiments offers distance educators another tool to integrate a strong laboratory component within a science course. Since virtually all modern chemical instrumental analysis in industry now use devices operated by a computer interface, remote control of instrumentation is not only relatively facile, it enhances students’ opportunity to learn the subject matter and be exposed to “real world” contents. Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT and Athabasca University are developing teaching laboratories based on the control of analytical instruments in real-time via an Internet connection. Students perform real-time analysis using equipment, methods, and skills that are common to modern analytical laboratories (or sophisticated teaching laboratories. Students obtain real results using real substances to arrive at real conclusions, just as they would if they were in a physical laboratory with the equipment; this approach allows students to access to conduct instrumental science experiments, thus providing them with an advantageous route to upgrade their laboratory skills while learning at a distance.

Strategic sophistication of individuals and teams. Experimental evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Sutter, Matthias; Czermak, Simon; Feri, Francesco

2013-01-01

Many important decisions require strategic sophistication. We examine experimentally whether teams act more strategically than individuals. We let individuals and teams make choices in simple games, and also elicit first- and second-order beliefs. We find that teams play the Nash equilibrium strategy significantly more often, and their choices are more often a best response to stated first order beliefs. Distributional preferences make equilibrium play less likely. Using a mixture model, the estimated probability to play strategically is 62% for teams, but only 40% for individuals. A model of noisy introspection reveals that teams differ from individuals in higher order beliefs. PMID:24926100

Library of sophisticated functions for analysis of nuclear spectra

Science.gov (United States)

Morháč, Miroslav; Matoušek, Vladislav

2009-10-01

In the paper we present compact library for analysis of nuclear spectra. The library consists of sophisticated functions for background elimination, smoothing, peak searching, deconvolution, and peak fitting. The functions can process one- and two-dimensional spectra. The software described in the paper comprises a number of conventional as well as newly developed methods needed to analyze experimental data. Program summaryProgram title: SpecAnalysLib 1.1 Catalogue identifier: AEDZ_v1_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEDZ_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.html No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 42 154 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 2 379 437 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: C++ Computer: Pentium 3 PC 2.4 GHz or higher, Borland C++ Builder v. 6. A precompiled Windows version is included in the distribution package Operating system: Windows 32 bit versions RAM: 10 MB Word size: 32 bits Classification: 17.6 Nature of problem: The demand for advanced highly effective experimental data analysis functions is enormous. The library package represents one approach to give the physicists the possibility to use the advanced routines simply by calling them from their own programs. SpecAnalysLib is a collection of functions for analysis of one- and two-parameter γ-ray spectra, but they can be used for other types of data as well. The library consists of sophisticated functions for background elimination, smoothing, peak searching, deconvolution, and peak fitting. Solution method: The algorithms of background estimation are based on Sensitive Non-linear Iterative Peak (SNIP) clipping algorithm. The smoothing algorithms are based on the convolution of the original data with several types of filters and algorithms based on discrete

Development Strategies for Tourism Destinations: Tourism Sophistication vs. Resource Investments

OpenAIRE

Rainer Andergassen; Guido Candela

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the effectiveness of development strategies for tourism destinations. We argue that resource investments unambiguously increase tourism revenues and that increasing the degree of tourism sophistication, that is increasing the variety of tourism related goods and services, increases tourism activity and decreases the perceived quality of the destination's resource endowment, leading to an ambiguous effect on tourism revenues. We disentangle these two effects and charact...

Method and apparatus for managing access to a memory

Science.gov (United States)

DeBenedictis, Erik

2017-08-01

A method and apparatus for managing access to a memory of a computing system. A controller transforms a plurality of operations that represent a computing job into an operational memory layout that reduces a size of a selected portion of the memory that needs to be accessed to perform the computing job. The controller stores the operational memory layout in a plurality of memory cells within the selected portion of the memory. The controller controls a sequence by which a processor in the computing system accesses the memory to perform the computing job using the operational memory layout. The operational memory layout reduces an amount of energy consumed by the processor to perform the computing job.

An Extended Role Based Access Control Method for XML Documents

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

MENG Xiao-feng; LUO Dao-feng; OU Jian-bo

2004-01-01

As XML has been increasingly important as the Data-change format of Internet and Intranet, access-control-on-XML-properties rises as a new issue.Role-based access control (RBAC) is an access control method that has been widely used in Internet, Operation System and Relation Data Base these 10 years.Though RBAC is already relatively mature in the above fields, new problems occur when it is used in XML properties.This paper proposes an integrated model to resolve these problems, after the fully analysis on the features of XML and RBAC.

Do organizations adopt sophisticated capital budgeting practices to deal with uncertainty in the investment decision? : A research note

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verbeeten, Frank H M

This study examines the impact of uncertainty on the sophistication of capital budgeting practices. While the theoretical applications of sophisticated capital budgeting practices (defined as the use of real option reasoning and/or game theory decision rules) have been well documented, empirical

ACCESS METHOD TO THE LEARNING OF BASIC TECHNICAL-TACTICAL HANDBALL ELEMENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dobrislav Vujović

2007-05-01

Full Text Available The analysis of the handball development tendencies demands more and more sophisticated work forms and methods which provide possibility of the quick and good quality implementation of the setup goals and tasks in the work with children. In that case it becomes very important to create the best methods and instruments by which, with the systematic work, the acquired technical/tactical skils and motoric capacities will be adopted and automatized. Process of acquiring of technical/tactical skills and motoric capacities represents main goal in the overall training process of young handball players. It is also a part of the transformation process and an important prerequisite of the specifi c handball competition activity. During the systematic work e.g. training process, from the beginner to the top handball player, this learning process is very unique and in interwoven. It is going on by following general training rules with the purpose of creating supreme sport result

IMPROVING NEAREST NEIGHBOUR SEARCH IN 3D SPATIAL ACCESS METHOD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Suhaibaha

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Nearest Neighbour (NN is one of the important queries and analyses for spatial application. In normal practice, spatial access method structure is used during the Nearest Neighbour query execution to retrieve information from the database. However, most of the spatial access method structures are still facing with unresolved issues such as overlapping among nodes and repetitive data entry. This situation will perform an excessive Input/Output (IO operation which is inefficient for data retrieval. The situation will become more crucial while dealing with 3D data. The size of 3D data is usually large due to its detail geometry and other attached information. In this research, a clustered 3D hierarchical structure is introduced as a 3D spatial access method structure. The structure is expected to improve the retrieval of Nearest Neighbour information for 3D objects. Several tests are performed in answering Single Nearest Neighbour search and k Nearest Neighbour (kNN search. The tests indicate that clustered hierarchical structure is efficient in handling Nearest Neighbour query compared to its competitor. From the results, clustered hierarchical structure reduced the repetitive data entry and the accessed page. The proposed structure also produced minimal Input/Output operation. The query response time is also outperformed compared to the other competitor. For future outlook of this research several possible applications are discussed and summarized.

An Extended Two-Phase Method for Accessing Sections of Out-of-Core Arrays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajeev Thakur

1996-01-01

Full Text Available A number of applications on parallel computers deal with very large data sets that cannot fit in main memory. In such applications, data must be stored in files on disks and fetched into memory during program execution. Parallel programs with large out-of-core arrays stored in files must read/write smaller sections of the arrays from/to files. In this article, we describe a method for accessing sections of out-of-core arrays efficiently. Our method, the extended two-phase method, uses collective l/O: Processors cooperate to combine several l/O requests into fewer larger granularity requests, to reorder requests so that the file is accessed in proper sequence, and to eliminate simultaneous l/O requests for the same data. In addition, the l/O workload is divided among processors dynamically, depending on the access requests. We present performance results obtained from two real out-of-core parallel applications – matrix multiplication and a Laplace's equation solver – and several synthetic access patterns, all on the Intel Touchstone Delta. These results indicate that the extended two-phase method significantly outperformed a direct (noncollective method for accessing out-of-core array sections.

Constructing a sophistication index as a method of market ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

segmentation method offers researchers and marketing practitioners a ..... Pallant (2010) recommends a minimum value of 0.6 for a good analysis. .... a means of profiling segments, stock farmers are not classified as unsophisticated,.

Systematization and sophistication of a comprehensive sensitivity analysis program. Phase 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oyamada, Kiyoshi; Ikeda, Takao

2004-02-01

This study developed minute estimation by adopting comprehensive sensitivity analytical program for reliability of TRU waste repository concepts in a crystalline rock condition. We examined each components and groundwater scenario of geological repository and prepared systematic bases to examine the reliability from the point of comprehensiveness. Models and data are sophisticated to examine the reliability. Based on an existing TRU waste repository concepts, effects of parameters to nuclide migration were quantitatively classified. Those parameters, that will be decided quantitatively, are such as site character of natural barrier and design specification of engineered barriers. Considering the feasibility of those figures of specifications, reliability is re-examined on combinations of those parameters within a practical range. Future issues are; Comprehensive representation of hybrid geosphere model including the fractured medium and permeable matrix medium. Sophistication of tools to develop the reliable combinations of parameters. It is significant to continue this study because the disposal concepts and specification of TRU nuclides containing waste on various sites shall be determined rationally and safely through these studies. (author)

The Methods and Mechanisms for Access Control of Encrypted Data in Clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey Vladimirovich Zapechnikov

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The paper is about the problem of data access control in clouds. The main mechanisms for access control of encrypted data in untrusted cloud environments are analyzed and described. The comparative analysis of access control algorithms and implementation issues are offered. The main practical result of research is a web-based (Wikipedia-like reference and information system devoted to the access control methods and mechanisms.

The Value of Multivariate Model Sophistication: An Application to pricing Dow Jones Industrial Average options

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rombouts, Jeroen V.K.; Stentoft, Lars; Violante, Francesco

innovation for a Laplace innovation assumption improves the pricing in a smaller way. Apart from investigating directly the value of model sophistication in terms of dollar losses, we also use the model condence set approach to statistically infer the set of models that delivers the best pricing performance.......We assess the predictive accuracy of a large number of multivariate volatility models in terms of pricing options on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. We measure the value of model sophistication in terms of dollar losses by considering a set 248 multivariate models that differer...

Sophistic Ethics in the Technical Writing Classroom: Teaching "Nomos," Deliberation, and Action.

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, J. Blake

1995-01-01

Claims that teaching ethics is particularly important to technical writing. Outlines a classical, sophistic approach to ethics based on the theories and pedagogies of Protagoras, Gorgias, and Isocrates, which emphasizes the Greek concept of "nomos," internal and external deliberation, and responsible action. Discusses problems and…

Global Market Access in the Internet Era: South Africa's Wood Furniture Industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Moodley, Sagren

2002-01-01

Explores the link between Internet connectivity and access to global markets, and uses the South African wood furniture producers as they are integrated into global value chains and exposed to the demands of more sophisticated markets. Articulates policy recommendations to promote greater diffusion of e-commerce technologies in the wood furniture…

Sophisticated Fowl: The Complex Behaviour and Cognitive Skills of Chickens and Red Junglefowl

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Garnham

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The world’s most numerous bird, the domestic chicken, and their wild ancestor, the red junglefowl, have long been used as model species for animal behaviour research. Recently, this research has advanced our understanding of the social behaviour, personality, and cognition of fowl, and demonstrated their sophisticated behaviour and cognitive skills. Here, we overview some of this research, starting with describing research investigating the well-developed senses of fowl, before presenting how socially and cognitively complex they can be. The realisation that domestic chickens, our most abundant production animal, are behaviourally and cognitively sophisticated should encourage an increase in general appraise and fascination towards them. In turn, this should inspire increased use of them as both research and hobby animals, as well as improvements in their unfortunately often poor welfare.

Constructing a Sophistication Index as a Method of Market ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigates the process of index construction as a means of measuring a hypothetical construct that can typically not be measured by a single question or item and applying it as a method of market segmentation. The availability of incidental secondary data provided a relevant quantitative basis to illustrate this ...

Assessing Epistemic Sophistication by Considering Domain-Specific Absolute and Multiplicistic Beliefs Separately

Science.gov (United States)

Peter, Johannes; Rosman, Tom; Mayer, Anne-Kathrin; Leichner, Nikolas; Krampen, Günter

2016-01-01

Background: Particularly in higher education, not only a view of science as a means of finding absolute truths (absolutism), but also a view of science as generally tentative (multiplicism) can be unsophisticated and obstructive for learning. Most quantitative epistemic belief inventories neglect this and understand epistemic sophistication as…

GROUPING WEB ACCESS SEQUENCES uSING SEQUENCE ALIGNMENT METHOD

OpenAIRE

BHUPENDRA S CHORDIA; KRISHNAKANT P ADHIYA

2011-01-01

In web usage mining grouping of web access sequences can be used to determine the behavior or intent of a set of users. Grouping websessions is how to measure the similarity between web sessions. There are many shortcomings in traditional measurement methods. The taskof grouping web sessions based on similarity and consists of maximizing the intra-group similarity while minimizing the inter-groupsimilarity is done using sequence alignment method. This paper introduces a new method to group we...

Musical Sophistication and the Effect of Complexity on Auditory Discrimination in Finnish Speakers

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, Caitlin; Aalto, Daniel; Šimko, Juraj; Vainio, Martti; Tervaniemi, Mari

2017-01-01

Musical experiences and native language are both known to affect auditory processing. The present work aims to disentangle the influences of native language phonology and musicality on behavioral and subcortical sound feature processing in a population of musically diverse Finnish speakers as well as to investigate the specificity of enhancement from musical training. Finnish speakers are highly sensitive to duration cues since in Finnish, vowel and consonant duration determine word meaning. Using a correlational approach with a set of behavioral sound feature discrimination tasks, brainstem recordings, and a musical sophistication questionnaire, we find no evidence for an association between musical sophistication and more precise duration processing in Finnish speakers either in the auditory brainstem response or in behavioral tasks, but they do show an enhanced pitch discrimination compared to Finnish speakers with less musical experience and show greater duration modulation in a complex task. These results are consistent with a ceiling effect set for certain sound features which corresponds to the phonology of the native language, leaving an opportunity for music experience-based enhancement of sound features not explicitly encoded in the language (such as pitch, which is not explicitly encoded in Finnish). Finally, the pattern of duration modulation in more musically sophisticated Finnish speakers suggests integrated feature processing for greater efficiency in a real world musical situation. These results have implications for research into the specificity of plasticity in the auditory system as well as to the effects of interaction of specific language features with musical experiences. PMID:28450829

Musical Sophistication and the Effect of Complexity on Auditory Discrimination in Finnish Speakers.

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, Caitlin; Aalto, Daniel; Šimko, Juraj; Vainio, Martti; Tervaniemi, Mari

2017-01-01

Musical experiences and native language are both known to affect auditory processing. The present work aims to disentangle the influences of native language phonology and musicality on behavioral and subcortical sound feature processing in a population of musically diverse Finnish speakers as well as to investigate the specificity of enhancement from musical training. Finnish speakers are highly sensitive to duration cues since in Finnish, vowel and consonant duration determine word meaning. Using a correlational approach with a set of behavioral sound feature discrimination tasks, brainstem recordings, and a musical sophistication questionnaire, we find no evidence for an association between musical sophistication and more precise duration processing in Finnish speakers either in the auditory brainstem response or in behavioral tasks, but they do show an enhanced pitch discrimination compared to Finnish speakers with less musical experience and show greater duration modulation in a complex task. These results are consistent with a ceiling effect set for certain sound features which corresponds to the phonology of the native language, leaving an opportunity for music experience-based enhancement of sound features not explicitly encoded in the language (such as pitch, which is not explicitly encoded in Finnish). Finally, the pattern of duration modulation in more musically sophisticated Finnish speakers suggests integrated feature processing for greater efficiency in a real world musical situation. These results have implications for research into the specificity of plasticity in the auditory system as well as to the effects of interaction of specific language features with musical experiences.

Method of constructing lower dry well access tunnel for nuclear reactor container

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kume, Tadashi; Furukawa, Hedeyasu.

1993-01-01

The method of the present invention facilitates construction of a lower dry well access tunnel for a nuclear reactor container. The lower dry well access tunnel is constructed across the reactor container and the reactor main body foundation. In this case, the lower dry well access tunnel is divided into three sections, i.e., axial end portions and a central portion. At first, each of the end portions is attached to the walls of the reactor container and the reactor main body foundation respectively. Subsequently, the central portion is attached to each of the end portions. An adjusting margin is previously provided to the central portion upon manufacturing each of the sections for adjusting deviation from a nominal size upon construction. In such a construction method, it is possible to eliminate interference accident during construction between the end portions of the lower dry well access tunnel and the reactor container and the reactor main body foundation, to facilitate the construction. Further, this facilitates the fabricating operation for dimensional alignment between the lower dry well access tunnel, and the reactor container and the reactor main body foundation. (I.S.)

Reacting to Neighborhood Cues?: Political Sophistication Moderates the Effect of Exposure to Immigrants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Danckert, Bolette; Dinesen, Peter Thisted; Sønderskov, Kim Mannemar

2017-01-01

is founded on politically sophisticated individuals having a greater comprehension of news and other mass-mediated sources, which makes them less likely to rely on neighborhood cues as sources of information relevant for political attitudes. Based on a unique panel data set with fine-grained information...

Reactive polymer coatings: A robust platform towards sophisticated surface engineering for biotechnology

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hsien-Yeh

Functionalized poly(p-xylylenes) or so-called reactive polymers can be synthesized via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) polymerization. The resulting ultra-thin coatings are pinhole-free and can be conformally deposited to a wide range of substrates and materials. More importantly, the equipped functional groups can served as anchoring sites for tailoring the surface properties, making these reactive coatings a robust platform that can deal with sophisticated challenges faced in biointerfaces. In this work presented herein, surface coatings presenting various functional groups were prepared by CVD process. Such surfaces include aldehyde-functionalized coating to precisely immobilize saccharide molecules onto well-defined areas and alkyne-functionalized coating to click azide-modified molecules via Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction. Moreover, CVD copolymerization has been conducted to prepare multifunctional coatings and their specific functions were demonstrated by the immobilization of biotin and NHS-ester molecules. By using a photodefinable coating, polyethylene oxides were immobilized onto a wide range of substrates through photo-immobilization. Spatially controlled protein resistant properties were characterized by selective adsorption of fibrinogen and bovine serum albumin as model systems. Alternatively, surface initiator coatings were used for polymer graftings of polyethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate, and the resultant protein- and cell- resistant properties were characterized by adsorption of kinesin motor proteins, fibrinogen, and murine fibroblasts (NIH3T3). Accessibility of reactive coatings within confined microgeometries was systematically studied, and the preparation of homogeneous polymer thin films within the inner surface of microchannels was demonstrated. Moreover, these advanced coatings were applied to develop a dry adhesion process for microfluidic devices. This process provides (i) excellent bonding strength, (ii) extended

Diffusion accessibility as a method for visualizing macromolecular surface geometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Yingssu; Holton, Thomas; Yeates, Todd O

2015-10-01

Important three-dimensional spatial features such as depth and surface concavity can be difficult to convey clearly in the context of two-dimensional images. In the area of macromolecular visualization, the computer graphics technique of ray-tracing can be helpful, but further techniques for emphasizing surface concavity can give clearer perceptions of depth. The notion of diffusion accessibility is well-suited for emphasizing such features of macromolecular surfaces, but a method for calculating diffusion accessibility has not been made widely available. Here we make available a web-based platform that performs the necessary calculation by solving the Laplace equation for steady state diffusion, and produces scripts for visualization that emphasize surface depth by coloring according to diffusion accessibility. The URL is http://services.mbi.ucla.edu/DiffAcc/. © 2015 The Protein Society.

Financial Sophistication and the Distribution of the Welfare Cost of Inflation

OpenAIRE

Paola Boel; Gabriele Camera

2009-01-01

The welfare cost of anticipated inflation is quantified in a calibrated model of the U.S. economy that exhibits tractable equilibrium dispersion in wealth and earnings. Inflation does not generate large losses in societal welfare, yet its impact varies noticeably across segments of society depending also on the financial sophistication of the economy. If money is the only asset, then inflation hurts mostly the wealthier and more productive agents, while those poorer and less productive may ev...

Mapping Norway - a Method to Register and Survey the Status of Accessibility

Science.gov (United States)

Michaelis, Sven; Bögelsack, Kathrin

2018-05-01

The Norwegian mapping authority has developed a standard method for mapping accessibility mostly for people with limited or no walking abilities in urban and recreational areas. We choose an object-orientated approach where points, lines and polygons represents objects in the environment. All data are stored in a geospatial database, so they can be presented as web map and analyzed using GIS software. By the end of 2016 more than 160 municipalities are mapped using that method. The aim of this project is to establish a national standard for mapping and to provide a geodatabase that shows the status of accessibility throughout Norway. The data provide a useful tool for national statistics, local planning authorities and private users. First results show that accessibility is low and Norway still faces many challenges to meet the government's goals for Universal Design.

Putin’s Russia: Russian Mentality and Sophisticated Imperialism in Military Policies

OpenAIRE

Szénási, Lieutenant-Colonel Endre

2016-01-01

According to my experiences, the Western world hopelessly fails to understand Russian mentality, or misinterprets it. During my analysis of the Russian way of thinking I devoted special attention to the examination of military mentality. I have connected the issue of the Russian way of thinking to the contemporary imperial policies of Putin’s Russia.  I have also attempted to prove the level of sophistication of both. I hope that a better understanding of both the Russian mentality and imperi...

Monitoring crack growth by a potential drop method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomlinson, J.R.

1978-01-01

A theoretical model has been developed for the surface current flow and potential distribution around a surface breaking crack. This model's predictions have been confirmed in the laboratory and the method applied on site. It proved possible by careful design and rigorous testing to overcome the problems of interference in an electrically noisy environment. The principal weaknesses of the technique are that it is only capable of detecting cracks that break the accessible surface of the component, and that there may be problems with conductive bridging across the crack. On the other hand, the lack of any sophisticated probe in contact with the component makes the method suitable for high temperature use, and, being an electrical method, it is capable of continuous use. The use of a.c., as opposed to d.c., enables lower currents to be used. Given good access to the crack tip, a high sensitivity can be obtained, which enables noise rejection to be achieved with the use of a high threshold. (orig.) [de

The relation between maturity and sophistication shall be properly dealt with in nuclear power development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Yongjiang

2009-01-01

The paper analyses the advantages and disadvantages of the second generation improved technologies and third generation technologies mainly developed in China in terms of safety and economy. The paper also discusses the maturity of the second generation improved technologies and the sophistication of the third generation technologies respectively. Meanwhile, the paper proposes that the advantage and disadvantage of second generation improved technologies and third generation technologies should be carefully taken into consideration and the relationship between the maturity and sophistication should be properly dealt with in the current stage. A two-step strategy shall be taken as a solution to solve the problem of insufficient capacity of nuclear power, trace and develop the third generation technologies, so as to ensure the sound and fast development of nuclear power. (authors)

Searching for Suicide Methods: Accessibility of Information About Helium as a Method of Suicide on the Internet.

Science.gov (United States)

Gunnell, David; Derges, Jane; Chang, Shu-Sen; Biddle, Lucy

2015-01-01

Helium gas suicides have increased in England and Wales; easy-to-access descriptions of this method on the Internet may have contributed to this rise. To investigate the availability of information on using helium as a method of suicide and trends in searching about this method on the Internet. We analyzed trends in (a) Google searching (2004-2014) and (b) hits on a Wikipedia article describing helium as a method of suicide (2013-2014). We also investigated the extent to which helium was described as a method of suicide on web pages and discussion forums identified via Google. We found no evidence of rises in Internet searching about suicide using helium. News stories about helium suicides were associated with increased search activity. The Wikipedia article may have been temporarily altered to increase awareness of suicide using helium around the time of a celebrity suicide. Approximately one third of the links retrieved using Google searches for suicide methods mentioned helium. Information about helium as a suicide method is readily available on the Internet; the Wikipedia article describing its use was highly accessed following celebrity suicides. Availability of online information about this method may contribute to rises in helium suicides.

Use of the Paid Open Access Option in Hybrid Open Access Journals in Agriculture: A Mixed-Methods Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Megan Kocher

2016-12-01

Full Text Available We explore the use and usefulness of the hybrid open access publishing model in agricultural sciences using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. To ascertain the level of usage of the paid open access option in hybrid open access journals in agriculture, we studied the agriculture-related journals published by six commercial publishers. These publishers offer authors the option of paying a fee, often close to $3,000 per article, to make their article immediately freely available, usually with a Creative Commons license. We defined agriculture broadly but also assigned each journal to a subspecialty (e.g., animal science in order to see if there were differences based on these subdivisions. For each journal we gathered data for 2014-2015 and noted the total number of research articles and the number of those that were made freely available by authors paying the open access fee. To give context to our results we also surveyed local faculty in agricultural sciences, asking their reasons for considering the paid open access options and the sources of the funds to pay for it. Survey respondents were asked about their academic position and rank to see if there were differences to be noted. We also investigated the findability of the open access articles, noting if each individual publisher offered a way to easily locate all the freely available articles in a particular journal and if there are other avenues to easily locate these articles.

The State of Nursing Home Information Technology Sophistication in Rural and Nonrural US Markets.

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Gregory L; Madsen, Richard W; Miller, Erin L; Wakefield, Douglas S; Wise, Keely K; Alexander, Rachel L

2017-06-01

To test for significant differences in information technology sophistication (ITS) in US nursing homes (NH) based on location. We administered a primary survey January 2014 to July 2015 to NH in each US state. The survey was cross-sectional and examined 3 dimensions (IT capabilities, extent of IT use, degree of IT integration) among 3 domains (resident care, clinical support, administrative activities) of ITS. ITS was broken down by NH location. Mean responses were compared across 4 NH categories (Metropolitan, Micropolitan, Small Town, and Rural) for all 9 ITS dimensions and domains. Least square means and Tukey's method were used for multiple comparisons. Methods yielded 815/1,799 surveys (45% response rate). In every health care domain (resident care, clinical support, and administrative activities) statistical differences in facility ITS occurred in larger (metropolitan or micropolitan) and smaller (small town or rural) populated areas. This study represents the most current national assessment of NH IT since 2004. Historically, NH IT has been used solely for administrative activities and much less for resident care and clinical support. However, results are encouraging as ITS in other domains appears to be greater than previously imagined. © 2016 National Rural Health Association.

Close to the Clothes : Materiality and Sophisticated Archaism in Alexander van Slobbe’s Design Practices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baronian, M.-A.

This article looks at the work of contemporary Dutch fashion designer Alexander van Slobbe (1959) and examines how, since the 1990s, his fashion practices have consistently and consciously put forward a unique reflection on questions related to materiality, sophisticated archaism, luxury,

Close to the Clothes: Materiality and Sophisticated Archaism in Alexander van Slobbe’s Design Practices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baronian, M.-A.

This article looks at the work of contemporary Dutch fashion designer Alexander van Slobbe (1959) and examines how, since the 1990s, his fashion practices have consistently and consciously put forward a unique reflection on questions related to materiality, sophisticated archaism, luxury,

A Snapshot of Serial Rape: An Investigation of Criminal Sophistication and Use of Force on Victim Injury and Severity of the Assault.

Science.gov (United States)

de Heer, Brooke

2016-02-01

Prior research on rapes reported to law enforcement has identified criminal sophistication and the use of force against the victim as possible unique identifiers to serial rape versus one-time rape. This study sought to contribute to the current literature on reported serial rape by investigating how the level of criminal sophistication of the rapist and use of force used were associated with two important outcomes of rape: victim injury and overall severity of the assault. In addition, it was evaluated whether rapist and victim ethnicity affected these relationships. A nation-wide sample of serial rape cases reported to law enforcement collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was analyzed (108 rapists, 543 victims). Results indicated that serial rapists typically used a limited amount of force against the victim and displayed a high degree of criminal sophistication. In addition, the more criminally sophisticated the perpetrator was, the more sexual acts he performed on his victim. Finally, rapes between a White rapist and White victim were found to exhibit higher levels of criminal sophistication and were more severe in terms of number and types of sexual acts committed. These findings provide a more in-depth understanding of serial rape that can inform both academics and practitioners in the field about contributors to victim injury and severity of the assault. © The Author(s) 2014.

Electronic doors to education: study of high school website accessibility in Iowa.

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, David; Myhill, William; Hansen, Linda; Asby, Gary; Michaelson, Susan; Blanck, Peter

2003-01-01

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities in all aspects of daily life, including education, work, and access to places of public accommodations. Increasingly, these antidiscrimination laws are used by persons with disabilities to ensure equal access to e-commerce, and to private and public Internet websites. To help assess the impact of the anti-discrimination mandate for educational communities, this study examined 157 website home pages of Iowa public high schools (52% of high schools in Iowa) in terms of their electronic accessibility for persons with disabilities. We predicted that accessibility problems would limit students and others in obtaining information from the web pages as well as limiting ability to navigate to other web pages. Findings show that although many web pages examined included information in accessible formats, none of the home pages met World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards for accessibility. The most frequent accessibility problem was lack of alternative text (ALT tags) for graphics. Technical sophistication built into pages was found to reduce accessibility. Implications are discussed for schools and educational institutions, and for laws, policies, and procedures on website accessibility. Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

xSyn: A Software Tool for Identifying Sophisticated 3-Way Interactions From Cancer Expression Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baishali Bandyopadhyay

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Constructing gene co-expression networks from cancer expression data is important for investigating the genetic mechanisms underlying cancer. However, correlation coefficients or linear regression models are not able to model sophisticated relationships among gene expression profiles. Here, we address the 3-way interaction that 2 genes’ expression levels are clustered in different space locations under the control of a third gene’s expression levels. Results: We present xSyn, a software tool for identifying such 3-way interactions from cancer gene expression data based on an optimization procedure involving the usage of UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean and synergy. The effectiveness is demonstrated by application to 2 real gene expression data sets. Conclusions: xSyn is a useful tool for decoding the complex relationships among gene expression profiles. xSyn is available at http://www.bdxconsult.com/xSyn.html .

Formalization of the Access Control on ARM-Android Platform with the B Method

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Lu; Wang, Wei; Zhu, Xiaodong; Man, Yujia; Yin, Qing

2018-01-01

ARM-Android is a widespread mobile platform with multi-layer access control mechanisms, security-critical in the system. Many access control vulnerabilities still exist due to the course-grained policy and numerous engineering defects, which have been widely studied. However, few researches focus on the mechanism formalization, including the Android permission framework, kernel process management and hardware isolation. This paper first develops a comprehensive formal access control model on the ARM-Android platform using the B method, from the Android middleware to hardware layer. All the model specifications are type checked and proved to be well-defined, with 75%of proof obligations demonstrated automatically. The results show that the proposed B model is feasible to specify and verify access control schemes in the ARM-Android system, and capable of implementing a practical control module.

A Method for Upper Bounding Long Term Growth of Network Access Speed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Phillip Knudsen

2006-06-01

Full Text Available The development in home Internet access speed has shown an exponential development with growth rates averaging 25% per year. For resource management in network provisioning it becomes an urgent question how long such growth can continue. This paper presents a method for calculating an upper bound to visual content driven growth, proceeding from datarate requirements for a full virtual environment. Scenarios and approaches for reducing datarate requirements are considered and discussed. The presented figures for an upper bound on network access speed are discussed and perspectives on further research presented.

A Method for Upper Bounding Long Term Growth of Network Access Speed

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Thomas Phillip; Pedersen, Jens Myrup; Madsen, Ole Brun

2004-01-01

The development in home Internet access speed has shown an exponential development with growth rates averaging 25% per year. For resource management in network provisioning it becomes an urgent question how long such growth can continue. This paper presents a method for calculating an upper bound...... to visual content driven growth, proceeding from datarate requirements for a full virtual environment. Scenarios and approaches for reducing datarate requirements are considered and discussed. The presented figures for an upper bound on network access speed are discussed and perspectives on further research...

The sophisticated control of the tram bogie on track

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radovan DOLECEK

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the problems of routing control algorithms of new conception of tram vehicle bogie. The main goal of these research activities is wear reduction of rail wheels and tracks, wear reduction of traction energy losses and increasing of running comfort. The testing experimental tram vehicle with special bogie construction powered by traction battery is utilized for these purposes. This vehicle has a rotary bogie with independent rotating wheels driven by permanent magnets synchronous motors and a solid axle. The wheel forces in bogie are measured by large amounts of the various sensors placed on the testing experimental tram vehicle. Nowadays the designed control algorithms are implemented to the vehicle superset control system. The traction requirements and track characteristics have an effect to these control algorithms. This control including sophisticated routing brings other improvements which is verified and corrected according to individual traction and driving characteristics, and opens new possibilities.

Mixing stream and datagram traffic on satellite: A FIFO Order-based Demand Assignment (FODA) Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) scheme

Science.gov (United States)

Beltrame, R.; Bonito, A. B.; Celandroni, N.; Ferro, E.

1985-11-01

A FIFO Order based Demand Assignment (FODA) access scheme was designed to handle packetized data and voice traffic in a multiple access satellite broadcast channel of Mbits band. The channel is shared by as many as 64 simultaneously active stations in a range of 255 addressable stations. A sophisticated traffic environment is assumed, including different types of service requirements and an arbitrary load distribution among the stations. The results of 2Mbit/sec simulation tests for an existing hardware environment are presented.

RSARF: Prediction of residue solvent accessibility from protein sequence using random forest method

KAUST Repository

Ganesan, Pugalenthi; Kandaswamy, Krishna Kumar Umar; Chou -, Kuochen; Vivekanandan, Saravanan; Kolatkar, Prasanna R.

2012-01-01

Prediction of protein structure from its amino acid sequence is still a challenging problem. The complete physicochemical understanding of protein folding is essential for the accurate structure prediction. Knowledge of residue solvent accessibility gives useful insights into protein structure prediction and function prediction. In this work, we propose a random forest method, RSARF, to predict residue accessible surface area from protein sequence information. The training and testing was performed using 120 proteins containing 22006 residues. For each residue, buried and exposed state was computed using five thresholds (0%, 5%, 10%, 25%, and 50%). The prediction accuracy for 0%, 5%, 10%, 25%, and 50% thresholds are 72.9%, 78.25%, 78.12%, 77.57% and 72.07% respectively. Further, comparison of RSARF with other methods using a benchmark dataset containing 20 proteins shows that our approach is useful for prediction of residue solvent accessibility from protein sequence without using structural information. The RSARF program, datasets and supplementary data are available at http://caps.ncbs.res.in/download/pugal/RSARF/. - See more at: http://www.eurekaselect.com/89216/article#sthash.pwVGFUjq.dpuf

Biostatistical methods [Methods in molecular biology, v. 184

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Looney, Steven W

2002-01-01

.... In the case of genetic effects in human populations, the authors describe sophisticated statistical methods to control the overall false-positive rate when many statistical tests are used in linking...

Early Patient Access to Medicines: Health Technology Assessment Bodies Need to Catch Up with New Marketing Authorization Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Leyens, Lada; Brand, Angela

National and international medicines agencies have developed innovative methods to expedite promising new medicines to the market and facilitate early patient access. Some of these approval pathways are the conditional approval and the adaptive pathways by the European Medicines Agency (EMA); the Promising Innovative Medicine (PIM) designation and the Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), as well as the Fast Track, Breakthrough or Accelerated Approval methods by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, at least in Europe, these methods cannot achieve the goal of improving timely access for patients to new medicines on their own; the reimbursement process also has to become adaptive and flexible. In the past 2 years, the effective access (national patient access) to newly approved oncology drugs ranged from 1 to 30 months, with an extremely high variability between European countries. The goal of early patient access in Europe can only be achieved if the national health technology assessment bodies, such as NICE (ENG), HAS (FR), G-BA (DE) or AIFA (IT), provide harmonized, transparent, flexible, conditional and adaptive methods that adopt the level of evidence accepted by the medicines agencies. The efforts from medicines agencies are welcome but will be in vain if health technology assessments do not follow with similar initiatives, and the European 'postcode' lottery will continue. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Low Level RF Including a Sophisticated Phase Control System for CTF3

CERN Document Server

Mourier, J; Nonglaton, J M; Syratchev, I V; Tanner, L

2004-01-01

CTF3 (CLIC Test Facility 3), currently under construction at CERN, is a test facility designed to demonstrate the key feasibility issues of the CLIC (Compact LInear Collider) two-beam scheme. When completed, this facility will consist of a 150 MeV linac followed by two rings for bunch-interleaving, and a test stand where 30 GHz power will be generated. In this paper, the work that has been carried out on the linac's low power RF system is described. This includes, in particular, a sophisticated phase control system for the RF pulse compressor to produce a flat-top rectangular pulse over 1.4 µs.

Transport Accessibility In Light Of The DEA Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Górniak Joanna

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The development of transport infrastructure and increasing the efficiency of transport services are major factors of economic growth. The concept of transport accessibility can be analysed in various aspects. This article focuses on the accessibility of freight transport by road and rail, measured with infrastructure equipment. The primary objective of this study is to determine the efficiency of selected European countries in 2000, 2005 and 2010 in terms of transport accessibility for given expenditures and results. The efficiency will be measured with the Data Envelopment Analysis, which assesses the efficiency with which a given economy transforms expenditures into results. The hypothesis assumes the existence of differences between the efficiency in terms of transport accessibility in European countries and a possibility to increase this efficiency by using the experience of countries with a high efficiency level.

Sophistication of burnup analysis system for fast reactor (2)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokoyama, Kenji; Hirai, Yasushi; Tatsumi, Masahiro

2010-10-01

Improvement on prediction accuracy for neutronics characteristics of fast reactor cores is one of the most important study domains in terms of both achievement of high economical plant efficiency based on reasonably advanced designs and increased reliability and safety margins. In former study, considerable improvement on prediction accuracy in neutronics design has been achieved in the development of the unified cross-section set as a fruit of a series of critical experiments such as JUPITER in application of the reactor constant adjustments. For design of fast reactor cores improvement of not only static characteristics but also burnup characteristics is very important. For such purpose, it is necessary to improve the prediction accuracy on burnup characteristics using actual burnup data of 'JOYO' and 'MONJU', experimental and prototype fast reactors. Recently, study on effective burnup method for minor actinides becomes important theme. However, there is a problem that analysis work tends to become inefficient for lack of functionality suitable for analysis of composition change due to burnup since the conventional analysis system is targeted to critical assembly systems. Therefore development of burnup analysis system for fast reactors with modularity and flexibility is being done that would contribute to actual core design work and improvement of prediction accuracy. In the previous study, we have developed a prototype system which has functions of performing core and burnup calculations using given constant files (PDS files) and information based on simple and easy user input data. It has also functions of fuel shuffling which is indispensable for power reactor analysis systems. In the present study, by extending the prototype system, features for handling of control rods and energy collapse of group constants have been designed and implemented. Computational results from the present analysis system are stored into restart files which can be accessible by

A Bayesian modelling method for post-processing daily sub-seasonal to seasonal rainfall forecasts from global climate models and evaluation for 12 Australian catchments

Science.gov (United States)

Schepen, Andrew; Zhao, Tongtiegang; Wang, Quan J.; Robertson, David E.

2018-03-01

Rainfall forecasts are an integral part of hydrological forecasting systems at sub-seasonal to seasonal timescales. In seasonal forecasting, global climate models (GCMs) are now the go-to source for rainfall forecasts. For hydrological applications however, GCM forecasts are often biased and unreliable in uncertainty spread, and calibration is therefore required before use. There are sophisticated statistical techniques for calibrating monthly and seasonal aggregations of the forecasts. However, calibration of seasonal forecasts at the daily time step typically uses very simple statistical methods or climate analogue methods. These methods generally lack the sophistication to achieve unbiased, reliable and coherent forecasts of daily amounts and seasonal accumulated totals. In this study, we propose and evaluate a Rainfall Post-Processing method for Seasonal forecasts (RPP-S), which is based on the Bayesian joint probability modelling approach for calibrating daily forecasts and the Schaake Shuffle for connecting the daily ensemble members of different lead times. We apply the method to post-process ACCESS-S forecasts for 12 perennial and ephemeral catchments across Australia and for 12 initialisation dates. RPP-S significantly reduces bias in raw forecasts and improves both skill and reliability. RPP-S forecasts are also more skilful and reliable than forecasts derived from ACCESS-S forecasts that have been post-processed using quantile mapping, especially for monthly and seasonal accumulations. Several opportunities to improve the robustness and skill of RPP-S are identified. The new RPP-S post-processed forecasts will be used in ensemble sub-seasonal to seasonal streamflow applications.

Rising Trend: Complex and sophisticated attack methods

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Stux, DuQu, Nitro, Luckycat, Exploit Kits, FLAME. ADSL/SoHo Router Compromise. Botnets of compromised ADSL/SoHo Routers; User Redirection via malicious DNS entry. Web Application attacks. SQL Injection, RFI etc. More and more Webshells. More utility to hackers; Increasing complexity and evading mechanisms.

Rising Trend: Complex and sophisticated attack methods

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Increased frequency and intensity of DoS/DDoS. Few Gbps is now normal; Anonymous VPNs being used; Botnets being used as a vehicle for launching DDoS attacks. Large scale booking of domain names. Hundred thousands of domains registered in short duration via few registrars; Single registrant; Most of the domains ...

Women's access needs in maternity care in rural Tasmania, Australia: a mixed methods study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoang, Ha; Le, Quynh; Terry, Daniel

2014-03-01

This study investigates (i) maternity care access issues in rural Tasmania, (ii) rural women's challenges in accessing maternity services and (iii) rural women's access needs in maternity services. A mixed-method approach using a survey and semi-structured interviews was conducted. The survey explored women's views of rural maternity services from antenatal to postnatal care, while interviews reinforced the survey results and provided insights into the access issues and needs of women in maternity care. The survey was completed by n=210 women, with a response rate of 35%, with n=22 follow-up interviews being conducted. The survey indicated the majority of rural women believed antenatal education and check-ups and postnatal check-ups should be provided locally. The majority of women surveyed also believed in the importance of having a maternity unit in the local hospital, which was further iterated and clarified within the interviews. Three main themes emerged from the interview data, namely (i) lack of access to maternity services, (ii) difficulties in accessing maternity services, and (iii) rural women's access needs. The study suggested that women's access needs are not fully met in some rural areas of Tasmania. Rural women face many challenges when accessing maternity services, including financial burden and risk of labouring en route. The study supports the claim that the closure of rural maternity units shifts cost and risk from the health care system to rural women and their families. Copyright © 2013 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sophisticated Approval Voting, Ignorance Priors, and Plurality Heuristics: A Behavioral Social Choice Analysis in a Thurstonian Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Regenwetter, Michel; Ho, Moon-Ho R.; Tsetlin, Ilia

2007-01-01

This project reconciles historically distinct paradigms at the interface between individual and social choice theory, as well as between rational and behavioral decision theory. The authors combine a utility-maximizing prescriptive rule for sophisticated approval voting with the ignorance prior heuristic from behavioral decision research and two…

Index of Access: a new innovative and dynamic tool for rural health service and workforce planning.

Science.gov (United States)

McGrail, Matthew R; Russell, Deborah J; Humphreys, John S

2017-10-01

Objective Improving access to primary health care (PHC) remains a key issue for rural residents and health service planners. This study aims to show that how access to PHC services is measured has important implications for rural health service and workforce planning. Methods A more sophisticated tool to measure access to PHC services is proposed, which can help health service planners overcome the shortcomings of existing measures and long-standing access barriers to PHC. Critically, the proposed Index of Access captures key components of access and uses a floating catchment approach to better define service areas and population accessibility levels. Moreover, as demonstrated through a case study, the Index of Access enables modelling of the effects of workforce supply variations. Results Hypothetical increases in supply are modelled for a range of regional centres, medium and small rural towns, with resulting changes of access scores valuable to informing health service and workforce planning decisions. Conclusions The availability and application of a specific 'fit-for-purpose' access measure enables a more accurate empirical basis for service planning and allocation of health resources. This measure has great potential for improved identification of PHC access inequities and guiding redistribution of PHC services to correct such inequities. What is known about the topic? Resource allocation and health service planning decisions for rural and remote health settings are currently based on either simple measures of access (e.g. provider-to-population ratios) or proxy measures of access (e.g. standard geographical classifications). Both approaches have substantial limitations for informing rural health service planning and decision making. What does this paper add? The adoption of a new improved tool to measure access to PHC services, the Index of Access, is proposed to assist health service and workforce planning. Its usefulness for health service planning is

Final Report: Advanced Methods for Accessing and Disseminating Nuclear Data, August 13, 1996 - March 15, 1999

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stone, Craig A.

1999-01-01

Scientific Digital Visions, Inc. developed methods of accessing and dissemination nuclear data contained within the databases of the National Data Center (NNDC) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory supporting a long standing and important DOE Program to provide scientists access to NNDC Databases. The NNDC participated as a partner in this effort

A Bayesian modelling method for post-processing daily sub-seasonal to seasonal rainfall forecasts from global climate models and evaluation for 12 Australian catchments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Schepen

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Rainfall forecasts are an integral part of hydrological forecasting systems at sub-seasonal to seasonal timescales. In seasonal forecasting, global climate models (GCMs are now the go-to source for rainfall forecasts. For hydrological applications however, GCM forecasts are often biased and unreliable in uncertainty spread, and calibration is therefore required before use. There are sophisticated statistical techniques for calibrating monthly and seasonal aggregations of the forecasts. However, calibration of seasonal forecasts at the daily time step typically uses very simple statistical methods or climate analogue methods. These methods generally lack the sophistication to achieve unbiased, reliable and coherent forecasts of daily amounts and seasonal accumulated totals. In this study, we propose and evaluate a Rainfall Post-Processing method for Seasonal forecasts (RPP-S, which is based on the Bayesian joint probability modelling approach for calibrating daily forecasts and the Schaake Shuffle for connecting the daily ensemble members of different lead times. We apply the method to post-process ACCESS-S forecasts for 12 perennial and ephemeral catchments across Australia and for 12 initialisation dates. RPP-S significantly reduces bias in raw forecasts and improves both skill and reliability. RPP-S forecasts are also more skilful and reliable than forecasts derived from ACCESS-S forecasts that have been post-processed using quantile mapping, especially for monthly and seasonal accumulations. Several opportunities to improve the robustness and skill of RPP-S are identified. The new RPP-S post-processed forecasts will be used in ensemble sub-seasonal to seasonal streamflow applications.

Facilitating Full-text Access to Biomedical Literature Using Open Access Resources.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Hongyu; Hou, Zhen; Li, Jiao

2015-01-01

Open access (OA) resources and local libraries often have their own literature databases, especially in the field of biomedicine. We have developed a method of linking a local library to a biomedical OA resource facilitating researchers' full-text article access. The method uses a model based on vector space to measure similarities between two articles in local library and OA resources. The method achieved an F-score of 99.61%. This method of article linkage and mapping between local library and OA resources is available for use. Through this work, we have improved the full-text access of the biomedical OA resources.

Atomic memory access hardware implementations

Science.gov (United States)

Ahn, Jung Ho; Erez, Mattan; Dally, William J

2015-02-17

Atomic memory access requests are handled using a variety of systems and methods. According to one example method, a data-processing circuit having an address-request generator that issues requests to a common memory implements a method of processing the requests using a memory-access intervention circuit coupled between the generator and the common memory. The method identifies a current atomic-memory access request from a plurality of memory access requests. A data set is stored that corresponds to the current atomic-memory access request in a data storage circuit within the intervention circuit. It is determined whether the current atomic-memory access request corresponds to at least one previously-stored atomic-memory access request. In response to determining correspondence, the current request is implemented by retrieving data from the common memory. The data is modified in response to the current request and at least one other access request in the memory-access intervention circuit.

Multi-views storage model and access methods of conversation history in converged IP messaging system

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Meilian; Yang, Dong; Zhou, Xing

2013-03-01

Based on the analysis of the requirements of conversation history storage in CPM (Converged IP Messaging) system, a Multi-views storage model and access methods of conversation history are proposed. The storage model separates logical views from physical storage and divides the storage into system managed region and user managed region. It simultaneously supports conversation view, system pre-defined view and user-defined view of storage. The rationality and feasibility of multi-view presentation, the physical storage model and access methods are validated through the implemented prototype. It proves that, this proposal has good scalability, which will help to optimize the physical data storage structure and improve storage performance.

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleli Tôrres Oliveira

2014-01-01

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

Access Request Trustworthiness in Weighted Access Control Framework

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

WANG Lun-wei; LIAO Xiang-ke; WANG Huai-min

2005-01-01

Weighted factor is given to access control policies to express the importance of policy and its effect on access control decision. According to this weighted access control framework, a trustworthiness model for access request is also given. In this model, we give the measure of trustworthiness factor to access request, by using some idea of uncertainty reasoning of expert system, present and prove the parallel propagation formula of request trustworthiness factor among multiple policies, and get the final trustworthiness factor to decide whether authorizing. In this model, authorization decision is given according to the calculation of request trustworthiness factor, which is more understandable, more suitable for real requirement and more powerful for security enhancement than traditional methods. Meanwhile the finer access control granularity is another advantage.

Spatial access priority mapping (SAPM) with fishers: a quantitative GIS method for participatory planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Yates, Katherine L; Schoeman, David S

2013-01-01

Spatial management tools, such as marine spatial planning and marine protected areas, are playing an increasingly important role in attempts to improve marine management and accommodate conflicting needs. Robust data are needed to inform decisions among different planning options, and early inclusion of stakeholder involvement is widely regarded as vital for success. One of the biggest stakeholder groups, and the most likely to be adversely impacted by spatial restrictions, is the fishing community. In order to take their priorities into account, planners need to understand spatial variation in their perceived value of the sea. Here a readily accessible, novel method for quantitatively mapping fishers' spatial access priorities is presented. Spatial access priority mapping, or SAPM, uses only basic functions of standard spreadsheet and GIS software. Unlike the use of remote-sensing data, SAPM actively engages fishers in participatory mapping, documenting rather than inferring their priorities. By so doing, SAPM also facilitates the gathering of other useful data, such as local ecological knowledge. The method was tested and validated in Northern Ireland, where over 100 fishers participated in a semi-structured questionnaire and mapping exercise. The response rate was excellent, 97%, demonstrating fishers' willingness to be involved. The resultant maps are easily accessible and instantly informative, providing a very clear visual indication of which areas are most important for the fishers. The maps also provide quantitative data, which can be used to analyse the relative impact of different management options on the fishing industry and can be incorporated into planning software, such as MARXAN, to ensure that conservation goals can be met at minimum negative impact to the industry. This research shows how spatial access priority mapping can facilitate the early engagement of fishers and the ready incorporation of their priorities into the decision-making process

Accessing memory

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Doe Hyun; Muralimanohar, Naveen; Chang, Jichuan; Ranganthan, Parthasarathy

2017-09-26

A disclosed example method involves performing simultaneous data accesses on at least first and second independently selectable logical sub-ranks to access first data via a wide internal data bus in a memory device. The memory device includes a translation buffer chip, memory chips in independently selectable logical sub-ranks, a narrow external data bus to connect the translation buffer chip to a memory controller, and the wide internal data bus between the translation buffer chip and the memory chips. A data access is performed on only the first independently selectable logical sub-rank to access second data via the wide internal data bus. The example method also involves locating a first portion of the first data, a second portion of the first data, and the second data on the narrow external data bus during separate data transfers.

A METHOD OF AND A SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING ACCESS TO A SHARED RESOURCE

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2006-01-01

A method and a system of controlling access of data items to a shared resource, wherein the data items each is assigned to one of a plurality of priorities, and wherein, when a predetermined number of data items of a priority have been transmitted to the shared resource, that priority...

Modified network simulation model with token method of bus access

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L.V. Stribulevich

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To study the characteristics of the local network with the marker method of access to the bus its modified simulation model was developed. Methodology. Defining characteristics of the network is carried out on the developed simulation model, which is based on the state diagram-layer network station with the mechanism of processing priorities, both in steady state and in the performance of control procedures: the initiation of a logical ring, the entrance and exit of the station network with a logical ring. Findings. A simulation model, on the basis of which can be obtained the dependencies of the application the maximum waiting time in the queue for different classes of access, and the reaction time usable bandwidth on the data rate, the number of network stations, the generation rate applications, the number of frames transmitted per token holding time, frame length was developed. Originality. The technique of network simulation reflecting its work in the steady condition and during the control procedures, the mechanism of priority ranking and handling was proposed. Practical value. Defining network characteristics in the real-time systems on railway transport based on the developed simulation model.

INTEGRATIVE METHOD OF TEACHING INFORMATION MODELING IN PRACTICAL HEALTH SERVICE BASED ON MICROSOFT ACCESS QUERIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Svetlana A. Firsova

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: this article explores the pedagogical technology employed to teach medical students foundations of work with MICROSOFT ACCESS databases. The above technology is based on integrative approach to the information modeling in public health practice, drawing upon basic didactic concepts that pertain to objects and tools databases created in MICROSOFT ACCESS. The article examines successive steps in teaching the topic “Queries in MICROSOFT ACCESS” – from simple queries to complex ones. The main attention is paid to such components of methodological system, as the principles and teaching methods classified according to the degree of learners’ active cognitive activity. The most interesting is the diagram of the relationship of learning principles, teaching methods and specific types of requests. Materials and Methods: the authors used comparative analysis of literature, syllabi, curricula in medical informatics taught at leading medical universities in Russia. Results: the original technique of training in putting queries with databases of MICROSOFT ACCESS is presented for analysis of information models in practical health care. Discussion and Conclusions: it is argued that the proposed pedagogical technology will significantly improve the effectiveness of teaching the course “Medical Informatics”, that includes development and application of models to simulate the operation of certain facilities and services of the health system which, in turn, increases the level of information culture of practitioners.

Spatial Accessibility of Primary Care in England: A Cross-Sectional Study Using a Floating Catchment Area Method.

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Jan; Müller, Ruth; Brüggmann, Dörthe; Groneberg, David A

2017-07-07

To analyze the general practitioners (GPs) with regard to the degree of urbanization, social deprivation, general health, and disability. Small area population data and GP practice data in England. We used a floating catchment area method to measure spatial GP accessibility with regard to the degree of urbanization, social deprivation, general health, and disability. Data were collected from the Office for National Statistics and the general practice census and analyzed using a geographic information system. In all, 25.8 percent of the population in England lived in areas with a significant low GP accessibility (mean z-score: -4.2); 27.6 percent lived in areas with a significant high GP accessibility (mean z-score: 7.7); 97.8 percent of high GP accessibility areas represented urban areas, and 31.1 percent of low GP accessibility areas represented rural areas (correlation of accessibility and urbanity: r = 0.59; psocial deprivation was present (r = -0.19; paccessibility throughout England. However, socially deprived areas did not have poorer spatial access to GPs. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

EAP-Kerberos: A Low Latency EAP Authentication Method for Faster Handoffs in Wireless Access Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Zrelli, Saber; Okabe, Nobuo; Shinoda, Yoichi

The wireless medium is a key technology for enabling ubiquitous and continuous network connectivity. It is becoming more and more important in our daily life especially with the increasing adoption of networking technologies in many fields such as medical care and transportation systems. Although most wireless technologies nowadays provide satisfying bandwidth and higher speeds, several of these technologies still lack improvements with regard to handoff performance. In this paper, we focus on wireless network technologies that rely on the Extensible Authentication Protocol for mutual authentication between the station and the access network. Such technologies include local area wireless networks (IEEE 802.11) as well as broadband wireless networks (IEEE 802.16). We present a new EAP authentication method based on a three party authentication scheme, namely Kerberos, that considerably shortens handoff delays. Compared to other methods, the proposed method has the advantage of not requiring any changes on the access points, making it readily deployable at reasonable costs.

Internet and Social Media Access Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Mixed-Methods Study.

Science.gov (United States)

VonHoltz, Lauren A Houdek; Frasso, Rosemary; Golinkoff, Jesse M; Lozano, Alicia J; Hanlon, Alexandra; Dowshen, Nadia

2018-05-22

leisure or entertainment activities. While homeless youth experience changes in the frequency, amount of time, and specific uses of the internet and social media, study participants were able to access the internet regularly. The internet was used to search health-related topics. Given the importance of smartphones in accessing the internet, mobile-optimized websites may be an effective method for reaching this group. ©Lauren A Houdek VonHoltz, Rosemary Frasso, Jesse M Golinkoff, Alicia J Lozano, Alexandra Hanlon, Nadia Dowshen. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 22.05.2018.

Accessible methods for the dynamic time-scale decomposition of biochemical systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Surovtsova, Irina; Simus, Natalia; Lorenz, Thomas; König, Artjom; Sahle, Sven; Kummer, Ursula

2009-11-01

The growing complexity of biochemical models asks for means to rationally dissect the networks into meaningful and rather independent subnetworks. Such foregoing should ensure an understanding of the system without any heuristics employed. Important for the success of such an approach is its accessibility and the clarity of the presentation of the results. In order to achieve this goal, we developed a method which is a modification of the classical approach of time-scale separation. This modified method as well as the more classical approach have been implemented for time-dependent application within the widely used software COPASI. The implementation includes different possibilities for the representation of the results including 3D-visualization. The methods are included in COPASI which is free for academic use and available at www.copasi.org. irina.surovtsova@bioquant.uni-heidelberg.de Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

From spatial to social accessibility: How socio-economic factors can affect accessibility?

OpenAIRE

Mercier , Aurélie

2016-01-01

The concept of accessibility cannot only focus on " spatial accessibility " measurement but has to integer a " social accessibility " level to take into account individual inequalities and socioeconomic disparities to access to urban opportunities. In this context, this contribution focuses on socioeconomic disparities integration on accessibility measurement, considering the Lyon case study. The paper is divided into three parts The first part aims to present a method for integrating the soc...

Enterprise wide transparent information access

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, J.

1995-05-01

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

"SOCRATICS" AS ADDRESSES OF ISOCRATES’ EPIDEICTIC SPEECHES (Against the Sophists, Encomium of Helen, Busiris

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Usacheva

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This article analyses the three epideictic orations of Isocrates which are in themselves a precious testimony of the quality of intellectual life at the close of the fourth century before Christ. To this period belong also the Socratics who are generally seen as an important link between Socrates and Plato. The author of this article proposes a more productive approach to the study of Antisthenes, Euclid of Megara and other so-called Socratics, revealing them not as independent thinkers but rather as adherents of the sophistic school and also as teachers, thereby, including them among those who took part in the educative activity of their time

Guided endodontics: accuracy of a novel method for guided access cavity preparation and root canal location.

Science.gov (United States)

Zehnder, M S; Connert, T; Weiger, R; Krastl, G; Kühl, S

2016-10-01

To present a novel method utilizing 3D printed templates to gain guided access to root canals and to evaluate its accuracy in vitro. Sixty extracted human teeth were placed into six maxillary jaw models. Preoperative CBCT scans were matched with intra-oral scans using the coDiagnostix(™) software. Access cavities, sleeves and templates for guidance were virtually planned. Templates were produced by a 3D printer. After access cavity preparation by two operators, a postoperative CBCT scan was superimposed on the virtual planning. Accuracy was measured by calculating the deviation of planned and prepared cavities in three dimensions and angle. Ninety-five per cent confidence intervals were calculated for both operators. All root canals were accessible after cavity preparation with 'Guided Endodontics'. Deviations of planned and prepared access cavities were low with means ranging from 0.16 to 0.21 mm for different aspects at the base of the bur and 0.17-0.47 mm at the tip of the bur. Mean of angle deviation was 1.81°. Overlapping 95% confidence intervals revealed no significant difference between operators. 'Guided Endodontics' allowed an accurate access cavity preparation up to the apical third of the root utilizing printed templates for guidance. All root canals were accessible after preparation. © 2015 International Endodontic Journal. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Systematic analysis of geo-location and spectrum sensing as access methods to TV white space

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mauwa, H

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Access to the television white space by white space devices comes with a major technical challenge: white space devices can potentially interfere with existing television signals. Two methods have been suggested in the literature to help white space...

Average Likelihood Methods of Classification of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

Science.gov (United States)

2016-05-01

subject to code matrices that follows the structure given by (113). [⃗ yR y⃗I ] = √ Es 2L [ GR1 −GI1 GI2 GR2 ] [ QR −QI QI QR ] [⃗ bR b⃗I ] + [⃗ nR n⃗I... QR ] [⃗ b+ b⃗− ] + [⃗ n+ n⃗− ] (115) The average likelihood for type 4 CDMA (116) is a special case of type 1 CDMA with twice the code length and...AVERAGE LIKELIHOOD METHODS OF CLASSIFICATION OF CODE DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS (CDMA) MAY 2016 FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

Access to Money and Relation to Women's Use of Family Planning Methods Among Young Married Women in Rural India.

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, Elizabeth; Donta, Balaiah; Dasgupta, Anindita; Ghule, Mohan; Battala, Madhusudana; Nair, Saritha; Silverman, Jay; Jadhav, Arun; Palaye, Prajakta; Saggurti, Niranjan; Raj, Anita

2016-06-01

Objectives The social positioning (i.e. social status and autonomy) of women in the household facilitates women's access to and decision-making power related to family planning (FP). Women's access to spending money, which may be an indicator of greater social positioning in the household, may also be greater among women who engage in income generating activities for their families, regardless of women's status in the household. However, in both scenarios, access to money may independently afford greater opportunity to obtain family planning services among women. This study seeks to assess whether access to money is associated with FP outcomes independently of women's social positioning in their households. Methods Using survey data from married couples in rural Maharashtra, India (n = 855), crude and adjusted regression was used to assess women's access to their own spending money in relation to past 3 month use of condoms and other forms of contraceptives (pills, injectables, intrauterine device). Results Access to money (59 %) was associated with condom and other contraceptive use (AORs ranged 1.5-1.8). These findings remained significant after adjusting for women's FP decision-making power in the household and mobility to seek FP services. Conclusion While preliminary, findings suggest that access to money may increase women's ability to obtain FP methods, even in contexts where social norms to support women's power in FP decision-making may not be readily adopted.

Access 2010 Programmer's Reference

CERN Document Server

Hennig, Teresa; Griffith, Geoffrey L

2010-01-01

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

A generic method for assignment of reliability scores applied to solvent accessibility predictions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nielsen Morten

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Estimation of the reliability of specific real value predictions is nontrivial and the efficacy of this is often questionable. It is important to know if you can trust a given prediction and therefore the best methods associate a prediction with a reliability score or index. For discrete qualitative predictions, the reliability is conventionally estimated as the difference between output scores of selected classes. Such an approach is not feasible for methods that predict a biological feature as a single real value rather than a classification. As a solution to this challenge, we have implemented a method that predicts the relative surface accessibility of an amino acid and simultaneously predicts the reliability for each prediction, in the form of a Z-score. Results An ensemble of artificial neural networks has been trained on a set of experimentally solved protein structures to predict the relative exposure of the amino acids. The method assigns a reliability score to each surface accessibility prediction as an inherent part of the training process. This is in contrast to the most commonly used procedures where reliabilities are obtained by post-processing the output. Conclusion The performance of the neural networks was evaluated on a commonly used set of sequences known as the CB513 set. An overall Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.72 was obtained, which is comparable to the performance of the currently best public available method, Real-SPINE. Both methods associate a reliability score with the individual predictions. However, our implementation of reliability scores in the form of a Z-score is shown to be the more informative measure for discriminating good predictions from bad ones in the entire range from completely buried to fully exposed amino acids. This is evident when comparing the Pearson's correlation coefficient for the upper 20% of predictions sorted according to reliability. For this subset, values of 0

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

Science.gov (United States)

Kurt, Serhat

2017-12-08

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

The evaluation of radiologic methods for access guidance in percutaneous nephrolithotomy: a systematic review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Breda, Alberto; Territo, Angelo; Scoffone, Cesare; Seitz, Christian; Knoll, Thomas; Herrmann, Thomas; Brehmer, Mariannhe; Osther, Palle J S; Liatsikos, Evangelos

2017-11-12

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) is the treatment of choice for larger and complex renal calculi. First step in performing PNL is to obtain access to the renal cavity using either fluoroscopy or ultrasound (US) guidance or a combination of both. Which guiding method to choose is controversial? A systematic review of the literature was performed comparing image guidance modalities for obtaining access in PNL. Evidence acquisition and synthesis: A PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane search for peer-reviewed studies was performed using the keywords "ultrasound" AND "fluoroscopy" AND "Percutaneous nephrolithotomy". Eligible articles were reviewed according to PRISMA criteria. Two hundred and forty records were identified using the keywords. Of these twelve studies were considered relevant. US guidance seems to be associated with a slightly lower complication rate, which may be related to fewer puncture attempts needed for obtaining access and to better peri-renal organ visualization. On the other hand, US-guidance alone needs the adjunct of fluoroscopy in a significant number of cases for achieving access. Stone free rate (SFR) was comparable between groups. Using US for renal access unequivocally reduces radiation exposure. Current evidence indicates that both fluoroscopy and US guidance may be successfully used for obtaining percutaneous renal access. Combining the image-guiding modalities - US and fluoroscopy - seems to increase outcome in PNL both with regard to success in achieving access and reducing complications. Furthermore, including US in the access strategy of PNL reduces radiation exposure to surgeon and staff as well as patients.

Solvent Flux Method (SFM): A Case Study of Water Access to Candida antarctica Lipase B.

Science.gov (United States)

Benson, Sven P; Pleiss, Jürgen

2014-11-11

The solvent flux method (SFM) was developed to comprehensively characterize the influx of solvent molecules from the solvent environment into the active site of a protein in the framework of molecular dynamics simulations. This was achieved by introducing a solvent concentration gradient as well as partially reorienting and rescaling the velocity vector of all solvent molecules contained within a spherical volume enclosing the protein, thus inducing an accelerated solvent influx toward the active site. In addition to the detection of solvent access pathway within the protein structure, it is hereby possible to identify potential amino acid positions relevant to solvent-related enzyme engineering with high statistical significance. The method is particularly aimed at improving the reverse hydrolysis reaction rates in nonaqueous media. Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) binds to a triglyceride-water interface with its substrate entrance channel oriented toward the hydrophobic substrate interface. The lipase-triglyceride-water system served as a model system for SFM to evaluate the influx of water molecules to the active site. As a proof of principle for SFM, a previously known water access pathway in CALB was identified as the primary water channel. In addition, a secondary water channel and two pathways for water access which contribute to water leakage between the protein and the triglyceride-water interface were identified.

The availability and accessibility of basic concept vocabulary in AAC software: a preliminary study.

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, Jillian H; Schwarz, Ilsa; Ashworth, Morgan

2017-09-01

Core vocabulary lists obtained through the analyses of children's utterances include a variety of basic concept words. Supporting young children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to develop their understanding and use of basic concepts is an area of practice that has important ramifications for successful communication in a classroom environment. This study examined the availability of basic concept words across eight frequently used, commercially available AAC language systems, iPad© applications, and symbol libraries used to create communication boards. The accessibility of basic concept words was subsequently examined using two AAC language page sets and two iPad applications. Results reveal that the availability of basic concept words represented within the different AAC language programs, iPad applications, and symbol libraries varied but was limited across programs. However, there is no significant difference in the accessibility of basic concept words across the language program page sets or iPad applications, generally because all of them require sophisticated motor and cognitive plans for access. These results suggest that educators who teach or program vocabulary in AAC systems need to be mindful of the importance of basic concept words in classroom settings and, when possible, enhance the availability and accessibility of these words to users of AAC.

Teens' Survey of Stores in the District of Columbia on Accessibility of Family Planning Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Center for Population Options, Washington, DC.

Access to and availability of contraceptive methods in stores play an important role in the prevention of AIDS, unwanted pregnancies, and other sexually transmitted diseases. Although teens are generally knowledgable about birth control, many encounter barriers when attempting to obtain contraceptive. Forty-five drug stores and 15 convenience…

A Novel and Cost-Effective Method for Evaluating Cardiopulmonary Auscultation Skills in Student Physical Therapists.

Science.gov (United States)

Sword, David O; Thomas, K Jackson; Wise, Holly H; Brown, Deborah D

2017-01-01

Sophisticated high-fidelity human simulation (HFHS) manikins allow for practice of both evaluation and treatment techniques in a controlled environment in which real patients are not put at risk. However, due to high demand, access to HFHS by students has been very competitive and limited. In the present study, a basic CPR manikin with a speaker implanted in the chest cavity and internet access to a variety of heart and breath sounds was used. Students were evaluated on their ability to locate and identify auscultation sites and heart/breath sounds. A five-point Likert scale survey was administered to gain insight into student perceptions on the use of this simulation method. Our results demonstrated that 95% of students successfully identified the heart and breath sounds. Furthermore, survey results indicated that 75% of students agreed or strongly agreed that this manner of evaluation was an effective way to assess their auscultation skills. Based on performance and perception, we conclude that a simulation method as described in this paper is a viable and cost-effective means of evaluating auscultation competency in not only student physical therapists but across other health professions as well.

Impact of sophisticated fog spray models on accident analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roblyer, S.P.; Owzarski, P.C.

1978-01-01

The N-Reactor confinement system release dose to the public in a postulated accident is reduced by washing the confinement atmosphere with fog sprays. This allows a low pressure release of confinement atmosphere containing fission products through filters and out an elevated stack. The current accident analysis required revision of the CORRAL code and other codes such as CONTEMPT to properly model the N Reactor confinement into a system of multiple fog-sprayed compartments. In revising these codes, more sophisticated models for the fog sprays and iodine plateout were incorporated to remove some of the conservatism of steam condensing rate, fission product washout and iodine plateout than used in previous studies. The CORRAL code, which was used to describe the transport and deposition of airborne fission products in LWR containment systems for the Rasmussen Study, was revised to describe fog spray removal of molecular iodine (I 2 ) and particulates in multiple compartments for sprays having individual characteristics of on-off times, flow rates, fall heights, and drop sizes in changing containment atmospheres. During postulated accidents, the code determined the fission product removal rates internally rather than from input decontamination factors. A discussion is given of how the calculated plateout and washout rates vary with time throughout the analysis. The results of the accident analyses indicated that more credit could be given to fission product washout and plateout. An important finding was that the release of fission products to the atmosphere and adsorption of fission products on the filters were significantly lower than previous studies had indicated

Sophisticated Communication in the Brazilian Torrent Frog Hylodes japi.

Science.gov (United States)

de Sá, Fábio P; Zina, Juliana; Haddad, Célio F B

2016-01-01

Intraspecific communication in frogs plays an important role in the recognition of conspecifics in general and of potential rivals or mates in particular and therefore with relevant consequences for pre-zygotic reproductive isolation. We investigate intraspecific communication in Hylodes japi, an endemic Brazilian torrent frog with territorial males and an elaborate courtship behavior. We describe its repertoire of acoustic signals as well as one of the most complex repertoires of visual displays known in anurans, including five new visual displays. Previously unknown in frogs, we also describe a bimodal inter-sexual communication system where the female stimulates the male to emit a courtship call. As another novelty for frogs, we show that in addition to choosing which limb to signal with, males choose which of their two vocal sacs will be used for visual signaling. We explain how and why this is accomplished. Control of inflation also provides additional evidence that vocal sac movement and color must be important for visual communication, even while producing sound. Through the current knowledge on visual signaling in Neotropical torrent frogs (i.e. hylodids), we discuss and highlight the behavioral diversity in the family Hylodidae. Our findings indicate that communication in species of Hylodes is undoubtedly more sophisticated than we expected and that visual communication in anurans is more widespread than previously thought. This is especially true in tropical regions, most likely due to the higher number of species and phylogenetic groups and/or to ecological factors, such as higher microhabitat diversity.

Sophisticated Communication in the Brazilian Torrent Frog Hylodes japi.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fábio P de Sá

Full Text Available Intraspecific communication in frogs plays an important role in the recognition of conspecifics in general and of potential rivals or mates in particular and therefore with relevant consequences for pre-zygotic reproductive isolation. We investigate intraspecific communication in Hylodes japi, an endemic Brazilian torrent frog with territorial males and an elaborate courtship behavior. We describe its repertoire of acoustic signals as well as one of the most complex repertoires of visual displays known in anurans, including five new visual displays. Previously unknown in frogs, we also describe a bimodal inter-sexual communication system where the female stimulates the male to emit a courtship call. As another novelty for frogs, we show that in addition to choosing which limb to signal with, males choose which of their two vocal sacs will be used for visual signaling. We explain how and why this is accomplished. Control of inflation also provides additional evidence that vocal sac movement and color must be important for visual communication, even while producing sound. Through the current knowledge on visual signaling in Neotropical torrent frogs (i.e. hylodids, we discuss and highlight the behavioral diversity in the family Hylodidae. Our findings indicate that communication in species of Hylodes is undoubtedly more sophisticated than we expected and that visual communication in anurans is more widespread than previously thought. This is especially true in tropical regions, most likely due to the higher number of species and phylogenetic groups and/or to ecological factors, such as higher microhabitat diversity.

Comparison of Radial Access, Guided Femoral Access, and Non-Guided Femoral Access Among Women Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Koshy, Linda M; Aberle, Laura H; Krucoff, Mitchell W; Hess, Connie N; Mazzaferri, Ernest; Jolly, Sanjit S; Jacobs, Alice; Gibson, C Michael; Mehran, Roxana; Gilchrist, Ian C; Rao, Sunil V

2018-01-01

This study was conducted to determine the association between radial access, guided femoral access, and non-guided femoral access on postprocedural bleeding and vascular complications after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Bleeding events and major vascular complications after PCI are associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and cost. While the radial approach has been shown to be superior to the femoral approach in reducing bleeding and vascular complications, whether the use of micropuncture, fluoroscopy, or ultrasound mitigates these differences is unknown. We conducted a post hoc analysis of women in the SAFE-PCI for Women trial who underwent PCI and had the access method identified (n = 643). The primary endpoint of postprocedure bleeding or vascular complications occurring within 72 hours or at discharge was adjudicated by an independent clinical events committee and was compared based on three categories of access technique: radial, guided femoral (fluoroscopy, micropuncture, ultrasound), or non-guided femoral (none of the aforementioned). Differences between the groups were determined using multivariate logistic regression using radial access as the reference. Of the PCI population, 330 underwent radial access, 228 underwent guided femoral access, and 85 underwent non-guided femoral access. There was a statistically significant lower incidence of the primary endpoint with radial access vs non-guided femoral access; however, there was no significant difference between radial approach and femoral access guided by fluoroscopy, micropuncture, or ultrasound. This post hoc analysis demonstrates that while radial access is safer than non-guided femoral access, guided femoral access appears to be associated with similar bleeding events or vascular complications as radial access.

Access to Money and Relation to Women’s Use of Family Planning Methods among Young Married Women in Rural India

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, Elizabeth; Donta, Balaiah; Dasgupta, Anindita; Ghule, Mohan; Battala, Madhusudana; Nair, Saritha; Silverman, Jay; Jadhav, Arun; Palaye, Prajakta; Saggurti, Niranjan; Raj, Anita

2016-01-01

Objectives The social positioning (i.e. social status and autonomy) of women in the household facilitates women’s access to and decision-making power related to family planning (FP). Women’s access to spending money, which may be an indicator of greater social positioning in the household, may also be greater among women who engage in income generating activities for their families, regardless of women’s status in the household. However, in both scenarios, access to money may independently afford greater opportunity to obtain family planning services among women. This study seeks to assess whether access to money is associated with FP outcomes independently of women’s social positioning in their households. Methods Using survey data from married couples in rural Maharashtra, India (n=855), crude and adjusted regression was used to assess women’s access to their own spending money in relation to past 3 month use of condoms and other forms of contraceptives (pills, injectables, intrauterine device). Results Access to money (59%) was associated with condom and other contraceptive use (AORs ranged: 1.5 – 1.8). These findings remained significant after adjusting for women’s FP decision-making power in the household and mobility to seek FP services. Conclusion While preliminary, findings suggest that access to money may increase women’s ability to obtain FP methods, even in contexts where social norms to support women’s power in FP decision-making may not be readily adopted. PMID:26971270

A spectral nudging method for the ACCESS1.3 atmospheric model

Science.gov (United States)

Uhe, P.; Thatcher, M.

2015-06-01

A convolution-based method of spectral nudging of atmospheric fields is developed in the Australian Community Climate and Earth Systems Simulator (ACCESS) version 1.3 which uses the UK Met Office Unified Model version 7.3 as its atmospheric component. The use of convolutions allow for flexibility in application to different atmospheric grids. An approximation using one-dimensional convolutions is applied, improving the time taken by the nudging scheme by 10-30 times compared with a version using a two-dimensional convolution, without measurably degrading its performance. Care needs to be taken in the order of the convolutions and the frequency of nudging to obtain the best outcome. The spectral nudging scheme is benchmarked against a Newtonian relaxation method, nudging winds and air temperature towards ERA-Interim reanalyses. We find that the convolution approach can produce results that are competitive with Newtonian relaxation in both the effectiveness and efficiency of the scheme, while giving the added flexibility of choosing which length scales to nudge.

Background field removal technique using regularization enabled sophisticated harmonic artifact reduction for phase data with varying kernel sizes.

Science.gov (United States)

Kan, Hirohito; Kasai, Harumasa; Arai, Nobuyuki; Kunitomo, Hiroshi; Hirose, Yasujiro; Shibamoto, Yuta

2016-09-01

An effective background field removal technique is desired for more accurate quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) prior to dipole inversion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of regularization enabled sophisticated harmonic artifact reduction for phase data with varying spherical kernel sizes (REV-SHARP) method using a three-dimensional head phantom and human brain data. The proposed REV-SHARP method used the spherical mean value operation and Tikhonov regularization in the deconvolution process, with varying 2-14mm kernel sizes. The kernel sizes were gradually reduced, similar to the SHARP with varying spherical kernel (VSHARP) method. We determined the relative errors and relationships between the true local field and estimated local field in REV-SHARP, VSHARP, projection onto dipole fields (PDF), and regularization enabled SHARP (RESHARP). Human experiment was also conducted using REV-SHARP, VSHARP, PDF, and RESHARP. The relative errors in the numerical phantom study were 0.386, 0.448, 0.838, and 0.452 for REV-SHARP, VSHARP, PDF, and RESHARP. REV-SHARP result exhibited the highest correlation between the true local field and estimated local field. The linear regression slopes were 1.005, 1.124, 0.988, and 0.536 for REV-SHARP, VSHARP, PDF, and RESHARP in regions of interest on the three-dimensional head phantom. In human experiments, no obvious errors due to artifacts were present in REV-SHARP. The proposed REV-SHARP is a new method combined with variable spherical kernel size and Tikhonov regularization. This technique might make it possible to be more accurate backgroud field removal and help to achive better accuracy of QSM. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

EU-Korea FTA and Its Impact on V4 Economies. A Comparative Analysis of Trade Sophistication and Intra-Industry Trade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michalski Bartosz

2018-03-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates selected short- and mid-term effects in trade in goods between the Visegrad countries (V4: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic and the Republic of Korea under the framework of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Korea. This Agreement is described in the “Trade for All” (2015: 9 strategy as the most ambitious trade deal ever implemented by the EU. The primary purpose of our analysis is to identify, compare, and evaluate the evolution of the technological sophistication of bilateral exports and imports. Another dimension of the paper concentrates on the developments within intra-industry trade. Moreover, these objectives are approached taking into account the context of the South Korean direct investment inflow to the V4. The evaluation of technological sophistication is based on UNCTAD’s methodology, while the intensity of intra-industry trade is measured by the GL-index and identification of its subcategories (horizontal and vertical trade. The analysis covers the timespan 2001–2015. The novelty of the paper lies in the fact that the study of South Korean-V4 trade relations has not so far been carried out from this perspective. Thus this paper investigates interesting phenomena identified in the trade between the Republic of Korea (ROK and V4 economies. The main findings imply an impact of South Korean direct investments on trade. This is represented by the trade deficit of the V4 with ROK and the structure of bilateral trade in terms of its technological sophistication. South Korean investments might also have had positive consequences for the evolution of IIT, particularly in the machinery sector. The political interpretation indicates that they may strengthen common threats associated with the middle-income trap, particularly the technological gap and the emphasis placed on lower costs of production.

Action research to improve methods of delivery and feedback in an Access Grid Room environment

Science.gov (United States)

McArthur, Lynne C.; Klass, Lara; Eberhard, Andrew; Stacey, Andrew

2011-12-01

This article describes a qualitative study which was undertaken to improve the delivery methods and feedback opportunity in honours mathematics lectures which are delivered through Access Grid Rooms. Access Grid Rooms are facilities that provide two-way video and audio interactivity across multiple sites, with the inclusion of smart boards. The principal aim was to improve the student learning experience, given the new environment. The specific aspects of the course delivery that the study focused on included presentation of materials and provision of opportunities for interaction between the students and between students and lecturers. The practical considerations in the delivery of distance learning are well documented in the literature, and similar problems arise in the Access Grid Room environment; in particular, those of limited access to face-to-face interaction and the reduction in peer support. The nature of the Access Grid Room classes implies that students studying the same course can be physically situated in different cities, and possibly in different countries. When studying, it is important that students have opportunity to discuss new concepts with others; particularly their peers and their lecturer. The Access Grid Room environment also presents new challenges for the lecturer, who must learn new skills in the delivery of materials. The unique nature of Access Grid Room technology offers unprecedented opportunity for effective course delivery and positive outcomes for students, and was developed in response to a need to be able to interact with complex data, other students and the instructor, in real-time, at a distance and from multiple sites. This is a relatively new technology and as yet there has been little or no studies specifically addressing the use and misuse of the technology. The study found that the correct placement of cameras and the use of printed material and smart boards were all crucial to the student experience. In addition, the

Health care access for rural youth on equal terms? A mixed methods study protocol in northern Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Goicolea, Isabel; Carson, Dean; San Sebastian, Miguel; Christianson, Monica; Wiklund, Maria; Hurtig, Anna-Karin

2018-01-11

The purpose of this paper is to propose a protocol for researching the impact of rural youth health service strategies on health care access. There has been no published comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of youth health strategies in rural areas, and there is no clearly articulated model of how such assessments might be conducted. The protocol described here aims to gather information to; i) Assess rural youth access to health care according to their needs, ii) Identify and understand the strategies developed in rural areas to promote youth access to health care, and iii) Propose actions for further improvement. The protocol is described with particular reference to research being undertaken in the four northernmost counties of Sweden, which contain a widely dispersed and diverse youth population. The protocol proposes qualitative and quantitative methodologies sequentially in four phases. First, to map youth access to health care according to their health care needs, including assessing horizontal equity (equal use of health care for equivalent health needs,) and vertical equity (people with greater health needs should receive more health care than those with lesser needs). Second, a multiple case study design investigates strategies developed across the region (youth clinics, internet applications, public health programs) to improve youth access to health care. Third, qualitative comparative analysis of the 24 rural municipalities in the region identifies the best combination of conditions leading to high youth access to health care. Fourth, a concept mapping study involving rural stakeholders, care providers and youth provides recommended actions to improve rural youth access to health care. The implementation of this research protocol will contribute to 1) generating knowledge that could contribute to strengthening rural youth access to health care, as well as to 2) advancing the application of mixed methods to explore access to health care.

Web accessibility standards and disability: developing critical perspectives on accessibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewthwaite, Sarah

2014-01-01

accessibility blending digital and physical solutions, the use of BS 8878 and mixed-method approaches to accessibility benchmarking. Web standards and accessibility conformance should be considered together with user input and the recognition and development of local accessibility and rehabilitation expertize.

Research of user access control for networked manufacturing system

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHENG Xiao-lin; LEI Yu; CHEN De-ren

2006-01-01

An integrated user access control method was proposed to address the issues of security and management in networked manufacturing systems (NMS).Based on the analysis of the security issues in networked manufacturing system,an integrated user access control method composed of role-based access control (RBAC),task-based access control (TBAC),relationship-driven access control (RDAC)and coalition-based access control (CBAC) was proposed,including the hierarchical user relationship model,the reference model and the process model.The elements and their relationships were defined,and the expressions of constraints authorization were given.The extensible access control markup language (XACML) was used to implement this method.This method was used in the networked manufacturing system in the Shaoxing spinning region of China.The results show that the integrated user access control method can reduce the costs of system security maintenance and management.

Motivating and Facilitating Advancements in Space Weather Real-Time Data Availability: Factors, Data, and Access Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Pankratz, C. K.; Baker, D. N.; Jaynes, A. N.; Elkington, S. R.; Baltzer, T.; Sanchez, F.

2017-12-01

Society's growing reliance on complex and highly interconnected technological systems makes us increasingly vulnerable to the effects of space weather events - maybe more than for any other natural hazard. An extreme solar storm today could conceivably impact hundreds of the more than 1400 operating Earth satellites. Such an extreme storm could cause collapse of the electrical grid on continental scales. The effects on navigation, communication, and remote sensing of our home planet could be devastating to our social functioning. Thus, it is imperative that the scientific community address the question of just how severe events might become. At least as importantly, it is crucial that policy makers and public safety officials be informed by the facts on what might happen during extreme conditions. This requires essentially real-time alerts, warnings, and also forecasts of severe space weather events, which in turn demands measurements, models, and associated data products to be available via the most effective data discovery and access methods possible. Similarly, advancement in the fundamental scientific understanding of space weather processes is also vital, requiring that researchers have convenient and effective access to a wide variety of data sets and models from multiple sources. The space weather research community, as with many scientific communities, must access data from dispersed and often uncoordinated data repositories to acquire the data necessary for the analysis and modeling efforts that advance our understanding of solar influences and space physics on the Earth's environment. The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), as a leading institution in both producing data products and advancing the state of scientific understanding of space weather processes, is well positioned to address many of these issues. In this presentation, we will outline the motivating factors for effective space weather data access, summarize the various data

Open access and beyond

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Das Chhaya

2006-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Uncensored exchange of scientific results hastens progress. Open Access does not stop at the removal of price and permission barriers; still, censorship and reading disabilities, to name a few, hamper access to information. Here, we invite the scientific community and the public to discuss new methods to distribute, store and manage literature in order to achieve unfettered access to literature.

The universal access handbook

CERN Document Server

Stephanidis, Constantine

2009-01-01

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

Sierra Stars Observatory Network: An Accessible Global Network

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Richard; Beshore, Edward

2011-03-01

The Sierra Stars Observatory Network (SSON) is a unique partnership among professional observatories that provides its users with affordable high-quality calibrated image data. SSON comprises observatories in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere and is in the process of expanding to a truly global network capable of covering the entire sky 24 hours a day in the near future. The goal of SSON is to serve the needs of science-based projects and programs. Colleges, universities, institutions, and individuals use SSON for their education and research projects. The mission of SSON is to promote and expand the use of its facilities among the thousands of colleges and schools worldwide that do not have access to professional-quality automated observatory systems to use for astronomy education and research. With appropriate leadership and guidance educators can use SSON to help teach astronomy and do meaningful scientific projects. The relatively small cost of using SSON for this type of work makes it affordable and accessible for educators to start using immediately. Remote observatory services like SSON need to evolve to better support education and research initiatives of colleges, institutions and individual investigators. To meet these needs, SSON is developing a sophisticated interactive scheduling system to integrate among the nodes of the observatory network. This will enable more dynamic observations, including immediate priority interrupts, acquiring moving objects using ephemeris data, and more.

RSYST: From nuclear reactor calculations towards a highly sophisticated scientific software integration environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noack, M.; Seybold, J.; Ruehle, R.

1996-01-01

The software environment RSYST was originally used to solve problems of reactor physics. The consideration of advanced scientific simulation requirements and the strict application of modern software design principles led to a system which is perfectly suitable to solve problems in various complex scientific problem domains. Starting with a review of the early days of RSYST, we describe the straight evolution driven by the need of software environment which combines the advantages of a high-performance database system with the capability to integrate sophisticated scientific technical applications. The RSYST architecture is presented and the data modelling capabilities are described. To demonstrate the powerful possibilities and flexibility of the RSYST environment, we describe a wide range of RSYST applications, e.g., mechanical simulations of multibody systems, which are used in biomechanical research, civil engineering and robotics. In addition, a hypermedia system which is used for scientific technical training and documentation is presented. (orig.) [de

Availability and Accessibility in an Open Access Institutional Repository: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jongwook; Burnett, Gary; Vandegrift, Micah; Baeg, Jung Hoon; Morris, Richard

2015-01-01

Introduction: This study explores the extent to which an institutional repository makes papers available and accessible on the open Web by using 170 journal articles housed in DigiNole Commons, the institutional repository at Florida State University. Method: To analyse the repository's impact on availability and accessibility, we conducted…

Simple and inexpensive method for CT-guided stereotaxy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wester, K; Sortland, O; Hauglie-Hanssen, E

1981-01-01

A simple and inexpensive method for CT-guided stereotaxy is described. The method requires neither sophisticated computer programs nor additional stereotactic equipment, such as special head holders for the CT, and can be easily obtained without technical assistance. The method is designed to yield the vertical coordinates.

A spectral nudging method for the ACCESS1.3 atmospheric model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Uhe

2015-06-01

Full Text Available A convolution-based method of spectral nudging of atmospheric fields is developed in the Australian Community Climate and Earth Systems Simulator (ACCESS version 1.3 which uses the UK Met Office Unified Model version 7.3 as its atmospheric component. The use of convolutions allow for flexibility in application to different atmospheric grids. An approximation using one-dimensional convolutions is applied, improving the time taken by the nudging scheme by 10–30 times compared with a version using a two-dimensional convolution, without measurably degrading its performance. Care needs to be taken in the order of the convolutions and the frequency of nudging to obtain the best outcome. The spectral nudging scheme is benchmarked against a Newtonian relaxation method, nudging winds and air temperature towards ERA-Interim reanalyses. We find that the convolution approach can produce results that are competitive with Newtonian relaxation in both the effectiveness and efficiency of the scheme, while giving the added flexibility of choosing which length scales to nudge.

Access Data Analysis Cookbook

CERN Document Server

Bluttman, Ken

2008-01-01

This book offers practical recipes to solve a variety of common problems that users have with extracting Access data and performing calculations on it. Whether you use Access 2007 or an earlier version, this book will teach you new methods to query data, different ways to move data in and out of Access, how to calculate answers to financial and investment issues, how to jump beyond SQL by manipulating data with VBA, and more.

Migrants' access to healthcare

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Norredam, Marie

2011-01-01

There are strong pragmatic and moral reasons for receiving societies to address access to healthcare for migrants. Receiving societies have a pragmatic interest in sustaining migrants' health to facilitate integration; they also have a moral obligation to ensure migrants' access to healthcare...... according to international human rights principles. The intention of this thesis is to increase the understanding of migrants' access to healthcare by exploring two study aims: 1) Are there differences in migrants' access to healthcare compared to that of non-migrants? (substudy I and II); and 2) Why...... are there possible differences in migrants' access to healthcare compared to that of non-migrants? (substudy III and IV). The thesis builds on different methodological approaches using both register-based retrospective cohort design, cross-sectional design and survey methods. Two different measures of access were...

Accessing Sexual and Reproductive Health Information and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Accessing Sexual and Reproductive Health Information and Services: A Mixed Methods Study of Young ... PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH ... and services in Soweto, South Africa using quantitative and qualitative methods.

Access control system operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, L.D.

1981-06-01

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

Teenagers’ access to contraception in Mexico City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sofía Gómez-Inclán

2017-05-01

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

Nurturing Opportunity Identification for Business Sophistication in a Cross-disciplinary Study Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karine Oganisjana

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Opportunity identification is the key element of the entrepreneurial process; therefore the issue of developing this skill in students is a crucial task in contemporary European education which has recognized entrepreneurship as one of the lifelong learning key competences. The earlier opportunity identification becomes a habitual way of thinking and behavior across a broad range of contexts, the more likely that entrepreneurial disposition will steadily reside in students. In order to nurture opportunity identification in students for making them able to organize sophisticated businesses in the future, certain demands ought to be put forward as well to the teacher – the person who is to promote these qualities in their students. The paper reflects some findings of a research conducted within the frameworks of a workplace learning project for the teachers of one of Riga secondary schools (Latvia. The main goal of the project was to teach the teachers to identify hidden inner links between apparently unrelated things, phenomena and events within 10th grade study curriculum and connect them together and create new opportunities. The creation and solution of cross-disciplinary tasks were the means for achieving this goal.

Quantitative methods in electroencephalography to access therapeutic response.

Science.gov (United States)

Diniz, Roseane Costa; Fontenele, Andrea Martins Melo; Carmo, Luiza Helena Araújo do; Ribeiro, Aurea Celeste da Costa; Sales, Fábio Henrique Silva; Monteiro, Sally Cristina Moutinho; Sousa, Ana Karoline Ferreira de Castro

2016-07-01

Pharmacometrics or Quantitative Pharmacology aims to quantitatively analyze the interaction between drugs and patients whose tripod: pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and disease monitoring to identify variability in drug response. Being the subject of central interest in the training of pharmacists, this work was out with a view to promoting this idea on methods to access the therapeutic response of drugs with central action. This paper discusses quantitative methods (Fast Fourier Transform, Magnitude Square Coherence, Conditional Entropy, Generalised Linear semi-canonical Correlation Analysis, Statistical Parametric Network and Mutual Information Function) used to evaluate the EEG signals obtained after administration regimen of drugs, the main findings and their clinical relevance, pointing it as a contribution to construction of different pharmaceutical practice. Peter Anderer et. al in 2000 showed the effect of 20mg of buspirone in 20 healthy subjects after 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8h after oral ingestion of the drug. The areas of increased power of the theta frequency occurred mainly in the temporo-occipital - parietal region. It has been shown by Sampaio et al., 2007 that the use of bromazepam, which allows the release of GABA (gamma amino butyric acid), an inhibitory neurotransmitter of the central nervous system could theoretically promote dissociation of cortical functional areas, a decrease of functional connectivity, a decrease of cognitive functions by means of smaller coherence (electrophysiological magnitude measured from the EEG by software) values. Ahmad Khodayari-Rostamabad et al. in 2015 talk that such a measure could be a useful clinical tool potentially to assess adverse effects of opioids and hence give rise to treatment guidelines. There was the relation between changes in pain intensity and brain sources (at maximum activity locations) during remifentanil infusion despite its potent analgesic effect. The statement of mathematical and computational

Access Agent Improving The Performance Of Access Control Lists

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thelis R. S.

2015-08-01

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

Time dependent accessibility

OpenAIRE

Kaza, Nikhil

2015-01-01

Many place based accessibility studies ignore the time component. Relying on theoretical frameworks that treat distance between two fixed points as constant, these methods ignore the diurnal and seasonal changes in accessibility. Network distances between two nodes are dependent on the network structure and weight distribution on the edges. These weights can change quite frequently and the network structure itself is subject to modification because of availability and unavailability of links ...

A Meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials assessing hemodialysis access thrombosis based on access flow monitoring: Where do we stand?

Science.gov (United States)

Muchayi, Timothy; Salman, Loay; Tamariz, Leonardo J; Asif, Arif; Rizvi, Abid; Lenz, Oliver; Vazquez-Padron, Roberto I.; Tabbara, Marwan; Contreras, Gabriel

2015-01-01

The National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative recommends the routine use of hemodialysis arteriovenous (AV) access surveillance to detect hemodynamically significant stenoses and appropriately correct them to reduce the incidence of thrombosis and to improve accesses patency rates. Access blood flow monitoring is considered as one of the preferred surveillance method for both AV fistulas (AVF) and AV grafts (AVG); however, published studies have reported conflicting results of its utility that led healthcare professionals to doubt the benefits of this surveillance method. We performed a meta-analysis of the published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of AV access surveillance using access blood flow monitoring. Our hypothesis was that access blood flow monitoring lowers the risk of AV access thrombosis and that the outcome differs between AVF and AVG. The estimated overall pooled risk ratio (RR) of thrombosis was 0.87 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.67 to 1.13) favoring access blood flow monitoring. The pooled RR of thrombosis were 0.64 (95% CI, 0.41 to 1.01) and 1.06 (95% CI, 0.77 to 1.46) in the subgroups of only AVF and only AVG, respectively. Our results added to the uncertainty of access blood flow monitoring as a surveillance method of hemodialysis accesses. PMID:25644548

System and method for integrating and accessing multiple data sources within a data warehouse architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Musick, Charles R [Castro Valley, CA; Critchlow, Terence [Livermore, CA; Ganesh, Madhaven [San Jose, CA; Slezak, Tom [Livermore, CA; Fidelis, Krzysztof [Brentwood, CA

2006-12-19

A system and method is disclosed for integrating and accessing multiple data sources within a data warehouse architecture. The metadata formed by the present method provide a way to declaratively present domain specific knowledge, obtained by analyzing data sources, in a consistent and useable way. Four types of information are represented by the metadata: abstract concepts, databases, transformations and mappings. A mediator generator automatically generates data management computer code based on the metadata. The resulting code defines a translation library and a mediator class. The translation library provides a data representation for domain specific knowledge represented in a data warehouse, including "get" and "set" methods for attributes that call transformation methods and derive a value of an attribute if it is missing. The mediator class defines methods that take "distinguished" high-level objects as input and traverse their data structures and enter information into the data warehouse.

Current opinion about maximum entropy methods in Moessbauer spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szymanski, K

2009-01-01

Current opinion about Maximum Entropy Methods in Moessbauer Spectroscopy is presented. The most important advantage offered by the method is the correct data processing under circumstances of incomplete information. Disadvantage is the sophisticated algorithm and its application to the specific problems.

GIS-based accessibility analysis- a mixed method approach to determine public primary health care demand in South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mokgalaka, H

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The spatial realities and dynamics of a changing population with changing health care needs require regular and logical methods to evaluate and assist in primary health care (PHC) planning. Geographical access is an important aspect in the planning...

Controlling Access to Suicide Means

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miriam Iosue

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Restricting access to common means of suicide, such as firearms, toxic gas, pesticides and other, has been shown to be effective in reducing rates of death in suicide. In the present review we aimed to summarize the empirical and clinical literature on controlling the access to means of suicide. Methods: This review made use of both MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science and the Cochrane library databases, identifying all English articles with the keywords “suicide means”, “suicide method”, “suicide prediction” or “suicide prevention” and other relevant keywords. Results: A number of factors may influence an individual’s decision regarding method in a suicide act, but there is substantial support that easy access influences the choice of method. In many countries, restrictions of access to common means of suicide has lead to lower overall suicide rates, particularly regarding suicide by firearms in USA, detoxification of domestic and motor vehicle gas in England and other countries, toxic pesticides in rural areas, barriers at jumping sites and hanging, by introducing “safe rooms” in prisons and hospitals. Moreover, decline in prescription of barbiturates and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs, as well as limitation of drugs pack size for paracetamol and salicylate has reduced suicides by overdose, while increased prescription of SSRIs seems to have lowered suicidal rates. Conclusions: Restriction to means of suicide may be particularly effective in contexts where the method is popular, highly lethal, widely available, and/or not easily substituted by other similar methods. However, since there is some risk of means substitution, restriction of access should be implemented in conjunction with other suicide prevention strategies.

Comparing the perception with the reality of walking in a hilly environment: an accessibility method applied to a University campus in Hong Kong

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guibo Sun

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The influence of hilliness on walking behavior could be a consequence of the real effect of the local topography, but individual perception of the difficulties associated with walking in a hilly environment may also be important. Previous studies have found that people’s perceptions do not necessarily match well with the realities of walking in hilly environments. There are a few methods that can be used to visualize the geography of that difference for use by urban planners and public health practitioners. A walking accessibility measure that allows comparison of perception and reality is proposed and implemented in this study. We note that difficulties in calculating accessibility measures in the present context arise primarily from problems with data quality, three-dimensional pedestrian network modelling and the adequacy of accessibility methods for describing and predicting walking behavior. We present practical strategies for addressing these issues using geographic information systems. Our method is illustrated by calculating accessibility for a hilly university campus in Hong Kong. Walking behaviors on, and people’s perceptions of, this hilly environment were obtained through walking diaries and a survey. The article concludes with suggested directions for the future development of walking accessibility measures along with some ideas about their applicability to the practice of planning and designing a walkable environment.

Factorization method of quadratic template

Science.gov (United States)

Kotyrba, Martin

2017-07-01

Multiplication of two numbers is a one-way function in mathematics. Any attempt to distribute the outcome to its roots is called factorization. There are many methods such as Fermat's factorization, Dixońs method or quadratic sieve and GNFS, which use sophisticated techniques fast factorization. All the above methods use the same basic formula differing only in its use. This article discusses a newly designed factorization method. Effective implementation of this method in programs is not important, it only represents and clearly defines its properties.

Resource Allocation for Cloud Radio Access Networks

KAUST Repository

Dhifallah, Oussama

2016-04-01

Cloud-radio access network (CRAN) is expected to be the core network architecture for next generation mobile radio system. In CRANs, joint signal processing is performed at multiple cloud computing centers (clouds) that are connected to several base stations (BSs) via high capacity backhaul links. As a result, large-scale interference management and network power consumption reduction can be effectively achieved. Unlike recent works on CRANs which consider a single cloud processing and treat inter-cloud interference as background noise, the first part of this thesis focuses on the more practical scenario of the downlink of a multi-cloud radio access network where BSs are connected to each cloud through wireline backhaul links. Assume that each cloud serves a set of pre-known single-antenna mobile users (MUs). This part focuses on minimizing the network total power consumption subject to practical constraints. The problems are solved using sophisticated techniques from optimization theory (e.g. Dual Decomposition-based algorithm and the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM)-based algorithm). One highlight of this part is that the proposed solutions can be implemented in a distributed fashion by allowing a reasonable information exchange between the coupled clouds. Additionally, feasible solutions of the considered optimization problems can be estimated locally at each iteration. Simulation results show that the proposed distributed algorithms converge to the centralized algorithms in a reasonable number of iterations. To further account of the backhaul congestion due to densification in CRANs, the second part of this thesis considers the downlink of a cache-enabled CRAN where each BS is equipped with a local-cache with limited size used to store the popular files without the need for backhauling. Further, each cache-enabled BS is connected to the cloud via limited capacity backhaul link and can serve a set of pre-known single antenna MUs. This part

Linked Data Applications Through Ontology Based Data Access in Clinical Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Kock-Schoppenhauer, Ann-Kristin; Kamann, Christian; Ulrich, Hannes; Duhm-Harbeck, Petra; Ingenerf, Josef

2017-01-01

Clinical care and research data are widely dispersed in isolated systems based on heterogeneous data models. Biomedicine predominantly makes use of connected datasets based on the Semantic Web paradigm. Initiatives like Bio2RDF created Resource Description Framework (RDF) versions of Omics resources, enabling sophisticated Linked Data applications. In contrast, electronic healthcare records (EHR) data are generated and processed in diverse clinical subsystems within hospital information systems (HIS). Usually, each of them utilizes a relational database system with a different proprietary schema. Semantic integration and access to the data is hardly possible. This paper describes ways of using Ontology Based Data Access (OBDA) for bridging the semantic gap between existing raw data and user-oriented views supported by ontology-based queries. Based on mappings between entities of data schemas and ontologies data can be made available as materialized or virtualized RDF triples ready for querying and processing. Our experiments based on CentraXX for biobank and study management demonstrate the advantages of abstracting away from low level details and semantic mediation. Furthermore, it becomes clear that using a professional platform for Linked Data applications is recommended due to the inherent complexity, the inconvenience to confront end users with SPARQL, and scalability and performance issues.

Perceived barriers in accessing dental care among patients attending dental institute using decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ravneet Malhi

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Utilization of dental service is a concept of expressing the extent of interaction between the service provider and the people for whom it is indented. However, one of the major issues in social welfare is the equitable provision of these services to the population. Aim: To determine the perceived barriers affecting access to the dental services in the dental institute. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the dental institute during the month of February in the year 2014 using decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL method. The study sample included the 364 subjects. The required data were collected using a specially designed and pretested questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA and MATLAB 7.6.0. The mean, standard deviations were used to describe the data, and inferential statistics included one-way ANOVA and DEMATEL. Results: The five determinants of cost, inconvenience, fear, organization, and patient-dentist relationship were determined as barriers to access dental services. Based on subjects′ responses to the questions, the cost (54.75% agreed or strongly agreed was identified as the most important factor affecting the access to dental health care followed by dentist-patient relationship (48.57%, inconvenience (36.55%, fear (23.70%, and organization (14.02%. The difference was found to be statistically significant (P = 0.0001. When the hierarchy of the affecting and affected factors was calculated, based on the factor analysis by using DEMATEL method, the cost (R−J = 0.16 and organization (R−J = 1.15, were certain affecting determinant which influenced the access to dental services and inconvenience. Conclusion: The major barriers to oral health care utilization among our patients were cost, fear, and organization. Policymakers, administrators, and insurance organizations have a major role. Hence, the policies should be fair and

Sophisticated Epistemologies of Physics versus High-Stakes Tests: How Do Elite High School Students Respond to Competing Influences about How to Learn Physics?

Science.gov (United States)

Yerdelen-Damar, Sevda; Elby, Andrew

2016-01-01

This study investigates how elite Turkish high school physics students claim to approach learning physics when they are simultaneously (i) engaged in a curriculum that led to significant gains in their epistemological sophistication and (ii) subject to a high-stakes college entrance exam. Students reported taking surface (rote) approaches to…

The “SAFARI” Technique Using Retrograde Access Via Peroneal Artery Access

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhuang, Kun Da; Tan, Seck Guan; Tay, Kiang Hiong

2012-01-01

The “SAFARI” technique or subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade–retrograde intervention is a method for recanalisation of chronic total occlusions (CTOs) when subintimal angioplasty fails. Retrograde access is usually obtained via the popliteal, distal anterior tibial artery (ATA)/dorsalis pedis (DP), or distal posterior tibial artery (PTA). Distal access via the peroneal artery has not been described and has a risk of continued bleeding, leading to compartment syndrome due to its deep location. We describe our experience in two patients with retrograde access via the peroneal artery and the use of balloon-assisted hemostasis for these retrograde punctures. This approach may potentially give more options for endovascular interventions in lower limb CTOs.

Doing Business in Czech Republic after Accession to the EU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dusan Litva

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Purpose of the article: European Union can be considered as a full integration process including political, safety, social or economic aspects. Economic integration is process of interconnection otherwise separated national markets (by removal of economic borders. This assumes removal of all obstacles (in economy, trade, tax, administration or industrial area and establishment of common rules for market competition. Basic benefit of economic integration is occurrences of real or potential competitiveness effects. Methodology/methods: European integration influenced number of factors of business environment mainly in area of legislation, taxes, public competition or harmonization of norms which can result in overall Czech Republic competitiveness abroad. In these papers have been used DB and GCI indexes and their subsequent indicators to analyze competitiveness and business environment in CR. Scientific aim: The aim of this article is research on impact of European integration on business environment and competitiveness of Czech Republic. Findings: Growing DTF trend for DB index since 2004 shows improvement of business environment after accession to the EU in contrast with non- EU members (Switzerland, Norway which remains flat. The biggest benefit for Czech business environment seems to be trade liberalization as Czech companies were able to compete successfully at foreign markets. On the other hand, according to GCI remains biggest challenge non- effective bureaucracy, tax regulation, corruption, political instability and low business sophistication. Conclusions: Czech Republic should focus, consistently with Lisbon strategy, on qualification of labour forces, increase o

5 CFR 2606.203 - Granting access.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Access to Records and Accounting of Disclosures § 2606.203 Granting access. (a) The methods for allowing... documentation will be required for the disclosure to the data subject of information required to be made...

A Key Management Method for Cryptographically Enforced Access Control

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zych, Anna; Petkovic, Milan; Jonker, Willem; Fernández-Medina, Eduardo; Yagüe, Mariemma I.

Cryptographic enforcement of access control mechanisms relies on encrypting protected data with the keys stored by authorized users. This approach poses the problem of the distribution of secret keys. In this paper, a key management scheme is presented where each user stores a single key and is

Genetic relationships among wild and cultivated accessions of curry leaf plant (Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng.), as revealed by DNA fingerprinting methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Verma, Sushma; Rana, T S

2013-02-01

Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng. (Rutaceae), is an aromatic plant and much valued for its flavor, nutritive and medicinal properties. In this study, three DNA fingerprinting methods viz., random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD), directed amplification of minisatellite DNA (DAMD), and inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR), were used to unravel the genetic variability and relationships across 92 wild and cultivated M. koenigii accessions. A total of 310, 102, and 184, DNA fragments were amplified using 20 RAPD, 5 DAMD, and 13 ISSR primers, revealing 95.80, 96.07, and 96.73% polymorphism, respectively, across all accessions. The average polymorphic information content value obtained with RAPD, DAMD, and ISSR markers was 0.244, 0.250, and 0.281, respectively. The UPGMA tree, based on Jaccard's similarity coefficient generated from the cumulative (RAPD, DAMD, and ISSR) band data showed two distinct clusters, clearly separating wild and cultivated accessions in the dendrogram. Percentage polymorphism, gene diversity (H), and Shannon information index (I) estimates were higher in cultivated accessions compared to wild accessions. The overall high level of polymorphism and varied range of genetic distances revealed a wide genetic base in M. koenigii accessions. The study suggests that RAPD, DAMD, and ISSR markers are highly useful to unravel the genetic variability in wild and cultivated accessions of M. koenigii.

The tool for the automatic analysis of lexical sophistication (TAALES): version 2.0.

Science.gov (United States)

Kyle, Kristopher; Crossley, Scott; Berger, Cynthia

2017-07-11

This study introduces the second release of the Tool for the Automatic Analysis of Lexical Sophistication (TAALES 2.0), a freely available and easy-to-use text analysis tool. TAALES 2.0 is housed on a user's hard drive (allowing for secure data processing) and is available on most operating systems (Windows, Mac, and Linux). TAALES 2.0 adds 316 indices to the original tool. These indices are related to word frequency, word range, n-gram frequency, n-gram range, n-gram strength of association, contextual distinctiveness, word recognition norms, semantic network, and word neighbors. In this study, we validated TAALES 2.0 by investigating whether its indices could be used to model both holistic scores of lexical proficiency in free writes and word choice scores in narrative essays. The results indicated that the TAALES 2.0 indices could be used to explain 58% of the variance in lexical proficiency scores and 32% of the variance in word-choice scores. Newly added TAALES 2.0 indices, including those related to n-gram association strength, word neighborhood, and word recognition norms, featured heavily in these predictor models, suggesting that TAALES 2.0 represents a substantial upgrade.

Regression methods for medical research

CERN Document Server

Tai, Bee Choo

2013-01-01

Regression Methods for Medical Research provides medical researchers with the skills they need to critically read and interpret research using more advanced statistical methods. The statistical requirements of interpreting and publishing in medical journals, together with rapid changes in science and technology, increasingly demands an understanding of more complex and sophisticated analytic procedures.The text explains the application of statistical models to a wide variety of practical medical investigative studies and clinical trials. Regression methods are used to appropriately answer the

The Role of Need for Contraception in the Evaluation of Interventions to Improve Access to Family-Planning Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Leon, Federico R.; Lundgren, Rebecka; Sinai, Irit; Jennings, Victoria

2011-01-01

A nonrandomized experiment carried out in Jharkhand, India, shows how the effects of interventions designed to improve access to family-planning methods can be erroneously regarded as trivial when contraceptive use is utilized as dependent variable, ignoring women's need for contraception. Significant effects of the intervention were observed on…

When not to copy: female fruit flies use sophisticated public information to avoid mated males

Science.gov (United States)

Loyau, Adeline; Blanchet, Simon; van Laere, Pauline; Clobert, Jean; Danchin, Etienne

2012-10-01

Semen limitation (lack of semen to fertilize all of a female's eggs) imposes high fitness costs to female partners. Females should therefore avoid mating with semen-limited males. This can be achieved by using public information extracted from watching individual males' previous copulating activities. This adaptive preference should be flexible given that semen limitation is temporary. We first demonstrate that the number of offspring produced by males Drosophila melanogaster gradually decreases over successive copulations. We then show that females avoid mating with males they just watched copulating and that visual public cues are sufficient to elicit this response. Finally, after males were given the time to replenish their sperm reserves, females did not avoid the males they previously saw copulating anymore. These results suggest that female fruit flies may have evolved sophisticated behavioural processes of resistance to semen-limited males, and demonstrate unsuspected adaptive context-dependent mate choice in an invertebrate.

Random Access for Machine-Type Communication based on Bloom Filtering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pratas, Nuno; Stefanovic, Cedomir; Madueño, Germán Corrales

2016-01-01

utilizes the system resources more efficiently and achieves similar or lower latency of connection establishment in case of synchronous arrivals, compared to the variant of the LTE-A access protocol that is optimized for MTC traffic. A dividend of the proposed method is that allows the base station (BS......We present a random access method inspired on Bloom filters that is suited for Machine-Type Communications (MTC). Each accessing device sends a signature during the contention process. A signature is constructed using the Bloom filtering method and contains information on the device identity...... and the connection establishment cause. We instantiate the proposed method over the current LTE-A access protocol. However, the method is applicable to a more general class of random access protocols that use preambles or other reservation sequences, as expected to be the case in 5G systems. We show that our method...

Random access with adaptive packet aggregation in LTE/LTE-A.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Kaijie; Nikaein, Navid

While random access presents a promising solution for efficient uplink channel access, the preamble collision rate can significantly increase when massive number of devices simultaneously access the channel. To address this issue and improve the reliability of the random access, an adaptive packet aggregation method is proposed. With the proposed method, a device does not trigger a random access for every single packet. Instead, it starts a random access when the number of aggregated packets reaches a given threshold. This method reduces the packet collision rate at the expense of an extra latency, which is used to accumulate multiple packets into a single transmission unit. Therefore, the tradeoff between packet loss rate and channel access latency has to be carefully selected. We use semi-Markov model to derive the packet loss rate and channel access latency as functions of packet aggregation number. Hence, the optimal amount of aggregated packets can be found, which keeps the loss rate below the desired value while minimizing the access latency. We also apply for the idea of packet aggregation for power saving, where a device aggregates as many packets as possible until the latency constraint is reached. Simulations are carried out to evaluate our methods. We find that the packet loss rate and/or power consumption are significantly reduced with the proposed method.

Ranking network of a captive rhesus macaque society: a sophisticated corporative kingdom.

Science.gov (United States)

Fushing, Hsieh; McAssey, Michael P; Beisner, Brianne; McCowan, Brenda

2011-03-15

We develop a three-step computing approach to explore a hierarchical ranking network for a society of captive rhesus macaques. The computed network is sufficiently informative to address the question: Is the ranking network for a rhesus macaque society more like a kingdom or a corporation? Our computations are based on a three-step approach. These steps are devised to deal with the tremendous challenges stemming from the transitivity of dominance as a necessary constraint on the ranking relations among all individual macaques, and the very high sampling heterogeneity in the behavioral conflict data. The first step simultaneously infers the ranking potentials among all network members, which requires accommodation of heterogeneous measurement error inherent in behavioral data. Our second step estimates the social rank for all individuals by minimizing the network-wide errors in the ranking potentials. The third step provides a way to compute confidence bounds for selected empirical features in the social ranking. We apply this approach to two sets of conflict data pertaining to two captive societies of adult rhesus macaques. The resultant ranking network for each society is found to be a sophisticated mixture of both a kingdom and a corporation. Also, for validation purposes, we reanalyze conflict data from twenty longhorn sheep and demonstrate that our three-step approach is capable of correctly computing a ranking network by eliminating all ranking error.

Ranking network of a captive rhesus macaque society: a sophisticated corporative kingdom.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hsieh Fushing

2011-03-01

Full Text Available We develop a three-step computing approach to explore a hierarchical ranking network for a society of captive rhesus macaques. The computed network is sufficiently informative to address the question: Is the ranking network for a rhesus macaque society more like a kingdom or a corporation? Our computations are based on a three-step approach. These steps are devised to deal with the tremendous challenges stemming from the transitivity of dominance as a necessary constraint on the ranking relations among all individual macaques, and the very high sampling heterogeneity in the behavioral conflict data. The first step simultaneously infers the ranking potentials among all network members, which requires accommodation of heterogeneous measurement error inherent in behavioral data. Our second step estimates the social rank for all individuals by minimizing the network-wide errors in the ranking potentials. The third step provides a way to compute confidence bounds for selected empirical features in the social ranking. We apply this approach to two sets of conflict data pertaining to two captive societies of adult rhesus macaques. The resultant ranking network for each society is found to be a sophisticated mixture of both a kingdom and a corporation. Also, for validation purposes, we reanalyze conflict data from twenty longhorn sheep and demonstrate that our three-step approach is capable of correctly computing a ranking network by eliminating all ranking error.

A design method to assess the accessibility of light on PV cells in an arbitraty geometry by means of ambient occlusion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reinders, Angelina H.M.E.; Willeke, G.; Ossenbrink, H.

2007-01-01

A design method has been developed by which the accessibility of light on PV cells in an arbitrary geometry can be quickly visualized and quantified. Modelling of irradiance in this method is based on ambient occlusion, which indicates the likelihood of shading of object’s surfaces due to

Accessing remote data bases using microcomputers

OpenAIRE

Saul, Peter D.

1985-01-01

General practitioners' access to remote data bases using microcomputers is increasing, making even the most obscure information readily available. Some of the systems available to general practitioners in the UK are described and the methods of access are outlined. General practitioners should be aware of the advances in technology; data bases are increasing in size, the cost of access is falling and their use is becoming easier.

Principles of wireless access and localization

CERN Document Server

Pahlavan, Kaveh

2013-01-01

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

The 'SAFARI' Technique Using Retrograde Access Via Peroneal Artery Access

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhuang, Kun Da, E-mail: zkunda@gmail.com [Singapore General Hospital, Interventional Radiology Centre (Singapore); Tan, Seck Guan [Singapore General Hospital, Department of General Surgery (Singapore); Tay, Kiang Hiong [Singapore General Hospital, Interventional Radiology Centre (Singapore)

2012-08-15

The 'SAFARI' technique or subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade-retrograde intervention is a method for recanalisation of chronic total occlusions (CTOs) when subintimal angioplasty fails. Retrograde access is usually obtained via the popliteal, distal anterior tibial artery (ATA)/dorsalis pedis (DP), or distal posterior tibial artery (PTA). Distal access via the peroneal artery has not been described and has a risk of continued bleeding, leading to compartment syndrome due to its deep location. We describe our experience in two patients with retrograde access via the peroneal artery and the use of balloon-assisted hemostasis for these retrograde punctures. This approach may potentially give more options for endovascular interventions in lower limb CTOs.

Piloting the use of indigenous methods to prevent Nipah virus infection by interrupting bats' access to date palm sap in Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Nahar, Nazmun; Mondal, Utpal Kumar; Sultana, Rebeca; Hossain, M Jahangir; Khan, M Salah Uddin; Gurley, Emily S; Oliveras, Elizabeth; Luby, Stephen P

2013-09-01

People in Bangladesh frequently drink fresh date palm sap. Fruit bats (Pteropus giganteus) also drink raw sap and may contaminate the sap by shedding Nipah virus through saliva and urine. In a previous study we identified two indigenous methods to prevent bats accessing the sap, bamboo skirts and lime (calcium carbonate). We conducted a pilot study to assess the acceptability of these two methods among sap harvesters. We used interactive community meetings and group discussions to encourage all the sap harvesters (n = 12) from a village to use either bamboo skirts or lime smear that some of them (n = 4) prepared and applied. We measured the preparation and application time and calculated the cost of bamboo skirts. We conducted interviews after the use of each method. The sap harvesters found skirts effective in preventing bats from accessing sap. They were sceptical that lime would be effective as the lime was washed away by the sap flow. Preparation of the skirt took ∼105 min. The application of each method took ∼1 min. The cost of the bamboo skirt is minimal because bamboo is widely available and they made the skirts with pieces of used bamboo. The bamboo skirt method appeared practical and affordable to the sap harvesters. Further studies should explore its ability to prevent bats from accessing date palm sap and assess if its use produces more or better quality sap, which would provide further incentives to make it more acceptable for its regular use.

Platonic Dialogue, Maieutic Method and Critical Thinking

Science.gov (United States)

Leigh, Fiona

2007-01-01

In this paper I offer a reading of one of Plato's later works, the "Sophist", that reveals it to be informed by principles comparable on the face of it with those that have emerged recently in the field of critical thinking. As a development of the famous Socratic method of his teacher, I argue, Plato deployed his own pedagogical method, a…

A simple method using on-line continuous leaching and ion exchange chromatography coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for the speciation analysis of bio-accessible arsenic in rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Horner, Nolan S; Beauchemin, Diane

2012-03-02

A simple method for the speciation analysis of bio-accessible arsenic (As) in rice was developed using a continuous on-line leaching method to release the bio-accessible fraction. The continuous on-line leaching method has several advantages over commonly used batch methods including quicker and easier sample preparation, reduced risk of contamination and access to real time leaching data. The bio-accessibility of As in the samples was monitored using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results from a certified reference material as well as cooked and uncooked white rice showed that the majority of As was leached by saliva. Results obtained using the continuous on-line leaching method were comparable to those obtained using a batch method. Speciation analysis of the saliva leachate was performed using ion exchange chromatography coupled to ICP-MS. The four most toxic forms of As (As(III), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) and As(V)) were clearly separated within 5 min in a single chromatographic run. Over 92% of bio-accessible As in the certified reference material and uncooked white rice sample was in the form of DMA and As(V), whereas it was present as DMA and As(III) in the cooked white rice. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparison of RF spectrum prediction methods for dynamic spectrum access

Science.gov (United States)

Kovarskiy, Jacob A.; Martone, Anthony F.; Gallagher, Kyle A.; Sherbondy, Kelly D.; Narayanan, Ram M.

2017-05-01

Dynamic spectrum access (DSA) refers to the adaptive utilization of today's busy electromagnetic spectrum. Cognitive radio/radar technologies require DSA to intelligently transmit and receive information in changing environments. Predicting radio frequency (RF) activity reduces sensing time and energy consumption for identifying usable spectrum. Typical spectrum prediction methods involve modeling spectral statistics with Hidden Markov Models (HMM) or various neural network structures. HMMs describe the time-varying state probabilities of Markov processes as a dynamic Bayesian network. Neural Networks model biological brain neuron connections to perform a wide range of complex and often non-linear computations. This work compares HMM, Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) algorithms and their ability to perform RF channel state prediction. Monte Carlo simulations on both measured and simulated spectrum data evaluate the performance of these algorithms. Generalizing spectrum occupancy as an alternating renewal process allows Poisson random variables to generate simulated data while energy detection determines the occupancy state of measured RF spectrum data for testing. The results suggest that neural networks achieve better prediction accuracy and prove more adaptable to changing spectral statistics than HMMs given sufficient training data.

Multi-disciplinary communication networks for skin risk assessment in nursing homes with high IT sophistication.

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Gregory L; Pasupathy, Kalyan S; Steege, Linsey M; Strecker, E Bradley; Carley, Kathleen M

2014-08-01

The role of nursing home (NH) information technology (IT) in quality improvement has not been clearly established, and its impacts on communication between care givers and patient outcomes in these settings deserve further attention. In this research, we describe a mixed method approach to explore communication strategies used by healthcare providers for resident skin risk in NH with high IT sophistication (ITS). Sample included NH participating in the statewide survey of ITS. We incorporated rigorous observation of 8- and 12-h shifts, and focus groups to identify how NH IT and a range of synchronous and asynchronous tools are used. Social network analysis tools and qualitative analysis were used to analyze data and identify relationships between ITS dimensions and communication interactions between care providers. Two of the nine ITS dimensions (resident care-technological and administrative activities-technological) and total ITS were significantly negatively correlated with number of unique interactions. As more processes in resident care and administrative activities are supported by technology, the lower the number of observed unique interactions. Additionally, four thematic areas emerged from staff focus groups that demonstrate how important IT is to resident care in these facilities including providing resident-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, maintaining safety and quality, and using standardized information resources. Our findings in this study confirm prior research that as technology support (resident care and administrative activities) and overall ITS increases, observed interactions between staff members decrease. Conversations during staff interviews focused on how technology facilitated resident centered care through enhanced information sharing, greater virtual collaboration between team members, and improved care delivery. These results provide evidence for improving the design and implementation of IT in long term care systems to support

Code-Expanded Random Access for Machine-Type Communications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kiilerich Pratas, Nuno; Thomsen, Henning; Stefanovic, Cedomir

2012-01-01

Abstract—The random access methods used for support of machine-type communications (MTC) in current cellular standards are derivatives of traditional framed slotted ALOHA and therefore do not support high user loads efficiently. Motivated by the random access method employed in LTE, we propose...

Experimental protocol to assess the tourism vehicles accessibility based on heart rate and access time measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alcala Fazio, E.; Alvarez Fernandez, N.

2016-07-01

The objective of the Project is to define an experimental protocol for the accessibility assessment of the transport vehicles, by analysing the evolution of the effort and time variables consumed by a target group –Persons of Reduced Mobility (PMRs). This protocol consisted in tests of accessibility on a sample of 6 passenger cars (class M1) by 8 elderly people carrying a heart rate monitor, and whose access manoeuvres were recorded by video cameras. Based on the Hilloskorpi et al. [1] model and by developing a method of truncation of the heart rate (HR) tests records - eliminating the component of the work biologically needed by the organism to keep its basal metabolic rate from the work each person performed – it was possible to evaluate how much energy each individual invested in each access manoeuver. Immediately after each test, and after the whole round of vehicles, each participant was surveyed for a subjective assessment of the difficulty of accessing to the cars. According to each of the above results, the HR objective measurements and the subjective opinion about the ease of access experienced by each individual, the vehicles were ranked by order of accessibility to the front and rear seats. The result of both rankings showed the orders of the similar vehicles, the potential of the method and a fair closeness between its results and the subjective, but real and unequivocal, judgments of the participants. (Author)

Validation of Housing Standards Addressing Accessibility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Helle, Tina

2013-01-01

The aim was to explore the use of an activity-based approach to determine the validity of a set of housing standards addressing accessibility. This included examination of the frequency and the extent of accessibility problems among older people with physical functional limitations who used...... participant groups were examined. Performing well-known kitchen activities was associated with accessibility problems for all three participant groups, in particular those using a wheelchair. The overall validity of the housing standards examined was poor. Observing older people interacting with realistic...... environments while performing real everyday activities seems to be an appropriate method for assessing accessibility problems....

Comparing Accessibility Auditing Methods for Ebooks: Crowdsourced, Functionality-Led Versus Web Content Methodologies.

Science.gov (United States)

James, Abi; Draffan, E A; Wald, Mike

2017-01-01

This paper presents a gap analysis between crowdsourced functional accessibility evaluations of ebooks conducted by non-experts and the technical accessibility standards employed by developers. It also illustrates how combining these approaches can provide more appropriate information for a wider group of users with print impairments.

Accessibility of long-term family planning methods: a comparison study between Output Based Approach (OBA) clients verses non-OBA clients in the voucher supported facilities in Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Oyugi, Boniface; Kioko, Urbanus; Kaboro, Stephen Mbugua; Gikonyo, Shadrack; Okumu, Clarice; Ogola-Munene, Sarah; Kalsi, Shaminder; Thiani, Simon; Korir, Julius; Odundo, Paul; Baltazaar, Billy; Ranji, Moses; Muraguri, Nicholas; Nzioka, Charles

2017-03-27

The study seeks to evaluate the difference in access of long-term family planning (LTFP) methods among the output based approach (OBA) and non-OBA clients within the OBA facility. The study utilises a quasi experimental design. A two tailed unpaired t-test with unequal variance is used to test for the significance variation in the mean access. The difference in difference (DiD) estimates of program effect on long term family planning methods is done to estimate the causal effect by exploiting the group level difference on two or more dimensions. The study also uses a linear regression model to evaluate the predictors of choice of long-term family planning methods. Data was analysed using SPSS version 17. All the methods (Bilateral tubal ligation-BTL, Vasectomy, intrauterine contraceptive device -IUCD, Implants, and Total or combined long-term family planning methods -LTFP) showed a statistical significant difference in the mean utilization between OBA versus non-OBA clients. The difference in difference estimates reveal that the difference in access between OBA and non OBA clients can significantly be attributed to the implementation of the OBA program for intrauterine contraceptive device (p = 0.002), Implants (p = 0.004), and total or combined long-term family planning methods (p = 0.001). The county of residence is a significant determinant of access to all long-term family planning methods except vasectomy and the year of registration is a significant determinant of access especially for implants and total or combined long-term family planning methods. The management level and facility type does not play a role in determining the type of long-term family planning method preferred; however, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as management level influences the choice of all methods (Bilateral tubal ligation, intrauterine contraceptive device, Implants, and combined methods) except vasectomy. The adjusted R 2 value, representing the percentage of

The Delphi Method in Rehabilitation Counseling Research

Science.gov (United States)

Vazquez-Ramos, Robinson; Leahy, Michael; Estrada Hernandez, Noel

2007-01-01

Rehabilitation researchers have found in the application of the Delphi method a more sophisticated way of obtaining consensus from experts in the field on certain matters. The application of this research methodology has affected and certainly advanced the body of knowledge of the rehabilitation counseling practice. However, the rehabilitation…

Evaluating Michigan's community hospital access: spatial methods for decision support

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Varnakovida Pariwate

2006-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Community hospital placement is dictated by a diverse set of geographical factors and historical contingency. In the summer of 2004, a multi-organizational committee headed by the State of Michigan's Department of Community Health approached the authors of this paper with questions about how spatial analyses might be employed to develop a revised community hospital approval procedure. Three objectives were set. First, the committee needed visualizations of both the spatial pattern of Michigan's population and its 139 community hospitals. Second, the committee required a clear, defensible assessment methodology to quantify access to existing hospitals statewide, taking into account factors such as distance to nearest hospital and road network density to estimate travel time. Third, the committee wanted to contrast the spatial distribution of existing community hospitals with a theoretical configuration that best met statewide demand. This paper presents our efforts to first describe the distribution of Michigan's current community hospital pattern and its people, and second, develop two models, access-based and demand-based, to identify areas with inadequate access to existing hospitals. Results Using the product from the access-based model and contiguity and population criteria, two areas were identified as being "under-served." The lower area, located north/northeast of Detroit, contained the greater total land area and population of the two areas. The upper area was centered north of Grand Rapids. A demand-based model was applied to evaluate the existing facility arrangement by allocating daily bed demand in each ZIP code to the closest facility. We found 1,887 beds per day were demanded by ZIP centroids more than 16.1 kilometers from the nearest existing hospital. This represented 12.7% of the average statewide daily bed demand. If a 32.3 kilometer radius was employed, unmet demand dropped to 160 beds per day (1

Joint control algorithm in access network

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2008-01-01

To deal with long probing delay and inaccurate probing results in the endpoint admission control method,a joint local and end-to-end admission control algorithm is proposed,which introduces local probing of access network besides end-to-end probing.Through local probing,the algorithm accurately estimated the resource status of the access network.Simulation shows that this algorithm can improve admission control performance and reduce users' average waiting time when the access network is heavily loaded.

Image size invariant visual cryptography for general access structures subject to display quality constraints.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kai-Hui; Chiu, Pei-Ling

2013-10-01

Conventional visual cryptography (VC) suffers from a pixel-expansion problem, or an uncontrollable display quality problem for recovered images, and lacks a general approach to construct visual secret sharing schemes for general access structures. We propose a general and systematic approach to address these issues without sophisticated codebook design. This approach can be used for binary secret images in non-computer-aided decryption environments. To avoid pixel expansion, we design a set of column vectors to encrypt secret pixels rather than using the conventional VC-based approach. We begin by formulating a mathematic model for the VC construction problem to find the column vectors for the optimal VC construction, after which we develop a simulated-annealing-based algorithm to solve the problem. The experimental results show that the display quality of the recovered image is superior to that of previous papers.

Sophisticated Calculation of the 1oo4-architecture for Safety-related Systems Conforming to IEC61508

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayek, A; Al Bokhaiti, M; Schwarz, M H; Boercsoek, J

2012-01-01

With the publication and enforcement of the standard IEC 61508 of safety related systems, recent system architectures have been presented and evaluated. Among a number of techniques and measures to the evaluation of safety integrity level (SIL) for safety-related systems, several measures such as reliability block diagrams and Markov models are used to analyze the probability of failure on demand (PFD) and mean time to failure (MTTF) which conform to IEC 61508. The current paper deals with the quantitative analysis of the novel 1oo4-architecture (one out of four) presented in recent work. Therefore sophisticated calculations for the required parameters are introduced. The provided 1oo4-architecture represents an advanced safety architecture based on on-chip redundancy, which is 3-failure safe. This means that at least one of the four channels have to work correctly in order to trigger the safety function.

Facilitators and barriers to accessing reproductive health care for migrant beer promoters in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam: A mixed methods study

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background The purpose of the research was to assess access to sexual and reproductive health services for migrant women who work as beer promoters. This mixed methods research was conducted in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Bangkok, Thailand, Vientiane, Laos, and Hanoi, Vietnam during 2010 to 2011. Methods Focus groups were held with beer promoters and separate focus groups or interviews with key informants to explore the factors affecting beer promoters’ access to health care institutions for reproductive health care. The findings of the focus groups were used to develop a survey for beer promoters. This survey was conducted in popular health institutions for these women in each of the four Asian cities. Results Several common themes were evident. Work demands prevented beer promoters from accessing health care. Institutional factors affecting care included cost, location, environmental factors (e.g. waiting times, cleanliness and confidentiality) and service factors (e.g. staff attitudes, clinic hours, and availability of medications). Personal factors affecting access were shyness and fear, lack of knowledge, and support from family and friends. The survey of the beer promoters confirmed that cost, location and both environmental and service factors impact on access to health care services for beer promoters. Many beer promoters are sexually active, and a significant proportion of those surveyed rely on sex work to supplement their income. Many also drink with their clients. Despite a few differences amongst the surveyed population, the findings were remarkably similar across the four research sites. Conclusions Recommendations from the research include the provision of evening and weekend clinic hours to facilitate access, free or low cost clinics, and health insurance through employer or government plans which are easy to access for migrants. Other improvements that would facilitate the access of beer promoters to these services include increased funding to hire

Facilitators and barriers to accessing reproductive health care for migrant beer promoters in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam: A mixed methods study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Webber Gail

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The purpose of the research was to assess access to sexual and reproductive health services for migrant women who work as beer promoters. This mixed methods research was conducted in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Bangkok, Thailand, Vientiane, Laos, and Hanoi, Vietnam during 2010 to 2011. Methods Focus groups were held with beer promoters and separate focus groups or interviews with key informants to explore the factors affecting beer promoters’ access to health care institutions for reproductive health care. The findings of the focus groups were used to develop a survey for beer promoters. This survey was conducted in popular health institutions for these women in each of the four Asian cities. Results Several common themes were evident. Work demands prevented beer promoters from accessing health care. Institutional factors affecting care included cost, location, environmental factors (e.g. waiting times, cleanliness and confidentiality and service factors (e.g. staff attitudes, clinic hours, and availability of medications. Personal factors affecting access were shyness and fear, lack of knowledge, and support from family and friends. The survey of the beer promoters confirmed that cost, location and both environmental and service factors impact on access to health care services for beer promoters. Many beer promoters are sexually active, and a significant proportion of those surveyed rely on sex work to supplement their income. Many also drink with their clients. Despite a few differences amongst the surveyed population, the findings were remarkably similar across the four research sites. Conclusions Recommendations from the research include the provision of evening and weekend clinic hours to facilitate access, free or low cost clinics, and health insurance through employer or government plans which are easy to access for migrants. Other improvements that would facilitate the access of beer promoters to these services include

The Impact of Services on Economic Complexity: Service Sophistication as Route for Economic Growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Stojkoski, Viktor; Utkovski, Zoran; Kocarev, Ljupco

2016-01-01

Economic complexity reflects the amount of knowledge that is embedded in the productive structure of an economy. By combining tools from network science and econometrics, a robust and stable relationship between a country's productive structure and its economic growth has been established. Here we report that not only goods but also services are important for predicting the rate at which countries will grow. By adopting a terminology which classifies manufactured goods and delivered services as products, we investigate the influence of services on the country's productive structure. In particular, we provide evidence that complexity indices for services are in general higher than those for goods, which is reflected in a general tendency to rank countries with developed service sector higher than countries with economy centred on manufacturing of goods. By focusing on country dynamics based on experimental data, we investigate the impact of services on the economic complexity of countries measured in the product space (consisting of both goods and services). Importantly, we show that diversification of service exports and its sophistication can provide an additional route for economic growth in both developing and developed countries.

Reported Design Processes for Accessibility in Rail Transport

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Herriott, Richard; Cook, Sharon

2014-01-01

Accessibility is a fundamental requirement in public transport (PT) yet there exists little research on design for accessibility or inclusive design (ID) in this area. This paper sets out to discover what methods are used in the rail sector to achieve accessibility goals and to examine how far...... these methods deviate from user-centred and ID norms. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine rolling stock producers, operators and design consultancies. The purpose was to determine if ID design methods are used explicitly and the extent to which the processes used conformed to ID (if at all......). The research found that the role of users in the design process of manufacturers was limited and that compliance with industry standards was the dominant means to achieving accessibility goals. Design consultancies were willing to apply more user-centred design if the client requested it. Where operators were...

User Perception of Facebook App Data Access: A Comparison of Methods and Privacy Concerns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer Golbeck

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Users share vast amounts of personal information online, but are they fully aware of what information they are sharing and with whom? In this paper, we focused on Facebook apps and set out to understand how concerned users are about privacy and how well-informed they are about what personal data apps can access. We found that initially, subjects were generally under-informed about what data apps could access from their profiles. After viewing additional information about these permissions, subjects’ concern about privacy on Facebook increased. Subjects’ understanding of what data apps were able to access increased, although even after receiving explicit information on the topic, many subjects still did not fully understand the extent to which apps could access their data.

An Intelligent Terminal for Access to a Medical Database

Science.gov (United States)

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

1978-01-01

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

78 FR 55174 - Medical, Physical Readiness, Training, and Access Authorization Standards for Protective Force...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-10

... has totally transformed its approach to dealing with a much-evolved terrorist threat. This... more sophisticated weapons and detection and targeting systems, an increased reliance on hardened..., layered defense, which places a premium on operating sophisticated weapons and detection and tracking...

Kinds of Access

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Overgaard, Morten; Sandberg, Kristian

2014-01-01

that there is not only a theoretical, but also an empirical difference between different methods of reporting. We hypothesise that differences in the sensitivity of different scales may reveal that different types of access are used to issue direct reports about experiences and metacognitive reports about...

Publishing in Open Access Education Journals: The Authors' Perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Coonin, Bryna; Younce, Leigh M.

2010-01-01

Open access publishing is now an accepted method of scholarly communication. However, the greatest traction for open access publishing thus far has been in the sciences. Penetration of open access publishing has been much slower among the social sciences. This study surveys 309 authors from recent issues of open access journals in education to…

Insurance + Access ≠ Health Care: Typology of Barriers to Health Care Access for Low-Income Families

Science.gov (United States)

DeVoe, Jennifer E.; Baez, Alia; Angier, Heather; Krois, Lisa; Edlund, Christine; Carney, Patricia A.

2007-01-01

PURPOSE Public health insurance programs have expanded coverage for the poor, and family physicians provide essential services to these vulnerable populations. Despite these efforts, many Americans do not have access to basic medical care. This study was designed to identify barriers faced by low-income parents when accessing health care for their children and how insurance status affects their reporting of these barriers. METHODS A mixed methods analysis was undertaken using 722 responses to an open-ended question on a health care access survey instrument that asked low-income Oregon families, “Is there anything else you would like to tell us?” Themes were identified using immersion/crystallization techniques. Pertinent demographic attributes were used to conduct matrix coded queries. RESULTS Families reported 3 major barriers: lack of insurance coverage, poor access to services, and unaffordable costs. Disproportionate reporting of these themes was most notable based on insurance status. A higher percentage of uninsured parents (87%) reported experiencing difficulties obtaining insurance coverage compared with 40% of those with insurance. Few of the uninsured expressed concerns about access to services or health care costs (19%). Access concerns were the most common among publicly insured families, and costs were more often mentioned by families with private insurance. Families made a clear distinction between insurance and access, and having one or both elements did not assure care. Our analyses uncovered a 3-part typology of barriers to health care for low-income families. CONCLUSIONS Barriers to health care can be insurmountable for low-income families, even those with insurance coverage. Patients who do not seek care in a family medicine clinic are not necessarily getting their care elsewhere. PMID:18025488

Accessibility analysis in manufacturing processes using visibility cones

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

尹周平; 丁汉; 熊有伦

2002-01-01

Accessibility is a kind of important design feature of products,and accessibility analysis has been acknowledged as a powerful tool for solving computational manufacturing problems arising from different manufacturing processes.After exploring the relations among approachability,accessibility and visibility,a general method for accessibility analysis using visibility cones (VC) is proposed.With the definition of VC of a point,three kinds of visibility of a feature,namely complete visibility cone (CVC),partial visibility cone (PVC) and local visibility cone (LVC),are defined.A novel approach to computing VCs is formulated by identifying C-obstacles in the C-space,for which a general and efficient algorithm is proposed and implemented by making use of visibility culling.Lastly,we discuss briefly how to realize accessibility analysis in numerically controlled (NC) machining planning,coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) inspection planning and assembly sequence planning with the proposed methods.

Information-flow-based Access Control for Virtualized Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dmitriy Aleksandrovich Postoev

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the method of information-flow-based access control, adopted for virtualized systems. General structure of access control system for virtual infrastructure is proposed.

Characterization of genetic diversity of bird-of-paradise accessions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessandro Aparecido Brito dos Santos

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to characterize genetic diversity in the bird-of-paradise (Strelitzia reginae collection at the Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso Carlos Alberto Reyes Maldonado (UNEMAT by estimating genetic divergence among genotypes based on agronomic characteristics. Seven agronomic characters were evaluated with average Euclidean distance. The UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean hierarchical clustering method was used between groups, as well as Tocher’s optimization clustering method and principal component analysis (PCA, in order to classify the genotypes with maximum similarity between groups. Measures of genetic dissimilarity with average Euclidean distance verified the existence of genetic variability among accessions since the amplitude of dissimilarity values ranged from 1.09 to 36.97. Tocher’s clustering method verified the formation of two distinct groups. UPGMA hierarchical clustering, based on the dissimilarity matrix, verified the formation of three groups with 30% cutoff point. Based on the main components analysis, we verified genetic divergence between the bird-of-paradise accessions in the UNEMAT Collection. The most promising combinations for future crosses in breeding programs comprise accessions 1, 11, and 23 and accession 1 as the most divergent among the accessions evaluated.

Method for Evaluation of Outage Probability on Random Access Channel in Mobile Communication Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kollár, Martin

2012-05-01

In order to access the cell in all mobile communication technologies a so called random-access procedure is used. For example in GSM this is represented by sending the CHANNEL REQUEST message from Mobile Station (MS) to Base Transceiver Station (BTS) which is consequently forwarded as an CHANNEL REQUIRED message to the Base Station Controller (BSC). If the BTS decodes some noise on the Random Access Channel (RACH) as random access by mistake (so- called ‘phantom RACH') then it is a question of pure coincidence which èstablishment cause’ the BTS thinks to have recognized. A typical invalid channel access request or phantom RACH is characterized by an IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT procedure (assignment of an SDCCH or TCH) which is not followed by sending an ESTABLISH INDICATION from MS to BTS. In this paper a mathematical model for evaluation of the Power RACH Busy Threshold (RACHBT) in order to guaranty in advance determined outage probability on RACH is described and discussed as well. It focuses on Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) however the obtained results can be generalized on remaining mobile technologies (ie WCDMA and LTE).

Review of clinically accessible methods to determine lean body mass for normalization of standardized uptake values

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DEVRIESE, Joke; POTTEL, Hans; BEELS, Laurence; MAES, Alex; VAN DE WIELE, Christophe; GHEYSENS, Olivier

2016-01-01

With the routine use of 2-deoxy-2-[ 18 F]-fluoro-D-glucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scans, metabolic activity of tumors can be quantitatively assessed through calculation of SUVs. One possible normalization parameter for the standardized uptake value (SUV) is lean body mass (LBM), which is generally calculated through predictive equations based on height and body weight. (Semi-)direct measurements of LBM could provide more accurate results in cancer populations than predictive equations based on healthy populations. In this context, four methods to determine LBM are reviewed: bioelectrical impedance analysis, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. CT, and magnetic resonance imaging. These methods were selected based on clinical accessibility and are compared in terms of methodology, precision and accuracy. By assessing each method’s specific advantages and limitations, a well-considered choice of method can hopefully lead to more accurate SUVLBM values, hence more accurate quantitative assessment of 18F-FDG PET images.

Access to scientific publications: the scientist's perspective.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yegor Voronin

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

A qualitative study examining methods of accessing and identifying research relevant to clinical practice among rehabilitation clinicians

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patel D

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Drasti Patel,1 Christine Koehmstedt,1 Rebecca Jones,1 Nathan T Coffey,1 Xinsheng Cai,2 Steven Garfinkel,2 Dahlia M Shaewitz,2 Ali A Weinstein1 1Center for Study of Chronic Illness and Disability, College of Health and Human Services, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 2American Institutes for Research, Washington, DC, USA Purpose: Research examining the utilization of evidence-based practice (EBP specifically among rehabilitation clinicians is limited. The objective of this study was to examine how various rehabilitative clinicians including physical therapists, occupational therapists, rehabilitation counselors, and physiatrists are gaining access to literature and whether they are able to implement the available research into practice.Methods: A total of 21 total clinicians were interviewed via telephone. Using NVivo, a qualitative analysis of the responses was performed.Results: There were similarities found with respect to the information-seeking behaviors and translation of research across the different clinician types. Lack of time was reported to be a barrier for both access to literature and implementation of research across all clinician types. The majority of clinicians who reported having difficulty with utilizing the published literature indicated that the literature was not applicable to their practice, the research was not specific enough to be put into practice, or the research found was too outdated to be relevant. In addition, having a supportive work environment aided in the search and utilization of research through providing resources central to assisting clinicians in gaining access to health information.Conclusion: Our study identified several barriers that affect EBP for rehabilitation clinicians. The findings suggest the need for researchers to ensure that their work is applicable and specific to clinical practice for implementation to occur. Keywords: health information, information behavior, knowledge utilization

Librarians and Libraries Supporting Open Access Publishing

Science.gov (United States)

Richard, Jennifer; Koufogiannakis, Denise; Ryan, Pam

2009-01-01

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

Back to the land : at the core of land access is landowner trust

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stastny, P.

2007-06-15

This article addressed the issue of building relationships between the oil and gas industry and the agricultural business, with particular reference to the need for industry to understand today's farmers and the changing social conditions under which they operate. With Alberta's economic growth, energy, forestry, agriculture and urbanization are dominating large parts of the landscape. As a result, land prices are increasing as fast as land fragmentation. The current trends that are changing the social profile of agricultural producers have led energy companies to consider the concerns of both the landowner and the agricultural producer. In addition, as farmers become more sophisticated in their farming practices, they are becoming more educated, socially aware and knowledgeable about oil and gas activities. Energy companies agree that it is good business to deal fairly with farmers in lease compensation, sound attenuation, industry traffic routing, local employment, safety and dust suppression. However, land access continues to be a growing challenge to production companies with massive resource play developments, and particularly to companies pursuing coalbed methane (CBM) exploitation projects. The greatest challenge lies in mis-information regarding drilling activities. This article also addressed the economic challenges facing farmers in terms of the clear differences in the amount that oil and gas companies pay farmers for land access, which has resulted in growing resentment in rural areas. 2 figs.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-06-01

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

An Adaptive Channel Access Method for Dynamic Super Dense Wireless Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Chunyang; Bie, Hongxia; Fang, Gengfa; Zhang, Xuekun

2015-12-03

Super dense and distributed wireless sensor networks have become very popular with the development of small cell technology, Internet of Things (IoT), Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications, Vehicular-to-Vehicular (V2V) communications and public safety networks. While densely deployed wireless networks provide one of the most important and sustainable solutions to improve the accuracy of sensing and spectral efficiency, a new channel access scheme needs to be designed to solve the channel congestion problem introduced by the high dynamics of competing nodes accessing the channel simultaneously. In this paper, we firstly analyzed the channel contention problem using a novel normalized channel contention analysis model which provides information on how to tune the contention window according to the state of channel contention. We then proposed an adaptive channel contention window tuning algorithm in which the contention window tuning rate is set dynamically based on the estimated channel contention level. Simulation results show that our proposed adaptive channel access algorithm based on fast contention window tuning can achieve more than 95 % of the theoretical optimal throughput and 0 . 97 of fairness index especially in dynamic and dense networks.

An Adaptive Channel Access Method for Dynamic Super Dense Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chunyang Lei

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Super dense and distributed wireless sensor networks have become very popular with the development of small cell technology, Internet of Things (IoT, Machine-to-Machine (M2M communications, Vehicular-to-Vehicular (V2V communications and public safety networks. While densely deployed wireless networks provide one of the most important and sustainable solutions to improve the accuracy of sensing and spectral efficiency, a new channel access scheme needs to be designed to solve the channel congestion problem introduced by the high dynamics of competing nodes accessing the channel simultaneously. In this paper, we firstly analyzed the channel contention problem using a novel normalized channel contention analysis model which provides information on how to tune the contention window according to the state of channel contention. We then proposed an adaptive channel contention window tuning algorithm in which the contention window tuning rate is set dynamically based on the estimated channel contention level. Simulation results show that our proposed adaptive channel access algorithm based on fast contention window tuning can achieve more than 95 % of the theoretical optimal throughput and 0 . 97 of fairness index especially in dynamic and dense networks.

Shamir secret sharing scheme with dynamic access structure (SSSDAS). Case study on nuclear power plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thiyagarajan, P.; Thandra, Prasanth Kumar; Rajan, J.; Satyamurthy, S.A.V. [Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam (India). Computer Div.; Aghila, G. [National Institute of Technology, Karaikal (India). Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering

2015-05-15

In recent years, due to the sophistication offered by the Internet, strategic organizations like nuclear power plants are linked to the outside world communication through the Internet. The entry of outside world communication into strategic organization (nuclear power plant) increases the hacker's attempts to crack its security and to trace any information which is being sent among the top level officials. Information security system in nuclear power plant is very crucial as even small loophole in the security system will lead to a major disaster. Recent cyber attacks in nuclear power plant provoked information security professionals to look deeply into the information security aspects of strategic organizations (nuclear power plant). In these lines, Shamir secret sharing scheme with dynamic access structure (SSSDAS) is proposed in the paper which provides enhanced security by providing dynamic access structure for each node in different hierarchies. The SSSDAS algorithm can be applied to any strategic organizations with hierarchical structures. In this paper the possible scenarios where SSSDAS algorithm can be applied to nuclear power plant is explained as a case study. The proposed SSSDAS scheme identifies the wrong shares, if any, used for reconstruction of the secret. The SSSDAS scheme also address the three major security parameters namely confidentiality, authentication and integrity.

Shamir secret sharing scheme with dynamic access structure (SSSDAS). Case study on nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thiyagarajan, P.; Thandra, Prasanth Kumar; Rajan, J.; Satyamurthy, S.A.V.; Aghila, G.

2015-01-01

In recent years, due to the sophistication offered by the Internet, strategic organizations like nuclear power plants are linked to the outside world communication through the Internet. The entry of outside world communication into strategic organization (nuclear power plant) increases the hacker's attempts to crack its security and to trace any information which is being sent among the top level officials. Information security system in nuclear power plant is very crucial as even small loophole in the security system will lead to a major disaster. Recent cyber attacks in nuclear power plant provoked information security professionals to look deeply into the information security aspects of strategic organizations (nuclear power plant). In these lines, Shamir secret sharing scheme with dynamic access structure (SSSDAS) is proposed in the paper which provides enhanced security by providing dynamic access structure for each node in different hierarchies. The SSSDAS algorithm can be applied to any strategic organizations with hierarchical structures. In this paper the possible scenarios where SSSDAS algorithm can be applied to nuclear power plant is explained as a case study. The proposed SSSDAS scheme identifies the wrong shares, if any, used for reconstruction of the secret. The SSSDAS scheme also address the three major security parameters namely confidentiality, authentication and integrity.

43 CFR 36.10 - Access to inholdings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... barriers prevent adequate and feasible access to State or private lands or valid interests in lands except across an area(s). Physical barriers include but are not limited to rugged mountain terrain, extensive... method of access would cause significant adverse impacts on natural or other values of the area and...

Accessible Website Content Guidelines for Users with Intellectual Disabilities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Karreman, Joyce; van der Geest, Thea; Buursink, Esmee

2007-01-01

Background: The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative has issued guidelines for making websites better and easier to access for people with various disabilities (W3C Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines 1999). - Method: The usability of two versions of a website (a non-adapted site and a site that was

Code-expanded radio access protocol for machine-to-machine communications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Henning; Kiilerich Pratas, Nuno; Stefanovic, Cedomir

2013-01-01

The random access methods used for support of machine-to-machine, also referred to as Machine-Type Communications, in current cellular standards are derivatives of traditional framed slotted ALOHA and therefore do not support high user loads efficiently. We propose an approach that is motivated b...... subframes and orthogonal preambles, the amount of available contention resources is drastically increased, enabling the massive support of Machine-Type Communication users that is beyond the reach of current systems.......The random access methods used for support of machine-to-machine, also referred to as Machine-Type Communications, in current cellular standards are derivatives of traditional framed slotted ALOHA and therefore do not support high user loads efficiently. We propose an approach that is motivated...... by the random access method employed in LTE, which significantly increases the amount of contention resources without increasing the system resources, such as contention subframes and preambles. This is accomplished by a logical, rather than physical, extension of the access method in which the available system...

National Survey on Access, Use and Promotion of Rational Use of Medicines (PNAUM: household survey component methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sotero Serrate Mengue

Full Text Available ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To describe methodological aspects of the household survey National Survey on Access, Use and Promotion of Rational Use of Medicines (PNAUM related to sampling design and implementation, the actual obtained sample, instruments and fieldwork. METHODS A cross-sectional, population-based study with probability sampling in three stages of the population living in households located in Brazilian urban areas. Fieldwork was carried out between September 2013 and February 2014. The data collection instrument included questions related to: information about households, residents and respondents; chronic diseases and medicines used; use of health services; acute diseases and events treated with drugs; use of contraceptives; use of pharmacy services; behaviors that may affect drug use; package inserts and packaging; lifestyle and health insurance. RESULTS In total, 41,433 interviews were carried out in 20,404 households and 576 urban clusters corresponding to 586 census tracts distributed in the five Brazilian regions, according to eight domains defined by age and gender. CONCLUSIONS The results of the survey may be used as a baseline for future studies aiming to assess the impact of government action on drug access and use. For local studies using a compatible method, PNAUM may serve as a reference point to evaluate variations in space and population. With a comprehensive evaluation of drug-related aspects, PNAUM is a major source of data for a variety of analyses to be carried out both at academic and government level.

Reported Design Processes for Accessibility in Rail Transport

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Herriott, Richard; Cook, Sharon

2014-01-01

requirements with the aim of maximising accessibility in products and services. A review of ID literature has mainly developed in the arena of product design and design for assistive technology. Accessibility is a fundamental requirement in public transport (PT) yet there exists little research on design...... for accessibility or ID in this area. How is accessibility and the needs of users accounted for in rail transport design? This paper analyses interviews with rolling stock producers, operators and design consultancies. These conducted to determine if ID design methods are used explicitly and the extent to which...

Accessible Knowledge - Knowledge on Accessibility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kirkeby, Inge Mette

2015-01-01

Although serious efforts are made internationally and nationally, it is a slow process to make our physical environment accessible. In the actual design process, architects play a major role. But what kinds of knowledge, including research-based knowledge, do practicing architects make use of when...... designing accessible environments? The answer to the question is crucially important since it affects how knowledge is distributed and how accessibility can be ensured. In order to get first-hand knowledge about the design process and the sources from which they gain knowledge, 11 qualitative interviews...... were conducted with architects with experience of designing for accessibility. The analysis draws on two theoretical distinctions. The first is research-based knowledge versus knowledge used by architects. The second is context-independent knowledge versus context-dependent knowledge. The practitioners...

Accessibility of women farmers to agricultural information in South ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Furthermore, the women farmers were accessible to technical information on improved seeds (x = 2.59), storage methods (x = 2.44), but poor access to operating farm machinery (x =0.49) and weather forecast (x =0.68). With regard to economic information they were accessible to market locations (x =2.40), but had low ...

The evaluation of radiologic methods for access guidance in percutaneous nephrolithotomy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Breda, Alberto; Territo, Angelo; Scoffone, Cesare

2018-01-01

is controversial? A systematic review of the literature was performed comparing image guidance modalities for obtaining access in PNL. Evidence acquisition and synthesis: A PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane search for peer-reviewed studies was performed using the keywords "ultrasound" AND "fluoroscopy" AND "Percutaneous...

Suspect online sellers and contraceptive access.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Bryan A; Mackey, Tim K; Lovett, Kimberly M

2012-11-01

Issues surrounding contraception access have been a national focus. During this debate, adolescent and adult women may seek these products online. Due to safety concerns, including potential counterfeit forms, we wished to assess whether online "no prescription" contraceptives were available. We assessed online availability of reversible, prescription contraceptive methods resulting in online pharmacy marketing is shifting from direct search engine access to social media (Facebook, Twitter, Slidehare, flickr). Online contraceptive sales represent patient safety risks and a parallel system of high-risk product access absent professional guidance. Providers should educate patients, while policy makers employ legal strategies to address these systemic risks. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Solving real-life problems: future mobile technology sophistication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shafiq, F.; Ahsan, K.; Nadeem, A.

2016-01-01

Almost all the human being real life concerned domains are taking advantage of latest technologies for enhancing their process, procedures and operations. This integration of technological innovations provides ease of access, flexibility, transparency, reliability and speed for the concerned process and procedures. Rapid growth of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and MT (Mobile Technology) provides opportunity to redesign and re-engineered the human routines life activities process and procedures. Technology integration and adoption in routine life activities may serves compensatory mechanism to assist the population in different manner such as monitoring older adults and children at homes, provides security assistance, monitoring and recording patients vital signs automatically, controlling and monitoring equipments and devices, providing assistance in shopping, banking and education as well. Disasters happened suddenly, destroy everything indiscriminately. Adoption and integration of latest technologies including ICT and MT can enhance the current disaster management process, procedures and operations. This research study focuses the impacts of latest and emerging technology trends in routine life activities and surrounds their potential strength to improve and enhance disaster management activities. MT is providing a promising platform for facilitating people to enhance their routine life activities. This research argue that integration and adoption of mobile computing in disaster management domain can enhance disaster management activities with promising minimizing error, quick information assembling, quick response based on technology manipulation and prioritizing action. (author)

Solving Real-Life Problems: Future Mobile Technology Sophistication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

FARHAN SHAFIQ

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Almost all the human being real life concerned domains are taking advantage of latest technologies for enhancing their process, procedures and operations. This integration of technological innovations provides ease of access, flexibility, transparency, reliability and speed for the concerned process and procedures. Rapid growth of ICT (Information and Communication Technology and MT (Mobile Technology provides opportunity to redesign and reengineered the human routines? life activities process and procedures. Technology integration and adoption in routine life activities may serves compensatory mechanism to assist the population in different manner such as monitoring older adults and children at homes, provides security assistance, monitoring and recording patients vital signs automatically, controlling and monitoring equipments and devices, providing assistance in shopping, banking and education as well. Disasters happened suddenly, destroy everything indiscriminately. Adoption and integration of latest technologies including ICT and MT can enhance the current disaster management process, procedures and operations. This research study focuses the impacts of latest and emerging technology trends in routine life activities and surrounds their potential strength to improve and enhance disaster management activities. MT is providing a promising platform for facilitating people to enhance their routine life activities. This research argue that integration and adoption of mobile computing in disaster management domain can enhance disaster management activities with promising minimizing error, quick information assembling, quick response based on technology manipulation and prioritizing action.

Does Technical Success of Angioplasty in Dysfunctional Hemodialysis Accesses Correlate with Access Patency?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sidhu, Arshdeep; Tan, Kong T.; Noel-Lamy, Maxime; Simons, Martin E.; Rajan, Dheeraj K., E-mail: dheeraj.rajan@uhn.ca [University Health Network, University of Toronto, Division of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Peter Munk Cardiac Center (Canada)

2016-10-15

PurposeTo study if <30 % residual stenosis post angioplasty (PTA) correlates with primary access circuit patency, and if any variables predict technical success.Materials and MethodsA prospective observational study was performed between January 2009 and December 2012, wherein 76 patients underwent 154 PTA events in 56 prosthetic grafts (AVG) and 98 autogenous fistulas (AVF). Data collected included patient age, gender, lesion location and laterality, access type and location, number of prior interventions, and transonic flow rates pre- and postintervention. Impact of technical outcome on access patency was assessed. Univariate logistic regression was used to assess the impact of variables on technical success with significant factors assessed with a multiple variable model.ResultsTechnical success rates of PTA in AVFs and AVGs were 79.6 and 76.7 %, respectively. Technical failures of PTA were associated with an increased risk of patency loss among circuits with AVFs (p < 0.05), but not with AVGs (p = 0.7). In AVFs, primary access patency rates between technical successes and failures at three and 6 months were 74.4 versus 61.9 % (p = 0.3) and 53.8 versus 23.8 % (p < 0.05), respectively. In AVGs, primary access patency rates between technical successes and failures at three and six months were 72.1 versus 53.9 % (p = 0.5) and 33.6 versus 38.5 % (p = 0.8), respectively. Transonic flow rates did not significantly differ among technically successful or failed outcomes at one or three months.ConclusionTechnical failures of PTA had a significant impact on access patency among AVFs with a trend toward poorer access patency within AVGs.

Does Technical Success of Angioplasty in Dysfunctional Hemodialysis Accesses Correlate with Access Patency?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sidhu, Arshdeep; Tan, Kong T.; Noel-Lamy, Maxime; Simons, Martin E.; Rajan, Dheeraj K.

2016-01-01

PurposeTo study if <30 % residual stenosis post angioplasty (PTA) correlates with primary access circuit patency, and if any variables predict technical success.Materials and MethodsA prospective observational study was performed between January 2009 and December 2012, wherein 76 patients underwent 154 PTA events in 56 prosthetic grafts (AVG) and 98 autogenous fistulas (AVF). Data collected included patient age, gender, lesion location and laterality, access type and location, number of prior interventions, and transonic flow rates pre- and postintervention. Impact of technical outcome on access patency was assessed. Univariate logistic regression was used to assess the impact of variables on technical success with significant factors assessed with a multiple variable model.ResultsTechnical success rates of PTA in AVFs and AVGs were 79.6 and 76.7 %, respectively. Technical failures of PTA were associated with an increased risk of patency loss among circuits with AVFs (p < 0.05), but not with AVGs (p = 0.7). In AVFs, primary access patency rates between technical successes and failures at three and 6 months were 74.4 versus 61.9 % (p = 0.3) and 53.8 versus 23.8 % (p < 0.05), respectively. In AVGs, primary access patency rates between technical successes and failures at three and six months were 72.1 versus 53.9 % (p = 0.5) and 33.6 versus 38.5 % (p = 0.8), respectively. Transonic flow rates did not significantly differ among technically successful or failed outcomes at one or three months.ConclusionTechnical failures of PTA had a significant impact on access patency among AVFs with a trend toward poorer access patency within AVGs.

Development of improved methods for remote access of DIII-D data and data analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greene, K.L.; McHarg, B.B. Jr.

1997-11-01

The DIII-D tokamak is a national fusion research facility. There is an increasing need to access data from remote sites in order to facilitate data analysis by collaborative researchers at remote locations, both nationally and internationally. In the past, this has usually been done by remotely logging into computers at the DIII-D site. With the advent of faster networking and powerful computers at remote sites, it is becoming possible to access and analyze data from anywhere in the world as if the remote user were actually at the DIII-D site. The general mechanism for accessing DIII-D data has always been via the PTDATA subroutine. Substantial enhancements are being made to that routine to make it more useful in a non-local environment. In particular, a caching mechanism is being built into PTDATA to make network data access more efficient. Studies are also being made of using Distributed File System (DFS) disk storage in a Distributed Computing Environment (DCE). A data server has been created that will migrate, on request, shot data from the DIII-D environment into the DFS environment

Software Ergonomics of Iranian Digital Library Software’s: An Accessibility-Centered Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saeideh Jahanghiri

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The Purpose of this study is to evaluate accessibility features of Iranian Digital Library Software’s (IDLS. Method/Approach: This is an applied research and has done as a heuristic survey. Statistical population of the study includes five Digital Library Softwares: Azarakhsh, Nosa, Papyrus, Parvanpajooh and Payam. The researcher-made criteria list of this study is based on ISO 9241-171 and has prepared through a Delphi method. Different types of descriptive statistical techniques in collaboration with Friedman test and SAW decision making method used for data analyzing. Findings: Research results showed that IDLSs have made no impressive effort for regarding accessibility features and their accessibility has obtained solely through the Operating System and Platform that the software runs on it. That’s why input accessibility features – which have regarded through OS-, have gained first rank among other accessibility features. There is meaningful statistical difference between IDLSs in regarding accessibility features. Originality/Value: This study which survey the accessibility features of IDLSs, is one of the first attending software accessibility features in Iran and it can have an important role in introducing disable users’ needs to software developers and digital collection makers.

Allelic database and divergence among Psidium accessions by using microsatellite markers.

Science.gov (United States)

da Costa, S R; Santos, C A F

2013-12-16

This study aimed to investigate the genetic variability among guava accessions and wild Psidium species of the Embrapa Semiárido germplasm collection by using microsatellite loci to guide genetic resources and breeding programs, emphasizing crosses between guava and other Psidium species. DNA was extracted using the 2X CTAB method, and polymerase chain reaction products were analyzed on 6% denatured polyacrylamide gels stained with silver nitrate. The unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic average dendrogram generated from the distance matrix of the Jaccard coefficient for 183 alleles of 13 microsatellite loci was used for visualization of genetic similarity. The number of base pairs was estimated using inverse mobility method based on the regression of known-size products. Analysis of molecular variance was performed using total decomposition between and within guava accessions. The accessions showed similarity from 0.75 to 1.00, with the dendrogram presenting cophenetic value of 0.85. Five groups were observed: the first included guava accessions; the second, P. guineense accessions; the third, one accession of P. friedrichsthalianum; and the last 2 groups, P. cattleianum. The genetic similarity among P. guineense and some guava accessions were above 80%, suggesting greater possibility to obtain interspecies hybrids between these 2 species. The genetic variability between the accessions was considered to be high (ΦST = 0.238), indicating that guava genetic variability is not uniformly distributed among the 9 Brazilian states from where the accession were obtained. Obtaining a greater number of accessions by Brazilian states is recommended in order to have greater diversity among the species.

Determining the Effectiveness of Various Delivery Methods in an Information Technology/Information Systems Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Gary Alan; Kovacs, Paul J.; Scarpino, John; Turchek, John C.

2010-01-01

The emergence of increasingly sophisticated communication technologies and the media-rich extensions of the World Wide Web have prompted universities to use alternatives to the traditional classroom teaching and learning methods. This demand for alternative delivery methods has led to the development of a wide range of eLearning techniques.…

A hybrid 3D spatial access method based on quadtrees and R-trees for globe data

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Jun; Ke, Shengnan; Li, Xiaomin; Qi, Shuhua

2009-10-01

3D spatial access method for globe data is very crucial technique for virtual earth. This paper presents a brand-new maintenance method to index 3d objects distributed on the whole surface of the earth, which integrates the 1:1,000,000- scale topographic map tiles, Quad-tree and R-tree. Furthermore, when traditional methods are extended into 3d space, the performance of spatial index deteriorates badly, for example 3D R-tree. In order to effectively solve this difficult problem, a new algorithm of dynamic R-tree is put forward, which includes two sub-procedures, namely node-choosing and node-split. In the node-choosing algorithm, a new strategy is adopted, not like the traditional mode which is from top to bottom, but firstly from bottom to top then from top to bottom. This strategy can effectively solve the negative influence of node overlap. In the node-split algorithm, 2-to-3 split mode substitutes the traditional 1-to-2 mode, which can better concern the shape and size of nodes. Because of the rational tree shape, this R-tree method can easily integrate the concept of LOD. Therefore, it will be later implemented in commercial DBMS and adopted in time-crucial 3d GIS system.

New method of digital angiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashiya, Junichi; Korenaga, Takeo; Sakurai, Kenji; Sakai, Fumikazu; Kato, Hisatoyo; Takano, Masao.

1982-01-01

New experience of digital angiography using Fuji Intelligent Diagnostic X-ray System was reported. The system utilizes newly developed high sensitivity imaging plate in conjunction with computerized image processor instead of image intensifier-TV series, thus drastically improving image quality. Initial clinical trial was made in 46 cases including intravenous digital subtraction angiography and transcatheter digital arteriography. The advantages of this method were summerized as: 1. better resolution, 2. wider field size, 3. more sophisticated image manipulation program. (author)

The Biocarbon vascular access device (DiaTAB) for haemodialysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Smits, P J; Slooff, M J; Lichtendahl, D H; van der Hem, G K

1985-01-01

The Biocarbon vascular access device (DiaTAB) is a relatively new method in secondary access surgery. Punctures, often the cause of complications can be avoided because it is a no-needle method of dialysis. However thrombosis due to stenosis of the venous anastomosis or of the efferent vein is a continuing problem. A new experience is the fibrin flap formation under the plug of the device, which can be removed easily.

Access to Research Inputs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Czarnitzki, Dirk; Grimpe, Christoph; Pellens, Maikel

2015-01-01

The viability of modern open science norms and practices depends on public disclosure of new knowledge, methods, and materials. However, increasing industry funding of research can restrict the dissemination of results and materials. We show, through a survey sample of 837 German scientists in life...... sciences, natural sciences, engineering, and social sciences, that scientists who receive industry funding are twice as likely to deny requests for research inputs as those who do not. Receiving external funding in general does not affect denying others access. Scientists who receive external funding...... of any kind are, however, 50 % more likely to be denied access to research materials by others, but this is not affected by being funded specifically by industry...

Access to Research Inputs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Czarnitzki, Dirk; Grimpe, Christoph; Pellens, Maikel

The viability of modern open science norms and practices depend on public disclosure of new knowledge, methods, and materials. However, increasing industry funding of research can restrict the dissemination of results and materials. We show, through a survey sample of 837 German scientists in life...... sciences, natural sciences, engineering, and social sciences, that scientists who receive industry funding are twice as likely to deny requests for research inputs as those who do not. Receiving external funding in general does not affect denying others access. Scientists who receive external funding...... of any kind are, however, 50% more likely to be denied access to research materials by others, but this is not affected by being funded specifically by industry....

Open Access Publishing in Indian Premier Research Institutions

Science.gov (United States)

Bhat, Mohammad Hanief

2009-01-01

Introduction: Publishing research findings in open access journals is a means of enhancing visibility and consequently increasing the impact of publications. This study provides an overview of open access publishing in premier research institutes of India. Method: The publication output of each institution from 2003 to 2007 was ascertained through…

Accessible solitons of fractional dimension

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhong, Wei-Ping, E-mail: zhongwp6@126.com [Department of Electronic and Information Engineering, Shunde Polytechnic, Guangdong Province, Shunde 528300 (China); Texas A& M University at Qatar, P.O. Box 23874, Doha (Qatar); Belić, Milivoj [Texas A& M University at Qatar, P.O. Box 23874, Doha (Qatar); Zhang, Yiqi [Key Laboratory for Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education & Shaanxi Key Lab of Information Photonic Technique, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049 (China)

2016-05-15

We demonstrate that accessible solitons described by an extended Schrödinger equation with the Laplacian of fractional dimension can exist in strongly nonlocal nonlinear media. The soliton solutions of the model are constructed by two special functions, the associated Legendre polynomials and the Laguerre polynomials in the fraction-dimensional space. Our results show that these fractional accessible solitons form a soliton family which includes crescent solitons, and asymmetric single-layer and multi-layer necklace solitons. -- Highlights: •Analytic solutions of a fractional Schrödinger equation are obtained. •The solutions are produced by means of self-similar method applied to the fractional Schrödinger equation with parabolic potential. •The fractional accessible solitons form crescent, asymmetric single-layer and multilayer necklace profiles. •The model applies to the propagation of optical pulses in strongly nonlocal nonlinear media.

Measuring Vulnerable Population’s Healthy and Unhealthy Food Access in Austin, Texas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junfeng Jiao

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Food deserts—areas with a significant low-income population experiencing low accessibility to healthy food sources—have been well studied in terms of their connection to obesity and its related health outcomes. Measuring food accessibility is the key component in food desert research. However, previous studies often measured food accessibility based on large geographic units (e.g. census tract, zip code with few transportation modes (e.g. driving or taking public transit and limited vulnerable population measures. This paper aims to demonstrate a new method to measure food access for different vulnerable population groups at a smaller geographic scale with different transportation modes. In detail, this paper improves on previous studies from the following three perspectives: (1 Measuring food accessibility with a smaller geographic scale: block group vs. census track which on average includes 1000 people vs. 4000 people; (2 Measuring food accessibility with different transportation modes: walking, biking, transit, and driving vs. driving only; and (3 Measuring food accessibility for different vulnerable population groups. The proposed method was tested in the city of Austin, which is the capital of Texas and the 11th largest city in the US, and measured people’s accessibility to both healthy and unhealthy food sources within the city. The methods can be applied to address food accessibility issues in other cities or regions.

Detecting Inappropriate Access to Electronic Health Records Using Collaborative Filtering.

Science.gov (United States)

Menon, Aditya Krishna; Jiang, Xiaoqian; Kim, Jihoon; Vaidya, Jaideep; Ohno-Machado, Lucila

2014-04-01

Many healthcare facilities enforce security on their electronic health records (EHRs) through a corrective mechanism: some staff nominally have almost unrestricted access to the records, but there is a strict ex post facto audit process for inappropriate accesses, i.e., accesses that violate the facility's security and privacy policies. This process is inefficient, as each suspicious access has to be reviewed by a security expert, and is purely retrospective, as it occurs after damage may have been incurred. This motivates automated approaches based on machine learning using historical data. Previous attempts at such a system have successfully applied supervised learning models to this end, such as SVMs and logistic regression. While providing benefits over manual auditing, these approaches ignore the identity of the users and patients involved in a record access. Therefore, they cannot exploit the fact that a patient whose record was previously involved in a violation has an increased risk of being involved in a future violation. Motivated by this, in this paper, we propose a collaborative filtering inspired approach to predicting inappropriate accesses. Our solution integrates both explicit and latent features for staff and patients, the latter acting as a personalized "finger-print" based on historical access patterns. The proposed method, when applied to real EHR access data from two tertiary hospitals and a file-access dataset from Amazon, shows not only significantly improved performance compared to existing methods, but also provides insights as to what indicates an inappropriate access.

Sophistication of operator training using BWR plant simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohshiro, Nobuo; Endou, Hideaki; Fujita, Eimitsu; Miyakita, Kouji

1986-01-01

In Japanese nuclear power stations, owing to the improvement of fuel management, thorough maintenance and inspection, and the improvement of facilities, high capacity ratio has been attained. The thorough training of operators in nuclear power stations also contributes to it sufficiently. The BWR operator training center was established in 1971, and started the training of operators in April, 1974. As of the end of March, 1986, more than 1800 trainees completed training. At present, in the BWR operator training center, No.1 simulator of 800 MW class and No.2 simulator of 1100 MW class are operated for training. In this report, the method, by newly adopting it, good result was obtained, is described, that is, the method of introducing the feeling of being present on the spot into the place of training, and the new testing method introduced in retraining course. In the simulator training which is apt to place emphasis on a central control room, the method of stimulating trainees by playing the part of correspondence on the spot and heightening the training effect of multiple monitoring was tried, and the result was confirmed. The test of confirmation on the control board was added. (Kako, I.)

Precise charge density studies by maximum entropy method

CERN Document Server

Takata, M

2003-01-01

For the production research and development of nanomaterials, their structural information is indispensable. Recently, a sophisticated analytical method, which is based on information theory, the Maximum Entropy Method (MEM) using synchrotron radiation powder data, has been successfully applied to determine precise charge densities of metallofullerenes and nanochannel microporous compounds. The results revealed various endohedral natures of metallofullerenes and one-dimensional array formation of adsorbed gas molecules in nanochannel microporous compounds. The concept of MEM analysis was also described briefly. (author)

Yersinia virulence factors - a sophisticated arsenal for combating host defences [version 1; referees: 2 approved

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steve Atkinson

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The human pathogens Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia enterocolitica cause enterocolitis, while Yersinia pestis is responsible for pneumonic, bubonic, and septicaemic plague. All three share an infection strategy that relies on a virulence factor arsenal to enable them to enter, adhere to, and colonise the host while evading host defences to avoid untimely clearance. Their arsenal includes a number of adhesins that allow the invading pathogens to establish a foothold in the host and to adhere to specific tissues later during infection. When the host innate immune system has been activated, all three pathogens produce a structure analogous to a hypodermic needle. In conjunction with the translocon, which forms a pore in the host membrane, the channel that is formed enables the transfer of six ‘effector’ proteins into the host cell cytoplasm. These proteins mimic host cell proteins but are more efficient than their native counterparts at modifying the host cell cytoskeleton, triggering the host cell suicide response. Such a sophisticated arsenal ensures that yersiniae maintain the upper hand despite the best efforts of the host to counteract the infecting pathogen.

ACOG Committee Opinion Number 542: Access to emergency contraception.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-01

Emergency contraception includes contraceptive methods used to prevent pregnancy in the first few days after unprotected intercourse, sexual assault, or contraceptive failure. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first dedicated product for emergency contraception in 1998, numerous barriers to access to emergency contraception remain. The purpose of this Committee Opinion is to examine the barriers to the use of oral emergency contraception methods and to highlight the importance of increasing access.

Does Imaging Modality Used For Percutaneous Renal Access Make a Difference?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andonian, Sero; Scoffone, Cesare; Louie, Michael K

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE To assess peri-operative outcomes of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) using ultrasound or fluoroscopic guidance for percutaneous access. METHODS A prospectively collected international CROES database containing 5806 patients treated with PCNL was used for the study. Patients were...... divided into two groups based on the methods of percutaneous access: ultrasound vs. fluoroscopy. Patient characteristics, operative data and post-operative outcomes were compared. RESULTS Percutaneous access was obtained using ultrasound guidance only in 453 patients (13.7%) and fluoroscopic guidance only...

A spatial analysis of variations in health access: linking geography, socio-economic status and access perceptions

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background This paper analyses the relationship between public perceptions of access to general practitioners (GPs) surgeries and hospitals against health status, car ownership and geographic distance. In so doing it explores the different dimensions associated with facility access and accessibility. Methods Data on difficulties experienced in accessing health services, respondent health status and car ownership were collected through an attitudes survey. Road distances to the nearest service were calculated for each respondent using a GIS. Difficulty was related to geographic distance, health status and car ownership using logistic generalized linear models. A Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) was used to explore the spatial non-stationarity in the results. Results Respondent long term illness, reported bad health and non-car ownership were found to be significant predictors of difficulty in accessing GPs and hospitals. Geographic distance was not a significant predictor of difficulty in accessing hospitals but was for GPs. GWR identified the spatial (local) variation in these global relationships indicating locations where the predictive strength of the independent variables was higher or lower than the global trend. The impacts of bad health and non-car ownership on the difficulties experienced in accessing health services varied spatially across the study area, whilst the impacts of geographic distance did not. Conclusions Difficulty in accessing different health facilities was found to be significantly related to health status and car ownership, whilst the impact of geographic distance depends on the service in question. GWR showed how these relationships were varied across the study area. This study demonstrates that the notion of access is a multi-dimensional concept, whose composition varies with location, according to the facility being considered and the health and socio-economic status of the individual concerned. PMID:21787394

Optical Alignment of the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter using Sophisticated Methods to Minimize Activities under Vacuum

Science.gov (United States)

Giono, G.; Katsukawa, Y.; Ishikawa, R.; Narukage, N.; Kano, R.; Kubo, M.; Ishikawa, S.; Bando, T.; Hara, H.; Suematsu, Y.;

Characterization of coded random access with compressive sensing based multi user detection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ji, Yalei; Stefanovic, Cedomir; Bockelmann, Carsten

2014-01-01

The emergence of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication requires new Medium Access Control (MAC) schemes and physical (PHY) layer concepts to support a massive number of access requests. The concept of coded random access, introduced recently, greatly outperforms other random access methods...... coded random access with CS-MUD on the PHY layer and show very promising results for the resulting protocol....

Brain Sciences – An Open Access Journal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Germán Barrionuevo

2010-07-01

Full Text Available During the first ten years that followed “The Decade of the Brain”, the quest of neuroscience for understanding brain function in health and disease has greatly expanded to include molecular, developmental, cognitive and evolutionary aspects of the nervous system. This increased multidisciplinary effort has been complemented by the spectacular development of highly sophisticated experimental methods. Neuroscientists can now perform studies ranging from molecular and imaging analysis of single pre- and postsynaptic neuronal processes to imaging of neural activity in the whole brain during perceptual and motor behavioral tasks. At the same time, theoretical advances in neuroscience have been aided by the rapid development of mathematical and computational simulations of biologically and functionally realistic single cells and complex neural networks across multiple spatiotemporal scales. Therefore, neuroscientists are more than ever in a position to deliver answers to basic, medical and biotechnological questions related to brain function and dysfunction. [...

The contribution of atom accessibility to site of metabolism models for cytochromes P450

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rydberg, Patrik; Rostkowski, M.; Gloriam, D.E.

2013-01-01

Three different types of atom accessibility descriptors are investigated in relation to site of metabolism predictions. To enable the integration of local accessibility we have constructed 2DSASA, a method for the calculation of the atomic solvent accessible surface area that is independent of 3D...... coordinates. The method was implemented in the SMARTCyp site of metabolism prediction models and improved the results by up to 4 percentage points for nine cytochrome P450 isoforms. The final models are made available at http://www.farma.ku.dk/smartcyp.......Three different types of atom accessibility descriptors are investigated in relation to site of metabolism predictions. To enable the integration of local accessibility we have constructed 2DSASA, a method for the calculation of the atomic solvent accessible surface area that is independent of 3D...

Access to surgical assistance: challenges and perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Fernanda do Prado Tostes

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Objective to characterize the access to surgical assistance in Brazil. Method documentary study, with a quantitative approach, developed from information of the Caixa Preta da Saúde [Health Black Box] database, of the Brazilian Medical Association. Results in the one-year period 3773 cases related to health care in Brazil were recorded. There were 458 (12.3% records on surgical assistance. Of these, most, 339 (74.1%, involved the lack of access in all regions of Brazil. The main access constraint was the prolonged waiting time for surgery. Other constraints were the excessive waiting for medical appointment with experts, doing examinations and cancellation of surgeries. Conclusion the access to surgical assistance, by users of the Brazilian health system, is not widely guaranteed, reinforcing the need for integrated governmental actions, organization of the health care network, management of health care and human resources to overcome the challenges imposed to achieve the Universal Access to Health and Universal Health Coverage.

A method to implement fine-grained access control for personal health records through standard relational database queries.

Science.gov (United States)

Sujansky, Walter V; Faus, Sam A; Stone, Ethan; Brennan, Patricia Flatley

2010-10-01

Online personal health records (PHRs) enable patients to access, manage, and share certain of their own health information electronically. This capability creates the need for precise access-controls mechanisms that restrict the sharing of data to that intended by the patient. The authors describe the design and implementation of an access-control mechanism for PHR repositories that is modeled on the eXtensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML) standard, but intended to reduce the cognitive and computational complexity of XACML. The authors implemented the mechanism entirely in a relational database system using ANSI-standard SQL statements. Based on a set of access-control rules encoded as relational table rows, the mechanism determines via a single SQL query whether a user who accesses patient data from a specific application is authorized to perform a requested operation on a specified data object. Testing of this query on a moderately large database has demonstrated execution times consistently below 100ms. The authors include the details of the implementation, including algorithms, examples, and a test database as Supplementary materials. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Transport Accessibility on the Social Inclusion of Wheelchair Users: A Mixed Method Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raquel Velho

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In recent years the accessibility of London buses has improved with the introduction of ramps and wheelchair priority areas. These advances are meant to remove physical barriers to entering the bus, but new conflicts have arisen particularly over the physical space aboard. We aimed to research the barriers faced by wheelchair users in public transport using a mixed methods approach to establish the breadth of issues faced by wheelchair users. To this end we quantified the push-force used alight a bus and a study to understand the coping mechanisms used by people to propel up a ramp. This quantitative approach found push forces which resulted in a load of 2 to 3 times body weight being transferred through people’s shoulders, forces which can be directly linked to shoulder injury. This could disable the user further, preventing them from being able to push their wheelchair. Alongside the quantitative study, we conducted qualitative research comprising of a number of in-depth interviews with wheelchair users about the barriers they face in public transport. Our main claim, highlighted through this interdisciplinary collaboration, is that proposed ‘solutions’ to accessibility, such as ramps, often generate problems of their own. These barriers can affect the life of wheelchair users, impacting on their confidence and causing social isolation. These can be long-term in nature or immediate.

Heuristics Miner for E-Commerce Visitor Access Pattern Representation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kartina Diah Kesuma Wardhani

2017-06-01

Full Text Available E-commerce click stream data can form a certain pattern that describe visitor behavior while surfing the e-commerce website. This pattern can be used to initiate a design to determine alternative access sequence on the website. This research use heuristic miner algorithm to determine the pattern. σ-Algorithm and Genetic Mining are methods used for pattern recognition with frequent sequence item set approach. Heuristic Miner is an evolved form of those methods. σ-Algorithm assume that an activity in a website, that has been recorded in the data log, is a complete sequence from start to finish, without any tolerance to incomplete data or data with noise. On the other hand, Genetic Mining is a method that tolerate incomplete data or data with noise, so it can generate a more detailed e-commerce visitor access pattern. In this study, the same sequence of events obtained from six-generated patterns. The resulting pattern of visitor access is that visitors are often access the home page and then the product category page or the home page and then the full text search page.

Complications of Central Venous Totally Implantable Access Port: Internal Jugular Versus Subclavian Access

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pil Young Jung

Full Text Available Background: Totally implantable access port (TIAP provides reliable, long term vascular access with minimal risk of infection and allows patients normal physical activity. With wide use of ports, new complications have been encountered. We analyzed TIAP related complications and evaluated the outcomes of two different percutaneous routes of access to superior vena cava. Methods: All 172 patients who underwent port insertion with internal jugular approach (Group 1, n = 92 and subclavian approach (Group 2, n = 79 between August 2011 and May 2013 in a single center were analyzed, retrospectively. Medical records were analyzed to compare the outcomes and the occurrence of port related complications between two different percutaneous routes of access to superior vena cava. Results: Median follow-up for TIAP was 278 days (range, 1-1868. Twenty four complications were occurred (14.0%, including pneumothorax (n = 1, 0.6%, migration/malposition (n = 4, 2.3%, pinch-off syndrome (n = 4, 2.3%, malfunction (n = 2, 1.1%, infection (n = 8, 4.7%, and venous thrombosis (n = 5, 2.9%. The overall incidence was 8.7% and 20.3% in each group (p = 0.030. Mechanical complications except infectious and thrombotic complications were more often occurred in group 2 (p = 0.033. The mechanical complication free probability is significantly higher in group 1 (p = 0.040. Conclusions: We suggest that the jugular access should be chosen in patients who need long term catheterization because of high incidence of mechanical complication, such as pinch-off syndrome.

Developing a measure of patient access to primary care: the access response index (AROS).

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Elwyn, G.; Jones, W.; Rhydderch, S.M.; Edwards, P.

2003-01-01

Access to appointments in primary care is not routinely measured, and there is no one standardized method for doing so. Any measurement tool has to take account of the dynamic status of appointment availability and the definitional problems of appointment types. The aim of this study was to develop

Improving Nearest Neighbour Search in 3D Spatial Access Method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Suhaibah, A.; Rahman, A. A.; Uznir, U.

2016-01-01

are still facing with unresolved issues such as overlapping among nodes and repetitive data entry. This situation will perform an excessive Input/Output (IO) operation which is inefficient for data retrieval. The situation will become more crucial while dealing with 3D data. The size of 3D data is usually...... and the accessed page. The proposed structure also produced minimal Input/Output operation. The query response time is also outperformed compared to the other competitor. For future outlook of this research several possible applications are discussed and summarized....

Critical confrontation of standard and more sophisticated methods for modelling the dispersion in air of heavy gas clouds; evaluation and illustration of the intrinsic limitations of both categories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riethmuller, M.L.

1983-01-01

Mathematical models of gas dispersion have evolved drastically since the 1930's. For a long time, the most widely used approach was the so-called Gaussian model as described in practical terms by Turner or box models which have shown relative merits. In the field of heavy gas dispersion, the use of such approaches appeared somewhat limited and therefore new models have been proposed. Some of these new generation models were making use of the latest progress in turbulence modelling as derived from laboratory work as well as numerical advances. The advent of faster and larger computers made possible the development of three dimensional codes that were computing both flow field and gas dispersion taking into account details of the ground obstacles, heat exchange and possibly phase changes as well. The description of these new types of models makes them appear as a considerable improvement over the simpler approaches. However, recent comparisons between many of these have led to the conclusion that the scatter between predictions attained with sophisticated models was just as large as with other ones. It seems therefore, that current researchers might have fallen into the trap of confusing mathematical precision with accuracy. It is therefore felt necessary to enlighten this question by an investigation which, rather than comparing individual models, would analyse the key features of both approaches and put in evidence their relative merits and degree of realism when being really applied

Accessible engineering drawings for visually impaired machine operators.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramteke, Deepak; Kansal, Gayatri; Madhab, Benu

2014-01-01

An engineering drawing provides manufacturing information to a machine operator. An operator plans and executes machining operations based on this information. A visually impaired (VI) operator does not have direct access to the drawings. Drawing information is provided to them verbally or by using sample parts. Both methods have limitations that affect the quality of output. Use of engineering drawings is a standard practice for every industry; this hampers employment of a VI operator. Accessible engineering drawings are required to increase both independence, as well as, employability of VI operators. Today, Computer Aided Design (CAD) software is used for making engineering drawings, which are saved in CAD files. Required information is extracted from the CAD files and converted into Braille or voice. The authors of this article propose a method to make engineering drawings information directly accessible to a VI operator.

Facilitators and barriers to accessing reproductive health care for migrant beer promoters in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam: a mixed methods study.

Science.gov (United States)

Webber, Gail; Spitzer, Denise; Somrongthong, Ratana; Dat, Truong Cong; Kounnavongsa, Somphone

2012-07-02

The purpose of the research was to assess access to sexual and reproductive health services for migrant women who work as beer promoters. This mixed methods research was conducted in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Bangkok, Thailand, Vientiane, Laos, and Hanoi, Vietnam during 2010 to 2011. Focus groups were held with beer promoters and separate focus groups or interviews with key informants to explore the factors affecting beer promoters' access to health care institutions for reproductive health care. The findings of the focus groups were used to develop a survey for beer promoters. This survey was conducted in popular health institutions for these women in each of the four Asian cities. Several common themes were evident. Work demands prevented beer promoters from accessing health care. Institutional factors affecting care included cost, location, environmental factors (e.g. waiting times, cleanliness and confidentiality) and service factors (e.g. staff attitudes, clinic hours, and availability of medications). Personal factors affecting access were shyness and fear, lack of knowledge, and support from family and friends.The survey of the beer promoters confirmed that cost, location and both environmental and service factors impact on access to health care services for beer promoters. Many beer promoters are sexually active, and a significant proportion of those surveyed rely on sex work to supplement their income. Many also drink with their clients. Despite a few differences amongst the surveyed population, the findings were remarkably similar across the four research sites. Recommendations from the research include the provision of evening and weekend clinic hours to facilitate access, free or low cost clinics, and health insurance through employer or government plans which are easy to access for migrants. Other improvements that would facilitate the access of beer promoters to these services include increased funding to hire more staff (reducing waiting times) and to

Access to parks and physical activity: an eight country comparison

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schipperijn, Jasper; Cerin, Ester; Adams, Marc A

2017-01-01

Abstract Several systematic reviews have reported mixed associations between access to parks and physical activity, and suggest that this is due to inconsistencies in the study methods or differences across countries. An international study using consistent methods is needed to investigate...... the association between access to parks and physical activity. The International Physical Activity and Environment Network (IPEN) Adult Study is a multi-country cross-sectional study using a common design and consistent methods Accelerometer, survey and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data for 6......,181 participants from 12 cities in 8 countries (Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, Mexico, New Zealand, UK, USA) were used to estimate the strength and shape of associations of 11 measures of park access (1 perceived and 10 GIS-based measures) with accelerometer-based moderate-to-vigorous physical activity...

Broadband Access

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

First page Back Continue Last page Overview Graphics. Broadband Access. Worldwide market for broadband access $30 Billion! Over 200 million broadband subscribers worldwide! Various Competing Broadband access. Digital Subscriber line; Wireless; Optical Fiber.

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brulotte, P.J.

1996-01-01

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

Key issues of multiple access technique for LEO satellite communication systems

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

温萍萍; 顾学迈

2004-01-01

The large carrier frequency shift caused by the high-speed movement of satellite (Doppler effects) and the propagation delay on the up-down link are very critical issues in an LEO satellite communication system, which affects both the selection and the implementation of a suitable access method. A Doppler based multiple access technique is used here to control the flow and an MPRMA-HS protocol is proposed for the application in LEO satellite communication systems. The extended simulation trials prove that the proposed scheme seems to be a very promising access method.

File access prediction using neural networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Patra, Prashanta Kumar; Sahu, Muktikanta; Mohapatra, Subasish; Samantray, Ronak Kumar

2010-06-01

One of the most vexing issues in design of a high-speed computer is the wide gap of access times between the memory and the disk. To solve this problem, static file access predictors have been used. In this paper, we propose dynamic file access predictors using neural networks to significantly improve upon the accuracy, success-per-reference, and effective-success-rate-per-reference by using neural-network-based file access predictor with proper tuning. In particular, we verified that the incorrect prediction has been reduced from 53.11% to 43.63% for the proposed neural network prediction method with a standard configuration than the recent popularity (RP) method. With manual tuning for each trace, we are able to improve upon the misprediction rate and effective-success-rate-per-reference using a standard configuration. Simulations on distributed file system (DFS) traces reveal that exact fit radial basis function (RBF) gives better prediction in high end system whereas multilayer perceptron (MLP) trained with Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) backpropagation outperforms in system having good computational capability. Probabilistic and competitive predictors are the most suitable for work stations having limited resources to deal with and the former predictor is more efficient than the latter for servers having maximum system calls. Finally, we conclude that MLP with LM backpropagation algorithm has better success rate of file prediction than those of simple perceptron, last successor, stable successor, and best k out of m predictors.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2015-01-01

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

Study of the Reproductive Characteristics of Nine Cassava Accessions

African Journals Online (AJOL)

User

need to use different planting dates for different accessions to ensure synchronization of flowering. The accessions also differed significantly (P < 0.05) with ... Materials and methods. The experiment was carried out at the. Research Farm ... Minitab Statistical Software (version 15.0) was used where Chi-square analysis was.

Rapid deletion plasmid construction methods for protoplast and Agrobacterium based fungal transformation systems

Science.gov (United States)

Increasing availability of genomic data and sophistication of analytical methodology in fungi has elevated the need for functional genomics tools in these organisms. Gene deletion is a critical tool for functional analysis. The targeted deletion of genes requires both a suitable method for the trans...

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Williams

2012-11-01

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

Sign Compute Resolve for Random Access

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Goseling, Jasper; Stefanovic, Cedomir; Popovski, Petar

2014-01-01

users collide. We measure the performance of the proposed method in terms of user resolution rate as well as overall throughput of the system. The results show that our approach significantly increases the performance of the system even compared to coded random access, where collisions are not wasted......We present an approach to random access that is based on three elements: physical-layer network coding, signature codes and tree splitting. Upon occurrence of a collision, physical-layer network coding enables the receiver to decode the sum of the information that was transmitted by the individual...

Teaching Basic Quantum Mechanics in Secondary School Using Concepts of Feynman Path Integrals Method

Science.gov (United States)

Fanaro, Maria de los Angeles; Otero, Maria Rita; Arlego, Marcelo

2012-01-01

This paper discusses the teaching of basic quantum mechanics in high school. Rather than following the usual formalism, our approach is based on Feynman's path integral method. Our presentation makes use of simulation software and avoids sophisticated mathematical formalism. (Contains 3 figures.)

Associations between e-cigarette access and smoking and drinking behaviours in teenagers.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Karen; Bellis, Mark A; Hardcastle, Katherine A; McHale, Philip; Bennett, Andrew; Ireland, Robin; Pike, Kate

2015-03-31

Public health concerns regarding e-cigarettes and debate on appropriate regulatory responses are focusing on the need to prevent child access to these devices. However, little is currently known about the characteristics of those young people that are accessing e-cigarettes. Using a cross-sectional survey of 14-17 year old school students in North West England (n = 16,193) we examined associations between e-cigarette access and demographics, conventional smoking behaviours, alcohol consumption, and methods of accessing cigarettes and alcohol. Access to e-cigarettes was identified through a question asking students if they had ever tried or purchased e-cigarettes. One in five participants reported having accessed e-cigarettes (19.2%). Prevalence was highest among smokers (rising to 75.8% in those smoking >5 per day), although 15.8% of teenagers that had accessed e-cigarettes had never smoked conventional cigarettes (v.13.6% being ex-smokers). E-cigarette access was independently associated with male gender, having parents/guardians that smoke and students' alcohol use. Compared with non-drinkers, teenagers that drank alcohol at least weekly and binge drank were more likely to have accessed e-cigarettes (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.89, P smoking cessation. Those most likely to access e-cigarettes may already be familiar with illicit methods of accessing age-restricted substances.

Exploring the predictive power of interaction terms in a sophisticated risk equalization model using regression trees.

Science.gov (United States)

van Veen, S H C M; van Kleef, R C; van de Ven, W P M M; van Vliet, R C J A

2018-02-01

This study explores the predictive power of interaction terms between the risk adjusters in the Dutch risk equalization (RE) model of 2014. Due to the sophistication of this RE-model and the complexity of the associations in the dataset (N = ~16.7 million), there are theoretically more than a million interaction terms. We used regression tree modelling, which has been applied rarely within the field of RE, to identify interaction terms that statistically significantly explain variation in observed expenses that is not already explained by the risk adjusters in this RE-model. The interaction terms identified were used as additional risk adjusters in the RE-model. We found evidence that interaction terms can improve the prediction of expenses overall and for specific groups in the population. However, the prediction of expenses for some other selective groups may deteriorate. Thus, interactions can reduce financial incentives for risk selection for some groups but may increase them for others. Furthermore, because regression trees are not robust, additional criteria are needed to decide which interaction terms should be used in practice. These criteria could be the right incentive structure for risk selection and efficiency or the opinion of medical experts. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Two-port access versus four-port access laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Won-Kyu; Kim, Jang-Kew; Yang, Jung-Bo; Ko, Young-Bok; Nam, Sang-Lyun; Lee, Ki-Hwan

2014-09-01

This study was conducted to compare the surgical outcomes between two-port access and four-port access laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy. Four hundred and eighty nine patients who had received two-port access laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy (n=175) and four-port access laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy (n=314) in Chungnam National University Hospital from January 2009 to August 2012 were analyzed retrospectively. The data were compared between the bilaterality of the cysts and cyst diameter of less than 6 cm and 6 cm or more. There were no significant differences in patient's age, parity, body weight, body mass index and history of previous surgery between the two-port and four-port access laparoscopy group. Bilaterality of ovarian cysts was more in fourport access laparoscopy group (13.7% vs. 32.5%, P=0.000). There were no significant differences in operation time, hemoglobin change, hospital stay, adhesiolysis, transfusion, and insertion of hemo-vac between the two-port and four-port access laparoscopy group for size matched compare. However additional analgesics were more in four-port access laparoscopy group for unilateral ovarian cystectomy. Two-port access laparoscopic surgery was feasible and safe for unilateral and bilateral ovarian cystectomy compare with four-port access laparoscopic surgery.

Space shuttle main engine vibration data base

Science.gov (United States)

Lewallen, Pat

1986-01-01

The Space Shuttle Main Engine Vibration Data Base is described. Included is a detailed description of the data base components, the data acquisition process, the more sophisticated software routines, and the future data acquisition methods. Several figures and plots are provided to illustrate the various output formats accessible to the user. The numerous vibration data recall and analysis capabilities available through automated data base techniques are revealed.

FINANCIAL DEPTH AND FINANCIAL ACCESS IN INDONESIA

OpenAIRE

Sigit Setiawan

2015-01-01

This study is intended to analyze the current levels of financial depth and financial access in Indonesia and to analyze the factors affecting them. The analysis method used was a combination of descriptive quantitative, benchmarking, and literature reviews. The conclusion is that the financial depth in Indonesia has not shown a satisfactory level since it was the lowest, or the second lowest ranked country among the sampled countries. Meanwhile, the financial access in Indonesia is relativel...

Water accessibility in a membrane-inserting peptide comparing Overhauser DNP and pulse EPR methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Segawa, Takuya F., E-mail: takuya.segawa@alumni.ethz.ch; Doppelbauer, Maximilian; Garbuio, Luca; Doll, Andrin; Polyhach, Yevhen O.; Jeschke, Gunnar, E-mail: gjeschke@ethz.ch [Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, CH-8093 Zurich (Switzerland)

2016-05-21

Water accessibility is a key parameter for the understanding of the structure of biomolecules, especially membrane proteins. Several experimental techniques based on the combination of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy with site-directed spin labeling are currently available. Among those, we compare relaxation time measurements and electron spin echo envelope modulation (ESEEM) experiments using pulse EPR with Overhauser dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) at X-band frequency and a magnetic field of 0.33 T. Overhauser DNP transfers the electron spin polarization to nuclear spins via cross-relaxation. The change in the intensity of the {sup 1}H NMR spectrum of H{sub 2}O at a Larmor frequency of 14 MHz under a continuous-wave microwave irradiation of the nitroxide spin label contains information on the water accessibility of the labeled site. As a model system for a membrane protein, we use the hydrophobic α-helical peptide WALP23 in unilamellar liposomes of DOPC. Water accessibility measurements with all techniques are conducted for eight peptides with different spin label positions and low radical concentrations (10–20 μM). Consistently in all experiments, the water accessibility appears to be very low, even for labels positioned near the end of the helix. The best profile is obtained by Overhauser DNP, which is the only technique that succeeds in discriminating neighboring positions in WALP23. Since the concentration of the spin-labeled peptides varied, we normalized the DNP parameter ϵ, being the relative change of the NMR intensity, by the electron spin concentration, which was determined from a continuous-wave EPR spectrum.

General survey of detection methods for irradiation foods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, J. S.

1997-01-01

The development of detection techniques is needed, in order for regulating authorities to determine whether or not a particular food sample has been irradiated, and label it accordingly so that a consumer's free choice can be exercised. The chemical and physical changes brought about in foods by practical doses of irradiation are very small, and therefore very sensitive methods are required. A number of promising approaches have been developed and evaluated. These include chemical, physical and biological methods ranging from the very simple to highly sophisticated techniques. (author)

Using Mobile Phone Technologies to Maintain Quality of Education in Ethiopia: A View beyond the Prevalence of Academic Dishonesty

Science.gov (United States)

Bachore, Mebratu Mulatu

2015-01-01

The 21st century is characterized by the increasing access to sophisticated but affordable and portable technologies that are contributing much to the world. Specifically, in Ethiopia, mobile technologies are rapidly attracting new users, providing increasing capacity, and introducing more sophisticated uses to the citizens. However, it is…

Interpreting and Presenting Data to Management. Air Professional File Number 36.

Science.gov (United States)

Clagett, Craig A.

Guidelines are offered to institutional researchers and planning analysts for presenting research results in formats and levels of sophistication that are accessible to top management. Fundamental principles include: (1) know what is needed; (2) know when the information is needed; (3) match format to analytical sophistication and learning…

Machine cost analysis using the traditional machine-rate method and ChargeOut!

Science.gov (United States)

E. M. (Ted) Bilek

2009-01-01

Forestry operations require ever more use of expensive capital equipment. Mechanization is frequently necessary to perform cost-effective and safe operations. Increased capital should mean more sophisticated capital costing methodologies. However the machine rate method, which is the costing methodology most frequently used, dates back to 1942. CHARGEOUT!, a recently...

Efficient medium access control protocol for geostationary satellite systems

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王丽娜; 顾学迈

2004-01-01

This paper proposes an efficient medium access control (MAC) protocol based on multifrequency-time division multiple access (MF-TDMA) for geostationary satellite systems deploying multiple spot-beams and onboard processing,which uses a method of random reservation access with movable boundaries to dynamically request the transmission slots and can transmit different types of traffic. The simulation results have shown that our designed MAC protocol can achieve a high bandwidth utilization, while providing the required quality of service (QoS) for each class of service.

Park Accessibility Impacts Housing Prices in Seoul

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin Han Park

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Housing prices are determined by a variety of factors, including the features of the building and the neighborhood environment, and a potential buyer decides to buy a house after reviewing these factors and concluding that it is worth the price. We used Hedonic Price Methods to find the relationship between monetary value of house and access conditions to urban parks. Two meaningful results were discovered in this study: first, as the distance from the park increases, the value of the park inherent in the housing price decreases; second, the greater walking accessibility, to the park, the higher the park value inherent in housing prices. Despite presenting shorter distances to walk and more entrances, poorly accessible zones were deemed as such due to the necessity of crossing an arterial road. This indicates that the results can define accessibility not as the Euclidian distance but as the shortest walking distance while considering crossroads and park entrances. The results of this study have significant implications for urban park economic impact analyses in Seoul. Also, the increase in housing prices closer to parks supports the idea that access is dependent on the residents’ socioeconomic status. Lastly, the results of this study can improve walking accessibility to the park.

Open access

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Valkenburg, P.M.

2015-01-01

Open access week Van 19 tot en met 25 oktober 2015 vond wereldwijd de Open Access Week plaats. Tijdens deze week werden er over de hele wereld evenementen georganiseerd waar open access een rol speelt. Ook in Nederland zijn er diverse symposia, workshops en debatten georganiseerd zoals het debat in

FINANCIAL DEPTH AND FINANCIAL ACCESS IN INDONESIA

OpenAIRE

Sigit Setiawan

2015-01-01

This study is intended to analyse the current levels of financial depth and financial access in Indonesia and to analyse the factors affecting them. The analysis method used was a combination of descriptive quantitative, benchmarking, and literature reviews. The conclusion is that the financial depth in Indonesia has not shown a satisfactory level since it was the lowest, or the second lowest ranked country among the sampled countries. Meanwhile, the financial access in Indonesia is relativel...

Financial Depth and Financial Access in Indonesia

OpenAIRE

Setiawan, Sigit

2015-01-01

This study is intended to analyse the current levels of financial depth and financial access in Indonesia and to analyse the factors affecting them. The analysis method used was a combination of descriptive quantitative, benchmarking, and literature reviews. The conclusion is that the financial depth in Indonesia has not shown a satisfactory level since it was the lowest, or the second lowest ranked country among the sampled countries. Meanwhile, the financial access in Indonesia is relativel...

Open Access @ DTU

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ekstrøm, Jeannette

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

Scientific information: technology, will and access

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana M. B. Pavani

2007-12-01

Full Text Available This article addresses the access to information from a point of view that relates the evolution of technology to the methods of treating information and to the desire for knowledge. The first part introduces some important events in ancient times, the end of the middle ages/beginning of the modern age and the XIX century. Then, it presents an overview of the current situation of traditional libraries and compares some characteristics with the corresponding ones for digital libraries. It ends by mentioning the international efforts towards open archives and open access to information; it shows examples of positive results.

Using Geospatial Research Methods to Examine Resource Accessibility and Availability as it Relates to Community Participation of Individuals with Serious Mental Illnesses.

Science.gov (United States)

Townley, Greg; Brusilovskiy, Eugene; Snethen, Gretchen; Salzer, Mark S

2018-03-01

Greater community participation among individuals with serious mental illnesses is associated with better psychosocial and health outcomes. Typically, studies examining community participation have utilized self-report measures and been conducted in limited settings. The introduction of methodological advances to examining community participation of individuals with serious mental illnesses has the potential to advance the science of community mental health research and invigorate the work of community psychologists in this area. This study employed an innovative geospatial approach to examine the relationship between community participation and resource accessibility (i.e., proximity) and availability (i.e., concentration) among 294 individuals utilizing community mental health services throughout the United States. Findings suggest small but significant associations between community participation and the accessibility and availability of resources needed for participation. Furthermore, findings demonstrate the importance of car access for individuals residing in both urban and non-urban settings. The methods and results presented in this study have implications for community mental health research and services and provide an illustration of ways that geospatial methodologies can be used to investigate environmental factors that impact community inclusion and participation of individuals with serious mental illnesses. © Society for Community Research and Action 2017.

Simple Plans or Sophisticated Habits? State, Transition and Learning Interactions in the Two-Step Task.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Akam

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The recently developed 'two-step' behavioural task promises to differentiate model-based from model-free reinforcement learning, while generating neurophysiologically-friendly decision datasets with parametric variation of decision variables. These desirable features have prompted its widespread adoption. Here, we analyse the interactions between a range of different strategies and the structure of transitions and outcomes in order to examine constraints on what can be learned from behavioural performance. The task involves a trade-off between the need for stochasticity, to allow strategies to be discriminated, and a need for determinism, so that it is worth subjects' investment of effort to exploit the contingencies optimally. We show through simulation that under certain conditions model-free strategies can masquerade as being model-based. We first show that seemingly innocuous modifications to the task structure can induce correlations between action values at the start of the trial and the subsequent trial events in such a way that analysis based on comparing successive trials can lead to erroneous conclusions. We confirm the power of a suggested correction to the analysis that can alleviate this problem. We then consider model-free reinforcement learning strategies that exploit correlations between where rewards are obtained and which actions have high expected value. These generate behaviour that appears model-based under these, and also more sophisticated, analyses. Exploiting the full potential of the two-step task as a tool for behavioural neuroscience requires an understanding of these issues.

Simple Plans or Sophisticated Habits? State, Transition and Learning Interactions in the Two-Step Task

Science.gov (United States)

Akam, Thomas; Costa, Rui; Dayan, Peter

2015-01-01

The recently developed ‘two-step’ behavioural task promises to differentiate model-based from model-free reinforcement learning, while generating neurophysiologically-friendly decision datasets with parametric variation of decision variables. These desirable features have prompted its widespread adoption. Here, we analyse the interactions between a range of different strategies and the structure of transitions and outcomes in order to examine constraints on what can be learned from behavioural performance. The task involves a trade-off between the need for stochasticity, to allow strategies to be discriminated, and a need for determinism, so that it is worth subjects’ investment of effort to exploit the contingencies optimally. We show through simulation that under certain conditions model-free strategies can masquerade as being model-based. We first show that seemingly innocuous modifications to the task structure can induce correlations between action values at the start of the trial and the subsequent trial events in such a way that analysis based on comparing successive trials can lead to erroneous conclusions. We confirm the power of a suggested correction to the analysis that can alleviate this problem. We then consider model-free reinforcement learning strategies that exploit correlations between where rewards are obtained and which actions have high expected value. These generate behaviour that appears model-based under these, and also more sophisticated, analyses. Exploiting the full potential of the two-step task as a tool for behavioural neuroscience requires an understanding of these issues. PMID:26657806

Simple Plans or Sophisticated Habits? State, Transition and Learning Interactions in the Two-Step Task.

Science.gov (United States)

Akam, Thomas; Costa, Rui; Dayan, Peter

2015-12-01

The recently developed 'two-step' behavioural task promises to differentiate model-based from model-free reinforcement learning, while generating neurophysiologically-friendly decision datasets with parametric variation of decision variables. These desirable features have prompted its widespread adoption. Here, we analyse the interactions between a range of different strategies and the structure of transitions and outcomes in order to examine constraints on what can be learned from behavioural performance. The task involves a trade-off between the need for stochasticity, to allow strategies to be discriminated, and a need for determinism, so that it is worth subjects' investment of effort to exploit the contingencies optimally. We show through simulation that under certain conditions model-free strategies can masquerade as being model-based. We first show that seemingly innocuous modifications to the task structure can induce correlations between action values at the start of the trial and the subsequent trial events in such a way that analysis based on comparing successive trials can lead to erroneous conclusions. We confirm the power of a suggested correction to the analysis that can alleviate this problem. We then consider model-free reinforcement learning strategies that exploit correlations between where rewards are obtained and which actions have high expected value. These generate behaviour that appears model-based under these, and also more sophisticated, analyses. Exploiting the full potential of the two-step task as a tool for behavioural neuroscience requires an understanding of these issues.

An integrated and accessible sample data library for Mars sample return science

Science.gov (United States)

Tuite, M. L., Jr.; Williford, K. H.

2015-12-01

Over the course of the next decade or more, many thousands of geological samples will be collected and analyzed in a variety of ways by researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (California Institute of Technology) in order to facilitate discovery and contextualize observations made of Mars rocks both in situ and here on Earth if samples are eventually returned. Integration of data from multiple analyses of samples including petrography, thin section and SEM imaging, isotope and organic geochemistry, XRF, XRD, and Raman spectrometry is a challenge and a potential obstacle to discoveries that require supporting lines of evidence. We report the development of a web-accessible repository, the Sample Data Library (SDL) for the sample-based data that are generated by the laboratories and instruments that comprise JPL's Center for Analysis of Returned Samples (CARS) in order to facilitate collaborative interpretation of potential biosignatures in Mars-analog geological samples. The SDL is constructed using low-cost, open-standards-based Amazon Web Services (AWS), including web-accessible storage, relational data base services, and a virtual web server. The data structure is sample-centered with a shared registry for assigning unique identifiers to all samples including International Geo-Sample Numbers. Both raw and derived data produced by instruments and post-processing workflows are automatically uploaded to online storage and linked via the unique identifiers. Through the web interface, users are able to find all the analyses associated with a single sample or search across features shared by multiple samples, sample localities, and analysis types. Planned features include more sophisticated search and analytical interfaces as well as data discoverability through NSF's EarthCube program.

Comparison of multiple-criteria decision-making methods - results of simulation study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michał Adamczak

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Today, both researchers and practitioners have many methods for supporting the decision-making process. Due to the conditions in which supply chains function, the most interesting are multi-criteria methods. The use of sophisticated methods for supporting decisions requires the parameterization and execution of calculations that are often complex. So is it efficient to use sophisticated methods? Methods: The authors of the publication compared two popular multi-criteria decision-making methods: the  Weighted Sum Model (WSM and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP. A simulation study reflects these two decision-making methods. Input data for this study was a set of criteria weights and the value of each in terms of each criterion. Results: The iGrafx Process for Six Sigma simulation software recreated how both multiple-criteria decision-making methods (WSM and AHP function. The result of the simulation was a numerical value defining the preference of each of the alternatives according to the WSM and AHP methods. The alternative producing a result of higher numerical value  was considered preferred, according to the selected method. In the analysis of the results, the relationship between the values of the parameters and the difference in the results presented by both methods was investigated. Statistical methods, including hypothesis testing, were used for this purpose. Conclusions: The simulation study findings prove that the results obtained with the use of two multiple-criteria decision-making methods are very similar. Differences occurred more frequently in lower-value parameters from the "value of each alternative" group and higher-value parameters from the "weight of criteria" group.

Estimation of the bio-accessible fraction of Cr, As, Cd and Pb in locally available bread using on-line continuous leaching method coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Lamsal, Ram P; Beauchemin, Diane

2015-03-31

A previously developed, efficient and simple on-line leaching method was used to assess the maximum bio-accessible fraction (assuming no synergistic effect from other food and beverage) of potentially toxic elements (Cr, As, Cd and Pb) in whole wheat brown and white bread samples. Artificial saliva, gastric juice and intestinal juice were successively pumped into a mini-column, packed with bread (maintained at 37 °C) connected on-line to the nebulizer of an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) instrument equipped with a collision-reaction interface (CRI) using hydrogen as reaction gas to minimize carbon- and chlorine-based polyatomic interferences. In contrast to the conventional batch method to which it was compared, this approach provides real-time monitoring of potentially toxic elements that are continuously released during leaching. Mass balance for both methods was verified at the 95% confidence level. Results obtained from the whole wheat brown and white bread showed that the majority of Cr, Cd and Pb was leached by gastric juice but, in contrast, the majority of As was leached by saliva. While there was higher total content for elements in whole wheat bread than in white bread, a higher percentage of elements were bio-accessible in white bread than in whole wheat bread. Both the on-line and batch methods indicate that 40-98% of toxic elements in bread samples are bio-accessible. While comparison of total analyte concentrations with provisional tolerable daily intake values may indicate some serious health concern for children, when accounting for the bio-accessibility of these elements, bread consumption is found to be safe for all ages. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

29 CFR 32.27 - Accessibility.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

..., Classroom Training and On-the-Job-Training, when each part is viewed in its entirety, is readily accessible... method of complying with § 32.27(a) at a particular Job Corps Center, other than by making a significant alteration in its existing facilities or in its training, assign that individual to another Job Corps Center...

Calculational methods used to obtain evaluated data above 3 MeV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arthur, E.D.

1980-01-01

Calculational methods used to provide evaluated neutron data for nuclei between A = 19 and 220 at incident energies above several MeV range from empirical techniques based on cross-section systematics to sophisticated nuclear-model codes that describe the major mechanisms governing neutron reactions in this mass and energy range. Examples of empirical approaches are given along with discussion concerning regions of applicability and accuracies that can be expected. The application of more sophisticated nuclear models (Hauser-Feshbach statistical, preequilibrium, and direct-reaction theories) is discussed, particularly with regard to improved parameter determinations that can be used in such calculations. Efforts to improve the consistency and to unify these theoretical approaches are addressed along with benefits to evaluated data that can be realized through careful application of such nuclear-model techniques. 76 references, 13 figures, 3 tables

NESDIS OSPO Data Access Policy and CRM

Science.gov (United States)

Seybold, M. G.; Donoho, N. A.; McNamara, D.; Paquette, J.; Renkevens, T.

2012-12-01

The Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) is the NESDIS office responsible for satellite operations, product generation, and product distribution. Access to and distribution of OSPO data was formally established in a Data Access Policy dated February, 2011. An extension of the data access policy is the OSPO Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Database, which has been in development since 2008 and is reaching a critical level of maturity. This presentation will provide a summary of the data access policy and standard operating procedure (SOP) for handling data access requests. The tangential CRM database will be highlighted including the incident tracking system, reporting and notification capabilities, and the first comprehensive portfolio of NESDIS satellites, instruments, servers, applications, products, user organizations, and user contacts. Select examples of CRM data exploitation will show how OSPO is utilizing the CRM database to more closely satisfy the user community's satellite data needs with new product promotions, as well as new data and imagery distribution methods in OSPO's Environmental Satellite Processing Center (ESPC). In addition, user services and outreach initiatives from the Satellite Products and Services Division will be highlighted.

Protecting Accelerator Control Systems in the Face of Sophisticated Cyber Attacks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartman, Steven M.

2012-01-01

Cyber security for industrial control systems has received significant attention in the past two years. The news coverage of the Stuxnet attack, believed to be targeted at the control system for a uranium enrichment plant, brought the issue to the attention of news media and policy makers. This has led to increased scrutiny of control systems for critical infrastructure such as power generation and distribution, and industrial systems such as chemical plants and petroleum refineries. The past two years have also seen targeted network attacks aimed at corporate and government entities including US Department of Energy National Laboratories. Both of these developments have potential repercussions for the control systems of particle accelerators. The need to balance risks from potential attacks with the operational needs of an accelerator present a unique challenge for the system architecture and access model.

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grogan Samuel

2016-07-01

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

Complementary role of two evaluation methods in the usability and accessibility evaluation of a non-standard system

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Adebesin, F

2010-10-01

Full Text Available and used by people with varying abilities. Although accessibility concerns are aimed at making systems usable for people with disabilities, support for direct accessibility, the built-in redundancies in an application that enable as many people as possible...

Artificial intelligence applications of fast optical memory access

Science.gov (United States)

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

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

An inverse method for radiation transport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Favorite, J. A. (Jeffrey A.); Sanchez, R. (Richard)

2004-01-01

Adjoint functions have been used with forward functions to compute gradients in implicit (iterative) solution methods for inverse problems in optical tomography, geoscience, thermal science, and other fields, but only once has this approach been used for inverse solutions to the Boltzmann transport equation. In this paper, this approach is used to develop an inverse method that requires only angle-independent flux measurements, rather than angle-dependent measurements as was done previously. The method is applied to a simplified form of the transport equation that does not include scattering. The resulting procedure uses measured values of gamma-ray fluxes of discrete, characteristic energies to determine interface locations in a multilayer shield. The method was implemented with a Newton-Raphson optimization algorithm, and it worked very well in numerical one-dimensional spherical test cases. A more sophisticated optimization method would better exploit the potential of the inverse method.

Towards an Approach of Semantic Access Control for Cloud Computing

Science.gov (United States)

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

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

Uniform access to clinical data in a distributed environment. Radiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adelhard, K.; Swoboda, N.; Nissen-Meyer, S.; Reiser, M.

1999-01-01

Purpose: Providing medical reports on wards and ambulatory settings in electronic form can improve the quality of health care delivery. Radiology was chosen as an example to demonstrate how to implement uniform access to clinical data in a hospital. Method: Medical professionals at the university hospital in Munich, Grosshadern, have access to all radiological reports of their patients. Web browsers are used as a front end. A centralized administration of users and patients is in place. Results: Centralized access control and patient selection guarantee uniform access to all applicable data via intranet and controls access rights. The high acceptance of this service is reflected by the high number of 150 requests per day. Discussion: Access to radiological reports within the Grosshadern University Clinics was enabled via web browsers in a short time. The high acceptance of the system also proves its easy use. Integration of the system in a centralized user and patient identification system supports the unified access to clinical data. (orig.) [de

Interpretative Social Work: On the Uses of Qualitative Methods for Practice, Reflection and Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bettina Völter

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Qualitative methods could play an important role in the context of a lively, life-world oriented, and emancipatory self-reflective social work. They are already applied in three realms of social work: social work research, the daily practice of social workers and professional self-reflection. Even though these three realms overlap they are three distinct spheres of knowledge and action, which have specific aims. Therefore qualitative methods have to be adjusted to the needs of social science, practice and practice reflection. When students and practitioners of social work learn to use qualitative methods in this sense, they gain a competence which can be referred to as "ethnographic sophistication." This "ethnographic sophistication" contains essential elements of social work professionalism. Familiarity with qualitative methods and their application are highly relevant for the acquisition of basic competencies in social work, i.e., that what has become known as "reconstructive social pedagogy" is much more than just one social work method among others. But a consequence of the introduction of academic reforms of the so called "Bologna process" all over Europe is that it has become more difficult in many universities and universities of applied sciences to implement this approach. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0801563

Peripheral Insertion of a Central Venous Access Device Under Fluoroscopic Guidance Using a Peripherally Accessed System (PAS) Port in the Forearm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hata, Yasuhiro; Morita, Sojiro; Morita, Yoshitaka; Awatani, Toshihide; Takasaki, Motohiro; Horimi, Tadashi; Ozawa, Zen

1998-01-01

Purpose: We describe the technique, efficacy, and complications of fluoroscopy-guided implantation of a central venous access device using a peripherally accessed system (PAS) port via the forearm. Methods: Beginning in July 1994, 105 central venous access devices were implanted in 104 patients for the long-term infusion of antibiotics or antineoplasmic agents, blood products, or parenteral nutrition. The devices was inserted under fluoroscopic guidance with real-time venography from a peripheral route. Results: All ports were successfully implanted. There were no procedure-related complications. No thrombosis or local infection was observed; however, in six patients catheter-related phlebitis occurred. Conclusion: Fluoroscopy-guided implantation of a central venous access device using a PAS port via the forearm is safe and efficacious, and injection of contrast medium through a peripheral IV catheter before introduction of the catheter helps to avoid catheter-related phlebitis

Accessibility and sensory experiences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ryhl, Camilla

2010-01-01

and accessibility. Sensory accessibility accommodates aspects of a sensory disability and describes architectural design requirements needed to ensure access to architectural experiences. In the context of architecture accessibility has become a design concept of its own. It is generally described as ensuring...... physical access to the built environment by accommodating physical disabilities. While the existing concept of accessibility ensures the physical access of everyone to a given space, sensory accessibility ensures the choice of everyone to stay and be able to participate and experience....

Which journals do primary care physicians and specialists access from an online service?

Science.gov (United States)

McKibbon, K Ann; Haynes, R Brian; McKinlay, R James; Lokker, Cynthia

2007-07-01

The study sought to determine which online journals primary care physicians and specialists not affiliated with an academic medical center access and how the accesses correlate with measures of journal quality and importance. Observational study of full-text accesses made during an eighteen-month digital library trial was performed. Access counts were correlated with six methods composed of nine measures for assessing journal importance: ISI impact factors; number of high-quality articles identified during hand-searches of key clinical journals; production data for ACP Journal Club, InfoPOEMs, and Evidence-Based Medicine; and mean clinician-provided clinical relevance and newsworthiness scores for individual journal titles. Full-text journals were accessed 2,322 times by 87 of 105 physicians. Participants accessed 136 of 348 available journal titles. Physicians often selected journals with relatively higher numbers of articles abstracted in ACP Journal Club. Accesses also showed significant correlations with 6 other measures of quality. Specialists' access patterns correlated with 3 measures, with weaker correlations than for primary care physicians. Primary care physicians, more so than specialists, chose full-text articles from clinical journals deemed important by several measures of value. Most journals accessed by both groups were of high quality as measured by this study's methods for assessing journal importance.

Does Accessibility of Positive and Negative Schema Vary by Child Physical Abuse Risk?

Science.gov (United States)

Crouch, Julie L.; Risser, Heather J.; Skowronski, John J.; Milner, Joel S.; Farc, Magdalena M.; Irwin, Lauren M.

2010-01-01

Objective: To examine differences in accessibility of positive and negative schema in parents with high and low risk for child physical abuse (CPA). Methods: This study combined picture priming and lexical decision making methods to assess the accessibility of positive and negative words following presentation of child and adult faces. The child…

External access to ALICE controls conditions data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jadlovský, J; Jadlovská, A; Sarnovský, J; Jajčišin, Š; Čopík, M; Jadlovská, S; Papcun, P; Bielek, R; Čerkala, J; Kopčík, M; Chochula, P; Augustinus, A

2014-01-01

ALICE Controls data produced by commercial SCADA system WINCCOA is stored in ORACLE database on the private experiment network. The SCADA system allows for basic access and processing of the historical data. More advanced analysis requires tools like ROOT and needs therefore a separate access method to the archives. The present scenario expects that detector experts create simple WINCCOA scripts, which retrieves and stores data in a form usable for further studies. This relatively simple procedure generates a lot of administrative overhead – users have to request the data, experts needed to run the script, the results have to be exported outside of the experiment network. The new mechanism profits from database replica, which is running on the CERN campus network. Access to this database is not restricted and there is no risk of generating a heavy load affecting the operation of the experiment. The developed tools presented in this paper allow for access to this data. The users can use web-based tools to generate the requests, consisting of the data identifiers and period of time of interest. The administrators maintain full control over the data – an authorization and authentication mechanism helps to assign privileges to selected users and restrict access to certain groups of data. Advanced caching mechanism allows the user to profit from the presence of already processed data sets. This feature significantly reduces the time required for debugging as the retrieval of raw data can last tens of minutes. A highly configurable client allows for information retrieval bypassing the interactive interface. This method is for example used by ALICE Offline to extract operational conditions after a run is completed. Last but not least, the software can be easily adopted to any underlying database structure and is therefore not limited to WINCCOA.

Polish Accession to the European Union: Participating Institutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomaszewski Waldemar

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In May 2014 it was aready ten years since Poland’s accession to the European Union. The accession was preceded by a long period of political action and negotiations between the Polish and the EU institutions. The process of integration was extremely complex. It covered almost all areas of economic, legal and civil aspects of the aspiring country’s economy, in which all necessary requirements had to be met. The aim of the article was to present the institutional framework created for efficient implementation of the process of accession. The considerations involved especially an institutional method. The research resulted in poining out both the actually efficient and less efficient bodies participating in the process of integration.

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

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Mads

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

Sophisticated approval voting, ignorance priors, and plurality heuristics: a behavioral social choice analysis in a Thurstonian framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Regenwetter, Michel; Ho, Moon-Ho R; Tsetlin, Ilia

2007-10-01

This project reconciles historically distinct paradigms at the interface between individual and social choice theory, as well as between rational and behavioral decision theory. The authors combine a utility-maximizing prescriptive rule for sophisticated approval voting with the ignorance prior heuristic from behavioral decision research and two types of plurality heuristics to model approval voting behavior. When using a sincere plurality heuristic, voters simplify their decision process by voting for their single favorite candidate. When using a strategic plurality heuristic, voters strategically focus their attention on the 2 front-runners and vote for their preferred candidate among these 2. Using a hierarchy of Thurstonian random utility models, the authors implemented these different decision rules and tested them statistically on 7 real world approval voting elections. They cross-validated their key findings via a psychological Internet experiment. Although a substantial number of voters used the plurality heuristic in the real elections, they did so sincerely, not strategically. Moreover, even though Thurstonian models do not force such agreement, the results show, in contrast to common wisdom about social choice rules, that the sincere social orders by Condorcet, Borda, plurality, and approval voting are identical in all 7 elections and in the Internet experiment. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved.

Learning Strategic Sophistication

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blume, A.; DeJong, D.V.; Maier, M.

2005-01-01

We experimentally investigate coordination games in which cognition plays an important role, i.e. where outcomes are affected by the agents level of understanding of the game and the beliefs they form about each others understanding.We ask whether and when repeated exposure permits agents to learn

Barriers to Maori sole mothers’ primary health care access

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lee R

2013-12-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: International research consistently shows that sole mothers experience poorer health and suboptimal health care access. New Zealand studies on sole mothers' health report similar findings. The aim of this exploratory research was to better understand the experiences of Maori sole mothers' access to health services, particularly primary health care, for personal health needs. METHODS: This qualitative study employed a general inductive design informed by a Kaupapa Maori approach, providing guidance on appropriate cultural protocols for recruiting and engaging Maori participants. Distributing written information and snowballing techniques were used to purposively recruit seven Maori sole mothers. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews which were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using general inductive thematic analysis to identify commonalities and patterns in participants' experiences. FINDINGS: The dominant themes that emerged captured and described participants' experiences in accessing health care. The major barrier to access reported was cost. Compounding cost, transport difficulties and location or scheduling of services were additional barriers to health service accessibility. Child-related issues also posed a barrier, including prioritising children's needs and childcare over personal health needs. CONCLUSION: The findings illuminate Maori sole mothers' experiences of accessing health care and the complex socioeconomic inequalities affecting access options and uptake of services. Further investigation of barriers to access is needed. The study has implications for addressing barriers to access at policy, funding and practice levels to improve health outcomes and equitable health care access for Maori sole mothers.

Insurance + access not equal to health care: typology of barriers to health care access for low-income families.

Science.gov (United States)

Devoe, Jennifer E; Baez, Alia; Angier, Heather; Krois, Lisa; Edlund, Christine; Carney, Patricia A

2007-01-01

Public health insurance programs have expanded coverage for the poor, and family physicians provide essential services to these vulnerable populations. Despite these efforts, many Americans do not have access to basic medical care. This study was designed to identify barriers faced by low-income parents when accessing health care for their children and how insurance status affects their reporting of these barriers. A mixed methods analysis was undertaken using 722 responses to an open-ended question on a health care access survey instrument that asked low-income Oregon families, "Is there anything else you would like to tell us?" Themes were identified using immersion/crystallization techniques. Pertinent demographic attributes were used to conduct matrix coded queries. Families reported 3 major barriers: lack of insurance coverage, poor access to services, and unaffordable costs. Disproportionate reporting of these themes was most notable based on insurance status. A higher percentage of uninsured parents (87%) reported experiencing difficulties obtaining insurance coverage compared with 40% of those with insurance. Few of the uninsured expressed concerns about access to services or health care costs (19%). Access concerns were the most common among publicly insured families, and costs were more often mentioned by families with private insurance. Families made a clear distinction between insurance and access, and having one or both elements did not assure care. Our analyses uncovered a 3-part typology of barriers to health care for low-income families. Barriers to health care can be insurmountable for low-income families, even those with insurance coverage. Patients who do not seek care in a family medicine clinic are not necessarily getting their care elsewhere.

An Innovative Method of Measuring Changes in Access to Healthful Foods in School Lunch Programs: Findings from a Pilot Evaluation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Allison P Hawkes

Full Text Available A large local health department in Colorado partnered with 15 school districts to develop an approach to evaluate changes in access to healthy foods in reimbursable school lunches and a la carte offerings.School district nutrition managers were engaged at the start of this project. Health department dietitians developed criteria to classify food items as "Lower Fat and less added Sugar" (LFS and "Higher Fat and more added Sugar" (HFS based on the percentage of calories from fat and grams of added sugar. Lunch production sheets were obtained for two time periods, food items and the number of planned servings recorded. LFS and HFS planned servings were summed for each time period, and a LFS to HFS ratio calculated by dividing LFS planned servings by HFS planned servings. Additional analyses included calculating LFS: HFS ratios by school district, and for a la carte offerings.In 2009, the LFS: HFS ratio was 2.08, in 2011, 3.71 (P<0.0001. The method also detected changes in ratios at the school district level. For a la carte items, in 2009 the ratio of LFS: HFS was 0.53, and in 2011, 0.61 (not statistically significant.This method detected an increase in the LFS: HFS ratio over time and demonstrated that the school districts improved access to healthful food/drink by changing the contents of reimbursable school lunches. The evaluation method discussed here can generate information that districts can use in helping sustain and expand their efforts to create healthier environments for children and adults. Although federal regulations now cover all food and beverages served during the school day, there are still opportunities to improve and measure changes in food served in other settings such as child care centers, youth correction facilities, or in schools not participating in the National School Lunch Program.

Sophisticated Online Learning Scheme for Green Resource Allocation in 5G Heterogeneous Cloud Radio Access Networks

KAUST Repository

Alqerm, Ismail; Shihada, Basem

2018-01-01

is implemented using two approaches: centralized, where the resource allocation is processed at a controller integrated with the baseband processing unit and decentralized, where macro BSs cooperate to achieve optimal resource allocation strategy. To foster

A critical analysis of methods for rapid and nondestructive determination of wood density in standing trees

Science.gov (United States)

Shan Gao; Xiping Wang; Michael C. Wiemann; Brian K. Brashaw; Robert J. Ross; Lihai Wang

2017-01-01

Key message Field methods for rapid determination of wood density in trees have evolved from increment borer, torsiometer, Pilodyn, and nail withdrawal into sophisticated electronic tools of resistance drilling measurement. A partial resistance drilling approach coupled with knowledge of internal tree density distribution may...

Optical Access Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Jun; Ansari, Nirwan

2005-06-01

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

Multiple access chaotic digital communication based on generalized synchronization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Junguo

2005-01-01

A novel method for multiple access chaotic digital communication based on the concept of chaos generalized synchronization and the on-line least square method is proposed. This method can be used for transmitting multiple digital information signals concurrently. We illustrate the method using a Lorenz system driving a Chua's circuit and then examine the robustness of the proposed method with respect to noise in communication channel

Public Access and Open Access: Is There a Difference? | Poster

Science.gov (United States)

By Robin Meckley, Contributing Writer, and Tracie Frederick, Guest Writer Open access and public access—are they different concepts or are they the same? What do they mean for the researchers at NCI at Frederick? “Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. What makes it possible is the Internet and the consent of the author or copyright-holder,” according to an open access website maintained by Peter Suber, director, Harvard Open Access Project.

The comparison of spatial accessibility measures between non-obstacle and obstacle oriented based on gravity model

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Zhi-Gang; Cui, Cai-Hui

2009-10-01

Spatial accessibility denotes the ease with which activities may be reached from a given location using a particular transportation system. There are a number of accessibility measures methods and models, such as time of access to city centre, mean travel costs and opportunity accessibility. But these methods or models ignore the existence of obstacles. In fact, there are many kinds of obstacles in the world, such as rivers, railways, etc. The paper reviews the progress of accessibility measures, and introduces the obstacle to the accessibility measures. Meanwhile, through the analysis of A* algorithm, the advantage of A* algorithm that could avoid obstacles is put forward. Based on the above mentioned, the obstacle oriented accessibility measures based on simple gravity model is discussed in details. Finally, a case study is fulfilled by comparison between the obstacle oriented and non-obstacle accessibility measures.

Access Customized Forms

OpenAIRE

Cosma Emil; Jeflea Victor

2010-01-01

By using Word, Excel or PowerPoint one can automate routine operations using the VBA language (Visual Basic for Applications). This language is also used in Access, allowing access to data stored in tables or queries. Thus, Access and VBA resources can be used together. Access is designed for programming forms and reports (among other things), so there won’t be found any of the VBA editor’s specific forms.

Distributed magnetic field positioning system using code division multiple access

Science.gov (United States)

Prigge, Eric A. (Inventor)

2003-01-01

An apparatus and methods for a magnetic field positioning system use a fundamentally different, and advantageous, signal structure and multiple access method, known as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). This signal architecture, when combined with processing methods, leads to advantages over the existing technologies, especially when applied to a system with a large number of magnetic field generators (beacons). Beacons at known positions generate coded magnetic fields, and a magnetic sensor measures a sum field and decomposes it into component fields to determine the sensor position and orientation. The apparatus and methods can have a large `building-sized` coverage area. The system allows for numerous beacons to be distributed throughout an area at a number of different locations. A method to estimate position and attitude, with no prior knowledge, uses dipole fields produced by these beacons in different locations.

Open access

CERN Document Server

Suber, Peter

2012-01-01

The Internet lets us share perfect copies of our work with a worldwide audience at virtually no cost. We take advantage of this revolutionary opportunity when we make our work "open access": digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. Open access is made possible by the Internet and copyright-holder consent, and many authors, musicians, filmmakers, and other creators who depend on royalties are understandably unwilling to give their consent. But for 350 years, scholars have written peer-reviewed journal articles for impact, not for money, and are free to consent to open access without losing revenue. In this concise introduction, Peter Suber tells us what open access is and isn't, how it benefits authors and readers of research, how we pay for it, how it avoids copyright problems, how it has moved from the periphery to the mainstream, and what its future may hold. Distilling a decade of Suber's influential writing and thinking about open access, this is the indispe...

Unbundling in Current Broadband and Next-Generation Ultra-Broadband Access Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Gaudino, Roberto; Giuliano, Romeo; Mazzenga, Franco; Valcarenghi, Luca; Vatalaro, Francesco

2014-05-01

This article overviews the methods that are currently under investigation for implementing multi-operator open-access/shared-access techniques in next-generation access ultra-broadband architectures, starting from the traditional "unbundling-of-the-local-loop" techniques implemented in legacy twisted-pair digital subscriber line access networks. A straightforward replication of these copper-based unbundling-of-the-local-loop techniques is usually not feasible on next-generation access networks, including fiber-to-the-home point-to-multipoint passive optical networks. To investigate this issue, the article first gives a concise description of traditional copper-based unbundling-of-the-local-loop solutions, then focalizes on both next-generation access hybrid fiber-copper digital subscriber line fiber-to-the-cabinet scenarios and on fiber to the home by accounting for the mix of regulatory and technological reasons driving the next-generation access migration path, focusing mostly on the European situation.

Evaluating Access. Research Brief. Edition 9

Science.gov (United States)

Sutton Trust, 2015

2015-01-01

This report reviews national and international research on widening participation and access programmes to find out which methods are most likely to help disadvantaged pupils get into higher education. Analysis of existing research in the United States and United Kingdom suggests that summer schools, tutoring, and mentoring are among five methods…

Curcumin profiing and genetic diversity of different accessions of Curcuma longa L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neelam Arya

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: To investigate the genetic diversity and variation in active compound of turmeric rhizomes collected from different niches of Uttarakhand. Methods: Genetic diversity and relationship of Curcuma longa accessions was evaluated by random amplification polymorphism DNA analysis and curcumin profiling was evaluated by high performance liquid chromatography method. Results: The curcumin contents in 20 accessions of turmeric rhizomes were found to be in the range of 0.90% to 3.26%. All accessions were separated into six groups (92% genetic similarity by using 10 decamer oligonucleotide primers for the amplification of genomic DNA. Conclusions: The results indicated the possibility of selecting high quality clones for large scale production.

Evaluation of the effect of coal cleaning of fugitive elements. Part II. Analytical methods. Final report, Phase II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bosshart, R.E.; Price, A.A.; Ford, C.T.

1980-03-01

This report contains the analytical and test methods which were used routinely at Bituminous Coal Research, Inc. during the project. The procedures contained herein should aid coal industry laboratories and others, including commercial laboratories, who might be required to determine trace elements in coal. Some of the procedures have been presented in previous BCR reports; however, this report includes additional procedures which are described in greater detail. Also presented are many as the more basic coal methods which have been in use at BCR for many years, or which have been adapted or refined from other standard reference sources for coal and water. The basis for choosing specific analytical procedures for trace elements in coal is somewhat complex. At BCR, atomic absorption was selected as the basic method in the development of these procedures. The choice was based on sensitivity, selectivity, accuracy, precision, practicability, and economy. Whenever possible, the methods developed had to be both adequate and amenable for use by coal industry laboratories by virtue of relative simplicity and cost. This is not to imply that the methods described are simple or inexpensive; however, atomic abosrption techniques do meet these criteria in relation to more complex and costly methods such as neutron activation, mass spectrometry, and x-ray fluorescence, some of which require highly specialized personnel as well as access to sophisticated nuclear and computational facilities. Many of the analytical procedures for trace elements in coal have been developed or adapted specifically for the BCR studies. Their presentation is the principal purpose of this report.

Accessibility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brooks, Anthony Lewis

2017-01-01

This contribution is timely as it addresses accessibility in regards system hardware and software aligned with introduction of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) and adjoined game industry waiver that comes into force January 2017. This is an act created...... by the USA Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to increase the access of persons with disabilities to modern communications, and for other purposes. The act impacts advanced communications services and products including text messaging; e-mail; instant messaging; video communications; browsers; game...... platforms; and games software. However, the CVAA has no legal status in the EU. This text succinctly introduces and questions implications, impact, and wider adoption. By presenting the full CVAA and game industry waiver the text targets to motivate discussions and further publications on the subject...

Innovative methods for knowledge transfer

Science.gov (United States)

Goanta, A. M.

2015-11-01

At this time, learning takes place, either with classic books on paper support or using books scanned or drawn and further converted into PDF or PPT files that are printed on type support CD / DVD. The latter modern means of learning, the study adds live on the Internet using search engines and not least e-learning method, which allows the study of bibliographic related materials in PDF or PPT, stacked and grouped on the basis of a curriculum imposed which can be accessed on a website via a user name and password. Innovative methods come to successfully use other file types than those mentioned above. The graphics in teaching technical subjects such as descriptive geometry can be achieved using animated PowerPoint files, allowing for visualization of steps to be taken, in the case of solving by drawing a descriptive geometry. Another innovative method relies on the use of HTML files, inspired by related sites help design software packages that can be used when teaching descriptive geometry that the technical design. Through this work, the author has proposed to present a new innovative method, which is inspired by the methods listed above, but involves using AVI files to teaching of computer-assisted type graphics or info graphics. In general this new author's method lends itself particularly well to the teaching of the use of software packages because the student actually see the place from where the delivered command is accessed and contextual options of right button of the mouse. These laboratory courses or mentoring can be freestanding cards support CD / DVD or can be posted on websites with restricted access based on user name and password. Practically paper presents the methodology of creating courses and tutorials in AVI format, and how to monitor the degree of accessing the website, on which there were posted mentioned teaching materials, using the tools offered by Google Analytics. The results consist of graphical work, about the degree of access to

Optical Access Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Jun; Ansari, Nirwan

2005-01-01

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

RESEARCH Improving access and quality of care in a TB control ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

or treatment. Improving access and quality of care in a. TB control programme. Vera Scott, Virginia Azevedo, Judy Caldwell. Objectives. To use a quality improvement approach to improve access to and quality of tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and care in. Cape Town. Methods. Five HIV/AIDS/sexually transmitted infections/TB.

Methods for testing transport models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singer, C.; Cox, D.

1993-01-01

This report documents progress to date under a three-year contract for developing ''Methods for Testing Transport Models.'' The work described includes (1) choice of best methods for producing ''code emulators'' for analysis of very large global energy confinement databases, (2) recent applications of stratified regressions for treating individual measurement errors as well as calibration/modeling errors randomly distributed across various tokamaks, (3) Bayesian methods for utilizing prior information due to previous empirical and/or theoretical analyses, (4) extension of code emulator methodology to profile data, (5) application of nonlinear least squares estimators to simulation of profile data, (6) development of more sophisticated statistical methods for handling profile data, (7) acquisition of a much larger experimental database, and (8) extensive exploratory simulation work on a large variety of discharges using recently improved models for transport theories and boundary conditions. From all of this work, it has been possible to define a complete methodology for testing new sets of reference transport models against much larger multi-institutional databases

Applications of contrast enhanced CT through external jugular access

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Qiaolan; Zou Wenxing; Chen Meixia; Xie Hongbo

2005-01-01

Objective: A retrospective analysis and evaluation for the effects of contrast enhanced computed tomography through external jugular access. Methods: 1250 cases (male 692 and female 558) underwent CT contrast enhanced examination were retrospectively reviewed from May, 2002 to Oct, 2002. The patients aged from 12 to 86 years, averagely 49 years. Contrast agent (Ultravist) was given through an intravenous catheter placed in the cubital vein. Precise injection rates were ensured by a power injector (Medrad MCT310, USA). Excellent enhancement was achieved with this protocol in most of the patients, while external jugular access was established in 96 cases because it was unable to setup a cubital venous access. Results: Good enhancement were acquired when 96 cases of contrast agent injected through external jugular vein. And the external jugular access was setup successfully with a single puncture. Conclusion: It is a common occasion when patient undergoing contrast enhanced CT scan is in poor conditions: debility, cachexia, or with complication of chemotherapy or radiation therapy, which often results in invalidity of cabital venous access, and consequently, making bolus injection impossible. The external jugular vein is a large and central blood vessel, which is easy to setup an access. In our experience, an external jugular access should be recommended as a substitution if the cubital venous access is not available. (authors)

Applications of contrast enhanced CT through external jugular access

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qiaolan, Xu; Wenxing, Zou; Meixia, Chen; Hongbo, Xie [The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou (China). Dept. of Radiology

2005-09-15

Objective: A retrospective analysis and evaluation for the effects of contrast enhanced computed tomography through external jugular access. Methods: 1250 cases (male 692 and female 558) underwent CT contrast enhanced examination were retrospectively reviewed from May, 2002 to Oct, 2002. The patients aged from 12 to 86 years, averagely 49 years. Contrast agent (Ultravist) was given through an intravenous catheter placed in the cubital vein. Precise injection rates were ensured by a power injector (Medrad MCT310, USA). Excellent enhancement was achieved with this protocol in most of the patients, while external jugular access was established in 96 cases because it was unable to setup a cubital venous access. Results: Good enhancement were acquired when 96 cases of contrast agent injected through external jugular vein. And the external jugular access was setup successfully with a single puncture. Conclusion: It is a common occasion when patient undergoing contrast enhanced CT scan is in poor conditions: debility, cachexia, or with complication of chemotherapy or radiation therapy, which often results in invalidity of cabital venous access, and consequently, making bolus injection impossible. The external jugular vein is a large and central blood vessel, which is easy to setup an access. In our experience, an external jugular access should be recommended as a substitution if the cubital venous access is not available. (authors)

Efficient accesses of data structures using processing near memory

Science.gov (United States)

Jayasena, Nuwan S.; Zhang, Dong Ping; Diez, Paula Aguilera

2018-05-22

Systems, apparatuses, and methods for implementing efficient queues and other data structures. A queue may be shared among multiple processors and/or threads without using explicit software atomic instructions to coordinate access to the queue. System software may allocate an atomic queue and corresponding queue metadata in system memory and return, to the requesting thread, a handle referencing the queue metadata. Any number of threads may utilize the handle for accessing the atomic queue. The logic for ensuring the atomicity of accesses to the atomic queue may reside in a management unit in the memory controller coupled to the memory where the atomic queue is allocated.

Reiterative Recombination for the in vivo assembly of libraries of multigene pathways

OpenAIRE

Wingler, Laura M.; Cornish, Virginia W.

2011-01-01

The increasing sophistication of synthetic biology is creating a demand for robust, broadly accessible methodology for constructing multigene pathways inside of the cell. Due to the difficulty of rationally designing pathways that function as desired in vivo, there is a further need to assemble libraries of pathways in parallel, in order to facilitate the combinatorial optimization of performance. While some in vitro DNA assembly methods can theoretically make libraries of pathways, these tec...

Demystifying Open Access

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mele, Salvatore

2007-01-01

The tenets of Open Access are to grant anyone, anywhere and anytime free access to the results of scientific research. HEP spearheaded the Open Access dissemination of scientific results with the mass mailing of preprints in the pre-WWW era and with the launch of the arXiv preprint system at the dawn of the '90s. The HEP community is now ready for a further push to Open Access while retaining all the advantages of the peer-review system and, at the same time, bring the spiralling cost of journal subscriptions under control. I will present a possible plan for the conversion to Open Access of HEP peer-reviewed journals, through a consortium of HEP funding agencies, laboratories and libraries: SCOAP3 (Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics). SCOAP3 will engage with scientific publishers towards building a sustainable model for Open Access publishing, which is as transparent as possible for HEP authors. The current system in which journals income comes from subscription fees is replaced with a scheme where SCOAP3 compensates publishers for the costs incurred to organise the peer-review service and give Open Access to the final version of articles. SCOAP3 will be funded by all countries active in HEP under a 'fair share' scenario, according to their production of HEP articles. In this talk I will present a short overview of the history of Open Access in HEP, the details of the SCOAP3 model and the outlook for its implementation.

Inequities in access to inpatient rehabilitation after stroke: an international scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lynch, Elizabeth A; Cadilhac, Dominique A; Luker, Julie A; Hillier, Susan L

2017-12-01

Background Inequities in accessing inpatient rehabilitation after stroke have been reported in many countries and impact on patient outcomes. Objective To explore variation in international recommendations regarding which patients should receive inpatient rehabilitation after stroke and to describe reported access to rehabilitation. Methods A scoping review was conducted to identify clinical guidelines with recommendations regarding which patients should access inpatient rehabilitation after stroke, and data regarding the proportion of patients accessing stroke rehabilitation. Four bibliographic databases and grey literature were searched. Results Twenty-eight documents were included. Selection criteria for post-acute inpatient rehabilitation were identified for 14 countries or regions and summary data on the proportion of patients receiving inpatient rehabilitation were identified for 14 countries. In Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, it is recommended that all patients with stroke symptoms should access rehabilitation, whereas guidelines from the United States, Canada, and Europe did not consistently recommend rehabilitation for people with severe stroke. Access to inpatient rehabilitation ranged from 13% in Sweden to 57% in Israel. Differences in availability of early supported discharge/home rehabilitation programs and variations in reporting methods may influence the ability to reliably compare access to rehabilitation between regions. Conclusion Recommendations regarding which patients with moderate and severe strokes should access ongoing rehabilitation are inconsistent. Clinical practice guidelines from different countries regarding post-stroke rehabilitation do not always reflect the evidence regarding the likely benefits to people with stroke. Inequity in access to rehabilitation after stroke is an international issue.

Concentration Polarization to Measure Nano-pore Accessibility

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Solsona, Miguel; Eijkel, Jan C.T.; Olthuis, Wouter; Papadimitriou, Vasileios; van den Berg, Albert; Abelmann, Leon; Weckhuysen, Bert M.; Nieuwelink, A. E.

2017-01-01

Understanding the deactivation process in porous catalysts is of tremendous economic significance. We demonstrate the feasibility of using the concentration polarization method to obtain the pore accessibility distribution at single particle level for the first time. By using this technique we could

Improved methods for the study of hadronic physics from lattice QCD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orginos, Kostas; Richards, David

2015-01-01

The solution of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) on a lattice provides a first-principles method for understanding QCD in the low-energy regime, and is thus an essential tool for nuclear physics. The generation of gauge configurations, the starting point for lattice calculations, requires the most powerful leadership-class computers available. However, to fully exploit such leadership-class computing requires increasingly sophisticated methods for obtaining physics observables from the underlying gauge ensembles. In this paper, we describe a variety of recent methods that have been used to advance our understanding of the spectrum and structure of hadrons through lattice QCD. (paper)

Improved methods for the study of hadronic physics from lattice QCD

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Orginos, Kostas [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (United States); Richards, David [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States)

2015-02-05

The solution of QCD on a lattice provides a first-principles method for understanding QCD in the low-energy regime, and is thus an essential tool for nuclear physics. The generation of gauge configurations, the starting point for lattice calculations, requires the most powerful leadership-class computers available. However, to fully exploit such leadership-class computing requires increasingly sophisticated methods for obtaining physics observables from the underlying gauge ensembles. In this study, we describe a variety of recent methods that have been used to advance our understanding of the spectrum and structure of hadrons through lattice QCD.

Heterogeneous access and processing of EO-Data on a Cloud based Infrastructure delivering operational Products

Science.gov (United States)

Niggemann, F.; Appel, F.; Bach, H.; de la Mar, J.; Schirpke, B.; Dutting, K.; Rucker, G.; Leimbach, D.

2015-04-01

To address the challenges of effective data handling faced by Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) a cloud-based infrastructure for accessing and processing of Earth Observation(EO)-data has been developed within the project APPS4GMES(www.apps4gmes.de). To gain homogenous multi mission data access an Input Data Portal (IDP) been implemented on this infrastructure. The IDP consists of an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) conformant catalogue, a consolidation module for format conversion and an OGC-conformant ordering framework. Metadata of various EO-sources and with different standards is harvested and transferred to an OGC conformant Earth Observation Product standard and inserted into the catalogue by a Metadata Harvester. The IDP can be accessed for search and ordering of the harvested datasets by the services implemented on the cloud infrastructure. Different land-surface services have been realised by the project partners, using the implemented IDP and cloud infrastructure. Results of these are customer ready products, as well as pre-products (e.g. atmospheric corrected EO data), serving as a basis for other services. Within the IDP an automated access to ESA's Sentinel-1 Scientific Data Hub has been implemented. Searching and downloading of the SAR data can be performed in an automated way. With the implementation of the Sentinel-1 Toolbox and own software, for processing of the datasets for further use, for example for Vista's snow monitoring, delivering input for the flood forecast services, can also be performed in an automated way. For performance tests of the cloud environment a sophisticated model based atmospheric correction and pre-classification service has been implemented. Tests conducted an automated synchronised processing of one entire Landsat 8 (LS-8) coverage for Germany and performance comparisons to standard desktop systems. Results of these tests, showing a performance improvement by the factor of six, proved the high flexibility and

Overview: Routes to Open Access

OpenAIRE

Tullney, Marco; van Wezenbeek, Wilma

2017-01-01

Slides of an overview presentation given at a CESAER workshop on Open Access, February 2nd, 2017, in Brussels Cover major routes to more open access as discussed in the Task Force Open Science of CESAER: (national) open access strategies open access mandates open access incentives open access awareness open access publishing open access infrastructure

Strategies for Success: Open Access Policies at North American Educational Institutions

Science.gov (United States)

Fruin, Christine; Sutton, Shan

2016-01-01

Recognizing the paucity of quantitative and qualitative data from North American educational institutions that have pursued open access policies, the authors devised a survey to collect information on the characteristics of these institutions, as well as the elements of the open access policies, the methods of promoting these policies, faculty…

Direct access: how is it working?

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, S; Ross, M

2017-02-10

Aim The aim of this study was to identify and survey dental hygienists and therapists working in direct access practices in the UK, obtain their views on its benefits and disadvantages, establish which treatments they provided, and what barriers they had encountered.Method The study used a purposive sample of GDC-registered hygienists and therapists working in practices offering direct access, identified through a 'Google' search. An online survey was set up through the University of Edinburgh, and non-responses followed up by post.Results The initial search identified 243 individuals working in direct access practices. Where a practice listed more than one hygienist/therapist, one was randomly selected. This gave a total of 179 potential respondents. Eighty-six responses were received, representing a response rate of 48%. A large majority of respondents (58, 73%) were favourable in their view of the GDC decision to allow direct access, and most thought advantages outnumbered disadvantages for patients, hygienists, therapists and dentists. There were no statistically significant differences in views between hygienists and therapists. Although direct access patients formed a small minority of their caseload for most respondents, it is estimated that on average respondents saw approximately 13 per month. Treatment was mainly restricted to periodontal work, irrespective of whether the respondent was singly or dually qualified. One third of respondents reported encountering barriers to successful practice, including issues relating to teamwork and dentists' unfavourable attitudes. However, almost two thirds (64%) felt that direct access had enhanced their job satisfaction, and 45% felt their clinical skills had increased.Discussion Comments were mainly positive, but sometimes raised worrying issues, for example in respect to training, lack of dental nurse support and the limited availability of periodontal treatment under NHS regulations.

Accessing Electronic Journals.

Science.gov (United States)

McKay, Sharon Cline

1999-01-01

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

Tibiopedal Access for Crossing of Infrainguinal Artery Occlusions

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Craig M.; Mustapha, Jihad; Zeller, Thomas; Schmidt, Andrej; Montero-Baker, Miguel; Nanjundappa, Aravinda; Manzi, Marco; Palena, Luis Mariano; Bernardo, Nelson; Khatib, Yazan; Beasley, Robert; Leon, Luis; Saab, Fadi A.; Shields, Adam R.; Adams, George L.

2016-01-01

Purpose: To report a prospective, multicenter, observational study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT01609621) of the safety and effectiveness of tibiopedal access and retrograde crossing in the treatment of infrainguinal chronic total occlusions (CTOs). Methods: Twelve sites around the world prospectively enrolled 197 patients (mean age 71±11 years, range 41-93; 129 men) from May 2012 to July 2013 who met the inclusion criterion of at least one CTO for which a retrograde crossing procedure was planned or became necessary. The population consisted of 64 (32.5%) claudicants (Rutherford categories 2/3) and 133 (67.5%) patients with critical limb ischemia (Rutherford category ≥4). A primary antegrade attempt to cross had been made prior to the tibiopedal attempt in 132 (67.0%) cases. Techniques used for access, retrograde lesion crossing, and treatment were at the operator’s discretion. Follow-up data were obtained 30 days after the procedure. Results: Technical tibiopedal access success was achieved in 184 (93.4%) of 197 patients and technical occlusion crossing success in 157 (85.3%) of the 184 successful tibial accesses. Failed access attempts were more common in women (9 of 13 failures). The rate of successful crossing was roughly equivalent between sexes [84.7% (50/59) women compared to 85.6% (107/125) men]. Technical success did not differ significantly based on a prior failed antegrade attempt: the access success rate was 92.4% (122/132) after a failed antegrade access vs 95.4% (62/65) in those with a primary tibiopedal attempt (p=0.55). Similarly, crossing success was achieved in 82.8% (101/122) after a failed antegrade access vs 90.3% (56/62) for patients with no prior antegrade attempt (p=0.19). Minor complications related to the access site occurred in 11 (5.6%) cases; no patient had access vessel thrombosis, compartment syndrome, or surgical revascularization. Conclusion: Tibiopedal access appears to be safe and can be used effectively for the

A new Riccati equation rational expansion method and its application to (2 + 1)-dimensional Burgers equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Qi; Chen Yong; Zhang Hongqing

2005-01-01

In this paper, we present a new Riccati equation rational expansion method to uniformly construct a series of exact solutions for nonlinear evolution equations. Compared with most existing tanh methods and other sophisticated methods, the proposed method not only recover some known solutions, but also find some new and general solutions. The solutions obtained in this paper include rational triangular periodic wave solutions, rational solitary wave solutions and rational wave solutions. The efficiency of the method can be demonstrated on (2 + 1)-dimensional Burgers equation

Wireless Access

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

First page Back Continue Last page Overview Graphics. Wireless Access. Wireless connect to the Base station. Easy and Convenient access. Costlier as compared to the wired technology. Reliability challenges. We see it as a complementary technology to the DSL.

ITS Multi-path Communications Access Decision Scheme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miroslav Svitek

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS require widely spread and guarantied quality communications services. Method of ITS decomposition to set of subsystems and quantification of communications subsystems parameters is introduced. Due to typical complexity of the IST solution and mobility as the typical system elements property idea of communications systems with multipath multivendor structures is adopted. Resolution of seamless switching within a set of available wireless access solutions is presented. CALM based system or specifically designed and configured L3/L2 switching can be relevant solution for multi-path access communication system. These systems meet requirements of the seamless secure communications functionality within even extensive cluster of moving objects. Competent decision processes based on precisely quantified system requirements and each performance indicator tolerance range must be implemented to keep service up and running with no influence of continuously changing conditions in time and served space. Method of different paths service quality evaluation and selection of the best possible active communications access path is introduced. Proposed approach is based on Kalman filtering, which separates reasonable part of noise and also allows prediction of the individual parameters near future behavior. Presented classification algorithm applied on filtered measured data combined with deterministic parameters is trained using training data, i.e. combination of parameters vectors line and relevant decisions. Quality of classification is dependent on the size and quality of the training sets. This method is studied within projects e-Ident, DOTEK and SRATVU which are elaborating results of project CAMNA.

FINANCIAL DEPTH AND FINANCIAL ACCESS IN INDONESIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sigit Setiawan

2015-05-01

Full Text Available This study is intended to analyze the current levels of financial depth and financial access in Indonesia and to analyze the factors affecting them. The analysis method used was a combination of descriptive quantitative, benchmarking, and literature reviews. The conclusion is that the financial depth in Indonesia has not shown a satisfactory level since it was the lowest, or the second lowest ranked country among the sampled countries. Meanwhile, the financial access in Indonesia is relatively better than its financial depth, especially for financial markets, in which Indonesia ranks in the lower average group. From literature reviews, it can be inferred that the main factor driving the poor financial depth in Indonesia is non-competitiveness of the institutions; whereas the driving force of poor financial access in Indonesia are geographical constraints, poverty, a high income gap, and a less than effective national financial development policy.

Transparency of Biobank Access in Canada: An Assessment of Industry Access and the Availability of Information on Access Policies and Resulting Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, Shannon G; Axler, Renata E; Lemmens, Trudo

2017-12-01

A key issue impacting public trust in biobanks is how these resources are utilized, including who is given access to biobank data and samples. To assess the conditions under which researchers are given access to Canadian biobanks, we reviewed websites and contacted Canadian biobanks to determine the availability of information on access policies and procedures; research resulting from access biobank data and samples; and conditions on private industry access to biobanks. We also conducted expert interviews with key Canadian stakeholders ( n = 11) to obtain their perspectives on biobank transparency and access policies. Among 21 Canadian biobanks, there was wide variation in the access information made publicly available, and the majority of these allowed access by industry applicants. Biobanks should be governed by the principles of transparency, accountability, and accessibility, and attention must be given to the conditions around the commercialization of biobank-based research.

Incorporating information on predicted solvent accessibility to the co-evolution-based study of protein interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Ochoa, David; García-Gutiérrez, Ponciano; Juan, David; Valencia, Alfonso; Pazos, Florencio

2013-01-27

A widespread family of methods for studying and predicting protein interactions using sequence information is based on co-evolution, quantified as similarity of phylogenetic trees. Part of the co-evolution observed between interacting proteins could be due to co-adaptation caused by inter-protein contacts. In this case, the co-evolution is expected to be more evident when evaluated on the surface of the proteins or the internal layers close to it. In this work we study the effect of incorporating information on predicted solvent accessibility to three methods for predicting protein interactions based on similarity of phylogenetic trees. We evaluate the performance of these methods in predicting different types of protein associations when trees based on positions with different characteristics of predicted accessibility are used as input. We found that predicted accessibility improves the results of two recent versions of the mirrortree methodology in predicting direct binary physical interactions, while it neither improves these methods, nor the original mirrortree method, in predicting other types of interactions. That improvement comes at no cost in terms of applicability since accessibility can be predicted for any sequence. We also found that predictions of protein-protein interactions are improved when multiple sequence alignments with a richer representation of sequences (including paralogs) are incorporated in the accessibility prediction.

Genetic diversity of different accessions of Thymus kotschyanus using RAPD marker

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Ismaili

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Analysis of genetic diversity is a major step for understanding evolution and breeding applications. Recent advances in the application of the polymerase chain reaction make it possible to score individuals at a large number of loci. The RAPD technique has been successfully used in a variety of taxonomic and genetic diversity studies. The genetic diversity of 18 accessions of Thymus kotschyanus collected from different districts of Iran has been reported in this study, using 30 random amplified polymorphic DNA primers. Multivariate statistical analyses including principal coordinate analysis (PCOA and cluster analysis were used to group the accessions. From 29 primers, 385 bands were scored corresponding to an average of 13.27 bands per primer with 298 bands showing polymorphism (77.40%. A dendrogram constructed based on the UPGMA clustering method revealed three major clusters. The obtained results from grouping 18 accessions of T. kotschyanus with two studied methods indicated that in the most cases the applied methods produced similar grouping results. This study revealed nearly rich genetic diversity among T. kotschyanus accessions from different regions of Iran. The results showed RAPD marker was a useful marker for genetic diversity studies of T. kotschyanus and it was indicative of geographica variations.

Professional Access 2013 programming

CERN Document Server

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

2013-01-01

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

Multiagent Reinforcement Learning Dynamic Spectrum Access in Cognitive Radios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu Chun

2014-02-01

Full Text Available A multiuser independent Q-learning method which does not need information interaction is proposed for multiuser dynamic spectrum accessing in cognitive radios. The method adopts self-learning paradigm, in which each CR user performs reinforcement learning only through observing individual performance reward without spending communication resource on information interaction with others. The reward is defined suitably to present channel quality and channel conflict status. The learning strategy of sufficient exploration, preference for good channel, and punishment for channel conflict is designed to implement multiuser dynamic spectrum accessing. In two users two channels scenario, a fast learning algorithm is proposed and the convergence to maximal whole reward is proved. The simulation results show that, with the proposed method, the CR system can obtain convergence of Nash equilibrium with large probability and achieve great performance of whole reward.

Advance in research on aerosol deposition simulation methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Keyang; Li Jingsong

2011-01-01

A comprehensive analysis of the health effects of inhaled toxic aerosols requires exact data on airway deposition. A knowledge of the effect of inhaled drugs is essential to the optimization of aerosol drug delivery. Sophisticated analytical deposition models can be used for the computation of total, regional and generation specific deposition efficiencies. The continuously enhancing computer seem to allow us to study the particle transport and deposition in more and more realistic airway geometries with the help of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation method. In this article, the trends in aerosol deposition models and lung models, and the methods for achievement of deposition simulations are also reviewed. (authors)

NOTE - Genetic variability among cassava accessions based on SSR markers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Márcia de Nazaré Oliveira Ribeiro

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to characterize and estimate the genetic similarity among 93 cassava accessions. The DNAamplification was performed with 14 microsatellite primers. The amplification products were separated by a polyacrylamide gelelectrophoresis, showing a polymorphism formation, through which the accessions were discriminated against. The genetic similarityamong accessions of cassava was estimated by the Dice coefficient. Cluster analysis was carried out using the UPGMA method. Thepolymorphic primers amplified a total of 26 alleles with 2-4 alleles per loci. The genetic similarity ranged from 0.16 to 0.96. Theaverage values for observed and expected heterozygosity were 0.18 and 0.46, respectively. Twenty genetic similarity clusters weredetermined, demonstrating diversity among accessions, suggesting the possibility of heterotic hybrid generation.

Accessibility of facilities in hotel capacities for people with disabilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jević Goran

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Given the fact that, only in Europe, there are over 80 million people, with some type of disability, and that these figures will be constantly on the increase according to the projections of World Health Organization, it implies that accessible tourism market, which is now unfortunately neglected, has great potential for future development. The term 'access' implies the absence of barriers in using facilities, and as such, perceived within the tourism and hospitality market mainly entails the accessibility of accommodation facilities for disabled persons. This paper aims at presenting and familiarizing with the term 'disability' as well as highlighting the importance of accessible tourism together with the need to adapt accommodation to people with disabilities. The methods used for data collection are based on the desk research with the use of national and foreign academic literature, primarily in the field of tourism and hospitality. For data processing we mostly relied on the methods of analysis, synthesis and comparison. The paper is organized as follows: the first part is entitled 'Definition and Models of Disability', the second part deals with 'Accessibility and Legislation', whereas the third part tackles 'Accessibility and Hospitality'. Based on the research findings, it can be concluded that disabled persons are faced with serious problems upon choosing and selecting a hotel, which is partly caused by the disrespect for their rights and the lack in adaptability of accommodation facilities as well as the lack of employees' awareness about the needs of people with disabilities.

Forward with Hoare

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Mike; Collavizza, Hélène

Hoare's celebrated paper entitled "An Axiomatic Basis for Computer Programming" appeared in 1969, so the Hoare formula P{S}Q is now 40 years old! That paper introduced Hoare Logic, which is still the basis for program verification today, but is now mechanised inside sophisticated verification systems. We aim here to give an accessible introduction to methods for proving Hoare formulae based both on the forward computation of postconditions and on the backward computation of preconditions. Although precondition methods are better known, computing postconditions provides a verification framework that encompasses methods ranging from symbolic execution to full deductive proof of correctness.

JISC Open Access Briefing Paper

OpenAIRE

Swan, Alma

2005-01-01

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

Access 2013 bible

CERN Document Server

Alexander, Michael

2013-01-01

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

How You Can Protect Public Access Computers "and" Their Users

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Phil

2007-01-01

By providing the public with online computing facilities, librarians make available a world of information resources beyond their traditional print materials. Internet-connected computers in libraries greatly enhance the opportunity for patrons to enjoy the benefits of the digital age. Unfortunately, as hackers become more sophisticated and…

Pediatric vascular access

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donaldson, James S.

2006-01-01

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

Open Access Publishing in the Field of Medical Informatics.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuballa, Stefanie

2017-05-01

The open access paradigm has become an important approach in today's information and communication society. Funders and governments in different countries stipulate open access publications of funded research results. Medical informatics as part of the science, technology and medicine disciplines benefits from many research funds, such as National Institutes of Health in the US, Wellcome Trust in UK, German Research Foundation in Germany and many more. In this study an overview of the current open access programs and conditions of major journals in the field of medical informatics is presented. It was investigated whether there are suitable options and how they are shaped. Therefore all journals in Thomson Reuters Web of Science that were listed in the subject category "Medical Informatics" in 2014 were examined. An Internet research was conducted by investigating the journals' websites. It was reviewed whether journals offer an open access option with a subsequent check of conditions as for example the type of open access, the fees and the licensing. As a result all journals in the field of medical informatics that had an impact factor in 2014 offer an open access option. A predominantly consistent pricing range was determined with an average fee of 2.248 € and a median fee of 2.207 €. The height of a journals' open access fee did not correlate with the height of its Impact Factor. Hence, medical informatics journals have recognized the trend of open access publishing, though the vast majority of them are working with the hybrid method. Hybrid open access may however lead to problems in questions of double dipping and the often stipulated gold open access.

Potential of OFDM for next generation optical access

Science.gov (United States)

Fritzsche, Daniel; Weis, Erik; Breuer, Dirk

2011-01-01

This paper shows the requirements for next generation optical access (NGOA) networks and analyzes the potential of OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) for the use in such network scenarios. First, we show the motivation for NGOA systems based on the future requirements on FTTH access systems and list the advantages of OFDM in such scenarios. In the next part, the basics of OFDM and different methods to generate and detect optical OFDM signals are explained and analyzed. At the transmitter side the options include intensity modulation and the more advanced field modulation of the optical OFDM signal. At the receiver there is the choice between direct detection and coherent detection. As the result of this discussion we show our vision of the future use of OFDM in optical access networks.

Understanding and Making Use of Academic Authors’ Open Access Rights

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Hansen

2012-09-01

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION Authors of academic works do not take full advantage of the self-archiving rights that they retain in their publications, though research shows that many academic authors are well-aligned (at least in principle with open access (OA principles. This article explains how institutionally-assisted self-archiving in open access repositories can effectively take advantage of retained rights and highlights at least one method of facilitating this process through automated means. METHODS To understand the scope of author-retained rights (including the right to purchase hybrid or other open access options at some sample universities, author-rights data through the SHERPA/RoMEO API was combined with individual article citations (from Thomson Reuters' Web of Science for works published over a one-year period (2011 and authored by individuals affiliated with five major U.S. research universities. RESULTS Authors retain significant rights in the articles that they create. Of the 29,322 unique articles authored over the one year period at the five universities, 28.83 percent could be archived in final PDF form and 87.95 percent could be archived as the post-print version. Nearly 43.47 percent also provided authors the choice of purchasing a hybrid paid open access option. DISCUSSION A significant percentage of current published output could be archived with little or no author intervention. With prior approval through an open access policy or otherwise, article manuscripts or final PDFs can be obtained and archived by library staff, and hybrid paid-OA options could be negotiated and exploited by library administrators. CONCLUSION Although mandates, legislation, and other policy tools may be useful to promote open access, many institutions already have the ability to increase the percentage of accessible works by taking advantage of retained author rights and hybrid OA options.

Providing Access and Visualization to Global Cloud Properties from GEO Satellites

Science.gov (United States)

Chee, T.; Nguyen, L.; Minnis, P.; Spangenberg, D.; Palikonda, R.; Ayers, J. K.

2015-12-01

Providing public access to cloud macro and microphysical properties is a key concern for the NASA Langley Research Center Cloud and Radiation Group. This work describes a tool and method that allows end users to easily browse and access cloud information that is otherwise difficult to acquire and manipulate. The core of the tool is an application-programming interface that is made available to the public. One goal of the tool is to provide a demonstration to end users so that they can use the dynamically generated imagery as an input into their own work flows for both image generation and cloud product requisition. This project builds upon NASA Langley Cloud and Radiation Group's experience with making real-time and historical satellite cloud product imagery accessible and easily searchable. As we see the increasing use of virtual supply chains that provide additional value at each link there is value in making satellite derived cloud product information available through a simple access method as well as allowing users to browse and view that imagery as they need rather than in a manner most convenient for the data provider. Using the Open Geospatial Consortium's Web Processing Service as our access method, we describe a system that uses a hybrid local and cloud based parallel processing system that can return both satellite imagery and cloud product imagery as well as the binary data used to generate them in multiple formats. The images and cloud products are sourced from multiple satellites and also "merged" datasets created by temporally and spatially matching satellite sensors. Finally, the tool and API allow users to access information that spans the time ranges that our group has information available. In the case of satellite imagery, the temporal range can span the entire lifetime of the sensor.

Building a multimodal network and determining individual accessibility by public transportation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Djurhuus, Sune; Hansen, Henning Sten; Aadahl, Mette

2016-01-01

The increased availability of transit schedules from web sites or travel planners as well as more disaggregate data has led to a growing interest in creating individual public transportation accessibility measures. However, used extensively, standard GIS software does not have direct capabilities...... from a travel planner into a multimodal network model using simple SQL (structured query language) programming and standard GIS. The method presented here integrates all parts of travelling by public transportation from individual home addresses to all reachable transit stops within different travel....... The accessibility areas are created at morning rush hour for a study population of 29 447 individuals and a few examples of accessibility areas are presented. The results show a big difference in individual public transportation accessibility in the region. In addition, how the transit network is accessed, whether...

Prevailing ship financing methods applied to major dry-bulk companies

OpenAIRE

Χριστοδούλου, Αγγελική

2015-01-01

Shipping finance of 2014 has altered substantially regarding that of last decades and the shipping companies’ traditional capital structure of bank lending along with shareholders equity gives way to sophisticated and innovative financing methods forming a new capital structure which is more complicated but serves better the present-day financial needs. Not only constitutes the scope of this dissertation to exhibit the current ship-financing instruments but also to seek the optimal capital st...

Direct access to INIS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheludev, I.S.; Romanenko, A.G.

1981-01-01

Librarians, researchers, and information specialists throughout the world now have the opportunity for direct access to coverage of almost 95% of the world's literature dealing with the peaceful uses of atomic energy and nuclear science. This opportunity has been provided by the International Nuclear Information System (INIS) of the IAEA. INIS, with the voluntary collaboration of more than 60 of the Agency's Member States, maintains a comprehensive, computer-resident data-base, containing the bibliographic details plus informative abstracts of the bulk of the world's literature on nuclear science and technology. Since this data-base is growing at a rate of 75,000 items per year, and already contains more than 500,000 items, it is obviously important to be able to search this collection conveniently and efficiently. The usefulness of this ability is enhanced when other data-bases on related subjects are made available on an information network. During the early 1970s, on-line interrogation of large bibliographic data-bases became the accepted method for searching this type of information resource. Direct interaction between the searcher and the data-base provides quick feed-back resulting in improved literature listings for launching research and development projects. On-line access enables organizations which cannot store a large data-base on their own computer to expand the information resources at their command. Because of these advantages, INIS undertook to extend to interested Member States on-line access to its data-base in Vienna

Attending Physician Remote Access of the Electronic Health Record and Implications for Resident Supervision: A Mixed Methods Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Shannon K; Tulla, Kiara; Meltzer, David O; Arora, Vineet M; Farnan, Jeanne M

2017-12-01

Advances in information technology have increased remote access to the electronic health record (EHR). Concurrently, standards defining appropriate resident supervision have evolved. How often and under what circumstances inpatient attending physicians remotely access the EHR for resident supervision is unknown. We described a model of attending remote EHR use for resident supervision, and quantified the frequency and magnitude of use. Using a mixed methods approach, general medicine inpatient attendings were surveyed and interviewed about their remote EHR use. Frequency of use and supervisory actions were quantitatively examined via survey. Transcripts from semistructured interviews were analyzed using grounded theory to identify codes and themes. A total of 83% (59 of 71) of attendings participated. Fifty-seven (97%) reported using the EHR remotely, with 54 (92%) reporting they discovered new clinical information not relayed by residents via remote EHR use. A majority (93%, 55 of 59) reported that this resulted in management changes, and 54% (32 of 59) reported making immediate changes by contacting cross-covering teams. Six major factors around remote EHR use emerged: resident, clinical, educational, personal, technical, and administrative. Attendings described resident and clinical factors as facilitating "backstage" supervision via remote EHR use. In our study to assess attending remote EHR use for resident supervision, attendings reported frequent remote use with resulting supervisory actions, describing a previously uncharacterized form of "backstage" oversight supervision. Future work should explore best practices in remote EHR use to provide effective supervision and ultimately improve patient safety.

Sophistication of computational science and fundamental physics simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishiguro, Seiji; Ito, Atsushi; Usami, Shunsuke; Ohtani, Hiroaki; Sakagami, Hitoshi; Toida, Mieko; Hasegawa, Hiroki; Horiuchi, Ritoku; Miura, Hideaki

2016-01-01

Numerical experimental reactor research project is composed of the following studies: (1) nuclear fusion simulation research with a focus on specific physical phenomena of specific equipment, (2) research on advanced simulation method to increase predictability or expand its application range based on simulation, (3) visualization as the foundation of simulation research, (4) research for advanced computational science such as parallel computing technology, and (5) research aiming at elucidation of fundamental physical phenomena not limited to specific devices. Specifically, a wide range of researches with medium- to long-term perspectives are being developed: (1) virtual reality visualization, (2) upgrading of computational science such as multilayer simulation method, (3) kinetic behavior of plasma blob, (4) extended MHD theory and simulation, (5) basic plasma process such as particle acceleration due to interaction of wave and particle, and (6) research related to laser plasma fusion. This paper reviews the following items: (1) simultaneous visualization in virtual reality space, (2) multilayer simulation of collisionless magnetic reconnection, (3) simulation of microscopic dynamics of plasma coherent structure, (4) Hall MHD simulation of LHD, (5) numerical analysis for extension of MHD equilibrium and stability theory, (6) extended MHD simulation of 2D RT instability, (7) simulation of laser plasma, (8) simulation of shock wave and particle acceleration, and (9) study on simulation of homogeneous isotropic MHD turbulent flow. (A.O.)

Autonomy and Housing Accessibility Among Powered Mobility Device Users

Science.gov (United States)

Brandt, Åse; Lexell, Eva Månsson; Iwarsson, Susanne

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE. To describe environmental barriers, accessibility problems, and powered mobility device (PMD) users’ autonomy indoors and outdoors; to determine the home environmental barriers that generated the most housing accessibility problems indoors, at entrances, and in the close exterior surroundings; and to examine personal factors and environmental components and their association with indoor and outdoor autonomy. METHOD. This cross-sectional study was based on data collected from a sample of 48 PMD users with a spinal cord injury (SCI) using the Impact of Participation and Autonomy and the Housing Enabler instruments. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used. RESULTS. More years living with SCI predicted less restriction in autonomy indoors, whereas more functional limitations and accessibility problems related to entrance doors predicted more restriction in autonomy outdoors. CONCLUSION. To enable optimized PMD use, practitioners must pay attention to the relationship between client autonomy and housing accessibility problems. PMID:26356666

Quantitative methods for management and economics

CERN Document Server

Chakravarty, Pulak

2009-01-01

""Quantitative Methods for Management and Economics"" is specially prepared for the MBA students in India and all over the world. It starts from the basics, such that even a beginner with out much mathematical sophistication can grasp the ideas and then comes forward to more complex and professional problems. Thus, both the ordinary students as well as ""above average: i.e., ""bright and sincere"" students would be benefited equally through this book.Since, most of the problems are solved or hints are given, students can do well within the short duration of the semesters of their busy course.

METHODS OF PROVIDING NOISE IMMUNITY IN AUTOMOBILE ANTI-THEFT SYSTEM CONTROL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frolov, V.

2013-06-01

Full Text Available In modern ani-theft systems they use frequency and phase modulation. Since the width of the signal is limited, it is possible to intercept the signal and then switch off the alarm at the right time.To ensure the noise immunity and secrecy manufacturers use more sophisticated codes using the methods of cryptography. Significant increase in noise immunity in modern ani-theft systems is possible using broadband signals.

Protein Solvent-Accessibility Prediction by a Stacked Deep Bidirectional Recurrent Neural Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Buzhong Zhang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Residue solvent accessibility is closely related to the spatial arrangement and packing of residues. Predicting the solvent accessibility of a protein is an important step to understand its structure and function. In this work, we present a deep learning method to predict residue solvent accessibility, which is based on a stacked deep bidirectional recurrent neural network applied to sequence profiles. To capture more long-range sequence information, a merging operator was proposed when bidirectional information from hidden nodes was merged for outputs. Three types of merging operators were used in our improved model, with a long short-term memory network performing as a hidden computing node. The trained database was constructed from 7361 proteins extracted from the PISCES server using a cut-off of 25% sequence identity. Sequence-derived features including position-specific scoring matrix, physical properties, physicochemical characteristics, conservation score and protein coding were used to represent a residue. Using this method, predictive values of continuous relative solvent-accessible area were obtained, and then, these values were transformed into binary states with predefined thresholds. Our experimental results showed that our deep learning method improved prediction quality relative to current methods, with mean absolute error and Pearson’s correlation coefficient values of 8.8% and 74.8%, respectively, on the CB502 dataset and 8.2% and 78%, respectively, on the Manesh215 dataset.

Protein Solvent-Accessibility Prediction by a Stacked Deep Bidirectional Recurrent Neural Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Buzhong; Li, Linqing; Lü, Qiang

2018-05-25

Residue solvent accessibility is closely related to the spatial arrangement and packing of residues. Predicting the solvent accessibility of a protein is an important step to understand its structure and function. In this work, we present a deep learning method to predict residue solvent accessibility, which is based on a stacked deep bidirectional recurrent neural network applied to sequence profiles. To capture more long-range sequence information, a merging operator was proposed when bidirectional information from hidden nodes was merged for outputs. Three types of merging operators were used in our improved model, with a long short-term memory network performing as a hidden computing node. The trained database was constructed from 7361 proteins extracted from the PISCES server using a cut-off of 25% sequence identity. Sequence-derived features including position-specific scoring matrix, physical properties, physicochemical characteristics, conservation score and protein coding were used to represent a residue. Using this method, predictive values of continuous relative solvent-accessible area were obtained, and then, these values were transformed into binary states with predefined thresholds. Our experimental results showed that our deep learning method improved prediction quality relative to current methods, with mean absolute error and Pearson's correlation coefficient values of 8.8% and 74.8%, respectively, on the CB502 dataset and 8.2% and 78%, respectively, on the Manesh215 dataset.

Accessing Sexual and Reproductive Health Information and Services

African Journals Online (AJOL)

AJRH Managing Editor

... Women's Access to SRH. African Journal of Reproductive Health March 2015; 19 (1): 73 ... Mixed Methods Study of Young Women's Needs and Experiences in Soweto,. South Africa. 1,2* ...... 04-164-020) (pp. i–91). Washington, DC: The.

A review of global access to emergency contraception.

Science.gov (United States)

Westley, Elizabeth; Kapp, Nathalie; Palermo, Tia; Bleck, Jennifer

2013-10-01

Emergency contraception has been known for several decades, and dedicated products have been on the market for close to 20 years. Yet it is unclear whether women, particularly in low-resource countries, have access to this important second-chance method of contraception. To review relevant policies, regulations, and other factors related to access to emergency contraception worldwide. A wide range of gray literature was reviewed, several specific studies were commissioned, and a number of online databases were searched. Several positive policies and regulations are in place: emergency contraception products are registered in the majority of countries around the world, listed in many countries' essential medicines lists, included in widely used guidance, and supported by most donors. Yet analysis of demographic data shows that the majority of women in low-income countries have never heard of emergency contraception, and surveys find that many providers have negative attitudes toward providing emergency contraception. Despite more than a decade of concerted international and country-level efforts to ensure that women have access to emergency contraception, accessibility remains limited. © 2013.

Description of an identification method of thermocouple time constant based on application of recursive numerical filtering to temperature fluctuation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernardin, B.; Le Guillou, G.; Parcy, JP.

1981-04-01

Usual spectral methods, based on temperature fluctuation analysis, aiming at thermocouple time constant identification are using an equipment too much sophisticated for on-line application. It is shown that numerical filtering is optimal for this application, the equipment is simpler than for spectral methods and less samples of signals are needed for the same accuracy. The method is described and a parametric study was performed using a temperature noise simulator [fr

Videophone Technology and Students with Deaf-Blindness: A Method for Increasing Access and Communication

Science.gov (United States)

Emerson, Judith; Bishop, John

2012-01-01

Introduction: Seeing the Possibilities with Videophone Technology began as research project funded by the National Center for Technology Innovation. The project implemented a face-to-face social networking program for students with deaf-blindness to investigate the potential for increasing access and communication using videophone technology.…

A Rewritable, Random-Access DNA-Based Storage System.

Science.gov (United States)

Yazdi, S M Hossein Tabatabaei; Yuan, Yongbo; Ma, Jian; Zhao, Huimin; Milenkovic, Olgica

2015-09-18

We describe the first DNA-based storage architecture that enables random access to data blocks and rewriting of information stored at arbitrary locations within the blocks. The newly developed architecture overcomes drawbacks of existing read-only methods that require decoding the whole file in order to read one data fragment. Our system is based on new constrained coding techniques and accompanying DNA editing methods that ensure data reliability, specificity and sensitivity of access, and at the same time provide exceptionally high data storage capacity. As a proof of concept, we encoded parts of the Wikipedia pages of six universities in the USA, and selected and edited parts of the text written in DNA corresponding to three of these schools. The results suggest that DNA is a versatile media suitable for both ultrahigh density archival and rewritable storage applications.

Endodontic treatment of dens evaginatus by performing a splint guided access cavity.

Science.gov (United States)

Mena-Álvarez, Jesús; Rico-Romano, Cristina; Lobo-Galindo, Ana Belén; Zubizarreta-Macho, Álvaro

2017-11-12

Dens evaginatus (DE) is described as an unusual dental malformation. Tooth structure variations attached to this anatomical disturbance complicates the performance of a conservative access cavity for a conventional root canal treatment. Author's purpose is to describe the treatment of a type V DE by using splits as guides to perform access cavity. This clinical case shows a root canal treatment of a type V DE diagnosed by using a cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). Access cavity was planned through an osseointegrated implant planning software and guided by a stereolithographied split. After endodontic treatment, tooth was sculpted for placing a veneer, processed by a chair-side system in a single session. CBCT is an effective method for obtaining internal anatomical information of teeth with anatomical malformations. The osseointegrated implant planning software is an effective method for planning root canal treatment and designing stereolithograped splits (for performing minimally invasive access cavities). Stereolithographed splints allow performing a guided and conservative access cavity of teeth affected by dental malformations whereas digital technology allows us to esthetically reconstruct a tooth in a single session. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Fire Source Accessibility of Water Mist Fire Suppression Improvement through Flow Method Control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jung, Jun Ho; Kim, Hyeong Taek; Kim, Yun Jung; Park, Mun Hee [KHNP CRI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2013-10-15

Recently, nuclear power plants set CO{sub 2} fire suppression system. However it is hard to establish and to maintain and it also has difficulties performing function test. Therefore, it needs to develop a new fire suppression system to replace the existing CO{sub 2} fire suppression systems in nuclear power plant. In fact, already, there exist alternatives - gas fire suppression system or clean fire extinguishing agent, but it is hard to apply because it requires a highly complicated plan. However, water mist fire suppression system which has both water system and gas system uses small amount of water and droplet, so it is excellent at oxygen displacement and more suitable for nuclear power plant because it can avoid second damage caused by fire fighting water. This paper explains about enclosure effect of water mist fire suppression. And it suggests a study direction about water mist fire source approach improvement and enclosure effect improvement, using flow method control of ventilation system. Water mist fire suppression can be influenced by various variable. And flow and direction of ventilation system are important variable. Expectations of the plan for more fire source ventilation system is as in the following. It enhances enclosure effects of water mists, so it improves extinguish performance. Also the same effect as a inert gas injection causes can be achieved. Lastly, it is considered that combustible accessibility of water mists will increase because of descending air currents.

“They just scraped off the calluses”: a mixed methods exploration of foot care access and provision for people with rheumatoid arthritis in south-western Sydney, Australia

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background There is little indication that foot health services in Australia are meeting modern day recommendations for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients. The overall objective of this study was to explore the current state of foot health services for patients with RA with an emphasis on identifying barriers to the receipt of appropriate foot care in South-West Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Methods A mixed (quantitative and qualitative) approach was adopted. Indications for appropriate access to foot care were determined by comparing the foot health, disease and socio-demographic characteristics of patients with unmet foot care demands, foot care users and patients with no demands for foot care. Perceptions of provision of, and access to, foot care were explored by conducting telephone-based interviews using an interpretative phenomenology approach with thematic analysis. Results Twenty-nine participants took part in the cross-sectional quantitative research study design, and 12 participants took part in the interpretative phenomenological approach (qualitative study). Foot care access appeared to be driven predominantly by the presence of rearfoot deformity, which was significantly worse amongst participants in the foot care user group (p = 0.02). Five main themes emerged from the qualitative data: 1) impact of disease-related foot symptoms, 2) footwear difficulties, 3) medical/rheumatology encounters, 4) foot and podiatry care access and experiences, and 5) financial hardship. Conclusions Foot care provision does not appear to be driven by appropriate foot health characteristics such as foot pain or foot-related disability. There may be significant shortfalls in footwear and foot care access and provision in Greater Western Sydney. Several barriers to adequate foot care access and provision were identified and further efforts are required to improve access to and the quality of foot care for people who have RA. Integration of podiatry services within

Homeless people's access to primary care physiotherapy services: an exploratory, mixed-method investigation using a follow-up qualitative extension to core quantitative research.

Science.gov (United States)

Dawes, Jo; Deaton, Stuart; Greenwood, Nan

2017-06-30

The purpose of this study was to appraise referrals of homeless patients to physiotherapy services and explore perceptions of barriers to access. This exploratory mixed-method study used a follow-up qualitative extension to core quantitative research design. Over 9 months, quantitative data were gathered from the healthcare records of homeless patients referred to physiotherapy by a general practitioner (GP) practice, including the number of referrals and demographic data of all homeless patients referred. Corresponding physiotherapy records of those people referred to physiotherapy were searched for the outcome of their care. Qualitative semi-structured telephone interviews, based on the quantitative findings, were carried out with staff involved with patient care from the referring GP practice and were used to expand insight into the quantitative findings. Two primary care sites provided data for this study: a GP practice dedicated exclusively to homeless people and the physiotherapy department receiving their referrals. Quantitative data from the healthcare records of 34 homeless patient referrals to physiotherapy were collected and analysed. In addition, five staff involved in patient care were interviewed. 34 referrals of homeless people were made to physiotherapy in a 9-month period. It was possible to match 25 of these to records from the physiotherapy department. Nine (36%) patients did not attend their first appointment; seven (28%) attended an initial appointment, but did not attend a subsequent appointment and were discharged from the service; five (20%) completed treatment and four patients (16%) had ongoing treatment. Semi-structured interviews revealed potential barriers preventing homeless people from accessing physiotherapy services, the complex factors being faced by those making referrals and possible ways to improve physiotherapy access. Homeless people with musculoskeletal problems may fail to access physiotherapy treatment, but opportunities

Open access

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Prof. Dennis Ocholla

The argument that access to information is an instrumental and individual as well as ... and Dean School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA. ... to scholarly publications and can be in any digital format, including text, movies and ... language barriers, censorship, lack of access to the Internet and ...

The challenges and possibilities of public access defibrillation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ringh, Mattias; Hollenberg, Jacob; Palsgaard-Moeller, Thea

2018-01-01

. Much hope has been put to the concept of Public Access Defibrillation with a massive dissemination of public available AEDs throughout most western countries. Accordingly, current guidelines recommend that AEDs should be deployed in places with a high likelihood of OHCA. Despite these efforts, AED use...... is in most settings anecdotal with little effect on overall OHCA survival. The major reasons for low use of public AEDs are that most OHCA take place outside high incidence sites of cardiac arrest and that most OHCAs take place in residential settings, currently defined as not suitable for Public Access...... Defibrillation. However, the use of new technology for identification and recruitment of lay bystanders and nearby AEDs to the scene of the cardiac arrest as well as new methods for strategic AED placement redefines and challenges the current concept and definitions of Public Access Defibrillation. Existing...

Informal politics and inequity of access to health care in Lebanon

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Introduction Despite the importance of political institutions in shaping the social environment, the causal impact of politics on health care access and inequalities has been understudied. Even when considered, research tends to focus on the effects of formal macro-political institutions such as the welfare state. We investigate how micro-politics and informal institutions affect access to care. Methods This study uses a mixed-methods approach, combining findings from a household survey (n = 1789) and qualitative interviews (n = 310) in Lebanon. Multivariate logistic regression was employed in the analysis of the survey to examine the effect of political activism on access to health care while controlling for age, sex, socioeconomic status, religious commitment and piety. Results We note a significantly positive association between political activism and the probability of receiving health aid (p political activity to those least active in our sample. Interviews with key informants also reveal that, although a form of “universal coverage” exists in Lebanon whereby any citizen is eligible for coverage of hospitalization fees and treatments, in practice, access to health services is used by political parties and politicians as a deliberate strategy to gain and reward political support from individuals and their families. Conclusions Individuals with higher political activism have better access to health services than others. Informal, micro-level political institutions can have an important impact on health care access and utilization, with potentially detrimental effects on the least politically connected. A truly universal health care system that provides access based on medical need rather than political affiliation is needed to help to alleviate growing health disparities in the Lebanese population. PMID:22571591

Comparable Measures of Accessibility to Public Transport Using the General Transit Feed Specification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinjoo Bok

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Public transport plays a critical role in the sustainability of urban settings. The mass mobility and quality of urban lives can be improved by establishing public transport networks that are accessible to pedestrians within a reasonable walking distance. Accessibility to public transport is characterized by the ease with which inhabitants can reach means of transportation such as buses or metros. By measuring the degree of accessibility to public transport networks using a common data format, a comparative study can be conducted between different cities or metropolitan areas with different public transit systems. The General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS by Google Developers allows this by offering a common format based on text files and sharing the data set voluntarily produced and contributed by the public transit agencies of many participating cities around the world. This paper suggests a method to assess and compare public transit accessibility in different urban areas using the GTFS feed and demographic data. To demonstrate the value of the new method, six examples of metropolitan areas and their public transit accessibility are presented and compared.

Access 2013 for dummies

CERN Document Server

Ulrich Fuller, Laurie

2013-01-01

The easy guide to Microsoft Access returns with updates on the latest version! Microsoft Access allows you to store, organize, view, analyze, and share data; the new Access 2013 release enables you to build even more powerful, custom database solutions that integrate with the web and enterprise data sources. Access 2013 For Dummies covers all the new features of the latest version of Accessand serves as an ideal reference, combining the latest Access features with the basics of building usable databases. You'll learn how to create an app from the Welcome screen, get support

Pro Access 2010 Development

CERN Document Server

Collins, Mark

2011-01-01

Pro Access 2010 Development is a fundamental resource for developing business applications that take advantage of the features of Access 2010 and the many sources of data available to your business. In this book, you'll learn how to build database applications, create Web-based databases, develop macros and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) tools for Access applications, integrate Access with SharePoint and other business systems, and much more. Using a practical, hands-on approach, this book will take you through all the facets of developing Access-based solutions, such as data modeling, co

Conducting a critical interpretive synthesis of the literature on access to healthcare by vulnerable groups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Smith Lucy

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Conventional systematic review techniques have limitations when the aim of a review is to construct a critical analysis of a complex body of literature. This article offers a reflexive account of an attempt to conduct an interpretive review of the literature on access to healthcare by vulnerable groups in the UK Methods This project involved the development and use of the method of Critical Interpretive Synthesis (CIS. This approach is sensitised to the processes of conventional systematic review methodology and draws on recent advances in methods for interpretive synthesis. Results Many analyses of equity of access have rested on measures of utilisation of health services, but these are problematic both methodologically and conceptually. A more useful means of understanding access is offered by the synthetic construct of candidacy. Candidacy describes how people's eligibility for healthcare is determined between themselves and health services. It is a continually negotiated property of individuals, subject to multiple influences arising both from people and their social contexts and from macro-level influences on allocation of resources and configuration of services. Health services are continually constituting and seeking to define the appropriate objects of medical attention and intervention, while at the same time people are engaged in constituting and defining what they understand to be the appropriate objects of medical attention and intervention. Access represents a dynamic interplay between these simultaneous, iterative and mutually reinforcing processes. By attending to how vulnerabilities arise in relation to candidacy, the phenomenon of access can be better understood, and more appropriate recommendations made for policy, practice and future research. Discussion By innovating with existing methods for interpretive synthesis, it was possible to produce not only new methods for conducting what we have termed critical

Knowledge Access in Rural Inter-connected Areas Network ...

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

Knowledge Access in Rural Inter-connected Areas Network (KariaNet) - Phase II ... and indigenous knowledge using information and communication technologies (ICTs) ... for research proposals on the aforementioned topics, action-research projects, ... Evaluating knowledge-sharing methods to improve land utilization and ...

Open Access Theses in Institutional Repositories: An Exploratory Study of the Perceptions of Doctoral Students

Science.gov (United States)

Stanton, Kate Valentine; Liew, Chern Li

2011-01-01

Introduction: We examine doctoral students' awareness of and attitudes to open access forms of publication. Levels of awareness of open access and the concept of institutional repositories, publishing behaviour and perceptions of benefits and risks of open access publishing were explored. Method: Qualitative and quantitative data were collected…

New Tools to Convert PDF Math Contents into Accessible e-Books Efficiently.

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Masakazu; Terada, Yugo; Kanahori, Toshihiro; Yamaguchi, Katsuhito

2015-01-01

New features in our math-OCR software to convert PDF math contents into accessible e-books are shown. A method for recognizing PDF is thoroughly improved. In addition, contents in any selected area including math formulas in a PDF file can be cut and pasted into a document in various accessible formats, which is automatically recognized and converted into texts and accessible math formulas through this process. Combining it with our authoring tool for a technical document, one can easily produce accessible e-books in various formats such as DAISY, accessible EPUB3, DAISY-like HTML5, Microsoft Word with math objects and so on. Those contents are useful for various print-disabled students ranging from the blind to the dyslexic.

The Analysis of Sophisticated Direction of Arrival Estimation Methods in Passive Coherent Locators

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Ozcetin, Ahmet

2002-01-01

...). The goal is to compare the ACMA to the MUSIC, and CBF algorithms for application to PCL. The results and analysis presented here support the use of constant modulus information, where available, as an important addition to DOA estimation...

Understanding valence-shell electron-pair repulsion (VSEPR) theory using origami molecular models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saraswati, Teguh Endah; Saputro, Sulistyo; Ramli, Murni; Praseptiangga, Danar; Khasanah, Nurul; Marwati, Sri

2017-01-01

Valence-shell electron-pair repulsion (VSEPR) theory is conventionally used to predict molecular geometry. However, it is difficult to explore the full implications of this theory by simply drawing chemical structures. Here, we introduce origami modelling as a more accessible approach for exploration of the VSEPR theory. Our technique is simple, readily accessible and inexpensive compared with other sophisticated methods such as computer simulation or commercial three-dimensional modelling kits. This method can be implemented in chemistry education at both the high school and university levels. We discuss the example of a simple molecular structure prediction for ammonia (NH 3 ). Using the origami model, both molecular shape and the scientific justification can be visualized easily. This ‘hands-on’ approach to building molecules will help promote understanding of VSEPR theory. (paper)

Understanding valence-shell electron-pair repulsion (VSEPR) theory using origami molecular models

Science.gov (United States)

Endah Saraswati, Teguh; Saputro, Sulistyo; Ramli, Murni; Praseptiangga, Danar; Khasanah, Nurul; Marwati, Sri

2017-01-01

Valence-shell electron-pair repulsion (VSEPR) theory is conventionally used to predict molecular geometry. However, it is difficult to explore the full implications of this theory by simply drawing chemical structures. Here, we introduce origami modelling as a more accessible approach for exploration of the VSEPR theory. Our technique is simple, readily accessible and inexpensive compared with other sophisticated methods such as computer simulation or commercial three-dimensional modelling kits. This method can be implemented in chemistry education at both the high school and university levels. We discuss the example of a simple molecular structure prediction for ammonia (NH3). Using the origami model, both molecular shape and the scientific justification can be visualized easily. This ‘hands-on’ approach to building molecules will help promote understanding of VSEPR theory.

ACCESSIBLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT FOR THE ELDERLY AND DISABLED IN MALAYSIA: HOTELS AS CASE STUDIES

OpenAIRE

Asiah Abdul Rahim; Nur Amirah Abd. Samad

2010-01-01

In Malaysia, it has become of increasing importance to study ways to improve the level of accessibility in buildings for the elderly and disabled people in the built environment, especially in hotels and resorts. The methods used in this study to identify areas to improve are access audits, table research and interviews. The data from these studies are analysed using a descriptive analysis based on access audits, observations, plan analysis, photographs and questionnaires. Access audits were ...

Access to Justice and Labor Law Reform in Asia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asri Wijayanti

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The existence of national labor law system guarantees fair is one of legal reform to achieve access to justice. This study aims to analyze whether the system of labor law has given capacity to achieve access to justice as the basis for implementing international labor relations in Asia. The method of this study is a normative legal research with statute approach. The findings support that there was an inconsistency on the substance of the legal structures that affect the low legal culture. The substance of the national labor law systems have not adapted the comprehensive International Labor Organization (ILO conventions. Less robust system of national labor laws affect access to justice in the weak field of labor in the region. How To Cite: Wijayanti, A. (2016. Access to Justice and Labor Law Reform in Asia. Rechtsidee, 3(1, 17-26. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.21070/jihr.v3i1.144

Data access performance through parallelization and vectored access. Some results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furano, F; Hanushevsky, A

2008-01-01

High Energy Physics data processing and analysis applications typically deal with the problem of accessing and processing data at high speed. Recent studies, development and test work have shown that the latencies due to data access can often be hidden by parallelizing them with the data processing, thus giving the ability to have applications which process remote data with a high level of efficiency. Techniques and algorithms able to reach this result have been implemented in the client side of the Scalla/xrootd system, and in this contribution we describe the results of some tests done in order to compare their performance and characteristics. These techniques, if used together with multiple streams data access, can also be effective in allowing to efficiently and transparently deal with data repositories accessible via a Wide Area Network

Molecular accessibility in solvent swelled coals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kispert, L.D.

1993-02-01

An EPR technique developed in this lab is being used to determine the pore size and number distribution changes after swelling the coal samples with various solvents. Stable nitroxide radical spin probes of different sizes, shapes and reactivity are dissolved in an appropriate solvent, the coal sample is added to the resulting solution, stirred over night at elevated temperature, filtered, washed with a non swelling solvent to eliminate any spin probes that are not trapped in the pores and the spin concentration is measured. Comparing these spin probe measurements to DRIFT data have shown that the relative number distribution of acidic functionalities can be accurately predicted by the spin probe method. The spin probe method had also been used to predict the increase in elongated voids in Pittsburgh No. 8 (APCS No. 4) upon swelling with pyridine in agreement with independent SANS data. NMR relaxation data show that it is possible to deduce the pore (accessibility) distribution as a function of size (up to 6 mn). It has also been possible by variable temperature and ENDOR measurements to determine the presence of hydrogen bonding as a function of pore shape and size. The advantage of the EPR method is that it permits molecules of selected shape and size to be used as probes of accessible regions of coal, thus providing information on the importance of molecular shape.

Collaborative Indoor Access Point Localization Using Autonomous Mobile Robot Swarm.

Science.gov (United States)

Awad, Fahed; Naserllah, Muhammad; Omar, Ammar; Abu-Hantash, Alaa; Al-Taj, Abrar

2018-01-31

Localization of access points has become an important research problem due to the wide range of applications it addresses such as dismantling critical security threats caused by rogue access points or optimizing wireless coverage of access points within a service area. Existing proposed solutions have mostly relied on theoretical hypotheses or computer simulation to demonstrate the efficiency of their methods. The techniques that rely on estimating the distance using samples of the received signal strength usually assume prior knowledge of the signal propagation characteristics of the indoor environment in hand and tend to take a relatively large number of uniformly distributed random samples. This paper presents an efficient and practical collaborative approach to detect the location of an access point in an indoor environment without any prior knowledge of the environment. The proposed approach comprises a swarm of wirelessly connected mobile robots that collaboratively and autonomously collect a relatively small number of non-uniformly distributed random samples of the access point's received signal strength. These samples are used to efficiently and accurately estimate the location of the access point. The experimental testing verified that the proposed approach can identify the location of the access point in an accurate and efficient manner.

Collaborative Indoor Access Point Localization Using Autonomous Mobile Robot Swarm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fahed Awad

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Localization of access points has become an important research problem due to the wide range of applications it addresses such as dismantling critical security threats caused by rogue access points or optimizing wireless coverage of access points within a service area. Existing proposed solutions have mostly relied on theoretical hypotheses or computer simulation to demonstrate the efficiency of their methods. The techniques that rely on estimating the distance using samples of the received signal strength usually assume prior knowledge of the signal propagation characteristics of the indoor environment in hand and tend to take a relatively large number of uniformly distributed random samples. This paper presents an efficient and practical collaborative approach to detect the location of an access point in an indoor environment without any prior knowledge of the environment. The proposed approach comprises a swarm of wirelessly connected mobile robots that collaboratively and autonomously collect a relatively small number of non-uniformly distributed random samples of the access point’s received signal strength. These samples are used to efficiently and accurately estimate the location of the access point. The experimental testing verified that the proposed approach can identify the location of the access point in an accurate and efficient manner.

A comparative study of different methods used to assess population exposure to terrestrial radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niewiadomski, T.; Jasinska, M.; Koperski, J.; Ryba, E.; Schwabenthan, J.

1980-01-01

A three-year programme was carried out in which the methods most frequently used for environmental monitoring were compared. These methods were: thermoluminescence, high-pressure ionization chamber, laboratory spectrometry of samples and in situ spectrometry. The details of applied methodology and organization of measurements performed in rural and urban areas are described. Source results are extensively presented in a series of tables. Integrating dosimeters and repeated/within a yearly period/ momentary measurements with e.g. ionization chamber, yield results best representing long-term averages. The advantage of the ionization chamber method is that several measurements can be rapidly performed over large areas. However, such measurements should not be made in the winter or summer, as differences between momentary values and long-term averages are most pronounced during those two periods of the year. The disadvantages of the method of laboratory spectrometry of samples are the difficulties in obtaining samples, need to use sophisticated equipment and data management systems, and the divergence between final results and long-term averages, due to the fact that one cannot include the influence of natural humidity or snow cover in such measurements. In situ spectrometry is hindered by the weight and sophistication of portable spectrometric systems, long measurement periods and the complexity of data management shared with the other spectrometric technique. (author)

The effect of cooking and washing rice on the bio-accessibility of As, Cu, Fe, V and Zn using an on-line continuous leaching method.

Science.gov (United States)

Horner, Nolan S; Beauchemin, Diane

2013-01-03

A previously developed method based on continuous on-line leaching with artificial gastro-intestinal fluids was used to determine the bio-accessible fraction of As, Cu, Fe, V and Zn in brown and white rice from California by inductively coupled mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Saliva generally accounted for the largest percentage of total element leached in comparison to gastric and intestinal juices. Arsenic speciation analysis was performed on the saliva and gastric juice leachates using ion exchange chromatography coupled to ICP-MS. The four most toxic species of As (As(III), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) and As(V)), as well as Cl(-) in the gastric juice leachate, were successfully separated within 5.5min using a simple nitric acid gradient. While cooking rice had relatively little effect on total bio-accessibility, a change in species from As(V) and DMA to As(III) was observed for both types of rice. On the other hand, washing the rice with doubly deionized water prior to cooking removed a large percentage of the total bio-accessible fraction of As, Cu, Fe, V and Zn. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ultrasound Thrombolysis in Hemodialysis Access: In Vitro Investigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wildberger, Joachim Ernst; Schmitz-Rode, Thomas; Haage, Patrick; Pfeffer, Joachim; Ruebben, Alexander; Guenther, Rolf W.

2001-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of ultrasound thrombolysis in occluded hemodialysis access shunts using an in vitro model.Methods: Thrombosed hemodialysis accesses were simulated by clotted bovine blood in a flow model (silicone tubing; inner diameters 4, 6, and 9 mm). After retrograde and antegrade sheath placement (7 Fr), mechanical thrombolysis was performed using an ultrasound probe (Acolysis, Angiosonics, Morrisville, NC, USA). The tip of the device measured 2.2 mm in diameter. During sonication, the catheter was moved slowly back and forth using an over-the-wire system. Thirty complete occlusions [tubing diameters 4 mm (n = 12), 6 mm (n = 12), 9 mm (n = 6)] were treated. Initial thrombus weights were 3.5 (± 0.76) g, 7.7 (± 1.74) g, and 19.4 (± 2.27) g for the three diameters. Maximum sonication time was 15 min for each probe.Results: With this device, we were able to restore a continuous lumen in all 12 occluded 4∼mm silicone tubes. No wall-adherent thrombi remained after sonication for 3.5-9.6 min. In hemodialysis access models with diameters of 6 mm, thrombus fragments persisted in 25% (3/12 accesses). These were located in the medial portion of the access loop and near to the puncture sites. However, flow was re-established after 5.0-13.0 min of treatment in all settings. Mechanical dissolution of thrombus material failed in five of six access models with diameters of 9 mm, even though ultrasound energy was applied for the maximum of 15 min.Conclusion: In a clotted hemodialysis shunt model, successful ultrasound thrombolysis was limited to small access diameters and small amounts of thrombus

Accessible Earth: An accessible study abroad capstone for the geoscience curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-12-01

International capstone field courses offer geoscience-students opportunities to reflect upon their knowledge, develop intercultural competence, appreciate diversity, and recognize themselves as geoscientists on a global scale. Such experiences are often described as pivotal to a geoscientist's education, a right of passage. However, field-based experiences present insurmountable barriers to many students, undermining the goal of inclusive excellence. Nevertheless, there remains a widespread belief that successful geoscientists are those able to traverse inaccessible terrain. One path forward from this apparent dilemma is emerging as we take steps to address a parallel challenge: as we move into the 21st century the geoscience workforce will require an ever increasing range of skills, including analysis, modeling, communication, and computational proficiency. Computer programing, laboratory experimentation, numerical simulation, etc, are inherently more accessible than fieldwork, yet equally valuable. Students interested in pursuing such avenues may be better served by capstone experiences that align more closely with their career goals. Moreover, many of the desirable learning outcomes attributed to field-based education are not unique to immersion in remote inaccessible locations. Affective and cognitive gains may also result from social bonding through extended time with peers and mentors, creative synthesis of knowledge, project-based learning, and intercultural experience. Developing an inclusive course for the geoscience curriculum requires considering all learners, including different genders, ages, physical abilities, familial dynamics, and a multitude of other attributes. The Accessible Earth Study Abroad Program endeavors to provide geoscience students an inclusive capstone experience focusing on modern geophysical observation systems (satellite based observations and permanent networks of ground-based instruments), computational thinking and methods of

Open Access

Science.gov (United States)

Suber, Peter

2012-01-01

The Internet lets us share perfect copies of our work with a worldwide audience at virtually no cost. We take advantage of this revolutionary opportunity when we make our work "open access": digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. Open access is made possible by the Internet and copyright-holder…

Treatment of lower extremity arterial occlusive through retrograde access

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Xueqiang; Guo Pingfan; Zhang Jinchi; Cai Fanggang

2012-01-01

Objective: To explore the clinical significance of retrograde access for the interventional treatment of lower extremity arterial occlusive diseases when the occluded segment of lower extremity artery could not be reached through antegrade access. Methods: Twenty-seven cases (male 17, female 10; age range 32-89 years) were retrospectively investigated, including 18 with lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans, 7 with diabetic foot and 2 with thromboangiitis obliterans. According to the Fontaine staging, 6 cases were classified as Fontaine Ⅱ, 11 were classified as Fontaine Ⅲ and 10 were classified as Fontaine Ⅳ. All cases underwent endovascular operation through antegrade access first with an attempt to cross the occlusive segment, but in vain. So retrograde access was tried via puncture of pedis dorsalis or posterior tibial artery or exposure of lateral branches of posterior tibial artery, peroneal artery or dorsal artery by open surgery,which followed by Percutaneous transluminal angiography and (or) stenting. Results: The operation through retrograde access was successful in all cases with obvious improvement of ischemic symptoms. Hematoma at the puncture site occurred in 3 patients, and paresthesia of toes occurred in 1 after dorsalis pedis arteriotomy. No severe perioperative complication occurred. The average ankle brachial index increased from 0.37 ± 0.11 preoperatively to 0.85 ± 0.12 postoperatively. Conclusions: Retrograde access could be used as an alternative strategy in lower extremity arterial occlusive diseases when the occluded segment could not reach through antegrade access. (authors)

Assessment of Low-Income Adults' Access to Technology: Implications for Nutrition Education

Science.gov (United States)

Neuenschwander, Lauren M.; Abbott, Angela; Mobley, Amy R.

2012-01-01

Objective: The main objective of this study was to investigate access and use of technologies such as the Internet among Indiana's low-income population. The secondary objective was to determine whether access and use of computers significantly differed by age, race, and/or education level. Methods: Data were collected from low-income adult…

ASAView: Database and tool for solvent accessibility representation in proteins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fawareh Hamed

2004-05-01

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

Physico-chemical screening of accessions of Jatropha curcas for biodiesel production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naresh, B.; Reddy, M. Srikanth; Vijayalakshmi, P.; Reddy, Veena; Devi, Prathibha

2012-01-01

Biodiesel is an alternative environmentally friendly fuel made from renewable biological sources such as vegetable oils and animal fats. The present report deals with screening of 14 accessions of Jatropha curcas collected from all over India to find the most suitable ones for production of Biodiesel. From the 14 accessions of J. curcas located in the plantation at Osmania University, 4 accessions were initially selected on the basis of traits like general appearance, pest resistance, seed yield and seed-oil content. Further, the seed-oil of these 4 accessions was characterized by physico-chemical analysis to identify the elite accessions for production of biodiesel. Highest 1000-seed weight (640 g) and highest percentage seed-oil content (50.16) (extracted by Soxhlet method with hexane as the solvent) was recorded in the “KM” accession. The transesterification process is affected by the presence of high free fatty acids (recorded in “MB” accession) and high moisture content (recorded in “KM” accession) of the seed-oil which also interfere with the separation of fatty esters and glycerol during production of Biodiesel. Further, high phosphorus content and iodine number (recorded in “MB” accession) interfere with conversion of seed-oil to Biodiesel. In the above context, in spite of its yield being lower, the seed-oil of the “RSAD” accession was found to be most suitable for Biodiesel production followed by “KM”, “F.W.B” and “MB” accessions, since it contains lower free fatty acids, acid value, viscosity, diglycerides and iodine number. -- Highlights: ► We analyzed Indian Jatropha accessions for yield and quality. ► Elite accessions were selected for physico-chemical analysis of seed-oil. ► Four elite accessions identified as good candidates for Biodiesel production. ► The “RSAD” accession was found to be the best suited for biodiesel.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-10-01

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

Analysis of natural circulation BWR dynamics with stochastic and deterministic methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

VanderHagen, T.H.; Van Dam, H.; Hoogenboom, J.E.; Kleiss, E.B.J.; Nissen, W.H.M.; Oosterkamp, W.J.

1986-01-01

Reactor kinetic, thermal hydraulic and total plant stability of a natural convection cooled BWR was studied using noise analysis and by evaluation of process responses to control rod steps and to steamflow control valve steps. An estimate of the fuel thermal time constant and an impression of the recirculation flow response to power variations was obtained. A sophisticated noise analysis method resulted in more insight into the fluctuations of the coolant velocity

Fishing Access Areas

Data.gov (United States)

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

Access 3 project protocol: young people and health system navigation in the digital age: a multifaceted, mixed methods study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Melissa; Robards, Fiona; Sanci, Lena; Steinbeck, Katharine; Jan, Stephen; Hawke, Catherine; Kong, Marlene; Usherwood, Tim

2017-08-07

The integration of digital technology into everyday lives of young people has become widespread. It is not known whether and how technology influences barriers and facilitators to healthcare, and whether and how young people navigate between face-to-face and virtual healthcare. To provide new knowledge essential to policy and practice, we designed a study that would explore health system access and navigation in the digital age. The study objectives are to: (1) describe experiences of young people accessing and navigating the health system in New South Wales (NSW), Australia; (2) identify barriers and facilitators to healthcare for young people and how these vary between groups; (3) describe health system inefficiencies, particularly for young people who are marginalised; (4) provide policy-relevant knowledge translation of the research data. This mixed methods study has four parts, including: (1) a cross-sectional survey of young people (12-24 years) residing in NSW, Australia; (2) a longitudinal, qualitative study of a subsample of marginalised young people (defined as young people who: identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander; are experiencing homelessness; identify as sexuality and/or gender diverse; are of refugee or vulnerable migrant background; and/or live in rural or remote NSW); (3) interviews with professionals; (4) a knowledge translation forum. Ethics approvals were sought and granted. Data collection commenced in March 2016 and will continue until June 2017. This study will gather practice and policy-relevant intelligence about contemporary experiences of young people and health services, with a unique focus on five different groups of marginalised young people, documenting their experiences over time. Access 3 will explore navigation around all levels of the health system, determine whether digital technology is integrated into this, and if so how, and will translate findings into policy-relevant recommendations. © Article author(s) (or

Implementing Discretionary Access Control with Time Character in Linux and Performance Analysis

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

TAN Liang; ZHOU Ming-Tian

2006-01-01

DAC (Discretionary Access Control Policy) is access control based on ownership relations between subject and object, the subject can discretionarily decide on that who, by what methods, can access his owns object. In this paper, the system time is looked as a basic secure element. The DAC_T (Discretionary Access Control Policy with Time Character) is presented and formalized. The DAC_T resolves that the subject can discretionarily decide that who, on when, can access his owns objects. And then the DAC_T is implemented on Linux based on GFAC (General Framework for Access Control), and the algorithm is put forward. Finally, the performance analysis for the DAC_T_Linux is carried out. It is proved that the DAC_T_Linux not only can realize time constraints between subject and object but also can still be accepted by us though its performance have been decreased.

Capability-based Access Control Delegation Model on the Federated IoT Network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Anggorojati, Bayu; Mahalle, Parikshit N.; Prasad, Neeli R.

2012-01-01

Flexibility is an important property for general access control system and especially in the Internet of Things (IoT), which can be achieved by access or authority delegation. Delegation mechanisms in access control that have been studied until now have been intended mainly for a system that has...... no resource constraint, such as a web-based system, which is not very suitable for a highly pervasive system such as IoT. To this end, this paper presents an access delegation method with security considerations based on Capability-based Context Aware Access Control (CCAAC) model intended for federated...... machine-to-machine communication or IoT networks. The main idea of our proposed model is that the access delegation is realized by means of a capability propagation mechanism, and incorporating the context information as well as secure capability propagation under federated IoT environments. By using...

Flexibility in problem solving and tool use of kea and New Caledonian crows in a multi access box paradigm.

Science.gov (United States)

Auersperg, Alice M I; von Bayern, Auguste M P; Gajdon, Gyula K; Huber, Ludwig; Kacelnik, Alex

2011-01-01

Parrots and corvids show outstanding innovative and flexible behaviour. In particular, kea and New Caledonian crows are often singled out as being exceptionally sophisticated in physical cognition, so that comparing them in this respect is particularly interesting. However, comparing cognitive mechanisms among species requires consideration of non-cognitive behavioural propensities and morphological characteristics evolved from different ancestry and adapted to fit different ecological niches. We used a novel experimental approach based on a Multi-Access-Box (MAB). Food could be extracted by four different techniques, two of them involving tools. Initially all four options were available to the subjects. Once they reached criterion for mastering one option, this task was blocked, until the subjects became proficient in another solution. The exploratory behaviour differed considerably. Only one (of six) kea and one (of five) NCC mastered all four options, including a first report of innovative stick tool use in kea. The crows were more efficient in using the stick tool, the kea the ball tool. The kea were haptically more explorative than the NCC, discovered two or three solutions within the first ten trials (against a mean of 0.75 discoveries by the crows) and switched more quickly to new solutions when the previous one was blocked. Differences in exploration technique, neophobia and object manipulation are likely to explain differential performance across the set of tasks. Our study further underlines the need to use a diversity of tasks when comparing cognitive traits between members of different species. Extension of a similar method to other taxa could help developing a comparative cognition research program.

Web Accessibility and Guidelines

Science.gov (United States)

Harper, Simon; Yesilada, Yeliz

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

An access technology delivery protocol for children with severe and multiple disabilities: a case demonstration.

Science.gov (United States)

Mumford, Leslie; Lam, Rachel; Wright, Virginia; Chau, Tom

2014-08-01

This study applied response efficiency theory to create the Access Technology Delivery Protocol (ATDP), a child and family-centred collaborative approach to the implementation of access technologies. We conducted a descriptive, mixed methods case study to demonstrate the ATDP method with a 12-year-old boy with no reliable means of access to an external device. Evaluations of response efficiency, satisfaction, goal attainment, technology use and participation were made after 8 and 16 weeks of training with a custom smile-based access technology. At the 16 week mark, the new access technology offered better response quality; teacher satisfaction was high; average technology usage was 3-4 times per week for up to 1 h each time; switch sensitivity and specificity reached 78% and 64%, respectively, and participation scores increased by 38%. This case supports further development and testing of the ATDP with additional children with multiple or severe disabilities.

Android Access Control Extension

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anton Baláž

2015-12-01

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

A Group-based Authorization Model for Cooperative Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sikkel, Nicolaas; Hughes, John A.

Requirements for access control in CSCW systems have often been stated, but groupware in use today does not meet most of these requirements. There are practical reasons for this, but one of the problems is the inherent complexity of sophisticated access control models. We propose a general

Trust-Based Access Control Model from Sociological Approach in Dynamic Online Social Network Environment