The Qualitative Study of Key Performance Indicator on PT. Jiwasraya Manado

OpenAIRE

Rangian, Geby Melisa; Tumewu, Ferdinand

2014-01-01

Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is one of the most common tools used by the employees of companies to help manage more effectively and guide their progress. To perceive how far the achievement and the performance of the company, PT. Jiwasraya Manado use the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) to reveal the performance of the company. The objective of this study is to analyze the importance from the implementation of the key performance indicator for the insurance employee. There are several facts...

Identification of Key Indicators for Sustainable Construction Materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Humphrey Danso

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Studies on sustainable construction materials are on the rise with their environmental, social, and economic benefits. This study identifies the key indicators for measuring sustainable construction materials. The design used for the study was that of a survey which relied on a questionnaire with five-point Likert scale to generate data for the analysis. For this purpose, 25 indicators from the three dimensions (environmental, social, and economic identified from the literature were presented to the respondents in a structured questionnaire, and responses were collected and analysed using SPSS. The study identified three key environmental indicators for measuring sustainable construction materials, and these indicators are human toxicity, climate change, and solid waste. Furthermore, adaptability, thermal comfort, local resources, and housing for all were identified as the four key social indicators for sustainable construction materials. In addition, maintenance cost, operational cost, initial cost, long-term savings, and life span were found to be the five key economic indicators for measuring sustainable construction materials. The study therefore suggests that these twelve indicators should be considered in future studies that seek to measure sustainable construction materials.

Suggestibility and suggestive modulation of the Stroop effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirsch, Irving

2011-06-01

Although the induction of a hypnotic state does not seem necessary for suggestive modulation of the Stroop effect, this important phenomenon has seemed to be dependent on the subject's level of hypnotic suggestibility. Raz and Campbell's (2011) study indicates that suggestion can modulate the Stroop effect substantially in very low suggestible subjects, as well as in those who are highly suggestible. This finding casts doubt on the presumed mechanism by which suggestive modulation is brought about. Research aimed at uncovering the means by which low suggestible individuals are able to modulate the Stroop effect would be welcome, as would assessment of this effect in moderately suggestible people. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Health systems reforms in Singapore: A qualitative study of key stakeholders.

Science.gov (United States)

Ong, Suan Ee; Tyagi, Shilpa; Lim, Jane Mingjie; Chia, Kee Seng; Legido-Quigley, Helena

2018-02-19

In response to a growing chronic disease burden and ageing population, Singapore implemented Regional Health Systems (RHS) in 2008. In January 2017, the MOH announced that the six RHS clusters would be reorganised into three in 2018. This qualitative study sought to identify the health system challenges, opportunities, and ways forward for the implementation of the RHS. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 35 key informants from RHS clusters, government, academia, and private and voluntary sectors. Integration, innovation, and people-centeredness were identified as the key principles of the RHS. The RHS was described as an opportunity to holistically care for a person across the care continuum, address social determinants of health, develop new models of care, and work with social and community partners. Challenges to RHS implementation included difficulties aligning the goals, values, and priorities of multiple actors, the need for better integration across clusters, differing care capabilities and capacities across partners, healthcare financing structures that may not reflect RHS goals, scalability and evaluation of pilot programmes, and disease-centricity, provider-centricity, and medicalisation in health and healthcare. Suggested ways forward included building relationships between actors to facilitate integration; exploring innovative new models of care; clear long-term/scale-up plans for successful pilots; healthcare financing reforms to meet changing patient and population needs; and developing evaluation systems reflective of RHS principles and priorities. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A strategy study on the technology development for key nuclear structural materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, Jun Hwa; Jeong, Youg Hwan; Kim, Tae Kyu

2012-01-01

In order to realize the advanced long-life PWRs and new Generation-IV nuclear systems, it is pre-requisite to establish or ensure the several key materials technology. In this study, we proposed the several key needs and directions for the key materials issues. Each issue is envisioned and described below. 1) Development of innovative nuclear structural materials with extreme environment-resistance for advanced G-IV systems 2) Improvement/development of key reactor materials for advanced and long -life PWRs. 3) Development of technologies against nuclear materials aging degradation

Solid-State Lighting 2017 Suggested Research Topics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2017-09-29

A 2017 update to the Solid-State Lighting R&D Plan that is divided into two documents. The first document describes a list of suggested SSL priority research topics and the second document provides context and background, including information drawn from technical, market, and economic studies. Widely referenced by industry and government both here and abroad, these documents reflect SSL stakeholder inputs on key R&D topics that will improve efficacy, reduce cost, remove barriers to adoption, and add value for LED and OLED lighting solutions over the next three to five years, and discuss those applications that drive and prioritize the specific R&D.

Competency Assessment Using Key Performance Indicators

OpenAIRE

Elena Alexandra Toader; Laura Brad

2015-01-01

The paper proposes a method for computing the scores of the key performance indicators resulted in the competency assessment process. The key performance indicators are estimated considering four performance levels that an IT professional can obtain at the end of the assessment process. We suggest as the best approach for estimating the performance key indicators an online questionnaire filled by 60 employees that work in IT Romanian companies. The results provide evidence that the difference...

Novel secret key generation techniques using memristor devices

Science.gov (United States)

Abunahla, Heba; Shehada, Dina; Yeun, Chan Yeob; Mohammad, Baker; Jaoude, Maguy Abi

2016-02-01

This paper proposes novel secret key generation techniques using memristor devices. The approach depends on using the initial profile of a memristor as a master key. In addition, session keys are generated using the master key and other specified parameters. In contrast to existing memristor-based security approaches, the proposed development is cost effective and power efficient since the operation can be achieved with a single device rather than a crossbar structure. An algorithm is suggested and demonstrated using physics based Matlab model. It is shown that the generated keys can have dynamic size which provides perfect security. Moreover, the proposed encryption and decryption technique using the memristor based generated keys outperforms Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES) and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) in terms of processing time. This paper is enriched by providing characterization results of a fabricated microscale Al/TiO2/Al memristor prototype in order to prove the concept of the proposed approach and study the impacts of process variations. The work proposed in this paper is a milestone towards System On Chip (SOC) memristor based security.

Consensus building for interlaboratory studies, key comparisons, and meta-analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Koepke, Amanda; Lafarge, Thomas; Possolo, Antonio; Toman, Blaza

2017-06-01

Interlaboratory studies in measurement science, including key comparisons, and meta-analyses in several fields, including medicine, serve to intercompare measurement results obtained independently, and typically produce a consensus value for the common measurand that blends the values measured by the participants. Since interlaboratory studies and meta-analyses reveal and quantify differences between measured values, regardless of the underlying causes for such differences, they also provide so-called ‘top-down’ evaluations of measurement uncertainty. Measured values are often substantially over-dispersed by comparison with their individual, stated uncertainties, thus suggesting the existence of yet unrecognized sources of uncertainty (dark uncertainty). We contrast two different approaches to take dark uncertainty into account both in the computation of consensus values and in the evaluation of the associated uncertainty, which have traditionally been preferred by different scientific communities. One inflates the stated uncertainties by a multiplicative factor. The other adds laboratory-specific ‘effects’ to the value of the measurand. After distinguishing what we call recipe-based and model-based approaches to data reductions in interlaboratory studies, we state six guiding principles that should inform such reductions. These principles favor model-based approaches that expose and facilitate the critical assessment of validating assumptions, and give preeminence to substantive criteria to determine which measurement results to include, and which to exclude, as opposed to purely statistical considerations, and also how to weigh them. Following an overview of maximum likelihood methods, three general purpose procedures for data reduction are described in detail, including explanations of how the consensus value and degrees of equivalence are computed, and the associated uncertainty evaluated: the DerSimonian-Laird procedure; a hierarchical Bayesian

Key-Phenomenon and Religious Meaning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lomuscio Vincenzo

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper I develop a phenomenology of religious experience through the notion of keyphenomenon. My analysis moves from a general phenomenology of situation, in which we have to relate different phenomena according to a sense. What does “according to a sense” mean? My suggestion is that we should look for a relationship among these data when we find a key-phenomenon (among a series of phenomena that would enlighten all the others. This key-phenomenon would show a non-phenomenal meaning which would make all the others understandable. Each other datum, therefore, becomes the witness of invisible meaning through a key-witness. The key-phenomenon we choose determines the role (i.e., the truth of each datum within its situation. This phenomenological relationship belongs to both the sense of day-life situations, and that one of possible religious situations. If the religious interpretation of a situation depends on our choice of key-phenomenon, or key-witness, we have to define what kind of keyphenomenon constitutes a religious intuition.

Hypnosis, suggestion, and suggestibility: an integrative model.

Science.gov (United States)

Lynn, Steven Jay; Laurence, Jean-Roch; Kirsch, Irving

2015-01-01

This article elucidates an integrative model of hypnosis that integrates social, cultural, cognitive, and neurophysiological variables at play both in and out of hypnosis and considers their dynamic interaction as determinants of the multifaceted experience of hypnosis. The roles of these variables are examined in the induction and suggestion stages of hypnosis, including how they are related to the experience of involuntariness, one of the hallmarks of hypnosis. It is suggested that studies of the modification of hypnotic suggestibility; cognitive flexibility; response sets and expectancies; the default-mode network; and the search for the neurophysiological correlates of hypnosis, more broadly, in conjunction with research on social psychological variables, hold much promise to further understanding of hypnosis.

Novel secret key generation techniques using memristor devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heba Abunahla

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes novel secret key generation techniques using memristor devices. The approach depends on using the initial profile of a memristor as a master key. In addition, session keys are generated using the master key and other specified parameters. In contrast to existing memristor-based security approaches, the proposed development is cost effective and power efficient since the operation can be achieved with a single device rather than a crossbar structure. An algorithm is suggested and demonstrated using physics based Matlab model. It is shown that the generated keys can have dynamic size which provides perfect security. Moreover, the proposed encryption and decryption technique using the memristor based generated keys outperforms Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES in terms of processing time. This paper is enriched by providing characterization results of a fabricated microscale Al/TiO2/Al memristor prototype in order to prove the concept of the proposed approach and study the impacts of process variations. The work proposed in this paper is a milestone towards System On Chip (SOC memristor based security.

Neurogenesis suggests independent evolution of opercula in serpulid polychaetes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brinkmann, Nora; Wanninger, Andreas

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: The internal phylogenetic relationships of Annelida, one of the key lophotrochozoan lineages, are still heavily debated. Recent molecular analyses suggest that morphologically distinct groups, such as the polychaetes, are paraphyletic assemblages, thus questioning the homology...

Optimal grazing management strategies: evaluating key concepts ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Finally, overstocking will override key management initiatives, such as effective recovery periods, leading to rangeland degradation. Thus, in variable climates, stocking rate should be set conservatively to allow easier adaptation of animal numbers to rainfall variability from year to year. We suggest several key concepts that ...

Study of 'Redhaven' peach and its white-fleshed mutant suggests a key role of CCD4 carotenoid dioxygenase in carotenoid and norisoprenoid volatile metabolism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tartarini Stefano

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Carotenoids are plant metabolites which are not only essential in photosynthesis but also important quality factors in determining the pigmentation and aroma of flowers and fruits. To investigate the regulation of carotenoid metabolism, as related to norisoprenoids and other volatile compounds in peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch., and the role of carotenoid dioxygenases in determining differences in flesh color phenotype and volatile composition, the expression patterns of relevant carotenoid genes and metabolites were studied during fruit development along with volatile compound content. Two contrasted cultivars, the yellow-fleshed 'Redhaven' (RH and its white-fleshed mutant 'Redhaven Bianca' (RHB were examined. Results The two genotypes displayed marked differences in the accumulation of carotenoid pigments in mesocarp tissues. Lower carotenoid levels and higher levels of norisoprenoid volatiles were observed in RHB, which might be explained by differential activity of carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase (CCD enzymes. In fact, the ccd4 transcript levels were dramatically higher at late ripening stages in RHB with respect to RH. The two genotypes also showed differences in the expression patterns of several carotenoid and isoprenoid transcripts, compatible with a feed-back regulation of these transcripts. Abamine SG - an inhibitor of CCD enzymes - decreased the levels of both isoprenoid and non-isoprenoid volatiles in RHB fruits, indicating a complex regulation of volatile production. Conclusions Differential expression of ccd4 is likely to be the major determinant in the accumulation of carotenoids and carotenoid-derived volatiles in peach fruit flesh. More in general, dioxygenases appear to be key factors controlling volatile composition in peach fruit, since abamine SG-treated 'Redhaven Bianca' fruits had strongly reduced levels of norisoprenoids and other volatile classes. Comparative functional studies of peach carotenoid

Eight Key Facets of Small Business Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, James Calvert

1980-01-01

Identifies eight key facets of small business management and suggests activities that may be used to assist in their development. The key facets are (1) product or service, (2) competition, (3) marketing strategies, (4) personnel needs, (5) equipment and facility needs, (6) finances, (7) planning, and (8) entrepreneurship. (JOW)

On Suggestibility and Placebo: A Follow-Up Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lifshitz, Michael; Sheiner, Eli O; Olson, Jay A; Thériault, Rémi; Raz, Amir

2017-04-01

Identifying what makes some people respond well to placebos remains a major challenge. Here, we attempt to replicate an earlier study in which we found a relationship between hypnotic suggestibility and subjective ratings of relaxation following the ingestion of a placebo sedative (Sheiner, Lifshitz, & Raz, 2016). To assess the reliability of this effect, we tested 34 participants using a similar design. Participants ingested a placebo capsule in one of two conditions: (1) relaxation, wherein we described the capsule as a herbal sedative, or (2) control, wherein we described the capsule as inert. To index placebo response, we collected measures of blood pressure and heart rate, as well as self-report ratings of relaxation and drowsiness. Despite using a similar experimental design as in our earlier study, we were unable to replicate the correlation between hypnotic suggestibility and placebo response. Furthermore, whereas in our former experiment we observed a change in subjective ratings of relaxation but no change in physiological measures, here we found that heart rate dropped in the relaxation condition while subjective ratings remained unchanged. Even within a consistent context of relaxation, therefore, our present results indicate that placebos may induce effects that are fickle, tenuous, and unreliable. Although we had low statistical power, our findings tentatively accord with the notion that placebo response likely involves a complex, multifaceted interaction between traits, expectancies, and contexts.

Types of suggestibility: Relationships among compliance, indirect, and direct suggestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Polczyk, Romuald; Pasek, Tomasz

2006-10-01

It is commonly believed that direct suggestibility, referring to overt influence, and indirect suggestibility, in which the intention to influence is hidden, correlate poorly. This study demonstrates that they are substantially related, provided that they tap similar areas of influence. Test results from 103 students, 55 women and 48 men, were entered into regression analyses. Indirect suggestibility, as measured by the Sensory Suggestibility Scale for Groups, and compliance, measured by the Gudjonsson Compliance Scale, were predictors of direct suggestibility, assessed with the Barber Suggestibility Scale. Spectral analyses showed that indirect suggestibility is more related to difficult tasks on the BSS, but compliance is more related to easy tasks on this scale.

Key Elements of a Good Mathematics Lesson as Seen by Japanese Junior High School Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Ebaeguin, Marlon; Stephens, Max

2016-01-01

This study makes a comparison between what literature on Japanese Lesson Study suggests are key elements of a good mathematics lesson and what junior high school mathematics teachers in Japan value in planning their lessons. The teachers' strong consensus in their endorsements of these key elements explains why Japanese teachers strongly support…

The Introduction of Key Skills in Schools: Core or Casualty?

Science.gov (United States)

Glover, Derek; Gleeson, Denis; Johnson, Mike; Spencer, Pat; Watson, Ray

2000-01-01

Study of the introduction of generic Key Skills in two local education authorities in Britain found limited implementation. Results suggested the need for strategic district- and school-level management, clear aims and objectives, ownership by school staff, and cross-curricular application. (SK)

Open to Suggestion.

Science.gov (United States)

Journal of Reading, 1987

1987-01-01

Offers (1) suggestions for improving college students' study skills; (2) a system for keeping track of parent, teacher, and community contacts; (3) suggestions for motivating students using tic tac toe; (4) suggestions for using etymology to improve word retention; (5) a word search grid; and (6) suggestions for using postcards in remedial reading…

Key Health Information Technologies and Related Issues for Iran: A Qualitative Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hemmat, Morteza; Ayatollahi, Haleh; Maleki, Mohammadreza; Saghafi, Fatemeh

2018-01-01

Planning for the future of Health Information Technology (HIT) requires applying a systematic approach when conducting foresight studies. The aim of this study was to identify key health information technologies and related issues for Iran until 2025. This was a qualitative study and the participants included experts and policy makers in the field of health information technology. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted and data were analyzed by using framework analysis and MAXQDA software. The findings revealed that the development of national health information network, electronic health records, patient health records, a cloud-based service center, interoperability standards, patient monitoring technologies, telehealth, mhealth, clinical decision support systems, health information technology and mhealth infrastructure were found to be the key technologies for the future. These technologies could influence the economic, organizational and individual levels. To achieve them, the economic and organizational obstacles need to be overcome. In this study, a number of key technologies and related issues were identified. This approach can help to focus on the most important technologies in the future and to priorities these technologies for better resource allocation and policy making.

Dioxins levels in Australia. Key findings of studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ivory, A.; Mobbs, C. [Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage (Australia)

2004-09-15

The Australian Government established the National Dioxins Program (NDP) in 2001 to improve knowledge about levels of dioxins in Australia. The program aims to determine levels, assess the risks to Australians and the environment, and to consider appropriate management actions. Starting in mid 2001and completed in 2004, the studies constituted the largest survey of dioxin levels ever undertaken in Australia. The findings will contribute to debate on how to deal with dioxins in Australia, as well as helping to meet obligations under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which Australia ratified on 20 May 2004. These studies will also contribute to a better understanding about dioxins in the southern hemisphere. This paper provides a summary of the key findings of these studies and the risk assessments.

Baby Teeth Link Autism and Heavy Metals, NIH Study Suggests

Science.gov (United States)

... Release Thursday, June 1, 2017 Baby teeth link autism and heavy metals, NIH study suggests Cross-section ... Sinai Health System Baby teeth from children with autism contain more toxic lead and less of the ...

Study suggests Arctic sea ice loss not irreversible

Science.gov (United States)

Balcerak, Ernie

2011-10-01

The Arctic has been losing sea ice as Earth's climate warms, and some studies have suggested that the Arctic could reach a tipping point, beyond which ice would not recover even if global temperatures cooled down again. However, a new study by Armour et al. that uses a state-of-the-art atmosphere-ocean global climate model found no evidence of such irreversibility. In their simulations, the researchers increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels until Arctic sea ice disappeared year-round and then watched what happened as global temperatures were then decreased. They found that sea ice steadily recovered as global temperatures dropped. An implication of this result is that future sea ice loss will occur only as long as global temperatures continue to rise. (Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2011GL048739, 2011)

Device-independent secret-key-rate analysis for quantum repeaters

Science.gov (United States)

Holz, Timo; Kampermann, Hermann; Bruß, Dagmar

2018-01-01

The device-independent approach to quantum key distribution (QKD) aims to establish a secret key between two or more parties with untrusted devices, potentially under full control of a quantum adversary. The performance of a QKD protocol can be quantified by the secret key rate, which can be lower bounded via the violation of an appropriate Bell inequality in a setup with untrusted devices. We study secret key rates in the device-independent scenario for different quantum repeater setups and compare them to their device-dependent analogon. The quantum repeater setups under consideration are the original protocol by Briegel et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 5932 (1998), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.5932] and the hybrid quantum repeater protocol by van Loock et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 240501 (2006), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.240501]. For a given repeater scheme and a given QKD protocol, the secret key rate depends on a variety of parameters, such as the gate quality or the detector efficiency. We systematically analyze the impact of these parameters and suggest optimized strategies.

Engagement in the HIV Care Continuum among Key Populations in Tijuana, Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Laramie R; Patterson, Thomas L; Magis-Rodriguez, Carlos; Ojeda, Victoria D; Burgos, Jose Luis; Rojas, Sarah A; Zúñiga, María Luisa; Strathdee, Steffanie A

2016-05-01

In Tijuana, Mexico, HIV is concentrated in sub-epidemics of key populations: persons who inject drugs (PWID), sex workers (SW), and men who have sex with men (MSM). To date, data on engagement in the HIV care continuum among these key populations, particularly in resource-constrained settings, are sparse. We pooled available epidemiological data from six studies (N = 3368) to examine HIV testing and treatment uptake in these key populations; finding an overall HIV prevalence of 5.7 %. Of the 191 identified HIV-positive persons, only 11.5 % knew their HIV-positive status and 3.7 % were on ART. Observed differences between these HIV-positive key populations suggest PWID (vs. non-PWID) were least likely to have previously tested or initiate HIV care. MSM (vs. non-MSM) were more likely to have previously tested but not more likely to know their HIV-positive status. Of persons aware of their HIV-positive status, SW (vs. non-SW) were more likely to initiate HIV care. Findings suggest engagement of key populations in HIV treatment is far below estimates observed for similarly resource-constrained generalized epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa. These data provide one of the first empirical-snapshots highlighting the extent of HIV treatment disparities in key populations.

Magic and memory: using conjuring to explore the effects of suggestion, social influence, and paranormal belief on eyewitness testimony for an ostensibly paranormal event.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Krissy; French, Christopher C

2014-01-01

This study uses conjuring to investigate the effects of suggestion, social influence, and paranormal belief upon the accuracy of eyewitness testimony for an ostensibly paranormal event. Participants watched a video of an alleged psychic seemingly bending a metal key by the power of psychokinesis. Half the participants heard the fake psychic suggest that the key continued to bend after it had been put down on a table and half did not. Additionally, participants were exposed to either a negative social influence (a stooge co-witness reporting that the key did not continue to bend), no social influence, or a positive social influence (a stooge co-witness reporting that the key did continue to bend). Participants who were exposed to the verbal suggestion were significantly more likely to report that the key continued to bend. Additionally, more participants reported that the key continued to bend in the positive social influence condition compared to the other two social influence conditions. Finally, believers in the paranormal were more likely to report that the key continued to bend than non-believers.

Magic and memory: Using conjuring to explore the effects of suggestion, social influence and paranormal belief on eyewitness testimony for an ostensibly paranormal event

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krissy eWilson

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This study uses conjuring to investigate the effects of suggestion, social influence and paranormal belief upon the accuracy of eyewitness testimony for an ostensibly paranormal event. Participants watched a video of an alleged psychic seemingly bending a metal key by the power of psychokinesis. Half the participants heard the fake psychic suggest that the key continued to bend after it had been put down on a table and half did not. Additionally, participants were exposed to either a negative social influence (a stooge co-witness reporting that the key did not continue to bend, no social influence, or a positive social influence (a stooge co-witness reporting that the key did continue to bend. Participants who were exposed to the verbal suggestion were significantly more likely to report that the key continued to bend. Additionally, more participants reported that the key continued to bend in the positive social influence condition compared to the other two social influence conditions. Finally, believers in the paranormal were more likely to report that the key continued to bend than non-believers.

Organisationally relevant variables and Keyes's Mental Health Continuum Scale: An exploratory study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deo J.W. Strümpfer

2009-09-01

Full Text Available In an exploratory study on a sample of convenience (n = 165, 11 self-report variables with presumed organisational  relevance were  related,  as  predictors,  to  the  three  subscores  and  summed  score of  the Keyes  (2005a, 2005b; 2007 Mental Health Continuum  scale  (long  form. Keyes's  scale was administered five to seven days after the first set of scales. The predictor scores were reduced to three factorial scores, labelled positive orientation, negative orientation and positive striving. When classified thus, the predictor variables showed significant and meaningful relationships with some or all of the Keyes subscores and the total score, although few reached medium effect sizes.

Results of a multinational study suggest the need for rapid diagnosis and early antiviral treatment at the onset of herpetic meningoencephalitis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Erdem, Hakan; Cag, Yasemin; Ozturk-Engin, Derya

2015-01-01

survived, with sequelae. Age (odds ratio [OR], 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02 to 1.05), Glasgow Coma Scale score (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.77 to 0.93), and symptomatic periods of 2 to 7 days (OR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.16 to 2.79) and >7 days (OR, 3.75; 95% CI, 1.72 to 8.15) until the commencement...... of treatment predicted unfavorable outcomes. The outcome in HME patients is related to a combination of therapeutic and host factors. This study suggests that rapid diagnosis and early administration of antiviral treatment in HME patients are keys to a favorable outcome....

Enhancing business intelligence by means of suggestive reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Qazi, Atika; Raj, Ram Gopal; Tahir, Muhammad; Cambria, Erik; Syed, Karim Bux Shah

2014-01-01

Appropriate identification and classification of online reviews to satisfy the needs of current and potential users pose a critical challenge for the business environment. This paper focuses on a specific kind of reviews: the suggestive type. Suggestions have a significant influence on both consumers' choices and designers' understanding and, hence, they are key for tasks such as brand positioning and social media marketing. The proposed approach consists of three main steps: (1) classify comparative and suggestive sentences; (2) categorize suggestive sentences into different types, either explicit or implicit locutions; (3) perform sentiment analysis on the classified reviews. A range of supervised machine learning approaches and feature sets are evaluated to tackle the problem of suggestive opinion mining. Experimental results for all three tasks are obtained on a dataset of mobile phone reviews and demonstrate that extending a bag-of-words representation with suggestive and comparative patterns is ideal for distinguishing suggestive sentences. In particular, it is observed that classifying suggestive sentences into implicit and explicit locutions works best when using a mixed sequential rule feature representation. Sentiment analysis achieves maximum performance when employing additional preprocessing in the form of negation handling and target masking, combined with sentiment lexicons.

Determination of a PWR key neutron parameters uncertainties and conformity studies applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernard, D.

2002-01-01

The aim of this thesis was to evaluate uncertainties of key neutron parameters of slab reactors. Uncertainties sources have many origins, technologic origin for parameters of fabrication and physical origin for nuclear data. First, each contribution of uncertainties is calculated and finally, a factor of uncertainties is associated to key slab parameter like reactivity, isotherm reactivity coefficient, control rod efficiency, power form factor before irradiation and lifetime. This factors of uncertainties were computed by Generalized Perturbations Theory in case of step 0 and by directs calculations in case of irradiation problems. One of neutronic conformity applications was about fabrication and nuclear data targets precision adjustments. Statistic (uncertainties) and deterministic (deviations) approaches were studied. Then neutronics key slab parameters uncertainties were reduced and so nuclear performances were optimised. (author)

Viral tracer studies indicate contamination of marine waters by sewage disposal practices in key largo, Florida.

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, J H; Rose, J B; Brown, J; Shinn, E A; Miller, S; Farrah, S R

1995-06-01

Domestic wastewater disposal practices in the Florida Keys are primarily limited to on-site disposal systems such as septic tanks, injection wells, and illegal cesspits. Poorly treated sewage is thus released into the highly porous subsurface Key Largo limestone matrix. To investigate the fate and transport of sewage in the subsurface environment and the potential for contamination of marine surface waters, we employed bacteriophages as tracers in a domestic septic system and a simulated injection well in Key Largo, Florida. Transport of bacteriophage (Phi)HSIC-1 from the septic tank to adjacent surface canal waters and outstanding marine waters occurred in as little as 11 and 23 h, respectively. Transport of the Salmonella phage PRD1 from the simulated injection well to a canal adjacent to the injection site occurred in 11.2 h. Estimated rates of migration of viral tracers ranged from 0.57 to 24.2 m/h, over 500-fold greater than flow rates measured previously by subsurface flow meters in similar environments. These results suggest that current on-site disposal practices can lead to contamination of the subsurface and surface marine waters in the Keys.

Language Learning at Key Stage 2: Findings from a Longitudinal Study

Science.gov (United States)

Cable, Carrie; Driscoll, Patricia; Mitchell, Rosamond; Sing, Sue; Cremin, Teresa; Earl, Justine; Eyres, Ian; Holmes, Bernardette; Martin, Cynthia; Heins, Barbara

2012-01-01

This paper discusses some of the findings from a 3-year longitudinal study of language learning in the upper stage of English primary schools, i.e. at Key Stage 2. This largely qualitative study (commissioned by the then Department for Children, Schools and Families) was designed to explore and document developing provision and practice in a…

Pythia: A Privacy-enhanced Personalized Contextual Suggestion System for Tourism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Drosatos, G.; Efraimidis, P.S.; Arampatzis, A.; Stamatelatos, G.; Athanasiadis, I.N.

2015-01-01

We present Pythia, a privacy-enhanced non-invasive contextual suggestion system for tourists, with important architectural innovations. The system offers high quality personalized recommendations, non-invasive operation and protection of user privacy. A key feature of Pythia is the exploitation of

The study on key performance indices in national nuclear R and D program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Seong Baek; Park, Nam Je; Park, Hong Jun; Chung, Bum Jin; Kim, Jeong Ha; Seo, Kyung Chun; Kim, Byung Mok

2012-01-01

Korean government has increased its investment of national research and development (R and D) recognizing that science and technology is a core element to bolster national economy and upgrade human life. In addition, measures have been developed to evaluate the R and D performance and contribution as they become critical and play pivotal roles to allocate national R and D budget in order to prevent the spillover effects. The nuclear technology development program is the backbone of the nuclear R and D programs in Korea. Since the nuclear R and D requires not only massive human resources and capitals but huge research equipment and facilities, the nuclear related science technology field is usually led by the government because of the high possibility of risk, failure or rewards, the necessity of huge budget, and the research spin off. The MEST (Ministry of Education and Science Technology) lays the groundwork for the advancement in nuclear R and D and the development of highly advanced technology by securing core technology. In addition, it also fosters world leading scientists with a creative research environment and an efficient R and D infrastructure. The main purpose of the study is to develop the logic model and design key performance indices for nuclear R and D program. The brief review of basic framework and contents for the performance evaluation system was explained in section 2. Based on the suggested evaluation framework, logic model and key performance indices are provided in section 3 and finally, concluding remarks are given in section 4

Soil fauna: key to new carbon models

OpenAIRE

Filser, Juliane; Faber, Jack H.; Tiunov, Alexei V.; Brussaard, Lijbert; Frouz, Jan; Deyn, Gerlinde; Uvarov, Alexei V.; Berg, Matty P.; Lavelle, Patrick; Loreau, Michel; Wall, Diana H.; Querner, Pascal; Eijsackers, Herman; Jiménez, Juan José

2016-01-01

Soil organic matter (SOM) is key to maintaining soil fertility, mitigating climate change, combatting land degradation, and conserving above- and below-ground biodiversity and associated soil processes and ecosystem services. In order to derive management options for maintaining these essential services provided by soils, policy makers depend on robust, predictive models identifying key drivers of SOM dynamics. Existing SOM models and suggested guidelines for future SOM modelling are defined ...

Comparative study of key exchange and authentication methods in application, transport and network level security mechanisms

Science.gov (United States)

Fathirad, Iraj; Devlin, John; Jiang, Frank

2012-09-01

The key-exchange and authentication are two crucial elements of any network security mechanism. IPsec, SSL/TLS, PGP and S/MIME are well-known security approaches in providing security service to network, transport and application layers; these protocols use different methods (based on their requirements) to establish keying materials and authenticates key-negotiation and participated parties. This paper studies and compares the authenticated key negotiation methods in mentioned protocols.

Enhancing Business Intelligence by Means of Suggestive Reviews

Science.gov (United States)

Qazi, Atika

2014-01-01

Appropriate identification and classification of online reviews to satisfy the needs of current and potential users pose a critical challenge for the business environment. This paper focuses on a specific kind of reviews: the suggestive type. Suggestions have a significant influence on both consumers' choices and designers' understanding and, hence, they are key for tasks such as brand positioning and social media marketing. The proposed approach consists of three main steps: (1) classify comparative and suggestive sentences; (2) categorize suggestive sentences into different types, either explicit or implicit locutions; (3) perform sentiment analysis on the classified reviews. A range of supervised machine learning approaches and feature sets are evaluated to tackle the problem of suggestive opinion mining. Experimental results for all three tasks are obtained on a dataset of mobile phone reviews and demonstrate that extending a bag-of-words representation with suggestive and comparative patterns is ideal for distinguishing suggestive sentences. In particular, it is observed that classifying suggestive sentences into implicit and explicit locutions works best when using a mixed sequential rule feature representation. Sentiment analysis achieves maximum performance when employing additional preprocessing in the form of negation handling and target masking, combined with sentiment lexicons. PMID:25054188

Enhancing Business Intelligence by Means of Suggestive Reviews

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Atika Qazi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Appropriate identification and classification of online reviews to satisfy the needs of current and potential users pose a critical challenge for the business environment. This paper focuses on a specific kind of reviews: the suggestive type. Suggestions have a significant influence on both consumers’ choices and designers’ understanding and, hence, they are key for tasks such as brand positioning and social media marketing. The proposed approach consists of three main steps: (1 classify comparative and suggestive sentences; (2 categorize suggestive sentences into different types, either explicit or implicit locutions; (3 perform sentiment analysis on the classified reviews. A range of supervised machine learning approaches and feature sets are evaluated to tackle the problem of suggestive opinion mining. Experimental results for all three tasks are obtained on a dataset of mobile phone reviews and demonstrate that extending a bag-of-words representation with suggestive and comparative patterns is ideal for distinguishing suggestive sentences. In particular, it is observed that classifying suggestive sentences into implicit and explicit locutions works best when using a mixed sequential rule feature representation. Sentiment analysis achieves maximum performance when employing additional preprocessing in the form of negation handling and target masking, combined with sentiment lexicons.

A key and checklist to the Neotropical forensically important "Little House Flies" (Diptera: Fanniidae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Grisales

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Fanniidae (Insecta: Diptera is a relatively small family (ca. 350 spp. with five genera, of which Fannia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 and Euryomma Stein, 1899 have Neotropical distributions. Some of these species are almost always found in forensic studies. Forensically relevant species have been neglected, despite recent forensic studies that suggest their importance for estimating post-mortem interval (PMI. Thus, current and updated keys to identify adults or larvae on carcasses are unavailable for the most important species. While immature stages are important in estimating PMI, evidence suggests that adults (Fanniidae as well as other families may also be useful for this purpose. Here we provide a key to males of the species of Fanniidae (found on corpses and other decomposing organic matter with a checklist of species that have been used in forensics in the Neotropical region. The key comprises all 38 species of Fannia and Euryomma that have already been successfully used in forensics, and species that are potentially useful for estimating PMI. These records were found after reviews of the literature and data from entomological collections. Photographs and illustrations of the main characters in the key are provided.

Pragmatic Development of Chinese EFL Learners--A Study on FL Suggestions

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Tongqing

2014-01-01

While the number of studies on the pragmatic development of nonnative English speakers has been increasing, surprisingly little research has been conducted on the development of the ability of foreign language learners to perform the suggestion speech act, with even less taking Chinese EFL learners as the target group. The present study examines…

Audio Key Finding: Considerations in System Design and Case Studies on Chopin's 24 Preludes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elaine Chew

2007-01-01

Full Text Available We systematically analyze audio key finding to determine factors important to system design, and the selection and evaluation of solutions. First, we present a basic system, fuzzy analysis spiral array center of effect generator algorithm, with three key determination policies: nearest-neighbor (NN, relative distance (RD, and average distance (AD. AD achieved a 79% accuracy rate in an evaluation on 410 classical pieces, more than 8% higher RD and NN. We show why audio key finding sometimes outperforms symbolic key finding. We next propose three extensions to the basic key finding system—the modified spiral array (mSA, fundamental frequency identification (F0, and post-weight balancing (PWB—to improve performance, with evaluations using Chopin's Preludes (Romantic repertoire was the most challenging. F0 provided the greatest improvement in the first 8 seconds, while mSA gave the best performance after 8 seconds. Case studies examine when all systems were correct, or all incorrect.

When Does Maluma/Takete Fail? Two Key Failures and a Meta-Analysis Suggest That Phonology and Phonotactics Matter.

Science.gov (United States)

Styles, Suzy J; Gawne, Lauren

2017-01-01

Eighty-seven years ago, Köhler reported that the majority of students picked the same answer in a quiz: Which novel word form ('maluma' or 'takete') went best with which abstract line drawing (one curved, one angular). Others have consistently shown the effect in a variety of contexts, with only one reported failure by Rogers and Ross. In the spirit of transparency, we report our own failure in the same journal. In our study, speakers of Syuba, from the Himalaya in Nepal, do not show a preference when matching word forms 'kiki' and 'bubu' to spiky versus curvy shapes. We conducted a meta-analysis of previous studies to investigate the relationship between pseudoword legality and task effects. Our combined analyses suggest a common source for both of the failures: 'wordiness' - We believe these tests fail when the test words do not behave according to the sound structure of the target language.

Multicomponent reactions provide key molecules for secret communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Boukis, Andreas C; Reiter, Kevin; Frölich, Maximiliane; Hofheinz, Dennis; Meier, Michael A R

2018-04-12

A convenient and inherently more secure communication channel for encoding messages via specifically designed molecular keys is introduced by combining advanced encryption standard cryptography with molecular steganography. The necessary molecular keys require large structural diversity, thus suggesting the application of multicomponent reactions. Herein, the Ugi four-component reaction of perfluorinated acids is utilized to establish an exemplary database consisting of 130 commercially available components. Considering all permutations, this combinatorial approach can unambiguously provide 500,000 molecular keys in only one synthetic procedure per key. The molecular keys are transferred nondigitally and concealed by either adsorption onto paper, coffee, tea or sugar as well as by dissolution in a perfume or in blood. Re-isolation and purification from these disguises is simplified by the perfluorinated sidechains of the molecular keys. High resolution tandem mass spectrometry can unequivocally determine the molecular structure and thus the identity of the key for a subsequent decryption of an encoded message.

Key technologies book

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

In this book can be found all the useful information on the French industry key technologies of the years 2000-2005. 136 technologies at the junction of the science advances and of the markets expectations are divided into 9 sectors. Among them, only 4 are interesting here: the environment, the transports, the materials and the energy. In 1995, the secretary's office of State for industry has published a first synthesis book on these key technologies. This 1997 new key technologies book extends and completes the initial study. For each key technology, an encyclopedic sheet is given. Each sheet combines thus some exact and practical information on: advance state of the technology, market characteristics, development forecasts, occupation and involved sectors, technology acquisition cost, research programs but also contacts of the main concerned efficiency poles. (O.M.)

An Identification Key for Selecting Methods for Sustainability Assessments

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Michiel C. Zijp

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Sustainability assessments can play an important role in decision making. This role starts with selecting appropriate methods for a given situation. We observed that scientists, consultants, and decision-makers often do not systematically perform a problem analyses that guides the choice of the method, partly related to a lack of systematic, though sufficiently versatile approaches to do so. Therefore, we developed and propose a new step towards method selection on the basis of question articulation: the Sustainability Assessment Identification Key. The identification key was designed to lead its user through all important choices needed for comprehensive question articulation. Subsequently, methods that fit the resulting specific questions are suggested by the key. The key consists of five domains, of which three determine method selection and two the design or use of the method. Each domain consists of four or more criteria that need specification. For example in the domain “system boundaries”, amongst others, the spatial and temporal scales are specified. The key was tested (retrospectively on a set of thirty case studies. Using the key appeared to contribute to improved: (i transparency in the link between the question and method selection; (ii consistency between questions asked and answers provided; and (iii internal consistency in methodological design. There is latitude to develop the current initial key further, not only for selecting methods pertinent to a problem definition, but also as a principle for associated opportunities such as stakeholder identification.

Using suggestion to model different types of automatic writing.

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, E; Mehta, M A; Oakley, D A; Guilmette, D N; Gabay, A; Halligan, P W; Deeley, Q

2014-05-01

Our sense of self includes awareness of our thoughts and movements, and our control over them. This feeling can be altered or lost in neuropsychiatric disorders as well as in phenomena such as "automatic writing" whereby writing is attributed to an external source. Here, we employed suggestion in highly hypnotically suggestible participants to model various experiences of automatic writing during a sentence completion task. Results showed that the induction of hypnosis, without additional suggestion, was associated with a small but significant reduction of control, ownership, and awareness for writing. Targeted suggestions produced a double dissociation between thought and movement components of writing, for both feelings of control and ownership, and additionally, reduced awareness of writing. Overall, suggestion produced selective alterations in the control, ownership, and awareness of thought and motor components of writing, thus enabling key aspects of automatic writing, observed across different clinical and cultural settings, to be modelled. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Key-value store with internal key-value storage interface

Science.gov (United States)

Bent, John M.; Faibish, Sorin; Ting, Dennis P. J.; Tzelnic, Percy; Gupta, Uday; Grider, Gary; Bonnie, David J.

2018-01-16

A key-value store is provided having one or more key-value storage interfaces. A key-value store on at least one compute node comprises a memory for storing a plurality of key-value pairs; and an abstract storage interface comprising a software interface module that communicates with at least one persistent storage device providing a key-value interface for persistent storage of one or more of the plurality of key-value pairs, wherein the software interface module provides the one or more key-value pairs to the at least one persistent storage device in a key-value format. The abstract storage interface optionally processes one or more batch operations on the plurality of key-value pairs. A distributed embodiment for a partitioned key-value store is also provided.

Testing increases suggestibility for narrative-based misinformation but reduces suggestibility for question-based misinformation.

Science.gov (United States)

LaPaglia, Jessica A; Chan, Jason C K

2013-01-01

A number of recent studies have found that recalling details of an event following its occurrence can increase people's suggestibility to later presented misinformation. However, several other studies have reported the opposite result, whereby earlier retrieval can reduce subsequent eyewitness suggestibility. In the present study, we investigated whether differences in the way misinformation is presented can modulate the effects of testing on suggestibility. Participants watched a video of a robbery and some were questioned about the event immediately afterwards. Later, participants were exposed to misinformation in a narrative (Experiment 1) or in questions (Experiment 2). Consistent with previous studies, we found that testing increased suggestibility when misinformation was presented via a narrative. Remarkably, when misinformation was presented in questions, testing decreased suggestibility. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Association studies suggest a key role for endothelin-1 in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia and the accompanying renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system suppression.

Science.gov (United States)

Verdonk, Koen; Saleh, Langeza; Lankhorst, Stephanie; Smilde, J E Ilse; van Ingen, Manon M; Garrelds, Ingrid M; Friesema, Edith C H; Russcher, Henk; van den Meiracker, Anton H; Visser, Willy; Danser, A H Jan

2015-06-01

Women with preeclampsia display low renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system activity and a high antiangiogenic state, the latter characterized by high levels of soluble Fms-like tyrosine kinase (sFlt)-1 and reduced placental growth factor levels. To investigate whether renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system suppression in preeclampsia is because of this disturbed angiogenic balance, we measured mean arterial pressure, creatinine, endothelin-1 (ET-1), and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system components in pregnant women with a high (≥85; n=38) or low (<85; n=65) soluble Fms-like tyrosine kinase-1/placental growth factor ratio. Plasma ET-1 levels were increased in women with a high ratio, whereas their plasma renin activity and plasma concentrations of renin, angiotensinogen, and aldosterone were decreased. Plasma renin activity-aldosterone relationships were identical in both the groups. Multiple regression analysis revealed that plasma renin concentration correlated independently with mean arterial pressure and plasma ET-1. Plasma ET-1 correlated positively with soluble Fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 and negatively with plasma renin concentration, and urinary protein correlated with plasma ET-1 and mean arterial pressure. Despite the lower plasma levels of renin and angiotensinogen in the high-ratio group, their urinary levels of these components were elevated. Correction for albumin revealed that this was because of increased glomerular filtration. Subcutaneous arteries obtained from patients with preeclampsia displayed an enhanced, AT2 receptor-mediated response to angiotensin II. In conclusion, a high antiangiogenic state associates with ET-1 activation, which together with the increased mean arterial pressure may underlie the parallel reductions in renin and aldosterone in preeclampsia. Because ET-1 also was a major determinant of urinary protein, our data reveal a key role for ET-1 in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Finally, the enhanced angiotensin responsiveness

Cogeneration: Key feasibility analysis parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coslovi, S.; Zulian, A.

1992-01-01

This paper first reviews the essential requirements, in terms of scope, objectives and methods, of technical/economic feasibility analyses applied to cogeneration systems proposed for industrial plants in Italy. Attention is given to the influence on overall feasibility of the following factors: electric power and fuel costs, equipment coefficients of performance, operating schedules, maintenance costs, Italian Government taxes and financial and legal incentives. Through an examination of several feasibility studies that were done on cogeneration proposals relative to different industrial sectors, a sensitivity analysis is performed on the effects of varying the weights of different cost benefit analysis parameters. With the use of statistical analyses, standard deviations are then determined for key analysis parameters, and guidelines are suggested for analysis simplifications

Symmetric Blind Information Reconciliation for Quantum Key Distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiktenko, Evgeniy O.

2017-01-01

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a quantum-proof key-exchange scheme which is fast approaching the communication industry. An essential component in QKD is the information reconciliation step, which is used for correcting the quantum-channel noise errors. The recently suggested blind-reconciliation technique, based on low-density parity-check codes, offers remarkable prospectives for efficient information reconciliation without an a priori quantum bit error rate estimation. We suggest an improvement of the blind-information-reconciliation protocol promoting a significant increase in the efficiency of the procedure and reducing its interactivity. Finally, the proposed technique is based on introducing symmetry in operations of parties, and the consideration of results of unsuccessful belief-propagation decodings.

An Empirical Study on Key Indicators of Environmental Quality: Green Budgeting - a Catalyst for Sustainable Economy and a Factor for Institutional Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Violeta – Maria Cimpoeru

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the phenomenon of institutional change through the implementation of sustainable strategies of medium-term budgeting, having as an effect the growth of opportunity to attract proper resources for social and environmental programs. The study analyzes green budget practices and suggests several ways to use them in order to ensure consistency in implementing key elements of sustainable economy. Thus, we conducted an empirical study to explain the decisive factors impact (greenhouse gas emissions and national income on health expenditure and we obtained statistically significant positive relationship, suggesting that green budgeting is an important factor for sustainable economy. The reasons behind the introduction of a sustainable perspective for budgeting in any country are important since they will dictate, to a large extent, the way the medium term budgeting will be institutionalized

Characterization Of Dissolved Organic Mattter In The Florida Keys Ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, D. G.; Shank, G. C.

2009-12-01

Over the past few decades, Scleractinian coral populations in the Florida Keys have increasingly experienced mortality due to bleaching events as well as microbial mediated illnesses such as black band and white band disease. Such pathologies seem to be most correlated with elevated sea surface temperatures, increased UV exposures, and shifts in the microbial community living on the coral itself. Recent studies indicate that corals’ exposure to UV in the Florida Keys is primarily controlled by the concentration of CDOM (Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter) in the water column. Further, microbial community alterations may be linked to changes in concentration and chemical composition of the larger DOM (Dissolved Organic Matter) pool. Our research characterized the spatial and temporal properties of DOM in Florida Bay and along the Keys ecosystems using DOC analyses, in-situ water column optical measurements, and spectral analyses including absorbance and fluorescence measurements. We analyzed DOM characteristics along transects running from the mouth of the Shark River at the southwest base of the Everglades, through Florida Bay, and along near-shore Keys coastal waters. Two 12 hour time-series samplings were also performed at the Seven-Mile Bridge, the primary Florida Bay discharge channel to the lower Keys region. Photo-bleaching experiments showed that the chemical characteristics of the DOM pool are altered by exposure to solar radiation. Results also show that DOC (~0.8-5.8 mg C/L) and CDOM (~0.5-16.5 absorbance coefficient at 305nm) concentrations exhibit seasonal fluctuations in our study region. EEM analyses suggest seasonal transitions between primarily marine (summer) and terrestrial (winter) sources along the Keys. We are currently combining EEM-PARAFAC analysis with in-situ optical measurements to model changes in the spectral properties of DOM in the water column. Additionally, we are using stable δ13C isotopic analysis to further characterize DOM

Studies of key success factors of product development success: A reinterpretation of results

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Plichta, Kirsten; Harmsen, Hanne

In this paper the general validity of the research area of key factors of success in product development is discussed. To be more specific we argue that validity hinges on the causal relation between success and success factrors ­ a relation that unaccounted for in the empirical studies....... The theoretical tradition of the resource-based perspective provides ­ at least to some extent ­ an account of this causality. An important point in the paper is that the key factors of success in the empi studies are not factors causally related to success, but at the most a number of valuable resources and thus......, but in the studies problems concerning implementation are not discussed. When the lists factors of success are interprested as valuable resources and capabilities, we show that some implications on the implementability might be deduced from the resource-based perspective....

Abundance and energy requirements of eiders (Somateria spp.) suggest high predation pressure on macrobenthic fauna in a key wintering habitat in SW Greenland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blicher, Martin Emil; Rasmussen, Lars Maltha; Sejr, Mikael Kristian

2011-01-01

The number of common eiders (Somateria mollissima borealis) in west Greenland declined dramatically during the twentieth century, supposedly because of human activities. However, their sensitivity to alternative drivers of variation, such as climate conditions, diseases or food availability......, remains unstudied. In this study, we describe prey availability and assess the trophic coupling between eiders and their macrobenthic prey in a shallow inlet, Nipisat Sound; a key wintering habitat in the southwest Greenland Open Water Area. Macrobenthic species abundance and biomass were studied...... was estimated at 13.9 g AFDM m-2 year-1 (317 kJ m-2 year-1). During the winters of 2008–2010, we monitored the number of common eiders (S. mollissima realis) and king eiders (Somateria spectabilis) and observed a distinct peak in abundance during winter with up to 15.000 birds in Nipisat Sound. Based...

Key Distribution and Changing Key Cryptosystem Based on Phase Retrieval Algorithm and RSA Public-Key Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tieyu Zhao

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The optical image encryption has attracted more and more researchers’ attention, and the various encryption schemes have been proposed. In existing optical cryptosystem, the phase functions or images are usually used as the encryption keys, and it is difficult that the traditional public-key algorithm (such as RSA, ECC, etc. is used to complete large numerical key transfer. In this paper, we propose a key distribution scheme based on the phase retrieval algorithm and the RSA public-key algorithm, which solves the problem for the key distribution in optical image encryption system. Furthermore, we also propose a novel image encryption system based on the key distribution principle. In the system, the different keys can be used in every encryption process, which greatly improves the security of the system.

Decoy State Quantum Key Distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Lo, Hoi-Kwong

2005-10-01

Quantum key distribution (QKD) allows two parties to communicate in absolute security based on the fundamental laws of physics. Up till now, it is widely believed that unconditionally secure QKD based on standard Bennett-Brassard (BB84) protocol is limited in both key generation rate and distance because of imperfect devices. Here, we solve these two problems directly by presenting new protocols that are feasible with only current technology. Surprisingly, our new protocols can make fiber-based QKD unconditionally secure at distances over 100km (for some experiments, such as GYS) and increase the key generation rate from O(η2) in prior art to O(η) where η is the overall transmittance. Our method is to develop the decoy state idea (first proposed by W.-Y. Hwang in "Quantum Key Distribution with High Loss: Toward Global Secure Communication", Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 057901 (2003)) and consider simple extensions of the BB84 protocol. This part of work is published in "Decoy State Quantum Key Distribution", . We present a general theory of the decoy state protocol and propose a decoy method based on only one signal state and two decoy states. We perform optimization on the choice of intensities of the signal state and the two decoy states. Our result shows that a decoy state protocol with only two types of decoy states--a vacuum and a weak decoy state--asymptotically approaches the theoretical limit of the most general type of decoy state protocols (with an infinite number of decoy states). We also present a one-decoy-state protocol as a special case of Vacuum+Weak decoy method. Moreover, we provide estimations on the effects of statistical fluctuations and suggest that, even for long distance (larger than 100km) QKD, our two-decoy-state protocol can be implemented with only a few hours of experimental data. In conclusion, decoy state quantum key distribution is highly practical. This part of work is published in "Practical Decoy State for Quantum Key Distribution

Responding to hypnotic and nonhypnotic suggestions: performance standards, imaginative suggestibility, and response expectancies.

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Eric C; Lynn, Steven Jay

2011-07-01

This study examined the relative impact of hypnotic inductions and several other variables on hypnotic and nonhypnotic responsiveness to imaginative suggestions. The authors examined how imaginative suggestibility, response expectancies, motivation to respond to suggestions, and hypnotist-induced performance standards affected participants' responses to both hypnotic and nonhypnotic suggestions and their suggestion-related experiences. Suggestions were administered to 5 groups of participants using a test-retest design: (a) stringent performance standards; (b) lenient performance standards; (c) hypnosis test-retest; (d) no-hypnosis test-retest; and (e) no-hypnosis/hypnosis control. The authors found no support for the influence of a hypnotic induction or performance standards on responding to suggestions but found considerable support for the role of imaginative suggestibility and response expectancies in predicting responses to both hypnotic and nonhypnotic suggestions.

A case study detailing key considerations for implementing a telehealth approach to office ergonomics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ritchie, Catherine L W; Miller, Linda L; Antle, David M

2017-01-01

Telehealth approaches to delivering ergonomics assessment hold great potential to improve service delivery in rural and remote settings. This case study describes a telehealth-based ergonomics service delivery process, and compares in-person and telehealth-based ergonomics approaches at an Alberta-based non-profit advocacy group. This project demonstrates that telehealth approaches to ergonomics do not lead to significantly different scoring outcomes for assessment of ergonomics issues, when compared to in-person assessments. This project also outlines the importance of live real-time video conferencing to improving communication, attaining key assessment information, and demonstrating ergonomic adjustments. However, some key considerations of bandwidth and hardware capabilities need to be taken into account. Key communication strategies are outlined to improve rapport, maintain employee confidentiality, and reduce client anxiety around telehealth ergonomics assessments. This project provides further support for telehealth approaches to office ergonomics, and outlines some key implementation strategies and barriers that should be considered.

Factor structure of suggestibility revisited: new evidence for direct and indirect suggestibility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Romuald Polczyk

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background Yielding to suggestions can be viewed as a relatively stable individual trait, called suggestibility. It has been long proposed that there are two kinds of suggestible influence, and two kinds of suggestibility corresponding to them: direct and indirect. Direct suggestion involves overt unhidden influence, while indirect suggestion concerns influence that is hidden, and the participant does not know that the suggestibility is being measured. So far however, empirical evidence for the existence of the two factors has been scarce. In the present study, more sophisticated and reliable tools for measuring suggestibility were applied than in the previous research, in the hope that better measurement would reveal the factor structure of suggestibility. Two tests of direct suggestibility were used: the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A, measuring hypnotic susceptibility, and the Barber Suggestibility Scale, measuring non-hypnotic direct imaginative suggestibility. Three tests served to measure indirect suggestibility: the Sensory Suggestibility Scale, measuring indirect suggestibility relating to perception; the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale, measuring the tendency to yield to suggestive questions and changing answers after negative feedback; and the Emotional Dialogs Tests, measuring the tendency to perceive nonexistent aggression. Participants and procedure In sum, 115 participants were tested, 69 women, 49 men, mean age 22.20 years, SD = 2.20. Participants were tested in two sessions, lasting for a total of four hours. Results Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the existence of two uncorrelated factors of suggestibility: direct and indirect. Conclusions Suggestibility may indeed involve two factors, direct and indirect, and failure to discover them in previous research may be due to methodological problems.

Characteristics of evolving models of care for arthritis: A key informant study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Veinot Paula

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The burden of arthritis is increasing in the face of diminishing health human resources to deliver care. In response, innovative models of care delivery are developing to facilitate access to quality care. Most models have developed in response to local needs with limited evaluation. The primary objective of this study is to a examine the range of models of care that deliver specialist services using a medical/surgical specialist and at least one other health care provider and b document the strengths and challenges of the identified models. A secondary objective is to identify key elements of best practice models of care for arthritis. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of key informants with expertise in arthritis from jurisdictions with primarily publicly-funded health care systems. Qualitative data were analyzed using a constant comparative approach to identify common types of models of care, strengths and challenges of models, and key components of arthritis care. Results Seventy-four key informants were interviewed from six countries. Five main types of models of care emerged. 1 Specialized arthritis programs deliver comprehensive, multidisciplinary team care for arthritis. Two models were identified using health care providers (e.g. nurses or physiotherapists in expanded clinical roles: 2 triage of patients with musculoskeletal conditions to the appropriate services including specialists; and 3 ongoing management in collaboration with a specialist. Two models promoting rural access were 4 rural consultation support and 5 telemedicine. Key informants described important components of models of care including knowledgeable health professionals and patients. Conclusion A range of models of care for arthritis have been developed. This classification can be used as a framework for discussing care delivery. Areas for development include integration of care across the continuum, including primary

Simple Web-based interactive key development software (WEBiKEY) and an example key for Kuruna (Poaceae: Bambusoideae).

Science.gov (United States)

Attigala, Lakshmi; De Silva, Nuwan I; Clark, Lynn G

2016-04-01

Programs that are user-friendly and freely available for developing Web-based interactive keys are scarce and most of the well-structured applications are relatively expensive. WEBiKEY was developed to enable researchers to easily develop their own Web-based interactive keys with fewer resources. A Web-based multiaccess identification tool (WEBiKEY) was developed that uses freely available Microsoft ASP.NET technologies and an SQL Server database for Windows-based hosting environments. WEBiKEY was tested for its usability with a sample data set, the temperate woody bamboo genus Kuruna (Poaceae). WEBiKEY is freely available to the public and can be used to develop Web-based interactive keys for any group of species. The interactive key we developed for Kuruna using WEBiKEY enables users to visually inspect characteristics of Kuruna and identify an unknown specimen as one of seven possible species in the genus.

Comment on ''Semiquantum-key distribution using less than four quantum states''

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boyer, Michel; Mor, Tal

2011-01-01

For several decades it was believed that information-secure key distribution requires both the sender and receiver to have the ability to generate and/or manipulate quantum states. Earlier, we showed that quantum key distribution in which one party is classical is possible [Boyer, Kenigsberg, and Mor, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 140501 (2007)]. A surprising and very nice extension of that result was suggested by Zou, Qiu, Li, Wu, and Li [Phys. Rev. A 79, 052312 (2009)]. Their paper suggests that it is sufficient for the originator of the states (the person holding the quantum technology) to generate just one state. The resulting semiquantum key distribution, which we call here 'quantum key distribution with classical Alice' is indeed completely robust against eavesdropping. However, their proof (that no eavesdropper can get information without being possibly detected) is faulty. We provide here a fully detailed and direct proof of their very important result.

Dissociation, personality, suggestibility, alexithymia, and problems with emotional regulation: A correlational study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ángeles Serrano

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The present paper explores the relationship between psychological and somatic dissociation and different personality and emotional variables, including suggestibility, alexithymia, and emotional regulation and dysregulation. The results with a sample of 355 partipants of a normal population reveal that there is a positive relationship between both types of dissociation, suggestibility and emotional dysregulation. Likewise, there were different patterns of personality associated both to psychological and somatic dissociation. Correlations found in this study put forward the importance to take into account both types of dissociactive symptoms, psychological and somatic ones.

[Discussion on developing a data management plan and its key factors in clinical study based on electronic data capture system].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Qing-na; Huang, Xiu-ling; Gao, Rui; Lu, Fang

2012-08-01

Data management has significant impact on the quality control of clinical studies. Every clinical study should have a data management plan to provide overall work instructions and ensure that all of these tasks are completed according to the Good Clinical Data Management Practice (GCDMP). Meanwhile, the data management plan (DMP) is an auditable document requested by regulatory inspectors and must be written in a manner that is realistic and of high quality. The significance of DMP, the minimum standards and the best practices provided by GCDMP, the main contents of DMP based on electronic data capture (EDC) and some key factors of DMP influencing the quality of clinical study were elaborated in this paper. Specifically, DMP generally consists of 15 parts, namely, the approval page, the protocol summary, role and training, timelines, database design, creation, maintenance and security, data entry, data validation, quality control and quality assurance, the management of external data, serious adverse event data reconciliation, coding, database lock, data management reports, the communication plan and the abbreviated terms. Among them, the following three parts are regarded as the key factors: designing a standardized database of the clinical study, entering data in time and cleansing data efficiently. In the last part of this article, the authors also analyzed the problems in clinical research of traditional Chinese medicine using the EDC system and put forward some suggestions for improvement.

Toroid field coil shear key installation study, DOE task No. 22

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, C.E.; Meier, R.W.; Yuen, J.L.

1995-01-01

Concepts for fitting and installation of the scissor keys, triangular keys, and truss keys in the ITER Toroidal Field (TF) Coil Assembly were developed and evaluated. In addition, the process of remote removal and replacement of a failed TF coil was considered. Two concepts were addressed: central solenoid installed last (Naka Option 1) and central solenoid installed first (Naka Option 2). In addition, a third concept was developed which utilized the favorable features of both concepts. A time line for installation was estimated for the Naka Option 1 concept

Manet key management via Mobile Ficlke Key protocol (MFK ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Manet key management via Mobile Ficlke Key protocol (MFK) ... Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences. Journal Home · ABOUT THIS JOURNAL ... No Abstract. Keywords: MANET; key management scheme; simulation environment ...

Suggestibility under Pressure: Theory of Mind, Executive Function, and Suggestibility in Preschoolers

Science.gov (United States)

Karpinski, Aryn C.; Scullin, Matthew H.

2009-01-01

Eighty preschoolers, ages 3 to 5 years old, completed a 4-phase study in which they experienced a live event and received a pressured, suggestive interview about the event a week later. Children were also administered batteries of theory of mind and executive function tasks, as well as the Video Suggestibility Scale for Children (VSSC), which…

Study design and the estimation of the size of key populations at risk of HIV: lessons from Viet Nam.

Science.gov (United States)

Safarnejad, Ali; Groot, Wim; Pavlova, Milena

2018-01-30

Estimation of the size of populations at risk of HIV is a key activity in the surveillance of the HIV epidemic. The existing framework for considering future research needs may provide decision-makers with a basis for a fair process of deciding on the methods of the estimation of the size of key populations at risk of HIV. This study explores the extent to which stakeholders involved with population size estimation agree with this framework, and thus, the study updates the framework. We conducted 16 in-depth interviews with key informants from city and provincial governments, NGOs, research institutes, and the community of people at risk of HIV. Transcripts were analyzed and reviewed for significant statements pertaining to criteria. Variations and agreement around criteria were analyzed, and emerging criteria were validated against the existing framework. Eleven themes emerged which are relevant to the estimation of the size of populations at risk of HIV in Viet Nam. Findings on missing criteria, inclusive participation, community perspectives and conflicting weight and direction of criteria provide insights for an improved framework for the prioritization of population size estimation methods. The findings suggest that the exclusion of community members from decision-making on population size estimation methods in Viet Nam may affect the validity, use, and efficiency of the evidence generated. However, a wider group of decision-makers, including community members among others, may introduce diverse definitions, weight and direction of criteria. Although findings here may not apply to every country with a transitioning economy or to every emerging epidemic, the principles of fair decision-making, value of community participation in decision-making and the expected challenges faced, merit consideration in every situation.

Stensund wastewater aquaculture. Studies of key factors for its optimization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guterstam, B.; Forsberg, L.E. [Stensund Ecological Center, Stensunds Fold Center, S-61991 Trosa (Sweden); Buczynska, A. [Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Lodz, 175 Wolczanska strasse, PL-90942 Lodz (Poland); Frelek, K. [Department of Analytical Chemistry, Medical University of Gdansk, Al. Gen. J. Hallera 107, PL-80416 Gdansk (Poland); Pilkaityte, R. [Natural Science Faculty, University of Klaipeda, LT-5813 Klaipeda (Lithuania); Reczek, L. [Department of Water Supply and Sewage Systems, Warsaw Agricultural University, 166 Nowoursynowska strasse, PL-02787 Warsaw (Poland); Rucevska, I. [Latvian Environmental Data Center, Straumes 2, Jurmala LV 2015 (Latvia)

1998-10-21

This paper is a summary of an in-depth study of key factors in the function of a 7-year-old aquaculture system designed for treatment and recycling of domestic wastewater at Stensund, Trosa, Sweden. The reported areas are: wastewater flows, reduction of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), phosphorus, nitrogen, and fecal bacteria. Plant production is recorded as harvested biomass, and energy results are given as generated heat and electricity consumption. Special studies were conducted on the reduction of copper by anaerobic treatment. Nitrification was studied with different filter media. Microalgal autofocculation of phosphorus was studied in relation to pH and water hardness for the green algal genus Scenedesmus. Limiting factors for the growth of Daphnia magna in the zooplankton step of the constructed aquatic food-web was studied in a specially designed reproduction test. The results are analyzed in order to optimize the function of the wastewater aquaculture

Understanding Price Elasticities to Inform Public Health Research and Intervention Studies: Key Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Nghiem, Nhung; Genç, Murat; Blakely, Tony

2013-01-01

Pricing policies such as taxes and subsidies are important tools in preventing and controlling a range of threats to public health. This is particularly so in tobacco and alcohol control efforts and efforts to change dietary patterns and physical activity levels as a means of addressing increases in noncommunicable diseases. To understand the potential impact of pricing policies, it is critical to understand the nature of price elasticities for consumer products. For example, price elasticities are key parameters in models of any food tax or subsidy that aims to quantify health impacts and cost-effectiveness. We detail relevant terms and discuss key issues surrounding price elasticities to inform public health research and intervention studies. PMID:24028228

Understanding price elasticities to inform public health research and intervention studies: key issues.

Science.gov (United States)

Nghiem, Nhung; Wilson, Nick; Genç, Murat; Blakely, Tony

2013-11-01

Pricing policies such as taxes and subsidies are important tools in preventing and controlling a range of threats to public health. This is particularly so in tobacco and alcohol control efforts and efforts to change dietary patterns and physical activity levels as a means of addressing increases in noncommunicable diseases. To understand the potential impact of pricing policies, it is critical to understand the nature of price elasticities for consumer products. For example, price elasticities are key parameters in models of any food tax or subsidy that aims to quantify health impacts and cost-effectiveness. We detail relevant terms and discuss key issues surrounding price elasticities to inform public health research and intervention studies.

Solid-State Lighting 2017 Suggested Research Topics Supplement: Technology and Market Context

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2017-09-29

A 2017 update to the Solid-State Lighting R&D Plan that is divided into two documents. The first document describes a list of suggested SSL priority research topics and the second document provides context and background, including information drawn from technical, market, and economic studies. Widely referenced by industry and government both here and abroad, these documents reflect SSL stakeholder inputs on key R&D topics that will improve efficacy, reduce cost, remove barriers to adoption, and add value for LED and OLED lighting solutions over the next three to five years, and discuss those applications that drive and prioritize the specific R&D.

Quantum key management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hughes, Richard John; Thrasher, James Thomas; Nordholt, Jane Elizabeth

2016-11-29

Innovations for quantum key management harness quantum communications to form a cryptography system within a public key infrastructure framework. In example implementations, the quantum key management innovations combine quantum key distribution and a quantum identification protocol with a Merkle signature scheme (using Winternitz one-time digital signatures or other one-time digital signatures, and Merkle hash trees) to constitute a cryptography system. More generally, the quantum key management innovations combine quantum key distribution and a quantum identification protocol with a hash-based signature scheme. This provides a secure way to identify, authenticate, verify, and exchange secret cryptographic keys. Features of the quantum key management innovations further include secure enrollment of users with a registration authority, as well as credential checking and revocation with a certificate authority, where the registration authority and/or certificate authority can be part of the same system as a trusted authority for quantum key distribution.

Study on the Key Indexes of Carambola Quality Safety under Logistics Environment of Different Temperature

OpenAIRE

Lei Wang; Ruhe Xie; Yifeng Zou

2015-01-01

By using layered factor analysis method, the key indexes of quality safety of Carambola are determined. The whole logistics process from picking, storing, transportation to selling is simulated in the experiment. At the same time, the key indexes are detected and analyzed under different temperature in logistics environment. The results indicate that both temperature and package have certain effect on the quality of Carambola. As shown in the study, the following conclusions are made. The tem...

Communicating Emotion through Haptic Design: A Study Using Physical Keys

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjellerup, Marie Kjær; Larsen, Anne Cathrine; Maier, Anja

2014-01-01

This paper explores how designers may communicate with the users of their products through haptic design. More specifically, how tactile properties of materials evoke emotions such as satisfaction, joy, or disgust. A research through design approach has been followed; mood- and material boards...... and prototypes of four ‘haptically enhanced’ (physical) keys were created. Types of keys selected include home, bicycle, hobby, and basement. An experiment with ten participants was conducted, using word association and a software to elicit product emotions (PrEmo). Results show a mapping between the designer...

Fundamental quantitative security in quantum key generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuen, Horace P.

2010-01-01

We analyze the fundamental security significance of the quantitative criteria on the final generated key K in quantum key generation including the quantum criterion d, the attacker's mutual information on K, and the statistical distance between her distribution on K and the uniform distribution. For operational significance a criterion has to produce a guarantee on the attacker's probability of correctly estimating some portions of K from her measurement, in particular her maximum probability of identifying the whole K. We distinguish between the raw security of K when the attacker just gets at K before it is used in a cryptographic context and its composition security when the attacker may gain further information during its actual use to help get at K. We compare both of these securities of K to those obtainable from conventional key expansion with a symmetric key cipher. It is pointed out that a common belief in the superior security of a quantum generated K is based on an incorrect interpretation of d which cannot be true, and the security significance of d is uncertain. Generally, the quantum key distribution key K has no composition security guarantee and its raw security guarantee from concrete protocols is worse than that of conventional ciphers. Furthermore, for both raw and composition security there is an exponential catch-up problem that would make it difficult to quantitatively improve the security of K in a realistic protocol. Some possible ways to deal with the situation are suggested.

Emergent lineages of mumps virus suggest the need for a polyvalent vaccine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meghan May

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Mumps outbreaks among vaccinated patients have become increasingly common in recent years. While there are multiple conditions driving this re-emergence, convention has suggested that these outbreaks are associated with waning immunity rather than vaccine escape. Molecular evidence from both the ongoing American and Dutch outbreaks in conjunction with recent structural biology studies challenge this convention, and suggest that emergent lineages of mumps virus exhibit key differences in antigenic epitopes from the vaccine strain employed: Jeryl-Lynn 5. The American and Dutch 2016–2017 outbreak lineages were examined using computational biology through the lens of diversity in immunogenic epitopes. Findings are discussed and the laboratory evidence indicating neutralization of heterologous mumps strains by serum from vaccinated individuals is reviewed. Taken together, it is concluded that the number of heterologous epitopes occurring in mumps virus in conjunction with waning immunity is facilitating small outbreaks in vaccinated patients, and that consideration of a polyvalent mumps vaccine is warranted.

Comment on ``Semiquantum-key distribution using less than four quantum states''

Science.gov (United States)

Boyer, Michel; Mor, Tal

2011-04-01

For several decades it was believed that information-secure key distribution requires both the sender and receiver to have the ability to generate and/or manipulate quantum states. Earlier, we showed that quantum key distribution in which one party is classical is possible [Boyer, Kenigsberg, and Mor, Phys. Rev. Lett.PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.99.140501 99, 140501 (2007)]. A surprising and very nice extension of that result was suggested by Zou, Qiu, Li, Wu, and Li [Phys. Rev. APLRAAN1050-294710.1103/PhysRevA.79.052312 79, 052312 (2009)]. Their paper suggests that it is sufficient for the originator of the states (the person holding the quantum technology) to generate just one state. The resulting semiquantum key distribution, which we call here “quantum key distribution with classical Alice” is indeed completely robust against eavesdropping. However, their proof (that no eavesdropper can get information without being possibly detected) is faulty. We provide here a fully detailed and direct proof of their very important result.

Designing key-dependent chaotic S-box with larger key space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yin Ruming; Yuan Jian; Wang Jian; Shan Xiuming; Wang Xiqin

2009-01-01

The construction of cryptographically strong substitution boxes (S-boxes) is an important concern in designing secure cryptosystems. The key-dependent S-boxes designed using chaotic maps have received increasing attention in recent years. However, the key space of such S-boxes does not seem to be sufficiently large due to the limited parameter range of discretized chaotic maps. In this paper, we propose a new key-dependent S-box based on the iteration of continuous chaotic maps. We explore the continuous-valued state space of chaotic systems, and devise the discrete mapping between the input and the output of the S-box. A key-dependent S-box is constructed with the logistic map in this paper. We show that its key space could be much larger than the current key-dependent chaotic S-boxes.

The effect of posthypnotic suggestion, hypnotic suggestibility, and goal intentions on adherence to medical instructions.

Science.gov (United States)

Carvalho, Claudia; Mazzoni, Giuliana; Kirsch, Irving; Meo, Maria; Santandrea, Maura

2008-04-01

The effects of implementation intentions and posthypnotic suggestion were investigated in 2 studies. In Experiment 1, participants with high levels of hypnotic suggestibility were instructed to take placebo pills as part of an investigation of how to best enhance compliance with medical instruction. In Experiment 2, participants with high, medium, and low levels of hypnotic suggestibility were asked to run in place, take their pulse rate before, and send an e-mail report to the experimenter each day. Experiment 1 revealed enhanced adherence as a function of both implementation intentions and posthypnotic suggestion. Experiment 2 failed to find any significant main effects but found a significant interaction between suggestibility and the effects of posthypnotic suggestion. Posthypnotic suggestion enhanced adherence among high suggestible participants but lowered it among low suggestibles.

Algorithms for Lightweight Key Exchange.

Science.gov (United States)

Alvarez, Rafael; Caballero-Gil, Cándido; Santonja, Juan; Zamora, Antonio

2017-06-27

Public-key cryptography is too slow for general purpose encryption, with most applications limiting its use as much as possible. Some secure protocols, especially those that enable forward secrecy, make a much heavier use of public-key cryptography, increasing the demand for lightweight cryptosystems that can be implemented in low powered or mobile devices. This performance requirements are even more significant in critical infrastructure and emergency scenarios where peer-to-peer networks are deployed for increased availability and resiliency. We benchmark several public-key key-exchange algorithms, determining those that are better for the requirements of critical infrastructure and emergency applications and propose a security framework based on these algorithms and study its application to decentralized node or sensor networks.

"We're the Mature People": A Study of Masculine Subjectivity and Its Relationship to Key Stage Four Religious Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Farrell, Francis

2015-01-01

Critical theory and research has shown that subjects carry gendered meanings. Numbers opting for Religious Studies (RS) have remained skewed towards girls. Drawing from post-structuralism and masculinities theory, this article critically analyses data from interviews with a group of key stage four boys who had opted for Religious Studies in…

An Analysis of Key Factors in Developing a Smart City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aidana Šiurytė

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The concept Smart City is used widely but it is perceived differently as well. Literature review reveals key elements of the Smart City – Information and Communication Technologies and Smart Citizens. Nevertheless, raising public awareness is not a priority of local municipalities which are trying to develop cities. Focus group discussion aims to analyse citizens’ insights in regards to the Smart City and their contribution to creation of it. Case study of Vilnius examines a position of mu-nicipality in developing city as smart. Study contains suggestions for the improvement of communication in the city. Methods employed: comparative literature analysis, focus group investigation, case study.

Group key management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dunigan, T.; Cao, C.

1997-08-01

This report describes an architecture and implementation for doing group key management over a data communications network. The architecture describes a protocol for establishing a shared encryption key among an authenticated and authorized collection of network entities. Group access requires one or more authorization certificates. The implementation includes a simple public key and certificate infrastructure. Multicast is used for some of the key management messages. An application programming interface multiplexes key management and user application messages. An implementation using the new IP security protocols is postulated. The architecture is compared with other group key management proposals, and the performance and the limitations of the implementation are described.

Nickel exposure from keys: a Brazilian issue.

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Nathalie Mie; Duarte, Ida Alzira Gomes; Hafner, Mariana de Figueiredo Silva; Lazzarini, Rosana

2017-01-01

Keys are a significant source of exposure to metal allergens and can be a relevant problem for nickel-allergic individuals. This study aimed to perform nickel and cobalt spot testing among the 5 most common Brazilian brands of keys. Among the tested keys, 100% showed positive result to nickel spot test, 83,3% presented strong positive reaction. 50% exhibited cobalt release as well. Nickel release from keys is very common in our country and may cause a negative impact on sensitized individual's quality of life. Study's results highlight the importance of establishing directives to regulate nickel release in Brazil.

Robust Public Key Cryptography — A New Cryptosystem Surviving Private Key Compromise

Science.gov (United States)

Shaik, Cheman

A weakness of the present-day public key cryptosystems is that these cryptosystems do not survive private-key compromise attacks resulting from an internal breach of trust. In a competitive business environment, private key compromise is a common incident that voids the strength of public key cryptosystems such as RSA and ECC. Bribing corporate employees to disclose their secret keys and inadvertently disclosing secret information are among a plethora of practical attacks that occur at the implementation level. Once a breach of trust takes place and subsequently the private key is revealed, any public key cryptosystem fails to secure electronic data in Internet communications. The revealed key may be used by an attacker to decipher the intercepted data at an intermediary router. This weakness of public key cryptography calls for an additional security measure that enables encryptions to survive private key compromise attacks.

Identification of the Key Fields and Their Key Technical Points of Oncology by Patent Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ting; Chen, Juan; Jia, Xiaofeng

2015-01-01

This paper aims to identify the key fields and their key technical points of oncology by patent analysis. Patents of oncology applied from 2006 to 2012 were searched in the Thomson Innovation database. The key fields and their key technical points were determined by analyzing the Derwent Classification (DC) and the International Patent Classification (IPC), respectively. Patent applications in the top ten DC occupied 80% of all the patent applications of oncology, which were the ten fields of oncology to be analyzed. The number of patent applications in these ten fields of oncology was standardized based on patent applications of oncology from 2006 to 2012. For each field, standardization was conducted separately for each of the seven years (2006-2012) and the mean of the seven standardized values was calculated to reflect the relative amount of patent applications in that field; meanwhile, regression analysis using time (year) and the standardized values of patent applications in seven years (2006-2012) was conducted so as to evaluate the trend of patent applications in each field. Two-dimensional quadrant analysis, together with the professional knowledge of oncology, was taken into consideration in determining the key fields of oncology. The fields located in the quadrant with high relative amount or increasing trend of patent applications are identified as key ones. By using the same method, the key technical points in each key field were identified. Altogether 116,820 patents of oncology applied from 2006 to 2012 were retrieved, and four key fields with twenty-nine key technical points were identified, including "natural products and polymers" with nine key technical points, "fermentation industry" with twelve ones, "electrical medical equipment" with four ones, and "diagnosis, surgery" with four ones. The results of this study could provide guidance on the development direction of oncology, and also help researchers broaden innovative ideas and discover new

Optimizing prognosis-related key miRNA-target interactions responsible for cancer metastasis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Hongying; Yuan, Huating; Hu, Jing; Xu, Chaohan; Liao, Gaoming; Yin, Wenkang; Xu, Liwen; Wang, Li; Zhang, Xinxin; Shi, Aiai; Li, Jing; Xiao, Yun

2017-12-12

Increasing evidence suggests that the abnormality of microRNAs (miRNAs) and their downstream targets is frequently implicated in the pathogenesis of human cancers, however, the clinical benefit of causal miRNA-target interactions has been seldom studied. Here, we proposed a computational method to optimize prognosis-related key miRNA-target interactions by combining transcriptome and clinical data from thousands of TCGA tumors across 16 cancer types. We obtained a total of 1,956 prognosis-related key miRNA-target interactions between 112 miRNAs and 1,443 their targets. Interestingly, these key target genes are specifically involved in tumor progression-related functions, such as 'cell adhesion' and 'cell migration'. Furthermore, they are most significantly correlated with 'tissue invasion and metastasis', a hallmark of metastasis, in ten distinct types of cancer through the hallmark analysis. These results implicated that the prognosis-related key miRNA-target interactions were highly associated with cancer metastasis. Finally, we observed that the combination of these key miRNA-target interactions allowed to distinguish patients with good prognosis from those with poor prognosis both in most TCGA cancer types and independent validation sets, highlighting their roles in cancer metastasis. We provided a user-friendly database named miRNATarget (freely available at http://biocc.hrbmu.edu.cn/miRNATar/), which provides an overview of the prognosis-related key miRNA-target interactions across 16 cancer types.

Hypnotic suggestibility predicts the magnitude of the imaginative word blindness suggestion effect in a non-hypnotic context.

Science.gov (United States)

Parris, Benjamin A; Dienes, Zoltan

2013-09-01

The present study investigated how the magnitude the word blindness suggestion effect on Stroop interference depended on hypnotic suggestibility when given as an imaginative suggestion (i.e. not post-hypnotic suggestion) and under conditions in which hypnosis was not mentioned. Hypnotic suggestibility is shown to be a significant predictor of the magnitude of the imaginative word blindness suggestion effect under these conditions. This is therefore the first study to show a linear relationship between the imaginative word blindness suggestion effect and hypnotic suggestibility across the whole hypnotizability spectrum. The results replicate previous findings showing that highs respond to the word blindness suggestion to a greater extent than lows but extend previous work by showing that the advantage for those higher on the hypnotizability spectrum occurs even in a non-hypnotic context. Negative attitudes about hypnosis may not explain the failure to observe similar effects of the word blindness suggestion in less hypnotizable individuals. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantum key distribution with entangled photon sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma Xiongfeng; Fung, Chi-Hang Fred; Lo, H.-K.

2007-01-01

A parametric down-conversion (PDC) source can be used as either a triggered single-photon source or an entangled-photon source in quantum key distribution (QKD). The triggering PDC QKD has already been studied in the literature. On the other hand, a model and a post-processing protocol for the entanglement PDC QKD are still missing. We fill in this important gap by proposing such a model and a post-processing protocol for the entanglement PDC QKD. Although the PDC model is proposed to study the entanglement-based QKD, we emphasize that our generic model may also be useful for other non-QKD experiments involving a PDC source. Since an entangled PDC source is a basis-independent source, we apply Koashi and Preskill's security analysis to the entanglement PDC QKD. We also investigate the entanglement PDC QKD with two-way classical communications. We find that the recurrence scheme increases the key rate and the Gottesman-Lo protocol helps tolerate higher channel losses. By simulating a recent 144-km open-air PDC experiment, we compare three implementations: entanglement PDC QKD, triggering PDC QKD, and coherent-state QKD. The simulation result suggests that the entanglement PDC QKD can tolerate higher channel losses than the coherent-state QKD. The coherent-state QKD with decoy states is able to achieve highest key rate in the low- and medium-loss regions. By applying the Gottesman-Lo two-way post-processing protocol, the entanglement PDC QKD can tolerate up to 70 dB combined channel losses (35 dB for each channel) provided that the PDC source is placed in between Alice and Bob. After considering statistical fluctuations, the PDC setup can tolerate up to 53 dB channel losses

The study of key issues about integration of GNSS and strong-motion records for real-time earthquake monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Tu, Rui; Zhang, Pengfei; Zhang, Rui; Liu, Jinhai

2016-08-01

This paper has studied the key issues about integration of GNSS and strong-motion records for real-time earthquake monitoring. The validations show that the consistence of the coordinate system must be considered firstly to exclude the system bias between GNSS and strong-motion. The GNSS sampling rate is suggested about 1-5 Hz, and we should give the strong-motion's baseline shift with a larger dynamic noise as its variation is very swift. The initialization time of solving the baseline shift is less than one minute, and ambiguity resolution strategy is not greatly improved the solution. The data quality is very important for the solution, we advised to use multi-frequency and multi-system observations. These ideas give an important guide for real-time earthquake monitoring and early warning by the tight integration of GNSS and strong-motion records.

KeyPathwayMinerWeb

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

List, Markus; Alcaraz, Nicolas; Dissing-Hansen, Martin

2016-01-01

, for instance), KeyPathwayMiner extracts connected sub-networks containing a high number of active or differentially regulated genes (proteins, metabolites) in the molecular profiles. The web interface at (http://keypathwayminer.compbio.sdu.dk) implements all core functionalities of the KeyPathwayMiner tool set......We present KeyPathwayMinerWeb, the first online platform for de novo pathway enrichment analysis directly in the browser. Given a biological interaction network (e.g. protein-protein interactions) and a series of molecular profiles derived from one or multiple OMICS studies (gene expression...... such as data integration, input of background knowledge, batch runs for parameter optimization and visualization of extracted pathways. In addition to an intuitive web interface, we also implemented a RESTful API that now enables other online developers to integrate network enrichment as a web service...

Study of graduate curriculum in the radiological science: problems and suggestions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ko, Seong Jin; Kim, Hwa Gon; Kang, Se Sik; Park, Byeong Rae; Kim, Chang Soo

2006-01-01

Currently, Educational program of radiological science is developed in enormous growth, our educational environments leading allied health science education program in the number of super high speed medical industry. Radiological science may be the fastest growing technologies in our medical department today. In this way, Medical industry fields converged in the daily quick, the fact that department of radiological science didn't discharged ones duties on current educational environments. The curriculum of radiological technologists that play an important part between skill and occupation's education as major and personality didn't performed one's part most effectively on current medical environments and digital radiological equipment interface. We expect improvement and suggestion to grow natural disposition as studies in the graduate of radiological science. Therefore, in this paper, current curriculum of radiological science are catched hold of trend and problems on digital radiology environments, on fact the present state of problems, for Graduate program of radiological science, graduate courses of MS and ph.D. are suggested a reform measure of major education curriculum introduction

Perceptions of food risk management among key stakeholders: Results from a cross-European study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kleef, van E.; Frewer, L.J.; Chryssochoidis, G.M.; Houghton, J.R.; Korzen-Bohr, S.; Krystallis, T.; Lassen, J.; Pfenning, U.; Rowe, G.

2006-01-01

In designing and implementing appropriate food risk management strategies, it is important to examine how key stakeholders perceive both the practice and effectiveness of food risk management. The objective of this study is to identify similarities and differences in perceptions of, and attitudes

Monotonicity of a Key Function Arised in Studies of Nematic Liquid Crystal Polymers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongyun Wang

2007-01-01

Full Text Available We revisit a key function arised in studies of nematic liquid crystal polymers. Previously, it was conjectured that the function is strictly decreasing and the conjecture was numerically confirmed. Here we prove the conjecture analytically. More specifically, we write the derivative of the function into two parts and prove that each part is strictly negative.

Pedunculated Pulmonary Artery Sarcoma Suggested by Transthoracic Echocardiography.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiaobing; Ren, Weidong; Yang, Jun

2016-04-01

Pulmonary artery sarcoma (PAS) is an extremely rare malignancy. It is usually found after it grows large enough to occupy almost the entire lumen of the pulmonary artery and causes serious clinical symptoms. Thus, it is usually difficult to distinguish PAS from pulmonary thromboembolism based on imaging examinations. Few case reports had shown the attachment of PAS to pulmonary artery, a key characteristic for diagnosis, and differential diagnosis of PAS. In this case, we found a PAS, which did not cause local obstruction and some tumor emboli, which obstructed the branches of the pulmonary arteries and caused pulmonary hypertension and clinical symptoms. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) revealed a part of the tumor attached to the intima of the main pulmonary artery with a peduncle and had obvious mobility, which was suggestive of PAS and differentiated it from the pulmonary thromboembolism. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of a pedunculated PAS suggested by TTE. Combined with pulmonary artery computed tomography angiography, the diagnosis of PAS is strongly suggested before the operation. This case indicates that TTE could reveal the attachment and mobility of PAS in the main pulmonary and may provide useful information for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of PAS, especially a pedunculated PAS. © 2015, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Key successes and challenges in providing mental health care in an urban male remand prison: a qualitative study

OpenAIRE

Samele, Chiara; Forrester, Andrew; Urqu?a, Norman; Hopkin, Gareth

2016-01-01

Purpose This study aimed to describe the workings of an urban male remand prison mental health service exploring the key challenges and successes, levels of integration and collaboration with other services. Method A purposive sampling was used to recruit key prison and healthcare professionals for in-depth interviews. A thematic analysis was used to analyse transcripts based on an initial coding frame of several predefined themes. Other key themes were also identified. Results Twenty-eight i...

Finite key analysis in quantum cryptography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meyer, T.

2007-01-01

In view of experimental realization of quantum key distribution schemes, the study of their efficiency becomes as important as the proof of their security. The latter is the subject of most of the theoretical work about quantum key distribution, and many important results such as the proof of unconditional security have been obtained. The efficiency and also the robustness of quantum key distribution protocols against noise can be measured by figures of merit such as the secret key rate (the fraction of input signals that make it into the key) and the threshold quantum bit error rate (the maximal error rate such that one can still create a secret key). It is important to determine these quantities because they tell us whether a certain quantum key distribution scheme can be used at all in a given situation and if so, how many secret key bits it can generate in a given time. However, these figures of merit are usually derived under the ''infinite key limit'' assumption, that is, one assumes that an infinite number of quantum states are send and that all sub-protocols of the scheme (in particular privacy amplification) are carried out on these infinitely large blocks. Such an assumption usually eases the analysis, but also leads to (potentially) too optimistic values for the quantities in question. In this thesis, we are explicitly avoiding the infinite key limit for the analysis of the privacy amplification step, which plays the most important role in a quantum key distribution scheme. We still assume that an optimal error correction code is applied and we do not take into account any statistical errors that might occur in the parameter estimation step. Renner and coworkers derived an explicit formula for the obtainable key rate in terms of Renyi entropies of the quantum states describing Alice's, Bob's, and Eve's systems. This results serves as a starting point for our analysis, and we derive an algorithm that efficiently computes the obtainable key rate for any

Finite key analysis in quantum cryptography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meyer, T.

2007-10-31

In view of experimental realization of quantum key distribution schemes, the study of their efficiency becomes as important as the proof of their security. The latter is the subject of most of the theoretical work about quantum key distribution, and many important results such as the proof of unconditional security have been obtained. The efficiency and also the robustness of quantum key distribution protocols against noise can be measured by figures of merit such as the secret key rate (the fraction of input signals that make it into the key) and the threshold quantum bit error rate (the maximal error rate such that one can still create a secret key). It is important to determine these quantities because they tell us whether a certain quantum key distribution scheme can be used at all in a given situation and if so, how many secret key bits it can generate in a given time. However, these figures of merit are usually derived under the ''infinite key limit'' assumption, that is, one assumes that an infinite number of quantum states are send and that all sub-protocols of the scheme (in particular privacy amplification) are carried out on these infinitely large blocks. Such an assumption usually eases the analysis, but also leads to (potentially) too optimistic values for the quantities in question. In this thesis, we are explicitly avoiding the infinite key limit for the analysis of the privacy amplification step, which plays the most important role in a quantum key distribution scheme. We still assume that an optimal error correction code is applied and we do not take into account any statistical errors that might occur in the parameter estimation step. Renner and coworkers derived an explicit formula for the obtainable key rate in terms of Renyi entropies of the quantum states describing Alice's, Bob's, and Eve's systems. This results serves as a starting point for our analysis, and we derive an algorithm that efficiently computes

Ancel Keys: a tribute

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

VanItallie Theodore B

2005-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Ancel Keys, Ph.D., who died in November, 2004, at the age of 100, was among the first scientists to recognize that human atherosclerosis is not an inevitable consequence of aging, and that a high-fat diet can be a major risk factor for coronary heart disease. During World War II, he and a group of talented co-workers at the University of Minnesota conducted a large-scale study of experimentally-induced human starvation. The data generated by this study – which was immediately recognized to be a classic – continue to be of inestimable value to nutrition scientists. In his later years, Keys spent more time at his home in Naples, Italy, where he had the opportunity to continue his personal study of the beneficial effects on health and longevity of a Mediterranean diet.

Students' educational careers in Higher Education: a search into key factors regarding study outcome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dr. Cyrille A.C. Van Bragt

2010-01-01

Students' educational careers in Higher Education: a search into key factors regarding study outcome One of the political goals of the EU is to develop 'the most competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010'. The Dutch knowledge economy faces an increased demand for highly-educated

Secret-key expansion from covert communication

Science.gov (United States)

Arrazola, Juan Miguel; Amiri, Ryan

2018-02-01

Covert communication allows the transmission of messages in such a way that it is not possible for adversaries to detect that the communication is occurring. This provides protection in situations where knowledge that two parties are talking to each other may be incriminating to them. In this work, we study how covert communication can be used for a different purpose: secret key expansion. First, we show that any message transmitted in a secure covert protocol is also secret and therefore unknown to an adversary. We then propose a covert communication protocol where the amount of key consumed in the protocol is smaller than the transmitted key, thus leading to secure secret key expansion. We derive precise conditions for secret key expansion to occur, showing that it is possible when there are sufficiently low levels of noise for a given security level. We conclude by examining how secret key expansion from covert communication can be performed in a computational security model.

The influence of suggestibility on memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicolas, Serge; Collins, Thérèse; Gounden, Yannick; Roediger, Henry L

2011-06-01

We provide a translation of Binet and Henri's pioneering 1894 paper on the influence of suggestibility on memory. Alfred Binet (1857-1911) is famous as the author who created the IQ test that bears his name, but he is almost unknown as the psychological investigator who generated numerous original experiments and fascinating results in the study of memory. His experiments published in 1894 manipulated suggestibility in several ways to determine effects on remembering. Three particular modes of suggestion were employed to induce false recognitions: (1) indirect suggestion by a preconceived idea; (2) direct suggestion; and (3) collective suggestion. In the commentary we suggest that Binet and Henri's (1894) paper written over 115 years ago is still highly relevant even today. In particular, Binet's legacy lives on in modern research on misinformation effects in memory, in studies of conformity, and in experiments on the social contagion of memory. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An empirical study on key factors for purchasing strategy on project based organizations: A case study of gas field development projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aboulfazl Kazazi

2012-08-01

Full Text Available One of the primary concerns in development of oil and gas resources is to find the critical success factors associated with different important projects. Purchasing and procurement plays a key role in these projects. There is no doubt that in history of similar studies, there are not much studies to determine key factors. The proposed study of this paper presents an empirical study to find these factors in one of the most important gas filed in Iran is now South Pars Gas Field. The study distributes a questionnaire consists of various questions associated with purchasing activities. We investigate the feedbacks gathered from decision makers using factor analysis. The results of our survey reveal that there are three categories of organizational strategy, the relative importance of strategy and risk according to factor analysis. Each factor consists of many other factors and the relative importance of all factors are investigated.

Clinically isolated syndromes suggestive of multiple sclerosis: an optical coherence tomography study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Celia Oreja-Guevara

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Optical coherence tomography (OCT is a simple, high-resolution technique to quantify the thickness of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL, which provides an indirect measurement of axonal damage in multiple sclerosis (MS. This study aimed to evaluate RNFL thickness in patients at presentation with clinically isolated syndromes (CIS suggestive of MS. METHODOLOGY: This was a cross-sectional study. Twenty-four patients with CIS suggestive of MS (8 optic neuritis [ON], 6 spinal cord syndromes, 5 brainstem symptoms and 5 with sensory and other syndromes were prospectively studied. The main outcome evaluated was RNFL thickness at CIS onset. Secondary objectives were to study the relationship between RNFL thickness and MRI criteria for disease dissemination in space (DIS as well as the presence of oligoclonal bands in the cerebrospinal fluid. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Thirteen patients had decreased RNFL thickness in at least one quadrant. Mean RNFL thickness was 101.67±10.72 µm in retrobulbar ON eyes and 96.93±10.54 in unaffected eyes. Three of the 6 patients with myelitis had at least one abnormal quadrant in one of the two eyes. Eight CIS patients fulfilled DIS MRI criteria. The presence of at least one quadrant of an optic nerve with a RNFL thickness at a P<5% cut-off value had a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 56% for predicting DIS MRI. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study show that axonal damage measured by OCT is present in any type of CIS; even in myelitis forms, not only in ON as seen up to now. OCT can detect axonal damage in very early stages of disease and seems to have high sensitivity and moderate specificity for predicting DIS MRI. Studies with prospective long-term follow-up would be needed to establish the prognostic value of baseline OCT findings.

Three key points along an intrinsic reaction coordinate

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Unknown

Abstract. The concept of the reaction force is presented and discussed in detail. For typical processes with energy barriers, it has a universal form which defines three key points along an intrinsic reaction co- ordinate: the force minimum, zero and maximum. We suggest that the resulting four zones be interpreted as involving ...

Constant round group key agreement protocols: A comparative study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Makri, E.; Konstantinou, Elisavet

2011-01-01

The scope of this paper is to review and evaluate all constant round Group Key Agreement (GKA) protocols proposed so far in the literature. We have gathered all GKA protocols that require 1,2,3,4 and 5 rounds and examined their efficiency. In particular, we calculated each protocol’s computation and

Two-Dimensional Key Table-Based Group Key Distribution in Advanced Metering Infrastructure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Woong Go

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A smart grid provides two-way communication by using the information and communication technology. In order to establish two-way communication, the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI is used in the smart grid as the core infrastructure. This infrastructure consists of smart meters, data collection units, maintenance data management systems, and so on. However, potential security problems of the AMI increase owing to the application of the public network. This is because the transmitted information is electricity consumption data for charging. Thus, in order to establish a secure connection to transmit electricity consumption data, encryption is necessary, for which key distribution is required. Further, a group key is more efficient than a pairwise key in the hierarchical structure of the AMI. Therefore, we propose a group key distribution scheme using a two-dimensional key table through the analysis result of the sensor network group key distribution scheme. The proposed scheme has three phases: group key predistribution, selection of group key generation element, and generation of group key.

Emergent lineages of mumps virus suggest the need for a polyvalent vaccine.

Science.gov (United States)

May, Meghan; Rieder, Courtney A; Rowe, Rebecca J

2018-01-01

Mumps outbreaks among vaccinated patients have become increasingly common in recent years. While there are multiple conditions driving this re-emergence, convention has suggested that these outbreaks are associated with waning immunity rather than vaccine escape. Molecular evidence from both the ongoing American and Dutch outbreaks in conjunction with recent structural biology studies challenge this convention, and suggest that emergent lineages of mumps virus exhibit key differences in antigenic epitopes from the vaccine strain employed: Jeryl-Lynn 5. The American and Dutch 2016-2017 outbreak lineages were examined using computational biology through the lens of diversity in immunogenic epitopes. Findings are discussed and the laboratory evidence indicating neutralization of heterologous mumps strains by serum from vaccinated individuals is reviewed. Taken together, it is concluded that the number of heterologous epitopes occurring in mumps virus in conjunction with waning immunity is facilitating small outbreaks in vaccinated patients, and that consideration of a polyvalent mumps vaccine is warranted. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The LOFAR Transients Key Science Project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stappers, B.; Fender, R.; Wijers, R.

2009-01-01

The Transients Key Science Project (TKP) is one of six Key Science Projects of the next generation radio telescope LOFAR. Its aim is the study of transient and variable low-frequency radio sources with an extremely broad science case ranging from relativistic jet sources to pulsars, exoplanets,

Key management of the double random-phase-encoding method using public-key encryption

Science.gov (United States)

Saini, Nirmala; Sinha, Aloka

2010-03-01

Public-key encryption has been used to encode the key of the encryption process. In the proposed technique, an input image has been encrypted by using the double random-phase-encoding method using extended fractional Fourier transform. The key of the encryption process have been encoded by using the Rivest-Shamir-Adelman (RSA) public-key encryption algorithm. The encoded key has then been transmitted to the receiver side along with the encrypted image. In the decryption process, first the encoded key has been decrypted using the secret key and then the encrypted image has been decrypted by using the retrieved key parameters. The proposed technique has advantage over double random-phase-encoding method because the problem associated with the transmission of the key has been eliminated by using public-key encryption. Computer simulation has been carried out to validate the proposed technique.

Key factors influencing adoption of an innovation in primary health care: a qualitative study based on implementation theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlfjord Siw

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Bridging the knowledge-to-practice gap in health care is an important issue that has gained interest in recent years. Implementing new methods, guidelines or tools into routine care, however, is a slow and unpredictable process, and the factors that play a role in the change process are not yet fully understood. There is a number of theories concerned with factors predicting successful implementation in various settings, however, this issue is insufficiently studied in primary health care (PHC. The objective of this article was to apply implementation theory to identify key factors influencing the adoption of an innovation being introduced in PHC in Sweden. Methods A qualitative study was carried out with staff at six PHC units in Sweden where a computer-based test for lifestyle intervention had been implemented. Two different implementation strategies, implicit or explicit, were used. Sixteen focus group interviews and two individual interviews were performed. In the analysis a theoretical framework based on studies of implementation in health service organizations, was applied to identify key factors influencing adoption. Results The theoretical framework proved to be relevant for studies in PHC. Adoption was positively influenced by positive expectations at the unit, perceptions of the innovation being compatible with existing routines and perceived advantages. An explicit implementation strategy and positive opinions on change and innovation were also associated with adoption. Organizational changes and staff shortages coinciding with implementation seemed to be obstacles for the adoption process. Conclusion When implementation theory obtained from studies in other areas was applied in PHC it proved to be relevant for this particular setting. Based on our results, factors to be taken into account in the planning of the implementation of a new tool in PHC should include assessment of staff expectations, assessment of the

Increase in physical activities in kindergarten children with cerebral palsy by employing MaKey-MaKey-based task systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chien-Yu; Chang, Yu-Ming

2014-09-01

In this study, we employed Flash- and Scratch-based multimedia by using a MaKey-MaKey-based task system to increase the motivation level of children with cerebral palsy to perform physical activities. MaKey MaKey is a circuit board that converts physical touch to a digital signal, which is interpreted by a computer as a keyboard message. In this study, we used conductive materials to control this interaction. This study followed single-case design using ABAB models in which A indicated the baseline and B indicated the intervention. The experiment period comprised 1 month and a half. The experimental results demonstrated that in the case of two kindergarten children with cerebral palsy, their scores were considerably increased during the intervention phrases. The developmental applications of the results are also discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

KEY PERFORMING FACTORS OF LEADING ROMANIAN COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BURJA CAMELIA

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The analysis of financial economic ratios provides managers and external partners feedback on the results obtained from operational activities and the associated performance and risks. This paper studies the functional dependence of the companies’ success (on performance over internal financial management elements. The research was carried out for the most traded non-financial securities Bucharest listed companies and covers the period 2011- 2013. To carry out its purpose it analyzed the interdependence between the key financial ratios, studying the impact of liquidity ratios, solvency and efficiency on profitability. The study provides empirical evidences to identify factors that have ensured the performance of companies and their ranking in the segment of the most traded companies in Romania. Results suggest the view that the source of company success on the capital market lies in the positive signals sent to investors regarding profitability and the low risk of solvency. This study gives additional information for managerial decision-making in order to create more value and a better positioning of the companies in the market

Promoting physical activity participation among adolescents: The barriers and the suggestions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niloofar Peykari

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Physical activity is a complex behavior. To designing the effective intervention, qualitative researches may be allowed for greater understanding of the reasons behind the adolescences′ physical activity-related behaviors′. Methods: Using the grounded theory approach, including semi-structured focus group discussions (FGDs and in-depth interviews, we conducted a quantitative study to elicit the adolescents and key informants′ opinion regarding the satiation, needs, social and environmental barriers of adolescents′ physical activity. For FGDs, participants were selected from volunteered adolescent (aged 10-19 years of the populated western part of Tehran, which was selected as a research field. Key informants were invited from the health professionals and experts in the field of adolescents′ health. Results: According to findings, although the majority of participants agreed on the important role of physical activity, the lack of essential motivation and the pressure of educational assignments remove it from the daily program priorities. Lack of a safe environment for girls′ physical activity and high cost of professional sports were two first mentioned barriers. It was also suggested that future interventions should focus on improving more parents′ engagement and their direct participation in physical activities with their adolescents. Conclusions: We proposed the participatory strategies for adolescent′s physical activity promotion. Through which target groups participation during the designing, development, and implementation of health programs led to more effective interventions.

Breaking chaotic shift key communication via adaptive key identification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren Haipeng; Han Chongzhao; Liu Ding

2008-01-01

This paper proposes an adaptive parameter identification method for breaking chaotic shift key communication from the transmitted signal in public channel. The sensitive dependence property of chaos on parameter mismatch is used for chaos adaptive synchronization and parameter identification. An index function about the synchronization error is defined and conjugate gradient method is used to minimize the index function and to search the transmitter's parameter (key). By using proposed method, secure key is recovered from transmitted signal generated by low dimensional chaos and hyper chaos switching communication. Multi-parameters can also be identified from the transmitted signal with noise

Clionid sponge surveys on the Florida Reef Tract suggest land-based nutrient inputs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ward-Paige, Christine A.; Risk, Michael J.; Sherwood, Owen A.; Jaap, Walter C.

2005-01-01

Bioerosion by Cliona delitrix and Cliona lampa was assessed at 43 sites along the Florida Reef Tract, USA, in the summer of 2001. Sponge abundances were estimated using rapid visual assessment. Tissue samples of sponges were taken for analysis of δ 15 N. Comparison samples were taken from Belize. Annual trends in sponge abundance were estimated from archived videos covering the period from 1996 to 2001. Sites with the greatest boring sponge size and cover were in the Backcountry and Lower Keys, where total nitrogen, ammonium, and δ 15 N levels were highest. The sites with the largest relative increase of C. delitrix and C. lampa over the 5 year period were in the Upper Keys, where the greatest relative decline in stony coral cover has occurred. Florida sponge δ 15 N values were 5.2(±0.1)%, suggesting the influence of human waste; in comparison, offshore Belize samples were 2.1(±0.1)%. These results suggest sewage contamination of the Florida Reef Tract, shifting the carbonate balance from construction to destruction

Clionid sponge surveys on the Florida Reef Tract suggest land-based nutrient inputs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ward-Paige, Christine A. [School of Geography and Geology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4M1 (Canada)]. E-mail: cwardpai@dal.ca; Risk, Michael J. [School of Geography and Geology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4M1 (Canada); Sherwood, Owen A. [Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 4J1 (Canada); Jaap, Walter C. [Florida Marine Research Institute, St. Petersburg, Florida (United States)

2005-07-01

Bioerosion by Cliona delitrix and Cliona lampa was assessed at 43 sites along the Florida Reef Tract, USA, in the summer of 2001. Sponge abundances were estimated using rapid visual assessment. Tissue samples of sponges were taken for analysis of {delta} {sup 15}N. Comparison samples were taken from Belize. Annual trends in sponge abundance were estimated from archived videos covering the period from 1996 to 2001. Sites with the greatest boring sponge size and cover were in the Backcountry and Lower Keys, where total nitrogen, ammonium, and {delta} {sup 15}N levels were highest. The sites with the largest relative increase of C. delitrix and C. lampa over the 5 year period were in the Upper Keys, where the greatest relative decline in stony coral cover has occurred. Florida sponge {delta} {sup 15}N values were 5.2({+-}0.1)%, suggesting the influence of human waste; in comparison, offshore Belize samples were 2.1({+-}0.1)%. These results suggest sewage contamination of the Florida Reef Tract, shifting the carbonate balance from construction to destruction.

Modular Connector Keying Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Ishman, Scott; Dukes, Scott; Warnica, Gary; Conrad, Guy; Senigla, Steven

2013-01-01

For panel-mount-type connectors, keying is usually "built-in" to the connector body, necessitating different part numbers for each key arrangement. This is costly for jobs that require small quantities. This invention was driven to provide a cost savings and to reduce documentation of individual parts. The keys are removable and configurable in up to 16 combinations. Since the key parts are separate from the connector body, a common design can be used for the plug, receptacle, and key parts. The keying can then be set at the next higher assembly.

Children's Memory for Their Mother's Murder: Accuracy, Suggestibility, and Resistance to Suggestion.

Science.gov (United States)

McWilliams, Kelly; Narr, Rachel; Goodman, Gail S; Ruiz, Sandra; Mendoza, Macaria

2013-01-31

From its inception, child eyewitness memory research has been guided by dramatic legal cases that turn on the testimony of children. Decades of scientific research reveal that, under many conditions, children can provide veracious accounts of traumatic experiences. Scientific studies also document factors that lead children to make false statements. In this paper we describe a legal case in which children testified about their mother's murder. We discuss factors that may have influenced the accuracy of the children's eyewitness memory. Children's suggestibility and resistance to suggestion are illustrated. Expert testimony, based on scientific research, can aid the trier of fact when children provide crucial evidence in criminal investigations and courtroom trials about tragic events.

Assessment of Health Effects of Exogenous Urea: Summary and Key Findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Dickerson, Aisha S; Lee, Janice S; Keshava, Channa; Hotchkiss, Andrew; Persad, Amanda S

2018-05-01

Urea has been utilized as a reductant in diesel fuels to lower emission of nitrogen oxides, igniting interest in probable human health hazards associated with exposure to exogenous urea. Here, we summarize and update key findings on potential health effects of exogenous urea, including carcinogenicity. No definitive target organs for oral exposure were identified; however, results in animal studies suggest that the liver and kidney could be potential target organs of urea toxicity. The available human-subject literature suggests that the impact on lung function is minimal. Based on the literature on exogenous urea, we concluded that there was inadequate information to assess the carcinogenic potential of urea, or perform a quantitative assessment to derive reference values. Given the limited information on exogenous urea, additional research to address gaps for exogenous urea should include long-term cancer bioassays, two-generation reproductive toxicity studies, and mode-of-action investigations.

Flow hydrodynamics near inlet key of Piano Key Weir (PKW)

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Department of Water Resources Development and Management, Indian Institute ... on the hydrodynamic performance near inlet key of Piano Key Weir (PKW). ... nature of flows is clearly understood with the help of advanced instrumentation.

Animal Rights: Selected Resources and Suggestions for Further Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Davidoff, Donald J.

1989-01-01

Presents an annotated list of selected resources intended to serve as a guide to the growing amount of material on animal rights. Suggestions to aid in additional research include subject headings used to find books, indexes used to locate periodical articles, sources for locating organizations, and a selected list of animal rights organizations.…

[Key informers. When and How?].

Science.gov (United States)

Martín González, R

2009-03-01

When information obtained through duly designed and developed studies is not available, the solution to certain problems that affect the population or that respond to certain questions may be approached by using the information and experience provided by the so-called key informer. The key informer is defined as a person who is in contact with the community or with the problem to be studied, who is considered to have good knowledge of the situation and therefore who is considered an expert. The search for consensus is the basis to obtain information through the key informers. The techniques used have different characteristics based on whether the experts chosen meet together or not, whether they are guided or not, whether they interact with each other or not. These techniques include the survey, the Delphi technique, the nominal group technique, brainwriting, brainstorming, the Phillips 66 technique, the 6-3-5 technique, the community forum and the community impressions technique. Information provided by key informers through the search for consensus is relevant when this is not available or cannot be obtained by other methods. It has permitted the analysis of the existing neurological care model, elaboration of recommendations on visit times for the out-patient neurological care, and the elaboration of guidelines and recommendations for the management of prevalent neurological problems.

Key to good fit: body measurement problems specific to key ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Key to good fit: body measurement problems specific to key dimensions. ... to explore and describe the problems that the South African Clothing Industry currently ... A postal survey was conducted among South African apparel and footwear ...

Entangled quantum key distribution with a biased basis choice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erven, Chris; Ma Xiongfeng; Laflamme, Raymond; Weihs, Gregor

2009-01-01

We investigate a quantum key distribution (QKD) scheme that utilizes a biased basis choice in order to increase the efficiency of the scheme. The optimal bias between the two measurement bases, a more refined error analysis and finite key size effects are all studied in order to assure the security of the final key generated with the system. We then implement the scheme in a local entangled QKD system that uses polarization entangled photon pairs to securely distribute the key. A 50/50 non-polarizing beamsplitter (BS) with different optical attenuators is used to simulate a variable BS in order to allow us to study the operation of the system for different biases. Over 6 h of continuous operation with a total bias of 0.9837/0.0163 (Z/X), we were able to generate 0.4567 secure key bits per raw key bit as compared to 0.2550 secure key bits per raw key bit for the unbiased case. This represents an increase in the efficiency of the key generation rate by 79%.

Field Keys to Common Hawaiian Marine Animals and Plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawaii State Dept. of Education, Honolulu. Office of Instructional Services.

Presented are keys for identifying common Hawaiian marine algae, beach plants, reef corals, sea urchins, tidepool fishes, and sea cucumbers. Nearly all species considered can be distinguished by characteristics visible to the naked eye. Line drawings illustrate most plants and animals included, and a list of suggested readings follows each…

Molecular spectroscopic study for suggested mechanism of chrome tanned leather

Science.gov (United States)

Nashy, Elshahat H. A.; Osman, Osama; Mahmoud, Abdel Aziz; Ibrahim, Medhat

2012-03-01

Collagen represents the structural protein of the extracellular matrix, which gives strength of hides and/or skin under tanning process. Chrome tan is the most important tanning agent all over the world. The methods for production of leather evolved over several centuries as art and engineering with little understanding of the underlying science. The present work is devoted to suggest the most probable mechanistic action of chrome tan on hide proteins. First the affect of Cr upon hide protein is indicated by the studied mechanical properties. Then the spectroscopic characterization of the hide protein as well as chrome tanned leather was carried out with Horizontal Attenuated Total Reflection (HATR) FT-IR. The obtained results indicate how the chromium can attached with the active sites of collagen. Molecular modeling confirms that chromium can react with amino as well as carboxylate groups. Four schemes were obtained to describe the possible interactions of chrome tan with hide proteins.

Key Design Characteristics for Developing Usable E-Commerce Websites in the Arab World

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Layla Hasan

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This research aims to suggest key design characteristics that are necessary for developing usable e-commerce websites in the Arab world. A comprehensive usability evaluation of four leading Arab e-commerce websites was conducted using the heuristic evaluation method. The results identified major and minor usability problems and major and minor good design characteristics on the selected websites. Based on the results, 51 key design characteristics were suggested. The recommended key design characteristics comprised two levels according to their priority: level one which includes mandatory key design characteristics and level two which includes supplementary design characteristics. The key design characteristics in each level were categorized under specific pages and areas that can be found on any e-commerce website. Such categorizations could direct website evaluators and designers to important pages and areas that should be considered to improve the overall usability of e-commerce websites. The results of this research are particularly important to developing countries which are still facing challenges that may affect the design and accessibility of usable and useful websites. These relate to low speed of accessing the Internet and a lack of website designers who have experience in customers’ needs and websites’ usable design characteristics.

Water resources and environmental input-output analysis and its key study issues: a review

Science.gov (United States)

YANG, Z.; Xu, X.

2013-12-01

Used to study the material and energy flow in socioeconomic system, Input-Output Analysis(IOA) had been an effective analysis tool since its appearance. The research fields of Input-Output Analysis were increasingly expanded and studied in depth with the development of fundamental theory. In this paper, starting with introduction of theory development, the water resources input-output analysis and environmental input-output analysis had been specifically reviewed, and two key study issues mentioned as well. Input-Occupancy-Output Analysis and Grey Input-Output Analysis whose proposal and development were introduced firstly could be regard as the effective complements of traditional IOA theory. Because of the hypotheses of homogeneity, stability and proportionality, Input-Occupancy-Output Analysis and Grey Input-Output Analysis always had been restricted in practical application inevitably. In the applied study aspect, with investigation of abundant literatures, research of water resources input-output analysis and environmental input-output analysis had been comprehensively reviewed and analyzed. The regional water resources flow between different economic sectors had been systematically analyzed and stated, and several types of environmental input-output analysis models combined with other effective analysis tools concluded. In two perspectives in terms of external and inland aspect, the development of water resources and environmental input-output analysis model had been explained, and several typical study cases in recent years listed respectively. By the aid of sufficient literature analysis, the internal development tendency and study hotspot had also been summarized. In recent years, Chinese literatures reporting water resources consumption analysis and virtue water study had occupied a large share. Water resources consumption analysis had always been the emphasis of inland water resources IOA. Virtue water study had been considered as the new hotspot of

Network Information Management: The Key To Providing High WAN Availability.

Science.gov (United States)

Tysdal, Craig

1996-01-01

Discusses problems associated with increasing corporate network complexity as a result of the proliferation of client/server applications at remote locations, and suggests the key to providing high WAN (wide area network) availability is relational databases used in an integrated management approach. (LRW)

Study on the security of discrete-variable quantum key distribution over non-Markovian channels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Peng; Zhu Jun; He Guangqiang; Zeng Guihua

2012-01-01

The dynamic of the secret key rate of the discrete-variable quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol over the non-Markovian quantum channel is investigated. In particular, we calculate the secret key rate for the six-state protocol over non-Markovian depolarizing channels with coloured noise and Markovian depolarizing channels with Gaussian white noise, respectively. We find that the secure secret key rate for the non-Markovian depolarizing channel will be larger than the Markovian one under the same conditions even when their upper bounds of tolerable quantum bit error rate are equal. This indicates that this coloured noise in the non-Markovian depolarizing channel can enhance the security of communication. Moreover, we show that the secret key rate fluctuates near the secure point when the coupling strength of the system with the environment is high. The results demonstrate that the non-Markovian effects of the transmission channel can have a positive impact on the security of discrete-variable QKD. (paper)

Key Management Laboratory

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — FUNCTION: Provides a secure environment to research and develop advanced electronic key management and networked key distribution technologies for the Navy and DoD....

LOCKS AND KEYS SERVICE

CERN Multimedia

Locks and Keys Service

2002-01-01

The Locks and Keys service (ST/FM) will move from building 55 to building 570 from the 2nd August to the 9th August 2002 included. During this period the service will be closed. Only in case of extreme urgency please call the 164550. Starting from Monday, 12th August, the Locks and Keys Service will continue to follow the activities related to office keys (keys and locks) and will provide the keys for furniture. The service is open from 8h30 to 12h00 and from 13h00 to 17h30. We remind you that your divisional correspondents can help you in the execution of the procedures. We thank you for your comprehension and we remain at your service to help you in solving all the matters related to keys for offices and furniture. Locks and Keys Service - ST Division - FM Group

Key barriers to gout care: a systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Rai, Sharan K; Choi, Hyon K; Choi, Sally H J; Townsend, Anne F; Shojania, Kam; De Vera, Mary A

2018-04-17

Gout care remains highly suboptimal, contributing to an increased global disease burden. To understand barriers to gout care, our aim was to provide a systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative studies worldwide reporting provider and patient perspectives and experiences with management. We conducted a mapped search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Social Sciences Citation Index databases and selected qualitative studies of provider and patient perspectives on gout management. We used thematic synthesis to combine the included studies and identify key themes across studies. We included 20 studies that reported the experiences and perspectives of 480 gout patients and 120 providers spanning five different countries across three continents. We identified three predominant provider themes: knowledge gaps and management approaches; perceptions and beliefs about gout patients; and system barriers to optimal gout care (e.g. time constraints and a lack of incentives). We also identified four predominant themes among gout patients: limited gout knowledge; interactions with health-care providers; attitudes towards and experiences with taking medication; and practical barriers to long-term medication use. Our systematic review of worldwide literature consistently identified gaps in gout knowledge among providers, which is likely to contribute to patients' lack of appropriate education about the fundamental causes of and essential treatment approaches for gout. Furthermore, system barriers among providers and day-to-day challenges of taking long-term medications among patients are considerable. These factors provide key targets to improve the widespread suboptimal gout care.

The Key Lake project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

Key Lake is located in the Athabasca sand stone basin, 640 kilometers north of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The three sources of ore at Key Lake contain 70 100 tonnes of uranium. Features of the Key Lake Project were described under the key headings: work force, mining, mill process, tailings storage, permanent camp, environmental features, worker health and safety, and economic benefits. Appendices covering the historical background, construction projects, comparisons of western world mines, mining statistics, Northern Saskatchewan surface lease, and Key Lake development and regulatory agencies were included

Deepening Sleep by Hypnotic Suggestion

Science.gov (United States)

Cordi, Maren J.; Schlarb, Angelika A.; Rasch, Björn

2014-01-01

Study Objectives: Slow wave sleep (SWS) plays a critical role in body restoration and promotes brain plasticity; however, it markedly declines across the lifespan. Despite its importance, effective tools to increase SWS are rare. Here we tested whether a hypnotic suggestion to “sleep deeper” extends the amount of SWS. Design: Within-subject, placebo-controlled crossover design. Setting: Sleep laboratory at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Participants: Seventy healthy females 23.27 ± 3.17 y. Intervention: Participants listened to an auditory text with hypnotic suggestions or a control tape before napping for 90 min while high-density electroencephalography was recorded. Measurements and Results: After participants listened to the hypnotic suggestion to “sleep deeper” subsequent SWS was increased by 81% and time spent awake was reduced by 67% (with the amount of SWS or wake in the control condition set to 100%). Other sleep stages remained unaffected. Additionally, slow wave activity was significantly enhanced after hypnotic suggestions. During the hypnotic tape, parietal theta power increases predicted the hypnosis-induced extension of SWS. Additional experiments confirmed that the beneficial effect of hypnotic suggestions on SWS was specific to the hypnotic suggestion and did not occur in low suggestible participants. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of hypnotic suggestions to specifically increase the amount and duration of slow wave sleep (SWS) in a midday nap using objective measures of sleep in young, healthy, suggestible females. Hypnotic suggestions might be a successful tool with a lower risk of adverse side effects than pharmacological treatments to extend SWS also in clinical and elderly populations. Citation: Cordi MJ, Schlarb AA, Rasch B. Deepening sleep by hypnotic suggestion. SLEEP 2014;37(6):1143-1152. PMID:24882909

Key aspects congenital infection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu. V. Lobzin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The key questions to solve the problem of congenital infection in the Russian Federation are: using in national practice over world accepted terminology adapted to the recommendations of the World Health Organization; representation of the modern concepts of an infectious process in the classification of congenital infections; scientific development and introducing in clinical practice the «standard case definitions», applied to different congenital infections; optimization of protocols and clinical guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of congenital infections; improvement a knowledge in the infectious disease for all  pecialists involved in the risk assessment of congenital infections, manage pregnancy and children. Based on our experience and analysis of publications, the authors suggest possible solutions.

Key distillation in quantum cryptography

Science.gov (United States)

Slutsky, Boris Aron

1998-11-01

Quantum cryptography is a technique which permits two parties to communicate over an open channel and establish a shared sequence of bits known only to themselves. This task, provably impossible in classical cryptography, is accomplished by encoding the data on quantum particles and harnessing their unique properties. It is believed that no eavesdropping attack consistent with the laws of quantum theory can compromise the secret data unknowingly to the legitimate users of the channel. Any attempt by a hostile actor to monitor the data carrying particles while in transit reveals itself through transmission errors it must inevitably introduce. Unfortunately, in practice a communication is not free of errors even when no eavesdropping is present. Key distillation is a technique that permits the parties to overcome this difficulty and establish a secret key despite channel defects, under the assumption that every particle is handled independently from other particles by the enemy. In the present work, key distillation is described and its various aspects are studied. A relationship is derived between the average error rate resulting from an eavesdropping attack and the amount of information obtained by the attacker. Formal definition is developed of the security of the final key. The net throughput of secret bits in a quantum cryptosystem employing key distillation is assessed. An overview of quantum cryptographic protocols and related information theoretical results is also given.

Self-Esteem: The Key to a Child's Success and Happiness.

Science.gov (United States)

Cutright, Melitta C.

1992-01-01

The article discusses self-esteem as the key to parenting a successful, happy child. It notes ways parents can help foster self-esteem starting at a very early age. Ten suggestions for building a child's self-esteem, developed by the National PTA, are listed. (SM)

A systemic study on key parameters affecting nanocomposite coatings on magnesium substrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Ian; Wang, Sebo Michelle; Silken, Christine; Liu, Huinan

2016-05-01

Nanocomposite coatings offer multiple functions simultaneously to improve the interfacial properties of magnesium (Mg) alloys for skeletal implant applications, e.g., controlling the degradation rate of Mg substrates, improving bone cell functions, and providing drug delivery capability. However, the effective service time of nanocomposite coatings may be limited due to their early delamination from the Mg-based substrates. Therefore, the objective of this study was to address the delamination issue of nanocomposite coatings, improve the coating properties for reducing the degradation of Mg-based substrates, and thus improve their cytocompatibility with bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). The surface conditions of the substrates, polymer component type of the nanocomposite coatings, and post-deposition processing are the key parameters that contribute to the efficacy of the nanocomposite coatings in regulating substrate degradation and bone cell responses. Specifically, the effects of metallic surface versus alkaline heat-treated hydroxide surface of the substrates on coating quality were investigated. For the nanocomposite coatings, nanophase hydroxyapatite (nHA) was dispersed in three types of biodegradable polymers, i.e., poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA), or poly(caprolactone) (PCL) to determine which polymer component could provide integrated properties for slowest Mg degradation. The nanocomposite coatings with or without post-deposition processing, i.e., melting, annealing, were compared to determine which processing route improved the properties of the nanocomposite coatings most significantly. The results showed that optimizing the coating processes addressed the delamination issue. The melted then annealed nHA/PCL coating on the metallic Mg substrates showed the slowest degradation and the best coating adhesion, among all the combinations of conditions studied; and, it improved the adhesion density of BMSCs

Factor structure of suggestibility revisited: new evidence for direct and indirect suggestibility

OpenAIRE

Romuald Polczyk

2016-01-01

Background Yielding to suggestions can be viewed as a relatively stable individual trait, called suggestibility. It has been long proposed that there are two kinds of suggestible influence, and two kinds of suggestibility corresponding to them: direct and indirect. Direct suggestion involves overt unhidden influence, while indirect suggestion concerns influence that is hidden, and the participant does not know that the suggestibility is being measured. So far however, empirical evidence ...

Uncertainty and Variability in Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) Models: Key Issues and Case Studies (Final Report)

Science.gov (United States)

EPA announced the availability of the final report, Uncertainty and Variability in Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) Models: Key Issues and Case Studies. This report summarizes some of the recent progress in characterizing uncertainty and variability in physi...

Choosing preclinical study models of diabetic retinopathy: key problems for consideration

Science.gov (United States)

Mi, Xue-Song; Yuan, Ti-Fei; Ding, Yong; Zhong, Jing-Xiang; So, Kwok-Fai

2014-01-01

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common complication of diabetes mellitus in the eye. Although the clinical treatment for DR has already developed to a relative high level, there are still many urgent problems that need to be investigated in clinical and basic science. Currently, many in vivo animal models and in vitro culture systems have been applied to solve these problems. Many approaches have also been used to establish different DR models. However, till now, there has not been a single study model that can clearly and exactly mimic the developmental process of the human DR. Choosing the suitable model is important, not only for achieving our research goals smoothly, but also, to better match with different experimental proposals in the study. In this review, key problems for consideration in choosing study models of DR are discussed. These problems relate to clinical relevance, different approaches for establishing models, and choice of different species of animals as well as of the specific in vitro culture systems. Attending to these considerations will deepen the understanding on current study models and optimize the experimental design for the final goal of preventing DR. PMID:25429204

Personality Styles and Suggestibility: A Differential Approach

OpenAIRE

Pires, Rute; Silva, Danilo R.; Ferreira, Ana Sousa

2013-01-01

This study addresses the relationship between personality styles measured with the Portuguese adaptation of the Millon Index of Personality Styles Revised – MIPS-R and interrogative suggestibility assessed by the Portuguese adaptation of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale – GSS1. Hypotheses predicted individual differences in suggestibility and that these differences correspond to differences in individuals’ personality styles. The study was conducted with a sample of 258 individuals (M age ...

Authority Delegation in Boyerahmad Health Centers through Model to Combine Suggestions System and Delphi Method 2012

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Momeninezhad

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Background & aim: Authority delegation means to transmit part of organization`s manager and leader`s special authorities and executive duties, regardless its root to subordinates and heads of units and related offices to speed up implementing affairs and organizational purposes quickly and on time. The purpose of this study was to inspect authority delegation in health centers of Boyerahmad district through using model to combine suggestions (to identify process and Delphi method (expert`s opinions . Methods: This cross-sectional study was implemented in two stages at first stage, research community was authorities of Boyerahmad health centers (58 persons, their suggestions about requested processes to delegate were gathered by total count through open questionnaires and in second stage, which was Delphi, suggestions gathered from previous stage judged by 30 experts. Data of both stages analyzed by help of Chi-square, correlation coefficient tests. Results: Findings showed that 73.85% of suggestions were able to be delegated, based on expert`s opinion. 40% of suggestions were in domain of official, 36.92% financial and 23.08% hygienic. 88% less than 6 years management background. 20.69% had no academic studies and only 27% were general physicians. Conclusion: By participation of environmental management levels, several processes may be specified and identify cases which are possible to delegate them executively using Delphi (expert`s opinion and this model can be used as a trust worthy method to delegate authority for decentralization. Key words: Participation Management, Health centers, Authority delegation

Interrogative suggestibility in opiate users.

Science.gov (United States)

Murakami, A; Edelmann, R J; Davis, P E

1996-09-01

The present study investigated interrogative suggestibility in opiate users. A group of patients undergoing a methadone detoxification programme in an in-patient drug treatment unit (Detox group, n = 21), and a group of residents who had come off drugs and were no longer suffering from withdrawal syndrome (Rehab group, n = 19) were compared on interrogative suggestibility and various other psychological factors. Significant differences were found between the two groups, with the Detox group having more physical and psychological problems, and a higher total suggestibility score in comparison with the Rehab group. These findings are discussed in relation to the context of police interrogations and the reliability of confessions made by suspects and witnesses dependent on opiates.

LSD enhances suggestibility in healthy volunteers.

Science.gov (United States)

Carhart-Harris, R L; Kaelen, M; Whalley, M G; Bolstridge, M; Feilding, A; Nutt, D J

2015-02-01

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) has a history of use as a psychotherapeutic aid in the treatment of mood disorders and addiction, and it was also explored as an enhancer of mind control. The present study sought to test the effect of LSD on suggestibility in a modern research study. Ten healthy volunteers were administered with intravenous (i.v.) LSD (40-80 μg) in a within-subject placebo-controlled design. Suggestibility and cued mental imagery were assessed using the Creative Imagination Scale (CIS) and a mental imagery test (MIT). CIS and MIT items were split into two versions (A and B), balanced for 'efficacy' (i.e. A ≈ B) and counterbalanced across conditions (i.e. 50 % completed version 'A' under LSD). The MIT and CIS were issued 110 and 140 min, respectively, post-infusion, corresponding with the peak drug effects. Volunteers gave significantly higher ratings for the CIS (p = 0.018), but not the MIT (p = 0.11), after LSD than placebo. The magnitude of suggestibility enhancement under LSD was positively correlated with trait conscientiousness measured at baseline (p = 0.0005). These results imply that the influence of suggestion is enhanced by LSD. Enhanced suggestibility under LSD may have implications for its use as an adjunct to psychotherapy, where suggestibility plays a major role. That cued imagery was unaffected by LSD implies that suggestions must be of a sufficient duration and level of detail to be enhanced by the drug. The results also imply that individuals with high trait conscientiousness are especially sensitive to the suggestibility-enhancing effects of LSD.

Public Key Cryptography.

Science.gov (United States)

Tapson, Frank

1996-01-01

Describes public key cryptography, also known as RSA, which is a system using two keys, one used to put a message into cipher and another used to decipher the message. Presents examples using small prime numbers. (MKR)

Preparing for the introduction of hospital autonomy in Laos: an assessment of current situation and suggestions for policy-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Geng, Jinsong; Yu, Hao; Chen, Yingyao

2016-04-01

The National Assembly of Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos) approved the Health Sector Reform Strategy in 2012, which called for an assessment as to whether Laos should introduce hospital autonomy, and if so, in which ways. The purpose of this study is to assess the status quo of hospital governance in Laos and propose policy suggestions for hospital autonomy in the country. We formulated an analytic framework for hospital autonomy based on previous work by other researchers, collected qualitative data through key informant interviews and focus group discussions, and also performed secondary data analysis. Public hospitals in Laos enjoyed some informal autonomy with little accountability and Laos is facing key challenges of hospital governance. As a result, introducing hospital autonomy in Laos could bring risks, benefits and debates. Before Laos decides on granting autonomy to its public hospitals, we strongly suggest that the government do pilot in selected public hospitals with well-regulated governance framework first and conduct rigorous evaluations to examine whether the granted autonomy leads to the intended social goals of equity, quality, efficiency and sustainability. We recommend residual claimants should be monitored by the government and by the society with open and transparent approach, and active measures should be taken to improve performance and ensure social functions. The study findings may also provide some suggestions for low- and middle-income countries, which are contemplating the introduction of hospital autonomy in the public sector. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Key Working for Families with Young Disabled Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernie Carter

2011-01-01

Full Text Available For families with a disabled child, the usual challenges of family life can be further complicated by the need to access a wide range of services provided by a plethora of professionals and agencies. Key working aims to support children and their families in navigating these complexities ensuring easy access to relevant, high quality, and coordinated care. The aim of this paper is to explore the key worker role in relation to “being a key worker” and “having a key worker”. The data within this paper draw on a larger evaluation study of the Blackpool Early Support Pilot Programme. The qualitative study used an appreciative and narrative approach and utilised mixed methods (interviews, surveys and a nominal group workshop. Data were collected from 43 participants (parents, key workers, and other stakeholders. All stakeholders who had been involved with the service were invited to participate. In the paper we present and discuss the ways in which key working made a difference to the lives of children and their families. We also consider how key working transformed the perspectives of the key workers creating a deeper and richer understanding of family lives and the ways in which other disciplines and agencies worked. Key working contributed to the shift to a much more family-centred approach, and enhanced communication and information sharing between professionals and agencies improved. This resulted in families feeling more informed. Key workers acted in an entrepreneurial fashion, forging new relationships with families and between families and other stakeholders. Parents of young disabled children and their service providers benefited from key working. Much of the benefit accrued came from strong, relational, and social-professional networking which facilitated the embedding of new ways of working into everyday practice. Using an appreciative inquiry approach provided an effective and relevant way of engaging with parents, professionals

KEY DRIVERS OF OPTIMAL SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS PROVISION: AN ENGLISH STUDY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saneeya QURESHI

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Background: The aim of this paper is to argue that there are a number of key drivers for Special Educational Needs (SEN provision that have to be met by Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs and teaching professionals so as to ensure optimal provision and inclusion for children with SEN in mainstream primary schools. Although the research has been carried out in England, there is a significant European Dimension to the issue, as a similar role to that of SENCOs in respect of SEN management already exists in countries such as Finland and Ireland, and is being considered in Italy. Methods: This paper focuses on the data gathered for the purpose of the author’s doctoral research in England, through questionnaires and interviews with SENCOs, head teachers and teachers. Thematic analysis was used to explore key drivers of SEN provision by practitioners who support children with SEN. Results: Data illustrate that the key drivers of SEN provision include time; teacher openness to change; target setting; evidence of tried interventions; empowerment; decision-making and approachability. The implementation of such drivers depend largely on practitioner skills and competencies. Conclusion: The main conclusion within this paper is to develop points of reference for planning and practice, with illustrations of optimal provision by all practitioners who work with children with SEN.

Perspectives on impacts of water quality on agriculture and community well-being-a key informant study from Sri Lanka.

Science.gov (United States)

Thoradeniya, Bhadranie; Pinto, Uthpala; Maheshwari, Basant

2017-11-04

Integrated management of water quality is critical for sustaining food production and achieving overall well-being of a community. Further, understanding people's perceptions and engagement can play an important role in achieving water and food security. The main aim of this study was to investigate the perspectives of community and other stakeholders as to how water quality impacts on agriculture, livelihood and community well-being within rural farming communities of two dry zone districts of Sri Lanka. The study adopted 'key informant interviews' as the methodology to investigate community and other stakeholder perspectives to collect primary data over a period of four months. The interview contents were then examined using a frequency matrix and graphed using an Excel graphing tool. The raw text was also analysed to understand the broader patterns in the text. A fuzzy logic cognitive map (FCM) was developed using the relationships between various concepts and linkages provided by the key informants. All key informants were concerned with the quality of drinking water they consume and the water used for their food preparation. Key informants representing the farming community indicated that the use of poor quality groundwater with higher levels of hardness has made growing crops difficult in the region. The key informants also identified extensive and ongoing use of agro-chemicals and fertilisers as a major source of pollution in water bodies in both spatio-temporal scale. Based on key informant interviews, possible initiatives that can help improve surface water and groundwater qualities for both drinking and agricultural use in the dry zone of Sri Lanka can be categorised into four broader themes, viz., provision of filtering/treatment systems, reduction in the use of agro-chemical and fertilisers, education of community stakeholders and support of alternative options for portable water supplies. The study indicates that in the key informants' view of

Key Factors Affecting Construction Safety Performance in Developing Countries: Evidence from Cambodia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Serdar Durdyev

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Although proper safety management in construction is of utmost importance; anecdotal evidence suggests that safety is not adequately considered in many developing countries. This paper considers the key variables affecting construction safety performance in Cambodia. Using an empirical questionnaire survey targeting local construction professionals, respondents were invited to rate the level of importance of 30 variables identified from the seminal literature. The data set was subjected to factor analysis. Correlations between the variables show that five key factors underlie the challenges facing the local industry; management and organisation, resources, site management, cosmetic and workforce. It is found that the forefront construction professionals (top management and government authorities should take more responsibilities for further improvements in safety performance on project sites. Findings and recommendations of this study may be useful to construction professional who are seeking ways to improve safety records in developing countries.

Financial Key Ratios

OpenAIRE

Tănase Alin-Eliodor

2014-01-01

This article focuses on computing techniques starting from trial balance data regarding financial key ratios. There are presented activity, liquidity, solvency and profitability financial key ratios. It is presented a computing methodology in three steps based on a trial balance.

Exploring key factors in online shopping with a hybrid model.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hsiao-Ming; Wu, Chia-Huei; Tsai, Sang-Bing; Yu, Jian; Wang, Jiangtao; Zheng, Yuxiang

2016-01-01

Nowadays, the web increasingly influences retail sales. An in-depth analysis of consumer decision-making in the context of e-business has become an important issue for internet vendors. However, factors affecting e-business are complicated and intertwined. To stimulate online sales, understanding key influential factors and causal relationships among the factors is important. To gain more insights into this issue, this paper introduces a hybrid method, which combines the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) with the analytic network process, called DANP method, to find out the driving factors that influence the online business mostly. By DEMATEL approach the causal graph showed that "online service" dimension has the highest degree of direct impact on other dimensions; thus, the internet vendor is suggested to made strong efforts on service quality throughout the online shopping process. In addition, the study adopted DANP to measure the importance of key factors, among which "transaction security" proves to be the most important criterion. Hence, transaction security should be treated with top priority to boost the online businesses. From our study with DANP approach, the comprehensive information can be visually detected so that the decision makers can spotlight on the root causes to develop effectual actions.

Study of dynamic amplification factor of DEMO blanket caused by a gap at the supporting key

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frosi, Paolo; Mazzone, Giuseppe

2015-01-01

Highlights: • With the preliminary hypothesis established, the dynamic displacements are not so high and the state of stress (not reported) does not exhibit large region with plastic strain. • The dynamic displacements show a certain dependency from the mesh adopted, and the geometry chosen. • The energy (kinetic or strain) of the whole structure gives useful information about the key behavior during impact. • In order to better understand the overall phenomenon other details (non-linear material, better evaluation of damping, other disruption rise-times and so on. - Abstract: Among the design activities of the in vessel components for DEMO promoted by European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA) organization, this work deals with the gap required at the supporting keys of the blanket. Due to its higher operating temperatures compared to the vacuum vessel (VV) ones, this gap will increase during operation. The electro magnetic (EM) loads due to fast disruptions occur on a short time and might accelerate the blanket significantly before it touches the supporting keys, causing an impact of the blanket itself onto the keys. Depending on their stiffness, the EM loads with their short time scale could excite the structure's natural frequencies, causing dynamic amplification. Both phenomena (impact and dynamic amplification) can cause stresses in the structure significantly higher than the static ones. This work develops a finite element model of DEMO blanket to study its non-linear transient dynamic behavior under impact loadings. A VV sector, the ribs between the inner and outer VV, the backward manifolds and the supporting keys of the blanket have been modeled. The analyses have been performed with Abaqus [1] and Ansys [2] FEM codes focused on the displacements of the keys in their housing on the blanket. The dynamic amplification factor has been evaluated as the ratio of dynamic to static displacements in meaningful points of the structure for a growing gap

Study of dynamic amplification factor of DEMO blanket caused by a gap at the supporting key

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frosi, Paolo, E-mail: paolo.frosi@enea.it; Mazzone, Giuseppe

2015-10-15

Highlights: • With the preliminary hypothesis established, the dynamic displacements are not so high and the state of stress (not reported) does not exhibit large region with plastic strain. • The dynamic displacements show a certain dependency from the mesh adopted, and the geometry chosen. • The energy (kinetic or strain) of the whole structure gives useful information about the key behavior during impact. • In order to better understand the overall phenomenon other details (non-linear material, better evaluation of damping, other disruption rise-times and so on. - Abstract: Among the design activities of the in vessel components for DEMO promoted by European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA) organization, this work deals with the gap required at the supporting keys of the blanket. Due to its higher operating temperatures compared to the vacuum vessel (VV) ones, this gap will increase during operation. The electro magnetic (EM) loads due to fast disruptions occur on a short time and might accelerate the blanket significantly before it touches the supporting keys, causing an impact of the blanket itself onto the keys. Depending on their stiffness, the EM loads with their short time scale could excite the structure's natural frequencies, causing dynamic amplification. Both phenomena (impact and dynamic amplification) can cause stresses in the structure significantly higher than the static ones. This work develops a finite element model of DEMO blanket to study its non-linear transient dynamic behavior under impact loadings. A VV sector, the ribs between the inner and outer VV, the backward manifolds and the supporting keys of the blanket have been modeled. The analyses have been performed with Abaqus [1] and Ansys [2] FEM codes focused on the displacements of the keys in their housing on the blanket. The dynamic amplification factor has been evaluated as the ratio of dynamic to static displacements in meaningful points of the structure for a growing

Do we have proportionate gender in policy making? A Study based on key Government Institutions of SAARC Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghulam Nabi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Women empowerment has remained a long standing issue for practitioners and policy makers at all levels even in the present modern known era of modernization. The basic objective of this study is to assess gender equality in the top sphere of the SAARC key governmental institutions from the recruitment and selection perspective. This study has used secondary data collected from the official websites of the governments and its affiliated key institutions. The unique feature of this study is that it analyzes gender inequality phenomena form the recruitment and selection perspective. An extensive gap has been identified between male and female top executives serving in key government institutions, which is not only a serious challenge for the global gender equality policy but also a serious question on government gender selection polices in the region. The notion of male dominance clearly prevails in the current scenario of the gender representation in government institutions, which remains a serious challenge for the gender equality. It has been concluded that a special focus is needed to prioritize the selection mechanism for females in top power structure of these governments especially in SAARC region.

Using Y-Chromosomal Haplogroups in Genetic Association Studies and Suggested Implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Erzurumluoglu, A Mesut; Baird, Denis; Richardson, Tom G; Timpson, Nicholas J; Rodriguez, Santiago

2018-01-22

Y-chromosomal (Y-DNA) haplogroups are more widely used in population genetics than in genetic epidemiology, although associations between Y-DNA haplogroups and several traits, including cardiometabolic traits, have been reported. In apparently homogeneous populations defined by principal component analyses, there is still Y-DNA haplogroup variation which will result from population history. Therefore, hidden stratification and/or differential phenotypic effects by Y-DNA haplogroups could exist. To test this, we hypothesised that stratifying individuals according to their Y-DNA haplogroups before testing for associations between autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and phenotypes will yield difference in association. For proof of concept, we derived Y-DNA haplogroups from 6537 males from two epidemiological cohorts, Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) ( n = 5080; 816 Y-DNA SNPs) and the 1958 Birth Cohort ( n = 1457; 1849 Y-DNA SNPs), and studied the robust associations between 32 SNPs and body mass index (BMI), including SNPs in or near Fat Mass and Obesity-associated protein ( FTO ) which yield the strongest effects. Overall, no association was replicated in both cohorts when Y-DNA haplogroups were considered and this suggests that, for BMI at least, there is little evidence of differences in phenotype or SNP association by Y-DNA structure. Further studies using other traits, phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS), other haplogroups and/or autosomal SNPs are required to test the generalisability and utility of this approach.

Interrogative suggestibility and perceptual motor performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Gudjonsson, G H

1984-04-01

This study investigates the relationship between interrogative suggestibility, as measured by the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale, and Arrow-Dot scores. The tendency of subjects (25 men and 25 women, mean age 30.2 yr.) to alter their answers once interpersonal pressure had been applied correlated significantly with poor Arrow-Dot Ego functioning.

Nonmarket economic user values of the Florida Keys/Key West

Science.gov (United States)

Vernon R. Leeworthy; J. Michael Bowker

1997-01-01

This report provides estimates of the nonmarket economic user values for recreating visitors to the Florida Keys/Key West that participated in natural resource-based activities. Results from estimated travel cost models are presented, including visitor’s responses to prices and estimated per person-trip user values. Annual user values are also calculated and presented...

75 FR 17463 - Key West Bank, Key West, Florida; Notice of Appointment of Receiver

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-06

... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Thrift Supervision Key West Bank, Key West, Florida; Notice... section 5(d)(2) of the Home Owners' Loan Act, the Office of Thrift Supervision has duly appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as sole Receiver for Key West Bank, Key West, Florida, (OTS No...

Disrupting the Forrest Gump Effect: Countering Suggestibility in the Social Studies Classroom through the Use of Actual Footage

Science.gov (United States)

Nathan, Judith Raizy

2017-01-01

Film is a tool used in the social studies classroom, even if it contradicts documented history. Suggestibility, the incorporation of misinformation from historical feature film, is commonplace, and some social studies instructional methods exacerbate inaccurate memories. Existing research indicates that attempts to counter suggestibility have met…

Key volatile aroma compounds of lactic acid fermented malt based beverages - impact of lactic acid bacteria strains.

Science.gov (United States)

Nsogning Dongmo, Sorelle; Sacher, Bertram; Kollmannsberger, Hubert; Becker, Thomas

2017-08-15

This study aims to define the aroma composition and key aroma compounds of barley malt wort beverages produced from fermentation using six lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry-olfactometry and flame ionization detection was employed; key aroma compounds were determined by means of aroma extract dilution analysis. Fifty-six detected volatile compounds were similar among beverages. However, significant differences were observed in the concentration of individual compounds. Key aroma compounds (flavor dilution (FD) factors ≥16) were β-damascenone, furaneol, phenylacetic acid, 2-phenylethanol, 4-vinylguaiacol, sotolon, methional, vanillin, acetic acid, nor-furaneol, guaiacol and ethyl 2-methylbutanoate. Furthermore, acetaldehyde had the greatest odor activity value of up to 4266. Sensory analyses revealed large differences in the flavor profile. Beverage from L. plantarum Lp. 758 showed the highest FD factors in key aroma compounds and was correlated to fruity flavors. Therefore, we suggest that suitable LAB strain selection may improve the flavor of malt based beverages. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Key Issues in Modeling of Complex 3D Structures from Video Sequences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shengyong Chen

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Construction of three-dimensional structures from video sequences has wide applications for intelligent video analysis. This paper summarizes the key issues of the theory and surveys the recent advances in the state of the art. Reconstruction of a scene object from video sequences often takes the basic principle of structure from motion with an uncalibrated camera. This paper lists the typical strategies and summarizes the typical solutions or algorithms for modeling of complex three-dimensional structures. Open difficult problems are also suggested for further study.

Adoption of photovoltaic power supply systems: A study of key determinants in India

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peter, Raja [Department of Management and Enterprise Development, Massey University, Private Box 756, Wellington (New Zealand); Dickie, Laurence [Teaching and Learning, Research, CBS - International Programs, Curtin Business School, Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia (Australia); Peter, Vasanthi M. [Whitireia Polytechnic, Wellington (New Zealand)

2006-11-15

This paper examines the key determinants that foster the adoption of photovoltaic (PV) power supply systems. The authors provide empirical evidence which suggest that 'government initiatives' and institutional 'finance' are important influencers of the decision to adopt PV power supply systems in developing countries. In order to diffuse PV technology it is also necessary to provide decision-makers with opportunities for direct and vicarious experience of PV systems through 'demonstration sites'. These factors have been ignored in earlier models of the innovation-decision process formulated by Rogers and the new innovation-decision framework proposed by Kaplan. Governments need to play a leadership role, and this coupled with the availability of Finance and Demonstration Sites will result in an increased interest leading to the adoption of PV technology in India. This research has led to the identification of variables such as the government initiatives, demonstration sites and finance, which are critical to the adoption of PV systems in developing countries like India. The research provided empirical evidence that is currently lacking in the area of adoption of PV technology in developing countries. (author)

Identifying key factors for mobilising under-utilised low carbon land resources : A case study on Kalimantan

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goh, Chun Sheng; Junginger, Martin; Potter, Lesley; Faaij, André; Wicke, Birka

2018-01-01

Mobilising under-utilised low carbon (ULC) land for future agricultural expansion helps minimising further carbon stock loss. This study examined the regency cases in Kalimantan, a carbon loss hotspot, to understand the key factors for mobilising ULC land via narrative interviews with a range of

Are You Suggesting That's My Hand? The Relation Between Hypnotic Suggestibility and the Rubber Hand Illusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, E; Guilmette, D N; Longo, M R; Moore, J W; Oakley, D A; Halligan, P W; Mehta, M A; Deeley, Q

2015-01-01

Hypnotic suggestibility (HS) is the ability to respond automatically to suggestions and to experience alterations in perception and behavior. Hypnotically suggestible participants are also better able to focus and sustain their attention on an experimental stimulus. The present study explores the relation between HS and susceptibility to the rubber hand illusion (RHI). Based on previous research with visual illusions, it was predicted that higher HS would lead to a stronger RHI. Two behavioral output measures of the RHI, an implicit (proprioceptive drift) and an explicit (RHI questionnaire) measure, were correlated against HS scores. Hypnotic suggestibility correlated positively with the implicit RHI measure contributing to 30% of the variation. However, there was no relation between HS and the explicit RHI questionnaire measure, or with compliance control items. High hypnotic suggestibility may facilitate, via attentional mechanisms, the multisensory integration of visuoproprioceptive inputs that leads to greater perceptual mislocalization of a participant's hand. These results may provide insight into the multisensory brain mechanisms involved in our sense of embodiment.

HOW TO INCLUDE KEY COMPETENCES IN THE COURSE PLAN

OpenAIRE

Benito García Peinado

2009-01-01

In our school we have decided to develop the teaching approaches to key competences through an organizational model that could be called "the model of the educational basic training". When suggesting new planning, we think that we must offer some solutions which start from the classroom routines and help us to choose the best aspects of these methods to improve them.

A Review of RSA and Public-Key Cryptosystems | Rabah | Botswana ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... study and analyze the RSA cryptosystems – a public-key cryptographic algorithm - a system that uses two sets of keys; one for encryption and the other for decryption. Key Words: Public-key cryptography, DH, RSA, Internet Security and attacks, Digital Signature, Message digest, Authentication, Secure Socket Layer (SSL)

Nickel exposure from keys: alternatives for protection and prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamann, Dathan; Scheman, Andrew J; Jacob, Sharon E

2013-01-01

Keys are an important exposure source of metal allergens to consumers and confer a significant problem for nickel-allergic individuals because of repeated daily use. The aims of this study were to investigate the frequency of nickel and cobalt release in keys and to consider the effectiveness of coatings for preventing metallic allergen release from common metal allergen-releasing keys. Keys from a variety of common stores were nickel and cobalt spot tested. Nickel-releasing keys were coated with enamel sprays, subjected to a use test, and retested to assess for metal allergen release. Of 55 tested keys, 80% showed a strong positive result to the nickel spot test. None of the tested keys exhibited cobalt release. No keys initially released nickel after enamel coatings. Key coatings chipped at the portion inserted into a lock after 30 insertions, and keys were found to release nickel. The handle of the key was not found to release nickel after 60 insertions. Nickel release from keys is very common; nickel-allergic consumers should consider purchasing keys that do not release nickel (eg, brass, anodized). Enamel coating may be useful in protecting nickel-sensitive individuals from their keys but cannot consistently prevent nickel-release from portions used frequently.

Progress on the Studies of the Key Enzymes of Ginsenoside Biosynthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin-Ling Yang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available As the main bioactive constituents of Panax species, ginsenosides possess a wide range of notable medicinal effects such as anti-cancer, anti-oxidative, antiaging, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic and neuroprotective activities. However, the increasing medical demand for ginsenosides cannot be met due to the limited resource of Panax species and the low contents of ginsenosides. In recent years, biotechnological approaches have been utilized to increase the production of ginsenosides by regulating the key enzymes of ginsenoside biosynthesis, while synthetic biology strategies have been adopted to produce ginsenosides by introducing these genes into yeast. This review summarizes the latest research progress on cloning and functional characterization of key genes dedicated to the production of ginsenosides, which not only lays the foundation for their application in plant engineering, but also provides the building blocks for the production of ginsenosides by synthetic biology.

Three state quantum key distribution for small keys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batuwantudawe, J.; Boileau, J.-C.

2005-01-01

Full text: Quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols allow two parties, Alice and Bob, to establish secure keys. The most well-known protocol is BB84, using four distinct states. Recently, Phoenix et al. proposed a three state protocol. We explain the protocol and discuss its security proof. The three state protocol also has an interesting structure that allows for errors estimation from the inconclusive results (i.e.. where Alice and Bob choose different bases). This eliminates the need for sampling, potentially useful when qubits are limited. We discuss the effectiveness of this approach compared to BB84 for the case where a good error estimate is required. (author)

Model of key success factors for Business Intelligence implementation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Mesaros

2016-07-01

Full Text Available New progressive technologies recorded growth in every area. Information-communication technologies facilitate the exchange of information and it facilitates management of everyday activities in enterprises. Specific modules (such as Business Intelligence facilitate decision-making. Several studies have demonstrated the positive impact of Business Intelligence to decision-making. The first step is to put in place the enterprise. The implementation process is influenced by many factors. This article discusses the issue of key success factors affecting to successful implementation of Business Intelligence. The article describes the key success factors for successful implementation and use of Business Intelligence based on multiple studies. The main objective of this study is to verify the effects and dependence of selected factors and proposes a model of key success factors for successful implementation of Business Intelligence. Key success factors and the proposed model are studied in Slovak enterprises.

A Study on Group Key Agreement in Sensor Network Environments Using Two-Dimensional Arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Seung-Jae; Lee, Young-Gu; Lee, Kwang-Hyung; Kim, Tai-Hoon; Jun, Moon-Seog

2011-01-01

These days, with the emergence of the concept of ubiquitous computing, sensor networks that collect, analyze and process all the information through the sensors have become of huge interest. However, sensor network technology fundamentally has wireless communication infrastructure as its foundation and thus has security weakness and limitations such as low computing capacity, power supply limitations and price. In this paper, and considering the characteristics of the sensor network environment, we propose a group key agreement method using a keyset pre-distribution of two-dimension arrays that should minimize the exposure of key and personal information. The key collision problems are resolved by utilizing a polygonal shape’s center of gravity. The method shows that calculating a polygonal shape’s center of gravity only requires a very small amount of calculations from the users. The simple calculation not only increases the group key generation efficiency, but also enhances the sense of security by protecting information between nodes. PMID:22164072

A Study on Group Key Agreement in Sensor Network Environments Using Two-Dimensional Arrays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moon-Seog Jun

2011-08-01

Full Text Available These days, with the emergence of the concept of ubiquitous computing, sensor networks that collect, analyze and process all the information through the sensors have become of huge interest. However, sensor network technology fundamentally has wireless communication infrastructure as its foundation and thus has security weakness and limitations such as low computing capacity, power supply limitations and price. In this paper, and considering the characteristics of the sensor network environment, we propose a group key agreement method using a keyset pre-distribution of two-dimension arrays that should minimize the exposure of key and personal information. The key collision problems are resolved by utilizing a polygonal shape’s center of gravity. The method shows that calculating a polygonal shape’s center of gravity only requires a very small amount of calculations from the users. The simple calculation not only increases the group key generation efficiency, but also enhances the sense of security by protecting information between nodes.

Small Private Key PKS on an Embedded Microprocessor

OpenAIRE

Seo, Hwajeong; Kim, Jihyun; Choi, Jongseok; Park, Taehwan; Liu, Zhe; Kim, Howon

2014-01-01

Multivariate quadratic (MQ) cryptography requires the use of long public and private keys to ensure a sufficient security level, but this is not favorable to embedded systems, which have limited system resources. Recently, various approaches to MQ cryptography using reduced public keys have been studied. As a result of this, at CHES2011 (Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems, 2011), a small public key MQ scheme, was proposed, and its feasible implementation on an embedded microprocessor...

KEY CONCEPTS OF AGROECOLOGY SCIENCE. A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis Fernando Gómez-Echeverri

2016-08-01

Full Text Available A systematic review was conducted with the objective of determining the key concepts that are currently used in theoretical work in agroecology. They were obtained from titles and keywords of theoretical articles and books that included the term agroecology in the title. Fifteen terms with occurrences higher than three were obtained. They show that agroecology revolves around the concept of integral sustainability, and that there is agreement on neither its object of study nor goal. As a result, most key concepts concern the object of study or the goal of agroecology. Other key concepts are food sovereignty, agriculture, ecofeminism, climate change, family farming, and social movements.

Soil fauna: key to new carbon models

Science.gov (United States)

Filser, Juliane; Faber, Jack H.; Tiunov, Alexei V.; Brussaard, Lijbert; Frouz, Jan; De Deyn, Gerlinde; Uvarov, Alexei V.; Berg, Matty P.; Lavelle, Patrick; Loreau, Michel; Wall, Diana H.; Querner, Pascal; Eijsackers, Herman; José Jiménez, Juan

2016-11-01

Soil organic matter (SOM) is key to maintaining soil fertility, mitigating climate change, combatting land degradation, and conserving above- and below-ground biodiversity and associated soil processes and ecosystem services. In order to derive management options for maintaining these essential services provided by soils, policy makers depend on robust, predictive models identifying key drivers of SOM dynamics. Existing SOM models and suggested guidelines for future SOM modelling are defined mostly in terms of plant residue quality and input and microbial decomposition, overlooking the significant regulation provided by soil fauna. The fauna controls almost any aspect of organic matter turnover, foremost by regulating the activity and functional composition of soil microorganisms and their physical-chemical connectivity with soil organic matter. We demonstrate a very strong impact of soil animals on carbon turnover, increasing or decreasing it by several dozen percent, sometimes even turning C sinks into C sources or vice versa. This is demonstrated not only for earthworms and other larger invertebrates but also for smaller fauna such as Collembola. We suggest that inclusion of soil animal activities (plant residue consumption and bioturbation altering the formation, depth, hydraulic properties and physical heterogeneity of soils) can fundamentally affect the predictive outcome of SOM models. Understanding direct and indirect impacts of soil fauna on nutrient availability, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions and plant growth is key to the understanding of SOM dynamics in the context of global carbon cycling models. We argue that explicit consideration of soil fauna is essential to make realistic modelling predictions on SOM dynamics and to detect expected non-linear responses of SOM dynamics to global change. We present a decision framework, to be further developed through the activities of KEYSOM, a European COST Action, for when mechanistic SOM models

Quantum key distribution with finite resources: Secret key rates via Renyi entropies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abruzzo, Silvestre; Kampermann, Hermann; Mertz, Markus; Bruss, Dagmar [Institute for Theoretical Physics III, Heinrich-Heine-universitaet Duesseldorf, D-40225 Duesseldorf (Germany)

2011-09-15

A realistic quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol necessarily deals with finite resources, such as the number of signals exchanged by the two parties. We derive a bound on the secret key rate which is expressed as an optimization problem over Renyi entropies. Under the assumption of collective attacks by an eavesdropper, a computable estimate of our bound for the six-state protocol is provided. This bound leads to improved key rates in comparison to previous results.

Quantum key distribution with finite resources: Secret key rates via Renyi entropies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abruzzo, Silvestre; Kampermann, Hermann; Mertz, Markus; Bruss, Dagmar

2011-01-01

A realistic quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol necessarily deals with finite resources, such as the number of signals exchanged by the two parties. We derive a bound on the secret key rate which is expressed as an optimization problem over Renyi entropies. Under the assumption of collective attacks by an eavesdropper, a computable estimate of our bound for the six-state protocol is provided. This bound leads to improved key rates in comparison to previous results.

Competitiveness of nuclear energy - Key findings from an OECD study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertel, Evelyne

2006-01-01

Economic competitiveness always has been a cornerstone in decision making for electricity generation options but the liberalization of energy markets has enhanced its importance. For private investors in de-regulated markets the economic attractiveness of a project is often 'the' driving factor. For plant owners and operators reducing costs is a key objective. The relative competitiveness of nuclear energy as compared with alternatives has been investigated in a recent OECD study which noted some evolution in the ranking of different options as compared with results published seven years ago. In particular the volatility of fossil fuel prices, notably natural gas for electricity generation, along with technical progress enhancing the reliability and availability factor of nuclear power plants have had a significant influence on comparative economic performance of base-load options. Furthermore, as governments implement progressively policies to address global climate change threat, the moves to internalize the costs of carbon emissions is increasing the competitiveness of low-carbon options such as renewable energy sources and nuclear power versus coal and to a lesser extent gas. (authors)

HOW TO INCLUDE KEY COMPETENCES IN THE COURSE PLAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benito García Peinado

2009-04-01

Full Text Available In our school we have decided to develop the teaching approaches to key competences through an organizational model that could be called "the model of the educational basic training". When suggesting new planning, we think that we must offer some solutions which start from the classroom routines and help us to choose the best aspects of these methods to improve them.

Key figures for the regional- and distribution grid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vikingstad, S.

1996-02-01

In Norway, improving the efficiency of the hydroelectric grid operation is a stated goal of the Energy Act. Several studies have identified potential profits of such improvement. This publication focuses on costs and improvement potentials. Publication of key figures may stimulate grid owners, boards and administrations to improve the operating efficiency of their grids. The publication shows key figures for the regional- and distribution grid and is based on accounting data for 1994. The key figures are divided into: (1) Cost structure: The key figures express the relative contributions of each cost component to the total income of the grid, (2) Costs and physical quantities: The key figures show the cost of delivering the transport services, (3) Physical quantities: The key figures describe the working conditions of the energy utility. It appears that the cost structure of the sector varies considerably. The same is true of the cost related to the delivery of grid services. 30 figs., 6 tabs

Quantum dense key distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Degiovanni, I.P.; Ruo Berchera, I.; Castelletto, S.; Rastello, M.L.; Bovino, F.A.; Colla, A.M.; Castagnoli, G.

2004-01-01

This paper proposes a protocol for quantum dense key distribution. This protocol embeds the benefits of a quantum dense coding and a quantum key distribution and is able to generate shared secret keys four times more efficiently than the Bennet-Brassard 1984 protocol. We hereinafter prove the security of this scheme against individual eavesdropping attacks, and we present preliminary experimental results, showing its feasibility

Instructional Suggestions Supporting Science Learning in Digital Environments Based on a Review of Eye-Tracking Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Fang-Ying; Tsai, Meng-Jung; Chiou, Guo-Li; Lee, Silvia Wen-Yu; Chang, Cheng-Chieh; Chen, Li-Ling

2018-01-01

The main purpose of this study was to provide instructional suggestions for supporting science learning in digital environments based on a review of eye tracking studies in e-learning related areas. Thirty-three eye-tracking studies from 2005 to 2014 were selected from the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) database for review. Through a…

A fast and versatile quantum key distribution system with hardware key distillation and wavelength multiplexing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walenta, N; Gisin, N; Guinnard, O; Houlmann, R; Korzh, B; Lim, C W; Lunghi, T; Portmann, C; Thew, R T; Burg, A; Constantin, J; Caselunghe, D; Kulesza, N; Legré, M; Monat, L; Soucarros, M; Trinkler, P; Junod, P; Trolliet, G; Vannel, F

2014-01-01

We present a compactly integrated, 625 MHz clocked coherent one-way quantum key distribution system which continuously distributes secret keys over an optical fibre link. To support high secret key rates, we implemented a fast hardware key distillation engine which allows for key distillation rates up to 4 Mbps in real time. The system employs wavelength multiplexing in order to run over only a single optical fibre. Using fast gated InGaAs single photon detectors, we reliably distribute secret keys with a rate above 21 kbps over 25 km of optical fibre. We optimized the system considering a security analysis that respects finite-key-size effects, authentication costs and system errors for a security parameter of ε QKD  = 4 × 10 −9 . (paper)

Suicidality and interrogative suggestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Pritchard-Boone, Lea; Range, Lillian M

2005-01-01

All people are subject to memory suggestibility, but suicidal individuals may be especially so. The link between suicidality and suggestibility is unclear given mixed findings and methodological weaknesses of past research. To test the link between suicidality and interrogative suggestibility, 149 undergraduates answered questions about suicidal thoughts and reasons for living, and participated in a direct suggestibility procedure. As expected, suggestibility correlated with suicidality but accounted for little overall variance (4%). Mental health professionals might be able to take advantage of client suggestibility by directly telling suicidal persons to refrain from suicidal thoughts or actions.

Measuring Children's Suggestibility in Forensic Interviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Volpini, Laura; Melis, Manuela; Petralia, Stefania; Rosenberg, Melina D

2016-01-01

According to the scientific literature, childrens' cognitive development is not complete until adolescence. Therefore, the problems inherent in children serving as witnesses are crucial. In preschool-aged children, false memories may be identified because of misinformation and insight bias. Additionally, they are susceptible of suggestions. The aim of this study was to verify the levels of suggestibility in children between three and 5 years of age. Ninety-two children were examined (44 male, 48 female; M = 4.5 years, SD = 9.62). We used the correlation coefficient (Pearson's r) and the averages variance by SPSS statistical program. The results concluded that: younger children are almost always more susceptible to suggestibility. The dimension of immediate recall was negatively correlates with that of total suggestibility (r = -0.357 p suggestibility, because older children shift their answers more often (r = 0.394 p < 0.001). Younger children change their answers more times (r = -0.395 p < 0.001). © 2016 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Disorganized Cortical Patches Suggest Prenatal Origin of Autism

Science.gov (United States)

... 2014 Disorganized cortical patches suggest prenatal origin of autism NIH-funded study shows disrupted cell layering process ... study suggests that brain irregularities in children with autism can be traced back to prenatal development. “While ...

A parallel form of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Gudjonsson, G H

1987-09-01

The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to present a parallel form of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS, Form 1); (2) to study test-retest reliabilities of interrogative suggestibility. Three groups of subjects were administered the two suggestibility scales in a counterbalanced order. Group 1 (28 normal subjects) and Group 2 (32 'forensic' patients) completed both scales within the same testing session, whereas Group 3 (30 'forensic' patients) completed the two scales between one week and eight months apart. All the correlations were highly significant, giving support for high 'temporal consistency' of interrogative suggestibility.

Quantum hacking on quantum key distribution using homodyne detection

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jing-Zheng; Kunz-Jacques, Sébastien; Jouguet, Paul; Weedbrook, Christian; Yin, Zhen-Qiang; Wang, Shuang; Chen, Wei; Guo, Guang-Can; Han, Zheng-Fu

2014-03-01

Imperfect devices in commercial quantum key distribution systems open security loopholes that an eavesdropper may exploit. An example of one such imperfection is the wavelength-dependent coupling ratio of the fiber beam splitter. Utilizing this loophole, the eavesdropper can vary the transmittances of the fiber beam splitter at the receiver's side by inserting lights with wavelengths different from what is normally used. Here, we propose a wavelength attack on a practical continuous-variable quantum key distribution system using homodyne detection. By inserting light pulses at different wavelengths, this attack allows the eavesdropper to bias the shot-noise estimation even if it is done in real time. Based on experimental data, we discuss the feasibility of this attack and suggest a prevention scheme by improving the previously proposed countermeasures.

Image encryption using fingerprint as key based on phase retrieval algorithm and public key cryptography

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Tieyu; Ran, Qiwen; Yuan, Lin; Chi, Yingying; Ma, Jing

2015-09-01

In this paper, a novel image encryption system with fingerprint used as a secret key is proposed based on the phase retrieval algorithm and RSA public key algorithm. In the system, the encryption keys include the fingerprint and the public key of RSA algorithm, while the decryption keys are the fingerprint and the private key of RSA algorithm. If the users share the fingerprint, then the system will meet the basic agreement of asymmetric cryptography. The system is also applicable for the information authentication. The fingerprint as secret key is used in both the encryption and decryption processes so that the receiver can identify the authenticity of the ciphertext by using the fingerprint in decryption process. Finally, the simulation results show the validity of the encryption scheme and the high robustness against attacks based on the phase retrieval technique.

Key to Language Learning Success

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oktavian Mantiri

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper looks at the important elements of language learning and teaching i.e. the role of teachers as well as the attitude and motivation of learners. Teachers undoubtedly play crucial roles in students’ language learning outcome which could ignite or diminish students’ motivation. Positive attitudes and motivation – instrumental or integrative and intrinsic or extrinsic – are key to successful learning. Therefore it is paramount for language teachers as well as learners to know these roles and nurture the best possible ways where language teaching and learning will thrive. This paper also suggested that both stake-holders should be open to holistic approach of language learning and that other factors such as the environment could play an important part in language teaching and learning success.

Enhanced Key Management Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baojiang Cui

2015-01-01

Full Text Available With rapid development and extensive use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs, it is urgent to enhance the security for WSNs, in which key management is an effective way to protect WSNs from various attacks. However, different types of messages exchanged in WSNs typically have different security requirements which cannot be satisfied by a single keying mechanism. In this study, a basic key management protocol is described for WSNs based on four kinds of keys, which can be derived from an initial master key, and an enhanced protocol is proposed based on Diffie-Hellman algorithm. The proposed scheme restricts the adverse security impact of a captured node to the rest of WSNs and meets the requirement of energy efficiency by supporting in-network processing. The master key protection, key revocation mechanism, and the authentication mechanism based on one-way hash function are, respectively, discussed. Finally, the performance of the proposed scheme is analyzed from the aspects of computational efficiency, storage requirement and communication cost, and its antiattack capability in protecting WSNs is discussed under various attack models. In this paper, promising research directions are also discussed.

Key parameters controlling radiology departments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Busch, Hans-Peter

2011-01-01

For radiology departments and outstanding practises control and optimization of processes demand an efficient management based on key data. Systems of key data deliver indicators for control of medical quality, service quality and economics. For practices effectiveness (productivity), for hospitals effectiveness and efficiency are in the focus of economical optimization strategies. Task of daily key data is continuous monitoring of activities and workflow, task of weekly/monthly key data is control of data quality, process quality and achievement of objectives, task of yearly key data is determination of long term strategies (marketing) and comparison with competitors (benchmarking). Key parameters have to be defined clearly and have to be available directly. For generation, evaluation and control of key parameters suitable forms of organization and processes are necessary. Strategies for the future will be directed more to the total processes of treatment. To think in total processes and to steer and optimize with suitable parameters is the challenge for participants in the healthcare market of the future. (orig.)

Academic Primer Series: Key Papers About Competency-Based Medical Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Cooney

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Competency-based medical education (CBME presents a paradigm shift in medical training. This outcome-based education movement has triggered substantive changes across the globe. Since this transition is only beginning, many faculty members may not have experience with CBME nor a solid foundation in the grounding literature. We identify and summarize key papers to help faculty members learn more about CBME. Methods: Based on the online discussions of the 2016–2017 ALiEM Faculty Incubator program, a series of papers on the topic of CBME was developed. Augmenting this list with suggestions by a guest expert and by an open call on Twitter for other important papers, we were able to generate a list of 21 papers in total. Subsequently, we used a modified Delphi study methodology to narrow the list to key papers that describe the importance and significance for educators interested in learning about CBME. To determine the most impactful papers, the mixed junior and senior faculty authorship group used three-round voting methodology based upon the Delphi method. Results: Summaries of the five most highly rated papers on the topic of CBME, as determined by this modified Delphi approach, are presented in this paper. Major themes include a definition of core CBME themes, CBME principles to consider in the design of curricula, a history of the development of the CBME movement, and a rationale for changes to accreditation with CBME. The application of the study findings to junior faculty and faculty developers is discussed. Conclusion: We present five key papers on CBME that junior faculty members and faculty experts identified as essential to faculty development. These papers are a mix of foundational and explanatory papers that may provide a basis from which junior faculty members may build upon as they help to implement CBME programs.

Academic Primer Series: Key Papers About Competency-Based Medical Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooney, Robert; Chan, Teresa M; Gottlieb, Michael; Abraham, Michael; Alden, Sylvia; Mongelluzzo, Jillian; Pasirstein, Michael; Sherbino, Jonathan

2017-06-01

Competency-based medical education (CBME) presents a paradigm shift in medical training. This outcome-based education movement has triggered substantive changes across the globe. Since this transition is only beginning, many faculty members may not have experience with CBME nor a solid foundation in the grounding literature. We identify and summarize key papers to help faculty members learn more about CBME. Based on the online discussions of the 2016-2017 ALiEM Faculty Incubator program, a series of papers on the topic of CBME was developed. Augmenting this list with suggestions by a guest expert and by an open call on Twitter for other important papers, we were able to generate a list of 21 papers in total. Subsequently, we used a modified Delphi study methodology to narrow the list to key papers that describe the importance and significance for educators interested in learning about CBME. To determine the most impactful papers, the mixed junior and senior faculty authorship group used three-round voting methodology based upon the Delphi method. Summaries of the five most highly rated papers on the topic of CBME, as determined by this modified Delphi approach, are presented in this paper. Major themes include a definition of core CBME themes, CBME principles to consider in the design of curricula, a history of the development of the CBME movement, and a rationale for changes to accreditation with CBME. The application of the study findings to junior faculty and faculty developers is discussed. We present five key papers on CBME that junior faculty members and faculty experts identified as essential to faculty development. These papers are a mix of foundational and explanatory papers that may provide a basis from which junior faculty members may build upon as they help to implement CBME programs.

Primate study suggests pentobarbital may help protect the brain during radiation therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skolnick, A.

1990-01-01

Radiation therapy, an often indispensable treatment for a wide range of brain tumors, is a double-edged sword, especially when used to treat children. Research reported at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society, in Atlanta, Ga., now suggests that pentobarbital and perhaps other barbiturates may help protect the brain from radiation-induced damage, especially to the pituitary and hypothalmus, where such damage can lead to serious, life-long problems for children. Jeffrey J. Olson, MD, now assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, reported the results of a study of the radioprotective effects of pentobarbital on the brain of a primate, which he and colleagues at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke recently completed

Water dynamics clue to key residues in protein folding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao, Meng; Zhu, Huaiqiu; Yao, Xin-Qiu; She, Zhen-Su

2010-01-01

A computational method independent of experimental protein structure information is proposed to recognize key residues in protein folding, from the study of hydration water dynamics. Based on all-atom molecular dynamics simulation, two key residues are recognized with distinct water dynamical behavior in a folding process of the Trp-cage protein. The identified key residues are shown to play an essential role in both 3D structure and hydrophobic-induced collapse. With observations on hydration water dynamics around key residues, a dynamical pathway of folding can be interpreted.

Key drivers of airline loyalty.

Science.gov (United States)

Dolnicar, Sara; Grabler, Klaus; Grün, Bettina; Kulnig, Anna

2011-10-01

This study investigates drivers of airline loyalty. It contributes to the body of knowledge in the area by investigating loyalty for a number of a priori market segments identified by airline management and by using a method which accounts for the multi-step nature of the airline choice process. The study is based on responses from 687 passengers. Results indicate that, at aggregate level, frequent flyer membership, price, the status of being a national carrier and the reputation of the airline as perceived by friends are the variables which best discriminate between travellers loyal to the airline and those who are not. Differences in drivers of airline loyalty for a number of segments were identified. For example, loyalty programs play a key role for business travellers whereas airline loyalty of leisure travellers is difficult to trace back to single factors. For none of the calculated models satisfaction emerged as a key driver of airline loyalty.

Are Dysphoric Individuals More Suggestible or Less Suggestible Than Nondysphoric Individuals?

Science.gov (United States)

MacFarland, Wendy L.; Morris, Steven J.

1998-01-01

Dysphoric individuals are shown to be susceptible to interrogative suggestion, whether in the form of leading questions or interrogative pressure. The association of a clinically relevant condition of dysphoria (depression) with relatively high levels of suggestibility was investigated in a college student population (N=139). Applicability to…

Genome-wide association studies of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis suggest candidate susceptibility genes

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Swarkar; Gao, Xiaochong; Londono, Douglas; Devroy, Shonn E.; Mauldin, Kristen N.; Frankel, Jessica T.; Brandon, January M.; Zhang, Dongping; Li, Quan-Zhen; Dobbs, Matthew B.; Gurnett, Christina A.; Grant, Struan F.A.; Hakonarson, Hakon; Dormans, John P.; Herring, John A.; Gordon, Derek; Wise, Carol A.

2011-01-01

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is an unexplained and common spinal deformity seen in otherwise healthy children. Its pathophysiology is poorly understood despite intensive investigation. Although genetic underpinnings are clear, replicated susceptibility loci that could provide insight into etiology have not been forthcoming. To address these issues, we performed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of ∼327 000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 419 AIS families. We found strongest evidence of association with chromosome 3p26.3 SNPs in the proximity of the CHL1 gene (P protein related to Robo3. Mutations in the Robo3 protein cause horizontal gaze palsy with progressive scoliosis (HGPPS), a rare disease marked by severe scoliosis. Other top associations in our GWAS were with SNPs in the DSCAM gene encoding an axon guidance protein in the same structural class with Chl1 and Robo3. We additionally found AIS associations with loci in CNTNAP2, supporting a previous study linking this gene with AIS. Cntnap2 is also of functional interest, as it interacts directly with L1 and Robo class proteins and participates in axon pathfinding. Our results suggest the relevance of axon guidance pathways in AIS susceptibility, although these findings require further study, particularly given the apparent genetic heterogeneity in this disease. PMID:21216876

Synchronization in Quantum Key Distribution Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anton Pljonkin

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In the description of quantum key distribution systems, much attention is paid to the operation of quantum cryptography protocols. The main problem is the insufficient study of the synchronization process of quantum key distribution systems. This paper contains a general description of quantum cryptography principles. A two-line fiber-optic quantum key distribution system with phase coding of photon states in transceiver and coding station synchronization mode was examined. A quantum key distribution system was built on the basis of the scheme with automatic compensation of polarization mode distortions. Single-photon avalanche diodes were used as optical radiation detecting devices. It was estimated how the parameters used in quantum key distribution systems of optical detectors affect the detection of the time frame with attenuated optical pulse in synchronization mode with respect to its probabilistic and time-domain characteristics. A design method was given for the process that detects the time frame that includes an optical pulse during synchronization. This paper describes the main quantum communication channel attack methods by removing a portion of optical emission. This paper describes the developed synchronization algorithm that takes into account the time required to restore the photodetector’s operation state after the photon has been registered during synchronization. The computer simulation results of the developed synchronization algorithm were analyzed. The efficiency of the developed algorithm with respect to synchronization process protection from unauthorized gathering of optical emission is demonstrated herein.

Revisiting Employee Assistance Programs and Substance Use Problems in the Workplace: Key Issues and a Research Agenda

OpenAIRE

Levy Merrick, Elizabeth S.; Volpe-Vartanian, Joanna; Horgan, Constance M.; McCann, Bernard

2007-01-01

This column describes employee assistance program (EAPs) and identifies key issues for contemporary EAPs. These programs began as occupational alcohol programs and have evolved into more comprehensive resources. To better understand contemporary EAPs, the authors suggest a research agenda at includes descriptive studies to provide an up-to-date picture of services; investigations of how contemporary EAPs address substance use problems, including management consultation for early identificatio...

EDITORIAL: 'Key issues' articles in Reports on Progress in Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, Laura H.

2007-03-01

The Editorial Board of Reports on Progress in Physics has commissioned a series of short articles from world leaders on key physics issues in their field. These essays may raise the key issues, or ask open questions or may even suggest wild ideas. Basically, they give world leading physicists the opportunity to write what they think about the key issues in their field, free from the usual requirement to provide the fair and balanced presentations of the subject normally found in articles in Reports on Progress in Physics. We believe that the readers of the journal will be interested to learn about these exciting ideas. Just as Hilbert's famous paper of 1900 set the agenda for the next century or more in mathematics, so we hope that this series of papers will define the key issues and open questions in physics for the 21st Century and that the articles will be widely cited and downloaded. The first of these articles—'Insights from simulations of star formation' by Richard B Larson (Yale University, USA)—is published in the current issue. We trust that readers will find this article and its successors in the series to appear through 2007 and beyond entertaining and stimulating.

EG-VEGF: a key endocrine factor in placental development.

Science.gov (United States)

Brouillet, Sophie; Hoffmann, Pascale; Feige, Jean-Jacques; Alfaidy, Nadia

2012-10-01

Endocrine gland-derived vascular endothelial growth factor (EG-VEGF), also named prokineticin 1, is the canonical member of the prokineticin family. Numerous reports suggest a direct involvement of this peptide in normal and pathological reproductive processes. Recent advances propose EG-VEGF as a key endocrine factor that controls many aspects of placental development and suggest its involvement in the development of preeclampsia (PE), the most threatening pathology of human pregnancy. This review describes the finely tuned action and regulation of EG-VEGF throughout human pregnancy, argues for its clinical relevance as a potential diagnostic marker of the onset of PE, and discusses future research directions for therapeutic targeting of EG-VEGF. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Device calibration impacts security of quantum key distribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, Nitin; Wittmann, Christoffer; Lydersen, Lars; Wiechers, Carlos; Elser, Dominique; Marquardt, Christoph; Makarov, Vadim; Leuchs, Gerd

2011-09-09

Characterizing the physical channel and calibrating the cryptosystem hardware are prerequisites for establishing a quantum channel for quantum key distribution (QKD). Moreover, an inappropriately implemented calibration routine can open a fatal security loophole. We propose and experimentally demonstrate a method to induce a large temporal detector efficiency mismatch in a commercial QKD system by deceiving a channel length calibration routine. We then devise an optimal and realistic strategy using faked states to break the security of the cryptosystem. A fix for this loophole is also suggested.

Determining barriers to creating an enabling environment in Cambodia: results from a baseline study with key populations and police.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneiders, Mira L; Weissman, Amy

2016-01-01

Cambodian law enforcement's limited acceptance of harm reduction has hindered HIV program effectiveness. With funding from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, FHI 360 supported the Ministry of Interior to implement the Police Community Partnership Initiative (PCPI) in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh. To guide this, FHI 360 conducted a baseline study examining police and key populations' attitudes and practices towards one another, including fear and occurrence of arrest. Between December 2012 and January 2013, a cross-sectional survey of 199 police post officers, 199 people who use drugs (PWUD) including people who inject drugs (PWID), 199 men who have sex with men (MSM), 200 transgender women (TGW) and 200 female entertainment workers (FEW) was conducted in five Phnom Penh districts. Eligible participants were ≥18 years, members of a key population from selected hotspots or police officers, deputy chiefs or chiefs. Key populations' median age was 25 years (IQR: 22-30); 40% had completed only primary school. Police were male (99.5%), with median age 43 years (IQR: 30 to 47), and 45 and 25% high school and university completion rates, respectively. Key populations feared arrest for carrying needles and syringes (67%), condoms (23%) and 19% felt afraid to access health services. Close to 75% of police reported body searching and 58% arresting key populations in the past six months for using drugs (64%), selling or distributing drugs (36%) or being violent (13%). Self-reported arrests (23% PWUD, 6% MSM, 6% TGW, 12% FEW; ppolice believed arrest was an appropriate solution to reduce HIV and drug use and reported selling sex (88%) and carrying needles and syringes (55%) as valid reasons for arrest. Key populations' fear of accessing harm reduction and health services and police's negative attitudes and practices towards key populations present major barriers to HIV prevention efforts in Cambodia. To create an enabling environment and ensure police are

Biometry, the safe key

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Fraile-Hurtado

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Biometry is the next step in authentication, why do not we take this stepforward in our communication security systems? Keys are the main disadvantage in the cryptography, what if we were our own key?

Low carbon development. Key issues

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Urban, Frauke; Nordensvaard, Johan (eds.)

2013-03-07

This comprehensive textbook addresses the interface between international development and climate change in a carbon constrained world. It discusses the key conceptual, empirical and policy-related issues of low carbon development and takes an international and interdisciplinary approach to the subject by drawing on insights from across the natural sciences and social sciences whilst embedding the discussion in a global context. The first part explores the concept of low carbon development and explains the need for low carbon development in a carbon constrained world. The book then discusses the key issues of socio-economic, political and technological nature for low carbon development, exploring topics such as the political economy, social justice, financing and carbon markets, and technologies and innovation for low carbon development. This is followed by key issues for low carbon development in policy and practice, which is presented based on cross-cutting issues such as low carbon energy, forestry, agriculture and transportation. Afterwards, practical case studies are discussed from low carbon development in low income countries in Africa, middle income countries in Asia and Latin America and high income countries in Europe and North America.

Secret key rates in quantum key distribution using Renyi entropies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abruzzo, Silvestre; Kampermann, Hermann; Mertz, Markus; Bratzik, Sylvia; Bruss, Dagmar [Institut fuer Theoretische Physik III, Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet Duesseldorf (Germany)

2010-07-01

The secret key rate r of a quantum key distribution protocol depends on the involved number of signals and the accepted ''failure probability''. We reconsider a method to calculate r focusing on the analysis of the privacy amplification given by R. Renner and R. Koenig (2005). This approach involves an optimization problem with an objective function depending on the Renyi entropy of the density operator describing the classical outcomes and the eavesdropper system. This problem is analyzed for a generic class of QKD protocols and the current research status is presented.

Key tasks in healthcare marketing: assessing importance and current level of knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Kennett, Pamela A; Henson, Steve W; Crow, Stephen M; Hartman, Sandra J

2005-01-01

When examining the healthcare industry, the need for continuing education in internal functions (i.e., HR management) has been documented. However, equally important to success in the healthcare industry are external functions such as marketing. In an expansion of research on internally focused functions, we report findings from an exploratory study designed to examine the perceptions of executives about managerial skill needs in the externally focused area of marketing. Specifically, we examine eight key tasks in marketing and ask executives to rate the level of knowledge required for each and then to assess current, or actual, levels of knowledge in the field. Findings suggest that pricing strategy, product strategy, and segmentation and targeting were the tasks that require the most knowledge for healthcare marketers, and that they do, in fact, perceive various gaps in all of the areas examined. Implications and suggestions for future research are provided.

Child witnesses: a study of memory and suggestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Grattagliano, I; Berlingerio, I; Lisi, A; Carabellese, F; Catanesi, R

2013-01-01

To investigate the influence of various factors on the ability of primary school children (aged 6-9 years) to refer an event that occurred during their life. The factors analyzed were: the time since the event occurred; the role the child had in the event; the type of questions asked to elicit the account. The results of this research indicate that 52.4% of 6-year old children are able to describe the main elements of the event if they are allowed to give a free account. Asking direct questions does not improve the quality of the narrative. By contrast, in 9-year-old children the quantity of data collected is improved if direct questions are asked. A role as a participant in the event improves the quality of the child's evidence but only in the group of children aged 9, whereas in younger children the difference is not significant. At the age of 9, the child's resistance to leading questions is already quite good (40.7%), whereas children of 6 are much more suggestible. The Authors conclude this work by making some reflections on the possible use of these findings in Law Courts, and on the need for a highly specific training of experts involved in the task of collecting evidence from young children.

Meta-analysis of breast cancer microarray studies in conjunction with conserved cis-elements suggest patterns for coordinate regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lundberg Cathryn

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Gene expression measurements from breast cancer (BrCa tumors are established clinical predictive tools to identify tumor subtypes, identify patients showing poor/good prognosis, and identify patients likely to have disease recurrence. However, diverse breast cancer datasets in conjunction with diagnostic clinical arrays show little overlap in the sets of genes identified. One approach to identify a set of consistently dysregulated candidate genes in these tumors is to employ meta-analysis of multiple independent microarray datasets. This allows one to compare expression data from a diverse collection of breast tumor array datasets generated on either cDNA or oligonucleotide arrays. Results We gathered expression data from 9 published microarray studies examining estrogen receptor positive (ER+ and estrogen receptor negative (ER- BrCa tumor cases from the Oncomine database. We performed a meta-analysis and identified genes that were universally up or down regulated with respect to ER+ versus ER- tumor status. We surveyed both the proximal promoter and 3' untranslated regions (3'UTR of our top-ranking genes in each expression group to test whether common sequence elements may contribute to the observed expression patterns. Utilizing a combination of known transcription factor binding sites (TFBS, evolutionarily conserved mammalian promoter and 3'UTR motifs, and microRNA (miRNA seed sequences, we identified numerous motifs that were disproportionately represented between the two gene classes suggesting a common regulatory network for the observed gene expression patterns. Conclusion Some of the genes we identified distinguish key transcripts previously seen in array studies, while others are newly defined. Many of the genes identified as overexpressed in ER- tumors were previously identified as expression markers for neoplastic transformation in multiple human cancers. Moreover, our motif analysis identified a collection of

Improved Anonymity for Key-trees

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veugen, P.J.M.; Beye, M.

2013-01-01

Randomized hash-lock protocols for Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tags offer forward untraceability, but incur heavy search on the server. Key trees have been proposed as a way to reduce search times, but because partial keys in such trees are shared, key compromise affects several tags.

A Consumer-Driven Approach To Increase Suggestive Selling.

Science.gov (United States)

Rohn, Don; Austin, John; Sanford, Alison

2003-01-01

Discussion of the effectiveness of behavioral interventions in improving suggestive selling behavior of sales staff focuses on a study that examined the efficacy of a consumer-driven approach to improve suggestive selling behavior of three employees of a fast food franchise. Reports that consumer-driven intervention increased suggestive selling…

Key Exchange Trust Evaluation in Peer-to-Peer Sensor Networks With Unconditionally Secure Key Exchange

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez, Elias; Kish, Laszlo B.

2016-03-01

As the utilization of sensor networks continue to increase, the importance of security becomes more profound. Many industries depend on sensor networks for critical tasks, and a malicious entity can potentially cause catastrophic damage. We propose a new key exchange trust evaluation for peer-to-peer sensor networks, where part of the network has unconditionally secure key exchange. For a given sensor, the higher the portion of channels with unconditionally secure key exchange the higher the trust value. We give a brief introduction to unconditionally secured key exchange concepts and mention current trust measures in sensor networks. We demonstrate the new key exchange trust measure on a hypothetical sensor network using both wired and wireless communication channels.

Curated Collections for Educators: Five Key Papers about Program Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Thoma, Brent; Gottlieb, Michael; Boysen-Osborn, Megan; King, Andrew; Quinn, Antonia; Krzyzaniak, Sara; Pineda, Nicolas; Yarris, Lalena M; Chan, Teresa

2017-05-04

The evaluation of educational programs has become an expected part of medical education. At some point, all medical educators will need to critically evaluate the programs that they deliver. However, the evaluation of educational programs requires a very different skillset than teaching. In this article, we aim to identify and summarize key papers that would be helpful for faculty members interested in exploring program evaluation. In November of 2016, the 2015-2016 Academic life in emergency medicine (ALiEM) Faculty Incubator program highlighted key papers in a discussion of program evaluation. This list of papers was augmented with suggestions by guest experts and by an open call on Twitter. This resulted in a list of 30 papers on program evaluation. Our authorship group then engaged in a process akin to a Delphi study to build consensus on the most important papers about program evaluation for medical education faculty. We present our group's top five most highly rated papers on program evaluation. We also summarize these papers with respect to their relevance to junior medical education faculty members and faculty developers. Program evaluation is challenging. The described papers will be informative for junior faculty members as they aim to design literature-informed evaluations for their educational programs.

Classification of hadith into positive suggestion, negative suggestion, and information

Science.gov (United States)

Faraby, Said Al; Riviera Rachmawati Jasin, Eliza; Kusumaningrum, Andina; Adiwijaya

2018-03-01

As one of the Muslim life guidelines, based on the meaning of its sentence(s), a hadith can be viewed as a suggestion for doing something, or a suggestion for not doing something, or just information without any suggestion. In this paper, we tried to classify the Bahasa translation of hadith into the three categories using machine learning approach. We tried stemming and stopword removal in preprocessing, and TF-IDF of unigram, bigram, and trigram as the extracted features. As the classifier, we compared between SVM and Neural Network. Since the categories are new, so in order to compare the results of the previous pipelines, we created a baseline classifier using simple rule-based string matching technique. The rule-based algorithm conditions on the occurrence of words such as “janganlah, sholatlah, and so on” to determine the category. The baseline method achieved F1-Score of 0.69, while the best F1-Score from the machine learning approach was 0.88, and it was produced by SVM model with the linear kernel.

The emotional importance of key: do Beatles songs written in different keys convey different emotional tones?

Science.gov (United States)

Whissel, R; Whissel, C

2000-12-01

Lyrics from 155 songs written by the Lennon-McCartney team were scored using the Dictionary of Affect in Language. Resultant scores (pleasantness, activation, and imagery of words) were compared across key signatures using one way analyses of variance. Words from songs written in minor keys were less pleasant and less active than those from songs written in major keys. Words from songs written in the key of F scored extremely low on all three measures. Lyrics from the keys of C, D, and G were relatively active in tone. Results from Dictionary scoring were compared with assignments of character to keys made more than one century ago and with current musicians' opinions.

Key on demand (KoD) for software-defined optical networks secured by quantum key distribution (QKD).

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Yuan; Zhao, Yongli; Colman-Meixner, Carlos; Yu, Xiaosong; Zhang, Jie

2017-10-30

Software-defined optical networking (SDON) will become the next generation optical network architecture. However, the optical layer and control layer of SDON are vulnerable to cyberattacks. While, data encryption is an effective method to minimize the negative effects of cyberattacks, secure key interchange is its major challenge which can be addressed by the quantum key distribution (QKD) technique. Hence, in this paper we discuss the integration of QKD with WDM optical networks to secure the SDON architecture by introducing a novel key on demand (KoD) scheme which is enabled by a novel routing, wavelength and key assignment (RWKA) algorithm. The QKD over SDON with KoD model follows two steps to provide security: i) quantum key pools (QKPs) construction for securing the control channels (CChs) and data channels (DChs); ii) the KoD scheme uses RWKA algorithm to allocate and update secret keys for different security requirements. To test our model, we define a security probability index which measures the security gain in CChs and DChs. Simulation results indicate that the security performance of CChs and DChs can be enhanced by provisioning sufficient secret keys in QKPs and performing key-updating considering potential cyberattacks. Also, KoD is beneficial to achieve a positive balance between security requirements and key resource usage.

Ancestors protocol for scalable key management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dieter Gollmann

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Group key management is an important functional building block for secure multicast architecture. Thereby, it has been extensively studied in the literature. The main proposed protocol is Adaptive Clustering for Scalable Group Key Management (ASGK. According to ASGK protocol, the multicast group is divided into clusters, where each cluster consists of areas of members. Each cluster uses its own Traffic Encryption Key (TEK. These clusters are updated periodically depending on the dynamism of the members during the secure session. The modified protocol has been proposed based on ASGK with some modifications to balance the number of affected members and the encryption/decryption overhead with any number of the areas when a member joins or leaves the group. This modified protocol is called Ancestors protocol. According to Ancestors protocol, every area receives the dynamism of the members from its parents. The main objective of the modified protocol is to reduce the number of affected members during the leaving and joining members, then 1 affects n overhead would be reduced. A comparative study has been done between ASGK protocol and the modified protocol. According to the comparative results, it found that the modified protocol is always outperforming the ASGK protocol.

Is the Green Key standard the golden key for sustainability measurement in the hospitality sector?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rietbergen, M.G.; Van Rheede, A.

2014-01-01

The Green Key is an eco-rating program that aims at promoting sustainable business practices in the hospitality sector. The Green Key assesses amongst others the sustainable management of energy, water and waste within hotels and other hospitality firms. The Green Key standard awards points if

Effects of stereotypes and suggestion on memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Shechory, Mally; Nachson, Israel; Glicksohn, Joseph

2010-02-01

In this study, the interactive effect of stereotype and suggestion on accuracy of memory was examined by presenting 645 participants (native Israelis and immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia) with three versions of a story about a worker who is waiting in a manager's office for a meeting. All versions were identical except for the worker's name, which implied a Russian or an Ethiopian immigrant or a person of no ethnic origin. Each participant was presented with one version of the story. After an hour delay, the participants' memories were tested via two questionnaires that differed in terms of level of suggestion. Data analyses show that (a) when a suggestion matched the participant's stereotypical perception, the suggestion was incorporated into memory but (b) when the suggestion contradicted the stereotype, it did not influence memory. The conclusion was that recall is influenced by stereotypes but can be enhanced by compatible suggestions.

Key Enablers of Effective Implementation of TQM in Royal Jet Airways

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moza Tahnoon Al Nahyan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Total quality management (TQM is a unified management approach that concentrates on the consecutive improvement of processes, products, and methods to surpass client expectations. This paper aims to highlight the advantages of implementing TQM in the airline industry by examining the key enablers of TQM. This study was based on a research model including six factors that were found to have a profound influence in implementing TQM. The data needed for the study was collected with the aid of questionnaires and secondary sources. The study discovered that procedures, policies, and a culture of knowledge transfer were the most significant enablers of successful TQM initiatives in Royal Jet Airways. In order to effectively implement TQM, the study suggests that management should offer appropriate recognition and rewards to employees. This will motivate them to adopt and practice TQM initiatives. Apart from that, management should also arrange seminars or workshops to accustom the employees to the basic procedures and objectives of effective TQM.

Partial Key Grouping: Load-Balanced Partitioning of Distributed Streams

OpenAIRE

Nasir, Muhammad Anis Uddin; Morales, Gianmarco De Francisci; Garcia-Soriano, David; Kourtellis, Nicolas; Serafini, Marco

2015-01-01

We study the problem of load balancing in distributed stream processing engines, which is exacerbated in the presence of skew. We introduce PARTIAL KEY GROUPING (PKG), a new stream partitioning scheme that adapts the classical “power of two choices” to a distributed streaming setting by leveraging two novel techniques: key splitting and local load estimation. In so doing, it achieves better load balancing than key grouping while being more scalable than shuffle grouping. We test PKG on severa...

Small private key MQPKS on an embedded microprocessor.

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Hwajeong; Kim, Jihyun; Choi, Jongseok; Park, Taehwan; Liu, Zhe; Kim, Howon

2014-03-19

Multivariate quadratic (MQ) cryptography requires the use of long public and private keys to ensure a sufficient security level, but this is not favorable to embedded systems, which have limited system resources. Recently, various approaches to MQ cryptography using reduced public keys have been studied. As a result of this, at CHES2011 (Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems, 2011), a small public key MQ scheme, was proposed, and its feasible implementation on an embedded microprocessor was reported at CHES2012. However, the implementation of a small private key MQ scheme was not reported. For efficient implementation, random number generators can contribute to reduce the key size, but the cost of using a random number generator is much more complex than computing MQ on modern microprocessors. Therefore, no feasible results have been reported on embedded microprocessors. In this paper, we propose a feasible implementation on embedded microprocessors for a small private key MQ scheme using a pseudo-random number generator and hash function based on a block-cipher exploiting a hardware Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) accelerator. To speed up the performance, we apply various implementation methods, including parallel computation, on-the-fly computation, optimized logarithm representation, vinegar monomials and assembly programming. The proposed method reduces the private key size by about 99.9% and boosts signature generation and verification by 5.78% and 12.19% than previous results in CHES2012.

Small Private Key PKS on an Embedded Microprocessor

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Hwajeong; Kim, Jihyun; Choi, Jongseok; Park, Taehwan; Liu, Zhe; Kim, Howon

2014-01-01

Multivariate quadratic ( ) cryptography requires the use of long public and private keys to ensure a sufficient security level, but this is not favorable to embedded systems, which have limited system resources. Recently, various approaches to cryptography using reduced public keys have been studied. As a result of this, at CHES2011 (Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems, 2011), a small public key scheme, was proposed, and its feasible implementation on an embedded microprocessor was reported at CHES2012. However, the implementation of a small private key scheme was not reported. For efficient implementation, random number generators can contribute to reduce the key size, but the cost of using a random number generator is much more complex than computing on modern microprocessors. Therefore, no feasible results have been reported on embedded microprocessors. In this paper, we propose a feasible implementation on embedded microprocessors for a small private key scheme using a pseudo-random number generator and hash function based on a block-cipher exploiting a hardware Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) accelerator. To speed up the performance, we apply various implementation methods, including parallel computation, on-the-fly computation, optimized logarithm representation, vinegar monomials and assembly programming. The proposed method reduces the private key size by about 99.9% and boosts signature generation and verification by 5.78% and 12.19% than previous results in CHES2012. PMID:24651722

Key-lock colloids in a nematic liquid crystal.

Science.gov (United States)

Silvestre, Nuno M; Tasinkevych, M

2017-01-01

The Landau-de Gennes free energy is used to study theoretically the effective interaction of spherical "key" and anisotropic "lock" colloidal particles. We assume identical anchoring properties of the surfaces of the key and of the lock particles, and we consider planar degenerate and perpendicular anchoring conditions separately. The lock particle is modeled as a spherical particle with a spherical dimple. When such a particle is introduced into a nematic liquid crystal, it orients its dimple at an oblique angle θ_{eq} with respect to the far field director n_{∞}. This angle depends on the depth of the dimple. Minimization results show that the free energy of a pair of key and lock particles exhibits a global minimum for the configuration when the key particle is facing the dimple of the lock colloidal particle. The preferred orientation ϕ_{eq} of the key-lock composite doublet relative to n_{∞} is robust against thermal fluctuations. The preferred orientation θ_{eq}^{(2)} of the dimple particle in the doublet is different from the isolated situation. This is related to the "direct" interaction of defects accompanying the key particle with the edge of the dimple. We propose that this nematic-amplified key-lock interaction can play an important role in self-organization and clustering of mixtures of colloidal particles with dimple colloids present.

User-based key frame detection in social web video

OpenAIRE

Chorianopoulos, Konstantinos

2012-01-01

Video search results and suggested videos on web sites are represented with a video thumbnail, which is manually selected by the video up-loader among three randomly generated ones (e.g., YouTube). In contrast, we present a grounded user-based approach for automatically detecting interesting key-frames within a video through aggregated users' replay interactions with the video player. Previous research has focused on content-based systems that have the benefit of analyzing a video without use...

Key Inflammatory Processes in Human NASH Are Reflected in Ldlr−/−.Leiden Mice: A Translational Gene Profiling Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Morrison, M.C.; Kleemann, R.; Koppen, A. van; Hanemaaijer, R.; Verschuren, L.

2018-01-01

Introduction: It is generally accepted that metabolic inflammation in the liver is an important driver of disease progression in NASH and associated matrix remodeling/fibrosis. However, the exact molecular inflammatory mechanisms are poorly defined in human studies. Investigation of key pathogenic

Spatio-temporal patterns of key exploited marine species in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marie Morfin

Full Text Available This study analyzes the temporal variability/stability of the spatial distributions of key exploited species in the Gulf of Lions (Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. To do so, we analyzed data from the MEDITS bottom-trawl scientific surveys from 1994 to 2010 at 66 fixed stations and selected 12 key exploited species. We proposed a geostatistical approach to handle zero-inflated and non-stationary distributions and to test for the temporal stability of the spatial structures. Empirical Orthogonal Functions and other descriptors were then applied to investigate the temporal persistence and the characteristics of the spatial patterns. The spatial structure of the distribution (i.e. the pattern of spatial autocorrelation of the 12 key species studied remained highly stable over the time period sampled. The spatial distributions of all species obtained through kriging also appeared to be stable over time, while each species displayed a specific spatial distribution. Furthermore, adults were generally more densely concentrated than juveniles and occupied areas included in the distribution of juveniles. Despite the strong persistence of spatial distributions, we also observed that the area occupied by each species was correlated to its abundance: the more abundant the species, the larger the occupation area. Such a result tends to support MacCall's basin theory, according to which density-dependence responses would drive the expansion of those 12 key species in the Gulf of Lions. Further analyses showed that these species never saturated their habitats, suggesting that they are below their carrying capacity; an assumption in agreement with the overexploitation of several of these species. Finally, the stability of their spatial distributions over time and their potential ability to diffuse outside their main habitats give support to Marine Protected Areas as a potential pertinent management tool.

The translucent cadaver: a follow-up study to gauge the efficacy of implementing changes suggested by students.

Science.gov (United States)

Kotzé, Sanet Henriët; Driescher, Natasha Darné; Mole, Calvin Gerald

2013-01-01

In a study conducted in 2011, the use of full body digital X-ray images (Lodox(®) Statscan(®)) and drawings were described for surface anatomy education during which suggestions were made by students on how to improve the method. Educational innovations should continuously be adjusted and improved to provide the best possible scenario for student learning. This study, therefore, reports on the efficacy of implementing some of these suggestions. Suggestions incorporated into the follow-up study included: (1) The inclusion of eight strategically placed labeled digital X-ray images to the dissection halls, (2) The placement of both labeled and unlabeled digital X-ray images online, (3) The inclusion of informal oral questions on surface anatomy during dissection, (4) The requirement of students to submit individual drawings in addition to group drawings into their portfolios, and (5) Integrating information on how to recognize anatomical structures on X-rays into gross anatomy lectures given prior to dissection. Students were requested to complete an anonymous questionnaire. The results of the drawings, tests and questionnaires were compared to the results from the 2011 cohort. During 2012, an increased usage of the digital X-rays and an increase in practical test marks in three out of the four modules (statistically significant only in the cardiovascular module) were reported. More students from the 2012 cohort believed the images enhanced their experience of learning surface anatomy and that its use should be continued in future. The suggested changes, therefore, had a positive effect on surface anatomy education. Copyright © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.

New hematological key for bovine leukemia virus-infected Japanese Black cattle.

Science.gov (United States)

Mekata, Hirohisa; Yamamoto, Mari; Kirino, Yumi; Sekiguchi, Satoshi; Konnai, Satoru; Horii, Yoichiro; Norimine, Junzo

2018-02-20

The European Community's (EC) Key, which is also called Bendixen's Key, is a well-established bovine leukemia virus (BLV) diagnostic method that classifies cattle according to the absolute lymphocyte count and age. The EC Key was originally designed for dairy cattle and is not necessarily suitable for Japanese Black (JB) beef cattle. This study revealed the lymphocyte counts in the BLV-free and -infected JB cattle were significantly lower than those in the Holstein cattle. Therefore, applying the EC Key to JB cattle could result in a large number of undetected BLV-infected cattle. Our proposed hematological key, which was designed for JB cattle, improves the detection of BLV-infected cattle by approximately 20%. We believe that this study could help promote BLV control.

Transforming the energy efficiency market in California: Key findings, lessons learned and future directions from California's market effects studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vine, Edward

2013-01-01

In the last three years, the California Institute for Energy and Environment (CIEE), along with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), managed three market effects studies that were funded by the CPUC. This paper summarizes the key findings from these studies that focused on compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), residential new construction (RNC), and high bay lighting (HBL), with a particular focus on changes to California's market effects evaluation protocol and lessons learned during the evaluation of market effects. This paper also summarizes the key results from a survey that was conducted by CIEE in February 2011 to determine what additional studies should be conducted in the evaluation of market effects. - Highlights: • We summarize three market effects studies and provide lessons learned. • Collect baseline market data as early as possible and throughout program lifecycle. • Estimate market effects throughout a program's lifecycle. • Require hypothesis testing as part of the evaluation. • Include elements of market effects evaluation in other program evaluations

The distinction between key ideas in teaching school physics and key ideas in the discipline of physics

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Zongyi

2001-05-01

The distinction between key ideas in teaching a high school science and key ideas in the corresponding discipline of science has been largely ignored in scholarly discourse about what science teachers should teach and about what they should know. This article clarifies this distinction through exploring how and why key ideas in teaching high school physics differ from key ideas in the discipline of physics. Its theoretical underpinnings include Dewey's (1902/1990) distinction between the psychological and the logical and Harré's (1986) epistemology of science. It analyzes how and why the key ideas in teaching color, the speed of light, and light interference at the high school level differ from the key ideas at the disciplinary level. The thesis is that key ideas in teaching high school physics can differ from key ideas in the discipline in some significant ways, and that the differences manifest Dewey's distinction. As a result, the article challenges the assumption of equating key ideas in teaching a high school science with key ideas in the corresponding discipline of science, and the assumption that having a college degree in science is sufficient to teach high school science. Furthermore, the article expands the concept of pedagogical content knowledge by arguing that key ideas in teaching high school physics constitute an essential component.

Aerosol typing - key information from aerosol studies

Science.gov (United States)

Mona, Lucia; Kahn, Ralph; Papagiannopoulos, Nikolaos; Holzer-Popp, Thomas; Pappalardo, Gelsomina

2016-04-01

Aerosol typing is a key source of aerosol information from ground-based and satellite-borne instruments. Depending on the specific measurement technique, aerosol typing can be used as input for retrievals or represents an output for other applications. Typically aerosol retrievals require some a priori or external aerosol type information. The accuracy of the derived aerosol products strongly depends on the reliability of these assumptions. Different sensors can make use of different aerosol type inputs. A critical review and harmonization of these procedures could significantly reduce related uncertainties. On the other hand, satellite measurements in recent years are providing valuable information about the global distribution of aerosol types, showing for example the main source regions and typical transport paths. Climatological studies of aerosol load at global and regional scales often rely on inferred aerosol type. There is still a high degree of inhomogeneity among satellite aerosol typing schemes, which makes the use different sensor datasets in a consistent way difficult. Knowledge of the 4d aerosol type distribution at these scales is essential for understanding the impact of different aerosol sources on climate, precipitation and air quality. All this information is needed for planning upcoming aerosol emissions policies. The exchange of expertise and the communication among satellite and ground-based measurement communities is fundamental for improving long-term dataset consistency, and for reducing aerosol type distribution uncertainties. Aerosol typing has been recognized as one of its high-priority activities of the AEROSAT (International Satellite Aerosol Science Network, http://aero-sat.org/) initiative. In the AEROSAT framework, a first critical review of aerosol typing procedures has been carried out. The review underlines the high heterogeneity in many aspects: approach, nomenclature, assumed number of components and parameters used for the

Number Theory and Public-Key Cryptography.

Science.gov (United States)

Lefton, Phyllis

1991-01-01

Described are activities in the study of techniques used to conceal the meanings of messages and data. Some background information and two BASIC programs that illustrate the algorithms used in a new cryptographic system called "public-key cryptography" are included. (CW)

A Distributed Shared Key Generation Procedure Using Fractional Keys

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Poovendran, Radha; Corson, M. S; Baras, J. S

1998-01-01

We present a new class of distributed key generation and recovery algorithms suitable for group communication systems where the group membership is either static or slowly time-varying, and must be tightly controlled...

Key improvements to XTR

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lenstra, A.K.; Verheul, E.R.; Okamoto, T.

2000-01-01

This paper describes improved methods for XTR key representation and parameter generation (cf. [4]). If the field characteristic is properly chosen, the size of the XTR public key for signature applications can be reduced by a factor of three at the cost of a small one time computation for the

Measurement errors in voice-key naming latency for Hiragana.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamada, Jun; Tamaoka, Katsuo

2003-12-01

This study makes explicit the limitations and possibilities of voice-key naming latency research on single hiragana symbols (a Japanese syllabic script) by examining three sets of voice-key naming data against Sakuma, Fushimi, and Tatsumi's 1997 speech-analyzer voice-waveform data. Analysis showed that voice-key measurement errors can be substantial in standard procedures as they may conceal the true effects of significant variables involved in hiragana-naming behavior. While one can avoid voice-key measurement errors to some extent by applying Sakuma, et al.'s deltas and by excluding initial phonemes which induce measurement errors, such errors may be ignored when test items are words and other higher-level linguistic materials.

Small Private Key MQPKS on an Embedded Microprocessor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hwajeong Seo

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Multivariate quadratic (MQ cryptography requires the use of long public and private keys to ensure a sufficient security level, but this is not favorable to embedded systems, which have limited system resources. Recently, various approaches to MQ cryptography using reduced public keys have been studied. As a result of this, at CHES2011 (Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems, 2011, a small public key MQ scheme, was proposed, and its feasible implementation on an embedded microprocessor was reported at CHES2012. However, the implementation of a small private key MQ scheme was not reported. For efficient implementation, random number generators can contribute to reduce the key size, but the cost of using a random number generator is much more complex than computing MQ on modern microprocessors. Therefore, no feasible results have been reported on embedded microprocessors. In this paper, we propose a feasible implementation on embedded microprocessors for a small private key MQ scheme using a pseudo-random number generator and hash function based on a block-cipher exploiting a hardware Advanced Encryption Standard (AES accelerator. To speed up the performance, we apply various implementation methods, including parallel computation, on-the-fly computation, optimized logarithm representation, vinegar monomials and assembly programming. The proposed method reduces the private key size by about 99.9% and boosts signature generation and verification by 5.78% and 12.19% than previous results in CHES2012.

A suggestion for quality assessment in systematic reviews of observational studies in nutritional epidemiology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jong-Myon Bae

2016-04-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: It is important to control the quality level of the observational studies in conducting meta-analyses. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS is a representative tool used for this purpose. We investigated the relationship between high-quality (HQ defined using NOS and the results of subgroup analysis according to study design. METHODS: We selected systematic review studies with meta-analysis which performed a quality evaluation on observational studies of diet and cancer by NOS. HQ determinations and the distribution of study designs were examined. Subgroup analyses according to quality level as defined by the NOS were also extracted. Equivalence was evaluated based on the summary effect size (sES and 95% confidence intervals computed in the subgroup analysis. RESULTS: The meta-analysis results of the HQ and cohort groups were identical. The overall sES, which was obtained by combining the sES when equivalence was observed between the cohort and case-control groups, also showed equivalence. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that it is more reasonable to control for quality level by performing subgroup analysis according to study design rather than by using HQ based on the NOS quality assessment tool.

New weak keys in simplified IDEA

Science.gov (United States)

Hafman, Sari Agustini; Muhafidzah, Arini

2016-02-01

Simplified IDEA (S-IDEA) is simplified version of International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA) and useful teaching tool to help students to understand IDEA. In 2012, Muryanto and Hafman have found a weak key class in the S-IDEA by used differential characteristics in one-round (0, ν, 0, ν) → (0,0, ν, ν) on the first round to produce input difference (0,0, ν, ν) on the fifth round. Because Muryanto and Hafman only use three differential characteristics in one-round, we conducted a research to find new differential characteristics in one-round and used it to produce new weak key classes of S-IDEA. To find new differential characteristics in one-round of S-IDEA, we applied a multiplication mod 216+1 on input difference and combination of active sub key Z1, Z4, Z5, Z6. New classes of weak keys are obtained by combining all of these characteristics and use them to construct two new differential characteristics in full-round of S-IDEA with or without the 4th round sub key. In this research, we found six new differential characteristics in one round and combined them to construct two new differential characteristics in full-round of S-IDEA. When two new differential characteristics in full-round of S-IDEA are used and the 4th round sub key required, we obtain 2 new classes of weak keys, 213 and 28. When two new differential characteristics in full-round of S-IDEA are used, yet the 4th round sub key is not required, the weak key class of 213 will be 221 and 28 will be 210. Membership test can not be applied to recover the key bits in those weak key classes. The recovery of those unknown key bits can only be done by using brute force attack. The simulation result indicates that the bit of the key can be recovered by the longest computation time of 0,031 ms.

Communicating Culture: An Exploratory Study of the Key Concepts in Maori Culture on Maori Web Sites

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zlatko J Kovacic

2001-01-01

Full Text Available We examine how accurately the belief system or cultural concepts of Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, is reconstructed in the virtual world of the Internet. Nine Maori web sites were searched using a list of 44 key concepts in Maori culture. We registered how many pages within a particular web site contain each of the key concepts. These numbers were set up in a data matrix for further statistical analysis. The Multidimensional Scaling method was used to construct a spatial representation of Maori web sites in the space generated by the key concepts in Maori culture. Using the correlation coefficients between derived dimensions and the key concepts we interpreted three dimensions as General Cultural, Intra-tribe Dynamics and Educational. The position of each Maori web site in this space has been located and described.

Energy key performance indicators : a european benchmark and assessment of meaningful indicators for the use of energy in large corporations

OpenAIRE

Friedrichs, Katja

2013-01-01

This study aims to identify and analyze energy key performance indicators among large European companies. Energy usage has become a very meaningful topic for both internal management as well as external stakeholders of a company. A review of current literature suggests that while environmental indicators in general have found broad attention and plenty of theories concerning good and meaningful indicators are published, no study investigating actually applied energy indicators ...

25 CFR 502.14 - Key employee.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Key employee. 502.14 Section 502.14 Indians NATIONAL....14 Key employee. Key employee means: (a) A person who performs one or more of the following functions... gaming operation. (d) Any other person designated by the tribe as a key employee. [57 FR 12392, Apr. 9...

The key role of extracellular vesicles in the metastatic process.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Hongyun; Achreja, Abhinav; Iessi, Elisabetta; Logozzi, Mariantonia; Mizzoni, Davide; Di Raimo, Rossella; Nagrath, Deepak; Fais, Stefano

2018-01-01

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes, have a key role in the paracrine communication between organs and compartments. EVs shuttle virtually all types of biomolecules such as proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, metabolites and even pharmacological compounds. Their ability to transfer their biomolecular cargo into target cells enables EVs to play a key role in intercellular communication that can regulate cellular functions such as proliferation, apoptosis and migration. This has led to the emergence of EVs as a key player in tumor growth and metastasis through the formation of "tumor niches" in target organs. Recent data have also been shown that EVs may transform the microenvironment of primary tumors thus favoring the selection of cancer cells with a metastatic behavior. The release of EVs from resident non-malignant cells may contribute to the metastatic processes as well. However, cancer EVs may induce malignant transformation in resident mesenchymal stem cells, suggesting that the metastatic process is not exclusively due to circulating tumor cells. In this review, we outline and discuss evidence-based roles of EVs in actively regulating multiple steps of the metastatic process and how we can leverage EVs to impair metastasis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The integration of behavioral health interventions in children's health care: services, science, and suggestions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolko, David J; Perrin, Ellen

2014-01-01

Because the integration of mental or behavioral health services in pediatric primary care is a national priority, a description and evaluation of the interventions applied in the healthcare setting is warranted. This article examines several intervention research studies based on alternative models for delivering behavioral health care in conjunction with comprehensive pediatric care. This review describes the diverse methods applied to different clinical problems, such as brief mental health skills, clinical guidelines, and evidence-based practices, and the empirical outcomes of this research literature. Next, several key treatment considerations are discussed to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of these interventions. Some practical suggestions for overcoming key service barriers are provided to enhance the capacity of the practice to deliver behavioral health care. There is moderate empirical support for the feasibility, acceptability, and clinical utility of these interventions for treating internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Practical strategies to extend this work and address methodological limitations are provided that draw upon recent frameworks designed to simplify the treatment enterprise (e.g., common elements). Pediatric primary care has become an important venue for providing mental health services to children and adolescents due, in part, to its many desirable features (e.g., no stigma, local setting, familiar providers). Further adaptation of existing delivery models may promote the delivery of effective integrated interventions with primary care providers as partners designed to address mental health problems in pediatric healthcare.

Keys to the success of the CB Conquero

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Fernández-Espínola

2016-12-01

Full Text Available When a team gets sport successes to level profesional, generates the topics that will be investigated such as the key factors of the succes. The main aim of this study is to analyze the influencie of different factors like the sports context, the social context and training aspects in the success of the Club Baloncesto Conquero through direct perception of thirteen informants associated with the team and the basketball in Huelva. An interview was carried out, related with those factors and the keys to success. The results revealed that workforce planning along the great work of coaching staff, medical staff and physical trainer have been key to the team gets sport successes.

SARS: Key factors in crisis management.

Science.gov (United States)

Tseng, Hsin-Chao; Chen, Thai-Form; Chou, Shieu-Ming

2005-03-01

This study was conducted at a single hospital selected in Taipei during the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak from March to July, 2003 in Taiwan. During this period of time, 104 SARS patients were admitted to the hospital. There were no negative reports related to the selected hospital despite its being located right in the center of an area struck by the epidemic. The purpose of this study was to identify the key factors enabling the hospital to survive SARS unscathed. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with the nursing directors and nursing managers of the SARS units, along with a review of relevant hospital documents. The five key elements identified as survival factors during this SARS crisis are as follows: 1. good control of timing for crisis management, 2. careful decision-making, 3. thorough implementation, 4. effective communication, and 5. trust between management and employees. The results of this study reconfirmed the selected hospital as a model for good crisis management during the SARS epidemic.

Semantic Keys and Reading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zev bar-Lev

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Semantic Keys are elements (word-parts of written language that give an iconic, general representation of the whole word’s meaning. In written Sino-Japanese the “radical” or semantic components play this role. For example, the character meaning ‘woman, female’ is the Semantic Key of the character for Ma ‘Mama’ (alongside the phonetic component Ma, which means ‘horse’ as a separate character. The theory of semantic Keys in both graphic and phonemic aspects is called qTheory or nanosemantics. The most innovative aspect of the present article is the hypothesis that, in languages using alphabetic writing systems, the role of Semantic Key is played by consonants, more specifically the first consonant. Thus, L meaning ‘LIFT’ is the Semantic Key of English Lift, Ladle, Lofty, aLps, eLevator, oLympus; Spanish Leva, Lecantarse, aLto, Lengua; Arabic aLLah, and Hebrew① ªeL-ºaL ‘upto-above’ (the Israeli airline, Polish Lot ‘flight’ (the Polish airline; Hebrew ªeL, ªeLohim ‘God’, and haLLeluyah ‘praise-ye God’ (using Parallels, ‘Lift up God’. Evidence for the universality of the theory is shown by many examples drawn from various languages, including Indo-European Semitic, Chinese and Japanese. The theory reveals hundreds of relationships within and between languages, related and unrelated, that have been “Hiding in Plain Sight”, to mention just one example: the Parallel between Spanish Pan ‘bread’ and Mandarin Fan ‘rice’.

Quantum key distribution via quantum encryption

CERN Document Server

Yong Sheng Zhang; Guang Can Guo

2001-01-01

A quantum key distribution protocol based on quantum encryption is presented in this Brief Report. In this protocol, the previously shared Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen pairs act as the quantum key to encode and decode the classical cryptography key. The quantum key is reusable and the eavesdropper cannot elicit any information from the particle Alice sends to Bob. The concept of quantum encryption is also discussed. (21 refs).

Comparison is key.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Mark H; Stenner, A Jackson

2014-01-01

Several concepts from Georg Rasch's last papers are discussed. The key one is comparison because Rasch considered the method of comparison fundamental to science. From the role of comparison stems scientific inference made operational by a properly developed frame of reference producing specific objectivity. The exact specifications Rasch outlined for making comparisons are explicated from quotes, and the role of causality derived from making comparisons is also examined. Understanding causality has implications for what can and cannot be produced via Rasch measurement. His simple examples were instructive, but the implications are far reaching upon first establishing the key role of comparison.

Security for Key Management Interfaces

OpenAIRE

Kremer , Steve; Steel , Graham; Warinschi , Bogdan

2011-01-01

International audience; We propose a much-needed formal definition of security for cryptographic key management APIs. The advantages of our definition are that it is general, intuitive, and applicable to security proofs in both symbolic and computational models of cryptography. Our definition relies on an idealized API which allows only the most essential functions for generating, exporting and importing keys, and takes into account dynamic corruption of keys. Based on this we can define the ...

Key drivers of precipitation isotopes in Windhoek, Namibia (2012-2016)

Science.gov (United States)

Kaseke, K. F.; Wang, L.; Wanke, H.

2017-12-01

Southern African climate is characterized by large variability with precipitation model estimates varying by as much as 70% during summer. This difference between model estimates is partly because most models associate precipitation over Southern Africa with moisture inputs from the Indian Ocean while excluding inputs from the Atlantic Ocean. However, growing evidence suggests that the Atlantic Ocean may also contribute significant amounts of moisture to the region. This four-year (2012-2016) study investigates the isotopic composition (δ18O, δ2H and δ17O) of event-scale precipitation events, the key drivers of isotope variations and the origins of precipitation experienced in Windhoek, Namibia. Results indicate large storm-to-storm isotopic variability δ18O (25‰), δ2H (180‰) and δ17O (13‰) over the study period. Univariate analysis showed significant correlations between event precipitation isotopes and local meteorological parameters; lifted condensation level, relative humidity (RH), precipitation amount, average wind speed, surface and air temperature (p < 0.05). The number of significant correlations between local meteorological parameters and monthly isotopes was much lower suggesting loss of information through data aggregation. Nonetheless, the most significant isotope driver at both event and monthly scales was RH, consistent with the semi-arid classification of the site. Multiple linear regression analysis suggested RH, precipitation amount and air temperature were the most significant local drivers of precipitation isotopes accounting for about 50% of the variation implying that about 50% could be attributed to source origins. HYSLPIT trajectories indicated that 78% of precipitation originated from the Indian Ocean while 21% originated from the Atlantic Ocean. Given that three of the four study years were droughts while two of the three drought years were El Niño related, our data also suggests that δ'17O-δ'18O could be a useful tool to

Didactic Experiments Suggest Enhanced Learning Outcomes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pals Svendsen, Lisbet

2011-01-01

and presenting material in the language studied, just as they were encouraged to systematically use evaluation processes to enhance learning outcomes. Eventually, increased grade point averages suggested that the experiment was successful. The article also mentions subsequent revisions to the original format...

Key rate of quantum key distribution with hashed two-way classical communication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, Shun; Matsumoto, Ryutaroh; Uyematsu, Tomohiko; Kawano, Yasuhito

2007-01-01

We propose an information reconciliation protocol that uses two-way classical communication. The key rates of quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols that use our protocol are higher than those using previously known protocols for a wide range of error rates for the Bennett-Brassard 1984 and six-state protocols. We also clarify the relation between the proposed and known QKD protocols, and the relation between the proposed protocol and entanglement distillation protocols

One-way quantum key distribution: Simple upper bound on the secret key rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moroder, Tobias; Luetkenhaus, Norbert; Curty, Marcos

2006-01-01

We present a simple method to obtain an upper bound on the achievable secret key rate in quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols that use only unidirectional classical communication during the public-discussion phase. This method is based on a necessary precondition for one-way secret key distillation; the legitimate users need to prove that there exists no quantum state having a symmetric extension that is compatible with the available measurements results. The main advantage of the obtained upper bound is that it can be formulated as a semidefinite program, which can be efficiently solved. We illustrate our results by analyzing two well-known qubit-based QKD protocols: the four-state protocol and the six-state protocol

Workplace wellness programming in low-and middle-income countries: a qualitative study of corporate key informants in Mexico and India.

Science.gov (United States)

Wipfli, Heather; Zacharias, Kristin Dessie; Nivvy Hundal, Nuvjote; Shigematsu, Luz Myriam Reynales; Bahl, Deepika; Arora, Monika; Bassi, Shalini; Kumar, Shubha

2018-05-09

A qualitative study of key informant semi-structured interviews were conducted between March and July 2016 in Mexico and India to achieve the following aims: to explore corporations' and stakeholders' views, attitudes and expectations in relation to health, wellness and cancer prevention in two middle-income countries, and to determine options for health professions to advance their approach to workplace wellness programming globally, including identifying return-on-investment incentives for corporations to implement wellness programming. There is an unmet demand for workplace wellness resources that can be used by corporations in an international context. Corporations in India and Mexico are already implementing a range of health-related wellness programs, most often focused on disease prevention and management. A number of companies indicated interest is collecting return on investment data but lacked the knowledge and tools to carry out return-on-investment analyses. There was widespread interest in partnership with international non-governmental organizations (public health organizations) and a strong desire for follow-up among corporations interviewed, particularly in Mexico. As low-and middle-income countries continue to undergo economic transitions, the workforce and disease burden continue to evolve as well. Evidence suggests a there is a growing need for workplace wellness initiatives in low-and middle-income countries. Results from this study suggest that while corporations in India and Mexico are implementing wellness programming in some capacity, there are three areas where corporations could greatly benefit from assistance in improving wellness programming in the workplace: 1) innovative toolkits for workplace wellness initiatives and technical support for adaptation, 2) assistance with building partnerships to help implement wellness initiatives and build capacity, and 3) tools and training to collect data for surveillance as well as monitoring and

Key components of financial-analysis education for clinical nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Ji Young; Noh, Wonjung

2015-09-01

In this study, we identified key components of financial-analysis education for clinical nurses. We used a literature review, focus group discussions, and a content validity index survey to develop key components of financial-analysis education. First, a wide range of references were reviewed, and 55 financial-analysis education components were gathered. Second, two focus group discussions were performed; the participants were 11 nurses who had worked for more than 3 years in a hospital, and nine components were agreed upon. Third, 12 professionals, including professors, nurse executive, nurse managers, and an accountant, participated in the content validity index. Finally, six key components of financial-analysis education were selected. These key components were as follows: understanding the need for financial analysis, introduction to financial analysis, reading and implementing balance sheets, reading and implementing income statements, understanding the concepts of financial ratios, and interpretation and practice of financial ratio analysis. The results of this study will be used to develop an education program to increase financial-management competency among clinical nurses. © 2015 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Quantum key distribution network for multiple applications

Science.gov (United States)

Tajima, A.; Kondoh, T.; Ochi, T.; Fujiwara, M.; Yoshino, K.; Iizuka, H.; Sakamoto, T.; Tomita, A.; Shimamura, E.; Asami, S.; Sasaki, M.

2017-09-01

The fundamental architecture and functions of secure key management in a quantum key distribution (QKD) network with enhanced universal interfaces for smooth key sharing between arbitrary two nodes and enabling multiple secure communication applications are proposed. The proposed architecture consists of three layers: a quantum layer, key management layer and key supply layer. We explain the functions of each layer, the key formats in each layer and the key lifecycle for enabling a practical QKD network. A quantum key distribution-advanced encryption standard (QKD-AES) hybrid system and an encrypted smartphone system were developed as secure communication applications on our QKD network. The validity and usefulness of these systems were demonstrated on the Tokyo QKD Network testbed.

Terra Preta Sanitation: A Key Component for Sustainability in the Urban Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thorsten Schuetze

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Terra Preta Sanitation (TPS plays a key role in sustainable sanitation (SuSan and in the sustainable management of resources such as water, energy, soil (agriculture, liquid and solid organic waste streams as well as in the development of sustainable urban environment and infrastructure systems. This paper discusses the advantages of, and requirements for, SuSan systems, focusing on TPS. Case studies showing the stepwise extension and re-development of conventional sanitation systems (CSS using TPS technologies and system approaches are presented and discussed. Decentralized TPS systems integrated in sustainable urban resource management were implemented in the German cities of Hamburg and Berlin. The compilation of best practice examples and findings using the newest TPS systems illustrates the immense potential of this approach for the transformation from conventional to SuSan systems. For this purpose, the potential savings of drinking water resources and the recycling potential of nutrient components are quantified. The results strongly suggest the need to encourage the development and application of innovative decentralized sanitation technologies, urban infrastructures, and resource management systems that have TP as a key component.

Finite-key analysis for quantum key distribution with weak coherent pulses based on Bernoulli sampling

Science.gov (United States)

Kawakami, Shun; Sasaki, Toshihiko; Koashi, Masato

2017-07-01

An essential step in quantum key distribution is the estimation of parameters related to the leaked amount of information, which is usually done by sampling of the communication data. When the data size is finite, the final key rate depends on how the estimation process handles statistical fluctuations. Many of the present security analyses are based on the method with simple random sampling, where hypergeometric distribution or its known bounds are used for the estimation. Here we propose a concise method based on Bernoulli sampling, which is related to binomial distribution. Our method is suitable for the Bennett-Brassard 1984 (BB84) protocol with weak coherent pulses [C. H. Bennett and G. Brassard, Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Computers, Systems and Signal Processing (IEEE, New York, 1984), Vol. 175], reducing the number of estimated parameters to achieve a higher key generation rate compared to the method with simple random sampling. We also apply the method to prove the security of the differential-quadrature-phase-shift (DQPS) protocol in the finite-key regime. The result indicates that the advantage of the DQPS protocol over the phase-encoding BB84 protocol in terms of the key rate, which was previously confirmed in the asymptotic regime, persists in the finite-key regime.

Cryptographic Key Management System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

No, author

2014-02-21

This report summarizes the outcome of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) contract DE-OE0000543, requesting the design of a Cryptographic Key Management System (CKMS) for the secure management of cryptographic keys for the energy sector infrastructure. Prime contractor Sypris Electronics, in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL), Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Valicore Technologies, and Purdue University's Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS) and Smart Meter Integration Laboratory (SMIL), has designed, developed and evaluated the CKMS solution. We provide an overview of the project in Section 3, review the core contributions of all contractors in Section 4, and discuss bene ts to the DOE in Section 5. In Section 6 we describe the technical construction of the CKMS solution, and review its key contributions in Section 6.9. Section 7 describes the evaluation and demonstration of the CKMS solution in different environments. We summarize the key project objectives in Section 8, list publications resulting from the project in Section 9, and conclude with a discussion on commercialization in Section 10 and future work in Section 11.

Study in Mice Links Key Signaling Molecule to Underlying Cause of Osteogenesis Imperfecta

Science.gov (United States)

... Links Key Signaling Molecule to Underlying Cause of Osteogenesis Imperfecta By Kirstie Saltsman, Ph.D. | September 5, 2014 Vertebra from a mouse engineered to have osteogenesis imperfecta (upper panel). Following eight weeks of treatment with ...

Study of the Influence of Key Process Parameters on Furfural Production.

Science.gov (United States)

Fele Žilnik, Ljudmila; Grilc, Viktor; Mirt, Ivan; Cerovečki, Željko

2016-01-01

The present work reports the influence of key process variables on the furfural formation from leached chestnut-wood chips in a pressurized reactor. Effect of temperature, pressure, type and concentration of the catalyst solution, the steam flow rate or stripping module, the moisture content of the wood particles and geometric characteristics such as size and type of the reactor, particle size and bed height were considered systematically. One stage process was only taken into consideration. Lab-scale and pilot-scale studies were performed. The results of the non-catalysed laboratory experiments were compared with an actual non-catalysed (auto-catalysed) industrial process and with experiments on the pilot scale, the latter with 28% higher furfural yield compared to the others. Application of sulphuric acid as catalyst, in an amount of 0.03-0.05 g (H2SO4 100%)/g d.m. (dry material), enables a higher production of furfural at lower temperature and pressure of steam in a shorter reaction time. Pilot scale catalysed experiments have revealed very good performance for furfural formation under less severe operating conditions, with a maximum furfural yield as much as 88% of the theoretical value.

A Key Event Path Analysis Approach for Integrated Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jingjing Liao

2012-01-01

Full Text Available By studying the key event paths of probabilistic event structure graphs (PESGs, a key event path analysis approach for integrated system models is proposed. According to translation rules concluded from integrated system architecture descriptions, the corresponding PESGs are constructed from the colored Petri Net (CPN models. Then the definitions of cycle event paths, sequence event paths, and key event paths are given. Whereafter based on the statistic results after the simulation of CPN models, key event paths are found out by the sensitive analysis approach. This approach focuses on the logic structures of CPN models, which is reliable and could be the basis of structured analysis for discrete event systems. An example of radar model is given to characterize the application of this approach, and the results are worthy of trust.

The LOFAR Magnetism Key Science Project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Anderson, James; Beck, Rainer; Bell, Michael; de Bruyn, Ger; Chyzy, Krzysztof; Eislöffel, Jochen; Enßlin, Torsten; Fletcher, Andrew; Haverkorn, Marijke; Heald, George; Horneffer, Andreas; Noutsos, Aris; Reich, Wolfgang; Scaife, Anna; the LOFAR collaboration, [No Value

2012-01-01

Measuring radio waves at low frequencies offers a new window to study cosmic magnetism, and LOFAR is the ideal radio telescope to open this window widely. The LOFAR Magnetism Key Science Project (MKSP) draws together expertise from multiple fields of magnetism science and intends to use LOFAR to

Enhancement of suggestibility and imaginative ability with nitrous oxide.

Science.gov (United States)

Whalley, M G; Brooks, G B

2009-05-01

Imaginative suggestibility, a trait closely related to hypnotic suggestibility, is modifiable under some circumstances. Nitrous oxide (laughing gas) is commonly used for sedation in dentistry and is reported to be more effective when combined with appropriate suggestions. The aim of this study was to determine whether nitrous oxide inhalation alters imaginative suggestibility and imagery vividness. Thirty participants were tested twice in a within-subjects design, once during inhalation of 25% nitrous oxide and once during inhalation of air plus oxygen. Before the study, participants' expectancies regarding the effects of nitrous oxide were assessed. Participants were blinded to drug administration. During each session, participants were verbally administered detailed measures of imagination and suggestibility: the Sheehan-Betts Quality of Mental Imagery scale and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale Form C, minus the hypnotic induction. Imaginative suggestibility and imaginative ability (imagery vividness) were both elevated in the nitrous oxide condition. This effect was unrelated to participants' expectations regarding the effects of the drug. Nitrous oxide increased imaginative suggestibility and imaginative ability. Possible explanations of these findings are discussed with respect to the effects of N-methyl-d-aspartate antagonists and to other pharmacological effects upon suggestibility and imagination.

Scaling-up HIV responses with key populations in West Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Wheeler, Tisha; Wolf, R Cameron; Kapesa, Laurent; Cheng Surdo, Alison; Dallabetta, Gina

2015-03-01

Despite decades of HIV responses in pockets of West and Central Africa (WCA), the HIV response with key populations remains an understudied area. Recently, there has been a proliferation of studies highlighting epidemiologic and behavioral data that challenge attitudes of complacency among donors and country governments uncomfortable in addressing key populations. The articles in this series highlight new studies that provide a better understanding of the epidemiologic and structural burden facing key populations in the WCA region and how to improve responses through more effective targeting. Key populations face pervasive structural barriers including institutional and sexual violence and an intersection of stigma, criminalization, and marginalization as sexual minorities. Despite decades of smaller interventions that have shown the importance of integrated services for key populations, there remains incongruent provision of outreach or testing or family planning pointing to sustained risk. There remains an incongruent resource provision for key populations where they shoulder the burden of HIV and their access to services alone could turn around HIV epidemics within the region. These proximal and distal determinants must be addressed in regional efforts, led by the community, and resourced for scale, targeting those most at risk for the acquisition and transmission of HIV. This special issue builds the knowledge base for the region focusing on interventions that remove barriers to service access including treatment uptake for those living with HIV. Better analysis and use of data for strategic planning are shown to lead to more effective targeting of prevention, care, and HIV treatment programs with key populations. These articles further demonstrate the immediate need for comprehensive action to address HIV among key populations throughout the WCA region.

Manufacturer Suggested Retail Prices, Loss Aversion and Competition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fabrizi, Simona; Lippert, Steffen; Puppe, Clemens; Rosenkranz, S.

2016-01-01

We study a model of vertical relations with imperfect retail competition in which a fraction of the consumers display reference-dependent demand with respect to the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. We demonstrate that in equilibrium the suggestion will either be undercut or complied with by

Analysis of the differential-phase-shift-keying protocol in the quantum-key-distribution system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rong-Zhen, Jiao; Chen-Xu, Feng; Hai-Qiang, Ma

2009-01-01

The analysis is based on the error rate and the secure communication rate as functions of distance for three quantum-key-distribution (QKD) protocols: the Bennett–Brassard 1984, the Bennett–Brassard–Mermin 1992, and the coherent differential-phase-shift keying (DPSK) protocols. We consider the secure communication rate of the DPSK protocol against an arbitrary individual attack, including the most commonly considered intercept-resend and photon-number splitting attacks, and concluded that the simple and efficient differential-phase-shift-keying protocol allows for more than 200 km of secure communication distance with high communication rates. (general)

Key performance indicators to benchmark hospital information systems - a delphi study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hübner-Bloder, G; Ammenwerth, E

2009-01-01

To identify the key performance indicators for hospital information systems (HIS) that can be used for HIS benchmarking. A Delphi survey with one qualitative and two quantitative rounds. Forty-four HIS experts from health care IT practice and academia participated in all three rounds. Seventy-seven performance indicators were identified and organized into eight categories: technical quality, software quality, architecture and interface quality, IT vendor quality, IT support and IT department quality, workflow support quality, IT outcome quality, and IT costs. The highest ranked indicators are related to clinical workflow support and user satisfaction. Isolated technical indicators or cost indicators were not seen as useful. The experts favored an interdisciplinary group of all the stakeholders, led by hospital management, to conduct the HIS benchmarking. They proposed benchmarking activities both in regular (annual) intervals as well as at defined events (for example after IT introduction). Most of the experts stated that in their institutions no HIS benchmarking activities are being performed at the moment. In the context of IT governance, IT benchmarking is gaining importance in the healthcare area. The found indicators reflect the view of health care IT professionals and researchers. Research is needed to further validate and operationalize key performance indicators, to provide an IT benchmarking framework, and to provide open repositories for a comparison of the HIS benchmarks of different hospitals.

The logic of comparative life history studies for estimating key parameters, with a focus on natural mortality rate

Science.gov (United States)

Hoenig, John M; Then, Amy Y.-H.; Babcock, Elizabeth A.; Hall, Norman G.; Hewitt, David A.; Hesp, Sybrand A.

2016-01-01

There are a number of key parameters in population dynamics that are difficult to estimate, such as natural mortality rate, intrinsic rate of population growth, and stock-recruitment relationships. Often, these parameters of a stock are, or can be, estimated indirectly on the basis of comparative life history studies. That is, the relationship between a difficult to estimate parameter and life history correlates is examined over a wide variety of species in order to develop predictive equations. The form of these equations may be derived from life history theory or simply be suggested by exploratory data analysis. Similarly, population characteristics such as potential yield can be estimated by making use of a relationship between the population parameter and bio-chemico–physical characteristics of the ecosystem. Surprisingly, little work has been done to evaluate how well these indirect estimators work and, in fact, there is little guidance on how to conduct comparative life history studies and how to evaluate them. We consider five issues arising in such studies: (i) the parameters of interest may be ill-defined idealizations of the real world, (ii) true values of the parameters are not known for any species, (iii) selecting data based on the quality of the estimates can introduce a host of problems, (iv) the estimates that are available for comparison constitute a non-random sample of species from an ill-defined population of species of interest, and (v) the hierarchical nature of the data (e.g. stocks within species within genera within families, etc., with multiple observations at each level) warrants consideration. We discuss how these issues can be handled and how they shape the kinds of questions that can be asked of a database of life history studies.

Key successes and challenges in providing mental health care in an urban male remand prison: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Samele, Chiara; Forrester, Andrew; Urquía, Norman; Hopkin, Gareth

2016-04-01

This study aimed to describe the workings of an urban male remand prison mental health service exploring the key challenges and successes, levels of integration and collaboration with other services. A purposive sampling was used to recruit key prison and healthcare professionals for in-depth interviews. A thematic analysis was used to analyse transcripts based on an initial coding frame of several predefined themes. Other key themes were also identified. Twenty-eight interviews were conducted. Prisoners referred to the service had complex, sometimes acute mental illness requiring specialist assessment and treatment. Key successes of the in-reach service included the introduction of an open referral system, locating a mental health nurse at reception to screen all new prisoners and a zoning system to prioritise urgent or non-urgent cases. Achieving an integrated system of healthcare was challenging because of the numerous internal and external services operating across the prison, a highly transient population, limited time and space to deliver services and difficulties with providing inpatient care (e.g., establishing the criteria for admission and managing patient flow). Collaborative working between prison and healthcare staff was required to enable best care for prisoners. The prison mental health in-reach service worked well in assessing and prioritising those who required specialist mental health care. Although the challenges of working within the prison context limited what the in-reach team could achieve. Further work was needed to improve the unit environment and how best to target and deliver inpatient care within the prison.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT – KEY FACTORS

OpenAIRE

Magdalena Daniela DINU

2014-01-01

This paper exposes Supply Chain Management by its key factors. Briefly, where the Supply Chain Management is treated as strategic part of a company then maintaining both control and influence throughout the entire supply chain are key factors and critical to success. On the other hand, finding the right partner to manage the non-strategic Supply Chains would be another key factor too. To define the most important key factors within Supply Chain Management means a deeply understanding of bot...

Treating ADHD With Suggestion: Neurofeedback and Placebo Therapeutics.

Science.gov (United States)

Thibault, Robert T; Veissière, Samuel; Olson, Jay A; Raz, Amir

2018-06-01

We propose that clinicians can use suggestion to help treat conditions such as ADHD. We use EEG neurofeedback as a case study, alongside evidence from a recent pilot experiment utilizing a sham MRI scanner to highlight the therapeutic potential of suggestion-based treatments. The medical literature demonstrates that many practitioners already prescribe treatments that hardly outperform placebo comparators. Moreover, the sham MRI experiment showed that, even with full disclosure of the procedure, suggestion alone can reduce the symptomatology of ADHD. Non-deceptive suggestion-based treatments, especially those drawing on accessories from neuroscience, may offer a safe complement and potential alternative to current standard of care for individuals with ADHD.

Key handling in wireless sensor networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Y; Newe, T

2007-01-01

With the rapid growth of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), many advanced application areas have received significant attention. However, security will be an important factor for their full adoption. Wireless sensor nodes pose unique challenges and as such traditional security protocols, used in traditional networks cannot be applied directly. Some new protocols have been published recently with the goal of providing both privacy of data and authentication of sensor nodes for WSNs. Such protocols can employ private-key and/or public key cryptographic algorithms. Public key algorithms hold the promise of simplifying the network infrastructure required to provide security services such as: privacy, authentication and non-repudiation, while symmetric algorithms require less processing power on the lower power wireless node. In this paper a selection of key establishment/agreement protocols are reviewed and they are broadly divided into two categories: group key agreement protocols and pair-wise key establishment protocols. A summary of the capabilities and security related services provided by each protocol is provided

Key handling in wireless sensor networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Y; Newe, T [Optical Fibre Sensors Research Centre, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of Limerick, Limerick (Ireland)

2007-07-15

With the rapid growth of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), many advanced application areas have received significant attention. However, security will be an important factor for their full adoption. Wireless sensor nodes pose unique challenges and as such traditional security protocols, used in traditional networks cannot be applied directly. Some new protocols have been published recently with the goal of providing both privacy of data and authentication of sensor nodes for WSNs. Such protocols can employ private-key and/or public key cryptographic algorithms. Public key algorithms hold the promise of simplifying the network infrastructure required to provide security services such as: privacy, authentication and non-repudiation, while symmetric algorithms require less processing power on the lower power wireless node. In this paper a selection of key establishment/agreement protocols are reviewed and they are broadly divided into two categories: group key agreement protocols and pair-wise key establishment protocols. A summary of the capabilities and security related services provided by each protocol is provided.

Critical Success Factors of Suggestions Systems. | Marx | IFE ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A literature study approach is followed to establish which factors contribute to the success and failure of various suggestion systems. It was found ... The value of the paper firstly, shows the importance of creativity and innovation within the organisation's own culture and the framework of a formal suggestion system. Secondly ...

Would environmental pollution affect home prices? An empirical study based on China's key cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Yu; Zheng, Shaoqing

2017-11-01

With the development of China's economy, the problem of environmental pollution has become increasingly more serious, affecting the sustained and healthy development of Chinese cities and the willingness of residents to invest in fixed assets. In this paper, a panel data set of 70 of China's key cities from 2003 to 2014 is used to study the effect of environmental pollution on home prices in China's key cities. In addition to the static panel data regression model, this paper uses the generalized method of moments (GMM) to control for the potential endogeneity and introduce the dynamics. To ensure the robustness of the research results, this paper uses four typical pollutants: per capita volume of SO 2 emissions, industrial soot (dust) emissions, industrial wastewater discharge, and industrial chemical oxygen demand discharge. The analysis shows that environmental pollution does have a negative impact on home prices, and the magnitude of this effect is dependent on the level of economic development. When GDP per capita increases, the size of the negative impact on home prices tends to reduce. Industrial soot (dust) has the greatest impact, and the impact of industrial wastewater is relatively small. It is also found that some other social and economic factors, including greening, public transport, citizen income, fiscal situation, loans, FDI, and population density, have positive effects on home prices, but the effect of employment on home prices is relatively weak.

High-efficiency Gaussian key reconciliation in continuous variable quantum key distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, ZengLiang; Wang, XuYang; Yang, ShenShen; Li, YongMin

2016-01-01

Efficient reconciliation is a crucial step in continuous variable quantum key distribution. The progressive-edge-growth (PEG) algorithm is an efficient method to construct relatively short block length low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. The qua-sicyclic construction method can extend short block length codes and further eliminate the shortest cycle. In this paper, by combining the PEG algorithm and qua-si-cyclic construction method, we design long block length irregular LDPC codes with high error-correcting capacity. Based on these LDPC codes, we achieve high-efficiency Gaussian key reconciliation with slice recon-ciliation based on multilevel coding/multistage decoding with an efficiency of 93.7%.

Continuous-variable quantum authentication of physical unclonable keys: Security against an emulation attack

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolopoulos, Georgios M.

2018-01-01

We consider a recently proposed entity authentication protocol in which a physical unclonable key is interrogated by random coherent states of light, and the quadratures of the scattered light are analyzed by means of a coarse-grained homodyne detection. We derive a sufficient condition for the protocol to be secure against an emulation attack in which an adversary knows the challenge-response properties of the key and moreover, he can access the challenges during the verification. The security analysis relies on Holevo's bound and Fano's inequality, and suggests that the protocol is secure against the emulation attack for a broad range of physical parameters that are within reach of today's technology.

Five Keys for Teaching Mental Math

Science.gov (United States)

Olsen, James R.

2015-01-01

After studying the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) and brain-based learning research, James Olsen believes mental math instruction in secondary school mathematics (grades 7-12) and in teacher education programs needs increased attention. The purpose of this article is to share some keys for teaching mental math. Olsen also…

FPGA BASED HARDWARE KEY FOR TEMPORAL ENCRYPTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Lakshmi

2010-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a novel encryption scheme with time based key technique on an FPGA is presented. Time based key technique ensures right key to be entered at right time and hence, vulnerability of encryption through brute force attack is eliminated. Presently available encryption systems, suffer from Brute force attack and in such a case, the time taken for breaking a code depends on the system used for cryptanalysis. The proposed scheme provides an effective method in which the time is taken as the second dimension of the key so that the same system can defend against brute force attack more vigorously. In the proposed scheme, the key is rotated continuously and four bits are drawn from the key with their concatenated value representing the delay the system has to wait. This forms the time based key concept. Also the key based function selection from a pool of functions enhances the confusion and diffusion to defend against linear and differential attacks while the time factor inclusion makes the brute force attack nearly impossible. In the proposed scheme, the key scheduler is implemented on FPGA that generates the right key at right time intervals which is then connected to a NIOS – II processor (a virtual microcontroller which is brought out from Altera FPGA that communicates with the keys to the personal computer through JTAG (Joint Test Action Group communication and the computer is used to perform encryption (or decryption. In this case the FPGA serves as hardware key (dongle for data encryption (or decryption.

The impact of hypnotic suggestibility in clinical care settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Montgomery, Guy H; Schnur, Julie B; David, Daniel

2011-07-01

Hypnotic suggestibility has been described as a powerful predictor of outcomes associated with hypnotic interventions. However, there have been no systematic approaches to quantifying this effect across the literature. This meta-analysis evaluates the magnitude of the effect of hypnotic suggestibility on hypnotic outcomes in clinical settings. PsycINFO and PubMed were searched from their inception through July 2009. Thirty-four effects from 10 studies and 283 participants are reported. Results revealed a statistically significant overall effect size in the small to medium range (r = .24; 95% Confidence Interval = -0.28 to 0.75), indicating that greater hypnotic suggestibility led to greater effects of hypnosis interventions. Hypnotic suggestibility accounted for 6% of the variance in outcomes. Smaller sample size studies, use of the SHCS, and pediatric samples tended to result in larger effect sizes. The authors question the usefulness of assessing hypnotic suggestibility in clinical contexts.

'The ones that turn up are the ones that are responsible': Key stakeholders perspectives on liquor accords.

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis, Ashlee; Miller, Peter; Droste, Nicolas; McFarlane, Emma; Martino, Florentine; Palmer, Darren

2016-05-01

Liquor accords were introduced as an intervention to reduce alcohol-related harm in and around licensed venues. There have been very few evaluations of the accords, made all the more difficult given the multitude of measures that are often implemented under their banner. This study provides perspectives on the effectiveness of the liquor accords from key stakeholders who were involved in the strategy. In-depth interviews were conducted with 97 key stakeholders as part of a larger study, of which 46 spoke about the effectiveness of liquor accords. Responses were analysed using thematic analysis. Stakeholders reported the greatest benefit of liquor accords to be their ability to improve communication. Many stakeholders recognised the need for mandatory attendance and discussed whether the accords are a waste of time of resources. Stakeholders did not generally view liquor accords as effective means of reducing alcohol-related harm. There was a lack of positive feedback about liquor accords provided by stakeholders, indicating a clear need to better understand the role of liquor accords, and what they aim to achieve. Responsive regulation theory suggests that the dual roles of communication and intervention are confused, leading to some of the inherent problems with accords. The role and aims of liquor accords need to be clearly defined. The findings suggest that separating the communication and regulatory functions from accords will lead to a clearer role for accords, and interventions and regulation might be better placed in the hands of regulators and enforcement. [Curtis A, Miller P, Droste N, McFarlane E, Martino F, Palmer D. 'The ones that turn up are the ones that are responsible': Key stakeholders perspectives on liquor accords. Drug Alcohol Rev 2016;35:273-279]. © 2016 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

A key for the identification of the tintinnoinea of the mediterranean sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rampi, L.; Zattera, A.

1982-01-01

A key for the identification of Tintinnoinea is presented. The key's main aplication will be in the fields of production studies, species succession and alteration of the species composition caused by pollution of various origin. Each species described is accompanied by an appropriate drawing either an original or from published source, arranged in 45 plates. The key consists of two parts. One is a key to genera and the other a key to the species of mediterranean pelagic Tintinnoinea. The key is preceeded by an introduction into the general morphology of Tintinnoinea and of their principle morphological feature. This introduction is accompanied by 1 plate

Fate of key odorants in Sauternes wines through aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Bailly, Sabine; Jerkovic, Vesna; Meurée, Ariane; Timmermans, Aurore; Collin, Sonia

2009-09-23

Recent work has revealed the importance of polyfunctional thiols in young Sauternes wines, but very little is yet known about the fate of such compounds during aging in the bottle. In this study, two Sauternes wines were investigated by gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and gas chromatography-pulsed flame photometric detector (GC-PFPD) after XAD 2 and thiol-specific extractions. Most polyfunctional thiols (3-sulfanylpropyl acetate, 2-sulfanylethyl acetate, 3-methyl-3-sulfanylbutanal, etc.) proved to be completely degraded after 2 years of bottle aging in a cellar. Only 3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol was still found in aged samples at concentrations above its threshold value. Most other key odorants found in the young noble rot wine were still detected 5-6 years after harvest: varietal aroma (alpha-terpineol), sotolon, fermentation alcohols (3-methylbutan-1-ol and 2-phenylethanol) and esters (ethyl butyrate, isobutyrate, hexanoate, and isovalerate), and oak maturation-related compounds (guaiacol, vanillin, eugenol, beta-damascenone, trans-non-2-enal, beta-methyl-gamma-octalactone, gamma-nonalactone, and furaneol), as well as three newly identified aromas exhibiting interesting cake, honey-like, and dried apricot odors: homofuraneol, theaspirane, and gamma-decalactone. Interestingly, abhexon, never mentioned in sweet wines before, was found to be synthesized during bottle aging. An optimized extraction method allowed us to quantify this honey/spicy compound at levels close to its threshold value (up to 7 microg/L after 5-6 years), thus suggesting a key role of this strong odorant in old Sauternes wines.

Quantum-key-distribution protocol with pseudorandom bases

Science.gov (United States)

Trushechkin, A. S.; Tregubov, P. A.; Kiktenko, E. O.; Kurochkin, Y. V.; Fedorov, A. K.

2018-01-01

Quantum key distribution (QKD) offers a way for establishing information-theoretical secure communications. An important part of QKD technology is a high-quality random number generator for the quantum-state preparation and for post-processing procedures. In this work, we consider a class of prepare-and-measure QKD protocols, utilizing additional pseudorandomness in the preparation of quantum states. We study one of such protocols and analyze its security against the intercept-resend attack. We demonstrate that, for single-photon sources, the considered protocol gives better secret key rates than the BB84 and the asymmetric BB84 protocols. However, the protocol strongly requires single-photon sources.

Key Management Strategies for Safeguards Authentication and Encryption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coram, M.; Hymel, R.; McDaniel, M.; Brotz, J.

2015-01-01

Management of cryptographic keys for the authentication and encryption of safeguards data can be the critical weak link in the practical implementation of information security. Within the safeguards community, there is the need to validate that data has not been modified at any point since generation and that it was generated by the monitoring node and not an imposter. In addition, there is the need for that data to be transmitted securely between the monitoring node and the monitoring party such that it cannot be intercepted and read while in transit. Encryption and digital signatures support the required confidentiality and authenticity but challenges exist in managing the cryptographic keys they require. Technologies developed at Sandia National Laboratories have evolved in their use of an associated key management strategy. The first generation system utilized a shared secret key for digital signatures. While fast and efficient, it required that a list of keys be maintained and protected. If control of the key was lost, fraudulent data could be made to look authentic. The second generation changed to support public key / private key cryptography. The key pair is generated by the system, the public key shared, and the private key held internally. This approach eliminated the need to maintain the list of keys. It also allows the public key to be provided to anyone needing to authenticate the data without allowing them to spoof data. A third generation system, currently under development, improves upon the public key / private key approach to address a potential man-in-the-middle attack related to the sharing of the public key. In a planned fourth generation system, secure key exchange protocols will distribute session keys for encryption, eliminating another fixed set of keys utilized by the technology and allowing for periodic renegotiation of keys for enhanced security. (author)

Rift Valley fever phlebovirus NSs protein core domain structure suggests molecular basis for nuclear filaments.

Science.gov (United States)

Barski, Michal; Brennan, Benjamin; Miller, Ona K; Potter, Jane A; Vijayakrishnan, Swetha; Bhella, David; Naismith, James H; Elliott, Richard M; Schwarz-Linek, Ulrich

2017-09-15

Rift Valley fever phlebovirus (RVFV) is a clinically and economically important pathogen increasingly likely to cause widespread epidemics. RVFV virulence depends on the interferon antagonist non-structural protein (NSs), which remains poorly characterized. We identified a stable core domain of RVFV NSs (residues 83-248), and solved its crystal structure, a novel all-helical fold organized into highly ordered fibrils. A hallmark of RVFV pathology is NSs filament formation in infected cell nuclei. Recombinant virus encoding the NSs core domain induced intranuclear filaments, suggesting it contains all essential determinants for nuclear translocation and filament formation. Mutations of key crystal fibril interface residues in viruses encoding full-length NSs completely abrogated intranuclear filament formation in infected cells. We propose the fibrillar arrangement of the NSs core domain in crystals reveals the molecular basis of assembly of this key virulence factor in cell nuclei. Our findings have important implications for fundamental understanding of RVFV virulence.

Key factors influencing the implementation success of home telecare application.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Postema, T.R.F.; Peeters, J.M.; Friele, R.D.

2012-01-01

Rationale: The introduction of home telecare in healthcare organizations has shown mixed results in practice. The aim of this study is to arrive at a set of key factors that can be used in further implementation of video communication. We argue that key factors are mainly found in the organizational

Creativity at the Place of Work: Studies of Suggestors and Suggestion Systems in Industry

Science.gov (United States)

Ekvall, Goran

1976-01-01

In the context of an industrial organization, the term "suggestion system" means an administrative procedure for collecting, judging, and compensating ideas for improvements conceived by the employees. Four different problem areas of the suggestion system are examined to determine whether the psychological advantages claimed for the suggestion…

Harry Potter and the Dichotomous Key

Science.gov (United States)

Crowther, David T.

2003-01-01

In this lesson, students use Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans--a "wild" candy written about in the Harry Potter books and now available in stores--to learn about classification and dichotomous keys. In these activities, students sort jelly beans according to a key and then construct a key for a "new" flavor of beans. Students then build on their…

KEY COMPARISON: Key comparison CCQM-K60: Total selenium and selenomethionine in selenised wheat flour

Science.gov (United States)

Goenaga Infante, Heidi; Sargent, Mike

2010-01-01

Key comparison CCQM-K60 was performed to assess the analytical capabilities of national metrology institutes (NMIs) to accurately quantitate the mass fraction of selenomethionine (SeMet) and total selenium (at low mg kg-1 levels) in selenised wheat flour. It was organized by the Inorganic Analysis Working Group (IAWG) of the Comité Consultatif pour la Quantité de Matière (CCQM) as a follow-up key comparison to the previous pilot study CCQM-P86 on selenised yeast tablets. LGC Limited (Teddington, UK) and the Institute for National Measurement Standards, National Research Council Canada (NRCC, Ottawa, Canada) acted as the coordinating laboratories. CCQM-K60 was organized in parallel with a pilot study (CCQM-P86.1) involving not only NMIs but also expert laboratories worldwide, thus enabling them to assess their capabilities, discover problems and learn how to modify analytical procedures accordingly. Nine results for total Se and four results for SeMet were reported by the participant NMIs. Methods used for sample preparation were microwave assisted acid digestion for total Se and multiple-step enzymatic hydrolysis and hydrolysis with methanesulfonic acid for SeMet. For total Se, detection techniques included inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) with external calibration, standard additions or isotope dilution analysis (IDMS); instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA); and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) with external calibration. For determination of SeMet in the wheat flour sample, the four NMIs relied upon measurements using species-specific IDMS (using 76Se-enriched SeMet) with HPLC-ICP-MS. Eight of the nine participating NMIs reported results for total Se within 3.5% deviation from the key comparison reference value (KCRV). For SeMet, the four participating NMIs reported results within 3.2% deviation from the KCRV. This shows that the performance of the majority of the CCQM-K60 participants was very good

Accessible tourism: the golden key in the future for the specialized travel agencies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gamze Özogul

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the comprehension of the importance of “Accessible Tourism” for the specialized travel agencies by proposing suggestions and key factors to improve the supply of accessible tourism offers. Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts specialized travel agencies on the accessible tourism perspective of disabled tourist flows. Also, this paper describes the circumstances, social, politic, economic consequences and key decisions that thereby Turkey would be recognized, preferring, establishing on the intention of purchased and suggested positive word of mouth among people. Findings – According to European Commission (EU (2013 more than half of the individuals with disabilities in the EU made approximately 170 million day trips and a similar number of overnight trips within the EU during the 12 months between mid-2012 and mid-2013. Despite the developments in tourism, lack of product/service appropriate to the travel rights of the individuals with accessibility needs is one of the obstacles should be overcome. Accessible tourism is one of the keys for the survival of the specialized travel agencies in the future. Providing appropriate product/service by targeting the individuals with accessibility needs together with a correct approach and strategy, the specialized travel agencies will be able to have a competitive advantage and continue their activities. Also this market segment will create having sustainable activity and a golden opportunity for the specialized travel agencies in the future. Originality/value – Little research has been done on accessible tourism, future development and on the impact that disabled tourists have on tourism. The paper presents suggestions on what the specialized travel agencies should do with regards to making Turkey be preferred in the future by the individuals having accessibility needs.

Towards optimised information about clinical trials; identification and validation of key issues in collaboration with cancer patient advocates.

Science.gov (United States)

Dellson, P; Nilbert, M; Bendahl, P-O; Malmström, P; Carlsson, C

2011-07-01

Clinical trials are crucial to improve cancer treatment but recruitment is difficult. Optimised patient information has been recognised as a key issue. In line with the increasing focus on patients' perspectives in health care, we aimed to study patients' opinions about the written information used in three clinical trials for breast cancer. Primary data collection was done in focus group interviews with breast cancer patient advocates. Content analysis identified three major themes: comprehensibility, emotions and associations, and decision making. Based on the advocates' suggestions for improvements, 21 key issues were defined and validated through a questionnaire in an independent group of breast cancer patient advocates. Clear messages, emotionally neutral expressions, careful descriptions of side effects, clear comparisons between different treatment alternatives and information about the possibility to discontinue treatment were perceived as the most important issues. Patients' views of the information in clinical trials provide new insights and identify key issues to consider in optimising future written information and may improve recruitment to clinical cancer trials. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Transcriptome analysis elucidates key developmental components of bryozoan lophophore development

KAUST Repository

Wong, Yue Him

2014-10-10

The most recent phylogenomic study suggested that Bryozoa (Ectoprocta), Brachiopoda, and Phoronida are monophyletic, implying that the lophophore of bryozoans, phoronids and brachiopods is a synapomorphy. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of the lophophore development of the Lophophorata clade can therefore provide us a new insight into the formation of the diverse morphological traits in metazoans. In the present study, we profiled the transcriptome of the Bryozoan (Ectoproct) Bugula neritina during the swimming larval stage (SW) and the early (4 h) and late (24 h) metamorphic stages using the Illumina HiSeq2000 platform. Various genes that function in development, the immune response and neurogenesis showed differential expression levels during metamorphosis. In situ hybridization of 23 genes that participate in the Wnt, BMP, Notch, and Hedgehog signaling pathways revealed their regulatory roles in the development of the lophophore and the ancestrula digestive tract. Our findings support the hypothesis that developmental precursors of the lophophore and the ancestrula digestive tract are pre-patterned by the differential expression of key developmental genes according to their fate. This study provides a foundation to better understand the developmental divergence and/or convergence among developmental precursors of the lophophore of bryozoans, branchiopods and phoronids.

KEY COMPARISON: CCQM-K61: Quantitation of a linearised plasmid DNA, based on a matched standard in a matrix of non-target DNA

Science.gov (United States)

Woolford, Alison; Holden, Marcia; Salit, Marc; Burns, Malcolm; Ellison, Stephen L. R.

2009-01-01

Key comparison CCQM-K61 was performed to demonstrate and document the capability of interested national metrology institutes in the determination of the quantity of specific DNA target in an aqueous solution. The study provides support for the following measurement claim: "Quantitation of a linearised plasmid DNA, based on a matched standard in a matrix of non-target DNA". The comparison was an activity of the Bioanalysis Working Group (BAWG) of the Comité Consultatif pour la Quantité de Matière and was coordinated by NIST (Gaithersburg, USA) and LGC (Teddington, UK). The following laboratories (in alphabetical order) participated in this key comparison. DMSC (Thailand); IRMM (European Union); KRISS (Republic of Korea); LGC (UK); NIM (China); NIST (USA); NMIA (Australia); NMIJ (Japan); VNIIM (Russian Federation) Good agreement was observed between the reported results of all nine of the participants. Uncertainty estimates did not account fully for the dispersion of results even after allowance for possible inhomogeneity in calibration materials. Preliminary studies suggest that the effects of fluorescence threshold setting might contribute to the excess dispersion, and further study of this topic is suggested Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCQM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).

APLICACIONES EDUCATIVAS DE LA TEORÍA VYGOTSKIANA. EL PROGRAMA (“KEY TO LEARNING” APPLICATIONS OF VYGOTSKY’S THEORY TO EDUCATION. THE “KEY TO LEARNING” PROGRAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moisés Esteban Guitart

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Resumen:En ciencias de la educación, las últimas décadas han estado marcadas por un interés en las ideas de Lev S. Vygotski. De hecho, a partir de esas ideas se han propuesto varias aplicaciones educativas. Una de ellas es el “Key to learning”. El artículo propone una visión general de este programa educativo desarrollado a partir de algunos trabajos e ideas de autores rusos contemporáneos. Primero, desarrollamos algunas ideas en torno a la noción de zona de desarrollo próximo (ZpD. Después, sugerimos la teoría de las habilidades de aprendizaje. En este sentido, el objetivo principal de “Key to learning” es mejorar las habilidades de aprendizaje cognitivas, comunicativas y directivas de niños de entre 3 a 7 años de edad. Para este propósito son creadas 12 unidades curriculares que componen el programa. Para concluir se enfatiza la creación de zonas de desarrollo próximo estructuradas como parte de un sistema de enseñanza y aprendizaje que vincula la actividad, la asistencia y la agencia.Abstract: The last decades have been marked in educational sciences by an upsurge of interest in Lev S. Vygotsky´s ideas. Indeed, different applications of Vygotsky’s theory to education have been suggested. One of them is the “key to learning” program. This paper proposes an overview of this educational program developed from the work and ideas of several contemporary Russian scholars. First, we develop some ideas on zone of proximal development. After that, we suggest the learning skills theory. In that sense, the main objective of “Key to learning” is to improve the cognitive, communicative, and directive learning skills of children between 3 and 7 years of age. For this purpose are created 12 curriculum units composing the program. We conclude emphasizing the creation of structured zones of proximal development as a part of a teaching-learning learning system, which links activity, assistance and agency.

Semiquantum-key distribution using less than four quantum states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou Xiangfu; Qiu Daowen; Li Lvzhou; Wu Lihua; Li Lvjun

2009-01-01

Recently Boyer et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 140501 (2007)] suggested the idea of semiquantum key distribution (SQKD) in which Bob is classical and they also proposed a semiquantum key distribution protocol (BKM2007). To discuss the security of the BKM2007 protocol, they proved that their protocol is completely robust. This means that nonzero information acquired by Eve on the information string implies the nonzero probability that the legitimate participants can find errors on the bits tested by this protocol. The BKM2007 protocol uses four quantum states to distribute a secret key. In this paper, we simplify their protocol by using less than four quantum states. In detail, we present five different SQKD protocols in which Alice sends three quantum states, two quantum states, and one quantum state, respectively. Also, we prove that all the five protocols are completely robust. In particular, we invent two completely robust SQKD protocols in which Alice sends only one quantum state. Alice uses a register in one SQKD protocol, but she does not use any register in the other. The information bit proportion of the SQKD protocol in which Alice sends only one quantum state but uses a register is the double as that in the BKM2007 protocol. Furthermore, the information bit rate of the SQKD protocol in which Alice sends only one quantum state and does not use any register is not lower than that of the BKM2007 protocol.

Key Features of the Manufacturing Vision Development Process

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dukovska-Popovska, Iskra; Riis, Jens Ove; Boer, Harry

2005-01-01

of action research. The methodology recommends wide participation of people from different hierarchical and functional positions, who engage in a relatively short, playful and creative process and come up with a vision (concept) for the future manufacturing system in the company. Based on three case studies......This paper discusses the key features of the process of Manufacturing Vision Development, a process that enables companies to develop their future manufacturing concept. The basis for the process is a generic five-phase methodology (Riis and Johansen 2003) developed as a result of ten years...... of companies going through the initial phases of the methodology, this research identified the key features of the Manufacturing Vision Development process. The paper elaborates the key features by defining them, discussing how and when they can appear, and how they influence the process....

[The Key Technology Study on Cloud Computing Platform for ECG Monitoring Based on Regional Internet of Things].

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Shu; Qiu, Yuyan; Shi, Bo

2016-09-01

This paper explores the methods of building the internet of things of a regional ECG monitoring, focused on the implementation of ECG monitoring center based on cloud computing platform. It analyzes implementation principles of automatic identifi cation in the types of arrhythmia. It also studies the system architecture and key techniques of cloud computing platform, including server load balancing technology, reliable storage of massive smalfi les and the implications of quick search function.

VICKEY: Mining Conditional Keys on Knowledge Bases

OpenAIRE

Symeonidou , Danai; Galárraga , Luis; Pernelle , Nathalie; Saïs , Fatiha; Suchanek , Fabian

2017-01-01

International audience; A conditional key is a key constraint that is valid in only a part of the data. In this paper, we show how such keys can be mined automatically on large knowledge bases (KBs). For this, we combine techniques from key mining with techniques from rule mining. We show that our method can scale to KBs of millions of facts. We also show that the conditional keys we mine can improve the quality of entity linking by up to 47 percentage points.

Two suggestions to ''improve the utilization of ISABELLE''

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorndike, A.

1976-01-01

Two suggestions are outlined which are aimed at improving the efficiency of work in experimental areas by improving the information available to experimenters. A very good communication system would make work as efficient as possible during times when the beam is off. Here are some ideas: (1) it should be a dedicated system that is always on or can be turned on from either position, and it should be impossible for the two ends to be on different channels; (2) tv is desirable so each individual can watch what the other is doing to avoid confusion; (3) slave CRT units would be desirable so both can watch a given waveform or other test signal; and (4) it should also be possible to monitor key voltages from either location. It seems reasonable that beam information would be stored in one or more files on a disc in the on-line computer system. Each experimenter's computer could then get whatever information was desired. Handling the information by computer is straightforward, and more or less standard systems for data-base management should be applicable. Having satisfactory sensors to monitor the information that is needed seems like more of a problem, but they are required in any case

The Diversity-Multiplexing Tradeoff of Secret-Key Agreement over Multiple-Antenna Channels

KAUST Repository

Zorgui, Marwen; Rezki, Zouheir; Alomair, Basel; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2015-01-01

We study the problem of secret-key agreement between two legitimate parties, Alice and Bob, in presence an of eavesdropper Eve. There is a public channel with unlimited capacity that is available to the legitimate parties and is also observed by Eve. Our focus is on Rayleigh fading quasi-static channels. The legitimate receiver and the eavesdropper are assumed to have perfect channel knowledge of their channels. We study the system in the high-power regime. First, we define the secret-key diversity gain and the secret-key multiplexing gain. Second, we establish the secret-key diversity multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) under no channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter (CSI-T). The eavesdropper is shown to “steal” only transmit antennas. We show that, likewise the DMT without secrecy constraint, the secret-key DMT is the same either with or without full channel state information at the transmitter. This insensitivity of secret-key DMT toward CSI-T features a fundamental difference between secret-key agreement and the wiretap channel, in which secret DMT depends heavily on CSI-T. Finally, we present several secret-key DMT-achieving schemes in case of full CSI-T. We argue that secret DMT-achieving schemes are also key DMT-achieving. Moreover, we show formally that artificial noise (AN), likewise zero-forcing (ZF), is DMT-achieving. We also show that the public feedback channel improves the outage performance without having any effect on the DMT.

The Diversity-Multiplexing Tradeoff of Secret-Key Agreement over Multiple-Antenna Channels

KAUST Repository

Zorgui, Marwen

2015-10-26

We study the problem of secret-key agreement between two legitimate parties, Alice and Bob, in presence an of eavesdropper Eve. There is a public channel with unlimited capacity that is available to the legitimate parties and is also observed by Eve. Our focus is on Rayleigh fading quasi-static channels. The legitimate receiver and the eavesdropper are assumed to have perfect channel knowledge of their channels. We study the system in the high-power regime. First, we define the secret-key diversity gain and the secret-key multiplexing gain. Second, we establish the secret-key diversity multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) under no channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter (CSI-T). The eavesdropper is shown to “steal” only transmit antennas. We show that, likewise the DMT without secrecy constraint, the secret-key DMT is the same either with or without full channel state information at the transmitter. This insensitivity of secret-key DMT toward CSI-T features a fundamental difference between secret-key agreement and the wiretap channel, in which secret DMT depends heavily on CSI-T. Finally, we present several secret-key DMT-achieving schemes in case of full CSI-T. We argue that secret DMT-achieving schemes are also key DMT-achieving. Moreover, we show formally that artificial noise (AN), likewise zero-forcing (ZF), is DMT-achieving. We also show that the public feedback channel improves the outage performance without having any effect on the DMT.

VICKEY: Mining Conditional Keys on Knowledge Bases

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Symeonidou, Danai; Prado, Luis Antonio Galarraga Del; Pernelle, Nathalie

2017-01-01

A conditional key is a key constraint that is valid in only a part of the data. In this paper, we show how such keys can be mined automatically on large knowledge bases (KBs). For this, we combine techniques from key mining with techniques from rule mining. We show that our method can scale to KBs...

Choosing preclinical study models of diabetic retinopathy: key problems for consideration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mi XS

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Xue-Song Mi,1,2 Ti-Fei Yuan,3,4 Yong Ding,1 Jing-Xiang Zhong,1 Kwok-Fai So4,5 1Department of Ophthalmology, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Anatomy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Ophthalmology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; 5Guangdong-Hongkong-Macau Institute of Central Nervous System, Jinan University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China Abstract: Diabetic retinopathy (DR is the most common complication of diabetes mellitus in the eye. Although the clinical treatment for DR has already developed to a relative high level, there are still many urgent problems that need to be investigated in clinical and basic science. Currently, many in vivo animal models and in vitro culture systems have been applied to solve these problems. Many approaches have also been used to establish different DR models. However, till now, there has not been a single study model that can clearly and exactly mimic the developmental process of the human DR. Choosing the suitable model is important, not only for achieving our research goals smoothly, but also, to better match with different experimental proposals in the study. In this review, key problems for consideration in choosing study models of DR are discussed. These problems relate to clinical relevance, different approaches for establishing models, and choice of different species of animals as well as of the specific in vitro culture systems. Attending to these considerations will deepen the understanding on current study models and optimize the experimental design for the final goal of preventing DR. Keywords: animal model, in vitro culture, ex vivo culture, neurovascular dysfunction

Key Factors of Quality in the Sector of Tourism Services Providers: Case Study: Czech Republic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ida Vajčnerová

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The paper summarizes main results of partial research aimed at detection of the key factors affecting quality in the sector of tourism services providers, namely tour operators and travel agencies. A primary questionnaire survey was conducted; the researched factors were distributed in the context of service quality dimensions (Grönroos model; the dimensions were tested in relation to sex, age and education of the respondents (ANOVA; Brown-Forsythe test. Assurance was identified as the most important dimension. The output of the study is determining the significance of individual quality factors from the perspective of a potential customer when selecting a service provider.

Three key affordances for serendipity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Björneborn, Lennart

2017-01-01

Purpose Serendipity is an interesting phenomenon to study in information science as it plays a fundamental – but perhaps underestimated – role in how we discover, explore, and learn in all fields of life. The purpose of this paper is to operationalize the concept of serendipity by providing termi...... terminological “building blocks” for understanding connections between environmental and personal factors in serendipitous encounters. Understanding these connections is essential when designing affordances in physical and digital environments that can facilitate serendipity. Design....../methodology/approach In this paper, serendipity is defined as what happens when we, in unplanned ways, encounter resources (information, things, people, etc.) that we find interesting. In the outlined framework, serendipity is understood as an affordance, i.e., a usage potential when environmental and personal factors correspond...... the three key affordances and three key personal serendipity factors: curiosity, mobility, and sensitivity. Ten sub-affordances for serendipity and ten coupled personal sub-factors are also briefly outlined. Related research is compared with and mapped into the framework aiming at a theoretical validation...

Hypnotic suggestibility, cognitive inhibition, and dissociation.

Science.gov (United States)

Dienes, Zoltán; Brown, Elizabeth; Hutton, Sam; Kirsch, Irving; Mazzoni, Giuliana; Wright, Daniel B

2009-12-01

We examined two potential correlates of hypnotic suggestibility: dissociation and cognitive inhibition. Dissociation is the foundation of two of the major theories of hypnosis and other theories commonly postulate that hypnotic responding is a result of attentional abilities (including inhibition). Participants were administered the Waterloo-Stanford Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form C. Under the guise of an unrelated study, 180 of these participants also completed: a version of the Dissociative Experiences Scale that is normally distributed in non-clinical populations; a latent inhibition task, a spatial negative priming task, and a memory task designed to measure negative priming. The data ruled out even moderate correlations between hypnotic suggestibility and all the measures of dissociation and cognitive inhibition overall, though they also indicated gender differences. The results are a challenge for existing theories of hypnosis.

Setting Organizational Key Performance Indicators in the Precision Machine Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mei-Hsiu Hong

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research is to define (or set organizational key performance indicators (KPIs in the precision machine industry using the concept of core competence and the supply chain operations reference (SCOR model. The research is conducted in three steps. In the first step, a benchmarking study is conducted to collect major items of core competence and to group them into main categories in order to form a foundation for the research. In the second step, a case company questionnaire and interviews are conducted to identify the key factors of core competence in the precision machine industry. The analysis is conducted based on four dimensions and hence several analysis rounds are completed. Questionnaire data is analyzed with grey relational analysis (GRA and resulted in 5–6 key factors in each dimension or sub-dimension. Based on the conducted interviews, 13 of these identified key factors are separated into one organization objective, five key factors of core competence and seven key factors of core ability. In the final step, organizational KPIs are defined (or set for the five identified key factors of core competence. The most competitive core abilities for each of the five key factors are established. After that, organizational KPIs are set based on the core abilities within 3 main categories of KPIs (departmental, office grade and hierarchal for each key factor. The developed KPI system based on organizational objectives, core competences, and core abilities allow enterprises to handle dynamic market demand and business environments, as well as changes in overall corporate objectives.

Dynamic Session-Key Generation for Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Chin-Ling

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Recently, wireless sensor networks have been used extensively in different domains. For example, if the wireless sensor node of a wireless sensor network is distributed in an insecure area, a secret key must be used to protect the transmission between the sensor nodes. Most of the existing methods consist of preselecting keys from a key pool and forming a key chain. Then, the sensor nodes make use of the key chain to encrypt the data. However, while the secret key is being transmitted, it can easily be exposed during transmission. We propose a dynamic key management protocol, which can improve the security of the key juxtaposed to existing methods. Additionally, the dynamic update of the key can lower the probability of the key to being guessed correctly. In addition, with the new protocol, attacks on the wireless sensor network can be avoided.

Dynamic Session-Key Generation for Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng-Ta Li

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Recently, wireless sensor networks have been used extensively in different domains. For example, if the wireless sensor node of a wireless sensor network is distributed in an insecure area, a secret key must be used to protect the transmission between the sensor nodes. Most of the existing methods consist of preselecting m keys from a key pool and forming a key chain. Then, the sensor nodes make use of the key chain to encrypt the data. However, while the secret key is being transmitted, it can easily be exposed during transmission. We propose a dynamic key management protocol, which can improve the security of the key juxtaposed to existing methods. Additionally, the dynamic update of the key can lower the probability of the key to being guessed correctly. In addition, with the new protocol, attacks on the wireless sensor network can be avoided.

Felker's Five Keys to Self-Concept Enhancement: Secondary Classroom Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernhoft, Franklin O.

A study incorporated Donald Felker's 5 Keys to Self-Concept Enhancement in 20 minutes of timed writing weekly or bi-weekly for three months using the Coopersmith Adult Form as pre-post measure. Felker's 5 Keys are: (1) adults, praise yourselves; (2) help children evaluate realistically; (3) teach children to set realistic goals; (4) teach children…

Securing information using optically generated biometric keys

Science.gov (United States)

Verma, Gaurav; Sinha, Aloka

2016-11-01

In this paper, we present a new technique to obtain biometric keys by using the fingerprint of a person for an optical image encryption system. The key generation scheme uses the fingerprint biometric information in terms of the amplitude mask (AM) and the phase mask (PM) of the reconstructed fingerprint image that is implemented using the digital holographic technique. Statistical tests have been conducted to check the randomness of the fingerprint PM key that enables its usage as an image encryption key. To explore the utility of the generated biometric keys, an optical image encryption system has been further demonstrated based on the phase retrieval algorithm and the double random phase encoding scheme in which keys for the encryption are used as the AM and the PM key. The advantage associated with the proposed scheme is that the biometric keys’ retrieval requires the simultaneous presence of the fingerprint hologram and the correct knowledge of the reconstruction parameters at the decryption stage, which not only verifies the authenticity of the person but also protects the valuable fingerprint biometric features of the keys. Numerical results are carried out to prove the feasibility and the effectiveness of the proposed encryption system.

On the Security of a Simple Three-Party Key Exchange Protocol without Server’s Public Keys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junghyun Nam

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Authenticated key exchange protocols are of fundamental importance in securing communications and are now extensively deployed for use in various real-world network applications. In this work, we reveal major previously unpublished security vulnerabilities in the password-based authenticated three-party key exchange protocol according to Lee and Hwang (2010: (1 the Lee-Hwang protocol is susceptible to a man-in-the-middle attack and thus fails to achieve implicit key authentication; (2 the protocol cannot protect clients’ passwords against an offline dictionary attack; and (3 the indistinguishability-based security of the protocol can be easily broken even in the presence of a passive adversary. We also propose an improved password-based authenticated three-party key exchange protocol that addresses the security vulnerabilities identified in the Lee-Hwang protocol.

Suggestibility and signal detection performance in hallucination-prone students.

Science.gov (United States)

Alganami, Fatimah; Varese, Filippo; Wagstaff, Graham F; Bentall, Richard P

2017-03-01

Auditory hallucinations are associated with signal detection biases. We examine the extent to which suggestions influence performance on a signal detection task (SDT) in highly hallucination-prone and low hallucination-prone students. We also explore the relationship between trait suggestibility, dissociation and hallucination proneness. In two experiments, students completed on-line measures of hallucination proneness (the revised Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale; LSHS-R), trait suggestibility (Inventory of Suggestibility) and dissociation (Dissociative Experiences Scale-II). Students in the upper and lower tertiles of the LSHS-R performed an auditory SDT. Prior to the task, suggestions were made pertaining to the number of expected targets (Experiment 1, N = 60: high vs. low suggestions; Experiment 2, N = 62, no suggestion vs. high suggestion vs. no voice suggestion). Correlational and regression analyses indicated that trait suggestibility and dissociation predicted hallucination proneness. Highly hallucination-prone students showed a higher SDT bias in both studies. In Experiment 1, both bias scores were significantly affected by suggestions to the same degree. In Experiment 2, highly hallucination-prone students were more reactive to the high suggestion condition than the controls. Suggestions may affect source-monitoring judgments, and this effect may be greater in those who have a predisposition towards hallucinatory experiences.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT – KEY FACTORS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magdalena Daniela DINU

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper exposes Supply Chain Management by its key factors. Briefly, where the Supply Chain Management is treated as strategic part of a company then maintaining both control and influence throughout the entire supply chain are key factors and critical to success. On the other hand, finding the right partner to manage the non-strategic Supply Chains would be another key factor too. To define the most important key factors within Supply Chain Management means a deeply understanding of both Supply Chain’ s components, procedures, workflow, processes and the importance of Supply Chain Management into maximizing company's value. SCORE model able to provide solid information about measuring performance and identifying priorities within Supply Chain Management will help us to understand the key factors by analyzing its elements: Plan, Source, Make, Deliver,Return, Enable. These elements covers all the challenging areas from first to third tier of Supply Chain Management.

Key Management Schemes for Peer-to-Peer Multimedia Streaming Overlay Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Naranjo, J. A. M.; López-Ramos, J. A.; Casado, L. G.

Key distribution for multimedia live streaming peer-to-peer overlay networks is a field still in its childhood stage. A scheme designed for networks of this kind must seek security and efficiency while keeping in mind the following restrictions: limited bandwidth, continuous playing, great audience size and clients churn. This paper introduces two novel schemes that allow a trade-off between security and efficiency by allowing to dynamically vary the number of levels used in the key hierarchy. These changes are motivated by great variations in audience size, and initiated by decision of the Key Server. Additionally, a comparative study of both is presented, focusing on security and audience size. Results show that larger key hierarchies can supply bigger audiences, but offer less security against statistical attacks. The opposite happens for shorter key hierarchies.

Information Systems Management: an Australian view of the key issues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Graham Pervan

1994-05-01

Full Text Available Studies investigating the key issues in IS management serve to better understand the concerns of IS managers and help to guide IS researchers in choosing IS management problems worthy of investigation. This paper presents results from a study of the key issues facing the IS managers of Australia's largest 300 organisations which is part of a three-yearly longitudinal study. In order to gain consensus on the relative importance of the key issues, a three-round Delphi method was applied. The results reveal that IS strategic planning continues to be the paramount issue in our industry, as are many issues associated with IS strategic planning, including responsiveness of the IT infrastructure, effective use of the data resource, IS for competitive advantage, and a comprehensive information architecture. A greater emphasis on quality is also revealed in highly rated issues such as effective use of the data resource, data integrity and quality assurance, and the quality of software development

Model plant Key Measurement Points

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, R.A.

1984-01-01

For IAEA safeguards a Key Measurement Point is defined as the location where nuclear material appears in such a form that it may be measured to determine material flow or inventory. This presentation describes in an introductory manner the key measurement points and associated measurements for the model plant used in this training course

A New Three Dimensional Based Key Generation Technique in AVK

Science.gov (United States)

Banerjee, Subhasish; Dutta, Manash Pratim; Bhunia, Chandan Tilak

2017-08-01

In modern era, ensuring high order security becomes one and only objective of computer networks. From the last few decades, many researchers have given their contributions to achieve the secrecy over the communication channel. In achieving perfect security, Shannon had done the pioneer work on perfect secret theorem and illustrated that secrecy of the shared information can be maintained if the key becomes variable in nature instead of static one. In this regard, a key generation technique has been proposed where the key can be changed every time whenever a new block of data needs to be exchanged. In our scheme, the keys not only vary in bit sequences but also in size. The experimental study is also included in this article to prove the correctness and effectiveness of our proposed technique.

Video Feedback in Key Word Signing Training for Preservice Direct Support Staff

Science.gov (United States)

Rombouts, Ellen; Meuris, Kristien; Maes, Bea; De Meyer, Anne-Marie; Zink, Inge

2016-01-01

Purpose: Research has demonstrated that formal training is essential for professionals to learn key word signing. Yet, the particular didactic strategies have not been studied. Therefore, this study compared the effectiveness of verbal and video feedback in a key word signing training for future direct support staff. Method: Forty-nine future…

The role of key image notes in CT imaging study interpretation.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Shu-Feng; Xu, Zhe; He, Hai-Qing; Ding, Jian-Rong; Teng, Gao-Jun

2011-04-01

The objective of the study was to investigate the clinical effects of CT key image notes (KIN) in the interpretation of a CT image study. All experiments were approved by the ethics committee of the local district. Six experienced radiologists were equally divided into routine reporting (RR) group and KIN reporting (KIN) group. CT scans of each 100 consecutive cases before and after using KIN technique were randomly selected, and the reports were made by group RR and KIN, respectively. All the reports were again reviewed 3 months later by both groups. All the results with using or not using KIN were interpreted and reinterpreted after 3 months by six clinicians, who were experienced in picture archiving and communication system (PACS) applications and were equally divided into the clinical routine report group and the clinical KIN report group, respectively. The results were statistically analyzed; the time used in making a report, the re-reading time 3 months later, and the consistency of imaging interpretation were determined and compared between groups. After using KIN technique, the time used in making a report was significantly increased (8.77 ± 5.27 vs. 10.53 ± 5.71 min, P < 0.05), the re-reading time was decreased (5.23 ± 2.54 vs. 4.99 ± 1.70 min, P < 0.05), the clinical interpretation and reinterpretation time after 3 months were decreased, and the consistency of the interpretation, reinterpretation between different doctors in different time was markedly improved (P < 0.01). CT report with KIN technique in PACS can significantly improve the consistency of the interpretation and efficiency in routine clinical work.

SpaceWire Tiger Team Findings and Suggestions

Science.gov (United States)

Ishac, Joseph A.

2011-01-01

This technical report intends to highlight the key findings and recommendations of the SpaceWire Tiger Team for the CoNNeCT project. It covers findings which are technical in nature, covering design concepts and approaches.

Benchmarking Non Public Hospitals in Puerto Rico: A Key Component in the Financial Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arisbel Ramos Martin

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Benchmarking is considered a key component of the organizational performance measurement system. This study examines a sample of 53 profit and nonprofit hospitals registered in the American Hospital Directory, through four financial dimensions: liquidity, efficiency, profitability and capital structure. The purpose of the study is to validate whether the financial industry benchmark differs or not from a group of 17 selected financial ratios of profit and nonprofit hospitals, to determine if their financial performance is efficient or inefficient in the Puerto Rico health care system. The findings from the research show that 53% or more of the 17 selected financial ratios, compared globally, suggest being efficient in both types of hospitals. This means that these financial ratios were greater than or equal to the industry benchmark.

Organizational participatory research: a systematic mixed studies review exposing its extra benefits and the key factors associated with them.

Science.gov (United States)

Bush, Paula L; Pluye, Pierre; Loignon, Christine; Granikov, Vera; Wright, Michael T; Pelletier, Jean-François; Bartlett-Esquilant, Gillian; Macaulay, Ann C; Haggerty, Jeannie; Parry, Sharon; Repchinsky, Carol

2017-10-10

In health, organizational participatory research (OPR) refers to health organization members participating in research decisions, with university researchers, throughout a study. This non-academic partner contribution to the research may take the form of consultation or co-construction. A drawback of OPR is that it requires more time from all those involved, compared to non-participatory research approaches; thus, understanding the added value of OPR, if any, is important. Thus, we sought to assess whether the OPR approach leads to benefits beyond what could be achieved through traditional research. We identified, selected, and appraised OPR health literature, and at each stage, two team members independently reviewed and coded the literature. We used quantitative content analysis to transform textual data into reliable numerical codes and conducted a logistic regression to test the hypothesis that a co-construction type OPR study yields extra benefits with a greater likelihood than consultation-type OPR studies. From 8873 abstracts and 992 full text papers, we distilled a sample of 107 OPR studies. We found no difference between the type of organization members' participation and the likelihood of exhibiting an extra benefit. However, the likelihood of an OPR study exhibiting at least one extra benefit is quadrupled when the impetus for the study comes from the organization, rather than the university researcher(s), or the organization and the university researcher(s) together (OR = 4.11, CI = 1.12-14.01). We also defined five types of extra benefits. This review describes the types of extra benefits OPR can yield and suggests these benefits may occur if the organization initiates the OPR. Further, this review exposes a need for OPR authors to more clearly describe the type of non-academic partner participation in key research decisions throughout the study. Detailed descriptions will benefit others conducting OPR and allow for a re-examination of the

Innovation in mental health services: what are the key components of success?

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Helen; Pilgrim, David; Rogers, Anne

2011-10-26

Service development innovation in health technology and practice is viewed as a pressing need within the field of mental health yet is relatively poorly understood. Macro-level theories have been criticised for their limited explanatory power and they may not be appropriate for understanding local and fine-grained uncertainties of services and barriers to the sustainability of change. This study aimed to identify contextual influences inhibiting or promoting the acceptance and integration of innovations in mental health services in both National Health Service (NHS) and community settings. A comparative study using qualitative and case study data collection methods, including semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and follow-up telephone interviews over a one-year period. The analysis was informed by learning organisation theory. Drawn from 11 mental health innovation projects within community, voluntary and NHS settings, 65 participants were recruited including service users, commissioners, health and non-health professionals, managers, and caregivers. The methods deployed in this evaluation focused on process-outcome links within and between the 11 projects. Key barriers to innovation included resistance from corporate departments and middle management, complexity of the innovation, and the availability and access to resources on a prospective basis within the host organisation. The results informed the construction of a proposed model of innovation implementation within mental health services. The main components of which are context, process, and outcomes. The study produced a model of conducive and impeding factors drawn from the composite picture of 11 innovative mental health projects, and this is discussed in light of relevant literature. The model provides a rich agenda to consider for services wanting to innovate or adopt innovations from elsewhere. The evaluation suggested the importance of studying innovation with a focus on context, process

Stimulated Respiration and Net Photosynthesis in Cassiopeia sp. during Glucose Enrichment Suggests in hospite CO2 Limitation of Algal Endosymbionts

KAUST Repository

Radecker, Nils

2017-08-15

The endosymbiosis between cnidarians and dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium is key to the high productivity of tropical coral reefs. In this endosymbiosis, Symbiodinium translocate most of their photosynthates to their animal host in exchange for inorganic nutrients. Among these, carbon dioxide (CO ) derived fromhost respiration helps to meet the carbon requirements to sustain photosynthesis of the dinoflagellates. Nonetheless, recent studies suggest that productivity in symbiotic cnidarians such as corals is CO -limited. Here we show that glucose enrichment stimulates respiration and gross photosynthesis rates by 80 and 140%, respectively, in the symbiotic upside-down jellyfish Cassiopeia sp. from the Central Red Sea. Our findings show that glucose was rapidly consumed and respired within the Cassiopeia sp. holobiont. The resulting increase of CO availability in hospite in turn likely stimulated photosynthesis in Symbiodinium. Hence, the increase of photosynthesis under these conditions suggests that CO limitation of Symbiodinium is a common feature of stable cnidarian holobionts and that the stimulation of holobiont metabolism may attenuate this CO limitation.

Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange through Steganographied Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amine Khaldi

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose – In a private key system, the major problem is the exchange of the key between the two parties. Diffie and Hellman have set up a way to share the key. However, this technique is not protected against a man-in-the-middle attack as the settings are not authenticated. The Diffie-Hellman key exchange requires the use of digital signature or creating a secure channel for data exchanging to avoid the man-in-the-middle attack. Methodology/approach/design – We present a Diffie-Hellman key exchange implementation using steganographied images. Using steganography made invisible the data exchange to a potential attacker. So, we will not need a digital signature or creating a secure channel to do our key exchange since only the two concerned parts are aware of this exchange. Findings – We generate a symmetric 128-bit key between two users without use of digital signature or secure channel. However, it works only on bitmap images, heavy images and sensitive to compression.

Decision Trajectories in Dementia Care Networks: Decisions and Related Key Events.

Science.gov (United States)

Groen-van de Ven, Leontine; Smits, Carolien; Oldewarris, Karen; Span, Marijke; Jukema, Jan; Eefsting, Jan; Vernooij-Dassen, Myrra

2017-10-01

This prospective multiperspective study provides insight into the decision trajectories of people with dementia by studying the decisions made and related key events. This study includes three waves of interviews, conducted between July 2010 and July 2012, with 113 purposefully selected respondents (people with beginning to advanced stages of dementia and their informal and professional caregivers) completed in 12 months (285 interviews). Our multilayered qualitative analysis consists of content analysis, timeline methods, and constant comparison. Four decision themes emerged-managing daily life, arranging support, community living, and preparing for the future. Eight key events delineate the decision trajectories of people with dementia. Decisions and key events differ between people with dementia living alone and living with a caregiver. Our study clarifies that decisions relate not only to the disease but to living with the dementia. Individual differences in decision content and sequence may effect shared decision-making and advance care planning.

Interactive simulations for quantum key distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Kohnle, Antje; Rizzoli, Aluna

2017-05-01

Secure communication protocols are becoming increasingly important, e.g. for internet-based communication. Quantum key distribution (QKD) allows two parties, commonly called Alice and Bob, to generate a secret sequence of 0s and 1s called a key that is only known to themselves. Classically, Alice and Bob could never be certain that their communication was not compromised by a malicious eavesdropper. Quantum mechanics however makes secure communication possible. The fundamental principle of quantum mechanics that taking a measurement perturbs the system (unless the measurement is compatible with the quantum state) also applies to an eavesdropper. Using appropriate protocols to create the key, Alice and Bob can detect the presence of an eavesdropper by errors in their measurements. As part of the QuVis Quantum Mechanics Visualisation Project, we have developed a suite of four interactive simulations that demonstrate the basic principles of three different QKD protocols. The simulations use either polarised photons or spin 1/2 particles as physical realisations. The simulations and accompanying activities are freely available for use online or download, and run on a wide range of devices including tablets and PCs. Evaluation with students over three years was used to refine the simulations and activities. Preliminary studies show that the refined simulations and activities help students learn the basic principles of QKD at both the introductory and advanced undergraduate levels.

Interactive simulations for quantum key distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kohnle, Antje; Rizzoli, Aluna

2017-01-01

Secure communication protocols are becoming increasingly important, e.g. for internet-based communication. Quantum key distribution (QKD) allows two parties, commonly called Alice and Bob, to generate a secret sequence of 0s and 1s called a key that is only known to themselves. Classically, Alice and Bob could never be certain that their communication was not compromised by a malicious eavesdropper. Quantum mechanics however makes secure communication possible. The fundamental principle of quantum mechanics that taking a measurement perturbs the system (unless the measurement is compatible with the quantum state) also applies to an eavesdropper. Using appropriate protocols to create the key, Alice and Bob can detect the presence of an eavesdropper by errors in their measurements. As part of the QuVis Quantum Mechanics Visualisation Project, we have developed a suite of four interactive simulations that demonstrate the basic principles of three different QKD protocols. The simulations use either polarised photons or spin 1/2 particles as physical realisations. The simulations and accompanying activities are freely available for use online or download, and run on a wide range of devices including tablets and PCs. Evaluation with students over three years was used to refine the simulations and activities. Preliminary studies show that the refined simulations and activities help students learn the basic principles of QKD at both the introductory and advanced undergraduate levels. (paper)

E-Commerce Performance. Shopping Cart Key Performance Indicators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihaela I. MUNTEAN

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In an e-commerce performance framework is important to identify the key performance indicators that measure success and together provide the greatest context into the business perfor-mance. Shopping carts are an essential part of ecommerce, a minimal set of key performance indicators being the subject of our debate. The theoretical approach is sustained by a case study, an e-shop implemented using PHP and MySQL, for simulating main business processes within the considered performance framework. Our approach opens a perspective for future research using additional indicators in order to properly evaluate the global performance of any e-shop.

Key Factors Affecting Construction Safety Performance in Developing Countries: Evidence from Cambodia

OpenAIRE

Durdyev, Serdar; Mohamed, Sherif; Lay, Meng Leang; Ismail, Syuhaida

2017-01-01

Although proper safety management in construction is of utmost importance; anecdotal evidence suggests that safety is not adequately considered in many developing countries. This paper considers the key variables affecting construction safety performance in Cambodia. Using an empirical questionnaire survey targeting local construction professionals, respondents were invited to rate the level of importance of 30 variables identified from the seminal literature. The data set was subjected to f...

The advances in radiation processing technology and some suggestion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Jilan; Wei Genshuan; Ha Hongfei

1992-01-01

Radiation processing technology has been made great advances in the last decade especially in the developed countries. According to the conservative evaluation, the total sales of radiation processing products approached about 2-3 billion U.S. dollar in 1981, there after, the processing capacity at least doubles. Now, the intensities of 60 Co in use for radiation processing are (5.55-7.40) x 10 18 Bq and there are about 600 sets of electron accelerators for radiation processing. The total sales of radiation processing products are supposed to be over 10 billion U.S. dollar in 1989. However, there are only several fields commercialized. In great scale, such as radiation crosslinked heat shrinkable materials, radiation crosslinked electric cables and wires, and radiation sterilization of medical articles. In China, the radiation processing technology has been developed rapidly in the past years, but the processing capacity is still lower in comparing with developed countries. We suggest that much attention should be devoted to the training of the workers, technicians and managers. The basic theoretical and new technological researches are the keys for developing radiation processing technology at high speed in our country

A Novel Key Distribution Solution for Combined Public/Secret Key ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Moreover, an implementation over the new IPv6 Internet protocol is presented such that the system can be ported to both wired and wireless networking environments. Keywords: cryptography, key distribution, security server. AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL... for Researchers · for Librarians · for Authors ...

Revisiting Employee Assistance Programs and Substance Use Problems in the Workplace: Key Issues and a Research Agenda

Science.gov (United States)

Levy Merrick, Elizabeth S.; Volpe-Vartanian, Joanna; Horgan, Constance M.; McCann, Bernard

2012-01-01

This column describes employee assistance program (EAPs) and identifies key issues for contemporary EAPs. These programs began as occupational alcohol programs and have evolved into more comprehensive resources. To better understand contemporary EAPs, the authors suggest a research agenda at includes descriptive studies to provide an up-to-date picture of services; investigations of how contemporary EAPs address substance use problems, including management consultation for early identification; further study of EAPs’ effects on outcomes, such as productivity and work group outcomes; examination of the relationship between EAPs and other workplace resources; further examination of influences on EAP utilization; and development and testing of EAP performance measures. PMID:17914000

Application of the ex-Gaussian function to the effect of the word blindness suggestion on Stroop task performance suggests no word blindness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin Andrew Parris

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present paper was to apply the ex-Gaussian function to data reported by Parris et al. (2012 given its utility in studies involving the Stroop task. Parris et al. showed an effect of the word blindness suggestion when Response-Stimulus Interval (RSI was 500ms but not when it was 3500ms. Analysis revealed that: 1 The effect of the suggestion on interference is observed in µ, supporting converging evidence indicating the suggestion operates over response competition mechanisms; and, 2 Contrary to Parris et al., an effect of the suggestion was observed in µ when RSI was 3500ms. The reanalysis of the data from Parris et al. (2012 supports the utility of ex-Gaussian analysis in revealing effects that might otherwise be thought of as absent. We suggest that word reading itself is not suppressed by the suggestion but instead that response conflict is dealt with more effectively.

Enciphered Data Steganography Using Secret Key

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BANGALORE G.Tilak

2010-10-01

Full Text Available A new method is proposed to maintain thesecrecy of data by enciphering and embedding using asecret key. There is no restriction on the length of thekey used to encipher and embed the data. Since the keyis not stored for validation, it prevents unauthorizedaccess to the key, even if decoding procedure is known.The correct message can be recovered only with thespecific key used in encipherment and embedding. Thismethod can also be used for multiple levelsteganography.

Test and lower bound modeling of keyed shear connections in RC shear walls

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Jesper Harrild; Herfelt, Morten Andersen; Hoang, Linh Cao

2018-01-01

This paper presents an investigation into the ultimate behavior of a recently developed design for keyed shear connections. The influence of the key depth on the failure mode and ductility of the connection has been studied by push-off tests. The tests showed that connections with larger key...

Future costs of key low-carbon energy technologies: Harmonization and aggregation of energy technology expert elicitation data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, Erin; Bosetti, Valentina; Anadon, Laura Diaz; Henrion, Max; Aleluia Reis, Lara

2015-01-01

In this paper we standardize, compare, and aggregate results from thirteen surveys of technology experts, performed over a period of five years using a range of different methodologies, but all aiming at eliciting expert judgment on the future cost of five key energy technologies and how future costs might be influenced by public R&D investments. To enable researchers and policy makers to use the wealth of collective knowledge obtained through these expert elicitations we develop and present a set of assumptions to harmonize them. We also aggregate expert estimates within each study and across studies to facilitate the comparison. The analysis showed that, as expected, technology costs are expected to go down by 2030 with increasing levels of R&D investments, but that there is not a high level of agreement between individual experts or between studies regarding the technology areas that would benefit the most from R&D investments. This indicates that further study of prospective cost data may be useful to further inform R&D investments. We also found that the contributions of additional studies to the variance of costs in one technology area differed by technology area, suggesting that (barring new information about the downsides of particular forms of elicitations) there may be value in not only including a diverse and relatively large group of experts, but also in using different methods to collect estimates. - Highlights: • Harmonization of unique dataset on probabilistic evolution of key energy technologies. • Expectations about the impact of public R&D investments on future costs. • Highlighting the key uncertainties and a lack of consensus on cost evolution

Fully device-independent conference key agreement

Science.gov (United States)

Ribeiro, Jérémy; Murta, Gláucia; Wehner, Stephanie

2018-02-01

We present a security analysis of conference key agreement (CKA) in the most adversarial model of device independence (DI). Our protocol can be implemented by any experimental setup that is capable of performing Bell tests [specifically, the Mermin-Ardehali-Belinskii-Klyshko (MABK) inequality], and security can in principle be obtained for any violation of the MABK inequality that detects genuine multipartite entanglement among the N parties involved in the protocol. As our main tool, we derive a direct physical connection between the N -partite MABK inequality and the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality, showing that certain violations of the MABK inequality correspond to a violation of the CHSH inequality between one of the parties and the other N -1 . We compare the asymptotic key rate for device-independent conference key agreement (DICKA) to the case where the parties use N -1 device-independent quantum key distribution protocols in order to generate a common key. We show that for some regime of noise the DICKA protocol leads to better rates.

Metacognition of agency is reduced in high hypnotic suggestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Terhune, Devin B; Hedman, Love R A

2017-11-01

A disruption in the sense of agency is the primary phenomenological feature of response to hypnotic suggestions but its cognitive basis remains elusive. Here we tested the proposal that distorted volition during response to suggestions arises from poor metacognition pertaining to the sources of one's control. Highly suggestible and control participants completed a motor task in which performance was reduced through surreptitious manipulations of cursor lag and stimuli speed. Highly suggestible participants did not differ from controls in performance or metacognition of performance, but their sense of agency was less sensitive to cursor lag manipulations, suggesting reduced awareness that their control was being manipulated. These results indicate that highly suggestible individuals have aberrant metacognition of agency and may be a valuable population for studying distortions in the sense of agency. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Key World Energy Statistics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2010-07-01

The IEA produced its first handy, pocket-sized summary of key energy data in 1997. This new edition responds to the enormously positive reaction to the book since then. Key World Energy Statistics produced by the IEA contains timely, clearly-presented data on supply, transformation and consumption of all major energy sources. The interested businessman, journalist or student will have at his or her fingertips the annual Canadian production of coal, the electricity consumption in Thailand, the price of diesel oil in Spain and thousands of other useful energy facts. It exists in different formats to suit our readers' requirements.

Structural and functional cerebral correlates of hypnotic suggestibility.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexa Huber

Full Text Available Little is known about the neural bases of hypnotic suggestibility, a cognitive trait referring to the tendency to respond to hypnotic suggestions. In the present magnetic resonance imaging study, we performed regression analyses to assess hypnotic suggestibility-related differences in local gray matter volume, using voxel-based morphometry, and in waking resting state functional connectivity of 10 resting state networks, in 37 healthy women. Hypnotic suggestibility was positively correlated with gray matter volume in portions of the left superior and medial frontal gyri, roughly overlapping with the supplementary and pre-supplementary motor area, and negatively correlated with gray matter volume in the left superior temporal gyrus and insula. In the functional connectivity analysis, hypnotic suggestibility was positively correlated with functional connectivity between medial posterior areas, including bilateral posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus, and both the lateral visual network and the left fronto-parietal network; a positive correlation was also found with functional connectivity between the executive-control network and a right postcentral/parietal area. In contrast, hypnotic suggestibility was negatively correlated with functional connectivity between the right fronto-parietal network and the right lateral thalamus. These findings demonstrate for the first time a correlation between hypnotic suggestibility, the structural features of specific cortical regions, and the functional connectivity during the normal resting state of brain structures involved in imagery and self-monitoring activity.

Structural and functional cerebral correlates of hypnotic suggestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Alexa; Lui, Fausta; Duzzi, Davide; Pagnoni, Giuseppe; Porro, Carlo Adolfo

2014-01-01

Little is known about the neural bases of hypnotic suggestibility, a cognitive trait referring to the tendency to respond to hypnotic suggestions. In the present magnetic resonance imaging study, we performed regression analyses to assess hypnotic suggestibility-related differences in local gray matter volume, using voxel-based morphometry, and in waking resting state functional connectivity of 10 resting state networks, in 37 healthy women. Hypnotic suggestibility was positively correlated with gray matter volume in portions of the left superior and medial frontal gyri, roughly overlapping with the supplementary and pre-supplementary motor area, and negatively correlated with gray matter volume in the left superior temporal gyrus and insula. In the functional connectivity analysis, hypnotic suggestibility was positively correlated with functional connectivity between medial posterior areas, including bilateral posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus, and both the lateral visual network and the left fronto-parietal network; a positive correlation was also found with functional connectivity between the executive-control network and a right postcentral/parietal area. In contrast, hypnotic suggestibility was negatively correlated with functional connectivity between the right fronto-parietal network and the right lateral thalamus. These findings demonstrate for the first time a correlation between hypnotic suggestibility, the structural features of specific cortical regions, and the functional connectivity during the normal resting state of brain structures involved in imagery and self-monitoring activity.

Participants' Reactions to and Suggestions for Conducting Intimate Partner Violence Research: A Study of Rural Young Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Katie M; Greaney, Kayleigh; Palmer, Kelly M

2016-01-01

To document rural young adults' reasons for emotional reactions to participating in intimate partner violence (IPV) research as well as to hear young adults' perspectives on how to most effectively conduct comprehensive IPV research in their rural communities. The data presented in this paper draw from 2 studies (ie, an online survey study and an in-person or telephone interview study) that included the same 16 US rural counties in New England and Appalachia. Participants, 47% of whom were in both studies, were young (age range 18-24), white (92%-94%), heterosexual (89%-90%), female (62%-68%), and mostly low to middle income. Nine percent of participants reported they were upset by the questions due to personal experiences with IPV or for other reasons not related to personal IPV experiences. Forty percent of participants reported they personally benefited from participating in the study, and they provided various reasons for this benefit. Regarding suggestions for conducting IPV research with rural young adults, participants believed that both online recruitment and online data collection methods were the best ways to engage young adults, although many participants suggested that more than 1 modality was ideal, which underscores the need for multimethod approaches when conducting research with rural young adults. These findings are reassuring to those committed to conducting research on sensitive topics with rural populations and also shed light on best practices for conducting this type of research from the voices of rural young adults themselves. © 2015 National Rural Health Association.

Dissociative tendencies and individual differences in high hypnotic suggestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Terhune, Devin Blair; Cardeña, Etzel; Lindgren, Magnus

2011-03-01

Inconsistencies in the relationship between dissociation and hypnosis may result from heterogeneity among highly suggestible individuals, in particular the existence of distinct highly suggestible subtypes that are of relevance to models of psychopathology and the consequences of trauma. This study contrasted highly suggestible subtypes high or low in dissociation on measures of hypnotic responding, cognitive functioning, and psychopathology. Twenty-one low suggestible (LS), 19 low dissociative highly suggestible (LDHS), and 11 high dissociative highly suggestible (HDHS) participants were administered hypnotic suggestibility scales and completed measures of free recall, working memory capacity, imagery, fantasy-proneness, psychopathology, and exposure to stressful life events. HDHS participants were more responsive to positive and negative hallucination suggestions and experienced greater involuntariness during hypnotic responding. They also exhibited impaired working memory capacity, elevated pathological fantasy and dissociative symptomatology, and a greater incidence of exposure to stressful life events. In contrast, LDHS participants displayed superior object visual imagery. These results provide further evidence for two highly suggestible subtypes: a dissociative subtype characterised by deficits in executive functioning and a predisposition to psychopathology, and a subtype that exhibits superior imagery and no observable deficits in functioning.

Faecal analysis suggests generalist diets in three species of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The overlap in other arthropod taxa ingested was low across species and seasons, suggesting an opportunistic component to their foraging behaviour. We distinguished plant matter in faecal samples of all species in all seasons, reflecting either voluntary or accidental ingestion. The results of this study suggest that the ...

Evaluation of patients with symptoms suggestive of chronic polyneuropathy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johannsen, L; Smith, T; Havsager, A M

2001-01-01

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic yield and to describe the spectrum of diagnosis encountered by evaluation of patients with symptoms suggestive of chronic polyneuropathy. METHODS: We prospectively evaluated 198 patients referred to a department of neurology...... with symptoms suggestive of polyneuropathy. The evaluation included nerve conduction studies with near-nerve technique, quantitative examination of temperature sensation, blood tests, chest x-rays, and skin biopsies as well as diagnostic tests for differential diagnoses. RESULTS: Polyneuropathy was found in 147......%), drugs (5%), connective tissue disease (3%), and a number of less frequent conditions. A previously undiagnosed condition was found in 30% of the patients with polyneuropathy. CONCLUSION: Evaluation of patients with symptoms suggestive of polyneuropathy reveals a high fraction of patients with previously...

Mental health inpatients' and staff members' suggestions for reducing physical restraint: A qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, C; Rouse, L; Rae, S; Kar Ray, M

2018-04-01

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Restraint has negative psychological, physical and relational consequences for mental health patients and staff. Restraint reduction interventions have been developed (e.g., "Safewards"). Limited qualitative research has explored suggestions on how to reduce physical restraint (and feasibility issues with implementing interventions) from those directly involved. WHAT DOES THIS PAPER ADD TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: This paper explores mental health patients' and staff members' suggestions for reducing physical restraint, whilst addressing barriers to implementing these. Findings centred on four themes: improving communication and relationships; staffing factors; environment and space; and activities and distraction. Not all suggestions are addressed by currently available interventions. Barriers to implementation were identified, centring on a lack of time and/or resources; with the provision of more time for staff to spend with patients and implement interventions seen as essential to reducing physical restraint. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Improving communication and relationships between staff/patients, making staffing-related changes, improving ward environments and providing patient activities are central to restraint reduction in mental healthcare. Fundamental issues related to understaffing, high staff turnover, and lack of time and resources need addressing in order for suggestions to be successfully implemented. Introduction Physical restraint has negative consequences for all involved, and international calls for its reduction have emerged. Some restraint reduction interventions have been developed, but limited qualitative research explores suggestions on how to reduce physical restraint (and feasibility issues with implementation) from those directly involved. Aims To explore mental health patients' and staff members' suggestions for reducing physical restraint. Methods Interviews were conducted with 13 inpatients

Tap Dancing Around Sustainability:The Case of Palm Oil Key Stakeholders

OpenAIRE

Sulaiman, Abdul Muis

2016-01-01

The Swedish Initiative on Sustainable Palm Oil in food and cosmetic and detergent industries hasemerged in 2014 following other EU national initiatives. This thesis project aims to explore thecondition of the initiative by examining who the key important stakeholders are and how these palmoil key stakeholders in Swedish market develop and implement their Sustainable Palm OilInitiatives. A qualitative approach using case study technique is used to guide the study andsupported by a combination ...

Key numbers: Energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

The key numbers of energy give statistical data related to production, consumption, and to foreign trade of each energy in the World and in France. A chapter is dedicated to environment and brings quantitative elements on pollutant emissions connected to energy uses

Noncoherent capacity of secret-key agreement with public discussion

KAUST Repository

Agrawal, Anurag

2011-09-01

We study the noncoherent capacity of secret-key agreement with public discussion over independent identically distributed (i.i.d.) Rayleigh fading wireless channels, where neither the sender nor the receivers have access to instantaneous channel state information (CSI). We present two results. At high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the secret-key capacity is bounded in SNR, regardless of the number of antennas at each terminal. Second, for a system with a single antenna at both the legitimate and the eavesdropper terminals and an arbitrary number of transmit antennas, the secret-key capacity-achieving input distribution is discrete, with a finite number of mass points. Numerically we observe that at low SNR, the capacity achieving distribution has two mass points with one of them at the origin. © 2011 IEEE.

Noncoherent capacity of secret-key agreement with public discussion

KAUST Repository

Agrawal, Anurag; Rezki, Zouheir; Khisti, Ashish J.; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2011-01-01

We study the noncoherent capacity of secret-key agreement with public discussion over independent identically distributed (i.i.d.) Rayleigh fading wireless channels, where neither the sender nor the receivers have access to instantaneous channel state information (CSI). We present two results. At high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the secret-key capacity is bounded in SNR, regardless of the number of antennas at each terminal. Second, for a system with a single antenna at both the legitimate and the eavesdropper terminals and an arbitrary number of transmit antennas, the secret-key capacity-achieving input distribution is discrete, with a finite number of mass points. Numerically we observe that at low SNR, the capacity achieving distribution has two mass points with one of them at the origin. © 2011 IEEE.

Lunar astrobiology: a review and suggested laboratory equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

Gronstal, Aaron; Cockell, Charles S; Perino, Maria Antonietta; Bittner, Tobias; Clacey, Erik; Clark, Olathe; Ingold, Olivier; Alves de Oliveira, Catarina; Wathiong, Steven

2007-10-01

In October of 2005, the European Space Agency (ESA) and Alcatel Alenia Spazio released a "call to academia for innovative concepts and technologies for lunar exploration." In recent years, interest in lunar exploration has increased in numerous space programs around the globe, and the purpose of our study, in response to the ESA call, was to draw on the expertise of researchers and university students to examine science questions and technologies that could support human astrobiology activity on the Moon. In this mini review, we discuss astrobiology science questions of importance for a human presence on the surface of the Moon and we provide a summary of key instrumentation requirements to support a lunar astrobiology laboratory.

Key factors influencing the implementation success of a home telecare application.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Postema, T.R.F.; Peeters, J.M.; Freide, R.D.

2012-01-01

Rationale The introduction of home telecare in healthcare organizations has shown mixed results in practice. The aim of this study is to arrive at a set of key factors that can be used in further implementation of video communication. We argue that key factors are mainly found in the organizational

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS. A CASE STUDY ON THE INTEGRATED REPORTS OF AN IT COMPANY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

GORGAN CĂTĂLINA

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Our analysis relies on the 2011 integrated report published by SAP, a European IT company included in the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC Pilot Programme Business Network. The research methodology used is the analysis of the content as we search for a number of selected characteristics in the report and also for a set of key performance indicators (KPI. We use as references the guide provided by DVFA (Society of Investment Professionals in Germany and EFFAS (European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies – EFFAS (2010 for the software industry. The aim of our study is to analyse the way in which an IT company applies the guidelines recognised by the European Commission to identify and communicate the material nonfinancial information, in order to assess the organization’s abilities to create value on a short, medium and long term.

Accounting: Suggested Content for Postsecondary Tax Course

Science.gov (United States)

King, Patricia H.; Morgan, Samuel D.

1978-01-01

Surveys of community college graduates and of certified public accountants were made to determine employment relevance of the accounting curriculum. The article suggests topics from the study data which should be included in taxation courses, e.g., income tax accounting, corporate taxation accounting, and tax law. (MF)

Multiparty quantum key agreement with single particles

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Bin; Gao, Fei; Huang, Wei; Wen, Qiao-yan

2013-04-01

Two conditions must be satisfied in a secure quantum key agreement (QKA) protocol: (1) outside eavesdroppers cannot gain the generated key without introducing any error; (2) the generated key cannot be determined by any non-trivial subset of the participants. That is, a secure QKA protocol can not only prevent the outside attackers from stealing the key, but also resist the attack from inside participants, i.e. some dishonest participants determine the key alone by illegal means. How to resist participant attack is an aporia in the design of QKA protocols, especially the multi-party ones. In this paper we present the first secure multiparty QKA protocol against both outside and participant attacks. Further more, we have proved its security in detail.

Key performance indicators

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zwetsloot, G.I.J.M.

2014-01-01

This paper addresses how organisations can use OSH performance indicators. This is an important way to mainstream OSH into business management. Key performance indicators (KPIs) should provide objective data on the OSH situation. It is often said that ‘what gets measured gets managed’. Without

Is high hypnotic suggestibility necessary for successful hypnotic pain intervention?

Science.gov (United States)

Milling, Leonard S

2008-04-01

Hypnotic suggestibility is a trait-like, individual difference variable reflecting the general tendency to respond to hypnosis and hypnotic suggestions. Research with standardized measures of hypnotic suggestibility has demonstrated that there are substantial individual differences in this variable. Higher suggestibility has been found to be associated with greater relief from hypnotic pain interventions. Although individuals in the high suggestibility range show the strongest response to hypnotic analgesia, people of medium suggestibility, who represent approximately one third of the population, also have been found to obtain significant relief from hypnosis. Thus, high hypnotic suggestibility is not necessary for successful hypnotic pain intervention. However, the available evidence does not support the efficacy of hypnotic pain interventions for people who fall in the low hypnotic suggestibility range. However, some studies suggest that these individuals may benefit from imaginative analgesia suggestions, or suggestions for pain reduction that are delivered while the person is not in hypnosis.

Ranunculaceae of Western Ukraine. ІI. Generic identification key and characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew V. Novikoff

2015-05-01

Full Text Available This paper is a continue of previous work (Новіков 2013 and represents new key for identification of genera from Ranunculaceae family of Western Ukraine (Lviv, Transcarpathian (Zakarpattia, Rivne, Volhynia, Ivano- Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Ternopil and Khmelnitsk regions (oblasts. This key is consensual and do not corresponds to contemporary taxonomical tendencies in all its points because it is build for non-specialists and/or young scientists which need easy identification tool for their routine field and herbarium work. However, most of modern taxonomical changes and related publications are shortly introduced here and in my previous paper (Новіков 2013. Hence, in present work I suggest that family Ranunculaceae in Western Ukraine is represented by 2 subfamilies, 10 tribes, 22 genera and 102 species. Corresponding consensual taxonomical system is represented. Short characteristics of genera are completed by information about species number and its distribution.

Several Suggestions on the Climate Change and Its Studies

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2011-01-01

According to the abundant studies,the relevant information and comprehensive analysis of the climate changes,several important problems on the climate changes and its studies were proposed.Based on the temporal distribution of the meteorological disaster of agriculture,the wave theory was expounded so as to draw people's attention on climate changes and to be objective,just and careful about the study.

Suggestions for Documenting SOA-Based Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-01

Number FA8721-05-C-0003 with Carnegie Mellon University for the operation of the Software Engineering Institute, a federally funded research and...understandability and fo even across an enterprise. Technical reference models (see F (e.g., Oracle database managemen general in nature, and they typica...architectural pattern. CMU/SEI-2010- T Key Aspects of the Architecture unicate something that is important to the stakeholders intaining the system

Privacy for Key-Trees with Adaptive Adversaries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beye, M.; Veugen, P.J.M.

2011-01-01

Hash-lock authentication protocols for Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tags incur heavy search on the server. Key-trees have been proposed as a way to reduce search times, but because partial keys in such trees are shared, key compromise affects several tags. Butty´an [3] and Beye and Veugen

Anonymity for key-trees with adaptive adversaries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beye, M.; Veugen, P.J.M.

2012-01-01

Hash-lock authentication protocols for Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tags incur heavy search on the server. Key-trees have been proposed as a way to reduce search times, but because partial keys in such trees are shared, key compromise affects several tags. Buttyán [4] and Beye and Veugen

Secure image retrieval with multiple keys

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Haihua; Zhang, Xinpeng; Wei, Qiuhan; Cheng, Hang

2018-03-01

This article proposes a secure image retrieval scheme under a multiuser scenario. In this scheme, the owner first encrypts and uploads images and their corresponding features to the cloud; then, the user submits the encrypted feature of the query image to the cloud; next, the cloud compares the encrypted features and returns encrypted images with similar content to the user. To find the nearest neighbor in the encrypted features, an encryption with multiple keys is proposed, in which the query feature of each user is encrypted by his/her own key. To improve the key security and space utilization, global optimization and Gaussian distribution are, respectively, employed to generate multiple keys. The experiments show that the proposed encryption can provide effective and secure image retrieval for each user and ensure confidentiality of the query feature of each user.

Efficient key management for cryptographically enforced access control

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zych, Anna; Petkovic, Milan; Jonker, Willem

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

Evidence Suggesting Absence of Mitochondrial DNA Methylation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mechta, Mie; Ingerslev, Lars R; Fabre, Odile

2017-01-01

, 16S, ND5 and CYTB, suggesting that mtDNA supercoiled structure blocks the access to bisulfite conversion. Here, we identified an artifact of mtDNA bisulfite sequencing that can lead to an overestimation of mtDNA methylation levels. Our study supports that cytosine methylation is virtually absent...

An SSH key management system: easing the pain of managing key/user/account associations

Science.gov (United States)

Arkhipkin, D.; Betts, W.; Lauret, J.; Shiryaev, A.

2008-07-01

Cyber security requirements for secure access to computing facilities often call for access controls via gatekeepers and the use of two-factor authentication. Using SSH keys to satisfy the two factor authentication requirement has introduced a potentially challenging task of managing the keys and their associations with individual users and user accounts. Approaches for a facility with the simple model of one remote user corresponding to one local user would not work at facilities that require a many-to-many mapping between users and accounts on multiple systems. We will present an SSH key management system we developed, tested and deployed to address the many-to-many dilemma in the environment of the STAR experiment. We will explain its use in an online computing context and explain how it makes possible the management and tracing of group account access spread over many sub-system components (data acquisition, slow controls, trigger, detector instrumentation, etc.) without the use of shared passwords for remote logins.

An SSH key management system: easing the pain of managing key/user/account associations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arkhipkin, D; Shiryaev, A; Betts, W; Lauret, J

2008-01-01

Cyber security requirements for secure access to computing facilities often call for access controls via gatekeepers and the use of two-factor authentication. Using SSH keys to satisfy the two factor authentication requirement has introduced a potentially challenging task of managing the keys and their associations with individual users and user accounts. Approaches for a facility with the simple model of one remote user corresponding to one local user would not work at facilities that require a many-to-many mapping between users and accounts on multiple systems. We will present an SSH key management system we developed, tested and deployed to address the many-to-many dilemma in the environment of the STAR experiment. We will explain its use in an online computing context and explain how it makes possible the management and tracing of group account access spread over many sub-system components (data acquisition, slow controls, trigger, detector instrumentation, etc.) without the use of shared passwords for remote logins

Medical technology as a key driver of rising health expenditure: disentangling the relationship

Science.gov (United States)

Sorenson, Corinna; Drummond, Michael; Bhuiyan Khan, Beena

2013-01-01

Health care spending has risen steadily in most countries, becoming a concern for decision-makers worldwide. Commentators often point to new medical technology as the key driver for burgeoning expenditures. This paper critically appraises this conjecture, based on an analysis of the existing literature, with the aim of offering a more detailed and considered analysis of this relationship. Several databases were searched to identify relevant literature. Various categories of studies (eg, multivariate and cost-effectiveness analyses) were included to cover different perspectives, methodological approaches, and issues regarding the link between medical technology and costs. Selected articles were reviewed and relevant information was extracted into a standardized template and analyzed for key cross-cutting themes, ie, impact of technology on costs, factors influencing this relationship, and methodological challenges in measuring such linkages. A total of 86 studies were reviewed. The analysis suggests that the relationship between medical technology and spending is complex and often conflicting. Findings were frequently contingent on varying factors, such as the availability of other interventions, patient population, and the methodological approach employed. Moreover, the impact of technology on costs differed across technologies, in that some (eg, cancer drugs, invasive medical devices) had significant financial implications, while others were cost-neutral or cost-saving. In light of these issues, we argue that decision-makers and other commentators should extend their focus beyond costs solely to include consideration of whether medical technology results in better value in health care and broader socioeconomic benefits. PMID:23807855

Evaluating nest supplementation as a recovery strategy for the endangered rodents of the Florida Keys

Science.gov (United States)

Cove, Michael V.; Simons, Theodore R.; Gardner, Beth; Maurer, Andrew S.; O'Connell, Allan F.

2017-01-01

The Key Largo woodrat (Neotoma floridana smalli) and Key Largo cotton mouse (Peromyscus gossypinus allapaticola) are federally endangered subspecies endemic to the tropical hardwood hammocks of Key Largo, Florida. Woodrats are considered generalists in habitat and diet, yet a steady decline in natural stick nests and capture rates over the past several decades suggests that they are limited by the availability of nesting habitat due to habitat loss and fragmentation. The more specialized Key Largo cotton mouse appears to rely on old growth hammock, a habitat type that is rare following past land clearing. In 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service started building supplemental nest structures to restore habitat quality and connectivity for these endangered rodents, but nest use requires evaluation. We used camera traps and occupancy models to evaluate the factors influencing woodrat and cotton mouse use of the supplemental nests. We detected woodrats at 65 and cotton mice at 175 of 284 sampled nest structures, with co-occurrence at 38 nests. Woodrat nest use followed a gradient from low nest use in the north to high nest use in the south, which might relate to the proximity of free-ranging domestic cat (Felis catus) colonies in residential developments. Cotton mouse nest use, however, was related positively to mature hammock and related negatively to disturbed areas (e.g. scarified lands). The two species occurred independently of each other. Stick-stacking behavior was observed at supplemental nests and, although it was correlated with detection of woodrats, it was not a strong predictor of their occurrence. We suggest that nest supplementation can be an important tool for species recovery as habitat quality continues to improve with succession.

Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that electrostatic funnel directs binding of Tamiflu to influenza N1 neuraminidases.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ly Le

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Oseltamivir (Tamiflu is currently the frontline antiviral drug employed to fight the flu virus in infected individuals by inhibiting neuraminidase, a flu protein responsible for the release of newly synthesized virions. However, oseltamivir resistance has become a critical problem due to rapid mutation of the flu virus. Unfortunately, how mutations actually confer drug resistance is not well understood. In this study, we employ molecular dynamics (MD and steered molecular dynamics (SMD simulations, as well as graphics processing unit (GPU-accelerated electrostatic mapping, to uncover the mechanism behind point mutation induced oseltamivir-resistance in both H5N1 "avian" and H1N1pdm "swine" flu N1-subtype neuraminidases. The simulations reveal an electrostatic binding funnel that plays a key role in directing oseltamivir into and out of its binding site on N1 neuraminidase. The binding pathway for oseltamivir suggests how mutations disrupt drug binding and how new drugs may circumvent the resistance mechanisms.

The Impact of Key Monetary Variables on the Economic Growth of the CEMAC Zone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Forgha Godfrey NJIMANTED

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This study seeks to empirically explore the impact of key monetary policy variables on the economic growth in the CEMAC zone from the period of 1981 to 2015. Carried out using the Ex post facto research design based on the principal components selection approach, the study interacts money supply, interest rate, economic growth, and inflation rate, among themselves and their lagged values using the Vector Auto-regressive (VAR analytical technique. The Classical quantity theory of money, the Cambridge Cash Balanced, the liquidity preference theory and the Monetarists as theoretical frameworks were explored to appreciate the time trends of the selected variables on the economic growth of the CEMAC zone. Based on the (VAR methodology, the study reveals that key monetary policy variables influence economic growth of the CEMAC zone in different ways with inflation rate as the impact factor. On the basis of the above findings and the evidence from other studies, lending and inflation rate generated substantial destabilizing impacts on the economic growth, suggesting that the monetary authorities should play a critical role in creating an enabling environment for growth. The determination of the optimal lending rate should reflect the overall internal rate of returns in the productive sectors with due attention to market fundamentals. In line with this, the Central Bank of CEMAC should be given complete instrumental autonomy to operate depending on a set of in-built targets by the individual countries of the zone. Effective monetary targeting and accommodating monetary policies should be designed and implemented as the need arises with little or no political motives.

Eight common genetic variants associated with serum DHEAS levels suggest a key role in ageing mechanisms.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guangju Zhai

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS is the most abundant circulating steroid secreted by adrenal glands--yet its function is unknown. Its serum concentration declines significantly with increasing age, which has led to speculation that a relative DHEAS deficiency may contribute to the development of common age-related diseases or diminished longevity. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association data with 14,846 individuals and identified eight independent common SNPs associated with serum DHEAS concentrations. Genes at or near the identified loci include ZKSCAN5 (rs11761528; p = 3.15 × 10(-36, SULT2A1 (rs2637125; p =  2.61 × 10(-19, ARPC1A (rs740160; p =  1.56 × 10(-16, TRIM4 (rs17277546; p =  4.50 × 10(-11, BMF (rs7181230; p = 5.44 × 10(-11, HHEX (rs2497306; p =  4.64 × 10(-9, BCL2L11 (rs6738028; p = 1.72 × 10(-8, and CYP2C9 (rs2185570; p = 2.29 × 10(-8. These genes are associated with type 2 diabetes, lymphoma, actin filament assembly, drug and xenobiotic metabolism, and zinc finger proteins. Several SNPs were associated with changes in gene expression levels, and the related genes are connected to biological pathways linking DHEAS with ageing. This study provides much needed insight into the function of DHEAS.

[Elucidation of key genes in sex determination in genetics teaching].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Meng; He, Zhumei

2014-06-01

Sex is an important and complex feature of organisms, which is controlled by the genetic and environmental factors. The genetic factors, i.e., genes, are vital in sex determination. However, not all the related genes play the same roles, and some key genes play a vital role in the sex determination and differentiation. With the development of the modern genetics, a great progress on the key genes has been made in sex determination. In this review, we summarize the mechanism of sex determination and the strategy of how to study the key genes in sex determination. It will help us to understand the mechanism of sex determination better in the teaching of genetics.

Information verification cryptosystem using one-time keys based on double random phase encoding and public-key cryptography

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Tieyu; Ran, Qiwen; Yuan, Lin; Chi, Yingying; Ma, Jing

2016-08-01

A novel image encryption system based on double random phase encoding (DRPE) and RSA public-key algorithm is proposed. The main characteristic of the system is that each encryption process produces a new decryption key (even for the same plaintext), thus the encryption system conforms to the feature of the one-time pad (OTP) cryptography. The other characteristic of the system is the use of fingerprint key. Only with the rightful authorization will the true decryption be obtained, otherwise the decryption will result in noisy images. So the proposed system can be used to determine whether the ciphertext is falsified by attackers. In addition, the system conforms to the basic agreement of asymmetric cryptosystem (ACS) due to the combination with the RSA public-key algorithm. The simulation results show that the encryption scheme has high robustness against the existing attacks.

The relationship between the key elements of Donabedian's conceptual model within the field of assistive technology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sund, Terje; Iwarsson, Susanne; Brandt, Åse

2015-01-01

Previous research has suggested that there is a relationship between the three key components of Donabedian's conceptual model for quality assessments: structure of care, process, and outcome of care. That is, structure predicted both process and outcome of care, and better processes predict better...

Formal Analysis of Key Integrity in PKCS#11

Science.gov (United States)

Falcone, Andrea; Focardi, Riccardo

PKCS#11 is a standard API to cryptographic devices such as smarcards, hardware security modules and usb crypto-tokens. Though widely adopted, this API has been shown to be prone to attacks in which a malicious user gains access to the sensitive keys stored in the devices. In 2008, Delaune, Kremer and Steel proposed a model to formally reason on this kind of attacks. We extend this model to also describe flaws that are based on integrity violations of the stored keys. In particular, we consider scenarios in which a malicious overwriting of keys might fool honest users into using attacker's own keys, while performing sensitive operations. We further enrich the model with a trusted key mechanism ensuring that only controlled, non-tampered keys are used in cryptographic operations, and we show how this modified API prevents the above mentioned key-replacement attacks.

Optimisation of key performance measures in air cargo demand management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander May

2014-04-01

Full Text Available This article sought to facilitate the optimisation of key performance measures utilised for demand management in air cargo operations. The focus was on the Revenue Management team at Virgin Atlantic Cargo and a fuzzy group decision-making method was used. Utilising intelligent fuzzy multi-criteria methods, the authors generated a ranking order of ten key outcome-based performance indicators for Virgin Atlantic air cargo Revenue Management. The result of this industry-driven study showed that for Air Cargo Revenue Management, ‘Network Optimisation’ represents a critical outcome-based performance indicator. This collaborative study contributes to existing logistics management literature, especially in the area of Revenue Management, and it seeks to enhance Revenue Management practice. It also provides a platform for Air Cargo operators seeking to improve reliability values for their key performance indicators as a means of enhancing operational monitoring power.

Workshop Report on Atomic Bomb Dosimetry--Residual Radiation Exposure: Recent Research and Suggestions for Future Studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2013-06-06

There is a need for accurate dosimetry for studies of health effects in the Japanese atomic bomb survivors because of the important role that these studies play in worldwide radiation protection standards. International experts have developed dosimetry systems, such as the Dosimetry System 2002 (DS02), which assess the initial radiation exposure to gamma rays and neutrons but only briefly consider the possibility of some minimal contribution to the total body dose by residual radiation exposure. In recognition of the need for an up-to-date review of the topic of residual radiation exposure in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, recently reported studies were reviewed at a technical session at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society in Sacramento, California, 22-26 July 2012. A one-day workshop was also held to provide time for detailed discussion of these newer studies and to evaluate their potential use in clarifying the residual radiation exposures to the atomic-bomb survivors at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Suggestions for possible future studies are also included in this workshop report.

Keyed shear joints

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Klaus

This report gives a summary of the present information on the behaviour of vertical keyed shear joints in large panel structures. An attemp is made to outline the implications which this information might have on the analysis and design of a complete wall. The publications also gives a short...

Study on the Correlation between Gene Expression and Enzyme Activity of Seven Key Enzymes and Ginsenoside Content in Ginseng in Over Time in Ji'an, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Juxin; Zhang, Daihui; Zhuang, Jianjian; Huang, Yi; Mu, Ying; Lv, Shaowu

2017-12-11

Panax ginseng is a traditional medicine. Fresh ginseng is one of the most important industries related to ginseng development, and fresh ginseng of varying ages has different medicinal properties. Previous research has not systematically reported the correlation between changes in key enzyme activity with changes in ginsenoside content in fresh ginseng over time. In this study, for the first time, we use ginseng samples of varying ages in Ji'an and systematically reported the changes in the activity of seven key enzymes (HMGR, FPS, SS, SE, DS, CYP450, and GT). We investigated the content of ginsenoside and gene expression of these key enzymes. Ginsenoside content was measured using HPLC. HPLC, GC-MS, and LC-MS were combined to measure the enzyme activity of the key enzymes. Quantitative PCR was used in the investigation of gene expression. By analyzing the correlation between the enzyme activity and the transcription level of the key enzymes with ginsenoside content, we found that DS and GT enzyme activities are significantly correlated with the ginsenoside content in different ages of ginseng. Our findings might provide a new strategy to discriminate between ginseng of different years. Meanwhile, this research provides important information for the in-depth study of ginsenoside biosynthesis.

WRKY transcription factors: key components in abscisic acid signalling.

Science.gov (United States)

Rushton, Deena L; Tripathi, Prateek; Rabara, Roel C; Lin, Jun; Ringler, Patricia; Boken, Ashley K; Langum, Tanner J; Smidt, Lucas; Boomsma, Darius D; Emme, Nicholas J; Chen, Xianfeng; Finer, John J; Shen, Qingxi J; Rushton, Paul J

2012-01-01

WRKY transcription factors (TFs) are key regulators of many plant processes, including the responses to biotic and abiotic stresses, senescence, seed dormancy and seed germination. For over 15 years, limited evidence has been available suggesting that WRKY TFs may play roles in regulating plant responses to the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA), notably some WRKY TFs are ABA-inducible repressors of seed germination. However, the roles of WRKY TFs in other aspects of ABA signalling, and the mechanisms involved, have remained unclear. Recent significant progress in ABA research has now placed specific WRKY TFs firmly in ABA-responsive signalling pathways, where they act at multiple levels. In Arabidopsis, WRKY TFs appear to act downstream of at least two ABA receptors: the cytoplasmic PYR/PYL/RCAR-protein phosphatase 2C-ABA complex and the chloroplast envelope-located ABAR-ABA complex. In vivo and in vitro promoter-binding studies show that the target genes for WRKY TFs that are involved in ABA signalling include well-known ABA-responsive genes such as ABF2, ABF4, ABI4, ABI5, MYB2, DREB1a, DREB2a and RAB18. Additional well-characterized stress-inducible genes such as RD29A and COR47 are also found in signalling pathways downstream of WRKY TFs. These new insights also reveal that some WRKY TFs are positive regulators of ABA-mediated stomatal closure and hence drought responses. Conversely, many WRKY TFs are negative regulators of seed germination, and controlling seed germination appears a common function of a subset of WRKY TFs in flowering plants. Taken together, these new data demonstrate that WRKY TFs are key nodes in ABA-responsive signalling networks. © 2011 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal © 2011 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Enhanced diffie-hellman algorithm for reliable key exchange

Science.gov (United States)

Aryan; Kumar, Chaithanya; Vincent, P. M. Durai Raj

2017-11-01

The Diffie -Hellman is one of the first public-key procedure and is a certain way of exchanging the cryptographic keys securely. This concept was introduced by Ralph Markel and it is named after Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman. Sender and Receiver make a common secret key in Diffie-Hellman algorithm and then they start communicating with each other over the public channel which is known to everyone. A number of internet services are secured by Diffie -Hellman. In Public key cryptosystem, the sender has to trust while receiving the public key of the receiver and vice-versa and this is the challenge of public key cryptosystem. Man-in-the-Middle attack is very much possible on the existing Diffie-Hellman algorithm. In man-in-the-middle attack, the attacker exists in the public channel, the attacker receives the public key of both sender and receiver and sends public keys to sender and receiver which is generated by his own. This is how man-in-the-middle attack is possible on Diffie-Hellman algorithm. Denial of service attack is another attack which is found common on Diffie-Hellman. In this attack, the attacker tries to stop the communication happening between sender and receiver and attacker can do this by deleting messages or by confusing the parties with miscommunication. Some more attacks like Insider attack, Outsider attack, etc are possible on Diffie-Hellman. To reduce the possibility of attacks on Diffie-Hellman algorithm, we have enhanced the Diffie-Hellman algorithm to a next level. In this paper, we are extending the Diffie -Hellman algorithm by using the concept of the Diffie -Hellman algorithm to get a stronger secret key and that secret key is further exchanged between the sender and the receiver so that for each message, a new secret shared key would be generated. The second secret key will be generated by taking primitive root of the first secret key.

Representational constraints on children's suggestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Ceci, Stephen J; Papierno, Paul B; Kulkofsky, Sarah

2007-06-01

In a multistage experiment, twelve 4- and 9-year-old children participated in a triad rating task. Their ratings were mapped with multidimensional scaling, from which euclidean distances were computed to operationalize semantic distance between items in target pairs. These children and age-mates then participated in an experiment that employed these target pairs in a story, which was followed by a misinformation manipulation. Analyses linked individual and developmental differences in suggestibility to children's representations of the target items. Semantic proximity was a strong predictor of differences in suggestibility: The closer a suggested distractor was to the original item's representation, the greater was the distractor's suggestive influence. The triad participants' semantic proximity subsequently served as the basis for correctly predicting memory performance in the larger group. Semantic proximity enabled a priori counterintuitive predictions of reverse age-related trends to be confirmed whenever the distance between representations of items in a target pair was greater for younger than for older children.

Optimizing Key Updates in Sensor Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yuksel, Ender; Nielson, Hanne Riis; Nielson, Flemming

2011-01-01

Sensor networks offer the advantages of simple and low–resource communication. Nevertheless, security is of particular importance in many cases such as when sensitive data is communicated or tamper-resistance is required. Updating the security keys is one of the key points in security, which...

Subcarrier multiplexing optical quantum key distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ortigosa-Blanch, A.; Capmany, J.

2006-01-01

We present the physical principles of a quantum key distribution system that opens the possibility of parallel quantum key distribution and, therefore, of a substantial improvement in the bit rate of such systems. Quantum mechanics allows for multiple measurements at different frequencies and thus we exploit this concept by extending the concept of frequency coding to the case where more than one radio-frequency subcarrier is used for independently encoding the bits onto an optical carrier. Taking advantage of subcarrier multiplexing techniques we demonstrate that the bit rate can be greatly improved as parallel key distribution is enabled

Setting objectives for managing Key deer

Science.gov (United States)

Diefenbach, Duane R.; Wagner, Tyler; Stauffer, Glenn E.

2014-01-01

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is responsible for the protection and management of Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium) because the species is listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The purpose of the ESA is to protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. There are a host of actions that could possibly be undertaken to recover the Key deer population, but without a clearly defined problem and stated objectives it can be difficult to compare and evaluate alternative actions. In addition, management goals and the acceptability of alternative management actions are inherently linked to stakeholders, who should be engaged throughout the process of developing a decision framework. The purpose of this project was to engage a representative group of stakeholders to develop a problem statement that captured the management problem the FWS must address with Key deer and identify objectives that, if met, would help solve the problem. In addition, the objectives were organized in a hierarchical manner (i.e., an objectives network) to show how they are linked, and measurable attributes were identified for each objective. We organized a group of people who represented stakeholders interested in and potentially affected by the management of Key deer. These stakeholders included individuals who represented local, state, and federal governments, non-governmental organizations, the general public, and local businesses. This stakeholder group met five full days over the course of an eight-week period to identify objectives that would address the following problem:“As recovery and removal from the Endangered Species list is the purpose of the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service needs a management approach that will ensure a sustainable, viable, and healthy Key deer population. Urbanization has affected the behavior and population dynamics of the Key deer and the amount and characteristics

Key Factors for the Linkage Strategy between R and D and Commercialization for Gen-ΙV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Kyoungmi; Hong, Jung Suk

2013-01-01

The Fukushima nuclear disaster has leaded to enhance the safety and the cost-effectiveness of technology for the future so that advanced countries such as United Sates and France have concerned about a next generation nuclear power plant, Gen-IV(Generation-IV Reactor). Considering various characteristics of nuclear R and D, it is necessary to have more elaborated strategies for the effective development of the next generation of nuclear technology. In this study, we suggest 5 key factors for the successful commercialization of Gen-IV by analyzing the distinct characteristics of nuclear R and D with Gen-IV and CSF(Critical Success Factor)s of several cases in these field and conducting the FGI(Focus Group Interview). Considering these results, we could find and suggest some important points for further strategy for Gen-IV. That is, following five key factors for the linkage improvement between R and D and commercialization of Gen-IV should be considered: the participation of nuclear power plant operators from the beginning, the establishment of consistent and comprehensive plan/roadmap/detailed strategy, the technology development based on global energy issues and international cooperation, the stable and clear funding plans for long-term projects, the cooperation of relative ministries. Gen-IV system is getting a positive response in that it accompanies long-term R and D plans in Korea. We think that the standard of Gen-IV would lead the next generation of nuclear industry if the proper strategy for the cooperation between the private sector and the regulation from the beginning. Moreover, we expect that this study will facilitate its development process from R and D to commercialization

Key Factors for the Linkage Strategy between R and D and Commercialization for Gen-ΙV

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Kyoungmi; Hong, Jung Suk [Korean Institute of S and T Evaluation and Planning, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2013-05-15

The Fukushima nuclear disaster has leaded to enhance the safety and the cost-effectiveness of technology for the future so that advanced countries such as United Sates and France have concerned about a next generation nuclear power plant, Gen-IV(Generation-IV Reactor). Considering various characteristics of nuclear R and D, it is necessary to have more elaborated strategies for the effective development of the next generation of nuclear technology. In this study, we suggest 5 key factors for the successful commercialization of Gen-IV by analyzing the distinct characteristics of nuclear R and D with Gen-IV and CSF(Critical Success Factor)s of several cases in these field and conducting the FGI(Focus Group Interview). Considering these results, we could find and suggest some important points for further strategy for Gen-IV. That is, following five key factors for the linkage improvement between R and D and commercialization of Gen-IV should be considered: the participation of nuclear power plant operators from the beginning, the establishment of consistent and comprehensive plan/roadmap/detailed strategy, the technology development based on global energy issues and international cooperation, the stable and clear funding plans for long-term projects, the cooperation of relative ministries. Gen-IV system is getting a positive response in that it accompanies long-term R and D plans in Korea. We think that the standard of Gen-IV would lead the next generation of nuclear industry if the proper strategy for the cooperation between the private sector and the regulation from the beginning. Moreover, we expect that this study will facilitate its development process from R and D to commercialization.

Age and interviewer behavior as predictors of interrogative suggestibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Dukala, Karolina; Polczyk, Romuald

2014-05-01

The main objective was to explore the influence of interviewer behavior-abrupt versus friendly-and the age of participants on interrogative suggestibility. The study involved 42 young adults and 50 elderly participants. The Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale 2 was used. Data analysis involved a 2-factor between-subjects design (interviewer behavior × age) and mediation analysis. The scores of elderly participants were significantly lower than younger adults on memory indices and significantly higher on some suggestibility indexes. Some suggestibility indices in the abrupt experimental condition were higher than those in the friendly experimental condition. Elderly participants who were interviewed under the abrupt condition were more likely to change their answers after receiving negative feedback than younger adults. Memory quality was a mediator of the relationship between age and the tendency to yield to suggestive questions. Self-appraisal of memory was a mediator between both age and interviewer behavior and the tendency to change answers after negative feedback. Mechanisms of the relationship between age, interviewer behavior, and suggestibility are discussed on the basis of the mediational analyses. The findings suggest that a friendly manner should be adopted when interrogating witnesses.

Coherent one-way quantum key distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Stucki, Damien; Fasel, Sylvain; Gisin, Nicolas; Thoma, Yann; Zbinden, Hugo

2007-05-01

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) consists in the exchange of a secrete key between two distant points [1]. Even if quantum key distribution systems exist and commercial systems are reaching the market [2], there are still improvements to be made: simplify the construction of the system; increase the secret key rate. To this end, we present a new protocol for QKD tailored to work with weak coherent pulses and at high bit rates [3]. The advantages of this system are that the setup is experimentally simple and it is tolerant to reduced interference visibility and to photon number splitting attacks, thus resulting in a high efficiency in terms of distilled secret bits per qubit. After having successfully tested the feasibility of the system [3], we are currently developing a fully integrated and automated prototype within the SECOQC project [4]. We present the latest results using the prototype. We also discuss the issue of the photon detection, which still remains the bottleneck for QKD.

Key Management in Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ismail Mansour

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Wireless sensor networks are a challenging field of research when it comes to security issues. Using low cost sensor nodes with limited resources makes it difficult for cryptographic algorithms to function without impacting energy consumption and latency. In this paper, we focus on key management issues in multi-hop wireless sensor networks. These networks are easy to attack due to the open nature of the wireless medium. Intruders could try to penetrate the network, capture nodes or take control over particular nodes. In this context, it is important to revoke and renew keys that might be learned by malicious nodes. We propose several secure protocols for key revocation and key renewal based on symmetric encryption and elliptic curve cryptography. All protocols are secure, but have different security levels. Each proposed protocol is formally proven and analyzed using Scyther, an automatic verification tool for cryptographic protocols. For efficiency comparison sake, we implemented all protocols on real testbeds using TelosB motes and discussed their performances.

Methods of Developing User-Friendly Keys to Identify Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas L. from Photographs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jane R. Lloyd

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Identifying individual animals is important in understanding their ecology and behaviour, as well as providing estimates of population sizes for conservation efforts. We produce identification keys from photographs of green sea turtles to identify them while foraging in Akumal Bay, Mexico. We create three keys, which (a minimise the length of the key, (b present the most obvious differential characteristics first, and (c remove the strict dichotomy from key b. Keys were capable of identifying >99% of turtles in >2500 photographs during the six-month study period. The keys differed significantly in success rate for students to identify individual turtles, with key (c being the best with >70% success and correctly being followed further than other keys before making a mistake. User-friendly keys are, therefore, a suitable method for the photographic identification of turtles and could be used for other large marine vertebrates in conservation or behavioural studies.

Reinventing suggestion systems for continuous improvement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schuring, R.W.; Luijten, Harald

2001-01-01

This article reports an experiment to increase the effectiveness of a suggestion system by deliberately applying principles of the kaizen and performance management. Design rules for suggestion systems are derived from these theories. The suggestion system that resulted differs from traditional

Mining key elements for severe convection prediction based on CNN

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ming; Pan, Ning; Zhang, Changan; Sha, Hongzhou; Zhang, Bolei; Liu, Liang; Zhang, Meng

2017-04-01

Severe convective weather is a kind of weather disasters accompanied by heavy rainfall, gust wind, hail, etc. Along with recent developments on remote sensing and numerical modeling, there are high-volume and long-term observational and modeling data accumulated to capture massive severe convective events over particular areas and time periods. With those high-volume and high-variety weather data, most of the existing studies and methods carry out the dynamical laws, cause analysis, potential rule study, and prediction enhancement by utilizing the governing equations from fluid dynamics and thermodynamics. In this study, a key-element mining method is proposed for severe convection prediction based on convolution neural network (CNN). It aims to identify the key areas and key elements from huge amounts of historical weather data including conventional measurements, weather radar, satellite, so as numerical modeling and/or reanalysis data. Under this manner, the machine-learning based method could help the human forecasters on their decision-making on operational weather forecasts on severe convective weathers by extracting key information from the real-time and historical weather big data. In this paper, it first utilizes computer vision technology to complete the data preprocessing work of the meteorological variables. Then, it utilizes the information such as radar map and expert knowledge to annotate all images automatically. And finally, by using CNN model, it cloud analyze and evaluate each weather elements (e.g., particular variables, patterns, features, etc.), and identify key areas of those critical weather elements, then help forecasters quickly screen out the key elements from huge amounts of observation data by current weather conditions. Based on the rich weather measurement and model data (up to 10 years) over Fujian province in China, where the severe convective weathers are very active during the summer months, experimental tests are conducted with

Partitioned key-value store with atomic memory operations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bent, John M.; Faibish, Sorin; Grider, Gary

2017-02-07

A partitioned key-value store is provided that supports atomic memory operations. A server performs a memory operation in a partitioned key-value store by receiving a request from an application for at least one atomic memory operation, the atomic memory operation comprising a memory address identifier; and, in response to the atomic memory operation, performing one or more of (i) reading a client-side memory location identified by the memory address identifier and storing one or more key-value pairs from the client-side memory location in a local key-value store of the server; and (ii) obtaining one or more key-value pairs from the local key-value store of the server and writing the obtained one or more key-value pairs into the client-side memory location identified by the memory address identifier. The server can perform functions obtained from a client-side memory location and return a result to the client using one or more of the atomic memory operations.

Secret key distillation from shielded two-qubit states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bae, Joonwoo

2010-01-01

The quantum states corresponding to a secret key are characterized using the so-called private states, where the key part consisting of a secret key is shielded by the additional systems. Based on the construction, it was shown that a secret key can be distilled from bound entangled states. In this work, I consider the shielded two-qubit states in a key-distillation scenario and derive the conditions under which a secret key can be distilled using the recurrence protocol or the two-way classical distillation, advantage distillation together with one-way postprocessing. From the security conditions, it is shown that a secret key can be distilled from bound entangled states in a much wider range. In addition, I consider the case that in which white noise is added to quantum states and show that the classical distillation protocol still works despite a certain amount of noise although the recurrence protocol does not.

Suggestive Objects at Work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ratner, Helene Gad

2009-01-01

In Western secular societies, spiritual life is no longer limited to classical religious institutions but can also be found at workplace organizations. While spirituality is conventionally understood as a subjective and internal process, this paper proposes the concept of ‘suggestive objects......’, constructed by combining insights from Gabriel Tarde's sociology with Bruno Latour's actor-network theory, to theorize the material dimension of organizational spirituality. The sacred in organizations arises not from the internalization of collective values but through the establishment of material...... scaffolding. This has deep implications for our understanding of the sacred, including a better appreciation of the way that suggestive objects make the sacred durable, the way they organize it....

Key to marine arthropod larvae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John A. Fornshell

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The scope of this key is restricted to the larvae of marine arthropods. The key is based solely on their morphology, patterns of body segmentation, numbers of appendages, and mode of locomotion. An effort has been made to treat all traditionally named larval forms, both planktonic and benthic. It is intended that this key be useful for a researcher working with archived museum specimens and therefore, does not include habitat information as a identifying trait, even though this information is usually available in the archived records. Within the phylum Arthropoda there are two sub-phyla and eleven classes having larval stages in the marineenvironment. Where feasible the original names of the various larval types have been used. Because this nomenclature is less commonly used today compared to the past, the more recent taxonomic affinities are included in parentheses after the original larval name. The key includes the following thirty-four larvae: Branchhiopoda nauplii; Cephalocarida nauplii; Mystacocarida nauplii; trilobite larva; protonymphon; hexapod larvae; Remipedia nauplii; nauplius - Y larvae; Cirripedia nauplii; Ascothoracida nauplii; Ostracoda nauplii; Euphausiacea nauplii; Penaeidea nauplii; Cyclopoida nauplii; Calanoida nauplii; Harpacticoida nauplii;Polyarthra nauplii; cypris larva; eryonecius larva; cypris-Y larva; elapthocaris larvae; mysis larvae; lucifer zoea; acetes zoea; acanthosoma larva; phyllosoma; antizoea larva; anomuran zoea; brachyuran zoea; calyptopis larvae; furcilia larva; crytopia larva; puerulus larva; alima larva.

Hypnosis, hypnotic suggestibility, memory, and involvement in films.

Science.gov (United States)

Maxwell, Reed; Lynn, Steven Jay; Condon, Liam

2015-05-01

Our research extends studies that have examined the relation between hypnotic suggestibility and experiential involvement and the role of an hypnotic induction in enhancing experiential involvement (e.g., absorption) in engaging tasks. Researchers have reported increased involvement in reading (Baum & Lynn, 1981) and music-listening (Snodgrass & Lynn, 1989) tasks during hypnosis. We predicted a similar effect for film viewing: greater experiential involvement in an emotional (The Champ) versus a non-emotional (Scenes of Toronto) film. We tested 121 participants who completed measures of absorption and trait dissociation and the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility and then viewed the two films after either an hypnotic induction or a non-hypnotic task (i.e., anagrams). Experiential involvement varied as a function of hypnotic suggestibility and film clip. Highly suggestible participants reported more state depersonalization than less suggestible participants, and depersonalization was associated with negative affect; however, we observed no significant correlation between hypnotic suggestibility and trait dissociation. Although hypnosis had no effect on memory commission or omission errors, contrary to the hypothesis that hypnosis facilitates absorption in emotionally engaging tasks, the emotional film was associated with more commission and omission errors compared with the non-emotional film. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparing to Prepare: Suggesting Ways to Study Social Media Today—and Tomorrow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anders Olof Larsson

2015-04-01

Full Text Available While the two currently most popular social media services – Twitter and Facebook – are different in terms of technical and end-user details, this paper suggests that a series of similarities can also be found regarding different modes of communication offered by both services. These modes are labeled as Broadcasting, Redistributing, Interacting and Acknowledging. The argument is put forward that such synthesis of communication modes across platform could prove useful for longitudinal and comparative research efforts.

Key techniques and risk management for the application of the Pile-Beam-Arch (PBA) excavation method: a case study of the Zhongjie subway station.

Science.gov (United States)

Guan, Yong-ping; Zhao, Wen; Li, Shen-gang; Zhang, Guo-bin

2014-01-01

The design and construction of shallow-buried tunnels in densely populated urban areas involve many challenges. The ground movements induced by tunneling effects pose potential risks to infrastructure such as surface buildings, pipelines, and roads. In this paper, a case study of the Zhongjie subway station located in Shenyang, China, is examined to investigate the key construction techniques and the influence of the Pile-Beam-Arch (PBA) excavation method on the surrounding environment. This case study discusses the primary risk factors affecting the environmental safety and summarizes the corresponding risk mitigation measures and key techniques for subway station construction using the PBA excavation method in a densely populated urban area.

MicroRNA profiling of the bovine alveolar macrophage response to Mycobacterium bovis infection suggests pathogen survival is enhanced by microRNA regulation of endocytosis and lysosome trafficking.

Science.gov (United States)

Vegh, Peter; Magee, David A; Nalpas, Nicolas C; Bryan, Kenneth; McCabe, Matthew S; Browne, John A; Conlon, Kevin M; Gordon, Stephen V; Bradley, Daniel G; MacHugh, David E; Lynn, David J

2015-01-01

Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis, a major problem for global agriculture, spreads via an airborne route and is taken up by alveolar macrophages (AM) in the lung. Here, we describe the first next-generation sequencing (RNA-seq) approach to temporally profile miRNA expression in primary bovine AMs post-infection with M. bovis. One, six, and forty miRNAs were identified as significantly differentially expressed at 2, 24 and 48 h post-infection, respectively. The differential expression of three miRNAs (bta-miR-142-5p, bta-miR-146a, and bta-miR-423-3p) was confirmed by RT-qPCR. Pathway analysis of the predicted mRNA targets of differentially expressed miRNAs suggests that these miRNAs preferentially target several pathways that are functionally relevant for mycobacterial pathogenesis, including endocytosis and lysosome trafficking, IL-1 signalling and the TGF-β pathway. Over-expression studies using a bovine macrophage cell-line (Bomac) reveal the targeting of two key genes in the innate immune response to M. bovis, IL-1 receptor-associated kinase 1 (IRAK1) and TGF-β receptor 2 (TGFBR2), by miR-146. Taken together, our study suggests that miRNAs play a key role in tuning the complex interplay between M. bovis survival strategies and the host immune response.

Editor's Note Responding to suggestions from the research ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Admin

Responding to suggestions from the research fellowship of the Institute of African Studies for a re-branding of the. Research Review, which began publication in the early 1960s soon after the establishment of the Institute, the old title has now been replaced with a new title — Contemporary Journal of African Studies. This is ...

Non-coherent capacity of secret-key agreement with public discussion

KAUST Repository

Agrawal, Anurag

2011-06-01

We study the Rayleigh fading non-coherent capacity of secret-key agreement with public discussion, where neither the sender nor the receivers have access to instantaneous channel state information (CSI) of any channel. We present two results. At high Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), the secret-key capacity is bounded in SNR, regardless of the number of antennas at each terminal. Second, for a system with a single antenna at both the legitimate and the eavesdropper terminals and an arbitrary number of transmit antennas, the secret-key capacity-achieving input distribution is discrete, with a finite number of mass points. Numerically we observe that at low-SNR, the capacity achieving distribution has two mass points with one of them at the origin. © 2011 IEEE.

Non-coherent capacity of secret-key agreement with public discussion

KAUST Repository

Agrawal, Anurag; Rezki, Zouheir; Khisti, Ashish J.; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2011-01-01

We study the Rayleigh fading non-coherent capacity of secret-key agreement with public discussion, where neither the sender nor the receivers have access to instantaneous channel state information (CSI) of any channel. We present two results. At high Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), the secret-key capacity is bounded in SNR, regardless of the number of antennas at each terminal. Second, for a system with a single antenna at both the legitimate and the eavesdropper terminals and an arbitrary number of transmit antennas, the secret-key capacity-achieving input distribution is discrete, with a finite number of mass points. Numerically we observe that at low-SNR, the capacity achieving distribution has two mass points with one of them at the origin. © 2011 IEEE.

Mental Health and Exposure to the United States: Key Correlates from the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latinos

OpenAIRE

Perreira, Krista M; Gotman, Nathan; Isasi, Carmen R.; Arguelles, William; Castañeda, Sheila F.; Daviglus, Martha L.; Giachello, Aida L; Gonzalez, Patricia; Penedo, Frank J.; Salgado, Hugo; Wassertheil-Smoller, Sylvia

2015-01-01

We examined the association between exposure to the U.S. and symptoms of poor mental health among adult Hispanic/Latinos (N=15,004) overall and by Hispanic/Latino background. Using data from the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL), we estimated logistic regressions to model the risk of moderate to severe symptoms of psychological distress, depression, and anxiety as a function of years in the U.S. and 6 key psychosocial risk and protective factors. In unadjusted models, incr...

ERP as an organization innovation : Key users and cross-boundary knowledge management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maas, J.-B.; van Fenema, P.C.; Soeters, J.M.M.L.

2016-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study is to provide more insight in the ways key users act as knowledge managers and boundary spanners during the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system usage phase. Despite the recognized importance of key users during the implementation phase of an ERP system, little

A multicenter prospective cohort study on camera navigation training for key user groups in minimally invasive surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Graafland, Maurits; Bok, Kiki; Schreuder, Henk W R; Schijven, Marlies P

2014-06-01

Untrained laparoscopic camera assistants in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) may cause suboptimal view of the operating field, thereby increasing risk for errors. Camera navigation is often performed by the least experienced member of the operating team, such as inexperienced surgical residents, operating room nurses, and medical students. The operating room nurses and medical students are currently not included as key user groups in structured laparoscopic training programs. A new virtual reality laparoscopic camera navigation (LCN) module was specifically developed for these key user groups. This multicenter prospective cohort study assesses face validity and construct validity of the LCN module on the Simendo virtual reality simulator. Face validity was assessed through a questionnaire on resemblance to reality and perceived usability of the instrument among experts and trainees. Construct validity was assessed by comparing scores of groups with different levels of experience on outcome parameters of speed and movement proficiency. The results obtained show uniform and positive evaluation of the LCN module among expert users and trainees, signifying face validity. Experts and intermediate experience groups performed significantly better in task time and camera stability during three repetitions, compared to the less experienced user groups (P < .007). Comparison of learning curves showed significant improvement of proficiency in time and camera stability for all groups during three repetitions (P < .007). The results of this study show face validity and construct validity of the LCN module. The module is suitable for use in training curricula for operating room nurses and novice surgical trainees, aimed at improving team performance in minimally invasive surgery. © The Author(s) 2013.

Diversity of key players in the microbial ecosystems of the human body.

Science.gov (United States)

Jordán, Ferenc; Lauria, Mario; Scotti, Marco; Nguyen, Thanh-Phuong; Praveen, Paurush; Morine, Melissa; Priami, Corrado

2015-10-30

Coexisting bacteria form various microbial communities in human body parts. In these ecosystems they interact in various ways and the properties of the interaction network can be related to the stability and functional diversity of the local bacterial community. In this study, we analyze the interaction network among bacterial OTUs in 11 locations of the human body. These belong to two major groups. One is the digestive system and the other is the female genital tract. In each local ecosystem we determine the key species, both the ones being in key positions in the interaction network and the ones that dominate by frequency. Beyond identifying the key players and discussing their biological relevance, we also quantify and compare the properties of the 11 networks. The interaction networks of the female genital system and the digestive system show totally different architecture. Both the topological properties and the identity of the key groups differ. Key groups represent four phyla of prokaryotes. Some groups appear in key positions in several locations, while others are assigned only to a single body part. The key groups of the digestive and the genital tracts are totally different.

Workshop proceedings: "We are the Olifants" - Key stakeholder workshop for the Upper Olifants River study

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Funke, Nicola S

2013-03-31

Full Text Available Project Leader, Natural Resources and the Environment Council for Scientific and Industrial Research March 2013 Workshop Proceedings Page v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Upper Olifants Key Stakeholder Workshop took place at the CSIR Knowledge...

The Effects of Suggestibility on Relaxation.

Science.gov (United States)

Rickard, Henry C.; And Others

1985-01-01

Selected undergraduates (N=32) on the basis of Creative Imagination Scale scores and randomly assigned high and low suggestibility subjects to progressive relaxation (PR) and suggestions of relaxation (SR) training modes. Results revealed a significant pre-post relaxation effect, and main efffects for both suggestibility and training mode. (NRB)

Patron Banning in the Nightlife Entertainment Districts: A Key Informant Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Peter; Curtis, Ashlee; Palmer, Darren; Warren, Ian; McFarlane, Emma

2016-07-01

Alcohol-related harm in and around licensed venues is associated with substantial costs. Many interventions have been introduced in an effort to combat these harms, and one such intervention is known as patron banning. Patron banning involves prohibiting patrons who have been violent or disorderly in a licensed venue in an attempt to reduce alcohol-related harm. It can be implemented by the venue, by members of police, or by liquor accords. This study aimed to obtain key informant perspectives on the benefits of patron banning as well as on the effectiveness of patron banning in reducing alcohol-related harm. Thirty-six key informants provided perspectives on patron banning through in-depth interviews that were part of a larger study. Key informants were supportive of patron banning for reducing alcohol-related harm, noting that it had many benefits including increased venue safety, general risk management, and deterrence of antisocial behavior. Although processes for banning were not always consistent, identification scanners were generally recognized as a way to ensure that patron banning was enforced. Key informants viewed patron banning as an effective measure for increasing patron safety and reducing alcohol-related harms.

Error-correcting pairs for a public-key cryptosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pellikaan, Ruud; Márquez-Corbella, Irene

2017-01-01

Code-based Cryptography (CBC) is a powerful and promising alternative for quantum resistant cryptography. Indeed, together with lattice-based cryptography, multivariate cryptography and hash-based cryptography are the principal available techniques for post-quantum cryptography. CBC was first introduced by McEliece where he designed one of the most efficient Public-Key encryption schemes with exceptionally strong security guarantees and other desirable properties that still resist to attacks based on Quantum Fourier Transform and Amplitude Amplification. The original proposal, which remains unbroken, was based on binary Goppa codes. Later, several families of codes have been proposed in order to reduce the key size. Some of these alternatives have already been broken. One of the main requirements of a code-based cryptosystem is having high performance t -bounded decoding algorithms which is achieved in the case the code has a t -error-correcting pair (ECP). Indeed, those McEliece schemes that use GRS codes, BCH, Goppa and algebraic geometry codes are in fact using an error-correcting pair as a secret key. That is, the security of these Public-Key Cryptosystems is not only based on the inherent intractability of bounded distance decoding but also on the assumption that it is difficult to retrieve efficiently an error-correcting pair. In this paper, the class of codes with a t -ECP is proposed for the McEliece cryptosystem. Moreover, we study the hardness of distinguishing arbitrary codes from those having a t -error correcting pair. (paper)

Key World Energy Statistics 2013

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2013-08-01

The IEA produced its first handy, pocket-sized summary of key energy data in 1997 and every year since then it has been more and more successful. Key World Energy Statistics contains timely, clearly-presented data on supply, transformation and consumption of all major energy sources. The interested businessman, journalist or student will have at his or her fingertips the annual Canadian production of coal, the electricity consumption in Thailand, the price of diesel oil in Spain and thousands of other useful energy facts.

Key Lake spill. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-03-01

On January 5, 1984 contaminated water overflowed a storage reservoir at the Key Lake uranium mill onto the ice on a neighboring lake, into a muskeg area and onto a road. Outflow continued for two days, partially undercutting a retaining dyke. This report concludes the spill was the result of poor operation by the Key Lake Mining Corp.. The environmental impact will be minimal after cleanup. Improvements can be made in the regulatory process, and it is necessary to prepare for possible future mishaps

The social context of motorcycle riding and the key determinants influencing rider behavior: a qualitative investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Tunnicliff, Deborah; Watson, Barry; White, Katherine M; Lewis, Ioni; Wishart, Darren

2011-08-01

Given the increasing popularity of motorcycle riding and heightened risk of injury or death associated with being a rider, this study explored rider behavior as a determinant of rider safety and, in particular, key beliefs and motivations that influence such behavior. To enhance the effectiveness of future education and training interventions, it is important to understand riders' own views about what influences how they ride. Specifically, this study sought to identify key determinants of riders' behaviors in relation to the social context of riding, including social and identity-related influences relating to the group (group norms and group identity) as well as the self (moral/personal norm and self-identity). Qualitative research was undertaken via group discussions with motorcycle riders (n = 41). The findings revealed that those in the group with which one rides represent an important source of social influence. Also, the motorcyclist (group) identity was associated with a range of beliefs, expectations, and behaviors considered to be normative. Exploration of the construct of personal norm revealed that riders were most cognizant of the "wrong things to do" when riding; among those issues raised was the importance of protective clothing (albeit for the protection of others and, in particular, pillion passengers). Finally, self-identity as a motorcyclist appeared to be important to a rider's self-concept and was likely to influence on-road behavior. Overall, the insight provided by the current study may facilitate the development of interventions including rider training as well as public education and mass media messages. The findings suggest that these interventions should incorporate factors associated with the social nature of riding in order to best align it with some of the key beliefs and motivations underpinning riders' on-road behaviors.

Key points concerning amyloid infectivity and prion-like neuronal invasion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alba eEspargaró

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Amyloid aggregation has been related to an increasing number of human illnesses, from Alzheimer and Parkinson’s diseases to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Traditionally only prions have been considered as infectious agents with a high capacity of propagation. Although recent publications have showed that many amyloid proteins, including amyloid β-peptide, α-synuclein and tau protein, also propagate in a prion-like manner, the link between propagation of pathological proteins and neurotoxicity has not been evidenced. The extremely low infectivity in natural conditions of the most of non-prion amyloids is far from the spreading capacity displayed by the prions. However, it is important to elucidate the key factors that cause non-prion amyloids become infectious agents. In recent years, important advances in the understanding of the amyloid processes of amyloid-like proteins and unrelated prions (i.e., yeast and fungal prions have yielded essential information that can be applied to shed light on the prion phenomenon in mammals and humans. As shown in this review, recent evidences suggest that there are key factors that could dramatically modulate the prion capacity of proteins in the amyloid conformation. The concentration of nuclei, the presence of oligomers, and the toxicity, resistance and localization of these aggregates could be key factors affecting their spreading. In short, those factors that favor the high concentration of extracellular nuclei or oligomers, characterized by a small size, with a low toxicity could dramatically increase prion propensity; whereas low concentrations of highly toxic intracellular amyloids, with a large size, would prevent infectivity.

Towards understanding the known-key security of block ciphers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreeva, Elena; Bogdanov, Andrey; Mennink, Bart

2014-01-01

ciphers based on ideal components such as random permutations and random functions as well as propose new generic known-key attacks on generalized Feistel ciphers. We introduce the notion of known-key indifferentiability to capture the security of such block ciphers under a known key. To show its...... meaningfulness, we prove that the known-key attacks on block ciphers with ideal primitives to date violate security under known-key indifferentiability. On the other hand, to demonstrate its constructiveness, we prove the balanced Feistel cipher with random functions and the multiple Even-Mansour cipher...... with random permutations known-key indifferentiable for a sufficient number of rounds. We note that known-key indifferentiability is more quickly and tightly attained by multiple Even-Mansour which puts it forward as a construction provably secure against known-key attacks....

Establishing Key Performance Indicators : Case company X

OpenAIRE

Singh, Jatinder

2015-01-01

The key performance indicators serve as the navigational tools for a business organization to monitor its performance. They enable the management team to take real time decisions to keep organization’s resources aligned to its business strategy to accomplish its strategic objec-tives. This research was conducted to analyse the process of establishing successful key per-formance indicators for a business organization. The research was conducted to recommend key performance indicators developme...

NAGRADATA. Code key. Geology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, W.H.; Schneider, B.; Staeuble, J.

1984-01-01

This reference manual provides users of the NAGRADATA system with comprehensive keys to the coding/decoding of geological and technical information to be stored in or retreaved from the databank. Emphasis has been placed on input data coding. When data is retreaved the translation into plain language of stored coded information is done automatically by computer. Three keys each, list the complete set of currently defined codes for the NAGRADATA system, namely codes with appropriate definitions, arranged: 1. according to subject matter (thematically) 2. the codes listed alphabetically and 3. the definitions listed alphabetically. Additional explanation is provided for the proper application of the codes and the logic behind the creation of new codes to be used within the NAGRADATA system. NAGRADATA makes use of codes instead of plain language for data storage; this offers the following advantages: speed of data processing, mainly data retrieval, economies of storage memory requirements, the standardisation of terminology. The nature of this thesaurian type 'key to codes' makes it impossible to either establish a final form or to cover the entire spectrum of requirements. Therefore, this first issue of codes to NAGRADATA must be considered to represent the current state of progress of a living system and future editions will be issued in a loose leave ringbook system which can be updated by an organised (updating) service. (author)

Finding and Improving the Key-Frames of Long Video Sequences for Face Recognition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nasrollahi, Kamal; Moeslund, Thomas B.

2010-01-01

Face recognition systems are very sensitive to the quality and resolution of their input face images. This makes such systems unreliable when working with long surveillance video sequences without employing some selection and enhancement algorithms. On the other hand, processing all the frames...... of such video sequences by any enhancement or even face recognition algorithm is demanding. Thus, there is a need for a mechanism to summarize the input video sequence to a set of key-frames and then applying an enhancement algorithm to this subset. This paper presents a system doing exactly this. The system...... uses face quality assessment to select the key-frames and a hybrid super-resolution to enhance the face image quality. The suggested system that employs a linear associator face recognizer to evaluate the enhanced results has been tested on real surveillance video sequences and the experimental results...

Optimisation of key performance measures in air cargo demand management

OpenAIRE

Alexander May; Adrian Anslow; Udechukwu Ojiako; Yue Wu; Alasdair Marshall; Maxwell Chipulu

2014-01-01

This article sought to facilitate the optimisation of key performance measures utilised for demand management in air cargo operations. The focus was on the Revenue Management team at Virgin Atlantic Cargo and a fuzzy group decision-making method was used. Utilising intelligent fuzzy multi-criteria methods, the authors generated a ranking order of ten key outcome-based performance indicators for Virgin Atlantic air cargo Revenue Management. The result of this industry-driven study showed that ...

Short Review on Quantum Key Distribution Protocols.

Science.gov (United States)

Giampouris, Dimitris

2017-01-01

Cryptographic protocols and mechanisms are widely investigated under the notion of quantum computing. Quantum cryptography offers particular advantages over classical ones, whereas in some cases established protocols have to be revisited in order to maintain their functionality. The purpose of this paper is to provide the basic definitions and review the most important theoretical advancements concerning the BB84 and E91 protocols. It also aims to offer a summary on some key developments on the field of quantum key distribution, closely related with the two aforementioned protocols. The main goal of this study is to provide the necessary background information along with a thorough review on the theoretical aspects of QKD, concentrating on specific protocols. The BB84 and E91 protocols have been chosen because most other protocols are similar to these, a fact that makes them important for the general understanding of how the QKD mechanism functions.

Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Key Facts Infographic