WorldWideScience

Sample records for studying weblog usage

  1. WEBLOGS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING: Students’ Perceptions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juida WAN

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available The digital explosion of information on the Internet has resulted in a need for a new and up-to-date way for Digital Natives to learn English. Educators have reported numerous benefits of using weblogs in English language learning. This article presents a small scale study on the use of weblogs for English language learning at tertiary level in Malaysia. Twenty six students kept weblogs for a duration of a semester. This study investigated how students perceived the use of weblogs for English language learning. A questionnaire which was made up of both close-ended and open-ended questions was administered at the end of the study. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to analyse the students’ responses to the questionnaire. The study found that students were aware of their audience when they blogged and that they geared their writing towards their audience. In addition, they also interacted with others through the use of the comment feature on their weblogs. Furthermore, the majority of the students enjoyed blogging and found weblogs useful for English language learning. This study found that weblogs are promising interactive tools for English language learning.

  2. Review of English Language Library and Information Science Weblogs: Analyzing the Link between Weblog Types and Their Technical /Content Structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tahereh Karami

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Weblog has become well established as one of the Web 2.0 products. Given the essential nature of their job, librarians and information professionals, can use weblog as a quick and easy mean for information and knowledge sharing. The present study reviews some 150 LIS weblogs in order to examine and analyze the link between weblog types (personal, library-owned or group operated with their content and technical structure. Webometric methods were deployed for selection of the sample. The findings indicated that there is a significant correlation between the weblog types and their update frequency. The same holds between the weblog types and their content. But no such significance was observed with respect to the weblog publishing tools. The investigators believe that the links uncovered could also hold true for Iranian LIS weblogs.

  3. Weblogs For English Language Learning: Students’ Perceptions

    OpenAIRE

    WAN, Juida

    2011-01-01

    The digital explosion of information on the Internet has resulted in a need for a new and up-to-date way for Digital Natives to learn English. Educators have reported numerous benefits of using weblogs in English language learning. This article presents a small scale study on the use of weblogs for English language learning at tertiary level in Malaysia. Twenty six students kept weblogs for a duration of a semester. This study investigated how students perceived the use of weblogs for Eng...

  4. Co-clustering for Weblogs in Semantic Space

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zong, Yu; Xu, Guandong; Dolog, Peter

    2010-01-01

    Web clustering is an approach for aggregating web objects into various groups according to underlying relationships among them. Finding co-clusters of web objects in semantic space is an interesting topic in the context of web usage mining, which is able to capture the underlying user navigational...... interest and content preference simultaneously. In this paper we will present a novel web co-clustering algorithm named Co-Clustering in Semantic space (COCS) to simultaneously partition web users and pages via a latent semantic analysis approach. In COCS, we first, train the latent semantic space...... of weblog data by using Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis (PLSA) model, and then, project all weblog data objects into this semantic space with probability distribution to capture the relationship among web pages and web users, at last, propose a clustering algorithm to generate the co...

  5. Media Sociography on Weblogs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tække, Jesper

    Weblogs are not only one of the newest technical media for communication, but also one of the most difficult to understand. Are weblogs a kind of mass medium, a personal medium like an online diary, or a medium that gives space for communities to grow? Or are weblogs a medium that enable all...... these possibilities depended on the actual use? This paper throws some light on what weblogs are by using the methodology of Media Sociography (Tække 2003, 2004a, 2004b and 2004c). Media Sociography is a strategy for analysing mediated social systems or in other words a strategy for describing the social in relation...... to the media it is based on. Theoretically seen it is inspired of two theoretical paradigms the Sociological Systems Theory of Niklas Luhmann and the Media Theory (also called the Toronto school). Empirically the paper primary draws on the literature about weblogs, which could be framed as CMC...

  6. Evaluation of Candidate Teachers Related to the Weblog Writing Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Çelik, Tugba; Demirgünes, Sercan

    2016-01-01

    Weblogs offer a new writing and reading environment. Most people in the education process may improve their writing skills and achieve new perspectives related to writing via weblogs. In this study the changes that weblog writing process created in undergraduates'/candidate teachers' minds regarding writing are revealed. The weblog writing process…

  7. [Relationship among weblog authors' target audience, contents, and types of interpersonal communication].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miura, Asako; Matsumura, Naohiro; Kitayama, Satoshi

    2008-12-01

    Weblogs are one of the most popular personal websites in Japan, where entries are made in journal style and displayed in reverse chronological order. This study examined the relationship between weblog authors' target audience (i.e., orientation) and the actual situations depicted in their weblogs by combining a questionnaire survey of the authors with an analysis of their weblog content data. Based on a questionnaire survey of 736 Japanese weblog authors, their target audience was divided into four clusters: (a) general public, (b) self, (c) self and offline friends, and (d) various others. To assess the actual situations depicted in their weblogs, the amount of happy and unhappy emotional expression in their writing and the frequency of interpersonal communication (comments, bookmarks, and trackbacks) were calculated from their log data. The results suggested that weblog authors wrote different types of content and used different types of communication depending on their audience, whereas the weblog content itself still showed the diary-like characteristic of personal daily-life records.

  8. Adicionar um comentário: mecanismos de conversação em weblogs e fotologs brasileiros Add a comment: conversation mechanisms in Brazilian weblogs and photoblogs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raquel Recuero

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available O presente trabalho discute os mecanismos de conversação observados nos fotologs e nos weblogs brasileiros, a partir de um estudo realizado em 2006 e 2007. Partindo de uma discussão do uso dos referidos sistemas como formas de conversação mediada por computador de forma assíncrona, são apontados elementos de estrutura da conversação, pares conversacionais e marcadores conversacionais que auxiliam no funcionamento dessas conversações. Finalmente, discutem-se as semelhanças e diferenças dos dados e suas possíveis implicações para estudos futuros das conversações mediadas pelo computador.This paper discusses the conversation mechanisms observed in Brazilian weblogs and fotologs based on an ethnographic study carried out in 2006 and 2007. From a discussion of these systems usage as forms of asynchronous computer mediated conversation, we point out elements of conversational structure, conversational pairs and conversational markers that help the conversations. Finally, we discuss similarities and dissimilarities in the observed data and their possible implications for future computer mediated conversation studies.

  9. WEBLOGS AS A SUBGENRE OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION / MARKETING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Jesús Pinar Sanz

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this article is to describe the characteristics of weblogs (usually shortened to blog, but occasionally spelled web log, the latest genre of internet communication that has attained widespread popularity (Herring et al. 2005. I will focus my attention on those weblogs which contain any kind of political message during election campaigns. The paper situates blogs with respect to the dominant forms of digital communication and as a powerful tool for developing future election campaigns in light of their low cost and the speed with which news can be published. The generic variables will be studied in detail, taking into account Swales' general theory of genre (1990 and genre theories applied to electronic communication (Yates and Orlikowski, 1992. Register variables (Halliday, 1989; Martin, 2001 will also be thoroughly studied. The results of this study show the characteristics of weblogs with regards to vocabulary, syntactic structures and the use of pronouns among others. The findings are based on an investigation of 20 politically-oriented weblogs, randomly selected during the 2004 American and 2005 British elections.

  10. EFEKTIVITAS WEBLOG DAN FACEBOOK TERINTEGRASI UNTUK PEMBELAJARAN VIRTUAL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hartono .

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstrak: Saat ini, banyak mahasiswa menghabiskan waktu mereka di internet. Mereka melakukan kegiatan seperti membuat blog, mengunduh, mengunggah, chatting, dan berinteraksi melalui facebook. Mahasiswa sekarang ini hidup dengan teknologi. Penelitian menunjukkan bahwa weblog dan facebook berpotensi mendukung belajar dan mengajar. Guru dan pendidik menggunakan kegiatan tersebut untuk meningkatkan kualitas belajar. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui efektivitas weblog dan facebook ketika digunakan secara integratif untuk melengkapi pembelajaran. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kuantitatif deskriptif. Data dikumpulkan dari halaman-halaman facebook yang diamati dari responden yang mengambil mata kuliah Introduction of Second Language Acquisition (SLA. Data kemudian dideskripsikan dan dianalisis. Temuan penelitian menunjukkan bahwa weblog dan facebook dapat digunakan secara efektif untuk melengkapi kegiatan belajar. Kata Kunci: weblog, facebook, pembelajaran virtual

  11. Online Features of Qzone Weblog for Critical Peer Feedback to Facilitate Business English Writing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Xianwei; Samuel, Moses; Asmawi, Adelina

    2016-01-01

    Qzone weblog is one of the most popular weblogs in China. This study explores Qzone weblog for critical peer feedback to facilitate Business English writing among the Chinese undergraduates. A qualitative case study is conducted by NVivo 8 to analyze the three research data of semistructured interviews, Business English writing assignments, and…

  12. A comparative study of information diffusion in weblogs and microblogs based on social network analysis

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Yang ZHANG; Wanyang LING

    2012-01-01

    Purpose:This paper intends to explore a quantitative method for investigating the characteristics of information diffusion through social media like weblogs and microblogs.By using the social network analysis methods,we attempt to analyze the different characteristics of information diffusion in weblogs and microblogs as well as the possible reasons of these differences.Design/methodology/approach:Using the social network analysis methods,this paper carries out an empirical study by taking the Chinese weblogs and microblogs in the field of Library and Information Science (LIS) as the research sample and employing measures such as network density,core/peripheral structure and centrality.Findings:Firstly,both bloggers and microbloggers maintain weak ties,and both of their social networks display a small-world effect.Secondly,compared with weblog users,microblog users are more interconnected,more equal and more capable of developing relationships with people outside their own social networks.Thirdly,the microblogging social network is more conducive to information diffusion than the blogging network,because of their differences in functions and the information flow mechanism.Finally,the communication mode emerged with microblogging,with the characteristics of micro-content,multi-channel information dissemination,dense and decentralized social network and content aggregation,will be one of the trends in the development of the information exchange platform in the future.Research limitations:The sample size needs to be increased so that samples are more representative.Errors may exist during the data collection.Moreover,the individual-level characteristics of the samples as well as the types of information exchanged need to be further studied.Practical implications:This preliminary study explores the characteristics of information diffusion in the network environment and verifies the feasibility of conducting a quantitative analysis of information diffusion through

  13. A comparative study of information diffusion in weblogs and microblogs based on social network analysis

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Yang; ZHANG; Wanyang; LING

    2012-01-01

    Purpose:This paper intends to explore a quantitative method for investigating the characteristics of information diffusion through social media like weblogs and microblogs.By using the social network analysis methods,we attempt to analyze the different characteristics of information diffusion in weblogs and microblogs as well as the possible reasons of these differences.Design/methodology/approach:Using the social network analysis methods,this paper carries out an empirical study by taking the Chinese weblogs and microblogs in the field of Library and Information Science(LIS)as the research sample and employing measures such as network density,core/peripheral structure and centrality.Findings:Firstly,both bloggers and microbloggers maintain weak ties,and both of their social networks display a small-world effect.Secondly,compared with weblog users,microblog users are more interconnected,more equal and more capable of developing relationships with people outside their own social networks.Thirdly,the microblogging social network is more conducive to information diffusion than the blogging network,because of their differences in functions and the information flow mechanism.Finally,the communication mode emerged with microblogging,with the characteristics of micro-content,multi-channel information dissemination,dense and decentralized social network and content aggregation,will be one of the trends in the development of the information exchange platform in the future.Research limitations:The sample size needs to be increased so that samples are more representative.Errors may exist during the data collection.Moreover,the individual-level characteristics of the samples as well as the types of information exchanged need to be further studied.Practical implications:This preliminary study explores the characteristics of information diffusion in the network environment and verifies the feasibility of conducting a quantitative analysis of information diffusion through social

  14. Getting started with Oracle WebLogic Server 12c developer's guide

    CERN Document Server

    Nunes, Fabio Mazanatti

    2013-01-01

    Getting Started with Oracle WebLogic Server 12c is a fast-paced and feature-packed book, designed to get you working with Java EE 6, JDK 7 and Oracle WebLogic Server 12c straight away, so start developing your own applications.Getting Started with Oracle WebLogic Server 12c: Developer's Guide is written for developers who are just getting started, or who have some experience, with Java EE who want to learn how to develop for and use Oracle WebLogic Server. Getting Started with Oracle WebLogic Server 12c: Developer's Guide also provides a great overview of the updated features of the 12c releas

  15. Using Weblog in Cooperative Learning to Improve the Achievement of History Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leng, Lim Hooi; Leng, Chin Hai; Abedalaziz, Nabeel

    2013-01-01

    This research investigates the use of Weblog in Cooperative Learning to enhance students' learning of History. The main issues of this study were the lack of interest and low achievement scores in History learning. The objectives of this study are to explore the incorporation of Weblog in Cooperative Learning within the teaching and learning…

  16. Efektivitas Weblog dan Facebook Terintegrasi untuk Pembelajaran Virtual

    OpenAIRE

    Hartono

    2014-01-01

    Abstrak: Saat ini, banyak mahasiswa menghabiskan waktu mereka di internet. Mereka melakukan kegiatan seperti membuat blog, mengunduh, mengunggah, chatting, dan berinteraksi melalui facebook. Mahasiswa sekarang ini hidup dengan teknologi. Penelitian menunjukkan bahwa weblog dan facebook berpotensi mendukung belajar dan mengajar. Guru dan pendidik menggunakan kegiatan tersebut untuk meningkatkan kualitas belajar. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui efektivitas weblog dan facebook ketika d...

  17. Oracle WebLogic Server 12c advanced administration cookbook

    CERN Document Server

    Iwazaki, Dalton

    2013-01-01

    Using real life problems and simple solutions this book will make any issue seem small. WebLogic Server books can be a bit dry but Dalton keeps the tone light and ensures no matter how complex the problem you always feel like you have someone right there with you helping you along.This book is ideal for those who know the basics of WebLogic but want to dive deeper and get to grips with more advanced topics. So if you are a datacenter operator, system administrator or even a Java developer this book could be exactly what you are looking for to take you one step further with Oracle WebLogic Serv

  18. SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE POTENTIAL OF WEBLOGS IN MARKETING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raluca-Mihaela SANDU

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The Internet evolved from Web1.0 to Web2.0, bringing on frontline the Social Media, with the help of which a double communication advantage can be underscored: between companies and their customers and between customers. Hence, Social Media can be considered a new, hybrid component of the promotion-mix. This complex phenomenon includes also weblogs or more commun expressed: blogs. The blogosphere grows as the number of weblogs multiplicate in an exponential manner and starts to gain ground in marketing. As consumers search for recommandations on the Internet about trends and products to buy and thus also on blogs, this can only lead to influencing consumer’s behavior. Two different types of weblogs are analysed: fashion blogs and travel blogs.

  19. Automated Story Capture From Internet Weblogs

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Gordon, Andrew S; Cao, Qun; Swanson, Reid

    2007-01-01

    .... first-person narratives about real-life experiences. Millions of these stories appear in Internet weblogs, offering a potentially valuable resource for future knowledge management and training applications...

  20. Knowledge of Webloging among Library Science Students: The ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study focused on investigating the knowledge of weblogging among library science students in Federal Polytechnic, Nekede. The study used descriptive survey research design. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 115 students among the final year students. A structured questionnaire was developed ...

  1. Qzone Weblog for Critical Peer Feedback to Improve Business English Writing: A Case of Chinese Undergraduates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xianwei, Gao; Samuel, Moses; Asmawi, Adelina

    2016-01-01

    This study explores Qzone weblog for critical peer feedback (CPF) in Business English writing (BEW) among the Chinese undergraduates. A qualitative case study is conducted by Nvivo 8 to analyze the three research data of semi-structured interviews, BEW writing assignments, and CPF artifacts on Qzone weblog. Three research questions are focused to…

  2. Gemeinsam hilfreich oder einsam lästig? Beurteilung von praktikumsbegleitenden Weblogs von angehenden Lehrpersonen

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nives Egger

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Weblogs werden an Hochschulen vermehrt zur Unterstützung von Lern- und Reflexionsprozessen eingesetzt, in der Lehrer/innenbildung auch zunehmend während der berufspraktischen Ausbildung. Die Studierenden beurteilen den Einsatz von Weblogs jedoch unterschiedlich. Dabei ist wenig bekannt, welchen Einfluss die Vergabe und das Erhalten von Peerfeedback auf den Beurteilungsprozess von praktikumsbegleitenden Weblogs sowie auf den Umfang von Blogpostings haben. Im folgenden Beitrag wird dieser Frage mittels einer Befragung von 74 angehenden Lehrpersonen nachgegangen, die praktikumsbegleitende Weblogs mit oder ohne Peerfeedback nutzten, um über herausfordernde Ereignisse im Praktikum zu reflektieren. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Studierende, die Peerfeedback erhielten und andere Blogbeiträge kommentierten, den Weblogeinsatz nützlicher einschätzen sowie eine höhere Motivation und positivere Einstellung gegenüber den Einsatz von Weblogs aufweisen als Studierende, die ohne Peerfeedback bloggen. Keinen Einfluss hat Peerfeedback auf den Umfang der Blogbeiträge und auf die dafür aufgewendete Zeit.

  3. Opinions of Elementary Level EFL Learners on The Use of Weblogs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ilknur ISTIFCI

    Full Text Available Technology is an indispensable part of our lives and education cannot be taught without it. Since technology is in every part of our lives, foreign language education also makes use of the new technology. By the use of the Internet, virtual classrooms and materials are easy to access and learning takes place beyond the boundaries of the classrooms. Weblogs or blogs are one of the tools that are used to teach language skills in EFL courses and students have a chance to reflect on what they wrote in the blogs. The aim of this study is to find the opinions of elementary level EFL learners on using weblogs and distance education. The subjects of the study were 10 Native speakers of English in London and 15 Turkish EFL learners who are learning English in the School of Foreign Languages. Turkish EFL learners created a class blog and every week they were given assignments by their class teacher. They wrote paragraphs and they gave and receive feedback on their writing in terms of content, vocabulary and grammar by their classmates and by native English speakers in a virtual environment. This procedure lasted for 6 weeks. At the end of 6 weeks, students were given an evaluation questionnaire and they were asked to write their opinions about using weblogs. They were also interviewed by their teacher and the opinions of the students were categorized. Findings indicate that the students found the idea of weblogs as a distant learning tool motivating, enjoyable and encouraging.

  4. Knitting a community: weblogs and institutions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, Torill Elvira

    2013-01-01

    and creation, the knitting weblogs connect individuals and institutions, new designs and tradition. The objects of research are knitting blogs based mainly in Scandinavian countries. On these blogs I look at the use of patterns poached from different institutions (museum, archives, commercial agents...

  5. Gepostet, gelikt, geteilt – das Weblog ETHeritage der ETH-Bibliothek, Zürich

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Gasser

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Über das Weblog ETHeritage stellen die Sammlungen und Archive der ETH-Bibliothek seit 2009 wöchentlich Highlights aus ihren Beständen vor. Mit weit über 400 Posts ist dieses Weblog inzwischen fester und wichtiger Bestandteil der Social-Media-Präsenz der ETH-Bibliothek. Anhand des Beispiels ETHeritage fokussiert dieser Beitrag auf die zentralen Erfolgsfaktoren eines Corporate Blogs einer Gedächtnisinstitution: Besondere Inhalte gut präsentiert, engagierte Bloggerinnen und Blogger, eine angemessene Struktur sowie die laufende Weiterentwicklung des Angebots.   ETH Library’s Collections and Archives have presented selected objects and documents in weekly posts on their weblog ETHeritage since 2009. With far more than 400 posts published, this weblog has now become a permanent and important part of the library’s social media presence. Using ETHeritage as an example, this paper focuses on the crucial success factors of a corporate blog of a memory institution: unmatched content presented well, dedicated bloggers, an adequate organizational structure, and the continuing development of the online service.

  6. Weblogs in Higher Education: Why Do Students (Not) Blog?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andergassen, Monika; Behringer, Reinhold; Finlay, Janet; Gorra, Andrea; Moore, David

    2009-01-01

    Positive impacts on learning through blogging, such as active knowledge construction and reflective writing, have been reported. However, not many students use weblogs in informal contexts, even when appropriate facilities are offered by their universities. While motivations for blogging have been subject to empirical studies, little research has…

  7. A Comparison of Undergraduate Faculty and Millennial Students regarding the Utilization of Weblog and Podcast Technology in a Teacher Education Department

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ennis, Leslie Sturdivant; Gambrell, Elizabeth Anne

    2010-01-01

    The main objective of the study was to compare the utilization of weblog and podcast technology by undergraduate university faculty and Millennial college students. The study was conducted to test the hypothesis, formed from existing literature, that there might be a difference in the utilization of weblog and podcast technology between faculty…

  8. Emerging Issues in the Utilization of Weblogs in Higher Education Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayao-ao, Shirley

    2014-01-01

    This paper examines the emerging issues in the utilization of weblogs in Philippine higher education and how these issues affect the performance of students. This study used a modified Delphi method. The Delphi panel consisted of 12 experts in the integration of technology, particularly blogs, in their teaching. The study yielded the following…

  9. Wenn Edusphäre und Blogosphäre sich treffen. Weblogs an Hochschulen zwischen Zitationskartell und Diskursrevolte

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefanie Panke

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Der vorliegende Beitrag widmet sich dem Thema «Edublogging», also der Nutzung von Weblogs im Bildungsbereich, und fokussiert dabei auf den Hochschulsektor. Weblogs werden vielerorts als Instrument für die Lehre, aber auch als ­Diskussionsplattform im E-Learning-Forschungsdiskurs sowie als Mittel zur Öffentlichkeitsarbeit in E-Learning-Zentren und anderen Zentraleinrichtungen eingesetzt. Hinzu kommen Blogfarmen bzw. Multiblogs, die jedem und jeder Hochschulangehörigen mit wenigen Klicks die Einrichtung einer Weblog-Präsenz eröffnen. Entsprechend facettenreich präsentiert sich die Landschaft der Edublogs. Der Artikel beleuchtet das Phänomen «Edublogosphäre» durch eine umfangreiche Literatursichtung, Web-Recherchen, Inhaltsanalysen und Befragungen. Angestrebt wird eine Kartografie der vielfältigen Landschaft an Edublogs. Im Ergebnis werden Besonderheiten der Weblog-Strategien von E-Learning-Einrichtungen, bloggenden E-Learning-Wissenschaftlern/-innen, Blogfarmen und weiteren Einsatzformen in Hochschulbereich beschrieben.

  10. Os Circuitos Comunicativos e a Construção da Cidadania no Ciberespaço: tramas do sentido em redes de weblogs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriano Warken Floriani

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available The idea of communicative circuit is associated, currently, to the mediated communication and to the complexity of this process. Our goal is to verify how the circuit dynamics contribute to generate networks and the development of citizenship in cyberspace. In weblogs the construction of narratives operates the three moments of circuit dynamics (production, diffusion, usage/information acceptance. Therefore, in dialogical relation between subjectivity and objectivity, the narratives are sense plots, responsible for the exchange of meanings and for citizens' mobilization in cyberspace. This citizenship is related to the symbolical resources that the individuals need to coordinate their actions in a world full of incertainty.

  11. Analysis of Usage Patterns in Large Multimedia Websites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Rahul; Bhattarai, Bibek

    User behavior in a website is a critical indicator of the web site's usability and success. Therefore an understanding of usage patterns is essential to website design optimization. In this context, large multimedia websites pose a significant challenge for comprehension of the complex and diverse user behaviors they sustain. This is due to the complexity of analyzing and understanding user-data interactions in media-rich contexts. In this chapter we present a novel multi-perspective approach for usability analysis of large media rich websites. Our research combines multimedia web content analysis with elements of web-log analysis and visualization/visual mining of web usage metadata. Multimedia content analysis allows direct estimation of the information-cues presented to a user by the web content. Analysis of web logs and usage-metadata, such as location, type, and frequency of interactions provides a complimentary perspective on the site's usage. The entire set of information is leveraged through powerful visualization and interactive querying techniques to provide analysis of usage patterns, measure of design quality, as well as the ability to rapidly identify problems in the web-site design. Experiments on media rich sites including the SkyServer - a large multimedia web-based astronomy information repository demonstrate the efficacy and promise of the proposed approach.

  12. Stroke Experiences in Weblogs: A Feasibility Study of Sex Differences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koh, Sukjin; Gordon, Andrew S; Wienberg, Christopher; Sood, Sara O; Morley, Stephanie

    2014-01-01

    Background Research on cerebral stroke symptoms using hospital records has reported that women experience more nontraditional symptoms of stroke (eg, mental status change, pain) than men do. This is an important issue because nontraditional symptoms may delay the decision to get medical assistance and increase the difficulty of correct diagnosis. In the present study, we investigate sex differences in the stroke experience as described in stories on weblogs. Objective The goal of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using the Internet as a source of data for basic research on stroke experiences. Methods Stroke experiences described in blogs were identified by using StoryUpgrade, a program that searches blog posts using a fictional prototype story. In this study, the prototype story was a description of a stroke experience. Retrieved stories coded by the researchers as relevant were used to update the search query and retrieve more stories using relevance feedback. Stories were coded for first- or third-person narrator, traditional and nontraditional patient symptoms, type of stroke, patient sex and age, delay before seeking medical assistance, and delay at hospital and in treatment. Results There were 191 relevant stroke stories of which 174 stories reported symptoms (52.3% female and 47.7% male patients). There were no sex differences for each traditional or nontraditional stroke symptom by chi-square analysis (all Ps>.05). Type of narrator, however, affected report of traditional and nontraditional symptoms. Female first-person narrators (ie, the patient) were more likely to report mental status change (56.3%, 27/48) than male first-person narrators (36.4%, 16/44), a marginally significant effect by logistic regression (P=.056), whereas reports of third-person narrators did not differ for women (27.9%, 12/43) and men (28.2%, 11/39) patients. There were more reports of at least 1 nontraditional symptom in the 92 first-person reports (44.6%, 41/92) than

  13. Stroke experiences in weblogs: a feasibility study of sex differences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koh, Sukjin; Gordon, Andrew S; Wienberg, Christopher; Sood, Sara O; Morley, Stephanie; Burke, Deborah M

    2014-03-19

    Research on cerebral stroke symptoms using hospital records has reported that women experience more nontraditional symptoms of stroke (eg, mental status change, pain) than men do. This is an important issue because nontraditional symptoms may delay the decision to get medical assistance and increase the difficulty of correct diagnosis. In the present study, we investigate sex differences in the stroke experience as described in stories on weblogs. The goal of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using the Internet as a source of data for basic research on stroke experiences. Stroke experiences described in blogs were identified by using StoryUpgrade, a program that searches blog posts using a fictional prototype story. In this study, the prototype story was a description of a stroke experience. Retrieved stories coded by the researchers as relevant were used to update the search query and retrieve more stories using relevance feedback. Stories were coded for first- or third-person narrator, traditional and nontraditional patient symptoms, type of stroke, patient sex and age, delay before seeking medical assistance, and delay at hospital and in treatment. There were 191 relevant stroke stories of which 174 stories reported symptoms (52.3% female and 47.7% male patients). There were no sex differences for each traditional or nontraditional stroke symptom by chi-square analysis (all Ps>.05). Type of narrator, however, affected report of traditional and nontraditional symptoms. Female first-person narrators (ie, the patient) were more likely to report mental status change (56.3%, 27/48) than male first-person narrators (36.4%, 16/44), a marginally significant effect by logistic regression (P=.056), whereas reports of third-person narrators did not differ for women (27.9%, 12/43) and men (28.2%, 11/39) patients. There were more reports of at least 1 nontraditional symptom in the 92 first-person reports (44.6%, 41/92) than in the 82 third-person reports (25

  14. In Their Words: Connecting On-Line Weblogs to Developmental Processes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Subrahmanyam, Kaveri; Garcia, Eddie C. M.; Harsono, Lidwina Stella; Li, Janice S.; Lipana, Lawrence

    2009-01-01

    This paper seeks to connect adolescents' communication within on-line weblogs or blogs to developmental processes. A total of 195 English language blogs written by self-identified 14- to 18-year-olds were selected; three entries from each blog were analysed, resulting in a sample of 585 entries. Blogger demographics, self-presentation, and blog…

  15. Usos y competencias del weblog en las corporaciones

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Luisa Sánchez Calero

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Las empresas empiezan a hacer uso comunicativo del alto potencial de los blogs que en origen eran diarios personales. Hay una serie de herramientas de comunicación que se están implantando en las corporaciones, acordes con las características, productos o servicios y del perfil de sus empleados. El artículo se centra exclusivamente en el papel que está teniendo el weblog en el desarrollo de la comunicación de las organizaciones empresariales.

  16. Twitter and its Usage for Dialogic Stakeholder Communication by MNCs and NGOs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schoeneborn, Dennis; Inauen, Sarah

    2014-01-01

    “Web 2.0” have dramatically widened the range of options for such dialogue processes. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in particular make use of “social media” (e.g., Facebook, Weblogs, Twitter) which enable them to quickly generate attention regarding socially and environmentally harmful business...... one particular social media application, that is, Twitter, for dialogic stakeholder communication. In our empirical study, we examine current practices of Twitter usage by MNCs and NGOs. We investigate a dataset of more than 3,000 Twitter articles from 30 MNCs and 30 NGOs in the German-speaking world....... Our analysis is based on the “conceptual orality or literality” scale by Koch and Oesterreicher (1994). The comparative analysis shows that on average MNCs and NGOs exhibit a surprisingly similar profile on Twitter. Both tend toward conceptual literality. However, the analysis of Tweets per...

  17. Effect of Weblog-Based Process Approach on EFL Learners' Writing Performance and Autonomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azari, Mohammad Hosein

    2017-01-01

    This article investigated the effect of weblog use in a process-based writing course on the writing performance of students as well as on their level of learner autonomy. The participants were 43 English language learners who were doing their BA in the field of English Language Teaching. The control group (n = 19) went through in-class writing…

  18. A Model Of Critical Peer Feedback To Facilitate Business English Writing Using Qzone Weblogs Among Chinese Undergraduates

    OpenAIRE

    Gao Xianwei; Moses Samuel; Adelina Asmawi

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore critical thinking skills in peer feedback for Business English writing in order to facilitate the quality of peer feedback and quality of Business English writing. “Critical peer feedback” was conceptualized with the integration of “critical thinking” and “peer feedback” in order to improve the quality of peer feedback. This study explored the process, content and factors of critical peer feedback through Qzone weblogs, and summarized the model of crit...

  19. Analisis Sebaran Pemanfaatan Internet Blog/Weblog untuk Kategori Bisnis dan Ekonomi di Dunia Maya Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cooky Tri Adhikara

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Internet Weblog / Blog is a medium of communication that are simple, affordable and easy to build. This cause numbers of Blogs in Indonesia grew rapidly. Bloggers, readers and third-party (Internet Provider, Advertiser, mediators get the benefits of blogs according to their capacity such as mind-sharing, media discourse, promotions, sales, and many other benefits. There are many categories of blogs. Some studies classify them into various categories. This study focus on the business and economic blog category. The aim of this study is to create blog benefiting map of Indonesia’s virtual society, find any Indonesian particular form of blog benefiting, and to seek any suggestion of blog benefit enhance for society.  

  20. An Investigation of Students' Perceptions of Learning Benefits of Weblogs in an East Asian Context: A Rasch Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goh, Jonathan W. P.; Quek, Chin Joo; Lee, Ong Kim

    2010-01-01

    In the 1980s we witnessed the dawning of the "Information Age". Today, the use of information technology has become an integral part of our lives. Education is no exception. With the introduction of Web 2.0 tools such as weblogs, students are presented a new platform for interaction and exchanging ideas. A review of the literature…

  1. Emotion Recognition of Weblog Sentences Based on an Ensemble Algorithm of Multi-label Classification and Word Emotions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Ji; Ren, Fuji

    Weblogs have greatly changed the communication ways of mankind. Affective analysis of blog posts is found valuable for many applications such as text-to-speech synthesis or computer-assisted recommendation. Traditional emotion recognition in text based on single-label classification can not satisfy higher requirements of affective computing. In this paper, the automatic identification of sentence emotion in weblogs is modeled as a multi-label text categorization task. Experiments are carried out on 12273 blog sentences from the Chinese emotion corpus Ren_CECps with 8-dimension emotion annotation. An ensemble algorithm RAKEL is used to recognize dominant emotions from the writer's perspective. Our emotion feature using detailed intensity representation for word emotions outperforms the other main features such as the word frequency feature and the traditional lexicon-based feature. In order to deal with relatively complex sentences, we integrate grammatical characteristics of punctuations, disjunctive connectives, modification relations and negation into features. It achieves 13.51% and 12.49% increases for Micro-averaged F1 and Macro-averaged F1 respectively compared to the traditional lexicon-based feature. Result shows that multiple-dimension emotion representation with grammatical features can efficiently classify sentence emotion in a multi-label problem.

  2. Reports on the 2013 Workshop Program of the Seventh International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media

    OpenAIRE

    Archambault, Daniel; Celli, Fabio; Daly, Elizabeth M.; Erickson, Ingrid; Geyer, Werner; Halegoua, Germaine; Keegan, Brian; Millen, David R.; Schwartz, Raz; Shami, N. Sadat

    2013-01-01

    The Workshop Program of the Program of the Seventh International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media was held July 11, 2013, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The program included four workshops, Computational Personality Recognition (Shared Task) (WS-13-01), Social Computing for Workforce 2.0 (WS-13-02), Social Media Visualization 2 (WS-13-03), and When the City Meets the Citizen (WS-13-04). This report summarizes the activities of the four workshops.

  3. Introducing Pharmacogenetics and Personalized Medicine via a Weblog

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaitlin Bova

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: To evaluate a weblog (blog-based course introducing pharmacogenetics (PGt and personalized medicine (PM relative to freshmen pharmacy students' knowledge base. Methods: Incoming freshmen pharmacy students were invited by email to enroll in a one semester-hour, elective, on-line blog-based course entitled "Personal Genome Evaluation". The course was offered during the students' first semester in college. A topic list related to PGt and PM was developed by a group of faculty with topics being presented via the blog once or twice weekly through week 14 of the 15 week semester. A pre-course and post-course survey was sent to the students to compare their knowledge base relative to general information, drug response related to PGt, and PM. Results: Fifty-one freshmen pharmacy students enrolled in the course and completed the pre-course survey and 49 of the 51 students completed the post-course survey. There was an increase in the students' general, PGt and PM knowledge base as evidenced by a statistically significant higher number of correct responses for 17 of 21 questions on the post-course survey as compared to the pre-course survey. Notably, following the course, students had an increased knowledge base relative to "genetic privacy", drug dosing based on metabolizer phenotype, and the breadth of PM, among other specific points. Conclusions: The study indicated that introducing PGt and PM via a blog format was feasible, increasing the students' knowledge of these emerging areas. The blog format is easily transferable and can be adopted by colleges/schools to introduce PGt and PM.   Type: Case Study

  4. Self-disclosure through weblogs and perceptions of online and "real-life" friendships among female bloggers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bane, Cynthia M H; Cornish, Marilyn; Erspamer, Nicole; Kampman, Lia

    2010-04-01

    The current study examined female bloggers' perceptions of online and "real-life" same-sex friendships and examined relationships between self-disclosure through blogs and perceptions of the two types of friendships. Three hundred seven female bloggers (M age = 34.56 years) completed an online survey regarding friendship satisfaction and perceptions of intimacy-promoting interaction patterns in friendships. One hundred respondents' weblogs were analyzed for self-disclosure. Self-reported self-disclosure was positively correlated with number of online friendships and satisfaction with online friendships. Although participants reported having close online friends, they perceived real-life friendships as more likely than online friendships to possess intimacy-promoting interaction patterns. These perceptions did not differ as a function of self-disclosure through blogging, although bloggers who were categorized as higher in disclosure were more satisfied with online friendships than were bloggers who were categorized as lower in disclosure. These results suggest a relationship between self-disclosure through blogging and online relationship satisfaction among women in middle adulthood but that these women perceive real-life friendships as more likely to offer interaction patterns that foster intimacy.

  5. A Factor Analytic Study of the Internet Usage Scale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monetti, David M.; Whatley, Mark A.; Hinkle, Kerry T.; Cunningham, Kerry T.; Breneiser, Jennifer E.; Kisling, Rhea

    2011-01-01

    This study developed an Internet Usage Scale (IUS) for use with adolescent populations. The IUS is a 26-item scale that measures participants' beliefs about how their Internet usage impacts their behavior. The sample for this study consisted of 947 middle school students. An exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation was conducted on the…

  6. MRI usage in a pediatric emergency department: an analysis of usage and usage trends over 5 years

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scheinfeld, Meir H. [Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Division of Emergency Radiology, Bronx, NY (United States); Moon, Jee-Young; Wang, Dan [Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Bronx, NY (United States); Fagan, Michele J. [Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine, Bronx, NY (United States); Davoudzadeh, Reubin [Montefiore Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Bronx, NY (United States); Taragin, Benjamin H. [Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Division of Pediatric Radiology, Bronx, NY (United States)

    2017-03-15

    Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) usage has anecdotally increased due to the principles of ALARA and the desire to Image Gently. Aside from a single abstract in the emergency medicine literature, pediatric emergency department MRI usage has not been described. Our objective was to determine whether MRI use is indeed increasing at a high-volume urban pediatric emergency department with 24/7 MRI availability. Also, we sought to determine which exams, time periods and demographics influenced the trend. Institutional Review Board exemption was obtained. Emergency department patient visit and exam data were obtained from the hospital database for the 2011-2015 time period. MRI usage data were normalized using emergency department patient visit data to determine usage rates. The z-test was used to compare MRI use by gender. The chi-square test was used to test for trends in MRI usage during the study period and in patient age. MRI usage for each hour and each weekday were tabulated to determine peak and trough usage times. MRI usage rate per emergency department patient visit was 0.36%. Headache, pain and rule-out appendicitis were the most common indications for neuroradiology, musculoskeletal and trunk exams, respectively. Usage in female patients was significantly greater than in males (0.42% vs. 0.29%, respectively, P<0.001). Usage significantly increased during the 5-year period (P<0.001). Use significantly increased from age 3 to 17 (0.011% to 1.1%, respectively, P<0.001). Sixty percent of exams were performed after-hours, the highest volume during the 10 p.m. hour and lowest between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. MRI use was highest on Thursdays and lowest on Sundays (MRI on 0.45% and 0.22% of patients, respectively). MRI use in children increased during the study period, most notably in females, on weekdays and after-hours. (orig.)

  7. A Comparative Study of Mobile Internet Usage between the U.S. and Korea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luke Yunkeun Shin

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available The introduction of smartphones illuminated mobile internet prevalence, highlighting nomophobia. This study explored the mobile internet usage dependency of Korean and U.S. mobile users and investigated the severity of such usage dependency and the factors involved. In the combined data set, it was found that Korean users have higher usage dependency levels than US users and that students, unemployed users, and younger generations are more susceptible to mobile internet usage dependency. When comparing the two countries as separate data sets Korean females present as having higher usage dependency levels. In the U.S., it is students and younger generation groups who present with higher usage dependency levels. Regression analysis found that frequency of access has higher associations with mobile internet usage dependency than usage length. country of origin and age are significantly associated with mobile internet usage dependency.

  8. Memes e Dinâmicas Sociais em Weblogs: informação, capital social e interação em redes sociais na internet

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raquel da Cunha Recuero

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available The following paper discusses the motivations of webloggers for meme replication through the Internet and how this replication affects social capital generated within social networks. The work is based on a previous paper (Recuero, 2006 and on the meme taxonomy, observation and interviews with webloggers. All data is then related to types of social capital (Bertolini e Bravo, 2004 generated by the social interaction on each post with each meme. Finally, the results are discussed in order to show that memes have two main functions in those weblogs, social or informative, both contributing directly to reputation and social interaction.

  9. Co-clustering Analysis of Weblogs Using Bipartite Spectral Projection Approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xu, Guandong; Zong, Yu; Dolog, Peter

    2010-01-01

    Web clustering is an approach for aggregating Web objects into various groups according to underlying relationships among them. Finding co-clusters of Web objects is an interesting topic in the context of Web usage mining, which is able to capture the underlying user navigational interest...... and content preference simultaneously. In this paper we will present an algorithm using bipartite spectral clustering to co-cluster Web users and pages. The usage data of users visiting Web sites is modeled as a bipartite graph and the spectral clustering is then applied to the graph representation of usage...... data. The proposed approach is evaluated by experiments performed on real datasets, and the impact of using various clustering algorithms is also investigated. Experimental results have demonstrated the employed method can effectively reveal the subset aggregates of Web users and pages which...

  10. An Unsupervised Opinion Mining Approach for Japanese Weblog Reputation Information Using an Improved SO-PMI Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Guangwei; Araki, Kenji

    In this paper, we propose an improved SO-PMI (Semantic Orientation Using Pointwise Mutual Information) algorithm, for use in Japanese Weblog Opinion Mining. SO-PMI is an unsupervised approach proposed by Turney that has been shown to work well for English. When this algorithm was translated into Japanese naively, most phrases, whether positive or negative in meaning, received a negative SO. For dealing with this slanting phenomenon, we propose three improvements: to expand the reference words to sets of words, to introduce a balancing factor and to detect neutral expressions. In our experiments, the proposed improvements obtained a well-balanced result: both positive and negative accuracy exceeded 62%, when evaluated on 1,200 opinion sentences sampled from three different domains (reviews of Electronic Products, Cars and Travels from Kakaku. com). In a comparative experiment on the same corpus, a supervised approach (SA-Demo) achieved a very similar accuracy to our method. This shows that our proposed approach effectively adapted SO-PMI for Japanese, and it also shows the generality of SO-PMI.

  11. A Model Of Critical Peer Feedback To Facilitate Business English Writing Using Qzone Weblogs Among Chinese Undergraduates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gao Xianwei

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to explore critical thinking skills in peer feedback for Business English writing in order to facilitate the quality of peer feedback and quality of Business English writing. “Critical peer feedback” was conceptualized with the integration of “critical thinking” and “peer feedback” in order to improve the quality of peer feedback. This study explored the process, content and factors of critical peer feedback through Qzone weblogs, and summarized the model of critical peer feedback. A qualitative case study was conducted with a group of six junior students majoring in Business English for one semester in a Chinese university. Three models of critical thinking including Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy, Paul-Elder Model and Reichenbach’s Six Steps Model, were transferred to the participants in the workshops. Three kinds of data including semi-structured interview transcripts, six writing assignments and artifacts of critical peer feedback, were analyzed by QSR NVivo 8. The findings revealed that the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy is more acceptable for the beginners of critical peer feedback which provides a six-step model of critical thinking. The process of critical peer feedback in online context was summarized as four steps- “intake”, “critical thinking”, “output”, and “post-output”. Each of the four steps had several mental processes in critical peer feedback. This study may be significant for the knowledge of higher-order peer feedback to facilitate the quality of higher-level writing.

  12. A study on the impact of Facebook usage on student’s social capital and academic performance

    OpenAIRE

    Shah, Vishal; Subramanian, Sankara; Rouis, Sana; Limyaem, Moez

    2012-01-01

    Prior research has focused on the benefits of usage of social media such as Facebook in terms of the social capital gains they bring. Other research has studied the adverse impact of such usage on academic performance. In this study we try to understand both the beneficial and adverse aspects of Facebook usage in the case of U.S. undergraduate students. Basing on social capital theory and system usage in hedonic context, we tested the dual effect of the usage of Facebook on social capital and...

  13. Feature Usage Explorer: Usage Monitoring and Visualization Tool in HTML5 Based Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarunas Marciuska

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Feature Usage Explorer is a JavaScript library, which automatically detects features in HTML5 based applications and monitors their usage. The collected information can be visualized in a Feature Usage Diagram, which is automatically generated from an input json file. Currently, the users of Feature Usage Explorer have to design their own tool in order to generate the json file from collected usage information. This option remains viable when using the library in order not to constraint the user’s choice of preferred data storage. Feature Usage Explorer can be reused in any HTML5 based applications where an understanding of how users interact with the system is required (i.e. user experience and usability studies, human computer interaction field, or requirement prioritization area.

  14. Study on online community user motif using web usage mining

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alphy, Meera; Sharma, Ajay

    2016-04-01

    The Web usage mining is the application of data mining, which is used to extract useful information from the online community. The World Wide Web contains at least 4.73 billion pages according to Indexed Web and it contains at least 228.52 million pages according Dutch Indexed web on 6th august 2015, Thursday. It’s difficult to get needed data from these billions of web pages in World Wide Web. Here is the importance of web usage mining. Personalizing the search engine helps the web user to identify the most used data in an easy way. It reduces the time consumption; automatic site search and automatic restore the useful sites. This study represents the old techniques to latest techniques used in pattern discovery and analysis in web usage mining from 1996 to 2015. Analyzing user motif helps in the improvement of business, e-commerce, personalisation and improvement of websites.

  15. Rate of humidifier and humidifier disinfectant usage in Korean children: A nationwide epidemiologic study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoon, Jisun; Cho, Hyun-Ju; Lee, Eun; Choi, Yean Jung; Kim, Young-Ho; Lee, Jung Lym; Lee, Ye Jin; Hong, Soo-Jong

    2017-05-01

    In South Korea, a cluster of humidifier disinfectant-induced lung injury (HDLI) cases developed between 2006 and 2011. There are no existing reports regarding the rate of humidifier disinfectant (HD) usage in the general population of Korean children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the rate of humidifier and HD usage in the general population of Korean children. This is a general population-based birth cohort multicenter study, Panel Study of Korean Children (PSKC) from 2008, a humidifier and HD-related questionnaire administered to 1577 subjects (809 male, 768 female) in 2015 (n=1577). The questionnaire consisted of four categories (humidifier usage, HD usage, exposure duration, and type of HD brands). A total of 75.6% (1192/1577) had used a humidifier, and the rate of HD usage was found to be 31.1% (409/1316). Polyhexamethylene guanidine (PHMG), used as a disinfectant, was found to have the highest usage rate (62.0%). HD was used for less than 3 months of the entire lifetime of most of the subjects. In conclusion, approximately 30% of young Korean children were exposed to HD. PHMG-containing HD was the most commonly used. These results suggest that a nationwide epidemiologic investigation is needed urgently, and children exposed to HD should be investigated regarding their status of lung injury, including a pulmonary function test. Moreover, a long-term follow-up period may be required to evaluate HD usage-associated lung injury. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Comparing usage of a web and app stress management intervention: An observational study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leanne G. Morrison

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available Choices in the design and delivery of digital health behaviour interventions may have a direct influence on subsequent usage and engagement. Few studies have been able to make direct, detailed comparisons of differences in usage between interventions that are delivered via web or app. This study compared the usage of two versions of a digital stress management intervention, one delivered via a website (Healthy Paths and the other delivered via an app (Healthy Mind. Design modifications were introduced within Healthy Mind to take account of reported differences in how individuals engage with websites compared to apps and mobile phones. Data were collected as part of an observational study nested within a broader exploratory trial of Healthy Mind. Objective usage of Healthy Paths and Healthy Mind were automatically recorded, including frequency and duration of logins, access to specific components within the intervention and order of page/screen visits. Usage was compared for a two week period following initial registration. In total, 381 participants completed the registration process for Healthy Paths (web and 162 participants completed the registration process for Healthy Mind (app. App users logged in twice as often (Mdn = 2.00 as web users (Mdn = 1.00, U = 13,059.50, p ≤ 0.001, but spent half as much time (Mdn = 5.23 min on the intervention compared to web users (Mdn = 10.52 min, U = 19,740.00, p ≤ 0.001. Visual exploration of usage patterns over time revealed that a significantly higher proportion of app users (n = 126, 82.35% accessed both types of support available within the intervention (i.e. awareness and change-focused tools compared to web users (n = 92, 40.17%, χ2(1, n = 382 = 66.60, p < 0.001. This study suggests that the digital platform used to deliver an intervention (i.e. web versus app and specific design choices (e.g. navigation, length and volume of content may be

  17. Internet Usage Habits and Internet Usage in Educational Studies of Vocational School Students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zehra Deniz Yakıncı

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Internet is the easiest way to access information. It provides positive contributions to individual and surroundings, in learning and information era. At this point the answers of the questions: ‘How do young people use internet and how much do they use internet for their education?’ come into prominence. In order to find the answers; a questionnaire prepared by resarchers and Young Internet Addiction Test- Short Form (YIAT-SF was used on ‘Health Services Vocational High School’ students, in this study. 3.4 % of students were found to have internet addiction and the average internet usage was found to be 5 hours daily. When students were asked to enumerate the internet sites they use, the result was: social media, news sites, movie and series sites, educational and informational content sites, play sites, e-mail, shopping sites, and sexual content sites in order of usage preferance. While social media was preferred by 79.4% in the first place, educational content sites were determined to be preferred by 5.7% in the first place among others. The second most frequently used sites by students were movies and series (22.8%. Educational / informational content (20.2 % sites were the fifth preferred sites in the preference order.

  18. A STUDY OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTERNET USAGE AND SELF-REGULATED LEARNING OF UNDERGRADUATES

    OpenAIRE

    Dr. Meena Prakash Kute; SadhanaPote-Palsamkar

    2017-01-01

    The present paper is based on the descriptive correlational research study which aimed to study the relationship between internet usage and self-regulated learning of undergraduates. The survey method was employed to collect the data from commerce, science and arts undergraduates of Mumbai University. The findings of present study showed that, there is significant relationship between internet usage and self-regulated learning of undergraduates. The relationship was found to be positive and n...

  19. Virtual Learning System Usage in Higher Education – A Study at Two South African Institutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Indira Padayachee

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available In higher education institutions various VLSs have been formally adopted to support online teaching and learning. However, there has been little research on patterns of VLS use among educators. The purpose of the research was to provide a descriptive analysis of VLS feature usage, and associated challenges at two South African higher education institutions. A case study research strategy was adopted, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches to data collection and analysis. Survey findings revealed four clusters of VLS feature usage, namely, communication, management, content and pedagogic. Analysis showed that the ‘content cluster’ was used more than the other clusters. The average usage of the ‘pedagogic cluster’ for Durban University of Technology (DUT was significantly greater than that of University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN, which tentatively indicates that staff development seems to be an important aspect of VLS usage. There was no significant difference in the usage of the ‘communication’ and ‘management’ clusters between the two institutions, DUT and UKZN. The study contributes to the body of system utilisation research by confirming an uneven pattern of VLS feature usage among educators, whilst providing fresh insights into the challenges associated with the usage of two different VLSs in two different universities.

  20. Internet and smartphone application usage in eating disorders: A descriptive study in Singapore.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Tina; Kuek, Angeline; Goh, Shih Ee; Lee, Ee Lian; Kwok, Victor

    2016-02-01

    Eating disorders are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The Internet is a popular medium for individuals with eating disorders to discuss and reinforce their affliction. However, the available literature on Internet usage and eating disorders is scarce, especially in the area of social media and smartphone application ("app") usage. This study looked at the Internet and smartphone app usage patterns of participants who presented with an eating disorder in Singapore, and whether it corresponded to severity of illness. Individuals who presented to the Eating Disorders clinic at the Singapore General Hospital completed a self-reported questionnaire on Internet and app usage. They also completed the EDE-Q, EAT-26 and CIA 3.0. 55 participants completed the study. 41.8% had anorexia nervosa, 34.5% had bulimia nervosa, and 9.1% were ED-NOS. 41.8% felt that apps helped to perpetuate their illness while 32.7% felt that the apps were helpful for recovery. Overall, any smartphone application usage was associated with younger age and greater eating disorder psychopathology and psychosocial impairment. While 30.9% had encountered eating disorder-related content on Facebook, only 12.7% visited Facebook groups related to eating disorders. For YouTube, "Cooking and Food" and "Beauty and Fashion" videos were among the top 3 types of videos that participants watched. In conclusion, Internet and smartphone app usage is significant, and they are associated with greater severity of illness. It is necessary to include interventions in this aspect as part of treatment of eating disorders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Tobacco usage among tribal population of Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu - a cross sectional study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vikneshan Murugaboopathy

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Background Tobacco use is attributed for deaths of 3.5 to 4 million people globally, which is expected to increase to about 10 million during 2020 and around more than two-third will be occurring in developing countries as they are showing an increasing trends of tobacco use. Anti-tobacco messages or campaigns do not reach the Tribal regions. Tobacco use is ingrained in many of the cultural practices of tribal people. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of tobacco usage among tribal populations of Nilgiris region, Tamil Nadu. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted among 4 villages of Conoor and Kothagiri districts of nilgiris region. A total of 363 people were screened and their tobacco usage status was assessed using Interview method. A trained interviewer along with help of community leader collected information about the usage of tobacco among the populations. Oral health status and presence of oral mucosal lesions were also recorded. Results Smokeless tobacco usage was high among the subjects. Majority of the males between 21-40 years were having both smoking and smokeless tobacco. Bidis was the most common form of smoking tobacco and gutka was the commonest smokeless tobacco used. More than 32% females in the age group of 30-45 years were tobacco users. Conclusions Tobacco usage was high among the tribal populations. Interestingly, the number of tobacco users among females was more prevalent. Customized tobacco cessation education programs has to be carried out for effective control of tobacco usage among the tribal population of Nilgiris region.

  2. Social network analysis in identifying influential webloggers: A preliminary study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasmuni, Noraini; Sulaiman, Nor Intan Saniah; Zaibidi, Nerda Zura

    2014-12-01

    In recent years, second generation of internet-based services such as weblog has become an effective communication tool to publish information on the Web. Weblogs have unique characteristics that deserve users' attention. Some of webloggers have seen weblogs as appropriate medium to initiate and expand business. These webloggers or also known as direct profit-oriented webloggers (DPOWs) communicate and share knowledge with each other through social interaction. However, survivability is the main issue among DPOW. Frequent communication with influential webloggers is one of the way to keep survive as DPOW. This paper aims to understand the network structure and identify influential webloggers within the network. Proper understanding of the network structure can assist us in knowing how the information is exchanged among members and enhance survivability among DPOW. 30 DPOW were involved in this study. Degree centrality and betweenness centrality measurement in Social Network Analysis (SNA) were used to examine the strength relation and identify influential webloggers within the network. Thus, webloggers with the highest value of these measurements are considered as the most influential webloggers in the network.

  3. A Study of Age and Gender seen through Mobile Phone Usage Patterns in Mexico

    OpenAIRE

    Sarraute, Carlos; Blanc, Pablo; Burroni, Javier

    2015-01-01

    Mobile phone usage provides a wealth of information, which can be used to better understand the demographic structure of a population. In this paper we focus on the population of Mexican mobile phone users. Our first contribution is an observational study of mobile phone usage according to gender and age groups. We were able to detect significant differences in phone usage among different subgroups of the population. Our second contribution is to provide a novel methodology to predict demogra...

  4. Everyday Preschool Interpersonal Speech Usage: Methodological, Developmental, and Sociolinguistic Studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schachter, Frances Fuchs; And Others

    1974-01-01

    Reports on a study designed to provide data on developmental and sociolinguistic patterns of interpersonal speech usage from ages 2 to 5 years which may have important implications for poverty school programs. (Author/CS)

  5. Differences in smartphone usage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gustarini, Mattia; Scipioni, Marcello Paolo; Fanourakis, Marios

    2016-01-01

    We analyze the users’ intimacy to investigate the differences in smartphone usage, considering the user’s location and number and kind of people physically around the user. With a first user study we (1) validate the intimacy concept, (2) evaluate its correlation to smartphone usage features and ...

  6. Effect of an evidence-based website on healthcare usage: an interrupted time-series study.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Spoelman, W.A.; Bonten, T.N.; Waal, M.W.M. de; Drenthen, T.; Smeele, I.J.M.; Nielen, M.M.; Chavannes, N.

    2016-01-01

    Objectives: Healthcare costs and usage are rising. Evidence-based online health information may reduce healthcare usage, but the evidence is scarce. The objective of this study was to determine whether the release of a nationwide evidence-based health website was associated with a reduction in

  7. Gaming Device Usage Patterns Predict Internet Gaming Disorder: Comparison across Different Gaming Device Usage Patterns

    OpenAIRE

    Soo-Hyun Paik; Hyun Cho; Ji-Won Chun; Jo-Eun Jeong; Dai-Jin Kim

    2017-01-01

    Gaming behaviors have been significantly influenced by smartphones. This study was designed to explore gaming behaviors and clinical characteristics across different gaming device usage patterns and the role of the patterns on Internet gaming disorder (IGD). Responders of an online survey regarding smartphone and online game usage were classified by different gaming device usage patterns: (1) individuals who played only computer games; (2) individuals who played computer games more than smart...

  8. ICT in University Education: Usage and Challenges among ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study was a survey which explored ICT usage and challenges among academic staff. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to determine the areas of ICT usage among academic staff; identify the obstacles to their ICT usage and identify their areas of training need in ICT usage. Five research questions were posed ...

  9. Factors Influencing Facebook Usage and Facebook Addictive Tendency in University Students: The Role of Online Psychological Privacy and Facebook Usage Motivation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Fu-Yuan; Chiu, Su-Lin

    2016-04-01

    There are few studies analysing the influence of personal traits and motivation factors on Facebook usage and Facebook addictive tendency as seen in university students. In this study, 225 Taiwanese university students completed a questionnaire to determine their online psychological privacy scale, Facebook usage motivation scale, Facebook usage scale and Facebook addictive tendency scale, in order to evaluate the items that can be conceptualized as the effect of university students' online psychological privacy personal trait and motive factors, and Facebook usage motivation with respect to Facebook usage and Facebook addictive tendency. The study found that a desire for more online psychological privacy correlates with a stronger motivation to use Facebook and more Facebook usage behaviour among university students who may become high-risk groups for Facebook addictive tendency. The study found that a desire for or an acceptance of a lower online psychological privacy correlates with a stronger motivation to use Facebook among university students who may have more Facebook usage behaviour. This study can help understand university students' Facebook usage and Facebook addictive tendency and provide feature indicators for those who may become high-risk groups for Facebook addictive tendency. Finally, this study conducts discussion and proposes relevant suggestions for future study. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  10. Usage Center

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kleinaltenkamp, Michael; Plewa, Carolin; Gudergan, Siegfried

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to advance extant theorizing around resourceintegration by conceptualizing and delineating the notion of a usage center. Ausage center consists of a combination of interdependent actors that draw onresources across their individual usage processes to create v...

  11. Effect of an evidence-based website on healthcare usage: an interrupted time-series study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spoelman, Wouter A; Bonten, Tobias N; de Waal, Margot W M; Drenthen, Ton; Smeele, Ivo J M; Nielen, Markus M J; Chavannes, Niels H

    2016-11-09

    Healthcare costs and usage are rising. Evidence-based online health information may reduce healthcare usage, but the evidence is scarce. The objective of this study was to determine whether the release of a nationwide evidence-based health website was associated with a reduction in healthcare usage. Interrupted time series analysis of observational primary care data of healthcare use in the Netherlands from 2009 to 2014. General community primary care. 912 000 patients who visited their general practitioners 18.1 million times during the study period. In March 2012, an evidence-based health information website was launched by the Dutch College of General Practitioners. It was easily accessible and understandable using plain language. At the end of the study period, the website had 2.9 million unique page views per month. Primary outcome was the change in consultation rate (consultations/1000 patients/month) before and after the release of the website. Additionally, a reference group was created by including consultations about topics not being viewed at the website. Subgroup analyses were performed for type of consultations, sex, age and socioeconomic status. After launch of the website, the trend in consultation rate decreased with 1.620 consultations/1000 patients/month (pHealthcare usage decreased by 12% after providing high-quality evidence-based online health information. These findings show that e-Health can be effective to improve self-management and reduce healthcare usage in times of increasing healthcare costs. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  12. Improving computer usage for students with physical disabilities through a collaborative approach: a pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borgestig, Maria; Falkmer, Torbjörn; Hemmingsson, Helena

    2013-11-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an assistive technology (AT) intervention to improve the use of available computers as assistive technology in educational tasks for students with physical disabilities during an ongoing school year. Fifteen students (aged 12-18) with physical disabilities, included in mainstream classrooms in Sweden, and their teachers took part in the intervention. Pre-, post-, and follow-up data were collected with Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS), a computer usage diary, and with the Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale (PIADS). Teachers' opinions of goal setting were collected at follow-up. The intervention improved the goal-related computer usage in educational tasks and teachers reported they would use goal setting again when appropriate. At baseline, students reported a positive impact from computer usage with no differences over time regarding the PIADS subscales independence, adaptability, or self-esteem. The AT intervention showed a positive effect on computer usage as AT in mainstream schools. Some additional support to teachers is recommended as not all students improved in all goal-related computer usage. A clinical implication is that students' computer usage can be improved and collaboratively established computer-based strategies can be carried out by teachers in mainstream schools.

  13. The Study of Tourists' Behavior in Water Usage in Hotel Business: Case Study of Phuket Province, Thailand

    OpenAIRE

    A. Pensiri; K. Nantaporn; P. Parichut

    2016-01-01

    Tourism is very important to the economy of many countries due to the large contribution in the areas of employment and income generation. However, the rapid growth of tourism can also be considered as one of the major uses of water user, and therefore also have a significant and detrimental impact on the environment. Guest behavior in water usage can be used to manage water in hotels for sustainable water resources management. This research presents a study of hotel guest water usage behavio...

  14. A genotypic method for determining HIV-2 coreceptor usage enables epidemiological studies and clinical decision support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Döring, Matthias; Borrego, Pedro; Büch, Joachim; Martins, Andreia; Friedrich, Georg; Camacho, Ricardo Jorge; Eberle, Josef; Kaiser, Rolf; Lengauer, Thomas; Taveira, Nuno; Pfeifer, Nico

    2016-12-20

    CCR5-coreceptor antagonists can be used for treating HIV-2 infected individuals. Before initiating treatment with coreceptor antagonists, viral coreceptor usage should be determined to ensure that the virus can use only the CCR5 coreceptor (R5) and cannot evade the drug by using the CXCR4 coreceptor (X4-capable). However, until now, no online tool for the genotypic identification of HIV-2 coreceptor usage had been available. Furthermore, there is a lack of knowledge on the determinants of HIV-2 coreceptor usage. Therefore, we developed a data-driven web service for the prediction of HIV-2 coreceptor usage from the V3 loop of the HIV-2 glycoprotein and used the tool to identify novel discriminatory features of X4-capable variants. Using 10 runs of tenfold cross validation, we selected a linear support vector machine (SVM) as the model for geno2pheno[coreceptor-hiv2], because it outperformed the other SVMs with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.95. We found that SVMs were highly accurate in identifying HIV-2 coreceptor usage, attaining sensitivities of 73.5% and specificities of 96% during tenfold nested cross validation. The predictive performance of SVMs was not significantly different (p value 0.37) from an existing rules-based approach. Moreover, geno2pheno[coreceptor-hiv2] achieved a predictive accuracy of 100% and outperformed the existing approach on an independent data set containing nine new isolates with corresponding phenotypic measurements of coreceptor usage. geno2pheno[coreceptor-hiv2] could not only reproduce the established markers of CXCR4-usage, but also revealed novel markers: the substitutions 27K, 15G, and 8S were significantly predictive of CXCR4 usage. Furthermore, SVMs trained on the amino-acid sequences of the V1 and V2 loops were also quite accurate in predicting coreceptor usage (AUCs of 0.84 and 0.65, respectively). In this study, we developed geno2pheno[coreceptor-hiv2], the first online tool for the prediction of HIV-2 coreceptor

  15. Facebook usage by students in higher education

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wesseling, N.F.; de la Poza, Elena; Dormènech, Jozep; Lloret, Jaime; Vincent Vela, M. Cinta; Zuriaga Agustí, Elena

    2015-01-01

    In this paper I measure first year student Facebook usage as part of a broader PhD study into the influence of social media usage on the success of students in higher education. A total of 906 students were asked to complete 3 surveys on Facebook usage with their peers, for two consecutive years

  16. Problematic Internet Usage of ICT Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gunduz, Semseddin

    2017-01-01

    Information and communication technologies (ICT) have affected all area in a society. Human can learn quickly and accurately from the internet. The aim of this study was to investigate what the problematic internet usage of ICT teachers. Therefore, the present study investigated the problematic internet usage, who worked as an ICT teacher in…

  17. Study on the methods of rational analysis about the area of the Planning of Sea Usage of Regional Construction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ya-Juan, Li; Tian-Yu, Mao; Mingjing-Tian

    2018-03-01

    The Planning of Sea Usage of Regional Construction is a new area, and the rational analysis about the area of which is one of its difficulties. Based on “Urban land classification and land use planning and construction standards”, the land use control index method study the rationality of the sea usage area of the whole region, by accumulating for specific land use indicators for each land type within the planning area. This paper, takeing the project named “caofeidian integrated service area” for example, make a little study on the land use control index method used by the sea usage demonstration of the planning of sea usage of regional construction. The study will be good for improving the technical methods of rational analysis about the area of the planning of sea usage of regional construction.

  18. Effect of an evidence-based website on healthcare usage: an interrupted time-series study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spoelman, Wouter A; Bonten, Tobias N; de Waal, Margot W M; Drenthen, Ton; Smeele, Ivo J M; Nielen, Markus M J; Chavannes, Niels H

    2016-01-01

    Objectives Healthcare costs and usage are rising. Evidence-based online health information may reduce healthcare usage, but the evidence is scarce. The objective of this study was to determine whether the release of a nationwide evidence-based health website was associated with a reduction in healthcare usage. Design Interrupted time series analysis of observational primary care data of healthcare use in the Netherlands from 2009 to 2014. Setting General community primary care. Population 912 000 patients who visited their general practitioners 18.1 million times during the study period. Intervention In March 2012, an evidence-based health information website was launched by the Dutch College of General Practitioners. It was easily accessible and understandable using plain language. At the end of the study period, the website had 2.9 million unique page views per month. Main outcomes measures Primary outcome was the change in consultation rate (consultations/1000 patients/month) before and after the release of the website. Additionally, a reference group was created by including consultations about topics not being viewed at the website. Subgroup analyses were performed for type of consultations, sex, age and socioeconomic status. Results After launch of the website, the trend in consultation rate decreased with 1.620 consultations/1000 patients/month (p<0.001). This corresponds to a 12% decline in consultations 2 years after launch of the website. The trend in consultation rate of the reference group showed no change. The subgroup analyses showed a specific decline for consultations by phone and were significant for all other subgroups, except for the youngest age group. Conclusions Healthcare usage decreased by 12% after providing high-quality evidence-based online health information. These findings show that e-Health can be effective to improve self-management and reduce healthcare usage in times of increasing healthcare costs. PMID:28186945

  19. Understanding IPTV churning behaviors: focus on users in South Korea

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Myung-Joong Kim

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Purpose - This study aims to investigate customers’ churning out of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV service, one of the most prevalent forms of IT convergence. Design/methodology/approach - Based on the review of current literature, a research model is introduced to depict the effects of select independent variables on customer churning behavior. First of all, the two groups are compared in terms of predictor variables, including switching barriers, voice of customer (VOC, membership period and degree of contents usage. Then, a curvilinear regression was applied to understand the association relationship between the level of IPTV contents usage and variables of switching barriers, VOC and membership period. Third, a logit regression was performed to predict customer churning through the variables of switching barriers, VOC, membership period and level of IPTV contents usage. Findings - Through the empirical analysis, this study analyzed the factors affecting customer churning behavior of IPTV service providers based on switching barriers, VOC and contents usage. Originality/value - Although several studies on IPTV have been undertaken globally, they have largely depended on self-reporting surveys to examine dynamics between antecedent variables and IPTV performance in terms of customer satisfaction, usage intension and customer retention. This empirical study is performed to understand influential factors of IPTV service defection through the weblog analysis of 3,906 service users, who represented both service defectors and non-defectors during a specific month.

  20. Driver characteristics associated with child safety seat usage in Malaysia: a cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulanthayan, S; Razak, Ahmad; Schenk, Ellen

    2010-03-01

    The rapidly motorizing environment in Malaysia has made child occupant safety a current public health concern. The usage of child safety seats (CSS) is a widely regarded intervention to enhance child occupant safety, yet no study has been conducted on CSS in Malaysia. This study aims to determine the CSS usage rates in Malaysia and to assess driver characteristics that are associated with CSS usage. Nine variables - urban versus rural study location, age, gender, marital status, educational status, monthly family income, number of children present in the vehicle, distance traveled to the study location, and attitude - were examined through a cross-sectional study of interviewing drivers of 230 vehicles transporting at least one child safety in Malaysia. The results indicate that interventional efforts should focus on educational programs geared toward drivers that are less educated or extended family members who inconsistently transport young children. Furthermore, any educational efforts could be strongly enhanced by legislation mandating the use of CSS. Every effort should be made to thoroughly assess the effectiveness of any educational or legislative activities that are implemented. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Smart phone usage and addiction among dental students in Saudi Arabia: a cross sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Venkatesh, Elluru; Jemal, Mohammad Yousef Al; Samani, Abdullah Saleh Al

    2017-04-06

    Purpose The main aim of this research is to explore measures of smart phone usage, smart phone addiction, and their associations with demographic and health behavior-related variables among dental students in Saudi Arabia. Methods A Cross sectional study involving sample of 205 dental students from Qaseem Private College were surveyed for smart phone use and addiction using the short version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale for Adolescents (SAS-SV). Results Smart phone addiction was seen in 136 (71.9%) of the 189 students. The findings from our study revealed that high stress levels, low physical activity, higher body mass index (BMI), longer duration of smart phone usage, higher frequency of usage, shorter time period until first smart phone use in the morning and social networking sites (SNS) were associated significantly with the smart phone addiction. Conclusion The current research gives the information about the extent of smart phone over usage and addiction among the dental students in Saudi Arabia with indication of the predictors of addiction and the need for further research in the area with comprehensible interpretation to spread the awareness of the smart phone addiction.

  2. An Exploratory Study on Small Business Website Creation and Usage

    OpenAIRE

    Chuleeporn Changchit; Tim Klaus

    2015-01-01

    This study aims at exploring the factors related to the implementation of E-commerce websites by small business owners. While large organizations often consider E-commerce as a fundamental piece of their business strategy, small businesses place varying degrees of importance on E-commerce as a strategic tool to business success. Through a survey of small businesses, this study examines the creation and usage of E-commerce websites for small businesses. For companies with only a web presence, ...

  3. A study of time management: the correlation between video game usage and academic performance markers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anand, Vivek

    2007-08-01

    This study analyzes the correlation between video game usage and academic performance. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and grade-point average (GPA) scores were used to gauge academic performance. The amount of time a student spends playing video games has a negative correlation with students' GPA and SAT scores. As video game usage increases, GPA and SAT scores decrease. A chi-squared analysis found a p value for video game usage and GPA was greater than a 95% confidence level (0.005 video game usage also returned a p value that was significant (0.01 video games may have a detrimental effect on an individual's GPA and possibly on SAT scores. Although these results show statistical dependence, proving cause and effect remains difficult, since SAT scores represent a single test on a given day. The effects of video games maybe be cumulative; however, drawing a conclusion is difficult because SAT scores represent a measure of general knowledge. GPA versus video games is more reliable because both involve a continuous measurement of engaged activity and performance. The connection remains difficult because of the complex nature of student life and academic performance. Also, video game usage may simply be a function of specific personality types and characteristics.

  4. Is There a Relationship between the Usage of Active and Collaborative Learning Techniques and International Students' Study Anxiety?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khoshlessan, Rezvan

    2013-01-01

    This study was designed to explore the relationships between the international students' perception of professors' instructional practices (the usage of active and collaborative learning techniques in class) and the international students' study anxiety. The dominant goal of this research was to investigate whether the professors' usage of active…

  5. E-book usage on a global scale: patterns, trends and opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Levine-Clark

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This study examines worldwide usage of over 600,000 e-books from EBL and ebrary. Using multiple modes of analysis, the study shows that there are variations in usage by geographic region as well as by subject. The study examines usage in relation to availability of titles, different types of usage per session, usage of the top ten percent of titles, and intensive and extensive use. These patterns can be used for benchmarking and as a model for local e-book studies.

  6. Codon usage bias and the evolution of influenza A viruses. Codon Usage Biases of Influenza Virus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wong Emily HM

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The influenza A virus is an important infectious cause of morbidity and mortality in humans and was responsible for 3 pandemics in the 20th century. As the replication of the influenza virus is based on its host's machinery, codon usage of its viral genes might be subject to host selection pressures, especially after interspecies transmission. A better understanding of viral evolution and host adaptive responses might help control this disease. Results Relative Synonymous Codon Usage (RSCU values of the genes from segment 1 to segment 6 of avian and human influenza viruses, including pandemic H1N1, were studied via Correspondence Analysis (CA. The codon usage patterns of seasonal human influenza viruses were distinct among their subtypes and different from those of avian viruses. Newly isolated viruses could be added to the CA results, creating a tool to investigate the host origin and evolution of viral genes. It was found that the 1918 pandemic H1N1 virus contained genes with mammalian-like viral codon usage patterns, indicating that the introduction of this virus to humans was not through in toto transfer of an avian influenza virus. Many human viral genes had directional changes in codon usage over time of viral isolation, indicating the effect of host selection pressures. These changes reduced the overall GC content and the usage of G at the third codon position in the viral genome. Limited evidence of translational selection pressure was found in a few viral genes. Conclusions Codon usage patterns from CA allowed identification of host origin and evolutionary trends in influenza viruses, providing an alternative method and a tool to understand the evolution of influenza viruses. Human influenza viruses are subject to selection pressure on codon usage which might assist in understanding the characteristics of newly emerging viruses.

  7. Usage Record Format Recommendation

    CERN Document Server

    Nilsen, J.K.; Muller-Pfeerkorn, R

    2013-01-01

    For resources to be shared, sites must be able to exchange basic accounting and usage data in a common format. This document describes a common format which enables the exchange of basic accounting and usage data from different resources. This record format is intended to facilitate the sharing of usage information, particularly in the area of the accounting of jobs, computing, memory, storage and cloud usage but with a structure that allows an easy extension to other resources. This document describes the Usage Record components both in natural language form and annotated XML. This document does not address how these records should be used, nor does it attempt to dictate the format in which the accounting records are stored. Instead, it denes a common exchange format. Furthermore, nothing is said regarding the communication mechanisms employed to exchange the records, i.e. transport layer, framing, authentication, integrity, etc.

  8. Library training to promote electronic resource usage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frandsen, Tove Faber; Tibyampansha, Dativa; Ibrahim, Glory

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: Increasing the usage of electronic resources is an issue of concern for many libraries all over the world. Several studies stress the importance of information literacy and instruction in order to increase the usage. Design/methodology/approach: The present article presents the results...

  9. World Wide Web Usage Mining Systems and Technologies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wen-Chen Hu

    2003-08-01

    Full Text Available Web usage mining is used to discover interesting user navigation patterns and can be applied to many real-world problems, such as improving Web sites/pages, making additional topic or product recommendations, user/customer behavior studies, etc. This article provides a survey and analysis of current Web usage mining systems and technologies. A Web usage mining system performs five major tasks: i data gathering, ii data preparation, iii navigation pattern discovery, iv pattern analysis and visualization, and v pattern applications. Each task is explained in detail and its related technologies are introduced. A list of major research systems and projects concerning Web usage mining is also presented, and a summary of Web usage mining is given in the last section.

  10. Comparing the Self-Report and Measured Smartphone Usage of College Students: A Pilot Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Heyoung; Ahn, Heejune; Nguyen, Trung Giang; Choi, Sam-Wook; Kim, Dae Jin

    2017-03-01

    Nowadays smartphone overuse has become a social and medical concern. For the diagnosis and treatment, clinicians use the self-report information, but the report data often does not match actual usage pattern. The paper examines the similarity and variance in smartphone usage patterns between the measured data and self-reported data. Together with the self-reported data, the real usage log data is collected from 35 college students in a metropolitan region of Northeast Asia, using Android smartphone monitoring application developed by the authors. The unconscious users underestimate their usage time by 40%, in spite of 15% more use in the actual usage. Messengers are most-used application regardless of their self-report, and significant preference to SNS applications was observed in addict group. The actual hourly pattern is consistent with the reported one. College students use more in the afternoon, when they have more free time and cannot use PCs. No significant difference in hourly pattern is observed between the measured and self-report. The result shows there are significant cognitive bias in actual usage patterns exists in self report of smartphone addictions. Clinicians are recommended to utilize measurement tools in diagnosis and treatment of smartphone overusing subjects.

  11. Do usage and scientific collaboration associate with citation impact

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chi, P.S.; Glänzel, W.

    2016-07-01

    In this study usage counts and times cited from Web of Science Core Collection (WoS) were collected for each article published in 2013 with Belgian, Israeli and Iranian addresses. We investigate the relations among three indicators related to citation impact, usage counts coauthorship, respectively. In addition, we apply the method of Characteristic Scores and Scal (CSS) to analyse the distributions of citations and usage counts. The results show that citations and usage counts in WoS correlate to each other significantly, especially in the social sciences. However, the increase of the number of co-authors does not increase usage counts or citations significantly. Furthermore, the stability of CSS-class distributions proves the availability of CSS in characterising both usage and citation distributions. (Author)

  12. E-book usage: counting the challenges and opportunities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angela Conyers

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Academic libraries are spending a growing proportion of their increasingly stretched budgets on e-books each year. Within this context, demonstrating a return on investment is imperative, but gathering data about e-resource usage is not always easy.    This article summarizes how libraries and library consortia are acquiring and evaluating e-books, how usage statistics feature within library workflows, the issues faced in doing so and the resulting impact of these issues on understanding usage and informing purchasing of new titles. Discussions with publishers indicate how usage data are being used within the organization, the requirements of customers and the challenges involved in providing usage data for e-books. Assessing and evaluating e-book usage is a complex and challenging task with processes and workflows in development. A transition from print to e-books represents a significant change for libraries, and the availability of reliable usage statistics to support purchase decisions is vital. The article is based on a series of case study interviews with representatives from a small cross-section of academic libraries, library consortia, publishers and aggregators.    This work is of interest to anyone with responsibility for creating, managing, developing, delivering and supporting usage statistics and standards for e-books.

  13. Using Mobile Technology to Observe Student Study Behaviors and Track Library Space Usage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Susan

    2015-01-01

    Libraries have become increasingly interested in studying the use of spaces within their buildings. Traditional methods for tracking library building use, such as gate counts, provide little information on what patrons do once they are in the library; therefore, new methods for studying space usage are being developed. Particularly promising are…

  14. Relationship between Impulsivity, Social Media Usage and Loneliness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mustafa Savci

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between impulsivity, social media usage, and loneliness and to test the structural hypothetical model developed based on the literature. The study was conducted on 307 (164 female, 143 male university students. Data collection instruments of the study were the Barratt Impulsivity Scale Short Form (BIS-11-SF, Social Media Usage Scale (SMUS, and UCLA Loneliness Scale Short Form (ULS-8. The measurement models of the latent variables were tested initially and it was observed that the scales of the latent variables were efficient enough to be included in the structural equation model. In addition, the suggested hypothetical model was tested. According to the analysis, it was observed that impulsivity directly, positively and significantly predicts social media usage, that social media usage directly, positively and significantly predicts loneliness, and that impulsivity indirectly, positively and significantly predicts loneliness.

  15. La utilización de Weblogs como instrumento de educación en derechos humanos dentro de la plataforma WebCT de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid en el contexto del Proceso de Convergencia Europea de Educación Superior

    OpenAIRE

    Lima Torrado, Jesús

    2006-01-01

    Los weblogs han alcanzado una extraordinaria expansión en el ciberespacio en múltiples ámbitos de conocimiento y con muy diversas funciones. Quizás los más dinámicos y prometedores son los blogs educativos. La Unidad de Apoyo Técnico y Docente al Campus Virtual (UATD-CV) de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid ha creado varios en el Campus Virtual con la finalidad de analizar y desarrollar su potencial docente e investigador; trabajo que se está llevando a cabo en el área d...

  16. Internet access and usage by staff and students: a case study of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study focused on Internet access and usage by staff and students in the University of Jos Main Library. It investigated monthly number of users that queued to access Internet monthly and the number of users who actually had access to use the Internet between January – December 2006. Other things investigated ...

  17. Artful terms: A study on aesthetic word usage for visual art versus film and music

    Science.gov (United States)

    Augustin, M Dorothee; Carbon, Claus-Christian; Wagemans, Johan

    2012-01-01

    Despite the importance of the arts in human life, psychologists still know relatively little about what characterises their experience for the recipient. The current research approaches this problem by studying people's word usage in aesthetics, with a focus on three important art forms: visual art, film, and music. The starting point was a list of 77 words known to be useful to describe aesthetic impressions of visual art (Augustin et al 2012, Acta Psychologica 139 187–201). Focusing on ratings of likelihood of use, we examined to what extent word usage in aesthetic descriptions of visual art can be generalised to film and music. The results support the claim of an interplay of generality and specificity in aesthetic word usage. Terms with equal likelihood of use for all art forms included beautiful, wonderful, and terms denoting originality. Importantly, emotion-related words received higher ratings for film and music than for visual art. To our knowledge this is direct evidence that aesthetic experiences of visual art may be less affectively loaded than, for example, experiences of music. The results render important information about aesthetic word usage in the realm of the arts and may serve as a starting point to develop tailored measurement instruments for different art forms. PMID:23145287

  18. Artful terms: A study on aesthetic word usage for visual art versus film and music.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Augustin, M Dorothee; Carbon, Claus-Christian; Wagemans, Johan

    2012-01-01

    Despite the importance of the arts in human life, psychologists still know relatively little about what characterises their experience for the recipient. The current research approaches this problem by studying people's word usage in aesthetics, with a focus on three important art forms: visual art, film, and music. The starting point was a list of 77 words known to be useful to describe aesthetic impressions of visual art (Augustin et al 2012, Acta Psychologica139 187-201). Focusing on ratings of likelihood of use, we examined to what extent word usage in aesthetic descriptions of visual art can be generalised to film and music. The results support the claim of an interplay of generality and specificity in aesthetic word usage. Terms with equal likelihood of use for all art forms included beautiful, wonderful, and terms denoting originality. Importantly, emotion-related words received higher ratings for film and music than for visual art. To our knowledge this is direct evidence that aesthetic experiences of visual art may be less affectively loaded than, for example, experiences of music. The results render important information about aesthetic word usage in the realm of the arts and may serve as a starting point to develop tailored measurement instruments for different art forms.

  19. Artful Terms: A Study on Aesthetic Word Usage for Visual Art versus Film and Music

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M Dorothee Augustin

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Despite the importance of the arts in human life, psychologists still know relatively little about what characterises their experience for the recipient. The current research approaches this problem by studying people's word usage in aesthetics, with a focus on three important art forms: visual art, film, and music. The starting point was a list of 77 words known to be useful to describe aesthetic impressions of visual art (Augustin et al 2012, Acta Psychologica 139 187–201. Focusing on ratings of likelihood of use, we examined to what extent word usage in aesthetic descriptions of visual art can be generalised to film and music. The results support the claim of an interplay of generality and specificity in aesthetic word usage. Terms with equal likelihood of use for all art forms included beautiful, wonderful, and terms denoting originality. Importantly, emotion-related words received higher ratings for film and music than for visual art. To our knowledge this is direct evidence that aesthetic experiences of visual art may be less affectively loaded than, for example, experiences of music. The results render important information about aesthetic word usage in the realm of the arts and may serve as a starting point to develop tailored measurement instruments for different art forms.

  20. Describing Speech Usage in Daily Activities in Typical Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Laine; Baylor, Carolyn R; Eadie, Tanya L; Yorkston, Kathryn M

    2016-01-01

    "Speech usage" refers to what people want or need to do with their speech to meet communication demands in life roles. The purpose of this study was to contribute to validation of the Levels of Speech Usage scale by providing descriptive data from a sample of adults without communication disorders, comparing this scale to a published Occupational Voice Demands scale and examining predictors of speech usage levels. This is a survey design. Adults aged ≥25 years without reported communication disorders were recruited nationally to complete an online questionnaire. The questionnaire included the Levels of Speech Usage scale, questions about relevant occupational and nonoccupational activities (eg, socializing, hobbies, childcare, and so forth), and demographic information. Participants were also categorized according to Koufman and Isaacson occupational voice demands scale. A total of 276 participants completed the questionnaires. People who worked for pay tended to report higher levels of speech usage than those who do not work for pay. Regression analyses showed employment to be the major contributor to speech usage; however, considerable variance left unaccounted for suggests that determinants of speech usage and the relationship between speech usage, employment, and other life activities are not yet fully defined. The Levels of Speech Usage may be a viable instrument to systematically rate speech usage because it captures both occupational and nonoccupational speech demands. These data from a sample of typical adults may provide a reference to help in interpreting the impact of communication disorders on speech usage patterns. Copyright © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Customers Demographics Influence on Usage of Retail Banking Channels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Neha GUPTA

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The study presents the usage of retail banking influenced by customers’ demographics of selected Public Sector Banks (PSBs of India. The study was based on primary data collected through structured questionnaire. The simple random sampling technique used for data collection for sample size 692. The study finds that public sector banks need to understand the usage pattern of an individual customer using delivery channel to add greater value to customers. Respondent age groups influence ATMs usage. Internet banking is majorly influenced by the customers’ demographics. Respondents’ age group and qualification influence mobile banking. Branch lobby kiosk is not influenced by any demographics. The identification of most influential demographic variable will help to build strong and effective cross-selling and up-selling of financial products and services. Our study was limited to the customers of PSBs of India. This study may be helpful to PSBs for enhancing effective usage of delivery channels.

  2. Gaming Device Usage Patterns Predict Internet Gaming Disorder: Comparison across Different Gaming Device Usage Patterns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Hyun; Chun, Ji-Won; Jeong, Jo-Eun; Kim, Dai-Jin

    2017-01-01

    Gaming behaviors have been significantly influenced by smartphones. This study was designed to explore gaming behaviors and clinical characteristics across different gaming device usage patterns and the role of the patterns on Internet gaming disorder (IGD). Responders of an online survey regarding smartphone and online game usage were classified by different gaming device usage patterns: (1) individuals who played only computer games; (2) individuals who played computer games more than smartphone games; (3) individuals who played computer and smartphone games evenly; (4) individuals who played smartphone games more than computer games; (5) individuals who played only smartphone games. Data on demographics, gaming-related behaviors, and scales for Internet and smartphone addiction, depression, anxiety disorder, and substance use were collected. Combined users, especially those who played computer and smartphone games evenly, had higher prevalence of IGD, depression, anxiety disorder, and substance use disorder. These subjects were more prone to develop IGD than reference group (computer only gamers) (B = 0.457, odds ratio = 1.579). Smartphone only gamers had the lowest prevalence of IGD, spent the least time and money on gaming, and showed lowest scores of Internet and smartphone addiction. Our findings suggest that gaming device usage patterns may be associated with the occurrence, course, and prognosis of IGD. PMID:29206183

  3. Gaming Device Usage Patterns Predict Internet Gaming Disorder: Comparison across Different Gaming Device Usage Patterns.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paik, Soo-Hyun; Cho, Hyun; Chun, Ji-Won; Jeong, Jo-Eun; Kim, Dai-Jin

    2017-12-05

    Gaming behaviors have been significantly influenced by smartphones. This study was designed to explore gaming behaviors and clinical characteristics across different gaming device usage patterns and the role of the patterns on Internet gaming disorder (IGD). Responders of an online survey regarding smartphone and online game usage were classified by different gaming device usage patterns: (1) individuals who played only computer games; (2) individuals who played computer games more than smartphone games; (3) individuals who played computer and smartphone games evenly; (4) individuals who played smartphone games more than computer games; (5) individuals who played only smartphone games. Data on demographics, gaming-related behaviors, and scales for Internet and smartphone addiction, depression, anxiety disorder, and substance use were collected. Combined users, especially those who played computer and smartphone games evenly, had higher prevalence of IGD, depression, anxiety disorder, and substance use disorder. These subjects were more prone to develop IGD than reference group (computer only gamers) (B = 0.457, odds ratio = 1.579). Smartphone only gamers had the lowest prevalence of IGD, spent the least time and money on gaming, and showed lowest scores of Internet and smartphone addiction. Our findings suggest that gaming device usage patterns may be associated with the occurrence, course, and prognosis of IGD.

  4. Gaming Device Usage Patterns Predict Internet Gaming Disorder: Comparison across Different Gaming Device Usage Patterns

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soo-Hyun Paik

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Gaming behaviors have been significantly influenced by smartphones. This study was designed to explore gaming behaviors and clinical characteristics across different gaming device usage patterns and the role of the patterns on Internet gaming disorder (IGD. Responders of an online survey regarding smartphone and online game usage were classified by different gaming device usage patterns: (1 individuals who played only computer games; (2 individuals who played computer games more than smartphone games; (3 individuals who played computer and smartphone games evenly; (4 individuals who played smartphone games more than computer games; (5 individuals who played only smartphone games. Data on demographics, gaming-related behaviors, and scales for Internet and smartphone addiction, depression, anxiety disorder, and substance use were collected. Combined users, especially those who played computer and smartphone games evenly, had higher prevalence of IGD, depression, anxiety disorder, and substance use disorder. These subjects were more prone to develop IGD than reference group (computer only gamers (B = 0.457, odds ratio = 1.579. Smartphone only gamers had the lowest prevalence of IGD, spent the least time and money on gaming, and showed lowest scores of Internet and smartphone addiction. Our findings suggest that gaming device usage patterns may be associated with the occurrence, course, and prognosis of IGD.

  5. Training Effects on Computer-Mediated Peer Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liou, Hsien-Chin; Peng, Zhong-Yan

    2009-01-01

    The interactive functions of weblogs facilitate computer-mediated peer reviews for collaborative writing. As limited research has been conducted on examining the training effects of peer reviews on students' peer comments, their revision quality, and their perceptions when composing in weblogs, the present case study aims to fill the gap. Thirteen…

  6. Health-related behaviors and technology usage among college students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Melton, Bridget F; Bigham, Lauren E; Bland, Helen W; Bird, Matthew; Fairman, Ciaran

    2014-07-01

    To examine associations between technology usage and specific health factors among college students. The research employed was a quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional design; undergraduate students enrolled in spring 2012 general health education courses were recruited to participate. To explore college students' specific technology usage and health-related behaviors, a 28-item questionnaire was utilized. Statistical significant differences of technology usage were found between 3 of the 4 health-related behaviors under study (BMI, sleep, and nutrition) (p technology usage continues to evolve within the college student population, health professionals need to understand its implications on health behaviors.

  7. Analysis of synonymous codon usage patterns in the genus Rhizobium.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xinxin; Wu, Liang; Zhou, Ping; Zhu, Shengfeng; An, Wei; Chen, Yu; Zhao, Lin

    2013-11-01

    The codon usage patterns of rhizobia have received increasing attention. However, little information is available regarding the conserved features of the codon usage patterns in a typical rhizobial genus. The codon usage patterns of six completely sequenced strains belonging to the genus Rhizobium were analysed as model rhizobia in the present study. The relative neutrality plot showed that selection pressure played a role in codon usage in the genus Rhizobium. Spearman's rank correlation analysis combined with correspondence analysis (COA) showed that the codon adaptation index and the effective number of codons (ENC) had strong correlation with the first axis of the COA, which indicated the important role of gene expression level and the ENC in the codon usage patterns in this genus. The relative synonymous codon usage of Cys codons had the strongest correlation with the second axis of the COA. Accordingly, the usage of Cys codons was another important factor that shaped the codon usage patterns in Rhizobium genomes and was a conserved feature of the genus. Moreover, the comparison of codon usage between highly and lowly expressed genes showed that 20 unique preferred codons were shared among Rhizobium genomes, revealing another conserved feature of the genus. This is the first report of the codon usage patterns in the genus Rhizobium.

  8. Comparative studies on codon usage pattern of chloroplasts and ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Unknown

    different genomic organization and mutation pressures in nuclear and chloroplast genes. The results of Nc-plots and neutrality plots ... As an important organelle of plants, the chloroplast has its own genomic environment and ... leading to the suggestion that the translation mechanism and patterns of codon usage in ...

  9. Game-Theoretic Models for Usage-based Maintenance Contract

    Science.gov (United States)

    Husniah, H.; Wangsaputra, R.; Cakravastia, A.; Iskandar, B. P.

    2018-03-01

    A usage-based maintenance contracts with coordination and non coordination between two parties is studied in this paper. The contract is applied to a dump truck operated in a mining industry. The situation under study is that an agent offers service contract to the owner of the truck after warranty ends. This contract has only a time limit but no usage limit. If the total usage per period exceeds the maximum usage allowed in the contract, then the owner will be charged an additional cost. In general, the agent (Original Equipment Manufacturer/OEM) provides a full coverage of maintenance, which includes PM and CM under the lease contract. The decision problem for the owner is to select the best option offered that fits to its requirement, and the decision problem for the agent is to find the optimal maintenance efforts for a given price of the service option offered. We first find the optimal decisions using coordination scheme and then with non coordination scheme for both parties.

  10. Being in the Hot Spot: A Phenomenological Study of Two Beginning Teachers' Experiences Enacting Inquiry Science Pedagogy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dreon, Oliver; McDonald, Scott

    2012-01-01

    This phenomenological study demonstrates the influence that affective factors have on beginning teachers' ability to enact inquiry science pedagogy. Through narratives shared in interviews and weblog postings, two beginning science teachers' emotional engagement with their teaching practices, especially that of implementing inquiry-based…

  11. Usage of Recycled Pet

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Ebru Tayyar

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The increasing industrialization, urbanization and the technological development have caused to increase depletion of the natural resources and environmental pollution's problem. Especially, for the countries which have not enough space recycling of the waste eliminating waste on regular basis or decreasing the amount and volume of waste have provided the important advantages. There are lots of studies and projects to develop both protect resources and prevent environmental pollution. PET bottles are commonly used in beverage industry and can be reused after physical and chemical recycling processes. Usage areas of recycled PET have been developed rapidly. Although recycled PET is used in plastic industry, composite industry also provides usage alternatives of recycled PET. Textile is a suitable sector for recycling of some plastics made of polymers too. In this study, the recycling technologies and applications of waste PET bottles have been investigated and scientific works in this area have been summarized.

  12. Genome-wide analysis of codon usage bias in Ebolavirus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cristina, Juan; Moreno, Pilar; Moratorio, Gonzalo; Musto, Héctor

    2015-01-22

    Ebola virus (EBOV) is a member of the family Filoviridae and its genome consists of a 19-kb, single-stranded, negative sense RNA. EBOV is subdivided into five distinct species with different pathogenicities, being Zaire ebolavirus (ZEBOV) the most lethal species. The interplay of codon usage among viruses and their hosts is expected to affect overall viral survival, fitness, evasion from host's immune system and evolution. In the present study, we performed comprehensive analyses of codon usage and composition of ZEBOV. Effective number of codons (ENC) indicates that the overall codon usage among ZEBOV strains is slightly biased. Different codon preferences in ZEBOV genes in relation to codon usage of human genes were found. Highly preferred codons are all A-ending triplets, which strongly suggests that mutational bias is a main force shaping codon usage in ZEBOV. Dinucleotide composition also plays a role in the overall pattern of ZEBOV codon usage. ZEBOV does not seem to use the most abundant tRNAs present in the human cells for most of their preferred codons. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Evaluation of usage and fuel savings of solar ovens in Nicaragua

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bauer, Gordon

    2016-01-01

    Solar cooking technology has been promoted as a solution to both global poverty and environmental degradation, but relatively little research exists on the impact of solar oven usage on biomass fuel consumption. This study evaluates solar oven usage and wood consumption in northern Nicaragua during both the rainy and dry seasons, using surveys, temperature dataloggers, and direct measurements of fuelwood use. Solar oven owners reported usage on 79% of days during the dry season, and 41% of days during the rainy season. Comparison with oven temperature records confirmed usage on 50% of days during the dry season, and 16% of days during the rainy season. However, wood consumption measurements showed no statistically significant difference between days with solar oven usage and days without, suggesting that frequency of usage alone is not an appropriate proxy for fuel savings. Survey results suggest that a large part of solar oven usage came in addition to biomass cooking, as opposed to replacing it. These results suggest a need for further study of wood consumption in situ and more focus on the specific kinds of foods prepared in solar cookers, as well as local cultural and climatic conditions. - Highlights: • Solar oven usage reported on most days during dry season. • No statistically significant fuelwood savings can be attributed to solar oven use. • Usage reported on surveys differs substantially from solar oven temperature data. • Possible causes of lack of wood savings range from weather to diet and gender norms.

  14. Adoption Assessment of Internet Usage Amongst Undergraduates In Nigeria Universities -A Case Study Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Olusesan Awoleye

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available This study focused on the level of penetration of Internet usage among undergraduate students in Nigeria using Obafemi Awolowo University as a case study. Result showed that about 92% of undergraduate students have embraced the Internet and are using it consistently. The online mean time is 3.5hrs/week while on the average, undergraduate experience of Internet usage is about 4years. We found also that the students use the Internet mostly for e-mail, information search and online chatting; all of these were found to have significant impact on their academics and social life. Further analysis revealed that gender attitude is also an important issue; male students appear to use the Internet more than their female counterparts; just as science based students use it more than the non-science based students. The paper therefore recommends appropriate policies for all higher schools of learning in Nigeria to facilitate further diffusion and use of the Internet.

  15. The relationship between codon usage bias and cold resistant genes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barozai, M.Y.; Din, M.

    2014-01-01

    This research is based on synonymous codon usage which has been well-known as a feature that affects typical expression level of protein in an organism. Different organisms prefer different codons for same amino acid and this is called Codon Usage Bias (CUB). The codon usage directly affects the level or even direction of changes in protein expression in responses to environmental stimuli. Cold stress is a major abiotic factor that limits the agricultural productivity of plants. In the recent study CUB has been studied in Arabidopsis thaliana cold resistant and housekeeping genes and their homologs in rice (Oryza sativa) to understand the cold stress and housekeeping genes relation with CUB. Six cold resistant and three housekeeping genes in Arabidopsis thaliana and their homologs in rice, were subjected to CUB analysis. The three cold resistant genes (DREB1B, RCI and MYB15) showed more than 50% (52%, 61% and 66% respectively) similar codon usage bias for Arabidopsis thaliana and rice. On the other hand three cold resistant genes (MPK3, ICE1 and ZAT12) showed less than 50% (38%, 38% and 47% respectively) similar codon usage bias for Arabidopsis thaliana and rice. The three housekeeping genes (Actin, Tubulin and Ubiquitin) showed 76% similar codon usage bias for Arabidopsis thaliana and rice. This study will help to manage the plant gene expression through codon optimization under the cold stress. (author)

  16. The Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale: An empirical investigation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosen, L.D.; Whaling, K.; Carrier, L.M.; Cheever, N.A.; Rokkum, J.

    2015-01-01

    Current approaches to measuring people’s everyday usage of technology-based media and other computer-related activities have proved to be problematic as they use varied outcome measures, fail to measure behavior in a broad range of technology-related domains and do not take into account recently developed types of technology including smartphones. In the present study, a wide variety of items, covering a range of up-to-date technology and media usage behaviors. Sixty-six items concerning technology and media usage, along with 18 additional items assessing attitudes toward technology, were administered to two independent samples of individuals, comprising 942 participants. Factor analyses were used to create 11 usage subscales representing smartphone usage, general social media usage, Internet searching, e-mailing, media sharing, text messaging, video gaming, online friendships, Facebook friendships, phone calling, and watching television in addition to four attitude-based subscales: positive attitudes, negative attitudes, technological anxiety/dependence, and attitudes toward task-switching. All subscales showed strong reliabilities and relationships between the subscales and pre-existing measures of daily media usage and Internet addiction were as predicted. Given the reliability and validity results, the new Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale was suggested as a method of measuring media and technology involvement across a variety of types of research studies either as a single 60-item scale or any subset of the 15 subscales. PMID:25722534

  17. The Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale: An empirical investigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosen, L D; Whaling, K; Carrier, L M; Cheever, N A; Rokkum, J

    2013-11-01

    Current approaches to measuring people's everyday usage of technology-based media and other computer-related activities have proved to be problematic as they use varied outcome measures, fail to measure behavior in a broad range of technology-related domains and do not take into account recently developed types of technology including smartphones. In the present study, a wide variety of items, covering a range of up-to-date technology and media usage behaviors. Sixty-six items concerning technology and media usage, along with 18 additional items assessing attitudes toward technology, were administered to two independent samples of individuals, comprising 942 participants. Factor analyses were used to create 11 usage subscales representing smartphone usage, general social media usage, Internet searching, e-mailing, media sharing, text messaging, video gaming, online friendships, Facebook friendships, phone calling, and watching television in addition to four attitude-based subscales: positive attitudes, negative attitudes, technological anxiety/dependence, and attitudes toward task-switching. All subscales showed strong reliabilities and relationships between the subscales and pre-existing measures of daily media usage and Internet addiction were as predicted. Given the reliability and validity results, the new Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale was suggested as a method of measuring media and technology involvement across a variety of types of research studies either as a single 60-item scale or any subset of the 15 subscales.

  18. Synonymous Codon Usage Analysis of Thirty Two Mycobacteriophage Genomes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sameer Hassan

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Synonymous codon usage of protein coding genes of thirty two completely sequenced mycobacteriophage genomes was studied using multivariate statistical analysis. One of the major factors influencing codon usage is identified to be compositional bias. Codons ending with either C or G are preferred in highly expressed genes among which C ending codons are highly preferred over G ending codons. A strong negative correlation between effective number of codons (Nc and GC3s content was also observed, showing that the codon usage was effected by gene nucleotide composition. Translational selection is also identified to play a role in shaping the codon usage operative at the level of translational accuracy. High level of heterogeneity is seen among and between the genomes. Length of genes is also identified to influence the codon usage in 11 out of 32 phage genomes. Mycobacteriophage Cooper is identified to be the highly biased genome with better translation efficiency comparing well with the host specific tRNA genes.

  19. Usage of the www.2aida.org AIDA diabetes software Website: a pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehmann, Eldon D

    2003-01-01

    AIDA is a diabetes-computing program freely available from www.2aida.org on the Web. The software is intended to serve as an educational support tool, and can be used by anyone who has an interest in diabetes, whether they be patients, relatives, health-care professionals, or students. In previous "Diabetes Information Technology & WebWatch" columns various indicators of usage of the AIDA program have been reviewed, and various comments from users of the software have been documented. One aspect of AIDA, though, that has been of considerable interest has been to investigate its Web-based distribution as a wider paradigm for more general medically related usage of the Internet. In this respect we have been keen to understand in general terms: (1) why people are turning to the Web for health-care/diabetes information; (2) more specifically, what sort of people are making use of the AIDA software; and (3) what benefits they feel might accrue from using the program. To answer these types of questions we have been conducting a series of audits/surveys via the AIDA Website, and via the software program itself, to learn as much as possible about who the AIDA end users really are. The rationale for this work is that, in this way, it should be possible to improve the program as well as tailor future versions of the software to the interests and needs of its users. However, a recurring observation is that data collection is easiest if it is as unobtrusive and innocuous as possible. One aspect of learning as much as possible about diabetes Website visitors and users may be to apply techniques that do not necessitate any visitor or user interaction. There are various programs that can monitor what pages visitors are viewing at a site. As these programs do not require visitors to do anything special, over time some interesting insights into Website usage may be obtained. For the current study we have reviewed anonymous logstats data, which are automatically collected at many

  20. Language Usage and Culture Maintenance: A Study of Spanish-Speaking Immigrant Mothers in Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mejía, Glenda

    2016-01-01

    This article discusses the usage of the Spanish language by Hispanic mothers with their children, their views on language maintenance and culture within their bilingual families and their opinions on the benefits of bilingualism in a globalised world. Drawing upon detailed case studies of 16 native Spanish-speaking mothers married to…

  1. Antagonistic Functions of USAG-1 and RUNX2 during Tooth Development.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yumiko Togo

    Full Text Available Supernumerary teeth and tooth agenesis are common morphological anomalies in humans. We previously obtained evidence that supernumerary maxillary incisors form as a result of the successive development of the rudimentary maxillary incisor tooth germ in Usag-1 null mice. The development of tooth germs is arrested in Runx2 null mice, and such mice also exhibit lingual epithelial buds associated with the upper molars and incisors. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential crosstalk between Usag-1 and Runx2 during tooth development. In the present study, three interesting phenomena were observed in double null Usag-1-/-/Runx2-/- mice: the prevalence of supernumerary teeth was lower than in Usag-1 null mice; tooth development progressed further compared than in Runx2 null mice; and the frequency of molar lingual buds was lower than in Runx2 null mice. Therefore, we suggest that RUNX2 and USAG-1 act in an antagonistic manner. The lingual bud was completely filled with odontogenic epithelial Sox2-positive cells in the Usag-1+/+/Runx2-/- mice, whereas almost no odontogenic epithelial Sox2-positive cells contributed to supernumerary tooth formation in the rudimentary maxillary incisors of the Usag-1-/-/Runx2+/+ mice. Our findings suggest that RUNX2 directly or indirectly prevents the differentiation and/or proliferation of odontogenic epithelial Sox2-positive cells. We hypothesize that RUNX2 inhibits the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP and/or Wnt signaling pathways regulated by USAG-1, whereas RUNX2 expression is induced by BMP signaling independently of USAG-1.

  2. Motivations and usage patterns of Weibo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Lixuan; Pentina, Iryna

    2012-06-01

    Referred to as "Weibo," microblogging in China has witnessed an exponential growth. In addition to the Twitter-like functionality, Weibo allows rich media uploads into user feeds, provides threaded comments, and offers applications, games, and Weibo medals. This expanded functionality, as well as the observed differences in trending content, suggests potentially different user motivations to join Weibo and their usage patterns compared to Twitter. This pioneering study identifies dominant Weibo user motivations and their effects on usage patterns. We discuss the findings of an online survey of 234 Weibo users and suggest managerial implications and future research directions.

  3. TECHNOLOGY USAGE AMONG CONSTRUCTION STUDENTS THE MODERATING ROLE OF GENDER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Ramayah

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the impact of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on the extent of personal computer (PC usage among a group of undergraduates at the School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia. It also looks at the moderating role of gender in the above said relationship. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. A total of 244 students responded to the survey. Results showed that perceived ease of use (β = 0.309, p < 0.01 was positively related to PC usage. A surprising finding of this study was that perceived usefulness was not a significant predictor of PC usage whereas perceived ease of use was. This can be explained in the context of mandated use where the usefulness is no longer an issue and ease of use becomes the primary concern. Gender was not a moderator in the above said relationship but was a significant independent predictor of usage. Males exhibited higher usage of the PC compared to the female students.

  4. A Content Analysis Study about the Usage of History of Mathematics in Textbooks in Turkey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eren, Mehmet; Bulut, Mehmet; Bulut, Neslihan

    2015-01-01

    The present study aimed to investigate how history of mathematics was integrated to some mathematics textbooks in Turkey. On this account, four different textbooks with different grade levels were chosen. In total, 42 cases were detected and studied by three researchers. Results indicated that the usage of history of mathematics was materialized…

  5. Complex Codon Usage Pattern and Compositional Features of Retroviruses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sourav RoyChoudhury

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Retroviruses infect a wide range of organisms including humans. Among them, HIV-1, which causes AIDS, has now become a major threat for world health. Some of these viruses are also potential gene transfer vectors. In this study, the patterns of synonymous codon usage in retroviruses have been studied through multivariate statistical methods on ORFs sequences from the available 56 retroviruses. The principal determinant for evolution of the codon usage pattern in retroviruses seemed to be the compositional constraints, while selection for translation of the viral genes plays a secondary role. This was further supported by multivariate analysis on relative synonymous codon usage. Thus, it seems that mutational bias might have dominated role over translational selection in shaping the codon usage of retroviruses. Codon adaptation index was used to identify translationally optimal codons among genes from retroviruses. The comparative analysis of the preferred and optimal codons among different retroviral groups revealed that four codons GAA, AAA, AGA, and GGA were significantly more frequent in most of the retroviral genes inspite of some differences. Cluster analysis also revealed that phylogenetically related groups of retroviruses have probably evolved their codon usage in a concerted manner under the influence of their nucleotide composition.

  6. BEHAVIORAL ASPECT OF ACCOUNTING TEACHERS’ INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY USAGE

    OpenAIRE

    YILMAZ, Emine; ÖZER, Gökhan

    2015-01-01

    This study aims to examine behavioral process of accounting teachers’ information technology (IT) acceptance. To this end, we collected data from accounting teachers working in trade high schools. Research model and hypotheses were developed in the light of Theory of Reasoned Action. Accordingly, relationships among attitudes, subjective norms, intentions towards information technology usage and IT usage behaviors were investigated. Explanatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling...

  7. Seatbelt usage: is there an association with obesity?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behzad, B; King, D M; Jacobson, S H

    2014-09-01

    Wearing a seatbelt can prevent motor vehicle crash deaths. While primary seatbelt laws are designed to encourage vehicle passengers to wear seatbelts by allowing law enforcement officers to issue tickets when passengers do not wear seatbelts, discomfort may discourage obese individuals from wearing a seatbelt. The objective of this study is to assess the association between state-level obesity and seatbelt usage rates in the US, and to examine the possible role played by seatbelt laws in these associations. The strength of the association between obesity rates, seatbelt usage, and primary seatbelt laws at the state level is investigated using data from 2006 to 2011. Linear regression analysis is employed. This model estimates that increasing the obesity rate by 1% in a state where a primary seatbelt law (by which law enforcement officers can issue a ticket when seatbelts are not worn) is in effect is associated with a 0.06% decrease in seatbelt usage. However the same percentage of increase in the obesity rate in a state where no primary seatbelt law is in effect is associated with a 0.55% decrease in seatbelt usage. The magnitude of the statistical association between state obesity rates and state-level seatbelt usage is related to the existence of a primary seatbelt law, such that obesity has less impact on seatbelt usage in states where primary seatbelt laws are in effect. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  8. Status of the Usage of Active Learning and Teaching Method and Techniques by Social Studies Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akman, Özkan

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the active learning and teaching methods and techniques which are employed by the social studies teachers working in state schools of Turkey. This usage status was assessed using different variables. This was a case study, wherein the research was limited to 241 social studies teachers. These teachers…

  9. Mobile usage and sleep patterns among medical students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yogesh, Saxena; Abha, Shrivastava; Priyanka, Singh

    2014-01-01

    Exposure of humans to radio frequency electromagnetic field (EMF) both during receiving and transmitting the signals has amplified public and scientific debate about possible adverse effects on human health. The study was designed with the objective of assessing the extent of mobile phone use amongst medical students and finding correlation if any between the hours of usage of mobile to sleep pattern and quality. hundred medical students grouped as cases (n = 57) (> 2 hours/day of mobile usage) and control (n = 43) (≤ 2 hours/day of mobile usage) were examined for their sleep quality & pattern by Pittsburg sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Differences between groups were examined with the Mann Whitney "U" test for proportions (Quantitative values) and with Student't' test for continuous variables. The association of variables was analyzed by Spearman Rank's correlation. Probability was set at usage and sleep indices were observed in both genders (males r = 0.25; p = 0.04, females r = 0.31; p = 0.009). Evening usage of mobile phone in cases showed a statistically significant negative association (-0.606; p = 0.042) with Sleep quality (higher PSQI means sleep deprivation). Students using mobile for > 2 hours/day may cause sleep deprivation and day sleepiness affecting cognitive and learning abilities of medical students.

  10. HIV Co-receptor usage in HIV-related non-hodgkin's lymphoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reid Erin

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract In this study 15 banked samples of HIV-related Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL cases were tested for HIV co-receptor usage and SDF1 3'A polymorphism. Reportable tropism from 9 plasma samples had 1 (11.1% HIV case with CXCR4 and 8 (88.9% with CCR5 usage, even though most of the cases occurred at a late stage of HIV (2/3 had CD4 counts below 200, where expected CXCR4 usage would be 60%. Based on the expected proportion of less than 50% CCR5 in chronically infected individuals, this would suggest that in NHL may be associated with CCR5 usage (P = 0.04.

  11. DATA MINING AND STATISTICS METHODS USAGE FOR ADVANCED TRAINING COURSES QUALITY MEASUREMENT: CASE STUDY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maxim I. Galchenko

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In the article we consider a case of the analysis of the data connected with educational statistics, namely – result of professional development courses students survey with specialized software usage. Need for expanded statistical results processing, the scheme of carrying out the analysis is shown. Conclusions on a studied case are presented. 

  12. Integrating Internet into Engineering Education: A Case Study of Students' Usage and Attitudes in Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F.O. Anafi

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The attitude of students towards the integration of the internet as a study tool and communication channel in teaching and learning in engineering has been investigated. A study was carried out in the Faculty of Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria, aimed at investigating the effect of certain variables such as gender, course of study, computer experience, and the percentage of internet usage on teaching and learning processes. A well-structured questionnaire was administered to a randomly selected five hundred (500 male and female students across the seven (7 departments of the faculty and about 85% were filled and returned. The study also examines the university management's perspectives and strategies to incorporate internet usage in teaching and learning processes especially in engineering. Amazingly, responses received showed that experience in the use of the computer in surfing the internet for problem based activities mainly affects the level of internet usage across the faculty. This factor makes some students to misplace their priority in internet usage emphasizing on e-mail correspondence and social networking rather than sourcing for information and solving problems as it is done by a few students. Furthermore, findings support that internet cannot entirely substitute for traditional teaching and learning processes like text reading but can serve as a reasonable alternative when the latter is unavailable

  13. Perceived driving safety and seatbelt usage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Svenson, O; Fischhoff, B; MacGregor, D

    1985-04-01

    Swedish and U.S. subjects judged their own driving skills and safety in relation to other drivers. As in earlier studies, most subjects showed an optimism bias: a tendency to judge oneself as safer and more skillful than the average driver, with a smaller risk of getting involved and injured in an accident. Different measures of the optimism effect were strongly correlated with one another, with driving experience and with the judged importance of human factors (as opposed to technical and chance factors) in causing accidents. Degree of optimism was positively, but weakly, correlated with reported seatbelt usage and worry about traffic accidents. Seatbelt usage was positively related to the extent to which belts are judged to be convenient and popular, and more modestly related to the belt's perceived contributions to safety. These results suggest that providing more information about the effectiveness of seatbelts may not be as efficient a way of increasing seatbelt usage as emphasizing other factors, such as comfort and social norms, which cannot be outweighed by optimism.

  14. Modeling traditional literacy, internet skills and internet usage: an empirical study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Deursen, Alexander Johannes Aloysius Maria; van Dijk, Johannes A.G.M.

    2016-01-01

    This paper focuses on the relationships among traditional literacy (reading, writing and understanding text), medium-related Internet skills (consisting of operational and formal skills), content-related Internet skills (consisting of information and strategic skills) and Internet usage types

  15. A privacy-preserving sharing method of electricity usage using self-organizing map

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuichi Nakamura

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Smart meters for measuring electricity usage are expected in electricity usage management. Although the relevant power supplier stores the measured data, the data are worth sharing among power suppliers because the entire data of a city will be required to control the regional grid stability or demand–supply balance. Even though many techniques and methods of privacy-preserving data mining have been studied to share data while preserving data privacy, a study on sharing electricity usage data is still lacking. In this paper, we propose a sharing method of electricity usage while preserving data privacy using a self-organizing map. Keywords: Privacy preserving, Data sharing, Self-Organizing map

  16. The Scope of Usage-based Theory

    OpenAIRE

    Paul eIbbotson

    2013-01-01

    Usage-based approaches typically draw on a relatively small set of cognitive processes, such as categorization, analogy, and chunking to explain language structure and function. The goal of this paper is to first review the extent to which the “cognitive commitment” of usage-based theory has had success in explaining empirical findings across domains, including language acquisition, processing, and typology. We then look at the overall strengths and weaknesses of usage-based theory and highli...

  17. Study on usage of fluorocarbon for toroidal field coil cooling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miyata, Hiroshi; Arai, Takashi

    1998-09-01

    In JT-60 machine, usage of fluorocarbon as an alternate coolant to a cooling channel of toroidal field coil (TF coil) in which a crack was detected is investigated. Fluorinert (a registered trademark of 3M) liquid which is one of fluorocarbon was reviewed, and liquid 'FC-43' was found as an appropriate one for TF coils cooling because of its physical properties about boiling point and thermal capacity. Fortunately, Fluorinert does not have impact on the greenhouse effect for the earth under the temperature of its boiling point. And thermal analysis shows that the cooling effectiveness obtained with liquid 'FC-43' for TF coils is rather well. Moreover, corrosion tests were carried out between liquid 'FC-43' and materials used in JT-60 by considering deterioration of TF coils. The test results demonstrate that there is no problem in applying liquid 'FC-43' as a coolant to cooling channel of TF coils. Results obtained above conclude that usage of fluorocarbon is one of the effective means to perform further experiments in JT-60. (author)

  18. Social Network Site Usage and Personal Relations of Migrants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena Damian

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available In this study, we examine the relation between social network site (SNS usage and the personal networks of immigrants, using a unique dataset composed of a representative sample of immigrants living in the Netherlands. In theory, SNSs can be a helpful tool for immigrants, because they may help establish social ties in the destination country and help maintain ties with people in the country of origin. We examine whether this is also true in practice by analyzing whether the frequency of using two SNSs—Facebook and Hyves (a Dutch SNS—is associated with the number of ingroup and outgroup ties, as well as the quality of social relations. In addition, we test whether general emotional disclosure boosts the effect of SNS usage on the quality of relationships. We find that SNS usage is associated with more outgroup ties, but not with more ingroup ties. Our analyses also show that SNS usage is associated with greater quality social relationships among migrants. Contrary to our expectations, we found no interaction between general emotional disclosure and SNS usage on satisfaction with social relations. The implications of these findings are discussed.

  19. Immersion Suit Usage Within the RAAF

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-01-01

    IMMERSION SUIT USED UVIC QDIS HOLDINGS 202. in 12 Sizes, held by ALSS 492SQN REQUIREMENTS No comment USAGE POLICY REFERENCE DIRAF) AAP 7215.004-1 (P3C...held by ALSS 492SQN. REQUIREMENTS No comment ISACE POLICY REFERENCE DIIAF) AAP 7215.004-1 (P3C Flight Manual) RAAF Supplement No 92 USAGE POUICY UVIC...TYPE P3C REFERENCE Telecon FLTLT Toft I I SQNfRESO AVMED Dated 22 Mar 91 IMMERSION SUIT USED UVIC QDIS HOLDINGS No comment REQUIREMENTS No comment USAGE

  20. Blogs: Enhancing the Learning Experience for Technology Students

    OpenAIRE

    Birney, Rosanne

    2006-01-01

    Weblogs can be used to enhance the learning experience for technology students, by providing them with several features that are often absent in Learning Management Systems (LMSs). This research aims to demonstrate that weblogs can improve the learning experience by allowing students to reflect on their learning, and by allowing them to easily collaborate with their tutors and with one another. The incorporation of weblogs into the existing learning environment can provide several enhancemen...

  1. CARDHOLDERS' ATTITUDE AND BANK CREDIT CARD USAGE IN MALAYSIA: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aizzat Mohd. Nasurdin

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available The study is aimed at validating attributes that influence the differences in attitudes among active and inactive cardholders. By focusing on relevant attributes that have been identified, it is believed that credit card issuing banks can position themselves effectively via their marketing strategies to activate their existing cardholders' usage rate as well as to attract new active cardholders. Thirteen important attributes were used to measure credit cardholders' attitude. These attributes include acceptance level, credit limit, interest-free repayment period, annual fee, application approval period, ancillary functions, handling of cardholders' complaints, issuing bank image, gift/bonus to new applicants, card design, leaflet to describe the card,and advertising by the issuing bank. Acceptance level, credit limit, interest free repayment period, ancillary functions, handling of cardholders' complaints, bank image, and bank advertising were found to be the most important attributes that influenced cardholders' attitudes in distinguishing active from inactive cardholders. Based on the results of the study, several suggestions are forwarded to credit card issuing banks as a step to stimulate credit cardholders' usage level. Among these are to work closer with various retailers to promote the credit card payment mode, to provide adequate credit limit to cardholders, to extend interest free repayment period from 20 days to 30 days, to implement strategic alliances with firms involved in travelling, entertainment, insurance, and telecommunications and, to advertise more so as to create a brand name for the issuing bank.

  2. The Usage Behavior and Intention Stability of Nurses: An Empirical Study of a Nursing Information System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, I-Chun; Lin, Chihung; Hsu, Chien-Lung; Roan, Jinsheng; Yeh, Jehn-Shan; Cheng, Yu-Han

    2016-03-01

    Many prior studies of technology adoption treat user intention as the single predictor of actual usage behavior. However, as many researchers of behavioral science have pointed out, multiple factors mediate the relationship between user intention and usage behavior. The present article explores the factors that mediate the relationship between intention and actual behavior. We develop a conceptual framework that is based on the Technology Acceptance Model III and behavior theory to further elicit system usage behavior and to confirm "intention stability" and "past experience" as two significant mediating factors in this relationship. The target system was a nursing information system that had been recently adopted by a medical center in central Taiwan. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey conducted in two rounds. Two hundred forty-five valid questionnaires were returned (response rate: 49%). Mediated moderation was analyzed to explore the presence of mediators or moderators between intention and behavior. The results support that intention stability is a mediated moderator and that prior experience is a moderator of the relationship between intention and behavior. These two factors increased by over 13.6% the explanatory power of intention on actual behavior. Furthermore, this study expanded the scope of prior research by confirming intention stability as a moderating variable between intention and behavior. Finally, this study identified the moderating effect of past experience on the intention-behavior relationship, indicating that past experience enhances the predictive power of intention on behavior. The findings of this study may assist hospital managers to better understand the nursing information system usage behaviors of nursing staff and to develop ways to enhance the intention stability of these staff. Managers may improve the familiarity of nursing staff with the system by increasing their system-related practice time. More experience should

  3. Analysis of transcriptome data reveals multifactor constraint on codon usage in Taenia multiceps.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Xing; Xu, Jing; Chen, Lin; Wang, Yu; Gu, Xiaobin; Peng, Xuerong; Yang, Guangyou

    2017-04-20

    Codon usage bias (CUB) is an important evolutionary feature in genomes that has been widely observed in many organisms. However, the synonymous codon usage pattern in the genome of T. multiceps remains to be clarified. In this study, we analyzed the codon usage of T. multiceps based on the transcriptome data to reveal the constraint factors and to gain an improved understanding of the mechanisms that shape synonymous CUB. Analysis of a total of 8,620 annotated mRNA sequences from T. multiceps indicated only a weak codon bias, with mean GC and GC3 content values of 49.29% and 51.43%, respectively. Our analysis indicated that nucleotide composition, mutational pressure, natural selection, gene expression level, amino acids with grand average of hydropathicity (GRAVY) and aromaticity (Aromo) and the effective selection of amino-acids all contributed to the codon usage in T. multiceps. Among these factors, natural selection was implicated as the major factor affecting the codon usage variation in T. multiceps. The codon usage of ribosome genes was affected mainly by mutations, while the essential genes were affected mainly by selection. In addition, 21codons were identified as "optimal codons". Overall, the optimal codons were GC-rich (GC:AU, 41:22), and ended with G or C (except CGU). Furthermore, different degrees of variation in codon usage were found between T. multiceps and Escherichia coli, yeast, Homo sapiens. However, little difference was found between T. multiceps and Taenia pisiformis. In this study, the codon usage pattern of T. multiceps was analyzed systematically and factors affected CUB were also identified. This is the first study of codon biology in T. multiceps. Understanding the codon usage pattern in T. multiceps can be helpful for the discovery of new genes, molecular genetic engineering and evolutionary studies.

  4. Multiple Evolutionary Selections Involved in Synonymous Codon Usages in the Streptococcus agalactiae Genome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Yan-Ping; Ke, Hao; Liang, Zhi-Ling; Liu, Zhen-Xing; Hao, Le; Ma, Jiang-Yao; Li, Yu-Gu

    2016-02-24

    Streptococcus agalactiae is an important human and animal pathogen. To better understand the genetic features and evolution of S. agalactiae, multiple factors influencing synonymous codon usage patterns in S. agalactiae were analyzed in this study. A- and U-ending rich codons were used in S. agalactiae function genes through the overall codon usage analysis, indicating that Adenine (A)/Thymine (T) compositional constraints might contribute an important role to the synonymous codon usage pattern. The GC3% against the effective number of codon (ENC) value suggested that translational selection was the important factor for codon bias in the microorganism. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that (i) mutational pressure was the most important factor in shaping codon usage of all open reading frames (ORFs) in the S. agalactiae genome; (ii) strand specific mutational bias was not capable of influencing the codon usage bias in the leading and lagging strands; and (iii) gene length was not the important factor in synonymous codon usage pattern in this organism. Additionally, the high correlation between tRNA adaptation index (tAI) value and codon adaptation index (CAI), frequency of optimal codons (Fop) value, reinforced the role of natural selection for efficient translation in S. agalactiae. Comparison of synonymous codon usage pattern between S. agalactiae and susceptible hosts (human and tilapia) showed that synonymous codon usage of S. agalactiae was independent of the synonymous codon usage of susceptible hosts. The study of codon usage in S. agalactiae may provide evidence about the molecular evolution of the bacterium and a greater understanding of evolutionary relationships between S. agalactiae and its hosts.

  5. The Usage of E-Governance Applications by Higher Education Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Öktem, M. Kemal; Demirhan, Kamil; Demirhan, Haydar

    2014-01-01

    This study aims to analyze the factors affecting the Internet usage of university students using e-governance applications. It is important to examine these factors to understand why the online citizen participation is not increasing as expected, while Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) usage is improving in governance. Governance is…

  6. Neurotic Anxiety, Pronoun Usage, and Stress

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alban, Lewis Sigmund; Groman, William D.

    1976-01-01

    Attempts to clarify the function of a particular aspect of verbal communication, pronoun usage, by (a) using a Gestalt Therapy theory conceptual framework and (b) experimentally focusing on the relationship of pronoun usage to neurotic anxiety and emotional stress. (Author/RK)

  7. fine-GRAPE : Fine-grained APi usage extractor – an approach and dataset to investigate API usage

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sawant, A.A.; Bacchelli, A.

    An Application Programming Interface (API) provides a set of functionalities to a developer with the aim of enabling reuse. APIs have been investigated from different angles such as popularity usage and evolution to get a better understanding of their various characteristics. For such studies,

  8. R.W. Burchfield. The New Fowler's Modern English Usage. 3rd ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    R.W. Burchfield's revision (1996) of H.W. Fowler's Modern English Usage is an ... Usage problems arise, of course, in all the three main fields of language study: ... abiding work cannot be done by a man weak in phonetics and neglectful.

  9. The Usage and Impact of Internet Enabled Phones on Academic Concentration among Students of Tertiary Institutions: A Study at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ezemenaka, Emeka

    2013-01-01

    The usage of Internet enabled phones has been a 21st century phenomenon that spreads for different purposes and functions. This study looks into the usage and perceived effect implications internet enabled phones have on the academic performance of the tertiary students using University of Ibadan students in Nigeria as a case study. The study was…

  10. Internet Usage and Academic Performance of Undergraduate ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Internet Usage and Academic Performance of Undergraduate Students in University of Ilorin, Nigeria. ... PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH. AFRICAN JOURNALS ... This study adopted descriptive survey method. Six faculties ...

  11. The Impact of Institutional Differences on Derivatives Usage : A Comparative Study of US and Dutch Firms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bodnar, G.M.; de Jong, A.; Macrae, V.

    2001-01-01

    This paper tests the influence of institutional differences on risk management practices.Several survey studies have investigated derivatives usage for risk management purposes in the US (see, among others, Bodnar, Hayt, Marston and Smithson, 1995 and Bodnar, Hayt and Marston, 1996, 1998).In this

  12. Video personalization for usage environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tseng, Belle L.; Lin, Ching-Yung; Smith, John R.

    2002-07-01

    A video personalization and summarization system is designed and implemented incorporating usage environment to dynamically generate a personalized video summary. The personalization system adopts the three-tier server-middleware-client architecture in order to select, adapt, and deliver rich media content to the user. The server stores the content sources along with their corresponding MPEG-7 metadata descriptions. Our semantic metadata is provided through the use of the VideoAnnEx MPEG-7 Video Annotation Tool. When the user initiates a request for content, the client communicates the MPEG-21 usage environment description along with the user query to the middleware. The middleware is powered by the personalization engine and the content adaptation engine. Our personalization engine includes the VideoSue Summarization on Usage Environment engine that selects the optimal set of desired contents according to user preferences. Afterwards, the adaptation engine performs the required transformations and compositions of the selected contents for the specific usage environment using our VideoEd Editing and Composition Tool. Finally, two personalization and summarization systems are demonstrated for the IBM Websphere Portal Server and for the pervasive PDA devices.

  13. Antecedents of Continued Usage Intentions of Web-Based Learning Management System in Tanzania

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lwoga, Edda Tandi; Komba, Mercy

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine factors that predict students' continued usage intention of web-based learning management systems (LMS) in Tanzania, with a specific focus on the School of Business of Mzumbe University. Specifically, the study investigated major predictors of actual usage and continued usage intentions of…

  14. French grammar and usage

    CERN Document Server

    Hawkins, Roger

    2015-01-01

    Long trusted as the most comprehensive, up-to-date and user-friendly grammar available, French Grammar and Usage is a complete guide to French as it is written and spoken today. It includes clear descriptions of all the main grammatical phenomena of French, and their use, illustrated by numerous examples taken from contemporary French, and distinguishes the most common forms of usage, both formal and informal.Key features include:Comprehensive content, covering all the major structures of contemporary French User-friendly organisation offering easy-to-find sections with cross-referencing and i

  15. Expanding Bicycle-Sharing Systems: Lessons Learnt from an Analysis of Usage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Ying; Thomas, Tom; Brussel, M J G; van Maarseveen, M F A M

    2016-01-01

    Bike-sharing programs, with initiatives to increase bike use and improve accessibility of urban transit, have received increasing attention in growing number of cities across the world. The latest generation of bike-sharing systems has employed smart card technology that produces station-based data or trip-level data. This facilitates the studies of the practical use of these systems. However, few studies have paid attention to the changes in users and system usage over the years, as well as the impact of system expansion on its usage. Monitoring the changes of system usage over years enables the identification of system performance and can serve as an input for improving the location-allocation of stations. The objective of this study is to explore the impact of the expansion of a bicycle-sharing system on the usage of the system. This was conducted for a bicycle-sharing system in Zhongshan (China), using operational usage data of different years following system expansion. To this end, we performed statistical and spatial analyses to examine the changes in both users and system usage between before and after the system expansion. The findings show that there is a big variation in users and aggregate usage following the system expansion. However, the trend in spatial distribution of demand shows no substantial difference over the years, i.e. the same high-demand and low-demand areas appear. There are decreases in demand for some old stations over the years, which can be attributed to either the negative performance of the system or the competition of nearby new stations. Expanding the system not only extends the original users' ability to reach new areas but also attracts new users to use bike-sharing systems. In the conclusions, we present and discuss the findings, and offer recommendations for the further expansion of system.

  16. Expanding Bicycle-Sharing Systems: Lessons Learnt from an Analysis of Usage.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ying Zhang

    Full Text Available Bike-sharing programs, with initiatives to increase bike use and improve accessibility of urban transit, have received increasing attention in growing number of cities across the world. The latest generation of bike-sharing systems has employed smart card technology that produces station-based data or trip-level data. This facilitates the studies of the practical use of these systems. However, few studies have paid attention to the changes in users and system usage over the years, as well as the impact of system expansion on its usage. Monitoring the changes of system usage over years enables the identification of system performance and can serve as an input for improving the location-allocation of stations. The objective of this study is to explore the impact of the expansion of a bicycle-sharing system on the usage of the system. This was conducted for a bicycle-sharing system in Zhongshan (China, using operational usage data of different years following system expansion. To this end, we performed statistical and spatial analyses to examine the changes in both users and system usage between before and after the system expansion. The findings show that there is a big variation in users and aggregate usage following the system expansion. However, the trend in spatial distribution of demand shows no substantial difference over the years, i.e. the same high-demand and low-demand areas appear. There are decreases in demand for some old stations over the years, which can be attributed to either the negative performance of the system or the competition of nearby new stations. Expanding the system not only extends the original users' ability to reach new areas but also attracts new users to use bike-sharing systems. In the conclusions, we present and discuss the findings, and offer recommendations for the further expansion of system.

  17. Surfing for thinness: a pilot study of pro-eating disorder Web site usage in adolescents with eating disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Jenny L; Peebles, Rebecka; Hardy, Kristina K; Litt, Iris F

    2006-12-01

    Pro-eating disorder Web sites are communities of individuals who engage in disordered eating and use the Internet to discuss their activities. Pro-recovery sites, which are less numerous, express a recovery-oriented perspective. This pilot study investigated the awareness and usage of pro-eating disorder Web sites among adolescents with eating disorders and their parents and explored associations with health and quality of life. This was a cross-sectional study of 698 families of patients (aged 10-22 years) diagnosed with an eating disorder at Stanford between 1997 and 2004. Anonymous surveys were mailed and offered in clinic. Survey content included questions about disease severity, health outcomes, Web site usage, and parental knowledge of eating disorder Web site usage. Surveys were returned by 182 individuals: 76 patients and 106 parents. Parents frequently (52.8%) were aware of pro-eating disorder sites, but an equal number did not know whether their child visited these sites, and only 27.6% had discussed them with their child. Most (62.5%) parents, however, did not know about pro-recovery sites. Forty-one percent of patients visited pro-recovery sites, 35.5% visited pro-eating disorder sites, 25.0% visited both, and 48.7% visited neither. While visiting pro-eating disorder sites, 96.0% reported learning new weight loss or purging techniques. However, 46.4% of pro-recovery site visitors also learned new techniques. Pro-eating disorder site users did not differ from nonusers in health outcomes but reported spending less time on school or schoolwork and had a longer duration of illness. Users of both pro-eating disorder and pro-recovery sites were hospitalized more than users of neither site. Pro-eating disorder site usage was prevalent among adolescents with eating disorders, yet parents had little knowledge of this. Although use of these sites was not associated with other health outcomes, usage may have a negative impact on quality of life and result in

  18. MESUR metrics from scholarly usage of resources

    CERN Document Server

    CERN. Geneva; Van de Sompel, Herbert

    2007-01-01

    Usage data is increasingly regarded as a valuable resource in the assessment of scholarly communication items. However, the development of quantitative, usage-based indicators of scholarly impact is still in its infancy. The Digital Library Research & Prototyping Team at the Los Alamos National Laboratory's Research library has therefore started a program to expand the set of usage-based tools for the assessment of scholarly communication items. The two-year MESUR project, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, aims to define and validate a range of usage-based impact metrics, and issue guidelines with regards to their characteristics and proper application. The MESUR project is constructing a large-scale semantic model of the scholarly community that seamlessly integrates a wide range of bibliographic, citation and usage data. Functioning as a reference data set, this model is analyzed to characterize the intricate networks of typed relationships that exist in the scholarly community. The resulting c...

  19. Persona Usage in Software Development: Advantages and Obstacles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Billestrup, Jane; Stage, Jan; Nielsen, Lene

    2014-01-01

    The Personas technique has been promoted as a strong tool for providing software developers with a better understanding of the prospective users of their software. This paper reports from a questionnaire survey regarding knowledge about Personas and their usage in software development companies....... The questionnaire survey was conducted in a limited geographical area to establish the extent of Personas usage within all companies in the chosen region and determine whether software development companies used Personas during the development process. Several issues were identified as reasons for either not using...... the technique or for poor application of it. The study showed that 55% of the respondents had never heard about Personas. Among those who had heard about the Personas technique, the following obstacles towards usage of the technique were identified: Lack of knowledge of the technique, lack of resources (time...

  20. Marriage Dot EU: The Effect of Internet Usage on Marriage Hazard

    OpenAIRE

    Mario Vozar

    2011-01-01

    The rapid growth of internet usage over the last two decades has been influencing many aspects of our life and most noticeably the ways in which people communicate with each other. Therefore, it is appropriate to ask whether the growth of internet usage influences individuals’ marital decisions in modern society. In my study, I concentrate on the effect of the growing internet usage on the gender and age-specific marriage hazard rate for the first time marriages in Europe. The panel data anal...

  1. Media Usage and Civic Life: The Role of Values

    OpenAIRE

    Firat, Rengin Bahar

    2014-01-01

    Previous research has observed that media usage influences civic outcomes, including trust and political behavior. However, this research has rarely examined the social psychological mechanisms underlying the relationship between media and civic life. The current study focuses on values as potential explanations for how media usage impacts civic engagement. Using data from Round 5 of the European Social Survey (2010) and employing two-level structural equation modeling, this paper examines wh...

  2. Student Empowerment Through Internet Usage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Purushothaman, Aparna

    2011-01-01

    in a University in Southern India to empower the female students through Internet usage. The study was done to find out the problems the woman students faced in gaining access and using Internet and how they can be empowered through Internet usage. Future workshop was conducted to find out the problems...... and reflecting. The paper will explore the various cultural issues and explicate how the social context plays a major role in the use of Internet even if there is sufficient access. These issues will be addressed from an empowerment perspective. The paper ends by recommending the methods to be adopted for more......Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been widely recognized as a tool for human development (UNDP 2001). The rate at which ICT are growing is changing the way knowledge is developed, acquired and delivered. (Tongia, et al. 2005) Internet is one of the Information & Communication...

  3. Statistical Measures for Usage-Based Linguistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gries, Stefan Th.; Ellis, Nick C.

    2015-01-01

    The advent of usage-/exemplar-based approaches has resulted in a major change in the theoretical landscape of linguistics, but also in the range of methodologies that are brought to bear on the study of language acquisition/learning, structure, and use. In particular, methods from corpus linguistics are now frequently used to study distributional…

  4. An exploratory study of treated-bed nets in Timor-Leste: patterns of intended and alternative usage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wilder-Smith Annelies

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The Timor-Leste Ministry of Health has recently finalized the National Malaria Control Strategy for 2010-2020. A key component of this roadmap is to provide universal national coverage with long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs in support of achieving the primary goal of reducing both morbidity and mortality from malaria by 30% in the first three years, followed by a further reduction of 20% by end of the programme cycle in 2020 1. The strategic plan calls for this target to be supported by a comprehensive information, education and communication (IEC programme; however, there is limited prior research into household and personal usage patterns to assist in the creation of targeted, effective, and socio-culturally specific behaviour change materials. Methods Nine separate focus group discussions (FGDs were carried out in Dili, Manatuto, and Covalima districts, Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, in July 2010. These focus groups primarily explored themes of perceived malaria risk, causes of malaria, net usage patterns within families, barriers to correct and consistent usage, and the daily experience of users (both male and female in households with at least one net. Comprehensive qualitative analysis utilized open source analysis software. Results The primary determinants of net usage were a widespread perception that nets could or should only be used by pregnant women and young children, and the availability of sufficient sleeping space under a limited number of nets within households. Both nuisance biting and disease prevention were commonly cited as primary motivations for usage, while seasonality was not a significant factor. Long-term net durability and ease of hanging were seen as key attributes in net design preference. Very frequent washing cycles were common, potentially degrading net effectiveness. Finally, extensive re-purposing of nets (fishing, protecting crops was both reported and observed, and may

  5. Can You Hear Me? An Analysis of Gender and Mobile Phone Usage ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This Study investigates gender differentials in mobile phone usage in Owalla, a rural community in Imo state, Nigeria. Data were collected from 200 randomly selected respondents from the study area. The result showed that there exists significant gender disparity in favour of men with regard to usage of mobile phone.

  6. Discovering More Accurate Frequent Web Usage Patterns

    OpenAIRE

    Bayir, Murat Ali; Toroslu, Ismail Hakki; Cosar, Ahmet; Fidan, Guven

    2008-01-01

    Web usage mining is a type of web mining, which exploits data mining techniques to discover valuable information from navigation behavior of World Wide Web users. As in classical data mining, data preparation and pattern discovery are the main issues in web usage mining. The first phase of web usage mining is the data processing phase, which includes the session reconstruction operation from server logs. Session reconstruction success directly affects the quality of the frequent patterns disc...

  7. Informing Evidence Based Decisions: Usage Statistics for Online Journal Databases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexei Botchkarev

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Objective – The primary objective was to examine online journal database usage statistics for a provincial ministry of health in the context of evidence based decision-making. In addition, the study highlights implementation of the Journal Access Centre (JAC that is housed and powered by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC to inform health systems policy-making. Methods – This was a prospective case study using descriptive analysis of the JAC usage statistics of journal articles from January 2009 to September 2013. Results – JAC enables ministry employees to access approximately 12,000 journals with full-text articles. JAC usage statistics for the 2011-2012 calendar years demonstrate a steady level of activity in terms of searches, with monthly averages of 5,129. In 2009-2013, a total of 4,759 journal titles were accessed including 1,675 journals with full-text. Usage statistics demonstrate that the actual consumption was over 12,790 full-text downloaded articles or approximately 2,700 articles annually. Conclusion – JAC’s steady level of activities, revealed by the study, reflects continuous demand for JAC services and products. It testifies that access to online journal databases has become part of routine government knowledge management processes. MOHLTC’s broad area of responsibilities with dynamically changing priorities translates into the diverse information needs of its employees and a large set of required journals. Usage statistics indicate that MOHLTC information needs cannot be mapped to a reasonably compact set of “core” journals with a subsequent subscription to those.

  8. Smartphone usage in the 21st century: who is active on WhatsApp?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montag, Christian; Błaszkiewicz, Konrad; Sariyska, Rayna; Lachmann, Bernd; Andone, Ionut; Trendafilov, Boris; Eibes, Mark; Markowetz, Alexander

    2015-08-04

    Mounting evidence shows that smartphone usage heavily disrupts our work life and social activities. Moreover, it is possible that overuse could resemble addictive tendencies. A key contributing factor to smartphone overuse seems to be usage of the messaging application WhatsApp. Although WhatsApp is one of the most commonly used communication applications on smartphones, research in this area is scarce. Given the huge societal debate on the impact of smartphone usage on our daily lives, the present study undertook a large-scale investigation in order to provide numbers on smartphone usage generally-and use of WhatsApp in particular, with the aim of providing a basis for a scientific debate. In a large sample of N = 2,418 users, we recorded WhatsApp behaviour over a 4 week period. Our data show that use of WhatsApp accounted for 19.83% (= 32.11 min) of all smartphone behaviour (compare: Facebook only 9.38% = 15.19 min). The mean of general daily smartphone usage was 161.95 min. Females used WhatsApp for significantly longer periods of time than males and younger age was associated with longer duration of WhatsApp use. While the personality trait Extraversion was positively associated with daily WhatsApp use, Conscientiousness showed an inverse correlation with the length of daily WhatsApp use. The numbers on smartphone usage in the present study show that the smartphone dominates our daily life. In particular WhatsApp is a driving force, here. Given the length of daily smartphone and WhatsApp usage, more studies need to be conducted to better understand smartphone usage.

  9. MESUR: USAGE-BASED METRICS OF SCHOLARLY IMPACT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    BOLLEN, JOHAN [Los Alamos National Laboratory; RODRIGUEZ, MARKO A. [Los Alamos National Laboratory; VAN DE SOMPEL, HERBERT [Los Alamos National Laboratory

    2007-01-30

    The evaluation of scholarly communication items is now largely a matter of expert opinion or metrics derived from citation data. Both approaches can fail to take into account the myriad of factors that shape scholarly impact. Usage data has emerged as a promising complement to existing methods o fassessment but the formal groundwork to reliably and validly apply usage-based metrics of schlolarly impact is lacking. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funded MESUR project constitutes a systematic effort to define, validate and cross-validate a range of usage-based metrics of schlolarly impact by creating a semantic model of the scholarly communication process. The constructed model will serve as the basis of a creating a large-scale semantic network that seamlessly relates citation, bibliographic and usage data from a variety of sources. A subsequent program that uses the established semantic network as a reference data set will determine the characteristics and semantics of a variety of usage-based metrics of schlolarly impact. This paper outlines the architecture and methodology adopted by the MESUR project and its future direction.

  10. Preliminary Development of Real Time Usage-Phase Monitoring System for CNC Machine Tools with a Case Study on CNC Machine VMC 250

    Science.gov (United States)

    Budi Harja, Herman; Prakosa, Tri; Raharno, Sri; Yuwana Martawirya, Yatna; Nurhadi, Indra; Setyo Nogroho, Alamsyah

    2018-03-01

    The production characteristic of job-shop industry at which products have wide variety but small amounts causes every machine tool will be shared to conduct production process with dynamic load. Its dynamic condition operation directly affects machine tools component reliability. Hence, determination of maintenance schedule for every component should be calculated based on actual usage of machine tools component. This paper describes study on development of monitoring system to obtaining information about each CNC machine tool component usage in real time approached by component grouping based on its operation phase. A special device has been developed for monitoring machine tool component usage by utilizing usage phase activity data taken from certain electronics components within CNC machine. The components are adaptor, servo driver and spindle driver, as well as some additional components such as microcontroller and relays. The obtained data are utilized for detecting machine utilization phases such as power on state, machine ready state or spindle running state. Experimental result have shown that the developed CNC machine tool monitoring system is capable of obtaining phase information of machine tool usage as well as its duration and displays the information at the user interface application.

  11. Residential water usage: A case study of the major cities of the western region of Saudi Arabia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abu Rizaiza, Omar S.

    1991-05-01

    Socioeconomic and climatological data of the major cities of the western region of Saudi Arabia have been used to develop several models to estimate the residential water usage for different kinds of houses. The developed models correlate the residential water usages with temperature, income, family size, price of water, and availability of a garden within the house. The study shows that the residential water uses in houses supplied by a public pipe network are 1.4-2 times greater than the residential water uses in houses supplied by tankers. It also shows that the price elasticities are very similar to those estimated in the United States. Income elasticities, on the other hand, are lower than those typically found in more industrialized countries.

  12. 50 CFR 600.910 - Definitions and word usage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Definitions and word usage. 600.910..., Consultation, and Recommendations § 600.910 Definitions and word usage. (a) Definitions. In addition to the... undertaken by a state agency. (b) Word usage. The terms “must”, “shall”, “should”, “may”, “may not”, “will...

  13. 50 CFR 600.810 - Definitions and word usage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Definitions and word usage. 600.810...) § 600.810 Definitions and word usage. (a) Definitions. In addition to the definitions in the Magnuson...-Stevens Act. (b) Word usage. The terms “must”, “shall”, “should”, “may”, “may not”, “will”, “could”, and...

  14. CloudMonitor: Profiling Power Usage

    OpenAIRE

    Smith, James William; Khajeh-Hosseini, Ali; Ward, Jonathan Stuart; Sommerville, Ian

    2012-01-01

    In Cloud Computing platforms the addition of hardware monitoring devices to gather power usage data can be impractical or uneconomical due to the large number of machines to be metered. CloudMonitor, a monitoring tool that can generate power models for software-based power estimation, can provide insights to the energy costs of deployments without additional hardware. Accurate power usage data leads to the possibility of Cloud providers creating a separate tariff for power and therefore incen...

  15. Anabolic steroid usage in athletics: facts, fiction, and public relations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berning, Joseph M; Adams, Kent J; Stamford, Bryant A

    2004-11-01

    Anecdotal evidence suggests the widespread usage of anabolic steroids among athletes (20-90%), particularly at the professional and elite amateur levels. In contrast, scientific studies indicate that usage is rare and no higher than 6%. Conclusions from scientific studies suggest that anabolic steroid usage declines progressively from high school to college and beyond; however, anecdotal evidence claims the opposite trend. In this clash between "hard" scientific data vs. "soft" anecdotal information, it is natural that professionals would gravitate toward scientifically based conclusions. However, in the case of anabolic steroids (a stigmatized and illegal substance), should word-of-mouth testimony from individuals closest to the issues--those who have participated in and coached sports, those who have served as drug-testing overseers, and journalists who relentlessly track leads and verify sources--be set aside as irrelevant? Not if a complete picture is to emerge. In this review, hard scientific evidence is placed on the table side-by-side with soft anecdotal evidence, without weighting or bias. The purpose is to allow the opportunity for each to illuminate the other and, in so doing, potentially bring us a step closer to determining the true extent of anabolic steroid usage in athletics.

  16. The Scope of Usage-based Theory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul eIbbotson

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Usage-based approaches typically draw on a relatively small set of cognitive processes, such as categorization, analogy and chunking to explain language structure and function. The goal of this paper is to first review the extent to which the ‘cognitive commitment’ of usage-based theory has had success in explaining empirical findings across domains, including language acquisition, processing and typology. We then look at the overall strengths and weaknesses of usage-based theory and highlight where there are significant debates. Finally, we draw special attention to a set of culturally generated structural patterns that seem to lie beyond the explanation of core usage-based cognitive processes. In this context we draw a distinction between cognition permitting language structure versus cognition entailing language structure. As well as addressing the need for greater clarity on the mechanisms of generalizations and the fundamental units of grammar, we suggest that integrating culturally generated structures within existing cognitive models of use will generate tighter predictions about how language works.

  17. Analysis of the synonymous codon usage bias in recently emerged enterovirus D68 strains.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karniychuk, Uladzimir U

    2016-09-02

    Understanding the codon usage pattern of a pathogen and relationship between pathogen and host's codon usage patterns has fundamental and applied interests. Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) is an emerging pathogen with a potentially high public health significance. In the present study, the synonymous codon usage bias of 27 recently emerged, and historical EV-D68 strains was analyzed. In contrast to previously studied enteroviruses (enterovirus 71 and poliovirus), EV-D68 and human host have a high discrepancy between favored codons. Analysis of viral synonymous codon usage bias metrics, viral nucleotide/dinucleotide compositional parameters, and viral protein properties showed that mutational pressure is more involved in shaping the synonymous codon usage bias of EV-D68 than translation selection. Computation of codon adaptation indices allowed to estimate expression potential of the EV-D68 genome in several commonly used laboratory animals. This approach requires experimental validation and may provide an auxiliary tool for the rational selection of laboratory animals to model emerging viral diseases. Enterovirus D68 genome compositional and codon usage data can be useful for further pathogenesis, animal model, and vaccine design studies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Understanding usage patterns of electric kettle and energy saving potential

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murray, D.M.; Liao, J.; Stankovic, L.; Stankovic, V.

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Time-of-use analysis to motivate kettle usage and consumption prediction. • Identification of households whose kettle usage and consumption is outside the norm. • Mathematical model to estimate water volume from consumed power measurements only. • Quantification of energy savings if a household uses its kettle more efficiently. • Kettle usage and demand prediction using an Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System. - Abstract: The availability of smart metering and smart appliances enables detecting and characterising appliance use in a household, quantifying energy savings through efficient appliance use and predicting appliance-specific demand from load measurements is possible. With growing electric kettle ownership and usage, lack of any efficiency labelling guidelines for the kettle, slow technological progress in improving kettle efficiency relative to other domestic appliances, and current consumer attitudes, urgent investigation into consumer kettle usage patterns is warranted. From an efficiency point of view, little can be done about the kettle, which is more efficient than other methods of heating water such as the stove top kettle. However, since a majority households use the kettle inefficiently by overfilling, in order to meet energy targets, it is imperative to quantify inefficient usage and predict demand. For the purposes of scalability, we propose tools that depend only on load measurement data for quantifying and visualising kettle usage and energy consumption, assessing energy wastage through overfilling via our proposed electric kettle model, and predicting kettle-specific demand, from which we can estimate potential energy savings in a household and across a housing stock. This is demonstrated using data from a longitudinal study across a sample of 14 UK households for a two-year period.

  19. Grip Strength Survey Based on Hand Tool Usage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erman ÇAKIT

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Hand grip strength is broadly used for performing tasks involving equipment in production and processing activities. Most professionals in this field rely on grip strength to perform their tasks. There were three main aims of this study: i determining various hand grip strength measurements for the group of hand tool users, ii investigating the effects of height, weight, age, hand dominance, body mass index, previous Cumulative Trauma Disorder (CTD diagnosis, and hand tool usage experience on hand grip strength, and iii comparing the obtained results with existing data for other populations. The study groups comprised 71 healthy male facility workers. The values of subjects’ ages was observed between 26 and 74 years. The data were statistically analyzed to assess the normality of data and the percentile values of grip strength. The results of this study demonstrate that there were no significance differences noted between dominant and non-dominant hands. However, there were highly significant differences between the CTD group and the other group. Hand grip strength for the dominant hand was positively correlated to height, weight, and body mass index, and negatively correlated to age and tool usage experience. Hand dominance, height, weight, body mass index, age and tool usage experience should be considered when establishing normal values for grip strength.

  20. Possible hepatotoxicity of chronic marijuana usage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo Borini

    Full Text Available CONTEXT: Hepatotoxicity is a potential complication from the usage of various illicit drugs, possibly consequent to their liver metabolism, but information on this is scarce in the medical literature. OBJECTIVE: To study the occurrence of clinical and laboratory hepatic alterations in chronic marijuana users, from the use of marijuana on its own or in association with other legal or illicit drugs. TYPE OF STUDY: transversal study SETTING: Hospital Espírita de Marília, Marília, São Paulo, Brazil PARTICIPANTS: The study was made among 123 patients interned in the Hospital Espírita de Marília from October 1996 to December 1998, divided into 3 groups: 26 (21% using only marijuana, 83 (67.5% using marijuana and crack, and 14 (11.4% consuming marijuana and alcohol. PROCEDURES AND MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Patients were examined clinically with special emphasis on types of drugs used, drug intake route, age when consumption began, length and pattern of usage, presence of tattooing, jaundice, hepatomegaly and splenomegaly. Serum determinations of total proteins, albumin, globulin, total and fractions of bilirubin, aspartate (AST and alanine (ALT aminotransferases, alkaline phosphatase (AP, gamma-glutamyltransferase and prothrombin activity were performed. RESULTS: Among users of only marijuana, hepatomegaly was observed in 57.7% and splenomegaly in 73.1%, and slightly elevated AST (42.3%, ALT (34.6% and AP (53.8%. The three groups did not differ significantly in the prevalence of hepatomegaly, splenomegaly and hepatosplenomegaly. The group using both marijuana and alcohol showed the highest prevalence of alterations and highest levels of aminotransferases. Mean AP levels were above normal in all groups. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic marijuana usage, on its own or in association with other drugs, was associated with hepatic morphologic and enzymatic alterations. This indicates that cannabinoids are possible hepatotoxic substances.

  1. Are Students Really Connected? Predicting College Adjustment from Social Network Usage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raacke, John; Bonds-Raacke, Jennifer

    2015-01-01

    The rapid growth in popularity of social networking sites has spurred research exploring the impact of usage in a variety of areas. The current study furthered this line of research by examining the relationships between social network usage and adjustment to college in the academic, social, personal-emotional and university affiliation domains.…

  2. Association of Proton Pump Inhibitors Usage with Risk of Pneumonia in Dementia Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, Sai-Wai; Teng, Ying-Hock; Yang, Shun-Fa; Yeh, Han-Wei; Wang, Yu-Hsun; Chou, Ming-Chih; Yeh, Chao-Bin

    2017-07-01

    To determine the association between usages of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and subsequent risk of pneumonia in dementia patients. Retrospective cohort study. Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database. The study cohort consisted of 786 dementia patients with new PPI usage and 786 matched dementia patients without PPI usage. The study endpoint was defined as the occurrence of pneumonia. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the pneumonia risk. Defined daily dose methodology was applied to evaluate the cumulative and dose-response relationships of PPI. Incidence of pneumonia was higher among patients with PPI usage (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 1.89; 95% CI = 1.51-2.37). Cox model analysis also demonstrated that age (adjusted HR = 1.05; 95% CI = 1.03-1.06), male gender (adjusted HR = 1.57; 95% CI = 1.25-1.98), underlying cerebrovascular disease (adjusted HR = 1.30; 95% CI = 1.04-1.62), chronic pulmonary disease (adjusted HR = 1.39; 95% CI = 1.09-1.76), congestive heart failure (adjusted HR = 1.54; 95% CI = 1.11-2.13), diabetes mellitus (adjusted HR = 1.54; 95% CI = 1.22-1.95), and usage of antipsychotics (adjusted HR = 1.29; 95% CI = 1.03-1.61) were independent risk factors for pneumonia. However, usage of cholinesterase inhibitors and histamine receptor-2 antagonists were shown to decrease pneumonia risk. PPI usage in dementia patients is associated with an 89% increased risk of pneumonia. © 2017, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2017, The American Geriatrics Society.

  3. Usage of Business Simulation Games in Croatia: Perceived Obstacles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jovana Zoroja

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Business simulation games (BSGs enhance learning, since they actively involve students in the educational process through game playing. They began to play important role in business education in many universities in Croatia. However, quantitative information on their usage in higher educational institutions (HEIs in Croatia is still scarce. Goals of the paper are to explore: (1 differences among BSGs users and non-users according to demographic characteristics, (2 differences among BSGs users and non-users according to perceived obstacles of BSGs usage, and (3 impact of both demographic characteristics and perceived obstacles on the decision on usage or not-usage of BSGs. A survey was taken in business and economics departments of HEIs in Croatia. A regression model has been used to test the impact of demographic characteristics of educators and the perceived obstacles to the usage of BSGs in educational practice. Results indicate that BSGs usage is currently at a low level, mainly due to the lack of funds and management support. Academic rank, gender, and attitude toward new technologies also impact BSGs usage.

  4. Managing Rosacea

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Donate Weblog Press Room News Releases Glossary About Us Overview History Program Services Organization Key Staff Board of Directors ... Donate Weblog Press Room News Releases Glossary About Us Overview History Program Services Organization Key Staff Board of Directors ...

  5. National Rosacea Society

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Donate Weblog Press Room News Releases Glossary About Us Overview History Program Services Organization Key Staff Board of Directors ... Donate Weblog Press Room News Releases Glossary About Us Overview History Program Services Organization Key Staff Board of Directors ...

  6. Rhinophyma Treated with Options Today

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Donate Weblog Press Room News Releases Glossary About Us Overview History Program Services Organization Key Staff Board of Directors ... Donate Weblog Press Room News Releases Glossary About Us Overview History Program Services Organization Key Staff Board of Directors ...

  7. Women May Need Added Therapy for Rosacea

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Donate Weblog Press Room News Releases Glossary About Us Overview History Program Services Organization Key Staff Board of Directors ... Donate Weblog Press Room News Releases Glossary About Us Overview History Program Services Organization Key Staff Board of Directors ...

  8. Using scientific evidence to improve hospital library services: Southern Chapter/Medical Library Association journal usage study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dee, C R; Rankin, J A; Burns, C A

    1998-07-01

    Journal usage studies, which are useful for budget management and for evaluating collection performance relative to library use, have generally described a single library or subject discipline. The Southern Chapter/Medical Library Association (SC/MLA) study has examined journal usage at the aggregate data level with the long-term goal of developing hospital library benchmarks for journal use. Thirty-six SC/MLA hospital libraries, categorized for the study by size as small, medium, or large, reported current journal title use centrally for a one-year period following standardized data collection procedures. Institutional and aggregate data were analyzed for the average annual frequency of use, average costs per use and non-use, and average percent of non-used titles. Permutation F-type tests were used to measure difference among the three hospital groups. Averages were reported for each data set analysis. Statistical tests indicated no significant differences between the hospital groups, suggesting that benchmarks can be derived applying to all types of hospital libraries. The unanticipated lack of commonality among heavily used titles pointed to a need for uniquely tailored collections. Although the small sample size precluded definitive results, the study's findings constituted a baseline of data that can be compared against future studies.

  9. The Impact of College Drug Policy on Students' Drug Usage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sawyer, Holly N.

    2012-01-01

    Illicit drug usage at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) is a topic of limited research. The research questions that guided this study were (a) What is the relationship between college policy on illicit drugs and students' frequency of drug usage after controlling for college location (urban or rural) and students' age,…

  10. Is there a correlation between organizational features and digital communication usage?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Veselinović Tamara

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Digitalization, networking and information sharing have brought to the paradigm shifts in both business and marketing communication. Extant scholarly and practical studies emphasize the importance of digital communication tools and activities, and explore new opportunities for organizations. Unlike previous studies, this study is not solely focused on the usage, but rather on the examination and determination of differences in the usage of digital communication in organizations of various characteristics such as size, industry, business maturity and geographical coverage. A transversal empirical study was conducted in the Republic of Serbia, on a randomly selected sample of 231 private and publicly owned organizations - companies, institutions and banks. The results indicate that the statistical difference in the usage of digital communication tools and activities by organization types exists, whereby the intensity of correlation differs depending on the organizational feature and digital communication tool or activity.

  11. Using travel socialization and underlying motivations to better understand motorcycle usage in Taiwan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Hsin-Li; Lai, Chi-Yen

    2015-06-01

    This study introduces self-determination theory (SDT) to refine previous models of vehicle usage motivation. We add travel socialization theory regarding parental influence on vehicle usage to enhance previous structural models describing motorcycle usage behavior. Our newly developed model was empirically verified in a sample of 721 motorcycle users in Taiwan. In addition to instrumental, symbolic, and affective motivations, perceived parental attitudes (PPAs) towards motorcycle riding were found to have a significant effect on individuals' motorcycle use habits. Additionally, participants who perceived their parents to have more positive attitudes toward motorcycles were found to have more experience being chauffeured on motorcycles by their parents. Based on these results, we suggest means to confront the challenges brought on by the rapid growth of motorcycle usage, especially serious motorcycle traffic accidents. These results improve our understanding motorcycle usage in Taiwan and can be used by transportation professionals who are seeking solutions to the rapid growth of motorcycle usage. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Pediatric CT scan usage in Japan. Results of a hospital survey

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ghotbi, N; Morishita, Mariko; Norimatsu, Nana; Namba, Hiroyuki; Yamashita, Shunichi [Nagasaki Univ., Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Nagasaki (Japan); Ohtsuru, Akira [Nagasaki Univ., Hospital, Takashi Nagai Memorial International Hibakusha Medical Center, Nagasaki, Nagaski (Japan); Ogawa, Yoji; Uetani, Masataka; Moriuchi, Hiroyuki [Nagasaki Univ., Hospital, Nagasaki, Nagasaki (Japan)

    2006-10-15

    The aim of this study was to examine the usage parameters of diagnostic computed tomography (CT) in children because of concerns of possible overuse in Japanese hospitals, including the ''technical'' CT exposure settings and the ''clinical'' grounds for CT requests. We examined the methodology at the radiology department to reduce radiation exposure to children and performed a retrospective study on pediatric CT requests during a 1-year period at Nagasaki University Hospital. The parameters of diagnostic CT usage for minor head trauma and acute appendicitis were studied in detail. CT radiation dose settings are adjusted for children based on guidelines issued by the Japan Radiological Society, with few limitations. CT requests were made for 62% of minor head trauma cases and 76% of cases clinically suspected to be acute appendicitis. These figures are considerably higher than those reported by studies in the United Kingdom, Canada, or the United States. No specific guidelines are advocated regarding CT usage for minor head trauma. The diagnosis of acute appendicitis in children is almost routinely referred for confirmation'' by CT. CT radiation risks to children at Japanese hospitals need to be considered more seriously. Physicians should be encouraged to follow diagnostic algorithms that help avoid unnecessary CT usage in children. (author)

  13. Pediatric CT scan usage in Japan. Results of a hospital survey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghotbi, N.; Morishita, Mariko; Norimatsu, Nana; Namba, Hiroyuki; Yamashita, Shunichi; Ohtsuru, Akira; Ogawa, Yoji; Uetani, Masataka; Moriuchi, Hiroyuki

    2006-01-01

    The aim of this study was to examine the usage parameters of diagnostic computed tomography (CT) in children because of concerns of possible overuse in Japanese hospitals, including the ''technical'' CT exposure settings and the ''clinical'' grounds for CT requests. We examined the methodology at the radiology department to reduce radiation exposure to children and performed a retrospective study on pediatric CT requests during a 1-year period at Nagasaki University Hospital. The parameters of diagnostic CT usage for minor head trauma and acute appendicitis were studied in detail. CT radiation dose settings are adjusted for children based on guidelines issued by the Japan Radiological Society, with few limitations. CT requests were made for 62% of minor head trauma cases and 76% of cases clinically suspected to be acute appendicitis. These figures are considerably higher than those reported by studies in the United Kingdom, Canada, or the United States. No specific guidelines are advocated regarding CT usage for minor head trauma. The diagnosis of acute appendicitis in children is almost routinely referred for confirmation'' by CT. CT radiation risks to children at Japanese hospitals need to be considered more seriously. Physicians should be encouraged to follow diagnostic algorithms that help avoid unnecessary CT usage in children. (author)

  14. Influence of children pedestrian behaviour on pedestrian space usage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Makalew, F. P.; Adisasmita, S. A.; Wunas, S.; Hamid, S.

    2017-11-01

    School children pedestrian behaviour can be seen along their journey to and from school. Pedestrian spaces used by children are places available in urban and rural areas including streets with and without pedestrian pathways. Samples data are collected from 23 elementary schools in urban and rural areas in North Sulawesi, Indonesia in the form of video records and photos taken. The aim of this research is to analyse children pedestrian behaviour and its influence on the space usage on pedestrian areas. Method of analysis is a comparative study on urban and rural areas. Results of this research are types of behaviour, factors that influence the behaviour, physical condition of pedestrian areas and space usage by children. The behaviours are duck-line walking, running, playing, walking backward and walking with bare foot in which running is the main behaviour. These behaviours are influenced by factors including following friends and responding to acts. There are similarities and differences between pedestrian space usage in urban and rural areas. Space use by children pedestrian demonstrates the way pedestrian areas should be planned. Space usage by children pedestrian indicates that there is a need of evaluation of the space available considering pedestrian children behaviour.

  15. A Framework for Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Data in Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Studies: A Case Study of Pesticide Usage in Eastern Uganda

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James Muleme

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP studies guide the implementation of public health interventions (PHIs, and they are important tools for political persuasion. The design and implementation of PHIs assumes a linear KAP relationship, i.e., an awareness campaign results in the desirable societal behavioral change. However, there is no robust framework for testing this relationship before and after PHIs. Here, we use qualitative and quantitative data on pesticide usage to test this linear relationship, identify associated context specific factors as well as assemble a framework that could be used to guide and evaluate PHIs. We used data from a cross-sectional mixed methods study on pesticide usage. Quantitative data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 167 households representing 1,002 individuals. Qualitative data were collected from key informants and focus group discussions. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis was done in R 3.2.0 as well as qualitative thematic analysis, respectively. Our framework shows that a KAP linear relationship only existed for households with a low knowledge score, suggesting that an awareness campaign would only be effective for ~37% of the households. Context specific socioeconomic factors explain why this relationship does not hold for households with high knowledge scores. These findings are essential for developing targeted cost-effective and sustainable interventions on pesticide usage and other PHIs with context specific modifications.

  16. Cloud Usage Patterns : A Formalism for Description of Cloud Usage Scenarios

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Milenkoski, Aleksandar; Iosup, Alexandru; Kounev, Samuel; Sachs, Kai; Rygielski, Piotr; Ding, Jason; Cirne, Walfredo; Rosenberg, Florian

    2014-01-01

    Cloud computing is becoming an increasingly lucrative branch of the existing information and communication technologies (ICT). Enabling a debate about cloud usage scenarios can help with attracting new customers, sharing best-practices, and designing new cloud services. In contrast to previous

  17. USING BLOGS TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ SUMMARY WRITING ABILITIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Orachorn KITCHAKARN,

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available The research compared students’ summary writing ability before and after they were taught through blog, a new medium or tool for written communication and interaction in many different languages around the world. The research design is a kind of one group pretest posttest. Participants were 33 first-year students who studied EN 011 course (English in Action in the first semester of the academic year 2012 at Bangkok University. They were divided into six groups. Five or six students in each group created a blog; www.blogger.com, and they worked together for fourteen weeks to produce six pieces of summary written work. Each member in the group worked through providing comments, editing and revising on the blog until the group got a final summary paper and submitted that to the teacher for grading. The instruments used in this study were (1 two summary writing tests (2 a questionnaire surveying students’ attitude toward learning through blogs, and (3 postings on blogs to reflect their learning experience. The results revealed that after the students worked together on weblogs, their English summary writing mean score of the posttest was higher than that of the pretest, and they had positive attitudes towards using weblogs in learning. Regarding cooperative learning experiences through using weblogs, most students thought that it was interesting, a new experience to work with their friends on the weblogs.

  18. Social networking through email : studying email usage patterns of persons with aphasia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Al Mahmud, A.; Martens, J.B.O.S.

    2016-01-01

    Background: A social networking program has been developed by the Aphasia Union Netherlands (AVN) to enhance communication between older persons with aphasia (PWA) mutually and with their therapists. The medium of communication is email. Aims: The aim of the paper is to understand the email usage

  19. Administrators' Power Usage Styles and Their Impact on the Organizational Culture in Colleges of Education: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozcan, Kenan; Karatas, Ibrahim Hakan; Caglar, Çaglar; Polat, Murat

    2014-01-01

    The main purpose of this study is to determine how power usage styles of administrators of faculties of education influence the organizational culture in their respective faculties in Turkey. Using the phenomenological method, a qualitative research method, researchers studied a group comprised of 20 academics from 7 different colleges of…

  20. WATER LAW AND MODEL OF RESPONSIBLE WATER USAGE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dmitri Olegovitch Sivakov

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available As it is known, the water law regulates dynamic social relationships concerning study, usage and protection of water objects, as well as their transformation. The water law explicitly regulates water economic activities. The regulatory method of the water law has a mixed nature and thus is not distinctive. It predetermines in some cases equality and independence of subjects of relationships (water usage agreement and in other – power and submission (permissive nature of water usage. The aim of the publication is to promote scientific ideas about the fate of the water law in order to make a further polygonal and productive discussion in which the reader is invited to participate. Scientific novelty. In 2016 the monograph of D.O. Sivakov “Water law: dynamics, problems, perspectives: monograph” (second edition, reviewed and updated. Moscow: Stolitsa, 2016. 540 p. was published. In 2017 the author reconsidered some conclusions of his monograph and applied scientific achievements of theory of state and law in water sphere. In accordance with this, it is important to mention research of Petrov D.E. related to issues of differentiation and integration of structural formations of Russian legal system. The scientific novelty of the article includes the synthesis of ideas of the monograph and some achievements of theory of state and law. Methods of research. The author of the article relies on some collective and individual monographic studies in the sphere of theory of state and law, natural resource law, arctic law, financial law. Basic results of research. The author promotes the model of responsible water usage. This model shall be based not on the unstable balance of economic and environmental interests (which shall practically lead to the domination of economic interests, but on the obligatory combination of economic activities with technologies, ensuring maximal preservation of water resources. Responsible water usage shall mean a system of

  1. Internet and Cell Phone Usage Patterns among Young Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenaro, Cristina; Flores, Noelia; Cruz, Maribel; Pérez, Ma Carmen; Vega, Vanessa; Torres, Víctor A.

    2018-01-01

    Background: The risks and opportunities associated with the use of technologies are of growing research interest. Patterns of technology usage illuminate these opportunities and risks. However, no studies have assessed the usage patterns (frequency, duration, and intensity) and related factors in young people with intellectual disabilities.…

  2. Investment and Usage of New Technologies : Evidence from a Shared ATM Network

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ferrari, S.; Verboven, F.L.; Degryse, H.A.

    2007-01-01

    When new technologies become available, it is not only essential that firms have the correct investment incentives, but often also that consumers make the proper usage decisions. This paper studies investment and usage in a shared ATM network. Be- cause all banks coordinate their ATM investment

  3. Investment and Usage of New Technologies : Evidence from a Shared ATM Network

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ferrari, S.; Verboven, F.L.; Degryse, H.A.

    2008-01-01

    When new technologies become available, it is not only essential that firms have the correct investment incentives, but often also that consumers make the proper usage decisions. This paper studies investment and usage in a shared ATM network. Be- cause all banks coordinate their ATM investment

  4. An Empirical Investigation of Campus Portal Usage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saghapour, Mohsen; Iranmanesh, Mohammad; Zailani, Suhaiza; Goh, Gerald Guan Gan

    2018-01-01

    This study has determined the determinants of the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness and their influence on campus portal usage. A quantitative approach was employed, using a five-point Likert scale questionnaire, adapted from previous studies. Data were gathered through a survey conducted with 341 staff working in the University of…

  5. Problematic Internet Usage: Personality Traits, Gender, Age and Effect of Dispositional Hope Level

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cetin Gudunz, Hicran; Eksioglu, Subhan; Tarhan, Sinem

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the effect of personality traits, gender, age and effects of dispositional hope level in problematic internet usage of university students. Research Methods: This paper is an example of a descriptive study, which presents the relationship between problematic internet usage of university students…

  6. Impact of Facebook Usage on Undergraduate Students Performance in Irbid National University: Case Study

    OpenAIRE

    Altaany, Fawzi H.; Jassim, Firas A.

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this study is to investigate the style of Facebook usage between undergraduate students and the impact on their academics performance. Also, this paper was evaluated in the view of student the using of Facebook. A questioner was design for collecting data from a sample of 480 undergraduate students in Irbid National University. The survey revealed that 77% of the students have an account on Facebook. One of the main findings is that there was a significant relationship between gend...

  7. Usage of cell nomenclature in biomedical literature

    KAUST Repository

    Kafkas, Senay; Sarntivijai, Sirarat; Hoehndorf, Robert

    2017-01-01

    large scale for understanding the level of uptake of cell nomenclature in literature by scientists. In this study, we analyse the usage of cell nomenclature, both in Vivo, and in Vitro in biomedical literature by using text mining methods and present our

  8. Lithium-Ion Battery Cell Cycling and Usage Analysis in a Heavy-Duty Truck Field Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pontus Svens

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents results from a field test performed on commercial power-optimized lithium-ion battery cells cycled on three heavy-duty trucks. The goal with this study was to age battery cells in a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV environment and find suitable methods for identifying cell ageing. The battery cells were cycled on in-house developed equipment intended for testing on conventional vehicles by emulating an HEV environment. A hybrid strategy that allows battery usage to vary within certain limits depending on driving patterns was used. This concept allows unobtrusive and low-cost testing of battery cells under realistic conditions. Each truck was equipped with one cell cycling equipment and two battery cells. One cell per vehicle was cycled during the test period while a reference cell on each vehicle experienced the same environmental conditions without being cycled. Differential voltage analysis and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used to identify ageing of the tested battery cells. Analysis of driving patterns and battery usage was performed from collected vehicle data and battery cell data.

  9. Fashion blogs: a study on how consumers’ attitude to fashion is influenced through fashion blog usage.

    OpenAIRE

    Hauge, Tone

    2010-01-01

    This thesis study: How consumers’ attitudes to fashion are influenced by fashion blog usage. Identifying some characteristics of the a-list fashion bloggers. The variables that are assumed to influence the domain of fashion blogs are expertise, authenticity, authority, social identity, private- and social self image. Fashion blogs was found to be an important source of influence, for some taking over the role of fashion magazines. All the variables studied were foun...

  10. 40 CFR 52.254 - Organic solvent usage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Organic solvent usage. 52.254 Section...) APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS California § 52.254 Organic solvent usage. (a) This... (d) of this section and the architectural coatings and solvent disposal emission limitations...

  11. The Blogging Artist: a Genre-Analysis Approach to Teaching English for Art Purposes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anda-Elena Crețiu

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Building on the now classic approaches to Discourse Analysis offered by Swales and Bhatia, the present paper tries to establish the benefits and value of applying the method of Genre Analysis to teaching English for Art Purposes, with a focus on a more recent Internet genre, that of the artist’s blog (weblog. The artist’s blog is seen as part of the greater genre of the weblog, which has already been classified into a number of subgenres. The paper proposes yet another dimension to be added to those already considered when classifying the weblogs: the dimension of “occupational-oriented content” as a descriptive for further classifications; it also tries to uncover the generic features of this type of discourse. The ultimate aim of this study is, on the one hand, that of providing art students with the necessary know-how of using the weblog genre for their current and future professional purposes, as part of the complex system of genres devised by the artistic discourse community in order to communicate both within and without itself, and, on the other hand, to help students use their knowledge of the English language to create such a discourse type in order to obtain maximum benefits.

  12. Usage of the cyclotron facility local area network

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heinzmann, H.; Peters, J.; Thow, T.J.

    1988-01-01

    Local area network of controllers at the Karlsruhe cyclotyron is shown. Experience after two years of usage is described. The system is applied controlling, data acquisition, management, databases usage

  13. ‘Connected ka pa ba?’: A study on how social media usage affects face-to-face interactions within the home.

    OpenAIRE

    dela Vega, Marie Grace A.; B. Flores, Rodelyn; M. Magusib, Avon Joyce

    2017-01-01

    This study looked at the influence of social media usage on the face-to-face family interactions within the home. Its specific purpose was to determine the teenager’s perception of the quality of family interactions in relation to the duration and frequency of the teenager’s social media usage. An online survey to 100 students was conducted to extract the target population. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted to individuals aged 16 to19 who were identified as heavy users of Facebook and/or...

  14. Korean parents’ perceptions on the importance of computer usage for themselves and their children: An exploratory study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hee Jeong LIM

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available Many families today have access to computers that help them with their daily living activities, such asfinding employment and helping children with schoolwork. Minority families residing in the United Statesthough often do not own home computers. With a greater number of immigrant families arriving to theUnited States, questions are raised whether parents unfamiliar with the new culture view computers asimportant teaching tools for themselves and their children. An exploratory study was conducted lookingat Korean parents whose children were enrolled in a Southern California elementary school, since thisminority group consistently falls within the top ten immigrant sending countries. The study’s purpose wasto examine parent perceptions on the importance placed on computer usage for themselves and theirchildren. Findings suggest that Korean parents place a high value on computer usage and see it as vitalto job success and academic achievement.

  15. Smartphone usage and increased risk of mobile phone addiction: A concurrent study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parasuraman, Subramani; Sam, Aaseer Thamby; Yee, Stephanie Wong Kah; Chuon, Bobby Lau Chik; Ren, Lee Yu

    2017-01-01

    This study aimed to study the mobile phone addiction behavior and awareness on electromagnetic radiation (EMR) among a sample of Malaysian population. This online study was conducted between December 2015 and 2016. The study instrument comprised eight segments, namely, informed consent form, demographic details, habituation, mobile phone fact and EMR details, mobile phone awareness education, psychomotor (anxious behavior) analysis, and health issues. Frequency of the data was calculated and summarized in the results. Totally, 409 respondents participated in the study. The mean age of the study participants was 22.88 (standard error = 0.24) years. Most of the study participants developed dependency with smartphone usage and had awareness (level 6) on EMR. No significant changes were found on mobile phone addiction behavior between the participants having accommodation on home and hostel. The study participants were aware about mobile phone/radiation hazards and many of them were extremely dependent on smartphones. One-fourth of the study population were found having feeling of wrist and hand pain because of smartphone use which may lead to further physiological and physiological complication.

  16. Revelation of Influencing Factors in Overall Codon Usage Bias of Equine Influenza Viruses.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naveen Kumar

    Full Text Available Equine influenza viruses (EIVs of H3N8 subtype are culprits of severe acute respiratory infections in horses, and are still responsible for significant outbreaks worldwide. Adaptability of influenza viruses to a particular host is significantly influenced by their codon usage preference, due to an absolute dependence on the host cellular machinery for their replication. In the present study, we analyzed genome-wide codon usage patterns in 92 EIV strains, including both H3N8 and H7N7 subtypes by computing several codon usage indices and applying multivariate statistical methods. Relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU analysis disclosed bias of preferred synonymous codons towards A/U-ended codons. The overall codon usage bias in EIVs was slightly lower, and mainly affected by the nucleotide compositional constraints as inferred from the RSCU and effective number of codon (ENc analysis. Our data suggested that codon usage pattern in EIVs is governed by the interplay of mutation pressure, natural selection from its hosts and undefined factors. The H7N7 subtype was found less fit to its host (horse in comparison to H3N8, by possessing higher codon bias, lower mutation pressure and much less adaptation to tRNA pool of equine cells. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing the codon usage analysis of the complete genomes of EIVs. The outcome of our study is likely to enhance our understanding of factors involved in viral adaptation, evolution, and fitness towards their hosts.

  17. Revelation of Influencing Factors in Overall Codon Usage Bias of Equine Influenza Viruses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhatia, Sandeep; Sood, Richa; Selvaraj, Pavulraj

    2016-01-01

    Equine influenza viruses (EIVs) of H3N8 subtype are culprits of severe acute respiratory infections in horses, and are still responsible for significant outbreaks worldwide. Adaptability of influenza viruses to a particular host is significantly influenced by their codon usage preference, due to an absolute dependence on the host cellular machinery for their replication. In the present study, we analyzed genome-wide codon usage patterns in 92 EIV strains, including both H3N8 and H7N7 subtypes by computing several codon usage indices and applying multivariate statistical methods. Relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) analysis disclosed bias of preferred synonymous codons towards A/U-ended codons. The overall codon usage bias in EIVs was slightly lower, and mainly affected by the nucleotide compositional constraints as inferred from the RSCU and effective number of codon (ENc) analysis. Our data suggested that codon usage pattern in EIVs is governed by the interplay of mutation pressure, natural selection from its hosts and undefined factors. The H7N7 subtype was found less fit to its host (horse) in comparison to H3N8, by possessing higher codon bias, lower mutation pressure and much less adaptation to tRNA pool of equine cells. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing the codon usage analysis of the complete genomes of EIVs. The outcome of our study is likely to enhance our understanding of factors involved in viral adaptation, evolution, and fitness towards their hosts. PMID:27119730

  18. Determinants of Contraceptive Usage among Married Women in Shiraz, Iran

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khadijeh Asadisarvestani

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Background & aim: Contraceptive usage is a central part of the quality of care in the provision of family services. Currently, this issue has gained much importance since the Iranian policy makers are changing their policies about family planning and contraceptives accessibility. Regarding this, the aim of this study was to determine the rate of contraceptive usage and the factors affecting contraceptive use among the married women of reproductive age in Shiraz County, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 626 married women of reproductive age (i.e., 15-49 years living in Shiraz County (including Shiraz city and the rural areas using the quantitative survey method. Sampling was performed using multi-stage cluster and purposive sampling techniques. The sample size was determined based on the Krejcie and Morgan’s formula. The data were collected through a questionnaire filled out by some interviewers. Data analysis was performed both descriptively (i.e., frequency and percentage and analytically (i.e., Chi-square and logistic regression tests using the SPSS version 20. Results: According to the results of this study, the main predictors of contraceptive usage were couple agreement on contraception method, the number of actual births, women’s authority, knowledge and positive attitude about contraceptives, and the number of desired children. Conclusion: Regarding the new population policies, the Iranian policy makers should be aware of the different aspects of family planning programs, particularly those targeting the contraceptive usage.

  19. Understanding social media program usage in public transit agencies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jenny H. Liu

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Social media has been gaining prominence in public transit agencies in their communication strategies and daily management. This study aims to better understand recent trends in social media usage in public transit agencies, to examine which agencies use what kind of social media programs for what purposes, and how they measure their programs. A survey was conducted of the top transit agencies in the nation, and results are examined through descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis and regression modeling. We found that while most agencies still lack clearly-defined goals and performance metrics to guide their social media development, many are increasing their social media capacity with more structural components. Public transit service usage and the level of transit service provision are the most significant determinants of agencies’ social media programming and resource investments. In contrast, the measurement of social media usage and outcomes is more significantly related to city attributes and demographic characteristics. We anticipate an increase in the usage of social media to convey transit related stories and livability benefits, such as environmental sensitivity or safety improvements, as these programs expand. Public transit agencies’ commitment to measuring social media outcomes underscores the future research need to develop best practices for measuring the impacts and performance of social media communications and investments.

  20. How do household characteristics affect appliance usage? Application of conditional demand analysis to Japanese household data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsumoto, Shigeru

    2016-01-01

    Although both appliance ownership and usage patterns determine residential electricity consumption, it is less known how households actually use their appliances. In this study, we conduct conditional demand analyses to break down total household electricity consumption into a set of demand functions for electricity usage, across 12 appliance categories. We then examine how the socioeconomic characteristics of the households explain their appliance usage. Analysis of micro-level data from the Nation Survey of Family and Expenditure in Japan reveals that the family and income structure of households affect appliance usage. Specifically, we find that the presence of teenagers increases both air conditioner and dishwasher use, labor income and nonlabor income affect microwave usage in different ways, air conditioner usage decreases as the wife's income increases, and microwave usage decreases as the husband's income increases. Furthermore, we find that households use more electricity with new personal computers than old ones; this implies that the replacement of old personal computers increases electricity consumption. - Highlights: •We conduct conditional demand analyses to study household appliance usage. •Micro-level data from the National Survey of Family and Expenditure in Japan are analyzed. •We show how household characteristics determine appliance usage. •High-income households use specific appliances less intensively than low-income households. •The replacement of old TVs and PCs lead to greater electricity consumption.

  1. Internet Usage Habits as a Part of Distance Higher Education

    OpenAIRE

    Tufan, Firat

    2015-01-01

    Within the scope of this study, which deals with distance education method as a communication process, a focus group interview was conducted with voluntary students who were randomly selected from various areas/majors at the Department of Distance Education in Istanbul University in order to determine the relationship between their general Internet usage habits and their Internet usage as a part of distance learning and in line with their expectations. The questions posed for the students dur...

  2. Review of Bison Usage in VERA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gardner, Russell [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Pawlowski, Roger P. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Clarno, Kevin T. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Stimpson, Shane G. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

    2017-11-01

    Bison is being used in VERA in a variety of ways; this milestone will document an independent review of the current usage of Bison and provide guidance that will improve the accuracy, performance, and consistency in the ways that Bison is used. This task will entail running a suite of small, single and multi-cycle problems with VERA-CS, followed by Bison, and Tiamat (inline) and evaluating the usage. It will also entail performing several detailed ramp to full power solutions to compare the one-way coupled solver with the fully-coupled Tiamat. This will include at least one iteration with the PHI team to incorporate some of the feedback and improve the usage. This work will also be completed in conjunction with an FMC task to evaluate the ability of Bison to model load-follow in a PWR

  3. Health insurance, neighborhood income, and emergency department usage by Utah children 1996–1998

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Knight Stacey

    2005-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background It is estimated that approximately half of emergency department (ED usage in the U.S. and other developed countries is for non-urgent conditions and that this usage is related to availability, social, and economic factors. We examined pediatric ED usage in a U.S. state with respect to income, health insurance status, types of medical conditions, and whether introduction of managed care affected utilization by Medicaid children. Methods Emergency department usage rates were calculated from 1996 through 1998 using Utah ED data for children with commercial health insurance, Medicaid, for uninsured children, and by income group estimating neighborhood household income from Zip code of residence. We analyzed usage following the July 1996 transition of Utah Medicaid to managed care. Results Children with Medicaid had approximately 50% greater ED utilization rates than children with commercial health insurance or uninsured children. The majority of usage for Medicaid and uninsured children was for non-traumatic conditions. Only 35% of total ED usage was for non-emergent or non-urgent conditions and this was related to both Medicaid and low household income. Children lacking health insurance were more likely to be discharged against medical advice (OR = 2.36, 95% C.I. 1.88–2.96. There was no reduction in Medicaid ED usage following the transition to managed care. Conclusion Usage of ED services is related to both health insurance status and income. Children lacking health insurance and Medicaid children have excessive usage for conditions which could be treated in a primary care setting. That managed care does not reduce Medicaid ED usage is consistent with findings of other studies.

  4. Social network usage, shame, guilt and pride among high school students: Model testing

    OpenAIRE

    Doğan, Uğur; Çelik, Eyüp; Karakaş, Yahya

    2016-01-01

    This study was aimed at testing a model which applies structural equation modeling (SEM) to explain social networking sites (SNS) usage. Performing SEM with a sample of 500 high school students (40% male, 60% female), the model examined the relationships among shame, guilt and pride on SNS, such Facebook and Twitter. It was hypothesized that SNS usage was predicted directly by shame and indirectly by pride and guilt. The SEM showed that shame affected SNS usage directly and positively, while ...

  5. Effects of land and building usage on population, land price and passengers in station areas: A case study in Fukuoka, Japan

    OpenAIRE

    Zhuang, Xinyu; Zhao, Shichen

    2017-01-01

    This study uses multiple regression to investigate the effects of land and building use on population, land price, and passengers. Initially, we abstract annual data on land and buildings usage within a radius of 0 m–400 m for railway stations and 400 m–800 m for subway stations in Fukuoka, Japan by using the GIS. We then analyze the relationships between 13 factors of land use and 8 factors of building usage, as well as the related population, land price, and passengers using the quantitativ...

  6. Business Education Students' Perception of Educational Usage of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study sought to establish from business education students in tertiary institutions ... sites for educational activities and faced the problem of poor network service. ... regarding academic usage of social networking sites as a result of gender.

  7. Exploring How Usage-Focused Business Models Enable Circular Economy through Digital Technologies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gianmarco Bressanelli

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Recent studies advocate that digital technologies are key enabling factors for the introduction of servitized business models. At the same time, these technologies support the implementation of the circular economy (CE paradigm into businesses. Despite this general agreement, the literature still overlooks how digital technologies enable such a CE transition. To fill the gap, this paper develops a conceptual framework, based on the literature and a case study of a company implementing a usage-focused servitized business model in the household appliance industry. This study focuses on the Internet of Things (IoT, Big Data, and analytics, and identifies eight specific functionalities enabled by such technologies (improving product design, attracting target customers, monitoring and tracking product activity, providing technical support, providing preventive and predictive maintenance, optimizing the product usage, upgrading the product, enhancing renovation and end-of-life activities. By investigating how these functionalities affect three CE value drivers (increasing resource efficiency, extending lifespan, and closing the loop, the conceptual framework developed in this paper advances knowledge about the role of digital technologies as an enabler of the CE within usage-focused business models. Finally, this study shows how digital technologies help overcome the drawback of usage-focused business models for the adoption of CE pointed out by previous literature.

  8. Possible hepatotoxicity of chronic marijuana usage

    OpenAIRE

    Borini, Paulo; Guimarães, Romeu Cardoso; Borini, Sabrina Bicalho

    2004-01-01

    CONTEXT: Hepatotoxicity is a potential complication from the usage of various illicit drugs, possibly consequent to their liver metabolism, but information on this is scarce in the medical literature. OBJECTIVE: To study the occurrence of clinical and laboratory hepatic alterations in chronic marijuana users, from the use of marijuana on its own or in association with other legal or illicit drugs. TYPE OF STUDY: transversal study SETTING: Hospital Espírita de Marília, Marília, São Paulo, Braz...

  9. EFFECT OF YAM STORAGE TECHNIQUES USAGE ON FARM ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    IBUKUN

    1Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, Faculty of ... significant effect on the usage of yam storage techniques, while access to credit ..... study area at subsidized rates so as to encourage them to use such techniques.

  10. Habits of cell phone usage and sperm quality - does it warrant attention?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zilberlicht, Ariel; Wiener-Megnazi, Zofnat; Sheinfeld, Yulia; Grach, Bronislava; Lahav-Baratz, Shirly; Dirnfeld, Martha

    2015-09-01

    Male infertility constitutes 30-40% of all infertility cases. Some studies have shown a continuous decline in semen quality since the beginning of the 20th century. One postulated contributing factor is radio frequency electromagnetic radiation emitted from cell phones. This study investigates an association between characteristics of cell phone usage and semen quality. Questionnaires accessing demographic data and characteristics of cell phone usage were completed by 106 men referred for semen analysis. Results were analysed according to WHO 2010 criteria. Talking for ≥1 h/day and during device charging were associated with higher rates of abnormal semen concentration (60.9% versus 35.7%, P cell phone usage may bear adverse effects on sperm concentration. Investigation using large-scale studies is thus needed. Copyright © 2015 Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Definite Article Usage across Varieties of English

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wahid, Ridwan

    2013-01-01

    This paper seeks to explore the extent of definite article usage variation in several varieties of English based on a classification of its usage types. An annotation scheme based on Hawkins and Prince was developed for this purpose. Using matching corpus data representing Inner Circle varieties and Outer Circle varieties, analysis was made on…

  12. Translational selection on codon usage in the genus Aspergillus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iriarte, Andrés; Sanguinetti, Manuel; Fernández-Calero, Tamara; Naya, Hugo; Ramón, Ana; Musto, Héctor

    2012-09-10

    Aspergillus is a genus of mold fungi that includes more than 200 described species. Many members of the group are relevant pathogens and other species are economically important. Only one species has been analyzed for codon usage, and this was performed with a small number of genes. In this paper, we report the codon usage patterns of eight completely sequenced genomes which belong to this genus. The results suggest that selection for translational efficiency and accuracy are the major factors shaping codon usage in all of the species studied so far, and therefore they were active in the last common ancestor of the group. Composition and molecular distances analyses show that highly expressed genes evolve slower at synonymous sites. We identified a conserved core of translationally optimal codons and study the tRNA gene pool in each genome. We found that the great majority of preferred triplets match the respective cognate tRNA with more copies in the respective genome. We discuss the possible scenarios that can explain the observed differences among the species analyzed. Finally we highlight the biotechnological application of this research regarding heterologous protein expression. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Codon usage is associated with the evolutionary age of genes in metazoan genomes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linial Nathan

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Codon usage may vary significantly between different organisms and between genes within the same organism. Several evolutionary processes have been postulated to be the predominant determinants of codon usage: selection, mutation, and genetic drift. However, the relative contribution of each of these factors in different species remains debatable. The availability of complete genomes for tens of multicellular organisms provides an opportunity to inspect the relationship between codon usage and the evolutionary age of genes. Results We assign an evolutionary age to a gene based on the relative positions of its identified homologues in a standard phylogenetic tree. This yields a classification of all genes in a genome to several evolutionary age classes. The present study starts from the observation that each age class of genes has a unique codon usage and proceeds to provide a quantitative analysis of the codon usage in these classes. This observation is made for the genomes of Homo sapiens, Mus musculus, and Drosophila melanogaster. It is even more remarkable that the differences between codon usages in different age groups exhibit similar and consistent behavior in various organisms. While we find that GC content and gene length are also associated with the evolutionary age of genes, they can provide only a partial explanation for the observed codon usage. Conclusion While factors such as GC content, mutational bias, and selection shape the codon usage in a genome, the evolutionary history of an organism over hundreds of millions of years is an overlooked property that is strongly linked to GC content, protein length, and, even more significantly, to the codon usage of metazoan genomes.

  14. Usage patterns, health, and nutritional status of long-term multiple dietary supplement users: a cross-sectional study

    OpenAIRE

    Wong Les G; Dalvi Tapashi B; Norkus Edward P; Jensen Christopher D; Block Gladys; McManus Jamie F; Hudes Mark L

    2007-01-01

    Abstract Background Dietary supplement use in the United States is prevalent and represents an important source of nutrition. However, little is known about individuals who routinely consume multiple dietary supplements. This study describes the dietary supplement usage patterns, health, and nutritional status of long-term multiple dietary supplement users, and where possible makes comparisons to non-users and multivitamin/mineral supplement users. Methods Using a cross-sectional study design...

  15. Understanding usage of a hybrid website and smartphone app for weight management: a mixed-methods study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morrison, Leanne G; Hargood, Charlie; Lin, Sharon Xiaowen; Dennison, Laura; Joseph, Judith; Hughes, Stephanie; Michaelides, Danius T; Johnston, Derek; Johnston, Marie; Michie, Susan; Little, Paul; Smith, Peter Wf; Weal, Mark J; Yardley, Lucy

    2014-10-22

    Advancements in mobile phone technology offer huge potential for enhancing the timely delivery of health behavior change interventions. The development of smartphone-based health interventions (apps) is a rapidly growing field of research, yet there have been few longitudinal examinations of how people experience and use these apps within their day-to-day routines, particularly within the context of a hybrid Web- and app-based intervention. This study used an in-depth mixed-methods design to examine individual variation in (1) impact on self-reported goal engagement (ie, motivation, self-efficacy, awareness, effort, achievement) of access to a weight management app (POWeR Tracker) when provided alongside a Web-based weight management intervention (POWeR) and (2) usage and views of POWeR Tracker. Thirteen adults were provided access to POWeR and were monitored over a 4-week period. Access to POWeR Tracker was provided in 2 alternate weeks (ie, weeks 1 and 3 or weeks 2 and 4). Participants' goal engagement was measured daily via self-report. Mixed effects models were used to examine change in goal engagement between the weeks when POWeR Tracker was and was not available and whether the extent of change in goal engagement varied between individual participants. Usage of POWeR and POWeR Tracker was automatically recorded for each participant. Telephone interviews were conducted and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis to further explore participants' experiences using POWeR and POWeR Tracker. Access to POWeR Tracker was associated with a significant increase in participants' awareness of their eating (β1=0.31, P=.04) and physical activity goals (β1=0.28, P=.03). The level of increase varied between individual participants. Usage data showed that participants used the POWeR website for similar amounts of time during the weeks when POWeR Tracker was (mean 29 minutes, SD 31 minutes) and was not available (mean 27 minutes, SD 33 minutes). POWeR Tracker was mostly

  16. The Impact of the Acquisition of Electronic Medical Texts on the Usage of Equivalent Print Books in an Academic Medical Library

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pamela S. Morgan

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Objectives – This study examines whether acquiring a text in electronic format effects the usage of the print version of the text, focusing specifically on medical texts. Studies in the literature dealt specifically with general collections and it was not clear if they were applicable to medical collections. It was also not clear if these studies should play a role in determining whether a medical library should purchase electronic texts or whether reserve collections are still needed for print texts.Methods – Four usage studies were conducted using data from the circulation system and the electronic vendor systems. These were 1 trends of print usage; 2 trends of electronic usage; 3 a comparison of electronic usage with print usage of the same title in the reserve collection; 4 a comparison of electronic usage with print usage of the same title in the general collection.Results – In comparison to print, substantial usage is being made of electronic books. Print is maintaining a level pattern of usage while electronic usage is increasing steadily. There was a noticeable difference in the usage levels of the electronic texts as regards to the package in which they are contained. Usage of print texts both on reserve and in the general collection has decreased over time, however the acquisition of the electronic version of a medical title had little impact on the usage of the equivalent print version. Conclusion – There is a demand for medical texts in medical libraries. Electronic versions can replace print versions of texts in reserve. Further investigation is needed of current patterns of print collection usage, with particular emphasis on trends in reserve collection usage.

  17. Usage Inspection of KN-12 Spent Fuel Transport Cask

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, J. C.; Seo, K. S.; Bang, K. S.; Cho, I. J.; Kim, D. H.; Min, D. K.

    2007-03-01

    The usage inspection of the KN-12 spent nuclear fuel transport package was performed to receive the license for reuse. According to the Korea Atomic Energy Act, all type B transport package should receive and pass the usage inspection every five years. The KN-12 transport cask was designed to transport twelve spent PWR fuel assemblies under wet and dry conditions. The cask was developed and licensed in 2002 in accordance with the Korea and the IAEA's safe transport regulations. The areas of usage inspection include: visual inspection, nondestructive weld inspection, load test, maximum operating pressure test, leakage test, shielding test, thermal test, external surface contamination test. In the results of the usage inspection, the damage or defect could not found out and the performance of the cask was maintained according to the requirements of the regulation. Therefore, the usage inspection was successfully performed to acquire the license for the reuse

  18. Opportunistic resource usage in CMS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kreuzer, Peter; Hufnagel, Dirk; Dykstra, D; Gutsche, O; Tadel, M; Sfiligoi, I; Letts, J; Wuerthwein, F; McCrea, A; Bockelman, B; Fajardo, E; Linares, L; Wagner, R; Konstantinov, P; Blumenfeld, B; Bradley, D

    2014-01-01

    CMS is using a tiered setup of dedicated computing resources provided by sites distributed over the world and organized in WLCG. These sites pledge resources to CMS and are preparing them especially for CMS to run the experiment's applications. But there are more resources available opportunistically both on the GRID and in local university and research clusters which can be used for CMS applications. We will present CMS' strategy to use opportunistic resources and prepare them dynamically to run CMS applications. CMS is able to run its applications on resources that can be reached through the GRID, through EC2 compliant cloud interfaces. Even resources that can be used through ssh login nodes can be harnessed. All of these usage modes are integrated transparently into the GlideIn WMS submission infrastructure, which is the basis of CMS' opportunistic resource usage strategy. Technologies like Parrot to mount the software distribution via CVMFS and xrootd for access to data and simulation samples via the WAN are used and will be described. We will summarize the experience with opportunistic resource usage and give an outlook for the restart of LHC data taking in 2015.

  19. Mobile Phone Usage and its Health Effects Among Adults in a Semi-Urban Area of Southern India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stalin, P; Abraham, Sherin Billy; Kanimozhy, K; Prasad, R Vishnu; Singh, Zile; Purty, Anil J

    2016-01-01

    Worldwide, mobile phone usage has been increased dramatically which could affect the health of the people. India has the second largest number of mobile phone users. However there are only few studies conducted in India to assess its effects on health. To determine the prevalence and pattern of mobile phone usage and to assess the relationship between certain selected health problems and mobile phone usage among adults. Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Kottakuppam, a town panchayat in Villupuram district of Coastal Tamil Nadu, Southern India. It is a semi-urban area with a population of about 16,000. Majority of the residents are Muslim by religion and belong to different socio economic status. The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee. A total of 2121 study participants were interviewed by the pre-final medical students through house-to-house survey using a pretested structured questionnaire. The questionnaire included the variables such as socio demographic profile, mobile phone usage and pattern, selected health problems, perceived benefits and threats and blood pressure. Selected health problems included headache, earache, neck pain, tinnitus, painful fingers, restlessness, morning tiredness, tingling fingers, fatigue, eye symptoms, sleep disturbance and hypertension. Only 2054 were included for data analysis using SPSS 17 version. Proportions were calculated. Chi-square test was used to measure the p-value. The p-value phone usage was 70%. Calling facility (94.2%) was used more than the SMS (67.6%). Health problems like headache, earache, tinnitus, painful fingers and restlessness etc., were found to be positively associated with mobile phone usage. There was negative association between hypertension and mobile phone usage. The prevalence of mobile phone usage was high. There was significant association between selected health problems and mobile phone usage. In future, higher studies are required to confirm our

  20. Determinants of Fertilizer Usage in Dry Season Amaranthus ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Major tools of analysis used for the study were descriptive statistics and the logistic regression model. The result of analysis revealed that the usage of recommended soil fertility management practices in the study area is low. Furthermore, results of the logistic regression model showed that farm size, contacts with extension ...

  1. Using Clustering Techniques To Detect Usage Patterns in a Web-based Information System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hui-Min; Cooper, Michael D.

    2001-01-01

    This study developed an analytical approach to detecting groups with homogenous usage patterns in a Web-based information system. Principal component analysis was used for data reduction, cluster analysis for categorizing usage into groups. The methodology was demonstrated and tested using two independent samples of user sessions from the…

  2. Integrating Condition Indicators and Usage Parameters for Improved Spiral Bevel Gear Health Monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dempsey, Paula J.; Handschuh, Robert F.; Delgado, Irebert, R.

    2013-01-01

    The objective of this study was to illustrate the importance of combining Health Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) data with usage monitoring system data when detecting rotorcraft transmission health. Three gear sets were tested in the NASA Glenn Spiral Bevel Gear Fatigue Rig. Damage was initiated and progressed on the gear and pinion teeth. Damage progression was measured by debris generation and documented with inspection photos at varying torque values. A contact fatigue analysis was applied to the gear design indicating the effect temperature, load and reliability had on gear life. Results of this study illustrated the benefits of combining HUMS data and actual usage data to indicate progression of damage for spiral bevel gears.

  3. How parental attitudes affect the risky computer and Internet usage patterns of adolescents: a population-based study in the Bursa District of Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uncu, Yeşim; Vural, Pinar; Büyükuysal, Cağatay; Alper, Züleyha; Kiliç, Emine Zinnur

    2014-12-01

    We aimed to evaluate the computer usage patterns of adolescents and to determine the effects of family life and parental attitude on these patterns. This was a descriptive, cross-sectional, population-based survey that included 935 children between 11 and 16 years of age who were students in the second level of primary school and their parents as well. The following instruments were used in the survey: student and parent questionnaires on computer usage patterns and the Parental Attitude Research Instrument (PARI) to assess parental attitudes towards child-rearing and family life. Of the study population, the majority of the students had a computer in their homes and spent a lot of time on the Internet. Parental control over the amount of time spent on the Internet and the websites that were visited had sometimes limited and contradictory effects on computer usage among the students. A democratic parental attitude was the best approach. Using the computer as a reward or punishment had a negative impact on the children's computer usage patterns. Although parents are confused concerning the benefits and harms of the Internet for their children and not certain how to manage their children's use of the computer and safe navigation of the Internet, a democratic parental attitude appears to be the best approach for reaching the most beneficial computer usage patterns for students.

  4. Usage Inspection of KN-12 Spent Fuel Transport Cask

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, J. C.; Seo, K. S.; Bang, K. S.; Cho, I. J.; Kim, D. H.; Min, D. K

    2007-03-15

    The usage inspection of the KN-12 spent nuclear fuel transport package was performed to receive the license for reuse. According to the Korea Atomic Energy Act, all type B transport package should receive and pass the usage inspection every five years. The KN-12 transport cask was designed to transport twelve spent PWR fuel assemblies under wet and dry conditions. The cask was developed and licensed in 2002 in accordance with the Korea and the IAEA's safe transport regulations. The areas of usage inspection include: visual inspection, nondestructive weld inspection, load test, maximum operating pressure test, leakage test, shielding test, thermal test, external surface contamination test. In the results of the usage inspection, the damage or defect could not found out and the performance of the cask was maintained according to the requirements of the regulation. Therefore, the usage inspection was successfully performed to acquire the license for the reuse.

  5. Problematic Internet Usage and Immune Function

    OpenAIRE

    Reed, P.; Vile, R.; Osborne, L.A.; Romano, M.; Truzoli, R.

    2015-01-01

    Problematic internet use has been associated with a variety of psychological comorbidities, but it relationship with physical illness has not received the same degree of investigation. The current study surveyed 505 participants online, and asked about their levels of problematic internet usage (Internet Addiction Test), depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales), social isolation (UCLA Loneliness Questionnaire), sleep problems (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), and their ...

  6. Universality and Shannon entropy of codon usage

    CERN Document Server

    Frappat, L; Sciarrino, A; Sorba, Paul

    2003-01-01

    The distribution functions of the codon usage probabilities, computed over all the available GenBank data, for 40 eukaryotic biological species and 5 chloroplasts, do not follow a Zipf law, but are best fitted by the sum of a constant, an exponential and a linear function in the rank of usage. For mitochondriae the analysis is not conclusive. A quantum-mechanics-inspired model is proposed to describe the observed behaviour. These functions are characterized by parameters that strongly depend on the total GC content of the coding regions of biological species. It is predicted that the codon usage is the same in all exonic genes with the same GC content. The Shannon entropy for codons, also strongly depending on the exonic GC content, is computed.

  7. Pre Service Teachers' Usage of Dynamic Mathematics Software

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bulut, Mehmet; Bulut, Neslihan

    2011-01-01

    Aim of this study is about mathematics education and dynamic mathematics software. Dynamic mathematics software provides new opportunities for using both computer algebra system and dynamic geometry software. GeoGebra selected as dynamic mathematics software in this research. In this study, it is investigated that what is the usage of pre service…

  8. Foreign Language Instruction from a dynamic usage-based (DUB) perspective

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rousse-Malpat, Audrey; Verspoor, Marjolijn; Tyler, Andrea E.; Ortega, Lourdes; Uno, Mariko; Park, Hae In

    2018-01-01

    In this chapter we combine ideas of usage based linguistics and dynamic systems theory to argue that language is a dynamic usage based system and L2 learning is a dynamic process. Two teaching approaches based on Dynamic Usage-based (DUB) principles with mainly implicit attention to form--a movie

  9. Optimizing block-based maintenance under random machine usage

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Jonge, Bram; Jakobsons, Edgars

    Existing studies on maintenance optimization generally assume that machines are either used continuously, or that times until failure do not depend on the actual usage. In practice, however, these assumptions are often not realistic. In this paper, we consider block-based maintenance optimization

  10. Factors constraining accessibility and usage of information among ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Various factors may negatively impact on information acquisition and utilisation. To improve understanding of the determinants of information acquisition and utilisation, this study investigated the factors constraining accessibility and usage of poultry management information in three rural districts of Tanzania. The findings ...

  11. Implementing factors on finance information systems: How do they influence usage?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Kiwana

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Finance information systems (FISs store and provide timely, accurate and consistent financial data for management and decision-making. Many organizations especially in developing world however fail to attain desired success during implementation and usage of the FISs despite the fact that many success factors for implementation have been suggested. This study thus investigated the usage of FISs with the aim of finding out how factors presumed to influence implementation impact usage. The presumed factors included; top management support, effective communication, evaluation of staff performance, technical support, project management, change management program, effectiveness of IT unit and flexibility of consultants. The study focused on universities in Uganda, which is a developing country. Out of the nine factors that were investigated only top management support, technical training and flexibility of consultants exhibited a positive impact with only top management support being significant. The rest of the factors exhibited negative impact and only effective IT unit being significant.

  12. Burnout and Humor Usage among Community College Nursing Faculty Members.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Talbot, Laura A.

    2000-01-01

    Assesses the correlation of burnout among community college nursing faculty members and their use of humor to mediate academic stress related to burnout. Differences in burnout between high versus low humor usage respondents showed a higher sense of personal accomplishment with high humor usage. Of those with low humor usage, workload was related…

  13. Measuring ICT usage quality for information society building

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schlichter, Bjarne Rerup; Danylchenko, Lesya

    2014-01-01

    In 2003 the World Summit on Information Society made a call for measuring the state of Information Society (IS) building between countries. The purpose of the measuring was to assess and compare IS practices around the globe as well as share best practices. A number of measurement tools have sinc...... levels of ICT usage for the purpose of better policy-making, while establishing an information society, is accentuated....... these indicators on the actual levels of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) usage off the country’s stakeholders. This paper analyses the most currently used indices for measuring the state of Information Society building from the perspective of their constituent indicators. Based on the analysis......, an alternative framework for IS measurement, addressing the important aspects of ICT usage quality, is developed based on data from EU member states. By applying the framework on measuring of ICT usage quality at Romania, Cyprus and Estonia, the usefulness is tested positive, and the need to evaluate the actual...

  14. Analysis of Internet Usage Intensity in Iraq: An Ordered Logit Model

    OpenAIRE

    Almas Heshmati; Firas H. Al-Hammadany; Ashraf Bany-Mohammed

    2013-01-01

    Intensity of Internet use is significantly influenced by government policies, people’s levels of income, education, employment and general development and economic conditions. Iraq has very low Internet usage levels compared to the region and the world. This study uses an ordered logit model to analyse the intensity of Internet use in Iraq. The results showed that economic reasons (internet cost and income level) were key cause for low level usage intensity rates. About 68% of the population ...

  15. The Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale: An empirical investigation

    OpenAIRE

    Rosen, L.D.; Whaling, K.; Carrier, L.M.; Cheever, N.A.; Rokkum, J.

    2013-01-01

    Current approaches to measuring people’s everyday usage of technology-based media and other computer-related activities have proved to be problematic as they use varied outcome measures, fail to measure behavior in a broad range of technology-related domains and do not take into account recently developed types of technology including smartphones. In the present study, a wide variety of items, covering a range of up-to-date technology and media usage behaviors. Sixty-six items concerning tech...

  16. Incentives Usage as a Motivational Tool : Case: The Nigerian Banking Sector

    OpenAIRE

    Ogunmuyiwa, Adeshola

    2013-01-01

    The essence of this thesis is to ascertain the usage of incentives as a motivational tool using the Nigerian banking sector as a case study. Questionnaires were sent to employees in this sector and their responses were critically analysed and related to the theories. The research methodology was primarily quantitative, but also qualitative features were adopted in the thesis. Of related motivational theories, the Process and the Content Theories were adopted. Incentives usage as a motivat...

  17. [Exploring nurse, usage effectiveness of mobile nursing station].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Fang-Mei; Lee, Ting-Ting

    2013-04-01

    A mobile nursing station is an innovative cart that integrates a wireless network, information technology devices, and online charts. In addition to improving clinical work and workflow efficiencies, data is integrated among different information systems and hardware devices to promote patient safety. This study investigated the effectiveness of mobile nursing cart use. We compared different distributions of nursing activity working samples to evaluate the nursing information systems in terms of interface usability and usage outcomes. There were two parts of this study. Part one used work sampling to collect nursing activity data necessary to compare a unit that used a mobile nursing cart (mobile group, n = 18) with another that did not (traditional group, n = 14). Part two applied a nursing information system interface usability questionnaire to survey the mobile unit with nurses who had used a mobile nursing station (including those who had worked in this unit as floating nurses) (n = 30) in order to explore interface usability and effectiveness. We found that using the mobile nursing station information system increased time spent on direct patient care and decreased time spent on indirect patient care and documentation. Results further indicated that participants rated interface usability as high and evaluated usage effectiveness positively. Comments made in the open-ended question section raised several points of concern, including problems / inadequacies related to hardware devices, Internet speed, and printing. This study indicates that using mobile nursing station can improve nursing activity distributions and that nurses hold generally positive attitudes toward mobile nursing station interface usability and usage effectiveness. The authors thus encourage the continued implementation of mobile nursing stations and related studies to further enhance clinical nursing care.

  18. Investigating the Relationship between Internet Usage and Attitude towards Online Friendship (Case Study: Students of Guilan University

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Amin Kanaani

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Internet is causing to transform the profile of the everyday life, especially for the youth. Attractiveness of internet has caused that most youth being appealed to the internet friendships, rather than face to face interactions. The present research aimed to investigate the relation between internet usage and attitude towards internet friendship with opposite sex among students. The survey method and researcher constructed questionnaire is used to gather appropriate information. The statistical universe is all under-graduate and post-graduate students of Guilan University, and from among them, 372 students have been selected through proportionate stratified sampling method. The observed positive relations between attitude towards online friendship and internet usage reveal that quantity and quality of internet usage are important variables creating positive attitudes towards online friendships with opposite sex. In accordance with Giddens it can be said that increasing electronic interactions changed traditional attitudes regarding relations between two sexes. The observed relation between the age of students and attitude towards internet friendship reveals the combined effect of time and space factors on changing attitudes. In overall, expansion of internet usage as a part of the process of globalization has an special role on formation of new social meanings such as online friendship with opposite sex, which itself is an apparent feature of modern world.

  19. Estimating Usage Can Reduce the Stress of Social Networking

    OpenAIRE

    Zhou, Y.; Bird, J.; Cox, A. L.; Brumby, D.

    2013-01-01

    Social networks are increasingly popular and provide benefits such as easy peer group communication. However, there is evidence that they can have negative consequences, such as increased stress levels. For two weeks, we provided participants with an objective measure of their social network usage and also asked them for a daily estimate of their usage over the previous 24 hours. Although their social network usage did not significantly change, participants’ perception of this activity was tr...

  20. The comparison of usage and availability measurements for evaluating resource preference

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Douglas H.

    1980-01-01

    Modern ecological research often involves the comparison of the usage of habitat types or food items to the availability of those resources to the animal. Widely used methods of determining preference from measurements of usage and availability depend critically on the array of components that the researcher, often with a degree of arbitrariness, deems available to the animal. This paper proposes a new method, based on ranks of components by usage and by availability. A virtue of the rank procedure is that it provides comparable results whether a questionable component is included or excluded from consideration. Statistical tests of significance are given for the method. The paper also offers a hierarchical ordering of selection processes. This hierarchy resolves certain inconsistencies among studies of selection and is compatible with the analytic technique offered in this paper.

  1. THE EFFECT OF ADVERTISING ON SOCIAL NETWORKS ON THE MARKETING OF SPORTS SERVICES - CASE STUDY: SOCIAL TELEGRAM USERS

    OpenAIRE

    Mahsa Nematzadeh

    2017-01-01

    Today, the number of social networks in which communications are made is increasing rapidly, and most teenagers and adults, as part of everyday life, use the benefits of knowing others and introducing themselves to others from social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube, Weblogs and Wikiquote. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of advertising on social networks on the marketing of sports services. Methodologically, this descriptive study was of correlatio...

  2. The Impact of Goal Achievement Orientation on Student Technology Usage in the Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGloin, Rory; McGillicuddy, Kara T.; Christensen, John L.

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate whether students with differing goal achievement orientations were more likely to engage in on-task or off-task mobile device usage, as well as whether particular devices (specifically, laptops and smartphones) have a positive or negative relationship with specific task usage. The results of this study…

  3. System and methods of resource usage using an interoperable management framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heileman, Gregory L.; Jamkhedkar, Pramod A.; Lamb, Christopher C.

    2017-10-31

    Generic rights expression language allowing interoperability across different computing environments including resource usage of different applications. A formal framework for usage management provides scaffolding upon which interoperable usage management systems can be built. Certain features of the framework are standardized, such as the operational semantics, including areas free of standards that necessitate choice and innovation to achieve a balance of flexibility and usability for interoperability in usage management systems.

  4. Insecticide-treated nets usage and malaria episodes among ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... is urgent need on the part of all the three tiers of Government for public health awareness campaigns through information, education and communication (IEC) to create positive ITN culture and usage. It is also suggested that ITN usage among boarding school pupils should be incorporated into school health service.

  5. Premarital Contraceptives Usage among Male and Female Adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hornick, Joesph P.; And Others

    1979-01-01

    Variables important in predicting female contraception usage were found to be those which involved dyadic commitment, conditions of love, self-esteem, and father's occupation (social class). The best predictors of male contraception usage involved experience in dating and internalization of role models via mother's and father's permissiveness.…

  6. Designation of facility usage categories for Hanford Site facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wodrich, D.; Ellingson, D.; Scott, M.; Schade, A.

    1991-01-01

    This report summarizes the Hanford Site methodology used to ensure facility compliance with the natural phenomena design criteria set forth in the US Department of Energy orders and guidance. In particular, the Hanford Site approach to designating a suitable facility open-quotes Usage Category,close quotes is presented. The current Hanford Site methodology for Usage Category designation is based on an engineered feature's safety function and on the feature's assigned Safety Class. At the Hanford Site, Safety Class assignments are deterministic in nature and are based on the consequences of failure, without regard to the likelihood of occurrence. The report also proposes a risk-based approach to Usage Category designation, which is being considered for future application at the Hanford Site. To establish a proper Usage Category designation, the safety analysis and engineering design processes must be coupled. This union produces a common understanding of the safety function(s) to be accomplished by the design feature(s) and a sound basis for the assignment of Usage Categories to the appropriate systems, structures, and components

  7. Student Time Usage during Fall Reading Week

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cramer, Ken; Pschibul, Rebecca

    2017-01-01

    The present study investigated the time usage and levels of perceived stress, academic workload, and recreation time for 177 students at the University of Windsor before, during, and after Fall Reading Week (FRW). Over a three-week span (at various times of the day), students received a message to their smartphone to complete a 20-second survey…

  8. Google Scholar Usage: An Academic Library's Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ya; Howard, Pamela

    2012-01-01

    Google Scholar is a free service that provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly works and to connect patrons with the resources libraries provide. The researchers in this study analyzed Google Scholar usage data from 2006 for three library tools at San Francisco State University: SFX link resolver, Web Access Management proxy server,…

  9. How smartphone usage correlates with social anxiety and loneliness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yusong Gao

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Early detection of social anxiety and loneliness might be useful to prevent substantial impairment in personal relationships. Understanding the way people use smartphones can be beneficial for implementing an early detection of social anxiety and loneliness. This paper examines different types of smartphone usage and their relationships with people with different individual levels of social anxiety or loneliness. Methods: A total of 127 Android smartphone volunteers participated in this study, all of which have agreed to install an application (MobileSens on their smartphones, which can record user’s smartphone usage behaviors and upload the data into the server. They were instructed to complete an online survey, including the Interaction Anxiousness Scale (IAS and the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS. We then separated participants into three groups (high, middle and low based on their scores of IAS and UCLA-LS, respectively. Finally, we acquired digital records of smartphone usage from MobileSens and examined the differences in 105 types of smartphone usage behaviors between high-score and low-score group of IAS/UCLA-LS. Results: Individuals with different scores on social anxiety or loneliness might use smartphones in different ways. For social anxiety, compared with users in low-score group, users in high-score group had less number of phone calls (incoming and outgoing (Mann-Whitney U = 282.50∼409.00, p U = 388.50, p < 0.01. Discussion: The results show that individuals with social anxiety or loneliness receive less incoming calls and use healthy applications more frequently, but they do not show differences in outgoing-call-related features. Individuals with higher levels of social anxiety also receive less SMSs and use camera apps less frequently, while lonely individuals tend to use system, beautify, browser and social media (RenRen apps more frequently. Conclusion: This paper finds that

  10. How smartphone usage correlates with social anxiety and loneliness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Yusong; Li, Ang; Zhu, Tingshao; Liu, Xiaoqian; Liu, Xingyun

    2016-01-01

    Early detection of social anxiety and loneliness might be useful to prevent substantial impairment in personal relationships. Understanding the way people use smartphones can be beneficial for implementing an early detection of social anxiety and loneliness. This paper examines different types of smartphone usage and their relationships with people with different individual levels of social anxiety or loneliness. A total of 127 Android smartphone volunteers participated in this study, all of which have agreed to install an application (MobileSens) on their smartphones, which can record user's smartphone usage behaviors and upload the data into the server. They were instructed to complete an online survey, including the Interaction Anxiousness Scale (IAS) and the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS). We then separated participants into three groups (high, middle and low) based on their scores of IAS and UCLA-LS, respectively. Finally, we acquired digital records of smartphone usage from MobileSens and examined the differences in 105 types of smartphone usage behaviors between high-score and low-score group of IAS/UCLA-LS. Individuals with different scores on social anxiety or loneliness might use smartphones in different ways. For social anxiety, compared with users in low-score group, users in high-score group had less number of phone calls (incoming and outgoing) (Mann-Whitney U = 282.50∼409.00, p social media (RenRen) (Mann-Whitney >U = 388.50, p social anxiety or loneliness receive less incoming calls and use healthy applications more frequently, but they do not show differences in outgoing-call-related features. Individuals with higher levels of social anxiety also receive less SMSs and use camera apps less frequently, while lonely individuals tend to use system, beautify, browser and social media (RenRen) apps more frequently. This paper finds that there exists certain correlation among smartphone usage and social anxiety and

  11. How smartphone usage correlates with social anxiety and loneliness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xiaoqian; Liu, Xingyun

    2016-01-01

    Introduction: Early detection of social anxiety and loneliness might be useful to prevent substantial impairment in personal relationships. Understanding the way people use smartphones can be beneficial for implementing an early detection of social anxiety and loneliness. This paper examines different types of smartphone usage and their relationships with people with different individual levels of social anxiety or loneliness. Methods: A total of 127 Android smartphone volunteers participated in this study, all of which have agreed to install an application (MobileSens) on their smartphones, which can record user’s smartphone usage behaviors and upload the data into the server. They were instructed to complete an online survey, including the Interaction Anxiousness Scale (IAS) and the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS). We then separated participants into three groups (high, middle and low) based on their scores of IAS and UCLA-LS, respectively. Finally, we acquired digital records of smartphone usage from MobileSens and examined the differences in 105 types of smartphone usage behaviors between high-score and low-score group of IAS/UCLA-LS. Results: Individuals with different scores on social anxiety or loneliness might use smartphones in different ways. For social anxiety, compared with users in low-score group, users in high-score group had less number of phone calls (incoming and outgoing) (Mann-Whitney U = 282.50∼409.00, p U = 388.50, p < 0.01). Discussion: The results show that individuals with social anxiety or loneliness receive less incoming calls and use healthy applications more frequently, but they do not show differences in outgoing-call-related features. Individuals with higher levels of social anxiety also receive less SMSs and use camera apps less frequently, while lonely individuals tend to use system, beautify, browser and social media (RenRen) apps more frequently. Conclusion: This paper finds that there exists

  12. Microbial contamination of removable dental prosthesis at different interval of usage: An in vitro study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vijita Vijay Nair

    2016-01-01

    Conclusion: There is a linear increase in microbial contamination of removable dental prosthesis as the duration of usage increases and might increase the susceptibility of individuals' to many diseases.

  13. Vehicle usage verification system

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Scanlon, W.G.; McQuiston, Jonathan; Cotton, Simon L.

    2012-01-01

    EN)A computer-implemented system for verifying vehicle usage comprising a server capable of communication with a plurality of clients across a communications network. Each client is provided in a respective vehicle and with a respective global positioning system (GPS) by which the client can

  14. An X-Ray of the Level of Electronic Purse Usage in Nigeria | Ogbuji ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study sets out to examine the level of e-purse usage in Nigeria. Despite the invasion of e-purse as electronic banking channels that has the potential of disempowering the cash systems of exchange and granting firms competitive edge, it is interesting to note that the rate of cash usage still dominates in the Nigeria ...

  15. Safety and Usage of C1-Inhibitor in Hereditary Angioedema

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Riedl, Marc A; Bygum, Anette; Lumry, William

    2016-01-01

    , international patient registry documented widespread implementation of pnfC1-INH self-administration outside of a health care setting consistent with current HAE guidelines. These real-world data revealed pnfC1-INH usage for a variety of reasons in patients with HAE and showed a high level of safety regardless...... of this study was to describe safety and usage patterns of pnfC1-INH. METHODS: A multicenter, observational, registry was conducted between 2010 and 2014 at 30 United States and 7 European sites to obtain both prospective (occurring after enrollment) and retrospective (occurring before enrollment) safety...... and usage data on subjects receiving pnfC1-INH for any reason. RESULTS: Of 343 enrolled patients, 318 received 1 or more doses of pnfC1-INH for HAE attacks (11,848 infusions) or for prophylaxis (3142 infusions), comprising the safety population. Median dosages per infusion were 10.8 IU/kg (attack treatment...

  16. User Characteristics、User Involvement and Technology Acceptance in Library Automation System Usage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Piching Chu

    2002-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper looks into the relationship of user characteristics, user involvement and technology acceptance, also try to find the relationship of the above three variables and library automation system usage. By interview and questionnaire study, the results are described, according to the analysis of the relative literature and the main conclusions, the researcher offers some suggestions for improving the system usage.[Article content in Chinese

  17. Usage of purchased self-tests for HIV and sexually transmitted infections in Amsterdam, the Netherlands: results of population-based and serial cross-sectional studies among the general population and sexual risk groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bil, Janneke P; Prins, Maria; Stolte, Ineke G; Dijkshoorn, Henriëtte; Heijman, Titia; Snijder, Marieke B; Davidovich, Udi; Zuure, Freke R

    2017-09-21

    There are limited data on the usage of commercially bought self-tests for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Therefore, we studied HIV/STI self-test usage and its determinants among the general population and sexual risk groups between 2007 and 2015 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Data were collected in four different studies among the general population (S1 - 2) and sexual risk groups (S3 - 4). S1 - Amsterdam residents participating in representative population-based surveys (2008 and 2012; n=6044) drawn from the municipality register; S2 - Participants of a population-based study stratified by ethnicity drawn from the municipality register of Amsterdam (2011-2015; n=17 603); S3 - Men having sex with men (MSM) participating in an HIV observational cohort study (2008 and 2013; n=597) and S4 - STI clinic clients participating in a cross-sectional survey (2007-2012; n=5655). Prevalence of HIV/STI self-test usage and its determinants. The prevalence of HIV/STI self-test usage in the preceding 6-12 months varied between 1% and 2% across studies. Chlamydia self-tests were most commonly used, except among MSM in S3. Chlamydia and syphilis self-test usage increased over time among the representative sample of Amsterdam residents (S1) and chlamydia self-test usage increased over time among STI clinic clients (S4). Self-test usage was associated with African Surinamese or Ghanaian ethnic origin (S2), being woman or MSM (S1 and 4) and having had a higher number of sexual partners (S1-2). Among those in the general population who tested for HIV/STI in the preceding 12 months, 5-9% used a self-test. Despite low HIV/STI self-test usage, we observed increases over time in chlamydia and syphilis self-test usage. Furthermore, self-test usage was higher among high-risk individuals in the general population. It is important to continue monitoring self-test usage and informing the public about the unknown quality of available self-tests in the Netherlands and

  18. RFID Continuance Usage Intention in Health Care Industry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iranmanesh, Mohammad; Zailani, Suhaiza; Nikbin, Davoud

    Radio-frequency identification (RFID) has been proved to be an effective tool both for improving operational efficiency and for gaining competitive advantage in the health care industry despite its relatively low-usage rate in hospitals. The sustained use of RFID by health care professionals will promote its development in the long term. This study evaluates the acceptance continuance of RFID among health care professionals through technology continuance theory (TCT). Data were collected from 178 medical professionals in Malaysia and were then analyzed using the partial least squares technique. The analysis showed that the TCT model provided not only a thorough understanding of the continuance behavior of health care professionals toward RFID but also the attitudes, satisfaction, and perceived usefulness of professionals toward it. The results of this study are expected to assist policy makers and managers in the health care industry in implementing the RFID technology in hospitals by understanding the determinants of continuance of RFID usage intention.

  19. Performance and competence in usage-based construction grammar

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Kim Ebensgaard

    2014-01-01

    While formalist approaches in the Chomskian tradition to language distinguish sharply between performance and competence in their modeling of language competence, performance and competence are considered to be in a mutually influential relation in usage-based models of language. Language...... competence, in the latter approach, is, much like in Dell Hymes’ notion of communicative competence, held to be experientially based in the sense that speakers establish their competence through inductive social-cognitive processes of schematization and conventionalization. Making a case for the usage......-based definition of the language system, his paper explores the interplay between performance and competence in a construction grammar perspective in which grammatical constructions are considered meaningful symbolic units on par with lexemes, in relation to the [V until ADJ]-construction, based on a study...

  20. A Survey of Bioinformatics Database and Software Usage through Mining the Literature.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geraint Duck

    Full Text Available Computer-based resources are central to much, if not most, biological and medical research. However, while there is an ever expanding choice of bioinformatics resources to use, described within the biomedical literature, little work to date has provided an evaluation of the full range of availability or levels of usage of database and software resources. Here we use text mining to process the PubMed Central full-text corpus, identifying mentions of databases or software within the scientific literature. We provide an audit of the resources contained within the biomedical literature, and a comparison of their relative usage, both over time and between the sub-disciplines of bioinformatics, biology and medicine. We find that trends in resource usage differs between these domains. The bioinformatics literature emphasises novel resource development, while database and software usage within biology and medicine is more stable and conservative. Many resources are only mentioned in the bioinformatics literature, with a relatively small number making it out into general biology, and fewer still into the medical literature. In addition, many resources are seeing a steady decline in their usage (e.g., BLAST, SWISS-PROT, though some are instead seeing rapid growth (e.g., the GO, R. We find a striking imbalance in resource usage with the top 5% of resource names (133 names accounting for 47% of total usage, and over 70% of resources extracted being only mentioned once each. While these results highlight the dynamic and creative nature of bioinformatics research they raise questions about software reuse, choice and the sharing of bioinformatics practice. Is it acceptable that so many resources are apparently never reused? Finally, our work is a step towards automated extraction of scientific method from text. We make the dataset generated by our study available under the CC0 license here: http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1281371.

  1. A Study on Information Search and Commitment Strategies on Web Environment and Internet Usage Self-Efficacy Beliefs of University Students'

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geçer, Aynur Kolburan

    2014-01-01

    This study addresses university students' information search and commitment strategies on web environment and internet usage self-efficacy beliefs in terms of such variables as gender, department, grade level and frequency of internet use; and whether there is a significant relation between these beliefs. Descriptive method was used in the study.…

  2. Understanding Mobile Social Media Usage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gan, Chunmei; Tan, Chee-Wee

    2017-01-01

    Despite the increasing popularity and growing trend of mobile social media in China, factors affecting users’ continued usage behavior remains unclear and deserves further scholarly attention. Synthesizing theories of expectation confirmation as well as uses and gratification, we advance a uses...... and gratification expectancy model that depicts how confirmation, perceived usability and gratification affect users’ continuance intention towards mobile social media. Empirical findings from an online survey of 247 respondents reveal that continuance intention is determined by a range of gratifications, including...... information sharing, media appeal and perceived enjoyment. In addition, confirmation of expectations and perceptions of usefulness gleaned through prior usage of mobile social media have significant effects on gratifications of information sharing, perceived enjoyment, social interaction, passing time...

  3. Tattoo inks in general usage contain nanoparticles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Høgsberg, T; Löschner, Katrin; Löf, D

    2011-01-01

    the particle sizes in tattoo inks in general usage. Methods The particle size was measured by laser diffraction, electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Results The size of the pigments could be divided into three main classes. The black pigments were the smallest, the white pigments the largest...... in general usage is new and may contribute to the understanding of tattoo ink kinetics. How the body responds to NP tattoo pigments should be examined further....

  4. Contract Report for Usage Inspection of KN-12 Transport Cask

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, J. C.; Seo, K. S.; Bang, K. S.; Cho, I. J.; Kim, D. H.; Min, D. K.

    2007-03-01

    The usage inspection of the KN-12 spent nuclear fuel transport package was performed to receive the license for reuse. According to the Korea Atomic Energy Act, all type B transport package should receive and pass the usage inspection every five years. The KN-12 transport cask was designed to transport twelve spent PWR fuel assemblies under wet and dry conditions. The cask was developed and licensed in 2002 in accordance with the Korea and the IAEA's safe transport regulations. The areas of usage inspection include: visual inspection, nondestructive weld inspection, load test, maximum operating pressure test, leakage test, shielding test, thermal test, external surface contamination test. In the results of the usage inspection, the damage or defect could not found out and the performance of the cask was maintained according to the requirements of the regulation. Therefore, the usage inspection was successfully performed to acquire the license for the reuse

  5. Employees Technology Usage Adaptation Impact on Companies’ Logistics Service Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Zafer ACAR

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The information technology (IT capability of companies is one of the determinants of their competitive power. However, IT outputs depend on employees intentions to use them. As a technological investment Port automation systems are widely used in container terminals. Therefore behavioral intention in the usage of various IT applications is one of the important factors that may affect logistics service performance. This study aims to explore the employees' technology usage adaptation impact on the logistics service performance of ports. In this context, the behavioral intentions of employees who use port automation systems are investigated using the Technological Acceptance Model.

  6. Longitudinal Effects of Violent Media Usage on Aggressive Behavior—The Significance of Empathy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Mößle

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to thoroughly investigate the link between violent media consumption and aggressive behavior. Using a large longitudinal student sample, the role of empathy as a possible mediator of this relationship was of special interest. Data were drawn from wave three to five of the Berlin Longitudinal Study Media, a four-year longitudinal control group study with 1207 school children. Participants completed measures of media usage (violent content of TV and computer games, aggressive behavior perpetration, and empathy. The average age of participants was 10.4 years at Time 1 and 12.4 years at Time 3. Half of the study sample was male (50%. Trivariate structural equation modeling using three measurement times were conducted for assessing the role of empathy as a mediator of the longitudinal relationship between the usage of violent media content and aggressive behavior. For male students empathic skills were shown to unfold a key mediating role between problematic media usage and aggressive behavior.

  7. High School Students' Social Media Usage Habits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tezci, Erdogan; Içen, Mustafa

    2017-01-01

    Social media which is an important product of Computer and Internet Technologies has a growing usage level day by day. Increasing social media usage level gives opportunity for new software developments and making investments in this area. From this aspect, therefore, social media has not only economic function but also make persons participate in…

  8. Is rapid growth in Internet usage environmentally sustainable for Australia? An empirical investigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salahuddin, Mohammad; Alam, Khorshed; Ozturk, Ilhan

    2016-03-01

    This study estimates the short- and long-run effects of Internet usage and economic growth on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions using annual time series macro data for Australia for the period 1985-2012. Autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) bounds and Gregory-Hansen structural break cointegration tests are applied. ARDL estimates indicate no significant long-run relationship between Internet usage and CO2 emissions, which implies that the rapid growth in Internet usage is still not an environmental threat for Australia. The study further indicates that higher level of economic growth is associated with lower level of CO2 emissions; however, Internet usage and economic growth have no significant short-run relationship with CO2 emissions. Financial development has both short-run and long-run significant positive association with CO2 emissions. The findings offer support in favor of energy efficiency gains and a reduction in energy intensity in Australia. However, impulse response and variance decomposition analysis suggest that Internet usage, economic growth and financial development will continue to impact CO2 emissions in the future, and as such, this study recommends that in addition to the existing measures to combat CO2 emissions, Australia needs to exploit the potential of the Internet not only to reduce its own carbon footprint but also to utilize information and communication technology (ICT)-enabled emissions abatement potential to reduce emissions in various other sectors across the economy, such as, power, renewable energy especially in solar and wind energy, agriculture, transport and service.

  9. Investigating Students' Usage and Acceptance of Electronic Books

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sieche, Susan; Krey, Birte; Bastiaens, Theo

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to investigate students' usage and acceptance of electronic books. Factors correlating with students' attitude towards e-books were examined using the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw 1989). A questionnaire was administered online for students at University of Hagen. Results indicate that…

  10. Power factor regulation for household usage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daud, Nik Ghazali Nik; Hashim, Fakroul Ridzuan; Tarmizi, Muhammad Haziq Ahmad

    2018-02-01

    Power factor regulator technology has recently drawn attention to the consumer and to power generation company in order for consumers to use electricity efficiently. Controlling of power factor for efficient usage can reduce the production of power in fulfilment demands hence reducing the greenhouse effect. This paper presents the design method of power factor controller for household usage. There are several methods to improve the power factor. The power factor controller used by this method is by using capacitors. Total harmonic distortion also has become a major problem for the reliability of the electrical appliances and techniques to control it will be discussed.

  11. TOWARDS A USAGE-BASED COGNITIVE PHONOLOGY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gitten Kristiansen

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available The usage-based conception of language is a major tenet in Cognitive Linguistics, but cognitive phonology has not yet been developed sufficiently in this direction. Often, phonemic analysis is carried out at the high level of abstraction of `a language´, disregarding rich patterns of languageinternal variation. This paper first argues that cognitive phonology must aim at a higher degree of descriptive refinement, especially in the direction of social variation. Then it goes on to examine the implications of a usage-based and multi-faceted model for a theoretical discussion of the phoneme as a prototype category.

  12. Psychological interventional approach for reduce resource consumption : Reducing plastic bag usage at supermarkets

    OpenAIRE

    Ohtomo, Shoji; OHNUMA, Susumu

    2014-01-01

    A field study was conducted to investigate the reduction of plastic bag usage at supermarkets. Many behaviors leading to potential damage to the environment may be unintentional. This study applied a dual motivation model to plastic bag usage and examined the effects of an intervention aimed at promoting pro-environmental behavior. A voice prompt intervention was implemented in Japanese supermarkets. In the first (control) week, shoppers were given free plastic bags by the cashier. In the sec...

  13. Remarks on Trade Usages And Business Practices In International Sales Law

    OpenAIRE

    Leonardo Graffi

    2011-01-01

    Trade usages and business practices are key elements of international commerce. In their day-to-day activities, traders and business people around the world constantly rely upon trade usages and business practices across a variety of industries. Usages and practices tend to be dignified by the business community with a status equivalent to that of actual law. As a matter of fact, many business persons often tend to regard trade usages and business practices as very powerful tools to ensure th...

  14. Commercial Building Tenant Energy Usage Aggregation and Privacy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Livingston, Olga V.; Pulsipher, Trenton C.; Anderson, David M.; Wang, Na

    2014-10-31

    A growing number of building owners are benchmarking their building energy use. This requires the building owner to acquire monthly whole-building energy usage information, which can be challenging for buildings in which individual tenants have their own utility meters and accounts with the utility. Some utilities and utility regulators have turned to aggregation of customer energy use data (CEUD) as a way to give building owners whole-building energy usage data while protecting customer privacy. Meter profile aggregation adds a layer of protection that decreases the risk of revealing CEUD as the number of meters aggregated increases. The report statistically characterizes the similarity between individual energy usage patterns and whole-building totals at various levels of meter aggregation.

  15. Student Teachers' Perceptions about the Impact of Internet Usage on Their Learning and Jobs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gialamas, Vasilis; Nikolopoulou, Kleopatra; Koutromanos, George

    2013-01-01

    This study investigated student teachers' perceptions about the impact of internet usage on their learning and future jobs. The sample consisted of 448 student teachers from the Early Childhood and Primary Education Departments at the National University of Athens, in Greece. Student teachers' perceptions regarding the impact of internet usage on…

  16. Usage of nuclear data library and proposal to JENDL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sasaki, M.; Iijima, S.; Kawai, Y.; Matsunobu, H.; Zukeran, A.

    1987-01-01

    A usage status of nuclear data libraries and proposals to the JENDL library are briefly reviewed. 1) Data bases used in plant design and fuel cycle design fields are summarized. JNDC evaluated data and JENDL are not utilized so much than expected in these fields. 2) Performances between JENDL-2 and ENDF/B-IV are compared in the FBR nuclear design field. JENDL-2 shows good characteristics. 3) Usages of JENDL-2 are shown in the LWR nuclear design field. JENDL-2 isn't always superior to the licensing library. 4) Usages of JENDL-2 are shown in the FBR shielding R D field. JENDL-2 underestimates measured spectra in case of the deep penetration experiment. 5) Based on the above usage status of JENDL-2, proposals to future JENDL and Nuclear Data Center are tabulated. (author)

  17. A Resolution in Service: SFX Usage Logs as a Basis for Link Resolver Menu Redesign

    Science.gov (United States)

    Highsmith, Anne L.; Ponsford, Bennett Claire

    2011-01-01

    In this study, three years of SFX usage logs at Texas A&M University were analyzed to determine how patrons use link resolver services. The study contrasts the actions taken by users when full text is and is not available and compares public versus staff usage. The results confirmed users' preference for full-text services but also provided…

  18. Contract Report for Usage Inspection of KN-12 Transport Cask

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, J. C.; Seo, K. S.; Bang, K. S.; Cho, I. J.; Kim, D. H.; Min, D. K

    2007-03-15

    The usage inspection of the KN-12 spent nuclear fuel transport package was performed to receive the license for reuse. According to the Korea Atomic Energy Act, all type B transport package should receive and pass the usage inspection every five years. The KN-12 transport cask was designed to transport twelve spent PWR fuel assemblies under wet and dry conditions. The cask was developed and licensed in 2002 in accordance with the Korea and the IAEA's safe transport regulations. The areas of usage inspection include: visual inspection, nondestructive weld inspection, load test, maximum operating pressure test, leakage test, shielding test, thermal test, external surface contamination test. In the results of the usage inspection, the damage or defect could not found out and the performance of the cask was maintained according to the requirements of the regulation. Therefore, the usage inspection was successfully performed to acquire the license for the reuse.

  19. [Smartphone usage among adolescents].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Körmendi, Attila

    2015-01-01

    Among our technological gadgets smartphones play the most important role, new generation devices offer other functions beyond calling (internet availability, computer games, music player, camera functions etc.) In everydays can be experienced that youth spend more and more time with their smartphones and despite the actuality of this issue there are no studies on the excessive smartphone usage in Hungary and we can find only a few international studies. Our goal is to examine smartphone usage in primary and secondary schools in Hajdu-Bihar county, Hungary and its relationship with personality traits. Our sample consist of 263 youth from primary and secondary schools. We measured the characteristics of smartphone using and attitudes with a Mobilephone Using Questionnare. Personality traits are measured with Impulsiveness, Venturesomeness, Empathy Scale. The Child Behavior Checklist gives information about peer relationships, mental state and emotions. Average phone using time is 4,48 hours per day regarding the whole sample. This mean for boys is 3,40 hour for girls 5,39 hour. Average phone using time is higher at 16 (6,35 hour per day). The most frequent used applications are calling and visiting community sites. There is no connection between phone using and grades. The smartphone using time per day shows a significant positive relationship with Impulsivity, Anxiety and Depression, Attention deficits and Somatic problems within 17-19 ages. One of the explanation of excessive smartphone using may be the frequent visiting of community sites. Mobile phones in this case raise the availability of addictive object (community site) therefore contribute to the development of community site addiction. The connection with impulsivity, somatic problems and attention deficits refer to the anxiety reducing role of smartphones within 17-19 ages.

  20. Young adult consumers' media usage and online purchase likelihood

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... marketers have to ensure that they understand these consumers' wants and needs and ... The objectives of the study are to establish the media usage of traditional ... The target audience included students between 18 and 24 years at one of ...

  1. Exploring the Usage of ICT and YouTube for Teaching: A Study of Pre-Service Teachers in Hong Kong

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szeto, Elson; Cheng, Annie Yan-Ni

    2014-01-01

    Pre-service teachers are expected to teach the digital-native generation of students in the information and communication technology (ICT)-enriched school environments. The aim of this study is to better understand their usage of ICT tools and YouTube for teaching during their teaching practicums. Multiple data sources, including interviews,…

  2. Diachronic Analysis of Parking Usage: The Case Study of Brescia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Riccardo Bonotti

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper proposes a methodology for the investigation of the space-time relations between public services and individual mobility, by checking the space-time efficiency of the allocation of public and private parking areas. The methodology has been applied to the case study of Brescia, in northern Italy. The spatial distribution of car parking has been assessed as well as the usage variations during the day. First of all, the location and the density of parking areas within the city has been taken into account, and represented to show the spatial coverage of car parking supply. Then, the temporal issue has been considered, since the degree of use of each parking area varies within the time of the day. Therefore, the degree of use of each parking area has been mapped at three significant instant of the day (10.00 a.m.; 01.00 p.m. and 04.00 p.m.. This kind of analysis is particularly helpful to highlight the availability of parking areas during the day. The results of the analysis, even if referred to a case study, can be extended to similar situations as the methodology of the analysis has a broaden sound meaning. The aim of the paper is to illustrate a method to develop mobility policies and plans.

  3. Usage Patterns of a Mobile Palliative Care Application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Haipeng; Liu, David; Marks, Sean; Rickerson, Elizabeth M; Wright, Adam; Gordon, William J; Landman, Adam

    2018-06-01

    Fast Facts Mobile (FFM) was created to be a convenient way for clinicians to access the Fast Facts and Concepts database of palliative care articles on a smartphone or tablet device. We analyzed usage patterns of FFM through an integrated analytics platform on the mobile versions of the FFM application. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the usage data from FFM as a way to better understand user behavior for FFM as a palliative care educational tool. This is an exploratory, retrospective analysis of de-identified analytics data collected through the iOS and Android versions of FFM captured from November 2015 to November 2016. FFM App download statistics from November 1, 2015, to November 1, 2016, were accessed from the Apple and Google development websites. Further FFM session data were obtained from the analytics platform built into FFM. FFM was downloaded 9409 times over the year with 201,383 articles accessed. The most searched-for terms in FFM include the following: nausea, methadone, and delirium. We compared frequent users of FFM to infrequent users of FFM and found that 13% of all users comprise 66% of all activity in the application. Demand for useful and scalable tools for both primary palliative care and specialty palliative care will likely continue to grow. Understanding the usage patterns for FFM has the potential to inform the development of future versions of Fast Facts. Further studies of mobile palliative care educational tools will be needed to further define the impact of these educational tools.

  4. Notational usage modulates attention networks in binumerates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Atesh eKoul

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Multicultural environments require learning multiple number notations wherein some are encountered more frequently than others. This leads to differences in exposure and consequently differences in usage between notations. We find that differential notational usage imposes a significant neurocognitive load on number processing. Despite simultaneous acquisition, forty-two adult binumerate populations, familiar with two positional writing systems namely Hindu Nagari digits and Hindu Arabic digits, reported significantly lower preference and usage for Nagari as compared to Arabic. Twenty-four participants showed significantly increased reaction times and reduced accuracy while performing magnitude comparison tasks in Nagari with respect to Arabic. Functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed that processing Nagari elicited significantly greater activity in number processing and attention networks. A direct subtraction of networks for Nagari and Arabic notations revealed a neural circuit comprising of bilateral intra-parietal sulcus, inferior and mid frontal gyri, fusiform gyrus and the anterior cingulate cortex (FDR p<0.005. Additionally, whole brain correlation analysis showed that activity in the left inferior parietal region was modulated by task performance in Nagari. We attribute the increased activation in Ng to increased task difficulty due to infrequent exposure and usage. Our results reiterate the role of the left intra-parietal sulcus in modulating performance in numeric tasks and highlight that of the attention network for monitoring symbolic notation mode in binumerates.

  5. Vegetation moderates impacts of tourism usage on bird communities along roads and hiking trails.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolf, Isabelle D; Hagenloh, Gerald; Croft, David B

    2013-11-15

    Bird communities inhabiting ecosystems adjacent to recreational tracks may be adversely affected by disturbance from passing tourism traffic, vehicle-related mortality, habitat alteration and modified biotic relationships such as the increase of strong competitors. This study investigated the effects of tourist usage of roads vs. hiking trails on bird communities in gorges of the Flinders Ranges, a popular South Australian tourist destination in the arid-lands. High tourist usage along roads decreased the individual abundance and species richness of birds relative to low usage trails. The decrease in species richness, though less pronounced, also occurred at high-usage sites along trails. Changes in the species response to recreational disturbance/impacts varied depending on the ecology of the species. Bigger, more competitive birds with a generalist diet were overrepresented at high-usage sites along roads and trails. Species using microhabitats in lower vegetation layers were more sensitive. However, structural and floristic complexity of vegetation was a more important factor influencing bird abundance than tourist usage. Sites with a better developed shrub and tree layer sustained higher species abundance and richer communities. Importantly, vegetation qualities moderated the negative effect of high usage on the individual abundance of birds along roads, to the extent that such an effect was absent at sites with the best developed shrub and tree layer. To protect avifauna along recreational tracks in arid-lands gorges, we recommend the closure of some gorges or sections for vehicle or any access. Further, open space particularly for camping needs to be minimized as it creates areas of high tourist usage with modified habitat that provides birds with little buffer from disturbance. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. 2011 Radioactive Materials Usage Survey for Unmonitored Point Sources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sturgeon, Richard W. [Los Alamos National Laboratory

    2012-06-27

    This report provides the results of the 2011 Radioactive Materials Usage Survey for Unmonitored Point Sources (RMUS), which was updated by the Environmental Protection (ENV) Division's Environmental Stewardship (ES) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). ES classifies LANL emission sources into one of four Tiers, based on the potential effective dose equivalent (PEDE) calculated for each point source. Detailed descriptions of these tiers are provided in Section 3. The usage survey is conducted annually; in odd-numbered years the survey addresses all monitored and unmonitored point sources and in even-numbered years it addresses all Tier III and various selected other sources. This graded approach was designed to ensure that the appropriate emphasis is placed on point sources that have higher potential emissions to the environment. For calendar year (CY) 2011, ES has divided the usage survey into two distinct reports, one covering the monitored point sources (to be completed later this year) and this report covering all unmonitored point sources. This usage survey includes the following release points: (1) all unmonitored sources identified in the 2010 usage survey, (2) any new release points identified through the new project review (NPR) process, and (3) other release points as designated by the Rad-NESHAP Team Leader. Data for all unmonitored point sources at LANL is stored in the survey files at ES. LANL uses this survey data to help demonstrate compliance with Clean Air Act radioactive air emissions regulations (40 CFR 61, Subpart H). The remainder of this introduction provides a brief description of the information contained in each section. Section 2 of this report describes the methods that were employed for gathering usage survey data and for calculating usage, emissions, and dose for these point sources. It also references the appropriate ES procedures for further information. Section 3 describes the RMUS and explains how the survey results are

  7. Collection Usage Pre- and Post-Summon Implementation at the University of Manitoba

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisa O’Hara

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Objectives – This study examines the use of print and electronic collections bothbefore and after implementation of Summon at the University of Manitoba Libraries.Summon is a web-scale discovery service which allows discovery of all of thematerials the library owns or has access to from a simple search box on the library’sweb page.Methods – COUNTER statistics were used to determine database, e-journal, and ebookstatistics, including database search statistics (DR1 from the COUNTERDatabase Report 1, full-text article downloads from the COUNTER Journal Report 1(JR1, and successful section search requests from the COUNTER Book Report 2 (BR2for electronic resources. Sirsi, the University of Manitoba’s integrated library system,provided statistics on checkouts for the libraries’ circulating print monograph andserial collections. The percentage change from the pre-Summon implementationperiod to the post-Summon implementation period was calculated and these numberswere used to determine whether usage had increased or decreased for both print andelectronic collections.Results – As expected, searches in citation databases decreased because searches wereno longer being carried out in the native database as the metadata from the databaseis included in Summon. E-journal usage increased dramatically and e-book usage alsoincreased for four of six providers examined. Print usage decreased, but the resultswere inconclusive.Conclusions – Summon implementation had a favourable impact on collection usage.

  8. Interactions between BMP-7 and USAG-1 (uterine sensitization-associated gene-1 regulate supernumerary organ formations.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Honoka Kiso

    Full Text Available Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs are highly conserved signaling molecules that are part of the transforming growth factor (TGF-beta superfamily, and function in the patterning and morphogenesis of many organs including development of the dentition. The functions of the BMPs are controlled by certain classes of molecules that are recognized as BMP antagonists that inhibit BMP binding to their cognate receptors. In this study we tested the hypothesis that USAG-1 (uterine sensitization-associated gene-1 suppresses deciduous incisors by inhibition of BMP-7 function. We learned that USAG-1 and BMP-7 were expressed within odontogenic epithelium as well as mesenchyme during the late bud and early cap stages of tooth development. USAG-1 is a BMP antagonist, and also modulates Wnt signaling. USAG-1 abrogation rescued apoptotic elimination of odontogenic mesenchymal cells. BMP signaling in the rudimentary maxillary incisor, assessed by expressions of Msx1 and Dlx2 and the phosphorylation of Smad protein, was significantly enhanced. Using explant culture and subsequent subrenal capsule transplantation of E15 USAG-1 mutant maxillary incisor tooth primordia supplemented with BMP-7 demonstrated in USAG-1+/- as well as USAG-1-/- rescue and supernumerary tooth development. Based upon these results, we conclude that USAG-1 functions as an antagonist of BMP-7 in this model system. These results further suggest that the phenotypes of USAG-1 and BMP-7 mutant mice reported provide opportunities for regenerative medicine and dentistry.

  9. A study on PubMed search tag usage pattern: association rule mining of a full-day PubMed query log.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mosa, Abu Saleh Mohammad; Yoo, Illhoi

    2013-01-09

    The practice of evidence-based medicine requires efficient biomedical literature search such as PubMed/MEDLINE. Retrieval performance relies highly on the efficient use of search field tags. The purpose of this study was to analyze PubMed log data in order to understand the usage pattern of search tags by the end user in PubMed/MEDLINE search. A PubMed query log file was obtained from the National Library of Medicine containing anonymous user identification, timestamp, and query text. Inconsistent records were removed from the dataset and the search tags were extracted from the query texts. A total of 2,917,159 queries were selected for this study issued by a total of 613,061 users. The analysis of frequent co-occurrences and usage patterns of the search tags was conducted using an association mining algorithm. The percentage of search tag usage was low (11.38% of the total queries) and only 2.95% of queries contained two or more tags. Three out of four users used no search tag and about two-third of them issued less than four queries. Among the queries containing at least one tagged search term, the average number of search tags was almost half of the number of total search terms. Navigational search tags are more frequently used than informational search tags. While no strong association was observed between informational and navigational tags, six (out of 19) informational tags and six (out of 29) navigational tags showed strong associations in PubMed searches. The low percentage of search tag usage implies that PubMed/MEDLINE users do not utilize the features of PubMed/MEDLINE widely or they are not aware of such features or solely depend on the high recall focused query translation by the PubMed's Automatic Term Mapping. The users need further education and interactive search application for effective use of the search tags in order to fulfill their biomedical information needs from PubMed/MEDLINE.

  10. Usage of Plastic Bags and Health Hazards: A Study to Assess Awareness Level and Perception about Legislation Among a Small Population of Mangalore City.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph, Nitin; Kumar, Aswin; Majgi, Sumanth Mallikarjuna; Kumar, Ganesh S; Prahalad, Raghavendra Babu Yellapur

    2016-04-01

    Plastic bag users are at risk of number of health hazards. There is paucity of data with regard to awareness of health hazards among general population in India. This study was done to find out the status of awareness of the health hazards associated with the usage of plastic bags among people and their perception towards the legislation prohibiting the usage of plastic bags. This cross-sectional study conducted in Mangalore city in August 2013. Data was collected by interviewing any adult member (aged above 18 years) in each of the selected households using an interview schedule. Mean age of the 250 participants was 32.8±10.8 years. Majority 160(64%) were females educated up to undergraduate level or above 187(74.8%). Among the participants 216(86.4%) were aware of the health hazards associated with the use of plastic bags. Awareness was significantly more amongst females (p=0.027), well-educated participants (p=0.004) and among professionals and semi-professionals (pplastic bags for shopping after initial usage. The cloth bags were used for shopping in place of plastic bags by 13(5.2%) participants. Among the participants 213(85.2%) were aware of the legislation banning the use of plastic bags and out of which 166(77.9%) were in its favour. Semi-professionals and students favoured the ban on plastic bags whereas unskilled and semiskilled workers were against the ban (p=0.01). Most of the participants in the settings had the awareness of hazards of plastic bag usage. However, there is a need for spreading the awareness of using alternative strategies and effective implementation of legislation in order to minimize the usage of plastics in the community.

  11. Usage of Plastic Bags and Health Hazards: A Study to Assess Awareness Level and Perception about Legislation Among a Small Population of Mangalore City

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Aswin; Majgi, Sumanth Mallikarjuna; Kumar, Ganesh S; Prahalad, Raghavendra Babu Yellapur

    2016-01-01

    Introduction Plastic bag users are at risk of number of health hazards. There is paucity of data with regard to awareness of health hazards among general population in India. Aim This study was done to find out the status of awareness of the health hazards associated with the usage of plastic bags among people and their perception towards the legislation prohibiting the usage of plastic bags. Materials and Methods This cross-sectional study conducted in Mangalore city in August 2013. Data was collected by interviewing any adult member (aged above 18 years) in each of the selected households using an interview schedule. Results Mean age of the 250 participants was 32.8±10.8 years. Majority 160(64%) were females educated up to undergraduate level or above 187(74.8%). Among the participants 216(86.4%) were aware of the health hazards associated with the use of plastic bags. Awareness was significantly more amongst females (p=0.027), well-educated participants (p=0.004) and among professionals and semi-professionals (pplastic bags for shopping after initial usage. The cloth bags were used for shopping in place of plastic bags by 13(5.2%) participants. Among the participants 213(85.2%) were aware of the legislation banning the use of plastic bags and out of which 166(77.9%) were in its favour. Semi-professionals and students favoured the ban on plastic bags whereas unskilled and semiskilled workers were against the ban (p=0.01). Conclusion Most of the participants in the settings had the awareness of hazards of plastic bag usage. However, there is a need for spreading the awareness of using alternative strategies and effective implementation of legislation in order to minimize the usage of plastics in the community. PMID:27190841

  12. DEVELOPING WRITING ABILITIES OF EFL STUDENTS THROUGH BLOGGING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Orachorn KITCHAKARN

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Due to a rapid development and expansion of technology and, as a result, Web 2.0 technologies are providing both teachers and learners with new solutions to the limitations of traditional method in the field of language teaching and learning. The research compared students’ writing ability before and after they were taught through blog, a new medium or tool for written communication and interaction in many different languages around the world. The research design is a kind of one group pretest posttest. Participants were 35 first-year students. They were divided into eight groups. Four or five students in each group created a blog, www.blogger.com, and they worked together for twelve weeks to produce six pieces of writing assignments. Each member in the group worked through providing comments, editing and revising on the blog until the group got a final writing and submitted that to the teacher for grading. The instruments used in this study were: Ø two writing tests Ø a questionnaire surveying students’ attitude toward learning through blogs, and Ø postings on blogs to reflect their learning experiences. The results revealed that after the students worked together on weblogs, their English writing mean score of the posttest was higher than that of the pretest, and they had positive attitudes towards using weblogs in learning. Regarding cooperative learning experiences through using weblogs, most students thought that it was interesting, a new experience to work with their friends on the weblogs.

  13. The relationship between addiction to smartphone usage and depression among adults: a cross sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alhassan, Aljohara A; Alqadhib, Ethar M; Taha, Nada W; Alahmari, Raneem A; Salam, Mahmoud; Almutairi, Adel F

    2018-05-25

    Addiction to smartphone usage is a common worldwide problem among adults, which might negatively affect their wellbeing. This study investigated the prevalence and factors associated with smartphone addiction and depression among a Middle Eastern population. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017 using a web-based questionnaire distributed via social media. Responses to the Smartphone Addiction Scale - Short version (10-items) were rated on a 6-point Likert scale, and their percentage mean score (PMS) was commuted. Responses to Beck's Depression Inventory (20-items) were summated (range 0-60); their mean score (MS) was commuted and categorized. Higher scores indicated higher levels of addiction and depression. Factors associated with these outcomes were identified using descriptive and regression analyses. Statistical significance was set at P addiction was 50.2 ± 20.3, and MS of depression was 13.6 ± 10.0. A significant positive linear relationship was present between smart phone addiction and depression (y = 39.2 + 0.8×; P smartphone addiction scores were associated with younger age users, (β = - 0.203, adj. P = 0.004). Factors associated with higher depression scores were school educated users (β = - 2.03, adj. P = 0.01) compared to the university educated group and users with higher smart phone addiction scores (β =0.194, adj. P smartphone addiction and depression is alarming. Reasonable usage of smart phones is advised, especially among younger adults and less educated users who could be at higher risk of depression.

  14. A Retrospective Evaluation of Intravenous Fluid Usage in Animal ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    n=5), isoplasma (n=3), darrows solution (n=2) and 10% dextrose (n=1). In conclusion, this study revealed that indication for IV fluid usage in VTH, Nsukka was strongly associated with the species and health status of the animals. Also, some ...

  15. Sleeping with technology: cognitive, affective, and technology usage predictors of sleep problems among college students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosen, Larry; Carrier, Louis M; Miller, Aimee; Rokkum, Jeffrey; Ruiz, Abraham

    2016-03-01

    Sleep problems related to technology affect college students through several potential mechanisms including displacement of sleep due to technology use, executive functioning abilities, and the impact of emotional states related to stress and anxiety about technology availability. In the present study, cognitive and affective factors that influence technology usage were examined for their impact upon sleep problems. More than 700 US college students completed an online questionnaire addressing technology usage, anxiety/dependence, executive functioning, nighttime phone usage, bedtime phone location, and sleep problems. A path model controlling for background variables was tested using the data. The results showed that executive dysfunction directly predicted sleep problems as well as affected sleep problems through nighttime awakenings. In addition, anxiety/dependence increased daily smartphone usage and also increased nighttime awakenings, which, in turn, affected sleep problems. Thus, both the affective and cognitive factors that influence technology usage affected sleep problems. Copyright © 2016 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Collective study of plans and feature of the reactor for medical usage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1980-01-01

    In order to construct the reactor for medical usage comparative studies of irradiating apparatus were performed, and plans to construct medical reactors were constructed by 20 groups consisted of universities, institutes, and companies. As for facilities, a research for TRIGA type reactor, combination of a reactor and an accelerator, and problems in constructing a reactor were investigated. Examinations, with regard to flux, were carried out from the view point of flux variation due to absorber and monitoring thermal neutron dose, while irradiating boron. Some physical problems of neutron detector, neutron source, and preparing enriched isotopes of 10 B were also studied. Analysis of boron was developed by utilization of α autoradiography, synthesis of Na 2 10 B 12 H 11 SH, and enrichment of 10 B. In the field of biomedical science, application of neutron capture method to cerebral tumors, histo-immunological study of the normal brain by enzyme antibody method, and selective radiotherapy of malignant skin tumors were examined using animals. Radiotherapy by neutron capture was carried out to the patients with various tumors, and the remote anesthetization was also tried. (Nakanishi, T.)

  17. A Behavioural Model of E-Banking Usage in Italy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guendalina Capece

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available E‐banking is defined as the automated delivery of new and traditional banking products and services directly to customers through electronic, interactive communication channels. “Pure online” banks are characterized by the absence of physical windows and front‐office personnel. Traditional banks are still integrating traditional distribution channels with online ones; the scenario is therefore still evolving over time. Despite the intrinsic potentialities, Italy is far from being a leader in the usage of innovative online instruments in the banking system and will struggle with new innovation waves. In this paper, we measure the potential effective ebanking usage. Furthermore, we investigate the behaviour of users and adopters, identifying the major causes influencing satisfaction and usage and the impact of these different causes on the intensity of utilization. The analysis is based on a panel of 495 real users, thus allowing the profiling of the Italian adopter to discover the causes of usage and outline strategies for the growth of e‐banking services in Italy.

  18. Designation of facility usage categories for Hanford Site facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Woodrich, D.D.; Ellingson, D.R.; Scott, M.A.; Schade, A.R.

    1991-10-01

    This report summarizes the Hanford Site methodology used to ensure facility compliance with the natural phenomena design criteria set forth in the US Department of Energy Orders and guidance. The current Hanford Site methodology for Usage Category designation is based on an engineered feature's safety function and on the feature's assigned Safety Class. At the Hanford Site, Safety Class assignments are deterministic in nature and are based on teh consequences of failure, without regard to the likelihood of occurrence. The report also proposes a risk-based approach to Usage Category designation, which is being considered for future application at the Hanford Site. To establish a proper Usage Category designation, the safety analysis and engineering design processes must be coupled. This union produces a common understanding of the safety function(s) to be accomplished by the design feature(s) and a sound basis for the assignment of Usage Categories to the appropriate systems, structures, and components. 4 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab

  19. An assessment of worldwide supercomputer usage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wasserman, H.J.; Simmons, M.L.; Hayes, A.H.

    1995-01-01

    This report provides a comparative study of advanced supercomputing usage in Japan and the United States as of Spring 1994. It is based on the findings of a group of US scientists whose careers have centered on programming, evaluating, and designing high-performance supercomputers for over ten years. The report is a follow-on to an assessment of supercomputing technology in Europe and Japan that was published in 1993. Whereas the previous study focused on supercomputer manufacturing capabilities, the primary focus of the current work was to compare where and how supercomputers are used. Research for this report was conducted through both literature studies and field research in Japan.

  20. School Nutrition Professionals' Usage and Perceptions of USDA Recipes and the Impact of Student Enrollment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rushing, Keith; Johnson, J. T.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the frequency of usage of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Recipes for Schools and investigate factors influencing their usage. The relationship between these variables and school district size (student enrollment) was also investigated. Methods: An expert panel…

  1. Regulatory applications of the relationships between natural gas usage and weather

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gray, J.A.; Patterson, D.L.; Proctor, M.S.; Warren, H.E.

    1997-01-01

    This document provides the basics required for analysis and forecasting of natural gas usage for determining the revenues and revision of rates. The focus is on the Local Distribution Company and its customers. Analysis of gas usage is required in a rate case in order to properly estimate the volumes and revenues that would be recovered from current rate under conditions of normal weather. Normal volumes are also required to evaluate proposed rates. In the context of the Local Distribution Company's procurement of gas supply, forecasting of gas usage is required to determine both the daily usage profile and the peak day requirement

  2. OER Usage by Instructional Designers and Training Managers in Corporations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anat Cohen

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Since the development of Open Educational Resources (OERs, different models regarding the usage of these resources in education have appeared in the literature. Wiley’s 4-Rs model is considered to be one of the leading models. Research based on Wiley’s model shows that using materials without making changes is the most common use. Compared to the extensive literature regarding OER usage in education, the literature barely deals with OER usage by instructional designers or training managers in corporations. The purpose of this research is to examine the OER usage of these two stakeholders, distinguishing between Little and Big OER repositories, in which Little OER repositories such as YouTube and Wikipedia aren’t necessarily designed to fulfill educational purposes. Findings show that these stakeholders almost use only Little repositories and that their usage level is higher than what is documented in the literature: they mostly Revise–modify the form of the resource, and Remix–combine different resources to create new ones. These differences can be explained by the fact that materials from Little OER repositories are raw materials, requiring further editing and adjustment. Significant differences between instructional designers’ and training managers’ usage of OERs were found regarding the Reuse level of resources from internal repositories and the Google Images repository, and the frequency of this Reuse.

  3. USAGES – THE LEGAL REGIME IN NEW CIVIL CODE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    EMILIAN CIONGARU

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available In the broad sense, the concept of law is represented by totality of acts that are elaborated by competent state authorities and their purpose is legislating. There are juridical situations are outside the scope of regulation of legal norms and they are stipulated by the New Civil Code, namely the usages: which are defined, in the broad sense, as rules of conduct for a long time, born of social practice. If the law sanctioned any usage, by a rule of reference, giving them, as such obligatory legal power, they are sources of law and the legislator has provided, as is source of civil law, only usages which are in conformity to public order and morality. This problem there was no in the case of legal rules because, they themselves are created with the purpose of to generate the public order and morality. In the situations not covered by law, the usages have a greater force than that of the legal dispositions regarding similar situations, so the broad interpretation of the rules of civil law is made, in the cases which are not covered by the law, only if such an interpretation is not contrary to the usages. An analysis and understanding of the juridical status of usages representing: the customs and the local habits which is accepted by the members of that community as well as the professional uses, as rules of development of professional activities, may result in to perceive the legal force of their but also to reduce, on as much as possible, some potentials confusions of interpretation and application of the law.

  4. Codon usage bias and phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial ND1 gene in pisces, aves, and mammals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uddin, Arif; Choudhury, Monisha Nath; Chakraborty, Supriyo

    2018-01-01

    The mitochondrially encoded NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase core subunit 1 (MT-ND1) gene is a subunit of the respiratory chain complex I and involved in the first step of the electron transport chain of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). To understand the pattern of compositional properties, codon usage and expression level of mitochondrial ND1 genes in pisces, aves, and mammals, we used bioinformatic approaches as no work was reported earlier. In this study, a perl script was used for calculating nucleotide contents and different codon usage bias parameters. The codon usage bias of MT-ND1 was low but the expression level was high as revealed from high ENC and CAI value. Correspondence analysis (COA) suggests that the pattern of codon usage for MT-ND1 gene is not same across species and that compositional constraint played an important role in codon usage pattern of this gene among pisces, aves, and mammals. From the regression equation of GC12 on GC3, it can be inferred that the natural selection might have played a dominant role while mutation pressure played a minor role in influencing the codon usage patterns. Further, ND1 gene has a discrepancy with cytochrome B (CYB) gene in preference of codons as evident from COA. The codon usage bias was low. It is influenced by nucleotide composition, natural selection, mutation pressure, length (number) of amino acids, and relative dinucleotide composition. This study helps in understanding the molecular biology, genetics, evolution of MT-ND1 gene, and also for designing a synthetic gene.

  5. Tense Usage in Selected Humanities and Science Dissertations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geoffrey M. Maroko

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Graduate students are usually not sure of the appropriate tense to use in each rhetorical section of their dissertations in their disciplines. Even style guides provide little information regarding tense usage in academic texts. This paper describes a study in which frequency and usage of types of tense were compared in selected dissertations from the humanities and sciences drawn from Kenyan Public Universities. It was found that graduate research students in both humanities and sciences preferred the simple present and simple past as primary tense forms. It also emerged that authors have to alternate verb tenses even in the same rhetorical section of a dissertation to achieve particular communicative purposes. Suggesting that choices for tense in dissertations are a function of the epistemology and ideology of the disciplines, the paper proposes a genre-based approach to teaching those preparing to write their dissertations.

  6. Computer usage and national energy consumption: Results from a field-metering study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Desroches, Louis-Benoit [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts Dept., Environmental Energy Technologies Division; Fuchs, Heidi [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts Dept., Environmental Energy Technologies Division; Greenblatt, Jeffery [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts Dept., Environmental Energy Technologies Division; Pratt, Stacy [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts Dept., Environmental Energy Technologies Division; Willem, Henry [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts Dept., Environmental Energy Technologies Division; Claybaugh, Erin [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts Dept., Environmental Energy Technologies Division; Beraki, Bereket [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts Dept., Environmental Energy Technologies Division; Nagaraju, Mythri [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts Dept., Environmental Energy Technologies Division; Price, Sarah [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts Dept., Environmental Energy Technologies Division; Young, Scott [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts Dept., Environmental Energy Technologies Division

    2014-12-01

    The electricity consumption of miscellaneous electronic loads (MELs) in the home has grown in recent years, and is expected to continue rising. Consumer electronics, in particular, are characterized by swift technological innovation, with varying impacts on energy use. Desktop and laptop computers make up a significant share of MELs electricity consumption, but their national energy use is difficult to estimate, given uncertainties around shifting user behavior. This report analyzes usage data from 64 computers (45 desktop, 11 laptop, and 8 unknown) collected in 2012 as part of a larger field monitoring effort of 880 households in the San Francisco Bay Area, and compares our results to recent values from the literature. We find that desktop computers are used for an average of 7.3 hours per day (median = 4.2 h/d), while laptops are used for a mean 4.8 hours per day (median = 2.1 h/d). The results for laptops are likely underestimated since they can be charged in other, unmetered outlets. Average unit annual energy consumption (AEC) for desktops is estimated to be 194 kWh/yr (median = 125 kWh/yr), and for laptops 75 kWh/yr (median = 31 kWh/yr). We estimate national annual energy consumption for desktop computers to be 20 TWh. National annual energy use for laptops is estimated to be 11 TWh, markedly higher than previous estimates, likely reflective of laptops drawing more power in On mode in addition to greater market penetration. This result for laptops, however, carries relatively higher uncertainty compared to desktops. Different study methodologies and definitions, changing usage patterns, and uncertainty about how consumers use computers must be considered when interpreting our results with respect to existing analyses. Finally, as energy consumption in On mode is predominant, we outline several energy savings opportunities: improved power management (defaulting to low-power modes after periods of inactivity as well as power scaling), matching the rated power

  7. Online tables of contents for books: effect on usage*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morris, Ruth C.

    2001-01-01

    Objectives: To explore whether the presence of online tables of contents (TOC) in an online catalog affects circulation (checkouts and inhouse usage). Two major questions were posed: (1) did the presence of online tables of contents for books increase use, and, (2) if it did, what factors might cause the increase? Method: A randomized and stratified design was used in tracking usage of 3,957 book titles that were previously divided into two groups: one with TOC and one without TOC. Stratification was done for year of imprint, location, subject, previous use, circulating or non-circulating status, and presence of TOC. The use was tracked by the online catalog statistics in the InnoPac online catalog for fourteen months. Results: The study found that tables of contents do increase usage. It also showed a correlation in the size of the effect based on the currency of the titles. In general, even after adjusting for all of the variables (publication date, location, circulation status, subject, and previous use), the odds of a title being used increased by 45% if the titles had online tables of contents, a statistically significant impact at the 0.05 level. Conclusions: This case-control study presents new information about the impact on circulation and inhouse use when tables of contents for books are added to the online catalog record. The study helps to establish the positive role of tables of contents in online catalogs. The research establishes TOC as a major parameter that can be successfully studied using quantitative methods. The study also provides information professionals with some guidance on when enhancement of TOC is likely to be most effective in increasing the use of existing collections. PMID:11209798

  8. The Current State Of Secondary Resource Usage In Ukraine

    OpenAIRE

    Julia Makovetska

    2011-01-01

    The state and the perspectives of the development of secondary resource usage in Ukraine have been analyzed in the article. The level of the main types recyclable materials as paper and cardboard, glass, plastics, waste tires are considered. Priority directions of development of the secondary resources usage have been defined.

  9. Benchmarking Usage Statistics in Collection Management Decisions for Serials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tucker, Cory

    2009-01-01

    Usage statistics are an important metric for making decisions on serials. Although the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries have been collecting usage statistics, the statistics had not frequently been used to make decisions and had not been included in collection development policy. After undergoing a collection assessment, the…

  10. Les figures de l'usager de Twitter

    OpenAIRE

    Domenget , Jean-Claude

    2016-01-01

    International audience; L’analyse des figures de l’usager de Twitter représente un enjeu de recherche pour comprendre la construction de ces représentations diverses. L’objectif de cet article est d’analyser la notion d’usager dans le cadre de ce dispositif et d’interroger ses relations avec les notions de public(s), d’audience(s) et de communautés. Les quatre principales figures distinguées (twitto, consommateur, abonné, expert) sont étudiées à partir de deuxcritères majeurs : les principes ...

  11. USAGE OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES IN GENERAL AVIATION: CURRENT SITUATION AND PROSPECTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The article aims at analyzing the current and future trends in usage of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV in gen- eral aviation (branches of economy. The main goal of the analysis is to determine the branches of economy, in which the usage of UAVs would be the most beneficial in the near- to mid-term future. The main requirements and restrictions of usage of the aircraft in general aviation were used as a basis for determining the types of operations, in which the usage of UAVs will be the most rational and effective. The effectiveness evaluation was based on the developed method, involving evaluation of the following factors such as: advantages of usage of manned aircraft, advantages of usage of unmanned air- craft, problems associated with the usage of manned aircraft, problems associated with the usage of unmanned aircraft. After evaluation of the mentioned aspects above the safety, operational productivity and ecological indicators were evaluat- ed. These qualitative assessments allowed identifying the branches of economy, where the usage of UAVs could potentially be the most advantageous. The article also discusses the possible strategies of UAVs development for general aviation. The so-called “mixed” strategy of UAV development is identified as the best in the current situation. This strategy combines the conversion of the existing military UAVs with the purpose of fitting them in to civilian use with the parallel development of brand new UAVs, which would be designed for operation in branches of economy right from the beginning (from scratch.

  12. Learning physics concepts as a function of colloquial language usage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maier, Steven J.

    Data from two sections of college introductory, algebra-based physics courses (n1 = 139, n2 = 91) were collected using three separate instruments to investigate the relationships between reasoning ability, conceptual gain and colloquial language usage. To obtain a measure of reasoning ability, Lawson's Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning Ability (TSR) was administered once near mid-term for each sample. The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) was administered at the beginning and at the end of the term for pre- and post-test measures. Pre- and post-test data from the Mechanics Language Usage instrument were also collected in conjunction with FCI data collection at the beginning and end of the term. The MLU was developed specifically for this study prior to data collection, and results of a pilot test to establish validity and reliability are reported. T-tests were performed on the data collected to compare the means from each sample. In addition, correlations among the measures were investigated between the samples separately and combined. Results from these investigations served as justification for combining the samples into a single sample of 230 for performing further statistical analyses. The primary objective of this study was to determine if scientific reasoning ability (a function of developmental stage) and conceptual gains in Newtonian mechanics predict students' usages of "force" as measured by the MLU. Regression analyses were performed to evaluate these mediated relationships among TSR and FCI performance as a predictor of MLU performance. Statistically significant correlations and relationships existed among several of the measures, which are discussed at length in the body of the narrative. The findings of this research are that although there exists a discernable relationship between reasoning ability and conceptual change, more work needs to be done to establish improved quantitative measures of the role language usage has in developing understandings

  13. Projecting the Mental Model of Social Networking Site Usage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chun-Hui Wu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The growth of online social networking sites (SNS has created a new world of connection and communication for online users. SNS usage has become an important part of people’s daily lives. This study aims to obtain new insights towards SNS usage behaviour. Based on participants’ mental models, it is hoped to make more clear exposition about their perceptions and experiences as well as to explore what factors affect their behaviour for using social networking sites. A blend of qualitative methodologies was adopted for data collection and analysis, including the Zaltman metaphor elicitation technique (ZMET method, the laddering technique, and the means-end chain theory. The results of this study show that the most important values of using SNS include its convenience, maintaining relationship, gaining relaxation, as well as reaching coherence. Additionally, participants pointed out they cared about their online privacy issues very much and had found some potential dangers; however, they continued to use these sites because of the great benefits and enjoyment.

  14. Artificial Intelligence is Getting Personal : A study on the Usage Motivations and Privacy Concerns of Intelligent Personal Assistants’ Users

    OpenAIRE

    Tundrea, Darius

    2017-01-01

    The present study is aiming to evaluate the Intelligent Personal Assistants usage motivations, addressing at the same time various privacy issues and concerns related to this emergent technology. To fulfil the purpose of the study I have applied two different research methods. Initially, a web survey conducted gathered 18 respondents answering 24 questions related to the presented topic. Subsequently, was organised a focus group by gathering seven respondents who shared their opinions on the ...

  15. Dynamic analysis of holiday travel behavior with integrated multimodal travel information usage : a life-oriented approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wang, B.; Shao, C.; Ji, X.

    2017-01-01

    The Integrated Multimodal Travel Information (IMTI) plays an important role in the evolution process of holiday travel behaviour, which is seldom investigated. To fill this gap, this study analyses holiday travel behaviour dynamics with IMTI usage, based on the life-oriented approach. IMTI usage is

  16. A field survey of the partially edentate elderly: Investigation of factors related to the usage rate of removable partial dentures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murai, S; Matsuda, K; Ikebe, K; Enoki, K; Hatta, K; Fujiwara, K; Maeda, Y

    2015-11-01

    Although the shortened dental arch (SDA) concept has been known to all over the world, acceptance of the SDA concept as an oral health standard can be questionable from the patients' point of view, even if it is biologically reasonable. Furthermore, because the health insurance system covers removable partial dentures (RPDs) for all citizens in Japan, SDA patients seem to prefer to receive prosthetic treatment to replace the missing teeth. However, there were few field surveys to investigate the usage rate of RPDs in Japan. The purpose of this study was to determine the usage rate of RPDs in older Japanese subjects and to investigate the factors related to the usage of RPDs. Partially edentate participants (n = 390) were included in this study. Oral examinations were conducted to record several indices. The Cochran-Armitage trend test was used to evaluate the relationship between the number of missing teeth and the usage rate of RPDs. Chi-squared tests and logistic regression analysis were conducted to evaluate the factors related to the usage rate of RPDs. Usage of RPDs had a significantly positive association with the number of missing distal extension teeth and bilaterally missing teeth. The usage rate of RPDs increased as the number of missing distal extension teeth increased (P for trend < 0·001). The conclusion of this study was that participants with missing distal extension teeth had higher usage rates of RPDs than other participants, and the usage rate increased as the number of missing distal extension teeth increased. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  17. An evaluation on consumers' usage pattern of acetaminophen (paracetamol: A multicenter study from Penang, Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chee Ping Chong

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Acetaminophen poisoning is becoming an increasingly common social problem in Malaysia. An understanding of consumers' usage pattern of acetaminophen is essential in addressing the issue of accidental acetaminophen poisoning. This study was therefore aimed to evaluate the usage pattern of acetaminophen among the consumers in the state of Penang, Malaysia. Methods: A survey using a questionnaire was carried out in Health Clinic of University Sciences Malaysia (USM, Outpatient Clinic of Advance Medical and Dental Institute, USM, and five selected community pharmacies in the state of Penang from February 2013 to April 2013. A convenient sample of 400 Malaysian consumers was involved in this study. Results: Majority (98.0% of the consumers had ever taken acetaminophen. The consumers mostly used acetaminophen for headache (75.0% and fever (72.8%. The 500 mg acetaminophen tablet was more commonly used among the consumers (94.3% then the 650 mg tablet (44.3%. A total of 1.1% of the consumers had taken more than two tablets of acetaminophen 500 mg tablet per intake. Meanwhile, 24.4% of the consumers had taken two tablets or more of acetaminophen 650 mg tablet per intake. The consumers mostly consumed acetaminophen in a frequency of either 4 hourly (29.5%, 8 hourly (17.3% or 6 hourly (14.8%. However, 6.3% and 7.0% of the consumers would increase the dosage or frequency of acetaminophen consumption, respectively, when their conditions or symptoms persisted after taking the acetaminophen. Conclusions: The use of acetaminophen is prevalent among the surveyed consumers. The risks of acetaminophen overdose were found among the consumers.

  18. Usage of industrial robots in nuclear power industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuo, Yoshio; Hamada, Kenjiro

    1982-01-01

    Japan is now at the top level in the world in robot technology.Its application to nuclear power field is one of the most expected. However, their usage spreads over various types of nuclear power plants, their manufacture and operation, and other areas such as fuel reprocessing plants and reactor plant decommissioning. The robots as used for the operation of BWR nuclear power plants, already developed and under development, are described: features in the nuclear-power usage of robots, the robots used currently for automatic fuel exchange, the replacement of control rod drives and in-service inspection; the robots under development for travelling inspection device and the inspection of main steam-relief safety valves, future development of robots. By robot usage, necessary personnel, work period and radiation exposure can be greatly reduced, and safety and reliability are also raised. (Mori, K.)

  19. Computer usage and its relationship with adolescent lifestyle in Hong Kong.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, S M; Lee, T M

    2001-10-01

    To determine the patterns of computer usage among adolescents in Hong Kong and to examine whether computer usage is associated with less physical activity and social support among adolescents. A total of 2110 secondary school students (52% boys and 48% girls) in Hong Kong completed a set of questionnaires to measure their computer usage and lifestyle. Mean age of the respondents was 14.16 years (SD = 1.81 years). Computer usage was taped by asking the students to indicate how much time (in minutes) they spent on the computer each day for doing homework assignments; playing computer games; "surfing" the Internet; and communicating with others. The students also provided information on their social-physical lifestyle. Student's t-tests and analysis of variance were used to examine group differences. Pearson product moment correlations were used to explore relationships between computer usage and lifestyle. Boys who use computers for doing homework, "surfing" the Internet, and communicating with others engage in more social-physical activities than others. Boys who use computers to play games tend to be more social-behaviorally inactive. For girls, patterns of computer usage are not related to lifestyle. Computer users tended to engage in social-physical activities more frequently and had higher social support than nonusers. But among computer users, the amount of time spent daily on the computer was not associated with lifestyle. Instead, patterns of computer usage are more related to lifestyle and the relationship is moderated by gender.

  20. EVALUATION OF E-MAIL USAGE BY EXTENDED TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Savaş Mutlu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This study is performed to evaluate E-mail usage by Extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM2 and to test the moderation effects of Espoused National Cultural Values between Subjective Norm (SN and E-mail usage Behavioral Intention (BI/Perceived Usefulness (PU. Survey was conducted in Adana Branches of an important Turkish State-Run Bank including 151 participants who have E-mail access for work purposes. As the results of the study; PU and Perceived Ease Of Use (PEOU have positive effects on BI, PEOU and SN both effect PU, Femininity (F shows positive moderating effect on the relationship between SN and PU as well as the relation between SN and BI, Collectivism (C shows positive moderation effect between SN and PU, moderation effect of SN on PU is higher for people who have higher tolerance to uncertainty.

  1. Extracting Baseline Electricity Usage Using Gradient Tree Boosting

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Taehoon [Ulsan Nat. Inst. of Sci. & Tech., Ulsan (South Korea); Lee, Dongeun [Ulsan Nat. Inst. of Sci. & Tech., Ulsan (South Korea); Choi, Jaesik [Ulsan Nat. Inst. of Sci. & Tech., Ulsan (South Korea); Spurlock, Anna [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Sim, Alex [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Todd, Annika [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Wu, Kesheng [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2016-05-05

    To understand how specific interventions affect a process observed over time, we need to control for the other factors that influence outcomes. Such a model that captures all factors other than the one of interest is generally known as a baseline. In our study of how different pricing schemes affect residential electricity consumption, the baseline would need to capture the impact of outdoor temperature along with many other factors. In this work, we examine a number of different data mining techniques and demonstrate Gradient Tree Boosting (GTB) to be an effective method to build the baseline. We train GTB on data prior to the introduction of new pricing schemes, and apply the known temperature following the introduction of new pricing schemes to predict electricity usage with the expected temperature correction. Our experiments and analyses show that the baseline models generated by GTB capture the core characteristics over the two years with the new pricing schemes. In contrast to the majority of regression based techniques which fail to capture the lag between the peak of daily temperature and the peak of electricity usage, the GTB generated baselines are able to correctly capture the delay between the temperature peak and the electricity peak. Furthermore, subtracting this temperature-adjusted baseline from the observed electricity usage, we find that the resulting values are more amenable to interpretation, which demonstrates that the temperature-adjusted baseline is indeed effective.

  2. A task-based usage strategy for control centre wall displays

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davey, E.

    2005-01-01

    This paper summarizes the findings from an exploratory definition of a usage strategy for multiple control centre wall displays in CANDU nuclear power plants. Wall displays are defined as large sized, vertically oriented display surfaces that may be positioned in various locations about a control room to support user information needs. The paper begins by discussing the need for a usage strategy for all control room information resources, and then reviews the history in wall display implementation and usage in nuclear power plant control rooms. The balance of the paper discusses the approach used in characterization and review of control room task information needs and definition of a wall display usage strategy. The paper concludes by outlining some of the possible impacts on future control room design and operations that the introduction of wall displays may imply. (author)

  3. [Importance of Post-Marketing Studies in Gathering of Clinical Evidences for Proper Usage of Anti-Cancer Drugs, and the StudyRequirements for Their Credibility].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inagaki, Osamu

    2016-04-01

    Pharmaceutical companies recognize the importance of post-marketing studies because they are crucial in the generation of clinical evidences for the usage of new medicines. To generate clinical evidences, quality of post-marketing studies should be well controlled from view point of "ethical conduction" and "reliability of results". In addition, control of conflict of interest (COI) between researchers and industries is also indispensable and is requested for the transparency of the studies. Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association(JPMA)stresses its commitment to the progressof transparency in post-marketing studies.

  4. Social network site usage and personal relations of migrants

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Damian, E.; van Ingen, E.J.

    2014-01-01

    In this study, we examine the relation between social network site (SNS) usage and the personal networks of immigrants, using a unique dataset composed of a representative sample of immigrants living in the Netherlands. In theory, SNSs can be a helpful tool for immigrants, because they may help

  5. Patterns of Internet Usage: Learning Sphere and the Socio-cultural Context

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hossein Ebrahimabadi

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available In addition to the curriculum and the learning targets, there are some other points –as “the culture of the real life”, “patterns of communication and virtual-life’s experiencing”, and generally “pattern of communication and internet usage”- should be considered in evaluating internet. Applying results of a survey on the impacts of both the web-based and the traditional educational methods on students’ learning and motivation, the present study explores the patterns of internet usage. Research method is experimental, using the t test for independent groups and analyzing multi-variable regression, and some points as the population, method of sampling and data gathering is explained in the article. Results show that there is a meaningful difference between the grades of the test group and the witness group; thus variable of “the internet usage” could predict changes in learning. In other words, supra-usage of internet would decrease learning and curriculum development. However, using internet for scientific and schooling would cause students to correlate their patterns of computer and internet usage. As results show, decline in entertaining usage of internet is related to the socio-cultural context, way and amount of participating in the web, and the quality of virtual learning sphere, rather than the interest or disinterest of the users.

  6. Effects of perceived educational support on usage of an internet nursing reference center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marshall, Brenda L; Sabbagh, Lia

    2015-04-01

    The need for evidence-based practice in nursing is well established; however, the efficacy of providing online research resources to nurses delivering care at the bedside has yet to undergo empirical testing. This study evaluated the impact of minimal educational support by a nurse researcher on nurses' usage of a hospital-based online nursing reference center. This randomized, comparison group design feasibility study was conducted at a suburban medical center. Real-time RN usage of an online nursing reference center was collected over 10 months (August to May), with the comparative intervention occurring for seven of the 10 months (September to March). Independent samples t tests and analysis of variance demonstrated that nurses receiving weekly or biweekly visits from an educator had significantly higher usage of the reference center. Nurses who received minimal educational support through weekly and biweekly brief, verbally supportive visits from a nurse researcher were significantly higher users of the online nurse reference center than those receiving in-services only. Copyright 2015, SLACK Incorporated.

  7. Modelling of word usage frequency dynamics using artificial neural network

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maslennikova, Yu S; Bochkarev, V V; Voloskov, D S

    2014-01-01

    In this paper the method for modelling of word usage frequency time series is proposed. An artificial feedforward neural network was used to predict word usage frequencies. The neural network was trained using the maximum likelihood criterion. The Google Books Ngram corpus was used for the analysis. This database provides a large amount of data on frequency of specific word forms for 7 languages. Statistical modelling of word usage frequency time series allows finding optimal fitting and filtering algorithm for subsequent lexicographic analysis and verification of frequency trend models

  8. Analysis of codon usage patterns in Morus notabilis based on genome and transcriptome data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wen, Yan; Zou, Ziliang; Li, Hongshun; Xiang, Zhonghuai; He, Ningjia

    2017-06-01

    Codons play important roles in regulating gene expression levels and mRNA half-lives. However, codon usage and related studies in multicellular organisms still lag far behind those in unicellular organisms. In this study, we describe for the first time genome-wide patterns of codon bias in Morus notabilis (mulberry tree), and analyze genome-wide codon usage in 12 other species within the order Rosales. The codon usage of M. notabilis was affected by nucleotide composition, mutation pressure, nature selection, and gene expression level. Translational selection optimal codons were identified and highly expressed genes of M. notabilis tended to use the optimal codons. Genes with higher expression levels have shorter coding region and lower amino acid complexity. Housekeeping genes showed stronger translational selection, which, notably, was not caused by the large differences between the expression level of housekeeping genes and other genes.

  9. Student Media Usage Patterns and Non-Traditional Learning in Higher Education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olaf Zawacki-Richter

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available A total of 2,338 students at German universities participated in a survey, which investigated media usage patterns of so-called traditional and non-traditional students (Schuetze & Wolter, 2003. The students provided information on the digital devices that they own or have access to, and on their usage of media and e-learning tools and services for their learning. A distinction was made between external, formal and internal, informal tools and services. Based on the students’ responses, a typology of media usage patterns was established by means of a latent class analysis (LCA. Four types or profiles of media usage patterns were identified. These types were labeled entertainment users, peripheral users, advanced users and instrumental users. Among non-traditional students, the proportion of instrumental users was rather high. Based on the usage patterns of traditional and non-traditional students, implications for media selection in the instructional design process are outlined in the paper.

  10. Codification of Some Usage Cases of Lithuanian Language Cases and Prepositions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vidas Valskys

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The present article is related to analysing several cases of the relationship between usage of cases and prepositions with the norms indicated in the syntax booklet “Language Advice”. The article is a discussion regarding some normative evaluation aspects regarding the usage of the preposition “greta” (next to having the meaning of exception (exclusion, usage of the adjectivised instrumental case in constructions with the verb “(pavirsti” (to turn, to become, to grow, to get and some cases of the postposition “dėka” (with the help of. Utmost attention is paid to discussion of (nonnormative evaluation of some constructions including usage of the said cases and prepositions that are doubtful in some aspects, their presentation in normative sources and further prospects related to further codification of the said cases. The article is based on vast empirical materials: examples from the “Corpus of the Contemporary Lithuanian”, the Internet and other texts related to contemporary usage.

  11. The secret power of blogging how to promote and market your business, organization, or cause with free blogs

    CERN Document Server

    Brown, Bruce

    2005-01-01

    Blog is short for Weblog. A Weblog is a journal (or type of newsletter) that is updated often and intended for the general public. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the website owner. In a recent study by the Pew Internet; American Life Project estimated that the U.S. ""blog population has grown to about 12 million Americans,"" some 8% of U.S. Internet users. The number of U.S. blog readers was estimated at 57 million (39% of the U.S. online population). If you have a product, service, brand, or cause that you want to market inexpensively online to the world, you ne

  12. Understanding social media usage by females in Saudi Arabia: a ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Understanding social media usage by females in Saudi Arabia: a descriptive finding. ... This study was conducted to determine the effects of SM on Saudi females. ... hence more effort should be undertaken to encourage more uptake of SM for ...

  13. Limited usage of mechanical equipment in small-scale rice farming: a cause for concern

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaudiose Mujawamariya

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The role of mechanization in agriculture is well documented in terms of improving productivity of farm labour and land and sustaining income status and welfare of small-scale farmers. In rice production, there is a high cost associated with labour intensive production practices especially in land preparation, weeding and harvesting, the limited adoption of mechanical equipment in these operations remains an issue of concern. The current study investigates the usage of mechanical equipment in a setting where majority of farmers are exposed to technologies but cases of non-usage/adoption are observed. The choice of usage of mechanical equipment is analysed through probit and poisson models. Mechanization generally has a positive effect on production. However, the cost associated with its usage high. The equipment should be made available and affordable to farmers especially because demand for rent is not met. Awareness is essential for adoption and ease of use of mechanization.

  14. Contraceptive usage and awareness among postpartum mothers in urban field practice area of a tertiary hospital

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tanvir Kaur Sidhu

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: To study contraceptive usage and awareness among postpartum mothers. Objective: To assess prevalence of postpartum contraception and factors affecting the usage of contraceptives in Urban area. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in the Urban Field practice area of Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Bathinda. All females who delivered within last one year were included in the study. A pre-structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic and other details. A total of 92 females were included. The appropriate statistical analysis was done to present the results. Results: 30.4% females had adopted one or the other postpartum contraceptive measure. Condom was the most common method used. Usage of postpartum contraception was significantly associated with women’s and husband’s education, type of delivery and availing of antenatal and postnatal visits. The main reason for not using postpartum contraception was lack of knowledge and access. 16.3% females had unmet need of postpartum contraception. Conclusions: Overall usage of postpartum contraception was low and mainly related to lack of awareness and knowledge.

  15. Usage of cell nomenclature in biomedical literature

    KAUST Repository

    Kafkas, Senay

    2017-12-21

    Background Cell lines and cell types are extensively studied in biomedical research yielding to a significant amount of publications each year. Identifying cell lines and cell types precisely in publications is crucial for science reproducibility and knowledge integration. There are efforts for standardisation of the cell nomenclature based on ontology development to support FAIR principles of the cell knowledge. However, it is important to analyse the usage of cell nomenclature in publications at a large scale for understanding the level of uptake of cell nomenclature in literature by scientists. In this study, we analyse the usage of cell nomenclature, both in Vivo, and in Vitro in biomedical literature by using text mining methods and present our results. Results We identified 59% of the cell type classes in the Cell Ontology and 13% of the cell line classes in the Cell Line Ontology in the literature. Our analysis showed that cell line nomenclature is much more ambiguous compared to the cell type nomenclature. However, trends indicate that standardised nomenclature for cell lines and cell types are being increasingly used in publications by the scientists. Conclusions Our findings provide an insight to understand how experimental cells are described in publications and may allow for an improved standardisation of cell type and cell line nomenclature as well as can be utilised to develop efficient text mining applications on cell types and cell lines. All data generated in this study is available at https://github.com/shenay/CellNomenclatureStudy.

  16. High school students’ usage behavior and views about mobile phones

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmet Ergin

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The aim of this study was to determine high school students’ usage behavior and views about mobile phones. Methods:Totally 253 (85.5% students educated at Honaz High School within the academic year 2010-2011, participated to this cross-sectional study and a questionnaire consisting of 42 questions which aimed to determine usage behavior and views about mobile phones was administered to the students. Results:The mean age of the students was 16.1 ± 1.1 years, and 56.9% of them were girl. 79.8% of students have mobile phone and 53.9% of them make daily average of over 30 minutes mobile phone calls. 76.1% of participants stated that they did not use headphones, 78.1% did not turn off their mobile phones when they are sleeping and 67.3% put it right next to them or under the pillow. 83.1% of students think mobile phones are harmful for human health, 56.7% think the base stations are harmful to human health and the environment, 91.3% think mobile phones are harmful for children, pregnant women and elderly people. Conclusion: It is found that students’ mobile phone ownership is widespread, the age of starting to use mobile phone and headphones usage is low, knowledge about the base stations is not adequate.

  17. textbf{Historical Usage Inventories of DDT in China}

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qiang, Wang; Lijuan, Zhao; Jianxin, Hu

    2010-05-01

    Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) is one of organochlorine pesticides and listed as one of the persistent organic pollutants to be reduced and finally eliminated in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, because of its great persistence, toxics, bio-accumulation and potential for long-range transport. It is critical to create national DDT usage/emission inventories for China to carry out source-receptor relation analysis, risk assessment, and other research related to DDT in this country. Chinese inventories of DDT to the year1983 have been published; however, DDT is still being used indirectly in the dicifol producing and being applied for malaria control in case. Therefore it is needed to supplement and update the inventories. DDT production in China can be divided into three phases. Prior to 1965 is the first stage with an annual output of no more than 10,000 tons; 1966-1983 is the second phase. At this stage DDT was produced with an average annual production of 15,500 tons. After 1984 is the third production phase, of which the average annual DDT production was 6,465 tons. Before 1983, DDT was mainly used for agriculture, forestry and pesticides.China used a total of 270,000 tons of DDT during 1951 - 1983. According to China's cropland area, Li Yi-fan create China's DDT usage inventory of 1951-1983. In 1983 the State Council decided to ban DDT producing and DDT is no longer used in agriculture any more, but it is still being used in the producing of dicofol, malaria prevention and treatment anda small amount for export. To this end, this paper calculated theusage inventory of China's DDT from 1984 to 2003. Using sown areas of cotton, apple, citrus, tea and vegetable as surrogate data, usage of dicifolwas calculated, then the usage inventory of DDT resulting from dicofol use and DDT applied for malaria control with prefecture resolution was created. From 1984 to 2003, China used 15,312 tons of DDT, including 12,912 tons of DDT resulting

  18. Problems of magnesium oxide wallboard usage in construction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gravit, Marina; Zybina, Olga; Vaititckii, Artem; Kopytova, Anna

    2017-10-01

    Magnesium oxide wallboard is the building and finishing material, which has a reputation of new generational ecological constructing material. It has a wide range of uses: as a revetment in ventilated facades’ production, as a decorative material, as different types of formworks for a foundation filling and as a protector against a fire threat. During the study it was considered that magnesium oxide wallboards have some defects, such as moisture formation as a concentrated brine on the surface under special climatic conditions and absence of clear distinguishing between different types of magnesia boards. Usage of this material can become a cause of frame’s corrosion and origin of mold on wooden details. Authors provide the information from a foreign data source about negative consequences of SML usage. In conclusion researchers state that it is necessary to provide a clear magnesium wallboards classification and define technical requirements, which will, in their opinion, lead to Russian standard formulation.

  19. Designing an Assistant System Encouraging Ergonomic Computer Usage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hüseyin GÜRÜLER

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Today, people of almost every age group are users of computers and computer aided systems. Technology makes our life easier, but it can also threaten our health. In recent years, one of the main causes of the proliferation of diseases such as lower back pain, neck pain or hernia, Arthritis, visual disturbances and obesity is wrong computer usage. The widespread use of computers also increases these findings. The purpose of this study is to direct computer users to use computers more carefully in terms of ergonomics. The user-interactive system developed for this purpose controls distance of the user to the screen and calculates the look angle and the time spent looking at the screen and provides audio or text format warning when necessary. It is thought that this system will reduce the health problems caused by the frequency of computer usage by encouraging individuals to use computers ergonomically.

  20. The Term cybrarian : Concept and The Arabic Usage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahmoud A.Sattar Khalifa

    2004-06-01

    Full Text Available A Study about the term cybrarian, dealing with its origin, definition in the public and specific dictionaries and gives comments for each one , then deals with the usage of term on the Arabic coverage which acted by appearing a printed pamphlet and discussion group entitled cybrarians, and a published study about this topic , also acted by establishing an Arabic web site with the same name, finally the study try to give an Arabic opposite to this term.

  1. Determinants of social media usage among a sample of rural South African youth

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Herring Shava

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Youths have been found to utilise and adopt information communication technology (ICT faster than any other population cohort. This has been aided by the advent of social media, especially Facebook and Instagram as platforms of choice. Calls have been made for more research (especially in rural communities on the usage of ICT platforms such as social media among the youth as a basis for interventions that not only allow for better communication but also for learning.   Objectives: The research investigated the relationship between knowledge sharing, habit and obligation in relation to social media usage among a sample of rural South African youth.   Method: This study is descriptive by design. Primary data were collected from 447 youths domiciled within a rural community in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa using a self-administered questionnaire. The respondents to the study were all social media users. A combination of descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation analysis was used to make meaning of the data.   Results: The study found a significant positive correlation to exist in all three independent variables (knowledge sharing, habit and obligation with the dependent variable (social media usage concerning Facebook usage among the sample of South African rural youth.   Conclusion: Based on the findings of the research, recommendations and implications with regard to theory and practice are made.

  2. Usage based indicators to assess the impact of scholarly works: architecture and method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bollen, Johan [Santa Fe, NM; Van De Sompel, Herbert [Santa Fe, NM

    2012-03-13

    Although recording of usage data is common in scholarly information services, its exploitation for the creation of value-added services remains limited due to concerns regarding, among others, user privacy, data validity, and the lack of accepted standards for the representation, sharing and aggregation of usage data. A technical, standards-based architecture for sharing usage information is presented. In this architecture, OpenURL-compliant linking servers aggregate usage information of a specific user community as it navigates the distributed information environment that it has access to. This usage information is made OAI-PMH harvestable so that usage information exposed by many linking servers can be aggregated to facilitate the creation of value-added services with a reach beyond that of a single community or a single information service.

  3. Usage rate segmentation: enriching the US wine market profile

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kelley K

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Kathleen Kelley,1 Jeffrey Hyde,2 Johan Bruwer3 1Department of Plant Science, 2Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA; 3School of Marketing, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia Abstract: The purpose of this research is to enrich our knowledge of the US wine market and provide insights into how usage rate segmentation can be enhanced by select innovative perspectives of current offerings. Data were collected through a 15-minute online survey of 910 US wine drinkers randomly selected from a panel of consumers. It was found that the “super core” segment not only drank wine more frequently, but also were more likely to drink other types of alcohol presented (beer, distilled spirits, and ready-to-drink cocktails, and at a greater frequency, “at least once a week” and “about once a week”, than “marginal” drinkers. Differences between usage rate segments existed between sex and age generations. Female millennial “super core” consumers would increase wine consumption if the number of calories were reduced to fewer than 80 per 5 oz serving. Practical implications for a winery or wine retailer might include the potential to add these beverages to their product offering or bundling these beverages to create packages (allowing for mass customization, which is used often in retail and appropriately marketing these offerings to their customers. Changes that may invoke a positive response are wine made from “sustainably farmed” or “naturally farmed” grapes, and certified carbon-free wine. From an originality viewpoint, this study is the first to investigate how usage rate segmentation can be enriched by means of variable cross-extension and examination. Keywords: consumer behavior, market segmentation, usage rate, consumption frequency, USA

  4. Roflumilast Usage from 2010 to 2016

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Salvesen, Øyvind Nicolay Ulland; Davidsen, Jesper Rømhild; Pottegård, Anton

    2018-01-01

    Roflumilast, a phosphodiesterase-4-inhibitor, is marketed as add-on treatment to inhaled bronchodilators and corticosteroids in COPD patients with frequent exacerbations. Although marketed since 2010, usage pattern of roflumilast for an entire nation has not previously been explored. This study...... (OR 0.62; 95% CI 0.49-0.80). The decreasing incidence and high level of early roflumilast discontinuation could be due to lack of benefit, a low awareness of romiflulast's indication among physicians, secondary to a challenging prescribing procedure, or to adverse effects. This article is protected...

  5. Evaluation of School Library Resources, Services and Usage: A ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The paper evaluates the library resources services and usage in the International School, University of Ibadan. Data for the study was collected by means of questionnaires administered to students, staff and the librarian of the school. Interviews were conducted and records were observed to support the data gathered The ...

  6. A dynamic usage based perspective on L2 writing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verspoor, M.H.; Schmid, M.S.; Xu, X.

    The goal of this study was to explore the contribution that a dynamic usage based (DUB) perspective can bring to the establishment of objective measures to assess L2 learners' written texts and at the same time to gain insight into the dynamic process of language development. Four hundred and thirty

  7. An analysis of the inter-relationship between savings product usage ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The article maintains that improved participation in the financial services industries seems to be dependent on satisfaction levels regarding financial services product usage. Empirical evidence shows that higher usage and higher satisfaction regarding basic savings products such as savings accounts, money market ...

  8. P-value based visualization of codon usage data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fricke Wolfgang

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Two important and not yet solved problems in bacterial genome research are the identification of horizontally transferred genes and the prediction of gene expression levels. Both problems can be addressed by multivariate analysis of codon usage data. In particular dimensionality reduction methods for visualization of multivariate data have shown to be effective tools for codon usage analysis. We here propose a multidimensional scaling approach using a novel similarity measure for codon usage tables. Our probabilistic similarity measure is based on P-values derived from the well-known chi-square test for comparison of two distributions. Experimental results on four microbial genomes indicate that the new method is well-suited for the analysis of horizontal gene transfer and translational selection. As compared with the widely-used correspondence analysis, our method did not suffer from outlier sensitivity and showed a better clustering of putative alien genes in most cases.

  9. Fuzzy usage pattern in customizing public transport fleet and its maintenance options

    Science.gov (United States)

    Husniah, H.; Herdiani, L.; Kusmaya; Supriatna, A. K.

    2018-05-01

    In this paper we study a two-dimensional maintenance contract for a fleet of public transport, such as buses, shuttle etc. The buses are sold with a two-dimensional warranty. The warranty and the maintenance contract are characterized by two parameters – age and usage – which define a two-dimensional region. However, we use one dimensional approach to model these age and usage of the buses. The under-laying maintenance service contracts is the one which offers policy limit cost to protect a service provider (an agent) from over claim and to pursue the owner to do maintenance under specified cost in house. This in turn gives benefit for both the owner of the buses and the agent of service contract. The decision problem for an agent is to determine the optimal price for each option offered, and for the owner is to select the best contract option. We use a Nash game theory formulation in order to obtain a win-win solution – i.e. the optimal price for the agent and the optimal option for the owner. We further assume that there will be three different usage pattern of the buses, i.e. low, medium, and high pattern of the usage rate. In many situations it is often that we face a blur boundary between the adjacent patterns. In this paper we look for the optimal price for the agent and the optimal option for the owner, which minimizes the expected total cost while considering the fuzziness of the usage rate pattern.

  10. The Impact of Smart-phones Usage on Third-Year Undergraduates ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study investigated the impact of the use of smart-mobile phone by undergraduate students at the University of Dar es Salaam. Specifically, the study sought to establish the academic-related purposes for which university students use smart-phones and the impact of such usage on their academic life. To achieve these ...

  11. Dynamic usage of transcription start sites within core promoters

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kawaji, Hideya; Frith, Martin C; Katayama, Shintaro

    2006-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Mammalian promoters do not initiate transcription at single, well defined base pairs, but rather at multiple, alternative start sites spread across a region. We previously characterized the static structures of transcription start site usage within promoters at the base pair level......, based on large-scale sequencing of transcript 5' ends. RESULTS: In the present study we begin to explore the internal dynamics of mammalian promoters, and demonstrate that start site selection within many mouse core promoters varies among tissues. We also show that this dynamic usage of start sites...... is associated with CpG islands, broad and multimodal promoter structures, and imprinting. CONCLUSION: Our results reveal a new level of biologic complexity within promoters--fine-scale regulation of transcription starting events at the base pair level. These events are likely to be related to epigenetic...

  12. Manual on usage of the Nuclear Reaction Data File (NRDF)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1984-10-01

    In the computer in the Institute for Nuclear Study, University of Tokyo, there is set up a Nuclear Reaction Data File (NRDF) which has been built in Hokkaido University. While the data base is growing year after year, its trial usage is for the purpose of joint utilization by educational institutions. In section 1, examples of the retrieval are presented to have the user familiarize with NRDF. In section 2, the terms used in retrieval are given in table. Then, in section 3, as a summary of the examples, structure of the retrieval commands is explained. In section 4, for the retrieval results on a CRT, cautions in reading are given. Finally, in section 5, general cautions in usage of NRDF are given. (Mori, K.)

  13. A Hybrid Data Mining Approach for Credit Card Usage Behavior Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsai, Chieh-Yuan

    Credit card is one of the most popular e-payment approaches in current online e-commerce. To consolidate valuable customers, card issuers invest a lot of money to maintain good relationship with their customers. Although several efforts have been done in studying card usage motivation, few researches emphasize on credit card usage behavior analysis when time periods change from t to t+1. To address this issue, an integrated data mining approach is proposed in this paper. First, the customer profile and their transaction data at time period t are retrieved from databases. Second, a LabelSOM neural network groups customers into segments and identify critical characteristics for each group. Third, a fuzzy decision tree algorithm is used to construct usage behavior rules of interesting customer groups. Finally, these rules are used to analysis the behavior changes between time periods t and t+1. An implementation case using a practical credit card database provided by a commercial bank in Taiwan is illustrated to show the benefits of the proposed framework.

  14. Impact of the Educational Use of Facebook Group on the High School Students' Proper Usage of Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karal, Hasan; Kokoc, Mehmet; Cakir, Ozlem

    2017-01-01

    This study examines impact of the educational use of Facebook group on the high school students' proper usage of language. The study included thirty students who attend 11th grade in a high school in Trabzon, Turkey. Firstly, preliminary data about Facebook usage of students were obtained to understand the factors that motivate students to use…

  15. E-Library and Traditonal Library Resources Usage: A Comparative ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A comparative usage of e-library and traditional resources in Nigerian libraries was examined in this study. A descriptive survey method was adopted and a purposive sampling technique was used to select the sample and the process produced 125 academic, research, and public libraries in Nigeria. A total of 116 cases ...

  16. Fuzzy Clustering: An Approachfor Mining Usage Profilesfrom Web

    OpenAIRE

    Ms.Archana N. Boob; Prof. D. M. Dakhane

    2012-01-01

    Web usage mining is an application of data mining technology to mining the data of the web server log file. It can discover the browsing patterns of user and some kind of correlations between the web pages. Web usage mining provides the support for the web site design, providing personalization server and other business making decision, etc. Web mining applies the data mining, the artificial intelligence and the chart technology and so on to the web data and traces users' visiting characteris...

  17. THE EFFECT OF THE WINDOW-TO-WALL RATIO ON COOLING ENERGY USAGE AND COMFORT TEMPERATURE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aris Budhiyanto

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This study presents an investigation of the effect of building envelope, especially glass facade buildings on cooling energy usage and thermal comfort. An office building was modeled with various window-to-wall ratio (WWR using panasap glass with SC=0.58 in order to analyze the effect of the WWR addition on cooling energy usage and comfort temperature. The result suggested that the average increase of the cooling energy usage is about 5.67% per 10% WWR addition, and of the operative temperature ranges from 0.350C to 0.560C per 10% WWR addition. Moreover, the building with above 20% WWR doesn’t provide comfort temperature.

  18. Factors affecting condom usage among college students in South Central Kentucky.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kanekar, Amar; Sharma, Manoj

    The absence of consistent and correct usage of condoms increases the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV/AIDS. However, most studies done to date across the nation indicate a low usage of condoms among college students. This study identifies protective and risk factors associated with condom use among college students. The National College Health Assessment was administered to a random sample of students at a state comprehensive university in south central Kentucky. Findings revealed that among the sexually active students, approximately half never used condoms during vaginal intercourse. Further, among students engaging in oral sex, an alarmingly high proportion (95%) reported never using a condom during this act. These findings, along with differences noted in various subgroups (gender, housing, class standing), and other risk behaviors (alcohol, illicit drug use) are discussed.

  19. Gaining insights into the codon usage patterns of TP53 gene across eight mammalian species.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tarikul Huda Mazumder

    Full Text Available TP53 gene is known as the "guardian of the genome" as it plays a vital role in regulating cell cycle, cell proliferation, DNA damage repair, initiation of programmed cell death and suppressing tumor growth. Non uniform usage of synonymous codons for a specific amino acid during translation of protein known as codon usage bias (CUB is a unique property of the genome and shows species specific deviation. Analysis of codon usage bias with compositional dynamics of coding sequences has contributed to the better understanding of the molecular mechanism and the evolution of a particular gene. In this study, the complete nucleotide coding sequences of TP53 gene from eight different mammalian species were used for CUB analysis. Our results showed that the codon usage patterns in TP53 gene across different mammalian species has been influenced by GC bias particularly GC3 and a moderate bias exists in the codon usage of TP53 gene. Moreover, we observed that nature has highly favored the most over represented codon CTG for leucine amino acid but selected against the ATA codon for isoleucine in TP53 gene across all mammalian species during the course of evolution.

  20. Internet and cell phone usage patterns among young adults with intellectual disabilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenaro, Cristina; Flores, Noelia; Cruz, Maribel; Pérez, Ma Carmen; Vega, Vanessa; Torres, Víctor A

    2018-03-01

    The risks and opportunities associated with the use of technologies are of growing research interest. Patterns of technology usage illuminate these opportunities and risks. However, no studies have assessed the usage patterns (frequency, duration, and intensity) and related factors in young people with intellectual disabilities. Questionnaires on Internet and cell phone usage patterns, the Internet Over-Use Scale and the Cell-Phone Over-Use Scale, as well as the Beck Depression Inventory were filled out in one-on-one interviews of 216 youth with intellectual disabilities. Young people with disabilities make more social and recreational rather than educational use of these tools, and show higher rates of excessive use of both technologies than a comparison group of 410 young people without disabilities. Also, their overuse is associated with other unhealthy behaviors. The framework of support needs of people with disabilities should be considered to promote healthy Internet and cell phone use. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Factor structure of overall autobiographical memory usage: the directive, self and social functions revisited.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rasmussen, Anne S; Habermas, Tilmann

    2011-08-01

    According to theory, autobiographical memory serves three broad functions of overall usage: directive, self, and social. However, there is evidence to suggest that the tripartite model may be better conceptualised in terms of a four-factor model with two social functions. In the present study we examined the two models in Danish and German samples, using the Thinking About Life Experiences Questionnaire (TALE; Bluck, Alea, Habermas, & Rubin, 2005), which measures the overall usage of the three functions generalised across concrete memories. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the four-factor model and rejected the theoretical three-factor model in both samples. The results are discussed in relation to cultural differences in overall autobiographical memory usage as well as sharing versus non-sharing aspects of social remembering.

  2. A PRACTICAL ONTOLOGY FOR THE LARGE-SCALE MODELING OF SCHOLARLY ARTIFACTS AND THEIR USAGE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    RODRIGUEZ, MARKO A. [Los Alamos National Laboratory; BOLLEN, JOHAN [Los Alamos National Laboratory; VAN DE SOMPEL, HERBERT [Los Alamos National Laboratory

    2007-01-30

    The large-scale analysis of scholarly artifact usage is constrained primarily by current practices in usage data archiving, privacy issues concerned with the dissemination of usage data, and the lack of a practical ontology for modeling the usage domain. As a remedy to the third constraint, this article presents a scholarly ontology that was engineered to represent those classes for which large-scale bibliographic and usage data exists, supports usage research, and whose instantiation is scalable to the order of 50 million articles along with their associated artifacts (e.g. authors and journals) and an accompanying 1 billion usage events. The real world instantiation of the presented abstract ontology is a semantic network model of the scholarly community which lends the scholarly process to statistical analysis and computational support. They present the ontology, discuss its instantiation, and provide some example inference rules for calculating various scholarly artifact metrics.

  3. Understanding virtual world usage : A multipurpose model and empirical testing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verhagen, Tibert; Feldberg, Frans; Van Den Hooff, Bart; Meents, Selmar

    2009-01-01

    This study reports an attempt to enhance our understanding of the reasons behind virtual world usage. By providing a mixture of utilitarian and hedonic value, virtual worlds represent an emerging class of multipurpose information systems (MPIS). Previous research seems to fall short in explaining

  4. Context-Aware Usage-Based Grid Authorization Framework

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    CUI Yongquan; HONG Fan; FU Cai

    2006-01-01

    Due to inherent heterogeneity, multi-domain characteristic and highly dynamic nature, authorization is a critical concern in grid computing. This paper proposes a general authorization and access control architecture, grid usage control (GUCON), for grid computing. It's based on the next generation access control mechanism usage control (UCON) model. The GUCON Framework dynamic grants and adapts permission to the subject based on a set of contextual information collected from the system environments; while retaining the authorization by evaluating access requests based on subject attributes, object attributes and requests. In general, GUCON model provides very flexible approaches to adapt the dynamically security request. GUCON model is being implemented in our experiment prototype.

  5. Geography Teachers' Usage of the Internet for Education Purposes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sezer, Adem

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to determine geography teachers' use of the Internet for education purposes and the extent to which Turkish Internet sites can fulfill the needs and requirements of geography teachers' Internet usage. Research is carried out using the screening method. Data were collected by means of a measurement tool that was…

  6. Genome-wide comparative analysis of codon usage bias and codon context patterns among cyanobacterial genomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prabha, Ratna; Singh, Dhananjaya P; Sinha, Swati; Ahmad, Khurshid; Rai, Anil

    2017-04-01

    With the increasing accumulation of genomic sequence information of prokaryotes, the study of codon usage bias has gained renewed attention. The purpose of this study was to examine codon selection pattern within and across cyanobacterial species belonging to diverse taxonomic orders and habitats. We performed detailed comparative analysis of cyanobacterial genomes with respect to codon bias. Our analysis reflects that in cyanobacterial genomes, A- and/or T-ending codons were used predominantly in the genes whereas G- and/or C-ending codons were largely avoided. Variation in the codon context usage of cyanobacterial genes corresponded to the clustering of cyanobacteria as per their GC content. Analysis of codon adaptation index (CAI) and synonymous codon usage order (SCUO) revealed that majority of genes are associated with low codon bias. Codon selection pattern in cyanobacterial genomes reflected compositional constraints as major influencing factor. It is also identified that although, mutational constraint may play some role in affecting codon usage bias in cyanobacteria, compositional constraint in terms of genomic GC composition coupled with environmental factors affected codon selection pattern in cyanobacterial genomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Bessel function expansion to reduce the calculation time and memory usage for cylindrical computer-generated holograms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sando, Yusuke; Barada, Daisuke; Jackin, Boaz Jessie; Yatagai, Toyohiko

    2017-07-10

    This study proposes a method to reduce the calculation time and memory usage required for calculating cylindrical computer-generated holograms. The wavefront on the cylindrical observation surface is represented as a convolution integral in the 3D Fourier domain. The Fourier transformation of the kernel function involving this convolution integral is analytically performed using a Bessel function expansion. The analytical solution can drastically reduce the calculation time and the memory usage without any cost, compared with the numerical method using fast Fourier transform to Fourier transform the kernel function. In this study, we present the analytical derivation, the efficient calculation of Bessel function series, and a numerical simulation. Furthermore, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the analytical solution through comparisons of calculation time and memory usage.

  8. ECONOMIC QUESTIONS OF LAND USAGE – SCARCITY, SUSTAINABILITY

    OpenAIRE

    Magda, Robert

    2012-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to show the economic importance of land usage. This topic is important because land is the basis of industrial and agricultural production, as well as energy and environmental security. The focus of the analysis is the relationship between land usage and scarcity and sustainability.

  9. Possibilities of radiation sterilization for re-usage of medical devices in the medical management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tabei, Masae; Kudo, Hisaaki; Katsumura, Yosuke

    2004-01-01

    The rule for re-usage of medical single-use devices was established in US in 2000 based on the concept of Managed Care (total management of medicare on cost, quality and patients' satisfaction) and 20-30% of those devices are re-used at present. The re-usage is conducted in not only US but also Canada, Denmark, UK, India, China etc. Standing on the viewpoint, this paper described and discussed the possibility of re-usage of the single-use devices now prohibited in Japan, possible re-sterilization, possible re-usage of hollow fiber-type hemodialyzer following γ-ray sterilization with consideration for D-values against bacteria and viruses, cost estimation of electron beam sterilization for re-usage, and radiation sterilization of waste water and plastic materials. Radiation sterilization for re-usage of medical devices was concluded possible if their materials and records for their usage processes are proper, and should be conducted in a large scale after sufficient examinations by industries/government/academia. (N.I.)

  10. A pre-launch exploration of customer acceptance of usage based vehicle insurance policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. Rejikumar

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available This study was designed against the backdrop of observations that the motor insurance pricing in India requires radical innovations to become more acceptable, fair, and affordable to customers. Customer perceptions about usage based pricing were collected using a structured questionnaire. The model containing critical variables was validated to identify statistically significant linkages among perceived individual benefits, perceived social benefits, perceived value, perceived easiness to understand and acceptance intentions. The perceived risk to privacy was not found to influence the acceptance intentions of the customer. The study concluded that customers are likely to accept the concept of usage based pricing once implemented.

  11. Studies on the distribution, sale, handling and usage of agrochemicals in Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Eastern regions of Ghana

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Osafo-Acquaah, S.; Frimpong, E.

    1997-01-01

    Studies were carried on the distribution, sale, handling and usage and agrochemicals in 19 major towns located in three regions noted for their intensive agricultural activities and covering 500,000 hectares of land area in Ghana. The most prevalent of the agrochemicals were insecticides (52%) followed by herbicides (28%) and fungicides (16%). Of these the organophosphates constituted 24% and the organochlorines 6% in terms of the total numbers of pesticides sold, though lindane and endosulfan were among the insecticides most frequently used by farmers. The fungicide, copper oxychloride as ''Kocide'', and the insecticide, λ cyhalothrin as ''Karate'', with 39% and 22% respectively of the sales by volume, were found to be the most widely used agrochemicals. Most of the merchants of agrochemicals and the farmers had only primary school education and had very little knowledge on the handling and safety aspects of the use of agrochemicals. The Extension Service to the farmers was inadequate and the farmers depended largely on the agrochemicals merchants for information on pesticide usage. (author). 9 tabs

  12. Recall of mobile phone usage and laterality in young people: The multinational Mobi-Expo study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goedhart, Geertje; van Wel, Luuk; Langer, Chelsea E; de Llobet Viladoms, Patricia; Wiart, Joe; Hours, Martine; Kromhout, Hans; Benke, Geza; Bouka, Evdoxia; Bruchim, Revital; Choi, Kyung-Hwa; Eng, Amanda; Ha, Mina; Huss, Anke; Kiyohara, Kosuke; Kojimahara, Noriko; Krewski, Daniel; Lacour, Brigitte; 't Mannetje, Andrea; Maule, Milena; Migliore, Enrica; Mohipp, Charmaine; Momoli, Franco; Petridou, Eleni Th; Radon, Katja; Remen, Thomas; Sadetzki, Siegal; Sim, Malcolm; Weinmann, Tobias; Cardis, Elisabeth; Vrijheid, Martine; Vermeulen, Roel

    2018-08-01

    To study recall of mobile phone usage, including laterality and hands-free use, in young people. Actual mobile phone use was recorded among volunteers aged between 10 and 24 years from 12 countries by the software application XMobiSense and was compared with self-reported mobile phone use at 6 and 18 months after using the application. The application recorded number and duration of voice calls, number of text messages, amount of data transfer, laterality (% of call time the phone was near the right or left side of the head, or neither), and hands-free usage. After data cleaning, 466 participants were available for the main analyses (recorded vs. self-reported phone use after 6 months). Participants were on average 18.6 years old (IQR 15.2-21.8 years). The Spearman correlation coefficients between recorded and self-reported (after 6 months) number and duration of voice calls were 0.68 and 0.65, respectively. Number of calls was on average underestimated by the participants (adjusted geometric mean ratio (GMR) self-report/recorded = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.47-0.58), while duration of calls was overestimated (GMR=1.32, 95%, CI = 1.15-1.52). The ratios significantly differed by country, age, maternal educational level, and level of reported phone use, but not by time of the interview (6 vs. 18 months). Individuals who reported low mobile phone use underestimated their use, while individuals who reported the highest level of phone use were more likely to overestimate their use. Individuals who reported using the phone mainly on the right side of the head used it more on the right (71.1%) than the left (28.9%) side. Self-reported left side users, however, used the phone only slightly more on the left (53.3%) than the right (46.7%) side. Recorded percentage hands-free use (headset, speaker mode, Bluetooth) increased with increasing self-reported frequency of hands-free device usage. Frequent (≥50% of call time) reported headset or speaker mode use corresponded with 17

  13. Codon usage regulates protein structure and function by affecting translation elongation speed in Drosophila cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Fangzhou; Yu, Chien-Hung; Liu, Yi

    2017-08-21

    Codon usage biases are found in all eukaryotic and prokaryotic genomes and have been proposed to regulate different aspects of translation process. Codon optimality has been shown to regulate translation elongation speed in fungal systems, but its effect on translation elongation speed in animal systems is not clear. In this study, we used a Drosophila cell-free translation system to directly compare the velocity of mRNA translation elongation. Our results demonstrate that optimal synonymous codons speed up translation elongation while non-optimal codons slow down translation. In addition, codon usage regulates ribosome movement and stalling on mRNA during translation. Finally, we show that codon usage affects protein structure and function in vitro and in Drosophila cells. Together, these results suggest that the effect of codon usage on translation elongation speed is a conserved mechanism from fungi to animals that can affect protein folding in eukaryotic organisms. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  14. Validity of questionnaire self-reports on computer, mouse and keyboard usage during a four-week period

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mikkelsen, S.; Vilstrup, Imogen; Lassen, C. F.

    2007-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To examine the validity and potential biases in self-reports of computer, mouse and keyboard usage times, compared with objective recordings. METHODS: A study population of 1211 people was asked in a questionnaire to estimate the average time they had worked with computer, mouse...... and keyboard during the past four working weeks. During the same period, a software program recorded these activities objectively. The study was part of a one-year follow-up study from 2000-1 of musculoskeletal outcomes among Danish computer workers. RESULTS: Self-reports on computer, mouse and keyboard usage...... times were positively associated with objectively measured activity, but the validity was low. Self-reports explained only between a quarter and a third of the variance of objectively measured activity, and were even lower for one measure (keyboard time). Self-reports overestimated usage times...

  15. Genomic composition factors affect codon usage in porcine genome

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    j.khobondo

    2015-01-28

    Jan 28, 2015 ... The mutational bias hypothesis predicted that genes in the GC-rich regions of the genome ... observed codon divided by its expected frequency at equilibrium. An RSCU value close to 1 indicates lack of bias, ..... study our results points to preferred usage of both C or G and A or T at the synonyms sites as ...

  16. The influence of farmer perception on pesticide usage for ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A case study conducted in eastern Uganda revealed that: (a) pesticide usage depended on farmer production goal, (b) change from one pesticide to another depended on ... Ces résults ont fermément montré que les recommendations de la gestion des pestes aux fermiers doivent prendre en considération la perception des ...

  17. Codon Usage Bias and Determining Forces in Taenia solium Genome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Xing; Ma, Xusheng; Luo, Xuenong; Ling, Houjun; Zhang, Xichen; Cai, Xuepeng

    2015-12-01

    The tapeworm Taenia solium is an important human zoonotic parasite that causes great economic loss and also endangers public health. At present, an effective vaccine that will prevent infection and chemotherapy without any side effect remains to be developed. In this study, codon usage patterns in the T. solium genome were examined through 8,484 protein-coding genes. Neutrality analysis showed that T. solium had a narrow GC distribution, and a significant correlation was observed between GC12 and GC3. Examination of an NC (ENC vs GC3s)-plot showed a few genes on or close to the expected curve, but the majority of points with low-ENC (the effective number of codons) values were detected below the expected curve, suggesting that mutational bias plays a major role in shaping codon usage. The Parity Rule 2 plot (PR2) analysis showed that GC and AT were not used proportionally. We also identified 26 optimal codons in the T. solium genome, all of which ended with either a G or C residue. These optimal codons in the T. solium genome are likely consistent with tRNAs that are highly expressed in the cell, suggesting that mutational and translational selection forces are probably driving factors of codon usage bias in the T. solium genome.

  18. The role of demographic and motivational factors on mobile commerce usage activities in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Malcolm Cullen

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Many studies have examined the mobile commerce phenomenon and most of these have focused on understanding the organisational and environmental factors that affect its adoption. Few have examined how an individual’s characteristics and their perceived motivational appetite affect their mobile commerce usage and specifically the activities they engage in.   Objectives: This study examines the role of demographics (individuals’ characteristics and motivational factors on mobile commerce usage activities from the South African perspective.   Method: An objective approach and a positivistic stance were followed. The research model and instrument from earlier studies by Chong (2013a were contextualised to suit this study. Data collection was done through an online questionnaire, 88 responses were received and 81 used for data analysis.   Results: The findings show that age is significantly related to mobile commerce transactions, and one’s education status influences the following mobile commerce usage activities: transactions and location-based services. One’s gender influences how one uses mobile commerce. A significant relationship between all three motivational variables and mobile commerce usage activities is evident.   Conclusion: The findings provide the financial services industry and providers of mobile commerce offerings with a better understanding of the relationships between customer demographics and the mobile commerce activities they engage in. An additional variable of customer income has been identified for future studies to better understand the relationship.

  19. Usage evaluation of the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) among Brazilian physical therapists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elkins, Mark R; Moseley, Anne M; Pinto, Rafael Z

    2015-01-01

    It is unclear whether the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) is widely and equally used by physical therapists in Brazil. As PEDro is considered a key resource to support evidence-based physical therapy, analyses of PEDro usage could reflect the extent of dissemination of evidence-based practice. To describe the usage of PEDro among the five regions of the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) and, in more detail, in the South American region and Brazil over a 5-year period. PEDro home-page sessions and the number of searches performed were logged for a 5-year period (2010-2014). Absolute usage and relative usage were calculated for each region of the WCPT, each country in the South American region of WCPT, and each Regional Council (CREFITO) in Brazil. Europe had the highest absolute and relative usage among the five regions of the WCPT (971 searches per million-population per year), with the South American region ranked 4th in absolute terms and 3rd in relative terms (486). Within the South American region, Brazil accounted for nearly 60% of searches (755). Analysis at a national level revealed that usage per physical therapist in Brazil is very low across all CREFITOs. The highest usage occurred in CREFITO 6 with 1.3 searches per physical therapist per year. PEDro is not widely and equally used throughout Brazil. Strategies to promote PEDro and to make PEDro more accessible to physical therapists speaking Portuguese are needed.

  20. Bisphosphonate: Brief Review of Its Development for Usage in Dentistry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tita Ratya Utari

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Bisphosphonate (BP is a class of drug that prevent the loss of bone mass. It inhibits the resorption of bone by encouraging osteoclast to undergo apoptosis. Considering that oral diseases and dental procedures may lead to teeth instability whereas alveolar bone is the main tooth supporting tissue, forceful indication of this drug is for preventing and minimizing bone resorption following oral surgery and relapse movement in orthodontic treatment. Clinical use of BP in dentistry is limited by risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ and of its systemic effects such as an increase of the bone mineral density in another bone area. Topical application with local effect would seem the choice of administration route for usage in dentistry. Until recently, no clinical usage of topical BP has been studied, however some experimental laboratory studies proved that this drug would be beneficial in a wide scope of dental treatments.DOI: 10.14693/jdi.v18i1.154

  1. Latent Class Models in action: bridging social capital & Internet usage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neves, Barbara Barbosa; Fonseca, Jaime R S

    2015-03-01

    This paper explores how Latent Class Models (LCM) can be applied in social research, when the basic assumptions of regression models cannot be validated. We examine the usefulness of this method with data collected from a study on the relationship between bridging social capital and the Internet. Social capital is defined here as the resources that are potentially available in one's social ties. Bridging is a dimension of social capital, usually related to weak ties (acquaintances), and a source of instrumental resources such as information. The study surveyed a stratified random sample of 417 inhabitants of Lisbon, Portugal. We used LCM to create the variable bridging social capital, but also to estimate the relationship between bridging social capital and Internet usage when we encountered convergence problems with the logistic regression analysis. We conclude by showing a positive relationship between bridging and Internet usage, and by discussing the potential of LCM for social science research. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. The relation between social network site usage and loneliness and mental health in community-dwelling older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aarts, S; Peek, S T M; Wouters, E J M

    2015-09-01

    Loneliness is expected to become an even bigger social problem in the upcoming decades, because of the growing number of older adults. It has been argued that the use of social network sites can aid in decreasing loneliness and improving mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine whether and how social network sites usage is related to loneliness and mental health in community-dwelling older adults. The study population included community-dwelling older adults aged 60 and over residing in the Netherlands (n = 626) collected through the LISS panel (www.lissdata.nl). Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses, adjusted for potentially important confounders, were conducted in order to investigate the relation between social network sites usage and (emotional and social) loneliness and mental health. More than half of the individuals (56.2%) reported to use social network sites at least several times per week. Social network sites usage appeared unrelated to loneliness in general, and to emotional and social loneliness in particular. Social network sites usage also appeared unrelated to mental health. Several significant associations between related factors and the outcomes at hand were detected. In this sample, which was representative for the Dutch population, social network sites usage was unrelated to loneliness and/or mental health. The results indicate that a simple association between social network site usage and loneliness and mental health as such, cannot automatically be assumed in community-dwelling older adults. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  3. Usage of purchased self-tests for HIV and sexually transmitted infections in Amsterdam, the Netherlands: results of population-based and serial cross-sectional studies among the general population and sexual risk groups

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bil, Janneke P.; Prins, Maria; Stolte, Ineke G.; Dijkshoorn, Henriëtte; Heijman, Titia; Snijder, Marieke B.; Davidovich, Udi; Zuure, Freke R.

    2017-01-01

    Objectives There are limited data on the usage of commercially bought self-tests for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Therefore, we studied HIV/STI self-test usage and its determinants among the general population and sexual risk groups between 2007 and 2015 in Amsterdam, the

  4. Questionnaire survey to assess the pattern and characteristics of cell-phone usage among Indian oncologists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munshi, Anusheel; Dutta, Debanarayan; Tike, Pramod; Agarwal, Jai Prakash

    2016-01-01

    Obtain baseline data of cell-phone usage in the medical (MO), surgical (SO) and radiation (RO) oncology community practicing in India. Indigenously prepared cell-phone usage related questionnaire was used in the present study after approval by the Institutional Ethics/Scientific Committees. The questionnaire had 41 items and was made to assess the cell-phone usage parameters, utility in clinical practice, awareness, and to compare parameters between oncology specialties. Between November 2009 and January 2010, the questionnaire was sent as an E-mail attachment to 200 oncologists in India. In all, 123 responses were received (61% responders); 84 (68.3%) were RO. The median age of responders was 35 years. Overall, 80% felt handicapped without cell-phone. The Mean cell-phone score, an index to assess overall usefulness over a score of 1-10, was 6.46 (median 7, standard deviation 1.709). There was no significant difference between RO, MO and SO in duration of usage (P = 0.235), number of cell-phones (P = 0.496), call duration per day (P = 0.490) and dependence on cell-phone (P = 0.574). Age of starting cell-phone usage was earlier in RO (P = 0.086). Professional usage was significantly more by MO and SO compared to RO (P cell-phone hazards compared to RO (P cell-phones a useful tool in patient care. More RO are aware of potential cell-phone hazards compared to non-RO's.

  5. Online device usage habits and emotional well-being in net generation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nur Demirbas Celik

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this research is to examine the effect of online device usage habit of high school students on their emotional well-being, using a sample 308 Turkish high school students who aged from 15 to 19 in Istanbul in 2014 participated in this research. PIF is applied in order to determine the aims of students in using online devices. There are questions in PIF upon the gender of the students, online devices they own, time they on these online devices, the usage aims of these devices. PANAS is used in order to measure the emotional well-being of the students. PANAS has got two sub-dimensions as positive affect and negative affect. Usage time of the online devices creates a significant difference on negative affect score. The usage of this devices with the aim of homework/project creates a significant difference in positive and negative affect scores; usage of these devices with the aim of game and entertainment creates a significant difference in negative affect score and the usage of these devices with the aim of news/newspaper creates a significant difference in positive affect score. The result of the research discovered that the time and aim of online device use are significant indicators for high school students’ emotional well-being. The result of this research shows that high school students mostly use smart phones among online devices. If the future researches are carried out upon smart phones, this may provide information upon how are the adolescents affected from being grown up with the technology. On the other hand as online devices have become widespread rapidly, their usage aims are versatile, children grow up with technology show that more researches are needed in this field.

  6. Codon usage vis-a-vis start and stop codon context analysis of three ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    To understand the variation in genomic composition and its effect on codon usage, we performed the comparative analysis of codon usage and nucleotide usage in the genes of three dicots, Glycine max, Arabidopsis thaliana and Medicago truncatula. The dicot genes were found to be A/T rich and have predominantly ...

  7. Vocal communication in a complex multi-level society: constrained acoustic structure and flexible call usage in Guinea baboons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maciej, Peter; Ndao, Ibrahima; Hammerschmidt, Kurt; Fischer, Julia

    2013-09-23

    To understand the evolution of acoustic communication in animals, it is important to distinguish between the structure and the usage of vocal signals, since both aspects are subject to different constraints. In terrestrial mammals, the structure of calls is largely innate, while individuals have a greater ability to actively initiate or withhold calls. In closely related taxa, one would therefore predict a higher flexibility in call usage compared to call structure. In the present study, we investigated the vocal repertoire of free living Guinea baboons (Papio papio) and examined the structure and usage of the animals' vocal signals. Guinea baboons live in a complex multi-level social organization and exhibit a largely tolerant and affiliative social style, contrary to most other baboon taxa. To classify the vocal repertoire of male and female Guinea baboons, cluster analyses were used and focal observations were conducted to assess the usage of vocal signals in the particular contexts. In general, the vocal repertoire of Guinea baboons largely corresponded to the vocal repertoire other baboon taxa. The usage of calls, however, differed considerably from other baboon taxa and corresponded with the specific characteristics of the Guinea baboons' social behaviour. While Guinea baboons showed a diminished usage of contest and display vocalizations (a common pattern observed in chacma baboons), they frequently used vocal signals during affiliative and greeting interactions. Our study shows that the call structure of primates is largely unaffected by the species' social system (including grouping patterns and social interactions), while the usage of calls can be more flexibly adjusted, reflecting the quality of social interactions of the individuals. Our results support the view that the primary function of social signals is to regulate social interactions, and therefore the degree of competition and cooperation may be more important to explain variation in call usage

  8. Decay-usage scheduling in multiprocessors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Epema, D.H.J.

    1998-01-01

    Decay-usage scheduling is a priority-aging time-sharing scheduling policy capable of dealing with a workload of both interactive and batch jobs by decreasing the priority of a job when it acquires CPU time, and by increasing its priority when it does not use the (a) CPU. In this article we deal with

  9. Problems of Usage Labelling in English Lexicography Probleme van gebruiksetikettering in die Engelse leksikografie.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lydia Namatende Sakwa

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available

    Landau (1991: 217 stipulates that 'usage refers to any or all uses of language'. It is the study of good, correct, or standard uses of language as distinguished from bad, incorrect, and nonstandard uses of language. Usage may also include the study of any limitations on the method of use, whether geographic, social or temporal. Basically it alerts users that certain terms should not be uncritically employed in communication. This article discusses the treatment of usage in English lexicography. It analyses the labelling practices in six monolingual English dictionaries namely: the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD, the Macmillan English Dictionary (MED, the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE, the Cambridge International Dictionary of English (CIDE, the World Book Dictionary (WBD and the New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (NSOED. Discrepancies in the contextual usage labelling in the dictionaries were established and are discussed.

     

    Landau (1991: 217 stel dit dat "usage refers to any or all uses of language". Dit is die studie van die goeie, juiste of standaard gebruike van taal soos onderskei van die swak, onjuiste en niestandaard gebruike van taal. Gebruik mag ook die studie van enige beperkinge op die gebruikswyse behels, hetsy geografies, sosiaal of temporeel. Dit waarsku gebruikers dat sekere terme nie onkrities in kommunikasie gebruik behoort te word nie. Hierdie artikel bespreek die behandeling van taalgebruikskwessies in die Engelse leksikografie. Dit ontleed die etiketteringswerkwyses in ses eentalige Engelse woordeboeke naamlik: die Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OADL, die Macmillan English Dictionary (MED, die Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE, die Cambridge International Dictionary of English (CIDE, die World Book Dictionary

  10. The Usage of ROOT in the LHCb Online System

    CERN Document Server

    Frank, M

    2013-01-01

    The online system in the LHCb experiment uses ROOT in various areas. ROOT is used in all processes participating in event data processing. The degree of usage varies quite significantly - from the very rudimentary usage of the ROOT plugin mechanism to fully equipped applications filling histograms with data describing online the detector status for monitoring purposes and the display of these data. An increasing number of processes uses the python binding offered by PyROOT to configure these processes. PyROOT also allows to efficiently and quickly manipulate certain corners of the experiment controls system where necessary. Beside these areas, where the LHCb online team advocated the usage of ROOT, in other areas other technologies were chosen. These deliberate choices like e.g. in the area of persistency of event data from particle collisions will be discussed.

  11. A study to assess the usage of MCR footwear in West Bengal, India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lal, Vivek; Sarkar, Debajit; Das, Sukumar; Mahato, Mukunda; Srinivas, Govindrajulu

    2015-09-01

    The routine use of appropriate footwear is an important intervention to prevent disability in leprosy. We conducted a study to assess utilisation of MCR footwear and observe the condition of footwear. Fifty-six persons affected by leprosy who had been provided MCR footwear in the preceding 3 years were paid home visit and administered a semi-structured interview schedule. Although a total of 30 participants reported using special footwear currently, only 10 reported usage during participation in social events. On observation, 16 pairs were found to be in an unusable condition owing to foot deformity and another 14 pairs in poor condition. In order to ensure greater utilisation of special footwear, the National Programme may seek local solutions through engagement of cobblers and shoemakers with appropriate training in customisation. Persons affected by leprosy should be empowered to appreciate the benefits of special footwear and to take care of themselves, including taking responsibility for using their footwear.

  12. Codon Usage Patterns of Tyrosinase Genes in Clonorchis sinensis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bae, Young-An

    2017-04-01

    Codon usage bias (CUB) is a unique property of genomes and has contributed to the better understanding of the molecular features and the evolution processes of particular gene. In this study, genetic indices associated with CUB, including relative synonymous codon usage and effective numbers of codons, as well as the nucleotide composition, were investigated in the Clonorchis sinensis tyrosinase genes and their platyhelminth orthologs, which play an important role in the eggshell formation. The relative synonymous codon usage patterns substantially differed among tyrosinase genes examined. In a neutrality analysis, the correlation between GC 12 and GC 3 was statistically significant, and the regression line had a relatively gradual slope (0.218). NC-plot, i.e., GC 3 vs effective number of codons (ENC), showed that most of the tyrosinase genes were below the expected curve. The codon adaptation index (CAI) values of the platyhelminth tyrosinases had a narrow distribution between 0.685/0.714 and 0.797/0.837, and were negatively correlated with their ENC. Taken together, these results suggested that CUB in the tyrosinase genes seemed to be basically governed by selection pressures rather than mutational bias, although the latter factor provided an additional force in shaping CUB of the C. sinensis and Opisthorchis viverrini genes. It was also apparent that the equilibrium point between selection pressure and mutational bias is much more inclined to selection pressure in highly expressed C. sinensis genes, than in poorly expressed genes.

  13. Résultats "Développer les usages des logiciels collaboratifs"

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ologeanu-Taddei, R.; Pascal, A.; Tchobanian, R.; Fallery, B.; Bondarouk, Tatiana; Ruel, Hubertus Johannes Maria; Jongejan, J.; Oiry, E.

    2013-01-01

    Dans la présentation de ces résultats, nous allons tout d’abord souligner que, bien que nous ayons fait le choix d’analyser un outil unique — LiveLink — afin de pouvoir comparer les usages identifiés dans nos différents cas, nous nous sommes retrouvés face à une très grande hétérogénéité des usages.

  14. Selective forces and mutational biases drive stop codon usage in the human genome: a comparison with sense codon usage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trotta, Edoardo

    2016-05-17

    The three stop codons UAA, UAG, and UGA signal the termination of mRNA translation. As a result of a mechanism that is not adequately understood, they are normally used with unequal frequencies. In this work, we showed that selective forces and mutational biases drive stop codon usage in the human genome. We found that, in respect to sense codons, stop codon usage was affected by stronger selective forces but was less influenced by neutral mutational biases. UGA is the most frequent termination codon in human genome. However, UAA was the preferred stop codon in genes with high breadth of expression, high level of expression, AT-rich coding sequences, housekeeping functions, and in gene ontology categories with the largest deviation from expected stop codon usage. Selective forces associated with the breadth and the level of expression favoured AT-rich sequences in the mRNA region including the stop site and its proximal 3'-UTR, but acted with scarce effects on sense codons, generating two regions, upstream and downstream of the stop codon, with strongly different base composition. By favouring low levels of GC-content, selection promoted labile local secondary structures at the stop site and its proximal 3'-UTR. The compositional and structural context favoured by selection was surprisingly emphasized in the class of ribosomal proteins and was consistent with sequence elements that increase the efficiency of translational termination. Stop codons were also heterogeneously distributed among chromosomes by a mechanism that was strongly correlated with the GC-content of coding sequences. In human genome, the nucleotide composition and the thermodynamic stability of stop codon site and its proximal 3'-UTR are correlated with the GC-content of coding sequences and with the breadth and the level of gene expression. In highly expressed genes stop codon usage is compositionally and structurally consistent with highly efficient translation termination signals.

  15. Red Storm usage model :Version 1.12.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jefferson, Karen L.; Sturtevant, Judith E.

    2005-12-01

    Red Storm is an Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) funded massively parallel supercomputer located at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). The Red Storm Usage Model (RSUM) documents the capabilities and the environment provided for the FY05 Tri-Lab Level II Limited Availability Red Storm User Environment Milestone and the FY05 SNL Level II Limited Availability Red Storm Platform Milestone. This document describes specific capabilities, tools, and procedures to support both local and remote users. The model is focused on the needs of the ASC user working in the secure computing environments at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and SNL. Additionally, the Red Storm Usage Model maps the provided capabilities to the Tri-Lab ASC Computing Environment (ACE) requirements. The ACE requirements reflect the high performance computing requirements for the ASC community and have been updated in FY05 to reflect the community's needs. For each section of the RSUM, Appendix I maps the ACE requirements to the Limited Availability User Environment capabilities and includes a description of ACE requirements met and those requirements that are not met in that particular section. The Red Storm Usage Model, along with the ACE mappings, has been issued and vetted throughout the Tri-Lab community.

  16. Comparative evolutionary genomics of Corynebacterium with special reference to codon and amino acid usage diversities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pal, Shilpee; Sarkar, Indrani; Roy, Ayan; Mohapatra, Pradeep K Das; Mondal, Keshab C; Sen, Arnab

    2018-02-01

    The present study has been aimed to the comparative analysis of high GC composition containing Corynebacterium genomes and their evolutionary study by exploring codon and amino acid usage patterns. Phylogenetic study by MLSA approach, indel analysis and BLAST matrix differentiated Corynebacterium species in pathogenic and non-pathogenic clusters. Correspondence analysis on synonymous codon usage reveals that, gene length, optimal codon frequencies and tRNA abundance affect the gene expression of Corynebacterium. Most of the optimal codons as well as translationally optimal codons are C ending i.e. RNY (R-purine, N-any nucleotide base, and Y-pyrimidine) and reveal translational selection pressure on codon bias of Corynebacterium. Amino acid usage is affected by hydrophobicity, aromaticity, protein energy cost, etc. Highly expressed genes followed the cost minimization hypothesis and are less diverged at their synonymous positions of codons. Functional analysis of core genes shows significant difference in pathogenic and non-pathogenic Corynebacterium. The study reveals close relationship between non-pathogenic and opportunistic pathogenic Corynebaterium as well as between molecular evolution and survival niches of the organism.

  17. Sparing carbapenem usage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, A Peter R

    2017-09-01

    Carbapenem resistance in Gram-negative bacteria is increasing in many countries and use of carbapenems and antibiotics to which resistance is linked should be reduced to slow its emergence. There are no directly equivalent antibiotics and the alternatives are less well supported by clinical trials. The few new agents are expensive. To provide guidance on strategies to reduce carbapenem usage. A literature review was performed as described in the BSAC/HIS/BIA/IPS Joint Working Party on Multiresistant Gram-negative Infection Report. Older agents remain active against some of the pathogens, although expectations of broad-spectrum cover for empirical treatment have risen. Education, expert advice on treatment and antimicrobial stewardship can produce significant reductions in use. More agents may need to be introduced onto the antibiotic formulary of the hospital, despite the poor quality of scientific studies in some cases. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  18. Manufacturer Usage Description Specification Implementation

    OpenAIRE

    Srinivasan, Kaushik

    2017-01-01

    Manufacturer Usage Description Specification (MUDS) is aframework under RFC development that aims to automate Internet access control rules for IoT devices . These access controls prevent malicious IoT devices from attacking other devices and also protect the IoT devices from being attacked by other devices.We are implementing this framework and trying to improve its security.

  19. Effects of Perceived Values on Continuance Usage of Facebook

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Heng-Li; Lai, Cheng-Yu

    Facebook is one of the renowned social networking sites (SNS) on the Internet. As compared to the conventional SNS, it not only provides social interaction features, but has more entertainment elements on the website. Many Facebook users use the website for the purpose of playing the embedded games rather than use its original social features, i.e., individual's perceived values about the usage of Facebook may have changed. Consequently, it is an interesting issue to know individual's perceived values and satisfaction toward continuance usage of the new style SNS like Facebook. Based on prior literatures, three different value orientations, including social orientation, entertainment orientation and fashion orientation, were adopted in this study to examine their influence on individual's satisfaction and continuance intention to use Facebook. An empirical survey and partial least squares (PLS) technology was utilized to test the proposed hypotheses. Several empirical results were found. Both academic and practical implications are discussed.

  20. Multimedia Usage among Islamic Education Lecturers at Higher Education Institution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamzah, Mohd Isa; Rinaldi; Razak, Khadijah Abdul

    2014-01-01

    This study aims to examine the level of multimedia usage among Islamic education lecturers at higher education institutions in West Sumatera, Indonesia. The participants were chosen from three types of higher institutions by using stratified random sampling. The data was collected from 250 students using questionnaires. The findings showed that…

  1. Duration of slip-resistant shoe usage and the rate of slipping in limited-service restaurants: results from a prospective and crossover study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verma, Santosh K; Zhao, Zhe; Courtney, Theodore K; Chang, Wen-Ruey; Lombardi, David A; Huang, Yueng-Hsiang; Brennan, Melanye J; Perry, Melissa J

    2014-01-01

    Several studies have indicated that slip-resistant shoes may have a positive effect on reducing the risk of slips and falls, a leading cause of injury at work. Few studies, however, have examined how duration of shoe usage affects their slip-resistance properties. This study examined the association between the duration of slip-resistant shoes usage and the self-reported rate of slipping in limited-service restaurant workers. A total of 475 workers from 36 limited-service restaurants in the USA were recruited to participate in a 12-week prospective study of workplace slipping. Of the 475 participants, 83 reported changing to a new pair of shoes at least once during the 12-week follow-up. The results show that slip-resistant shoes worn for less than six months were moderately more effective than those worn for more than six months. Changing to a new pair of shoes among those wearing slip-resistant shoes at baseline was associated with a 55% reduction in the rate of slipping (RR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.23-0.89). Further research is needed to develop criteria for the replacement of slip-resistant shoes.

  2. Risk Assessment Generated by Usage of ICT and Information Security Measures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ilie TAMAS

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Information societies involve the usage of information technology and communications (ITC on a large scale. The dependence on ITC is an unquestionable problem in the present, because we assist to a generality of computers usage in all economic and social life activities. That is why organization information systems became accessible at the global level and there are permanently open for a quick exchange of information between different categories of users located by different geographical nods. The ITC usage involves the existing of some risks that should be known, evaluation and based on these, we must have information systems security measure. We consider that the risk is an indicator very important that must be permanently assess in the usage process of the information system based on ITC. Risk management suppose a permanently evaluation of these problems and also restrain by some practical actions who goes to the decrease of its effects. From the expose point of view, in this paper work it is presented the results of research based on specialty literature and current cases from practical activities, regarding the risks of ITC usage and their diminishing measure. There are distinguished the main factors (threat, vulnerability and impact who affect the information risk and on the other way, diminishing measure of the action to these factors for optimum working of an economic and social organism who use ITC. We consider that through proposed measures we assume safety in design process, implement and usage of the informational systems based on ITC.

  3. Comprehensive efficiency analysis of supercomputer resource usage based on system monitoring data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mamaeva, A. A.; Shaykhislamov, D. I.; Voevodin, Vad V.; Zhumatiy, S. A.

    2018-03-01

    One of the main problems of modern supercomputers is the low efficiency of their usage, which leads to the significant idle time of computational resources, and, in turn, to the decrease in speed of scientific research. This paper presents three approaches to study the efficiency of supercomputer resource usage based on monitoring data analysis. The first approach performs an analysis of computing resource utilization statistics, which allows to identify different typical classes of programs, to explore the structure of the supercomputer job flow and to track overall trends in the supercomputer behavior. The second approach is aimed specifically at analyzing off-the-shelf software packages and libraries installed on the supercomputer, since efficiency of their usage is becoming an increasingly important factor for the efficient functioning of the entire supercomputer. Within the third approach, abnormal jobs – jobs with abnormally inefficient behavior that differs significantly from the standard behavior of the overall supercomputer job flow – are being detected. For each approach, the results obtained in practice in the Supercomputer Center of Moscow State University are demonstrated.

  4. Prevalence of internet and social media usage in orthopedic surgery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curry, Emily; Li, Xinning; Nguyen, Joseph; Matzkin, Elizabeth

    2014-08-08

    Prior studies in other specialties have shown that social networking and Internet usage has become an increasingly important means of patient communication and referral. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of Internet or social media usage in new patients referred to a major academic orthopedics center and to identify new avenues to optimize patient recruitment and communication. New patients were surveyed (n=752) between December 2012 to January 2013 in a major academic orthopaedic center to complete a 15-item questionnaire including social media and Internet usage information. Data was collected for all orthopaedic sub-specialties and statistical analysis was performed. Fifty percent of patients use social networking sites, such as Facebook. Sports medicine patients tend to be higher social networking users (35.9%) relative to other services (9.8-17.9%) and was statistically higher when compared to the joints/tumor service (Psocial media. Patients that travelled between 120 to 180 miles from the hospital for their visits were significantly more likely to be social media users, as were patients that did research on their condition prior to their new patient appointment. We conclude that orthopedic patients who use social media/Internet are more likely to be younger, researched their condition prior to their appointment and undergo a longer average day's travel (120-180 miles) to see a physician. In an increasingly competitive market, surgeons with younger patient populations will need to utilize social networking and the Internet to capture new patient referrals.

  5. Brand Loyalty: A Study of the Prevalent Usage of Celebrity Endorsement in Cosmetics Advertising.

    OpenAIRE

    Löfgren, Emma; Li, Juan

    2010-01-01

    The usage of celebrity endorsements has been confirmed to result in more favorableadvertisement ratings and positive product evolutions (Dean and Biswas, 2001). It has evenbecome one of the most popular forms of retail advertising (Choi and Rifon, 2007). Marketershave heavily relied on celebrity endorsement, because they believe in its positive impact ofassisting in improvement of brand awareness, brand equity, and even financial returns.Celebrities are easily chosen by marketers to peddle th...

  6. Characterizing the Development and Usage of Diagrams in Embedded Software Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Akdur, Deniz; Demirörs, Onur; Garousi, V.

    2017-01-01

    To cope with growing complexity of embedded software, modeling has become popular. The usage of models in embedded software industry and the relevant practices usually vary since the purposes of diagram development and usage differ. Since a large variety of software modeling practices used in

  7. Strategic toolkits: seniority, usage and performance in the German SME machinery and equipment sector

    OpenAIRE

    Wagner, R.; Paton, R.A.

    2014-01-01

    This paper examines the strategic tool kit, from a human resource management (HRM) perspective, in terms of usage and impact. Research to date has tended to consider usage, assuming to a certain extent that knowledge and understanding of particular tools suggest that practitioners value them. The research on which this paper is based builds upon the idea that usage indicates satisfaction, but develops the usage theme to investigate which decision-makers are actually engaged in both tool appli...

  8. Codon usage and expression level of human mitochondrial 13 protein coding genes across six continents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakraborty, Supriyo; Uddin, Arif; Mazumder, Tarikul Huda; Choudhury, Monisha Nath; Malakar, Arup Kumar; Paul, Prosenjit; Halder, Binata; Deka, Himangshu; Mazumder, Gulshana Akthar; Barbhuiya, Riazul Ahmed; Barbhuiya, Masuk Ahmed; Devi, Warepam Jesmi

    2017-12-02

    The study of codon usage coupled with phylogenetic analysis is an important tool to understand the genetic and evolutionary relationship of a gene. The 13 protein coding genes of human mitochondria are involved in electron transport chain for the generation of energy currency (ATP). However, no work has yet been reported on the codon usage of the mitochondrial protein coding genes across six continents. To understand the patterns of codon usage in mitochondrial genes across six different continents, we used bioinformatic analyses to analyze the protein coding genes. The codon usage bias was low as revealed from high ENC value. Correlation between codon usage and GC3 suggested that all the codons ending with G/C were positively correlated with GC3 but vice versa for A/T ending codons with the exception of ND4L and ND5 genes. Neutrality plot revealed that for the genes ATP6, COI, COIII, CYB, ND4 and ND4L, natural selection might have played a major role while mutation pressure might have played a dominant role in the codon usage bias of ATP8, COII, ND1, ND2, ND3, ND5 and ND6 genes. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that evolutionary relationships in each of 13 protein coding genes of human mitochondria were different across six continents and further suggested that geographical distance was an important factor for the origin and evolution of 13 protein coding genes of human mitochondria. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. and Mitochondria Research Society. All rights reserved.

  9. Characterisation of antimicrobial usage in cats and dogs attending UK primary care companion animal veterinary practices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buckland, E L; O'Neill, D; Summers, J; Mateus, A; Church, D; Redmond, L; Brodbelt, D

    2016-11-12

    There is scant evidence describing antimicrobial (AM) usage in companion animal primary care veterinary practices in the UK. The use of AMs in dogs and cats was quantified using data extracted from 374 veterinary practices participating in VetCompass. The frequency and quantity of systemic antibiotic usage was described.Overall, 25 per cent of 963,463 dogs and 21 per cent of 594,812 cats seen at veterinary practices received at least one AM over a two-year period (2012-2014) and 42 per cent of these animals were given repeated AMs. The main agents used were aminopenicillin types and cephalosporins. Of the AM events, 60 per cent in dogs and 81 per cent in cats were AMs classified as critically important (CIAs) to human health by the World Health Organisation. CIAs of highest importance (fluoroquinolones, macrolides, third-generation cephalosporins) accounted for just over 6 per cent and 34 per cent of AMs in dogs and cats, respectively. The total quantity of AMs used within the study population was estimated to be 1473 kg for dogs and 58 kg for cats.This study has identified a high frequency of AM usage in companion animal practice and for certain agents classified as of critical importance in human medicine. The study highlights the usefulness of veterinary practice electronic health records for studying AM usage. British Veterinary Association.

  10. Fatigue - determination of a more realistic usage factor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lang, H.

    2001-01-01

    The ability to use a suitable counting method for determining the stress range spectrum in elastic and simplified elastic-plastic fatigue analyses is of crucial importance for enabling determination of a realistic usage factor. Determination of elastic-plastic strain range using the K e factor from fictitious elastically calculated loads is also important in the event of elastic behaviour being exceeded. This paper thus examines both points in detail. A fatigue module with additional options, which functions on this basis is presented. The much more realistic determination of usage factor presented here offers various economic benefits depending on the application

  11. Alternative Promoter Usage in Healthy and Inflamed Tissue

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lilje, Berit

    and cell-lines covering the entire human body. This provides a unique dataset to study gene expression, with promoter level precision. Here we use this large collection of data to study alternative transcription start site usage throughout the human body. We find that many alternative transcription start...... with tumour necrosis factor alpha, and on tissue from mice subjected to carbon nanotubes. Both systems show a strong response, with especially alternative transcription start sites being differentially regulated. Taken together this shows that alternative transcription start sites add an important layer...

  12. Analysis of amino acid and codon usage in Paramecium bursaria.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dohra, Hideo; Fujishima, Masahiro; Suzuki, Haruo

    2015-10-07

    The ciliate Paramecium bursaria harbors the green-alga Chlorella symbionts. We reassembled the P. bursaria transcriptome to minimize falsely fused transcripts, and investigated amino acid and codon usage using the transcriptome data. Surface proteins preferentially use smaller amino acid residues like cysteine. Unusual synonymous codon and amino acid usage in highly expressed genes can reflect a balance between translational selection and other factors. A correlation of gene expression level with synonymous codon or amino acid usage is emphasized in genes down-regulated in symbiont-bearing cells compared to symbiont-free cells. Our results imply that the selection is associated with P. bursaria-Chlorella symbiosis. Copyright © 2015 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Self-Concealment, Social Network Sites Usage, Social Appearance Anxiety, Loneliness of High School Students: A Model Testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dogan, Ugur; Çolak, Tugba Seda

    2016-01-01

    This study was tested a model for explain to social networks sites (SNS) usage with structural equation modeling (SEM). Using SEM on a sample of 475 high school students (35% male, 65% female) students, model was investigated the relationship between self-concealment, social appearance anxiety, loneliness on SNS such as Twitter and Facebook usage.…

  14. Usage of Academic Libraries : The Role of Service Quality, Resources, and User Characteristics

    OpenAIRE

    Hamad Ben Ibrahim Al Omran - Translation

    2004-01-01

    A survival study to 3 academic libraries located in Pennsylvania , it aiming at measuring the effects of service quality and users profiles on the usage of academic libraries. the study contained 188 users from the 3 libraries.

  15. Usage of removable partial dentures in Saudi male patients after 1 year telephone interview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akeel, Riyadh

    2010-01-01

    Objective The success of removable partial dentures (RPDs) is partly dependent on patients’ acceptance and compliance in using them. The purpose of this study was to describe the usage of removable partial dentures (RPDs) by patients 1 year after insertion and to evaluate the factors that influence their denture usage. Methods Forty-seven patients who received 75 new RPDs at the undergraduate clinic of College of Dentistry, King Saud University, were contacted by telephone 1 year later for an interview. The questions covered denture usage, patient’s satisfaction and reasons for non-use. Results Results showed that 36% of patients discarded or occasionally used their RPDs. There was no significant association between denture usage and RPD experience, location or Kennedy classification. A significantly more RPD rejection was found when it was opposed by natural teeth or complete denture. The most quoted reason for RPD rejection was pain and discomfort. Conclusion Despite the short follow-up period, RPDs were poorly accepted by patients treated by undergraduate students. PMID:23960487

  16. Problematic Internet Usage and Immune Function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, Phil; Vile, Rebecca; Osborne, Lisa A; Romano, Michela; Truzoli, Roberto

    2015-01-01

    Problematic internet use has been associated with a variety of psychological comorbidities, but it relationship with physical illness has not received the same degree of investigation. The current study surveyed 505 participants online, and asked about their levels of problematic internet usage (Internet Addiction Test), depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales), social isolation (UCLA Loneliness Questionnaire), sleep problems (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), and their current health - General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), and the Immune Function Questionnaire. The results demonstrated that around 30% of the sample displayed mild or worse levels of internet addiction, as measured by the IAT. Although there were differences in the purposes for which males and females used the internet, there were no differences in terms of levels of problematic usage between genders. The internet problems were strongly related to all of the other psychological variables such as depression, anxiety, social-isolation, and sleep problems. Internet addiction was also associated with reduced self-reported immune function, but not with the measure of general health (GHQ-28). This relationship between problematic internet use and reduced immune function was found to be independent of the impact of the co-morbidities. It is suggested that the negative relationship between level of problematic internet use and immune function may be mediated by levels of stress produced by such internet use, and subsequent sympathetic nervous activity, which related to immune-supressants, such as cortisol.

  17. Problematic Internet Usage and Immune Function.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Phil Reed

    Full Text Available Problematic internet use has been associated with a variety of psychological comorbidities, but it relationship with physical illness has not received the same degree of investigation. The current study surveyed 505 participants online, and asked about their levels of problematic internet usage (Internet Addiction Test, depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales, social isolation (UCLA Loneliness Questionnaire, sleep problems (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and their current health - General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28, and the Immune Function Questionnaire. The results demonstrated that around 30% of the sample displayed mild or worse levels of internet addiction, as measured by the IAT. Although there were differences in the purposes for which males and females used the internet, there were no differences in terms of levels of problematic usage between genders. The internet problems were strongly related to all of the other psychological variables such as depression, anxiety, social-isolation, and sleep problems. Internet addiction was also associated with reduced self-reported immune function, but not with the measure of general health (GHQ-28. This relationship between problematic internet use and reduced immune function was found to be independent of the impact of the co-morbidities. It is suggested that the negative relationship between level of problematic internet use and immune function may be mediated by levels of stress produced by such internet use, and subsequent sympathetic nervous activity, which related to immune-supressants, such as cortisol.

  18. Problematic Internet Usage and Immune Function

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, Phil; Vile, Rebecca; Osborne, Lisa A.; Romano, Michela; Truzoli, Roberto

    2015-01-01

    Problematic internet use has been associated with a variety of psychological comorbidities, but it relationship with physical illness has not received the same degree of investigation. The current study surveyed 505 participants online, and asked about their levels of problematic internet usage (Internet Addiction Test), depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales), social isolation (UCLA Loneliness Questionnaire), sleep problems (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), and their current health – General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), and the Immune Function Questionnaire. The results demonstrated that around 30% of the sample displayed mild or worse levels of internet addiction, as measured by the IAT. Although there were differences in the purposes for which males and females used the internet, there were no differences in terms of levels of problematic usage between genders. The internet problems were strongly related to all of the other psychological variables such as depression, anxiety, social-isolation, and sleep problems. Internet addiction was also associated with reduced self-reported immune function, but not with the measure of general health (GHQ-28). This relationship between problematic internet use and reduced immune function was found to be independent of the impact of the co-morbidities. It is suggested that the negative relationship between level of problematic internet use and immune function may be mediated by levels of stress produced by such internet use, and subsequent sympathetic nervous activity, which related to immune-supressants, such as cortisol. PMID:26244339

  19. Personality Traits, Motivations, and Emotional Consequences of Social Media Usage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Jhih-Syuan; Lee, Yen-I; Jin, Yan; Gilbreath, Bob

    2017-10-01

    This study explores social media users' personality traits and motivations for the usage of two different social media platforms, Facebook and Pinterest, as well as how the varied uses impact users' negative emotional experiences. The findings suggest that the intensity of social media usage is positively related to negative emotions. For Facebook users, socialization, entertainment, and information seeking motivations significantly influence their platform use intensity and, subsequently, lead to negative emotions. Self-status seeking also has a direct effect on Facebook users' negative emotions. For Pinterest users, socialization is not a significant motivation for usage of that platform. However, entertainment, information seeking, and self-status seeking significantly predict their platform use intensity, which subsequently lead to negative emotions. Similarly, all four motivations for Facebook and Pinterest uses are influenced by users' personality traits: extraversion and openness. Yet, openness has a greater impact on using Pinterest than Facebook in terms of fulfilling socialization needs. Neuroticism has a positive impact on socialization and information seeking motives for use of both platforms, while conscientiousness and agreeableness have a negative influence on fulfilling self-status seeking needs. In addition, agreeable social networking site users are less likely to use Facebook than Pinterest for fulfilling self-status related gratifications, while they are likely to use Pinterest instead of Facebook for entertainment and information needs. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

  20. Gene expression, nucleotide composition and codon usage bias of genes associated with human Y chromosome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choudhury, Monisha Nath; Uddin, Arif; Chakraborty, Supriyo

    2017-06-01

    Analysis of codon usage pattern is important to understand the genetic and evolutionary characteristics of genomes. We have used bioinformatic approaches to analyze the codon usage bias (CUB) of the genes located in human Y chromosome. Codon bias index (CBI) indicated that the overall extent of codon usage bias was low. The relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) analysis suggested that approximately half of the codons out of 59 synonymous codons were most frequently used, and possessed a T or G at the third codon position. The codon usage pattern was different in different genes as revealed from correspondence analysis (COA). A significant correlation between effective number of codons (ENC) and various GC contents suggests that both mutation pressure and natural selection affect the codon usage pattern of genes located in human Y chromosome. In addition, Y-linked genes have significant difference in GC contents at the second and third codon positions, expression level, and codon usage pattern of some codons like the SPANX genes in X chromosome.

  1. College Student Credit Card Usage and Debt.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rybka, Kathryn M.

    2001-01-01

    Provides an overview of the concerns related to credit card usage by college students. Offers information student affairs professionals can use to help college students make responsible choices. (Contains 26 references.) (GCP)

  2. Facebook usage on smartphones and gray matter volume of the nucleus accumbens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montag, Christian; Markowetz, Alexander; Blaszkiewicz, Konrad; Andone, Ionut; Lachmann, Bernd; Sariyska, Rayna; Trendafilov, Boris; Eibes, Mark; Kolb, Julia; Reuter, Martin; Weber, Bernd; Markett, Sebastian

    2017-06-30

    A recent study has implicated the nucleus accumbens of the ventral striatum in explaining why online-users spend time on the social network platform Facebook. Here, higher activity of the nucleus accumbens was associated with gaining reputation on social media. In the present study, we touched a related research field. We recorded the actual Facebook usage of N=62 participants on their smartphones over the course of five weeks and correlated summary measures of Facebook use with gray matter volume of the nucleus accumbens. It appeared, that in particular higher daily frequency of checking Facebook on the smartphone was robustly linked with smaller gray matter volumes of the nucleus accumbens. The present study gives additional support for the rewarding aspects of Facebook usage. Moreover, it shows the feasibility to include real life behavior variables in human neuroscientific research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Log Usage Analysis: What it Discloses about Use, Information Seeking and Trustworthiness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Nicholas

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The Trust and Authority in Scholarly Communications in the Light of the Digital Transition research project1 was a study which investigated the behaviours and attitudes of academic researchers as producers and consumers of scholarly information resources in respect to how they determine authority and trustworthiness. The research questions for the study arose out of CIBER’s studies of the virtual scholar. This paper focuses on elements of this study, mainly an analysis of a scholarly publisher’s usage logs, which was undertaken at the start of the project in order to build an evidence base, which would help calibrate the main methodological tools used by the project: interviews and questionnaire. The specific purpose of the log study was to identify and assess the digital usage behaviours that potentially raise trustworthiness and authority questions. Results from the self-report part of the study were additionally used to explain the logs. The main findings were that: 1 logs provide a good indicator of use and information seeking behaviour, albeit in respect to just a part of the information seeking journey; 2 the ‘lite’ form of information seeking behaviour observed in the logs is a sign of users trying to make their mind up in the face of a tsunami of information as to what is relevant and to be trusted; 3 Google and Google Scholar are the discovery platforms of choice for academic researchers, which partly points to the fact that they are influenced in what they use and read by ease of access; 4 usage is not a suitable proxy for quality. The paper also provides contextual data from CIBER’s previous studies.

  4. Usage of Mobile Phone Applications and Its Impact on Teaching and Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davidovitch, Nitza; Yavich, Roman

    2018-01-01

    This study continues studies on the concept of leisure as culture dependent -- between tradition and modernity, while focusing on the usage of mobile phone applications and its impact on teaching and learning within a unique population. The study examined the association between having NetSpark on one's Smartphone and utilization of spare time…

  5. Mobile phone usage in rural communities in Kwara state, Nigeria ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The rise in mobile telephony has continued to bridge the wide disparity between urban and rural dwellers, although there are suggestions that mobile phones have not been optimally utilized by rural dwellers. In view of this, the main aim of this study was to examine mobile phone usage in rural communities of Kwara State, ...

  6. Discovering and understanding android sensor usage behaviors with data flow analysis

    KAUST Repository

    Liu, Xing; Liu, Jiqiang; Wang, Wei; He, Yongzhong; Zhang, Xiangliang

    2017-01-01

    Today’s Android-powered smartphones have various embedded sensors that measure the acceleration, orientation, light and other environmental conditions. Many functions in the third-party applications (apps) need to use these sensors. However, embedded sensors may lead to security issues, as the third-party apps can read data from these sensors without claiming any permissions. It has been proven that embedded sensors can be exploited by well designed malicious apps, resulting in leaking users’ privacy. In this work, we are motivated to provide an overview of sensor usage patterns in current apps by investigating what, why and how embedded sensors are used in the apps collected from both a Chinese app. market called “AppChina” and the official market called “Google Play”. To fulfill this goal, We develop a tool called “SDFDroid” to identify the used sensors’ types and to generate the sensor data propagation graphs in each app. We then cluster the apps to find out their sensor usage patterns based on their sensor data propagation graphs. We apply our method on 22,010 apps collected from AppChina and 7,601 apps from Google Play. Extensive experiments are conducted and the experimental results show that most apps implement their sensor related functions by using the third-party libraries. We further study the sensor usage behaviors in the third-party libraries. Our results show that the accelerometer is the most frequently used sensor. Though many third-party libraries use no more than four types of sensors, there are still some third-party libraries registering all the types of sensors recklessly. These results call for more attentions on better regulating the sensor usage in Android apps.

  7. Discovering and understanding android sensor usage behaviors with data flow analysis

    KAUST Repository

    Liu, Xing

    2017-03-20

    Today’s Android-powered smartphones have various embedded sensors that measure the acceleration, orientation, light and other environmental conditions. Many functions in the third-party applications (apps) need to use these sensors. However, embedded sensors may lead to security issues, as the third-party apps can read data from these sensors without claiming any permissions. It has been proven that embedded sensors can be exploited by well designed malicious apps, resulting in leaking users’ privacy. In this work, we are motivated to provide an overview of sensor usage patterns in current apps by investigating what, why and how embedded sensors are used in the apps collected from both a Chinese app. market called “AppChina” and the official market called “Google Play”. To fulfill this goal, We develop a tool called “SDFDroid” to identify the used sensors’ types and to generate the sensor data propagation graphs in each app. We then cluster the apps to find out their sensor usage patterns based on their sensor data propagation graphs. We apply our method on 22,010 apps collected from AppChina and 7,601 apps from Google Play. Extensive experiments are conducted and the experimental results show that most apps implement their sensor related functions by using the third-party libraries. We further study the sensor usage behaviors in the third-party libraries. Our results show that the accelerometer is the most frequently used sensor. Though many third-party libraries use no more than four types of sensors, there are still some third-party libraries registering all the types of sensors recklessly. These results call for more attentions on better regulating the sensor usage in Android apps.

  8. Changing word usage predicts changing word durations in New Zealand English.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sóskuthy, Márton; Hay, Jennifer

    2017-09-01

    This paper investigates the emergence of lexicalized effects of word usage on word duration by looking at parallel changes in usage and duration over 130years in New Zealand English. Previous research has found that frequent words are shorter, informative words are longer, and words in utterance-final position are also longer. It has also been argued that some of these patterns are not simply online adjustments, but are incorporated into lexical representations. While these studies tend to focus on the synchronic aspects of such patterns, our corpus shows that word-usage patterns and word durations are not static over time. Many words change in duration and also change with respect to frequency, informativity and likelihood of occurring utterance-finally. Analysis of changing word durations over this time period shows substantial patterns of co-adaptation between word usage and word durations. Words that are increasing in frequency are becoming shorter. Words that are increasing/decreasing in informativity show a change in the same direction in duration (e.g. increasing informativity is associated with increasing duration). And words that are increasingly appearing utterance-finally are lengthening. These effects exist independently of the local effects of the predictors. For example, words that are increasing utterance-finally lengthen in all positions, including utterance-medially. We show that these results are compatible with a number of different views about lexical representations, but they cannot be explained without reference to a production-perception loop that allows speakers to update their representations dynamically on the basis of their experience. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Genome-wide analysis of codon usage bias in four sequenced cotton species.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Liyuan; Xing, Huixian; Yuan, Yanchao; Wang, Xianlin; Saeed, Muhammad; Tao, Jincai; Feng, Wei; Zhang, Guihua; Song, Xianliang; Sun, Xuezhen

    2018-01-01

    Codon usage bias (CUB) is an important evolutionary feature in a genome which provides important information for studying organism evolution, gene function and exogenous gene expression. The CUB and its shaping factors in the nuclear genomes of four sequenced cotton species, G. arboreum (A2), G. raimondii (D5), G. hirsutum (AD1) and G. barbadense (AD2) were analyzed in the present study. The effective number of codons (ENC) analysis showed the CUB was weak in these four species and the four subgenomes of the two tetraploids. Codon composition analysis revealed these four species preferred to use pyrimidine-rich codons more frequently than purine-rich codons. Correlation analysis indicated that the base content at the third position of codons affect the degree of codon preference. PR2-bias plot and ENC-plot analyses revealed that the CUB patterns in these genomes and subgenomes were influenced by combined effects of translational selection, directional mutation and other factors. The translational selection (P2) analysis results, together with the non-significant correlation between GC12 and GC3, further revealed that translational selection played the dominant role over mutation pressure in the codon usage bias. Through relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) analysis, we detected 25 high frequency codons preferred to end with T or A, and 31 low frequency codons inclined to end with C or G in these four species and four subgenomes. Finally, 19 to 26 optimal codons with 19 common ones were determined for each species and subgenomes, which preferred to end with A or T. We concluded that the codon usage bias was weak and the translation selection was the main shaping factor in nuclear genes of these four cotton genomes and four subgenomes.

  10. Analgesic Usage in Elderly at Public Health Center: A study in West Java, Indonesias

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gembong Soeyono Putro

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Various analgesics prescriptions for elderly are not appropriate according to the guideline and can cause the increase of side effects such as gastric problems. Puskesmas as a public health center in Indonesia has an important role in anticipating this problem. The objectives of this study was to identify the analgesic usage in elderly patients at the public health center. Methods: This retrospective descriptive study was conducted for 3 months at Tanjungsari public health center, Sumedang, West Java, Indonesia, using total sampling. The data was taken from 417 medical records from 2013. The data taken from medical records were: sex, analgesic drug, diagnosis, and drug for gastric problem. Results: From the collected data, the most analgesics prescribed for the elderly patients was paracetamol, followed by Piroxicam, Mefenamic acid, and Ibuprofen. Not all of the elderly patients who received NSAIDs, were given gastric drug. Conclusions: The most prescribed analgesic drug given to elderly patients at the public health center is paracetamol. [AMJ.2017;4(1:16–9

  11. Military Parents' Personal Technology Usage and Interest in e-Health Information for Obesity Prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jai, Tun-Min; McCool, Barent N; Reed, Debra B

    2016-03-01

    U.S. military families are experiencing high obesity rates similar to the civilian population. The Department of Defense's Military Health System (MHS) is one of the largest healthcare providers in the United States, serving approximately 9.2 million active duty service members, retirees, spouses, and children. The annual cost to the MHS for morbidities associated with being overweight exceeds $1 billion. The preschool age has been suggested as an opportune time to intervene for the prevention of obesity. Thus, this study investigated the current level of technology usage by military service member families and assessed their needs and interests in health/nutrition information. This needs assessment is crucial for researchers/educators to design further studies and intervention programs for obesity prevention in military families with young children. In total, 288 military parents (233 Army and 55 Air Force) at two military bases whose children were enrolled in military childcare centers in the southwestern United States participated in a Technology Usage in Military Family (TUMF) survey in 2013. Overall, both bases presented similar technology usage patterns in terms of computer and mobile device usage on the Internet. Air Force base parents had a slightly higher knowledge level of nutrition/health information than Army base parents. The TUMF survey suggested practical ways such as mobile applications/Web sites, social networks, games, etc., that health educators can use to disseminate nutrition/health information for obesity prevention among military families with young children.

  12. Consumer Rights in Digital Economy. Case Study of Romanian e-commerce Usage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lorena BĂTĂGAN

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Current economy or digital economy is driven by modern information and new technologies, which offer to organizations or to the public access to almost any type of information, regardless of its form of existence, storage type or geographical location. These tools encourage the development of new activities, services and products. All developed countries have issued and implemented government policies supporting: the evolution and the adoption of new technology, the national information infrastructure consolidation, the training and the attraction of new technology experts, the adult education, and the cooperation with the private sector to encourage investment in this new economic branch, and promoting government projects to demonstrate the benefits for the current society services. This work aims to highlight the pattern of trade activities using the convenience of the Internet – e-commerce, with emphasis on legal regulations in regard to currently available services. Also the present study summarizes existing legislation, for electronic commerce, at national and international level. A case study was performed to highlight the current state of Romanian e-commerce activity, regarding the applicability of existing legislation, the frequency of electronic commerce usage, the usefulness of the service and the selection of the most frequently purchased products online. The research emphasizes on the existing legislation, its applicability and the degree in which the users are informed about it.

  13. Usage of Academic Libraries : The Role of Service Quality, Resources, and User Characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamad Ben Ibrahim Al Omran - Translation

    2004-12-01

    Full Text Available A survival study to 3 academic libraries located in Pennsylvania , it aiming at measuring the effects of service quality and users profiles on the usage of academic libraries. the study contained 188 users from the 3 libraries.

  14. Mobile phone usage pattern among undergraduate medical students at a Medical College of Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bobby Paul

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available AbstractObjective: Mobile phone usage has reached all ages across all segments of society, and its radiofrequency waves are an increasing concern among the general population. To find out the pattern of mobile phone usage among undergraduate medical students and their perceived symptoms and awareness about negative health effects due to their exposure to the radiofrequency waves. Methods: A descriptive type of epidemiological study was conducted among 295 undergraduate medical students in the Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, in August 2012 after obtaining Institutional Ethical Clearance. Data were collected by a pre-designed and pre-tested, semi structured questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS software, version 19.0. Results: Among the 1st semester students, browsing of the internet became the predominant activity; while listening to music and radio was the preferred activity among the 3rd, 5th and 7th semester students. In lecture class, 1st semester students (62.5% switch off; 40.6% of 5th semester students receive and 63.63% of 7th semester students keep the phone in silence mode. Duration of mobile phone usage was maximum among students who perceived headache as a side effect of usage. About 62.3% study subjects cited accidents as a harmful effect, followed by lack of concentration. Conclusions: Regulatory bodies should lay down specific regulations and guidelines regarding mobile phone usage in class as well as during patient care. Further research is needed to comment on long term health outcome keeping in view its usage and popularity among younger people. Keywords: Mobile phone use, medical students, hazard awareness 

  15. A detailed analysis of codon usage patterns and influencing factors in Zika virus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Niraj K; Tyagi, Anuj

    2017-07-01

    Recent outbreaks of Zika virus (ZIKV) in Africa, Latin America, Europe, and Southeast Asia have resulted in serious health concerns. To understand more about evolution and transmission of ZIKV, detailed codon usage analysis was performed for all available strains. A high effective number of codons (ENC) value indicated the presence of low codon usage bias in ZIKV. The effect of mutational pressure on codon usage bias was confirmed by significant correlations between nucleotide compositions at third codon positions and ENCs. Correlation analysis between Gravy values, Aroma values and nucleotide compositions at third codon positions also indicated some influence of natural selection. However, the low codon adaptation index (CAI) value of ZIKV with reference to human and mosquito indicated poor adaptation of ZIKV codon usage towards its hosts, signifying that natural selection has a weaker influence than mutational pressure. Additionally, relative dinucleotide frequencies, geographical distribution, and evolutionary processes also influenced the codon usage pattern to some extent.

  16. Accepting or fighting unlicensed usage : Can firms reduce unlicensed usage by optimizing their timing and pricing strategies?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Burmester, Alexa B.; Eggers, Felix; Clement, Michel; Prostka, Tim

    The rise of the Internet and new online services have led to the wide-scale illegal distribution of digital entertainment products, such as music, movies, games, and books. We analyze whether firms in the entertainment industry should fight unlicensed usage by providing specific offers that maximize

  17. Transmission usage cost allocation schemes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abou El Ela, A.A.; El-Sehiemy, R.A.

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents different suggested transmission usage cost allocation (TCA) schemes to the system individuals. Different independent system operator (ISO) visions are presented using the proportional rata and flow-based TCA methods. There are two proposed flow-based TCA schemes (FTCA). The first FTCA scheme generalizes the equivalent bilateral exchanges (EBE) concepts for lossy networks through two-stage procedure. The second FTCA scheme is based on the modified sensitivity factors (MSF). These factors are developed from the actual measurements of power flows in transmission lines and the power injections at different buses. The proposed schemes exhibit desirable apportioning properties and are easy to implement and understand. Case studies for different loading conditions are carried out to show the capability of the proposed schemes for solving the TCA problem. (author)

  18. Fatigue approach for addressing environmental effects in fatigue usage calculation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wilhelm, Paul; Rudolph, Juergen [AREVA GmbH, Erlangen (Germany); Steinmann, Paul [Erlangen-Nuremberg Univ., erlangen (Germany). Chair of Applied Mechanics

    2015-04-15

    Laboratory tests consider simple trapezoidal, triangle, and sinusoidal signals. However, actual plant components are characterized by complex loading patterns and periods of holds. Fatigue tests in water environment show, that the damage from a realistic strain variation or the presence of hold-times within cyclic loading results in an environmental reduction factor (Fen) only half that of a simple waveform. This study proposes a new fatigue approach for addressing environmental effects in fatigue usage calculation for class 1 boiler and pressure vessel reactor components. The currently accepted method of fatigue assessment has been used as a base model and all cycles, which have been comparable with realistic fatigue tests, have been excluded from the code-based fatigue calculation and evaluated directly with the test data. The results presented show that the engineering approach can successfully be integrated in the code-based fatigue assessment. The cumulative usage factor can be reduced considerably.

  19. Fatigue approach for addressing environmental effects in fatigue usage calculation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilhelm, Paul; Rudolph, Juergen; Steinmann, Paul

    2015-01-01

    Laboratory tests consider simple trapezoidal, triangle, and sinusoidal signals. However, actual plant components are characterized by complex loading patterns and periods of holds. Fatigue tests in water environment show, that the damage from a realistic strain variation or the presence of hold-times within cyclic loading results in an environmental reduction factor (Fen) only half that of a simple waveform. This study proposes a new fatigue approach for addressing environmental effects in fatigue usage calculation for class 1 boiler and pressure vessel reactor components. The currently accepted method of fatigue assessment has been used as a base model and all cycles, which have been comparable with realistic fatigue tests, have been excluded from the code-based fatigue calculation and evaluated directly with the test data. The results presented show that the engineering approach can successfully be integrated in the code-based fatigue assessment. The cumulative usage factor can be reduced considerably.

  20. Medication usage in Majuro, Marshall Islands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harding, Andrew

    2005-03-01

    To conduct a drug utilisation study to determine the top 50 drugs by prescription count, top 50 drugs by cost to government and the top 30 drugs by consumption for Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands for the year 2003. Data was collected from the Majuro Hospital computer dispensing system. All outpatient prescriptions dispensed in the year 2003 were included. The defined daily dose (DDD) methodology was employed. Drug consumption was presented as DDD/1000 population/day. The top 5 drugs by consumption in Majuro for 2003 were glibenclamide (glyburide), enalapril, ferrous sulphate, amoxycillin and ascorbic acid. Values for the DDD/1000 population/day were on average lower than many other countries. This is the first local study of medication usage in the Marshall Islands. It provided some useful baseline data.

  1. Race, Internet Usage, and E-Commerce. Working Paper 2002-01

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ono, Hiroshi; Zavodny, Madeline

    2002-01-01

    The authors examine racial and ethnic differences in computer ownership and Internet usage using data from a survey conducted by the Nomura Research Institute in 2000. They focus on on-line shopping because few studies have examined racial and ethnic differences in e-commerce. The results indicate that blacks and Hispanics are less likely to own…

  2. Forming a method mindset: The role of knowledge and preference in facilitating heuristic method usage in design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Daalhuizen, Jaap; Person, Oscar; Gattol, Valentin

    2013-01-01

    Both systematic and heuristic methods are common practice when designing. Yet, in teaching students how to design, heuristic methods are typically only granted a secondary role. So, how do designers and students develop a mindset for using heuristic methods? In this paper, we study how prior...... knowledge (about heuristic methods and their usage) and preference (for using heuristic methods) relate to the reported use of heuristic methods when designing. Drawing on a survey among 304 students enrolled in a master-level course on design theory and methodology, we investigated method usage for five...... indirectly influenced method usage through a 'complementary' mediation of method preference....

  3. Supporting Transparency between Students

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dalsgaard, Christian

    The paper presents the results of a case study that explores the potentials of weblogs and social bookmarking to support transparency in a university course. In the course, groups of students used weblogs and social bookmarking in their work. The objective of the case was to empower students...... by providing them with tools that would be visible to the other students in the course, thus, making students’ ideas, thoughts and questions visible to the other students in the course. The paper concludes that use of digital media for transparency can support empowerment of students and inspiration among...... students in a course, but that the challenge is to create a balance between personal tools and tools for collaborative group work that are also suitable for transparency between students....

  4. A Prospective Cohort Study Evaluating the Ability of Anticipated Pain, Perceived Analgesic Needs, and Psychological Traits to Predict Pain and Analgesic Usage following Cesarean Delivery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brendan Carvalho

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction. This study aimed to determine if preoperative psychological tests combined with simple pain prediction ratings could predict pain intensity and analgesic usage following cesarean delivery (CD. Methods. 50 healthy women undergoing scheduled CD with spinal anesthesia comprised the prospective study cohort. Preoperative predictors included 4 validated psychological questionnaires (Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI, Fear of Pain (FPQ, Pain Catastrophizing Scale, and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and 3 simple ratings: expected postoperative pain (0–10, anticipated analgesic threshold (0–10, and perceived analgesic needs (0–10. Postoperative outcome measures included post-CD pain (combined rest and movement and opioid used for the 48-hour study period. Results. Bivariate correlations were significant with expected pain and opioid usage (r=0.349, anticipated analgesic threshold and post-CD pain (r=-0.349, and perceived analgesic needs and post-CD pain (r=0.313. Multiple linear regression analysis found that expected postoperative pain and anticipated analgesic needs contributed to post-CD pain prediction modeling (R2=0.443, p<0.0001; expected postoperative pain, ASI, and FPQ were associated with opioid usage (R2=0.421, p<0.0001. Conclusion. Preoperative psychological tests combined with simple pain prediction ratings accounted for 44% and 42% of pain and analgesic use variance, respectively. Preoperatively determined expected postoperative pain and perceived analgesic needs appear to be useful predictors for post-CD pain and analgesic requirements.

  5. Student Media Usage Patterns and Non-Traditional Learning in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zawacki-Richter, Olaf; Müskens, Wolfgang; Krause, Ulrike; Alturki, Uthman; Aldraiweesh, Ahmed

    2015-01-01

    A total of 2,338 students at German universities participated in a survey, which investigated media usage patterns of so-called traditional and non-traditional students (Schuetze & Wolter, 2003). The students provided information on the digital devices that they own or have access to, and on their usage of media and e-learning tools and…

  6. Prevalence of mobile phones and factors influencing usage by caregivers of young children in daily life and for health care in rural China: a mixed methods study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Velthoven, Michelle Helena; Li, Ye; Wang, Wei; Chen, Li; Du, Xiaozhen; Wu, Qiong; Zhang, Yanfeng; Rudan, Igor; Car, Josip

    2015-01-01

    To capitalise on mHealth, we need to understand the use of mobile phones both in daily life and for health care. To assess the prevalence and factors that influence usage of mobile phones by caregivers of young children. A mixed methods approach was used, whereby a survey (N=1854) and semi-structured interviews (N=17) were conducted concurrently. The quantitative and qualitative data obtained were compared and integrated. Participants were caregivers of young children in Zhao County, Hebei Province, China. Four main themes were found: (i) trends in mobile phone ownership; (ii) usage of mobile phone functions; (iii) factors influencing replying to text messages; and (iv) uses of mobile phones for health care. The majority of 1,854 survey participants (1,620; 87.4%) used mobile phones, but usage was much higher among mothers (1,433; 92.6%) and fathers (41; 100.0%) compared to grandparents (142; 54.6%). Parents were able to send text messages, grandparents often not. Factors influencing the decision to reply to text messages in daily life were checking the mobile phone, trusting the sender, emotion or feeling when receiving a text message, the importance of replying and ease of use of text messages. Of 1,620 survey participants who used a mobile phone, about one in four (432; 26.7%) had used it for health care in the past three months and most (1,110; 93.5%) of 1,187 who had not wished to use their phone to receive health information. We found that usage of mobile phones is high, several factors influencing usage and an interest of caregivers to use phones for health care in Zhao County, rural China, which can be used to inform studies in settings with similar characteristics. Future work needs to assess factors influencing mobile phone usage in-depth to optimize experiences of users for specific mHealth-based interventions.

  7. Prevalence of Mobile Phones and Factors Influencing Usage by Caregivers of Young Children in Daily Life and for Health Care in Rural China: A Mixed Methods Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Wei; Chen, Li; Du, Xiaozhen; Wu, Qiong; Zhang, Yanfeng; Rudan, Igor; Car, Josip

    2015-01-01

    Introduction To capitalise on mHealth, we need to understand the use of mobile phones both in daily life and for health care. Objective To assess the prevalence and factors that influence usage of mobile phones by caregivers of young children. Materials and Methods A mixed methods approach was used, whereby a survey (N=1854) and semi-structured interviews (N=17) were conducted concurrently. The quantitative and qualitative data obtained were compared and integrated. Participants were caregivers of young children in Zhao County, Hebei Province, China. Results Four main themes were found: (i) trends in mobile phone ownership; (ii) usage of mobile phone functions; (iii) factors influencing replying to text messages; and (iv) uses of mobile phones for health care. The majority of 1,854 survey participants (1,620; 87.4%) used mobile phones, but usage was much higher among mothers (1,433; 92.6%) and fathers (41; 100.0%) compared to grandparents (142; 54.6%). Parents were able to send text messages, grandparents often not. Factors influencing the decision to reply to text messages in daily life were checking the mobile phone, trusting the sender, emotion or feeling when receiving a text message, the importance of replying and ease of use of text messages. Of 1,620 survey participants who used a mobile phone, about one in four (432; 26.7%) had used it for health care in the past three months and most (1,110; 93.5%) of 1,187 who had not wished to use their phone to receive health information. Conclusion We found that usage of mobile phones is high, several factors influencing usage and an interest of caregivers to use phones for health care in Zhao County, rural China, which can be used to inform studies in settings with similar characteristics. Future work needs to assess factors influencing mobile phone usage in-depth to optimize experiences of users for specific mHealth-based interventions. PMID:25789477

  8. Twitter Usage of Universities in Turkey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yolcu, Ozgu

    2013-01-01

    Universities are among the users of the most popular social media networks. Usage of social media by especially students and many other people and institutions, which constitutes the target audience for universities, encourages the universities to effectively use this environment. Twitter is among these social media networks which facilitate the…

  9. Effects of Baton Usage on College Musicians' Perceptions of Ensemble Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silvey, Brian A.; Wacker, Aaron T.; Felder, Logan

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of baton usage on college musicians' perceptions of ensemble performance. Two conductors were videotaped while conducting a 1-minute excerpt from either a technical ("Pathfinder of Panama," John Philip Sousa) or lyrical ("Seal Lullaby," Eric Whitacre) piece of concert…

  10. Eye cosmetic usage and associated ocular comfort.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, Alison; Evans, Katharine; North, Rachel; Purslow, Christine

    2012-11-01

    Eye cosmetics usage is commonplace and whilst some products such as eyeliner are applied with close proximity to the ocular surface, there is little knowledge of the short- and long-term ocular effects of eye cosmetic formulations. This study aimed to investigate the use of eye cosmetics and identify any relationships between ocular comfort and cosmetic usage. Results were collated from an online survey comprising 23 questions that recorded demographics, Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) score, extent and range of eye cosmetic use and perceived comfort differences with and without eye cosmetics. The 1360 female respondents (median age 25, interquartile range 20-34 years) completed the survey; 83% reported using eye cosmetics regularly (≥ 3 times per week) with mascara being most commonly used. Fifty three per cent used at least three different eye cosmetics products regularly. OSDI scores of cosmetics users were similar to non-users (p = 0.083), but perceived comfort was greater when cosmetics were not used (p cosmetics users (use of products cosmetics were used. Median OSDI scores suggested a trend towards reduced comfort amongst eyeliner users (p = 0.07) although frequency and type of cosmetic products used did not appear to influence OSDI scores. This study shows the use of multiple eye cosmetics is extensive and associated with the perception of ocular discomfort. With such widespread use of these products, more research is required to assess the effect on the ocular surface and tear film, which may be underestimated. Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics © 2012 The College of Optometrists.

  11. Regionally-varying and regionally-uniform electricity pricing policies compared across four usage categories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, Seong-Hoon; Kim, Taeyoung; Kim, Hyun Jae; Park, Kihyun; Roberts, Roland K.

    2015-01-01

    The objective of our research is to predict how electricity demand varies spatially between status quo regionally-uniform electricity pricing and hypothetical regionally-varying electricity pricing across usage categories. We summarize the empirical results of a case study of electricity demand in South Korea with three key findings and their related implications. First, the price elasticities of electricity demand differ across usage categories. Specifically, electricity demands for manufacturing and retail uses are price inelastic and close to unit elastic, respectively, while those for agricultural and residential uses are not statistically significant. This information is important in designing energy policy, because higher electricity prices could reduce electricity demands for manufacturing and retail uses, resulting in slower growth in those sectors. Second, spatial spillovers in electricity demand vary across uses. Understanding the spatial structure of electricity demand provides useful information to energy policy makers for anticipating changes in demand across regions via regionally-varying electricity pricing for different uses. Third, simulation results suggest that spatial variations among electricity demands by usage category under a regionally-varying electricity-pricing policy differ from those under a regionally-uniform electricity-pricing policy. Differences in spatial changes between the policies provide information for developing a realistic regionally-varying electricity-pricing policy according to usage category. - Highlights: • We compare regionally-varying and regionally-uniform electricity pricing policies. • We summarize empirical results of a case study of electricity demand in South Korea. • We confirm that spatial spillovers in electricity demands vary across different uses. • We find positive spatial spillovers in the manufacturing and residential sectors. • Our methods help policy makers evaluate regionally-varying pricing

  12. The Selective Advantage of Synonymous Codon Usage Bias in Salmonella.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gerrit Brandis

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The genetic code in mRNA is redundant, with 61 sense codons translated into 20 different amino acids. Individual amino acids are encoded by up to six different codons but within codon families some are used more frequently than others. This phenomenon is referred to as synonymous codon usage bias. The genomes of free-living unicellular organisms such as bacteria have an extreme codon usage bias and the degree of bias differs between genes within the same genome. The strong positive correlation between codon usage bias and gene expression levels in many microorganisms is attributed to selection for translational efficiency. However, this putative selective advantage has never been measured in bacteria and theoretical estimates vary widely. By systematically exchanging optimal codons for synonymous codons in the tuf genes we quantified the selective advantage of biased codon usage in highly expressed genes to be in the range 0.2-4.2 x 10-4 per codon per generation. These data quantify for the first time the potential for selection on synonymous codon choice to drive genome-wide sequence evolution in bacteria, and in particular to optimize the sequences of highly expressed genes. This quantification may have predictive applications in the design of synthetic genes and for heterologous gene expression in biotechnology.

  13. Smartphone Usage Patterns by Canadian Neurosurgery Residents: A National Cross-Sectional Survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kameda-Smith, Michelle Masayo; Iorio-Morin, Christian; Winkler-Schwartz, Alexander; Ahmed, Uzair S; Bergeron, David; Bigder, Mark; Dakson, Ayoub; Elliott, Cameron A; Guha, Daipayan; Lavergne, Pascal; Makarenko, Serge; Taccone, Michael S; Tso, Michael; Wang, Bill; Fortin, David

    2018-03-01

    Smartphones and their apps are used ubiquitously in medical practice. However, in some cases their use can be at odds with current patient data safety regulations such as Canada's Personal Health Information Protection Act of 2004. To assess current practices and inform mobile application development, we sought to better understand mobile device usage patterns among Canadian neurosurgery residents. Through the Canadian Neurosurgery Research Collaborative, an online survey characterizing smartphone ownership and usage patterns was developed and sent to all Canadian neurosurgery resident in April of 2016. Questionnaires were collected and completed surveys analyzed. Of 146 eligible residents, 76 returned completed surveys (52% response rate). Of these 99% of respondents owned a smartphone, with 79% running on Apple's iOS. Four general mobile uses were identified: 1) communication between members of the medical team, 2) decision support, 3) medical reference, and 4) documentation through medical photography. Communication and photography were areas where the most obvious breaches in the Canadian Personal Health Information Protection Act were noted, with 89% of respondents taking pictures of patients' radiologic studies and 75% exchanging them with Short Message System. Hospital policies had no impact on user behaviors. Smartphones are used daily by most neurosurgery residents. Identified usage patterns are associated with perceived gains in efficacy and challenges in privacy and data reliability. We believe creating and improving workflows that address these usage patterns has a greater potential to improve privacy than changing policies and enforcing regulations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Veterinary antimicrobial-usage statistics based on standardized measures of dosage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Vibeke Frøkjær; Jacobsen, Erik; Bager, Flemming

    2004-01-01

    In human medicine, the defined daily dose is used as a technical measure of drug usage, which is independent of the variations in the potency of the active compound and the formulation of the pharmaceutical product-therefore providing a measure of the relative importance of different drugs....... A national system of animal defined daily doses (ADD) for each age-group and species has been defined in VetStat (the Danish national system monitoring veterinary therapeutic drug use). The usage is further standardized according to the number of animals in the target population, acquired from production...... data on the national level or on herd size by species and age in the Danish central husbandry register (CHR). Statistics based on standardized measures of VetStat data can be used for comparison of drug usage between different herds, veterinary practices, or geographic regions (allowing subdivision...

  15. Problems of Usage Labelling in English Lexicography*

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ancies in the contextual usage labelling in the dictionaries were established and are discussed. ..... Likewise, the noun vagrant meaning 'a person who has no job .... tions: Proceedings of the 36th Conference of the American Translators ...

  16. The state of blogging in Spanish mainstream media

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Koldo Meso Ayerdi

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we aim to draw a picture of what is happening in Spanish mainstream cybermedia from the point of view of new ways of participation and, more concretely, we analyze remarkable weblogs signed by journalists and/or guests, in order to determine the author’s profile. A survey answered by 50 per cent of these bloggers let us know why the use of weblogs represents the key to media success in the online sphere. During 2008, we analyzed several national (Abc.es, Elmundo.es, Elpais.es and regional (Elcorreodigital.com, Lavanguardia.es internet newspapers, and we underline the special case of Vocento, one of the main multimedia group in Spain. Our results show that offering outstanding weblogs is a good strategy against crisis: media obtain a significant amount of online content automatically and with no investment needed. This helps to increase the website traffic, to lenghten the time spent by visitors; and to obtain a better place in web search engines

  17. THE STATE OF BLOGGING IN SPANISH MAINSTREAM MEDIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Koldo Meso Ayerdi

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we aim to draw a picture of what is happening in Spanish mainstream cybermedia from the point of view of new ways of participation and, more concretely, we analyze remarkable weblogs signed by journalists and/or guests, in order to determine the author’s profile. A survey answered by 50 per cent of these bloggers let us know why the use of weblogs represents the key to media success in the online sphere. During 2008, we analyzed several national (Abc.es, Elmundo.es, Elpais.es and regional (Elcorreodigital.com, Lavanguardia.es internet newspapers, and we underline the special case of Vocento, one of the main multimedia group in Spain. Our results show that offering outstanding weblogs is a good strategy against crisis: media obtain a significant amount of online content automatically and with no investment needed. This helps to increase the website traffic, to lenghten the time spent by visitors; and to obtain a better place in web search engines

  18. Radionuclide usage survey 1979-80

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Woods, M.J.

    1980-08-01

    Details of a survey by the Life Sciences Working Group of the International Committee for Radionuclide Metrology (ICRM) on radionuclide usage by medical physicists in 11 countries are presented. The results indicate that the radionuclide which will be of most significance in the future will be F-18, Fe-52, Ga-67, Ga-68, Kr-81m, Tc-99m, In-111, I-123, Xe-127 and Tl-201, (U.K.)

  19. Japanese Mobile Phone Usage in Sweden - Technological and Social Prerequisites

    OpenAIRE

    Fredriksson, Susanne; Hillerdal, Ida

    2010-01-01

    Japan is an advanced country when it comes to mobile phone technology. This thesis firstly investigates the mobile phone usage in Japan. Secondly it describes the prerequisites for implementation of some distinguished Japanese mobile phone functions in Sweden. This is done from a social as well as a technological aspect. The Japanese mobile phone usage is investigated on three levels; governmental, industrial and consumer. The governmental level is characterised by an ICT policy which strives...

  20. A Study of the Effects of Rank and Gender on Officers' Club Membership and Club Usage at U.S. Air Force Bases in the Continental United States

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Smith, C

    1999-01-01

    Scope and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between both officer rank and officer gender and both club membership and member usage at Air Force officers' clubs in the Continental United States (CONUS...

  1. Complementary and Alternative Medicines: Usage and Its Determinant Factors Among Outpatients in Southeast of Iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghaedi, Fateme; Dehghan, Mahlagha; Salari, Masoumeh; Sheikhrabori, Akbar

    2015-12-13

    Prevalence of complementary and alternative medicines is increasing specially in patients with chronic diseases. Therefore, based on the high prevalence of chronic disorders, the present study aimed to determine complementary and alternative medicine usage frequency and its determinant factors. This was a cross-sectional study. Five hundred clients participated in the study by using convenience sampling. A 2-part questionnaire (including demographic form and researcher-created questionnaire) was used for studying the prevalence of using complementary and alternative medicine methods, and users' satisfaction. Findings showed that 75.4% of people used at least one complementary and alternative medicine method. Most of users consumed medicinal plants (69.4%). The most common reason of using a complementary and alternative medicine method was common cold (32.9%). The highest satisfaction belonged to massage (2.94 ± 0.74). The usage of complementary and alternative medicine was 3.22 times higher in people with academic educations when compared with illiterate people. Concerning the high usage of complementary and alternative medicine, it is necessary to train specialists in this field in order to offer such treatments in a safe manner. Also, outcomes of application of complementary and alternative medicine methods should be studied. © The Author(s) 2015.

  2. Parents of preschoolers’ usage of television program rating symbols and their protective ways from television

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Çağla Banko

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study is detecting parent’s, who have 3-6 ages of children, knowledge and usage level of these systems, and their protective ways for TV. Research sample was formed by 130 mothers in qualiatative part of the study and 8 mothers in quantitative part of the study.  In this study, which include both quantitative and qualitative methods, semi-structured interview form and survey were used. For the evaluation of qualitative data, ANOVA and t-test were used. The relationship between parents’ awareness level and program rating symbols usage level was revealed by correlation analysis. The evaluation of quantitative data was carried out with content analysis. Findings show that participants mostly know television content rating systems except symbol used for negative behaviours. Moreover, usage level and children guidance level of participants are generally high. Participant’s education level was the only effective variable of the study. Post hoc test showed that  and their awareness and guidance level. After qualitative analyzes it is found that families use television on the purpose of entertainment and education. Parents thought that TV includes negative sample behaviors and parents protect their children from negative effects of TV by controlling their watching.

  3. Environmental diagnosis of the soil usage and the water resources preservation of Juqueriquerê river’s watershed

    OpenAIRE

    Pinto Neto, José Nunes; Moura, Luciana Machado; Fernandes, Gisele Aparecida; Carvalho, Alessandra Rodrigues de; Figueiredo, Marilu Alcântara de Melo; Faria, Elaine Dias de; Pons, Nívea Adriana Dias

    2013-01-01

    The management of the soil usage and the water resources protection has received more and more attention from society and environmental studies. In this perspective, geo-processing tools can help in the production of more representative diagnosis, reporting the reality of the study fields in a clearer way. This paper aims at performing a diagnosis of the soil usage as well as the state of preservation of the water resources of Juqueriquerê River’s watershed. To create the database and the fin...

  4. Media Usage, Religiosity and Gender as Determinant of Performance in Chemistry Subject

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oloyede, Ganiyat Kehinde; Mercy, Ofole Ndidi

    2016-01-01

    This research was designed to investigate the effect of media usage, religiosity and gender on performance in chemistry subject. This study employed survey research design. Two hundred participants (66 males and 134 females) drawn from public Senior Secondary Schools in Ibadan North Local Government Area, Oyo State constituted the study's sample.…

  5. A dynamic analysis of motorcycle ownership and usage: a panel data modeling approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wen, Chieh-Hua; Chiou, Yu-Chiun; Huang, Wan-Ling

    2012-11-01

    This study aims to develop motorcycle ownership and usage models with consideration of the state dependence and heterogeneity effects based on a large-scale questionnaire panel survey on vehicle owners. To account for the independence among alternatives and heterogeneity among individuals, the modeling structure of motorcycle ownership adopts disaggregate choice models considering the multinomial, nested, and mixed logit formulations. Three types of panel data regression models--ordinary, fixed, and random effects--are developed and compared for motorcycle usage. The estimation results show that motorcycle ownership in the previous year does exercise a significantly positive effect on the number of motorcycles owned by households in the current year, suggesting that the state dependence effect does exist in motorcycle ownership decisions. In addition, the fixed effects model is the preferred specification for modeling motorcycle usage, indicating strong evidence for existence of heterogeneity. Among various management strategies evaluated under different scenarios, increasing gas prices and parking fees will lead to larger reductions in total kilometers traveled. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Aspiration Curettage and its Outpatient Usage

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Aspiration Curettage and its Outpatient Usage. D. A. G. BARFORD, M, NOTELOVITZ. SUMMARY ... its use on a number of outpatients without anaesthesia is discussed. S. Afr. Med. l., 48, 22 (1974). In order to ... plastic aspiration chamber and suction is applied centrally at the base of the chamber, a cylindrical filter within the.

  7. Mobile Device Usage in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delcker, Jan; Honal, Andrea; Ifenthaler, Dirk

    2016-01-01

    This paper focuses on mobile device usage of students in higher education. While more and more students embrace mobile devices in their daily life, institutions attempt to profit from those devices for educational purposes. It is therefore crucial for institutional development to identify students' needs and how mobile devices may facilitate these…

  8. Large-Scale Genomic Analysis of Codon Usage in Dengue Virus and Evaluation of Its Phylogenetic Dependence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lara-Ramírez, Edgar E.; Salazar, Ma Isabel; López-López, María de Jesús; Salas-Benito, Juan Santiago; Sánchez-Varela, Alejandro

    2014-01-01

    The increasing number of dengue virus (DENV) genome sequences available allows identifying the contributing factors to DENV evolution. In the present study, the codon usage in serotypes 1–4 (DENV1–4) has been explored for 3047 sequenced genomes using different statistics methods. The correlation analysis of total GC content (GC) with GC content at the three nucleotide positions of codons (GC1, GC2, and GC3) as well as the effective number of codons (ENC, ENCp) versus GC3 plots revealed mutational bias and purifying selection pressures as the major forces influencing the codon usage, but with distinct pressure on specific nucleotide position in the codon. The correspondence analysis (CA) and clustering analysis on relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) within each serotype showed similar clustering patterns to the phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences for DENV1–4. These clustering patterns are strongly related to the virus geographic origin. The phylogenetic dependence analysis also suggests that stabilizing selection acts on the codon usage bias. Our analysis of a large scale reveals new feature on DENV genomic evolution. PMID:25136631

  9. The Effect of Social Media Usage on Course Achievement and Behavior

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alghazo, Yazan M.; Nash, Julie A.

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated the effects of social media usage as a classroom management tool on students' achievement and their behavior in class. Groups were determined by choosing random samples of different classes. The treatment group included the social media application "whatsapp" which all students and the instructor were asked to…

  10. Usage pattern of personal care products in California households.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Xiangmei May; Bennett, Deborah H; Ritz, Beate; Cassady, Diana L; Lee, Kiyoung; Hertz-Picciotto, Irva

    2010-11-01

    Given the concern over the potential for health risks associated with certain ingredients (e.g., phthalates) in personal care products, usage patterns of ∼30 types of personal care products (e.g., shampoo, sunscreen, fragrance, etc.) were collected in 604 California households through a telephone interview. Preferences in selecting products, e.g., scented or unscented, aerosol, and brand loyalty, were also investigated. Participants were recruited in three age groups, children (mostly preschoolers), their parents, and adults age 55 or older. Use frequencies of various product types varied by sex, age group, race, education, and climatic region. Product use by parent and child from the same household were correlated. Use frequencies of products in the same class (e.g., skincare) were moderately correlated, which may impact aggregate exposures. Use frequencies observed in this study were generally in the same range as those reported in the EPA Exposure Factor Handbook, but we found differences for some individual products. Our study provides additional data on population-based usage patterns of a large collection of commonly used personal care products pertaining to several age groups and socio-demographic strata. This information will be valuable for exposure and risk assessments. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Pattern of Internet Usage in Planning after-School Programs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Shahjafari

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The present research studies the pattern of the Internet usage by the third grade students of middle schools in the school year 2012-13 in Tehran. For this purpose, the needs of Iranian teenagers in virtual and cyber space have been identified and studied through an interdisciplinary approach. A researcher-made questionnaire and interviews with specialists and scholars in the fields of curriculum planning, educational technology, educational planning, information technology and communication were used based on an interdisciplinary approach. Finally, the needs of the students were divided and categorized into two factors of knowledge and skill, and individual and social characteristics on the basis of factor analysis method; the pattern of the Internet usage, including leisure factors and accessibility to information and sources, was designed and presented. Also, the results indicate that these factors have no direct effect on the network features and this effect occurs in relation to leisure factors through the location of the programs. Students’ interest in the Internet was mainly for the purposes of downloading videos and music and also playing online games and entertainment programs. This implies the necessity of attention on the part of planners to preparing and providing videos, games and educational, scientific and entertaining programs.

  12. The knowledge, attitude, priority of usage, and benefits associated with management accounting practices

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Steen; Melander, Preben; Jakobsen, Morten

    2009-01-01

    There have been several studies of the diffusion of new management accounting practices. This study adds a new dimension: in order to indicate the number of practices associated with the respondents, their interrelationships, the respondents, were asked to answer questions in a questionnaire...... covering four variables: level of knowledge, level of attitude, priority of usage, and level of benefit for 15 new accounting practices. The survey includes a sample of 119 large and medium-sized privately owned manufacturing and non-manufacturing companies, comprising 15 new or recently developed...... management accounting practices. Our results reveal that companies in general experience a high level of benefit from the practices. However, significance differences between low priority of usage and high number of practices associated with the company are very likely to contribute to a more modest level...

  13. Commercial and Multifamily Building Tenant Energy Usage Aggregation and Privacy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Livingston, Olga V.; Pulsipher, Trenton C.; Wang, Na

    2014-11-17

    In a number of cities and states, building owners are required to disclose and/or benchmark their building energy use. This requires the building owner to possess monthly whole-building energy usage information, which can be challenging for buildings in which individual tenants have their own utility meters and accounts with the utility. Some utilities and utility regulators have turned to aggregation of customer data as a way to give building owners the whole-building energy usage data while protecting customer privacy. However, no utilities or regulators appear to have conducted a concerted statistical, cybersecurity, and privacy analysis to justify the level of aggregation selected. Therefore, the Tennant Data Aggregation Task was established to help utilities address these issues and provide recommendations as well as a theoretical justification of the aggregation threshold. This study is focused on the use case of submitting data for ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (ESPM), but it also looks at other potential use cases for monthly energy consumption data.

  14. Web-based Media at European Universities: Systems, Usage, and Motivation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Godsk, Mikkel

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents the results of two surveys analyzing the usage of and the systems available for web-based media at European universities, and how the teachers can be motivated to increase their usage of such materials in their teaching practice. The surveys were carried out April-May 2009 among...... obvious. The surveys also show that many teachers are already using web-based media in their teaching practice and by addressing some of their teaching circumstances it would be possible to increase the usage even further. Based on these results the paper presents five initiatives to motivate the teachers...

  15. Inspiring Lecturers: Sharing E-Learning Practice through European Case Studies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hayes, Sarah; Godsk, Mikkel; Andersen, Majbrit Vandsø

    2009-01-01

    Sharing best practice in e-learning, when undertaken as an active process, can provide valuable insights, with a real capacity to inspire. This has been our experience in collecting European university e-learning case studies. How this was achieved is the focus of this paper, which discusses...... collaboration, using a database and a weblog (EUNIC, 2008). Some examples of the case studies are provided, with suggestions of ways to develop this process further....... a consistent approach to transferring knowledge that might be followed and developed by others. We will outline a methodology for sharing best practices of e-learning. We will explain how these cases, rather like short stories, were identified, gathered and communicated by the EUNIS ELearning Task Force...

  16. Genome-Wide Analysis of the Synonymous Codon Usage Patterns in Riemerella anatipestifer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jibin Liu

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Riemerella anatipestifer (RA belongs to the Flavobacteriaceae family and can cause a septicemia disease in poultry. The synonymous codon usage patterns of bacteria reflect a series of evolutionary changes that enable bacteria to improve tolerance of the various environments. We detailed the codon usage patterns of RA isolates from the available 12 sequenced genomes by multiple codon and statistical analysis. Nucleotide compositions and relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU analysis revealed that A or U ending codons are predominant in RA. Neutrality analysis found no significant correlation between GC12 and GC3 (p > 0.05. Correspondence analysis and ENc-plot results showed that natural selection dominated over mutation in the codon usage bias. The tree of cluster analysis based on RSCU was concordant with dendrogram based on genomic BLAST by neighbor-joining method. By comparative analysis, about 50 highly expressed genes that were orthologs across all 12 strains were found in the top 5% of high CAI value. Based on these CAI values, we infer that RA contains a number of predicted highly expressed coding sequences, involved in transcriptional regulation and metabolism, reflecting their requirement for dealing with diverse environmental conditions. These results provide some useful information on the mechanisms that contribute to codon usage bias and evolution of RA.

  17. Usage and recall of FMCG brands by rural consumers and relevant facts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Savanam Chandra Sekhar

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available India is a country of villages. It has mammoth rural population of 833 million spread over 640,867 villages. Rural markets are small in size, distantly scattered and heterogeneous. They provide awesome opportunities for fast moving consumer goods (FMCG companies. Rural consumers aspire to use brands rather than just commodities. At this juncture, understand rural consumer usage of FMCG brands and awareness is perceived appropriate. The objective of this research paper is to study the usage and recall of FMCG brands by rural consumers in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh in India. Thus, a modest attempt is made in this paper to divulge relevant facts of the topic with empirical data. This article is quite useful to the stakeholders of rural marketing.

  18. Usage Notes in the Oxford American Dictionary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berner, R. Thomas

    1981-01-01

    Compares the "Oxford American Dictionary" with the "American Heritage Dictionary." Examines the dictionaries' differences in philosophies of language, introductory essays, and usage notes. Concludes that the "Oxford American Dictionary" is too conservative, paternalistic, and dogmatic for the 1980s. (DMM)

  19. Understanding social media program usage in public transit agencies

    OpenAIRE

    Jenny H. Liu; Wei Shi; O.A. (Sam) Elrahman; Xuegang (Jeff) Ban; Jack M. Reilly

    2016-01-01

    Social media has been gaining prominence in public transit agencies in their communication strategies and daily management. This study aims to better understand recent trends in social media usage in public transit agencies, to examine which agencies use what kind of social media programs for what purposes, and how they measure their programs. A survey was conducted of the top transit agencies in the nation, and results are examined through descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analys...

  20. Usage of Crushed Concrete Fines in Decorative Concrete

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pilipenko, Anton; Bazhenova, Sofia

    2017-10-01

    The article is devoted to the questions of usage of crushed concrete fines from concrete scrap for the production of high-quality decorative composite materials based on mixed binder. The main problem in the application of crushed concrete in the manufacture of decorative concrete products is extremely low decorative properties of crushed concrete fines itself, as well as concrete products based on them. However, crushed concrete fines could have a positive impact on the structure of the concrete matrix and could improve the environmental and economic characteristics of the concrete products. Dust fraction of crushed concrete fines contains non-hydrated cement grains, which can be opened in screening process due to the low strength of the contact zone between the hydrated and non-hydrated cement. In addition, the screening process could increase activity of the crushed concrete fines, so it can be used as a fine aggregate and filler for concrete mixes. Previous studies have shown that the effect of the usage of the crushed concrete fines is small and does not allow to obtain concrete products with high strength. However, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the crushed concrete fines as a filler due to the complex of measures prior to mixing. Such measures may include a preliminary mechanochemical activation of the binder (cement binder, iron oxide pigment, silica fume and crushed concrete fines), as well as the usage of polycarboxylate superplasticizers. The development of specific surface area of activated crushed concrete fines ensures strong adhesion between grains of binder and filler during the formation of cement stone matrix. The particle size distribution of the crushed concrete fines could achieve the densest structure of cement stone matrix and improve its resistance to environmental effects. The authors examined the mechanisms of structure of concrete products with crushed concrete fines as a filler. The results of studies of the properties of