The Search for Symbiotic Stars in the IPHAS Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corradi R. L. M.

2012-06-01

Full Text Available We have started a project to search for symbiotic stars using the data from IPHAS, the Hα survey of the Northern Galactic plane. Candidates are selected from the IPHAS photometric catalogue based on their colors, combined with the information in the near-infrared from 2MASS. So far, follow-up spectroscopy allowed us to discover 14 new symbiotic stars, compared to the 10 systems previously known in the IPHAS survey area. Their general characteristics and the most notable cases are briefly presented. the spectroscopic campaign also allowed us to refine the selection criteria for symbiotic stars in IPHAS. Perspectives, which include the extension of the survey in the Southern Galactic plane and a portion of the bulge (VPHAS+, are discussed.

VVV Survey Search for Habitable Planets around M Dwarfs

Science.gov (United States)

Minniti, Dante

2015-08-01

VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) is a public ESO near- infrared (near-IR) variability survey aimed at scanning the Milky Way Bulge and an adjacent section of the mid-plane. The survey covers an area of 562 sqdeg in the Galactic bulge and the southern disk, containing a billion point sources. In this work we discuss the selection of nearby M-type dwarf stars using multicolor cuts. The ZYJHKs photometry allows an accurate estimation of the spectral types of the M-dwarf candidates. Our procedure is applied for fields located far from the Galactic center where the photometric quality is best. The results of this search covering 15 sqdeg allow us to estimate the total number of M-dwarfs that can be photometrically monitored in the VVV database. In addition, we analyze the light curves of the ~10000 best candidate M-dwarf stars searching for extrasolar planetary transits. In this poster we present the light curves of a hundred good transit candidates, and select those that lie in the HZ around their parent stars.

Ontario electricity bill review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Neill, G.

2003-01-01

Findings of an independent review of charges to electricity bills and recommendations to assist in the development of a standard, province-wide residential electricity bill for Ontario are discussed. The review was requested by the province's Minister of Energy in an effort to dispel growing confusion about the variations in customer billing practices used by the province's 90+ local distribution companies. Key recommendations and findings were as follows: (1)Consumer bill formats issued by local distribution companies should be more consumer-friendly, adhere to minimum design standards, adapt uniform terminology and common line charges; (2) charges on customer bills should be grouped into four standard line items, with full details available to customers: the four line items should be a basic service charge, a charge for delivering electricity to the customer, a charge for the electricity itself, and a separate charge for retiring the outstanding debt of the former Ontario Hydro; (3) bills should take advantage of opportunities for promoting province-wide energy conservation, such as encouraging the long-term use of interval meters, presenting historical consumption data on residential bills on a period-to-period basis, and education and communications initiatives. Details of the recommendations, including the calculation of the fixed and variable components of usage charges, an explanation of the concept of electricity system loss adjustments, a method for phasing in the recommendations, and the anticipated benefits to consumers are provided

Status assessment and conservation plan for the yellow-billed loon (Gavia adamsii)

Science.gov (United States)

Earnst, Susan L.

2004-01-01

Because of its restricted range, small population size, specific habitat requirements, and perceived threats to its breeding habitat, the Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii) is a species of conservation concern to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the subject of a petition for listing under the Endangered Species Act. This Status Assessment synthesizes current information on population size, trends, and potential threats to Yellow-billed Loons, and the Conservation Plan identifies research and monitoring activities that would contribute to the conservation of this species. The preparation of this report was requested and funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nongame Bird Office, Region 7.The Status Assessment and Conservation Plan for the Yellow-billed Loon can be summarized as follows:? Northern Alaska breeding grounds support an average of 3,369 individuals, including change), but interpretation of surveys is complicated by changes in observers and high annual variation, and the 95% confidence interval is large (-3.6% to +1.8% annual change). The low reproductive potential of Yellow-billed Loons suggests that recovery from a substantial decline would not occur rapidly. There are no systematic surveys of Canadian and Russian breeding populations (Section 6-F).? The expansion of the oil industry into prime Yellow-billed Loon breeding habitat is a recent occurrence and we lack the necessary information to accurately predict its effect on the population. Most of northern Alaska?s Yellow-billed Loons (91%) occur on the National Petroleum Reserve?Alaska, virtually all of which is open or proposed to be opened to development and where there is no permanent or legal protection of Yellow-billed Loon habitat (Section 7-A).? Other potential factors affecting the population are also addressed, such as contaminants, subsistence hunting, by catch in subsistence and commercial fisheries on the breeding and wintering grounds, and health of the marine ecosystem off

Measuring public understanding on Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) electricity bills using ordered probit model

Science.gov (United States)

Zainudin, WNRA; Ramli, NA

2017-09-01

In 2016, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) had introduced an upgrade in its Billing and Customer Relationship Management (BCRM) as part of its long-term initiative to provide its customers with greater access to billing information. This includes information on real and suggested power consumption by the customers and further details in their billing charges. This information is useful to help TNB customers to gain better understanding on their electricity usage patterns and items involved in their billing charges. Up to date, there are not many studies done to measure public understanding on current electricity bills and whether this understanding could contribute towards positive impacts. The purpose of this paper is to measure public understanding on current TNB electricity bills and whether their satisfaction towards energy-related services, electricity utility services, and their awareness on the amount of electricity consumed by various appliances and equipment in their home could improve this understanding on the electricity bills. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are used to achieve these objectives. A total of 160 respondents from local universities in Malaysia participated in a survey used to collect relevant information. Using Ordered Probit model, this paper finds respondents that are highly satisfied with the electricity utility services tend to understand their electricity bills better. The electric utility services include management of electricity bills and the information obtained from utility or non-utility supplier to help consumers manage their energy usage or bills. Based on the results, this paper concludes that the probability to understand the components in the monthly electricity bill increases as respondents are more satisfied with their electric utility services and are more capable to value the energy-related services.

THE ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR OF THE LONG BILLED CURLEW (NUMENIUS AMERICANUS) IN SOUTHEASTERN WASHINGTON

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Julia N. Fitzner

1978-06-01

The primary objective of this study was to examine in depth the nesting ecology and behavior of the Long-billed Curlew on a breeding area relatively free of disruptive human activity. Two surruners of field work were devoted to that end; a post-breeding season survey in 1976 of the major National Wildlife Refuges in Washington, Southern Idaho, Utah, Nevada California, and Oregon enlarged the scope by including unpublished records of Long-billed Curlews in these areas.

Billing and accounts receivable: fundamentals for improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Bizon, M M

1993-07-01

If a healthcare facility's accounts receivable operation is experiencing problems, the patient accounts manager should survey all areas of his or her responsibility to determine the best method of resolving the difficulties. One effective technique to reduce billing problems is to take a proactive--not reactive--approach. If mistakes can be corrected before they get out of control, and if the patient accounts manager can ensure that claims will not be denied, a healthcare facility's accounts receivable should remain in good condition.

25 CFR 175.30 - Billing.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... provided in the customer's special contract. (c) Service fee billing. The utility shall render service fee... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Billing. 175.30 Section 175.30 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND AND WATER INDIAN ELECTRIC POWER UTILITIES Billing, Payments, and...

Upland Nesting Prairie Shorebirds: Use of Managed Wetland Basins and Accuracy of Breeding Surveys

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheri L. Gratto-Trevor

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Wetlands in southern Alberta are often managed to benefit waterfowl and cattle production. Effects on other species usually are not examined. I determined the effect of managed wetlands on upland-nesting shorebirds in southern Alberta by comparing numbers of breeding willets (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus, marbled godwits (Limosa fedoa, and long-billed curlews (Numenius americanus among areas of managed wetlands, natural wetland basins, and no wetland basins from 1995 to 2000. Surveys were carried out at 21 sites three times each year. Nine to ten of these areas (each 2 km2 were searched for nests annually from 1998-2000. Numbers of willets and marbled godwits and their nests were always highest in areas with managed wetlands, probably because almost all natural wetland basins were dry in this region in most years. Densities of willets seen during pre-incubation surveys averaged 2.3 birds/km2 in areas of managed wetlands, 0.4 in areas of natural wetland basins, and 0.1 in areas with no wetland basins. Nest densities of willets (one search each season averaged 1.5, 0.9, and 0.3 nests/km2 in areas of managed, natural, and no wetland basins, respectively. Similarly, pre-incubation surveys averaged 1.6, 0.6, and 0.2 godwits/km2 in areas of managed, natural, and no wetland basins, and 1.2, 0.3, and 0.1 godwit nests/km2. For long-billed curlews, pre-incubation surveys averaged 0.1, 0.2, and 0.1 birds/km2, and 0, 0.2, and 0 nests/km2. Nest success was similar in areas with and without managed wetlands. Shallow managed wetlands in this region appear beneficial to willets and marbled godwits, but not necessarily to long-billed curlews. Only 8% of marked willets and godwits with nests in the area were seen or heard during surveys, compared with 29% of pre-laying individuals and 42% of birds with broods. This suggests that a low and variable percentage of these birds is counted during breeding bird surveys, likely limiting their ability to adequately monitor

Chart Smart: A Need for Documentation and Billing Education Among Emergency Medicine Residents?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian Dawson, MD

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Objective: The healthcare chart is becoming ever more complex, serving clinicians, patients, third party payers, regulators, and even medicolegal parties. The purpose of this study was to identify our emergency medicine (EM resident and attending physicians’ current knowledge and attitudes about billing and documentation practices. We hypothesized that resident and attending physicians would identify billing and documentation as an area in which residents need further education.Methods: We gave a 15-question Likert survey to resident and attending physicians regarding charting practices, knowledge of billing and documentation, and opinions regarding need for further education.Results: We achieved a 100% response rate, with 47% (16/34 of resident physicians disagreeing or strongly disagreeing that they have adequate training in billing and documentation, while 91% (31/34 of residents and 95% (21/22 of attending physicians identified this skill as important to a resident’s future practice. Eighty-two percent (28/34 of resident physicians and 100% of attending physicians recommended further education for residents.Conclusion: Residents in this academic EM department identified a need for further education in billing and documentation practices. [West J Emerg Med. 2010;11(2: 116-119.

Badali recommends simplified bills

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon

2003-04-01

A report on the variety of retail electricity bills across the province, authored by Salvatore Badali of Deloitte Consulting, was recently released by the Ontario Government. The report was commissioned by the Government to examine the underlying reasons for the significant format differences and the wide variation of fixed and variable charges among the approximately 95 local electricity distribution companies across the province. Regarding the appropriateness of the charges the report recommends common definitions for local distribution company (LDC) fixed and variable costs, and consideration of options for reducing LDC charges, mainly by consolidating the sector and sharing such services as customer billing, accounting and out sourcing operations. Seven recommendations deal with bill simplification. These include bills that are clear and easy to read and provide sufficient information for consumers to verify charges; promote energy conservation, e.g. by including historical information; allow comparisons between retail suppliers and distributors; accommodate revenue collection, marketing needs and other billing services. The report also recommends clearly defined and consistently used terminology for standardized line items, suggests ways to provide consumer information in a form useful for making energy conservation decisions, development of an LDC scorecard to enable stake holders to compare their own LDCs with LDCs around the province, creation of a conservation and bill calculation website, consideration of further use of shared services, and solutions to address the removal of line losses from invoices.

Badali recommends simplified bills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon

2003-01-01

A report on the variety of retail electricity bills across the province, authored by Salvatore Badali of Deloitte Consulting, was recently released by the Ontario Government. The report was commissioned by the Government to examine the underlying reasons for the significant format differences and the wide variation of fixed and variable charges among the approximately 95 local electricity distribution companies across the province. Regarding the appropriateness of the charges the report recommends common definitions for local distribution company (LDC) fixed and variable costs, and consideration of options for reducing LDC charges, mainly by consolidating the sector and sharing such services as customer billing, accounting and out sourcing operations. Seven recommendations deal with bill simplification. These include bills that are clear and easy to read and provide sufficient information for consumers to verify charges; promote energy conservation, e.g. by including historical information; allow comparisons between retail suppliers and distributors; accommodate revenue collection, marketing needs and other billing services. The report also recommends clearly defined and consistently used terminology for standardized line items, suggests ways to provide consumer information in a form useful for making energy conservation decisions, development of an LDC scorecard to enable stake holders to compare their own LDCs with LDCs around the province, creation of a conservation and bill calculation website, consideration of further use of shared services, and solutions to address the removal of line losses from invoices

Errors in energy bills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kop, L.

2001-01-01

On request, the Dutch Association for Energy, Environment and Water (VEMW) checks the energy bills for her customers. It appeared that in the year 2000 many small, but also big errors were discovered in the bills of 42 businesses

Bill project aiming at abrogating exclusive search permits for unconventional hydrocarbon searches, and at prohibiting their exploration and exploitation of the national territory; Proposition de Loi visant a abroger les permis exclusifs de recherches d'hydrocarbures non conventionnels et a interdire leur exploration et leur exploitation sur le territoire national

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2011-07-01

After having briefly recalled the origin of shale gases, their extraction process and the evolution of their production in the USA, the authors outline the extremely negative environmental impacts of the fracking technique (hydraulic fracturing): water pollution, air pollution, soil pollution, existence of numerous drilling sites which would degrade landscapes, water and soil contamination risks. As some search permits have already been awarded, and while taking these negative consequences into account, the authors propose a bill project to prohibit these explorations, to abrogate the existing permits, and to ensure public information before bestowing such search permits and exploitation concessions

Bill project aiming at abrogating exclusive search permits for unconventional hydrocarbon searches, and at prohibiting their exploration and exploitation of the national territory; Proposition de Loi visant a abroger les permis exclusifs de recherches d'hydrocarbures non conventionnels et a interdire leur exploration et leur exploitation sur le territoire national

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2011-07-01

After having briefly recalled the origin of shale gases, their extraction process and the evolution of their production in the USA, the authors outline the extremely negative environmental impacts of the fracking technique (hydraulic fracturing): water pollution, air pollution, soil pollution, existence of numerous drilling sites which would degrade landscapes, water and soil contamination risks. As some search permits have already been awarded, and while taking these negative consequences into account, the authors propose a bill project to prohibit these explorations, to abrogate the existing permits, and to ensure public information before bestowing such search permits and exploitation concessions

Approximate search for Big Data with applications in information security – A survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Slobodan Petrović

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This paper is a survey of approximate search techniques in very large data sets (so-called Big Data. After a short introduction, some techniques for speeding up approximate search in such data sets based on exploitation of inherent bit-parallelism in computers are described. It then reviews the applications in search related to information security problems (digital forensics, malware detection, intrusion detection are reviewed. Finally, the need for constraints in approximate search regarding the number of so-called elementary edit operations and the run lengths of particular elementary edit operations is explained and the status of on-going research on efficient implementation of approximate search algorithms with various constraints is given.

The Report on Part-Time Faculty Compensation and Salary Survey, House Bill 384

Science.gov (United States)

New Mexico Higher Education Department, 2007

2007-01-01

In the 2007 Legislative Session, House Bill 384 (HB 384) directed the New Mexico Higher Education Department to produce an Annual Accountability Report in collaboration with each public postsecondary educational institution in the state of New Mexico. The report contains information pertaining to: (1) faculty compensation and benefits practices;…

Killing the bill online? Pathways to young people's protest engagement via social media.

Science.gov (United States)

Macafee, Timothy; De Simone, J J

2012-11-01

In spring 2011, thousands of Wisconsin residents protested a controversial bill spearheaded by Governor Scott Walker. Protest engagement via social media was popular, especially among young people. The current study examines the relationship between young people's informational and expressive uses of four social media-Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Blogs-and their offline protest engagement. Survey results reveal that although college students used these social media to obtain information about the budget repair bill protests, only expressive uses related to offline protest engagement. We move research forward by examining the implications of multiple uses of political social media surrounding a compelling case study.

A search for IRSL-Active dosimeters with enhanced sensitivity : a spectroscopic survey

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poolton, N.R.J.; Bøtter-Jensen, L.; Johnson, O.

1997-01-01

The spectral and radiation dose characteristics of a range of previously uninvestigated alumine-silicate materials are surveyed, with the intention of searching for alternative, high sensitivity materials that could potentially be used as InfraRed Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) dosemeters...

48 CFR 942.704 - Billing rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... ADMINISTRATION AND AUDIT SERVICES Indirect Cost Rates 942.704 Billing rates. (b) When the contracting officer or auditor responsible for establishing billing rates, in accordance with 48 CFR 42.704, has not established... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Billing rates. 942.704...

Atomic Weapons Establishment Bill

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clark, Alan; Dalyell, Tam; Haynes, Frank

1990-01-01

The Bill debated concerns the government's proposal for the future organisations of the atomic weapons establishment in the United Kingdom. The proposals arise from a full review carried out in 1989 and include points raised by the Select Committee on the Trident programme. Studies of productivity, pay and conditions, information systems and long term manufacturing strategy have been started to enable recommendations of the reorganisation of the establishments to be made. The details of the Bill were debated for just over two hours. The debate is reported verbatim. The main issues were over the principle of contractorisation, possible staff redundancies, conditions of employment, safety and security. The proposal that the Bill be read a second time was carried. (UK)

Long-billed curlews on the Yakima Training Center: Information for base realignment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hand, K.D.; Cadwell, L.L.; Eberhardt, L.E.

1994-02-01

This report summarizes and discusses the results obtained during 1992 from the study of long-billed curlews on the Yakima Training Center (YTC), which Pacific Northwest Laboratory conducted for the US Department of the Army. This study was initiated to provide basic ecological information on YTC long-billed curlews (Numenius americanus). The long-billed curlew is a relatively common spring and summer resident on the YTC. However, other than casual observations, very little is known about the distribution, density, reproductive success, and habitat requirements for this species on the YTC. Until recently the long-billed curlew was a US Fish and Wildlife Service candidate for listing as threatened or endangered; however, on November 21, 1991 it was down-listed to Class IIIc. The Washington Department of Wildlife lists the long-billed curlew as a ``species of special concern.`` Specific objectives of this study were to (1) locate nesting areas, (2) locate brood-rearing areas, (3) evaluate habitat requirements, (4) determine diet, (5) evaluate response to troop activities, (6) evaluate the impact of livestock grazing, (7) estimate the population size, and (8) estimate recruitment rates. Six curlews (four females and two males) were captured and fitted with radio transmitters. These birds were relocated to obtain nesting, habitat use, and feeding information. Road surveys conducted over most of the YTC provided information on the bird`s general distribution, habitat requirements, and nesting and brood-rearing areas.

Atomic Weapons Establishment Bill [Money

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bennett, A.F.; Cryer, Bob; Carlisle, Kenneth; Dean, Paul.

1990-01-01

The debate concerns the authorisation of payment of the money required to reorganise the atomic weapons establishment in the United Kingdom provided for in the Atomic Weapons Establishment Bill in progress through Parliament. In the Bill the contractorisation of the establishment is recommended and some sort of Government owned company operated scheme set up. The debate lasted about half an hour and is reported verbatim. The issues raised concerned the actual sums likely to be incurred in the formation of a Company to carry out the designated activities of the Bill. These are connected with the research, development, production or maintenance of nuclear devices and the premises needed. The government spokesman suggested the sums required to support the Bill would not be large and the resolution was agreed to without a vote. (UK)

Water Label to Improve Water Billing in Spanish Households

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Castillo-Martinez

2014-05-01

Full Text Available A significant decrease in water consumption has been achieved in recent years thanks to different campaigns run by different institutions in Spain. However, most citizens do not have a very clear idea about whether or not they are efficiently using water. To solve this situation, this paper aims is to develop two water labels in order to improve the current water billing. These water labels evaluate the total water consumption and the domestic hot water consumption. To make the tags, several research studies were tackled for establishing consumer trends and behavior patterns. Furthermore, a survey and data collection were conducted to obtain updated values to validate information obtained from previous studies. The result are two water labels that establish six different levels to graphically show the efficiency, and they also include a comparison with the average consumption by customers of the same province. To ensure that the benefits of this evaluation are available to citizens, its inclusion on the water bill is proposed.

Electricity Bill [Part 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parkinson, C.; Hogg, N.; Salmond, A.

1988-01-01

The paper presents the first part of the Parliamentary debate on the second reading of the Electricity Bill, House of Commons, London 1988. The Bill sets out the government's proposals for the restructuring and privatisation of the electricity supply industry throughout Great Britain. Customers and suppliers, choice for the consumer, competition promotion, security of supply, nuclear power stations, and cost, are all discussed. (U.K.)

Billing for outpatient transplant pharmacy services.

Science.gov (United States)

Maldonado, Angela Q; Seiger, Todd C; Urann, Christina L; McCleary, Jo Ann; Goroski, Angela L; Ojogho, Okechukwu N

2012-01-15

The economic impact of out-patient pharmacy services in a transplant program was evaluated. Full-time kidney transplant pharmacy services were implemented at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center (PSHMC) in the fall of 2008, with two pharmacists combining hours to provide one full-time-equivalent position. At PSHMC, posttransplantation patients are seen three times per week. The number of patient visits with pharmacists for 2010 was compared with the total number of patient visits. The face-to-face time spent with the patient was translated to a level of billing that was associated with a set reimbursement schedule. For each patient encounter in which a pharmacist was involved, the incremental difference between the nursing and pharmacy levels of billing was examined, as were the levels most often billed by pharmacists. The difference in billing levels between pharmacists and nurses for the same patient encounter was also evaluated. Overall, pharmacist visits accounted for 208 (22%) of the 994 out-patient kidney transplant visits in 2010, with pharmacists billing at a higher level of acuity compared with nursing for the same patient encounter 48% of the time. This translated to an approximate increase of $100 per patient visit. For the one-year study period, pharmacists utilizing facility- fee billing increased out-patient reimbursement by approximately $10,000. By utilizing outpatient facility-fee billing for pharmacy services, the transplant program at PSHMC increased reimbursement in the outpatient setting.

Searching for transits in the Wide Field Camera Transit Survey with difference-imaging light curves

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zendejas, Dominguez J.; Koppenhoefer, J.; Saglia, R.; Birkby, J.L.; Hodgkin, S.; Kovács, G.; Pinfield, D.; Sipocz, B.; Barrado, D.; Bender, R.; Burgo, del C.; Cappetta, M.; Martín, E.; Nefs, B.; Riffeser, A.; Steele, P.

2013-01-01

The Wide Field Camera Transit Survey is a pioneer program aiming at for searching extra-solar planets in the near-infrared. The images from the survey are processed by a data reduction pipeline, which uses aperture photometry to construct the light curves. We produce an alternative set of light

The sloan digital sky Survey-II supernova survey: search algorithm and follow-up observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sako, Masao [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Bassett, Bruce [Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701 (South Africa); Becker, Andrew; Hogan, Craig J. [Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Cinabro, David [Department of Physics, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202 (United States); DeJongh, Fritz; Frieman, Joshua A.; Marriner, John; Miknaitis, Gajus [Center for Particle Astrophysics, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States); Depoy, D. L.; Prieto, Jose Luis [Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1173 (United States); Dilday, Ben; Kessler, Richard [Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, The University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Doi, Mamoru [Institute of Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo 2-21-1, Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-0015 (Japan); Garnavich, Peter M. [University of Notre Dame, 225 Nieuwland Science, Notre Dame, IN 46556-5670 (United States); Holtzman, Jon [Department of Astronomy, MSC 4500, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001, Las Cruces, NM 88003 (United States); Jha, Saurabh [Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, P.O. Box 20450, MS29, Stanford, CA 94309 (United States); Konishi, Kohki [Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, 5-1-5, Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8582 (Japan); Lampeitl, Hubert [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Nichol, Robert C. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Mercantile House, Hampshire Terrace, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 2EG (United Kingdom); and others

2008-01-01

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey has identified a large number of new transient sources in a 300 deg{sup 2} region along the celestial equator during its first two seasons of a three-season campaign. Multi-band (ugriz) light curves were measured for most of the sources, which include solar system objects, galactic variable stars, active galactic nuclei, supernovae (SNe), and other astronomical transients. The imaging survey is augmented by an extensive spectroscopic follow-up program to identify SNe, measure their redshifts, and study the physical conditions of the explosions and their environment through spectroscopic diagnostics. During the survey, light curves are rapidly evaluated to provide an initial photometric type of the SNe, and a selected sample of sources are targeted for spectroscopic observations. In the first two seasons, 476 sources were selected for spectroscopic observations, of which 403 were identified as SNe. For the type Ia SNe, the main driver for the survey, our photometric typing and targeting efficiency is 90%. Only 6% of the photometric SN Ia candidates were spectroscopically classified as non-SN Ia instead, and the remaining 4% resulted in low signal-to-noise, unclassified spectra. This paper describes the search algorithm and the software, and the real-time processing of the SDSS imaging data. We also present the details of the supernova candidate selection procedures and strategies for follow-up spectroscopic and imaging observations of the discovered sources.

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey:Search Algorithm and Follow-up Observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sako, Masao; /Pennsylvania U. /KIPAC, Menlo Park; Bassett, Bruce; /Cape Town U. /South African Astron. Observ.; Becker, Andrew; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Cinabro, David; /Wayne State U.; DeJongh, Don Frederic; /Fermilab; Depoy, D.L.; /Ohio State U.; Doi, Mamoru; /Tokyo U.; Garnavich, Peter M.; /Notre Dame U.; Craig, Hogan, J.; /Washington U., Seattle, Astron. Dept.; Holtzman, Jon; /New Mexico State U.; Jha, Saurabh; /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; Konishi, Kohki; /Tokyo U.; Lampeitl, Hubert; /Baltimore, Space; Marriner, John; /Fermilab; Miknaitis, Gajus; /Fermilab; Nichol, Robert C.; /Portsmouth U.; Prieto, Jose Luis; /Ohio State U.; Richmond, Michael W.; /Rochester Inst.; Schneider, Donald P.; /Penn State U., Astron. Astrophys.; Smith, Mathew; /Portsmouth U.; SubbaRao, Mark; /Chicago U. /Tokyo U. /Tokyo U. /South African Astron. Observ. /Tokyo

2007-09-14

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey has identified a large number of new transient sources in a 300 deg2 region along the celestial equator during its first two seasons of a three-season campaign. Multi-band (ugriz) light curves were measured for most of the sources, which include solar system objects, Galactic variable stars, active galactic nuclei, supernovae (SNe), and other astronomical transients. The imaging survey is augmented by an extensive spectroscopic follow-up program to identify SNe, measure their redshifts, and study the physical conditions of the explosions and their environment through spectroscopic diagnostics. During the survey, light curves are rapidly evaluated to provide an initial photometric type of the SNe, and a selected sample of sources are targeted for spectroscopic observations. In the first two seasons, 476 sources were selected for spectroscopic observations, of which 403 were identified as SNe. For the Type Ia SNe, the main driver for the Survey, our photometric typing and targeting efficiency is 90%. Only 6% of the photometric SN Ia candidates were spectroscopically classified as non-SN Ia instead, and the remaining 4% resulted in low signal-to-noise, unclassified spectra. This paper describes the search algorithm and the software, and the real-time processing of the SDSS imaging data. We also present the details of the supernova candidate selection procedures and strategies for follow-up spectroscopic and imaging observations of the discovered sources.

Clinical laboratory billing: superfluous requirements without justification?

Science.gov (United States)

Stadler, Stephen

2004-01-01

Congress occasionally passes new laws that affect how clinical laboratories handle test orders from physicians and, subsequently, process the billing for tests. Once a bill is signed into law, it is forwarded to administrative agencies, which draft regulations and administrative procedures, under which the intentions of Congress are carried out. In the case of laboratory test ordering and billing, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has the greatest influence over how these regulations and procedures are defined. Unfortunately, in many cases, billing rules have been promulgated in ways that create the need for hospitals and commercial laboratories to expend huge sums of money to bill within the confines of the administrative rules; cause clinical laboratories to suffer from omissions and mistakes of other parties who are part of the patient care process but are not accountable for the billing information they provide to laboratories; and, frankly, in some respects, simply defy common sense.

46 CFR 9.16 - Billing for services.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Billing for services. 9.16 Section 9.16 Shipping COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY PROCEDURES APPLICABLE TO THE PUBLIC EXTRA COMPENSATION FOR OVERTIME SERVICES § 9.16 Billing for services. Overtime services shall be billed to the steamship companies...

14 CFR 1215.115 - Payment and billing.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... is applicable toward TDRSS operational services. (b) The procedure for billing and payment of... billings as the actual service time is tabulated. Amounts due to the user will be credited to the next... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Payment and billing. 1215.115 Section 1215...

Variation in haematozoan parasitism at local and landscape levels in the red-billed quelea Quelea quelea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Durrant, Kate L.; Reed, Jennifer L.; Jones, Peter J.

2007-01-01

The red-billed quelea Quelea quelea, one of the most abundant birds in the world, presents two fundamental conundrums that we investigate here with a novel approach using blood parasite assemblages at two spatial scales, landscape and individual. The quelea of southern Africa Q. q. lathamii...... parasite. At a finer scale, the colourful and variable breeding plumage of male red-billed quelea has not previously shown a correlation with predictors of quality, as it does in many other bird species. The male's breeding plumage is partially based on carotenoid colouration, the quality of which has been...... to indicate quality. Finally, we recovered the greatest number of haematozoan lineages from any phylogenetic survey of a single host species to date. Understanding the reasons for the extreme diversity of parasite lineages in this species may assist in explaining the success of the red-billed quelea...

A Portrait of the Audience for Instruction in Web Searching: Results of a Survey Conducted at Two Canadian Universities.

Science.gov (United States)

Tillotson, Joy

2003-01-01

Describes a survey that was conducted involving participants in the library instruction program at two Canadian universities in order to describe the characteristics of students receiving instruction in Web searching. Examines criteria for evaluating Web sites, search strategies, use of search engines, and frequency of use. Questionnaire is…

Analysis of Radiation Accident of Non-destructive Inspection and Rational Preparing Bills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bae, Junwoo; Yoo, Donghan; Kim, Hee Reyoung

2013-01-01

After 2006, according to enactment of Non-destructive Inspection Promotion Act, the number of non-destructive inspection companies and corresponding accident is increased sharply. In this research, it includes characteristic analysis of field of the non-destructive inspection. And from the result of analysis, the purpose of this research is discovering reason for 'Why there is higher accident ratio in non-destructive inspection field, relatively' and preparing effective bill for reducing radiation accidents. The number of worker for non-destructive inspect is increased steadily and non-destructive inspect worker take highest dose. Corresponding to these, it must be needed to prepare bills to protect non-destructive inspect workers. By analysis of accident case, there are many case of carelessness that tools are too heavy to carry it everywhere workers go. And there are some cases caused by deficiency of education that less understanding of radiation and poor operation by less understanding of structure of tools. Also, there is no data specialized to non-destructive inspect field. So, it has to take information from statistical data. Because of this, it is hard to analyze nondestructive inspect field accurately. So, it is required to; preparing rational bills to protect non-destructive inspect workers nondestructive inspect instrument lightening and easy manual which can understandable for low education background people accurate survey data from real worker. To accomplish these, we needs to do; analyze and comprehend the present law about non-destructive inspect worker understand non-destructive inspect instruments accurately and conduct research for developing material developing rational survey to measuring real condition for non-destructive inspect workers

An Investigation of Telecom Mobile Data Billing Plans

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi-Bing Lin

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In the recent years, mobile operators have provided many billing alternatives such as limited and unlimited billing plans, and shared and non-shared data plans for the users with different needs. A non-shared data plan is designed for a single user with a limited monthly data allowance. On the other hand, the monthly data allowance of a shared data plan is shared by a group of users with multiple devices. The mobile operators often conduct the primary price study to compare their billing plans, which shows the relationship between the prices of the billing plans against the fixed amounts of data usage. Although the primary price study can easily and quickly draw the conclusions, it only provides rough billing plan suggestions. In reality, the amounts of data usage are not fixed, and therefore should be measured from commercial mobile networks to reflect the user behaviors on data usage. This paper proposes an analytical approach by using the measured data of Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. (CHT, the largest telecommunications company in Taiwan, to derive the expected payments of various billing plans. The results of the analytical model are more accurate than those of the primary price study, and therefore provide better suggestions for billing plan selection. Other mobile operators can easily use our model to analyze the billing alternatives with their measured data.

46 CFR 296.40 - Billing procedures.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... OPERATORS MARITIME SECURITY PROGRAM (MSP) Billing and Payment Procedures § 296.40 Billing procedures. Submission of voucher. For contractors operating under more than one MSP Operating Agreement, the contractor may submit a single monthly voucher applicable to all its MSP Operating Agreements. Each voucher...

Explaining the increase in family financial pressures from medical bills between 2003 and 2007: do affordability thresholds change over time?

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, Peter J

2011-06-01

This study examines whether affordability thresholds for medical care as defined by families change over time. The results from two nationally representative surveys show that while financial stress from medical bills--defined as the percent with problems paying medical bills--increased between 2003 and 2007, greater out-of-pocket spending accounted for this increase only for higher-income persons with employer-sponsored insurance coverage. Increased spending did not account for an increase in medical bill problems among lower-income persons. Moreover, the increase in medical bill problems among low-income persons occurred at relatively low levels of out-of-pocket spending rather than at higher levels. The results suggest that "affordability thresholds" for medical care as defined by individuals and families are not stable over time, especially for lower-income persons, which has implications for setting affordability standards in health reform.

48 CFR 42.704 - Billing rates.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... officer (or cognizant Federal agency official) or auditor responsible under 42.705 for establishing the... contracting officer (or cognizant Federal agency official) or auditor shall establish billing rates on the... officer (or cognizant Federal agency official) or auditor should ensure that the billing rates are as...

42 CFR 408.82 - Conditions for group billing.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Conditions for group billing. 408.82 Section 408.82 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MEDICARE... for group billing. CMS agrees to a group billing arrangement only if the following conditions are met...

University Students' Online Information Searching Strategies in Different Search Contexts

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Meng-Jung; Liang, Jyh-Chong; Hou, Huei-Tse; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2012-01-01

This study investigates the role of search context played in university students' online information searching strategies. A total of 304 university students in Taiwan were surveyed with questionnaires in which two search contexts were defined as searching for learning, and searching for daily life information. Students' online search strategies…

France's energy bill in 2007

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

This article comments the slight decrease of the French energy bill in 2007 and its evolution since 1970, as well as the energy price fluctuations during 2007. While noticing the importance of the dollar fall, the authors discuss the evolution of oil product prices and its different indicators (crude oil annual average quotation, Brent annual average quotation, and imported oil annual average price), the evolution of natural gas prices, of coal prices, of electricity prices. The global decrease of energy imports is then discussed, including quantities of imported crude oil from various origins, refined products, gas from various origins as well, solid mineral fuels. The balance between exports and imports is commented as a whole, and with some particular countries, enabling an assessment of energy independence. The bill evolution for oil and for gas is briefly discussed, and the global value is assessed with respect to the French GDP or as an amount of work days for French inhabitants. Several graphs and tables are given, gathering several data which have been discussed: energy trade (imports, exports, and bill), comparison of bill with other economic aggregates, average prices of imported energy expressed in dollars and in euros, average price of imported crude oil, etc

Reading and Calculating Billing Through Mobile Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pilar Alexandra Moreno

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This article broadly describes the analysis, design and development of the system utilitarian, called “Reading and billing calculation site through mobile devices.” The application is oriented Public Services Companies, first water services, to perform part of the billing process “in place” through phones or any mobile devices compatible with Android. Will enable you to take readings of service consumption, recording new gauging, online update and control the information for users and turnover. This technology is considered as such one site billing method as through Internet is connected with the database of the company, sending and receiving date information, which makes the calculation of the billing for the reading period, bringing benefits to the client and the service generating company.

One year of migration data for a western yellow-billed cuckoo

Science.gov (United States)

Sechrist, Juddson D.; Paxton, Eben H.; Ahlers, Darrell D.; Doster, Robert H.; Ryan, Vicky M.

2012-01-01

In 2009, we studied the migration of the Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo by capturing 13 breeding birds on the middle Rio Grande, New Mexico, and attaching a 1.5-g Mk 14-S British Antarctic Survey geolocator to each bird. In 2010, we recaptured one of the cuckoos, enabling us to download its geolocation data. The cuckoo had flown approximately 9500 km during its southward migration, traveling through Central America to winter in portions of Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. The spring migration route differed somewhat from the fall route, with the cuckoo bypassing Central America to migrate through the Caribbean. Additionally, it moved between New Mexico and Mexico at the end of summer in 2009 and again in 2010 before being recaptured at its breeding site. Our results, albeit from one individual, hint at a dynamic migration strategy and have broad implications for the ecology and conservation of the Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a species of conservation concern.

Integrated geophysical surveys for searching of podiform chromite in Albania

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kospiri, Aleksander; Zajmi, Asim [Geophysical and Geochemical Center, Tirana (Albania)

1995-12-31

The purpose of this paper is to describe the application of geophysical methods to the search for chromite in Albania. Albania is well known for its chromite resources and ranks third amongst world producers of high-quality chromite. The ultramafic massif of Bulqiza, is the most important chromite bearing one. Surveying a surface of about 120 square kilometers (30% of massifs area) in that massif with integrated geophysical methods a considerable number of targets has been discovered, from which some are already objects under mine activity. In the integrated methods for chromite exploration in Bulqiza ultramafic massif are included: geological, gravity, magnetic and electrical mapping of the scale 1:2000 with survey grids 40x20m, 20x5m. Based on the interpretations of geophysical exploration were projected drilling which led to the discovery of some big ore deposits. (author). 12 refs., 3 figs

9 CFR 590.130 - Basis of billing plants.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Basis of billing plants. 590.130... of Service § 590.130 Basis of billing plants. Overtime and/or holiday services shall be billed to the official plant on the basis of each 15 minutes of overtime and/or holiday service performed by each...

The Recent Pathology Residency Graduate Job Search Experience: A Synthesis of 5 Years of College of American Pathologists Job Market Surveys.

Science.gov (United States)

Gratzinger, Dita; Johnson, Kristen A; Brissette, Mark D; Cohen, David; Rojiani, Amyn M; Conran, Richard M; Hoffman, Robert D; Post, Miriam D; McCloskey, Cindy B; Roberts, Cory A; Domen, Ronald E; Talbert, Michael L; Powell, Suzanne Z

2018-04-01

- Pathology residents and fellows tailor their training and job search strategies to an actively evolving specialty in the setting of scientific and technical advances and simultaneous changes in health care economics. - To assess the experience and outcome of the job search process of pathologists searching for their first non-fellowship position. - The College of American Pathologists (CAP) Graduate Medical Education Committee has during the past 5 years sent an annual job search survey each June to CAP junior members and fellows in practice 3 years or less who have actively searched for a non-fellowship position. - Job market indicators including job interviews, job offers, positions accepted, and job satisfaction have remained stable during the 5 years of the survey. Most survey respondents who had applied for at least 1 position had accepted a position at the time of the survey, and most applicants who had accepted a position were satisfied or very satisfied. However, most attested that finding a non-fellowship position was difficult. Despite a perceived push toward subspecialization in surgical pathology, the reported number of fellowships completed was stable. Respondent demographics were not associated with job search success with 1 significant exception: international medical school graduate respondents reported greater perceived difficulty in finding a position, and indeed, fewer reported having accepted a position. - Pathology residents and fellows seeking their first position have faced a relatively stable job market during the last 5 years, with most accepting positions with which they were satisfied.

Defense bill: Earmarking as usual

Science.gov (United States)

Earmarked funds in the $268 billion defense appropriations bill for fiscal year 1991 stirred congressional debate in late October. Senator Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, charged that the defense bill contains questionable projects totaling tens of millions of dollars. AGU opposes legislative earmarking of money for particular institutions, maintaining that the practice prevents the best use of federal funding by circumventing competitive review. Nunn noted on the Senate floor that the appropriations bill provided specific funds for cited institutions—contravening a federal law promoting competition. “ If these programs have merit, they will succeed in a fair and competent review in competition,” Nunn said. “If no other institution in the country is able to compete, there should be no fear whatever of competition… But no one else in the world is allowed to compete to work on these projects.”

McDonald Observatory Planetary Search - A high precision stellar radial velocity survey for other planetary systems

Science.gov (United States)

Cochran, William D.; Hatzes, Artie P.

1993-01-01

The McDonald Observatory Planetary Search program surveyed a sample of 33 nearby F, G, and K stars since September 1987 to search for substellar companion objects. Measurements of stellar radial velocity variations to a precision of better than 10 m/s were performed as routine observations to detect Jovian planets in orbit around solar type stars. Results confirm the detection of a companion object to HD114762.

Performance improvement planning : developing effective billing and collection practices

OpenAIRE

anonymous

2008-01-01

Effective billing and collection systems are a critical component for ensuring the viability of a service provider. Improving billing and collection activities has an immediate impact on the revenue streams of a service provider that can, in turn, help the service provider in improving services. However, while effective billing and collection practices depend on many internal factors (including customer databases, the extent of metered and unmetered service provision, tariff and billing struc...

Search Techniques for the Web of Things: A Taxonomy and Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yuchao; De, Suparna; Wang, Wei; Moessner, Klaus

2016-01-01

The Web of Things aims to make physical world objects and their data accessible through standard Web technologies to enable intelligent applications and sophisticated data analytics. Due to the amount and heterogeneity of the data, it is challenging to perform data analysis directly; especially when the data is captured from a large number of distributed sources. However, the size and scope of the data can be reduced and narrowed down with search techniques, so that only the most relevant and useful data items are selected according to the application requirements. Search is fundamental to the Web of Things while challenging by nature in this context, e.g., mobility of the objects, opportunistic presence and sensing, continuous data streams with changing spatial and temporal properties, efficient indexing for historical and real time data. The research community has developed numerous techniques and methods to tackle these problems as reported by a large body of literature in the last few years. A comprehensive investigation of the current and past studies is necessary to gain a clear view of the research landscape and to identify promising future directions. This survey reviews the state-of-the-art search methods for the Web of Things, which are classified according to three different viewpoints: basic principles, data/knowledge representation, and contents being searched. Experiences and lessons learned from the existing work and some EU research projects related to Web of Things are discussed, and an outlook to the future research is presented. PMID:27128918

The Association Between the Use of the Education Benefits from the G.I. Bill and Veterans' Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Rumery, Zachary R; Patel, Nilam; Richard, Patrick

2018-05-01

There is limited knowledge on the impact of education on veterans' health in the United States. This study specifically examines the relationship between the education benefits from the G.I. Bill and veterans' health. This study used data from the 2010 National Survey of Veterans. The subjects for this study were 5,052 veterans who were eligible to receive G.I. Bill benefits, representing a total of about 12.7 million non-institutionalized veterans in the United States in 2010. The dependent variables included self-reported health status and smoking behavior. The key independent variable was whether veterans used the education benefits from the G.I. Bill compared with those who were eligible but did not use them. Results from multivariate regression analyses showed that those who used the education benefits from the G.I. Bill were 4% less likely to report fair/poor health (p education benefits. Additional analyses showed that using the education benefits to attend college decreased the probability of being in fair/poor health by 4% (p benefits for non-college attainment such as business, technical, or vocational schools. More importantly, a larger association was found between the use of the education benefits from the G.I. Bill to obtain a college degree and fair/poor health (7%, p education also has important health benefits.

An integrated billing application to streamline clinician workflow.

Science.gov (United States)

Vawdrey, David K; Walsh, Colin; Stetson, Peter D

2014-01-01

Between 2008 and 2010, our academic medical center transitioned to electronic provider documentation using a commercial electronic health record system. For attending physicians, one of the most frustrating aspects of this experience was the system's failure to support their existing electronic billing workflow. Because of poor system integration, it was difficult to verify the supporting documentation for each bill and impractical to track whether billable notes had corresponding charges. We developed and deployed in 2011 an integrated billing application called "iCharge" that streamlines clinicians' documentation and billing workflow, and simultaneously populates the inpatient problem list using billing diagnosis codes. Each month, over 550 physicians use iCharge to submit approximately 23,000 professional service charges for over 4,200 patients. On average, about 2.5 new problems are added to each patient's problem list. This paper describes the challenges and benefits of workflow integration across disparate applications and presents an example of innovative software development within a commercial EHR framework.

The development of application for billing of services

OpenAIRE

Šinko, Žiga

2013-01-01

Diploma is a description of a programming solution for preparing billing invoices of Mikrocop services. Developed system can easily manage billing invoices specifications for all customers and set schedules for generating invoices. These settings are than used by the service module generating invoices on schedule. Generated invoices can be seen and managed with help of Windows Reporting Services technology. First chapter describes services billing in general. Second chapter shortly de...

Characterization of Various Survey Meters by Car-borne Survey in Java Island as Basis Data for Searching Orphan Sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yus Rusdian Akhmad

2004-01-01

Recently, an international collaboration in securing and managing radioactive sources, particularly orphan sources, is established. For developing countries such as Indonesia which possesses relatively inadequate resources, an effective approach in dealing with the problem is crucial. In order to deal with this situation, an activity was performed including: 1) assessment of available technical means, 2) car-borne survey during the dry and rainy seasons to identify the impact of Rn daughter washout on the interpretation of search results, 3) search for anomalies in the radioactive exposure map of the Java island, and 4) investigation of anomalies found, using more sophisticated instrument, to detect and secure orphan and illicit radioactive sources. The performance of four selected instruments in a car-borne survey which covers a large area in western part of Java was evaluated. Data series of moving background were divided into two measurement groups; control group and test group. These data series were arranged in, order to determine the value of alarm level. For this purpose, statistic procedures relying on Mann-Whitney U test and a simple moving average test (Moving Background) were applied. Among the four selected survey meters, the most convenient detection system for implementing the activity is Exploranium GR-130. There was little concern on the effect of Rn-daughters washouts on the proposed methods, provided that the operator could recognise the transition period between the clear and rainy weather as it could give rise to false alarm. The Moving Background method was generally superior to Mann-Whitney U test for detecting anomalous radiation level. During the survey, an anomaly in steel industrial area was detected. Using portable gamma spectrometers, it was concluded that the anomaly was generated from naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM). Analyses upon survey data in the big cities showed anomalies due to concrete structures, especially

THE BILL OF EXCHANGE AS A MEANS OF PAYMENT AND SECURITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vojo Belovski

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The bill of exchange is a kind of paper in order that its holder shall entitle the debtor named in the document to pay a certain amount of payments. The bill of exchange represents a means of payment and an instrument of providing the payment. It is an unconditional order given by the drawer to the drawee to pay a certain amount to the payee listed on the bill of exchange. The bill of exchange is generally a paper on the orders but it can be issued as value paper to a name. It is such promissory notes where the issuer becomes a clause not by order. The bill of exchange though it appears as a means of payment and an instrument for securing the payment it also appears as a means of international payment, because the bill of exchange can become a modern instrument of crediting and payment. With the development of the credit market and the bill of exchange becomes a means for the drawer and the drawee. This means that instead of the bill of exchange to be paid after the expiry of a certain deadline for submission of the bill of exchange the holder may sell or discount, or to pay before the deadline for submission. With this the bill of exchange becomes a toll for discount. Based on this we can conclude that the bill of exchange has the following roles: -bill of exchange serves as a means of credit; -bill of exchange serves as means of payment; -bill of exchange serves as a means for discount by.

47 CFR 76.981 - Negative option billing.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Negative option billing. 76.981 Section 76.981 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) BROADCAST RADIO SERVICES MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE Cable Rate Regulation § 76.981 Negative option billing. (a) A cable operator...

The Voluntary Euthanasia (Legalization) Bill (1936) revisited.

OpenAIRE

Helme, T

1991-01-01

In view of the continuing debate on euthanasia, the restrictions and safeguards which were introduced into the Voluntary Euthanasia (Legislation) Bill 1936 are discussed. Proposals for a new Terminal Care and Euthanasia Bill are suggested, based on some of the principles of the Mental Health Act 1983.

Searching for white dwarfs candidates in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nalezyty, Miroslaw; Majczyna, Agnieszka; Ciechanowska, Anna; Madej, Jerzy

2009-01-01

Large amount of observational spectroscopic data are recently available from different observational projects, like Sloan Digital Sky Survey. It's become more urgent to identify white dwarfs stars based on data itself i.e. without modelling white dwarf atmospheres. In particular, existing methods of white dwarfs identification presented in Kleinman et al. (2004) and in Eisenstein et al. (2006) did not allow to find all the white dwarfs in examined data. We intend to test various criteria of searching for white dwarf candidates, based on photometric and spectral features.

Report on the behalf of sustainable development and land planning commission of a bill aiming at prohibiting the exploration and exploitation on non conventional hydrocarbons, at abrogating exclusive search permits for non conventional hydrocarbon mines, and to ensure more transparency in the mining code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chanteguet, J.P.

2011-01-01

In the first part of this report, the author (from the opposition party) outlines the opacity of the attribution procedure defined in the mining code for search permits, the lack of recognition of the citizen mobilization, and the inefficient and inapplicable character of the law of 2001 on the search for non conventional hydrocarbon mining sites. In the second part, the author outlines the need for an environment-friendly energy strategy, while recalling the necessity of protection of the environment when exploiting subsoils, the necessity of implementing an energy transition, and the necessity to reform the mining law. The discussion of the commission about the bill articles is reported

Assessing the search for information on Three Rs methods, and their subsequent implementation: a national survey among scientists in the Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

van Luijk, Judith; Cuijpers, Yvonne; van der Vaart, Lilian; Leenaars, Marlies; Ritskes-Hoitinga, Merel

2011-10-01

A local survey conducted among scientists into the current practice of searching for information on Three Rs (i.e. Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) methods has highlighted the gap between the statutory requirement to apply Three Rs methods and the lack of criteria to search for them. To verify these findings on a national level, we conducted a survey among scientists throughout The Netherlands. Due to the low response rate, the results give an impression of opinions, rather than being representative of The Netherlands as a whole. The findings of both surveys complement each other, and indicate that there is room for improvement. Scientists perceive searching the literature for information on Three Rs methods to be a difficult task, and specific Three Rs search skills and knowledge of Three Rs databases are limited. Rather than using a literature search, many researchers obtain information on these methods through personal communication, which means that published information on possible Three Rs methods often remains unfound and unused. A solution might be to move beyond the direct search for information on Three Rs methods and choose another approach. One approach that seems rather appropriate is that of systematic review. This provides insight into the necessity for any new animal studies, as well as optimal implementation of available data and the prevention of unnecessary animal use in the future. 2011 FRAME.

The Voluntary Euthanasia (Legalization) Bill (1936) revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Helme, T

1991-01-01

In view of the continuing debate on euthanasia, the restrictions and safeguards which were introduced into the Voluntary Euthanasia (Legislation) Bill 1936 are discussed. Proposals for a new Terminal Care and Euthanasia Bill are suggested, based on some of the principles of the Mental Health Act 1983. PMID:2033626

The consumer pays the energy bill

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meulmeester, P.; Haffner, R.C.G.

2005-01-01

The liberalization of the energy market for small-scale consumers in the Netherlands coincides with a period in which consumers have to pay high energy bills. However, the cause of this is not the liberalization, but the high oil prices and raised taxes. In this article an overview is given of the total energy bill n the Netherlands, its components and the first effects of the liberalization process [nl

Search Techniques for the Web of Things: A Taxonomy and Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuchao Zhou

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The Web of Things aims to make physical world objects and their data accessible through standard Web technologies to enable intelligent applications and sophisticated data analytics. Due to the amount and heterogeneity of the data, it is challenging to perform data analysis directly; especially when the data is captured from a large number of distributed sources. However, the size and scope of the data can be reduced and narrowed down with search techniques, so that only the most relevant and useful data items are selected according to the application requirements. Search is fundamental to the Web of Things while challenging by nature in this context, e.g., mobility of the objects, opportunistic presence and sensing, continuous data streams with changing spatial and temporal properties, efficient indexing for historical and real time data. The research community has developed numerous techniques and methods to tackle these problems as reported by a large body of literature in the last few years. A comprehensive investigation of the current and past studies is necessary to gain a clear view of the research landscape and to identify promising future directions. This survey reviews the state-of-the-art search methods for the Web of Things, which are classified according to three different viewpoints: basic principles, data/knowledge representation, and contents being searched. Experiences and lessons learned from the existing work and some EU research projects related to Web of Things are discussed, and an outlook to the future research is presented.

Public submissions on the Uganda national biotechnology and biosafety bill, 2012 reveal consensus for Uganda legislators to pass the bill

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clet Wandui Masiga

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an internationally binding instrument addressing issues of biosafety. Biosafety refers to the need to protect human health and the environment from the possible adverse effects of the products of modern biotechnology. Accordingly all countries to the convention are required to put in place regulatory mechanisms to enhance the safety of biotechnology in the context of the Convention’s overall goal of reducing all potential threats to biological diversity, while taking into account the risks to human health. Therefore each country party to the convention has its own procedures to enact laws to guide the safe use of biotechnology. In Uganda the process involves the drafting of the bill by the first parliamentary counsel, approval by cabinet, first reading at the parliament, committal to the responsible parliamentary sessional committee, tabling of the bill for public hearing, consultations, and final approval. In Uganda, the Committee on Science and Technology is responsible for the Biosafety Bill. In March 2013, the Committee tabled the bill for public hearing and submissions from public institutions. There were comments supporting the passage of the Bill and comments in objection.The reasons for objection are mainly due to precaution, speculation, lack of knowledge about biotechnology and biosafety, and alleged influence from biosafety entrepreneurs. This article reviews these public views, revealing controversy and possible consensus to pass the bill.

Ilmumised ja mediteerimised / Bill Viola ; interv. Harry Liivrand

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Viola, Bill

1998-01-01

Bill Viola videoretrospektiiv Stedelijk Museumis, Rijksmuseumis, New Metropolises jm. Amsterdamis 29. novembrini. H. Liivrand Bill Violast ja tema loomingust. B. Viola oma videokunstist praegu ja 25 aastat tagasi, mil tema alustas, mõjutustest loomingule.

42 CFR 71.11 - Bills of health.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Bills of health. 71.11 Section 71.11 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES QUARANTINE, INSPECTION, LICENSING FOREIGN QUARANTINE Measures at Foreign Ports § 71.11 Bills of health. A carrier at any foreign port clearing or...

16 CFR 308.7 - Billing and collection for pay-per-call services.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... responsibility for receiving and responding to billing error complaints or inquiries. (2) Billing error means any... or other toll free telephone number. (v) The failure to reflect properly on a billing statement a... billing error complaint or inquiry. (6) Telephone-billed purchase means any purchase that is completed...

Atomic Energy Authority Bill

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, J.H.N.; Stoddart, D.L.; Sinclair, R.M.; Ezra, D.

1985-01-01

The House, in Committee, discussed the following matters in relation to the Atomic Energy Authority Bill; financing; trading; personnel conditions of employment; public relations; organization; research programmes; fuels; energy sources; information dissemination. (U.K.)

Electricity Bill [second reading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hooper, G.; Williams, C.C.P.; Ezra, D.

1989-01-01

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of Energy introduced the second reading of the Electricity Bill which provides for the restructuring and privatisation of the electricity supply industry throughout Great Britain. Three features at the heart of the Government's proposals are mentioned - first that the proposals will promote competition in electricity generation and supply of electricity so there will be a downward pressure on costs and prices, second is a new deal for customers and third is the security of electricity supply which will be ensured by the diversity of suppliers. The benefits of the scheme are outlined and then specific details of the Bill are considered. The debate which followed lasted six hours and is reported verbatim. The issues raised included environmental effects, efficiency, energy conservation, research and development and investment. (UK)

Information-searching behaviors of main and allied health professionals: a nationwide survey in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Weng, Yi-Hao; Kuo, Ken N; Yang, Chun-Yuh; Lo, Heng-Lien; Shih, Ya-Hui; Chiu, Ya-Wen

2013-10-01

There are a variety of resources to obtain health information, but few studies have examined if main and allied health professionals prefer different methods. The current study was to investigate their information-searching behaviours. A constructed questionnaire survey was conducted from January through April 2011 in nationwide regional hospitals of Taiwan. Questionnaires were mailed to main professionals (physicians and nurses) and allied professionals (pharmacists, physical therapists, technicians and others), with 6160 valid returns collected. Among all professional groups, the most commonly used resource for seeking health information was a Web portal, followed by colleague consultations and continuing education. Physicians more often accessed Internet-based professional resources (online databases, electronic journals and electronic books) than the other groups (P < 0.05). In contrast, physical therapists more often accessed printed resources (printed journals and textbooks) than the other specialists (P < 0.05). And nurses, physical therapists and technicians more often asked colleagues and used continuing education than the other groups (P < 0.01). The most commonly used online database was Micromedex for pharmacists and MEDLINE for physicians, technicians and physical therapists. Nurses more often accessed Chinese-language databases rather than English-language databases (P < 0.001). This national survey depicts the information-searching pattern of various health professionals. There were significant differences between and within main and allied health professionals in their information searching. The data provide clinical implications for strategies to promote the accessing of evidence-based information. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Draft Surrogacy (Regulation Bill 2016: Rhetoric or Surrogate-centric?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rituparna Bhattacharyya

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Chaired by honourable Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Damodar Modi, the Union Cabinet on 24 August 2016 introduced and approved the draft bill on Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART in India, known popularly as the Surrogacy (Regulation Bill, 2016. The bill aims at regulating the ever-proliferating unregulated surrogacy industry interalia banning commercial surrogacy services for single parents, homosexuals, cohabiting partners in addition to foreigners and overseas citizens of India. The key aim of this commentary is to make a nuanced examination of the draft bill aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of the practice of surrogacy and address gaps (if any that require interventions.

The Effects of Bill 4330/2004 on Union Relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felipe Prata Mendes

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This work aims to analyze in which way the bill 4330/2004 affects the union representativeness of outsourced workers. In order to accomplish the settled purpose, it is necessary firstly to frame the outsourcing phenomena in the context of the evolution of capitalism. In relation to the main problem of the work, it’s necessary to investigate if the bill 4330/2004 implies an offense to the union representativeness of outsourced workers. The conclusions obtained show that bill 4330/2004 compounds the representativeness trouble, since this bill proposes the agglutination of workers pertained to very different realities, what stunts the collective protection of interests.

Comparison groups on bills: Automated, personalized energy information

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iyer, Maithili; Kempton, Willett; Payne, Christopher

2006-07-01

A program called ``Innovative Billing?? has been developed to provide individualized energy information for a mass audience?the entireresidential customer base of an electric or gas utility. Customers receive a graph on the bill that compares that customer?s consumption with othersimilar customers for the same month. The program aims to stimulate customers to make ef?ciency improvements. To group as many as severalmillion customers into small ``comparison groups??, an automated method must be developed drawing solely from the data available to the utility.This paper develops and applies methods to compare the quality of resulting comparison groups.A data base of 114,000 customers from a utility billing system was used to evaluate Innovative Billing comparison groups, comparing fouralternative criteria: house characteristics (?oor area, housing type, and heating fuel); street; meter read route; billing cycle. Also, customers wereinterviewed to see what forms of comparison graphs made most sense and led to fewest errors of interpretation. We ?nd that good qualitycomparison groups result from using street name, meter book, or multiple house characteristics. Other criteria we tested, such as entire cycle, entiremeter book, or single house characteristics such as ?oor area, resulted in poor quality comparison groups. This analysis provides a basis forchoosing comparison groups based on extensive user testing and statistical analysis. The result is a practical set of guidelines that can be used toimplement realistic, inexpensive innovative billing for the entire customer base of an electric or gas utility.

Search Patterns

CERN Document Server

Morville, Peter

2010-01-01

What people are saying about Search Patterns "Search Patterns is a delight to read -- very thoughtful and thought provoking. It's the most comprehensive survey of designing effective search experiences I've seen." --Irene Au, Director of User Experience, Google "I love this book! Thanks to Peter and Jeffery, I now know that search (yes, boring old yucky who cares search) is one of the coolest ways around of looking at the world." --Dan Roam, author, The Back of the Napkin (Portfolio Hardcover) "Search Patterns is a playful guide to the practical concerns of search interface design. It cont

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment Bill, 2016: A Critical Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suman Singh

2016-11-01

Full Text Available On 11 August 2016, amending the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, the new bill, The Maternity Benefit (Amendment Bill, 2016 was introduced and passed in the Rajya Sabha (or Council of States, the upper house of the Parliament of India. Central aim of this article is to critically review the amendments to the bill regarding geographies of maternity leave and its associated facilities.

A Survey in Indexing and Searching XML Documents.

Science.gov (United States)

Luk, Robert W. P.; Leong, H. V.; Dillon, Tharam S.; Chan, Alvin T. S.; Croft, W. Bruce; Allan, James

2002-01-01

Discussion of XML focuses on indexing techniques for XML documents, grouping them into flat-file, semistructured, and structured indexing paradigms. Highlights include searching techniques, including full text search and multistage search; search result presentations; database and information retrieval system integration; XML query languages; and…

Online health information search: what struggles and empowers the users? Results of an online survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Pletneva, Natalia; Vargas, Alejandro; Kalogianni, Konstantina; Boyer, Célia

2012-01-01

The most popular mean of searching for online health content is a general search engine for all domains of interest. Being general implies on one hand that the search engine is not tailored to the needs which are particular to the medical and on another hand that health domain and health-specific queries may not always return adequate and adapted results. The aim of our study was to identify difficulties and preferences in online health information search encountered by members of the general public. The survey in four languages was online from the 9th of March until the 27th of April, 2011. 385 answers were collected, representing mostly the opinions of highly educated users, mostly from France and Spain. The most important characteristics of a search engine are relevance and trustworthiness of results. The results currently retrieved do not fulfil these requirements. The ideal representation of the information will be a categorization of the results into different groups. Medical dictionaries/thesauruses, suggested relevant topics, image searches and spelling corrections are regarded as helpful tools. There is a need to work towards better customized solutions which provide users with the trustworthy information of high quality specific to his/her case in a user-friendly environment which would eventually lead to making appropriate health decisions.

40 CFR 81.88 - Billings Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Regions § 81.88 Billings Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Metropolitan Billings Intrastate Air Quality Control Region (Montana) has been renamed the Billings Intrastate Air Quality Control... to by Montana authorities as follows: Sec. 481.168Great Falls Intrastate Air Quality Control Region...

Senate Republican leadership releases revised ACA repeal and replace bill

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moore NS

2017-07-01

Full Text Available No abstract available. Article truncated after first 150 words. Today, the Senate Republican leadership released a revised version of a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA. The new bill draft includes an amendment sponsored by Sen. Cruz (R-TX that permits insurers to offer health insurance plans on the ACA exchanges that do not cover the ACA’s 10 essential health benefits (EHB as long as they offer at least one other plan that provides full coverage of EHB’s. The bill also includes more funding for opioid addiction and for state initiatives to reduce insurance premiums and additionally, some flexibility for state Medicaid funding in the event of a public health crisis. The bill must still receive a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO, which will include the impact of the bill on insurance coverage levels, expected out Monday. The ATS remains deeply concerned about the bill because under the Cruz proposal, insurance coverage costs …

Atomic Energy Authority Bill (Lords)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eadie, A.; Goodlad, A.; Fisher, M.; Griffiths, P.; Coombs, S.

1986-01-30

The discussions of one of the standing committees of the House of Lords on the Atomic Energy Authority Bill are reported verbatim. Clauses 6, 9 and new clauses 3, 2 and 4 were discussed. The amendments to the clauses were put and debated. The safety requirements of the nuclear industry and the money necessary for these are discussed. At the end of the debate on each clause (and amendments if any), the decision of the House as to its agreement or otherwise is recorded. It was agreed that the Bill, as amended by the committee, should be reported to the (full) House of Lords. The debate lasted 1 3/4 hours.

A search for dispersed radio bursts in archival Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey data

OpenAIRE

Bagchi, Manjari; Nieves, Angela Cortes; McLaughlin, Maura

2012-01-01

A number of different classes of potentially extra-terrestrial bursts of radio emission have been observed in surveys with the Parkes 64m radio telescope, including "Rotating Radio Transients", the "Lorimer burst" and "perytons". Rotating Radio Transients are radio pulsars which are best detectable in single-pulse searches. The Lorimer burst is a highly dispersed isolated radio burst with properties suggestive of extragalactic origin. Perytons share the frequency-swept nature of the Rotating ...

47 CFR 64.2401 - Truth-in-Billing Requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 64.2401 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES... provider. (3) The telephone bill must clearly and conspicuously identify any change in service provider... content so that customers can accurately assess that the services for which they are billed correspond to...

Who'll pay the electricity bill?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roche, P.

1989-01-01

Nuclear power will be protected from the vagaries of the free market by requiring the 12 privatised distribution companies to take around 15-20% of their power from non-fossil (i.e. nuclear) sources. The Electricity Bill also requires producers of fossil-fuelled electricity to charge a compulsory levy which will be used to finance the non-fossil quota. The extra cost of generating electricity by nuclear means compared with the alternatives will be recouped via the 'levy' after the new PWRs have come into operation. Producers of power which is neither nuclear nor fossil will not be required to make this levy, so renewable energies may gain a small competitive advantage. The financial implications of privatisation have not been fully clarified, especially regarding nuclear power with its associated expenses of radioactive waste disposal and decommissioning. Energy efficiency may be encouraged by the Bill, but competition may not result from the Bill. (author)

Understanding Your Water Bill

Science.gov (United States)

An easy to way to understand individual water use is to look at your water bill—not just the amount due, but how much water you used. Pull out your water bill and follow our steps to learn more about it.

Financial Viability of Emergency Department Observation Unit Billing Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Baugh, Christopher W; Suri, Pawan; Caspers, Christopher G; Granovsky, Michael A; Neal, Keith; Ross, Michael A

2018-05-16

Outpatients receive observation services to determine the need for inpatient admission. These services are usually provided without the use of condition-specific protocols and in an unstructured manner, scattered throughout a hospital in areas typically designated for inpatient care. Emergency department observation units (EDOUs) use protocolized care to offer an efficient alternative with shorter lengths of stay, lower costs and higher patient satisfaction. EDOU growth is limited by existing policy barriers that prevent a "two-service" model of separate professional billing for both emergency and observation services. The majority of EDOUs use the "one-service" model, where a single composite professional fee is billed for both emergency and observation services. The financial implications of these models are not well understood. We created a Monte Carlo simulation by building a model that reflects current clinical practice in the United States and uses inputs gathered from the most recently available peer-reviewed literature, national survey and payer data. Using this simulation, we modeled annual staffing costs and payments for professional services under two common models of care in an EDOU. We also modeled cash flows over a continuous range of daily EDOU patient encounters to illustrate the dynamic relationship between costs and revenue over various staffing levels. We estimate the mean (±SD) annual net cash flow to be a net loss of $315,382 ±$89,635 in the one-service model and a net profit of $37,569 ±$359,583 in the two-service model. The two-service model is financially sustainable at daily billable encounters above 20 while in the one-service model, costs exceed revenue regardless of encounter count. Physician cost per hour and daily patient encounters had the most significant impact on model estimates. In the one-service model, EDOU staffing costs exceed payments at all levels of patient encounters, making a hospital subsidy necessary to create a

Marketer consolidated billing : realizing the value of customer relationships

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schiratti, A. [Sunoco, Toronto, ON (Canada)

2001-07-01

This presentation focused on timely issues regarding marketer consolidated billing (MCB). MCB allows energy marketers to directly bill customers for both gas and electric commodities and distribution services. MCB is mandated by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) in the electricity sector through the Retail Settlements Task Force and is proposed by the OEB in the Gas Distributor Access Rule. The main topics discussed in this paper were the new relationship under MCB, benefits for customers and challenges for marketers. The major obstacles for a successful MCB model were also proposed. The new MCB approach strengthens the relationship between the marketer and the customer. The MCB will allow both electricity and natural gas customers to choose marketers who bill for both delivery and gas on one bill.

Marketer consolidated billing : realizing the value of customer relationships

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schiratti, A.

2001-01-01

This presentation focused on timely issues regarding marketer consolidated billing (MCB). MCB allows energy marketers to directly bill customers for both gas and electric commodities and distribution services. MCB is mandated by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) in the electricity sector through the Retail Settlements Task Force and is proposed by the OEB in the Gas Distributor Access Rule. The main topics discussed in this paper were the new relationship under MCB, benefits for customers and challenges for marketers. The major obstacles for a successful MCB model were also proposed. The new MCB approach strengthens the relationship between the marketer and the customer. The MCB will allow both electricity and natural gas customers to choose marketers who bill for both delivery and gas on one bill

Heat loss may explain bill size differences between birds occupying different habitats.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Russell Greenberg

Full Text Available Research on variation in bill morphology has focused on the role of diet. Bills have other functions, however, including a role in heat and water balance. The role of the bill in heat loss may be particularly important in birds where water is limiting. Song sparrows localized in coastal dunes and salt marsh edge (Melospiza melodia atlantica are similar in size to, but have bills with a 17% greater surface area than, those that live in mesic habitats (M. m. melodia, a pattern shared with other coastal sparrows. We tested the hypotheses that sparrows can use their bills to dissipate "dry" heat, and that heat loss from the bill is higher in M. m. atlantica than M. m. melodia, which would indicate a role of heat loss and water conservation in selection for bill size.Bill, tarsus, and body surface temperatures were measured using thermal imaging of sparrows exposed to temperatures from 15-37°C and combined with surface area and physical modeling to estimate the contribution of each body part to total heat loss. Song sparrow bills averaged 5-10°C hotter than ambient. The bill of M. m atlantica dissipated up to 33% more heat and 38% greater proportion of total heat than that of M. m. melodia. This could potentially reduce water loss requirements by approximately 7.7%.This >30% higher heat loss in the bill of M. m. atlantica is independent of evaporative water loss and thus could play an important role in the water balance of sparrows occupying the hot and exposed dune/salt marsh environments during the summer. Heat loss capacity and water conservation could play an important role in the selection for bill size differences between bird populations and should be considered along with trophic adaptations when studying variation in bill size.

An Enterprise Model for Real-Time Inter-domain Billing of Services

OpenAIRE

Le, V.M.; van Beijnum, Bernhard J.F.; Nieuwenhuis, Lambertus Johannes Maria; Huitema, G.B.

2008-01-01

The technological developments in networking solutions, information and communication services create the basis for the provisioning of complex, realtime services. This paper addresses the charging and billing of such advanced services. Advanced services will be composed of services provided by various 3rd party providers residing in different domains. Hence, charging and billing of advanced services requires a billing system capable of composing charging and billing information from provider...

Variable billing for services: new fiscal direction for nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Higgerson, N J; Van Slyck, A

1982-06-01

The advantages of variable billing for nursing care that: It identifies revenue nursing cost centers. It facilitates systematic control of revenue and expenses, improving budget planning and management. It generates a tremendous amount of data that can be used in administrative planning and decision making. It is more equitable than past billing practices for the patient, the third-party payer, and the hospital, making it a public relations asset. The disadvantages of variable billing are that: Charges at one hospital are not easily compared with those at another. The mix of patients at varying classification levels has a significant effect on revenue, thus increasing the possibility of lower revenue. More accountability and in some cases more work is required of nursing administrators. In this article, the practical application of variable billing in acute care settings has been discussed. It is hoped that the information provided here will stimulate nursing administrators to assess the feasibility of implementing varible billing for nursing services as a fiscal practice in their own institutions.

Human-Centered Design Bill of Rights for Educators.

Science.gov (United States)

Sugar, William A.

This paper presents a potential solution to encourage technology adoption and integration within schools by proposing a human-centered technology "bill of rights" for educators. The intention of this bill of rights it to influence educators' beliefs towards technology and to enable educators to confront with confidence the seemingly…

Use of recommended search strategies in systematic reviews and the impact of librarian involvement: a cross-sectional survey of recent authors.

Science.gov (United States)

Koffel, Jonathan B

2015-01-01

Previous research looking at published systematic reviews has shown that their search strategies are often suboptimal and that librarian involvement, though recommended, is low. Confidence in the results, however, is limited due to poor reporting of search strategies the published articles. To more accurately measure the use of recommended search methods in systematic reviews, the levels of librarian involvement, and whether librarian involvement predicts the use of recommended methods. A survey was sent to all authors of English-language systematic reviews indexed in the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE) from January 2012 through January 2014. The survey asked about their use of search methods recommended by the Institute of Medicine, Cochrane Collaboration, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and if and how a librarian was involved in the systematic review. Rates of use of recommended methods and librarian involvement were summarized. The impact of librarian involvement on use of recommended methods was examined using a multivariate logistic regression. 1560 authors completed the survey. Use of recommended search methods ranged widely from 98% for use of keywords to 9% for registration in PROSPERO and were generally higher than in previous studies. 51% of studies involved a librarian, but only 64% acknowledge their assistance. Librarian involvement was significantly associated with the use of 65% of recommended search methods after controlling for other potential predictors. Odds ratios ranged from 1.36 (95% CI 1.06 to 1.75) for including multiple languages to 3.07 (95% CI 2.06 to 4.58) for using controlled vocabulary. Use of recommended search strategies is higher than previously reported, but many methods are still under-utilized. Librarian involvement predicts the use of most methods, but their involvement is under-reported within the published article.

Knowledge and Attitude of Saudi Health Professions’ Students Regarding Patient’s Bill of Rights

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salwa B. El-Sobkey

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Background Patient’s rights are worldwide considerations. Saudi Patient’s Bill of Rights (PBR which was established in 2006 contained 12 items. Lack of knowledge regarding the Saudi PBR limits its implementation in health facilities. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge of health professions’ students at College of Applied Medical Sciences (CAMS Riyadh Saudi Arabia regarding the existence and content of Saudi PBR as well as their attitude toward its ineffectiveness. Method A 3-parts survey was used to collect data from 239 volunteer students participated in the study. Data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical statistics using SPSS. Results Results showed that although the majority of students (96.7% believe in the ineffectiveness of patient’s rights, half (52.3% of them had perceptual knowledge regarding the existence of Saudi PBR and only 7.9% of them were knowledgeable about some items (1–4 items of the bill. Privacy and confidentiality of patient was the most common known patient’s rights. Students’ academic level was not correlated to neither their knowledge regarding the bill existence or its content nor to their attitude toward the bill. The majority of the students (93% reported that only one course within their curriculum was patient’s rights-course related. About one quarter (23.4% of the students reported that teaching staff used to mention patient’s rights in their teaching sessions. Conclusion The Saudi health professions students at CAMS have positive attitude toward the ineffectiveness of patient’s rights nevertheless they showed limited knowledge regarding the existence of Saudi PBR and its contents. CAMS curriculums do not support the subject of patient’s rights.

42 CFR 408.84 - Billing and payment procedures.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Billing and payment procedures. 408.84 Section 408.84 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES... Billing and payment procedures. (a) Initial premium notice. (1) CMS or its agent always sends the initial...

Bill Barbour : mõned ideed kasvavatele firmadele / Bill Barbour ; interv. Taivo Paju

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Barbour, Bill

2005-01-01

Suurbritannia üks kogenumaid ärikonsultante firmade ärikasvumudelist, mis aitab ettevõttel järgmisesse etappi üle minna. Mida peaks ettevõtja enne äri alustamist läbi mõtlema ning millised eesmärgid ja ülesanded enda jaoks paika panema. Lisad: Bill Barbour; Universaalne kriisimudel

'The biggest car crash in NHS history': the media portrayal of GP pay before and after the introduction of the Health and Social Care Bill 2011.

Science.gov (United States)

Balkham, Adam; Alderson, Sarah

2017-01-01

The introduction of the Health and Social Care Bill (2011) changed the role of GPs to include commissioning of health services. Aim This study aimed to identify any differences in the media portrayal of GPs before and after the introduction of the Bill. We retrospectively searched four British newspapers over the period 2009-2013 using the media database Nexis. In order to directly compare the findings of the study with the work of Tanner et al., articles relating to GP pay were analysed using thematic analysis. Themes were identified and each article was scored to determine whether it portrayed GPs positively or negatively. GPs were portrayed slightly less negatively after the introduction of the Bill. The theme of 'high salaries' persisted despite reference to 'pay freezes'. References to decreased trust in the patient-doctor relationship appeared after the introduction of the Bill. Negative portrayal of GP pay has continued and a lack of trust in GPs has started to be portrayed. This trend may exacerbate the low morale amongst the profession and difficulties in recruiting and retaining GPs.

Assessing the search for information on three Rs methods, and their subsequent implementation: a national survey among scientists in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Luijk, J. van; Cuijpers, Y.M.; Vaart, L. van der; Leenaars, M; Ritskes-Hoitinga, M.

2011-01-01

A local survey conducted among scientists into the current practice of searching for information on Three Rs (i.e. Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) methods has highlighted the gap between the statutory requirement to apply Three Rs methods and the lack of criteria to search for them. To verify

Assessing the Search for Information on Three Rs Methods, and their Subsequent Implementation: A National Survey among Scientists in The Netherlands.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Luijk, J. van; Cuijpers, Y.M.; Vaart, L. van der; Leenaars, M.; Ritskes-Hoitinga, M.

2011-01-01

A local survey conducted among scientists into the current practice of searching for information on Three Rs (i.e. Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) methods has highlighted the gap between the statutory requirement to apply Three Rs methods and the lack of criteria to search for them. To verify

Search features of digital libraries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alastair G. Smith

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Traditional on-line search services such as Dialog, DataStar and Lexis provide a wide range of search features (boolean and proximity operators, truncation, etc. This paper discusses the use of these features for effective searching, and argues that these features are required, regardless of advances in search engine technology. The literature on on-line searching is reviewed, identifying features that searchers find desirable for effective searching. A selective survey of current digital libraries available on the Web was undertaken, identifying which search features are present. The survey indicates that current digital libraries do not implement a wide range of search features. For instance: under half of the examples included controlled vocabulary, under half had proximity searching, only one enabled browsing of term indexes, and none of the digital libraries enable searchers to refine an initial search. Suggestions are made for enhancing the search effectiveness of digital libraries, for instance by: providing a full range of search operators, enabling browsing of search terms, enhancement of records with controlled vocabulary, enabling the refining of initial searches, etc.

Bill Maurer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lauren Tooker

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Professor Bill Maurer is a renowned cultural anthropologist who conducts research on law, property, money and finance, focusing on the technological infrastructures and social relations of exchange and payment. Professor Maurer graduated from Stanford University in 1994 with a PhD in Anthropology. He moved to UC Irvine in 1996 as Assistant Professor, going on to become Chair of UC Irvine’s Department of Anthropology (2005-2011 and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences (2011-2013. In July 2013 he assumed his current role as Dean of UC Irvine’s School of Social Sciences. Professor Maurer has published on topics ranging from offshore financial services to mobile phone-enabled money transfers, Islamic finance, alternative currencies, and the future of money. He is founding director of the Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and was the founding co-director of the Intel Science and Technology Center in Social Computing. He is the editor of six collections, as well as the author of Recharting the Caribbean: Land, Law and Citizenship in the British Virgin Islands (1997, Pious Property: Islamic Mortgages in the United States (2006, and Mutual Life, Limited: Islamic Banking, Alternative Currencies, Lateral Reason (2005. The latter received the Victor Turner Prize in 2005. Professor Maurer visited the University of Warwick in September 2014 under the auspices of Warwick’s Global Governance GRP.

The formation method of the feature space for the identification of fatigued bills

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Dongshik; Oshiro, Ayumu; Ozawa, Kenji; Mitsui, Ikugo

2014-10-01

Fatigued bills make a trouble such as the paper jam in a bill handling machine. In the discrimination of fatigued bills using an acoustic signal, the variation of an observed bill sound is considered to be one of causes in misclassification. Therefore a technique has demanded in order to make the classification of fatigued bills more efficient. In this paper, we proposed the algorithm that extracted feature quantity of bill sound from acoustic signal using the frequency difference, and carried out discrimination experiment of fatigued bill money by Support Vector Machine(SVM). The feature quantity of frequency difference can represent the frequency components of an acoustic signal is varied by the fatigued degree of bill money. The generalization performance of SVM does not depend on the size of dimensions of the feature space, even in a high dimensional feature space such as bill-acoustic signals. Furthermore, SVM can induce an optimal classifier which considers the combination of features by the virtue of polynomial kernel functions.

47 CFR 64.1201 - Restrictions on billing name and address disclosure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... interstate telecommunications services. (3) The term authorized billing agent means a third party hired by a telecommunications service provider to perform billing and collection services for the telecommunications service... billing name and address information to any party other than a telecommunications service provider or an...

7 CFR 91.42 - Billing.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... of the month. The applicant will be billed by the National Finance Center (NFC) using the Foundation... voluntary laboratory services and other services were rendered at a particular Science and Technology...

Decoding incident-to and provider-based billing: ensuring payment and avoiding liability.

Science.gov (United States)

Hofstra, Patricia S; Hart, Elinor L

2012-01-01

In this increasingly complex world of Medicare reimbursement, physicians must constantly review their billing practices to ensure compliance with all Medicare requirements. "Incident-to" billing and provider-based billing are two areas that present unique challenges for providers, especially those practicing in hospital-owned practices such as hospital outpatient departments. Both incident-to and provider-based billing limit providers' abilities to bill for and receive reimbursement in those practice settings. The Office of Inspector General's 2012 Work Plan Report identified both incident-to billing and place-of-service errors as two of the many areas for investigation and compliance efforts in 2012. This article focuses on identifying the unique point-of-service challenges presented by physicians practicing in hospital outpatient departments or hospital-owned clinics.

Acid rain: What the final bill looks like

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burkhardt, D.A.

1990-01-01

This article examines the possible financial impacts of the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act. Topics include an overview of the bill, impact on utility companies, and implications for utility investors. The author feels the bill has important implications for investors who own utility stocks, particularly the stocks of coal-burning utilities in the Midwest and Appalachia

The billing process at a teaching hospital specialized in cardiology and pulmonology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriela Favaro Faria Guerrer

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The objective of this exploratory study was to describe and map out the billing process in a public tertiary-level university hospital specialized in cardiology and pulmonology. In the period between May and June of 2012, we identified and documented the steps in the process validated by the professionals involved in the hospital bill audit service. We found that during billing pre-analysis, auditors make corrections to justify the billing of procedures and to avoid unwarranted billing and loss of revenue. Mapping out the process allowed us to propose strategies to minimize the time for presenting bills to payment sources. By bringing visibility to this process, which is fundamental for the economic-financial balance of the studied hospital, we bring such knowledge to the public domain. Thus, it is accessible to other health organizations that wish to increment their revenue and reduce divergences between patient charts and the patient’s hospital bill. doi: 10.5216/ree.v16i3.23487.

Bill project on a new organisation of the electricity market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

A first text discusses the motivations of this bill project: to guarantee French supply security, to contribute to France economical competitiveness, to protect the environment, to give everybody access to energy, and to comply with the European energy market. It also comments the bill project content, the objectives aimed at through the different bill articles. These articles settle a regulated access to electricity and a regulatory frame for pricing, define provider responsibilities, deal with installation dismantling expenses. This presentation is followed by the bill text and by the report of an impact study of the implementation of a regulated access to electricity, of a capacity obligation, and of the evolution of regulated selling prices

Fatigue Level Estimation of Bill Based on Acoustic Signal Feature by Supervised SOM

Science.gov (United States)

Teranishi, Masaru; Omatu, Sigeru; Kosaka, Toshihisa

Fatigued bills have harmful influence on daily operation of Automated Teller Machine(ATM). To make the fatigued bills classification more efficient, development of an automatic fatigued bill classification method is desired. We propose a new method to estimate bending rigidity of bill from acoustic signal feature of banking machines. The estimated bending rigidities are used as continuous fatigue level for classification of fatigued bill. By using the supervised Self-Organizing Map(supervised SOM), we estimate the bending rigidity from only the acoustic energy pattern effectively. The experimental result with real bill samples shows the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Ways of implementation of fatf recommendations on combating criminal incomes at bills market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Анатолій Іванович Гулей

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In this article the measures directed on counteraction to laundering of criminal incomes are considered about the financial transaction with using bills of exchange and promissory notes. A study and analysis of the development process of bills of exchange and promissory notes in different countries of the world, the nature of bills as payment document, securities, commercial and bank credit, and process of immobilization of bills. Also, the problems of the legal framework relating to bill circulation in Ukraine are investigated and some recommendations for reduce the risks of bill circulation are given

Statistical searches for microlensing events in large, non-uniformly sampled time-domain surveys: A test using palomar transient factory data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Price-Whelan, Adrian M.; Agüeros, Marcel A. [Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, 550 W 120th Street, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Fournier, Amanda P. [Department of Physics, Broida Hall, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Street, Rachel [Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Inc., 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Santa Barbara, CA 93117 (United States); Ofek, Eran O. [Benoziyo Center for Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot (Israel); Covey, Kevin R. [Lowell Observatory, 1400 West Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (United States); Levitan, David; Sesar, Branimir [Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Laher, Russ R.; Surace, Jason, E-mail: adrn@astro.columbia.edu [Spitzer Science Center, California Institute of Technology, Mail Stop 314-6, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)

2014-01-20

Many photometric time-domain surveys are driven by specific goals, such as searches for supernovae or transiting exoplanets, which set the cadence with which fields are re-imaged. In the case of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF), several sub-surveys are conducted in parallel, leading to non-uniform sampling over its ∼20,000 deg{sup 2} footprint. While the median 7.26 deg{sup 2} PTF field has been imaged ∼40 times in the R band, ∼2300 deg{sup 2} have been observed >100 times. We use PTF data to study the trade off between searching for microlensing events in a survey whose footprint is much larger than that of typical microlensing searches, but with far-from-optimal time sampling. To examine the probability that microlensing events can be recovered in these data, we test statistics used on uniformly sampled data to identify variables and transients. We find that the von Neumann ratio performs best for identifying simulated microlensing events in our data. We develop a selection method using this statistic and apply it to data from fields with >10 R-band observations, 1.1 × 10{sup 9} light curves, uncovering three candidate microlensing events. We lack simultaneous, multi-color photometry to confirm these as microlensing events. However, their number is consistent with predictions for the event rate in the PTF footprint over the survey's three years of operations, as estimated from near-field microlensing models. This work can help constrain all-sky event rate predictions and tests microlensing signal recovery in large data sets, which will be useful to future time-domain surveys, such as that planned with the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

Patients Bill of Rights Data

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — Reducing Costs, Protecting Consumers - The Affordable Care Act on the One Year Anniversary of the Patients Bill of Rights For too long, too many hard working...

Value-Based Billing in a 3G IP Services Environment

OpenAIRE

Ryan, Conor; Donnelly, William; de Leastar, Eamonn; Cloney, James

2002-01-01

The proliferation of IP-based services has resulted in a paradigm shift away from traditional flat-rat, single service billing to content and usage based billing for composed service sets. The Information Societies Technology (IST) FORM project has prototyped an accounting and billing solution for IP-based telecommunications services. A key element of the solution is the IPDR Network Data Management - Usage specification. This paper presents the FORM development of a federated accounting and ...

THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY QUASAR LENS SEARCH. IV. STATISTICAL LENS SAMPLE FROM THE FIFTH DATA RELEASE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inada, Naohisa; Oguri, Masamune; Shin, Min-Su; Kayo, Issha; Fukugita, Masataka; Strauss, Michael A.; Gott, J. Richard; Hennawi, Joseph F.; Morokuma, Tomoki; Becker, Robert H.; Gregg, Michael D.; White, Richard L.; Kochanek, Christopher S.; Chiu, Kuenley; Johnston, David E.; Clocchiatti, Alejandro; Richards, Gordon T.; Schneider, Donald P.; Frieman, Joshua A.

2010-01-01

We present the second report of our systematic search for strongly lensed quasars from the data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). From extensive follow-up observations of 136 candidate objects, we find 36 lenses in the full sample of 77,429 spectroscopically confirmed quasars in the SDSS Data Release 5. We then define a complete sample of 19 lenses, including 11 from our previous search in the SDSS Data Release 3, from the sample of 36,287 quasars with i Λ = 0.84 +0.06 -0.08 (stat.) +0.09 -0.07 (syst.) assuming a flat universe, which is in good agreement with other cosmological observations. We also report the discoveries of seven binary quasars with separations ranging from 1.''1 to 16.''6, which are identified in the course of our lens survey. This study concludes the construction of our statistical lens sample in the full SDSS-I data set.

Audit and account billing process in a private general hospital: a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raquel Silva Bicalho Zunta

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Our study aimed to map, describe and, validate the audit, account billing and billing reports processes in a large, private general hospital.  An exploratory, descriptive, case report study. We conducted non-participatory observation moments in Internal Audit Sectors and  Billing Reports from the hospital, aiming to map the processes which were the study objects. The data obtained was validated by internal and external audit specialists in hospital bills. The described and illustrated processes in three flow-charts favor professionals to rationalize their activities and the time spent in hospital billing, avoiding or minimizing the occurrence of flaws and, generating more effective financial results. The mapping, the description and the audit validation process and billing and, the billing reports propitiated more visibility and legitimacy to actions developed by auditor nurses.

A search for dispersed radio bursts in archival Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey data

Science.gov (United States)

Bagchi, Manjari; Nieves, Angela Cortes; McLaughlin, Maura

2012-10-01

A number of different classes of potentially extra-terrestrial bursts of radio emission have been observed in surveys with the Parkes 64-m radio telescope, including 'rotating radio transients', the 'Lorimer burst' and 'perytons'. Rotating radio transients are radio pulsars which are best detectable in single-pulse searches. The Lorimer burst is a highly dispersed isolated radio burst with properties suggestive of extragalactic origin. Perytons share the frequency-swept nature of the rotating radio transients and Lorimer burst, but unlike these events appear in all 13 beams of the Parkes multibeam receiver and are probably a form of peculiar radio frequency interference. In order to constrain these and other radio source populations further, we searched the archival Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey data for events similar to any of these. We did not find any new rotating radio transients or bursts like the Lorimer burst. We did, however, discover four peryton-like events. Similar to the perytons, these four bursts are highly dispersed, detected in all 13 beams of the Parkes multibeam receiver, and have pulse widths between 20 and 30 ms. Unlike perytons, these bursts are not associated with atmospheric events like rain or lightning. These facts may indicate that lightning was not responsible for the peryton phenomenon. Moreover, the lack of highly dispersed celestial signals is the evidence that the Lorimer burst is unlikely to belong to a cosmological source population.

Developing optimal search strategies for detecting clinically sound prognostic studies in MEDLINE: an analytic survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haynes R Brian

2004-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Clinical end users of MEDLINE have a difficult time retrieving articles that are both scientifically sound and directly relevant to clinical practice. Search filters have been developed to assist end users in increasing the success of their searches. Many filters have been developed for the literature on therapy and reviews but little has been done in the area of prognosis. The objective of this study is to determine how well various methodologic textwords, Medical Subject Headings, and their Boolean combinations retrieve methodologically sound literature on the prognosis of health disorders in MEDLINE. Methods An analytic survey was conducted, comparing hand searches of journals with retrievals from MEDLINE for candidate search terms and combinations. Six research assistants read all issues of 161 journals for the publishing year 2000. All articles were rated using purpose and quality indicators and categorized into clinically relevant original studies, review articles, general papers, or case reports. The original and review articles were then categorized as 'pass' or 'fail' for methodologic rigor in the areas of prognosis and other clinical topics. Candidate search strategies were developed for prognosis and run in MEDLINE – the retrievals being compared with the hand search data. The sensitivity, specificity, precision, and accuracy of the search strategies were calculated. Results 12% of studies classified as prognosis met basic criteria for scientific merit for testing clinical applications. Combinations of terms reached peak sensitivities of 90%. Compared with the best single term, multiple terms increased sensitivity for sound studies by 25.2% (absolute increase, and increased specificity, but by a much smaller amount (1.1% when sensitivity was maximized. Combining terms to optimize both sensitivity and specificity achieved sensitivities and specificities of approximately 83% for each. Conclusion Empirically derived

Refusal to pay electricity bill is illegal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hermann, H.P.

1979-01-01

Pursuant to a judgement passed by the Lower Court of Hamburg, the author discusses probable legal arguments justifying the refusal to pay one's electricity bill, the so-called electricity bill boycott. Following an analysis of the power supply contract and of the content and the limits of the fundamental right of freedom of conscience, as well as of the concept of free enterprise and of the legal effect of licenses under the nuclear law, his point of view stated in the article is to agree with the decision of the court saying that the operation of a nuclear power plant licensed under the nuclear law does not mean an infringement of the right of freedom of conscience. It can further not be accepted to let people refuse to pay their electricity bill by referring to the right of freedom of speech, by alleging conduct against public policy on the part of the public utilities, or by referring to the right of opposition. (HSCH) [de

Portable XRF and principal component analysis for bill characterization in forensic science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Appoloni, C.R.; Melquiades, F.L.

2014-01-01

Several modern techniques have been applied to prevent counterfeiting of money bills. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the potential of Portable X-ray Fluorescence (PXRF) technique and the multivariate analysis method of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for classification of bills in order to use it in forensic science. Bills of Dollar, Euro and Real (Brazilian currency) were measured directly at different colored regions, without any previous preparation. Spectra interpretation allowed the identification of Ca, Ti, Fe, Cu, Sr, Y, Zr and Pb. PCA analysis separated the bills in three groups and subgroups among Brazilian currency. In conclusion, the samples were classified according to its origin identifying the elements responsible for differentiation and basic pigment composition. PXRF allied to multivariate discriminate methods is a promising technique for rapid and no destructive identification of false bills in forensic science. - Highlights: • The paper is about a direct method for bills discrimination by EDXRF and principal component analysis. • The bills are analyzed directly, without sample preparation and non destructively. • The results demonstrates that the methodology is feasible and could be applied in forensic science for identification of origin and false banknotes. • The novelty is that portable EDXRF is very fast and efficient for bills characterization

Boundary-Layer Control: In Memory of Bill Reynolds

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, John

2004-11-01

Professor Bill Reynolds (1933-2004) inspired many students and colleagues with his never-ending curiosity and thought-provoking ideas. Bill's relentless energy, together with his hallmark can-do character and do-it-yourself attitude, led to many seminal contributions to mechanical engineering in general, and fluid mechanics in particular. He has left a lasting impact on many of us, especially for those who had the privilege of working closely with him. Some of my current work on boundary-layer control, the use of neural networks in particular, were inspired by many discussions with Bill. He was among the first to see the potential of control-theoretic approaches for flow control, which has become the main thrust of my current research. Without his continued encouragement, I would not have been deeply involved in this line of research; and perhaps, we would not have seen the current flurry of research activities in applying modern control theories to flow control. In memory of Bill Reynolds, who himself has contributed much to flow control, an analysis of boundary-layer control from a linear system perspective will be presented.

Liberty through limits: The bill of rights as limited government provisions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick M. Garry

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Under the modern view, individual autonomy has become the primary if not exclusive focus of the Bill of Rights. But the Bill of Rights came about not because of a desire to preserve individual autonomy, nor to insulate the individual from the democratic community. The impetus for the Bill of Rights arose from the same set of concerns that motivated the original Constitution. These concerns involved creating the appropriate structures so as to keep the new central government in check. The Bill of Rights sought to further ensure that the federal government would have limited power and operate in a limited role. Not only does this limited government model coincide with the original intent underlying the Bill of Rights, but it also provides for a more objective and manageable application. Under an individual autonomy view of the Bill of Rights, courts must define the ingredients necessary for such autonomy. However, this endeavor is fraught with ambiguity, and courts must constantly pit the individual against democratic society. But under the limited government model, the judicial role is more objective. Instead of trying to define an ambiguous individual autonomy, courts simply need to focus on whether a particular right is needed so as to maintain limited government. In addition, the limited government model does not put the Bill of Rights in conflict with democratic society. Instead, it just uses the Bill of Rights to maintain a check on government, just as the original Constitution seeks to do.

An Exploratory Survey of Student Perspectives Regarding Search Engines

Science.gov (United States)

Alshare, Khaled; Miller, Don; Wenger, James

2005-01-01

This study explored college students' perceptions regarding their use of search engines. The main objective was to determine how frequently students used various search engines, whether advanced search features were used, and how many search engines were used. Various factors that might influence student responses were examined. Results showed…

An electricity billing model | Adetona | Journal of Applied Science ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Linear regression analysis has been employed to develop a model for predicting accurately the electricity billing for commercial consumers in Ogun State (Nigeria) at faster rate. The electricity billing model was implement-ed, executed and tested using embedded MATLAB function blocks. The correlations between the ...

Accounting, Charging and Billing for Dynamic Service Composition Chains

Science.gov (United States)

Rumph, F. J.; Kruithof, G. H.; Huitema, G. B.

Services delivered to an end user can be composed of numerous subservices and form chains of composed services. These service composition chains traditionally consist of a static set of business entities. However, in order to increase business agility, dynamic service composition chains can be used by leveraging techniques of service publishing and discovery, and consist of more short-lived relations between the various business entities. This chapter focuses on issues concerning accounting, charging and billing of such dynamic service composition chains. In this type of service delivery, several traditional settlement models are not applicable since existing architectures lack support of automated negotiation of settlement parameters. Examples of such parameters are what the service consumer will be charged for and how much, how and when the consumer will be billed. In this chapter, the requirements that have to be fulfilled with respect to accounting, charging and billing in dynamic service composition chains are explored. Based on these requirements, a framework architecture for accounting charging and billing is described.

Tobacco company campaign contributions and congressional support of the cigar bill

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robbins RA

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Although it is widely held that campaign contributions influence support for legislation, the impact of contributions is unclear. Despite lack of a tobacco growing or manufacturing constituency, many members of Congress (MOC in the Southwest support the pro-tobacco Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2015 (HR 662/S 441, aka the "Cigar Bill". The association between campaign contributions from tobacco companies (2006-16 with cosponsor for the Cigar Bill were examined. There was a highly significant correlation with 92% of Southwest MOC who cosponsored the Cigar Bill having received campaign contributions. In contrast, 31% of those who did not cosponsoring the bill had received tobacco company campaign contributions (p<0.001 by Fisher's Exact Test. These data demonstrates a highly significant correlation between campaign contributions and legislative support for the "Cigar Bill".

42 CFR 424.540 - Deactivation of Medicare billing privileges.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... change in practice location, a change of any managing employee, and a change in billing services. A... 42 Public Health 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Deactivation of Medicare billing privileges. 424.540 Section 424.540 Public Health CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND...

19 CFR 142.14 - Delinquent payment of Customs bills.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Delinquent payment of Customs bills. 142.14 Section 142.14 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY... of Customs bills. The following procedure shall be followed if an importer is substantially or...

19 CFR 142.26 - Delinquent payment of Customs bills.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Delinquent payment of Customs bills. 142.26 Section 142.26 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY... Delinquent payment of Customs bills. The following procedures shall be followed if an importer is...

Bill project putting an end to the search for as well as exploitation of conventional and non-conventional hydrocarbons, and bearing various arrangements related to energy and to the environment (accelerated procedure) - Nr 155 + Impact study + Opinion of the State Council

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Philippe, Edouard; Hulot, Nicolas

2017-01-01

After having briefly outlined that the bill project notably aims at a better protection of energy consumers, the different objectives and motivations are discussed. They concern the end of the search for and of the exploitation of hydrocarbons in the French soil in order to comply with the COP 21 Paris agreement and with the French Climate Plan. This results in an end to exploration and exploitation permits, and therefore the avoidance of local environmental impacts related to such activities (notably offshore). Some arrangements concern gas storages and consumers, and aim at a better safety of supply for the French gas system and consumers. Other arrangements concern relationships between providers and network managers, controls of of bio-fuels, and the reduction of emissions of some atmospheric pollutants. The text of the bill project is then provided as well as the report of an impact study which, for each of the mentioned issues (end of hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation in the case of overseas territories, gas storages and consumers, relationships between providers and managers, controls of bio-fuels) proposes a description of the situation and a diagnosis, a presentation of objectives, a discussion of the need for a new legal framework, an analysis of the impact of envisaged measures, a report of hearings, and modalities of application. A last text contains the opinion of the French State Council on the bill project, which, among other issues, notably addresses the following ones: guarantee of rights, ownership law, and right of free enterprise

Insurance billing and coding.

Science.gov (United States)

Napier, Rebecca H; Bruelheide, Lori S; Demann, Eric T K; Haug, Richard H

2008-07-01

The purpose of this article is to highlight the importance of understanding various numeric and alpha-numeric codes for accurately billing dental and medically related services to private pay or third-party insurance carriers. In the United States, common dental terminology (CDT) codes are most commonly used by dentists to submit claims, whereas current procedural terminology (CPT) and International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD.9.CM) codes are more commonly used by physicians to bill for their services. The CPT and ICD.9.CM coding systems complement each other in that CPT codes provide the procedure and service information and ICD.9.CM codes provide the reason or rationale for a particular procedure or service. These codes are more commonly used for "medical necessity" determinations, and general dentists and specialists who routinely perform care, including trauma-related care, biopsies, and dental treatment as a result of or in anticipation of a cancer-related treatment, are likely to use these codes. Claim submissions for care provided can be completed electronically or by means of paper forms.

an assessment of billing electricity consumers via analogue meters

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DR. AMINU

an online system and window driven and can be used for the purpose of e- billing (Advalorem, 2009). ... Source: Billing Operation Unit, Customer Services Department KED Plc, (2002). Kilowatt hour is equal to the amount of energy ..... but reaction of the respondent confirmed the conclusion of poor consumers' response to ...

A search for pre-main sequence stars in the high-latitude molecular clouds. II - A survey of the Einstein database

Science.gov (United States)

Caillault, Jean-Pierre; Magnani, Loris

1990-01-01

The preliminary results are reported of a survey of every EINSTEIN image which overlaps any high-latitude molecular cloud in a search for X-ray emitting pre-main sequence stars. This survey, together with complementary KPNO and IRAS data, will allow the determination of how prevalent low mass star formation is in these clouds in general and, particularly, in the translucent molecular clouds.

Hackers ring up big phone bills for hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, E

1992-11-02

A big telephone bill--possibly in six figures--can be a painful way for a hospital to find out its phone system isn't secure. When unusually large long-distance bills start to show up, chances are a professional telephone hacker has broken in. According to experts, one in 15 businesses has been victimized by long-distance toll fraud, and loss estimates range from $900 million to $4 billion a year.

Bill Gates eyes healthcare market.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunbar, C

1995-02-01

The entrepreneurial spirit is still top in Bill Gates' mind as he look toward healthcare and other growth industries. Microsoft's CEO has not intention of going the way of other large technology companies that became obsolete before they could compete today.

Maximizing collections from patient services billing.

Science.gov (United States)

Orenstein, Gil C; Kaye, Alan David; Fox, Charles J; Urman, Richard D

2014-01-01

The field of medical billing and collections continues to evolve along with current developments in U.S. healthcare reform. Although there has been a significant shift of payment responsibility from third-party payers to patients, many practices are not equipped to handle this change. As patients' financial obligations increase, the physician's ability to collect from patients will become increasingly important. Inability to collect bills receivable can adversely affect the revenue cycle of the practice. Solutions include improvement of the point-of-service collection processes, properly trained office staff, written financial policies, and the use of technology to facilitate online payments. Patients should fully understand their financial responsibilities and options available to them for payment of services rendered.

Utopian dream: a new farm bill.

Science.gov (United States)

Nestle, Marion

2012-01-01

In the fall of 2011, I taught a graduate food studies course at New York University devoted to the farm bill, a massive and massively opaque piece of legislation passed most recently in 2008 and up for renewal in 2012. The farm bill supports farmers, of course, but also specifies how the United States deals with such matters as conservation, forestry, energy policy, organic food production, international food aid, and domestic food assistance. My students came from programs in nutrition, food studies, public health, public policy, and law, all united in the belief that a smaller scale, more regionalized, and more sustainable food system would be healthier for people and the planet.

49 CFR Appendix A to Part 1035 - Uniform Straight Bill of Lading

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Uniform Straight Bill of Lading A Appendix A to Part 1035 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) SURFACE... Appendix A to Part 1035—Uniform Straight Bill of Lading Uniform Straight Bill of Lading Original—Not...

41 CFR 109-40.5003 - Commercial bills of lading.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... shipments for the account of DOE shall include the following statement on all commercial bills of lading: This shipment is for the account of the U.S. Government which will assume the freight charges and is... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Commercial bills of...

Severe bill deformity of an American Kestrel wintering in California

Science.gov (United States)

Iko, William M.; Dusek, Robert J.

2011-01-01

During a recent survey for West Nile virus in wild birds around the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, Imperial County, California (Dusek et al. 2010), we captured a female American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) with a severe bill deformity (Figure 1). The kestrel was captured on 9 March 2006, at 08:45, approximately 0.25 km south of the intersection of Wiest and Lindsey roads (33°  08' 42' N, 115° 26' 59' W) and 6 km east-northeast of Calipatria. It was caught on a bal-chatri trap baited with a domestic mouse (Berger and Mueller 1959), as were all the 208 kestrels captured during this study. The bird was initially perched on a high transmission line running along Wiest Road and was caught within 10 minutes of our setting the trap. In examining the bird, we observed that the maxilla beyond the cere was missing. The upper bill structure from the palatine process, which included part of the maxilla, the entire premaxilla, and the external rhamphotheca (the hardened keratin layer cover­ ing the premaxilla) was missing rostral to the bird's cere and nares (Threlfall 1968, Lucas and Stettenheim 1972, Proctor and Lynch 1993). The epidermal layer of the cere appeared to have fused over the remaining area between the nares where the upper bill normally would have been. The deformation did not appear to be recent or related to our trapping, as there were no obvious abrasions or open wounds in the region surrounding the nares and oropharynx or signs of recent trauma surrounding the oropharynx area. Both nares were clearly defined, and the tongue protruded from the open oropharynx area. After completing the physical examination, measurements, and obtaining a blood sample for testing for West Nile virus, we released the kestrel at the location of capture. After its release, we monitored the kestrel's behavior for approximately 30 minutes but did not observe any additional hunting.

9 CFR 381.39 - Basis of billing for overtime and holiday services.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... holiday services. 381.39 Section 381.39 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE... Inspection; Overtime and Holiday Service; Billing Establishments § 381.39 Basis of billing for overtime and holiday services. (a) Each recipient of overtime or holiday inspection service, or both, shall be billed...

Knowing How Good Our Searches Are: An Approach Derived from Search Filter Development Methodology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah Hayman

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Objective – Effective literature searching is of paramount importance in supporting evidence based practice, research, and policy. Missed references can have adverse effects on outcomes. This paper reports on the development and evaluation of an online learning resource, designed for librarians and other interested searchers, presenting an evidence based approach to enhancing and testing literature searches. Methods – We developed and evaluated the set of free online learning modules for librarians called Smart Searching, suggesting the use of techniques derived from search filter development undertaken by the CareSearch Palliative Care Knowledge Network and its associated project Flinders Filters. The searching module content has been informed by the processes and principles used in search filter development. The self-paced modules are intended to help librarians and other interested searchers test the effectiveness of their literature searches, provide evidence of search performance that can be used to improve searches, as well as to evaluate and promote searching expertise. Each module covers one of four techniques, or core principles, employed in search filter development: (1 collaboration with subject experts; (2 use of a reference sample set; (3 term identification through frequency analysis; and (4 iterative testing. Evaluation of the resource comprised ongoing monitoring of web analytics to determine factors such as numbers of users and geographic origin; a user survey conducted online elicited qualitative information about the usefulness of the resource. Results – The resource was launched in May 2014. Web analytics show over 6,000 unique users from 101 countries (at 9 August 2015. Responses to the survey (n=50 indicated that 80% would recommend the resource to a colleague. Conclusions – An evidence based approach to searching, derived from search filter development methodology, has been shown to have value as an online learning

A simultaneous search for High-z LAEs and LBGs in the SHARDS survey

Science.gov (United States)

Haro, P. Arrabal; Espinosa, J. M. Rodríguez; Muñoz-Tuñón, C.; Pérez-González, P. G.; Dannerbauer, H.; Bongiovann, Á.; Barro, G.; Cava, A.; Lumbreras-Calle, A.; Hernán-Caballero, A.; Eliche-Moral, M. C.; Sánchez, H. Dománguez; Conselice, C. J.; Tresse, L.; Pampliega, B. Alcalde; Balcells, M.; Daddi, E.; Rodighiero, G.

2018-05-01

We have undertaken a comprehensive search for both Lyman Alpha Emitters (LAEs) and Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) in the SHARDS Survey of the GOODS-N field. SHARDS is a deep imaging survey, made with the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), employing 25 medium band filters in the range from 500 to 941 nm. This is the first time that both LAEs and LBGs are surveyed simultaneously in a systematic way in a large field. We draw a sample of 1558 sources; 528 of them are LAEs. Most of the sources (1434) show rest-frame UV continua. A minority of them (124) are pure LAEs with virtually no continuum detected in SHARDS. We study these sources from z ˜ 3.35 up to z ˜ 6.8, well into the epoch of reionization. Note that surveys done with just one or two narrow band filters lack the possibility to spot the rest-frame UV continuum present in most of our LAEs. We derive redshifts, Star Formation Rates (SFRs), Lyα Equivalent Widths (EWs) and Luminosity Functions (LFs). Grouping within our sample is also studied, finding 92 pairs or groups of galaxies at the same redshift separated by less than 60 comoving kpc. In addition, we relate 87 and 55 UV-selected objects with two known overdensities at z = 4.05 and z = 5.198, respectively. Finally, we show that surveys made with broad band filters are prone to introduce many unwanted sources (˜20% interlopers), which means that previous studies may be overestimating the calculated LFs, specially at the faint end.

Jamaica National Net-Billing Pilot Program Evaluation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Doris, Elizabeth [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Stout, Sherry [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Peterson, Kimberly [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2015-12-18

This technical report discusses the effectiveness of the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited Net-Billing Pilot Program. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) collected and analyzed data from a wide range of stakeholders, conducted in-country research, and compared program elements to common interconnection practices to form programmatic recommendations for the Jamaica context. NREL finds that the net-billing pilot program has successfully contributed to the support of the emerging solar market in Jamaica with the interconnection of 80 systems under the program for a total of 1.38 megawatts (MW) at the time of original analysis.

The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: content, commentary, controversy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, B D

2015-03-01

Ireland's Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill (2013) aims to reform the law relating to persons who require assistance exercising their decision-making capacity. When finalised, the Bill will replace Ireland's outdated Ward of Court system which has an all-or-nothing approach to capacity; does not adequately define capacity; is poorly responsive to change; makes unwieldy provision for appointing decision-makers; and has insufficient provision for review. To explore the content and implications of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill. Review of the content of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill and related literature. The new Bill includes a presumption of capacity and defines lack of capacity. All interventions must minimise restriction of rights and freedom, and have due regard for "dignity, bodily integrity, privacy and autonomy". The Bill proposes legal frameworks for "assisted decision-making" (where an individual voluntarily appoints someone to assist with specific decisions relating to personal welfare or property and affairs, by, among other measures, assisting the individual to communicate his or her "will and preferences"); "co-decision-making" (where the Circuit Court declares the individual's capacity is reduced but he or she can make specific decisions with a co-decision-maker to share authority); "decision-making representatives" (substitute decision-making); "enduring power of attorney"; and "informal decision-making on personal welfare matters" (without apparent oversight). These measures, if implemented, will shift Ireland's capacity laws away from an approach based on "best interests" to one based on "will and preferences", and increase compliance with the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Towards an inter-domain billing system to support dynamic service provisioning

OpenAIRE

Le, V.M.

2009-01-01

Today, billing is a big challenge for service providers. With a growing number of rich services such as music, mobile TV, Video-on-Demand and eHealth delivered to the mass market, service providers are missing business opportunities because current billing solutions are not fully capable. In particular, the delivery of on-the-fly composite services, composed of many service components provided by different service providers causes many complexities. This book proposes a billing system that de...

Missed surgical intensive care unit billing: potential financial impact of 24/7 faculty presence.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendershot, Kimberly M; Bollins, John P; Armen, Scott B; Thomas, Yalaunda M; Steinberg, Steven M; Cook, Charles H

2009-07-01

To efficiently capture evaluation and management (E&M) and procedural billing in our surgical intensive care unit (SICU), we have developed an electronic billing system that links to the electronic medical record (EMR). In this system, only notes electronically signed and coded by an attending generate billing charges. We hypothesized that capture of missed billing during nighttime and weekends might be sufficient to subsidize 24/7 in-house attending coverage. A retrospective chart EMR review was performed of the EMRs for all SICU patients during a 2-month period. Note type, date, time, attending signature, and coding were analyzed. Notes without attending signature, diagnosis, or current procedural terminology (CPT) code were considered incomplete and identified as "missed billing." Four hundred and forty-three patients had 465 admissions generating 2,896 notes. Overall, 76% of notes were signed and coded by an attending and billed. Incomplete (not billed) notes represented an overall missed billing opportunity of $159,138 for the 2-month time period (approximately $954,000 annually). Unbilled E&M encounters during weekdays totaled $54,758, whereas unbilled E&M and procedures from weeknights and weekends totaled $88,408 ($44,566 and $43,842, respectively). Missed billing after-hours thus represents approximately $530K annually, extrapolating to approximately $220K in collections from our payer mix. Surprisingly, missed E&M and procedural billing during weekdays totaled $70,730 (approximately $425K billing, approximately $170K collections annually), and typically represented patients seen, but transferred from the SICU before attending documentation was completed. Capture of nighttime and weekend ICU collections alone may be insufficient to add faculty or incentivize in-house coverage, but could certainly complement other in-house derived revenues to such ends. In addition, missed daytime billing in busy modern ICUs can be substantial, and use of an EMR to identify

Education in medical billing benefits both neurology trainees and academic departments.

Science.gov (United States)

Waugh, Jeff L

2014-11-11

The objective of residency training is to produce physicians who can function independently within their chosen subspecialty and practice environment. Skills in the business of medicine, such as clinical billing, are widely applicable in academic and private practices but are not commonly addressed during formal medical education. Residency and fellowship training include limited exposure to medical billing, but our academic department's performance of these skills was inadequate: in 56% of trainee-generated outpatient notes, documentation was insufficient to sustain the chosen billing level. We developed a curriculum to improve the accuracy of documentation and coding and introduced practice changes to address our largest sources of error. In parallel, we developed tools that increased the speed and efficiency of documentation. Over 15 months, we progressively eliminated note devaluation, increased the mean level billed by trainees to nearly match that of attending physicians, and increased outpatient revenue by $34,313/trainee/year. Our experience suggests that inclusion of billing education topics into the formal medical curriculum benefits both academic medical centers and trainees. © 2014 American Academy of Neurology.

Acute pain management efficiency improves with point-of-care handheld electronic billing system.

Science.gov (United States)

Fahy, Brenda G

2009-02-01

Technology advances continue to impact patient care and physician workflow. To enable more efficient performance of billing activities, a point-of-care (POC) handheld computer technology replaced a paper-based system on an acute pain management service. Using a handheld personal digital assistant (PDA) and software from MDeverywhere (MDe, MDeverywhere, Long Island, NY), we performed a 1-yr prospective observational study of an anesthesiology acute pain management service billings and collections. Seventeen anesthesiologists providing billable acute pain services were trained and entered their charges on a PDA. Twelve months of data, just before electronic implementation (pre-elec), were compared to a 12-m period after implementation (post-elec). The total charges were 4883 for 890 patients pre-elec and 5368 for 1128 patients post-elec. With adoption of handheld billing, the charge lag days decreased from 29.3 to 7.0 (P billing using PDAs to replace a paper-based billing system improved the collection rate and decreased the number of charge lag days with a positive return on investment. The handheld PDA billing system provided POC support for physicians during their daily clinical (e.g., patient locations, rounding lists) and billing activities, improving workflow.

Current issues in billing and coding in interventional pain medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Manchikanti, L

2000-10-01

Interventional pain management is a dynamic field with changes occurring on a daily basis, not only with technology but also with regulations that have a substantial financial impact on practices. Regulations are imposed not only by the federal government and other regulatory agencies, and also by a multitude of other payors, state governments and medical boards. Documentation of medical necessity with coding that correlates with multiple components of the patient's medical record, operative report, and billing statement is extremely important. Numerous changes which have occurred in the practice of interventional pain management in the new millennium continue to impact the financial viability of interventional pain practices along with patient access to these services. Thus, while complying with regulations of billing, coding and proper, effective, and ethical practice of pain management, it is also essential for physicians to understand financial aspects and the impact of various practice patterns. This article provides guidelines which are meant to provide practical considerations for billing and coding of interventional techniques in the management of chronic pain based on the current state of the art and science of interventional pain management. Hence, these guidelines do not constitute inflexible treatment, coding, billing or documentation recommendations. It is expected that a provider will establish a plan of care on a case-by-case basis taking into account an individual patient's medical condition, personal needs, and preferences, along with physician's experience and in a similar manner, billing and coding practices will be developed. Based on an individual patient's needs, treatment, billing and coding, different from what is outlined here is not only warranted but essential.

Keyword Search in Databases

CERN Document Server

Yu, Jeffrey Xu; Chang, Lijun

2009-01-01

It has become highly desirable to provide users with flexible ways to query/search information over databases as simple as keyword search like Google search. This book surveys the recent developments on keyword search over databases, and focuses on finding structural information among objects in a database using a set of keywords. Such structural information to be returned can be either trees or subgraphs representing how the objects, that contain the required keywords, are interconnected in a relational database or in an XML database. The structural keyword search is completely different from

Portable XRF and principal component analysis for bill characterization in forensic science.

Science.gov (United States)

Appoloni, C R; Melquiades, F L

2014-02-01

Several modern techniques have been applied to prevent counterfeiting of money bills. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the potential of Portable X-ray Fluorescence (PXRF) technique and the multivariate analysis method of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for classification of bills in order to use it in forensic science. Bills of Dollar, Euro and Real (Brazilian currency) were measured directly at different colored regions, without any previous preparation. Spectra interpretation allowed the identification of Ca, Ti, Fe, Cu, Sr, Y, Zr and Pb. PCA analysis separated the bills in three groups and subgroups among Brazilian currency. In conclusion, the samples were classified according to its origin identifying the elements responsible for differentiation and basic pigment composition. PXRF allied to multivariate discriminate methods is a promising technique for rapid and no destructive identification of false bills in forensic science. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Utility Bill Insert for Wastewater Services

Science.gov (United States)

Intended for use by wastewater and water supply utilities, one side of the utility bill insert has information for customers that discharge to sanitary sewer systems; the other side is for customers with septic systems.

How to Bill Your Computer Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Dooskin, Herbert P.

1981-01-01

A computer facility billing procedure should be designed so that the full costs of a computer center operation are equitably charged to the users. Design criteria, costing methods, and management's role are discussed. (Author/MLF)

Environmental monitoring using autonomous vehicles: a survey of recent searching techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Bayat, Behzad; Crasta, Naveena; Crespi, Alessandro; Pascoal, António M; Ijspeert, Auke

2017-06-01

Autonomous vehicles are becoming an essential tool in a wide range of environmental applications that include ambient data acquisition, remote sensing, and mapping of the spatial extent of pollutant spills. Among these applications, pollution source localization has drawn increasing interest due to its scientific and commercial interest and the emergence of a new breed of robotic vehicles capable of operating in harsh environments without human supervision. The aim is to find the location of a region that is the source of a given substance of interest (e.g. a chemical pollutant at sea or a gas leakage in air) using a group of cooperative autonomous vehicles. Motivated by fast paced advances in this challenging area, this paper surveys recent advances in searching techniques that are at the core of environmental monitoring strategies using autonomous vehicles. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Key Findings of AAP Store Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Melendes, Bob; And Others

1977-01-01

Results of the Association of American Publishers "College Bookstore Marketing Survey" in the fall of 1976 are summarized. The intent was to improve college textbook publisher services to college stores in the areas of order fulfillment, publication scheduling, print quantities, shipping, billing, and processing of returns. (LBH)

Cut Electric Bills by Controlling Demand

Science.gov (United States)

Grumman, David L.

1974-01-01

Electric bills can be reduced by lowering electric consumption and by controlling demand -- the amount of electricity used at a certain point in time. Gives tips to help reduce electric demand at peak power periods. (Author/DN)

Energy bill of France in 2002

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

The energy situation in France is presented. Data and charts illustrate the prices evolution at the import for the petroleum and the other energies, the exchanged energies volume and the bill for each energy sector. (A.L.B.)

House passes energy bill with one-step plant licensing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

The US House of Representatives which has traditionally been wary of measures that would allow nuclear power to expand, came down strongly on the side of nuclear when it approved a much-amended omnibus energy bill on May 27 by a vote of 381 to 37. The key for the nuclear industry is the presence in the bill (H.R. 776) of language on one-step power plant licensing that was taken directly from the Senate energy bill (S. 2166) that passed in February. This means that when the House and Senate work out a compromise version of the legislation, one-step licensing is almost certain to be carried through--and become law once the final bill is signed by President George Bush, which is expected later this year. The House's endorsement of nuclear power--both as it exists now, and as it could be with the introduction of new plant designs and an end to the long hiatus in plant orders by utilities--went beyond one-step licensing. Debate on the House floor prior to Memorial Day totally transformed the nuclear-related part of the energy bill. H.R. 776 was reported to the floor by the Rules Committee with language by the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee that would have created a nominal one-step system, with a full evidentiary hearing prior to plant construction but also allowing an intervenor who later presents new information on the plant to get another full evidentiary hearing after construction but before operation. This would effectively duplicate the two-step process that existed for all plants now in service, and which utilities no longer want to endure

A SYSTEMATIC SEARCH FOR PERIODICALLY VARYING QUASARS IN PAN-STARRS1: AN EXTENDED BASELINE TEST IN MEDIUM DEEP SURVEY FIELD MD09

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, T.; Gezari, S. [Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 (United States); Burgett, W. [GMTO Corp, 465 N. Halstead St, Suite 250, Pasadena, CA 91107 (United States); Chambers, K.; Hodapp, K.; Huber, M.; Kudritzki, R.-P.; Magnier, E.; Tonry, J.; Wainscoat, R.; Waters, C. [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States); Draper, P.; Metcalfe, N., E-mail: tingting@astro.umd.edu [Department of Physics, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom)

2016-12-10

We present a systematic search for periodically varying quasars and supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) candidates in the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) Medium Deep Survey’s MD09 field. From a color-selected sample of 670 quasars extracted from a multi-band deep-stack catalog of point sources, we locally select variable quasars and look for coherent periods with the Lomb–Scargle periodogram. Three candidates from our sample demonstrate strong variability for more than ∼3 cycles, and their PS1 light curves are well fitted to sinusoidal functions. We test the persistence of the candidates’ apparent periodic variations detected during the 4.2 years of the PS1 survey with archival photometric data from the SDSS Stripe 82 survey or new monitoring with the Large Monolithic Imager at the Discovery Channel Telescope. None of the three periodic candidates (including PSO J334.2028+1.4075) remain persistent over the extended baseline of 7–14 years, corresponding to a detection rate of <1 in 670 quasars in a search area of ≈5 deg{sup 2}. Even though SMBHBs should be a common product of the hierarchal growth of galaxies, and periodic variability in SMBHBs has been theoretically predicted, a systematic search for such signatures in a large optical survey is strongly limited by its temporal baseline and the “red noise” associated with normal quasar variability. We show that follow-up long-term monitoring (≳5 cycles) is crucial to our search for these systems.

19 CFR 24.34 - Vouchers; vendors' bills of sale; invoices.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... that the above bill is correct and just and that payment has not been received. Vouchers, vendors... employee, in which case the voucher may be in the name of the officer or employee who made the payment. (c... 19 Customs Duties 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Vouchers; vendors' bills of sale; invoices. 24.34...

Bill (declared urgency) asserting the national commitment for the environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

The bill asserting the French national commitment for the environment (also named 'Grenelle 2') is considered as the juridical tool-box of the French environmental policy. It confirms, strengthens, and concretizes the objectives defined by the Grenelle 1 law. The main dispositions of the bill concern the following domains: settlement and urbanism with the improvement of the energy efficiency, energy conservation and life-cycle of buildings; transports with the development of sustainable transportation systems; energy with the creation of regional climate, air and energy schemes with the aim of developing renewable energies (with some restrictions concerning wind power) and reducing CO 2 emissions; biodiversity with the creation of ecological pathways between protected areas for the migration of flora and fauna species; environment and waste management with the reinforcement of measures for the abatement of environmental pollutant effects. Among the numerous dispositions involving more than 20 codes (urbanism, environment, buildings etc..) one concerns the progressive implementation of a 'carbon price' index taking into account the greenhouse gas emission costs during the whole life cycle of a product, another one concerns the monitoring of indoor air quality in public buildings. This document is made of three parts. Part 1 is the exposition of the intentions of each article of the bill, part 2 is the bill itself and part 3 is the impact study of the bill in terms of economical, social and environmental impact. (J.S.)

Educational Quality Bill of Rights

Science.gov (United States)

Center for Law and Education (NJ3), 2009

2009-01-01

This paper presents two forms of the Educational Quality Bill of Rights (EQBR). The first is a "one-page version", with a very brief single sentence identification of a key element of quality education in response to each of the key questions about the school (covering standards/learning goals, curriculum, instruction, etc.). The second is a "much…

NEW DISCOVERIES FROM THE ARECIBO 327 MHz DRIFT PULSAR SURVEY RADIO TRANSIENT SEARCH

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deneva, J. S. [National Research Council, resident at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Stovall, K. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131 (United States); McLaughlin, M. A.; Bagchi, M.; Garver-Daniels, N. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506 (United States); Bates, S. D. [The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, 600113 (India); Freire, P. C. C.; Martinez, J. G. [Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn (Germany); Jenet, F. [Center for Advanced Radio Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at Brownsville, Brownsville, TX 78520 (United States)

2016-04-10

We present Clusterrank, a new algorithm for identifying dispersed astrophysical pulses. Such pulses are commonly detected from Galactic pulsars and rotating radio transients (RRATs), which are neutron stars with sporadic radio emission. More recently, isolated, highly dispersed pulses dubbed fast radio bursts (FRBs) have been identified as the potential signature of an extragalactic cataclysmic radio source distinct from pulsars and RRATs. Clusterrank helped us discover 14 pulsars and 8 RRATs in data from the Arecibo 327 MHz Drift Pulsar Survey (AO327). The new RRATs have DMs in the range 23.5–86.6 pc cm{sup −3} and periods in the range 0.172–3.901 s. The new pulsars have DMs in the range 23.6–133.3 pc cm{sup −3} and periods in the range 1.249–5.012 s, and include two nullers and a mode-switching object. We estimate an upper limit on the all-sky FRB rate of 10{sup 5} day{sup −1} for bursts with a width of 10 ms and flux density ≳83 mJy. The DMs of all new discoveries are consistent with a Galactic origin. In comparing statistics of the new RRATs with sources from the RRATalog, we find that both sets are drawn from the same period distribution. In contrast, we find that the period distribution of the new pulsars is different from the period distributions of canonical pulsars in the ATNF catalog or pulsars found in AO327 data by a periodicity search. This indicates that Clusterrank is a powerful complement to periodicity searches and uncovers a subset of the pulsar population that has so far been underrepresented in survey results and therefore in Galactic pulsar population models.

NEW DISCOVERIES FROM THE ARECIBO 327 MHz DRIFT PULSAR SURVEY RADIO TRANSIENT SEARCH

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deneva, J. S.; Stovall, K.; McLaughlin, M. A.; Bagchi, M.; Garver-Daniels, N.; Bates, S. D.; Freire, P. C. C.; Martinez, J. G.; Jenet, F.

2016-01-01

We present Clusterrank, a new algorithm for identifying dispersed astrophysical pulses. Such pulses are commonly detected from Galactic pulsars and rotating radio transients (RRATs), which are neutron stars with sporadic radio emission. More recently, isolated, highly dispersed pulses dubbed fast radio bursts (FRBs) have been identified as the potential signature of an extragalactic cataclysmic radio source distinct from pulsars and RRATs. Clusterrank helped us discover 14 pulsars and 8 RRATs in data from the Arecibo 327 MHz Drift Pulsar Survey (AO327). The new RRATs have DMs in the range 23.5–86.6 pc cm −3 and periods in the range 0.172–3.901 s. The new pulsars have DMs in the range 23.6–133.3 pc cm −3 and periods in the range 1.249–5.012 s, and include two nullers and a mode-switching object. We estimate an upper limit on the all-sky FRB rate of 10 5  day −1 for bursts with a width of 10 ms and flux density ≳83 mJy. The DMs of all new discoveries are consistent with a Galactic origin. In comparing statistics of the new RRATs with sources from the RRATalog, we find that both sets are drawn from the same period distribution. In contrast, we find that the period distribution of the new pulsars is different from the period distributions of canonical pulsars in the ATNF catalog or pulsars found in AO327 data by a periodicity search. This indicates that Clusterrank is a powerful complement to periodicity searches and uncovers a subset of the pulsar population that has so far been underrepresented in survey results and therefore in Galactic pulsar population models

Searching for Single Pulses Using Heimdall

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Gregory; Lynch, Ryan

2018-01-01

In radio pulsar surveys, the interstellar medium causes a frequency dependent dispersive delay of a pulsed signal across the observing band. If not corrected, this delay substantially lowers S/N and makes most pulses undetectable. The delay is proportional to an unknown dispersion measure (DM), which must be searched over with many trial values. A number of new, GPU-accelerated codes are now available to optimize this dedispersion task, and to search for transient pulsed radio emission. We report on the use of Heimdall, one such GPU-accelerated tree dedispersion utility, to search for transient radio sources in a Green Bank Telescope survey of the Cygnus Region and North Galactic Plane. The survey is carried out at central frequency of 820 MHz with a goal of finding Fast Radio Bursts, Rotating Radio Transients, young pulsars, and millisecond pulsars. We describe the the survey, data processing pipeline, and follow-up of candidate sources.

Endine FBI agent õpetab eestlasi allilma imbuma / Bill Moschella ; interv. Rasmus Kagge

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Moschella, Bill

2004-01-01

Ameerika Föderaalse Juurdlusbüroo (FBI) endine eriagent Bill Moschella hakkab treenima siinseid kriminaalpolitseinikke, õpetab, kuidas paremini tööd organiseerida ja kurjategijate paljastamiseks varioperatsioone korraldada. Lisa: Bill Moschella

41 CFR 102-118.45 - How does a transportation service provider (TSP) bill my agency for transportation and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... (b) Billing method (1)(i) Government issued agency charge card, (1) Bill from charge card company (may be electronic). (ii) Centrally billed travel account citation. (2)(i) Purchase order, (2) Bill from TSP (may be electronic). (ii) Bill of lading, (iii) Government Bill of Lading, (iv) Government...

Use of Web Search Engines and Personalisation in Information Searching for Educational Purposes

Science.gov (United States)

Salehi, Sara; Du, Jia Tina; Ashman, Helen

2018-01-01

Introduction: Students increasingly depend on Web search for educational purposes. This causes concerns among education providers as some evidence indicates that in higher education, the disadvantages of Web search and personalised information are not justified by the benefits. Method: One hundred and twenty university students were surveyed about…

Ending commercial surrogacy in India: significance of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016.

Science.gov (United States)

Timms, Olinda

2018-01-01

The introduction of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 into Parliament, in August 2016, was a much-awaited response to citizen voices and human rights groups calling for action in the unregulated area of commercial surrogacy arrangements. Both houses of Parliament have reviewed the Bill, and its fate was to be decided in the Winter Session of Parliament, 2017. It is still unclear whether the Bill will come up for decision in the Budget Session that will reconvene on March 5, 2018. The market for infertility treatments has attracted to India global clients seeking access to surrogates and procedures at lower costs. The Bill seeks to protect the rights of women and children at risk of exploitation and commodification as third parties in infertility treatments that use assisted reproductive technologies. Can commercial surrogacy be allowed in a country where injustice, inequalities, and poorly implemented laws place vulnerable women and children at risk? The proposed Bill could shut the door on commercial surrogacy arrangements in India and bring regulation into this sector of medical services.

A RADIO SEARCH FOR PULSAR COMPANIONS TO SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY LOW-MASS WHITE DWARFS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agueeros, Marcel A.; Camilo, Fernando; Silvestri, Nicole M.; Anderson, Scott F.; Kleinman, S. J.; Liebert, James W.

2009-01-01

We have conducted a search for pulsar companions to 15 low-mass white dwarfs (LMWDs; M sun ) at 820 MHz with the NRAO Green Bank Telescope (GBT). These LMWDs were spectroscopically identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and do not show the photometric excess or spectroscopic signature associated with a companion in their discovery data. However, LMWDs are believed to evolve in binary systems and to have either a more massive white dwarf (WD) or a neutron star (NS) as a companion. Indeed, evolutionary models of low-mass X-ray binaries, the precursors of millisecond pulsars (MSPs), produce significant numbers of LMWDs, suggesting that the SDSS LMWDs may have NS companions. No convincing pulsar signal is detected in our data. This is consistent with the findings of van Leeuwen et al., who conducted a GBT search for radio pulsations at 340 MHz from unseen companions to eight SDSS WDs (five are still considered LMWDs; the three others are now classified as 'ordinary' WDs). We discuss the constraints our nondetections place on the probability P MSP that the companion to a given LMWD is a radio pulsar in the context of the luminosity and acceleration limits of our search; we find that P MSP +4 -2 %.

Hospital billing for blood processing and transfusion for inpatient stays.

Science.gov (United States)

McCue, Michael J; Nayar, Preethy

2009-07-01

Medicare, an important payer for hospitals, reimburses hospitals for inpatient stays using Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs). Many private insurers also use the DRG methodology to reimburse hospitals for their services. Therefore, those blood service organizations that bill Medicare directly require an understanding of the DRG system of payment to enable them to bill Medicare correctly, and in order to be certain they are adequately reimbursed. Blood centers that do not bill Medicare directly need to understand how hospitals are reimbursed for blood and blood components as this affects a hospital's ability to pay service fees related to these products. This review presents a detailed explanation of how hospitals are reimbursed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for Medicare inpatient services, including blood services.

Towards an inter-domain billing system to support dynamic service provisioning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Le, V.M.

2009-01-01

Today, billing is a big challenge for service providers. With a growing number of rich services such as music, mobile TV, Video-on-Demand and eHealth delivered to the mass market, service providers are missing business opportunities because current billing solutions are not fully capable. In

41 CFR 102-118.65 - Can my agency receive electronic billing for payment of transportation services?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... electronic billing for payment of transportation services? 102-118.65 Section 102-118.65 Public Contracts and... Transportation Services § 102-118.65 Can my agency receive electronic billing for payment of transportation... to use electronic billing for the procurement and billing of transportation services. ...

The Status of Billing and Reimbursement in Pediatric Obesity Treatment Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Jane Simpson; Filigno, Stephanie Spear; Santos, Melissa; Ward, Wendy L.; Davis, Ann M.

2014-01-01

Pediatric psychologists provide behavioral health services to children and adolescents diagnosed with medical conditions. Billing and reimbursement have been problematic throughout the history of pediatric psychology, and pediatric obesity is no exception. The challenges and practices of pediatric psychologists working with obesity are not well understood. Health and behavior codes were developed as one potential solution to aid in the reimbursement of pediatric psychologists who treat the behavioral health needs of children with medical conditions. This commentary discusses the current state of billing and reimbursement in pediatric obesity treatment programs and presents themes that have emerged from discussions with colleagues. These themes include variability in billing practices from program to program, challenges with specific billing codes, variability in reimbursement from state to state and insurance plan to insurance plan, and a general lack of practitioner awareness of code issues or reimbursement rates. Implications and future directions are discussed in terms of research, training, and clinical service. PMID:23224661

The status of billing and reimbursement in pediatric obesity treatment programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Jane Simpson; Spear Filigno, Stephanie; Santos, Melissa; Ward, Wendy L; Davis, Ann M

2013-07-01

Pediatric psychologists provide behavioral health services to children and adolescents diagnosed with medical conditions. Billing and reimbursement have been problematic throughout the history of pediatric psychology, and pediatric obesity is no exception. The challenges and practices of pediatric psychologists working with obesity are not well understood. Health and behavior codes were developed as one potential solution to aid in the reimbursement of pediatric psychologists who treat the behavioral health needs of children with medical conditions. This commentary discusses the current state of billing and reimbursement in pediatric obesity treatment programs and presents themes that have emerged from discussions with colleagues. These themes include variability in billing practices from program to program, challenges with specific billing codes, variability in reimbursement from state to state and insurance plan to insurance plan, and a general lack of practitioner awareness of code issues or reimbursement rates. Implications and future directions are discussed in terms of research, training, and clinical service.

Searching for approval. Tax-exempt hospitals, systems may find some relief through FHLB letters of credit in last week's housing aid bill.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Melanie

2008-08-04

The bill to aid homeowners that Congress passed last week also offered a gift for tax-exempt healthcare borrowers. The law allows the Federal Home Loan Banks to back tax-exempt bonds with letters of credit, thus letting borrowers benefit from those banks' credit strength. But don't expect the floodgates to open. "Banks are preserving their capital for less risky endeavors," says Kelly Arduino, left, of Wipfli.

Organizational Contexts and Texts: The Redesign of the Midwest Bell Telephone Bill.

Science.gov (United States)

Keller-Cohen, Deborah

1987-01-01

Offers a retrospective view of organizational factors affecting the redesign of the Midwest Bell Telephone Bill. Shows how financial considerations, organizational time frame, and employee training and experience influenced the bill's development process. (MM)

A survey investigation of UK physiotherapists' use of online search engines for continuing professional development.

Science.gov (United States)

Harland, Nicholas; Drew, Benjamin T

2013-09-01

The purpose of this study was to discover the frequency and type of use of online resources for continuing professional development displayed by physiotherapists in the UK. Therapists' skills, needs and frustrations using these resources were explored. With the relatively recent release and saturated use of the internet the potential presence of a skills gap between therapists at different stages of their career was also investigated. National online survey study. The online survey was carried out using the international online service 'Survey Monkey'. 774 physiotherapists from students to band 8c completed the survey. The online survey was advertised through Frontline, the Interactive Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Journal of Physiotherapy Pain Association and cascade email through research and other networks. Most physiotherapists reported using the internet for professional purposes daily (40%) or 2 to 4 times a week (37%), with only 8% of respondents using it less than once a week. Overall the results suggest band 6 and 7 physiotherapists had the least skills and most frustrations when using online search engines. History and the nature of rapid technological advancement, specifically of the internet, appears to have created a generational skills gap within the largest group of the physiotherapy workforce band 6 and 7 therapists. Students, band 5 and band 8a therapists appear to most successfully use online resources and the reasons for this are explored. Copyright © 2012 Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bill Gates vil redde Folkeskolen

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fejerskov, Adam Moe

2014-01-01

Det amerikanske uddannelsessystem bliver for tiden udsat for hård kritik, ledt an af Microsoft stifteren Bill Gates. Gates har indtil videre brugt 3 mia. kroner på at skabe opbakning til tiltag som præstationslønning af lærere og strømlining af pensum på tværs af alle skoler i landet...

Comparing the results of recall surveys and standardized searches in understanding bird-window collisions at houses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Justine A. Kummer

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Every year a large number of birds die when they collide with windows. The actual number is difficult to ascertain. Previous attempts to estimate bird-window collision rates in Canada relied heavily on a prior citizen-science study that used memory-based surveys. Such an approach to data collection has many potential biases. We built upon this study and its recommendations for future research by creating a citizen-science program that actively searched for collision evidence at houses and apartments for an extended period with the objective to see how standardized approaches to data collection compared with memory recall. Absolute collision estimates as well as relative differences were compared between residence types in the two studies, and we found considerable differences in absolute values for collisions but similar rankings of collision rates between residence types. Collision recall rates in our study (56.5% were very similar those in the prior 2012 study, where 50.5% of participants remembered a bird colliding with a window at some time in the past. Fatality estimates, however, were 1.4 times higher in the 2012 study than in our study based on standardized searches. Rural houses with a bird feeder consistently had the highest number of collisions. This suggests that memory recall surveys may be a useful tool for understanding the relative importance of different risk factors causing bird-window collisions.

Timing of Clinical Billing Reimbursement for a Local Health Department.

Science.gov (United States)

McCullough, J Mac

2016-01-01

A major responsibility of a local health department (LHD) is to assure public health service availability throughout its jurisdiction. Many LHDs face expanded service needs and declining budgets, making billing for services an increasingly important strategy for sustaining public health service provision. Yet, little practice-based data exist to guide practitioners on what to expect financially, especially regarding timing of reimbursement receipt. This study provides results from one LHD on the lag from service delivery to reimbursement receipt. Reimbursement records for all transactions at Maricopa County Department of Public Health immunization clinics from January 2013 through June 2014 were compiled and analyzed to determine the duration between service and reimbursement. Outcomes included daily and cumulative revenues received. Time to reimbursement for Medicaid and private payers was also compared. Reimbursement for immunization services was received a median of 68 days after service. Payments were sometimes taken back by payers through credit transactions that occurred a median of 333 days from service. No differences in time to reimbursement between Medicaid and private payers were found. Billing represents an important financial opportunity for LHDs to continue to sustainably assure population health. Yet, the lag from service provision to reimbursement may complicate budgeting, especially in initial years of new billing activities. Special consideration may be necessary to establish flexibility in the budget-setting processes for services with clinical billing revenues, because funds for services delivered in one budget period may not be received in the same period. LHDs may also benefit from exploring strategies used by other delivery organizations to streamline billing processes.

47 CFR 76.985 - Subscriber bill itemization.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

...) The amount of the total bill assessed as a franchise fee and the identity of the franchising authority... fees and costs itemized pursuant to this section. (c) Local franchising authorities may adopt...

41 CFR 101-26.607 - Billings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 41 Public Contracts and Property Management 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Billings. 101-26.607 Section 101-26.607 Public Contracts and Property Management Federal Property Management Regulations System FEDERAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS SUPPLY AND PROCUREMENT 26-PROCUREMENT SOURCES AND PROGRAM 26.6...

Identifying western yellow-billed cuckoo breeding habitat with a dual modelling approach

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Matthew J.; Hatten, James R.; Holmes, Jennifer A.; Shafroth, Patrick B.

2017-01-01

The western population of the yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) was recently listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. Yellow-billed cuckoo conservation efforts require the identification of features and area requirements associated with high quality, riparian forest habitat at spatial scales that range from nest microhabitat to landscape, as well as lower-suitability areas that can be enhanced or restored. Spatially explicit models inform conservation efforts by increasing ecological understanding of a target species, especially at landscape scales. Previous yellow-billed cuckoo modelling efforts derived plant-community maps from aerial photography, an expensive and oftentimes inconsistent approach. Satellite models can remotely map vegetation features (e.g., vegetation density, heterogeneity in vegetation density or structure) across large areas with near perfect repeatability, but they usually cannot identify plant communities. We used aerial photos and satellite imagery, and a hierarchical spatial scale approach, to identify yellow-billed cuckoo breeding habitat along the Lower Colorado River and its tributaries. Aerial-photo and satellite models identified several key features associated with yellow-billed cuckoo breeding locations: (1) a 4.5 ha core area of dense cottonwood-willow vegetation, (2) a large native, heterogeneously dense forest (72 ha) around the core area, and (3) moderately rough topography. The odds of yellow-billed cuckoo occurrence decreased rapidly as the amount of tamarisk cover increased or when cottonwood-willow vegetation was limited. We achieved model accuracies of 75–80% in the project area the following year after updating the imagery and location data. The two model types had very similar probability maps, largely predicting the same areas as high quality habitat. While each model provided unique information, a dual-modelling approach provided a more complete picture of yellow-billed cuckoo habitat

Thoughts on the Roots and Evolution of the Bill of Rights.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Donald; And Others

1991-01-01

Considers how the Bill of Rights originated and has evolved. Reviews the political views of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison and the nature of their support for the Bill of Rights. Explains nineteenth-century classical liberalism and its revolutionary view that political power inhered in the individual rather than in property ownership. (CH)

34 CFR 674.48 - Use of contractors to perform billing and collection or other program activities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... all funds collected by its employees and contractors. (c) If an institution uses a billing service to carry out billing procedures under § 674.43, the institution shall ensure that the service— (1) Provides... paragraph (f) of this section. (e) If an institution uses a billing service to carry out § 674.43 (billing...

The bill project on energy transition: what will happen to renewable energies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darson, Alice

2015-01-01

The author comments and discusses the content of the French bill project on energy transition, and the controversies on this bill project within the French Parliament. She addresses the objectives of the bill project (share of renewable energies, case of overseas territories), the issue of building construction and renovation, the issue of transports (fleet size, electric vehicles, use of renewable energy), the development of renewable energies (notably for overseas territories, issue of mandatory purchase, issue of connection), the simplification and clarification of procedures, and the possibility for citizen, enterprises, territories and State to act together

Rising Billing for Intermediate Intensive Care among Hospitalized Medicare Beneficiaries between 1996 and 2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Sjoding, Michael W; Valley, Thomas S; Prescott, Hallie C; Wunsch, Hannah; Iwashyna, Theodore J; Cooke, Colin R

2016-01-15

Intermediate care (i.e., step-down or progressive care) is an alternative to the intensive care unit (ICU) for patients with moderate severity of illness. The adoption and current use of intermediate care is unknown. To characterize trends in intermediate care use among U.S. hospitals. We examined 135 million acute care hospitalizations among elderly individuals (≥65 yr) enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare (U.S. federal health insurance program) from 1996 to 2010. We identified patients receiving intermediate care as those with intensive care or coronary care room and board charges labeled intermediate ICU. In 1996, a total of 960 of the 3,425 hospitals providing critical care billed for intermediate care (28%), and this increased to 1,643 of 2,783 hospitals (59%) in 2010 (P billed for intermediate care, but billing steadily increased to 22.8% by 2010 (P billed for ICU care and ward-only care declined. Patients billed for intermediate care had more acute organ failures diagnoses codes compared with general ward patients (22.4% vs. 15.8%). When compared with patients billed for ICU care, those billed for intermediate care had fewer organ failures (22.4% vs. 43.4%), less mechanical ventilation (0.9% vs. 16.7%), lower mean Medicare spending ($8,514 vs. $18,150), and lower 30-day mortality (5.6% vs. 16.5%) (P billing increased markedly between 1996 and 2010. These findings highlight the need to better define the value, specific practices, and effective use of intermediate care for patients and hospitals.

Small High Schools at Work: A Case Study of Six Gates-Funded Schools in New York City. A Report to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Science.gov (United States)

Fancsali, Cheri; Jaffe-Walter, Reva; Mitchell-McKnight, Vernay; Nevarez, Nancy; Orellana, Eliana, Williams Rose, Lea

2010-01-01

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) conducted a case study of six public high schools in New York City as part of a multifaceted evaluation of a small schools initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Through surveys, interviews, and focus groups, the authors gathered information and opinions from the schools'…

First Red-billed Quelea breeding record in the winter rainfall region ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This note documents the first breeding of Red-billed Quelea in the winter rainfall region of South Africa. A colony of 350–600 nests was found, with evidence of recent breeding. Red-billed Quelea numbers were low in this region, but if numbers increase in the future in the Western Cape, winter crops could be under threat.

SU-A-210-01: Why Should We Learn Radiation Oncology Billing?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, H.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this student annual meeting is to address topics that are becoming more relevant to medical physicists, but are not frequently addressed, especially for students and trainees just entering the field. The talk is divided into two parts: medical billing and regulations. Hsinshun Wu – Why should we learn radiation oncology billing? Many medical physicists do not like to be involved with medical billing or coding during their career. They believe billing is not their responsibility and sometimes they even refuse to participate in the billing process if given the chance. This presentation will talk about a physicist’s long career and share his own experience that knowing medical billing is not only important and necessary for every young medical physicist, but that good billing knowledge could provide a valuable contribution to his/her medical physics development. Learning Objectives: The audience will learn the basic definition of Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes performed in a Radiation Oncology Department. Understand the differences between hospital coding and physician-based or freestanding coding. Apply proper CPT coding for each Radiation Oncology procedure. Each procedure with its specific CPT code will be discussed in detail. The talk will focus on the process of care and use of actual workflow to understand each CPT code. Example coding of a typical Radiation Oncology procedure. Special procedure coding such as brachytherapy, proton therapy, radiosurgery, and SBRT. Maryann Abogunde – Medical physics opportunities at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) The NRC’s responsibilities include the regulation of medical uses of byproduct (radioactive) materials and oversight of medical use end-users (licensees) through a combination of regulatory requirements, licensing, safety oversight including inspection and enforcement, operational experience evaluation, and regulatory support activities. This presentation will explore the

SU-A-210-01: Why Should We Learn Radiation Oncology Billing?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, H. [Willis-Knighton Medical Center (United States)

2015-06-15

The purpose of this student annual meeting is to address topics that are becoming more relevant to medical physicists, but are not frequently addressed, especially for students and trainees just entering the field. The talk is divided into two parts: medical billing and regulations. Hsinshun Wu – Why should we learn radiation oncology billing? Many medical physicists do not like to be involved with medical billing or coding during their career. They believe billing is not their responsibility and sometimes they even refuse to participate in the billing process if given the chance. This presentation will talk about a physicist’s long career and share his own experience that knowing medical billing is not only important and necessary for every young medical physicist, but that good billing knowledge could provide a valuable contribution to his/her medical physics development. Learning Objectives: The audience will learn the basic definition of Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes performed in a Radiation Oncology Department. Understand the differences between hospital coding and physician-based or freestanding coding. Apply proper CPT coding for each Radiation Oncology procedure. Each procedure with its specific CPT code will be discussed in detail. The talk will focus on the process of care and use of actual workflow to understand each CPT code. Example coding of a typical Radiation Oncology procedure. Special procedure coding such as brachytherapy, proton therapy, radiosurgery, and SBRT. Maryann Abogunde – Medical physics opportunities at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) The NRC’s responsibilities include the regulation of medical uses of byproduct (radioactive) materials and oversight of medical use end-users (licensees) through a combination of regulatory requirements, licensing, safety oversight including inspection and enforcement, operational experience evaluation, and regulatory support activities. This presentation will explore the

A critical analysis of the End of Life Choice Bill 2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Richmond, David E

2014-07-04

This paper aims to alert medical practitioners to the legal and ethical problems that passage of the End of Life Choice Bill (which seeks to legalise euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide) would have for them in New Zealand. Although sponsor MP Maryan Street withdrew the Bill on political grounds in October 2013, she has pledged to reintroduce the Bill after the next Parliamentary elections and remains committed to its objectives. A clause by clause analysis of the Bill was undertaken from a clinical perspective, following the sequence of requesting, validating, providing and reporting episodes of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide rather than following the administrative sequence in which the Bill has been drawn up for Parliamentary debate. Where possible, the experience of other jurisdictions where these end of life options are legal has been drawn upon to enable inferences to be drawn as to the likely effects of the legislation. The analysis supporting this paper reveals that the legislation would: make it possible for virtually any person over the age of 18 to request and receive euthanasia provided they took care in the way they phrased the request, expose medical practitioners who attempted to deter applicants too vigorously to the possibility of legal action on the grounds of attempting to frustrate the applicant's wishes, compromise the ability of practitioners to opt out on conscience grounds, allow the easy circumvention of reporting requirements for each event, provide minimal protection against some people suffering euthanasia without consent or request, and exempt medical practitioners providing euthanasia services from prosecution for any action in the provision of such services, even if they were negligent. The branch of medical practice that specialises in killing people would be the least regulated of all. If passed into legislation, the End of Life Choice Bill will create the most momentous changes to clinical practice and the regulation

Dynamic Salience with Intermittent Billing: Evidence from Smart Electricity Meters

OpenAIRE

Ben Gilbert; Joshua S. Graff Zivin

2013-01-01

Digital tracking and the proliferation of automated payments have made intermittent billing more commonplace, and the frequency at which consumers receive price, quantity, or total expenditure signals may distort their choices. This category of goods has expanded from household utilities, toll road access and software downloads to standard consumption goods paid by credit card or other "bill-me-later"-type systems. Yet we know surprisingly little about how these payment patterns affect decisi...

The Partnership Bill 2003: unnecessary tinkering or much-needed reform?

OpenAIRE

Berry, E

2005-01-01

Purpose - To examine the nature and merits of the proposed changes to partnership law contained in the draft Partnership Bill published in the Law Commission's Partnership Law Report (2003). Design/methodology/approach - Sets out how the proposed Bill differs from the current law of partnership (contained in the Partnership Act 1890 and the Limited Partnerships Act 1907), looking at the definition of 'partnership', the introduction of separate legal personality, the provisions governing partn...

42 CFR 405.515 - Reimbursement for clinical laboratory services billed by physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 2 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Reimbursement for clinical laboratory services... Criteria for Determining Reasonable Charges § 405.515 Reimbursement for clinical laboratory services billed... limitation on reimbursement for markups on clinical laboratory services billed by physicians. If a physician...

2004 energy bill of the France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

This document analyzes the energy bill in France (28,35 milliards of euros), which increased of 24,1 % in 2004. This increase is due to the net imports and especially the fossil fuels. Statistical data and the presentation of Patrick Devedjian, delegated ministry for the Industry, illustrate this economic analysis. (A.L.B.)

The effectiveness of search dogs compared with humans in searching difficult terrain at turbine sites for bat fatalities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mathews, Fiona

2011-07-01

Full text: Many wind farms in the UK and elsewhere in northern Europe are situated in habitat with dense tall vegetation such as arable fields and upland heaths. This makes surveying for bat fatalities extremely difficult. To facilitate a multi-centre study of the effects of wind turbines on British bats, we have therefore conducted controlled trials of the relative success of trained search dogs and ecologists in retrieving bat carcasses. Although dogs have been used previously in ecological surveys for bats, this is the first time they have been specifically trained for use in 'difficult to survey' habitats. Two ecologists and two Labrador dogs with handlers were each given the opportunity to retrieve up to 45 bat carcasses in a range of habitat types. Their efficiency in terms of overall search time, costs, and retrieval abilities were evaluated. Our results indicate that high rates of retrieval can be achieved by dogs, even in dense vegetation up to 75cm high. Further, a typical 100m2 search area can be surveyed in less than half the time taken by humans. The limitations of using search dogs, and their ability to detect the presence of bats that have been scavenged are also presented (presentation supported with video footage). (Author)

2013 - Life is a Cosmic Phenomenon : The "Search for Water" evolves into the "Search for Life"

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, William E.

2013-03-01

We propose that the 2013 data from the Kepler Mission (giving a current estimate of the number of earth-like planets in the habitable zone of sun-like stars as 144 billion), has caused a consciousness change in human belief in the probability of life off earth. This seems to have affected NASA's public statements which are now leaning to the more visionary mission goal of the "Search for Life" rather than the 1975-2012 focus of the "Search for Water". We propose that the first confirmed earth-like planet, expected to be announced later this year, be called "BORUCKI" in honour of the visionary USA scientist Bill Borucki, the father of the Kepler Mission. We explore the 2013 status of the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe Model of Panspermia, its hypothesis, propositions, experiments and evidence. We use the Karl Popper model for scientific hypotheses (1). Finally we explore Sir Fred Hoyle's vision of a planetary microbe defense system we call the Hoyle Shield. We explore the subsystem components of the shield and assess some options for these components using break-though technologies already available.

Semantic Search of Web Services

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Ke

2013-01-01

This dissertation addresses semantic search of Web services using natural language processing. We first survey various existing approaches, focusing on the fact that the expensive costs of current semantic annotation frameworks result in limited use of semantic search for large scale applications. We then propose a vector space model based service…

Impact of Rate Design Alternatives on Residential Solar Customer Bills. Increased Fixed Charges, Minimum Bills and Demand-based Rates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bird, Lori [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Davidson, Carolyn [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); McLaren, Joyce [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Miller, John [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2015-09-01

With rapid growth in energy efficiency and distributed generation, electric utilities are anticipating stagnant or decreasing electricity sales, particularly in the residential sector. Utilities are increasingly considering alternative rates structures that are designed to recover fixed costs from residential solar photovoltaic (PV) customers with low net electricity consumption. Proposed structures have included fixed charge increases, minimum bills, and increasingly, demand rates - for net metered customers and all customers. This study examines the electricity bill implications of various residential rate alternatives for multiple locations within the United States. For the locations analyzed, the results suggest that residential PV customers offset, on average, between 60% and 99% of their annual load. However, roughly 65% of a typical customer's electricity demand is non-coincidental with PV generation, so the typical PV customer is generally highly reliant on the grid for pooling services.

Sequentially and alternatively developed heights for two representative bench marks: near Palmdale, California and along the Bill Williams River, Arizona

Science.gov (United States)

Gilmore, Thomas D.; Elliot, Michael R.

1985-01-01

This report consists chiefly of 41 tables that both describe and fully document the reconstructions of a series of alternately developed heights based on levelings leading into two representative bench marks in the southwestern United States. One of these marks, 3219, Vincent, California (fig. 1), lies within the area of the Pacific-North American plate boundary; the other, 22Q, Bill Williams River, Arizona (fig. 1), falls within what is believed to be a singularly stable section of southwestern Arizona. Because the levelings that produced these heights were characterized by especially disparate routes with respect to both terrain and climate, the resulting heights provide a test for the existence and magnitude of path-dependent error in geodetic leveling. These two marks were chosen both because of their relative stability with respect to adjacent marks and because their tectonic stability (or instability) can be inferred from the geologic record. Specifically, we can reasonably speculate that 3219 may have sustained measurably significant tectonic displacements during the 20th century, whereas 22Q probably has remained virtually invariant with respect to any fixed datum during the same period. Bench mark 3219 is a standard Geological Survey iron post stamped "3219" near the Southern Pacific Railroad station at Vincent (U.S. Geological Survey, 1898, p. 392); 22Q is a brass cap stamped "22Q (MWD)" set in a concrete post located in a gully immediately north of the Bill Williams River, Arizona (USC&GS Quad. 34114). 3219 was established by the Geological Survey no later than 1897 (Gannett and Baldwin, 1907, p. 365); 22Q was established by the Metropolitan Water District of southern California in advance of the 1931 control surveys along the projected route of the Colorado River Aqueduct.

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Lens Search. IV. Statistical Lens Sample from the Fifth Data Release

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Inada, Naohisa; /Wako, RIKEN /Tokyo U., ICEPP; Oguri, Masamune; /Natl. Astron. Observ. of Japan /Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; Shin, Min-Su; /Michigan U. /Princeton U. Observ.; Kayo, Issha; /Tokyo U., ICRR; Strauss, Michael A.; /Princeton U. Observ.; Hennawi, Joseph F.; /UC, Berkeley /Heidelberg, Max Planck Inst. Astron.; Morokuma, Tomoki; /Natl. Astron. Observ. of Japan; Becker, Robert H.; /LLNL, Livermore /UC, Davis; White, Richard L.; /Baltimore, Space Telescope Sci.; Kochanek, Christopher S.; /Ohio State U.; Gregg, Michael D.; /LLNL, Livermore /UC, Davis /Exeter U.

2010-05-01

We present the second report of our systematic search for strongly lensed quasars from the data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). From extensive follow-up observations of 136 candidate objects, we find 36 lenses in the full sample of 77,429 spectroscopically confirmed quasars in the SDSS Data Release 5. We then define a complete sample of 19 lenses, including 11 from our previous search in the SDSS Data Release 3, from the sample of 36,287 quasars with i < 19.1 in the redshift range 0.6 < z < 2.2, where we require the lenses to have image separations of 1 < {theta} < 20 and i-band magnitude differences between the two images smaller than 1.25 mag. Among the 19 lensed quasars, 3 have quadruple-image configurations, while the remaining 16 show double images. This lens sample constrains the cosmological constant to be {Omega}{sub {Lambda}} = 0.84{sub -0.08}{sup +0.06}(stat.){sub -0.07}{sup + 0.09}(syst.) assuming a flat universe, which is in good agreement with other cosmological observations. We also report the discoveries of 7 binary quasars with separations ranging from 1.1 to 16.6, which are identified in the course of our lens survey. This study concludes the construction of our statistical lens sample in the full SDSS-I data set.

Nr 150 - Private bill introducing a progressive energy tariff

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brottes, Francois; Le Roux, Bruno

2012-01-01

This document presents a private bill which, by introducing a progressive energy tariff, aims at speeding up energy transition (by inciting households to reduce their consumption, notably by insulating their housing), and at addressing the ineluctable issue of energy price increase. This private bill notably applies a bonus-malus concept by defining an energy consumption threshold which is to be determined by means of several parameters related to climate, housing occupancy, heating mode. This raises several issues concerning for example housing insulation of rented housing. All these aspects lead to a rather complex process to define and implement such a progressive pricing approach

SYSTEMATIC SEARCH FOR EXTREMELY METAL-POOR GALAXIES IN THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morales-Luis, A. B.; Sanchez Almeida, J.; Aguerri, J. A. L.; Munoz-Tunon, C., E-mail: abml@iac.es, E-mail: jos@iac.es, E-mail: cmt@iac.es, E-mail: jalfonso@iac.es [Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain)

2011-12-10

We carry out a systematic search for extremely metal-poor (XMP) galaxies in the spectroscopic sample of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data release 7 (DR7). The XMP candidates are found by classifying all the galaxies according to the form of their spectra in a region 80 A wide around H{alpha}. Due to the data size, the method requires an automatic classification algorithm. We use k-means. Our systematic search renders 32 galaxies having negligible [N II] lines, as expected in XMP galaxy spectra. Twenty-one of them have been previously identified as XMP galaxies in the literature-the remaining 11 are new. This was established after a thorough bibliographic search that yielded only some 130 galaxies known to have an oxygen metallicity 10 times smaller than the Sun (explicitly, with 12 + log (O/H) {<=} 7.65). XMP galaxies are rare; they represent 0.01% of the galaxies with emission lines in SDSS/DR7. Although the final metallicity estimate of all candidates remains pending, strong-line empirical calibrations indicate a metallicity about one-tenth solar, with the oxygen metallicity of the 21 known targets being 12 + log (O/H) {approx_equal} 7.61 {+-} 0.19. Since the SDSS catalog is limited in apparent magnitude, we have been able to estimate the volume number density of XMP galaxies in the local universe, which turns out to be (1.32 {+-} 0.23) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -4} Mpc{sup -3}. The XMP galaxies constitute 0.1% of the galaxies in the local volume, or {approx}0.2% considering only emission-line galaxies. All but four of our candidates are blue compact dwarf galaxies, and 24 of them have either cometary shape or are formed by chained knots.

47 CFR 64.1510 - Billing and collection of pay-per-call and similar service charges.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Pay-Per-Call and Other Information Services § 64.1510 Billing and collection of pay-per-call and... pay-per-call services and offering billing and collection services to such provider shall: (1) Ensure... 47 Telecommunication 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Billing and collection of pay-per-call and...

基于互联网票据理财谈商业银行票据资管%Commercial Bank's Bill Asset Management Based on Internet Bill Financing

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

艾瑶

2015-01-01

本文运用比较分析的方法对当前主要的互联网票据理财平台的运作模式归纳总结,并以阿里招财宝为例详细分析银行角色和风险,最后从票据电子化、发挥银行票源优势、组建银行系票据理财平台等方面提出建议,以期对商业银行的票据资产管理业务提供启发.%In this paper, we use the method of comparative analysis to summarize the operation mode of the main Internet bills financing platforms, and analyze the role and risk of the bank in detail by taking Ali trick treasure as an example. Finally, the paper puts forward suggestions on Commercial bank's bill asset management from the aspects of the electronic bills, the bank's ticket source and the formation of Bank bill financing platform.

A Lifetime of Geodesy and Geophysics: In Rememberence of Bill Kaula

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, David E.

2000-01-01

In the early 1960's the secrets that knowledge of the Earth's gravity field would eventually reveal about the processes that govern our planet were yet to be appreciated. It was the beginning of a new science known as space geodesy, which arose at a time when most efforts were devoted to understanding how to extract precise measurements of Earth structure and motions from an orbiting spacecraft. Bill Kaula was central to that beginning and showed the way for many who were to follow, both in time and in the development of approaches most likely to yield results. Bill laid out the theory, analyzed the data, and argued strenuously for a spacecraft mission devoted to measuring gravity to make it all come true in the way he knew it really could. That mission, GRACE, was a long time coming and Bill would not see its final staging, but his influence in making it happen was everywhere. With time, the concepts for measuring the static gravity field of the Earth and terrestrial planets became well advanced, although not universally agreed upon, and certainly not by Bill, who was always eager to argue and challenge traditional methods and thinking. The extension of space geodetic techniques to the planets and the development of new techniques to measure time variations in gravity have recently brought geodesy even closer to the geophysical processes that Bill sought to understand. This presentation will contain a little geodesy, a little history, and a little reminiscing about the leader in our field.

What Drives Bird Vision? Bill Control and Predator Detection Overshadow Flight

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Graham R. Martin

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Although flight is regarded as a key behavior of birds this review argues that the perceptual demands for its control are met within constraints set by the perceptual demands of two other key tasks: the control of bill (or feet position, and the detection of food items/predators. Control of bill position, or of the feet when used in foraging, and timing of their arrival at a target, are based upon information derived from the optic flow-field in the binocular region that encompasses the bill. Flow-fields use information extracted from close to the bird using vision of relatively low spatial resolution. The detection of food items and predators is based upon information detected at a greater distance and depends upon regions in the retina with relatively high spatial resolution. The tasks of detecting predators and of placing the bill (or feet accurately, make contradictory demands upon vision and these have resulted in trade-offs in the form of visual fields and in the topography of retinal regions in which spatial resolution is enhanced, indicated by foveas, areas, and high ganglion cell densities. The informational function of binocular vision in birds does not lie in binocularity per se (i.e., two eyes receiving slightly different information simultaneously about the same objects but in the contralateral projection of the visual field of each eye. This ensures that each eye receives information from a symmetrically expanding optic flow-field centered close to the direction of the bill, and from this the crucial information of direction of travel and time-to-contact can be extracted, almost instantaneously. Interspecific comparisons of visual fields between closely related species have shown that small differences in foraging techniques can give rise to different perceptual challenges and these have resulted in differences in visual fields even within the same genus. This suggests that vision is subject to continuing and relatively rapid

Plümtoonia Bill - nagu orkester / Tiit Tuumalu

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Tuumalu, Tiit, 1971-

2008-01-01

19.-23. nov. toimuvast animafilmide festivalist "Animated Dreams". Pikemalt USA tuntuimast sõltumatust animaatorist Bill Plymtonist, kes näitab festivalil oma täispikka joonisfilmi "Idioodid ja inglid" ("Idiots and Angels")

Job shop scheduling by local search

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vaessens, R.J.M.; Aarts, E.H.L.; Lenstra, J.K.

1994-01-01

We survey solution methods for the job shop scheduling problem with an emphasis on local search. We discuss both cleterministic and randomized local search methods as well as the applied neighborhoods. We compare the computational performance of the various methods in terms of their effectiveness

Teaching Billing and Coding to Medical Students: A Pilot Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiaxin Tran

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Complex billing practices cost the US healthcare system billions of dollars annually. Coding for outpatient office visits [known as Evaluation & Management (E&M services] is commonly particularly fraught with errors. The best way to insure proper billing and coding by practicing physicians is to teach this as part of the medical school curriculum. Here, in a pilot study, we show that medical students can learn well the basic principles from lectures. This approach is easy to implement into a medical school curriculum.

Aplikasi Billing Client/Server Dengan Mengunakan Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0

OpenAIRE

Sinukaban, Eva Solida

2010-01-01

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk membangun Billing Server yang gratis dalam jaringan Local dengan media transmisi berupa kabel UTP atau Wifi, Jaringan LAN yang dibangun ini merupakan jaringan client server yang memiliki server dengan sistem operasi yang dipakai adalah windows XP Service Pack 2. Tujuan pembuatan Aplikasi Billing Server ini adalah untuk dapat melakukan sharing data dan komunikasi antar komputer sehingga komputer-komputer tersebut dapat dimanfaatkan seoptimal mungkin baik dari sisi Se...

Impact of Alternative Rate Structures on Distributed Solar Customer Electricity Bills

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McLaren, Joyce A [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2018-03-02

Electric utilities are increasingly proposing changes to residential rate structures, in order to address concerns about their inability to recover fixed system costs from customers with grid connected distributed generation. The most common proposals have been to increase fixed charges, set minimum bills or instigate residential demand charges. This presentation provides results of an analysis to explore how these rate design alternatives impact electricity bills for PV and non-PV customers.

Bill Gates køber sig til positive historier om udviklingsbistanden

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fejerskov, Adam Moe

2014-01-01

Flere store og velansete medier får penge af Bill Gates' fond for at at bringe positive historier om udviklingsbistanden. Men det medfører en risiko for at journalistikken bliver ukritisk og overfladisk......Flere store og velansete medier får penge af Bill Gates' fond for at at bringe positive historier om udviklingsbistanden. Men det medfører en risiko for at journalistikken bliver ukritisk og overfladisk...

A Barking Dog That Never Bites? The British Sign Language (Scotland) Bill

Science.gov (United States)

De Meulder, Maartje

2015-01-01

This article describes and analyses the pathway to the British Sign Language (Scotland) Bill and the strategies used to reach it. Data collection has been done by means of interviews with key players, analysis of official documents, and participant observation. The article discusses the bill in relation to the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005…

Utility bill comprehension in the commercial and industrialsector: results of field research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Payne, Christopher T.

2000-06-02

This paper presents the results of interviews conducted with 44 business people in 10 states to examine the use of the utility bill as an information mechanism for providing businesses with the relationship between energy consumption and cost. Our results indicate that there are significant barriers to the use of the utility bill as an information tool for energy consumers. Furthermore, we found significant variations among respondents in the information desired from the bill, and differences in decision-making criteria for investments aimed at reducing energy consumption and for those aimed at other forms of waste minimization. These results call into question the applicability of standard market theories in the purchase of energy by most businesses.

Typical electric bills, January 1, 1981

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-01-01

The Typical Electric Bills report is prepared by the Electric Power Division; Office of Coal, Nuclear, Electric and Alternate Fuels; Energy Information Administration; Department of Energy. The publication is geared to a variety of applications by electric utilities, industry, consumes, educational institutions, and government in recognition of the growing importance of energy planning in contemporary society. 19 figs., 18 tabs

THE UGANDA COPYRIGHT AND NEIGHBOURING RIGHTS BILL ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper discusses the concept and philosophy of copyright. It also discusses copyright infringement with special reference to ICT. Furthermore, the paper examines international provisions related to copyright and reviews the Copyright Law Model. The paper also identifies gaps in the Uganda Copyright Bill, 2002 and ...

Teen smoking cessation help via the Internet: a survey of search engines.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Christine C; Elliott, Sean P; Conway, Terry L; Woodruff, Susan I

2003-07-01

The objective of this study was to assess Web sites related to teen smoking cessation on the Internet. Seven Internet search engines were searched using the keywords teen quit smoking. The top 20 hits from each search engine were reviewed and categorized. The keywords teen quit smoking produced between 35 and 400,000 hits depending on the search engine. Of 140 potential hits, 62% were active, unique sites; 85% were listed by only one search engine; and 40% focused on cessation. Findings suggest that legitimate on-line smoking cessation help for teens is constrained by search engine choice and the amount of time teens spend looking through potential sites. Resource listings should be updated regularly. Smoking cessation Web sites need to be picked up on multiple search engine searches. Further evaluation of smoking cessation Web sites need to be conducted to identify the most effective help for teens.

Searching for Extragalactic Sources in the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Baravalle, Laura D.; Alonso, M. Victoria; Nilo Castellón, José Luis; Beamín, Juan Carlos; Minniti, Dante

2018-01-01

We search for extragalactic sources in the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea survey that are hidden by the Galaxy. Herein, we describe our photometric procedure to find and characterize extragalactic objects using a combination of SExtractor and PSFEx. It was applied in two tiles of the survey: d010 and d115, without previous extragalactic IR detections, in order to obtain photometric parameters of the detected sources. The adopted criteria to define extragalactic candidates include CLASSSTAR 0.002 and the colors: 0.5 0.44 mag. We detected 345 and 185 extragalactic candidates in the d010 and d115 tiles, respectively. All of them were visually inspected and confirmed to be galaxies. In general, they are small and more circular objects, due to the near-IR sensitivity to select more compact objects with higher surface brightness. The procedure will be used to identify extragalactic objects in other tiles of the VVV disk, which will allow us to study the distribution of galaxies and filaments hidden by the Milky Way.

A Critical Discussion of "The Ethical Presuppositions behind the Library Bill of Rights."

Science.gov (United States)

Doyle, Tony

2002-01-01

Discussion of the Library Bill of Rights focuses on paternalism and the dangers of Internet filtering, in response to a previous article that advocated revision of the Bill of Rights. Topics include ethical presuppositions; censorship; philosophical foundations; access; social contract theory; and utilitarianism. (LRW)

THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY QUASAR LENS SEARCH. V. FINAL CATALOG FROM THE SEVENTH DATA RELEASE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inada, Naohisa; Oguri, Masamune; Kayo, Issha; Fukugita, Masataka; Shin, Min-Su; Strauss, Michael A.; Bahcall, Neta A.; Morokuma, Tomoki; Rusu, Cristian E.; Kochanek, Christopher S.; Richards, Gordon T.; Schneider, Donald P.; York, Donald G.; Frieman, Joshua A.; Hall, Patrick B.; White, Richard L.

2012-01-01

We present the final statistical sample of lensed quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar Lens Search (SQLS). The well-defined statistical lens sample consists of 26 lensed quasars brighter than i = 19.1 and in the redshift range of 0.6 < z < 2.2 selected from 50,826 spectroscopically confirmed quasars in the SDSS Data Release 7 (DR7), where we restrict the image separation range to 1'' < θ < 20'' and the i-band magnitude differences in two images to be smaller than 1.25 mag. The SDSS DR7 quasar catalog also contains 36 additional lenses identified with various techniques. In addition to these lensed quasars, we have identified 81 pairs of quasars from follow-up spectroscopy, 26 of which are physically associated binary quasars. The statistical lens sample covers a wide range of image separations, redshifts, and magnitudes, and therefore is suitable for systematic studies of cosmological parameters and surveys of the structure and evolution of galaxies and quasars.

A bill for the renaissance of nuclear power in Italy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2009-01-01

Today Italy is the only G8 member to have no nuclear power plants in operation. In 1987 as a consequence of a referendum Italy decided to shut down its nuclear power plants and to forbid the construction of new ones. Italy relies on oil and gas imports for 80% of its energy needs. The Italian parliament has recently passed a bill for a renaissance of nuclear power. The bill gives 6 months to the government to set the rules and conditions for the come-back of nuclear energy. (A.C.)

Utilization of genetic tests: analysis of gene-specific billing in Medicare claims data.

Science.gov (United States)

Lynch, Julie A; Berse, Brygida; Dotson, W David; Khoury, Muin J; Coomer, Nicole; Kautter, John

2017-08-01

We examined the utilization of precision medicine tests among Medicare beneficiaries through analysis of gene-specific tier 1 and 2 billing codes developed by the American Medical Association in 2012. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study. The primary source of data was 2013 Medicare 100% fee-for-service claims. We identified claims billed for each laboratory test, the number of patients tested, expenditures, and the diagnostic codes indicated for testing. We analyzed variations in testing by patient demographics and region of the country. Pharmacogenetic tests were billed most frequently, accounting for 48% of the expenditures for new codes. The most common indications for testing were breast cancer, long-term use of medications, and disorders of lipid metabolism. There was underutilization of guideline-recommended tumor mutation tests (e.g., epidermal growth factor receptor) and substantial overutilization of a test discouraged by guidelines (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase). Methodology-based tier 2 codes represented 15% of all claims billed with the new codes. The highest rate of testing per beneficiary was in Mississippi and the lowest rate was in Alaska. Gene-specific billing codes significantly improved our ability to conduct population-level research of precision medicine. Analysis of these data in conjunction with clinical records should be conducted to validate findings.Genet Med advance online publication 26 January 2017.

Grantee Spotlight: Bill Nelson, M.D., Ph.D.

Science.gov (United States)

Dr. William (Bill) Nelson is playing an integral role in advancing our understanding of cancer health disparities and helping to foster the interests of young students from underrepresented backgrounds in cancer/cancer health disparities research.

Search strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Oliver, B. M.

Attention is given to the approaches which would provide the greatest chance of success in attempts related to the discovery of extraterrestrial advanced cultures in the Galaxy, taking into account the principle of least energy expenditure. The energetics of interstellar contact are explored, giving attention to the use of manned spacecraft, automatic probes, and beacons. The least expensive approach to a search for other civilizations involves a listening program which attempts to detect signals emitted by such civilizations. The optimum part of the spectrum for the considered search is found to be in the range from 1 to 2 GHz. Antenna and transmission formulas are discussed along with the employment of matched gates and filters, the probable characteristics of the signals to be detected, the filter-signal mismatch loss, surveys of the radio sky, the conduction of targeted searches.

Risk bearing and use of fee-for-service billing among accountable care organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Muhlestein, David B; Croshaw, Andrew A; Merrill, Thomas P

2013-07-01

To determine the willingness of accountable care organizations (ACOs) to bear financial risk for the healthcare they provide. Structured interviews conducted between January and June 2012 with 57 ACOs led by hospitals and physician groups located throughout the United States. Findings are based on the 38 ACOs that were actively providing care under an ACO payment arrangement at the time of the interview. Among these ACOs, 71% cover a portion of their ACO population with contracts that put the ACOs at some financial risk, while 45% have risk-based contracts for their entire ACO population. Payments based on fee-for-service (FFS) billing still dominate, as 92% of ACOs use FFS-based billing for at least a portion of their ACO population and 71% are fully reimbursed using FFS-based billing. Under the auspices of an ACO, providers are accepting some financial risk for their accountable care patient population. There is still strong reliance on FFS-based billing methods as providers experiment with different payment models.

Improving the Emergency Department's Processes of Coding and Billing at Brooke Army Medical Center

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Lehning, Peter

2003-01-01

.... Beginning in October 2002, outpatient itemized billing was mandated for use in the AMEDD. This system shifted the process of billing for outpatient services from an allinclusive rate to one based on the actual care provided...

Mitochondria-targeted molecules determine the redness of the zebra finch bill.

Science.gov (United States)

Cantarero, Alejandro; Alonso-Alvarez, Carlos

2017-10-01

The evolution and production mechanisms of red carotenoid-based ornaments in animals are poorly understood. Recently, it has been suggested that enzymes transforming yellow carotenoids to red pigments (ketolases) in animal cells may be positioned in the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) intimately linked to the electron transport chain. These enzymes may mostly synthesize coenzyme Q 10 (coQ 10 ), a key redox-cycler antioxidant molecularly similar to yellow carotenoids. It has been hypothesized that this shared pathway favours the evolution of red traits as sexually selected individual quality indices by revealing a well-adjusted oxidative metabolism. We administered mitochondria-targeted molecules to male zebra finches ( Taeniopygia guttata ) measuring their bill redness, a trait produced by transforming yellow carotenoids. One molecule included coQ 10 (mitoquinone mesylate, MitoQ) and the other one (decyl-triphenylphosphonium; dTPP) has the same structure without the coQ 10 aromatic ring. At the highest dose, the bill colour of MitoQ and dTPP birds strongly differed: MitoQ birds' bills were redder and dTPP birds showed paler bills even compared to birds injected with saline only. These results suggest that ketolases are indeed placed at the IMM and that coQ 10 antioxidant properties may improve their efficiency. The implications for evolutionary theories of sexual signalling are discussed. © 2017 The Author(s).

2013; life is a cosmic phenomenon: the search for water evolves into the search for life

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, William E.

2013-09-01

The 2013 data from the Kepler Mission gives a current estimate of the number of Earth-like planets in the habitable zone of sun-like stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, as 144 billion. We propose that this estimate has caused a consciousness change in human belief in the probability of life off Earth. This seems to have affected NASA's public statements which are now leaning to the more visionary mission goal of the "Search for Life" rather than the 1975-2012 focus of the "Search for Water". We propose that the first confirmed Earth-like planet, expected to be announced later this year, be called "BORUCKI" in honour of the visionary USA scientist Bill Borucki, the father of the Kepler Mission. We explore the 2013 status of the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe Model of Panspermia, its hypothesis, propositions, experiments and evidence. We use the Karl Popper model for scientific hypotheses (1). Finally we explore Sir Fred Hoyle's vision of a planetary microbe defense system we call the Hoyle Shield. We explore the subsystem components of the shield and assess some options for these components using break-though technologies already available.

Billing for pharmacists' cognitive services in physicians' offices: multiple methods of reimbursement.

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Mollie Ashe; Hitch, William J; Wilson, Courtenay Gilmore; Lugo, Amy M

2012-01-01

To evaluate the charges and reimbursement for pharmacist services using multiple methods of billing and determine the number of patients that must be managed by a pharmacist to cover the cost of salary and fringe benefits. Large teaching ambulatory clinic in North Carolina. Annual charges and reimbursement, patient no-show rate, clinic capacity, number of patients seen monthly and annually, and number of patients that must be seen to pay for a pharmacist's salary and benefits. A total of 6,930 patient encounters were documented during the study period. Four different clinics were managed by the pharmacists, including anticoagulation, pharmacotherapy, osteoporosis, and wellness clinics. "Incident to" level 1 billing was used for the anticoagulation and pharmacotherapy clinics, whereas level 4 codes were used for the osteoporosis clinic. The wellness clinic utilized a negotiated fee-for-service model. Mean annual charges were $65,022, and the mean reimbursement rate was 47%. The mean charge and collection per encounter were $41 and $19, respectively. Eleven encounters per day were necessary to generate enough charges to pay for the cost of the pharmacist. Considering actual reimbursement rates, the number of patient encounters necessary increased to 24 per day. "What if" sensitivity analysis indicated that billing at the level of service provided instead of level 1 decreased the number of patients needed to be seen daily. Billing a level 4 visit necessitated that five patients would need to be seen daily to generate adequate charges. Taking into account the 47% reimbursement rate, 10 level 4 encounters per day were necessary to generate appropriate reimbursement to pay for the pharmacist. Unique opportunities for pharmacists to provide direct patient care in the ambulatory setting continue to develop. Use of a combination of billing methods resulted in sustainable reimbursement. The ability to bill at the level of service provided instead of a level 1 visit would

INTERACTION OF SEARCH CAPABILITIES OF ELECTRONIC AND TRADITIONAL (CARD CATALOGS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Л. В. Головко

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Interaction of search capabilities of electronic and traditional (card catalogs. Subject: search capabilities of electronic and traditional (card catalogs and their interaction. Goal: Creating efficient search system for library information services, updating and improving the information retrieval system. To reach this goal, following tasks are set: – to determine the possibility of parallel functioning of electronic and traditional card catalogs, and to reveal the interaction of their search capabilities by conducting a survey via questionnaire titled «Interaction of search capabilities of electronic and traditional (card catalogs»; – to find out which search systems are preferred by users; – to estimate the actual condition of search capabilities of electronic and traditional (card catalogs in the library. Methodology. On various stages of the survey the following methods were used: analysis and synthesis, comparison, generalization, primary sources search; sociological method (survey. These methods allowed determining, processing and ana lyzing the whole complex of available sources, which became an important factor of research objectivity. Finding. Survey results allowed us to analyze the dynamics of changes, new needs of the readers, and to make a decision regarding the quality improvement of information search services. Practical value. Creating a theoretical foundation for implementation of set tasks is the practical value of the acquired findings. Conclusions and results of the research can be used in university students’, postgraduates’ and professors’ information search activities. Certain results of the research are used and implemented in practice of the library of Kryvyi Rih State Pedagogical University, namely at workshops on the basics of information culture (using bibliographic reference unit, information search by key words, authors and titles via electronic catalogue. Guides for users were created. Duty

Principles of the Energy Conservation Bill

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeman, J.

1995-01-01

The paper describes 21 principles of the draft Energy Conservation Bill. The principles lay down fundamental responsibilities of the government, the municipalities, business entities, citizens and power plants in the field of economical energy management. Included are principles to minimize energy consumption and to stimulate a reasonable energy management, the role of the energy distribution network, responsibilities of the central load dispatching center, and power plant output regulation schemes. (J.B.)

Bill Gates : Miljardärist nohik / Martin Hanson

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Hanson, Martin, 1984-

2008-01-01

Bill Gates loobub Microsofti juhi kohast ning jätkab vaid nõustajana. Vt. samas: Elulugu; Tasub teada; Miljardär, kes hoiab oma eraelu kiivalt saladuses. Kommenteerivad Microsoft Eesti esinduse juht Rain Laane ja IBM Eesti juht Valdo Randpere

Promoting employee acceptance of a consumer bill of rights in a complex medical care organization: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mullen, P D; Leifer, B H

1982-01-01

To develop strong health education programs, health educators working in complex medical care organizations must often secure professional cooperation across disciplines, coordination of services, and orientation of policies, procedures, and personnel toward patient preferences and needs. Frequently, they undertake these tasks against the tide, within a problematic organizational structure. The present case study illustrates the difficulties posed by introducing change in medical care organizations in the context of an education program to acquaint employees of a large HMO with a consumer bill of rights mandated by the consumer Board of Trustees. The underlying assumption was that in a bureaucratic institution, an employee-centered and modest system reform strategy would be effective in bringing about client-centered outcomes-in this case, increased recognition of client rights. The case analysis and results of a post-intervention, cross-sectional survey suggest that in units where a threshold level of participation was reached, there were improvements in knowledge about the Bill and employee attitudes. The program was less successful with hospital nurses whose feelings about physicians were not taken into account fully, and with physicians whose relative lack of integration into the policy and managerial domains made them harder to reach.

Fatigue level estimation of monetary bills based on frequency band acoustic signals with feature selection by supervised SOM

Science.gov (United States)

Teranishi, Masaru; Omatu, Sigeru; Kosaka, Toshihisa

Fatigued monetary bills adversely affect the daily operation of automated teller machines (ATMs). In order to make the classification of fatigued bills more efficient, the development of an automatic fatigued monetary bill classification method is desirable. We propose a new method by which to estimate the fatigue level of monetary bills from the feature-selected frequency band acoustic energy pattern of banking machines. By using a supervised self-organizing map (SOM), we effectively estimate the fatigue level using only the feature-selected frequency band acoustic energy pattern. Furthermore, the feature-selected frequency band acoustic energy pattern improves the estimation accuracy of the fatigue level of monetary bills by adding frequency domain information to the acoustic energy pattern. The experimental results with real monetary bill samples reveal the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Highlights of Bill C-14, the proposed new Nuclear Control Act

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1978-01-01

If the bill is passed, the name of the regulatory body will be changed from the Atomic Energy Control Board to the Nuclear Control Board. It is intended to make the board more independent and removed from any involvement in the promotional and commercial aspects of the nuclear industry. The board will no longer answer to the same minister as AECL. Licensing applications will generally be published, except proprietary information. Public hearings will be a compulsory part of licensing major facilities. Various provisions of the bill are explained section by section. ''Prescribed substances'' under the act will definitely include all radionuclides and deuterium. A fund for decontamination will be endowed by licensees. The board will be able to make regulations for obsolete or abandoned sites, or for waste disposal sites. The part of the bill which deals with the responsibility of the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources for A.E.C.L. generally remains unchanged from the previous act

PS2-56: Building the Virtual Data Warehouse Using Data from a Healthcare Billing System

Science.gov (United States)

Krajenta, Rick; Lamerato, Lois; Wells, Karen

2012-01-01

Background Healthcare utilization data, specifically diagnoses and procedures, can be processed through different administrative systems. Billing data are generated by the care provider while claims data are generated by the payer. These two sources can represent the data content differently and incorporating the data from these systems into the VDW has presented a unique set of challenges. We present options for reconciling these two data sources to create a VDW that includes all patients including those outside of the HMO member realm. Methods Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) captures patients, care providers, procedures, diagnoses and medical supply information through a proprietary system. Outpatient billing information is entered by clinic staff using an optical scanning device and clinic-specific forms. Other additional procedures and/or supplies are entered into the system using a transaction capture application. Ancillary services such as imaging and pathology are imported into the billing system from their proprietary information systems. The main function of this system is to generate bills for services performed. The data elements are standardized to contain required justification for reimbursement from all payer types. Standard codes sets, ICD9, HCPCS and CPT4, are required. The data can also be used to evaluate workload and staffing levels, project future needs and characterize trends in service demands. HFHS uses this data source to build VDW files. Results Major differences between claims and billing data exist. Claims data are based on health plan contract with bundled procedures, coverage exclusions and deductibles affecting content. Billing data are based solely on services provided. The potential for overwhelming amounts of data in billing sources is possible due to the level of detail; however, this same level of detail is a rich source for specific care components that would not otherwise be present in claims records. Conclusion Billing data are

The taxation of the petroleum products in the appropriation bill for 2001 and the correcting appropriation bill for 2000

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-01-01

This document provides information on the petroleum products taxation in the framework of the appropriation bills. The following aspects are presented : the utilization of fuels more respectful of the environment, the taxation lightening measures, measures in favor of the transportation sector, the juridical references and elements for the economic situation. (A.L.B.)

Sharing China's Bank Restructuring Bill

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Guonan Ma

2006-01-01

This paper addresses the questions related to the cost of China's bank restructuring and how it has been financed. We first propose a framework for recognizing losses. Then, we examine the recent major moves by the Chinese Government to repair the country's bank balance sheets. Finally, we explore the implications of the Chinese Government's methods of funding bank restructuring. We find that the Chinese Government has been decisive in confronting the costly task of bank restructuring. So far, Chinese taxpayers have paid most of the bill for bank restructuring.

78 FR 69878 - AT&T Corporation, a Subsidiary of AT&T Inc., Business Billing Customer Care, Pittsburgh...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-21

... Subsidiary of AT&T Inc., Business Billing Customer Care, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Notice of Affirmative... workers and former workers of AT&T Corporation, a subsidiary of AT&T Inc., Business Billing Customer Care... supplied by Business Billing Customer Care to other locations within the United States. With respect to...

76 FR 59265 - Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-26

... [CMS-1351-CN] RIN 0938-AQ29 Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for... rule entitled ``Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled... Payment System (PPS) final rule (76 FR 48486, 48540) inadvertently included several technical errors in...

48 CFR 801.670-1 - Issuing bills of lading.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... with only micro-purchase authority may not issue bills of lading or otherwise procure transportation... for goods only shall comply with the Education, Experience, and Training requirements, if any, in Part...

an assessment of billing electricity consumers via analogue meters

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DR. AMINU

Keywords: Electricity Distribution, Consumers, Analogue Meter, Billing, Nigeria. INTRODUCTION. Electricity ... the energy usage of a typical electricity consumer in one month is several ..... improve on distribution network. In addition it should.

Evolution of sexual dimorphism in bill size and shape of hermit hummingbirds (Phaethornithinae): a role for ecological causation.

Science.gov (United States)

Temeles, Ethan J; Miller, Jill S; Rifkin, Joanna L

2010-04-12

Unambiguous examples of ecological causation of sexual dimorphism are rare, and the best evidence involves sexual differences in trophic morphology. We show that moderate female-biased sexual dimorphism in bill curvature is the ancestral condition in hermit hummingbirds (Phaethornithinae), and that it is greatly amplified in species such as Glaucis hirsutus and Phaethornis guy, where bills of females are 60 per cent more curved than bills of males. In contrast, bill curvature dimorphism is lost or reduced in a lineage of short-billed hermit species and in specialist Eutoxeres sicklebill hermits. In the hermits, males tend to be larger than females in the majority of species, although size dimorphism is typically small. Consistent with earlier studies of hummingbird feeding performance, both raw regressions of traits and phylogenetic independent contrasts supported the prediction that dimorphism in bill curvature of hermits is associated with longer bills. Some evidence indicates that differences between sexes of hermit hummingbirds are associated with differences in the use of food plants. We suggest that some hermit hummingbirds provide model organisms for studies of ecological causation of sexual dimorphism because their sexual dimorphism in bill curvature provides a diagnostic clue for the food plants that need to be monitored for studies of sexual differences in resource use.

The impact of a standardized consultation form for facial trauma on billing and evaluation and management levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Levesque, Andre Y; Tauber, David M; Lee, Johnson C; Rodriguez-Feliz, Jose R; Chao, Jerome D

2014-02-01

Facial trauma is among the most frequent consultations encountered by plastic surgeons. Unfortunately, the reimbursement from these consultations can be low, and qualified plastic surgeons may exclude facial trauma from their practice. An audit of our records found insufficient documentation to justify higher evaluation and management (EM) levels of service resulting in lower reimbursement. Utilizing a standardized consultation form can improve documentation resulting in higher billing and EM levels. A facial trauma consultation form was developed in conjunction with the billing department. Three plastic surgery residents completed 30 consultations without the aid of the consult form followed by 30 consultations with the aid of the form. The EM levels and billing data for each consultation were obtained from the billing department for analysis. The 2 groups were compared using χ2 analysis and t tests to determine statistical significance. Using our standardized consultation form, the mean EM level increased from 2.97 to 3.60 (P = 0.002). In addition, the mean billed amount increased from $391 to $501 per consult (P = 0.051) representing a 28% increase in billing. In our institution, the development and implementation of a facial trauma consultation form has resulted in more complete documentation and a subsequent increase in EM level and billed services.

26 CFR 301.6312-1 - Treasury certificates of indebtedness, Treasury notes, and Treasury bills acceptable in payment...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... certificates, notes, or bills, according to the express terms of their issue, are made acceptable in payment of... at the value specified in the terms under which such certificates, notes, or bills were issued. All... or stamps, as specified in the terms under which such certificate, note, or bill was issued, shall...

Bill concerning the national commitment for the environment (final text)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

The French house of commons has adopted this bill which allows to adapt the French legislation to the new requirements defined by the program law relative to the implementation of the French road-mad in favor of ecology and sustainable development ('Grenelle de l'environnement'). The bill covers 6 main domains: settlement and urbanism, transports, energy, biodiversity, environment and waste management, and governance and information. Its aim is to encourage the development of renewable energy sources, to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions, and to protect the environment thanks to new legal and technical means at the disposal of actors with practical experience, in particular the local authorities. (J.S.)

Capturing the Dimensions of Effective Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Kane, Thomas J.

2012-01-01

In the largest study of instructional practice ever undertaken, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project is searching for tools to save the world from perfunctory teacher evaluations. The first report (released in December 2010) described the potential usefulness of student surveys for providing…

Homophobia as a barrier to comprehensive media coverage of the Ugandan anti-homosexual bill.

Science.gov (United States)

Strand, Cecilia

2012-01-01

The Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill of October 2009 caused an international outcry and sparked intense debate in the local media. This article explores to what degree a discriminatory social environment manifests itself in the Ugandan print media and discusses the potential implications for media's coverage of contentious policy options such as the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. A content analysis of 115 items from two daily newspapers (the government-owned New Vision and the privately owned the Daily Monitor, between October and December 2009) indicates the existence of two separate house styles; this is in spite of the fact that both newspapers reproduce the surrounding society's homophobia, albeit with different frequency. Unlike the New Vision, the Daily Monitor includes coverage on homophobia and discrimination, as well as provides space for criticism of the Bill. By acknowledging discrimination and its negative impact, the newspaper de-legitimizes homophobia and problematizes the proposed Anti-homosexuality Bill for their readers.

Development and tuning of an original search engine for patent libraries in medicinal chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Pasche, Emilie; Gobeill, Julien; Kreim, Olivier; Oezdemir-Zaech, Fatma; Vachon, Therese; Lovis, Christian; Ruch, Patrick

2014-01-01

The large increase in the size of patent collections has led to the need of efficient search strategies. But the development of advanced text-mining applications dedicated to patents of the biomedical field remains rare, in particular to address the needs of the pharmaceutical & biotech industry, which intensively uses patent libraries for competitive intelligence and drug development. We describe here the development of an advanced retrieval engine to search information in patent collections in the field of medicinal chemistry. We investigate and combine different strategies and evaluate their respective impact on the performance of the search engine applied to various search tasks, which covers the putatively most frequent search behaviours of intellectual property officers in medical chemistry: 1) a prior art search task; 2) a technical survey task; and 3) a variant of the technical survey task, sometimes called known-item search task, where a single patent is targeted. The optimal tuning of our engine resulted in a top-precision of 6.76% for the prior art search task, 23.28% for the technical survey task and 46.02% for the variant of the technical survey task. We observed that co-citation boosting was an appropriate strategy to improve prior art search tasks, while IPC classification of queries was improving retrieval effectiveness for technical survey tasks. Surprisingly, the use of the full body of the patent was always detrimental for search effectiveness. It was also observed that normalizing biomedical entities using curated dictionaries had simply no impact on the search tasks we evaluate. The search engine was finally implemented as a web-application within Novartis Pharma. The application is briefly described in the report. We have presented the development of a search engine dedicated to patent search, based on state of the art methods applied to patent corpora. We have shown that a proper tuning of the system to adapt to the various search tasks

an assessment of billing electricity consumers via analogue meters

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DR. AMINU

ABSTRACT. This paper assesses the perception of billing consumers via analogue meter in Kano Electricity ... the successor companies of Power Holding Company ... Nassarawa computer center was established in 1991. .... The value 7.2 is.

42 CFR 1001.1701 - Billing for services of assistant at surgery during cataract operations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Billing for services of assistant at surgery during..., DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES OIG AUTHORITIES PROGRAM INTEGRITY-MEDICARE AND STATE HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS Permissive Exclusions § 1001.1701 Billing for services of assistant at surgery during cataract...

31 CFR 206.3 - Billing policy and procedures.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Billing policy and procedures. 206.3 Section 206.3 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance (Continued) FISCAL SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SERVICE MANAGEMENT OF FEDERAL AGENCY RECEIPTS...

Wild mallards have more "goose-like" bills than their ancestors: a case of anthropogenic influence?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pär Söderquist

Full Text Available Wild populations of the world's most common dabbling duck, the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos, run the risk of genetic introgression by farmed conspecifics released for hunting purposes. We tested whether bill morphology of free-living birds has changed since large-scale releases of farmed mallards started. Three groups of mallards from Sweden, Norway and Finland were compared: historical wild (before large-scale releases started, present-day wild, and present-day farmed. Higher density of bill lamellae was observed in historical wild mallards (only males. Farmed mallards had wider bills than present-day and historical wild ones. Present-day wild and farmed mallards also had higher and shorter bills than historical wild mallards. Present-day mallards thus tend to have more "goose-like" bills (wider, higher, and shorter than their ancestors. Our study suggests that surviving released mallards affect morphological traits in wild population by introgression. We discuss how such anthropogenic impact may lead to a maladapted and genetically compromised wild mallard population. Our study system has bearing on other taxa where large-scale releases of conspecifics with 'alien genes' may cause a cryptic invasive process that nevertheless has fitness consequences for individual birds.

Preparation of the House Bill 3624 report : final report.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-01

Senate Bill 1080 (2008 Special Session) tightened documentation and identity verification requirements for the issuance, replacement and renewal of Oregon driver licenses, driver permits and identification cards. The law was signed by the Governor on...

Energy bill of the municipal utilities at Heerlen: part of the customers' information system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poell, W A.G.

1980-11-01

A new invoice form now being sent to customers of the combined municipal utilities in Heerlen, Netherlands, provides customers with information that will encourage them to conserve energy. Changes in the invoice involve the utilities' internal operating procedure as well as the annual energy bill and the monthly installment invoice. To make the customer energy-conscious and aware of the effect of conservation measures, the bill states for purposes of comparison the annual consumption of the preceding period. The gas-consumption-related figures appearing on the bill have been modified to account for the calorific value and the ambient temperature in the corresponding period.

The devil we know: the implications of bill C-38 for assisted human reproduction in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Cattapan, Alana; Cohen, Sara R

2013-07-01

In June 2012, the Canadian House of Commons passed the so-called omnibus budget bill, making several important changes to the governance of assisted reproduction in Canada. The bill (Bill C-38) was widely criticized for its unwieldy size and rapid passage through Parliament, preventing adequate parliamentary debate and public scrutiny. Given the substantive nature of the amendments to the Assisted Human Reproduction Act made by Bill C-38, and the lack of relevant discussion about these changes both before and following its passage, this commentary is intended to identify how Bill C-38 may alter the governance of reproductive technologies in Canada. In this commentary, we address some of the more significant changes made by Bill C-38 to the regulation of reproductive medicine in Canada. We identify the benefits and challenges of closing Assisted Human Reproduction Canada, noting that doing so eliminates a much-needed forum for stakeholder consultation in this field. Further, we explore the implications of moving the regulation of donor semen from the Food and Drugs Act to the Assisted Human Reproduction Act; these include increased liability for physicians, and opportunities to expand the existing regulations to account for the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer Canadians using donor gametes and recent advances in reproductive technologies. Overall, we argue that although the implementation of a policy framework in this field remains highly dependent on yet-to-be written regulations, the changes to the Assisted Human Reproduction Act enabled by Bill C-38 may significantly alter how Canadians interact with reproductive technologies.

Turning whine into wine: the fiscal impact of comprehensive documentation and billing for nonoperative pediatric surgical services.

Science.gov (United States)

Gollin, Gerald; Moores, Donald

2006-06-01

Some pediatric surgeons rarely document nonoperative services, believing that the reimbursement provided for such care is negligible. We evaluated the impact of comprehensive documentation and billing for nonoperative, pediatric surgical care. All bills submitted for inpatient, nonoperative care for 1 year were reviewed. Total receipts for documented admissions, consultations, critical care, and daily care were determined. The Evaluation and Management code billed for each service was recorded, and the total and average payments attributable to each Evaluation and Management code were calculated. Fifty-six percent of services were covered by Medicaid and 26% by a commercial insurer. There were 607 billed admission history and physical exams for which reimbursement totaled 43,493 dollars. Critical care services were provided to 49 patients and yielded 8964 dollars in payments. Six hundred thirty-nine inpatient consultations were performed with a reimbursement of 42,830 dollars. Daily care services were billed 1044 times and produced 71,579 dollars in payments. Overall reimbursement for documented, nonoperative services was 166,866 dollars. This represented 16.2% of total, noncontracted income for the practice. Despite a payer mix heavily weighted toward Medicaid, comprehensive documentation and billing for nonoperative services increased total, noncontracted reimbursement by almost 20% over what it would have been had only operative services been billed. The yield from properly documented, nonoperative care can be substantial.

Coding and Billing in Surgical Education: A Systems-Based Practice Education Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghaderi, Kimeya F; Schmidt, Scott T; Drolet, Brian C

Despite increased emphasis on systems-based practice through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education core competencies, few studies have examined what surgical residents know about coding and billing. We sought to create and measure the effectiveness of a multifaceted approach to improving resident knowledge and performance of documenting and coding outpatient encounters. We identified knowledge gaps and barriers to documentation and coding in the outpatient setting. We implemented a series of educational and workflow interventions with a group of 12 residents in a surgical clinic at a tertiary care center. To measure the effect of this program, we compared billing codes for 1 year before intervention (FY2012) to prospectively collected data from the postintervention period (FY2013). All related documentation and coding were verified by study-blinded auditors. Interventions took place at the outpatient surgical clinic at Rhode Island Hospital, a tertiary-care center. A cohort of 12 plastic surgery residents ranging from postgraduate year 2 through postgraduate year 6 participated in the interventional sequence. A total of 1285 patient encounters in the preintervention group were compared with 1170 encounters in the postintervention group. Using evaluation and management codes (E&M) as a measure of documentation and coding, we demonstrated a significant and durable increase in billing with supporting clinical documentation after the intervention. For established patient visits, the monthly average E&M code level increased from 2.14 to 3.05 (p coding and billing of outpatient clinic encounters. Using externally audited coding data, we demonstrate significantly increased rates of higher complexity E&M coding in a stable patient population based on improved documentation and billing awareness by the residents. Copyright © 2017 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

42 CFR 414.50 - Physician or other supplier billing for diagnostic tests performed or interpreted by a physician...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... HEALTH SERVICES Physicians and Other Practitioners § 414.50 Physician or other supplier billing for... services through such billing physician or other supplier. The “substantially all” requirement will be satisfied if, at the time the billing physician or other supplier submits a claim for a service furnished by...

Transmission policy in Alberta and Bill 50

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Church, J.; Rosehart, W.; MacCormack, J.

2009-01-01

Plans developed by the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) have determined that Alberta's electrical transmission system needs to be expanded. However, there are complex issues that must be considered in order to assess the nature and extent of the needed expansion. Various new amendments to the system were proposed in the Alberta government's Bill 50, including the construction of new transmission lines; the installation of a double circuit 500 kV alternating current line between Edmonton and the Gibbons-Redwater region; the construction of a new 240 kV substation in southeast Calgary; and the installation of 2 single circuit 500 kV alternating current lines between Edmonton and Fort McMurray. This study provided a review of the institutional framework instituted by the government's transmission policy and compared the costs and benefits of 2 large capacity high voltage DC (HVDC) transmission lines proposed for the Edmonton-Calgary corridor relative to the various other transmission system amendment suggestions. An evaluation of Alberta's proposed regulatory process under Bill 50 was also conducted. Results of the study indicated that the addition of the HVDC lines is an inefficient response to concerns over adequate supply and reliability. 72 refs., 18 tabs.

Evolution of bill size in relation to body size in toucans and hornbills (Aves: Piciformes and Bucerotiformes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Austin L. Hughes

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Evidence that the bill of the Toco Toucan, Ramphastos toco Statius Muller, 1776, has a specialized role in heat dissipation suggests a new function for the large and light-weight bill of the toucan family (Piciformes: Ramphastidae. A prediction of this hypothesis is that bill length in toucans will increase with body mass at a rate greater than the isometric expectation. This hypothesis was tested in a phylogenetic context with measurements of skeletal elements in adult males of 21 toucan species. In these species, 64.3% of variance in relative skeletal measurements was accounted for by the contrast between bill and body size. Maxilla length and depth increased with body mass at a greater than isometric rate relative to both body mass and other linear skeletal measures. By contrast, no such trend was seen in a parallel analysis of 24 hornbill species (Bucerotiformes, sometimes considered ecological equivalents of toucans. The unique relationship between bill size and body mass in toucans supports the hypothesis that the evolution of a heat dissipation function has been a persistent theme of bill evolution in toucans.

A concise evaluation and management curriculum for physicians in training improved billing at an outpatient academic rheumatology clinic.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirsh, Joel M; Collier, David H; Boyle, Dennis J; Gardner, Edward M

2010-04-01

To study whether providing house staff with a brief lecture and handout about proper documentation could improve billing at an academic rheumatology clinic. The authors created an educational sheet about documentation and billing after a review of the common documentation omissions responsible for down coding (Appendix, Supplemental Digital Content 1, available at: http://links.lww.com/RHU/A8). Beginning in November of 2006, the house staff were provided with this sheet and a brief lecture regarding how outpatient evaluation and management levels of service are coded. The results of clinic billing from January 1, 2006 to October 31, 2006 and November 1, 2006 to August 31, 2007 were obtained from the physician billing office. The authors compared the average level of service, by appointment type, in the prepost comparison periods using the student t test. There was a significant improvement in the level of service billed for new visits (P < 0.001), consults (P < 0.001), and return visits (P < 0.001) after November 1, 2006. The percentage of patients evaluated for the first time who were billed as consults improved from 15% to 78% (P < 0.001 by chi2). These changes resulted in $34,342 of additional billing during the postintervention period. A simple strategy for educating the house staff about proper documentation of the history, physical examination, and clinical decision making resulted in a significant improvement in an academic rheumatology division's outpatient billing.

HEALTH INFO Information from the CHISBoard and Personnel Division: ABOUT BILLS FROM HOPITAL DE LA TOUR

CERN Multimedia

1999-01-01

The tariff agreement signed by CERN (and other international organisations) with Hôpital de La Tour specifies that all bills paid within 30 days of the date of the invoice will enjoy a discount, to be deducted by the payer. The bills are labelled with a message to this effect.Physicians' fees, personal expenses as well as services from outside providers (e.g. ambulance companies or external laboratories) are however not part of the discount agreement. Bills for hospitalisation (i.e. with a stay in hospital longer than 28h) are normally directly paid by AUSTRIA, acting as a third-party payer.In May this year, Hôpital de La Tour introduced a new (Y2K compliant) accounting and invoicing system. This implementation did not go as smoothly as planned and delayed the issuing of bills by two months. During the summer period, a special team of temporary staff was put in place to catch up on the delay. As a result of this, some bills were produced that contained errors and the sticky label mentionin...

78 FR 52824 - Proposed Information Collection (Bowel and Bladder Care Billing Form) Activity: Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-26

... and Bladder Care Billing Form) Activity: Comment Request AGENCY: Veterans Health Administration.... This notice solicits comments on the information needed to evaluate the Bowel and Bladder Care Billing Form used by caregivers of eligible Veterans to document time spent providing services related...

Effects of the 2013 Psychiatric Current Procedural Terminology Codes Revision on Psychotherapy in Psychiatric Billing.

Science.gov (United States)

Mark, Tami L; Olesiuk, William J; Sherman, Laura J; Ali, Mir M; Mutter, Ryan; Teich, Judith L

2017-11-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the changes to the psychiatric Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes implemented in 2013 were associated with changes in types of services for which psychiatrists billed. Analyses were conducted using paid private insurance claims from a large commercial database. The participant cohort comprised psychiatrists with at least one psychiatry visit reported in the database in each calendar year studied: 2012 (N of visits=778,445), 2013 (N=748,317), and 2014 (N=754,760). The percentage of visits in which psychiatrists billed for psychotherapy declined from 51.4% in 2012 to 42.1% in 2014. The decline held after the analyses adjusted for patient characteristics, plan type, and region. The update to CPT codes resulted in a decrease in visits for which psychiatrists billed for psychotherapy. Further research should explore whether the change in billing corresponds to changes in service delivery.

Commentary Proposed Termination of Pregnancy Bill in Malawi ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Induced abortion has been a universal phenomenon in the history of humanity. The first recorded evidence was found in an Egyptian papyrus from 1550 BC. The debate on the proposed Termination of Pregnancy Bill is mired in misconception. Many, including the Christian doctors' group, make the assumption that the ...

A SEARCH FOR OXYGEN IN THE LOW-DENSITY Lyα FOREST USING THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pieri, Matthew M.; Frank, Stephan; Mathur, Smita; Weinberg, David H.; York, Donald G.; Oppenheimer, Benjamin D.

2010-01-01

We use 2167 Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasar spectra to search for low-density oxygen in the intergalactic medium (IGM). Oxygen absorption is detected on a pixel-by-pixel basis by its correlation with Lyα forest absorption. We have developed a novel locally calibrated pixel (LCP) search method that uses adjacent regions of the spectrum to calibrate interlopers and spectral artifacts, which would otherwise limit the measurement of O VI absorption. Despite the challenges presented by searching for weak O VI within the Lyα forest in spectra of moderate resolution and signal-to-noise, we find a highly significant detection of absorption by oxygen at 2.7 2 = 80 for nine data points). We interpret our results using synthetic spectra generated from a log-normal density field assuming a mixed quasar-galaxy photoionizing background and that it dominates the ionization fraction of detected O VI. The LCP search data can be fit by a constant metallicity model with [O/H] = -2.15 +0.07 -0.09 but also by models in which low-density regions are unenriched and higher density regions have a higher metallicity. The density-dependent enrichment model by Aguirre et al. is also an acceptable fit. All our successful models have similar mass-weighted oxygen abundance, corresponding to [(O/H) MW ] = -2.45 ± 0.06. This result can be used to find the cosmic oxygen density in the Lyα forest, Ω Oxy,IGM = 1.4(±0.2) x 10 -6 ∼ 3 x 10 -4 Ω b . This is the tightest constraint on the mass-weighted mean oxygen abundance and the cosmic oxygen density in the Lyα forest to date and indicates that it contains ∼16% of the total expected metal production by star formation up to z = 3.

Polyphase-discrete Fourier transform spectrum analysis for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence sky survey

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerman, G. A.; Gulkis, S.

1991-01-01

The sensitivity of a matched filter-detection system to a finite-duration continuous wave (CW) tone is compared with the sensitivities of a windowed discrete Fourier transform (DFT) system and an ideal bandpass filter-bank system. These comparisons are made in the context of the NASA Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) microwave observing project (MOP) sky survey. A review of the theory of polyphase-DFT filter banks and its relationship to the well-known windowed-DFT process is presented. The polyphase-DFT system approximates the ideal bandpass filter bank by using as few as eight filter taps per polyphase branch. An improvement in sensitivity of approx. 3 dB over a windowed-DFT system can be obtained by using the polyphase-DFT approach. Sidelobe rejection of the polyphase-DFT system is vastly superior to the windowed-DFT system, thereby improving its performance in the presence of radio frequency interference (RFI).

Report on the bill project on a new electricity market organisation in France (n. 2451)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

This document reports the works of the Economic Affairs Commission of the French National Assembly on a bill project dealing with a new organisation of the electricity market. It reports the hearings of the Energy regulation commission Chairman and of the EDF Chairman, the general discussion of the Commission, and the discussion on the different bill articles. These articles are dealing with the access of electricity providers to the electricity produced by EDF, capacities required for electricity providers, power reservation contracts, and other regulatory aspects. A table compares the present situation, the content of the bill project, and the Commission's propositions

Analysis of operating model of electronic invoice colombian Colombian electronic billing analysis of the operational model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sérgio Roberto da Silva

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Colombia has been one of the first countries to introduce electronic billing process on a voluntary basis, from a traditional to a digital version. In this context, the article analyzes the electronic billing process implemented in Colombia and the advantages. Methodological research is applied, qualitative, descriptive and documentary; where the regulatory framework and the conceptualization of the model is identified; the process of adoption of electronic billing is analyzed, and finally the advantages and disadvantages of its implementation is analyzed. The findings indicate that the model applied in Colombia to issue an electronic billing in sending and receiving process, is not complex, but it requires a small adequate infrastructure and trained personnel to reach all sectors, especially the micro and business which is the largest business network in the country.

[Reviewing the shared strategy health bill: further measures to meet the structural challenges of the health system].

Science.gov (United States)

Lombrail, Pierre

2014-01-01

This article reviews the draft health bill entitled "Federate health professionals around a shared strategy", currently submitted for consultation in the context of the national health strategy in France. This bill comprises innovative measures for prevention and health care in France. In particular, it is designed to develop, strengthen and structure the prevention sector, especially in children and young people. It is also designed to organize health care trajectories and acquire the necessary tools to promote their development. However, the bill sometimes presents limited ambitions in terms of objectives and means. In particular, the project comprises almost none of the necessary actions on the social determinants of health. Overall, the orientations of this bill represent a first major step towards a health policy in France beyond the field of health care. However, we must remain vigilant concerning application of these orientations in the process of elaboration of the bill and its related regulations, and implementation of the national health strategy.

Agent-Based Framework for Building Efficient Postpaid Billing ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The postpaid and prepaid billing systems currently in operation in Telecommunications have some problems that show a win-loss situation. In postpaid the problem is mostly due to fraudulent activities by some employees that costs a telecommunications company a loss of between 5% and 15% of its total revenue as shown ...

Scope of physician procedures independently billed by mid-level providers in the office setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Coldiron, Brett; Ratnarathorn, Mondhipa

2014-11-01

Mid-level providers (nurse practitioners and physician assistants) were originally envisioned to provide primary care services in underserved areas. This study details the current scope of independent procedural billing to Medicare of difficult, invasive, and surgical procedures by medical mid-level providers. To understand the scope of independent billing to Medicare for procedures performed by mid-level providers in an outpatient office setting for a calendar year. Analyses of the 2012 Medicare Physician/Supplier Procedure Summary Master File, which reflects fee-for-service claims that were paid by Medicare, for Current Procedural Terminology procedures independently billed by mid-level providers. Outpatient office setting among health care providers. The scope of independent billing to Medicare for procedures performed by mid-level providers. In 2012, nurse practitioners and physician assistants billed independently for more than 4 million procedures at our cutoff of 5000 paid claims per procedure. Most (54.8%) of these procedures were performed in the specialty area of dermatology. The findings of this study are relevant to safety and quality of care. Recently, the shortage of primary care clinicians has prompted discussion of widening the scope of practice for mid-level providers. It would be prudent to temper widening the scope of practice of mid-level providers by recognizing that mid-level providers are not solely limited to primary care, and may involve procedures for which they may not have formal training.

78 FR 70580 - Apria Healthcare LLC, Billing Department, Overland Park, Kansas; Notice of Negative Determination...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-26

... responsibilities, and the assertion that the worker's separation was due to outsourcing to ``Emdeon and India... Reconsideration By application dated September 19, 2013, a former worker of Apria Healthcare LLC, Billing...), applicable to workers and former workers of Apria Healthcare LLC, Billing Department, Overland Park, Kansas...

Soul / Randy Becker, Bill Evans, Evelin Samuel ; interv. Sven Sapelson

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Becker, Randy

2007-01-01

The Soulbop Bandi rajajad Randy Becker ja Bill Evans ning meie Evelin Samuel gospeli ja rhytmblues'i juurtega soulist. Lk. 72-73 Inessa Josingu ja Ande Kaalepi souliteemaline fotolavastusega ruumikujundus

Bill project on energy transition for a green growth - Nr 2188. Impact study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valls, Manuel; Royal, Segolene

2014-01-01

This document first proposes a statement by the Minister on Ecology on the motivations of the French bill project on energy transition which notably addresses the development of new energies, expresses a strong political commitment on energy, addresses the big issue of energy saving (with objectives of job creation and price reduction in the building sector), promotes a development of renewable energies based on local resources, aims at the emergence of citizen participation in energy choices and issues. The content of the bill project is then commented. The main addressed issues are: to define common objectives for a successful energy transition, an energy independence and for the struggle against climate change, a better renovation of buildings to save energy, to reduce prices and to create jobs, to develop clean transports to improve air quality and to protect health, to struggle against energy wastes and to promote circular economy, to promote renewable energies, to strengthen nuclear safety and citizen information, to simplify and clarify procedures, to enable citizens, local communities and the State to act together. The document then proposes the text of the bill project. A second part is a report of an impact study of these different issues and objectives addressed in the bill project

Preliminary investigations of the winter ecology of Long-billed Curlews in coastal Texas

Science.gov (United States)

Woodin, Marc C.; Skoruppa, Mary Kay; Edwardson, Jeremy W.; Austin, Jane E.

2012-01-01

Since the early 1900s, the distribution of the Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) has contracted dramatically in the eastern one-half of its historic range. The species has been designated as a "Bird of Conservation Concern" and focal species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a species of concern by several states, and a "Highly Imperiled" species in the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan. The uncertain outlook for this species has contributed to a plethora of research on Long-billed Curlews, most of which have focused on breeding and nesting ecology of the species. Gaps remain in information about factors affecting population dynamics on the winter grounds and the linkages between Long-billed Curlew populations on the breeding range, migration routes, and winter range. To begin filling those gaps, a pilot study was done to evaluate (1) curlew use of nocturnal roost sites, (2) use of public outreach to locate curlews and contribute to preliminary assessment of foraging habitat use, (3) six different methods to capture curlews, and (4) movements by curlews on wintering areas. The study area includes the lower Texas coast, which harbors the eastern-most dense populations of Long-billed Curlews in North America.

Multiple Reversals of Bill Length over 1.7 Million Years in a Hawaiian Bird Lineage.

Science.gov (United States)

Freed, Leonard A; Medeiros, Matthew C I; Cann, Rebecca L

2016-03-01

Evolutionary change has been documented over geological time, but reversals in morphology, from an ancestral state to a derived state and back again, tend to be rare. Multiple reversals along the same lineage are even rarer. We use the chronology of the Hawaiian Islands and an avian example, the Hawaiian honeycreeper 'amakihi (Hemignathus spp.) lineage, which originated on the oldest main island of Kaua'i 1.7 million years ago, to examine the process of sequential reversals in bill length. We document three single and two multiple reversals of bill length on six main islands from oldest to youngest, consistent with the phylogeny of the lineage. Longer bills occur on islands with endemic species, including phylogenetically relevant outgroups, that may compete with or dominate the 'amakihi. On islands without those species, the 'amakihi had shorter bills of similar length. Both types of reversals in morphology in this lineage integrate microevolutionary processes with macroevolution in the adaptive radiation of Hawaiian honeycreepers.

Algorithmic acquisition of diagnostic patterns in district heating billing system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiluk, Sebastian

2012-01-01

An application of algorithmic exploration of billing data is examined for fault detection, diagnosis (FDD) based on evaluation of present state and detection of unexpected changes in energy efficiency of buildings. Large data sets from district heating (DH) billing systems are used for construction of feature space, diagnostic rules and classification of the buildings according to their energy efficiency properties. The algorithmic approach automates discovering knowledge about common, thus accepted changes in buildings’ properties, in equipment and in habitants’ behavior reflecting progress in technology and life style. In this article implementation of Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery (DMKD) method in supervision system with exemplary results based on real data is presented. Crucial steps of data processing influencing diagnostic results are described in details.

Natural Language Search Interfaces: Health Data Needs Single-Field Variable Search.

Science.gov (United States)

Jay, Caroline; Harper, Simon; Dunlop, Ian; Smith, Sam; Sufi, Shoaib; Goble, Carole; Buchan, Iain

2016-01-14

Data discovery, particularly the discovery of key variables and their inter-relationships, is key to secondary data analysis, and in-turn, the evolving field of data science. Interface designers have presumed that their users are domain experts, and so they have provided complex interfaces to support these "experts." Such interfaces hark back to a time when searches needed to be accurate first time as there was a high computational cost associated with each search. Our work is part of a governmental research initiative between the medical and social research funding bodies to improve the use of social data in medical research. The cross-disciplinary nature of data science can make no assumptions regarding the domain expertise of a particular scientist, whose interests may intersect multiple domains. Here we consider the common requirement for scientists to seek archived data for secondary analysis. This has more in common with search needs of the "Google generation" than with their single-domain, single-tool forebears. Our study compares a Google-like interface with traditional ways of searching for noncomplex health data in a data archive. Two user interfaces are evaluated for the same set of tasks in extracting data from surveys stored in the UK Data Archive (UKDA). One interface, Web search, is "Google-like," enabling users to browse, search for, and view metadata about study variables, whereas the other, traditional search, has standard multioption user interface. Using a comprehensive set of tasks with 20 volunteers, we found that the Web search interface met data discovery needs and expectations better than the traditional search. A task × interface repeated measures analysis showed a main effect indicating that answers found through the Web search interface were more likely to be correct (F1,19=37.3, Pnatural language search interfaces for variable search supporting in particular: query reformulation; data browsing; faceted search; surrogates; relevance

Health providers' compliance with pregnant women's Bill of Rights in labor and delivery in Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vajihesadat Mirlohi

2015-01-01

Conclusions: The results showed that the health providers' compliance with the pregnant women's Bill of Rights was not acceptable in the labor room. Therefore, necessary actions are needed to remove the barriers against pregnant women's compliance of Bill of Rights and to facilitate the compliance with it in hospitals.

49 CFR 373.101 - Motor carrier bills of lading.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Motor carrier bills of lading. 373.101 Section 373.101 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY REGULATIONS RECEIPTS AND...

76 FR 46320 - Notice of Filing of Plats of Survey; Montana

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-02

... survey of the lands described below in the BLM Montana State Office, Billings, Montana, on September 1... telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339..., in front of section 30, and certain division of accretion and partition lines, the subdivision of...

Planning and Implementing Immunization Billing Programs at State and Local Health Departments: Barriers and Possible Solutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Corriero, Rosemary; Redmon, Ginger

Before participating in a project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most state and local health departments (LHDs) were not seeking reimbursement or being fully reimbursed by insurance plans for the cost of immunization services (including vaccine costs and administration fees) they provided to insured patients. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Billables Project was designed to enable state and LHDs to bill public and private insurance plans for immunization services provided to insured patients. Identify and describe key barriers state and LHDs may encounter while planning and implementing a billing program, as well as possible solutions for overcoming those barriers. This study used reports from Billables Project participants to explore barriers they encountered when planning and implementing a billing program and steps taken to address those barriers. Thirty-eight state immunization programs. Based on project participants' reports, barriers were noted in 7 categories: (1) funding and costs, (2) staff, (3) health department characteristics, (4) third-party payers and insurance plans, (5) software, (6) patient insurance status, and (7) other barriers. Possible solutions for overcoming those barriers included hiring or seeking external help, creating billing guides and training modules, streamlining workflows, and modifying existing software systems. Overcoming barriers during planning and implementation of a billing program can be challenging for state and LHDs, but the experiences and suggestions of past Billables Project participants can help guide future billing program efforts.

A Sociopsychological Investigation of Adult Adoptees' Search for Birth Parents.

Science.gov (United States)

Sobol, Michael P.; Cardiff, Jeanette

1983-01-01

Surveyed 120 adult adoptees to study factors predicting search activity. Results showed searching for birth parents was related to traumatic adoption revelation, desire to know geneological history, and poor self-concept. Nonsearchers stated they did not search because of fear of hurting adoptive or birth parents and satisfaction with identity.…

A Study of Science Education Positions, Search Process, and Hiring Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Barrow, Lloyd H.; Germann, Paul J.

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to analyze science education searches and hiring practices for faculty positions listed in The Chronicle of Higher Education for an academic year. Chairs of searches completed a survey about successful and unsuccessful searches. Over 70% of searches were successful in hiring new science education faculty with 33%…

The POINT-AGAPE Survey: Comparing Automated Searches of Microlensing Events toward M31

CERN Document Server

Tsapras, Y; Weston, M J; Kerins, E; Baillon, P; Gould, A; Paulin-Henriksson, S

2010-01-01

Searching for microlensing in M31 using automated superpixel surveys raises a number of difficulties which are not present in more conventional techniques. Here we focus on the problem that the list of microlensing candidates is sensitive to the selection criteria or "cuts" imposed and some subjectivity is involved in this. Weakening the cuts will generate a longer list of microlensing candidates but with a greater fraction of spurious ones; strengthening the cuts will produce a shorter list but may exclude some genuine events. We illustrate this by comparing three analyses of the same data-set obtained from a 3-year observing run on the INT in La Palma. The results of two of these analyses have been already reported: Belokurov et al. (2005) obtained between 3 and 22 candidates, depending on the strength of their cuts, while Calchi Novati et al. (2005) obtained 6 candidates. The third analysis is presented here for the first time and reports 10 microlensing candidates, 7 of which are new. Only two of the cand...

Automated search method for AFM and profilers

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Michael; Martin, Yves C.

2001-08-01

A new automation software creates a search model as an initial setup and searches for a user-defined target in atomic force microscopes or stylus profilometers used in semiconductor manufacturing. The need for such automation has become critical in manufacturing lines. The new method starts with a survey map of a small area of a chip obtained from a chip-design database or an image of the area. The user interface requires a user to point to and define a precise location to be measured, and to select a macro function for an application such as line width or contact hole. The search algorithm automatically constructs a range of possible scan sequences within the survey, and provides increased speed and functionality compared to the methods used in instruments to date. Each sequence consists in a starting point relative to the target, a scan direction, and a scan length. The search algorithm stops when the location of a target is found and criteria for certainty in positioning is met. With today's capability in high speed processing and signal control, the tool can simultaneously scan and search for a target in a robotic and continuous manner. Examples are given that illustrate the key concepts.

Survey of formal and informal citation in Google search engine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Afsaneh Teymourikhani

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Aim: Informal citations is bibliographic information (title or Internet address, citing sources of information resources for informal scholarly communication and always neglected in traditional citation databases. This study is done, in order to answer the question of whether informal citations in the web environment are traceable. The present research aims to determine what proportion of web citations of Google search engine is related to formal and informal citation. Research method: Webometrics is the method used. The study is done on 1344 research articles of 98 open access journal, and the method that is used to extract the web citation from Google search engine is “Web / URL citation extraction". Findings: The findings showed that ten percent of the web citations of Google search engine are formal and informal citations. The highest formal citation in the Google search engine with 19/27% is in the field of library and information science and the lowest official citation by 1/54% is devoted to the field of civil engineering. The highest percentage of informal citations with 3/57% is devoted to sociology and the lowest percentage of informal citations by 0/39% is devoted to the field of civil engineering. Journal Citation is highest with 94/12% in the surgical field and lowest with 5/26 percent in the philosophy filed. Result: Due to formal and informal citations in the Google search engine which is about 10 percent and the reduction of this amount compared to previous research, it seems that track citations by this engine should be treated with more caution. We see that the amount of formal citation is variable in different disciplines. Cited journals in the field of surgery, is highest and in the filed of philosophy is lowest, this indicates that in the filed of philosophy, that is a subset of the social sciences, journals in scientific communication do not play a significant role. On the other hand, book has a key role in this filed

78 FR 46425 - Sale and Issue of Marketable Book-Entry Treasury Bills, Notes, and Bonds

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-31

... a simple-interest money market yield computed on an actual/360 basis, subject to an appropriate... 13-week Treasury bill auction High Rate (stop out rate) converted into a simple actual/360 interest...-week Treasury bill auction High Rate that has been translated into a simple-interest money market yield...

Internet Use for Searching Information on Medicines and Disease: A Community Pharmacy-Based Survey Among Adult Pharmacy Customers.

Science.gov (United States)

Lombardo, Simona; Cosentino, Marco

2016-07-13

The Internet is increasingly used as a source of health-related information, and a vast majority of Internet users are performing health-related searches in the United States and Europe, with wide differences among countries. Health information searching behavior on the Internet is affected by multiple factors, including demographics, socioeconomic factors, education, employment, attitudes toward the Internet, and health conditions, and their knowledge may help to promote a safer use of the Internet. Limited information however exists so far about Internet use to search for medical information in Italy. The objective of this study was to investigate the use of the Internet for searching for information on medicines and disease in adult subjects in Northern Italy. Survey in randomly selected community pharmacies, using a self-administered questionnaire, with open and multiple choices questions, was conducted. A total of 1008 participants were enrolled (59.5% women; median age: 43 years; range: 14-88 years). Previous use of the Internet to search for information about medicines or dietary supplements was reported by 26.0% of respondents, more commonly by women (30.00% vs 20.10% men, Punmarried subjects (32.9% vs 17.4% widowed subjects, P=.022), and employed people (29.1% vs 10.4% retired people, P=.002). Use was highest in the age range of 26 to 35 (40.0% users vs 19.6% and 12.3% in the age range ≤25 and ≥56, respectively, Pvs 51.0% males, Punmarried subjects (64.2% vs 58.5% married or divorced subjects and 30.4% widowed subjects, P=.012), unemployed people (66.7% vs 64.0% workers and 29.9% retired people, Pvs 64.4% in both 36-45 and 46-55 ranges and 35.1% in ≥56, P<.001) and increased with years of education (from 12.5% with 5 years up to 66.7% with 13 years and 68.6% with a university degree, P<.001). Retrieved information was rated as satisfactory by about 87.5% (88.1% women and 86.2% men, P=.562). Recent use of medicines or dietary supplements was

La Fondation Bill et Melinda Gates | IDRC - International ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

La Fondation Bill et Melinda Gates. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/ · What we do · Funding · Resources · About IDRC. Knowledge. Innovation. Solutions. Careers · Contact Us · Site map. Sign up now for IDRC news and views sent directly to your inbox each month. Subscribe · Copyright · Open access policy · Privacy policy ...

78 FR 76719 - Bill of Rights Day, 2013

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-18

... questions of citizenship and human rights, driving progress in the American mind. We learned that our Nation... anniversary of the Bill of Rights, let us reach for a day when we all may enjoy the basic truths of liberty... of Rights Day, 2013 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation When America's...

47 CFR 36.380 - Other billing and collecting expense.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

..., REVENUES, EXPENSES, TAXES AND RESERVES FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES 1 Operating Expenses and Taxes... statistical work, controlling record work and the preparation of revenue reports. (b) Local exchange carriers... balance of Account 6620-Services to the Other billing and collecting expense classification based on the...

78 FR 39763 - Recovery Plan Addendum; Thick-Billed Parrot

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-02

... particular species. Species' History Historically the thick-billed parrot's range extended from Mexico into... and the Secretary of the Interior. This species is currently found in Mexico but has not been detected... included southern Arizona and possibly southwestern New Mexico. The recovery plan addendum includes...

Predictions of Planet Detections with Near-infrared Radial Velocities in the Upcoming SPIRou Legacy Survey-planet Search

Science.gov (United States)

Cloutier, Ryan; Artigau, Étienne; Delfosse, Xavier; Malo, Lison; Moutou, Claire; Doyon, René; Donati, Jean-Francois; Cumming, Andrew; Dumusque, Xavier; Hébrard, Élodie; Menou, Kristen

2018-02-01

The SPIRou near-infrared spectropolarimeter is destined to begin science operations at the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope in mid-2018. One of the instrument’s primary science goals is to discover the closest exoplanets to the solar system by conducting a three- to five-year long radial velocity survey of nearby M dwarfs at an expected precision of ∼1 m s‑1, the SPIRou Legacy Survey-Planet Search (SLS-PS). In this study, we conduct a detailed Monte Carlo simulation of the SLS-PS using our current understanding of the occurrence rate of M dwarf planetary systems and physical models of stellar activity. From simultaneous modeling of planetary signals and activity, we predict the population of planets to be detected in the SLS-PS. With our fiducial survey strategy and expected instrument performance over a nominal survey length of ∼3 years, we expect SPIRou to detect {85.3}-12.4+29.3 planets including {20.0}-7.2+16.8 habitable-zone planets and {8.1}-3.2+7.6 Earth-like planets from a sample of 100 M1–M8.5 dwarfs out to 11 pc. By studying mid-to-late M dwarfs previously inaccessible to existing optical velocimeters, SPIRou will put meaningful constraints on the occurrence rate of planets around those stars including the value of {η }\\oplus at an expected level of precision of ≲ 45 % . We also predict that a subset of {46.7}-6.0+16.0 planets may be accessible with dedicated high-contrast imagers on the next generation of extremely large telescopes including {4.9}-2.0+4.7 potentially imagable Earth-like planets. Lastly, we compare the results of our fiducial survey strategy to other foreseeable survey versions to quantify which strategy is optimized to reach the SLS-PS science goals. The results of our simulations are made available to the community on GitHub (https://github.com/r-cloutier/SLSPS_Simulations).

19 CFR 24.3a - CBP bills; interest assessment; delinquency; notice to principal and surety.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false CBP bills; interest assessment; delinquency; notice to principal and surety. 24.3a Section 24.3a Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION....3a CBP bills; interest assessment; delinquency; notice to principal and surety. (a) Due date of CBP...

HEALTH INFO Information from the CHIS Board and Personnel Division: ABOUT BILLS FROM HOPITAL DE LA TOUR

CERN Multimedia

Personnel Division + CHISB

1999-01-01

The tariff agreement signed by CERN (and other international organisations) with Hospital de La Tour specifies that all bills paid within 30 days of the date of the invoice will enjoy a discount, to be deducted by the payer. The bills are labelled with a message to this effect.Physicians' fees, personal expenses as well as services from outside providers (e.g. ambulance companies or external laboratories) are however not part of the discount agreement. Bills for hospitalisation (i.e. with a stay in hospital longer than 28h) are normally directly paid by AUSTRIA, acting as a third-party payer.In May this year, Hospital de La Tour introduced a new (Y2K compliant) accounting and invoicing system. This implementation did not go as smoothly as planned and delayed the issuing of bills by two months. During the summer period, a special team of temporary staff was put in place to catch up on the delay. As a result of this, some bills were produced that contained errors and the sticky label mentioning the discount agr...

Genetic search feature selection for affective modeling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martínez, Héctor P.; Yannakakis, Georgios N.

2010-01-01

Automatic feature selection is a critical step towards the generation of successful computational models of affect. This paper presents a genetic search-based feature selection method which is developed as a global-search algorithm for improving the accuracy of the affective models built....... The method is tested and compared against sequential forward feature selection and random search in a dataset derived from a game survey experiment which contains bimodal input features (physiological and gameplay) and expressed pairwise preferences of affect. Results suggest that the proposed method...

Implementasi Iso 8583 Untuk Billing Online Mahasiswa Universitas Diponegoro Melalui Channel SMS Banking Bank Rakyat Indonesia Berbasis Aix

OpenAIRE

Ridwan, Mohammad; Riyanto, Djalal Er; Sarwoko, Eko Adi

2013-01-01

Universitas Diponegoro (UNDIP) merupakan salah satu perguruan tinggi negeri di Indonesia, yang bekerja sama dengan Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) untuk menangani Billing Online mahasiswa. Sejauh ini BRI telah menyediakan dua channel transaksi untuk menangani Billing Online UNDIP, yaitu Teller dan ATM. Pengembangan channel transaksi lain dapat meningkatkan layanan transaksi Billing Online Mahasiswa UNDIP. Pada tugas akhir ini, dilakukan pengembangan channel SMS Banking dengan implementasi ISO 858...

75 FR 43557 - TA-W-73,682, Hartford Financial Services Group, Incorporated, Medical Bill Processing and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-26

... Leased Workers From Beeline: Aurora, IL; TA-W-73,682A, Hartford Financial Services Group, Incorporated..., applicable to workers of Hartford Financial Services Group, Incorporated, Medical Bill Processing and Production Center Support, Aurora, Illinois and Hartford Financial Services Group, Incorporated, Medical Bill...

Environmental liabilities in Billings reservoir and its impacts on hydropower generation Plant Henry Borden; Os passivos ambientais no reservatorio Billings e os seus impactos na geracao hidroenergetica da Usina Henry Borden

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Almeida, Daniel Ladeira [Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo Andre, SP (Brazil)

2010-07-01

The primary assertion is that this article argues that the recovery in production of hydropower in Henry Borden (UHB) is the reduction of environmental liabilities in the Billings reservoir. In this context, the aim of this paper is to provide a first consideration of the possibility of recovery of production Henry Borden hydropower plant of recovering the multiple uses of the reservoir. From this perspective, we interviewed representatives of CETESB (Sanitation Environmental Technology Company) and EMAE (Metropolitan Water and Energy Company SA) for consideration of actions that include environmental policies aimed at increasing the production of electricity in Henry Borden in order to obtain results that may contribute to the multiple uses of the Billings reservoir. Noting that the range of laws aimed at protecting the water sources was limited to disjointed public policy that has reduced the resilience of the Billings reservoir. (author)

Breeding ecology of the pink-billed lark, Spizocorys conirostris , in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Breeding ecology of the pink-billed lark, Spizocorys conirostris , in an agricultural landscape in South Africa. ... Open Access DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT ... The results are compared with data in Birdlife South Africa's Nest Record Card Scheme.

A Timely Idea: Third Party Billing for Related Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Spaller, Kathy Dye; Thomas, Stephen B.

1994-01-01

Federal allocations for special education programs are below 10% whereas the federal contribution to state medicaid programs ranges from 50-80%. Third-party billing provides a more equitable distribution of the costs among federal, state, and local governments, in addition to including private-sector contributions. (MLF)

Sensitivity of Billing Claims for Cardiovascular Disease Events among Kidney Transplant Recipients

Science.gov (United States)

Lentine, Krista L.; Schnitzler, Mark A.; Abbott, Kevin C.; Bramesfeld, Kosha; Buchanan, Paula M.; Brennan, Daniel C.

2009-01-01

Background and objectives: Billing claims are increasingly examined beyond administrative functions as outcomes measures in observational research. Few studies have described the performance of billing claims as surrogate measures of clinical events among kidney transplant recipients. Design, setting, participants, & measurements: We investigated the sensitivity of Medicare billing claims for clinically verified cardiovascular diagnoses (five categories) and procedures (four categories) in a novel database linking Medicare claims to electronic medical records of one transplant program. Cardiovascular events identified in medical records for 571 Medicare-insured transplant recipients in 1991 through 2002 served as reference measures. Results: Within a claims-ascertainment period spanning ±30 d of clinically recorded dates, aggregate sensitivity of single claims was higher for case definitions incorporating Medicare Parts A and B for diagnoses and procedures (90.9%) compared with either Part A (82.3%) or Part B (84.6%) alone. Perfect capture of the four procedures was possible within ±30 d or with short claims window expansion, but sensitivity for the diagnoses trended lower with all study algorithms (91.2% with window up to ±90 d). Requirement for additional confirmatory diagnosis claims did not appreciably reduce sensitivity. Sensitivity patterns were similar in the early compared with late periods of the study. Conclusions: Combined use of Medicare Parts A and B billing claims composes a sensitive measure of cardiovascular events after kidney transplant. Further research is needed to define algorithms that maximize specificity as well as sensitivity of claims from Medicare and other insurers as research measures in this population. PMID:19541817

Search without Boundaries Using Simple APIs

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Qi

2009-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Library, where the author serves as the digital services librarian, is increasingly challenged to make it easier for users to find information from many heterogeneous information sources. Information is scattered throughout different software applications (i.e., library catalog, federated search engine, link resolver, and vendor websites), and each specializes in one thing. How could the library integrate the functionalities of one application with another and provide a single point of entry for users to search across? To improve the user experience, the library launched an effort to integrate the federated search engine into the library's intranet website. The result is a simple search box that leverages the federated search engine's built-in application programming interfaces (APIs). In this article, the author describes how this project demonstrated the power of APIs and their potential to be used by other enterprise search portals inside or outside of the library.

In Search of Craft

Science.gov (United States)

Schwalbe, Michael

2010-01-01

In the spring of 2009, this author asked the director of North Carolina State's Crafts Center to help him find people who might be willing to participate in a project about skill. Bill Wallace, an occasional teacher at the Crafts Center, was one of the people recommended to him. Bill Wallace is a man who can look at a tree and instinctively know…

Can social policy influence socioeconomic disparities? Korean War GI Bill eligibility and markers of depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Vable, Anusha M; Canning, David; Glymour, M Maria; Kawachi, Ichiro; Jimenez, Marcia P; Subramanian, Subu V

2016-02-01

The Korean War GI Bill provided socioeconomic benefits to veterans; however, its association with health is unclear; we hypothesize GI Bill eligibility is associated with fewer depressive symptoms and smaller disparities. Data from 246 Korean War GI Bill eligible veterans and 240 nonveterans from the Health and Retirement Study were matched on birth year, southern birth, race, height, and childhood health using coarsened exact matching. Number of depressive symptoms in 2010 (average age = 78 years) was assessed using a modified, validated Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, dichotomized to reflect elevated depressive symptoms. Regression analyses were stratified into low (at least one parent markers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Saving billions of dollars--and physicians' time--by streamlining billing practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanchfield, Bonnie B; Heffernan, James L; Osgood, Bradford; Sheehan, Rosemary R; Meyer, Gregg S

2010-06-01

The U.S. system of billing third parties for health care services is complex, expensive, and inefficient. Physicians end up using nearly 12 percent of their net patient service revenue to cover the costs of excessive administrative complexity. A single transparent set of payment rules for multiple payers, a single claim form, and standard rules of submission, among other innovations, would reduce the burden on the billing offices of physician organizations. On a national scale, our hypothetical modeling of these changes would translate into $7 billion of savings annually for physician and clinical services. Four hours of professional time per physician and five hours of practice support staff time could be saved each week.

Administrative Costs Associated With Physician Billing and Insurance-Related Activities at an Academic Health Care System.

Science.gov (United States)

Tseng, Phillip; Kaplan, Robert S; Richman, Barak D; Shah, Mahek A; Schulman, Kevin A

2018-02-20

Administrative costs in the US health care system are an important component of total health care spending, and a substantial proportion of these costs are attributable to billing and insurance-related activities. To examine and estimate the administrative costs associated with physician billing activities in a large academic health care system with a certified electronic health record system. This study used time-driven activity-based costing. Interviews were conducted with 27 health system administrators and 34 physicians in 2016 and 2017 to construct a process map charting the path of an insurance claim through the revenue cycle management process. These data were used to calculate the cost for each major billing and insurance-related activity and were aggregated to estimate the health system's total cost of processing an insurance claim. Estimated time required to perform billing and insurance-related activities, based on interviews with management personnel and physicians. Estimated billing and insurance-related costs for 5 types of patient encounters: primary care visits, discharged emergency department visits, general medicine inpatient stays, ambulatory surgical procedures, and inpatient surgical procedures. Estimated processing time and total costs for billing and insurance-related activities were 13 minutes and $20.49 for a primary care visit, 32 minutes and $61.54 for a discharged emergency department visit, 73 minutes and $124.26 for a general inpatient stay, 75 minutes and $170.40 for an ambulatory surgical procedure, and 100 minutes and $215.10 for an inpatient surgical procedure. Of these totals, time and costs for activities carried out by physicians were estimated at a median of 3 minutes or $6.36 for a primary care visit, 3 minutes or $10.97 for an emergency department visit, 5 minutes or $13.29 for a general inpatient stay, 15 minutes or $51.20 for an ambulatory surgical procedure, and 15 minutes or $51.20 for an inpatient surgical procedure. Of

Active Path Planning for Drones in Object Search

OpenAIRE

Wang, Zeyangyi

2017-01-01

Object searching is one of the most popular applications of unmanned aerial vehicles. Low cost small drones are particularly suited for surveying tasks in difficult conditions. With their limited on-board processing power and battery life, there is a need for more efficient search algorithm. The proposed path planning algorithm utilizes AZ-net, a deep learning network to process images captured on drones for adaptive flight path planning. Search simulation based on videos and actual experimen...

A search for a distant companion to the sun with the wide-field infrared survey explorer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luhman, K. L.

2014-01-01

I have used multi-epoch astrometry from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to perform a search for a distant companion to the Sun via its parallactic motion. I have not found an object of this kind down to W2 = 14.5. This limit corresponds to analogs of Saturn and Jupiter at 28,000 and 82,000 AU, respectively, according to models of the Jovian planets by Fortney and coworkers. Models of brown dwarfs by Burrows and coworkers predict fainter fluxes at a given mass for the age of the solar system, producing a closer distance limit of 26,000 AU for a Jupiter-mass brown dwarf. These constraints exclude most combinations of mass and separation at which a solar companion has been suggested to exist by various studies over the years.

The job-search grind: perceived progress, self-reactions, and self-regulation of search effort

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wanberg, C.; Zhu, J.; van Hooft, E.A.J.

2010-01-01

Guided by theory and research on self-regulation and goal pursuit, we offer a framework for studying the dynamics of unemployed individuals’ job search. A daily survey over three weeks demonstrated vacillation in job seeker affect and, to a lesser extent, "reemployment efficacy." Daily perceived job

Atomic Energy Authority Bill (Lords) - second reading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-01-01

In the debate in the House of Commons on the second reading of the Atomic Energy Bill, the objective of which is to put the finances of the Authority on to a trading fund basis, the discussion included the following: proposed changes in method of financing the Authority; safety; underlying research; customer relations; accountability; personnel; public relations; radioactive waste management; energy research; parliamentary scrutiny; energy policy; nuclear power; fast reactors; fusion research; government policy. (U.K.)

Bill redness is positively associated with reproduction and survival in male and female zebra finches.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirre J P Simons

Full Text Available Sexual traits can serve as honest indicators of phenotypic quality when they are costly. Brightly coloured yellow to red traits, which are pigmented by carotenoids, are relatively common in birds, and feature in sexual selection. Carotenoids have been linked to immune and antioxidant function, and the trade-off between ornamentation and these physiological functions provides a potential mechanism rendering carotenoid based signals costly. Mutual ornamentation is also common in birds and can be maintained by mutual mate choice for this ornament or by a correlated response in one sex to selection on the other sex. When selection pressures differ between the sexes this can cause intralocus sexual conflict. Sexually antagonistic selection pressures have been demonstrated for few sexual traits, and for carotenoid-dependent traits there is a single example: bill redness was found to be positively associated with survival and reproductive output in male zebra finches, but negatively so in females. We retested these associations in our captive zebra finch population without two possible limitations of this earlier study. Contrary to the earlier findings, we found no evidence for sexually antagonistic selection. In both sexes, individuals with redder bills showed higher survival. This association disappeared among the females with the reddest bills. Furthermore, females with redder bills achieved higher reproductive output. We conclude that bill redness of male and female zebra finches honestly signals phenotypic quality, and discuss the possible causes of the differences between our results and earlier findings.

PBF: A New Privacy-Aware Billing Framework for Online Electric Vehicles with Bidirectional Auditability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rasheed Hussain

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Recently an online electric vehicle (OLEV concept has been introduced, where vehicles are propelled by the wirelessly transmitted electrical power from the infrastructure installed under the road while moving. The absence of secure-and-fair billing is one of the main hurdles to widely adopt this promising technology. This paper introduces a new secure and privacy-aware fair billing framework for OLEV on the move through the charging plates installed under the road. We first propose two extreme lightweight mutual authentication mechanisms, a direct authentication and a hash chain-based authentication between vehicles and the charging plates that can be used for different vehicular speeds on the road. Second, we propose a secure and privacy-aware wireless power transfer on move for the vehicles with bidirectional auditability guarantee by leveraging game theoretic approach. Each charging plate transfers a fixed amount of energy to the vehicle and bills the vehicle in a privacy-aware way accordingly. Our protocol guarantees secure, privacy-aware, and fair billing mechanism for the OLEVs while receiving electric power from the infrastructure installed under the road. Moreover, our proposed framework can play a vital role in eliminating the security and privacy challenges in the deployment of power transfer technology to the OLEVs.

A Multi-Wavelength Grain-by-Grain Survey of Lunar Soils in Search of Rare Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Crites, S.; Lucey, P. G.; Viti, T.

2014-12-01

The Moon is unique among terrestrial planets for its lack of an atmosphere and global tectonic or volcanic processes. These factors and its position in the inner solar system mean that it is a potential repository of meteoritic material from all of the terrestrial planets. The National Research Council's 2007 report on the Scientific Context for the Exploration of the Moon highlighted this unique possibility and defined the search for rare materials including those from the early Earth as a key goal for future lunar exploration. Armstrong et al. (2002) estimated that Earth material could be present at the 7 ppm level in surface lunar regolith and emphasized that since a single gram of lunar fines contains over 10 million particles, the search for terran material in lunar soils should begin with the current stock of lunar samples. Joy et al. (2012) demonstrated that mineral and lithologic relics of impactors can survive and be recognized in lunar samples, and recent work by Burchell et al. (2014) suggests that fossil fragments from Earth could survive the extreme shocks associated with transport to the Moon. Following the concept laid out by Armstrong et al. (2002), we are conducting a survey of lunar soil samples using microscopic hyperspectral imaging spectroscopy across visible, near-infrared, and thermal infrared wavelengths to conduct a search for rare particles, including those that could be sourced from the early Earth. Our system currently consists of three microscopic imaging spectrometers with ~30 micron spatial resolution, permitting resolved imaging of individual grains. Fields of view of at least 1 cm and scan rates near 1 mm/sec permit rapid processing of relatively large quantities of sample. Existing spectrometers cover the 0.5 to 2.5 micron region, permitting detection and characterization of the common iron-bearing lunar minerals olivine and pyroxene, and the 8-14 micron region, which permits detection of other, rarer minerals of interest such as

In Search of Motivation for the Business Survey Response Task

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Torres van Grinsven Vanessa

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Increasing reluctance of businesses to participate in surveys often leads to declining or low response rates, poor data quality and burden complaints, and suggests that a driving force, that is, the motivation for participation and accurate and timely response, is insufficient or lacking. Inspiration for ways to remedy this situation has already been sought in the psychological theory of self-determination; previous research has favored enhancement of intrinsic motivation compared to extrinsic motivation. Traditionally however, enhancing extrinsic motivation has been pervasive in business surveys. We therefore review this theory in the context of business surveys using empirical data from the Netherlands and Slovenia, and suggest that extrinsic motivation calls for at least as much attention as intrinsic motivation, that other sources of motivation may be relevant besides those stemming from the three fundamental psychological needs (competence, autonomy and relatedness, and that other approaches may have the potential to better explain some aspects of motivation in business surveys (e.g., implicit motives. We conclude with suggestions that survey organizations can consider when attempting to improve business survey response behavior.

Billing third party payers for pharmaceutical care services.

Science.gov (United States)

Poirier, S; Buffington, D E; Memoli, G A

1999-01-01

To describe the steps pharmacists must complete when seeking compensation from third party payers for pharmaceutical care services. Government publications; professional publications, including manuals and newsletters; authors' personal experience. Pharmacists in increasing numbers are meeting with success in getting reimbursed by third party payers for patient care activities. However, many pharmacists remain reluctant to seek compensation because they do not understand the steps involved. Preparatory steps include obtaining a provider/supplier number, procuring appropriate claim forms, developing data collection and documentation systems, establishing professional fees, creating a marketing plan, and developing an accounting system. To bill for specific patient care services, pharmacists need to collect the patient's insurance information, obtain a statement of medical necessity from the patient's physician, complete the appropriate claim form accurately, and submit the claim with supporting documentation to the insurer. Although many claims from pharmacists are rejected initially, pharmacists who work with third party payers to understand the reasons for denial of payment often receive compensation when claims are resubmitted. Pharmacists who follow these guidelines for billing third party payers for pharmaceutical care services should notice an increase in the number of paid claims.

Billings for Centrex Autovon Terminations in the Department of the Army

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

1990-01-01

The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Bell Operating Companies have properly billed DoD telecommunications users for CENTREX AUTOVON termination service and for special assemblies...

Natural Language Search Interfaces: Health Data Needs Single-Field Variable Search

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Sam; Sufi, Shoaib; Goble, Carole; Buchan, Iain

2016-01-01

Background Data discovery, particularly the discovery of key variables and their inter-relationships, is key to secondary data analysis, and in-turn, the evolving field of data science. Interface designers have presumed that their users are domain experts, and so they have provided complex interfaces to support these “experts.” Such interfaces hark back to a time when searches needed to be accurate first time as there was a high computational cost associated with each search. Our work is part of a governmental research initiative between the medical and social research funding bodies to improve the use of social data in medical research. Objective The cross-disciplinary nature of data science can make no assumptions regarding the domain expertise of a particular scientist, whose interests may intersect multiple domains. Here we consider the common requirement for scientists to seek archived data for secondary analysis. This has more in common with search needs of the “Google generation” than with their single-domain, single-tool forebears. Our study compares a Google-like interface with traditional ways of searching for noncomplex health data in a data archive. Methods Two user interfaces are evaluated for the same set of tasks in extracting data from surveys stored in the UK Data Archive (UKDA). One interface, Web search, is “Google-like,” enabling users to browse, search for, and view metadata about study variables, whereas the other, traditional search, has standard multioption user interface. Results Using a comprehensive set of tasks with 20 volunteers, we found that the Web search interface met data discovery needs and expectations better than the traditional search. A task × interface repeated measures analysis showed a main effect indicating that answers found through the Web search interface were more likely to be correct (F 1,19=37.3, Peffect of task (F 3,57=6.3, Pinterface (F 1,19=18.0, Peffect of task (F 2,38=4.1, P=.025, Greenhouse

Assessment of the effectiveness of uranium deposit searching methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suran, J.

1998-01-01

The following groups of uranium deposit searching methods are described: radiometric review of foreign work; aerial radiometric survey; automobile radiometric survey; emanation survey up to 1 m; emanation survey up to 2 m; ground radiometric survey; radiometric survey in pits; deep radiometric survey; combination of the above methods; and other methods (drilling survey). For vein-type deposits, the majority of Czech deposits were discovered in 1945-1965 by radiometric review of foreign work, automobile radiometric survey, and emanation survey up to 1 m. The first significant indications of sandstone type uranium deposits were observed in the mid-1960 by aerial radiometric survey and confirmed later by drilling. (P.A.)

Reassortant H9N2 influenza viruses containing H5N1-like PB1 genes isolated from black-billed magpies in Southern China.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guoying Dong

Full Text Available H9N2 influenza A viruses have become endemic in different types of terrestrial poultry and wild birds in Asia, and are occasionally transmitted to humans and pigs. To evaluate the role of black-billed magpies (Pica pica in the evolution of influenza A virus, we conducted two epidemic surveys on avian influenza viruses in wild black-billed magpies in Guangxi, China in 2005 and characterized three isolated black-billed magpie H9N2 viruses (BbM viruses. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that three BbM viruses were almost identical with 99.7 to 100% nucleotide homology in their whole genomes, and were reassortants containing BJ94-like (Ck/BJ/1/94 HA, NA, M, and NS genes, SH/F/98-like (Ck/SH/F/98 PB2, PA, and NP genes, and H5N1-like (Ck/YN/1252/03, clade 1 PB1 genes. Genetic analysis showed that BbM viruses were most likely the result of multiple reassortments between co-circulating H9N2-like and H5N1-like viruses, and were genetically different from other H9N2 viruses because of the existence of H5N1-like PB1 genes. Genotypical analysis revealed that BbM viruses evolved from diverse sources and belonged to a novel genotype (B46 discovered in our recent study. Molecular analysis suggested that BbM viruses were likely low pathogenic reassortants. However, results of our pathogenicity study demonstrated that BbM viruses replicated efficiently in chickens and a mammalian mouse model but were not lethal for infected chickens and mice. Antigenic analysis showed that BbM viruses were antigenic heterologous with the H9N2 vaccine strain. Our study is probably the first report to document and characterize H9N2 influenza viruses isolated from black-billed magpies in southern China. Our results suggest that black-billed magpies were susceptible to H9N2 influenza viruses, which raise concerns over possible transmissions of reassortant H9N2 viruses among poultry and wild birds.

France's energy bill in 2008; La facture energetique de la France en 2008

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2009-06-15

This article comments the important increase of France's energy bill in relationship with oil prices and dollar value fluctuations during 2008. It discusses the explosion in oil prices before the financial crisis and their subsequent evolution, and the evolutions of other energies' prices (natural gas, coal, electricity). Tables and graphs are given on various indicators: average monthly oil price expressed in euros and in dollars, gas spot price, annual average quotations for different crude oil prices, annual average imported oil price, and annual average imported and exported energy prices. It comments the global decrease of energy imports, their evolutions since 2006 with respect to the supplying country. It analyses the energy bill's evolution for oil and gas, discusses its importance with respect to France's GDP, and assesses it in terms of worked days for each inhabitant. Tables contain data indicating, for 2007 and 2008, the levels of imports, exports, and of the resulting bill for the different products (mineral fuels, crude oil, refined oil products, gas), and also give a comparison between the energy bill and other economic aggregates.

TEORÍA DE BILL MUNDY EN EL MECANIZADO DE COBRE CON BROCAS Y MACHOS ESPECIALES BILL MUNDY THEORY. SPECIAL DRILLS AND TAPS TOOLS IN COPPER MACHINING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alejandro Colque C

2008-06-01

Full Text Available El mecanizado del cobre, debido a su fluidez, produce una viruta plástica y continua que afecta la calidad superficial de las piezas mecanizadas. El método desarrollado por el ingeniero norteamericano Bill Mundy permite obtener el mejor ángulo de corte para mecanizar un material. El taladrado y el roscado con machos son dos procesos de mecanizado que tienen aspectos en común. Diseños de nuevas herramientas, nuevos materiales y técnicas de mecanizado, mejorías en la lubricación, diferentes velocidades de corte y avances, son variables que se deben estudiar para obtener una menor potencia, mayor duración de la herramienta y buen acabado superficial. En este trabajo probetas de cobre fueron ensayadas a tracción y se determinó experimentalmente el ángulo efectivo de corte, de acuerdo con la teoría de Bill Mundy. Posteriormente se fabricaron nuevas probetas que fueron perforadas con brocas tipo H, N y W, con refrigeración externa, refrigeración interna y en seco. Se usaron machos de máquina de dos y tres hélices. En cada perforación se midió la velocidad de rotación, avance, fuerza de corte, momento torsor y potencia necesaria. Se verificó que en el taladrado de cobre un ángulo mayor de la hélice favorece el desmenuzado de la viruta y disminuye el momento torsor. Brocas con refrigeración interna pueden ser utilizadas con mayores velocidades y muestran una mejor calidad superficial del perforado. Las brocas y machos con un ángulo de ataque próximo al ángulo calculado experimentalmente por la teoría de Bill Mundy muestran un buen comportamiento en el mecanizado y menor consumo de potencia.Copper drilling produces plastic and continuous chip. Bill Mundy a North American engineer developed a method who allows determines experimentally the best cutting angle material machining. Drilling and threading processes has several aspects in common. New tools design, new materials, new techniques, new lubrication and cooling improvement

Questionnaire surveys of dentists on radiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Shelley, A M; Brunton, P; Horner, K

2012-05-01

Survey by questionnaire is a widely used research method in dental radiology. A major concern in reviews of questionnaires is non-response. The objectives of this study were to review questionnaire studies in dental radiology with regard to potential survey errors and to develop recommendations to assist future researchers. A literature search with the software search package PubMed was used to obtain internet-based access to Medline through the website www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed. A search of the English language peer-reviewed literature was conducted of all published studies, with no restriction on date. The search strategy found articles with dates from 1983 to 2010. The medical subject heading terms used were "questionnaire", "dental radiology" and "dental radiography". The reference sections of articles retrieved by this method were hand-searched in order to identify further relevant papers. Reviews, commentaries and relevant studies from the wider literature were also included. 53 questionnaire studies were identified in the dental literature that concerned dental radiography and included a report of response rate. These were all published between 1983 and 2010. In total, 87 articles are referred to in this review, including the 53 dental radiology studies. Other cited articles include reviews, commentaries and examples of studies outside dental radiology where they are germane to the arguments presented. Non-response is only one of four broad areas of error to which questionnaire surveys are subject. This review considers coverage, sampling and measurement, as well as non-response. Recommendations are made to assist future research that uses questionnaire surveys.

41 CFR 102-118.80 - Who is responsible for keeping my agency's electronic commerce transportation billing records?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... keeping my agency's electronic commerce transportation billing records? 102-118.80 Section 102-118.80... Transportation and Transportation Services § 102-118.80 Who is responsible for keeping my agency's electronic commerce transportation billing records? Your agency's internal financial regulations will identify...

The High Time Resolution Universe Pulsar Survey - XII. Galactic plane acceleration search and the discovery of 60 pulsars

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, C.; Champion, D. J.; Bailes, M.; Barr, E. D.; Bates, S. D.; Bhat, N. D. R.; Burgay, M.; Burke-Spolaor, S.; Flynn, C. M. L.; Jameson, A.; Johnston, S.; Keith, M. J.; Kramer, M.; Levin, L.; Petroff, E.; Possenti, A.; Stappers, B. W.; van Straten, W.; Tiburzi, C.; Eatough, R. P.; Lyne, A. G.

2015-07-01

We present initial results from the low-latitude Galactic plane region of the High Time Resolution Universe pulsar survey conducted at the Parkes 64-m radio telescope. We discuss the computational challenges arising from the processing of the terabyte-sized survey data. Two new radio interference mitigation techniques are introduced, as well as a partially coherent segmented acceleration search algorithm which aims to increase our chances of discovering highly relativistic short-orbit binary systems, covering a parameter space including potential pulsar-black hole binaries. We show that under a constant acceleration approximation, a ratio of data length over orbital period of ≈0.1 results in the highest effectiveness for this search algorithm. From the 50 per cent of data processed thus far, we have redetected 435 previously known pulsars and discovered a further 60 pulsars, two of which are fast-spinning pulsars with periods less than 30 ms. PSR J1101-6424 is a millisecond pulsar whose heavy white dwarf (WD) companion and short spin period of 5.1 ms indicate a rare example of full-recycling via Case A Roche lobe overflow. PSR J1757-27 appears to be an isolated recycled pulsar with a relatively long spin period of 17 ms. In addition, PSR J1244-6359 is a mildly recycled binary system with a heavy WD companion, PSR J1755-25 has a significant orbital eccentricity of 0.09 and PSR J1759-24 is likely to be a long-orbit eclipsing binary with orbital period of the order of tens of years. Comparison of our newly discovered pulsar sample to the known population suggests that they belong to an older population. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our current pulsar detection yield is as expected from population synthesis.

A SUCCESSFUL BROADBAND SURVEY FOR GIANT Lyα NEBULAE. I. SURVEY DESIGN AND CANDIDATE SELECTION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prescott, Moire K. M.; Dey, Arjun; Jannuzi, Buell T.

2012-01-01

Giant Lyα nebulae (or Lyα 'blobs') are likely sites of ongoing massive galaxy formation, but the rarity of these powerful sources has made it difficult to form a coherent picture of their properties, ionization mechanisms, and space density. Systematic narrowband Lyα nebula surveys are ongoing, but the small redshift range covered and the observational expense limit the comoving volume that can be probed by even the largest of these surveys and pose a significant problem when searching for such rare sources. We have developed a systematic search technique designed to find large Lyα nebulae at 2 ∼ 2 NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey Boötes field. With a total survey comoving volume of ≈10 8 h –3 70 Mpc 3 , this is the largest volume survey for Lyα nebulae ever undertaken. In this first paper in the series, we present the details of the survey design and a systematically selected sample of 79 candidates, which includes one previously discovered Lyα nebula.

An Overview Of The Nigerian National Health Bill | Saka | Savannah ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The National Health Bill was developed in 2004 as an instrument for correcting ... in the 1999 constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria as it relates to the health sector. ... Its provisions have effects on all three levels of care and subsystems ...

Constraints on the brown dwarf mass function from optical and infrared searches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Probst, R.G.

1986-01-01

Photometric surveys of faint proper motion stars and searches for infrared binary companions have identified a few very low luminosity objects. The author considers how these searches may constrain the brown dwarf mass function. An astrophysically plausible brown dwarf population is defined which yields a dark mass density = 0.5 x the observed density. Using the sensitivity and other limits of various surveys, the expected numbers of observable brown dwarfs are obtained from the model population for comparison with actual results. Reasonable improvement in search protocol could yield statistically significant tests of the brown dwarf mass function. (author)

The impact of rate design and net metering on the bill savings from distributed PV for residential customers in California

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darghouth, Naim R.; Barbose, Galen; Wiser, Ryan

2011-01-01

Net metering has become a widespread mechanism in the U.S. for supporting customer adoption of distributed photovoltaics (PV), but has faced challenges as PV installations grow to a larger share of generation in a number of states. This paper examines the value of the bill savings that customers receive under net metering, and the associated role of retail rate design, based on a sample of approximately two hundred residential customers of California's two largest electric utilities. We find that the bill savings per kWh of PV electricity generated varies by more than a factor of four across the customers in the sample, which is largely attributable to the inclining block structure of the utilities' residential retail rates. We also compare the bill savings under net metering to that received under three potential alternative compensation mechanisms, based on California's Market Price Referent (MPR). We find that net metering provides significantly greater bill savings than a full MPR-based feed-in tariff, but only modestly greater savings than alternative mechanisms under which hourly or monthly net excess generation is compensated at the MPR rate. - Highlights: → We examine the value of bill savings under net metering to PV owners in California. → Bill savings per kWh of PV generation varies by a factor of four with net metering. The variation is attributable to rate design, the unique inclining block structure. → The median value of bill savings is reduced by 40-67% with MPR feed-in tariff. → The median value of bill savings is reduced by 6-12% with hourly netting.

Access to care and use of the Internet to search for health information: results from the US National Health Interview Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Amante, Daniel J; Hogan, Timothy P; Pagoto, Sherry L; English, Thomas M; Lapane, Kate L

2015-04-29

The insurance mandate of the Affordable Care Act has increased the number of people with health coverage in the United States. There is speculation that this increase in the number of insured could make accessing health care services more difficult. Those who are unable to access care in a timely manner may use the Internet to search for information needed to answer their health questions. The aim was to determine whether difficulty accessing health care services for reasons unrelated to insurance coverage is associated with increased use of the Internet to obtain health information. Survey data from 32,139 adults in the 2011 National Health Interview Study (NHIS) were used in this study. The exposure for this analysis was reporting difficulty accessing health care services or delaying getting care for a reason unrelated to insurance status. To define this exposure, we examined 8 questions that asked whether different access problems occurred during the previous 12 months. The outcome for this analysis, health information technology (HIT) use, was captured by examining 2 questions that asked survey respondents if they used an online health chat room or searched the Internet to obtain health information in the previous 12 months. Several multinomial logistic regressions estimating the odds of using HIT for each reported access difficulty were conducted to accomplish the study objective. Of a survey population of 32,139 adults, more than 15.90% (n=5109) reported experiencing at least one access to care barrier, whereas 3.63% (1168/32,139) reported using online health chat rooms and 43.55% (13,997/32,139) reported searching the Internet for health information. Adults who reported difficulty accessing health care services for reasons unrelated to their health insurance coverage had greater odds of using the Internet to obtain health information. Those who reported delaying getting care because they could not get an appointment soon enough (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.9-2.5), were

A Moderate Redshift Supernova Search Program

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, M. T.; Wheeler, J. C.; Ward, M.; Wren, W. R.; Schmidt, B. P.

1995-12-01

We report on a recently initiated supernova (SN) search program using the McDonald Observatory 0.76m telescope and Prime Focus Camera (PFC). This SN search program takes advantage of the PFC's 42.6 x 42.6 arcmin FOV to survey moderate redshift Abell clusters in single Kron-Cousins R-band images. Our scientific goal is to discover and provide quality BVRI photometric follow-up, to R \\ +21, for a significant SNe sample at 0.03 group (Perlmutter et al 1995, ApJ, 440, L41), and the High Redshift SN Search Team (Schmidt et al 1995, Aiguiblava NATO ASI Proceedings). The McDonald SN search program includes a sample of the Abell clusters used by Lauer and Postman (1994, ApJ, 425, 418) to analyze Local Group motion. SNe discovered in these clusters contribute to the resolution of the Local Group motion controversy. We present an overview of the McDonald Observatory supernova search program, and discuss recent results.

The Complexity Of Billing And Paying For Physician Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Gottlieb, Joshua D; Shapiro, Adam Hale; Dunn, Abe

2018-04-01

The administrative costs of providing health insurance in the US are very high, but their determinants are poorly understood. We advance the nascent literature in this field by developing new measures of billing complexity for physician care across insurers and over time, and by estimating them using a large sample of detailed insurance "remittance data" for the period 2013-15. We found dramatic variation across different types of insurance. Fee-for-service Medicaid is the most challenging type of insurer to bill, with a claim denial rate that is 17.8 percentage points higher than that for fee-for-service Medicare. The denial rate for Medicaid managed care was 6 percentage points higher than that for fee-for-service Medicare, while the rate for private insurance appeared similar to that of Medicare Advantage. Based on conservative assumptions, we estimated that the health care sector deals with $11 billion in challenged revenue annually, but this number could be as high as $54 billion. These costs have significant implications for analyses of health insurance reforms.

The Role of Non-Governmental Organization (NGO in Advocating the National Security Bill

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yusa Djuyandi

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The role run by a coalition of NGOs in advocating the National Security Bill aimed at encouraging the birth of national security policy to appropriate to the purpose of reform. However, until now the role of NGOs in advocating National Security Bill has not been able to encourage the authorities to reconstruct the draft of national security policy that is consistent with the objectives of security sector reform. This study is conducted to analyze the role of NGOs in the security sector reform in Indonesia, particularly through the advocacy of the National Security Bill. The method used in this study is a qualitative method. The result shows that NGOs, which are members of the KMSRK, have been running the multiple roles, such as: popularly involved in policy making, providing political education to the community, promoting or encouraging reform, and promoting the interests of the community. The study also suggests the existence of new findings of the role of NGOs, which is forming a coherent unity of interests.

MODELING BILL-OF-MATERIAL WITH TREE DATA STRUCTURE: CASE STUDY IN FURNITURE MANUFACTURER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Toni Prahasto

2012-02-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a modeling of Bill-of-Material with tree data structure. The BOM represents wooden furniture products. The management of BOM is incorporated into an MRP software which is specially built for a furniture manufacturer. The tree data structure is approached with an object oriented programming to provide the creation and modification of the data. The tree object is designed so that a downstream programmer can create an application with high productivity, using the BOM object of course. Legality of the development is ensured by adapting open source resources, i.e. MySQL database engine, PHP server script, and client-side Javascript. The BOM object is used extensively in the MRP software that is being developed. A couple of screenshots are presented to demonstrate the ease of creation and manipulation of Bill-of-Material. The proper approach of modeling BOM with tree structure allows the programmer to reach high productivity during the development of the aforementioned MRP customized software. Keyword : Modeling, Bill of Material, Tree Data Structure

Job search and over-education: Evidence from China's labour ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article investigates the relationship between the number of informational channels and over-education in the outcome of job search, using the survey data of postgraduates in China. The empirical results show: (1) the more the informational channels of job search are used, the lower the probability and the less the ...

A SUCCESSFUL BROADBAND SURVEY FOR GIANT Ly{alpha} NEBULAE. I. SURVEY DESIGN AND CANDIDATE SELECTION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prescott, Moire K. M. [Department of Physics, Broida Hall, Mail Code 9530, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Dey, Arjun; Jannuzi, Buell T., E-mail: mkpresco@physics.ucsb.edu [National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States)

2012-04-01

Giant Ly{alpha} nebulae (or Ly{alpha} 'blobs') are likely sites of ongoing massive galaxy formation, but the rarity of these powerful sources has made it difficult to form a coherent picture of their properties, ionization mechanisms, and space density. Systematic narrowband Ly{alpha} nebula surveys are ongoing, but the small redshift range covered and the observational expense limit the comoving volume that can be probed by even the largest of these surveys and pose a significant problem when searching for such rare sources. We have developed a systematic search technique designed to find large Ly{alpha} nebulae at 2 {approx}< z {approx}< 3 within deep broadband imaging and have carried out a survey of the 9.4 deg{sup 2} NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey Booetes field. With a total survey comoving volume of Almost-Equal-To 10{sup 8} h{sup -3}{sub 70} Mpc{sup 3}, this is the largest volume survey for Ly{alpha} nebulae ever undertaken. In this first paper in the series, we present the details of the survey design and a systematically selected sample of 79 candidates, which includes one previously discovered Ly{alpha} nebula.

Searching for the Next Generation of Teacher Educators: Assessing the Success of Academic Searches

Science.gov (United States)

Twombly, Susan B.; Wolf-Wendel, Lisa; Williams, James; Green, Pamela

2006-01-01

In light of a documented shortage of candidates for teacher education faculty positions, this article explores the academic labor market for teacher education faculty using job announcements from the Chronicle of Higher Education and a survey of search chairs to examine the qualifications sought. The authors conclude that the demand for teacher…

Effects of implementing electronic medical records on primary care billings and payments: a before-after study.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaakkimainen, R Liisa; Shultz, Susan E; Tu, Karen

2013-09-01

Several barriers to the adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) by family physicians have been discussed, including the costs of implementation, impact on work flow and loss of productivity. We examined billings and payments received before and after implementation of EMRs among primary care physicians in the province of Ontario. We also examined billings and payments before and after switching from a fee-for-service to a capitation payment model, because EMR implementation coincided with primary care reform in the province. We used information from the Electronic Medical Record Administrative Data Linked Database (EMRALD) to conduct a retrospective before-after study. The EMRALD database includes EMR data extracted from 183 community-based family physicians in Ontario. We included EMRALD physicians who were eligible to bill the Ontario Health Insurance Plan at least 18 months before and after the date they started using EMRs and had completed a full 18-month period before Mar. 31, 2011, when the study stopped. The main outcome measures were physicians' monthly billings and payments for office visits and total annual payments received from all government sources. Two index dates were examined: the date physicians started using EMRs and were in a stable payment model (n = 64) and the date physicians switched from a fee-for-service to a capitation payment model (n = 42). Monthly billings and payments for office visits did not decrease after the implementation of EMRs. The overall weighted mean annual payment from all government sources increased by 27.7% after the start of EMRs among EMRALD physicians; an increase was also observed among all other primary care physicians in Ontario, but it was not as great (14.4%). There was a decline in monthly billings and payments for office visits after physicians changed payment models, but an increase in their overall annual government payments. Implementation of EMRs by primary care physicians did not result in decreased

Effects of implementing electronic medical records on primary care billings and payments: a before–after study

Science.gov (United States)

Shultz, Susan E.; Tu, Karen

2013-01-01

Background Several barriers to the adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) by family physicians have been discussed, including the costs of implementation, impact on work flow and loss of productivity. We examined billings and payments received before and after implementation of EMRs among primary care physicians in the province of Ontario. We also examined billings and payments before and after switching from a fee-for-service to a capitation payment model, because EMR implementation coincided with primary care reform in the province. Methods We used information from the Electronic Medical Record Administrative Data Linked Database (EMRALD) to conduct a retrospective before–after study. The EMRALD database includes EMR data extracted from 183 community-based family physicians in Ontario. We included EMRALD physicians who were eligible to bill the Ontario Health Insurance Plan at least 18 months before and after the date they started using EMRs and had completed a full 18-month period before Mar. 31, 2011, when the study stopped. The main outcome measures were physicians’ monthly billings and payments for office visits and total annual payments received from all government sources. Two index dates were examined: the date physicians started using EMRs and were in a stable payment model (n = 64) and the date physicians switched from a fee-for-service to a capitation payment model (n = 42). Results Monthly billings and payments for office visits did not decrease after the implementation of EMRs. The overall weighted mean annual payment from all government sources increased by 27.7% after the start of EMRs among EMRALD physicians; an increase was also observed among all other primary care physicians in Ontario, but it was not as great (14.4%). There was a decline in monthly billings and payments for office visits after physicians changed payment models, but an increase in their overall annual government payments. Interpretation Implementation of EMRs by

Search theory a game theoretic perspective

CERN Document Server

2014-01-01

The first book focusing on search and rendezvous that will appeal to the computer science, mathematics and biology communities as well as non-experts Most chapters include case studies or surveys Includes a chapter on mobility in governed social networks

The Interpretation of Dreams: Ladson-Billings, Freud, and Derrida

Science.gov (United States)

Greenwalt, Kyle

2010-01-01

This study provides a critical and close reading of "The Dreamkeepers" (1994), by Gloria Ladson-Billings. The paper focuses primarily on the gendered nature of "being a teacher" and "being a student" as revealed in the dreamkeeper text, while maintaining its engagement with race and culture as it is manifested in the United States context. It…

Rancang Bangun Perangkat Lunak Billing dan Implementasi Voice Over Internet Protocol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Honni Honni

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The rapidly evolving communication system enables applications for telephone communication to be carried over the data network known as VoIP (voice over internet protocol. SIP (session initiation protocol as the signaling protocol is text-based VoIP which can be implemented easily in comparison with other signalingprotocols. The purpose of this paper is designing and implementing VoIP billing up to the company to provide additional facilities for enterprise customers. The methods start with data collection, analysis, design, development, and implementation. The result achieved is a system of VoIP with SIP and Asterisk software which has functions of PBX to provide additional facilities such as VoIP which is a plus for the company and customers. After implemented, the VoIP system and billing features are found work well.

Cross-system evaluation of clinical trial search engines.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Silis Y; Weng, Chunhua

2014-01-01

Clinical trials are fundamental to the advancement of medicine but constantly face recruitment difficulties. Various clinical trial search engines have been designed to help health consumers identify trials for which they may be eligible. Unfortunately, knowledge of the usefulness and usability of their designs remains scarce. In this study, we used mixed methods, including time-motion analysis, think-aloud protocol, and survey, to evaluate five popular clinical trial search engines with 11 users. Differences in user preferences and time spent on each system were observed and correlated with user characteristics. In general, searching for applicable trials using these systems is a cognitively demanding task. Our results show that user perceptions of these systems are multifactorial. The survey indicated eTACTS being the generally preferred system, but this finding did not persist among all mixed methods. This study confirms the value of mixed-methods for a comprehensive system evaluation. Future system designers must be aware that different users groups expect different functionalities.

Persons with disability bill 2002 and its implications to the provision ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Persons with disability bill 2002 and its implications to the provision of library and ... services to the visually handicapped persons in Kenyan learning institutions. ... to achieve their full potential and protect them from undue discrimination.

Non-physician providers as clinical providers in cystic fibrosis: survey of U.S. programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Rebekah F; Willey-Courand, Donna Beth; George, Cindy; McMullen, Ann; Dunitz, Jordan; Slovis, Bonnie; Perkett, Elizabeth

2013-04-01

Non-physician providers (NPPs) including nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) are important members of CF care teams, but limited data exist about the extent NPPs are involved in CF care. A subcommittee was established by the CF Foundation to gather information about current involvement of NPPs. Surveys were sent to adult, pediatric and affiliate CF program directors (PDs) and NPPs working in US CF programs. Responses were received from 108 PDs (49% pediatric, 34% adult, 17% affiliate). Overall, 53% of the 108 programs had NPPs and 70% had or planned to hire NPPs. Reasons for NPP use included ideal clinical role (75%), expansion of services (72%), and physician shortage (40%). The survey collected 73 responses from NPPs (96% NPs, 4% PAs) who worked in pediatric (49%), adult (29%), affiliate (3%), or multiple programs (19%). Training occurred on the job in 88% and from prior CF experience in 21%. NPPs provided coverage in outpatient clinics (82%), inpatient care (64%), and weekend and/or night call (22%). In addition to clinical roles, NPPs are involved in education (95%), research (81%), and leadership (55%). The major obstacle reported by PDs and NPPs was billing with only 12% of programs reporting NPP salaries covered by billing revenue alone. Salary support included hospital support (67%), billing (39%), center grant (35%), and other grant/contract (25%). NPPs bill for outpatient and inpatient care in 65% and 28% of programs, respectively. NPPs are working with physicians in many centers and have the potential to help meet the increasing clinical workforce demands. Further evaluation of financial issues is indicated to continue the support of NPP jobs in CF. Roles and expectations need to be clearly defined. Initial and ongoing training standards and opportunities should be explored. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

War and Marriage: Assortative Mating and the World War II GI Bill.

Science.gov (United States)

Larsen, Matthew F; McCarthy, T J; Moulton, Jeremy G; Page, Marianne E; Patel, Ankur J

2015-10-01

World War II and its subsequent GI Bill have been widely credited with playing a transformative role in American society, but there have been few quantitative analyses of these historical events' broad social effects. We exploit between-cohort variation in the probability of military service to investigate how WWII and the GI Bill altered the structure of marriage, and find that it had important spillover effects beyond its direct effect on men's educational attainment. Our results suggest that the additional education received by returning veterans caused them to "sort" into wives with significantly higher levels of education. This suggests an important mechanism by which socioeconomic status may be passed on to the next generation.

Heat exchange from the toucan bill reveals a controllable vascular thermal radiator.

Science.gov (United States)

Tattersall, Glenn J; Andrade, Denis V; Abe, Augusto S

2009-07-24

The toco toucan (Ramphastos toco), the largest member of the toucan family, possesses the largest beak relative to body size of all birds. This exaggerated feature has received various interpretations, from serving as a sexual ornament to being a refined adaptation for feeding. However, it is also a significant surface area for heat exchange. Here we show the remarkable capacity of the toco toucan to regulate heat distribution by modifying blood flow, using the bill as a transient thermal radiator. Our results indicate that the toucan's bill is, relative to its size, one of the largest thermal windows in the animal kingdom, rivaling elephants' ears in its ability to radiate body heat.

Privacy-Preserving Billing Scheme against Free-Riders for Wireless Charging Electric Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xingwen Zhao

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, scientists in South Korea developed on-line electric vehicle (OLEV, which is a kind of electric vehicle that can be charged wirelessly while it is moving on the road. The battery in the vehicle can absorb electric energy from the power transmitters buried under the road without any contact with them. Several billing schemes have been presented to offer privacy-preserving billing for OLEV owners. However, they did not consider the existence of free-riders. When some vehicles are being charged after showing the tokens, vehicles that are running ahead or behind can switch on their systems and drive closely for a free charging. We describe a billing scheme against free-riders by using several cryptographic tools. Each vehicle should authenticate with a compensation-prepaid token before it can drive on the wireless-charging-enabled road. The service provider can obtain compensation if it can prove that certain vehicle is a free-rider. Our scheme is privacy-preserving so the charging will not disclose the locations and routine routes of each vehicle. In fact, our scheme is a fast authentication scheme that anonymously authenticates each user on accessing a sequence of services. Thus, it can be applied to sequential data delivering services in future 5G systems.

Putting Continuous Metaheuristics to Work in Binary Search Spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Broderick Crawford

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In the real world, there are a number of optimization problems whose search space is restricted to take binary values; however, there are many continuous metaheuristics with good results in continuous search spaces. These algorithms must be adapted to solve binary problems. This paper surveys articles focused on the binarization of metaheuristics designed for continuous optimization.

Mehhiklane troonil: kas Bill Gatesi ajastu sai tõesti otsa? / Heiki Suurkask

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Suurkask, Heiki, 1972-

2010-01-01

Ajakirja Forbes koostatud maailma rikkaimate inimeste edetabelist, mille tipus on Mehhiko telekomi monopoli suuromanik Carlos Slim Helú, seniselt liidripositsioonilt on teisele kohale langenud Microsofti rajaja Bill Gates

Empty Promise: Black American Veterans and the New GI Bill

Science.gov (United States)

Ottley, Alford H.

2014-01-01

The 2008 GI Bill offers college funds for veterans. Yet Black male vets are not taking advantage of these benefits. This chapter examines personal and societal problems that hinder access to higher education for Black vets, and suggests some ways adult educators can advocate for these young men.

Personalized Learning Instructional Staff Survey Results (Spring 2014). Working Paper WR-1062-BMGF

Science.gov (United States)

Siler-Evans, Kyle; Steiner, Elizabeth D.; Hamilton, Laura S.; Pane, John F.

2014-01-01

The purpose of this document is to descriptively summarize instructional staff responses to a survey administered by RAND in 23 personalized learning (PL) schools in Spring 2014. This work was performed at the request of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), as part of a multi-year evaluation contract. The 23 schools were selected from a…

The SUrvey for Pulsars and Extragalactic Radio Bursts - I. Survey description and overview

Science.gov (United States)

Keane, E. F.; Barr, E. D.; Jameson, A.; Morello, V.; Caleb, M.; Bhandari, S.; Petroff, E.; Possenti, A.; Burgay, M.; Tiburzi, C.; Bailes, M.; Bhat, N. D. R.; Burke-Spolaor, S.; Eatough, R. P.; Flynn, C.; Jankowski, F.; Johnston, S.; Kramer, M.; Levin, L.; Ng, C.; van Straten, W.; Krishnan, V. Venkatraman

2018-01-01

We describe the Survey for Pulsars and Extragalactic Radio Bursts (SUPERB), an ongoing pulsar and fast transient survey using the Parkes radio telescope. SUPERB involves real-time acceleration searches for pulsars and single-pulse searches for pulsars and fast radio bursts. We report on the observational set-up, data analysis, multiwavelength/messenger connections, survey sensitivities to pulsars and fast radio bursts and the impact of radio frequency interference. We further report on the first 10 pulsars discovered in the project. Among these is PSR J1306-40, a millisecond pulsar in a binary system where it appears to be eclipsed for a large fraction of the orbit. PSR J1421-4407 is another binary millisecond pulsar; its orbital period is 30.7 d. This orbital period is in a range where only highly eccentric binaries are known, and expected by theory; despite this its orbit has an eccentricity of 10-5.

Nurse Discontent: The Search for Realistic Solutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Ginzberg, Eli; And Others

1982-01-01

Following a report on the findings of a survey of North Florida nurses, the authors present several approaches for nursing administrators to consider when searching for more productive strategies to improve retention of hospital nurses. (CT)

Bill related to the struggle against proliferation of mass destruction weapons and their vectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

This bill indicates the modifications brought to different French laws and codes (penal code, defence code, custom code) and defines provisions and penalties within the frame of struggle against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear weapons, biological weapons and toxin-based weapons, chemical weapons), and against the proliferation of their vectors. These modifications, provisions and penalties also concern double-use products. The bill also defines the modifications brought to the French penal procedure code. It finally addresses offenses related to these proliferations which can be considered as an act of terrorism

Aerial radiation survey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pradeep Kumar, K.S.

1998-01-01

Aerial gamma spectrometry surveys are the most effective, comprehensive and preferred tool to delimit the large area surface contamination in a radiological emergency either due to a nuclear accident or following a nuclear strike. The airborne survey apart from providing rapid and economical evaluation of ground contamination over large areas due to larger ground clearance and higher speed, is the only technique to overcome difficulties posed by ground surveys of inaccessible region. The aerial survey technique can also be used for searching of lost radioactive sources, tracking of radioactive plume and generation of background data on the Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) of nuclear installations

First discoveries of z ˜ 6 quasars with the Kilo-Degree Survey and VISTA Kilo-Degree Infrared Galaxy survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Venemans, B. P.; Verdoes Kleijn, G. A.; Mwebaze, J.; Valentijn, E. A.; Bañados, E.; Decarli, R.; de Jong, J. T. A.; Findlay, J. R.; Kuijken, K. H.; Barbera, F. La; Mc Farland, John; McMahon, R. G.; Napolitano, N.; Sikkema, G.; Sutherland, W. J.

2015-01-01

We present the results of our first year of quasar search in the ongoing ESO public Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) and VISTA Kilo-Degree Infrared Galaxy (VIKING) surveys. These surveys are among the deeper wide-field surveys that can be used to uncover large numbers of z ˜ 6 quasars. This allows us to

Industry wins, loses in House bill

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that the House of Representatives has approved a plan to limit U.S. gas prorationing by the states but rejected a move to require petroleum refiners and importers to place 1% of their oil or products volumes into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The oil industry lobbied heavily against the SPR provision, which went down 263-135. The House then passed its omnibus energy bill 381-37. It is designed to facilitate all types of energy production while promoting conservation. The legislation also imposes bans on offshore leasing but gives independent producers limited relief from the alternative minimum tax (AMT) and does not include a mandate for use of ethanol in gasoline

The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs. High-resolution optical and near-infrared spectroscopy of 324 survey stars

Science.gov (United States)

Reiners, A.; Zechmeister, M.; Caballero, J. A.; Ribas, I.; Morales, J. C.; Jeffers, S. V.; Schöfer, P.; Tal-Or, L.; Quirrenbach, A.; Amado, P. J.; Kaminski, A.; Seifert, W.; Abril, M.; Aceituno, J.; Alonso-Floriano, F. J.; Ammler-von Eiff, M.; Antona, R.; Anglada-Escudé, G.; Anwand-Heerwart, H.; Arroyo-Torres, B.; Azzaro, M.; Baroch, D.; Barrado, D.; Bauer, F. F.; Becerril, S.; Béjar, V. J. S.; Benítez, D.; Berdinas˜, Z. M.; Bergond, G.; Blümcke, M.; Brinkmöller, M.; del Burgo, C.; Cano, J.; Cárdenas Vázquez, M. C.; Casal, E.; Cifuentes, C.; Claret, A.; Colomé, J.; Cortés-Contreras, M.; Czesla, S.; Díez-Alonso, E.; Dreizler, S.; Feiz, C.; Fernández, M.; Ferro, I. M.; Fuhrmeister, B.; Galadí-Enríquez, D.; Garcia-Piquer, A.; García Vargas, M. L.; Gesa, L.; Galera, V. Gómez; González Hernández, J. I.; González-Peinado, R.; Grözinger, U.; Grohnert, S.; Guàrdia, J.; Guenther, E. W.; Guijarro, A.; Guindos, E. de; Gutiérrez-Soto, J.; Hagen, H.-J.; Hatzes, A. P.; Hauschildt, P. H.; Hedrosa, R. P.; Helmling, J.; Henning, Th.; Hermelo, I.; Hernández Arabí, R.; Hernández Castaño, L.; Hernández Hernando, F.; Herrero, E.; Huber, A.; Huke, P.; Johnson, E. N.; Juan, E. de; Kim, M.; Klein, R.; Klüter, J.; Klutsch, A.; Kürster, M.; Lafarga, M.; Lamert, A.; Lampón, M.; Lara, L. M.; Laun, W.; Lemke, U.; Lenzen, R.; Launhardt, R.; López del Fresno, M.; López-González, J.; López-Puertas, M.; López Salas, J. F.; López-Santiago, J.; Luque, R.; Magán Madinabeitia, H.; Mall, U.; Mancini, L.; Mandel, H.; Marfil, E.; Marín Molina, J. A.; Maroto Fernández, D.; Martín, E. L.; Martín-Ruiz, S.; Marvin, C. J.; Mathar, R. J.; Mirabet, E.; Montes, D.; Moreno-Raya, M. E.; Moya, A.; Mundt, R.; Nagel, E.; Naranjo, V.; Nortmann, L.; Nowak, G.; Ofir, A.; Oreiro, R.; Pallé, E.; Panduro, J.; Pascual, J.; Passegger, V. M.; Pavlov, A.; Pedraz, S.; Pérez-Calpena, A.; Medialdea, D. Pérez; Perger, M.; Perryman, M. A. C.; Pluto, M.; Rabaza, O.; Ramón, A.; Rebolo, R.; Redondo, P.; Reffert, S.; Reinhart, S.; Rhode, P.; Rix, H.-W.; Rodler, F.; Rodríguez, E.; Rodríguez-López, C.; Rodríguez Trinidad, A.; Rohloff, R.-R.; Rosich, A.; Sadegi, S.; Sánchez-Blanco, E.; Sánchez Carrasco, M. A.; Sánchez-López, A.; Sanz-Forcada, J.; Sarkis, P.; Sarmiento, L. F.; Schäfer, S.; Schmitt, J. H. M. M.; Schiller, J.; Schweitzer, A.; Solano, E.; Stahl, O.; Strachan, J. B. P.; Stürmer, J.; Suárez, J. C.; Tabernero, H. M.; Tala, M.; Trifonov, T.; Tulloch, S. M.; Ulbrich, R. G.; Veredas, G.; Vico Linares, J. I.; Vilardell, F.; Wagner, K.; Winkler, J.; Wolthoff, V.; Xu, W.; Yan, F.; Zapatero Osorio, M. R.

2018-04-01

The CARMENES radial velocity (RV) survey is observing 324 M dwarfs to search for any orbiting planets. In this paper, we present the survey sample by publishing one CARMENES spectrum for each M dwarf. These spectra cover the wavelength range 520-1710 nm at a resolution of at least R >80 000, and we measure its RV, Hα emission, and projected rotation velocity. We present an atlas of high-resolution M-dwarf spectra and compare the spectra to atmospheric models. To quantify the RV precision that can be achieved in low-mass stars over the CARMENES wavelength range, we analyze our empirical information on the RV precision from more than 6500 observations. We compare our high-resolution M-dwarf spectra to atmospheric models where we determine the spectroscopic RV information content, Q, and signal-to-noise ratio. We find that for all M-type dwarfs, the highest RV precision can be reached in the wavelength range 700-900 nm. Observations at longer wavelengths are equally precise only at the very latest spectral types (M8 and M9). We demonstrate that in this spectroscopic range, the large amount of absorption features compensates for the intrinsic faintness of an M7 star. To reach an RV precision of 1 m s-1 in very low mass M dwarfs at longer wavelengths likely requires the use of a 10 m class telescope. For spectral types M6 and earlier, the combination of a red visual and a near-infrared spectrograph is ideal to search for low-mass planets and to distinguish between planets and stellar variability. At a 4 m class telescope, an instrument like CARMENES has the potential to push the RV precision well below the typical jitter level of 3-4 m s-1.

An Enterprise Model for Real-Time Inter-domain Billing of Services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Le, V.M.; van Beijnum, Bernhard J.F.; Nieuwenhuis, Lambertus Johannes Maria; Huitema, G.B.

2008-01-01

The technological developments in networking solutions, information and communication services create the basis for the provisioning of complex, realtime services. This paper addresses the charging and billing of such advanced services. Advanced services will be composed of services provided by

Wound center facility billing: A retrospective analysis of time, wound size, and acuity scoring for determining facility level of service.

Science.gov (United States)

Fife, Caroline E; Walker, David; Farrow, Wade; Otto, Gordon

2007-01-01

Outpatient wound center facility reimbursement for Medicare beneficiaries can be a challenge to determine and obtain. To compare methods of calculating facility service levels for outpatient wound centers and to demonstrate the advantages of an acuity-based billing system (one that incorporates components of facility work that is non-reimbursable by procedure codes and that represents an activity-based costing approach to medical billing), a retrospective study of 5,098 patient encounters contained in a wound care-specific electronic medical record database was conducted. Approximately 500 patient visits to the outpatient wound center of a Texas regional hospital between April 2003 and November 2004 were categorized by service level in documentation and facility management software. Visits previously billed using a time-based system were compared to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' proposed three-tiered wound size-based system. The time-based system also was compared to an acuity-based scoring system. The Pearson correlation coefficient between billed level of service by time and estimated level of service by acuity was 0.442 and the majority of follow-up visits were billed as Level 3 and above (on a time level of 1 to 5) , confirming that time is not a surrogate for actual work performed. Wound size also was found to be unrelated to service level (Pearson correlation = 0.017) and 97% of wound areas were billings than extremes; no other method produced this distribution. Hospital-based outpatient wound centers should develop, review, and refine acuity score-based models on which to determine billed level of service.

New Commodity Services System increases gas bill for clients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koevoet, H.

2003-01-01

The Dutch company Gasunie Trade and Supply will replace the Commodity Services System (CDS, abbreviated in Dutch) January 1, 2004. This will result in a higher gas bill for almost all their clients that are expected to use more than 1 million m 3 natural gas per year. An overview is given of the principles of the old and the new pricing system [nl

Defense Authorization and Appropriations Bills: FY1970-FY2017

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-18

textbooks on legislative procedure. Tracking DOD authorization or appropriation bills can be confusing and time-consuming. This has been particularly...by the President through the White House Office of Management and Budget) to the defense authorizing and appropriations committees. Then, for...maintain operations . 3 This might be considered a “line of credit” against the enactment of the relevant appropriations for the new fiscal year

Pricing and Billing of Technical Assistance Sold to Foreign Military Sales Customers

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

1990-01-01

.... The audit also included a follow-up review of recommendations applicable to the issuance of specific guidance for pricing and billing CIP costs, depot maintenance costs, and missile target and range costs...

A winter survey of domestic heating among elderly patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, R; Blair, A; King, D

1996-02-01

Elderly people have a greater need for domestic heating given the time they spend at home and the decline in the body thermoregulation that occurs with ageing. The use of domestic heating by 200 mentally competent newly admitted elderly in patients was evaluated by means of a questionnaire survey. Most patients (69%) were aware of the addition of value added tax (VAT) to their fuel bill and 31% said they had reduced the amount of heating they use because of this. A third of patients (29.5%) said they had difficulty keeping warm prior to this admission. The majority of patients said they could not manage to keep warm in the winter without financial hardship. In addition, 29% said they had reduced the amount spent on food in order to pay for fuel bills. This study suggests that cold may contribute to hospital admissions in elderly patients. This should have implications for government spending and taxation policy on domestic heating.

The optimal number of surveys when detectability varies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alana L Moore

Full Text Available The survey of plant and animal populations is central to undertaking field ecology. However, detection is imperfect, so the absence of a species cannot be determined with certainty. Methods developed to account for imperfect detectability during surveys do not yet account for stochastic variation in detectability over time or space. When each survey entails a fixed cost that is not spent searching (e.g., time required to travel to the site, stochastic detection rates result in a trade-off between the number of surveys and the length of each survey when surveying a single site. We present a model that addresses this trade-off and use it to determine the number of surveys that: 1 maximizes the expected probability of detection over the entire survey period; and 2 is most likely to achieve a minimally-acceptable probability of detection. We illustrate the applicability of our approach using three practical examples (minimum survey effort protocols, number of frog surveys per season, and number of quadrats per site to detect a plant species and test our model's predictions using data from experimental plant surveys. We find that when maximizing the expected probability of detection, the optimal survey design is most sensitive to the coefficient of variation in the rate of detection and the ratio of the search budget to the travel cost. When maximizing the likelihood of achieving a particular probability of detection, the optimal survey design is most sensitive to the required probability of detection, the expected number of detections if the budget were spent only on searching, and the expected number of detections that are missed due to travel costs. We find that accounting for stochasticity in detection rates is likely to be particularly important for designing surveys when detection rates are low. Our model provides a framework to do this.

At CES Paul Allen beaming about Hawks, wishing Bill Gates well

CERN Multimedia

2008-01-01

when word came out that he and Bill Gates were supporting a spectacular new telescope with $30 million in donations. E-mail was apparently a little spotty on the yacht, but he responded last night to a few questions about the LSST project:

A breeding site record of Long-billed Vulture Gyps indicus (Aves: Accipitriformes: Accipitridae from Bejjur Reserve Forest, Telangana, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Swetha Stotrabhashyam

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The Long-billed Vulture Gyps indicus is, Critically Endangered with few known breeding sites in peninsular India.  We present a previously undocumented Long-billed Vulture breeding site in Bejjur Reserve Forest, Adilabad District, northern Telangana.

49 CFR 1035.1 - Requirement for certain forms of bills of lading.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Requirement for certain forms of bills of lading. (a) All common carriers, except express companies, engaged in the transportation of property other than livestock and wild animals, by rail or by water subject...

Bill project putting an end to the search for as well as to the exploitation of hydrocarbons, and bearing various applications related to energy and to the environment, adopted on new reading by the National Assembly - Nr 40

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colas-Roy, Jean-Charles

2017-01-01

While considering objectives of limitation of temperature increase, and in order to limit the use of fossil energies likes conventional and non-conventional hydrocarbons, the exploitation of which would result in an increase of CO 2 emissions, France has to modify its rules related to hydrocarbon extraction. This bill project therefore aims at programming the end of the exploration and of the exploitation of hydrocarbons. As mentioned, some articles of this bill project concern energy regulation, or can be a transposition of a European directive. This document presents the final version of each article adopted by the National Assembly

Size & Flow: Adult Education Issues in the Senate Immigration Bill

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Garrett; Spangenberg, Gail

2014-01-01

In this essay Garrett Murphy and Gail Spangenberg report on the need for understanding better than in the past, the number of undocumented immigrants likely to need adult education services under provisions of Senate Immigration Bill S.744. The essay looks at why the issues of "size and flow" are important for planners, providers, and…

Search without Boundaries Using Simple APIs

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Qi (Helen)

2009-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Library, where the author serves as the digital services librarian, is increasingly challenged to make it easier for users to find information from many heterogeneous information sources. Information is scattered throughout different software applications (i.e., library catalog, federated search engine, link…

Historic and contemporary mercury exposure and potential risk to yellow-billed loons (Gavia adamsii) breeding in Alaska and Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Evers, David C.; Schmutz, Joel A.; Basu, Niladri; DeSorbo, Christopher R.; Fair, Jeff; Gray, Carrie E.; Paruk, James D.; Perkins, Marie; Regan, Kevin; Uher-Koch, Brian D.; Wright, Kenneth G.

2014-01-01

The Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii) is one of the rarest breeding birds in North America. Because of the small population size and patchy distribution, any stressor to its population is of concern. To determine risks posed by environmental mercury (Hg) loads, we captured 115 Yellow-billed Loons between 2002 and 2012 in the North American Arctic and sampled their blood and/or feather tissues and collected nine eggs. Museum samples from Yellow-billed Loons also were analyzed to examine potential changes in Hg exposure over time. An extensive database of published Hg concentrations and associated adverse effects in Common Loons (G. immer) is highly informative and representative for Yellow-billed Loons. Blood Hg concentrations reflect dietary uptake of methylmercury (MeHg) from breeding areas and are generally considered near background levels if less than 1.0 µg/g wet weight (ww). Feather (grown at wintering sites) and egg Hg concentrations can represent a mix of breeding and wintering dietary uptake of MeHg. Based on Common Loon studies, significant risk of reduced reproductive success generally occurs when adult Hg concentrations exceed 2.0 µg/g ww in blood, 20.0 µg/g fresh weight (fw) in flight feathers and 1.0 µg/g ww in eggs. Contemporary mercury concentrations for 176 total samples (across all study sites for 115 Yellow-billed Loons) ranged from 0.08 to 1.45 µg/g ww in blood, 3.0 to 24.9 µg/g fw in feathers and 0.21 to 1.23 µg/g ww in eggs. Mercury concentrations in blood, feather and egg tissues indicate that some individual Yellow-billed Loons in breeding populations across North America are at risk of lowered productivity resulting from Hg exposure. Most Yellow-billed Loons breeding in Alaska overwinter in marine waters of eastern Asia. Although blood Hg concentrations from most breeding loons in Alaska are within background levels, some individuals exhibit elevated feather and egg Hg concentrations, which likely indicate the uptake of Me

9 CFR 73.6 - Placarding means of conveyance and marking billing of shipments of treated scabby cattle or...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... marking billing of shipments of treated scabby cattle or cattle exposed to scabies. 73.6 Section 73.6... INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION OF ANIMALS (INCLUDING POULTRY) AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS SCABIES IN CATTLE § 73.6 Placarding means of conveyance and marking billing of shipments of treated scabby cattle or cattle exposed to...

Bill Gates, If You're so Rich, How Come You're Not Smart? Point of View Essay

Science.gov (United States)

Bracey, Gerald

2005-01-01

Bill Gates and the governors were quite vague about what makes the schools obsolete or what to do about it. What is it, exactly, that schools are not teaching that they need to? Bill Gates also claimed that American kids were at the top in fourth grade, but at the bottom by 12th. The author congratulates Gates for focusing some attention on…

Short Note A perceived local extinction of Red-billed Oxpeckers in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Short Note A perceived local extinction of Red-billed Oxpeckers in the Yabelo region, southern Ethiopia. Richard J Mellanby, Celia Broadhurst, Mengistu Wondafrash, Mihiret Ewnetu, Sandy Watt, Rob Critchlow, Aman Dadesa, Tom Deas, Chere Enawgaw, Berihun Gebremedhin, Ellie Graham, Sarah MacLean, Ben Ross ...

BILL MUNDY THEORY, EFFECTIVE RAKE ANGLE CUTTING TOOLS IN COPPER ALLOYS TEORIA DE BILL MUNDY Y EL ANGULO EFECTIVO DE ATAQUE DE HERRAMIENTAS DE CORTE EN ALEACIONES DE COBRE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Miguel Godoy R

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Magazines like American Machinist and Manufacturing Engineering, have explained the Bill Mundy theory about the effective rake angle of cutting tools. These articles show the effective rake angle of cutting tools for carbon steel, steel , alloys, cast iron, aluminium and stainless steel. In the present work the theory is applied to cutting tools used in brass and bronze. The effective rake angle for these materials was obtained with the tensile stress test. The rake angles in the cutting tools were made in a Universal Grinding Machine Heiler. Finally, the power consumption was measured in a CNC Lathe. Tools with commercial rake angles from bibliography were compared with tools with the experimental effective rake angle obtained from the Bill Mundy Theory. The results show that the power consumption is about 10% lower for tools with the experimental effective rake angle.Revistas como American Machinist y Manufacturing Engineering, han explicado la Teoría de Bill Mundy y el ángulo efectivo de ataque en herramientas de corte utilizadas en aceros al carbono, aceros aleados, hierro fundido, aluminio y acero inoxidable. En este trabajo, esta teoría es aplicada a herramientas de corte usadas para latón y bronce y sus resultados son comparados con los ángulos de ataque recomendados por los fabricantes de herramientas de corte. El ángulo de ataque efectivo se obtiene del ensayo de tracción del material a ser mecanizado. Los ángulos de las herramientas fueron hechos en una máquina universal de afilar Heiler. El consumo de potencia fue medido en un torno CNC. El consumo de potencia con herramientas de corte comerciales con ángulos de corte recomendados por la bibliografía existente, fue comparado con las herramientas afiladas con el ángulo de corte efectivo obtenido a través de la teoría de Bill Mundy. Los resultados indican que el consumo de potencia es un 10% menor para las herramientas afiladas con el ángulo efectivo recomendado por la

Full-sky survey searching for ultra-narrow-band artificial CW signals: analysis of the results of Project META

Science.gov (United States)

Lemarchand, Guillermo A.

1996-06-01

Project META (Megachannel ExtraTerrestrial Assay), a full-sky survey for artificial narrow-band signals, has been conducted from the Harvard/Smithsonian 26 m radiotelescope at Agassiz Station and from one of the two 30 m radiotelescopes of the Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomia (IAR). The search was performed near the 1420 MHz line of neutral hydrogen, and its second harmonic, using two 8.4 X 10(superscript 6) channel Fourier spectrometers of 0.05 Hz resolution and 400 kHz of instantaneous bandwidth. The observing frequency was corrected both for motions with respect to three astronomical inertial frames, and for the effect of Earth's rotation, which provides a characteristic changing signature for narrow-band signals of extraterrestrial origin. Among the 6 X 10(superscript 13) spectral channels searched in the northern hemisphere, Horowitz and Sagan reported 37 candidates events exceeding the average threshold of 1.7 X 10(superscript -23) W m(superscript -2), while in the southern hemisphere among 2 X 10(superscript 13) spectral channels analyzed we found 19 events exceeding the same threshold. The strongest signals that survive culling for terrestrial interference lie in or near the Galactic Plane. The first high resolution southern target search around 71 stars (-90 degrees intelligence. It is showed that these narrow-band non-repeating 'events' found by Project META can be generated by (a) radiometer noise fluctuations, (b) a population of constant galactic sources which undergo deep fading and amplification due to interstellar scintillation, consistent with ETI transmissions and (c) real, transient signals of either terrestrial or extraterrestrial origin. The Bayesian test shows that hypothesis (b) and (c) are both highly preferred to (a), but the first two are about equally likely. Using this analysis we discuss the best observing strategies to determine the real origin of these 'events'.

76 FR 11079 - Sale and Issue of Marketable Book-Entry Treasury Bills, Notes, and Bonds; Minimum Interest Rate

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-01

... Treasury Bills, Notes, and Bonds; Minimum Interest Rate AGENCY: Bureau of the Public Debt, Fiscal Service... rules to establish a minimum interest rate of \\1/8\\ of one percent for all new Treasury note and bond... Treasury Bills, Notes, and Bonds \\1\\ (``UOC'' or ``Auction Rules'') to establish a minimum interest rate of...

Bill Lang's contributions to acoustics at the International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and to IBM in general

Science.gov (United States)

Nobile, Matthew A.; Chu, Richard C.

2005-09-01

Although Bill Lang's accomplishments and key roles in national and international standards and in the formation of INCE are widely recognized, sometimes it has to be remembered that for nearly 35 years he also had a ``day job'' at the IBM Corporation. His achievements at IBM were no less significant and enduring than those in external standards and professional societies. This paper will highlight some of the accomplishments and activities of Bill Lang as an IBM noise control engineer, the creator of the IBM Acoustics Lab in Poughkeepsie, the founder of the global Acoustics program at IBM, and his many other IBM leadership roles. Bill was also a long-serving IBM manager, with the full set of personnel issues to deal with, so his people-management skills were often called into play. Bill ended his long and fruitful IBM career at a high point. In 1988, he took an original idea of his to the top of IBM executive management, which led directly to the formation of the IBM Academy of Technology, today the preeminent body of IBM top technical leaders from around the world.

Key Elasticities in Job Search Theory : International Evidence

OpenAIRE

Addison, John T.; Centeno, Mário; Portugal, Pedro

2004-01-01

This paper exploits the informational value of search theory, after Lancaster and Chesher (1983), in conjunction with survey data on the unemployed to calculate key reservation wage and duration elasticities for most EU-15 nations.

COBRA: a Bayesian approach to pulsar searching

Science.gov (United States)

Lentati, L.; Champion, D. J.; Kramer, M.; Barr, E.; Torne, P.

2018-02-01

We introduce COBRA, a GPU-accelerated Bayesian analysis package for performing pulsar searching, that uses candidates from traditional search techniques to set the prior used for the periodicity of the source, and performs a blind search in all remaining parameters. COBRA incorporates models for both isolated and accelerated systems, as well as both Keplerian and relativistic binaries, and exploits pulse phase information to combine search epochs coherently, over time, frequency or across multiple telescopes. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach in a series of simulations that challenge typical search techniques, including highly aliased signals, and relativistic binary systems. In the most extreme case, we simulate an 8 h observation containing 24 orbits of a pulsar in a binary with a 30 M⊙ companion. Even in this scenario we show that we can build up from an initial low-significance candidate, to fully recovering the signal. We also apply the method to survey data of three pulsars from the globular cluster 47Tuc: PSRs J0024-7204D, J0023-7203J and J0024-7204R. This final pulsar is in a 1.6 h binary, the shortest of any pulsar in 47Tuc, and additionally shows significant scintillation. By allowing the amplitude of the source to vary as a function of time, however, we show that we are able to obtain optimal combinations of such noisy data. We also demonstrate the ability of COBRA to perform high-precision pulsar timing directly on the single pulse survey data, and obtain a 95 per cent upper limit on the eccentricity of PSR J0024-7204R of εb < 0.0007.

Bill Lowrie In The Apennines U Reading - The Pelagic Record of Geomagnetic Reversals

Science.gov (United States)

Alvarez, Walter

Twenty five years ago, Bill Lowrie and I, along with Mike Arthur, Al Fischer, Gio- vanni Napoleone, Isabella Premoli Silva and Bill Roggenthen, published a set of five papers in the Geological Society of America Bulletin (March 1977), reporting a re- markable new source of information on the geomagnetic polarity time scale. The re- versal sequence was already known back to the Late Cretaceous on the basis of marine magnetic anomalies, but only as a sequence of longer and shorter polarity intervals, a kind of fingerprint with almost no age calibration. At Gubbio, in the Umbrian Apen- nines of Italy, we discovered that the polarity intervals are also recorded in pelagic limestones, deposited quietly at moderate oceanic depths at rates of order 10 m/Myr. and these limestones are literally made of fossils, notably the planktic foraminifera which are the best age correlation tool for the last 100 Myr. The reversal sequence was now datable. You can make a discovery like this either by looking for it, as Al Fischer did U hoping ° that such a record would be present and waiting until magnetometers improved enough to make it possible to measure these very weakly magnetic rocks U or by stumbling ° on it as Bill and I did. We went to the Apennines hoping to measure paleomagnetically a tectonic rotation of the Italian crust. Digital spinner magnetometers had just become available and Bill found that he could measure the remanence of the Apennine pelagic limestones I had been studying in the field. Tectonic rotation of the Italian crust turned out to be very difficult to detect, because interbed slip was a major complication. But we accidentally sampled both normal and reversed beds in the Scaglia rossa limestone on our first trip, and back in the lab we recognized that we had a polarity record in front of us. The microfossils made it a datable record, which raised great excitement among our colleagues at Lamont, where sea-floor magnetic reversals were the key to tectonic

Crimes amendment (Zoe's law) Bill 2013 (No 2): paradoxical commercial impacts of the conservative agenda on fetal rights.

Science.gov (United States)

Bricknell, Roseanna; Faunce, Thomas

2014-12-01

In 2013, Liberal MP Chris Spence introduced a Private Member's Bill to the New South Wales Parliament, reinvigorating an earlier Bill introduced by Christian Democrat MP Fred Nile. If passed, the Bill would have bestowed legal personhood on fetuses of 20 weeks or more for the purpose of grievous bodily harm offences in the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). The Bill had the potential to undermine freedom of choice for women in relation to abortions prior to the point of viability (capacity for fetal existence outside the womb) as well as other decisions concerning pregnancy and childbirth. One hypothesis is that legislative measures such as this that support the rights of the fetus are well intentioned initiatives by those for whom the fetus is an essentially independent entity or symbol of innocence and moral purity whose existence must be protected over and above the interests and independent decision-making capacity of the mother. This column explores this hypothesis in the context of the paradoxical negative commercial implications of such legislation on multiple areas involving fetal-maternal interaction including surrogacy.

Promoting the Recognition and Protection of the Rights of All Migrants Using a Soft-Law International Migrants Bill of Rights

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ian M. Kysel

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The rights and movement of people crossing international borders remain inadequately governed and incompletely protected by a fragmented patchwork of institutions and norms. In recent years, debates regarding migration law and practice globally have been focused on subcategories of migrants, such as refugees, or on particular migration contexts, such as migration as a result of crisis or climate change. In response, a transnational initiative housed at the Georgetown University Law Center has drafted a soft-law bill of rights — the International Migrants Bill of Rights (IMBR — that seeks to elaborate the law protecting all migrants, regardless of the cause of their movement across an international border. The bill draws its content from human rights, refugee, and labor law, among other areas, and is drafted to be a comprehensive and declarative tool that articulates a core set of rights to protect migrants and to apply in the migration context.This article articulates how such a tool could be used to promote the recognition and protection of the rights of all migrants, in law and in practice. It argues that a soft-law bill of rights could be leveraged to fill significant gaps and promote an improved normative and institutional infrastructure that better protects all migrants worldwide. Section I provides a brief overview of the gap that a soft-law bill of rights can address. Section II provides a brief overview of the history and content of the bill of rights and IMBR Initiative. Section III describes, specifically, how making use of a soft-law bill of rights stands to improve the recognition and protection of fundamental rights that protect all migrants — and how soft law can help fill specific protection gaps.

20 CFR 10.801 - How are medical bills to be submitted?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... employees, except for treatment and supplies provided by nursing homes, shall be supported by medical... separate bill shall be submitted when the employee is discharged from treatment or monthly, if treatment for the work-related condition is necessary for more than 30 days. (1)(i) Hospitals shall submit...

A Personalised Information Support System for Searching Portals and E-Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Sirisha, B. S.; Jeevan, V. K. J.; Raja Kumar, R. V.; Goswami, A.

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a personalised information support system to help faculty members to search various portals and e-resources without typing the search terms in different interfaces and to obtain results re-ordered without human intervention. Design/methodology/approach: After a careful survey of…

Results from the EROS microlensing survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beaulieu, JP; Lamers, HJGLM; Chu, YH; Suntzeff, NB; Hesser, JE; Bohlender, DA

1999-01-01

We present a status report of the original EROS and the on-going EROS-2 microlensing surveys, which were created to search for dark matter in the Galactic halo via microlensing effects on LMC/SMC stars. Microlensing surveys provide long-term systematic observations of millions of stars in both

Southern hemisphere searches for short period pulsars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manchester, R.N.

1984-01-01

Two searches of the southern sky for short period pulsars are briefly described. The first, made using the 64-m telescope at Parkes, is sensitive to pulsars with periods greater than about 10 ms and the second, made using the Molonglo radio telescope, has sensitivity down to periods of about 1.5 ms. Four pulsars were found in the Parkes survey and none in the Molonglo survey, although analysis of the latter is as yet incomplete. 10 references, 1 figure, 2 tables

Should providers be allowed to extra bill for uncovered services? Debate, resolution, and sequel in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Ikegami, Naoki

2006-12-01

Japan has managed to provide universal coverage at relatively low cost by containing prices and restricting the conditions for which services can be billed in the compulsory social health insurance (SHI) program. However, decline in Japan's economic growth ushered in new actors backed by the prime minister who proposed that the providers should be allowed to extra bill for services not covered by the SHI. In 2004 they took the strategy of drawing the attention of the public to areas where the rigidity of the current prohibition appeared to be unfair and ridiculous. They were opposed by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare and the Japan Medical Association, who strongly objected on the grounds of safety and equity. The compromise reached by the two ministers in charge led to a clarification of the services that are to be covered and of the process for extending coverage to new procedures and drugs. The prohibition on extra billing has remained essentially unchanged, but the momentum for deregulation has been lost. In 2005 an alternate proposal was made to contain SHI expenditures by introducing a global cap on health expenditures and increasing out-of-pocket payment. Although this proposal was not fully adopted, the gradual decline in SHI benefit levels could lead to a renewed move to allow extra billing.

Surveillance Camera Players / Bill Brown ; interv. Tilman Baumgärtel

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Brown, Bill

2006-01-01

New Yorgis tegutsevast rühmitusest SCP (Turvakaamera Esinejad), mille rajas Bill Brown (sünd. 1959), temaga 2001. a. jaanuaris tehtud meiliintervjuu. SCP etendab näidendeid turvakaamerate ees, Internetis jagab informatsiooni oma tegevuse kohta. Tekstis: "...kuna SCP keskendub turvakaameratele, kasutades nende loogikat selle tehnoloogia enda vastu, siis võib öelda, et nad töötavad kommunikatsioonivõrkudega"

Bill C-5, an act to amend the radiation emitting devices act

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-01-01

This Act, entitled Bill C-5, allows for a series of amendments to the Radiation Emitting Devices Act. The amendments relate to regulations concerned with the sale, lease or import, labelling, advertising, packaging, safety standards and inspection of radiation emitting devices

The Protection of Information Bill and Access to Information in South ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study concludes by arguing that the 2010 Information Protection Bill has received massive coverage due to the fact that it has a negative impact on the work of the journalists and the information society, in general. Conclusions and recommendations for further research are offered. Keywords: Protection of Information, ...

Missouri Public School Administrators' Perceived Effectiveness of Senate Bill No. 75

Science.gov (United States)

Steele, Joby B.

2016-01-01

In this quantitative study, the perceptions of safety and preparedness of Missouri's high school administrators after participating in active shooter training as mandated by Missouri's Senate Bill No. 75 were analyzed. As school shootings continue, states have passed legislation to prepare schools to provide safety for students and faculty members…

An expanded HST/WFC3 survey of M83: Project overview and targeted supernova remnant search

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blair, William P.; Kuntz, K. D. [The Henry A. Rowland Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Chandar, Rupali [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606 (United States); Dopita, Michael A. [Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Australian National University, Cotter Road, Weston, ACT 2611 (Australia); Ghavamian, Parviz [Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Geosciences, Towson University, Towson, MD 21252 (United States); Hammer, Derek; Long, Knox S.; Whitmore, Bradley C. [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Soria, Roberto [Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy, Curtin University, 1 Turner Avenue, Bentley WA 6102 (Australia); Frank Winkler, P., E-mail: wpb@pha.jhu.edu, E-mail: kuntz@pha.jhu.edu, E-mail: Rupali.Chandar@utoledo.edu, E-mail: Michael.Dopita@anu.edu.au, E-mail: pghavamian@towson.edu, E-mail: long@stsci.edu, E-mail: hammer@stsci.edu, E-mail: whitmore@stsci.edu, E-mail: roberto.soria@icrar.org, E-mail: winkler@middlebury.edu [Department of Physics, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753 (United States)

2014-06-10

We present an optical/NIR imaging survey of the face-on spiral galaxy M83, using data from the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Seven fields are used to cover a large fraction of the inner disk, with observations in nine broadband and narrowband filters. In conjunction with a deep Chandra survey and other new radio and optical ground-based work, these data enable a broad range of science projects to be pursued. We provide an overview of the WFC3 data and processing and then delve into one topic, the population of young supernova remnants (SNRs). We used a search method targeted toward soft X-ray sources to identify 26 new SNRs. Many compact emission nebulae detected in [Fe II] 1.644 μm align with known remnants and this diagnostic has also been used to identify many new remnants, some of which are hard to find with optical images. We include 37 previously identified SNRs that the data reveal to be <0.''5 in angular size and thus are difficult to characterize from ground-based data. The emission line ratios seen in most of these objects are consistent with shocks in dense interstellar material rather than showing evidence of ejecta. We suggest that the overall high elemental abundances in combination with high interstellar medium pressures in M83 are responsible for this result. Future papers will expand on different aspects of the these data including a more comprehensive analysis of the overall SNR population.

A Critique of the Unemployment Insurance Amendment Bill, 2015

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius Olivier

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The contribution critically reflects on the proposed amendments to the Unemployment Insurance Act Act 63 of 2001 (the UIA / the Act, introduced via the provisions of the Unemployment Insurance Amendment Bill of 2015 (B25-2015. Several shortcomings and deficiencies are addressed and improvements introduced by the proposed amending legislation, including the extension of coverage to a wider range of beneficiaries, the extension of the period of benefits (to a maximum of 365 days, the increase of the rate of maternity benefits of a (female contributor's earnings, the adjustment of the accrual rate of a contributor's duration of benefits from 1 day for every 6 days of employment to 1 day for every 5 days of employment, and some attempt to provide for employment retention and the re-entry of unemployed contributors into the labour market. And yet, despite these important contributions to the development of unemployment insurance in South Africa, several matters appearing from the Bill point towards inconsistent, inadequate and inappropriate treatment of core elements of the unemployment insurance system. Recommendations have been made to address these matters, which among others relate to: •\tThe insufficient alignment of the UIA with ILO, UN and SADC standards in key areas of concern; •\tUnclear or absent provisions in relation to the coverage and/or application of the UIA in relation to public servants, migrant workers, and the self- and informally employed; •\tInadequate provision for employment promotion, the prevention, combating and reduction of unemployment, and reintegration into employment; •\tInappropriate provisions relating to benefit rates and periods, among others concerning the Minister's power to set/amend the Income Replacement Rate and to vary the benefit period by regulation; •\tInconsistent and discriminatory provisions requiring a 13-week qualifying period for accessing maternity benefits; •\tInappropriate provisions

Diet of yellow-billed loons (Gavia adamsii) in Arctic lakes during the nesting season inferred from fatty acid analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Haynes, T B; Schmutz, Joel A.; Bromaghin, Jeffrey F.; Iverson, S J; Padula, V. M.; Rosenberger, A E

2015-01-01

Understanding the dietary habits of yellow-billed loons (Gavia adamsii) can give important insights into their ecology, however, studying the diet of loons is difficult when direct observation or specimen collection is impractical. We investigate the diet of yellow-billed loons nesting on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska using quantitative fatty acid signature analysis. Tissue analysis from 26 yellow-billed loons and eleven prey groups (nine fish species and two invertebrate groups) from Arctic lakes suggests that yellow-billed loons are eating high proportions of Alaska blackfish (Dallia pectoralis), broad whitefish (Coregonus nasus) and three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) during late spring and early summer. The prominence of blackfish in diets highlights the widespread availability of blackfish during the early stages of loon nesting, soon after spring thaw. The high proportions of broad whitefish and three-spined stickleback may reflect a residual signal from the coastal staging period prior to establishing nesting territories on lakes, when loons are more likely to encounter these species. Our analyses were sensitive to the choice of calibration coefficient based on data from three different species, indicating the need for development of loon-specific coefficients for future study and confirmation of our results. Regardless, fish that are coastally distributed and that successfully overwinter in lakes are likely key food items for yellow-billed loons early in the nesting season.

The Use of Resistivity Methods in Terrestrial Forensic Searches

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, R. C.; Raisuddin, I.; Bank, C.

2013-12-01

The increasing use of near-surface geophysical methods in forensic searches has demonstrated the need for further studies to identify the ideal physical, environmental and temporal settings for each geophysical method. Previous studies using resistivity methods have shown promising results, but additional work is required to more accurately interpret and analyze survey findings. The Ontario Provincial Police's UCRT (Urban Search and Rescue; Chemical, Biolgical, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives; Response Team) is collaborating with the University of Toronto and two additional universities in a multi-year study investigating the applications of near-surface geophysical methods to terrestrial forensic searches. In the summer of 2012, on a test site near Bolton, Ontario, the OPP buried weapons, drums and pigs (naked, tarped, and clothed) to simulate clandestine graves and caches. Our study aims to conduct repeat surveys using an IRIS Syscal Junior with 48 electrode switching system resistivity-meter. These surveys will monitor changes in resistivity reflecting decomposition of the object since burial, and identify the strengths and weaknesses of resistivity when used in a rural, clandestine burial setting. Our initial findings indicate the usefulness of this method, as prominent resistivity changes have been observed. We anticipate our results will help to assist law enforcement agencies in determining the type of resistivity results to expect based on time since burial, depth of burial and state of dress of the body.

15 CFR 30.7 - Annotating the bill of lading, air waybill, or other commercial loading documents with proof of...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Annotating the bill of lading, air... CENSUS, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FOREIGN TRADE REGULATIONS General Requirements § 30.7 Annotating the bill... responsible for annotating the proper proof of filing citation or exemption legend on the first page of the...

Biomechanical features of the bill and and jaw apparatus of cuckoos ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... processing at base of the bill. The morphofunctional analyses give results different from what is known for the Galliformes and allow the construction of the hypothesis of two trophic adaptive pathways. One followed by the Cuculidae would have led to the consumption of a large range of arthropods, including toxic species; ...

The Environmental Ethic of Bill Mason: A Model for Environmental Education

Science.gov (United States)

Heintzman, Paul

2007-01-01

Almost 20 years after Bill Mason's death, the writings and films of this legendary Canadian canoeist, filmmaker, and artist remain popular: "Few people of any nation have been so influential in creating a sense of responsibility for the environment" (Buck, 2005, p. 12). Supported by statements in Mason's writings and films, this paper…

Lyman Alpha Searches at Redshift Z>7

Science.gov (United States)

Willis, Jon

2007-05-01

The ZEN survey is a narrow J-band survey for Ly-alpha emitting galaxies at z > 7. I will briefly review the pros and cons of narrow band observations before summarising the ZEN1 and ZEN2 searches based upon deep ISAAC pointings. I will then present ZEN3, consisting of wide field, narrow band observations of two fields using the CFHT WIRCam facility. I will conclude by reviewing the current sample of candidates and what we have learned about the z > 7 Ly-alpha emitting population.

Breeding Biology of Critically Endangered Long-billed Vulture (Gyps indicus at a Unique Site in Telangana State, India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ravikanth Manchiryala

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Out of nine species of vultures, the population of three Gyps species, White-backed Vulture (Gyps bengalensis, Slender-billed Vulture (Gyps tenuirostris and Long-billed Vulture (Gyps indicus has declined drastically by 99% over the past decade (Prakash, 1999. The Gyps vultures' population declined in India by 97% and by 92% in Pakistan (Virani, 2006, Prakash et al., 2012. Possibly the widespread usage of Diclofenac drug in the animal led to the rapid population decline for these Vultures (Green et al., 2004. The Long-billed Vulture G. indicus is a bald headed vulture with very broad wings and short tail feathers, having no sexual dimorphism. In Malabar hills region of India the breeding season of Long-billed Vultures was noted to be November to May where it breed mainly on cliffs (Edward, 1915. Presently, it is in the most critical category of endangerment, listed in Schedule-I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act-1972 followed by IUCN, 2015 (http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22729731/0. The Andhra Pradesh State Biodiversity Board, Hyderabad announced that vultures are already 'Extinct' in the state (Medicheti, 2013.

Strategies to improve sleep during extended search and rescue operations.

Science.gov (United States)

Jenkins, Jennifer Lee; Fredericksen, Kim; Stone, Roger; Tang, Nelson

2007-01-01

This study investigated strategies to improve sleeping conditions during search and rescue operations during disaster response. Forty members of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Urban Search and Rescue Team were surveyed for individual sleep habits and sleeping aids used during extended deployments. Team members were also asked to suggest methods to improve sleep on future deployments. The average amount of sleep during field operations was 5.4 hours with a range of 4-8 hours. Eight percent surveyed would prefer another schedule besides the 12-hour work day, all of whom proposed three 8-hour shifts. Fifteen percent of participants were interested in a pharmacological sleeping aid. Fifty percent of search and rescue members interviewed would consider using nonpharmacological sleeping aids. Furthermore, 40% of participants stated they had successfully devised self-employed methods of sleep aids for previous deployments, such as ear plugs, massage, mental imagery, personal routines, music and headphones, reading, and blindfolds. This study suggests that availability of both pharmacological and nonpharmacological sleeping aids to search and rescue workers via the team cache could impact the quantity of sleep. Further investigation into methods of optimizing sleep during field missions could theoretically show enhanced performance through various aspects of missions including mitigation of errors, improved productivity, and improved overall physiological and emotional well-being of search and rescue personnel.

2012 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit: Fireside Chat with Steven Chu and Bill Gates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chu, Steven; Gates, Bill; Podesta, John

2012-02-28

The third annual ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit was held in Washington D.C. in February, 2012. The event brought together key players from across the energy ecosystem - researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, corporate executives, and government officials - to share ideas for developing and deploying the next generation of energy technologies. This video captures a session called Fireside Chat that featured Steven Chu, the Secretary of Energy, and Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft Corporation. The session is moderated by John Podesta, Chair of the Center for American Progress. Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Microsoft Founder and Chairman Bill Gates exchanged ideas about how small businesses and innovators can overcome the challenges that face many startups.

School-located influenza vaccination with third-party billing: outcomes, cost, and reimbursement.

Science.gov (United States)

Kempe, Allison; Daley, Matthew F; Pyrzanowski, Jennifer; Vogt, Tara; Fang, Hai; Rinehart, Deborah J; Morgan, Nicole; Riis, Mette; Rodgers, Sarah; McCormick, Emily; Hammer, Anne; Campagna, Elizabeth J; Kile, Deidre; Dickinson, Miriam; Hambidge, Simon J; Shlay, Judith C

2014-01-01

To assess rates of immunization; costs of conducting clinics; and reimbursements for a school-located influenza vaccination (SLIV) program that billed third-party payers. SLIV clinics were conducted in 19 elementary schools in the Denver Public School district (September 2010 to February 2011). School personnel obtained parental consent, and a community vaccinator conducted clinics and performed billing. Vaccines For Children vaccine was available for eligible students. Parents were not billed for any fees. Data were collected regarding implementation costs and vaccine cost was calculated using published private sector prices. Reimbursement amounts were compared to costs. Overall, 30% of students (2784 of 9295) received ≥1 influenza vaccine; 39% (1079 of 2784) needed 2 doses and 80% received both. Excluding vaccine costs, implementation costs were $24.69 per vaccination. The percentage of vaccine costs reimbursed was 62% overall (82% from State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), 50% from private insurance). The percentage of implementation costs reimbursed was 19% overall (23% from private, 27% from Medicaid, 29% from SCHIP and 0% among uninsured). Overall, 25% of total costs (implementation plus vaccine) were reimbursed. A SLIV program resulted in vaccination of nearly one third of elementary students. Reimbursement rates were limited by 1) school restrictions on charging parents fees, 2) low payments for vaccine administration from public payers and 3) high rates of denials from private insurers. Some of these problems might be reduced by provisions in the Affordable Care Act. Copyright © 2014 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In Sickness and in Debt: Do Mounting Medical Bills Predict Payday Loan Debt?

Science.gov (United States)

Bickham, Trey; Lim, Younghee

2015-01-01

Cash-strapped families sometimes turn to small, short-term loans with exorbitant fees—payday loans—to cope with mounting medical bills. Given that about three-fourths of payday loan customers are repeat borrowers, consumer advocates and policymakers have increasingly raised voices of concern about the use of payday loans to finance various household expenses, including, among other things, medical bills. The present study hypothesized that increases in medical debt are associated with increases in payday loan debt among a sample of Chapter 7 bankruptcy filers. The results of a multivariate tobit regression analysis showed that medical debt was associated with increased payday loan debt, controlling for various types of debt and other socioeconomic variables. This article concludes with implications of the results for social work policy- and direct-practice.

Debiasing the Dark Energy Survey's Search for Trans-Neptunian Objects

Science.gov (United States)

Napier, Kevin; Gerdes, David

2018-01-01

The Dark Energy Survey (DES) is rich in transient detections of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). This has resulted in many newly detected TNOs. It is important to be mindful that astronomical surveys are intrinsically biased in their detections. Understanding a survey’s bias is necessary to understand the significance of any clustering in the orbital parameters of our detections. To quantify this bias, we examine the DES’s selection function for the detection of TNOs. To do so, we developed a survey simulator in Python. We generate clones of known TNOs with uniformly varied argument of perihelion, longitude of ascending node, and mean anomaly. We test the detectability of each clone based on the pointing location and limiting magnitude of each exposure in DES. Our preliminary results show that our simulator is functional. However, we do not yet have any conclusions about the DES’s bias, as we have not yet run the simulator on the entirety of DES for all of our TNOs.

Gender Differences in the Media Interviews of Bill and Hillary Clinton

Science.gov (United States)

Suleiman, Camelia; O'Connell, Daniel

2008-01-01

Does gender make a difference in the way politicians speak and are spoken to in public? This paper examines perspective in three television interviews and two radio interviews with Bill Clinton in June 2004 and in three television interviews and two radio interviews with Hillary Clinton in June 2003 with the same interviewers. Our perspectival…

An interview with Bill and Melinda Gates. Interviewed by Claire Pomeroy.

Science.gov (United States)

Gates, Bill; Gates, Melinda

2013-10-01

Bill and Melinda Gates have led a profound transformation in the way we view the world's most pressing health concerns, looking for effective ways to improve the lives of millions of people. Claire Pomeroy, president of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, spoke with them about their current concerns and plans to advance their agenda.

Understanding the new US climate change strategy - The Waxman-Markey bill at a glance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marchal, V.; Galharret, S.

2009-01-01

The climate change agenda is one of the two top priorities of Obama's administration, along with the reform of the health system. On June 26, 2009, the House of Representatives passed, by a margin of 219 to 212, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES), authored by Henry Waxman (from California) and Edward Markey (from Massachusetts). The bill is a comprehensive energy legislation that presents a cap and trade scheme regulating US Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, and a set of federal measures that aims at transforming the US traditional fossil fuel-based economy into a cleaner economy, based on renewable energy and low carbon alternatives. If passed by the Senate, the bill would intent to reduce US GHG emissions by 17% in 2020 and 80% in 2050 under 2005 levels, along with a 2 degrees / 450 ppm GHG concentration global objective. This brief provides an overview of the 1,428-page bill mechanisms and its implications at the national and international levels. It highlights the key uncertainties surrounding its institutional adoption and operational implementation. It also emphasizes its main differences with the European approach on cap and trade, the EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS), as well as examines its international implications on carbon markets and negotiations. (authors)

Evaluation of hospital staff's perceived quality of librarian-mediated literature searching services.

Science.gov (United States)

McKeown, Sandra; Konrad, Shauna-Lee; McTavish, Jill; Boyce, Erin

2017-04-01

The research evaluated the perceived quality of librarian-mediated literature searching services at one of Canada's largest acute care teaching hospitals for the purpose of continuous quality improvement and investigation of relationships between variables that can impact user satisfaction. An online survey was constructed using evidence-based methodologies. A systematic sample of staff and physicians requesting literature searches at London Health Sciences Centre were invited to participate in the study over a one-year period. Data analyses included descriptive statistics of closed-ended questions and coding of open-ended questions. A range of staff including clinicians, researchers, educators, leaders, and analysts submitted a total of 137 surveys, representing a response rate of 71%. Staff requested literature searches for the following "primary" purposes: research or publication (34%), teaching or training (20%), informing a policy or standard practice (16%), patient care (15%), and "other" purposes (15%). While the majority of staff (76%) submitted search requests using methods of written communication, including email and search request forms, staff using methods of verbal communication, including face-to-face and telephone conversations, were significantly more likely to be extremely satisfied with the librarian's interpretation of the search request ( p =0.004) and to rate the perceived quality of the search results as excellent ( p =0.005). In most cases, librarians followed up with staff to clarify the details of their search requests (72%), and these staff were significantly more likely to be extremely satisfied with the librarian's interpretation of the search request ( p =0.002). Our results demonstrate the limitations of written communication in the context of librarian-mediated literature searching and suggest a multifaceted approach to quality improvement efforts.

Less wireless costs : optimizing firms aim to cut wireless service bills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahony, J.

2006-01-01

The Calgary-based firm Alliance is offering optimized billing to oil companies, many of which spend more than $100,000 a month on wireless services for devices such as cellular telephones, pagers and Blackberries. In particular, Alliance is focusing on cutting the cost of wireless for corporate clients by analyzing client-usage patterns and choosing the most cost-efficient rate plans offered by the telecoms. Alliance suggests that do-it-yourself optimization is too complex for the average user, given the very large choice of rate plans. Using algorithms, Alliance software goes through all the wireless service contract options from the telecoms to choose the best plan for a company's needs. Optimizers claim their clients will see significant savings on wireless, in the order to 20 to 50 per cent. This article presented a brief case history of a successful optimization plan for Nabors Canada LP. Alliance allows its clients to view their billing information on their web-based server. Call records can be viewed by device or company division. 1 ref., 1 fig

The Influence Of Tax Billing By Forced Letter Intensity Against Taxpayer Compliance In Tax Service Office €˜Pratama€™ Manado

OpenAIRE

Pangemanan, Sifrid; Kawulur, Cecilya Helmy

2015-01-01

Tax Billing by forced letter is the governments efforts to improve the welfare of the people and encourage people to be responsible and participate in economic development. This study aims to determine the influence of tax billing by forced letter intensity against taxpayer compliance in Tax Service Office €˜Pratama€™ Manado. The analysis method used in this research is associative research methods to describe the influence of tax billing by forced letter intensity against taxpayer compliance...

The United States Geological Survey: 1879-1989

Science.gov (United States)

Rabbitt, Mary C.

1989-01-01

The United States Geological Survey was established on March 3, 1879, just a few hours before the mandatory close of the final session of the 45th Congress, when President Rutherford B. Hayes signed the bill appropriating money for sundry civil expenses of the Federal Government for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1879. The sundry civil expenses bill included a brief section establishing a new agency, the United States Geological Survey, placing it in the Department of the Interior, and charging it with a unique combination of responsibilities: 'classification of the public lands, and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the national domain.' The legislation stemmed from a report of the National Academy of Sciences, which in June 1878 had been asked by Congress to provide a plan for surveying the Territories of the United States that would secure the best possible results at the least possible cost. Its roots, however, went far back into the Nation's history. The first duty enjoined upon the Geological Survey by the Congress, the classification of the public lands, originated in the Land Ordinance of 1785. The original public lands were the lands west of the Allegheny Mountains claimed by some of the colonies, which became a source of contention in writing the Articles of Confederation until 1781 when the States agreed to cede their western lands to Congress. The extent of the public lands was enormously increased by the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and later territorial acquisitions. At the beginning of Confederation, the decision was made not to hold the public lands as a capital asset, but to dispose of them for revenue and to encourage settlement. The Land Ordinance of 1785 provided the method of surveying and a plan for disposal of the lands, but also reserved 'one-third part of all gold, silver, lead, and copper mines to be sold or otherwise disposed of, as Congress shall thereafter direct,' thus implicitly requiring

Revisiting the Rise of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Using Search Query Surveillance.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayers, John W; Althouse, Benjamin M; Allem, Jon-Patrick; Leas, Eric C; Dredze, Mark; Williams, Rebecca S

2016-06-01

Public perceptions of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) remain poorly understood because surveys are too costly to regularly implement and, when implemented, there are long delays between data collection and dissemination. Search query surveillance has bridged some of these gaps. Herein, ENDS' popularity in the U.S. is reassessed using Google searches. ENDS searches originating in the U.S. from January 2009 through January 2015 were disaggregated by terms focused on e-cigarette (e.g., e-cig) versus vaping (e.g., vapers); their geolocation (e.g., state); the aggregate tobacco control measures corresponding to their geolocation (e.g., clean indoor air laws); and by terms that indicated the searcher's potential interest (e.g., buy e-cigs likely indicates shopping)-all analyzed in 2015. ENDS searches are rapidly increasing in the U.S., with 8,498,000 searches during 2014 alone. Increasingly, searches are shifting from e-cigarette- to vaping-focused terms, especially in coastal states and states where anti-smoking norms are stronger. For example, nationally, e-cigarette searches declined 9% (95% CI=1%, 16%) during 2014 compared with 2013, whereas vaping searches increased 136% (95% CI=97%, 186%), even surpassing e-cigarette searches. Additionally, the percentage of ENDS searches related to shopping (e.g., vape shop) nearly doubled in 2014, whereas searches related to health concerns (e.g., vaping risks) or cessation (e.g., quit smoking with e-cigs) were rare and declined in 2014. ENDS popularity is rapidly growing and evolving. These findings could inform survey questionnaire development for follow-up investigation and immediately guide policy debates about how the public perceives the health risks or cessation benefits of ENDS. Copyright © 2016 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Research Trends with Cross Tabulation Search Engine

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Chengjiu; Hirokawa, Sachio; Yau, Jane Yin-Kim; Hashimoto, Kiyota; Tabata, Yoshiyuki; Nakatoh, Tetsuya

2013-01-01

To help researchers in building a knowledge foundation of their research fields which could be a time-consuming process, the authors have developed a Cross Tabulation Search Engine (CTSE). Its purpose is to assist researchers in 1) conducting research surveys, 2) efficiently and effectively retrieving information (such as important researchers,…

The Effect of Internet Searches on Afforestation: The Case of a Green Search Engine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Palos-Sanchez

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Ecosia is an Internet search engine that plants trees with the income obtained from advertising. This study explored the factors that affect the adoption of Ecosia.org from the perspective of technology adoption and trust. This was done by using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2 and then analyzing the results with PLS-SEM (Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling. Subsequently, a survey was conducted with a structured questionnaire on search engines, which yielded the following results: (1 the idea of a company helping to mitigate the effects of climate change by planting trees is well received by Internet users. However, few people accept the idea of changing their habits from using traditional search engines; (2 Ecosia is a search engine believed to have higher compatibility rates, and needing less hardware resources, and (3 ecological marketing is an appropriate and future strategy that can increase the intention to use a technological product. Based on the results obtained, this study shows that a search engine or other service provided by the Internet, which can be audited (visits, searches, files, etc., can also contribute to curb the effects of deforestation and climate change. In addition, companies, and especially technological start-ups, are advised to take into account that users feel better using these tools. Finally, this study urges foundations and non-governmental organizations to fight against the effects of deforestation by supporting these initiatives. The study also urges companies to support technological services, and follow the behavior of Ecosia.org in order to positively influence user satisfaction by using ecological marketing strategies.

Design and implementation of a smart card based billing system for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A smart card based billing system for petroleum dispenser is just one of the many ways in which smart cards can be employed to make commerce efficient. It incorporates the use of smart card as its legal tender and a smart card reader embedded into the filling station dispenser design. The smart card reader processes the ...

78 FR 7387 - Continuation of 2008 Farm Bill-Dairy Forward Pricing Program

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-01

...] Continuation of 2008 Farm Bill--Dairy Forward Pricing Program AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA... the Dairy Forward Pricing Program contained in the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008... associations of producers may enter into forward price contracts under the Dairy Forward Pricing Program...

A SEARCH FOR DISK-GALAXY LENSES IN THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feron, Chloe; Hjorth, Jens; Samsing, Johan; McKean, John P.

2009-01-01

We present the first automated spectroscopic search for disk-galaxy lenses, using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) database. We follow up eight gravitational lens candidates, selected among a sample of ∼40,000 candidate massive disk galaxies, using a combination of ground-based imaging and long-slit spectroscopy. We confirm two gravitational lens systems: one probable disk galaxy and one probable S0 galaxy. The remaining systems are four promising disk-galaxy lens candidates, as well as two probable gravitational lenses whose lens galaxy might be an S0 galaxy. The redshifts of the lenses are z lens ∼ 0.1. The redshift range of the background sources is z source ∼ 0.3-0.7. The systems presented here are (confirmed or candidate) galaxy-galaxy lensing systems, that is, systems where the multiple images are faint and extended, allowing an accurate determination of the lens galaxy mass and light distributions without contamination from the background galaxy. Moreover, the low redshift of the (confirmed or candidates) lens galaxies is favorable for measuring rotation points to complement the lensing study. We estimate the rest-frame total mass-to-light ratio within the Einstein radius for the two confirmed lenses: we find M tot /L I = 5.4 ± 1.5 within 3.9 ± 0.9 kpc for SDSS J081230.30+543650.9 and M tot /L I = 1.5 ± 0.9 within 1.4 ± 0.8 kpc for SDSS J145543.55+530441.2 (all in solar units). Hubble Space Telescope or adaptive optics imaging is needed to further study the systems.

CDS User survey

CERN Multimedia

CERN Document Service

2011-01-01

  The CERN Document Server is launching a user survey in order to collect information relative to its search engine, submission interfaces, collaborative features and content organisation. With the view of re-shaping its collections and interfaces and to better integrate with the new INSPIRE platform that serves all HEP literature, CERN Document Server team invites you to take part in the survey. Your input is essential to provide us with useful information before setting up the new service and improve your interactions with CDS. Thanks for participating !  

Search Analytics: Automated Learning, Analysis, and Search with Open Source

Science.gov (United States)

Hundman, K.; Mattmann, C. A.; Hyon, J.; Ramirez, P.

2016-12-01

The sheer volume of unstructured scientific data makes comprehensive human analysis impossible, resulting in missed opportunities to identify relationships, trends, gaps, and outliers. As the open source community continues to grow, tools like Apache Tika, Apache Solr, Stanford's DeepDive, and Data-Driven Documents (D3) can help address this challenge. With a focus on journal publications and conference abstracts often in the form of PDF and Microsoft Office documents, we've initiated an exploratory NASA Advanced Concepts project aiming to use the aforementioned open source text analytics tools to build a data-driven justification for the HyspIRI Decadal Survey mission. We call this capability Search Analytics, and it fuses and augments these open source tools to enable the automatic discovery and extraction of salient information. In the case of HyspIRI, a hyperspectral infrared imager mission, key findings resulted from the extractions and visualizations of relationships from thousands of unstructured scientific documents. The relationships include links between satellites (e.g. Landsat 8), domain-specific measurements (e.g. spectral coverage) and subjects (e.g. invasive species). Using the above open source tools, Search Analytics mined and characterized a corpus of information that would be infeasible for a human to process. More broadly, Search Analytics offers insights into various scientific and commercial applications enabled through missions and instrumentation with specific technical capabilities. For example, the following phrases were extracted in close proximity within a publication: "In this study, hyperspectral images…with high spatial resolution (1 m) were analyzed to detect cutleaf teasel in two areas. …Classification of cutleaf teasel reached a users accuracy of 82 to 84%." Without reading a single paper we can use Search Analytics to automatically identify that a 1 m spatial resolution provides a cutleaf teasel detection users accuracy of 82

31 CFR Appendix II to Part 13 - Form of Bill for Reimbursement

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Form of Bill for Reimbursement II Appendix II to Part 13 Money and Finance: Treasury Office of the Secretary of the Treasury PROCEDURES FOR... title) of ______ (Country) to participate in the work of ______ (International Organization) or...

A Web-based Tool for SDSS and 2MASS Database Searches

Science.gov (United States)

Hendrickson, M. A.; Uomoto, A.; Golimowski, D. A.

We have developed a web site using HTML, Php, Python, and MySQL that extracts, processes, and displays data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Two-Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS). The goal is to locate brown dwarf candidates in the SDSS database by looking at color cuts; however, this site could also be useful for targeted searches of other databases as well. MySQL databases are created from broad searches of SDSS and 2MASS data. Broad queries on the SDSS and 2MASS database servers are run weekly so that observers have the most up-to-date information from which to select candidates for observation. Observers can look at detailed information about specific objects including finding charts, images, and available spectra. In addition, updates from previous observations can be added by any collaborators; this format makes observational collaboration simple. Observers can also restrict the database search, just before or during an observing run, to select objects of special interest.

Search strategies on the Internet: general and specific.

Science.gov (United States)

Bottrill, Krys

2004-06-01

Some of the most up-to-date information on scientific activity is to be found on the Internet; for example, on the websites of academic and other research institutions and in databases of currently funded research studies provided on the websites of funding bodies. Such information can be valuable in suggesting new approaches and techniques that could be applicable in a Three Rs context. However, the Internet is a chaotic medium, not subject to the meticulous classification and organisation of classical information resources. At the same time, Internet search engines do not match the sophistication of search systems used by database hosts. Also, although some offer relatively advanced features, user awareness of these tends to be low. Furthermore, much of the information on the Internet is not accessible to conventional search engines, giving rise to the concept of the "Invisible Web". General strategies and techniques for Internet searching are presented, together with a comparative survey of selected search engines. The question of how the Invisible Web can be accessed is discussed, as well as how to keep up-to-date with Internet content and improve searching skills.

PubMed and beyond: a survey of web tools for searching biomedical literature

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Zhiyong

2011-01-01

The past decade has witnessed the modern advances of high-throughput technology and rapid growth of research capacity in producing large-scale biological data, both of which were concomitant with an exponential growth of biomedical literature. This wealth of scholarly knowledge is of significant importance for researchers in making scientific discoveries and healthcare professionals in managing health-related matters. However, the acquisition of such information is becoming increasingly difficult due to its large volume and rapid growth. In response, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is continuously making changes to its PubMed Web service for improvement. Meanwhile, different entities have devoted themselves to developing Web tools for helping users quickly and efficiently search and retrieve relevant publications. These practices, together with maturity in the field of text mining, have led to an increase in the number and quality of various Web tools that provide comparable literature search service to PubMed. In this study, we review 28 such tools, highlight their respective innovations, compare them to the PubMed system and one another, and discuss directions for future development. Furthermore, we have built a website dedicated to tracking existing systems and future advances in the field of biomedical literature search. Taken together, our work serves information seekers in choosing tools for their needs and service providers and developers in keeping current in the field. Database URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Lu/search PMID:21245076

PubMed and beyond: a survey of web tools for searching biomedical literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Zhiyong

2011-01-01

The past decade has witnessed the modern advances of high-throughput technology and rapid growth of research capacity in producing large-scale biological data, both of which were concomitant with an exponential growth of biomedical literature. This wealth of scholarly knowledge is of significant importance for researchers in making scientific discoveries and healthcare professionals in managing health-related matters. However, the acquisition of such information is becoming increasingly difficult due to its large volume and rapid growth. In response, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is continuously making changes to its PubMed Web service for improvement. Meanwhile, different entities have devoted themselves to developing Web tools for helping users quickly and efficiently search and retrieve relevant publications. These practices, together with maturity in the field of text mining, have led to an increase in the number and quality of various Web tools that provide comparable literature search service to PubMed. In this study, we review 28 such tools, highlight their respective innovations, compare them to the PubMed system and one another, and discuss directions for future development. Furthermore, we have built a website dedicated to tracking existing systems and future advances in the field of biomedical literature search. Taken together, our work serves information seekers in choosing tools for their needs and service providers and developers in keeping current in the field. Database URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Lu/search.

Ontario pharmacists' crisis over Bill 16: A missed opportunity?

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenthal, Meagen; Austin, Zubin; Tsuyuki, Ross T

2012-01-01

In 2010, the Ontario government brought forward Bill 16, which, among other things, removed pharmacists' professional allowances. While many would disagree with this unilateral action by the Ontario government, it also could have served as a crisis for change towards patient-centred care. We sought to examine the response of the pharmacy profession in Ontario to this crisis as it relates to the vision outlined in the Blueprint for Pharmacy. We systematically examined publicly available responses to Schedule 5 of Ontario's Bill 16 during the period from April to June 16, 2010. A rapid textual analysis of the data using tag or word clouds and a qualitative content analysis were performed on all of the data collected. The rapid textual analysis revealed that the most frequently used terms were "pharmacist," "pharmacy" and "professional allowances"; the least used were "layoffs," "service cuts" and "patient care." Content analysis revealed 4 themes: the desire to maintain the status quo of practice, a focus on the business of pharmacy, pharmacy stakeholders' perceptions of government's attitude towards the profession and changes to patient services. It is notable that patient care was almost completely absent from the discussion, a reflection that our profession has not embraced patient-centred care. This also represents a missed opportunity - a crisis that could have been used to move the profession towards the Blueprint's vision. We thought that the Blueprint had already achieved this consensus, but the Ontario experience has shown that this may not be the case.

The JVAS/CLASS search for 6-arcsec to 15-arcsec image separation lensing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Phillips, PM; Browne, IWA; Jackson, NJ; Wilkinson, PN; Mao, S; Rusin, D; Marlow, DR; Snellen, [No Value; Neeser, M

2001-01-01

The Jodrell Bank-VLA Astrometric Survey (JVAS) and the Cosmic Lens All Sky Survey (CLASS) have been systematically searched for multiple gravitational imaging of sources with image separations between 6 arcsec and 15 arcsec, associated with galaxy group and cluster lensing masses. The radio and

S. 2844: A Bill to provide for radon testing. Introduced in the Senate of the United States, One Hundredth Congress, Second Session, September 29, 1988

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1988-01-01

Bill S. 2844 provides for radon testing and is cited as the Department of Housing and Urban Development Policy Act. The bill provides the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with a mandate to establish a departmental radon policy and program. The department will be required to use its programs to assist the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) address radon contamination. The bill also requires HUD, in coordination with the EPA, to develop a radon assessment and mitigation program which utilizes EPA recommended guidelines and standards to ensure that occupants of housing covered under this act are not exposed to elevated levels of radon. The entire contents of the bill are presented in eight sections entitled: Short Title, findings, Purpose, Definitions, Program, Information, Cooperation with Environmental Protection Agency, and Authorization. The bill was referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs

Scientists Admitting to Plagiarism: A Meta-analysis of Surveys.

Science.gov (United States)

Pupovac, Vanja; Fanelli, Daniele

2015-10-01

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of anonymous surveys asking scientists whether they ever committed various forms of plagiarism. From May to December 2011 we searched 35 bibliographic databases, five grey literature databases and hand searched nine journals for potentially relevant studies. We included surveys that asked scientists if, in a given recall period, they had committed or knew of a colleague who committed plagiarism, and from each survey extracted the proportion of those who reported at least one case. Studies that focused on academic (i.e. student) plagiarism were excluded. Literature searches returned 12,460 titles from which 17 relevant survey studies were identified. Meta-analysis of studies reporting committed (N = 7) and witnessed (N = 11) plagiarism yielded a pooled estimate of, respectively, 1.7% (95% CI 1.2-2.4) and 30% (95% CI 17-46). Basic methodological factors, including sample size, year of survey, delivery method and whether survey questions were explicit rather than indirect made a significant difference on survey results. Even after controlling for these methodological factors, between-study differences in admission rates were significantly above those expected by sampling error alone and remained largely unexplained. Despite several limitations of the data and of this meta-analysis, we draw three robust conclusions: (1) The rate at which scientists report knowing a colleague who committed plagiarism is higher than for data fabrication and falsification; (2) The rate at which scientists report knowing a colleague who committed plagiarism is correlated to that of fabrication and falsification; (3) The rate at which scientists admit having committed either form of misconduct (i.e. fabrication, falsification and plagiarism) in surveys has declined over time.

Injuries and illnesses among Federal Emergency Management Agency-certified search-and-recovery and search-and-rescue dogs deployed to Oso, Washington, following the March 22, 2014, State Route 530 landslide.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Lori E

2015-10-15

To establish types and rates of injuries and illnesses among search-and-recovery and search-and-rescue dogs deployed to Oso, Wash, following the March 22, 2014, State Route 530 landslide. Medical records review and cross-sectional survey. 25 Federal Emergency Management Agency-certified search dogs. On-site medical records and postdeployment laboratory test results were reviewed and an electronic survey was distributed to handlers within 8 days after demobilization. Dogs worked a total of 244 search shifts totaling 2,015 hours. Injuries and illnesses were reported in 21 (84%) dogs. Wounds (abrasions, pad wear, paw pad splits, and lacerations) were the most common injury, with an incidence rate of 28.3 wounds/1,000 hours worked. Dehydration was the most common illness, with an incidence rate of 10.4 cases of dehydration/1,000 hours worked. Total incidence rate for all health events was 66.5 events/1,000 hours worked. Two search dogs were removed from search operations for 2 days because of health issues. All others continued search operations while receiving treatment for their medical issues. All health issues were resolved during the deployment or within 2 weeks after demobilization. Results revealed that search dogs deployed to the Oso, Wash, landslide incurred injuries and illnesses similar to those reported following other disasters (dehydration, wounding, vomiting, and diarrhea) but also incurred medical issues not previously documented (acute caudal myopathy, cutaneous mass ruptures, and fever). The reported medical issues were minor; however, prompt veterinary care helped prevent them from developing into more serious conditions.

The Development of a More Equitable Method of Billing for Online Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Kenton, David

1984-01-01

The National Library of Medicine has discarded connect hour-only billing for a more equitable system, which distributes user costs by type and intensity of work performed and data delivered. User data (cost comparisons, interpolated input/output count per connect hours, connect hours per year) were analyzed and further improvements are planned.…

A Descriptive Study of Students with Disabilities at Montana State University Billings

Science.gov (United States)

Dell, Thomas Francis

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze how the characteristics of age, major and type of disabilities for students who received services through Disability Support Services at Montana State University-Billings have changed from 1999 to 2011. Furthermore, this analysis contrasted local trends for types of disabilities with national…

Searching for hidden radioactive sources in the Barents Rescue 2001 nuclear emergency exercise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smethurst, Mark A.; Mogaard, John O.; Mauring, Eirik; Koziel, Janusz; Kihle, Ola

2001-11-01

The international nuclear emergency exercise Barents Rescue took place in the vicinity of Boden in northern Sweden between the 12th and 20th of September 2001. The Gamma Search Cell part of the exercise was designed to test the abilities of car-borne and airborne measuring systems to quickly locate and characterise radioactive sources hidden in the countryside. The Geological Survey of Norway participated in the Gamma Search Cell with a car-borne gamma-ray spectrometer system, a field team of three persons and a remote support group of two persons situated in Trondheim. The Geological Survey of Norway team identified 16 sources and 2 small areas of Chernobyl fallout in real time. Two additional sources were identified during post processing of the data. Otherwise the team drove past 2 ''strong'' and 4 weak sources without detecting them. The remaining 9 sources were in locations not visited by the car-borne measuring system. All but two source identifications were reported to the base of operations within a few minutes of discovery. The Geological Survey of Norway's source search strategy worked well and comparatively few strong sources were overlooked in the short time allocated for searching. The measuring system proved to be extremely reliable, making approximately 140,000 measurements during 8 days of measuring in and around Boden. (author)

A SYSTEMATIC SEARCH FOR MASSIVE BLACK HOLE BINARIES IN THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY SPECTROSCOPIC SAMPLE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsalmantza, P.; Decarli, R.; Hogg, David W.; Dotti, M.

2011-01-01

We present the results of a systematic search for massive black hole binaries in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectroscopic database. We focus on bound binaries, under the assumption that one of the black holes is active. In this framework, the broad lines associated with the accreting black hole are expected to show systematic velocity shifts with respect to the narrow lines, which trace the rest frame of the galaxy. For a sample of 54,586 quasars and 3929 galaxies at redshifts 0.1 < z < 1.5, we brute-force model each spectrum as a mixture of two quasars at two different redshifts. The spectral model is a data-driven dimensionality reduction of the SDSS quasar spectra based on a matrix factorization. We identified 32 objects with peculiar spectra. Nine of them can be interpreted as black hole binaries. This doubles the number of known black hole binary candidates. We also report on the discovery of a new class of extreme double-peaked emitters with exceptionally broad and faint Balmer lines. For all the interesting sources, we present detailed analysis of the spectra and discuss possible interpretations.

The role of the eROSITA all-sky survey in searches for sterile neutrino dark matter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zandanel, Fabio; Weniger, Christoph; Ando, Shin' ichiro, E-mail: f.zandanel@uva.nl, E-mail: c.weniger@uva.nl, E-mail: s.ando@uva.nl [GRAPPA Institute, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam (Netherlands)

2015-09-01

We investigate for the first time the potential of angular auto- and cross-correlation power spectra in identifying sterile neutrino dark matter in the cosmic X-ray background. We take as reference the performance of the soon-to-be-launched eROSITA satellite. The main astrophysical background sources against sterile neutrino decays are active galactic nuclei, galaxies powered by X-ray binaries, and clusters of galaxies. While sterile neutrino decays are always subdominant in the auto-correlation power spectra, they can be efficiently enhanced when cross-correlating with tracers of the dark matter distribution such as galaxies in the 2MASS catalogues. We show that the planned four-years eROSITA all-sky survey will provide a large enough photon statistics to potentially yield very stringent constraints on the decay lifetime, enabling to firmly test the recently claimed 3.56-keV X-ray line found towards several clusters and galaxies and its decaying dark matter interpretation. However, we also show that in order to fully exploit the potential of eROSITA for dark matter searches, it is vital to overcome the shot-noise limitations inherent to galaxy catalogues as tracers for the dark matter distribution.

ESPRI: Astrometric planet search with PRIMA at the VLTI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ségransan D.

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The ESPRI consortium will conduct an astrometric survey for extrasolar planets, using the PRIMA facility at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer. Our scientific goals include determining orbital inclinations and masses for planets already known from radial-velocity surveys, searches for planets around nearby stars of all masses, and around young stars. The consortium has built the PRIMA differential delay lines, developed an astrometric operation and calibration plan, and will deliver astrometric data reduction software.

ALFABURST: a commensal search for fast radio bursts with Arecibo

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, Griffin; Karastergiou, Aris; Golpayegani, Golnoosh; Surnis, Mayuresh; Lorimer, Duncan R.; Chennamangalam, Jayanth; McLaughlin, Maura; Armour, Wes; Cobb, Jeff; MacMahon, David H. E.; Pei, Xin; Rajwade, Kaustubh; Siemion, Andrew P. V.; Werthimer, Dan; Williams, Chris J.

2018-03-01

ALFABURST has been searching for fast radio bursts (FRBs) commensally with other projects using the Arecibo L-band Feed Array receiver at the Arecibo Observatory since 2015 July. We describe the observing system and report on the non-detection of any FRBs from that time until 2017 August for a total observing time of 518 h. With current FRB rate models, along with measurements of telescope sensitivity and beam size, we estimate that this survey probed redshifts out to about 3.4 with an effective survey volume of around 600 000 Mpc3. Based on this, we would expect, at the 99 per cent confidence level, to see at most two FRBs. We discuss the implications of this non-detection in the context of results from other telescopes and the limitation of our search pipeline. During the survey, single pulses from 17 known pulsars were detected. We also report the discovery of a Galactic radio transient with a pulse width of 3 ms and dispersion measure of 281 pc cm-3, which was detected while the telescope was slewing between fields.

Search for extraterrestrial intelligence/high resolution microwave survey team member

Science.gov (United States)

Steffes, Paul G.

1993-01-01

This semiannual status report describes activities conducted by the Principal Investigator during the first half of this third year of the NASA High Resolution Microwave Survey (HRMS) Investigator Working Group (IWG). As a (HRMS) Team Member with primary interest in the Sky Survey activity, this investigator attended IWG meetings at NASA/Ames and U.C.-Santa Cruz in Apr. and Aug. 1992, and has traveled independently to NRAO/Kitt Peak, Arizona (April 1993) and Woodbury, Georgia (July 1993). During the July 1993 visit to the Georgia Tech Research Corporation/Woodbury Research Facility, an experiment was conducted to study the effects of interference from C-band (3.7 - 4.2 GHz) geostationary spacecraft on the Sky Survey operation in that band. At the first IWG meeting in April of this year, results of a SETI observation conducted at the 203 GHz positronium hyperfine resonance using the NRAO facility at Kitt Peak, AZ, were presented, as well as updates on the development of the spaceborne RFI data bases developed for the project. At the second meeting, results of the study of interference from C-band geostationary spacecraft were presented. Likewise, a presentation was made at the accompanying 1993 Bioastronomy Symposium describing the SETI observation at the positronium hyperfine resonance.

[The flexibilization of the Brazilian legislation on pesticides and the risks to human health: analysis of Bill of Law 3,200/2015].

Science.gov (United States)

Almeida, Mirella Dias; Cavendish, Thais Araújo; Bueno, Priscila Campos; Ervilha, Iara Campos; Gregório, Luisa De Sordi; Kanashiro, Natiela Beatriz de Oliveira; Rohlfs, Daniela Buosi; Carmo, Thenille Faria Machado do

2017-07-27

This article aims to contribute to a reflection on pesticides, based on the Brazilian legal framework, from the perspective of protecting human health and the environment. This initiative is due to successive attempts to flexibilize the regulation of pesticides in Brazil, through bills of law in progress in the Brazilian National Congress. An analysis of Bill of Law 3,200/2015 was carried out. This bill of law represents a major setback to the legislative achievements for the regulation of pesticides, in order to alert to the risks to human health from exposure to these products and aggravated by other similar proposals.

A Search for Starless Core Substructure in Ophiuchus

Science.gov (United States)

Kirk, Helen

2017-06-01

Density substructure is expected in evolved starless cores: a single peak to form a protostar, or multiple peaks from fragmentation. Searches for this substructure have had mixed success. In an ALMA survey of Ophiuchus, we find two starless cores with signs of substructure, consistent with simulation predictions. A similar survey in Chameleon (Dunham et al. 2016) had no detections, despite expecting at least two. Our results suggest that Chamleon may lack a more evolved starless cores. Future ALMA observations will better trace the influence of environment on core substructure formation.

Report on the behalf of sustainable development and land planning commission of a bill aiming at prohibiting the exploration and exploitation on non conventional hydrocarbons, at abrogating exclusive search permits for non conventional hydrocarbon mines, and to ensure more transparency in the mining code; Rapport fait au nom de la Commission du Developpement Durable et de l'Amenagement du Territoire sur la proposition de loi, visant a interdire l'exploration et l'exploitation des hydrocarbures non conventionnels, a abroger les permis exclusifs de recherche de mines d'hydrocarbures non conventionnels et a assurer plus de transparence dans le code minier (n. 3690)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chanteguet, J.P.

2011-07-01

In the first part of this report, the author (from the opposition party) outlines the opacity of the attribution procedure defined in the mining code for search permits, the lack of recognition of the citizen mobilization, and the inefficient and inapplicable character of the law of 2001 on the search for non conventional hydrocarbon mining sites. In the second part, the author outlines the need for an environment-friendly energy strategy, while recalling the necessity of protection of the environment when exploiting subsoils, the necessity of implementing an energy transition, and the necessity to reform the mining law. The discussion of the commission about the bill articles is reported

UCAC4 Nearby Star Survey: A Search for Our Stellar Neighbors

Science.gov (United States)

2014-12-01

AAVSO) Photometric All Sky Survey (APASS) and infrared photometry from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey ( 2MASS ). With the addition of the APASS...110 million have 2MASS JHKs. We used a 3 arcsecond match radius in the development of the UCAC4 catalog for inclusion of the 2MASS and APASS...a new set of 16 photometric color–MKs relations using (a) BVgri optical photometry from APASS, (b) JHKs near-infrared photometry from 2MASS , (c

Automating payroll, billing, and medical records. Using technology to do more with less.

Science.gov (United States)

Vetter, E

1995-08-01

As home care agencies grow, so does the need to streamline the paperwork involved in running an agency. One agency found a way to reduce its payroll, billing, and medical records paperwork by implementing an automated, image-based data collection system that saves time, money, and paper.

Nr 17 - Private bill aiming at preparing transition towards a energy efficient system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartolone, Claude

2012-01-01

This private bill indicates which new articles and which modifications are introduced in the French energy code to implement progressive energy tariffs and favour energy savings by households. These new articles define how a bonus-malus on household energy consumptions is determined. They also define accompanying measures

THE DIFFERENCE IMAGING PIPELINE FOR THE TRANSIENT SEARCH IN THE DARK ENERGY SURVEY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kessler, R.; Scolnic, D. [Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States); Marriner, J.; Finley, D. A.; Wester, W. [Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States); Childress, M.; Yuan, F. [ARC Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO), Australian National University, Canberra ACT 2611 (Canada); Covarrubias, R. [National Center for Supercomputing Applications, 1205 West Clark St., Urbana, IL 61801 (United States); D’Andrea, C. B.; Nichol, R. C.; Papadopoulos, A. [Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, PO1 3FX (United Kingdom); Fischer, J.; Sako, M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Foley, R. J. [Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois, 1002 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801 (United States); Goldstein, D. [Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, 501 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Gupta, R. R. [Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Lemont, IL 60439 (United States); Kuehn, K. [Australian Astronomical Observatory, North Ryde, NSW 2113 (Australia); Marcha, M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Smith, M.; Sullivan, M., E-mail: kessler@kicp.uchicago.edu [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom); Collaboration: DES Collaboration; and others

2015-12-15

We describe the operation and performance of the difference imaging pipeline (DiffImg) used to detect transients in deep images from the Dark Energy Survey Supernova program (DES-SN) in its first observing season from 2013 August through 2014 February. DES-SN is a search for transients in which ten 3 deg{sup 2} fields are repeatedly observed in the g, r, i, z passbands with a cadence of about 1 week. The observing strategy has been optimized to measure high-quality light curves and redshifts for thousands of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) with the goal of measuring dark energy parameters. The essential DiffImg functions are to align each search image to a deep reference image, do a pixel-by-pixel subtraction, and then examine the subtracted image for significant positive detections of point-source objects. The vast majority of detections are subtraction artifacts, but after selection requirements and image filtering with an automated scanning program, there are ∼130 detections per deg{sup 2} per observation in each band, of which only ∼25% are artifacts. Of the ∼7500 transients discovered by DES-SN in its first observing season, each requiring a detection on at least two separate nights, Monte Carlo (MC) simulations predict that 27% are expected to be SNe Ia or core-collapse SNe. Another ∼30% of the transients are artifacts in which a small number of observations satisfy the selection criteria for a single-epoch detection. Spectroscopic analysis shows that most of the remaining transients are AGNs and variable stars. Fake SNe Ia are overlaid onto the images to rigorously evaluate detection efficiencies and to understand the DiffImg performance. The DiffImg efficiency measured with fake SNe agrees well with expectations from a MC simulation that uses analytical calculations of the fluxes and their uncertainties. In our 8 “shallow” fields with single-epoch 50% completeness depth ∼23.5, the SN Ia efficiency falls to 1/2 at redshift z ≈ 0.7; in our 2 �

Information Search as an Indication of Rationality in Student Choice of Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Menon, Maria E.

2004-01-01

This paper investigates the degree of information search that precedes the choice of a private third-level educational institution in Cyprus. Information search is used as an indication of rationality in order to provide a test for the economic approach to the explanation of human behaviour. A survey was conducted among 120 college students in the…

Report on the bill project related to the struggle against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

In a first part presenting the various forms of proliferations, the author first gives a quantitative overview of illegal activities concerning nuclear materials, and then discusses the existence and activities of proliferation networks, explaining how international trade liberalization creates a favourable context for proliferations of any kind, and describing how a typical network is organised. He also discusses the example of Iraq and the case of the network created by the Pakistani scientist Abdul Q. Khan. The risk created by the hypothetical relationship between terrorism and nuclear weapon of mass destruction is also questioned. Then, after having recalled the existing international texts and the present national legislation, the author comments the contribution on the bill project and outlines aspects which are not dealt with by this bill project: radiological devices and cybernetic attacks. Then he reports the comments made by the commission on the bill project articles which define interdictions, sanctions and sentences, or procedures against people or organisations involved in the financing or the use of weapons of mass destruction (biological and chemical). A table gives a comparison between the bill project text and the commission's propositions

A Multi-Year Dust Devil Vortex Survey Using an Automated Search of Pressure Time-Series

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Brian K.; Lorenz, Ralph

2014-11-01

Dust devils occur in arid climates on the Earth and ubiquitously on Mars, where they likely dominate the supply of atmospheric dust and influence climate. Martian dust devils have been studied with a combination of orbiting and landed spacecraft, while most studies of terrestrial dust devils have involved manned monitoring of field sites, which can be costly both in time and personnel. As an alternative approach, we describe a multi-year in-situ survey of terrestrial dust devils using pressure loggers deployed at El Dorado Playa in Nevada, USA, a site known for dust devil activity. Analogous to previous surveys for Martian dust devils, we conduct a post-hoc analysis of the barometric data to search for putative dust devil pressure dips using a new automated detection algorithm. We investigate the completeness and false positive rates of our new algorithm and conduct several statistically robust analyses of the resulting population of dips. We also investigate seasonal, annual, and spatial variability of the putative dust devil dips, possible correlations with precipitation, and the influence of sample size on the derived population statistics. Our results suggest that large numbers of dips (> 1,000) collected over multiple seasons are probably required for accurate assessment of the underlying dust devil population. Correlating long-term barometric time-series with other data streams (e.g., solar flux measurements from photovoltaic cells) can uniquely elucidate the natures and origins of dust devils, and accurately assessing their influence requires consideration of the full distribution of dust devil properties, rather than average values. For example, our results suggest the dust flux from the average terrestrial devil is nearly 1,000 times smaller than the (more representative) population-weighted average flux. If applicable to Martian dust devils, such corrections may help resolve purported discrepancies between the dust fluxes estimated from dust devil studies

Teaching Undergraduate Money and Banking: T-Bill Auctions and Stock Market Models

Science.gov (United States)

Saros, Daniel E.

2009-01-01

The author offers innovative approaches to 3 topics that are typically only briefly mentioned (if at all) in money and banking courses. The first topic is a Treasury bill auction experiment in which students have an opportunity to participate directly. The results from a class of 14 money and banking students are used to explain how an instructor…

Customer-economics of residential photovoltaic systems (Part 1): The impact of high renewable energy penetrations on electricity bill savings with net metering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darghouth, Naïm R.; Barbose, Galen; Wiser, Ryan H.

2014-01-01

Residential photovoltaic (PV) systems in the US are often compensated at the customer's underlying retail electricity rate through net metering. Given the uncertainty in future retail rates and the inherent links between rates and the customer–economics of behind-the-meter PV, there is growing interest in understanding how potential changes in rates may impact the value of bill savings from PV. In this article, we first use a production cost and capacity expansion model to project California hourly wholesale electricity market prices under two potential electricity market scenarios, including a reference and a 33% renewables scenario. Second, based on the wholesale electricity market prices generated by the model, we develop retail rates (i.e., flat, time-of-use, and real-time pricing) for each future scenario based on standard retail rate design principles. Finally, based on these retail rates, the bill savings from PV is estimated for 226 California residential customers under two types of net metering, for each scenario. We find that high renewable penetrations can drive substantial changes in residential retail rates and that these changes, together with variations in retail rate structures and PV compensation mechanisms, interact to place substantial uncertainty on the future value of bill savings from residential PV. - Highlights: • We investigate the impact of high renewables on customer economics of solar. • We model three types of residential retail electricity rates. • Based on the rates, we calculate the bill savings from photovoltaic (PV) generation. • High renewables penetration can lead to lower bill savings with time-varying rates. • There is substantial uncertainty in the future bill savings from residential PV

Searching for ET with Help from Three Million Volunteers: The SETI@Home, Serendip, Sevendip and Spck SETI Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Werthimer, Dan; Anderson, David; Bowyer, Stuart; Cobb, Jeff; Demorest, Paul

2002-01-01

We summarize results from two radio and two optical SETI programs based at the University of California, Berkeley. We discuss the most promising candidate signals from these searches and present plans for future SETI searches, including SERENDIP V and SETI@home II. The ongoing SERENDIP sky survey searches for radio signals at the 300 meter Arecibo Observatory. SERENDIP IV uses a 168 million channel spectrum analyser and a dedicated receiver to take data 24 hours a day, year round. The sky survey covers a 100 MHz band centered at the 21 cm line (1420 MHz) and declinations from -2 to +38 degrees. SETI@home uses desktop computers of 3.5 million volunteers to analyse 50 Terabytes of data taken at Arecibo. The SETI@home sky survey is 10 times more sensitive and searches a much wider variety of signal types than SERRENDIP IV but covers only a 2.5 MHz band. SETI@home is the planet's largest supercomputer, averaging 25 Tflops. SETI@home participants have contributed over a million years of computing time so far. The SEVENDIP optical pulse search looks for nS time scale pulses at optical wavelengths. It utilizes an automated 30 inch telescope, three ultra fast photo multiplier tubes and a coincidence detector. The target list includes F,G,K and M stars, globular cluster and galaxies. The SPOCK optical SETI program searches for narrow band continuous signals using spectra taken by Marcy and his colleagues in their planet search at Keck observatory.

Grey Literature Searching for Health Sciences Systematic Reviews: A Prospective Study of Time Spent and Resources Utilized.

Science.gov (United States)

Saleh, Ahlam A; Ratajeski, Melissa A; Bertolet, Marnie

To identify estimates of time taken to search grey literature in support of health sciences systematic reviews and to identify searcher or systematic review characteristics that may impact resource selection or time spent searching. A survey was electronically distributed to searchers embarking on a new systematic review. Characteristics of the searcher and systematic review were collected along with time spent searching and what resources were searched. Time and resources were tabulated and resources were categorized as grey or non-grey. Data was analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis tests. Out of 81 original respondents, 21% followed through with completion of the surveys in their entirety. The median time spent searching all resources was 471 minutes, and of those a median of 85 minutes were spent searching grey literature. The median number of resources used in a systematic review search was four and the median number of grey literature sources searched was two. The amount of time spent searching was influenced by whether the systematic review was grant funded. Additionally, the number of resources searched was impacted by institution type and whether systematic review training was received. This study characterized the amount of time for conducting systematic review searches including searching the grey literature, in addition to the number and types of resources used. This may aid searchers in planning their time, along with providing benchmark information for future studies. This paper contributes by quantifying current grey literature search patterns and associating them with searcher and review characteristics. Further discussion and research into the search approach for grey literature in support of systematic reviews is encouraged.

Energy consumption behavior in the commercial sector: An ethnographic analysis of utility bill information and customer comprehension in the workplace

Science.gov (United States)

Payne, Christopher Todd

The commercial and industrial sectors of the United States compose roughly one-third of total United States energy consumption. Many studies have suggested that significant cost-effective energy savings opportunities exist in this sector, but there is a gap between predictions of potential and actual investment in energy-efficient technologies. Very few studies have been conducted to examine the decision-making environment of the business sector. In particular, there is essentially no information about how small-business decision-makers make choices about energy consumption. My research is intended to begin the process of understanding this important arena of energy consumption behavior. Using semi-structured interview techniques, I interviewed forty-four businesses in ten states. The focus of the interviews was the business decision-maker's handling and use of the utility bill---the main (often sole) piece of information that links energy consumption to cost. Through the interviews, I collected information about how utility bills are understood and misunderstood, what components of the bill are seen as useful or confusing, and how energy consumption was seen in the context of larger business decision-making. In addition, I collected data on two forms of energy consumption feedback: historic consumption feedback, in which informants compared their current energy use to patterns of their own energy consumption over time; and group comparison consumption feedback, in which informants compared their energy consumption to the consumption of a group of similar energy consumers. Finally, I collected data on sources of information to which decision-makers turned when they wanted to seek more information about energy consumption alternatives. Overall, my findings suggest that the current utility bill format is often misunderstood. In many cases, particularly in the small-business and medium-size-business categories, the link between energy consumption and energy cost is

Evaluation of capture techniques for long-billed curlews wintering in Texas

Science.gov (United States)

Woodin, Marc C.; Skoruppa, Mary K.; Edwardson, Jeremy W.; Austin, Jane E.

2012-01-01

Texas coast harbors the largest, eastern-most populations of Long-billed Curlews (Numenius americanus) in North America; however, very little is known about their migration and wintering ecology. Curlews are readily captured on their breeding grounds, but experience with capturing the species during the non-breeding season is extremely limited. We assessed the efficacy of 6 capture techniques for Long-billed Curlews in winter: 1) modified noose ropes, 2) remotely controlled bow net, 3) Coda Netgun, 4) Super Talon net gun, 5) Hawkseye whoosh net, and 6) cast net. The Coda Netgun had the highest rate of captures per unit of effort (CPUE = 0.31; 4 curlew captures/13 d of trapping effort), followed by bow net (CPUE = 0.17; 1 capture/6 d of effort), whoosh net (CPUE = 0.14; 1 capturel7 d of effort), and noose ropes (CPUE = 0.07; 1 capturel15 d of effort). No curlews were captured using the Super Talon net gun or a cast net (3 d and 1 d of effort, respectively). Multiple capture techniques should be readily available for maximum flexibility in matching capture methods with neophobic curlews that often unpredictably change referred feeding locations among extremely different habitat types.

The Ĝ Infrared Search for Extraterrestrial Civilizations with Large Energy Supplies

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Jason Thomas; Povich, Matthew; Griffith, Roger; Maldonado, Jessica; Sigurdsson, Steinn; Star Cartier, Kimberly

2015-08-01

The WISE and Spitzer large-area surveys of the mid-infrared sky bring a new opportunity to search for evidence of the energy supplies of very large extraterrestrial civilizations. If these energy supplies rival the output of a civilization's parent star (Kardashev Type II), or if a galaxy-spanning supercivilization's use rivals that of the total galactic luminosity (Type III), they would be detectable as anomolously mid-infrared-bright stars and galaxies, respectively. We have already performed the first search for this emission from Type III civilizations using the WISE all-sky survey, and put the first upper limits on them in the local universe, and discuss ways to improve on these limits. We also discuss some detectable forms of and limits on Type II civilizations in the Mliky Way.

The Library Bill of Rights in the 1960s: One Profession, One Ethic.

Science.gov (United States)

Samek, Toni

1996-01-01

Discusses two vying interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights (intellectual freedom seen as pure neutrality or as social responsibility) and highlights conflicts that these views created within the American Library Association (ALA) from 1967 to 1973. Outlines early history of the Social Responsibilities Round Table of Libraries and the…

State-of-the-Art Review on Relevance of Genetic Algorithm to Internet Web Search

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kehinde Agbele

2012-01-01

Full Text Available People use search engines to find information they desire with the aim that their information needs will be met. Information retrieval (IR is a field that is concerned primarily with the searching and retrieving of information in the documents and also searching the search engine, online databases, and Internet. Genetic algorithms (GAs are robust, efficient, and optimizated methods in a wide area of search problems motivated by Darwin’s principles of natural selection and survival of the fittest. This paper describes information retrieval systems (IRS components. This paper looks at how GAs can be applied in the field of IR and specifically the relevance of genetic algorithms to internet web search. Finally, from the proposals surveyed it turns out that GA is applied to diverse problem fields of internet web search.

Surveys of Online Information Service in Large Public Libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Woy, James B.

1983-01-01

Reports results of 1983 survey of 25 public libraries and 1981 survey of 11 public libraries, both of which focused on facets of online information services--user fees, databases, documentation, equipment, miscellaneous services, and subject areas searched. The 1983 questionnaire and seven sources are appended. (EJS)

Victims of cybercrime in Europe : a review of victim surveys

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reep-van den Bergh, Carin M.M.; Junger, Marianne

2018-01-01

Objectives: Review the evidence provided by victim surveys in order to provide a rough estimate of the personal crime prevalence of the main types of cybercrime. Methods: We performed a search in databases, searched online, and contacted several Offices for National Statistics in Europe and selected

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Lens Search. VI. Constraints on Dark Energy and the Evolution of Massive Galaxies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oguri, Masamune [Univ. of Tokyo (Japan); et al.

2012-05-01

We present a statistical analysis of the final lens sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Lens Search (SQLS). The number distribution of a complete subsample of 19 lensed quasars selected from 50,836 source quasars is compared with theoretical expectations, with particular attention to the selection function. Assuming that the velocity function of galaxies does not evolve with redshift, the SQLS sample constrains the cosmological constant to \\Omega_\\Lambda=0.79^{+0.06}_{-0.07}(stat.)^{+0.06}_{-0.06}(syst.) for a flat universe. The dark energy equation of state is found to be consistent with w=-1 when the SQLS is combined with constraints from baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements or results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). We also obtain simultaneous constraints on cosmological parameters and redshift evolution of the galaxy velocity function, finding no evidence for redshift evolution at z<1 in any combinations of constraints. For instance, number density evolution quantified as \

Searching the Internet for psychiatric disorders among Arab and Jewish Israelis: insights from a comprehensive infodemiological survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Adawi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Israel represents a complex and pluralistic society comprising two major ethno-national groups, Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs, which differ in terms of religious and cultural values as well as social constructs. According to the so-called “diversification hypothesis”, within the framework of e-health and in the era of new information and communication technologies, seeking online health information could be a channel to increase health literacy, especially among disadvantaged groups. However, little is known concerning digital seeking behavior and, in particular, digital mental health literacy. This study was conducted in order to fill in this gap. Concerning raw figures, unadjusted for confounding variables (time, population size, Internet penetration index, disease rate, “depression” searched in Hebrew was characterized by 1.5 times higher search volumes, slightly declining throughout time, whereas relative search volumes (RSVs related to “depression” searched in Arabic tended to increase over the years. Similar patterns could be detected for “phobia” (in Hebrew 1.4-fold higher than in Arabic and for “anxiety” (with the searches performed in Hebrew 2.3 times higher than in Arabic. “Suicide” in Hebrew was searched 2.0-fold more than in Arabic (interestingly for both languages search volumes exhibited seasonal cyclic patterns. Eating disorders were searched more in Hebrew: 8.0-times more for “bulimia”, whilst “anorexia” was searched in Hebrew only. When adjusting for confounding variables, association between digital seeking behavior and ethnicity remained statistically significant (p-value < 0.0001 for all psychiatric disorders considered in the current investigation, except for “bulimia” (p = 0.989. More in details, Israeli Arabs searched for mental health disorders less than Jews, apart from “depression”. Arab and Jewish Israelis, besides differing in terms of language, religion, social and cultural

Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016: A commentary.

Science.gov (United States)

Timms, Olinda

2018-01-01

Soon after the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 was approved by the Cabinet for introduction into Parliament in 2016, it was submitted for review to a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare. The report of this committee, The 102nd Report on the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 was laid on the table of the Lok Sabha and presented to the Rajya Sabha on August 10, 2017. It contains hearings with stakeholders and witnesses and a review of relevant documents and related legislation. The comments of the Parliamentary Standing Committee are wide ranging and pertinent, seeking to fill the gaps and explain and rationalise the statute and includes responses from the Department of Health Research. This commentary seeks to analyse the recommendations of the Committee, exploring some of the ethical, legal, and social implications of surrogacy arrangements in our country, where diverse viewpoints and strong sentiments can encounter difficult ground realities.

SEARCHING THE FACTORS HAVING CREDIT CARD: A SURVEY STUDY IN ERZURUM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ERKAN OKTAY

2013-06-01

Full Text Available In this study, the factors related with having credit card in Erzurum have been searched by a logit model. There are demographic, social, cultural, and economic variables in the model. The final model is statistically significant. According to the model, job, average household income per month, payment method at shopping, usefulness of credit card and increasing the shopping tendency are statistically significant on having credit card.

Incremental analysis of the reengineering of an outpatient billing process: an empirical study in a public hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Kuan-Yu; Huang, Chunmin

2013-06-13

A smartcard is an integrated circuit card that provides identification, authentication, data storage, and application processing. Among other functions, smartcards can serve as credit and ATM cards and can be used to pay various invoices using a 'reader'. This study looks at the unit cost and activity time of both a traditional cash billing service and a newly introduced smartcard billing service in an outpatient department in a hospital in Taipei, Taiwan. The activity time required in using the cash billing service was determined via a time and motion study. A cost analysis was used to compare the unit costs of the two services. A sensitivity analysis was also performed to determine the effect of smartcard use and number of cashier windows on incremental cost and waiting time. Overall, the smartcard system had a higher unit cost because of the additional service fees and business tax, but it reduced patient waiting time by at least 8 minutes. Thus, it is a convenient service for patients. In addition, if half of all outpatients used smartcards to pay their invoices, along with four cashier windows for cash payments, then the waiting time of cash service users could be reduced by approximately 3 minutes and the incremental cost would be close to breaking even (even though it has a higher overall unit cost that the traditional service). Traditional cash billing services are time consuming and require patients to carry large sums of money. Smartcard services enable patients to pay their bill immediately in the outpatient clinic and offer greater security and convenience. The idle time of nurses could also be reduced as they help to process smartcard payments. A reduction in idle time reduces hospital costs. However, the cost of the smartcard service is higher than the cash service and, as such, hospital administrators must weigh the costs and benefits of introducing a smartcard service. In addition to the obvious benefits of the smartcard service, there is also scope

Mutanttulnukad ja festivalid pimedas öös / Bill Plympton ; interv. Mikk Rand, tõlk. Elen Lotman

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Plympton, Bill

2002-01-01

USA animaator, illustraator ja karikaturist Bill Plympton (1946), kelle animafilm "Mutanttulnukad" ("Mutant Aliens") osales Pimedate Ööde Filmifestivalil 2001. aasta detsembris. Vestlus toimus samal festivalil. Lisatud filmograafia