Research and deployment priorities for renewable technologies: Quantifying the importance of various renewable technologies for low cost, high renewable electricity systems in an Australian case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riesz, Jenny; Elliston, Ben

2016-01-01

This study aims to identify research priorities to enable low cost, high renewable power systems. An evolutionary program optimises the mix of technologies in 100% renewable energy portfolios (RE) in the Australian National Electricity Market. Various technologies are reduced in availability to determine their relative importance for achieving low costs. The single most important factor is found to be the integration of large quantities of wind; therefore wind integration is identified as a research priority. In contrast, photovoltaics are found to “saturate” the system at less than 10% of total energy (in the absence of storage or demand management, installation of further photovoltaics does not contribute significant further value). This indicates that policies to promote utility-scale photovoltaics should be considered in partnership with complementary measures (such as demand side participation and storage). Biofuelled gas turbines are found to be important; a complete absence of bioenergy increases costs by AU$20–30/MWh, and even having only 0.1 TWh per year of bioenergy available reduces average costs by AU$3–4/MWh. Limits on the non-synchronous penetration (NSP) are found to be relatively expensive, suggesting a significant research priority around finding alternative approaches to providing synchronous services, such as inertia. Geothermal and concentrating solar thermal technologies do not appear essential as long as sufficient wind and peaking bioenergy is available. - Highlights: • Photovoltaics saturate early, suggesting they need complementary measures. • Biofuelled gas turbines or another peaking technology are important for low costs. • Limits on the non-synchronous penetration are relatively expensive.

Research Priorities for YouTube and Video-Sharing Technologies: A Delphi Study

Science.gov (United States)

Snelson, Chareen; Rice, Kerry; Wyzard, Constance

2012-01-01

Online video-sharing services, particularly YouTube, have gained an audience of billions of users including educators and scholars. While the academic literature provides some evidence that YouTube has been studied and written about, little is known about priorities for YouTube research. The study employed the Delphi method to obtain a consensus…

Priorities for Extension.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayward, J. A.

Agricultural extension is one component in an array including research, training, education, marketing, international trade, etc. which develop together to bring about growth, and sustained growth determines the priorities for extension. These priorities depend inevitably on the stage of development of a country or region, and on the current…

Final priorities; National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research--Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program--Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers. Final priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-11

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces priorities under the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program administered by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). Specifically, we announce priorities for a Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Rehabilitation Strategies, Techniques, and Interventions (Priority 1), Information and Communication Technologies Access (Priority 2), Individual Mobility and Manipulation (Priority 3), and Physical Access and Transportation (Priority 4). The Assistant Secretary may use one or more of these priorities for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2013 and later years. We take this action to focus research attention on areas of national need. We intend these priorities to improve community living and participation, health and function, and employment outcomes of individuals with disabilities.

Setting Global Research Priorities for Developmental Disabilities, Including Intellectual Disabilities and Autism

Science.gov (United States)

Tomlinson, M.; Yasamy, M. T.; Emerson, E.; Officer, A.; Richler, D.; Saxena, S.

2014-01-01

Objectives: The prevalence of intellectual disabilities (ID) has been estimated at 10.4/1000 worldwide with higher rates among children and adolescents in lower income countries. The objective of this paper is to address research priorities for development disabilities, notably ID and autism, at the global level and to propose the more rational…

Key Nuclear Verification Priorities: Safeguards and Beyond

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlson, J.

2010-01-01

In addressing nuclear verification priorities, we should look beyond the current safeguards system. Non-proliferation, which the safeguards system underpins, is not an end in itself, but an essential condition for achieving and maintaining nuclear disarmament. Effective safeguards are essential for advancing disarmament, and safeguards issues, approaches and techniques are directly relevant to the development of future verification missions. The extent to which safeguards challenges are successfully addressed - or otherwise - will impact not only on confidence in the safeguards system, but on the effectiveness of, and confidence in, disarmament verification. To identify the key nuclear verification priorities, we need to consider the objectives of verification, and the challenges to achieving these. The strategic objective of IAEA safeguards might be expressed as: To support the global nuclear non-proliferation regime by: - Providing credible assurance that states are honouring their safeguards commitments - thereby removing a potential motivation to proliferate; and - Early detection of misuse of nuclear material and technology - thereby deterring proliferation by the risk of early detection, enabling timely intervention by the international community. Or to summarise - confidence-building, detection capability, and deterrence. These will also be essential objectives for future verification missions. The challenges to achieving these involve a mix of political, technical and institutional dimensions. Confidence is largely a political matter, reflecting the qualitative judgment of governments. Clearly assessments of detection capability and deterrence have a major impact on confidence. Detection capability is largely thought of as 'technical', but also involves issues of legal authority, as well as institutional issues. Deterrence has both political and institutional aspects - including judgments on risk of detection and risk of enforcement action being taken. The

Key Nuclear Verification Priorities - Safeguards and Beyond

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlson, J.

2010-01-01

In addressing nuclear verification priorities, we should look beyond the current safeguards system. Non-proliferation, which the safeguards system underpins, is not an end in itself, but an essential condition for achieving and maintaining nuclear disarmament. Effective safeguards are essential for advancing disarmament, and safeguards issues, approaches and techniques are directly relevant to the development of future verification missions. The extent to which safeguards challenges are successfully addressed - or otherwise - will impact not only on confidence in the safeguards system, but on the effectiveness of, and confidence in, disarmament verification. To identify the key nuclear verification priorities, we need to consider the objectives of verification, and the challenges to achieving these. The strategic objective of IAEA safeguards might be expressed as: To support the global nuclear non-proliferation regime by: - Providing credible assurance that states are honouring their safeguards commitments - thereby removing a potential motivation to proliferate; and - Early detection of misuse of nuclear material and technology - thereby deterring proliferation by the risk of early detection, enabling timely intervention by the international community. Or to summarise - confidence-building, detection capability, and deterrence. These will also be essential objectives for future verification missions. The challenges to achieving these involve a mix of political, technical and institutional dimensions. Confidence is largely a political matter, reflecting the qualitative judgment of governments. Clearly assessments of detection capability and deterrence have a major impact on confidence. Detection capability is largely thought of as 'technical', but also involves issues of legal authority, as well as institutional issues. Deterrence has both political and institutional aspects - including judgments on risk of detection and risk of enforcement action being taken. The

Transit signal priority with connected vehicle technology.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

A new TSP logic was proposed, taking advantage of the resources provided by Connected Vehicle (CV) : technology, including two-way communication between the bus and the traffic signal controller, accurate bus : location detection and prediction, and ...

Setting conservation priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Kerrie A; Carwardine, Josie; Possingham, Hugh P

2009-04-01

A generic framework for setting conservation priorities based on the principles of classic decision theory is provided. This framework encapsulates the key elements of any problem, including the objective, the constraints, and knowledge of the system. Within the context of this framework the broad array of approaches for setting conservation priorities are reviewed. While some approaches prioritize assets or locations for conservation investment, it is concluded here that prioritization is incomplete without consideration of the conservation actions required to conserve the assets at particular locations. The challenges associated with prioritizing investments through time in the face of threats (and also spatially and temporally heterogeneous costs) can be aided by proper problem definition. Using the authors' general framework for setting conservation priorities, multiple criteria can be rationally integrated and where, how, and when to invest conservation resources can be scheduled. Trade-offs are unavoidable in priority setting when there are multiple considerations, and budgets are almost always finite. The authors discuss how trade-offs, risks, uncertainty, feedbacks, and learning can be explicitly evaluated within their generic framework for setting conservation priorities. Finally, they suggest ways that current priority-setting approaches may be improved.

Mitigation assessment results and priorities in China

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu Zongxin; Wei Zhihong [Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China)

1996-12-31

In this paper energy related CO2 emission projections of China by 2030 are given. CO2 mitigation potential and technology options in main fields of energy conservation and energy substitution are analyzed. CO2 reduction costs of main mitigation technologies are estimated and the AHP approach is used for helping assessment of priority technologies.

Hypertension management research priorities from patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers: A report from the Hypertension Canada Priority Setting Partnership Group.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Nadia; Bacon, Simon L; Khan, Samia; Perlmutter, Sara; Gerlinsky, Carline; Dermer, Mark; Johnson, Lonni; Alves, Finderson; McLean, Donna; Laupacis, Andreas; Pui, Mandy; Berg, Angelique; Flowitt, Felicia

2017-11-01

Patient- and stakeholder-oriented research is vital to improving the relevance of research. The authors aimed to identify the 10 most important research priorities of patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers (family physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and dietitians) for hypertension management. Using the James Lind Alliance approach, a national web-based survey asked patients, caregivers, and care providers to submit their unanswered questions on hypertension management. Questions already answered from randomized controlled trial evidence were removed. A priority setting process of patient, caregiver, and healthcare providers then ranked the final top 10 research priorities in an in-person meeting. There were 386 respondents who submitted 598 questions after exclusions. Of the respondents, 78% were patients or caregivers, 29% lived in rural areas, 78% were aged 50 to 80 years, and 75% were women. The 598 questions were distilled to 42 unique questions and from this list, the top 10 research questions prioritized included determining the combinations of healthy lifestyle modifications to reduce the need for antihypertensive medications, stress management interventions, evaluating treatment strategies based on out-of-office blood pressure compared with conventional (office) blood pressure, education tools and technologies to improve patient motivation and health behavior change, management strategies for ethnic groups, evaluating natural and alternative treatments, and the optimal role of different healthcare providers and caregivers in supporting patients with hypertension. These priorities can be used to guide clinicians, researchers, and funding bodies on areas that are a high priority for hypertension management research for patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers. This also highlights priority areas for improved knowledge translation and delivering patient-centered care. ©2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Priority setting for health in emerging markets.

Science.gov (United States)

Glassman, Amanda; Giedion, Ursula; McQueston, Kate

2013-05-01

The use of health technology assessment research in emerging economies is becoming an increasingly important tool to determine the uses of health spending. As low- and middle-income countries' gross domestic product grows, the funding available for health has increased in tandem. There is growing evidence that comparative effectiveness research and cost-effectiveness can be used to improve health outcomes within a predefined financial space. The use of these evaluation tools, combined with a systematized process of priority setting, can help inform national and global health payers. This review of country institutions for health technology assessment illustrates two points: the efforts underway to use research to inform priorities are widespread and not confined to wealthier countries; and many countries' efforts to create evidence-based policy are incomplete and more country-specific research will be needed. Further evidence shows that there is scope to reduce these gaps and opportunity to support better incorporation of data through better-defined priority-setting processes.

TALENT MANAGEMENT - A STRATEGIC PRIORITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matei Mirabela-Constanta

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Companies facing the new economic world, dominated by demographic, macroeconomic, and technological changes need to see talent management as a business priority in order to survive. At the same time, the world economic crisis ads pressure over managers, f

The unfunded priorities: an evaluation of priority setting for noncommunicable disease control in Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Essue, Beverley M; Kapiriri, Lydia

2018-02-20

The double burden of infectious diseases coupled with noncommunicable diseases poses unique challenges for priority setting and for achieving equitable action to address the major causes of disease burden in health systems already impacted by limited resources. Noncommunicable disease control is an important global health and development priority. However, there are challenges for translating this global priority into local priorities and action. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of national, sub-national and global factors on priority setting for noncommunicable disease control in Uganda and examine the extent to which priority setting was successful. A mixed methods design that used the Kapiriri & Martin framework for evaluating priority setting in low income countries. The evaluation period was 2005-2015. Data collection included a document review (policy documents (n = 19); meeting minutes (n = 28)), media analysis (n = 114) and stakeholder interviews (n = 9). Data were analysed according to the Kapiriri & Martin (2010) framework. Priority setting for noncommunicable diseases was not entirely fair nor successful. While there were explicit processes that incorporated relevant criteria, evidence and wide stakeholder involvement, these criteria were not used systematically or consistently in the contemplation of noncommunicable diseases. There were insufficient resources for noncommunicable diseases, despite being a priority area. There were weaknesses in the priority setting institutions, and insufficient mechanisms to ensure accountability for decision-making. Priority setting was influenced by the priorities of major stakeholders (i.e. development assistance partners) which were not always aligned with national priorities. There were major delays in the implementation of noncommunicable disease-related priorities and in many cases, a failure to implement. This evaluation revealed the challenges that low income countries are

Final priority; National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research--Disability and Rehabilitation Projects and Centers Program--Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers. Final priority.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-19

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority for a Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Technologies to Support Successful Aging with Disability under the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program administered by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for a competition in fiscal year (FY) 2013 and later years. We take this action to focus research attention on areas of national need. We intend to use this priority to improve outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

Priority Selection Within National Innovation Strategy in Global Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prokopenko Olha

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The article deals with global experience in analysing the priorities based on their importance for country development and on national and international criteria using algorithm for the selection process. The main aspects of the process of development and implementation of international technology strategies were considered. The authors prove that through the analysis of innovation systems at macro level decision about the priorities in optimization with the aim to improve regulations in science, technology and innovation is provided. The main techniques and decisions were considered based on foresight-studies. Authors propose to create informative and analytical system for the foresight aims.

Final priority; National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research--Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program--Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers. Final priority.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-14

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority for a Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Universal Interfaces and Information Technology Access under the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program administered by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for a competition in fiscal year (FY) 2013 and later years. We take this action to focus research attention on areas of national need. We intend to use this priority to improve outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

Data-to-Decisions S&T Priority Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-08

Decisions S&T Priority Initiative Dr. Carey Schwartz PSC Lead Office of Naval Research NDIA Disruptive Technologies Conference November 8-9, 2011...DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release; distribution unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES Presented at the NDIA Disruptive ... Technologies Conference, November 8,-9, 2011,Washington, DC 14. ABSTRACT 15. SUBJECT TERMS 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT

Basic priority rating model 2.0: current applications for priority setting in health promotion practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Neiger, Brad L; Thackeray, Rosemary; Fagen, Michael C

2011-03-01

Priority setting is an important component of systematic planning in health promotion and also factors into the development of a comprehensive evaluation plan. The basic priority rating (BPR) model was introduced more than 50 years ago and includes criteria that should be considered in any priority setting approach (i.e., use of predetermined criteria, standardized comparisons, and a rubric that controls bias). Although the BPR model has provided basic direction in priority setting, it does not represent the broad array of data currently available to decision makers. Elements in the model also give more weight to the impact of communicable diseases compared with chronic diseases. For these reasons, several modifications are recommended to improve the BPR model and to better assist health promotion practitioners in the priority setting process. The authors also suggest a new name, BPR 2.0, to represent this revised model.

On Setting Priorities among Human Rights

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Philips, Jos

2014-01-01

Should conflicts among human rights be dealt with by including general principles for priority setting at some prominent place in the practice of human rights? This essay argues that neither setting prominent and principled priorities nor a case-by-case approach are likely to be defensible as

Research priority setting for health policy and health systems strengthening in Nigeria: the policymakers and stakeholders perspective and involvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Uneke, Chigozie Jesse; Ezeoha, Abel Ebeh; Ndukwe, Chinwendu Daniel; Oyibo, Patrick Gold; Onwe, Friday; Aulakh, Bhupinder Kaur

2013-01-01

Nigeria is one of the low and middle income countries (LMICs) facing severe resource constraint, making it impossible for adequate resources to be allocated to the health sector. Priority setting becomes imperative because it guides investments in health care, health research and respects resource constraints. The objective of this study was to enhance the knowledge and understanding of policymakers on research priority setting and to conduct a research priority setting exercise. A one-day evidence-to-policy research priority setting meeting was held. The meeting participants included senior and middle level policymakers and key decision makers/stakeholders in the health sector in Ebonyi State southeastern Nigeria. The priorities setting meeting involved a training session on priority setting process and conduction of priority setting exercise using the essential national health research (ENHR) approach. The focus was on the health systems building blocks (health workforce; health finance; leadership/governance; medical products/technology; service delivery; and health information/evidence). Of the total of 92 policymakers invited 90(97.8%) attended the meeting. It was the consensus of the policymakers that research should focus on the challenges of optimal access to health products and technology; effective health service delivery and disease control under a national emergency situation; the shortfalls in the supply of professional personnel; and the issues of governance in the health sector management. Research priority setting exercise involving policymakers is an example of demand driven strategy in the health policymaking process capable of reversing inequities and strengthening the health systems in LMICs.

Research priorities for public mental health in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Forsman, Anna K; Wahlbeck, Kristian; Aarø, Leif Edvard

2015-01-01

experts were involved in the priority setting process. RESULTS: Twenty priorities for public mental health research were identified through the consensus process. The research priorities were divided into summary principles-encompassing overall recommendations for future public mental health research...... field. METHODS: Experts were invited to compile and discuss research priorities in a series of topic-based scientific workshops. In addition, a Delphi process was carried out to reach consensus on the list of research priorities and their rank order. Three web-based surveys were conducted. Nearly 60...... in Europe-and thematic research priorities, including area-specific top priorities on research topics and methods. The priorities represent three overarching goals mirroring societal challenges, that is, to identify causes, risk and protective factors for mental health across the lifespan; to advance...

NRPC ServCat priorities

Data.gov (United States)

Department of the Interior — This document lists the Natural Resource Program Center’s priority ServCat documents. It is recommended that these documents- which include annual narrative reports,...

A strategy to improve priority setting in developing countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Kapiriri, Lydia; Martin, Douglas K

2007-09-01

Because the demand for health services outstrips the available resources, priority setting is one of the most difficult issues faced by health policy makers, particularly those in developing countries. Priority setting in developing countries is fraught with uncertainty due to lack of credible information, weak priority setting institutions, and unclear priority setting processes. Efforts to improve priority setting in these contexts have focused on providing information and tools. In this paper we argue that priority setting is a value laden and political process, and although important, the available information and tools are not sufficient to address the priority setting challenges in developing countries. Additional complementary efforts are required. Hence, a strategy to improve priority setting in developing countries should also include: (i) capturing current priority setting practices, (ii) improving the legitimacy and capacity of institutions that set priorities, and (iii) developing fair priority setting processes.

RD & D priorities for energy production and resource conservation from municipal solid waste

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1992-08-01

This report identifies research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) needs and priorities associated with municipal solid waste (MSW) management technologies that conserve or produce energy or resources. The changing character of MSW waste management and the public`s heightened awareness of its real and perceived benefits and costs creates opportunities for RD&D in MSW technologies. Increased recycling, for example, creates new opportunities for energy, chemicals, and materials recovery. New technologies to control and monitor emissions from MSW combustion facilities are available for further improvement or application. Furthermore, emerging waste-to-energy technologies may offer environmental, economic, and other advantages. Given these developments, DOE identified a need to assess the RD&D needs and pdodties and carefully target RD&D efforts to help solve the carbon`s waste management problem and further the National Energy Strategy. This report presents such an assessment. It identifies and Documents RD&D needs and priorities in the broad area of MSW resource . recovery, focusing on efforts to make MSW management technologies commercially viable or to improve their commercial deployment over a 5 to l0 year period. Panels of technical experts identifies 279 RD&D needs in 12 technology areas, ranking about one-fifth of these needs as priorities. A ``Peer Review Group`` identified mass-burn combustion, ``systems studies,`` landfill gas, and ash utilization and disposal as high priority areas for RD&D based on cost and the impacts of further RD&D. The results of this assessment are intended to provide guidance to DOE concerning possible future RD&D projects.

Priority setting in clinical nursing practice: literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendry, Charles; Walker, Anne

2004-08-01

Time is a valuable resource. When nurses experience demands on their services which exceed their available time, then 'rationing' must occur. In clinical practice such rationing requires practitioners to set priorities for care. The aim of this paper is establish what is currently known about priority setting in nursing, including how nurses set priorities and what factors influence this. CINAHL, Medline, ASSIA, and PsychLit databases for the years 1982-2002 were searched, using the terms (clinical decision-making or problem-solving or planning) and (setting priorities or prioriti*). The publications found were used in a selective, descriptive review. Priority setting is an important skill in nursing, and a skill deficit can have serious consequences for patients. Recent studies have suggested that it is a difficult skill for newly qualified nurses to acquire and may not be given sufficient attention in nurse education. Priority setting can be defined as the ordering of nursing problems using notions of urgency and/or importance, in order to establish a preferential order for nursing actions. A number of factors that may impact on priority setting have been identified in the literature. These include: the expertise of the nurse; the patient's condition; the availability of resources; ward organization; philosophies and models of care; the nurse-patient relationship; and the cognitive strategy used by the nurse to set priorities. However, very little empirical work has been conducted in this area. Further study of priority setting in a range of clinical practice settings is necessary. This could inform both practice and education, promote better use of limited resources and maximize patient outcomes.

77 FR 45944 - Final Priorities and Definitions; State Personnel Development Grants

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-02

.... Discussion: OSEP agrees that the use of technology can improve the delivery of professional development in... distance education technology for providing professional development to remote areas. Discussion: OSEP... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 34 CFR Chapter III Final Priorities and Definitions; State Personnel...

Interviewing Objects: Including Educational Technologies as Qualitative Research Participants

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Catherine A.; Thompson, Terrie Lynn

2011-01-01

This article argues the importance of including significant technologies-in-use as key qualitative research participants when studying today's digitally enhanced learning environments. We gather a set of eight heuristics to assist qualitative researchers in "interviewing" technologies-in-use (or other relevant objects), drawing on concrete…

Community views and public health priority setting: how do health department priorities, community views, and health indicator data compare?

Science.gov (United States)

Earle-Richardson, Giulia; Scribani, Melissa; Wyckoff, Lynae; Strogatz, David; May, John; Jenkins, Paul

2015-01-01

New York, like many other states, provides county-level health statistics for use in local priority settings but does not provide any data on public views about priority health issues. This study assessed whether health department priorities are notably different from community concerns about health, and how both groups' priorities compare with local health statistics. Data from a 2009 rural survey on community health concerns were compared to priorities named by the seven area county health departments, and to local health indicator data. Health care/insurance cost (60%), obesity (53%), and prescription cost (41%) were leading community concerns, regardless of age, education, sex, or Internet in the home. Six of seven county health departments selected access to quality health care (which includes health care/insurance cost) as a leading public health priority, but only three identified obesity. The following leading local health issues were suggested by health indicators: Physical activity and nutrition, Smoking, and Unintentional injury. Health departments diverged from community priorities, from health indicator data, and from one another in choosing priorities. Adding a question about community health priorities to existing state telephone surveys on health behavior and lifestyle would provide an important tool to local health departments. © 2014 Society for Public Health Education.

Defining Priorities for Future Research: Results of the UK Kidney Transplant Priority Setting Partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Knight, Simon R; Metcalfe, Leanne; O'Donoghue, Katriona; Ball, Simon T; Beale, Angela; Beale, William; Hilton, Rachel; Hodkinson, Keith; Lipkin, Graham W; Loud, Fiona; Marson, Lorna P; Morris, Peter J

2016-01-01

It has been suggested that the research priorities of those funding and performing research in transplantation may differ from those of end service users such as patients, carers and healthcare professionals involved in day-to-day care. The Kidney Transplant Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) was established with the aim of involving all stakeholders in prioritising future research in the field. The PSP methodology is as outlined by the James Lind Alliance. An initial survey collected unanswered research questions from patients, carers and clinicians. Duplicate and out-of-scope topics were excluded and the existing literature searched to identify topics answered by current evidence. An interim prioritisation survey asked patients and professionals to score the importance of the remaining questions to create a ranked long-list. These were considered at a final consensus workshop using a modified nominal group technique to agree a final top ten. The initial survey identified 497 questions from 183 respondents, covering all aspects of transplantation from assessment through to long-term follow-up. These were grouped into 90 unanswered "indicative" questions. The interim prioritisation survey received 256 responses (34.8% patients/carers, 10.9% donors and 54.3% professionals), resulting in a ranked list of 25 questions that were considered during the final workshop. Participants agreed a top ten priorities for future research that included optimisation of immunosuppression (improved monitoring, choice of regimen, personalisation), prevention of sensitisation and transplanting the sensitised patient, management of antibody-mediated rejection, long-term risks to live donors, methods of organ preservation, induction of tolerance and bioengineering of organs. There was evidence that patient and carer involvement had a significant impact on shaping the final priorities. The final list of priorities relates to all stages of the transplant process, including access to

An Evaluation of Concurrent Priority Queue Algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

1991-02-01

path pronlem are testedi A! -S7 ?o An Evaluation of Concurrent Priority Queue Algorithms bv Qin Huang BS. Uiversity - of Science andi Technology of China...who have always supported me through my entire career and made my life more enjoyable. This research was supported in part by the Advanced Research

Priority pollutant analysis of MHD-derived combustion products

Science.gov (United States)

Parks, Katherine D.

An important factor in developing Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) for commercial applications is environmental impact. Consequently, an effort was initiated to identify and quantify any possible undesirable minute chemical constituents in MHD waste streams, with special emphasis on the priority pollutant species. This paper discusses how priority pollutant analyses were used to accomplish the following goals at the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI): comparison of the composition of solid combustion products collected from various locations along a prototypical MHD flow train during the firing of Illinois No. 6 and Montana Rosebud coals; comparison of solid waste products generated from MHD and conventional power plant technologies; and identification of a suitable disposal option for various MHD derived combustion products. Results from our ongoing research plans for gas phase sampling and analysis of priority pollutant volatiles, semi-volatiles, and metals are discussed.

Development priorities for in-space propulsion technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Les; Meyer, Michael; Palaszewski, Bryan; Coote, David; Goebel, Dan; White, Harold

2013-02-01

During the summer of 2010, NASA's Office of Chief Technologist assembled 15 civil service teams to support the creation of a NASA integrated technology roadmap. The Aero-Space Technology Area Roadmap is an integrated set of technology area roadmaps recommending the overall technology investment strategy and prioritization for NASA's technology programs. The integrated set of roadmaps will provide technology paths needed to meet NASA's strategic goals. The roadmaps have been reviewed by senior NASA management and the National Research Council. With the exception of electric propulsion systems used for commercial communications satellite station-keeping and a handful of deep space science missions, almost all of the rocket engines in use today are chemical rockets; that is, they obtain the energy needed to generate thrust by combining reactive chemicals to create a hot gas that is expanded to produce thrust. A significant limitation of chemical propulsion is that it has a relatively low specific impulse. Numerous concepts for advanced propulsion technologies with significantly higher values of specific impulse have been developed over the past 50 years. Advanced in-space propulsion technologies will enable much more effective exploration of our solar system, near and far, and will permit mission designers to plan missions to "fly anytime, anywhere, and complete a host of science objectives at the destinations" with greater reliability and safety. With a wide range of possible missions and candidate propulsion technologies with very diverse characteristics, the question of which technologies are 'best' for future missions is a difficult one. A portfolio of technologies to allow optimum propulsion solutions for a diverse set of missions and destinations are described in the roadmap and herein.

Priority setting in practice: participants opinions on vertical and horizontal priority setting for reallocation.

Science.gov (United States)

Waldau, Susanne; Lindholm, Lars; Wiechel, Anna Helena

2010-08-01

In the Västerbotten County Council in Sweden a priority setting process was undertaken to reallocate existing resources for funding of new methods and activities. Resources were created by limiting low priority services. A procedure for priority setting was constructed and fully tested by engaging the entire organisation. The procedure included priority setting within and between departments and political decision making. Participants' views and experiences were collected as a basis for future improvement of the process. Results indicate that participants appreciated the overall approach and methodology and wished to engage in their improvement. Among the improvement proposals is prolongation of the process in order to improve the knowledge base quality. The procedure for identification of new items for funding also needs to be revised. The priority setting process was considered an overall success because it fulfilled its political goals. Factors considered crucial for success are a wish among managers for an economic strategy that addresses existing internal resource allocation; process management characterized by goal orientation and clear leadership; an elaborate communications strategy integrated early in the process and its management; political unity in support of the procedure, and a strong political commitment throughout the process. Generalizability has already been demonstrated by several health care organisations that performed processes founded on this working model. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Priority Setting for Occupational Cancer Prevention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheryl E. Peters

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Background: Selecting priority occupational carcinogens is important for cancer prevention efforts; however, standardized selection methods are not available. The objective of this paper was to describe the methods used by CAREX Canada in 2015 to establish priorities for preventing occupational cancer, with a focus on exposure estimation and descriptive profiles. Methods: Four criteria were used in an expert assessment process to guide carcinogen prioritization: (1 the likelihood of presence and/or use in Canadian workplaces; (2 toxicity of the substance (strength of evidence for carcinogenicity and other health effects; (3 feasibility of producing a carcinogen profile and/or an occupational estimate; and (4 special interest from the public/scientific community. Carcinogens were ranked as high, medium or low priority based on specific conditions regarding these criteria, and stakeholder input was incorporated. Priorities were set separately for the creation of new carcinogen profiles and for new occupational exposure estimates. Results: Overall, 246 agents were reviewed for inclusion in the occupational priorities list. For carcinogen profile generation, 103 were prioritized (11 high, 33 medium, and 59 low priority, and 36 carcinogens were deemed priorities for occupational exposure estimation (13 high, 17 medium, and 6 low priority. Conclusion: Prioritizing and ranking occupational carcinogens is required for a variety of purposes, including research, resource allocation at different jurisdictional levels, calculations of occupational cancer burden, and planning of CAREX-type projects in different countries. This paper outlines how this process was achieved in Canada; this may provide a model for other countries and jurisdictions as a part of occupational cancer prevention efforts. Keywords: cancer prevention, carcinogen exposure, occupational health

Assessment of energy research, development, and demonstration priorities for New York State. Interim report. Volume I

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Allentuck, J; Appleman, J; Carroll, T O; Palmedo, P F; Nathans, R

1977-11-01

In compliance with its mandate to accelerate the development and use of energy technologies in furtherance of the state's economic growth and the best interests of its population, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) initiated, in March 1977, an assessment of energy research and development priorities. This report presents a view of the energy supply-demand future of the state, and the ways in which this future can be affected by external contingencies and concerted policies. That view takes into consideration energy supplies that may be available to the state as well as energy demands as they are affected by demographic and economic changes within the state. Also included are the effects of national energy policies and technological developments as they modify both supplies and demands in New York State. Finally, this report proceeds to identify those general technological areas in which the Authority's program can be of greatest potential benefit to the state's social and economic well being. This effort aims at a cost/benefit analysis determination of RD and D priorities. The preliminary analysis thus far indicates these areas as being of highest priority: energy conservation in buildings (promotion and execution of RD and D) and industry; district heating; fuel cell demonstration;solar heating and cooling (analysis, demonstration, and information dissemination); energy-environment interaction (analysis); energy information services; and, in general, the attraction of Federal RD and D programs to the state.

12 CFR 360.3 - Priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... include wages or salaries of employees of the association; (3) Claims for wages and salaries, including... proved to the satisfaction of the receiver shall have priority in the following order: (1) Administrative... reasonable expenses incurred by employees which were authorized and reimbursable under a pre-existing expense...

MAPPING OF POTENTIAL AGRICULTURE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRIORITY AGROINDUSTRY IN KEPULAUAN MERANTY REGENCY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Septina Elida

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The agricultural sector has an important role for rural communities in moving its economy. Therefore, that agricultural potential should be utilized as much as possible for socialwelfare. This study aimed to analyze the potential of agricultural commodities and priority of the factors that determine superioragroindustrybased potensial of agricultural commodities. This study usedsurvey, which was conduct in the Meranti IslandsDistrict from January to May 2016.Respondents involving stakeholders from experts, government agencies and community leaders. The analysis was the Hirarchi Analytical Process (AHP. The results showedthat the potential of agricultural commodities which was develope in Meranti Islands District were sago, coconut and rubber. Determinants: 1 Natural resources (climate, rainfall and land suitability, the priority factor were the land suitability and climate. 2 Human resources (formal education and skills, the priority factor was skill, 3 capital (land, seeds, tools, technology, and ease of cultivation, the priority factor were land, seeds, ease of cultivation. 4 Socio-economic and cultural (ethnic, contribution to GDP, the priority factor was the contribution to the GDP.Superior agroindustriesthat has be developed in the District of Meranti Islands based agricultural potential was agroindustrial sago and coconut. Determinants: 1. The technical aspects (raw materials, capital, technology and infrastructure, the priority factor were the raw material and capital. 2 Economical aspects (price, market, downstream prospects, and the contribution to the GDP, the priority factor are market and downstream prospects. 3 Socio-economic and cultural aspects (education and labor absorption, the priority factor in Agroindustry sago was education, whereas in the palm agro-industry was labor absorption. 

Top ten research priorities for spinal cord injury: the methodology and results of a British priority setting partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

van Middendorp, J J; Allison, H C; Ahuja, S; Bracher, D; Dyson, C; Fairbank, J; Gall, A; Glover, A; Gray, L; Masri, W El; Uttridge, A; Cowan, K

2016-05-01

This is a mixed-method consensus development project. The objective of this study was to identify a top ten list of priorities for future research into spinal cord injury (SCI). The British Spinal Cord Injury Priority Setting Partnership was established in 2013 and completed in 2014. Stakeholders included consumer organisations, healthcare professional societies and caregivers. This partnership involved the following four key stages: (i) gathering of research questions, (ii) checking of existing research evidence, (iii) interim prioritisation and (iv) a final consensus meeting to reach agreement on the top ten research priorities. Adult individuals with spinal cord dysfunction because of trauma or non-traumatic causes, including transverse myelitis, and individuals with a cauda equina syndrome (henceforth grouped and referred to as SCI) were invited to participate in this priority setting partnership. We collected 784 questions from 403 survey respondents (290 individuals with SCI), which, after merging duplicate questions and checking systematic reviews for evidence, were reduced to 109 unique unanswered research questions. A total of 293 people (211 individuals with SCI) participated in the interim prioritisation process, leading to the identification of 25 priorities. At a final consensus meeting, a representative group of individuals with SCI, caregivers and health professionals agreed on their top ten research priorities. Following a comprehensive, rigorous and inclusive process, with participation from individuals with SCI, caregivers and health professionals, the SCI research agenda has been defined by people to whom it matters most and should inform the scope and future activities of funders and researchers for the years to come. The NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre provided core funding for this project.

Ukraine’s trade and economic priorities in the Black sea economic cooperation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andriy Goncharuk

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the substantiation of trade and economic priorities of Ukraine’s integration into the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC. The country’s integration options have been analyzed including the Western European vs. pro-Russian integration vector, the bidirectional gravity model, and an alte — native subregional cooperation direction. Ukraine’s sectoral priorities for deepening economic cooperation with the BSEC member countries in the context of implementation of the national interests have been identified, in particular in the field of goods, transport and tourism services, and energy trading. The ways of and instruments for improving Ukraine’s trade activities within the framework of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation have been offered for the various working groups of the Organization that are focused on such areas of cooperation as macroeconomics, policy and law, finance and economics, science and technology, culture and society, infrastructure, and institutional renewal.

Priority setting partnership to identify the top 10 research priorities for the management of Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Deane, Katherine H O; Flaherty, Helen; Daley, David J; Pascoe, Roland; Penhale, Bridget; Clarke, Carl E; Sackley, Catherine; Storey, Stacey

2014-12-14

This priority setting partnership was commissioned by Parkinson's UK to encourage people with direct and personal experience of the condition to work together to identify and prioritise the top 10 evidential uncertainties that impact on everyday clinical practice for the management of Parkinson's disease (PD). The UK. Anyone with experience of PD including: people with Parkinson's (PwP), carers, family and friends, healthcare and social care professionals. Non-clinical researchers and employees of pharmaceutical or medical devices companies were excluded. 1000 participants (60% PwP) provided ideas on research uncertainties, 475 (72% PwP) initially prioritised them and 27 (37% PwP) stakeholders agreed a final top 10. Using a modified nominal group technique, participants were surveyed to identify what issues for the management of PD needed research. Unique research questions unanswered by current evidence were identified and participants were asked to identify their top 10 research priorities from this list. The top 26 uncertainties were presented to a consensus meeting with key stakeholders to agree the top 10 research priorities. 1000 participants provided 4100 responses, which contained 94 unique unanswered research questions that were initially prioritised by 475 participants. A consensus meeting with 27 stakeholders agreed the top 10 research priorities. The overarching research aspiration was an effective cure for PD. The top 10 research priorities for PD management included the need to address motor symptoms (balance and falls, and fine motor control), non-motor symptoms (sleep and urinary dysfunction), mental health issues (stress and anxiety, dementia and mild cognitive impairments), side effects of medications (dyskinesia) and the need to develop interventions specific to the phenotypes of PD and better monitoring methods. These research priorities identify crucial gaps in the existing evidence to address everyday practicalities in the management of the

Identification and quantification of priority species from coal combustion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Furimsky, E.; Zheng, L.; Hlavacek, T. [Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology, Ottawa, ON (Canada). Energy Research Laboratories

1996-07-01

The objective is to quantify and characterize emissions from pulverized coal combustion of seven coals and the circulating fluidized bed combustion of four coals. The species of particular interest are sulphur, nitrogen, chlorine, arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, potassium, and sodium. The Facility for Analysis of Chemical Thermodynamics (F{asterisk}A{asterisk}C{asterisk}T) method is used to predict type and amount of priority species. Prediction is made for combustion with and without the presence of limestone. The results show that the combustion technology used influences the amount of priority species emitted. 16 tabs., 3 apps.

Benchmarking and gap analysis of faculty mentorship priorities and how well they are met.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruner, Deborah Watkins; Dunbar, Sandra; Higgins, Melinda; Martyn, Kristy

2016-01-01

There is little consensus among faculty mentoring programs as to best practices. While there are recommendations in the literature to base faculty development programs on gap analyses of faculty ratings of actual and preferred performance in teaching, scholarship and service, no gap analysis was found in the literature. Thus, the purpose of this study was to develop a survey tool to benchmark school of nursing (SON) faculty mentorship priorities and conduct a gap analysis of how well they were being addressed. Senior faculty who lead mentorship as part of their roles in the SON (associate and assistant deans and director of mentorship) developed a survey through (a) asking faculty members for priorities at in-person mentorship seminars, (b) a review of current nursing literature, and (c) input from the SON mentorship advisory board. The final survey included 37 items focused on general job duties, structure of the mentoring program, time management, as well as skills needed for research, teaching, practice, writing and team science. Responses (rated from 0-not important to 5-very high priority) were requested in 4 areas: the first area focused on how high a priority the respondent rated a given item and areas 2 to 4 focused on how well the need was met by one of three resources: their SON primary assigned mentor, other SON resources, or other university resources. There were 63 eligible SON faculty to whom the survey was e-mailed with a 60% (n = 38) response rate. Most of the respondents were clinical track (42.1%) followed by tenure track (39.5%) and research track (15.8%). Half were assistant professors. The percentage of respondents giving a rating of 4 to 5 were calculated and then ranked. Almost all the faculty responding, regardless of track or rank, desired formal mentorship. Among all faculty, the top five priorities were guidance on producing timely publications (70.4%), mentorship on work-life balance (68%), mentorship on putting together a promotion

Technology Summary Advancing Tank Waste Retrieval And Processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sams, T.L.; Mendoza, R.E.

2010-01-01

This technology overview provides a high-level summary of technologies being investigated and developed by Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) to advance Hanford Site tank waste retrieval and processing. Technology solutions are outlined, along with processes and priorities for selecting and developing them. This technology overview provides a high-level summary of technologies being investigated, developed, and deployed by WRPS to advance Hanford Site tank waste retrieval and processing. Transformational technologies are needed to complete Hanford tank waste retrieval and treatment by 12/31/2047. Hanford's underground waste storage tanks hold approximately 57 million gallons of radiochemical waste from nuclear defense production - more tank waste than any other site in the United States. In addition, the waste is uniquely complicated because it contains constituents from at least six major radiochemical processes and several lesser processes. It is intermixed and complexed more than any other waste collection known to exist in the world. The multi-faceted nature of Hanford's tank waste means that legally binding agreements in the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (known as the Tri-Party Agreement) and between the Department of Energy (DOE) and its contractors may not be met using current vitrification schedules, plans, and methods. WRPS and the DOE are developing, testing, and deploying technologies to meet the necessary commitments and complete the DOE's River Protection Project (RPP) mission within environmentally acceptable requirements. Technology solutions are outlined, along with processes and priorities for selecting and developing them. DOE's Office of Environmental Management (EM) identifies the environmental management technology needs and the activities necessary to address them. The U.S. Congress then funds these activities through EM or the DOE field offices. Finally, an array of entities that include DOE site prime contractors and

Priority setting and health policy and systems research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bennett Sara C

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Health policy and systems research (HPSR has been identified as critical to scaling-up interventions to achieve the millennium development goals, but research priority setting exercises often do not address HPSR well. This paper aims to (i assess current priority setting methods and the extent to which they adequately include HPSR and (ii draw lessons regarding how HPSR priority setting can be enhanced to promote relevant HPSR, and to strengthen developing country leadership of research agendas. Priority setting processes can be distinguished by the level at which they occur, their degree of comprehensiveness in terms of the topic addressed, the balance between technical versus interpretive approaches and the stakeholders involved. When HPSR is considered through technical, disease-driven priority setting processes it is systematically under-valued. More successful approaches for considering HPSR are typically nationally-driven, interpretive and engage a range of stakeholders. There is still a need however for better defined approaches to enable research funders to determine the relative weight to assign to disease specific research versus HPSR and other forms of cross-cutting health research. While country-level research priority setting is key, there is likely to be a continued need for the identification of global research priorities for HPSR. The paper argues that such global priorities can and should be driven by country level priorities.

Spaceflight-relevant stem education and outreach: Social goals and priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Caldwell, Barrett S.

2015-07-01

This paper is based on a presentation and conference proceedings paper given at the 65th International Astronautical Congress. The paper addresses concerns in education and public outreach (EPO) in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The author serves as a Director of a US statewide NASA-funded Space Grant Consortium, with responsibilities to coordinate funding for undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, and program awards. Space Grant is a national NASA network of STEM EPO programs including over 1000 higher education, outreach center, science museum, local government, and corporate partners. As a Space Grant Director, the author interacts with a variety of levels of STEM literacy and sophistication among members of the public. A number of interactions highlight the need for STEM EPO leaders to speak directly to a variety of social goals and priorities. Spaceflight is largely seen as an appealing and potentially desirable STEM application. However, members of the public are often unclear and ill-informed regarding relative expense, relative benefit, and relative breadth of domains of expertise that are relevant to the spaceflight enterprise. In response (and resulting in further disconnects between STEM specialists and the public), focused STEM professionals frequently over-emphasize their own technical specialty and its priority in general because of its importance to that professional. These potential divides in the attempt to share and connect STEM related goals and priorities are discussed as an elaboration of invitations to discuss spacefaring in "futures forum" contexts. Spaceflight can be seen as addressing a combination of "actualization" and "aspirational" goals at social and societal levels. Maslow's hierarchy of needs distinguishes between "basic needs" and "actualization" as a higher-order need. Another aspect of spaceflight is aspirational-it speaks to hopes and desires for levels of flexibility and capability at the

Leadership and priority setting: the perspective of hospital CEOs.

Science.gov (United States)

Reeleder, David; Goel, Vivek; Singer, Peter A; Martin, Douglas K

2006-11-01

The role of leadership in health care priority setting remains largely unexplored. While the management leadership literature has grown rapidly, the growing literature on priority setting in health care has looked in other directions to improve priority setting practices--to health economics and ethical approaches. Consequently, potential for improvement in hospital priority setting practices may be overlooked. A qualitative study involving interviews with 46 Ontario hospital CEOs was done to describe the role of leadership in priority setting through the perspective of hospital leaders. For the first time, we report a framework of leadership domains including vision, alignment, relationships, values and process to facilitate priority setting practices in health services' organizations. We believe this fledgling framework forms the basis for the sharing of good leadership practices for health reform. It also provides a leadership guide for decision makers to improve the quality of their leadership, and in so doing, we believe, the fairness of their priority setting.

Identifying primary care patient safety research priorities in the UK: a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Rebecca Lauren; Stocks, Susan Jill; Alam, Rahul; Taylor, Sian; Rolfe, Carly; Glover, Steven William; Whitcombe, Joanne; Campbell, Stephen M

2018-02-28

To identify the top 10 unanswered research questions for primary care patient safety research. A modified nominal group technique. UK. Anyone with experience of primary care including: patients, carers and healthcare professionals. 341 patients and 86 healthcare professionals submitted questions. A top 10, and top 30, future research questions for primary care patient safety. 443 research questions were submitted by 341 patients and 86 healthcare professionals, through a national survey. After checking for relevance and rephrasing, a total of 173 questions were collated into themes. The themes were largely focused on communication, team and system working, interfaces across primary and secondary care, medication, self-management support and technology. The questions were then prioritised through a national survey, the top 30 questions were taken forward to the final prioritisation workshop. The top 10 research questions focused on the most vulnerable in society, holistic whole-person care, safer communication and coordination between care providers, work intensity, continuity of care, suicide risk, complex care at home and confidentiality. This study was the first national prioritisation exercise to identify patient and healthcare professional priorities for primary care patient safety research. The research priorities identified a range of important gaps in the existing evidence to inform everyday practice to address primary care patient safety. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Perioperative leadership: managing change with insights, priorities, and tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, David L

2014-07-01

The personal leadership of the perioperative director is a critical factor in the success of any change management initiative. This article presents an approach to perioperative nursing leadership that addresses obstacles that prevent surgical departments from achieving high performance in clinical and financial outcomes. This leadership approach consists of specific insights, priorities, and tools: key insights include self-understanding of personal barriers to leadership and accuracy at understanding economic and strategic considerations related to the OR environment; key priorities include creating a customer-centered organization, focusing on process improvement, and concentrating on culture change; and key tools include using techniques (e.g., direct engagement, collaborative leadership) to align surgical organizations with leadership priorities and mitigate specific perioperative management risks. Included in this article is a leadership development plan for perioperative directors. Copyright © 2014 AORN, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Burden of Disease Study and Priority Setting in Korea: an Ethical Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, So Youn; Kwon, Ivo; Oh, In Hwan

2016-11-01

When thinking about priority setting in access to healthcare resources, decision-making requires that cost-effectiveness is balanced against medical ethics. The burden of disease has emerged as an important approach to the assessment of health needs for political decision-making. However, the disability adjusted life years approach hides conceptual and methodological issues regarding the claims and value of disabled people. In this article, we discuss ethical issues that are raised as a consequence of the introduction of evidence-based health policy, such as economic evidence, in establishing resource allocation priorities. In terms of ethical values in health priority setting in Korea, there is no reliable rationale for the judgment used in decision-making as well as for setting separate and distinct priorities for different government bodies. An important question, therefore, is which ethical values guiding the practice of decision-making should be reconciled with the economic evidence found in Korean healthcare. The health technology assessment core model from the European network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA) project is a good example of incorporating ethical values into decision-making. We suggest that a fair distribution of scarce healthcare resources in South Korea can be achieved by considering the ethical aspects of healthcare.

A Mathematical Analysis of Air Traffic Priority Rules

Science.gov (United States)

Nakawicz, Anthony J.; Munoz, Cesar A.; Maddalon, Jeffrey M.

2012-01-01

This paper analyzes priority rules, such as those in Part 91.113 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. Such rules determine which of two aircraft should maneuver in a given conflict scenario. While the rules in 91.113 are well accepted, other concepts of operation for NextGen, such as self separation, may allow for different priority rules. A mathematical framework is presented that can be used to analyze a general set of priority rules and enables proofs of important properties. Specific properties considered in this paper include safety, effectiveness, and stability. A set of rules is said to be safe if it ensures that it is never the case that both aircraft have priority. They are effective if exactly one aircraft has priority in every situation. Finally, a set of rules is called stable if it produces compatible results even under small changes to input data.

Gas priority users consultation : government response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

This consultation document presents the results of an updated analysis of gas priority users comments on the UK government's proposals for updating the current priority lists, amending the eligibility criteria for priority user status, and simplifying the administration of the scheme. The extension of Category C priority users to include sites where interruption of gas supplies would lead to damage exceeding fifty million pounds to a plant at another site is discussed. It is acknowledged that there is a preference for a reduction of gas demand as opposed to a cessation in the case of an emergency gas supply deficit and details are given of a Task Group set up to examine options for reducing demand rather than cessation for large industrial gas users. The role of the Network Emergency Co-ordinator, support for a more flexible approach, pre-agreed rota interruption, a long-duration emergency, demand reduction, and the establishment of a Government/Industry Gas/Electricity Task Group are discussed, and the raising of the load shedding threshold of 25,000 therms/yr is considered

Setting research priorities by applying the combined approach matrix.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghaffar, Abdul

2009-04-01

Priority setting in health research is a dynamic process. Different organizations and institutes have been working in the field of research priority setting for many years. In 1999 the Global Forum for Health Research presented a research priority setting tool called the Combined Approach Matrix or CAM. Since its development, the CAM has been successfully applied to set research priorities for diseases, conditions and programmes at global, regional and national levels. This paper briefly explains the CAM methodology and how it could be applied in different settings, giving examples and describing challenges encountered in the process of setting research priorities and providing recommendations for further work in this field. The construct and design of the CAM is explained along with different steps needed, including planning and organization of a priority-setting exercise and how it could be applied in different settings. The application of the CAM are described by using three examples. The first concerns setting research priorities for a global programme, the second describes application at the country level and the third setting research priorities for diseases. Effective application of the CAM in different and diverse environments proves its utility as a tool for setting research priorities. Potential challenges encountered in the process of research priority setting are discussed and some recommendations for further work in this field are provided.

Which Are My Future Career Priorities and What Influenced My Choice of Studying Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics? Some Insights on Educational Choice--Case of Slovenia

Science.gov (United States)

Cerinsek, Gregor; Hribar, Tina; Glodez, Natasa; Dolinsek, Slavko

2013-01-01

This paper is addressing the problem of under-representation of young people in general, and females in particular, in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in Slovenia. It has two main objectives: (1) to identify which priorities male and female STEM students in Slovenia seek in their future careers, and (2) to…

Global conservation priorities for marine turtles.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bryan P Wallace

Full Text Available Where conservation resources are limited and conservation targets are diverse, robust yet flexible priority-setting frameworks are vital. Priority-setting is especially important for geographically widespread species with distinct populations subject to multiple threats that operate on different spatial and temporal scales. Marine turtles are widely distributed and exhibit intra-specific variations in population sizes and trends, as well as reproduction and morphology. However, current global extinction risk assessment frameworks do not assess conservation status of spatially and biologically distinct marine turtle Regional Management Units (RMUs, and thus do not capture variations in population trends, impacts of threats, or necessary conservation actions across individual populations. To address this issue, we developed a new assessment framework that allowed us to evaluate, compare and organize marine turtle RMUs according to status and threats criteria. Because conservation priorities can vary widely (i.e. from avoiding imminent extinction to maintaining long-term monitoring efforts we developed a "conservation priorities portfolio" system using categories of paired risk and threats scores for all RMUs (n = 58. We performed these assessments and rankings globally, by species, by ocean basin, and by recognized geopolitical bodies to identify patterns in risk, threats, and data gaps at different scales. This process resulted in characterization of risk and threats to all marine turtle RMUs, including identification of the world's 11 most endangered marine turtle RMUs based on highest risk and threats scores. This system also highlighted important gaps in available information that is crucial for accurate conservation assessments. Overall, this priority-setting framework can provide guidance for research and conservation priorities at multiple relevant scales, and should serve as a model for conservation status assessments and priority

Priorities in national space strategies and governance of the member states of the European Space Agency

Science.gov (United States)

Adriaensen, Maarten; Giannopapa, Christina; Sagath, Daniel; Papastefanou, Anastasia

2015-12-01

The European Space Agency (ESA) has twenty Member States with a variety of strategic priorities and governance structures regarding their space activities. A number of countries engage in space activities exclusively though ESA, while others have also their own national space programme. Some consider ESA as their prime space agency and others have additionally their own national agency with respective programmes. The main objective of this paper is to provide an up-to date overview and a holistic assessment of strategic priorities and the national space governance structures in 20 ESA Member States. This analysis and assessment has been conducted by analysing the Member States public documents, information provided at ESA workshop on this topic and though unstructured interviews. The paper is structured to include two main elements: priorities and trends in national space strategies and space governance in ESA Member States. The first part of this paper focuses on the content and analysis of the national space strategies and indicates the main priorities and trends in Member States. The priorities are categorised with regards to technology domains, the role of space in the areas of sustainability and the motivators that boost engagement in space. These vary from one Member State to another and include with different levels of engagement in technology domains amongst others: science and exploration, navigation, Earth observation, human space flight, launchers, telecommunications, and integrated applications. Member States allocate a different role of space as enabling tool adding to the advancement of sustainability areas including: security, resources, environment and climate change, transport and communication, energy, and knowledge and education. The motivators motivating reasoning which enhances or hinders space engagement also differs. The motivators identified are industrial competitiveness, job creation, technology development and transfer, social benefits

[The Danish debate on priority setting in medicine - characteristics and results].

Science.gov (United States)

Pornak, S; Meyer, T; Raspe, H

2011-10-01

Priority setting in medicine helps to achieve a fair and transparent distribution of health-care resources. The German discussion about priority setting is still in its infancy and may benefit from other countries' experiences. This paper aims to analyse the Danish priority setting debate in order to stimulate the German discussion. The methods used are a literature analysis and a document analysis as well as expert interviews. The Danish debate about priority setting in medicine began in the 1970s, when a government committee was constituted to evaluate health-care priorities at the national level. In the 1980s a broader debate arose in politics, ethics, medicine and health economy. The discussions reached a climax in the 1990s, when many local activities - always involving the public - were initiated. Some Danish counties tried to implement priority setting in the daily routine of health care. The Council of Ethics was a major player in the debate of the 1990s and published a detailed statement on priority setting in 1996. With the new century the debate about priority setting seemed to have come to an end, but in 2006 the Technology Council and the Danish Regions resumed the discussion. In 2009 the Medical Association called for a broad debate in order to achieve equity among all patients. The long lasting Danish debate on priority setting has entailed only very little practical consequences on health care. The main problems seem to have been the missing effort to bundle the various local initiatives on a national level and the lack of powerful players to put results of the discussion into practice. Nevertheless, today the attitude towards priority setting is predominantly positive and even politicians talk freely about it. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Priorities for research in soil ecology.

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenhauer, Nico; Antunes, Pedro M; Bennett, Alison E; Birkhofer, Klaus; Bissett, Andrew; Bowker, Matthew A; Caruso, Tancredi; Chen, Baodong; Coleman, David C; de Boer, Wietse; de Ruiter, Peter; DeLuca, Thomas H; Frati, Francesco; Griffiths, Bryan S; Hart, Miranda M; Hättenschwiler, Stephan; Haimi, Jari; Heethoff, Michael; Kaneko, Nobuhiro; Kelly, Laura C; Leinaas, Hans Petter; Lindo, Zoë; Macdonald, Catriona; Rillig, Matthias C; Ruess, Liliane; Scheu, Stefan; Schmidt, Olaf; Seastedt, Timothy R; van Straalen, Nico M; Tiunov, Alexei V; Zimmer, Martin; Powell, Jeff R

2017-07-01

The ecological interactions that occur in and with soil are of consequence in many ecosystems on the planet. These interactions provide numerous essential ecosystem services, and the sustainable management of soils has attracted increasing scientific and public attention. Although soil ecology emerged as an independent field of research many decades ago, and we have gained important insights into the functioning of soils, there still are fundamental aspects that need to be better understood to ensure that the ecosystem services that soils provide are not lost and that soils can be used in a sustainable way. In this perspectives paper, we highlight some of the major knowledge gaps that should be prioritized in soil ecological research. These research priorities were compiled based on an online survey of 32 editors of Pedobiologia - Journal of Soil Ecology. These editors work at universities and research centers in Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia.The questions were categorized into four themes: (1) soil biodiversity and biogeography, (2) interactions and the functioning of ecosystems, (3) global change and soil management, and (4) new directions. The respondents identified priorities that may be achievable in the near future, as well as several that are currently achievable but remain open. While some of the identified barriers to progress were technological in nature, many respondents cited a need for substantial leadership and goodwill among members of the soil ecology research community, including the need for multi-institutional partnerships, and had substantial concerns regarding the loss of taxonomic expertise.

Research Priorities in Spasmodic Dysphonia

Science.gov (United States)

Ludlow, Christy L.; Adler, Charles H.; Berke, Gerald S.; Bielamowicz, Steven A.; Blitzer, Andrew; Bressman, Susan B.; Hallett, Mark; Jinnah, H. A.; Juergens, Uwe; Martin, Sandra B.; Perlmutter, Joel S.; Sapienza, Christine; Singleton, Andrew; Tanner, Caroline M.; Woodson, Gayle E.

2009-01-01

OBJECTIVE To identify research priorities for increasing understanding of the pathogenesis, diagnosis and improved treatment of spasmodic dysphonia. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING A multidisciplinary working group was formed including both scientists and clinicians from multiple disciplines, otolaryngology, neurology, speech pathology, genetics and neuroscience, to review currently available information on spasmodic dysphonia and to identify research priorities. RESULTS Operational definitions for spasmodic dysphonia at different levels of certainty were recommended for diagnosis and recommendations made for a multi-center multidisciplinary validation study. CONCLUSIONS The highest priority is to characterize the disorder and identify risk factors that may contribute to its onset. Future research should compare and contrast spasmodic dysphonia with other forms of focal dystonia. Development of animal models is recommended to explore hypotheses related to pathogenesis. Improved understanding of the pathophysiology of SD should provide the basis for developing new treatment options and exploratory clinical trials. SIGNIFICANCE This document should foster future research to improve the care of patients with this chronic debilitating voice and speech disorder by otolaryngology, neurology, and speech pathology. PMID:18922334

Involving patients in setting priorities for healthcare improvement: a cluster randomized trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Boivin, Antoine; Lehoux, Pascale; Lacombe, Réal; Burgers, Jako; Grol, Richard

2014-02-20

Patients are increasingly seen as active partners in healthcare. While patient involvement in individual clinical decisions has been extensively studied, no trial has assessed how patients can effectively be involved in collective healthcare decisions affecting the population. The goal of this study was to test the impact of involving patients in setting healthcare improvement priorities for chronic care at the community level. Cluster randomized controlled trial. Local communities were randomized in intervention (priority setting with patient involvement) and control sites (no patient involvement). Communities in a canadian region were required to set priorities for improving chronic disease management in primary care, from a list of 37 validated quality indicators. Patients were consulted in writing, before participating in face-to-face deliberation with professionals. Professionals established priorities among themselves, without patient involvement. A total of 172 individuals from six communities participated in the study, including 83 chronic disease patients, and 89 health professionals. The primary outcome was the level of agreement between patients' and professionals' priorities. Secondary outcomes included professionals' intention to use the selected quality indicators, and the costs of patient involvement. Priorities established with patients were more aligned with core generic components of the Medical Home and Chronic Care Model, including: access to primary care, self-care support, patient participation in clinical decisions, and partnership with community organizations (p Priorities established by professionals alone placed more emphasis on the technical quality of single disease management. The involvement intervention fostered mutual influence between patients and professionals, which resulted in a 41% increase in agreement on common priorities (95%CI: +12% to +58%, p priorities. Patient involvement can change priorities driving healthcare

Priority in Process Algebras

Science.gov (United States)

Cleaveland, Rance; Luettgen, Gerald; Natarajan, V.

1999-01-01

This paper surveys the semantic ramifications of extending traditional process algebras with notions of priority that allow for some transitions to be given precedence over others. These enriched formalisms allow one to model system features such as interrupts, prioritized choice, or real-time behavior. Approaches to priority in process algebras can be classified according to whether the induced notion of preemption on transitions is global or local and whether priorities are static or dynamic. Early work in the area concentrated on global pre-emption and static priorities and led to formalisms for modeling interrupts and aspects of real-time, such as maximal progress, in centralized computing environments. More recent research has investigated localized notions of pre-emption in which the distribution of systems is taken into account, as well as dynamic priority approaches, i.e., those where priority values may change as systems evolve. The latter allows one to model behavioral phenomena such as scheduling algorithms and also enables the efficient encoding of real-time semantics. Technically, this paper studies the different models of priorities by presenting extensions of Milner's Calculus of Communicating Systems (CCS) with static and dynamic priority as well as with notions of global and local pre- emption. In each case the operational semantics of CCS is modified appropriately, behavioral theories based on strong and weak bisimulation are given, and related approaches for different process-algebraic settings are discussed.

Priority image transmission in wireless sensor networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nasri, M.; Helali, A.; Sghaier, H.; Maaref, H.

2011-01-01

The emerging technology during the last years allowed the development of new sensors equipped with wireless communication which can be organized into a cooperative autonomous network. Some application areas for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are home automations, health care services, military domain, and environment monitoring. The required constraints are limited capacity of processing, limited storage capability, and especially these nodes are limited in energy. In addition, such networks are tiny battery powered which their lifetime is very limited. During image processing and transmission to the destination, the lifetime of sensor network is decreased quickly due to battery and processing power constraints. Therefore, digital image transmissions are a significant challenge for image sensor based Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Based on a wavelet image compression, we propose a novel, robust and energy-efficient scheme, called Priority Image Transmission (PIT) in WSN by providing various priority levels during image transmissions. Different priorities in the compressed image are considered. The information for the significant wavelet coeffcients are transmitted with higher quality assurance, whereas relatively less important coefficients are transmitted with lower overhead. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme prolongs the system lifetime and achieves higher energy efficiency in WSN with an acceptable compromise on the image quality.

Priority setting and economic appraisal: whose priorities--the community or the economist?

Science.gov (United States)

Green, A; Barker, C

1988-01-01

Scarce resources for health require a process for setting priorities. The exact mechanism chosen has important implications for the type of priorities and plans set, and in particular their relationship to the principles of primary health care. One technique increasingly advocated as an aid to priority setting is economic appraisal. It is argued however that economic appraisal is likely to reinforce a selective primary health care approach through its espousal of a technocratic medical model and through its hidden but implicit value judgements. It is suggested that urgent attention is needed to develop approaches to priority setting that incorporate the strengths of economic appraisal, but that are consistent with comprehensive primary health care.

Hydrogen production and storage: R & D priorities and gaps

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-05-04

This review of priorities and gaps in hydrogen production and storage R & D has been prepared by the IEA Hydrogen Implementing Agreement in the context of the activities of the IEA Hydrogen Co-ordination Group. It includes two papers. The first is by Trygve Riis, Elisabet F. Hagen, Preben J.S. Vie and Oeystein Ulleberg. This offers an overview of the technologies for hydrogen production. The technologies discussed are reforming of natural gas; gasification of coal and biomass; and the splitting of water by water-electrolysis, photo-electrolysis, photo-biological production and high-temperature decomposition. The second paper is by Trygve Riis, Gary Sandrock, Oeystein Ulleberg and Preben J.S. Vie. The objective of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the possible hydrogen storage options available today and in the foreseeable future. Hydrogen storage can be considered for onboard vehicular, portable, stationary, bulk, and transport applications, but the main focus of this paper is on vehicular storage, namely fuel cell or ICE/electric hybrid vehicles. 7 refs., 24 figs., 14 tabs.

Enacting Risk in Independent Technological Innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berglund, Henrik; Hellström, Tomas

2002-01-01

The present study aims at investigating the role of risk in the activity of independent technological venturing. Altogether, 12 deep-interviews were conducted with technological entrepreneurs, who had taken part in the inventive, developmental and the commercialisation phases of a technology......-based innovation process. The interviews revealed a number of enactment approaches through which these innovators encountered and affected (dealt with or transformed) risk within the innovation process. Factors thus developed from the empirical material included human capital, pace and priority, the world moves...... for the benefit of innovation management....

45 CFR 2531.20 - Funding priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... priorities. The Corporation may choose to set priorities (and to periodically revise such priorities) that... given fiscal year. In setting these priorities, the Corporation will seek to concentrate funds on those... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Funding priorities. 2531.20 Section 2531.20 Public...

Research priorities in mesothelioma: A James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, R J; Whiting, C; Cowan, K

2015-08-01

In the UK, despite the import and use of all forms of asbestos being banned more than 15 years ago, the incidence of mesothelioma continues to rise. Mesothelioma is almost invariably fatal, and more research is required, not only to find more effective treatments, but also to achieve an earlier diagnosis and improve palliative care. Following a debate in the House of Lords in July 2013, a package of measures was agreed, which included a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership, funded by the National Institute for Health Research. The partnership brought together patients, carers, health professionals and support organisations to agree the top 10 research priorities relating to the diagnosis, treatment and care of patients with mesothelioma. Following the established James Lind Alliance priority setting process, mesothelioma patients, current and bereaved carers, and health professionals were surveyed to elicit their concerns regarding diagnosis, treatment and care. Research questions were generated from the survey responses, and following checks that the questions were currently unanswered, an interim prioritisation survey was conducted to identify a shortlist of questions to take to a final consensus meeting. Four hundred and fifty-three initial surveys were returned, which were refined into 52 unique unanswered research questions. The interim prioritisation survey was completed by 202 responders, and the top 30 questions were taken to a final meeting where mesothelioma patients, carers, and health professionals prioritised all the questions, and reached a consensus on the top 10. The top 10 questions cover a wide portfolio of research (including assessing the value of immunotherapy, individualised chemotherapy, second-line treatment and immediate chemotherapy, monitoring patients with pleural thickening, defining the management of ascites in peritoneal mesothelioma, and optimising follow-up strategy). This list is an invaluable resource, which should be

Annual Technology Baseline (Including Supporting Data); NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blair, Nate; Cory, Karlynn; Hand, Maureen; Parkhill, Linda; Speer, Bethany; Stehly, Tyler; Feldman, David; Lantz, Eric; Augusting, Chad; Turchi, Craig; O' Connor, Patrick

2015-07-08

Consistent cost and performance data for various electricity generation technologies can be difficult to find and may change frequently for certain technologies. With the Annual Technology Baseline (ATB), National Renewable Energy Laboratory provides an organized and centralized dataset that was reviewed by internal and external experts. It uses the best information from the Department of Energy laboratory's renewable energy analysts and Energy Information Administration information for conventional technologies. The ATB will be updated annually in order to provide an up-to-date repository of current and future cost and performance data. Going forward, we plan to revise and refine the values using best available information. The ATB includes both a presentation with notes (PDF) and an associated Excel Workbook. The ATB includes the following electricity generation technologies: land-based wind; offshore wind; utility-scale solar PV; concentrating solar power; geothermal power; hydropower plants (upgrades to existing facilities, powering non-powered dams, and new stream-reach development); conventional coal; coal with carbon capture and sequestration; integrated gasification combined cycle coal; natural gas combustion turbines; natural gas combined cycle; conventional biopower. Nuclear laboratory's renewable energy analysts and Energy Information Administration information for conventional technologies. The ATB will be updated annually in order to provide an up-to-date repository of current and future cost and performance data. Going forward, we plan to revise and refine the values using best available information.

Priority setting in general practice: health priorities of older patients differ from treatment priorities of their physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Voigt, Isabel; Wrede, Jennifer; Diederichs-Egidi, Heike; Dierks, Marie-Luise; Junius-Walker, Ulrike

2010-12-01

To ascertain health priorities of older patients and treatment priorities of their general practitioners (GP) on the basis of a geriatric assessment and to determine the agreement between these priorities. The study included a sample of 9 general practitioners in Hannover, Germany, and a stratified sample of 35 patients (2-5 patients per practice, 18 female, average age 77.7 years). Patients were given a geriatric assessment using the Standardized Assessment for Elderly Patients in Primary Care (STEP) to gain an overview of their health and everyday problems. On the basis of these results, patients and their physicians independently rated the importance of each problem disclosed by the assessment. Whereas patients assessed the importance for their everyday lives, physicians assessed the importance for patients' medical care and patients' everyday lives. Each patient had a mean ± standard deviation of 18 ± 9.2 health problems. Thirty five patients disclosed a total of 634 problems; 537 (85%) were rated by patients and physicians. Of these 537 problems, 332 (62%) were rated by patients and 334 (62%) by physicians as important for patients' everyday lives. In addition, 294 (55%) were rated by physicians as important for patients' medical care. Although these proportions of important problems were similar between patients and physicians, there was little overlap in the specific problems that each group considered important. The chance-corrected agreement (Cohen κ) between patients and physicians on the importance of problems for patients' lives was low (κ=0.23). Likewise, patients and physicians disagreed on the problems that physicians considered important for patients' medical care (κ=0.18, Ppriorities between patients and physicians necessitates better communication between the two parties to strengthen mutual understanding.

Priorities of statutory claimants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pawluck, B.K.; Prowse, J.T.

1996-01-01

The statutory rights that unpaid creditors have when an oil or gas operator is placed in bankruptcy, were evaluated. Those statutory rights may give priority to their claims against the operator. Fifteen topics dealing with statutory priorities were examined, focusing on the change in priorities which would occur if the insolvent operator were placed in bankruptcy. The topics were: (1) Summary of statutory federal and provincial priorities, (2) Revenue Canada - source deductions/deemed trust, (3) Revenue Canada - source deductions/enhanced requirement to pay, (4) Revenue Canada - goods and service tax (GST)/deemed trust, (5) Revenue Canada - GST/enhanced requirement to pay, (6) Federal income taxes, (7) Validity of provincially legislated priority provisions in bankruptcy, (8) Provincially authorized municipal taxes - real property, (9) Provincial workers' compensation board, (10) Provincially legislated wages, overtime pay and holiday pay, (11) Provincially legislated severance/termination pay, (12) Provincially legislated successor employer obligations, (13) Provincially legislated private employment pension plans, (14) Provincial health care insurance premiums, and (15) Provincial freehold mineral rights tax

Research in the field of energy: the priorities of framework programme V and the main trends of the new framework programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pilavachi, P.

2001-01-01

The features and priorities of the 5th European Framework Programme are discussed. The first action include quality of life and management of living resources; user friendly information society; competitive and sustainable growth and energy, environment and sustainable development (environment, energy and nuclear energy). The key actions are as follows: for environment - sustainable management and quality of water, global change, climate and biodiversity, sustainable marine ecosystems; for energy - cleaner energy systems, including renewable, economic efficient energy; for nuclear energy - controlled thermonuclear fusion, nuclear fission. The priorities of strategic importance to the EU are management of greenhouse gases emissions and climate change; exploiting of the potential of new ICTs in energy RTD including e-science issues; socio-economic research related to energy technologies and their impact; international co-operation, co-ordination with MS research programmes and EU wide research networks; pre-normative research of interest at EU level

Dietary and Policy Priorities for Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, and Obesity – A Comprehensive Review

Science.gov (United States)

Mozaffarian, Dariush

2015-01-01

Suboptimal nutrition is a leading cause of poor health. Nutrition and policy science have advanced rapidly, creating confusion yet also providing powerful opportunities to reduce the adverse health and economic impacts of poor diets. This review considers the history, new evidence, controversies, and corresponding lessons for modern dietary and policy priorities for cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and diabetes. Major identified themes include the importance of evaluating the full diversity of diet-related risk pathways, not just obesity and blood lipids; focusing on foods and overall diet patterns, rather than single isolated nutrients; recognizing the complex influences of different foods on long-term weight regulation, rather than simply counting calories; and characterizing and implementing evidence-based strategies, including policy approaches, for lifestyle change. Evidence-informed dietary priorities include increased fruits, nonstarchy vegetables, nuts, legumes, fish, vegetable oils, yogurt, and minimally processed whole grains; and fewer red meats, processed (e.g., sodium-preserved) meats, and foods rich in refined grains, starch, added sugars, salt, and trans fat. More investigation is needed on cardiometabolic effects of phenolics, dairy fat, probiotics, fermentation, coffee, tea, cocoa, eggs, specific vegetable and tropical oils, vitamin D, individual fatty acids, and diet-microbiome interactions. Little evidence to-date supports cardiometabolic relevance of other popular priorities: e.g., local, organic, grass-fed, farmed/wild, non-GMO. Evidence-based personalized nutrition appears to depend more on non-genetic characteristics (e.g., physical activity, abdominal adiposity, gender, socioeconomic status, culture) than genetic factors. Food choices must be strongly supported by clinical behavior change efforts, health systems reforms, novel technologies, and robust policy strategies, including those targeting economic incentives, schools and workplaces

Publishing priorities of biomedical research funders

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Ellen

2013-01-01

Objectives To understand the publishing priorities, especially in relation to open access, of 10 UK biomedical research funders. Design Semistructured interviews. Setting 10 UK biomedical research funders. Participants 12 employees with responsibility for research management at 10 UK biomedical research funders; a purposive sample to represent a range of backgrounds and organisation types. Conclusions Publicly funded and large biomedical research funders are committed to open access publishing and are pleased with recent developments which have stimulated growth in this area. Smaller charitable funders are supportive of the aims of open access, but are concerned about the practical implications for their budgets and their funded researchers. Across the board, biomedical research funders are turning their attention to other priorities for sharing research outputs, including data, protocols and negative results. Further work is required to understand how smaller funders, including charitable funders, can support open access. PMID:24154520

Dietary and Policy Priorities for Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, and Obesity: A Comprehensive Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Mozaffarian, Dariush

2016-01-12

Suboptimal nutrition is a leading cause of poor health. Nutrition and policy science have advanced rapidly, creating confusion yet also providing powerful opportunities to reduce the adverse health and economic impacts of poor diets. This review considers the history, new evidence, controversies, and corresponding lessons for modern dietary and policy priorities for cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and diabetes mellitus. Major identified themes include the importance of evaluating the full diversity of diet-related risk pathways, not only blood lipids or obesity; focusing on foods and overall diet patterns, rather than single isolated nutrients; recognizing the complex influences of different foods on long-term weight regulation, rather than simply counting calories; and characterizing and implementing evidence-based strategies, including policy approaches, for lifestyle change. Evidence-informed dietary priorities include increased fruits, nonstarchy vegetables, nuts, legumes, fish, vegetable oils, yogurt, and minimally processed whole grains; and fewer red meats, processed (eg, sodium-preserved) meats, and foods rich in refined grains, starch, added sugars, salt, and trans fat. More investigation is needed on the cardiometabolic effects of phenolics, dairy fat, probiotics, fermentation, coffee, tea, cocoa, eggs, specific vegetable and tropical oils, vitamin D, individual fatty acids, and diet-microbiome interactions. Little evidence to date supports the cardiometabolic relevance of other popular priorities: eg, local, organic, grass-fed, farmed/wild, or non-genetically modified. Evidence-based personalized nutrition appears to depend more on nongenetic characteristics (eg, physical activity, abdominal adiposity, gender, socioeconomic status, culture) than genetic factors. Food choices must be strongly supported by clinical behavior change efforts, health systems reforms, novel technologies, and robust policy strategies targeting economic incentives, schools and

Vision-related research priorities and how to finance them.

Science.gov (United States)

McCarty, Catherine A

2012-01-01

A number of organizations have employed a consultative process with the vision community to engage relevant parties in identifying needs and opportunities for vision research. The National Eye Institute in the US and the European Commission are currently undergoing consultation to develop priorities for vision research. Once these priorities have been established, the challenge will be to identify the resources to advance these research agendas. Success rates for Federal funding for research have decreased recently in the USA, UK, and Australia. Researchers should consider various potential funding sources for their research. The universal consideration for funding is that the reason for funding should align with the mission of the funding organization. In addition to Federal research organizations that fund investigator-initiated research, other potential funding sources include nongovernmental organizations, for-profit companies, individual philanthropy, and service organizations. In addition to aligning with organizational funding priorities, researchers need to consider turn-around time and total funds available including whether an organization will cover institutional indirect costs. Websites are useful tools to find information about organizations that fund research, including grant deadlines. Collaboration is encouraged.

Providing health information for culturally and linguistically diverse women: priorities and preferences of new migrants and refugees.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Susan K; Sulaiman-Hill, Cheryl M R; Thompson, Sandra C

2013-08-01

Preferences for topics and means of access to health information among newly arrived, culturally and linguistically diverse women in Perth, Western Australia, were explored. A mixed-methods approach was adopted. Qualitative material obtained from focus groups and interviews with 22 service providers and 26 migrant women was used to develop a questionnaire, which was then administered to 268 newly arrived migrant and refugee women from 50 countries. Participants' information and support priorities were ascertained from a ranking exercise conducted in a non-threatening context. Responses of migrant and refugee women were compared quantitatively. Women's top priorities for information and support included employment advice, as well as information regarding mental health issues, women's health, exercise and nutrition, family violence and alcohol and other drug issues. Their preferred methods for receiving information were interactive talks or presentations, with written material support. Audiovisual and Web-based material were also considered useful. There were differences between refugee women's and other migrants' preferences for means of receiving information and topics of most concern. The use of a non-threatening ranking process encouraged women to prioritise sensitive topics, such as family violence, and revealed a need for such topics to be incorporated within general health information presentations. Internet-based technologies are becoming increasingly important methods for disseminating information to migrant women. SO WHAT? Differences between migrant and refugee women's priority health issues and their preferred methods for receiving information highlight the desirability of tailoring information to particular groups. Although advice on employment pathways and mental health concerns were top priorities, the study revealed a need for more discussion on other sensitive topics, such as family violence and alcohol-related issues, and that ideally these should

QUEUEING DISCIPLINES BASED ON PRIORITY MATRIX

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taufik I. Aliev

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with queueing disciplines for demands of general type in queueing systems with multivendor load. A priority matrix is proposed to be used for the purpose of mathematical description of such disciplines, which represents the priority type (preemptive priority, not preemptive priority or no priority between any two demands classes. Having an intuitive and simple way of priority assignment, such description gives mathematical dependencies of system operation characteristics on its parameters. Requirements for priority matrix construction are formulated and the notion of canonical priority matrix is given. It is shown that not every matrix, constructed in accordance with such requirements, is correct. The notion of incorrect priority matrix is illustrated by an example, and it is shown that such matrixes do not ensure any unambiguousness and determinacy in design of algorithm, which realizes corresponding queueing discipline. Rules governing construction of correct matrixes are given for canonical priority matrixes. Residence time for demands of different classes in system, which is the sum of waiting time and service time, is considered as one of the most important characteristics. By introducing extra event method Laplace transforms for these characteristics are obtained, and mathematical dependencies are derived on their basis for calculation of two first moments for corresponding characteristics of demands queueing

Good Practice Policy Framework for Energy Technology Research Development and Demonstration (RD and D)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2011-07-01

The transition to a low carbon economy clearly requires accelerating energy innovation and technology adoption. Governments have an important role in this context. They can help by establishing the enabling environment in which innovation can thrive, and within which effective and efficient policies can be identified, with the specific goal of advancing research, development, demonstration and, ultimately, deployment (RDD&D) of clean energy technologies. At the front end of the innovation process, significant increases in, and restructuring of, global RD&D efforts will be required, combined with well-targeted government RD&D policies. The development of a clear policy framework for energy technology RD&D, based on good practices, should include six elements: Coherent energy RD&D strategy and priorities; Adequate government RD&D funding and policy support; Co-ordinated energy RD&D governance; Strong collaborative approach, engaging industry through public private partnerships (PPPs); Effective RD&D monitoring and evaluation; and Strategic international collaboration. While countries have been favouring certain technologies over others, based on decisions on which areas are to receive funding, clear priorities are not always determined through structured analysis and documented processes. A review of stated energy RD&D priorities, based on announced technology programmes and strategies, and recent spending trends reveals some important deviations from stated priorities and actual RD&D funding.

International Occupational Therapy Research Priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Mackenzie, Lynette; Coppola, Susan; Alvarez, Liliana; Cibule, Lolita; Maltsev, Sergey; Loh, Siew Yim; Mlambo, Tecla; Ikiugu, Moses N; Pihlar, Zdenka; Sriphetcharawut, Sarinya; Baptiste, Sue; Ledgerd, Richard

2017-04-01

Occupational therapy is a global profession represented by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT). International research priorities are needed for strategic guidance on global occupational therapy practice. The objective of this study was to develop international research priorities to reflect global occupational therapy practice. A Delphi study using three rounds of electronic surveys, distributed to WFOT member organizations and WFOT accredited universities, was conducted. Data were analyzed after each round, and priorities were presented for rating and ranking in order of importance. Forty-six (53%) out of 87 WFOT member countries participated in the Delphi process. Eight research priorities were confirmed by the final electronic survey round. Differences were observed in rankings given by member organizations and university respondents. Despite attrition at Round 3, the final research priorities will help to focus research efforts in occupational therapy globally. Follow-up research is needed to determine how the research priorities are being adopted internationally.

Research priorities for the health sector for the 8th Malaysia Plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narimah Awin

2000-01-01

At the inter-institutional meeting to identify, the research priorities for the sector for the 7MP (7 th Malaysian Plan), held in mid-1994, priorities were determined according to the hierarchy of socioeconomic groups, target areas, programmes and scopes. The more detailed projects under these were to be determined by the researchers they embark on the projects themselves. The most useful level for reference is the target area. There were 7 target areas identified at the deliberations, and an eighth one (medical biotechnology) was added later on by the IRPA Secretariat in the Ministry of Science Technology and Environment. These 8 target areas are: 1)Health problems associated with lifestyles 2) Health problems related to demographic changes, 3) Vector borne and other communicable diseases, 4 ) Epidemiological databases, 5) Technologies in health, 6)The health system and health care industry, 7) Environmental and occupational health, 8) Medical biotechnology. (author)

Strategies for implementing transit priority

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-11-01

Increased urbanization in Canada has placed pressure on an eroding, ageing infrastructure and raised concerns about declining air quality. In addition to reducing emissions, well-designed transit systems can reduce traffic and improve road safety. This paper presented a set of transit best practices which addressed the need to improve supply, influence demand, and make operational improvements with the least environmental impact. The objective of this paper was to gather the best implementation strategies for urban roads from municipalities across Canada, and to focus on solutions that can be applied to bus and streetcar systems to make better use of shared facilities. Bus bulbs, signal priority, queue jumps and green waves were recommended, as well as dedicated lanes and exclusive transit facilities. Advances in technology were reviewed, as well as the use of intelligent transportation systems to improve transit with little or no impact on other road users. Case studies were presented from various municipalities across Canada. Various stages of project development, design and construction, operations and maintenance strategies for the various projects were reviewed. The most successful installations were found to be in cities that have established a clear policy on transit improvements. It was suggested that defining the need for priority and determining where it can be implemented is central to the development of a strategic program. Dedicated programs looking at transit priority were recommended, and risks arising from integrating new infrastructure were reviewed. It was suggested that the range of stakeholders involved, and the internal organization of the implementing authority bore a significant impact on overall cost and schedule of transit projects. It was concluded that appropriate planning is needed to control risks. 20 refs., 3 figs

Priority mitigation measures in non-energy sector in Kazakstan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mizina, S.V.; Pilifosova, O.V.; Gossen, E.F.

1996-12-31

Fulfilling the Commitments on UN FCCC through the U.S. Country Studies Program, Kazakstan has developed the national GHG Inventory, vulnerability and adaptation assessment and estimated the possibility of mitigation measures in certain sectors. Next step is developing National Climate Change Action Plan. That process includes such major steps as setting priorities in mitigation measures and technologies, their comprehensive evaluation, preparation implementation strategies, developing the procedure of incorporation of the National Action Plan into other development plans and programs. This paper presents programs and measures that can reduce GHG emissions in non-energy sector. Measures in land-use change and forestry, agriculture and coal mining are considered. Current situation in non-energy sector of Kazakstan is discussed. The amount of GHG emissions reduction and cost analysis presented in this paper was developed with the use of IPCC recommendations.

Setting priorities for space research: An experiment in methodology

Science.gov (United States)

1995-01-01

In 1989, the Space Studies Board created the Task Group on Priorities in Space Research to determine whether scientists should take a role in recommending priorities for long-term space research initiatives and, if so, to analyze the priority-setting problem in this context and develop a method by which such priorities could be established. After answering the first question in the affirmative in a previous report, the task group set out to accomplish the second task. The basic assumption in developing a priority-setting process is that a reasoned and structured approach for ordering competing initiatives will yield better results than other ways of proceeding. The task group proceeded from the principle that the central criterion for evaluating a research initiative must be its scientific merit -- the value of the initiative to the proposing discipline and to science generally. The group developed a two-stage methodology for priority setting and constructed a procedure and format to support the methodology. The first of two instruments developed was a standard format for structuring proposals for space research initiatives. The second instrument was a formal, semiquantitative appraisal procedure for evaluating competing proposals. This report makes available complete templates for the methodology, including the advocacy statement and evaluation forms, as well as an 11-step schema for a priority-setting process. From the beginning of its work, the task group was mindful that the issue of priority setting increasingly pervades all of federally supported science and that its work would have implications extending beyond space research. Thus, although the present report makes no recommendations for action by NASA or other government agencies, it provides the results of the task group's work for the use of others who may study priority-setting procedures or take up the challenge of implementing them in the future.

A Survey on Priority Queues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølting

2013-01-01

Back in 1964 Williams introduced the binary heap as a basic priority queue data structure supporting the operations Insert and ExtractMin in logarithmic time. Since then numerous papers have been published on priority queues. This paper tries to list some of the directions research on priority qu...

76 FR 175 - Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies Including On-Site Leased Workers From Adecco Employment...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-03

... Technologies Including On-Site Leased Workers From Adecco Employment Servcies and Emcon Technologies, Troy, MI..., applicable to workers of Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies, Troy, Michigan, including on-site leased workers from Adecco Employment Services, Troy, Michigan. The Department's notice of determination was...

Defining priorities

CERN Multimedia

2013-01-01

Last week the European Strategy Group met in Erice (Italy) to distil reams of input and months of discussion into a concise document outlining an updated Strategy for European Particle Physics. The result is a document that will be presented to the Council for feedback next month, before final approval by the Council at a special meeting in Brussels on 29 May. The Strategy process was important when it began in 2005, and is even more so today with important discoveries behind us and a changing global landscape for particle physics ahead.   The draft update, it’s fair to say, contains few surprises, but there are nevertheless some weighty issues for the Council to deliberate. The top priority is, of course, the full exploitation of the LHC, but the Strategy goes further, stating unambiguously that Europe’s top priority should be the high-luminosity upgrade of the machine. Other high-priority items are accelerator R&D to ensure the long-term global future of the field. O...

Environmental contaminants in food. Volume II-part a: working papers. I. Priority setting of toxic substances for guiding monitoring programs. II. Five case studies of environmental food contamination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-01-01

This volume contains working papers written for Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) to assist in preparation of the report Environmental Contaminants in Food. The contents include: (1) Priority setting of toxic substances for guiding monitoring programs; and (2) Five case studies of environmental food contamination

An empirical Bayes safety evaluation of tram/streetcar signal and lane priority measures in Melbourne.

Science.gov (United States)

Naznin, Farhana; Currie, Graham; Sarvi, Majid; Logan, David

2016-01-01

Streetcars/tram systems are growing worldwide, and many are given priority to increase speed and reliability performance in mixed traffic conditions. Research related to the road safety impact of tram priority is limited. This study explores the road safety impacts of tram priority measures including lane and intersection/signal priority measures. A before-after crash study was conducted using the empirical Bayes (EB) method to provide more accurate crash impact estimates by accounting for wider crash trends and regression to the mean effects. Before-after crash data for 29 intersections with tram signal priority and 23 arterials with tram lane priority in Melbourne, Australia, were analyzed to evaluate the road safety impact of tram priority. The EB before-after analysis results indicated a statistically significant adjusted crash reduction rate of 16.4% after implementation of tram priority measures. Signal priority measures were found to reduce crashes by 13.9% and lane priority by 19.4%. A disaggregate level simple before-after analysis indicated reductions in total and serious crashes as well as vehicle-, pedestrian-, and motorcycle-involved crashes. In addition, reductions in on-path crashes, pedestrian-involved crashes, and collisions among vehicles moving in the same and opposite directions and all other specific crash types were found after tram priority implementation. Results suggest that streetcar/tram priority measures result in safety benefits for all road users, including vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists. Policy implications and areas for future research are discussed.

15 CFR 700.11 - Priority ratings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NATIONAL SECURITY INDUSTRIAL BASE REGULATIONS DEFENSE PRIORITIES AND ALLOCATIONS SYSTEM Industrial Priorities § 700.11 Priority ratings. (a) Levels of...

Our top priority

CERN Multimedia

2012-01-01

After three years of LHC running, we are still at the beginning of a long research programme with our flagship facility, and hopefully 4 July 2012 will go down in history as the date of one of many landmark discoveries spanning several years. CERN’s top priority for the next decade and more is the full exploitation of the LHC. With speculation about potential future facilities mounting in the light of the discovery of a new Higgs-like particle, it’s important to state that most clearly. Of course, this will rely on continued global collaboration, and it’s important that CERN engage constructively with other regions.   It is important to plan ahead, particularly since the lead times for new projects in particle physics are long, and our field is increasingly global in nature. That’s why the European particle physics community is currently engaged in updating its long-term strategy. Planning ahead allowed us to be ready technologically to build the LHC whe...

Managing a monotown as a priority social and economic development area

Science.gov (United States)

Trifonov, Vladimir; Loyko, Olga; Nesteruk, Dmitriy; Zhironkin, Sergey; Strekovtsova, Ekaterina

2017-01-01

The goal of the study is studying the specific features of organizing a priority social and economic development area (PSEDA) on the example of PSEDA "Yurga" in Kemerovo region (Russia). The problem is formulated as the question: which institutes, ideas, resources and management technologies may fuel transition to the new stage of the monotown development. The practical task is to determine the promising trends of development of single-industry municipalities on the example of the town of Yurga in Kemerovo region. In the paper we formulate the trends of developing sustainable urban environment of the monotown as of priority social and economic development area for further synergetic integration into higher order structures.

40 CFR 35.915-1 - Reserves related to the project priority list.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... aside for each reserve with the final project priority list. (a) Reserve for State management assistance... extent as the last allotment. (b) Reserve for innovative and alternative technology project grant... on projects for which facilities plans were initiated before fiscal year 1979. These funds shall be...

Vision-related research priorities and how to finance them

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine A McCarty

2012-01-01

Full Text Available A number of organizations have employed a consultative process with the vision community to engage relevant parties in identifying needs and opportunities for vision research. The National Eye Institute in the US and the European Commission are currently undergoing consultation to develop priorities for vision research. Once these priorities have been established, the challenge will be to identify the resources to advance these research agendas. Success rates for Federal funding for research have decreased recently in the USA, UK, and Australia. Researchers should consider various potential funding sources for their research. The universal consideration for funding is that the reason for funding should align with the mission of the funding organization. In addition to Federal research organizations that fund investigator-initiated research, other potential funding sources include nongovernmental organizations, for-profit companies, individual philanthropy, and service organizations. In addition to aligning with organizational funding priorities, researchers need to consider turn-around time and total funds available including whether an organization will cover institutional indirect costs. Websites are useful tools to find information about organizations that fund research, including grant deadlines. Collaboration is encouraged.

Mapping of multiple criteria for priority setting of health interventions: an aid for decision makers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tromp Noor

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In rationing decisions in health, many criteria like costs, effectiveness, equity and feasibility concerns play a role. These criteria stem from different disciplines that all aim to inform health care rationing decisions, but a single underlying concept that incorporates all criteria does not yet exist. Therefore, we aim to develop a conceptual mapping of criteria, based on the World Health Organization’s Health Systems Performance and Health Systems Building Blocks frameworks. This map can be an aid to decision makers to identify the relevant criteria for priority setting in their specific context. Methods We made an inventory of all possible criteria for priority setting on the basis of literature review. We categorized the criteria according to both health system frameworks that spell out a country’s health system goals and input. We reason that the criteria that decision makers use in priority setting exercises are a direct manifestation of this. Results Our map includes thirty-one criteria that are distributed among five categories that reflect the goals of a health system (i.e. to improve level of health, fair distribution of health, responsiveness, social & financial risk protection and efficiency and leadership/governance one category that reflects feasibiliy based on the health system building blocks (i.e. service delivery, health care workforce , information, medical products, vaccines & technologies, financing and. Conclusions This conceptual mapping of criteria, based on well-established health system frameworks, will further develop the field of priority setting by assisting decision makers in the identification of multiple criteria for selection of health interventions.

Research priorities in health communication and participation: international survey of consumers and other stakeholders

Science.gov (United States)

Bragge, Peter; Lowe, Dianne; Nunn, Jack S; O’Sullivan, Molly; Horvat, Lidia; Tong, Allison; Kay, Debra; Ghersi, Davina; McDonald, Steve; Poole, Naomi; Bourke, Noni; Lannin, Natasha; Vadasz, Danny; Oliver, Sandy; Carey, Karen; Hill, Sophie J

2018-01-01

Objective To identify research priorities of consumers and other stakeholders to inform Cochrane Reviews in ‘health communication and participation’ (including such concepts as patient experience, shared decision-making and health literacy). Setting International. Participants We included anyone with an interest in health communication and participation. Up to 151 participants (18–80 years; 117 female) across 12 countries took part, including 48 consumers (patients, carers, consumer representatives) and 75 professionals (health professionals, policymakers, researchers) (plus 25 people who identified as both). Design Survey. Methods We invited people to submit their research ideas via an online survey open for 4 weeks. Using inductive thematic analysis, we generated priority research topics, then classified these into broader themes. Results Participants submitted 200 research ideas, which we grouped into 21 priority topics. Key research priorities included: insufficient consumer involvement in research (19 responses), ‘official’ health information is contradictory and hard to understand (18 responses), communication/coordination breakdowns in health services (15 responses), health information provision a low priority for health professionals (15 responses), insufficient eliciting of patient preferences (14 responses), health services poorly understand/implement patient-centred care (14 responses), lack of holistic care impacting healthcare quality and safety (13 responses) and inadequate consumer involvement in service design (11 responses). These priorities encompassed acute and community health settings, with implications for policy and research. Priority populations of interest included people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, carers, and people with low educational attainment, or mental illness. Most frequently suggested interventions focused on training and cultural change activities for health services and health professionals

Gore's Controversial Priorities for Higher Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Gose, Ben

2000-01-01

Evaluates presidential candidate Al Gore's priorities for higher education, noting criticism by some educators of his emphasis on benefits for the middle class and the large number of specific proposals he has offered, including the College Opportunity Tax Cut, 21st Century Teachers' Corps, 401(j) Educational Savings Accounts, the National Tuition…

Healthcare priority setting in Kenya

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bukachi, Salome A.; Onyango-Ouma, Washington; Siso, Jared Maaka

2014-01-01

In resource-poor settings, the accountability for reasonableness (A4R) has been identified as an important advance in priority setting that helps to operationalize fair priority setting in specific contexts. The four conditions of A4R are backed by theory, not evidence, that conformance with them...... improves the priority setting decisions. This paper describes the healthcare priority setting processes in Malindi district, Kenya, prior to the implementation of A4R in 2008 and evaluates the process for its conformance with the conditions for A4R. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions with key...... players in the Malindi district health system and a review of key policy documents and national guidelines show that the priority setting process in the district relies heavily on guidelines from the national level, making it more of a vertical, top-down orientation. Multilateral and donor agencies...

Research priorities for the health sector for the 8{sup th} Malaysia Plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Awin, Narimah [Inst. of Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

2000-07-01

At the inter-institutional meeting to identify, the research priorities for the sector for the 7MP (7{sup th} Malaysian Plan), held in mid-1994, priorities were determined according to the hierarchy of socioeconomic groups, target areas, programmes and scopes. The more detailed projects under these were to be determined by the researchers they embark on the projects themselves. The most useful level for reference is the target area. There were 7 target areas identified at the deliberations, and an eighth one (medical biotechnology) was added later on by the IRPA Secretariat in the Ministry of Science Technology and Environment. These 8 target areas are: 1)Health problems associated with lifestyles 2) Health problems related to demographic changes, 3) Vector borne and other communicable diseases, 4 ) Epidemiological databases, 5) Technologies in health, 6)The health system and health care industry, 7) Environmental and occupational health, 8) Medical biotechnology. (author)

Politicians’ priorities and the determinants of priorities in the Swedish social services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marie Wörlén

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The setting of priorities is an integrated part of social-work politics in Sweden as well as internationally. This article explores Swedish social services and how politicians on the political boards wish to make priorities and what these priorities involve. The use of regression analyses also reveals which circumstances are of importance for allocative precedence and the impact different distributive principles have. It is hard to detect clear-cut patterns of circumstances that guide the judgements in any one direction. The results show that political affiliation overall is not a determining factor for attitudes towards how priorities are made. Another result is a manifest area bias, suggesting that respondents tend to see to the interests of their own professional domain, a result most visible among the politicians involved with Care for the Elderly and Disabled (CED. Yet, with regard to allocative principles, political colour seems to matter. Conservative politicians, as expected, agree with the principles of economy and of capacity to benefit, while the socialist block, less expectedly, seems to embrace the principle of deservingness.

Suggestions in maternal and child health for the National Technology Assessment Programme: a consideration of consumer and professional priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Johanson, R; Rigby, C; Newburn, M; Stewart, M; Jones, P

2002-03-01

In North Staffordshire, the Achieving Sustainable Quality in Maternity (ASQUAM) meetings provide the programme for clinical guidelines and audit over the following year. The ASQUAM clinical effectiveness programme has attempted to address a number of the issues identified as obstacles to informed democratic prioritization. For example, it became clear that a number of topics raised were actually research questions. The organizers therefore decided to split the fourth ASQUAM day into an 'audit' morning and a 'research' afternoon. The meeting organized by RJ, CR and PJ in partnership with the Midwives Information and Resource Service and the National Childbirth Trust, was timed to allow the research ideas to feed into the national Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme. This meeting was designed to increase the profile of ASQUAM amongst consumers and to increase their representation at the meeting. Objectives were to choose a new set of research priorities for the year 2000, and to ascertain the voting pattern of comparison to health professionals. There was overall agreement in terms of priorities, with the consumer group prioritizing 8 of the 10 topics chosen by the professionals (or 10 of the 11). No significant differences between the proportions of voted cast for each topic by professionals and consumers were found apart from topic 20. The numbers of consumers were small which does limit the number the validity of statistical comparisons. Nevertheless, it is clear that voting patterns were similar. Overall the process suggests that democratic prioritization is a viable option and one that may become essential within the framework of clinical and research governance.

Setting priorities for the evolution of the market design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

This report, which examines the forces that will influence the evolution of the Ontario electric power market over the next 4 or 5 years, is intended for market participants and other stakeholders. It sets priorities for the next phase of market development. Some of the market rules that need more work were identified and participants and stakeholders were invited to present their comments on whether the list accurately reflects the critical market development issues that need to be addressed after market opening. The report also discusses criteria that can be used to evaluate market design changes and their relative priorities. The list of potential high priority issues include: the energy forward market; the capacity reserve market; locational marginal pricing; a capability for full assignment of physical bilateral contracts; the export of operating reserve; moving to real time bidding; encouraging dispatchability and demand side responsiveness; transmission expansion; and, introducing markets in ancillary services. This list includes the main market design issues that need to be addressed over the next several years. 1 fig., 2 tabs

78 FR 27038 - Final Priorities; National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research-Rehabilitation...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-09

... settings, including the community, rehabilitation service- delivery institutions, vocational rehabilitation...) Vocational rehabilitation (VR) practices that contribute to improved employment outcomes for individuals with... or more priorities, we designate the type of each priority as absolute, competitive preference, or...

Economical-environmental assessment on technologies producing electric energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Najafzadeh, K.

2000-01-01

Currently, the electric power industry is undergoing substantial regulatory and organizational change with respect to economical and environmental aspects. Under these circumstances, with utilization of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) concept, we consider the assessment of Technologies producing energy from financial and pollution viewpoint. AHP techniques is one of the efficient methods in analysis of complex and multi-criteria problems, which has plenty of applications. General pattern of this assessment has been introduced, and the main goal is determining of overall priority weights for each technology. With using this pattern, overall priority weights has been determined for thermal, combined cycle and Gas turbine plants. It has been cleared that relative priority of these plants will change, if relative priority of assessment criterions changes. For application of this approach, capital budgeting process and selection of some suitable technologies among the alternatives candidate for construction have been presented. In this process the objective is to maximize the sum of overall priority weights of technologies which have been identified from AHP. Constraints are about the construction budget and annual budget for emission allowances. This process is in the integer programming IP form an has been applied to three kind of power plants with reasonable assumptions

Priority for sustainability. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-12-01

The Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs (EZ) has been asked to realize priority in connection to the grid for sustainable production capacity. Currently there are waiting lists for connection of new production capacity to the grid in some areas, due to a shortage in transport capacity. The Dutch connection policy (first come, first serve) may possibly lead to delays in connecting sustainable production capacity, which is not desirable in view of the incentivisation of sustainability. EZ and TenneT have asked Booz Allen to examine the options for giving priority to sustainability (wind and CHP). Priority in connection applies only to new sustainable production capacity, but priority in transport also applies to existing sustainable production capacity. [mk] [nl

Behavioral science priorities in residency education: The perspective of practicing family physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Brandt-Kreutz, Richard L; Ferguson, Kyle E; Sawyer, Devin

2015-12-01

The family medicine residency behavioral science curriculum is more effective if prioritized to match what is needed in practice after graduation. Two prior studies (Kendall, Marvel, & Cruickshank, 2003; Marvel & Major, 1999) identified physician priorities for behavioral science education. The present study extends this research to include topics from more recent curriculum guidelines and examines the extent to which size of community and perceived competence correlate with prioritization of Washington state family physicians. Practicing family physicians in Washington state (N = 2,270) were invited to complete the survey. Respondents provided demographic and practice information. Respondents then rated, on a scale from 1 to 4, 35 behavioral science topics on 2 different scales including (a) priority to be given in residency education and (b) perceived level of competence. A total of 486 responded and 430 completed both priority and competence scales for a response rate of 19%. The top half of 35 topics of the present study included the top 13 topics found in the 2 prior studies. Priority and competence scales were moderately correlated (r = .48, n = 430, p = .001). There was a small significant correlation with size of community and priority ratings (r = .13, n = 435, p = .006). Family physicians in Washington state prioritize behavioral science topics in residency education similar to Colorado and Mississippi. The results of this study support recent ACGME guidelines, in that training should focus on common psychiatric illnesses, including depression and anxiety, and interpersonal processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Priority Queues Resilient to Memory Faults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Allan Grønlund; Moruz, Gabriel; Mølhave, Thomas

2007-01-01

In the faulty-memory RAM model, the content of memory cells can get corrupted at any time during the execution of an algorithm, and a constant number of uncorruptible registers are available. A resilient data structure in this model works correctly on the set of uncorrupted values. In this paper we...... introduce a resilient priority queue. The deletemin operation of a resilient priority queue returns either the minimum uncorrupted element or some corrupted element. Our resilient priority queue uses $O(n)$ space to store $n$ elements. Both insert and deletemin operations are performed in $O(\\log n......+\\delta)$ time amortized, where $\\delta$ is the maximum amount of corruptions tolerated. Our priority queue matches the performance of classical optimal priority queues in the RAM model when the number of corruptions tolerated is $O(\\log n)$. We prove matching worst case lower bounds for resilient priority...

78 FR 26509 - Final Priority; National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research-Disability and...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-07

... inclusion of individuals with disabilities on the teams that develop the cloud and Web technologies... Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research--Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects... Rehabilitative Services announces a priority under the Disability Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers...

Using virtual reality technology to include field operators in simulation and training

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nystad, E.; Strand, S.

2006-01-01

By using virtual reality technology, field operators can be included in simulator training. A study has been performed where field operators could perform their activities in a virtual plant and communicate with a control room operator who was placed in a physical control room simulator. This paper describes the use of VR technology in the study and how the operators experienced interacting with the virtual plant. (author)

Systematic reviews addressing identified health policy priorities in Eastern Mediterranean countries: a situational analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Jardali, Fadi; Akl, Elie A; Karroum, Lama Bou; Kdouh, Ola; Akik, Chaza; Fadlallah, Racha; Hammoud, Rawan

2014-08-20

Systematic reviews can offer policymakers and stakeholders concise, transparent, and relevant evidence pertaining to pressing policy priorities to help inform the decision-making process. The production and the use of systematic reviews are specifically limited in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The extent to which published systematic reviews address policy priorities in the region is still unknown. This situational analysis exercise aims at assessing the extent to which published systematic reviews address policy priorities identified by policymakers and stakeholders in Eastern Mediterranean region countries. It also provides an overview about the state of systematic review production in the region and identifies knowledge gaps. We conducted a systematic search of the Health System Evidence database to identify published systematic reviews on policy-relevant priorities pertaining to the following themes: human resources for health, health financing, the role of the non-state sector, and access to medicine. Priorities were identified from two priority-setting exercises conducted in the region. We described the distribution of these systematic reviews across themes, sub-themes, authors' affiliations, and countries where included primary studies were conducted. Out of the 1,045 systematic reviews identified in Health System Evidence on selected themes, a total of 200 systematic reviews (19.1%) addressed the priorities from the Eastern Mediterranean region. The theme with the largest number of systematic reviews included was human resources for health (115) followed by health financing (33), access to medicine (27), and role of the non-state sector (25). Authors based in the region produced only three systematic reviews addressing regional priorities (1.5%). Furthermore, no systematic review focused on the Eastern Mediterranean region. Primary studies from the region had limited contribution to systematic reviews; 17 systematic reviews (8.5%) included primary

Systematic reviews addressing identified health policy priorities in Eastern Mediterranean countries: a situational analysis

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Systematic reviews can offer policymakers and stakeholders concise, transparent, and relevant evidence pertaining to pressing policy priorities to help inform the decision-making process. The production and the use of systematic reviews are specifically limited in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The extent to which published systematic reviews address policy priorities in the region is still unknown. This situational analysis exercise aims at assessing the extent to which published systematic reviews address policy priorities identified by policymakers and stakeholders in Eastern Mediterranean region countries. It also provides an overview about the state of systematic review production in the region and identifies knowledge gaps. Methods We conducted a systematic search of the Health System Evidence database to identify published systematic reviews on policy-relevant priorities pertaining to the following themes: human resources for health, health financing, the role of the non-state sector, and access to medicine. Priorities were identified from two priority-setting exercises conducted in the region. We described the distribution of these systematic reviews across themes, sub-themes, authors’ affiliations, and countries where included primary studies were conducted. Results Out of the 1,045 systematic reviews identified in Health System Evidence on selected themes, a total of 200 systematic reviews (19.1%) addressed the priorities from the Eastern Mediterranean region. The theme with the largest number of systematic reviews included was human resources for health (115) followed by health financing (33), access to medicine (27), and role of the non-state sector (25). Authors based in the region produced only three systematic reviews addressing regional priorities (1.5%). Furthermore, no systematic review focused on the Eastern Mediterranean region. Primary studies from the region had limited contribution to systematic reviews; 17 systematic reviews

49 CFR 260.7 - Priority consideration.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Priority consideration. 260.7 Section 260.7... REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT FINANCING PROGRAM Overview § 260.7 Priority consideration. When evaluating applications, the Administrator will give priority consideration (but not necessarily in the following order...

The badness of death and priorities in health.

Science.gov (United States)

Solberg, Carl Tollef; Gamlund, Espen

2016-04-14

The state of the world is one with scarce medical resources where longevity is not equally distributed. Given such facts, setting priorities in health entails making difficult yet unavoidable decisions about which lives to save. The business of saving lives works on the assumption that longevity is valuable and that an early death is worse than a late death. There is a vast literature on health priorities and badness of death, separately. Surprisingly, there has been little cross-fertilisation between the academic fields of priority setting and badness of death. Our aim is to connect philosophical discussions on the badness of death to contemporary debates in health priorities. Two questions regarding death are especially relevant to health priorities. The first question is why death is bad. Death is clearly bad for others, such as family, friends and society. Many philosophers also argue that death can be bad for those who die. This distinction is important for health priorities, because it concerns our fundamental reasons for saving lives. The second question is, 'When is the worst time to die?' A premature death is commonly considered worse than a late death. Thus, the number of good life years lost seems to matter to the badness of death. Concerning young individuals, some think the death of infants is worse than the death of adolescents, while others have contrary intuitions. Our claim is that to prioritise between age groups, we must consider the question of when it is worst to die. Deprivationism provides a more plausible approach to health priorities than Epicureanism. If Deprivationism is accepted, we will have a firmer basis for claiming that individuals, in addition to having a health loss caused by morbidity, will have a loss of good life years due to mortality. Additionally, Deprivationism highlights the importance of age and values for health priorities. Regarding age, both variants of Deprivationism imply that stillbirths are included in the Global

75 FR 43555 - Experian, Global Technology Services, a Subsidiary of Experian, Including a Leased Employee From...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-26

... Technology Services, a Subsidiary of Experian, Including a Leased Employee From Tapfin Working Off-Site in... Experian, Global Technology Services, a subsidiary of Experian, including on-site leased workers from... control of the Schaumburg, Illinois location of Experian, Global Technology Services, a subsidiary of...

Quality improvement and emerging global health priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Mensah Abrampah, Nana; Syed, Shamsuzzoha Babar; Hirschhorn, Lisa R; Nambiar, Bejoy; Iqbal, Usman; Garcia-Elorrio, Ezequiel; Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Devnani, Mahesh; Kelley, Edward

2018-01-01

Abstract Quality improvement approaches can strengthen action on a range of global health priorities. Quality improvement efforts are uniquely placed to reorient care delivery systems towards integrated people-centred health services and strengthen health systems to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). This article makes the case for addressing shortfalls of previous agendas by articulating the critical role of quality improvement in the Sustainable Development Goal era. Quality improvement can stimulate convergence between health security and health systems; address global health security priorities through participatory quality improvement approaches; and improve health outcomes at all levels of the health system. Entry points for action include the linkage with antimicrobial resistance and the contentious issue of the health of migrants. The work required includes focussed attention on the continuum of national quality policy formulation, implementation and learning; alongside strengthening the measurement-improvement linkage. Quality improvement plays a key role in strengthening health systems to achieve UHC. PMID:29873793

Mapping and Measuring European Local Governments’ Priorities for a Sustainable and Low-Carbon Energy Future

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stelios Grafakos

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this article is to assess the priorities of local governments (LGs in Europe regarding climate change mitigation technologies evaluation in the electricity sector and to provide important insights for energy policy design. The study applies a hybrid weighting methodology to elicit LGs’ preferences in a constructive and iterative way regarding the evaluation criteria of low-carbon energy technologies. Furthermore, the study employs three data collection and preference elicitation methods, namely: survey, workshop, and webinar. The study was conducted across thirty one (31 European LGs that were categorized according to three variables: population size, geographical region and gross domestic product (GDP per capita. The analysis shows that “CO2 emissions” is the most important criterion among European LGs, followed by “mortality and morbidity” and “ecosystem damages”. The results illustrate the potential synergies of climate and energy policies for addressing both CO2 emissions and air pollution. It was also found, based on a correlation analysis, that LGs with higher GDP per capita tend to provide higher weights to criteria related to security of energy supply and technological innovation. The current study provides insights on the actual LGs’ priorities that are important to consider during low-carbon energy technologies evaluation and energy policy design. Interestingly, the results of the European LGs’ preferences clearly show that the EU climate policy objectives have reached different levels of governance—and at this particular case, the local level. Furthermore, the developed methodology could be applied at different geographical regions to map other regions’ LG priorities, but also at a group decision making context to elicit relevant stakeholders’ preferences regarding low-carbon energy technologies and policy objectives.

Space Technology Mission Directorate Game Changing Development Program FY2015 Annual Program Review: Advanced Manufacturing Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Vickers, John; Fikes, John

2015-01-01

The Advance Manufacturing Technology (AMT) Project supports multiple activities within the Administration's National Manufacturing Initiative. A key component of the Initiative is the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office (AMNPO), which includes participation from all federal agencies involved in U.S. manufacturing. In support of the AMNPO the AMT Project supports building and Growing the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation through a public-private partnership designed to help the industrial community accelerate manufacturing innovation. Integration with other projects/programs and partnerships: STMD (Space Technology Mission Directorate), HEOMD, other Centers; Industry, Academia; OGA's (e.g., DOD, DOE, DOC, USDA, NASA, NSF); Office of Science and Technology Policy, NIST Advanced Manufacturing Program Office; Generate insight within NASA and cross-agency for technology development priorities and investments. Technology Infusion Plan: PC; Potential customer infusion (TDM, HEOMD, SMD, OGA, Industry); Leverage; Collaborate with other Agencies, Industry and Academia; NASA roadmap. Initiatives include: Advanced Near Net Shape Technology Integrally Stiffened Cylinder Process Development (launch vehicles, sounding rockets); Materials Genome; Low Cost Upper Stage-Class Propulsion; Additive Construction with Mobile Emplacement (ACME); National Center for Advanced Manufacturing.

Decision Making and Priority Setting: The Evolving Path Towards Universal Health Coverage.

Science.gov (United States)

Paolucci, Francesco; Redekop, Ken; Fouda, Ayman; Fiorentini, Gianluca

2017-12-01

Health technology assessment (HTA) is widely viewed as an essential component in good universal health coverage (UHC) decision-making in any country. Various HTA tools and metrics have been developed and refined over the years, including systematic literature reviews (Cochrane), economic modelling, and cost-effectiveness ratios and acceptability curves. However, while the cost-effectiveness ratio is faithfully reported in most full economic evaluations, it is viewed by many as an insufficient basis for reimbursement decisions. Emotional debates about the reimbursement of cancer drugs, orphan drugs, and end-of-life treatments have revealed fundamental disagreements about what should and should not be considered in reimbursement decisions. Part of this disagreement seems related to the equity-efficiency tradeoff, which reflects fundamental differences in priorities. All in all, it is clear that countries aiming to improve UHC policies will have to go beyond the capacity building needed to utilize the available HTA toolbox. Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) offers a more comprehensive tool for reimbursement decisions where different weights of different factors/attributes can give policymakers important insights to consider. Sooner or later, every country will have to develop their own way to carefully combine the results of those tools with their own priorities. In the end, all policymaking is based on a mix of facts and values.

Importance of international standards on hydrogen technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bose, T.K.; Gingras, S.

2001-01-01

This presentation provided some basic information regarding standards and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It also explained the importance of standardization activities, particularly ISO/TC 197 which applies to hydrogen technologies. Standards are established by consensus. They define the minimum requirements that will ensure that products and services are reliable and effective. Standards contribute to the elimination of technical barriers to trade (TBT). The harmonization of standards around the world is desirable in a free trade environment. The influence of the TBT on international standardization was discussed with particular reference to the objectives of ISO/TC 197 hydrogen technologies. One of the priorities for ISO/TC 197 is a hydrogen fuel infrastructure which includes refuelling stations, fuelling connectors, and storage technologies for gaseous and liquid hydrogen. Other priorities include an agreement between the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the ISO, in particular the IEC/TC 105 and ISO/TC 197 for the development of fuel cell standards. The international standards that have been published thus far include ISO 13984:1999 for liquid hydrogen, land vehicle fuelling system interface, and ISO 14687:1999 for hydrogen fuel product specification. Standards are currently under development for: liquid hydrogen; airport hydrogen fuelling facilities; gaseous hydrogen blends; basic considerations for the safety of hydrogen systems; gaseous hydrogen and hydrogen blends; and gaseous hydrogen for land vehicle filling connectors. It was concluded that the widespread use of hydrogen is dependent on international standardization

NASA funding opportunities for optical fabrication and testing technology development

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H. Philip

2013-09-01

NASA requires technologies to fabricate and test optical components to accomplish its highest priority science missions. The NRC ASTRO2010 Decadal Survey states that an advanced large-aperture UVOIR telescope is required to enable the next generation of compelling astrophysics and exo-planet science; and, that present technology is not mature enough to affordably build and launch any potential UVOIR mission concept. The NRC 2012 NASA Space Technology Roadmaps and Priorities Report states that the highest priority technology in which NASA should invest to `Expand our understanding of Earth and the universe' is next generation X-ray and UVOIR telescopes. Each of the Astrophysics division Program Office Annual Technology Reports (PATR) identifies specific technology needs. NASA has a variety of programs to fund enabling technology development: SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research); the ROSES APRA and SAT programs (Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science; Astrophysics Research and Analysis program; Strategic Astrophysics Technology program); and several Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) programs.

Priority actions (Environmental protection in Macedonia)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

The priority actions were based on environmental needs in the short to medium term, keeping in mind that there are severe budgetary constraints and the environmental institutions are still being developed. The private sector will be encouraged to participate, wherever possible in implementing the priority actions.Based on the evaluation of all the environmental priorities, the following are considered priority actions which should be addressed within the next five years: air quality improvement; water quality improvement; solid waste management; biodiversity conservation; renewal and preservation of forests; technical assistance. (author)

Using eHealth to engage and retain priority populations in the HIV treatment and care cascade in the Asia-Pacific region: a systematic review of literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Purnomo, Julianita; Coote, Katherine; Mao, Limin; Fan, Ling; Gold, Julian; Ahmad, Raghib; Zhang, Lei

2018-02-17

The exponential growth in the reach and development of new technologies over the past decade means that mobile technologies and social media play an increasingly important role in service delivery models to maximise HIV testing and access to treatment and care. This systematic review examines the impact of electronic and mobile technologies in medical care (eHealth) in the linkage to and retention of priority populations in the HIV treatment and care cascade, focussing on the Asia-Pacific region. The review was informed by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement from the Cochrane Collaboration guidelines. Both grey and published scientific literature from five different databases were searched for all original articles in English published from 2010 to 2017. Studies conducted outside the Asia-Pacific region or not including HIV priority populations were excluded. The methodological quality of studies included in the review was assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. The database search identified 7309 records. Of the 224 peer-reviewed articles identified for full text review, 16 studies from seven countries met inclusion criteria. Six cross sectional studies found evidence to support the use of eHealth, via text messages, instant messaging, social media and health promotion websites, to increase rates of HIV testing and re-testing among men who have sex with men (MSM). Evidence regarding the efficacy of eHealth interventions to improve antiretroviral treatment (ART) adherence was mixed, where one randomised controlled trial (RCT) showed significant benefit of weekly phone call reminders on improving ART adherence. Three further RCTs found that biofeedback eHealth interventions that provided estimated ART plasma concentration levels, showed promising results for ART adherence. This review found encouraging evidence about how eHealth can be used across the HIV treatment and care cascade in

Research priorities in health communication and participation: international survey of consumers and other stakeholders.

Science.gov (United States)

Synnot, Anneliese; Bragge, Peter; Lowe, Dianne; Nunn, Jack S; O'Sullivan, Molly; Horvat, Lidia; Tong, Allison; Kay, Debra; Ghersi, Davina; McDonald, Steve; Poole, Naomi; Bourke, Noni; Lannin, Natasha; Vadasz, Danny; Oliver, Sandy; Carey, Karen; Hill, Sophie J

2018-05-08

To identify research priorities of consumers and other stakeholders to inform Cochrane Reviews in 'health communication and participation' (including such concepts as patient experience, shared decision-making and health literacy). International. We included anyone with an interest in health communication and participation. Up to 151 participants (18-80 years; 117 female) across 12 countries took part, including 48 consumers (patients, carers, consumer representatives) and 75 professionals (health professionals, policymakers, researchers) (plus 25 people who identified as both). Survey. We invited people to submit their research ideas via an online survey open for 4 weeks. Using inductive thematic analysis, we generated priority research topics, then classified these into broader themes. Participants submitted 200 research ideas, which we grouped into 21 priority topics. Key research priorities included: insufficient consumer involvement in research (19 responses), 'official' health information is contradictory and hard to understand (18 responses), communication/coordination breakdowns in health services (15 responses), health information provision a low priority for health professionals (15 responses), insufficient eliciting of patient preferences (14 responses), health services poorly understand/implement patient-centred care (14 responses), lack of holistic care impacting healthcare quality and safety (13 responses) and inadequate consumer involvement in service design (11 responses). These priorities encompassed acute and community health settings, with implications for policy and research. Priority populations of interest included people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, carers, and people with low educational attainment, or mental illness. Most frequently suggested interventions focused on training and cultural change activities for health services and health professionals. Consumers and other stakeholders want research addressing

Research and Development Strategy for Fishery Technology Innovation for Sustainable Fishery Resource Management in North-East Asia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hidemichi Fujii

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The development of fishery technologies supports food sustainability to achieve a steady supply of fish and fishery products. However, the priorities for research and development (R&D in fishery technologies vary by region due to differences in fish resource availability, environmental concerns, and consumer preferences for fishery products. This study examines trends in fishery technology innovations using data on patents granted as an indicator of changing R&D priorities. To clarify changes in R&D priorities, we apply a decomposition analysis framework that classifies fishery technologies into three types: harvesting, aquaculture, and new products. This study mainly focuses on China, Japan, and Korea as the major fishing countries in the north-east Asia region. The results show that the number of fishery technology patents granted increased between 1993 and 2015; in particular, the number of aquaculture patents granted has grown rapidly since 2012. However, the trend in Japan was the opposite, as the apparent priority given to aquaculture technology innovation decreased between 1993 and 2015. The trends and priority changes for fishery technology inventions vary by country and technology group. This implies that an international policy framework for fishery technology development should recognize that R&D priorities need to reflect diverse characteristics across countries and the technologies employed.

Microwave technology for waste management applications including disposition of electronic circuitry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wicks, G.G.; Clark, D.E.; Schulz, R.L.; Folz, D.C.

1995-01-01

Microwave technology is being developed nationally and internationally for a variety of environmental remediation purposes. These efforts include treatment and destruction of a vast array of gaseous, liquid and solid hazardous wastes as well as subsequent immobilization of selected components. Microwave technology provides an important contribution to an arsenal of existing remediation methods that are designed to protect the public and environment from undesirable consequences of hazardous materials. Applications of microwave energy for environmental remediation will be discussed. Emphasized will be a newly developed microwave process designed to treat discarded electronic circuitry and reclaim the precious metals within for reuse

Technology Strategy for 'Environmental Technology for the Future'; Technology Target Areas; TTA1 - environmental technology for the future

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2007-07-01

The OG21 Technology Target Area 1 (TTA 1) group has produced a strategy for 'Environmental Technology for the Future'. A key aim of this work is to ensure that the operators on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) remain in a leading position with respect to environmental performance, while contributing to optimised resource recovery and value creation. This strategy focuses on environmental technology, which includes hardware, methods, software and knowledge. The TTA 1 group has agreed on a common vision: 'Norwegian oil and gas activities shall be leading in environmental performance, and Norway shall have the world leading knowledge and technology cluster within environmental technologies to support the zero harmful impact goals of the oil and gas industry.' Priorities have been made with emphasis on gaps that are considered most important to close and that will benefit from public research and development funding either for initialisation (primarily via the Petromaks and Climit programs) or acceleration (via Petromaks / Climit and particularly Demo 2000 where demonstration or piloting is required). The priorities aim to avoid technology gaps that are expected to be closed adequately through existing projects / programs or which are covered in other TTA strategies. The priority areas as identified are: Environmental impact and risk identification / quantification for new areas: Make quality assured environmental baseline data available on the web. Develop competence necessary to quantify and monitor the risks and risk reductions to the marine environment in new area ecosystems; Carbon capture and storage: Quantify environmental risks and waste management issues associated with bi-products from carbon capture processes and storage solutions. Develop and demonstrate effective carbon storage risk management, monitoring and mitigation technologies. Develop more cost and energy efficient power-from-shore solutions to reduce / eliminate CO{sub 2

Final priority. Rehabilitation Training: Job-Driven Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center. Final priority.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-08-19

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority under the Rehabilitation Training program to establish a Job-Driven Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center (JDVRTAC). The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2014 and later years. We take this action to focus on training in an area of national need. Specifically, this priority responds to the Presidential Memorandum to Federal agencies directing them to take action to address job-driven training for the Nation's workers. The JDVRTAC will provide technical assistance (TA) to State vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies to help them develop for individuals with disabilities training and employment opportunities that meet the needs of today's employers.

Potential High Priority Subaerial Environments for Mars Sample Return

Science.gov (United States)

iMOST Team; Bishop, J. L.; Horgan, B.; Benning, L. G.; Carrier, B. L.; Hausrath, E. M.; Altieri, F.; Amelin, Y.; Ammannito, E.; Anand, M.; Beaty, D. W.; Borg, L. E.; Boucher, D.; Brucato, J. R.; Busemann, H.; Campbell, K. A.; Czaja, A. D.; Debaille, V.; Des Marais, D. J.; Dixon, M.; Ehlmann, B. L.; Farmer, J. D.; Fernandez-Remolar, D. C.; Fogarty, J.; Glavin, D. P.; Goreva, Y. S.; Grady, M. M.; Hallis, L. J.; Harrington, A. D.; Herd, C. D. K.; Humayun, M.; Kleine, T.; Kleinhenz, J.; Mangold, N.; Mackelprang, R.; Mayhew, L. E.; McCubbin, F. M.; Mccoy, J. T.; McLennan, S. M.; McSween, H. Y.; Moser, D. E.; Moynier, F.; Mustard, J. F.; Niles, P. B.; Ori, G. G.; Raulin, F.; Rettberg, P.; Rucker, M. A.; Schmitz, N.; Sefton-Nash, E.; Sephton, M. A.; Shaheen, R.; Shuster, D. L.; Siljestrom, S.; Smith, C. L.; Spry, J. A.; Steele, A.; Swindle, T. D.; ten Kate, I. L.; Tosca, N. J.; Usui, T.; Van Kranendonk, M. J.; Wadhwa, M.; Weiss, B. P.; Werner, S. C.; Westall, F.; Wheeler, R. M.; Zipfel, J.; Zorzano, M. P.

2018-04-01

The highest priority subaerial environments for Mars Sample Return include subaerial weathering (paleosols, periglacial/glacial, and rock coatings/rinds), wetlands (mineral precipitates, redox environments, and salt ponds), or cold spring settings.

76 FR 2144 - Quest Diagnostics, Inc. Information Technology Help Desk Services Including On-Site Leased...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-12

.... Information Technology Help Desk Services Including On-Site Leased Workers From Modis, West Norriton, PA..., applicable to workers of Quest Diagnostics, Inc., Information Technology Help Desk Services, West Norriton... Quest Diagnostics, Inc., Information Technology Help Desk [[Page 2145

Setting priorities for safeguards upgrades

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Ayat, R.A.; Judd, B.R.; Patenaude, C.J.; Sicherman, A.

1987-01-01

This paper describes an analytic approach and a computer program for setting priorities among safeguards upgrades. The approach provides safeguards decision makers with a systematic method for allocating their limited upgrade resources. The priorities are set based on the upgrades cost and their contribution to safeguards effectiveness. Safeguards effectiveness is measured by the probability of defeat for a spectrum of potential insider and outsider adversaries. The computer program, MI$ER, can be used alone or as a companion to ET and SAVI, programs designed to evaluate safeguards effectiveness against insider and outsider threats, respectively. Setting the priority required judgments about the relative importance (threat likelihoods and consequences) of insider and outsider threats. Although these judgments are inherently subjective, MI$ER can analyze the sensitivity of the upgrade priorities to these weights and determine whether or not they are critical to the priority ranking. MI$ER produces tabular and graphical results for comparing benefits and identifying the most cost-effective upgrades for a given expenditure. This framework provides decision makers with an explicit and consistent analysis to support their upgrades decisions and to allocate the safeguards resources in a cost-effective manner

Setting the top 10 research priorities to improve the health of people with Type 2 diabetes: a Diabetes UK-James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Finer, S; Robb, P; Cowan, K; Daly, A; Shah, K; Farmer, A

2018-07-01

To describe processes and outcomes of a priority setting partnership to identify the 'top 10 research priorities' in Type 2 diabetes, involving people living with the condition, their carers, and healthcare professionals. We followed the four-step James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership process which involved: gathering uncertainties using a questionnaire survey distributed to 70 000 people living with Type 2 diabetes and their carers, and healthcare professionals; organizing the uncertainties; interim priority setting by resampling of participants with a second survey; and final priority setting in an independent group of participants, using the nominal group technique. At each step the steering group closely monitored and guided the process. In the first survey, 8227 uncertainties were proposed by 2587 participants, of whom 18% were from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups. Uncertainties were formatted and collated into 114 indicative questions. A total of 1506 people contributed to a second survey, generating a shortlist of 24 questions equally weighted to the contributions of people living with diabetes and their carers and those of healthcare professionals. In the final step the 'top 10 research priorities' were selected, including questions on cure and reversal, risk identification and prevention, and self-management approaches in Type 2 diabetes. Systematic and transparent methodology was used to identify research priorities in a large and genuine partnership of people with lived and professional experience of Type 2 diabetes. The top 10 questions represent consensus areas of research priority to guide future research, deliver responsive and strategic allocation of research resources, and improve the future health and well-being of people living with, and at risk of, Type 2 diabetes. © 2018 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Diabetes UK.

Mapping of Florida's Coastal and Marine Resources: Setting Priorities Workshop

Science.gov (United States)

Robbins, Lisa; Wolfe, Steven; Raabe, Ellen

2008-01-01

The importance of mapping habitats and bioregions as a means to improve resource management has become increasingly clear. Large areas of the waters surrounding Florida are unmapped or incompletely mapped, possibly hindering proper management and good decisionmaking. Mapping of these ecosystems is among the top priorities identified by the Florida Oceans and Coastal Council in their Annual Science Research Plan. However, lack of prioritization among the coastal and marine areas and lack of coordination of agency efforts impede efficient, cost-effective mapping. A workshop on Mapping of Florida's Coastal and Marine Resources was sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), and Southeastern Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS). The workshop was held at the USGS Florida Integrated Science Center (FISC) in St. Petersburg, FL, on February 7-8, 2007. The workshop was designed to provide State, Federal, university, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) the opportunity to discuss their existing data coverage and create a prioritization of areas for new mapping data in Florida. Specific goals of the workshop were multifold, including to: * provide information to agencies on state-of-the-art technology for collecting data; * inform participants of the ongoing mapping programs in waters off Florida; * present the mapping needs and priorities of the State and Federal agencies and entities operating in Florida; * work with State of Florida agencies to establish an overall priority for areas needing mapping; * initiate discussion of a unified classification of habitat and bioregions; * discuss and examine the need to standardize terminology and data collection/storage so that data, in particular habitat data, can be shared; 9 identify opportunities for partnering and leveraging mapping efforts among agencies and entities; * identify impediments and organizational gaps that hinder collection

Social and behavioral science priorities for genomic translation.

Science.gov (United States)

Koehly, Laura M; Persky, Susan; Spotts, Erica; Acca, Gillian

2018-01-29

This commentary highlights the essential role of the social and behavioral sciences for genomic translation, and discusses some priority research areas in this regard. The first area encompasses genetics of behavioral, social, and neurocognitive factors, and how integration of these relationships might impact the development of treatments and interventions. The second area includes the contributions that social and behavioral sciences make toward the informed translation of genomic developments. Further, there is a need for behavioral and social sciences to inform biomedical research for effective implementation. The third area speaks to the need for increased outreach and education efforts to improve the public's genomic literacy such that individuals and communities can make informed health-related and societal (e.g., in legal or consumer settings) decisions. Finally, there is a need to prioritize representation of diverse communities in genomics research and equity of access to genomic technologies. Examples from National Institutes of Health-based intramural and extramural research programs and initiatives are used to discuss these points. © Society of Behavioral Medicine 2018.

The Evolution of Scientific Trajectories in Rice: Mapping the Relation between Research and Societal Priorities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ciarli, T.; Rafols, I.

2016-07-01

How do specific technologies emerge? How is the scientific research related to technologies prioritised, in governments, firms, universities, and other actors involved in research? Related to these questions is the question of how we investigate trajectories of science and technologies, and how to model their relation. In this paper we aim to answer the initial question for a case study, rice, proposing to use new data, methods, and indicators. We discuss a number of insights on the evolution of the research trajectory on rice since the 1980’s, worldwide and for a number of countries which dominate the world rankings in rice production and/or in rice publications. Using a number of socio-economic indicators at the country level, we relate priorities on the research side (publication topics) and on the societal side finding limited relations between supply and demand of research. In the paper we also discuss the combination of scientometric and socio-economic indicators, suggesting that they may be useful for future research on the relation between societal needs and research priorities. (Author)

Community Priority Index: utility, applicability and validation for priority setting in community-based participatory research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamisu M. Salihu

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Background. Providing practitioners with an intuitive measure for priority setting that can be combined with diverse data collection methods is a necessary step to foster accountability of the decision-making process in community settings. Yet, there is a lack of easy-to-use, but methodologically robust measures, that can be feasibly implemented for reliable decision-making in community settings. To address this important gap in community based participatory research (CBPR, the purpose of this study was to demonstrate the utility, applicability, and validation of a community priority index in a community-based participatory research setting. Design and Methods. Mixed-method study that combined focus groups findings, nominal group technique with six key informants, and the generation of a Community Priority Index (CPI that integrated community importance, changeability, and target populations. Bootstrapping and simulation were performed for validation. Results. For pregnant mothers, the top three highly important and highly changeable priorities were: stress (CPI=0.85; 95%CI: 0.70, 1.00, lack of affection (CPI=0.87; 95%CI: 0.69, 1.00, and nutritional issues (CPI=0.78; 95%CI: 0.48, 1.00. For non-pregnant women, top priorities were: low health literacy (CPI=0.87; 95%CI: 0.69, 1.00, low educational attainment (CPI=0.78; 95%CI: 0.48, 1.00, and lack of self-esteem (CPI=0.72; 95%CI: 0.44, 1.00. For children and adolescents, the top three priorities were: obesity (CPI=0.88; 95%CI: 0.69, 1.00, low self-esteem (CPI=0.81; 95%CI: 0.69, 0.94, and negative attitudes toward education (CPI=0.75; 95%CI: 0.50, 0.94. Conclusions. This study demonstrates the applicability of the CPI as a simple and intuitive measure for priority setting in CBPR.

Analytical review of modern information education technologies

OpenAIRE

Светлана Викторовна Зенкина; О П Панкратова

2014-01-01

This article discusses and analyzes the modern information education technologies, which are seen as the priority to use in the modern information educational environment (Internet-based educational technologies, distance education, media education, e-Learning technologies, smart-education technologies).

Microwave Technology for Waste Management Applications Including Disposition of Electronic Circuitry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wicks, G.G.; Clark, D.E.; Schulz, R.L.

1998-01-01

Advanced microwave technology is being developed nationally and internationally for a variety of waste management and environmental remediation purposes. These efforts include treatment and destruction of a vast array of gaseous, liquid and solid hazardous wastes as well as subsequent immobilization of hazardous components into leach resistant forms. Microwave technology provides an important contribution to an arsenal of existing remediation methods that are designed to protect the public and environment from the undesirable consequences of hazardous materials. One application of special interest is the treatment of discarded electronic circuitry using a new hybrid microwave treatment process and subsequent reclamation of the precious metals within

ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY IN THE CONDITIONS OF PRIORITY DEVELOPMENT AREAS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. V. Gruzdeva

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This article presents an analysis of the most important issues in priority development areas, including the commitment of the Kamchatka region in which such territory is focused primarily on the development of tourism. The relevance of the article due to the increase in the activity of creation of territories of operahouse development in Russia.Goal/objectives. The purpose of this article is to identify both advantages and disadvantages of priority development areas as a mechanism of economic development. To achieve this goal, the author formulated and solved two tasks – analysis of theoretical questions of development of territories of priority development and evaluation of a practical example of creating such a site.Methodology. The theoretical basis of the research was normative legal acts devoted to the question of priority development areas and strategic documents of the Kamchatka region. As a methodological basis of applied methods: analysis, synthesis, analogy, comparison, induction and deduction.Results. Found that despite the existing shortcomings and limitations, the creation of territories of priority development is an eff ective tool for the development of entrepreneurship.Conclusions/significance. Creation within the country's territory, favorable for attracting long-term investment, is a widespread global practice to attract large companies. In Russia, this tool is relatively new, but is already actively used for the development of entrepreneurial activities in troubled regions.This tool provides its residents with sufficient opportunities to gain competitive advantage, accordingly, is a critical study of all questions of implementation and follow-up work of priority development areas, given companies' business activities both within and outside the area.

Priority setting in health care: trends and models from Scandinavian experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Hofmann, Bjørn

2013-08-01

The Scandinavian welfare states have public health care systems which have universal coverage and traditionally low influence of private insurance and private provision. Due to raises in costs, elaborate public control of health care, and a significant technological development in health care, priority setting came on the public agenda comparatively early in the Scandinavian countries. The development of health care priority setting has been partly homogeneous and appears to follow certain phases. This can be of broader interest as it may shed light on alternative models and strategies in health care priority setting. Some general trends have been identified: from principles to procedures, from closed to open processes, and from experts to participation. Five general approaches have been recognized: The moral principles and values based approach, the moral principles and economic assessment approach, the procedural approach, the expert based practice defining approach, and the participatory practice defining approach. There are pros and cons with all of these approaches. For the time being the fifth approach appears attractive, but its lack of true participation and the lack of clear success criteria may pose significant challenges in the future.

Optimal Priority Structure, Capital Structure, and Investment

OpenAIRE

Dirk Hackbarth; David C. Mauer

2012-01-01

We study the interaction between financing and investment decisions in a dynamic model, where the firm has multiple debt issues and equityholders choose the timing of investment. Jointly optimal capital and priority structures can virtually eliminate investment distortions because debt priority serves as a dynamically optimal contract. Examining the relative efficiency of priority rules observed in practice, we develop several predictions about how firms adjust their priority structure in res...

Dreissenid mussel research priorities workshop

Science.gov (United States)

Sytsma, Mark; Phillips, Stephen; Counihan, Timothy D.

2015-01-01

Currently, dreissenid mussels have yet to be detected in the northwestern part of the United States and western Canada. Infestation of one of the jurisdictions within the mussel-free Pacific Northwest would likely have significant economic, soci­etal and environmental implications for the entire region. Understanding the biology and environmental tolerances of dreissenid mussels, and effectiveness of various man­agement strategies, is key to prevention.On November 4-5, 2015, the Aquatic Bioinvasion Research and Policy Institute and the Center for Lakes and Reservoirs at Portland State University, the US Geological Survey, and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, convened a Dreissenid Mussel Research Priorities Workshop funded by the Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative. The purpose of the workshop was to review dreissenid research priorities in the 2010 Quagga-Zebra Mussel Action Plan for Western U.S. Waters, reassess those priorities, incorporate new information and emerging trends, and develop priorities to strategically focus research efforts on zebra and quagga mussels in the Pacific Northwest and ensure that future research is focused on the highest priorities. It is important to note that there is some repetition among dreissenid research priority categories (e.g., prevention, detection, control, monitoring, and biology).Workshop participants with research experience in dreissenid mussel biology and management were identified by a literature review. State and federal agency managers were also invited to the workshop to ensure relevancy and practicality of the work­shop outcomes. A total of 28 experts (see sidebar) in mussel biology, ecology, and management attended the workshop.

Commercialization of new energy technologies. Appendix A. Case study 1: central station electric power generation technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1976-06-01

The results of a survey on Technologies for Central Power Generation are presented. The central power generation technologies selected for consideration were: fusion; breeder reactors; solar electric (thermal); geothermal; and magnetohydrodynamics. The responses of industry executives who make key investment decisions concerning new energy technologies and who to identify the problems faced in the development and commercialization of new energy systems are presented. Evaluation of these responses led to the following recommendations: increase industry input into the R, D and D planning process; establish and advocate priorities for new technologies based on detailed analysis of a technology's value in terms of overall national goals; create a mechanism for a joint ERDA/industry appraisal of priorities and programs; increase level of federal funding or subsidy of new technology demonstrations; and focus the activities of the national laboratories on basic research and very early product development; and emphasize industry involvement in systems development

Leadership Education Priorities in a Democratic Society

Science.gov (United States)

Page, William Tyler

2010-01-01

Is there still an effort to include democratic ideals in public education? Some claim that it is no longer a priority, the result of a lack of common definition or perceived benefits. In today's policy driven climate, school leaders must transition to new and more effective approaches to enhancing learning and teaching. Aspiring principals/leaders…

Post LANDSAT D Advanced Concept Evaluation (PLACE). [with emphasis on mission planning, technological forecasting, and user requirements

Science.gov (United States)

1977-01-01

An outline is given of the mission objectives and requirements, system elements, system concepts, technology requirements and forecasting, and priority analysis for LANDSAT D. User requirements and mission analysis and technological forecasting are emphasized. Mission areas considered include agriculture, range management, forestry, geology, land use, water resources, environmental quality, and disaster assessment.

Setting Healthcare Priorities at the Macro and Meso Levels: A Framework for Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Barasa, Edwine W; Molyneux, Sassy; English, Mike; Cleary, Susan

2015-09-16

Priority setting in healthcare is a key determinant of health system performance. However, there is no widely accepted priority setting evaluation framework. We reviewed literature with the aim of developing and proposing a framework for the evaluation of macro and meso level healthcare priority setting practices. We systematically searched Econlit, PubMed, CINAHL, and EBSCOhost databases and supplemented this with searches in Google Scholar, relevant websites and reference lists of relevant papers. A total of 31 papers on evaluation of priority setting were identified. These were supplemented by broader theoretical literature related to evaluation of priority setting. A conceptual review of selected papers was undertaken. Based on a synthesis of the selected literature, we propose an evaluative framework that requires that priority setting practices at the macro and meso levels of the health system meet the following conditions: (1) Priority setting decisions should incorporate both efficiency and equity considerations as well as the following outcomes; (a) Stakeholder satisfaction, (b) Stakeholder understanding, (c) Shifted priorities (reallocation of resources), and (d) Implementation of decisions. (2) Priority setting processes should also meet the procedural conditions of (a) Stakeholder engagement, (b) Stakeholder empowerment, (c) Transparency, (d) Use of evidence, (e) Revisions, (f) Enforcement, and (g) Being grounded on community values. Available frameworks for the evaluation of priority setting are mostly grounded on procedural requirements, while few have included outcome requirements. There is, however, increasing recognition of the need to incorporate both consequential and procedural considerations in priority setting practices. In this review, we adapt an integrative approach to develop and propose a framework for the evaluation of priority setting practices at the macro and meso levels that draws from these complementary schools of thought. © 2015

Setting Healthcare Priorities at the Macro and Meso Levels: A Framework for Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Barasa, Edwine W.; Molyneux, Sassy; English, Mike; Cleary, Susan

2015-01-01

Background: Priority setting in healthcare is a key determinant of health system performance. However, there is no widely accepted priority setting evaluation framework. We reviewed literature with the aim of developing and proposing a framework for the evaluation of macro and meso level healthcare priority setting practices. Methods: We systematically searched Econlit, PubMed, CINAHL, and EBSCOhost databases and supplemented this with searches in Google Scholar, relevant websites and reference lists of relevant papers. A total of 31 papers on evaluation of priority setting were identified. These were supplemented by broader theoretical literature related to evaluation of priority setting. A conceptual review of selected papers was undertaken. Results: Based on a synthesis of the selected literature, we propose an evaluative framework that requires that priority setting practices at the macro and meso levels of the health system meet the following conditions: (1) Priority setting decisions should incorporate both efficiency and equity considerations as well as the following outcomes; (a) Stakeholder satisfaction, (b) Stakeholder understanding, (c) Shifted priorities (reallocation of resources), and (d) Implementation of decisions. (2) Priority setting processes should also meet the procedural conditions of (a) Stakeholder engagement, (b) Stakeholder empowerment, (c) Transparency, (d) Use of evidence, (e) Revisions, (f) Enforcement, and (g) Being grounded on community values. Conclusion: Available frameworks for the evaluation of priority setting are mostly grounded on procedural requirements, while few have included outcome requirements. There is, however, increasing recognition of the need to incorporate both consequential and procedural considerations in priority setting practices. In this review, we adapt an integrative approach to develop and propose a framework for the evaluation of priority setting practices at the macro and meso levels that draws from these

Setting Healthcare Priorities at the Macro and Meso Levels: A Framework for Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edwine W. Barasa

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Background Priority setting in healthcare is a key determinant of health system performance. However, there is no widely accepted priority setting evaluation framework. We reviewed literature with the aim of developing and proposing a framework for the evaluation of macro and meso level healthcare priority setting practices. Methods We systematically searched Econlit, PubMed, CINAHL, and EBSCOhost databases and supplemented this with searches in Google Scholar, relevant websites and reference lists of relevant papers. A total of 31 papers on evaluation of priority setting were identified. These were supplemented by broader theoretical literature related to evaluation of priority setting. A conceptual review of selected papers was undertaken. Results Based on a synthesis of the selected literature, we propose an evaluative framework that requires that priority setting practices at the macro and meso levels of the health system meet the following conditions: (1 Priority setting decisions should incorporate both efficiency and equity considerations as well as the following outcomes; (a Stakeholder satisfaction, (b Stakeholder understanding, (c Shifted priorities (reallocation of resources, and (d Implementation of decisions. (2 Priority setting processes should also meet the procedural conditions of (a Stakeholder engagement, (b Stakeholder empowerment, (c Transparency, (d Use of evidence, (e Revisions, (f Enforcement, and (g Being grounded on community values. Conclusion Available frameworks for the evaluation of priority setting are mostly grounded on procedural requirements, while few have included outcome requirements. There is, however, increasing recognition of the need to incorporate both consequential and procedural considerations in priority setting practices. In this review, we adapt an integrative approach to develop and propose a framework for the evaluation of priority setting practices at the macro and meso levels that draws from

[Priority setting of health interventions. Review of criteria, approaches and role of assessment agencies].

Science.gov (United States)

Varela-Lema, Leonor; Atienza-Merino, Gerardo; López-García, Marisa

This study was carried out to develop an explicit health priority setting methodology to support decision-making regarding the technologies to be assessed for inclusion in the National Health Service service portfolio. The primary objective is to identify and analyse the criteria, approaches and conceptual frameworks used for national/international priority setting. An exhaustive review of the literature was carried out. For this purpose, a search of the main biomedical databases was performed and assessment agency websites were reviewed, among other sources. In general terms, it was found that there are no standardised criteria for priority setting, although some consensus and common trends have been identified regarding key elements (criteria, models and strategies, key actors, etc.). Globally, 8 key domains were identified: 1) need for intervention; 2) health outcomes; 3) type of benefit of the intervention; 4) economic consequences; 5) existing knowledge on the intervention/quality of and uncertainties regarding the evidence; 6) implementation and complexity of the intervention/feasibility; 7) priority, justice and ethics; and 8) overall context. The review provides a thorough analysis of the relevant issues and offers key recommendations regarding considerations for developing a national prioritisation framework. Findings are envisioned to be useful for different public organisations that are aiming to establish healthcare priorities. Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Priorities in the design of chemical shops at coke plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

V.I. Rudyka; Y.E. Zingerman; V.V. Grabko; L.A. Kazak [Giprokoks, the State Institute for the Design of Coke-Industry Enterprises, Kharkov (Ukraine)

2009-07-15

Recent trends in the design of chemical equipment at coke plants are described, through the lens of experience at Giprokoks. The main priorities were to improve the removal of impurities from coke oven gas; to improve equipment design on the basis of new materials; to reduce reagent consumption; to reduce the materials and energy consumed in the construction of new equipment; and to minimize impacts on the environment and worker health. Some technological equipment is briefly characterized.

Evidence-informed capacity building for setting health priorities in low- and middle-income countries: A framework and recommendations for further research.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ryan; Ruiz, Francis; Culyer, Anthony J; Chalkidou, Kalipso; Hofman, Karen J

2017-01-01

Priority-setting in health is risky and challenging, particularly in resource-constrained settings. It is not simply a narrow technical exercise, and involves the mobilisation of a wide range of capacities among stakeholders - not only the technical capacity to "do" research in economic evaluations. Using the Individuals, Nodes, Networks and Environment (INNE) framework, we identify those stakeholders, whose capacity needs will vary along the evidence-to-policy continuum. Policymakers and healthcare managers require the capacity to commission and use relevant evidence (including evidence of clinical and cost-effectiveness, and of social values); academics need to understand and respond to decision-makers' needs to produce relevant research. The health system at all levels will need institutional capacity building to incentivise routine generation and use of evidence. Knowledge brokers, including priority-setting agencies (such as England's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and Health Interventions and Technology Assessment Program, Thailand) and the media can play an important role in facilitating engagement and knowledge transfer between the various actors. Especially at the outset but at every step, it is critical that patients and the public understand that trade-offs are inherent in priority-setting, and careful efforts should be made to engage them, and to hear their views throughout the process. There is thus no single approach to capacity building; rather a spectrum of activities that recognises the roles and skills of all stakeholders. A range of methods, including formal and informal training, networking and engagement, and support through collaboration on projects, should be flexibly employed (and tailored to specific needs of each country) to support institutionalisation of evidence-informed priority-setting. Finally, capacity building should be a two-way process; those who build capacity should also attend to their own capacity

Exploring Citizen Infrastructure and Environmental Priorities in Mumbai, India

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sperling, Joshua; Romero-Lankao, Patricia; Beig, Gufran

2016-06-01

water provision to homes are significant in shaping the top infrastructure and environmental policy priorities that include water supply and sanitation, air pollution, waste, and extreme heat.

Setting research priorities for Type 1 diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Gadsby, R; Snow, R; Daly, A C; Crowe, S; Matyka, K; Hall, B; Petrie, J

2012-10-01

Research priorities are often set by academic researchers or the pharmaceutical industry. The interests of patients, carers and clinicians may therefore be overlooked and research questions that matter may be neglected. The aims of this study were to collect uncertainties about the treatment of Type 1 diabetes from patients, carers and health professionals, and to collate and prioritize these uncertainties to develop a top 10 list of research priorities, using a structured priority-setting partnership of patients, carers, health professionals and diabetes organizations, as described by the James Lind Alliance. A partnership of interested organizations was set up, and from this a steering committee of 10 individuals was formed. An online and paper survey was used to identify uncertainties. These were collated, and the steering group carried out an interim priority-setting exercise with partner organizations. This group of uncertainties was then voted on to give a smaller list that went forward to the final priority-setting workshop. At this meeting, a final list of the top 10 research priorities was agreed. An initial 1141 uncertainties were described. These were reduced to 88 indicative questions, 47 of which went out for voting. Twenty-four were then taken forward to a final priority-setting workshop. This workshop resulted in a list of top 10 research priorities in Type 1 diabetes. We have shown that it is possible using the James Lind Alliance process to develop an agreed top 10 list of research priorities for Type 1 diabetes from health professionals, patients and carers. © 2012 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine © 2012 Diabetes UK.

Research priorities for coordinating management of food safety and water quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Crohn, David M; Bianchi, Mary L

2008-01-01

Efforts to exclude disease organisms from farms growing irrigated lettuce and leafy vegetables on California's central coast are conflicting with traditionally accepted strategies to protect surface water quality. To begin resolving this dilemma, over 100 officials, researchers, and industry representatives gathered in April 2007 to set research priorities that could lead to effective co-management of both food safety and water quality. Following the meeting, research priorities were refined and ordered by way of a Delphi process completed by 35 meeting participants. Although water quality and food safety experts conceptualized the issues differently, there were no deep disagreements with respect to research needs. Top priority was given to investigating the fate of pathogens potentially present on farms. Intermediate priorities included characterizing the influence of specific farm management practices on food safety and improving our understanding of vector processes. A scientific subdiscipline focusing on competing risks is needed to characterize and resolve conflicts between human and environmental health.

Mozambique Information and Communication Technology : Micro ...

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

The goals of the Mozambique Information and Communication Technology Micro and Small Enterprises Incubator (MICTI Incubator) are twofold: to identify sustainable opportunities for technology-based businesses in priority development areas; and to test the assumption that technology-based businesses can mentor the ...

Technology transfer and international development: Materials and manufacturing technology

Science.gov (United States)

1982-01-01

Policy oriented studies on technological development in several relatively advanced developing countries were conducted. Priority sectors defined in terms of technological sophistication, capital intensity, value added, and export potential were studied in Brazil, Venezuela, Israel, and Korea. The development of technological policy alternatives for the sponsoring country is assessed. Much emphasis is placed on understanding the dynamics of the sectors through structured interviews with a large sample of firms in the leading manufacturing and materials processing sectors.

Benefits and risks of smart home technologies

OpenAIRE

Wilson, Charlie; Hargreaves, Tom; Hauxwell-Baldwin, Richard

2017-01-01

Smart homes are a priority area of strategic energy planning and national policy. The market adoption of smart home technologies (SHTs) relies on prospective users perceiving clear benefits with acceptable levels of risk. This paper characterises the perceived benefits and risks of SHTs from multiple perspectives. A representative national survey of UK homeowners (n=1025) finds prospective users have positive perceptions of the multiple functionality of SHTs including energy management. Cedin...

Priority Questions and Horizon Scanning for Conservation: A Comparative Study

Science.gov (United States)

Kark, Salit; Sutherland, William J.; Shanas, Uri; Klass, Keren; Achisar, Hila; Dayan, Tamar; Gavrieli, Yael; Justo-Hanani, Ronit; Mandelik, Yael; Orion, Nir; Pargament, David; Portman, Michelle; Reisman-Berman, Orna; Safriel, Uriel N.; Schaffer, Gad; Steiner, Noa; Tauber, Israel; Levin, Noam

2016-01-01

Several projects aimed at identifying priority issues for conservation with high relevance to policy have recently been completed in several countries. Two major types of projects have been undertaken, aimed at identifying (i) policy-relevant questions most imperative to conservation and (ii) horizon scanning topics, defined as emerging issues that are expected to have substantial implications for biodiversity conservation and policy in the future. Here, we provide the first overview of the outcomes of biodiversity and conservation-oriented projects recently completed around the world using this framework. We also include the results of the first questions and horizon scanning project completed for a Mediterranean country. Overall, the outcomes of the different projects undertaken (at the global scale, in the UK, US, Canada, Switzerland and in Israel) were strongly correlated in terms of the proportion of questions and/or horizon scanning topics selected when comparing different topic areas. However, some major differences were found across regions. There was large variation among regions in the percentage of proactive (i.e. action and response oriented) versus descriptive (non-response oriented) priority questions and in the emphasis given to socio-political issues. Substantial differences were also found when comparing outcomes of priority questions versus horizon scanning projects undertaken for the same region. For example, issues related to climate change, human demography and marine ecosystems received higher priority as horizon scanning topics, while ecosystem services were more emphasized as current priority questions. We suggest that future initiatives aimed at identifying priority conservation questions and horizon scanning topics should allow simultaneous identification of both current and future priority issues, as presented here for the first time. We propose that further emphasis on social-political issues should be explicitly integrated into future

Setting Priorities Personal Values, Organizational Results

CERN Document Server

(CCL), Center for Creative Leadership

2011-01-01

To be a successful leader, you need to get results. To get results, you need to set priorities. This book can help you do a better job of setting priorities, recognizing the personal values that motivate your decision making, the probable trade-offs and consequences of your decisions, and the importance of aligning your priorities with your organization's expectations. In this way you can successfully meet organizational objectives and consistently produce results.

A PROCESS OF PRIORITIZING TOPICS FOR HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT IN KAZAKHSTAN.

Science.gov (United States)

Kosherbayeva, Lyazzat; Hailey, David; Kurakbaev, Kural; Tabarov, Adlet; Kumar, Ainur; Gutzskaya, Gulnara; Stepkina, Elena

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop criteria for the prioritization of topics for health technology assessment (HTA) in the healthcare system of Kazakhstan. Initial proposals for criteria were suggested through consultation with Ministry of Health (MoH) policy areas. These were refined through a workshop attended by HTA department staff, persons from medical universities and research institutes, and MoH policy makers. The workshop included discussion on methods used in international HTA practice. Opinions of participants on selection of criteria from those specified in a review of prioritization processes were used to define a list for inclusion in an instrument for routine use. A scoring system was established in later discussion. Selected criteria for HTA prioritization were burden of disease, availability of alternative technology, clinical effectiveness, economic efficiency, budget impact, and ethical, legal, and/or psychosocial aspects. For each criterion, a health technology under consideration is given a score from 3 (High) to 1 (Low). The total score determines whether the technology is of high to medium priority or of low priority. Determination of priorities for assessment, using the instrument, should be carried out by an expert group appointed by the MoH. The process was applied in 2014 to a selection of topics, and three health technologies were chosen for full assessments. Criteria for prioritization have evolved with development of the HTA program in Kazakhstan. A method for HTA prioritization has been developed that is easy to apply, requires comparatively few resources, and is compatible with processes required by the MoH.

Safety training priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, N. A.; Ruck, H. W.

1984-04-01

The Air Force is interested in identifying potentially hazardous tasks and prevention of accidents. This effort proposes four methods for determining safety training priorities for job tasks in three enlisted specialties. These methods can be used to design training aimed at avoiding loss of people, time, materials, and money associated with on-the-job accidents. Job tasks performed by airmen were measured using task and job factor ratings. Combining accident reports and job inventories, subject-matter experts identified tasks associated with accidents over a 3-year period. Applying correlational, multiple regression, and cost-benefit analysis, four methods were developed for ordering hazardous tasks to determine safety training priorities.

75 FR 1115 - Invitation for Public Comment on Strategic Research Direction, Research Priority Areas and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-08

.... The RD&T strategic planning process is collaborative, cross-modal, and forward looking, focusing on... strategic planning effort that will guide the Department's research, development, and technology activities... planning process to cover the years 2010-2015 and to address the proposed Departmental key priorities as...

7 CFR 1775.11 - Priority.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... management problems. (j) Cash or in kind support of project from non-federal sources. (k) Ability to... program. (a) Projects proposing to give priority for available services to rural communities having a population less than 5,500 and/or below 2,500. (b) Projects proposing to give priority for available services...

RESEARCH PRIORITY-SETTING IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA: POLICIES, METHODS AND PRACTICALITIES

OpenAIRE

Omuru, Eric; Kingwell, Ross S.

2000-01-01

Agricultural research priority-setting at best promotes the effective and efficient use of scarce research resources. This paper reviews firstly the priority-setting methods used in Papua New Guinea for agricultural R&D and examines the practicalities of implementing these and other methods. Secondly, this paper reports on key factors affecting the strategic directions for agricultural R&D in Papua New Guinea. These factors include:(i) the long term trends in international crop prices; (ii) l...

40 CFR 35.925-3 - Priority determination.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Priority determination. 35.925-3 Section 35.925-3 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL... Priority determination. That such works are entitled to priority in accordance with § 35.915, and that the...

Top 10 research priorities in head and neck cancer: Results of an Alberta priority setting partnership of patients, caregivers, family members, and clinicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Lechelt, Leah A; Rieger, Jana M; Cowan, Katherine; Debenham, Brock J; Krewski, Bernie; Nayar, Suresh; Regunathan, Akhila; Seikaly, Hadi; Singh, Ameeta E; Laupacis, Andreas

2018-03-01

The epidemiology, etiology, and management of head and neck cancer are evolving. Understanding the perspectives and priorities of nonresearchers regarding treatment uncertainties is important to inform future research. Using the James Lind Alliance approach, patients, caregivers, and clinicians responded to a survey regarding their unanswered questions about treating and managing head and neck cancer. Distinct uncertainties were extracted from responses and sorted into themes. Uncertainties already answered in the literature were removed. Those remaining were ranked by patients and clinicians to develop a short list of priorities, which were discussed at a workshop and reduced to the top 10. One hundred sixty-one respondents posed 818 uncertainties, culminating in 77 for interim ranking and 27 for discussion at a workshop. Participants reached consensus on the top 10, which included questions on prevention, screening, treatment, and quality of life. Nonresearchers can effectively collaborate to establish priorities for future research in head and neck cancer. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Decentralized health care priority-setting in Tanzania

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maluka, Stephen; Kamuzora, Peter; Sebastiån, Miguel San

2010-01-01

Priority-setting has become one of the biggest challenges faced by health decision-makers worldwide. Fairness is a key goal of priority-setting and Accountability for Reasonableness has emerged as a guiding framework for fair priority-setting. This paper describes the processes of setting health...... care priorities in Mbarali district, Tanzania, and evaluates the descriptions against Accountability for Reasonableness. Key informant interviews were conducted with district health managers, local government officials and other stakeholders using a semi-structured interview guide. Relevant documents...... no formal mechanisms in place to ensure that this information reached the public. There were neither formal mechanisms for challenging decisions nor an adequate enforcement mechanism to ensure that decisions were made in a fair and equitable manner. Therefore, priority-setting in Mbarali district did...

What are the dietary treatment research priorities for inflammatory bowel disease? A short report based on a priority setting partnership with the James Lind Alliance.

Science.gov (United States)

Lomer, M C; Hart, A L; Verjee, A; Daly, A; Solomon, J; Mclaughlin, J

2017-12-01

Treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) involves a multidisciplinary approach comprising medical management and sometimes surgery. Although diet is central to IBD management, the optimal diet for patients with IBD is uncertain. A UK collaborative partnership within the James Lind Alliance was set up between patients, clinicians and other stakeholders to develop research priorities in IBD. The aim of this short report is to provide a comprehensive summary of the research priority findings relating to diet in the treatment of IBD. The James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership process was used to develop research priorities in IBD. In brief, patients, clinicians and other stakeholders were invited to provide up to five treatment uncertainties in IBD. These uncertainties were collated, revised and ranked, leading to a final top 10 research questions in IBD. A total of 1671 uncertainties from 531 participants were collected and refined to exclude duplicates leaving 1253 uncertainties. Of these, 348 were categorised as diet-related and grouped according to topic. There were 206 uncertainties related to how diet can be used to treat IBD or alleviate symptoms. Seventy-two percent of diet-related questions came from patients. One broadly diet-related and two diet-specific treatment uncertainties were included in the top 10 research priorities for IBD. Dietary treatment options in the management of IBD are important research priorities. Almost three-quarters of diet related questions came from patients, who were particularly interested in how diet can impact disease activity and symptom control. © 2017 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

7 CFR 632.12 - Funding priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... AGRICULTURE LONG TERM CONTRACTING RURAL ABANDONED MINE PROGRAM Qualifications § 632.12 Funding priorities. (a... extreme danger. (3) Priority 3. Restoration of the land and water resources and the environment where...

14 CFR 250.3 - Boarding priority rules.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Boarding priority rules. 250.3 Section 250...) ECONOMIC REGULATIONS OVERSALES § 250.3 Boarding priority rules. (a) Every carrier shall establish priority... boarding on an oversold flight in the event that an insufficient number of volunteers come forward. Such...

Research and Development Strategy in Biological Technologies: A Patent Data Analysis of Japanese Manufacturing Firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hidemichi Fujii

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Biological technology allows us to invent new medical approaches, create effective food production methods and reserves and develop new materials for industrial production. There is a diversity of biological technology types, and different technologies have different priorities for invention. This study examines the factors that are important for the invention of biology-related technologies in Japan using patent application data and a decomposition analysis framework. As the results show, patent applications related to biochemistry and biotechnology increased until 1995 because of the expanded scale of R&D activities and the high priority assigned to biological technology. However, the number of patent applications stagnated after 1995, because the importance of biochemistry, especially waste-gas treatment technologies, decreased. Additionally, patent applications for medicines and disease-related technologies increased rapidly from 1971 to 1995. The primary determinant of rapid growth is an increase in research priority, especially among firms in the chemical industry whose technologies are related to supplemental foods and foods with health-promoting benefits. Finally, patent applications involving foodstuff- and agriculture-related technologies increased from 1971 to 1995 due to increased R&D and the increased priority of biological technology.

15 CFR 700.15 - Extension of priority ratings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

...) BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NATIONAL SECURITY INDUSTRIAL BASE REGULATIONS DEFENSE PRIORITIES AND ALLOCATIONS SYSTEM Industrial Priorities § 700.15 Extension of priority ratings. (a...

Consumer design priorities for upper limb prosthetics.

Science.gov (United States)

Biddiss, Elaine; Beaton, Dorcas; Chau, Tom

2007-11-01

To measure consumer satisfaction with upper limb prosthetics and provide an enumerated list of design priorities for future developments. A self-administered, anonymous survey collected information on participant demographics, history of and goals for prosthesis use, satisfaction, and design priorities. The questionnaire was available online and in paper format and was distributed through healthcare providers, community support groups, and one prosthesis manufacturer; 242 participants of all ages and levels of upper limb absence completed the survey. Rates of rejection for myoelectric hands, passive hands, and body-powered hooks were 39%, 53%, and 50%, respectively. Prosthesis wearers were generally satisfied with their devices while prosthesis rejecters were dissatisfied. Reduced prosthesis weight emerged as the highest priority design concern of consumers. Lower cost ranked within the top five design priorities for adult wearers of all device types. Life-like appearance is a priority for passive/cosmetic prostheses, while improved harness comfort, wrist movement, grip control and strength are required for body-powered devices. Glove durability, lack of sensory feedback, and poor dexterity were also identified as design priorities for electric devices. Design priorities reflect consumer goals for prosthesis use and vary depending on the type of prosthesis used and age. Future design efforts should focus on the development of more light-weight, comfortable prostheses.

Investigation of Techno-Stress Levels of Teachers Who Were Included in Technology Integration Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Çoklar, Ahmet Naci; Efilti, Erkan; Sahin, Yusef Levent; Akçay, Arif

2016-01-01

Techno-stress is defined as a modern adaptation disorder resulting from the failure in coping with new technologies in a healthy way. Techno-stress affects many occupational groups, including teachers. FATIH project and many other previous studies conducted in Turkey in recent years have necessitated the use of technology for teachers. The present…

Decision Process Analysis on Project Priority Strategy: A Case Study of an ICT Design Firm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vincent F. Yu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Project priority strategy is the benchmarking of a corporate operation management strategy and in particular is used by a projects-based research and development firm in the complex competence environment of the information and communication technology (ICT industry. This research takes the variables of external environments and internal resources into account for a firm’s market, technology, and finance assets in order to present a decision process on a project priority strategy. This empirical study also addresses the key factors of the interaction between business on a project development’s supply chain: clients, the examined firm, and suppliers. The findings indicate that a profit-driven project can dominate the firm’s strategic operations and management from the resource-based view and analytic hierarchy process technique perspectives. At the same time, the analysis results contribute significant values to project decision management, which is highly recommended for small-medium enterprises conducting product/project development, project portfolio management, and strategic business management.

Communicating laboratory results through a Web site: Patients' priorities and viewpoints.

Science.gov (United States)

Sabahi, Azam; Ahmadian, Leila; Mirzaee, Moghademeh

2018-02-28

Patients can access laboratory results using various technologies. The aim of this study was to integrate the laboratory results into the hospital Web site based on patients' viewpoints and priorities and to measure patients' satisfaction. This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2015. First, a questionnaire was distributed among 200 patients to assess patients' priorities to receive laboratory results through the Web site. Second, those who agreed (n = 95) to receive their laboratory results through the Web site were identified. Then, the required changes were made to the hospital Web site based on patients' viewpoints and priorities. Third, patients were divided into two groups. The first group received their laboratory results through the Web site on the date had been announced during their visit to the laboratory. The second group was informed by SMS once their results were shown on the Web site. After receiving laboratory results, patients' satisfaction was evaluated. More than half of the participants (n = 53, 55.8%) were highly satisfied with receiving the results electronically. The higher number of people in SMS group (n = 9, 20.9%) reported that they were satisfied with time-saving compared to other group (n = 2, 3.8%) (P = .04). Participants after receiving the results through the Web site considered the functionalities of reprinting (P Web site based on the patients' viewpoints and priorities can improve patient satisfaction and lower the patients' concern regarding confidentiality of their results. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Developing a national dental education research strategy: priorities, barriers and enablers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ajjawi, Rola; Barton, Karen L; Dennis, Ashley A; Rees, Charlotte E

2017-03-29

This study aimed to identify national dental education research (DER) priorities for the next 3-5 years and to identify barriers and enablers to DER. Scotland. In this two-stage online questionnaire study, we collected data with multiple dental professions (eg, dentistry, dental nursing and dental hygiene) and stakeholder groups (eg, learners, clinicians, educators, managers, researchers and academics). Eighty-five participants completed the Stage 1 qualitative questionnaire and 649 participants the Stage 2 quantitative questionnaire. Eight themes were identified at Stage 1. Of the 24 DER priorities identified, the top three were: role of assessments in identifying competence; undergraduate curriculum prepares for practice and promoting teamwork. Following exploratory factor analysis, the 24 items loaded onto four factors: teamwork and professionalism, measuring and enhancing performance, dental workforce issues and curriculum integration and innovation. Barriers and enablers existed at multiple levels: individual, interpersonal, institutional structures and cultures and technology. This priority setting exercise provides a necessary first step to developing a national DER strategy capturing multiple perspectives. Promoting DER requires improved resourcing alongside efforts to overcome peer stigma and lack of valuing and motivation. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

76 FR 32227 - DST Systems, Inc., Including On-Site Leased Workers From Comsys Information Technology Services...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-03

..., Inc., Including On-Site Leased Workers From Comsys Information Technology Services, Megaforce, and Kelly Services Kansas City, MO; DST Technologies, a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of DST Systems, Inc., Boston... Information Technology Services, Megaforce, and Kelly Services, Kansas City, Missouri (subject firm). The...

NASA Astrophysics Technology Needs

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, H. Philip

2012-01-01

July 2010, NASA Office of Chief Technologist (OCT) initiated an activity to create and maintain a NASA integrated roadmap for 15 key technology areas which recommend an overall technology investment strategy and prioritize NASA?s technology programs to meet NASA?s strategic goals. Science Instruments, Observatories and Sensor Systems(SIOSS) roadmap addresses technology needs to achieve NASA?s highest priority objectives -- not only for the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), but for all of NASA.

Water management in cities of the future using emission control strategies for priority hazardous substances.

Science.gov (United States)

Eriksson, E; Revitt, D M; Ledin, A; Lundy, L; Holten Lützhøft, H C; Wickman, T; Mikkelsen, P S

2011-01-01

Cities of the future face challenges with respect to the quantity and quality of water resources, and multiple managerial options need to be considered in order to safeguard urban surface water quality. In a recently completed project on 'Source control options for reducing emissions of Priority Pollutants' (ScorePP), seven emission control strategies (ECSs) were developed and tested within a semi-hypothetical case city (SHCC) to evaluate their potential to reduce the emission of selected European priority hazardous substances (PHSs) to surface waters. The ECSs included (1) business-as-usual, (2) full implementation of relevant European (EU) directives, (3) ECS2 in combination with voluntary options for household, municipalities and industry, (4) ECS2 combined with industrial treatment and best available technologies (BAT), (5) ECS2 in combination with stormwater and combined sewer overflow treatment, (6) ECS2 in combination with advanced wastewater treatment, and (7) combinations of ECS3-6. The SHCC approach was chosen to facilitate transparency, to allow compensating for data gaps and to decrease the level of uncertainty in the results. The selected PHSs: cadmium (Cd), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), nonylphenol (NP) and pentabromodiphenyl ether (PBDE) differ in their uses and environmental fate and therefore accumulate in surface waters to differing extents in response to the application of alternative ECS. To achieve the required reduction in PHS levels in urban waters the full implementation of existing EU regulation is prioritised and feasible combinations of managerial and technological options (source control and treatment) can be highly relevant for mitigating releases.

Setting Priorities for Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research and Identifying Evidence Gaps.

Science.gov (United States)

Le, Jimmy T; Hutfless, Susan; Li, Tianjing; Bressler, Neil M; Heyward, James; Bittner, Ava K; Glassman, Adam; Dickersin, Kay

2017-01-01

Prioritizing comparative effectiveness research may contribute to obtaining answers that clinicians perceive they need and may minimize research that could be considered wasteful. Our objective was to identify evidence gaps and set priorities for new systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials for managing diabetic retinopathy (DR), including diabetic macular edema (DME). Cross-sectional study. Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network (DRCR.net) investigators. We provided recommendations from the American Academy of Ophthalmology's 2012 Preferred Practice Patterns for Diabetic Retinopathy as 91 answerable clinical research questions about intervention effectiveness to 410 DRCR.net investigators to rate each question's importance from 0 (not important) to 10 (very important) using a 2-round Delphi survey and to suggest additional questions. We considered questions as high priority if at least 75% of respondents to both rounds assigned an importance rating of 5 or more in round 2. We also extracted outcome measures relevant to DR and asked respondents to identify those that must be measured in all studies. We mapped Cochrane reviews published up to March 2016 to high-priority clinical research questions. Ranking of importance of each clinical question. Thirty-two individuals completed rounds 1 and 2 and suggested 15 questions. Among the final list of 106 clinical research questions, 22 questions met our definition of high priority: 9 of 22 concerned the effectiveness of anti-VEGF therapy, and 13 of 22 focused on how often patients should be followed up (re-examination) and treatment effectiveness in patients with specific characteristics (e.g., DME). Outcomes that 75% or more of respondents marked as "must be measured in all studies" included visual acuity and visual loss, death of participants, and intraocular pressure. Only 1 prioritized question was associated with conclusive evidence from a Cochrane systematic review. A limited response rate among

Discovery, research, and development of new antibiotics: the WHO priority list of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and tuberculosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tacconelli, Evelina; Carrara, Elena; Savoldi, Alessia; Harbarth, Stephan; Mendelson, Marc; Monnet, Dominique L; Pulcini, Céline; Kahlmeter, Gunnar; Kluytmans, Jan; Carmeli, Yehuda; Ouellette, Marc; Outterson, Kevin; Patel, Jean; Cavaleri, Marco; Cox, Edward M; Houchens, Chris R; Grayson, M Lindsay; Hansen, Paul; Singh, Nalini; Theuretzbacher, Ursula; Magrini, Nicola

2018-03-01

The spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria poses a substantial threat to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Due to its large public health and societal implications, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis has been long regarded by WHO as a global priority for investment in new drugs. In 2016, WHO was requested by member states to create a priority list of other antibiotic-resistant bacteria to support research and development of effective drugs. We used a multicriteria decision analysis method to prioritise antibiotic-resistant bacteria; this method involved the identification of relevant criteria to assess priority against which each antibiotic-resistant bacterium was rated. The final priority ranking of the antibiotic-resistant bacteria was established after a preference-based survey was used to obtain expert weighting of criteria. We selected 20 bacterial species with 25 patterns of acquired resistance and ten criteria to assess priority: mortality, health-care burden, community burden, prevalence of resistance, 10-year trend of resistance, transmissibility, preventability in the community setting, preventability in the health-care setting, treatability, and pipeline. We stratified the priority list into three tiers (critical, high, and medium priority), using the 33rd percentile of the bacterium's total scores as the cutoff. Critical-priority bacteria included carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and carbapenem-resistant and third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. The highest ranked Gram-positive bacteria (high priority) were vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium and meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Of the bacteria typically responsible for community-acquired infections, clarithromycin-resistant Helicobacter pylori, and fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter spp, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Salmonella typhi were included in the high-priority tier. Future development strategies should focus on

Quantifying the value of E and P technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heinemann, R.F.; Donlon, W.P.; Hoefner, M.L.

1996-01-01

A quantitative value-to-cost analysis was performed for the upstream technology portfolio of Mobil Oil for the period 1993 to 1998, by quantifying the cost of developing and delivering various technologies, including the net present value from technologies applied to thirty major assets. The value captured was classified into four general categories: (1) reduced capital costs, (2) reduced operating costs, (3) increased hydrocarbon production, and (4) increased proven reserves. The methodology used in quantifying the value-to-cost of upstream technologies and the results of asset analysis were described, with examples of value of technology to specific assets. A method to incorporate strategic considerations and business alignment to set overall program priorities was also discussed. Identifying and quantifying specific cases of technology application on an asset by asset basis was considered to be the principal advantage of using this method. figs

Setting Research Priorities for Kidney Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Jennifer M; Bhatt, Jaimin; Avery, Jonathan; Laupacis, Andreas; Cowan, Katherine; Basappa, Naveen S; Basiuk, Joan; Canil, Christina; Al-Asaaed, Sohaib; Heng, Daniel Y C; Wood, Lori; Stacey, Dawn; Kollmannsberger, Christian; Jewett, Michael A S

2017-12-01

Defining disease-specific research priorities in cancer can facilitate better allocation of limited resources. Involving patients and caregivers as well as expert clinicians in this process is of value. We undertook this approach for kidney cancer as an example. The Kidney Cancer Research Network of Canada sponsored a collaborative consensus-based priority-setting partnership that identified ten research priorities in the management of kidney cancer. These are discussed in the context of current initiatives and gaps in knowledge. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Priorities for technology development and policy to reduce the risk from radioactive materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duggan, Ruth Ann

2010-01-01

The Standing Committee on International Security of Radioactive and Nuclear Materials in the Nonproliferation and Arms Control Division conducted its fourth annual workshop in February 2010 on Reducing the Risk from Radioactive and Nuclear Materials. This workshop examined new technologies in real-time tracking of radioactive materials, new risks and policy issues in transportation security, the best practices and challenges found in addressing illicit radioactive materials trafficking, industry leadership in reducing proliferation risk, and verification of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Article VI. Technology gaps, policy gaps, and prioritization for addressing the identified gaps were discussed. Participants included academia, policy makers, radioactive materials users, physical security and safeguards specialists, and vendors of radioactive sources and transportation services. This paper summarizes the results of this workshop with the recommendations and calls to action for the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) membership community.

Creating a Research Agenda and Setting Research Priorities for Clinical Nurse Specialists.

Science.gov (United States)

Foster, Jan; Bautista, Cynthia; Ellstrom, Kathleen; Kalowes, Peggy; Manning, Jennifer; Pasek, Tracy Ann

The purpose of this article is to describe the evolution and results of the process for establishing a research agenda and identification of research priorities for clinical nurse specialists, approved by the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACNS) membership and sanctioned by the NACNS Board of Directors. Development of the research agenda and identification of the priorities were an iterative process and involved a review of the literature; input from multiple stakeholders, including individuals with expertise in conducting research serving as task force members, and NACNS members; and feedback from national board members. A research agenda, which is to provide an enduring research platform, was established and research priorities, which are to be applied in the immediate future, were identified as a result of this process. Development of a research agenda and identification of research priorities are a key method of fulfilling the mission and goals of NACNS. The process and outcomes are described in this article.

75 FR 78485 - Supplemental Priorities for Discretionary Grant Programs

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-15

... the impact of these priorities and definitions on education. Discussion: As stated in the NPP, the... programs show significant growth in such areas as self-esteem, independence, and leadership, and...-poverty schools (as defined in this notice) including through such activities as improving the preparation...

Different Backgrounds--Different Priorities? Student Perceptions of a Technology Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Eriksson, Miikka J.; Vuojärvi, Hanna

2014-01-01

A multitude of studies has assessed the success of different technology initiatives but rarely has the focus been on special groups. This paper examines whether university students with children and those without have different perceptions of a technology initiative where students were able to acquire university sponsored laptops and were provided…

Exploration Into the Business Priorities Related to Corporate Engagement in Community Health Improvement Partnerships.

Science.gov (United States)

Pronk, Nicolaas P; Baase, Catherine; May, Jeanette; Terry, Paul; Moseley, Karen

2017-11-01

To explore factors that matter to business in making decisions regarding engagement in community health improvement efforts. Using qualitative methods, domains of interest were identified through literature reviews and expert interviews. Relevance of the domains in terms of potential priorities for action was tested through employer and community stakeholder interviews. Factors that employers considered important to sustained community collaboration as a business priority included (1) credibility of the convener, (2) broad representation of the community, (3) strong mission and goals, (4) individual commitment to health, (5) organizational commitment to health, and (6) demonstrated commitment from leadership. Priorities have been identified for engaging business in community health efforts. Implications for research, practice, and policy include the need for measurement, transparency in reporting, and agreement on principles for public-private partnership in this area.

40 CFR 146.9 - Criteria for establishing permitting priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

....9 Criteria for establishing permitting priorities. In determining priorities for setting times for... priorities. 146.9 Section 146.9 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) WATER... (a), (c), (g) or § 144.22(f), the Director shall base these priorities upon consideration of the...

Web server for priority ordered multimedia services

Science.gov (United States)

Celenk, Mehmet; Godavari, Rakesh K.; Vetnes, Vermund

2001-10-01

In this work, our aim is to provide finer priority levels in the design of a general-purpose Web multimedia server with provisions of the CM services. The type of services provided include reading/writing a web page, downloading/uploading an audio/video stream, navigating the Web through browsing, and interactive video teleconferencing. The selected priority encoding levels for such operations follow the order of admin read/write, hot page CM and Web multicasting, CM read, Web read, CM write and Web write. Hot pages are the most requested CM streams (e.g., the newest movies, video clips, and HDTV channels) and Web pages (e.g., portal pages of the commercial Internet search engines). Maintaining a list of these hot Web pages and CM streams in a content addressable buffer enables a server to multicast hot streams with lower latency and higher system throughput. Cold Web pages and CM streams are treated as regular Web and CM requests. Interactive CM operations such as pause (P), resume (R), fast-forward (FF), and rewind (RW) have to be executed without allocation of extra resources. The proposed multimedia server model is a part of the distributed network with load balancing schedulers. The SM is connected to an integrated disk scheduler (IDS), which supervises an allocated disk manager. The IDS follows the same priority handling as the SM, and implements a SCAN disk-scheduling method for an improved disk access and a higher throughput. Different disks are used for the Web and CM services in order to meet the QoS requirements of CM services. The IDS ouput is forwarded to an Integrated Transmission Scheduler (ITS). The ITS creates a priority ordered buffering of the retrieved Web pages and CM data streams that are fed into an auto regressive moving average (ARMA) based traffic shaping circuitry before being transmitted through the network.

10 CFR 580.03 - Curtailment priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (CONTINUED) NATURAL GAS (ECONOMIC REGULATORY ADMINISTRATION) CURTAILMENT PRIORITIES FOR ESSENTIAL AGRICULTURAL USES § 580.03 Curtailment priorities. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of law other... curtailment of deliveries of natural gas for any essential agricultural use, unless: (1) Such curtailment does...

76 FR 35474 - UAW-Chrysler Technical Training Center, Technology Training Joint Programs Staff, Including On...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-17

...-Chrysler Technical Training Center, Technology Training Joint Programs Staff, Including On-Site Leased Workers From Cranks, O/E Learning, DBSI, IDEA, and Tonic/MVP, Detroit, MI; UAW-Chrysler Technical Training... workers and former workers of UAW-Chrysler Technical Training Center, Technology Training Joint Programs...

Low back pain research priorities: a survey of primary care practitioners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Das Anurina

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Despite the large amount of time and money which has been devoted to low back pain research, successful management remains an elusive goal and low back pain continues to place a large burden on the primary care setting. One reason for this may be that the priorities for research are often developed by researchers and funding bodies, with little consideration of the needs of primary care practitioners. This study aimed to determine the research priorities of primary care practitioners who manage low back pain on a day-to-day basis. Methods A modified-Delphi survey of primary care practitioners was conducted, consisting of three rounds of questionnaires. In the first round, 70 practitioners who treat low back pain were each asked to provide up to five questions which they would like answered with respect to low back pain in primary care. The results were collated into a second round questionnaire consisting of 39 priorities, which were rated for importance by each practitioner on a likert-scale. The third round consisted of asking the practitioners to rank the top ten priorities in order of importance. Results Response rates for the modified-Delphi remained above 70% throughout the three rounds. The ten highest ranked priorities included the identification of sub-groups of patients that respond optimally to different treatments, evaluation of different exercise approaches in the management of low back pain, self-management of low back pain, and comparison of different treatment approaches by primary care professions treating low back pain. Conclusion Practitioners identified a need for more information on a variety of topics, including diagnosis, the effectiveness of treatments, and identification of patient characteristics which affect treatment and recovery.

JUSTIFICATION OF THE PRIORITIES OF THE CLUSTERING OF AGRO-INDUSTRIES OF THE VORONEZH REGION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. A. Salikov

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Currently, in many regions of the Russian Federation initiated a large-scale work on the development and implementation of cluster policy in accordance with Federal and regional socio-economic development until 2020. The analysis of the status of implementation adopted in 2012, the concept of cluster policy of the Voronezh region showed that the complex is made on the date of the event is mainly responsible for the informational and infrastructural nature. However, from the total number of promising clusters by 2014, formed in fact, only two-thirds, while among the uncreated shall apply the cluster processing of agricultural products having a high rating prospects. Given that the formation of the agro-industrial cluster corresponds to the requirements and conditions in this study developed a new methodological approach, which carried out the rationale for the priority of the formation of the meat cluster in the agro-industrial complex of the Voronezh region. The basis of this methodological approach is the algorithm for the identification of areas of clustering, developed by the authors using statistics Forsythe, represents an efficient tool for the formation of priorities to achieve a qualitatively new results in the field of economy, science and technology. The proposed algorithm includes the serial combination of the following methodological stages: the formation of the object of research, identifying sources of reliable information on the basis of expert assessments, identify areas clustering of industries (including analysis legal framework the study of statistical data on the level of localization of industries and analysis of the practice of implementation of the cluster policy regions-analogues, identification of areas for additional clustering of industries and their mapping, and de-termination of the priority directions of the additional clustering of industries by ranking. The results of the study, carried out in accordance with this

Technology strategy for deepwater and subsea production systems 2008 update; Technology Target Areas; TTA7 - Deep water and subsea prodution technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2008-07-01

main priority areas for TTA7 where both public and industry funding is needed are: Arctic Systems: The research and development priority areas include: ice and iceberg data, ice loading on offshore platforms, winterization of facilities, development of arctic floaters and subsea solutions for arctic regions; Deepwater Systems: (i) New floaters to enable developments in harsh environments (ii) Improved riser systems including dry wellheads (iii) New installation methods for ultra deep water to avoid expensive, heavy crane vessels (iv) New flexible and adaptive development solutions to deal with subsurface uncertainties; Subsea Systems: Develop systems compatible with slim and slender technology, large bore systems for gas developments, intervention in ultra-deep water, high speed communication and installation of umbilical for long offset and deep water. Other research and development areas with lower priority are listed in the report. Also an research and development Staircase, i.e. a road map for the coming 10-15 years, is presented and discussed. (Author)

40 CFR 35.2103 - Priority determination.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Priority determination. 35.2103 Section 35.2103 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Grants for Construction of Treatment Works § 35.2103 Priority determination...

Bottom-up priority setting revised. A second evaluation of an institutional intervention in a Swedish health care organisation.

Science.gov (United States)

Waldau, Susanne

2015-09-01

Transparent priority setting in health care based on specific ethical principles is requested by the Swedish Parliament since 1997. Implementation has been limited. In this case, transparent priority setting was performed for a second time round and engaged an entire health care organisation. Objectives were to refine a bottom-up priority setting process, reach a political decision on service limits to make reallocation towards higher prioritised services possible, and raise systems knowledge. An action research approach was chosen. The national model for priority setting was used with addition of dimensions costs, volumes, gender distribution and feasibility. The intervention included a three step process and specific procedures for each step which were created, revised and evaluated regarding factual and functional aspects. Evaluations methods included analyses of documents, recordings and surveys. Vertical and horizontal priority setting occurred and resources were reallocated. Participants' attitudes remained positive, however less so than in the first priority setting round. Identifying low-priority services was perceived difficult, causing resentment and strategic behaviour. The horizontal stage served to raise quality of the knowledge base, level out differences in ranking of services and raise systems knowledge. Existing health care management systems do not meet institutional requirements for transparent priority setting. Introducing transparent priority setting constitutes a complex institutional reform, which needs to be driven by management/administration. Strong managerial commitment is required. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Setting priorities for environmental restoration at the DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ton, My K.; Morgan, Robert P.

1992-01-01

This paper provides an evaluation of the computerized methodologies and approaches that the Department of Energy (DOE) has developed to assist in setting cleanup priorities and in allocating Environmental Restoration funds to various activities within the DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex. Issues examined include the appropriateness of the methodologies for priority setting or budget planning, their strengths and weaknesses; the limitations to the use of such systems to aid decision making; public acceptance of these systems; and the level of participation by affected or interested parties and the public in the development and implementation processes. (author)

Setting stroke research priorities: The consumer perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Sangvatanakul, Pukkaporn; Hillege, Sharon; Lalor, Erin; Levi, Christopher; Hill, Kelvin; Middleton, Sandy

2010-12-01

To test a method of engaging consumers in research priority-setting using a quantitative approach and to determine consumer views on stroke research priorities for clinical practice recommendations with lower levels of evidence (Level III and Level IV) and expert consensus opinion as published in the Australian stroke clinical practice guidelines. Survey Urban community Eighteen stroke survivors (n = 12) and carers (n = 6) who were members of the "Working Aged Group - Stroke" (WAGS) consumer support group. Phase I: Participants were asked whether recommendations were "worth" researching ("yes" or "no"); and, if researched, what potential impact they likely would have on patient outcomes. Phase II: Participants were asked to rank recommendations rated by more than 75% of participants in Phase I as "worth" researching and "highly likely" or "likely" to generate research with a significant effect on patient outcomes (n = 13) in order of priority for future stroke research. All recommendations were rated by at least half (n = 9, 50%) of participants as "worth" researching. The majority (67% to 100%) rated all recommendations as "highly likely" or "likely" that research would have a significant effect on patient outcomes. Thirteen out of 20 recommendations were ranked for their research priorities. Recommendations under the topic heading Getting to hospital were ranked highest and Organization of care and Living with stroke were ranked as a lower priority for research. This study provided an example of how to involve consumers in research priority setting successfully using a quantitative approach. Stroke research priorities from the consumer perspective were different from those of health professionals, as published in the literature; thus, consumer opinion should be considered when setting research priorities. Copyright © 2010 Society for Vascular Nursing, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Respiratory medicines for children: current evidence, unlicensed use and research priorities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Smyth, A R; Barbato, A; Beydon, N

2010-01-01

deficiency. We hope that this summary of the evidence for respiratory medicines in children, highlighting gaps and research priorities, will be useful for the pharmaceutical industry, the paediatric committee of the European Medicines Agency, academic investigators and the lay public.......This European Respiratory Society task force has reviewed the evidence for paediatric medicines in respiratory disease occurring in adults and children. We describe off-licence use, research priorities and ongoing studies. Off-licence and off-label prescribing in children is widespread...... and potentially harmful. Research areas in asthma include novel formulations and regimens, and individualised prescribing. In cystic fibrosis, future studies will focus on screened infants and robust outcome measures are needed. Other areas include new enzyme and antibiotic formulations and the basic defect...

Mammals on the EDGE: conservation priorities based on threat and phylogeny.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nick J B Isaac

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Conservation priority setting based on phylogenetic diversity has frequently been proposed but rarely implemented. Here, we define a simple index that measures the contribution made by different species to phylogenetic diversity and show how the index might contribute towards species-based conservation priorities. We describe procedures to control for missing species, incomplete phylogenetic resolution and uncertainty in node ages that make it possible to apply the method in poorly known clades. We also show that the index is independent of clade size in phylogenies of more than 100 species, indicating that scores from unrelated taxonomic groups are likely to be comparable. Similar scores are returned under two different species concepts, suggesting that the index is robust to taxonomic changes. The approach is applied to a near-complete species-level phylogeny of the Mammalia to generate a global priority list incorporating both phylogenetic diversity and extinction risk. The 100 highest-ranking species represent a high proportion of total mammalian diversity and include many species not usually recognised as conservation priorities. Many species that are both evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered (EDGE species do not benefit from existing conservation projects or protected areas. The results suggest that global conservation priorities may have to be reassessed in order to prevent a disproportionately large amount of mammalian evolutionary history becoming extinct in the near future.

Multi-criteria approach for selecting the best solid waste management technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Latifah, A.M.; Hassan Basri; Noor Ezlin Ahmad Basri

2010-01-01

The growth in urbanization and industrial activities has caused solid waste management problems. As a solution the integrated approach has been chosen to manage the solid waste. Developing and implementing integrated solid waste management involve combined technologies and alternatives which are suitable with local laws condition. This research showed that Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) has the potential as a decision making tool that can be used in selecting process of solid waste management technology. Three levels hierarchy was developed with the goal at the top level, followed by criteria and alternatives. By using this technique, the priority of each considered technology will be determined where technology with the highest priority is more suitable to be developed. Sensitivity analysis was carried out to test the sensitivity of final decision towards inconsistency of judgement. Application of AHP to determine priority in selecting solid waste management technology was explained in this research based on a case study in the Port Dickson Municipal Council. Analysis of result showed that the combination of recycling technology and composting are suitable to be applied in the Port Dickson district. (author)

Pathways to excellence: A Federal strategy for science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education

Science.gov (United States)

1993-01-01

This Strategic Plan was developed by the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology (FCCSET) through its Committee on Education and Human Resources (CEHR), with representatives from 16 Federal agencies. Based on two years of coordinated interagency effort, the Plan confirms the Federal Government's commitment to ensuring the health and well-being of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education at all levels and in all sectors (i.e., elementary and secondary, undergraduate, graduate, public understanding of science, and technology education). The Plan represents the Federal Government's efforts to develop a five-year planning framework and associated milestones that focus Federal planning and the resources of the participating agencies toward achieving the requisite or expected level of mathematics and science competence by all students. The priority framework outlines the strategic objectives, implementation priorities, and components for the Strategic Plan and serves as a road map for the Plan. The Plan endorses a broad range of ongoing activities, including continued Federal support for graduate education as the backbone of our country's research and development enterprise. The Plan also identifies three tiers of program activities with goals that address issues in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education meriting special attention. Within each tier, individual agency programs play important and often unique roles that strengthen the aggregate portfolio. The three tiers are presented in descending order of priority: (1) reforming the formal education system; (2) expanding participation and access; and (3) enabling activities.

Setting priorities for ambient air quality objectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-10-01

Alberta has ambient air quality objectives in place for several pollutants, toxic substances and other air quality parameters. A process is in place to determine if additional air quality objectives are required or if existing objectives should be changed. In order to identify the highest priority substances that may require an ambient air quality objective to protect ecosystems and public health, a rigorous, transparent and cost effective priority setting methodology is required. This study reviewed, analyzed and assessed successful priority setting techniques used by other jurisdictions. It proposed an approach for setting ambient air quality objective priorities that integrates the concerns of stakeholders with Alberta Environment requirements. A literature and expert review were used to examine existing priority-setting techniques used by other jurisdictions. An analysis process was developed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of various techniques and their ability to take into account the complete pathway between chemical emissions and damage to human health or the environment. The key strengths and weaknesses of each technique were identified. Based on the analysis, the most promising technique was the tool for the reduction and assessment of chemical and other environmental impacts (TRACI). Several considerations for using TRACI to help set priorities for ambient air quality objectives were also presented. 26 refs, 8 tabs., 4 appendices

Phylogenetically-informed priorities for amphibian conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Isaac, Nick J B; Redding, David W; Meredith, Helen M; Safi, Kamran

2012-01-01

The amphibian decline and extinction crisis demands urgent action to prevent further large numbers of species extinctions. Lists of priority species for conservation, based on a combination of species' threat status and unique contribution to phylogenetic diversity, are one tool for the direction and catalyzation of conservation action. We describe the construction of a near-complete species-level phylogeny of 5713 amphibian species, which we use to create a list of evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species (EDGE list) for the entire class Amphibia. We present sensitivity analyses to test the robustness of our priority list to uncertainty in species' phylogenetic position and threat status. We find that both sources of uncertainty have only minor impacts on our 'top 100' list of priority species, indicating the robustness of the approach. By contrast, our analyses suggest that a large number of Data Deficient species are likely to be high priorities for conservation action from the perspective of their contribution to the evolutionary history.

Phylogenetically-informed priorities for amphibian conservation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nick J B Isaac

Full Text Available The amphibian decline and extinction crisis demands urgent action to prevent further large numbers of species extinctions. Lists of priority species for conservation, based on a combination of species' threat status and unique contribution to phylogenetic diversity, are one tool for the direction and catalyzation of conservation action. We describe the construction of a near-complete species-level phylogeny of 5713 amphibian species, which we use to create a list of evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species (EDGE list for the entire class Amphibia. We present sensitivity analyses to test the robustness of our priority list to uncertainty in species' phylogenetic position and threat status. We find that both sources of uncertainty have only minor impacts on our 'top 100' list of priority species, indicating the robustness of the approach. By contrast, our analyses suggest that a large number of Data Deficient species are likely to be high priorities for conservation action from the perspective of their contribution to the evolutionary history.

Script of Healthcare Technology: Do Designs of Robotic Beds Exclude or Include Users?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodersen, Søsser Grith Kragh; Hansen, Meiken; Lindegaard, Hanne

2015-01-01

Many new product designs are currently being implemented in the healthcare sector, and this presents designers with challenges involved in socially innovative design. In this paper, we argue that designing assistive technologies requires focus on multiple users and use practices. We see the design...... of assistive technologies as design of socio-material assemblies , which include an analysis of the products already used in relation to multiple users, their practices and wishes. In the article we focus on the challenges in the implementation of two types of robotic beds used for disability care...

Emission Inventory Development and Application Based On an Atmospheric Emission Source Priority Control Classification Technology Method, a Case Study in the Middle Reaches of Yangtze River Urban Agglomerations, China

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, X.; Cheng, S.

2017-12-01

This paper presents the first attempt to investigate the emission source control of the Middle Reaches of Yangtze River Urban Agglomerations (MRYRUA), one of the national urban agglomerations in China. An emission inventory of the MRYRUA was the first time to be developed as inputs to the CAMx model based on county-level activity data obtained by full-coverage investigation and source-based spatial surrogates. The emission inventory was proved to be acceptable owing to the atmospheric modeling verification. A classification technology method for atmospheric pollution source priority control was the first time to be introduced and applied in the MRYRUA for the evaluation of the emission sources control on the region-scale and city-scale. MICAPS (Meteorological Information comprehensive Analysis and Processing System) was applied for the regional meteorological condition and sensitivity analysis. The results demonstrated that the emission sources in the Hefei-center Urban Agglomerations contributed biggest on the mean PM2.5 concentrations of the MRYRUA and should be taken the priority to control. The emission sources in the Ma'anshan city, Xiangtan city, Hefei city and Wuhan city were the bigger contributors on the mean PM2.5 concentrations of the MRYRUA among the cities and should be taken the priority to control. In addition, the cities along the Yangtze River and the tributary should be given the special attention for the regional air quality target attainments. This study provide a valuable preference for policy makers to develop effective air pollution control strategies.

Priority setting for orphan drugs: an international comparison.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberg-Yunger, Zahava R S; Daar, Abdallah S; Thorsteinsdóttir, Halla; Martin, Douglas K

2011-04-01

To describe the process of priority setting for two orphan drugs - Cerezyme and Fabrazyme - in Canada, Australia and Israel, in order to understand and improve the process based on stakeholder perspectives. We conducted qualitative case studies of how three independent drug advisory committees made decisions relating to the funding of Cerezyme and Fabrazyme. Interviews were conducted with 22 informants, including committee members, patient groups and industry representatives. (1) DESCRIPTION: Orphan drugs reimbursement recommendations by expert panels were based on clinical evidence, cost and cost-effectiveness analysis. (2) EVALUATION: Committee members expressed an overall preference for the current drug review process used by their own committee, but were concerned with the fairness of the process particularly for orphan drugs. Other informants suggested the inclusion of other relevant values (e.g. lack of alternative treatments) in order to improve the priority setting process. Some patient groups suggested the use of an alternative funding mechanism for orphan drugs. Priority setting for drugs is not solely a technical process (involving cost-effective analysis, evidence-based medicine, etc.). Understanding the process by which reimbursement decisions are made for orphan drugs may help improve the system for future orphan drugs. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Priority for sustainability. Study of the effects on investment climate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-12-01

The Dutch cabinet has been asked to make sure that sustainable electricity plants can be connected to the grid with high priority. By request of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the effects on the investment climate have been examined (both for sustainable and conventional) if priority (with regard to connection and transport) is given to sustainable generated electricity. Five models for priority for sustainable have been defined, i.e. (1) Sustainable is only given priority on the waiting list for connection; (2) Connect sustainable immediately, but no priority for transport; (3) Connect sustainable immediately and priority granted in transport; (4) Connect sustainable and conventional immediately, no priority for transport; (5) Connect sustainable and conventional immediately and give priority in transport to sustainable. [mk] [nl

Evaluating priority setting success in healthcare: a pilot study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Upshur Ross

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In healthcare today, decisions are made in the face of serious resource constraints. Healthcare managers are struggling to provide high quality care, manage resources effectively, and meet changing patient needs. Healthcare managers who are constantly making difficult resource decisions desire a way to improve their priority setting processes. Despite the wealth of existing priority setting literature (for example, program budgeting and marginal analysis, accountability for reasonableness, the 'describe-evaluate-improve' strategy there are still no tools to evaluate how healthcare resources are prioritised. This paper describes the development and piloting of a process to evaluate priority setting in health institutions. The evaluation process was designed to examine the procedural and substantive dimensions of priority setting using a multi-methods approach, including a staff survey, decision-maker interviews, and document analysis. Methods The evaluation process was piloted in a mid-size community hospital in Ontario, Canada while its leaders worked through their annual budgeting process. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze the data. Results The evaluation process was both applicable to the context and it captured the budgeting process. In general, the pilot test provided support for our evaluation process and our definition of success, (i.e., our conceptual framework. Conclusions The purpose of the evaluation process is to provide a simple, practical way for an organization to better understand what it means to achieve success in its priority setting activities and identify areas for improvement. In order for the process to be used by healthcare managers today, modification and contextualization of the process are anticipated. As the evaluation process is applied in more health care organizations or applied repeatedly in an organization, it may become more streamlined.

Priority Queues Resilient to Memory Faults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Allan Grønlund; Moruz, Gabriel; Mølhave, Thomas

2007-01-01

In the faulty-memory RAM model, the content of memory cells can get corrupted at any time during the execution of an algorithm, and a constant number of uncorruptible registers are available. A resilient data structure in this model works correctly on the set of uncorrupted values. In this paper we...... introduce a resilient priority queue. The deletemin operation of a resilient priority queue returns either the minimum uncorrupted element or some corrupted element. Our resilient priority queue uses $O(n)$ space to store $n$ elements. Both insert and deletemin operations are performed in $O(\\log n...... queues storing only structural information in the uncorruptible registers between operations....

TECHNOLOGY SUMMARY ADVANCING TANK WASTE RETRIEVAL AND PROCESSING

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

SAMS TL; MENDOZA RE

2010-08-11

This technology overview provides a high-level summary of technologies being investigated and developed by Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) to advance Hanford Site tank waste retrieval and processing. Technology solutions are outlined, along with processes and priorities for selecting and developing them.

TECHNOLOGY SUMMARY ADVANCING TANK WASTE RETREIVAL AND PROCESSING

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

SAMS TL

2010-07-07

This technology overview provides a high-level summary of technologies being investigated and developed by Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) to advance Hanford Site tank waste retrieval and processing. Technology solutions are outlined, along with processes and priorities for selecting and developing them.

Generating Political Priority for Neonatal Mortality Reduction in Bangladesh

Science.gov (United States)

Sultana, Sharmina

2013-01-01

The low priority that most low-income countries give to neonatal mortality, which now constitutes more than 40% of deaths to children younger than 5 years, is a stumbling block to the world achieving the child survival Millennium Development Goal. Bangladesh is an exception to this inattention. Between 2000 and 2011, newborn survival emerged from obscurity to relative prominence on the government’s health policy agenda. Drawing on a public policy framework, we analyzed how this attention emerged. Critical factors included national advocacy, government commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, and donor resources. The emergence of policy attention involved interactions between global and national factors rather than either alone. The case offers guidance on generating priority for neglected health problems in low-income countries. PMID:23237181

Maintenance technologies for reactor internals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sato, Kenji [Nuclear Energy Systems and Services Div., Toshiba Corp., Tokyo (Japan); Kobayashi, Masahiro [Toshiba Corp., Yokohama (Japan). Keihin Product Operations; Sano, Yuji; Kimura, Seiichiro [Power and Industrial Systems Research and Development Center, Toshiba Corp., Tokyo(Japan)

2000-10-01

Toshiba places the highest priority on maintenance technologies for the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and its internals in operating nuclear power plants. This paper summarizes the status of applied laser maintenance technologies, both preventive and repair. For laser peeing and laser desensitization treatment (LDT) technologies in particular, field applications are also described in detail. In the future, the area of field applications for preventive maintenance, repair, and inspection technologies will be further expanded. (author)

New energy technologies. Report; Nouvelles technologies de l'energie. Rapport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2004-07-01

This report on the new energy technologies has been written by a working group on request of the French ministry of economy, finances and industry, of the ministry of ecology and sustainable development, of the ministry of research and new technologies and of the ministry of industry. The mission of the working group is to identify goals and priority ways for the French and European research about the new technologies of energy and to propose some recommendations about the evolution of research incentive and sustain systems in order to reach these goals. The working group has taken into consideration the overall stakes linked with energy and not only the climatic change. About this last point, only the carbon dioxide emissions have been considered because they represent 90% of the greenhouse gases emissions linked with the energy sector. A diagnosis is made first about the present day context inside which the new technologies will have to fit with. Using this diagnosis, the research topics and projects to be considered as priorities for the short-, medium- and long-term have been identified: energy efficiency in transports, in dwellings/tertiary buildings and in the industry, development for the first half of the 21. century of an energy mix combining nuclear, fossil-fuels and renewable energy sources. (J.S.)

Identification and Evaluation of Human Factors Issues Associated with Emerging Nuclear Plant Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Hara, J.M.; Higgins, J.; Brown, William S.

2009-01-01

This study has identified human performance research issues associated with the implementation of new technology in nuclear power plants (NPPs). To identify the research issues, current industry developments and trends were evaluated in the areas of reactor technology, instrumentation and control technology, human-system integration technology, and human factors engineering (HFE) methods and tools. The issues were prioritized into four categories based on evaluations provided by 14 independent subject matter experts representing vendors, utilities, research organizations and regulators. Twenty issues were categorized into the top priority category. The study also identifies the priority of each issue and the rationale for those in the top priority category. The top priority issues were then organized into research program areas of: New Concepts of Operation using Multi-agent Teams, Human-system Interface Design, Complexity Issues in Advanced Systems, Operating Experience of New and Modernized Plants, and HFE Methods and Tools. The results can serve as input to the development of a long-term strategy and plan for addressing human performance in these areas to support the safe operation of new NPPs.

South African human language technologies audit

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Grover, AS

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Human language technologies (HLT) can play a vital role in bridging the digital divide and thus the HLT field has been recognised as a priority area by the South African government. The authors present the work on conducting a technology audit...

Priority conservation plans of ecological function areas for terrestrial endangered mammals in China

OpenAIRE

Gongqi Sun; Yi Qu; Meiqing Tang; Xiao Liu; Xiaofeng Luan

2013-01-01

To reduce costs and maximize species protection in China, we identified conservation priorities of endangered terrestrial mammals. Using geographic information system (GIS), we identified the irreplaceable values (IR) of 1,434 units of the terrestrial ecological function areas. Based on the IR values of the units, we divided the units into three classes with decreasing priorities, including the mandatory reserve (MR) units (20), the negotiable reserve (NR) units (29), and the partially reserv...

Final priority; Technical Assistance on State Data Collection--IDEA Data Management Center. Final priority.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-08-05

The Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) announces a priority under the Technical Assistance on State Data Collection program. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2014 and later years. We take this action to fund a cooperative agreement to establish and operate an IDEA Data Management Center (Center) that will provide technical assistance (TA) to improve the capacity of States to meet the data collection requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Environmental restoration and waste management: Robotics technology development program: Robotics 5-year program plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-01-01

In FY 1990 Robotics Technology Development Program (RTDP) planning teams visited five DOE sites. These sites were selected by the Office of Technology Development to provide a needs basis for developing a 5-Year Plan. Visits to five DOE sites provided identification of needs for robotics technology development to support Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (ER ampersand WM) projects at those sites. Additional site visits will be conducted in the future to expand the planning basis. This volume summarizes both the results of the site visits and the needs and requirements of the priority ER ampersand WM activities at the sites, including potential needs for robotics and remote systems technology. It also discusses hazards associated with the site activities and any problems or technical uncertainties associated with dealing with the hazards in the performance of the ER ampersand WM work. Robotic or remote systems currently under development for remediation projects or waste operations are also discussed. The information in this document is organized principally by site, activity, and priority. Section 2.0, Site Needs, is based on information from the site visit reports and provides a summary which focuses on the site needs and requirements for each priority activity. Section 2.0 also records evaluations and discussions by the RTDP team following the site visit. Section 3.0, Commonality Assessment, documents similar site needs where common, or cross-cutting, robotics technology might be applied to several activities. Section 4.0 contains a summary of the site needs and requirements in tabular form. 1 tab

10 CFR 216.7 - Conflict in priority orders.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Conflict in priority orders. 216.7 Section 216.7 Energy... DOMESTIC ENERGY SUPPLIES § 216.7 Conflict in priority orders. If it appears that the use of assistance pursuant to DPA section 101(c) creates or threatens to create a conflict with priorities and allocation...

Priority Setting in Indigenous Health: Why We Need an Explicit Decision Making Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael E. Otim

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Indigenous Australians have significantly poorer health outcomes than the non-Indigenous population worldwide. The Australian government has increased its investment in Indigenous health through the "Closing the Health Gap" initiative. Deciding where to invest scarce resources so as to maximize health outcomes for Indigenous peoples may require improved priority setting processes. Current government practice involves a mix of implicit and explicit processes to varying degrees at the macro and meso decision making levels. In this article, we argue that explicit priority setting should be emphasized in Indigenous health, as it can ensure that the decision making process is accountable, systematic, and transparent. Following a review of the literature, we outline four key issues that need to be considered for explicit priority setting: developing an Indigenous health "constitution," strengthening the evidence base, selecting mechanisms for priority setting, and establishing appropriate incentives and institutional structure. We then summarize our findings into a checklist that can help a decision makers ensure that explicit priority setting is undertaken in Indigenous health. By addressing these key issues, the benefits of an explicit approach, which include increased efficiency, equity, and use of evidence, can be realized, thereby maximizing Indigenous health outcomes.

Research priorities for nursing and midwifery in Southern Ireland.

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, G; Savage, E; Lehane, E

2006-06-01

To identify research priorities for nursing and midwifery in the Southern Health Board area in Ireland for the immediate and long term. Ten focus groups were conducted over a 2-month period with 70 nurses and midwives working in clinical, managerial and educational roles participating. Based on focus group findings and a literature review a multi-item Likert type questionnaire was constructed and administered to 520 nurses and midwives (response rate 95%n=494). Research priorities were identified as: (1) impact of staff shortages on retention of RNs/RM's (80%); (2) quality of life of chronically ill patients (76%); (3) stress and bullying in the workplace (76%); (4) assessment and management of pain (75%); (5) skill mix and staff burnout (73%); (6) cardio-pulmonary resuscitation decision making (72%); (7) coordination of care between hospital and primary care settings (69%); (8) medication errors (67%); and (9) promoting healthy lifestyles (64%). Respondents also indicated that these priorities warranted immediate attention. Implications for practice include the need for: (1) emphasis on quality pain control; (2) recognition and exploration of the ethical issues relating to resuscitation; and (3) management of the context within which clinical care is given.

Alumina Technology Roadmap

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2002-02-01

The Alumina Technology Roadmap outlines a comprehensive long-term research and development plan that defines the industry's collective future and establishes a clear pathway forward. It emphasizes twelve high-priority R&D areas deemed most significant in addressing the strategic goals.

Evaluating healthcare priority setting at the meso level: A thematic review of empirical literature

Science.gov (United States)

Waithaka, Dennis; Tsofa, Benjamin; Barasa, Edwine

2018-01-01

Background: Decentralization of health systems has made sub-national/regional healthcare systems the backbone of healthcare delivery. These regions are tasked with the difficult responsibility of determining healthcare priorities and resource allocation amidst scarce resources. We aimed to review empirical literature that evaluated priority setting practice at the meso (sub-national) level of health systems. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, ScienceDirect and Google scholar databases and supplemented these with manual searching for relevant studies, based on the reference list of selected papers. We only included empirical studies that described and evaluated, or those that only evaluated priority setting practice at the meso-level. A total of 16 papers were identified from LMICs and HICs. We analyzed data from the selected papers by thematic review. Results: Few studies used systematic priority setting processes, and all but one were from HICs. Both formal and informal criteria are used in priority-setting, however, informal criteria appear to be more perverse in LMICs compared to HICs. The priority setting process at the meso-level is a top-down approach with minimal involvement of the community. Accountability for reasonableness was the most common evaluative framework as it was used in 12 of the 16 studies. Efficiency, reallocation of resources and options for service delivery redesign were the most common outcome measures used to evaluate priority setting. Limitations: Our study was limited by the fact that there are very few empirical studies that have evaluated priority setting at the meso-level and there is likelihood that we did not capture all the studies. Conclusions: Improving priority setting practices at the meso level is crucial to strengthening health systems. This can be achieved through incorporating and adapting systematic priority setting processes and frameworks to the context where used, and making considerations of both process

Survived so what? Identifying priorities for research with children and families post-paediatric intensive care unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Manning, Joseph C; Hemingway, Pippa; Redsell, Sarah A

2018-03-01

The involvement of patients and the public in the development, implementation and evaluation of health care services and research is recognized to have tangible benefits in relation to effectiveness and credibility. However, despite >96% of children and young people surviving critical illness or injury, there is a paucity of published reports demonstrating their contribution to informing the priorities for aftercare services and outcomes research. We aimed to identify the service and research priorities for Paediatric Intensive Care Unit survivors with children and young people, their families and other stakeholders. We conducted a face-to-face, multiple-stakeholder consultation event, held in the Midlands (UK), to provide opportunities for experiences, views and priorities to be elicited. Data were gathered using write/draw and tell and focus group approaches. An inductive content analytical approach was used to categorize and conceptualize feedback. A total of 26 individuals attended the consultation exercise, including children and young people who were critical care survivors; their siblings; parents and carers; health professionals; academics; commissioners; and service managers. Consultation findings indicated that future services, interventions and research must be holistic and family-centred. Children and young people advisors reported priorities that focused on longer-term outcomes, whereas adult advisors identified priorities that mapped against the pathways of care. Specific priorities included developing and testing interventions that address unmet communication and information needs. Furthermore, initiatives to optimize the lives and longer-term functional and psycho-social outcomes of Paediatric Intensive Care Unit survivors were identified. This consultation exercise provides further evidence of the value of meaningful patient and public involvement in identifying the priorities for research and services for Paediatric Intensive Care Unit survivors

Economics and Security: Resourcing National Priorities

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-21

Papers Number 5 N um ber 5 Econom ics and Security: R esourcing N ational Priorities http://www.usnwc.edu Report Documentation Page Form ApprovedOMB No...2010 William B. Ruger Chair of National Security Economics Papers Number 5 N um ber 5 Econom ics and Security: R esourcing N ational Priorities http://www.usnwc.edu

Traditional Chinese medicine research in the post-genomic era: good practice, priorities, challenges and opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Uzuner, Halil; Bauer, Rudolf; Fan, Tai-Ping; Guo, De-An; Dias, Alberto; El-Nezami, Hani; Efferth, Thomas; Williamson, Elizabeth M; Heinrich, Michael; Robinson, Nicola; Hylands, Peter J; Hendry, Bruce M; Cheng, Yung-Chi; Xu, Qihe

2012-04-10

GP-TCM is the 1st EU-funded Coordination Action consortium dedicated to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research. This paper aims to summarise the objectives, structure and activities of the consortium and introduces the position of the consortium regarding good practice, priorities, challenges and opportunities in TCM research. Serving as the introductory paper for the GP-TCM Journal of Ethnopharmacology special issue, this paper describes the roadmap of this special issue and reports how the main outputs of the ten GP-TCM work packages are integrated, and have led to consortium-wide conclusions. Literature studies, opinion polls and discussions among consortium members and stakeholders. By January 2012, through 3 years of team building, the GP-TCM consortium had grown into a large collaborative network involving ∼200 scientists from 24 countries and 107 institutions. Consortium members had worked closely to address good practice issues related to various aspects of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) and acupuncture research, the focus of this Journal of Ethnopharmacology special issue, leading to state-of-the-art reports, guidelines and consensus on the application of omics technologies in TCM research. In addition, through an online survey open to GP-TCM members and non-members, we polled opinions on grand priorities, challenges and opportunities in TCM research. Based on the poll, although consortium members and non-members had diverse opinions on the major challenges in the field, both groups agreed that high-quality efficacy/effectiveness and mechanistic studies are grand priorities and that the TCM legacy in general and its management of chronic diseases in particular represent grand opportunities. Consortium members cast their votes of confidence in omics and systems biology approaches to TCM research and believed that quality and pharmacovigilance of TCM products are not only grand priorities, but also grand challenges. Non-members, however, gave priority

CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS PLANS for Phase I the INTERNATIONAL PILOT FOR Global Radiological source SORTING, Tracking, AND MONITORING (GradSStraM) Using eMERGING RFID AND WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGIES TO PROVIDE TOTAL ASSET AND INFORMATION VISUALIZATIONA United States-European Union Lighthouse Priority Project for fostering trade and reducing regulatory burden

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walker, Randy M.

2009-01-01

Thousands of shipments of radioisotopes developed in the United States (US) are transported domestically and internationally for medical and industrial applications, including to partner laboratories in European Union (EU) countries. Over the past five years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy (DOE), and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have worked with state regulatory compliance personnel, key private sector shippers and carriers, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tracking and monitoring of medical and industrial radioisotopes in commerce. The EPA Radiological Source Tracking and Monitoring (RadSTraM) project tested, evaluated, and integrated RFID technologies in laboratory settings, and at multiple private-sector shipping and distribution facilities (Perkin Elmer and DHL) using common radioisotopes used in everyday commerce. The RFID tracking was also tested in association with other deployed technologies including radiation detection, chemical/explosives detection, advanced imaging, lasers, and infrared scanning. At the 2007 EU-US Summit, the leaders of the US Department of Commerce (DOC) and EU European Commission (EC) committed to pursue jointly directed Lighthouse Priority Projects. These projects are intended to 'foster cooperation' and 'reduce regulatory burdens' with respect to transatlantic commerce. The Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) Lighthouse Project on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has been directed to 'develop a joint framework for cooperation on identification and development of best practices for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies.' The RFID Lighthouse Priority Project commits both sides to endeavor to align U.S. and EU regulatory and policy approaches on RFID technologies, including pilot projects in the public sector

Pharmacists' perceptions of advancing public health priorities through medication therapy management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Casserlie LM

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Public health priorities can be addressed by pharmacists through channels such as medication therapy management (MTM to optimize patient and population outcomes. However, no studies have specifically assessed pharmacists’ perceptions of addressing public health priorities through MTM. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess pharmacists’ opinions regarding the feasibility and appropriateness of addressing seven areas of public health priority through MTM services to impact public health in direct patient care settings. Methods: An anonymous 37-question electronic survey was conducted to evaluate Ohio pharmacists’ opinions of advancing seven public health priorities identified from Healthy People 2020 (family planning, preconception care, smoking cessation, immunizations, nutrition/biometric wellness assessments, point-of-care testing, fall prevention through MTM activities; to identify potential barriers; and to collect demographic information. The cross-sectional survey was sent to a random sample of 500 pharmacists registered with the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy. Results: Seventy-six pharmacists responded to the survey, resulting in a 16% response rate. On average, it took respondents 5-10 minutes to complete the survey. The majority of respondents thought that each of the seven public health priorities were “important” or “very important” to patient health; the most commonly identified areas included smoking cessation, immunizations, and fall prevention (97.5%. When asked to indicate which of the seven areas they thought they could potentially have a role to provide services through MTM, on average pharmacists picked 4 of the priority areas. Only 6.6% indicated there was no role for pharmacists to provide MTM services for any of the listed categories. Staffing, time, and reimbursement represented the most commonly perceived barriers for pharmacists in providing MTM services. Fifty-seven percent indicated

Technological Innovation and Developmental Strategies for Sustainable Management of Aquatic Resources in Developing Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Agboola, Julius Ibukun

2014-12-01

Sustainable use and allocation of aquatic resources including water resources require implementation of ecologically appropriate technologies, efficient and relevant to local needs. Despite the numerous international agreements and provisions on transfer of technology, this has not been successfully achieved in developing countries. While reviewing some challenges to technological innovations and developments (TID), this paper analyzes five TID strategic approaches centered on grassroots technology development and provision of localized capacity for sustainable aquatic resources management. Three case studies provide examples of successful implementation of these strategies. Success requires the provision of localized capacity to manage technology through knowledge empowerment in rural communities situated within a framework of clear national priorities for technology development.

Research Priorities for the Intersection of Alcohol and HIV/AIDS in Low and Middle Income Countries: A Priority Setting Exercise.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Sara; Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane; Skeen, Sarah; Perry, Charles; Bryant, Kendall; Tomlinson, Mark

2017-11-01

/AIDS including a better understanding of the pathways through which alcohol use affects ARV adherence (and other medications to treat opportunistic infections) and CD4 counts. The results of this process clearly indicated that the important priorities for future research related to the development and assessment of interventions focusing on addressing alcohol and HIV/AIDS, addressing and exploring the impact of HIV risk and comorbid alcohol use, as well as exploring the risk and protective factors in the field of alcohol and HIV/AIDS. The findings from this priority setting exercise could guide international research agenda and make research funding more effective in addressing the research on intersection of alcohol and HIV/AIDS.

The kidney cancer research priority-setting partnership: Identifying the top 10 research priorities as defined by patients, caregivers, and expert clinicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Jennifer; Bhatt, Jaimin; Avery, Jonathan; Laupacis, Andreas; Cowan, Katherine; Basappa, Naveen; Basiuk, Joan; Canil, Christina; Al-Asaaed, Sohaib; Heng, Daniel; Wood, Lori; Stacey, Dawn; Kollmannsberger, Christian; Jewett, Michael A S

2017-12-01

It is critically important to define disease-specific research priorities to better allocate limited resources. There is growing recognition of the value of involving patients and caregivers, as well as expert clinicians in this process. To our knowledge, this has not been done this way for kidney cancer. Using the transparent and inclusive process established by the James Lind Alliance, the Kidney Cancer Research Network of Canada (KCRNC) sponsored a collaborative consensus-based priority-setting partnership (PSP) to identify research priorities in the management of kidney cancer. The final result was identification of 10 research priorities for kidney cancer, which are discussed in the context of current initiatives and gaps in knowledge. This process provided a systematic and effective way to collaboratively establish research priorities with patients, caregivers, and clinicians, and provides a valuable resource for researchers and funding agencies.

Polling, production & priorities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Winands, E.M.M.

2007-01-01

Polling, Production & Priorities The present monograph focuses on the so-called stochastic economic lot scheduling problem (SELSP), which deals with the make-to-stock production of multiple standardized products on a single machine with limited capacity under random demands, possibly random setup

Optimal purely functional priority queues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølting; Okasaki, Chris

1996-01-01

Brodal recently introduced the first implementation of imperative priority queues to support findMin, insert and meld in O(1) worst-case time, and deleteMin in O(log n) worst-case time. These bounds are asymptotically optimal among all comparison-based priority queues. In this paper, we adapt...... Brodal's data structure to a purely functional setting. In doing so, we both simplify the data structure and clarify its relationship to the binomial queues of Vuillemin, which support all four operations in O(log n) time. Specifically, we derive our implementation from binomial queues in three steps......: first, we reduce the running time of insert to O(1) by eliminating the possibility of cascading links; second, we reduce the running time of findMin to O(1) by adding a global root to hold the minimum element; and finally, we reduce the running time of meld to O(1) by allowing priority queues to contain...

Forest Products Industry Technology Roadmap

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

none,

2010-04-01

This document describes the forest products industry's research and development priorities. The original technology roadmap published by the industry in 1999 and was most recently updated in April 2010.

Technology for whom: too dear to work. [Political, economic, and social problems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stewart, F

1978-01-01

In spite of growth in per capita gross national product, less-developed countries (LDCs) continue to have large numbers of people who are unemployed and living in extreme poverty. The failure of advanced technology to create adequate jobs has led to a strong movement for more appropriate technology. Advanced technology is inappropriate because the capital costs per employee are too high to equip enough workers, plants are built on too large a scale for the market, and the combination creates an economic enclave which ignores the rest of the population. Appropriate technology gives priority to the basic needs of the poor and includes raising their income level by expanding productive employment. This requires inexpensive, small-scale technology that needs few skills and uses local materials. More technological research and development is needed in the LDCs as well as changes in the way income and investment resources are distributed, but this will entail changing the decision making process to include political and socio-economic considerations.

Generation of global political priority for early childhood development: the challenges of framing and governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Shawar, Yusra Ribhi; Shiffman, Jeremy

2017-01-07

Despite progress, early childhood development (ECD) remains a neglected issue, particularly in resource-poor countries. We analyse the challenges and opportunities that ECD proponents face in advancing global priority for the issue. We triangulated among several data sources, including 19 semi-structured interviews with individuals involved in global ECD leadership, practice, and advocacy, as well as peer-reviewed research, organisation reports, and grey literature. We undertook a thematic analysis of the collected data, drawing on social science scholarship on collective action and a policy framework that elucidates why some global initiatives are more successful in generating political priority than others. The analysis indicates that the ECD community faces two primary challenges in advancing global political priority. The first pertains to framing: generation of internal consensus on the definition of the problem and solutions, agreement that could facilitate the discovery of a public positioning of the issue that could generate political support. The second concerns governance: building of effective institutions to achieve collective goals. However, there are multiple opportunities to advance political priority for ECD, including an increasingly favourable political environment, advances in ECD metrics, and the existence of compelling arguments for investment in ECD. To advance global priority for ECD, proponents will need to surmount the framing and governance challenges and leverage these opportunities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

New energy technologies. Report; Nouvelles technologies de l'energie. Rapport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2004-07-01

This report on the new energy technologies has been written by a working group on request of the French ministry of economy, finances and industry, of the ministry of ecology and sustainable development, of the ministry of research and new technologies and of the ministry of industry. The mission of the working group is to identify goals and priority ways for the French and European research about the new technologies of energy and to propose some recommendations about the evolution of research incentive and sustain systems in order to reach these goals. The working group has taken into consideration the overall stakes linked with energy and not only the climatic change. About this last point, only the carbon dioxide emissions have been considered because they represent 90% of the greenhouse gases emissions linked with the energy sector. A diagnosis is made first about the present day context inside which the new technologies will have to fit with. Using this diagnosis, the research topics and projects to be considered as priorities for the short-, medium- and long-term have been identified: energy efficiency in transports, in dwellings/tertiary buildings and in the industry, development for the first half of the 21. century of an energy mix combining nuclear, fossil-fuels and renewable energy sources. (J.S.)

Identifying research priorities for patient safety in mental health: an international expert Delphi study

Science.gov (United States)

Murray, Kevin; Thibaut, Bethan; Ramtale, Sonny Christian; Adam, Sheila; Darzi, Ara; Archer, Stephanie

2018-01-01

Objective Physical healthcare has dominated the patient safety field; research in mental healthcare is not as extensive but findings from physical healthcare cannot be applied to mental healthcare because it delivers specialised care that faces unique challenges. Therefore, a clearer focus and recognition of patient safety in mental health as a distinct research area is still needed. The study aim is to identify future research priorities in the field of patient safety in mental health. Design Semistructured interviews were conducted with the experts to ascertain their views on research priorities in patient safety in mental health. A three-round online Delphi study was used to ascertain consensus on 117 research priority statements. Setting and participants Academic and service user experts from the USA, UK, Switzerland, Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore were included. Main outcome measures Agreement in research priorities on a five-point scale. Results Seventy-nine statements achieved consensus (>70%). Three out of the top six research priorities were patient driven; experts agreed that understanding the patient perspective on safety planning, on self-harm and on medication was important. Conclusions This is the first international Delphi study to identify research priorities in safety in the mental field as determined by expert academic and service user perspectives. A reasonable consensus was obtained from international perspectives on future research priorities in patient safety in mental health; however, the patient perspective on their mental healthcare is a priority. The research agenda for patient safety in mental health identified here should be informed by patient safety science more broadly and used to further establish this area as a priority in its own right. The safety of mental health patients must have parity with that of physical health patients to achieve this. PMID:29502096

Threats from urban expansion, agricultural transformation and forest loss on global conservation priority areas

Science.gov (United States)

Moilanen, Atte; Di Minin, Enrico

2017-01-01

Including threats in spatial conservation prioritization helps identify areas for conservation actions where biodiversity is at imminent risk of extinction. At the global level, an important limitation when identifying spatial priorities for conservation actions is the lack of information on the spatial distribution of threats. Here, we identify spatial conservation priorities under three prominent threats to biodiversity (residential and commercial development, agricultural expansion, and forest loss), which are primary drivers of habitat loss and threaten the persistence of the highest number of species in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, and for which spatial data is available. We first explore how global priority areas for the conservation of vertebrate (mammals, birds, and amphibians) species coded in the Red List as vulnerable to each threat differ spatially. We then identify spatial conservation priorities for all species vulnerable to all threats. Finally, we identify the potentially most threatened areas by overlapping the identified priority areas for conservation with maps for each threat. We repeat the same with four other well-known global conservation priority area schemes, namely Key Biodiversity Areas, Biodiversity Hotspots, the global Protected Area Network, and Wilderness Areas. We find that residential and commercial development directly threatens only about 4% of the global top 17% priority areas for species vulnerable under this threat. However, 50% of the high priority areas for species vulnerable to forest loss overlap with areas that have already experienced some forest loss. Agricultural expansion overlapped with ~20% of high priority areas. Biodiversity Hotspots had the greatest proportion of their total area under direct threat from all threats, while expansion of low intensity agriculture was found to pose an imminent threat to Wilderness Areas under future agricultural expansion. Our results

Research priorities for occupational radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-02-01

The Subpanel on Occupational Radiation Protection Research concludes that the most urgently needed research is that leading to the resolution of the potential effects of low-level ionizing radiation. This is the primary driving force in setting appropriate radiation protection standards and in directing the emphasis of radiation protection efforts. Much has already been done in collecting data that represents a compendium of knowledge that should be fully reviewed and understood. It is imperative that health physics researchers more effectively use that data and apply the findings to enhance understanding of the potential health effects of low-level ionizing radiation and improve the risk estimates upon which current occupational radiation protection procedures and requirements depend. Research must be focused to best serve needs in the immediate years ahead. Only then will we get the most out of what is accomplished. Beyond the above fundamental need, a number of applied research areas also have been identified as national priority issues. If effective governmental focus is achieved on several of the most important national priority issues, important occupational radiation protection research will be enhanced, more effectively coordinated, and more quickly applied to the work environment. Response in the near term will be enhanced and costs will be reduced by: developing microprocessor-aided open-quotes smartclose quotes instruments to simplify the use and processing of radiation data; developing more sensitive, energy-independent, and tissue-equivalent dosimeters to more accurately quantify personnel dose; and developing an improved risk assessment technology base. This can lead to savings of millions of dollars in current efforts needed to ensure personnel safety and to meet new, more stringent occupational guidelines

75 FR 66795 - TTM Technologies, Including On-Site Leased Workers From Kelly Services, Aerotek, and an On-Site...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-29

... follows: ``All workers TTM Technologies, including on-site leased workers from Kelly Services and Aerotek... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-64,993] TTM Technologies, Including On-Site Leased Workers From Kelly Services, Aerotek, and an On-Site Leased Worker From Orbotech...

Setting research priorities to improve the health of children and young people with neurodisability: a British Academy of Childhood Disability-James Lind Alliance Research Priority Setting Partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Christopher; Simkiss, Doug; Busk, Mary; Morris, Maureen; Allard, Amanda; Denness, Jacob; Janssens, Astrid; Stimson, Anna; Coghill, Joanna; Robinson, Kelly; Fenton, Mark; Cowan, Katherine

2015-01-28

To engage young people, parent carers and clinicians in a systematic process to identify and prioritise research questions regarding ways to improve the health and well-being of children and young people with neurodisability. British Academy of Childhood Disability (BACD)-James Lind Alliance research priority setting partnership bringing together patients, carers and clinicians as equal stakeholders. UK health service and community. The BACD Strategic Research Group formed the partnership. A Steering Group was established; charity and professional partner organisations were recruited. Suggestions were gathered in an open survey and from research recommendations for statutory guidance. Items were aggregated to formulate indicative research questions and verified as uncertainties from research evidence. An interim survey was used to rank the questions to shortlist topics. A mixed group of stakeholders discussed the top 25 questions at the final priority setting workshop agreeing a final rank order and the top 10 research priorities. Partner organisations were 13 charities and 8 professional societies. 369 people submitted suggestions (40% non-clinicians). 76 people participated in the interim prioritisation (26 parents, 1 young person, 10 charity representatives, 39 clinicians); 22 took part in the final workshop (3 young people, 7 parents, 3 charity representatives, 9 professionals). The top three research priorities related to (1) establishing the optimal frequency and intensity (dose) for mainstream therapies, (2) means for selecting and encouraging use of communication strategies and (3) ways to improve children's attitudes towards disability. The top 10 included evaluating interventions to promote mobility, self-efficacy, mental health, continence, physical fitness, educational inclusion and reduce impacts of sleep disturbance. The methodology provided a systematic and transparent process to identify research priorities that included stakeholders that have

Isocyanates and human health: Multi-stakeholder information needs and research priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Lockey, JE; Redlich, CA; Streicher, R; Pfahles-Hutchens, A; Hakkinen, PJ; Ellison, GL; Harber, P; Utell, M; Holland, J; Comai, A; White, Marc

2014-01-01

Objective Outline the knowledge gaps and research priorities identified by a broad-base of stakeholders involved in the planning and participation of an international conference and research agenda workshop on isocyanates and human health held in Potomac, Maryland in April 2013. Methods A multi-modal iterative approach was employed for data collection including pre-conference surveys, review of a 2001 consensus conference on isocyanates, oral and poster presentations, focused break-out sessions, panel discussions and post-conference research agenda workshop. Results Participants included representatives of consumer and worker health, health professionals, regulatory agencies, academic and industry scientists, labor, and trade associations. Conclusions Recommendations were summarized regarding knowledge gaps and research priorities in the following areas: worker and consumer exposures; toxicology, animal models, and biomarkers; human cancer risk; environmental exposure and monitoring; and respiratory epidemiology and disease, and occupational health surveillance. PMID:25563538

Analysis of Critical Earth Observation Priorities for Societal Benefit

Science.gov (United States)

Zell, E. R.; Huff, A. K.; Carpenter, A. T.; Friedl, L.

2011-12-01

To ensure that appropriate near real-time (NRT) and historical Earth observation data are available to benefit society and meet end-user needs, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) sponsored a multi-disciplinary study to identify a set of critical and common Earth observations associated with 9 Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs): Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate, Disasters, Ecosystems, Energy, Health, Water, and Weather. GEO is an intergovernmental organization working to improve the availability, access, and use of Earth observations to benefit society through a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). The study, overseen by the GEO User Interface Committee, focused on the "demand" side of Earth observation needs: which users need what types of data, and when? The methodology for the study was a meta-analysis of over 1,700 publicly available documents addressing Earth observation user priorities, under the guidance of expert advisors from around the world. The result was a ranking of 146 Earth observation parameters that are critical and common to multiple SBAs, based on an ensemble of 4 statistically robust methods. Within the results, key details emerged on NRT observations needed to serve a broad community of users. The NRT observation priorities include meteorological parameters, vegetation indices, land cover and soil property observations, water body and snow cover properties, and atmospheric composition. The results of the study and examples of NRT applications will be presented. The applications are as diverse as the list of priority parameters. For example, NRT meteorological and soil moisture information can support monitoring and forecasting for more than 25 infectious diseases, including epidemic diseases, such as malaria, and diseases of major concern in the U.S., such as Lyme disease. Quickly evolving events that impact forests, such as fires and insect outbreaks, can be monitored and forecasted with a combination of vegetation indices, fuel

Anticounterfeit packaging technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruchir Y Shah

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Packaging is the coordinated system that encloses and protects the dosage form. Counterfeit drugs are the major cause of morbidity, mortality, and failure of public interest in the healthcare system. High price and well-known brands make the pharma market most vulnerable, which accounts for top priority cardiovascular, obesity, and antihyperlipidemic drugs and drugs like sildenafil. Packaging includes overt and covert technologies like barcodes, holograms, sealing tapes, and radio frequency identification devices to preserve the integrity of the pharmaceutical product. But till date all the available techniques are synthetic and although provide considerable protection against counterfeiting, have certain limitations which can be overcome by the application of natural approaches and utilization of the principles of nanotechnology.

The Remedial Action Priority System (RAPS): Mathematical formulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whelan, G.; Strenge, D.L.; Droppo, J.G. Jr.; Steelman, B.L.; Buck, J.W.

1987-08-01

The Remedial Action Priority System (RAPS) represents a methodology that prioritizes inactive hazardous and radioactive mixed-waste disposal sites in a scientific and objective manner based on limited site information. This methodology is intended to bridge the technology gap between the initial site evaluation using the Hazard Ranking System (HRS) and the time-consuming process of actual field site characterization, assessment, and remediation efforts. The RAPS methodology provides the US Department of Energy with a management tool for assistance in prioritizing funding and human resource allocations for further investigations and possible remediations at its inactive waste sites. Use of RAPS will help DOE ensure that those sites posing the highest potential risk are addressed first. Chapters 1 through 10 were processed separately for the Energy Data Base

Global Priorities for Marine Biodiversity Conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Selig, Elizabeth R.; Turner, Will R.; Troëng, Sebastian; Wallace, Bryan P.; Halpern, Benjamin S.; Kaschner, Kristin; Lascelles, Ben G.; Carpenter, Kent E.; Mittermeier, Russell A.

2014-01-01

In recent decades, many marine populations have experienced major declines in abundance, but we still know little about where management interventions may help protect the highest levels of marine biodiversity. We used modeled spatial distribution data for nearly 12,500 species to quantify global patterns of species richness and two measures of endemism. By combining these data with spatial information on cumulative human impacts, we identified priority areas where marine biodiversity is most and least impacted by human activities, both within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) and Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ). Our analyses highlighted places that are both accepted priorities for marine conservation like the Coral Triangle, as well as less well-known locations in the southwest Indian Ocean, western Pacific Ocean, Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, and within semi-enclosed seas like the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas. Within highly impacted priority areas, climate and fishing were the biggest stressors. Although new priorities may arise as we continue to improve marine species range datasets, results from this work are an essential first step in guiding limited resources to regions where investment could best sustain marine biodiversity. PMID:24416151

Global priorities for marine biodiversity conservation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth R Selig

Full Text Available In recent decades, many marine populations have experienced major declines in abundance, but we still know little about where management interventions may help protect the highest levels of marine biodiversity. We used modeled spatial distribution data for nearly 12,500 species to quantify global patterns of species richness and two measures of endemism. By combining these data with spatial information on cumulative human impacts, we identified priority areas where marine biodiversity is most and least impacted by human activities, both within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs and Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ. Our analyses highlighted places that are both accepted priorities for marine conservation like the Coral Triangle, as well as less well-known locations in the southwest Indian Ocean, western Pacific Ocean, Arctic and Antarctic Oceans, and within semi-enclosed seas like the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas. Within highly impacted priority areas, climate and fishing were the biggest stressors. Although new priorities may arise as we continue to improve marine species range datasets, results from this work are an essential first step in guiding limited resources to regions where investment could best sustain marine biodiversity.

Research Priority Setting for Social Determinants of Health Research Center of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in 2013

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad-Reza Sohrabi

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Background and objective: It is obvious that, because of the lack of resources, we should devote our limited resources to priorities in order to reach an acceptable level of health. The objective of this study was to research priority setting for Pediatric Surgery Research Center; with the participation of all stakeholders.Material and Methods: This is a Health System Research (HSR project in order to apply governance and leadership issues with the participation of 41 people including faculty members in Pediatric Surgery Research Center, Shahid Beheshti Medical University and the other pediatric specialists and health system stakeholders as well as the people associated with health system inside & outside the university. This was performed in 2010 using the Council on Health Research for Development COHRED( model with little change. Based on the model, at first the stakeholders were identified and the field situation of Pediatric Surgery was analyzed. Then, research areas and titles were specified and research priorities were set out by giving scores according to the criteria.Results: The seven obtained research areas in priority order are included pediatric trauma, pediatric cancers, pediatric urology diseases, undescended testicles in children, developmental genetics & congenital defects, emergency in children and application of laparoscopic surgery in children. Because each of the research areas is composed of multiple subareas, we managed to finally specify 43 research subareas as research priorities. These subareas included epidemiology, risk factors, prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment. They also included follow-up, complications, knowledge & attitudes of parents, quality of life, economy aspects and data bank for further research.Conclusion: In this project, research priorities were set out for Pediatric Surgery Research Center of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, with the participation of all the stakeholders

Evidence-informed capacity building for setting health priorities in low- and middle-income countries: A framework and recommendations for further research [version 1; referees: 2 approved

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryan Li

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Priority-setting in health is risky and challenging, particularly in resource-constrained settings. It is not simply a narrow technical exercise, and involves the mobilisation of a wide range of capacities among stakeholders – not only the technical capacity to “do” research in economic evaluations. Using the Individuals, Nodes, Networks and Environment (INNE framework, we identify those stakeholders, whose capacity needs will vary along the evidence-to-policy continuum. Policymakers and healthcare managers require the capacity to commission and use relevant evidence (including evidence of clinical and cost-effectiveness, and of social values; academics need to understand and respond to decision-makers’ needs to produce relevant research. The health system at all levels will need institutional capacity building to incentivise routine generation and use of evidence. Knowledge brokers, including priority-setting agencies (such as England’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and Health Interventions and Technology Assessment Program, Thailand and the media can play an important role in facilitating engagement and knowledge transfer between the various actors. Especially at the outset but at every step, it is critical that patients and the public understand that trade-offs are inherent in priority-setting, and careful efforts should be made to engage them, and to hear their views throughout the process. There is thus no single approach to capacity building; rather a spectrum of activities that recognises the roles and skills of all stakeholders. A range of methods, including formal and informal training, networking and engagement, and support through collaboration on projects, should be flexibly employed (and tailored to specific needs of each country to support institutionalisation of evidence-informed priority-setting. Finally, capacity building should be a two-way process; those who build capacity should also attend to

Appraisal of Priority Sector Lending by Commercial Banks in India

OpenAIRE

C Bhujanga Rao

2014-01-01

This report provides an overview of the performance of priority sector lending by commercial banks in India. The review captures the changing contours of Reserve Bank of India policy on priority sector advances. The paper analyses the trends in priority sector lending for the period 1995-2011, the burden of non-performing assets of commercial bank in priority sector lending and the extent to which priority sector targets are achieved by individual banks. It is observed that the scheduled comm...

Priority to organ donors: Personal responsibility, equal access and the priority rule in organ procurement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Albertsen, Andreas

2017-01-01

recently and the preliminary reports indicate increased donation rates. How should we evaluate such initiatives from an ethical perspective? Luck egalitarianism, a responsibility-sensitive approach to distributive justice, provides one possible justification: Those who decide against being organ donors...... limit the health care resources available to others. As such, a priority rule can be justified by a luck egalitarian approach to distributive justice. Furthermore, a priority rule inspired by luck egalitarianism is well equipped to avoid prominent criticisms of such a procurement system. Luck...

Organizational Considerations for Advanced Manufacturing Technology

Science.gov (United States)

DeRuntz, Bruce D.; Turner, Roger M.

2003-01-01

In the last several decades, the United States has experienced a decline in productivity, while the world has seen a maturation of the global marketplace. Nations have moved manufacturing strategy and process technology issues to the top of management priority lists. The issues surrounding manufacturing technologies and their implementations have…

Phylogenetic relatedness predicts priority effects in nectar yeast communities

Science.gov (United States)

Peay, Kabir G.; Belisle, Melinda; Fukami, Tadashi

2012-01-01

Priority effects, in which the outcome of species interactions depends on the order of their arrival, are a key component of many models of community assembly. Yet, much remains unknown about how priority effects vary in strength among species in a community and what factors explain this variation. We experimented with a model natural community in laboratory microcosms that allowed us to quantify the strength of priority effects for most of the yeast species found in the floral nectar of a hummingbird-pollinated shrub at a biological preserve in northern California. We found that priority effects were widespread, with late-arriving species experiencing strong negative effects from early-arriving species. However, the magnitude of priority effects varied across species pairs. This variation was phylogenetically non-random, with priority effects stronger between closer relatives. Analysis of carbon and amino acid consumption profiles indicated that competition between closer relatives was more intense owing to higher ecological similarity, consistent with Darwin's naturalization hypothesis. These results suggest that phylogenetic relatedness between potential colonists may explain the strength of priority effects and, as a consequence, the degree to which community assembly is historically contingent. PMID:21775330

Priority setting for existing chemicals : automated data selection routine

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haelst, A.G. van; Hansen, B.G.

2000-01-01

One of the four steps within Council Regulation 793/93/EEC on the evaluation and control of existing chemicals is the priority setting step. The priority setting step is concerned with selecting high-priority substances from a large number of substances, initially starting with 2,474

Positioning and Priorities of Growth Management in Construction Industrialization: Chinese Firm-Level Empirical Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jingxiao Zhang

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to quantitatively evaluate the growth phase, position, and priorities of the industrialization policy management of the construction industry at firm level. The goal is to integrate quantitative dynamics into the policy-making process for sustainable policy development in future China. This research proposes an integrated framework, including growth management model and industrial policy evaluation method, to identify the challenges of construction industrialization and policy management. The research applies the mixed system method, which includes entropy method and average score method, to analyze the growth stage and major impact indexes targeting 327 survey samples. The empirical results show that the proposed conceptual framework and policy evaluation method could effectively determine the growth position and directions of the construction industrialization. For verification purpose, the study uses the local industry data from Shaanxi Province, China. The calculation results substantiate that the construction industry is in the middle section of the third growth phase. The comparison of the results from statistical methods shows that the local construction industry still needs substantial effort in policy management to improve its sustainable industrialization level. As countermeasures, the policy priorities should concentrate on: (1 enhancing effective cooperation among universities, research institutions and enterprises; (2 improving actions towards technology transfer into productivity; and (3 encouraging market acceptance of construction industrialization. This research complements the existing literature of policy evaluation of construction industrialization. Moreover, it provides theoretical and operational steps on industry policy evaluation and growth management framework, with accurate and ample data analysis on firm-level survey. Researchers and policy makers can use this research for further

Priority Systems

OpenAIRE

Gössler , Gregor; Sifakis , Joseph

2004-01-01

Projet POP_ART; We present a framework for the incremental construction of deadlock-free systems meeting given safety properties. The framework borrows concepts and basic results from the controller synthesis paradigm by considering a step in the construction process as a controller synthesis problem. We show that priorities are expressive enough to represent restrictions induced by deadlock-free controllers preserving safety properties. We define a correspondence between such restrictions an...

New directions in research priority-setting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Morten Velsing

2017-01-01

The way governments set priorities for research and innovation in Europe is changing. The new focus on responsible research and innovation (RRI) emphasises broader inclusion, increased dialogue, and a focus on societal challenges. The case of RESEARCH2015 in Denmark is one of the first European...... priority-setting processes to incorporate such criteria. This paper develops a theoretical model to explore how RESEARCH2015 contributes to mutual responsiveness among actors, a main objective of RRI. Studying mutual responsiveness means going beyond the often-stated focus on policy impact to look...... at the creation of trust, interdependence and mutual understanding among participants. The study finds that mutual responsiveness is an important precondition for priority-setting, but that the process's contribution to mutual responsiveness is limited, due to the limited attention to social impacts. Still...

Consumers and Carers Versus Pharmacy Staff: Do Their Priorities for Australian Pharmacy Services Align?

Science.gov (United States)

McMillan, Sara S; Kelly, Fiona; Sav, Adem; Kendall, Elizabeth; King, Michelle A; Whitty, Jennifer A; Wheeler, Amanda J

2015-10-01

Health professionals, including pharmacists, are encouraged to meet the needs of their consumers in an efficient and patient-centred manner. Yet, there is limited information as to what consumers with chronic conditions need from pharmacy as a healthcare destination or how well pharmacy staff understand these needs. The aim of this study was to identify service user priorities for ideal community pharmacy services for consumers with chronic conditions and their carers, and compare these priorities with what pharmacy staff think these groups want. The nominal group technique was undertaken with pharmacist, pharmacy support staff, consumer and carer groups in four Australian regions between December 2012 and April 2013. Participant ideas and priorities for ideal services or care were identified, and contextual insight was obtained by thematic analysis. Twenty-one nominal group sessions are accepted, including 15 consumer and carer, four pharmacist and two pharmacy support staff groups. Pharmacy staff views generally aligned with consumer priorities, such as access, affordability, patient-centred care and continuity and coordinated care, yet diverged with respect to consumer information or education on medication and services. Fundamentally, consumers and carers sought streamlined access to information and medication, in a coordinated, patient-centred approach. Alleviating financial burden was a key consumer priority, with a call for the continuation and extension of medication subsidies. Overall, pharmacy staff had a reasonable understanding of what consumers would prioritise, but further emphasis on the importance, delivery, or both, of consumer information is needed. Greater consideration is needed from policy makers regarding the financial barriers to accessing medication for consumers with chronic conditions.

Shared research priorities for pessary use in women with prolapse: results from a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Lough, Kate; Hagen, Suzanne; McClurg, Doreen; Pollock, Alex

2018-04-28

To identify the shared priorities for future research of women affected by and clinicians involved with pessary use for the management of prolapse. A priority setting project using a consensus method. A James Lind Alliance Pessary use for prolapse Priority Setting Partnership (JLA Pessary PSP) conducted from May 2016 to September 2017 in the UK. The PSP was run by a Steering Group of three women with experience of pessary use, three experienced clinicians involved with management of prolapse, two researchers with relevant experience, a JLA adviser and a PSP leader. Two surveys were conducted in 2016 and 2017. The first gathered questions about pessaries, and the second asked respondents to prioritise a list of questions. A final workshop was held on 8 September 2017 involving 10 women and 13 clinician representatives with prolapse and pessary experience. A top 10 list of priorities for future research in pessary use for prolapse was agreed by consensus. Women with experience of pessary use and clinicians involved with prolapse management have worked together to determine shared priorities for future research. Aligning the top 10 results with existing research findings will highlight the gaps in current evidence and signpost future research to areas of priority. Effective dissemination of the results will enable research funding bodies to focus on gathering the evidence to answer the questions that matter most to those who will be affected. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

15 CFR 700.20 - Use of priority ratings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

...) BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NATIONAL SECURITY INDUSTRIAL BASE REGULATIONS DEFENSE PRIORITIES AND ALLOCATIONS SYSTEM Industrial Priorities for Energy Programs § 700.20 Use of...

Occupational health research priorities in Malaysia: a Delphi study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadhra, S; Beach, J R; Aw, T C; Sheikh-Ahmed, K

2001-07-01

As part of a consultancy project on occupational health, the Delphi method was used to identify research priorities in occupational health in Malaysia. Participation was sought from government ministries, industry, and professional organisations, and university departments with an interest in occupational and public health. Two rounds of questionnaires resulted in a final list of priorities, with noticeable differences between participants depending on whether they worked in industry or were from government organisations. The participation rate of 71% (55 of 78) was obtained for the first questionnaire and 76% (72 of 95) for the second questionnaire. The participants identified occupational health problems for specific groups and industries as the top research priority area (ranked as top priority by 25% of participants). Ministry of Health participants placed emphasis on healthcare workers (52% ranking it as top priority), whereas those from industry identified construction and plantation workers as groups, which should be accorded the highest priority. Evaluation of research and services was given a low priority. The priorities for occupational health determined with the Delphi approach showed differences between Malaysia, a developing country, and findings from similar European studies. This may be expected, as differences exist in stages of economic development, types of industries, occupational activities, and cultural attitudes to occupational health and safety. Chemical poisonings and workplace accidents were accorded a high priority. By contrast with findings from western countries, workplace psychosocial problems and musculoskeletal injuries were deemed less important. There also seemed to be greater emphasis on adopting interventions for identified problems based on experience in other countries rather than the need to evaluate local occupational health provisions.

THE IDEA IS TO USEMODIS IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE CURRENT LIMITED LANDSAT CAPABILITY, COMMERCIAL SATELLITES, ANDUNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES (UAV), IN A MULTI-STAGE APPROACH TO MEET EPA INFORMATION NEEDS.REMOTE SENSING OVERVIEW: EPA CAPABILITIES, PRIORITY AGENCY APPLICATIONS, SENSOR/AIRCRAFT CAPABILITIES, COST CONSIDERATIONS, SPECTRAL AND SPATIAL RESOLUTIONS, AND TEMPORAL CONSIDERATIONS

Science.gov (United States)

EPA remote sensing capabilities include applied research for priority applications and technology support for operational assistance to clients across the Agency. The idea is to use MODIS in conjunction with the current limited Landsat capability, commercial satellites, and Unma...

What are the macro-social health research priorities?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Narges Tabrizchi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available   Background: Setting research priorities is a scientific process to allocate resources to the best use. In low- and middle-income countries, allocation of limited resources to fundamental issues is more important. So, the present study was conducted to determine social health research priorities.  Methods: In the first step, important issues and research topics of social health were extracted from documents and studies conducted at the national level.In qualitative phase, reciprocating questionnaires were sent and interviews were conducted with experts and stakeholders, social health issues (as members of Delphi. In the next step, the research topics extracted were discussed in small groups (suggested by Council on Health Research for Development to score the proposed priority topics by Delphi members. Finally, the list of priorities (titles that acquired more than 80% of the total score was sent to Delphi members for final approval.  Results: During the study, 220 topics were obtained in four research domains: “description of the problem and its consequences”, “cause finding”, “intervention to eliminate or reduce problems”, and “Management-Policymaking”. Finally, 30 of these topics remained as priority topics. High priority research topics in social health were equity, happiness, economics, and ethics, respectively.  Conclusion: The findings provide a list of research priorities that help researchers carrying out studies that will have the greatest social health impact. Some targeting areas such as happiness and ethics were identified as less attended subjects that need more investment in research policies, management, and governance.

Worst-case efficient external-memory priority queues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølting; Katajainen, Jyrki

1998-01-01

A priority queue Q is a data structure that maintains a collection of elements, each element having an associated priority drawn from a totally ordered universe, under the operations Insert, which inserts an element into Q, and DeleteMin, which deletes an element with the minimum priority from Q....... In this paper a priority-queue implementation is given which is efficient with respect to the number of block transfers or I/Os performed between the internal and external memories of a computer. Let B and M denote the respective capacity of a block and the internal memory measured in elements. The developed...... data structure handles any intermixed sequence of Insert and DeleteMin operations such that in every disjoint interval of B consecutive priorityqueue operations at most clogM/B N/M I/Os are performed, for some positive constant c. These I/Os are divided evenly among the operations: if B ≥ clogM/B N...

Serving human needs. Nuclear technologies in the marketplace

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qian Jihui; Burkart, Werner

2001-01-01

Many peaceful nuclear technologies today stand firmly established. They are being widely applied and accepted around the world in such fields as health care, food production, manufacturing, electricity generation, and environmental protection. Among the IAEA's 132 Member States, interest in constructively applying the tools of nuclear science and technology - especially outside the energy sector - remains high, although priorities, needs, and policies have changed over time. For the IAEA - whose specific mandate is to 'accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health, and prosperity' - the changing and challenging global picture has strengthened efforts to enhance the contribution of nuclear science and technologies in key fields of human development. A multi-faceted programme of technical cooperation serves as the main vehicle for the transfer of nuclear science and technology to developing countries. The programme's emphasis is on supporting projects that respond to the priority needs of each country, produce an economic or social impact, and reflect the distinct advantages of nuclear technology over other approaches

20 CFR 1010.210 - In which Department job training programs do covered persons receive priority of service?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false In which Department job training programs do... job training programs do covered persons receive priority of service? (a) Priority of service applies to every qualified job training program funded, in whole or in part, by the Department, including: (1...

A systematic review of stated preference studies reporting public preferences for healthcare priority setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Whitty, Jennifer A; Lancsar, Emily; Rixon, Kylie; Golenko, Xanthe; Ratcliffe, Julie

2014-01-01

There is current interest in incorporating weights based on public preferences for health and healthcare into priority-setting decisions. The aim of this systematic review was to explore the extent to which public preferences and trade-offs for priority-setting criteria have been quantified, and to describe the study contexts and preference elicitation methods employed. A systematic review was performed in April 2013 to identify empirical studies eliciting the stated preferences of the public for the provision of healthcare in a priority-setting context. Studies are described in terms of (i) the stated preference approaches used, (ii) the priority-setting levels and contexts, and (iii) the criteria identified as important and their relative importance. Thirty-nine studies applying 40 elicitation methods reported in 41 papers met the inclusion criteria. The discrete choice experiment method was most commonly applied (n = 18, 45.0 %), but other approaches, including contingent valuation and the person trade-off, were also used. Studies prioritised health systems (n = 4, 10.2 %), policies/programmes/services/interventions (n = 16, 41.0 %), or patient groups (n = 19, 48.7 %). Studies generally confirmed the importance of a wide range of process, non-health and patient-related characteristics in priority setting in selected contexts, alongside health outcomes. However, inconsistencies were observed for the relative importance of some prioritisation criteria, suggesting context and/or elicitation approach matter. Overall, findings suggest caution in directly incorporating public preferences as weights for priority setting unless the methods used to elicit the weights can be shown to be appropriate and robust in the priority-setting context.

[Intervention priorities in the acute stage of complex emergencies drafted by nine humanitarian aid agencies].

Science.gov (United States)

Carrillo Jaimes, Carmen Sofía; Arcos González, Pedro Ignacio

2004-01-01

Complex Emergencies are an international Public Health problem currently becoming increasingly more frequent and of growing proportions which lead to major death and disease rates, especially during the acute stage thereof. This study is aimed at identifying and analyzing the top-priority areas of intervention in the acute stage of a complex emergency drafted in the operating manuals of the main aid agencies, as well as the degree of development and structuring of the activities proposed in each area on which priority has been placed. The intervention manuals drafted by nine major aid agencies were used as study material. A quantitative analysis was then made of the 16 intervention priorities set out, as well as of the degree to which each priority was defined based on the development of 73 variables of aspects of the proposals set out in the manuals. The ACNUR manual includes 90% of the 73 variables for further expansion upon the priorities, the UN Humanitarian Affaire Coordination Office manual including 35% of the 73 variables. ACNUR better expands upon the non-healthcare variables, followed by MSF and USAID. Doctors without borders shows a 97.3% degree of expansion of the healthcare variables) followed by ACNUR (94.7%), USAID (92.1%). ACNUR has been found to have the most integral proposal, the UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Office having the most discreet. There is a general trend towad further expanding upon and unifying the health indicators, whilst other aspects are not further expanded upon.

Using repair priorities in systems with redundacies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sleptchenko, A.V.; Adan, I.J.B.F.; Van Houtum, G.-J.

2014-01-01

In this paper, we present and analyze a mathematical model for the computation of the system availability for a system of parallel machines with redundancies and repair priorities. Using the presented models, we show that the repair priorities have a strong effect on the performance of the system.

Rising to the challenges-Reflections on Future-oriented Technology Analysis

OpenAIRE

Georghiou, Luke; Cassingena Harper, Jennifer

2013-01-01

Drawing upon the presentations made at the fourth conference on Future-oriented Technology Analysis, this essay reflects on the implications of the current period of instability and discontinuity for the practice of FTA or foresight. In the past the demand environment for foresight on research and innovation policy favoured application to priority-setting and articulation of demand. New tendencies include a heightened search for breakthrough science and a focus on grand societal challenges. B...

SUPPORT Tools for evidence-informed health Policymaking (STP) 3: Setting priorities for supporting evidence-informed policymaking.

Science.gov (United States)

Lavis, John N; Oxman, Andrew D; Lewin, Simon; Fretheim, Atle

2009-12-16

This article is part of a series written for people responsible for making decisions about health policies and programmes and for those who support these decision makers. Policymakers have limited resources for developing--or supporting the development of--evidence-informed policies and programmes. These required resources include staff time, staff infrastructural needs (such as access to a librarian or journal article purchasing), and ongoing professional development. They may therefore prefer instead to contract out such work to independent units with more suitably skilled staff and appropriate infrastructure. However, policymakers may only have limited financial resources to do so. Regardless of whether the support for evidence-informed policymaking is provided in-house or contracted out, or whether it is centralised or decentralised, resources always need to be used wisely in order to maximise their impact. Examples of undesirable practices in a priority-setting approach include timelines to support evidence-informed policymaking being negotiated on a case-by-case basis (instead of having clear norms about the level of support that can be provided for each timeline), implicit (rather than explicit) criteria for setting priorities, ad hoc (rather than systematic and explicit) priority-setting process, and the absence of both a communications plan and a monitoring and evaluation plan. In this article, we suggest questions that can guide those setting priorities for finding and using research evidence to support evidence-informed policymaking. These are: 1. Does the approach to prioritisation make clear the timelines that have been set for addressing high-priority issues in different ways? 2. Does the approach incorporate explicit criteria for determining priorities? 3. Does the approach incorporate an explicit process for determining priorities? 4. Does the approach incorporate a communications strategy and a monitoring and evaluation plan?

NASA's Physics of the Cosmos and Cosmic Origins Technology Development Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Pham, Thai; Seery, Bernard; Ganel, Opher

2016-01-01

The strategic astrophysics missions of the coming decades will help answer the questions "How did our universe begin and evolve?" and "How did galaxies, stars, and planets come to be?" Enabling these missions requires advances in key technologies far beyond the current state of the art. NASA's Physics of the Cosmos (PCOS) and Cosmic Origins (COR) Program Offices manage technology maturation projects funded through the Strategic Astrophysics Technology (SAT) program to accomplish such advances. The PCOS and COR Program Offices, residing at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), were established in 2011, and serve as the implementation arm for the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. We present an overview of the Programs' technology development activities and the current technology investment portfolio of 23 technology advancements. We discuss the process for addressing community-provided technology gaps and Technology Management Board (TMB)-vetted prioritization and investment recommendations that inform the SAT program. The process improves the transparency and relevance of our technology investments, provides the community a voice in the process, and promotes targeted external technology investments by defining needs and identifying customers. The Programs' priorities are driven by strategic direction from the Astrophysics Division, which is informed by the National Research Council's (NRC) "New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics" (NWNH) 2010 Decadal Survey report [1], the Astrophysics Implementation Plan (AIP) [2] as updated, and the Astrophysics Roadmap "Enduring Quests, Daring Visions" [3]. These priorities include technology development for missions to study dark energy, gravitational waves, X-ray and inflation probe science, and large far-infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV)/optical/IR telescopes to conduct imaging and spectroscopy studies. The SAT program is the Astrophysics Division's main investment method to mature technologies

Scientists’ perspectives on global ocean research priorities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murray Alan Rudd

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Diverse natural and social science research is needed to support policies to recover and sustain healthy oceans. While a wide variety of expert-led prioritization initiatives have identified research themes and priorities at national and regional scale, over the past several years there has also been a surge in the number of scanning exercises that have identified important environmental research questions and issues ‘from the bottom-up’. From those questions, winnowed from thousands of contributions by scientists and policy-makers around the world who participated in terrestrial, aquatic and domain-specific horizon scanning and big question exercises, I identified 657 research questions potentially important for informing decisions regarding ocean governance and sustainability. These were distilled to a short list of 67 distinctive research questions that, in an internet survey, were ranked by 2179 scientists from 94 countries. Five of the top 10 research priorities were shared by respondents globally. Despite significant differences between physical and ecological scientists’ priorities regarding specific research questions, they shared seven common priorities among their top 10. Social scientists’ priorities were, however, much different, highlighting their research focus on managerial solutions to ocean challenges and questions regarding the role of human behavior and values in attaining ocean sustainability. The results from this survey provide a comprehensive and timely assessment of current ocean research priorities among research-active scientists but highlight potential challenges in stimulating crossdisciplinary research. As ocean and coastal research necessarily becomes more transdisciplinary to address complex ocean challenges, it will be critical for scientists and research funders to understand how scientists from different disciplines and regions might collaborate and strengthen the overall evidence base for ocean

32 CFR 37.875 - Should my TIA include a provision concerning foreign access to technology?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Should my TIA include a provision concerning... Related to Other Administrative Matters Intellectual Property § 37.875 Should my TIA include a provision... provision in the TIA that addresses foreign access to technology developed under the TIA. (b) The provision...

Multiprocessor Priority Ceiling Emulation for Safety-Critical Java

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strøm, Torur Biskopstø; Schoeberl, Martin

2015-01-01

Priority ceiling emulation has preferable properties on uniprocessor systems, such as avoiding priority inversion and being deadlock free. This has made it a popular locking protocol. According to the safety-critical Java specication, priority ceiling emulation is a requirement for implementations....... However, implementing the protocol for multiprocessor systemsis more complex so implementations might perform worse than non-preemptive implementations. In this paper we compare two multiprocessor lock implementations with hardware support for the Java optimized processor: non-preemptive locking...

Emotion strengthens high-priority memory traces but weakens low-priority memory traces.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakaki, Michiko; Fryer, Kellie; Mather, Mara

2014-02-01

When people encounter emotional events, their memory for those events is typically enhanced. But it has been unclear how emotionally arousing events influence memory for preceding information. Does emotional arousal induce retrograde amnesia or retrograde enhancement? The current study revealed that this depends on the top-down goal relevance of the preceding information. Across three studies, we found that emotional arousal induced by one image facilitated memory for the preceding neutral item when people prioritized that neutral item. In contrast, an emotionally arousing image impaired memory for the preceding neutral item when people did not prioritize that neutral item. Emotional arousal elicited by both negative and positive pictures showed this pattern of enhancing or impairing memory for the preceding stimulus depending on its priority. These results indicate that emotional arousal amplifies the effects of top-down priority in memory formation.

Patient and public engagement in priority setting: A systematic rapid review of the literature

Science.gov (United States)

Vandall-Walker, Virginia; Mason-Lai, Ping

2018-01-01

Background Current research suggests that while patients are becoming more engaged across the health delivery spectrum, this involvement occurs most often at the pre-preparation stage to identify ‘high-level’ priorities in health ecosystem priority setting, and at the preparation phase for health research. Objective The purpose of this systematic rapid review of the literature is to describe the evidence that does exist in relation to patient and public engagement priority setting in both health ecosystem and health research. Data sources HealthStar (via OVID); CINAHL; Proquest Databases; and Scholar’s Portal. Study eligibility criteria i) published in English; ii) published within the timeframe of 2007—Current (10 years) unless the report/article was formative in synthesizing key considerations of patient engagement in health ecosystem and health research priority setting; iii) conducted in Canada, the US, Europe, UK, Australia/New Zealand, or Scandinavian countries. Study appraisal and synthesis i) Is the research valid, sound, and applicable?; ii) what outcomes can we potentially expect if we implement the findings from this research?; iii) will the target population (i.e., health researchers and practitioners) be able to use this research?. A summary of findings from each of the respective processes was synthesized to highlight key information that would support decision-making for researchers when determining the best priority setting process to apply for their specific patient-oriented research. Results Seventy articles from the UK, US, Canada, Netherlands and Australia were selected for review. Results were organized into two tiers of public and patient engagement in prioritization: Tier 1—Deliberative and Tier 2—Consultative. Highly structured patient and public engagement planning activities include the James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships (UK), Dialogue Method (Netherlands), Global Evidence Mapping (Australia), and the Deep

Patient and public engagement in priority setting: A systematic rapid review of the literature.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth Manafò

Full Text Available Current research suggests that while patients are becoming more engaged across the health delivery spectrum, this involvement occurs most often at the pre-preparation stage to identify 'high-level' priorities in health ecosystem priority setting, and at the preparation phase for health research.The purpose of this systematic rapid review of the literature is to describe the evidence that does exist in relation to patient and public engagement priority setting in both health ecosystem and health research.HealthStar (via OVID; CINAHL; Proquest Databases; and Scholar's Portal.i published in English; ii published within the timeframe of 2007-Current (10 years unless the report/article was formative in synthesizing key considerations of patient engagement in health ecosystem and health research priority setting; iii conducted in Canada, the US, Europe, UK, Australia/New Zealand, or Scandinavian countries.i Is the research valid, sound, and applicable?; ii what outcomes can we potentially expect if we implement the findings from this research?; iii will the target population (i.e., health researchers and practitioners be able to use this research?. A summary of findings from each of the respective processes was synthesized to highlight key information that would support decision-making for researchers when determining the best priority setting process to apply for their specific patient-oriented research.Seventy articles from the UK, US, Canada, Netherlands and Australia were selected for review. Results were organized into two tiers of public and patient engagement in prioritization: Tier 1-Deliberative and Tier 2-Consultative. Highly structured patient and public engagement planning activities include the James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnerships (UK, Dialogue Method (Netherlands, Global Evidence Mapping (Australia, and the Deep Inclusion Method/CHoosing All Together (US.The critical study limitations include challenges in comprehensively

Research priorities for conservation and natural resource management in Oceania's small-island developing states.

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Weeks, R; Adams, V M

2018-02-01

For conservation science to effectively inform management, research must focus on creating the scientific knowledge required to solve conservation problems. We identified research questions that, if answered, would increase the effectiveness of conservation and natural resource management practice and policy in Oceania's small-island developing states. We asked conservation professionals from academia, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations across the region to propose such questions and then identify which were of high priority in an online survey. We compared the high-priority questions with research questions identified globally and for other regions. Of 270 questions proposed by respondents, 38 were considered high priority, including: What are the highest priority areas for conservation in the face of increasing resource demand and climate change? How should marine protected areas be networked to account for connectivity and climate change? What are the most effective fisheries management policies that contribute to sustainable coral reef fisheries? High-priority questions related to the particular challenges of undertaking conservation on small-island developing states and the need for a research agenda that is responsive to the sociocultural context of Oceania. Research priorities for Oceania relative to elsewhere were broadly similar but differed in specific issues relevant to particular conservation contexts. These differences emphasize the importance of involving local practitioners in the identification of research priorities. Priorities were reasonably well aligned among sectoral groups. Only a few questions were widely considered answered, which may indicate a smaller-than-expected knowledge-action gap. We believe these questions can be used to strengthen research collaborations between scientists and practitioners working to further conservation and natural resource management in this region. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology

THE MECHANISMS OF FORMATION OF STRATEGIC SOCIO-ECONOMIC PRIORITIES

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Klimanov V. V.

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to definition of methods and techniques to identify priorities of socioeconomic development, applicable at the Federal level. The initial data for the study was strategic planning documents, as well as the decrees, resolutions and orders of the Executive authorities of the Russian Federation and of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, defining the strategic priorities of socio-economic development in the 20-year period. The article presents the defining the term ‘priorities of economic and development’ and the approaches to their formation, which are represented at Russia’s normative acts and other federal documents. The content analysis of priorities in the strategic planning documents has allowed drawing the typology of economic and social development priorities of the Russian Federation. The authors determined the mechanism of creating the priorities under the influence of main endogenous (foreign trade, foreign policy, macro, etc. and exogenous (the interests of business, communities, regional authorities factors which could be recommended for consideration at the strategy developing process at federal level.

Overall strategy for risk evaluation and priority setting of risk regulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hokstad, Per; Steiro, Trygve

2006-01-01

This paper presents the framework of an approach to support planning and priority setting for risk control. Such an approach could assist government/regulatory authorities in their allocation of resources among different sectors. The term risk will here be used in a very wide sense, and it will include, but not restrict to, the traditional HES (Health, Environment and Safety) concept. An overall classification of risk ('loss categories'), to be used across sectors and directorates is suggested. The risk evaluation includes a number of factors not accounted for in a standard risk assessment, but should be taken into account when authorities set priorities regarding risk control. Sociological, psychological and ethical perspectives are included, and the need for a discourse during the decision process is pinpointed. The paper also discusses the potential inclusion of cost benefit analyses in such an approach. The indicated approach is denoted Risk Across Sectors (RAS), and suggestions regarding the process to implement it are given. Such an implementation process will by itself increase the knowledge and competence of the involved parties

Regulating a Monopoly Offering Priority Service

OpenAIRE

Matsukawa, Isamu

2006-01-01

This paper investigates the effects of alternative forms of regulation on the market penetration and capacity, which are determined by a profit-maximizing monopolist providing priority service to consumers. For continuous priority service, a minimum reliability standard, price cap and rate of return regulation lead to larger capacity than in the absence of regulation. A minimum reliability standard reduces the market penetration while price cap and rate of return regulation increase it. T...

The purposes, achievements, and priorities of arms control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, P.S.

1987-09-01

Arms control purposes include strengthening the framework of deterrence and reducing the threat of the use of nuclear weapons, reducing the dangers of attack and accidental nuclear war, and allowing more resources for the civilian economy. The paper briefly describes achievements in arms control since World War II. These include the Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT), Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABMT)-SALT I, SALT II, Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT), Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty (PNET), and Nuclear-Free Zones treaties. The author also discusses his views on what the priorities of arms control activities should be

Research priority setting in Barrett's oesophagus and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Britton, James; Gadeke, Lisa; Lovat, Laurence; Hamdy, Shaheen; Hawkey, Chris; McLaughlin, John; Ang, Yeng

2017-11-01

The incidence of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and Barrett's oesophagus is increasing. Barrett's oesophagus is the main precursor to oesophageal adenocarcinoma, which has a poor prognosis. In view of the vast potential burden of these diseases on patients and health-care resources, there is a real need to define and focus research efforts. This priority setting exercise aimed to produce a list of the top ten uncertainties in the field that reflect the priorities of patients and health-care providers. We adopted the robust and transparent methodologies previously outlined by the James Lind Alliance. This qualitative approach firstly involves an ideas gathering survey that, once distilled, generates a longlist of research uncertainties. These uncertainties are then prioritised via an interim ranking survey and a final workshop to achieve consensus agreement. The initial 629 uncertainties, generated from a survey of 170 individual respondents (47% professional, 53% non-professional) and one workshop, were narrowed down to the final top ten uncertainties of priority for future research. These priorities covered a range of issues, including a need for improved patient risk stratification, alternative diagnostic and surveillance tests, efficacy of a dedicated service for Barrett's oesophagus, cost-effectiveness and appropriateness of current surveillance, advances in development of non-drug treatments for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, safety of long-term drug treatment, and questions regarding the durability and role of different endoscopic therapies for dysplastic Barrett's oesophagus. This is the first patient-centred assessment of priorities for researchers in this chronic disease setting. We hope that recognition and dissemination of these results will shape the future direction of research and translate into meaningful gains for patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

New energy technologies. Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

This report on the new energy technologies has been written by a working group on request of the French ministry of economy, finances and industry, of the ministry of ecology and sustainable development, of the ministry of research and new technologies and of the ministry of industry. The mission of the working group is to identify goals and priority ways for the French and European research about the new technologies of energy and to propose some recommendations about the evolution of research incentive and sustain systems in order to reach these goals. The working group has taken into consideration the overall stakes linked with energy and not only the climatic change. About this last point, only the carbon dioxide emissions have been considered because they represent 90% of the greenhouse gases emissions linked with the energy sector. A diagnosis is made first about the present day context inside which the new technologies will have to fit with. Using this diagnosis, the research topics and projects to be considered as priorities for the short-, medium- and long-term have been identified: energy efficiency in transports, in dwellings/tertiary buildings and in the industry, development for the first half of the 21. century of an energy mix combining nuclear, fossil-fuels and renewable energy sources. (J.S.)

Workshop on technology development issues for the large deployable reflector (LDR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishioka, K.

1986-02-01

The results of the 2nd Large Deployable Reflector (LDR) Technology Review Workshop held at Asilomar, California, March 17 to 22, 1985, are summarized. The workshop was convened to update LDR Technology status and to revise as necessary the results for the first LDR Workshop held in June 1982. There were some 100 participants representing government agencies, industry, and universities. This Workshop's goal was to assess, identify, and set priorities for the LDR technology issues based on requirements identified in the first workshop. Four high-priority technology areas were identified: (1) mirror materials and construction; (2) sensing and controls; (3) system-simulation and modeling capability; and (4) submillimeter instruments. The results of the workshop were used to provide a list of technolgy issues for the development of a technology initiatives plan for the LDR by NASA's Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology

Workshop on Technology Development Issues for the Large Deployable Reflector (LDR)

Science.gov (United States)

Nishioka, Kenji (Editor)

1986-01-01

The results of the 2nd Large Deployable Reflector (LDR) Technology Review Workshop held at Asilomar, California, March 17 to 22, 1985, are summarized. The workshop was convened to update LDR Technology status and to revise as necessary the results for the first LDR Workshop held in June 1982. There were some 100 participants representing government agencies, industry, and universities. This Workshop's goal was to assess, identify, and set priorities for the LDR technology issues based on requirements identified in the first workshop. Four high-priority technology areas were identified: (1) mirror materials and construction; (2) sensing and controls; (3) system-simulation and modeling capability; and (4) submillimeter instruments. The results of the workshop were used to provide a list of technolgy issues for the development of a technology initiatives plan for the LDR by NASA's Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology.

[The Danish Debate on Priority Setting in Medicine--An Update].

Science.gov (United States)

Pornak, S C; Raspe, H

2015-09-01

In the last years, the Danish debate about priority setting in medicine has gained new strength. This paper shows the main focuses of the current discussion based on a research of Danish primary literature. For the first time since the 1990s the Danish Council of Ethics has been involved with priority setting in medicine in a project running from 2011 to 2013. The Council emphasises the importance of legitimate processes and calls for visible values and criteria. A focus of the debate is how to deal with new expensive drugs. Politicians, physicians, health economists and the Council of Ethics have called for a national institution for priority setting in medicine. They have mainly looked to the Norwegian National Council for Priority Setting in Health Care and the British National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for inspiration. The Danish Government considered establishing a national institute for priority setting, but the plans were not put into practice. In the year 2012 a new national project was launched to create clinical guidelines. Danish doctors welcome the guidelines as a good basis for priority setting. Just like in earlier Danish priority setting debates, a coordinating institution is lacking to bundle the discussion and keep it going. The debate seems to have come to an end once again. The fact that it was seriously considered to establish an institute for priority setting is a new development. It can be expected that the discussion will be resumed in the near future, possibly the idea of an institute for priority setting will be readopted. The general conditions for priority setting in health care have improved. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

The trials methodological research agenda: results from a priority setting exercise

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Research into the methods used in the design, conduct, analysis, and reporting of clinical trials is essential to ensure that effective methods are available and that clinical decisions made using results from trials are based on the best available evidence, which is reliable and robust. Methods An on-line Delphi survey of 48 UK Clinical Research Collaboration registered Clinical Trials Units (CTUs) was undertaken. During round one, CTU Directors were asked to identify important topics that require methodological research. During round two, their opinion about the level of importance of each topic was recorded, and during round three, they were asked to review the group’s average opinion and revise their previous opinion if appropriate. Direct reminders were sent to maximise the number of responses at each round. Results are summarised using descriptive methods. Results Forty one (85%) CTU Directors responded to at least one round of the Delphi process: 25 (52%) responded in round one, 32 (67%) responded in round two, 24 (50%) responded in round three. There were only 12 (25%) who responded to all three rounds and 18 (38%) who responded to both rounds two and three. Consensus was achieved amongst CTU Directors that the top three priorities for trials methodological research were ‘Research into methods to boost recruitment in trials’ (considered the highest priority), ‘Methods to minimise attrition’ and ‘Choosing appropriate outcomes to measure’. Fifty other topics were included in the list of priorities and consensus was reached that two topics, ‘Radiotherapy study designs’ and ‘Low carbon trials’, were not priorities. Conclusions This priority setting exercise has identified the research topics felt to be most important to the key stakeholder group of Directors of UKCRC registered CTUs. The use of robust methodology to identify these priorities will help ensure that this work informs the trials methodological research agenda, with

Research priorities about stoma-related quality of life from the perspective of people with a stoma : a pilot survey

OpenAIRE

Hubbard, Gill; Taylor, Claire; Beeken, Becca; Campbell, Anna; Gracey, Jackie; Grimmett, Chloe; Fisher, Abi; Ozakinci, Gozde; Slater, Sarah; Gorely, Trish

2017-01-01

We thank the following charities for advertising the study: Ileostomy Association, Colostomy Association, Bowel and Cancer Research, Urostomy Association. Background There is a recognized need to include patients in setting research priorities. Research priorities identified by people with a stoma are rarely elicited. Objectives To improve the quality of life of people with a stoma through use of evidence-based practice based on research priorities set by patients.Design and Methods Online...

NEW MULTIANUAL FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK: PRIORITIES FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION, PRIORITIES FOR ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ROXANA-DANIELA PĂUN

2013-05-01

Full Text Available This article proposes a brief foray into the situation of the European economy, but especially of the banking system of the Member States affected differently by the current world economic crisis, or recession, but especially for a detailed analysis of the New Multiannual Financial Framework for the period 2014-2020, with the priorities which appear to be distinct for the EU and for Romania. After a comparative analysis of European regulations on the agreements of the previous financial negotiated for the period 2014-2020, and Delors I (1988-1992, Delors II (1993-1999, the Agenda 2000 (2000-2006 and multiannual financial framework (2007- 2013 and ultimately the provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon (which convert multiannual financial framework in an essential act from a legal point of view; express personal opinions on Romania’s priorities and on the challenges and perspectives in the actual European and global context.

Reliability Constrained Priority Load Shedding for Aerospace Power System Automation

Science.gov (United States)

Momoh, James A.; Zhu, Jizhong; Kaddah, Sahar S.; Dolce, James L. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The need for improving load shedding on board the space station is one of the goals of aerospace power system automation. To accelerate the optimum load-shedding functions, several constraints must be involved. These constraints include congestion margin determined by weighted probability contingency, component/system reliability index, generation rescheduling. The impact of different faults and indices for computing reliability were defined before optimization. The optimum load schedule is done based on priority, value and location of loads. An optimization strategy capable of handling discrete decision making, such as Everett optimization, is proposed. We extended Everett method to handle expected congestion margin and reliability index as constraints. To make it effective for real time load dispatch process, a rule-based scheme is presented in the optimization method. It assists in selecting which feeder load to be shed, the location of the load, the value, priority of the load and cost benefit analysis of the load profile is included in the scheme. The scheme is tested using a benchmark NASA system consisting of generators, loads and network.

Sustaining "meaningful use" of health information technology in low-resource practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Lee A; Potworowski, Georges; Day, Anya; May-Gentile, Rachelle; Vibbert, Danielle; Maki, Bruce; Kiesel, Leslie

2015-01-01

The implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) has been extensively studied, but their maintenance once implemented has not. The Regional Extension Center (REC) program provides implementation assistance to priority practices-those with limited financial, technical, and organizational resources-but the assistance is time limited. Our objective was to identify potential barriers to maintenance of meaningful use of EHRs in priority primary care practices using a qualitative observational study for federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and priority practices in Michigan. We conducted cognitive task analysis (CTA) interviews and direct observations of health information technology implementation in FQHCs. In addition, we conducted semistructured interviews with implementation specialists serving priority practices to detect emergent themes relevant to maintenance. Maintaining EHR technology will require ongoing expert technical support indefinitely beyond implementation to address upgrades and security needs. Maintaining meaningful use for quality improvement will require ongoing support for leadership and change management. Priority practices not associated with larger systems lack access to the necessary technical expertise, financial resources, and leverage with vendors to continue alone. Rural priority practices are particularly challenged, because expertise is often not available locally. Priority practices, especially in rural areas, are at high risk for falling on the wrong side of a "digital divide" as payers and regulators enact increasing expectations for EHR use and information management. For those without affiliation to maintain the necessary expert staff, ongoing support will be needed for those practices to remain viable. © 2015 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.

Mapping of networks to detect priority zoonoses in Jordan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erin M Sorrell

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Early detection of emerging disease events is a priority focus area for cooperative bioengagement programs. Communication and coordination among national disease surveillance and response networks are essential for timely detection and control of a public health event. Although systematic information sharing between the human and animal health sectors can help stakeholders detect and respond to zoonotic diseases rapidly, resource constraints and other barriers often prevent efficient cross-sector reporting. The purpose of this research project was to map the laboratory and surveillance networks currently in place for detecting and reporting priority zoonotic diseases in Jordan in order to identify the nodes of communication, coordination, and decision-making where health and veterinary sectors intersect, and to identify priorities and gaps that limit information-sharing for action. We selected three zoonotic diseases as case studies: highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI H5N1, rabies, and brucellosis. Through meetings with government agencies and health officials, and desk research, we mapped each system from the index case through response – including both surveillance and laboratory networks, highlighting both areas of strength and those that would benefit from capacity-building resources. Our major findings indicate informal communication exists across sectors; in the event of emergence of one of the priority zoonoses studied there is effective coordination across the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture. However, routine formal coordination is lacking. Overall, there is a strong desire and commitment for multi-sectoral coordination in detection and response to zoonoses across public health and veterinary sectors. Our analysis indicates that the networks developed in response to HPAI can and should be leveraged to develop a comprehensive laboratory and surveillance One Health network.

Utilization Bound of Non-preemptive Fixed Priority Schedulers

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Moonju; Chae, Jinseok

It is known that the schedulability of a non-preemptive task set with fixed priority can be determined in pseudo-polynomial time. However, since Rate Monotonic scheduling is not optimal for non-preemptive scheduling, the applicability of existing polynomial time tests that provide sufficient schedulability conditions, such as Liu and Layland's bound, is limited. This letter proposes a new sufficient condition for non-preemptive fixed priority scheduling that can be used for any fixed priority assignment scheme. It is also shown that the proposed schedulability test has a tighter utilization bound than existing test methods.

VT Priority Stream/River

Data.gov (United States)

Vermont Center for Geographic Information — Vermont List of Priority Surface Waters outside CWA Section 303(d) is divided in to 4 parts; Parts B, D, E and F. The four-part list has managed by the Vermont...

VT Priority Lake/Pond

Data.gov (United States)

Vermont Center for Geographic Information — Vermont List of Priority Surface Waters outside CWA Section 303(d) is divided in to 4 parts; Parts B, D, E and F. The four-part list has managed by the Vermont...

Using Economic Evidence to Set Healthcare Priorities in Low‐Income and Lower‐Middle‐Income Countries: A Systematic Review of Methodological Frameworks

Science.gov (United States)

Mitton, Craig; Doyle‐Waters, Mary M.; Drake, Tom; Conteh, Lesong; Newall, Anthony T.; Onwujekwe, Obinna; Jan, Stephen

2016-01-01

Abstract Policy makers in low‐income and lower‐middle‐income countries (LMICs) are increasingly looking to develop ‘evidence‐based’ frameworks for identifying priority health interventions. This paper synthesises and appraises the literature on methodological frameworks – which incorporate economic evaluation evidence – for the purpose of setting healthcare priorities in LMICs. A systematic search of Embase, MEDLINE, Econlit and PubMed identified 3968 articles with a further 21 articles identified through manual searching. A total of 36 papers were eligible for inclusion. These covered a wide range of health interventions with only two studies including health systems strengthening interventions related to financing, governance and human resources. A little under half of the studies (39%) included multiple criteria for priority setting, most commonly equity, feasibility and disease severity. Most studies (91%) specified a measure of ‘efficiency’ defined as cost per disability‐adjusted life year averted. Ranking of health interventions using multi‐criteria decision analysis and generalised cost‐effectiveness were the most common frameworks for identifying priority health interventions. Approximately a third of studies discussed the affordability of priority interventions. Only one study identified priority areas for the release or redeployment of resources. The paper concludes by highlighting the need for local capacity to conduct evaluations (including economic analysis) and empowerment of local decision‐makers to act on this evidence. PMID:26804361

Using Economic Evidence to Set Healthcare Priorities in Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review of Methodological Frameworks.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiseman, Virginia; Mitton, Craig; Doyle-Waters, Mary M; Drake, Tom; Conteh, Lesong; Newall, Anthony T; Onwujekwe, Obinna; Jan, Stephen

2016-02-01

Policy makers in low-income and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) are increasingly looking to develop 'evidence-based' frameworks for identifying priority health interventions. This paper synthesises and appraises the literature on methodological frameworks--which incorporate economic evaluation evidence--for the purpose of setting healthcare priorities in LMICs. A systematic search of Embase, MEDLINE, Econlit and PubMed identified 3968 articles with a further 21 articles identified through manual searching. A total of 36 papers were eligible for inclusion. These covered a wide range of health interventions with only two studies including health systems strengthening interventions related to financing, governance and human resources. A little under half of the studies (39%) included multiple criteria for priority setting, most commonly equity, feasibility and disease severity. Most studies (91%) specified a measure of 'efficiency' defined as cost per disability-adjusted life year averted. Ranking of health interventions using multi-criteria decision analysis and generalised cost-effectiveness were the most common frameworks for identifying priority health interventions. Approximately a third of studies discussed the affordability of priority interventions. Only one study identified priority areas for the release or redeployment of resources. The paper concludes by highlighting the need for local capacity to conduct evaluations (including economic analysis) and empowerment of local decision-makers to act on this evidence. © 2016 The Authors. Health Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Extending RTA/Linux with fixed-priority scheduling with deferred preemption

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bergsma, M.; Holenderski, M.J.; Bril, R.J.; Lukkien, J.J.; Petters, S.M.; Zijlstra, P.

2009-01-01

Fixed-Priority Scheduling with Deferred Preemption (FPDS) is a middle ground between Fixed-Priority Pre-emptive Scheduling and Fixed-Priority Non-preemptive Scheduling, and offers advantages with respect to context switch overhead and resource access control. In this paper we present our work on

TECHNOLOGICAL IMPERATIVE IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

А. Кozlova

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The article highlights the factors influencing agricultural production towards global market. The study consists basic fundamental imperatives of globalization on the agricultural sector in international economic relations. The article analyzes the strategic priorities of the international agricultural sector, which includes financial and credit support, legal aspects, processes and integration of organizational structures. Technological imperatives require a large structural and institutional turn in the Ukrainian economy on the basis of current trends in the global economy, scientific and technical potential. There is a growing importance of organizing and conducting international level in the field of technological forecasting. This type of prediction is considered as backbone component in strategic forecasting and economic development programming.

77 FR 40638 - Syniverse Technologies, Inc., Including On-Site Leased Workers From Insight Global Stone Staffing...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-10

..., Inc., Including On-Site Leased Workers From Insight Global Stone Staffing, and Randstad Formerly Known..., Massachusetts, including on-site leased workers from Insight Global, Stone Staffing, Randstad formerly known as... Insight Global, Stone Staffing, Randstad, formerly known as Sapphire Technologies, were employed on-site...

What do District Health Planners in Tanzania think about improving priority setting using 'Accountability for Reasonableness'?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olsen Oystein

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Priority setting in every health system is complex and difficult. In less wealthy countries the dominant approach to priority setting has been Burden of Disease (BOD and cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA, which is helpful, but insufficient because it focuses on a narrow range of values – need and efficiency – and not the full range of relevant values, including legitimacy and fairness. 'Accountability for reasonableness' is a conceptual framework for legitimate and fair priority setting and is empirically based and ethically justified. It connects priority setting to broader, more fundamental, democratic deliberative processes that have an impact on social justice and equity. Can 'accountability for reasonableness' be helpful for improving priority setting in less wealthy countries? Methods In 2005, Tanzanian scholars from the Primary Health Care Institute (PHCI conducted 6 capacity building workshops with senior health staff, district planners and managers, and representatives of the Tanzanian Ministry of Health to discussion improving priority setting in Tanzania using 'accountability for reasonableness'. The purpose of this paper is to describe this initiative and the participants' views about the approach. Results The approach to improving priority setting using 'accountability for reasonableness' was viewed by district decision makers with enthusiastic favour because it was the first framework that directly addressed their priority setting concerns. High level Ministry of Health participants were also very supportive of the approach. Conclusion Both Tanzanian district and governmental health planners viewed the 'accountability for reasonableness' approach with enthusiastic favour because it was the first framework that directly addressed their concerns.

76 FR 16460 - Mail Classification Change for Priority Mail Flat Mail

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-23

... online model and the retail model. The online model will allow customers to purchase packs from a Web... offer those packs in their stores directly to their customers. The Postal Service includes five... noticing a recently-filed Postal Service request to provide Forever postage on Priority Mail Flat Rate...

Comprehensive framework for preventive maintenance priority of medical equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

Saleh, Neven; Balestra, Gabriella

2015-08-01

Throughout the medical equipment life cycle, preventive maintenance is considered one of the most important stages that should be managed properly. However, the need for better management and control by giving a reasonable prioritization for preventive maintenance becomes essential. The purpose of this study is to develop a comprehensive framework for preventive maintenance priority of medical equipment using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and Fuzzy Logic (FL). The quality function deployment is proposed in order to identify the most important criteria that could impact preventive maintenance priority decision; meanwhile the role of the fuzzy logic is to generate a priority index of the list of equipment considering those criteria. The model validation was carried out on 140 pieces of medical equipment belonging to two hospitals. In application, we propose to classify the priority index into five classes. The results indicate that the strong correlation existence between risk-based criteria and preventive maintenance priority decision.

Near-optimal downlink precoding for two-tier priority-based wireless networks

KAUST Repository

Park, Kihong; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2015-01-01

In this paper, we study a two-tier priority-based wireless cellular network in which the primary base station (BS) has multiple antennas and the other terminals have a single antenna. We assume that we have two classes of users: high priority users and low priority users. We consider a rate maximization problem of the low priority users under signal-to-interference-plus-noise-ratio constraints on the high priority user to guarantee a certain quality-of-service for the high priority user. Since the interference due to the low priority users which communicate with each other via direct transmission may severely degrade the performance of the high priority user, we propose a BS-aided two-way relaying approach in which the BS helps relay the low priority users' signals instead of allowing them to communicate with each other via a direct path between them. In addition, an algorithm to find a near-optimal beamforming solution at the BS is proposed. The asymptotic results in the high power regime are derived to verify the average sum rate performance in the proposed scheme. Finally, based on some selected numerical results, we show that the proposed scheme outperforms the direct transmission scheme over a wide transmit power range.

Near-optimal downlink precoding for two-tier priority-based wireless networks

KAUST Repository

Park, Kihong

2015-02-01

In this paper, we study a two-tier priority-based wireless cellular network in which the primary base station (BS) has multiple antennas and the other terminals have a single antenna. We assume that we have two classes of users: high priority users and low priority users. We consider a rate maximization problem of the low priority users under signal-to-interference-plus-noise-ratio constraints on the high priority user to guarantee a certain quality-of-service for the high priority user. Since the interference due to the low priority users which communicate with each other via direct transmission may severely degrade the performance of the high priority user, we propose a BS-aided two-way relaying approach in which the BS helps relay the low priority users\\' signals instead of allowing them to communicate with each other via a direct path between them. In addition, an algorithm to find a near-optimal beamforming solution at the BS is proposed. The asymptotic results in the high power regime are derived to verify the average sum rate performance in the proposed scheme. Finally, based on some selected numerical results, we show that the proposed scheme outperforms the direct transmission scheme over a wide transmit power range.

Research priorities in Maternal, Newborn, & Child Health & Nutrition for India: An Indian Council of Medical Research-INCLEN Initiative

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Narendra K Arora

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In India, research prioritization in Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN themes has traditionally involved only a handful of experts mostly from major cities. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR-INCLEN collaboration undertook a nationwide exercise engaging faculty from 256 institutions to identify top research priorities in the MNCHN themes for 2016-2025. The Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative method of priority setting was adapted. The context of the exercise was defined by a National Steering Group (NSG and guided by four Thematic Research Subcommittees. Research ideas were pooled from 498 experts located in different parts of India, iteratively consolidated into research options, scored by 893 experts against five pre-defined criteria (answerability, relevance, equity, investment and innovation and weighed by a larger reference group. Ranked lists of priorities were generated for each of the four themes at national and three subnational (regional levels [Empowered Action Group & North-Eastern States, Southern and Western States, & Northern States (including West Bengal]. Research priorities differed between regions and from overall national priorities. Delivery domain of research which included implementation research constituted about 70 per cent of the top ten research options under all four themes. The results were endorsed in the NSG meeting. There was unanimity that the research priorities should be considered by different governmental and non-governmental agencies for investment with prioritization on implementation research and issues cutting across themes.

Risk-based systems analysis for emerging technologies: Applications of a technology risk assessment model to public decision making

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quadrel, M.J.; Fowler, K.M.; Cameron, R.; Treat, R.J.; McCormack, W.D.; Cruse, J.

1995-01-01

The risk-based systems analysis model was designed to establish funding priorities among competing technologies for tank waste remediation. The model addresses a gap in the Department of Energy's (DOE's) ''toolkit'' for establishing funding priorities among emerging technologies by providing disciplined risk and cost assessments of candidate technologies within the context of a complete remediation system. The model is comprised of a risk and cost assessment and a decision interface. The former assesses the potential reductions in risk and cost offered by new technology relative to the baseline risk and cost of an entire system. The latter places this critical information in context of other values articulated by decision makers and stakeholders in the DOE system. The risk assessment portion of the model is demonstrated for two candidate technologies for tank waste retrieval (arm-based mechanical retrieval -- the ''long reach arm'') and subsurface barriers (close-coupled chemical barriers). Relative changes from the base case in cost and risk are presented for these two technologies to illustrate how the model works. The model and associated software build on previous work performed for DOE's Office of Technology Development and the former Underground Storage Tank Integrated Demonstration, and complement a decision making tool presented at Waste Management 1994 for integrating technical judgements and non-technical (stakeholder) values when making technology funding decisions

Outlook for renewable energy technologies: Assessment of international programs and policies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Branstetter, L.J.; Vidal, R.C.; Bruch, V.L.; Zurn, R.

1995-02-01

The report presents an evaluation of worldwide research efforts in three specific renewable energy technologies, with a view towards future United States (US) energy security, environmental factors, and industrial competitiveness. The overall energy technology priorities of foreign governments and industry leaders, as well as the motivating factors for these priorities, are identified and evaluated from both technological and policy perspectives. The specific technologies of interest are wind, solar thermal, and solar photovoltaics (PV). These program areas, as well as the overall energy policies of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom (UK), Japan, Russia, and the European Community as a whole are described. The present and likely future picture for worldwide technological leadership in these technologies-is portrayed. The report is meant to help in forecasting challenges to US preeminence in the various technology areas, particularly over the next ten years, and to help guide US policy-makers as they try to identify specific actions which would help to retain and/or expand the US leadership position.

A unifying property for distribution-sensitive priority queues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elmasry, Amr Ahmed Abd Elmoneim; Farzan, Arash; Iacono, John

2011-01-01

, before) the last access of x and are still in the priority queue at the time when the corresponding operation is performed. Our priority queue then has both the working-set and the queueish properties; and, more strongly, it satisfies these properties in the worst-case sense. We also argue...... that these bounds are the best possible with respect to the considered measures. Moreover, we modify our priority queue to satisfy a new unifying property - the time-finger property - which encapsulates both the working-set and the queueish properties. In addition, we prove that the working-set bound......We present a priority queue that supports the operations: insert in worst-case constant time, and delete, delete-min, find-min and decrease-key on an element x in worst-case O(lg(min{wx, qx} + 2)) time, where wx (respectively, qx) is the number of elements that were accessed after (respectively...

Setting priorities in health care organizations: criteria, processes, and parameters of success.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, Jennifer L; Martin, Douglas K; Singer, Peter A

2004-09-08

Hospitals and regional health authorities must set priorities in the face of resource constraints. Decision-makers seek practical ways to set priorities fairly in strategic planning, but find limited guidance from the literature. Very little has been reported from the perspective of Board members and senior managers about what criteria, processes and parameters of success they would use to set priorities fairly. We facilitated workshops for board members and senior leadership at three health care organizations to assist them in developing a strategy for fair priority setting. Workshop participants identified 8 priority setting criteria, 10 key priority setting process elements, and 6 parameters of success that they would use to set priorities in their organizations. Decision-makers in other organizations can draw lessons from these findings to enhance the fairness of their priority setting decision-making. Lessons learned in three workshops fill an important gap in the literature about what criteria, processes, and parameters of success Board members and senior managers would use to set priorities fairly.

The OMERACT ultrasound task force -- Advances and priorities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

D'Agostino, Maria-Antonietta; Conaghan, Philip G; Naredo, Esperanza

2009-01-01

This article reports the most recent work of the OMERACT Ultrasound Task Force (post OMERACT 8) and highlights of future research priorities discussed at the OMERACT 9 meeting, Kananaskis, Canada, May 2008. Results of 3 studies were presented: (1) assessing intermachine reliability; (2) applying...... system for the hand on other joints (including shoulder). Study conclusions were discussed and a future research agenda was generated, notably the further development of a Global OMERACT Sonography Scoring (GLOSS) system in RA, emphasizing the importance of testing feasibility and added value over...... standard clinical variables. Future disease areas of importance to develop include a scoring system for enthesitis and osteoarthritis....

Partnership for Environmental Technology Education

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dickinson, Paul R.; Fosse, Richard

1992-01-01

The need for broad cooperative effort directed toward the enhancement of science and mathematics education, including environmental science and technology has been recognized as a national priority by government, industry, and the academic community alike. In an effort to address this need, the Partnership for Environmental Technology Education (PETE) has been established in the five western states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah. PETE'S overall objectives are to link the technical resources of the DOE, ERA, and NASA Laboratories and private industry with participating community colleges to assist in the development and presentation of curricula for training environmental-Hazardous Materials Technicians and to encourage more transfer students to pursue studies in environmental science at four-year institutions. The program is co-sponsored by DOE and EPA. DoD participation is proposed. PETE is being evaluated by its sponsors as a regional pilot with potential for extension nationally. (author)

The use of nominal group technique in identifying community health priorities in Moshi rural district, northern Tanzania

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Makundi, E A; Manongi, R; Mushi, A K

2005-01-01

in the list implying that priorities should not only be focused on diseases, but should also include health services and social cultural issues. Indeed, methods which are easily understood and applied thus able to give results close to those provided by the burden of disease approaches should be adopted....... The patients/caregivers, women's group representatives, youth leaders, religious leaders and community leaders/elders constituted the principal subjects. Emphasis was on providing qualitative data, which are of vital consideration in multi-disciplinary oriented studies, and not on quantitative information from....... It is the provision of ownership of the derived health priorities to partners including the community that enhances research utilization of the end results. In addition to disease-based methods, the Nominal Group Technique is being proposed as an important research tool for involving the non-experts in priority...

Priority Setting, Cost-Effectiveness, and the Affordable Care Act.

Science.gov (United States)

Persad, Govind

2015-01-01

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) may be the most important health law statute in American history, yet much of the most prominent legal scholarship examining it has focused on the merits of the court challenges it has faced rather than delving into the details of its priority-setting provisions. In addition to providing an overview of the ACA's provisions concerning priority setting and their developing interpretations, this Article attempts to defend three substantive propositions. First, I argue that the ACA is neither uniformly hostile nor uniformly friendly to efforts to set priorities in ways that promote cost and quality. Second, I argue that the ACA does not take a single, unified approach to priority setting; rather, its guidance varies depending on the aspect of the healthcare system at issue (Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Medicare, essential health benefits) and the factors being excluded from priority setting (age, disability, life expectancy). Third, I argue that cost-effectiveness can be achieved within the ACA's constraints, but that doing so will require adopting new approaches to cost-effectiveness and priority setting. By limiting the use of standard cost-effectiveness analysis, the ACA makes the need for workable rivals to cost-effectiveness analysis a pressing practical concern rather than a mere theoretical worry.

Differences between patients' and clinicians' research priorities from the Anaesthesia and Peri-operative Care Priority Setting Partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Boney, O; Nathanson, M H; Grocott, M P W; Metcalf, L

2017-09-01

The James Lind Alliance Anaesthesia and Peri-operative Care Priority Setting Partnership was a recent collaborative venture bringing approximately 2000 patients, carers and clinicians together to agree priorities for future research into anaesthesia and critical care. This secondary analysis compares the research priorities of 303 service users, 1068 clinicians and 325 clinicians with experience as service users. All three groups prioritised research to improve patient safety. Service users prioritised research about improving patient experience, whereas clinicians prioritised research about clinical effectiveness. Clinicians who had experience as service users consistently prioritised research more like clinicians than like service users. Individual research questions about patient experience were more popular with patients and carers than with clinicians in all but one case. We conclude that patients, carers and clinicians prioritise research questions differently. All groups prioritise research into patient safety, but service users also favour research into patient experience, whereas clinicians favour research into clinical effectiveness. © 2017 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

Substantiation the strategic priorities of innovation regional development security

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irina Markovna Golova

2014-09-01

Full Text Available In this article are discussed methodological challenges for strategic priorities ensure security innovation regional development. It is shown that in modern conditions innovative safety is an independent and very important area of security of the region. This innovative security should be understood as a qualitative characteristic that gives insight into the regional socio-economic systems requirements and challenges of the innovation economy, including their ability to recombination. It is considered the basic patterns and features of mutual influence and interaction of innovative and traditional socio-economic development of the territories. The necessity of the joint integrated treatment of innovation and socio-economic development in the management of innovative safety of the region is founded. It is given suggestions on fundamental approaches to the solution of the problem of selecting priority areas for strengthening the sources of innovation development successfully tailored to specific territories. The main positions are illustrated in the example the regions of the Ural Federal District.

Comparison of national health research priority-setting methods and characteristics in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2002-2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Reveiz, Ludovic; Elias, Vanessa; Terry, Robert F; Alger, Jackeline; Becerra-Posada, Francisco

2013-07-01

To compare health research priority-setting methods and characteristics among countries in Latin America and the Caribbean during 2002 - 2012. This was a systematic review that identified national health research policies and priority agendas through a search of ministry and government databases related to health care institutions. PubMed, LILACS, the Health Research Web, and others were searched for the period from January 2002 - February 2012. The study excluded research organized by governmental institutions and specific national strategies on particular disease areas. Priority-setting methods were compared to the "nine common themes for good practice in health research priorities." National health research priorities were compared to those of the World Health Organization's Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Of the 18 Latin American countries assessed, 13 had documents that established national health research priorities; plus the Caribbean Health Research Council had a research agenda for its 19 constituents. These 14 total reports varied widely in terms of objectives, content, dissemination, and implementation; most provided a list of strategic areas, suggestions, and/or sub-priorities for each country; however, few proposed specific research topics and questions. Future reports could be improved by including more details on the comprehensive approach employed to identify priorities, on the information gathering process, and on practices to be undertaken after priorities are set. There is a need for improving the quality of the methodologies utilized and coordinating Regional efforts as countries strive to meet the MDG.

Comparison of national health research priority-setting methods and characteristics in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2002 - 2012

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ludovic Reveiz

2013-07-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To compare health research priority-setting methods and characteristics among countries in Latin America and the Caribbean during 2002 - 2012. METHODS: This was a systematic review that identified national health research policies and priority agendas through a search of ministry and government databases related to health care institutions. PubMed, LILACS, the Health Research Web, and others were searched for the period from January 2002 - February 2012. The study excluded research organized by governmental institutions and specific national strategies on particular disease areas. Priority-setting methods were compared to the "nine common themes for good practice in health research priorities." National health research priorities were compared to those of the World Health Organization's Millennium Development Goals (MDG. RESULTS: Of the 18 Latin American countries assessed, 13 had documents that established national health research priorities; plus the Caribbean Health Research Council had a research agenda for its 19 constituents. These 14 total reports varied widely in terms of objectives, content, dissemination, and implementation; most provided a list of strategic areas, suggestions, and/or sub-priorities for each country; however, few proposed specific research topics and questions. CONCLUSIONS: Future reports could be improved by including more details on the comprehensive approach employed to identify priorities, on the information gathering process, and on practices to be undertaken after priorities are set. There is a need for improving the quality of the methodologies utilized and coordinating Regional efforts as countries strive to meet the MDG.

Gas utilization technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biljetina, R.

1994-01-01

One of the constant challenges facing the research community is the identification of technology needs 5 to 15 years from now. A look back into history indicates that the forces driving natural gas research have changed from decade to decade. In the 1970s research was driven by concerns for adequate supply; in the 1980s research was aimed at creating new markets for natural gas. What then are the driving forces for the 1990s? Recent reports from the natural gas industry have helped define a new direction driven primarily by market demand for natural gas. A study prepared by the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America Foundation entitled ''Survey of Natural Research, Development, and Demonstration RD ampersand D Priorities'' indicated that in the 1990s the highest research priority should be for natural gas utilization and that technology development efforts should not only address efficiency and cost, but environmental and regulatory issues as well. This study and others, such as the report by the American Gas Association (A.G.A.) entitled ''Strategic Vision for Natural Gas Through the Year 2000,'' clearly identify the market sectors driving today's technology development needs. The biggest driver is the power generation market followed by the industrial, transportation, appliance, and gas cooling markets. This is best illustrated by the GRI 1994 Baseline Projection on market growth in various sectors between the year 1992 and 2010. This paper highlights some of the recent technology developments in each one of these sectors

Priority issues affecting operators' and suppliers' liens: the Alberta perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corbett, W.T.

1996-01-01

Selected aspects of priority issues in contractual obligations in the petroleum industry were discussed, focusing on the priority issues claimed by suppliers and operators with respect to Alberta properties. Discussions touched upon suppliers' lien rights in Alberta, operators' set-off rights, and on some of the priority issues involving operators' liens

Using evaluation theory in priority setting and resource allocation.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Neale; Mitton, Craig; Cornelissen, Evelyn; Gibson, Jennifer; Peacock, Stuart

2012-01-01

Public sector interest in methods for priority setting and program or policy evaluation has grown considerably over the last several decades, given increased expectations for accountable and efficient use of resources and emphasis on evidence-based decision making as a component of good management practice. While there has been some occasional effort to conduct evaluation of priority setting projects, the literatures around priority setting and evaluation have largely evolved separately. In this paper, the aim is to bring them together. The contention is that evaluation theory is a means by which evaluators reflect upon what it is they are doing when they do evaluation work. Theories help to organize thinking, sort out relevant from irrelevant information, provide transparent grounds for particular implementation choices, and can help resolve problematic issues which may arise in the conduct of an evaluation project. A detailed review of three major branches of evaluation theory--methods, utilization, and valuing--identifies how such theories can guide the development of efforts to evaluate priority setting and resource allocation initiatives. Evaluation theories differ in terms of their guiding question, anticipated setting or context, evaluation foci, perspective from which benefits are calculated, and typical methods endorsed. Choosing a particular theoretical approach will structure the way in which any priority setting process is evaluated. The paper suggests that explicitly considering evaluation theory makes key aspects of the evaluation process more visible to all stakeholders, and can assist in the design of effective evaluation of priority setting processes; this should iteratively serve to improve the understanding of priority setting practices themselves.

Development of maintenance composite priority index for buildings in Palestine: A pilot case study

Science.gov (United States)

Issa, Amjad; Awad, Riyad

2017-11-01

The current building maintenance practices in Palestine are not based on scientific systematic methods. Most of the municipalities use one criterion to define the maintenance priorities, which is the "worst-first" criterion. Therefore, the current practices in defining buildings maintenance plans are not dealing with the known phases that are generally followed, including those in establishing building inventories, building condition survey, detailed visual inspection, identification of the proper maintenance and rehabilitation measures, and setting priorities. Accordingly, the recent preparation of the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Manual for Palestinian municipalities is an important step to guide them towards preparing and implementing their O&M priority-based plans, considering scare resources. During the course of preparation of the Manual, the proposed procedures were applied at ten pilot municipalities. This study aims to explore the outcome of the implementation of the 2014/2015 O&M buildings maintenance priorities at these municipalities through the development of maintenance composite priority index (PI). The new proposed priority index is a scientific tool that will identify the priority of maintenance buildings through using a systematic procedure instead of first worst one. To achieve this, analyses of the outcome of a questionnaire designed to collect relevant information from these municipalities was conducted. The maintenance priority index for buildings is calculated considering different indicators among them building status (condition), classification and importance of the building, number of beneficiaries (users), safety aspects (severity level in the building), and people complaints. The main component of the PI is the building condition index (BCI) which forms about 40% of the total weight. The physical inspection, which is the main input for calculating the BCI, is conducted on two levels; the primary level, and the secondary level. The

High priority tank sampling and analysis report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, T.M.

1998-03-05

In July 1993, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) transmitted Recommendation 93-5 (Conway 1993) to the US Department of Energy (DOE). Recommendation 93-5 noted that there was insufficient tank waste technical information and the pace to obtain it was too slow to ensure that Hanford Site wastes could be safely stored, that associated operations could be conducted safely, and that future disposal data requirements could be met. In May 1996, the DOE issued Revision 1 of the Recommendation 93-5 Implementation Plan (DOE-RL 1996). The Implementation Plan revision presented a modified approach to achieve the original plan`s objectives. The approach concentrated on actions necessary to ensure that wastes can be safely stored, that operations can be safely conducted, and that timely characterization information for the tank waste Disposal Program could be obtained. The Implementation Plan proposed 28 High Priority tanks, which, if sampled and analyzed, were expected to provide information to answer questions regarding safety and disposal issues. The High Priority tank list was originally developed in Section 9.0 of the Tank Waste Characterization Basis (Brown et al. 1995) by integrating the needs of the various safety and disposal programs. The High Priority tank list represents a set of tanks that were expected to provide the highest information return for characterization resources expended. The High Priority tanks were selected for near-term core sampling and were not expected to be the only tanks that would provide meaningful information. Sampling and analysis of non-High Priority tanks also could be used to provide scientific and technical data to confirm assumptions, calibrate models, and measure safety related phenomenological characteristics of the waste. When the sampling and analysis results of the High Priority and other tanks were reviewed, it was expected that a series of questions should be answered allowing key decisions to be made. The first

High priority tank sampling and analysis report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, T.M.

1998-01-01

In July 1993, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) transmitted Recommendation 93-5 (Conway 1993) to the US Department of Energy (DOE). Recommendation 93-5 noted that there was insufficient tank waste technical information and the pace to obtain it was too slow to ensure that Hanford Site wastes could be safely stored, that associated operations could be conducted safely, and that future disposal data requirements could be met. In May 1996, the DOE issued Revision 1 of the Recommendation 93-5 Implementation Plan (DOE-RL 1996). The Implementation Plan revision presented a modified approach to achieve the original plan's objectives. The approach concentrated on actions necessary to ensure that wastes can be safely stored, that operations can be safely conducted, and that timely characterization information for the tank waste Disposal Program could be obtained. The Implementation Plan proposed 28 High Priority tanks, which, if sampled and analyzed, were expected to provide information to answer questions regarding safety and disposal issues. The High Priority tank list was originally developed in Section 9.0 of the Tank Waste Characterization Basis (Brown et al. 1995) by integrating the needs of the various safety and disposal programs. The High Priority tank list represents a set of tanks that were expected to provide the highest information return for characterization resources expended. The High Priority tanks were selected for near-term core sampling and were not expected to be the only tanks that would provide meaningful information. Sampling and analysis of non-High Priority tanks also could be used to provide scientific and technical data to confirm assumptions, calibrate models, and measure safety related phenomenological characteristics of the waste. When the sampling and analysis results of the High Priority and other tanks were reviewed, it was expected that a series of questions should be answered allowing key decisions to be made. The first

National rf technology research and development program plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-05-01

This plan was prepared by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory at the request of the Office of Fusion Energy, Division of Development and Technology, to define the technology development needs and priorities. The US rf research and development community, with a wide representation from universities, laboratories and industries, participated in many discussions, meetings and in a three-day workshop in developing the needs and priorities definition. This very active and effective involvement of the rf leaders from all of these groups was an essential feature of the activity and results in the plan representing a broad consensus from the magnetic fusion energy development community. In addition, a number of scientists from Japan and Europe participated by providing data

Setting Priorities: Personal Values, Organizational Results. Ideas into Action Guidebooks

Science.gov (United States)

Cartwright, Talula

2007-01-01

Successful leaders get results. To get results, you need to set priorities. This book can help you do a better job of setting priorities, recognizing the personal values that motivate your decision making, the probable trade-offs and consequences of your decisions, and the importance of aligning your priorities with your organization's…

Potential priority pollutants in sewage sludge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eriksson, Eva; Christensen, Nina; Schmidt, Jens Ejbye

2008-01-01

compounds using their inherent properties and environmental fate it was shown that 99 XOCs could be classified as being hazardous with regard to the solid phase and 23 were found to be priority pollutants in the subsequent hazard assessment. The final selected priority pollutants can act as indicators when...... assessing sludge quality. They were compared with European legislations and discussed in regard for pointing out the need for mitigation such as substitution. Furthermore, the potential need for implementation of sludge treatment trains in order to meet the society's needs was addressed....

Determination the Research Priorities in the Field of HIV/AIDS in Iran: A Systematic Review Article.

Science.gov (United States)

Doosti-Irani, Amin; Holakouie-Naieni, Kourosh

2016-09-01

HIV and AIDS have many different epidemiological, social and political aspects. The aim of this study was to determine the research priorities according to the necessary aspects of HIV and AIDS in Iran. The national and international databases were searched to obtain the published articles regarding HIV and AIDS in Iran. All Epidemiologic studies were included in this review for assess research priorities. Of 3059 retrieved references, 362 studies were included. The most studies were conducted in Tehran, Kermanshah, Fars and Kerman provinces. The cross-sectional studies with 71.55% have higher proportion. Studies related to adherence to treatment (0.55%), drug resistance (0.83%) and experience, perception and behavior of HIV/AIDS patients (0.83%) had the lowest proportion of conducted studies. Proportion of studies regarding prevention of HIV was 2.76%. The authors of studies on female sex workers (FSWs) (63.64%) and prisoners (58.82%) suggested further studies on these groups. According to our results, the high-risk groups such as female sex workers, injecting drug users and prisoners are in priority for research. Moreover, topics related to the prevention of HIV and AIDS, adherence to treatment and antiretroviral drug resistance are other research priorities in Iran.

Setting priorities in health care organizations: criteria, processes, and parameters of success

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Douglas K

2004-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Hospitals and regional health authorities must set priorities in the face of resource constraints. Decision-makers seek practical ways to set priorities fairly in strategic planning, but find limited guidance from the literature. Very little has been reported from the perspective of Board members and senior managers about what criteria, processes and parameters of success they would use to set priorities fairly. Discussion We facilitated workshops for board members and senior leadership at three health care organizations to assist them in developing a strategy for fair priority setting. Workshop participants identified 8 priority setting criteria, 10 key priority setting process elements, and 6 parameters of success that they would use to set priorities in their organizations. Decision-makers in other organizations can draw lessons from these findings to enhance the fairness of their priority setting decision-making. Summary Lessons learned in three workshops fill an important gap in the literature about what criteria, processes, and parameters of success Board members and senior managers would use to set priorities fairly.

78 FR 43745 - Expanding National Service Through Partnerships to Advance Government Priorities

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-19

... CNCS and the Director of the Domestic Policy Council, which shall include representatives from agencies... Affairs; (m) the Department of Homeland Security; (n) the Peace Corps; (o) the National Science Foundation...- effectiveness of national service and volunteering interventions in achieving agency priorities, and aggregate...

32 CFR 728.3 - General restrictions and priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... AND DENTAL CARE FOR ELIGIBLE PERSONS AT NAVY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT FACILITIES General § 728.3 General... domiciliary care. Routine dental care, other than dental prosthesis or orthodontia, may be rendered on a space...) Priorities. When care cannot be rendered to all eligible beneficiaries, the priorities in the following chart...

29 CFR 4044.11 - Priority category 1 benefits.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... priority category 1 with respect to that participant is the present value of that annuity. ... 29 Labor 9 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Priority category 1 benefits. 4044.11 Section 4044.11 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION PLAN TERMINATIONS ALLOCATION OF...

Minimizing the cost of subsea developments through technological innovation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eyre, G.; Loth, B.

1994-01-01

The paper summarizes the results of an extensive study carried out for the UK Government. This assessed the cost and economic impact of technological innovation on subsea and floating developments in the UKCS. The study covered, innovations that could be applied to subsea developments to significantly reduce cost, including multiwell completions, composite pipelines, compartmented pipelines, pipeline specification breaking and autonomous control systems. Cost and economic models were used to assess the economic impact of technological innovation on marginal field developments. The results of these assessments were drawn up as a series of ranking lists designed to assist manufacturers and suppliers in establishing priorities for research and development funding. The study also explored the potential UKCS and World market for innovative subsea technologies and quantified the research and development required to bring key innovations into commercial use

Changing Priorities in Vaccinology: Antibiotic Resistance Moving to the Top

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aldo Tagliabue

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Antimicrobial resistance (AMR is currently the most alarming issue for human health. AMR already causes 700,000 deaths/year. It is estimated that 10 million deaths due to AMR will occur every year after 2050. This equals the number of people dying of cancer every year in present times. International institutions such as G20, World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO, UN General Assembly, European Union, and the UK and USA governments are calling for new antibiotics. To underline this emergency, a list of antibiotic-resistant “priority pathogens” has been published by WHO. It contains 12 families of bacteria that represent the greatest danger for human health. Resistance to multiple antibiotics is particularly relevant for the Gram-negative bacteria present in the list. The ability of these bacteria to develop mechanisms to resist treatment could be transmitted with genetic material, allowing other bacteria to become drug resistant. Although the search for new antimicrobial drugs remains a top priority, the pipeline for new antibiotics is not promising, and alternative solutions are needed. A possible answer to AMR is vaccination. In fact, while antibiotic resistance emerges rapidly, vaccines can lead to a much longer lasting control of infections. New technologies, such as the high-throughput cloning of human B cells from convalescent or vaccinated people, allow for finding new protective antigens (Ags that could not be identified with conventional technologies. Antibodies produced by convalescent B cell clones can be screened for their ability to bind, block, and kill bacteria, using novel high-throughput microscopy platforms that rapidly capture digital images, or by conventional technologies such as bactericidal, opsono-phagocytosis and FACS assays. Selected antibodies expressed by recombinant DNA techniques can be used for passive immunization in animal models and tested for protection. Antibodies providing the best protection can be

Fulfillment of the Brazilian Agenda of Priorities in Health Research

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

This commentary describes how the Brazilian Ministry of Health's (MoH) research support policy fulfilled the National Agenda of Priorities in Health Research (NAPHR). In 2003, the MoH started a democratic process in order to establish a priority agenda in health research involving investigators, health managers and community leaders. The Agenda was launched in 2004 and is guiding budget allocations in an attempt to reduce the gap between scientific knowledge and health practice and activities, aiming to contribute to improving Brazilian quality of life. Many strategies were developed, for instance: Cooperation Agreements between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science and Technology; the decentralization of research support at state levels with the participation of local Health Secretariats and Science and Technology Institutions; Health Technology Assessment; innovation in neglected diseases; research networks and multicenter studies in adult, women's and children's health; cardiovascular risk in adolescents; clinical research and stem cell therapy. The budget allocated by the Ministry of Health and partners was expressive: US$419 million to support almost 3,600 projects. The three sub-agenda with the higher proportion of resources were "industrial health complex", "clinical research" and "communicable diseases", which are considered strategic for innovation and national development. The Southeast region conducted 40.5% of all projects and detained 59.7% of the resources, attributable to the concentration of the most traditional health research institutes and universities in the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The second most granted region was the Northeast, which reflects the result of a governmental policy to integrate and modernize this densely populated area and the poorest region in the country. Although Brazil began the design and implementation of the NAPHR in 2003, it has done so in accordance with the 'good practice principles

Fulfillment of the Brazilian Agenda of Priorities in Health Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guimarães Reinaldo

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract This commentary describes how the Brazilian Ministry of Health's (MoH research support policy fulfilled the National Agenda of Priorities in Health Research (NAPHR. In 2003, the MoH started a democratic process in order to establish a priority agenda in health research involving investigators, health managers and community leaders. The Agenda was launched in 2004 and is guiding budget allocations in an attempt to reduce the gap between scientific knowledge and health practice and activities, aiming to contribute to improving Brazilian quality of life. Many strategies were developed, for instance: Cooperation Agreements between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science and Technology; the decentralization of research support at state levels with the participation of local Health Secretariats and Science and Technology Institutions; Health Technology Assessment; innovation in neglected diseases; research networks and multicenter studies in adult, women's and children's health; cardiovascular risk in adolescents; clinical research and stem cell therapy. The budget allocated by the Ministry of Health and partners was expressive: US$419 million to support almost 3,600 projects. The three sub-agenda with the higher proportion of resources were "industrial health complex", "clinical research" and "communicable diseases", which are considered strategic for innovation and national development. The Southeast region conducted 40.5% of all projects and detained 59.7% of the resources, attributable to the concentration of the most traditional health research institutes and universities in the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The second most granted region was the Northeast, which reflects the result of a governmental policy to integrate and modernize this densely populated area and the poorest region in the country. Although Brazil began the design and implementation of the NAPHR in 2003, it has done so in accordance with the 'good

Priority issues affecting operators' and suppliers' liens: the Saskatchewan perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milani, M.W.

1996-01-01

Priority issues in contractual obligations in the petroleum industry were discussed from the perspective of Saskatchewan. In Saskatchewan, the priority issues relative to builders' and suppliers' liens are similar to those of Alberta, but there are some subtle differences, which were addressed. Priority issues claimed by suppliers and operators with respect to Saskatchewan properties were given special attention

Priority of areas for agricultural countermeasure assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rochedo, E.R.R.; Barboza, A.E.; Igreja, E.; Silva, D.N.G. da; Wasserman, A.E.

2015-01-01

Within the overall preparedness related to nuclear and/or radiological accidents that lead to the release of radionuclides to the environment with the consequent contamination of agricultural areas, the priority of research for agricultural areas should then focus on the surrounding areas of nuclear power plants that have higher probability of public exposure through the ingestion pathway. The objective of this work was to create a rank order of priority of agricultural products to be considered in assessing the effects of countermeasures, based on both economic value and doses to the public. Additionally, the study describes relevant needs of radioecological studies to improve short and long-terms dose assessments. . Sixteen municipalities surrounding the Brazilian Nuclear Power Central were analyzed for a contamination with 137 Cs, considering seasonal aspects related to agricultural practices in the Southeastern Brazil. Rank order provided by considering economical aspects shows that there is a need for radioecological research for some high value products, such as palmetto and sugar cane, and the need to include in the current model more detailed description for some food items, such as eggs. Combined rank criteria shows that main product within the considered area is milk. As so, the study of countermeasures for the ingestion of milk should be prioritized. (authors)

Dynamics and structure of project performers of the «Federal target program for research and development in priority areas of development of the Russian scientific and technological complex for 2014–2020»

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. N. Chernova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article considers socio-demographic issues of research and development of the «Federal Target Program for Research and Development in Priority Areas of Development of the Russian Scientific and Technological Complex for 2014–2020». Analysis based on project's documents in the Program from 2014 to 2016. We studied the dynamics in both quantitative and qualitative characteristics of project performers – applied research and experimental development, and defined trends of project R&D personnel changes, including sociodemographic characteristics: age, size and composition of performers, the proportion of researchers with academic degree, and the proportion of women-researchers. In the article it is shown that specialists under 40 years of age are the largest part of project performers. The renewal of project personnel in time of projects is 65 percent. In the article it is also shown a strong correlation between project academic personnel and academic personnel of Russia as a whole. We devised proposals for tracking quantitative and qualitative parameters of project performers and for securing growth the skill level of young specialists in projects.

Priority Setting for Improvement of Cervical Cancer Prevention in Iran

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Majidi, A.; Ghiasvand, R.; Hadji, M.

2016-01-01

, ICC has low incidence in Iran and many other Muslim countries. There is no organized cervical screening in these countries. Therefore, ICC is usually diagnosed in advanced stages with poor prognosis in these countries. We performed a priority setting exercise and suggested priorities for prevention...... of ICC in this setting. Methods: We invited experts and researchers to a workshop and asked them to list important suggestions for ICC prevention in Iran. After merging similar items and removing the duplicates, we asked the experts to rank the list of suggested items. We used a strategy grid and Go......-zone analysis to determine final list of priorities for ICC prevention in Iran. Results: From 26 final items suggested as priorities for prevention of ICC, the most important priorities were developing national guidelines for cervical screening and quality control protocol for patient follow-up and management...

The order and priority of research and design method application within an assistive technology new product development process: a summative content analysis of 20 case studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Torrens, George Edward

2018-01-01

Summative content analysis was used to define methods and heuristics from each case study. The review process was in two parts: (1) A literature review to identify conventional research methods and (2) a summative content analysis of published case studies, based on the identified methods and heuristics to suggest an order and priority of where and when were used. Over 200 research and design methods and design heuristics were identified. From the review of the 20 case studies 42 were identified as being applied. The majority of methods and heuristics were applied in phase two, market choice. There appeared a disparity between the limited numbers of methods frequently used, under 10 within the 20 case studies, when hundreds were available. Implications for Rehabilitation The communication highlights a number of issues that have implication for those involved in assistive technology new product development: •The study defined over 200 well-established research and design methods and design heuristics that are available for use by those who specify and design assistive technology products, which provide a comprehensive reference list for practitioners in the field; •The review within the study suggests only a limited number of research and design methods are regularly used by industrial design focused assistive technology new product developers; and, •Debate is required within the practitioners working in this field to reflect on how a wider range of potentially more effective methods and heuristics may be incorporated into daily working practice.

The MAP, M/G1,G2/1 queue with preemptive priority

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bong Dae Choi

1997-01-01

Full Text Available We consider the MAP, M/G1,G2/1 queue with preemptive resume priority, where low priority customers arrive to the system according to a Markovian arrival process (MAP and high priority customers according to a Poisson process. The service time density function of low (respectively: high priority customers is g1(x (respectively: g2(x. We use the supplementary variable method with Extended Laplace Transforms to obtain the joint transform of the number of customers in each priority queue, as well as the remaining service time for the customer in service in the steady state. We also derive the probability generating function for the number of customers of low (respectively, high priority in the system just after the service completion epochs for customers of low (respectively, high priority.

1991 Acceptance priority ranking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-12-01

The Standard Contract for Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and/or High- Level Radioactive Waste (10 CFR Part 961) that the Department of Energy (DOE) has executed with the owners and generators of civilian spent nuclear fuel requires annual publication of the Acceptance Priority Ranking (APR). The 1991 APR details the order in which DOE will allocate Federal waste acceptance capacity. As required by the Standard Contract, the ranking is based on the age of permanently discharged spent nuclear fuel (SNF), with the owners of the oldest SNF, on an industry-wide basis, given the highest priority. the 1991 APR will be the basis for the annual allocation of waste acceptance capacity to the Purchasers in the 1991 Annual Capacity Report (ACR), to be issued later this year. This document is based on SNF discharges as of December 31, 1990, and reflects Purchaser comments and corrections, as appropriate, to the draft APR issued on May 15, 1991

How Thailand's greater convergence created sustainable funding for emerging health priorities caused by globalization.

Science.gov (United States)

Charoenca, Naowarut; Kungskulniti, Nipapun; Mock, Jeremiah; Hamann, Stephen; Vathesatogkit, Prakit

2015-01-01

Global health is shifting gradually from a limited focus on individual communicable disease goals to the formulation of broader sustainable health development goals. A major impediment to this shift is that most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have not established adequate sustainable funding for health promotion and health infrastructure. In this article, we analyze how Thailand, a middle-income country, created a mechanism for sustainable funding for health. We analyzed the progression of tobacco control and health promotion policies over the past three decades within the wider political-economic and sociocultural context. We constructed a parallel longitudinal analysis of statistical data on one emerging priority - road accidents - to determine whether policy shifts resulted in reduced injuries, hospitalizations and deaths. In Thailand, the convergence of priorities among national interest groups for sustainable health development created an opportunity to use domestic tax policy and to create a semi-autonomous foundation (ThaiHealth) to address a range of pressing health priorities, including programs that substantially reduced road accidents. Thailand's strategic process to develop a domestic mechanism for sustainable funding for health may provide LMICs with a roadmap to address emerging health priorities, especially those caused by modernization and globalization.

Setting priorities for reducing risk and advancing patient safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaffey, Ann D

2016-04-01

We set priorities every day in both our personal and professional lives. Some decisions are easy, while others require much more thought, participation, and resources. The difficult or less appealing priorities may not be popular, may receive push-back, and may be resource intensive. Whether personal or professional, the urgency that accompanies true priorities becomes a driving force. It is that urgency to ensure our patients' safety that brings many of us to work each day. This is not easy work. It requires us to be knowledgeable about the enterprise we are working in and to have the professional skills and competence to facilitate setting the priorities that allow our organizations to minimize risk and maximize value. © 2016 American Society for Healthcare Risk Management of the American Hospital Association.

Contaminant plumes containment and remediation focus area. Technology summary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-06-01

EM has established a new approach to managing environmental technology research and development in critical areas of interest to DOE. The Contaminant Plumes Containment and Remediation (Plumes) Focus Area is one of five areas targeted to implement the new approach, actively involving representatives from basic research, technology implementation, and regulatory communities in setting objectives and evaluating results. This document presents an overview of current EM activities within the Plumes Focus Area to describe to the appropriate organizations the current thrust of the program and developing input for its future direction. The Plumes Focus Area is developing remediation technologies that address environmental problems associated with certain priority contaminants found at DOE sites, including radionuclides, heavy metals, and dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). Technologies for cleaning up contaminants of concern to both DOE and other federal agencies, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and other organics and inorganic compounds, will be developed by leveraging resources in cooperation with industry and interagency programs

Contaminant plumes containment and remediation focus area. Technology summary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-06-01

EM has established a new approach to managing environmental technology research and development in critical areas of interest to DOE. The Contaminant Plumes Containment and Remediation (Plumes) Focus Area is one of five areas targeted to implement the new approach, actively involving representatives from basic research, technology implementation, and regulatory communities in setting objectives and evaluating results. This document presents an overview of current EM activities within the Plumes Focus Area to describe to the appropriate organizations the current thrust of the program and developing input for its future direction. The Plumes Focus Area is developing remediation technologies that address environmental problems associated with certain priority contaminants found at DOE sites, including radionuclides, heavy metals, and dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). Technologies for cleaning up contaminants of concern to both DOE and other federal agencies, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and other organics and inorganic compounds, will be developed by leveraging resources in cooperation with industry and interagency programs.

Taxonomic research priorities for the conservation of the South African flora

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lize von Staden

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Taxonomic revisions, monographs and floras are the most important, and often the only source of data for assessing the extinction risk of plants, with recent revisions contributing to more accurate assessments. The recently completed Red List of South African plants involved an overview of the taxonomic literature pertaining to the South African flora, providing an opportunity to identify critical gaps in taxonomic coverage. In this study we identified taxonomic research priorities for effective conservation of South African plants. Priorities were identified at genus level, according to time since last revision, level of endemism, collecting effort, proportion of taxa included in revisions, and specimen identification confidence. Although the results indicate that 62% of the flora has been recently revised, revisionary taxonomic output has declined drastically, particularly in the past 10 years. This decline is a result of a decrease in revisionary productivity per taxonomist and not a result of a decline in the number of working taxonomists. The family Aizoaceae is the top priority for taxonomic research with 55% of taxa in need of revision, followed by Hyacinthaceae with 34% of taxa not yet revised. Ericaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Rutaceae, Malvaceae, Asteraceae and Acanthaceae are also priorities with over 30% of taxa last revised before 1970. We recommend the reinstatement of the Flora of Southern Africa project in an online format in order to centralise South Africa's existing taxonomic information and reinvigorate revisionary taxonomic study. This project will allow South Africa to fulfil its commitments to the Convention on Biodiversity by achieving Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation.

The climate technology initiative

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, Adam

2000-01-01

The CTI (Climate Technology Initiative) aims to promote those technologies which cause the minimum of harm to the environment: reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and supporting those countries most vulnerable to climate change are priorities. A strong case for cogeneration is made and it is pointed out that both the European Union and the USA aim to double their cogeneration capacity by 2010. The CTI holds training courses and seminars all over the world where the barriers to the expansion of climate-friendly technology are discussed. The article also mentions the CTI Co-operation Technology Implementation Plan, research and development, its website and search engine, its presence at all UNFCCC events and its awards programme

The climate technology initiative

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, Adam [International Energy Agency, Climate Technology Initiative, Paris (France)

2000-12-01

The CTI (Climate Technology Initiative) aims to promote those technologies which cause the minimum of harm to the environment: reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and supporting those countries most vulnerable to climate change are priorities. A strong case for cogeneration is made and it is pointed out that both the European Union and the USA aim to double their cogeneration capacity by 2010. The CTI holds training courses and seminars all over the world where the barriers to the expansion of climate-friendly technology are discussed. The article also mentions the CTI Co-operation Technology Implementation Plan, research and development, its website and search engine, its presence at all UNFCCC events and its awards programme.

NASA Space Technology Roadmaps and Priorities: Restoring NASA's Technological Edge and Paving the Way for a New Era in Space

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Success in executing future NASA space missions will depend on advanced technology developments that should already be underway. It has been years since NASA has had a vigorous, broad-based program in advanced space technology development, and NASA's technology base is largely depleted. As noted in a recent National Research Council report on the U.S. civil space program: Future U.S. leadership in space requires a foundation of sustained technology advances that can enable the development of more capable, reliable, and lower-cost spacecraft and launch vehicles to achieve space program goals. A strong advanced technology development foundation is needed also to enhance technology readiness of new missions, mitigate their technological risks, improve the quality of cost estimates, and thereby contribute to better overall mission cost management. Yet financial support for this technology base has eroded over the years. The United States is now living on the innovation funded in the past and has an obligation to replenish this foundational element. NASA has developed a draft set of technology roadmaps to guide the development of space technologies under the leadership of the NASA Office of the Chief Technologist. The NRC appointed the Steering Committee for NASA Technology Roadmaps and six panels to evaluate the draft roadmaps, recommend improvements, and prioritize the technologies within each and among all of the technology areas as NASA finalizes the roadmaps. The steering committee is encouraged by the initiative NASA has taken through the Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) to develop technology roadmaps and to seek input from the aerospace technical community with this study.

Priority economic sector and household income in Indonesia (an analysis of input output)

Science.gov (United States)

Subanti, S.; Mulyanto; Hakim, A. R.; Mafruhah, I.; Hakim, I. M.

2018-03-01

This purpose of study aims to identify the roles of priority economic sectors on household incomes in Indonesia. Analyse in this paper used nine economic sectors, that representing result of classification from input output table. This study found that (1) priority economic sector are manufacturing sector & trade hotel and restaurant; (2) sector that have looking forward orientation included agriculture, mining & quarrying, and financial ownership & business services; and (3) electricity, gas, and water supply sector give the biggest impact to household income in Indonesia. The suggestion that policies aimed at increasing productivity and raising skills while encouraging individual participation in the formal labour market are essential.

Fit for purpose? Introducing a rational priority setting approach into a community care setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Cornelissen, Evelyn; Mitton, Craig; Davidson, Alan; Reid, Colin; Hole, Rachelle; Visockas, Anne-Marie; Smith, Neale

2016-06-20

Purpose - Program budgeting and marginal analysis (PBMA) is a priority setting approach that assists decision makers with allocating resources. Previous PBMA work establishes its efficacy and indicates that contextual factors complicate priority setting, which can hamper PBMA effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to gain qualitative insight into PBMA effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach - A Canadian case study of PBMA implementation. Data consist of decision-maker interviews pre (n=20), post year-1 (n=12) and post year-2 (n=9) of PBMA to examine perceptions of baseline priority setting practice vis-à-vis desired practice, and perceptions of PBMA usability and acceptability. Findings - Fit emerged as a key theme in determining PBMA effectiveness. Fit herein refers to being of suitable quality and form to meet the intended purposes and needs of the end-users, and includes desirability, acceptability, and usability dimensions. Results confirm decision-maker desire for rational approaches like PBMA. However, most participants indicated that the timing of the exercise and the form in which PBMA was applied were not well-suited for this case study. Participant acceptance of and buy-in to PBMA changed during the study: a leadership change, limited organizational commitment, and concerns with organizational capacity were key barriers to PBMA adoption and thereby effectiveness. Practical implications - These findings suggest that a potential way-forward includes adding a contextual readiness/capacity assessment stage to PBMA, recognizing organizational complexity, and considering incremental adoption of PBMA's approach. Originality/value - These insights help us to better understand and work with priority setting conditions to advance evidence-informed decision making.

Evidence gaps in advanced cancer care: community-based clinicians' perspectives and priorities for CER.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowry, Sarah J; Loggers, Elizabeth T; Bowles, Erin J A; Wagner, Edward H

2012-05-01

Although much effort has focused on identifying national comparative effectiveness research (CER) priorities, little is known about the CER priorities of community-based practitioners treating patients with advanced cancer. CER priorities of managed care-based clinicians may be valuable as reflections of both payer and provider research interests. We conducted mixed methods interviews with 10 clinicians (5 oncologists and 5 pharmacists) at 5 health plans within the Health Maintenance Organization Cancer Research Network. We asked, "What evidence do you most wish you had when treating patients with advanced cancer" and questioned participants on their impressions and knowledge of CER and pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs). We conducted qualitative analyses to identify themes across interviews. Ninety percent of participants had heard of CER, 20% had heard of PCTs, and all rated CER/PCTs as highly relevant to patient and health plan decision making. Each participant offered between 3 and 10 research priorities. Half (49%) involved head-to-head treatment comparisons; another 20% involved comparing different schedules or dosing regimens of the same treatment. The majority included alternative outcomes to survival (eg, toxicity, quality of life, noninferiority). Participants cited several limitations to existing evidence, including lack of generalizability, funding biases, and rapid development of new treatments. Head-to-head treatment comparisons remain a major evidence need among community- based oncology clinicians, and CER/PCTs are highly valued methods to address the limitations of traditional randomized trials, answer questions of cost-effectiveness or noninferiority, and inform data-driven dialogue and decision making by all stakeholders.

Priorities for research in miscarriage: a priority setting partnership between people affected by miscarriage and professionals following the James Lind Alliance methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Prior, Matthew; Bagness, Carmel; Brewin, Jane; Coomarasamy, Arri; Easthope, Lucy; Hepworth-Jones, Barbara; Hinshaw, Kim; O'Toole, Emily; Orford, Julie; Regan, Lesley; Raine-Fenning, Nick; Shakespeare, Judy; Small, Rachel; Thornton, Jim; Metcalf, Leanne

2017-08-23

To identify and prioritise important research questions for miscarriage. A priority setting partnership using prospective surveys and consensus meetings following methods advocated by the James Lind Alliance. UK. Women and those affected by miscarriage working alongside healthcare professionals. In the initial survey, 1093 participants (932 women who have experienced miscarriage, 8 partners, 17 family members, friends or colleagues, 104 healthcare professionals and eight charitable organisations) submitted 3279 questions. A review of existing literature identified a further 64. Non-questions were removed, and the remaining questions were categorised and summarised into 58 questions. In an interim electronic survey, 2122 respondents chose their top 10 priorities from the 58 summary questions. The 25 highest ranked in the survey were prioritised at a final face-to-face workshop. In summary, the top 10 priorities were ranked as follows: research into preventative treatment, emotional aspects in general, investigation, relevance of pre-existing medical conditions, emotional support as a treatment, importance of lifestyle factors, importance of genetic and chromosomal causes, preconception tests, investigation after different numbers of miscarriage and male causal factors. These results should be the focus of future miscarriage research. Presently, studies are being conducted to address the top priority; however, many other priorities, especially psychological and emotional support, are less well researched areas. We hope our results will encourage both researchers and funders to focus on these priorities. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Promoting community participation in priority setting in district health systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kamuzora, Peter; Maluka, Stephen; Ndawi, Benedict

2013-01-01

Community participation in priority setting in health systems has gained importance all over the world, particularly in resource-poor settings where governments have often failed to provide adequate public-sector services for their citizens. Incorporation of public views into priority setting...... is perceived as a means to restore trust, improve accountability, and secure cost-effective priorities within healthcare. However, few studies have reported empirical experiences of involving communities in priority setting in developing countries. The aim of this article is to provide the experience...... of implementing community participation and the challenges of promoting it in the context of resource-poor settings, weak organizations, and fragile democratic institutions....

Determining priorities of current and long-range pollution control projects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clark, E O

1977-01-01

The dilemma facing corporations of setting priorities on pollution control projects is reviewed and procedural guidelines outlined. The management must support those assigned to analyze priorities so that they have the opportunity to experiment and make quantitative studies, to evaluate their results, and to make independent recommendations. Priority is then given to the problems of air, noise, water, and land pollution in accordance with the company's environmental record. Each of the four categories, however, has its own legal, technical, and financial aspects that require further priority analysis. Each company must adopt and publish a regularly updated environmental policy that will have public visibility. (DCK)

Priority Settings in patients with Chronic Diseases and Cancer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arreskov, Anne Beiter; Graungaard, Anette Hauskov; Søndergaard, Jens

Priority setting in patients with cancer and comorbidities Background and aim As both the cancer incidence and the number of patients diagnosed with chronic diseases are increasing, a growing population of cancer survivors will also deal with comorbid chronic diseases. The period after completed...... to comorbidities. Some studies show that participation in regular follow-up consultations concerning comorbid chronic diseases and lifestyle are lower among cancer survivors than non-cancer patients. This could be explained by changes in the patient’s priority setting or in the doctor’s priority and attempt...... to spare the patient for further treatment burden, perhaps resulting in comorbidities falling down the agenda. The overall purpose is to explore patients’ and doctors’ priority settings of comorbidities in patients who have been diagnosed with non-metastatic cancer. Method: The study will consist of three...

Energy priorities and options for the European Community

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Audland, C.J.

1984-01-01

The paper discusses the energy priorities and options for the European Community. Reasons for the recent improvement in the efficiency of energy use are briefly discussed, as well as the outlook for 1990, priorities for the future, solid fuels. natural gas, electricity and nuclear energy. Energy policy considerations in the United Kingdom are also mentioned. (U.K.)

An Emergency Medicine Research Priority Setting Partnership to establish the top 10 research priorities in emergency medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Jason; Keating, Liza; Flowerdew, Lynsey; O'Brien, Rachel; McIntyre, Sam; Morley, Richard; Carley, Simon

2017-07-01

Defining research priorities in a specialty as broad as emergency medicine is a significant challenge. In order to fund and complete the most important research projects, it is imperative that we identify topics that are important to all clinicians, society and to our patients. We have undertaken a priority setting partnership to establish the most important questions facing emergency medicine. The top 10 questions reached through a consensus process are discussed. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Setting healthcare priorities in hospitals: a review of empirical studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Barasa, Edwine W; Molyneux, Sassy; English, Mike; Cleary, Susan

2015-04-01

Priority setting research has focused on the macro (national) and micro (bedside) level, leaving the meso (institutional, hospital) level relatively neglected. This is surprising given the key role that hospitals play in the delivery of healthcare services and the large proportion of health systems resources that they absorb. To explore the factors that impact upon priority setting at the hospital level, we conducted a thematic review of empirical studies. A systematic search of PubMed, EBSCOHOST, Econlit databases and Google scholar was supplemented by a search of key websites and a manual search of relevant papers' reference lists. A total of 24 papers were identified from developed and developing countries. We applied a policy analysis framework to examine and synthesize the findings of the selected papers. Findings suggest that priority setting practice in hospitals was influenced by (1) contextual factors such as decision space, resource availability, financing arrangements, availability and use of information, organizational culture and leadership, (2) priority setting processes that depend on the type of priority setting activity, (3) content factors such as priority setting criteria and (4) actors, their interests and power relations. We observe that there is need for studies to examine these issues and the interplay between them in greater depth and propose a conceptual framework that might be useful in examining priority setting practices in hospitals. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2014; all rights reserved.

Advancing CANDU technology AECL's Development program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Torgerson, D.F.

1997-01-01

AECL has a comprehensive product development program that is advancing all aspects of CANDU technology including fuel and fuel cycles, fuel channels, heavy water and tritium technology, safety technology, components and systems, constructability, health and environment, and control and instrumentation. The technology arising from these programs is being incorporated into the CANDU design through an evolutionary process. This evolutionary process is focused on improving economics, enhancing safety and ensuring fuel cycle flexibility to secure fuel supply for the foreseeable future. This strategic thrusts are being used by CANDU designers and researchers to set priorities and goals for AECL's development activities. The goals are part of a 25-year development program that culminates in the 'CANDU X'. The 'CANDU X' is not a specific design - it is a concept that articulates our best extrapolation of what is achievable with the CANDU design over the next 25 years, and includes the advanced features arising from the R and D and engineering to be done over that time. AECL's current product, the 700 MWe class CANDU 6 and the 900 MWe class CANDU 9, both incorporate output from the development programs as the technology become available. A brief description of each development areas is given below. The paper ends with the conclusion that AECL has a clear vision of how CANDU technology and products will evolve over the next several years, and has structured a comprehensive development program to take full advantage of the inherent characteristics of heavy water reactors. (author)

Establishing Priorities for Sustainable Environmental Design in the Rural Villages of Yunnan, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrian Pitts

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses sustainable rural village development in China. Rural development is unlike the process of urbanization in Chinese cities and reflects different land ownership rules and different organizational structures. Even though there are an increasing number of Chinese residents in cities, there are still more than 600 million people living in the countryside. The attention lavished on city development has been, in part, now refocused to rural villages. Since 2006, the support for large-scale investment in the countryside has created much change; however, not all of this change is well organized, with potential for less than optimum impacts on the environment and sustainability. The paper identifies the key influences and drivers from historic and contemporary points of view. The sustainability of the villages will derive from long-term self-sufficiency, and this must include the understanding of environmental design principles, which enable suitable dwelling design. Two villages are taken as contrasting examples, and information derived from other sources is discussed. Technologies and techniques that can help determine environmental design priorities are evaluated and directions for future development suggested. This includes development of a design support aid with key drivers of: orientation and site location, window design and key construction features.

Technology and knowledge transfer for development

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Chakwizira, J

2008-01-01

Full Text Available policy makers, higher education and research (HER) communities, production entrepreneurs, funding agencies and consumers associations should be given priority. More emphasis on technological education and training as well as on the ability to acquire... Universities, Higher Education and Research & Development Institutions, Ministries of Education, Science & Technology in collaboration and partnership with other Ministries such as Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment & Tourism, Ministry of Mining...

76 FR 56362 - National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan National Priorities List

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-13

... and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan National Priorities List AGENCY: Environmental... protection, Air pollution control, Chemicals, Hazardous Waste, Hazardous substances, Intergovernmental... processing the deletion notice. The online Federal Document Management System (FDMS) did not include required...

[Evaluation and selection of VOCs treatment technologies in packaging and printing industry].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hai-Lin; Wang, Jun-Hui; Zhu, Chun-Lei; Nie, Lei; Hao, Zheng-Ping

2014-07-01

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play an important role in urban air pollution. Activities of industries including the packaging and printing industries are regarded as the major sources. How to select the suitable treating techniques is the major problem for emission control. In this article, based on the VOCs emission characteristics of the packaging and printing industry and the existing treatment technologies, using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model, an evaluation system for VOCs selection was established and all the technologies used for treatment were assessed. It showed that the priority selection was in the following order: Carbon Fiber Adsorption-Desorption > Granular Carbon Adsorption-Desorption > Thermal Combustion > Regenerative Combustion > Catalytic combustion > Rotary adsorption-concentration and combustion > Granular Carbon adsorption-concentration and combustion. Carbon Fiber Adsorption-Desorption was selected as the best available technology due to its highest weight among those technologies.

HySafe research priorities workshop report Summary of the workshop organized in cooperation with US DOE and supported by EC JRC in Washington DC November 10-11 2014.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jay Keller; Laura Hill; Kristian Kiuru; Groth, Katrina M.; Hecht, Ethan; Will James

2016-03-01

The HySafe research priorities workshop is held on the even years between the International Conference on Hydrogen Safety (ICHS) which is held on the odd years. The research priorities workshop is intended to identify the state-of-the-art in understanding of the physical behavior of hydrogen and hydrogen systems with a focus on safety. Typical issues addressed include behavior of unintended hydrogen releases, transient combustion phenomena, effectiveness of mitigation measures, and hydrogen effects in materials. In the workshop critical knowledge gaps are identified. Areas of research and coordinated actions for the near and medium term are derived and prioritized from these knowledge gaps. The stimulated research helps pave the way for the rapid and safe deployment of hydrogen technologies on a global scale. To support the idea of delivering globally accepted research priorities for hydrogen safety the workshop is organized as an internationally open meeting. In attendance are stakeholders from the academic community (universities, national laboratories), funding agencies, and industry. The industry participation is critically important to ensure that the research priorities align with the current needs of the industry responsible for the deployment of hydrogen technologies. This report presents the results of the HySafe Research Priorities Workshop held in Washing- ton, D.C. on November 10-11, 2014. At the workshop the participants presented updates (since the previous workshop organized two years before in Berlin, Germany) of their research and development work on hydrogen safety. Following the workshop, participants were asked to provide feedback on high-priority topics for each of the research areas discussed and to rank research area categories and individual research topics within these categories. The research areas were ranked as follows (with the percentage of the vote in parenthesis): 1. Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) Tools (23%) 2. Reduced Model

78 FR 8587 - Thomson Reuters, Finance Operations & Technology Division, Including On-Site Leased Workers From...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-06

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-81,755] Thomson Reuters, Finance Operations & Technology Division, Including On-Site Leased Workers From Adecco; Eagan, MN; Amended Certification Regarding Eligibility To Apply for Worker Adjustment Assistance In accordance with Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (`...

Assessing the performance of mental health service facilities for meeting patient priorities and health service responsiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Bramesfeld, A; Stegbauer, C

2016-10-01

The World Health Organisation has defined health service responsiveness as one of the key-objectives of health systems. Health service responsiveness relates to the ability to respond to service users' legitimate expectations on non-medical issues when coming into contact with the services of a healthcare system. It is defined by the areas showing respect for persons and patient orientation. Health service responsiveness is particularly relevant to mental health services, due to the specific vulnerability of mental health patients but also because it matches what mental health patients consider as good quality of care as well as their priorities when seeking healthcare. As (mental) health service responsiveness applies equally to all concerned services it would be suitable as a universal indicator for the quality of services' performance. However, performance monitoring programs in mental healthcare rarely assess health service performance with respect to meeting patient priorities. This is in part due of patient priorities as an outcome being underrepresented in studies that evaluate service provision. The lack of studies using patient priorities as outcomes transmits into evidence based guidelines and subsequently, into underrepresentation of patient priorities in performance monitoring. Possible ways out of this situation include more intervention studies using patient priorities as outcome, considering evidence from qualitative studies in guideline development and developing performance monitoring programs along the patient pathway and on key-points of relevance for service quality from a patient perspective.

PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF THE LOW-TEMPERATURE WASTE FORM TECHNOLOGY COUPLED WITH TECHNETIUM REMOVAL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fox, K.

2014-05-13

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) is engaging the national laboratories to provide the scientific and technological rigor to support EM program and project planning, technology development and deployment, project execution, and assessment of program outcomes. As an early demonstration of this new responsibility, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) have been chartered to implement a science and technology program addressing low-temperature waste forms for immobilization of DOE aqueous waste streams, including technetium removal as an implementing technology. As a first step, the laboratories examined the technical risks and uncertainties associated with the Cast Stone waste immobilization projects at Hanford. Science and technology needs were identified for work associated with 1) conducting performance assessments and risk assessments of waste form and disposal system performance, and 2) technetium chemistry in tank wastes and separations of technetium from waste processing streams. Technical approaches to address the science and technology needs were identified and an initial sequencing priority was suggested. The following table summarizes the most significant science and technology needs and associated approaches to address those needs. These approaches and priorities will be further refined and developed as strong integrated teams of researchers from national laboratories, contractors, industry, and academia are brought together to provide the best science and technology solutions. Implementation of a science and technology program that addresses these needs by pursuing the identified approaches will have immediate benefits to DOE in reducing risks and uncertainties associated with near-term decisions regarding supplemental immobilization at Hanford. Longer term, the work has the potential for cost savings and for providing a strong technical foundation for future

Exploration Technology Development including Surface Acoustic Wave RFID chips

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This project is focused on maturing future surface exploration technologies and instrumentation and working towards flight instrumentation and systems to support...

Setting priorities for EU healthcare workforce IT skills competence improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Sisi; Bamidis, Panagiotis D; Konstantinidis, Stathis Th; Traver, Vicente; Car, Josip; Zary, Nabil

2017-04-01

A major challenge for healthcare quality improvement is the lack of IT skills and knowledge of healthcare workforce, as well as their ambivalent attitudes toward IT. This article identifies and prioritizes actions needed to improve the IT skills of healthcare workforce across the EU. A total of 46 experts, representing different fields of expertise in healthcare and geolocations, systematically listed and scored actions that would improve IT skills among healthcare workforce. The Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative methodology was used for research priority-setting. The participants evaluated the actions using the following criteria: feasibility, effectiveness, deliverability, and maximum impact on IT skills improvement. The leading priority actions were related to appropriate training, integrating eHealth in curricula, involving healthcare workforce in the eHealth solution development, improving awareness of eHealth, and learning arrangement. As the different professionals' needs are prioritized, healthcare workforce should be actively and continuously included in the development of eHealth solutions.

International identification of research priorities for postgraduate theses in musculoskeletal physiotherapy using a modified Delphi technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Rushton, Alison; Moore, Ann

2010-04-01

Research priorities are established to identify gaps and maximise opportunities in developing an evidence base. Numerous postgraduate research theses are undertaken each year within the specialist area of musculoskeletal physiotherapy, and although some are published, greater potential for influence exists. This paper identifies international research priorities for postgraduate theses developed using a consensual Delphi process. A purposive sample included course tutors and expert clinicians nominated by Member Organisations of the International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists (N=91). Round 1 requested >10 priorities for theses, and content analysis identified research themes. Round 2 requested participants rank the importance of each theme on a 1-5 scale, and round 3 requested ranking the importance and feasibility of the research question areas within each agreed theme. Descriptive analysis and use of Kendall's coefficient of concordance enabled interpretation of consensus. The response rate of 68% was good, identifying 23 research themes in round 1. Round 2 identified 14 research themes as important. Participant rating of the importance and feasibility of research question areas in round 3 supported 43 agreed priorities demonstrating good measurement validity. Establishing priorities provides a vision of how postgraduate theses can contribute to the developing evidence base and offer a focus for international collaboration. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hydropower, social priorities and the rural–urban development divide: The case of large dams in Cambodia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siciliano, Giuseppina; Urban, Frauke; Kim, Sour; Dara Lonn, Pich

2015-01-01

Hydropower investment is a priority in many developing countries, as a means to increase electrification rates and promote national development. However, neglect of dam-affected people's needs, can make them vulnerable to the multifaceted impacts of such projects. Using the case of Cambodia's first large dam, the Kamchay dam, this paper reveals social priorities of affected communities and institutional actors linked to environmental and social implications of large hydropower projects using a preference ranking method. Qualitative research revealed concerns among dam-affected communities which included energy access, livelihood changes, environmental impacts, access to natural resources and compensation. Results also reveal divergence between national and local priorities, which in turn brings about an unequal distribution of costs and benefits of the Kamchay Dam between urban and rural areas. The paper provides recommendations to policy-makers, NGOs and international organizations regarding governance issues, consultation processes and mitigation measures. - Highlights: • We assess social priorities linked to the impacts of a large dam in Cambodia. • We examine differences between local actors in the prioritization of the impacts. • Findings show divergences between national and local priorities of dam construction. • Distribution of cost and benefit is spatially unequal between rural and urban areas.

Patient involvement in research priorities (PIRE)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Piil, Karin; Jarden, Mary

2016-01-01

Introduction: Patient involvement in healthcare has expanded from the clinical practice setting to include collaboration during the research process. There has been a growing international interest in patient and public involvement in setting research priorities to reduce the risk of discrepancy...... between what patients with cancer and their relatives experience as important unanswered questions and those which are actually researched. This study aims to challenge the conventional research process by inviting patients with life-threatening cancer (primary malignant brain tumours or acute leukaemia......), relatives and patient organisations to join forces with clinical specialists and researchers to identify, discuss and prioritise supportive care and rehabilitation issues in future research. Methods and analysis: This is an exploratory qualitative study comprising two sets of three focus group interviews...

A population-based model for priority setting across the care continuum and across modalities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mortimer Duncan

2006-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Health-sector Wide (HsW priority setting model is designed to shift the focus of priority setting away from 'program budgets' – that are typically defined by modality or disease-stage – and towards well-defined target populations with a particular disease/health problem. Methods The key features of the HsW model are i a disease/health problem framework, ii a sequential approach to covering the entire health sector, iii comprehensiveness of scope in identifying intervention options and iv the use of objective evidence. The HsW model redefines the unit of analysis over which priorities are set to include all mutually exclusive and complementary interventions for the prevention and treatment of each disease/health problem under consideration. The HsW model is therefore incompatible with the fragmented approach to priority setting across multiple program budgets that currently characterises allocation in many health systems. The HsW model employs standard cost-utility analyses and decision-rules with the aim of maximising QALYs contingent upon the global budget constraint for the set of diseases/health problems under consideration. It is recognised that the objective function may include non-health arguments that would imply a departure from simple QALY maximisation and that political constraints frequently limit degrees of freedom. In addressing these broader considerations, the HsW model can be modified to maximise value-weighted QALYs contingent upon the global budget constraint and any political constraints bearing upon allocation decisions. Results The HsW model has been applied in several contexts, recently to osteoarthritis, that has demonstrated both its practical application and its capacity to derive clear evidenced-based policy recommendations. Conclusion Comparisons with other approaches to priority setting, such as Programme Budgeting and Marginal Analysis (PBMA and modality-based cost

Advancing Evidence-Based Assessment in School Mental Health: Key Priorities for an Applied Research Agenda.

Science.gov (United States)

Arora, Prerna G; Connors, Elizabeth H; George, Melissa W; Lyon, Aaron R; Wolk, Courtney B; Weist, Mark D

2016-12-01

Evidence-based assessment (EBA) is a critically important aspect of delivering high-quality, school-based mental health care for youth. However, research in this area is limited and additional applied research on how best to support the implementation of EBA in school mental health (SMH) is needed. Accordingly, this manuscript seeks to facilitate the advancement of research on EBA in SMH by reviewing relevant literature on EBA implementation in schools and providing recommendations for key research priorities. Given the limited number of published studies available, findings from child and adolescent mental health and implementation science research are also included to inform a robust and comprehensive research agenda on this topic. Based on this literature review, five priorities for research on EBA in SMH are outlined: (1) effective identification of assessment targets, (2) appropriate selection of assessment measures, (3) investigation of organizational readiness for EBA, (4) study of implementation support for EBA, and (5) promotion of EBA data integration and use. Each priority area includes recommended directions for future research. A comprehensive and robust research agenda is warranted to build the science and practice of implementing EBA in SMH. Specific directions for this agenda are offered.

78 FR 26560 - Proposed Priority-National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research-Rehabilitation...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-07

... in nonrural areas (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011b), and rural vocational rehabilitation clients with... priorities, we designate the type of each priority as absolute, competitive preference, or invitational...)). Competitive preference priority: Under a competitive preference priority, we give competitive preference to an...

Roadmapping or development of future investments in environmental science and technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilburn, D. (Dianne)

2002-01-01

This paper will summarize efforts in roadmapping SCFA technical targets, which could be used for selection of future projects. The timely lessons learned and insights will be valuable to other programs desiring to roadmap large amounts of workscope, but unsure how to successfully complete it, by adequately defining a strategy to develop alternatives and core technologies to ensure needed environmental technologies are available and allow delivery of viable alternatives. In early FY02, Los Alamos National Laboratory's Environmental Science and Waste Technology Program Office was working jointly with Idaho National Environmental Engineering Laboratory to define and develop science and technology mini-roadmaps. We were defining and developing these mini-roadmaps to provide direction and guidance for DOE's Environmental Management's (DOE-EM) Subsurface Contaminants Focus Area (SCFA) in their development of target technologies. DOE EM's Strategic Plan for Science and Technology provides guidance for meeting science and technology needs with a view of the desired future and the long-term strategy to attain it. Program and technology mini-roadmapping were to be used to establish priorities, set program and project direction, and identify the high-priority science and technology need areas according to this document. In the past, EM science and technology needs collection is achieved through the DOE Site Technology Coordination Groups (STCG) across the complex. A future system for needs collection has not been defined. However, there is a need for gap analyses and a technical approach for the prioritization of these needs for DOE-EM to be strategic and successful in their technology research, development, demonstration, and deployments. To define the R&D projects needed to solve particular problems and select the project with the largest potential payoff will require analysis for project selection. Mini-roadmaps could be used for setting goals and

Stakeholder Engagement to Identify Priorities for Improving the Quality and Value of Critical Care.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henry T Stelfox

Full Text Available Large amounts of scientific evidence are generated, but not implemented into patient care (the 'knowledge-to-care' gap. We identified and prioritized knowledge-to-care gaps in critical care as opportunities to improve the quality and value of healthcare.We used a multi-method community-based participatory research approach to engage a Network of all adult (n = 14 and pediatric (n = 2 medical-surgical intensive care units (ICUs in a fully integrated geographically defined healthcare system serving 4 million residents. Participants included Network oversight committee members (n = 38 and frontline providers (n = 1,790. Network committee members used a modified RAND/University of California Appropriateness Methodology, to serially propose, rate (validated 9 point scale and revise potential knowledge-to-care gaps as priorities for improvement. The priorities were sent to frontline providers for evaluation. Results were relayed back to all frontline providers for feedback.Initially, 68 knowledge-to-care gaps were proposed, rated and revised by the committee (n = 32 participants over 3 rounds of review and resulted in 13 proposed priorities for improvement. Then, 1,103 providers (62% response rate evaluated the priorities, and rated 9 as 'necessary' (median score 7-9. Several factors were associated with rating priorities as necessary in multivariable logistic regression, related to the provider (experience, teaching status of ICU and topic (strength of supporting evidence, potential to benefit the patient, potential to improve patient/family experience, potential to decrease costs.A community-based participatory research approach engaged a diverse group of stakeholders to identify 9 priorities for improving the quality and value of critical care. The approach was time and cost efficient and could serve as a model to prioritize areas for research quality improvement across other settings.

Stakeholder Engagement to Identify Priorities for Improving the Quality and Value of Critical Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Stelfox, Henry T; Niven, Daniel J; Clement, Fiona M; Bagshaw, Sean M; Cook, Deborah J; McKenzie, Emily; Potestio, Melissa L; Doig, Christopher J; O'Neill, Barbara; Zygun, David

2015-01-01

Large amounts of scientific evidence are generated, but not implemented into patient care (the 'knowledge-to-care' gap). We identified and prioritized knowledge-to-care gaps in critical care as opportunities to improve the quality and value of healthcare. We used a multi-method community-based participatory research approach to engage a Network of all adult (n = 14) and pediatric (n = 2) medical-surgical intensive care units (ICUs) in a fully integrated geographically defined healthcare system serving 4 million residents. Participants included Network oversight committee members (n = 38) and frontline providers (n = 1,790). Network committee members used a modified RAND/University of California Appropriateness Methodology, to serially propose, rate (validated 9 point scale) and revise potential knowledge-to-care gaps as priorities for improvement. The priorities were sent to frontline providers for evaluation. Results were relayed back to all frontline providers for feedback. Initially, 68 knowledge-to-care gaps were proposed, rated and revised by the committee (n = 32 participants) over 3 rounds of review and resulted in 13 proposed priorities for improvement. Then, 1,103 providers (62% response rate) evaluated the priorities, and rated 9 as 'necessary' (median score 7-9). Several factors were associated with rating priorities as necessary in multivariable logistic regression, related to the provider (experience, teaching status of ICU) and topic (strength of supporting evidence, potential to benefit the patient, potential to improve patient/family experience, potential to decrease costs). A community-based participatory research approach engaged a diverse group of stakeholders to identify 9 priorities for improving the quality and value of critical care. The approach was time and cost efficient and could serve as a model to prioritize areas for research quality improvement across other settings.

Hardware Locks with Priority Ceiling Emulation for a Java Chip-Multiprocessor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strøm, Torur Biskopstø; Schoeberl, Martin

2015-01-01

According to the safety-critical Java specification, priority ceiling emulation is a requirement for implementations, as it has preferable properties, such as avoiding priority inversion and being deadlock free on uni-core systems. In this paper we explore our hardware supported implementation...... of priority ceiling emulation on the multicore Java optimized processor, and compare it to the existing hardware locks on the Java optimized processor. We find that the additional overhead for priority ceiling emulation on a multicore processor is several times higher than simpler, non-premptive locks, mainly...

Making Space for Preservice Teacher Agency through Connected Learning in Preservice Educational Technology Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Lohnes Watulak, Sarah

2018-01-01

Preparing future teachers to integrate technology into their teaching in ways that support transformative student learning is a priority for teacher preparation programs in the United States. However, technology instruction often focuses on functional technology skills, leading to ineffective future technology integration. This study examined two…

Increasing Capacity of Intersections with Transit Priority

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanxi Hao

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Dedicated bus lane (DBL and transit signal priority (TSP are two effective and low-cost ways of improving the reliability of transits. However, these strategies reduce the capacity of general traffic. This paper presents an integrated optimization (IO model to improve the performance of intersections with dedicated bus lanes. The IO model integrated geometry layout, main-signal timing, pre-signal timing and transit priority. The optimization problem is formulated as a Mix-Integer-Non-Linear-Program (MINLP that can be transformed into a Mix-Integer-Linear-Program (MILP and then solved by the standard branch-and-bound technique. The applicability of the IO model is tested through numerical experiment under different intersection layouts and traffic demands. A VISSIM micro simulation model was developed and used to evaluate the performance of the proposed IO model. The test results indicate that the proposed model can increase the capacity and reduce the delay of general traffic when providing priority to buses.

Fast meldable priority queues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølting

1995-01-01

We present priority queues that support the operations Find-Min, Insert, MakeQueue and Meld in worst case time O(1) and Delete and DeleteMin in worst case time O(log n). They can be implemented on the pointer machine and require linear space. The time bounds are optimal for all implementations wh...

Interim Hanford Waste Management Technology Plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1985-09-01

The Interim Hanford Waste Management Technology Plan (HWMTP) is a companion document to the Interim Hanford Waste Management Plan (HWMP). A reference plan for management and disposal of all existing and certain projected future radioactive Hanford Site Defense Wastes (HSDW) is described and discussed in the HWMP. Implementation of the reference plan requires that various open technical issues be satisfactorily resolved. The principal purpose of the HWMTP is to present detailed descriptions of the technology which must be developed to close each of the technical issues associated with the reference plan identified in the HWMP. If alternative plans are followed, however, technology development efforts including costs and schedules must be changed accordingly. Technical issues addressed in the HWMTP and HWMP are those which relate to disposal of single-shell tank wastes, contaminated soil sites, solid waste burial sites, double-shell tank wastes, encapsulated 137 CsCl and 90 SrF 2 , stored and new solid transuranic (TRU) wastes, and miscellaneous wastes such as contaminated sodium metal. Among the high priority issues to be resolved are characterization of various wastes including early determination of the TRU content of future cladding removal wastes; completion of development of vitrification (Hanford Waste Vitrification Plant) and grout technology; control of subsidence in buried waste sites; and development of criteria and standards including performance assessments of systems proposed for disposal of HSDW. Estimates of the technology costs shown in this report are made on the basis that all identified tasks for all issues associated with the reference disposal plan must be performed. Elimination of, consolidation of, or reduction in the scope of individual tasks will, of course, be reflected in corresponding reduction of overall technology costs

Setting research priorities for patients on or nearing dialysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Manns, Braden; Hemmelgarn, Brenda; Lillie, Erin; Dip, Sally Crowe P G; Cyr, Annette; Gladish, Michael; Large, Claire; Silverman, Howard; Toth, Brenda; Wolfs, Wim; Laupacis, Andreas

2014-10-07

With increasing emphasis among health care providers and funders on patient-centered care, it follows that patients and their caregivers should be included when priorities for research are being established. This study sought to identify the most important unanswered questions about the management of kidney failure from the perspective of adult patients on or nearing dialysis, their caregivers, and the health care professionals who care for these patients. Research uncertainties were identified through a national Canadian survey of adult patients on or nearing dialysis, their caregivers, and health care professionals. Uncertainties were refined by a steering committee that included patients, caregivers, researchers, and clinicians to assemble a short-list of the top 30 uncertainties. Thirty-four people (11 patients; five caregivers; eight physicians; six nurses; and one social worker, pharmacist, physiotherapist, and dietitian each) from across Canada subsequently participated in a workshop to determine the top 10 research questions. In total, 1570 usable research uncertainties were received from 317 respondents to the survey. Among these, 259 unique uncertainties were identified; after ranking, these were reduced to a short-list of 30 uncertainties. During the in-person workshop, the top 10 research uncertainties were identified, which included questions about enhanced communication among patients and providers, dialysis modality options, itching, access to kidney transplantation, heart health, dietary restrictions, depression, and vascular access. These can be used alongside the results of other research priority-setting exercises to guide researchers in designing future studies and inform health care funders. Copyright © 2014 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Demographic monitoring of wild muriqui populations: Criteria for defining priority areas and monitoring intensity.

Science.gov (United States)

Strier, Karen B; Possamai, Carla B; Tabacow, Fernanda P; Pissinatti, Alcides; Lanna, Andre M; Rodrigues de Melo, Fabiano; Moreira, Leandro; Talebi, Maurício; Breves, Paula; Mendes, Sérgio L; Jerusalinsky, Leandro

2017-01-01

Demographic data are essential to assessments of the status of endangered species. However, establishing an integrated monitoring program to obtain useful data on contemporary and future population trends requires both the identification of priority areas and populations and realistic evaluations of the kinds of data that can be obtained under different monitoring regimes. We analyzed all known populations of a critically endangered primate, the muriqui (genus: Brachyteles) using population size, genetic uniqueness, geographic importance (including potential importance in corridor programs) and implementability scores to define monitoring priorities. Our analyses revealed nine priority populations for the northern muriqui (B. hypoxanthus) and nine for the southern muriqui (B. arachnoides). In addition, we employed knowledge of muriqui developmental and life history characteristics to define the minimum monitoring intensity needed to evaluate demographic trends along a continuum ranging from simple descriptive changes in population size to predictions of population changes derived from individual based life histories. Our study, stimulated by the Brazilian government's National Action Plan for the Conservation of Muriquis, is fundamental to meeting the conservation goals for this genus, and also provides a model for defining priorities and methods for the implementation of integrated demographic monitoring programs for other endangered and critically endangered species of primates.

Demographic monitoring of wild muriqui populations: Criteria for defining priority areas and monitoring intensity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen B Strier

Full Text Available Demographic data are essential to assessments of the status of endangered species. However, establishing an integrated monitoring program to obtain useful data on contemporary and future population trends requires both the identification of priority areas and populations and realistic evaluations of the kinds of data that can be obtained under different monitoring regimes. We analyzed all known populations of a critically endangered primate, the muriqui (genus: Brachyteles using population size, genetic uniqueness, geographic importance (including potential importance in corridor programs and implementability scores to define monitoring priorities. Our analyses revealed nine priority populations for the northern muriqui (B. hypoxanthus and nine for the southern muriqui (B. arachnoides. In addition, we employed knowledge of muriqui developmental and life history characteristics to define the minimum monitoring intensity needed to evaluate demographic trends along a continuum ranging from simple descriptive changes in population size to predictions of population changes derived from individual based life histories. Our study, stimulated by the Brazilian government's National Action Plan for the Conservation of Muriquis, is fundamental to meeting the conservation goals for this genus, and also provides a model for defining priorities and methods for the implementation of integrated demographic monitoring programs for other endangered and critically endangered species of primates.

How Thailand's greater convergence created sustainable funding for emerging health priorities caused by globalization

Science.gov (United States)

Charoenca, Naowarut; Kungskulniti, Nipapun; Mock, Jeremiah; Hamann, Stephen; Vathesatogkit, Prakit

2015-01-01

Background Global health is shifting gradually from a limited focus on individual communicable disease goals to the formulation of broader sustainable health development goals. A major impediment to this shift is that most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have not established adequate sustainable funding for health promotion and health infrastructure. Objective In this article, we analyze how Thailand, a middle-income country, created a mechanism for sustainable funding for health. Design We analyzed the progression of tobacco control and health promotion policies over the past three decades within the wider political-economic and sociocultural context. We constructed a parallel longitudinal analysis of statistical data on one emerging priority – road accidents – to determine whether policy shifts resulted in reduced injuries, hospitalizations and deaths. Results In Thailand, the convergence of priorities among national interest groups for sustainable health development created an opportunity to use domestic tax policy and to create a semi-autonomous foundation (ThaiHealth) to address a range of pressing health priorities, including programs that substantially reduced road accidents. Conclusions Thailand's strategic process to develop a domestic mechanism for sustainable funding for health may provide LMICs with a roadmap to address emerging health priorities, especially those caused by modernization and globalization. PMID:26328948

How Thailand's greater convergence created sustainable funding for emerging health priorities caused by globalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naowarut Charoenca

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Global health is shifting gradually from a limited focus on individual communicable disease goals to the formulation of broader sustainable health development goals. A major impediment to this shift is that most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs have not established adequate sustainable funding for health promotion and health infrastructure. Objective: In this article, we analyze how Thailand, a middle-income country, created a mechanism for sustainable funding for health. Design: We analyzed the progression of tobacco control and health promotion policies over the past three decades within the wider political-economic and sociocultural context. We constructed a parallel longitudinal analysis of statistical data on one emerging priority – road accidents – to determine whether policy shifts resulted in reduced injuries, hospitalizations and deaths. Results: In Thailand, the convergence of priorities among national interest groups for sustainable health development created an opportunity to use domestic tax policy and to create a semi-autonomous foundation (ThaiHealth to address a range of pressing health priorities, including programs that substantially reduced road accidents. Conclusions: Thailand's strategic process to develop a domestic mechanism for sustainable funding for health may provide LMICs with a roadmap to address emerging health priorities, especially those caused by modernization and globalization.

Multi-criteria evaluation and priority analysis for localization equipment in a thermal power plant using the AHP (analytic hierarchy process)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yagmur, Levent

2016-01-01

Ensuring the safety of its energy supply is one of the main issues for newly industrialized/developing countries when utilizing domestic sources for electricity generation. Turkey depends heavily on imported gas to generate electricity, and the ratio of natural gas power generation to total electricity production is nearly 50%. Coal-fired thermal power plants using domestic resources are considered a good option to decrease the large amount of imported natural gas, and to supply a secure energy demand. However, electricity generation from coal-fired power plants using local lignite reserves is not adequate to maintain a secure energy mix and provide sustainable development, as Turkey does not have indigenous energy sector technology. Therefore, technology transfer and its localization are crucial for newly industrialized/developing countries such as Turkey. The aim of this study is to use the analytic hierarchy process to determine a priority analysis in relation to localization equipment for a thermal power plant. Parameters involved, such as readiness of both infrastructure and human resources, manpower as skilled labor, market potential for equipment developed by transferred technology, and competition in global/internal market, are related to localization in thermal power plant technologies, and are considered in relation to the country's technological capability, design ability, possession of materials/equipment, and ability to erect a plant. Results of analysis show that the boiler is the most important piece of equipment in this respect, and that heaters and fans are ranked after the boiler with respect to local conditions. - Highlights: • Localization of foreign technology was determined for developing countries. • An evaluation and priority analysis were performed for parts of a thermal power plant. • Analytic hierarchy process was applied for the hierarchical ordering of parts when transferring technology.

Research priorities about stoma-related quality of life from the perspective of people with a stoma: A pilot survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Hubbard, Gill; Taylor, Claire; Beeken, Becca; Campbell, Anna; Gracey, Jackie; Grimmett, Chloe; Fisher, Abi; Ozakinci, Gozde; Slater, Sarah; Gorely, Trish

2017-12-01

There is a recognized need to include patients in setting research priorities. Research priorities identified by people with a stoma are rarely elicited. To improve the quality of life of people with a stoma through use of evidence-based practice based on research priorities set by patients. Online pilot survey publicized in 2016 via United Kingdom stoma charities. People ranked nine stoma-related quality of life topics in order of research priority. People 16 years of age and over who currently have or have had a stoma for treatment for any medical condition. Distributions of the priority scores for each of the nine research topics were examined. Group differences were explored using either the Mann-Whitney U-test or the Kruskal-Wallis test depending on the number of groups. In total, 225 people completed the survey. The most important research priority was pouch leak problems and stoma bag/appliance problems followed by hernia risk. There were statistically significant differences in ranking research priorities between males and females, age, underlying disease that led to a stoma, stoma type and length of time with a stoma. People with a stoma are willing to engage in and set research priorities. The results should contribute towards future research about setting the research agenda for the study of stoma-related concerns that impact quality of life. © 2017 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Establishing research priorities for patient safety in emergency medicine: a multidisciplinary consensus panel.

Science.gov (United States)

Plint, Amy C; Stang, Antonia S; Calder, Lisa A

2015-01-01

Patient safety in the context of emergency medicine is a relatively new field of study. To date, no broad research agenda for patient safety in emergency medicine has been established. The objective of this study was to establish patient safety-related research priorities for emergency medicine. These priorities would provide a foundation for high-quality research, important direction to both researchers and health-care funders, and an essential step in improving health-care safety and patient outcomes in the high-risk emergency department (ED) setting. A four-phase consensus procedure with a multidisciplinary expert panel was organized to identify, assess, and agree on research priorities for patient safety in emergency medicine. The 19-member panel consisted of clinicians, administrators, and researchers from adult and pediatric emergency medicine, patient safety, pharmacy, and mental health; as well as representatives from patient safety organizations. In phase 1, we developed an initial list of potential research priorities by electronically surveying a purposeful and convenience sample of patient safety experts, ED clinicians, administrators, and researchers from across North America using contact lists from multiple organizations. We used simple content analysis to remove duplication and categorize the research priorities identified by survey respondents. Our expert panel reached consensus on a final list of research priorities through an in-person meeting (phase 3) and two rounds of a modified Delphi process (phases 2 and 4). After phases 1 and 2, 66 unique research priorities were identified for expert panel review. At the end of phase 4, consensus was reached for 15 research priorities. These priorities represent four themes: (1) methods to identify patient safety issues (five priorities), (2) understanding human and environmental factors related to patient safety (four priorities), (3) the patient perspective (one priority), and (4) interventions for

Multidisciplinary studies of wildlife trade in primates: Challenges and priorities.

Science.gov (United States)

Blair, Mary E; Le, Minh D; Sterling, Eleanor J

2017-11-01

Wildlife trade is increasingly recognized as an unsustainable threat to primate populations and informing its management is a growing focus and application of primatological research. However, management policies based on ecological research alone cannot address complex socioeconomic or cultural contexts as drivers of wildlife trade. Multidisciplinary research is required to understand trade complexity and identify sustainable management strategies. Here, we define multidisciplinary research as research that combines more than one academic discipline, and highlight how the articles in this issue combine methods and approaches to fill key gaps and offer a more comprehensive understanding of underlying drivers of wildlife trade including consumer demand, enforcement patterns, source population status, and accessibility of targeted species. These articles also focus on how these drivers interact at different scales, how trade patterns relate to ethics, and the potential effectiveness of different policy interventions in reducing wildlife trade. We propose priorities for future research on primate trade including expanding from multidisciplinary to interdisciplinary research questions and approaches co-created by research teams that integrate across different disciplines such as cultural anthropology, ecology, economics, and public policy. We also discuss challenges that limit the integration of information across disciplines to meet these priorities. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cyclic delivery scheduling to customers with different priorities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarzyna Zofia Gdowska

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Background: In this paper a cyclic delivery scheduling problem for customers with different priorities is presented. Shops, which are provided with deliveries, are occasionally located in places which are crucial for the proper flow of traffic. In such places coordination of deliveries is crucial; therefore it allows to completely eliminate the phenomenon of the simultaneous arrivals of suppliers. Methods: In this paper the cyclic delivery scheduling problem for customers with different priorities was presented. To this theoretical problem a mix integer programming model was developed. Specific approach to the cyclic delivery scheduling problem is inspired by timetabling problem for urban public transport. Results: Mixed integer programming model was employed for solving four cases of cyclic delivery scheduling problem for customers with different priorities. When the value of the synchronization priority assigned to a single customer raised then the total number of synchronizations in the whole network decreased. In order to compare solutions a synchronization rate was utilized. A simple factor was utilized - the proportion of number of synchronizations of deliveries to a given customer to the total number of synchronizations obtained for the whole network. When the value of synchronization priority raised then the value of synchronization rate of this customer improved significantly. Conclusions: The mixed integer programming model for the cyclic delivery scheduling problem for customers with different priorities presented in this paper can be utilized for generating schedules of serving customers located in places where only one delivery can be received and unloaded at one go and where there is no space for other suppliers to wait in a queue. Such a schedule can be very useful for organizing deliveries to small shops united in a franchising network, since they operate in a way that is very similar to the network presented in this paper

UK DTI wind programme area - review and current priorities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Craig, J.W.

1998-01-01

The Wind Energy programme commenced in 1979 initially to determine the technical and economic feasibility of the technology. Since that time the programme has progressed from research, development and assessment to commercial deployment. It now provides a technology push to complement the market pull created by the Non-Fossil Fuel Obligation (NFFO). Over 280 MW of capacity has now been commissioned. The wind energy programme, is based upon a five year strategy in common with other DTI renewable energy technologies, which were outlined in Energy Paper 62. The programme has four key aims: 1. To encourage the uptake of wind energy. 2. To encourage internationally competitive industries to develop and utilise capabilities for the domestic and export markets. 3. To quantify environmental improvements and disbenefits associated with wind energy. 4. To manage the programme effectively. During the mid 1980s and early 1990s the programme concentrated on technology development and demonstration, which has helped to establish UK expertise in wind energy. Non-technical barriers such as planning have been addressed but are now largely for the industry to resolve. The development of wind turbine technology and related components is aimed at meeting the challenge of both the domestic and world markets. The ability of the DTI programme to meet these challenges is partly dependent on the technical ability and commercially acumen of British companies and partly on the level of support offered by Government. The programme budget has fallen from Pound8.7M/year in 1992/93 to current level of Pound1.4M/year and is yet to fall further. It should be stressed that the decline in budgets followed a review of the Renewables Programme in 1995 which affected all technologies. The wind programme budget was reduced substantially at that time which resulted in a revision of priorities. Continued support for market enablement measures was reduced partly because the industry, supported by the NFFO

The development of information technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kostúr Karol

2002-12-01

Full Text Available The contribution analyses the tasks information technologies in industry. At present time is the problem of connecting mutual variously levels of management. Therefore, first priority is an integration of information technologies. The information technologies for enterprise management are analysed. The product SAP R/3 appears as suitable for top management. The SAP R/3 Enterprise has a new technology so call web-server. This server enables the integration with e-business. The development my SAP is based on application of Business information warehouse (BW and Strategic enterprise management (SEM. The cheaper products (SPIN + EVIS are characterized too. Whitness Miner is very interesting system. The contribution this technology is programming realization of method KDD – knowledge discovery in databases.

A Pulmonary Rehabilitation Decisional Score to Define Priority Access for COPD Patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michele Vitacca

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This retrospective study aimed to evaluate, through an ad hoc 17-item tool, the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Decisional Score (PRDS, the priority access to PR prescription by respiratory specialists. The PRDS, scoring functional, clinical, disability, frailty, and participation parameters from 0 = low priority to 34 = very high priority for PR access, was retrospectively calculated on 124 specialist reports sent to the GP of subjects (aged 71±11 years, FEV1%  51±17 consecutively admitted to our respiratory outpatient clinic. From the specialist’s report the final subject’s allocation could be low priority (LP (>60 days, high priority (HP (30–60 days, or very high priority (VHP (<30 days to rehabilitation. The PRDS calculation showed scores significantly higher in VHP versus LP (p<0.001 and significantly different between HP and VHP (p<0.001. Comparing the specialist’s allocation decision and priority choice based on PRDS cut-offs, PR prescription was significantly more appropriate in VHP than in HP (p=0.016. Specialists underprescribed PR in 49% of LP cases and overprescribed it in 46% and 30% of the HP and VHP prescriptions, respectively. A multicomprehensive score is feasible being useful for staging the clinical priorities for PR prescription and facilitating sustainability of the health system.

NATIONAL TECHNOLOGICAL INITIATIVE AS THE STRATEGIC DIRECTION OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. V. Sibirskaya

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Russia, having lost a significant part of a high-tech industrial complex during the reforms (1993–2000, sharply reducing the state support of scientific research and development, has turned into a power dependent on the conjuncture in the hydrocarbon energy market and from foreign sup-plies of technologies, consumption goods, including those necessary for life support, thus being on the "technological needle". The main factor of development was the resource-producing complex. This situation had a negative impact on the pace of the country's development, on its defense capability and created real prerequisites for the loss of technological, economic, and, in the long run, political sovereignty and disintegration of the state. Nevertheless, the availability of natural resources along with human capi-tal and geographic location is a global competitive advantage of theRussian Federation, and the task is to use this advantage maximally as one of the first echelon countries in the emerging world order. One of the most important tasks was the search for such a direction of technological devel-opment that allows, on the one hand, to preserve Russia's position in the world market of traditional products; on the other – to strengthen positions in the markets of products with a higher degree of processing of Russian raw materials (oil and gas complex and agro-industrial complex; and finally – to master new "growth points" (services, new markets, talents, technologies in the world market of high-tech products and services. The set tasks assume several solutions. First, scientific and technological development should be based on the strategy of scientific and technological development of theRussian Federationand the national technological initiative, as it sets both resource constraints and priorities in the needs of the economy in new products and new technological solutions. Secondly,Russiashould take into account existing and emerging trends in the

Health Priorities in French-Speaking Swiss Cantons

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Philippe Chastonay

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In Switzerland, the federal authorities, the cantons, and the communes share the responsibility of healthcare, disease prevention and health promotion policies. Yet, the cantons are in most health matters independent in their decisions, thus defining as a matter of fact their own health priorities. We examined and analysed the content of the disease prevention and health promotion plans elaborated during the last decade in six French-speaking cantons with different political contexts and resources, but quite similar population health data, in order to identify the set health priorities. The plans appear significantly inhomogeneous in their structure, scope and priorities. Most of the formal documents are short, in the 16 to 40 pages range. Core values such as equity, solidarity and sustainability are explicitly put forward in 2/6 cantonal plans. Priority health issues shared by all 6 cantons are “physical activity/sedentariness” and “nutrition/food.” Mental health is explicitly mentioned in 5 cantonal plans, whereas tobacco and alcohol consumptions are mentioned 4 times. Less attention has been given to topics that appear as major public health challenges at present and in the future in Switzerland, eg, ageing of the population, rise of social inequalities, increase of vulnerable populations. Little attention has also been paid to issues like domestic violence or healthy work environments. Despite some heterogeneity, there is a common base that should make inter-cantonal collaborations possible and coordination with national strategies easily feasible.

Identifying trial recruitment uncertainties using a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership - the PRioRiTy (Prioritising Recruitment in Randomised Trials) study.

Science.gov (United States)

Healy, Patricia; Galvin, Sandra; Williamson, Paula R; Treweek, Shaun; Whiting, Caroline; Maeso, Beccy; Bray, Christopher; Brocklehurst, Peter; Moloney, Mary Clarke; Douiri, Abdel; Gamble, Carrol; Gardner, Heidi R; Mitchell, Derick; Stewart, Derek; Jordan, Joan; O'Donnell, Martin; Clarke, Mike; Pavitt, Sue H; Guegan, Eleanor Woodford; Blatch-Jones, Amanda; Smith, Valerie; Reay, Hannah; Devane, Declan

2018-03-01

Despite the problem of inadequate recruitment to randomised trials, there is little evidence to guide researchers on decisions about how people are effectively recruited to take part in trials. The PRioRiTy study aimed to identify and prioritise important unanswered trial recruitment questions for research. The PRioRiTy study - Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) included members of the public approached to take part in a randomised trial or who have represented participants on randomised trial steering committees, health professionals and research staff with experience of recruiting to randomised trials, people who have designed, conducted, analysed or reported on randomised trials and people with experience of randomised trials methodology. This partnership was aided by the James Lind Alliance and involved eight stages: (i) identifying a unique, relevant prioritisation area within trial methodology; (ii) establishing a steering group (iii) identifying and engaging with partners and stakeholders; (iv) formulating an initial list of uncertainties; (v) collating the uncertainties into research questions; (vi) confirming that the questions for research are a current recruitment challenge; (vii) shortlisting questions and (viii) final prioritisation through a face-to-face workshop. A total of 790 survey respondents yielded 1693 open-text answers to 6 questions, from which 1880 potential questions for research were identified. After merging duplicates, the number of questions was reduced to 496. Questions were combined further, and those that were submitted by fewer than 15 people and/or fewer than 6 of the 7 stakeholder groups were excluded from the next round of prioritisation resulting in 31 unique questions for research. All 31 questions were confirmed as being unanswered after checking relevant, up-to-date research evidence. The 10 highest priority questions were ranked at a face-to-face workshop. The number 1 ranked question was "How can randomised trials become

Transfusion research priorities for blood services in sub-Saharan Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Bates, Imelda; Hassall, Oliver; Mapako, Tonderai

2017-06-01

Evidence to support many blood transfusion policies and practices in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is weak or lacking. SSA cannot extrapolate from wealthy countries' research findings because its environment, users and structures are very different and SSA has critical blood shortages. SSA needs to generate its own evidence but research funds are very scarce and need to be carefully targeted to match need. This study aimed to define this need by determining research priorities for blood services in SSA. Thirty-five stakeholders representing diverse blood services' interests and expertise participated in a workshop. An adapted 'consensus development method' was used to identify, agree and justify research priorities under five themes through small group and plenary discussion, and cumulative voting. Research priorities covered traditional research areas, such as clinical use of blood and infection screening, but also highlighted many new, under-researched topics, mostly concerning blood service 'systems', such as economics, blood components and regulation. Lack of electronic information management systems was an important hindrance to the blood services' ability to generate robust research data. This study has identified and prioritised novel research that will help blood services in SSA to address their own needs including their most urgent problem: the lack of access to adequate blood supplies. To catalyse this research blood services in SSA need to enhance their capacity to conduct, commission and manage research and to strengthen their collaborations within and beyond Africa. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Setting health priorities in a community: a case example

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Fábio Alexandre Melo do Rego Sousa

Full Text Available ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To describe the methodology used in the process of setting health priorities for community intervention in a community of older adults. METHODS Based on the results of a health diagnosis related to active aging, a prioritization process was conceived to select the priority intervention problem. The process comprised four successive phases of problem analysis and classification: (1 grouping by level of similarity, (2 classification according to epidemiological criteria, (3 ordering by experts, and (4 application of the Hanlon method. These stages combined, in an integrated manner, the views of health team professionals, community nursing and gerontology experts, and the actual community. RESULTS The first stage grouped the identified problems by level of similarity, comprising a body of 19 issues for analysis. In the second stage these problems were classified by the health team members by epidemiological criteria (size, vulnerability, and transcendence. The nine most relevant problems resulting from the second stage of the process were submitted to expert analysis and the five most pertinent problems were selected. The last step identified the priority issue for intervention in this specific community with the participation of formal and informal community leaders: Low Social Interaction in Community Participation. CONCLUSIONS The prioritization process is a key step in health planning, enabling the identification of priority problems to intervene in a given community at a given time. There are no default formulas for selecting priority issues. It is up to each community intervention team to define its own process with different methods/techniques that allow the identification of and intervention in needs classified as priority by the community.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR THE INTERNAL MIGRATION PROCESSES REGULATION IN UKRAINE

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Olga Balueva

2018-01-01

Full Text Available As the result of the annexation of the Crimea and Donbass military conflict, there was an emergence of forced migration. It ought to be emphasized that today issues related to addressing problems of internally displaced persons (IDPs, are relevant and require an integrated approach. The increase in the number of IDPs in the country raises the issue of identifying the strategic priorities of the state policy. The purpose of this research is to formulate strategic priorities of the state policy of support for IDPs’. The subject of the study is theoretical and methodological principles of the state policy to support IDPs. The research methodology includes a set of scientific research methods that provide identifying the strategic priorities of the state policy for IDPs’ support, developing effective mechanisms for these priorities achievement, and conceptual vision of solving IDPs’ problems. In the course of investigations, the following methods are used: analysis while studying the main problems of internally displaced persons; logical synthesis and synthesis while drawing conclusions. Results. Scientific novelty of the article. In the article, the conceptual foundations of the IDPs support have been formed, an attention has been focused on the feasibility of using a strategic approach, which involves the formation and implementation of a set of strategically oriented measures aimed at solving the most acute issues and matters related to internal forced migration, directing the IDPs potential and internally displaced businesses to strengthen local communities and social and economic development of the resettlement territories. The main stages and conceptual foundations for the Strategy formation on the IDPs support have been proposed. The strategy is based on an integrated approach to addressing IDPs and internally displaced businesses, taking into account the interests of host communities. Practical implications. The result of the Strategy

Public Issue Priority Formation: Media Agenda-Setting and Social Interaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Jian-Hua; And Others

1993-01-01

Presents a mathematical model to explain the public's issue priority by integrating media agenda-setting and social interaction. Finds that the public's issue priority was influenced by both media and social interaction. (RS)

Increasing organ donation by presumed consent and allocation priority: Chile

OpenAIRE

Z??iga-Fajuri, Alejandra

2015-01-01

Abstract Chile, a middle-income country, recently joined Israel and Singapore as the world?s only countries to require reciprocity as a precondition for organ transplantation. The Chilean reform includes opt-out provisions designed to foster donation and priority for organ transplantation for registered people. Although the reform has had serious difficulties in achieving its mission, it can be reviewed by other countries that seek to address the serious shortage of organs. As increased organ...

The role of technology in the de-regulated electricity marketplace

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seckington, B.

1999-01-01

There are certain priorities for a power generation company in a deregulated market including: low cost client satisfaction, end-use technologies and quality and reliability performance; low cost/high marginal profit generation for the shareholder's values; and minimum environmental impacts, that are economically affordable and consistent with or better than regulations requirements. R and D strategic directions over time include the short term, medium term and long term, corresponding to 1-3 years, 4-6 years, and 7-10 years. In the short term, technology is operational, while in the medium term it is transitional and includes existing new technology. In the long term, there is a new generation technology emerging, and in the strategic long term of 11-20 years, there is new technology enhancement and visionary technology emerging. For short term technology in order to optimize profitability and assets, certain things are essential: for nuclear, get existing units back on track; for hydro, life management of existing equipment; and for coal, improve efficiency, optimize OMA/re-investment and improve environmental performance. Other minor means of generation and corresponding comments are added. For medium term technology in order to optimize profitability and assets, certain things are necessary including: for nuclear, get and maintain existing units on track; for hydro, life management of existing equipment; and for coal, improve efficiency, optimize OMA/re-investment and improve environmental performance. Other minor generation means are mentioned in the near term. For generation R and D in the long term, brief comments are made concerning what can be done to optimize profitability and meet new regulations, with existing assets to improve cost and environmental performance, with new generation and environmental technologies, and taking risks with developing visionary technologies, both environmental and generational. Further comments concerning optimizing

Priorities in radiation protection. Propositions for a better protection of persons against the danger of ionizing radiations. Report of the Vrousos commission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-03-01

this report presents priorities for actions and recommendations on subjects such communication, information, education, and also research, monitoring of technological development, expertise or giving users more responsibility. these recommendations are given with actions propositions on field of workers radiation protection or patients protection or radioactive sources management. (N.C.)

Reconciling patient and provider priorities for improving the care of critically ill patients: A consensus method and qualitative analysis of decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

McKenzie, Emily; Potestio, Melissa L; Boyd, Jamie M; Niven, Daniel J; Brundin-Mather, Rebecca; Bagshaw, Sean M; Stelfox, Henry T

2017-12-01

Providers have traditionally established priorities for quality improvement; however, patients and their family members have recently become involved in priority setting. Little is known about how to reconcile priorities of different stakeholder groups into a single prioritized list that is actionable for organizations. To describe the decision-making process for establishing consensus used by a diverse panel of stakeholders to reconcile two sets of quality improvement priorities (provider/decision maker priorities n=9; patient/family priorities n=19) into a single prioritized list. We employed a modified Delphi process with a diverse group of panellists to reconcile priorities for improving care of critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Proceedings were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using qualitative content analysis to explore the decision-making process for establishing consensus. Nine panellists including three providers, three decision makers and three family members of previously critically ill patients. Panellists rated and revised 28 priorities over three rounds of review and reached consensus on the "Top 5" priorities for quality improvement: transition of patient care from ICU to hospital ward; family presence and effective communication; delirium screening and management; early mobilization; and transition of patient care between ICU providers. Four themes were identified as important for establishing consensus: storytelling (sharing personal experiences), amalgamating priorities (negotiating priority scope), considering evaluation criteria and having a priority champion. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of incorporating families of patients into a multistakeholder prioritization exercise. The approach described can be used to guide consensus building and reconcile priorities of diverse stakeholder groups. © 2017 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Priority pricing in electricity supply. An application for Israel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beenstock, Michael; Goldin, Ephraim [Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Economics, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem (Israel)

1997-06-01

It is well known that in the event of a shortage in generation capacity, it is inefficient if the electricity utility cuts off customers randomly. It is preferable to set up a market in service priority in which customers who have a greater need pay more for the right not to be cut off. We use an econometric model of outage costs in Israel to calculate the menu of priority rates by season and time of day. Top priority rates range from zero, when the loss-of-load probability (LOLP) is zero, to 8 cents (US) per kWh when the LOLP is greatest

Cause, care, cure: research priorities for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Science.gov (United States)

Stolee, Paul; Hillier, Loretta M; Cook, Sheila; Rockwood, Kenneth

2011-12-01

Part of Ontario's strategy on Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) was to develop research priorities and recommend strategies for building research capacity. The process to achieve these objectives included an environmental scan, key informant interviews, surveys, and a consensus workshop; this process involved over 100 researchers, clinicians, persons with early dementia, and family caregivers. This article describes the process undertaken, key issues identified, and recommendations for research priorities and for building research capacity; and provides a strategic direction for dementia research in Ontario that is relevant for other jurisdictions. ADRD research in all aspects is required to advance knowledge of ADRD cause, care, and cure; gaps currently exist in understanding effective approaches to care and knowledge transfer. Capacity for high-calibre research hinges on maintaining attractive career paths for researchers, solid infrastructures, and strong partnerships. For research to inform policy and practice, better mechanisms are needed for knowledge exchange.

National priorities partnership focus on eliminating overuse: applications to cardiac revascularization.

Science.gov (United States)

Ballard, David J; Leonard, Bradley M

2011-01-01

As one of several initiatives to transform health care delivery across the United States, the National Priorities Partnership has identified "eliminating overuse while ensuring the delivery of appropriate care" as a top priority. Cardiac revascularization procedures, including coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), constitute one area of focus for reduction of overuse. Despite the multiyear development of clinical guidelines to define appropriate use of cardiac revascularization, substantial variability in the application of these procedures is observed. Concurrent data collection tools to support real-time clinical decision making regarding appropriateness are needed and can be used, along with financial incentives such as pay-for-performance programs and public reporting of performance information, to support more appropriate use of cardiac revascularization. Efforts to achieve more rational use of CABG and PCI should be made carefully and with the goal that patients receive the most appropriate and effective care.

Priorities for family building among patients and partners seeking treatment for infertility.

Science.gov (United States)

Duthie, Elizabeth A; Cooper, Alexandra; Davis, Joseph B; Sandlow, Jay; Schoyer, Katherine D; Strawn, Estil; Flynn, Kathryn E

2017-04-05

Infertility treatment decisions require people to balance multiple priorities. Within couples, partners must also negotiate priorities with one another. In this study, we assessed the family-building priorities of couples prior to their first consultations with a reproductive specialist. Participants were couples who had upcoming first consultations with a reproductive specialist (N = 59 couples (59 women; 59 men)). Prior to the consultation, couples separately completed the Family-Building Priorities Tool, which tasked them with ranking from least to most important 10 factors associated with family building. We describe the highest (top three) and lowest (bottom three) priorities, the alignment of priorities within couples, and test for differences in prioritization between men and women within couples (Wilcoxon signed rank test). Maintaining a close and satisfying relationship with one's partner was ranked as a high priority by majorities of men and women, and in 25% of couples, both partners ranked this factor as their most important priority for family building. Majorities of men and women also ranked building a family in a way that does not make infertility obvious to others as a low priority, and in 27% of couples, both partners ranked this factor as the least important priority for family building. There were also differences within couples that involved either men or women ranking a particular goal more highly than their partners. More women ranked two factors higher than did their partners: 1) that I become a parent one way or another (p = 0.015) and 2) that I have a child in the next year or two (p maintain a close relationship with my partner (p = 0.034), and 4) that I avoid side effects from treatment (p building paths should be aware that: (1) patients balance multiple priorities as a part of, or beside, becoming a parent; and (2) patients and their partners may not be aligned in their prioritization of achieving parenthood. For

Making it local: Beacon Communities use health information technology to optimize care management.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, Amy; Des Jardins, Terrisca R; Heider, Arvela; Kanger, Chatrian R; Lobach, David F; McWilliams, Lee; Polello, Jennifer M; Rein, Alison L; Schachter, Abigail A; Singh, Ranjit; Sorondo, Barbara; Tulikangas, Megan C; Turske, Scott A

2014-06-01

Care management aims to provide cost-effective, coordinated, non-duplicative care to improve care quality, population health, and reduce costs. The 17 communities receiving funding from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology through the Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program are leaders in building and strengthening their health information technology (health IT) infrastructure to provide more effective and efficient care management. This article profiles 6 Beacon Communities' health IT-enabled care management programs, highlighting the influence of local context on program strategy and design, and describing challenges, lessons learned, and policy implications for care delivery and payment reform. The unique needs (eg, disease burden, demographics), community partnerships, and existing resources and infrastructure all exerted significant influence on the overall priorities and design of each community's care management program. Though each Beacon Community needed to engage in a similar set of care management tasks--including patient identification, stratification, and prioritization; intervention; patient engagement; and evaluation--the contextual factors helped shape the specific strategies and tools used to carry out these tasks and achieve their objectives. Although providers across the country are striving to deliver standardized, high-quality care, the diverse contexts in which this care is delivered significantly influence the priorities, strategies, and design of community-based care management interventions. Gaps and challenges in implementing effective community-based care management programs include: optimizing allocation of care management services; lack of available technology tailored to care management needs; lack of standards and interoperability; integrating care management into care settings; evaluating impact; and funding and sustainability.

Research Priorities for Business Education

Science.gov (United States)

Schultheis, Robert A.

1971-01-01

Most pressing problems representing research priorities for the business education profession do not fit into such narrow functional categories as typewriting and shorthand. Rather the problems critical to survival of our discipline in the decade ahead are more of an interdisciplinary nature. (Author)

Ground-based Nuclear Detonation Detection (GNDD) Technology Roadmap

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casey, Leslie A.

2014-01-01

This GNDD Technology Roadmap is intended to provide guidance to potential researchers and help management define research priorities to achieve technology advancements for ground-based nuclear explosion monitoring science being pursued by the Ground-based Nuclear Detonation Detection (GNDD) Team within the Office of Nuclear Detonation Detection in the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Four science-based elements were selected to encompass the entire scope of nuclear monitoring research and development (R&D) necessary to facilitate breakthrough scientific results, as well as deliver impactful products. Promising future R&D is delineated including dual use associated with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Important research themes as well as associated metrics are identified along with a progression of accomplishments, represented by a selected bibliography, that are precursors to major improvements to nuclear explosion monitoring.

Ground-based Nuclear Detonation Detection (GNDD) Technology Roadmap

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Casey, Leslie A.

2014-01-13

This GNDD Technology Roadmap is intended to provide guidance to potential researchers and help management define research priorities to achieve technology advancements for ground-based nuclear explosion monitoring science being pursued by the Ground-based Nuclear Detonation Detection (GNDD) Team within the Office of Nuclear Detonation Detection in the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Four science-based elements were selected to encompass the entire scope of nuclear monitoring research and development (R&D) necessary to facilitate breakthrough scientific results, as well as deliver impactful products. Promising future R&D is delineated including dual use associated with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Important research themes as well as associated metrics are identified along with a progression of accomplishments, represented by a selected bibliography, that are precursors to major improvements to nuclear explosion monitoring.

Sources of unbounded priority inversions in real-time systems and a comparative study of possible solutions

Science.gov (United States)

Davari, Sadegh; Sha, Lui

1992-01-01

In the design of real-time systems, tasks are often assigned priorities. Preemptive priority driven schedulers are used to schedule tasks to meet the timing requirements. Priority inversion is the term used to describe the situation when a higher priority task's execution is delayed by lower priority tasks. Priority inversion can occur when there is contention for resources among tasks of different priorities. The duration of priority inversion could be long enough to cause tasks to miss their dead lines. Priority inversion cannot be completely eliminated. However, it is important to identify sources of priority inversion and minimize the duration of priority inversion. In this paper, a comprehensive review of the problem of and solutions to unbounded priority inversion is presented.

Priority-setting in health systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Byskov, Jens

2013-01-01

improvements work similarly in the vast array of social and other local contextual factors. Local, fair and accountable priority setting processes are neccessary to make the best of ever shifting national level strategies and priorities. An approach is described, which can assist in the involvement......DBL - under core funding from Danish International Development Agency (Danida) 2013 WHY HAVE HEALTH SYSTEMS WHEN EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS ARE KNOWN? Case: A teenage mother lives in a poor sub-Saharan village next to a big lake. The area is known to have malaria transmission all year around......, and surveys in nearby villages have shown a high prevalence of intestinal helminthiasis and schistosomiasis. The HIV prevalence in similar rural settings is about 10% in her age group. She has been losing weight over the last months and now her one-year-old child feels hot and is not eating well. She has...

Pilot Implementation of Public Transport Priority in the City of Zagreb

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miroslav Vujić

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The problem with traffic congestion is particularly expressed in urban areas where possibilities for physical increment of capacity are limited or impossible. Significant in the approach to solving this problem is the usage of Public Transport (PT and the implementation of various advanced control measures that can improve the quality of overall public transport system. The main objective of this research is to explore the possibilities of implementation of adaptive traffic control on signalized intersections giving priority to public transport vehicles through urban traffic network in the city of Zagreb. The possibilities of implementing public transport priority (PTP technique in the city of Zagreb are analyzed because of specific traffic situations on defined corridors (location of stops, distance between intersections, etc.. With proper usage of PTP techniques (e.g. adequate detector positions, good estimation of PT vehicle arrival time at intersection the total tram travel time can be significantly reduced. The Level of Service at intersection may be approximately retained because cross-street traffic demand was not ignored. According to technological level of traffic control system in the city of Zagreb, global implementation of PTP is not possible. So, for each intersection the PTP algorithm was developed separately, but mutual traffic influence of all intersections on the corridor was considered. The cooperative concept application within urban traffic control is considered as well.

Mapping online transportation service quality and multiclass classification problem solving priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Alamsyah, Andry; Rachmadiansyah, Imam

2018-03-01

Online transportation service is known for its accessibility, transparency, and tariff affordability. These points make online transportation have advantages over the existing conventional transportation service. Online transportation service is an example of disruptive technology that change the relationship between customers and companies. In Indonesia, there are high competition among online transportation provider, hence the companies must maintain and monitor their service level. To understand their position, we apply both sentiment analysis and multiclass classification to understand customer opinions. From negative sentiments, we can identify problems and establish problem-solving priorities. As a case study, we use the most popular online transportation provider in Indonesia: Gojek and Grab. Since many customers are actively give compliment and complain about company’s service level on Twitter, therefore we collect 61,721 tweets in Bahasa during one month observations. We apply Naive Bayes and Support Vector Machine methods to see which model perform best for our data. The result reveal Gojek has better service quality with 19.76% positive and 80.23% negative sentiments than Grab with 9.2% positive and 90.8% negative. The Gojek highest problem-solving priority is regarding application problems, while Grab is about unusable promos. The overall result shows general problems of both case study are related to accessibility dimension which indicate lack of capability to provide good digital access to the end users.

Priority to End of Life Treatments? Views of the Public in the Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Wouters, Sofie; van Exel, Job; Baker, Rachel; B F Brouwer, Werner

2017-01-01

Recent debates in the Netherlands on health care priority setting have focused on the relative value of gains generated by life-extending medicines for people with a terminal illness, mostly new cancer drugs. These treatments are generally expensive, provide relatively small health gains, and therefore usually do not meet common cost per QALY thresholds. Nevertheless, these drugs may be provided under the assumption that there is public support for making a special case for treatments for people with a terminal illness. This study investigated the views of the public in the Netherlands on a range of equity and efficiency considerations relevant to priority setting and examines whether there is public support for making such a special case. Using Q methodology, three viewpoints on important principles for priority setting were identified. Data were collected through ranking exercises conducted by 46 members of the general public in the Netherlands, including 11 respondents with personal experience with cancer. Viewpoint 1 emphasized that people have equal rights to healthcare and opposed priority setting on any ground. Viewpoint 2 emphasized that the care for terminal patients should at all times respect the patients' quality of life, which sometimes means refraining from invasive treatments. Viewpoint 3 had a strong focus on effective and efficient care and had no moral objection against priority setting under certain circumstances. Overall, we found little public support for the assumption that health gains in terminally ill patients are more valuable than those in other patients. This implies that the assumption that society is prepared to pay more for health gains in people who have only a short period of lifetime left does not correspond with societal preferences in the Netherlands. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Application of economic principles in healthcare priority setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Bate, Angela; Mitton, Craig