Anticipatory Mechanisms in Evolutionary Living Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Dubois, Daniel M.; Holmberg, Stig C.

2010-11-01

This paper deals firstly with a revisiting of Darwin's theory of Natural Selection. Darwin in his book never uses the word "evolution", but shows a clear position about mutability of species. Darwin's Natural Selection was mainly inspired by the anticipatory Artificial Selection by humans in domestication, and the Malthus struggle for existence. Darwin showed that the struggle for existence leads to the preservation of the most divergent offspring of any one species. He cited several times the canon of "Natura non facit saltum". He spoke about the origin of life from some one primordial form, into which life was first breathed. Finally, Darwin made anticipation about the future researches in psychology. This paper cites the work of Ernst Mayr who was the first, after 90 years of an intense scientific debate, to present a new and stable Darwinian paradigm as the "Evolutionary Synthesis" in 1942. To explain what is life, the Living Systems Theory (LST) by J. G. Miller is presented. It is showed that the Autopoietic Systems Theory of Varela et al is also a fundamental component of living systems. In agreement with Darwin, the natural selection is a necessary condition for transformation of biological systems, but is not a sufficient condition. Thus, in this paper we conjecture that an anticipatory evolutionary mechanism exists with the genetic code that is a self-replicating and self-modifying anticipatory program. As demonstrated by Nobel laureate McClintock, evolution in genomes is programmed. The word "program" comes from "pro-gram" meaning to write before, by anticipation, and means a plan for the programming of a mechanism, or a sequence of coded instructions that can be inserted into a mechanism, or a sequence of coded instructions, as genes of behavioural responses, that is part of an organism. For example, cell death may be programmed by what is called the apoptosis. This definitively is a great breakthrough in our understanding of biological evolution. Hence

The everyday lives of video game developers: Experimentally understanding underlying systems/structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Casey O'Donnell

2009-03-01

Full Text Available This essay examines how tensions between work and play for video game developers shape the worlds they create. The worlds of game developers, whose daily activity is linked to larger systems of experimentation and technoscientific practice, provide insights that transcend video game development work. The essay draws on ethnographic material from over 3 years of fieldwork with video game developers in the United States and India. It develops the notion of creative collaborative practice based on work in the fields of science and technology studies, game studies, and media studies. The importance of, the desire for, or the drive to understand underlying systems and structures has become fundamental to creative collaborative practice. I argue that the daily activity of game development embodies skills fundamental to creative collaborative practice and that these capabilities represent fundamental aspects of critical thought. Simultaneously, numerous interests have begun to intervene in ways that endanger these foundations of creative collaborative practice.

Shape understanding system machine understanding and human understanding

CERN Document Server

Les, Zbigniew

2015-01-01

This is the third book presenting selected results of research on the further development of the shape understanding system (SUS) carried out by authors in the newly founded Queen Jadwiga Research Institute of Understanding. In this book the new term Machine Understanding is introduced referring to a new area of research aiming to investigate the possibility of building machines with the ability to understand. It is presented that SUS needs to some extent mimic human understanding and for this reason machines are evaluated according to the rules applied for the evaluation of human understanding. The book shows how to formulate problems and how it can be tested if the machine is able to solve these problems.    

Synthetic Biology: Engineering Living Systems from Biophysical Principles.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartley, Bryan A; Kim, Kyung; Medley, J Kyle; Sauro, Herbert M

2017-03-28

Synthetic biology was founded as a biophysical discipline that sought explanations for the origins of life from chemical and physical first principles. Modern synthetic biology has been reinvented as an engineering discipline to design new organisms as well as to better understand fundamental biological mechanisms. However, success is still largely limited to the laboratory and transformative applications of synthetic biology are still in their infancy. Here, we review six principles of living systems and how they compare and contrast with engineered systems. We cite specific examples from the synthetic biology literature that illustrate these principles and speculate on their implications for further study. To fully realize the promise of synthetic biology, we must be aware of life's unique properties. Copyright © 2017 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PREFACE: International & Interdisciplinary Workshop on Novel Phenomena in Integrated Complex Sciences: from Non-living to Living Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshimura, Kazuyoshi; Ohta, Hiroto; Murase, Masatoshi; Nishimura, Kazuo

2012-03-01

In this workshop recent advancements in experiments and theories were discussed on magnetism and superconductivity, emergent phenomena in biological material, chemical properties and economic problems of non-living and living systems. The aim of the workshop was to discuss old, but also new problems from a multidisciplinary perspective, and to understand the general features behind diversity in condensed matter physics, experimental chemistry and physics in biology and economic science. The workshop was broadly based, and was titled 'International & Interdisciplinary Workshop on Novel Phenomena in Integrated Complex Sciences from Non-living to Living Systems'. However, the primary focus was on magnetism and superconductivity, and NMR research into strongly correlated electrons. The meeting was held as an ICAM workshop, upon official approval in January 2010. Both young scientists and graduate students were invited. We hope that these young scientists had the chance to talk with invited speakers and organizers on their own interests. We thank the participants who contributed through their presentations, discussions and these papers to the advancement of the subject and our understanding. The proceedings are published here in the Journal of Physics: Conference Series (UK). We thank the International Advisory Committee for their advice and guidance: Evgeny Antipov Moscow State University, Russia Nicholas Curro University of California, Davis, USA Minghu Fang Zhejiang University, China Jurgen Haase University of Leipzig, Germany Takashi Imai McMaster University, Canada Peter Lemmens TU Braunschweig, Germany Herwig Michor Vienna TU, Austria Takamasa Momose University of British Columbia, Canada Raivo Stern NICPB, Estonia Louis Taillefer University of Sherbrooke, Canada Masashi Takigawa University of Tokyo, Japan This workshop was mainly organized by the International Research Unit of Integrated Complex System Science, Kyoto University, and was supported by ICAM

From Global Sustainability to Inclusive Education: Understanding urban children's ideas about the food system

Science.gov (United States)

Calabrese Barton, Angela; Koch, Pamela D.; Contento, Isobel R.; Hagiwara, Sumi

2005-08-01

The purpose of this paper is to report our findings from a qualitative study intended to develop our understandings of: what high-poverty urban children understand and believe about food and food systems; and how such children transform and use that knowledge in their everyday lives (i.e. how do they express their scientific literacies including content understandings, process understandings, habits of mind in these content areas). This qualitative study is part of a larger study focused on understanding and developing science and nutritional literacies among high-poverty urban fourth-grade through sixth-grade students and their teachers and caregivers.

Development of the living thing transportation systems worksheet on learning cycle model to increase student understanding

Science.gov (United States)

Rachmawati, E.; Nurohman, S.; Widowati, A.

2018-01-01

This study aims to know: 1) the feasibility LKPD review of aspects of the didactic requirements, construction requirements, technical requirements and compliance with the Learning Cycle. 2) Increase understanding of learners with Learning Model Learning Cycle in SMP N 1 Wates in the form LKPD. 3) The response of learners and educators SMP N 1 Wates to quality LKPD Transportation Systems Beings. This study is an R & D with the 4D model (Define, Design, Develop and Disseminate). Data were analyzed using qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. Qualitative analysis in the form of advice description and assessment scores from all validates that was converted to a scale of 4. While the analysis of quantitative data by calculating the percentage of materializing learning and achievement using the standard gain an increased understanding and calculation of the KKM completeness evaluation value as an indicator of the achievement of students understanding. the results of this study yield LKPD IPA model learning Cycle theme Transportation Systems Beings obtain 108.5 total scores of a maximum score of 128 including the excellent category (A). LKPD IPA developed able to demonstrate an improved understanding of learners and the response of learners was very good to this quality LKPD IPA.

Dynamic systems for everyone understanding how our world works

CERN Document Server

Ghosh, Asish

2017-01-01

Systems are everywhere and we are surrounded by them. We are a complex amalgam of systems that enable us to interact with an endless array of external systems in our daily lives. They are electrical, mechanical, social, biological, and many other types that control our environment and our well-being. By appreciating how these systems function, will broaden our understanding of how our world works. Readers from a variety of disciplines will benefit from the knowledge of system behavior they will gain from this book and will be able to apply those principles in various contexts. The treatment of the subject is non-mathematical, and the book considers some of the latest concepts in the systems discipline, such as agent based systems, optimization, and discrete events and procedures. The diverse range of examples provided in this book, will allow readers to: Apply system knowledge at work and in daily life without deep mathematical knowledge; Build models and simulate system behaviors on a personal computer; Opti...

Dynamical real numbers and living systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Datta, Dhurjati Prasad

2004-01-01

Recently uncovered second derivative discontinuous solutions of the simplest linear ordinary differential equation define not only an nonstandard extension of the framework of the ordinary calculus, but also provide a dynamical representation of the ordinary real number system. Every real number can be visualized as a living cell-like structure, endowed with a definite evolutionary arrow. We discuss the relevance of this extended calculus in the study of living systems. We also present an intelligent version of the Newton's first law of motion

A Living Military System On The Verge of Annihilation

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Abb, Madelfia

2000-01-01

... organization is a living system. Recognizing the parallels between a living system and a military system's need to survive and prosper within an environment full of positive and inimical changes, this study explores the world...

Generating minimal living systems from non-living materials and increasing their evolutionary abilities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Steen; Constantinescu, Adi; Svaneborg, Carsten

2016-01-01

We review lessons learned about evolutionary transitions from a bottom up construction of minimal life. We use a particular systemic protocell design process as a starting point for exploring two fundamental questions: (1) how may minimal living systems emerge from nonliving materials? - and (2......) how may minimal living systems support increasingly more evolutionary richness? Under (1) we present what has been accomplished so far and discuss the remaining open challenges and their possible solutions. Under (2) we present a design principle we have utilized successfully both for our...

Epigenetics: Its Understanding Is Crucial to a Sustainable Healthcare System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michelle Thunders

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Understanding the molecular impact of lifestyle factors has never been so important; a period in time where there are so many adults above retirement age has been previously unknown. As a species, our life expectancy is increasing yet the period of our lives where we enjoy good health is not expanding proportionately. Over the next 50 years we will need to almost double the percentage of GDP spent on health care, largely due to the increasing incidence of obesity related chronic diseases. A greater understanding and implementation of an integrated approach to health is required. Research exploring the impact of nutritional and exercise intervention on the epigenetically flexible genome is up front in terms of addressing healthy aging. Alongside this, we need a greater understanding of the interaction with our immune and nervous systems in preserving and maintaining health and cognition.

Radiation effects on living systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hawley, N.J.

1980-10-01

This bibliography includes papers and reports by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited scientists concerning radiation effects on living systems. It is divided into three sections: Radiobiology, Radiation Biochemistry and Radiation Chemistry. (auth)

Understanding recovery in the context of lived experience of personality disorders: a collaborative, qualitative research study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gillard, Steve; Turner, Kati; Neffgen, Marion

2015-07-31

Concepts of recovery increasingly inform the development and delivery of mental health services internationally. In the UK recent policy advocates the application of recovery concepts to the treatment of personality disorders. However diagnosis and understanding of personality disorders remains contested, challenging any assumption that mainstream recovery thinking can be directly translated into personality disorders services. In a qualitative interview-based study understandings of recovery were explored in extended, in-depth interviews with six people purposively sampled from a specialist personality disorders' service in the UK. An interpretive, collaborative approach to research was adopted in which university-, clinical- and service user (consumer) researchers were jointly involved in carrying out interviews and analysing interview data. Findings suggested that recovery cannot be conceptualised separately from an understanding of the lived experience of personality disorders. This experience was characterised by a complexity of ambiguous, interrelating and conflicting feelings, thoughts and actions as individuals tried to cope with tensions between internally and externally experienced worlds. Our analysis was suggestive of a process of recovering or, for some, discovering a sense of self that can safely coexist in both worlds. We conclude that key facilitators of recovery - positive personal relationships and wider social interaction - are also where the core vulnerabilities of individuals with lived experience of personaility disorders can lie. There is a role for personality disorders services in providing a safe space in which to develop positive relationships. Through discursive practice within the research team understandings of recovery were co-produced that responded to the lived experience of personality disorders and were of applied relevance to practitioners.

Toward High School Biology: Helping Middle School Students Understand Chemical Reactions and Conservation of Mass in Nonliving and Living Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Herrmann-Abell, Cari F; Koppal, Mary; Roseman, Jo Ellen

2016-01-01

Modern biology has become increasingly molecular in nature, requiring students to understand basic chemical concepts. Studies show, however, that many students fail to grasp ideas about atom rearrangement and conservation during chemical reactions or the application of these ideas to biological systems. To help provide students with a better foundation, we used research-based design principles and collaborated in the development of a curricular intervention that applies chemistry ideas to living and nonliving contexts. Six eighth grade teachers and their students participated in a test of the unit during the Spring of 2013. Two of the teachers had used an earlier version of the unit the previous spring. The other four teachers were randomly assigned either to implement the unit or to continue teaching the same content using existing materials. Pre- and posttests were administered, and the data were analyzed using Rasch modeling and hierarchical linear modeling. The results showed that, when controlling for pretest score, gender, language, and ethnicity, students who used the curricular intervention performed better on the posttest than the students using existing materials. Additionally, students who participated in the intervention held fewer misconceptions. These results demonstrate the unit's promise in improving students' understanding of the targeted ideas. © 2016 C. F. Herrmann-Abell et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Broken detailed balance and non-equilibrium dynamics in living systems: a review

Science.gov (United States)

Gnesotto, F. S.; Mura, F.; Gladrow, J.; Broedersz, C. P.

2018-06-01

Living systems operate far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Enzymatic activity can induce broken detailed balance at the molecular scale. This molecular scale breaking of detailed balance is crucial to achieve biological functions such as high-fidelity transcription and translation, sensing, adaptation, biochemical patterning, and force generation. While biological systems such as motor enzymes violate detailed balance at the molecular scale, it remains unclear how non-equilibrium dynamics manifests at the mesoscale in systems that are driven through the collective activity of many motors. Indeed, in several cellular systems the presence of non-equilibrium dynamics is not always evident at large scales. For example, in the cytoskeleton or in chromosomes one can observe stationary stochastic processes that appear at first glance thermally driven. This raises the question how non-equilibrium fluctuations can be discerned from thermal noise. We discuss approaches that have recently been developed to address this question, including methods based on measuring the extent to which the system violates the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. We also review applications of this approach to reconstituted cytoskeletal networks, the cytoplasm of living cells, and cell membranes. Furthermore, we discuss a more recent approach to detect actively driven dynamics, which is based on inferring broken detailed balance. This constitutes a non-invasive method that uses time-lapse microscopy data, and can be applied to a broad range of systems in cells and tissue. We discuss the ideas underlying this method and its application to several examples including flagella, primary cilia, and cytoskeletal networks. Finally, we briefly discuss recent developments in stochastic thermodynamics and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, which offer new perspectives to understand the physics of living systems.

Broken detailed balance and non-equilibrium dynamics in living systems: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Gnesotto, F S; Mura, F; Gladrow, J; Broedersz, C P

2018-03-05

Living systems operate far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Enzymatic activity can induce broken detailed balance at the molecular scale. This molecular scale breaking of detailed balance is crucial to achieve biological functions such as high-fidelity transcription and translation, sensing, adaptation, biochemical patterning, and force generation. While biological systems such as motor enzymes violate detailed balance at the molecular scale, it remains unclear how non-equilibrium dynamics manifests at the mesoscale in systems that are driven through the collective activity of many motors. Indeed, in several cellular systems the presence of non-equilibrium dynamics is not always evident at large scales. For example, in the cytoskeleton or in chromosomes one can observe stationary stochastic processes that appear at first glance thermally driven. This raises the question how non-equilibrium fluctuations can be discerned from thermal noise. We discuss approaches that have recently been developed to address this question, including methods based on measuring the extent to which the system violates the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. We also review applications of this approach to reconstituted cytoskeletal networks, the cytoplasm of living cells, and cell membranes. Furthermore, we discuss a more recent approach to detect actively driven dynamics, which is based on inferring broken detailed balance. This constitutes a non-invasive method that uses time-lapse microscopy data, and can be applied to a broad range of systems in cells and tissue. We discuss the ideas underlying this method and its application to several examples including flagella, primary cilia, and cytoskeletal networks. Finally, we briefly discuss recent developments in stochastic thermodynamics and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, which offer new perspectives to understand the physics of living systems.

Are Generation Y Nurses Satisfied on the Job? Understanding Their Lived Experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Anselmo-Witzel, Sonia; Orshan, Susan A; Heitner, Keri L; Bachand, Jeanie

2017-04-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of job satisfaction among Generation Y nurses in the workplace. Job satisfaction in nursing is at an all-time low. With an increasing shortage of nurses, there is a need for more awareness and understanding of job satisfaction and intent to stay among Generation Y nurses who are the future generation of nurses. Descriptive phenomenology-guided, in-depth semistructured interviews were conducted to explore the lived experiences of job satisfaction among 10 Generation Y nurses. Four main themes and 6 subthemes that emerged brought meaning to the nurses' experiences. The 4 main themes were experiences of feeling good, relationships, job strain, and having choices. Findings indicated Generation Y nurses want to fulfill inner feelings of job satisfaction. If these inner feelings are not met, they will seek other opportunities to fulfill job satisfaction.

Spatial Models and Networks of Living Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Juul, Jeppe Søgaard

When studying the dynamics of living systems, insight can often be gained by developing a mathematical model that can predict future behaviour of the system or help classify system characteristics. However, in living cells, organisms, and especially groups of interacting individuals, a large number...... variables of the system. However, this approach disregards any spatial structure of the system, which may potentially change the behaviour drastically. An alternative approach is to construct a cellular automaton with nearest neighbour interactions, or even to model the system as a complex network...... with interactions defined by network topology. In this thesis I first describe three different biological models of ageing and cancer, in which spatial structure is important for the system dynamics. I then turn to describe characteristics of ecosystems consisting of three cyclically interacting species...

Early Understanding of the Concept of Living Things: An Examination of Young Children's Drawings of Plant Life

Science.gov (United States)

Villarroel, José Domingo; Infante, Guillermo

2014-01-01

This paper looks at the drawings of a sample of 118 children aged between 4 and 7 years old on the topic of plant life and relates the content to their knowledge of the concept of living things. The research project uses two types of tests: a task to analyse the level of understanding of the concept of living things and a free drawing activity.…

A future of living machines?: International trends and prospects in biomimetic and biohybrid systems

Science.gov (United States)

Prescott, Tony J.; Lepora, Nathan; Vershure, Paul F. M. J.

2014-03-01

Research in the fields of biomimetic and biohybrid systems is developing at an accelerating rate. Biomimetics can be understood as the development of new technologies using principles abstracted from the study of biological systems, however, biomimetics can also be viewed from an alternate perspective as an important methodology for improving our understanding of the world we live in and of ourselves as biological organisms. A biohybrid entity comprises at least one artificial (engineered) component combined with a biological one. With technologies such as microscale mobile computing, prosthetics and implants, humankind is moving towards a more biohybrid future in which biomimetics helps us to engineer biocompatible technologies. This paper reviews recent progress in the development of biomimetic and biohybrid systems focusing particularly on technologies that emulate living organisms—living machines. Based on our recent bibliographic analysis [1] we examine how biomimetics is already creating life-like robots and identify some key unresolved challenges that constitute bottlenecks for the field. Drawing on our recent research in biomimetic mammalian robots, including humanoids, we review the future prospects for such machines and consider some of their likely impacts on society, including the existential risk of creating artifacts with significant autonomy that could come to match or exceed humankind in intelligence. We conclude that living machines are more likely to be a benefit than a threat but that we should also ensure that progress in biomimetics and biohybrid systems is made with broad societal consent.

Radiation effects on living systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hawley, N.J.

1984-04-01

This bibliography includes papers and reports by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited scientists concerning radiation effects on living systems. It is divided into three sections: Radiobiology, Radiation Biochemistry and Radiation Chemistry. It is intended that the bibliography will be updated regularly

Calorimetry and thermodynamics of living systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lamprecht, Ingolf

2003-01-01

Calorimetry of living systems and classical thermodynamics developed in parallel, from Lavoisier's early ice calorimeter experiments on guinea pigs, followed by Dubrunfaut's macrocalorimetric research of fermentation processes and Atwater-Rosa's whole-body calorimetry on humans and domestic animals, to the introduction of the famous Tian-Calvet instrument that found entrance into so many different fields of biology. In this work, six examples of living-system calorimetry and thermodynamics are presented. These are: (i) glycolytic oscillations far off the thermodynamic equilibrium; (ii) growth and energy balances in fermenting and respiring yeast cultures; (iii) direct and indirect calorimetric monitoring of electrically stimulated reptile metabolism; (iv) biologic and climatic factors influencing the temperature constancy and distribution in the mound of a wood ant colony as an example of a complex ecological system; (v) energetic considerations on the clustering of European honeybees in winter as a means to save energy and stored food as well as for their Japanese counterparts in defending against hornet predators; and (vi) energetic and evolutionary aspects of the mass specific entropy production rate, the so-called bound dissipation or psiu-function. The examples presented here are just a very personal selection of living systems from a broad spectrum at all levels of complexity. Common for all of them is that they were investigated calorimetrically on the background of classical and irreversible thermodynamics

A Checklist for Successful Quantitative Live Cell Imaging in Systems Biology

Science.gov (United States)

Sung, Myong-Hee

2013-01-01

Mathematical modeling of signaling and gene regulatory networks has provided unique insights about systems behaviors for many cell biological problems of medical importance. Quantitative single cell monitoring has a crucial role in advancing systems modeling of molecular networks. However, due to the multidisciplinary techniques that are necessary for adaptation of such systems biology approaches, dissemination to a wide research community has been relatively slow. In this essay, I focus on some technical aspects that are often under-appreciated, yet critical in harnessing live cell imaging methods to achieve single-cell-level understanding and quantitative modeling of molecular networks. The importance of these technical considerations will be elaborated with examples of successes and shortcomings. Future efforts will benefit by avoiding some pitfalls and by utilizing the lessons collectively learned from recent applications of imaging in systems biology. PMID:24709701

Understanding dynamic changes in live cell adhesion with neutron reflectometry

Science.gov (United States)

Junghans, Ann

Understanding the structure and functionality of biological systems on a nanometer-resolution and short temporal scales is important for solving complex biological problems, developing innovative treatment, and advancing the design of highly functionalized biomimetic materials. For example, adhesion of cells to an underlying substrate plays a crucial role in physiology and disease development, and has been investigated with great interest for several decades. In the talk, we would like to highlight recent advances in utilizing neutron scattering to study bio-related structures in dynamic conditions (e . g . under the shear flow) including in-situ investigations of the interfacial properties of living cells. The strength of neutron reflectometry is its non-pertubative nature, the ability to probe buried interfaces with nanometer resolution and its sensitivity to light elements like hydrogen and carbon. That allows us to study details of cell - substrate interfaces that are not accessible with any other standard techniques. We studied the adhesion of human brain tumor cells (U251) to quartz substrates and their responses to the external mechanical forces. Such cells are isolated within the central nervous system which makes them difficult to reach with conventional therapies and therefore making them highly invasive. Our results reveal changes in the thickness and composition of the adhesion layer (a layer between the cell lipid membrane and the quartz substrate), largely composed of hyaluronic acid and associated proteoglycans, when the cells were subjected to shear stress. Further studies will allow us to determine more conditions triggering changes in the composition of the bio-material in the adhesion layer. This, in turn, can help to identify changes that correlate with tumor invasiveness, which can have significant medical impact for the development of targeted anti-invasive therapies.

An integrated on-line irradiation and in situ live cell imaging system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liang, Ying; Fu, Qibin; Wang, Weikang; Liu, Yu; Liu, Feng; Yang, Gen, E-mail: gen.yang@pku.edu.cn; Wang, Yugang

2015-09-01

Ionizing radiation poses a threat to genome integrity by introducing DNA damages, particularly DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) in cells. Understanding how cells react to DSB and maintain genome integrity is of major importance, since increasing evidences indicate the links of DSB with genome instability and cancer predispositions. However, tracking the dynamics of DNA damages and repair response to ionizing radiation in individual cell is difficult. Here we describe the development of an on-line irradiation and in situ live cell imaging system based on isotopic sources at Institute of Heavy Ion Physics, Peking University. The system was designed to irradiate cells and in situ observe the cellular responses to ionizing radiation in real time. On-line irradiation was achieved by mounting a metal framework that hold an isotopic γ source above the cell culture dish for γ irradiation; or by integrating an isotopic α source to an objective lens under the specialized cell culture dish for α irradiation. Live cell imaging was performed on a confocal microscope with an environmental chamber installed on the microscope stage. Culture conditions in the environment chamber such as CO{sub 2}, O{sub 2} concentration as well as temperature are adjustable, which further extends the capacity of the system and allows more flexible experimental design. We demonstrate the use of this system by tracking the DSB foci formation and disappearance in individual cells after exposure to irradiation. On-line irradiation together with in situ live cell imaging in adjustable culture conditions, the system overall provides a powerful tool for investigation of cellular and subcellular response to ionizing radiation under different physiological conditions such as hyperthermia or hypoxia.

An integrated on-line irradiation and in situ live cell imaging system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liang, Ying; Fu, Qibin; Wang, Weikang; Liu, Yu; Liu, Feng; Yang, Gen; Wang, Yugang

2015-01-01

Ionizing radiation poses a threat to genome integrity by introducing DNA damages, particularly DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) in cells. Understanding how cells react to DSB and maintain genome integrity is of major importance, since increasing evidences indicate the links of DSB with genome instability and cancer predispositions. However, tracking the dynamics of DNA damages and repair response to ionizing radiation in individual cell is difficult. Here we describe the development of an on-line irradiation and in situ live cell imaging system based on isotopic sources at Institute of Heavy Ion Physics, Peking University. The system was designed to irradiate cells and in situ observe the cellular responses to ionizing radiation in real time. On-line irradiation was achieved by mounting a metal framework that hold an isotopic γ source above the cell culture dish for γ irradiation; or by integrating an isotopic α source to an objective lens under the specialized cell culture dish for α irradiation. Live cell imaging was performed on a confocal microscope with an environmental chamber installed on the microscope stage. Culture conditions in the environment chamber such as CO 2 , O 2 concentration as well as temperature are adjustable, which further extends the capacity of the system and allows more flexible experimental design. We demonstrate the use of this system by tracking the DSB foci formation and disappearance in individual cells after exposure to irradiation. On-line irradiation together with in situ live cell imaging in adjustable culture conditions, the system overall provides a powerful tool for investigation of cellular and subcellular response to ionizing radiation under different physiological conditions such as hyperthermia or hypoxia

An integrated on-line irradiation and in situ live cell imaging system

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Ying; Fu, Qibin; Wang, Weikang; Liu, Yu; Liu, Feng; Yang, Gen; Wang, Yugang

2015-09-01

Ionizing radiation poses a threat to genome integrity by introducing DNA damages, particularly DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) in cells. Understanding how cells react to DSB and maintain genome integrity is of major importance, since increasing evidences indicate the links of DSB with genome instability and cancer predispositions. However, tracking the dynamics of DNA damages and repair response to ionizing radiation in individual cell is difficult. Here we describe the development of an on-line irradiation and in situ live cell imaging system based on isotopic sources at Institute of Heavy Ion Physics, Peking University. The system was designed to irradiate cells and in situ observe the cellular responses to ionizing radiation in real time. On-line irradiation was achieved by mounting a metal framework that hold an isotopic γ source above the cell culture dish for γ irradiation; or by integrating an isotopic α source to an objective lens under the specialized cell culture dish for α irradiation. Live cell imaging was performed on a confocal microscope with an environmental chamber installed on the microscope stage. Culture conditions in the environment chamber such as CO2, O2 concentration as well as temperature are adjustable, which further extends the capacity of the system and allows more flexible experimental design. We demonstrate the use of this system by tracking the DSB foci formation and disappearance in individual cells after exposure to irradiation. On-line irradiation together with in situ live cell imaging in adjustable culture conditions, the system overall provides a powerful tool for investigation of cellular and subcellular response to ionizing radiation under different physiological conditions such as hyperthermia or hypoxia.

Understanding the Educational Lives of Community College Students: A Photovoice Project, a Bourdieusian Interpretation, and Habitus Dissonance Spark Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Latz, Amanda O.

2012-01-01

Too little research exists that provides windows into the day-to-day lives of community college students. The purpose of this paper is to explicate one finding and concomitant grounded theory derived from a photovoice project aimed at understanding the educational lives of community college students. Participants saw the community college as a…

Understanding College Students' Lived Experiences in a Diverse Blended Model Class

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Sarah Taylor

2016-01-01

The current study was used to explore the lived experiences of students enrolled in a college-level course developed within an interinstitutional partnership that leveraged technology platforms, such as Twitter® and online learning management systems, and included the participation of prominent figures from the 1960s Civil Rights Era. The focus of…

An integrated smart system for ambient-assisted living

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Foko, Thato E

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Ambient-assisted living (AAL) is an initiative to extend the time the elderly can live in their home environment by increasing their autonomy and assisting them carry out their daily activities. AAL systems exploit information and communication...

Long ecological half-lives in seminatural systems. Annual report 1996. Project plan 1997

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-01-01

The EKO-2 project, `Long ecological half-lives in semi-natural systems`, consists of three subprojects; sheep grazing on uncultivated pasture, mushrooms and freshwater fish. The main aim is to identify the contribution from semi-natural systems, by determining ecological half-lives for specific foodstuffs from these areas, and thus determine dose to man. In the three ongoing projects we have produced or used data for 8-10 years after the Chernobyl accident. The time series have been very necessary for predicting ecological half-lives for radiocesium and radiostrontium. Unfortunately, the data for radiostrontium have been very scarce. The recovery of Nordic ecosystems from contamination by {sup 137}Cs originating from the Chernobyl accidents is gradually slowing down, at the same time as areas vary widely in susceptibility and recovery rates. The projects have given us useful understanding of the mechanisms governing the transfer of radionuclides, and more knowledge about typical Nordic ecosystems. The soil - vegetation - sheep - system is being studied in five countries; Iceland, the Faeroe Islands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Co-ordinated collection of soil, vegetation and meet samples have been performed every year since 1990. After a slow start in 1994, many results from the project `Transfer of radiocesium via mushrooms to roe deer and man (the forest project)` have been published during 1996. Questionnaires have been implemented in Sweden, Denmark and Finland, in Sweden and Denmark with focus on mushrooms, and a more thorough investigation in Finland on natural products for consumption. The main aim in the project `Ecological half-lives in limnic ecosystems` has been to investigate the processes and mechanisms leading to radiocesium being easily available for uptake in e.g. fish. Systematic collection of data has enabled the construction of a GIS system to show fallout levels of {sup 137}Cs, influence from catchment areas, and prediction of {sup 137}Cs in fish

Long ecological half-lives in seminatural systems. Annual report 1996. Project plan 1997

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

The EKO-2 project, 'Long ecological half-lives in semi-natural systems', consists of three subprojects; sheep grazing on uncultivated pasture, mushrooms and freshwater fish. The main aim is to identify the contribution from semi-natural systems, by determining ecological half-lives for specific foodstuffs from these areas, and thus determine dose to man. In the three ongoing projects we have produced or used data for 8-10 years after the Chernobyl accident. The time series have been very necessary for predicting ecological half-lives for radiocesium and radiostrontium. Unfortunately, the data for radiostrontium have been very scarce. The recovery of Nordic ecosystems from contamination by 137 Cs originating from the Chernobyl accidents is gradually slowing down, at the same time as areas vary widely in susceptibility and recovery rates. The projects have given us useful understanding of the mechanisms governing the transfer of radionuclides, and more knowledge about typical Nordic ecosystems. The soil - vegetation - sheep - system is being studied in five countries; Iceland, the Faeroe Islands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Co-ordinated collection of soil, vegetation and meet samples have been performed every year since 1990. After a slow start in 1994, many results from the project 'Transfer of radiocesium via mushrooms to roe deer and man (the forest project)' have been published during 1996. Questionnaires have been implemented in Sweden, Denmark and Finland, in Sweden and Denmark with focus on mushrooms, and a more thorough investigation in Finland on natural products for consumption. The main aim in the project 'Ecological half-lives in limnic ecosystems' has been to investigate the processes and mechanisms leading to radiocesium being easily available for uptake in e.g. fish. Systematic collection of data has enabled the construction of a GIS system to show fallout levels of 137 Cs, influence from catchment areas, and prediction of 137 Cs in fish. (EG)

Life and Understanding: The Origins of "Understanding" in Self-Organizing Nervous Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Yufik, Yan M; Friston, Karl

2016-01-01

This article is motivated by a formulation of biotic self-organization in Friston (2013), where the emergence of "life" in coupled material entities (e.g., macromolecules) was predicated on bounded subsets that maintain a degree of statistical independence from the rest of the network. Boundary elements in such systems constitute a Markov blanket ; separating the internal states of a system from its surrounding states. In this article, we ask whether Markov blankets operate in the nervous system and underlie the development of intelligence, enabling a progression from the ability to sense the environment to the ability to understand it. Markov blankets have been previously hypothesized to form in neuronal networks as a result of phase transitions that cause network subsets to fold into bounded assemblies, or packets (Yufik and Sheridan, 1997; Yufik, 1998a). The ensuing neuronal packets hypothesis builds on the notion of neuronal assemblies (Hebb, 1949, 1980), treating such assemblies as flexible but stable biophysical structures capable of withstanding entropic erosion. In other words, structures that maintain their integrity under changing conditions. In this treatment, neuronal packets give rise to perception of "objects"; i.e., quasi-stable (stimulus bound) feature groupings that are conserved over multiple presentations (e.g., the experience of perceiving "apple" can be interrupted and resumed many times). Monitoring the variations in such groups enables the apprehension of behavior; i.e., attributing to objects the ability to undergo changes without loss of self-identity. Ultimately, "understanding" involves self-directed composition and manipulation of the ensuing "mental models" that are constituted by neuronal packets, whose dynamics capture relationships among objects: that is, dependencies in the behavior of objects under varying conditions. For example, movement is known to involve rotation of population vectors in the motor cortex (Georgopoulos et al

Adaptive Dialogue Systems for Assistive Living Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Papangelis, Alexandros

2013-01-01

Adaptive Dialogue Systems (ADS) are intelligent systems, able to interact with users via multiple modalities, such as speech, gestures, facial expressions and others. Such systems are able to make conversation with their users, usually on a specific, narrow topic. Assistive Living Environments are environments where the users are by definition not…

Allergy, living and learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chivato, T; Valovirta, E; Dahl, R

2012-01-01

Allergy Living and Learning (ALL) is a European initiative designed to increase knowledge and understanding of people living with allergies in order to improve respiratory allergy care.......Allergy Living and Learning (ALL) is a European initiative designed to increase knowledge and understanding of people living with allergies in order to improve respiratory allergy care....

Active living and biking: tracing the evolution of a biking system in Arlington, Virginia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanson, Royce; Young, Garry

2008-06-01

In Arlington, Virginia, a steady evolutionary change in biking policy during the last three decades has yielded some of the nation's best biking assets. It has a comprehensive, well-connected, highly integrated, well-mapped, and well-signed system of shared-use paved trails, bike lanes, bike routes, and other biking assets, such as workplace showers. Understanding the conditions that led to Arlington's current biking system can provide lessons in the strategy and tactics of active-living politics. One potentially effective political strategy that was successful in Arlington is for activists to pressure elected officials to select professional managers who see bike-ways as crucial to the overall transportation system. Then it is important to formalize the government-citizen relationship through an advisory panel. Also, in Arlington, the incremental creation of biking assets helped create demand for more and better facilities. In turn, this created political support for expanding and upgrading. Finally, Arlington used potentially negative circumstances (e.g., the building of highway corridors, the introduction of the Metro) as opportunities to change the built environment in ways that have encouraged more active living.

What's the point? Golden and Labrador retrievers living in kennels do not understand human pointing gestures.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Aniello, Biagio; Alterisio, Alessandra; Scandurra, Anna; Petremolo, Emanuele; Iommelli, Maria Rosaria; Aria, Massimo

2017-07-01

In many studies that have investigated whether dogs' capacities to understand human pointing gestures are aspects of evolutionary or developmental social competences, family-owned dogs have been compared to shelter dogs. However, for most of these studies, the origins of shelter dogs were unknown. Some shelter dogs may have lived with families before entering shelters, and from these past experiences, they may have learned to understand human gestures. Furthermore, there is substantial variation in the methodology and analytic approaches used in such studies (e.g. different pointing protocols, different treatment of trials with no-choice response and indoor vs. outdoor experimental arenas). Such differences in methodologies and analysis techniques used make it difficult to compare results obtained from different studies and may account for the divergent results obtained. We thus attempted to control for several parameters by carrying out a test on dynamic proximal and distal pointing. We studied eleven kennel dogs of known origin that were born and raised in a kennels with limited human interaction. This group was compared to a group of eleven dogs comparable in terms of breed, sex and age that had lived with human families since they were puppies. Our results demonstrate that pet dogs outperform kennel dogs in their comprehension of proximal and distal pointing, regardless of whether trials where no-choice was made were considered as errors or were excluded from statistical analysis, meaning that dogs living in kennels do not understand pointing gestures. Even if genetic effects of the domestication process on human-dog relationships cannot be considered as negligible, our data suggest that dogs need to learn human pointing gestures and thus underscore the importance of ontogenetic processes.

On-chip cellomics assay enabling algebraic and geometric understanding of epigenetic information in cellular networks of living systems. 1. Temporal aspects of epigenetic information in bacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Yasuda, Kenji

2012-01-01

A series of studies aimed at developing methods and systems of analyzing epigenetic information in cells and in cell networks, as well as that of genetic information, was examined to expand our understanding of how living systems are determined. Because cells are minimum units reflecting epigenetic information, which is considered to map the history of a parallel-processing recurrent network of biochemical reactions, their behaviors cannot be explained by considering only conventional DNA information-processing events. The role of epigenetic information on cells, which complements their genetic information, was inferred by comparing predictions from genetic information with cell behaviour observed under conditions chosen to reveal adaptation processes, population effects and community effects. A system of analyzing epigenetic information was developed starting from the twin complementary viewpoints of cell regulation as an "algebraic" system (emphasis on temporal aspects) and as a "geometric" system (emphasis on spatial aspects). Exploiting the combination of latest microfabrication technology and measurement technologies, which we call on-chip cellomics assay, we can control and re-construct the environments and interaction of cells from "algebraic" and "geometric" viewpoints. In this review, temporal viewpoint of epigenetic information, a part of the series of single-cell-based "algebraic" and "geometric" studies of celluler systems in our research groups, are summerized and reported. The knowlege acquired from this study may lead to the use of cells that fully control practical applications like cell-based drug screening and the regeneration of organs.

A Reasoning Technique for Taxonomy Expert System of Living Organisms

OpenAIRE

desiani, anita; Firdaus, Firdaus; Maiyanti, Sri Indra

2016-01-01

Taxonomy of living organisms can help scientists to sort organisms in order and help them to identify new organisms by finding out which their groups. It also is easier to study organisms when they are sorted in groups. Taxonomy of living organisms system is a important basic part of ecology system. Researcher should know about any organisms that they noted in an ecology. Integration between classification taxonomy of Living Organisms and technology information will have many advantages for ...

Restoring nervous system structure and function using tissue engineered living scaffolds

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Laura A Struzyna; James P Harris; Kritika S Katiyar; H Isaac Chen; D KacyCullen

2015-01-01

Neural tissue engineering is premised on the integration of engineered living tissue with the host nervous system to directly restore lost function or to augment regenerative capacity following ner-vous system injury or neurodegenerative disease. Disconnection of axon pathways – the long-distance ifbers connecting specialized regions of the central nervous system or relaying peripheral signals – is a common feature of many neurological disorders and injury. However, functional axonal regenera-tion rarely occurs due to extreme distances to targets, absence of directed guidance, and the presence of inhibitory factors in the central nervous system, resulting in devastating effects on cognitive and sensorimotor function. To address this need, we are pursuing multiple strategies using tissue engi-neered “living scaffolds”, which are preformed three-dimensional constructs consisting of living neural cells in a deifned, often anisotropic architecture. Living scaffolds are designed to restore function by serving as a living labeled pathway for targeted axonal regeneration – mimicking key developmental mechanisms– or by restoring lost neural circuitry via direct replacement of neurons and axonal tracts. We are currently utilizing preformed living scaffolds consisting of neuronal clusters spanned by long axonal tracts as regenerative bridges to facilitate long-distance axonal regeneration and for targeted neurosurgical reconstruction of local circuits in the brain. Although there are formidable challenges in preclinical and clinical advancement, these living tissue engineered constructs represent a promising strategy to facilitate nervous system repair and functional recovery.

Restoring nervous system structure and function using tissue engineered living scaffolds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura A Struzyna

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Neural tissue engineering is premised on the integration of engineered living tissue with the host nervous system to directly restore lost function or to augment regenerative capacity following nervous system injury or neurodegenerative disease. Disconnection of axon pathways - the long-distance fibers connecting specialized regions of the central nervous system or relaying peripheral signals - is a common feature of many neurological disorders and injury. However, functional axonal regeneration rarely occurs due to extreme distances to targets, absence of directed guidance, and the presence of inhibitory factors in the central nervous system, resulting in devastating effects on cognitive and sensorimotor function. To address this need, we are pursuing multiple strategies using tissue engineered "living scaffolds", which are preformed three-dimensional constructs consisting of living neural cells in a defined, often anisotropic architecture. Living scaffolds are designed to restore function by serving as a living labeled pathway for targeted axonal regeneration - mimicking key developmental mechanisms- or by restoring lost neural circuitry via direct replacement of neurons and axonal tracts. We are currently utilizing preformed living scaffolds consisting of neuronal clusters spanned by long axonal tracts as regenerative bridges to facilitate long-distance axonal regeneration and for targeted neurosurgical reconstruction of local circuits in the brain. Although there are formidable challenges in preclinical and clinical advancement, these living tissue engineered constructs represent a promising strategy to facilitate nervous system repair and functional recovery.

Security warning method and system for worker safety during live-line working

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Chilong; Zou, Dehua; Long, Chenhai; Yang, Miao; Zhang, Zhanlong; Mei, Daojun

2017-09-01

Live-line working is an essential part in the operations in an electric power system. Live-line workers are required to wear shielding clothing. Shielding clothing, however, acts as a closed environment for the human body. Working in a closed environment for a long time can change the physiological responses of the body and even endanger personal safety. According to the typical conditions of live-line working, this study synthesizes environmental factors related to shielding clothing and the physiological factors of the body to establish the heart rate variability index RMSSD and the comprehensive security warning index SWI. On the basis of both indices, this paper proposes a security warning method and system for the safety live-line workers. The system can monitor the real-time status of workers during live-line working to provide security warning and facilitate the effective safety supervision by the live operation center during actual live-line working.

Brief Communication: Understanding disasters and early-warning systems

Science.gov (United States)

Castaños, H.; Lomnitz, C.

2014-12-01

This paper discusses some methodological questions on understanding disasters. Destructive earthquakes continue to claim thousands of lives. Tsunamis may be caused by recoil of the upper plate. Darwin's twin-epicenter hypothesis is applied to a theory of tsunamis. The ergodicity hypothesis may help to estimate the return periods of extremely rare events. A social science outline on the causation of the Tôhoku nuclear disaster is provided.

Informational Closed-Loop Coding-Decoding Control Concept as the Base of the Living or Organized Systems Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Kirvelis, Dobilas; Beitas, Kastytis

2008-10-01

The aim of this work is to show that the essence of life and living systems is their organization as bioinformational technology on the base of informational anticipatory control. Principal paradigmatic and structural schemes of functional organization of life (organisms and their systems) are constructed on the basis of systemic analysis and synthesis of main phenomenological features of living world. Life is based on functional elements that implement engineering procedures of closed-loop coding-decoding control (CL-CDC). Phenomenon of natural bioinformational control appeared and developed on the Earth 3-4 bln years ago, when the life originated as a result of chemical and later biological evolution. Informatics paradigm considers the physical and chemical transformations of energy and matter in organized systems as flows that are controlled and the signals as means for purposive informational control programs. The social and technical technological systems as informational control systems are a latter phenomenon engineered by man. The information emerges in organized systems as a necessary component of control technology. Generalized schemes of functional organization on levels of cell, organism and brain neocortex, as the highest biosystem with CL-CDC, are presented. CL-CDC concept expands the understanding of bioinformatics.

Understanding the Essence of Caring from the Lived Experiences of Filipino Informatics Nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Macabasag, Romeo Luis A; Diño, Michael Joseph S

2018-04-01

Caring is considered a unique concept in nursing because it subsumes all intrinsic attributes of nursing as a human helping discipline. Scholars have argued that caring is usually seen as an encounter between nurses and patients, but how about nurses with minimal or absent nurse-patient encounters, like informatics nurses? In this study, we explored the meaning of the phenomenon of caring to present lived experiences of caring, namely caring as actions of coming in between; caring as expressed within embodied relations; and caring and the path traversed by informatics nurses. The informatics nurse-cyborg-patient triad speaks of Filipino informatics nurses' insightful understanding of the phenomenon of caring.

Living Color Frame System: PC graphics tool for data visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Truong, Long V.

1993-01-01

Living Color Frame System (LCFS) is a personal computer software tool for generating real-time graphics applications. It is highly applicable for a wide range of data visualization in virtual environment applications. Engineers often use computer graphics to enhance the interpretation of data under observation. These graphics become more complicated when 'run time' animations are required, such as found in many typical modern artificial intelligence and expert systems. Living Color Frame System solves many of these real-time graphics problems.

Understanding Suicidal Ideation in Latino/a Adolescents Living in Puerto Rico.

Science.gov (United States)

Duarté-Vélez, Yovanska; Jones, Richard N; Spirito, Anthony

2017-12-05

Puerto Rican adolescents, as well as other Latinos/as, have been identified at higher risk for suicidal ideation and attempts compared to other ethnic groups. However, research designed to better understand suicidality among Puerto Rican adolescents is rare. A socio-cognitive vulnerability model of suicidal ideation was tested in adolescents living in Puerto Rico. Multiple group path analyses were performed to assess the effect of self-reported socio-environmental and vulnerability factors on suicidal ideation, by sex, in 233 students from the metropolitan area of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Overall, the model explained a large amount of the variance in suicidal ideation (r 2  = .59 for females and r2 = .48 for males). Depressive symptoms had the strongest total effect on suicidal ideation for both sexes (r = .69 for females and r = .53 for males) and negative life events were the most salient socio-environmental factor. Hopelessness had a direct effect on suicidal ideation for males only. Externalizing behaviors had a direct effect on suicidal ideation for both males and females, but it was particularly strong for females. Results support the mediating role of vulnerability factors and the differential importance of socio-environmental and vulnerability factors in understanding suicidal ideation among Puerto Rican adolescents. The relevance of exploring different developmental paths to suicidal ideation, separately by sex, is discussed.

Wayfinding the Live 5-2-1-0 Initiative-At the Intersection between Systems Thinking and Community-Based Childhood Obesity Prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Amed, Shazhan; Shea, Stephanie; Pinkney, Susan; Wharf Higgins, Joan; Naylor, Patti-Jean

2016-06-21

Childhood obesity is complex and requires a 'systems approach' that collectively engages across multiple community settings. Sustainable Childhood Obesity Prevention through Community Engagement (SCOPE) has implemented Live 5-2-1-0-a multi-sector, multi-component childhood obesity prevention initiative informed by systems thinking and participatory research via an innovative knowledge translation (KT) model (RE-FRAME). This paper describes the protocol for implementing and evaluating RE-FRAME in two 'existing' (>2 years of implementation) and two 'new' Live 5-2-1-0 communities to understand how to facilitate and sustain systems/community-level change. In this mixed-methods study, RE-FRAME was implemented via online resources, webinars, a backbone organization (SCOPE) coordinating the initiative, and a linking system supporting KT. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected using surveys and stakeholder interviews, analyzed using thematic analysis and descriptive statistics, respectively. Existing communities described the consistency of Live 5-2-1-0 and extensive local partnerships/champions as catalysts for synergistic community-wide action; new communities felt that the simplicity of the message combined with the transfer of experiential learning would inform their own strategies and policies/programs to broadly disseminate Live 5-2-1-0. RE-FRAME effectively guided the refinement of the initiative and provided a framework upon which evaluation results described how to implement a community-based systems approach to childhood obesity prevention.

RI: Rheology as a Tool for Understanding the Mechanics of Live Ant Aggregations, Part 2

Science.gov (United States)

2016-11-04

earwax of pigs, dogs , cows, and humans. We find that earwax is shear-thinning for all these animals. This ability enables it to cling to the ear in low...self-cleaning.” Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology annual meeting, 2017.  P. Yang, D. Dao, R. Lehner, D. Hu, “ The hydrodynamics of...RI: Rheology as a Tool for Understanding the Mechanics of Live Ant Aggregations, Part 2 An Anton Paarr MCR 501 rheometer was purchased in order to

Long-Range Untethered Real-Time Live Gas Main Robotic Inspection System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hagen Schempf; Daphne D' Zurko

2004-10-31

Under funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Northeast Gas Association (NGA), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) developed an untethered, wireless remote controlled inspection robot dubbed Explorer. The project entailed the design and prototyping of a wireless self-powered video-inspection robot capable of accessing live 6- and 8-inch diameter cast-iron and steel mains, while traversing turns and Ts and elbows under real-time control with live video feedback to an operator. The design is that of a segmented actively articulated and wheel-leg powered robot design, with fisheye imaging capability and self-powered battery storage and wireless real-time communication link. The prototype was functionally tested in an above ground pipe-network, in order to debug all mechanical, electrical and software subsystems, and develop the necessary deployment and retrieval, as well as obstacle-handling scripts. A pressurized natural gas test-section was used to certify it for operation in natural gas at up to 60 psig. Two subsequent live-main field-trials in both cast-iron and steel pipe, demonstrated its ability to be safely launched, operated and retrieved under real-world conditions. The system's ability to safely and repeatably exidrecover from angled and vertical launchers, traverse multi-thousand foot long pipe-sections, make T and varied-angle elbow-turns while wirelessly sending live video and handling command and control messages, was clearly demonstrated. Video-inspection was clearly shown to be a viable tool to understand the state of this critical buried infrastructure, irrespective of low- (cast-iron) or high-pressure (steel) conditions. This report covers the different aspects of specifications, requirements, design, prototyping, integration and testing and field-trialing of the Explorer platform.

Long will they live, work and learn : A scheme for understanding and influencing employability during the life span

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nauta, Aukje; de Lange, Annet H.; Gortz, Saskia

2010-01-01

Long will they live, work and learn. A scheme for understanding and influencing employability during the life span A. Nauta, A. H. de Lange en S. Gortz, Gedrag & Organisatie, volume 23, June 2010, nr. 2, pp. 136-157 To stimulate employees' employability until high age, knowledge is needed about what

Petmanship: Understanding Elderly Filipinos' Self-Perceived Health and Self-Esteem Captured from Their Lived Experiences with Pet Companions

Science.gov (United States)

de Guzman, Allan B.; Cucueco, Denise S.; Cuenco, Ian Benedict V.; Cunanan, Nigel Gerome C.; Dabandan, Robel T.; Dacanay, Edgar Joseph E.

2009-01-01

Understanding of the lived experiences of geriatric clients with pets, particularly in the Western cultures, has been the subject of many studies. However, little is known about how Asian cultures, particularly the Filipino elderly, view their experiences with their pets in regard to their self-esteem and self-perceived health. This…

Understanding the experience and manifestation of depression in adolescents living with HIV in Harare, Zimbabwe

Science.gov (United States)

Mavhu, Webster; Wogrin, Carol; Mutsinze, Abigail; Kagee, Ashraf

2018-01-01

Background Studies have found that adolescents living with HIV are at risk of depression, which in turn affects adherence to medication. This study explored the experience and manifestation of depression in adolescents living with HIV in Zimbabwe in order to inform intervention development. Methods We conducted a body mapping exercise with 21 HIV positive 15–19 years olds who had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Participants created a painted map of their body to assist them in expressing their somatic and emotional experiences in qualitative interviews. The interviews were transcribed and thematically coded using NVivo 10. Results Participants attributed their experiences of depression to their relationships and interactions with significant people in their lives, primarily family members and peers. A sense of being different from others was common among participants, both due to their HIV status and the impact HIV has had on their life circumstances. Participants described a longing to be important or to matter to the people in their lives. A sense of isolation and rejection was common, as well as grief and loss, including ambiguous and anticipated loss. Participants’ idioms of distress included ‘thinking deeply’ (‘kufungisisa’), ‘pain’, darkness, ‘stress’ or a lack of hope and ambiguity for the future. Suicidal ideation was described, including slow suicide through poor adherence. Supportive factors were also relational, including the importance of supportive relatives and peers, clinic staff and psychosocial support programmes. Conclusions An understanding of HIV positive adolescents’ own narratives around depression can inform the development and integration of appropriate mental health interventions within HIV care and treatment programmes. Study findings suggest that family and peer-led interventions are potentially useful in the prevention and management of depression in adolescents living with HIV. PMID:29298326

Using the living laboratory framework as a basis for understanding next-generation analyst work

Science.gov (United States)

McNeese, Michael D.; Mancuso, Vincent; McNeese, Nathan; Endsley, Tristan; Forster, Pete

2013-05-01

The preparation of next generation analyst work requires alternative levels of understanding and new methodological departures from the way current work transpires. Current work practices typically do not provide a comprehensive approach that emphasizes the role of and interplay between (a) cognition, (b) emergent activities in a shared situated context, and (c) collaborative teamwork. In turn, effective and efficient problem solving fails to take place, and practice is often composed of piecemeal, techno-centric tools that isolate analysts by providing rigid, limited levels of understanding of situation awareness. This coupled with the fact that many analyst activities are classified produces a challenging situation for researching such phenomena and designing and evaluating systems to support analyst cognition and teamwork. Through our work with cyber, image, and intelligence analysts we have realized that there is more required of researchers to study human-centered designs to provide for analyst's needs in a timely fashion. This paper identifies and describes how The Living Laboratory Framework can be utilized as a means to develop a comprehensive, human-centric, and problem-focused approach to next generation analyst work, design, and training. We explain how the framework is utilized for specific cases in various applied settings (e.g., crisis management analysis, image analysis, and cyber analysis) to demonstrate its value and power in addressing an area of utmost importance to our national security. Attributes of analyst work settings are delineated to suggest potential design affordances that could help improve cognitive activities and awareness. Finally, the paper puts forth a research agenda for the use of the framework for future work that will move the analyst profession in a viable manner to address the concerns identified.

The lived experience of an American expatriate in Ghana: A rhetorical analysis of facebook postings to understand a cross-cultural behavior

OpenAIRE

Yawson, Robert M.

2011-01-01

Using rhetorical analyses of the Facebook updates and postings, the lived experience of an American Expatriate in Ghana is told through the lenses of a Ghanaian living in the United States. The study reviews the contemporary understanding and importance of expatriation to organizations and provides detailed description and analysis of different models with theoretical base from cognitive and social psychology and sociology including models developed by Fons Trompenaars, Geert Hofstede, Harry ...

Ecology and social system of northern gibbons living in cold seasonal forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Guan, Zhen-Hua; Ma, Chang-Yong; Fei, Han-Lan; Huang, Bei; Ning, Wen-He; Ni, Qing-Yong; Jiang, Xue-Long; Fan, Peng-Fei

2018-07-18

Gibbons in China represent the northernmost margin of present day gibbon species distribution (around N25°). Compared to tropical habitats, northern gibbon habitats are characterized by low temperatures and remarkable seasonal variation in fruit abundance. How gibbons adapt to their cold and seasonal habitats and what ecological factors affect their sociality are key questions for understanding their ecology and social system evolution, the elucidation of which will contribute to the conservation of these special populations/species. According to preliminary short-term studies, northern gibbons consume more leaves and use larger home ranges than tropical gibbons. Interestingly, some Nomascus groups consist of more than one adult female. However, these preliminary results are not well understood or incorporated into current socio-ecological theories regarding gibbon species. To better understand northern gibbons, our team has systematically studied three habituated groups of Nomascus concolor, three groups of N. nasutus, and two habituated groups of Hoolock tianxing since 2002. In this paper, we stress the challenges facing gibbons living in northern habitats and summarize their behavioral adaptations to their harsh environments. We also describe the northern gibbon social system and discuss the potential relationships between their ecology and sociality. Finally, we highlight future research questions related to northern gibbons in China.

Ecology and social system of northern gibbons living in cold seasonal forests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhen-Hua Guan

2018-07-01

Full Text Available Gibbons in China represent the northernmost margin of present day gibbon species distribution (around N25°. Compared to tropical habitats, northern gibbon habitats are characterized by low temperatures and remarkable seasonal variation in fruit abundance. How gibbons adapt to their cold and seasonal habitats and what ecological factors affect their sociality are key questions for understanding their ecology and social system evolution, the elucidation of which will contribute to the conservation of these special populations/species. According to preliminary short-term studies, northern gibbons consume more leaves and use larger home ranges than tropical gibbons. Interestingly, some Nomascus groups consist of more than one adult female. However, these preliminary results are not well understood or incorporated into current socio-ecological theories regarding gibbon species. To better understand northern gibbons, our team has systematically studied three habituated groups of Nomascus concolor, three groups of N. nasutus, and two habituated groups of Hoolock tianxing since 2002. In this paper, we stress the challenges facing gibbons living in northern habitats and summarize their behavioral adaptations to their harsh environments. We also describe the northern gibbon social system and discuss the potential relationships between their ecology and sociality. Finally, we highlight future research questions related to northern gibbons in China.

Understanding the experiences and needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans Australians living with dementia, and their partners.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Catherine; Crameri, Pauline; Lambourne, Sally; Latham, J R; Whyte, Carolyn

2015-10-01

To outline the experiences and needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) Australians living with dementia - and their partners. In-depth interviews were conducted with LGBT people, their partners and service providers. LGBT people living with dementia experience unique challenges including the failure of some families of origin and service providers to understand and value their sexual orientation or gender identity. The fear of discrimination by service providers results in greater reliance on intimate partners for care and compounds social isolation. The unique experiences of LGBT people with dementia are not well understood. There is a need to recognise historical experiences, including familial relationships, and provide advocacy to ensure sexual and gender rights are not violated. There is also a need to ensure that the experiences and perspectives of LGBT people living with dementia inform the development of services. © 2015 AJA Inc.

Assisted Living Systems for Elderly and Disabled People: A Short Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivo Iliev

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The number of elderly people living alone in their homes is permanently growing in the whole western world. Because of the deteriorating capabilities to sense and interact with the environment, such as memory, eye sight, hearing and mobility, the ageing populations often live with significantly degraded life quality. Many also suffer from chronic diseases that require medical treatment and periodical examinations. Different Assisted Living Systems have been proposed to cope with the problems. The goal is to enable the elderly people to live longer in their preferred environment, to enhance the quality of their live and to reduce the expenses of the public health care. The Assisted Living Systems are based on a lot of sensors, actuators and multimedia equipment, providing for the autonomy of people and assisting them in carrying out their daily activities together with available interaction with remote relatives and friends. The applied approaches and implementations are specific that limit the dissemination of the results between the object oriented groups. Besides, most of the projects require considerable funding for implementation. For the time being and especially for some countries with lower Gross Domestic Product, the efforts may be directed to creation of low-cost assistive systems performing some basic tasks, related to the need and health status of the living alone adults or disabled people, e.g. automatic fall detection and signalization, as well as instantaneous monitoring the photo-pletismographic signals together with permanently available communication interface between the caregiver and the user.

Understanding land administration systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

P. Williamson, Ian; Enemark, Stig; Wallace, Judy

2008-01-01

This paper introduces basic land administration theory and highlights four key concepts that are fundamental to understanding modern land administration systems. Readers may recall the first part of the paper in October issue of Coordinates. Here is the concluding part that focuses on the changing...

Seeking to understand lived experiences of personal recovery in personality disorder in community and forensic settings - a qualitative methods investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Shepherd, Andrew; Sanders, Caroline; Shaw, Jenny

2017-08-01

Understandings of personal recovery have emerged as an alternative framework to traditional ideas of clinical progression, or symptom remission, in clinical practice. Most research in this field has focussed on the experience of individuals suffering with psychotic disorders and little research has been conducted to explore the experience of individuals with a personality disorder diagnosis, despite the high prevalence of such difficulties. The nature of the personality disorder diagnosis, together with high prevalence rates in forensic settings, renders the understanding of recovery in these contexts particularly problematic. The current study seeks to map out pertinent themes relating to the recovery process in personality disorder as described by individuals accessing care in either community or forensic settings. Individual qualitative interviews were utilised to explore the lived experience of those receiving a personality disorder diagnosis and accessing mental health care in either community or forensic settings. A thematic analysis was conducted to identify shared concepts and understanding between participants. Fourty-one individual participant interviews were conducted across forensic and community settings. Recovery was presented by participants as a developing negotiated understanding of the self, together with looked for change and hope in the future. Four specific themes emerged in relation to this process: 1. Understanding early lived experience as informing sense of self 2. Developing emotional control 3. Diagnosis as linking understanding and hope for change 4. The role of mental health services. Through considering personal recovery in personality disorder as a negotiated understanding between the individual, their social networks and professionals this study illustrates the complexity of working through such a process. Clarity of understanding in this area is essential to avoid developing resistance in the recovery process. Understanding of

Semiotic Scaffolding in Living Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hoffmeyer, Jesper

2008-01-01

The apparently purposeful nature of living systems is obtained through a sophisticated network of semiotic controls whereby biochemical, physiological and behavioral processes become tuned to the needs of the system. The operation of these semiotic controls takes place and is enabled across...... a diversity of levels. Such semiotic controls may be distinguished from ordinary deterministic control mechanisms through an inbuilt anticipatory capacity based on a distinct kind of causation that I call here "semiotic causation" to denote the bringing about of changes under the guidance of interpretation...... in a local .context. Anticipation through the skilled interpretation of indicators of temporal relations in the context of a particular survival project (or life strategy) guides organismic behavior towards local ends. This network of semiotic controls establishes an enormously complex semiotic scaffolding...

Physics of Life: A Model for Non-Newtonian Properties of Living Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Zak, Michail

2010-01-01

This innovation proposes the reconciliation of the evolution of life with the second law of thermodynamics via the introduction of the First Principle for modeling behavior of living systems. The structure of the model is quantum-inspired: it acquires the topology of the Madelung equation in which the quantum potential is replaced with the information potential. As a result, the model captures the most fundamental property of life: the progressive evolution; i.e. the ability to evolve from disorder to order without any external interference. The mathematical structure of the model can be obtained from the Newtonian equations of motion (representing the motor dynamics) coupled with the corresponding Liouville equation (representing the mental dynamics) via information forces. All these specific non-Newtonian properties equip the model with the levels of complexity that matches the complexity of life, and that makes the model applicable for description of behaviors of ecological, social, and economical systems. Rather than addressing the six aspects of life (organization, metabolism, growth, adaptation, response to stimuli, and reproduction), this work focuses only on biosignature ; i.e. the mechanical invariants of life, and in particular, the geometry and kinematics of behavior of living things. Living things obey the First Principles of Newtonian mechanics. One main objective of this model is to extend the First Principles of classical physics to include phenomenological behavior on living systems; to develop a new mathematical formalism within the framework of classical dynamics that would allow one to capture the specific properties of natural or artificial living systems such as formation of the collective mind based upon abstract images of the selves and non-selves; exploitation of this collective mind for communications and predictions of future expected characteristics of evolution; and for making decisions and implementing the corresponding corrections if

The critical roles of information and nonequilibrium thermodynamics in evolution of living systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Gatenby, Robert A; Frieden, B Roy

2013-04-01

Living cells are spatially bounded, low entropy systems that, although far from thermodynamic equilibrium, have persisted for billions of years. Schrödinger, Prigogine, and others explored the physical principles of living systems primarily in terms of the thermodynamics of order, energy, and entropy. This provided valuable insights, but not a comprehensive model. We propose the first principles of living systems must include: (1) Information dynamics, which permits conversion of energy to order through synthesis of specific and reproducible, structurally-ordered components; and (2) Nonequilibrium thermodynamics, which generate Darwinian forces that optimize the system.Living systems are fundamentally unstable because they exist far from thermodynamic equilibrium, but this apparently precarious state allows critical response that includes: (1) Feedback so that loss of order due to environmental perturbations generate information that initiates a corresponding response to restore baseline state. (2) Death due to a return to thermodynamic equilibrium to rapidly eliminate systems that cannot maintain order in local conditions. (3) Mitosis that rewards very successful systems, even when they attain order that is too high to be sustainable by environmental energy, by dividing so that each daughter cell has a much smaller energy requirement. Thus, nonequilibrium thermodynamics are ultimately responsible for Darwinian forces that optimize system dynamics, conferring robustness sufficient to allow continuous existence of living systems over billions of years.

Understanding and Controlling Living/Inorganic Interfaces to Enable Reconfigurable Switchable Materials

Science.gov (United States)

2018-03-01

Mater Res. 2015;4:297–310. Invited. Dong H, Sarkes DA, Rice JJ , Hurley MM, Fu A, Stratis-Cullum D. Functionalization of living bacterial cells with...presentation. Dong H, Sarkes DA, Rice JJ , Hurley MM, Fu A, Stratis-Cullum D. Living composites: Viable bacteria-nanoparticle hybrids mediated through...surface- displayed peptides. Langmuir. Forthcoming 2017. Dong H, Sarkes DA, Rice JJ , Hurley MM, Fu A, Stratis-Cullum DN. Living bacteria/nanoparticle

A Simple FSPN Model of P2P Live Video Streaming System

OpenAIRE

Kotevski, Zoran; Mitrevski, Pece

2011-01-01

Peer to Peer (P2P) live streaming is relatively new paradigm that aims at streaming live video to large number of clients at low cost. Many such applications already exist in the market, but, prior to creating such system it is necessary to analyze its performance via representative model that can provide good insight in the system’s behavior. Modeling and performance analysis of P2P live video streaming systems is challenging task which requires addressing many properties and issues of P2P s...

"Toward High School Biology": Helping Middle School Students Understand Chemical Reactions and Conservation of Mass in Nonliving and Living Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Herrmann-Abell, Cari F.; Koppal, Mary; Roseman, Jo Ellen

2016-01-01

Modern biology has become increasingly molecular in nature, requiring students to understand basic chemical concepts. Studies show, however, that many students fail to grasp ideas about atom rearrangement and conservation during chemical reactions or the application of these ideas to biological systems. To help provide students with a better…

Recovery as a Lived Experience Discipline: A Grounded Theory Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Byrne, Louise; Happell, Brenda; Reid-Searl, Kerry

2015-01-01

Recovery is government mandated and a core facet of mental health reform. However, Recovery implementation in this country (Australia) has been inhibited by a lack of education of, and understanding from, clinicians. A grounded theory study was undertaken to explore the potential and existing role of lived experience practitioners in assisting meaningful implementations of Recovery within the Australian mental health sector. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 people employed to work from a lived experience perspective. The findings suggest participants have experienced and observed significant barriers to the implementation of Recovery-focused practice while operating in lived experience roles. Three main issues emerged: (1) Recovery co-opted, (2) Recovery uptake, and (3) Recovery denial. For a genuine Recovery-focused mental health system to be developed, lived experience practitioners must be enabled to take their role as Recovery experts and leaders. Lived experience practitioners are the logical leaders of Recovery implementation due to their own internal experience and understandings of Recovery and the wider lived experience movement's development and championing of the concepts.

Understanding patient requirements for technology systems that support pain management in palliative care services: A qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Allsop, Matthew J; Taylor, Sally; Bennett, Michael I; Bewick, Bridgette M

2017-11-01

Approaches to pain management using electronic systems are being developed for use in palliative care. This article explores palliative care patients' perspectives on managing and talking about pain, the role of technology in their lives and how technology could support pain management. Face-to-face interviews were used to understand patient needs and concerns to inform how electronic systems are developed. A total of 13 interviews took place with a convenience sample of community-based patients with advanced cancer receiving palliative care through a hospice. Data were analysed using framework analysis. Four meta-themes emerged: Technology could be part of my care; I'm trying to understand what is going on; My pain is ever-changing and difficult to control; and I'm selective about who to tell about pain. Patients described technology as peripheral to existing processes of care. To be relevant, systems may need to take account of the complexity of a patient's pain experience alongside existing relationships with health professionals.

A microcomputer-based daily living activity recording system.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuoka, Shingo; Yonezawa, Yoshiharu; Maki, Hiromichi; Ogawa, Hidekuni; Hahn, Allen W; Thayer, Julian F; Caldwell, W Morton

2003-01-01

A new daily living activity recording system has been developed for monitoring health conditions and living patterns, such as respiration, posture, activity/rest ratios and general activity level. The system employs a piezoelectric sensor, a dual axis accelerometer, two low-power active filters, a low-power 8-bit single chip microcomputer and a 128 MB compact flash memory. The piezoelectric sensor, whose electrical polarization voltage is produced by mechanical strain, detects body movements. Its high-frequency output components reflect body movements produced by walking and running activities, while the low frequency components are mainly respiratory. The dual axis accelerometer detects, from body X and Y tilt angles, whether the patient is standing, sitting or lying down (prone, supine, left side or right side). The detected respiratory, behavior and posture signals are stored by the compact flash memory. After recording, these data are downloaded to a desktop computer and analyzed.

Systems Biology of Immune Response to Live and Inactivated Dengue Virus Vaccines

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-01

AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-16-2-0032 TITLE: Systems Biology of Immune Response to Live and Inactivated Dengue Virus Vaccines PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR...CONTRACT NUMBER Systems Biology of Immune Response to Live and Inactivated Dengue Virus Vaccines 5b. GRANT NUMBER W81XWH-16-2-0032 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT...cell) responses will be measured using molecular and cellular approaches and the data analyzed using a systems biology approach. During the first

Modeling systems-level dynamics: Understanding without mechanistic explanation in integrative systems biology.

Science.gov (United States)

MacLeod, Miles; Nersessian, Nancy J

2015-02-01

In this paper we draw upon rich ethnographic data of two systems biology labs to explore the roles of explanation and understanding in large-scale systems modeling. We illustrate practices that depart from the goal of dynamic mechanistic explanation for the sake of more limited modeling goals. These processes use abstract mathematical formulations of bio-molecular interactions and data fitting techniques which we call top-down abstraction to trade away accurate mechanistic accounts of large-scale systems for specific information about aspects of those systems. We characterize these practices as pragmatic responses to the constraints many modelers of large-scale systems face, which in turn generate more limited pragmatic non-mechanistic forms of understanding of systems. These forms aim at knowledge of how to predict system responses in order to manipulate and control some aspects of them. We propose that this analysis of understanding provides a way to interpret what many systems biologists are aiming for in practice when they talk about the objective of a "systems-level understanding." Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Developmental diversity in free-living flatworms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martín-Durán José

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Flatworm embryology has attracted attention since the early beginnings of comparative evolutionary biology. Considered for a long time the most basal bilaterians, the Platyhelminthes (excluding Acoelomorpha are now robustly placed within the Spiralia. Despite having lost their relevance to explain the transition from radially to bilaterally symmetrical animals, the study of flatworm embryology is still of great importance to understand the diversification of bilaterians and of developmental mechanisms. Flatworms are acoelomate organisms generally with a simple centralized nervous system, a blind gut, and lacking a circulatory organ, a skeleton and a respiratory system other than the epidermis. Regeneration and asexual reproduction, based on a totipotent neoblast stem cell system, are broadly present among different groups of flatworms. While some more basally branching groups - such as polyclad flatworms - retain the ancestral quartet spiral cleavage pattern, most flatworms have significantly diverged from this pattern and exhibit unique strategies to specify the common adult body plan. Most free-living flatworms (i.e. Platyhelminthes excluding the parasitic Neodermata are directly developing, whereas in polyclads, also indirect developers with an intermediate free-living larval stage and subsequent metamorphosis are found. A comparative study of developmental diversity may help understanding major questions in evolutionary biology, such as the evolution of cleavage patterns, gastrulation and axial specification, the evolution of larval types, and the diversification and specialization of organ systems. In this review, we present a thorough overview of the embryonic development of the different groups of free-living (turbellarian platyhelminths, including the Catenulida, Macrostomorpha, Polycladida, Lecithoepitheliata, Proseriata, Bothrioplanida, Rhabdocoela, Fecampiida, Prolecithophora and Tricladida, and discuss their main features

Ability of Accelerator-Driven Systems (ADS) to Transmute Long Lived Fission Fragments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen Mong Giao; Nguyen Thi Ai Thu; Tu Thanh Danh; Tran Thanh Dung; Huynh, Thi Kim Chi

2010-12-01

This paper presents the research results of the possibility to transmute the long-lived radioactive isotopes into stable or short-lived, mainly the long-lived fission fragments as 99 Tc, 127 I, 129 I, 181 Ta, 107 Ag, 109 Ag by accelerator-driven systems. We use semi-empirical formulas to establish our calculating code with the support of computer programs. (author)

Clean by Nature. Lively Surfaces and the Holistic-Systemic Heritage of Contemporary Bionik.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Mueggenburg

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses questions regarding the prospering field of Bionik in Germany. Its starting point is the wide spread assumption that universal functional principles exist in nature and that these ‘solutions’ can be transferred into technological objects. Accordingly, advocates of Bionik herald the advent of a better world with more sustainable and efficient products of engineering. The so-called ‘functional surfaces’ occupy a special place within this contemporary version of biomimesis. Shark-skin-inspired swim suits, self-cleaning façade paints with lotus effect or drag reducing Dolphin-Skins for aircraft-wings are expected to improve the quality of life for everyone. It seems that skin and shell of living systems return as revenants to our technological world and live their afterlives as lively surfaces of everyday objects. This paper argues however, that understanding this attention to ‘natural engineering solutions’ in contemporary Bionik, one needs to focus on a different kind of afterlife. For baring the historic-epistemological roots allows fathoming direct connections to two widely influential historical concepts within the history of science in the 20th century: Biotechnik, a very popular bio-philosophical concept from the Weimar Republic of the 1920s and Bionics, an in many ways similar endeavor that emerged during the second wave of Cybernetics in the USA from around 1960. Both historical concepts share a certain proximity to a distinct holistic-systemic style of thinking that emerged during the 20th century and still resonates with the movement of Bionik in contemporary Germany. Based on the example of the lotus effect, I want to address three aspects of the afterlife of this holistic-systemic heritage in contemporary Bionik. First, the assumption that the best engineering solutions can be found in nature conceals the specific discursive and non-discursive complexity that forms the basis of all technological objects

Top-down models in biology: explanation and control of complex living systems above the molecular level.

Science.gov (United States)

Pezzulo, Giovanni; Levin, Michael

2016-11-01

It is widely assumed in developmental biology and bioengineering that optimal understanding and control of complex living systems follows from models of molecular events. The success of reductionism has overshadowed attempts at top-down models and control policies in biological systems. However, other fields, including physics, engineering and neuroscience, have successfully used the explanations and models at higher levels of organization, including least-action principles in physics and control-theoretic models in computational neuroscience. Exploiting the dynamic regulation of pattern formation in embryogenesis and regeneration requires new approaches to understand how cells cooperate towards large-scale anatomical goal states. Here, we argue that top-down models of pattern homeostasis serve as proof of principle for extending the current paradigm beyond emergence and molecule-level rules. We define top-down control in a biological context, discuss the examples of how cognitive neuroscience and physics exploit these strategies, and illustrate areas in which they may offer significant advantages as complements to the mainstream paradigm. By targeting system controls at multiple levels of organization and demystifying goal-directed (cybernetic) processes, top-down strategies represent a roadmap for using the deep insights of other fields for transformative advances in regenerative medicine and systems bioengineering. © 2016 The Author(s).

Liveness redux: on media and their claim to be live.

Science.gov (United States)

van Es, Karin

2017-11-01

Increasingly media are asserting themselves as live. In television, this has been an important strategy and recently it has been employed by new media platforms such as Facebook, Periscope and Snapchat. This commentary explains the revival of live media by exploring the meaning and operations of the concept and argues the continued relevance of the concept for the study of social media. Traditionally, there have been three main approaches to the live in academic writing (i.e. liveness as ontology, as phenomenology and as rhetoric): each has its particular shortcoming. This paper proposes that it is more productive to understand the live as a construction that assists to secure media a central role in everyday life.

An Introduction to Cost-of-Living Adjustments in Public Retirement Plans: Details Matter

Science.gov (United States)

Jennings, Penelope R.; Jennings, William P.; Phillips, G. Michael

2016-01-01

While financial planning students are expected to be able to understand client retirement plans, subtle differences in cost-of-living adjustments can have major impact on the success of client retirement plans. This teaching note compares the cost-of-living adjustments in the largest government sponsored retirement systems and a hypothetical…

182Hf-182W age dating of a 26Al-poor inclusion and implications for the origin of short-lived radioisotopes in the early Solar System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holst, Jesper Christian; Olsen, Mia Bjørg Stolberg; Paton, Chad

2013-01-01

provide a unique window into the earliest Solar System, including the origin of short-lived radioisotopes. However, their chronology is unknown. Using the 182Hf–182W chronometer, we show that a FUN CAI recording a condensation origin from a solar gas formed coevally with canonical CAIs, but with 26Al/27Al......Refractory inclusions [calcium–aluminum-rich inclusions, (CAIs)] represent the oldest Solar System solids and provide information regarding the formation of the Sun and its protoplanetary disk. CAIs contain evidence of now extinct short-lived radioisotopes (e.g., 26Al, 41Ca, and 182Hf) synthesized...... in one or multiple stars and added to the protosolar molecular cloud before or during its collapse. Understanding how and when short-lived radioisotopes were added to the Solar System is necessary to assess their validity as chronometers and constrain the birthplace of the Sun. Whereas most CAIs formed...

Applying Formal Verification Techniques to Ambient Assisted Living Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Benghazi, Kawtar; Visitación Hurtado, María; Rodríguez, María Luisa; Noguera, Manuel

This paper presents a verification approach based on timed traces semantics and MEDISTAM-RT [1] to check the fulfillment of non-functional requirements, such as timeliness and safety, and assure the correct functioning of the Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) systems. We validate this approach by its application to an Emergency Assistance System for monitoring people suffering from cardiac alteration with syncope.

The lived experience of men diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Krumwiede, Kelly A; Krumwiede, Norma

2012-09-01

To investigate the lived experience of prostate cancer from a patient perspective. Descriptive, qualitative. Community setting. 10 men with prostate cancer aged 62-70 years. A hermeneutic phenomenologic method using semistructured, open-ended questions addressing the lived experience. Phenomenology of praxis proposed by van Manen guided the data analysis and transformed personal experiences into disciplinary understanding. The use of van Manen's method of inquiry and analysis has contributed to the findings of the study by providing a way to explore the meaning of the lived experiences in an attempt to understand living with prostate cancer. Several themes were identified: living in the unknown, yearning to understand and know, struggling with unreliability of body, bearing the diagnosis of cancer, shifting priorities in the gap, and feeling comfort in the presence of others. Oncology nurses can use van Manen's four fundamental existentials-lived space (spatiality), lived body (corporeality), lived time (temporality), and lived other (relationality)-to understand the lived experience of prostate cancer. Nurses have many opportunities to impact the lives of men diagnosed with prostate cancer, including diagnosis, management of physical integrity, management of psychosocial integrity, and providing education. Nurses may encourage men to describe their diagnosis story and illness experience to better understand the meaning of the prostate cancer experience and to provide appropriate nursing care.

Living through conflict and post-conflict: experiences of health workers in northern Uganda and lessons for people-centred health systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Namakula, Justine; Witter, Sophie

2014-09-01

Providing people-centred health systems--or any systems at all--requires specific measures to protect and retain healthcare workers during and after the conflict. This is particularly important when health staff are themselves the target of violence and abduction, as is often the case. This article presents the perspective of health workers who lived through conflict in four districts of northern Uganda--Pader, Gulu, Amuru, and Kitgum. These contained more than 90% of the people displaced by the decades of conflict, which ended in 2006. The article is based on 26 in-depth interviews, using a life history approach. This participatory tool encouraged participants to record key events and decisions in their lives, and to explore areas such as their decision to become a health worker, their employment history, and their experiences of conflict and coping strategies. These were analyzed thematically to develop an understanding of how to protect and retain staff in these challenging contexts. During the conflict, many health workers lost their lives or witnessed the death of their friends and colleagues. They also experienced abduction, ambush and injury. Other challenges included disconnection from social and professional support systems, displacement, limited supplies and equipment, increased workload and long working days and lack of pay. Health workers were not passive in the face of these challenges, however. They adopted a range of safety measures, such as mingling with community members, sleeping in the bush, and frequent change of sleeping place, in addition to psychological and practical coping strategies. Understanding their motivation and their views provides an important insight how to maintain staffing and so to continue to offer essential health care during difficult times and in marginalized areas. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2014; all rights reserved.

Geochemistry and the Understanding of Groundwater Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Glynn, P. D.; Plummer, L. N.; Weissmann, G. S.; Stute, M.

2009-12-01

Geochemical techniques and concepts have made major contributions to the understanding of groundwater systems. Advances continue to be made through (1) development of measurement and characterization techniques, (2) improvements in computer technology, networks and numerical modeling, (3) investigation of coupled geologic, hydrologic, geochemical and biologic processes, and (4) scaling of individual observations, processes or subsystem models into larger coherent model frameworks. Many applications benefit from progress in these areas, such as: (1) understanding paleoenvironments, in particular paleoclimate, through the use of groundwater archives, (2) assessing the sustainability (recharge and depletion) of groundwater resources, and (3) their vulnerability to contamination, (4) evaluating the capacity and consequences of subsurface waste isolation (e.g. geologic carbon sequestration, nuclear and chemical waste disposal), (5) assessing the potential for mitigation/transformation of anthropogenic contaminants in groundwater systems, and (6) understanding the effect of groundwater lag times in ecosystem-scale responses to natural events, land-use changes, human impacts, and remediation efforts. Obtaining “representative” groundwater samples is difficult and progress in obtaining “representative” samples, or interpreting them, requires new techniques in characterizing groundwater system heterogeneity. Better characterization and simulation of groundwater system heterogeneity (both physical and geochemical) is critical to interpreting the meaning of groundwater “ages”; to understanding and predicting groundwater flow, solute transport, and geochemical evolution; and to quantifying groundwater recharge and discharge processes. Research advances will also come from greater use and progress (1) in the application of environmental tracers to ground water dating and in the analysis of new geochemical tracers (e.g. compound specific isotopic analyses, noble gas

Family self-tailoring: Applying a systems approach to improving family healthy living behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Shirley M; Jones, Lenette; Alemi, Farrokh

2016-01-01

The adoption and maintenance of healthy living behaviors by individuals and families is a major challenge. We describe a new model of health behavior change, SystemCHANGE (SC), which focuses on the redesign of family daily routines using system improvement methods. In the SC intervention, families are taught a set of skills to engage in a series of small, family self-designed experiments to test ideas to change their daily routines. The family system-oriented changes brought about by these experiments build healthy living behaviors into family daily routines so that these new behaviors happen as a matter of course, despite wavering motivation, willpower, or personal effort on the part of individuals. Case stories of the use of SC to improve family healthy living behaviors are provided. Results of several pilot tests of SC indicate its potential effectiveness to change health living behaviors across numerous populations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Korean Survivors of the Japanese "Comfort Women" System: Understanding the Lifelong Consequences of Early Life Trauma.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jee Hoon; Lee, KyongWeon; Hand, Michelle D; Anderson, Keith A; Schleitwiler, Tess E

2016-01-01

Prior to and during World War II, thousands of girls and young women were abducted from Korea and forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese government. Termed comfort women, these girls and young women suffered extreme sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and trauma. Research on this group is not well-developed and people know little of the impact of this early life trauma on the lives of these women who are now in later life. Using snowball sampling, 16 older adult survivors of the comfort women system participated in semistructured qualitative interviews. Thematic analysis was conducted to gain an understanding of the trauma that these women suffered and how it impacted their lives. Results revealed the depths of the abuse these women suffered, including repeated rapes, physical beatings, humiliation, forced surgery and sterilization, and social exclusion. These early traumatic experiences appeared to reverberate throughout their lives in their family relations, their inability to marry and to conceive children, and their emotional and physical well-being throughout the life course and into later life. The experiences of these survivors illustrate the lasting impact of early-life trauma and can guide interventions with current survivors of sexual abuse or trafficking.

Understanding terminological systems. I: Terminology and typology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Keizer, N. F.; Abu-Hanna, A.; Zwetsloot-Schonk, J. H.

2000-01-01

Terminological systems are an important research issue within the field of medical informatics. For precise understanding of existing terminological systems a referential framework is needed that provides a uniform terminology and typology of terminological systems themselves. In this article a

Understand Your Medication

Science.gov (United States)

... Disease Lookup > Asthma > Living with Asthma > Managing Asthma Understand Your Asthma Medication There are a variety of ... healthcare team. They can help make sure you understand the correct way to take the medicines, or ...

Systems Biology of the Immune Response to Live and Inactivated Dengue Virus Vaccines

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-01

AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-16-2-0031 TITLE: Systems Biology of the Immune Response to Live and Inactivated Dengue Virus Vaccines PRINCIPAL...SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER Systems Biology of the Immune Response to Live and Inactivated Dengue Virus Vaccines 5b. GRANT NUMBER W81XWH-16-2-0031 5c...adaptive (T and B cell) responses will be measured using molecular and cellular approaches and the data analyzed using a systems biology approach

Understanding Service-Oriented Systems Using Dynamic Analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Espinha, T.; Zaidman, A.; Gross, H.G.

2011-01-01

When trying to understand a system that is based on the principles of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), it is typically not enough to understand the individual services in the architecture, but also the interactions between the services. In this paper, we present a technique based on dynamic

Thermodynamic inversion origin of living systems

CERN Document Server

Kompanichenko, Vladimir N

2017-01-01

This book discusses the theory, general principles, and energy source conditions allowing for the emergence of life in planetary systems. The author examines the material conditions found in natural hydrothermal sites, the appropriate analogs of prebiotic environments on early Earth. He provides an overview of current laboratory experiments in prebiotic materials chemistry and substantiation of a new direction for the experiments in the origin of life field. Describes thermodynamic inversion and how it relates to the living cell; Examines the current direction of experiments on prebiotic materials chemistry; Introduces and substantiates necessary conditions for the emergence of life.

Living science: Science as an activity of living beings.

Science.gov (United States)

MacLennan, Bruce J

2015-12-01

The philosophy of science should accommodate itself to the facts of human existence, using all aspects of human experience to adapt more effectively, as individuals, species, and global ecosystem. This has several implications: (1) Our nature as sentient beings interacting with other sentient beings requires the use of phenomenological methods to investigate consciousness. (2) Our embodied, situated, purposeful physical interactions with the world are the foundation of scientific understanding. (3) Aristotle's four causes are essential for understanding living systems and, in particular, the final cause aids understanding the role of humankind, and especially science, in the global ecosystem. (4) In order to fulfill this role well, scientists need to employ the full panoply of human faculties. These include the consciousness faculties (thinking, sensation, feeling, intuition), and therefore, as advocated by many famous scientists, we should cultivate our aesthetic sense, emotions, imagination, and intuition. Our unconscious faculties include archetypal structures common to all humans, which can guide scientific discovery. By striving to engage the whole of human nature, science will fulfill better its function for humans and the global ecosystem. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Systems Biology as an Integrated Platform for Bioinformatics, Systems Synthetic Biology, and Systems Metabolic Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Bor-Sen; Wu, Chia-Chou

2013-01-01

Systems biology aims at achieving a system-level understanding of living organisms and applying this knowledge to various fields such as synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and medicine. System-level understanding of living organisms can be derived from insight into: (i) system structure and the mechanism of biological networks such as gene regulation, protein interactions, signaling, and metabolic pathways; (ii) system dynamics of biological networks, which provides an understanding of stability, robustness, and transduction ability through system identification, and through system analysis methods; (iii) system control methods at different levels of biological networks, which provide an understanding of systematic mechanisms to robustly control system states, minimize malfunctions, and provide potential therapeutic targets in disease treatment; (iv) systematic design methods for the modification and construction of biological networks with desired behaviors, which provide system design principles and system simulations for synthetic biology designs and systems metabolic engineering. This review describes current developments in systems biology, systems synthetic biology, and systems metabolic engineering for engineering and biology researchers. We also discuss challenges and future prospects for systems biology and the concept of systems biology as an integrated platform for bioinformatics, systems synthetic biology, and systems metabolic engineering. PMID:24709875

Systems Biology as an Integrated Platform for Bioinformatics, Systems Synthetic Biology, and Systems Metabolic Engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bor-Sen Chen

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Systems biology aims at achieving a system-level understanding of living organisms and applying this knowledge to various fields such as synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and medicine. System-level understanding of living organisms can be derived from insight into: (i system structure and the mechanism of biological networks such as gene regulation, protein interactions, signaling, and metabolic pathways; (ii system dynamics of biological networks, which provides an understanding of stability, robustness, and transduction ability through system identification, and through system analysis methods; (iii system control methods at different levels of biological networks, which provide an understanding of systematic mechanisms to robustly control system states, minimize malfunctions, and provide potential therapeutic targets in disease treatment; (iv systematic design methods for the modification and construction of biological networks with desired behaviors, which provide system design principles and system simulations for synthetic biology designs and systems metabolic engineering. This review describes current developments in systems biology, systems synthetic biology, and systems metabolic engineering for engineering and biology researchers. We also discuss challenges and future prospects for systems biology and the concept of systems biology as an integrated platform for bioinformatics, systems synthetic biology, and systems metabolic engineering.

Long-Lived In-Situ Solar System Explorer (LLISSE)

Science.gov (United States)

Kremic, Tibor; Hunter, Gary; Rock, Jennifer

2017-01-01

This presentation provides an update on development of the Long-Lived In-situ Solar System Explorer (LLISSE). LLISSE is a small probe being developed to provide long-term measurements of simple but important scientific parameters from the surface of Venus. High level summary of recent activities and progress is provided. LLISSE is a small and completely independent probe for Venus surface applications

Evolving the Living With a Star Data System Definition

Science.gov (United States)

Otranto, J. F.; Dijoseph, M.

2003-12-01

NASA's Living With a Star (LWS) Program is a space weather-focused and applications-driven research program. The LWS Program is soliciting input from the solar, space physics, space weather, and climate science communities to develop a system that enables access to science data associated with these disciplines, and advances the development of discipline and interdisciplinary findings. The LWS Program will implement a data system that builds upon the existing and planned data capture, processing, and storage components put in place by individual spacecraft missions and also inter-project data management systems, including active and deep archives, and multi-mission data repositories. It is technically feasible for the LWS Program to integrate data from a broad set of resources, assuming they are either publicly accessible or allow access by permission. The LWS Program data system will work in coordination with spacecraft mission data systems and science data repositories, integrating their holdings using a common metadata representation. This common representation relies on a robust metadata definition that provides journalistic and technical data descriptions, plus linkages to supporting data products and tools. The LWS Program intends to become an enabling resource to PIs, interdisciplinary scientists, researchers, and students facilitating both access to a broad collection of science data, as well as the necessary supporting components to understand and make productive use of these data. For the LWS Program to represent science data that are physically distributed across various ground system elements, information will be collected about these distributed data products through a series of LWS Program-created agents. These agents will be customized to interface or interact with each one of these data systems, collect information, and forward any new metadata records to a LWS Program-developed metadata library. A populated LWS metadata library will function as a

Living with systemic lupus erythematosus in the developing world.

Science.gov (United States)

Phuti, A; Schneider, M; Tikly, M; Hodkinson, B

2018-03-26

Most of our understanding of SLE and its negative impact originates from developed countries. This review aims to collate existing literature on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in SLE patients living in developing countries to identify the gaps for the focus of future research. A narrative literature review was compiled using selected MeSH terms to search EBSCOHOST for articles published between January 1975 and February 2018 pertaining to HRQoL in SLE patients in developing countries. 31 studies from 11 countries were included for analysis. Only one longitudinal, one randomized controlled trial (RCT), one qualitative study, and two intervention studies were found. High disease activity and organ damage were associated with poor functional ability, mental health and low socio-economic status (SES). Poor SES is a recurring theme in developing countries, and worsens all SLE outcomes by reducing access to healthcare, mental, social and emotional support systems. In developing countries, SLE has a globally negative impact on patients' HRQoL, similar to that seen in developed countries. There is an urgent need for more HRQoL studies, and in particular, longitudinal, qualitative and interventional studies in these countries to investigate unmet needs, and to explore novel strategies to improve patient outcomes.

Living Day by Day

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Rachel L.; Khoury, Cynthia El; Field, Emily R. S.; Mokhbat, Jacques

2016-01-01

We examined the meaning of living with HIV/AIDS among women in Lebanon. Ten women living with HIV/AIDS (WLWHA) described their experiences via semistructured in-depth interviews. They navigated a process of HIV diagnosis acceptance that incorporated six overlapping elements: receiving the news, accessing care, starting treatment, navigating disclosure decisions, negotiating stigma, and maintaining stability. Through these elements, we provide a framework for understanding three major themes that were constructed during data analysis: Stand by my side: Decisions of disclosure; Being “sick” and feeling “normal”: Interacting with self, others, and society; and Living day by day: focusing on the present. We contribute to the existing literature by providing a theoretical framework for understanding the process of diagnosis and sero-status acceptance among WLWHA. This was the first study of its kind to examine the meaning of living with HIV/AIDS among women in a Middle Eastern country. PMID:28462340

Living Day by Day

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel L. Kaplan

2016-05-01

Full Text Available We examined the meaning of living with HIV/AIDS among women in Lebanon. Ten women living with HIV/AIDS (WLWHA described their experiences via semistructured in-depth interviews. They navigated a process of HIV diagnosis acceptance that incorporated six overlapping elements: receiving the news, accessing care, starting treatment, navigating disclosure decisions, negotiating stigma, and maintaining stability. Through these elements, we provide a framework for understanding three major themes that were constructed during data analysis: Stand by my side: Decisions of disclosure; Being “sick” and feeling “normal”: Interacting with self, others, and society; and Living day by day: focusing on the present. We contribute to the existing literature by providing a theoretical framework for understanding the process of diagnosis and sero-status acceptance among WLWHA. This was the first study of its kind to examine the meaning of living with HIV/AIDS among women in a Middle Eastern country.

Human behavior understanding for assisted living by means of hierarchical context free grammars

Science.gov (United States)

Rosani, A.; Conci, N.; De Natale, F. G. B.

2014-03-01

Human behavior understanding has attracted the attention of researchers in various fields over the last years. Recognizing behaviors with sufficient accuracy from sensors analysis is still an unsolved problem, because of many reasons, including the low accuracy of the data, differences in the human behaviors as well as the gap between low-level sensors data and high-level scene semantics. In this context, an application that is attracting the interest of both public and industrial entities is the possibility to allow elderly or physically impaired people conducting a normal life at home. Ambient intelligence (AmI) technologies, intended as the possibility of automatically detecting and reacting to the status of the environment and of the persons, is probably the major enabling factor for the achievement of such an ambitious objective. AmI technologies require suitable networks of sensors and actuators, as well as adequate processing and communication technologies. In this paper we propose a solution based on context free grammars for human behavior understanding with an application to assisted living. First, the grammars of the different actions performed by a person in his/her daily life are discovered. Then, a longterm analysis of the behavior is used to generate a control grammar, taking care of the context when an action is performed, and adding semantics. The proposed framework is tested on a dataset acquired in a real environment and compared with state of the art methods already available for the problem considered.

Understanding renewable energy systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quaschning, Volker

2005-01-15

Beginning with an overview of renewable energy sources including biomass, hydroelectricity, geothermal, tidal, wind and solar power, this book explores the fundamentals of different renewable energy systems. The main focus is on technologies with high development potential such as solar thermal systems, photovoltaics and wind power. This text not only describes technological aspects, but also deals consciously with problems of the energy industry. In this way, the topics are treated in a holistic manner, bringing together maths, engineering, climate studies and economics, and enabling readers to gain a broad understanding of renewable energy technologies and their potential. The book also contains a free CD-ROM resource, which includes a variety of specialist simulation software and detailed figures from the book. (Author)

Older people living with HIV in Uganda: understanding their ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

HIV-prevention, treatment and care programmes should seek to meet the special needs of older people through focused and innovative approaches. Further research with larger samples is needed to explore the impact of these healthcare needs on the quality of life of older people living with HIV. Keywords: ageing ...

Systems thinking in 49 communities related to healthy eating, active living, and childhood obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Brennan, Laura K; Sabounchi, Nasim S; Kemner, Allison L; Hovmand, Peter

2015-01-01

Community partnerships to promote healthy eating and active living in order to prevent childhood obesity face a number of challenges. Systems science tools combined with group model-building techniques offer promising methods that use transdisciplinary team-based approaches to improve understanding of the complexity of the obesity epidemic. This article presents evaluation methods and findings from 49 Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities sites funded to implement policy, system, and environmental changes from 2008 to 2014. Through half-day group model-building sessions conducted as part of evaluation site visits to each community between 2010 and 2013, a total of 50 causal loop diagrams were produced for 49 communities (1 community had 2 causal loop diagrams representing different geographic regions). The analysis focused on the following evaluation questions: (1) What were the most prominent variables in the causal loop diagrams across communities? (2) What were the major feedback structures across communities? (3) What implications from the synthesized causal loop diagram can be translated to policy makers, practitioners, evaluators, funders, and other community representatives? A total of 590 individuals participated with an average of 12 participants per session. Participants' causal loop diagrams included a total of 227 unique variables in the following major subsystems: healthy eating policies and environments, active living policies and environments, health and health behaviors, partnership and community capacity, and social determinants. In a synthesized causal loop diagram representing variables identified by at least 20% of the communities, many feedback structures emerged and several themes are highlighted with respect to implications for policy and practice as well as assessment and evaluation. The application of systems thinking tools combined with group model-building techniques creates opportunities to define and characterize complex systems in a manner

Understanding Nuclear Safety Culture: A Systemic Approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Afghan, A.N.

2016-01-01

The Fukushima accident was a systemic failure (Report by Director General IAEA on the Fukushima Daiichi Accident). Systemic failure is a failure at system level unlike the currently understood notion which regards it as the failure of component and equipment. Systemic failures are due to the interdependence, complexity and unpredictability within systems and that is why these systems are called complex adaptive systems (CAS), in which “attractors” play an important role. If we want to understand the systemic failures we need to understand CAS and the role of these attractors. The intent of this paper is to identify some typical attractors (including stakeholders) and their role within complex adaptive system. Attractors can be stakeholders, individuals, processes, rules and regulations, SOPs etc., towards which other agents and individuals are attracted. This paper will try to identify attractors in nuclear safety culture and influence of their assumptions on safety culture behavior by taking examples from nuclear industry in Pakistan. For example, if the nuclear regulator is an attractor within nuclear safety culture CAS then how basic assumptions of nuclear plant operators and shift in-charges about “regulator” affect their own safety behavior?

Piloted ignition of live forest fuels

Science.gov (United States)

S. McAllister; I. Grenfell; A. Hadlow; W. M. Jolly; M. Finney; J. Cohen

2012-01-01

The most unpredictable and uncontrollable wildfires are those that burn in the crowns of live vegetation. The fuels that feed these crown fires are mostly live, green foliage. Unfortunately, little is known about how live fuels combust. To understand how live fuels burn, piloted ignition experiments were performed with lodgepole pine and Douglas-fir. The thermal...

Understanding and controlling the enteric nervous system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boeckxstaens, G. E.

2002-01-01

The enteric nervous system or the `Little Brain' of the gut controls gastrointestinal motility and secretion, and is involved in visceral sensation. In this chapter, new developments in understanding the function of the enteric nervous system are described. In particular, the interaction of this

Dependent or Productive? A New Approach to Understanding the Social Positioning of Older South Africans Through Living Arrangements

Science.gov (United States)

Madhavan, Sangeetha; Collinson, Mark; Gómez-Olivé, F. Xavier; Ralston, Margaret

2015-01-01

South Africa’s population is aging. Most of the older Black South Africans continue to live in extended household structures with children, grandchildren, and other kin. They also constitute a source of income through a means-tested noncontributory state-funded pension available at age 60. Using census data from the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System in 2000, 2005, and 2010, we develop a typology of living arrangements that is reflective of the social positioning of elderly persons as dependent or productive household members and analyze changes in the distribution over time. Older persons, in general, live in large, complex, and multigenerational households. Multigenerational households with “productive” older persons are increasing in proportion over the period, although there are few differences by gender or pension eligibility at any time point. PMID:25651584

An Indoor Positioning System Based on Wearables for Ambient-Assisted Living.

Science.gov (United States)

Belmonte-Fernández, Óscar; Puertas-Cabedo, Adrian; Torres-Sospedra, Joaquín; Montoliu-Colás, Raúl; Trilles-Oliver, Sergi

2016-12-25

The urban population is growing at such a rate that by 2050 it is estimated that 84% of the world's population will live in cities, with flats being the most common living place. Moreover, WiFi technology is present in most developed country urban areas, with a quick growth in developing countries. New Ambient-Assisted Living applications will be developed in the near future having user positioning as ground technology: elderly tele-care, energy consumption, security and the like are strongly based on indoor positioning information. We present an Indoor Positioning System for wearable devices based on WiFi fingerprinting. Smart-watch wearable devices are used to acquire the WiFi strength signals of the surrounding Wireless Access Points used to build an ensemble of Machine Learning classification algorithms. Once built, the ensemble algorithm is used to locate a user based on the WiFi strength signals provided by the wearable device. Experimental results for five different urban flats are reported, showing that the system is robust and reliable enough for locating a user at room level into his/her home. Another interesting characteristic of the presented system is that it does not require deployment of any infrastructure, and it is unobtrusive, the only device required for it to work is a smart-watch.

Living PSA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, M.G.K.

1997-01-01

The aim of this presentation is to gain an understanding of the requirements for a PSA to be considered a Living PSA. The presentation is divided into the following topics: Definition; Planning/Documentation; Task Performance; Maintenance; Management. 4 figs

Living labs design and assessment of sustainable living

CERN Document Server

Guerra-Santin, Olivia; Lockton, Dan

2017-01-01

This book presents the results of a multi-annual project with sustainable Living Labs in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. Living Labs – as initiated by the authors – have proved to be very promising research, design, co-creation and communication facilities for the development and implementation of sustainable innovations in the home. The book provides an inspiring introduction to both the methodology and business modelling for the Living Lab facilities. Understanding daily living at home is key to designing products and services that support households in their transition to more sustainable lifestyles. This book not only explores new ways of gaining insights into daily practices, but also discusses developing and testing design methods to create sustainable solutions for households. These new methods and tools are needed because those available are either ineffective or cause rebound-effects. Intended for researchers and designers with an interest in the transition to sustainable...

Passive wireless sensor systems can recognize activites of daily living.

Science.gov (United States)

Urwyler, Prabitha; Stucki, Reto; Muri, Rene; Mosimann, Urs P; Nef, Tobias

2015-08-01

The ability to determine what activity of daily living a person performs is of interest in many application domains. It is possible to determine the physical and cognitive capabilities of the elderly by inferring what activities they perform in their houses. Our primary aim was to establish a proof of concept that a wireless sensor system can monitor and record physical activity and these data can be modeled to predict activities of daily living. The secondary aim was to determine the optimal placement of the sensor boxes for detecting activities in a room. A wireless sensor system was set up in a laboratory kitchen. The ten healthy participants were requested to make tea following a defined sequence of tasks. Data were collected from the eight wireless sensor boxes placed in specific places in the test kitchen and analyzed to detect the sequences of tasks performed by the participants. These sequence of tasks were trained and tested using the Markov Model. Data analysis focused on the reliability of the system and the integrity of the collected data. The sequence of tasks were successfully recognized for all subjects and the averaged data pattern of tasks sequences between the subjects had a high correlation. Analysis of the data collected indicates that sensors placed in different locations are capable of recognizing activities, with the movement detection sensor contributing the most to detection of tasks. The central top of the room with no obstruction of view was considered to be the best location to record data for activity detection. Wireless sensor systems show much promise as easily deployable to monitor and recognize activities of daily living.

Understanding land administration systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

P. Williamson, Ian; Enemark, Stig; Wallace, Judy

2008-01-01

This paper introduces basic land administration theory and highlights four key concepts that are fundamental to understanding modern land administration systems - firstly the land management paradigm and its influence on the land administration framework, secondly the role that the cadastre plays...... in contributing to sustainable development, thirdly the changing nature of ownership and the role of land markets, and lastly a land management vision that promotes land administration in support of sustainable development and spatial enablement of society. We present here the first part of the paper. The second...

Dynamical Signatures of Living Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Zak, M.

1999-01-01

One of the main challenges in modeling living systems is to distinguish a random walk of physical origin (for instance, Brownian motions) from those of biological origin and that will constitute the starting point of the proposed approach. As conjectured, the biological random walk must be nonlinear. Indeed, any stochastic Markov process can be described by linear Fokker-Planck equation (or its discretized version), only that type of process has been observed in the inanimate world. However, all such processes always converge to a stable (ergodic or periodic) state, i.e., to the states of a lower complexity and high entropy. At the same time, the evolution of living systems directed toward a higher level of complexity if complexity is associated with a number of structural variations. The simplest way to mimic such a tendency is to incorporate a nonlinearity into the random walk; then the probability evolution will attain the features of diffusion equation: the formation and dissipation of shock waves initiated by small shallow wave disturbances. As a result, the evolution never "dies:" it produces new different configurations which are accompanied by an increase or decrease of entropy (the decrease takes place during formation of shock waves, the increase-during their dissipation). In other words, the evolution can be directed "against the second law of thermodynamics" by forming patterns outside of equilibrium in the probability space. Due to that, a specie is not locked up in a certain pattern of behavior: it still can perform a variety of motions, and only the statistics of these motions is constrained by this pattern. It should be emphasized that such a "twist" is based upon the concept of reflection, i.e., the existence of the self-image (adopted from psychology). The model consists of a generator of stochastic processes which represents the motor dynamics in the form of nonlinear random walks, and a simulator of the nonlinear version of the diffusion

Progress in ambient assisted systems for independent living by the elderly.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Shaqi, Riyad; Mourshed, Monjur; Rezgui, Yacine

2016-01-01

One of the challenges of the ageing population in many countries is the efficient delivery of health and care services, which is further complicated by the increase in neurological conditions among the elderly due to rising life expectancy. Personal care of the elderly is of concern to their relatives, in case they are alone in their homes and unforeseen circumstances occur, affecting their wellbeing. The alternative; i.e. care in nursing homes or hospitals is costly and increases further if specialized care is mobilized to patients' place of residence. Enabling technologies for independent living by the elderly such as the ambient assisted living systems (AALS) are seen as essential to enhancing care in a cost-effective manner. In light of significant advances in telecommunication, computing and sensor miniaturization, as well as the ubiquity of mobile and connected devices embodying the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT), end-to-end solutions for ambient assisted living have become a reality. The premise of such applications is the continuous and most often real-time monitoring of the environment and occupant behavior using an event-driven intelligent system, thereby providing a facility for monitoring and assessment, and triggering assistance as and when needed. As a growing area of research, it is essential to investigate the approaches for developing AALS in literature to identify current practices and directions for future research. This paper is, therefore, aimed at a comprehensive and critical review of the frameworks and sensor systems used in various ambient assisted living systems, as well as their objectives and relationships with care and clinical systems. Findings from our work suggest that most frameworks focused on activity monitoring for assessing immediate risks, while the opportunities for integrating environmental factors for analytics and decision-making, in particular for the long-term care were often overlooked. The potential for

SoundView: an auditory guidance system based on environment understanding for the visually impaired people.

Science.gov (United States)

Nie, Min; Ren, Jie; Li, Zhengjun; Niu, Jinhai; Qiu, Yihong; Zhu, Yisheng; Tong, Shanbao

2009-01-01

Without visual information, the blind people live in various hardships with shopping, reading, finding objects and etc. Therefore, we developed a portable auditory guide system, called SoundView, for visually impaired people. This prototype system consists of a mini-CCD camera, a digital signal processing unit and an earphone, working with built-in customizable auditory coding algorithms. Employing environment understanding techniques, SoundView processes the images from a camera and detects objects tagged with barcodes. The recognized objects in the environment are then encoded into stereo speech signals for the blind though an earphone. The user would be able to recognize the type, motion state and location of the interested objects with the help of SoundView. Compared with other visual assistant techniques, SoundView is object-oriented and has the advantages of cheap cost, smaller size, light weight, low power consumption and easy customization.

Human activity understanding for robot-assisted living

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hu, N.

2016-01-01

This thesis investigated the problem of understanding human activities, at different levels of granularity and taking into account both the variability in activities and annotator disagreement. To be able to capture the large variations within each of the action classes, we propose a model that uses

Understanding the earth systems of Malawi: Ecological sustainability, culture, and place-based education

Science.gov (United States)

Glasson, George E.; Frykholm, Jeffrey A.; Mhango, Ndalapa A.; Phiri, Absalom D.

2006-07-01

The purpose of this 2-year study was to investigate Malawian teacher educators' perspectives and dispositions toward teaching about ecological sustainability issues in Malawi, a developing country in sub-Sahara Africa. This study was embedded in a larger theoretical framework of investigating earth systems science through the understanding of nature-knowledge-culture systems from local, place-based perspectives. Specifically, we were interested in learning more about eco-justice issues that are related to environmental degradation in Malawi and the potential role of inquiry-oriented pedagogies in addressing these issues. In a science methods course, the African educators' views on deforestation and teaching about ecological sustainability were explored within the context of the local environment and culture. Teachers participated in inquiry pedagogies designed to promote the sharing of perspectives related to the connections between culture and ecological degradation. Strategies encouraging dialogue and reflection included role-playing, class discussions, curriculum development activities, teaching experiences with children, and field trips to a nature preserve. Data were analyzed from postcolonial and critical pedagogy of place theoretical perspectives to better understand the hybridization of viewpoints influenced by both Western and indigenous science and the political hegemonies that impact sustainable living in Malawi. Findings suggested that the colonial legacy of Malawi continues to impact the ecological sustainability issue of deforestation. Inquiry-oriented pedagogies and connections to indigenous science were embraced by the Malawian educators as a means to involve children in investigation, decision making, and ownership of critical environmental issues.

Report on achievements in fiscal 1999. System technology to create human life compatible living environment; 1999 nendo ningen kodo tekigogata seikatsu kankyo soshutsu system gijutsu seika hokokusho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-03-01

The present research and development is intended to develop the following technology: a system technology to measure, understand and accumulate human activities, analyze objectively the compatibility of human being with products and environments, and support to have the products and working environments comply with activity characteristics of individual persons (a system technology to create human life compatible living environment). Human activities are developed in various scenes, and it is not easy to structure technologies to measure, understand and support the activities common to all of the scenes. Therefore, development will be made on the technologies for measuring, understanding and supporting the activities in the human activity scenes. Development of the manipulative activity complying technology deals with human activities in the scenes to operate devices by which the activities are changed by situation identification and skills in addition to activity characteristics of individual persons. Furthermore, as a scene in which attention to the activity characteristics of individual persons, skills, and external situation is a problem, the automobile driving activities are taken up for discussion, as well as the object building work activities as a scene in which difference in skills of individuals is a problem. (NEDO)

Living Day by Day: The Meaning of Living With HIV/AIDS Among Women in Lebanon.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Rachel L; Khoury, Cynthia El; Field, Emily R S; Mokhbat, Jacques

2016-01-01

We examined the meaning of living with HIV/AIDS among women in Lebanon. Ten women living with HIV/AIDS (WLWHA) described their experiences via semistructured in-depth interviews. They navigated a process of HIV diagnosis acceptance that incorporated six overlapping elements: receiving the news, accessing care, starting treatment, navigating disclosure decisions, negotiating stigma, and maintaining stability. Through these elements, we provide a framework for understanding three major themes that were constructed during data analysis: Stand by my side: Decisions of disclosure; Being "sick" and feeling "normal": Interacting with self, others, and society; and Living day by day: focusing on the present. We contribute to the existing literature by providing a theoretical framework for understanding the process of diagnosis and sero-status acceptance among WLWHA. This was the first study of its kind to examine the meaning of living with HIV/AIDS among women in a Middle Eastern country.

Neutron is a marvelous probe to see the living things as it is alive. Real time and in-situ observation on living polymerization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koizumi, Satoshi

2011-01-01

Small-angle neutron scattering was employed in order to perform a real time and in-situ observation on a polymerization-induced self-assembly process in in-vivo or in-vitro systems; precise living anionic polymerization of poly-styrene-b-polyisoprene, pre-irradiation radical polymerization of polystyrene onto a polytetrafluoroethylene film, and microbial or enzymatic polymerization of cellulose. The aim of these studies is to clarify self-organizations of macro-molecular assemblies appeared in open non-equilibrium systems, which are exposed to external energy and mass flows induced by chemical reactions. The open non-equilibrium systems are believed to be important for understanding pattern formations not only in materials processing in industry but also in living things. Small-angle scattering observed for the systems was investigated according to the methods established for condensed matter physics (fractal and computational analyses), bridging with synthetic chemistry and molecular biology. (author)

Live weight and body measurements of male and female native ducks raised in different raising systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kadir Önk

2018-05-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine live weight and body measurements of male and female native ducks raised in different raising systems. One hundred and twenty native ducks (60 males, 60 females were used in the study. The ducks were raised in deep litter floor and cage systems. Live weight and body values were measured every two weeks, until they were 56 days old. Three-parameter logistic regression and Gompertz model were used to determine growth model of male and female ducks. Interactions of time-raising system and time-sex were statistically significant in terms of live weight. At the end of eight weeks, live weights of ducks raised in deep litter floor were higher than ducks raised in cage system. In addition, live weights of male ducks were higher than female ducks. Consequently, deep litter floor is more appropriate for live weight in native ducks. Accuracy rate of Three-parameter Logistic and Gompertz models for estimation of growth in ducks was between 0.91-0.95 and similar results were obtained from both models. The Gompertz model is appropriate for the data structure of this study because it contains fewer iterations than the Three-Parameter Logistic model.

An Indoor Positioning System Based on Wearables for Ambient-Assisted Living

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Óscar Belmonte-Fernández

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The urban population is growing at such a rate that by 2050 it is estimated that 84% of the world’s population will live in cities, with flats being the most common living place. Moreover, WiFi technology is present in most developed country urban areas, with a quick growth in developing countries. New Ambient-Assisted Living applications will be developed in the near future having user positioning as ground technology: elderly tele-care, energy consumption, security and the like are strongly based on indoor positioning information. We present an Indoor Positioning System for wearable devices based on WiFi fingerprinting. Smart-watch wearable devices are used to acquire the WiFi strength signals of the surrounding Wireless Access Points used to build an ensemble of Machine Learning classification algorithms. Once built, the ensemble algorithm is used to locate a user based on the WiFi strength signals provided by the wearable device. Experimental results for five different urban flats are reported, showing that the system is robust and reliable enough for locating a user at room level into his/her home. Another interesting characteristic of the presented system is that it does not require deployment of any infrastructure, and it is unobtrusive, the only device required for it to work is a smart-watch.

Japanese Children's Understanding of Notational Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Noboru

2012-01-01

This study examined Japanese children's understanding of two Japanese notational systems: "hiragana" and "kanji". In three experiments, 126 3- to 6-year-olds were asked to name words written in hiragana or kanji as they appeared with different pictures. Consistent with Bialystok ("Journal of Experimental Child…

The S-Lagrangian and a theory of homeostasis in living systems

Science.gov (United States)

Sandler, U.; Tsitolovsky, L.

2017-04-01

A major paradox of living things is their ability to actively counteract degradation in a continuously changing environment or being injured through homeostatic protection. In this study, we propose a dynamic theory of homeostasis based on a generalized Lagrangian approach (S-Lagrangian), which can be equally applied to physical and nonphysical systems. Following discoverer of homeostasis Cannon (1935), we assume that homeostasis results from tendency of the organisms to decrease of the stress and avoid of death. We show that the universality of homeostasis is a consequence of analytical properties of the S-Lagrangian, while peculiarities of the biochemical and physiological mechanisms of homeostasis determine phenomenological parameters of the S-Lagrangian. Additionally, we reveal that plausible assumptions about S-Lagrangian features lead to good agreement between theoretical descriptions and observed homeostatic behavior. Here, we have focused on homeostasis of living systems, however, the proposed theory is also capable of being extended to social systems.

An Efficient Live TV Scheduling System for 4G LTE Broadcast

KAUST Repository

Lau, Chun Pong

2016-01-01

Traditional live television (TV) broadcasting systems are proven to be spectrum inefficient. Therefore, researchers propose to provide TV services on fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) networks. However, static broadcast, a typical broadcasting method over cellular network, is inefficient in terms of radio resource usage. To solve this problem, the audience-driven live TV scheduling (ADTVS) framework is proposed, to maximize radio resource usage when providing TV broadcasting services over LTE networks. ADTVS, a system-level scheduling framework, considers both available radio resources and audience preferences, in order to dynamically schedule TV channels for broadcasting at various time and locations. By conducting a simulation using real-life data and scenarios, it is shown that ADTVS significantly outperforms the static broadcast method. Numerical results indicate that, on average, ADTVS enables substantial improvement to broadcast efficiency and conserves considerable amount of radio resources, while forgoing less than 5% of user services compared to the benchmark system.

Optimizing Tailored Health Promotion for Older Adults : Understanding Their Perspectives on Healthy Living

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marcus-Varwijk, Anne Esther; Koopmans, Marg; Visscher, Tommy L S; Seidell, Jacob C; Slaets, Joris P J; Smits, Carolien H M

2017-01-01

Objective: This study explores older adults' perspectives on healthy living, and their interactions with professionals regarding healthy living. This perspective is necessary for health professionals when they engage in tailored health promotion in their daily work routines. Method: In a qualitative

An Efficient Live TV Scheduling System for 4G LTE Broadcast

KAUST Repository

Lau, Chun Pong; Alabbasi, AbdulRahman; Shihada, Basem

2016-01-01

Traditional live television (TV) broadcasting systems are proven to be spectrum inefficient. Therefore, researchers propose to provide TV services on fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) networks. However, static broadcast, a typical

The Systemic Theory of Living Systems and Relevance to CAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José A. Olalde Rangel

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The Systemic Theory of Living Systems is being published in several parts in eCAM. The theory is axiomatic. It originates from the phenomenological idea that physiological health is based on three factors: integrity of its structure or organization, O, functional organic energy reserve, E, and level of active biological intelligence, I. From the theory is derived a treatment strategy called Systemic Medicine (SM. This is based on identifying and prescribing phytomedicines and/or other medications that strengthen each factor. Energy-stimulating phytomedicines increase available energy and decrease total entropy of an open biological system by providing negative entropy. The same occurs with phytomedicines that act as biological intelligence modulators. They should be used as the first line of treatment in all ailments, since all pathologies, by definition, imply a higher than normal organic entropy. SM postulates that the state of health, H, of an individual, is effectively equal to the product of the strength of each factor H = O × E × I. SM observes that when all three factors are brought back to ideal levels, patients' conditions begin the recovery to normal health.

Understanding complex urban systems multidisciplinary approaches to modeling

CERN Document Server

Gurr, Jens; Schmidt, J

2014-01-01

Understanding Complex Urban Systems takes as its point of departure the insight that the challenges of global urbanization and the complexity of urban systems cannot be understood – let alone ‘managed’ – by sectoral and disciplinary approaches alone. But while there has recently been significant progress in broadening and refining the methodologies for the quantitative modeling of complex urban systems, in deepening the theoretical understanding of cities as complex systems, or in illuminating the implications for urban planning, there is still a lack of well-founded conceptual thinking on the methodological foundations and the strategies of modeling urban complexity across the disciplines. Bringing together experts from the fields of urban and spatial planning, ecology, urban geography, real estate analysis, organizational cybernetics, stochastic optimization, and literary studies, as well as specialists in various systems approaches and in transdisciplinary methodologies of urban analysis, the volum...

Applicability of living PSA in NPP modernization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Himanen, R.

1999-01-01

Recently the utility Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO) has modernized the Olkiluoto 1 and 2 nuclear units and increased the net electric power by 18 per cent. Level 2 PSA was performed during the modernization project and the living level 1 PSA was used to support the design of the plant modifications. The plant specific living PSA model was a powerful tool when evaluating modernization alternatives. Successive support of safety management with the PSA model requires, that both the utility and the Regulatory Body understand capability and limitations of the model in details. TVO has prepared an internal procedure that presents in detail the practices and responsibilities concerning living PSA. The procedure is based on general guidelines and requirements on probabilistic safety analysis of nuclear power plants in Finland, released by the Regulatory Body. Living PSA requires that also the procedure for the use of living PSA is living. The recently published USNRC Regulatory Guides on PSA will be taken into account in the next version of the TVO PSA procedure. The PSA Peer Review Certification Process is one way to evaluate the quality of PSA in general, but also to detect the weaknesses of the PSA. However, the Certification Process cover only limited scope of PSA omitting e.g. all other external events except internal floods. This paper gives an overview on the scope of living PSA for Olkiluoto 1 and 2, and presents some examples on the real use of PSA concerning the modernization of the plant. Definition of quantitative dependability requirements for renovated systems is possible, but on the other hand, proving of these targets is in some cases extremely difficult, because of lacking dependability data. The problems are mainly concerned in systems with of programmable logic control. (au)

Interventions in everyday lives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dreier, Ole

2015-01-01

The purpose of psychotherapy is to help clients address and overcome problems troubling them in their everyday lives. Therapy can therefore only work if clients include it in their ongoing lives to deal with their problems. Detailed, systematic research is needed on how clients do so...... clients change their everyday lives to overcome their troubles. They also highlight what it involves for clients to accomplish this. It is concluded that we need more research on how to understand intervention; on the interaction between interventions and clients’ conduct of their everyday life...

Primary students' conceptions of living things

Science.gov (United States)

Legaspi, Britt Anne

Elementary school teachers are pressed for time throughout the instructional day to teach all curricular areas as expected by states and districts because of the current focus on reading and mathematics. Thus, foundational science concepts may be overlooked. For example, students' understandings of living and nonliving things may be overlooked by teachers, yet is useful in understanding the nature of living things. In this qualitative study, K-3 grade students were asked to sort objects as either living or nonliving and to give rationales for their choices. It was found that K-3 students readily used physical characteristics, such as having body parts, and physical abilities, such as being able to move, as criteria for living things. Students in grades 1 through 3 were able to articulate their reasons with more adult-like logic based on Jean Piaget' s research on developmental stages.

Women's lived experiences of learning to live with osteoporosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Carrinna A; Abrahamsen, Bo; Konradsen, Hanne

2017-01-01

qualitative interviews were conducted with fifteen recently diagnosed Danish women. A longitudinal design was chosen since this allows an investigation of the perspective over time. The interviews were conducted in the period of March 2011 to August 2012. Data were analyzed using a phenomenological......BACKGROUND: A vast amount of literature exists concerning pharmaceutical adherence in osteoporosis. However, the process of learning to live with osteoporosis over time remains largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the continued process of how women learn...... to live with osteoporosis. Our objective was to explore what characterizes women's experiences of living with osteoporosis during the first year after diagnosis, when patients are prescribed anti-osteoporotic treatment, without having experienced an osteoporotic fracture. METHODS: Forty-two narrative...

Integrated systems understanding using bayesian networks: measuring the effectiveness of a weapon system

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

de Waal, A

2006-02-27

Full Text Available Complex systems can be described as systems-of-systems as they comprise a hierarchy of systems. The links between sub-systems are often obscure and non-linear and this results in a lack of a whole-systems view and appropriate understanding...

Efficient User Authentication and Key Management for Peer-to-Peer Live Streaming Systems

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LIU Xuening; YIN Hao; LIN Chuang; DU Changlai

2009-01-01

Recent development of the peer-to-peer (P2P) live streaming technique has brought unprece-dented new momentum to the Internet with the characters of effective, scalable, and low cost. However, be-fore these applications can be successfully deployed as commercial applications, efficient access control mechanisms are needed. This work based on earlier research of the secure streaming architecture in Trust-Stream, analyzes how to ensure that only authorized users can access the original media in the P2P live streaming system by adopting a user authentication and key management scheme. The major features of this system include (1) the management server issues each authorized user a unique public key certificate,(2) the one-way hash chain extends the certificate's lifetime, (3) the original media is encrypted by the ses-sion key and delivered to the communication group, and (4) the session key is periodically updated and dis-tributed with the media. Finally, analyses and test results show that scheme provides a secure, scalable, re-liable, and efficient access control solution for P2P live streaming systems.

Supporting peace of mind and independent living with the Aurama awareness system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dadlani Mahtani, P.; Markopoulos, P.; Sinitsyn, A.G.; Aarts, E.H.L.

2011-01-01

An awareness system was designed to provide peace of mind and a sense of connectedness to adults who care for an elderly parent living alone. The iterative design of the Aurama awareness system showed andour empirical research, including field trials ranging from four tosix months, confirm the

Children's Behavior toward and Understanding of Robotic and Living Dogs

Science.gov (United States)

Melson, Gail F.; Kahn, Peter H., Jr.; Beck, Alan; Friedman, Batya; Roberts, Trace; Garrett, Erik; Gill, Brian T.

2009-01-01

This study investigated children's reasoning about and behavioral interactions with a computationally sophisticated robotic dog (Sony's AIBO) compared to a live dog (an Australian Shepherd). Seventy-two children from three age groups (7-9 years, 10-12 years, and 13-15 years) participated in this study. Results showed that more children…

Image acquisition optimization of a limited-angle intrafraction verification (LIVE) system for lung radiotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yawei; Deng, Xinchen; Yin, Fang-Fang; Ren, Lei

2018-01-01

Limited-angle intrafraction verification (LIVE) has been previously developed for four-dimensional (4D) intrafraction target verification either during arc delivery or between three-dimensional (3D)/IMRT beams. Preliminary studies showed that LIVE can accurately estimate the target volume using kV/MV projections acquired over orthogonal view 30° scan angles. Currently, the LIVE imaging acquisition requires slow gantry rotation and is not clinically optimized. The goal of this study is to optimize the image acquisition parameters of LIVE for different patient respiratory periods and gantry rotation speeds for the effective clinical implementation of the system. Limited-angle intrafraction verification imaging acquisition was optimized using a digital anthropomorphic phantom (XCAT) with simulated respiratory periods varying from 3 s to 6 s and gantry rotation speeds varying from 1°/s to 6°/s. LIVE scanning time was optimized by minimizing the number of respiratory cycles needed for the four-dimensional scan, and imaging dose was optimized by minimizing the number of kV and MV projections needed for four-dimensional estimation. The estimation accuracy was evaluated by calculating both the center-of-mass-shift (COMS) and three-dimensional volume-percentage-difference (VPD) between the tumor in estimated images and the ground truth images. The robustness of LIVE was evaluated with varied respiratory patterns, tumor sizes, and tumor locations in XCAT simulation. A dynamic thoracic phantom (CIRS) was used to further validate the optimized imaging schemes from XCAT study with changes of respiratory patterns, tumor sizes, and imaging scanning directions. Respiratory periods, gantry rotation speeds, number of respiratory cycles scanned and number of kV/MV projections acquired were all positively correlated with the estimation accuracy of LIVE. Faster gantry rotation speed or longer respiratory period allowed less respiratory cycles to be scanned and less kV/MV projections

Supporting peace of mind and independent living with the Aurama awareness system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dadlani Mahtani, Pavan; Markopoulos, P.; Sinitsyn, A.G.; Aarts, E.H.L.

2011-01-01

An awareness system was designed to provide peace of mind and a sense of connectedness to adults who care for an elderly parent living alone. The iterative design of the Aurama awareness system showed and our empirical research, including field trials ranging from four to six months, confirm the

Bacterial production and growth rate estimation from [3H]thymidine incorporation for attached and free-living bacteria in aquatic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iriberri, J.; Unanue, M.; Ayo, B.; Barcina, I.; Egea, L.

1990-01-01

Production and specific growth rates of attached and free-living bacteria were estimated in an oligotrophic marine system, La Salvaje Beach, Vizcaya, Spain, and in a freshwater system having a higher nutrient concentration, Butron River, Vizcaya, Spain. Production was calculated from [methyl- 3 H]thymidine incorporation by estimating specific conversion factors (cells or micrograms of C produced per mole of thymidine incorporated) for attached and free-living bacteria, respectively, in each system. Conversion factors were not statistically different between attached and free-living bacteria: 6.812 x 10 11 and 8.678 x 10 11 μg of C mol -1 for free-living and attached bacteria in the freshwater system, and 1.276 x 10 11 and 1.354 x 10 11 μg of C mol -1 for free-living and attached bacteria in the marine system. Therefore, use of a unique conversion factor for the mixed bacterial population is well founded. However, conversion factors were higher in the freshwater system than in the marine system. This could be due to the different tropic conditions of the two systems. Free-living bacteria contributed the most to production in the two systems (85% in the marine system and 67% in the freshwater system) because of their greater contribution to total biomass. Specific growth rates calculated from production data and biomass data were similar for attached and free-living bacteria

Modeling the live-pig trade network in Georgia: Implications for disease prevention and control.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esther Andrea Kukielka

Full Text Available Live pig trade patterns, drivers and characteristics, particularly in backyard predominant systems, remain largely unexplored despite their important contribution to the spread of infectious diseases in the swine industry. A better understanding of the pig trade dynamics can inform the implementation of risk-based and more cost-effective prevention and control programs for swine diseases. In this study, a semi-structured questionnaire elaborated by FAO and implemented to 487 farmers was used to collect data regarding basic characteristics about pig demographics and live-pig trade among villages in the country of Georgia, where very scarce information is available. Social network analysis and exponential random graph models were used to better understand the structure, contact patterns and main drivers for pig trade in the country. Results indicate relatively infrequent (a total of 599 shipments in one year and geographically localized (median Euclidean distance between shipments = 6.08 km; IQR = 0-13.88 km pig movements in the studied regions. The main factors contributing to live-pig trade movements among villages were being from the same region (i.e., local trade, usage of a middleman or a live animal market to trade live pigs by at least one farmer in the village, and having a large number of pig farmers in the village. The identified villages' characteristics and structural network properties could be used to inform the design of more cost-effective surveillance systems in a country which pig industry was recently devastated by African swine fever epidemics and where backyard production systems are predominant.

Emergent nested systems a theory of understanding and influencing complex systems as well as case studies in urban systems

CERN Document Server

Walloth, Christian

2016-01-01

This book presents a theory as well as methods to understand and to purposively influence complex systems. It suggests a theory of complex systems as nested systems, i. e. systems that enclose other systems and that are simultaneously enclosed by even other systems. According to the theory presented, each enclosing system emerges through time from the generative activities of the systems they enclose. Systems are nested and often emerge unplanned, and every system of high dynamics is enclosed by a system of slower dynamics. An understanding of systems with faster dynamics, which are always guided by systems of slower dynamics, opens up not only new ways to understanding systems, but also to effectively influence them. The aim and subject of this book is to lay out these thoughts and explain their relevance to the purposive development of complex systems, which are exemplified in case studies from an urban system. The interested reader, who is not required to be familiar with system-theoretical concepts or wit...

Rewiring cells: synthetic biology as a tool to interrogate the organizational principles of living systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Bashor, Caleb J; Horwitz, Andrew A; Peisajovich, Sergio G; Lim, Wendell A

2010-01-01

The living cell is an incredibly complex entity, and the goal of predictively and quantitatively understanding its function is one of the next great challenges in biology. Much of what we know about the cell concerns its constituent parts, but to a great extent we have yet to decode how these parts are organized to yield complex physiological function. Classically, we have learned about the organization of cellular networks by disrupting them through genetic or chemical means. The emerging discipline of synthetic biology offers an additional, powerful approach to study systems. By rearranging the parts that comprise existing networks, we can gain valuable insight into the hierarchical logic of the networks and identify the modular building blocks that evolution uses to generate innovative function. In addition, by building minimal toy networks, one can systematically explore the relationship between network structure and function. Here, we outline recent work that uses synthetic biology approaches to investigate the organization and function of cellular networks, and describe a vision for a synthetic biology toolkit that could be used to interrogate the design principles of diverse systems.

Multimodal and ubiquitous computing systems: supporting independent-living older users.

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, Mark; Dowdall, Alan; Lines, Lorna; Hone, Kate

2004-09-01

We document the rationale and design of a multimodal interface to a pervasive/ubiquitous computing system that supports independent living by older people in their own homes. The Millennium Home system involves fitting a resident's home with sensors--these sensors can be used to trigger sequences of interaction with the resident to warn them about dangerous events, or to check if they need external help. We draw lessons from the design process and conclude the paper with implications for the design of multimodal interfaces to ubiquitous systems developed for the elderly and in healthcare, as well as for more general ubiquitous computing applications.

An undergraduate course, and new textbook, on ``Physical Models of Living Systems''

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Philip

2015-03-01

I'll describe an intermediate-level course on ``Physical Models of Living Systems.'' The only prerequisite is first-year university physics and calculus. The course is a response to rapidly growing interest among undergraduates in several science and engineering departments. Students acquire several research skills that are often not addressed in traditional courses, including: basic modeling skills, probabilistic modeling skills, data analysis methods, computer programming using a general-purpose platform like MATLAB or Python, dynamical systems, particularly feedback control. These basic skills, which are relevant to nearly any field of science or engineering, are presented in the context of case studies from living systems, including: virus dynamics; bacterial genetics and evolution of drug resistance; statistical inference; superresolution microscopy; synthetic biology; naturally evolved cellular circuits. Publication of a new textbook by WH Freeman and Co. is scheduled for December 2014. Supported in part by EF-0928048 and DMR-0832802.

A comparison of the factors influencing life satisfaction between Korean older people living with family and living alone.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, S H; Sok, S R

2012-06-01

As the global population of older people continuously increases, many countries are beginning to experience health problems associated with older age. These countries may be interested in knowing and understanding the health problems experienced by the older Korean population, which is projected to age the most rapidly. This study aimed to compare and examine the factors that influence the life satisfaction between older people living with their family and those living alone. A cross-sectional survey was conducted. The participants comprised a total 300 older Koreans (150 living with their family, 150 living alone) aged 65 years or over who met the eligibility criteria. All measures were self-administered. Data were analysed using the SAS statistical software program version 6.12 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). The older people living with their family were better than the older people living alone in perceived health status, self-esteem, depression and life satisfaction. Perceived health status, self-esteem, depression, age and monthly allowance were found to be the factors related to the life satisfaction of older people living with their family and those living alone. The factors that were found to have the greatest influence on the life satisfaction of older people living with their family and those living alone were depression and perceived health, respectively. This study may help healthcare providers to understand the factors that can influence the life satisfaction among older people living with their family and living alone in Korea. © 2011 The Authors. International Nursing Review © 2011 International Council of Nurses.

Polymethylene-based copolymers by polyhomologation or by its combination with controlled/living and living polymerizations

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Hefeng

2014-01-20

Polyhomologation, recently developed by Shea, is a borane-initiated living polymerization of ylides leading to linear polymethylenes (C1 polymerization) with controlled molecular weight, low polydispersity, and well-defined structures. In this Review, the copolyhomologation of different ylides as well as the combination of polyhomologation with controlled/living (nitroxide-mediated, atom transfer radical, reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer) and living (ring opening, anionic) polymerizations is discussed. Polyhomologation of ylides, in combination with living and controlled/living polymerizations, leads to a plethora novel well-defined polymethylene (polyethylene)-based polymeric materials, which are very important for understanding/improving the behavior of industrial polyethylenes. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Real-time monitoring and analysis of nutrient transportation in a living plant using a positron emitting tracer imaging system (PETIS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuhashi, Shinpei

2005-01-01

We visualized the uptake and transportation of nutrition in a living plant using positron-emitting tracers and mathematical analysis of the data. We have been developing a positron-imaging technique to visualize the uptake and transportation of nutrients in a plant by a positron-emitting tracer-imaging system (PETIS) using positron-emitting nuclide-labeled compounds. The PETIS data is analyzed mathematically to understand the physiological meaning of the physical parameters. In this study, the results on the uptake and transportation of nutrients, which were obtained with the use of a positron-imaging method, are introduced. (author)

Towards a systems understanding of plant-microbe interactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akira eMine

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Plants are closely associated with microorganisms including pathogens and mutualists that influence plant fitness. Molecular genetic approaches have uncovered a number of signaling components from both plants and microbes and their mode of actions. However, signaling pathways are highly interconnected and influenced by diverse sets of environmental factors. Therefore, it is important to have systems views in order to understand the true nature of plant-microbe interactions. Indeed, systems biology approaches have revealed previously overlooked or misinterpreted properties of the plant immune signaling network. Experimental reconstruction of biological networks using exhaustive combinatorial mutants is particularly powerful to elucidate network structure and properties and relationships among network components. Recent advances in metagenomics of microbial communities associated with plants further point to the importance of systems approaches and open a research area of microbial community reconstruction. In this review, we highlight the importance of a systems understanding of plant-microbe interactions, with a special emphasis on reconstruction strategies.

Understanding Technology?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erik Bendtsen

2016-11-01

Full Text Available We are facing radical changes in our ways of living in the nearest future. Not necessarily of our own choice, but because tchnological development is moving so fast, that it will have still greater impact on many aspects of our lives. We have seen the beginnings of that change within the latest 35 years or so, but according to newest research that change will speed up immensely in the nearest years to come. The impact of that change or these changes will affect our working life immensely as a consequence of automation. How these changes are brought about and which are their consequences in a broad sense is being attempted to be understood and guessed by researchers. No one knows for sure, but specific patterns are visible. This paper will not try to guess, what will come, but will rather try to understand the deepest ”nature” of technology in order to understand the driving factors in this development: the genesis of technology in a broad sense in order to contibute to the understanding of the basis for the expected development.

Production monitoring system for understanding product robustness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boorla, Srinivasa Murthy; Howard, Thomas J.

2016-01-01

study is used to demonstrate how the monitoring system can be used to efficiently guide corrective action to improve product performance. It is claimed that the monitoring system can be used to dramatically cut the time taken to identify, planand execute corrective action related to typical quality......In the current quality paradigm, the performance of a product is kept within specification by ensuring that its parts are within specification. Product performance is then validated after final assembly. However, this does not control how robust the product performance is, i.e. how much...... it will vary between the specification limits. In this paper, a model for predicting product performance is proposed, taking into account design, assembly and process parameters live from production. This empowers production to maintain final product performance, instead of part quality. The PRECI‐IN case...

Live Fire Evaluation of the Expeditionary Fire Suppression System (EFSS); Phase I

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kalberer, Jennifer

2004-01-01

.... The system uses AFFF-based compressed air foam and PKP dry chemical. Phase I evaluated the effectiveness of the modified-commercially available EFSS on live fires on static pool and running fuel fires...

Preliminary Evaluation of a Personal Healthcare System Prototype for Cognitive eRehabilitation in a Living Assistance Domain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matteo Pastorino

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The integration of rehabilitation systems in an ambient assisted living environment can provide a powerful and versatile tool for long-term stroke rehabilitation goals. This paper introduces a novel concept of a personalized cognitive rehabilitation system in a naturalistic setting. The proposed platform was developed within the CogWatch project, with the intent of fostering independence in activities of daily living in patients with apraxia and action disorganization syndrome. Technical usability was evaluated in a series of pilot experiments, which illustrate how this approach may help to retrain patients in activities of daily living. The first system prototype has been tested with 36 participants divided into three groups, providing an exploratory evaluation of the usability of this solution and its acceptability. The technical solutions used within the CogWatch project are targeted to meet both the end users’ needs from the interaction and usability point of views and the clinical requirements associated with the use of such systems. The challenges behind the development of ambient assisted living systems for cognitive rehabilitation are discussed.

The Role of Physical Therapists in Living Environment Maintenance of the Home-bound Elderly Disabled.

Science.gov (United States)

Takemasa, Seiichi; Abe, Yoko; Nagao, Toru; Murakami, Masahito; Koeda, Hideki; Naruse, Susumu; Gotou, Makoto; Uesugi, Masayuki; Inoue, Yuri; Nanba, Yoshihumi

2013-07-01

[Purpose] This study explored the roles of physical therapists (PTs) in living environment maintenance, which is essential for living securely and stably at home, and examines how physical therapists can fulfill these roles more efficiently and effectively. [Subjects and Methods] A questionnaire on living environment maintenance was given to PTs working at randomly selected hospitals, health care facilities for the elderly requiring long-term care, home-visit nursing stations, and other such facilities and directly providing physical therapy to the home-bound elderly disabled. The subjects of the study were 77 PTs who returned valid responses. [Results] For awareness of systems for living environment maintenance, PTs were more aware of the system based on the Long-Term Care (LTC) Insurance Act than the system based on the Act on Welfare for the Home-Bound Elderly Disabled. PTs who have worked at two or more types of medical, welfare, and intermediate institutions were more aware of such systems than PTs who have worked at only one type. For PTs handling living environment maintenance for the home-bound elderly disabled, approximately 80% of respondents answered that they have handled some living environment maintenance, and PTs with longer clinical experience have handled more living environment maintenance cases. [Conclusion] The results demonstrated that PTs understand their living environment maintenance work well and handle the work. The results, however, also suggested that educational and operational improvements are urgently required for PTs handling living environment maintenance essential for the lives of the home-bound elderly disabled.

Living Technology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2010-01-01

This book is aimed at anyone who is interested in learning more about living technology, whether coming from business, the government, policy centers, academia, or anywhere else. Its purpose is to help people to learn what living technology is, what it might develop into, and how it might impact...... our lives. The phrase 'living technology' was coined to refer to technology that is alive as well as technology that is useful because it shares the fundamental properties of living systems. In particular, the invention of this phrase was called for to describe the trend of our technology becoming...... increasingly life-like or literally alive. Still, the phrase has different interpretations depending on how one views what life is. This book presents nineteen perspectives on living technology. Taken together, the interviews convey the collective wisdom on living technology's power and promise, as well as its...

Dynamic systems for everyone understanding how our world works

CERN Document Server

Ghosh, Asish

2015-01-01

This book is a study of the interactions between different types of systems, their environment, and their subsystems.  The author explains how basic systems principles are applied in engineered (mechanical, electromechanical, etc.) systems and then guides the reader to understand how the same principles can be applied to social, political, economic systems, as well as in everyday life.  Readers from a variety of disciplines will benefit from the understanding of system behaviors and will be able to apply those principles in various contexts.  The book includes many examples covering various types of systems.  The treatment of the subject is non-mathematical, and the book considers some of the latest concepts in the systems discipline, such as agent-based systems, optimization, and discrete events and procedures.  ·         Shows how system knowledge may be applied in many different areas without the need for deep mathematical knowledge; ·         Demonstrates how to model and simulate s...

Understanding information retrieval systems management, types, and standards

CERN Document Server

Bates, Marcia J

2011-01-01

In order to be effective for their users, information retrieval (IR) systems should be adapted to the specific needs of particular environments. The huge and growing array of types of information retrieval systems in use today is on display in Understanding Information Retrieval Systems: Management, Types, and Standards, which addresses over 20 types of IR systems. These various system types, in turn, present both technical and management challenges, which are also addressed in this volume. In order to be interoperable in a networked environment, IR systems must be able to use various types of

Live Mobile Distance Learning System for Smart Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jang Ho Lee

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In recent years, mobile and ubiquitous computing has emerged in our daily lives, and extensive studies have been conducted in various areas using smart devices, such as tablets, smartphones, smart TVs, smart refrigerators, and smart media devices, in order to realize this computing technology. Especially, the integration of mobile networking technology and intelligent mobile devices has made it possible to develop the advanced mobile distance learning system that supports portable smart devices such as smartphones and tablets for the future IT environment. We present a synchronous mobile learning system that enables both instructor and student to participate in distance learning with their tablets. When an instructor gives a lecture using a tablet with front-face camera by bringing up slides and making annotations on them, students in the distance can watch the instructor and those slides with annotation on their own tablets in real time. A student can also ask a question or have a discussion together using the text chat feature of the system during a learning session. We also show the user evaluation of the system. A user survey shows that about 67% are in favor of the prototype of the system.

Ultra Low-Power Acoustic Detector Applicable in Ambient Assistance Living Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iliev I.

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Ambient Assisted Living (AAL includes methods, concepts, systems, devices as well as services, which provide unobtrusive support for daily life based on the context and situation of the assisted person. The technologies applied for AAL are user-centric, i.e. oriented towards the needs and capabilities of the particular user. They are also integrated into the immediate personal environment of the user. As a consequence, the technology is adapting to the user rather than the other way around. The in-house monitoring of elderly or disabled people (hard of hearing, deaf, with limited movement ability, using intelligent sensors is a very desirable service that may potentially increase the user's autonomy and independence while minimizing the risks of living alone. The described ultra low-power acoustic detector allows upgrade of the presented warning systems. It features long-term autonomy and possibility to use it as an element of the wireless personal area network (WPAN.

How we live and why we die the secret lives of cells

CERN Document Server

Wolpert, Lewis

2009-01-01

Cells are the basis of all life in the universe. Our bodies are made up of billions of them: an incredibly complex society that governs everything, from movement to memory and imagination. When we age, it is because our cells slow down; when we get ill, it is because our cells mutate or stop working. In "How We Live and Why we Die", Wolpert provides a clear explanation of the science that underpins our lives. He explains how our bodies function and how we derived from a single cell - the embryo. He examines the science behind the topics that are much discussed but rarely understood - stem-cell research, cloning, DNA - and explains how all life evolved from just one cell. Lively and passionate, "How We Live and Why we Die" is an accessible guide to understanding the human body and, essentially, life itself.

Enhancing health-care workers' understanding and thinking about people living with co-occurring mental health and substance use issues through consumer-led training.

Science.gov (United States)

Roussy, Véronique; Thomacos, Nikos; Rudd, Annette; Crockett, Belinda

2015-10-01

Stigma and judgemental assumptions by health workers have been identified as key barriers to accessing health care for people living with co-occurring mental health and substance use issues (dual diagnosis). To evaluate the effectiveness of consumer-led training by people with dual diagnosis in improving the knowledge, understanding and role adequacy of community health staff to work with this consumer group. A controlled before-and-after study design with four waves of quantitative data collection was used. Qualitative data were collected to explore participants' views about training. Participants were staff from two community health services from Victoria, Australia. Recruitment occurred across various work areas: reception, oral health, allied health, counselling and health promotion. At baseline, all participants attended a 4-h clinician-led training session. The intervention consisted of a 3-h consumer-led training session, developed and delivered by seven individuals living with dual diagnosis. Outcome measures included understanding of dual diagnosis, participants' feelings of role adequacy and role legitimacy, personal views, and training outcomes and relevance. Consumer-led training was associated with a significant increase in understanding. The combination of clinician-led and consumer-led training was associated with a positive change in role adequacy. Consumer-led training is a promising approach to enhance primary health-care workers' understanding of the issues faced by dual-diagnosis consumers, with such positive effects persisting over time. Used alongside other organizational capacity building strategies, consumer-led training has the potential to help address stigma and judgemental attitudes by health workers and improve access to services for this consumer group. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Experiences of women living with borderline personality disorder ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

There is limited understanding of the experiences of women living with borderline personality disorder. It was therefore decided to discover how women living with this disorder would tell their life story. For the researcher, who worked in a psychotherapy ward where most women were living with borderline personality ...

A Phenomenological Study: The Lived Experience of Former Foster Youth Attending a Four-Year College in Southern California

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Dora Yiu Lam

2010-01-01

This qualitative study examined the lived experience of eight individuals attending a four-year college who were all part of a campus support program for former foster youth. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and explore the lived experiences of these unique college students that have gone through the foster care system.…

Living is information processing: from molecules to global systems

OpenAIRE

Farnsworth, Keith D.; Nelson, John; Gershenson, Carlos

2012-01-01

We extend the concept that life is an informational phenomenon, at every level of organisation, from molecules to the global ecological system. According to this thesis: (a) living is information processing, in which memory is maintained by both molecular states and ecological states as well as the more obvious nucleic acid coding; (b) this information processing has one overall function - to perpetuate itself; and (c) the processing method is filtration (cognition) of, and synthesis of, info...

Understanding and capturing NSSS design basis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palo, W.J.; Miller, B.

1993-01-01

Changes to, and technical evaluations of nuclear generating station designs are often warranted. Comprehensive documentation and understanding of the NSSS Design Basis are essential to support these activities. Effective configuration management tools are also needed to maintain the plant within design basis limits. Efficient design basis reconstitution can be realized via: In-depth understanding of the design process; Utilization of effective data collection methodology; State of the art data basing tools. A database can be created to generate a Design Basis Manual (DBM). This database can communicate electronically with other plant databases. A living document vice a static snapshot of the plant design is the goal. A design basis database can serve as the cornerstone for a global electronic information control system

Understanding the impact of visual arts interventions for people living with dementia: a realist review protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Windle, Gill; Gregory, Samantha; Newman, Andrew; Goulding, Anna; O'Brien, Dave; Parkinson, Clive

2014-08-15

Arts-based activities are being increasingly suggested as a valuable activity for people living with dementia in terms of countering the negative aspects of their condition. The potential for such programmes to improve a broad range of psychosocial outcomes is suggested in some studies. However, there is largely an absence of rigorous methodology to demonstrate the benefits, and research results are mixed. Practice variability in terms of the content, contexts and implementation of such interventions raises challenges in terms of identifying an optimal arts programme model that could be adopted by other service providers. Understanding how interventions may have the best chance at broad implementation success and uptake is limited. A realist review will be undertaken. This aims to understand how visual arts interventions influence outcomes in people living with dementia. The review will explore how the context, that is the circumstances which enable or constrain, affect outcomes through the activation of mechanisms. An early scoping search and a stakeholder survey formulated the preliminary programme theory. A systematic literature search across a broad range of disciplines (arts, humanities, social sciences, health) will be undertaken to identify journal articles and grey literature. Data will be extracted in relation to the programme theory, contextual factors, mechanisms and outcomes and their configurations, background information about the study design and participant characteristics, detail about the quantity ('dose') of an intervention, theoretical perspectives proposed by the authors of the paper and further theorising by the reviewer. Thematic connections/patterns will be sought across the extracted data, identifying patterns amongst contextual factors, the mechanisms they trigger and the associated outcomes. Along with stakeholder engagement and validation, this review will help inform the development of an optimal, replicable arts intervention for people

Development of Automatic Live Linux Rebuilding System with Flexibility in Science and Engineering Education and Applying to Information Processing Education

Science.gov (United States)

Sonoda, Jun; Yamaki, Kota

We develop an automatic Live Linux rebuilding system for science and engineering education, such as information processing education, numerical analysis and so on. Our system is enable to easily and automatically rebuild a customized Live Linux from a ISO image of Ubuntu, which is one of the Linux distribution. Also, it is easily possible to install/uninstall packages and to enable/disable init daemons. When we rebuild a Live Linux CD using our system, we show number of the operations is 8, and the rebuilding time is about 33 minutes on CD version and about 50 minutes on DVD version. Moreover, we have applied the rebuilded Live Linux CD in a class of information processing education in our college. As the results of a questionnaires survey from our 43 students who used the Live Linux CD, we obtain that the our Live Linux is useful for about 80 percents of students. From these results, we conclude that our system is able to easily and automatically rebuild a useful Live Linux in short time.

Study on supporting system for operator's comprehensive understanding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshikawa, Shinji

1996-01-01

Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp. has participated in the development of a system to support the process of operator's plant understanding by the use of information processing techniques such as artificial intelligence since 1994. Analysis and model formation of the process leading to operator's comprehensive understanding of plant (mental model) are undertaken attempting to determine the basic structure of the mental model available for the description of knowledge using the precedent survey and to observe how to utilize operator's own knowledge. After consideration of the way by which plant operators utilize their physical knowledges and the knowledges of physical observation in practice, a basic structure composed of 3 components a qualitative causal network, a hierarchical function model and 3 links joining the two was proposed for the mental model. A questionnaire survey on operator's statements was made and the contents were assigned in several categories for objective analysis. An unified form usable to make a data base was established. Further, we have a plan to develop the first proto-type system to promote operator's understanding by 1998. (M.N.)

Stress associated with group living in a long-lived bird.

Science.gov (United States)

Selva, Nuria; Cortés-Avizanda, Ainara; Lemus, Jesús A; Blanco, Guillermo; Mueller, Thomas; Heinrich, Bernd; Donázar, José A

2011-08-23

Many long-lived avian species adopt life strategies that involve a gregarious way of life at juvenile and sub-adult stages and territoriality during adulthood. However, the potential associated costs of these life styles, such as stress, are poorly understood. We examined the effects of group living, sex and parasite load on the baseline concentration of faecal stress hormone (corticosterone) metabolites in a wild population of common ravens (Corvus corax). Corticosterone concentrations were significantly higher in non-breeding gregarious ravens than in territorial adults. Among territorial birds, males showed higher stress levels than their mates. Parasite burdens did not affect hormone levels. Our results suggest a key role of the social context in the stress profiles of the two population fractions, and that group living may be more energetically demanding than maintaining a territory. These findings have implications for understanding hormonal mechanisms under different life styles and may inspire further research on the link between hormone levels and selective pressures modulating gregarious and territorial strategies in long-lived birds. This journal is © 2011 The Royal Society

Some resonances between Eastern thought and Integral Biomathics in the framework of the WLIMES formalism for modeling living systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Simeonov, Plamen L; Ehresmann, Andrée C

2017-12-01

Forty-two years ago, Capra published "The Tao of Physics" (Capra, 1975). In this book (page 17) he writes: "The exploration of the atomic and subatomic world in the twentieth century has …. necessitated a radical revision of many of our basic concepts" and that, unlike 'classical' physics, the sub-atomic and quantum "modern physics" shows resonances with Eastern thoughts and "leads us to a view of the world which is very similar to the views held by mystics of all ages and traditions." This article stresses an analogous situation in biology with respect to a new theoretical approach for studying living systems, Integral Biomathics (IB), which also exhibits some resonances with Eastern thought. Stepping on earlier research in cybernetics 1 and theoretical biology, 2 IB has been developed since 2011 by over 100 scientists from a number of disciplines who have been exploring a substantial set of theoretical frameworks. From that effort, the need for a robust core model utilizing advanced mathematics and computation adequate for understanding the behavior of organisms as dynamic wholes was identified. At this end, the authors of this article have proposed WLIMES (Ehresmann and Simeonov, 2012), a formal theory for modeling living systems integrating both the Memory Evolutive Systems (Ehresmann and Vanbremeersch, 2007) and the Wandering Logic Intelligence (Simeonov, 2002b). Its principles will be recalled here with respect to their resonances to Eastern thought. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of a system for real-time measurements of metabolite transport in plants using short-lived positron-emitting radiotracers

Science.gov (United States)

Kiser, Matthew R.

Over the past 200 years, the Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2) concentration has increased by more than 35%, and climate experts predict that CO2 levels may double by the end of this century. Understanding the mechanisms of resource management in plants is fundamental for predicting how plants will respond to the increase in atmospheric CO 2. Plant productivity sustains life on Earth and is a principal component of the planet's system that regulates atmospheric CO2 concentration. As such, one of the central goals of plant science is to understand the regulatory mechanisms of plant growth in a changing environment. Short-lived positron-emitting radiotracer techniques provide time-dependent data that are critical for developing models of metabolite transport and resource distribution in plants and their microenvironments. To better understand the effects of environmental changes on resource transport and allocation in plants, we have developed a system for real-time measurements of rnetabolite transport in plants using short-lived positron-emitting radio-tracers. This thesis project includes the design, construction, and demonstration of the capabilities of this system for performing real-time measurements of metabolite transport in plants. The short-lived radiotracer system described in this dissertation takes advantage of the combined capabilities and close proximity of two research facilities at. Duke University: the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL) and the Duke University Phytotron, which are separated by approximately 100 meters. The short-lived positron-emitting radioisotopes are generated using the 10-MV tandem Van de Graaff accelerator located in the main TUNL building, which provides the capability of producing short-lived positron-emitting isotopes such as carbon-11 (11C: 20 minute half-life), nitrogen-13 (13N; 10 minute half-life), fluorine-18 (18F; 110 minute half-life), and oxygen-15 (15O; 2 minute half-life). The radioisotopes may

Fully synthetic phage-like system for screening mixtures of small molecules in live cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Byk, Gerardo; Partouche, Shirly; Weiss, Aryeh; Margel, Shlomo; Khandadash, Raz

2010-05-10

A synthetic "phage-like" system was designed for screening mixtures of small molecules in live cells. The core of the system consists of 2 mum diameter cross-linked monodispersed microspheres bearing a panel of fluorescent tags and peptides or small molecules either directly synthesized or covalently conjugated to the microspheres. The microsphere mixtures were screened for affinity to cell line PC-3 (prostate cancer model) by incubation with live cells, and as was with phage-display peptide methods, unbound microspheres were removed by repeated washings followed by total lysis of cells and analysis of the bound microspheres by flow-cytometry. Similar to phage-display peptide screening, this method can be applied even in the absence of prior information about the cellular targets of the candidate ligands, which makes the system especially interesting for selection of molecules with high affinity for desired cells, tissues, or tumors. The advantage of the proposed system is the possibility of screening synthetic non-natural peptides or small molecules that cannot be expressed and screened using phage display libraries. A library composed of small molecules synthesized by the Ugi reaction was screened, and a small molecule, Rak-2, which strongly binds to PC-3 cells was found. Rak-2 was then individually synthesized and validated in a complementary whole cell-based binding assay, as well as by live cell microscopy. This new system demonstrates that a mixture of molecules bound to subcellular sized microspheres can be screened on plated cells. Together with other methods using subcellular sized particles for cellular multiplexing, this method represents an important milestone toward high throughput screening of mixtures of small molecules in live cells and in vivo with potential applications in the fields of drug delivery and diagnostic imaging.

Solar System Symphony: Combining astronomy with live classical music

Science.gov (United States)

Kremer, Kyle; WorldWide Telescope

2017-01-01

Solar System Symphony is an educational outreach show which combines astronomy visualizations and live classical music. As musicians perform excerpts from Holst’s “The Planets” and other orchestral works, visualizations developed using WorldWide Telescope and NASA images and animations are projected on-stage. Between each movement of music, a narrator guides the audience through scientific highlights of the solar system. The content of Solar System Symphony is geared toward a general audience, particularly targeting K-12 students. The hour-long show not only presents a new medium for exposing a broad audience to astronomy, but also provides universities an effective tool for facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration between two divergent fields. The show was premiered at Northwestern University in May 2016 in partnership with Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music and was recently performed at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in November 2016.

Root for rain : Towards understanding land-use change impacts on the water cycle

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang-Erlandsson, L.

2017-01-01

We live today on a human-dominated planet under unprecedented pressure on both land and water. The water cycle is intrinsically linked to vegetation and land use, and anticipating the consequences of simultaneous changes in land and water systems requires a thorough understanding of their

Raman tweezers in microfluidic systems for analysis and sorting of living cells

Science.gov (United States)

Pilát, Zdeněk.; Ježek, Jan; Kaňka, Jan; Zemánek, Pavel

2014-12-01

We have devised an analytical and sorting system combining optical trapping with Raman spectroscopy in microfluidic environment, dedicated to identification and sorting of biological objects, such as living cells of various unicellular organisms. Our main goal was to create a robust and universal platform for non-destructive and non-contact sorting of micro-objects based on their Raman spectral properties. This approach allowed us to collect spectra containing information about the chemical composition of the objects, such as the presence and composition of pigments, lipids, proteins, or nucleic acids, avoiding artificial chemical probes such as fluorescent markers. The non-destructive nature of this optical analysis and manipulation allowed us to separate individual living cells of our interest in a sterile environment and provided the possibility to cultivate the selected cells for further experiments. We used a mixture of polystyrene micro-particles and algal cells to test and demonstrate the function of our analytical and sorting system. The devised system could find its use in many medical, biotechnological, and biological applications.

Stochastic control of living systems: Normalization of physiological functions by magnetic field with 1/f power spectrum

Science.gov (United States)

Muzalevskaya, N. I.; Uritsky, V. M.; Korolyov, E. V.; Reschikov, A. M.; Timoshinov, G. P.

1993-08-01

For the first time correcting stochastic control of physiological status of living systems by weak low-frequency fluctuating magnetic field with 1/f spectrum (1/f MF) is demonstrated experimentally. The correction was observed in all main systems, including cardiovascular, central nervous, immunity systems of experimental animals. Pronounced prophylactic and therapeutic influence of 1/f MF on malignant growth and radiation disease was discovered. Theoretical interpretation of the results obtained is based upon the notion of fundamental role of 1/f fluctuations in homeostasis of living systems.

Hospital nurses' lived experience of power.

Science.gov (United States)

Fackler, Carol A; Chambers, Angelina N; Bourbonniere, Meg

2015-05-01

The purpose of this study was to explore hospital nurses' lived experience of power. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach informed by Merleau-Ponty's philosophy of the phenomenology of perception was used to further an understanding of nurses' embodiment of power. Fourteen hospital clinical nurses employed in intensive care units and on medical floors in two major medical centers in the northeastern United States participated in 1-hr semistructured interviews about their lived experience of power. A hermeneutic analytic approach and reflexive (cultural) bracketing produced three relational themes of power: (a) knowing my patients and speaking up for them; (b) working to build relationships that benefit patients; and (c) identifying my powerful self. Hospital clinical nurses develop a sense of power. Nurses believe power develops through acquisition of knowledge, experience, and self-confidence; this process is enhanced by exposure to good mentors. Nurses use their power to build relationships and advocate for patients. They consciously use power to improve patient care. Nurses' voices need to be heard and acknowledged. To do this in the clinical setting and beyond, hospital nurses must invite themselves or find ways to be invited into the authoritative discourse of hospital organizations. Nurses use their power to advocate for positive outcomes for patients and families. The satisfaction that comes from these positive relationships may improve nurses' perceptions of their work environment. Nurses' understanding and use of sociopolitical knowing needs further study, so that nurses may understand how to participate in current and future debates and decisions about our changing healthcare delivery systems and services. © 2015 Sigma Theta Tau International.

Young children’s environmental judgement and its relationship with their understanding of the concept of living things

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Villarroel José Domingo

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Do young children think that plants deserve morally-based respect or, on the contrary, do they feel that respect for plant life is nothing more than another behavioural norm similar to, for instance, one that states that you should not pick your nose in public? This study examines how dilemmas involving environmental, moral and socio-conventional situations are comprehended in early childhood so as to investigate the issue of whether young children attach a significant degree of severity to transgressions against plant life in comparison with disregarding socially accepted rules. Additionally, young children’s judgements are put into perspective alongside their understanding of the concept of living things in order to shed light on the role that grasping essential biological notions might play in the emergence of young children’s assessments of actions that pose a threat to the environment. The sample of the study consists of 328 children (162 girls and 166 boys who attend Early Years Education or Primary Education and the data examined comes from the individual interviews conducted with the children. The results are discussed in connection with the current understanding of the source of ethical judgements which emphasises the importance that emotions seem to play in the construction of moral thinking.

A systemic approach to understanding mental health and services.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Mark

2017-10-01

In the UK mental health and associated NHS services face considerable challenges. This paper aims to form an understanding both of the complexity of context in which services operate and the means by which services have sought to meet these challenges. Systemic principles as have been applied to public service organisations with reference to interpersonal relations, the wider social culture and its manifestation in service provision. The analysis suggests that the wider culture has shaped service demand and the approaches adopted by services resulting in a number of unintended consequences, reinforcing loops, increased workload demands and the limited value of services. The systemic modelling of this situation provides a necessary overview prior to future policy development. The paper concludes that mental health and attendant services requires a systemic understanding and a whole system approach to reform. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Living through a volcanic eruption: Understanding the experience of survivors as a phenomenological existential phenomenon.

Science.gov (United States)

Warsini, Sri; Mills, Jane; West, Caryn; Usher, Kim

2016-06-01

Mount Merapi in Indonesia is the most active volcano in the world with its 4-6-year eruption cycle. The mountain and surrounding areas are populated by hundreds of thousands of people who live near the volcano despite the danger posed to their wellbeing. The aim of this study was to explore the lived experience of people who survived the most recent eruption of Mount Merapi, which took place in 2010. Investigators conducted interviews with 20 participants to generate textual data that were coded and themed. Three themes linked to the phenomenological existential experience (temporality and relationality) of living through a volcanic eruption emerged from the data. These themes were: connectivity, disconnection and reconnection. Results indicate that the close relationship individuals have with Mount Merapi and others in their neighbourhood outweighs the risk of living in the shadow of an active volcano. This is the first study to analyze the phenomenological existential elements of living through a volcanic eruption. © 2016 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

Understanding Global Change: Frameworks and Models for Teaching Systems Thinking

Science.gov (United States)

Bean, J. R.; Mitchell, K.; Zoehfeld, K.; Oshry, A.; Menicucci, A. J.; White, L. D.; Marshall, C. R.

2017-12-01

The scientific and education communities must impart to teachers, students, and the public an understanding of how the various factors that drive climate and global change operate, and why the rates and magnitudes of these changes related to human perturbation of Earth system processes today are cause for deep concern. Even though effective educational modules explaining components of the Earth and climate system exist, interdisciplinary learning tools are necessary to conceptually link the causes and consequences of global changes. To address this issue, the Understanding Global Change Project at the University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) at UC Berkeley developed an interdisciplinary framework that organizes global change topics into three categories: (1) causes of climate change, both human and non-human (e.g., burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, Earth's tilt and orbit), (2) Earth system processes that shape the way the Earth works (e.g., Earth's energy budget, water cycle), and (3) the measurable changes in the Earth system (e.g., temperature, precipitation, ocean acidification). To facilitate student learning about the Earth as a dynamic, interacting system, a website will provide visualizations of Earth system models and written descriptions of how each framework topic is conceptually linked to other components of the framework. These visualizations and textual summarizations of relationships and feedbacks in the Earth system are a unique and crucial contribution to science communication and education, informed by a team of interdisciplinary scientists and educators. The system models are also mechanisms by which scientists can communicate how their own work informs our understanding of the Earth system. Educators can provide context and relevancy for authentic datasets and concurrently can assess student understanding of the interconnectedness of global change phenomena. The UGC resources will be available through a web-based platform and

Optimal-mass-transfer-based estimation of glymphatic transport in living brain

OpenAIRE

Ratner, Vadim; Zhu, Liangjia; Kolesov, Ivan; Nedergaard, Maiken; Benveniste, Helene; Tannenbaum, Allen

2015-01-01

It was recently shown that the brain-wide cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and interstitial fluid exchange system designated the ‘glymphatic pathway’ plays a key role in removing waste products from the brain, similarly to the lymphatic system in other body organs1,2. It is therefore important to study the flow patterns of glymphatic transport through the live brain in order to better understand its functionality in normal and pathological states. Unlike blood, the CSF does not flow rapidly through ...

Illustrating the (in)visible: Understanding the impact of loss in adults living with secondary lymphedema after cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Roanne; Hamilton, Ryan

2014-01-01

Life with a disability is often riddled with paradoxes, one of which is being visibly marked, while personal experiences, losses, and challenges remain hidden. Our article draws attention to this paradox among people who live with secondary lymphedema after cancer (SLC). SLC is a relatively unfamiliar chronic condition within medical and lay discourses of cancer, which proves challenging for the many cancer survivors who are in search of information and understanding. Thirteen men and women with SLC were recruited from two research sites (Fredericton, NB, and Ottawa, ON, Canada) to participate in semi-structured interviews about the physical and psychosocial aspects of SLC. Using a methodology of interpretive description, our analysis of participant interviews reveals the complex ways in which men and women felt both visible and invisible within various contexts. We discuss three majors themes: (in)visibility and appearance related to material losses; (in)visibility and action connected to visible losses in function, as well as invisible struggles to care for oneself; and the loss of present and future well-being, as SLC renders some limitations visible while potentially obscuring a hopeful future indefinitely. Our research indicates that timely diagnosis of SLC would be an immediate first step in recognizing the physical and emotional dimensions of the condition. To accomplish this, increased awareness is needed. To enhance quality of life for those living with SLC, the development of new resources and psychosocial supports is also required. PMID:25148936

Understanding Cancer Prognosis

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... Español 1-800-4-CANCER Live Chat Publications Dictionary Menu Contact Dictionary Search About Cancer Causes and Prevention Risk Factors ... Managing Cancer Care Finding Health Care Services Costs & Medical Information Advance Directives Using Trusted Resources Understanding Cancer ...

Live cell CRISPR-imaging in plants reveals dynamic telomere movements

KAUST Repository

Dreissig, Steven

2017-05-16

Elucidating the spatio-temporal organization of the genome inside the nucleus is imperative to understand the regulation of genes and non-coding sequences during development and environmental changes. Emerging techniques of chromatin imaging promise to bridge the long-standing gap between sequencing studies which reveal genomic information and imaging studies that provide spatial and temporal information of defined genomic regions. Here, we demonstrate such an imaging technique based on two orthologues of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas9 system. By fusing eGFP/mRuby2 to the catalytically inactive version of Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus Cas9, we show robust visualization of telomere repeats in live leaf cells of Nicotiana benthamiana. By tracking the dynamics of telomeres visualized by CRISPR-dCas9, we reveal dynamic telomere movements of up to 2 μm within 30 minutes during interphase. Furthermore, we show that CRISPR-dCas9 can be combined with fluorescence-labelled proteins to visualize DNA-protein interactions in vivo. By simultaneously using two dCas9 orthologues, we pave the way for imaging of multiple genomic loci in live plants cells. CRISPR-imaging bears the potential to significantly improve our understanding of the dynamics of chromosomes in live plant cells.

Saving Human Lives: What Complexity Science and Information Systems can Contribute

Science.gov (United States)

Helbing, Dirk; Brockmann, Dirk; Chadefaux, Thomas; Donnay, Karsten; Blanke, Ulf; Woolley-Meza, Olivia; Moussaid, Mehdi; Johansson, Anders; Krause, Jens; Schutte, Sebastian; Perc, Matjaž

2015-02-01

We discuss models and data of crowd disasters, crime, terrorism, war and disease spreading to show that conventional recipes, such as deterrence strategies, are often not effective and sufficient to contain them. Many common approaches do not provide a good picture of the actual system behavior, because they neglect feedback loops, instabilities and cascade effects. The complex and often counter-intuitive behavior of social systems and their macro-level collective dynamics can be better understood by means of complexity science. We highlight that a suitable system design and management can help to stop undesirable cascade effects and to enable favorable kinds of self-organization in the system. In such a way, complexity science can help to save human lives.

Towards a first implementation of the WLIMES approach in living system studies advancing the diagnostics and therapy in augmented personalized medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Simeonov, Plamen L

2017-12-01

The goal of this paper is to advance an extensible theory of living systems using an approach to biomathematics and biocomputation that suitably addresses self-organized, self-referential and anticipatory systems with multi-temporal multi-agents. Our first step is to provide foundations for modelling of emergent and evolving dynamic multi-level organic complexes and their sustentative processes in artificial and natural life systems. Main applications are in life sciences, medicine, ecology and astrobiology, as well as robotics, industrial automation, man-machine interface and creative design. Since 2011 over 100 scientists from a number of disciplines have been exploring a substantial set of theoretical frameworks for a comprehensive theory of life known as Integral Biomathics. That effort identified the need for a robust core model of organisms as dynamic wholes, using advanced and adequately computable mathematics. The work described here for that core combines the advantages of a situation and context aware multivalent computational logic for active self-organizing networks, Wandering Logic Intelligence (WLI), and a multi-scale dynamic category theory, Memory Evolutive Systems (MES), hence WLIMES. This is presented to the modeller via a formal augmented reality language as a first step towards practical modelling and simulation of multi-level living systems. Initial work focuses on the design and implementation of this visual language and calculus (VLC) and its graphical user interface. The results will be integrated within the current methodology and practices of theoretical biology and (personalized) medicine to deepen and to enhance the holistic understanding of life. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Understanding energy technology developments from an innovation system perspective

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Borup, M.; Nygaard Madsen, A. [Risoe National Lab., DTU, Systems Analysis Dept., Roskilde (Denmark); Gregersen, Birgitte [Aalborg Univ., Department of Business Studies (Denmark)

2007-05-15

With the increased market-orientation and privatisation of the energy area, the perspective of innovation is becoming more and more relevant for understanding the dynamics of change and technology development in the area. A better understanding of the systemic and complex processes of innovation is needed. This paper presents an innovation systems analysis of new and emerging energy technologies in Denmark. The study focuses on five technology areas: bio fuels, hydrogen technology, wind energy, solar cells and energy-efficient end-use technologies. The main result of the analysis is that the technology areas are quite diverse in a number of innovation-relevant issues like actor set-up, institutional structure, maturity, and connections between market and non-market aspects. The paper constitutes background for discussing the framework conditions for transition to sustainable energy technologies and strengths and weaknesses of the innovation systems. (au)

Systems Modelling and the Development of Coherent Understanding of Cell Biology

Science.gov (United States)

Verhoeff, Roald P.; Waarlo, Arend Jan; Boersma, Kerst Th.

2008-01-01

This article reports on educational design research concerning a learning and teaching strategy for cell biology in upper-secondary education introducing "systems modelling" as a key competence. The strategy consists of four modelling phases in which students subsequently develop models of free-living cells, a general two-dimensional model of…

Understanding Blood Pressure Readings

Science.gov (United States)

... Venous Thromboembolism Aortic Aneurysm More Understanding Blood Pressure Readings Updated:Jun 1,2018 What do your blood ... and Live Our Interactive Cardiovascular Library has detailed animations and illustrations to help you learn about conditions, ...

Living electrode as a long-lived photoconverter for biophotolysis of water

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ochiai, H.; Shibata, H.; Sawa, Y.; Katoh, T.

1980-05-01

Living blue-green algae (Mastigocladus laminosus), immobilized on an SnO/sub 2/ optically transparent electrode with calcium alginate, functioned as an anodic photo electrode on continuous illumination for periods of time adequate for use in a conventional electrochemical cell. This living electrode shows promise of use as a long-lived photoconverter of solar radiant energy to electric energy and as a suitable replacement for unstable chloroplast systems.

Geographic information system in marine biology: Way for sustainable utilization of living resources

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Chavan, V.S.; Sreepada, R.A.

Sustainable utilization of aquatic living resources needs accurate assessment. This stress the need for use of Geographic Information System (GIS). In the recent past interest has been generated for use of GIS in various areas of biological...

Contraceptive options for women living with HIV.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Sharon; Steyn, Petrus; Temmerman, Marleen

2014-08-01

Women living with HIV are often of reproductive age, and many desire effective contraceptive options to delay or prevent pregnancy. We review the safety of various hormonal and non-hormonal contraceptive methods for women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Additionally, we discuss drug interactions between contraceptive methods and antiretrovirals and the safety of methods with respect to onward transmission to HIV-negative partners for women in sero-discordant partnerships. In general, most methods are safe for most women living with HIV. An understanding of the reproductive goals of each individual patient, as well as her medical condition and medication, should be taken into account when counselling women on their contraceptive options. Further research is needed to understand drug interactions between contraceptives and antiretrovirals better and how to fulfil the contraceptive needs of HIV-positive women. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Network approaches for understanding rainwater management from a social-ecological systems perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven D. Prager

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The premise of this research is to better understand how approaches to implementing rainwater management practices can be informed by understanding how the people living and working in agroecosystems are connected to one another. Because these connections are via both social interactions and functional characteristics of the landscape, a social-ecological network emerges. Using social-ecological network theory, we ask how understanding the structure of interactions can lead to improved rainwater management interventions. Using a case study situated within a small sub-basin in the Fogera area of the Blue Nile Basin of Ethiopia, we build networks of smallholders based both on the biophysical and social-institutional landscapes present in the study site, with the smallholders themselves as the common element between the networks. In turn we explore how structures present in the networks may serve to guide decision making regarding both where and with whom rainwater management interventions could be developed. This research thus illustrates an approach for constructing a social-ecological network and demonstrates how the structures of the network yield insights for tailoring the implementation of rainwater management practices to the social and ecological setting.

The place of assisted living in long-term care and related service systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Robyn I; Reinhard, Susan C

2007-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe how assisted living (AL) fits with other long-term-care services. We analyzed the evolution of AL, including the populations served, the services offered, and federal and state policies that create various incentives or disincentives for using AL to replace other forms of care such as nursing home care or home care. Provider models that have emerged include independent senior housing with services, freestanding AL, nursing home expansion, and continuing care retirement communities. Some integrated health systems have also built AL into their array of services. Federal and state policy rules for financing and programs also shape AL, and states vary in how deliberately they try to create an array of options with specific roles for AL. Among state policies reviewed are reimbursement and rate-setting policies, admission and discharge criteria, and nurse practice policies that permit or prohibit various nursing tasks to be delegated in AL settings. Recent initiatives to increase flexible home care, such as nursing home transition programs, cash and counseling, and money-follows-the-person initiatives may influence the way AL emerges in a particular state. There is no single easy answer about the role of AL. To understand the current role and decide how to shape the future of AL, researchers need information systems that track the transitions individuals make during their long-term-care experiences along with information about the case-mix characteristics and service needs of the clientele.

LAIX-score : a design framework for live audience interaction management systems

OpenAIRE

Kuikkaniemi, Kai

2017-01-01

This study focuses on computer-supported live audience interaction. In conventional lectures audience interacts explicitly with the performer for example by waving hand and asking question directly or clapping hands. For decades, non digital audience response systems have enabled simple multiple option audience interaction patterns. Modern mobile personal computing devices, digital projectors, wireless networks and real time software platforms enable creation of new kinds of interaction patte...

Database management systems understanding and applying database technology

CERN Document Server

Gorman, Michael M

1991-01-01

Database Management Systems: Understanding and Applying Database Technology focuses on the processes, methodologies, techniques, and approaches involved in database management systems (DBMSs).The book first takes a look at ANSI database standards and DBMS applications and components. Discussion focus on application components and DBMS components, implementing the dynamic relationship application, problems and benefits of dynamic relationship DBMSs, nature of a dynamic relationship application, ANSI/NDL, and DBMS standards. The manuscript then ponders on logical database, interrogation, and phy

Digital Living at Home

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Pernille Viktoria Kathja; Christiansen, Ellen Tove

2013-01-01

of these user voices has directed us towards a ‘home-keeping’ design discourse, which opens new horizons for design of digital home control systems by allowing users to perform as self-determined controllers and groomers of their habitat. The paper concludes by outlining the implications of a ‘home......Does living with digital technology inevitably lead to digital living? Users talking about a digital home control system, they have had in their homes for eight years, indicate that there is more to living with digital technology than a functional-operational grip on regulation. Our analysis......-keeping’ design discourse....

Living in an older adult community: a pharmacy student's experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Anastasia, Emily; Estus, Erica

2013-12-01

Interacting with older adults is a daily practice for pharmacists. It is important to understand how medications affect their wellbeing, but there are many other factors that affect quality of life. To truly understand some of the challenges facing older adults, Emily Anastasia, a sixth-year pharmacy student at the University of Rhode Island, moved into South Bay Retirement Living, a senior living community, for an eight-day immersion experience as a special project within one of her advanced pharmacy practice experience rotations. During her stay, she did not attend classes nor leave the facility unless on the South Bay bus with the other assisted living residents. She lived with a 92-year-old roommate, developed close friendships with many of the residents, and kept a detailed journal of her experience. The purpose of this reflection is to share her experience and recognize lifestyle as well as social and physical environment as factors in understanding the aging process. Immersing a pharmacy student within an assisted living community provides a unique opportunity to observe and appreciate characteristics of older adults that cannot be learned within a classroom setting.

Neutron scattering to study membrane systems: from lipid vesicles to living cells.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nickels, Jonathan D. [ORNL; Chatterjee, Sneha [ORNL; Stanley, Christopher B. [ORNL; Qian, Shuo [ORNL; Cheng, Xiaolin [ORNL; Myles, Dean A A [ORNL; Standaert, Robert F. [ORNL; Elkins, James G. [ORNL; Katsaras, John [ORNL

2017-03-01

The existence and role of lateral lipid organization in biological membranes has been studied and contested for more than 30 years. Lipid domains, or rafts, are hypothesized as scalable compartments in biological membranes, providing appropriate physical environments to their resident membrane proteins. This implies that lateral lipid organization is associated with a range of biological functions, such as protein co-localization, membrane trafficking, and cell signaling, to name just a few. Neutron scattering techniques have proven to be an excellent tool to investigate these structural features in model lipids, and more recently, in living cells. I will discuss our recent work using neutrons to probe the structure and mechanical properties in model lipid systems and our current efforts in using neutrons to probe the structure and organization of the bilayer in a living cell. These efforts in living cells have used genetic and biochemical strategies to generate a large neutron scattering contrast, making the membrane visible. I will present our results showing in vivo bilayer structure and discuss the outlook for this approach.

Experiences and perspectives of adults living with systemic lupus erythematosus: thematic synthesis of qualitative studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Sutanto, Bernadet; Singh-Grewal, Davinder; McNeil, H Patrick; O'Neill, Sean; Craig, Jonathan C; Jones, Julie; Tong, Allison

2013-11-01

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that significantly impairs patients’ quality of life and can be life threatening. This study aimed to describe the experiences and perspectives of adults living with SLE. We conducted a systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative studies that explored the experiences of adults living with SLE. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL (to November week 1, 2012), Google Scholar, a thesis database, and reference lists of relevant articles. Forty-six studies involving 1,385 participants were included. Five themes were identified: restricted lifestyle(including subthemes of pervasive pain, debilitating fatigue, mental deterioration, disruptive episodic symptoms, and postponing parenthood), disrupted identity (gaining diagnostic closure, prognostic uncertainty, being a burden, hopelessness, heightened self-consciousness, fearing rejection, and guilt and punishment), societal stigma and indifference(illness trivialization, socially ostracized, and averse to differential treatment), gaining resilience (optimism, control and empowerment, being informed and involved, and valuing mutual understanding), and treatment adherence (preserving health, rapport with clinicians, negotiating medication regimens, and financial burden). SLE has a severe and pervasive impact on patients’ self-esteem and independence. Their physical and social functioning is limited and they feel anxious about their future. Patients perceive that SLE is trivialized, misunderstood,and stigmatized by their family, friends, and physicians, which intensifies their sense of isolation. Educational, psychosocial, and self-care interventions are needed to promote mental resilience, positive coping strategies, self-advocacy, and capacities for social participation, and thereby to achieve better treatment and health outcomes in patients with SLE.

Living with an autonomous spatiotemporal home heating system: Exploration of the user experiences (UX) through a longitudinal technology intervention-based mixed-methods approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Kruusimagi, Martin; Sharples, Sarah; Robinson, Darren

2017-11-01

Rising energy demands place pressure on domestic energy consumption, but savings can be delivered through home automation and engaging users with their heating and energy behaviours. The aim of this paper is to explore user experiences (UX) of living with an automated heating system regarding experiences of control, understanding of the system, emerging thermal behaviours, and interactions with the system as this area is not sufficiently researched in the existing homes setting through extended deployment. We present a longitudinal deployment of a quasi-autonomous spatiotemporal home heating system in three homes. Users were provided with a smartphone control application linked to a self-learning heating algorithm. Rich qualitative and quantitative data presented here enabled a holistic exploration of UX. The paper's contribution focuses on highlighting key aspects of UX living with an automated heating systems including (i) adoption of the control interface into the social context, (ii) how users' vigilance in maintaining preferred conditions prevailed as a better indicator of system over-ride than gross deviation from thermal comfort, (iii) limited but motivated proactivity in system-initiated communications as best strategy for soliciting user feedback when inference fails, and (iv) two main motivations for interacting with the interface - managing irregularities when absent from the house and maintaining immediate comfort, latter compromising of a checking behaviour that can transit to a system state alteration behaviour depending on mismatches. We conclude by highlighting the complex socio-technical context in which thermal decisions are made in a situated action manner, and by calling for a more holistic, UX-focused approach in the design of automated home systems involving user experiences. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Influence of the environment and phototoxicity of the live cell imaging system at IMP microbeam facility

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wenjing; Du, Guanghua; Guo, Jinlong; Wu, Ruqun; Wei, Junzhe; Chen, Hao; Li, Yaning; Zhao, Jing; Li, Xiaoyue

2017-08-01

To investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of DNA damage and repair after the ion irradiation, an online live cell imaging system has been established based on the microbeam facility at Institute of Modern Physics (IMP). The system could provide a sterile and physiological environment by making use of heating plate and live cell imaging solution. The phototoxicity was investigated through the evaluation of DNA repair protein XRCC1 foci formed in HT1080-RFP cells during the imaging exposure. The intensity of the foci induced by phototoxicity was much lower compared with that of the foci induced by heavy ion hits. The results showed that although spontaneous foci were formed due to RFP exposure during live cell imaging, they had little impact on the analysis of the recruitment kinetics of XRCC1 in the foci induced by the ion irradiation.

From the streets to assisted living: perceptions of a vulnerable population.

Science.gov (United States)

Decker, Susan; Cary, Patricia; Krautscheid, Lorretta

2006-06-01

The rapid growth of assisted-living facilities is paralleled by the necessity to understand the needs of the people living in them. A hallmark challenge for individuals who are poor and disabled, and often marginalized from mainstream society, is maintaining integrity and being a whole person, rather than a sum of broken parts. A key to maintaining this integrity is the ability to find stable housing and support systems. The inner-city assisted-living facility in this study is unique in that all of its residents are funded by Medicaid. The residents have complex needs related to histories of homelessness, mental illness, drug and/or alcohol addiction, and chronic illness. The purpose of this study was to explore the needs of this vulnerable population as they adapt to a new home and a new concept of assisted, yet independent, living. Structured interviews with key informants and oral survey questionnaires with residents provided quantitative and qualitative data about physical and mental health status, social support, perception of control, psychological wellbeing, and life satisfaction. This study provided valuable insights into the challenges inherent in providing a high quality of life in assisted living for a vulnerable population with diverse needs.

Understanding the experiences of racialized older people through an intersectional life course perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrer, Ilyan; Grenier, Amanda; Brotman, Shari; Koehn, Sharon

2017-04-01

This article proposes the development of an intersectional life course perspective that is capable of exploring the links between structural inequalities and the lived experience of aging among racialized older people. Merging key concepts from intersectionality and life course perspectives, the authors suggest an analytic approach to better account for the connections between individual narratives and systems of domination that impinge upon the everyday lives of racialized older people. Our proposed intersectional life course perspective includes four dimensions: 1) identifying key events and their timing, 2) examining locally and globally linked lives, 3) exploring categories of difference and how they shape identities, 4) and assessing how processes of differentiation, and systems of domination shape the lives, agency and resistance among older people. Although applicable to various forms of marginalization, we examine the interplay of racialization, immigration, labour and care in later life to highlight relationships between systems, events, trajectories, and linked lives. The illustrative case example used in this paper emerged from a larger critical ethnographic study of aging in the Filipino community in Montreal, Canada. We suggest that an intersectional life course perspective has the potential to facilitate a deeper understanding of the nexus of structural, personal and relational processes that are experienced by diverse groups of older people across the life course and into late life. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Marine living thing processing system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toyoshi, Takanori; Yanagisawa, Takao; Nakamura, Toshio; Ueda, Kiyokatsu; Terada, Takeshi.

1994-01-01

Marine living things collected upon cleaning of a seawater intake channel are sent to a solid/liquid separator. Discharged liquids containing separated sludges enter a coagulation/precipitation vessel. Condensed sludges precipitated in the vessel are sent to a dehydrator and converted into dehydrated cakes. On the other hand, supernatants discharged from the coagulation/precipitation vessel are sent to an ultra-filtration vessel and an active carbon vessel and then discharged to the sea area at improved the water quality. Further, the dehydrated cakes comprising condensed sluges are dried by a dryer, burnt in an incinerator and then processed as wastes. On the other hand, solid materials separated by the solid/liquid separator such as shells, are crushed finely by the crusher, then dried by an air stream dryer, baked in a high temperature baking furnace to form quick lime. The quick lime is sent to a digester and modified by hydration into slaked lime and it is shipped as slaked lime products. This can simplify the control for the operation and reduce the running cost. Further, resources of marine living (shells) can be utilized. (I.N.)

Some Physical Principles Governing Spatial and Temporal Organization in Living Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Md Zulfikar

Spatial and temporal organization in living organisms are crucial for a variety of biological functions and arise from the interplay of large number of interacting molecules. One of the central questions in systems biology is to understand how such an intricate organization emerges from the molecular biochemistry of the cell. In this dissertation we explore two projects. The first project relates to pattern formation in a cell membrane as an example of spatial organization, and the second project relates to the evolution of oscillatory networks as a simple example of temporal organization. For the first project, we introduce a model for pattern formation in a two-component lipid bilayer and study the interplay between membrane composition and membrane geometry, demonstrating the existence of a rich phase diagram. Pattern formation is governed by the interplay between phase separation driven by lipid-lipid interactions and tendency of lipid domains with high intrinsic curvature to deform the membrane away from its preferred position. Depending on membrane parameters, we find the formation of compact lipid micro-clusters or of striped domains. We calculate the stripe width analytically and find good agreement with stripe widths obtained from the simulations. For the second project, we introduce a minimal model for the evolution of functional protein-interaction networks using a sequence-based mutational algorithm and apply it to study the following problems. Using the model, we study robustness and designabilty of a 2-component network that generate oscillations. We completely enumerate the sequence space and the phenotypic space, and discuss the relationship between designabilty, robustness and evolvability. We further apply the model to studies of neutral drift in networks that yield oscillatory dynamics, e.g. starting with a relatively simple network and allowing it to evolve by adding nodes and connections while requiring that oscillatory dynamics be preserved

Advancing Capabilities for Understanding the Earth System Through Intelligent Systems, the NSF Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Gil, Y.; Zanzerkia, E. E.; Munoz-Avila, H.

2015-12-01

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) and Directorate for Computer and Information Science (CISE) acknowledge the significant scientific challenges required to understand the fundamental processes of the Earth system, within the atmospheric and geospace, Earth, ocean and polar sciences, and across those boundaries. A broad view of the opportunities and directions for GEO are described in the report "Dynamic Earth: GEO imperative and Frontiers 2015-2020." Many of the aspects of geosciences research, highlighted both in this document and other community grand challenges, pose novel problems for researchers in intelligent systems. Geosciences research will require solutions for data-intensive science, advanced computational capabilities, and transformative concepts for visualizing, using, analyzing and understanding geo phenomena and data. Opportunities for the scientific community to engage in addressing these challenges are available and being developed through NSF's portfolio of investments and activities. The NSF-wide initiative, Cyberinfrastructure Framework for 21st Century Science and Engineering (CIF21), looks to accelerate research and education through new capabilities in data, computation, software and other aspects of cyberinfrastructure. EarthCube, a joint program between GEO and the Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Division, aims to create a well-connected and facile environment to share data and knowledge in an open, transparent, and inclusive manner, thus accelerating our ability to understand and predict the Earth system. EarthCube's mission opens an opportunity for collaborative research on novel information systems enhancing and supporting geosciences research efforts. NSF encourages true, collaborative partnerships between scientists in computer sciences and the geosciences to meet these challenges.

Interactions between semiconductor nanowires and living cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Prinz, Christelle N

2015-06-17

Semiconductor nanowires are increasingly used for biological applications and their small dimensions make them a promising tool for sensing and manipulating cells with minimal perturbation. In order to interface cells with nanowires in a controlled fashion, it is essential to understand the interactions between nanowires and living cells. The present paper reviews current progress in the understanding of these interactions, with knowledge gathered from studies where living cells were interfaced with vertical nanowire arrays. The effect of nanowires on cells is reported in terms of viability, cell-nanowire interface morphology, cell behavior, changes in gene expression as well as cellular stress markers. Unexplored issues and unanswered questions are discussed.

Variation in levels of anxiety to dental treatment among nonorphan and orphan children living under different systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Chikkala, Jayanth; Chandrabhatla, Srinivas Kumar; Vanga, Narasimha Rao V

2015-08-01

It is essential to understand the factors influencing the level of anxiety to dental treatment among different children as it can influence seeking dental care. Here, we assessed the impact of parental loss on dental anxiety among 6-13-year-old children. A total of 444 children within the age group 6-13 years were selected. Group 1 consisted of orphan children living in government-run orphanages, Group 2 consisted of orphan children taken care by a person with a motherly relationship, Group 3 consisted of abandoned children living in private organization and Group 4 consisted of children living with their parents. Dental anxiety was measured using children's fear survey schedule-dental subscale and modified faces version of modified child dental anxiety scale. The highest number of anxious children were observed in Group 4 and the difference in the anxiety levels among the four groups was found to be highly statistically significant. Children living in government-run orphanages had least dental anxiety. All the orphans may not have the same anxiety levels and the environment of upbringing the orphans plays a significant role in the development of the anxiety.

Understanding Socio-Hydrology System in the Kissimmee River Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, X.; Wang, D.; Tian, F.; Sivapalan, M.

2014-12-01

This study is to develop a conceptual socio-hydrology model for the Kissimmee River Basin. The Kissimmee River located in Florida was channelized in mid-20 century for flood protection. However, the environmental issues caused by channelization led Floridians to conduct a restoration project recently, focusing on wetland recovery. As a complex coupled human-water system, Kissimmee River Basin shows the typical socio-hydrology interactions. Hypothetically, the major reason to drive the system from channelization to restoration is that the community sensitivity towards the environment has changed from controlling to restoring. The model developed in this study includes 5 components: water balance, flood risk, wetland area, crop land area, and community sensitivity. Furthermore, urban population and rural population in the basin have different community sensitivities towards the hydrologic system. The urban population, who live further away from the river are more sensitive to wetland restoration; while the rural population, who live closer to the river are more sensitive to flood protection. The power dynamics between the two groups and its impact on management decision making is described in the model. The model is calibrated based on the observed watershed outflow, wetland area and crop land area. The results show that the overall focus of community sensitivity has changed from flood protection to wetland restoration in the past 60 years in Kissimmee River Basin, which confirms the study hypothesis. There are two main reasons for the community sensitivity change. Firstly, people's flood memory is fading because of the effective flood protection, while the continuously shrinking wetland and the decreasing bird and fish population draw more and more attention. Secondly, in the last 60 years, the urban population in Florida drastically increased compared with a much slower increase of rural population. As a result, the community sensitivity of urban population towards

'Living' Architecture Overviews - Supporting the Design of Evolutionary Complex Systems (CD ROM)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Borches Juzgado, P.D.; Bonnema, Gerrit Maarten; van Houten, F.J.A.M.; Miedema, J.; Lutters, D.

2008-01-01

When dealing with complex systems, it is essential that designers and system architects have a clear understanding of the system as a whole. The main ‘tool’ for this is the so-called ‘system architecture description’ or ‘reference architecture’. Although the concept of system architecture

Perceptions, motivations, and concerns about living organ donation among people living with HIV.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Pilsum Rasmussen, Sarah E; Henderson, Macey L; Bollinger, Juli; Seaman, Shanti; Brown, Diane; Durand, Christine M; Segev, Dorry L; Sugarman, Jeremy

2018-05-03

Recent changes to United States law now permit people living with HIV (PLWH) to donate organs to HIV-infected (HIV+) recipients under research protocols. PLWH may have unique motivations for and concerns about living donation and understanding them is critical to ensuring the integrity of this novel approach to organ transplantation. We conducted in-depth interviews with PLWH from an urban HIV clinic who had previously indicated their willingness to be a living donor. Interviews elicited information on their motivations, perceived benefits, and concerns regarding living donation. Codes were identified inductively and then organized into themes and subthemes. Two coders independently analyzed the interviews and reconciled differences in coding by consensus. Thematic saturation was reached after 20 interviews. Motivations for living donation among PLWH included an altruistic desire to help others as well as HIV-specific motivations including solidarity with potential recipients and a desire to overcome HIV-related stigma. Perceived benefits of living donation included gratification from saving or improving the recipient's life and conferring a sense of normalcy for the HIV+ donor. Concerns about donation included the possibility of a prolonged recovery period, organ failure, and transmission of another strain of the virus to the recipients. PLWH had unique motivations, perceived benefits, and concerns about living donation in addition to those previously identified in the general population. These unique factors should be addressed in research protocols, informed consent processes, and the education and training of independent living donor advocates so that these endeavors are ethically sound.

Implementing An Image Understanding System Architecture Using Pipe

Science.gov (United States)

Luck, Randall L.

1988-03-01

This paper will describe PIPE and how it can be used to implement an image understanding system. Image understanding is the process of developing a description of an image in order to make decisions about its contents. The tasks of image understanding are generally split into low level vision and high level vision. Low level vision is performed by PIPE -a high performance parallel processor with an architecture specifically designed for processing video images at up to 60 fields per second. High level vision is performed by one of several types of serial or parallel computers - depending on the application. An additional processor called ISMAP performs the conversion from iconic image space to symbolic feature space. ISMAP plugs into one of PIPE's slots and is memory mapped into the high level processor. Thus it forms the high speed link between the low and high level vision processors. The mechanisms for bottom-up, data driven processing and top-down, model driven processing are discussed.

Cognitive assisted living ambient system: a survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruijiao Li

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The demographic change towards an aging population is creating a significant impact and introducing drastic challenges to our society. We therefore need to find ways to assist older people to stay independently and prevent social isolation of these population. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT provide various solutions to help older adults to improve their quality of life, stay healthier, and live independently for a time. Ambient Assisted Living (AAL is a field to investigate innovative technologies to provide assistance as well as healthcare and rehabilitation to impaired seniors. The paper provides a review of research background and technologies of AAL.

Lifetime induced abortion: a comparison between women living and not living with HIV.

Science.gov (United States)

Pilecco, Flávia Bulegon; Teixeira, Luciana Barcellos; Vigo, Alvaro; Dewey, Michael E; Knauth, Daniela Riva

2014-01-01

Studies aimed at understanding the association between induced abortion and HIV are scarce and differ on the direction of the association. This paper aims to show the prevalence of induced abortion in a sample of pregnancies of women living and not living with HIV/Aids, determining variables associated with pregnancy termination and linked to the life course of women and to the specific context of the pregnancy. Data came from a cross-sectional study, using interviewer-administered questionnaire, developed with women that attended public health services in Porto Alegre, Brazil. A generalized estimating equation model with logit link measured the association between determinants and abortion. The final sample was composed of 684 women living with HIV/Aids (2,039 pregnancies) and 639 women not living with HIV/Aids (1,539 pregnancies). The prevalence of induced abortion among pregnancies in women living with HIV/Aids was 6.5%, while in women not living with HIV/Aids was 2.9%. Among women living with HIV/Aids, the following were associated with induced abortion in the multivariable analysis: being older, having a higher education level, having had more sexual partners (i.e., variables linked to the life course of women), having had children prior to the index pregnancy and living with a sexual partner during pregnancy (i.e., variables linked to the context of each pregnancy). On the other hand, among women not living with HIV/Aids, only having a higher education level and having had more sexual partners (i.e., determinants linked to the life course of women) were associated with voluntary pregnancy termination in multivariable analysis. Although determinants are similar between women living and not living with HIV/Aids, prevalence of induced abortion is higher among pregnancies in women living with HIV/Aids, pointing to their greater social vulnerability and to the need for public policy to address prevention and treatment of HIV associated with reproductive issues.

Synergetic approach of norm and pathology of living system functioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asqarov, B.; Oksengendler, B.L.; Turaeva, N.N.; Karimov, Z.; Rafikova, Z.B.

2011-01-01

Basing on fundamental idea of dynamical chaos and strict periodicity in living systems the new peculiarities in brain and heart functioning have been reveled. It has been shown that the development of pathological states of brain and heart activities occurs by means of both increase and decrease of chaos components in brain activity and heart rhythm. It has been defined the 'health range' for brain and heart functioning in norm, and the method of recovery of the health range is proposed from the electrocardiograms and electroencephalograms data (authors).

Understanding Learner Agency as a Complex Dynamic System

Science.gov (United States)

Mercer, Sarah

2011-01-01

This paper attempts to contribute to a fuller understanding of the nature of language learner agency by considering it as a complex dynamic system. The purpose of the study was to explore detailed situated data to examine to what extent it is feasible to view learner agency through the lens of complexity theory. Data were generated through a…

Aging: Learning to Live a Finite Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Baars, Jan

2017-10-01

Although biodemographic research informs us that life expectancies have risen impressively during the last century, this has not led to much interest in these new horizons of aging. The instrumentalist culture of late modern societies, including its health cure system, has clearly difficulties to relate to the elusive but inevitable limitations of finite life. Moreover, as most people can be expected to survive into old age, thinking about finitude is easily postponed and reserved for those who are "really old." Indeed, a meaningful and realistic understanding of aging needs to include a confrontation with the finitude of life. Instead of reducing aging to the opposite or continuation of vital adulthood, it should be seen as something with a potentially broad and deep significance: a process of learning to live a finite life. As a contribution to this cultural repositioning of aging, the article presents a philosophical exploration of finitude and finite life. Among the discussed topics are the Stoic and Epicurean ways of living with death but also the necessity to expand the meaning of "finitude" beyond mortality. Aging is foremost a process of living through changes that are largely beyond our control although they require active responding. Next, individualistic or existentialist interpretations are criticized because finite lives presuppose a social world in which they emerge and on which they depend. Unfortunately, aging, the most important experiential source of knowledge about what it is to live a finite life, is neglected by the same culture that needs its wisdom. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Thioredoxin and glutathione systems differ in parasitic and free-living platyhelminths

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salinas Gustavo

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The thioredoxin and/or glutathione pathways occur in all organisms. They provide electrons for deoxyribonucleotide synthesis, function as antioxidant defenses, in detoxification, Fe/S biogenesis and participate in a variety of cellular processes. In contrast to their mammalian hosts, platyhelminth (flatworm parasites studied so far, lack conventional thioredoxin and glutathione systems. Instead, they possess a linked thioredoxin-glutathione system with the selenocysteine-containing enzyme thioredoxin glutathione reductase (TGR as the single redox hub that controls the overall redox homeostasis. TGR has been recently validated as a drug target for schistosomiasis and new drug leads targeting TGR have recently been identified for these platyhelminth infections that affect more than 200 million people and for which a single drug is currently available. Little is known regarding the genomic structure of flatworm TGRs, the expression of TGR variants and whether the absence of conventional thioredoxin and glutathione systems is a signature of the entire platyhelminth phylum. Results We examine platyhelminth genomes and transcriptomes and find that all platyhelminth parasites (from classes Cestoda and Trematoda conform to a biochemical scenario involving, exclusively, a selenium-dependent linked thioredoxin-glutathione system having TGR as a central redox hub. In contrast, the free-living platyhelminth Schmidtea mediterranea (Class Turbellaria possesses conventional and linked thioredoxin and glutathione systems. We identify TGR variants in Schistosoma spp. derived from a single gene, and demonstrate their expression. We also provide experimental evidence that alternative initiation of transcription and alternative transcript processing contribute to the generation of TGR variants in platyhelminth parasites. Conclusions Our results indicate that thioredoxin and glutathione pathways differ in parasitic and free-living flatworms and

Thioredoxin and glutathione systems differ in parasitic and free-living platyhelminths

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Background The thioredoxin and/or glutathione pathways occur in all organisms. They provide electrons for deoxyribonucleotide synthesis, function as antioxidant defenses, in detoxification, Fe/S biogenesis and participate in a variety of cellular processes. In contrast to their mammalian hosts, platyhelminth (flatworm) parasites studied so far, lack conventional thioredoxin and glutathione systems. Instead, they possess a linked thioredoxin-glutathione system with the selenocysteine-containing enzyme thioredoxin glutathione reductase (TGR) as the single redox hub that controls the overall redox homeostasis. TGR has been recently validated as a drug target for schistosomiasis and new drug leads targeting TGR have recently been identified for these platyhelminth infections that affect more than 200 million people and for which a single drug is currently available. Little is known regarding the genomic structure of flatworm TGRs, the expression of TGR variants and whether the absence of conventional thioredoxin and glutathione systems is a signature of the entire platyhelminth phylum. Results We examine platyhelminth genomes and transcriptomes and find that all platyhelminth parasites (from classes Cestoda and Trematoda) conform to a biochemical scenario involving, exclusively, a selenium-dependent linked thioredoxin-glutathione system having TGR as a central redox hub. In contrast, the free-living platyhelminth Schmidtea mediterranea (Class Turbellaria) possesses conventional and linked thioredoxin and glutathione systems. We identify TGR variants in Schistosoma spp. derived from a single gene, and demonstrate their expression. We also provide experimental evidence that alternative initiation of transcription and alternative transcript processing contribute to the generation of TGR variants in platyhelminth parasites. Conclusions Our results indicate that thioredoxin and glutathione pathways differ in parasitic and free-living flatworms and that canonical enzymes

Dependency visualization for complex system understanding

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smart, J. Allison Cory [Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)

1994-09-01

With the volume of software in production use dramatically increasing, the importance of software maintenance has become strikingly apparent. Techniques now sought and developed for reverse engineering and design extraction and recovery. At present, numerous commercial products and research tools exist which are capable of visualizing a variety of programming languages and software constructs. The list of new tools and services continues to grow rapidly. Although the scope of the existing commercial and academic product set is quite broad, these tools still share a common underlying problem. The ability of each tool to visually organize object representations is increasingly impaired as the number of components and component dependencies within systems increases. Regardless of how objects are defined, complex ``spaghetti`` networks result in nearly all large system cases. While this problem is immediately apparent in modem systems analysis involving large software implementations, it is not new. As will be discussed in Chapter 2, related problems involving the theory of graphs were identified long ago. This important theoretical foundation provides a useful vehicle for representing and analyzing complex system structures. While the utility of directed graph based concepts in software tool design has been demonstrated in literature, these tools still lack the capabilities necessary for large system comprehension. This foundation must therefore be expanded with new organizational and visualization constructs necessary to meet this challenge. This dissertation addresses this need by constructing a conceptual model and a set of methods for interactively exploring, organizing, and understanding the structure of complex software systems.

Learning and Understanding System Stability Using Illustrative Dynamic Texture Examples

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Huaping; Xiao, Wei; Zhao, Hongyan; Sun, Fuchun

2014-01-01

System stability is a basic concept in courses on dynamic system analysis and control for undergraduate students with computer science backgrounds. Typically, this was taught using a simple simulation example of an inverted pendulum. Unfortunately, many difficult issues arise in the learning and understanding of the concepts of stability,…

Understanding Arsenic Dynamics in Agronomic Systems to ...

Science.gov (United States)

This review is on arsenic in agronomic systems, and covers processes that influence the entry of arsenic into the human food supply. The scope is from sources of arsenic (natural and anthropogenic) in soils, biogeochemical and rhizosphere processes that control arsenic speciation and availability, through to mechanisms of uptake by crop plants and potential mitigation strategies. This review makes a case for taking steps to prevent or limit crop uptake of arsenic, wherever possible, and to work toward a long-term solution to the presence of arsenic in agronomic systems. The past two decades have seen important advances in our understanding of how biogeochemical and physiological processes influence human exposure to soil arsenic, and thus must now prompt an informed reconsideration and unification of regulations to protect the quality of agricultural and residential soils. Consumption of staple foods such as rice, beverages such as apple juice, or vegetables grown in historically arsenic-contaminated soils is now recognized as a tangible route of arsenic exposure that, in many cases, is more significant than exposure from drinking water. Understanding the sources of arsenic to crop plants and the factors that influence them is key to reducing exposure now and preventing exposure in future. In addition to the abundant natural sources of arsenic, there are a large number of industrial and agricultural sources of arsenic to the soil; from mining wastes, coal fly

Model System for Live Imaging of Neuronal Responses to Injury and Repair

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Mathieu Gravel

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Although it has been well established that induction of growth-associated protein-43 (GAP-43 during development coincides with axonal outgrowth and early synapse formation, the existence of neuronal plasticity and neurite outgrowth in the adult central nervous system after injuries is more controversial. To visualize the processes of neuronal injury and repair in living animals, we generated reporter mice for bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging bearing the luc (luciferase and gfp (green fluorescent protein reporter genes under the control of the murine GAP-43 promoter. Reporter functionality was first observed during the development of transgenic embryos. Using in vivo bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging, we visualized induction of the GAP-43 signals from live embryos starting at E10.5, as well as neuronal responses to brain and peripheral nerve injuries (the signals peaked at 14 days postinjury. Moreover, three-dimensional analysis of the GAP-43 bioluminescent signal confirmed that it originated from brain structures affected by ischemic injury. The analysis of fluorescence signal at cellular level revealed colocalization between endogenous protein and the GAP-43-driven gfp transgene. Taken together, our results suggest that the GAP-43-luc/gfp reporter mouse represents a valid model system for real-time analysis of neurite outgrowth and the capacity of the adult nervous system to regenerate after injuries.

Active Adult Lives for Persons with Learning Disabilities--The Perspectives of Professionals

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Witsø, Aud Elisabeth; Kittelsaa, Anna M.

2018-01-01

Background: Living active adult lives is both a value and a right, but the right to do so is associated with restrictions among adults with learning disabilities. This research aimed to capture professionals' understanding and perception of active adult living for people with learning disabilities living in clustered housing in a Norwegian…

The Systemic Theory of Living Systems and Relevance to CAM: the Theory (Part III

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José A. Olalde Rangel

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Western medical science lacks a solid philosophical and theoretical approach to disease cognition and therapeutics. My first two articles provided a framework for a humane medicine based on Modern Biophysics. Its precepts encompass modern therapeutics and CAM. Modern Biophysics and its concepts are presently missing in medicine, whether orthodox or CAM, albeit they probably provide the long sought explanation that bridges the abyss between East and West. Key points that differentiate Systemic from other systems' approaches are ‘Intelligence’, ‘Energy’ and the objective ‘to survive’. The General System Theory (GST took a forward step by proposing a departure from the mechanistic biological concept—of analyzing parts and processes in isolation—and brought us towards an organismic model. GST examines the system's components and results of their interaction. However, GST still does not go far enough. GST assumes ‘Self-Organization’ as a spontaneous phenomenon, ignoring a causative entity or central controller to all systems: Intelligence. It also neglects ‘Survive’ as the directional motivation common to any living system, and scarcely assigns ‘Energy’ its true inherent value. These three parameters, Intelligence, Energy and Survive, are vital variables to be considered, in our human quest, if we are to achieve a unified theory of life.

Flora robotica -- An Architectural System Combining Living Natural Plants and Distributed Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hamann, Heiko; Divband Soorati, Mohammad; Heinrich, Mary Katherine

2017-01-01

Key to our project flora robotica is the idea of creating a bio-hybrid system of tightly coupled natural plants and distributed robots to grow architectural artifacts and spaces. Our motivation with this ground research project is to lay a principled foundation towards the design and implementation...... of flora robotica, such as the continuous growth process of architectural artifacts and self-repair of living architecture....

Understanding how orthopaedic surgery practices generate value for healthcare systems.

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Olson, Steven A; Mather, Richard C

2013-06-01

Orthopaedic surgery practices can provide substantial value to healthcare systems. Increasingly, healthcare administrators are speaking of the need for alignment between physicians and healthcare systems. However, physicians often do not understand what healthcare administrators value and therefore have difficulty articulating the value they create in discussions with their hospital or healthcare organization. Many health systems and hospitals use service lines as an organizational structure to track the relevant data and manage the resources associated with a particular type of care, such as musculoskeletal care. Understanding service lines and their management can be useful for orthopaedic surgeons interested in interacting with their hospital systems. We provide an overview of two basic types of value orthopaedic surgeons create for healthcare systems: financial or volume-driven benefits and nonfinancial quality or value-driven patient care benefits. We performed a search of PubMed from 1965 to 2012 using the term "service line." Of the 351 citations identified, 18 citations specifically involved the use of service lines to improve patient care in both nursing and medical journals. A service line is a structure used in healthcare organizations to enable management of a subset of activities or resources in a focused area of patient care delivery. There is not a consistent definition of what resources are managed within a service line from hospital to hospital. Physicians can positively impact patient care through engaging in service line management. There is increasing pressure for healthcare systems and hospitals to partner with orthopaedic surgeons. The peer-reviewed literature demonstrates there are limited resources for physicians to understand the value they create when attempting to negotiate with their hospital or healthcare organization. To effectively negotiate for resources to provide the best care for patients, orthopaedic surgeons need to claim and

Understanding Science: Frameworks for using stories to facilitate systems thinking

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ElShafie, S. J.; Bean, J. R.

2017-12-01

Studies indicate that using a narrative structure for teaching and learning helps audiences to process and recall new information. Stories also help audiences retain specific information, such as character names or plot points, in the context of a broader narrative. Stories can therefore facilitate high-context systems learning in addition to low-context declarative learning. Here we incorporate a framework for science storytelling, which we use in communication workshops, with the Understanding Science framework developed by the UC Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) to explore the application of storytelling to systems thinking. We translate portions of the Understanding Science flowchart into narrative terms. Placed side by side, the two charts illustrate the parallels between the scientific process and the story development process. They offer a roadmap for developing stories about scientific studies and concepts. We also created a series of worksheets for use with the flowcharts. These new tools can generate stories from any perspective, including a scientist conducting a study; a character that plays a role in a larger system (e.g., foraminifera or a carbon atom); an entire system that interacts with other systems (e.g., the carbon cycle). We will discuss exemplar stories about climate change from each of these perspectives, which we are developing for workshops using content and storyboard models from the new UCMP website Understanding Global Change. This conceptual framework and toolkit will help instructors to develop stories about scientific concepts for use in a classroom setting. It will also help students to analyze stories presented in class, and to create their own stories about new concepts. This approach facilitates student metacognition of the learning process, and can also be used as a form of evaluation. We are testing this flowchart and its use in systems teaching with focus groups, in preparation for use in teacher professional development workshops.

Nitrogen Removal in Greywater Living Walls: Insights into the Governing Mechanisms

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Harsha S. Fowdar

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Nitrogen is a pollutant of great concern when present in excess in surface waters. Living wall biofiltration systems that employ ornamentals and climbing plants are an emerging green technology that has recently demonstrated significant potential to reduce nitrogen concentrations from greywater before outdoor domestic re-use. However, there still exists a paucity of knowledge around the mechanisms governing this removal, particularly in regards to the fate of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON within these systems. Understanding the fate of nitrogen in living wall treatment systems is imperative both to optimise designs and to predict the long-term viability of these systems, more so given the growing interest in adopting green infrastructure within urban cities. A laboratory study was undertaken to investigate the transformation and fate of nitrogen in biofilters planted with different climbing plants and ornamental species. An isotropic tracer (15N-urea was applied to quantify the amount removed through coupled nitrification-denitrification. The results found that nitrification-denitrification formed a minor removal pathway in planted systems, comprising only 0–15% of added 15N. DON and ammonium were effectively reduced by all biofilter designs, indicating effective mineralisation and nitrification rates. However, in designs with poor nitrogen removal, the effluent was enriched with nitrate, suggesting limited denitrification rates. Given the likely dominance of plant assimilation in removal, this indicates that plant selection is a critical design parameter, as is maintaining healthy plant growth for optimal nitrogen removal in greywater living wall biofilters in their early years of operation.

Fundamental understanding of the Di-Air system (an alternative NO

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Wang, Y.; Makkee, M.

2018-01-01

Toyota's Di-Air DeNO_x system is a promising DeNO_x system to meet NO_x emission requirement during the real driving, yet, a fundamental understanding largely lacks, e.g. the benefit of fast frequency fuel injection. Ceria is the main ingredient in Di-Air catalyst

Interviewing to Understand Strengths

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Hass, Michael R.

2018-01-01

Interviewing clients about their strengths is an important part of developing a complete understanding of their lives and has several advantages over simply focusing on problems and pathology. Prerequisites for skillfully interviewing for strengths include the communication skills that emerge from a stance of not knowing, developing a vocabulary…

Systemic thinking fundamentals for understanding problems and messes

CERN Document Server

Hester, Patrick T

2014-01-01

Whether you’re an academic or a practitioner, a sociologist, a manager, or an engineer, one can benefit from learning to think systemically.  Problems (and messes) are everywhere and they’re getting more complicated every day.  How we think about these problems determines whether or not we’ll be successful in understanding and addressing them.  This book presents a novel way to think about problems (and messes) necessary to attack these always-present concerns.  The approach draws from disciplines as diverse as mathematics, biology, and psychology to provide a holistic method for dealing with problems that can be applied to any discipline. This book develops the systemic thinking paradigm, and introduces practical guidelines for the deployment of a systemic thinking approach.

Systematic approach to understanding the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis.

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Zuo, Xiaoxia; Zhang, Lihua; Luo, Hui; Li, Yisha; Zhu, Honglin

2017-10-01

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a complex heterogeneous autoimmune disease. Progressive organ fibrosis is a major contributor to SSc mortality. Despite extensive efforts, the underlying mechanism of SSc remains unclear. Efforts to understand the pathogenesis of SSc have included genomics, epigenetics, transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic studies in the last decade. This review focuses on recent studies in SSc research based on multi-omics. The combination of these technologies can help us understand the pathogenesis of SSc. This review aims to provide important information for disease identification, therapeutic targets and potential biomarkers. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Rapid transfer of short-lived radioisotopes via a 2. 4 km rabbit system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burgerjon, J J; Gelbart, Z; Lau, V; Lehnart, D; Lenz, J; Pate, B D; Ruth, T J; Sprenger, H P; van Oers, N S.C.

1984-09-01

A 2.4 km long pipeline between a cyclotron and a hospital is used for the rapid transfer of short-lived radiopharmaceuticals. The vials containing the pharmaceuticals are placed inside capsules (rabbits) that are blown through a tube by means of compressed air. Travel times as short as 2 min are achieved, which makes the system suitable for the transfer of /sup 15/O, which has a 2 min half-life. The construction and test results of the system are described along with a computer model, developed to explain some properties of the system. 7 references, 15 figures, 2 tables.

Long-Term Live Cell Imaging of Cell Migration: Effects of Pathogenic Fungi on Human Epithelial Cell Migration.

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Wöllert, Torsten; Langford, George M

2016-01-01

Long-term live cell imaging was used in this study to determine the responses of human epithelial cells to pathogenic biofilms formed by Candida albicans. Epithelial cells of the skin represent the front line of defense against invasive pathogens such as C. albicans but under certain circumstances, especially when the host's immune system is compromised, the skin barrier is breached. The mechanisms by which the fungal pathogen penetrates the skin and invade the deeper layers are not fully understood. In this study we used keratinocytes grown in culture as an in vitro model system to determine changes in host cell migration and the actin cytoskeleton in response to virulence factors produced by biofilms of pathogenic C. albicans. It is clear that changes in epithelial cell migration are part of the response to virulence factors secreted by biofilms of C. albicans and the actin cytoskeleton is the downstream effector that mediates cell migration. Our goal is to understand the mechanism by which virulence factors hijack the signaling pathways of the actin cytoskeleton to alter cell migration and thereby invade host tissues. To understand the dynamic changes of the actin cytoskeleton during infection, we used long-term live cell imaging to obtain spatial and temporal information of actin filament dynamics and to identify signal transduction pathways that regulate the actin cytoskeleton and its associated proteins. Long-term live cell imaging was achieved using a high resolution, multi-mode epifluorescence microscope equipped with specialized light sources, high-speed cameras with high sensitivity detectors, and specific biocompatible fluorescent markers. In addition to the multi-mode epifluorescence microscope, a spinning disk confocal long-term live cell imaging system (Olympus CV1000) equipped with a stage incubator to create a stable in vitro environment for long-term real-time and time-lapse microscopy was used. Detailed descriptions of these two long-term live

[Evaluation of data on live birth certificates from the Information System on Live Births (SINASC) in Campinas, São Paulo, 2009].

Science.gov (United States)

Gabriel, Guilherme Paiva; Chiquetto, Letícia; Morcillo, André Moreno; Ferreira, Maria do Carmo; Bazan, Ivan Gilberto M; Daolio, Luísa Dias; Lemos, Jéssica J Rocha; Carniel, Emília de Faria

2014-09-01

To assess the completeness and reliability of the Information System on Live Births (Sinasc) data. A cross-sectional analysis of the reliability and completeness of Sinasc's data was performed using a sample of Live Birth Certificate (LBC) from 2009, related to births from Campinas, Southeast Brazil. For data analysis, hospitals were grouped according to category of service (Unified National Health System, private or both), 600 LBCs were randomly selected and the data were collected in LBC-copies through mothers and newborns' hospital records and by telephone interviews. The completeness of LBCs was evaluated, calculating the percentage of blank fields, and the LBCs agreement comparing the originals with the copies was evaluated by Kappa and intraclass correlation coefficients. The percentage of completeness of LBCs ranged from 99.8%-100%. For the most items, the agreement was excellent. However, the agreement was acceptable for marital status, maternal education and newborn infants' race/color, low for prenatal visits and presence of birth defects, and very low for the number of deceased children. The results showed that the municipality Sinasc is reliable for most of the studied variables. Investments in training of the professionals are suggested in an attempt to improve system capacity to support planning and implementation of health activities for the benefit of maternal and child population. Copyright © 2014 Sociedade de Pediatria de São Paulo. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Results from a Pilot Study of a Curriculum Unit Designed to Help Middle School Students Understand Chemical Reactions in Living Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Herrmann-Abell, Cari F.; Flanagan, Jean C.; Roseman, Jo Ellen

2012-01-01

Students often have trouble understanding key biology ideas because they lack an understanding of foundational chemistry ideas. AAAS Project 2061 is collaborating with BSCS in the development a curriculum unit that connects core chemistry and biochemistry ideas in order to help eighth grade students build the conceptual foundation needed for high…

An Indoor Monitoring System for Ambient Assisted Living Based on Internet of Things Architecture

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Marques, Gonçalo; Pitarma, Rui

2016-01-01

The study of systems and architectures for ambient assisted living (AAL) is undoubtedly a topic of great relevance given the aging of the world population. The AAL technologies are designed to meet the needs of the aging population in order to maintain their independence as long as possible. As people typically spend more than 90% of their time in indoor environments, indoor air quality (iAQ) is perceived as an imperative variable to be controlled for the inhabitants’ wellbeing and comfort. Advances in networking, sensors, and embedded devices have made it possible to monitor and provide assistance to people in their homes. The continuous technological advancements make it possible to build smart objects with great capabilities for sensing and connecting several possible advancements in ambient assisted living systems architectures. Indoor environments are characterized by several pollutant sources. Most of the monitoring frameworks instantly accessible are exceptionally costly and only permit the gathering of arbitrary examples. iAQ is an indoor air quality system based on an Internet of Things paradigm that incorporates in its construction Arduino, ESP8266, and XBee technologies for processing and data transmission and micro sensors for data acquisition. It also allows access to data collected through web access and through a mobile application in real time, and this data can be accessed by doctors in order to support medical diagnostics. Five smaller scale sensors of natural parameters (air temperature, moistness, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and glow) were utilized. Different sensors can be included to check for particular contamination. The results reveal that the system can give a viable indoor air quality appraisal in order to anticipate technical interventions for improving indoor air quality. Indeed indoor air quality might be distinctively contrasted with what is normal for a quality living environment. PMID:27869682

An Indoor Monitoring System for Ambient Assisted Living Based on Internet of Things Architecture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gonçalo Marques

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The study of systems and architectures for ambient assisted living (AAL is undoubtedly a topic of great relevance given the aging of the world population. The AAL technologies are designed to meet the needs of the aging population in order to maintain their independence as long as possible. As people typically spend more than 90% of their time in indoor environments, indoor air quality (iAQ is perceived as an imperative variable to be controlled for the inhabitants’ wellbeing and comfort. Advances in networking, sensors, and embedded devices have made it possible to monitor and provide assistance to people in their homes. The continuous technological advancements make it possible to build smart objects with great capabilities for sensing and connecting several possible advancements in ambient assisted living systems architectures. Indoor environments are characterized by several pollutant sources. Most of the monitoring frameworks instantly accessible are exceptionally costly and only permit the gathering of arbitrary examples. iAQ is an indoor air quality system based on an Internet of Things paradigm that incorporates in its construction Arduino, ESP8266, and XBee technologies for processing and data transmission and micro sensors for data acquisition. It also allows access to data collected through web access and through a mobile application in real time, and this data can be accessed by doctors in order to support medical diagnostics. Five smaller scale sensors of natural parameters (air temperature, moistness, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and glow were utilized. Different sensors can be included to check for particular contamination. The results reveal that the system can give a viable indoor air quality appraisal in order to anticipate technical interventions for improving indoor air quality. Indeed indoor air quality might be distinctively contrasted with what is normal for a quality living environment.

An Indoor Monitoring System for Ambient Assisted Living Based on Internet of Things Architecture.

Science.gov (United States)

Marques, Gonçalo; Pitarma, Rui

2016-11-17

The study of systems and architectures for ambient assisted living (AAL) is undoubtedly a topic of great relevance given the aging of the world population. The AAL technologies are designed to meet the needs of the aging population in order to maintain their independence as long as possible. As people typically spend more than 90% of their time in indoor environments, indoor air quality (iAQ) is perceived as an imperative variable to be controlled for the inhabitants' wellbeing and comfort. Advances in networking, sensors, and embedded devices have made it possible to monitor and provide assistance to people in their homes. The continuous technological advancements make it possible to build smart objects with great capabilities for sensing and connecting several possible advancements in ambient assisted living systems architectures. Indoor environments are characterized by several pollutant sources. Most of the monitoring frameworks instantly accessible are exceptionally costly and only permit the gathering of arbitrary examples. iAQ is an indoor air quality system based on an Internet of Things paradigm that incorporates in its construction Arduino, ESP8266, and XBee technologies for processing and data transmission and micro sensors for data acquisition. It also allows access to data collected through web access and through a mobile application in real time, and this data can be accessed by doctors in order to support medical diagnostics. Five smaller scale sensors of natural parameters (air temperature, moistness, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and glow) were utilized. Different sensors can be included to check for particular contamination. The results reveal that the system can give a viable indoor air quality appraisal in order to anticipate technical interventions for improving indoor air quality. Indeed indoor air quality might be distinctively contrasted with what is normal for a quality living environment.

Understanding the user’s acceptance of a sensor-based ambient assisted living application

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jaschinski, Christina; Ben Allouch, Somaya; Salah, Albert Ali; Kröse, Ben J.A.; Cook, Diane J.

2015-01-01

In this paper the acceptance of a sensor-based Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) application is investigated. To get an insight into the users’ perception and needs, three fictive use scenarios were created that illustrated the potential features of the technology. Consequently, the scenarios were

Some opinions about matter and material substances: from inanimate system -- to living according to A. Einstein general theory of relativity.

Science.gov (United States)

Topuria, T; Gogebashvili, N; Korsantia, B

2005-11-01

During transformation from inanimate to living, change of the space position of the matter causes the change of the field, as the space does not exist without the field, therefore the time-space as the properties of material substances, should undergo certain changes. The outside inanimate system, in this case a matrix, has its own time. The living system, in this case a cell, where the matter undergoes space conformation with the change of field and space-time, has its own time and it has begun to flow more rapidly than in matrix. From the surface of the body, from different energetic reservoirs oppositely charged matter substances following from special transport systems from the life system transmitted into lifeless one and change their matter space conformation, create transmission gradient that is the gradient border of time from lifeless system into live. In the case of a human, hypothetically, the gradient system of time must be of a complex scheme counting the inter-transformation and interaction gradients of outer and inner abdominal systems. Subconscious and consciousness by means of special links and messages, information selection interact and form unique connection between the systems. Subconscious serves for accelerated time system. Conscious by means of permanent contact with the environment collects and reacts in matrix time system By interconnection of these two systems ideal adaptation with the environment takes place. Time difference gradient system is an additional energy factor, by means of which respective ordered geometrical structures special for the given types are formed. The living organism is an inter-regulated interconnection global system resulting from the changes of matter and material substances space configuration.

Understanding complex urban systems integrating multidisciplinary data in urban models

CERN Document Server

Gebetsroither-Geringer, Ernst; Atun, Funda; Werner, Liss

2016-01-01

This book is devoted to the modeling and understanding of complex urban systems. This second volume of Understanding Complex Urban Systems focuses on the challenges of the modeling tools, concerning, e.g., the quality and quantity of data and the selection of an appropriate modeling approach. It is meant to support urban decision-makers—including municipal politicians, spatial planners, and citizen groups—in choosing an appropriate modeling approach for their particular modeling requirements. The contributors to this volume are from different disciplines, but all share the same goal: optimizing the representation of complex urban systems. They present and discuss a variety of approaches for dealing with data-availability problems and finding appropriate modeling approaches—and not only in terms of computer modeling. The selection of articles featured in this volume reflect a broad variety of new and established modeling approaches such as: - An argument for using Big Data methods in conjunction with Age...

Thai student existing understanding about the solar system model and the motion of the stars

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Anantasook, Sakanan; Yuenyong, Chokchai

2018-01-01

The paper examined Thai student existing understanding about the solar system model and the motion of the stars. The participants included 141 Grade 9 students in four different schools of the Surin province, Thailand. Methodology regarded interpretive paradigm. The tool of interpretation included the Student Celestial Motion Conception Questionnaire (SCMCQ) and informal interview. Given understandings in the SCMCQ were read through and categorized according to students' understandings. Then, students were further probed as informal interview. Students' understandings in each category were counted and percentages computed. Finally, students' understandings across four different schools were compared and contrasted using the percentage of student responses in each category. The findings revealed that most students understand about Sun-Moon-Earth (SME) system and solar system model as well, they can use scientific explanations to explain the celestial objects in solar system and how they orbiting. Unfortunately, most of students (more than 70%) never know about the Polaris, the North Star, and 90.1% of them never know about the ecliptic, and probably also the 12 zodiac constellations. These existing understanding suggested some ideas of teaching and learning about solar system model and the motion of the stars. The paper, then, discussed some learning activities to enhance students to further construct meaning about solar system model and the motion of the stars.

A new course and textbook on Physical Models of Living Systems, for science and engineering undergraduates

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Philip

2015-03-01

I'll describe an intermediate-level course on ``Physical Models of Living Systems.'' The only prerequisite is first-year university physics and calculus. The course is a response to rapidly growing interest among undergraduates in a broad range of science and engineering majors. Students acquire several research skills that are often not addressed in traditional courses: Basic modeling skills Probabilistic modeling skills Data analysis methods Computer programming using a general-purpose platform like MATLAB or Python Dynamical systems, particularly feedback control. These basic skills, which are relevant to nearly any field of science or engineering, are presented in the context of case studies from living systems, including: Virus dynamics Bacterial genetics and evolution of drug resistance Statistical inference Superresolution microscopy Synthetic biology Naturally evolved cellular circuits. Work supported by NSF Grants EF-0928048 and DMR-0832802.

Living (in) Class: Contexts of Immigrant Lives and the Movements of Children with(in) Them

Science.gov (United States)

Theodorou, Eleni

2011-01-01

This article explores the ways in which immigrant children in Cyprus negotiated and perceived their class positions amidst the transnational activities of their parents. As findings indicate, children develop acute understandings of the impact money has on their lives. Drawing on resources physically or imaginarily available to them, children…

Living technology: exploiting life's principles in technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bedau, Mark A; McCaskill, John S; Packard, Norman H; Rasmussen, Steen

2010-01-01

The concept of living technology-that is, technology that is based on the powerful core features of life-is explained and illustrated with examples from artificial life software, reconfigurable and evolvable hardware, autonomously self-reproducing robots, chemical protocells, and hybrid electronic-chemical systems. We define primary (secondary) living technology according as key material components and core systems are not (are) derived from living organisms. Primary living technology is currently emerging, distinctive, and potentially powerful, motivating this review. We trace living technology's connections with artificial life (soft, hard, and wet), synthetic biology (top-down and bottom-up), and the convergence of nano-, bio-, information, and cognitive (NBIC) technologies. We end with a brief look at the social and ethical questions generated by the prospect of living technology.

Understanding multinational companies in public health systems, using a competitive advantage framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Lethbridge, Jane

2011-07-01

This paper discusses the findings of a study which developed five case studies of five multinational health care companies involved in public health care systems. Strategies were analysed in terms of attitude to marketing, pricing and regulation. The company strategies have been subjected to an analysis using Porter's Five Forces, a business strategy framework, which is unusual in health policy studies. This paper shows how analysing company strategy using a business tool can contribute to understanding the strategies of global capital in national health systems. It shows how social science methodologies can draw from business methods to explain company strategies. The five companies considered in this paper demonstrate that their strategies have many dimensions, which fit into Porter's Five Forces of comparative advantage. More importantly the Five Forces can be used to identify factors that influence company entry into public health care systems. The process of examining the strategic objectives of five health care companies shows that a business tool can help to explain the actions and motives of health care companies towards public health care systems, and so contribute to a better understanding of the strategies of global capital in national health systems. Health service commissioners need to understand this dynamic process, which will evolve as the nature of public health care systems change.

"Think aloud" and "Near live" usability testing of two complex clinical decision support tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Safiya; Mishuris, Rebecca; O'Connell, Alexander; Feldstein, David; Hess, Rachel; Smith, Paul; McCullagh, Lauren; McGinn, Thomas; Mann, Devin

2017-10-01

Low provider adoption continues to be a significant barrier to realizing the potential of clinical decision support. "Think Aloud" and "Near Live" usability testing were conducted on two clinical decision support tools. Each was composed of an alert, a clinical prediction rule which estimated risk of either group A Streptococcus pharyngitis or pneumonia and an automatic order set based on risk. The objective of this study was to further understanding of the facilitators of usability and to evaluate the types of additional information gained from proceeding to "Near Live" testing after completing "Think Aloud". This was a qualitative observational study conducted at a large academic health care system with 12 primary care providers. During "Think Aloud" testing, participants were provided with written clinical scenarios and asked to verbalize their thought process while interacting with the tool. During "Near Live" testing participants interacted with a mock patient. Morae usability software was used to record full screen capture and audio during every session. Participant comments were placed into coding categories and analyzed for generalizable themes. Themes were compared across usability methods. "Think Aloud" and "Near Live" usability testing generated similar themes under the coding categories visibility, workflow, content, understand-ability and navigation. However, they generated significantly different themes under the coding categories usability, practical usefulness and medical usefulness. During both types of testing participants found the tool easier to use when important text was distinct in its appearance, alerts were passive and appropriately timed, content was up to date, language was clear and simple, and each component of the tool included obvious indicators of next steps. Participant comments reflected higher expectations for usability and usefulness during "Near Live" testing. For example, visit aids, such as automatically generated order sets

Understanding and Modeling Teams As Dynamical Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Gorman, Jamie C.; Dunbar, Terri A.; Grimm, David; Gipson, Christina L.

2017-01-01

By its very nature, much of teamwork is distributed across, and not stored within, interdependent people working toward a common goal. In this light, we advocate a systems perspective on teamwork that is based on general coordination principles that are not limited to cognitive, motor, and physiological levels of explanation within the individual. In this article, we present a framework for understanding and modeling teams as dynamical systems and review our empirical findings on teams as dynamical systems. We proceed by (a) considering the question of why study teams as dynamical systems, (b) considering the meaning of dynamical systems concepts (attractors; perturbation; synchronization; fractals) in the context of teams, (c) describe empirical studies of team coordination dynamics at the perceptual-motor, cognitive-behavioral, and cognitive-neurophysiological levels of analysis, and (d) consider the theoretical and practical implications of this approach, including new kinds of explanations of human performance and real-time analysis and performance modeling. Throughout our discussion of the topics we consider how to describe teamwork using equations and/or modeling techniques that describe the dynamics. Finally, we consider what dynamical equations and models do and do not tell us about human performance in teams and suggest future research directions in this area. PMID:28744231

Living with Lupus (For Parents)

Science.gov (United States)

... Videos for Educators Search English Español Living With Lupus KidsHealth / For Parents / Living With Lupus What's in ... disease for both doctors and their patients. About Lupus A healthy immune system produces proteins called antibodies ...

Intracellular Chemistry: Integrating Molecular Inorganic Catalysts with Living Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Ngo, Anh H; Bose, Sohini; Do, Loi H

2018-03-23

This concept article focuses on the rapid growth of intracellular chemistry dedicated to the integration of small-molecule metal catalysts with living cells and organisms. Although biological systems contain a plethora of biomolecules that can deactivate inorganic species, researchers have shown that small-molecule metal catalysts could be engineered to operate in heterogeneous aqueous environments. Synthetic intracellular reactions have recently been reported for olefin hydrogenation, hydrolysis/oxidative cleavage, azide-alkyne cycloaddition, allylcarbamate cleavage, C-C bond cross coupling, and transfer hydrogenation. Other promising targets for new biocompatible reaction discovery will also be discussed, with a special emphasis on how such innovations could lead to the development of novel technologies and chemical tools. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Exploration of the academic lives of students with disabilities at South African universities: Lecturers’ perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oliver Mutanga

2017-03-01

Methods: In an effort to understand the lives of students with disabilities better, a study which included students with disabilities, lecturers and disability supporting staff was conducted at two South African universities – University of the Free State and University of Venda. The paper takes a snapshot view of four lecturers and their perceptions of the lives of students with disabilities at their respective universities. Results and Conclusion: Although most disability literature report students with disabilities blaming lecturers for their failure to advance their needs, this paper highlights that the education system needs to be supportive to lecturers for the inclusive agenda to be realised. An argument is made for a more comprehensive approach towards a national disability policy in higher education involving many stakeholders. Without a broader understanding of disability, it will be difficult to engage with the complex ways in which inequalities emerge and are sustained.

Understanding interprofessional collaboration in the context of chronic disease management for older adults living in communities: a concept analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bookey-Bassett, Sue; Markle-Reid, Maureen; Mckey, Colleen A; Akhtar-Danesh, Noori

2017-01-01

To report a concept analysis of interprofessional collaboration in the context of chronic disease management, for older adults living in communities. Increasing prevalence of chronic disease among older adults is creating significant burden for patients, families and healthcare systems. Managing chronic disease for older adults living in the community requires interprofessional collaboration across different health and other care providers, organizations and sectors. However, there is a lack of consensus about the definition and use of interprofessional collaboration for community-based chronic disease management. Concept analysis. Electronic databases CINAHL, Medline, HealthStar, EMBASE, PsychINFO, Ageline and Cochrane Database were searched from 2000 - 2013. Rodgers' evolutionary method for concept analysis. The most common surrogate term was interdisciplinary collaboration. Related terms were interprofessional team, multidisciplinary team and teamwork. Attributes included: an evolving interpersonal process; shared goals, decision-making and care planning; interdependence; effective and frequent communication; evaluation of team processes; involving older adults and family members in the team; and diverse and flexible team membership. Antecedents comprised: role awareness; interprofessional education; trust between team members; belief that interprofessional collaboration improves care; and organizational support. Consequences included impacts on team composition and function, care planning processes and providers' knowledge, confidence and job satisfaction. Interprofessional collaboration is a complex evolving concept. Key components of interprofessional collaboration in chronic disease management for community-living older adults are identified. Implications for nursing practice, education and research are proposed. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Sigma-1 Receptor as a Pluripotent Modulator in Living Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Tsung-Ping; Su, Tzu-Chieh; Nakamura, Yoki; Tsai, Shang-Yi

2016-04-01

The sigma-1 receptor (Sig-1R) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein that resides specifically in the mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane (MAM), an interface between ER and mitochondria. In addition to being able to translocate to the plasma membrane (PM) to interact with ion channels and other receptors, Sig-1R also occurs at the nuclear envelope, where it recruits chromatin-remodeling factors to affect the transcription of genes. Sig-1Rs have also been reported to interact with other membranous or soluble proteins at other loci, including the cytosol, and to be involved in several central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Here, we propose that Sig-1R is a pluripotent modulator with resultant multiple functional manifestations in living systems. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Radioactive nuclides in the living environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ueno, Kaoru; Hoshi, Michio.

1993-09-01

There are several radioactive nuclides in the living environment, such as those existing since the creation of the earth, those coming from experimental nuclear explosions, and radiations of the cosmic rays. A lesson on these radioactive nuclides was considered useful for understanding the place of nuclear technology, and have been made on the title of 'Radioactive Nuclides in the Living Environment' in the general course of the Nuclear Engineering School of Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. When the curriculum of the general course was modified in 1993, the lesson was left in a changed form. Thus, the textbook of the lesson is presented in this report. The contents are natural and artificial radioactive nuclides in the living environment and where they have come from etc. (author)

System study on partitioning and transmutation of long-lived isotopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szieberth, M.

2001-01-01

The management of long-lived isotopes - transuranium elements and fission products - produced in nuclear reactors is a problem that substantially affects the public acceptance of nuclear energy, and may influence the long-term hazard caused by energy production. Partitioning and transmutation of spent fuel materials offer a suitable solution to this problem. After the nuclear community had realised this fact, the number of publications on this topic significantly increased but there is still a lack of studies that include the analysis of not only one instrument but also the whole nuclear energy system. However, from the viewpoint of Partitioning and transmutation's implementation a substantial question is the cooperation of plants optimised for energy generation and others for partitioning or transmutation. In order to analyse this problem, the schemes of different systems are framed and their mathematical models are worked out. The systems are evaluated through the long-term risks caused by the waste deposited in final disposal, and the risks are described by a newly defined quantity, the residual hazard index. (author)

Scaling of theory-of-mind understandings in Chinese children.

Science.gov (United States)

Wellman, Henry M; Fang, Fuxi; Liu, David; Zhu, Liqi; Liu, Guoxiong

2006-12-01

Prior research demonstrates that understanding of theory of mind develops at different paces in children raised in different cultures. Are these differences simply differences in timing, or do they represent different patterns of cultural learning? That is, to what extent are sequences of theory-of-mind understanding universal, and to what extent are they culture-specific? We addressed these questions by using a theory-of-mind scale to examine performance of 140 Chinese children living in Beijing and to compare their performance with that of 135 English-speaking children living in the United States and Australia. Results reveal a common sequence of understanding, as well as sociocultural differences in children's developing theories of mind.

Insulation measurement and supervision in live AC and DC unearthed systems

CERN Document Server

Olszowiec, Piotr

2014-01-01

Low voltage unearthed (IT) AC and DC systems are commonly applied for supply of power and control circuits in industry, transportation, medical objects etc. The main reasons for their use are high reliability and numerous advantages offered by isolating them against ground. Insulation level is a decisive factor for networks operational reliability and safety. Insufficient insulation-to-ground resistance can cause various disturbances. Though ground faults in IT systems do not make networks operation impossible, they may cause severe problems with their safe functioning. In this book the most important issues concerning normal operation and ground fault phenomena are described in concise form. Numerous methods of insulation resistance and capacitance measurement in live circuits are presented. Important other procedures of  these parameters determination based on measurement and calculation are explained and reviews of selected insulation resistance measurement devices as well as earth fault locating systems ...

Insulation measurement and supervision in live AC and DC unearthed systems

CERN Document Server

Olszowiec, Piotr

2013-01-01

Low voltage unearthed (IT) AC and DC systems are commonly applied for supply of power and control circuits in industry, transportation, medical objects etc. The main reasons for their use are high reliability and numerous advantages offered by isolating them against ground. Insulation level is a decisive factor for networks operational reliability and safety. Insufficient insulation-to-ground resistance can cause various disturbances. Though ground faults in IT systems do not make networks operation impossible, they may cause severe problems with their safe functioning. In this book the most important issues concerning normal operation and ground fault phenomena are described in concise form. Numerous methods of insulation resistance and capacitance measurement in live circuits are presented. Important other procedures of  these parameters determination based on measurement and calculation are explained and reviews of selected insulation resistance measurement devices as well as earth fault locating systems ...

Understanding Complex Construction Systems Through Modularity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Tor Clarke; Bekdik, Baris; Thuesen, Christian

2014-01-01

This paper develops a framework for understanding complexity in construction projects by combining theories of complexity management and modularization. The framework incorporates three dimensions of product, process, and organizational modularity with the case of gypsum wall elements. The analysis...... system, rather than a modular, although the industry forces modular organizational structures. This creates a high complexity degree caused by the non-alignment of building parts and organizations and the frequent swapping of modules....... finds that the main driver of complexity is the fragmentation of the design and production, which causes the production modules to construct and install new product types and variants for each project as the designers are swapped for every project. The many interfaces are characteristics of an integral...

Living Arrangements of Young Adults in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katrin Schwanitz

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Comparative research suggests that there are great cross-national and cross-temporal differences in living arrangements of young adults aged 18-34 in Europe. In this paper, we examine young adults’ living arrangements (1 across several European countries and different national contexts, and (2 by taking into account cross-time variability. In doing so, we pay careful attention to a comprehensive conceptualisation of living arrangements (including extended and non-family living arrangements. The aim of this paper is to deepen our understanding of family structure and household arrangements in Europe by examining and mapping the cross-national and cross-temporal variety of young adults’ living arrangements. For our analysis we use data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series International (IPUMSi for the census rounds 1980, 1990, and 2000 for eight European countries (Austria, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland. We employ log-linear models to ascertain the influence of individual and contextual factors on living arrangements. The analyses lend further support to a North/West – South/East divide in living arrangements and general gender differentials in extended family living. Other interesting results are the heterogeneity in the living arrangements of single mothers across geographic areas, and the upward trend of extended household living for young men and women between 1980 and 2000.

A Fluid Membrane-Based Soluble Ligand Display System for Live CellAssays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nam, Jwa-Min; Nair, Pradeep N.; Neve, Richard M.; Gray, Joe W.; Groves, Jay T.

2005-10-14

Cell communication modulates numerous biological processes including proliferation, apoptosis, motility, invasion and differentiation. Correspondingly, there has been significant interest in the development of surface display strategies for the presentation of signaling molecules to living cells. This effort has primarily focused on naturally surface-bound ligands, such as extracellular matrix components and cell membranes. Soluble ligands (e.g. growth factors and cytokines) play an important role in intercellular communications, and their display in a surface-bound format would be of great utility in the design of array-based live cell assays. Recently, several cell microarray systems that display cDNA, RNAi, or small molecules in a surface array format were proven to be useful in accelerating high-throughput functional genetic studies and screening therapeutic agents. These surface display methods provide a flexible platform for the systematic, combinatorial investigation of genes and small molecules affecting cellular processes and phenotypes of interest. In an analogous sense, it would be an important advance if one could display soluble signaling ligands in a surface assay format that allows for systematic, patterned presentation of soluble ligands to live cells. Such a technique would make it possible to examine cellular phenotypes of interest in a parallel format with soluble signaling ligands as one of the display parameters. Herein we report a ligand-modified fluid supported lipid bilayer (SLB) assay system that can be used to functionally display soluble ligands to cells in situ (Figure 1A). By displaying soluble ligands on a SLB surface, both solution behavior (the ability to become locally enriched by reaction-diffusion processes) and solid behavior (the ability to control the spatial location of the ligands in an open system) could be combined. The method reported herein benefits from the naturally fluid state of the supported membrane, which allows

182Hf-182W age dating of a 26Al-poor inclusion and implications for the origin of short-lived radioisotopes in the early Solar System.

Science.gov (United States)

Holst, Jesper C; Olsen, Mia B; Paton, Chad; Nagashima, Kazuhide; Schiller, Martin; Wielandt, Daniel; Larsen, Kirsten K; Connelly, James N; Jørgensen, Jes K; Krot, Alexander N; Nordlund, Ake; Bizzarro, Martin

2013-05-28

Refractory inclusions [calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions, (CAIs)] represent the oldest Solar System solids and provide information regarding the formation of the Sun and its protoplanetary disk. CAIs contain evidence of now extinct short-lived radioisotopes (e.g., (26)Al, (41)Ca, and (182)Hf) synthesized in one or multiple stars and added to the protosolar molecular cloud before or during its collapse. Understanding how and when short-lived radioisotopes were added to the Solar System is necessary to assess their validity as chronometers and constrain the birthplace of the Sun. Whereas most CAIs formed with the canonical abundance of (26)Al corresponding to (26)Al/(27)Al of ∼5 × 10(-5), rare CAIs with fractionation and unidentified nuclear isotope effects (FUN CAIs) record nucleosynthetic isotopic heterogeneity and (26)Al/(27)Al of Solar System, including the origin of short-lived radioisotopes. However, their chronology is unknown. Using the (182)Hf-(182)W chronometer, we show that a FUN CAI recording a condensation origin from a solar gas formed coevally with canonical CAIs, but with (26)Al/(27)Al of ∼3 × 10(-6). The decoupling between (182)Hf and (26)Al requires distinct stellar origins: steady-state galactic stellar nucleosynthesis for (182)Hf and late-stage contamination of the protosolar molecular cloud by a massive star(s) for (26)Al. Admixing of stellar-derived (26)Al to the protoplanetary disk occurred during the epoch of CAI formation and, therefore, the (26)Al-(26)Mg systematics of CAIs cannot be used to define their formation interval. In contrast, our results support (182)Hf homogeneity and chronological significance of the (182)Hf-(182)W clock.

Understanding multinational companies in public health systems, using a competitive advantage framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lethbridge Jane

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This paper discusses the findings of a study which developed five case studies of five multinational health care companies involved in public health care systems. Strategies were analysed in terms of attitude to marketing, pricing and regulation. The company strategies have been subjected to an analysis using Porter's Five Forces, a business strategy framework, which is unusual in health policy studies. Methods This paper shows how analysing company strategy using a business tool can contribute to understanding the strategies of global capital in national health systems. It shows how social science methodologies can draw from business methods to explain company strategies. Results The five companies considered in this paper demonstrate that their strategies have many dimensions, which fit into Porter's Five Forces of comparative advantage. More importantly the Five Forces can be used to identify factors that influence company entry into public health care systems. Conclusions The process of examining the strategic objectives of five health care companies shows that a business tool can help to explain the actions and motives of health care companies towards public health care systems, and so contribute to a better understanding of the strategies of global capital in national health systems. Health service commissioners need to understand this dynamic process, which will evolve as the nature of public health care systems change.

Understanding multinational companies in public health systems, using a competitive advantage framework

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background This paper discusses the findings of a study which developed five case studies of five multinational health care companies involved in public health care systems. Strategies were analysed in terms of attitude to marketing, pricing and regulation. The company strategies have been subjected to an analysis using Porter's Five Forces, a business strategy framework, which is unusual in health policy studies. Methods This paper shows how analysing company strategy using a business tool can contribute to understanding the strategies of global capital in national health systems. It shows how social science methodologies can draw from business methods to explain company strategies. Results The five companies considered in this paper demonstrate that their strategies have many dimensions, which fit into Porter's Five Forces of comparative advantage. More importantly the Five Forces can be used to identify factors that influence company entry into public health care systems. Conclusions The process of examining the strategic objectives of five health care companies shows that a business tool can help to explain the actions and motives of health care companies towards public health care systems, and so contribute to a better understanding of the strategies of global capital in national health systems. Health service commissioners need to understand this dynamic process, which will evolve as the nature of public health care systems change. PMID:21722372

Understanding the Lacher See eruption through a geoarchaeological lens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sauer, Florian Rudolf; Hoggard, Christian Steven; Zernack, Anke Verena

to be fully understood. Sites which provide sufficient resolution are few (given issues of taphonomy among others) and current classificatory systems of Late Palaeolithic artefacts hinder the understanding of cultural change in the face of the drastic environmental shift, brought upon by the eruption (Sauer...... for the discovery of new sites which provide stratified remains of both tephra and hunter-gatherer activity. Secondly, through the assessment of artefact classifications through geometric morphometric methodologies, technological reactions on the eruption are detailed. These two methodologies permit a study...... of the catastrophic event, in terms of both the late glacial landscape and the people living therein. Only through this multifaceted approach can we now begin to understand hunter-gatherer reactions and decisions to this past disaster, towards the end of the Final Palaeolithic. Riede, F. (2017). Splendid Isolation...

Intravital live cell triggered imaging system reveals monocyte patrolling and macrophage migration in atherosclerotic arteries

Science.gov (United States)

McArdle, Sara; Chodaczek, Grzegorz; Ray, Nilanjan; Ley, Klaus

2015-02-01

Intravital multiphoton imaging of arteries is technically challenging because the artery expands with every heartbeat, causing severe motion artifacts. To study leukocyte activity in atherosclerosis, we developed the intravital live cell triggered imaging system (ILTIS). This system implements cardiac triggered acquisition as well as frame selection and image registration algorithms to produce stable movies of myeloid cell movement in atherosclerotic arteries in live mice. To minimize tissue damage, no mechanical stabilization is used and the artery is allowed to expand freely. ILTIS performs multicolor high frame-rate two-dimensional imaging and full-thickness three-dimensional imaging of beating arteries in live mice. The external carotid artery and its branches (superior thyroid and ascending pharyngeal arteries) were developed as a surgically accessible and reliable model of atherosclerosis. We use ILTIS to demonstrate Cx3cr1GFP monocytes patrolling the lumen of atherosclerotic arteries. Additionally, we developed a new reporter mouse (Apoe-/-Cx3cr1GFP/+Cd11cYFP) to image GFP+ and GFP+YFP+ macrophages "dancing on the spot" and YFP+ macrophages migrating within intimal plaque. ILTIS will be helpful to answer pertinent open questions in the field, including monocyte recruitment and transmigration, macrophage and dendritic cell activity, and motion of other immune cells.

From Living Space to Cultural Space: How a Modern University Academy System Is Possible

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yingqiang; Fang, Hualiang

2018-01-01

The reforms on the modern university academy system that preserve certain elements of China's ancient traditional academies have currently encountered a series of difficulties. The crux of the problem is that living and educational spaces were integrated in the traditional academy, while modern school education institution has separated the two.…

Understanding the biological underpinnings of ecohydrological processes

Science.gov (United States)

Huxman, T. E.; Scott, R. L.; Barron-Gafford, G. A.; Hamerlynck, E. P.; Jenerette, D.; Tissue, D. T.; Breshears, D. D.; Saleska, S. R.

2012-12-01

Climate change presents a challenge for predicting ecosystem response, as multiple factors drive both the physical and life processes happening on the land surface and their interactions result in a complex, evolving coupled system. For example, changes in surface temperature and precipitation influence near-surface hydrology through impacts on system energy balance, affecting a range of physical processes. These changes in the salient features of the environment affect biological processes and elicit responses along the hierarchy of life (biochemistry to community composition). Many of these structural or process changes can alter patterns of soil water-use and influence land surface characteristics that affect local climate. Of the many features that affect our ability to predict the future dynamics of ecosystems, it is this hierarchical response of life that creates substantial complexity. Advances in the ability to predict or understand aspects of demography help describe thresholds in coupled ecohydrological system. Disentangling the physical and biological features that underlie land surface dynamics following disturbance are allowing a better understanding of the partitioning of water in the time-course of recovery. Better predicting the timing of phenology and key seasonal events allow for a more accurate description of the full functional response of the land surface to climate. In addition, explicitly considering the hierarchical structural features of life are helping to describe complex time-dependent behavior in ecosystems. However, despite this progress, we have yet to build an ability to fully account for the generalization of the main features of living systems into models that can describe ecohydrological processes, especially acclimation, assembly and adaptation. This is unfortunate, given that many key ecosystem services are functions of these coupled co-evolutionary processes. To date, both the lack of controlled measurements and experimentation

UNDERSTANDING RESIDENT’ ACTIVITY SYSTEM-IMPROVING QUALITY LIFE: A CASE STUDY OF DOME POST DISASTER SETTLEMENT IN NGELEPEN SLEMAN, YOGYAKARTA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SYAM Rachma Marcillia

2016-12-01

Full Text Available House is not only functioning as a place for shelter, but also for accommodating personal and social activities of its inhabitants. Unfortunately in post quake disaster dome houses Ngelepen, Yogyakarta, the majority of the early settlers must change their behavior and habits that they used to do in their previous environment to adjust the new settlement. These happened because dome housing did not facilitate some activities whether personal or social activities within the house, therefore the activities extended to the outside of the house or even the surrounding environment. This study aims to understand the system activities on the dome house settlement Yogyakarta. In order to get detailed description, quantitative as well as qualitative approach was done through observation of the activities type, when and where the activities conducted. Data collection was done by continuous place centered behavior mapping to know how the occupants use and accommodate their behavior in certain time and specific place. The results of this study showed that daily activities on weekdays and holidays conducted by different group; children, adult and elderly, at different areas and for different type of activities in certain times. The pathways and courtyard of the house mostly used for domestic household activities and leisure as an extension of the social interaction space. In understanding the system activities that occurred, it is expected that this study can contribute to improve the quality of life of people live in a relocation settlement.

The Foundation Role for Theories of Agency in Understanding Information Systems Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Johnston

2002-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper we argue that theories of agency form a foundation upon which we can build a deeper understanding of information systems design. We do so by firstly recognising that information systems are part of purposeful sociotechnical systems and that consequently theories of agency may help in understanding them. We then present two alternative theories of agency (deliberative and situational, mainly drawn from the robotics and artificial intelligence disciplines, and in doing so, we note that existing information system design methods and ontological studies of those methods implicitly adhere to the deliberative theory of agency. We also note that while there are advantages in specific circumstances from utilising the situated theory of agency in designing complex systems, because of their differing ontological commitments, such systems would be difficult to analyse and evaluate using ontologies currently used in information systems. We then provide evidence that such situational information systems can indeed exist, by giving a specific example (the Kanban system, which has emerged from manufacturing practice. We conclude that information systems are likely to benefit from creating design approaches supporting the production of situational systems.

BREATHE to Understand©

Science.gov (United States)

Swisa, Maxine

2015-01-01

BREATHE is an acronym for Breathe, Reflect, Empathize, Accept, Thank, Hearten, Engage. The addition of Understand allows for a holistic approach to living a healthy and balanced life both inside and outside the classroom. This paper took form as a result of my personal, spiritual journey, as well as my teaching practice. I noticed that the…

Exploring Students' Understanding of Ordinary Differential Equations Using Computer Algebraic System (CAS)

Science.gov (United States)

Maat, Siti Mistima; Zakaria, Effandi

2011-01-01

Ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are one of the important topics in engineering mathematics that lead to the understanding of technical concepts among students. This study was conducted to explore the students' understanding of ODEs when they solve ODE questions using a traditional method as well as a computer algebraic system, particularly…

The daily lives of people with Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Valcarenghi, Rafaela Vivian; Alvarez, Angela Maria; Santos, Silvana Sidney Costa; Siewert, Josiane Steil; Nunes, Simony Fabíola Lopes; Tomasi, Andrelise Viana Rosa

2018-01-01

To understand the daily lives of people with Parkinson's disease. Qualitative research, using as methodological and theoretical referential the Grounded Theory and Symbolic Interactionism, respectively. The in-depth interview was conducted with 30 people with Parkinson's disease. From data analysis, three themes were selected: Living with the disease - living with the treatment and changes in lifestyle; Modifying of one's job performance - revealing incapacity for work and the need to anticipate retirement and; Living with the stigma - the feeling of prejudice against the disease and the perceived limitations of the health services. Living with a chronic and non-transferable disease encompasses social, physical and cultural effects, along with the personal experiences of each unique individual. This study assists the improvement of care to people with the disease, because the care practice emerges from the interactions between the subjects.

A Web Services based system for the distribution of live information at the FTU fusion experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boncagni, L.; Centioli, C.; Lattanzio, L.; Panella, M.; Torelli, C.; Zaccarian, L.

2009-01-01

In this paper we describe LiveMonitor, an integrated system realized for the distribution of information in fusion environments. The software tool is based on a client-server approach, where the server side consists of a set of Web Services that collect data from a variety of data sources. LiveMonitor has been successfully used at FTU, replacing and enhancing part of the core of the current message broadcasting system. The tool integrates all the information needed by the control room personnel during the experiments, namely the shot sequence status coming from the FTU Control System, videos of the plasma discharge from the FTU ports cameras, and fresh data from the databases. From the hardware point of view, the new system is made of a Linux node running the Web Services, while clients running on other machines can display information on large (46 '' ) LCD monitors. The tool has been tested during FTU experiments and can be further expanded to match the needs of the control room personnel and experimental physicists.

Living alone and activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system: Differential effects depending on alexithymic personality features.

Science.gov (United States)

Terock, Jan; Hannemann, Anke; Janowitz, Deborah; Völzke, Henry; Nauck, Matthias; Freyberger, Harald-Jürgen; Wallaschofski, Henri; Grabe, Hans Jörgen

2017-05-01

Living alone is considered as a chronic stress factor predicting different health conditions and particularly cardiovascular disease (CVD). Alexithymia is associated with increased psychological distress, less social skills and fewer close relationships, making alexithymic subjects particularly susceptible to chronic stress imposed by "living alone". Only few studies investigated the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system (RAAS) activity in response to chronic stress. We aimed at evaluating the effects of "living alone" as a paradigm for chronic stress on RAAS activity and putatively differential effects depending on alexithymic personality features. Alexithymia and serum concentrations of renin and aldosterone were measured in 944 subjects from the population-based SHIP-1 study. Subgroups were formed using the median of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) and a cohabitation status of "living alone" or "living together". Analyses were adjusted for various psychosocial, behavioral and metabolic risk factors. "Living alone" was associated with elevated plasma renin (p<0.01, β=0.138) but not aldosterone concentrations in the total sample. On subgroup level, we found associations of "living alone" and elevated renin concentrations only in subjects low in TAS-20 scores (p<0.01, β=0.219). Interactional effects of alexithymia×cohabitation status were found for the aldosterone-to-renin ratio (p=0.02, β=-0.234). The association of chronic stress imposed by "living alone" with increased RAAS activity contributes to explain the relationship of this psychosocial stress condition and increased risk for CVD. In contrast, alexithymic subjects may be less affected by the deleterious effects of "living alone". Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Progress Towards the Development of a Long-Lived Venus Lander Duplex System

Science.gov (United States)

Dyson, Rodger, W.; Bruder, Geoffrey A.

2011-01-01

NASA has begun the development of a combined Stirling cycle power and cooling system (duplex) to enable the long-lived surface exploration of Venus and other harsh environments in the solar system. The duplex system will operate from the heat provided by decaying radioisotope plutonium-238 or its substitute. Since the surface of Venus has a thick, hot, and corrosive atmosphere, it is a challenging proposition to maintain sensitive lander electronics under survivable conditions. This development effort requires the integration of: a radioisotope or fission heat source; heat pipes; high-temperature, corrosion-resistant material; multistage cooling; a novel free-displacer Stirling convertor for the lander; and a minimal vibration thermoacoustic Stirling convertor for the seismometer. The first year effort includes conceptual system design and control studies, materials development, and prototype hardware testing. A summary of these findings and test results is presented in this report.

Active in-database processing to support ambient assisted living systems.

Science.gov (United States)

de Morais, Wagner O; Lundström, Jens; Wickström, Nicholas

2014-08-12

As an alternative to the existing software architectures that underpin the development of smart homes and ambient assisted living (AAL) systems, this work presents a database-centric architecture that takes advantage of active databases and in-database processing. Current platforms supporting AAL systems use database management systems (DBMSs) exclusively for data storage. Active databases employ database triggers to detect and react to events taking place inside or outside of the database. DBMSs can be extended with stored procedures and functions that enable in-database processing. This means that the data processing is integrated and performed within the DBMS. The feasibility and flexibility of the proposed approach were demonstrated with the implementation of three distinct AAL services. The active database was used to detect bed-exits and to discover common room transitions and deviations during the night. In-database machine learning methods were used to model early night behaviors. Consequently, active in-database processing avoids transferring sensitive data outside the database, and this improves performance, security and privacy. Furthermore, centralizing the computation into the DBMS facilitates code reuse, adaptation and maintenance. These are important system properties that take into account the evolving heterogeneity of users, their needs and the devices that are characteristic of smart homes and AAL systems. Therefore, DBMSs can provide capabilities to address requirements for scalability, security, privacy, dependability and personalization in applications of smart environments in healthcare.

In defense of a regulated system of compensation for living donation.

Science.gov (United States)

Matas, Arthur J; Hippen, Benjamin; Satel, Sally

2008-08-01

The organ shortage is the major problem in kidney transplantation today. Despite aggressive organ procurement efforts, the supply of donated kidneys, living and deceased, has not matched the growing demand; as a consequence, more and more qualified candidates are suffering on dialysis and then dying before being transplanted. Herein, we provide justification for a regulated system of compensation for donation. The main argument in favor of compensation is simple-financial incentives will increase donation, so fewer transplant candidates will suffer and die while waiting. In addition, development of a regulated system of compensation is the most effective means of crippling the core economic support for transplant tourism. Because dialysis is so much more expensive than a transplant, compensated donation could be cost-neutral to the healthcare system. Importantly, opinion polls suggest that the public would support compensation. As uncompensated kidney donation is widely accepted, persuasive arguments against compensation must explain why such a system would be morally distinguishable from uncompensated donation. We suggest that the potential advantages of a regulated system of compensation for donation far outweigh any potential disadvantages. It is time to advocate for a change in the law so that trials can be done.

Exploring Sources of Emotional Distress among People Living with Scleroderma: A Focus Group Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie T Gumuchian

Full Text Available Systemic sclerosis, or scleroderma, is a chronic and rare connective tissue disease with negative physical and psychological implications. Sources of emotional distress and the impact they have on the lives of people with scleroderma are not well understood.To gain an in-depth understanding of the emotional experiences and sources of emotional distress for women and men living with scleroderma through focus group discussions.Three semi-structured focus group discussions were conducted (two in English, one in French with a total of 22 people with scleroderma recruited through the Scleroderma Society of Ontario in Hamilton, Ontario and a scleroderma clinic in Montreal, Canada. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and then coded for emerging themes using thematic inductive analysis.Core themes representing sources of emotional distress were identified, including: (a facing a new reality; (b the daily struggle of living with scleroderma; (c handling work, employment and general financial burden; (d changing family roles; (e social interactions; and (f navigating the health care system. Collectively, these themes refer to the stressful journey of living with scleroderma including the obstacles faced and the emotional experiences beginning prior to receiving a diagnosis and continuing throughout the participants' lives.Scleroderma was portrayed as being an unpredictable and overwhelming disease, resulting in many individuals experiencing multiple sources of emotional distress. Interventions and supportive resources need to be developed to help individuals with scleroderma and people close to them manage and cope with the emotional aspects of the disease.

Stress-driven pattern formation in living and non-living matter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Amalie

. On the smallest scale of nanometers, we study thin films of block copolymers, which have potential applications as self-organizing templates for microelectronics. By performing a thin-shell expansion of a well-known model for block copolymers, we develop an effective model for the impact of curvature on pattern......Spatial pattern formation is abundant in nature and occurs in both living and non-living matter. Familiar examples include sand ripples, river deltas, zebra fur and snail shells. In this thesis, we focus on patterns induced by mechanical stress, and develop continuum theories for three systems...

Advances in our understanding of immunization and vaccines for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Science.gov (United States)

Bragazzi, Nicola Luigi; Watad, Abdulla; Sharif, Kassem; Adawi, Mohammad; Aljadeff, Gali; Amital, Howard; Shoenfeld, Yehuda

2017-10-01

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease. In SLE, immune system dysfunction is postulated to result by virtue of the disease itself as well as by the impact of treatment modalities employed. A myriad of immune dysregulations occur including complement system dysfunction among others. Infectious agents are known to complicate the disease course in close to 25-45% of SLE patients. Areas covered: In this review a discussion of the immunogenicity and safety of viral and bacterial vaccinations in SLE was performed. The search included ISI Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, MEDLINE/PubMed, Google-Scholar, DOAJ, EbscoHOST, Scirus, Science Direct, Cochrane Library and ProQuest. Proper string made up of a key-words including 'SLE', 'vaccination', 'safety' and 'efficacy' was used. Expert commentary: Vaccination of SLE patients is proven to be immunogenic. Concerns regarding vaccine safety are postulated, yet no direct relationship between vaccination and disease exacerbation were established. While live virus vaccines are generally contraindicated in immunosuppressive states, generally live attenuated vaccinations are recommended in SLE patients on a case-to-case basis. In SLE patients, clinical parameters such as vaccination during disease exacerbations have not been intensively studied and therefore while apparently safe, vaccination is generally recommended while disease is quiescent.

Understanding IEC standard wind turbine models using SimPowerSystems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Das, Kaushik; Hansen, Anca Daniela; Sørensen, Poul Ejnar

2016-01-01

This article describes and exemplifies the IEC 61400-27 generic wind turbine models through an interactive multimedia learning environment - Matlab SimPowerSystems. The article aims help engineers with different backgrounds to get a better understanding of wind turbine dynamics and control...

Epizootiology of Newcastle disease in two live bird markets in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Newcastle disease (ND) is a devastating viral disease of poultry worldwide. This study was therefore undertaken to understand the role of live bird markets (LBMs) in the epizootiology of ND in Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was administered to poultry dealers and cloacal swab sampling of live birds in two LBMs in ...

Active living in rural Appalachia: Using the rural active living assessment (RALA tools to explore environmental barriers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam Hege

2017-12-01

Full Text Available People residing in rural communities are more likely to be physically inactive and subsequently have elevated risks for chronic disease. Recent evidence has shown this could stem from environmental barriers, inadequate programming and policies directed at the promotion of physical activity (PA in rural settings. The objective of this research was to assess active living features in rural towns and townships (n=16 across seven counties in northwestern North Carolina (NC. The study utilized the Town-Wide and Street Segment components of the Rural Active Living Assessment (RALA as well as the 2014 American Community Survey results. The assessments were conducted in the summer of 2016 in the rural Appalachia region of NC. Using the RALA town-wide assessment scoring system (0−100, the range of scores was 18–84, with the mean being 50.06. Three towns had no sidewalks, nine towns had sidewalks on only one side of the main streets, and four had sidewalks on both sides of the main streets. One town was rated as highly walkable, seven towns as moderately walkable, five towns as moderately unwalkable, and three towns as highly unwalkable. The rural Appalachia region of NC offers unique topographic, geographic and environmental barriers to PA. However, our findings indicate many rural towns offer common PA amenities. Future research should utilize qualitative methods and a community-based participatory research approach to more fully understand the challenges with increasing PA in the rural and often isolated Appalachia communities. Keywords: Rural active living assessment (RALA, Health disparities, Physical activity, Rural Appalachia

A Diagrammatic Approach to Understanding Complex Eco-Social Interactions in Kathmandu, Nepal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Cynthia. Neudoerffer

2005-12-01

Full Text Available As part of developing an international network of community-based ecosystem approaches to health, a project was undertaken in a densely populated and socio-economically diverse area of Kathmandu, Nepal. Drawing on hundreds of pages of narrative reports based on surveys, interviews, secondary data, and focus groups by trained Nepalese facilitators, the authors created systemic depictions of relationships between multiple stakeholder groups, ecosystem health, and human health. These were then combined to examine interactions among stakeholders, activities, concerns, perceived needs, and resource states (ecosystem health indicators. These qualitative models have provided useful heuristics for both community members and research scholars to understand the eco-social systems in which they live; many of the strategies developed by the communities and researchers to improve health intuitively drew on this systemic understanding. The diagrams enabled researchers and community participants to explicitly examine relationships and conflicts related to health and environmental issues in their community.

Social Work and Lived Citizenship

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Warming, Hanne; Fahnøe, Kristian

2017-01-01

Warming and Fahnøe offers, through introduction of the sensitising concept of lived citizenship and a socio-spatial perspective, a much needed renewal of the rights and strength based approach to social work practice and research towards an almost anthropological understanding of the social...... of meaning and power as (re-) producing practices through which clients experience and negotiate rights, responsibilities, participation, identity and belonging, and thereby of dynamics of inclusion and exclusion related to social work....... situation of vulnerable groups. Indeed, they show how the concept of lived citizenship, and four supporting concepts (disciplinary versus inclusive identity shaping; intimate citizenship; space; community governance) enables contextualized analyses of the complexities of social work as a social space...

Cellular characterization of compression induced-damage in live biological samples

Science.gov (United States)

Bo, Chiara; Balzer, Jens; Hahnel, Mark; Rankin, Sara M.; Brown, Katherine A.; Proud, William G.

2011-06-01

Understanding the dysfunctions that high-intensity compression waves induce in human tissues is critical to impact on acute-phase treatments and requires the development of experimental models of traumatic damage in biological samples. In this study we have developed an experimental system to directly assess the impact of dynamic loading conditions on cellular function at the molecular level. Here we present a confinement chamber designed to subject live cell cultures in liquid environment to compression waves in the range of tens of MPa using a split Hopkinson pressure bars system. Recording the loading history and collecting the samples post-impact without external contamination allow the definition of parameters such as pressure and duration of the stimulus that can be related to the cellular damage. The compression experiments are conducted on Mesenchymal Stem Cells from BALB/c mice and the damage analysis are compared to two control groups. Changes in Stem cell viability, phenotype and function are assessed flow cytometry and with in vitro bioassays at two different time points. Identifying the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the damage caused by dynamic loading in live biological samples could enable the development of new treatments for traumatic injuries.

Applied information system-based in enhancing students' understanding towards higher order thinking (HOTS)

Science.gov (United States)

Hua, Ang Kean; Ping, Owi Wei

2017-05-01

The application of information and communications technology (ICT) had become more important in our daily life, especially in educational field. Teachers are encouraged to use information system-based in teaching Mathematical courses. Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) approach is unable to explain using chalk and talk methods. It needs students to analyze, evaluate, and create by their own natural abilities. The aim of this research study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the application information system-based in enhance the students understanding about HOTS question. Mixed-methods or quantitative and qualitative approach was applied in collecting data, which involve only the standard five students and the teachers in Sabak Bernam, Selangor. Pra-postests was held before and after using information system-based in teaching to evaluate the students' understanding. The result from post-test indicates significant improvement which proves that the use of information system based able to enhance students' understanding about HOTS question and solve it. There were several factor influenced the students such as students' attitude, teachers attraction, school facilities, and computer approach. Teachers play an important role in attracting students to learn. Therefore, the school should provide a conducive learning environment and good facilities for students to learn so that they are able to access more information and always exposed to new knowledge. As conclusion, information system-based are able to enhance students understanding the need of HOTS questions and solve it.

Understanding the acceptability of a computer decision support system in pediatric primary care.

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Nerissa S; Carroll, Aaron E; Downs, Stephen M

2014-01-01

Individual users' attitudes and opinions help predict successful adoption of health information technology (HIT) into practice; however, little is known about pediatric users' acceptance of HIT for medical decision-making at the point of care. We wished to examine the attitudes and opinions of pediatric users' toward the Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation (CHICA) system, a computer decision support system linked to an electronic health record in four community pediatric clinics. Surveys were administered in 2011 and 2012 to all users to measure CHICA's acceptability and users' satisfaction with it. Free text comments were analyzed for themes to understand areas of potential technical refinement. 70 participants completed the survey in 2011 (100% response rate) and 64 of 66 (97% response rate) in 2012. Initially, satisfaction with CHICA was mixed. In general, users felt the system held promise; however various critiques reflected difficulties understanding integrated technical aspects of how CHICA worked, as well as concern with the format and wording on generated forms for families and users. In the subsequent year, users' ratings reflected improved satisfaction and acceptance. Comments also reflected a deeper understanding of the system's logic, often accompanied by suggestions on potential refinements to make CHICA more useful at the point of care. Pediatric users appreciate the system's automation and enhancements that allow relevant and meaningful clinical data to be accessible at point of care. Understanding users' acceptability and satisfaction is critical for ongoing refinement of HIT to ensure successful adoption into practice.

Study of genetic markers of CODIS and ESS systems in a population of individuals from Cabo Verde living in Lisboa.

Science.gov (United States)

Resende, Ana; Amorim, António; da Silva, Cláudia Vieira; Ribeiro, Teresa; Porto, Maria João; Costa Santos, Jorge; Afonso Costa, Heloísa

2017-01-01

Twenty-two autosomal short tandem repeats included in the PowerPlex® Fusion System Amplification kit (Promega Corporation) were genotyped in a population sample of 500 unrelated individuals from Cabo Verde living in Lisboa. Allelic frequency data and forensic and statistical parameters were calculated and evaluated in this work. The genetic relationship among immigrant population from Cabo Verde living in Lisboa and other populations, such as Brazilian and Angola immigrants living in Lisboa; Afro-Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics and Asians living in the USA and the population from Lisboa was assessed, and a multidimensional scaling plot was drown to show these results.

Understand Your Risk for Cardiac Arrest

Science.gov (United States)

... and Live Our Interactive Cardiovascular Library has detailed animations and illustrations to help you learn about conditions, treatments and procedures related to heart disease and stroke. Popular Articles 1 Understanding Blood Pressure Readings 2 Sodium and Salt 3 Heart Attack Symptoms ...

The use of assistive technology in the everyday lives of young people living with dementia and their caregivers. Can a simple remote control make a difference?

Science.gov (United States)

Jentoft, Rita; Holthe, Torhild; Arntzen, Cathrine

2014-12-01

This study was a part of a larger study exploring the impact of assistive technology on the lives of young people living with dementia (YPD). This paper focuses on one of the most useful devices, the simple remote control (SRC). The objective was to explore the reason why the SRC is significant and beneficial in the everyday lives of YPD and their caregivers. This qualitative longitudinal study had a participatory design. Eight participants received an SRC. The range for using it was 0-15 months. In-depth interviews and observations were conducted at baseline and repeated every third month up to 18 months. A situated learning approach was used in the analysis to provide a deeper understanding of the significance and use of SRC. Young people having dementia spend a substantial amount of time alone. Watching television was reported to be important, but handling remote controls was challenging and created a variety of problems. YPD learned to use SRC, which made important differences in the everyday lives of all family members. Comprehensive support from caregivers and professionals was important for YPD in the learning process. The SRC was deemed a success because it solved challenges regarding the use of television in everyday lives of families. The design was recognizable and user-friendly, thus allowing YPD to learn its operation. Access to professional support and advice regarding assistive technology is vital for establishing a system for follow-up and continued collaboration to make future adaptations and adjustments.

Living high training low induces physiological cardiac hypertrophy accompanied by down-regulation and redistribution of the renin-angiotensin system

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Wei; Meszaros, J Gary; Zeng, Shao-ju; Sun, Ying-yu; Zuo, Ming-xue

2013-01-01

Aim: Living high training low” (LHTL) is an exercise-training protocol that refers living in hypoxia stress and training at normal level of O2. In this study, we investigated whether LHTL caused physiological heart hypertrophy accompanied by changes of biomarkers in renin-angiotensin system in rats. Methods: Adult male SD rats were randomly assigned into 4 groups, and trained on living low-sedentary (LLS, control), living low-training low (LLTL), living high-sedentary (LHS) and living high-training low (LHTL) protocols, respectively, for 4 weeks. Hematological parameters, hemodynamic measurement, heart hypertrophy and plasma angiotensin II (Ang II) level of the rats were measured. The gene and protein expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), angiotensinogen (AGT) and angiotensin II receptor I (AT1) in heart tissue was assessed using RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Results: LLTL, LHS and LHTL significantly improved cardiac function, increased hemoglobin concentration and RBC. At the molecular level, LLTL, LHS and LHTL significantly decreased the expression of ACE, AGT and AT1 genes, but increased the expression of ACE and AT1 proteins in heart tissue. Moreover, ACE and AT1 protein expression was significantly increased in the endocardium, but unchanged in the epicardium. Conclusion: LHTL training protocol suppresses ACE, AGT and AT1 gene expression in heart tissue, but increases ACE and AT1 protein expression specifically in the endocardium, suggesting that the physiological heart hypertrophy induced by LHTL is regulated by region-specific expression of renin-angiotensin system components. PMID:23377552

The daily lives of people with Parkinson's disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafaela Vivian Valcarenghi

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: To understand the daily lives of people with Parkinson's disease. Method: Qualitative research, using as methodological and theoretical referential the Grounded Theory and Symbolic Interactionism, respectively. The in-depth interview was conducted with 30 people with Parkinson's disease. Results: From data analysis, three themes were selected: Living with the disease - living with the treatment and changes in lifestyle; Modifying of one's job performance - revealing incapacity for work and the need to anticipate retirement and; Living with the stigma - the feeling of prejudice against the disease and the perceived limitations of the health services. Final considerations: Living with a chronic and non-transferable disease encompasses social, physical and cultural effects, along with the personal experiences of each unique individual. This study assists the improvement of care to people with the disease, because the care practice emerges from the interactions between the subjects.

The Living With a Star Space Environment Testbed Program

Science.gov (United States)

Barth, Janet; LaBel, Kenneth; Day, John H. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

NASA has initiated the Living with a Star (LWS) Program to develop the scientific understanding to address the aspects of the Connected Sun-Earth system that affects life and society. The Program Architecture includes science missions, theory and modeling and Space Environment Testbeds (SET). This current paper discusses the Space Environment Testbeds. The goal of the SET program is to improve the engineering approach to accomodate and/or mitigate the effects of solar variability on spacecraft design and operations. The SET Program will infuse new technologies into the space programs through collection of data in space and subsequent design and validation of technologies. Examples of these technologies are cited and discussed.

Living with Your Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD)

Science.gov (United States)

... and Live Our Interactive Cardiovascular Library has detailed animations and illustrations to help you learn about conditions, treatments and procedures related to heart disease and stroke. Popular Articles 1 Understanding Blood Pressure Readings 2 Sodium and Salt 3 Heart Attack Symptoms ...

Performance Poetry as a Method to Understand Disability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lee-Ann Fenge

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The Seen but Seldom Heard project was a performative social science (PSS project which used performance poetry to illuminate the experiences of young people with physical impairments. Two performance poets, a group of young people with physical impairments, and academics from social science and media/communication backgrounds worked together to explore various aspects of the lived experience of disability exploring issues associated with identity, stereotypes, stigma and representation. In this article, we will present an overview of the project and consider how PSS offers a method to engage seldom heard voices, and illustrate this through two poems which shed light on the lived experience of disability. The article will consider the impact of these poems as PSS, and how this method allows the audience to develop a deeper understanding of the "lived" experience of disability and to reflect upon their own understandings of disability and discrimination. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1602118

Improvement of mutual understanding in risk communication by application of a debate support system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimoda, Hiroshi; Matsuda, Koji; Ishii, Hirotake; Yoshikawa, Hidekazu

2010-01-01

Given the recent problem of climate change, nuclear power has become perhaps the world's most important energy source. In Japan, however, it is difficult to build new nuclear facilities. One of the reasons for such difficulty lies in problems in risk communication. In this study, a support method has been proposed to improve mutual understanding in risk communication. The authors paid especial attention at the learning effect of debating and the benefits of employing a debate support system. A laboratory experiment including 30 university students was conducted in order to evaluate the proposed method. Results showed that the use of the system could improve mutual understanding especially with respect to the factors of risk 'reduction measures' and 'accident management'. In addition, it was found that using the system and debating from 'opposite positions' could improve subjective mutual understanding; however, this practice showed no effectiveness in terms of improving objective mutual understanding. (author)

Understanding the organization of sharing economy in agri-food systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Miralles, Isabel; Dentoni, Domenico; Pascucci, Stefano

2017-01-01

Despite the proliferation of sharing economy initiatives in agri-food systems, the recent literature has still not unravelled what sharing exactly entails from an organizational standpoint. In light of this knowledge gap, this study aims to understand which resources are shared, and how, in a

Older persons' lived experiences of depression and self-management.

Science.gov (United States)

Holm, Anne Lise; Lyberg, Anne; Lassenius, Erna; Severinsson, Elisabeth; Berggren, Ingela

2013-10-01

Mental ill-health, such as depression in the elderly, is a complex issue that is influenced by the life-world perspective of older persons. Their self-management ability should be strengthened based on an understanding of their situation, perspectives, and vulnerability. The aim of this study was to explore and increase understanding of old persons' lived experiences of depression and self-management using an interpretative explorative design. Understanding was developed by means of hermeneutic interpretation. One theme, Relationships and Togetherness, and four subthemes, A Sense of Carrying a Shoulder Bag, Walking on Eggshells, Holding the Reins, and Estrangement--a Loss of Togetherness, emerged. A collaborative approach can be important for empowering older persons through self-development and management. Although the findings of the present study cannot be considered conclusive or definitive, they nevertheless contribute new knowledge of older persons' lived experiences of depression in everyday life.

Experiences of women living with fibromyalgia: an exploratory study of their information needs and preferences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lubna Daraz

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Women living with fibromyalgia consistently report experiencing a change in their lives in terms of stigma, inability to work, isolation from society and difficulty in managing their illness. Lack of understanding and knowledge about their disease has been linked to compromised health and quality of life. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of information use of women living with fibromyalgia. A descriptive phenomenology was used for this study. Participants were identified through gatekeepers for women living with fibromyalgia across Canada. Data was collected via taperecorded interviews. The study was conducted in Canada between 2009-2010. Ten women (18 or older participated in the research. Three essential themes emerged from the analysis that were vital to understand the unique experiences of women: i understanding the need for information required to live with fibromyalgia, ii struggling to meet vital and fundamental information needs and iii transforming themselves to improve health and quality of life. Women living with fibromyalgia have vital and specific information needs and struggle to find and access appropriate information. They use diverse strategies in overcoming some of the challenges in accessing information. Most significantly, women draw on the information to make changes and to begin to coordinate their lives to live with fibromyalgia. For women living with fibromyalgia, the phenomenon of information use has a significant effect on their lives. Healthcare providers are perceived as an important source of information and need to be better informed, more prepared and dedicated to assisting women with their information needs.

A new microcomputer-based safety and life support system for solitary-living elderly people.

Science.gov (United States)

Miyauchi, Kosuke; Yonezawa, Yoshiharu; Maki, Hiromichi; Ogawa, Hidekuni; Hahn, Allen W; Caldwell, W Morton

2003-01-01

A new safety and life support system has been developed to detect emergency situations of solitary-living elderly persons. The system employs a dual axis accelerometer, two low-power active filters, a low-power 8-bit single chip microcomputer and a personal handy phone. Body movements due to walking, running and posture changes are detected by the dual axis accelerometer and sent to the microcomputer. If the patient is in an inactive state for 5 minutes after falling, or for 64 minutes without previously falling, then the system automatically alarms the emergency situation, via the personal handy phone, to the patient's family, the fire station or the hospital.

Inclusion of service robots in the daily lives of frail older users: A step-by-step definition procedure on users' requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Soler, Álvaro; Facal, David; Díaz-Orueta, Unai; Pigini, Lucia; Blasi, Lorenzo; Qiu, Renxi

2018-01-01

The implications for the inclusion of robots in the daily lives of frail older adults, especially in relation to these population needs, have not been extensively studied. The "Multi-Role Shadow Robotic System for Independent Living" (SRS) project has developed a remotely-controlled, semi-autonomous robotic system to be used in domestic environments. The objective of this paper is to document the iterative procedure used to identify, select and prioritize user requirements. Seventy-four requirements were identified by means of focus groups, individual interviews and scenario-based interviews. The list of user requirements, ordered according to impact, number and transnational criteria, revealed a high number of requirements related to basic and instrumental activities of daily living, cognitive and social support and monitorization, and also involving privacy, safety and adaptation issues. Analysing and understanding older users' perceptions and needs when interacting with technological devices adds value to assistive technology and ensures that the systems address currently unmet needs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Direct measurement of catalase activity in living cells and tissue biopsies.

Science.gov (United States)

Scaglione, Christine N; Xu, Qijin; Ramanujan, V Krishnan

2016-01-29

Spatiotemporal regulation of enzyme-substrate interactions governs the decision-making steps in biological systems. Enzymes, being functional units of every living cell, contribute to the macromolecular stability of cell survival, proliferation and hence are vital windows to unraveling the biological complexity. Experimental measurements capturing this dynamics of enzyme-substrate interactions in real time add value to this understanding. Furthermore these measurements, upon validation in realistic biological specimens such as clinical biopsies - can further improve our capability in disease diagnostics and treatment monitoring. Towards this direction, we describe here a novel, high-sensitive measurement system for measuring diffusion-limited enzyme-substrate kinetics in real time. Using catalase (enzyme) and hydrogen peroxide (substrate) as the example pair, we demonstrate that this system is capable of direct measurement of catalase activity in vitro and the measured kinetics follows the classical Michaelis-Menten reaction kinetics. We further demonstrate the system performance by measuring catalase activity in living cells and in very small amounts of liver biopsies (down to 1 μg total protein). Catalase-specific enzyme activity is demonstrated by genetic and pharmacological tools. Finally we show the clinically-relevant diagnostic capability of our system by comparing the catalase activities in liver biopsies from young and old mouse (liver and serum) samples. We discuss the potential applicability of this system in clinical diagnostics as well as in intraoperative surgical settings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Active In-Database Processing to Support Ambient Assisted Living Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wagner O. de Morais

2014-08-01

Full Text Available As an alternative to the existing software architectures that underpin the development of smart homes and ambient assisted living (AAL systems, this work presents a database-centric architecture that takes advantage of active databases and in-database processing. Current platforms supporting AAL systems use database management systems (DBMSs exclusively for data storage. Active databases employ database triggers to detect and react to events taking place inside or outside of the database. DBMSs can be extended with stored procedures and functions that enable in-database processing. This means that the data processing is integrated and performed within the DBMS. The feasibility and flexibility of the proposed approach were demonstrated with the implementation of three distinct AAL services. The active database was used to detect bed-exits and to discover common room transitions and deviations during the night. In-database machine learning methods were used to model early night behaviors. Consequently, active in-database processing avoids transferring sensitive data outside the database, and this improves performance, security and privacy. Furthermore, centralizing the computation into the DBMS facilitates code reuse, adaptation and maintenance. These are important system properties that take into account the evolving heterogeneity of users, their needs and the devices that are characteristic of smart homes and AAL systems. Therefore, DBMSs can provide capabilities to address requirements for scalability, security, privacy, dependability and personalization in applications of smart environments in healthcare.

Understanding health constraints among rural-to-urban migrants in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yan

2013-11-01

The main purpose of this article is to examine the understanding and experience of health and health care among rural-to-urban migrants in China, and to explain the impact of the internal factors of migrants themselves and the external factors of their social environment. Understanding the perceptions and consciousness of health issues among migrants is crucial to prevention, intervention, and other health-related measures for the migrant population in China, but this has rarely been explored in studies. On the basis of a case study of a migrant community in Beijing, I explore the migrants' understandings of health and health care and analyze factors in the social environment, including exclusion from the social system and the possibility of health participation, exclusion from social relation networks, obstructed channels of health maintenance, and exclusion of crowd psychology, which impact heavily on their health understanding and health behavior. I argue that the internal and the external factors are linked together closely and interact as reciprocal causation. However, the migrants should not be seen as primarily responsible, because their poor understanding of health mainly results from the socioeconomic environment in which they live and work.

Canada: Living with radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

Canadians are exposed daily to a variety of naturally occurring radiation. Heat and light from the sun, are familiar examples. Radium and uranium are naturally occurring materials which have been found to emit radiation and so have been called radioactive. There are also various types of artificially produced forms of radiation that are employed routinely in modern living, such as radio and television waves and microwaves. X-rays, another common type of radiation, are widely used in medicine as are some man-made radioactive substances. These emit radiation just like naturally occurring radioactive materials. Surveys have shown that many people have a poor understanding of the risks associated with the activities of modern living. Exposure to ionizing radiation from radioactive materials is also considered by many persons to have a high risk, This booklet attempts to inform the readers about ionizing radiation, its uses and the risks associated with it, and to put these risks in perspective with the risks of other activities and practices. A range of topics from medical uses of radiation to emergency planning, from biological effects of radiation to nuclear power, each topic is explained to relate radiation to our everyday lives. 44 figs

Canada: Living with radiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-12-31

Canadians are exposed daily to a variety of naturally occurring radiation. Heat and light from the sun, are familiar examples. Radium and uranium are naturally occurring materials which have been found to emit radiation and so have been called radioactive. There are also various types of artificially produced forms of radiation that are employed routinely in modern living, such as radio and television waves and microwaves. X-rays, another common type of radiation, are widely used in medicine as are some man-made radioactive substances. These emit radiation just like naturally occurring radioactive materials. Surveys have shown that many people have a poor understanding of the risks associated with the activities of modern living. Exposure to ionizing radiation from radioactive materials is also considered by many persons to have a high risk, This booklet attempts to inform the readers about ionizing radiation, its uses and the risks associated with it, and to put these risks in perspective with the risks of other activities and practices. A range of topics from medical uses of radiation to emergency planning, from biological effects of radiation to nuclear power, each topic is explained to relate radiation to our everyday lives. 44 figs.

Seniors' experiences of living in special housing accommodation

Science.gov (United States)

Hellberg, Ingela; Augustsson, Veronica; Hellström Muhli, Ulla

2011-01-01

This article presents a hermeneutic phenomenological analysis of interview material in which 12 seniors living in Special Housing Accommodation (SHA) facilities reflect on the experience of living in such facilities. Of particular interest in the analysis is living in a SHA as a phenomenon. The finding shows that the phenomenon of lived experience in a SHA seems to be a state of ambiguity regarding one's existence, which is made up of several constituents (elements of meaning). The analysis contributes to the understanding of how the phenomenon of SHA living is coming into existence as a need, due to an individual's failing health; however, the SHA is not considered to be a true home. Accordingly, this has consequences to the subject position for the seniors in that they have to navigate between existing and not existing. The seniors learn to cope with living in the SHA by lowering their expectations of life and existence while the SHA provides the prerequisites for their existence. An implication for promoting care is to support the seniors to enable a full existence of life within SHA living. PMID:21412446

Understanding Organizational Memory from the Integrated Management Systems (ERP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gilberto Perez

2013-10-01

Full Text Available With this research, in the form of a theoretical essay addressing the theme of Organizational Memory and Integrated Management Systems (ERP, we tried to present some evidence of how this type of system can contribute to the consolidation of certain features of Organizational Memory. From a theoretical review of the concepts of Human Memory, extending to the Organizational Memory and Information Systems, with emphasis on Integrated Management Systems (ERP we tried to draw a parallel between the functions and structures of Organizational Memory and features and characteristics of ERPs. The choice of the ERP system for this study was made due to the complexity and broad scope of this system. It was verified that the ERPs adequately support many functions of the Organizational Memory, highlighting the implementation of logical processes, practices and rules in business. It is hoped that the dialogue presented here can contribute to the advancement of the understanding of organizational memory, since the similarity of Human Memory is a fertile field and there is still much to be researched.

Principles and indicators of green living families in Thai context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tamkarn Yuranun

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Green Living has been practiced in everyday life which is accepted worldwide. However, there is no concrete academic principles for Green Living. The understanding of Green Living is rather abstract. This study focuses on the academic principles and indicators of the Green Living Families in Thailand. The results from the studies will be used for further research.This qualitative study aims at proposing the principles and indicators of the Green Living Families in the Thai context. The research methodologies include the analysis and synthesis of various documents both from Thailand and foreign countries, interviews and observation of five Green Living Families. The results show that the principles consist of 1 production for one’s own consumption within the family 2 economical use of resources and 3 sharing with others and the society. The essential indicators comprise of 1 Knowledge, 2 Practice, and 3 Attitude on Green Living.

Magnetic resonance imaging of living systems by remote detection

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Wemmer, David; Pines, Alexander; Bouchard, Louis; Xu, Shoujun; Harel, Elad; Budker, Dmitry; Lowery, Thomas; Ledbetter, Micah

2013-10-29

A novel approach to magnetic resonance imaging is disclosed. Blood flowing through a living system is prepolarized, and then encoded. The polarization can be achieved using permanent or superconducting magnets. The polarization may be carried out upstream of the region to be encoded or at the place of encoding. In the case of an MRI of a brain, polarization of flowing blood can be effected by placing a magnet over a section of the body such as the heart upstream of the head. Alternatively, polarization and encoding can be effected at the same location. Detection occurs at a remote location, using a separate detection device such as an optical atomic magnetometer, or an inductive Faraday coil. The detector may be placed on the surface of the skin next to a blood vessel such as a jugular vein carrying blood away from the encoded region.

Computer-aided software understanding systems to enhance confidence of scientific codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheng, G.; Oeren, T.I.

1991-01-01

A unique characteristic of nuclear waste disposal is the very long time span over which the combined engineered and natural containment system must remain effective: hundreds of thousands of years. Since there is no precedent in human history for such an endeavour, simulation with the use of computers is the only means we have of forecasting possible future outcomes quantitatively. The need for reliable models and software to make such forecasts so far into the future is obvious. One of the critical elements necessary to ensure reliability is the degree of reviewability of the computer program. Among others, there are two very important reasons for this. Firstly, if there is to be any chance at all of validating the conceptual models as implemented by the computer code, peer reviewers must be able to see and understand what the program is doing. It is all but impossible to achieve this understanding by just looking at the code due to possible unfamiliarity with the language and often due as well to the length and complexity of the code. Secondly, a thorough understanding of the code is also necessary to carry out code maintenance activities which include among others, error detection, error correction and code modification for purposes of enhancing its performance, functionality or to adapt it to a changed environment. The emerging concepts of computer-aided software understanding and reverse engineering can answer precisely these needs. This paper will discuss the role they can play in enhancing the confidence one has on computer codes and several examples will be provided. Finally a brief discussion of combining state-of-art forward engineering systems with reverse engineering systems will show how powerfully they can contribute to the overall quality assurance of a computer program. (13 refs., 7 figs.)

Exploring the lived experiences of people with learning disabilities who are dying of cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Tuffrey-Wijne, Irene; Bernal, Jane; Hubert, Jane; Butler, Gary; Hollins, Sheila

Growing numbers of people with learning disabilities are living longer and dying of age related illnesses such as cancer. To explore the experiences of people with learning disabilities who have cancer. The study used participant observation with 13 people with learning disabilities. All had a cancer diagnosis and 10 were terminally ill. Participants were visited regularly at home and in other settings, including hospitals. The main themes were: dependent lives; deprived lives; truth telling and understanding; the importance of families; inexperienced carers and unprepared services; and resilience. To understand the experiences of people with learning disabilities who are dying of cancer, it is important to understand their previous life experiences and key relationships. Healthcare professionals who treat people with respect, dignity and openness can make a positive difference to their care.

Extracting aerobic system dynamics during unsupervised activities of daily living using wearable sensor machine learning models.

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Beltrame, Thomas; Amelard, Robert; Wong, Alexander; Hughson, Richard L

2018-02-01

Physical activity levels are related through algorithms to the energetic demand, with no information regarding the integrity of the multiple physiological systems involved in the energetic supply. Longitudinal analysis of the oxygen uptake (V̇o 2 ) by wearable sensors in realistic settings might permit development of a practical tool for the study of the longitudinal aerobic system dynamics (i.e., V̇o 2 kinetics). This study evaluated aerobic system dynamics based on predicted V̇o 2 data obtained from wearable sensors during unsupervised activities of daily living (μADL). Thirteen healthy men performed a laboratory-controlled moderate exercise protocol and were monitored for ≈6 h/day for 4 days (μADL data). Variables derived from hip accelerometer (ACC HIP ), heart rate monitor, and respiratory bands during μADL were extracted and processed by a validated random forest regression model to predict V̇o 2 . The aerobic system analysis was based on the frequency-domain analysis of ACC HIP and predicted V̇o 2 data obtained during μADL. Optimal samples for frequency domain analysis (constrained to ≤0.01 Hz) were selected when ACC HIP was higher than 0.05 g at a given frequency (i.e., participants were active). The temporal characteristics of predicted V̇o 2 data during μADL correlated with the temporal characteristics of measured V̇o 2 data during laboratory-controlled protocol ([Formula: see text] = 0.82, P system dynamics can be investigated during unsupervised activities of daily living by wearable sensors. Although speculative, these algorithms have the potential to be incorporated into wearable systems for early detection of changes in health status in realistic environments by detecting changes in aerobic response dynamics. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The early detection of subclinical aerobic system impairments might be indicative of impaired physiological reserves that impact the capacity for physical activity. This study is the first to use wearable

Valuing lives and allocating resources: a defense of the modified youngest first principle of scarce resource distribution.

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Tallman, Ruth

2014-06-01

In this paper, I argue that the 'modified youngest first' principle provides a morally appropriate criterion for making decisions regarding the distribution of scarce medical resources, and that it is morally preferable to the simple 'youngest first' principle. Based on the complete lives system's goal of maximizing complete lives rather than individual life episodes, I argue that essential to the value we see in complete lives is the first person value attributed by the experiencer of that life. For a life to be 'complete' or 'incomplete,' the subject of that life must be able to understand the concept of a complete life, to have started goals and projects, and to know what it would be for that life to be complete. As the very young are not able to do this, it can reasonably be said that their characteristically human lives have not yet begun, giving those accepting a complete lives approach good reason to accept the modified youngest first principle over a simple 'youngest first' approach. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Short-lived radioactive nuclides in meteorites and early solar system processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaussidon, M.; Gounelle, M.

2007-01-01

Now extinct, short-lived radioactive nuclides, such as 7 Be (T 1/2 = 53 days), 10 Be (T 1/2 = 1.5 Ma), 26 Al (T 1/2 = 0.74 Ma), 36 Cl (T 1/2 = 0.3 Ma), 41 Ca (T 1/2 = 0.1 Ma), 53 Mn (T 1/2 = 3.7 Ma) and 60 Fe (T 1/2 = 1.5 Ma), were present in the proto-solar nebula when the various components of meteorites formed. The presence of these radioactive isotopes requires a 'last-minute' origin, either nucleosynthesis in a massive star dying close in space and time to the nascent solar system or production by local irradiation of part of the proto-solar disk by high-energy solar cosmic rays. In this review, we list: (i) the different observations indicating the existence of multiple origins for short-lived radioactive nuclides, namely 7 Be, 10 Be and 36 Cl for irradiation scenario and 60 Fe for injection scenario; (ii) the constraints that exist on their distribution (homogeneous or heterogeneous) in the accretion disk; (iii) the constraints they brought on the timescales of nebular processes (from Ca-Al-rich inclusions to chondrules) and of the accretion and differentiation of planetesimals. (authors)

How Well Do Students in Secondary School Understand Temporal Development of Dynamical Systems?

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Forjan, Matej; Grubelnik, Vladimir

2015-01-01

Despite difficulties understanding the dynamics of complex systems only simple dynamical systems without feedback connections have been taught in secondary school physics. Consequently, students do not have opportunities to develop intuition of temporal development of systems, whose dynamics are conditioned by the influence of feedback processes.…

Teenagers' experiences of living with food hypersensitivity: a qualitative study.

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MacKenzie, Heather; Roberts, Graham; van Laar, Darren; Dean, Taraneh

2010-06-01

Teenagers are a high-risk group for food-hypersensitivity fatalities, engage in risk-taking behaviours and may experience impaired quality of life. Understanding their experience is important to inform their care. This study aimed to describe the lived experiences of teenagers with food hypersensitivity. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 teenagers (13-18 yr) with food hypersensitivity to a variety of foods and analysed using a phenomenological approach. Teenagers described living with (or coming to know) food hypersensitivity (FHS) as a way of life but still found living with food hypersensitivity to be burdensome. A necessary part of living with food hypersensitivity was coping with associated burden; a variety of coping strategies were employed to this effect. Teenagers described ways in which the burden of living with food hypersensitivity was alleviated or exacerbated by others. Management of food hypersensitivity was based on an assessment of acceptable risk resulting in varying levels of precaution taking. Teenagers' understanding of their FHS and ability to cope with it needs to be regularly assessed. Educational support may be required to ensure they take an appropriate level of precautions to minimize the chance of future reactions while not over compromising their quality of life. Psychological support may be required to help them to utilize healthy adaptive strategies to cope with the stresses of living with FHS. This approach is also likely to facilitate the smooth handover of responsibility from parent to teenager.

Real-time implementation of an interactive jazz accompaniment system

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Deshpande, Nikhil

Modern computational algorithms and digital signal processing (DSP) are able to combine with human performers without forced or predetermined structure in order to create dynamic and real-time accompaniment systems. With modern computing power and intelligent algorithm layout and design, it is possible to achieve more detailed auditory analysis of live music. Using this information, computer code can follow and predict how a human's musical performance evolves, and use this to react in a musical manner. This project builds a real-time accompaniment system to perform together with live musicians, with a focus on live jazz performance and improvisation. The system utilizes a new polyphonic pitch detector and embeds it in an Ableton Live system - combined with Max for Live - to perform elements of audio analysis, generation, and triggering. The system also relies on tension curves and information rate calculations from the Creative Artificially Intuitive and Reasoning Agent (CAIRA) system to help understand and predict human improvisation. These metrics are vital to the core system and allow for extrapolated audio analysis. The system is able to react dynamically to a human performer, and can successfully accompany the human as an entire rhythm section.

Live from the Arctic

Science.gov (United States)

Warnick, W. K.; Haines-Stiles, G.; Warburton, J.; Sunwood, K.

2003-12-01

For reasons of geography and geophysics, the poles of our planet, the Arctic and Antarctica, are places where climate change appears first: they are global canaries in the mine shaft. But while Antarctica (its penguins and ozone hole, for example) has been relatively well-documented in recent books, TV programs and journalism, the far North has received somewhat less attention. This project builds on and advances what has been done to date to share the people, places, and stories of the North with all Americans through multiple media, over several years. In a collaborative project between the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) and PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE, Live from the Arctic will bring the Arctic environment to the public through a series of primetime broadcasts, live and taped programming, interactive virtual field trips, and webcasts. The five-year project will culminate during the 2007-2008 International Polar Year (IPY). Live from the Arctic will: A. Promote global understanding about the value and world -wide significance of the Arctic, B. Bring cutting-edge research to both non-formal and formal education communities, C. Provide opportunities for collaboration between arctic scientists, arctic communities, and the general public. Content will focus on the following four themes. 1. Pan-Arctic Changes and Impacts on Land (i.e. snow cover; permafrost; glaciers; hydrology; species composition, distribution, and abundance; subsistence harvesting) 2. Pan-Arctic Changes and Impacts in the Sea (i.e. salinity, temperature, currents, nutrients, sea ice, marine ecosystems (including people, marine mammals and fisheries) 3. Pan-Arctic Changes and Impacts in the Atmosphere (i.e. precipitation and evaporation; effects on humans and their communities) 4. Global Perspectives (i.e. effects on humans and communities, impacts to rest of the world) In The Earth is Faster Now, a recent collection of comments by members of indigenous arctic peoples, arctic

Understanding Students' Use and Value of Technology for Learning

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Beckman, Karley; Bennett, Sue; Lockyer, Lori

2014-01-01

Despite significant research in the field of educational technology, there is still much we do not fully understand about students' experiences with technology. This article proposes that research in the field of educational technology would benefit from a sociological framing that pays attention to the understandings and lives of learners. Within…

Environmental Education as a Lived-Body Practice? A Contemplative Pedagogy Perspective

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Pulkki, Jani; Dahlin, Bo; Varri, Veli-Matti

2017-01-01

Environmental education usually appeals to the students' knowledge and rational understanding. Even though this is needed, there is a neglected aspect of learning ecologically fruitful action; that of the lived-body. This paper introduces the lived-body as an important site for learning ecological action. An argument is made for the need of a…

Patient-reported outcomes in adults with congenital heart disease: Inter-country variation, standard of living and healthcare system factors.

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Moons, Philip; Kovacs, Adrienne H; Luyckx, Koen; Thomet, Corina; Budts, Werner; Enomoto, Junko; Sluman, Maayke A; Yang, Hsiao-Ling; Jackson, Jamie L; Khairy, Paul; Cook, Stephen C; Subramanyan, Raghavan; Alday, Luis; Eriksen, Katrine; Dellborg, Mikael; Berghammer, Malin; Johansson, Bengt; Mackie, Andrew S; Menahem, Samuel; Caruana, Maryanne; Veldtman, Gruschen; Soufi, Alexandra; Fernandes, Susan M; White, Kamila; Callus, Edward; Kutty, Shelby; Van Bulck, Liesbet; Apers, Silke

2018-01-15

Geographical differences in patient-reported outcomes (PROs) of adults with congenital heart disease (ConHD) have been observed, but are poorly understood. We aimed to: (1) investigate inter-country variation in PROs in adults with ConHD; (2) identify patient-related predictors of PROs; and (3) explore standard of living and healthcare system characteristics as predictors of PROs. Assessment of Patterns of Patient-Reported Outcomes in Adults with Congenital Heart disease - International Study (APPROACH-IS) was a cross-sectional, observational study, in which 4028 patients from 15 countries in 5 continents were enrolled. Self-report questionnaires were administered: patient-reported health (12-item Short Form Health Survey; EuroQOL-5D Visual Analog Scale); psychological functioning (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale); health behaviors (Health Behavior Scale-Congenital Heart Disease) and quality of life (Linear Analog Scale for quality of life; Satisfaction With Life Scale). A composite PRO score was calculated. Standard of living was expressed as Gross Domestic Product per capita and Human Development Index. Healthcare systems were operationalized as the total health expenditure per capita and the overall health system performance. Substantial inter-country variation in PROs was observed, with Switzerland having the highest composite PRO score (81.0) and India the lowest (71.3). Functional class, age, and unemployment status were patient-related factors that independently and consistently predicted PROs. Standard of living and healthcare system characteristics predicted PROs above and beyond patient characteristics. This international collaboration allowed us to determine that PROs in ConHD vary as a function of patient-related factors as well as the countries in which patients live. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Feasibility testing of a web-based symptom self-management system for persons living with HIV.

Science.gov (United States)

Schnall, Rebecca; Wantland, Dean; Velez, Olivia; Cato, Kenrick; Jia, Haomiao

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the feasibility of using a Web-based tool to provide tailored symptom management strategies for persons living with HIV (PLWH) and to estimate the effect size of the tool for future studies. Testing the components of the Web-based system was done by incorporating a repeated-measures design measuring the outcomes of symptom frequency and intensity, use of symptom management strategies, and engagement with health care providers. We recruited 42 PLWH; participants were enrolled in the study for 12 weeks and were asked to use the system and complete the questionnaires every 2 weeks. Our results showed that participants who used the strategies were more likely to have a decrease in symptom frequency and intensity. Findings from this feasibility study provide preliminary evidence for the use of a Web-based HIV symptom management tool with self-management strategies for individuals living with HIV infection. Copyright © 2014 Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Image/video understanding systems based on network-symbolic models

Science.gov (United States)

Kuvich, Gary

2004-03-01

Vision is a part of a larger information system that converts visual information into knowledge structures. These structures drive vision process, resolve ambiguity and uncertainty via feedback projections, and provide image understanding that is an interpretation of visual information in terms of such knowledge models. Computer simulation models are built on the basis of graphs/networks. The ability of human brain to emulate similar graph/network models is found. Symbols, predicates and grammars naturally emerge in such networks, and logic is simply a way of restructuring such models. Brain analyzes an image as a graph-type relational structure created via multilevel hierarchical compression of visual information. Primary areas provide active fusion of image features on a spatial grid-like structure, where nodes are cortical columns. Spatial logic and topology naturally present in such structures. Mid-level vision processes like perceptual grouping, separation of figure from ground, are special kinds of network transformations. They convert primary image structure into the set of more abstract ones, which represent objects and visual scene, making them easy for analysis by higher-level knowledge structures. Higher-level vision phenomena are results of such analysis. Composition of network-symbolic models combines learning, classification, and analogy together with higher-level model-based reasoning into a single framework, and it works similar to frames and agents. Computational intelligence methods transform images into model-based knowledge representation. Based on such principles, an Image/Video Understanding system can convert images into the knowledge models, and resolve uncertainty and ambiguity. This allows creating intelligent computer vision systems for design and manufacturing.

Learning How to Use Buildings: An Exploration of the Potential of Design Interactions to Support Transition to Low-Impact Community Living

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachael Luck

2014-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper, I study how a housing project is designed and show the architects in conversation with the residents talking about living in a community with lower impact, to reveal different conceptual understandings of building technologies and systems within the home. In this account, it can be seen that building systems and technologies become entangled with dwelling, patterns of living and maintenance scenarios on a housing estate. Shown are several ways that these design interactions can be considered pedagogic and transformative. It is proposed that similar events between architects and users are established in the design stage for other building types and for more of the UK housing stock.

Research Experience for Undergraduates: Understanding the Arctic as a System

Science.gov (United States)

Alexeev, V. A.; Walsh, J. E.; Arp, C. D.; Hock, R.; Euskirchen, E. S.; Kaden, U.; Polyakov, I.; Romanovsky, V. E.; Trainor, S.

2017-12-01

Today, more than ever, an integrated cross-disciplinary approach is necessary to understand and explain changes in the Arctic and the implications of those changes. Responding to needs in innovative research and education for understanding high-latitude rapid climate change, scientists at the International Arctic research Center of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) established a new REU (=Research Experience for Undergraduates) NSF-funded site, aiming to attract more undergraduates to arctic sciences. The science focus of this program, building upon the research strengths of UAF, is on understanding the Arctic as a system with emphasis on its physical component. The goals, which were to disseminate new knowledge at the frontiers of polar science and to ignite the enthusiasm of the undergraduates about the Arctic, are pursued by involving undergraduate students in research and educational projects with their mentors using the available diverse on-campus capabilities. IARC hosted the first group of eight students this past summer, focusing on a variety of different disciplines of the Arctic System Science. Students visited research sites around Fairbanks and in remote parts of Alaska (Toolik Lake Field Station, Gulkana glacier, Bonanza Creek, Poker Flats, the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel and others) to see and experience first-hand how the arctic science is done. Each student worked on a research project guided by an experienced instructor. The summer program culminated with a workshop that consisted of reports from the students about their experiences and the results of their projects.

Identification and super-resolution imaging of ligand-activated receptor dimers in live cells

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Winckler, Pascale; Lartigue, Lydia; Giannone, Gregory; de Giorgi, Francesca; Ichas, François; Sibarita, Jean-Baptiste; Lounis, Brahim; Cognet, Laurent

2013-08-01

Molecular interactions are key to many chemical and biological processes like protein function. In many signaling processes they occur in sub-cellular areas displaying nanoscale organizations and involving molecular assemblies. The nanometric dimensions and the dynamic nature of the interactions make their investigations complex in live cells. While super-resolution fluorescence microscopies offer live-cell molecular imaging with sub-wavelength resolutions, they lack specificity for distinguishing interacting molecule populations. Here we combine super-resolution microscopy and single-molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) to identify dimers of receptors induced by ligand binding and provide super-resolved images of their membrane distribution in live cells. By developing a two-color universal-Point-Accumulation-In-the-Nanoscale-Topography (uPAINT) method, dimers of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) activated by EGF are studied at ultra-high densities, revealing preferential cell-edge sub-localization. This methodology which is specifically devoted to the study of molecules in interaction, may find other applications in biological systems where understanding of molecular organization is crucial.

A lived experience of dualism between the natural and human science paradigms in nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Engle Angela

2002-12-01

To describe the use of narrative as both phenomenon and method to illuminate college nurse educators' nursing knowledge development through their day-to-day stories on the institutional landscape, which shape and are shaped by health-care and nursing education changes. The Ontario health-care reform in Canada and a shift in nursing curriculum have brought to light a different dimension of a theory-practice issue. The traditional predominant natural science approach in nursing is now no longer considered responsive to the unique characteristics of patients' health-care needs. Emerging from current nursing education is an emphasis on a human science paradigm. However, as many college nurse educators moved back and forth between their classrooms to clinical settings, they experienced tremendous tensions in living between the new caring paradigm and the old culture of biomedical science ideology. Compounding this challenge is a lack of understanding by the policymakers and administrators of the importance of nurses' contribution vis-à-vis an ailing health-care system. This growing complexity demands that nursing, as a practice discipline, should articulate its unique body of knowledge for advancing contributions in health care. My stories of experience and those of my participants were analysed narratively to determine the knowledge and understanding developed from living the complex and interwoven changes in nursing education and practice. Through living, telling, retelling and reliving our stories, my participants and I recognized a false dualism between the seemingly polarized biomedical and human science paradigms. The meaning of certainty-uncertainty inherent in nursing teaching and practice demands that nurse educators rethink how stories of experience play out in their understanding of teaching future graduates the interrelationships between these two approaches.

Development of an outdoor MRI system for measuring flow in a living tree

Science.gov (United States)

Nagata, Akiyoshi; Kose, Katsumi; Terada, Yasuhiko

2016-04-01

An outdoor MRI system for noninvasive, long-term measurements of sap flow in a living tree in its natural environment has been developed. An open-access, 0.2 T permanent magnet with a 160 mm gap was combined with a radiofrequency probe, planar gradient coils, electromagnetic shielding, several electrical units, and a waterproofing box. Two-dimensional cross-sectional images were acquired for a ring-porous tree, and the anatomical structures, including xylem and phloem, were identified. The MRI flow measurements demonstrated the diurnal changes in flow velocity in the stem on a per-pixel basis. These results demonstrate that our outdoor MRI system is a powerful tool for studies of water transport in outdoor trees.

A daily living activity remote monitoring system for solitary elderly people.

Science.gov (United States)

Maki, Hiromichi; Ogawa, Hidekuni; Matsuoka, Shingo; Yonezawa, Yoshiharu; Caldwell, W Morton

2011-01-01

A daily living activity remote monitoring system has been developed for supporting solitary elderly people. The monitoring system consists of a tri-axis accelerometer, six low-power active filters, a low-power 8-bit microcontroller (MC), a 1GB SD memory card (SDMC) and a 2.4 GHz low transmitting power mobile phone (PHS). The tri-axis accelerometer attached to the subject's chest can simultaneously measure dynamic and static acceleration forces produced by heart sound, respiration, posture and behavior. The heart rate, respiration rate, activity, posture and behavior are detected from the dynamic and static acceleration forces. These data are stored in the SD. The MC sends the data to the server computer every hour. The server computer stores the data and makes a graphic chart from the data. When the caregiver calls from his/her mobile phone to the server computer, the server computer sends the graphical chart via the PHS. The caregiver's mobile phone displays the chart to the monitor graphically.

Understanding the functions and relationships of the glymphatic system and meningeal lymphatics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Louveau, Antoine; Plog, Benjamin A; Antila, Salli

2017-01-01

to the peripheral (CNS-draining) lymph nodes. We speculate on the relationship between the two systems and their malfunction that may underlie some neurological diseases. Although much remains to be investigated, these new discoveries have changed our understanding of mechanisms underlying CNS immune privilege...... and CNS drainage. Future studies should explore the communications between the glymphatic system and meningeal lymphatics in CNS disorders and develop new therapeutic modalities targeting these systems....

Understand Your Risk for Excessive Blood Clotting

Science.gov (United States)

... and Live Our Interactive Cardiovascular Library has detailed animations and illustrations to help you learn about conditions, treatments and procedures related to heart disease and stroke. Popular Articles 1 Understanding Blood Pressure Readings 2 Sodium and Salt 3 Heart Attack Symptoms ...

Understanding analysis

CERN Document Server

Abbott, Stephen

2015-01-01

This lively introductory text exposes the student to the rewards of a rigorous study of functions of a real variable. In each chapter, informal discussions of questions that give analysis its inherent fascination are followed by precise, but not overly formal, developments of the techniques needed to make sense of them. By focusing on the unifying themes of approximation and the resolution of paradoxes that arise in the transition from the finite to the infinite, the text turns what could be a daunting cascade of definitions and theorems into a coherent and engaging progression of ideas. Acutely aware of the need for rigor, the student is much better prepared to understand what constitutes a proper mathematical proof and how to write one. Fifteen years of classroom experience with the first edition of Understanding Analysis have solidified and refined the central narrative of the second edition. Roughly 150 new exercises join a selection of the best exercises from the first edition, and three more project-sty...

Root Growth and Water distribution in living walls

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Lars

of functional living walls and this thesis is a first step of understanding the essential but hidden part inside the growing medium, i.e. the roots. Ensuring successful performance of the plants in a living wall is complex and the choice of growing medium, plant species and planting position are important....... for root growth. This thesis investigates the correlations between the growing media and root and shoots growth, and studies root growth patterns of different plant species and effects of planting position and root interactions of plants growing in living walls. There are a number of challenges with living...... walls; the vertical orientation of the growing medium, plants are growing vertically above or below each other in a limited rooting volume; there is an increased exposure to weather and the plants can react differently to water conditions and competition from other plants. Plant growth is the core...

Application of Live-Cell RNA Imaging Techniques to the Study of Retroviral RNA Trafficking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darrin V. Bann

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Retroviruses produce full-length RNA that serves both as a genomic RNA (gRNA, which is encapsidated into virus particles, and as an mRNA, which directs the synthesis of viral structural proteins. However, we are only beginning to understand the cellular and viral factors that influence trafficking of retroviral RNA and the selection of the RNA for encapsidation or translation. Live cell imaging studies of retroviral RNA trafficking have provided important insight into many aspects of the retrovirus life cycle including transcription dynamics, nuclear export of viral RNA, translational regulation, membrane targeting, and condensation of the gRNA during virion assembly. Here, we review cutting-edge techniques to visualize single RNA molecules in live cells and discuss the application of these systems to studying retroviral RNA trafficking.

Impact of Three-Dimensional Printed Pelvicaliceal System Models on Residents' Understanding of Pelvicaliceal System Anatomy Before Percutaneous Nephrolithotripsy Surgery: A Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Atalay, Hasan Anıl; Ülker, Volkan; Alkan, İlter; Canat, Halil Lütfi; Özkuvancı, Ünsal; Altunrende, Fatih

2016-10-01

To investigate the impact of three-dimensional (3D) printed pelvicaliceal system models on residents' understanding of pelvicaliceal system anatomy before percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL). Patients with unilateral complex renal stones indicating PCNL were selected. Usable data of patients were obtained from CT-scans in Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) format. Mimics software version 16.0 (Materialise, Belgium) was used for segmentation and extraction of pelvicaliceal systems (PCSs). All DICOM-formatted files were converted to the stereolithography file format. Finally, fused deposition modeling was used to create plasticine 3D models of PCSs. A questionnaire was designed so that residents could assess the 3D models' effects on their understanding of the anatomy of the pelvicaliceal system before PCNL (Fig. 3). Five patients' anatomically accurate models of the human renal collecting system were effectively generated (Figs. 1 and 2). After presentation of the 3D models, residents were 86% and 88% better at determining the number of anterior and posterior calices, respectively, 60% better at understanding stone location, and 64% better at determining optimal entry calix into the collecting system (Fig. 5). Generating kidney models of PCSs using 3D printing technology is feasible, and the models were accepted by residents as aids in surgical planning and understanding of pelvicaliceal system anatomy before PCNL.

Systematic synergy modeling: understanding drug synergy from a systems biology perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Di; Liu, Xi; Yang, Yiping; Yang, Hongjun; Lu, Peng

2015-09-16

Owing to drug synergy effects, drug combinations have become a new trend in combating complex diseases like cancer, HIV and cardiovascular diseases. However, conventional synergy quantification methods often depend on experimental dose-response data which are quite resource-demanding. In addition, these methods are unable to interpret the explicit synergy mechanism. In this review, we give representative examples of how systems biology modeling offers strategies toward better understanding of drug synergy, including the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network-based methods, pathway dynamic simulations, synergy network motif recognitions, integrative drug feature calculations, and "omic"-supported analyses. Although partially successful in drug synergy exploration and interpretation, more efforts should be put on a holistic understanding of drug-disease interactions, considering integrative pharmacology and toxicology factors. With a comprehensive and deep insight into the mechanism of drug synergy, systems biology opens a novel avenue for rational design of effective drug combinations.

Creativity Understandings, Evolution: from Genius to Creative Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jūratė Černevičiūtė

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The understanding of creativity in the social sciencies became more complex with the course of time. The concepts of creative individual, creative process and environment are discussed. Looking at the environment, distinction was made on three levels: macro, meso and micro. The impact of environments on creativity is analyzed, focusing attention on the collective creativity as the positive micro-environmental factor for innovations. Insights are gained about the tendency to move from an exclusive, elite, narrow concept of creativity, measured by the creation of products and their abundance, towards a broader, democratic concept of everyday creativity of the most people. The conclusion is that the creative industries of the exceptional creativity of genius or talent and mysticism are gradually transformed to broader creativity as the governed system, emphasizing creativity links with internal elements of the system and with the social context.

Live visualization of genomic loci with BiFC-TALE.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Huan; Zhang, Hongmin; Wang, Sheng; Ding, Miao; An, Hui; Hou, Yingping; Yang, Xiaojing; Wei, Wensheng; Sun, Yujie; Tang, Chao

2017-01-11

Tracking the dynamics of genomic loci is important for understanding the mechanisms of fundamental intracellular processes. However, fluorescent labeling and imaging of such loci in live cells have been challenging. One of the major reasons is the low signal-to-background ratio (SBR) of images mainly caused by the background fluorescence from diffuse full-length fluorescent proteins (FPs) in the living nucleus, hampering the application of live cell genomic labeling methods. Here, combining bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) and transcription activator-like effector (TALE) technologies, we developed a novel method for labeling genomic loci (BiFC-TALE), which largely reduces the background fluorescence level. Using BiFC-TALE, we demonstrated a significantly improved SBR by imaging telomeres and centromeres in living cells in comparison with the methods using full-length FP.

Understanding Resilient Urban Futures: A Systemic Modelling Approach

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Ralph Chapman

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The resilience of cities in response to natural disasters and long-term climate change has emerged as a focus of academic and policy attention. In particular, how to understand the interconnectedness of urban and natural systems is a key issue. This paper introduces an urban model that can be used to evaluate city resilience outcomes under different policy scenarios. The model is the Wellington Integrated Land Use-Transport-Environment Model (WILUTE. It considers the city (i.e., Wellington as a complex system characterized by interactions between a variety of internal urban processes (social, economic and physical and the natural environment. It is focused on exploring the dynamic relations between human activities (the geographic distribution of housing and employment, infrastructure layout, traffic flows and energy consumption, environmental effects (carbon emissions, influences on local natural and ecological systems and potential natural disasters (e.g., inundation due to sea level rise and storm events faced under different policy scenarios. The model gives insights that are potentially useful for policy to enhance the city’s resilience, by modelling outcomes, such as the potential for reduction in transportation energy use, and changes in the vulnerability of the city’s housing stock and transport system to sea level rise.

Understanding radar systems

CERN Document Server

Kingsley, Simon

1999-01-01

What is radar? What systems are currently in use? How do they work? This book provides engineers and scientists with answers to these critical questions, focusing on actual radar systems in use today. It is a perfect resource for those just entering the field, or as a quick refresher for experienced practitioners. The book leads readers through the specialized language and calculations that comprise the complex world of radar engineering as seen in dozens of state-of-the-art radar systems. An easy to read, wide ranging guide to the world of modern radar systems.

Radionuclides in groundwater flow system understanding

Science.gov (United States)

Erőss, Anita; Csondor, Katalin; Horváth, Ákos; Mádl-Szőnyi, Judit; Surbeck, Heinz

2017-04-01

Using radionuclides is a novel approach to characterize fluids of groundwater flow systems and understand their mixing. Particularly, in regional discharge areas, where different order flow systems convey waters with different temperature, composition and redox-state to the discharge zone. Radium and uranium are redox-sensitive parameters, which causes fractionation along groundwater flow paths. Discharging waters of regional flow systems are characterized by elevated total dissolved solid content (TDS), temperature and by reducing conditions, and therefore with negligible uranium content, whereas local flow systems have lower TDS and temperature and represent oxidizing environments, and therefore their radium content is low. Due to the short transit time, radon may appear in local systems' discharge, where its source is the soil zone. However, our studies revealed the importance of FeOOH precipitates as local radon sources throughout the adsorption of radium transported by the thermal waters of regional flow systems. These precipitates can form either by direct oxidizing of thermal waters at discharge, or by mixing of waters with different redox state. Therefore elevated radon content often occurs in regional discharge areas as well. This study compares the results of geochemical studies in three thermal karst areas in Hungary, focusing on radionuclides as natural tracers. In the Buda Thermal Karst, the waters of the distinct discharge areas are characterized by different temperature and chemical composition. In the central discharge area both lukewarm (20-35°C, 770-980 mg/l TDS) and thermal waters (40-65°C, 800-1350 mg/l TDS), in the South only thermal water discharge (33-43°C, 1450-1700 mg/l TDS) occur. Radionuclides helped to identify mixing of fluids and to infer the temperature and chemical composition of the end members for the central discharge area. For the southern discharge zone mixing components could not be identified, which suggests different cave

Toward a low-cost gait analysis system for clinical and free-living assessment.

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Ladha, Cassim; Del Din, Silvia; Nazarpour, Kianoush; Hickey, Aodhan; Morris, Rosie; Catt, Michael; Rochester, Lynn; Godfrey, Alan

2016-08-01

Gait is an important clinical assessment tool since changes in gait may reflect changes in general health. Measurement of gait is a complex process which has been restricted to bespoke clinical facilities until recently. The use of inexpensive wearable technologies is an attractive alternative and offers the potential to assess gait in any environment. In this paper we present the development of a low cost analysis gait system built using entirely open source components. The system is used to capture spatio-temporal gait characteristics derived from an existing conceptual model, sensitive to ageing and neurodegenerative pathology (e.g. Parkinson's disease). We demonstrate the system is suitable for use in a clinical unit and will lead to pragmatic use in a free-living (home) environment. The system consists of a wearable (tri-axial accelerometer and gyroscope) with a Raspberry Pi module for data storage and analysis. This forms ongoing work to develop gait as a low cost diagnostic in modern healthcare.

From product centered design to value centered design: understanding the value-system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Randmaa, Merili; Howard, Thomas J.; Otto, T.

Product design has focused on different parameters through history- design for usability, design for manufacturing, design for assembly etc. Today, as the products get bundled with service, it is important to interconnect product, service and business model design to create synergy effect and offer...... more value for the customer for less eford. Value and understanding the value-system needs to be in the focus of business strategy. Value can be created, exchanged and perceived. It can be tangible (physical products, money) or intangible (information, experience, relationships, service). Creating...... value is usually a co-creation process, where customers, suppliers and manufacturers all have their part. This paper describes a paradigm shift towards value-based thinking and proposes a new methodology for understanding and analysing the value system....

Mother-Child Interaction and Prosocial Development in Toddlers: A Multivariate Study Using the Living Systems Framework.

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Bergin, Christi A. C.

The Living Systems Framework was used to generate four categories of parent behaviors that might affect processes responsible for eliciting prosocial behavior in children: (1) teaching values, rules, and standards; (2) providing opportunities for rehearsal and mastery; (3) providing opportunities for self-regulation and self-control; and (4)…

System Behaviour Charts Inform an Understanding of Biodiversity Recovery

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Simon A. Black

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Practitioners working with species and ecosystem recovery typically deal with the complexity of, on one hand, lack of data or data uncertainties and, on the other hand, demand for critical decision-making and intervention. The control chart methods of commercial and industrial and environmental monitoring can complement an ecological understanding of wildlife systems including those situations which incorporate human activities and land use. Systems Behaviour Charts are based upon well-established control chart methods to provide conservation managers with an approach to using existing data and enable insight to aid timely planning of conservation interventions and also complement and stimulate research into wider scientific and ecological questions. When the approach is applied to existing data sets in well-known wildlife conservation cases, the subsequent Systems Behaviour Charts and associated analytical criteria demonstrate insights which would be helpful in averting problems associated with each case example.

Fingerprint Sensors: Liveness Detection Issue and Hardware based Solutions

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Shahzad Memon

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Securing an automated and unsupervised fingerprint recognition system is one of the most critical and challenging tasks in government and commercial applications. In these systems, the detection of liveness of a finger placed on a fingerprint sensor is a major issue that needs to be addressed in order to ensure the credibility of the system. The main focus of this paper is to review the existing fingerprint sensing technologies in terms of liveness detection and discusses hardware based ‘liveness detection’ techniques reported in the literature for automatic fingerprint biometrics.

Blurriness in Live Forensics: An Introduction

Science.gov (United States)

Savoldi, Antonio; Gubian, Paolo

The Live Forensics discipline aims at answering basic questions related to a digital crime, which usually involves a computer-based system. The investigation should be carried out with the very goal to establish which processes were running, when they were started and by whom, what specific activities those processes were doing and the state of active network connections. Besides, a set of tools needs to be launched on the running system by altering, as a consequence of the Locard’s exchange principle [2], the system’s memory. All the methodologies for the live forensics field proposed until now have a basic, albeit important, weakness, which is the inability to quantify the perturbation, or blurriness, of the system’s memory of the investigated computer. This is the very last goal of this paper: to provide a set of guidelines which can be effectively used for measuring the uncertainty of the collected volatile memory on a live system being investigated.

Proper Living - Exploring Domestic Ideals in Medieval Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristiansen, Mette Svart

2014-01-01

Houses frame homes, households, and daily life, and it is reasonable to suggest that ideas of domestic space in medieval society, and ideas of how to live in an orderly and acceptable manner in the eyes of one’s peers and oneself are reflected in domestic architecture, its layout, fittings......, and ornaments. This paper addresses ideas of proper living in affluent rural and urban milieus in medieval Denmark, particularly as they are expressed through houses, inventories, and murals, and it also addresses current challenges in understanding the materialized ideas based on excavations and analysis...

Biofunctional Understanding and Conceptual Control: Searching for Systematic Consensus in Systemic Cohesion.

Science.gov (United States)

Iran-Nejad, Asghar; Bordbar, Fareed

2017-01-01

For first generation scientists after the cognitive revolution, knowers were in active control over all (stages of) information processing. Then, following a decade of transition shaped by intense controversy, embodied cognition emerged and suggested sources of control other than those implied by metaphysical information processing. With a thematic focus on embodiment science and an eye toward systematic consensus in systemic cohesion, the present study explores the roles of biofunctional and conceptual control processes in the wholetheme spiral of biofunctional understanding (see Iran-Nejad and Irannejad, 2017b, Figure 1). According to this spiral, each of the two kinds of understanding has its own unique set of knower control processes. For conceptual understanding (CU), knowers have deliberate attention-allocation control over their first-person "knowthat" and "knowhow" content combined as mutually coherent corequisites. For biofunctional understanding (BU), knowers have attention-allocation control only over their knowthat content but knowhow control content is ordinarily conspicuously absent. To test the hypothesis of differences in the manner of control between CU and BU, participants in two experiments read identical-format statements for internal consistency, as response time was recorded. The results of Experiment 1 supported the hypothesis of differences in the manner of control between the two types of control processes; and Experiment 2 confirmed the results of Experiment 1. These findings are discussed in terms of the predicted differences between BU and CU control processes, their roles in regulating the physically unobservable flow of systemic cohesion in the wholetheme spiral, and a proposal for systematic consensus in systemic cohesion to serve as the second guiding principle in biofunctional embodiment science next to physical science's first guiding principle of systematic observation.

Evolution of an Early Illness Warning System to Monitor Frail Elders in Independent Living

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Gregory L. Alexander

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the evolution of an early illness warning system used by an interdisciplinary team composed of clinicians and engineers in an independent living facility. The early illness warning system consists of algorithms which analyze resident activity patterns obtained from sensors embedded in residents' apartments. The engineers designed an automated reasoning system to generate clinically relevant alerts which are sent to clinicians when significant changes occur in the sensor data, for example declining activity levels. During January 2010 through July 2010, clinicians and engineers conducted weekly iterative review cycles of the early illness warning system to discuss concerns about the functionality of the warning system, to recommend solutions for the concerns, and to evaluate the implementation of the solutions. A total of 45 concerns were reviewed during this period. Iterative reviews resulted in greater efficiencies and satisfaction for clinician users who were monitoring elder activity patterns.

A transportable magnetic resonance imaging system for in situ measurements of living trees: the Tree Hugger.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, M; Aptaker, P S; Cox, J; Gardiner, B A; McDonald, P J

2012-05-01

This paper presents the design of the 'Tree Hugger', an open access, transportable, 1.1 MHz (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance imaging system for the in situ analysis of living trees in the forest. A unique construction employing NdFeB blocks embedded in a reinforced carbon fibre frame is used to achieve access up to 210 mm and to allow the magnet to be transported. The magnet weighs 55 kg. The feasibility of imaging living trees in situ using the 'Tree Hugger' is demonstrated. Correlations are drawn between NMR/MRI measurements and other indicators such as relative humidity, soil moisture and net solar radiation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Local understanding of forest conservation in land use change dynamics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shaleh, Muhammad Adha; Guth, Miriam Karen; Rahman, Syed Ajijur

2016-01-01

Forest (SEPPSF), Malaysia. Nine in-depth interviews were conducted with Orang Asli Jakun living in SEPPSF using open-ended questions. Local communities have positive perspectives toward the forest conservation program, despite massive environmental changes in their living landscape. This study suggests......The success of local forest conservation program depends on a critical appreciation of local communities. Based on this understanding, the present study aims to explore people’s perspective of forest conservation in a context of changes in their living landscape at South East Pahang Peat Swamp...

Medicaid expenditures for children living with smokers

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Levy Douglas E

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Children's exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with increased morbidity. We estimated Medicaid expenditures for children living with smokers compared to those living with no smokers in the United States. Methods Data were overall and service-specific (i.e., inpatient, ambulatory, emergency department, prescription drug, and dental annual Medicaid expenditures for children 0-11 years old from the 2000-2007 Medical Expenditures Panel Surveys. Smokers' presence in households was determined by adult respondents' self reports. There were 25,835 person-years of observation. We used multivariate analyses to adjust for child, parent, and geographic characteristics. Results Children with Medicaid expenditures were nearly twice as likely to live with a smoker as other children in the U.S. population. Adjusted analyses revealed no detectable differences in children's overall Medicaid expenditures by presence of smokers in the household. Medicaid children who lived with smokers on average had $10 (95% CI $3, $18 higher emergency department expenditures per year than those living with no smokers. Conclusions Living with at least one smoker (a proxy for secondhand smoke exposure is unrelated to children's overall short-term Medicaid expenditures, but has a modest impact on emergency department expenditures. Additional research is necessary to understand the relationship between secondhand smoke exposure and long-term health and economic outcomes.

Computational optogenetics: A novel continuum framework for the photoelectrochemistry of living systems

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Wong, Jonathan; Abilez, Oscar J.; Kuhl, Ellen

2012-06-01

Electrical stimulation is currently the gold standard treatment for heart rhythm disorders. However, electrical pacing is associated with technical limitations and unavoidable potential complications. Recent developments now enable the stimulation of mammalian cells with light using a novel technology known as optogenetics. The optical stimulation of genetically engineered cells has significantly changed our understanding of electrically excitable tissues, paving the way towards controlling heart rhythm disorders by means of photostimulation. Controlling these disorders, in turn, restores coordinated force generation to avoid sudden cardiac death. Here, we report a novel continuum framework for the photoelectrochemistry of living systems that allows us to decipher the mechanisms by which this technology regulates the electrical and mechanical function of the heart. Using a modular multiscale approach, we introduce a non-selective cation channel, channelrhodopsin-2, into a conventional cardiac muscle cell model via an additional photocurrent governed by a light-sensitive gating variable. Upon optical stimulation, this channel opens and allows sodium ions to enter the cell, inducing electrical activation. In side-by-side comparisons with conventional heart muscle cells, we show that photostimulation directly increases the sodium concentration, which indirectly decreases the potassium concentration in the cell, while all other characteristics of the cell remain virtually unchanged. We integrate our model cells into a continuum model for excitable tissue using a nonlinear parabolic second-order partial differential equation, which we discretize in time using finite differences and in space using finite elements. To illustrate the potential of this computational model, we virtually inject our photosensitive cells into different locations of a human heart, and explore its activation sequences upon photostimulation. Our computational optogenetics tool box allows us to

Synthesizing International Understanding of Changes in the Arctic Hydrological System

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Pundsack, J. W.; Vorosmarty, C. J.; Hinzman, L. D.

2009-12-01

There are several notable gaps in our current level of understanding of Arctic hydrological systems. At the same time, rapidly emerging data sets, technologies, and modeling resources provide us with an unprecedented opportunity to move substantially forward. The Arctic Community-Wide Hydrological Analysis and Monitoring Program (Arctic-CHAMP), funded by NSF/ARCSS, was established to initiate a major effort to improve our current monitoring of water cycle variables, and to foster collaboration with the many relevant U.S. and international arctic research initiatives. These projects, funded under ARCSS through the ‘Freshwater Integration (FWI) study’, links CHAMP, the Arctic/Subarctic Ocean Fluxes (ASOF) Programme, and SEARCH. As part of the overall synthesis and integration efforts of the NSF-ARCSS Freshwater Integration (FWI) study, the program carried-out a major International Synthesis Capstone Workshop in Fall 2009 as an International Polar Year (IPY) affiliated meeting. The workshop, "Synthesizing International Understanding of Changes in the Arctic Hydrological System,” was held 30 September to 4 October 2009 in Stockholm at the Beijer Auditorium of the Royal Swedish Academy. The workshop was sponsored by the NSF-ARCSS Arctic-CHAMP Science Management Office (City College of New York / Univ. of New Hampshire), the International Study of Arctic Change (ISAC), and the International Arctic Research Center (IARC; Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks). The overarching goals of the meeting were to stage a post-IPY lessons-learned workshop with co-equal numbers of FWI, IPY, and ICARP-II researchers, using insights from recent scientific findings, data, and strategies to afford synthesis. The workshop aimed to: (1) take stock of recent advances in our understanding of changes in the Arctic hydrological system; (2) identify key remaining research gaps / unanswered questions; and (3) gather insight on where to focus future research efforts/initiatives (nationally and

High-throughput live-imaging of embryos in microwell arrays using a modular specimen mounting system.

Science.gov (United States)

Donoughe, Seth; Kim, Chiyoung; Extavour, Cassandra G

2018-04-30

High-throughput live-imaging of embryos is an essential technique in developmental biology, but it is difficult and costly to mount and image embryos in consistent conditions. Here, we present OMMAwell, a simple, reusable device to easily mount dozens of embryos in arrays of agarose microwells with customizable dimensions and spacing. OMMAwell can be configured to mount specimens for upright or inverted microscopes, and includes a reservoir to hold live-imaging medium to maintain constant moisture and osmolarity of specimens during time-lapse imaging. All device components can be fabricated by cutting pieces from a sheet of acrylic using a laser cutter or by making them with a 3D printer. We demonstrate how to design a custom mold and use it to live-image dozens of embryos at a time. We include descriptions, schematics, and design files for 13 additional molds for nine animal species, including most major traditional laboratory models and a number of emerging model systems. Finally, we provide instructions for researchers to customize OMMAwell inserts for embryos or tissues not described herein. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Model system for plant cell biology: GFP imaging in living onion epidermal cells

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, A.; Wyatt, S.; Tsou, P. L.; Robertson, D.; Allen, N. S.

1999-01-01

The ability to visualize organelle localization and dynamics is very useful in studying cellular physiological events. Until recently, this has been accomplished using a variety of staining methods. However, staining can give inaccurate information due to nonspecific staining, diffusion of the stain or through toxic effects. The ability to target green fluorescent protein (GFP) to various organelles allows for specific labeling of organelles in vivo. The disadvantages of GFP thus far have been the time and money involved in developing stable transformants or maintaining cell cultures for transient expression. In this paper, we present a rapid transient expression system using onion epidermal peels. We have localized GFP to various cellular compartments (including the cell wall) to illustrate the utility of this method and to visualize dynamics of these compartments. The onion epidermis has large, living, transparent cells in a monolayer, making them ideal for visualizing GFP. This method is easy and inexpensive, and it allows for testing of new GFP fusion proteins in a living tissue to determine deleterious effects and the ability to express before stable transformants are attempted.

The DFKI Competence Center for Ambient Assisted Living

Science.gov (United States)

Frey, Jochen; Stahl, Christoph; Röfer, Thomas; Krieg-Brückner, Bernd; Alexandersson, Jan

The DFKI Competence Center for Ambient Assisted Living (CCAAL) is a cross-project and cross-department virtual organization within the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence coordinating and conducting research and development in the area of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL). Our demonstrators range from multimodal speech dialog systems to fully instrumented environments allowing the development of intelligent assistant systems, for instance an autonomous wheelchair, or the recognition and processing of everyday activities in a smart home. These innovative technologies are then tested, evaluated and demonstrated in DFKI's living labs.

Random summing in a multi-detector counting system measuring mixtures of radionuclides of short and long half-lives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oxby, C.B.; Oldroyd, B.; Graham, S.G.

1979-01-01

A method is described for correcting a radiation spectrum for the distortion caused by random summing when a multidetector array is used to acquire events from a mixture of radionuclides whose half-lives may be long or short compared with the counting period. With our own counting system it was found that both the resolving time, and the fractions of the energy of a second signal which may be added to that of the immediately previous signal, i.e., the resolving time function, are dependent upon the energies of these two signals. The method requires knowledge of the losses which occur in a multidetector system e.g., live-time error and blocking losses, the variation of the resolving time function with signal energies, a standard spectrum of each radionuclide of the mixture and the fractions of them which constitute the mixture spectrum, the decay constant of each radionuclide, and the fraction of the total events recorded by the system being received by each detector. (orig.)

Towards a system level understanding of non-model organisms sampled from the environment: a network biology approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Tim D; Turan, Nil; Diab, Amer M; Wu, Huifeng; Mackenzie, Carolynn; Bartie, Katie L; Hrydziuszko, Olga; Lyons, Brett P; Stentiford, Grant D; Herbert, John M; Abraham, Joseph K; Katsiadaki, Ioanna; Leaver, Michael J; Taggart, John B; George, Stephen G; Viant, Mark R; Chipman, Kevin J; Falciani, Francesco

2011-08-01

The acquisition and analysis of datasets including multi-level omics and physiology from non-model species, sampled from field populations, is a formidable challenge, which so far has prevented the application of systems biology approaches. If successful, these could contribute enormously to improving our understanding of how populations of living organisms adapt to environmental stressors relating to, for example, pollution and climate. Here we describe the first application of a network inference approach integrating transcriptional, metabolic and phenotypic information representative of wild populations of the European flounder fish, sampled at seven estuarine locations in northern Europe with different degrees and profiles of chemical contaminants. We identified network modules, whose activity was predictive of environmental exposure and represented a link between molecular and morphometric indices. These sub-networks represented both known and candidate novel adverse outcome pathways representative of several aspects of human liver pathophysiology such as liver hyperplasia, fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. At the molecular level these pathways were linked to TNF alpha, TGF beta, PDGF, AGT and VEGF signalling. More generally, this pioneering study has important implications as it can be applied to model molecular mechanisms of compensatory adaptation to a wide range of scenarios in wild populations.

Living with illness and self-transcendence: the lived experience of patients with spinal muscular atrophy.

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, Hsin-Mei; Tseng, Ying-Hua; Hsin, Yu-Mei; Chou, Fan-Hao; Lin, Wei-Ting

2016-11-01

The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of patients afflicted with spinal muscular atrophy. Existing research studies on spinal muscular atrophy address the physical and psychological effects and complications of the disease; they also provide suggestions for how to improve the current management of this disease. However, information is limited on the disease process and the lived experience of spinal muscular atrophy patients. A phenomenological approach was conducted. Through 18 in-depth interviews recorded by a pen voice recorder, this study collected data obtained from a purposive sample of nine patients from the, 'Taiwan spinal muscular atrophy Families,' between November 2010-August 2011. The audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and data were analysed using Colaizzi's steps. Four themes and eight subthemes were identified: a loss of control (loss of muscular strength and independence), breaking limitations (assistive device use and mobility design), transcending limitations (independence/autonomy and social development) and living with hope (cherishing life and self-control). The results showed that the lived experiences of the spinal muscular atrophy patients involved living with illness, transcending the self and pursuing the meaning of life. Facing a life-threatening illness, these patients made self-adjustments in their lifestyles and exerted themselves to positively cope with hardships and maintain dignity and self-control. These findings could serve as evidence-based practice resources for healthcare professionals in helping individuals and their family members gain an in-depth understanding of spinal muscular atrophy's progression and life course and assist individuals in improving self-integrity to with hope. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Understanding coping strategies during pregnancy and the postpartum period: a qualitative study of women living with HIV in rural Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Ashaba, Scholastic; Kaida, Angela; Burns, Bridget Frances; O'Neil, Kasey; Dunkley, Emma; Psaros, Christina; Kastner, Jasmine; Tsai, Alexander C; Bangsberg, David R; Matthews, Lynn T

2017-05-08

In sub-Saharan Africa, 58% of adults living with HIV are women. In Uganda, HIV prevalence is 8.3% for women compared to 6.1% for men. Access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programs have enabled women living with HIV (WLWH) to have children with minimal risk of perinatal transmission. Nevertheless, pregnant WLWH face many challenges. We explored women's perceptions of how they cope with the challenges of pregnancy and the postpartum period as HIV-infected women. We conducted semi-structured interviews with postpartum WLWH accessing ART who had a pregnancy within 2 years prior to recruitment between February-August, 2014. Childbearing associated stressors and coping strategies were discussed. We used content analysis to identify major themes and NVivo 10 software facilitated data analysis. Twenty women were interviewed with median age 33 (IQR: 28-35) years, CD4 cell count 677 cells/mm 3 (IQR: 440-767), number of live births 4 (IQR: 2-6), and number of living children 3 (IQR: 2-4.3). We summarize five identified coping strategies within a socio-ecological framework according to Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model. Coping strategies on the individual level included acceptance of self and HIV status, and self-reliance. On the interpersonal level, participants reported coping through support from partners, family, and friends. On the organizational level, participants reported coping through HIV-related healthcare delivery and system supports. At the community level, women reported coping through support from church and spirituality. The results highlight coping strategies used by WLWH to manage the myriad challenges faced during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Intervention programs for WLWH must emphasize psychosocial care and incorporate strategies that address psychosocial challenges in the HIV care package in order to optimize well-being. Additionally policies that support networks of WLWH should be put in

The Sun/Earth System and Space Weather

Science.gov (United States)

Poland, Arthur I.; Fox, Nicola; Lucid, Shannon

2003-01-01

Solar variability and solar activity are now seen as significant drivers with respect to the Earth and human technology systems. Observations over the last 10 years have significantly advanced our understanding of causes and effects in the Sun/Earth system. On a practical level the interactions between the Sun and Earth dictate how we build our systems in space (communications satellites, GPS, etc), and some of our ground systems (power grids). This talk will be about the Sun/Earth system: how it changes with time, its magnetic interactions, flares, the solar wind, and how the Sun effects human systems. Data will be presented from some current spacecraft which show, for example, how we are able to currently give warnings to the scientific community, the Government and industry about space storms and how this data has improved our physical understanding of processes on the Sun and in the magnetosphere. The scientific advances provided by our current spacecraft has led to a new program in NASA to develop a 'Space Weather' system called 'Living With a Star'. The current plan for the 'Living With a Star' program will also be presented.

Creating healthy work in small enterprises - from understanding to action

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stephen, Legg; Ian S., laird; Olsen, Kirsten Bendix

2014-01-01

Although much is known about small and medium enterprises (SMEs), our current knowledge and understanding of occupational health and safety (OHS) and the work environment in SMEs is limited. Far less is known about how SMEs put our knowledge of OSH into action. In short, how do we create healthy...... work and healthy lives as well as ‘healthy business' in SMEs? The present paper, which also acts as an editorial for this special issue, addresses these questions by providing a summary of current knowledge - our understanding - about how to create healthy work and healthy lives for workers and owner......-managers in SMEs whilst concurrently also aiming to create a healthy business (in terms of profitability and sustainability). This paper and the special issue also emphasise the need to convert this knowledge into action - ‘from understanding to action'....

Children's and Adolescents' Thoughts on Pollution: Cognitive Abilities Required to Understand Environmental Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez, Manuel; Kohen, Raquel; Delval, Juan

2015-01-01

Pollution phenomena are complex systems in which different parts are integrated by means of causal and temporal relationships. To understand pollution, children must develop some cognitive abilities related to system thinking and temporal and causal inferential reasoning. These cognitive abilities constrain and guide how children understand…

Characterising the development of the understanding of human body systems in high-school biology students - a longitudinal study

Science.gov (United States)

Snapir, Zohar; Eberbach, Catherine; Ben-Zvi-Assaraf, Orit; Hmelo-Silver, Cindy; Tripto, Jaklin

2017-10-01

Science education today has become increasingly focused on research into complex natural, social and technological systems. In this study, we examined the development of high-school biology students' systems understanding of the human body, in a three-year longitudinal study. The development of the students' system understanding was evaluated using the Components Mechanisms Phenomena (CMP) framework for conceptual representation. We coded and analysed the repertory grid personal constructs of 67 high-school biology students at 4 points throughout the study. Our data analysis builds on the assumption that systems understanding entails a perception of all the system categories, including structures within the system (its Components), specific processes and interactions at the macro and micro levels (Mechanisms), and the Phenomena that present the macro scale of processes and patterns within a system. Our findings suggest that as the learning process progressed, the systems understanding of our students became more advanced, moving forward within each of the major CMP categories. Moreover, there was an increase in the mechanism complexity presented by the students, manifested by more students describing mechanisms at the molecular level. Thus, the 'mechanism' category and the micro level are critical components that enable students to understand system-level phenomena such as homeostasis.

Living with persistent rheumatoid arthritis: a BARFOT study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bala, Sidona-Valentina; Samuelson, Karin; Hagell, Peter; Fridlund, Bengt; Forslind, Kristina; Svensson, Björn; Thomé, Bibbi

2017-09-01

To describe and understand the meaning of living with persistent rheumatoid arthritis. A considerable number of patients with rheumatoid arthritis live with an ongoing active and symptomatic illness despite access to potent antirheumatic treatment. There is, however, a lack of knowledge about the meaning of living with this severe long-term illness, defined as persistent rheumatoid arthritis. A descriptive design based on a hermeneutic phenomenological method was used. Ten adults with persistent rheumatoid arthritis and at least five years disease duration were interviewed. The interviews were analysed according to van Manen's method. Living with persistent rheumatoid arthritis revealed four overall themes: an existence dominated by painful symptoms and treatment, radical changes and limitations in one's life, a continual struggle to cope with one's life and to master the illness, and a dependency on those who are close by and the world around. The lifeworld was affected to a varying extent and in various ways by the illness but also by the dependence on its treatment and care that was not experienced as sufficiently meeting needs in terms of security, access to and coordination of care as well as team and rehabilitation services. Persistent rheumatoid arthritis and its treatment entail a radical effect on the person's life and quality of life. Current ordinary rheumatology care does not seem to meet the individual needs of the person with persistent rheumatoid arthritis in an optimal way. A greater knowledge about and understanding of the person who lives with persistent rheumatoid arthritis is important for facilitating the development of care and the relief of suffering. A holistic alternative to conventional clinical practice, such as person-centred care, could be tested as an innovative model of care. Our findings might serve as material for educational and counselling purposes for healthcare professionals. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Understanding uncertainty propagation in life cycle assessments of waste management systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bisinella, Valentina; Conradsen, Knut; Christensen, Thomas Højlund

2015-01-01

Uncertainty analysis in Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) of waste management systems often results obscure and complex, with key parameters rarely determined on a case-by-case basis. The paper shows an application of a simplified approach to uncertainty coupled with a Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA......) perspective on three alternative waste management systems for Danish single-family household waste. The approach provides a fast and systematic method to select the most important parameters in the LCAs, understand their propagation and contribution to uncertainty....

Study on risk-based operation and maintenance using the living PSA system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurisaka, K.

2000-01-01

The objective of this study is to contribute to an improvement of fast reactor plant operation and maintenance from the standpoint of risk assessment. An effort was made to analyze a relationship between the valve failure probability and the standby time based on the component reliability database and statistical analysis system (CORDS). According to the analysis result, the following issues were examined: the surveillance test interval (STI), timing and the allowable outage time (AOT) of redundant valve system in a fast reactor model plant. An examination was performed based on the failure probability non-linearly dependent on the standby time using the risk importance measures and technique to optimize the AOT which are incorporated in the living PSA system (LIPSAS). The case study showed that consideration of non-linear time trend of the failure probability made the recommended STI and AOT longer under the same risk limitation. It is recommended to apply the nonlinear expression of demand failure probability in estimating the STI and AOT based on the risk measures. (author)

A device for real-time live-cell microscopy during dynamic dual-modal mechanostimulation

Science.gov (United States)

Lorusso, D.; Nikolov, H. N.; Chmiel, T.; Beach, R. J.; Sims, S. M.; Dixon, S. J.; Holdsworth, D. W.

2017-03-01

Mechanotransduction - the process by which cells sense and respond to mechanical stimuli - is essential for several physiological processes including skeletal homeostasis. Mammalian cells are thought to be sensitive to different modes of mechanical stimuli, including vibration and fluid shear. To better understand the mechanisms underlying the early stages of mechanotransduction, we describe the development of devices for mechanostimulation (by vibration and fluid shear) of live cells that can be integrated with real-time optical microscopy. The integrated system can deliver up to 3 Pa of fluid shear simultaneous with high-frequency sinusoidal vibrations up to 1 g. Stimuli can be applied simultaneously or independently to cells during real-time microscopic imaging. A custom microfluidic chamber was prepared from polydimethylsiloxane on a glass-bottom cell culture dish. Fluid flow was applied with a syringe pump to induce shear stress. This device is compatible with a custom-designed motion control vibration system. A voice coil actuates the system that is suspended on linear air bushings. Accelerations produced by the system were monitored with an on-board accelerometer. Displacement was validated optically using particle tracking digital high-speed imaging (1200 frames per second). During operation at nominally 45 Hz and 0.3 g, displacements were observed to be within 3.56% of the expected value. MC3T3-E1 osteoblast like cells were seeded into the microfluidic device and loaded with the calcium sensitive fluorescent probe fura-2, then mounted onto the dual-modal mechanostimulation platform. Cells were then imaged and monitored for fluorescence emission. In summary, we have developed a system to deliver physiologically relevant vibrations and fluid shear to live cells during real-time imaging and photometry. Monitoring the behavior of live cells loaded with appropriate fluorescent probes will enable characterization of the signals activated during the initial

Understanding Care Giving and Care Receiving Experiences throughout the Life Course

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Morita, Makiko

the social network of their everyday lives. These interactions are long-term changing processes as both the systems and wide-ranging conditions in everyday life are neither static nor immutable. In particular, the present paper draws attention to how older people understand the ways that the welfare systems...... and expectations for the future. Guided by life course approach, the analysis focuses on older couples in Denmark and Japan, and explores the following questions; how have older Danish and Japanese couples experienced care giving and care taking over the life course? How do they perceive these experiences? How...... data derived from semi-structured in-depth interviews with couples aged 65 and over in Denmark and Japan. The interviews are ongoing and will be concluded by February 2014....

Octopus Moms: The Lived Experiences of College Students Who Are Mothers

Science.gov (United States)

Zambito, Jill

2017-01-01

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of college students who are mothers at a large, public Midwestern research university. Using a feminist theoretical perspective, the focus of the research was to better understand how students who are mothers experience college. I sought to understand how the gendered…

Biofunctional Understanding and Conceptual Control: Searching for Systematic Consensus in Systemic Cohesion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asghar Iran-Nejad

2017-10-01

Full Text Available For first generation scientists after the cognitive revolution, knowers were in active control over all (stages of information processing. Then, following a decade of transition shaped by intense controversy, embodied cognition emerged and suggested sources of control other than those implied by metaphysical information processing. With a thematic focus on embodiment science and an eye toward systematic consensus in systemic cohesion, the present study explores the roles of biofunctional and conceptual control processes in the wholetheme spiral of biofunctional understanding (see Iran-Nejad and Irannejad, 2017b, Figure 1. According to this spiral, each of the two kinds of understanding has its own unique set of knower control processes. For conceptual understanding (CU, knowers have deliberate attention-allocation control over their first-person “knowthat” and “knowhow” content combined as mutually coherent corequisites. For biofunctional understanding (BU, knowers have attention-allocation control only over their knowthat content but knowhow control content is ordinarily conspicuously absent. To test the hypothesis of differences in the manner of control between CU and BU, participants in two experiments read identical-format statements for internal consistency, as response time was recorded. The results of Experiment 1 supported the hypothesis of differences in the manner of control between the two types of control processes; and Experiment 2 confirmed the results of Experiment 1. These findings are discussed in terms of the predicted differences between BU and CU control processes, their roles in regulating the physically unobservable flow of systemic cohesion in the wholetheme spiral, and a proposal for systematic consensus in systemic cohesion to serve as the second guiding principle in biofunctional embodiment science next to physical science’s first guiding principle of systematic observation.

Biofunctional Understanding and Conceptual Control: Searching for Systematic Consensus in Systemic Cohesion

Science.gov (United States)

Iran-Nejad, Asghar; Bordbar, Fareed

2017-01-01

For first generation scientists after the cognitive revolution, knowers were in active control over all (stages of) information processing. Then, following a decade of transition shaped by intense controversy, embodied cognition emerged and suggested sources of control other than those implied by metaphysical information processing. With a thematic focus on embodiment science and an eye toward systematic consensus in systemic cohesion, the present study explores the roles of biofunctional and conceptual control processes in the wholetheme spiral of biofunctional understanding (see Iran-Nejad and Irannejad, 2017b, Figure 1). According to this spiral, each of the two kinds of understanding has its own unique set of knower control processes. For conceptual understanding (CU), knowers have deliberate attention-allocation control over their first-person “knowthat” and “knowhow” content combined as mutually coherent corequisites. For biofunctional understanding (BU), knowers have attention-allocation control only over their knowthat content but knowhow control content is ordinarily conspicuously absent. To test the hypothesis of differences in the manner of control between CU and BU, participants in two experiments read identical-format statements for internal consistency, as response time was recorded. The results of Experiment 1 supported the hypothesis of differences in the manner of control between the two types of control processes; and Experiment 2 confirmed the results of Experiment 1. These findings are discussed in terms of the predicted differences between BU and CU control processes, their roles in regulating the physically unobservable flow of systemic cohesion in the wholetheme spiral, and a proposal for systematic consensus in systemic cohesion to serve as the second guiding principle in biofunctional embodiment science next to physical science’s first guiding principle of systematic observation. PMID:29114235

Gestures and metaphors as indicators of conceptual understanding of sedimentary systems

Science.gov (United States)

Riggs, E. M.; Herrera, J. S.

2012-12-01

Understanding the geometry and evolution of sedimentary systems and sequence stratigraphy is crucial to the development of geoscientists and engineers working in the petroleum industry. There is a wide variety of audiences within industry who require relatively advanced instruction in this area of geoscience, and there is an equally wide array of approaches to teaching this material in the classroom and field. This research was undertaken to develop a clearer picture of how conceptual understanding in this area of sedimentary geology grows as a result of instruction and how instructors can monitor the completeness and accuracy of student thinking and mental models. We sought ways to assess understanding that did not rely on model-specific jargon but rather was based in physical expression of basic processes and attributes of sedimentary systems. Advances in cognitive science and educational research indicate that a significant part of spatial cognition is facilitated by gesture, (e.g. giving directions, describing objects or landscape features). We aligned the analysis of gestures with conceptual metaphor theory to probe the use of mental image-schemas as a source of concept representation for students' learning of sedimentary processes. In order to explore image schemas that lie in student explanations, we focused our analysis on four core ideas about sedimentary systems that involve sea level change and sediment deposition, namely relative sea level, base level, and sea-level fluctuations and resulting basin geometry and sediment deposition changes. The study included 25 students from three U.S. Midwestern universities. Undergraduate and graduate-level participants were enrolled in senior-level undergraduate courses in sedimentology and stratigraphy. We used semi-structured interviews and videotaping for data collection. We coded the data to focus on deictic, iconic, and metaphoric gestures, and coded interview transcripts for linguistic metaphors using the

Students' Understanding of Equilibrium and Stability: The Case of Dynamic Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Canu, Michaël; de Hosson, Cécile; Duque, Mauricio

2016-01-01

Engineering students in control courses have been observed to lack an understanding of equilibrium and stability, both of which are crucial concepts in this discipline. The introduction of these concepts is generally based on the study of classical examples from Newtonian mechanics supplemented with a control system. Equilibrium and stability are…

A Framework for Understanding Post-Merger Information Systems Integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alaranta, Maria; Kautz, Karlheinz

2012-01-01

This paper develops a theoretical framework for the integration of information systems (IS) after a merger or an acquisition. The framework integrates three perspectives: a structuralist, an individualist, and an interactive process perspective to analyze and understand such integrations....... The framework is applied to a longitudinal case study of a manufacturing company that grew through an acquisition. The management decided to integrate the production control IS via tailoring a new system that blends together features of existing IS. The application of the framework in the case study confirms...... several known impediments to IS integrations. It also identifies a number of new inhibitors, as well as known and new facilitators that can bring post-merger IS integration to a success. Our findings provide relevant insights to researching and managing post-merger IS integrations. They emphasize...

Accessibility and use of primary healthcare for immigrants living in the Niagara Region.

Science.gov (United States)

Lum, Irene D; Swartz, Rebecca H; Kwan, Matthew Y W

2016-05-01

Although the challenges of accessing and using primary healthcare for new immigrants to Canada have been fairly well documented, the focus has primarily been on large cities with significant immigrant populations. The experiences of immigrants living in smaller, less diverse urban centres remain largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of immigrants living in a small urban centre with regards to the primary healthcare system. A total of 13 immigrants living in the Greater Niagara Region participated in semi-structured interviews. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, and then coded and analyzed for emergent themes using NVivo. Five factors were found to impact primary care access and use: lack of social contacts, lack of universal healthcare coverage during their initial arrival, language as a barrier, treatment preferences, and geographic distance to primary care. Overall findings suggest that immigrants moving to smaller areas such as the Niagara Region face similar barriers to primary care as those moving into large cities. Some barriers, however, appear to be specific to the context of smaller urban centres, further exacerbated by living in a small city due to a smaller immigrant population, fewer services for immigrants, and less diversity in practicing physicians. More research is required to understand the contextual factors inhibiting primary care access and use among immigrants moving to smaller urban centres, and determine effective strategies to overcome these barriers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding of the management information system based on MVC pattern

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Sida

2018-04-01

With the development of the society, people have come to realize the significance of information, not only linguistically but also in the written form. To build an effective and efficient working flow, a new subject called Management Information System (MIS) came up. MIS is an integrated discipline, which utilizes comprehensive and systematical methods to manage information, and it enhances the work efficiency through building structured information platform. This paper demonstrates the Management Information System from shallow too deep with the understanding of MVC pattern, including its basic structure and application with ASP.NET. Also some discussions about its features are made in the last section.

A web-based non-intrusive ambient system to measure and classify activities of daily living.

Science.gov (United States)

Stucki, Reto A; Urwyler, Prabitha; Rampa, Luca; Müri, René; Mosimann, Urs P; Nef, Tobias

2014-07-21

The number of older adults in the global population is increasing. This demographic shift leads to an increasing prevalence of age-associated disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia. With the progression of the disease, the risk for institutional care increases, which contrasts with the desire of most patients to stay in their home environment. Despite doctors' and caregivers' awareness of the patient's cognitive status, they are often uncertain about its consequences on activities of daily living (ADL). To provide effective care, they need to know how patients cope with ADL, in particular, the estimation of risks associated with the cognitive decline. The occurrence, performance, and duration of different ADL are important indicators of functional ability. The patient's ability to cope with these activities is traditionally assessed with questionnaires, which has disadvantages (eg, lack of reliability and sensitivity). Several groups have proposed sensor-based systems to recognize and quantify these activities in the patient's home. Combined with Web technology, these systems can inform caregivers about their patients in real-time (e.g., via smartphone). We hypothesize that a non-intrusive system, which does not use body-mounted sensors, video-based imaging, and microphone recordings would be better suited for use in dementia patients. Since it does not require patient's attention and compliance, such a system might be well accepted by patients. We present a passive, Web-based, non-intrusive, assistive technology system that recognizes and classifies ADL. The components of this novel assistive technology system were wireless sensors distributed in every room of the participant's home and a central computer unit (CCU). The environmental data were acquired for 20 days (per participant) and then stored and processed on the CCU. In consultation with medical experts, eight ADL were classified. In this study, 10 healthy participants (6 women

Safety, Liveness and Run-time Refinement for Modular Process-Aware Information Systems with Dynamic Sub Processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Debois, Søren; Hildebrandt, Thomas; Slaats, Tijs

2015-01-01

and verification of flexible, run-time adaptable process-aware information systems, moved into practice via the Dynamic Condition Response (DCR) Graphs notation co-developed with our industrial partner. Our key contributions are: (1) A formal theory of dynamic sub-process instantiation for declarative, event......We study modularity, run-time adaptation and refinement under safety and liveness constraints in event-based process models with dynamic sub-process instantiation. The study is part of a larger programme to provide semantically well-founded technologies for modelling, implementation......-based processes under safety and liveness constraints, given as the DCR* process language, equipped with a compositional operational semantics and conservatively extending the DCR Graphs notation; (2) an expressiveness analysis revealing that the DCR* process language is Turing-complete, while the fragment cor...

A Complexity-Aware Video Adaptation Mechanism for Live Streaming Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Homer H

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The paradigm shift of network design from performance-centric to constraint-centric has called for new signal processing techniques to deal with various aspects of resource-constrained communication and networking. In this paper, we consider the computational constraints of a multimedia communication system and propose a video adaptation mechanism for live video streaming of multiple channels. The video adaptation mechanism includes three salient features. First, it adjusts the computational resource of the streaming server block by block to provide a fine control of the encoding complexity. Second, as far as we know, it is the first mechanism to allocate the computational resource to multiple channels. Third, it utilizes a complexity-distortion model to determine the optimal coding parameter values to achieve global optimization. These techniques constitute the basic building blocks for a successful application of wireless and Internet video to digital home, surveillance, IPTV, and online games.

A Complexity-Aware Video Adaptation Mechanism for Live Streaming Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Meng-Ting; Yao, Jason J.; Chen, Homer H.

2007-12-01

The paradigm shift of network design from performance-centric to constraint-centric has called for new signal processing techniques to deal with various aspects of resource-constrained communication and networking. In this paper, we consider the computational constraints of a multimedia communication system and propose a video adaptation mechanism for live video streaming of multiple channels. The video adaptation mechanism includes three salient features. First, it adjusts the computational resource of the streaming server block by block to provide a fine control of the encoding complexity. Second, as far as we know, it is the first mechanism to allocate the computational resource to multiple channels. Third, it utilizes a complexity-distortion model to determine the optimal coding parameter values to achieve global optimization. These techniques constitute the basic building blocks for a successful application of wireless and Internet video to digital home, surveillance, IPTV, and online games.

Hands-On Experiences in Deploying Cost-Effective Ambient-Assisted Living Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Dasios, Athanasios; Gavalas, Damianos; Pantziou, Grammati; Konstantopoulos, Charalampos

2015-06-18

Older adults' preferences to remain independent in their own homes along with the high costs of nursing home care have motivated the development of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies which aim at improving the safety, health conditions and wellness of the elderly. This paper reports hands-on experiences in designing, implementing and operating UbiCare, an AAL based prototype system for elderly home care monitoring. The monitoring is based on the recording of environmental parameters like temperature and light intensity as well as micro-level incidents which allows one to infer daily activities like moving, sitting, sleeping, usage of electrical appliances and plumbing components. The prototype is built upon inexpensive, off-the-shelf hardware (e.g., various sensors, Arduino microcontrollers, ZigBee-compatible wireless communication modules) and license-free software, thereby ensuring low system deployment costs. The network comprises nodes placed in a house's main rooms or mounted on furniture, one wearable node, one actuator node and a centralized processing element (coordinator). Upon detecting significant deviations from the ordinary activity patterns of individuals and/or sudden falls, the system issues automated alarms which may be forwarded to authorized caregivers via a variety of communication channels. Furthermore, measured environmental parameters and activity incidents may be monitored through standard web interfaces.

Hands-On Experiences in Deploying Cost-Effective Ambient-Assisted Living Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Athanasios Dasios

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Older adults’ preferences to remain independent in their own homes along with the high costs of nursing home care have motivated the development of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL technologies which aim at improving the safety, health conditions and wellness of the elderly. This paper reports hands-on experiences in designing, implementing and operating UbiCare, an AAL based prototype system for elderly home care monitoring. The monitoring is based on the recording of environmental parameters like temperature and light intensity as well as micro-level incidents which allows one to infer daily activities like moving, sitting, sleeping, usage of electrical appliances and plumbing components. The prototype is built upon inexpensive, off-the-shelf hardware (e.g., various sensors, Arduino microcontrollers, ZigBee-compatible wireless communication modules and license-free software, thereby ensuring low system deployment costs. The network comprises nodes placed in a house’s main rooms or mounted on furniture, one wearable node, one actuator node and a centralized processing element (coordinator. Upon detecting significant deviations from the ordinary activity patterns of individuals and/or sudden falls, the system issues automated alarms which may be forwarded to authorized caregivers via a variety of communication channels. Furthermore, measured environmental parameters and activity incidents may be monitored through standard web interfaces.

Understanding Cancer Prognosis

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... content Español 1-800-4-CANCER Live Chat Publications Dictionary Menu Contact Dictionary Search About Cancer Causes ... and Young Adults with Cancer Reports, Research, and Literature Cancers by Body Location/System Childhood Cancers Late ...

Understanding healthcare innovation systems: the Stockholm region case.

Science.gov (United States)

Larisch, Lisa-Marie; Amer-Wåhlin, Isis; Hidefjäll, Patrik

2016-11-21

Purpose There is an increasing interest in understanding how innovation processes can address current challenges in healthcare. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the wider socio-economic context and conditions for such innovation processes in the Stockholm region, using the functional dynamics approach to innovation systems (ISs). Design/methodology/approach The analysis is based on triangulation using data from 16 in-depth interviews, two workshops, and additional documents. Using the functional dynamics approach, critical structural and functional components of the healthcare IS were analyzed. Findings The analysis revealed several mechanisms blocking innovation processes such as fragmentation, lack of clear leadership, as well as insufficient involvement of patients and healthcare professionals. Furthermore, innovation is expected to occur linearly as a result of research. Restrictive rules for collaboration with industry, reimbursement, and procurement mechanisms limit entrepreneurial experimentation, commercialization, and spread of innovations. Research limitations/implications In this study, the authors analyzed how certain functions of the functional dynamics approach to ISs related to each other. The authors grouped knowledge creation, resource mobilization, and legitimacy as they jointly constitute conditions for needs articulation and entrepreneurial experimentation. The economic effects of entrepreneurial experimentation and needs articulation are mainly determined by the stage of market formation and existence of positive externalities. Social implications Stronger user involvement; a joint innovation strategy for healthcare, academia, and industry; and institutional reform are necessary to remove blocking mechanisms that today prevent innovation from occurring. Originality/value This study is the first to provide an analysis of the system of innovation in healthcare using a functional dynamics approach, which has evolved as a tool for public

Speech Understanding with a New Implant Technology: A Comparative Study with a New Nonskin Penetrating Baha System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anja Kurz

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. To compare hearing and speech understanding between a new, nonskin penetrating Baha system (Baha Attract to the current Baha system using a skin-penetrating abutment. Methods. Hearing and speech understanding were measured in 16 experienced Baha users. The transmission path via the abutment was compared to a simulated Baha Attract transmission path by attaching the implantable magnet to the abutment and then by adding a sample of artificial skin and the external parts of the Baha Attract system. Four different measurements were performed: bone conduction thresholds directly through the sound processor (BC Direct, aided sound field thresholds, aided speech understanding in quiet, and aided speech understanding in noise. Results. The simulated Baha Attract transmission path introduced an attenuation starting from approximately 5 dB at 1000 Hz, increasing to 20–25 dB above 6000 Hz. However, aided sound field threshold shows smaller differences and aided speech understanding in quiet and in noise does not differ significantly between the two transmission paths. Conclusion. The Baha Attract system transmission path introduces predominately high frequency attenuation. This attenuation can be partially compensated by adequate fitting of the speech processor. No significant decrease in speech understanding in either quiet or in noise was found.

Do dogs live in joint families? Understanding allo-parental care in free-ranging dogs

OpenAIRE

Paul, Manabi; Bhadra, Anindita

2016-01-01

Cooperative breeding is an excellent example of altruistic cooperation in social groups. Domestic dogs have evolved from cooperatively hunting and breeding ancestors, but have adapted to a facultatively social scavenging lifestyle on streets, and solitary living in human homes. Pets typically breed and reproduce under human supervision, but free-ranging dogs can provide insights into the natural breeding biology of dogs. We conducted a five year long study on parental care of free-ranging dog...

Vibrational imaging of newly synthesized proteins in live cells by stimulated Raman scattering microscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Lu; Yu, Yong; Shen, Yihui; Wang, Meng C.; Min, Wei

2013-01-01

Synthesis of new proteins, a key step in the central dogma of molecular biology, has been a major biological process by which cells respond rapidly to environmental cues in both physiological and pathological conditions. However, the selective visualization of a newly synthesized proteome in living systems with subcellular resolution has proven to be rather challenging, despite the extensive efforts along the lines of fluorescence staining, autoradiography, and mass spectrometry. Herein, we report an imaging technique to visualize nascent proteins by harnessing the emerging stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy coupled with metabolic incorporation of deuterium-labeled amino acids. As a first demonstration, we imaged newly synthesized proteins in live mammalian cells with high spatial–temporal resolution without fixation or staining. Subcellular compartments with fast protein turnover in HeLa and HEK293T cells, and newly grown neurites in differentiating neuron-like N2A cells, are clearly identified via this imaging technique. Technically, incorporation of deuterium-labeled amino acids is minimally perturbative to live cells, whereas SRS imaging of exogenous carbon–deuterium bonds (C–D) in the cell-silent Raman region is highly sensitive, specific, and compatible with living systems. Moreover, coupled with label-free SRS imaging of the total proteome, our method can readily generate spatial maps of the quantitative ratio between new and total proteomes. Thus, this technique of nonlinear vibrational imaging of stable isotope incorporation will be a valuable tool to advance our understanding of the complex spatial and temporal dynamics of newly synthesized proteome in vivo. PMID:23798434

What can long-lived mutants tell us about mechanisms causing aging and lifespan variation in natural environments?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Briga, Michael; Verhulst, Simon

2015-01-01

Long-lived mutants of model organisms have brought remarkable progress in our understanding of aging mechanisms. However, long-lived mutants are usually maintained in optimal standardized laboratory environments (SLEs), and it is not obvious to what extent insights from long-lived mutants in SLEs

Understanding soft condensed matter via modeling and computation

CERN Document Server

Shi, An-Chang

2011-01-01

All living organisms consist of soft matter. For this reason alone, it is important to be able to understand and predict the structural and dynamical properties of soft materials such as polymers, surfactants, colloids, granular matter and liquids crystals. To achieve a better understanding of soft matter, three different approaches have to be integrated: experiment, theory and simulation. This book focuses on the third approach - but always in the context of the other two.

Understanding the effect of adaptive preference elicitation methods on user satisfaction of a recommender system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Knijnenburg, B.P.; Willemsen, M.C.

2009-01-01

In a recommender system that suggests options based on user attribute weights, the method of preference elicitation (PE) employed by a recommender system can influence users' satisfaction with the system, as well as the perceived usefulness and the understandability of the system. Specifically, we

The Biosphere as a Living System. On Peculiarities of the Evolutionary Process on the Biosphere Level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexej Yablokov

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of this second essay the “biospherology” is to streamline and formalize the existing knowledge about the biosphere, to develop the theoretical basis of the theory of evolution of the biosphere. Despite the vast amount of research on ways of origin and development of life, yet there is no generally accepted theory of evolution of life on Earth, which would not only contain the phenomenology of this process, but also an understanding of the mechanism of functioning of the biosphere as a self-regulating living organism. In the first essay, the necessity of such an understanding to preserve life-supporting functions of the biosphere under increasing anthropogenic pressure. As solution it has been proposed in the form of transition to the managed (controlled evolution of the biosphere – to process of maintenance of life-supporting ability of the biosphere by management of Humankind activity. This essay is an attempt to create a consistent picture of the structure and functioning of the Earth life, the main achievements of the evolution of life, led to the almost completely closed (to the Anthropocene self-sustaining biosphere cycling of substance and energy, the growth of "sum of life" and evolve the social form of matter from biological one. The proposed view of the multidimensional picture of life on Earth consists of the determination of necessary and sufficient properties of a life matter, formulate functioning principles of the life, and determind of the different levels of organization of life. Among the main features of living: discreetness, integritiness, self-reproducibility, dissymmetriness, cooperativeness, mortality, orderness, energy saturation, informational content. Among the main principles of the functioning of the life: the unity of the biological structure (phenotype and the program for its construction (genotype, transmitted in generations; matrix way of transmission of the programs of development

Environments of Long-Lived Mesoscale Convective Systems Over the Central United States in Convection Permitting Climate Simulations: Long-Lived Mesoscale Convective Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Qing [Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Houze, Robert A. [Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle WA USA; Leung, L. Ruby [Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA; Feng, Zhe [Atmospheric Sciences and Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland WA USA

2017-12-27

Continental-scale convection-permitting simulations of the warm seasons of 2011 and 2012 reproduce realistic structure and frequency distribution of lifetime and event mean precipitation of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) over the central United States. Analysis is performed to determine the environmental conditions conducive to generating the longest-lived MCSs and their subsequent interactions. The simulations show that MCSs systematically form over the Great Plains ahead of a trough in the westerlies in combination with an enhanced low-level jet from the Gulf of Mexico. These environmental properties at the time of storm initiation are most prominent for the MCSs that persist for the longest times. Systems reaching 9 h or more in lifetime exhibit feedback to the environment conditions through diabatic heating in the MCS stratiform regions. As a result, the parent synoptic-scale wave is strengthened as a divergent perturbation develops over the MCS at high levels, while a cyclonic circulation perturbation develops in the midlevels of the trough, where the vertical gradient of heating in the MCS region is maximized. The quasi-balanced mesoscale vortex helps to maintain the MCS over a long period of time by feeding dry, cool air into the environment at the rear of the MCS region, so that the MCS can draw in air that increases the evaporative cooling that helps maintain the MCS. At lower levels the south-southeasterly jet of warm moist air from the Gulf is enhanced in the presence of the synoptic-scale wave. That moisture supply is essential to the continued redevelopment of the MCS.

Characterising the Development of the Understanding of Human Body Systems in High-School Biology Students--A Longitudinal Study

Science.gov (United States)

Snapir, Zohar; Eberbach, Catherine; Ben-Zvi-Assaraf, Orit; Hmelo-Silver, Cindy; Tripto, Jaklin

2017-01-01

Science education today has become increasingly focused on research into complex natural, social and technological systems. In this study, we examined the development of high-school biology students' systems understanding of the human body, in a three-year longitudinal study. The development of the students' system understanding was evaluated…

Origins and consequences of technology acquirement by independent-living seniors: towards an integrative model.

Science.gov (United States)

Peek, S T M; Luijkx, K G; Vrijhoef, H J M; Nieboer, M E; Aarts, S; van der Voort, C S; Rijnaard, M D; Wouters, E J M

2017-08-22

Living independently can be challenging for seniors. Technologies are expected to help older adults age in place, yet little empirical research is available on how seniors develop a need for technologies, how they acquire these technologies, and how these subsequently affect their lives. Aging is complex, dynamic and personal. But how does this translate to seniors' adoption and acceptance of technology? To better understand origins and consequences of technology acquirement by independent-living seniors, an explorative longitudinal qualitative field study was set up. Home visits were made to 33 community-dwelling seniors living in the Netherlands, on three occasions (2012-2014). Semi-structured interviews were conducted on the timeline of acquirements, and people and factors involved in acquirements. Additionally, participants were interviewed on experiences in using technologies since acquirement. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze interview transcripts, using a realist approach to better understand the contexts, mechanisms and outcomes of technology acquirements. Findings were accumulated in a new conceptual model: The Cycle of Technology Acquirement by Independent-Living Seniors (C-TAILS), which provides an integrative perspective on why and how technologies are acquired, and why these may or may not prove to be appropriate and effective, considering an independent-living senior's needs and circumstances at a given point in time. We found that externally driven and purely desire-driven acquirements led to a higher risk of suboptimal use and low levels of need satisfaction. Technology acquirement by independent-living seniors may be best characterized as a heterogeneous process with many different origins, pathways and consequences. Furthermore, technologies that are acquired in ways that are not congruent with seniors' personal needs and circumstances run a higher risk of proving to be ineffective or inappropriate. Yet, these needs and circumstances are

Sigma-1 Receptor as a Pluripotent Modulator in the Living System

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Tsung-Ping; Su, Tzu-Chieh; Nakamura, Yoki; Tsai, Shang-Yi

2016-01-01

The sigma-1 receptor (Sig-1R) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein resides specifically at the interface between ER and mitochondria, called the MAM, where the Sig-1R is recently reported to be involved in certain CNS diseases. In addition to being able to translocate to the plasma membrane to interact with ion channels and other receptors, the Sig-1R is found to exist at the nuclear envelope where it recruits chromatin-remodeling factors to affect the transcription of genes. As well, thorough experimental and bioinformatic means, Sig-1Rs are reported to interact with other membranous or soluble proteins at other loci, including the cytosol. We propose that the Sig-1R is a pluripotent modulator with resultant multiple functional manifestations in the living system. PMID:26869505

Lived experience of patients on tuberculosis treatment in Tshwane ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Oluwafunmilayo Olabisi Akeju

a Adelaide Tambo School of Nursing, Tshwane University of Technology, ... better understanding of being a patient taking tuberculosis treatment and to improve ... tuberculosis treatment, which has contributed to an increase ... own perspective, what has been your lived experience since ... Intention to complete treatment.

Solar Living House Final Technical Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walters, Bradley [Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)

2017-03-09

The Solar Living House is a high-performance solar-powered dwelling designed by a team of faculty and students from the University of Florida, in collaboration with Santa Fe College, the National University of Singapore, and Alachua Habitat for Humanity. The project was designed in accordance with the Solar Decathlon 2015, a research, design, education, and outreach program developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The Solar Living House is fundamentally a house for living, centered on people and the activities of daily life while quietly introducing advanced design, construction, and engineering technologies. The 993 square-foot two-bedroom one-bath home was designed to embrace and frame an exterior courtyard space. This courtyard acts as an extension of the interior living spaces, maximizing the spatial potentials of a modest building footprint and introducing natural light into the primary living spaces of the house. Research Outcomes: The Solar Living House advances work on high-performance buildings through three principal technological innovations: wet/dry modular construction, a building automation system, and solar dehumidification systems. Wet / Dry Modular Construction: The house is designed as a series of five modules, including one that is designated as the “wet core.” The wet core consolidates the mechanical systems and bathroom into a single module to reduce plumbing runs, efficiency losses, and on-site construction time. The other four modules are designed to eliminate interior load bearing walls to allow for maximum flexibility in the reconfiguring of the space over time. The modules are designed to meet the structural challenges of both Florida’s hurricanes and California’s earthquakes. Building Automation System: The house is equipped with an integrated building automation system, allowing the houses environmental systems, lights, security systems, and smoke detectors to be programmed, monitored, and controlled through any mobile

Explorer-II: Wireless Self-Powered Visual and NDE Robotic Inspection System for Live Gas Distribution Mains

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carnegie Mellon University

2008-09-30

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) under contract from Department of Energy/National Energy Technology Laboratory (DoE/NETL) and co-funding from the Northeast Gas Association (NGA), has completed the overall system design, field-trial and Magnetic Flux Leakage (MFL) sensor evaluation program for the next-generation Explorer-II (X-II) live gas main Non-destructive Evaluation (NDE) and visual inspection robot platform. The design is based on the Explorer-I prototype which was built and field-tested under a prior (also DoE- and NGA co-funded) program, and served as the validation that self-powered robots under wireless control could access and navigate live natural gas distribution mains. The X-II system design ({approx}8 ft. and 66 lbs.) was heavily based on the X-I design, yet was substantially expanded to allow the addition of NDE sensor systems (while retaining its visual inspection capability), making it a modular system, and expanding its ability to operate at pressures up to 750 psig (high-pressure and unpiggable steel-pipe distribution mains). A new electronics architecture and on-board software kernel were added to again improve system performance. A locating sonde system was integrated to allow for absolute position-referencing during inspection (coupled with external differential GPS) and emergency-locating. The power system was upgraded to utilize lithium-based battery-cells for an increase in mission-time. The resulting robot-train system with CAD renderings of the individual modules. The system architecture now relies on a dual set of end camera-modules to house the 32-bit processors (Single-Board Computer or SBC) as well as the imaging and wireless (off-board) and CAN-based (on-board) communication hardware and software systems (as well as the sonde-coil and -electronics). The drive-module (2 ea.) are still responsible for bracing (and centering) to drive in push/pull fashion the robot train into and through the pipes and obstacles. The steering modules

Using Aha! Moments to Understand Leadership Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Lori L.; Lewis, Lauren J.

2012-01-01

As Huber (2002) noted, striving to understand how leadership is taught and learned is both a challenge and an opportunity facing leadership educators. This article describes the "Leadership Aha! Moment" assignment used in a leadership theory course to help students recognize the intersection of leadership theories and their daily lives while…

Understanding Teenage Girls: Culture, Identity and Schooling

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Horace R.; Brown-Thirston, Andrea

2011-01-01

"Understanding Teenage Girls: Culture, Identity and Schooling" focuses on a range of social phenomenon that impact the lives of adolescent females of color. The authors highlight the daily challenges that African-American, Chicana, and Puerto Rican teenage girls face with respect to peer and family influences, media stereotyping, body image,…

Writing Our Lived Experience: Beyond the (Pale) Hermeneutic?

Science.gov (United States)

Geelan, David R.; Taylor, Peter C.

2001-01-01

Makes a case for an alternative epistemology of research based on the hermeneutic-phenomenology of Max van Manen (1990). This interpretive approach to understanding the nature of a social phenomenon involves the researcher in making explicit the meaning of a particular lived experience and generating a pedagogical thoughtfulness in readers.…

The influence of radiation on living organisms; Wplyw promieniowania na organizmy zywe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Szumiel, I; Wojcik, A [Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Warsaw (Poland)

1997-10-01

Biological radiation effects in living systems have been reviewed. Radiation injuries on molecular level as well as in cells and whole living organisms have been described in detail. Dose-response relationships and repair mechanisms in living systems have been shown. 3 refs, 6 figs, 1 tab.

LCFM - LIVING COLOR FRAME MAKER: PC GRAPHICS GENERATION AND MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR REAL-TIME APPLICATIONS

Science.gov (United States)