ViSA: a neurodynamic model for visuo-spatial working memory, attentional blink, and conscious access.

Science.gov (United States)

Simione, Luca; Raffone, Antonino; Wolters, Gezinus; Salmas, Paola; Nakatani, Chie; Belardinelli, Marta Olivetti; van Leeuwen, Cees

2012-10-01

Two separate lines of study have clarified the role of selectivity in conscious access to visual information. Both involve presenting multiple targets and distracters: one simultaneously in a spatially distributed fashion, the other sequentially at a single location. To understand their findings in a unified framework, we propose a neurodynamic model for Visual Selection and Awareness (ViSA). ViSA supports the view that neural representations for conscious access and visuo-spatial working memory are globally distributed and are based on recurrent interactions between perceptual and access control processors. Its flexible global workspace mechanisms enable a unitary account of a broad range of effects: It accounts for the limited storage capacity of visuo-spatial working memory, attentional cueing, and efficient selection with multi-object displays, as well as for the attentional blink and associated sparing and masking effects. In particular, the speed of consolidation for storage in visuo-spatial working memory in ViSA is not fixed but depends adaptively on the input and recurrent signaling. Slowing down of consolidation due to weak bottom-up and recurrent input as a result of brief presentation and masking leads to the attentional blink. Thus, ViSA goes beyond earlier 2-stage and neuronal global workspace accounts of conscious processing limitations. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Brain resting-state networks in adolescents with high-functioning autism: Analysis of spatial connectivity and temporal neurodynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernas, Antoine; Barendse, Evelien M; Aldenkamp, Albert P; Backes, Walter H; Hofman, Paul A M; Hendriks, Marc P H; Kessels, Roy P C; Willems, Frans M J; de With, Peter H N; Zinger, Svitlana; Jansen, Jacobus F A

2018-02-01

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is mainly characterized by functional and communication impairments as well as restrictive and repetitive behavior. The leading hypothesis for the neural basis of autism postulates globally abnormal brain connectivity, which can be assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Even in the absence of a task, the brain exhibits a high degree of functional connectivity, known as intrinsic, or resting-state, connectivity. Global default connectivity in individuals with autism versus controls is not well characterized, especially for a high-functioning young population. The aim of this study is to test whether high-functioning adolescents with ASD (HFA) have an abnormal resting-state functional connectivity. We performed spatial and temporal analyses on resting-state networks (RSNs) in 13 HFA adolescents and 13 IQ- and age-matched controls. For the spatial analysis, we used probabilistic independent component analysis (ICA) and a permutation statistical method to reveal the RSN differences between the groups. For the temporal analysis, we applied Granger causality to find differences in temporal neurodynamics. Controls and HFA display very similar patterns and strengths of resting-state connectivity. We do not find any significant differences between HFA adolescents and controls in the spatial resting-state connectivity. However, in the temporal dynamics of this connectivity, we did find differences in the causal effect properties of RSNs originating in temporal and prefrontal cortices. The results show a difference between HFA and controls in the temporal neurodynamics from the ventral attention network to the salience-executive network: a pathway involving cognitive, executive, and emotion-related cortices. We hypothesized that this weaker dynamic pathway is due to a subtle trigger challenging the cognitive state prior to the resting state.

Mechanosensitivity during lower extremity neurodynamic testing is diminished in individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and peripheral neuropathy: a cross sectional study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boyd Benjamin S

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM and diabetic symmetrical polyneuropathy (DSP impact multiple modalities of sensation including light touch, temperature, position sense and vibration perception. No study to date has examined the mechanosensitivity of peripheral nerves during limb movement in this population. The objective was to determine the unique effects T2DM and DSP have on nerve mechanosensitivity in the lower extremity. Methods This cross-sectional study included 43 people with T2DM. Straight leg raise neurodynamic tests were performed with ankle plantar flexion (PF/SLR and dorsiflexion (DF/SLR. Hip flexion range of motion (ROM, lower extremity muscle activity and symptom profile, intensity and location were measured at rest, first onset of symptoms (P1 and maximally tolerated symptoms (P2. Results The addition of ankle dorsiflexion during SLR testing reduced the hip flexion ROM by 4.3° ± 6.5° at P1 and by 5.4° ± 4.9° at P2. Individuals in the T2DM group with signs of severe DSP (n = 9 had no difference in hip flexion ROM between PF/SLR and DF/SLR at P1 (1.4° ± 4.2°; paired t-test p = 0.34 or P2 (0.9° ± 2.5°; paired t-test p = 0.31. Movement induced muscle activity was absent during SLR with the exception of the tibialis anterior during DF/SLR testing. Increases in symptom intensity during SLR testing were similar for both PF/SLR and DF/SLR. The addition of ankle dorsiflexion induced more frequent posterior leg symptoms when taken to P2. Conclusions Consistent with previous recommendations in the literature, P1 is an appropriate test end point for SLR neurodynamic testing in people with T2DM. However, our findings suggest that people with T2DM and severe DSP have limited responses to SLR neurodynamic testing, and thus may be at risk for harm from nerve overstretch and the information gathered will be of limited clinical value.

Self-organization, free energy minimization, and optimal grip on a field of affordances.

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Bruineberg, Jelle; Rietveld, Erik

2014-01-01

In this paper, we set out to develop a theoretical and conceptual framework for the new field of Radical Embodied Cognitive Neuroscience. This framework should be able to integrate insights from several relevant disciplines: theory on embodied cognition, ecological psychology, phenomenology, dynamical systems theory, and neurodynamics. We suggest that the main task of Radical Embodied Cognitive Neuroscience is to investigate the phenomenon of skilled intentionality from the perspective of the self-organization of the brain-body-environment system, while doing justice to the phenomenology of skilled action. In previous work, we have characterized skilled intentionality as the organism's tendency toward an optimal grip on multiple relevant affordances simultaneously. Affordances are possibilities for action provided by the environment. In the first part of this paper, we introduce the notion of skilled intentionality and the phenomenon of responsiveness to a field of relevant affordances. Second, we use Friston's work on neurodynamics, but embed a very minimal version of his Free Energy Principle in the ecological niche of the animal. Thus amended, this principle is helpful for understanding the embeddedness of neurodynamics within the dynamics of the system "brain-body-landscape of affordances." Next, we show how we can use this adjusted principle to understand the neurodynamics of selective openness to the environment: interacting action-readiness patterns at multiple timescales contribute to the organism's selective openness to relevant affordances. In the final part of the paper, we emphasize the important role of metastable dynamics in both the brain and the brain-body-environment system for adequate affordance-responsiveness. We exemplify our integrative approach by presenting research on the impact of Deep Brain Stimulation on affordance responsiveness of OCD patients.

Collective neurodynamic optimization for economic emission dispatch problem considering valve point effect in microgrid.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Tiancai; He, Xing; Huang, Tingwen; Li, Chuandong; Zhang, Wei

2017-09-01

The economic emission dispatch (EED) problem aims to control generation cost and reduce the impact of waste gas on the environment. It has multiple constraints and nonconvex objectives. To solve it, the collective neurodynamic optimization (CNO) method, which combines heuristic approach and projection neural network (PNN), is attempted to optimize scheduling of an electrical microgrid with ten thermal generators and minimize the plus of generation and emission cost. As the objective function has non-derivative points considering valve point effect (VPE), differential inclusion approach is employed in the PNN model introduced to deal with them. Under certain conditions, the local optimality and convergence of the dynamic model for the optimization problem is analyzed. The capability of the algorithm is verified in a complicated situation, where transmission loss and prohibited operating zones are considered. In addition, the dynamic variation of load power at demand side is considered and the optimal scheduling of generators within 24 h is described. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Efficacy of Manual Therapy Including Neurodynamic Techniques for the Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

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Wolny, Tomasz; Saulicz, Edward; Linek, Paweł; Shacklock, Michael; Myśliwiec, Andrzej

2017-05-01

The purpose of this randomized trial was to compare the efficacy of manual therapy, including the use of neurodynamic techniques, with electrophysical modalities on patients with mild and moderate carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). The study included 140 CTS patients who were randomly assigned to the manual therapy (MT) group, which included the use of neurodynamic techniques, functional massage, and carpal bone mobilizations techniques, or to the electrophysical modalities (EM) group, which included laser and ultrasound therapy. Nerve conduction, pain severity, symptom severity, and functional status measured by the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire were assessed before and after treatment. Therapy was conducted twice weekly and both groups received 20 therapy sessions. A baseline assessment revealed group differences in sensory conduction of the median nerve (P < .01) but not in motor conduction (P = .82). Four weeks after the last treatment procedure, nerve conduction was examined again. In the MT group, median nerve sensory conduction velocity increased by 34% and motor conduction velocity by 6% (in both cases, P < .01). There was no change in median nerve sensory and motor conduction velocities in the EM. Distal motor latency was decreased (P < .01) in both groups. A baseline assessment revealed no group differences in pain severity, symptom severity, or functional status. Immediately after therapy, analysis of variance revealed group differences in pain severity (P < .01), with a reduction in pain in both groups (MT: 290%, P < .01; EM: 47%, P < .01). There were group differences in symptom severity (P < .01) and function (P < .01) on the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire. Both groups had an improvement in functional status (MT: 47%, P < .01; EM: 9%, P < .01) and a reduction in subjective CTS symptoms (MT: 67%, P < .01; EM: 15%, P < .01). Both therapies had a positive effect on nerve conduction, pain reduction, functional status, and subjective symptoms in

Self-organization, free energy minimization, and optimal grip on a field of affordances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jelle eBruineberg

2014-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we set out to develop a theoretical and conceptual framework for the new field of Radical Embodied Cognitive Neuroscience. This framework should be able to integrate insights from several relevant disciplines: theory on embodied cognition, ecological psychology, phenomenology, dynamical systems theory, and neurodynamics. We suggest that the main task of Radical Embodied Cognitive Neuroscience is to investigate the phenomenon of skilled intentionality from the perspective of the self-organization of the brain-body-environment system, while doing justice to the phenomenology of skilled action. In previous work, we have characterized skilled intentionality as the organism’s tendency towards an optimal grip on multiple relevant affordances simultaneously. Affordances are possibilities for action provided by the environment. In the first part of this paper, we introduce the notion of skilled intentionality and the phenomenon of responsiveness to a field of relevant affordances. Second, we use Friston’s work on neurodynamics, but embed a very minimal version of his Free Energy Principle in the ecological niche of the animal. Thus amended, this principle is helpful for understanding the embeddedness of neurodynamics within the dynamics of the brain-body-environment system. Next, we show how we can use this adjusted principle to understand the neurodynamics of selective openness to the environment: interacting action-readiness patterns at multiple timescales contribute to the organism’s selective openness to relevant affordances. In the final part of the paper, we emphasize the important role of metastable dynamics in both the brain and the brain-body-environment system for adequate affordance-responsiveness. We exemplify our integrative approach by presenting research on the impact of Deep Brain Stimulation on affordance responsiveness of OCD patients.

The validity of upper-limb neurodynamic tests for detecting peripheral neuropathic pain.

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Nee, Robert J; Jull, Gwendolen A; Vicenzino, Bill; Coppieters, Michel W

2012-05-01

The validity of upper-limb neurodynamic tests (ULNTs) for detecting peripheral neuropathic pain (PNP) was assessed by reviewing the evidence on plausibility, the definition of a positive test, reliability, and concurrent validity. Evidence was identified by a structured search for peer-reviewed articles published in English before May 2011. The quality of concurrent validity studies was assessed with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool, where appropriate. Biomechanical and experimental pain data support the plausibility of ULNTs. Evidence suggests that a positive ULNT should at least partially reproduce the patient's symptoms and that structural differentiation should change these symptoms. Data indicate that this definition of a positive ULNT is reliable when used clinically. Limited evidence suggests that the median nerve test, but not the radial nerve test, helps determine whether a patient has cervical radiculopathy. The median nerve test does not help diagnose carpal tunnel syndrome. These findings should be interpreted cautiously, because diagnostic accuracy might have been distorted by the investigators' definitions of a positive ULNT. Furthermore, patients with PNP who presented with increased nerve mechanosensitivity rather than conduction loss might have been incorrectly classified by electrophysiological reference standards as not having PNP. The only evidence for concurrent validity of the ulnar nerve test was a case study on cubital tunnel syndrome. We recommend that researchers develop more comprehensive reference standards for PNP to accurately assess the concurrent validity of ULNTs and continue investigating the predictive validity of ULNTs for prognosis or treatment response.

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.    

Neurodynamic responses to the femoral slump test in patients with anterior knee pain syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Pei-Ling; Shih, Yi-Fen; Chen, Wen-Yin; Ma, Hsiao-Li

2014-05-01

Matched-control, cross-sectional study. The purpose of this study was to compare the responses to the femoral slump test (FST), including the change in hip range of motion and level of discomfort, between subjects with and without anterior knee pain. Anterior knee pain syndrome is a common problem among adults. The FST is the neurodynamic test used to assess the mechanosensitivity of the femoral component of the nervous system. However, as of yet, there is no literature discussing the use of the FST in patients with anterior knee pain. Thirty patients with anterior knee pain and 30 control participants, matched by gender, age, and dominant leg, were recruited. The subjects received the FST, during which the hip extension angle and the location and intensity of pain/discomfort were recorded. Reproduction of symptoms that were alleviated by neck extension was interpreted as a positive test. Differences in hip extension angle and pain intensity between groups were examined using a 2-way, repeated-measures analysis of variance and a Kruskal-Wallis analysis. The level of significance was set at α = .05. Subjects with anterior knee pain had a smaller hip extension angle than that of controls (-3.6° ± 5.3° versus 0.6° ± 6.1°; mean difference, 4.2°; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.24°, 7.15°; P = .006). Eight patients with anterior knee pain showed a positive FST, and those with a positive FST had a smaller hip extension angle (-5.7° ± 4.5°) than that of controls (mean difference, 6.3°; 95% CI: 0.8°, 11.8°; P = .007). There was no difference in the hip extension angle between the positive and negative FST groups (mean difference, 2.9°; 95% CI: -8.5°, 2.0°) or between the negative FST and control groups (mean difference, 3.4°; 95% CI: -0.4°, 7.3°). Results of this study suggest that altered mechanosensitivity of the femoral nerve occurred in the patients with anterior knee pain who presented with a positive FST. The role of increased mechanosensitivity

EDITORIAL: Special issue on applied neurodynamics: from neural dynamics to neural engineering Special issue on applied neurodynamics: from neural dynamics to neural engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Chiel, Hillel J.; Thomas, Peter J.

2011-12-01

is, as we agreed provisionally to say, knowledge which is likely, now or in the comparatively near future, to contribute to the material comfort of mankind, so that mere intellectual satisfaction is irrelevant, then the great bulk of higher mathematics is useless. Modern geometry and algebra, the theory of numbers, the theory of aggregates and functions, relativity, quantum mechanics—no one of them stands the test much better than another, and there is no real mathematician whose life can be justified on this ground. If this be the test, then Abel, Riemann and Poincaré wasted their lives; their contribution to human comfort was negligible, and the world would have been as happy a place without them.'. Ironically, the famous Rivest, Shamir and Adleman (RSA) algorithm, which currently underpins much of modern cryptography, depends on fundamental ideas from number theory (Cormen et al 2001). Finally, the indeterminacy of the quantum states of light, atoms and molecules, a source of great theoretical interest in the first quarter of the last century, is now in the process of being harnessed for creating algorithms, and novel computers, that can solve problems that could not be addressed by current computing devices (Steane 1998, Ralph and Pryde 2010). Thus, perhaps we should not be surprised that a focus on whether a three-body system (such as the sun, earth and moon) would remain stable over time ultimately became the basis for a new geometrical way of thinking about nonlinear dynamical systems, and that this approach has begun to find practical applications in the understanding and control of nervous systems, including novel ideas for brain-computer interfaces. Classical dynamical systems theory began with the work of Newton on the motion of the planets. He was able to solve a two-body problem, the motion of the earth around the sun (Newton 1687, Chandrasekhar 1995). Finding explicit solutions for the slightly more complicated problem of three bodies (for example

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...

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

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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.

Neurodynamic mobilization and foam rolling improved delayed-onset muscle soreness in a healthy adult population: a randomized controlled clinical trial

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Blanca Romero-Moraleda

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Objectives Compare the immediate effects of a Neurodynamic Mobilization (NM treatment or foam roller (FR treatment after DOMS. Design Double blind randomised clinical trial. Setting The participants performed 100 drop jumps (5 sets of 20 repetitions, separated by 2 min rests from a 0.5-m high box in a University biomechanics laboratory to induce muscle soreness. The participants were randomly assigned in a counter-balanced fashion to either a FR or NM treatment group. Participants Thirty-two healthy subjects (21 males and 11 females, mean age 22.6 ± 2.2 years were randomly assigned into the NM group (n = 16 or the FR group (n = 16. Main Outcome Measures The numeric pain rating scale (NPRS; 0–10, isometric leg strength with dynamometry, surface electromyography at maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC and muscle peak activation (MPA upon landing after a test jump were measured at baseline, 48 h after baseline before treatment, and immediately after treatment. Results Both groups showed significant reduction in NPRS scores after treatment (NM: 59%, p  .05. The percentage change improvement in the MVIC for the rectus femoris was the only significant difference between the groups (p < 0.05 at post-treatment. After treatment, only the FR group had a statistically significant improvement (p < 0.01 in strength compared to pre-treatment. Conclusion Our results illustrate that both treatments are effective in reducing pain perception after DOMS whereas only FR application showed differences for the MVIC in the rectus femoris and strength.

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

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

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

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)

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?

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

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...

Understanding Digital Learning from the Perspective of Systems Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Kok, Ayse

2009-01-01

The System Dynamics approach can be seen as a new way of understanding dynamical phenonema (natural, physical, biological, etc.) that occur in our daily lives taking into consideration not only single pairs of cause-effect variables, but the functioning of the system as a whole. This approach also provides the students with a new understanding in…

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…

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...

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...

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...

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.

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

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.)

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.

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

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

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)

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

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.

Applications of chaotic neurodynamics in pattern recognition

Science.gov (United States)

Baird, Bill; Freeman, Walter J.; Eeckman, Frank H.; Yao, Yong

1991-08-01

Network algorithms and architectures for pattern recognition derived from neural models of the olfactory system are reviewed. These span a range from highly abstract to physiologically detailed, and employ the kind of dynamical complexity observed in olfactory cortex, ranging from oscillation to chaos. A simple architecture and algorithm for analytically guaranteed associative memory storage of analog patterns, continuous sequences, and chaotic attractors in the same network is described. A matrix inversion determines network weights, given prototype patterns to be stored. There are N units of capacity in an N node network with 3N2 weights. It costs one unit per static attractor, two per Fourier component of each sequence, and three to four per chaotic attractor. There are no spurious attractors, and for sequences there is a Liapunov function in a special coordinate system which governs the approach of transient states to stored trajectories. Unsupervised or supervised incremental learning algorithms for pattern classification, such as competitive learning or bootstrap Widrow-Hoff can easily be implemented. The architecture can be ''folded'' into a recurrent network with higher order weights that can be used as a model of cortex that stores oscillatory and chaotic attractors by a Hebb rule. Network performance is demonstrated by application to the problem of real-time handwritten digit recognition. An effective system with on-line learning has been written by Eeckman and Baird for the Macintosh. It utilizes static, oscillatory, and/or chaotic attractors of two kinds--Lorenze attractors, or attractors resulting from chaotically interacting oscillatory modes. The successful application to an industrial pattern recognition problem of a network architecture of considerable physiological and dynamical complexity, developed by Freeman and Yao, is described. The data sets of the problem come in three classes of difficulty, and performance of the biological network is

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.

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…

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

Understanding how orthopaedic surgery practices generate value for healthcare systems.

Science.gov (United States)

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

Science.gov (United States)

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.

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

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

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.

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Accuracy of Clinical Tests in Detecting Disk Herniation and Nerve Root Compression in Subjects With Lumbar Radicular Symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Ekedahl, Harald; Jönsson, Bo; Annertz, Mårten; Frobell, Richard B

2018-04-01

To investigate the accuracy of 3 commonly used neurodynamic tests (slump test, straight-leg raise [SLR] test, femoral neurodynamic test) and 2 clinical assessments to determine radiculopathy (radiculopathy I, 1 neurologic sign; radiculopathy II, 2 neurologic signs corresponding to 1 specific nerve root) in detecting magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings (extrusion, subarticular nerve root compression, and foraminal nerve root compression). Validity study. Secondary care. We included subjects (N=99; mean age, 58y; 54% women) referred for epidural steroid injection because of lumbar radicular symptoms who had positive clinical and MRI findings. Positive clinical findings included the slump test (n=67), SLR test (n=50), femoral neurodynamic test (n=7), radiculopathy I (n=70), and radiculopathy II (n=33). Positive MRI findings included extrusion (n=27), subarticular nerve compression (n=14), and foraminal nerve compression (n=25). Not applicable. Accuracy of clinical tests in detecting MRI findings was evaluated using sensitivity, specificity, and receiver operating characteristics analysis with area under the curve (AUC). The slump test had the highest sensitivity in detecting extrusion (.78) and subarticular nerve compression (1.00), but the respective specificity was low (.36 and .38). Radiculopathy I was most sensitive in detecting foraminal nerve compression (.80) but with low specificity (.34). Only 1 assessment had a concurrent high sensitivity and specificity (ie, radiculopathy II) in detecting subarticular nerve compression (.71 and .73, respectively). The AUC for all tests in detecting extrusion, subarticular nerve compression, and foraminal nerve compression showed ranges of .48 to .60, .63 to .82, and .33 to .57, respectively. In general, the investigated neurodynamic tests or assessments for radiculopathy lacked diagnostic accuracy. The slump test was the most sensitive test, while radiculopathy II was the most specific test. Most interestingly, no

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

Science.gov (United States)

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.

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.

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

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...

Fractals and the birth of Gothic: reflections on the biologic basis of creativity.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldberger, A L

1996-05-01

The birth of Gothic, one of the great triumphs of human spiritual and artistic expression, would appear to be a topic remote from the enterprise of contemporary neurobiology. The intent of this brief essay is to explore the possibility that this singular architectural movement may have important implications for understanding the nonlinear dynamics of the brain. We explore the hypothesis that the Gothic cathedral, with its porous, scale-free structures, may represent an externalization of the fractal properties of our physiology in general, and of our neural architectures and neuro-dynamics, in particular.

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...

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

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.

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…

Stochastic Neural Field Theory and the System-Size Expansion

KAUST Repository

Bressloff, Paul C.

2010-01-01

We analyze a master equation formulation of stochastic neurodynamics for a network of synaptically coupled homogeneous neuronal populations each consisting of N identical neurons. The state of the network is specified by the fraction of active or spiking neurons in each population, and transition rates are chosen so that in the thermodynamic or deterministic limit (N → ∞) we recover standard activity-based or voltage-based rate models. We derive the lowest order corrections to these rate equations for large but finite N using two different approximation schemes, one based on the Van Kampen system-size expansion and the other based on path integral methods. Both methods yield the same series expansion of the moment equations, which at O(1/N) can be truncated to form a closed system of equations for the first-and second-order moments. Taking a continuum limit of the moment equations while keeping the system size N fixed generates a system of integrodifferential equations for the mean and covariance of the corresponding stochastic neural field model. We also show how the path integral approach can be used to study large deviation or rare event statistics underlying escape from the basin of attraction of a stable fixed point of the mean-field dynamics; such an analysis is not possible using the system-size expansion since the latter cannot accurately determine exponentially small transitions. © by SIAM.

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...

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.

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

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.

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.

How does undergraduate college biology students' level of understanding, in regard to the role of the seed plant root system, relate to their level of understanding of photosynthesis?

Science.gov (United States)

Njeng'ere, James Gicheha

This research study investigated how undergraduate college biology students' level of understanding of the role of the seed plant root system relates to their level of understanding of photosynthesis. This research was conducted with 65 undergraduate non-majors biology who had completed 1 year of biology at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. A root probe instrument was developed from some scientifically acceptable propositional statements about the root system, the process of photosynthesis, as well as the holistic nature of the tree. These were derived from research reviews of the science education and the arboriculture literature. This was administered to 65 students selected randomly from class lists of the two institutions. Most of the root probe's items were based on the Live Oak tree. An in-depth, clinical interview-based analysis was conducted with 12 of those tested students. A team of root experts participated by designing, validating and answering the same questions that the students were asked. A "systems" lens as defined by a team of college instructors, root experts (Shigo, 1991), and this researcher was used to interpret the results. A correlational coefficient determining students' level of understanding of the root system and their level of understanding of the process of photosynthesis was established by means of Pearson's r correlation (r = 0.328) using the SAS statistical analysis (SAS, 1987). From this a coefficient of determination (r2 = 0.104) was determined. Students' level of understanding of the Live Oak root system (mean score 5.94) was not statistically different from their level of understanding of the process of photosynthesis (mean score 5.54) as assessed by the root probe, t (129) = 0.137, p > 0.05 one tailed-test. This suggests that, to some degree, level of the root system limits level of understanding of photosynthesis and vice versa. Analysis of quantitative and qualitative

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.)

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

Science.gov (United States)

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.…

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.

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.

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....

Binary Factorization in Hopfield-Like Neural Networks: Single-Step Approximation and Computer Simulations

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Frolov, A. A.; Sirota, A.M.; Húsek, Dušan; Muraviev, I. P.

2004-01-01

Roč. 14, č. 2 (2004), s. 139-152 ISSN 1210-0552 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA201/01/1192 Grant - others:BARRANDE(EU) 99010-2/99053; Intellectual computer Systems(EU) Grant 2.45 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1030915 Keywords : nonlinear binary factor analysis * feature extraction * recurrent neural network * Single-Step approximation * neurodynamics simulation * attraction basins * Hebbian learning * unsupervised learning * neuroscience * brain function modeling Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics

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.

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.

Central sensitization does not identify patients with carpal tunnel syndrome who are likely to achieve short-term success with physical therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-de-Las-Peñas, César; Cleland, Joshua A; Ortega-Santiago, Ricardo; de-la-Llave-Rincon, Ana Isabel; Martínez-Perez, Almudena; Pareja, Juan A

2010-11-01

The aim of the current study was to identify whether hyperexcitability of the central nervous system is a prognostic factor for individuals with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) likely to experience rapid and clinical self-reported improvement following a physical therapy program including soft tissue mobilization and nerve slider neurodynamic interventions. Women presenting with clinical and electrophysiological findings of CTS were involved in a prospective single-arm trial. Participants underwent a standardized examination and then a physical therapy session. The physical therapy sessions included both soft tissue mobilization directed at the anatomical sites of potential median nerve entrapment and a passive nerve slider neurodynamic technique targeted to the median nerve. Pressure pain thresholds (PPT) over the median, radial and ulnar nerves, C5-C6 zygapophyseal joint, carpal tunnel and tibialis anterior muscle were assessed bilaterally. Additionally, thermal detection and pain thresholds were measured over the carpal tunnel and thenar eminence bilaterally to evaluate central nervous system excitability. Subjects were classified as responders (having achieved a successful outcome) or non-responders based on self-perceived recovery. Variables were entered into a stepwise logistic regression model to determine the most accurate variables for determining prognosis. Data from 72 women were included in the analysis, of which 35 experienced a successful outcome (48.6%). Three variables including PPT over the C5-C6 joint affected side 66 points were identified. If 2 out of 3 variables were present (LR + 14.8), the likelihood of success increased from 48.6 to 93.3%. We identified 3 factors that may be associated with a rapid clinical response to both soft tissue mobilization and nerve slider neurodynamic techniques targeted to the median nerve in women presenting with CTS. Our results support that widespread central sensitization may not be present in women with CTS who

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.

Understanding Resilient Urban Futures: A Systemic Modelling Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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

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....

System Behaviour Charts Inform an Understanding of Biodiversity Recovery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

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.

Synthesizing International Understanding of Changes in the Arctic Hydrological System

Science.gov (United States)

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

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.

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....

Robust model predictive control of nonlinear systems with unmodeled dynamics and bounded uncertainties based on neural networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Zheng; Wang, Jun

2014-03-01

This paper presents a neural network approach to robust model predictive control (MPC) for constrained discrete-time nonlinear systems with unmodeled dynamics affected by bounded uncertainties. The exact nonlinear model of underlying process is not precisely known, but a partially known nominal model is available. This partially known nonlinear model is first decomposed to an affine term plus an unknown high-order term via Jacobian linearization. The linearization residue combined with unmodeled dynamics is then modeled using an extreme learning machine via supervised learning. The minimax methodology is exploited to deal with bounded uncertainties. The minimax optimization problem is reformulated as a convex minimization problem and is iteratively solved by a two-layer recurrent neural network. The proposed neurodynamic approach to nonlinear MPC improves the computational efficiency and sheds a light for real-time implementability of MPC technology. Simulation results are provided to substantiate the effectiveness and characteristics of the proposed approach.

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

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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...

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.

Understanding healthcare innovation systems: the Stockholm region case.

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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.

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

Characterising the Development of the Understanding of Human Body Systems in High-School Biology Students--A Longitudinal Study

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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…

Will smart surveillance systems listen, understand and speak Slovene?

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Simon Dobrišek

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the spoken language technologies that could enable the so-called smart (intelligent surveillance systems to listen, understand and speak Slovenian in the near future. Advanced computational methods of artificial perception and pattern recognition enable such systems to be at least to some extent aware of the environment, the presence of people and other phenomena that could be subject to surveillance. Speech is one such phenomenon that has the potential to be a key source of information in certain security situations. Technologies that enable automatic speech and speaker recognition as well as their psychophysical state by computer analysis of acoustic speech signals provide an entirely new dimension to the development of smart surveillance systems. Automatic recognition of spoken threats, screaming and crying for help, as well as a suspicious psycho-physical state of a speaker provide such systems to some extent with intelligent behaviour. The paper investigates the current state of development of these technologies and the requirements and possibilities of these systems to be used for the Slovenian spoken language, as well as different possible security application scenarios. It also addresses the broader legal and ethical issues raised by the development and use of such technologies, especially as audio surveillance is one of the most sensitive issues of privacy protection.

AUTOMOTIVE DIESEL MAINTENANCE 1. UNIT XXIII, I--MAINTAINING THE FUEL SYSTEM, PART II--CATERPILLAR DIESEL ENGINE, II--UNDERSTANDING STEERING SYSTEMS.

Science.gov (United States)

Minnesota State Dept. of Education, St. Paul. Div. of Vocational and Technical Education.

THIS MODULE OF A 30-MODULE COURSE IS DESIGNED TO DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE DIESEL ENGINE FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM AND THE STEERING SYSTEM OF DIESEL POWERED VEHICLES. TOPICS ARE FUEL INJECTION SECTION, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE STEERING SYSTEM. THE MODULE CONSISTS OF A SELF-INSTRUCTIONAL BRANCH PROGRAMED TRAINING…

A model of biological neuron with terminal chaos and quantum-like features

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conte, Elio; Pierri, GianPaolo; Federici, Antonio; Mendolicchio, Leonardo; Zbilut, Joseph P.

2006-01-01

A model of biological neuron is proposed combining terminal dynamics with quantum-like mechanical features, assuming the spin to be an important entity in neurodynamics, and, in particular, in synaptic transmission

Understanding Student Cognition about Complex Earth System Processes Related to Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

McNeal, K. S.; Libarkin, J.; Ledley, T. S.; Dutta, S.; Templeton, M. C.; Geroux, J.; Blakeney, G. A.

2011-12-01

The Earth's climate system includes complex behavior and interconnections with other Earth spheres that present challenges to student learning. To better understand these unique challenges, we have conducted experiments with high-school and introductory level college students to determine how information pertaining to the connections between the Earth's atmospheric system and the other Earth spheres (e.g., hydrosphere and cryosphere) are processed. Specifically, we include psychomotor tests (e.g., eye-tracking) and open-ended questionnaires in this research study, where participants were provided scientific images of the Earth (e.g., global precipitation and ocean and atmospheric currents), eye-tracked, and asked to provide causal or relational explanations about the viewed images. In addition, the students engaged in on-line modules (http://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/climate/index.html) focused on Earth system science as training activities to address potential cognitive barriers. The developed modules included interactive media, hands-on lessons, links to outside resources, and formative assessment questions to promote a supportive and data-rich learning environment. Student eye movements were tracked during engagement with the materials to determine the role of perception and attention on understanding. Students also completed a conceptual questionnaire pre-post to determine if these on-line curriculum materials assisted in their development of connections between Earth's atmospheric system and the other Earth systems. The pre-post results of students' thinking about climate change concepts, as well as eye-tracking results, will be presented.

Understanding the Franchised Strategic Praxis from the Practice Established by Franchise System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josué Vitor Medeiros Júnior

2012-09-01

Full Text Available This article aims to analyze the perception of a franchise on building strategies located around practices experienced by referencing franchisor's standards and regional reality. There is a complexity in the relationship between franchisee and franchisor in a franchise system and its implications in the strategies developed by these actors. This qualitative research adopted the theoretical approach called Strategy as Practice, which seeks to understand the strategy considering its stakeholders (practitioners, practices established and incorporated in addition to the practice that represents the effective implementation of strategic actions, socially constructed and reconstructed. For data collection, in-depth open interviews were conducted with the owner of two franchise stores, located in a city in the Brazil´s Northeast. The data were analyzed and categorized according to feedback from the franchisee on how he responds to practices imposed by the franchise system. As a result, four categories were identified that represent relevant practices: workshops sponsored by the franchisor, the franchisee's annual planning, visiting consultants, and business strategies for sales. It was concluded that although there is considerable control of the franchisor on its franchisees, many of the practices of the franchise system are adapted and transformed in practice by the franchisee, often in a different way than was originally imposed. We emphasize the importance of strategy as practice approach in understanding the construction and interpretation of the strategy in a franchise system based on social relationships developed in this system.

The GLOBE Carbon Cycle Project: Using a systems approach to understand carbon and the Earth's climate system

Science.gov (United States)

Silverberg, S. K.; Ollinger, S. V.; Martin, M. E.; Gengarelly, L. M.; Schloss, A. L.; Bourgeault, J. L.; Randolph, G.; Albrechtova, J.

2009-12-01

National Science Content Standards identify systems as an important unifying concept across the K-12 curriculum. While this standard exists, there is a recognized gap in the ability of students to use a systems thinking approach in their learning. In a similar vein, both popular media as well as some educational curricula move quickly through climate topics to carbon footprint analyses without ever addressing the nature of carbon or the carbon cycle. If students do not gain a concrete understanding of carbon’s role in climate and energy they will not be able to successfully tackle global problems and develop innovative solutions. By participating in the GLOBE Carbon Cycle project, students learn to use a systems thinking approach, while at the same time, gaining a foundation in the carbon cycle and it's relation to climate and energy. Here we present the GLOBE Carbon Cycle project and materials, which incorporate a diverse set of activities geared toward upper middle and high school students with a variety of learning styles. A global carbon cycle adventure story and game let students see the carbon cycle as a complete system, while introducing them to systems thinking concepts including reservoirs, fluxes and equilibrium. Classroom photosynthesis experiments and field measurements of schoolyard vegetation brings the global view to the local level. And the use of computer models at varying levels of complexity (effects on photosynthesis, biomass and carbon storage in global biomes, global carbon cycle) not only reinforces systems concepts and carbon content, but also introduces students to an important scientific tool necessary for understanding climate change.

Understanding the Yellowstone magmatic system using 3D geodynamic inverse models

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Kaus, B. J. P.; Reuber, G. S.; Popov, A.; Baumann, T.

2017-12-01

The Yellowstone magmatic system is one of the largest magmatic systems on Earth. Recent seismic tomography suggest that two distinct magma chambers exist: a shallow, presumably felsic chamber and a deeper much larger, partially molten, chamber above the Moho. Why melt stalls at different depth levels above the Yellowstone plume, whereas dikes cross-cut the whole lithosphere in the nearby Snake River Plane is unclear. Partly this is caused by our incomplete understanding of lithospheric scale melt ascent processes from the upper mantle to the shallow crust, which requires better constraints on the mechanics and material properties of the lithosphere.Here, we employ lithospheric-scale 2D and 3D geodynamic models adapted to Yellowstone to better understand magmatic processes in active arcs. The models have a number of (uncertain) input parameters such as the temperature and viscosity structure of the lithosphere, geometry and melt fraction of the magmatic system, while the melt content and rock densities are obtained by consistent thermodynamic modelling of whole rock data of the Yellowstone stratigraphy. As all of these parameters affect the dynamics of the lithosphere, we use the simulations to derive testable model predictions such as gravity anomalies, surface deformation rates and lithospheric stresses and compare them with observations. We incorporated it within an inversion method and perform 3D geodynamic inverse models of the Yellowstone magmatic system. An adjoint based method is used to derive the key model parameters and the factors that affect the stress field around the Yellowstone plume, locations of enhanced diking and melt accumulations. Results suggest that the plume and the magma chambers are connected with each other and that magma chamber overpressure is required to explain the surface displacement in phases of high activity above the Yellowstone magmatic system.

Understanding Suicide among Sexual Minority Youth in America: An Ecological Systems Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Jun Sung; Espelage, Dorothy L.; Kral, Michael J.

2011-01-01

This article examines major risk factors for suicide among sexual minority youth using Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Although suicidal behavior among sexual minority youth is a major public concern in the United States, understanding of this phenomenon has been limited since the majority of empirical research studies have addressed…

Spoken Language Understanding Systems for Extracting Semantic Information from Speech

CERN Document Server

Tur, Gokhan

2011-01-01

Spoken language understanding (SLU) is an emerging field in between speech and language processing, investigating human/ machine and human/ human communication by leveraging technologies from signal processing, pattern recognition, machine learning and artificial intelligence. SLU systems are designed to extract the meaning from speech utterances and its applications are vast, from voice search in mobile devices to meeting summarization, attracting interest from both commercial and academic sectors. Both human/machine and human/human communications can benefit from the application of SLU, usin

A systems medicine research approach for studying alcohol addiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Spanagel, Rainer; Durstewitz, Daniel; Hansson, Anita; Heinz, Andreas; Kiefer, Falk; Köhr, Georg; Matthäus, Franziska; Nöthen, Markus M; Noori, Hamid R; Obermayer, Klaus; Rietschel, Marcella; Schloss, Patrick; Scholz, Henrike; Schumann, Gunter; Smolka, Michael; Sommer, Wolfgang; Vengeliene, Valentina; Walter, Henrik; Wurst, Wolfgang; Zimmermann, Uli S; Stringer, Sven; Smits, Yannick; Derks, Eske M

2013-11-01

According to the World Health Organization, about 2 billion people drink alcohol. Excessive alcohol consumption can result in alcohol addiction, which is one of the most prevalent neuropsychiatric diseases afflicting our society today. Prevention and intervention of alcohol binging in adolescents and treatment of alcoholism are major unmet challenges affecting our health-care system and society alike. Our newly formed German SysMedAlcoholism consortium is using a new systems medicine approach and intends (1) to define individual neurobehavioral risk profiles in adolescents that are predictive of alcohol use disorders later in life and (2) to identify new pharmacological targets and molecules for the treatment of alcoholism. To achieve these goals, we will use omics-information from epigenomics, genetics transcriptomics, neurodynamics, global neurochemical connectomes and neuroimaging (IMAGEN; Schumann et al. ) to feed mathematical prediction modules provided by two Bernstein Centers for Computational Neurosciences (Berlin and Heidelberg/Mannheim), the results of which will subsequently be functionally validated in independent clinical samples and appropriate animal models. This approach will lead to new early intervention strategies and identify innovative molecules for relapse prevention that will be tested in experimental human studies. This research program will ultimately help in consolidating addiction research clusters in Germany that can effectively conduct large clinical trials, implement early intervention strategies and impact political and healthcare decision makers. © 2013 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Current understanding of interactions between nanoparticles and the immune system.

Science.gov (United States)

Dobrovolskaia, Marina A; Shurin, Michael; Shvedova, Anna A

2016-05-15

The delivery of drugs, antigens, and imaging agents benefits from using nanotechnology-based carriers. The successful translation of nanoformulations to the clinic involves thorough assessment of their safety profiles, which, among other end-points, includes evaluation of immunotoxicity. The past decade of research focusing on nanoparticle interaction with the immune system has been fruitful in terms of understanding the basics of nanoparticle immunocompatibility, developing a bioanalytical infrastructure to screen for nanoparticle-mediated immune reactions, beginning to uncover the mechanisms of nanoparticle immunotoxicity, and utilizing current knowledge about the structure-activity relationship between nanoparticles' physicochemical properties and their effects on the immune system to guide safe drug delivery. In the present review, we focus on the most prominent pieces of the nanoparticle-immune system puzzle and discuss the achievements, disappointments, and lessons learned over the past 15years of research on the immunotoxicity of engineered nanomaterials. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Proceedings of the international workshop on mechanistic understanding of radionuclide migration in compacted/intact systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tachi, Yukio; Yui, Mikazu

2010-03-01

The international workshop on mechanistic understanding of radionuclide migration in compacted / intact systems was held at ENTRY, JAEA, Tokai on 21st - 23rd January, 2009. This workshop was hosted by Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) as part of the project on the mechanistic model/database development for radionuclide sorption and diffusion behavior in compacted / intact systems. The overall goal of the project is to develop the mechanistic model / database for a consistent understanding and prediction of migration parameters and its uncertainties for performance assessment of geological disposal of radioactive waste. The objective of the workshop is to integrate the state-of-the-art of mechanistic sorption and diffusion model in compacted / intact systems, especially in bentonite / clay systems, and discuss the JAEA's mechanistic approaches and future challenges, especially the following discussions points; 1) What's the status and difficulties for mechanistic model/database development? 2) What's the status and difficulties for applicability of mechanistic model to the compacted/intact system? 3) What's the status and difficulties for obtaining evidences for mechanistic model? 4) What's the status and difficulties for standardization of experimental methodology for batch sorption and diffusion? 5) What's the uncertainties of transport parameters in radionuclides migration analysis due to a lack of understanding/experimental methodologies, and how do we derive them? This report includes workshop program, overview and materials of each presentation, summary of discussions. (author)

Understanding Interdependencies between Heterogeneous Earth Observation Systems When Applied to Federal Objectives

Science.gov (United States)

Gallo, J.; Sylak-Glassman, E.

2017-12-01

We will present a method for assessing interdependencies between heterogeneous Earth observation (EO) systems when applied to key Federal objectives. Using data from the National Earth Observation Assessment (EOA), we present a case study that examines the frequency that measurements from each of the Landsat 8 sensors are used in conjunction with heterogeneous measurements from other Earth observation sensors to develop data and information products. This EOA data allows us to map the most frequent interactions between Landsat measurements and measurements from other sensors, identify high-impact data and information products where these interdependencies occur, and identify where these combined measurements contribute most to meeting a key Federal objective within one of the 13 Societal Benefit Areas used in the EOA study. Using a value-tree framework to trace the application of data from EO systems to weighted key Federal objectives within the EOA study, we are able to estimate relative contribution of individual EO systems to meeting those objectives, as well as the interdependencies between measurements from all EO systems within the EOA study. The analysis relies on a modified Delphi method to elicit relative levels of reliance on individual measurements from EO systems, including combinations of measurements, from subject matter experts. This results in the identification of a representative portfolio of all EO systems used to meet key Federal objectives. Understanding the interdependencies among a heterogeneous set of measurements that modify the impact of any one individual measurement on meeting a key Federal objective, especially if the measurements originate from multiple agencies or state/local/tribal, international, academic, and commercial sources, can impact agency decision-making regarding mission requirements and inform understanding of user needs.

A database prototype has been developed to help understand costs in photovoltaic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moorw, Larry M.

2000-01-01

High photovoltaic (PV) system costs hinder market growth. An approach to studying these costs has been developed using a database containing system, component and maintenance information. This data, which is both technical and non-technical in nature, is to be used to identify trends related to costs. A pilot database exists at this time and work is continuing. The results of this work may be used by the data owners to improve their operations with the goal of sharing non-attributable information with the public and industry at large. The published objectives of the DOE PV program are to accelerate the development of PV as a national and global energy option, as well as ensure US technology and global market leadership. The approach to supporting these objectives is to understand what drives costs in PV applications. This paper and poster session describe work-in-progress in the form of a database that will help identify costs in PV systems. In an effort to address DOE's Five-Year PV Milestones, a program was established in the summer of 1999 to study system costs in three PV applications--solar home lighting, water pumping, and grid-tied systems. This work began with a RFQ requesting data from these types of systems. Creating a partnership with industry and other system organizations such as Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) was the approach chosen to maintain a close time to the systems in the field. Nine participants were selected as partners, who provided data on their systems. Two activities are emphasized in this work. For the first, an iterative approach of developing baseline reliability and costs information with the participants was taken. This effort led to identifying typical components in these systems as well as the specific data (metrics) that would be needed in any analysis used to understand total systems costs

Effects of Structural Transparency in System Dynamics Simulators on Performance and Understanding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Birgit Kopainsky

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Prior exploration is an instructional strategy that has improved performance and understanding in system-dynamics-based simulators, but only to a limited degree. This study investigates whether model transparency, that is, showing users the internal structure of models, can extend the prior exploration strategy and improve learning even more. In an experimental study, participants in a web-based simulation learned about and managed a small developing nation. All participants were provided the prior exploration strategy but only half received prior exploration embedded in a structure-behavior diagram intended to make the underlying model’s structure more transparent. Participants provided with the more transparent strategy demonstrated better understanding of the underlying model. Their performance, however, was the equivalent to those in the less transparent condition. Combined with previous studies, our results suggest that while prior exploration is a beneficial strategy for both performance and understanding, making the model structure transparent with structure-behavior diagrams is more limited in its effect.

The Neurodynamics of Social Status

Science.gov (United States)

2017-07-31

much" by enlisted soldiers, which can call leadership into question. Conditions 2 and 3 are normative situations and thus should create the least...consent process, administering experiments , managing data, and analyzing data. One of the graduate students, Siqi Han, authored a paper with us

Engaging Systems Understanding through Games (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Pfirman, S. L.; Lee, J. J.; Eklund, K.; Turrin, M.; O'Garra, T.; Orlove, B. S.

2013-12-01

The Polar Learning And Responding (PoLAR) Climate Change Education Partnership (CCEP), supported by the National Science Foundation's CCEP Phase II program, uses novel educational approaches to engage adult learners and to inform public understanding about climate change. Both previous studies and our experience show that games and game-like activities lead people to explore systems and motivate problem-solving. This presentation focuses on three games developed by the PoLAR team: a multiplayer card game, a strategy board game, and a serious game, and discusses them within the larger framework of research and evaluation of learning outcomes. In the multiplayer card game EcoChains: Arctic Crisis, players learn how to build marine food chains, then strategize ways to make them resilient to a variety of natural and anthropogenic events. In the strategy board game Arctic SMARTIC (Strategic MAnagement of Resources in TImes of Change), participants take on roles, set developmental priorities, and then negotiate to resolve conflicts and deal with climate change scenarios. In the serious game FUTURE COAST, players explore "what if" scenarios in a collaborative narrative environment. Grounded on the award-winning WORLD WITHOUT OIL, which employed a similar story frame to impart energy concepts and realities, FUTURE COAST uses voicemails from the future to impel players through complexities of disrupted systems and realities of human interactions when facing change. Launching February 2014, FUTURE COAST is played online and in field events; players create media designed to be spreadable through their social networks. As players envision possible futures, they create diverse communities of practice that synthesize across human-environment interactions. Playtests highlight how the game evokes systems thinking, and engages and problem-solves via narrative: * 'While I was initially unsure how I'd contribute to a group I'd never met, the project itself proved so engaging that I

Understanding I/O workload characteristics of a Peta-scale storage system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Youngjae [ORNL; Gunasekaran, Raghul [ORNL

2015-01-01

Understanding workload characteristics is critical for optimizing and improving the performance of current systems and software, and architecting new storage systems based on observed workload patterns. In this paper, we characterize the I/O workloads of scientific applications of one of the world s fastest high performance computing (HPC) storage cluster, Spider, at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF). OLCF flagship petascale simulation platform, Titan, and other large HPC clusters, in total over 250 thousands compute cores, depend on Spider for their I/O needs. We characterize the system utilization, the demands of reads and writes, idle time, storage space utilization, and the distribution of read requests to write requests for the Peta-scale Storage Systems. From this study, we develop synthesized workloads, and we show that the read and write I/O bandwidth usage as well as the inter-arrival time of requests can be modeled as a Pareto distribution. We also study the I/O load imbalance problems using I/O performance data collected from the Spider storage system.

Understanding a successful obesity prevention initiative in children under 5 from a systems perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Owen, Brynle; Brown, Andrew D; Kuhlberg, Jill; Millar, Lynne; Nichols, Melanie; Economos, Christina; Allender, Steven

2018-01-01

Systems thinking represents an innovative and logical approach to understanding complexity in community-based obesity prevention interventions. We report on an approach to apply systems thinking to understand the complexity of a successful obesity prevention intervention in early childhood (children aged up to 5 years) conducted in a regional city in Victoria, Australia. A causal loop diagram (CLD) was developed to represent system elements related to a successful childhood obesity prevention intervention in early childhood. Key stakeholder interviews (n = 16) were examined retrospectively to generate purposive text data, create microstructures, and form a CLD. A CLD representing key stakeholder perceptions of a successful intervention comprised six key feedback loops explaining changes in project implementation over time. The loops described the dynamics of collaboration, network formation, community awareness, human resources, project clarity, and innovation. The CLD developed provides a replicable means to capture, evaluate and disseminate a description of the dynamic elements of a successful obesity prevention intervention in early childhood.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Louveau, Antoine; Plog, Benjamin A; Antila, Salli; Alitalo, Kari; Nedergaard, Maiken; Kipnis, Jonathan

2017-09-01

Recent discoveries of the glymphatic system and of meningeal lymphatic vessels have generated a lot of excitement, along with some degree of skepticism. Here, we summarize the state of the field and point out the gaps of knowledge that should be filled through further research. We discuss the glymphatic system as a system that allows CNS perfusion by the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and interstitial fluid (ISF). We also describe the recently characterized meningeal lymphatic vessels and their role in drainage of the brain ISF, CSF, CNS-derived molecules, and immune cells from the CNS and meninges 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.

Supporting second grade lower secondary school students’ understanding of linear equation system in two variables using ethnomathematics

Science.gov (United States)

Nursyahidah, F.; Saputro, B. A.; Rubowo, M. R.

2018-03-01

The aim of this research is to know the students’ understanding of linear equation system in two variables using Ethnomathematics and to acquire learning trajectory of linear equation system in two variables for the second grade of lower secondary school students. This research used methodology of design research that consists of three phases, there are preliminary design, teaching experiment, and retrospective analysis. Subject of this study is 28 second grade students of Sekolah Menengah Pertama (SMP) 37 Semarang. The result of this research shows that the students’ understanding in linear equation system in two variables can be stimulated by using Ethnomathematics in selling buying tradition in Peterongan traditional market in Central Java as a context. All of strategies and model that was applied by students and also their result discussion shows how construction and contribution of students can help them to understand concept of linear equation system in two variables. All the activities that were done by students produce learning trajectory to gain the goal of learning. Each steps of learning trajectory of students have an important role in understanding the concept from informal to the formal level. Learning trajectory using Ethnomathematics that is produced consist of watching video of selling buying activity in Peterongan traditional market to construct linear equation in two variables, determine the solution of linear equation in two variables, construct model of linear equation system in two variables from contextual problem, and solving a contextual problem related to linear equation system in two variables.

Understanding Maple

CERN Document Server

Thompson, Ian

2016-01-01

Maple is a powerful symbolic computation system that is widely used in universities around the world. This short introduction gives readers an insight into the rules that control how the system works, and how to understand, fix, and avoid common problems. Topics covered include algebra, calculus, linear algebra, graphics, programming, and procedures. Each chapter contains numerous illustrative examples, using mathematics that does not extend beyond first-year undergraduate material. Maple worksheets containing these examples are available for download from the author's personal website. The book is suitable for new users, but where advanced topics are central to understanding Maple they are tackled head-on. Many concepts which are absent from introductory books and manuals are described in detail. With this book, students, teachers and researchers will gain a solid understanding of Maple and how to use it to solve complex mathematical problems in a simple and efficient way.

Speech Understanding with a New Implant Technology: A Comparative Study with a New Nonskin Penetrating Baha System

OpenAIRE

Kurz, Anja; Flynn, Mark; Caversaccio, Marco; Kompis, Martin

2014-01-01

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...

Understanding cities as social-ecological systems

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Du Plessis, C

2008-09-01

Full Text Available This paper builds on earlier ecological approaches to urban development, as well as more recent thinking in the fields of sustainability science, resilience thinking and complexity theory, to propose a conceptual framework for understanding cities...

Understanding the organization of public health delivery systems: an empirical typology.

Science.gov (United States)

Mays, Glen P; Scutchfield, F Douglas; Bhandari, Michelyn W; Smith, Sharla A

2010-03-01

Policy discussions about improving the U.S. health care system increasingly recognize the need to strengthen its capacities for delivering public health services. A better understanding of how public health delivery systems are organized across the United States is critical to improvement. To facilitate the development of such evidence, this article presents an empirical method of classifying and comparing public health delivery systems based on key elements of their organizational structure. This analysis uses data collected through a national longitudinal survey of local public health agencies serving communities with at least 100,000 residents. The survey measured the availability of twenty core public health activities in local communities and the types of organizations contributing to each activity. Cluster analysis differentiated local delivery systems based on the scope of activities delivered, the range of organizations contributing, and the distribution of effort within the system. Public health delivery systems varied widely in organizational structure, but the observed patterns of variation suggested that systems adhere to one of seven distinct configurations. Systems frequently migrated from one configuration to another over time, with an overall trend toward offering a broader scope of services and engaging a wider range of organizations. Public health delivery systems exhibit important structural differences that may influence their operations and outcomes. The typology developed through this analysis can facilitate comparative studies to identify which delivery system configurations perform best in which contexts.

Target recognition and scene interpretation in image/video understanding systems based on network-symbolic models

Science.gov (United States)

Kuvich, Gary

2004-08-01

Vision is only a part of a system that converts visual information into knowledge structures. These structures drive the vision process, resolving ambiguity and uncertainty via feedback, and provide image understanding, which is an interpretation of visual information in terms of these knowledge models. These mechanisms provide a reliable recognition if the object is occluded or cannot be recognized as a whole. It is hard to split the entire system apart, and reliable solutions to the target recognition problems are possible only within the solution of a more generic Image Understanding Problem. Brain reduces informational and computational complexities, using implicit symbolic coding of features, hierarchical compression, and selective processing of visual information. Biologically inspired Network-Symbolic representation, where both systematic structural/logical methods and neural/statistical methods are parts of a single mechanism, is the most feasible for such models. It converts visual information into relational Network-Symbolic structures, avoiding artificial precise computations of 3-dimensional models. Network-Symbolic Transformations derive abstract structures, which allows for invariant recognition of an object as exemplar of a class. Active vision helps creating consistent models. Attention, separation of figure from ground and perceptual grouping are special kinds of network-symbolic transformations. Such Image/Video Understanding Systems will be reliably recognizing targets.

Teaching Climate Change Using System Models: An Understanding Global Change Project Pilot Study

Science.gov (United States)

Bean, J. R.; Stuhlsatz, M.; Bracey, Z. B.; Marshall, C. R.

2017-12-01

Teaching and learning about historical and anthropogenic climate change in the classroom requires integrating instructional resources that address physical, chemical, and biological processes. The Understanding Global Change (UGC) framework and system models developed at the University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) provide visualizations of the relationships and feedbacks between Earth system processes, and the consequences of anthropogenic activities on global climate. This schema provides a mechanism for developing pedagogic narratives that are known to support comprehension and retention of information and relationships. We designed a nine-day instructional unit for middle and high school students that includes a sequence of hands-on, inquiry-based, data rich activities combined with conceptual modeling exercises intended to foster students' development of systems thinking and their understanding of human influences on Earth system processes. The pilot unit, Sea Level Rise in the San Francisco Bay Area, addresses the human causes and consequences of sea level rise and related Earth system processes (i.e., the water cycle and greenhouse effect). Most of the content is not Bay Area specific, and could be used to explore sea level rise in any coastal region. Students completed pre and post assessments, which included questions about the connectedness of components of the Earth system and probed their attitudes towards participating in environmental stewardship activities. Students sequentially drew models representing the content explored in the activities and wrote short descriptions of their system diagrams that were collected by teachers for analysis. We also randomly assigned classes to engage in a very short additional intervention that asked students to think about the role that humans play in the Earth system and to draw themselves into the models. The study will determine if these students have higher stewardship scores and more frequently

Understanding Patterns for System-of-Systems Integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kazman, Rick; Nielsen, Claus Ballegård; Schmid, Klaus

Creating a successful system of systems—one that meets the needs of its stakeholders today and can evolve and scale to sustain those stakeholders into the future—is a very complex engineering challenge. In a system of systems (SoS), one of the biggest challenges is in achieving cooperation and in...

Willed action, free will, and the stochastic neurodynamics of decision-making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edmund eRolls

2012-09-01

Full Text Available It is shown that the randomness of the firing times of neurons in decision-making attractor neuronal networks that is present before the decision cues are applied can cause statistical fluctuations that influence the decision that will be taken. In this rigorous sense, it is possible to partially predict decisions before they are made. This raises issues about free will and determinism. There are many decision-making networks in the brain. Some decision systems operate to choose between gene-specified rewards such as taste, touch, and beauty (in for example the peacock’s tail. Other processes capable of planning ahead with multiple steps held in working memory may require correction by higher order thoughts that may involve explicit, conscious, processing. The explicit system can allow the gene-specified rewards not to be selected or deferred. The decisions between the selfish gene-specified rewards, and the explicitly calculated rewards that are in the interests of the individual, the phenotype, may themselves be influenced by noise in the brain. When the explicit planning system does take the decision, it can report on its decision-making, and can provide a causal account rather than a confabulation about the decision process. We might use the terms ‘willed action’ and ‘free will’ to refer to the operation of the planning system that can think ahead over several steps held in working memory with which it can take explicit decisions. Reduced connectivity in some of the default mode cortical regions including the precuneus that are active during self-initiated action appears to be related to the reduction in the sense of self and agency, of causing willed actions, that can be present in schizophrenia.

Meaningful Understanding and Systems Thinking in Organic Chemistry: Validating Measurement and Exploring Relationships

Science.gov (United States)

Vachliotis, Theodoros; Salta, Katerina; Tzougraki, Chryssa

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was dual: First, to develop and validate assessment schemes for assessing 11th grade students' meaningful understanding of organic chemistry concepts, as well as their systems thinking skills in the domain. Second, to explore the relationship between the two constructs of interest based on students' performance…

New approaches to characterizing and understanding biofouling of spiral wound membrane systems

KAUST Repository

van Loosdrecht, Mark C.M.

2012-06-01

Historically, biofouling research on spiral wound membrane systems is typically problem solving oriented. Membrane modules are studied as black box systems, investigated by autopsies. Biofouling is not a simple process. Many factors influence each other in a non-linear fashion. These features make biofouling a subject which is not easy to study using a fundamental scientific approach. Nevertheless to solve or minimize the negative impacts of biofouling, a clear understanding of the interacting basic principles is needed. Recent research into microbiological characterizing of biofouling, small scale test units, application of in situ visualization methods, and model approaches allow such an integrated study of biofouling. © IWA Publishing 2012.

New approaches to characterizing and understanding biofouling of spiral wound membrane systems

KAUST Repository

van Loosdrecht, Mark C.M.; Bereschenko, Ludmilla A.; Radu, Andrea I.; Kruithof, Joop C.; Picioreanu, Cristian; Johns, Michael L.; Vrouwenvelder, Johannes S.

2012-01-01

Historically, biofouling research on spiral wound membrane systems is typically problem solving oriented. Membrane modules are studied as black box systems, investigated by autopsies. Biofouling is not a simple process. Many factors influence each other in a non-linear fashion. These features make biofouling a subject which is not easy to study using a fundamental scientific approach. Nevertheless to solve or minimize the negative impacts of biofouling, a clear understanding of the interacting basic principles is needed. Recent research into microbiological characterizing of biofouling, small scale test units, application of in situ visualization methods, and model approaches allow such an integrated study of biofouling. © IWA Publishing 2012.

Natural language understanding

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoshida, S

1982-04-01

Language understanding is essential for intelligent information processing. Processing of language itself involves configuration element analysis, syntactic analysis (parsing), and semantic analysis. They are not carried out in isolation. These are described for the Japanese language and their usage in understanding-systems is examined. 30 references.

Soft systems methodology as a potential approach to understanding non-motorised transport users in South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Rooyen, CE

2016-07-01

Full Text Available of this paper is to show the potential of using systems thinking and more particularly Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) as a practical and beneficial instrument that will guide BEPDPs with the ongoing learning process of understanding NMT users and their specific...

A review of human factors challenges of complex adaptive systems: discovering and understanding chaos in human performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Karwowski, Waldemar

2012-12-01

In this paper, the author explores a need for a greater understanding of the true nature of human-system interactions from the perspective of the theory of complex adaptive systems, including the essence of complexity, emergent properties of system behavior, nonlinear systems dynamics, and deterministic chaos. Human performance, more often than not, constitutes complex adaptive phenomena with emergent properties that exhibit nonlinear dynamical (chaotic) behaviors. The complexity challenges in the design and management of contemporary work systems, including service systems, are explored. Examples of selected applications of the concepts of nonlinear dynamics to the study of human physical performance are provided. Understanding and applications of the concepts of theory of complex adaptive and dynamical systems should significantly improve the effectiveness of human-centered design efforts of a large system of systems. Performance of many contemporary work systems and environments may be sensitive to the initial conditions and may exhibit dynamic nonlinear properties and chaotic system behaviors. Human-centered design of emergent human-system interactions requires application of the theories of nonlinear dynamics and complex adaptive system. The success of future human-systems integration efforts requires the fusion of paradigms, knowledge, design principles, and methodologies of human factors and ergonomics with those of the science of complex adaptive systems as well as modern systems engineering.

Using Neuroscience to Help Understand Fear and Anxiety: A Two-System Framework.

Science.gov (United States)

LeDoux, Joseph E; Pine, Daniel S

2016-11-01

Tremendous progress has been made in basic neuroscience in recent decades. One area that has been especially successful is research on how the brain detects and responds to threats. Such studies have demonstrated comparable patterns of brain-behavior relationships underlying threat processing across a range of mammalian species, including humans. This would seem to be an ideal body of information for advancing our understanding of disorders in which altered threat processing is a key factor, namely, fear and anxiety disorders. But research on threat processing has not led to significant improvements in clinical practice. The authors propose that in order to take advantage of this progress for clinical gain, a conceptual reframing is needed. Key to this conceptual change is recognition of a distinction between circuits underlying two classes of responses elicited by threats: 1) behavioral responses and accompanying physiological changes in the brain and body and 2) conscious feeling states reflected in self-reports of fear and anxiety. This distinction leads to a "two systems" view of fear and anxiety. The authors argue that failure to recognize and consistently emphasize this distinction has impeded progress in understanding fear and anxiety disorders and hindered attempts to develop more effective pharmaceutical and psychological treatments. The two-system view suggests a new way forward.

How synthetic membrane systems contribute to the understanding of lipid-driven endocytosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Schubert, Thomas; Römer, Winfried

2015-11-01

Synthetic membrane systems, such as giant unilamellar vesicles and solid supported lipid bilayers, have widened our understanding of biological processes occurring at or through membranes. Artificial systems are particularly suited to study the inherent properties of membranes with regard to their components and characteristics. This review critically reflects the emerging molecular mechanism of lipid-driven endocytosis and the impact of model membrane systems in elucidating the complex interplay of biomolecules within this process. Lipid receptor clustering induced by binding of several toxins, viruses and bacteria to the plasma membrane leads to local membrane bending and formation of tubular membrane invaginations. Here, lipid shape, and protein structure and valency are the essential parameters in membrane deformation. Combining observations of complex cellular processes and their reconstitution on minimal systems seems to be a promising future approach to resolve basic underlying mechanisms. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Mechanobiology. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Understanding pastoral mobility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Adriansen, Hanne Kirstine

2008-01-01

Based on a case study from Sahelian Senegal, this paper analyses how various actors perceive the importance of pastoral mobility and presents issues of importance for understanding the use of mobility among Fulani of Ferlo. One knowledge system is a scientific one, the 'new rangeland paradigm...... territory, which they consider their place, but are unwilling to employ large-scale mobility themselves. Mobility is not of importance for their ethnic identity and some use paid herders to care for their livestock. By looking at both knowledge systems, we achieve a better understanding of pastoral mobility...

Understanding requirements of novel healthcare information systems for management of advanced prostate cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagholikar, Amol S; Fung, Maggie; Nelson, Colleen C

2012-01-01

Effective management of chronic diseases is a global health priority. A healthcare information system offers opportunities to address challenges of chronic disease management. However, the requirements of health information systems are often not well understood. The accuracy of requirements has a direct impact on the successful design and implementation of a health information system. Our research describes methods used to understand the requirements of health information systems for advanced prostate cancer management. The research conducted a survey to identify heterogeneous sources of clinical records. Our research showed that the General Practitioner was the common source of patient's clinical records (41%) followed by the Urologist (14%) and other clinicians (14%). Our research describes a method to identify diverse data sources and proposes a novel patient journey browser prototype that integrates disparate data sources.

Understanding aneuploidy in cancer through the lens of system inheritance, fuzzy inheritance and emergence of new genome systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Christine J; Regan, Sarah; Liu, Guo; Alemara, Sarah; Heng, Henry H

2018-01-01

In the past 15 years, impressive progress has been made to understand the molecular mechanism behind aneuploidy, largely due to the effort of using various -omics approaches to study model systems (e.g. yeast and mouse models) and patient samples, as well as the new realization that chromosome alteration-mediated genome instability plays the key role in cancer. As the molecular characterization of the causes and effects of aneuploidy progresses, the search for the general mechanism of how aneuploidy contributes to cancer becomes increasingly challenging: since aneuploidy can be linked to diverse molecular pathways (in regards to both cause and effect), the chances of it being cancerous is highly context-dependent, making it more difficult to study than individual molecular mechanisms. When so many genomic and environmental factors can be linked to aneuploidy, and most of them not commonly shared among patients, the practical value of characterizing additional genetic/epigenetic factors contributing to aneuploidy decreases. Based on the fact that cancer typically represents a complex adaptive system, where there is no linear relationship between lower-level agents (such as each individual gene mutation) and emergent properties (such as cancer phenotypes), we call for a new strategy based on the evolutionary mechanism of aneuploidy in cancer, rather than continuous analysis of various individual molecular mechanisms. To illustrate our viewpoint, we have briefly reviewed both the progress and challenges in this field, suggesting the incorporation of an evolutionary-based mechanism to unify diverse molecular mechanisms. To further clarify this rationale, we will discuss some key concepts of the genome theory of cancer evolution, including system inheritance, fuzzy inheritance, and cancer as a newly emergent cellular system. Illustrating how aneuploidy impacts system inheritance, fuzzy inheritance and the emergence of new systems is of great importance. Such synthesis

Anatomical Mercury: Changing Understandings of Quicksilver, Blood, and the Lymphatic System, 1650-1800.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendriksen, Marieke M A

2015-10-01

The use of mercury as an injection mass in anatomical experiments and preparations was common throughout Europe in the long eighteenth century, and refined mercury-injected preparations as well as plates of anatomical mercury remain today. The use and meaning of mercury in related disciplines such as medicine and chemistry in the same period have been studied, but our knowledge of anatomical mercury is sparse and tends to focus on technicalities. This article argues that mercury had a distinct meaning in anatomy, which was initially influenced by alchemical and classical understandings of mercury. Moreover, it demonstrates that the choice of mercury as an anatomical injection mass was deliberate and informed by an intricate cultural understanding of its materiality, and that its use in anatomical preparations and its perception as an anatomical material evolved with the understanding of the circulatory and lymphatic systems. By using the material culture of anatomical mercury as a starting point, I seek to provide a new, object-driven interpretation of complex and strongly interrelated historiographical categories such as mechanism, vitalism, chemistry, anatomy, and physiology, which are difficult to understand through a historiography that focuses exclusively on ideas. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

UNDERSTANDING THAI CULTURE AND ITS IMPACT ON REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING PROCESS MANAGEMENT DURING INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Theerasak Thanasankit

2002-01-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the impact of Thai culture on managing the decision making process in requirements engineering and contribution a better understand of its influence on the management of requirements engineering process. The paper illustrates the interaction of technology and culture and shows that rather than technology changing culture, culture can change the way technology is used. Thai culture is naturally inherent in Thai daily life and Thais bring that into their work practices. The concepts of power and uncertainty in Thai culture contribute toward hierarchical forms of communication and decision making process in Thailand, especially during requirements engineering, where information systems requirements need to be established for further development. The research shows that the decision making process in Thailand tends to take a much longer time, as every stage during requirements engineering needs to be reported to management for final decisions. The tall structure of Thai organisations also contributes to a bureaucratic, elongated decision-making process during information systems development. Understanding the influence of Thai culture on requirements engineering and information systems development will assist multinational information systems consulting organisations to select, adapt, better manage, or change requirements engineering process and information systems developments methodologies to work best with Thai organisations.

Toward Understanding the Dynamics of Microbial Communities in an Estuarine System

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Weipeng; Bougouffa, Salim; Wang, Yong; Lee, On On; Yang, Jiangke; Chan, Colin; Song, Xingyu; Qian, Pei-Yuan

2014-01-01

Community assembly theories such as species sorting theory provide a framework for understanding the structures and dynamics of local communities. The effect of theoretical mechanisms can vary with the scales of observation and effects of specific environmental factors. Based on 16S rRNA gene tag pyrosequencing, different structures and temporal succession patterns were discovered between the surface sediments and bottom water microbial communities in the Pearl River Estuary (PRE). The microbial communities in the surface sediment samples were more diverse than those in the bottom water samples, and several genera were specific for the water or sediment communities. Moreover, water temperature was identified as the main variable driving community dynamics and the microbial communities in the sediment showed a greater temporal change. We speculate that nutrient-based species sorting and bacterial plasticity to the temperature contribute to the variations observed between sediment and water communities in the PRE. This study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the microbial community structures in a highly dynamic estuarine system and sheds light on the applicability of ecological theoretical mechanisms.

Toward understanding the dynamics of microbial communities in an estuarine system.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weipeng Zhang

Full Text Available Community assembly theories such as species sorting theory provide a framework for understanding the structures and dynamics of local communities. The effect of theoretical mechanisms can vary with the scales of observation and effects of specific environmental factors. Based on 16S rRNA gene tag pyrosequencing, different structures and temporal succession patterns were discovered between the surface sediments and bottom water microbial communities in the Pearl River Estuary (PRE. The microbial communities in the surface sediment samples were more diverse than those in the bottom water samples, and several genera were specific for the water or sediment communities. Moreover, water temperature was identified as the main variable driving community dynamics and the microbial communities in the sediment showed a greater temporal change. We speculate that nutrient-based species sorting and bacterial plasticity to the temperature contribute to the variations observed between sediment and water communities in the PRE. This study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the microbial community structures in a highly dynamic estuarine system and sheds light on the applicability of ecological theoretical mechanisms.

Toward Understanding the Dynamics of Microbial Communities in an Estuarine System

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Weipeng

2014-04-14

Community assembly theories such as species sorting theory provide a framework for understanding the structures and dynamics of local communities. The effect of theoretical mechanisms can vary with the scales of observation and effects of specific environmental factors. Based on 16S rRNA gene tag pyrosequencing, different structures and temporal succession patterns were discovered between the surface sediments and bottom water microbial communities in the Pearl River Estuary (PRE). The microbial communities in the surface sediment samples were more diverse than those in the bottom water samples, and several genera were specific for the water or sediment communities. Moreover, water temperature was identified as the main variable driving community dynamics and the microbial communities in the sediment showed a greater temporal change. We speculate that nutrient-based species sorting and bacterial plasticity to the temperature contribute to the variations observed between sediment and water communities in the PRE. This study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the microbial community structures in a highly dynamic estuarine system and sheds light on the applicability of ecological theoretical mechanisms.

Current understanding of interactions between nanoparticles and the immune system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dobrovolskaia, Marina A.; Shurin, Michael; Shvedova, Anna A.

2016-01-01

The delivery of drugs, antigens, and imaging agents benefits from using nanotechnology-based carriers. The successful translation of nanoformulations to the clinic involves thorough assessment of their safety profiles, which, among other end-points, includes evaluation of immunotoxicity. The past decade of research focusing on nanoparticle interaction with the immune system has been fruitful in terms of understanding the basics of nanoparticle immunocompatibility, developing a bioanalytical infrastructure to screen for nanoparticle-mediated immune reactions, beginning to uncover the mechanisms of nanoparticle immunotoxicity, and utilizing current knowledge about the structure–activity relationship between nanoparticles' physicochemical properties and their effects on the immune system to guide safe drug delivery. In the present review, we focus on the most prominent pieces of the nanoparticle–immune system puzzle and discuss the achievements, disappointments, and lessons learned over the past 15 years of research on the immunotoxicity of engineered nanomaterials. - Graphical abstract: API — active pharmaceutical ingredient; NP — nanoparticles; PCP — physicochemical properties, CARPA — complement activation-related pseudoallergy, ICH — International Conference on Harmonization. Display Omitted - Highlights: • Achievements, disappointments and lessons learned over past decade are reviewed. • Areas in focus include characterization, immunotoxicity and utility in drug delivery. • Future direction focusing on mechanistic immunotoxicity studies is proposed.

Current understanding of interactions between nanoparticles and the immune system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dobrovolskaia, Marina A., E-mail: marina@mail.nih.gov [Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory, Cancer Research Technology Program, Leidos Biomedical Research Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, NCI at Frederick, Frederick, MD 21702 (United States); Shurin, Michael [Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States); Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States); Shvedova, Anna A., E-mail: ats1@cdc.gov [Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, WV 26505 (United States); Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506 (United States)

2016-05-15

The delivery of drugs, antigens, and imaging agents benefits from using nanotechnology-based carriers. The successful translation of nanoformulations to the clinic involves thorough assessment of their safety profiles, which, among other end-points, includes evaluation of immunotoxicity. The past decade of research focusing on nanoparticle interaction with the immune system has been fruitful in terms of understanding the basics of nanoparticle immunocompatibility, developing a bioanalytical infrastructure to screen for nanoparticle-mediated immune reactions, beginning to uncover the mechanisms of nanoparticle immunotoxicity, and utilizing current knowledge about the structure–activity relationship between nanoparticles' physicochemical properties and their effects on the immune system to guide safe drug delivery. In the present review, we focus on the most prominent pieces of the nanoparticle–immune system puzzle and discuss the achievements, disappointments, and lessons learned over the past 15 years of research on the immunotoxicity of engineered nanomaterials. - Graphical abstract: API — active pharmaceutical ingredient; NP — nanoparticles; PCP — physicochemical properties, CARPA — complement activation-related pseudoallergy, ICH — International Conference on Harmonization. Display Omitted - Highlights: • Achievements, disappointments and lessons learned over past decade are reviewed. • Areas in focus include characterization, immunotoxicity and utility in drug delivery. • Future direction focusing on mechanistic immunotoxicity studies is proposed.

The Effects of Swedish Knife Model on Students' Understanding of the Digestive System

Science.gov (United States)

Cerrah Ozsevgec, Lale; Artun, Huseyin; Unal, Melike

2012-01-01

This study was designed to examine the effect of Swedish Knife Model on students' understanding of digestive system. A simple experimental design (pretest-treatment-posttest) was used in the study and internal comparison of the results of the one group was made. The sample consisted of 40 7th grade Turkish students whose ages range from 13 to 15.…

Detecting network states in white noise

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hlinka, Jaroslav; Hadrava, Michal

2015-01-01

Roč. 16, suppl. 1 (2015), P92 ISSN 1471-2202 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-23940S; GA ČR GA13-17187S Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : neurodynamics * EEG * connectivity * clustering * microstates Subject RIV: FH - Neurology

Relationship of psychophysiological characteristics with different levels of motivation in judo athletes of high qualification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G.V. Korobeynikov

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Aim : to study the connection of psychophysiological characteristics with different levels of motivation in judo athletes of high qualification. Material: highly qualified athletes were examined, members of the National Judo Team (men. All athletes (n = 25 were divided into three groups, depending on the level of motivation to achieve success. Results: it is established that the high level of motivation for achieving success in judo is provided by activation of neurodynamic, cognitive functions and the level of light resistance. Athletes with a high level of motivation to achieve success is observed the predominance of the values of neurodynamic functions: endurance of the nervous system; speed of visual reactions. Athletes with an average level of motivation to achieve success identified higher values: productivity, speed, accuracy, effectiveness of verbal information. Athletes with a predominance of avoidance of failure motivation have a preference for other groups in the speed, efficiency and stability of the processes of thinking and processing information. Conclusions: judo athletes with a predominance of motivation to avoid a failure form coping strategy to prevent psycho-emotional stress. This helps to minimize the exhaustion of vegetative resources in conditions of extreme sports activity. Judo athletes with high level of motivation to achieve success, the presence of mental state of relative comfort is associated with the search for support among others and orientation toward internal beliefs.

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.

Atomism and holism in the understanding of society and social systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D.F.M. Strauss

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Throughout its history, reflection on human society has been torn apart by the opposing views of atomism and holism. Traditional societies, the city state of ancient Greece as well as the medieval perfect society apparently resemble a whole with its parts. Early modernity continued this holistic inclination for a while, but soon reverted to atomistic theories of the (hypothetical social contract. Modern humanism dominated the subsequent views articulated in terms of the dialectical tension between nature and freedom (science ideal and personality ideal – including mechanistic and vitalistic approaches as well as the more recent acknowledgment of irreducibly complex systems (Behe, 2003. In Wiener’s (1954; 1956 “technologicism” human responsibility and freedom are sacrificed. An alternative view is advanced in terms of the normativity of societal life as well as its many-sidedness. It is shown that theories of social systems increasingly tend to explore avenues transcending the limitations of the atomistic additive approach and the boundary-leveling whole-parts scheme entailed in social systems theory. This development is used as a starting point for the classification of social interaction and for underscoring the scope of the principle of sphere-sovereignty for a multidisciplinary understanding of social systems.

A conceptual connectivity framework for understanding geomorphic change in human-impacted fluvial systems

Science.gov (United States)

Pöppl, Ronald; Keesstra, Saskia; Maroulis, Jerry

2017-04-01

Human-induced landscape change is difficult to predict due to the complexity inherent in both geomorphic and social systems as well as due to emerging coupling relationships between them. To better understand system complexity and system response to change, connectivity has become an important research paradigm within various disciplines including geomorphology, hydrology and ecology. With the proposed conceptual connectivity framework on geomorphic change in human-impacted fluvial systems a cautionary note is flagged regarding the need (i) to include and to systematically conceptualise the role of different types of human agency in altering connectivity relationships in geomorphic systems and (ii) to integrate notions of human-environment interactions to connectivity concepts in geomorphology to better explain causes and trajectories of landscape change. Underpinned by case study examples, the presented conceptual framework is able to explain how geomorphic response of fluvial systems to human disturbance is determined by system-specific boundary conditions (incl. system history, related legacy effects and lag times), vegetation dynamics and human-induced functional relationships (i.e. feedback mechanisms) between the different spatial dimensions of connectivity. It is further demonstrated how changes in social systems can trigger a process-response feedback loop between social and geomorphic systems that further governs the trajectory of landscape change in coupled human-geomorphic systems.

The Coastal Ocean Prediction Systems program: Understanding and managing our coastal ocean

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eden, H.F.; Mooers, C.N.K.

1990-06-01

The goal of COPS is to couple a program of regular observations to numerical models, through techniques of data assimilation, in order to provide a predictive capability for the US coastal ocean including the Great Lakes, estuaries, and the entire Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The objectives of the program include: determining the predictability of the coastal ocean and the processes that govern the predictability; developing efficient prediction systems for the coastal ocean based on the assimilation of real-time observations into numerical models; and coupling the predictive systems for the physical behavior of the coastal ocean to predictive systems for biological, chemical, and geological processes to achieve an interdisciplinary capability. COPS will provide the basis for effective monitoring and prediction of coastal ocean conditions by optimizing the use of increased scientific understanding, improved observations, advanced computer models, and computer graphics to make the best possible estimates of sea level, currents, temperatures, salinities, and other properties of entire coastal regions

The Impact of CRM System Use on Companies’ Customer Understanding: The Case of the Russian Ophthalmology Market

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Denis Klimanov

2015-06-01

Full Text Available As the customer relationship management process comes to play an increasingly important role in business success, a number of authors are attempting to evaluate the impact of various CRM process components on the quality of company interaction with customers and, ultimately, on company performance. This paper explores the impact of CRM systems on the quality of companies’ customer understanding. This understanding is measured in the context of an international pharmaceutical company in the Russian market. The field research is based on quantitative data from online questionnaires and telephone interviews. The sample consists of 64 company representatives and 217 ophthalmologists. The authors developed and tested a model of physician loyalty drivers and studied employees’ perceptions of the CRM system. The findings of this paper demonstrate that, despite the fact that a CRM system is actively used and perceived as a crucial part of the customer relationship management process within the company, understanding of key customer loyalty drivers needs to be significantly improved. The paper contributes to existing theory by evaluating the link between the use of CRM applications and customer relationship performance as well as by developing a physician prescription loyalty influencers framework in the context of the Russian pharmaceutical market. This research could be used by other pharmaceutical companies as well in order to understand the influence of their CRM applications on customer loyalty and also to identify the drivers of physicians’ prescriptions.

Prostate Cancer Patients' Understanding of the Gleason Scoring System: Implications for Shared Decision-Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Tagai, Erin K; Miller, Suzanne M; Kutikov, Alexander; Diefenbach, Michael A; Gor, Ronak A; Al-Saleem, Tahseen; Chen, David Y T; Fleszar, Sara; Roy, Gem

2018-01-15

The Gleason scoring system is a key component of a prostate cancer diagnosis, since it indicates disease aggressiveness. It also serves as a risk communication tool that facilitates shared treatment decision-making. However, the system is highly complex and therefore difficult to communicate: factors which have been shown to undermine well-informed and high-quality shared treatment decision-making. To systematically explore prostate cancer patients' understanding of the Gleason scoring system (GSS), we assessed knowledge and perceived importance among men who had completed treatment (N = 50). Patients were administered a survey that assessed patient knowledge and patients' perceived importance of the GSS, as well as demographics, medical factors (e.g., Gleason score at diagnosis), and health literacy. Bivariate analyses were conducted to identify associations with patient knowledge and perceived importance of the GSS. The sample was generally well-educated (48% with a bachelor's degree or higher) and health literate (M = 12.9, SD = 2.2, range = 3-15). Despite this, patient knowledge of the GSS was low (M = 1.8, SD = 1.4, range = 1-4). Patients' understanding of the importance of the GSS was moderate (M = 2.8, SD = 1.0, range = 0-4) and was positively associated with GSS knowledge (p decision-making. Future studies are needed to explore the potential utility of a simplified Gleason grading system and improved patient-provider communication.

Understanding Infusion Pumps.

Science.gov (United States)

Mandel, Jeff E

2018-04-01

Infusion systems are complicated electromechanical systems that are used to deliver anesthetic drugs with moderate precision. Four types of systems are described-gravity feed, in-line piston, peristaltic, and syringe. These systems are subject to a number of failure modes-occlusion, disconnection, siphoning, infiltration, and air bubbles. The relative advantages of the various systems and some of the monitoring capabilities are discussed. A brief example of the use of an infusion system during anesthetic induction is presented. With understanding of the functioning of these systems, users may develop greater comfort.

How does money memorize social interactions? Understanding time-homogeneity in monetary systems

Science.gov (United States)

Braun, Dieter; Schmitt, Matthias; Schacker, Andreas

2013-03-01

Understanding how money shapes and memorizes our social interactions is central to modern life. There are many schools of thought on as to how monetary systems contribute to crises or boom/bust cycles and how monetary policy can try to avert them. We find that statistical physics gives a refreshing perspective. We analyze how credit mechanisms introduce non-locality and time-heterogeneity to the monetary memory. Motivated by an analogy to particle physics, locality and time-homogeneity can be imposed to monetary systems. As a result, a full reserve banking system is complemented with a bi-currency system of non-bank assets (``money'') and bank assets (``antimoney''). Payment can either be made by passing on money or by receiving antimoney. As a result, a free floating exchange rate between non-bank assets and bank assets is established. Interestingly, this monetary memory allows for credit creation by the simultaneous transfer of money and antimoney at a negotiated exchange rate. We analyze this novel mechanism of liquidity transfer in a model of random social interactions, yielding analytical results for all relevant distributions and the price of liquidity under the conditions of a fully transparent credit market.

Understanding product cost vs. performance through an in-depth system Monte Carlo analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Sanson, Mark C.

2017-08-01

The manner in which an optical system is toleranced and compensated greatly affects the cost to build it. By having a detailed understanding of different tolerance and compensation methods, the end user can decide on the balance of cost and performance. A detailed phased approach Monte Carlo analysis can be used to demonstrate the tradeoffs between cost and performance. In complex high performance optical systems, performance is fine-tuned by making adjustments to the optical systems after they are initially built. This process enables the overall best system performance, without the need for fabricating components to stringent tolerance levels that often can be outside of a fabricator's manufacturing capabilities. A good performance simulation of as built performance can interrogate different steps of the fabrication and build process. Such a simulation may aid the evaluation of whether the measured parameters are within the acceptable range of system performance at that stage of the build process. Finding errors before an optical system progresses further into the build process saves both time and money. Having the appropriate tolerances and compensation strategy tied to a specific performance level will optimize the overall product cost.

Understanding bicycling in cities using system dynamics modelling.

Science.gov (United States)

Macmillan, Alexandra; Woodcock, James

2017-12-01

Increasing urban bicycling has established net benefits for human and environmental health. Questions remain about which policies are needed and in what order, to achieve an increase in cycling while avoiding negative consequences. Novel ways of considering cycling policy are needed, bringing together expertise across policy, community and research to develop a shared understanding of the dynamically complex cycling system. In this paper we use a collaborative learning process to develop a dynamic causal model of urban cycling to develop consensus about the nature and order of policies needed in different cycling contexts to optimise outcomes. We used participatory system dynamics modelling to develop causal loop diagrams (CLDs) of cycling in three contrasting contexts: Auckland, London and Nijmegen. We combined qualitative interviews and workshops to develop the CLDs. We used the three CLDs to compare and contrast influences on cycling at different points on a "cycling trajectory" and drew out policy insights. The three CLDs consisted of feedback loops dynamically influencing cycling, with significant overlap between the three diagrams. Common reinforcing patterns emerged: growing numbers of people cycling lifts political will to improve the environment; cycling safety in numbers drives further growth; and more cycling can lead to normalisation across the population. By contrast, limits to growth varied as cycling increases. In Auckland and London, real and perceived danger was considered the main limit, with added barriers to normalisation in London. Cycling congestion and "market saturation" were important in the Netherlands. A generalisable, dynamic causal theory for urban cycling enables a more ordered set of policy recommendations for different cities on a cycling trajectory. Participation meant the collective knowledge of cycling stakeholders was represented and triangulated with research evidence. Extending this research to further cities, especially in low

Understanding the decline and resilience loss of a long-lived social-ecological system: insights from system dynamics

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Alicia Tenza

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Collapse of social-ecological systems (SESs is a common process in human history. Depletion of natural resources, scarcity of human capital, or both, is/are common pathways toward collapse. We use the system dynamics approach to better understand specific problems of small-scale, long-lived SESs. We present a qualitative (or conceptual model using the conceptualization process of the system dynamics approach to study the dynamics of an oasis in Mexico that has witnessed a dramatic transition to decline in recent decades. We used indepth interviews, participant observation, expert opinions, and official statistical data sets to define the boundaries, and structure in a causal loop diagram of our studied system. We described historical trends and showed the reference mode for the main system variables (observed data, and analyzed the expected system behavior according to the system structure. We identified the main drivers that changed the system structure, as well as structural changes, and the effects of these changes on the dynamics, resilience, and vulnerability of this SES. We found that the tendency of this SES toward collapse was triggered by exogenous factors (growth of modern agriculture in nearby valleys, and socio-political relocation, and was maintained by an endogenous structure. These structural changes weakened the resilience of this SES. One of these changes resulted in a long-term maladaptation of the SES, which increased its vulnerability to frequent system disturbances (hurricanes and droughts. The conceptual model developed provides an in-depth qualitative description of the system, with an important amount of qualitative and quantitative information, to establish the structural hypothesis of the observed behavior. Using this qualitative model, the next research steps are to develop a quantitative model to test the qualitative theories, and to explore future scenarios of system resilience for decision-making processes to

A comment on Farwell : brain fingerprinting: a comprehensive tutorial review of detection of concealed information with event-related brain potentials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijer, E.H.; Ben-Shakhar, G.; Verschuere, B.; Donchin, E.

2013-01-01

In a recent issue of Cognitive Neurodynamics Farwell (Cogn Neurodyn 6:115-154, 2012) published a comprehensive tutorial review of the use of Event Related Brain Potentials (ERP) in the detection of concealed information. Farwell’s review covered much of his own work employing his ‘‘brain

Microencapsulated Phase Change Materials in Solar-Thermal Conversion Systems: Understanding Geometry-Dependent Heating Efficiency and System Reliability.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Zhaoliang; Chang, Zhuo; Xu, Guang-Kui; McBride, Fiona; Ho, Alexandra; Zhuola, Zhuola; Michailidis, Marios; Li, Wei; Raval, Rasmita; Akhtar, Riaz; Shchukin, Dmitry

2017-01-24

The performance of solar-thermal conversion systems can be improved by incorporation of nanocarbon-stabilized microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCMs). The geometry of MPCMs in the microcapsules plays an important role for improving their heating efficiency and reliability. Yet few efforts have been made to critically examine the formation mechanism of different geometries and their effect on MPCMs-shell interaction. Herein, through changing the cooling rate of original emulsions, we acquire MPCMs within the nanocarbon microcapsules with a hollow structure of MPCMs (h-MPCMs) or solid PCM core particles (s-MPCMs). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy reveals that the capsule shell of the h-MPCMs is enriched with nanocarbons and has a greater MPCMs-shell interaction compared to s-MPCMs. This results in the h-MPCMs being more stable and having greater heat diffusivity within and above the phase transition range than the s-MPCMs do. The geometry-dependent heating efficiency and system stability may have important and general implications for the fundamental understanding of microencapsulation and wider breadth of heating generating systems.

Consensus statement understanding health and malnutrition through a systems approach: the ENOUGH program for early life

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kaput, J.; Ommen, B. van; Kremer, S.H.A.; Priami, C.; Pontes Monteiro, J.; Morine, M.; Pepping, F.; Diaz, Z.; Fenech, M.; He, Y.; Albers, R.; Drevon, C.A.; Evelo, C.T.; Hancock, R.E.W.; IJsselmuiden, C.; Lumey, L.H.; Minihane, A.M.; Muller, M.; Murgia, C.; Radonjic, M.; Sobral, B.; West, K.P. Jr.

2014-01-01

Nutrition research, like most biomedical disciplines, adopted and often uses experimental approaches based on Beadle and Tatum’s one gene—one polypeptide hypothesis, thereby reducing biological processes to single reactions or pathways. Systems thinking is needed to understand the complexity of

Consensus statement understanding health and malnutrition through a systems approach: the ENOUGH program for early life.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kaput, J.; Ommen, van B.; Kremer, B.; Priami, C.; Pontes Monteiro, J.; Morine, M.; Pepping, F.; Diaz, Z.; Fenech, M.; He, Y.; Albers, R.; Drevon, C.A.; Evelo, C.T.; Hancock, R.E.W.; Ijsselmuiden, C.; Lumey, L.H.; Minihane, A.M.; Muller, M.R.; Murgia, C.; Radonjic, M.; Sobral, B.W.S.; West Jr., K.P.

2014-01-01

Nutrition research, like most biomedical disciplines, adopted and often uses experimental approaches based on Beadle and Tatum’s one gene—one polypeptide hypothesis, thereby reducing biological processes to single reactions or pathways. Systems thinking is needed to understand the complexity of

From chemical neuroanatomy to an understanding of the olfactory system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Oboti

2011-10-01

Full Text Available The olfactory system is the appropriate model for studying several aspects of neuronal physiology spanning from the developmental stage to neural network remodelling in the adult brain. Both the morphological and physiological understanding of this system were strongly supported by classical histochemistry. It is emblematic the case of the Olfactory Marker Protein (OMP staining, the first, powerful marker for fully differentiated olfactory receptor neurons and a key tool to investigate the dynamic relations between peripheral sensory epithelia and central relay regions given its presence within olfactory fibers reaching the olfactory bulb (OB. Similarly, the use of thymidine analogues was able to show neurogenesis in an adult mammalian brain far before modern virus labelling and lipophilic tracers based methods. Nowadays, a wealth of new histochemical techniques combining cell and molecular biology approaches is available, giving stance to move from the analysis of the chemically identified circuitries to functional research. The study of adult neurogenesis is indeed one of the best explanatory examples of this statement. After defining the cell types involved and the basic physiology of this phenomenon in the OB plasticity, we can now analyze the role of neurogenesis in well testable behaviours related to socio-chemical communication in rodents.

From chemical neuroanatomy to an understanding of the olfactory system

Science.gov (United States)

Oboti, L.; Peretto, P.; De Marchis, S.; Fasolo, A.

2011-01-01

The olfactory system of mammals is the appropriate model for studying several aspects of neuronal physiology spanning from the developmental stage to neural network remodelling in the adult brain. Both the morphological and physiological understanding of this system were strongly supported by classical histochemistry. It is emblematic the case of the Olfactory Marker Protein (OMP) staining, the first, powerful marker for fully differentiated olfactory receptor neurons and a key tool to investigate the dynamic relations between peripheral sensory epithelia and central relay regions given its presence within olfactory fibers reaching the olfactory bulb (OB). Similarly, the use of thymidine analogues was able to show neurogenesis in an adult mammalian brain far before modern virus labelling and lipophilic tracers based methods. Nowadays, a wealth of new histochemical techniques combining cell and molecular biology approaches is available, giving stance to move from the analysis of the chemically identified circuitries to functional research. The study of adult neurogenesis is indeed one of the best explanatory examples of this statement. After defining the cell types involved and the basic physiology of this phenomenon in the OB plasticity, we can now analyze the role of neurogenesis in well testable behaviours related to socio-chemical communication in rodents. PMID:22297441

Understanding the function and dysfunction of the immune system in lung cancer: the role of immune checkpoints.

Science.gov (United States)

Karachaliou, Niki; Cao, Maria Gonzalez; Teixidó, Cristina; Viteri, Santiago; Morales-Espinosa, Daniela; Santarpia, Mariacarmela; Rosell, Rafael

2015-06-01

Survival rates for metastatic lung cancer, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), are poor with 5-year survivals of less than 5%. The immune system has an intricate and complex relationship with tumorigenesis; a groundswell of research on the immune system is leading to greater understanding of how cancer progresses and presenting new ways to halt disease progress. Due to the extraordinary power of the immune system-with its capacity for memory, exquisite specificity and central and universal role in human biology-immunotherapy has the potential to achieve complete, long-lasting remissions and cures, with few side effects for any cancer patient, regardless of cancer type. As a result, a range of cancer therapies are under development that work by turning our own immune cells against tumors. However deeper understanding of the complexity of immunomodulation by tumors is key to the development of effective immunotherapies, especially in lung cancer.

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.

Improving Understanding of Spatial Heterogeneity in Mountain Ecohydrology with Multispectral Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS).

Science.gov (United States)

Wigmore, O.; Molotch, N. P.

2017-12-01

Mountain regions are a critical component of the hydrologic system. These regions are extremely heterogeneous, with dramatic topographic, climatic, ecologic and hydrologic variations occurring over very short distances. This heterogeneity makes understanding changes in these environments difficult. Commonly used satellite data are often too coarse to resolve processes at appropriate scales and point measurements are typically unrepresentative of the wider region. The rapid rise of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) offers a potential solution to the scale-related inadequacies of satellite and ground-based observing systems. Using UAS, spatially distributed datasets can be collected at high resolution (i.e. cm), on demand, and can therefore facilitate improved understanding of mountain ecohydrology. We deployed a custom built multispectral - visible (RGB), near infrared (NIR) and thermal infrared (TIR) - UAS at a weekly interval over the Niwot Ridge Long Term Ecological Research (NWT LTER) saddle catchment at 3500masl in the Colorado Rockies. This system was used to map surface water pathways, land cover and topography, and quantify ecohydrologic variables including, snow depth, vegetation productivity and surface soil moisture at 5-50cm resolution across an 80ha study area. This presentation will discuss the techniques, methods and merits of using UAS derived multispectral data for ecohydrologic research in mountain regions. We will also present preliminary findings from our survey time series at NWT LTER and a discussion of the potential insights that these datasets can provide. Key questions to be addressed are: 1) how does spatial variability in snow depth impact soil moisture and vegetation productivity, 2) how can UAS help us to identify ecohydrologic `hotspots' and `hot moments' across heterogeneous landscapes.

Understanding Time-driven Activity-based Costing.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharan, Alok D; Schroeder, Gregory D; West, Michael E; Vaccaro, Alexander R

2016-03-01

Transitioning to a value-based health care system will require providers to increasingly scrutinize their outcomes and costs. Although there has been a great deal of effort to understand outcomes, cost accounting in health care has been a greater challenge. Currently the cost accounting methods used by hospitals and providers are based off a fee-for-service system. As resources become increasingly scarce and the health care system attempts to understand which services provide the greatest value, it will be critically important to understand the true costs of delivering a service. An understanding of the true costs of a particular service will help providers make smarter decisions on how to allocate and utilize resources as well as determine which activities are nonvalue added. Achieving value will require providers to have a greater focus on accurate outcome data as well as better methods of cost accounting.

A stratified myeloid system, the challenge of understanding macrophage diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Geissmann, F; Mass, E

2015-12-01

The present issue of 'Seminars in Immunology' addresses the topic of macrophage biology, 100 years after the death of Elie Metchnikoff (May 1845-July 1916). As foreseen by Metchnikoff, the roles of macrophages in the maintenance of homeostasis and immunity against pathogens have become a broad and active area of investigation. We now start to realize that the myeloid system includes a multiplicity of cell types with diverse developmental origins and functions. Therefore, the textbook picture of a plastic and multifunctional macrophage does not meet the requirements of our current knowledge anymore. Further development toward a quantitative and molecular understanding of myeloid cell biology in vivo and their roles in tissue homeostasis and remodeling will benefit from taking this complexity into account. A tentative model to help in this pursuit and account for myeloid cell and macrophage diversity is discussed below. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Breeding novel solutions in the brain: a model of Darwinian neurodynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Szilágyi, András; Zachar, István; Fedor, Anna; de Vladar, Harold P; Szathmáry, Eörs

2016-01-01

Background : The fact that surplus connections and neurons are pruned during development is well established. We complement this selectionist picture by a proof-of-principle model of evolutionary search in the brain, that accounts for new variations in theory space. We present a model for Darwinian evolutionary search for candidate solutions in the brain. Methods : We combine known components of the brain - recurrent neural networks (acting as attractors), the action selection loop and implicit working memory - to provide the appropriate Darwinian architecture. We employ a population of attractor networks with palimpsest memory. The action selection loop is employed with winners-share-all dynamics to select for candidate solutions that are transiently stored in implicit working memory. Results : We document two processes: selection of stored solutions and evolutionary search for novel solutions. During the replication of candidate solutions attractor networks occasionally produce recombinant patterns, increasing variation on which selection can act. Combinatorial search acts on multiplying units (activity patterns) with hereditary variation and novel variants appear due to (i) noisy recall of patterns from the attractor networks, (ii) noise during transmission of candidate solutions as messages between networks, and, (iii) spontaneously generated, untrained patterns in spurious attractors. Conclusions : Attractor dynamics of recurrent neural networks can be used to model Darwinian search. The proposed architecture can be used for fast search among stored solutions (by selection) and for evolutionary search when novel candidate solutions are generated in successive iterations. Since all the suggested components are present in advanced nervous systems, we hypothesize that the brain could implement a truly evolutionary combinatorial search system, capable of generating novel variants.

Understanding aging in containment cooling systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lofaro, R.J.

1993-01-01

A study has been performed to assess the effects of aging in nuclear power plant containment cooling systems. Failure records from national databases, as well as plant specific data were reviewed and analyzed to identify aging characteristics for this system. The predominant aging mechanisms were determined, along with the most frequently failed components and their associated failure modes. This paper discusses the aging mechanisms present in the containment spray system and the containment fan cooler system, which are two systems used to provide the containment cooling function. The failure modes, along with the relative frequency of each is also discussed

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.

From Process Understanding Via Soil Functions to Sustainable Soil Management - A Systemic Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Wollschlaeger, U.; Bartke, S.; Bartkowski, B.; Daedlow, K.; Helming, K.; Kogel-Knabner, I.; Lang, B.; Rabot, E.; Russell, D.; Stößel, B.; Weller, U.; Wiesmeier, M.; Rabot, E.; Vogel, H. J.

2017-12-01

Fertile soils are central resources for the production of biomass and the provision of food and energy. A growing world population and latest climate targets lead to an increasing demand for both, food and bio-energy, which requires preserving and improving the long-term productivity of soils as a bio-economic resource. At the same time, other soil functions and ecosystem services need to be maintained: filter for clean water, carbon sequestration, provision and recycling of nutrients, and habitat for biological activity. All these soil functions result from the interaction of a multitude of physical, chemical and biological processes that are not yet sufficiently understood. In addition, we lack understanding about the interplay between the socio-economic system and the soil system and how soil functions benefit human wellbeing. Hence, a solid and integrated assessment of soil quality requires the consideration of the ensemble of soil functions and its relation to soil management to finally be able to develop site-specific options for sustainable soil management. We present an integrated modeling approach that investigates the influence of soil management on the ensemble of soil functions. It is based on the mechanistic relationships between soil functional attributes, each explained by a network of interacting processes as derived from scientific evidence. As the evidence base required for feeding the model is for the most part stored in the existing scientific literature, another central component of our work is to set up a public "knowledge-portal" providing the infrastructure for a community effort towards a comprehensive knowledge base on soil processes as a basis for model developments. The connection to the socio-economic system is established using the Drivers-Pressures-Impacts-States-Responses (DPSIR) framework where our improved understanding about soil ecosystem processes is linked to ecosystem services and resource efficiency via the soil functions.

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.

48 CFR 316.770-2 - Memoranda of understanding.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Memoranda of understanding. 316.770-2 Section 316.770-2 Federal Acquisition Regulations System HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES CONTRACTING METHODS AND CONTRACT TYPES TYPES OF CONTRACTS Agreements 316.770-2 Memoranda of understanding. Use of a “memorandum of understanding,” which...

Neuropsychological and neurophysiological approaches to study of variants of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matveyeva E. Yu.

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The present review carries out analysis of empirical studies concerning neuropsychological and neurophysiological mechanisms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD. The current data, regarding malfunctions of brain systems at various levels of aetiopathogenesis (genetic, neurotrasmitting, functioning of separate brain structure, are discussed. The article regards the character of deficit in various components of psychic activity in people with ADHD, namely, executive functions and temporary storage (working memory, activating and neurodynamic components of activity, separate operational characteristics, and motivational impairments of patients with ADHD. The possibility of disclosing some clinical variants of the ADHD syndrome, differing in mechanisms, is also discussed in the article.

AUTOMOTIVE DIESEL MAINTENANCE 1. UNIT XXI, I--MAINTAINING THE AIR SYSTEM--CATERPILLAR DIESEL ENGINE, II--UNDERSTANDING REAR END SUSPENSION.

Science.gov (United States)

Minnesota State Dept. of Education, St. Paul. Div. of Vocational and Technical Education.

THIS MODULE OF A 30-MODULE COURSE IS DESIGNED TO DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE DIESEL ENGINE AIR SYSTEM AND REAR AXLE SUSPENSION USED ON DIESEL POWERED VEHICLES. TOPICS ARE (1) AIR INDUCTION AND EXHAUST SYSTEM, (2) VALVE MECHANISM, (3) TROUBLESHOOTING THE AIR SYSTEM, (4) PURPOSE OF VEHICLE SUSPENSION, (5) TANDEM…

Optical engineering: understanding optical system by experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Scharf, Toralf

2017-08-01

Students have to be educated in theoretical and practical matters. Only one of them does not allow attacking complex problems in research, development, and management. After their study, students should be able to design, construct and analyze technical problems at highest levels of complexity. Who never experienced the difficulty of setting up measurements will not be able to understand, plan and manage such complex tasks in her/his future career. At EPFL a course was developed for bachelor education and is based on three pillars: concrete actions (enactive) to be done by the students, a synthesis of their work by writing a report (considered as the iconic part) and inputs from the teacher to generalize the findings and link it to a possible complete abstract description (symbolic). Intensive tutoring allowed an intermodal transfer between these categories. This EIS method originally introduced by Jerome Bruner for small children is particular well adapted for engineer education for which theoretical understanding often is not enough. The symbiosis of ex-cathedra lecture and practical work in a classroom-like situation presents an innovative step towards integrated learning that complements perfectly more abstract course principles like online courses.

Seeing the light: Applications of in situ optical measurements for understanding DOM dynamics in river systems (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Pellerin, B. A.; Bergamaschi, B. A.; Downing, B. D.; Saraceno, J.; Fleck, J.; Shanley, J. B.; Aiken, G.; Boss, E.; Fujii, R.

2009-12-01

A critical challenge for understanding the sources, character and cycling of dissolved organic matter (DOM) is making measurements at the time scales in which changes occur in aquatic systems. Traditional approaches for data collection (daily to monthly discrete sampling) are often limited by analytical and field costs, site access and logistical challenges, particularly for long-term sampling at a large number of sites. The ability to make optical measurements of DOM in situ has been known for more than 50 years, but much of the work on in situ DOM absorbance and fluorescence using commercially-available instruments has taken place in the last few years. Here we present several recent examples that highlight the application of in situ measurements for understanding DOM dynamics in riverine systems at intervals of minutes to hours. Examples illustrate the utility of in situ optical sensors for studies of DOM over short-duration events of days to weeks (diurnal cycles, tidal cycles, storm events and snowmelt periods) as well as longer-term continuous monitoring for months to years. We also highlight the application of in situ optical DOM measurements as proxies for constituents that are significantly more difficult and expensive to measure at high frequencies (e.g. methylmercury, trihalomethanes). Relatively simple DOM absorbance and fluorescence measurements made in situ could be incorporated into short and long-term ecological research and monitoring programs, resulting in advanced understanding of organic matter sources, character and cycling in riverine systems.

Toward an understanding of the building blocks: constructing programs for high processor count systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reilly, M H

2008-01-01

Technology and industry trends have clearly shown that the future of technical computing lies in exploitation of more processors in larger multiprocessor systems. Exploitation of high processor count architectures demands a more thorough understanding of the underlying system dynamics and an accounting for them in the design of high-performance applications. Currently these dynamics are incompletely described by the widely adopted benchmarks and kernel metrics. Systems are most often characterized to allow comparisons and ranking. Often the characterizations are in the form of a scalar measure of some aspect of system performance that is a 'not to exceed' number: the maximum possible level of performance that could be attained. While such comparisons typically drive both system design and procurement, more useful characterizations can be used to drive application development and design. This paper explores a few of these measures and presents a few simple examples of their application. The first set of metrics addresses individual processor performance, specifically performance related to memory references. The second set of metrics attempts to describe the behavior of the message-passing system under load and across a range of conditions

Information-Theoretic Approach May Shed a Light to a Better Understanding and Sustaining the Integrity of Ecological-Societal Systems under Changing Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, J.

2016-12-01

Considering high levels of uncertainty, epistemological conflicts over facts and values, and a sense of urgency, normal paradigm-driven science will be insufficient to mobilize people and nation toward sustainability. The conceptual framework to bridge the societal system dynamics with that of natural ecosystems in which humanity operates remains deficient. The key to understanding their coevolution is to understand `self-organization.' Information-theoretic approach may shed a light to provide a potential framework which enables not only to bridge human and nature but also to generate useful knowledge for understanding and sustaining the integrity of ecological-societal systems. How can information theory help understand the interface between ecological systems and social systems? How to delineate self-organizing processes and ensure them to fulfil sustainability? How to evaluate the flow of information from data through models to decision-makers? These are the core questions posed by sustainability science in which visioneering (i.e., the engineering of vision) is an essential framework. Yet, visioneering has neither quantitative measure nor information theoretic framework to work with and teach. This presentation is an attempt to accommodate the framework of self-organizing hierarchical open systems with visioneering into a common information-theoretic framework. A case study is presented with the UN/FAO's communal vision of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) which pursues a trilemma of efficiency, mitigation, and resilience. Challenges of delineating and facilitating self-organizing systems are discussed using transdisciplinary toold such as complex systems thinking, dynamic process network analysis and multi-agent systems modeling. Acknowledgments: This study was supported by the Korea Meteorological Administration Research and Development Program under Grant KMA-2012-0001-A (WISE project).

Swinging Networks

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hadrava, Michal; Hlinka, Jaroslav

2016-01-01

Roč. 17, suppl. 1 (2016), P146 ISSN 1471-2202 R&D Projects: GA MZd(CZ) NV15-29835A; GA ČR(CZ) GA14-02634S Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : neurodynamics * connectivity * music * epilepsy Subject RIV: FH - Neurology https://bmcneurosci.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12868-016-0283-6

Understanding the Dynamic System of Terrorist-Government Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

2003-03-01

Figure 62. Model 5D Equation Level Screen Shot 3 167 Bibliography Bajaracharya, Arun, Stephen Olu Ogunlana, and Nguyen Luong Bach...Understanding the New Security Environment Readings and Interpretations. Guilford, Connecticut: Mc- Graw -Hill/Dushkin 2002 Laqueur, Walter. “Postmodern

Mechanistic Systems Modeling to Improve Understanding and Prediction of Cardiotoxicity Caused by Targeted Cancer Therapeutics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaehee V. Shim

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs are highly potent cancer therapeutics that have been linked with serious cardiotoxicity, including left ventricular dysfunction, heart failure, and QT prolongation. TKI-induced cardiotoxicity is thought to result from interference with tyrosine kinase activity in cardiomyocytes, where these signaling pathways help to control critical processes such as survival signaling, energy homeostasis, and excitation–contraction coupling. However, mechanistic understanding is limited at present due to the complexities of tyrosine kinase signaling, and the wide range of targets inhibited by TKIs. Here, we review the use of TKIs in cancer and the cardiotoxicities that have been reported, discuss potential mechanisms underlying cardiotoxicity, and describe recent progress in achieving a more systematic understanding of cardiotoxicity via the use of mechanistic models. In particular, we argue that future advances are likely to be enabled by studies that combine large-scale experimental measurements with Quantitative Systems Pharmacology (QSP models describing biological mechanisms and dynamics. As such approaches have proven extremely valuable for understanding and predicting other drug toxicities, it is likely that QSP modeling can be successfully applied to cardiotoxicity induced by TKIs. We conclude by discussing a potential strategy for integrating genome-wide expression measurements with models, illustrate initial advances in applying this approach to cardiotoxicity, and describe challenges that must be overcome to truly develop a mechanistic and systematic understanding of cardiotoxicity caused by TKIs.

Towards the Understanding of Induced Seismicity in Enhanced Geothermal Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gritto, Roland [Array Information Technology, Greenbelt, MD (United States); Dreger, Douglas [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Heidbach, Oliver [Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (Germany, German Research Center for Geosciences; Hutchings, Lawrence [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2014-08-29

This DOE funded project was a collaborative effort between Array Information Technology (AIT), the University of California at Berkeley (UCB), the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). It was also part of the European research project “GEISER”, an international collaboration with 11 European partners from six countries including universities, research centers and industry, with the goal to address and mitigate the problems associated with induced seismicity in Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS). The goal of the current project was to develop a combination of techniques, which evaluate the relationship between enhanced geothermal operations and the induced stress changes and associated earthquakes throughout the reservoir and the surrounding country rock. The project addressed the following questions: how enhanced geothermal activity changes the local and regional stress field; whether these activities can induce medium sized seismicity M > 3; (if so) how these events are correlated to geothermal activity in space and time; what is the largest possible event and strongest ground motion, and hence the potential hazard associated with these activities. The development of appropriate technology to thoroughly investigate and address these questions required a number of datasets to provide the different physical measurements distributed in space and time. Because such a dataset did not yet exist for an EGS system in the United State, we used current and past data from The Geysers geothermal field in northern California, which has been in operation since the 1960s. The research addressed the need to understand the causal mechanisms of induced seismicity, and demonstrated the advantage of imaging the physical properties and temporal changes of the reservoir. The work helped to model the relationship between injection and production and medium sized magnitude events that have

Modeling noninvasive neurostimulation in epilepsy as stochastic interference in brain networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Stamoulis, Catherine; Chang, Bernard S

2013-05-01

Noninvasive brain stimulation is one of very few potential therapies for medically refractory epilepsy. However, its efficacy remains suboptimal and its therapeutic value has not been consistently assessed. This is in part due to the nonoptimized spatio-temporal application of stimulation protocols for seizure prevention or arrest, and incomplete knowledge of the neurodynamics of seizure evolution. Through simulations, this study investigated electroencephalography (EEG)-guided, stochastic interference with aberrantly coordinated neuronal networks, to prevent seizure onset or interrupt a propagating partial seizure, and prevent it from spreading to large areas of the brain. Brain stimulation was modeled as additive white or band-limited noise, and simulations using real EEGs and data generated from a network of integrate-and-fire neuronal ensembles were used to quantify spatio-temporal noise effects. It was shown that additive stochastic signals (noise) may destructively interfere with network dynamics and decrease or abolish synchronization associated with progressively coupled networks. Furthermore, stimulation parameters, particularly amplitude and spatio-temporal application, may be optimized based on patient-specific neurodynamics estimated directly from noninvasive EEGs.

Student Teachers' Ways of Thinking and Ways of Understanding Digestion and the Digestive System in Biology

Science.gov (United States)

Çimer, Sabiha Odabasi; Ursavas, Nazihan

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify the ways in which student teachers understand digestion and the digestive system and, subsequently, their ways of thinking, as reflected in their problem solving approaches and the justification schemes that they used to validate their claims. For this purpose, clinical interviews were conducted with 10…

AUTOMOTIVE DIESEL MAINTENANCE 1. UNIT XXII, I--MAINTAINING THE FUEL SYSTEM (PART I)--CUMMINS DIESEL ENGINE, II--UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENTIAL.

Science.gov (United States)

Minnesota State Dept. of Education, St. Paul. Div. of Vocational and Technical Education.

THIS MODULE OF A 30-MODULE COURSE IS DESIGNED TO DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE FUNCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE DIESEL ENGINE FUEL SYSTEM AND DIFFERENTIAL DRIVE UNITS USED IN DIESEL POWERED VEHICLES. TOPICS ARE (1) FUEL SYSTEM COMPARISONS, (2) FUEL SYSTEM SUPPLY COMPONENTS, (3) FUEL SUPPLY SECTION MAINTENANCE, (4) FUNCTION OF THE DIFFERENTIAL,…

Teaching Teaching & Understanding Understanding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2006-01-01

"Teaching Teaching & Understanding Understanding" is a 19-minute award-winning short-film about teaching at university and higher-level educational institutions. It is based on the "Constructive Alignment" theory developed by Prof. John Biggs. The film delivers a foundation for understanding what...

A Qualitative Study of Agricultural Literacy in Urban Youth: What Do Elementary Students Understand about the Agri-Food System?

Science.gov (United States)

Hess, Alexander J.; Trexler, Cary J.

2011-01-01

Agricultural literacy of K-12 students is a national priority for both scientific and agricultural education professional organizations. Development of curricula to address this priority has not been informed by research on what K-12 students understand about the agri-food system. While students' knowledge of food and fiber system facts have been…

Music gone crazy: neural oscillators to the rescue?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hadrava, Michal; Hlinka, Jaroslav

2017-01-01

Roč. 18, suppl. 1 (2017), P109 ISSN 1471-2202. [CNS 2017. Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting /26./. 15.07.2017-20.07.2017, Antwerp] R&D Projects: GA MZd(CZ) NV15-29835A Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : neurodynamics * music * tonality Subject RIV: FH - Neurology https://bmcneurosci.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12868-017-0371-2

Understanding the function and dysfunction of the immune system in lung cancer: the role of immune checkpoints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karachaliou, Niki; Cao, Maria Gonzalez; Teixidó, Cristina; Viteri, Santiago; Morales-Espinosa, Daniela; Santarpia, Mariacarmela; Rosell, Rafael

2015-01-01

Survival rates for metastatic lung cancer, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC), are poor with 5-year survivals of less than 5%. The immune system has an intricate and complex relationship with tumorigenesis; a groundswell of research on the immune system is leading to greater understanding of how cancer progresses and presenting new ways to halt disease progress. Due to the extraordinary power of the immune system—with its capacity for memory, exquisite specificity and central and universal role in human biology—immunotherapy has the potential to achieve complete, long-lasting remissions and cures, with few side effects for any cancer patient, regardless of cancer type. As a result, a range of cancer therapies are under development that work by turning our own immune cells against tumors. However deeper understanding of the complexity of immunomodulation by tumors is key to the development of effective immunotherapies, especially in lung cancer

Understanding Global Systems Today—A Calibration of the World3-03 Model between 1995 and 2012

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Pasqualino

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In 1972 the Limits to Growth report was published. It used the World3 model to better understand the dynamics of global systems and their relationship to finite resource availability, land use, and persistent pollution accumulation. The trends of resource depletion and degradation of physical systems which were identified by Limits to Growth have continued. Although World3 forecast scenarios are based on key measures and assumptions that cannot be easily assessed using available data (i.e., non-renewable resources, persistent pollution, the dynamics of growth components of the model can be compared with publicly available global data trends. Based on Scenario 2 of the Limits to Growth study, we present a calibration of the updated World3-03 model using historical data from 1995 to 2012 to better understand the dynamics of today’s economic and resource system. Given that accurate data on physical limits does not currently exist, the dynamics of overshoot to global limits are not assessed. In this paper we offer a new interpretation of the parametrisation of World3-03 using these data to explore how its assumptions on global dynamics, environmental footprints and responses have changed over the past 40 years. The results show that human society has invested more to abate persistent pollution, to increase food productivity and have a more productive service sector.

Why Social Relationships Are Important for Physical Health: A Systems Approach to Understanding and Modifying Risk and Protection.

Science.gov (United States)

Holt-Lunstad, Julianne

2018-01-04

Social relationships are adaptive and crucial for survival. This review presents existing evidence indicating that our social connections to others have powerful influences on health and longevity and that lacking social connection qualifies as a risk factor for premature mortality. A systems perspective is presented as a framework by which to move social connection into the realm of public health. Individuals, and health-relevant biological processes, exist within larger social contexts including the family, neighborhood and community, and society and culture. Applying the social ecological model, this review highlights the interrelationships of individuals within groups in terms of understanding both the causal mechanisms by which social connection influences physical health and the ways in which this influence can inform potential intervention strategies. A systems approach also helps identify gaps in our current understanding that may guide future research.

Understanding how replication processes can maintain systems away from equilibrium using Algorithmic Information Theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Devine, Sean D

2016-02-01

Replication can be envisaged as a computational process that is able to generate and maintain order far-from-equilibrium. Replication processes, can self-regulate, as the drive to replicate can counter degradation processes that impact on a system. The capability of replicated structures to access high quality energy and eject disorder allows Landauer's principle, in conjunction with Algorithmic Information Theory, to quantify the entropy requirements to maintain a system far-from-equilibrium. Using Landauer's principle, where destabilising processes, operating under the second law of thermodynamics, change the information content or the algorithmic entropy of a system by ΔH bits, replication processes can access order, eject disorder, and counter the change without outside interventions. Both diversity in replicated structures, and the coupling of different replicated systems, increase the ability of the system (or systems) to self-regulate in a changing environment as adaptation processes select those structures that use resources more efficiently. At the level of the structure, as selection processes minimise the information loss, the irreversibility is minimised. While each structure that emerges can be said to be more entropically efficient, as such replicating structures proliferate, the dissipation of the system as a whole is higher than would be the case for inert or simpler structures. While a detailed application to most real systems would be difficult, the approach may well be useful in understanding incremental changes to real systems and provide broad descriptions of system behaviour. Copyright © 2016 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Understanding mammalian genetic systems: the challenge of phenotyping in the mouse.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steve D M Brown

2006-08-01

Full Text Available Understanding mammalian genetic systems is predicated on the determination of the relationship between genetic variation and phenotype. Several international programmes are under way to deliver mutations in every gene in the mouse genome. The challenge for mouse geneticists is to develop approaches that will provide comprehensive phenotype datasets for these mouse mutant libraries. Several factors are critical to success in this endeavour. It will be important to catalogue assay and environment and where possible to adopt standardised procedures for phenotyping tests along with common environmental conditions to ensure comparable datasets of phenotypes. Moreover, the scale of the task underlines the need to invest in technological development improving both the speed and cost of phenotyping platforms. In addition, it will be necessary to develop new informatics standards that capture the phenotype assay as well as other factors, genetic and environmental, that impinge upon phenotype outcome.

Western Sicily (Italy), a key area for understanding geothermal system within carbonate reservoirs

Science.gov (United States)

Montanari, D.; Bertini, G.; Botteghi, S.; Catalano, R.; Contino, A.; Doveri, M.; Gennaro, C.; Gianelli, G.; Gola, G.; Manzella, A.; Minissale, A.; Montegrossi, G.; Monteleone, S.; Trumpy, E.

2012-12-01

Oil exploration in western Sicily started in the late 1950s when several exploration wells were drilled, and continued with the acquisition of many seismic reflection profiles and the drilling of new wells in the1980s. The geological interpretation of these data mainly provided new insights for the definition of geometric relationships between tectonic units and structural reconstruction at depth. Although it has not produced completely satisfactory results for oil industry, this hydrocarbon exploration provided a great amount of data, resulting very suitable for geothermal resource assessment. From a geothermal point of view western Sicily is, indeed, a very promising area, with the manifestation at surface of several thermal springs, localized areas of high heat flux and thick carbonates units uninterruptedly developing from surface up top great depths. These available data were often collected with the modalities and purposes typical of oil exploration, not always the finest for geothermal exploration as in the case of temperature measurements. The multidisciplinary and integrated review of these data, specifically corrected for geothermal purposes, and the integration with new data acquired in particular key areas such as the Mazara Del Vallo site in the southern part of western Sicily, allowed us to better understand this medium-enthalpy geothermal system, to reconstruct the modalities and peculiarities of fluids circulation, and to evaluate the geothermal potentialities of western Sicily. We suggest that western Sicily can be taken as a reference for the understanding of geothermal systems developed at a regional scale within carbonate rocks. This study was performed within the framework of the VIGOR project (http://www.vigor-geotermia.it).

Understanding Global Change: A New Conceptual Framework To Guide Teaching About Planetary Systems And Both The Causes And Effects Of Changes In Those Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, J.; Bean, J. R.

2016-12-01

Goals of the Next Generation Science Standards include understanding climate change and learning about ways to moderate the causes and mitigate the consequences of planetary-scale anthropogenic activities that interact synergistically to affect ecosystems and societies. The sheer number and scale of both causes and effects of global change can be daunting for teachers, and the lack of a clear conceptual framework for presenting this material usually leads educators (and textbooks) to present these phenomenon as a disjointed "laundry list." But an alternative approach is in the works. The Understanding Global Change web resource, currently under development at the UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology, will provide educators with a conceptual framework, graphic models, lessons, and assessment templates for teaching NGSS-aligned, interdisciplinary, global change curricula. The core of this resource is an original informational graphic that presents and relates Earth's global systems, human and non-human factors that produce changes in those systems, and the effects of those changes that scientists can measure.

Dynamic least-squares kernel density modeling of Fokker-Planck equations with application to neural population.

Science.gov (United States)

Shotorban, Babak

2010-04-01

The dynamic least-squares kernel density (LSQKD) model [C. Pantano and B. Shotorban, Phys. Rev. E 76, 066705 (2007)] is used to solve the Fokker-Planck equations. In this model the probability density function (PDF) is approximated by a linear combination of basis functions with unknown parameters whose governing equations are determined by a global least-squares approximation of the PDF in the phase space. In this work basis functions are set to be Gaussian for which the mean, variance, and covariances are governed by a set of partial differential equations (PDEs) or ordinary differential equations (ODEs) depending on what phase-space variables are approximated by Gaussian functions. Three sample problems of univariate double-well potential, bivariate bistable neurodynamical system [G. Deco and D. Martí, Phys. Rev. E 75, 031913 (2007)], and bivariate Brownian particles in a nonuniform gas are studied. The LSQKD is verified for these problems as its results are compared against the results of the method of characteristics in nondiffusive cases and the stochastic particle method in diffusive cases. For the double-well potential problem it is observed that for low to moderate diffusivity the dynamic LSQKD well predicts the stationary PDF for which there is an exact solution. A similar observation is made for the bistable neurodynamical system. In both these problems least-squares approximation is made on all phase-space variables resulting in a set of ODEs with time as the independent variable for the Gaussian function parameters. In the problem of Brownian particles in a nonuniform gas, this approximation is made only for the particle velocity variable leading to a set of PDEs with time and particle position as independent variables. Solving these PDEs, a very good performance by LSQKD is observed for a wide range of diffusivities.

Evaluating a Bilingual Text-Mining System with a Taxonomy of Key Words and Hierarchical Visualization for Understanding Learner-Generated Text

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Siu Cheung; Li, Ping; Song, Yanjie

2018-01-01

This study evaluated a bilingual text-mining system, which incorporated a bilingual taxonomy of key words and provided hierarchical visualization, for understanding learner-generated text in the learning management systems through automatic identification and counting of matching key words. A class of 27 in-service teachers studied a course…

Oxidative Stress in Oral Diseases: Understanding Its Relation with Other Systemic Diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaya Kumar

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Oxidative stress occurs in diabetes, various cancers, liver diseases, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic inflammation, and other degenerative diseases related to the nervous system. The free radicals have deleterious effect on various organs of the body. This is due to lipid peroxidation and irreversible protein modification that leads to cellular apoptosis or programmed cell death. During recent years, there is a rise in the oral diseases related to oxidative stress. Oxidative stress in oral disease is related to other systemic diseases in the body such as periodontitis, cardiovascular, pancreatic, gastric, and liver diseases. In the present review, we discuss the various pathways that mediate oxidative cellular damage. Numerous pathways mediate oxidative cellular damage and these include caspase pathway, PERK/NRF2 pathway, NADPH oxidase 4 pathways and JNK/mitogen-activated protein (MAP kinase pathway. We also discuss the role of inflammatory markers, lipid peroxidation, and role of oxygen species linked to oxidative stress. Knowledge of different pathways, role of inflammatory markers, and importance of low-density lipoprotein, fibrinogen, creatinine, nitric oxide, nitrates, and highly sensitive C-reactive proteins may be helpful in understanding the pathogenesis and plan better treatment for oral diseases which involve oxidative stress.

Understanding the structure

Science.gov (United States)

David J. Nowak

1994-01-01

Urban forests are complex ecosystems created by the interaction of anthropogenic and natural processes. One key to better management of these systems is to understand urban forest structure and its relationship to forest functions. Through sampling and inventories, urban foresters often obtain structural information (e.g., numbers, location, size, and condition) on...

How Pre-Service Teachers Navigate Trade-Offs of Food Systems across Time Scales: A Lens for Exploring Understandings of Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Yamashita, Lina; Hayes, Kathryn; Trexler, Cary J.

2017-01-01

In response to the increasing recognition of the need for sustainable food systems, research on students' and educators' knowledge of food systems and sustainability more broadly has grown but has generally focused on what people "fail" to understand. Moving away from this deficit approach, the present study used semi-structured…

Connecting Earth Systems: Developing Holistic Understanding through the Earth-System-Science Model

Science.gov (United States)

Gagnon, Valoree; Bradway, Heather

2012-01-01

For many years, Earth science concepts have been taught as thematic units with lessons in nice, neat chapter packages complete with labs and notes. But compartmentalized Earth science no longer exists, and implementing teaching methods that support student development of holistic understandings can be a time-consuming and difficult task. While…

Understanding persuasion contexts in health gamification: A systematic analysis of gamified health behavior change support systems literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Alahäivälä, Tuomas; Oinas-Kukkonen, Harri

2016-12-01

Gamification is increasingly used as a design strategy when developing behavior change support systems in the healthcare domain. It is commonly agreed that understanding the contextual factors is critical for successful gamification, but systematic analyses of the persuasive contexts have been lacking so far within gamified health intervention studies. Through a persuasion context analysis of the gamified health behavior change support systems (hBCSSs) literature, we inspect how the contextual factors have been addressed in the prior gamified health BCSS studies. The implications of this study are to provide the practitioners and researchers examples of how to conduct a systematic analysis to help guide the design and research on gamified health BCSSs. The ideas derived from the analysis of the included studies will help identify potential pitfalls and shortcomings in both the research and implementations of gamified health behavior change support systems. We systematically analyzed the persuasion contexts of 15 gamified health intervention studies. According to our results, gamified hBCSSs are implemented under different facets of lifestyle change and treatments compliance, and use a multitude of technologies and methods. We present a set of ideas and concepts to help improve endeavors in studying gamified health intervention through comprehensive understanding of the persuasive contextual factors. Future research on gamified hBCSSs should systematically compare the different combinations of contextual factors, related theories, chosen gamification strategies, and the study of outcomes to help understand how to achieve the most efficient use of gamification on the different aspects of healthcare. Analyzing the persuasion context is essential to achieve this. With the attained knowledge, those planning health interventions can choose the 'tried-and-tested' approaches for each particular situation, rather than develop solutions in an ad-hoc manner. Copyright © 2016

AUTOMOTIVE DIESEL MAINTENANCE 1. UNIT XXIV, I--MAINTAINING THE FUEL SYSTEM PART III--CATERPILLAR DIESEL ENGINE, II--UNDERSTANDING THE VOLTAGE REGULATOR/ALTERNATOR.

Science.gov (United States)

Minnesota State Dept. of Education, St. Paul. Div. of Vocational and Technical Education.

THIS MODULE OF A 30-MODULE COURSE IS DESIGNED TO DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE DIESEL ENGINE FUEL AND BATTERY CHARGING SYSTEM. TOPICS ARE (1) INJECTION TIMING CONTROLS, (2) GOVERNOR, (3) FUEL SYSTEM MAINTENANCE TIPS, (4) THE CHARGING SYSTEM, (5) REGULATING THE GENERATOR/ALTERNATOR, AND (6) CHARGING SYSTEM SERVICE…

Understanding China's Transformations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Xing

The objective of this paper is to offer a framework of understanding the dialectical nexus between China's internal evolutions and the external influences with a focus on the century-long "challenge-response" dynamism. That is to explore how external factors helped shaping China's internal...... transformations, i.e. how generations of Chinese have been struggling in responding to the external challenges and attempting to sinicize external political ideas in order to change China from within. Likewise, it is equally important to understand how China's inner transformation contributed to reshaping...... the world. Each time, be it China's dominance or decline, the capitalist world system has to adjust and readjust itself to the opportunities and constraints brought about by the "China factors"....

Understanding the Role of the Immune System in the Development of Cancer: New Opportunities for Population-Based Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Michaud, Dominique S; Houseman, E Andres; Marsit, Carmen J; Nelson, Heather H; Wiencke, John K; Kelsey, Karl T

2015-12-01

Understanding the precise role of the immune system in cancer has been hindered by the complexity of the immune response and challenges in measuring immune cell types in health and disease in the context of large epidemiologic studies. In this review, we present the rationale to study immunity in cancer and highlight newly available tools to further elucidate the epidemiologic factors driving individual variation in the immune response in cancer. Here, we summarize key studies that have evaluated the role of immunologic status on risk of cancer, discuss tools that have been used in epidemiologic studies to measure immune status, as well as new evolving methodologies where application to epidemiology is becoming more feasible. We also encourage further development of novel emerging technologies that will continue to enable prospective assessment of the dynamic and complex role played by the immune system in cancer susceptibility. Finally, we summarize characteristics and environmental factors that affect the immune response, as these will need to be considered in epidemiologic settings. Overall, we consider the application of a systems biologic approach and highlight new opportunities to understand the immune response in cancer risk. ©2015 American Association for Cancer Research.

Cognitive neuroscience robotics A synthetic approaches to human understanding

CERN Document Server

Ishiguro, Hiroshi; Asada, Minoru; Osaka, Mariko; Fujikado, Takashi

2016-01-01

Cognitive Neuroscience Robotics is the first introductory book on this new interdisciplinary area. This book consists of two volumes, the first of which, Synthetic Approaches to Human Understanding, advances human understanding from a robotics or engineering point of view. The second, Analytic Approaches to Human Understanding, addresses related subjects in cognitive science and neuroscience. These two volumes are intended to complement each other in order to more comprehensively investigate human cognitive functions, to develop human-friendly information and robot technology (IRT) systems, and to understand what kind of beings we humans are. Volume A describes how human cognitive functions can be replicated in artificial systems such as robots, and investigates how artificial systems could acquire intelligent behaviors through interaction with others and their environment.

Brief Communication: Understanding disasters and early-warning systems

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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.

Understanding Biological Regulation Through Synthetic Biology.

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Bashor, Caleb J; Collins, James J

2018-03-16

Engineering synthetic gene regulatory circuits proceeds through iterative cycles of design, building, and testing. Initial circuit designs must rely on often-incomplete models of regulation established by fields of reductive inquiry-biochemistry and molecular and systems biology. As differences in designed and experimentally observed circuit behavior are inevitably encountered, investigated, and resolved, each turn of the engineering cycle can force a resynthesis in understanding of natural network function. Here, we outline research that uses the process of gene circuit engineering to advance biological discovery. Synthetic gene circuit engineering research has not only refined our understanding of cellular regulation but furnished biologists with a toolkit that can be directed at natural systems to exact precision manipulation of network structure. As we discuss, using circuit engineering to predictively reorganize, rewire, and reconstruct cellular regulation serves as the ultimate means of testing and understanding how cellular phenotype emerges from systems-level network function. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Biophysics Volume 47 is May 20, 2018. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Theoretical study of chromophores for biological sensing: Understanding the mechanism of rhodol based multi-chromophoric systems

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Rivera-Jacquez, Hector J.; Masunov, Artëm E.

2018-06-01

Development of two-photon fluorescent probes can aid in visualizing the cellular environment. Multi-chromophore systems display complex manifolds of electronic transitions, enabling their use for optical sensing applications. Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TDDFT) methods allow for accurate predictions of the optical properties. These properties are related to the electronic transitions in the molecules, which include two-photon absorption cross-sections. Here we use TDDFT to understand the mechanism of aza-crown based fluorescent probes for metals sensing applications. Our findings suggest changes in local excitation in the rhodol chromophore between unbound form and when bound to the metal analyte. These changes are caused by a charge transfer from the aza-crown group and pyrazol units toward the rhodol unit. Understanding this mechanism leads to an optimized design with higher two-photon excited fluorescence to be used in medical applications.

Understanding your capital options.

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Payne, Christopher T

2012-05-01

When planning capital expenditures, hospitals and health systems should understand the following financing considerations: Traditional fixed-rate tax-exempt bonds; Variable-rate financing alternatives; Basel III Accord requirements; Direct tax-exempt bank loans; Total return swaps Taxable financings; Interest-rate swaps and collateral requirements

Trust, temporality and systems: how do patients understand patient safety in primary care? A qualitative study.

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Rhodes, Penny; Campbell, Stephen; Sanders, Caroline

2016-04-01

Patient safety research has tended to focus on hospital settings, although most clinical encounters occur in primary care, and to emphasize practitioner errors, rather than patients' own understandings of safety. To explore patients' understandings of safety in primary care. Qualitative interviews were conducted with patients recruited from general practices in northwest England. Participants were asked basic socio-demographic information; thereafter, topics were largely introduced by interviewees themselves. Transcripts were coded and analysed using NVivo10 (qualitative data software), following a process of constant comparison. Thirty-eight people (14 men, 24 women) from 19 general practices in rural, small town and city locations were interviewed. Many of their concerns (about access, length of consultation, relationship continuity) have been discussed in terms of quality, but, in the interviews, were raised as matters of safety. Three broad themes were identified: (i) trust and psycho-social aspects of professional-patient relationships; (ii) choice, continuity, access, and the temporal underpinnings of safety; and (iii) organizational and systems-level tensions constraining safety. Conceptualizations of safety included common reliance on a bureaucratic framework of accreditation, accountability, procedural rules and regulation, but were also individual and context-dependent. For patients, safety is not just a property of systems, but personal and contingent and is realized in the interaction between doctor and patient. However, it is the systems approach that has dominated safety thinking, and patients' individualistic and relational conceptualizations are poorly accommodated within current service organization. © 2015 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Climate change and livestock system in mountain: Understanding from Gandaki River basin of Nepal Himalaya.

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Dahal, P.; Shrestha, N. S.; Krakauer, N.; Lakhankar, T.; Panthi, J., Sr.; Pradhanang, S.; Jha, A. K.; Shrestha, M.; Sharma, M.

2015-12-01

In recent years climate change has emerged as a source of vulnerability for agro-livestock smallholders in Nepal where people are mostly dependent on rain-fed agriculture and livestock farming for their livelihoods. There is a need to understand and predict the potential impacts of climate change on agro-livestock farmer to develop effective mitigation and adaptation strategies. To understand dynamics of this vulnerability, we assess the farmers' perceptions of climate change, analysis of historical and future projections of climatic parameters and try to understand impact of climate change on livestock system in Gandaki River Basin of Central Nepal. During the period of 1981-2012, as reported by the mountain communities, the most serious hazards for livestock system and agriculture are the increasing trend of temperature, erratic rainfall patterns and increase in drought. Poor households without irrigated land are facing greater risks and stresses than well-off people. Analysis of historical climate data also supports the farmer perception. Result shows that there is increasing trend of temperature but no consistent trend in precipitation but a notable finding is that wet areas are getting wetter and dry areas getting drier. Besides that, there is increase in percentage of warm days and nights with decrease in the cool nights and days. The magnitude of the trend is found to be higher in high altitude. Trend of wet days has found to be increasing with decreasing in rainy days. Most areas are characterized by increases in both severity and frequency of drought and are more evident in recent years. The summers of 2004/05/06/09 and winters of 2006/08/09 were the worst widespread droughts and have a serious impact on livestock since 1981. Future projected change in temperature and precipitation obtained from downscaling the data global model by regional climate model shows that precipitation in central Nepal will change by -8% to 12% and temperature will change by 1

Phase synchronization of neuronal noise in mouse hippocampal epileptiform dynamics.

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Serletis, Demitre; Carlen, Peter L; Valiante, Taufik A; Bardakjian, Berj L

2013-02-01

Organized brain activity is the result of dynamical, segregated neuronal signals that may be used to investigate synchronization effects using sophisticated neuroengineering techniques. Phase synchrony analysis, in particular, has emerged as a promising methodology to study transient and frequency-specific coupling effects across multi-site signals. In this study, we investigated phase synchronization in intracellular recordings of interictal and ictal epileptiform events recorded from pairs of cells in the whole (intact) mouse hippocampus. In particular, we focused our analysis on the background noise-like activity (NLA), previously reported to exhibit complex neurodynamical properties. Our results show evidence for increased linear and nonlinear phase coupling in NLA across three frequency bands [theta (4-10 Hz), beta (12-30 Hz) and gamma (30-80 Hz)] in the ictal compared to interictal state dynamics. We also present qualitative and statistical evidence for increased phase synchronization in the theta, beta and gamma frequency bands from paired recordings of ictal NLA. Overall, our results validate the use of background NLA in the neurodynamical study of epileptiform transitions and suggest that what is considered "neuronal noise" is amenable to synchronization effects in the spatiotemporal domain.

A Transforming Electricity System: Understanding the Interactions Between Clean Energy Technologies, Markets, and Policies

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Mooney, David

The U.S. electricity system is currently undergoing a dramatic transformation. State-level renewable portfolio standards, abundant natural gas at low prices, and rapidly falling prices for wind and solar technologies are among the factors that have ushered in this transformation. With objective, rigorous, technology-neutral analysis, NREL aims to increase the understanding of energy policies, markets, resources, technologies, and infrastructure and their connections with economic, environmental, and security priorities. The results of these analyses are meant to inform R&D, policy, and investment decisions as energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies advance from concept to commercial application to market penetration. This talk will provide an overview of how NREL uses high-fidelity data, deep knowledge of energy technology cost and performance, and advanced models and tools to provide the information needed to ensure this transformation occurs economically, while maintaining system reliability. Examples will be explored and will include analysis of tax credit impacts on wind and solar deployment and power sector emissions, as well as analysis of power systems operations in the Eastern Interconnection under 30% wind and solar penetration scenarios. Invited speaker number 47185.

The value of mechanistic biophysical information for systems-level understanding of complex biological processes such as cytokinesis.

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Pollard, Thomas D

2014-12-02

This review illustrates the value of quantitative information including concentrations, kinetic constants and equilibrium constants in modeling and simulating complex biological processes. Although much has been learned about some biological systems without these parameter values, they greatly strengthen mechanistic accounts of dynamical systems. The analysis of muscle contraction is a classic example of the value of combining an inventory of the molecules, atomic structures of the molecules, kinetic constants for the reactions, reconstitutions with purified proteins and theoretical modeling to account for the contraction of whole muscles. A similar strategy is now being used to understand the mechanism of cytokinesis using fission yeast as a favorable model system. Copyright © 2014 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Understanding coral reefs as complex systems: degradation and prospects for recovery

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Raymond T. Dizon

2006-06-01

Full Text Available The present century is witness to unprecedented levels of coral reef degradation worldwide. Current understanding based on traditional ideas is unlikely to capture adequately the dynamics of phenomena accompanying this trend. In this regard, the ideas of complexity are reviewed. Some applications to coral reefs as complex systems have already been discussed in the literature although further progress is warranted as the search for new and more effective management tools continues, and the direction towards more holistic, integrative and large scale approaches gains wider acceptance. We distinguish between the concepts of robustness and resilience in the face of disturbance, highlight the various mechanisms that foster these stability properties and provide some coral reef examples. We identify some of the driving forces behind succession that are critical for community assembly and possible reef recovery. Finally, we consider how self-organization arises out of apparently random and chaotic processes and interactions to exhibit certain regularities and patterns especially when moving up on the scale of space and/or time.

Understanding the System You Are in Is Key to Improving It.

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Plsek, Paul

2017-01-01

Front-line ownership (FLO) is an approach to change that is consistent with what we know about complex adaptive systems (CAS), such as a healthcare organization. Traditional change approaches can fail because they are based in the "organization as a machine" metaphor of traditional, scientific management. Both metaphors have their application. It depends on how closely the work naturally resembles a predictable machine. Often, the drive for detailed standardization is a misguided effort to make a human CAS behave more like a machine, so that our traditional approaches to change will work. FLO is a more appropriate tool in a CAS, where shared agreement at the level of a few simple rules (minimum specifications) and allowing flexibility for adaptation within local context is more appropriate than detailed standardization. Because humans in a CAS maintain some control over their discretionary effort, change advocates desiring sustainable change must work with stakeholders to co-create cases for change that resonate with the values of those being asked to change. FLO facilitates the emergence of this level of understanding of shared values.

Development and validation of a system of assimilation indices: A mixed method approach to understand change in psychotherapy.

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Neto, David D; Baptista, Telmo M; Dent-Brown, Kim

2015-06-01

Assimilation is an important process in understanding change in psychotherapy. Similar to other psychological processes, assimilation may be traceable in the speech of clients by attending to its signs or indices. In the present research, we aimed to build a system of indices of assimilation. This research follows a mixed method design. The indices were derived through qualitative analysis, using grounded theory. Subsequently, the indices were adjusted quantitatively and applied to 30 single psychotherapy sessions of adult clients with depression and 11 therapists. Forty-two indices were found and grouped into the following five process categories of assimilation: external distress, pain, noticing, decentring and action. The indices showed good inter-rater reliability and internal consistency. Except for noticing, all process categories correlated significantly with each other according to conceptual proximity. The system of indices also showed convergent validity with an existing coding system of assimilation for two process categories. The results suggest that the system of indices is a useful approach for understanding assimilation. The consideration of assimilation in a continuous fashion through sub-processes may help to extend our knowledge of this process and provide a tool for clinical practice. Assimilation is an important process in understanding change in psychotherapy in the sense that it takes into account insight and action-related processes. Clients convey in their speech signs or indices of the assimilation process which can be observed both in the style and content of their utterances. Using these indices, therapists can continuously assess assimilation and use this information in choosing interventions. Limitations: This study follows a cross-sectional design and does not allow consideration of the predictive value of the indices. The outcome of the therapy was not taken into account, which restricts validity considerations to the comparison with

Understanding Knowledge Management System antecedents of performance impact: Extending the Task-technology Fit Model with intention to share knowledge construct

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Ghada R. El Said

2015-12-01

The suggested integrated model helps for better understanding of KMS from the perspective of users’ motivation, system design, and tasks. This paper contributes-with academic and practical implications for KMS researchers, developers, and managers.

Making Sense of Dynamic Systems: How Our Understanding of Stocks and Flows Depends on a Global Perspective.

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Fischer, Helen; Gonzalez, Cleotilde

2016-03-01

Stocks and flows (SF) are building blocks of dynamic systems: Stocks change through inflows and outflows, such as our bank balance changing with withdrawals and deposits, or atmospheric CO2 with absorptions and emissions. However, people make systematic errors when trying to infer the behavior of dynamic systems, termed SF failure, whose cognitive explanations are yet unknown. We argue that SF failure appears when people focus on specific system elements (local processing), rather than on the system structure and gestalt (global processing). Using a standard SF task (n = 148), SF failure decreased by (a) a global as opposed to local task format; (b) individual global as opposed to local processing styles; and (c) global as opposed to local perceptual priming. These results converge toward local processing as an explanation for SF failure. We discuss theoretical and practical implications on the connections between the scope of attention and understanding of dynamic systems. Copyright © 2015 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Understanding the use of geographical information systems (GIS) in health informatics research: A review.

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Shaw, Nicola; McGuire, Suzanne

2017-06-23

The purpose of this literature review is to understand geographical information systems (GIS) and how they can be applied to public health informatics, medical informatics, and epidemiology. Relevant papers that reflected the use of geographical information systems (GIS) in health research were identified from four academic databases: Academic Search Complete, BioMed Central, PubMed Central, and Scholars Portal, as well as Google Scholar. The search strategy used was to identify articles with "geographic information systems", "GIS", "public health", "medical informatics", "epidemiology", and "health geography" as main subject headings or text words in titles and abstracts. Papers published between 1997 and 2014 were considered and a total of 39 articles were included to inform the authors on the use of GIS technologies in health informatics research. The main applications of GIS in health informatics and epidemiology include disease surveillance, health risk analysis, health access and planning, and community health profiling. GIS technologies can significantly improve quality and efficiency in health research as substantial connections can be made between a population's health and their geographical location. Gains in health informatics can be made when GIS are applied through research, however, improvements need to occur in the quantity and quality of data input for these systems to ensure better geographical health maps are used so that proper conclusions between public health and environmental factors may be made.

Forests and Phenology: Designing the Early Warning System to Understand Forest Change

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Pierce, T.; Phillips, M. B.; Hargrove, W. W.; Dobson, G.; Hicks, J.; Hutchins, M.; Lichtenstein, K.

2010-12-01

Vegetative phenology is the study of plant development and changes with the seasons, such as the greening-up and browning-down of forests, and how these events are influenced by variations in climate. A National Phenology Data Set, based on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite images covering 2002 through 2009, is now available from work by NASA, the US Forest Service, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This new data set provides an easily interpretable product useful for detecting changes to the landscape due to long-term factors such as climate change, as well as finding areas affected by short-term forest threats such as insects or disease. The Early Warning System (EWS) is a toolset being developed by the US Forest Service and the University of North Carolina-Asheville to support distribution and use of the National Phenology Data Set. The Early Warning System will help research scientists, US Forest Service personnel, forest and natural resources managers, decision makers, and the public in the use of phenology data to better understand unexpected change within our nation’s forests. These changes could have multiple natural sources such as insects, disease, or storm damage, or may be due to human-induced events, like thinning, harvest, forest conversion to agriculture, or residential and commercial use. The primary goal of the Early Warning System is to provide a seamless integration between monitoring, detection, early warning and prediction of these forest disturbances as observed through phenological data. The system consists of PC and web-based components that are structured to support four user stages of increasing knowledge and data sophistication. Building Literacy: This stage of the Early Warning System educates potential users about the system, why the system should be used, and the fundamentals about the data the system uses. The channels for this education include a website, interactive tutorials, pamphlets, and other technology

Photochemically Powered AgCl Janus Micromotors as a Model System to Understand Ionic Self-Diffusiophoresis.

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Zhou, Chao; Zhang, H P; Tang, Jinyao; Wang, Wei

2018-03-13

Micromotors are an emerging class of micromachines that could find potential applications in biomedicine, environmental remediation, and microscale self-assembly. Understanding their propulsion mechanisms holds the key to their future development. This is especially true for a popular category of micromotors that are driven by asymmetric surface photochemical reactions. Many of these micromotors release ionic species and are propelled via a mechanism termed "ionic self-diffusiophoresis". However, exactly how it operates remains vague. To address this fundamental yet important issue, we have developed a dielectric-AgCl Janus micromotor that clearly moves away from the AgCl side when exposed to UV or strong visible light. Taking advantage of numerical simulations and acoustic levitation techniques, we have provided tentative explanations for its speed decay over time as well as its directionality. In addition, photoactive AgCl micromotors demonstrate interesting gravitactic behaviors that hint at three-dimensional transport or sensing applications. The current work presents a well-controlled and easily fabricated model system to understand chemically powered micromotors, highlighting the usefulness of acoustic levitation for studying active matter free from the effect of boundaries.

The renewable energy industry in Massachussetts as a complex system: Developing a shared understanding for policy making

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Jones, Charles A.

A model-based field study was conducted to understand the mental models of participants in the photovoltaic industry in Massachusetts, with the purpose of understanding of how that industry works as a complex system. Mental models of industry participants are important, both as the holders of the best system information and as the critical actors in any policy solution. Experts from manufacturing, installation, development, policy, and advocacy sectors were interviewed. The knowledge they conveyed was expressed as a set system dynamics models; these models were characterized, compared, and combined in order to answer the following research questions: What are the mental models of participants? How widely are mental models shared among participants? What is the combined model of the system? How accurate are these models? Given these models, what policies would lead to success? The system described by informants is revealed as one of distributed and embedded agency---actors have the ability to take meaningful action, but that action and its effects are limited by the complexity of the system and by the actions of other actors. Both the growth of the industry and constraints on the growth occur through dynamic processes, many however outside local control. Mental models are shared in clusters of informants, with some differences between these groupings. Informants vary on the level of aggregation needed to express their descriptions and on the most important dynamic force. However, many processes are commonly perceived across informants, they perceive the same system trajectories, and the behavior of the simulation models constructed from their mental models was similar. A combined model was constructed which included a full range of potential feedback loops within an abstracted version of the described system. Testing for policy using the combined model reveals that the structures necessary for growth are present, as expected. Under several reasonable conditions

Imitation and Action Understanding in Autistic Spectrum Disorders: How Valid Is the Hypothesis of a Deficit in the Mirror Neuron System?

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Hamilton, Antonia F. de C.; Brindley, Rachel M.; Frith, Uta

2007-01-01

The motor mirror neuron system supports imitation and goal understanding in typical adults. Recently, it has been proposed that a deficit in this mirror neuron system might contribute to poor imitation performance in children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and might be a cause of poor social abilities in these children. We aimed to test…

Video-CRM: understanding customer behaviors in stores

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Haritaoglu, Ismail; Flickner, Myron; Beymer, David

2013-03-01

This paper describes two real-time computer vision systems created 10 years ago that detect and track people in stores to obtain insights of customer behavior while shopping. The first system uses a single color camera to identify shopping groups in the checkout line. Shopping groups are identified by analyzing the inter-body distances coupled with the cashier's activities to detect checkout transactions start and end times. The second system uses multiple overhead narrow-baseline stereo cameras to detect and track people, their body posture and parts to understand customer interactions with products such as "customer picking a product from a shelf". In pilot studies both systems demonstrated real-time performance and sufficient accuracy to enable more detailed understanding of customer behavior and extract actionable real-time retail analytics.

Research on operation and maintenance support system adaptive to human recognition and understanding in human-centered plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Numano, Masayoshi; Matsuoka, Takeshi; Mitomo, N.

2004-01-01

As a human-centered plant, advanced nuclear power plant needs appropriate role sharing between human and mobile intelligent agents. Human-machine cooperation for plant operation and maintenance activities is also required with an advanced interface. Plant's maintenance is programmed using mobile robots working under the radiation environments instead of human beings. Operation and maintenance support system adaptive to human recognition and understanding should be developed to establish adequate human and machine interface so as to induce human capabilities to the full and enable human to take responsibility for plan's operation. Plant's operation and maintenance can be cooperative activities between human and intelligent automonous agents having surveillance and control functions. Infrastructure of multi-agent simulation system for the support system has been investigated and developed based on work plans derived from the scheduler. (T. Tanaka)

Understanding Dyscalculia for Teaching

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Vaidya, Sheila Rao

2004-01-01

Dyscalculia, a poor understanding of the number concept and the number system, is a learning problem affecting many individuals. However, less is known about this disability than about the reading disability, dyslexia, because society accepts learning problems in mathematics as quite normal. This article provides a summary of the research on…

Phun Week: Understanding Physiology

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Limson, Mel; Matyas, Marsha Lakes

2009-01-01

Topics such as sports, exercise, health, and nutrition can make the science of physiology relevant and engaging for students. In addition, many lessons on these topics, such as those on the cardiovascular, respiratory, and digestive systems, align with national and state life science education standards. Physiology Understanding Week (PhUn…

Ecological Understanding 1: Ways of Experiencing Photosynthesis.

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Carlsson, Britta

2002-01-01

Investigates 10 student teachers' understanding of the different ways in which the function of the ecosystem could be experienced. Explores the functional aspects of the ecosystem using a system approach. Concludes that the idea of transformation is crucial to more complex ways of understanding photosynthesis. (Contains 62 references.) (Author/YDS)

Bistability induces episodic spike communication by inhibitory neurons in neuronal networks.

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Kazantsev, V B; Asatryan, S Yu

2011-09-01

Bistability is one of the important features of nonlinear dynamical systems. In neurodynamics, bistability has been found in basic Hodgkin-Huxley equations describing the cell membrane dynamics. When the neuron is clamped near its threshold, the stable rest potential may coexist with the stable limit cycle describing periodic spiking. However, this effect is often neglected in network computations where the neurons are typically reduced to threshold firing units (e.g., integrate-and-fire models). We found that the bistability may induce spike communication by inhibitory coupled neurons in the spiking network. The communication is realized in the form of episodic discharges with synchronous (correlated) spikes during the episodes. A spiking phase map is constructed to describe the synchronization and to estimate basic spike phase locking modes.

Drug release control and system understanding of sucrose esters matrix tablets by artificial neural networks.

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Chansanroj, Krisanin; Petrović, Jelena; Ibrić, Svetlana; Betz, Gabriele

2011-10-09

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were applied for system understanding and prediction of drug release properties from direct compacted matrix tablets using sucrose esters (SEs) as matrix-forming agents for controlled release of a highly water soluble drug, metoprolol tartrate. Complexity of the system was presented through the effects of SE concentration and tablet porosity at various hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) values of SEs ranging from 0 to 16. Both effects contributed to release behaviors especially in the system containing hydrophilic SEs where swelling phenomena occurred. A self-organizing map neural network (SOM) was applied for visualizing interrelation among the variables and multilayer perceptron neural networks (MLPs) were employed to generalize the system and predict the drug release properties based on HLB value and concentration of SEs and tablet properties, i.e., tablet porosity, volume and tensile strength. Accurate prediction was obtained after systematically optimizing network performance based on learning algorithm of MLP. Drug release was mainly attributed to the effects of SEs, tablet volume and tensile strength in multi-dimensional interrelation whereas tablet porosity gave a small impact. Ability of system generalization and accurate prediction of the drug release properties proves the validity of SOM and MLPs for the formulation modeling of direct compacted matrix tablets containing controlled release agents of different material properties. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Using a social-ecological systems perspective to understand tourism and landscape interactions in coastal areas

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Jasper Hessel Heslinga

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to look at the potential synergies between tourism and landscapes and examine the potential contribution of tourism to build social-ecological resilience in the Dutch Wadden. Design/methodology/approach – The authors reveal how a social-ecological systems perspective can be used to conceptualize the Wadden as a coupled and dynamic system. This paper is a conceptual analysis that applies this approach to the Dutch Wadden. The data used for the inquiry primarily comes from a literature review. Findings – The authors argue that the social-ecological systems perspective is a useful approach and could be used to improve the governance of multi-functional socio-ecological systems in coastal areas. Opportunities for synergies between tourism and landscapes have been overlooked. The authors consider that tourism and nature protection are potentially compatible and that the synergies should be identified. Research limitations/implications – This paper is only a conceptual application rather than an empirical case study. Further research to actually apply the methodology is needed. Practical implications – Managers of protected areas should consider applying a social-ecological systems approach. Social implications – The views of a wide variety of stakeholders should be considered in landscape planning. Originality/value – The value of this paper lies in the articulation of the social-ecological systems perspective as a way to identify and understand the complex interactions between tourism and landscape, and the potential synergies between them.

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Consumer-Focused Health Information Technology Systems Through eHealth Literacy: A Framework for Understanding Users' Needs.

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Kayser, Lars; Kushniruk, Andre; Osborne, Richard H; Norgaard, Ole; Turner, Paul

2015-05-20

eHealth systems and applications are increasingly focused on supporting consumers to directly engage with and use health care services. Involving end users in the design of these systems is critical to ensure a generation of usable and effective eHealth products and systems. Often the end users engaged for these participatory design processes are not actual representatives of the general population, and developers may have limited understanding about how well they might represent the full range of intended users of the eHealth products. As a consequence, resulting information technology (IT) designs may not accommodate the needs, skills, cognitive capacities, and/or contexts of use of the intended broader population of health consumers. This may result in challenges for consumers who use the health IT systems, and could lead to limitations in adoption if the diversity of user attributes has not been adequately considered by health IT designers. The objective of this paper is to propose how users' needs and competences can be taken into account when designing new information and communications technology solutions in health care by expanding the user-task-context matrix model with the domains of a new concept of eHealth literacy. This approach expands an existing method for supporting health IT system development, which advocates use of a three-dimensional user-task-context matrix to comprehensively identify the users of health IT systems, and what their needs and requirements are under differing contexts of use. The extension of this model involved including knowledge about users' competences within the seven domains of eHealth literacy, which had been identified based on systematic engagement with computer scientists, academics, health professionals, and patients recruited from various patient organizations and primary care. A concept map was constructed based on a structured brainstorm procedure, card sorting, and computational analysis. The new eHealth literacy

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

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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.

Number names and number understanding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ejersbo, Lisser Rye; Misfeldt, Morten

2014-01-01

This paper concerns the results from the first year of a three-year research project involving the relationship between Danish number names and their corresponding digits in the canonical base 10 system. The project aims to develop a system to help the students’ understanding of the base 10 syste...... the Danish number names are more complicated than in other languages. Keywords: A research project in grade 0 and 1th in a Danish school, Base-10 system, two-digit number names, semiotic, cognitive perspectives....

Understanding karst environments by thermo-hygrometric monitoring: preliminary results from the Cesi Mountain karst system (Central Italy

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Lucio Di Matteo

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The understanding of karst systems is of paramount importance for the protection and valorisation of these environments. A multidisciplinary study is presented to investigate the possible interconnection between karst features of a karst area located in the south-western part of the Martani chain (Cesi Mountain, Central Italy. This hydrogeological structure contributes to recharge a deep regional aquifer. The latter feeds the high discharge and salinity Stifone springs. In the southwestern part of Martani chain, seven caves have been mapped, five of which are hosted in the Calcare Massiccio Formation. The analysis of thermo-hygrometric data collected since Autumn 2014 into the caves and those from external meteorological stations, showed the timing of the airflow inversion occurring on late winter/early spring and summer/ early autumn. Despite the complexity of the morphology of caves and of conceptual models of airflow pattern, these data seem to indicate that the monitored small caves could be interconnected to a considerably wider cave system. Data here presented coupled with the knowledge on hydrogeological and geological-structural setting of the limestone massif are useful to drive future speleological explorations, aiming to discover new large cavities and to better understand the water recharge process.

Understanding ayurveda.

Science.gov (United States)

Gadgil, Vaidya Dilip

2010-01-01

Ayurveda needs to achieve its full potential both in India and globally. This requires imparting to its students full appreciation of Ayurveda's power and strength, particularly proper understanding of the advantages of applying it to treat chronic and acute diseases. To this end, we explain the necessity of learning Sanskrit as a medium of study, and the advantages of learning the Texts in the traditional way, rather than relying on translations with all the loss of meaning and precision, which that entails. We emphasize the use of Triskandhakosha as a means to fully understand Ayurveda fundamental concepts and technical terms, so that all their shades of meaning are fully understood, and all their usages given in different places in the texts. Only by such methods can full appreciation of Ayurvedic wisdom be achieved, and the full depth and power of its knowledge be applied. Only then will its true status among systems of medicine come to be appreciated, either in India or more widely in the world as a whole.

Understanding Ayurveda

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vaidya Dilip Gadgil

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Ayurveda needs to achieve its full potential both in India and globally. This requires imparting to its students full appreciation of Ayurveda′s power and strength, particularly proper understanding of the advantages of applying it to treat chronic and acute diseases. To this end, we explain the necessity of learning Sanskrit as a medium of study, and the advantages of learning the Texts in the traditional way, rather than relying on translations with all the loss of meaning and precision, which that entails. We emphasize the use of Triskandhakosha as a means to fully understand Ayurveda fundamental concepts and technical terms, so that all their shades of meaning are fully understood, and all their usages given in different places in the texts. Only by such methods can full appreciation of Ayurvedic wisdom be achieved, and the full depth and power of its knowledge be applied. Only then will its true status among systems of medicine come to be appreciated, either in India or more widely in the world as a whole.

Understanding Inclusion in Cyprus

Science.gov (United States)

Mamas, Christoforos

2013-01-01

This paper provides a framework for understanding inclusion in Cyprus. The evidence base is the result of a six-month qualitative research study in five Cypriot mainstream primary schools. Despite the rhetoric in favour of inclusion, it seems that the Cypriot educational system is still highly segregating in its philosophy and does not fully…

Development of a Systems Science Curriculum to Engage Rural African American Teens in Understanding and Addressing Childhood Obesity Prevention

Science.gov (United States)

Frerichs, Leah; Lich, Kristen Hassmiller; Young, Tiffany L.; Dave, Gaurav; Stith, Doris; Corbie-Smith, Giselle

2018-01-01

Engaging youth from racial and ethnic minority communities as leaders for change is a potential strategy to mobilize support for addressing childhood obesity, but there are limited curricula designed to help youth understand the complex influences on obesity. Our aim was to develop and pilot test a systems science curriculum to elicit rural…

Analysis and Behaviour Understanding of a Production System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga Ioana Amariei

2009-10-01

Full Text Available In production systems modelling usually acts to system simulation by discrete events. The present paper exemplifies this, using the Queuing System Simulation module of the WinQSB software

Understanding the adoption of TELEs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Ellen; Nyvang, Tom

2006-01-01

a systemic, Bateson-inspired, understanding of learning and based on data from observation, qualitative interviews, and surveys, a number of barriers to adoption at the organisational level are identified, all requiring management initiatives if the application is to fully unfold its potential....

[The neurodynamic core of consciousness and neural Darwinism].

Science.gov (United States)

Ibáñez, A

In the last decades, the scientific study of consciousness in the scope of the cognitive neurosciences can be considered one of the greatest challenges of contemporary science. The Gerald Edelman theory of consciousness is one of the most promising and controversial perspectives. This theory stands out by its approach to topics usually rejected by other neurophysiologic theories of consciousness, as the case of the neurophysiologic explanation of qualia. The goal of this paper is to review the dynamic core theory of consciousness, presenting the main features of the theory, analyzing the explanation strategies, their empirical extensions, and elaborating some critical considerations about the possibility of the neuroscientific study of qualia. The central and additional theoretical components are analyzed, emphasizing its ontological, restrictive and explanatory assumptions. The properties of conscious phenomena and their cerebral correlates as advanced by the theory are described, and finally its experiments and empirical extensions are examined. The explanatory strategies of the theory are analyzed, based on conceptual isomorphism between the phenomenological properties and the neurophysiological and mathematical measures. Some criticisms could be raised about the limitations of the dynamic core theory, especially regarding its account of the so-called 'hard problem' of consciousness or qualia.

Understanding the effects of electronic polarization and delocalization on charge-transport levels in oligoacene systems

KAUST Repository

Sutton, Christopher; Tummala, Naga Rajesh; Kemper, Travis; Aziz, Saadullah G.; Sears, John; Coropceanu, Veaceslav; Bredas, Jean-Luc

2017-01-01

Electronic polarization and charge delocalization are important aspects that affect the charge-transport levels in organic materials. Here, using a quantum mechanical/ embedded-charge (QM/EC) approach based on a combination of the long-range corrected omega B97X-D exchange-correlation functional (QM) and charge model 5 (CM5) point-charge model (EC), we evaluate the vertical detachment energies and polarization energies of various sizes of crystalline and amorphous anionic oligoacene clusters. Our results indicate that QM/EC calculations yield vertical detachment energies and polarization energies that compare well with the experimental values obtained from ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy measurements. In order to understand the effect of charge delocalization on the transport levels, we considered crystalline naphthalene systems with QM regions including one or five-molecules. The results for these systems show that the delocalization and polarization effects are additive; therefore, allowing for electron delocalization by increasing the size of the QM region leads to the additional stabilization of the transport levels. Published by AIP Publishing.

Understanding the effects of electronic polarization and delocalization on charge-transport levels in oligoacene systems

KAUST Repository

Sutton, Christopher

2017-06-13

Electronic polarization and charge delocalization are important aspects that affect the charge-transport levels in organic materials. Here, using a quantum mechanical/ embedded-charge (QM/EC) approach based on a combination of the long-range corrected omega B97X-D exchange-correlation functional (QM) and charge model 5 (CM5) point-charge model (EC), we evaluate the vertical detachment energies and polarization energies of various sizes of crystalline and amorphous anionic oligoacene clusters. Our results indicate that QM/EC calculations yield vertical detachment energies and polarization energies that compare well with the experimental values obtained from ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy measurements. In order to understand the effect of charge delocalization on the transport levels, we considered crystalline naphthalene systems with QM regions including one or five-molecules. The results for these systems show that the delocalization and polarization effects are additive; therefore, allowing for electron delocalization by increasing the size of the QM region leads to the additional stabilization of the transport levels. Published by AIP Publishing.

New standard on safety for hydrogen systems in spanish. Keys for understanding and use

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luis Aprea, Jose [CNEA, Argentine Atomic Energy Commission - AAH - IRAM - Comahue University, CC 805 - Neuquen (Argentina)

2008-07-15

The present paper approaches all the preliminary, normative and additional elements observed during the work carried out by the Argentine standardization board to count in the country with a normative document that covers the expectations of the local community of users and other Spanish-speaking user, about the integral safety for the hydrogen systems. The antecedents and the process of adoption of an international standard and its adaptation to the local media are analyzed. The result has been the Standard IRAM/ISO 15916 that intends to offer, to all the users and especially to those who are not familiar with the technology, a base to understand the subject of safety, thus enhancing the education of the general public in hydrogen safety matters. (author)

Understanding Information Technology Investment Decision-Making in the Context of Hotel Global Distribution Systems: a Multiple-Case Study

OpenAIRE

Connolly, Daniel J.

1999-01-01

UNDERSTANDING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT DECISION-MAKING IN THE CONTEXT OF HOTEL GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS: A MULTIPLE-CASE STUDY by Daniel J. Connolly Dr. Michael D. Olsen, Chair Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management ABSTRACT This study investigates what three large, multinational hospitality companies do in practice when evaluating and making IT investment decisions. This study was launched in an attempt to 1) learn more about ...

Emerging systems biology approaches in nanotoxicology: Towards a mechanism-based understanding of nanomaterial hazard and risk

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Costa, Pedro M.; Fadeel, Bengt, E-mail: Bengt.Fadeel@ki.se

2016-05-15

Engineered nanomaterials are being developed for a variety of technological applications. However, the increasing use of nanomaterials in society has led to concerns about their potential adverse effects on human health and the environment. During the first decade of nanotoxicological research, the realization has emerged that effective risk assessment of the multitudes of new nanomaterials would benefit from a comprehensive understanding of their toxicological mechanisms, which is difficult to achieve with traditional, low-throughput, single end-point oriented approaches. Therefore, systems biology approaches are being progressively applied within the nano(eco)toxicological sciences. This novel paradigm implies that the study of biological systems should be integrative resulting in quantitative and predictive models of nanomaterial behaviour in a biological system. To this end, global ‘omics’ approaches with which to assess changes in genes, proteins, metabolites, etc. are deployed allowing for computational modelling of the biological effects of nanomaterials. Here, we highlight omics and systems biology studies in nanotoxicology, aiming towards the implementation of a systems nanotoxicology and mechanism-based risk assessment of nanomaterials. - Highlights: • Systems nanotoxicology is a multi-disciplinary approach to quantitative modelling. • Transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics remain the most common methods. • Global “omics” techniques should be coupled to computational modelling approaches. • The discovery of nano-specific toxicity pathways and biomarkers is a prioritized goal. • Overall, experimental nanosafety research must endeavour reproducibility and relevance.

Emerging systems biology approaches in nanotoxicology: Towards a mechanism-based understanding of nanomaterial hazard and risk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Costa, Pedro M.; Fadeel, Bengt

2016-01-01

Engineered nanomaterials are being developed for a variety of technological applications. However, the increasing use of nanomaterials in society has led to concerns about their potential adverse effects on human health and the environment. During the first decade of nanotoxicological research, the realization has emerged that effective risk assessment of the multitudes of new nanomaterials would benefit from a comprehensive understanding of their toxicological mechanisms, which is difficult to achieve with traditional, low-throughput, single end-point oriented approaches. Therefore, systems biology approaches are being progressively applied within the nano(eco)toxicological sciences. This novel paradigm implies that the study of biological systems should be integrative resulting in quantitative and predictive models of nanomaterial behaviour in a biological system. To this end, global ‘omics’ approaches with which to assess changes in genes, proteins, metabolites, etc. are deployed allowing for computational modelling of the biological effects of nanomaterials. Here, we highlight omics and systems biology studies in nanotoxicology, aiming towards the implementation of a systems nanotoxicology and mechanism-based risk assessment of nanomaterials. - Highlights: • Systems nanotoxicology is a multi-disciplinary approach to quantitative modelling. • Transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics remain the most common methods. • Global “omics” techniques should be coupled to computational modelling approaches. • The discovery of nano-specific toxicity pathways and biomarkers is a prioritized goal. • Overall, experimental nanosafety research must endeavour reproducibility and relevance.

Understanding The Resistance to Health Information Systems

OpenAIRE

David Ackah; Angelito E Alvarado; Heru Santoso Wahito Nugroho; Sanglar Polnok; Wiwin Martiningsih

2017-01-01

User resistance is users’ opposition to system implementation. Resistance often occurs as a result of a mismatch between management goals and employee preferences. There are two types of resistance to health iformation system namely active resistance and passive resistance. The manifestation of active resistance are being critical,  blaming/accusing, blocking, fault finding, sabotaging, undermining, ridiculing, intimidating/threatening, starting rumors, appealing to fear, manipulating arguing...

Geochemistry and the understanding of ground-water systems

Science.gov (United States)

Glynn, Pierre D.; Plummer, L. Niel

2005-03-01

Geochemistry has contributed significantly to the understanding of ground-water systems over the last 50 years. Historic advances include development of the hydrochemical facies concept, application of equilibrium theory, investigation of redox processes, and radiocarbon dating. Other hydrochemical concepts, tools, and techniques have helped elucidate mechanisms of flow and transport in ground-water systems, and have helped unlock an archive of paleoenvironmental information. Hydrochemical and isotopic information can be used to interpret the origin and mode of ground-water recharge, refine estimates of time scales of recharge and ground-water flow, decipher reactive processes, provide paleohydrological information, and calibrate ground-water flow models. Progress needs to be made in obtaining representative samples. Improvements are needed in the interpretation of the information obtained, and in the construction and interpretation of numerical models utilizing hydrochemical data. The best approach will ensure an optimized iterative process between field data collection and analysis, interpretation, and the application of forward, inverse, and statistical modeling tools. Advances are anticipated from microbiological investigations, the characterization of natural organics, isotopic fingerprinting, applications of dissolved gas measurements, and the fields of reaction kinetics and coupled processes. A thermodynamic perspective is offered that could facilitate the comparison and understanding of the multiple physical, chemical, and biological processes affecting ground-water systems. La géochimie a contribué de façon importante à la compréhension des systèmes d'eaux souterraines pendant les 50 dernières années. Les avancées ont portées sur le développement du concept des faciès hydrochimiques, sur l'application de la théorie des équilibres, l'étude des processus d'oxydoréduction, et sur la datation au radiocarbone. D'autres concepts, outils et

Understanding human management of automation errors

Science.gov (United States)

McBride, Sara E.; Rogers, Wendy A.; Fisk, Arthur D.

2013-01-01

Automation has the potential to aid humans with a diverse set of tasks and support overall system performance. Automated systems are not always reliable, and when automation errs, humans must engage in error management, which is the process of detecting, understanding, and correcting errors. However, this process of error management in the context of human-automation interaction is not well understood. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review of the variables that contribute to error management. We examined relevant research in human-automation interaction and human error to identify critical automation, person, task, and emergent variables. We propose a framework for management of automation errors to incorporate and build upon previous models. Further, our analysis highlights variables that may be addressed through design and training to positively influence error management. Additional efforts to understand the error management process will contribute to automation designed and implemented to support safe and effective system performance. PMID:25383042

Native American Students' Understanding of Geologic Time Scale: 4th-8th Grade Ojibwe Students' Understanding of Earth's Geologic History

Science.gov (United States)

Nam, Younkyeong; Karahan, Engin; Roehrig, Gillian

2016-01-01

Geologic time scale is a very important concept for understanding long-term earth system events such as climate change. This study examines forty-three 4th-8th grade Native American--particularly Ojibwe tribe--students' understanding of relative ordering and absolute time of Earth's significant geological and biological events. This study also…

Evaluating the Gifted Students' Understanding Related to Plasma State Using Plasma Experimental System and Two-Tier Diagnostic Test

Science.gov (United States)

Korkmaz, Saadet Deniz; Ayas, Bahadir; Aybek, Eren Can; Pat, Suat

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the experimental system design related to plasma state on the gifted students' understanding on the subject of the plasma state. To test the research hypothesis, one group pretest-posttest research model was carried out with 18 eighth-grade (4 girls and 14 boys) gifted students in…

Analysis of drought characteristics for improved understanding of a water resource system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. T. Lennard

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Droughts are a reoccurring feature of the UK climate; recent drought events (2004–2006 and 2010–2012 have highlighted the UK’s continued vulnerability to this hazard. There is a need for further understanding of extreme events, particularly from a water resource perspective. A number of drought indices are available, which can help to improve our understanding of drought characteristics such as frequency, severity and duration. However, at present little of this is applied to water resource management in the water supply sector. Improved understanding of drought characteristics using indices can inform water resource management plans and enhance future drought resilience. This study applies the standardised precipitation index (SPI to a series of rainfall records (1962–2012 across the water supply region of a single utility provider. Key droughts within this period are analysed to develop an understanding of the meteorological characteristics that lead to, exist during and terminate drought events. The results of this analysis highlight how drought severity and duration can vary across a small-scale water supply region, indicating that the spatial coherence of drought events cannot be assumed.

Understanding Cooperative Learning in Context-aware Recommender Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jiang, Na; Tan, Chee-Wee; Wang, Weiquan

2017-01-01

Context-Aware Recommender Systems (CARSs) are becoming commonplace. Yet, there is a paucity of studies that investigates how such systems could affect usage behavior from a user-system interaction perspective. Building on the Social Interdependence Theory (SIT), we construct a research model...... of users’ promotive interaction with CARSs, which in turn, dictates the performance of such recommender systems. Furthermore, we introduce scrutability features as design interventions that can be harnessed by developers to mitigate the impact of users’ promotive interaction on the performance of CARSs....

"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…

How to understand quantum mechanics

CERN Document Server

Ralston, John P

2018-01-01

How to Understand Quantum Mechanics presents an accessible introduction to understanding quantum mechanics in a natural and intuitive way, which was advocated by Erwin Schroedinger and Albert Einstein. A theoretical physicist reveals dozens of easy tricks that avoid long calculations, makes complicated things simple, and bypasses the worthless anguish of famous scientists who died in angst. The author's approach is light-hearted, and the book is written to be read without equations, however all relevant equations still appear with explanations as to what they mean. The book entertainingly rejects quantum disinformation, the MKS unit system (obsolete), pompous non-explanations, pompous people, the hoax of the 'uncertainty principle' (it is just a math relation), and the accumulated junk-DNA that got into the quantum operating system by misreporting it. The order of presentation is new and also unique by warning about traps to be avoided, while separating topics such as quantum probability to let the Schroeding...

Understanding computer and information technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Yun Cheol; Han, Tack Don; Im, Sun Beom

2009-01-01

This book consists of four parts. The first part describes IT technology and information community understanding of computer system, constitution of software system and information system and application of software. The second part is about computer network, information and communication, application and internet service. The third part contains application and multi media, application of mobile computer, ubiquitous computing and ubiquitous environment and computer and digital life. The last part explains information security and ethics of information-oriented society, information industry and IT venture, digital contents technology and industry and the future and development of information-oriented society.

Understanding similarity of groundwater systems with empirical copulas

Science.gov (United States)

Haaf, Ezra; Kumar, Rohini; Samaniego, Luis; Barthel, Roland

2016-04-01

Within the classification framework for groundwater systems that aims for identifying similarity of hydrogeological systems and transferring information from a well-observed to an ungauged system (Haaf and Barthel, 2015; Haaf and Barthel, 2016), we propose a copula-based method for describing groundwater-systems similarity. Copulas are an emerging method in hydrological sciences that make it possible to model the dependence structure of two groundwater level time series, independently of the effects of their marginal distributions. This study is based on Samaniego et al. (2010), which described an approach calculating dissimilarity measures from bivariate empirical copula densities of streamflow time series. Subsequently, streamflow is predicted in ungauged basins by transferring properties from similar catchments. The proposed approach is innovative because copula-based similarity has not yet been applied to groundwater systems. Here we estimate the pairwise dependence structure of 600 wells in Southern Germany using 10 years of weekly groundwater level observations. Based on these empirical copulas, dissimilarity measures are estimated, such as the copula's lower- and upper corner cumulated probability, copula-based Spearman's rank correlation - as proposed by Samaniego et al. (2010). For the characterization of groundwater systems, copula-based metrics are compared with dissimilarities obtained from precipitation signals corresponding to the presumed area of influence of each groundwater well. This promising approach provides a new tool for advancing similarity-based classification of groundwater system dynamics. Haaf, E., Barthel, R., 2015. Methods for assessing hydrogeological similarity and for classification of groundwater systems on the regional scale, EGU General Assembly 2015, Vienna, Austria. Haaf, E., Barthel, R., 2016. An approach for classification of hydrogeological systems at the regional scale based on groundwater hydrographs EGU General Assembly

What the Dynamic Systems Approach Can Offer for Understanding Development: An Example of Mid-childhood Reaching.

Science.gov (United States)

Golenia, Laura; Schoemaker, Marina M; Otten, Egbert; Mouton, Leonora J; Bongers, Raoul M

2017-01-01

The Dynamic Systems Approach (DSA) to development has been shown to be a promising theory to understand developmental changes. In this perspective, we use the example of mid-childhood (6- to 10-years of age) reaching to show how using the DSA can advance the understanding of development. Mid-childhood is an important developmental period that has often been overshadowed by the focus on the acquisition of reaching during infancy. This underrepresentation of mid-childhood studies is unjustified, as earlier studies showed that important developmental changes in mid-childhood reaching occur that refine the skill of reaching. We review these studies here for the first time and show that different studies revealed different developmental trends, such as non-monotonic and linear trends, for variables such as movement time and accuracy at target. Unfortunately, proposed explanations for these developmental changes have been tailored to individual studies, limiting their scope. Also, explanations were focused on a single component or process in the system that supposedly causes developmental changes. Here, we propose that the DSA can offer an overarching explanation for developmental changes in this research field. According to the DSA, motor behavior emerges from interactions of multiple components entailed by the person, environment, and task. Changes in all these components can potentially contribute to the emerging behavior. We show how the principles of change of the DSA can be used as an overarching framework by applying these principles not only to development, but also the behavior itself. This underlines its applicability to other fields of development.

Progress report on understanding AFIS seed coat nep levels in pre-opened slivers on the Advanced Fiber Information System (AFIS)

Science.gov (United States)

The Advanced Fiber Information System (AFIS) is utilized in this segment of the research project to study how seed coat neps are measured. A patent search was conducted, and studied to assist with the understanding of the AFIS measurement of this impurity in raw cotton. The older AFIS 2 is primari...

Scenarios of Earth system change in western Canada: Conceptual understanding and process insights from the Changing Cold Regions Network

Science.gov (United States)

DeBeer, C. M.; Wheater, H. S.; Pomeroy, J. W.; Stewart, R. E.; Turetsky, M. R.; Baltzer, J. L.; Pietroniro, A.; Marsh, P.; Carey, S.; Howard, A.; Barr, A.; Elshamy, M.

2017-12-01

The interior of western Canada has been experiencing rapid, widespread, and severe hydroclimatic change in recent decades, and this is projected to continue in the future. To better assess future hydrological, cryospheric and ecological states and fluxes under future climates, a regional hydroclimate project was formed under the auspices of the Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) project of the World Climate Research Programme; the Changing Cold Regions Network (CCRN; www.ccrnetwork.ca) aims to understand, diagnose, and predict interactions among the changing Earth system components at multiple spatial scales over the Mackenzie and Saskatchewan River basins of western Canada. A particular challenge is in applying land surface and hydrological models under future climates, as system changes and cold regions process interactions are not often straightforward, and model structures and parameterizations based on historical observations and understanding of contemporary system functioning may not adequately capture these complexities. To address this and provide guidance and direction to the modelling community, CCRN has drawn insights from a multi-disciplinary perspective on the process controls and system trajectories to develop a set of feasible scenarios of change for the 21st century across the region. This presentation will describe CCRN's efforts towards formalizing these insights and applying them in a large-scale modelling context. This will address what are seen as the most critical processes and key drivers affecting hydrological, cryospheric and ecological change, how these will most likely evolve in the coming decades, and how these are parameterized and incorporated as future scenarios for terrestrial ecology, hydrological functioning, permafrost state, glaciers, agriculture, and water management.

Understanding Absorptive Capacities is an "Innovation Systems" Context

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Narula, Rajneesh

2004-01-01

This paper seeks to broaden our understanding of the concept underlying absorptive capacity atthe macro -level, paying particular attention to the growth and development perspectives. Weprovide definitions of absorptive and technological capacity, external technology flows,productivity growth....... We also undertake to explain how the nature ofabsorptive capacity changes with stages of economic development, and the importance of thedifferent aspects of absorptive capability at different stages. The relationship is not a linear one:the benefits that accrue from marginal increases in absorptive...... capability change over time.Finally, we provide a tentative and preliminary conceptual argument of how the different stagesof absorptive capacity are related to productivity growth, economic growth and employmentcreation.Key words: New economy, absorptive capacity, knowledge...

Effect of Linked Rules on Business Process Model Understanding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Wei; Indulska, Marta; Sadiq, Shazia

2017-01-01

Business process models are widely used in organizations by information systems analysts to represent complex business requirements and by business users to understand business operations and constraints. This understanding is extracted from graphical process models as well as business rules. Prior...

Computational Intelligence Techniques for Electro-Physiological Data Analysis

OpenAIRE

Riera Sardà, Alexandre

2012-01-01

This work contains the efforts I have made in the last years in the field of Electrophysiological data analysis. Most of the work has been done at Starlab Barcelona S.L. and part of it at the Neurodynamics Laboratory of the Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology of the University of Barcelona. The main work deals with the analysis of electroencephalography (EEG) signals, although other signals, such as electrocardiography (ECG), electroculography (EOG) and electromiography (EMG) ...

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 electrostatic charge behaviour in aircraft fuel systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ogilvy, Jill A.; Hooker, Phil; Bennett, Darrell

2015-10-01

This paper presents work on the simulation of electrostatic charge build-up and decay in aircraft fuel systems. A model (EC-Flow) has been developed by BAE Systems under contract to Airbus, to allow the user to assess the effects of changes in design or in refuel conditions. Some of the principles behind the model are outlined. The model allows for a range of system components, including metallic and non-metallic pipes, valves, filters, junctions, bends and orifices. A purpose-built experimental rig was built at the Health and Safety Laboratory in Buxton, UK, to provide comparison data. The rig comprises a fuel delivery system, a test section where different components may be introduced into the system, and a Faraday Pail for measuring generated charge. Diagnostics include wall currents, charge densities and pressure losses. This paper shows sample results from the fitting of model predictions to measurement data and shows how analysis may be used to explain some of the observed trends.

Spectroscopy, Understanding the Atom Series.

Science.gov (United States)

Hellman, Hal

This booklet is one of the "Understanding the Atom" Series. The science of spectroscopy is presented by a number of topics dealing with (1) the uses of spectroscopy, (2) its origin and background, (3) the basic optical systems of spectroscopes, spectrometers, and spectrophotometers, (4) the characteristics of wave motion, (5) the…

International Conference on Computational Intelligence 2015

CERN Document Server

Saha, Sujan

2017-01-01

This volume comprises the proceedings of the International Conference on Computational Intelligence 2015 (ICCI15). This book aims to bring together work from leading academicians, scientists, researchers and research scholars from across the globe on all aspects of computational intelligence. The work is composed mainly of original and unpublished results of conceptual, constructive, empirical, experimental, or theoretical work in all areas of computational intelligence. Specifically, the major topics covered include classical computational intelligence models and artificial intelligence, neural networks and deep learning, evolutionary swarm and particle algorithms, hybrid systems optimization, constraint programming, human-machine interaction, computational intelligence for the web analytics, robotics, computational neurosciences, neurodynamics, bioinspired and biomorphic algorithms, cross disciplinary topics and applications. The contents of this volume will be of use to researchers and professionals alike....

A neural coding scheme reproducing foraging trajectories

Science.gov (United States)

Gutiérrez, Esther D.; Cabrera, Juan Luis

2015-12-01

The movement of many animals may follow Lévy patterns. The underlying generating neuronal dynamics of such a behavior is unknown. In this paper we show that a novel discovery of multifractality in winnerless competition (WLC) systems reveals a potential encoding mechanism that is translatable into two dimensional superdiffusive Lévy movements. The validity of our approach is tested on a conductance based neuronal model showing WLC and through the extraction of Lévy flights inducing fractals from recordings of rat hippocampus during open field foraging. Further insights are gained analyzing mice motor cortex neurons and non motor cell signals. The proposed mechanism provides a plausible explanation for the neuro-dynamical fundamentals of spatial searching patterns observed in animals (including humans) and illustrates an until now unknown way to encode information in neuronal temporal series.

Advances in understanding river-groundwater interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Brunner, Philip; Therrien, René; Renard, Philippe; Simmons, Craig T.; Franssen, Harrie-Jan Hendricks

2017-09-01

River-groundwater interactions are at the core of a wide range of major contemporary challenges, including the provision of high-quality drinking water in sufficient quantities, the loss of biodiversity in river ecosystems, or the management of environmental flow regimes. This paper reviews state of the art approaches in characterizing and modeling river and groundwater interactions. Our review covers a wide range of approaches, including remote sensing to characterize the streambed, emerging methods to measure exchange fluxes between rivers and groundwater, and developments in several disciplines relevant to the river-groundwater interface. We discuss approaches for automated calibration, and real-time modeling, which improve the simulation and understanding of river-groundwater interactions. Although the integration of these various approaches and disciplines is advancing, major research gaps remain to be filled to allow more complete and quantitative integration across disciplines. New possibilities for generating realistic distributions of streambed properties, in combination with more data and novel data types, have great potential to improve our understanding and predictive capabilities for river-groundwater systems, especially in combination with the integrated simulation of the river and groundwater flow as well as calibration methods. Understanding the implications of different data types and resolution, the development of highly instrumented field sites, ongoing model development, and the ultimate integration of models and data are important future research areas. These developments are required to expand our current understanding to do justice to the complexity of natural systems.

Understanding and Managing Process Interaction in IS Development Projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bygstad, Bendik; Nielsen, Peter Axel

2012-01-01

Software-based information systems must be developed and implemented as a part of business change. This is a major challenge, since business change and the development of software-based information systems usually are performed in separate processes. Thus, there is a need to understand and manage...... critical events in the case, what led to the events, and what the consequences are. We discuss the implications for information systems research and in particular we discuss the contribution to project management of iterative and incremental software development.......Software-based information systems must be developed and implemented as a part of business change. This is a major challenge, since business change and the development of software-based information systems usually are performed in separate processes. Thus, there is a need to understand and manage...

Developing a Frame of Reference for understanding configuration systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ladeby, Klaes Rohde; Edwards, Kasper

2008-01-01

This paper uses the theory of technical systems to develop a frame of reference of product configuration systems. Following a definition of the configuration task, product model and product configuration system the theory of technical systems are presented. Configuration systems are then related...

System understanding as a basis for sustainable decision-making. A science - school collaboration within the Sparkling Science project "Traisen w3"

Science.gov (United States)

Poppe, Michaela; Böck, Kerstin; Loach, Andreas; Scheikl, Sigrid; Zitek, Andreas; Heidenreich, Andrea; Kurz-Aigner, Roman; Schrittwieser, Martin; Muhar, Susanne

2016-04-01

Equipping young people with the skills to participate successfully in increasingly complex environments and societies is a central issue of policy makers around the world. Only the understanding of complex socio-environmental systems establishes a basis for making decisions leading to sustainable development. However, OECD Pisa studies indicated, that only a low percentage of 15-year-old students was able to solve straightforward problems. Additionally, students get less interested in natural science education. In Austria "Sparkling Science" projects funded by the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy in Austria target at integrating science with school learning by involving young people into scientific research for the purpose of developing new and engaging forms of interactive, meaningful learning. Within the Sparkling Science Project "Traisen.w3" scientists work together with 15 to 18-year-old students of an Austrian Secondary School over two years to identify and evaluate ecosystem services within the catchment of the river Traisen. One of the aims of the project is to foster system understanding of the youths by multi-modal school activities. To support the development of causal systems thinking, students developed qualitative causal models on processes in the catchment of the river Traisen with an interactive, hierarchically structured learning environment that was developed within the EU-FP7 project "DynaLearn" (http://www.dynalearn.eu) based on qualitative reasoning. Students worked in small groups and were encouraged to interlink entities, processes and simulate the results of the proposed interactions of hydrological, biological, ecological, spatial and societal elements. Within this setting collaborative problem solving competency through sharing knowledge, understanding and different perspectives was developed. Additionally, in several school workshops the ecosystem services concept was used as communication tool to show the

Understanding Enterprise Systems' Impact(s) on Business Relationships

Science.gov (United States)

Ekman, Peter; Thilenius, Peter

Enterprise systems (ESs), i.e. standardized applications supplied from software vendors such as SAP or Oracle, have been extensively employed by companies during the last decade. Today all Fortune 500 companies have, or are in the process of installing, this kind of information system (Seddon et al. 2003). A wide-spread denotation for these applications is enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. But the broad utilization use of these software packages in business is rendering this labelling too narrow (Davenport 2000).

Understanding images using knowledge based approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tascini, G.

1985-01-01

This paper presents an approach to image understanding focusing on low level image processing and proposes a rule-based approach as part of larger knowledge-based system. The general system has a yerarchical structure that comprises several knowledge-based layers. The main idea is to confine at the lower level the domain independent knowledge and to reserve the higher levels for the domain dependent knowledge, that is for the interpretation

U.S. Geological Survey core science systems strategy: characterizing, synthesizing, and understanding the critical zone through a modular science framework

Science.gov (United States)

Bristol, R. Sky; Euliss, Ned H.; Booth, Nathaniel L.; Burkardt, Nina; Diffendorfer, Jay E.; Gesch, Dean B.; McCallum, Brian E.; Miller, David M.; Morman, Suzette A.; Poore, Barbara S.; Signell, Richard P.; Viger, Roland J.

2013-01-01

Core Science Systems is a new mission of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that resulted from the 2007 Science Strategy, "Facing Tomorrow's Challenges: U.S. Geological Survey Science in the Decade 2007-2017." This report describes the Core Science Systems vision and outlines a strategy to facilitate integrated characterization and understanding of the complex Earth system. The vision and suggested actions are bold and far-reaching, describing a conceptual model and framework to enhance the ability of the USGS to bring its core strengths to bear on pressing societal problems through data integration and scientific synthesis across the breadth of science. The context of this report is inspired by a direction set forth in the 2007 Science Strategy. Specifically, ecosystem-based approaches provide the underpinnings for essentially all science themes that define the USGS. Every point on Earth falls within a specific ecosystem where data, other information assets, and the expertise of USGS and its many partners can be employed to quantitatively understand how that ecosystem functions and how it responds to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Every benefit society obtains from the planet-food, water, raw materials to build infrastructure, homes and automobiles, fuel to heat homes and cities, and many others, are derived from or affect ecosystems. The vision for Core Science Systems builds on core strengths of the USGS in characterizing and understanding complex Earth and biological systems through research, modeling, mapping, and the production of high quality data on the Nation's natural resource infrastructure. Together, these research activities provide a foundation for ecosystem-based approaches through geologic mapping, topographic mapping, and biodiversity mapping. The vision describes a framework founded on these core mapping strengths that makes it easier for USGS scientists to discover critical information, share and publish results, and identify potential

Demystifying embedded systems middleware understanding file systems, databases, virtual machines, networking and more

CERN Document Server

Noergaard, Tammy

2010-01-01

This practical technical guide to embedded middleware implementation offers a coherent framework that guides readers through all the key concepts necessary to gain an understanding of this broad topic. Big picture theoretical discussion is integrated with down-to-earth advice on successful real-world use via step-by-step examples of each type of middleware implementation. Technically detailed case studies bring it all together, by providing insight into typical engineering situations readers are likely to encounter. Expert author Tammy Noergaard keeps explanations as simple and readable as

Understanding Mathematics: Some Key Factors

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Asma Amanat; Reid, Norman

2012-01-01

Mathematics is well known as a subject area where there can be problems in terms of understanding as well as retaining positive attitudes. In a large study involving 813 school students (ages approximately 10-12) drawn from two different school systems in Pakistan, the effect of limited working memory capacity on performance in mathematics was…

From genomes to metabolomes: Understanding mechanisms of symbiosis and cell-cell signaling using the archaeal system Ignicoccus-Nanoarchaeum

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Podar, Mircea [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Biosciences Division; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Hettich, Robert [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Biosciences Division; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Copie, Valerie [Montana State Univ., Bozeman, MT (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Bothner, Brian [Montana State Univ., Bozeman, MT (United States). Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry

2016-12-16

(manuscript in preparation) and by characterizing other similar Nanoarchaeota systems. Using a single cell genomics approach we characterized the first terrestrial geothermal Nanoarchaeota system, from Yellowstone National Park. That nanoarchaeon uses a different host, a species of Sulfolobales, and comparative genomics with N. equitans-Ignicoccus allowed us to come up with an evolutionary model for the evolution of this group of organisms across marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Based on metabolic inferences we were also able to isolate in culture the first such terrestrial nanoarchaeal system, also from Yellowstone, which involves a species of Acidilobus. The novel nanoarchaeal system was characterized using proteomics and it helped us better understand the metabolic capabilities of these organisms as well as how co-evolution shapes the genomes of interacting species. It was also one of the very few cases in which prior genomic data was used to successfully design an approach to culture an organism, which remains the gold standard in microbiology research. As a better understanding of interspecies interaction requires multiple model systems, we have pursued identification and genomic characterization or isolation of additional nanoarchaeal systems from geographically and geochemically distinct environments. Two additional nanoarchaeal systems are presently being characterized from hot springs in Yellowstone and Iceland and will be the subject to future publications.

Teaching physics and understanding infrared thermal imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Vollmer, Michael; Möllmann, Klaus-Peter

2017-08-01

Infrared thermal imaging is a very rapidly evolving field. The latest trends are small smartphone IR camera accessories, making infrared imaging a widespread and well-known consumer product. Applications range from medical diagnosis methods via building inspections and industrial predictive maintenance etc. also to visualization in the natural sciences. Infrared cameras do allow qualitative imaging and visualization but also quantitative measurements of the surface temperatures of objects. On the one hand, they are a particularly suitable tool to teach optics and radiation physics and many selected topics in different fields of physics, on the other hand there is an increasing need of engineers and physicists who understand these complex state of the art photonics systems. Therefore students must also learn and understand the physics underlying these systems.

Understanding The Resistance to Health Information Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Ackah

2017-07-01

Full Text Available User resistance is users’ opposition to system implementation. Resistance often occurs as a result of a mismatch between management goals and employee preferences. There are two types of resistance to health iformation system namely active resistance and passive resistance. The manifestation of active resistance are being critical,  blaming/accusing, blocking, fault finding, sabotaging, undermining, ridiculing, intimidating/threatening, starting rumors, appealing to fear, manipulating arguing, using facts selectively, distorting facts and  raising objections. The manifestation of passive resistance are agreeing verbally but not following through, failing to implement change, procrastinating/dragging feet, feigning ignorance, withholding information, suggestions, help or support, and standing by and allowing the change to fail.

Towards automatic understanding of technical texts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hajicova, E; Sgall, P

1981-01-01

The authors briefly mention one experiment of natural language interface with databases of a common type. The main part of this paper is devoted to the prepared system of natural language understanding with an automatic construction of the collection of data. 12 references.

Understanding genetic variation - the value of systems biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Hütt, Marc-Thorsten

2014-04-01

Pharmacology is currently transformed by the vast amounts of genome-associated information available for system-level interpretation. Here I review the potential of systems biology to facilitate this interpretation, thus paving the way for the emerging field of systems pharmacology. In particular, I will show how gene regulatory and metabolic networks can serve as a framework for interpreting high throughput data and as an interface to detailed dynamical models. In addition to the established connectivity analyses of effective networks, I suggest here to also analyze higher order architectural properties of effective networks. © 2013 The British Pharmacological Society.

Understanding IoT systems: a life cycle approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rahman, Leila Fatmasari; Ozcelebi, Tanir; Lukkien, Johan

2018-01-01

Internet of Things (IoT) systems and the corresponding network architectures are complex due to distributed services on many IoT devices collaboratively fulfilling common goals of IoT applications. System requirements for different types of IoT application domains are still not well-established. The

Discovery of endogenous opioid systems: what it has meant for the clinician's understanding of pain and its treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Ballantyne, Jane C; Sullivan, Mark D

2017-12-01

Before the discovery of the endogenous opioid system in the 1970s, opioids were understood only through the lens of opioid drug effects. Opium produced sleep, pain relief, and addiction. Once a variety of opioids had been extracted from opium, and still others synthesized chemically, it became clear that there must be endogenous receptors to explain differential drug effects. So, the search was on to identify the receptors, and subsequently their endogenous ligands. Even then, the consequential ways in which the endogenous opioid system influences the way we respond to the environment and survive took time to unravel. Today's understanding extends far beyond simply accepting pain relief and addiction as separate processes, to the realization that the endogenous opioid system achieves constant adjustments between punishment (pain) and reward in communicating areas of the brain previously thought to subserve separate functions. The system also plays a crucial role in socialization. Taken together, these 2 lines of research have led to new insights into why the endogenous opioid system is so important in terms of evolution, individual survival and day-to-day function, and how important it is to consider opioid medications within the context of these critical natural functions.

Understanding Genetic Breast Cancer Risk: Processing Loci of the BRCA Gist Intelligent Tutoring System.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolfe, Christopher R; Reyna, Valerie F; Widmer, Colin L; Cedillos-Whynott, Elizabeth M; Brust-Renck, Priscila G; Weil, Audrey M; Hu, Xiangen

2016-07-01

The BRCA Gist Intelligent Tutoring System helps women understand and make decisions about genetic testing for breast cancer risk. BRCA Gist is guided by Fuzzy-Trace Theory, (FTT) and built using AutoTutor Lite. It responds differently to participants depending on what they say. Seven tutorial dialogues requiring explanation and argumentation are guided by three FTT concepts: forming gist explanations in one's own words, emphasizing decision-relevant information, and deliberating the consequences of decision alternatives. Participants were randomly assigned to BRCA Gist , a control, or impoverished BRCA Gist conditions removing gist explanation dialogues, argumentation dialogues, or FTT images. All BRCA Gist conditions performed significantly better than controls on knowledge, comprehension, and risk assessment. Significant differences in knowledge, comprehension, and fine-grained dialogue analyses demonstrate the efficacy of gist explanation dialogues. FTT images significantly increased knowledge. Providing more elements in arguments against testing correlated with increased knowledge and comprehension.

Understanding Soldier Robot Teams in Virtual Environments

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Barnes, Michael J; Jentsch, Florian; Cosenzo, Keryl A; Chen, Jessie Y; McDermott, Patricia

2006-01-01

...) and renamed the Collaborative Robotics ATO. The purpose of the program is to understand HRI issues in order to develop and evaluate technologies to improve HRI battlefield performance for Future Combat Systems (FCS...

Co-creating Understanding in Water Use & Agricultural Resilience in a Multi-scale Natural-human System: Sacramento River Valley--California's Water Heartland in Transition

Science.gov (United States)

Fairbanks, D. H.; Brimlowe, J.; Chaudry, A.; Gray, K.; Greene, T.; Guzley, R.; Hatfield, C.; Houk, E.; Le Page, C.

2012-12-01

The Sacramento River Valley (SRV), valued for its $2.5 billion agricultural production and its biodiversity, is the main supplier of California's water, servicing 25 million people. . Despite rapid changes to the region, little is known about the collective motivations and consequences of land and water use decisions, or the social and environmental vulnerability and resilience of the SRV. The overarching research goal is to examine whether the SRV can continue to supply clean water for California and accommodate agricultural production and biodiversity while coping with climate change and population growth. Without understanding these issues, the resources of the SRV face an uncertain future. The defining goal is to construct a framework that integrates cross-disciplinary and diverse stakeholder perspectives in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of how SRV stakeholders make land and water use decisions. Traditional approaches for modeling have failed to take into consideration multi-scale stakeholder input. Currently there is no effective method to facilitate producers and government agencies in developing a shared representation to address the issues that face the region. To address this gap, researchers and stakeholders are working together to collect and consolidate disconnected knowledge held by stakeholder groups (agencies, irrigation districts, and producers) into a holistic conceptual model of how stakeholders view and make decisions with land and water use under various management systems. Our approach integrates a top-down approach (agency stakeholders) for larger scale management decisions with a conceptual co-creation and data gathering bottom-up approach with local agricultural producer stakeholders for input water and landuse decisions. Land use change models that combine a top-down approach with a bottom-up stakeholder approach are rare and yet essential to understanding how the social process of land use change and ecosystem function are

Patients' and physicians' understanding of health and biomedical concepts: relationship to the design of EMR systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Vimla L; Arocha, José F; Kushniruk, André W

2002-02-01

The aim of this paper is to examine knowledge organization and reasoning strategies involved in physician-patient communication and to consider how these are affected by the use of computer tools, in particular, electronic medical record (EMR) systems. In the first part of the paper, we summarize results from a study in which patients were interviewed before their interactions with physicians and where physician-patient interactions were recorded and analyzed to evaluate patients' and physicians' understanding of the patient problem. We give a detailed presentation of one of such interaction, with characterizations of physician and patient models. In a second set of studies, the contents of both paper and EMRs were compared and in addition, physician-patient interactions (involving the use of EMR technology) were video recorded and analyzed to assess physicians' information gathering and knowledge organization for medical decision-making. Physicians explained the patient problems in terms of causal pathophysiological knowledge underlying the disease (disease model), whereas patients explained them in terms of narrative structures of illness (illness model). The data-driven nature of the traditional physician-patient interaction allows physicians to capture the temporal flow of events and to document key aspects of the patients' narratives. Use of electronic medical records was found to influence the way patient data were gathered, resulting in information loss and disruption of temporal sequence of events in assessing patient problem. The physician-patient interview allows physicians to capture crucial aspects of the patient's illness model, which are necessary for understanding the problem from the patients' perspective. Use of computer-based patient record technology may lead to a loss of this relevant information. As a consequence, designers of such systems should take into account information relevant to the patient comprehension of medical problems, which will

Modules, networks and systems medicine for understanding disease and aiding diagnosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gustafsson, Mika; Nestor, Colm E.; Zhang, Huan

2014-01-01

Many common diseases, such as asthma, diabetes or obesity, involve altered interactions between thousands of genes. High-throughput techniques (omics) allow identification of such genes and their products, but functional understanding is a formidable challenge. Network-based analyses of omics dat...

Modules, networks and systems medicine for understanding disease and aiding diagnosis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gustafsson, Mika; Nestor, Colm E.; Zhang, Huan; Barabási, Albert-László; Baranzini, Sergio; Brunak, Sören; Chung, Kian Fan; Federoff, Howard J.; Gavin, Anne-Claude; Meehan, Richard R.; Picotti, Paola; Pujana, Miguel Àngel; Rajewsky, Nikolaus; Smith, Kenneth Gc; Sterk, Peter J.; Villoslada, Pablo; Benson, Mikael

2014-01-01

Many common diseases, such as asthma, diabetes or obesity, involve altered interactions between thousands of genes. High-throughput techniques (omics) allow identification of such genes and their products, but functional understanding is a formidable challenge. Network-based analyses of omics data

Examing nursing students' understanding of the cardiovascular system in a BSN program

Science.gov (United States)

Stuart, Parker Emerson

This study investigated the alignment of important cardiovascular system (CVS) concepts identified by expert nurses with nursing student's knowledge. Specifically, it focused on the prevalence of nursing students' alternative conceptions for these important concepts as a potential reason for a theory-practice gap in nursing (Corlett, 2000; Jordan, 1994). This is the first study to target nursing student alternative conceptions exclusively whereas other studies focused on diverse groups of undergraduates' CVS knowledge (Michael et al., 2002). The study was divided into two phases and used a case study approach with each phase of the study representing a single case. The first phase of the study sought to understand what CVS concepts expert nurses deemed relevant to their daily practice and how these experts used these concepts. The second phase identified nursing student alternative conceptions through the use of open-ended scenarios based on the results of phase I. For the first phase of the study involved four CVS expert nurses practicing in emergency rooms and cardiac intensive care units at two local hospitals. Interviews were used to elicit important CVS concepts. The expert nurses identified five broad concepts as important to their practice. These concepts were a) cardiovascular anatomical concepts; b) cardiovascular physiological concepts; c) homeostasis and diseases of the CVS; d) the interdependence and interaction of the CVS with other organ systems and e) the intersection of the CVS and technology in patient diagnosis and treatment. These finding reinforce concepts already being taught to nursing students but also suggest that instruction should focus more on how the CVS interacts with other organ systems and how technology and the CVS interact. The presence of alternative conceptions in the nursing students was examined through the use of open-ended questions. A total of 17 students fully completed the scenario questions. Results indicate that this

Consensus statement understanding health and malnutrition through a systems approach: the ENOUGH program for early life.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaput, Jim; van Ommen, Ben; Kremer, Bas; Priami, Corrado; Monteiro, Jacqueline Pontes; Morine, Melissa; Pepping, Fre; Diaz, Zoey; Fenech, Michael; He, Yiwu; Albers, Ruud; Drevon, Christian A; Evelo, Chris T; Hancock, Robert E W; Ijsselmuiden, Carel; Lumey, L H; Minihane, Anne-Marie; Muller, Michael; Murgia, Chiara; Radonjic, Marijana; Sobral, Bruno; West, Keith P

2014-01-01

Nutrition research, like most biomedical disciplines, adopted and often uses experimental approaches based on Beadle and Tatum's one gene-one polypeptide hypothesis, thereby reducing biological processes to single reactions or pathways. Systems thinking is needed to understand the complexity of health and disease processes requiring measurements of physiological processes, as well as environmental and social factors, which may alter the expression of genetic information. Analysis of physiological processes with omics technologies to assess systems' responses has only become available over the past decade and remains costly. Studies of environmental and social conditions known to alter health are often not connected to biomedical research. While these facts are widely accepted, developing and conducting comprehensive research programs for health are often beyond financial and human resources of single research groups. We propose a new research program on essential nutrients for optimal underpinning of growth and health (ENOUGH) that will use systems approaches with more comprehensive measurements and biostatistical analysis of the many biological and environmental factors that influence undernutrition. Creating a knowledge base for nutrition and health is a necessary first step toward developing solutions targeted to different populations in diverse social and physical environments for the two billion undernourished people in developed and developing economies.

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...

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.

Enhancing human understanding through intelligent explanations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mioch, T.; Harbers, M.; Doesburg, W.A. van; Bosch, K. van den

2007-01-01

Ambient systems that explain their actions promote the user's understanding as they give the user more insight in the e®ects of their behavior on the environment. In order to provide individualized intelligent explanations, we need not only to evaluate a user's observable behavior, but we also need

ICYESS 2013: Understanding and Interpreting Uncertainty

Science.gov (United States)

Rauser, F.; Niederdrenk, L.; Schemann, V.; Schmidt, A.; Suesser, D.; Sonntag, S.

2013-12-01

We will report the outcomes and highlights of the Interdisciplinary Conference of Young Earth System Scientists (ICYESS) on Understanding and Interpreting Uncertainty in September 2013, Hamburg, Germany. This conference is aimed at early career scientists (Masters to Postdocs) from a large variety of scientific disciplines and backgrounds (natural, social and political sciences) and will enable 3 days of discussions on a variety of uncertainty-related aspects: 1) How do we deal with implicit and explicit uncertainty in our daily scientific work? What is uncertain for us, and for which reasons? 2) How can we communicate these uncertainties to other disciplines? E.g., is uncertainty in cloud parameterization and respectively equilibrium climate sensitivity a concept that is understood equally well in natural and social sciences that deal with Earth System questions? Or vice versa, is, e.g., normative uncertainty as in choosing a discount rate relevant for natural scientists? How can those uncertainties be reconciled? 3) How can science communicate this uncertainty to the public? Is it useful at all? How are the different possible measures of uncertainty understood in different realms of public discourse? Basically, we want to learn from all disciplines that work together in the broad Earth System Science community how to understand and interpret uncertainty - and then transfer this understanding to the problem of how to communicate with the public, or its different layers / agents. ICYESS is structured in a way that participation is only possible via presentation, so every participant will give their own professional input into how the respective disciplines deal with uncertainty. Additionally, a large focus is put onto communication techniques; there are no 'standard presentations' in ICYESS. Keynote lectures by renowned scientists and discussions will lead to a deeper interdisciplinary understanding of what we do not really know, and how to deal with it. Many

What We Know Now: Synthesis for Understanding the Origin of the Pluto System

Science.gov (United States)

McKinnon, William B.; Stern, S. A.; Weaver, H. A.; Spencer, J. R.; Nimmo, F.; Lisse, C. M.; Umurhan, O. M.; Moore, J. M.; Buie, M. W.; Porter, S. B.; Olkin, C. B.; Young, L. A.; Ennico, K.

2015-11-01

The July 2015 New Horizons flyby has removed a long-standing obstacle to understanding the cosmogony of the Pluto-Charon system: the uncertain radius of Pluto. Combined with precise astrometric fits to the barycenter of the Pluto-Charon binary from HST observations of the more distant, small satellites (Brozovic et al., Icarus 246, 317-329, 2015), the densities of both Pluto and Charon are now known. At the 10% level, these densities are rather similar, as opposed to the more divergent density estimates of years past in which Charon was thought to be substantially icier. In the context of a “giant impact” origin, a rock-rich Charon implies that the precursor impacting bodies were at most only partially differentiated — possessing relatively thin ice shells (Canup, Astron. J. 141, 35, 2011). This suggests some combination of relatively slow and/or late accretion in the ancestral Kuiper belt. New Horizons has also shown that Nix and Hydra possess high albedos, consistent with ice-dominated compositions. Such compositions are consistent with a giant impact origin in which one or both precursor impacting bodies were partially differentiated, so that the small satellites ultimately formed from material ejected from ice-dominated surface layers (Peale and Canup, Treatise on Geophysics, 2nd Ed., chapter 10.17, 2015). We examine whether Pluto and Charon could actually possess the same bulk rock/ice ratio and whether this would allow for an alternate, non-giant-impact origin for the Pluto system.This work was supported by NASA's New Horizons project.

Understanding Organizational Memory from the Integrated Management Systems (ERP)

OpenAIRE

Gilberto Perez; Isabel Ramos

2013-01-01

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 ...

Understanding Socio Technical Modularity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thuesen, Christian Langhoff; Kudsk, Anders; Hvam, Lars

2011-01-01

Modularity has gained an increasing popularity as a central concept for exploring product structure, process structure, organization structure and supply chain structure. With the offset in system theory the predominant understanding of modularity however faces difficulties in explaining the social...... dimension of modularity like irrational behaviors, cultural differences, learning processes, social organization and institutional influences on modularity. The paper addresses this gab offering a reinterpretation of the modularity concept from a socio-technical perspective in general and Actor Network...... Theory in particular. By formulating modularity from an ANT perspective covering social, material and process aspects, the modularity of a socio-technical system can be understood as an entanglement of product, process, organizational and institutional modularity. The theoretical framework is illustrated...

Networked Community Change: Understanding Community Systems Change through the Lens of Social Network Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawlor, Jennifer A; Neal, Zachary P

2016-06-01

Addressing complex problems in communities has become a key area of focus in recent years (Kania & Kramer, 2013, Stanford Social Innovation Review). Building on existing approaches to understanding and addressing problems, such as action research, several new approaches have emerged that shift the way communities solve problems (e.g., Burns, 2007, Systemic Action Research; Foth, 2006, Action Research, 4, 205; Kania & Kramer, 2011, Stanford Social Innovation Review, 1, 36). Seeking to bring clarity to the emerging literature on community change strategies, this article identifies the common features of the most widespread community change strategies and explores the conditions under which such strategies have the potential to be effective. We identify and describe five common features among the approaches to change. Then, using an agent-based model, we simulate network-building behavior among stakeholders participating in community change efforts using these approaches. We find that the emergent stakeholder networks are efficient when the processes are implemented under ideal conditions. © Society for Community Research and Action 2016.

The Road to Independently Understandable Information

Science.gov (United States)

Habermann, T.; Robinson, E.

2017-12-01

The turn of the 21st century was a pivotal time in the Earth and Space Science information ecosystem. The Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) had existed for nearly a decade and ambitious new standards were just emerging. The U.S. Federal Geospatial Data Committee (FGDC) had extended many of the concepts from CSDGM into the International community with ISO 19115:2003 and the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) had migrated their Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model into an international standard (ISO 14721:2003). The OAIS model outlined the roles and responsibilities of archives with the principle role being preserving information and making it available to users, a "designated community", as a service to the data producer. It was mandatory for the archive to ensure that information is "independently understandable" to the designated community and to maintain that understanding through on-going partnerships between archives and designated communities. Standards can play a role in supporting these partnerships as designated communities expand across disciplinary and geographic boundaries. The ISO metadata standards include many capabilities that might make critical contributions to this goal. These include connections to resources outside of the metadata record (i.e. documentation) and mechanisms for ongoing incorporation of user feedback into the metadata stream. We will demonstrate these capabilities with examples of how they can increase understanding.

Current understanding of the human microbiome

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gilbert, Jack A.; Blaser, Martin J.; Caporaso, J. Gregory; Jansson, Janet K.; Lynch, Susan V.; Knight, Rob

2018-04-10

Our understanding of the link between the human microbiome and disease, including obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis and autism, is rapidly expanding. Improvements in the throughput and accuracy of DNA sequencing of the genomes of microbial communities associated with human samples, complemented by analysis of transcriptomes, proteomes, metabolomes and immunomes, and mechanistic experiments in model systems, have vastly improved our ability to understand the structure and function of the microbiome in both diseased and healthy states. However, many challenges remain. In this Review we focus on studies in humans to describe these challenges, and propose strategies that leverage existing knowledge to move rapidly from correlation to causation, and ultimately to translation.

Towards understanding the impact of assimilating along-track SLA data on simulated eddy characteristics in the Agulhas System

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

De Vos, M

2016-10-01

Full Text Available understanding the impact of assimilating along-track SLA data on simulated eddy characteristics in the Agulhas System Marc de Vos1, 3, Björn Backeberg2, 3, 4 and François Counillon4 Marine Research Unit, South African Weather Service, South Africa1 Coastal... and 1 Tel: +27 21 935 5764; Email: marc.devos@weathersa.co.za dipoles reach the Agulhas Current frequently and on occasion propagate all the way to the retroflection, influencing its position and modulating ring shedding events there (Schouten et al...

The use of Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) in a mid-air collision to understand some characteristics of the air traffic management system resilience

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rodrigues de Carvalho, Paulo Victor, E-mail: paulov@ien.gov.br [National Nuclear Energy Commission/Nuclear Engineering Institute, Cidade Universitaria-Ilha do Fundao, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21945-970 (Brazil)

2011-11-15

The Functional Resonance Analysis Model (FRAM) defines a systemic framework to model complex systems for accident analysis purposes. We use FRAM in the mid-air collision between flight GLO1907, a commercial aircraft Boeing 737-800, and flight N600XL, an executive jet EMBRAER E-145, to investigate key resilience characteristics of the Air Traffic Management System (ATM). This ATM system related accident occurred at 16:56 Brazilian time on September 29, 2006 in the Amazonian sky. FRAM analysis of flight monitoring functions showed system constraints (equipment, training, time, and supervision) that produce variability in system behavior, creating demand resources mismatches in an attempt to perceive and control the developing situation. This variability also included control and coordination breakdowns and automation surprises (TCAS functioning). The analysis showed that under normal variability conditions (without catastrophic failures) the ATM system (pilots, controllers, supervisors, and equipment) was not able to close the control loops of the flight monitoring functions using feedback or feedforward strategies to achieve an adequate control of an aircraft flying in the controlled air space. Our findings shed some light on the resilience of Brazilian ATM system operation and indicated that there is a need of a deeper understanding on how the system is actually functioning. - Highlights: > The Functional Resonance Analysis Model (FRAM) was used in a mid-air collision over Amazon. > The aim was to understand key resilience characteristics of the Air Traffic Management System (ATM). > The analysis showed how, under normal conditions, the system was not able to control flight functions. > The findings shed some light about the resilience of Brazilian ATM system operation.

The use of Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) in a mid-air collision to understand some characteristics of the air traffic management system resilience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodrigues de Carvalho, Paulo Victor

2011-01-01

The Functional Resonance Analysis Model (FRAM) defines a systemic framework to model complex systems for accident analysis purposes. We use FRAM in the mid-air collision between flight GLO1907, a commercial aircraft Boeing 737-800, and flight N600XL, an executive jet EMBRAER E-145, to investigate key resilience characteristics of the Air Traffic Management System (ATM). This ATM system related accident occurred at 16:56 Brazilian time on September 29, 2006 in the Amazonian sky. FRAM analysis of flight monitoring functions showed system constraints (equipment, training, time, and supervision) that produce variability in system behavior, creating demand resources mismatches in an attempt to perceive and control the developing situation. This variability also included control and coordination breakdowns and automation surprises (TCAS functioning). The analysis showed that under normal variability conditions (without catastrophic failures) the ATM system (pilots, controllers, supervisors, and equipment) was not able to close the control loops of the flight monitoring functions using feedback or feedforward strategies to achieve an adequate control of an aircraft flying in the controlled air space. Our findings shed some light on the resilience of Brazilian ATM system operation and indicated that there is a need of a deeper understanding on how the system is actually functioning. - Highlights: → The Functional Resonance Analysis Model (FRAM) was used in a mid-air collision over Amazon. → The aim was to understand key resilience characteristics of the Air Traffic Management System (ATM). → The analysis showed how, under normal conditions, the system was not able to control flight functions. → The findings shed some light about the resilience of Brazilian ATM system operation.

From monocausality to systems thinking: a complementary and alternative conceptual approach for better understanding the development and prevention of sports injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Hulme, Adam; Finch, Caroline F

The science of sports injury control, including both its cause and prevention, has largely been informed by a biomedical and mechanistic model of health. Traditional scientific practice in sports injury research has routinely involved collapsing the broader socioecological landscape down in order to analyse individual-level determinants of injury - whether biomechanical and/or behavioural. This approach has made key gains for sports injury prevention research and should be further encouraged and allowed to evolve naturally. However, the public health, Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics, and injury epidemiological literature more broadly, has accepted the value of a socioecological paradigm for better understanding disease and injury processes, and sports injury research will fall further behind unless it does the same. A complementary and alternative conceptual approach towards injury control known as systems thinking that builds on socioecological science, both methodologically and analytically, is readily available and fast developing in other research areas. This review outlines the historical progression of causal concepts in the field of epidemiology over the course of the modern scientific era. From here, causal concepts in injury epidemiology, and models of aetiology as found in the context of sports injury research are presented. The paper finishes by proposing a new research agenda that considers the potential for a systems thinking approach to further enhance sports injury aetiological understanding. A complementary systems paradigm, however, will require that sports injury epidemiologists bring their knowledge and skillsets forwards in an attempt to use, adapt, and even refine existing systems-based approaches. Alongside the natural development of conventional scientific methodologies and analyses in sports injury research, progressing forwards to a systems paradigm is now required.

On the need for system alignment in large water infrastructure. Understanding infrastructure dynamics in Nairobi, Kenya

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pär Blomkvist

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In this article we contribute to the discussion of infrastructural change in Africa, and explore how a new theoretical perspective may offer a different, more comprehensive and historically informed understanding of the trend towards large water infrastructure in Africa. We examine the socio-technical dynamics of large water infrastructures in Nairobi, Kenya, in a longer historical perspective using two concepts that we call intra-systemic alignment and inter-level alignment. Our theoretical perspective is inspired by Large Technical Systems (LTS and Multi-Level Perspective (MLP. While inter-level alignment focuses on the process of aligning the technological system at the three levels of niche, regime and landscape, intra-systemic alignment deals with how components within the regime are harmonised and standardised to fit with each other. We pay special attention to intrasystemic alignment between the supply side and the demand side, or as we put it, upstream and downstream components of a system. In narrating the history of water supply in Nairobi, we look at both the upstream (largescale supply and downstream activities (distribution and payment, and compare the Nairobi case with European history of large infrastructures. We emphasise that regime actors in Nairobi have dealt with the issues of alignment mainly to facilitate and expand upstream activities, while concerning downstream activities they have remained incapable of expanding service and thus integrating the large segment of low-income consumers. We conclude that the present surge of large-scale water investment in Nairobi is the result of sector reforms that enabled the return to a long tradition – a 'Nairobi style' – of upstream investment mainly benefitting the highincome earners. Our proposition is that much more attention needs to be directed at inter-level alignment at the downstream end of the system, to allow the creation of niches aligned to the regime.

Understanding the Lunar System Architecture Design Space

Science.gov (United States)

Arney, Dale C.; Wilhite, Alan W.; Reeves, David M.

2013-01-01

Based on the flexible path strategy and the desire of the international community, the lunar surface remains a destination for future human exploration. This paper explores options within the lunar system architecture design space, identifying performance requirements placed on the propulsive system that performs Earth departure within that architecture based on existing and/or near-term capabilities. The lander crew module and ascent stage propellant mass fraction are primary drivers for feasibility in multiple lander configurations. As the aggregation location moves further out of the lunar gravity well, the lunar lander is required to perform larger burns, increasing the sensitivity to these two factors. Adding an orbit transfer stage to a two-stage lunar lander and using a large storable stage for braking with a one-stage lunar lander enable higher aggregation locations than Low Lunar Orbit. Finally, while using larger vehicles enables a larger feasible design space, there are still feasible scenarios that use three launches of smaller vehicles.

Collective Sensing: Integrating Geospatial Technologies to Understand Urban Systems—An Overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geoffrey J. Hay

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Cities are complex systems composed of numerous interacting components that evolve over multiple spatio-temporal scales. Consequently, no single data source is sufficient to satisfy the information needs required to map, monitor, model, and ultimately understand and manage our interaction within such urban systems. Remote sensing technology provides a key data source for mapping such environments, but is not sufficient for fully understanding them. In this article we provide a condensed urban perspective of critical geospatial technologies and techniques: (i Remote Sensing; (ii Geographic Information Systems; (iii object-based image analysis; and (iv sensor webs, and recommend a holistic integration of these technologies within the language of open geospatial consortium (OGC standards in-order to more fully understand urban systems. We then discuss the potential of this integration and conclude that this extends the monitoring and mapping options beyond “hard infrastructure” by addressing “humans as sensors”, mobility and human-environment interactions, and future improvements to quality of life and of social infrastructures.

Emotional voice processing: investigating the role of genetic variation in the serotonin transporter across development.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tobias Grossmann

Full Text Available The ability to effectively respond to emotional information carried in the human voice plays a pivotal role for social interactions. We examined how genetic factors, especially the serotonin transporter genetic variation (5-HTTLPR, affect the neurodynamics of emotional voice processing in infants and adults by measuring event-related brain potentials (ERPs. The results revealed that infants distinguish between emotions during an early perceptual processing stage, whereas adults recognize and evaluate the meaning of emotions during later semantic processing stages. While infants do discriminate between emotions, only in adults was genetic variation associated with neurophysiological differences in how positive and negative emotions are processed in the brain. This suggests that genetic association with neurocognitive functions emerges during development, emphasizing the role that variation in serotonin plays in the maturation of brain systems involved in emotion recognition.

Understanding the body-mind in primary care

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Davidsen, Annette Sofie; Guassora, Ann Dorrit; Reventlow, Susanne

2016-01-01

views but these have not gained a foothold in primary care medicine. McWhinney introduced a new metaphor, ‘the body–mind’, and Rudebeck advocated cultivating ‘bodily empathy’. These views have much in common with both phenomenological thinking and mentalization, a psychological concept for understanding......Patients’ experience of symptoms does not follow the body–mind divide that characterizes the classification of disease in the health care system. Therefore, understanding patients in their entirety rather than in parts demands a different theoretical approach. Attempts have been made to formulate...

Modeling the Neurodynamics of Submarine Piloting and Navigation Teams

Science.gov (United States)

2014-05-07

689J _ "* /-n&mi (E-66J B. Speech Transactions GF C. NS_WL Entropy >- Q. O H.1BBB 4-6 U^^J BEE 100 200 300 400 500...different time scales. That structure and the behavior that results from it pose problems for researchers because multiply- nested interactions are... nested patterns of team activity can be identified from neural data streams, including both routine and novel events. The novelty of this tool is the

Understanding Carbon Sequestration Options in the United States: Capabilities of a Carbon Management Geographic Information System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dahowski, Robert T.; Dooley, James J.; Brown, Daryl R.; Mizoguchi, Akiyoshi; Shiozaki, Mai

2001-04-03

While one can discuss various sequestration options at a national or global level, the actual carbon management approach is highly site specific. In response to the need for a better understanding of carbon management options, Battelle in collaboration with Mitsubishi Corporation, has developed a state-of-the-art Geographic Information System (GIS) focused on carbon capture and sequestration opportunities in the United States. The GIS system contains information (e.g., fuel type, location, vintage, ownership, rated capacity) on all fossil-fired generation capacity in the Untied States with a rated capacity of at least 100 MW. There are also data on other CO2 sources (i.e., natural domes, gas processing plants, etc.) and associated pipelines currently serving enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects. Data on current and prospective CO2 EOR projects include location, operator, reservoir and oil characteristics, production, and CO2 source. The system also contains information on priority deep saline aquifers and coal bed methane basins with potential for sequestering CO2. The GIS application not only enables data storage, flexible map making, and visualization capabilities, but also facilitates the spatial analyses required to solve complex linking of CO2 sources with appropriate and cost-effective sinks. A variety of screening criteria (spatial, geophysical, and economic) can be employed to identify sources and sinks most likely amenable to deployment of carbon capture and sequestration systems. The system is easily updateable, allowing it to stay on the leading edge of capture and sequestration technology as well as the ever-changing business landscape. Our paper and presentation will describe the development of this GIS and demonstrate its uses for carbon management analysis.

Smartdata privacy meets evolutionary robotics

CERN Document Server

Harvey, Inman; Tomko, George

2013-01-01

Privacy by Design and the Promise of SmartData.- SmartData: the Need, the Goal and the Challenge.- Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence.- Context dependent information processing entails scale-free dynamics.- Philosophy and SmartData.- Relevance Realization and the Neurodynamics and Neural Connectivity of General Intelligence.- What Matters: Real Bodies and Virtual Worlds.- The development of autonomous virtual agents.- Patterns of Attractors in the "Brain"".- A Privacy-Enabled Mobile Computing Model Using Intelligent Cloud-Based Services.- Unconstraint the Population: the Benefits of Horiz

A Description Logic Based Knowledge Representation Model for Concept Understanding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Badie, Farshad

2017-01-01

This research employs Description Logics in order to focus on logical description and analysis of the phenomenon of ‘concept understanding’. The article will deal with a formal-semantic model for figuring out the underlying logical assumptions of ‘concept understanding’ in knowledge representation...... systems. In other words, it attempts to describe a theoretical model for concept understanding and to reflect the phenomenon of ‘concept understanding’ in terminological knowledge representation systems. Finally, it will design an ontology that schemes the structure of concept understanding based...

Cognitive neuroscience robotics B analytic approaches to human understanding

CERN Document Server

Ishiguro, Hiroshi; Asada, Minoru; Osaka, Mariko; Fujikado, Takashi

2016-01-01

Cognitive Neuroscience Robotics is the first introductory book on this new interdisciplinary area. This book consists of two volumes, the first of which, Synthetic Approaches to Human Understanding, advances human understanding from a robotics or engineering point of view. The second, Analytic Approaches to Human Understanding, addresses related subjects in cognitive science and neuroscience. These two volumes are intended to complement each other in order to more comprehensively investigate human cognitive functions, to develop human-friendly information and robot technology (IRT) systems, and to understand what kind of beings we humans are. Volume B describes to what extent cognitive science and neuroscience have revealed the underlying mechanism of human cognition, and investigates how development of neural engineering and advances in other disciplines could lead to deep understanding of human cognition.

Advancements toward a Systems Level Understanding of the Human Oral Microbiome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeffrey Scott Mclean

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Oral microbes represent one of the most well studied microbial communities owing to the fact that they are a fundamental part of human development influencing health and disease, an easily accessible human microbiome, a highly structured and remarkably resilient biofilm as well as a model of bacteria-bacteria and bacteria-host interactions. In the last eighty years since oral plaque was first characterized for its functionally stable physiological properties such as the highly repeatable rapid pH decrease upon carbohydrate addition and subsequent recovery phase, the fundamental approaches to study the oral microbiome have cycled back and forth between community level investigations and characterizing individual model isolates. Since that time, many individual species have been well characterized and the development of the early plaque community, which involves many cell–cell binding interactions, has been carefully described. With high throughput sequencing enabling the enormous diversity of the oral cavity to be realized, a number of new challenges to progress were revealed. The large number of uncultivated oral species, the high interpersonal variability of taxonomic carriage and the possibility of multiple pathways to dysbiosis pose as major hurdles to obtain a systems level understanding from the community to the gene level. It is now possible however to start connecting the insights gained from single species with community wide approaches. This review will discuss some of the recent insights into the oral microbiome at a fundamental level, existing knowledge gaps, as well as challenges that have surfaced and the approaches to address them.

Understanding security failures of two authentication and key agreement schemes for telecare medicine information systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Dheerendra

2015-03-01

Smart card based authentication and key agreement schemes for telecare medicine information systems (TMIS) enable doctors, nurses, patients and health visitors to use smart cards for secure login to medical information systems. In recent years, several authentication and key agreement schemes have been proposed to present secure and efficient solution for TMIS. Most of the existing authentication schemes for TMIS have either higher computation overhead or are vulnerable to attacks. To reduce the computational overhead and enhance the security, Lee recently proposed an authentication and key agreement scheme using chaotic maps for TMIS. Xu et al. also proposed a password based authentication and key agreement scheme for TMIS using elliptic curve cryptography. Both the schemes provide better efficiency from the conventional public key cryptography based schemes. These schemes are important as they present an efficient solution for TMIS. We analyze the security of both Lee's scheme and Xu et al.'s schemes. Unfortunately, we identify that both the schemes are vulnerable to denial of service attack. To understand the security failures of these cryptographic schemes which are the key of patching existing schemes and designing future schemes, we demonstrate the security loopholes of Lee's scheme and Xu et al.'s scheme in this paper.

Instruction understanding for intelligent robots in nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kambayashi, Shaw; Abe, Yasuaki

1993-01-01

As a first step to realize an autonomous mobile robot for plant maintenance, where the robot is capable to understand instructions written in natural languages, we have developed a prototype of instruction understanding system which makes the robot construct its motion sequences to approach instrumentations and inspect them from input sentences written in Japanese. In the prototype system, the instruction understanding and planning capabilities are integrated by an inference engine which consists of a cyclic operation of three processings, i.e., sensing, decision, and execution. Based on environmental data and current states of the robot, a proper process such as natural language processing is triggered by the decision part of the inference engine to accomplish the input instructions. The multiple- and dynamic-planning capabilities, which are necessary to cope with dynamic changes of environments surrounding the robot, are achieved by utilizing the cyclic inference engine together with a set of the inference packets which keep intermediate results of natural language processing and planning for respective input instructions. (orig.)

Understanding and Managing Process Interaction in IS Development Projects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bygstad, Bendik; Nielsen, Peter Axel

2005-01-01

Increasingly, information systems must be developed and implemented as a part of business change. This is a challenge for the IS project manager, since business change and information systems development usually are performed as separate processes. Thus, there is a need to understand and manage......-technical innovation in a situation where the organisational change process and the IS development process are parallel but incongruent. We also argue that iterative software engineering frameworks are well structured to support process interaction. Finally, we advocate that the IS project manager needs to manage...... the relationship between these two kinds of processes. To understand the interaction between information systems development and planned organisational change we introduce the concept of process interaction. We draw on a longitudinal case study of an IS development project that used an iterative and incremental...

Scientific Models Help Students Understand the Water Cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Forbes, Cory; Vo, Tina; Zangori, Laura; Schwarz, Christina

2015-01-01

The water cycle is a large, complex system that encompasses ideas across the K-12 science curriculum. By the time students leave fifth grade, they should understand "that a system is a group of related parts that make up a whole and can carry out functions its individual parts cannot" and be able to describe both components and processes…

Placebo analgesia: understanding the mechanisms

OpenAIRE

Medoff, Zev M; Colloca, Luana

2015-01-01

Expectations of pain relief drive placebo analgesia. Understanding how expectations of improvement trigger distinct biological systems to shape therapeutic analgesic outcomes has been the focus of recent pharmacologic and neuroimaging studies in the field of pain. Recent findings indicate that placebo effects can imitate the actions of real painkillers and promote the endogenous release of opioids and nonopioids in humans. Social support and observational learning also contribute to placebo a...

Understanding Technology and People Issues in Hospital Information System (HIS) Adoption: Case study of a tertiary hospital in Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Zakaria, Nasriah; Mohd Yusof, Shafiz Affendi

Hospital Information Systems (HIS) can improve healthcare outcome quality, increase efficiency, and reduce errors. The government of Malaysia implemented HIS across the country to maximize the use of technology to improve healthcare delivery, however, little is known about the benefits and challenges of HIS adoption in each institution. This paper looks at the technology and people issues in adopting such systems. The study used a case study approach, using an in-depth interview with multidisciplinary medical team members who were using the system on a daily basis. A thematic analysis using Atlas.ti was employed to understand the complex relations among themes and sub-themes to discover the patterns in the data. . Users found the new system increased the efficiency of workflows and saved time. They reported less redundancy of work and improved communication among medical team members. Data retrieval and storage were also mentioned as positive results of the new HIS system. Healthcare workers showed positive attitudes during training and throughout the learning process. From a technological perspective, it was found that medical workers using HIS has better access and data management compared to the previously used manual system. The human issues analysis reveals positive attitudes toward using HIS among the users especially from the physicians' side. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Formal system of communication and understanding. II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zsuzsanna, M

1982-01-01

For pt.I see IBID., no.5, p.252-8 (1982). In this article G. Pask's (1975) formal theory of dialogues and talk is summarized. Part II describes the talk-environment and modelling. The conscious systems and machine-intelligence are mainly dealt with. Finally a couple of cases with Pask's theory implemented are looked at. 7 references.

Understanding cohort differences in appraisals of reconstruction ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Understanding cohort differences in appraisals of reconstruction priorities of mental health systems in postconflict Liberia. ... Conclusion: This study provides additional support for the premise that the utilization of ... of Liberians and that there are differences in preferences across groups. ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Understanding Regulation of Metabolism through Feasibility Analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nikerel, I.E.; Berkhout, J.; Hu, F.; Teusink, B.; Reinders, M.J.T.; De Ridder, D.

2012-01-01

Understanding cellular regulation of metabolism is a major challenge in systems biology. Thus far, the main assumption was that enzyme levels are key regulators in metabolic networks. However, regulation analysis recently showed that metabolism is rarely controlled via enzyme levels only, but

Toward improved understanding and control in analytical atomic spectrometry

Science.gov (United States)

Hieftje, Gary M.

1989-01-01

As with most papers which attempt to predict the future, this treatment will begin with a coverage of past events. It will be shown that progress in the field of analytical atomic spectrometry has occurred through a series of steps which involve the addition of new techniques and the occasional displacement of established ones. Because it is difficult or impossible to presage true breakthroughs, this manuscript will focus on how such existing methods can be modified or improved to greatest advantage. The thesis will be that rational improvement can be accomplished most effectively by understanding fundamentally the nature of an instrumental system, a measurement process, and a spectrometric technique. In turn, this enhanced understanding can lead to closer control, from which can spring improved performance. Areas where understanding is now lacking and where control is most greatly needed will be identified and a possible scheme for implementing control procedures will be outlined. As we draw toward the new millennium, these novel procedures seem particularly appealing; new high-speed computers, the availability of expert systems, and our enhanced understanding of atomic spectrometric events combine to make future prospects extremely bright.

Understanding and modelling man-machine interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cacciabue, P.C.

1996-01-01

This paper gives an overview of the current state of the art in man-machine system interaction studies, focusing on the problems derived from highly automated working environments and the role of humans in the control loop. In particular, it is argued that there is a need for sound approaches to the design and analysis of man-machine interaction (MMI), which stem from the contribution of three expertises in interfacing domains, namely engineering, computer science and psychology: engineering for understanding and modelling plants and their material and energy conservation principles; psychology for understanding and modelling humans an their cognitive behaviours; computer science for converting models in sound simulations running in appropriate computer architectures. (orig.)

Understanding and modelling Man-Machine Interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cacciabue, P.C.

1991-01-01

This paper gives an overview of the current state of the art in man machine systems interaction studies, focusing on the problems derived from highly automated working environments and the role of humans in the control loop. In particular, it is argued that there is a need for sound approaches to design and analysis of Man-Machine Interaction (MMI), which stem from the contribution of three expertises in interfacing domains, namely engineering, computer science and psychology: engineering for understanding and modelling plants and their material and energy conservation principles; psychology for understanding and modelling humans and their cognitive behaviours; computer science for converting models in sound simulations running in appropriate computer architectures. (author)

A Formal Semantics for Concept Understanding relying on Description Logics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Badie, Farshad

2017-01-01

In this research, Description Logics (DLs) will be employed for logical description, logical characterisation, logical modelling and ontological description of concept understanding in terminological systems. It’s strongly believed that using a formal descriptive logic could support us in reveali...... logical assumptions whose discovery may lead us to a better understanding of ‘concept understanding’. The Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) model as an appropriate model of increasing complexity of humans’ understanding has supported the formal analysis....

A Formal Semantics for Concept Understanding relying on Description Logics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Badie, Farshad

2017-01-01

logical assumptions whose discovery may lead us to a better understanding of ‘concept understanding’. The Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) model as an appropriate model of increasing complexity of humans’ understanding has supported the formal analysis.......In this research, Description Logics (DLs) will be employed for logical description, logical characterisation, logical modelling and ontological description of concept understanding in terminological systems. It’s strongly believed that using a formal descriptive logic could support us in revealing...

Understanding understanding in secondary school science: An interpretive study

Science.gov (United States)

O'Neill, Maureen Gail

This study investigated the teaching of secondary school science with an emphasis on promoting student understanding. In particular, I focused on two research questions: What are the possible meanings of teaching for understanding? And, how might one teach secondary school science for understanding? After semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 secondary school science teachers, grounded theory methodology was used to interpret the data. As a result of the selective coding process, I was able to identify 14 connected components of teaching for understanding (TfU). The process of TfU involves: puzzle-solving, a specific pedagogy and a conscious decision. The teacher must be a reflective practitioner who has some knowledge of the facets of understanding. The teacher comes to a critical incident or crisis in his or her pedagogy and adopts a mindset which highlights TfU as a personal problematic. Teachers operate with student-centred rather than teacher-centred metaphors. TfU requires a firm belief in and passion for the process, a positive attitude and excellent pedagogical content knowledge. It hinges on a performance view of understanding and demands risk-taking in the science classroom. Abstracting these ideas to a theory led me to the notion of Purposive Teaching . In their purposive-driven role as pedagogues, these teachers have placed TfU at the core of their daily practice. Constraints and challenges facing TfU as well as implications of the findings are discussed. Keywords. science teaching, teaching for understanding, purposive teaching, constructivism, understanding, pedagogy, pedagogical content knowledge, memorization, meaningful learning, reflective practice.

Understanding Kendal aquifer system: a baseline analysis for sustainable water management proposal

Science.gov (United States)

Lukman, A.; Aryanto, M. D.; Pramudito, A.; Andhika, A.; Irawan, D. E.

2017-07-01

North coast of Java has been grown as the center of economic activities and major connectivity hub for Sumatra and Bali. Sustainable water management must support such role. One of the basis is to understand the baseline of groundwater occurrences and potential. However the complex alluvium aquiver system has not been well-understood. A geoelectric measurements were performed to determine which rock layer has a good potential as groundwater aquifers in the northern coast of Kaliwungu Regency, Kendal District, Central Java province. Total of 10 vertical electrical sounding (VES) points has been performed, using a Schlumberger configuration with the current electrode spacing (AB/2) varies between 200 - 300 m and the potential difference electrode spacing (MN/2) varies between 0.5 to 20 m with depths target ranging between 150 - 200 m. Geoelectrical data processing is done using Ip2win software which generates resistivity value, thickness and depth of subsurface rock layers. Based on the correlation between resistivity value with regional geology, hydrogeology and local well data, we identify three aquifer layers. The first layer is silty clay with resistivity values vary between 0 - 10 ohm.m, then the second layer is tuffaceous claystone with resistivity value between 10 - 60 ohm.m. Both layers serve as impermeable layer. The third layer is sandy tuff with resistivity value between 60 - 100 ohm.m which serves as a confined aquifer layer located at 70 - 100 m below surface. Its thickness is vary between 70 to 110 m. The aquifer layer is a mixing of volcanic and alluvium sediment, which is a member of Damar Formation. The stratification of the aquifer system may change in short distance and depth. This natural setting prevent us to make a long continuous correlation between layers. Aquifer discharge is estimated between 5 - 71 L/s with the potential deep well locations lies in the west and southeast part of the study area. These hydrogeological settings should be used

Understanding catchment behaviour through model concept improvement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fenicia, F.

2008-01-01

This thesis describes an approach to model development based on the concept of iterative model improvement, which is a process where by trial and error different hypotheses of catchment behaviour are progressively tested, and the understanding of the system proceeds through a combined process of

Impacting Early Childhood Teachers' Understanding of the Complexities of Place Value

Science.gov (United States)

Cady, Jo Ann; Hopkins, Theresa M.; Price, Jamie

2014-01-01

In order to help children gain a more robust understanding of place value, teachers must understand the connections and relationships among the related concepts as well as possess knowledge of how children learn early number concepts. Unfortunately, teachers' familiarity with the base-ten number system and/or lack of an understanding of…

Embodied Understanding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Leonard Johnson

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Western culture has inherited a view of understanding as an intellectual cognitive operation of grasping of concepts and their relations. However, cognitive science research has shown that this received intellectualist conception is substantially out of touch with how humans actually make and experience meaning. The view emerging from the mind sciences recognizes that understanding is profoundly embodied, insofar as our conceptualization and reasoning recruit sensory, motor, and affective patterns and processes to structure our understanding of, and engagement with, our world. A psychologically realistic account of understanding must begin with the patterns of ongoing interaction between an organism and its physical and cultural environments and must include both our emotional responses to changes in our body and environment, and also the actions by which we continuously transform our experience. Consequently, embodied understanding is not merely a conceptual/propositional activity of thought, but rather constitutes our most basic way of being in, and engaging with, our surroundings in a deep visceral manner.

Health Equity Talk: Understandings of Health Equity among Health Leaders

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Bernadette M. Pauly

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Reducing health inequities is a stated goal of health systems worldwide. There is widespread commitment to health equity among public health leaders and calls for reorientation of health systems towards health equity. As part of the Equity Lens in Public Health (ELPH program of research, public health decision makers and researchers in British Columbia collaborated to study the application of a health equity lens in a time of health system renewal. We drew on intersectionality, complexity and critical social justice theories to understand how participants construct health equity and apply a health equity lens as part of public health renewal. Methods: 15 focus groups and 16 individual semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 55 health system leaders. Data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis to explore how health equity was constructed in relation to understandings and actions. Results: Four main themes were identified in terms of how health care leaders construct health equity and actions to reduce health inequities: (1 population health, (2 determinants of health, and (3 accessibility and (4 challenges of health equity talk. The first three aspects of health equity talk reflect different understandings of health equity rooted in vulnerability (individual versus structural, determinants of health (material versus social determinants, and appropriate health system responses (targeted versus universal responses. Participants identified that talking about health equity in the health care system, either inside or outside of public health, is a ‘challenging conversation’ because health equity is understood in diverse ways and there is little guidance available to apply a health equity lens. Conclusions: These findings reflect the importance of creating a shared understanding of health equity within public health systems, and providing guidance and clarity as to the meaning and application of a health

Understanding postoperative fatigue.

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, E A; King, T C

1978-07-01

Performance characteristics of the central nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular systems in man postoperatively have received little investigative attention, despite the well known syndrome of postoperative fatigue. The impairmen in perception and psychomotor skills that has been shown to result from caloric restriction, bedrest, sedation and sleep deprivation suggests that a similar deficit may occur after surgical procedures. After a simple elective surgical procedure, maximal oxygen uptake decreases and the adaptability of heart rate to submaximal workloads is impaired. Similar deleterious effects on cardiorespiratory performance have been documented with starvation and bedrest; an understanding of cardiorespiratory performance postoperatively awaits further investigation. Maximal muscular force of contraction is also impaired by caloric restriction and bedrest, suggesting that similar effects may be seen in the postoperative state, although this has not been studied. A better understanding of the syndrome of postoperative fatigue could be achieved by a descriptive analysis of physiologic performance postoperatively. Such descriptive data could form the basis for objective evaluation of therapeutic measures intended to improve performance, such as nutritional supplementation and pharmacologic intervention. The observation that exercise with the patient in the supine position may decrease the impairment in maximal aerobic power otherwise expected in immobilized patients suggests that controlled exercise therapy may be of value in reducing physiologic impairment postoperatively.

Understanding sustainability from an exergetic frame in complex adaptive systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aguilar Hernandez, Glem Alonso

2017-01-01

The concept of sustainability was developed from thermodynamic properties applied to complex adaptive systems. The origins of the perception about sustainable development and limitation in its application to analyze the interaction between a system and its surroundings were described. The properties of a complex adaptive system were taken as basis to determine how a system can to be affected by the resources restriction and irreversibility of the processes. The complex adaptive system was understood using the first and second law of thermodynamics, generating a conceptual framework to define the sustainability of a system. The contributions developed by exergy were shown to analyze the sustainability of systems in an economic, social and environmental context [es

Understanding uncoupling in the multiredox centre P450 3A4-BMR model system.

Science.gov (United States)

Degregorio, Danilo; Sadeghi, Sheila J; Di Nardo, Giovanna; Gilardi, Gianfranco; Solinas, Sandro P

2011-01-01

Understanding the uncoupling at the haem active site and/or at the level of multidomain electron transfer is an important element in cytochrome P450 chemistry. Here a chimeric model system consisting of human cytochrome P450 3A4 and the soluble reductase domain of CYP102A1 from Bacillus megaterium (BMR) is used to study the relationship between electron transfer and the coupling efficiency in substrate monoxygenation. Several regulatory features were considered. FAD and FMN added to apoenzyme in oversaturating concentrations influence neither formaldehyde production nor coupling efficiency. The optimal conditions of coupling efficiency depended only on the NADPH concentration. The pH (8.0) and ionic strength (50 mM potassium phosphate) were found to modulate the level of coupling, indicating an influence over the formation of a productive interaction between the BMR and the haem domain. Overall, uncoupling is found to be an intrinsic property of the haem domain, and the covalent linkage of the reductase in a single polypeptide chain has little influence over the activity coupled to product formation.

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

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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.

Understanding Internal Capital Markets and Corporate Policies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cremers, M.; Huang, R.; Sautner, Z.

2009-01-01

This study looks inside a large retail-banking group to understand how corporate politics affect internal capital allocation. The group consists of a headquarters organization and about 150 member banks which own the headquarters. Our data is from the firm’s managerial accounting system and covers

An empirical perspective for understanding climate change impacts in Switzerland

Science.gov (United States)

Henne, Paul; Bigalke, Moritz; Büntgen, Ulf; Colombaroli, Daniele; Conedera, Marco; Feller, Urs; Frank, David; Fuhrer, Jürg; Grosjean, Martin; Heiri, Oliver; Luterbacher, Jürg; Mestrot, Adrien; Rigling, Andreas; Rössler, Ole; Rohr, Christian; Rutishauser, This; Schwikowski, Margit; Stampfli, Andreas; Szidat, Sönke; Theurillat, Jean-Paul; Weingartner, Rolf; Wilcke, Wolfgan; Tinner, Willy

2018-01-01

Planning for the future requires a detailed understanding of how climate change affects a wide range of systems at spatial scales that are relevant to humans. Understanding of climate change impacts can be gained from observational and reconstruction approaches and from numerical models that apply existing knowledge to climate change scenarios. Although modeling approaches are prominent in climate change assessments, observations and reconstructions provide insights that cannot be derived from simulations alone, especially at local to regional scales where climate adaptation policies are implemented. Here, we review the wealth of understanding that emerged from observations and reconstructions of ongoing and past climate change impacts in Switzerland, with wider applicability in Europe. We draw examples from hydrological, alpine, forest, and agricultural systems, which are of paramount societal importance, and are projected to undergo important changes by the end of this century. For each system, we review existing model-based projections, present what is known from observations, and discuss how empirical evidence may help improve future projections. A particular focus is given to better understanding thresholds, tipping points and feedbacks that may operate on different time scales. Observational approaches provide the grounding in evidence that is needed to develop local to regional climate adaptation strategies. Our review demonstrates that observational approaches should ideally have a synergistic relationship with modeling in identifying inconsistencies in projections as well as avenues for improvement. They are critical for uncovering unexpected relationships between climate and agricultural, natural, and hydrological systems that will be important to society in the future.

Understanding Technology and People Issues in Hospital Information System (HIS Adoption: Case study of a tertiary hospital in Malaysia

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Nasriah Zakaria

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Summary: Background: Hospital Information Systems (HIS can improve healthcare outcome quality, increase efficiency, and reduce errors. The government of Malaysia implemented HIS across the country to maximize the use of technology to improve healthcare delivery, however, little is known about the benefits and challenges of HIS adoption in each institution. This paper looks at the technology and people issues in adopting such systems. Methods: The study used a case study approach, using an in-depth interview with multidisciplinary medical team members who were using the system on a daily basis. A thematic analysis using Atlas.ti was employed to understand the complex relations among themes and sub-themes to discover the patterns in the data. . Results: Users found the new system increased the efficiency of workflows and saved time. They reported less redundancy of work and improved communication among medical team members. Data retrieval and storage were also mentioned as positive results of the new HIS system. Healthcare workers showed positive attitudes during training and throughout the learning process. Conclusions: From a technological perspective, it was found that medical workers using HIS has better access and data management compared to the previously used manual system. The human issues analysis reveals positive attitudes toward using HIS among the users especially from the physicians’ side. Keywords: HIS adoption, Technology and people issues, Case study

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 statements now a virtual cinch.

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, Danielle B; Talaga, John

2005-04-01

With a click of the mouse, some patients are accessing and paying their hospital bills online. Novant Health revamped its patient billing process so it's easier to understand and use. Developing a clear, concise billing statement and then implementing an online bill presentment and payment system resulted in improved customer relations, fewer payment processing errors, and faster receipt of payment.

KNOWLEDGE UNDERSTANDING AND ADVANCED SEARCHING

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R Vidya

2017-04-01

Full Text Available It’s a comprehensive fact that millions of people around the world surf the Internet for want of answers for their questions. Generally, the questions are asked in the form of Searching or direct questions which follow perfect ontological directions. It is important that the system understands the questions in the right sense and can provide the best answer for all the questions raised in the web forum. One such pragmatic method is required which is expected to provide optimum solution to achieve best answers for questions that not only percepts language but also follows perfect ontological information in accordance with the cyber law. This Proposed Model presents a new dynamic model called Knowledge Understanding and Advance Searching (KUAS that studies the importance of Smart Question Answering with other question answering engines like START and proves to give the optimal solution compared to them.

Do we understand children's restlessness? Constructing ecologically valid understandings through reflexive cooperation

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Anna Helle-Valle

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD is the most widely used children's mental health diagnosis today, but the validity of the diagnosis is controversial, for instance, because it might conceal relational and ecological dimensions of restlessness. We invited parents and professionals from one local community in western Norway to participate in cooperative group discussions on how to conceptualize and understand children's restlessness. We carried out a thematic and reflexive analysis of the cooperative group discussions on ADHD and children's restlessness, and present findings related to three ecological levels inspired by Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model. At the level of the individual, restlessness was discussed as individual trait, as the expectation to be seen and heard, and as a result of traumatization. At the level of dyad, group or family, restlessness was discussed as a relational phenomenon and as parents' problems. At the level of community, restlessness was discussed as lack of cooperation and lack of structures or resources. Our findings show how contextualized and cooperative reflexivity can contribute to more valid understandings of children's restlessness, and how cooperative inquiry can stimulate reflections about solidarity and sustainability in relation to adult's actions.

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.

Bone histological correlates for air sacs and their implications for understanding the origin of the dinosaurian respiratory system.

Science.gov (United States)

Lambertz, Markus; Bertozzo, Filippo; Sander, P Martin

2018-01-01

Air sacs are an important component of the avian respiratory system, and corresponding structures also were crucial for the evolution of sauropod dinosaur gigantism. Inferring the presence of air sacs in fossils so far is restricted to bones preserving internal pneumatic cavities and foramina as osteological correlates. We here present bone histological correlates for air sacs as a new potential identification tool for these elements of the respiratory system. The analysis of several avian and non-avian dinosaur samples revealed delicate fibres in secondary trabecular and secondary endosteal bone that in the former case (birds) is known or in the latter (non-avian dinosaurs) assumed to have been in contact with air sacs, respectively. The bone histology of this 'pneumosteal tissue' is markedly different from those regions where muscles attached presenting classical Sharpey's fibres. The pneumatized bones of several non-dinosaurian taxa do not exhibit the characteristics of this 'pneumosteum'. Our new histology-based approach thus can be instrumental in reconstructing the origin of air sacs among dinosaurs and hence for our understanding of this remarkable evolutionary novelty of the respiratory system. © 2018 The Author(s).

Developing a deeper understanding of mathematics teaching expertise : an examination of three Chinese mathematics teachers’ resource systems as windows into their work and expertise

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pepin, B.E.U.; Xu, B.; Trouche, L.; Wang, C.

2017-01-01

In order to develop a deeper understanding of mathematics teaching expertise, in this study we use the Documentational Approach to Didactics to explore the resource systems of three Chinese mathematics “expert” teachers. Exploiting the Western and Eastern literature we examine the notion of

Didactic tools for understanding respiratory physiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kehoe, P Donnelly; Bratovich, C; Perrone, Ms; Castells, L Mendez

2007-01-01

The challenges in Bioengineering are not only the application of engineering knowledge to the measurement of physiological variables, but also the simulation of biological systems. Experience has shown that the physiology of the respiratory system involves a set of concepts that cannot be effectively taught without the help of a group of didactic tools that contribute to the measurement of characteristic specific variables and to the simulation of the system itself. This article describes a series of tools designed to optimize the teaching of the respiratory system, including the use of spirometers and software developed entirely by undergraduate Bioengineering students from Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios (UNER). The impact these resources have caused on the understanding of the topic and how each of them has facilitated the interpretation of the concepts by the students is also discussed

Towards pattern understanding-new technologies beyond pattern recognition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sakai, T

1982-04-01

The techniques employed in understanding-systems for pattern information are classified roughly under top-down and bottom-up techniques. These are outlined in the paper, and intellectual preparation for communications and information processing is briefly described. 1 ref.

Pursuing the quest for better understanding the taxonomic distribution of the system of doubly uniparental inheritance of mtDNA

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Arthur Gusman

2016-12-01

Full Text Available There is only one exception to strict maternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA in the animal kingdom: a system named doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI, which is found in several bivalve species. Why and how such a radically different system of mitochondrial transmission evolved in bivalve remains obscure. Obtaining a more complete taxonomic distribution of DUI in the Bivalvia may help to better understand its origin and function. In this study we provide evidence for the presence of sex-linked heteroplasmy (thus the possible presence of DUI in two bivalve species, i.e., the nuculanoid Yoldia hyperborea(Gould, 1841and the veneroid Scrobicularia plana(Da Costa,1778, increasing the number of families in which DUI has been found by two. An update on the taxonomic distribution of DUI in the Bivalvia is also presented.

Cognition and Rhetoric: Biological Basis of Meaning and Understanding

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Francisco Arenas-Dolz

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is twofold: on the one hand, to explore those approaches that understand cognitive processes as embodied and as a result of our interaction with the environment, and not merely as as a information processing system; and, on the other hand, to show their connexion with the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying meaning and understanding, giving and overview of some of the insights from recent studies in neurorhetorics.

Manganese: Recent advances in understanding its transport and neurotoxicity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aschner, Michael; Guilarte, Tomas R.; Schneider, Jay S.; Zheng Wei

2007-01-01

The present review is based on presentations from the meeting of the Society of Toxicology in San Diego, CA (March 2006). It addresses recent developments in the understanding of the transport of manganese (Mn) into the central nervous system (CNS), as well as brain imaging and neurocognitive studies in non-human primates aimed at improving our understanding of the mechanisms of Mn neurotoxicity. Finally, we discuss potential therapeutic modalities for treating Mn intoxication in humans

Between understanding and appreciation. Current science communication in Denmark

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Kristian Hvidtfelt Nielsen

2005-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper I use the concepts “understanding of science” and “appreciation of science” to analyze selected case studies of current science communication in Denmark. The Danish science communication system has many similarities with science communication in other countries: the increasing political and scientific interest in science communication, the co-existence of many different kinds of science communication, and the multiple uses of the concepts of understanding vs. appreciation of science. I stress the international aspects of science communication, the national politico-scientific context as well as more local contexts as equally important conditions for understanding current Danish science communication.

High School Students' Understanding of the Human Body System

Science.gov (United States)

Assaraf, Orit Ben-Zvi; Dodick, Jeff; Tripto, Jaklin

2013-01-01

In this study, 120 tenth-grade students from 8 schools were examined to determine the extent of their ability to perceive the human body as a system after completing the first stage in their biology curriculum--"The human body, emphasizing homeostasis". The students' systems thinking was analyzed according to the STH thinking model, which roughly…

Using Models to Understand Sea Level Rise

Science.gov (United States)

Barth-Cohen, Lauren; Medina, Edwing

2017-01-01

Important science phenomena--such as atomic structure, evolution, and climate change--are often hard to observe directly. That's why an important scientific practice is to use scientific models to represent one's current understanding of a system. Using models has been included as an essential science and engineering practice in the "Next…

Developing a Deeper Understanding of "Mathematics Teaching Expertise": An Examination of Three Chinese Mathematics Teachers' Resource Systems as Windows into Their Work and Expertise

Science.gov (United States)

Pepin, Birgit; Xu, Binyan; Trouche, Luc; Wang, Chongyang

2017-01-01

In order to develop a deeper understanding of mathematics teaching expertise, in this study we use the Documentational Approach to Didactics to explore the resource systems of three Chinese mathematics "expert" teachers. Exploiting the Western and Eastern literature we examine the notion of "mathematics teaching expertise", as…

Non-professional user`s understanding of Geographic Information

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arleth, Mette

2003-01-01

of digital media, including online access to a variety of GI-based services; maps, online Geographic information systems, interactive 3D models etc. However, can we expect that a citizen, who has no relevant professional basis for understanding the concept geographic information, be able to use GI......-based online services and comprehend the information contents? Using the Gi-based online services qualitatively in the participatory process obviously requires knowledge of the non-professional user`s understanding and use of GI. This paper discusses the needs for research into this field as well as relevant...

Valuation of Understanding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wiberg, Merete

An important aim for the teacher in Higher Education is that students, in order to learn, achieve understanding in terms of being able to handle knowledge in a certain way. In this paper focus will be on understanding as a phenomenon which is permeated with values of what good understanding might...... be. Understanding is to be discussed as a phenomenon which in its definition is relative to the paradigm of educational thinking in which it is embedded. Paradigms of valuation of understanding in higher education will be viewed from two perspectives: An anglosaxon curriculum studies tradition...

Understanding Understanding Mathematics. Artificial Intelligence Memo No. 488.

Science.gov (United States)

Michener, Edwina Rissland

This document is concerned with the important extra-logical knowledge that is often outside of traditional discussions in mathematics, and looks at some of the ingredients and processes involved in the understanding of mathematics. The goal is to develop a conceptual framework in which to talk about mathematical knowledge and to understand the…

Neural Basis of Action Understanding: Evidence from Sign Language Aphasia.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogalsky, Corianne; Raphel, Kristin; Tomkovicz, Vivian; O'Grady, Lucinda; Damasio, Hanna; Bellugi, Ursula; Hickok, Gregory

2013-01-01

The neural basis of action understanding is a hotly debated issue. The mirror neuron account holds that motor simulation in fronto-parietal circuits is critical to action understanding including speech comprehension, while others emphasize the ventral stream in the temporal lobe. Evidence from speech strongly supports the ventral stream account, but on the other hand, evidence from manual gesture comprehension (e.g., in limb apraxia) has led to contradictory findings. Here we present a lesion analysis of sign language comprehension. Sign language is an excellent model for studying mirror system function in that it bridges the gap between the visual-manual system in which mirror neurons are best characterized and language systems which have represented a theoretical target of mirror neuron research. Twenty-one life long deaf signers with focal cortical lesions performed two tasks: one involving the comprehension of individual signs and the other involving comprehension of signed sentences (commands). Participants' lesions, as indicated on MRI or CT scans, were mapped onto a template brain to explore the relationship between lesion location and sign comprehension measures. Single sign comprehension was not significantly affected by left hemisphere damage. Sentence sign comprehension impairments were associated with left temporal-parietal damage. We found that damage to mirror system related regions in the left frontal lobe were not associated with deficits on either of these comprehension tasks. We conclude that the mirror system is not critically involved in action understanding.

Understanding and Improving the Performance Consistency of Distributed Computing Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yigitbasi, M.N.

2012-01-01

With the increasing adoption of distributed systems in both academia and industry, and with the increasing computational and storage requirements of distributed applications, users inevitably demand more from these systems. Moreover, users also depend on these systems for latency and throughput

A modeling process to understand complex system architectures

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Santiago Balestrini

2009-12-01

In recent decades, several tools have been developed by the armed forces, and their contractors, to test the capability of a force. These campaign level analysis tools, often times characterized as constructive simulations are generally expensive to create and execute, and at best they are extremely difficult to verify and validate. This central observation, that the analysts are relying more and more on constructive simulations to predict the performance of future networks of systems, leads to the two central objectives of this thesis: (1) to enable the quantitative comparison of architectures in terms of their ability to satisfy a capability without resorting to constructive simulations, and (2) when constructive simulations must be created, to quantitatively determine how to spend the modeling effort amongst the different system classes. The first objective led to Hypothesis A, the first main hypotheses, which states that by studying the relationships between the entities that compose an architecture, one can infer how well it will perform a given capability. The method used to test the hypothesis is based on two assumptions: (1) the capability can be defined as a cycle of functions, and that it (2) must be possible to estimate the probability that a function-based relationship occurs between any two types of entities. If these two requirements are met, then by creating random functional networks, different architectures can be compared in terms of their ability to satisfy a capability. In order to test this hypothesis, a novel process for creating representative functional networks of large-scale system architectures was developed. The process, named the Digraph Modeling for Architectures (DiMA), was tested by comparing its results to those of complex constructive simulations. Results indicate that if the inputs assigned to DiMA are correct (in the tests they were based on time-averaged data obtained from the ABM), DiMA is able to identify which of any two

EFFECT OF METOPROLOL ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS OF YOUNG TO MIDDLE AGE

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S. A. Smakotina

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. To evaluate the effect of metoprolol tartrate on blood pressure (BP and cognitive function in young to middle aged patients with essential hypertension (HT.Material and methods. 40 men (age of 49,0±1,9 y.o. with HT of I-II stage not taking antihypertensive medication regularly were enrolled into the study. All patients were given metoprolol tartrate (start dose 50-100 mg/d. Variables of 24-h BP monitoring and clinic BP, left ventricular mass index (measured by echocardiography and characteristics of cognitive function (memory, attention, thinking and neurodynamic were assessed at the start, after 1 and 6 months of therapy.Results. Good and satisfactory antihypertensive effect was achieved in 75% of hypertensive patients with metoprolol (186,6±13,4mg/d monotherapy. Metoprolol significantly decreased maximum day-time systolic and diastolic BP, maximum night-time diastolic BP, mean day-time systolic and night-time diastolic BP, time-index, load-index and variability-index for night-time diastolic BP, day-time and night-time pulse BP. Left ventricular mass index reduced significantly (p<0,0001. After 6 months of therapy significant improvement of memory, attention, thinking and neurodynamic was observedConclusion. Metoprolol had beneficial effect on cognitive function in hypertensive patients, which demonstrate its cerebroprotective properties in addition to antihypertensive action. Metoprolol can reduce the risk of dementia in young to middle aged patients with HT.

Dynamic Musical Communication of Core Affect

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Nicole eFlaig

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Is there something special about the way music communicates feelings? Theorists since Meyer (1956 have attempted to explain how music could stimulate varied and subtle affective experiences by violating learned expectancies, or by mimicking other forms of social interaction. Our proposal is that music speaks to the brain in its own language; it need not imitate any other form of communication. We review recent theoretical and empirical literature, which suggests that all conscious processes consist of dynamic neural events, produced by spatially dispersed processes in the physical brain. Intentional thought and affective experience arise as dynamical aspects of neural events taking place in multiple brain areas simultaneously. At any given moment, this content comprises a unified scene that is integrated into a dynamic core through synchrony of neuronal oscillations. We propose that 1 neurodynamic synchrony with musical stimuli gives rise to musical qualia including tonal and temporal expectancies, and that 2 music-synchronous responses couple into core neurodynamics, enabling music to directly modulate core affect. Expressive music performance, for example, may recruit rhythm-synchronous neural responses to support affective communication. We suggest that the dynamic relationship between musical expression and the experience of affect presents a unique opportunity for the study of emotional experience. This may help elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying arousal and valence, and offer a new approach to exploring the complex dynamics of the how and why of emotional experience.

Understanding the biology of urothelial cancer metastasis

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Takashi Kobayashi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Management of unresectable urothelial cancer (UC has been a clinical challenge for decades. While drug resistance is a key issue, precise understanding of biology of UC metastasis is another challenge for the improvement of treatment outcome of UC patients. Introduction of the cell biology concepts including epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT and cancer stemness seems to explain UC metastasis. Molecular genetics based on gene expression profiling, next generation sequencing, and explosion of non-coding RNA world has opened the door to intrinsic molecular subtyping of UC. Next steps include, based on the recently accumulated understanding, the establishment of novel disease models representing UC metastasis in various experimental platforms, particularly in vivo animal systems. Indeed, novel knowledge molecular genetics has not been fully linked to the modeling of UC metastasis. Further understanding of bladder carcinogenesis is needed particularly with regard to cell of origin related to tumor characteristics including driver gene alterations, pathological differentiations, and metastatic ability. Then we will be able to establish better disease models, which will consequently lead us to further understanding of biology and eventually the development of novel therapeutic strategies for UC metastasis.

Understanding ecohydrological connectivity in savannas: A system dynamics modeling approach

Science.gov (United States)

Ecohydrological connectivity is a system-level property that results from the linkages in the networks of water transport through ecosystems, by which feedback effects and other emergent system behaviors may be generated. We created a systems dynamic model that represents primary ecohydrological net...

Postoperative Surgical Site Infections: Understanding the Discordance Between Surveillance Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Ali-Mucheru, Mariam N; Seville, Maria T; Miller, Vickie; Sampathkumar, Priya; Etzioni, David A

2018-04-18

To characterize agreement in the ascertainment of surgical site infections (SSIs) between the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP), National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), and administrative data. The NSQIP, NHSN, and administrative data are the primary systems used to monitor and report SSIs for the purpose of quality control and benchmarking of hospitals and surgeons. These systems have different methods for identifying SSIs. We queried the NHSN, NSQIP, and administrative data systems for patients who had an operation at 1 of 4 hospitals within a single health system between January 2013 and September 2015. The detection of an SSI during a postoperative hospitalization was the outcome of analysis. Any SSI detected by one (or more) of these systems was analyzed by 2 reviewers to determine the presence of discrete elements of documentation constituting evidence of SSI. Concordance between the 3 systems (NHSN, NSQIP, and administrative data) was analyzed using Cohen's kappa. After application of appropriate exclusion criteria, a cohort of 9447 inpatient operations was analyzed. In total, 130 SSIs were detected by 1 or more of the 3 systems, with reported SSI rates of 0.5% (NHSN), 0.7% (administrative data), and 1.0% (NSQIP). Of these 130 SSIs, only 17 SSIs were reported by all 3 systems. The concordance between these 3 systems was moderate (kappa values NSQIP-NHSN = 0.50 [0.40-0.60], administrative-NHSN = 0.36 [0.24-0.47], and administrative-NSQIP = 0.47 [0.38-0.57]). Chart review found that reasons for discordance were related to issues of different criteria as well as inaccuracies. There is significant discordance in the determination of SSIs reported by the NHSN, NSQIP, and administrative data. The differences and limitations of each of these systems have to be recognized, especially when using these data for quality reports and pay for performance.

Understanding quantum physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spillner, Vera

2011-01-01

This thesis presents a bundle definition for 'scientific understanding' through which the empirically equivalent interpretations of quantum mechanics can be evaluated with respect to the understanding they generate. The definition of understanding is based on a sufficient and necessary criterion, as well as a bundle of conditions - where a theory can be called most understandable whenever it fulfills the highest number of bundle criteria. Thereby the definition of understanding is based on the one hand on the objective number of criteria a theory fulfills, as well as, on the other hand, on the individual's preference of bundle criteria. Applying the definition onto three interpretations of quantum mechanics, the interpretation of David Bohm appears as most understandable, followed by the interpretation of Tim Maudlin and the Kopenhagen interpretation. These three interpretations are discussed in length in my thesis. (orig.)

Use of the computational-informational web-GIS system for the development of climatology students' skills in modeling and understanding climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Gordova, Yulia; Martynova, Yulia; Shulgina, Tamara

2015-04-01

The current situation with the training of specialists in environmental sciences is complicated by the fact that the very scientific field is experiencing a period of rapid development. Global change has caused the development of measurement techniques and modeling of environmental characteristics, accompanied by the expansion of the conceptual and mathematical apparatus. Understanding and forecasting processes in the Earth system requires extensive use of mathematical modeling and advanced computing technologies. As a rule, available training programs in the environmental sciences disciplines do not have time to adapt to such rapid changes in the domain content. As a result, graduates of faculties do not understand processes and mechanisms of the global change, have only superficial knowledge of mathematical modeling of processes in the environment. They do not have the required skills in numerical modeling, data processing and analysis of observations and computation outputs and are not prepared to work with the meteorological data. For adequate training of future specialists in environmental sciences we propose the following approach, which reflects the new "research" paradigm in education. We believe that the training of such specialists should be done not in an artificial learning environment, but based on actual operating information-computational systems used in environment studies, in the so-called virtual research environment via development of virtual research and learning laboratories. In the report the results of the use of computational-informational web-GIS system "Climate" (http://climate.scert.ru/) as a prototype of such laboratory are discussed. The approach is realized at Tomsk State University to prepare bachelors in meteorology. Student survey shows that their knowledge has become deeper and more systemic after undergoing training in virtual learning laboratory. The scientific team plans to assist any educators to utilize the system in earth

Understanding nursing units with data and theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Diers, Donna; Hendrickson, Karrie; Rimar, Joan; Donovan, Donna

2013-01-01

Nursing units are social systems whose function depends on many variables. Available nursing data, combined with a theory of organizational diagnosis, can be used to understand nursing unit performance. One troubled unit served as a case study in organizational diagnosis and treatment using modern methods of data mining and performance improvement. Systems theory did not prescribe how to fix an underbounded system. The theory did suggest, however, that addressing the characteristics of overbounded and underbounded systems can provide some order and structure and identify helpful resources. In this instance, the data analysis served to help define the unit's problems in conjunction with information gained from talking with the nurses and touring the unit, but it was the theory that gave hints for direction for change.

The woodrat gut microbiota as an experimental system for understanding microbial metabolism of dietary toxins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kevin D. Kohl

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The microbial communities inhabiting the alimentary tracts of mammals, particularly those of herbivores, are estimated to be one of the densest microbial reservoirs on Earth. The significance of these gut microbes in influencing the physiology, ecology and evolution of their hosts is only beginning to be realized. To understand the microbiome of herbivores with a focus on nutritional ecology, while evaluating the roles of host evolution and environment in sculpting microbial diversity, we have developed an experimental system consisting of the microbial communities of several species of herbivorous woodrats (genus Neotoma that naturally feed on a variety of dietary toxins. We designed this system to investigate the long-standing, but experimentally neglected hypothesis that ingestion of toxic diets by herbivores is facilitated by the gut microbiota. Like several other rodent species, the woodrat stomach has a sacculated, nongastric foregut portion. We have documented a dense and diverse community of microbes in the woodrat foregut, with several genera potentially capable of degrading dietary toxins and/or playing a role in stimulating hepatic detoxification enzymes of the host. The biodiversity of these gut microbes appears to be a function of host evolution, ecological experience and diet, such that dietary toxins increase microbial diversity in hosts with experience with these toxins while novel toxins depress microbial diversity. These microbial communities are critical to the ingestion of a toxic diet as reducing the microbial community with antibiotics impairs the host’s ability to feed on dietary toxins. Furthermore, the detoxification capacity of gut microbes can be transferred from Neotoma both intra and interspecifically to naïve animals that lack ecological and evolutionary history with these toxins. In addition to advancing our knowledge of complex host-microbes interactions, this system holds promise for identifying microbes that

Force-induced bone growth and adaptation: A system theoretical approach to understanding bone mechanotransduction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maldonado, Solvey; Findeisen, Rolf

2010-01-01

The modeling, analysis, and design of treatment therapies for bone disorders based on the paradigm of force-induced bone growth and adaptation is a challenging task. Mathematical models provide, in comparison to clinical, medical and biological approaches an structured alternative framework to understand the concurrent effects of the multiple factors involved in bone remodeling. By now, there are few mathematical models describing the appearing complex interactions. However, the resulting models are complex and difficult to analyze, due to the strong nonlinearities appearing in the equations, the wide range of variability of the states, and the uncertainties in parameters. In this work, we focus on analyzing the effects of changes in model structure and parameters/inputs variations on the overall steady state behavior using systems theoretical methods. Based on an briefly reviewed existing model that describes force-induced bone adaptation, the main objective of this work is to analyze the stationary behavior and to identify plausible treatment targets for remodeling related bone disorders. Identifying plausible targets can help in the development of optimal treatments combining both physical activity and drug-medication. Such treatments help to improve/maintain/restore bone strength, which deteriorates under bone disorder conditions, such as estrogen deficiency.

How Earth Educators Can Help Students Develop a Holistic Understanding of Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Curren, R. R.; Metzger, E. P.

2017-12-01

With their expert understanding of planetary systems, Earth educators play a pivotal role in helping students understand the scientific dimensions of solution-resistant ("wicked") challenges to sustainability that arise from complex interactions between intertwined and co-evolving natural and human systems. However, teaching the science of sustainability in isolation from consideration of human values and social dynamics leaves students with a fragmented understanding and obscures the underlying drivers of unsustainability. Geoscience instructors who wish to address sustainability in their courses may feel ill-equipped to engage students in investigation of the fundamental nature of sustainability and its social and ethical facets. This presentation will blend disciplinary perspectives from Earth system science, philosophy, psychology, and anthropology to: 1) outline a way to conceptualize sustainability that synthesizes scientific, social, and ethical perspectives and 2) provide an overview of resources and teaching strategies designed to help students connect science content to the socio-political dimensions of sustainability through activities and assignments that promote active learning, systems thinking, reflection, and collaborative problem-solving.

A Framework for Identifying and Understanding Enterprise Systems Benefits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schubert, Petra; Williams, Susan P.

2011-01-01

Purpose – Identifying the benefits arising from implementations of enterprise systems and realizing business value remains a significant challenge for both research and industry. This paper aims to consolidate previous work. It presents a framework for investigating enterprise systems benefits...... into aspects and criteria plus an attributed appraisal value. The resulting scheme for the “three-level benefit codes” provides a greater level of detail about the nature of expected and realized benefits. Practical implications – The high level of detail and the code scheme comprising 60 different codes...... and the method for deriving the codes allows companies to identify and define benefits as well as to assess the outcome of enterprise systems implementation projects. Originality/value – The paper empirically develops an applicable benefits framework, which addresses the lack of detail of previous frameworks....

teacidng ecological principles as a basis for understanding

African Journals Online (AJOL)

using strategies based on the food chain concept, but most respondents were ... ecology and form the basis for an understanding of the food web concept which, .... web for the system by: a) filling in the blocks provided. (figure 3), b) writing ...

Understanding and enhancing future infrastructure resiliency: a socio-ecological approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Sage, Daniel; Sircar, Indraneel; Dainty, Andrew; Fussey, Pete; Goodier, Chris

2015-07-01

The resilience of any system, human or natural, centres on its capacity to adapt its structure, but not necessarily its function, to a new configuration in response to long-term socio-ecological change. In the long term, therefore, enhancing resilience involves more than simply improving a system's ability to resist an immediate threat or to recover to a stable past state. However, despite the prevalence of adaptive notions of resilience in academic discourse, it is apparent that infrastructure planners and policies largely continue to struggle to comprehend longer-term system adaptation in their understanding of resilience. Instead, a short-term, stable system (STSS) perspective on resilience is prevalent. This paper seeks to identify and problematise this perspective, presenting research based on the development of a heuristic 'scenario-episode' tool to address, and challenge, it in the context of United Kingdom infrastructure resilience. The aim is to help resilience practitioners to understand better the capacities of future infrastructure systems to respond to natural, malicious threats. © 2015 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2015.

Codevelopment of conceptual understanding and critical attitude: toward a systemic analysis of the survival blanket

Science.gov (United States)

Viennot, Laurence; Décamp, Nicolas

2016-01-01

One key objective of physics teaching is the promotion of conceptual understanding. Additionally, the critical faculty is universally seen as a central quality to be developed in students. In recent years, however, teaching objectives have placed stronger emphasis on skills than on concepts, and there is a risk that conceptual structuring may be disregarded. The question therefore arises as to whether it is possible for students to develop a critical stance without a conceptual basis, leading in turn to the issue of possible links between the development of conceptual understanding and critical attitude. In an in-depth study to address these questions, the participants were seven prospective physics and chemistry teachers. The methodology included a ‘teaching interview’, designed to observe participants’ responses to limited explanations of a given phenomenon and their ensuing intellectual satisfaction or frustration. The explanatory task related to the physics of how a survival blanket works, requiring a full and appropriate system analysis of the blanket. The analysis identified five recurrent lines of reasoning and linked these to judgments of adequacy of explanation, based on metacognitive/affective (MCA) factors, intellectual (dis)satisfaction and critical stance. Recurrent themes and MCA factors were used to map the intellectual dynamics that emerged during the interview process. Participants’ critical attitude was observed to develop in strong interaction with their comprehension of the topic. The results suggest that most students need to reach a certain level of conceptual mastery before they can begin to question an oversimplified explanation, although one student’s replies show that a different intellectual dynamics is also possible. The paper ends with a discussion of the implications of these findings for future research and for decisions concerning teaching objectives and the design of learning environments.

Laurel Clark Earth Camp: Building a Framework for Teacher and Student Understanding of Earth Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Colodner, D.; Buxner, S.; Schwartz, K.; Orchard, A.; Titcomb, A.; King, B.; Baldridge, A.; Thomas-Hilburn, H.; Crown, D. A.

2013-04-01

Laurel Clark Earth Camp is designed to inspire teachers and students to study their world through field experiences, remote sensing investigations, and hands on exploration, all of which lend context to scientific inquiry. In three different programs (for middle school students, for high school students, and for teachers) participants are challenged to understand Earth processes from the perspectives of both on-the ground inspection and from examination of satellite images, and use those multiple perspectives to determine best practices on both a societal and individual scale. Earth Camp is a field-based program that takes place both in the “natural” and built environment. Middle School Earth Camp introduces students to a variety of environmental science, engineering, technology, and societal approaches to sustainability. High School Earth Camp explores ecology and water resources from southern Arizona to eastern Utah, including a 5 day rafting trip. In both camps, students compare environmental change observed through repeat photography on the ground to changes observed from space. Students are encouraged to utilize their camp experience in considering their future course of study, career objectives, and lifestyle choices. During Earth Camp for Educators, teachers participate in a series of weekend workshops to explore relevant environmental science practices, including water quality testing, biodiversity surveys, water and light audits, and remote sensing. Teachers engage students, both in school and after school, in scientific investigations with this broad based set of tools. Earth Stories from Space is a website that will assist in developing skills and comfort in analyzing change over time and space using remotely sensed images. Through this three-year NASA funded program, participants will appreciate the importance of scale and perspective in understanding Earth systems and become inspired to make choices that protect the environment.

Understanding system disturbance and ecosystem services in restored saltmarshes: Integrating physical and biogeochemical processes

Science.gov (United States)

Spencer, K. L.; Harvey, G. L.

2012-06-01

Coastal saltmarsh ecosystems occupy only a small percentage of Earth's land surface, yet contribute a wide range of ecosystem services that have significant global economic and societal value. These environments currently face significant challenges associated with climate change, sea level rise, development and water quality deterioration and are consequently the focus of a range of management schemes. Increasingly, soft engineering techniques such as managed realignment (MR) are being employed to restore and recreate these environments, driven primarily by the need for habitat (re)creation and sustainable coastal flood defence. Such restoration schemes also have the potential to provide additional ecosystem services including climate regulation and waste processing. However, these sites have frequently been physically impacted by their previous land use and there is a lack of understanding of how this 'disturbance' impacts the delivery of ecosystem services or of the complex linkages between ecological, physical and biogeochemical processes in restored systems. Through the exploration of current data this paper determines that hydrological, geomorphological and hydrodynamic functioning of restored sites may be significantly impaired with respects to natural 'undisturbed' systems and that links between morphology, sediment structure, hydrology and solute transfer are poorly understood. This has consequences for the delivery of seeds, the provision of abiotic conditions suitable for plant growth, the development of microhabitats and the cycling of nutrients/contaminants and may impact the delivery of ecosystem services including biodiversity, climate regulation and waste processing. This calls for a change in our approach to research in these environments with a need for integrated, interdisciplinary studies over a range of spatial and temporal scales incorporating both intensive and extensive research design.

Exploring fraud triangle in understanding ethics pre-cautionary: a ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Exploring fraud triangle in understanding ethics pre-cautionary: a Malaysian ... Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences ... Various reports on the involvement of government officials in fraud cases indicate the lacking of ethical systems.

Towards an understanding of resilience: responding to health systems shocks.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanefeld, Johanna; Mayhew, Susannah; Legido-Quigley, Helena; Martineau, Frederick; Karanikolos, Marina; Blanchet, Karl; Liverani, Marco; Yei Mokuwa, Esther; McKay, Gillian; Balabanova, Dina

2018-04-01

The recent outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in West Africa has drawn attention to the role and responsiveness of health systems in the face of shock. It brought into sharp focus the idea that health systems need not only to be stronger but also more 'resilient'. In this article, we argue that responding to shocks is an important aspect of resilience, examining the health system behaviour in the face of four types of contemporary shocks: the financial crisis in Europe from 2008 onwards; climate change disasters; the EVD outbreak in West Africa 2013-16; and the recent refugee and migration crisis in Europe. Based on this analysis, we identify '3 plus 2' critical dimensions of particular relevance to health systems' ability to adapt and respond to shocks; actions in all of these will determine the extent to which a response is successful. These are three core dimensions corresponding to three health systems functions: 'health information systems' (having the information and the knowledge to make a decision on what needs to be done); 'funding/financing mechanisms' (investing or mobilising resources to fund a response); and 'health workforce' (who should plan and implement it and how). These intersect with two cross-cutting aspects: 'governance', as a fundamental function affecting all other system dimensions; and predominant 'values' shaping the response, and how it is experienced at individual and community levels. Moreover, across the crises examined here, integration within the health system contributed to resilience, as does connecting with local communities, evidenced by successful community responses to Ebola and social movements responding to the financial crisis. In all crises, inequalities grew, yet our evidence also highlights that the impact of shocks is amenable to government action. All these factors are shaped by context. We argue that the '3 plus 2' dimensions can inform pragmatic policies seeking to increase health systems resilience.

Understanding Masculinity Ideology in Convicted Rapists

OpenAIRE

Pandey, Madhumita

2016-01-01

While violence against women has gained prominence in India, there is still a dearth of literature addressing these issues in the society. Amongst available research, the focus has primarily been on victims; judiciary and policing systems while, there are minimum efforts in understanding the alleged offenders. Masculinity originally emerged as concept opposite to femininity (Constantinople, 1973), was later developed into an independent personality characteristic (Bem, 1974) and is now being ...

M.G. Velarde: Succint Biography. Doing Science in Spain as a Maverick

Science.gov (United States)

Ryazantsev, Yu. S.

A succint account is presented about the professional career of Prof. Manuel García Velarde. Different periods illustrate his engagement with science, education and (domestic and international) organizational endeavor. The chapter also oversees some of the major areas of research he has covered with significant scientific achievements. They embrace kinetic theory, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, fluid physics, geophysics, optics and lasers, ferromagnetism, electron transport theory, acoustics, elasticity, wave theory, reaction-diffusion science, biophysics, active lattice dynamics, and neuro-dynamics, all phenomena and methodologies treated from the unifying perspective of nonlinear dynamics.

Developing improved MD codes for understanding processive cellulases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crowley, M F; Nimlos, M R; Himmel, M E; Uberbacher, E C; Iii, C L Brooks; Walker, R C

2008-01-01

The mechanism of action of cellulose-degrading enzymes is illuminated through a multidisciplinary collaboration that uses molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and expands the capabilities of MD codes to allow simulations of enzymes and substrates on petascale computational facilities. There is a class of glycoside hydrolase enzymes called cellulases that are thought to decrystallize and processively depolymerize cellulose using biochemical processes that are largely not understood. Understanding the mechanisms involved and improving the efficiency of this hydrolysis process through computational models and protein engineering presents a compelling grand challenge. A detailed understanding of cellulose structure, dynamics and enzyme function at the molecular level is required to direct protein engineers to the right modifications or to understand if natural thermodynamic or kinetic limits are in play. Much can be learned about processivity by conducting carefully designed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the binding and catalytic domains of cellulases with various substrate configurations, solvation models and thermodynamic protocols. Most of these numerical experiments, however, will require significant modification of existing code and algorithms in order to efficiently use current (terascale) and future (petascale) hardware to the degree of parallelism necessary to simulate a system of the size proposed here. This work will develop MD codes that can efficiently use terascale and petascale systems, not just for simple classical MD simulations, but also for more advanced methods, including umbrella sampling with complex restraints and reaction coordinates, transition path sampling, steered molecular dynamics, and quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical simulations of systems the size of cellulose degrading enzymes acting on cellulose

Understanding and designing computer networks

CERN Document Server

King, Graham

1995-01-01

Understanding and Designing Computer Networks considers the ubiquitous nature of data networks, with particular reference to internetworking and the efficient management of all aspects of networked integrated data systems. In addition it looks at the next phase of networking developments; efficiency and security are covered in the sections dealing with data compression and data encryption; and future examples of network operations, such as network parallelism, are introduced.A comprehensive case study is used throughout the text to apply and illustrate new techniques and concepts as th

Complexity and simplification in understanding recruitment in benthic populations

KAUST Repository

Pineda, Jesús

2008-11-13

Research of complex systems and problems, entities with many dependencies, is often reductionist. The reductionist approach splits systems or problems into different components, and then addresses these components one by one. This approach has been used in the study of recruitment and population dynamics of marine benthic (bottom-dwelling) species. Another approach examines benthic population dynamics by looking at a small set of processes. This approach is statistical or model-oriented. Simplified approaches identify "macroecological" patterns or attempt to identify and model the essential, "first-order" elements of the system. The complexity of the recruitment and population dynamics problems stems from the number of processes that can potentially influence benthic populations, including (1) larval pool dynamics, (2) larval transport, (3) settlement, and (4) post-settlement biotic and abiotic processes, and larval production. Moreover, these processes are non-linear, some interact, and they may operate on disparate scales. This contribution discusses reductionist and simplified approaches to study benthic recruitment and population dynamics of bottom-dwelling marine invertebrates. We first address complexity in two processes known to influence recruitment, larval transport, and post-settlement survival to reproduction, and discuss the difficulty in understanding recruitment by looking at relevant processes individually and in isolation. We then address the simplified approach, which reduces the number of processes and makes the problem manageable. We discuss how simplifications and "broad-brush first-order approaches" may muddle our understanding of recruitment. Lack of empirical determination of the fundamental processes often results in mistaken inferences, and processes and parameters used in some models can bias our view of processes influencing recruitment. We conclude with a discussion on how to reconcile complex and simplified approaches. Although it

Understanding Water-Stress Responses in Soybean Using Hydroponics System-A Systems Biology Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Tripathi, Prateek; Rabara, Roel C; Shulaev, Vladimir; Shen, Qingxi J; Rushton, Paul J

2015-01-01

The deleterious changes in environmental conditions such as water stress bring physiological and biochemical changes in plants, which results in crop loss. Thus, combating water stress is important for crop improvement to manage the needs of growing population. Utilization of hydroponics system in growing plants is questionable to some researchers, as it does not represent an actual field condition. However, trying to address a complex problem like water stress we have to utilize a simpler growing condition like the hydroponics system wherein every input given to the plants can be controlled. With the advent of high-throughput technologies, it is still challenging to address all levels of the genetic machinery whether a gene, protein, metabolite, and promoter. Thus, using a system of reduced complexity like hydroponics can certainly direct us toward the right candidates, if not completely help us to resolve the issue.

ShapeShop: Towards Understanding Deep Learning Representations via Interactive Experimentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hohman, Fred; Hodas, Nathan; Chau, Duen Horng

2017-05-01

Deep learning is the driving force behind many recent technologies; however, deep neural networks are often viewed as "black-boxes" due to their internal complexity that is hard to understand. Little research focuses on helping people explore and understand the relationship between a user's data and the learned representations in deep learning models. We present our ongoing work, ShapeShop, an interactive system for visualizing and understanding what semantics a neural network model has learned. Built using standard web technologies, ShapeShop allows users to experiment with and compare deep learning models to help explore the robustness of image classifiers.

ShapeShop: Towards Understanding Deep Learning Representations via Interactive Experimentation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hohman, Frederick M.; Hodas, Nathan O.; Chau, Duen Horng

2017-05-30

Deep learning is the driving force behind many recent technologies; however, deep neural networks are often viewed as “black-boxes” due to their internal complexity that is hard to understand. Little research focuses on helping people explore and understand the relationship between a user’s data and the learned representations in deep learning models. We present our ongoing work, ShapeShop, an interactive system for visualizing and understanding what semantics a neural network model has learned. Built using standard web technologies, ShapeShop allows users to experiment with and compare deep learning models to help explore the robustness of image classifiers.

Understanding the Composition Dependence of the Fragility of AgI-Ag2O-MxOy Glassy Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aniya, M

2011-01-01

It has been reported that the fragility in the AgI-Ag 2 O-M x O y (M = B, Ge, P, Mo) system is determined by Ag 2 O-M x O y and does not depend on the amount of AgI. This is an interesting result and provides a hint to understand the nature of the glassy state of these materials. However, the origin of such behavior has not been sufficiently discussed. In the present report a model for the above behavior is presented. According to the model, the behavior arises from the solid like nature of the network formed by Ag 2 O-M x O y and the liquid like AgI which flow between the networks. The model is consistent with the structural model of superionic glasses proposed previously.

Network analysis: A new way of understanding psychopathology?

Science.gov (United States)

Fonseca-Pedrero, Eduardo

Current taxonomic systems are based on a descriptive and categorical approach where psychopathological symptoms and signs are caused by a hypothetical underlying mental disorder. In order to circumvent the limitations of classification systems, it is necessary to incorporate new conceptual and psychometric models that allow to understand, analyze and intervene in psychopathological phenomena from another perspective. The main goal was to present a new approach called network analysis for its application in the field of psychopathology. First of all, a brief introduction where psychopathological disorders are conceived as complex dynamic systems was carried out. Key concepts, as well as the different types of networks and the procedures for their estimation, are discussed. Following this, centrality measures, important for the understanding of the network as well as to examine the relevance of the variables within the network were addressed. These factors were then exemplified by estimating a network of self-reported psychopathological symptoms in a representative sample of adolescents. Finally, a brief recapitulation is made and future lines of research are discussed. Copyright © 2017 SEP y SEPB. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Understanding the contribution of biofilm in an integrated fixed-film-activated sludge system (IFAS) designed for nitrogen removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Moretti, P; Choubert, J M; Canler, J P; Petrimaux, O; Buffiere, P; Lessard, P

2015-01-01

The objective of this study is to improve knowledge on the integrated fixed-film-activated sludge (IFAS) system designed for nitrogen removal. Biofilm growth and its contribution to nitrification were monitored under various operating conditions in a semi-industrial pilot-scale plant. Nitrification rates were observed in biofilms developed on free-floating media and in activated sludge operated under a low sludge retention time (4 days) and at an ammonia loading rate of 45-70 gNH4-N/kgMLVSS/d. Operational conditions, i.e. oxygen concentration, redox potential, suspended solids concentration, ammonium and nitrates, were monitored continuously in the reactors. High removal efficiencies were observed for carbon and ammonium at high-loading rate. The contribution of biofilm to nitrification was determined as 40-70% of total NOx-N production under the operating conditions tested. Optimal conditions to optimize process compacity were determined. The tested configuration responds especially well to winter and summer nitrification conditions. These results help provide a deeper understanding of how autotrophic biomass evolves through environmental and operational conditions in IFAS systems.

Land system science and sustainable development of the earth system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Verburg, Peter H.; Crossman, Neville; Ellis, Erle C.

2015-01-01

Land systems are the result of human interactions with the natural environment. Understanding the drivers, state, trends and impacts of different land systems on social and natural processes helps to reveal how changes in the land system affect the functioning of the socio-ecological system...... as a whole and the tradeoff these changes may represent. The Global Land Project has led advances by synthesizing land systems research across different scales and providing concepts to further understand the feedbacks between social-and environmental systems, between urban and rural environments and between...... distant world regions. Land system science has moved from a focus on observation of change and understanding the drivers of these changes to a focus on using this understanding to design sustainable transformations through stakeholder engagement and through the concept of land governance. As land use can...

Understanding large social-ecological systems: introducing the SESMAD project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Cox

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This article introduces the Social-ecological systems meta-analysis database (SESMAD project, which is the project behind the case studies and synthetic articles contained in this special issue of the International Journal of the Commons. SESMAD is an internationally collaborative meta-analysis project that builds on previous seminally synthetic work on small-scale common-pool resource systems conducted at the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University. This project is guided by the following research question: can the variables found to be important in explaining outcomes on small-scale systems be scaled up to explain outcomes in large-scale environmental governance? In this special issue we report on our findings thus far through a set of case studies of large-scale environmental governance, a paper that describes our conceptual advances, and a paper that compares these five case studies to further examine our central research question.

Understanding tantalum-catalyzed ethylene trimerization: When things go wrong

KAUST Repository

Chen, Yin; Credendino, Raffaele; Callens, Emmanuel; Atiqullah, Muhammad; Al-Harthi, Mamdouh Ahmed; Cavallo, Luigi; Basset, Jean-Marie

2013-01-01

Ethylene oligomerization to linear low-molecular-mass α-olefins is an open industrial challenge. Ta-based catalysts are promising systems, but the unclear understanding of their behavior prevents systematic advances in the field. We demonstrate here

Guidance for Science Data Centers through Understanding Metrics

Science.gov (United States)

Moses, J. F.

2006-12-01

NASA has built a multi-year set of transaction and user satisfaction information about the evolving, broad collection of earth science products from a diverse set of users of the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). The transaction and satisfaction trends provide corroborative information to support perception and intuition, and can often be the basis for understanding the results of cross-cutting initiatives and for management decisions about future strategies. The information is available through two fundamental complementary methods, product and user transaction data collected regularly from the major science data centers, and user satisfaction information collected through the American Customer Satisfaction Index survey. The combination provides the fundamental data needed to understand utilization trends in the research community. This paper will update trends based on 2006 metrics from the NASA earth science data centers and results from the 2006 EOSDIS ACSI survey. Principle concepts are explored that lead to sound guidance for data center managers and strategists over the next year.

Understanding Magnitudes to Understand Fractions

Science.gov (United States)

Gabriel, Florence

2016-01-01

Fractions are known to be difficult to learn and difficult to teach, yet they are vital for students to have access to further mathematical concepts. This article uses evidence to support teachers employing teaching methods that focus on the conceptual understanding of the magnitude of fractions.

Ecological Understanding 2: Transformation--A Key to Ecological Understanding.

Science.gov (United States)

Carlsson, Britta

2002-01-01

Describes the structure and general features of the phenomenon of ecological understanding. Presents qualitatively different ways of experiencing cycling of matter and the flow of energy in the context of ecosystems. The idea of transformation is key to the development of ecological understanding. (Contains 17 references.) (Author/YDS)

On how to understand and present the uncertainties in production assurance analyses, with a case study related to a subsea production system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aven, Terje; Pedersen, Linda Martens

2014-01-01

Production assurance analyses of production systems are in practice typically carried out using flow network modelling and Monte Carlo simulations. Based on the network and probability distribution assumptions for equipment lifetime and restoration time, the simulation tool produces predictions/estimates and uncertainty distributions of the production availability, which is defined as the ratio of production to planned production, or any other reference level, over a specified period of time. To adequately communicate the results from the analyses, it is essential that there is in place a framework which clarifies how to understand the concepts introduced, including the uncertainty distributions produced. Some key elements of such a conceptual framework are well established in the industry, for example the use of probability models to represent the stochastic variation related to lifetimes and restoration times. However an overall framework linking this variation, as well as “model uncertainties”, to the epistemic uncertainty distribution for the output production availability, has been lacking. The purpose of the present paper is to present such a framework, and in this way provide new insights to and guidelines on how to understand and present the uncertainties in practical production assurance analyses. An example related to a subsea production system is used to illustrate the framework and the guidelines

Systematic behavior research for understanding consumer decision making.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chin-Feng

2009-05-01

This study incorporates means-end chain (MEC) theory and dynamic programming for understanding the implications of consumer decision making. The conceptual framework of this study can help programmers design information systems for analyzing consumption behaviors. Such analyses will provide marketers with meaningful information for formulating marketing strategies. The main contributions of this article are as follows: (1) to enable researchers to obtain information for consumer cognitive hierarchies utilizing an information system, (2) to enhance the functions of traditional MEC methodology and provide an integrated method for analyzing consumption information, and (3) to construct an information system for analyzing consumer decision-making processes.

Understanding Lustre Internals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Feiyi [ORNL; Oral, H Sarp [ORNL; Shipman, Galen M [ORNL; Drokin, Oleg [ORNL; Wang, Di [ORNL; Huang, He [ORNL

2009-04-01

Lustre was initiated and funded, almost a decade ago, by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) Office of Science and National Nuclear Security Administration laboratories to address the need for an open source, highly-scalable, high-performance parallel filesystem on by then present and future supercomputing platforms. Throughout the last decade, it was deployed over numerous medium-to-large-scale supercomputing platforms and clusters, and it performed and met the expectations of the Lustre user community. As it stands at the time of writing this document, according to the Top500 list, 15 of the top 30 supercomputers in the world use Lustre filesystem. This report aims to present a streamlined overview on how Lustre works internally at reasonable details including relevant data structures, APIs, protocols and algorithms involved for Lustre version 1.6 source code base. More importantly, it tries to explain how various components interconnect with each other and function as a system. Portions of this report are based on discussions with Oak Ridge National Laboratory Lustre Center of Excellence team members and portions of it are based on our own understanding of how the code works. We, as the authors team bare all responsibilities for all errors and omissions in this document. We can only hope it helps current and future Lustre users and Lustre code developers as much as it helped us understanding the Lustre source code and its internal workings.

Understanding Is Key: An Analysis of Factors Pertaining to Trust in a Real-World Automation System.

Science.gov (United States)

Balfe, Nora; Sharples, Sarah; Wilson, John R

2018-06-01

This paper aims to explore the role of factors pertaining to trust in real-world automation systems through the application of observational methods in a case study from the railway sector. Trust in automation is widely acknowledged as an important mediator of automation use, but the majority of the research on automation trust is based on laboratory work. In contrast, this work explored trust in a real-world setting. Experienced rail operators in four signaling centers were observed for 90 min, and their activities were coded into five mutually exclusive categories. Their observed activities were analyzed in relation to their reported trust levels, collected via a questionnaire. The results showed clear differences in activity, even when circumstances on the workstations were very similar, and significant differences in some trust dimensions were found between groups exhibiting different levels of intervention and time not involved with signaling. Although the empirical, lab-based studies in the literature have consistently found that reliability and competence of the automation are the most important aspects of trust development, understanding of the automation emerged as the strongest dimension in this study. The implications are that development and maintenance of trust in real-world, safety-critical automation systems may be distinct from artificial laboratory automation. The findings have important implications for emerging automation concepts in diverse industries including highly automated vehicles and Internet of things.

Student Understanding of Gravity in Introductory College Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Williamson, Kathryn E.; Willoughby, Shannon

2012-01-01

Twenty-four free-response questions were developed to explore introductory college astronomy students' understanding of gravity in a variety of contexts, including in and around Earth, throughout the solar system, and in hypothetical situations. Questions were separated into three questionnaires, each of which was given to a section of…

Towards Semantic Understanding of Surrounding Vehicular Maneuvers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristoffersen, Miklas Strøm; Dueholm, Jacob Velling; Satzoda, Ravi K.

2016-01-01

This paper proposes the use of multiple low-cost visual sensors to obtain a surround view of the ego-vehicle for semantic understanding. A multi-perspective view will assist the analysis of naturalistic driving studies (NDS), by automating the task of data reduction of the observed sequences...... into events. A user-centric vision-based framework is presented using a vehicle detector and tracker in each separate perspective. Multi-perspective trajectories are estimated and analyzed to extract 14 different events, including potential dangerous behaviors such as overtakes and cut-ins. The system...... is tested on ten sequences of real-world data collected on U. S. highways. The results show the potential use of multiple low-cost visual sensors for semantic understanding around the ego-vehicle....

Understanding global health governance as a complex adaptive system.

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Peter S

2011-01-01

The transition from international to global health reflects the rapid growth in the numbers and nature of stakeholders in health, as well as the constant change embodied in the process of globalisation itself. This paper argues that global health governance shares the characteristics of complex adaptive systems, with its multiple and diverse players, and their polyvalent and constantly evolving relationships, and rich and dynamic interactions. The sheer quantum of initiatives, the multiple networks through which stakeholders (re)configure their influence, the range of contexts in which development for health is played out - all compound the complexity of this system. This paper maps out the characteristics of complex adaptive systems as they apply to global health governance, linking them to developments in the past two decades, and the multiple responses to these changes. Examining global health governance through the frame of complexity theory offers insight into the current dynamics of governance, and while providing a framework for making meaning of the whole, opens up ways of accessing this complexity through local points of engagement.

Ausubel's understanding of concept development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janković Aleksandar P.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents one of relatively new cognitivistic learning and cognition theories - the theory by American psychologist David Ausubel. We consider this theory to be very usable for teaching beginners or for cognition process. It is of utmost importance that first or elementary concepts concerning natural and social phenomena a pupil aquires need to be accurate, understandable and properly connected in a cause-effect sequence of conceptual systems so that items of knowledge aquired can be stable and usable. For correct understanding of Ausubel's claims concerning processes and procedures involved in the acquisition of elementary concepts, which is central to this investigation, it is necessary to address problems and questions concerning the following: the process of aquisition or construction of first concepts; how to base verbal learning; how is subsuming achieved, that is connecting of new and previously acquired concepts; what is the relation of this theory with other cognitivistic theories of learning, and, finally, what are critical views or evalutions which can make this theory truly productive in relation to teaching.

Understanding recurrent crime as system-immanent collective behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Perc, Matjaž; Donnay, Karsten; Helbing, Dirk

2013-01-01

Containing the spreading of crime is a major challenge for society. Yet, since thousands of years, no effective strategy has been found to overcome crime. To the contrary, empirical evidence shows that crime is recurrent, a fact that is not captured well by rational choice theories of crime. According to these, strong enough punishment should prevent crime from happening. To gain a better understanding of the relationship between crime and punishment, we consider that the latter requires prior discovery of illicit behavior and study a spatial version of the inspection game. Simulations reveal the spontaneous emergence of cyclic dominance between "criminals", "inspectors", and "ordinary people" as a consequence of spatial interactions. Such cycles dominate the evolutionary process, in particular when the temptation to commit crime or the cost of inspection are low or moderate. Yet, there are also critical parameter values beyond which cycles cease to exist and the population is dominated either by a stable mixture of criminals and inspectors or one of these two strategies alone. Both continuous and discontinuous phase transitions to different final states are possible, indicating that successful strategies to contain crime can be very much counter-intuitive and complex. Our results demonstrate that spatial interactions are crucial for the evolutionary outcome of the inspection game, and they also reveal why criminal behavior is likely to be recurrent rather than evolving towards an equilibrium with monotonous parameter dependencies.

Understanding recurrent crime as system-immanent collective behavior.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matjaž Perc

Full Text Available Containing the spreading of crime is a major challenge for society. Yet, since thousands of years, no effective strategy has been found to overcome crime. To the contrary, empirical evidence shows that crime is recurrent, a fact that is not captured well by rational choice theories of crime. According to these, strong enough punishment should prevent crime from happening. To gain a better understanding of the relationship between crime and punishment, we consider that the latter requires prior discovery of illicit behavior and study a spatial version of the inspection game. Simulations reveal the spontaneous emergence of cyclic dominance between "criminals", "inspectors", and "ordinary people" as a consequence of spatial interactions. Such cycles dominate the evolutionary process, in particular when the temptation to commit crime or the cost of inspection are low or moderate. Yet, there are also critical parameter values beyond which cycles cease to exist and the population is dominated either by a stable mixture of criminals and inspectors or one of these two strategies alone. Both continuous and discontinuous phase transitions to different final states are possible, indicating that successful strategies to contain crime can be very much counter-intuitive and complex. Our results demonstrate that spatial interactions are crucial for the evolutionary outcome of the inspection game, and they also reveal why criminal behavior is likely to be recurrent rather than evolving towards an equilibrium with monotonous parameter dependencies.

Understanding Pupil Behaviour: Classroom Management Techniques for Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Ramon

2009-01-01

This book describes a system of successful classroom behaviour management techniques developed by the author over more than twenty-five years. It outlines the difficulties confronting teachers trying to manage pupils' misbehaviour in schools and describes four types of pupil who can be helped to behave responsibly. In "Understanding Pupil…

Testing Understanding and Understanding Testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Pedersen, Jean; Ross, Peter

1985-01-01

Provides examples in which graphs are used in the statements of problems or in their solutions as a means of testing understanding of mathematical concepts. Examples (appropriate for a beginning course in calculus and analytic geometry) include slopes of lines and curves, quadratic formula, properties of the definite integral, and others. (JN)

Challenges in using geographic information systems (GIS to understand and control malaria in Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dale Pat

2003-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease of global concern with 1.5 to 2.7 million people dying each year and many more suffering from it. In Indonesia, malaria is a major public health issue with around six million clinical cases and 700 deaths each year. Malaria is most prevalent in the developing countries of the world. Aid agencies have provided financial and technical assistance to malaria-prone countries in an effort to battle the disease. Over the past decade, the focus of some of this assistance has been in the provision of geographic information systems (GIS hardware, software and training. In theory, GIS can be a very effective tool in combating malaria, however, in practice there have been a host of challenges to its successful use. This review is based, in part, on the literature but also on our experience working with the Indonesian Ministry of Health. The review identifies three broad problem areas. The first of these relates to data concerns. Without adequate data, GIS is not very useful. Specific problem areas include: accurate data on the disease and how it is reported; basic environmental data on vegetation, land uses, topography, rainfall, etc.; and demographic data on the movement of people. The second problem area involves technology – specifically computer hardware, GIS software and training. The third problem area concerns methods – assuming the previous data and technological problems have been resolved – how can GIS be used to improve our understanding of malaria? One of the main methodological tools is spatial statistical analysis, however, this is a newly developing field, is not easy to understand and suffers from the fact that there is no agreement on standard methods of analysis. The paper concludes with a discussion of strategies that can be used to overcome some of these problems. One of these strategies involves using ArcView GIS software in combination with ArcExplorer (a public domain program that can

RESLanjut: The learning media for improve students understanding in embedded systems

Science.gov (United States)

Indrianto, Susanti, Meilia Nur Indah; Karina, Djunaidi

2017-08-01

The use of network in embedded system can be done with many kinds of network, with the use of mobile phones, bluetooths, modems, ethernet cards, wireless technology and so on. Using network in embedded system could help people to do remote controlling. On previous research, researchers found that many students have the ability to comprehend the basic concept of embedded system. They could also make embedded system tools but without network integration. And for that, a development is needed for the embedded system module. The embedded system practicum module design needs a prototype method in order to achieve the desired goal. The prototype method is often used in the real world. Or even, a prototype method is a part of products that consist of logic expression or external physical interface. The embedded system practicum module is meant to increase student comprehension of embedded system course, and also to encourage students to innovate on technology based tools. It is also meant to help teachers to teach the embedded system concept on the course. The student comprehension is hoped to increase with the use of practicum course.

Tri-Space Framework for Understanding MNC Behaviour and Strategies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rana, Mohammad Bakhtiar

2015-01-01

This paper presents a framework called ‘Tri-Space’ that comprises three overlapping social spaces, indicating three different concepts: institution and business systems, civil society, and transnational communities. Tri-space framework broadens the horizon of understanding of how MNCs behave...

Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action: Understanding the MRV framework for developing countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sharma, Sudhir

The objective of the publication is to enhance the knowledge of the policymakers and decision makers in developing countries on MRV systems,including requirement of operationalizing such a system. The paper is also aimed at increasing the understanding of MRV aspects among sectoral experts and de...

Understanding ERP system implementation in a hospital by analysing stakeholders

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boonstra, A.; Govers, M.

Implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems requires significant organisational, as well as technical, changes. These will affect stakeholders with varying perspectives and interests in the system. This is particularly the case in health care, as a feature of this sector is that

Understanding the rhythm of breathing: so near yet so far

OpenAIRE

Feldman, Jack L.; Del Negro, Christopher A.; Gray, Paul A.

2012-01-01

Understanding the mechanisms leading from DNA to molecules to neurons to networks to behavior is a major goal for neuroscience, but largely out of reach for many fundamental and interesting behaviors. The neural control of breathing may be a rare exception, presenting a unique opportunity to understand how the nervous system functions normally, how it balances inherent robustness with a highly regulated lability, how it adapts to rapidly and slowly changing conditions, and how particular dysf...

Understanding visualization: a formal approach using category theory and semiotics.

Science.gov (United States)

Vickers, Paul; Faith, Joe; Rossiter, Nick

2013-06-01

This paper combines the vocabulary of semiotics and category theory to provide a formal analysis of visualization. It shows how familiar processes of visualization fit the semiotic frameworks of both Saussure and Peirce, and extends these structures using the tools of category theory to provide a general framework for understanding visualization in practice, including: Relationships between systems, data collected from those systems, renderings of those data in the form of representations, the reading of those representations to create visualizations, and the use of those visualizations to create knowledge and understanding of the system under inspection. The resulting framework is validated by demonstrating how familiar information visualization concepts (such as literalness, sensitivity, redundancy, ambiguity, generalizability, and chart junk) arise naturally from it and can be defined formally and precisely. This paper generalizes previous work on the formal characterization of visualization by, inter alia, Ziemkiewicz and Kosara and allows us to formally distinguish properties of the visualization process that previous work does not.

Silent Warning: Understanding the National Terrorism Advisory System

Science.gov (United States)

2014-12-01

NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited SILENT WARNING...PERFORMING OR GANIZATION NA:i\\ti E (S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 93943-5000 9. SP ONSORING /MONIT ORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND...Homeland Sectu’ity Advisory System, Boston Marathon bombing, Christmas Day bomber, tmderwear bomber, hum cane , cotmteiteiTO!’ism, CT AB

Studies of phase return map and symbolic dynamics in a periodically driven Hodgkin—Huxley neuron

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding Jiong; Zhang Hong; Tong Qin-Ye; Chen Zhuo

2014-01-01

How neuronal spike trains encode external information is a hot topic in neurodynamics studies. In this paper, we investigate the dynamical states of the Hodgkin—Huxley neuron under periodic forcing. Depending on the parameters of the stimulus, the neuron exhibits periodic, quasiperiodic and chaotic spike trains. In order to analyze these spike trains quantitatively, we use the phase return map to describe the dynamical behavior on a one-dimensional (1D) map. According to the monotonicity or discontinuous point of the 1D map, the spike trains are transformed into symbolic sequences by implementing a coarse-grained algorithm — symbolic dynamics. Based on the ordering rules of symbolic dynamics, the parameters of the external stimulus can be measured in high resolution with finite length symbolic sequences. A reasonable explanation for why the nervous system can discriminate or cognize the small change of the external signals in a short time is also presented. (general)

Student Understanding of Time Dependence in Quantum Mechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Emigh, Paul J.; Passante, Gina; Shaffer, Peter S.

2015-01-01

The time evolution of quantum states is arguably one of the more difficult ideas in quantum mechanics. In this article, we report on results from an investigation of student understanding of this topic after lecture instruction. We demonstrate specific problems that students have in applying time dependence to quantum systems and in recognizing…

Understanding Cancer Prognosis

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... Understanding Cancer What Is Cancer? Cancer Statistics Cancer Disparities Understanding Cancer What Is Cancer Cancer Statistics Cancer Disparities Causes & Prevention Risk Factors Genetics Cancer Prevention Overview ...

How Animals Understand the Meaning of Indefinite Information from Environments?

Science.gov (United States)

Shimizu, H.; Yamaguchi, Y.

Animals, including human beings, have ability to understand the meaning of indefinite information from environments. Thanks to this ability the animals have flexibility in their behaviors for the environmental changes. Staring from a hypothesis that understanding of the input (Shannonian) information is based on the self-organization of a neuronal representation, that is, a spatio-temporal pattern constituted of coherent activities of neurons encoding a ``figure'', being separated from the ``background'' encoded by incoherent activities, the conditions necessary for the understanding of indefinite information were discussed. The crucial conditions revealed are that the neuronal system is incomplete or indefinite in a sense that its rules for the self-organization of the neuronal activities are completed only after the input of the environmental information and that it has an additional system named "self-specific to relevantly self-organize dynamical ``constraints'' or ``boundary conditions'' for the self-organization of the representation. For the simultaneous self-organizations of the relevant constraints and the representation, a global circulation of activities must be self-organized between these two kinds of neuronal systems. Moreover, for the performance of these functions, a specific kind of synergetic elements, ``holon elements'', are also necessary. By means of a neuronal model, the visual perception of indefinite input signals is demonstrated. The results obtained are consistent with those recently observed in the visual cortex of cats.

Task-specific visual cues for improving process model understanding

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Petrusel, Razvan; Mendling, Jan; Reijers, Hajo A.

2016-01-01

Context Business process models support various stakeholders in managing business processes and designing process-aware information systems. In order to make effective use of these models, they have to be readily understandable. Objective Prior research has emphasized the potential of visual cues to

Development of Early Conceptions in Systems Thinking in an Environmental Context: An Exploratory Study of Preschool Students' Understanding of Stocks & Flows, Behavior Over Time and Feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Gillmeister, Kristina M.

Systems thinking allows learners to look at the world as a series of interconnected parts of a whole. A debate exists in early childhood research literature about whether or not children have the capacity to hold systems thinking conceptions due to the complex thought processing needed for systems thinking. Additionally, many researchers question whether children have enough life experience or cognitive schema to participate fully in systems thinking. However, this study's findings indicate that young children do show signs of more complex understanding in systems thinking than what previous literature suggests a young child has the ability to do. This three part research study was conducted in a universal pre-kindergarten (UPK) classroom in a first-ring suburb of a rust-belt city in the Northeastern United States. The study was grounded in a desire to uncover young children's understanding of systems thinking through everyday classroom activities. Twenty students participated in this qualitative study which utilized read-aloud, water play and the interpretation and creation of graphs through associated structured and semi-structured interviews. Data from student's observations and interviews was transcribed, segmented, coded and analyzed. This student-centered process approach (Gotwals & Alonzo, 2012) allowed for children's ideas to emerge naturally during the research tasks. Data was analyzed according to a three step analysis process using a real-world lens, a systems thinking skills lens, and the development of lower anchors for future learning progressions lens. Across a group of 20 preschool children there was an overarching theme that the ability to think in systems and utilize simple systems thinking tools, such as stock-flow maps, feedback loops and behavior over time graphs, was present. Since children are ready to reason using rudimentary systems thinking, then systems thinking opportunities should be incorporated into their informal and formal learning

Understanding How Components of Organisations Contribute to Attacks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gu, Min; Aslanyan, Zaruhi; Probst, Christian W.

2016-01-01

Attacks on organisations today explore many different layers, including buildings infrastructure, IT infrastructure, and human factor – the physical, virtual, and social layer. Identifying possible attacks, understanding their impact, and attributing their origin and contributing factors is diffi......Attacks on organisations today explore many different layers, including buildings infrastructure, IT infrastructure, and human factor – the physical, virtual, and social layer. Identifying possible attacks, understanding their impact, and attributing their origin and contributing factors...... is difficult. Recently, system models have been used for automatically identifying possible attacks on the modelled organisation. The generated attacks consider all three layers, making the contribution of building infrastructure, computer infrastructure, and humans (insiders and outsiders) explicit. However......, this contribution is only visible in the attack trees as part of the performed steps; it cannot be mapped back to the model directly since the actions usually involve several elements (attacker and targeted actor or asset). Especially for large attack trees, understanding the relations between several model...

Understanding Health Information Seeking from an Actor-Centric Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon Batchelor

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a conceptual approach for discussing health information seeking among poor households in Africa and Asia. This approach is part of a larger research endeavor aimed at understanding how health systems are adapting; with possibilities and constraints emerging. These health systems can be found in a context of the changing relationships between states, markets and civil society in low and middle income countries. The paper starts from an understanding of the health sector as a “health knowledge economy”, organized to provide people with access to knowledge and advice. The use of the term “health knowledge economy” draws attention to the ways the health sector is part of a broader knowledge economy changing the way individuals and households obtain and use specialist information. The paper integrates an actor centric approach with the theory of planned behavior. It seeks to identify the actors engaged in the health knowledge economy as a precursor to longer term studies on the uptake of innovations integrating health services with mobile phones, commonly designated as mHealth, contributing to an understanding of the potential vulnerabilities of poor people, and highlighting possible dangers if providers of health information and advice are strongly influenced by interest groups.

Understanding human factors in cyber security as a dynamic system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Young, H.J.; Vliet, A.J. van; Ven, J.G.S. van de; Jol, S.C.; Broekman, C.C.M.T.

2018-01-01

The perspective of human factors is largely missing from the wider cyber security dialogue and its scope is often limited. We propose a framework in which we consider cyber security as a state of a system. System change is brought on by an entity’s behavior. Interventions are ways of changing

Understanding Is Key: An Analysis of Factors Pertaining to Trust in a Real-World Automation System

Science.gov (United States)

Balfe, Nora; Sharples, Sarah; Wilson, John R.

2018-01-01

Objective: This paper aims to explore the role of factors pertaining to trust in real-world automation systems through the application of observational methods in a case study from the railway sector. Background: Trust in automation is widely acknowledged as an important mediator of automation use, but the majority of the research on automation trust is based on laboratory work. In contrast, this work explored trust in a real-world setting. Method: Experienced rail operators in four signaling centers were observed for 90 min, and their activities were coded into five mutually exclusive categories. Their observed activities were analyzed in relation to their reported trust levels, collected via a questionnaire. Results: The results showed clear differences in activity, even when circumstances on the workstations were very similar, and significant differences in some trust dimensions were found between groups exhibiting different levels of intervention and time not involved with signaling. Conclusion: Although the empirical, lab-based studies in the literature have consistently found that reliability and competence of the automation are the most important aspects of trust development, understanding of the automation emerged as the strongest dimension in this study. The implications are that development and maintenance of trust in real-world, safety-critical automation systems may be distinct from artificial laboratory automation. Application: The findings have important implications for emerging automation concepts in diverse industries including highly automated vehicles and Internet of things. PMID:29613815

Understanding original antigenic sin in influenza with a dynamical system.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Keyao

2011-01-01

Original antigenic sin is the phenomenon in which prior exposure to an antigen leads to a subsequent suboptimal immune response to a related antigen. Immune memory normally allows for an improved and rapid response to antigens previously seen and is the mechanism by which vaccination works. I here develop a dynamical system model of the mechanism of original antigenic sin in influenza, clarifying and explaining the detailed spin-glass treatment of original antigenic sin. The dynamical system describes the viral load, the quantities of healthy and infected epithelial cells, the concentrations of naïve and memory antibodies, and the affinities of naïve and memory antibodies. I give explicit correspondences between the microscopic variables of the spin-glass model and those of the present dynamical system model. The dynamical system model reproduces the phenomenon of original antigenic sin and describes how a competition between different types of B cells compromises the overall effect of immune response. I illustrate the competition between the naïve and the memory antibodies as a function of the antigenic distance between the initial and subsequent antigens. The suboptimal immune response caused by original antigenic sin is observed when the host is exposed to an antigen which has intermediate antigenic distance to a second antigen previously recognized by the host's immune system.

Understanding Ammonium Transport in Bioelectrochemical Systems towards its Recovery

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ying; Qin, Mohan; Luo, Shuai; He, Zhen; Qiao, Rui

2016-03-01

We report an integrated experimental and simulation study of ammonia recovery using microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). The transport of various species during the batch-mode operation of an MEC was examined experimentally and the results were used to validate the mathematical model for such an operation. It was found that, while the generated electrical current through the system tends to acidify (or basify) the anolyte (or catholyte), their effects are buffered by a cascade of chemical groups such as the NH3/NH4+ group, leading to relatively stable pH values in both anolyte and catholyte. The transport of NH4+ ions accounts for ~90% of the total current, thus quantitatively confirming that the NH4+ ions serve as effective proton shuttles during MEC operations. Analysis further indicated that, because of the Donnan equilibrium at cation exchange membrane-anolyte/catholyte interfaces, the Na+ ion in the anolyte actually facilitates the transport of NH4+ ions during the early stage of a batch cycle and they compete with the NH4+ ions weakly at later time. These insights, along with a new and simple method for predicting the strength of ammonia diffusion from the catholyte toward the anolyte, will help effective design and operation of bioeletrochemical system-based ammonia recovery systems.

Reliability and validity of clinical tests to assess the anatomical integrity of the cervical spine in adults with neck pain and its associated disorders: Part 1-A systematic review from the Cervical Assessment and Diagnosis Research Evaluation (CADRE) Collaboration.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemeunier, Nadège; da Silva-Oolup, S; Chow, N; Southerst, D; Carroll, L; Wong, J J; Shearer, H; Mastragostino, P; Cox, J; Côté, E; Murnaghan, K; Sutton, D; Côté, P

2017-09-01

To determine the reliability and validity of clinical tests to assess the anatomical integrity of the cervical spine in adults with neck pain and its associated disorders. We updated the systematic review of the 2000-2010 Bone and Joint Decade Task Force on Neck Pain and its Associated Disorders. We also searched the literature to identify studies on the reliability and validity of Doppler velocimetry for the evaluation of cervical arteries. Two independent reviewers screened and critically appraised studies. We conducted a best evidence synthesis of low risk of bias studies and ranked the phases of investigations using the classification proposed by Sackett and Haynes. We screened 9022 articles and critically appraised 8 studies; all 8 studies had low risk of bias (three reliability and five validity Phase II-III studies). Preliminary evidence suggests that the extension-rotation test may be reliable and has adequate validity to rule out pain arising from facet joints. The evidence suggests variable reliability and preliminary validity for the evaluation of cervical radiculopathy including neurological examination (manual motor testing, dermatomal sensory testing, deep tendon reflexes, and pathological reflex testing), Spurling's and the upper limb neurodynamic tests. No evidence was found for doppler velocimetry. Little evidence exists to support the use of clinical tests to evaluate the anatomical integrity of the cervical spine in adults with neck pain and its associated disorders. We found preliminary evidence to support the use of the extension-rotation test, neurological examination, Spurling's and the upper limb neurodynamic tests.

Impact of Math Snacks Games on Students' Conceptual Understanding

Science.gov (United States)

Winburg, Karin; Chamberlain, Barbara; Valdez, Alfred; Trujillo, Karen; Stanford, Theodore B.

2016-01-01

This "Math Snacks" intervention measured 741 fifth grade students' gains in conceptual understanding of core math concepts after game-based learning activities. Teachers integrated four "Math Snacks" games and related activities into instruction on ratios, coordinate plane, number systems, fractions and decimals. Using a…

Understanding Parkinson Disease: A Complex and Multifaceted Illness.

Science.gov (United States)

Gopalakrishna, Apoorva; Alexander, Sheila A

2015-12-01

Parkinson disease is an incredibly complex and multifaceted illness affecting millions of people in the United States. Parkinson disease is characterized by progressive dopaminergic neuronal dysfunction and loss, leading to debilitating motor, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms. Parkinson disease is an enigmatic illness that is still extensively researched today to search for a better understanding of the disease, develop therapeutic interventions to halt or slow progression of the disease, and optimize patient outcomes. This article aims to examine in detail the normal function of the basal ganglia and dopaminergic neurons in the central nervous system, the etiology and pathophysiology of Parkinson disease, related signs and symptoms, current treatment, and finally, the profound impact of understanding the disease on nursing care.

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 ...