Vulnerability of particularly valuable areas. Summary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-07-01

This report is part of the scientific basis for the management plan for the North Sea and Skagerrak. The report focuses on the vulnerability of particularly valuable areas to petroleum activities, maritime transport, fisheries, land-based and coastal activities and long-range transboundary pollution. A working group with representatives from many different government agencies, headed by the Institute of Marine Research and the Directorate for Nature Management, has been responsible for drawing up the present report on behalf of the Expert Group for the North Sea and Skagerrak. The present report considers the 12 areas that were identified as particularly valuable during an earlier stage of the management plan process on the environment, natural resources and pollution. There are nine areas along the coast and three open sea areas in the North Sea that were identified according to the same predefined criteria as used for the management plans for the Barents Sea: Lofoten area and the Norwegian Sea. The most important criteria for particularly valuable areas are importance for biological production and importance for biodiversity.(Author)

Vulnerability of particularly valuable areas. Summary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

This report is part of the scientific basis for the management plan for the North Sea and Skagerrak. The report focuses on the vulnerability of particularly valuable areas to petroleum activities, maritime transport, fisheries, land-based and coastal activities and long-range transboundary pollution. A working group with representatives from many different government agencies, headed by the Institute of Marine Research and the Directorate for Nature Management, has been responsible for drawing up the present report on behalf of the Expert Group for the North Sea and Skagerrak. The present report considers the 12 areas that were identified as particularly valuable during an earlier stage of the management plan process on the environment, natural resources and pollution. There are nine areas along the coast and three open sea areas in the North Sea that were identified according to the same predefined criteria as used for the management plans for the Barents Sea: Lofoten area and the Norwegian Sea. The most important criteria for particularly valuable areas are importance for biological production and importance for biodiversity.(Author)

CORRELATION LINKS BETWEEN SOME ECONOMICALLY VALUABLE SIGNS IN BROCCOLI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. A. Zablotskaya

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The study of the correlation relationship between the signs, the informativeness of the indicators makes it possible to conduct a preliminary assessment of the plants and more objectively to identify forms with high economically valuable characteristics. Their integrated assessment will identify the best source material for further selection. In literary sources, information on the correlation in broccoli between yields and its elements are not the same. The purpose of our study was to analyze the contingency of various traits and to identify significant correlation links between quantitative traits in broccoli hybrids (42 samples. They were obtained using doubled haploid lines (DH-line of early maturity at 2 planting dates (spring and summer. Studies were conducted in the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region in field experience in 2015, 2016. Significant influence on growth and development was provided by the developing weather conditions during the growing period. The fluctuation of humidification and temperature conditions differed significantly during the years of study and the time of planting, which is an important circumstance for analyzing the data obtained. Based on the results of the research, it was concluded that the value of the correlation coefficient and the strength of the correlation relationship between the characteristics (mass, diameter, head height, plant height, vegetation period are different and depend on the set of test specimens and growing conditions. A significant stable manifestation of positive correlation was revealed during all the years of research and the time of planting between the diameter and mass of the head (r = 0.45-0.96. The variability of the correlation of other economically valuable traits is marked. 

Dual-Function Electrocatalytic and Macroporous Hollow-Fiber Cathode for Converting Waste Streams to Valuable Resources Using Microbial Electrochemical Systems

KAUST Repository

Katuri, Krishna; Kalathil, Shafeer; Ragab, Ala'a; Bian, Bin; AlQahtani, Manal Faisal; Pant, Deepak; Saikaly, Pascal

2018-01-01

Dual-function electrocatalytic and macroporous hollow-fiber cathodes are recently proposed as promising advanced material for maximizing the conversion of waste streams such as wastewater and waste CO2 to valuable resources (e.g., clean freshwater, energy, value-added chemicals) in microbial electrochemical systems. The first part of this progress report reviews recent developments in this type of cathode architecture for the simultaneous recovery of clean freshwater and energy from wastewater. Critical insights are provided on suitable materials for fabricating these cathodes, as well as addressing some challenges in the fabrication process with proposed strategies to overcome them. The second and complementary part of the progress report highlights how the unique features of this cathode architecture can solve one of the intrinsic bottlenecks (gas-liquid mass transfer limitation) in the application of microbial electrochemical systems for CO2 reduction to value-added products. Strategies to further improve the availability of CO2 to microbial catalysts on the cathode are proposed. The importance of understanding microbe-cathode interactions, as well as electron transfer mechanisms at the cathode-cell and cell-cell interface to better design dual-function macroporous hollow-fiber cathodes, is critically discussed with insights on how the choice of material is important in facilitating direct electron transfer versus mediated electron transfer.

Dual-Function Electrocatalytic and Macroporous Hollow-Fiber Cathode for Converting Waste Streams to Valuable Resources Using Microbial Electrochemical Systems

KAUST Repository

Katuri, Krishna

2018-04-30

Dual-function electrocatalytic and macroporous hollow-fiber cathodes are recently proposed as promising advanced material for maximizing the conversion of waste streams such as wastewater and waste CO2 to valuable resources (e.g., clean freshwater, energy, value-added chemicals) in microbial electrochemical systems. The first part of this progress report reviews recent developments in this type of cathode architecture for the simultaneous recovery of clean freshwater and energy from wastewater. Critical insights are provided on suitable materials for fabricating these cathodes, as well as addressing some challenges in the fabrication process with proposed strategies to overcome them. The second and complementary part of the progress report highlights how the unique features of this cathode architecture can solve one of the intrinsic bottlenecks (gas-liquid mass transfer limitation) in the application of microbial electrochemical systems for CO2 reduction to value-added products. Strategies to further improve the availability of CO2 to microbial catalysts on the cathode are proposed. The importance of understanding microbe-cathode interactions, as well as electron transfer mechanisms at the cathode-cell and cell-cell interface to better design dual-function macroporous hollow-fiber cathodes, is critically discussed with insights on how the choice of material is important in facilitating direct electron transfer versus mediated electron transfer.

Recovering valuable shale oils, etc

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Engler, C

1922-09-26

A process is described for the recovery of valuable shale oils or tars, characterized in that the oil shale is heated to about 300/sup 0/C or a temperature not exceeding this essentially and then is treated with a solvent with utilization of this heat.

One big rig, two valuable functions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon

2004-11-01

A hybrid coil tubing and conventional workover rig, tailor-made for conditions on Alaska's remote North Slope is described. The dual function rig, owned by BP Exploration, towers 142 feet above the barren Arctic tundra, and weighs between 1.5 and 2 million pounds, rests on eight enormous wheels that stand 11.5 feet tall and 3.5 feet wide, and is supported by 64 smaller tires in between. The rig includes the hybrid coiled tubing rig and a conventional workover rig; it exerts less than 100 pounds per square inch of pressure on the tender Arctic surface as it moves forward at a top speed of two miles per hour. It is considered by its developers as the next-step change in providing cost-effective access to reserves in the large, mature and remote oilfields such as those of Alaska's Prudhoe Bay. The rig is the product of cooperation between Schlumberger expertise in coiled tubing drilling and Nordic-Calista's know-how of jointed pipe operations and operating rigs in an Arctic environment. It is the first time in Prudhoe Bay, and probably in the world, that a coiled tubing unit was installed on a rig to do coiled-tubing sidetracks, i.e to drill a secondary wellbore away from the original wellbore. Since the first unit was commissioned in 1996, the rig has drilled 280 wells. Rig No. 2, much improved and commissioned in 2002, drilled about 30 wells to date. Unlike Rig No, 1, Rig No. 2 can change reels without a crane, and it has a hydraulic pipe skate that moves jointed pipe to and from the rig floor without human aid. The expectation is that using this rig it will be possible to do micro-hole exploration drilling on the North Slope (i.e. drilling a small surface hole with jointed pipe and then switch to coiled tubing), substantially cutting the cost of exploration.

The Consortium for the Valuation of Applications Benefits Linked with Earth Science (VALUABLES)

Science.gov (United States)

Kuwayama, Y.; Mabee, B.; Wulf Tregar, S.

2017-12-01

National and international organizations are placing greater emphasis on the societal and economic benefits that can be derived from applications of Earth observations, yet improvements are needed to connect to the decision processes that produce actions with direct societal benefits. There is a need to substantiate the benefits of Earth science applications in socially and economically meaningful terms in order to demonstrate return on investment and to prioritize investments across data products, modeling capabilities, and information systems. However, methods and techniques for quantifying the value proposition of Earth observations are currently not fully established. Furthermore, it has been challenging to communicate the value of these investments to audiences beyond the Earth science community. The Consortium for the Valuation of Applications Benefits Linked with Earth Science (VALUABLES), a cooperative agreement between Resources for the Future (RFF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has the goal of advancing methods for the valuation and communication of the applied benefits linked with Earth observations. The VALUABLES Consortium will focus on three pillars: (a) a research pillar that will apply existing and innovative methods to quantify the socioeconomic benefits of information from Earth observations; (b) a capacity building pillar to catalyze interdisciplinary linkages between Earth scientists and social scientists; and (c) a communications pillar that will convey the value of Earth observations to stakeholders in government, universities, the NGO community, and the interested public. In this presentation, we will describe ongoing and future activities of the VALUABLES Consortium, provide a brief overview of frameworks to quantify the socioeconomic value of Earth observations, and describe how Earth scientists and social scientist can get involved in the Consortium's activities.

Western scrub-jays allocate longer observation time to more valuable information.

Science.gov (United States)

Watanabe, Arii; Grodzinski, Uri; Clayton, Nicola S

2014-07-01

When humans mentally reconstruct past events and imagine future scenarios, their subjective experience of mentally time travelling is accompanied by the awareness of doing so. Despite recent popularity of studying episodic memory in animals, such phenomenological consciousness has been extremely difficult to demonstrate without agreed behavioural markers of consciousness in non-linguistic subjects. We presented western scrub-jays (Aphelocoma californica) with a task requiring them to allocate observing time between two peepholes to see food being hidden in either of two compartments, one where observing the hiding location was necessary to later relocate the food, and another where food could easily be found without watching. Jays first separately experienced these consequences of possessing information in each compartment and subsequently, once given a choice, made more looks and spent more time looking into the compartment where information was necessary than into the compartment where it was unnecessary. Thus, the jays can collect information to solve a future problem. Moreover, they can differentiate sources of information according to their potential value and modify behaviour to efficiently collect important, usable information. This is the first evidence of metacognition in a species that passes the behavioural criteria for both retrospective and prospective mental time travel.

An information theory framework for dynamic functional domain connectivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Vergara, Victor M; Miller, Robyn; Calhoun, Vince

2017-06-01

Dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) analyzes time evolution of coherent activity in the brain. In this technique dynamic changes are considered for the whole brain. This paper proposes an information theory framework to measure information flowing among subsets of functional networks call functional domains. Our method aims at estimating bits of information contained and shared among domains. The succession of dynamic functional states is estimated at the domain level. Information quantity is based on the probabilities of observing each dynamic state. Mutual information measurement is then obtained from probabilities across domains. Thus, we named this value the cross domain mutual information (CDMI). Strong CDMIs were observed in relation to the subcortical domain. Domains related to sensorial input, motor control and cerebellum form another CDMI cluster. Information flow among other domains was seldom found. Other methods of dynamic connectivity focus on whole brain dFNC matrices. In the current framework, information theory is applied to states estimated from pairs of multi-network functional domains. In this context, we apply information theory to measure information flow across functional domains. Identified CDMI clusters point to known information pathways in the basal ganglia and also among areas of sensorial input, patterns found in static functional connectivity. In contrast, CDMI across brain areas of higher level cognitive processing follow a different pattern that indicates scarce information sharing. These findings show that employing information theory to formally measured information flow through brain domains reveals additional features of functional connectivity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Valuable Internet Advertising and Customer Satisfaction Cycle(VIACSC)

OpenAIRE

Muhammad Awais; Tanzila Samin; Muhammad Bilal

2012-01-01

Now-a-days it is very important for the business persons to attract their target customers towards their products through valuable mode of promotion and communication. Increasing use of World Wide Web has completely changed the scenario of business sector. Customized products and services, customers preferences, @ and dot com craze have elevated the importance of internet advertising. This research paper investigates valuable internet advertising which will help to enhance the value of intern...

Information sensitivity functions to assess parameter information gain and identifiability of dynamical systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Pant, Sanjay

2018-05-01

A new class of functions, called the 'information sensitivity functions' (ISFs), which quantify the information gain about the parameters through the measurements/observables of a dynamical system are presented. These functions can be easily computed through classical sensitivity functions alone and are based on Bayesian and information-theoretic approaches. While marginal information gain is quantified by decrease in differential entropy, correlations between arbitrary sets of parameters are assessed through mutual information. For individual parameters, these information gains are also presented as marginal posterior variances, and, to assess the effect of correlations, as conditional variances when other parameters are given. The easy to interpret ISFs can be used to (a) identify time intervals or regions in dynamical system behaviour where information about the parameters is concentrated; (b) assess the effect of measurement noise on the information gain for the parameters; (c) assess whether sufficient information in an experimental protocol (input, measurements and their frequency) is available to identify the parameters; (d) assess correlation in the posterior distribution of the parameters to identify the sets of parameters that are likely to be indistinguishable; and (e) assess identifiability problems for particular sets of parameters. © 2018 The Authors.

Information packaging in Functional Discourse Grammar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Niels Smit

2007-07-01

Full Text Available

The paper addresses the modelling of information packaging in Functional Discourse Grammar (FDG, in particular the treatment of Topic, Comment and Focus. Current FDG has inherited the traditional Functional Grammar (FG representation of these categories as functions, which attach to Subacts of evocation. However, arguments of a formal, notional and descriptive nature can be advanced against pragmatic function assignment and in favour of an alternative analysis in which informational and evocational structures are dissociated so as to command their own primitives. In the context of a model of discourse knowledge organisation in which communicated contents are associated with packaging instructions that tell the Addressee how to treat the evoked knowledge, it is argued that focality can be modelled by means of a Focus operator that can attach to various constituents at the Interpersonal Level. Topicality, on the other hand, concerns binomial and monomial modes of presenting communicated contents. This can be rendered by means of the dedicated informational units Topic (Top and Comment (Cm, that interact in frames.

Recovering valuable liquid hydrocarbons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pier, M

1931-06-11

A process for recovering valuable liquid hydrocarbons from coking coal, mineral coal, or oil shale through treatment with hydrogen under pressure at elevated temperature is described. Catalysts and grinding oil may be used in the process if necessary. The process provides for deashing the coal prior to hydrogenation and for preventing the coking and swelling of the deashed material. During the treatment with hydrogen, the coal is either mixed with coal low in bituminous material, such as lean coal or active coal, as a diluent or the bituminous constituents which cause the coking and swelling are removed by extraction with solvents. (BLM)

Ravens reconcile after aggressive conflicts with valuable partners.

Science.gov (United States)

Fraser, Orlaith N; Bugnyar, Thomas

2011-03-25

Reconciliation, a post-conflict affiliative interaction between former opponents, is an important mechanism for reducing the costs of aggressive conflict in primates and some other mammals as it may repair the opponents' relationship and reduce post-conflict distress. Opponents who share a valuable relationship are expected to be more likely to reconcile as for such partners the benefits of relationship repair should outweigh the risk of renewed aggression. In birds, however, post-conflict behavior has thus far been marked by an apparent absence of reconciliation, suggested to result either from differing avian and mammalian strategies or because birds may not share valuable relationships with partners with whom they engage in aggressive conflict. Here, we demonstrate the occurrence of reconciliation in a group of captive subadult ravens (Corvus corax) and show that it is more likely to occur after conflicts between partners who share a valuable relationship. Furthermore, former opponents were less likely to engage in renewed aggression following reconciliation, suggesting that reconciliation repairs damage caused to their relationship by the preceding conflict. Our findings suggest not only that primate-like valuable relationships exist outside the pair bond in birds, but that such partners may employ the same mechanisms in birds as in primates to ensure that the benefits afforded by their relationships are maintained even when conflicts of interest escalate into aggression. These results provide further support for a convergent evolution of social strategies in avian and mammalian species.

Composite Indexes Economic and Social Performance: Do they Provide Valuable Information?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nasierowski Wojciech

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the information content of the selected composite indexes, namely the Global Competitiveness Report Index, the Human Development Index, the Knowledge Economy Index, the Innovation Union Scoreboard, and the like. These indexes are examined from the viewpoint of country rankings. It is argued that these indexes provide highly similar information, which brings to question the usefulness of such a variety of approaches. This paper also explores the drawbacks of composite indexes, and questions whether these indexes can adequately serve as policy-setting mechanisms.

Information encryption systems based on Boolean functions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aureliu Zgureanu

2011-02-01

Full Text Available An information encryption system based on Boolean functions is proposed. Information processing is done using multidimensional matrices, performing logical operations with these matrices. At the basis of ensuring high level security of the system the complexity of solving the problem of building systems of Boolean functions that depend on many variables (tens and hundreds is set. Such systems represent the private key. It varies both during the encryption and decryption of information, and during the transition from one message to another.

Shared function knowledge: infants' attention to function information in communicative contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

Träuble, Birgit; Bätz, Johannes

2014-08-01

Humans are specifically adapted to knowledge acquisition and transfer by social communication. According to natural pedagogy theory, infants are highly sensitive to signals that indicate a teacher's communicative intention and are biased to interpret communicative contexts as conveying relevant and generalizable knowledge that is also shared by other conspecifics. We investigated whether infants as young as 12 months interpret ostensively communicated object-directed emotion expressions as generalizable and shareable with others. Given that young infants pay particular attention to information about objects' functions, we were interested in whether the shareability assumption also holds for emotional attitudes toward functional features of unfamiliar objects. The results suggest that 12-month-olds (N=80) flexibly interpret another person's emotion displays toward unfamiliar artifacts either as object-centered and generalizable attitudes or as person-centered subjective attitudes, depending on the communicative characteristics of the learning context. Furthermore, the transfer of ostensively communicated information about the artifacts depended on their functional usability, which is consistent with infants' early sensitivity to function information in various areas of cognitive development. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Generalization of Mutual Information as the Information between a Set of Variables: The Information Correlation Function Hierarchy and the Information Structure of Multi-Agent Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, David R.

2004-01-01

The topic of this paper is a hierarchy of information-like functions, here named the information correlation functions, where each function of the hierarchy may be thought of as the information between the variables it depends upon. The information correlation functions are particularly suited to the description of the emergence of complex behaviors due to many- body or many-agent processes. They are particularly well suited to the quantification of the decomposition of the information carried among a set of variables or agents, and its subsets. In more graphical language, they provide the information theoretic basis for understanding the synergistic and non-synergistic components of a system, and as such should serve as a forceful toolkit for the analysis of the complexity structure of complex many agent systems. The information correlation functions are the natural generalization to an arbitrary number of sets of variables of the sequence starting with the entropy function (one set of variables) and the mutual information function (two sets). We start by describing the traditional measures of information (entropy) and mutual information.

Strengthening Rehabilitation in Health Systems Worldwide by Integrating Information on Functioning in National Health Information Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Stucki, Gerold; Bickenbach, Jerome; Melvin, John

2017-09-01

A complete understanding of the experience of health requires information relevant not merely to the health indicators of mortality and morbidity but also to functioning-that is, information about what it means to live in a health state, "the lived experience of health." Not only is functioning information relevant to healthcare and the overall objectives of person-centered healthcare but to the successful operation of all components of health systems.In light of population aging and major epidemiological trends, the health strategy of rehabilitation, whose aim has always been to optimize functioning and minimize disability, will become a key health strategy. The increasing prominence of the rehabilitative strategy within the health system drives the argument for the integration of functioning information as an essential component in national health information systems.Rehabilitation professionals and researchers have long recognized in WHO's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health the best prospect for an internationally recognized, sufficiently complete and powerful information reference for the documentation of functioning information. This paper opens the discussion of the promise of integrating the ICF as an essential component in national health systems to secure access to functioning information for rehabilitation, across health systems and countries.

Motivational interviewing: a valuable tool for the psychiatric advanced practice nurse.

Science.gov (United States)

Karzenowski, Abby; Puskar, Kathy

2011-01-01

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is well known and respected by many health care professionals. Developed by Miller and Rollnick (2002) , it is a way to promote behavior change from within and resolve ambivalence. MI is individualized and is most commonly used in the psychiatric setting; it is a valuable tool for the Psychiatric Advanced Nurse Practice Nurse. There are many resources that talk about what MI is and the principles used to apply it. However, there is little information about how to incorporate MI into a clinical case. This article provides a summary of articles related to MI and discusses two case studies using MI and why advanced practice nurses should use MI with their patients.

Functional alarming and information retrieval

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goodstein, L.P.

1985-08-01

This paper deals with two facets of the design and efficient utilisation by operating personnel of computer-based interfaces for monitoring and the supervisory control of complex industrial systems - e.g., power stations, chemical plants, etc. These are alarming and information retrieval both of which are extremely sensitive to computerisation. For example, the advent of computers for display requires that some means of assuring easy and rapid access to large amounts of relevant stored information be found. In this paper, alarming and information retrieval are linked together through a multilevel functional description of the target plant. This representation serves as a framework for structuring the access to information as well as defining associated ''alarms'' at the various descriptive levels. Particular attention is paid to the level where mass and energy flows and balances are relevant. It is shown that the number of alarms here is reduced considerably while information about content and interrelationships is enhanced - which at the same time eases the retrieval problem. (author)

Creating Better Library Information Systems: The Road to FRBR-Land

Science.gov (United States)

Mercun, Tanja; Švab, Katarina; Harej, Viktor; Žumer, Maja

2013-01-01

Introduction: To provide valuable services in the future, libraries will need to create better information systems and set up an infrastructure more in line with the current technologies. The "Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records" conceptual model provides a basis for this transformation, but there are still a number of…

Switchgrass a valuable biomass crop for energy

CERN Document Server

2012-01-01

The demand of renewable energies is growing steadily both from policy and from industry which seeks environmentally friendly feed stocks. The recent policies enacted by the EU, USA and other industrialized countries foresee an increased interest in the cultivation of energy crops; there is clear evidence that switchgrass is one of the most promising biomass crop for energy production and bio-based economy and compounds. Switchgrass: A Valuable Biomass Crop for Energy provides a comprehensive guide to  switchgrass in terms of agricultural practices, potential use and markets, and environmental and social benefits. Considering this potential energy source from its biology, breed and crop physiology to its growth and management to the economical, social and environmental impacts, Switchgrass: A Valuable Biomass Crop for Energy brings together chapters from a range of experts in the field, including a foreword from Kenneth P. Vogel, to collect and present the environmental benefits and characteristics of this a ...

Valuable human capital: the aging health care worker.

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Sandra K; Collins, Kevin S

2006-01-01

With the workforce growing older and the supply of younger workers diminishing, it is critical for health care managers to understand the factors necessary to capitalize on their vintage employees. Retaining this segment of the workforce has a multitude of benefits including the preservation of valuable intellectual capital, which is necessary to ensure that health care organizations maintain their competitive advantage in the consumer-driven market. Retaining the aging employee is possible if health care managers learn the motivators and training differences associated with this category of the workforce. These employees should be considered a valuable resource of human capital because without their extensive expertise, intense loyalty and work ethic, and superior customer service skills, health care organizations could suffer severe economic repercussions in the near future.

Evolution of natural agents: preservation, advance, and emergence of functional information.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharov, Alexei A

2016-04-01

Biological evolution is often viewed narrowly as a change of morphology or allele frequency in a sequence of generations. Here I pursue an alternative informational concept of evolution, as preservation, advance, and emergence of functional information in natural agents. Functional information is a network of signs (e.g., memory, transient messengers, and external signs) that are used by agents to preserve and regulate their functions. Functional information is preserved in evolution via complex interplay of copying and construction processes: the digital components are copied, whereas interpreting subagents together with scaffolds, tools, and resources, are constructed. Some of these processes are simple and invariant, whereas others are complex and contextual. Advance of functional information includes improvement and modification of already existing functions. Although the genome information may change passively and randomly, the interpretation is active and guided by the logic of agent behavior and embryonic development. Emergence of new functions is based on the reinterpretation of already existing information, when old tools, resources, and control algorithms are adopted for novel functions. Evolution of functional information progressed from protosemiosis, where signs correspond directly to actions, to eusemiosis, where agents associate signs with objects. Language is the most advanced form of eusemiosis, where the knowledge of objects and models is communicated between agents.

Energy threat to valuable land

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caufield, C.

1982-01-01

Having considered the varying estimates of future UK energy requirements which have been made, the impact on the environment arising from the use of valuable sites for energy production is examined. It is shown that energy installations of all kinds clash with areas of natural beauty or ecological importance. As an example, a recent investigation of potential sites for nuclear power stations found that most of them were on or next to sites of special scientific interest, and other areas officially designated to be regarded as special or to be protected in some way. (U.K.)

Evolution of natural agents: preservation, advance, and emergence of functional information

OpenAIRE

Sharov, Alexei A.

2016-01-01

Biological evolution is often viewed narrowly as a change of morphology or allele frequency in a sequence of generations. Here I pursue an alternative informational concept of evolution, as preservation, advance, and emergence of functional information in natural agents. Functional information is a network of signs (e.g., memory, transient messengers, and external signs) that are used by agents to preserve and regulate their functions. Functional information is preserved in evolution via comp...

Specifying semantic information on functional requirements

OpenAIRE

YAO, WUPING

2012-01-01

Requirements engineering is a challenging process in software development projects. Requirements, in general, are documented in natural language. They often have issues related to ambiguity, completeness and consistency. How to improve the quality of requirements documentation remains a classic research topic. This research aims at improving the way of editing and documenting functional requirements. We propose a meta-model to specify the semantic information of functional requirements, and d...

Preparing valuable hydrocarbons by hydrogenation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pier, M

1930-08-22

A process is described for the preparation of valuable hydrocarbons by treatment of carbonaceous materials, like coal, tars, minerals oils, and their distillation and conversion products, and for refining of liquid hydrocarbon mixture obtained at raised temperature and under pressure, preferably in the presence of catalysts, by the use of hydrogen-containing gases, purified and obtained by distilling solid combustibles, characterized by the purification of the hydrogen-containing gases being accomplished for the purpose of practically complete removal of the oxygen by heating at ordinary or higher pressure in the presence of a catalyst containing silver and oxides of metals of group VI of the periodic system.

PICKLED PUMPKIN IS VALUABLE FOOD PRODUCT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. A. Sannikova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available One of the main directions of the food industry development is the production of functional food products. Changes in the human’s diet structure cause that none of population group does receive necessary amount of vitamins, macro and microelements in healthy routine diet. To solve this problem, food stuffs enhanced by different ingredients enable to improve the biological and food value. The pumpkin is a valuable source of such important substances as carotene and pectin. Addition of garlic and hot pepper ingredients to process of pumpkin pickling enables to enrich the products with carbohydrates, proteins, microelements, which have low or no content in the pumpkin fruit. Therefore, the study of the influence of the different quantities of garlic and hot pepper additions on chemical composition of finished product is very important. The influence of plant additions used on chemical composition of finished product had been well determined. It was shown that through increased doses of garlic and hot pepper ingredients as compared with control, the carotene and dry matter content then decreased by 1.16%-3.43% in pickled pumpkin, while the pectin content depended on added component. The highest pectin content, 0.71% was observed at addition of 10 g. garlic ingredient per 1 kg. of raw matter, that was 4.1 times higher than control. With increased addition of hot pepper ingredient the pectin accumulation was decreasing from 0.58% in control to 0.36% in variant 10g. per 1kg. of raw matter.

Asymptotics of the information entropy of the Airy function

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanchez-Moreno, P [Departamento de Fisica Moderna, Universidad de Granada, Granada (Spain); Instituto ' Carlos I' de Fisica Teorica y Computacional, Universidad de Granada, Granada (Spain); Yanez, R J [Instituto ' Carlos I' de Fisica Teorica y Computacional, Universidad de Granada, Granada (Spain); Departamento de Matematica Aplicada, Universidad de Granada, Granada (Spain); Buyarov, V [Moscow State University (Russian Federation)

2005-11-18

The Boltzmann-Shannon information entropy of linear potential wavefunctions is known to be controlled by the information entropy of the Airy function Ai(x). Here, the entropy asymptotics is analysed so that the first two leading terms (previously calculated in the WKB approximation) as well as the following term (already conjectured) are derived by using only the specific properties of the Airy function.

Production of Fatty Acid-Derived Valuable Chemicals in Synthetic Microbes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Ai-Qun; Pratomo Juwono, Nina Kurniasih; Leong, Susanna Su Jan; Chang, Matthew Wook

2014-01-01

Fatty acid derivatives, such as hydroxy fatty acids, fatty alcohols, fatty acid methyl/ethyl esters, and fatty alka(e)nes, have a wide range of industrial applications including plastics, lubricants, and fuels. Currently, these chemicals are obtained mainly through chemical synthesis, which is complex and costly, and their availability from natural biological sources is extremely limited. Metabolic engineering of microorganisms has provided a platform for effective production of these valuable biochemicals. Notably, synthetic biology-based metabolic engineering strategies have been extensively applied to refactor microorganisms for improved biochemical production. Here, we reviewed: (i) the current status of metabolic engineering of microbes that produce fatty acid-derived valuable chemicals, and (ii) the recent progress of synthetic biology approaches that assist metabolic engineering, such as mRNA secondary structure engineering, sensor-regulator system, regulatable expression system, ultrasensitive input/output control system, and computer science-based design of complex gene circuits. Furthermore, key challenges and strategies were discussed. Finally, we concluded that synthetic biology provides useful metabolic engineering strategies for economically viable production of fatty acid-derived valuable chemicals in engineered microbes.

Production of Fatty Acid-Derived Valuable Chemicals in Synthetic Microbes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu, Ai-Qun; Pratomo Juwono, Nina Kurniasih [Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore (Singapore); Synthetic Biology Research Program, National University of Singapore, Singapore (Singapore); Leong, Susanna Su Jan [Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore (Singapore); Synthetic Biology Research Program, National University of Singapore, Singapore (Singapore); Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore (Singapore); Chang, Matthew Wook, E-mail: bchcmw@nus.edu.sg [Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore (Singapore); Synthetic Biology Research Program, National University of Singapore, Singapore (Singapore)

2014-12-23

Fatty acid derivatives, such as hydroxy fatty acids, fatty alcohols, fatty acid methyl/ethyl esters, and fatty alka(e)nes, have a wide range of industrial applications including plastics, lubricants, and fuels. Currently, these chemicals are obtained mainly through chemical synthesis, which is complex and costly, and their availability from natural biological sources is extremely limited. Metabolic engineering of microorganisms has provided a platform for effective production of these valuable biochemicals. Notably, synthetic biology-based metabolic engineering strategies have been extensively applied to refactor microorganisms for improved biochemical production. Here, we reviewed: (i) the current status of metabolic engineering of microbes that produce fatty acid-derived valuable chemicals, and (ii) the recent progress of synthetic biology approaches that assist metabolic engineering, such as mRNA secondary structure engineering, sensor-regulator system, regulatable expression system, ultrasensitive input/output control system, and computer science-based design of complex gene circuits. Furthermore, key challenges and strategies were discussed. Finally, we concluded that synthetic biology provides useful metabolic engineering strategies for economically viable production of fatty acid-derived valuable chemicals in engineered microbes.

Lifetime information from correlation functions selected by directional cuts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gelbke, C.K.

1995-01-01

Two-particle correlation functions provide information on the space-time characteristics of the emitting source. In many cases, ambiguities of the relative magnitudes of source radius and lifetime can be reduced by analysis of correlation functions evaluated for specific directional cuts on the relative velocity of the coincident particle pair. Information on non-spherical breakup geometries is more difficult to extract. Examples of two-proton correlation functions in which directional cuts are employed to reduce existing space-time ambiguities for the emitting system are presented. (author). 50 refs., 10 figs

Collecting Information for Rating Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF): Sources of Information and Methods for Information Collection.

Science.gov (United States)

I H, Monrad Aas

2014-11-01

Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) is an assessment instrument that is known worldwide. It is widely used for rating the severity of illness. Results from evaluations in psychiatry should characterize the patients. Rating of GAF is based on collected information. The aim of the study is to identify the factors involved in collecting information that is relevant for rating GAF, and gaps in knowledge where it is likely that further development would play a role for improved scoring. A literature search was conducted with a combination of thorough hand search and search in the bibliographic databases PubMed, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, and Campbell Collaboration Library of Systematic Reviews. Collection of information for rating GAF depends on two fundamental factors: the sources of information and the methods for information collection. Sources of information are patients, informants, health personnel, medical records, letters of referral and police records about violence and substance abuse. Methods for information collection include the many different types of interview - unstructured, semi-structured, structured, interviews for Axis I and II disorders, semistructured interviews for rating GAF, and interviews of informants - as well as instruments for rating symptoms and functioning, and observation. The different sources of information, and methods for collection, frequently result in inconsistencies in the information collected. The variation in collected information, and lack of a generally accepted algorithm for combining collected information, is likely to be important for rated GAF values, but there is a fundamental lack of knowledge about the degree of importance. Research to improve GAF has not reached a high level. Rated GAF values are likely to be influenced by both the sources of information used and the methods employed for information collection, but the lack of research-based information about these influences is fundamental. Further development of

Standardized reporting of functioning information on ICF-based common metrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Prodinger, Birgit; Tennant, Alan; Stucki, Gerold

2018-02-01

In clinical practice and research a variety of clinical data collection tools are used to collect information on people's functioning for clinical practice and research and national health information systems. Reporting on ICF-based common metrics enables standardized documentation of functioning information in national health information systems. The objective of this methodological note on applying the ICF in rehabilitation is to demonstrate how to report functioning information collected with a data collection tool on ICF-based common metrics. We first specify the requirements for the standardized reporting of functioning information. Secondly, we introduce the methods needed for transforming functioning data to ICF-based common metrics. Finally, we provide an example. The requirements for standardized reporting are as follows: 1) having a common conceptual framework to enable content comparability between any health information; and 2) a measurement framework so that scores between two or more clinical data collection tools can be directly compared. The methods needed to achieve these requirements are the ICF Linking Rules and the Rasch measurement model. Using data collected incorporating the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0), and the Stroke Impact Scale 3.0 (SIS 3.0), the application of the standardized reporting based on common metrics is demonstrated. A subset of items from the three tools linked to common chapters of the ICF (d4 Mobility, d5 Self-care and d6 Domestic life), were entered as "super items" into the Rasch model. Good fit was achieved with no residual local dependency and a unidimensional metric. A transformation table allows for comparison between scales, and between a scale and the reporting common metric. Being able to report functioning information collected with commonly used clinical data collection tools with ICF-based common metrics enables clinicians

Newcomer information seeking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moring, Camilla Elisabeth

2017-01-01

Introduction: Research on socialization and learning processes among organizational newcomers is offering valuable insight into the role of information seeking in the workplace, and to why, and how newcomers seek information when entering a new organization. Analysis: The aim of the paper is to o...... and corporeal information sources newcomers learn about the organizational practice, and the knowledge needed in order to develop as a competent practitioner and become a full member of the organization.......Introduction: Research on socialization and learning processes among organizational newcomers is offering valuable insight into the role of information seeking in the workplace, and to why, and how newcomers seek information when entering a new organization. Analysis: The aim of the paper...... is to outline and discuss the significance of information seeking in newcomer socialization and learning, and analyse how different approaches influence our understanding of the role of information seeking in the workplace. Results: It is argued, that a development in research on newcomer information seeking...

Information entropy and Thomas-Fermi screening functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donnamaria, M.C.; Meson, A.M.; Proto, A.N.

1989-11-01

In this work we apply the information entropy concept to analyze different trial electron densities in momentum and coordinate spaces, into the Thomas-Fermi density functional formalism. Furthermore, we try to assess how well-known physical properties of neutral atoms are reproduced and hence evaluate the quality of the screening functions in the light of their predictive capacity. (author). 32 refs, 4 figs, 3 tabs

Customizing Laboratory Information Systems: Closing the Functionality Gap.

Science.gov (United States)

Gershkovich, Peter; Sinard, John H

2015-09-01

Highly customizable laboratory information systems help to address great variations in laboratory workflows, typical in Pathology. Often, however, built-in customization tools are not sufficient to add all of the desired functionality and improve systems interoperability. Emerging technologies and advances in medicine often create a void in functionality that we call a functionality gap. These gaps have distinct characteristics—a persuasive need to change the way a pathology group operates, the general availability of technology to address the missing functionality, the absence of this technology from your laboratory information system, and inability of built-in customization tools to address it. We emphasize the pervasive nature of these gaps, the role of pathology informatics in closing them, and suggest methods on how to achieve that. We found that a large number of the papers in the Journal of Pathology Informatics are concerned with these functionality gaps, and an even larger proportion of electronic posters and abstracts presented at the Pathology Informatics Summit conference each year deal directly with these unmet needs in pathology practice. A rapid, continuous, and sustainable approach to closing these gaps is critical for Pathology to provide the highest quality of care, adopt new technologies, and meet regulatory and financial challenges. The key element of successfully addressing functionality gaps is gap ownership—the ability to control the entire pathology information infrastructure with access to complementary systems and components. In addition, software developers with detailed domain expertise, equipped with right tools and methodology can effectively address these needs as they emerge.

Function analysis for waste information systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sexton, J.L.; Neal, C.T.; Heath, T.C.; Starling, C.D.

1996-04-01

This study has a two-fold purpose. It seeks to identify the functional requirements of a waste tracking information system and to find feasible alternatives for meeting those requirements on the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) and the Portsmouth (PORTS) and Paducah (PGDP) facilities; identify options that offer potential cost savings to the US government and also show opportunities for improved efficiency and effectiveness in managing waste information; and, finally, to recommend a practical course of action that can be immediately initiated. In addition to identifying relevant requirements, it also identifies any existing requirements that are currently not being completely met. Another aim of this study is to carry out preliminary benchmarking by contacting representative companies about their strategic directions in waste information. The information obtained from representatives of these organizations is contained in an appendix to the document; a full benchmarking effort, however, is beyond the intended scope of this study

New Therapies Offer Valuable Options for Patients with Melanoma

Science.gov (United States)

Two phase III clinical trials of new therapies for patients with metastatic melanoma presented in June at the 2011 ASCO conference confirmed that vemurafenib and ipilimumab (Yervoy™) offer valuable new options for the disease.

A case report on inVALUABLE: insect value chain in a circular bioeconomy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heckmann, L.-H.; Andersen, J.L.; Eilenberg, J.

2018-01-01

partners span the entire value chain and include entrepreneurs, experts in biology, biotechnology, automation, processing and food tech and safety. This paper provides an overview of the goal, activities and some preliminary results obtained during the first year of the project.......The vision of inVALUABLE is to create a sustainable resource-efficient industry for animal production based on insects. inVALUABLE has focus on the R&D demand for scaling up production of insects in Denmark and assessing the application potential of particularly mealworms. The inVALUABLE consortium...

Functional food awareness and perceptions in relation to information sources in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Vella, Meagan N; Stratton, Laura M; Sheeshka, Judy; Duncan, Alison M

2014-05-17

The functional food industry has experienced innovative and economic expansion, yet research into consumer perceptions of functional foods and their associated health claims is limited. Among consumers, older adults could benefit from functional foods due to age-related issues pertaining to food and health. The purpose of this research was to identify the need for information related to functional foods among older adults (≥60 years old) and to assess awareness and perceptions of health claims on functional food packages. Community-dwelling older adults (n = 200) completed a researcher administered questionnaire designed to collect information about functional foods including current consumption, motivating factors for consumption, perceived need for information, sources of information for functional foods and awareness of health claims. Prevalence of functional food consumption among participants was 93.0%. Increased awareness and knowledge was the most commonly reported factor that would promote functional food consumption (85.5%) and 63.5% of participants wanted more information about functional foods with preferred sources being newspapers/magazines/books (68.5%) and food labels (66.1%). Participants were predominately (93.5%) aware of health claims on functional foods and those with more education were more likely to report being aware of health claims (p = 0.045). Although functional food consumption among older adults in this sample is high, there is a need for further information regarding functional foods. These results inform stakeholders regarding the potential for information to influence functional food acceptance among older adult consumers.

Identification of Functional Information Subgraphs in Complex Networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bettencourt, Luis M. A.; Gintautas, Vadas; Ham, Michael I.

2008-01-01

We present a general information theoretic approach for identifying functional subgraphs in complex networks. We show that the uncertainty in a variable can be written as a sum of information quantities, where each term is generated by successively conditioning mutual informations on new measured variables in a way analogous to a discrete differential calculus. The analogy to a Taylor series suggests efficient optimization algorithms for determining the state of a target variable in terms of functional groups of other nodes. We apply this methodology to electrophysiological recordings of cortical neuronal networks grown in vitro. Each cell's firing is generally explained by the activity of a few neurons. We identify these neuronal subgraphs in terms of their redundant or synergetic character and reconstruct neuronal circuits that account for the state of target cells

Introduction to metabolic genetic engineering for the production of valuable secondary metabolites in in vivo and in vitro plant systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Benedito, Vagner A; Modolo, Luzia V

2014-01-01

Plants are capable of producing a myriad of chemical compounds. While these compounds serve specific functions in the plant, many have surprising effects on the human body, often with positive action against diseases. These compounds are often difficult to synthesize ex vivo and require the coordinated and compartmentalized action of enzymes in living organisms. However, the amounts produced in whole plants are often small and restricted to single tissues of the plant or even cellular organelles, making their extraction an expensive process. Since most natural products used in therapeutics are specialized, secondary plant metabolites, we provide here an overview of the classification of the main classes of these compounds, with its biochemical pathways and how this information can be used to create efficient in and ex planta production pipelines to generate highly valuable compounds. Metabolic genetic engineering is introduced in light of physiological and genetic methods to enhance production of high-value plant secondary metabolites.

Chinese Cardiovascular Disease Mobile Apps' Information Types, Information Quality, and Interactive Functions for Self-Management: Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Bo; Su, Zhaohui; Zhang, Wenhui; Cai, Run

2017-12-14

China has a large population with cardiovascular disease (CVD) that requires extensive self-management. Mobile health (mHealth) apps may be a useful tool for CVD self-management. Little is currently known about the types and quality of health information provided in Chinese CVD mobile apps and whether app functions are conducive to promoting CVD self-management. We undertook a systematic review to evaluate the types and quality of health information provided in Chinese CVD mobile apps and interactive app functions for promoting CVD self-management. Mobile apps targeting end users in China with CVD conditions were selected in February 2017 through a multi-stage process. Three frameworks were used to evaluate the selected apps: (1) types of health information offered were assessed using our Health Information Wants framework, which encompasses 7 types of information; (2) quality of information provided in the apps was assessed using the 11 guidelines recommended by the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health; and (3) types of interactive app functions for CVD self-management were assessed using a 15-item framework adapted from the literature, including our own prior work. Of 578 apps identified, 82 were eligible for final review. Among these, information about self-care (67/82, 82%) and information specifically regarding CVD (63/82, 77%) were the most common types of information provided, while information about health care providers (22/82, 27%) and laboratory tests (5/82, 6%) were least common. The most common indicators of information quality were the revealing of apps' providers (82/82, 100%) and purpose (82/82, 100%), while the least common quality indicators were the revealing of how apps' information was selected (1/82, 1%) and app sponsorship (0/82, 0%). The most common interactive functions for CVD self-management were those that enabled user interaction with the app provider (57/82, 70%) and with health care providers (36/82, 44

Functional food awareness and perceptions in relation to information sources in older adults

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background The functional food industry has experienced innovative and economic expansion, yet research into consumer perceptions of functional foods and their associated health claims is limited. Among consumers, older adults could benefit from functional foods due to age-related issues pertaining to food and health. The purpose of this research was to identify the need for information related to functional foods among older adults (≥60 years old) and to assess awareness and perceptions of health claims on functional food packages. Methods Community-dwelling older adults (n = 200) completed a researcher administered questionnaire designed to collect information about functional foods including current consumption, motivating factors for consumption, perceived need for information, sources of information for functional foods and awareness of health claims. Results Prevalence of functional food consumption among participants was 93.0%. Increased awareness and knowledge was the most commonly reported factor that would promote functional food consumption (85.5%) and 63.5% of participants wanted more information about functional foods with preferred sources being newspapers/magazines/books (68.5%) and food labels (66.1%). Participants were predominately (93.5%) aware of health claims on functional foods and those with more education were more likely to report being aware of health claims (p = 0.045). Conclusions Although functional food consumption among older adults in this sample is high, there is a need for further information regarding functional foods. These results inform stakeholders regarding the potential for information to influence functional food acceptance among older adult consumers. PMID:24886306

Functional Insights from Structural Genomics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Forouhar,F.; Kuzin, A.; Seetharaman, J.; Lee, I.; Zhou, W.; Abashidze, M.; Chen, Y.; Montelione, G.; Tong, L.; et al

2007-01-01

Structural genomics efforts have produced structural information, either directly or by modeling, for thousands of proteins over the past few years. While many of these proteins have known functions, a large percentage of them have not been characterized at the functional level. The structural information has provided valuable functional insights on some of these proteins, through careful structural analyses, serendipity, and structure-guided functional screening. Some of the success stories based on structures solved at the Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium (NESG) are reported here. These include a novel methyl salicylate esterase with important role in plant innate immunity, a novel RNA methyltransferase (H. influenzae yggJ (HI0303)), a novel spermidine/spermine N-acetyltransferase (B. subtilis PaiA), a novel methyltransferase or AdoMet binding protein (A. fulgidus AF{_}0241), an ATP:cob(I)alamin adenosyltransferase (B. subtilis YvqK), a novel carboxysome pore (E. coli EutN), a proline racemase homolog with a disrupted active site (B. melitensis BME11586), an FMN-dependent enzyme (S. pneumoniae SP{_}1951), and a 12-stranded {beta}-barrel with a novel fold (V. parahaemolyticus VPA1032).

Extraction of temporal information in functional MRI

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, M.; Sungkarat, W.; Jeong, Jeong-Won; Zhou, Yongxia

2002-10-01

The temporal resolution of functional MRI (fMRI) is limited by the shape of the haemodynamic response function (hrf) and the vascular architecture underlying the activated regions. Typically, the temporal resolution of fMRI is on the order of 1 s. We have developed a new data processing approach to extract temporal information on a pixel-by-pixel basis at the level of 100 ms from fMRI data. Instead of correlating or fitting the time-course of each pixel to a single reference function, which is the common practice in fMRI, we correlate each pixel's time-course to a series of reference functions that are shifted with respect to each other by 100 ms. The reference function yielding the highest correlation coefficient for a pixel is then used as a time marker for that pixel. A Monte Carlo simulation and experimental study of this approach were performed to estimate the temporal resolution as a function of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the time-course of a pixel. Assuming a known and stationary hrf, the simulation and experimental studies suggest a lower limit in the temporal resolution of approximately 100 ms at an SNR of 3. The multireference function approach was also applied to extract timing information from an event-related motor movement study where the subjects flexed a finger on cue. The event was repeated 19 times with the event's presentation staggered to yield an approximately 100-ms temporal sampling of the haemodynamic response over the entire presentation cycle. The timing differences among different regions of the brain activated by the motor task were clearly visualized and quantified by this method. The results suggest that it is possible to achieve a temporal resolution of /spl sim/200 ms in practice with this approach.

The impulse cutoff an entropy functional measure on trajectories of Markov diffusion process integrating in information path functional

OpenAIRE

Lerner, Vladimir S.

2012-01-01

The impulses, cutting entropy functional (EF) measure on trajectories Markov diffusion process, integrate information path functional (IPF) composing discrete information Bits extracted from observing random process. Each cut brings memory of the cutting entropy, which provides both reduction of the process entropy and discrete unit of the cutting entropy a Bit. Consequently, information is memorized entropy cutting in random observations which process interactions. The origin of information ...

Relation between entropy functional of Keizer and information theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freidkin, E.S.; Nettleton, R.E.

1990-01-01

An equation given by Keizer which relates the second-order functional derivative of the steady-state entropy to the inverse fluctuation correlation function is satisified by the information-theoretic entropy if the equation is extended to arbitrary nonequilibrium states

Lean information management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hammer, D.K.

1997-01-01

The concept of a Lean Enterprise has proven to be extremely valuable for making companies fit for today's competitive business environment. Lean Information Management denotes the type of information management that is appropriate for such all organization. According to the paradigm of a Lean

Modeling traceability information and functionality requirement in export-oriented tilapia chain.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiaoshuan; Feng, Jianying; Xu, Mark; Hu, Jinyou

2011-05-01

Tilapia has been named as the 'food fish of the 21st century' and has become the most important farmed fish. China is the world leader in tilapia production and export. Identifying information and functional requirements is critical in developing an efficient traceability system because traceability has become a fundamental prerequisite for exporting aquaculture products. This paper examines the export-oriented tilapia chains and information flow in the chains, and identifies the key actors, information requirements and information-capturing points. Unified Modeling Language (UML) technology is adopted to describe the information and functionality requirement for chain traceability. The barriers of traceability system adoption are also identified. The results show that the traceability data consist of four categories that must be recorded by each link in the chain. The functionality requirement is classified into four categories from the fundamental information record to decisive quality control; the top three barriers to the traceability system adoption are: high costs of implementing the system, lack of experienced and professional staff; and low level of government involvement and support. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Meeting the reactor operator's information needs using functional analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, W.R.; Clark, M.T.

1980-01-01

Since the accident at Three Mile Island, many ideas have been proposed for assisting the reactor operator during emergency situations. However, some of the suggested remedies do not alleviate an important shortcoming of the TMI control room: the operators were not presented with the information they needed in a manner which would allow prompt diagnosis of the problem. To address this problem, functional analysis is being applied at the LOFT facility to ensure that the operator's information needs are being met in his procedures and graphic displays. This paper summarizes the current applications of functional analysis at LOFT

Field Trips as Valuable Learning Experiences in Geography Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Krakowka, Amy Richmond

2012-01-01

Field trips have been acknowledged as valuable learning experiences in geography. This article uses Kolb's (1984) experiential learning model to discuss how students learn and how field trips can help enhance learning. Using Kolb's experiential learning theory as a guide in the design of field trips helps ensure that field trips contribute to…

Principles and core functions of integrated child health information systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Hinman, Alan R; Atkinson, Delton; Diehn, Tonya Norvell; Eichwald, John; Heberer, Jennifer; Hoyle, Therese; King, Pam; Kossack, Robert E; Williams, Donna C; Zimmerman, Amy

2004-11-01

Infants undergo a series of preventive and therapeutic health interventions and activities. Typically, each activity includes collection and submission of data to a dedicated information system. Subsequently, health care providers, families, and health programs must query each information system to determine the child's status in a given area. Efforts are underway to integrate information in these separate information systems. This requires specifying the core functions that integrated information systems must perform.

The systematization of information: functional clothes through the mind map

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eliete Auxiliadora Assunção Ourives

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Currently, if checks the evolution in women's clothing design aiming at the well-being, comfort and quality of life. However, women still complain of discomfort of breast movement during physical activities carried out in factory floors and sporting activities, among other activities. This discomfort, according to the women, increases during the menstrual period. Therefore, to structure the information on the subject is important, because it will suit the functional clothing designs for these activities. The mind map is a tool suitable for this because assists the organization process of thought and understanding of the information about a particular subject. With that, this work aims to structure information for project requirements with a focus on functional female clothing. The method of research is descriptive and exploratory character. In the end, this work presented project guidelines of functional guidelines female clothing through the process of analysis the mind map.

Information management applications for the compliance function: a utility perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Savoie, R.A.

1986-01-01

Today's complex and changing regulatory environment presents many challenges to those involved in the nuclear power industry. This is particularly true of technical personnel and managers involved in serving the compliance function for nuclear utilities. Adequately supporting the construction, startup, and operations of a nuclear power plant while simultaneously satisfying each regulatory requirement requires the meshing of thousands of individual regulatory tasks with each possible implementation option. The compliance function acts as a screen or filter between the regulatory bodies and the utility nuclear staff. Many varied approaches are taken by utilities in performing this compliance function, both from an organizational and information management perspective. The purpose of this paper is to describe the experiences of Louisiana Power and Light (LP and L) in developing its compliance function and to describe the innovative information management techniques LP and L has developed to serve this function

Description of the detailed Functional Architecture of the Frequency and Voltage control solution (functional and information layer)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Caerts, Chris; Rikos, Evangelos; Syed, Mazheruddin

2017-01-01

This D4.2 document provides the description of the detailed functional architecture of the selected solutions that will be implemented and tested. This is documented by combining a function-based IEC 62559 Use Case description with an SGAM mapping of these functions and the interactions among...... these functions on the Function and Information layer....

MALDI TOF imaging mass spectrometry in clinical pathology: a valuable tool for cancer diagnostics (review).

Science.gov (United States)

Kriegsmann, Jörg; Kriegsmann, Mark; Casadonte, Rita

2015-03-01

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) is an evolving technique in cancer diagnostics and combines the advantages of mass spectrometry (proteomics), detection of numerous molecules, and spatial resolution in histological tissue sections and cytological preparations. This method allows the detection of proteins, peptides, lipids, carbohydrates or glycoconjugates and small molecules.Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue can also be investigated by IMS, thus, this method seems to be an ideal tool for cancer diagnostics and biomarker discovery. It may add information to the identification of tumor margins and tumor heterogeneity. The technique allows tumor typing, especially identification of the tumor of origin in metastatic tissue, as well as grading and may provide prognostic information. IMS is a valuable method for the identification of biomarkers and can complement histology, immunohistology and molecular pathology in various fields of histopathological diagnostics, especially with regard to identification and grading of tumors.

A Multi-functional Information Leitstand for Top-Management - A Proposal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Mertens

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Demand pull and technology push as well as recent initiatives by market-leading software companies indicate that the science of information systems needs to take a new run at the upper layers of management. One of the reasons is the growing importance of external and qualitative data for decision-making. In addition, companies need to communicate more actively with their stakeholders. As a direct consequence, the workload of management and functional departments in charge of information dissemination has increased. Thus, we need to power up the efficiency of information logistics processes. Acknowledging that full automation cannot be a goal of the foreseeable future, the paper focuses on a semi-automated approach – what we call the Multi-functional Information Leitstand. The concept we propose is based on a number of experiences we made while developing an Editorial Leitstand as well as others for distributing stakeholder information and consulting trusted third parties.

Item information and discrimination functions for trinary PCM items

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Akkermans, Wies; Muraki, Eiji

1997-01-01

For trinary partial credit items the shape of the item information and the item discrimination function is examined in relation to the item parameters. In particular, it is shown that these functions are unimodal if δ2 – δ1 < 4 ln 2 and bimodal otherwise. The locations and values of the maxima are

MVT a most valuable theorem

CERN Document Server

Smorynski, Craig

2017-01-01

This book is about the rise and supposed fall of the mean value theorem. It discusses the evolution of the theorem and the concepts behind it, how the theorem relates to other fundamental results in calculus, and modern re-evaluations of its role in the standard calculus course. The mean value theorem is one of the central results of calculus. It was called “the fundamental theorem of the differential calculus” because of its power to provide simple and rigorous proofs of basic results encountered in a first-year course in calculus. In mathematical terms, the book is a thorough treatment of this theorem and some related results in the field; in historical terms, it is not a history of calculus or mathematics, but a case study in both. MVT: A Most Valuable Theorem is aimed at those who teach calculus, especially those setting out to do so for the first time. It is also accessible to anyone who has finished the first semester of the standard course in the subject and will be of interest to undergraduate mat...

Salt Lakes of the African Rift System: A Valuable Research ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Salt Lakes of the African Rift System: A Valuable Research Opportunity for Insight into Nature's Concenrtated Multi-Electrolyte Science. JYN Philip, DMS Mosha. Abstract. The Tanzanian rift system salt lakes present significant cultural, ecological, recreational and economical values. Beyond the wealth of minerals, resources ...

Energetical fly ashes – separation and utilization of metallic valuable components

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michalíková Františka

2000-12-01

Full Text Available In the contribution, methods of separating metals – Fe, Al, Ge from energetic wastes – fly ashes are presented along with further possibilities of utilization of particular valuable components for industrial purposes.In the contribution, properties of energetic wastes are presented influencing the contents, separability, and utilizability of metal-bearing valuable components. From among physical properties these are grain size distribution and surface area. Chemical properties are characterized by elements contained in combusted coal whose content after combustion is increased 2 to 4 times, depending on the content of ash and combustible matters in original coal. Mineralogical properties of energetic wastes are determined by the combustion process conditions in the course of which mineral novelties are produced in concentrations suitable for separation.In the contribution, methods of separation and utilization of metals such as Fe, Al, Ge are described. From literature information on the processing of Fe component, as well as from results of experiments made at the Department of Mineral Processing and Environmental Protection, Technical University of Kosice follows that the highest concentration and mass yield of the component can be obtained from black coal fly ashes produced in smelting boilers. The content of Al in Slovak energetic wastes is lower than the 30 % Al2O3 limit that conditions an economic technological processing. Only in the case of black coal fly ash from TEKO Kosice and EVO Vojany was the Al2O3 content of 32.93 %. Therefore, in an indirect way – by separating the residues of uncombusted coal and magnetite Fe – the content of Al in fly ash was increased.For Ge, a principle of selective sizing has been utilized.A complex utilization of energetic wastes, that is the separation of metallic components, elimination of particular metals and the subsequent treatment of nonmetallic residue, should be an effective solution in various

Child Anxiety Prevention Study: Impact on Functional Outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Pella, Jeffrey E; Drake, Kelly L; Tein, Jenn-Yun; Ginsburg, Golda S

2017-06-01

This study examined the impact of a selective anxiety prevention program for offspring of clinically anxious parents on three domains of child functioning: (1) social, (2) familial, and (3) emotional/behavioral. Dyads were randomized into either the Coping and Promoting Strength program (CAPS; n = 70) or Information Monitoring (IM; n = 66) comparison group. Multi-informant assessments were conducted at baseline, post intervention, and 6 and 12 months follow-ups. Random effects mixed models under the linear growth modeling (LGM) framework was used to assess the impact of CAPS on growth trajectories. Over time, children in the CAPS group had significantly lower anxiety, anxious/depressed symptoms, and lower total behavior problems (parent report), compared to children in IM group. The intervention did not impact other domains assessed (e.g., social functioning), which may be due to "floor effects" on these measures. Longitudinal follow-up data is needed to provide valuable information about this high risk population.

Whey-derived valuable products obtained by microbial fermentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Pescuma, Micaela; de Valdez, Graciela Font; Mozzi, Fernanda

2015-08-01

Whey, the main by-product of the cheese industry, is considered as an important pollutant due to its high chemical and biological oxygen demand. Whey, often considered as waste, has high nutritional value and can be used to obtain value-added products, although some of them need expensive enzymatic synthesis. An economical alternative to transform whey into valuable products is through bacterial or yeast fermentations and by accumulation during algae growth. Fermentative processes can be applied either to produce individual compounds or to formulate new foods and beverages. In the first case, a considerable amount of research has been directed to obtain biofuels able to replace those derived from petrol. In addition, the possibility of replacing petrol-derived plastics by biodegradable polymers synthesized during bacterial fermentation of whey has been sought. Further, the ability of different organisms to produce metabolites commonly used in the food and pharmaceutical industries (i.e., lactic acid, lactobionic acid, polysaccharides, etc.) using whey as growth substrate has been studied. On the other hand, new low-cost functional whey-based foods and beverages leveraging the high nutritional quality of whey have been formulated, highlighting the health-promoting effects of fermented whey-derived products. This review aims to gather the multiple uses of whey as sustainable raw material for the production of individual compounds, foods, and beverages by microbial fermentation. This is the first work to give an overview on the microbial transformation of whey as raw material into a large repertoire of industrially relevant foods and products.

Valuable Connections

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjærsgaard, Mette Gislev; Smith, Rachel Charlotte

2014-01-01

, as well as design, production and use, we might need to rethink the role of ethnography within user centred design and business development. Here the challenge is less about ”getting closer” to user needs and real-life contexts, through familiarization, mediation, and facilitation, and more about creating...... a critical theoretically informed distance from which to perceive and reflect upon complex interconnections between people, technology, business and design, as well as our roles as researchers and designers within these....

The functional imaging in target volume delineation of radiotherapy planning for gliomas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Jingxiong; Wu Hua

2007-01-01

Radiotherapy is one of important treatments for glioma. Functional imaging, such as PET, SPECT and MRI, may provide more valuable information not only in display of the evasion extent of glioma but also in demonstration of some biological characteristics of the tumor, such as perfusion, metabolism, hypoxia or proliferation. Thus it may play a role in making an individualized and more exact radiotherapy planning. (authors)

The Evolution of Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom in Nursing Informatics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ronquillo, Charlene; Currie, Leanne M; Rodney, Paddy

2016-01-01

The data-information-knowledge-wisdom (DIKW) model has been widely adopted in nursing informatics. In this article, we examine the evolution of DIKW in nursing informatics while incorporating critiques from other disciplines. This includes examination of assumptions of linearity and hierarchy and an exploration of the implicit philosophical grounding of the model. Two guiding questions are considered: (1) Does DIKW serve clinical information systems, nurses, or both? and (2) What level of theory does DIKW occupy? The DIKW model has been valuable in advancing the independent field of nursing informatics. We offer that if the model is to continue to move forward, its role and functions must be explicitly addressed.

Top Management Control Functions for Information Systems in Small and Medium Enterprises

OpenAIRE

Uma VIJAYAKUMAR

2009-01-01

This paper analyzes the Top Management Control functions for Information Systems (IS) in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). SMEs extensively rely on information technology resources to enhance their competence in today’s global economy. They should have adequate top management control mechanisms in place for their efficient functioning. Top Management Controls determine how effectively the senior management manages the IS functions in a SME. The major tasks at this level consist of Planni...

Partial information decomposition as a unified approach to the specification of neural goal functions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wibral, Michael; Priesemann, Viola; Kay, Jim W; Lizier, Joseph T; Phillips, William A

2017-03-01

In many neural systems anatomical motifs are present repeatedly, but despite their structural similarity they can serve very different tasks. A prime example for such a motif is the canonical microcircuit of six-layered neo-cortex, which is repeated across cortical areas, and is involved in a number of different tasks (e.g. sensory, cognitive, or motor tasks). This observation has spawned interest in finding a common underlying principle, a 'goal function', of information processing implemented in this structure. By definition such a goal function, if universal, cannot be cast in processing-domain specific language (e.g. 'edge filtering', 'working memory'). Thus, to formulate such a principle, we have to use a domain-independent framework. Information theory offers such a framework. However, while the classical framework of information theory focuses on the relation between one input and one output (Shannon's mutual information), we argue that neural information processing crucially depends on the combination of multiple inputs to create the output of a processor. To account for this, we use a very recent extension of Shannon Information theory, called partial information decomposition (PID). PID allows to quantify the information that several inputs provide individually (unique information), redundantly (shared information) or only jointly (synergistic information) about the output. First, we review the framework of PID. Then we apply it to reevaluate and analyze several earlier proposals of information theoretic neural goal functions (predictive coding, infomax and coherent infomax, efficient coding). We find that PID allows to compare these goal functions in a common framework, and also provides a versatile approach to design new goal functions from first principles. Building on this, we design and analyze a novel goal function, called 'coding with synergy', which builds on combining external input and prior knowledge in a synergistic manner. We suggest that

an assessment of timber trees producing valuable fruits and seeds ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

User

It is observed that most of the timber trees producing valuable fruits and seeds have low ... sector of the economy by providing major raw materials (saw logs, ... the trees also produce industrial raw materials like latex, ... villagers while avoiding some of the ecological costs of ..... enzymes of rats with carbon tetrachloride.

Soilless cultivation system for functional food crops

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahamad Sahali Mardi; Shyful Azizi Abdul Rahman; Ahmad Nazrul Abd Wahid; Abdul Razak Ruslan; Hazlina Abdullah

2007-01-01

This soilless cultivation system is based on the fertigation system and cultivation technologies using Functional Plant Cultivation System (FPCS). EBARA Japan has been studying on the cultivation conditions in order to enhance the function of decease risk reduction in plants. Through the research and development activities, EBARA found the possibilities on the enhancement of functions. Quality and quantity of the products in term of bioactive compounds present in the plants may be affected by unforeseen environmental conditions, such as temperature, strong light and UV radiation. The main objective to develop this system is, to support? Functional Food Industry? as newly emerging field in agriculture business. To success the system, needs comprehensive applying agriculture biotechnologies, health biotechnologies and also information technologies, in agriculture. By this system, production of valuable bioactive compounds is an advantage, because the market size of functional food is increasing more and more in the future. (Author)

Novel approach to information security management of confidential ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Novel approach to information security management of confidential and propriety information ... Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences ... valuable information by using steganography it can have a major impact security management.

Valuable Connections

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjærsgaard, Mette Gislev; Smith, Rachel Charlotte

2014-01-01

and blurred boundaries between physical, digital and hybrid contexts, as well as design, production and use, we might need to rethink the role of ethnography within design and business development. Perhaps the aim is less about ”getting closer” to user needs and real-life contexts, through familiarization......, mediation, advocacy and facilitation, as in conventional approaches to ethnography in user centred design, and more about creating a critical theoretically informed distance from which to perceive and reflect upon complex interconnections between people, technology, business and design, as well as our roles...

Understanding Informal Urban Land Market Functioning in Peri ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Understanding Informal Urban Land Market Functioning in Peri-urban Areas of Secondary Towns of Rwanda: Case Study of Tumba Sector, Butare Town. ... Land price is negotiable and varies greatly based on the land size and its specific location and is higher than the reference land price. Land right transfer is evidenced ...

Radiologic imaging of the renal parenchyma structure and function.

Science.gov (United States)

Grenier, Nicolas; Merville, Pierre; Combe, Christian

2016-06-01

Radiologic imaging has the potential to identify several functional and/or structural biomarkers of acute and chronic kidney diseases that are useful diagnostics to guide patient management. A renal ultrasound examination can provide information regarding the gross anatomy and macrostructure of the renal parenchyma, and ultrasound imaging modalities based on Doppler or elastography techniques can provide haemodynamic and structural information, respectively. CT is also able to combine morphological and functional information, but the use of CT is limited due to the required exposure to X-ray irradiation and a risk of contrast-induced nephropathy following intravenous injection of a radio-contrast agent. MRI can be used to identify a wide range of anatomical and physiological parameters at the tissue and even cellular level, such as tissue perfusion, oxygenation, water diffusion, cellular phagocytic activity, tissue stiffness, and level of renal filtration. The ability of MRI to provide valuable information for most of these parameters within a renal context is still in development and requires more clinical experience, harmonization of technical procedures, and an evaluation of reliability and validity on a large scale.

What Density Functional Theory could do for Quantum Information

Science.gov (United States)

Mattsson, Ann

2015-03-01

The Hohenberg-Kohn theorem of Density Functional Theory (DFT), and extensions thereof, tells us that all properties of a system of electrons can be determined through their density, which uniquely determines the many-body wave-function. Given access to the appropriate, universal, functionals of the density we would, in theory, be able to determine all observables of any electronic system, without explicit reference to the wave-function. On the other hand, the wave-function is at the core of Quantum Information (QI), with the wave-function of a set of qubits being the central computational resource in a quantum computer. While there is seemingly little overlap between DFT and QI, reliance upon observables form a key connection. Though the time-evolution of the wave-function and associated phase information is fundamental to quantum computation, the initial and final states of a quantum computer are characterized by observables of the system. While observables can be extracted directly from a system's wave-function, DFT tells us that we may be able to intuit a method for extracting them from its density. In this talk, I will review the fundamentals of DFT and how these principles connect to the world of QI. This will range from DFT's utility in the engineering of physical qubits, to the possibility of using it to efficiently (but approximately) simulate Hamiltonians at the logical level. The apparent paradox of describing algorithms based on the quantum mechanical many-body wave-function with a DFT-like theory based on observables will remain a focus throughout. The ultimate goal of this talk is to initiate a dialog about what DFT could do for QI, in theory and in practice. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

Modeling Deficits From Early Auditory Information Processing to Psychosocial Functioning in Schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Michael L; Green, Michael F; Hellemann, Gerhard; Sugar, Catherine A; Tarasenko, Melissa; Calkins, Monica E; Greenwood, Tiffany A; Gur, Raquel E; Gur, Ruben C; Lazzeroni, Laura C; Nuechterlein, Keith H; Radant, Allen D; Seidman, Larry J; Shiluk, Alexandra L; Siever, Larry J; Silverman, Jeremy M; Sprock, Joyce; Stone, William S; Swerdlow, Neal R; Tsuang, Debby W; Tsuang, Ming T; Turetsky, Bruce I; Braff, David L; Light, Gregory A

2017-01-01

Neurophysiologic measures of early auditory information processing (EAP) are used as endophenotypes in genomic studies and biomarkers in clinical intervention studies. Research in schizophrenia has established correlations among measures of EAP, cognition, clinical symptoms, and functional outcome. Clarifying these associations by determining the pathways through which deficits in EAP affect functioning would suggest when and where to therapeutically intervene. To characterize the pathways from EAP to outcome and to estimate the extent to which enhancement of basic information processing might improve cognition and psychosocial functioning in schizophrenia. Cross-sectional data were analyzed using structural equation modeling to examine the associations among EAP, cognition, negative symptoms, and functional outcome. Participants were recruited from the community at 5 geographically distributed laboratories as part of the Consortium on the Genetics of Schizophrenia 2 from July 1, 2010, through January 31, 2014. This well-characterized cohort of 1415 patients with schizophrenia underwent EAP, cognitive, and thorough clinical and functional assessment. Mismatch negativity, P3a, and reorienting negativity were used to measure EAP. Cognition was measured by the Letter Number Span test and scales from the California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition, the Wechsler Memory Scale-Third Edition, and the Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery. Negative symptoms were measured by the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms. Functional outcome was measured by the Role Functioning Scale. Participants included 1415 unrelated outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (mean [SD] age, 46 [11] years; 979 males [69.2%] and 619 white [43.7%]). Early auditory information processing had a direct effect on cognition (β = 0.37, P model in which EAP deficits lead to poor functional outcome via impaired cognition and increased negative symptoms

Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Chuma Opara

African Journals Online (AJOL)

chuma01

journals) in Library and Information Science (LIS) theses on their utilization by postgraduate ... valuable primary source of information which covers new research-based information and ideas. ... principle is often referred to as Bradford Law.

Recovering valuable metals from recycled photovoltaic modules.

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Youn Kyu; Kim, Hyun Soo; Tran, Tam; Hong, Sung Kil; Kim, Myong Jun

2014-07-01

Recovering valuable metals such as Si, Ag, Cu, and Al has become a pressing issue as end-of-life photovoltaic modules need to be recycled in the near future to meet legislative requirements in most countries. Of major interest is the recovery and recycling of high-purity silicon (> 99.9%) for the production of wafers and semiconductors. The value of Si in crystalline-type photovoltaic modules is estimated to be -$95/kW at the 2012 metal price. At the current installed capacity of 30 GW/yr, the metal value in the PV modules represents valuable resources that should be recovered in the future. The recycling of end-of-life photovoltaic modules would supply > 88,000 and 207,000 tpa Si by 2040 and 2050, respectively. This represents more than 50% of the required Si for module fabrication. Experimental testwork on crystalline Si modules could recover a > 99.98%-grade Si product by HNO3/NaOH leaching to remove Al, Ag, and Ti and other metal ions from the doped Si. A further pyrometallurgical smelting at 1520 degrees C using CaO-CaF2-SiO2 slag mixture to scavenge the residual metals after acid leaching could finally produce > 99.998%-grade Si. A process based on HNO3/NaOH leaching and subsequent smelting is proposed for recycling Si from rejected or recycled photovoltaic modules. Implications: The photovoltaic industry is considering options of recycling PV modules to recover metals such as Si, Ag, Cu, Al, and others used in the manufacturing of the PV cells. This is to retain its "green" image and to comply with current legislations in several countries. An evaluation of potential resources made available from PV wastes and the technologies used for processing these materials is therefore of significant importance to the industry. Of interest are the costs of processing and the potential revenues gained from recycling, which should determine the viability of economic recycling of PV modules in the future.

Information Security Management System toolkit

OpenAIRE

Καραμανλής, Μάνος; Karamanlis, Manos

2016-01-01

Secure management of information is becoming critical for any organization because information is one of the most valuable assets in organization’s business operations. An Information security management system (ISMS) consists of the policies, procedures, guidelines, and associated resources and activities, collectively managed by an organization, in the pursuit of protecting its information assets. An ISMS is a systematic approach for establishing, implementing, operating, mon...

Studying Membrane Protein Structure and Function Using Nanodiscs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huda, Pie

The structure and dynamic of membrane proteins can provide valuable information about general functions, diseases and effects of various drugs. Studying membrane proteins are a challenge as an amphiphilic environment is necessary to stabilise the protein in a functionally and structurally relevant...... form. This is most typically achieved through the use of detergent based reconstitution systems. However, time and again such systems fail to provide a suitable environment causing aggregation and inactivation. Nanodiscs are self-assembled lipoproteins containing two membrane scaffold proteins...... and a lipid bilayer in defined nanometer size, which can act as a stabiliser for membrane proteins. This enables both functional and structural investigation of membrane proteins in a detergent free environment which is closer to the native situation. Understanding the self-assembly of nanodiscs is important...

Protein Function Prediction Based on Sequence and Structure Information

KAUST Repository

Smaili, Fatima Z.

2016-05-25

The number of available protein sequences in public databases is increasing exponentially. However, a significant fraction of these sequences lack functional annotation which is essential to our understanding of how biological systems and processes operate. In this master thesis project, we worked on inferring protein functions based on the primary protein sequence. In the approach we follow, 3D models are first constructed using I-TASSER. Functions are then deduced by structurally matching these predicted models, using global and local similarities, through three independent enzyme commission (EC) and gene ontology (GO) function libraries. The method was tested on 250 “hard” proteins, which lack homologous templates in both structure and function libraries. The results show that this method outperforms the conventional prediction methods based on sequence similarity or threading. Additionally, our method could be improved even further by incorporating protein-protein interaction information. Overall, the method we use provides an efficient approach for automated functional annotation of non-homologous proteins, starting from their sequence.

World`s Most Valuable Brand Resonation With Categories of Different Customer Needs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kaspars VIKSNE

2017-09-01

Full Text Available One of the key performance indicators of brand success is its value. Brand value is an outcome of brand`s performance in market, and is largely depended from brand`s ability to satisfy certain customer needs. For the greatest success in the world`s market brand should resonate its ability to satisfy some of customer`s most universal needs. In this paper authors strives to find out which of the needs world`s most successful brands are resonating with. Therefore paper goal is to is to determine what customer needs world`s most valuable brands are primarily satisfying. First part of paper authors briefly evaluate Maslow theory of needs. In second part of paper authors identify main challenges of brand valuation, and briefly describe today`s most valuable brands. In third part of paper authors analyzes if resonating certain human need in brand makes it to be more valuable. In last part of paper authors summarizes the main findings and gives recommendations for better marketing practices to other brands whose owners have high market ambitions. In order to attain the paper`s goal, authors will use following research methods: Comparative analysis for comparing brands in different brand rankings; Content analysis for determining what need satisfaction brand advertisements resonate; Data analysis for quantify the results gathered from content analysis

An alternative approach to recovering valuable metals from zinc phosphating sludge.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuo, Yi-Ming

2012-01-30

This study used a vitrification process (with good potential for commercialization) to recover valuable metals from Zn phosphating sludge. The involved vitrification process achieves two major goals: it transformed hazardous Zn phosphating sludge into inert slag and it concentrated Fe (83.5%) and Zn (92.8%) into ingot and fine particulate-phase material, respectively. The Fe content in the ingot was 278,000 mg/kg, making the ingot a potential raw material for iron making. The fine particulate-phase material (collected from flue gas) contained abundant Zn (544,000 mg/kg) in the form of ZnO. The content (67.7%) of ZnO was high, so it can be directly sold to refineries. The recovered coarse particulate-phase material, with insufficient amount of ZnO, can be recycled as a feeding material for Zn re-concentration. Therefore, the vitrification process can not only treat hazardous materials but also effectively recover valuable metals. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Delaying information search

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaniv Shani

2012-11-01

Full Text Available In three studies, we examined factors that may temporarily attenuate information search. People are generally curious and dislike uncertainty, which typically encourages them to look for relevant information. Despite these strong forces that promote information search, people sometimes deliberately delay obtaining valuable information. We find they may do so when they are concerned that the information might interfere with future pleasurable activities. Interestingly, the decision to search or to postpone searching for information is influenced not only by the value and importance of the information itself but also by well-being maintenance goals related to possible detrimental effects that negative knowledge may have on unrelated future plans.

Potassium in the Grape (Vitis vinifera L. Berry: Transport and Function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suzy Y. Rogiers

2017-09-01

Full Text Available K+ is the most abundant cation in the grape berry. Here we focus on the most recent information in the long distance transport and partitioning of K+ within the grapevine and postulate on the potential role of K+ in berry sugar accumulation, berry water relations, cellular growth, disease resistance, abiotic stress tolerance and mitigating senescence. By integrating information from several different plant systems we have been able to generate new hypotheses on the integral functions of this predominant cation and to improve our understanding of how these functions contribute to grape berry growth and ripening. Valuable contributions to the study of K+ in membrane stabilization, turgor maintenance and phloem transport have allowed us to propose a mechanistic model for the role of this cation in grape berry development.

Recycled Cell Phones - A Treasure Trove of Valuable Metals

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, Daniel E.

2006-01-01

This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Fact Sheet examines the potential value of recycling the metals found in obsolete cell phones. Cell phones seem ubiquitous in the United States and commonplace throughout most of the world. There were approximately 1 billion cell phones in use worldwide in 2002. In the United States, the number of cell phone subscribers increased from 340,000 in 1985 to 180 million in 2004. Worldwide, cell phone sales have increased from slightly more than 100 million units per year in 1997 to an estimated 779 million units per year in 2005. Cell phone sales are projected to exceed 1 billion units per year in 2009, with an estimated 2.6 billion cell phones in use by the end of that year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that, by 2005, as many as 130 million cell phones would be retired annually in the United States. The nonprofit organization INFORM, Inc., anticipated that, by 2005, a total of 500 million obsolete cell phones would have accumulated in consumers' desk drawers, store rooms, or other storage, awaiting disposal. Typically, cell phones are used for only 1 1/2 years before being replaced. Less than 1 percent of the millions of cell phones retired and discarded annually are recycled. When large numbers of cell phones become obsolete, large quantities of valuable metals end up either in storage or in landfills. The amount of metals potentially recoverable would make a significant addition to total metals recovered from recycling in the United States and would supplement virgin metals derived from mining.

Top Management Control Functions for Information Systems in Small and Medium Enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Uma VIJAYAKUMAR

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the Top Management Control functions for Information Systems (IS in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs. SMEs extensively rely on information technology resources to enhance their competence in today’s global economy. They should have adequate top management control mechanisms in place for their efficient functioning. Top Management Controls determine how effectively the senior management manages the IS functions in a SME. The major tasks at this level consist of Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling functions. A brief introduction to SMEs is given at the beginning followed by the different categories of Top Management Controls. The final section highlights on some good practices to be followed by Top Management to realize the vision for the IS project in SMEs.

Are Clinical Trial Experiences Utilized?: A Differentiated Model of Medical Sites’ Information Transfer Ability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Smed, Marie; Schultz, Carsten; Getz, Kenneth A.

2015-01-01

The collaboration with medical professionals in pharmaceutical clinical trials facilitates opportunities to gain valuable market information concerning product functionality issues, as well as issues related to market implementation and adoption. However, previous research on trial management lacks......’ information transfer ability, their methods of communicating, are included. The model is studied on a unique dataset of 395 medical site representatives by applying Rasch scale modeling to differentiate the stickiness of the heterogenic information issues. The results reveal that economic measures...... a differentiated perspective on the potential for information transfer from site to producer. An exploration of the variation in stickiness of information, and therefore the complexity of information transfer in clinical trials, is the main aim of this study. To further enrich the model of the dispersed sites...

Nonparametric Information Geometry: From Divergence Function to Referential-Representational Biduality on Statistical Manifolds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Zhang

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Divergence functions are the non-symmetric “distance” on the manifold, Μθ, of parametric probability density functions over a measure space, (Χ,μ. Classical information geometry prescribes, on Μθ: (i a Riemannian metric given by the Fisher information; (ii a pair of dual connections (giving rise to the family of α-connections that preserve the metric under parallel transport by their joint actions; and (iii a family of divergence functions ( α-divergence defined on Μθ x Μθ, which induce the metric and the dual connections. Here, we construct an extension of this differential geometric structure from Μθ (that of parametric probability density functions to the manifold, Μ, of non-parametric functions on X, removing the positivity and normalization constraints. The generalized Fisher information and α-connections on M are induced by an α-parameterized family of divergence functions, reflecting the fundamental convex inequality associated with any smooth and strictly convex function. The infinite-dimensional manifold, M, has zero curvature for all these α-connections; hence, the generally non-zero curvature of M can be interpreted as arising from an embedding of Μθ into Μ. Furthermore, when a parametric model (after a monotonic scaling forms an affine submanifold, its natural and expectation parameters form biorthogonal coordinates, and such a submanifold is dually flat for α = ± 1, generalizing the results of Amari’s α-embedding. The present analysis illuminates two different types of duality in information geometry, one concerning the referential status of a point (measurable function expressed in the divergence function (“referential duality” and the other concerning its representation under an arbitrary monotone scaling (“representational duality”.

Multiple genetic interaction experiments provide complementary information useful for gene function prediction.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magali Michaut

Full Text Available Genetic interactions help map biological processes and their functional relationships. A genetic interaction is defined as a deviation from the expected phenotype when combining multiple genetic mutations. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, most genetic interactions are measured under a single phenotype - growth rate in standard laboratory conditions. Recently genetic interactions have been collected under different phenotypic readouts and experimental conditions. How different are these networks and what can we learn from their differences? We conducted a systematic analysis of quantitative genetic interaction networks in yeast performed under different experimental conditions. We find that networks obtained using different phenotypic readouts, in different conditions and from different laboratories overlap less than expected and provide significant unique information. To exploit this information, we develop a novel method to combine individual genetic interaction data sets and show that the resulting network improves gene function prediction performance, demonstrating that individual networks provide complementary information. Our results support the notion that using diverse phenotypic readouts and experimental conditions will substantially increase the amount of gene function information produced by genetic interaction screens.

Market Orientation within University Schools of Business: Can a Dynamical Systems Viewpoint Applied to a Non-Temporal Data Set Yield Valuable Insights for University Managers?

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, John C.; Webster, Robert L.; Hammond, Kevin L.

2009-01-01

This study investigates the use of using complexity theory--the study of nonlinear dynamical systems of which chaos and catastrophe theory are subsets--in the analysis of a non temporal data set to derive valuable insights into the functioning of university schools of business. The approach is unusual in that studies of nonlinearity in complex…

Meeting the reactor operator's information needs using functional analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nelson, W.R.; Clark, M.T.

1980-01-01

Since the accident at Three Mile Island, many ideas have been proposed for assisting the reactor operator during emergency situations. However, some of the suggested remedies do not alleviate an important shortcoming of the TMI control room: the operators were not presented with the information they needed in a manner which would allow prompt diagnosis of the problem. To address this problem, functional analysis is being applied at the LOFT facility to ensure that the operator's information needs are being met in his procedures and graphic displays. This paper summarizes the current applications of functional analysis at LOFT.

Study on advanced systematic function of the JNC geological disposal technical information integration system. Research document

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishihara, Yoshinao; Fukui, Hiroshi; Sagawa, Hiroshi; Matsunaga, Kenichi; Ito Takaya

2004-02-01

In this study, while attaining systematization about the technical know-how mutually utilized between geology environmental field, disposal technology (design) field and safety assessment field, the share function of general information in which the formation of an information share and the use promotion between the technical information management databases built for every field were aimed at as an advancement of the function of JNC Geological Disposal Technical Information Integration System considered, and the system function for realizing considered in integration of technical information. (1) Since the concrete information about geology environment which is gradually updated with progress of stratum disposal research, or increases in reflected suitable for research of design and safety assessment. After arranging the form suitable for systematizing technical information, while arranging the technical information in both the fields of design and safety assessment with the form of two classes based on tasks/works, it systematized planning adjustment about delivery of technical information with geology environmental field. (2) In order to aim at integration of 3-fields technical information of geological disposal, based on the examination result of systematization of technical information, the function of mutual use of the information managed in two or more databases was considered. Moreover, while considering system functions, such as management of the use history of technical information, connection of information use, and a notice of common information, the system operation windows in consideration of the ease of operation was examined. (author)

Integrated plant information technology design support functionality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Yeon Seung; Kim, Dae Jin; Barber, P. W.; Goland, D.

1996-06-01

This technical report was written as a result of Integrated Plant Information System (IPIS) feasibility study on CANDU 9 project which had been carried out from January, 1994 to March, 1994 at AECL (Atomic Energy Canada Limited) in Canada. From 1987, AECL had done endeavour to change engineering work process from paper based work process to computer based work process through CANDU 3 project. Even though AECL had a lot of good results form computerizing the Process Engineering, Instrumentation Control and Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Aided Design and Drafting, and Document Management System, but there remains the problem of information isolation and integration. On this feasibility study, IPIS design support functionality guideline was suggested by evaluating current AECL CAE tools, analyzing computer aided engineering task and work flow, investigating request for implementing integrated computer aided engineering and describing Korean request for future CANDU design including CANDU 9. 6 figs. (Author)

Integrated plant information technology design support functionality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Yeon Seung; Kim, Dae Jin [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of); Barber, P W; Goland, D [Atomic Energy Canada Ltd., (Canada)

1996-06-01

This technical report was written as a result of Integrated Plant Information System (IPIS) feasibility study on CANDU 9 project which had been carried out from January, 1994 to March, 1994 at AECL (Atomic Energy Canada Limited) in Canada. From 1987, AECL had done endeavour to change engineering work process from paper based work process to computer based work process through CANDU 3 project. Even though AECL had a lot of good results form computerizing the Process Engineering, Instrumentation Control and Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Aided Design and Drafting, and Document Management System, but there remains the problem of information isolation and integration. On this feasibility study, IPIS design support functionality guideline was suggested by evaluating current AECL CAE tools, analyzing computer aided engineering task and work flow, investigating request for implementing integrated computer aided engineering and describing Korean request for future CANDU design including CANDU 9. 6 figs. (Author).

Information processing in the transcriptional regulatory network of yeast: Functional robustness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dehmer Matthias

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Gene networks are considered to represent various aspects of molecular biological systems meaningfully because they naturally provide a systems perspective of molecular interactions. In this respect, the functional understanding of the transcriptional regulatory network is considered as key to elucidate the functional organization of an organism. Results In this paper we study the functional robustness of the transcriptional regulatory network of S. cerevisiae. We model the information processing in the network as a first order Markov chain and study the influence of single gene perturbations on the global, asymptotic communication among genes. Modification in the communication is measured by an information theoretic measure allowing to predict genes that are 'fragile' with respect to single gene knockouts. Our results demonstrate that the predicted set of fragile genes contains a statistically significant enrichment of so called essential genes that are experimentally found to be necessary to ensure vital yeast. Further, a structural analysis of the transcriptional regulatory network reveals that there are significant differences between fragile genes, hub genes and genes with a high betweenness centrality value. Conclusion Our study does not only demonstrate that a combination of graph theoretical, information theoretical and statistical methods leads to meaningful biological results but also that such methods allow to study information processing in gene networks instead of just their structural properties.

Optimizing health system response to patient's needs: an argument for the importance of functioning information.

Science.gov (United States)

Hopfe, Maren; Prodinger, Birgit; Bickenbach, Jerome E; Stucki, Gerold

2017-06-06

Current health systems are increasingly challenged to meet the needs of a growing number of patients living with chronic and often multiple health conditions. The primary outcome of care, it is argued, is not merely curing disease but also optimizing functioning over a person's life span. According to the World Health Organization, functioning can serve as foundation for a comprehensive picture of health and augment the biomedical perspective with a broader and more comprehensive picture of health as it plays out in people's lives. The crucial importance of information about patient's functioning for a well-performing health system, however, has yet to be sufficiently appreciated. This paper argues that functioning information is fundamental in all components of health systems and enhances the capacity of health systems to optimize patients' health and health-related needs. Beyond making sense of biomedical disease patterns, health systems can profit from using functioning information to improve interprofessional collaboration and achieve cross-cutting disease treatment outcomes. Implications for rehabilitation Functioning is a key health outcome for rehabilitation within health systems. Information on restoring, maintaining, and optimizing human functioning can strengthen health system response to patients' health and rehabilitative needs. Functioning information guides health systems to achieve cross-cutting health outcomes that respond to the needs of the growing number of individuals living with chronic and multiple health conditions. Accounting for individuals functioning helps to overcome fragmentation of care and to improve interprofessional collaboration across settings.

Data Entities and Information System Matrix for Integrated Agriculture Information System (IAIS)

Science.gov (United States)

Budi Santoso, Halim; Delima, Rosa

2018-03-01

Integrated Agriculture Information System is a system that is developed to process data, information, and knowledge in Agriculture sector. Integrated Agriculture Information System brings valuable information for farmers: (1) Fertilizer price; (2) Agriculture technique and practise; (3) Pest management; (4) Cultivation; (5) Irrigation; (6) Post harvest processing; (7) Innovation in agriculture processing. Integrated Agriculture Information System contains 9 subsystems. To bring an integrated information to the user and stakeholder, it needs an integrated database approach. Thus, researchers describes data entity and its matrix relate to subsystem in Integrated Agriculture Information System (IAIS). As a result, there are 47 data entities as entities in single and integrated database.

Establishing functional requirements for emergency management information systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reed, J.H.; Rogers, G.O.; Sorensen, J.H.

1991-01-01

The advancement of computer technologies has led to the development of a number of emergency management information systems (e.g., EIS, CAMEO, IEMIS). The design of these systems has tended to be technologically driven rather than oriented to meeting information management needs during an emergency. Of course, emergency management needs vary depending on the characteristics of the emergency. For example, in hurricanes, onset is typically slow enough to allow emergency managers to simulate evacuations dynamically while in chemical disasters onset may be sufficiently rapid to preclude such simulation(s). This paper describes a system design process in which the analysis of widely recognized emergency management functions was used to identify information requirements and the requisite software and hardware capabilities to deal with rapid onset, low probability, high consequence events. These requirements were then implemented as a prototype emergency management system using existing hardware and software to assure feasibility. Data, hardware, and software requirements were further developed, refined, and made more concrete through an iterative prototyping effort. This approach focuses attention directly on meeting emergency management information needs while avoiding unneeded technological innovations. 10 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab.

The Information Content of Discrete Functions and Their Application in Genetic Data Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakhanenko, Nikita A; Kunert-Graf, James; Galas, David J

2017-12-01

The complex of central problems in data analysis consists of three components: (1) detecting the dependence of variables using quantitative measures, (2) defining the significance of these dependence measures, and (3) inferring the functional relationships among dependent variables. We have argued previously that an information theory approach allows separation of the detection problem from the inference of functional form problem. We approach here the third component of inferring functional forms based on information encoded in the functions. We present here a direct method for classifying the functional forms of discrete functions of three variables represented in data sets. Discrete variables are frequently encountered in data analysis, both as the result of inherently categorical variables and from the binning of continuous numerical variables into discrete alphabets of values. The fundamental question of how much information is contained in a given function is answered for these discrete functions, and their surprisingly complex relationships are illustrated. The all-important effect of noise on the inference of function classes is found to be highly heterogeneous and reveals some unexpected patterns. We apply this classification approach to an important area of biological data analysis-that of inference of genetic interactions. Genetic analysis provides a rich source of real and complex biological data analysis problems, and our general methods provide an analytical basis and tools for characterizing genetic problems and for analyzing genetic data. We illustrate the functional description and the classes of a number of common genetic interaction modes and also show how different modes vary widely in their sensitivity to noise.

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) by-products and their valuable components: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Jahurul, M H A; Zaidul, I S M; Ghafoor, Kashif; Al-Juhaimi, Fahad Y; Nyam, Kar-Lin; Norulaini, N A N; Sahena, F; Mohd Omar, A K

2015-09-15

The large amount of waste produced by the food industries causes serious environmental problems and also results in economic losses if not utilized effectively. Different research reports have revealed that food industry by-products can be good sources of potentially valuable bioactive compounds. As such, the mango juice industry uses only the edible portions of the mangoes, and a considerable amount of peels and seeds are discarded as industrial waste. These mango by-products come from the tropical or subtropical fruit processing industries. Mango by-products, especially seeds and peels, are considered to be cheap sources of valuable food and nutraceutical ingredients. The main uses of natural food ingredients derived from mango by-products are presented and discussed, and the mainstream sectors of application for these by-products, such as in the food, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmetic industries, are highlighted. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Renal dynamic functional scintigraphy in children with congenital urinary tract anomalies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cui Ruixue; Zhou Qian

2000-01-01

Objective: To clarify the characteristics of renal scintigraphy in children with various congenital urinary tract anomalies and to evaluate their clinical significance. Methods: 51 children with congenital urinary tract anomalies were studied by 99 Tc m -DTPA renal dynamic functional scintigraphy (RDFS)). Among them, 8 cases were studied by diuretic renography in addition. Results: RDFS provided: 1) Both the morphological information of anomalies and the split renal function. 2) Localization of the site of urinary tract obstruction. In case of pelviureteric junction obstruction, the hydronephrosis was usually severe but with normal size ureter, whereas in ureterovesical junction obstruction the hydronephrosis was less severe but with dilatation of ureter. In case of lower urinary tract obstruction, the hydronephrosis and hydroureter were bilateral. Diuretic renography differentiated obstructive from non-obstructive hydronephrosis. By comparing pre-and post operative studies, it was easy to evaluate the recovery of renal function. Conclusions: RDFS is a valuable modality for giving both anatomical and functional information in children with congenital urinary tract anomalies and the authors suggest it should be used more popularly in Pediatrics

Educating Executive Function

Science.gov (United States)

Blair, Clancy

2016-01-01

Executive functions are thinking skills that assist with reasoning, planning, problem solving, and managing one’s life. The brain areas that underlie these skills are interconnected with and influenced by activity in many different brain areas, some of which are associated with emotion and stress. One consequence of the stress-specific connections is that executive functions, which help us to organize our thinking, tend to be disrupted when stimulation is too high and we are stressed out, or too low when we are bored and lethargic. Given their central role in reasoning and also in managing stress and emotion, scientists have conducted studies, primarily with adults, to determine whether executive functions can be improved by training. By and large, results have shown that they can be, in part through computer-based videogame-like activities. Evidence of wider, more general benefits from such computer-based training, however, is mixed. Accordingly, scientists have reasoned that training will have wider benefits if it is implemented early, with very young children as the neural circuitry of executive functions is developing, and that it will be most effective if embedded in children’s everyday activities. Evidence produced by this research, however, is also mixed. In sum, much remains to be learned about executive function training. Without question, however, continued research on this important topic will yield valuable information about cognitive development. PMID:27906522

Structure and function design for nuclear facilities decommissioning information database

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yongkuo; Song Yi; Wu Xiaotian; Liu Zhen

2014-01-01

The decommissioning of nuclear facilities is a radioactive and high-risk project which has to consider the effect of radiation and nuclear waste disposal, so the information system of nuclear facilities decommissioning project must be established to ensure the safety of the project. In this study, by collecting the decommissioning activity data, the decommissioning database was established, and based on the database, the decommissioning information database (DID) was developed. The DID can perform some basic operations, such as input, delete, modification and query of the decommissioning information data, and in accordance with processing characteristics of various types of information data, it can also perform information management with different function models. On this basis, analysis of the different information data will be done. The system is helpful for enhancing the management capability of the decommissioning process and optimizing the arrangements of the project, it also can reduce radiation dose of the workers, so the system is quite necessary for safe decommissioning of nuclear facilities. (authors)

Valuable metals - recovery processes, current trends, and recycling strategies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Froehlich, Peter; Lorenz, Tom; Martin, Gunther; Brett, Beate; Bertau, Martin [Institut fuer Technische Chemie, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Leipziger Strasse 29, 09599, Freiberg (Germany)

2017-03-01

This Review provides an overview of valuable metals, the supply of which has been classified as critical for Europe. Starting with a description of the current state of the art, novel approaches for their recovery from primary resources are presented as well as recycling processes. The focus lies on developments since 2005. Chemistry strategies which are used in metal recovery are summarized on the basis of the individual types of deposit and mineral. In addition, the economic importance as well as utilization of the metals is outlined. (copyright 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Extraction of toxic and valuable metals from foundry sands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vite T, J.

1996-01-01

There were extracted valuable metals from foundry sands such as: gold, platinum, silver, cobalt, germanium, nickel and zinc among others, as well as highly toxic metals such as chromium, lead, vanadium and arsenic. The extraction efficiency was up to 100% in some cases. For this reason there were obtained two patents at the United States, patent number 5,356,601, in October 1994, given for the developed process and patent number 5,376,000, in December 1994, obtained for the equipment employed. Therefore, the preliminary parameters for the installation of a pilot plant have also been developed. (Author)

VALUABLE AND ORIENTATION FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF THE COUNTRY

OpenAIRE

Vladimir I. Zagvyazinsky

2016-01-01

The aim of the investigation is to show that in modern market conditions it is necessary to keep humanistic valuable and orientation installations of domestic education and not to allow its slipping on a line item of utilitarian, quickly achievable, but not long-term benefits. Theoretical significance. The author emphasizes value of forming of an ideal – harmonious development of the personality – and the collectivist beginnings for disclosure of potential of each school student, a student, a...

15 CFR Supplement No. 5 to Part 742 - Checklist on Encryption and Other “Information Security” Functions

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Part 742—Checklist on Encryption and Other “Information Security” Functions 1. Does your product... the following “information security” functions? (Mark with an “X” all that apply) a. __ encryption b...Information Securityâ Functions No. Supplement No. 5 to Part 742 Commerce and Foreign Trade Regulations...

Data Acquisition for Quality Loss Function Modelling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Søren Nygaard; Howard, Thomas J.

2016-01-01

Quality loss functions can be a valuable tool when assessing the impact of variation on product quality. Typically, the input for the quality loss function would be a measure of the varying product performance and the output would be a measure of quality. While the unit of the input is given by t...... by the product function in focus, the quality output can be measured and quantified in a number of ways. In this article a structured approach for acquiring stakeholder satisfaction data for use in quality loss function modelling is introduced.......Quality loss functions can be a valuable tool when assessing the impact of variation on product quality. Typically, the input for the quality loss function would be a measure of the varying product performance and the output would be a measure of quality. While the unit of the input is given...

Rice DB: an Oryza Information Portal linking annotation, subcellular location, function, expression, regulation, and evolutionary information for rice and Arabidopsis.

Science.gov (United States)

Narsai, Reena; Devenish, James; Castleden, Ian; Narsai, Kabir; Xu, Lin; Shou, Huixia; Whelan, James

2013-12-01

Omics research in Oryza sativa (rice) relies on the use of multiple databases to obtain different types of information to define gene function. We present Rice DB, an Oryza information portal that is a functional genomics database, linking gene loci to comprehensive annotations, expression data and the subcellular location of encoded proteins. Rice DB has been designed to integrate the direct comparison of rice with Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), based on orthology or 'expressology', thus using and combining available information from two pre-eminent plant models. To establish Rice DB, gene identifiers (more than 40 types) and annotations from a variety of sources were compiled, functional information based on large-scale and individual studies was manually collated, hundreds of microarrays were analysed to generate expression annotations, and the occurrences of potential functional regulatory motifs in promoter regions were calculated. A range of computational subcellular localization predictions were also run for all putative proteins encoded in the rice genome, and experimentally confirmed protein localizations have been collated, curated and linked to functional studies in rice. A single search box allows anything from gene identifiers (for rice and/or Arabidopsis), motif sequences, subcellular location, to keyword searches to be entered, with the capability of Boolean searches (such as AND/OR). To demonstrate the utility of Rice DB, several examples are presented including a rice mitochondrial proteome, which draws on a variety of sources for subcellular location data within Rice DB. Comparisons of subcellular location, functional annotations, as well as transcript expression in parallel with Arabidopsis reveals examples of conservation between rice and Arabidopsis, using Rice DB (http://ricedb.plantenergy.uwa.edu.au). © 2013 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Integrating knowledge based functionality in commercial hospital information systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, M L; Ganslandt, T; Eich, H P; Lang, K; Ohmann, C; Prokosch, H U

2000-01-01

Successful integration of knowledge-based functions in the electronic patient record depends on direct and context-sensitive accessibility and availability to clinicians and must suit their workflow. In this paper we describe an exemplary integration of an existing standalone scoring system for acute abdominal pain into two different commercial hospital information systems using Java/Corba technolgy.

Computational design of proteins with novel structure and functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Wei; Lai Lu-Hua

2016-01-01

Computational design of proteins is a relatively new field, where scientists search the enormous sequence space for sequences that can fold into desired structure and perform desired functions. With the computational approach, proteins can be designed, for example, as regulators of biological processes, novel enzymes, or as biotherapeutics. These approaches not only provide valuable information for understanding of sequence–structure–function relations in proteins, but also hold promise for applications to protein engineering and biomedical research. In this review, we briefly introduce the rationale for computational protein design, then summarize the recent progress in this field, including de novo protein design, enzyme design, and design of protein–protein interactions. Challenges and future prospects of this field are also discussed. (topical review)

A method for partitioning the information contained in a protein sequence between its structure and function.

Science.gov (United States)

Possenti, Andrea; Vendruscolo, Michele; Camilloni, Carlo; Tiana, Guido

2018-05-23

Proteins employ the information stored in the genetic code and translated into their sequences to carry out well-defined functions in the cellular environment. The possibility to encode for such functions is controlled by the balance between the amount of information supplied by the sequence and that left after that the protein has folded into its structure. We study the amount of information necessary to specify the protein structure, providing an estimate that keeps into account the thermodynamic properties of protein folding. We thus show that the information remaining in the protein sequence after encoding for its structure (the 'information gap') is very close to what needed to encode for its function and interactions. Then, by predicting the information gap directly from the protein sequence, we show that it may be possible to use these insights from information theory to discriminate between ordered and disordered proteins, to identify unknown functions, and to optimize artificially-designed protein sequences. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Role of Utility and Inference in the Evolution of Functional Information

Science.gov (United States)

Sharov, Alexei A.

2009-01-01

Functional information means an encoded network of functions in living organisms from molecular signaling pathways to an organism’s behavior. It is represented by two components: code and an interpretation system, which together form a self-sustaining semantic closure. Semantic closure allows some freedom between components because small variations of the code are still interpretable. The interpretation system consists of inference rules that control the correspondence between the code and the function (phenotype) and determines the shape of the fitness landscape. The utility factor operates at multiple time scales: short-term selection drives evolution towards higher survival and reproduction rate within a given fitness landscape, and long-term selection favors those fitness landscapes that support adaptability and lead to evolutionary expansion of certain lineages. Inference rules make short-term selection possible by shaping the fitness landscape and defining possible directions of evolution, but they are under control of the long-term selection of lineages. Communication normally occurs within a set of agents with compatible interpretation systems, which I call communication system. Functional information cannot be directly transferred between communication systems with incompatible inference rules. Each biological species is a genetic communication system that carries unique functional information together with inference rules that determine evolutionary directions and constraints. This view of the relation between utility and inference can resolve the conflict between realism/positivism and pragmatism. Realism overemphasizes the role of inference in evolution of human knowledge because it assumes that logic is embedded in reality. Pragmatism substitutes usefulness for truth and therefore ignores the advantage of inference. The proposed concept of evolutionary pragmatism rejects the idea that logic is embedded in reality; instead, inference rules are

Modeling Functional Neuroanatomy for an Anatomy Information System

Science.gov (United States)

Niggemann, Jörg M.; Gebert, Andreas; Schulz, Stefan

2008-01-01

Objective Existing neuroanatomical ontologies, databases and information systems, such as the Foundational Model of Anatomy (FMA), represent outgoing connections from brain structures, but cannot represent the “internal wiring” of structures and as such, cannot distinguish between different independent connections from the same structure. Thus, a fundamental aspect of Neuroanatomy, the functional pathways and functional systems of the brain such as the pupillary light reflex system, is not adequately represented. This article identifies underlying anatomical objects which are the source of independent connections (collections of neurons) and uses these as basic building blocks to construct a model of functional neuroanatomy and its functional pathways. Design The basic representational elements of the model are unnamed groups of neurons or groups of neuron segments. These groups, their relations to each other, and the relations to the objects of macroscopic anatomy are defined. The resulting model can be incorporated into the FMA. Measurements The capabilities of the presented model are compared to the FMA and the Brain Architecture Management System (BAMS). Results Internal wiring as well as functional pathways can correctly be represented and tracked. Conclusion This model bridges the gap between representations of single neurons and their parts on the one hand and representations of spatial brain structures and areas on the other hand. It is capable of drawing correct inferences on pathways in a nervous system. The object and relation definitions are related to the Open Biomedical Ontology effort and its relation ontology, so that this model can be further developed into an ontology of neuronal functional systems. PMID:18579841

Functional materials for information and energy technology: Insights by photoelectron spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Müller, Martina; Nemšák, Slavomír; Plucinski, Lukasz; Schneider, Claus M.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Photoemission spectro/microscopy studies of functional material systems. • Hard X-ray photoemission spectroscopy from magnetic semiconductors and insulators. • Information depth studies in hard X-ray photoemission microscopy. • Soft X-ray standing wave ambient pressure photoemission spectroscopy from liquid films. - Abstract: The evolution of both information and energy technology is intimately connected to complex condensed matter systems, the properties of which are determined by electronic and chemical interactions and processes on a broad range of length and time scales. Dedicated photoelectron spectroscopy and spectromicroscopy experiments can provide important insights into fundamental phenomena and applied functionalities. We discuss some recent methodological developments with application to relevant questions in spintronics, and towards operando studies of resistive switching and electrochemical processes.

[Psychopathology and film: a valuable interaction?].

Science.gov (United States)

van Duppen, Z; Summa, M; Fuchs, T

2015-01-01

Film or film fragments are often used in psychopathology education. However, so far there have been very few articles that have discussed the benefits and limitations of using films to explain or illustrate psychopathology. Although numerous films involves psychopathology in varying degrees, it is not clear how we can use films for psychopathology education. To examine the advantages, limitations and possible methods of using film as a means of increasing our knowledge and understanding of psychiatric illnesses. We discuss five examples that illustrate the interaction of film and psychopathology. On the one hand we explain how the psychopathological concepts are used in each film and on the other hand we explain which aspects of each film are valuable aids for teaching psychopathology. The use of film makes it possible to introduce the following topics in psychopathological teaching programme: holistic psychiatric reasoning, phenomenology and the subjective experience, the recognition of psychopathological prototypes and the importance of context. There is undoubtedly an analogy between the method we have chosen for teaching psychopathology with the help of films and the holistic approach of the psychiatrist and his or her team. We believe psychopathology education can benefit from films and we would recommend our colleagues to use it in this way.

A field guide to valuable underwater aquatic plants of the Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Schloesser, Donald W.

1986-01-01

Underwater plants are a valuable part of the Great Lakes ecosystem, providing food and shelter for aquatic animals. Aquatic plants also help stabilize sediments, thereby reducing shoreline erosion. Annual fall die-offs of underwater plants provide food and shelter for overwintering small aquatic animals such as insects, snails, and freshwater shrimp.

Parasites as valuable stock markers for fisheries in Australasia, East Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Science.gov (United States)

Lester, R J G; Moore, B R

2015-01-01

Over 30 studies in Australasia, East Asia and the Pacific Islands region have collected and analysed parasite data to determine the ranges of individual fish, many leading to conclusions about stock delineation. Parasites used as biological tags have included both those known to have long residence times in the fish and those thought to be relatively transient. In many cases the parasitological conclusions have been supported by other methods especially analysis of the chemical constituents of otoliths, and to a lesser extent, genetic data. In analysing parasite data, authors have applied multiple different statistical methodologies, including summary statistics, and univariate and multivariate approaches. Recently, a growing number of researchers have found non-parametric methods, such as analysis of similarities and cluster analysis, to be valuable. Future studies into the residence times, life cycles and geographical distributions of parasites together with more robust analytical methods will yield much important information to clarify stock structures in the area.

Effect of Acid Dissolution Conditions on Recovery of Valuable Metals from Used Plasma Display Panel Scrap

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kim Chan-Mi

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this particular study was to recover valuable metals from waste plasma display panels using high energy ball milling with subsequent acid dissolution. Dissolution of milled (PDP powder was studied in HCl, HNO3, and H2SO4 acidic solutions. The effects of dissolution acid, temperature, time, and PDP scrap powder to acid ratio on the leaching process were investigated and the most favorable conditions were found: (1 valuable metals (In, Ag, Mg were recovered from PDP powder in a mixture of concentrated hydrochloric acid (HCl:H2O = 50:50; (2 the optimal dissolution temperature and time for the valuable metals were found to be 60°C and 30 min, respectively; (3 the ideal PDP scrap powder to acid solution ratio was found to be 1:10. The proposed method was applied to the recovery of magnesium, silver, and indium with satisfactory results.

The Integration of the Information and Communication Functions, and the Marketing of the Resulting Products.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Susan C.

1985-01-01

Discusses the theoretical basis for integration of information functions and communication functions, the relevance of this integration in the scientific information cycle, and its positive effect on commodity research networks. The application of this theory is described using three commodity programs of the Centro Internacional de Agricultura…

The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the rehabilitation of individuals with severe functional impairments in a municipal care service system.

Science.gov (United States)

Sandberg, Karl W; Gardelli, Asa; Stubbs, Jonathan

2005-01-01

This article explores the development of a scheme to use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the training of individuals with severe functional impairments. Computers were used as an integral part of a rehabilitation programme for training, and the authors found that the resource was a useful addition to other treatment methods. This article describes the development and subsequent setting up of computers for training and how the study progressed. The study used a somewhat unique bottom up approach that first trained care-giving staff in computer skills. The caregivers in turn worked with and trained some of those they served. This learning strategy drew upon the concept of learning, empowerment and the motivation of all involved in a system and process. The study found that by using ICT all involved felt a greater sense of empowerment and improvement in the quality of life. That caregivers were involved at all stages was valuable in that they felt an ownership of the process and that they also benefited from being involved because they also learned new skills.

A New Approach for Predicting the Variance of Random Decrement Functions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Asmussen, J. C.; Brincker, Rune

mean Gaussian distributed processes the RD functions are proportional to the correlation functions of the processes. If a linear structur is loaded by Gaussian white noise the modal parameters can be extracted from the correlation funtions of the response, only. One of the weaknesses of the RD...... technique is that no consistent approach to estimate the variance of the RD functions is known. Only approximate relations are available, which can only be used under special conditions. The variance of teh RD functions contains valuable information about accuracy of the estimates. Furthermore, the variance...... can be used as basis for a decision about how many time lags from the RD funtions should be used in the modal parameter extraction procedure. This paper suggests a new method for estimating the variance of the RD functions. The method is consistent in the sense that the accuracy of the approach...

A New Approach for Predicting the Variance of Random Decrement Functions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Asmussen, J. C.; Brincker, Rune

1998-01-01

mean Gaussian distributed processes the RD functions are proportional to the correlation functions of the processes. If a linear structur is loaded by Gaussian white noise the modal parameters can be extracted from the correlation funtions of the response, only. One of the weaknesses of the RD...... technique is that no consistent approach to estimate the variance of the RD functions is known. Only approximate relations are available, which can only be used under special conditions. The variance of teh RD functions contains valuable information about accuracy of the estimates. Furthermore, the variance...... can be used as basis for a decision about how many time lags from the RD funtions should be used in the modal parameter extraction procedure. This paper suggests a new method for estimating the variance of the RD functions. The method is consistent in the sense that the accuracy of the approach...

In-vehicle signing functions of an in-vehicle information system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tufano, D.R.; Knee, H.E.; Spelt, P.F.

1996-04-01

The definition of In-Vehicle Signing (IVS) functions was guided by the principles of traffic engineering as they apply to the design and placement of roadway signs. Because of the dynamic and active nature of computing, communications, and display technology, IVS can fulfill the signing principles of traffic engineering in ways that have been impossible with conventional signage. Current signing technology represents a series of compromises of these principles, especially the data and equations contributing to the calculation of required sight distance. A number of conditions relevant to sight distance are quite variable, e.g.: vehicle speed, visibility, weather, and driver reaction time. However, conventional signing requires that there are fixed values of each variable for the determination of (e.g.) legibility distance. IVS, on the other hand, will be able to tailor the timing of sign presentation to the dynamically diverse variable values of all of these conditions. A clear, in-vehicle sign display, adaptive to ambient and driver conditions, will in fact obviate the entire issue of sign legibility. These capabilities, together with information filtering functions, will truly enhance the presentation of sign information to drivers. The development of IVS is a critical step in the development of an integrated In-Vehicle Information System (IVIS).

National information network and database system of hazardous waste management in China

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ma Hongchang [National Environmental Protection Agency, Beijing (China)

1996-12-31

Industries in China generate large volumes of hazardous waste, which makes it essential for the nation to pay more attention to hazardous waste management. National laws and regulations, waste surveys, and manifest tracking and permission systems have been initiated. Some centralized hazardous waste disposal facilities are under construction. China`s National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) has also obtained valuable information on hazardous waste management from developed countries. To effectively share this information with local environmental protection bureaus, NEPA developed a national information network and database system for hazardous waste management. This information network will have such functions as information collection, inquiry, and connection. The long-term objective is to establish and develop a national and local hazardous waste management information network. This network will significantly help decision makers and researchers because it will be easy to obtain information (e.g., experiences of developed countries in hazardous waste management) to enhance hazardous waste management in China. The information network consists of five parts: technology consulting, import-export management, regulation inquiry, waste survey, and literature inquiry.

Roles for text mining in protein function prediction.

Science.gov (United States)

Verspoor, Karin M

2014-01-01

The Human Genome Project has provided science with a hugely valuable resource: the blueprints for life; the specification of all of the genes that make up a human. While the genes have all been identified and deciphered, it is proteins that are the workhorses of the human body: they are essential to virtually all cell functions and are the primary mechanism through which biological function is carried out. Hence in order to fully understand what happens at a molecular level in biological organisms, and eventually to enable development of treatments for diseases where some aspect of a biological system goes awry, we must understand the functions of proteins. However, experimental characterization of protein function cannot scale to the vast amount of DNA sequence data now available. Computational protein function prediction has therefore emerged as a problem at the forefront of modern biology (Radivojac et al., Nat Methods 10(13):221-227, 2013).Within the varied approaches to computational protein function prediction that have been explored, there are several that make use of biomedical literature mining. These methods take advantage of information in the published literature to associate specific proteins with specific protein functions. In this chapter, we introduce two main strategies for doing this: association of function terms, represented as Gene Ontology terms (Ashburner et al., Nat Genet 25(1):25-29, 2000), to proteins based on information in published articles, and a paradigm called LEAP-FS (Literature-Enhanced Automated Prediction of Functional Sites) in which literature mining is used to validate the predictions of an orthogonal computational protein function prediction method.

Software For Computing Selected Functions

Science.gov (United States)

Grant, David C.

1992-01-01

Technical memorandum presents collection of software packages in Ada implementing mathematical functions used in science and engineering. Provides programmer with function support in Pascal and FORTRAN, plus support for extended-precision arithmetic and complex arithmetic. Valuable for testing new computers, writing computer code, or developing new computer integrated circuits.

Application of high-resolution melting analysis for authenticity testing of valuable Dendrobium commercial products.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Xiaoman; Jiang, Chao; Yuan, Yuan; Peng, Daiyin; Luo, Yuqin; Zhao, Yuyang; Huang, Luqi

2018-01-01

The accurate identification of botanical origin in commercial products is important to ensure food authenticity and safety for consumers. The Dendrobium species have long been commercialised as functional food supplements and herbal medicines in Asia. Three valuable Dendrobium species, namely Dendrobium officinale, D. huoshanense and D. moniliforme, are often mutually adulterated in trade products in pursuit of higher profit. In this paper, a rapid and reliable semi-quantitative method for identifying the botanical origin of Dendrobium products in terminal markets was developed using high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis with specific primer pairs to target the trnL-F region. The HRM analysis method detected amounts of D. moniliforme adulterants as low as 1% in D. huoshanense or D. officinale products. The results have demonstrated that HRM analysis is a fast and effective tool for the differentiation of these Dendrobium species both for their authenticity as well as for the semi-quantitative determination of the purity of their processed products. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Identification of Factors Determining Market Value of the Most Valuable Football Players

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian Majewski

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The problem of identifying the most important determinants of the market value of football players is quite well described in the literature. There are many works that try to identify these factors. Some of them are focused on variables to make a set complete and others are on models and methods. The aim of this article is to present the variables influencing the valuation and to build an econometric model valuing footballers playing on the forward position, taking into consideration the assumptions of the econometric modelling. Such an approach indicates managers as other sources for obtaining information. Methodology: Econometric models were used to verify the hypothesis formulated in this research. The database was created on the basis of variables presented on the website www.transfermarkt. de that presents the values of the most valuable football players in the world playing on the forward position. The Gretl program was used in the research. Findings: The literature review showed that there are many independent variables having an impact on the value of the player. There are also many different models used to valuate footballers’ performance rights. The results of estimation of models in the research indicated that such factors as Canadian classification points adjusted the market value of the team and dummy variables describing “goodwill” (only for the best players had an impact on the market value of footballers’ performance rights. Limitations/implications: Information about different factors having an impact on football players’ market value could support the investment decision process of football managers. Originality/value: The results were part of a study concerning economics of sport, particularly processes of management of football clubs and valuation of intangible assets.

An Information System for Brownfield Regeneration: providing customised information according to stakeholders' characteristics and needs.

Science.gov (United States)

Rizzo, Erika; Pizzol, Lisa; Zabeo, Alex; Giubilato, Elisa; Critto, Andrea; Cosmo, Luca; Marcomini, Antonio

2018-07-01

In the EU brownfield presence is still considered a widespread problem. Even though, in the last decades, many research projects and initiatives developed a wealth of methods, guidelines, tools and technologies aimed at supporting brownfield regeneration. However, this variety of products had and still has a limited practical impact on brownfield revitalisation success, because they are not used in their entire potential due to their scarce visibility. Also, another problem that stakeholders face is finding customised information. To overcome this non-visibility and not-sufficient customisation of information, the Information System for Brownfield Regeneration (ISBR) has been developed, based on Artificial Neural Networks, which allows understanding stakeholders' information needs by providing tailored information. The ISBR has been tested by stakeholders from the EU project TIMBRE case studies, located in the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and Romania. Data gained during tests allowed to understand stakeholders' information needs. Overall, stakeholders showed to be concerned first on remediation aspects, then on benchmarking information, which are valuable to improve practices in the complex field of brownfield regeneration, and then on the relatively new issue of sustainability applied to brownfield regeneration and remediation. Mature markets confirmed their interest for remediation-related aspects, highlighting the central role that risk assessment plays in the process. Emerging markets showed to seek information and tools for strategic and planning issues, like brownfield inventories and georeferenced data sets. Results led to conclude that a new improved platform, combining the ISBR functionalities with geo-referenced ones, would be useful and could represent a further research application. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cine MR CSF flow study in hydrocephalus: What are the valuable parmeters?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Hye Young; Kim, Myung Hyun

1997-01-01

To evaluate the changes in diagnosis of intracranial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics in the hydrocephalus, we studied the various parameters of cine phase contrast (PC) magnetic resonance (MR) CSF flow images in cases of acutely progressive hydrocephalus, comparing them with those in normal CSF circulation. The MR images were obtained with a 1.5T (GE Signa, GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, USA) unit using the 2 dimensional cine PC sequence with peripheral gating and gradient recalled echo imaging in ten cases of non-obstructive hydrocephalus(NOH), three of obstructive hydrocephalus(OH), and ten controls. The time-echo time-flip angle employed were 50 to 80 msec-11 to 15 msec-12 to 15 degrees. Temporal velocity information relating to cervical pericord CSF spaces, third and fourth ventricles, and the aqueduct were plotted as wave forms which were then analyzed for configuration, amplitude parameters(Vmax, Vmin, Vdif), and temporal parameters(R-S, R-SMV, R-D, R-DMV). The statistical significance of each parameter was examined using the paired t-test. All patients with OH underwent endoscopic third ventriculostomy, whereas all with NOH underwent shunting procedures. In five ROIs, distinct reproducible configuration features were obtained at aqueduct and cervical pericord spaces, but not at ventricular levels. We determined the statistically significant differences between controls and hydrocephalus patients using temporal, rather than amplitude parameters. In NOH, the graph showed R-DMV shortening (p<0.01) at the anterior cervical pericord space. In OH, there were R-DMV shortening (p<0.05) was seen at the anterior cervical pericord space, and R-DMV shortening (p<0.02) at the posterior cervical pericord space. In one case of OH, a typical change of configuration, mirror image, was obtained at aqueduct level, and in all OH cases, the level of obstruction could be determined. The results of cine PC MR CSF flow study may be valuable for points for determining the level

Crystallization of bi-functional ligand protein complexes.

Science.gov (United States)

Antoni, Claudia; Vera, Laura; Devel, Laurent; Catalani, Maria Pia; Czarny, Bertrand; Cassar-Lajeunesse, Evelyn; Nuti, Elisa; Rossello, Armando; Dive, Vincent; Stura, Enrico Adriano

2013-06-01

Homodimerization is important in signal transduction and can play a crucial role in many other biological systems. To obtaining structural information for the design of molecules able to control the signalization pathways, the proteins involved will have to be crystallized in complex with ligands that induce dimerization. Bi-functional drugs have been generated by linking two ligands together chemically and the relative crystallizability of complexes with mono-functional and bi-functional ligands has been evaluated. There are problems associated with crystallization with such ligands, but overall, the advantages appear to be greater than the drawbacks. The study involves two matrix metalloproteinases, MMP-12 and MMP-9. Using flexible and rigid linkers we show that it is possible to control the crystal packing and that by changing the ligand-enzyme stoichiometric ratio, one can toggle between having one bi-functional ligand binding to two enzymes and having the same ligand bound to each enzyme. The nature of linker and its point of attachment on the ligand can be varied to aid crystallization, and such variations can also provide valuable structural information about the interactions made by the linker with the protein. We report here the crystallization and structure determination of seven ligand-dimerized complexes. These results suggest that the use of bi-functional drugs can be extended beyond the realm of protein dimerization to include all drug design projects. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Case of Mixed Motives? : Formal and Informal Functions of Administrative Immigration Detention

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A.S. Leerkes (Arjen); D.W.J. Broeders (Dennis)

2010-01-01

textabstractIn most EU countries and the United States, immigration detention is defined as an administrative, non-punitive measure to facilitate expulsion. This paper argues that immigration detention in the Netherlands serves three informal functions in addition to its formal function as an

Test Expectancy and Memory for Important Information

Science.gov (United States)

Middlebrooks, Catherine D.; Murayama, Kou; Castel, Alan D.

2017-01-01

Prior research suggests that learners study and remember information differently depending upon the type of test they expect to later receive. The current experiments investigate how testing expectations impact the study of and memory for valuable information. Participants studied lists of words ranging in value from 1 to 10 points with the goal…

A Study on the Effect of Communication Functioning of Smartphones on Information Acquisition: The Case of South Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lee, Seungmin

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Smartphones have become one of the most prevalent information devices in the current information environment. Although many people use smartphones for communication and information acquisition, these two functions are closely related and cannot be separated. However, many studies have focused on identifying each function of a smartphone independently. There are few studies that investigate the relationships between communication and information acquisition functions on smartphones. This research empirically analyzed and identified the relationships between these two functions of smartphones by conducting a survey. The results of the analysis showed that the activities for information acquisition make differences in communication on a smartphone. People who want to acquire more information tend to use a smartphone for communication purposes. Besides, communication activities on a smartphone also affect the acquisition of information. In addition, communication activities on a smartphone also affect the establishment of interpersonal relationships that lead to the acquisition of more information. From these results, it is identified that communication activities and information acquisition are interrelated when satisfying the information needs of smartphone users. Especially, communication activities on a smartphone positively affect people's information activities and enhance information acquisition.

Investigation of the effect of specific knowledge in functional areas of business on information systems analysis and design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laengle, G.B.

1988-01-01

Recent studies on the design of computer-based information systems have indicated that the content of the knowledge base and the reasoning behavior of systems analysts are two important factors in the development of computer-based, information systems. This study focuses on knowledge that relates to a specific functional area of business (such as accounting, manufacturing, or marketing) and the effect of the presence or absence of such function-specific domain knowledge on how systems analysts determine information requirements. Determining information requirements is postulated to involve the construction of representations utilizing modeling, discovery, and validation processes. Results indicate that presence of function-specific domain knowledge affected construction of representations as well as modeling, discovery, and validation processes. Subjects with function-specific domain knowledge were found to (1) build representations considering a larger number of facts and concepts relating to the information system's application domain; (2) discover and validate the representations requesting additional domain-specific information more frequently; and (3) model the information system utilizing analogical reasoning more often than subjects without function-specific domain knowledge.

Social and Communicative Functions of Informed Consent Forms in East Asia and Beyond

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Go Yoshizawa

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The recent research and technology development in medical genomics has raised new issues that are profoundly different from those encountered in traditional clinical research for which informed consent was developed. Global initiatives for international collaboration and public participation in genomics research now face an increasing demand for new forms of informed consent which reflect local contexts. This article analyzes informed consent forms (ICFs for genomic research formulated by four selected research programs and institutes in East Asia – the Medical Genome Science Program in Japan, Universiti Sains Malaysia Human Research Ethics Committee in Malaysia, and the Taiwan Biobank and the Taipei Medical University- Joint Institutional Review Board in Taiwan. The comparative text analysis highlights East Asian contexts as distinct from other regions by identifying communicative and social functions of consent forms. The communicative functions include re-contact options and offering interactive support for research participants, and setting opportunities for family or community engagement in the consent process. This implies that informed consent cannot be validated solely with the completion of a consent form at the initial stage of the research, and informed consent templates can facilitate interactions between researchers and participants through (even before and after the research process. The social functions consist of informing participants of possible social risks that include genetic discrimination, sample and data sharing, and highlighting the role of ethics committees. Although international ethics harmonization and the subsequent coordination of consent forms may be necessary to maintain the quality and consistency of consent process for data-intensive international research, it is also worth paying more attention to the local values and different settings that exist where research participants are situated for research in

Social and Communicative Functions of Informed Consent Forms in East Asia and Beyond.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshizawa, Go; Sasongko, Teguh H; Ho, Chih-Hsing; Kato, Kazuto

2017-01-01

The recent research and technology development in medical genomics has raised new issues that are profoundly different from those encountered in traditional clinical research for which informed consent was developed. Global initiatives for international collaboration and public participation in genomics research now face an increasing demand for new forms of informed consent which reflect local contexts. This article analyzes informed consent forms (ICFs) for genomic research formulated by four selected research programs and institutes in East Asia - the Medical Genome Science Program in Japan, Universiti Sains Malaysia Human Research Ethics Committee in Malaysia, and the Taiwan Biobank and the Taipei Medical University- Joint Institutional Review Board in Taiwan. The comparative text analysis highlights East Asian contexts as distinct from other regions by identifying communicative and social functions of consent forms. The communicative functions include re-contact options and offering interactive support for research participants, and setting opportunities for family or community engagement in the consent process. This implies that informed consent cannot be validated solely with the completion of a consent form at the initial stage of the research, and informed consent templates can facilitate interactions between researchers and participants through (even before and after) the research process. The social functions consist of informing participants of possible social risks that include genetic discrimination, sample and data sharing, and highlighting the role of ethics committees. Although international ethics harmonization and the subsequent coordination of consent forms may be necessary to maintain the quality and consistency of consent process for data-intensive international research, it is also worth paying more attention to the local values and different settings that exist where research participants are situated for research in medical genomics. More

2013 information manager.2013 finalx

African Journals Online (AJOL)

USER

conservation of Ajami Manuscript; most especially in the present dispensation of information and communication technology, with the hope that it would be prospective and valuable as evidence of written records for historical reference. .... Lugard Hall Library Kaduna; other places outside. Nigeria include among others ...

Extensional Information Articulation from the Universe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasufumi Saruwatari

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Information must have physical support and this physical universe comprisesphysical interactions. Hence actual information processes should have a description byinteractions alone, i.e., an extensional description. In this paper, such a model of the processof information articulation from the universe is developed by generalizing the extensivemeasurement theory in metrology. Moreover, a model of the attribute creation processis presented to exemplify a step of the informational articulation process. These modelsdemonstrate the valuableness of the extensional view and are expected to enhance theunderstanding of the extensional aspects of fundamentals of information.

Smooth incidence maps give valuable insight into Q fever outbreaks in The Netherlands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wim van der Hoek

2012-11-01

Full Text Available From 2007 through 2009, The Netherlands faced large outbreaks of human Q fever. Control measures focused primarily on dairy goat farms because these were implicated as the main source of infection for the surrounding population. However, in other countries, outbreaks have mainly been associated with non-dairy sheep and The Netherlands has many more sheep than goats. Therefore, a public discussion arose about the possible role of non-dairy (meat sheep in the outbreaks. To inform decision makers about the relative importance of different infection sources, we developed accurate and high-resolution incidence maps for detection of Q fever hot spots. In the high incidence area in the south of the country, full postal codes of notified Q fever patients with onset of illness in 2009, were georeferenced. Q fever cases (n = 1,740 were treated as a spatial point process. A 500 x 500 m grid was imposed over the area of interest. The number of cases and the population number were counted in each cell. The number of cases was modelled as an inhomogeneous Poisson process where the underlying incidence was estimated by 2-dimensional P-spline smoothing. Modelling of numbers of Q fever cases based on residential addresses and population size produced smooth incidence maps that clearly showed Q fever hotspots around infected dairy goat farms. No such increased incidence was noted around infected meat sheep farms. We conclude that smooth incidence maps of human notifications give valuable information about the Q fever epidemic and are a promising method to provide decision support for the control of other infectious diseases with an environmental source.

Selectively Distracted: Divided Attention and Memory for Important Information.

Science.gov (United States)

Middlebrooks, Catherine D; Kerr, Tyson; Castel, Alan D

2017-08-01

Distractions and multitasking are generally detrimental to learning and memory. Nevertheless, people often study while listening to music, sitting in noisy coffee shops, or intermittently checking their e-mail. The current experiments examined how distractions and divided attention influence one's ability to selectively remember valuable information. Participants studied lists of words that ranged in value from 1 to 10 points while completing a digit-detection task, while listening to music, or without distractions. Though participants recalled fewer words following digit detection than in the other conditions, there were no significant differences between conditions in terms of selectively remembering the most valuable words. Similar results were obtained across a variety of divided-attention tasks that stressed attention and working memory to different degrees, which suggests that people may compensate for divided-attention costs by selectively attending to the most valuable items and that factors that worsen memory do not necessarily impair the ability to selectively remember important information.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease candidate gene prioritization based on metabolic networks and functional information.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xinyan Wang

Full Text Available Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD is a multi-factor disease, in which metabolic disturbances played important roles. In this paper, functional information was integrated into a COPD-related metabolic network to assess similarity between genes. Then a gene prioritization method was applied to the COPD-related metabolic network to prioritize COPD candidate genes. The gene prioritization method was superior to ToppGene and ToppNet in both literature validation and functional enrichment analysis. Top-ranked genes prioritized from the metabolic perspective with functional information could promote the better understanding about the molecular mechanism of this disease. Top 100 genes might be potential markers for diagnostic and effective therapies.

Mutual information as a two-point correlation function in stochastic lattice models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Müller, Ulrich; Hinrichsen, Haye

2013-01-01

In statistical physics entropy is usually introduced as a global quantity which expresses the amount of information that would be needed to specify the microscopic configuration of a system. However, for lattice models with infinitely many possible configurations per lattice site it is also meaningful to introduce entropy as a local observable that describes the information content of a single lattice site. Likewise, the mutual information between two sites can be interpreted as a two-point correlation function which quantifies how much information a lattice site has about the state of another one and vice versa. Studying a particular growth model we demonstrate that the mutual information exhibits scaling properties that are consistent with the established phenomenological scaling picture. (paper)

Roman Catholic Church and media in information age

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyyak Maksym Tarasovich

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Roman Catholic Church in the modern information age extensively exploits opportunities of traditional and new media. It has always been trying to be a dynamic and successive participant in the global information space. However, the media has become not only the most important attribute of the information society but also one of the most valuable instruments of religious authority.

A Model of Managerial Effectiveness in Information Security: From Grounded Theory to Empirical Test

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Knapp, Kenneth J

2005-01-01

Information security is a critical issue facing organizations worldwide. in order to mitigate risk and protect valuable information, organizations need to operate and manage effective information security programs...

Exploring the relative contributions of reward-history and functionality information to children's acquisition of the Aesop's fable task.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elsa Loissel

Full Text Available Investigation of tool-using behaviours has long been a means by which to explore causal reasoning in children and nonhuman animals. Much of the recent research has focused on the "Aesop's Fable" paradigm, in which objects must be dropped into water to bring a floating reward within reach. An underlying problem with these, as with many causal reasoning studies, is that functionality information and reward history are confounded: a tool that is functionally useful is also rewarded, while a tool that is not functionally useful is not rewarded. It is therefore not possible to distinguish between behaviours motivated by functional understanding of the properties of the objects involved, and those influenced by reward-history. Here, we devised an adapted version of the Aesop's Fable paradigm which decouples functionality information and reward history by making use of situations in which the use of a particular tool should have enabled a subject to obtain (or not obtain a reward, but the outcome was affected by the context. Children aged 4-11 were given experience of a range of tools that varied independently in whether they were functional or non-functional and rewarded or non-rewarded. They were then given the opportunity to choose which tools they would like to use in a test trial, thereby providing an assessment of whether they relied on information about functionality or the reward history associated with the object or a combination of the two. Children never significantly used reward history to drive their choices of tools, while the influence of functionality information increased with age, becoming dominant by age 7. However, not all children behaved in a consistent manner, and even by 10 years of age, only around a third exclusively used functionality as a basis for their decision-making. These findings suggest that from around the age of 7-years, children begin to emphasize functionality information when learning in novel situations, even if

The future of event-level information repositories, indexing, and selection in ATLAS

CERN Document Server

Barberis, D; The ATLAS collaboration; Dimitrov, G; Doherty, T; Gallas, E; Hrivnac, J; Malon, D; Nairz, A; Nowak, M; Quilty, D; Sorokoletov, R; Van Gemmeren, P; Zhang, Q

2014-01-01

ATLAS maintains a rich corpus of event-by-event information that provides a global view of virtually all of the billions of events the collaboration has seen or simulated, along with sufficient auxiliary information to navigate to and retrieve data for any event at any production processing stage. This unique resource has been employed for a range of purposes, from monitoring, statistics, anomaly detection, and integrity checking to event picking, subset selection, and sample extraction. Recent years of data-taking provide a foundation for assessment of how this resource has and has not been used in practice, of the uses for which it should be optimized, of how it should be deployed and provisioned for scalability to future data volumes, and of the areas in which enhancements to functionality would be most valuable. \

λ5-Phosphorus-Containing α-Diazo Compounds: A Valuable Tool for Accessing Phosphorus-Functionalized Molecules.

Science.gov (United States)

Marinozzi, Maura; Pertusati, Fabrizio; Serpi, Michaela

2016-11-23

The compounds characterized by the presence of a λ 5 -phosphorus functionality at the α-position with respect to the diazo moiety, here referred to as λ 5 -phosphorus-containing α-diazo compounds (PCDCs), represent a vast class of extremely versatile reagents in organic chemistry and are particularly useful in the preparation of phosphonate- and phosphinoxide-functionalized molecules. Indeed, thanks to the high reactivity of the diazo moiety, PCDCs can be induced to undergo a wide variety of chemical transformations. Among them are carbon-hydrogen, as well as heteroatom-hydrogen insertion reactions, cyclopropanation, ylide formation, Wolff rearrangement, and cycloaddition reactions. PCDCs can be easily prepared from readily accessible precursors by a variety of different methods, such as diazotization, Bamford-Stevens-type elimination, and diazo transfer reactions. This evidence along with their relative stability and manageability make them appealing tools in organic synthesis. This Review aims to demonstrate the ongoing utility of PCDCs in the modern preparation of different classes of phosphorus-containing compounds, phosphonates, in particular. Furthermore, to address the lack of precedent collective papers, this Review also summarizes the methods for PCDCs preparation.

Samaru Journal of Information Studies -main-fx

African Journals Online (AJOL)

USER

Information is a valuable resource; anybody that has ... compliments the human memory thereby allowing the flow of .... components of managing these important ..... 7th ed. London: Gower. Pugh, M.J. (1994). Providing reference services for.

Capturing patients' needs in casemix: a systematic literature review on the value of adding functioning information in reimbursement systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Hopfe, Maren; Stucki, Gerold; Marshall, Ric; Twomey, Conal D; Üstün, T Bedirhan; Prodinger, Birgit

2016-02-03

Contemporary casemix systems for health services need to ensure that payment rates adequately account for actual resource consumption based on patients' needs for services. It has been argued that functioning information, as one important determinant of health service provision and resource use, should be taken into account when developing casemix systems. However, there has to date been little systematic collation of the evidence on the extent to which the addition of functioning information into existing casemix systems adds value to those systems with regard to the predictive power and resource variation explained by the groupings of these systems. Thus, the objective of this research was to examine the value of adding functioning information into casemix systems with respect to the prediction of resource use as measured by costs and length of stay. A systematic literature review was performed. Peer-reviewed studies, published before May 2014 were retrieved from CINAHL, EconLit, Embase, JSTOR, PubMed and Sociological Abstracts using keywords related to functioning ('Functioning', 'Functional status', 'Function*, 'ICF', 'International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health', 'Activities of Daily Living' or 'ADL') and casemix systems ('Casemix', 'case mix', 'Diagnosis Related Groups', 'Function Related Groups', 'Resource Utilization Groups' or 'AN-SNAP'). In addition, a hand search of reference lists of included articles was conducted. Information about study aims, design, country, setting, methods, outcome variables, study results, and information regarding the authors' discussion of results, study limitations and implications was extracted. Ten included studies provided evidence demonstrating that adding functioning information into casemix systems improves predictive ability and fosters homogeneity in casemix groups with regard to costs and length of stay. Collection and integration of functioning information varied across studies. Results suggest

STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL MODEL OF FORMING INFORMATIONAL COMPETENCE OF TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taras Ostapchuk

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The article elaborates and analyses the structural and functional model of formation of information competence of technical university students. The system and mutual relationships between its elements are revealed. It is found out that the presence of the target structure of the proposed model, process and result-evaluative blocks ensure its functioning and the opportunity to optimize the learning process for technical school students’ information training. It is established that the formation of technical university students’ information competence based on components such as motivational value, as well as operational activity, cognitive, and reflexive one. These criteria (motivation, operational and activity, cognitive, reflective, indexes and levels (reproductive, technologized, constructive forming technical university students’ information competence are disclosed. Expediency of complex organizational and educational conditions in the stages of information competence is justified. The complex organizational and pedagogical conditions include: orientation in the organization and implementation of class work for technical university students’ positive value treatment; the issue of forming professionalism; informatization of educational and socio-cultural environment of higher technical educational institutions; orientation of technical university students’ training to the demands of European and international standards on information competence as a factor in the formation of competitiveness at the labor market; introducing a special course curriculum that will provide competence formation due to the use of information technology in professional activities. Forms (lecture, visualization, problem lecture, combined lecture, scientific online conference, recitals, excursions, etc., tools (computer lab, multimedia projector, interactive whiteboard, multimedia technology (audio, video, the Internet technologies; social networks, etc

The quantization of the attention function under a Bayes information theoretic model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wynn, H.P.; Sebastiani, P.

2001-01-01

Bayes experimental design using entropy, or equivalently negative information, as a criterion is fairly well developed. The present work applies this model but at a primitive level in statistical sampling. It is assumed that the observer/experimentor is allowed to place a window over the support of a sampling distribution and only 'pay for' observations that fall in this window. The window can be modeled with an 'attention function', simply the indicator function of the window. The understanding is that the cost of the experiment is only the number of paid for observations: n. For fixed n and under the information model it turns out that for standard problems the optimal structure for the window, in the limit amongst all types of window including disjoint regions, is discrete. That is to say it is optimal to observe the world (in this sense) through discrete slits. It also shows that in this case Bayesians with different priors will receive different samples because typically the optimal attention windows will be disjoint. This property we refer to as the quantization of the attention function

On the fragmentation of process information : challenges, solutions, and outlook

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aa, van der J.H.; Leopold, H.; Mannhardt, F.; Reijers, H.A.; Gaaloul, K.; Schmidt, R.; Nurcan, S.; Guerreiro, S.; Ma, Q.

2015-01-01

An organization’s knowledge on its business processes represents valuable corporate knowledge because it can be used to enhance the performance of these processes. In many organizations, documentation of process knowledge is scattered around various process information sources. Such information

Educating executive function.

Science.gov (United States)

Blair, Clancy

2017-01-01

Executive functions are thinking skills that assist with reasoning, planning, problem solving, and managing one's life. The brain areas that underlie these skills are interconnected with and influenced by activity in many different brain areas, some of which are associated with emotion and stress. One consequence of the stress-specific connections is that executive functions, which help us to organize our thinking, tend to be disrupted when stimulation is too high and we are stressed out, or too low when we are bored and lethargic. Given their central role in reasoning and also in managing stress and emotion, scientists have conducted studies, primarily with adults, to determine whether executive functions can be improved by training. By and large, results have shown that they can be, in part through computer-based videogame-like activities. Evidence of wider, more general benefits from such computer-based training, however, is mixed. Accordingly, scientists have reasoned that training will have wider benefits if it is implemented early, with very young children as the neural circuitry of executive functions is developing, and that it will be most effective if embedded in children's everyday activities. Evidence produced by this research, however, is also mixed. In sum, much remains to be learned about executive function training. Without question, however, continued research on this important topic will yield valuable information about cognitive development. WIREs Cogn Sci 2017, 8:e1403. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1403 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Microalgae as healthy ingredients for functional food: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Matos, J; Cardoso, C; Bandarra, N M; Afonso, C

2017-08-01

Microalgae are very interesting and valuable natural sources of highly valuable bioactive compounds, such as vitamins, essential amino acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, minerals, carotenoids, enzymes and fibre. Due to their potential, microalgae have become some of the most promising and innovative sources of new food and functional products. Moreover, microalgae can be used as functional ingredients to enhance the nutritional value of foods and, thus, to favourably affect human health by improving the well-being and quality of life, but also by curtailing disease and illness risks. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge of the health benefits associated with the consumption of microalgae, bioactive compounds, functional ingredients, and health foods.

Hemodynamic exercise testing. A valuable tool in the selection of cardiac transplantation candidates.

Science.gov (United States)

Chomsky, D B; Lang, C C; Rayos, G H; Shyr, Y; Yeoh, T K; Pierson, R N; Davis, S F; Wilson, J R

1996-12-15

Peak exercise oxygen consumption (Vo2), a noninvasive index of peak exercise cardiac output (CO), is widely used to select candidates for heart transplantation. However, peak exercise Vo2 can be influenced by noncardiac factors such as deconditioning, motivation, or body composition and may yield misleading prognostic information. Direct measurement of the CO response to exercise may avoid this problem and more accurately predict prognosis. Hemodynamic and ventilatory responses to maximal treadmill exercise were measured in 185 ambulatory patients with chronic heart failure who had been referred for cardiac transplantation (mean left ventricular ejection fraction, 22 +/- 7%; mean peak Vo2, 12.9 +/- 3.0 mL. min-1.kg-1). CO response to exercise was normal in 83 patients and reduced in 102. By univariate analysis, patients with normal CO responses had a better 1-year survival rate (95%) than did those with reduced CO responses (72%) (P 14 mL.min-1.kg-1 (88%) was not different from that of patients with peak Vo2 of 10 mL.min-1.kg-1 (89%) (P < .0001). By Cox regression analysis, exercise CO response was the strongest independent predictor of survival (risk ratio, 4.3), with peak Vo2 dichotomized at 10 mL. min-1.kg-1 (risk ratio, 3.3) as the only other independent predictor. Patients with reduced CO responses and peak Vo2 of < or = 10 mL.min-1.kg-1 had an extremely poor 1-year survival rate (38%). Both CO response to exercise and peak exercise Vo2 provide valuable independent prognostic information in ambulatory patients with heart failure. These variables should be used in combination to select potential heart transplantation candidates.

Information systems project management: methods, tools, and techniques

OpenAIRE

Mcmanus, John; Wood-Harper, Trevor

2004-01-01

Information Systems Project Management offers a clear and logical exposition of how to plan, organise and monitor projects effectively in order to deliver quality information systems within time, to budget and quality. This new book by John McManus and Trevor Wood-Harper is suitable for upper level undergraduates and postgraduates studying project management and Information Systems. Practising managers will also find it to be a valuable tool in their work. Managing information systems pro...

Human astrocytes: structure and functions in the healthy brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasile, Flora; Dossi, Elena; Rouach, Nathalie

2017-07-01

Data collected on astrocytes' physiology in the rodent have placed them as key regulators of synaptic, neuronal, network, and cognitive functions. While these findings proved highly valuable for our awareness and appreciation of non-neuronal cell significance in brain physiology, early structural and phylogenic investigations of human astrocytes hinted at potentially different astrocytic properties. This idea sparked interest to replicate rodent-based studies on human samples, which have revealed an analogous but enhanced involvement of astrocytes in neuronal function of the human brain. Such evidence pointed to a central role of human astrocytes in sustaining more complex information processing. Here, we review the current state of our knowledge of human astrocytes regarding their structure, gene profile, and functions, highlighting the differences with rodent astrocytes. This recent insight is essential for assessment of the relevance of findings using animal models and for comprehending the functional significance of species-specific properties of astrocytes. Moreover, since dysfunctional astrocytes have been described in many brain disorders, a more thorough understanding of human-specific astrocytic properties is crucial for better-adapted translational applications.

Information Literacy at Augustana: A Programmatic Approach

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Nancy E. Goebel

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Information literacy programs, and the factors that influence their development and structure, can vary significantly from institution to institution. Credit-bearing discipline-specific information literacy courses are a rare and valuable component of an undergraduate educational experience and form the basis of Augustana's information literacy program. This article provides an overview of the development, implementation, successes, and drawbacks of the credit-bearing discipline-specific information literacy courses at the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta (Camrose, Alberta, Canada. Additional program components including Augustana's annual information literacy workshop, information literacy awards, information literacy DVD, and marketing/branding, are discussed.

Diagnosis of functional (psychogenic paresis and weakness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Savkov V.S.

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Functional (conversion neurological symptoms represent one of the most common situations faced by neurologists in their everyday practice. Among them, acute or subacute functional weakness may mimic very prevalent conditions such as stroke or traumatic injury. In the diagnosis of functional weakness, although elements of the history are helpful, physical signs are often of crucial importance in the diagnosis and positive signs are as important as absence of signs of disease. Hence, accurate and reliable positive signs of functional weakness are valuable for obtaining timely diagnosis and treatment, making it possible to avoid unnecessary or invasive tests and procedures up to thrombolysis. Functional weakness commonly presents as weakness of an entire limb, paraparesis, or hemiparesis, with observable or demonstrable inconsistencies and non-anatomic accompaniments. Documentation of limb movements during sleep, the arm drop test, the Babinski’s trunk-thigh test, Hoover tests, the Sonoo abductor test, and various dynamometer tests can provide useful bedside diagnostic information on functional weakness. We therefore present here a brief overview of the positive neurological signs of functional weakness available, both in the lower and in the upper limbs; but none should be used in isolation and must be interpreted in the overall context of the presentation. It should be borne in mind that a patient may have both a functional and an organic disorder.

Trade Credit and Informational Asymmetry.

OpenAIRE

Smith, Janet Kiholm

1987-01-01

Commonly used trade credit terms implicitly define a high interest rate that operates as an efficient screening device where information about buyer default risk is asymmetrically held. By offering trade credit, a seller can identify prospective defaults more quickl y than if financial institutions were the sole providers of short-ter m financing. The information is valuable in cases where a seller has made nonsalvageable investments in buyers since it enables the seller to take actions to pr...

Incorporating Functional Genomic Information in Genetic Association Studies Using an Empirical Bayes Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Spencer, Amy V; Cox, Angela; Lin, Wei-Yu; Easton, Douglas F; Michailidou, Kyriaki; Walters, Kevin

2016-04-01

There is a large amount of functional genetic data available, which can be used to inform fine-mapping association studies (in diseases with well-characterised disease pathways). Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) prioritization via Bayes factors is attractive because prior information can inform the effect size or the prior probability of causal association. This approach requires the specification of the effect size. If the information needed to estimate a priori the probability density for the effect sizes for causal SNPs in a genomic region isn't consistent or isn't available, then specifying a prior variance for the effect sizes is challenging. We propose both an empirical method to estimate this prior variance, and a coherent approach to using SNP-level functional data, to inform the prior probability of causal association. Through simulation we show that when ranking SNPs by our empirical Bayes factor in a fine-mapping study, the causal SNP rank is generally as high or higher than the rank using Bayes factors with other plausible values of the prior variance. Importantly, we also show that assigning SNP-specific prior probabilities of association based on expert prior functional knowledge of the disease mechanism can lead to improved causal SNPs ranks compared to ranking with identical prior probabilities of association. We demonstrate the use of our methods by applying the methods to the fine mapping of the CASP8 region of chromosome 2 using genotype data from the Collaborative Oncological Gene-Environment Study (COGS) Consortium. The data we analysed included approximately 46,000 breast cancer case and 43,000 healthy control samples. © 2016 The Authors. *Genetic Epidemiology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Implementing an Information Security Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Glantz, Clifford S.; Lenaeus, Joseph D.; Landine, Guy P.; O' Neil, Lori Ross; Leitch, Rosalyn; Johnson, Christopher; Lewis, John G.; Rodger, Robert M.

2017-11-01

The threats to information security have dramatically increased with the proliferation of information systems and the internet. Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives (CBRNe) facilities need to address these threats in order to protect themselves from the loss of intellectual property, theft of valuable or hazardous materials, and sabotage. Project 19 of the European Union CBRN Risk Mitigation Centres of Excellence Initiative is designed to help CBRN security managers, information technology/cybersecurity managers, and other decision-makers deal with these threats through the application of cost-effective information security programs. Project 19 has developed three guidance documents that are publically available to cover information security best practices, planning for an information security management system, and implementing security controls for information security.

Inventory of species and cultivars potentially valuable for forest/biomass production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lavoie, G

1981-01-01

To prepare a guide for experiments in mini-rotation or short rotation forest production, potentially valuable species and cultivars have been inventoried. In this text, 288 species are listed under 31 genera, 27 deciduous and 4 coniferous. This partial inventory was made for the Northern Hemisphere and different climates, ranging from the tropical zone to the cold temperate zone. To be included a species had to satisfy the following conditions: ease of established and rapid juvenile growth. The list of species and cultivars is given in alphabetical order. 55 references.

Architecture and Functionality of the Advanced Life Support On-Line Project Information System

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, John A.; Levri, Julie A.; Morrow, Rich; Cavazzoni, Jim; Rodriguez, Luis F.; Riano, Rebecca; Whitaker, Dawn R.

2004-01-01

An ongoing effort is underway at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) to develop an On-line Project Information System (OPIS) for the Advanced Life Support (ALS) Program. The objective of this three-year project is to develop, test, revise and deploy OPIS to enhance the quality of decision-making metrics and attainment of Program goals through improved knowledge sharing. OPIS will centrally locate detailed project information solicited from investigators on an annual basis and make it readily accessible by the ALS Community via a Web-accessible interface. The data will be stored in an object-oriented relational database (created in MySQL) located on a secure server at NASA ARC. OPE will simultaneously serve several functions, including being an research and technology development (R&TD) status information hub that can potentially serve as the primary annual reporting mechanism for ALS-funded projects. Using OPIS, ALS managers and element leads will be able to carry out informed R&TD investment decisions, and allow analysts to perform accurate systems evaluations. Additionally, the range and specificity of information solicited will serve to educate technology developers of programmatic needs. OPIS will collect comprehensive information from all ALS projects as well as highly detailed information specific to technology development in each ALS area (Waste, Water, Air, Biomass, Food, Thermal, Controls and Systems Analysis). Because the scope of needed information can vary dramatically between areas, element-specific technology information is being compiled with the aid of multiple specialized working groups. This paper presents the current development status in terms of the architecture and functionality of OPIS. Possible implementation approaches for OPIS are also discussed.

Modulation of Immune Functions by Foods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuichi Kaminogawa

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Evidence is rapidly accumulating as to the beneficial effects of foods. However, it is not always clear whether the information is based on data evaluated impartially in a scientific fashion. Human research into whether foods modulate immune functions in either intervention studies or randomized controlled trials can be classified into three categories according to the physical state of subjects enrolled for investigation: (i studies examining the effect of foods in healthy individuals; (ii studies analyzing the effect of foods on patients with hypersensitivity; and (iii studies checking the effect of foods on immunocompromized subjects, including patients who had undergone surgical resection of cancer and newborns. The systematization of reported studies has made it reasonable to conclude that foods are able to modulate immune functions manifesting as either innate immunity (phagocytic activity, NK cell activity or acquired immunity (T cell response, antibody production. Moreover, improvement of immune functions by foods can normalize the physical state of allergic patients or cancer patients, and may reduce the risk of diseases in healthy individuals. Therefore, it is valuable to assess the immune-modulating abilities of foods by measuring at least one parameter of either innate or acquired immunity.

Excitation functions for some Ne induced reactions with Holmium: incomplete fusion vs complete fusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agarwal, Avinash; Kumar, Munish; Sharma, Anjali; Rizvi, I.A.; Ahamad, Tauseef; Ghugre, S.S.; Sinha, A.K.; Chaubey, A.K.

2010-01-01

Reactions induced by 20 Ne are expected to be considerably more complex than those of 12 C, and 16 O. As a part of the ongoing program to understand CF and ICF reaction mechanisms, it is of great interest to see whether the same experimental technique yield similarly valuable information for 20 Ne induced reactions. In this present work an attempt has been made to measure the excitation functions for fifteen evaporation residues (ERs) identified in the interaction of 20 Ne + 165 Ho system in the energy range 4 -7 MeV/A

Techniques of collecting, controling and analyzing information about functioning LAN JINET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazepa, E.Yu.; Parsadanyan, N.G.; Fariseev, V.Ya.; Modebadze, Z.S.

1992-01-01

The brief description of programming capability for controling and analyzing information about functioning LAN JINET is presented. Operating in the menu mode an administrator and engineer of JINET are consider a network temprorary state, tracing map of token and statistic of commands, used by users of the network. 5 refs.; 10 figs

Valuable books from the library of Paul Gore (Identification and/or inventory of sources

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Maria Danilov

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Paul Gore (1875-1927 - an outstanding figure of the socio-political, scientific and cultural life of Bessarabia at the beginning of 20th century, was also known among his contemporaries as a keen collector of old and rare books. Undoubtedly, the most valuable part of the library of Paul Gore consisted of books on the history of Bessarabia. Documents from the National Archives of the Republic of Moldova in Chişinău confirm that he inherited a large part of books from his father Gheorghe Gore (1839-1909. A study of the Paul Gore Fund at the National Archives of Romania in Bucharest gave us a lot of documentary evidence of the destiny of this Bessarabian noble library, which later became a property of the King Ferdinand Fund. However, the fate of its most valuable part - books on the history of Bessarabia, consisted of 651 units of the total number of 6456 volumes - is still unknown.

FORMING OF FUNCTIONAL MAINTENANCE OF INFORMATIVE SYSTEM PLANNING OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHES IN NAPN OF UKRAINE

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Tetyana V. Kuznetsova

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Relevance of the material stated in article is caused by urgent needs of society in creation of administrative information systems, in particular Information system of planning of scientific researches in National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine on Internet basis (ІС "Planning". Information and technological support of processes of planning of scientific researches which are carried out in scientific institutions of NAPS of Ukraine is the purpose of creation of this system. The parameters of the functional maintenance of the informative system are pointed in the article, technology of treatment of documents on planning of scientific researches, scheme of routes of working of separate documents, and proper diagrams of their business-processes, on the basis of which using programmatic facilities of Microsoft Sharepoint the functions of programming are automatized, is examined.

Canola/rapeseed protein-functionality and nutrition

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Wanasundara Janitha P.D.

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Protein rich meal is a valuable co-product of canola/rapeseed oil extraction. Seed storage proteins that include cruciferin (11S and napin (2S dominate the protein complement of canola while oleosins, lipid transfer proteins and other minor proteins of non-storage nature are also found. Although oil-free canola meal contains 36–40% protein on a dry weight basis, non-protein components including fibre, polymeric phenolics, phytates and sinapine, etc. of the seed coat and cellular components make protein less suitable for food use. Separation of canola protein from non-protein components is a technical challenge but necessary to obtain full nutritional and functional potential of protein. Process conditions of raw material and protein preparation are critical of nutritional and functional value of the final protein product. The storage proteins of canola can satisfy many nutritional and functional requirements for food applications. Protein macromolecules of canola also provide functionalities required in applications beyond edible uses; there exists substantial potential as a source of plant protein and a renewable biopolymer. Available information at present is mostly based on the protein products that can be obtained as mixtures of storage protein types and other chemical constituents of the seed; therefore, full potential of canola storage proteins is yet to be revealed.

Episodic Memory Retrieval Functionally Relies on Very Rapid Reactivation of Sensory Information.

Science.gov (United States)

Waldhauser, Gerd T; Braun, Verena; Hanslmayr, Simon

2016-01-06

Episodic memory retrieval is assumed to rely on the rapid reactivation of sensory information that was present during encoding, a process termed "ecphory." We investigated the functional relevance of this scarcely understood process in two experiments in human participants. We presented stimuli to the left or right of fixation at encoding, followed by an episodic memory test with centrally presented retrieval cues. This allowed us to track the reactivation of lateralized sensory memory traces during retrieval. Successful episodic retrieval led to a very early (∼100-200 ms) reactivation of lateralized alpha/beta (10-25 Hz) electroencephalographic (EEG) power decreases in the visual cortex contralateral to the visual field at encoding. Applying rhythmic transcranial magnetic stimulation to interfere with early retrieval processing in the visual cortex led to decreased episodic memory performance specifically for items encoded in the visual field contralateral to the site of stimulation. These results demonstrate, for the first time, that episodic memory functionally relies on very rapid reactivation of sensory information. Remembering personal experiences requires a "mental time travel" to revisit sensory information perceived in the past. This process is typically described as a controlled, relatively slow process. However, by using electroencephalography to measure neural activity with a high time resolution, we show that such episodic retrieval entails a very rapid reactivation of sensory brain areas. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation to alter brain function during retrieval revealed that this early sensory reactivation is causally relevant for conscious remembering. These results give first neural evidence for a functional, preconscious component of episodic remembering. This provides new insight into the nature of human memory and may help in the understanding of psychiatric conditions that involve the automatic intrusion of unwanted memories. Copyright

Location On Natural Valuable Areas As A Condition For The Development Of Enterprises Based On The Use Of Natural Resources – The Lublin Voivodeship (Poland

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Zwolińska-Ligaj Magdalena

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study is to identify opportunities and constraints of the development of companies whose business is based on the exploitation of natural resources resulting from their location in areas of natural value. The study area consisted of 40 municipalities. Five companies were selected for the study in each municipality. The study used the method of diagnostic survey using a questionnaire interview. The results obtained give rise to a finding that economic activity based on the use of local natural resources, taking into account the need to protect the natural environment, is a legitimate direction and an opportunity for the development of local economies of areas of natural value. However, given the limitations of economic activities in natural valuable areas, it requires support, mainly with information and finance. The most important limitations of economic activities in natural valuable areas include the lack of preferential financial instruments, difficulties of the investment process and the lack of financial compensation for profits lost due to the location.

Sea Buckthorn Oil—A Valuable Source for Cosmeceuticals

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Marijana Koskovac

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L., Elaeagnaceae. is a thorny shrub that has small, yellow to dark orange, soft, juicy berries. Due to hydrophilic and lipophilic ingredients, berries have been used as food and medicine. Sea buckthorn (SB oil derived from berries is a source of valuable ingredients for cosmeceuticals. The unique combination of SB oil ingredients, in qualitative and quantitative aspects, provides multiple benefits of SB oil for internal and external use. Externally, SB oil can be applied in both healthy and damaged skin (burns or skin damage of different etiology, as it has good wound healing properties. Due to the well-balanced content of fatty acids, carotenoids, and vitamins, SB oil may be incorporated in cosmeceuticals for dry, flaky, burned, irritated, or rapidly ageing skin. There have been more than 100 ingredients identified in SB oil, some of which are rare in the plant kingdom (e.g., the ratio of palmitoleic to γ-linolenic acid. This review discusses facts related to the origin and properties of SB oil that make it suitable for cosmeceutical formulation.

Use of prosody and information structure in high functioning adults with Autism in relation to language ability

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Anne-Marie R DePape

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abnormal prosody is a striking feature of the speech of those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD, but previous reports suggest large variability among those with ASD. Here we show that part of this heterogeneity can be explained by level of language functioning. We recorded semi-spontaneous but controlled conversations in adults with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder and measured features related to pitch and duration to determine (1 general use of prosodic features, (2 prosodic use in relation to marking information structure, specifically, the emphasis of new information in a sentence (focus as opposed to information already given in the conversational context (topic, and (3 the relation between prosodic use and level of language function. We found that, compared to typical adults, those with ASD with high language functioning generally used a larger pitch range than controls but did not mark information structure, whereas those with moderate language functioning generally used a smaller pitch range than controls but marked information structure appropriately to a large extent. Both impaired general prosodic use and impaired marking of information structure would be expected to seriously impact social communication and thereby lead to increased difficulty in personal domains, such as making and keeping friendships, and in professional domains, such as competing for employment opportunities.

Validation analysis of informant's ratings of cognitive function in African Americans and Nigerians

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Jianzhao; Gao, Sujuan; Unverzagt, Frederick W.; Ogunniyi, Adesola; Baiyewu, Olusegun; Gureje, Oye; Hendrie, Hugh C.; Hall, Kathleen S.

2011-01-01

SUMMARY Objectives To examine informant validity using the Community Screening Interview for Dementia (CSI ‘D’) both cross-sectionally and longitudinally in two very different cultures and to explore the effects of informants and study participants’ characteristics on the validity of informants’ reports. Methods Elderly African Americans age 65 years and older residing in Indianapolis, USA and elderly Yoruba Nigerians age 65 years and older residing in Ibadan, Nigeria were assessed on cognitive functioning using the CSI ‘D’ at baseline (1992–1993) and five-year follow-up (1997–1998). At baseline, the informant validity in both samples was evaluated against participants’ cognitive tests using Pearson correlation and regular regression models. At follow-up, informants ratings on cognitive decline were assessed against participants’ cognitive decline scores from baseline to follow-up using biserial correlation and logistic regressions. Results At baseline, informants’ reports on cognitive functioning significantly correlated with cognitive scores in both samples (Indianapolis:r = –0.43, p Yoruba Nigerians. At follow-up, informants’ ratings on cognitive decline significantly correlated with the cognitive decline scores (Indianapolis r = 0.38, p cultures, languages and environments. PMID:16802282

The Acoustic Structure and Information Content of Female Koala Vocal Signals

Science.gov (United States)

Charlton, Benjamin D.

2015-01-01

Determining the information content of animal vocalisations can give valuable insights into the potential functions of vocal signals. The source-filter theory of vocal production allows researchers to examine the information content of mammal vocalisations by linking variation in acoustic features with variation in relevant physical characteristics of the caller. Here I used a source-filter theory approach to classify female koala vocalisations into different call-types, and determine which acoustic features have the potential to convey important information about the caller to other conspecifics. A two-step cluster analysis classified female calls into bellows, snarls and tonal rejection calls. Additional results revealed that female koala vocalisations differed in their potential to provide information about a given caller’s phenotype that may be of importance to receivers. Female snarls did not contain reliable acoustic cues to the caller’s identity and age. In contrast, female bellows and tonal rejection calls were individually distinctive, and the tonal rejection calls of older female koalas had consistently lower mean, minimum and maximum fundamental frequency. In addition, female bellows were significantly shorter in duration and had higher fundamental frequency, formant frequencies, and formant frequency spacing than male bellows. These results indicate that female koala vocalisations have the potential to signal the caller’s identity, age and sex. I go on to discuss the anatomical basis for these findings, and consider the possible functional relevance of signalling this type of information in the koala’s natural habitat. PMID:26465340

Functional Magnetic Resonance in the Evaluation of Oesophageal Motility Disorders

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Francesco Covotta

2011-01-01

Our aim is to assess the role of fMRI as a technique to assess morphological and functional parameters of the esophagus in patients with esophageal motor disorders and in healthy controls. Subsequently, we assessed the diagnostic efficiency of fMRI in comparison to videofluoroscopic and manometric findings in the investigation of patients with esophageal motor disorders. Considering that fMRI was shown to offer valuable information on bolus transit and on the caliber of the esophagus, variations of these two parameters in the different types of esophageal motor alterations have been assessed. fMRI, compared to manometry and videofluoroscopy, showed that a deranged or absent peristalsis is significantly associated with slower transit time and with increased esophageal diameter. Although further studies are needed, fMRI represents a promising noninvasive technique for the integrated functional and morphological evaluation of esophageal motility disorders.

Using Cultural Modeling to Inform a NEDSS-Compatible System Functionality Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Olympia; Torres-Urquidy, Miguel

2013-01-01

Objective The culture by which public health professionals work defines their organizational objectives, expectations, policies, and values. These aspects of culture are often intangible and difficult to qualify. The introduction of an information system could further complicate the culture of a jurisdiction if the intangibles of a culture are not clearly understood. This report describes how cultural modeling can be used to capture intangible elements or factors that may affect NEDSS-compatible (NC) system functionalities within the culture of public health jurisdictions. Introduction The National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS) comprises many activities including collaborations, processes, standards, and systems which support gathering data from US states and territories. As part of NNDSS, the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS) provides the standards, tools, and resources to support reporting public health jurisdictions (jurisdictions). The NEDSS Base System (NBS) is a CDC-developed, software application available to jurisdictions to collect, manage, analyze and report national notifiable disease (NND) data. An evaluation of NEDSS with the objective of identifying the functionalities of NC systems and the impact of these features on the user’s culture is underway. Methods We used cultural models to capture additional NC system functionality gaps within the culture of the user. Cultural modeling is a process of graphically depicting people and organizations referred to as influencers and the intangible factors that affect the user’s operations or work as influences. Influencers are denoted as bubbles while influences are depicted as arrows penetrating the bubbles. In the cultural model, influence can be seen by the size and proximity (or lack of) in the model. We restricted the models to secondary data sources and interviews of CDC programs (data users) and public health jurisdictions (data reporters). Results Three cultural

Rice husk ash – A valuable reinforcement for high density polyethylene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ayswarya, E.P.; Vidya Francis, K.F.; Renju, V.S.; Thachil, Eby Thomas

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► RHA is formed from the incineration of rice husk. ► RHA is mainly a mixture of silica with various metallic compounds. ► RHA is a valuable reinforcing material for HDPE. ► RHA can be incorporated into HDPE by the melt blending process. ► The best mechanical properties are observed at 1.5% RHA and 15% compatibilizer. -- Abstract: This paper presents the results of a study on the use of rice husk ash (RHA) for property modification of high density polyethylene (HDPE). Rice husk is a waste product of the rice processing industry. It is used widely as a fuel which results in large quantities of RHA. Here, the characterization of RHA has been done with the help of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICPAES), light scattering based particle size analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Most reports suggest that RHA when blended directly with polymers without polar groups does not improve the properties of the polymer substantially. In this study RHA is blended with HDPE in the presence of a compatibilizer. The compatibilized HDPE-RHA blend has a tensile strength about 18% higher than that of virgin HDPE. The elongation-at-break is also higher for the compatibilized blend. TGA studies reveal that uncompatibilized as well as compatibilized HDPE-RHA composites have excellent thermal stability. The results prove that RHA is a valuable reinforcing material for HDPE and the environmental pollution arising from RHA can be eliminated in a profitable way by this technique.

A Study of Personal Information Management Strategies for Online Faculty

Science.gov (United States)

Kearns, Lorna R.; Frey, Barbara A.; Tomer, Christinger; Alman, Susan

2014-01-01

The literature suggests that personal information management is a serious challenge for many computer users. Online faculty are especially challenged because of the large number of electronic files necessitated by teaching online. Those who have experience in this environment may offer valuable insights regarding information management challenges…

Microtubules provide directional information for core PCP function

Science.gov (United States)

Matis, Maja; Russler-Germain, David A; Hu, Qie; Tomlin, Claire J; Axelrod, Jeffrey D

2014-01-01

Planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling controls the polarization of cells within the plane of an epithelium. Two molecular modules composed of Fat(Ft)/Dachsous(Ds)/Four-jointed(Fj) and a ‘PCP-core’ including Frizzled(Fz) and Dishevelled(Dsh) contribute to polarization of individual cells. How polarity is globally coordinated with tissue axes is unresolved. Consistent with previous results, we find that the Ft/Ds/Fj-module has an effect on a MT-cytoskeleton. Here, we provide evidence for the model that the Ft/Ds/Fj-module provides directional information to the core-module through this MT organizing function. We show Ft/Ds/Fj-dependent initial polarization of the apical MT-cytoskeleton prior to global alignment of the core-module, reveal that the anchoring of apical non-centrosomal MTs at apical junctions is polarized, observe that directional trafficking of vesicles containing Dsh depends on Ft, and demonstrate the feasibility of this model by mathematical simulation. Together, these results support the hypothesis that Ft/Ds/Fj provides a signal to orient core PCP function via MT polarization. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02893.001 PMID:25124458

Triplet Excited States as a Source of Relevant (Bio)Chemical Information

OpenAIRE

Jiménez Molero, María Consuelo; Miranda Alonso, Miguel Ángel

2014-01-01

The properties of triplet excited states are markedly medium-dependent, which turns this species into valuable tools for investigating the microenvironments existing in protein binding pockets. Monitoring of the triplet excited state behavior of drugs within transport proteins (serum albumins and alpha(1)-acid glycoproteins) by laser flash photolysis constitutes a valuable source of information on the strength of interaction, conformational freedom and protection from oxygen or other external...

Protecting information on local area networks

CERN Document Server

Schweitzer, James A

1988-01-01

Protecting Information on Local Area Networks presents the various types of networks and explains why they are being expanded at such a rapid pace. This book considers how management can gain control of the valuable network-services information resources generally available.Organized into three parts encompassing seven chapters, this book begins with an overview of the various networks and their operations. This text then discusses the appropriate management actions to ensure some control over the use of networks and the business information resource. Other chapters consider the management rat

The Economic Value of Personal Information and Policy Implication

OpenAIRE

Kim, Jiin; Nam, Changi; Kim, Seongcheol

2015-01-01

Personal information is essential in an information-oriented society for societal development and as a valuable business resource. However, because of poor management and a lack of proper protection, leakage of personal information can take place over time, and the standard for compensation is not well established. In order to establish appropriate policies for its protection, we need to know the economic value of personal information. Using conjoint analysis, we analyze the potential value o...

Architecture and Functionality of the Advanced Life Support On-Line Project Information System (OPIS)

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, John A.; Levri, Julie A.; Morrow, Rich; Cavazzoni, Jim; Rodriquez, Luis F.; Riano, Rebecca; Whitaker, Dawn R.

2004-01-01

An ongoing effort is underway at NASA Amcs Research Center (ARC) tu develop an On-line Project Information System (OPIS) for the Advanced Life Support (ALS) Program. The objective of this three-year project is to develop, test, revise and deploy OPIS to enhance the quality of decision-making metrics and attainment of Program goals through improved knowledge sharing. OPIS will centrally locate detailed project information solicited from investigators on an annual basis and make it readily accessible by the ALS Community via a web-accessible interface. The data will be stored in an object-oriented relational database (created in MySQL(Trademark) located on a secure server at NASA ARC. OPE will simultaneously serve several functions, including being an R&TD status information hub that can potentially serve as the primary annual reporting mechanism. Using OPIS, ALS managers and element leads will be able to carry out informed research and technology development investment decisions, and allow analysts to perform accurate systems evaluations. Additionally, the range and specificity of information solicited will serve to educate technology developers of programmatic needs. OPIS will collect comprehensive information from all ALS projects as well as highly detailed information specific to technology development in each ALS area (Waste, Water, Air, Biomass, Food, Thermal, and Control). Because the scope of needed information can vary dramatically between areas, element-specific technology information is being compiled with the aid of multiple specialized working groups. This paper presents the current development status in terms of the architecture and functionality of OPIS. Possible implementation approaches for OPIS are also discussed.

Information search with situation-specific reward functions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bjorn Meder

2012-03-01

Full Text Available can strongly conflict with the goal of obtaining information for improving payoffs. Two environments with such a conflict were identified through computer optimization. Three subsequent experiments investigated people's search behavior in these environments. Experiments 1 and 2 used a multiple-cue probabilistic category-learning task to convey environmental probabilities. In a subsequent search task subjects could query only a single feature before making a classification decision. The crucial manipulation concerned the search-task reward structure. The payoffs corresponded either to accuracy, with equal rewards associated with the two categories, or to an asymmetric payoff function, with different rewards associated with each category. In Experiment 1, in which learning-task feedback corresponded to the true category, people later preferentially searched the accuracy-maximizing feature, whether or not this would improve monetary rewards. In Experiment 2, an asymmetric reward structure was used during learning. Subjects searched the reward-maximizing feature when asymmetric payoffs were preserved in the search task. However, if search-task payoffs corresponded to accuracy, subjects preferentially searched a feature that was suboptimal for reward and accuracy alike. Importantly, this feature would have been most useful, under the learning-task payoff structure. Experiment 3 found that, if words and numbers are used to convey environmental probabilities, neither reward nor accuracy consistently predicts search. These findings emphasize the necessity of taking into account people's goals and search-and-decision processes during learning, thereby challenging current models of information search.

Dual Kidney Transplantation Offers a Valuable Source for Kidneys With Good Functional Outcome.

Science.gov (United States)

Khalid, U; Asderakis, A; Rana, T; Szabo, L; Chavez, R; Ilham, M A; Ablorsu, E

2016-01-01

Reasons for declining kidney donors are older age, with or without, hypertension, kidney dysfunction, and diabetes. Implantation of both kidneys into a single recipient from such donors may improve their acceptability and outcome. Patients who underwent dual kidney transplantation (DKT) between June 2010 and May 2014 were identified from a prospectively maintained database. Single kidney transplantations (SKT) with matching donor criteria were also identified. Donors considered for DKT were the following: DBDs >70 years of age with diabetes and/or hypertension; DCDs >65 years of age with diabetes and/or hypertension; and DCDs >70 years of age. Over a 4-year period, 34 patients underwent adult DKT, and 51, with matching donor criteria, underwent SKT. The median estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at 12 and 36 months of DKT was 49 (range, 5-79) and 42 (range, 15-85) mL/min compared with SKT of 35 (range, 10-65) and 32 (range, 6-65), respectively. The 1-year graft survival for DKT and SKT was 88% and 96% (P = .52), and patient survival was 94% and 98%, respectively (P = .12). Median hospital stay, intensive care unit admission, and wound complications were more frequent in the DKT group. Graft function following DKT is significantly better compared with matched criteria SKT; graft and patient survival are similar. There is an increased rate of complications following DKT, with longer hospital stay and ICU admission. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Stroop performance in multiple sclerosis: information processing, selective attention, or executive functioning?

Science.gov (United States)

Macniven, J A B; Davis, C; Ho, M-Y; Bradshaw, C M; Szabadi, E; Constantinescu, C S

2008-09-01

Cognitive impairments in information processing speed, attention and executive functioning are widely reported in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Several studies have identified impaired performance on the Stroop test in people with MS, yet uncertainty remains over the cause of this phenomenon. In this study, 25 patients with MS were assessed with a neuropsychological test battery including a computerized Stroop test and a computerized test of information processing speed, the Graded Conditional Discrimination Tasks (GCDT). The patient group was compared with an individually age, sex and estimated premorbid IQ-matched healthy control group. The patients' reaction times (RTs) were significantly longer than those of the controls on all Stroop test trials and there was a significantly enhanced absolute (RT(incongruent)-RT(neutral)) and relative (100 x [RT(incongruent)-RT(neutral)]/RT(neutral)) Stroop interference effect for the MS group. The linear function relating RT to stimulus complexity in the GCDT was significantly steeper in the patient group, indicating slowed information processing. The results are discussed with reference to the difference engine model, a theory of diversity in speeded cognition. It is concluded that, in the assessment of people with MS, great caution must be used in the interpretation of performance on neuropsychological tests which rely on RT as the primary measure.

A data fusion environment for multimodal and multi-informational neuronavigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Jannin, P; Fleig, O J; Seigneuret, E; Grova, C; Morandi, X; Scarabin, J M

2000-01-01

, finally, MEG and fMRI functional information helped determine the position of functional high-risk areas. In this short evaluation, the ability to access preoperative multi-functional and anatomical data within the neuronavigation system was a valuable support for the surgical procedure. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Polarity-specific high-level information propagation in neural networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Yen-Nan; Chang, Po-Yen; Hsiao, Pao-Yueh; Lo, Chung-Chuan

2014-01-01

Analyzing the connectome of a nervous system provides valuable information about the functions of its subsystems. Although much has been learned about the architectures of neural networks in various organisms by applying analytical tools developed for general networks, two distinct and functionally important properties of neural networks are often overlooked. First, neural networks are endowed with polarity at the circuit level: Information enters a neural network at input neurons, propagates through interneurons, and leaves via output neurons. Second, many functions of nervous systems are implemented by signal propagation through high-level pathways involving multiple and often recurrent connections rather than by the shortest paths between nodes. In the present study, we analyzed two neural networks: the somatic nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) and the partial central complex network of Drosophila, in light of these properties. Specifically, we quantified high-level propagation in the vertical and horizontal directions: the former characterizes how signals propagate from specific input nodes to specific output nodes and the latter characterizes how a signal from a specific input node is shared by all output nodes. We found that the two neural networks are characterized by very efficient vertical and horizontal propagation. In comparison, classic small-world networks show a trade-off between vertical and horizontal propagation; increasing the rewiring probability improves the efficiency of horizontal propagation but worsens the efficiency of vertical propagation. Our result provides insights into how the complex functions of natural neural networks may arise from a design that allows them to efficiently transform and combine input signals.

Function-Oriented Mobile Malware Analysis as First Aid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jae-wook Jang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, highly well-crafted mobile malware has arisen as mobile devices manage highly valuable and sensitive information. Currently, it is impossible to detect and prevent all malware because the amount of new malware continues to increase exponentially; malware detection methods need to improve in order to respond quickly and effectively to malware. For the quick response, revealing the main purpose or functions of captured malware is important; however, only few recent works have attempted to find malware’s main purpose. Our approach is designed to help with efficient and effective incident responses or countermeasure development by analyzing the main functions of malicious behavior. In this paper, we propose a novel method for function-oriented malware analysis approach based on analysis of suspicious API call patterns. Instead of extracting API call patterns for malware in each family, we focus on extracting such patterns for certain malicious functionalities. Our proposed method dumps memory sections where an application is allocated and extracts suspicious API sequences from bytecode by comparing with predefined suspicious API lists. By matching API call patterns with our functionality database, our method determines whether they are malicious. The experiment results demonstrate that our method performs well in detecting malware with high accuracy.

THE SYNTHESIS AND ANALYSIS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OF INTERACTIVE REGULATIONS FUNCTIONAL MODELS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Владимир Александрович ТИМОФЕЕВ

2016-02-01

Full Text Available A person has no ability to capture entirely and to estimate correctly the logical coherence and consistency of Regulations in the Text Form. It leads to mistakes in a work of an Enterprise Staff and to the impossibility of mastering of the Regulations with considerable volume. Presented Information Technology allows the Regulations Executor to receive on-line proper information of the Optimum Actions in any possible Situation, which can arise in the course of the work. Leading Experts of any Enterprise may create the full-fledged Expert System by themselves with the help of Specialized Software. Such a System will contain the knowledge in the Functional Model of Regulations (the Optimum Business Process. Stages of realization of the represented Information Technology and the peculiarities of on-line data displaying for the Regulations Executor are illustrated by the Pharmacy Customer Service Regulations.

Does information about others’ behavior undermine cooperation in social dilemmas?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Parks, Craig D.; Xu, Xiaojing; Van Lange, Paul A.M.

2017-01-01

This project addresses how and why behavior in a resource dilemma differs when one only knows the choices of others versus only knows the state of the resource. Study 1 suggested that resource information is more valuable than social information, in that if the resource can be monitored, whether or

Towards architectural information in implementation (NIER track)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Henrik Bærbak; Hansen, Klaus Marius

2011-01-01

in a fast-faced agile project. We propose to embed as much architectural information as possible in the central artefact of the agile universe, the code. We argue that thereby valuable architectural information is retained for (automatic) documentation, validation, and further analysis, based......Agile development methods favor speed and feature producing iterations. Software architecture, on the other hand, is ripe with techniques that are slow and not oriented directly towards implementation of costumers’ needs. Thus, there is a major challenge in retaining architectural information...

Value-Based Caching in Information-Centric Wireless Body Area Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fadi M. Al-Turjman

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We propose a resilient cache replacement approach based on a Value of sensed Information (VoI policy. To resolve and fetch content when the origin is not available due to isolated in-network nodes (fragmentation and harsh operational conditions, we exploit a content caching approach. Our approach depends on four functional parameters in sensory Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs. These four parameters are: age of data based on periodic request, popularity of on-demand requests, communication interference cost, and the duration for which the sensor node is required to operate in active mode to capture the sensed readings. These parameters are considered together to assign a value to the cached data to retain the most valuable information in the cache for prolonged time periods. The higher the value, the longer the duration for which the data will be retained in the cache. This caching strategy provides significant availability for most valuable and difficult to retrieve data in the WBANs. Extensive simulations are performed to compare the proposed scheme against other significant caching schemes in the literature while varying critical aspects in WBANs (e.g., data popularity, cache size, publisher load, connectivity-degree, and severe probabilities of node failures. These simulation results indicate that the proposed VoI-based approach is a valid tool for the retrieval of cached content in disruptive and challenging scenarios, such as the one experienced in WBANs, since it allows the retrieval of content for a long period even while experiencing severe in-network node failures.

A cautionary note on the use of information fit indexes in covariance structure modeling with means

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wicherts, J.M.; Dolan, C.V.

2004-01-01

Information fit indexes such as Akaike Information Criterion, Consistent Akaike Information Criterion, Bayesian Information Criterion, and the expected cross validation index can be valuable in assessing the relative fit of structural equation models that differ regarding restrictiveness. In cases

Phylogenetically informed logic relationships improve detection of biological network organization

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background A "phylogenetic profile" refers to the presence or absence of a gene across a set of organisms, and it has been proven valuable for understanding gene functional relationships and network organization. Despite this success, few studies have attempted to search beyond just pairwise relationships among genes. Here we search for logic relationships involving three genes, and explore its potential application in gene network analyses. Results Taking advantage of a phylogenetic matrix constructed from the large orthologs database Roundup, we invented a method to create balanced profiles for individual triplets of genes that guarantee equal weight on the different phylogenetic scenarios of coevolution between genes. When we applied this idea to LAPP, the method to search for logic triplets of genes, the balanced profiles resulted in significant performance improvement and the discovery of hundreds of thousands more putative triplets than unadjusted profiles. We found that logic triplets detected biological network organization and identified key proteins and their functions, ranging from neighbouring proteins in local pathways, to well separated proteins in the whole pathway, and to the interactions among different pathways at the system level. Finally, our case study suggested that the directionality in a logic relationship and the profile of a triplet could disclose the connectivity between the triplet and surrounding networks. Conclusion Balanced profiles are superior to the raw profiles employed by traditional methods of phylogenetic profiling in searching for high order gene sets. Gene triplets can provide valuable information in detection of biological network organization and identification of key genes at different levels of cellular interaction. PMID:22172058

The Inefficient Use of Macroeconomic Information in Analysts' Earnings Forecasts in Emerging Markets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

G.J. de Zwart (Gerben); D.J.C. van Dijk (Dick)

2008-01-01

textabstractThis paper presents empirical evidence that security analysts do not efficiently use publicly available macroeconomic information in their earnings forecasts for emerging market stocks. Analysts completely ignore forecasts on political stability, while these provide valuable information

Concept of an integrated waste economy represented on the example of recycling of valuable materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wender, H

1980-08-01

The historical development of waste elimination is discussed, followed by the waste problem in an environmental discussion, the possibilities of recycling within the framework of a waste industry, and the solution of the waste problem from a waste-economy viewpoint, including the definition of 'waste' and the grouping by types of waste, their amounts and increase rates, composition and valuable materials in community wastes with a review of waste technologies under waste-economy viewpoints. This is followed by a discussion of the sales possibilities for valuable components from mechanical sorting facilities, including used paper, old glass, hard substances, metals, plastics, succeeded by a comparative evaluation method, and the national economy aspect of the waste industry, with the savings effect in raw materials for different branches, effects on raw material reserves, the problem of dependence on imports, waste rates and living standard, and the importance of environmental instruments which are discussed in detail.

Insect symbionts as valuable grist for the biotechnological mill: an alkaliphilic silkworm gut bacterium for efficient lactic acid production.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Xili; Sun, Chao; Chen, Bosheng; Du, Kaiqian; Yu, Ting; Luang-In, Vijitra; Lu, Xingmeng; Shao, Yongqi

2018-04-07

Insects constitute the most abundant and diverse animal class and act as hosts to an extraordinary variety of symbiotic microorganisms. These microbes living inside the insects play critical roles in host biology and are also valuable bioresources. Enterococcus mundtii EMB156, isolated from the larval gut (gut pH >10) of the model organism Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae), efficiently produces lactic acid, an important metabolite for industrial production of bioplastic materials. E. mundtii EMB156 grows well under alkaline conditions and stably converts various carbon sources into lactic acid, offering advantages in downstream fermentative processes. High-yield lactic acid production can be achieved by the strain EMB156 from renewable biomass substrates under alkaline pretreatments. Single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing technology revealed its 3.01 Mbp whole genome sequence. A total of 2956 protein-coding sequences, 65 tRNA genes, and 6 rRNA operons were predicted in the EMB156 chromosome. Remarkable genomic features responsible for lactic acid fermentation included key enzymes involved in the pentose phosphate (PP)/glycolytic pathway, and an alpha amylase and xylose isomerase were characterized in EMB156. This genomic information coincides with the phenotype of E. mundtii EMB156, reflecting its metabolic flexibility in efficient lactate fermentation, and established a foundation for future biotechnological application. Interestingly, enzyme activities of amylase were quite stable in high-pH broths, indicating a possible mechanism for strong EMB156 growth in an alkaline environment, thereby facilitating lactic acid production. Together, these findings implied that valuable lactic acid-producing bacteria can be discovered efficiently by screening under the extremely alkaline conditions, as exemplified by gut microbial symbionts of Lepidoptera insects.

Identification of Flood Reactivity Regions via the Functional Clustering of Hydrographs

Science.gov (United States)

Brunner, Manuela I.; Viviroli, Daniel; Furrer, Reinhard; Seibert, Jan; Favre, Anne-Catherine

2018-03-01

Flood hydrograph shapes contain valuable information on the flood-generation mechanisms of a catchment. To make good use of this information, we express flood hydrograph shapes as continuous functions using a functional data approach. We propose a clustering approach based on functional data for flood hydrograph shapes to identify a set of representative hydrograph shapes on a catchment scale and use these catchment-specific sets of representative hydrographs to establish regions of catchments with similar flood reactivity on a regional scale. We applied this approach to flood samples of 163 medium-size Swiss catchments. The results indicate that three representative hydrograph shapes sufficiently describe the hydrograph shape variability within a catchment and therefore can be used as a proxy for the flood behavior of a catchment. These catchment-specific sets of three hydrographs were used to group the catchments into three reactivity regions of similar flood behavior. These regions were not only characterized by similar hydrograph shapes and reactivity but also by event magnitudes and triggering event conditions. We envision these regions to be useful in regionalization studies, regional flood frequency analyses, and to allow for the construction of synthetic design hydrographs in ungauged catchments. The clustering approach based on functional data which establish these regions is very flexible and has the potential to be extended to other geographical regions or toward the use in climate impact studies.

A real-time in-memory discovery service leveraging hierarchical packaging information in a unique identifier network to retrieve track and trace information

CERN Document Server

Müller, Jürgen

2014-01-01

This book examines how to efficiently retrieve track and trace information for an item that took a certain path through a complex network of manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers. It includes valuable tips on in-memory data management.

Neural origins of psychosocial functioning impairments in major depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Pulcu, Erdem; Elliott, Rebecca

2015-09-01

Major depressive disorder, a complex neuropsychiatric condition, is associated with psychosocial functioning impairments that could become chronic even after symptoms remit. Social functioning impairments in patients could also pose coping difficulties to individuals around them. In this Personal View, we trace the potential neurobiological origins of these impairments down to three candidate domains-namely, social perception and emotion processing, motivation and reward value processing, and social decision making. We argue that the neural basis of abnormalities in these domains could be detectable at different temporal stages during social interactions (eg, before and after decision stages), particularly within frontomesolimbic networks (ie, frontostriatal and amygdala-striatal circuitries). We review some of the experimental designs used to probe these circuits and suggest novel, integrative approaches. We propose that an understanding of the interactions between these domains could provide valuable insights for the clinical stratification of major depressive disorder subtypes and might inform future developments of novel treatment options in return. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Functional MR imaging of the cervical spine in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allmann, K.H.; Uhl, M.; Uhrmeister, P.; Neumann, K.; Langer, M.; Kempis, J. von

1998-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate functional MR imaging in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) involving the cervical spine. Material and Methods: We used a device that allows MR examination to be made of the cervical spine in infinitely variable degrees of flexion and extension. Dynamic functional MR imaging was performed on 25 patients with RA. Results: Functional MR imaging was able to show the degree of vertebral instability of the occipito-atlantal or atlanto-axial level as well as the subaxial level. By performing functional MR imaging, we were able to demonstrate the extent of synovial tissue around the dens, and the impingement and displacement of the spinal cord during flexion and extension. The basilar impression, the cord impingement into the foramen magnum, the cord compression, the slipping of vertebrae, and the angulation of the cord were all much more evident in functional than in static MR imaging. Conclusion: Functional MR imaging provided additional information in patients with RA, and is valuable in patients who have a normal MR study in the neutral position and yet have signs of a neurological deficit. Functional MR imaging is important in the planning of stabilizing operations of the cervical spine. (orig.)

An information offering system for operation support based on plant functional structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohga, Yukiharu; Seki, Hiroshi

1995-01-01

A plant information offering system was proposed to support operators in their selection and confirmation of the required information for plant operation under transient conditions in nuclear power plants. The system features include an automatic selection method for information and a dialog input method. The former selects plant information in response to plant status changes and operators' demands. The selection is performed based on the knowledge and data as structured by the plant functional structure; i.e. a means-ends abstraction hierarchy model. In the latter, both speech and CRT touch inputs are transformed into words in Japanese to realize an arbitrary input mode combination. The words are analyzed as a sentence before transforming them into a demand for related programs. A prototype system was evaluated using a BWR simulator, assuming abnormal transients such as loss of feedwater. The contents of the offered information were checked based on emergency operation guidelines. It was confirmed that appropriate information items are automatically selected in real time. Answers are generated in reply to the operators' demands. They include information added to reflect the plant conditions. As for dialog, simple and quick input is realized by combining speech and CRT touch according to the operating situation. (author)

HISTORY AND WAYS OF FOUNDATION OF THE FUNDS OF VALUABLE AND RARE LITERATURE OF NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF WATER AND ENVIROMENTAL ENGINEERING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

А. В. Крива

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Fund of valuable and rare literature of the Scientific Library of National University of Water and Environmental Engineering enrols more than four thousand copies. The basis for its acquisition is the principle of general cultural, scientific and aesthetic significance. This fund is completed with all categories and types of national and foreign publications. It is also fulfilled with documents that have gained the status of unique sources and is related to the history of the university, and with directions of the corresponding profile of training of specialists in educational and research institution. According to the chronological principle, the fund of valuable and rare literature includes documents issued before 1945 and earlier. There are bookshops which reflect the history of the development of national and foreign science and technology and are reasonably valuable both for scientists and students. Here can be distinguished: unique book editions; separate courses in technical disciplines; multi-volume collections of scientific works; rare 19th-century textbooks; works of domestic and world classics of science and technology, as well as dictionaries and reference publications. The fund is arranged in a systematic alphabetical system. For the individual account of valuable and rare literature, “Card of rare and valuable documents” is conducted. The composition of the fund, as it receives, is displayed in the electronic catalog of the library. Recently, you can also read publications in the public repository of the educational institution.

MODIS information, data and control system (MIDACS) level 2 functional requirements

Science.gov (United States)

Han, D.; Salomonson, V.; Ormsby, J.; Sharts, B.; Folta, D.; Ardanuy, P.; Mckay, A.; Hoyt, D.; Jaffin, S.; Vallette, B.

1988-01-01

The MODIS Information, Data and Control System (MIDACS) Level 2 Functional Requirements Document establishes the functional requirements for MIDACS and provides a basis for the mutual understanding between the users and the designers of the EosDIS, including the requirements, operating environment, external interfaces, and development plan. In defining the requirements and scope of the system, this document describes how MIDACS will operate as an element of the EOS within the EosDIS environment. This version of the Level 2 Requirements Document follows an earlier release of a preliminary draft version. The sections on functional and performance requirements do not yet fully represent the requirements of the data system needed to achieve the scientific objectives of the MODIS instruments and science teams. Indeed, the team members have not yet been selected and the team has not yet been formed; however, it has been possible to identify many relevant requirements based on the present concept of EosDIS and through interviews and meetings with key members of the scientific community. These requirements have been grouped by functional component of the data system, and by function within each component. These requirements have been merged with the complete set of Level 1 and Level 2 context diagrams, data flow diagrams, and data dictionary.

Information content when mutual funds deviate from benchmarks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H. Jiang (Hao); M.J.C.M. Verbeek (Marno); Y. Wang (Yu)

2014-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ The consensus wisdom of active mutual fund managers, as reflected in their average over-and underweighting decisions, contains valuable information about future stock returns. Analyzing a comprehensive sample of active U.S. equity funds from 1984 to 2008, we find that

Supply Disruptions, Asymmetric Information, and a Backup Production Option

OpenAIRE

Zhibin (Ben) Yang; Göker Ayd{\\i}n; Volodymyr Babich; Damian R. Beil

2009-01-01

We study a manufacturer that faces a supplier privileged with private information about supply disruptions. We investigate how risk-management strategies of the manufacturer change and examine whether risk-management tools are more or less valuable in the presence of such asymmetric information. We model a supply chain with one manufacturer and one supplier, in which the supplier's reliability is either high or low and is the supplier's private information. On disruption, the supplier chooses...

Uncertainty indication in soil function maps - transparent and easy-to-use information to support sustainable use of soil resources

Science.gov (United States)

Greiner, Lucie; Nussbaum, Madlene; Papritz, Andreas; Zimmermann, Stephan; Gubler, Andreas; Grêt-Regamey, Adrienne; Keller, Armin

2018-05-01

Spatial information on soil function fulfillment (SFF) is increasingly being used to inform decision-making in spatial planning programs to support sustainable use of soil resources. Soil function maps visualize soils abilities to fulfill their functions, e.g., regulating water and nutrient flows, providing habitats, and supporting biomass production based on soil properties. Such information must be reliable for informed and transparent decision-making in spatial planning programs. In this study, we add to the transparency of soil function maps by (1) indicating uncertainties arising from the prediction of soil properties generated by digital soil mapping (DSM) that are used for soil function assessment (SFA) and (2) showing the response of different SFA methods to the propagation of uncertainties through the assessment. For a study area of 170 km2 in the Swiss Plateau, we map 10 static soil sub-functions for agricultural soils for a spatial resolution of 20 × 20 m together with their uncertainties. Mapping the 10 soil sub-functions using simple ordinal assessment scales reveals pronounced spatial patterns with a high variability of SFF scores across the region, linked to the inherent properties of the soils and terrain attributes and climate conditions. Uncertainties in soil properties propagated through SFA methods generally lead to substantial uncertainty in the mapped soil sub-functions. We propose two types of uncertainty maps that can be readily understood by stakeholders. Cumulative distribution functions of SFF scores indicate that SFA methods respond differently to the propagated uncertainty of soil properties. Even where methods are comparable on the level of complexity and assessment scale, their comparability in view of uncertainty propagation might be different. We conclude that comparable uncertainty indications in soil function maps are relevant to enable informed and transparent decisions on the sustainable use of soil resources.

Current technologies and new insights for the recovery of high valuable compounds from fruits by-products.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrentino, Giovanna; Asaduzzaman, Md; Scampicchio, Matteo Mario

2018-02-11

The recovery of high valuable compounds from food waste is becoming a tighten issue in food processing. The large amount of non-edible residues produced by food industries causes pollution, difficulties in the management, and economic loss. The waste produced during the transformation of fruits includes a huge amount of materials such as peels, seeds, and bagasse, whose disposal usually represents a problem. Research over the past 20 years revealed that many food wastes could serve as a source of potentially valuable bioactive compounds, such as antioxidants and vitamins with increasing scientific interest thanks to their beneficial effects on human health. The challenge for the recovery of these compounds is to find the most appropriate and environment friendly extraction technique able to achieve the maximum extraction yield without compromising the stability of the extracted products. Based on this scenario, the aim of the current review is twofold. The first is to give a brief overview of the most important bioactive compounds occurring in fruit wastes. The second is to describe the pro and cons of the most up-to-dated innovative and environment friendly extraction technologies that can be an alternative to the classical solvent extraction procedures for the recovery of valuable compounds from fruit processing. Furthermore, a final section will take into account published findings on the combination of some of these technologies to increase the extracts yields of bioactives.

Functional Suitability Measurement using Goal-Oriented Approach based on ISO/IEC 25010 for Academics Information System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ajeng Savitri Puspaningrum

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Rapid of information technology development grow a new competitive environment. Including higher education, they need to improve their service quality in order to provide education service in more competitive. One of the ways of using information technology in higher education is the used of Academic Information System (AIS. AIS was developed to achieve the goals of the learning process which is one of vision and mission organization success factor. The measurement is needed to evaluate the quality of AIS. Functionality is one of the quality factors which is measured by observing the correlation between function and functional suitability. In this study, the quality of AIS functional suitability is measured using goal-oriented approach base on ISO/IEC 25010 in the perspective of a lecturer. The strategic plan of an institution is used as a reference to measure if the system used to have meet institution goals when using this approach. The result shows that the measurement using goal-oriented approach become more objective and suitable to the need of used AIS quality improvement for the institution than the measurement with ISO/IEC 25010 only.

Hash functions and information theoretic security

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bagheri, Nasoor; Knudsen, Lars Ramkilde; Naderi, Majid

2009-01-01

Information theoretic security is an important security notion in cryptography as it provides a true lower bound for attack complexities. However, in practice attacks often have a higher cost than the information theoretic bound. In this paper we study the relationship between information theoretic...

A GIS-based Spatial Decision Support System for environmentally valuable areas in the context of sustainable development of Poland

Science.gov (United States)

Kubacka, Marta

2013-04-01

actions consisting mainly in the agricultural economy. Versatile relief, diversified geological formations as well as the depth of depositing ground water and the risk of flooding have impact on diversified possibilities of the land use. Intensive agricultural economy at large field area and forestry constitute the major human activity at the area of the Park. The criteria which may be in the form of factors (e.g. soil with much agricultural suitability or very low slopes) or limitations (e.g. soils with little agricultural suitability, forest areas in close vicinity of water bodies) constitute the grounds for taking a decision on determining the areas for agricultural economy. The thesis presents the possibilities which Geographic Information Systems provide at the stage of taking spatial decisions at environmentally valuable areas. The pressure on environmentally valuable areas is growing all over the world and it may be assumed that spatial conflicts between the development of agricultural areas and the natural environment will intensify. Spatial planning is the best possibilities of reducing and mitigating this pressure. This process should take into consideration the provisions of the European Landscape Convention which is the basic instrument for landscape preservation and nature protection.

Wigner functions for the pair angle and orbital angular momentum. Possible applications in quantum information theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kastrup, H.A.

2017-01-01

The framework of Wigner functions for the canonical pair angle and orbital angular momentum, derived and analyzed in 2 recent papers [H. A. Kastrup, Phys. Rev. A 94, 062113(2016) and Phys. Rev. A 95, 052111(2017)], is applied to elementary concepts of quantum information like qubits and 2-qubits, e.g., entangled EPR/Bell states etc. Properties of the associated Wigner functions are discussed and illustrated. The results may be useful for quantum information experiments with orbital angular momenta of light beams or electron beams.

Wigner functions for the pair angle and orbital angular momentum. Possible applications in quantum information theories

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kastrup, H.A. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany). Theory Group

2017-10-17

The framework of Wigner functions for the canonical pair angle and orbital angular momentum, derived and analyzed in 2 recent papers [H. A. Kastrup, Phys. Rev. A 94, 062113(2016) and Phys. Rev. A 95, 052111(2017)], is applied to elementary concepts of quantum information like qubits and 2-qubits, e.g., entangled EPR/Bell states etc. Properties of the associated Wigner functions are discussed and illustrated. The results may be useful for quantum information experiments with orbital angular momenta of light beams or electron beams.

Animals as an indicator of carbon sequestration and valuable landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Szyszko

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Possibilities of the assessment of a landscape with the use of succession development stages, monitored with the value of the Mean Individual Biomass (MIB of carabid beetles and the occurrence of bird species are discussed on the basis of an example from Poland. Higher variability of the MIB value in space signifies a greater biodiversity. Apart from the variability of MIB, it is suggested to adopt the occurrence of the following animals as indicators, (in the order of importance, representing underlying valuable landscapes: black stork, lesser spotted eagle, white-tailed eagle, wolf, crane and white stork. The higher number of these species and their greater density indicate a higher value of the landscape for biodiversity and ecosystem services, especially carbon sequestration. All these indicators may be useful to assess measures for sustainable land use.

Information specialist for a coming age (12)

Science.gov (United States)

Iinuma, Mitsuo

Since we entered the advanced information society, information activities infiltrated into every aspect of our life such as economy and daily life. In this circumstances, business management is now going to change in its way and policy. Especially, globalization of business activities and shifting to service business have brought a new aspect into the information activities in the business, which has now become a fundamental activity in business management. The new technology of computer and telecommunication network played a key role, and brought electronic information, which was a new type of management information. The electronic information with intellectual property has become valuable as a new resources to be marketable, as well as by its usefulness as management information. Thus, businesses will have to change their policies concerning information from "managing information" to "managing by information."

Prion protein (PrP) gene-knockout cell lines: insight into functions of the PrP

Science.gov (United States)

Sakudo, Akikazu; Onodera, Takashi

2015-01-01

Elucidation of prion protein (PrP) functions is crucial to fully understand prion diseases. A major approach to studying PrP functions is the use of PrP gene-knockout (Prnp−/−) mice. So far, six types of Prnp−/− mice have been generated, demonstrating the promiscuous functions of PrP. Recently, other PrP family members, such as Doppel and Shadoo, have been found. However, information obtained from comparative studies of structural and functional analyses of these PrP family proteins do not fully reveal PrP functions. Recently, varieties of Prnp−/− cell lines established from Prnp−/− mice have contributed to the analysis of PrP functions. In this mini-review, we focus on Prnp−/− cell lines and summarize currently available Prnp−/− cell lines and their characterizations. In addition, we introduce the recent advances in the methodology of cell line generation with knockout or knockdown of the PrP gene. We also discuss how these cell lines have provided valuable insights into PrP functions and show future perspectives. PMID:25642423

The future of event-level information repositories, indexing, and selection in ATLAS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barberis, D; Cranshaw, J; Malon, D; Gemmeren, P Van; Zhang, Q; Dimitrov, G; Nairz, A; Sorokoletov, R; Doherty, T; Quilty, D; Gallas, E J; Hrivnac, J; Nowak, M

2014-01-01

ATLAS maintains a rich corpus of event-by-event information that provides a global view of the billions of events the collaboration has measured or simulated, along with sufficient auxiliary information to navigate to and retrieve data for any event at any production processing stage. This unique resource has been employed for a range of purposes, from monitoring, statistics, anomaly detection, and integrity checking, to event picking, subset selection, and sample extraction. Recent years of data-taking provide a foundation for assessment of how this resource has and has not been used in practice, of the uses for which it should be optimized, of how it should be deployed and provisioned for scalability to future data volumes, and of the areas in which enhancements to functionality would be most valuable. This paper describes how ATLAS event-level information repositories and selection infrastructure are evolving in light of this experience, and in view of their expected roles both in wide-area event delivery services and in an evolving ATLAS analysis model in which the importance of efficient selective access to data can only grow.

AN ATTEMPT TO DEVELOP AN ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION SYSTEM OF ECOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR EVALUATING FUNCTIONS OF ECOSYSTEM-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION (ECO-DRR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Doko

2016-06-01

Full Text Available “Ecological Infrastructure (EI” are defined as naturally functioning ecosystems that deliver valuable services to people, such as healthy mountain catchments, rivers, wetlands, coastal dunes, and nodes and corridors of natural habitat, which together form a network of interconnected structural elements in the landscape. On the other hand, natural disaster occur at the locations where habitat was reduced due to the changes of land use, in which the land was converted to the settlements and agricultural cropland. Hence, habitat loss and natural disaster are linked closely. Ecological infrastructure is the nature-based equivalent of built or hard infrastructure, and is as important for providing services and underpinning socio-economic development. Hence, ecological infrastructure is expected to contribute to functioning as ecological disaster reduction, which is termed Ecosystem-based Solutions for Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR. Although ecological infrastructure already exists in the landscape, it might be degraded, needs to be maintained and managed, and in some cases restored. Maintenance and restoration of ecological infrastructure is important for security of human lives. Therefore, analytical tool and effective visualization tool in spatially explicit way for the past natural disaster and future prediction of natural disaster in relation to ecological infrastructure is considered helpful. Hence, Web-GIS based Ecological Infrastructure Environmental Information System (EI-EIS has been developed. This paper aims to describe the procedure of development and future application of EI-EIS. The purpose of the EI-EIS is to evaluate functions of Eco-DRR. In order to analyse disaster data, collection of past disaster information, and disaster-prone area is effective. First, a number of digital maps and analogue maps in Japan and Europe were collected. In total, 18,572 maps over 100 years were collected. The Japanese data includes Future

An Attempt to Develop AN Environmental Information System of Ecological Infrastructure for Evaluating Functions of Ecosystem-Based Solutions for Disaster Risk Reduction Eco-Drr

Science.gov (United States)

Doko, T.; Chen, W.; Sasaki, K.; Furutani, T.

2016-06-01

"Ecological Infrastructure (EI)" are defined as naturally functioning ecosystems that deliver valuable services to people, such as healthy mountain catchments, rivers, wetlands, coastal dunes, and nodes and corridors of natural habitat, which together form a network of interconnected structural elements in the landscape. On the other hand, natural disaster occur at the locations where habitat was reduced due to the changes of land use, in which the land was converted to the settlements and agricultural cropland. Hence, habitat loss and natural disaster are linked closely. Ecological infrastructure is the nature-based equivalent of built or hard infrastructure, and is as important for providing services and underpinning socio-economic development. Hence, ecological infrastructure is expected to contribute to functioning as ecological disaster reduction, which is termed Ecosystem-based Solutions for Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR). Although ecological infrastructure already exists in the landscape, it might be degraded, needs to be maintained and managed, and in some cases restored. Maintenance and restoration of ecological infrastructure is important for security of human lives. Therefore, analytical tool and effective visualization tool in spatially explicit way for the past natural disaster and future prediction of natural disaster in relation to ecological infrastructure is considered helpful. Hence, Web-GIS based Ecological Infrastructure Environmental Information System (EI-EIS) has been developed. This paper aims to describe the procedure of development and future application of EI-EIS. The purpose of the EI-EIS is to evaluate functions of Eco-DRR. In order to analyse disaster data, collection of past disaster information, and disaster-prone area is effective. First, a number of digital maps and analogue maps in Japan and Europe were collected. In total, 18,572 maps over 100 years were collected. The Japanese data includes Future-Pop Data Series (1,736 maps

Response Functions for the Two-Dimensional Ultracold Fermi Gas: Dynamical BCS Theory and Beyond

Science.gov (United States)

Vitali, Ettore; Shi, Hao; Qin, Mingpu; Zhang, Shiwei

2017-12-01

Response functions are central objects in physics. They provide crucial information about the behavior of physical systems, and they can be directly compared with scattering experiments involving particles such as neutrons or photons. Calculations of such functions starting from the many-body Hamiltonian of a physical system are challenging and extremely valuable. In this paper, we focus on the two-dimensional (2D) ultracold Fermi atomic gas which has been realized experimentally. We present an application of the dynamical BCS theory to obtain response functions for different regimes of interaction strengths in the 2D gas with zero-range attractive interaction. We also discuss auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (AFQMC) methods for the calculation of imaginary time correlations in these dilute Fermi gas systems. Illustrative results are given and comparisons are made between AFQMC and dynamical BCS theory results to assess the accuracy of the latter.

Spectroscopy applied to feed additives of the European Union Reference Laboratory: a valuable tool for traceability.

Science.gov (United States)

Omar, Jone; Slowikowski, Boleslaw; Boix, Ana; von Holst, Christoph

2017-08-01

Feed additives need to be authorised to be placed on the market according to Regulation (EU) No. 1831/2003. Next to laying down the procedural requirements, the regulation creates the European Union Reference Laboratory for Feed Additives (EURL-FA) and requires that applicants send samples to the EURL-FA. Once authorised, the characteristics of the marketed feed additives should correspond to those deposited in the sample bank of the EURL-FA. For this purpose, the submitted samples were subjected to near-infrared (NIR) and Raman spectroscopy for spectral characterisation. These techniques have the valuable potential of characterising the feed additives in a non-destructive manner without any complicated sample preparation. This paper describes the capability of spectroscopy for a rapid characterisation of products to establish whether specific authorisation criteria are met. This study is based on the analysis of feed additive samples from different categories and functional groups, namely products containing (1) selenium, (2) zinc and manganese, (3) vitamins and (4) essential oils such as oregano and thyme oil. The use of chemometrics turned out to be crucial, especially in cases where the differentiation of spectra by visual inspection was very difficult.

Integration of relational and hierarchical network information for protein function prediction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiang Xiaoyu

2008-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In the current climate of high-throughput computational biology, the inference of a protein's function from related measurements, such as protein-protein interaction relations, has become a canonical task. Most existing technologies pursue this task as a classification problem, on a term-by-term basis, for each term in a database, such as the Gene Ontology (GO database, a popular rigorous vocabulary for biological functions. However, ontology structures are essentially hierarchies, with certain top to bottom annotation rules which protein function predictions should in principle follow. Currently, the most common approach to imposing these hierarchical constraints on network-based classifiers is through the use of transitive closure to predictions. Results We propose a probabilistic framework to integrate information in relational data, in the form of a protein-protein interaction network, and a hierarchically structured database of terms, in the form of the GO database, for the purpose of protein function prediction. At the heart of our framework is a factorization of local neighborhood information in the protein-protein interaction network across successive ancestral terms in the GO hierarchy. We introduce a classifier within this framework, with computationally efficient implementation, that produces GO-term predictions that naturally obey a hierarchical 'true-path' consistency from root to leaves, without the need for further post-processing. Conclusion A cross-validation study, using data from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, shows our method offers substantial improvements over both standard 'guilt-by-association' (i.e., Nearest-Neighbor and more refined Markov random field methods, whether in their original form or when post-processed to artificially impose 'true-path' consistency. Further analysis of the results indicates that these improvements are associated with increased predictive capabilities (i.e., increased

Principles of Data Management Facilitating Information Sharing

CERN Document Server

Gordon, Keith

2007-01-01

Organisations increasingly view data as a valuable corporate asset and its effective management can be vital to success. This professional guide covers all the key areas including database development, data quality and corporate data modelling. It provides the knowledge and techniques required to successfully implement the data management function.

Interpersonal Mindfulness Informed by Functional Analytic Psychotherapy: Findings from a Pilot Randomized Trial

Science.gov (United States)

Bowen, Sarah; Haworth, Kevin; Grow, Joel; Tsai, Mavis; Kohlenberg, Robert

2012-01-01

Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP; Kohlenberg & Tsai, 1991) aims to improve interpersonal relationships through skills intended to increase closeness and connection. The current trial assessed a brief mindfulness-based intervention informed by FAP, in which an interpersonal element was added to a traditional intrapersonal mindfulness…

High throughput mutagenesis for identification of residues regulating human prostacyclin (hIP) receptor expression and function.

Science.gov (United States)

Bill, Anke; Rosethorne, Elizabeth M; Kent, Toby C; Fawcett, Lindsay; Burchell, Lynn; van Diepen, Michiel T; Marelli, Anthony; Batalov, Sergey; Miraglia, Loren; Orth, Anthony P; Renaud, Nicole A; Charlton, Steven J; Gosling, Martin; Gaither, L Alex; Groot-Kormelink, Paul J

2014-01-01

The human prostacyclin receptor (hIP receptor) is a seven-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that plays a critical role in vascular smooth muscle relaxation and platelet aggregation. hIP receptor dysfunction has been implicated in numerous cardiovascular abnormalities, including myocardial infarction, hypertension, thrombosis and atherosclerosis. Genomic sequencing has discovered several genetic variations in the PTGIR gene coding for hIP receptor, however, its structure-function relationship has not been sufficiently explored. Here we set out to investigate the applicability of high throughput random mutagenesis to study the structure-function relationship of hIP receptor. While chemical mutagenesis was not suitable to generate a mutagenesis library with sufficient coverage, our data demonstrate error-prone PCR (epPCR) mediated mutagenesis as a valuable method for the unbiased screening of residues regulating hIP receptor function and expression. Here we describe the generation and functional characterization of an epPCR derived mutagenesis library compromising >4000 mutants of the hIP receptor. We introduce next generation sequencing as a useful tool to validate the quality of mutagenesis libraries by providing information about the coverage, mutation rate and mutational bias. We identified 18 mutants of the hIP receptor that were expressed at the cell surface, but demonstrated impaired receptor function. A total of 38 non-synonymous mutations were identified within the coding region of the hIP receptor, mapping to 36 distinct residues, including several mutations previously reported to affect the signaling of the hIP receptor. Thus, our data demonstrates epPCR mediated random mutagenesis as a valuable and practical method to study the structure-function relationship of GPCRs.

High throughput mutagenesis for identification of residues regulating human prostacyclin (hIP receptor expression and function.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anke Bill

Full Text Available The human prostacyclin receptor (hIP receptor is a seven-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR that plays a critical role in vascular smooth muscle relaxation and platelet aggregation. hIP receptor dysfunction has been implicated in numerous cardiovascular abnormalities, including myocardial infarction, hypertension, thrombosis and atherosclerosis. Genomic sequencing has discovered several genetic variations in the PTGIR gene coding for hIP receptor, however, its structure-function relationship has not been sufficiently explored. Here we set out to investigate the applicability of high throughput random mutagenesis to study the structure-function relationship of hIP receptor. While chemical mutagenesis was not suitable to generate a mutagenesis library with sufficient coverage, our data demonstrate error-prone PCR (epPCR mediated mutagenesis as a valuable method for the unbiased screening of residues regulating hIP receptor function and expression. Here we describe the generation and functional characterization of an epPCR derived mutagenesis library compromising >4000 mutants of the hIP receptor. We introduce next generation sequencing as a useful tool to validate the quality of mutagenesis libraries by providing information about the coverage, mutation rate and mutational bias. We identified 18 mutants of the hIP receptor that were expressed at the cell surface, but demonstrated impaired receptor function. A total of 38 non-synonymous mutations were identified within the coding region of the hIP receptor, mapping to 36 distinct residues, including several mutations previously reported to affect the signaling of the hIP receptor. Thus, our data demonstrates epPCR mediated random mutagenesis as a valuable and practical method to study the structure-function relationship of GPCRs.

Functional and Behavioral Product Information Representation and Consistency Validation for Collaboration in Product Lifecycle Activities

Science.gov (United States)

Baysal, Mehmet Murat

2012-01-01

Information models that represent the function, assembly and behavior of artifacts are critical in the conceptual development of a product and its evaluation. Much research has been conducted in this area; however, existing models do not relate function, behavior and structure in a comprehensive and consistent way. In this work, NIST's Core…

A Foundation for Understanding Knowledge Sharing: Organizational Culture, Informal Workplace Learning, Performance Support, and Knowledge Management

Science.gov (United States)

Caruso, Shirley J.

2017-01-01

This paper serves as an exploration into some of the ways in which organizations can promote, capture, share, and manage the valuable knowledge of their employees. The problem is that employees typically do not share valuable information, skills, or expertise with other employees or with the entire organization. The author uses research as well as…

Recovery of valuable nitrogen compounds from agricultural liquid wastes: potential possibilities, bottlenecks and future technological challenges.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rulkens, W.H.; Klapwijk, A.; Willers, H.C.

1998-01-01

Agricultural liquid livestock wastes are an important potential source of valuable nitrogen-containing compounds such as ammonia and proteins. Large volumetric quantities of these wastes are produced in areas with a high livestock production density. Much technological research has been carried out

What factors determine use of quality-related marketing research information? an empirical investigation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Birgelen, van M.; Ruyter, de J.C.; Wetzels, M.G.M.

2001-01-01

For effective total quality management (TQM), internal, process-related, as well as external, market-oriented, information is crucial. In particular, external marketing information seems to be very valuable since customers are the ultimate evaluators of the quality of an organization. In this paper,

Leading research on brain functional information processing; No kino joho shori no sendo kenkyu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-03-01

This research aims at searching the concept of an information processing device with a fully different architecture from a previous ones based on the study on human brain function, sense and perception, and developing the basic fabrication technology for such system, and realizing the human-like information processing mechanism of memorization, learning, association, perception, intuition and value judgement. As an approach deriving biological and technological models from experimental brain studies, the model was derived from the brain functional information processing based on brain development/differentiation mechanism, the control mechanism/material of brain activities, and the knowledge obtained from brain measurement and study. In addition, for understanding a brain oscillation phenomenon by computational neuroscience, the cerebral cortex neural network model composed of realistic neuron models was proposed. Evaluation of the previous large-scale neural network chip system showed its ability of learning and fast processing, however, the next-generation brain computer requires further R and D of some novel architecture, device and system. 184 refs., 41 figs., 2 tabs.

Multi-informant reports of psychiatric symptoms among high-functioning adolescents with Asperger syndrome or autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Hurtig, Tuula; Kuusikko, Sanna; Mattila, Marja-Leena; Haapsamo, Helena; Ebeling, Hanna; Jussila, Katja; Joskitt, Leena; Pauls, David; Moilanen, Irma

2009-11-01

The aim of the study was to examine psychiatric symptoms in high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorders reported by multiple informants. Forty-three 11- to 17-year-old adolescents with Asperger syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA) and 217 typically developed adolescents completed the Youth Self-Report (YSR), while their parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Teachers of adolescents with AS/HFA completed the Teacher Report Form (TRF). The informants reported significantly more psychiatric symptoms, especially withdrawn, anxious/depressed, social and attention problems, in adolescents with AS/HFA than in controls. In contrast to findings in the general population, the psychiatric problems of adolescents with AS/HFA are well acknowledged by multiple informants, including self-reports. However, anxiety and depressive symptoms were more commonly reported by adolescents with AS/HFA and their teachers than their parents, indicating that some emotional distress may be hidden from their parents.

Using spatial information about recurrence risk for robust optimization of dose-painting prescription functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bender, Edward T.

2012-01-01

Purpose: To develop a robust method for deriving dose-painting prescription functions using spatial information about the risk for disease recurrence. Methods: Spatial distributions of radiobiological model parameters are derived from distributions of recurrence risk after uniform irradiation. These model parameters are then used to derive optimal dose-painting prescription functions given a constant mean biologically effective dose. Results: An estimate for the optimal dose distribution can be derived based on spatial information about recurrence risk. Dose painting based on imaging markers that are moderately or poorly correlated with recurrence risk are predicted to potentially result in inferior disease control when compared the same mean biologically effective dose delivered uniformly. A robust optimization approach may partially mitigate this issue. Conclusions: The methods described here can be used to derive an estimate for a robust, patient-specific prescription function for use in dose painting. Two approximate scaling relationships were observed: First, the optimal choice for the maximum dose differential when using either a linear or two-compartment prescription function is proportional to R, where R is the Pearson correlation coefficient between a given imaging marker and recurrence risk after uniform irradiation. Second, the predicted maximum possible gain in tumor control probability for any robust optimization technique is nearly proportional to the square of R.

Cybernics fusion of human, machine and information systems

CERN Document Server

Suzuki, Kenji; Hasegawa, Yasuhisa

2014-01-01

Cybernics plays a significant role in coping with an aging society using state-of-the-art technologies from engineering, clinical medicine and humanities. This new interdisciplinary field studies technologies that enhance, strengthen, and support physical and cognitive functions of human beings, based on the fusion of human, machine, and information systems. The design of a seamless interface for interaction between the interior and exterior of the human body is described in this book from diverse aspects such as the physical, neurophysiological, and cognitive levels. It is the first book to cover the many aspects of cybernics, allowing readers to understand the life support robotics technology for the elderly, including remote, in-home, hospital, institutional, community medical welfare, and vital-sensing systems. Serving as a valuable resource, this volume will interest not only graduate students, scientists, and engineers but also newcomers to the field of cybernics.

Hypnosis as a Valuable Tool for Surgical Procedures in the Oral and Maxillofacial Area.

Science.gov (United States)

Montenegro, Gil; Alves, Luiza; Zaninotto, Ana Luiza; Falcão, Denise Pinheiro; de Amorim, Rivadávio Fernandes Batista

2017-04-01

Hypnosis is a valuable tool in the management of patients who undergo surgical procedures in the maxillofacial complex, particularly in reducing and eliminating pain during surgery and aiding patients who have dental fear and are allergic to anesthesia. This case report demonstrates the efficacy of hypnosis in mitigating anxiety, bleeding, and pain during dental surgery without anesthesia during implant placement of tooth 14, the upper left first molar.

76 FR 33323 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-08

... this program will provide SAMHSA with valuable information regarding appropriate service interventions... client (i.e., the social worker familiar with the family) or during a home visit (if this is part of...

Annotating Protein Functional Residues by Coupling High-Throughput Fitness Profile and Homologous-Structure Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yushen Du

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Identification and annotation of functional residues are fundamental questions in protein sequence analysis. Sequence and structure conservation provides valuable information to tackle these questions. It is, however, limited by the incomplete sampling of sequence space in natural evolution. Moreover, proteins often have multiple functions, with overlapping sequences that present challenges to accurate annotation of the exact functions of individual residues by conservation-based methods. Using the influenza A virus PB1 protein as an example, we developed a method to systematically identify and annotate functional residues. We used saturation mutagenesis and high-throughput sequencing to measure the replication capacity of single nucleotide mutations across the entire PB1 protein. After predicting protein stability upon mutations, we identified functional PB1 residues that are essential for viral replication. To further annotate the functional residues important to the canonical or noncanonical functions of viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (vRdRp, we performed a homologous-structure analysis with 16 different vRdRp structures. We achieved high sensitivity in annotating the known canonical polymerase functional residues. Moreover, we identified a cluster of noncanonical functional residues located in the loop region of the PB1 β-ribbon. We further demonstrated that these residues were important for PB1 protein nuclear import through the interaction with Ran-binding protein 5. In summary, we developed a systematic and sensitive method to identify and annotate functional residues that are not restrained by sequence conservation. Importantly, this method is generally applicable to other proteins about which homologous-structure information is available.

Information Security in Small and Medium-Sized Companies

OpenAIRE

David Kral

2011-01-01

Information security doesn’t involve only large organizations. Small and medium-sized companies must closely examine this issue too, because they are increasingly threatened by cyber attacks. Many of them mistakenly believe, that security of their valuable data is sufficient, or that the attackers are not interested in them. Existing standards and methodologies for implementation and management of information security are often hard to transfer to the environment of small and medium-sized bus...

Security in In-House Developed Information Systems: The Case of Tanzania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magreth Mushi

2012-04-01

Full Text Available In this 21st century, the world is moving more and more into the information economy; and information held by organization's information systems is among the most valuable assets in the organization's care and is considered a critical resource, enabling the organizations to achieve their strategic objectives. In-house developed information systems meant to enable organizations to achieve their strategic objectives, are on the increase and security has become a major concern in recent years. Hackers are using new techniques to gain access to sensitive data, disable information systems and administer other malicious activities aimed at the information systems. The need to secure an information system is imperative for use in today's world. Until recently, information systems security was an afterthought; developers were typically focused on functionality and features, waiting to implement security at the end of development. This approach to information systems security has proven to be disastrous because vulnerabilities have gone undetected allowing information systems to be attacked and damaged. A survey done in three (3 organizations in Tanzania has proved that most of the information systems developers have drawn their background from traditional systems development without the sense of implementing security in the early stage of information system development. This paper attempts to identify in-house developed information system's security deficiencies and related risks to organizations, the paper also attempt to establish technique that can be used to detect those deficiencies. Lastly the paper provide guidance that can be used by organizations to mitigate the risks.

Expansion of the Kano model to identify relevant customer segments and functional requirements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Atlason, Reynir Smari; Stefansson, Arnaldur Smari; Wietz, Miriam

2017-01-01

The Kano model of customer satisfaction has been widely used to analyse perceived needs of customers. The model provides product developers valuable information about if, and then how much a given functional requirement (FR) will impact customer satisfaction if implemented within a product, system...... or a service. A current limitation of the Kano model is that it does not allow developers to visualise which combined sets of FRs would provide the highest satisfaction between different customer segments. In this paper, a stepwise method to address this particular shortcoming is presented. First......, a traditional Kano analysis is conducted for the different segments of interest. Second, for each FR, relationship functions are integrated between x=0 and x=1. Third, integrals are inserted into a combination matrix crossing segments and FRs, where FRs with the highest sum across the chosen segments...

Government information collections in the networked environment new issues and models

CERN Document Server

Cheverie, Joan F

2013-01-01

This insightful book explores the challenging issues related to effective access to government information.Amidst all the chaos of today's dynamic information transition period, the only constants related to government information are change and inconsistency, yet with Government Information Collections in the Networked Environment: New Issues and Models, you will defeat the challenging issues and take advantage of the opportunities that networked government information collections have to offer. This valuable book gives you a fresh opportunity to rethink collecting activities and to

Predicting functional recovery after acute ankle sprain.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sean R O'Connor

Full Text Available Ankle sprains are among the most common acute musculoskeletal conditions presenting to primary care. Their clinical course is variable but there are limited recommendations on prognostic factors. Our primary aim was to identify clinical predictors of short and medium term functional recovery after ankle sprain.A secondary analysis of data from adult participants (N = 85 with an acute ankle sprain, enrolled in a randomized controlled trial was undertaken. The predictive value of variables (age, BMI, gender, injury mechanism, previous injury, weight-bearing status, medial joint line pain, pain during weight-bearing dorsiflexion and lateral hop test recorded at baseline and at 4 weeks post injury were investigated for their prognostic ability. Recovery was determined from measures of subjective ankle function at short (4 weeks and medium term (4 months follow ups. Multivariate stepwise linear regression analyses were undertaken to evaluate the association between the aforementioned variables and functional recovery.Greater age, greater injury grade and weight-bearing status at baseline were associated with lower function at 4 weeks post injury (p<0.01; adjusted R square=0.34. Greater age, weight-bearing status at baseline and non-inversion injury mechanisms were associated with lower function at 4 months (p<0.01; adjusted R square=0.20. Pain on medial palpation and pain on dorsiflexion at 4 weeks were the most valuable prognostic indicators of function at 4 months (p< 0.01; adjusted R square=0.49.The results of the present study provide further evidence that ankle sprains have a variable clinical course. Age, injury grade, mechanism and weight-bearing status at baseline provide some prognostic information for short and medium term recovery. Clinical assessment variables at 4 weeks were the strongest predictors of recovery, explaining 50% of the variance in ankle function at 4 months. Further prospective research is required to highlight the factors

Uncertainty indication in soil function maps – transparent and easy-to-use information to support sustainable use of soil resources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Greiner

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Spatial information on soil function fulfillment (SFF is increasingly being used to inform decision-making in spatial planning programs to support sustainable use of soil resources. Soil function maps visualize soils abilities to fulfill their functions, e.g., regulating water and nutrient flows, providing habitats, and supporting biomass production based on soil properties. Such information must be reliable for informed and transparent decision-making in spatial planning programs. In this study, we add to the transparency of soil function maps by (1 indicating uncertainties arising from the prediction of soil properties generated by digital soil mapping (DSM that are used for soil function assessment (SFA and (2 showing the response of different SFA methods to the propagation of uncertainties through the assessment. For a study area of 170 km2 in the Swiss Plateau, we map 10 static soil sub-functions for agricultural soils for a spatial resolution of 20 × 20 m together with their uncertainties. Mapping the 10 soil sub-functions using simple ordinal assessment scales reveals pronounced spatial patterns with a high variability of SFF scores across the region, linked to the inherent properties of the soils and terrain attributes and climate conditions. Uncertainties in soil properties propagated through SFA methods generally lead to substantial uncertainty in the mapped soil sub-functions. We propose two types of uncertainty maps that can be readily understood by stakeholders. Cumulative distribution functions of SFF scores indicate that SFA methods respond differently to the propagated uncertainty of soil properties. Even where methods are comparable on the level of complexity and assessment scale, their comparability in view of uncertainty propagation might be different. We conclude that comparable uncertainty indications in soil function maps are relevant to enable informed and transparent decisions on the sustainable use of soil

Reducing Systematic Errors in Oxide Species with Density Functional Theory Calculations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Rune; Hummelshøj, Jens S.; Hansen, Heine Anton

2015-01-01

Density functional theory calculations can be used to gain valuable insight into the fundamental reaction processes in metal−oxygen systems, e.g., metal−oxygen batteries. Here, the ability of a range of different exchange-correlation functionals to reproduce experimental enthalpies of formation...

Implications and effectiveness of information management while restructuring an organisation

OpenAIRE

2008-01-01

This research paper undertakes to outline factors of Information Management that organisations should consider when attempting a restructuring process. Conversely, valuable information and knowledge are often mislaid, overlooked or discarded to the eventual detriment of an organisation during the processes of downsizing, rightsizing, restructuring, reorganisation, reengineering, transformation or change. In the global economy organisations are always striving to keep ahead of competition and ...

AVID: An integrative framework for discovering functional relationships among proteins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keating Amy E

2005-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Determining the functions of uncharacterized proteins is one of the most pressing problems in the post-genomic era. Large scale protein-protein interaction assays, global mRNA expression analyses and systematic protein localization studies provide experimental information that can be used for this purpose. The data from such experiments contain many false positives and false negatives, but can be processed using computational methods to provide reliable information about protein-protein relationships and protein function. An outstanding and important goal is to predict detailed functional annotation for all uncharacterized proteins that is reliable enough to effectively guide experiments. Results We present AVID, a computational method that uses a multi-stage learning framework to integrate experimental results with sequence information, generating networks reflecting functional similarities among proteins. We illustrate use of the networks by making predictions of detailed Gene Ontology (GO annotations in three categories: molecular function, biological process, and cellular component. Applied to the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, AVID provides 37,451 pair-wise functional linkages between 4,191 proteins. These relationships are ~65–78% accurate, as assessed by cross-validation testing. Assignments of highly detailed functional descriptors to proteins, based on the networks, are estimated to be ~67% accurate for GO categories describing molecular function and cellular component and ~52% accurate for terms describing biological process. The predictions cover 1,490 proteins with no previous annotation in GO and also assign more detailed functions to many proteins annotated only with less descriptive terms. Predictions made by AVID are largely distinct from those made by other methods. Out of 37,451 predicted pair-wise relationships, the greatest number shared in common with another method is 3,413. Conclusion AVID provides

Inferring the functional effect of gene expression changes in signaling pathways

Science.gov (United States)

Sebastián-León, Patricia; Carbonell, José; Salavert, Francisco; Sanchez, Rubén; Medina, Ignacio; Dopazo, Joaquín

2013-01-01

Signaling pathways constitute a valuable source of information that allows interpreting the way in which alterations in gene activities affect to particular cell functionalities. There are web tools available that allow viewing and editing pathways, as well as representing experimental data on them. However, few methods aimed to identify the signaling circuits, within a pathway, associated to the biological problem studied exist and none of them provide a convenient graphical web interface. We present PATHiWAYS, a web-based signaling pathway visualization system that infers changes in signaling that affect cell functionality from the measurements of gene expression values in typical expression microarray case–control experiments. A simple probabilistic model of the pathway is used to estimate the probabilities for signal transmission from any receptor to any final effector molecule (taking into account the pathway topology) using for this the individual probabilities of gene product presence/absence inferred from gene expression values. Significant changes in these probabilities allow linking different cell functionalities triggered by the pathway to the biological problem studied. PATHiWAYS is available at: http://pathiways.babelomics.org/. PMID:23748960

Deep cleaning of a metallurgical zinc leaching residue and recovery of valuable metals

Science.gov (United States)

Xing, Peng; Ma, Bao-zhong; Zeng, Peng; Wang, Cheng-yan; Wang, Ling; Zhang, Yong-lu; Chen, Yong-qiang; Wang, Shuo; Wang, Qiu-yin

2017-11-01

Huge quantities of zinc leaching residues (ZLRs) generated from zinc production are dumped continuously around the world and pose a potential environmental threat because of their considerable amounts of entrained heavy metals (mainly lead). Most ZLRs have not been properly treated and the valuable metals in them have not yet been effectively recovered. Herein, the deep cleaning of a ZLR and recovery of valuable metals via a hydrometallurgical route were investigated. The cleaning process consists of two essential stages: acid leaching followed by calcium chloride leaching. The optimum conditions for extracting zinc, copper, and indium by acid leaching were a sulfuric acid concentration of 200 g·L-1, a liquid/solid ratio of 4:1 (mL/g), a leaching time of 2 h, and a temperature of 90°C. For lead and silver extractions, the optimum conditions were a calcium chloride concentration of 400 g·L-1, a pH value of 1.0, a leaching time of 1 h, and a temperature of 30°C. After calcium chloride leaching, silver and lead were extracted out and the lead was finally recovered as electrolytic lead by electrowinning. The anglesite phase, which poses the greatest potential environmental hazard, was removed from the ZLR after deep cleaning, thus reducing the cost of environmental management of ZLRs. The treatment of chlorine and spent electrolyte generated in the process was discussed.

Social value of online information in the hotel industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moraru Remus Christian

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Studies show that public information can create social value, which reflects on the purpose of this paper in identifying information on the online environment of the hotel industry which can directly or indirectly create social value and ultimately a competitive edge. Privately owned, small and mid-sized hotels in Romania find themselves in competitive online environment and, as such, many of them cannot compete or don’t possess the know-how to compete within the online environment. With identifying the information shared on the hotels online environment and the capability of the information in creating social value, hotels can reevaluate their online strategies. The immediate objective of this paper is to analyze the websites of a sample of 99 small and mid-sized hotels in Romania and to identify critical information that can directly or indirectly create social value. Part of the objective is to draw a conclusion of the main differences on the information shared on the hotels website, which in terms will show where small and mid-sized hotels can improve their online content strategy with socially valuable information. Key findings reflect that Romanian hotels have a clear pattern across the country when it come to their online environment. However, there are serious deficiencies that can influence both economical results and the possibility of creating socially valuable information online. This work increases our understanding of the information shared on the hotels websites in Romania and comes with suggestions that hoteliers can apply in the future to increase the competitiveness and the social value of their online environment.

Information pricing based on trusted system

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zehua; Zhang, Nan; Han, Hongfeng

2018-05-01

Personal information has become a valuable commodity in today's society. So our goal aims to develop a price point and a pricing system to be realistic. First of all, we improve the existing BLP system to prevent cascading incidents, design a 7-layer model. Through the cost of encryption in each layer, we develop PI price points. Besides, we use association rules mining algorithms in data mining algorithms to calculate the importance of information in order to optimize informational hierarchies of different attribute types when located within a multi-level trusted system. Finally, we use normal distribution model to predict encryption level distribution for users in different classes and then calculate information prices through a linear programming model with the help of encryption level distribution above.

The Quantitative Evaluation of Functional Neuroimaging Experiments: Mutual Information Learning Curves

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjems, Ulrik; Hansen, Lars Kai; Anderson, Jon

2002-01-01

Learning curves are presented as an unbiased means for evaluating the performance of models for neuroimaging data analysis. The learning curve measures the predictive performance in terms of the generalization or prediction error as a function of the number of independent examples (e.g., subjects......) used to determine the parameters in the model. Cross-validation resampling is used to obtain unbiased estimates of a generic multivariate Gaussian classifier, for training set sizes from 2 to 16 subjects. We apply the framework to four different activation experiments, in this case \\$\\backslash......\\$[/sup 15/ O]water data sets, although the framework is equally valid for multisubject fMRI studies. We demonstrate how the prediction error can be expressed as the mutual information between the scan and the scan label, measured in units of bits. The mutual information learning curve can be used...

Multifunctional Iron Bound Lactoferrin and Nanomedicinal Approaches to Enhance Its Bioactive Functions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jagat R. Kanwar

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Lactoferrin (Lf, an iron-binding protein from the transferrin family has been reported to have numerous functions. Even though Lf was first isolated from milk, it is also found in most exocrine secretions and in the secondary granules of neutrophils. Antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity reports on lactoferrin identified its significance in host defense against infection and extreme inflammation. Anticarcinogenic reports on lactoferrin make this protein even more valuable. This review is focused on the structural configuration of iron-containing and iron-free forms of lactoferrin obtained from different sources such as goat, camel and bovine. Apart for emphasizing on the specific beneficial properties of lactoferrin from each of these sources, the general antimicrobial, immunomodulatory and anticancer activities of lactoferrin are discussed here. Implementation of nanomedicinial strategies that enhance the bioactive function of lactoferrin are also discussed, along with information on lactoferrin in clinical trials.

Review of neuropsychological functioning in treated phenylketonuria: an information processing approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Waisbren, S E; Brown, M J; de Sonneville, L M; Levy, H L

1994-12-01

Phenylketonuria is no longer associated with mental retardation and other devastating neurological effects. Nonetheless, learning disabilities and IQ loss are common, even in early-treated individuals. Until recently, IQ was used as the sole measure of mental functioning in this population. As specific academic deficits were recognized and as a greater variety of tests became available, evaluation of children with phenylketonuria has included neuropsychological testing. A review of the 21 published reports highlights the areas of consensus and the need for additional well designed studies in the future. Problem solving, particularly abstract reasoning and executive functions, appears to be impaired in children with phenylketonuria. Reaction time, or speed of mental processing, appears to be the other important area affected in PKU. An information processing model is presented as a paradigm for further research and development of remedial strategies for children with phenylketonuria.

Permanent foresty plots: a potentially valuable teaching resource in undergraduate biology porgrams for the Caribbean

Science.gov (United States)

H. Valles; C.M.S. Carrington

2016-01-01

There has been a recent proposal to change the way that biology is taught and learned in undergraduate biology programs in the USA so that students develop a better understanding of science and the natural world. Here, we use this new, recommended teaching– learning framework to assert that permanent forestry plots could be a valuable tool to help develop biology...

Social media as a source of market information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomasz Kubiak

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Nowadays information plays an important role in the development of companies. Information constitutes the main source of building competitive advantage allowing to make a good business decision, which leads to a company’s success on the market. Conducting marketing research makes it possible to obtain valuable information, but unfortunately this method is usually associated with the necessity of bearing high costs and in many cases research itself is conducted in an incorrect way and delivers incorrect information. We live in the age of information society, which is associated with the rapid development of the Internet and tools using the Internet allowing various forms of communication. One of such tools are social media platforms, which are usually regarded as a place for building contact networks and communication with other users. It is worth pointing out here that thanks to their popularity social media have become a place which is more and more often noticed by companies. Almost every well-known brand has its profile in the social media, allowing the users of social media portals direct contact with products, or services offered by a particular brand. Persistent popularity of social media means that they are becoming a rich source of information, both about the users – current and potential clients, but also about rivals – companies with a similar profile of activity, actively operating in social networks. The starting point for further deliberations are issues associated with the functioning of social media as a place allowing to obtain market information, which in light of the concept of market intelligence constitutes an alternative to traditional marketing research.

The impact of real-time and predictive traffic information on travelers' behavior on the I-4 corridor. Final report.

Science.gov (United States)

2003-07-01

Real time and predicted traffic information plays a key role in the successful implementation of advanced traveler information systems (ATIS) and advance traffic management systems (ATMS). Traffic information is essentially valuable to both transport...

A comparison of information functions and search strategies for sensor planning in target classification.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guoxian; Ferrari, Silvia; Cai, Chenghui

2012-02-01

This paper investigates the comparative performance of several information-driven search strategies and decision rules using a canonical target classification problem. Five sensor models are considered: one obtained from classical estimation theory and four obtained from Bernoulli, Poisson, binomial, and mixture-of-binomial distributions. A systematic approach is presented for deriving information functions that represent the expected utility of future sensor measurements from mutual information, Rènyi divergence, Kullback-Leibler divergence, information potential, quadratic entropy, and the Cauchy-Schwarz distance. The resulting information-driven strategies are compared to direct-search, alert-confirm, task-driven (TS), and log-likelihood-ratio (LLR) search strategies. Extensive numerical simulations show that quadratic entropy typically leads to the most effective search strategy with respect to correct-classification rates. In the presence of prior information, the quadratic-entropy-driven strategy also displays the lowest rate of false alarms. However, when prior information is absent or very noisy, TS and LLR strategies achieve the lowest false-alarm rates for the Bernoulli, mixture-of-binomial, and classical sensor models.

Dramatic Increases of Soil Microbial Functional Gene Diversity at the Treeline Ecotone of Changbai Mountain.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Congcong; Shi, Yu; Ni, Yingying; Deng, Ye; Van Nostrand, Joy D; He, Zhili; Zhou, Jizhong; Chu, Haiyan

2016-01-01

The elevational and latitudinal diversity patterns of microbial taxa have attracted great attention in the past decade. Recently, the distribution of functional attributes has been in the spotlight. Here, we report a study profiling soil microbial communities along an elevation gradient (500-2200 m) on Changbai Mountain. Using a comprehensive functional gene microarray (GeoChip 5.0), we found that microbial functional gene richness exhibited a dramatic increase at the treeline ecotone, but the bacterial taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing did not exhibit such a similar trend. However, the β-diversity (compositional dissimilarity among sites) pattern for both bacterial taxa and functional genes was similar, showing significant elevational distance-decay patterns which presented increased dissimilarity with elevation. The bacterial taxonomic diversity/structure was strongly influenced by soil pH, while the functional gene diversity/structure was significantly correlated with soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC). This finding highlights that soil DOC may be a good predictor in determining the elevational distribution of microbial functional genes. The finding of significant shifts in functional gene diversity at the treeline ecotone could also provide valuable information for predicting the responses of microbial functions to climate change.

Ontology-Based Information Extraction for Business Intelligence

Science.gov (United States)

Saggion, Horacio; Funk, Adam; Maynard, Diana; Bontcheva, Kalina

Business Intelligence (BI) requires the acquisition and aggregation of key pieces of knowledge from multiple sources in order to provide valuable information to customers or feed statistical BI models and tools. The massive amount of information available to business analysts makes information extraction and other natural language processing tools key enablers for the acquisition and use of that semantic information. We describe the application of ontology-based extraction and merging in the context of a practical e-business application for the EU MUSING Project where the goal is to gather international company intelligence and country/region information. The results of our experiments so far are very promising and we are now in the process of building a complete end-to-end solution.

Open Access to essential health care information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pandey Manoj

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Open Access publishing is a valuable resource for the synthesis and distribution of essential health care information. This article discusses the potential benefits of Open Access, specifically in terms of Low and Middle Income (LAMI countries in which there is currently a lack of informed health care providers – mainly a consequence of poor availability to information. We propose that without copyright restrictions, Open Access facilitates distribution of the most relevant research and health care information. Furthermore, we suggest that the technology and infrastructure that has been put in place for Open Access could be used to publish download-able manuals, guides or basic handbooks created by healthcare providers in LAMI countries.

Degs and degu operon from Bacillus-brevis: a combination that enhances the production of commercially valuable enzymes

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Louw, M

1995-05-01

Full Text Available A novel method has been developed for increasing the production of commercially valuable enzymes, such as proteases, beta-glucanases, alpha-amylases and levansucrase. It is dependent on two genes cloned from Bacillus brevis, expressed on a multicopy...

Equal Access Initiative HIV/AIDS Information Resources from NLM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Templin-Branner W. and N. Dancy

2010-09-11

The Equal Access Initiative: HIV/AIDS Information Resources from the National Library of Medicine training is designed specifically for the National Minority AIDS Council 2010 Equal Access Initiative (EAI) Computer Grants Program awardees to provide valuable health information resources from the National Library of Medicine and other reliable sources to increase awareness of the wealth of treatment information and educational materials that are available on the Internet and to improve prevention and treatment education for their clients. These resources will also meet the needs of community-based

49 CFR 40.313 - Where is other information on SAP functions and the return-to-duty process found in this regulation?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Where is other information on SAP functions and... on SAP functions and the return-to-duty process found in this regulation? You can find other information on the role and functions of SAPs in the following sections of this part: § 40.3—Definition. § 40...

Kinesthetic taping improves walking function in patients with stroke

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boeskov, Birgitte; Carver, Line Tornehøj; von Essen-Leise, Anders

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Stroke is an important cause of severe disability and impaired motor function. Treatment modalities that improve motor function in patients with stroke are needed. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of kinesthetic taping of the anterior thigh and knee on maximal...... be a valuable adjunct in physical therapy and rehabilitation of patients with stroke....

Yahoo! Answers as a Space for Informal Language Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuliana Dettori

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Online social spaces, where users can exchange information, opinions and resources, have achieved wide popularity and are gaining attention in many research fields, including education. Their actual potential support to learning, however, still requires investigation, especially because portals can widely differ as concerns purpose and internal structure. This paper aims to contribute in this respect, by concentrating on question answering, a kind of social space not yet widely discussed in education. We analyzed a small corpus of posts from the Languages section of Yahoo! Answers Italy, checking if the questions reveal some inclination to learning or just the desire to obtain a service and if the answers provided by the community members can be considered as reliable sources of knowledge. Our analysis highlights the presence of a variety of question/answer types, from mere information exchange or help for task completion, up to language-related questions prompting valuable short lessons. The quality of answers may widely vary as concerns pertinence, correctness and richness of supporting elements. We found a high number of purely task-oriented questions and answers, but also a higher number of learning-oriented questions and correct, informative answers. This suggests that this kind of social space actually has valuable potential for informal learning.

Information technology investments must deliver value

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schulz, Y.

1998-01-01

The value of information technology (IT) management for the petroleum industry was discussed. There are currently two points of view regarding the subject. Adherents of one view hold that the strategic uses of information technology are relevant to the oil and gas industry, while those opposed find no demonstrated connection between information technology investments and business results. This paper addresses the impact of the information paradox, but maintains that information technology is not only valuable but essential to the oil and gas industry. This paper maintains that whenever it is perceived as being of limited use and too expensive, it is usually because it is not well managed. Value management can and should lead to superior outcomes. Neither exploration, nor drilling nor production, nor marketing could exist without information technology as the value is imperative. To further make the case, the nature of information technology value management and the strategies required to achieve value from information technology are reviewed. figs

Foreign patent documentation and information research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Tongsheng; Wu Xianfeng; Liu Jia; Cao Jifen; Song Tianbao; Feng Beiyuan; Zhang Baozhu

2014-01-01

Patent documentations are important scientific and technical documentations, which gather legal information, technical information and economic information together. According to WIPO forecasts, making full use of patent documentation can save 40% of research funding and 60% of the study period. Foreign patent documentations are the world's most valuable patent documentations, and many original technologies that have significant influence are first disclosed in foreign patent documentation. Studying and making use of foreign patent documentations can improve our starting point of scientific and technological innovation, and reduce the research investment. This paper analyzes foreign patent documentation and, combining with the actual development of nuclear technology in our country, makes specific recommendations for patent documentation research. (authors)

Local Information as a Resource in Distributed Quantum Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Horodecki, Michał; Horodecki, Karol; Horodecki, Paweł; Horodecki, Ryszard; Oppenheim, Jonathan; Sende, Aditi; Sen, Ujjwal

2003-03-01

A new paradigm for distributed quantum systems where information is a valuable resource is developed. After finding a unique measure for information, we construct a scheme for its manipulation in analogy with entanglement theory. In this scheme, instead of maximally entangled states, two parties distill local states. We show that, surprisingly, the main tools of entanglement theory are general enough to work in this opposite scheme. Up to plausible assumptions, we show that the amount of information that must be lost during the protocol of concentration of local information can be expressed as the relative entropy distance from some special set of states.

A Note on the Item Information Function of the Four-Parameter Logistic Model

Science.gov (United States)

Magis, David

2013-01-01

This article focuses on four-parameter logistic (4PL) model as an extension of the usual three-parameter logistic (3PL) model with an upper asymptote possibly different from 1. For a given item with fixed item parameters, Lord derived the value of the latent ability level that maximizes the item information function under the 3PL model. The…

Technologies for Extracting Valuable Metals and Compounds from Geothermal Fluids

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harrison, Stephen [SIMBOL Materials

2014-04-30

Executive Summary Simbol Materials studied various methods of extracting valuable minerals from geothermal brines in the Imperial Valley of California, focusing on the extraction of lithium, manganese, zinc and potassium. New methods were explored for managing the potential impact of silica fouling on mineral extraction equipment, and for converting silica management by-products into commercial products.` Studies at the laboratory and bench scale focused on manganese, zinc and potassium extraction and the conversion of silica management by-products into valuable commercial products. The processes for extracting lithium and producing lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide products were developed at the laboratory scale and scaled up to pilot-scale. Several sorbents designed to extract lithium as lithium chloride from geothermal brine were developed at the laboratory scale and subsequently scaled-up for testing in the lithium extraction pilot plant. Lithium The results of the lithium studies generated the confidence for Simbol to scale its process to commercial operation. The key steps of the process were demonstrated during its development at pilot scale: 1. Silica management. 2. Lithium extraction. 3. Purification. 4. Concentration. 5. Conversion into lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate products. Results show that greater than 95% of the lithium can be extracted from geothermal brine as lithium chloride, and that the chemical yield in converting lithium chloride to lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate products is greater than 90%. The product purity produced from the process is consistent with battery grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. Manganese and zinc Processes for the extraction of zinc and manganese from geothermal brine were developed. It was shown that they could be converted into zinc metal and electrolytic manganese dioxide after purification. These processes were evaluated for their economic potential, and at the present time Simbol

Functional Potential of Bacterial Communities using Gene Context Information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anwesha Mohapatra

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Estimation of the functional potential of a bacterial genome can be determined by accurate annotation of its metabolic pathways. Existing homology based methods for pathway annotation fail to account for homologous genes that participate in multiple pathways, causing overestimation of gene copy number. Mere presence of constituent genes of a candidate pathway which are dispersed on a genome often results in incorrect annotation, thereby leading to erroneous gene abundance and pathway estimation. Clusters of evolutionarily conserved coregulated genes are characteristic features in bacterial genomes and their spatial arrangement in the genome is constrained by the pathway encoded by them. Thus, in order to improve the accuracy of pathway prediction, it is important to augment homology based annotation with gene organization information. In this communication, we present a methodology considering prioritization of gene context for improved pathway annotation. Extensive literature mining was performed to confirm conserved juxtaposed arrangement of gene components of various pathways. Our method was utilized to identify and analyse the functional potential of all available completely sequenced bacterial genomes. The accuracy of the predicted gene clusters and their importance in metabolic pathways will be demonstrated using a few case studies. One of such case study corresponds to butyrate production pathways in gut bacteria where it was observed that gut pathogens and commensals possess a distinct set of pathway components. In another example, we will demonstrate how our methodology improves the prediction accuracy of carbohydrate metabolic potential in human microbial communities. Applicability of our method for estimation of functional potential in bacterial communities present in diverse environments will also be illustrated.

The Invisible Web: Uncovering Information Sources Search Engines Can't See.

Science.gov (United States)

Sherman, Chris; Price, Gary

This book takes a detailed look at the nature and extent of the Invisible Web, and offers pathfinders for accessing the valuable information it contains. It is designed to fit the needs of both novice and advanced Web searchers. Chapter One traces the development of the Internet and many of the early tools used to locate and share information via…

The H0 function, a new index for detecting structural/topological complexity information in undirected graphs

Science.gov (United States)

Buscema, Massimo; Asadi-Zeydabadi, Masoud; Lodwick, Weldon; Breda, Marco

2016-04-01

Significant applications such as the analysis of Alzheimer's disease differentiated from dementia, or in data mining of social media, or in extracting information of drug cartel structural composition, are often modeled as graphs. The structural or topological complexity or lack of it in a graph is quite often useful in understanding and more importantly, resolving the problem. We are proposing a new index we call the H0function to measure the structural/topological complexity of a graph. To do this, we introduce the concept of graph pruning and its associated algorithm that is used in the development of our measure. We illustrate the behavior of our measure, the H0 function, through different examples found in the appendix. These examples indicate that the H0 function contains information that is useful and important characteristics of a graph. Here, we restrict ourselves to undirected.

Minimal information: an urgent need to assess the functional reliability of recombinant proteins used in biological experiments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

de Marco Ario

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Structural characterization of proteins used in biological experiments is largely neglected. In most publications, the information available is totally insufficient to judge the functionality of the proteins used and, therefore, the significance of identified protein-protein interactions (was the interaction specific or due to unspecific binding of misfolded protein regions? or reliability of kinetic and thermodynamic data (how much protein was in its native form?. As a consequence, the results of single experiments might not only become questionable, but the whole reliability of systems biology, built on these fundaments, would be weakened. The introduction of Minimal Information concerning purified proteins to add as metadata to the main body of a manuscript would render straightforward the assessment of their functional and structural qualities and, consequently, of results obtained using these proteins. Furthermore, accepted standards for protein annotation would simplify data comparison and exchange. This article has been envisaged as a proposal for aggregating scientists who share the opinion that the scientific community needs a platform for Minimum Information for Protein Functionality Evaluation (MIPFE.

Fish Lipids as a Valuable Source of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Merdzhanova Albena

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This article presents information about omega-3 (h-3 and omega-6 (n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA contents in a broad range of commercially important fish species available on Bulgarian fish markets. The aim is to raise consumers’ awareness and encourage them to eat fish. Fish species from the Black Sea coast have relatively high proportion of n-3 PUFAs, of which more than 80% is by EPf (eicosapentaenoic acid, C 20:5 n-3 and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid, C 22:6 n-3. Extensive epidemiological studies show that fish consumption is inversely associated with the incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD, stroke and the functioning of the brain. About 0.5 g of omega-3 (EPA+DHA a day or two savings of oily fish a week are required to reduce the risk of death from CVD. PUFAs needs should be satisfied not only with food additives but with fish lipids containing food.

Fish Lipids as a Valuable Source of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids

Science.gov (United States)

Merdzhanova, Albena; Ivanov, Ivaylo; Dobreva, Diana A.; Makedonski, Lyubomir

2017-03-01

This article presents information about omega-3 (h-3) and omega-6 (n-6) polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) contents in a broad range of commercially important fish species available on Bulgarian fish markets. The aim is to raise consumers' awareness and encourage them to eat fish. Fish species from the Black Sea coast have relatively high proportion of n-3 PUFAs, of which more than 80% is by EPf (eicosapentaenoic acid, C 20:5 n-3) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid, C 22:6 n-3). Extensive epidemiological studies show that fish consumption is inversely associated with the incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), stroke and the functioning of the brain. About 0.5 g of omega-3 (EPA+DHA) a day or two savings of oily fish a week are required to reduce the risk of death from CVD. PUFAs needs should be satisfied not only with food additives but with fish lipids containing food.

Firm-specific information, analysts’ superiority and investment value

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Lu; Li; Erjia; Yang; Tusheng; Xiao

2014-01-01

Using a sample of Chinese security analysts’recommendations from 2005 to2010,we examine the source of analysts’superiority and the investment value of their recommendations.Using a calendar-time portfolio approach,we find that,on average,analysts’recommendations are valuable and that analysts are better at analyzing and transferring firm-specific information than market-wide or industry-level information.In addition,we show that the investment value of recommendations increases as firm-specific information becomes more important in stock pricing.Our empirical results are useful in guiding investors and helping brokerage houses to evaluate the output of research departments.

SYNERGY OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AND THE BANKING SYSTEM IN THE FUNCTIONING OF SUCCESSFUL BANKING OPERATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dario Kovačević

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, modern banking cannot function without information and communications technology; hence banks heavily invest in the implementation of technology currently present on the market. Every aspect of the banking business includes information and communications technology, which points to the necessity of building an infrastructure for modern banking. Investing in development and implementation of new technologies simplifies everyday business activities and security, in addition to creating a competitive edge over rival businesses. It ensures fast and efficient customer service delivery by providing support to the distribution channels, as well as supporting bankers with making crucial decisions. The aim of this paper is to analyse trends in the use of information and communications technologies in the banking system, using publicly available business data, documentation and online bank information, as well as previously published findings of other researchers. Using the example of one of the largest banks in the Republic of Croatia, the possibilities provided by information and communications technology in the banking business sector are illustrated. Additionally, better economic efficiency and effectiveness, as well as the means of contemporary bank functioning are presented. Special attention is devoted to the security of ICT systems used in Internet Banking and the protection of banking service users’ data.

Valorization Challenges to Almond Residues: Phytochemical Composition and Functional Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iva Prgomet

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Almond is characterized by its high nutritional value; although information reported so far mainly concerns edible kernel. Even though the nutritional and commercial relevance of the almond is restricted to almond meat; to date; increasing attention has been paid to other parts of this fruit (skin; shell; and hull; considered by-products that are scarcely characterized and exploited regarding their properties as valuable sources of bioactive compounds (mainly represented by phenolic acids and flavonoids. This lack of proper valorization procedures entails the continuation of the application of traditional procedures to almond residues that nowadays are mainly addressed to livestock feed and energy production. In this sense; data available on the physicochemical and phytochemical composition of almond meat and its related residues suggest promising applications; and allow one to envisage new uses as functional ingredients towards value-added foods and feeds; as well as a source of bioactive phytochemicals to be included in cosmetic formulations. This objective has prompted investigators working in the field to evaluate their functional properties and biological activity. This approach has provided interesting information concerning the capacity of polyphenolic extracts of almond by-products to prevent degenerative diseases linked to oxidative stress and inflammation in human tissues and cells; in the frame of diverse pathophysiological situations. Hence; this review deals with gathering data available in the scientific literature on the phytochemical composition and bioactivity of almond by-products as well as on their bioactivity so as to promote their functional application.

Excel formulas and functions for dummies

CERN Document Server

Bluttman, Ken

2013-01-01

Learn to use Excel for practical, day-to-day calculations Excel is a powerful program with more than 300 built-in functions that can be used to perform an almost infinite number of calculations. This friendly book shows you how to use the 150 most valuable ones in real-world situations: to compare the cost of buying vs. leasing a car, calculate classroom grades, or evaluate investment performance, for example. Another 85 specialized functions are also described. Detailed, step-by-step instructions help you understand how functions work within formulas and how you can use them t

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 38: Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) and the communication of technical information in aerospace

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Daniel J.; Pinelli, Thomas E.

1994-01-01

This paper discusses the use of computers as a medium for communication (CMC) used by aerospace engineers and scientists to obtain and/or provide technical information related to research and development activities. The data were obtained from a questionnaire survey that yielded 1006 mail responses. In addition to communication media, the research also investigates degrees of task uncertainty, environmental complexity, and other relevant variables that can affect aerospace workers' information-seeking strategies. While findings indicate that many individuals report CMC is an important function in their communication patterns, the research indicates that CMC is used less often and deemed less valuable than other more conventional media, such as paper documents, group meetings, telephone and face-to-face conversations. Fewer than one third of the individuals in the survey account for nearly eighty percent of the reported CMC use, and another twenty percent indicate they do not use the medium at all, its availability notwithstanding. These preliminary findings suggest that CMC is not as pervasive a communication medium among aerospace workers as the researcher expect a priori. The reasons underlying the reported media use are not yet fully known, and this suggests that continuing research in this area may be valuable.

Information, Authority, and Corporate Hierarchies

OpenAIRE

Choe, Chongwoo; In-Uck, Park

2010-01-01

In a typical corporate hierarchy, the manager is delegated the authority to make strategic decisions, and to contract with other employees. By studying a model with one principal and two agents where one agent can gather information that is valuable for the principal's project choice and the other agent provides effort to the chosen project, we study when the principal can benefit from such delegation relative to centralization. We show that beneficial delegation is possible when complete con...

Business Management in the advanced information society

Science.gov (United States)

Saeki, Akio

This is a record of the commemorative lecture at the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the JICST Tohoku Branch Office. Lecturer explains about business management in the information age. "Management" originally means sensing and coping with changes. Thus, the business has to get information as quickly as possible and take the best possible measure for the new issues. As it is definitely important for the business to make an appropriate prediction, information including unknown facts is very valuable. Technological prediction is particulary indispensable for the business. It is available, to some extent, by looking back the steps of technological development in the past. As the characteristics of information age, lecturer explains that there will be less information gap in the world, due to the development of telecommunication technology.

A quality function deployment framework for the service quality of health information websites.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Hyejung; Kim, Dohoon

2010-03-01

This research was conducted to identify both the users' service requirements on health information websites (HIWs) and the key functional elements for running HIWs. With the quality function deployment framework, the derived service attributes (SAs) are mapped into the suppliers' functional characteristics (FCs) to derive the most critical FCs for the users' satisfaction. Using the survey data from 228 respondents, the SAs, FCs and their relationships were analyzed using various multivariate statistical methods such as principal component factor analysis, discriminant analysis, correlation analysis, etc. Simple and compound FC priorities were derived by matrix calculation. Nine factors of SAs and five key features of FCs were identified, and these served as the basis for the house of quality model. Based on the compound FC priorities, the functional elements pertaining to security and privacy, and usage support should receive top priority in the course of enhancing HIWs. The quality function deployment framework can improve the FCs of the HIWs in an effective, structured manner, and it can also be utilized for critical success factors together with their strategic implications for enhancing the service quality of HIWs. Therefore, website managers could efficiently improve website operations by considering this study's results.

Super-symmetric informationally complete measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhu, Huangjun, E-mail: hzhu@pitp.ca

2015-11-15

Symmetric informationally complete measurements (SICs in short) are highly symmetric structures in the Hilbert space. They possess many nice properties which render them an ideal candidate for fiducial measurements. The symmetry of SICs is intimately connected with the geometry of the quantum state space and also has profound implications for foundational studies. Here we explore those SICs that are most symmetric according to a natural criterion and show that all of them are covariant with respect to the Heisenberg–Weyl groups, which are characterized by the discrete analog of the canonical commutation relation. Moreover, their symmetry groups are subgroups of the Clifford groups. In particular, we prove that the SIC in dimension 2, the Hesse SIC in dimension 3, and the set of Hoggar lines in dimension 8 are the only three SICs up to unitary equivalence whose symmetry groups act transitively on pairs of SIC projectors. Our work not only provides valuable insight about SICs, Heisenberg–Weyl groups, and Clifford groups, but also offers a new approach and perspective for studying many other discrete symmetric structures behind finite state quantum mechanics, such as mutually unbiased bases and discrete Wigner functions.

GC Analyses of Salvia Seeds as Valuable Essential Oil Source

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mouna Ben Taârit

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The essential oils of seeds of Salvia verbenaca, Salvia officinalis, and Salvia sclarea were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC and GC-mass spectrometry. The oil yields (w/w were 0.050, 0.047, and 0.045% in S. verbenaca, S. sclarea, and S. officinalis, respectively. Seventy-five compounds were identified. The essential oil composition of S. verbenaca seeds showed that over 57% of the detected compounds were oxygenated monoterpenes followed by sesquiterpenes (24.04% and labdane type diterpenes (5.61%. The main essential oil constituents were camphor (38.94%, caryophyllene oxide (7.28%, and 13-epi-manool (5.61%, while those of essential oil of S. officinalis were α-thujone (14.77%, camphor (13.08%, and 1,8-cineole (6.66%. In samples of S. sclarea, essential oil consists mainly of linalool (24.25%, α-thujene (7.48%, linalyl acetate (6.90%, germacrene-D (5.88%, bicyclogermacrene (4.29%, and α-copaene (4.08%. This variability leads to a large range of naturally occurring volatile compounds with valuable industrial and pharmaceutical outlets.

MATHEMATICAL MODELLING OF PREFERED SOLUTIONS CHOICE FUNCTION FOR TUBULAR GAS HEATERS BY EXPERIMENTAL INFORMATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BARSUK R. V.

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Annotation. Problems formulation. The article deals with choice functions building of preferred solutions by experimental information for tubular gas heater working on fuel granules - pellets.Further choice functions using for making technical solutions by tubular gas heaters construction and designing. Recently research analysis. There are works about choice functions construction by separate presents are examined. But full chose functions building by separate presents are not examined. Aims and tasks. There are setting aim to develop full choice functions mathematical model on separate presents by authors. The expert are connect to primary experimental data’s evaluation that estimates separate results by output functions (criteria. Its evaluations issue in experimental points paired comparison’s table form. Thus, there are necessary construct binary choice relations presents on experimental “points” set by expert that then using for full choice function’s constructing. Conclusions. There are choice function’s construction’s sequence are sets. There are posed point comparison results that characterized tubular gas heater’s condition with expert’s evaluation using. Also posed output functions comparisons by which can be characterized improving tubular gas heater’s performance or vice versa.

76 FR 51045 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-17

... this program will provide SAMHSA with valuable information regarding appropriate service interventions... client (i.e., the social worker familiar with the family) or during a home visit (if this is part of...

Functional pharmacology of cloned heterodimeric GABA-B receptors expressed in mammalian cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bräuner-Osborne, Hans; Krogsgaard-Larsen, P

1999-01-01

reported in different tissues, and this study thus provides a functional assay of cloned GABAB receptors which should be a valuable tool for further characterization of GABAB ligands. Finally, we can conclude that the functional pharmacological profiles of the two GABABR1 splice variants are very similar....

Trust as a valuable strategic variable in the food industry: different types of trust and their implementation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lindgreen, A.

2003-01-01

Although it is often suggested that trust is an important construct in relationship marketing, there is only little empirical evidence of how, if at all, trust may be used as a valuable strategic variable. In the 1990s, the international food industry faced a number of serious challenges, most

Development of technical information processing systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Ji Ho; Kim, Tae Whan; Kim, Sun Ja; Kim, Young Min; Choi, Kwang; Oh, Joung Hun; Choung, Hyun Suk; Keum, Jong Yong; Yoo, An Na; Harn, Deuck Haing; Choun, Young Chun

1993-12-01

The major goal of this project is to develop a more efficient information management system by connecting the KAREI serials database which enable the users to access from their own laboratory facilities through KAREI-NET. The importance of this project is to make the serials information of KAERI easily accessible to users as valuable resources for R and D activities. The results of the project are as follows. 1) Development of the serials database and retrieval system enabled us to access to the serials holding information through KAERI-NET. 2) The database construction establishes a foundation for the management of 1,600 serials held in KAERI. 3) The system can be applied not only to KAERI but also to similar medium-level libraries. (Author)

Sampling intraspecific variability in leaf functional traits: Practical suggestions to maximize collected information.

Science.gov (United States)

Petruzzellis, Francesco; Palandrani, Chiara; Savi, Tadeja; Alberti, Roberto; Nardini, Andrea; Bacaro, Giovanni

2017-12-01

The choice of the best sampling strategy to capture mean values of functional traits for a species/population, while maintaining information about traits' variability and minimizing the sampling size and effort, is an open issue in functional trait ecology. Intraspecific variability (ITV) of functional traits strongly influences sampling size and effort. However, while adequate information is available about intraspecific variability between individuals (ITV BI ) and among populations (ITV POP ), relatively few studies have analyzed intraspecific variability within individuals (ITV WI ). Here, we provide an analysis of ITV WI of two foliar traits, namely specific leaf area (SLA) and osmotic potential (π), in a population of Quercus ilex L. We assessed the baseline ITV WI level of variation between the two traits and provided the minimum and optimal sampling size in order to take into account ITV WI , comparing sampling optimization outputs with those previously proposed in the literature. Different factors accounted for different amount of variance of the two traits. SLA variance was mostly spread within individuals (43.4% of the total variance), while π variance was mainly spread between individuals (43.2%). Strategies that did not account for all the canopy strata produced mean values not representative of the sampled population. The minimum size to adequately capture the studied functional traits corresponded to 5 leaves taken randomly from 5 individuals, while the most accurate and feasible sampling size was 4 leaves taken randomly from 10 individuals. We demonstrate that the spatial structure of the canopy could significantly affect traits variability. Moreover, different strategies for different traits could be implemented during sampling surveys. We partially confirm sampling sizes previously proposed in the recent literature and encourage future analysis involving different traits.

Color Functions in Information Perception and Retention

Science.gov (United States)

Tolliver, Don L.

1973-01-01

This paper reviews research findings related to color and how it affects perception and retention of information. From the literature it appears colors have varying degrees of value as cues or aids to memory of stimulus information and difference appears to exist between colors as they interact in informational materials. (21 references)…

Assessing Website Quality in Context: Retrieving Information about Genetically Modified Food on the Web

Science.gov (United States)

McInerney, Claire R.; Bird, Nora J.

2005-01-01

Introduction: Knowing the credibility of information about genetically modified food on the Internet is critical to the everyday life information seeking of consumers as they form opinions about this nascent agricultural technology. The Website Quality Evaluation Tool (WQET) is a valuable instrument that can be used to determine the credibility of…

Classification of vulnerability information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gibson, W.G.

1984-01-01

The current upgrading of security measures at sensitive Department of Energy (DOE) facilities reflects the continuing concern over possible terrorist and other criminal acts against these facilities. Security reviews are periodically conducted at DOE facilities, deficiencies are identified, and corrective actions are recommended. While security upgrades are initiated as soon as possible, the process of securing funding and the construction or other activities necessary to complete upgrades can cause delays in correcting security vulnerabilities. Details of security weaknesses at important DOE facilities are classified in order to deny valuable information to terrorists and other malefactors

A Conjugate Gradient Algorithm with Function Value Information and N-Step Quadratic Convergence for Unconstrained Optimization.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiangrong Li

Full Text Available It is generally acknowledged that the conjugate gradient (CG method achieves global convergence--with at most a linear convergence rate--because CG formulas are generated by linear approximations of the objective functions. The quadratically convergent results are very limited. We introduce a new PRP method in which the restart strategy is also used. Moreover, the method we developed includes not only n-step quadratic convergence but also both the function value information and gradient value information. In this paper, we will show that the new PRP method (with either the Armijo line search or the Wolfe line search is both linearly and quadratically convergent. The numerical experiments demonstrate that the new PRP algorithm is competitive with the normal CG method.

A Conjugate Gradient Algorithm with Function Value Information and N-Step Quadratic Convergence for Unconstrained Optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiangrong; Zhao, Xupei; Duan, Xiabin; Wang, Xiaoliang

2015-01-01

It is generally acknowledged that the conjugate gradient (CG) method achieves global convergence--with at most a linear convergence rate--because CG formulas are generated by linear approximations of the objective functions. The quadratically convergent results are very limited. We introduce a new PRP method in which the restart strategy is also used. Moreover, the method we developed includes not only n-step quadratic convergence but also both the function value information and gradient value information. In this paper, we will show that the new PRP method (with either the Armijo line search or the Wolfe line search) is both linearly and quadratically convergent. The numerical experiments demonstrate that the new PRP algorithm is competitive with the normal CG method.

Form follows function: molecular and anatomical information in conventional nuclear medicine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirsch, C.M.; Hellwig, D.; Schaefer, A.

2003-01-01

The merger of anatomical information with functional results of nuclear medical studies represents an important step in evaluation and generating a report. The design of a gamma-camera system furnished with a tomographic X-ray unit allows for the almost simultaneous acquisition of tomographic data of the nuclear examination as well as the structure of surrounding tissue and attenuating material within one study without changing the patient's position. The results of this kind of fusion present considerable progress compared to side by side interpretation or software based fusion procedures of different methods like CT and MRI with nuclear studies. (orig.) [de

The intrapreneur: A distinct and valuable role to be institutionalized and strategically managed

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ashourizadeh, Shayegheh; Schøtt, Thomas

are distinct from routine employees and somewhat similar to entrepreneurs. Thereby intrapreneurs are a human resource that by developing new activities for their employer and also by creating new jobs is very valuable. – The rate of intrapreneurship among employees is higher in Denmark than in almost all other......, especially in Denmark, to adopt strategies for institutionalization and management of this human resource....... more frequently than routine employees are self-efficacious, opportunity-perceiving, risk-willing and role-modeling starters, have meaningful and autonomous jobs, and are satisfied with their jobs and salary, but also experience more stress in work; and in these job-characteristics intrapreneurs...

[Design and implementation of online statistical analysis function in information system of air pollution and health impact monitoring].

Science.gov (United States)

Lü, Yiran; Hao, Shuxin; Zhang, Guoqing; Liu, Jie; Liu, Yue; Xu, Dongqun

2018-01-01

To implement the online statistical analysis function in information system of air pollution and health impact monitoring, and obtain the data analysis information real-time. Using the descriptive statistical method as well as time-series analysis and multivariate regression analysis, SQL language and visual tools to implement online statistical analysis based on database software. Generate basic statistical tables and summary tables of air pollution exposure and health impact data online; Generate tendency charts of each data part online and proceed interaction connecting to database; Generate butting sheets which can lead to R, SAS and SPSS directly online. The information system air pollution and health impact monitoring implements the statistical analysis function online, which can provide real-time analysis result to its users.

Focusing Information Systems Post-Graduate Research Projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gail Ridley

1996-11-01

Full Text Available This paper reports on an investigation of mechanisms that assist Information Systems post-graduate research students to focus their projects. An evaluation is presented of the experiences of Information Systems research students in focussing their research projects based on a survey conducted of students who participated in two of the first three Information Systems doctoral consortia to be held in Australia. The survey sought to determine whether a doctoral consortium or 'systematic expert review' is the most valuable mechanism for focussing a research proposal. Systematic expert review was considered by the students to be more effective than the doctoral consortium process for the purpose of focussing their research project proposals.

Exploring global consumer attitudes toward nutrition information on food labels.

Science.gov (United States)

Wills, Josephine M; Schmidt, David B; Pillo-Blocka, Francy; Cairns, Georgina

2009-05-01

In many parts of the world, food companies, consumers, and governments are re-examining the provision of nutrition information on food labels. It is important that the nutrition information provided be appropriate and understandable to the consumer and that it impact food-choice behaviors. Potentially, food labeling represents a valuable tool to help consumers make informed decisions about their diet and lifestyle. Food information organizations worldwide have been following consumer trends in the use of this information as well as consumer attitudes about food, nutrition, and health. This paper summarizes a workshop that examined consumer attitudes gathered regionally with the aim of establishing commonalities and differences.

Dramatic increases of soil microbial functional gene diversity at the treeline ecotone of Changbai Mountain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Congcong Shen

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The elevational and latitudinal diversity patterns of microbial taxa have attracted great attention in the past decade. Recently, the distribution of functional attributes has been in the spotlight. Here, we report a study profiling soil microbial communities along an elevation gradient (500 to 2200 m on Changbai Mountain. Using a comprehensive functional gene microarray (GeoChip 5.0, we found that microbial functional gene richness exhibited a dramatic increase at the treeline ecotone, but the bacterial taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing did not exhibit such a similar trend. However, the β-diversity (compositional dissimilarity among sites for both bacterial taxa and functional genes was similar, showing significant elevational distance-decay patterns which presented increased dissimilarity with elevation. The bacterial taxonomic diversity/structure was strongly influenced by soil pH, while the functional gene diversity/structure was significantly correlated with soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC. This finding highlights that soil DOC may be a good predictor in determining the elevational distribution of microbial functional genes. The finding of significant shifts in functional gene diversity at the treeline ecotone could also provide valuable information for predicting the responses of microbial functions to climate change.

Functional (co)polymers from carbenes: scope, mechanism & polymer properties

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Franssen, N.M.G.

2012-01-01

Polymerization of carbenes is a valuable alternative to traditional olefin polymerization with regard to the formation of high molecular-weight functional copolymers in a stereoregular way. The versatility of this reaction with respect to different carbene precursors allows the formation of a large

Integrating the Functions of Institutional Research, Institutional Effectiveness, and Information Management. Professional File. Number 126, Summer 2012

Science.gov (United States)

Posey, James T.; Pitter, Gita Wijesinghe

2012-01-01

The objective of this paper is to identify common essential information and data needs of colleges and universities and to suggest a model to integrate these data needs into one office or department. The paper suggests there are five major data and information foundations that are essential to the effective functioning of an institution: (a)…

A Quality Function Deployment Framework for the Service Quality of Health Information Websites

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Dohoon

2010-01-01

Objectives This research was conducted to identify both the users' service requirements on health information websites (HIWs) and the key functional elements for running HIWs. With the quality function deployment framework, the derived service attributes (SAs) are mapped into the suppliers' functional characteristics (FCs) to derive the most critical FCs for the users' satisfaction. Methods Using the survey data from 228 respondents, the SAs, FCs and their relationships were analyzed using various multivariate statistical methods such as principal component factor analysis, discriminant analysis, correlation analysis, etc. Simple and compound FC priorities were derived by matrix calculation. Results Nine factors of SAs and five key features of FCs were identified, and these served as the basis for the house of quality model. Based on the compound FC priorities, the functional elements pertaining to security and privacy, and usage support should receive top priority in the course of enhancing HIWs. Conclusions The quality function deployment framework can improve the FCs of the HIWs in an effective, structured manner, and it can also be utilized for critical success factors together with their strategic implications for enhancing the service quality of HIWs. Therefore, website managers could efficiently improve website operations by considering this study's results. PMID:21818418

Information security practices emerging threats and perspectives

CERN Document Server

Awad, Ahmed; Woungang, Isaac

2017-01-01

This book introduces novel research targeting technical aspects of protecting information security and establishing trust in the digital space. New paradigms, and emerging threats and solutions are presented in topics such as application security and threat management; modern authentication paradigms; digital fraud detection; social engineering and insider threats; cyber threat intelligence; intrusion detection; behavioral biometrics recognition; hardware security analysis. The book presents both the important core and the specialized issues in the areas of protection, assurance, and trust in information security practice. It is intended to be a valuable resource and reference for researchers, instructors, students, scientists, engineers, managers, and industry practitioners. .

Enrichment of valuable elements from vanadium slag using superconducting HGMS technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

He, Sai; Yang, Chang Qiao; Li, Su Qin; Zhang, Chang Quan [School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing (China)

2017-03-15

Vanadium slags is a kind of vanadiferous solid waste from steelmaking process. It not only occupies land, pollutes environment, but also leads to waste of resources. Based on the difference of magnetic susceptibility of different particles caused by their chemical and physical properties from vanadium slag, a new technology, superconducting high gradient magnetic separation was investigated for separation and extraction of valuable substances from vanadium slag. The magnetic concentrate was obtained under optimal parameters, i.e., a particle size -200 mesh, a magnetic flux density of 0.8 T, a slurry concentration of 5 g/L, an amount of steel wools of 25 g and a slurry flow velocity of 2 L/min. The content of Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} in concentrate could be increased from 39.6% to 55.0% and V2O5 from 2.5% to 4.0%, respectively. The recovery rate is up to 42.9%, and the vanadium slag has been effectively reused.

Advertising, expectations and informed consent: the contents and functions of acupuncture leaflets.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Felicity L; Salmon, Cathy

2013-12-01

To evaluate the content of patient information leaflets about acupuncture. 401 patient information leaflets were obtained from practising UK acupuncturists and subjected to content and thematic analysis. 59% of included leaflets were from NHS physiotherapists. Almost all the leaflets defined acupuncture and the majority explained how it might work, described the treatment process and placed it in a historical context. Most described possible benefits and risks of acupuncture and discussed contraindications and safety. Just under a third of leaflets (120, 30%) suggested conditions that might be helped by acupuncture, most commonly musculoskeletal pain, arthritis and injuries. By emphasising differences between individuals in acupuncture treatments and responsiveness, the leaflets fostered hope for positive effects without making any guarantees. Information leaflets are broadly consistent with the evidence for acupuncture, but some claims are inconsistent with official advice from advertising regulators. An ethically sound, scientifically grounded and psychologically effective leaflet should accurately convey both benefits and risks of treatment, optimise patients' expectations and allay concerns about needling. This study suggests that acupuncture leaflets might achieve these multiple functions but care should be taken to ensure adequate coverage of risks.

INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT – A STRATEGY FOR PERFORMING MEDICAL SERVICES IN THE INFORMATIONAL ERA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adina BĂLAN

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The unprecedented incertitude existing in the health system in Romaniaimplies menaces for the system managers. The improvement of theperformance of the medical system has never been more adequate, so thatthe health system needs specific managerial strategies. Romania needs acomplete solution which could assure a performant management of themedical information in the system, and in their plans, the managers of thehealthcare organizations must include investments for the application of theinformational technologies, like the administration of medical information, ofthe health electronic file, the medical information exchange, so that themedical service be continuous and permanent from the birth until the death ofany individual. But the piece of information is only valuable to the one whoknows how to use it, where to search for it, how to choose it and finally howto use it, so that we can say the main instrument to which the manager fromthe health system may resort rapidly in order to find new solutions isinformation.

Scaling Patterns of Natural Urban Places as a Rule for Enhancing Their Urban Functionality Using Trajectory Data

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, T.; Yu, X.

2018-04-01

With the availability of massive trajectory data, it is highly valuable to reveal their activity information for many domains such as understanding the functionality of urban regions. This article utilizes the scaling patterns of human activities to enhance functional distribution of natural urban places. Specifically, we proposed a temporal city clustering algorithm to aggregate the stopping locations into natural urban places, which are reported to follow remarkable power law distributions of sizes and obey a universal law of economy of scale on human interactions with urban infrastructure. Besides, we proposed a novel Bayesian inference model with damping factor to estimate the most likely POI type associated with a stopping location. Our results suggest that hot natural urban places could be effectively identified from their scaling patterns and their functionality can be very well enhanced. For instance, natural urban places containing airport or railway station can be highly stressed by accumulating the massive types of human activities.

Cross-organism learning method to discover new gene functionalities.

Science.gov (United States)

Domeniconi, Giacomo; Masseroli, Marco; Moro, Gianluca; Pinoli, Pietro

2016-04-01

Knowledge of gene and protein functions is paramount for the understanding of physiological and pathological biological processes, as well as in the development of new drugs and therapies. Analyses for biomedical knowledge discovery greatly benefit from the availability of gene and protein functional feature descriptions expressed through controlled terminologies and ontologies, i.e., of gene and protein biomedical controlled annotations. In the last years, several databases of such annotations have become available; yet, these valuable annotations are incomplete, include errors and only some of them represent highly reliable human curated information. Computational techniques able to reliably predict new gene or protein annotations with an associated likelihood value are thus paramount. Here, we propose a novel cross-organisms learning approach to reliably predict new functionalities for the genes of an organism based on the known controlled annotations of the genes of another, evolutionarily related and better studied, organism. We leverage a new representation of the annotation discovery problem and a random perturbation of the available controlled annotations to allow the application of supervised algorithms to predict with good accuracy unknown gene annotations. Taking advantage of the numerous gene annotations available for a well-studied organism, our cross-organisms learning method creates and trains better prediction models, which can then be applied to predict new gene annotations of a target organism. We tested and compared our method with the equivalent single organism approach on different gene annotation datasets of five evolutionarily related organisms (Homo sapiens, Mus musculus, Bos taurus, Gallus gallus and Dictyostelium discoideum). Results show both the usefulness of the perturbation method of available annotations for better prediction model training and a great improvement of the cross-organism models with respect to the single-organism ones

Conversion of waste polystyrene through catalytic degradation into valuable products

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shah, Jasmin; Jan, Muhammad Rasul; Adnan [University of Peshawar, Peshawar (Pakistan)

2014-08-15

Waste expanded polystyrene (EPS) represents a source of valuable chemical products like styrene and other aromatics. The catalytic degradation was carried out in a batch reactor with a mixture of polystyrene (PS) and catalyst at 450 .deg. C for 30 min in case of Mg and at 400 .deg. C for 2 h both for MgO and MgCO{sub 3} catalysts. At optimum degradation conditions, EPS was degraded into 82.20±3.80 wt%, 91.60±0.20 wt% and 81.80±0.53 wt% liquid with Mg, MgO and MgCO{sub 3} catalysts, respectively. The liquid products obtained were separated into different fractions by fractional distillation. The liquid fractions obtained with three catalysts were compared, and characterized using GC-MS. Maximum conversion of EPS into styrene monomer (66.6 wt%) was achieved with Mg catalyst, and an increase in selectivity of compounds was also observed. The major fraction at 145 .deg. C showed the properties of styrene monomer. The results showed that among the catalysts used, Mg was found to be the most effective catalyst for selective conversion into styrene monomer as value added product.

HIV/AIDS Information Resources from the National Library of Medicine-STOP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Templin-Branner, W. and N. Dancy

2010-06-15

The HIV/AIDS Information Resources from the National Library of Medicine training is designed specifically for the UNCFSP HBCU Screening, Testing, Outreach, and Prevention (STOP) HIV/AIDS Program project members to provide valuable health information resources from the National Library of Medicine and other reliable sources to increase awareness of the wealth of treatment information and educational materials that are available on the Internet and to improve prevention and treatment education for their clients. These resources will also meet the needs of community-based organizations

Diastereoselective multicomponent synthesis of dihydropyridones with an isocyanide functionality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paravidino, M.; Bon, R.S.; Scheffelaar, R.; Vugts, D.J.; Znabet, A.; Schmitz, R.F.; de Kanter, F.J.J.; Lutz, M.; Spek, A.L; Groen, M.B.; Orru, R.V.A.

2006-01-01

In a search for new multicomponent strategies leading to valuable small heterocycles, a new highly diastereoselective four-component reaction (4CR) was found in which a phosphonate, nitriles, aldehydes, and isocyanoacetates combine to afford functionalized 3-isocyano-3,4-dihydro-2-pyridones. In this

Electronic theses and dissertations: a review of this valuable resource for nurse scholars worldwide.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodfellow, L M

2009-06-01

A worldwide repository of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) could provide worldwide access to the most up-to-date research generated by masters and doctoral students. Until that international repository is established, it is possible to access some of these valuable knowledge resources. ETDs provide a technologically advanced medium with endless multimedia capabilities that far exceed the print and bound copies of theses and dissertations housed traditionally in individual university libraries. CURRENT USE: A growing trend exists for universities worldwide to require graduate students to submit theses or dissertations as electronic documents. However, nurse scholars underutilize ETDs, as evidenced by perusing bibliographic citation lists in many of the research journals. ETDs can be searched for and retrieved through several digital resources such as the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (http://www.ndltd.org), ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (http://www.umi.com), the Australasian Digital Theses Program (http://adt.caul.edu.au/) and through individual university web sites and online catalogues. An international repository of ETDs benefits the community of nurse scholars in many ways. The ability to access recent graduate students' research electronically from anywhere in the world is advantageous. For scholars residing in developing countries, access to these ETDs may prove to be even more valuable. In some cases, ETDs are not available for worldwide access and can only be accessed through the university library from which the student graduated. Public access to university library ETD collections is not always permitted. Nurse scholars from both developing and developed countries could benefit from ETDs.

Optimizing the efficacy of multimedia consumer health information.

Science.gov (United States)

Monkman, Helen; Kushniruk, Andre W

2015-01-01

Using two or more communication methods (e.g., text, narration, pictures, animation, video) is known as multimedia. Multimedia has been used in a broad range of domains. Not surprisingly, multimedia is gaining popularity in the field of consumer health information as its benefits are being recognized. However, there is a large body of evidence in the cognitive literature that could be used to inform and optimize multimedia presentation of consumer health information. This paper outlines the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML) and presents the application of this model for consumer health informatics. The CTML is a valuable resource for the development and revision of consumer health information to optimize its efficacy. Current research on multimedia and consumer health information is described. Finally, the outstanding opportunities to leverage the CTML for consumer health information are discussed.

Nanoparticles in facade coatings: a survey of industrial experts on functional and environmental benefits and challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hincapié, Ingrid; Künniger, Tina; Hischier, Roland; Cervellati, Dario; Nowack, Bernd; Som, Claudia

2015-01-01

Integrating engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) into facade coatings is expected to offer considerable potential for improved or novel functionality, or even several functionalities at the same time (multifunctional materials). Little information is available about the tangible use of ENPs in facade coatings and the real improvements that their functionalities provide. In order to increase this information, we carried out a survey among selected coating manufacturers and ENP producers in Europe. We asked them about the improved functionalities enabled by ENPs, the quality of nano-enhanced facade coatings in comparison to conventional ones, and the handling of waste. The survey results indicated that the ENPs most frequently used in facade coatings in Europe were silver, titanium dioxide, and silicon dioxide. The most frequently mentioned potential benefits were ultraviolet-protection, water and dirt repellency (easy to clean), and antimicrobial properties. Improving environmental performance through the use of nano-enhanced facade coatings did not appear to be a focus for innovation. The survey also revealed mixed results in the comparison between nano-enhanced and conventional facade coatings: 36 % of respondents saw a notable improvement, 27 % noted a gradual improvement of functionalities, and 37 % detected no improvement over traditional materials. Some respondents mentioned a variety of tests that can be applied to investigate the quality of coating functionalities. These tests could be valuable in helping us to better understand the tangible improvements of nano-enhanced facade coating functionalities. Respondents were uncertain about how to properly handle the wastes resulting from nano-enhanced products

Nanoparticles in facade coatings: a survey of industrial experts on functional and environmental benefits and challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hincapié, Ingrid [EMPA Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Technology and Society Laboratory (Switzerland); Künniger, Tina [EMPA Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Applied Wood Materials Laboratory (Switzerland); Hischier, Roland [EMPA Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Technology and Society Laboratory (Switzerland); Cervellati, Dario [GFC Chimica S.r.l (Italy); Nowack, Bernd; Som, Claudia, E-mail: claudia.som@empa.ch [EMPA Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Technology and Society Laboratory (Switzerland)

2015-07-15

Integrating engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) into facade coatings is expected to offer considerable potential for improved or novel functionality, or even several functionalities at the same time (multifunctional materials). Little information is available about the tangible use of ENPs in facade coatings and the real improvements that their functionalities provide. In order to increase this information, we carried out a survey among selected coating manufacturers and ENP producers in Europe. We asked them about the improved functionalities enabled by ENPs, the quality of nano-enhanced facade coatings in comparison to conventional ones, and the handling of waste. The survey results indicated that the ENPs most frequently used in facade coatings in Europe were silver, titanium dioxide, and silicon dioxide. The most frequently mentioned potential benefits were ultraviolet-protection, water and dirt repellency (easy to clean), and antimicrobial properties. Improving environmental performance through the use of nano-enhanced facade coatings did not appear to be a focus for innovation. The survey also revealed mixed results in the comparison between nano-enhanced and conventional facade coatings: 36 % of respondents saw a notable improvement, 27 % noted a gradual improvement of functionalities, and 37 % detected no improvement over traditional materials. Some respondents mentioned a variety of tests that can be applied to investigate the quality of coating functionalities. These tests could be valuable in helping us to better understand the tangible improvements of nano-enhanced facade coating functionalities. Respondents were uncertain about how to properly handle the wastes resulting from nano-enhanced products.

Mands for Information Using "How" Under EO-Absent and EO-Present Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Shillingsburg, M Alice; Bowen, Crystal N; Valentino, Amber L

2014-06-01

The present study replicates and extends previous research on teaching "How?" mands for information to children with autism. The experimental preparation involved mand training in the context of completing preferred activities and included training and testing under conditions when the establishing operation (EO) was present and absent. Results show that two children with autism acquired mands for information using How? only in situations where information was valuable (i.e., the EO was present); they then consistently made use of the information provided in activity completion. Generalization to novel, untaught situations was assessed.

Finding the right answer: an information retrieval approach supporting knowledge sharing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gomes Ludermir, P.; Guizzardi-Silva Souza, R.; Sona, D.; Dignum, F.; Dignum, V.; Koenig, S.; Kraus, S.; Singh, M.P.; Wooldridge, M.

Knowledge Management can be defined as the effective strategies to get the right piece of knowledge to the right person in the right time. Having the main purpose of providing users with information items of their interest, recommender systems seem to be quite valuable for organizational knowledge

Intelligent information database of the thermal-hydraulic characteristics for a future marine water reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inasaka, Fujio; Nariai, Hideki

2000-01-01

At the Ship Research Institute, a series of the experimental studies on the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of an integrated type marine water reactor has been conducted. This current study aims at developing an intelligent information database program with the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of a future marine water reactor on the basis of the valuably experimental knowledge, which was obtained from the above-mentioned studies. In this paper, the experimental knowledge with the flow boiling of a once-through steam generator and the natural circulation of primary water under a ship rolling motion was converted into an intelligent information database program. The program was created as a Windows application using the Visual Basic. Main functions of the program are as follows: (1) steady state flow boiling analysis and determination of stability for any helical-coil type once-through steam generator design, (2) reference and graphic display of the experimental data, (3) reference of the information such as analysis method and experimental apparatus. The program will be useful for the design of not only the future integrated type marine water reactor but also the small sized reactor with helical-coil type steam generator. (author)

Designing information systems

CERN Document Server

Blethyn, Stanley G

2014-01-01

Designing Information Systems focuses on the processes, methodologies, and approaches involved in designing information systems. The book first describes systems, management and control, and how to design information systems. Discussions focus on documents produced from the functional construction function, users, operators, analysts, programmers and others, process management and control, levels of management, open systems, design of management information systems, and business system description, partitioning, and leveling. The text then takes a look at functional specification and functiona

Functional information technology in geometry-graphic training of engineers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irina D. Stolbova

2017-01-01

implementation of this model is based on the functional characteristics analysis of the applied technology training. We describe the use of a complex system of information technology in various forms of training. This shows the options for the integration of these technologies in the content of the sections of the students’ graphic training, as well as the efficiency of their use.The materials can be used to optimize the learning process in technical universities both in the graphic training and other subject areas.

A Sustainable and Selective Roasting and Water-Leaching Process to Simultaneously Extract Valuable Metals from Low-Grade Ni-Cu Matte

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Fuhui; Mu, Wenning; Wang, Shuai; Xin, Haixia; Xu, Qian; Zhai, Yuchun

2018-03-01

Due to stringent environmental requirements and the complex occurrence of valuable metals, traditional pyrometallurgical methods are unsuitable for treating low-grade nickel-copper matte. A clean and sustainable two-stage sulfating roasting and water-leaching process was used to simultaneously extract valuable metals from low-grade nickel-copper matte. Ammonium and sodium sulfate were used as sulfating agents. The first roasting temperature, mass ratio of ammonium sulfate to matte, roasting time, dosage of sodium sulfate, second roasting temperature and leaching temperature were studied. Under optimal conditions, 98.89% of Ni, 97.48% of Cu and 95.82% of Co, but only 1.34% of Fe, were extracted. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to reveal the sulfating mechanism during the roasting process.

Information retrieval system with ability of analogical inference using semantic network and function of fuzzification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakamura, K; Iwai, S

1982-01-01

In information retrieval system, it is necessary to grasp user's subject of interest in order to present appropriate documents to the user. In this paper, the authors propose a model of human ability of analogical inference based on association between key words and, using it, construct an information retrieval system in which the computer with the ability learns its user's subject of interest through question-answering with the user. In this system, the association between key words is represented by a semantic network, and a function of fuzzification of input information is introduced in the semantic network to implement the ability of analogical inference based on the association. Finally, the effect of analogical inference on the learning efficiency of the system is investigated. 5 references.

Information Limited Oligonucleotide Amplification Assay for Affinity-Based, Parallel Detection Studies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harish Bokkasam

Full Text Available Molecular communication systems encounter similar constraints as telecommunications. In either case, channel crosstalk at the receiver end will result in information loss that statistical analysis cannot compensate. This is because in any communication channel there is a physical limit to the amount of information that can be transmitted. We present a novel and simple modified end amplification (MEA technique to generate reduced and defined amounts of specific information in form of short fragments from an oligonucleotide source that also contains unrelated and redundant information. Our method can be a valuable tool to investigate information overflow and channel capacity in biomolecular recognition systems.

A Bayesian spatial model for neuroimaging data based on biologically informed basis functions.

Science.gov (United States)

Huertas, Ismael; Oldehinkel, Marianne; van Oort, Erik S B; Garcia-Solis, David; Mir, Pablo; Beckmann, Christian F; Marquand, Andre F

2017-11-01

The dominant approach to neuroimaging data analysis employs the voxel as the unit of computation. While convenient, voxels lack biological meaning and their size is arbitrarily determined by the resolution of the image. Here, we propose a multivariate spatial model in which neuroimaging data are characterised as a linearly weighted combination of multiscale basis functions which map onto underlying brain nuclei or networks or nuclei. In this model, the elementary building blocks are derived to reflect the functional anatomy of the brain during the resting state. This model is estimated using a Bayesian framework which accurately quantifies uncertainty and automatically finds the most accurate and parsimonious combination of basis functions describing the data. We demonstrate the utility of this framework by predicting quantitative SPECT images of striatal dopamine function and we compare a variety of basis sets including generic isotropic functions, anatomical representations of the striatum derived from structural MRI, and two different soft functional parcellations of the striatum derived from resting-state fMRI (rfMRI). We found that a combination of ∼50 multiscale functional basis functions accurately represented the striatal dopamine activity, and that functional basis functions derived from an advanced parcellation technique known as Instantaneous Connectivity Parcellation (ICP) provided the most parsimonious models of dopamine function. Importantly, functional basis functions derived from resting fMRI were more accurate than both structural and generic basis sets in representing dopamine function in the striatum for a fixed model order. We demonstrate the translational validity of our framework by constructing classification models for discriminating parkinsonian disorders and their subtypes. Here, we show that ICP approach is the only basis set that performs well across all comparisons and performs better overall than the classical voxel-based approach

Molecular acidity: An accurate description with information-theoretic approach in density functional reactivity theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Xiaofang; Rong, Chunying; Zhong, Aiguo; Lu, Tian; Liu, Shubin

2018-01-15

Molecular acidity is one of the important physiochemical properties of a molecular system, yet its accurate calculation and prediction are still an unresolved problem in the literature. In this work, we propose to make use of the quantities from the information-theoretic (IT) approach in density functional reactivity theory and provide an accurate description of molecular acidity from a completely new perspective. To illustrate our point, five different categories of acidic series, singly and doubly substituted benzoic acids, singly substituted benzenesulfinic acids, benzeneseleninic acids, phenols, and alkyl carboxylic acids, have been thoroughly examined. We show that using IT quantities such as Shannon entropy, Fisher information, Ghosh-Berkowitz-Parr entropy, information gain, Onicescu information energy, and relative Rényi entropy, one is able to simultaneously predict experimental pKa values of these different categories of compounds. Because of the universality of the quantities employed in this work, which are all density dependent, our approach should be general and be applicable to other systems as well. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Information carriers and (reading them through) information theory in quantum chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Geerlings, Paul; Borgoo, Alex

2011-01-21

This Perspective discusses the reduction of the electronic wave function via the second-order reduced density matrix to the electron density ρ(r), which is the key ingredient in density functional theory (DFT) as a basic carrier of information. Simplifying further, the 1-normalized density function turns out to contain essentially the same information as ρ(r) and is even of preferred use as an information carrier when discussing the periodic properties along Mendeleev's table where essentially the valence electrons are at stake. The Kullback-Leibler information deficiency turns out to be the most interesting choice to obtain information on the differences in ρ(r) or σ(r) between two systems. To put it otherwise: when looking for the construction of a functional F(AB) = F[ζ(A)(r),ζ(B)(r)] for extracting differences in information from an information carrier ζ(r) (i.e. ρ(r), σ(r)) for two systems A and B the Kullback-Leibler information measure ΔS is a particularly adequate choice. Examples are given, varying from atoms, to molecules and molecular interactions. Quantum similarity of atoms indicates that the shape function based KL information deficiency is the most appropriate tool to retrieve periodicity in the Periodic Table. The dissimilarity of enantiomers for which different information measures are presented at global and local (i.e. molecular and atomic) level leads to an extension of Mezey's holographic density theorem and shows numerical evidence that in a chiral molecule the whole molecule is pervaded by chirality. Finally Kullback-Leibler information profiles are discussed for intra- and intermolecular proton transfer reactions and a simple S(N)2 reaction indicating that the theoretical information profile can be used as a companion to the energy based Hammond postulate to discuss the early or late transition state character of a reaction. All in all this Perspective's answer is positive to the question of whether an even simpler carrier of

Generating information-rich high-throughput experimental materials genomes using functional clustering via multitree genetic programming and information theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Suram, Santosh K; Haber, Joel A; Jin, Jian; Gregoire, John M

2015-04-13

High-throughput experimental methodologies are capable of synthesizing, screening and characterizing vast arrays of combinatorial material libraries at a very rapid rate. These methodologies strategically employ tiered screening wherein the number of compositions screened decreases as the complexity, and very often the scientific information obtained from a screening experiment, increases. The algorithm used for down-selection of samples from higher throughput screening experiment to a lower throughput screening experiment is vital in achieving information-rich experimental materials genomes. The fundamental science of material discovery lies in the establishment of composition-structure-property relationships, motivating the development of advanced down-selection algorithms which consider the information value of the selected compositions, as opposed to simply selecting the best performing compositions from a high throughput experiment. Identification of property fields (composition regions with distinct composition-property relationships) in high throughput data enables down-selection algorithms to employ advanced selection strategies, such as the selection of representative compositions from each field or selection of compositions that span the composition space of the highest performing field. Such strategies would greatly enhance the generation of data-driven discoveries. We introduce an informatics-based clustering of composition-property functional relationships using a combination of information theory and multitree genetic programming concepts for identification of property fields in a composition library. We demonstrate our approach using a complex synthetic composition-property map for a 5 at. % step ternary library consisting of four distinct property fields and finally explore the application of this methodology for capturing relationships between composition and catalytic activity for the oxygen evolution reaction for 5429 catalyst compositions in a

New international dictionary of acronyms in library and information science and related fields

CERN Document Server

Sawoniak, Henryk

1994-01-01

This enlarged and expanded edition is designed to be a valuable resource for librarians and users of information sources, clarifying the bewidering number of new acronyms that appear every year in the information science field. Nearly 30,000 acronyms in 35 languages are listed. As libraries are to a large extent interdisciplinary, the dictionary covers language forms used in computers, publishing, printing, archive management, journalism and reprography, as well as in the library and information science fields Acronyms reproduced here represent institutions, library and information systems, pr

Activating Processes in the Brand Communication of Valuable Brands on the example of Coca-Cola.

OpenAIRE

Pöhler, Marie-Luise

2017-01-01

Everyone in the world, from the streets of Paris to the villages in Africa, knows the logo with the white letters that are written on a bright red background. Coca-Cola was introduced in 1886. In that year, only nine glasses of the soda drink were sold per day. So how did the little company from Atlanta become the world’s most valuable and popular soft drink? One of the company’s secrets is its emotional and memorable advertising strategies. Therefore, this thesis explains and analyzes ho...

Joint Service Common Operating Environment (COE) Common Geographic Information System functional requirements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meitzler, W.D.

1992-06-01

In the context of this document and COE, the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are decision support systems involving the integration of spatially referenced data in a problem solving environment. They are digital computer systems for capturing, processing, managing, displaying, modeling, and analyzing geographically referenced spatial data which are described by attribute data and location. The ability to perform spatial analysis and the ability to combine two or more data sets to create new spatial information differentiates a GIS from other computer mapping systems. While the CCGIS allows for data editing and input, its primary purpose is not to prepare data, but rather to manipulate, analyte, and clarify it. The CCGIS defined herein provides GIS services and resources including the spatial and map related functionality common to all subsystems contained within the COE suite of C4I systems. The CCGIS, which is an integral component of the COE concept, relies on the other COE standard components to provide the definition for other support computing services required.

How Tactile and Function Information Affect Young Children's Ability to Understand the Nature of Food-Appearing, Deceptive Objects

Science.gov (United States)

Krause, Christina Miles

2008-01-01

Preschool children's (N = 64) ability to use tactile information and function cues on less-realistic and more-realistic food-appearing, deceptive objects was examined before and after training on the function of deceptive objects. They also responded to appearance and reality questions about deceptive objects. Half of the children (F-S:…

From black box to toolbox: Outlining device functionality, engagement activities, and the pervasive information architecture of mHealth interventions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian G. Danaher

2015-03-01

Full Text Available mHealth interventions that deliver content via mobile phones represent a burgeoning area of health behavior change. The current paper examines two themes that can inform the underlying design of mHealth interventions: (1 mobile device functionality, which represents the technological toolbox available to intervention developers; and (2 the pervasive information architecture of mHealth interventions, which determines how intervention content can be delivered concurrently using mobile phones, personal computers, and other devices. We posit that developers of mHealth interventions will be able to better achieve the promise of this burgeoning arena by leveraging the toolbox and functionality of mobile devices in order to engage participants and encourage meaningful behavior change within the context of a carefully designed pervasive information architecture.

From black box to toolbox: Outlining device functionality, engagement activities, and the pervasive information architecture of mHealth interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Danaher, Brian G; Brendryen, Håvar; Seeley, John R; Tyler, Milagra S; Woolley, Tim

2015-03-01

mHealth interventions that deliver content via mobile phones represent a burgeoning area of health behavior change. The current paper examines two themes that can inform the underlying design of mHealth interventions: (1) mobile device functionality, which represents the technological toolbox available to intervention developers; and (2) the pervasive information architecture of mHealth interventions, which determines how intervention content can be delivered concurrently using mobile phones, personal computers, and other devices. We posit that developers of mHealth interventions will be better able to achieve the promise of this burgeoning arena by leveraging the toolbox and functionality of mobile devices in order to engage participants and encourage meaningful behavior change within the context of a carefully designed pervasive information architecture.

The implementation of nuclear knowledge information infra database

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, Shin Bok; Hwang, In Ah [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea)

2001-02-01

The purpose of this research is to develop DB for establishing knowledge management DB, which will be effectively utilized for carrying out nuclear R and D program. This report describes detailed methodology for data retrieval, classification, acquisition, accumulation, common ownership and regeneration of professional knowledge. An example of knowledge DB construction in the field of nuclear energy is illustrated in the report. This project is supported by a part of digital information program related to science and technology. The total of 894 man year (3 man per day) is invested in this project. Major works carried out in this project are design of DB field for nuclear knowledge base, classification and selection of knowledge information information, review of classified and selected information, preparation of information DB, and so on. As a result of this project, the developed DB for nuclear knowledge information infrastructure will serve as a valuable source of information to the nuclear researchers and information users. (Author)

Information retrieval implementing and evaluating search engines

CERN Document Server

Büttcher, Stefan; Cormack, Gordon V

2016-01-01

Information retrieval is the foundation for modern search engines. This textbook offers an introduction to the core topics underlying modern search technologies, including algorithms, data structures, indexing, retrieval, and evaluation. The emphasis is on implementation and experimentation; each chapter includes exercises and suggestions for student projects. Wumpus -- a multiuser open-source information retrieval system developed by one of the authors and available online -- provides model implementations and a basis for student work. The modular structure of the book allows instructors to use it in a variety of graduate-level courses, including courses taught from a database systems perspective, traditional information retrieval courses with a focus on IR theory, and courses covering the basics of Web retrieval. In addition to its classroom use, Information Retrieval will be a valuable reference for professionals in computer science, computer engineering, and software engineering.

The cost of being valuable: predictors of extinction risk in marine invertebrates exploited as luxury seafood

OpenAIRE

Purcell, Steven W.; Polidoro, Beth A.; Hamel, Jean-François; Gamboa, Ruth U.; Mercier, Annie

2014-01-01

Extinction risk has been linked to biological and anthropogenic variables. Prediction of extinction risk in valuable fauna may not follow mainstream drivers when species are exploited for international markets. We use results from an International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List assessment of extinction risk in all 377 known species of sea cucumber within the order Aspidochirotida, many of which are exploited worldwide as luxury seafood for Asian markets. Extinction risk was primari...

iSchools and It's Need for Promoting Information-Technology-Social Interaction: Overview and Need in Indian Educational Context

OpenAIRE

P. S. Aithal; P. K. Paul

2018-01-01

Information is treated as most important and valuable domain these days. There are many domains and fields which are closely related with information such as Information Science, Communication Science, Media Studies, Archival, Library Science, Information Technology, and Information Studies and so on. Hence a full-fledged association and foundation is established on such fields or more clearly on information fields (like the establishment of Information Schools / I-School caucus). The I-Schoo...

ARCHITECTURE AND FUNCTIONALITY OF INTEGRATED INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR ANALYSIS OF POTENTIAL OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. A. Tonkonogov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the work was the development of the original architecture of an integrated information system for analysis of the potential of renewable energy sources. The required functionality of system has led to the solution of a number of problems in the development of appropriate software modules that implement methods, models and algorithms for assessing the energy potential and economic efficiency of the use of renewable energy sources (RES. This required the solution of the following problems: adaptation of existing and development of new methods for analyzing the potential of RES at various territorial levels using modern technologies of geographic information systems and computer technologies were accomplished; models for the assessment and calculation of the potential of renewable energy resources were developed; techniques for assessing of the economic effectiveness of decisions made for using of RES were adapted; architecture of the information system was developed and the choice of technologies and means for its implementation was made; algorithms of software modules and their interaction as a parts of the information system were developed. A distinctive feature of the architecture were flexibility and openness for the expansion and implementation of additional functionality, in particular the development of special algorithms and software modules for interacting with the database and a graphical Web-based user interface that provides the ability to work with cartographic information. The development and implementation of this system is a modern up-to-date scientific and practical task, the solution of which will create conditions for increased use of RES in RB and improving the country’s energy security. The results of conducted researches and completed developments can be used in the system of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of RB, in particular for maintaining of the state cadastre of RES and making

Wavelets in functional data analysis

CERN Document Server

Morettin, Pedro A; Vidakovic, Brani

2017-01-01

Wavelet-based procedures are key in many areas of statistics, applied mathematics, engineering, and science. This book presents wavelets in functional data analysis, offering a glimpse of problems in which they can be applied, including tumor analysis, functional magnetic resonance and meteorological data. Starting with the Haar wavelet, the authors explore myriad families of wavelets and how they can be used. High-dimensional data visualization (using Andrews' plots), wavelet shrinkage (a simple, yet powerful, procedure for nonparametric models) and a selection of estimation and testing techniques (including a discussion on Stein’s Paradox) make this a highly valuable resource for graduate students and experienced researchers alike.

Maintenance information management using access/visual basic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Memory A, Michael; Cumbia W, Brad

1998-01-01

The Accelerator Electronic Support Group (AES) is the group responsible for maintaining over 100 subsystems of the Nuclear Physics Accelerator at Jefferson Lab. Presently, there are 30 employees in the AES group. It is each individual's responsibility to make entries into the AES Database. This Access/Visual Basic based database is the center for all work performed to the Accelerator by the AES group. At any time, an AES technologist can supply valuable information needed to track pending maintenance, data analysis of recurring problems, inventory tracking and the ability to export all of this information to a web based electronic log generated by Jefferson Lab Operations Group

Participation in Informal Science Learning Experiences: The Rich Get Richer?

Science.gov (United States)

DeWitt, Jennifer; Archer, Louise

2017-01-01

Informal science learning (ISL) experiences have been found to provide valuable opportunities to engage with and learn about science and, as such, form a key part of the STEM learning ecosystem. However, concerns remain around issues of equity and access. The Enterprising Science study builds upon previous research in this area and uses the…

Versatile post-functionalization of the external shell of cowpea chlorotic mottle virus by using click chemistry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hommersom, C.A.; Matt, B.D.; van der Ham, A.M.; Cornelissen, Jeroen Johannes Lambertus Maria; Katsonis, Nathalie Hélène

2014-01-01

We present the modification of the outer protein shell of cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) with linear and strained alkyne groups. These functionalized protein capsids constitute valuable platforms for post-functionalization via click chemistry. After modification, the integrity of the capsid

Brief Report: Joint Attention and Information Processing in Children with Higher Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Mundy, Peter; Kim, Kwnanguk; McIntyre, Nancy; Lerro, Lindsay; Jarrold, William

2016-01-01

Theory suggests that information processing during joint attention may be atypical in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This hypothesis was tested in a study of school-aged children with higher functioning ASD and groups of children with symptoms of ADHD or typical development. The results indicated that the control groups displayed…

Brief Report: Joint Attention and Information Processing in Children with Higher Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Mundy, Peter; Kim, Kwanguk; McIntyre, Nancy; Lerro, Lindsay; Jarrold, William

2016-01-01

Theory suggests that information processing during joint attention may be atypical in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This hypothesis was tested in a study of school-aged children with higher functioning ASD and groups of children with symptoms of ADHD or typical development. The results indicated that the control groups displayed…

Uncertainty quantification for nuclear density functional theory and information content of new measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonnell, J D; Schunck, N; Higdon, D; Sarich, J; Wild, S M; Nazarewicz, W

2015-03-27

Statistical tools of uncertainty quantification can be used to assess the information content of measured observables with respect to present-day theoretical models, to estimate model errors and thereby improve predictive capability, to extrapolate beyond the regions reached by experiment, and to provide meaningful input to applications and planned measurements. To showcase new opportunities offered by such tools, we make a rigorous analysis of theoretical statistical uncertainties in nuclear density functional theory using Bayesian inference methods. By considering the recent mass measurements from the Canadian Penning Trap at Argonne National Laboratory, we demonstrate how the Bayesian analysis and a direct least-squares optimization, combined with high-performance computing, can be used to assess the information content of the new data with respect to a model based on the Skyrme energy density functional approach. Employing the posterior probability distribution computed with a Gaussian process emulator, we apply the Bayesian framework to propagate theoretical statistical uncertainties in predictions of nuclear masses, two-neutron dripline, and fission barriers. Overall, we find that the new mass measurements do not impose a constraint that is strong enough to lead to significant changes in the model parameters. The example discussed in this study sets the stage for quantifying and maximizing the impact of new measurements with respect to current modeling and guiding future experimental efforts, thus enhancing the experiment-theory cycle in the scientific method.

Assessment of different biomarkers provides valuable diagnostic standards in the evaluation of the risk of acute rejection.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Jin; Ding, Xiaoming; Tian, Xiaohui; Jin, Zhankui; Pan, Xiaoming; Yan, Hang; Feng, Xinshun; Hou, Jun; Xiang, Heli; Ren, Li; Tian, Puxun; Xue, Wujun

2012-09-01

Acute rejection (AR) is a strong risk factor for chronic rejection in renal transplant recipients. Accurate and timely diagnosis of AR episodes is very important for disease control and prognosis. Therefore, objectively evaluated the immune status of patients is essential in the field of post-transplantation treatment. This longitudinal study investigated the usefulness of five biomarkers, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G5 and sCD30 level in sera, intracellular adenosine triphosphate (iATP) release level of CD4(+) T cells, and granzyme B/perforin expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and biopsies, to detect AR and the resolution of biomarkers in a total of 84 cases of renal transplantation. The data demonstrated that recipients with clinical or biopsy proven rejection significantly increased iATP release level of CD4(+) T cells, and elevated sCD30 but lowered HLA-G5 level in sera compared with individuals with stable graft function. Expression levels of granzyme B and perforin were also elevated in PBMCs and graft biopsies of AR patients. Taken together, we identified that upregulation of sCD30, iATP, granzyme B, perforin, and downregulation of HLA-G5 could provide valuable diagnostic standards to identify those recipients in the risk of AR. And iATP may be a better biomarker than others for predicting the graft rejection episode.

Computing the hadronic vacuum polarization function by analytic continuation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feng, Xu [KEK National High Energy Physics, Tsukuba (Japan); Hashimoto, Shoji [KEK National High Energy Physics, Tsukuba (Japan); The Graduate Univ. for Advanced Studies, Tsukuba (Japan). School of High Energy Accelerator Science; Hotzel, Grit [Humboldt-Universitaet, Berlin (Germany). Inst. fuer Physik; Jansen, Karl [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Zeuthen (Germany). John von Neumann-Inst. fuer Computing NIC; Cyprus Univ., Nicosia (Cyprus). Dept. of Physics; Petschlies, Marcus [The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia (Cyprus); Renner, Dru B. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, VA (United States)

2013-07-15

We propose a method to compute the hadronic vacuum polarization function on the lattice at continuous values of photon momenta bridging between the space-like and time-like regions. We provide two independent derivations of this method showing that it leads to the desired hadronic vacuum polarization function in Minkowski space-time. We show with the example of the leading- order QCD correction to the muon anomalous magnetic moment that this approach can provide a valuable alternative method for calculations of physical quantities where the hadronic vacuum polarization function enters.

Determination of commercially valuable characteristics of plant varieties for energetic use during the state examination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

В. В. Баликіна

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The analysis of commercially valuable indices of plant varieties for energetic use was carried out and the necessity to determine energetic indices during the state scientific-and-technical examination is substantiated. In order to explain the requirements for registration of new varieties of energy crops concerning the defi nition of indices of ability for distribution, the collection of species and hybrid forms of willow was used. Factors that prove the economic and environmental advantages of energy willow cultivation for biofuel are specifi ed.

Exploring the role of the human resource function in the South African information technology industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caron Hall

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The Information Technology (IT industry is one that is characterised by rapid change and a heavy reliance on human skills. A study was conducted to qualitatively explore the role of the Human Resource (HR function in the South African IT industry. Semi-structured individual and focus group interviews with professionals in this function highlighted many opportunities for HR to render a more strategic role in an environment where a skills shortage and many related problem areas exist. The implications of these findings are discussed and proposals for redefining the role of HR in the specific industry are offered.

Information and Informality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsson, Magnus; Segerstéen, Solveig; Svensson, Cathrin

2011-01-01

leaders on the basis of their possession of reliable knowledge in technical as well as organizational domains. The informal leaders engaged in interpretation and brokering of information and knowledge, as well as in mediating strategic values and priorities on both formal and informal arenas. Informal...... leaders were thus seen to function on the level of the organization as a whole, and in cooperation with formal leaders. Drawing on existing theory of leadership in creative and professional contexts, this cooperation can be specified to concern task structuring. The informal leaders in our study...... contributed to task structuring through sensemaking activities, while formal leaders focused on aspects such as clarifying output expectations, providing feedback, project structure, and diversity....

Effects of information processing speed on learning, memory, and executive functioning in people living with HIV/AIDS.

Science.gov (United States)

Fellows, Robert P; Byrd, Desiree A; Morgello, Susan

2014-01-01

It is unclear whether or to what degree literacy, aging, and other neurologic abnormalities relate to cognitive deficits among people living with HIV/AIDS in the combined antiretroviral therapy (CART) era. The primary aim of this study was to simultaneously examine the association of age, HIV-associated motor abnormalities, major depressive disorder, and reading level with information processing speed, learning, memory, and executive functions, and to determine whether processing speed mediated any of the relationships between cognitive and noncognitive variables. Participants were 186 racially and ethnically diverse men and women living with HIV/AIDS who underwent comprehensive neurological, neuropsychological, and medical evaluations. Structural equation modeling was utilized to assess the extent to which information processing speed mediated the relationship between age, motor abnormalities, major depressive disorder, and reading level with other cognitive abilities. Age, motor dysfunction, reading level, and current major depressive disorder were all significantly associated with information processing speed. Information processing speed fully mediated the effects of age on learning, memory, and executive functioning and partially mediated the effect of major depressive disorder on learning and memory. The effect of motor dysfunction on learning and memory was fully mediated by processing speed. These findings provide support for information processing speed as a primary deficit, which may account, at least in part, for many of the other cognitive abnormalities recognized in complex HIV/AIDS populations. The association of age and information processing speed may account for HIV/aging synergies in the generation of CART-era cognitive abnormalities.

Models, Metaphors and Symbols for Information and Knowledge Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Williams

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A literature search indicates that Data, Information and Knowledge continue to be placed into a hierarchical construct where it is considered that information is more valuable than data and that information can be processed into becoming precious knowledge. Wisdom continues to be added to the model to further confuse the issue. This model constrains our ability to think more logically about how and why we develop knowledge management systems to support and enhance knowledge- intensive processes, tasks or projects. This paper seeks to summarise development of the Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom hierarchy, explore the extensive criticism of it and present a more logical (and accurate construct for the elements of intellectual capital when developing and managing Knowledge Management Systems.

Relationship between stakeholders' information value perception and information security behaviour

Science.gov (United States)

Tajuddin, Sharul; Olphert, Wendy; Doherty, Neil

2015-02-01

The study, reported in this paper, aims to explore the relationship between the stakeholders' perceptions about the value of information and their resultant information security behaviours. Moreover, this study seeks to explore the role of national and organisational culture in facilitating information value assignment. Information Security is a concept that formed from the recognition that information is valuable and that there is a need to protect it. The ISO 27002 defines information as an asset, which, like other important business assets, is essential to an organisation's business and consequently needs to be appropriately protected. By definition, an asset has a value to the organisation hence it requires protection. Information protection is typically accomplished through the implementation of countermeasures against the threats and vulnerabilities of information security, for example, implementation of technological processes and mechanisms such as firewall and authorization and authentication systems, set-up of deterrence procedures such as password control and enforcement of organisational policy on information handling procedures. However, evidence routinely shows that despite such measures, information security breaches and incidents are on the rise. These breaches lead to loss of information, personal records, or other data, with consequent implications for the value of the information asset. A number of studies have suggested that such problems are not related primarily to technology problems or procedural deficiencies, but rather to stakeholders' poor compliance with the security measures that are in place. Research indicates that compliance behaviour is affected by many variables including perceived costs and benefits, national and organisational culture and norms. However, there has been little research to understand the concept of information value from the perspective of those who interact with the data, and the consequences for information

Illusionary Transparency? Oil Revenues, Information Disclosure, and Transparency

OpenAIRE

Ofori, Jerome Jeffison; Lujala, Päivi

2015-01-01

xperience shows that discovery of valuable natural resources can become a curse rather than a blessing, and transparency has been identified as key to better resource governance because it can limit opportunities for corruption and mismanagement. This article shows that information disclosure, in which many governments and donor institutions engage, does not automatically translate into transparency. Ghana has embedded transparency as one of its key principles in oil management. However, fiel...

Personalized Mobile Information Retrieval System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Okkyung Choi

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Building a global Network Relations with the internet has made huge changes in personal information system and even comments left on a webpage of SNS(Social Network Services are appreciated as important elements that would provide valuable information for someone. Social Network is a relation between individuals or groups, represented in a graph model, which converts the concept of psychological and social relations into a logical structure by using node and link. But, most of the current personalized systems on the basis of Social Network are built and constructed mainly in the PC environment, and the systems are neither designed nor implemented in mobile environment. Hence, the objective of this study is to propose methods of providing Personalized Mobile Information Retrieval System using NFC (Near Field Communication Smartphone, which will be then used for Smartphone users. Besides, this study aims to verify its efficiency through a comparative analysis of existing studies.

Rapid and highly informative diagnostic assay for H5N1 influenza viruses.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nader Pourmand

Full Text Available A highly discriminative and information-rich diagnostic assay for H5N1 avian influenza would meet immediate patient care needs and provide valuable information for public health interventions, e.g., tracking of new and more dangerous variants by geographic area as well as avian-to-human or human-to-human transmission. In the present study, we have designed a rapid assay based on multilocus nucleic acid sequencing that focuses on the biologically significant regions of the H5N1 hemagglutinin gene. This allows the prediction of viral strain, clade, receptor binding properties, low- or high-pathogenicity cleavage site and glycosylation status. H5 HA genes were selected from nine known high-pathogenicity avian influenza subtype H5N1 viruses, based on their diversity in biologically significant regions of hemagglutinin and/or their ability to cause infection in humans. We devised a consensus pre-programmed pyrosequencing strategy, which may be used as a faster, more accurate alternative to de novo sequencing. The available data suggest that the assay described here is a reliable, rapid, information-rich and cost-effective approach for definitive diagnosis of H5N1 avian influenza. Knowledge of the predicted functional sequences of the HA will enhance H5N1 avian influenza surveillance efforts.

Industrial scale chromatographic separation of valuable compounds from biomass hydrolysates and side streams

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saari, P.

2011-06-15

Carbohydrates are composed of a number of various monosaccharides, glucose being the most abundant. Some of the monosaccharides are valuable compounds used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. They can be separated from biomass hydrolysates e.g. by chromatographic methods. In this thesis, chromatographic separation of valuable compounds using ion exchange resins was studied on an industrial scale. Of special interest were rare monosaccharides in biomass hydrolysates. A novel chromatographic separation process was developed for fucose, starting from pre-processed spent sulfite liquor. The core of the process consists of three chromatographic separations with different types of ion exchange resins. Chromatographic separation of galactose was tested with three biomass hydrolysates; lactose, gum arabic and hemicellulose hydrolysates. It was demonstrated that also galactose can be separated from complex carbohydrate mixtures. A recovery process for arabinose from citrus pectin liquid residual and for mannose from wood pulp hydrolysate were also developed and experimentally verified. In addition to monosaccharides, chromatographic separation of glycinebetaine from vinasse was examined with a hydrogen form weak acid cation exchange resin. The separation involves untypical peak formation depending, for example, on the pH and the cation composition. The retention mechanism was found to be hydrogen bonding between glycinebetaine and the resin. In the experimental part, all four resin types - strong acid cation, strong base anion, weak acid cation and weak base anion exchange resins - were used. In addition, adsorption equilibria data of seven monosaccharides and sucrose were measured with the resins in sodium and sulfate forms because such data have been lacking. It was found out that the isotherms of all sugars were linear under industrial conditions. A systematic method for conceptual process design and sequencing of chromatographic separation steps were developed

Quantification of skeletal muscle mitochondrial function by 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques : A quantitative review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kemp, G.J.; Ahmad, R.E.; Nicolay, K.; Prompers, J.J.

2015-01-01

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can give information about cellular metabolism in vivo which is difficult to obtain in other ways. In skeletal muscle, non-invasive 31P MRS measurements of the post-exercise recovery kinetics of pH, [PCr], [Pi] and [ADP] contain valuable information about muscle

Identifying climate risk perceptions, information needs, and barriers to information exchange among public land managers.

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Casey B; Schwartz, Mark W; Lubell, Mark N

2018-03-01

Meeting ecosystem management challenges posed by climate change requires building effective communication channels among researchers, planners and practitioners to focus research on management issues requiring new knowledge. We surveyed resource managers within two regions of the western United States regions to better understand perceived risks and vulnerabilities associated with climate change and barriers to obtaining and using relevant climate science information in making ecosystem management decisions. We sought to understand what types of climate science information resource managers find most valuable, and the formats in which they prefer to receive climate science information. We found broad concern among natural resource managers in federal agencies that climate change will make it more difficult for them to achieve their management goals. Primary barriers to incorporating climate science into planning are distributed among challenges identifying, receiving, and interpreting appropriate science and a lack of direction provided by agency leadership needed to meaningfully use this emerging science in resource planning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Windowed correlation: a suitable tool for providing dynamic fMRI-based functional connectivity neurofeedback on task difficulty.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Zilverstand

Full Text Available The goal of neurofeedback training is to provide participants with relevant information on their ongoing brain processes in order to enable them to change these processes in a meaningful way. Under the assumption of an intrinsic brain-behavior link, neurofeedback can be a tool to guide a participant towards a desired behavioral state, such as a healthier state in the case of patients. Current research in clinical neuroscience regarding the most robust indicators of pathological brain processes in psychiatric and neurological disorders indicates that fMRI-based functional connectivity measures may be among the most important biomarkers of disease. The present study therefore investigated the general potential of providing fMRI neurofeedback based on functional correlations, computed from short-window time course data at the level of single task periods. The ability to detect subtle changes in task performance with block-wise functional connectivity measures was evaluated based on imaging data from healthy participants performing a simple motor task, which was systematically varied along two task dimensions representing two different aspects of task difficulty. The results demonstrate that fMRI-based functional connectivity measures may provide a better indicator for an increase in overall (motor task difficulty than activation level-based measures. Windowed functional correlations thus seem to provide relevant and unique information regarding ongoing brain processes, which is not captured equally well by standard activation level-based neurofeedback measures. Functional connectivity markers, therefore, may indeed provide a valuable tool to enhance and monitor learning within an fMRI neurofeedback setup.

Optimisation of chromatographic resolution using objective functions including both time and spectral information.

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Lapasió, J R; Pous-Torres, S; Ortiz-Bolsico, C; García-Alvarez-Coque, M C

2015-01-16

The optimisation of the resolution in high-performance liquid chromatography is traditionally performed attending only to the time information. However, even in the optimal conditions, some peak pairs may remain unresolved. Such incomplete resolution can be still accomplished by deconvolution, which can be carried out with more guarantees of success by including spectral information. In this work, two-way chromatographic objective functions (COFs) that incorporate both time and spectral information were tested, based on the peak purity (analyte peak fraction free of overlapping) and the multivariate selectivity (figure of merit derived from the net analyte signal) concepts. These COFs are sensitive to situations where the components that coelute in a mixture show some spectral differences. Therefore, they are useful to find out experimental conditions where the spectrochromatograms can be recovered by deconvolution. Two-way multivariate selectivity yielded the best performance and was applied to the separation using diode-array detection of a mixture of 25 phenolic compounds, which remained unresolved in the chromatographic order using linear and multi-linear gradients of acetonitrile-water. Peak deconvolution was carried out using the combination of orthogonal projection approach and alternating least squares. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Surveillance in the Information Age: Text Quantification, Anomaly Detection, and Empirical Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Hsin-Min

2010-01-01

Deep penetration of personal computers, data communication networks, and the Internet has created a massive platform for data collection, dissemination, storage, and retrieval. Large amounts of textual data are now available at a very low cost. Valuable information, such as consumer preferences, new product developments, trends, and opportunities,…

Resource specialization, customer orientation, and firm performance: an empirical investigation of valuable resources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Hans Eibe

2011-01-01

This study contributes to the strategic marketing research by empirically investigating the role of customer orientation in explaining how firms leverage their specialized but vulnerable resources. The aim is thus to explore a subset of the means by which resources become valuable to the firm...... – the first criterion for a strategic resource. Hypotheses are developed and tested using CEO questionnaire responses from a sample of manufacturing firms and census accounting data. The results show that there is a strong link between industry-specific resources and return on assets for firms with high...... levels of customer orientation. We also report that firm-specific resources are unrelated to firm performance and that a customer orientation – investigated in isolation, may be detrimental to firm performance. Research and managerial implications are discussed....

«THE HIDDEN PEDAGOGY» AS MEANS OF CULTURAL COMMUNICATION AND VALUABLE AND ECONOMIC SOCIALIZATION (ACCORDING TO MATERIALS OF THE VIRTUAL MUSEUM OF GERMANY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga Dmitrievna Fedotova

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In this article the problems of using the factors of the forming influence operating outside the standard educational environment in the open sociocultural practice are considered. The characteristic is given to the concept «the hidden pedagogy» which is introduced into scientific circulation abroad at two levels – as the conceptual metaphor and theoretical conceptualization fixing spheres of influence of informal education. It is shown that acquaintance with exhibits expands the idea of visitors of the economic, cultural and valuable orientations dominating in the past on the basis of the analysis of an exposition of the virtual museum of the bookmarks presented in Internet space by collectors from Germany. It is shown that the bookmark for pupils advertizing the examples of behavior directed on accumulation, saving is an indirect, but effective factor of the forming influence. The characteristic of activity of financial institutions and school savings banks on formation of economic installations of the adult and young population is given.

Quantitative Analysis of Non-Financial Motivators and Job Satisfaction of Information Technology Professionals

Science.gov (United States)

Mieszczak, Gina L.

2013-01-01

Organizations depend extensively on Information Technology professionals to drive and deliver technology solutions quickly, efficiently, and effectively to achieve business goals and profitability. It has been demonstrated that professionals with experience specific to the company are valuable assets, and their departure puts technology projects…

77 FR 36260 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Puget Sound Recreational Shellfish Harvesting...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-18

... Collection; Comment Request; Puget Sound Recreational Shellfish Harvesting Project AGENCY: National Oceanic..., as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or... for a new collection of information. The Puget Sound estuary provides one of the most valuable...

FUNCTION DEFIES FORM: A THOUGHT FOR ARCHITECTURE IN THE NEW INFORMATION AGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Izham Ghani

2007-11-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the issues and thoughts on the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT towards some of today’s buildings – form and function. ‘Form follows function’ is perhaps one of the world famous dictums in architecture that many would agree on its feasibility in the theory of basic building designs. However, the emergence of the new ‘Information Age’ had suggested otherwise. Spaces had become more intelligent and interactive while circulation is becoming more fluid and flexible. Building forms tend to be more invisible as users turn to the World Wide Web for routine activities that was once achievable only through physical interaction. Nowadays activities such as shopping, meeting, schooling, chatting and even a visit to the library is virtually possible. As computers and human are adapting more towards each other, buildings are just becoming a matter of platform to store the software and hardware. In the digital world, architects face a daunting task of reclaiming the original image and identity of what we see as a ‘building’. Regardless of any invasion of new technology, buildings should serve its purpose as a reflection of the place’s image and identity. This paper would hope to provoke new thoughts in architectural approach as we reach the dawn of an information society.

3D Information System of Historical Site – Proposal and Realisation of a Functional Prototype

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Hodač

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The development of methods for 3D data acquisition, together with progress in information technologies raises the question of creating and using 3D models and 3D information systems (IS of historical sites and buildings. This paper presents the current state of the “Live Theatre” project. The theme of the project is the proposal and realisation of a 3D IS of the baroque theatre at Eeský Krumlov castle (UNESCO site.The project is divided into three main stages – creation of a 3D model, proposal of a conception for a 3D IS, and realisation of a functional prototype. 3D data was acquired by means of photogrammetric and surveying methods. An accurate 3D model (photo-realistic, textured was built up with MicroStation CAD system. The proposal of a conception of a 3D IS was the main outcome of the author’s dissertation. The essential feature of the proposed conception is the creation of subsystems targeted on three spheres – management, research and presentation of the site. The functionality of each subsystem is connected with its related sphere; however, each subsystem uses the same database. The present stage of the project involves making a functional prototype (with sample data. During this stage we are working on several basic technological topics. At present we are concerned with 3D data, its formats, format conversions (e.g. DGN _ VRML and its connection to other types of data. After that, we will be seeking a convenient technical solution based on network technologies (Internet and an appropriate layout for the data (database. The project is being carried out in close co-operation with the administration of the castle and some other partners. This stage of the project will be completed in December 2005.A functional prototype and the information acquired by testing it will form the basis for the final proposal of a complex IS of a historical site. The final proposal and appropriate technology will be the outcome of the project. The

Recovery of valuable metals from polymetallic mine tailings by natural microbial consortium.

Science.gov (United States)

Vardanyan, Narine; Sevoyan, Garegin; Navasardyan, Taron; Vardanyan, Arevik

2018-05-28

Possibilities for the recovery of non-ferrous and precious metals from Kapan polymetallic mine tailings (Armenia) were studied. The aim of this paper was to study the possibilities of bioleaching of samples of concentrated tailings by the natural microbial consortium of drainage water. The extent of extraction of metals from the samples of concentrated tailings by natural microbial consortium reached 41-55% and 53-73% for copper and zinc, respectively. Metal leaching efficiencies of pure culture Leptospirillum ferrooxidans Teg were higher, namely 47-93% and 73-81% for copper and zinc, respectively. The content of gold in solid phase of tailings increased about 7-16% and 2-9% after bio-oxidation process by L. ferrooxidans Teg and natural microbial consortium, respectively. It was shown that bioleaching of the samples of tailings could be performed using the natural consortium of drainage water. However, to increase the intensity of the recovery of valuable metals, natural consortium of drainage water combined with iron-oxidizing L. ferrooxidans Teg has been proposed.

Information of Zeff from the sawtooth-performances in the center of ohmic tokamak discharges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eberhagen, A.

1987-09-01

Achievement of information on the mean effective ion charge in the center of ohmic tokamak discharges from sawtooth-relaxations of the plasma is considered. This method is found to supply trustworthy results for usual tokamak parameters. While its application requires some effort in data analysis, it can provide a valuable determination of Z eff -data, independent of the information from bremsstrahlung radiation losses of the plasma. (orig.)

Uncertainty quantification for nuclear density functional theory and information content of new measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McDonnell, J. D. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Schunck, N. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Higdon, D. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Sarich, J. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Wild, S. M. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Nazarewicz, W. [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab., Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Warsaw, Warsaw (Poland)

2015-03-24

Statistical tools of uncertainty quantification can be used to assess the information content of measured observables with respect to present-day theoretical models, to estimate model errors and thereby improve predictive capability, to extrapolate beyond the regions reached by experiment, and to provide meaningful input to applications and planned measurements. To showcase new opportunities offered by such tools, we make a rigorous analysis of theoretical statistical uncertainties in nuclear density functional theory using Bayesian inference methods. By considering the recent mass measurements from the Canadian Penning Trap at Argonne National Laboratory, we demonstrate how the Bayesian analysis and a direct least-squares optimization, combined with high-performance computing, can be used to assess the information content of the new data with respect to a model based on the Skyrme energy density functional approach. Employing the posterior probability distribution computed with a Gaussian process emulator, we apply the Bayesian framework to propagate theoretical statistical uncertainties in predictions of nuclear masses, two-neutron dripline, and fission barriers. Overall, we find that the new mass measurements do not impose a constraint that is strong enough to lead to significant changes in the model parameters. As a result, the example discussed in this study sets the stage for quantifying and maximizing the impact of new measurements with respect to current modeling and guiding future experimental efforts, thus enhancing the experiment-theory cycle in the scientific method.

[Subjective Level of Information and Information Needs of Patients with an Approved Rehabilitation Application and Patients at the End of Rehabilitation Results of a Written Survey].

Science.gov (United States)

Walther, Anna Lena; Schreiber, Dora; Falk, Johannes; Deck, Ruth

2017-08-01

Aim The aim of the study was to identify the subjective level of information and information needs of patients with an approved rehabilitation application and patients at the end of rehabilitation with regard to preferred subjects and kind of information transfer. Method Written survey with N=283 patients with approved rehabilitation application and N=388 patients at the end of rehabilitation. Results Both groups reported high information needs particularly regarding treatments during rehabilitation, rehabilitation aftercare and rehabilitation aims. A conversation with their physician, a brochure and a website are the preferred information pathways. Conclusion Taking into account the topics for which both groups require information and the preference regarding the kind of information transfer can make a valuable contribution for the development of needs-oriented information material. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Delayed parenchymal transit during Tc-99m MAG3 renography is a valuable sign in diagnosing urinary obstruction in patients with early hydronephrosis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Won Woo; Moon, Dae Hyuk; Kim, Jae Seung; Ryu, Jin Sook; Lee, Hee Kyung [Ulsan University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2002-10-01

Diuretic renography (DR) can be false negative with upper urinary tract obstruction due to low compliance of the renal pelvis. Delayed parenchymal transit (DPT) may be a valuable sign in case of false negative DR. We compared the diagnostic values of DR and DPT during Tc-99m MAG3 diuretic scan in adults with suspected unilateral obstructive uropathy. Fifty-four patients (male:female=30:24, age: 40.7{+-}15.5 yrs) who underwent Tc-99m MAG3 diuretic scan due to suspicious unilateral obstructive uropathy were analyzed. DR with a T{sub 1/2} of > 15 min was considered as positive for obstruction. DPT was considered to be present when there was delayed appearance of radioactivity in the renal pelvis and prolonged retention of radioactivity in the renal pelvis and prolonged retention of radioactivity in the renal parenchyma. The renal area ratio was defined as the ratio of pixel number of hydronephrotic after intervention, or aggravated hydronephrosis without intervention. Non-obstruction was defined as unchanged hydronephrosis over 6 months. Twenty-six renal units had obstruction and 28 no obstruction. The sensitivities of DR and DPT were 69% (18/26) and 50% (13/26) respectively. Two renal units with DPT but negative DR showed DPT had lower renal area ratio than 7 renal units without DPT (0.97{+-}0.20 vs 1.30{+-}0.41, p<0.05). Differential renal function was not significantly different between these groups. DPT correctly diagnosed all renal units with non-obstruction (specificity 100%), while the specificity of DR was 89% (25/28). DPT during Tc-99m MAG3 diuretic scan may be a valuable sign in diagnosing urinary obstruction especially in patients with false negative DR and early HN.

Delayed parenchymal transit during Tc-99m MAG3 renography is a valuable sign in diagnosing urinary obstruction in patients with early hydronephrosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Won Woo; Moon, Dae Hyuk; Kim, Jae Seung; Ryu, Jin Sook; Lee, Hee Kyung

2002-01-01

Diuretic renography (DR) can be false negative with upper urinary tract obstruction due to low compliance of the renal pelvis. Delayed parenchymal transit (DPT) may be a valuable sign in case of false negative DR. We compared the diagnostic values of DR and DPT during Tc-99m MAG3 diuretic scan in adults with suspected unilateral obstructive uropathy. Fifty-four patients (male:female=30:24, age: 40.7±15.5 yrs) who underwent Tc-99m MAG3 diuretic scan due to suspicious unilateral obstructive uropathy were analyzed. DR with a T 1/2 of > 15 min was considered as positive for obstruction. DPT was considered to be present when there was delayed appearance of radioactivity in the renal pelvis and prolonged retention of radioactivity in the renal pelvis and prolonged retention of radioactivity in the renal parenchyma. The renal area ratio was defined as the ratio of pixel number of hydronephrotic after intervention, or aggravated hydronephrosis without intervention. Non-obstruction was defined as unchanged hydronephrosis over 6 months. Twenty-six renal units had obstruction and 28 no obstruction. The sensitivities of DR and DPT were 69% (18/26) and 50% (13/26) respectively. Two renal units with DPT but negative DR showed DPT had lower renal area ratio than 7 renal units without DPT (0.97±0.20 vs 1.30±0.41, p<0.05). Differential renal function was not significantly different between these groups. DPT correctly diagnosed all renal units with non-obstruction (specificity 100%), while the specificity of DR was 89% (25/28). DPT during Tc-99m MAG3 diuretic scan may be a valuable sign in diagnosing urinary obstruction especially in patients with false negative DR and early HN

A Functional Approach to User Guides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Sandro

2007-01-01

to fulfil the requirements of users. By applying the functional approach lexicographers are forced to reconsider the scope of the user guide. The user guide has traditionally centred on the structures of entries - and consequently on the word list - but its scope should be widened, so as to include all......The functional approach opens up exciting new possibilities for theoretical and practical lexicography. It encourages lexicographers to adopt a new way of thinking when planning and compiling dictionaries and when discussing and developing new lexicographic principles. One area in which it impacts...... on lexicography and lexicographic products is the writing of a really crafted and valuable user guide for instance by giving increased consideration to the user perspective. This involves the identification of the functions of the dictionary in terms of communication-oriented and cognitive functions, which helps...

Asking for Action or Information? Crosslinguistic Comparison of Interrogative Functions in Early Child Cantonese and Mandarin

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hui; Wong, Eileen Chin Mei; Tse, Shek Kam; Leung, Shing On; Ye, Qianling

2015-01-01

Request for information (RfI) is believed to be the universally dominant function of young children's questioning, whereas request for action (RfA) has been reported to be the leading interrogative form used in early child Cantonese. The possibility of crosslinguistic variability prompts further research and comparison with additional languages.…

Obtaining and providing health information in the community pharmacy setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwanowicz, Susan L; Marciniak, Macary Weck; Zeolla, Mario M

2006-06-15

Community pharmacists are a valuable information resource for patients and other healthcare providers. The advent of new information technology, most notably the Internet, coupled with the rapid availability of new healthcare information, has fueled this demand. Pharmacy students must receive training that enables them to meet this need. Community advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) provide an excellent opportunity for students to develop and master drug information skills in a real-world setting. Preceptors must ensure that students are familiar with drug information resources and can efficiently identify the most useful resource for a given topic. Students must also be trained to assess the quality of resources and use this information to effectively respond to drug or health information inquiries. This article will discuss key aspects of providing drug information in the community pharmacy setting and can serve as a guide and resource for APPE preceptors.

Subfamily logos: visualization of sequence deviations at alignment positions with high information content

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beitz Eric

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recognition of relevant sequence deviations can be valuable for elucidating functional differences between protein subfamilies. Interesting residues at highly conserved positions can then be mutated and experimentally analyzed. However, identification of such sites is tedious because automated approaches are scarce. Results Subfamily logos visualize subfamily-specific sequence deviations. The display is similar to classical sequence logos but extends into the negative range. Positive, upright characters correspond to residues which are characteristic for the subfamily, negative, upside-down characters to residues typical for the remaining sequences. The symbol height is adjusted to the information content of the alignment position. Residues which are conserved throughout do not appear. Conclusion Subfamily logos provide an intuitive display of relevant sequence deviations. The method has proven to be valid using a set of 135 aligned aquaporin sequences in which established subfamily-specific positions were readily identified by the algorithm.

Mapping Plant Functional Groups in Subalpine Grassland of the Greater Caucasus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anja Magiera

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Plant functional groups—in our case grass, herbs, and legumes—and their spatial distribution can provide information on key ecosystem functions such as species richness, nitrogen fixation, and erosion control. Knowledge about the spatial distribution of plant functional groups provides valuable information for grassland management. This study described and mapped the distribution of grass, herb, and legume coverage of the subalpine grassland in the high-mountain Kazbegi region, Greater Caucasus, Georgia. To test the applicability of new sensors, we compared the predictive power of simulated hyperspectral canopy reflectance, simulated multispectral reflectance, simulated vegetation indices, and topographic variables for modeling plant functional groups. The tested grassland showed characteristic differences in species richness; in grass, herb, and legume coverage; and in connected structural properties such as yield. Grass (Hordeum brevisubulatum was dominant in biomass-rich hay meadows. Herb-rich grassland featured the highest species richness and evenness, whereas legume-rich grassland was accompanied by a high coverage of open soil and showed dominance of a single species, Astragalus captiosus. The best model fits were achieved with a combination of reflectance, vegetation indices, and topographic variables as predictors. Random forest models for grass, herb, and legume coverage explained 36%, 25%, and 37% of the respective variance, and their root mean square errors varied between 12–15%. Hyperspectral and multispectral reflectance as predictors resulted in similar models. Because multispectral data are more easily available and often have a higher spatial resolution, we suggest using multispectral parameters enhanced by vegetation indices and topographic parameters for modeling grass, herb, and legume coverage. However, overall model fits were merely moderate, and further testing, including stronger gradients and the addition of

Open Access and the Public Domain in Digital Data and Information for Science: Proceedings of an International Symposium

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Esanu, Julie

2004-01-01

.... On the one hand, the Internet provides valuable new opportunities for overcoming geographic limitations and the promise of unprecedented open access to public information for research on a global basis...

Starting the data conversation: informing data services at an academic health sciences library.

Science.gov (United States)

Read, Kevin B; Surkis, Alisa; Larson, Catherine; McCrillis, Aileen; Graff, Alice; Nicholson, Joey; Xu, Juanchan

2015-07-01

The research obtained information to plan data-related products and services. Biomedical researchers in an academic medical center were selected using purposive sampling and interviewed using open-ended questions based on a literature review. Interviews were conducted until saturation was achieved. Interview responses informed library planners about researchers' key data issues. This approach proved valuable for planning data management products and services and raising library visibility among clients in the research data realm.

Multi-scale coding of genomic information: From DNA sequence to genome structure and function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arneodo, Alain; Vaillant, Cedric; Audit, Benjamin; Argoul, Francoise; D'Aubenton-Carafa, Yves; Thermes, Claude

2011-01-01

Understanding how chromatin is spatially and dynamically organized in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells and how this affects genome functions is one of the main challenges of cell biology. Since the different orders of packaging in the hierarchical organization of DNA condition the accessibility of DNA sequence elements to trans-acting factors that control the transcription and replication processes, there is actually a wealth of structural and dynamical information to learn in the primary DNA sequence. In this review, we show that when using concepts, methodologies, numerical and experimental techniques coming from statistical mechanics and nonlinear physics combined with wavelet-based multi-scale signal processing, we are able to decipher the multi-scale sequence encoding of chromatin condensation-decondensation mechanisms that play a fundamental role in regulating many molecular processes involved in nuclear functions.

The jet impingement cell: A valuable device for investigating CO{sub 2} corrosion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kinsella, Brian; John, Douglas; Bailey, Stuart; De Marco, Roland [Western Australian Corrosion Research Group, School of Applied Chemistry, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth WA, 6845 (Australia)

2004-07-01

The jet impingement cell (JIC) is a valuable technique for the investigation of carbon dioxide corrosion of steel and its inhibition under high flow conditions or high wall shear stress. Despite the use of the JIC in corrosion testing laboratories not a great deal has been published on the design and calibration of these cells. In the evaluation of corrosion inhibitors, the type of corrosion and relative performance of the inhibitors depends on the metallurgy of the steel used to manufacture electrodes and measure the corrosion rate. This paper covers aspects of cell design and the determination of mass transfer and wall shear stress at electrodes used in the cell. The performance of different generic type corrosion inhibitors and their affect on the type of corrosion (i.e, uniform, pitting and crevice corrosion) is shown and discussed. (authors)

On the Concept of Cis-regulatory Information: From Sequence Motifs to Logic Functions

Science.gov (United States)

Tarpine, Ryan; Istrail, Sorin

The regulatory genome is about the “system level organization of the core genomic regulatory apparatus, and how this is the locus of causality underlying the twin phenomena of animal development and animal evolution” (E.H. Davidson. The Regulatory Genome: Gene Regulatory Networks in Development and Evolution, Academic Press, 2006). Information processing in the regulatory genome is done through regulatory states, defined as sets of transcription factors (sequence-specific DNA binding proteins which determine gene expression) that are expressed and active at the same time. The core information processing machinery consists of modular DNA sequence elements, called cis-modules, that interact with transcription factors. The cis-modules “read” the information contained in the regulatory state of the cell through transcription factor binding, “process” it, and directly or indirectly communicate with the basal transcription apparatus to determine gene expression. This endowment of each gene with the information-receiving capacity through their cis-regulatory modules is essential for the response to every possible regulatory state to which it might be exposed during all phases of the life cycle and in all cell types. We present here a set of challenges addressed by our CYRENE research project aimed at studying the cis-regulatory code of the regulatory genome. The CYRENE Project is devoted to (1) the construction of a database, the cis-Lexicon, containing comprehensive information across species about experimentally validated cis-regulatory modules; and (2) the software development of a next-generation genome browser, the cis-Browser, specialized for the regulatory genome. The presentation is anchored on three main computational challenges: the Gene Naming Problem, the Consensus Sequence Bottleneck Problem, and the Logic Function Inference Problem.

Protection and security of data base information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariuţa ŞERBAN

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Data bases are one of the most important components in every large informatics system which stores and processes data and information. Because data bases contain all of the valuable information about a company, its clients, its financial activity, they represent one of the key elements in the structure of an organization, which determines imperatives such as confidentiality, integrity and ease of data access. The current paper discuses the integrity of data bases and it refers to the validity and the coherence of stored data. Usually, integrity is defined in connection with terms of constraint, that are rules regarding coherence which the data base cannot infringe. Data base that integrity refers to information correctness and assumes to detect, correct and prevent errors that might have an effect on the data comprised by the data bases.

Local Information Processing in Adults with High Functioning Autism and Asperger Syndrome: The Usefulness of Neuropsychological Tests and Self-Reports

Science.gov (United States)

Spek, Annelies A.; Scholte, Evert M.; Van Berckelaer-Onnes, Ina A.

2011-01-01

Local information processing in 42 adults with high functioning autism, 41 adults with Asperger syndrome and 41 neurotypical adults was examined. Contrary to our expectations, the disorder groups did not outperform the neurotypical group in the neuropsychological measures of local information processing. In line with our hypotheses, the…

76 FR 72372 - Request for Comments on Eliciting More Complete Patent Assignment Information

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-23

... record play an essential role in the markets of innovation. Intangible assets now comprise over 50% of... intangibles to be transacted so that they can provide profits for innovators and move technologies to their... would have more complete information about the valuable assets being generated and held by companies...

Design and Application of an Intelligent Agent for Web Information Discovery

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

闵君; 冯珊; 唐超; 许立达

2003-01-01

With the propagation of applications on the internet, the internet has become a great information source which supplies users with valuable information. But it is hard for users to quickly acquire the right information on the web. This paper an intelligent agent for internet applications to retrieve and extract web information under user's guidance. The intelligent agent is made up of a retrieval script to identify web sources, an extraction script based on the document object model to express extraction process, a data translator to export the extracted information into knowledge bases with frame structures, and a data reasoning to reply users' questions. A GUI tool named Script Writer helps to generate the extraction script visually, and knowledge rule databases help to extract wanted information and to generate the answer to questions.

Herbal medicines that benefit epidermal permeability barrier function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lizhi Hu

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Epidermal permeability barrier function plays a critical role in regulating cutaneous functions. Hence, researchers have been searching for effective and affordable regimens to enhance epidermal permeability barrier function. In addition to topical stratum corneum lipids, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor, and liver X receptor ligands, herbal medicines have been proven to benefit epidermal permeability barrier function in both normal and diseased skin, including atopic dermatitis, glucocorticoid-induced skin damage, and UVB-damaged skin. The potential mechanisms by which herbal medicines improve the permeability barrier include stimulation of epidermal differentiation, lipid production, antimicrobial peptide expression, and antioxidation. Therefore, utilization of herbal medicines could be a valuable alternative approach to enhance epidermal permeability barrier function in order to prevent and/or treat skin disorders associated with permeability barrier abnormalities.

Informing groundwater models with near-surface geophysical data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Herckenrath, Daan

Over the past decade geophysical methods have gained an increased popularity due to their ability to map hydrologic properties. Such data sets can provide valuable information to improve hydrologic models. Instead of using the measured geophysical and hydrologic data simultaneously in one inversion...... approach, many of the previous studies apply a Sequential Hydrogeophysical Inversion (SHI) in which inverted geophysical models provide information for hydrologic models. In order to fully exploit the information contained in geophysical datasets for hydrological purposes, a coupled hydrogeophysical...... inversion was introduced (CHI), in which a hydrologic model is part of the geophysical inversion. Current CHI-research has been focussing on the translation of simulated state variables of hydrologic models to geophysical model parameters. We refer to this methodology as CHI-S (State). In this thesis a new...

Process for the extraction of valuable products from coals, pitches, mineral oils, and the like

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1936-06-05

A process is described for the treating of coke, lignite, peat, etc., and mineral oils with the help of hydrogen or other reducing gases and under pressure to recover valuable hydrocarbons, characterized by the carbonaceous substances and the reducing gas coming together already heated totally or in part at least from 350/sup 0/C to the temperature necessary for the reaction. The substances to be treated becoming extracted in the form of paste or liquid from the reaction chamber and then returned to it and being reacted outside the reaction zone in the presence of the reducing gases at the temperature necessary for the reaction.

How Source Information Shapes Lay Interpretations of Science Conflicts: Interplay between Sourcing, Conflict Explanation, Source Evaluation, and Claim Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Thomm, Eva; Bromme, Rainer

2016-01-01

When laypeople read controversial scientific information in order to make a personally relevant decision, information on the source is a valuable resource with which to evaluate multiple, competing claims. Due to their bounded understanding, laypeople rely on the expertise of others and need to identify whether sources are credible. The present…

The Effects of Information Technology on Library and Documentation Centers: A Review of Social, Structural, Managerial and Functional Aspects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mesut Kurulgan

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In the context of protecting academic and cultural heritage, the purpose of libraries and information and documentation centers is to research, document, and archive and to transfer to future generations, domestically and internationally, a society ’s culture. This study examines the structural, functional and administrative innovations that have resulted from the implementation of information technology (IT in libraries since the 1990 ’s. The study also mentions how IT can be used in an efficient way in libraries and information and documentation centers.

FAMILY THOUGHT IN THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE MODEL OF THE WORLD: HISTORY OF THE VALUABLE RELATION TO A FAMILY ACCORDING TO RUSSIAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. S. Samoylova

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article consider the structure of a word meaning a family in diachronic aspect. The valuable attitude towards concept «family» is characteristic of the entire periods in the history of Russian, and transformation of semantics of the word concept is insignificant. The central idea in definition of a family in modern Russian is the idea of spiritual proximity of people, the close emotional relations. The word is actively used in figurative sense for expression of estimated meanings. In a different way there is a history of values of the terms of relationship entering a theme group «family». In modern Russian these words cease to express a positive emotional assessment at the use in relation to not relatives. According to authors, it demonstrates change of valuable reference points in a modern language picture of the world.

Mining Hesitation Information by Vague Association Rules

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, An; Ng, Wilfred

In many online shopping applications, such as Amazon and eBay, traditional Association Rule (AR) mining has limitations as it only deals with the items that are sold but ignores the items that are almost sold (for example, those items that are put into the basket but not checked out). We say that those almost sold items carry hesitation information, since customers are hesitating to buy them. The hesitation information of items is valuable knowledge for the design of good selling strategies. However, there is no conceptual model that is able to capture different statuses of hesitation information. Herein, we apply and extend vague set theory in the context of AR mining. We define the concepts of attractiveness and hesitation of an item, which represent the overall information of a customer's intent on an item. Based on the two concepts, we propose the notion of Vague Association Rules (VARs). We devise an efficient algorithm to mine the VARs. Our experiments show that our algorithm is efficient and the VARs capture more specific and richer information than do the traditional ARs.

Interface information transfer between non-matching, nonconforming interfaces using radial basis function interpolation

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Bogaers, Alfred EJ

2016-10-01

Full Text Available words, gB = [ φBA PB ] [ MAA PA P TA 0 ]−1 [ gA 0 ] . (15) NAME: DEFINITION C0 compactly supported piecewise polynomial (C0): (1− (||x|| /r))2+ C2 compactly supported piecewise polynomial (C2): (1− (||x|| /r))4+ (4 (||x|| /r) + 1) Thin-plate spline (TPS... a numerical comparison to Kriging and the moving least-squares method, see Krishnamurthy [16]). RBF interpolation is based on fitting a series of splines, or basis functions to interpolate information from one point cloud to another. Let us assume we...

Annotating Protein Functional Residues by Coupling High-Throughput Fitness Profile and Homologous-Structure Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Yushen; Wu, Nicholas C; Jiang, Lin; Zhang, Tianhao; Gong, Danyang; Shu, Sara; Wu, Ting-Ting; Sun, Ren

2016-11-01

Identification and annotation of functional residues are fundamental questions in protein sequence analysis. Sequence and structure conservation provides valuable information to tackle these questions. It is, however, limited by the incomplete sampling of sequence space in natural evolution. Moreover, proteins often have multiple functions, with overlapping sequences that present challenges to accurate annotation of the exact functions of individual residues by conservation-based methods. Using the influenza A virus PB1 protein as an example, we developed a method to systematically identify and annotate functional residues. We used saturation mutagenesis and high-throughput sequencing to measure the replication capacity of single nucleotide mutations across the entire PB1 protein. After predicting protein stability upon mutations, we identified functional PB1 residues that are essential for viral replication. To further annotate the functional residues important to the canonical or noncanonical functions of viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (vRdRp), we performed a homologous-structure analysis with 16 different vRdRp structures. We achieved high sensitivity in annotating the known canonical polymerase functional residues. Moreover, we identified a cluster of noncanonical functional residues located in the loop region of the PB1 β-ribbon. We further demonstrated that these residues were important for PB1 protein nuclear import through the interaction with Ran-binding protein 5. In summary, we developed a systematic and sensitive method to identify and annotate functional residues that are not restrained by sequence conservation. Importantly, this method is generally applicable to other proteins about which homologous-structure information is available. To fully comprehend the diverse functions of a protein, it is essential to understand the functionality of individual residues. Current methods are highly dependent on evolutionary sequence conservation, which is

Recovery of valuable products from the raffinate of uranium and thorium pilot-plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martins, E.A.J.

1990-01-01

IPEN-CNEN/SP has being very active in refining yellow cake to pure ammonium diuranate which is converted to uranium trioxide, uranium dioxide, uranium tetra-and hexa-fluoride in sequential way. The technology of the thorium purification and its conversion to nuclear grade products has been a practice since several years as well. For both elements the major waste to be worked is the raffinate from purification via TBP-varsol in pulsed columns. In this paper the actual processing technology is reviewed with special emphasis on the recovery of valuable products, mainly nitric acid, ammonium nitrate, uranium, thorium and rare earth elements. Ammonium nitrate from the precipitation of uranium diuranate is of good quality, being radioactivity and uranium-free, and recommended to be applied as fertilizer. In conclusion the main effort is to maximize the recycle and reuse of the above mentioned chemicals. (author)

Recovery of Palm Oil and Valuable Material from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch by Sub-critical Water.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad Kurnin, Nor Azrin; Shah Ismail, Mohd Halim; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Izhar, Shamsul

2016-01-01

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) is one of the solid wastes produced in huge volume by palm oil mill. Whilst it still contains valuable oil, approximately 22.6 million tons is generated annually and treated as solid waste. In this work, sub-critical water (sub-cw) was used to extract oil, sugar and tar from spikelet of EFB. The spikelet was treated with sub-cw between 180-280°C and a reaction time of 2 and 5 minutes. The highest yield of oil was 0.075 g-oil/g-dry EFB, obtained at 240°C and reaction time of 5 minutes. Astonishingly, oil that was extracted through this method was 84.5% of that obtained through Soxhlet method using hexane. Yield of oil extracted was strongly affected by the reaction temperature and time. Higher reaction temperature induces the dielectric constant of water towards the non-polar properties of solvent; thus increases the oil extraction capability. Meanwhile, the highest yield of sugar was 0.20 g-sugar/g-dry EFB obtained at 220°C. At this temperature, the ion product of water is high enough to enable maximum sub-critical water hydrolysis reaction. This study showed that oil and other valuable material can be recovered using water at sub-critical condition, and most attractive without the use of harmful organic solvent.

Kidney Paired Donation and the "Valuable Consideration" Problem: The Experiences of Australia, Canada, and the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Toews, Maeghan; Giancaspro, Mark; Richards, Bernadette; Ferrari, Paolo

2017-09-01

As organ donation rates remain unable to meet the needs of individuals waiting for transplants, it is necessary to identify reasons for this shortage and develop solutions to address it. The introduction of kidney paired donation (KPD) programs represents one such innovation that has become a valuable tool in donation systems around the world. Although KPD has been successful in increasing kidney donation and transplantation, there are lingering questions about its legality. Donation through KPD is done in exchange for-and with the expectation of-a reciprocal kidney donation and transplantation. It is this reciprocity that has caused concern about whether KPD complies with existing law. Organ donation systems around the world are almost universally structured to legally prohibit the commercial exchange of organs. Australia, Canada, and the United States have accomplished this goal by prohibiting the exchange of an organ for "valuable consideration," which is a legal term that has not historically been limited to monetary exchange. Whether or not KPD programs violate this legislative prohibition will depend on the specific legislative provision being considered, and the legal system and case law of the particular jurisdiction in question. This article compares the experiences of Australia, Canada, and the United States in determining the legality of KPD and highlights the need for legal clarity and flexibility as donation and transplantation systems continue to evolve.

What can we learn from sum rules for vertex functions in QCD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Craigie, N.S.; Stern, J.

1982-04-01

We demonstrate that the light cone sum rules for vertex functions based on the operator product expansion and QCD perturbation theory lead to interesting relationships between various non-perturbative parameters associated with hadronic bound states (e.g. vertex couplings and decay constants). We also show that such sum rules provide a valuable means of estimating the matrix elements of the higher spin operators in the meson wave function. (author)

The use of categorization information in language models for question retrieval

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cao, Xin; Cong, Gao; Cui, Bin

2009-01-01

Community Question Answering (CQA) has emerged as a popular type of service meeting a wide range of information needs. Such services enable users to ask and answer questions and to access existing question-answer pairs. CQA archives contain very large volumes of valuable user-generated content...... and have become important information resources on the Web. To make the body of knowledge accumulated in CQA archives accessible, effective and efficient question search is required. Question search in a CQA archive aims to retrieve historical questions that are relevant to new questions posed by users...

Brief Report: Joint Attention and Information Processing in Children with Higher Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Mundy, Peter; Kim, Kwanguk; McIntyre, Nancy; Lerro, Lindsay; Jarrold, William

2016-07-01

Theory suggests that information processing during joint attention may be atypical in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This hypothesis was tested in a study of school-aged children with higher functioning ASD and groups of children with symptoms of ADHD or typical development. The results indicated that the control groups displayed significantly better recognition memory for pictures studied in an initiating joint attention (IJA) rather than responding to joint attention (RJA) condition. This effect was not evident in the ASD group. The ASD group also recognized fewer pictures from the IJA condition than controls, but not the RJA condition. Atypical information processing may be a marker of the continued effects of joint attention disturbance in school aged children with ASD.

International Conference on Information Technology and Agricultural Engineering (ICITAE 2011)

CERN Document Server

Sambath, Sabo; Information Technology and Agricultural Engineering

2012-01-01

This volume comprises the papers from 2011 International Conference on Information Technology and Agricultural Engineering (ICITAE 2011).  2011 International Conference on Information Technology and Agricultural Engineering (ICITAE 2011) has been held in Sanya, China, December 1-2, 2011. All the papers have been peer reviewed by the selected experts. These papers represent the latest development in the field of materials manufacturing technology, spanning from the fundamentals to new technologies and applications. Specially, these papers cover the topics of Information Technology and Agricultural Engineering. This book provides a greatly valuable reference for researchers in the field of Information Technology and Agricultural Engineering who wish to further understand the underlying mechanisms and create innovative and practical techniques, systems and processes. It should also be particularly useful for engineers in information technology and agriculture who are responsible for the efficient and effective ...

Conservation and retrieval of information - Elements of a strategy to inform future societies about nuclear waste repositories

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jensen, M [ed.; National Inst. of Radiation Protection, Stockholm (Sweden)

1996-12-01

Two main strategies exist for long-term information transfer, one which links information through successive transfers of archived material and other forms of knowledge in society, and one - such as marking the site with a monument - relying upon a direct link from the present to the distant future. Digital methods are not recommended for long-term storage, but digital processing may be a valuable tool to structure information summaries, and in the creation of better long-lasting records. Advances in archive management should also be pursued to widen the choice of information carriers of high durability. In the Nordic countries, during the first few thousand years, and perhaps up to the next period of glaciation, monuments at a repository site may be used to warn the public of the presence of dangerous waste. But messages from such markers may pose interpretation problems as we have today for messages left by earlier societies such as rune inscriptions. Since the national borders may change in the time scale relevant for nuclear waste, the creation of an international archive for all radioactive wastes would represent an improvement as regards conservation and retrieval of information. (EG).

Conservation and retrieval of information - Elements of a strategy to inform future societies about nuclear waste repositories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jensen, M.

1996-01-01

Two main strategies exist for long-term information transfer, one which links information through successive transfers of archived material and other forms of knowledge in society, and one - such as marking the site with a monument - relying upon a direct link from the present to the distant future. Digital methods are not recommended for long-term storage, but digital processing may be a valuable tool to structure information summaries, and in the creation of better long-lasting records. Advances in archive management should also be pursued to widen the choice of information carriers of high durability. In the Nordic countries, during the first few thousand years, and perhaps up to the next period of glaciation, monuments at a repository site may be used to warn the public of the presence of dangerous waste. But messages from such markers may pose interpretation problems as we have today for messages left by earlier societies such as rune inscriptions. Since the national borders may change in the time scale relevant for nuclear waste, the creation of an international archive for all radioactive wastes would represent an improvement as regards conservation and retrieval of information. (EG)

Information measures for terrain visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Bonaventura, Xavier; Sima, Aleksandra A.; Feixas, Miquel; Buckley, Simon J.; Sbert, Mateu; Howell, John A.

2017-02-01

Many quantitative and qualitative studies in geoscience research are based on digital elevation models (DEMs) and 3D surfaces to aid understanding of natural and anthropogenically-influenced topography. As well as their quantitative uses, the visual representation of DEMs can add valuable information for identifying and interpreting topographic features. However, choice of viewpoints and rendering styles may not always be intuitive, especially when terrain data are augmented with digital image texture. In this paper, an information-theoretic framework for object understanding is applied to terrain visualization and terrain view selection. From a visibility channel between a set of viewpoints and the component polygons of a 3D terrain model, we obtain three polygonal information measures. These measures are used to visualize the information associated with each polygon of the terrain model. In order to enhance the perception of the terrain's shape, we explore the effect of combining the calculated information measures with the supplementary digital image texture. From polygonal information, we also introduce a method to select a set of representative views of the terrain model. Finally, we evaluate the behaviour of the proposed techniques using example datasets. A publicly available framework for both the visualization and the view selection of a terrain has been created in order to provide the possibility to analyse any terrain model.

Innovation, knowledge and information management in supply chains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Szuster Mariusz

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In this study the question of innovation and information management in supply chain is addressed. We assume that innovation and information management are interrelated in supply chains and that the relationship is crucial for their success on the market. Considerable attention was given to the issue of outsourcing which is now a commonplace in supply chain management. In particular, we examined how approaches to managing information and knowledge in the supply chain differ according to ICT outsourcing. The deduction is based on a data set of 426 companies located in Poland, representing a variety of industry sectors. Two stages of the research were realised. The rationale behind this was to identify enterprises that utilise a welldeveloped system of information and knowledge management to determine the scope of possible in-depth analyses. This helped to receive valuable responses. We find what information and knowledge management is mainly driven by. We show the similarities and differences in information and knowledge management between entities that use ICT outsourcing and those that do not. We discuss the research results and draw conclusions.

START: an advanced radiation therapy information system.

Science.gov (United States)

Cocco, A; Valentini, V; Balducci, M; Mantello, G

1996-01-01

START is an advanced radiation therapy information system (RTIS) which connects direct information technology present in the devices with indirect information technology for clinical, administrative, information management integrated with the hospital information system (HIS). The following objectives are pursued: to support decision making in treatment planning and functional and information integration with the rest of the hospital; to enhance organizational efficiency of a Radiation Therapy Department; to facilitate the statistical evaluation of clinical data and managerial performance assessment; to ensure the safety and confidentiality of used data. For its development a working method based on the involvement of all operators of the Radiation Therapy Department, was applied. Its introduction in the work activity was gradual, trying to reuse and integrate the existing information applications. The START information flow identifies four major phases: admission, visit of admission, planning, therapy. The system main functionalities available to the radiotherapist are: clinical history/medical report linking function; folder function; planning function; tracking function; electronic mail and banner function; statistical function; management function. Functions available to the radiotherapy technician are: the room daily list function; management function: to the nurse the following functions are available: patient directing function; management function. START is a departmental client (pc-windows)-server (unix) developed on an integrated database of all information of interest (clinical, organizational and administrative) coherent with the standard and with a modular architecture which can evolve with additional functionalities in subsequent times. For a more thorough evaluation of its impact on the daily activity of a radiation therapy facility, a prolonged clinical validation is in progress.

First passage Brownian functional properties of snowmelt dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Dubey, Ashutosh; Bandyopadhyay, Malay

2018-04-01

In this paper, we model snow-melt dynamics in terms of a Brownian motion (BM) with purely time dependent drift and difusion and examine its first passage properties by suggesting and examining several Brownian functionals which characterize the lifetime and reactivity of such stochastic processes. We introduce several probability distribution functions (PDFs) associated with such time dependent BMs. For instance, for a BM with initial starting point x0, we derive analytical expressions for : (i) the PDF P(tf|x0) of the first passage time tf which specify the lifetime of such stochastic process, (ii) the PDF P(A|x0) of the area A till the first passage time and it provides us numerous valuable information about the total fresh water availability during melting, (iii) the PDF P(M) associated with the maximum size M of the BM process before the first passage time, and (iv) the joint PDF P(M; tm) of the maximum size M and its occurrence time tm before the first passage time. These P(M) and P(M; tm) are useful in determining the time of maximum fresh water availability and in calculating the total maximum amount of available fresh water. These PDFs are examined for the power law time dependent drift and diffusion which matches quite well with the available data of snowmelt dynamics.

Interferon-γ, a valuable surrogate marker of Plasmodium falciparum pre-erythrocytic stages protective immunity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BenMohamed Lbachir

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Immunity against the pre-erythrocytic stages of malaria is the most promising, as it is strong and fully sterilizing. Yet, the underlying immune effectors against the human Plasmodium falciparum pre-erythrocytic stages remain surprisingly poorly known and have been little explored, which in turn prevents any rational vaccine progress. Evidence that has been gathered in vitro and in vivo, in higher primates and in humans, is reviewed here, emphasizing the significant role of IFN-γ, either as a critical immune mediator or at least as a valuable surrogate marker of protection. One may hope that these results will trigger investigations in volunteers immunized either by optimally irradiated or over-irradiated sporozoites, to quickly delineate better surrogates of protection, which are essential for the development of a successful malaria vaccine.

#FluxFlow: Visual Analysis of Anomalous Information Spreading on Social Media.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jian; Cao, Nan; Wen, Zhen; Song, Yale; Lin, Yu-Ru; Collins, Christopher

2014-12-01

We present FluxFlow, an interactive visual analysis system for revealing and analyzing anomalous information spreading in social media. Everyday, millions of messages are created, commented, and shared by people on social media websites, such as Twitter and Facebook. This provides valuable data for researchers and practitioners in many application domains, such as marketing, to inform decision-making. Distilling valuable social signals from the huge crowd's messages, however, is challenging, due to the heterogeneous and dynamic crowd behaviors. The challenge is rooted in data analysts' capability of discerning the anomalous information behaviors, such as the spreading of rumors or misinformation, from the rest that are more conventional patterns, such as popular topics and newsworthy events, in a timely fashion. FluxFlow incorporates advanced machine learning algorithms to detect anomalies, and offers a set of novel visualization designs for presenting the detected threads for deeper analysis. We evaluated FluxFlow with real datasets containing the Twitter feeds captured during significant events such as Hurricane Sandy. Through quantitative measurements of the algorithmic performance and qualitative interviews with domain experts, the results show that the back-end anomaly detection model is effective in identifying anomalous retweeting threads, and its front-end interactive visualizations are intuitive and useful for analysts to discover insights in data and comprehend the underlying analytical model.

Physical and Cognitive Functioning After 3 Years Can Be Predicted Using Information From the Diagnostic Process in Recently Diagnosed Multiple Sclerosis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Groot, V.; Beckerman, H.; Uitdehaag, B.M.J.; Hintzen, R.Q.; Minneboo, A.; Heymans, M.W.; Lankhorst, G.J.; Polman, C.H.; Bouter, L.M.

2009-01-01

de Groot V, Beckerman H, Uitdehaag BM, Hintzen RQ, Minneboo A, Heymans MW, Lankhorst GJ, Polman CH, Bouter LM, on behalf of the Functional Prognostication and Disability (FuPro) Study Group. Physical and cognitive functioning after 3 years can be predicted using information from the diagnostic

Cashew nut shell liquid, a valuable raw material for generating semiconductive polyaniline nanofibers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raiane Valenti Gonçalves

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL is an abundant and renewable by-product of the cashew nut industry. It appears to be a valuable raw material for generating semiconductive polyaniline (PAni nanomaterial with enhanced thermal stability and well-defined nanofiber morphology following a polymerization dispersion process. This study confirms that CNSL acts as a soft template during PAni synthesis, leading to an improvement in the nanofiber aspect. CNSL also improves the thermal stability of the PAni nanomaterial. Moreover, CNSL is an effective surfactant that promotes and stabilizes the dispersion of PAni nanofibers within water, allowing the more ecofriendly preparation of PAni nanomaterial by substituting the commonly used organic solvent with aqueous media. Finally, although CNSL promotes the formation of the conductive emeraldine salt form of PAni, increasing CNSL concentrations appear to plasticize the PAni polymer, leading to reduced electrical conductivity. However, this reduction is not detrimental, and PAni nanofibers remain semiconductive even under high CNSL concentrations.

Undecylenic acid: a valuable and physiologically active renewable building block from castor oil.

Science.gov (United States)

Van der Steen, Marijke; Stevens, Christian V

2009-01-01

A lot of attention is currently being paid to the transition to a biobased economy. In this movement, most efforts concentrate on the development of bioenergy applications including bioethanol, biodiesel, thermochemical conversion of biomass, and others. However, in the energy sector other nonbiomass alternatives are known, whereas no valuable alternatives are available when thinking about chemical building blocks. Therefore, it is also essential to develop new routes for the synthesis of bio-based chemicals and materials derived thereof. Such intermediates can originate either from plants or from animals. Castor oil is a non-edible oil extracted from the seeds of the castor bean plant Ricinus communis (Euphorbiaceae), which grows in tropical and subtropical areas. Globally, around one million tons of castor seeds are produced every year, the leading producing areas being India, PR China, and Brazil.2 10-Undecenoic acid or undecylenic acid is a fatty acid derived from castor oil that, owing to its bifunctional nature, has many possibilities to develop sustainable applications.

Professional regulation: a potentially valuable tool in responding to "stem cell tourism".

Science.gov (United States)

Zarzeczny, Amy; Caulfield, Timothy; Ogbogu, Ubaka; Bell, Peter; Crooks, Valorie A; Kamenova, Kalina; Master, Zubin; Rachul, Christen; Snyder, Jeremy; Toews, Maeghan; Zoeller, Sonja

2014-09-09

The growing international market for unproven stem cell-based interventions advertised on a direct-to-consumer basis over the internet ("stem cell tourism") is a source of concern because of the risks it presents to patients as well as their supporters, domestic health care systems, and the stem cell research field. Emerging responses such as public and health provider-focused education and national regulatory efforts are encouraging, but the market continues to grow. Physicians play a number of roles in the stem cell tourism market and, in many jurisdictions, are members of a regulated profession. In this article, we consider the use of professional regulation to address physician involvement in stem cell tourism. Although it is not without its limitations, professional regulation is a potentially valuable tool that can be employed in response to problematic types of physician involvement in the stem cell tourism market. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Recovery of valuable products in liquid effluents from uranium and thorium pilot units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jardim, E.A.; Abrao, A.

1988-01-01

IPEN-CNEN/SP has being very active in refining yellowcake to pure ammonium diuranate which is converted to uranium trioxide, uranium dioxide, uranium tetra- and hexafluoride in a sequential way. The technology of the thorium purification and its conversion to nuclear grade products has been a practice since several years as well. For both elements the major waste to be worked is the refinate from the solvent extraction column where uranium and thorium are purified via TBP-varsol in pulsed columns. In this paper the actual processing technology is reviewed with special emphasis on the recovery of valuable products, mainly nitric acid and ammonium nitrate. Distilled nitric acid and the final sulfuric acid as residue are recycle. Ammonium nitrate from the precipitation of uranium diuranate is of good quality, being radioactivity and uranium-free, and recommended to be applied as fertilizer. In conclusion the main effort is to maximise the recycle and reuse of the abovementioned chemicals. (author) [pt

Problems of Legal Regulation of Criminal Responsibility for Illegal Plunder and Circulation of Especially Valuable Strains of Cattle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bavsun M. V.

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the disputable issues in legal regulation of criminal responsibility for plunder and circulation of especially valuable strains of wild cattle, acting as a subject of legal and criminal protection, Art. 258.1 of the RF CC (Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. As a conclusion the author offers the variant of proposals for improvement of legislative construction of the norm considered on the ground of the analysis conducted

Using Psychodynamic Interaction as a Valuable Source of Information in Social Research

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Camilla

2012-01-01

This article will address the issue of using understandings of psychodynamic interrelations as a means to grasp how social and cultural dynamics are processed individually and collectively in narratives. I apply the two theoretically distinct concepts of inter- and intrasubjectivity to gain insight into how social and cultural dynamics are…

Modulation of RNA function by aminoglycoside antibiotics.

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeder, R; Waldsich, C; Wank, H

2000-01-04

One of the most important families of antibiotics are the aminoglycosides, including drugs such as neomycin B, paromomycin, gentamicin and streptomycin. With the discovery of the catalytic potential of RNA, these antibiotics became very popular due to their RNA-binding capacity. They serve for the analysis of RNA function as well as for the study of RNA as a potential therapeutic target. Improvements in RNA structure determination recently provided first insights into the decoding site of the ribosome at high resolution and how aminoglycosides might induce misreading of the genetic code. In addition to inhibiting prokaryotic translation, aminoglycosides inhibit several catalytic RNAs such as self-splicing group I introns, RNase P and small ribozymes in vitro. Furthermore, these antibiotics interfere with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication by disrupting essential RNA-protein contacts. Most exciting is the potential of many RNA-binding antibiotics to stimulate RNA activities, conceiving small-molecule partners for the hypothesis of an ancient RNA world. SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) has been used in this evolutionary game leading to small synthetic RNAs, whose NMR structures gave valuable information on how aminoglycosides interact with RNA, which could possibly be used in applied science.

Self versus informant reports on the specific levels of functioning scale: Relationships to depression and cognition in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Ermel, Julia; Carter, Cameron S; Gold, James M; MacDonald, Angus W; Daniel Ragland, J; Silverstein, Steven M; Strauss, Milton E; Barch, Deanna M

2017-09-01

The goal of the current study was to examine the relationships between insight and both cognitive function and depression in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, and to determine if there were similar relationships across diagnostic categories. We examined discrepancies between self and informant reports of function on the Specific levels of function scale as a metric of insight for interpersonal, social acceptance, work and activities. We examined two samples of individuals with schizophrenia and/or schizoaffective disorder (Ns of 188 and 67 respectively). In Sample 1, cognition was measured using the Dot Probe Expectancy Task. In Sample 2, cognition was measured by averaging several subtests from the MATRICS consensus cognitive battery, as well as additional measures of working memory. In both samples, depression was measured using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. In both samples, we found significant relationships between worse cognition and overestimations of work function, as well as between higher depression levels and underestimation of interpersonal function. These relationships were specific to interpersonal and work function, with significantly stronger correlations with interpersonal and work function compared to the other areas of function. Similar results were found across diagnostic categories. These results have important implications for treatment planning, as they suggest the need to take into account depression and cognitive function when evaluating the patient's self-report of function, and highlight the utility of informant reports in evaluating function and treatment planning. Further, they add to the literature on the similarity across schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder in a variety of pathological mechanisms.

Self versus informant reports on the specific levels of functioning scale: Relationships to depression and cognition in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julia Ermel

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The goal of the current study was to examine the relationships between insight and both cognitive function and depression in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, and to determine if there were similar relationships across diagnostic categories. We examined discrepancies between self and informant reports of function on the Specific levels of function scale as a metric of insight for interpersonal, social acceptance, work and activities. We examined two samples of individuals with schizophrenia and/or schizoaffective disorder (Ns of 188 and 67 respectively. In Sample 1, cognition was measured using the Dot Probe Expectancy Task. In Sample 2, cognition was measured by averaging several subtests from the MATRICS consensus cognitive battery, as well as additional measures of working memory. In both samples, depression was measured using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. In both samples, we found significant relationships between worse cognition and overestimations of work function, as well as between higher depression levels and underestimation of interpersonal function. These relationships were specific to interpersonal and work function, with significantly stronger correlations with interpersonal and work function compared to the other areas of function. Similar results were found across diagnostic categories. These results have important implications for treatment planning, as they suggest the need to take into account depression and cognitive function when evaluating the patient's self-report of function, and highlight the utility of informant reports in evaluating function and treatment planning. Further, they add to the literature on the similarity across schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder in a variety of pathological mechanisms.