Scalability analysis of large-scale LoRaWAN networks in ns-3

OpenAIRE

Abeele, Floris Van den; Haxhibeqiri, Jetmir; Moerman, Ingrid; Hoebeke, Jeroen

2017-01-01

As LoRaWAN networks are actively being deployed in the field, it is important to comprehend the limitations of this Low Power Wide Area Network technology. Previous work has raised questions in terms of the scalability and capacity of LoRaWAN networks as the number of end devices grows to hundreds or thousands per gateway. Some works have modeled LoRaWAN networks as pure ALOHA networks, which fails to capture important characteristics such as the capture effect and the effects of interference...

Solución de conectividad ante fallos para una red WAN empresarial

OpenAIRE

Martín Manjón-Cabeza, José María

2014-01-01

El proyecto propone una solución bajo demanda y de bajo coste para poder mantener la disponibilidad de las comunicaciones de las distintas sedes de una empresa hacia el resto de la WAN corporativa ante un fallo de alguno de sus enlaces principales de la WAN contratada a la operadora. El projecte proposa una solució a la carta i de baix cost per poder mantenir la disponibilitat de les comunicacions de les diferents seus d'una empresa cap a la resta de la WAN corporativa davant una fallida d...

Using blockchain to build trusted LoRaWAN sharing server

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Lin

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose – With the rapid growth of the Internet of Things (IoT market and requirement, low power wide area (LPWA technologies have become popular. In various LPWA technologies, Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT and long range (LoRa are two main leading competitive technologies. Compared with NB-IoT networks, which are mainly built and managed by mobile network operators, LoRa wide area networks (LoRaWAN are mainly operated by private companies or organizations, which suggests two issues: trust of the private network operators and lack of network coverage. This study aims to propose a conceptual architecture design of a blockchain built-in solution for LoRaWAN network servers to solve these two issues for LoRaWAN IoT solution. Design/methodology/approach – The study proposed modeling, model analysis and architecture design. Findings – The proposed solution uses the blockchain technology to build an open, trusted, decentralized and tamper-proof system, which provides the indisputable mechanism to verify that the data of a transaction has existed at a specific time in the network. Originality/value – To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that integrates blockchain technology and LoRaWAN IoT technology.

How to design some computer WAN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Chengjun; Huang Hongmei

2001-01-01

The author introduces a way of how to construct computer WAN, depending on the present condition of enterprise, under the social surrounding in which the technology of internet is rapidly spread and developed at present, and gives a detailed dispose of main network equipment

How to design some computer WAN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Chengjun; Huang Hongmei

2000-01-01

The authors introduce a way of how to construct computer WAN, depending on the present condition of enterprise, under the social surrounding in which the technology of internet is rapidly spread and developed at present. And gives the detailed dispose of main network equipment

Signal Propagation Delay as a Barrier to Control Applications in WAN

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Thomas Phillip; Patel, A.; Pedersen, Jens Myrup

With the advent in WAN of delay sensitive technical applications, such as remote control, signal propagation delay becomes a major problem. The extent of the problem is analysed by lower bounding the delay in relation to different transmission media. Requirements for reliability and bandwidth are...... are considered. The consequences of this bounding for communication network planning and provisioning are discussed in relation to mitigating the effects of signal propagation delay as a barrier to the penetration of control applications into WAN......With the advent in WAN of delay sensitive technical applications, such as remote control, signal propagation delay becomes a major problem. The extent of the problem is analysed by lower bounding the delay in relation to different transmission media. Requirements for reliability and bandwidth...

State of the Art in LP-WAN Solutions for Industrial IoT Services.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez-Iborra, Ramon; Cano, Maria-Dolores

2016-05-17

The emergence of low-cost connected devices is enabling a new wave of sensorization services. These services can be highly leveraged in industrial applications. However, the technologies employed so far for managing this kind of system do not fully cover the strict requirements of industrial networks, especially those regarding energy efficiency. In this article a novel paradigm, called Low-Power Wide Area Networking (LP-WAN), is explored. By means of a cellular-type architecture, LP-WAN-based solutions aim at fulfilling the reliability and efficiency challenges posed by long-term industrial networks. Thus, the most prominent LP-WAN solutions are reviewed, identifying and discussing the pros and cons of each of them. The focus is also on examining the current deployment state of these platforms in Spain. Although LP-WAN systems are at early stages of development, they represent a promising alternative for boosting future industrial IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) networks and services.

THE WAN-IFRA DISCOURSE: ADVICE, APPLICATION, AND DISQUALIFICATION OF ORGANISATIONAL MODELS IN MEDIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joël Langonné

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Among the multiple exhortations made on the liberating - even saviour-type - role of the digital era over the past ten years in the field of journalism, one constant has remained: criticism of managerial models and dialectic of economic ones in the media which have defined the spheres of action, resulting in these discourses without ever sealing their fate. A fate that for several years now has been marked by a process in which journalists are being cast aside in favour of a managerial standpoint that broadly integrates 'convergence' as a tool of governance. This paper aims to question (as one of many mediations instituting convergence as a structuring model WAN-IFRA's discursive and ideological materiality. This international organisation of newspapers and news publishers has set its sights on convincing the print media of the necessity to switching to multiformat; to convergence. This work investigates the stability and/or instability of the WAN-IFRA discourse, as well as its ability to absorb other discourses. Lastly, through a cloud of prescriptive discourse it will indicate those discourses enforced by some managers in the media business.

The WAN-IFRA discourse: advice, application, and disqualification of organisational models in media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joël Langonné

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Among the multiple exhortations made on the liberating - even saviour-type - role of the digital era over the past ten years in the field of journalism, one constant has remained: criticism of managerial models and dialectic of economic ones in the media which have defined the spheres of action, resulting in these discourses without ever sealing their fate. A fate that for several years now has been marked by a process in which journalists are being cast aside in favour of a managerial standpoint that broadly integrates 'convergence' as a tool of governance. This paper aims to question (as one of many mediations instituting convergence as a structuring model WAN-IFRA's discursive and ideological materiality. This international organisation of newspapers and news publishers has set its sights on convincing the print media of the necessity to switching to multiformat; to convergence. This work investigates the stability and/or instability of the WAN-IFRA discourse, as well as its ability to absorb other discourses. Lastly, through a cloud of prescriptive discourse it will indicate those discourses enforced by some managers in the media business.

Enhancing LoRaWAN Security through a Lightweight and Authenticated Key Management Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez-Iborra, Ramon; Sánchez-Gómez, Jesús; Pérez, Salvador; Fernández, Pedro J; Santa, José; Hernández-Ramos, José L; Skarmeta, Antonio F

2018-06-05

Luckily, new communication technologies and protocols are nowadays designed considering security issues. A clear example of this can be found in the Internet of Things (IoT) field, a quite recent area where communication technologies such as ZigBee or IPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LoWPAN) already include security features to guarantee authentication, confidentiality and integrity. More recent technologies are Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LP-WAN), which also consider security, but present initial approaches that can be further improved. An example of this can be found in Long Range (LoRa) and its layer-two supporter LoRa Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), which include a security scheme based on pre-shared cryptographic material lacking flexibility when a key update is necessary. Because of this, in this work, we evaluate the security vulnerabilities of LoRaWAN in the area of key management and propose different alternative schemes. Concretely, the application of an approach based on the recently specified Ephemeral Diffie⁻Hellman Over COSE (EDHOC) is found as a convenient solution, given its flexibility in the update of session keys, its low computational cost and the limited message exchanges needed. A comparative conceptual analysis considering the overhead of different security schemes for LoRaWAN is carried out in order to evaluate their benefits in the challenging area of LP-WAN.

Enhancing LoRaWAN Security through a Lightweight and Authenticated Key Management Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramon Sanchez-Iborra

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Luckily, new communication technologies and protocols are nowadays designed considering security issues. A clear example of this can be found in the Internet of Things (IoT field, a quite recent area where communication technologies such as ZigBee or IPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LoWPAN already include security features to guarantee authentication, confidentiality and integrity. More recent technologies are Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LP-WAN, which also consider security, but present initial approaches that can be further improved. An example of this can be found in Long Range (LoRa and its layer-two supporter LoRa Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN, which include a security scheme based on pre-shared cryptographic material lacking flexibility when a key update is necessary. Because of this, in this work, we evaluate the security vulnerabilities of LoRaWAN in the area of key management and propose different alternative schemes. Concretely, the application of an approach based on the recently specified Ephemeral Diffie–Hellman Over COSE (EDHOC is found as a convenient solution, given its flexibility in the update of session keys, its low computational cost and the limited message exchanges needed. A comparative conceptual analysis considering the overhead of different security schemes for LoRaWAN is carried out in order to evaluate their benefits in the challenging area of LP-WAN.

[Clinical observation on idiopathic tinnitus treated with acupuncture, buzhong yiqi tang and cizhu wan].

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Surong; Tan, Xuming; Fei, Lanbo; Xiang, Xiande

2018-04-12

To observe the differences in the clinical therapeutic effects on idiopathic tinnitus between the combined therapy with acupuncture and the modified formula of buzhong yiqi tang and cizhu wan and the simple administration of the modified formula of buzhong yiqi tang and cizhu wan . A total of 60 patients were randomized into a combined treatment group and an herbal medicine group, 30 cases in each one and 2 cases dropped out in the herbal medicine group. In the combined treatment group, acupuncture was given at the local acupoints for tinnitus, such as Yifeng (TE 17), penetrating needling technique from Ermen (TE 21) to Tinggong (SI 19) and Tinghui (GB 2) combined with the scalp acupuncture [the vertigo-auditory area, Baihui (GV 20)] and the oral administration of the modified formula of buzhong yiqi tang and cizhu wan . In the herbal medicine group, the oral administration of the modified formula of buzhong yiqi tang and cizhu wan was only applied. The treatment was given once a day in each group, 5 times a week for acupuncture and 7 times a week for the oral administration of herbal medicine. Totally, the treatment for 6 weeks was required in the two groups. Before and after treatment, the tinnitus severity score (TSS) and the score of tinnitus handicap inventory (THI) were observed and the clinical therapeutic effects were compared between the two groups. After treatment, the TSS and THI scores reduced as compared with those before treatment in the two groups (all P tang and cizhu wan achieve the superior therapeutic effects on idiopathic tinnitus as compared with the simple oral administration of the modified formula of buzhong yiqi tang and cizhu wan .

Current temporal asymmetry and the role of tides: Nan-Wan Bay vs. the Gulf of Elat

Science.gov (United States)

Ashkenazy, Yosef; Fredj, Erick; Gildor, Hezi; Gong, Gwo-Ching; Lee, Hung-Jen

2016-05-01

Nan-Wan Bay in Taiwan and the Gulf of Elat in Israel are two different coastal environments, and as such, their currents are expected to have different statistical properties. While Nan-Wan Bay is shallow, has three open boundaries, and is directly connected to the open ocean, the Gulf of Elat is deep, semi-enclosed, and connected to the Red Sea via the Straits of Tiran. Surface currents have been continuously measured with fine temporal (less than or equal to 1 h) and spatial resolution (less than or equal to 1 km) for more than a year in both environments using coastal radars (CODARs) that cover a domain of roughly 10 × 10 km. These measurements show that the currents in Nan-Wan Bay are much stronger than those in the Gulf of Elat and that the mean current field in Nan-Wan Bay exhibits cyclonic circulation, which is stronger in the summer; in the Gulf of Elat, the mean current field is directed southward and is also stronger during the summer. We have compared the statistical properties of the current speeds in both environments and found that both exhibit large spatial and seasonal variations in the shape parameter of the Weibull distribution. However, we have found fundamental and significant differences when comparing the temporal asymmetry of the current speed (i.e., the ratio between the time during which the current speed increases and the total time). While the Nan-Wan Bay currents are significantly asymmetric, those of the Gulf of Elat are not. We then extracted the tidal component of the Nan-Wan Bay currents and found that it is strongly asymmetric, while the asymmetry of tidally filtered currents is much weaker. We thus conclude that the temporal asymmetry of the Nan-Wan Bay currents reported here is due to the strong tides in the region. We show that the asymmetry ratio in Nan-Wan Bay varies spatially and seasonally: (i) the currents increase rapidly and decay slowly in the northern part of the domain and vice versa in the southern part, and (ii) the

Implementación de una red WAN en una escudería de F1

OpenAIRE

García Muñoz, Luis Eduardo

2013-01-01

TFC en el que se detalla la implementación de una red WAN en una escudería de Fórmula 1. TFC en què es detalla la implementació d'una xarxa WAN en una escuderia de Fórmula 1. Bachelor thesis for the Telecommunication Technologies program on Telematics.

Implantación de switching y ToIP sobre una red WAN

OpenAIRE

Pique Palacin, Ivan

2013-01-01

Este proyecto tiene como objeto el diseño y la implementación de servicios de comunicaciones de LAN (Switching) y Telefonía IP (ToIP), todos ellos integrados sobre una red WAN nacional ya existente y funcionando, gestionada por un ISP. Aquest projecte té com a objecte el disseny i la implementació de serveis de comunicacions de LAN (Switching) i telefonia IP (ToIP), tots ells integrats sobre una xarxa WAN nacional ja existent i funcionant, gestionada per un ISP. Bachelor thesis for the ...

Estudio de las características, funcionamiento, ventajas y técnicas utilizadas en los optimizadores WAN

OpenAIRE

Suarez Armijos, Javier Naufredo

2012-01-01

En la actualidad existe la necesidad de conectarse a redes de área amplia WAN, ya sea por parte de usuarios móviles o usuarios que se encuentran en sucursales remotas que lamentablemente no pueden acceder a la red WAN de forma eficiente ya que existe perdidas de paquetes por la interferencia, latencia entre otros factores que hacen que la red WAN tenga muchos inconvenientes, principalmente de velocidad. Muchos usuarios que no pueden trabajar desde sus oficinas o desde sus casas desean poderlo...

The Efficacy of Jing Wan Hong Ointment for Nerve Injury Diabetic Foot Ulcer and Its Mechanisms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shumei Jin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Jing Wan Hong ointment contains 30 kinds of Chinese herbs, with functions of activating blood circulation to disperse blood stasis, clearing heat, eliminating dampness, and reducing swelling by detoxification. Therefore, Jing Wan Hong ointment may facilitate the healing of ulcers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and mechanisms of Jing Wan Hong ointment for healing diabetic foot ulceration in Wistar rats induced by streptozotocin and sciatic nerve damage. The results showed that Jing Wan Hong ointment had a marked effect on foot ulcers in diabetic rats induced by initial nerve injury. These effects were manifested by reducing the foot ulcer size and Wagner grade after seven days of treatment. The diabetic rats with foot ulcers were almost healed after 21 days of treatment. Moreover, the mechanisms of this effect seem to be dependent on increased expression of PDGF mRNA, but there was no influence on the expression of TGF-β, VEGF, and FLT-1 mRNA.

State of the Art in LP-WAN Solutions for Industrial IoT Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramon Sanchez-Iborra

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The emergence of low-cost connected devices is enabling a new wave of sensorization services. These services can be highly leveraged in industrial applications. However, the technologies employed so far for managing this kind of system do not fully cover the strict requirements of industrial networks, especially those regarding energy efficiency. In this article a novel paradigm, called Low-Power Wide Area Networking (LP-WAN, is explored. By means of a cellular-type architecture, LP-WAN–based solutions aim at fulfilling the reliability and efficiency challenges posed by long-term industrial networks. Thus, the most prominent LP-WAN solutions are reviewed, identifying and discussing the pros and cons of each of them. The focus is also on examining the current deployment state of these platforms in Spain. Although LP-WAN systems are at early stages of development, they represent a promising alternative for boosting future industrial IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things networks and services.

Seed-a distributed data base architecture for global management of steam-generator inspection data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soon Ju Kang; Yu Rak Choi; Hee Gon Woo; Seong Su Choi

1996-01-01

This paper deals with a data management system - called SEED (Steam-generator Eddy-current Expert Database) for global handling of SG (steam generator) tube inspection data in nuclear power plants. The SEED integrates all stages in SG tube inspection process and supports all data such as raw eddy current data, inspection history data, SG tube information, etc. SEED implemented under client/server computing architecture for supporting LAN/WAN based graphical user interface facilities using WWW programming tools. (author)

Integración del sistema SoloWAN de optimización de tráfico en redes WAN como un servicio dentro de una plataforma IaaS basada en OpenStack

OpenAIRE

Vega García, Carlos

2016-01-01

El trabajo consiste en la integración del software SoloWAN de optimización de tráfico en redes WAN, desarrollado en el Center for Open Middleware (COM) de la UPM, como un servicio dentro de una plataforma IaaS basada en OpenStack. Para alcanzar este propósito, se ha llevado a cabo un proceso de desarrollo partiendo del estudio de la plataforma OpenStack, analizando sus características, entendiendo los nodos que de los que está compuesta, así como los diferentes servicios que ofrece. S...

Network Information Management: The Key To Providing High WAN Availability.

Science.gov (United States)

Tysdal, Craig

1996-01-01

Discusses problems associated with increasing corporate network complexity as a result of the proliferation of client/server applications at remote locations, and suggests the key to providing high WAN (wide area network) availability is relational databases used in an integrated management approach. (LRW)

Introduction of the WAN accelerator in JAEA network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirayama, Takashi; Kannari, Masaaki; Sato, Tomohiko

2012-06-01

In pursuance of 'The Optimization Plan on the network of JAEA', which aims to ensure network reliability and information security and to improve convenience in using the network, we are engaged in the optimization of inter-institute/center network bandwidth. This is a record of an introduction of WAN Accelerator into the network to Ningyo-toge Environmental Engineering Center which bandwidth is limited due to a geographically constraint. (author)

Seamless live migration of virtual machines over the MAN/WAN

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Travostino, F.; Daspit, P.; Gommans, L.; Jog, C.; de Laat, C.; Mambretti, J.; Monga, I.; van Oudenaarde, B.; Raghunath, S.; Wang, P.Y.

2006-01-01

The “VM Turntable” demonstrator at iGRID 2005 pioneered the integration of Virtual Machines (VMs) with deterministic “lightpath” network services across a MAN/WAN. The results provide for a new stage of virtualization—one for which computation is no longer localized within a data center but rather

Neuroprotective effect of Zhen Tian Wan on pial strip-induced ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ZTW significantly reduced the level of free radicals in pial stripped rats. ZTW can improve learning and memory function and it possess anti-oxidant activity. ZTW may be beneficial in the treatment of vascular dementia. Keywords: Zhen Tian Wan; pial strip; lesion; Memory; Morris water maze; free radicals ...

High-throughput LC-MS method for the rapid characterization of multiple chemical constituents and metabolites of Da-Bu-Yin-Wan.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xianna; Sun, Hui; Zhang, Aihua; Liu, Zhidong; Zou, Di; Song, Yanhua; Liu, Liang; Wang, Xijun

2017-11-01

Traditional Chinese medicine is the clinical experience accumulated by Chinese people against diseases. Da-Bu-Yin-Wan is a famous traditional Chinese medicine formula consisting of Phellodendri amurensis Rupr., Anemarrhenae asphodeloides Bge., Radix Rehmanniae Preparata and Chinemys reevesii. In this study, ultra high performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight high-definition mass spectrometry with the control software of Masslynx (V4.1) was established for comprehensive screening and identification of the chemical constituents and serum metabolites of Da-Bu-Yin-Wan in vivo and in vitro. Consequently, 70 peaks in the methanol extract from Da-Bu-Yin-Wan and 38 peaks absorbed into rat blood were characterized. The 70 constituents in vitro included alkaloids, flavonoids, polysaccharide, limonoids, flavonoid, etc. And the 38 constituents consist of 22 absorbed prototypes and 16 metabolites of Da-Bu-Yin-Wan absorbed in vivo. We fully clarified the chemical constituents of Da-Bu-Yin-Wan and provided a scientific strategy for the screening and characterization of the chemical constituents and metabolites of traditional Chinese medicine in vitro and in vivo. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

GPS-free Geolocation using LoRa in Low-Power WANs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fargas, Bernat Carbones; Petersen, Martin Nordal

2017-01-01

Internet of Things (IoT) has been growing over the last few years in multiple applications and due to the high need GPS for tracking capabilities, an innovative opportunity arises. This paper reports on a design and implementation of a LoRaWAN tracking system which is capable exploiting transmitted...

[Effect of Xinling Wan in treatment of stable angina pectoris: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo parallel-controlled, multicenter trial].

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Jian-Wei; Gao, Xue-Min; Zou, Ting; Zhao, Tian-Meng; Wang, Dong-Hua; Wu, Zong-Gui; Ren, Chang-Jie; Wang, Xing; Geng, Nai-Zhi; Zhao, Ming-Jun; Liang, Qiu-Ming; Feng, Xing; Yang, Bai-Song; Shi, Jun-Ling; Hua, Qi

2018-03-01

To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Xinling Wan on patients with stable angina pectoris, a randomized, double-blinded, placebo parallel-controlled, multicenter clinical trial was conducted. A total of 232 subjects were enrolled and randomly divided into experiment group and placebo group. The experiment group was treated with Xinling Wan (two pills each time, three times daily) for 4 weeks, and the placebo group was treated with placebo. The effectiveness evaluation showed that Xinling Wan could significantly increase the total duration of treadmill exercise among patients with stable angina pectoris. FAS analysis showed that the difference value of the total exercise duration was between experiment group (72.11±139.32) s and placebo group (31.25±108.32) s. Xinling Wan could remarkably increase the total effective rate of angina pectoris symptom score, and the analysis showed that the total effective rate was 78.95% in experiment group and 42.61% in placebo group. The reduction of nitroglycerin dose was (2.45±2.41) tablets in experiment group and (0.50±2.24) tablets in placebo group on the basis of FAS analysis. The decrease of symptom integral was (4.68±3.49) in experiment group and (3.19±3.31) in placebo group based on FAS analysis. Besides, Xinling Wan could decrease the weekly attack time and the duration of angina pectoris. PPS analysis results were similar to those of FAS analysis. In conclusion, Xinling Wan has an obvious therapeutic effect in treating stable angina pectoris, with a good safety and a low incidence of adverse event and adverse reaction in experiment group. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

CoralWatch Data Analysis at Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park, Hong Kong

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, A.; Hodgson, P.

2015-12-01

CoralWatch is a conservation organization that is based at the University of Queensland in Australia. Their development of the "Coral Health Chart" standardized the colour of corals for the further investigation of coral health and bleaching. The location of this project is in the NE part of Hong Kong in New Territories. The location faces ShenZhen, a heavily industrialized city, which is known for its pollution of the Pearl River. This area is protected by the Hong Kong Government and the WWF since 1996.Human activities have caused large amounts of greenhouse gasses to be released into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide has caused the global temperature to rise and made ocean waters more acidic due to ocean respiration. The ocean is a carbon sink for mankind and the effect of severe acidification is negatively affecting marine life. The increase of temperature diminishes the amount of diversity of marine life; the decreasing acidity of the water has eliminated many species of shellfish and sea anemone; the increase of marine exploitation has decreased the diversity of marine life. The release of toxic waste, mainly mercury, waste and plastic products has also polluted the oceans which negatively impact coral reefs and endanger marine life.The data has been collected by observing the colours and discolouration (bleaching) of the corals of approximately 40 colonies per month. The species of coral in Hoi Ha Wan include, Favites flexuosa, Goniopora columna,Leptastrea purpurea, Lithophyllon undulatum, Pavona decussata. and Platygyra acuta (AFCD,1). The evaluation of four years of coralwatch data has shown the bleaching of hard boulder corals in Hoi Ha Wan, Hong Kong, has halted and the reefs are being to show signs of regeneration. Local marine biologists credited the improved situation of the corals to protected status of the area.

Estudio de las aplicaciones de gestión de la red WAN de un operador de telecomunicaciones

OpenAIRE

González Medina, Mariano

2012-01-01

Este proyecto se basa en analizar y estudiar exhaustivamente las aplicaciones de gestión de la red WAN de un operador de telecomunicaciones (OdT). Dichas aplicaciones se dividen en dos fases importantes: provisión y mantenimiento. Aquest projecte es basa en analitzar i estudiar exhaustivament les aplicacions de gestió de la xarxa WAN d'un operador de telecomunicacions (OdT). Aquestes aplicacions es divideixen en dues fases importants: provisió i manteniment.

Moessbauer studies on ancient pottery from a neolithic site in Tung Wan, Hong Kong

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng Yufang; Tang Chung

1994-01-01

Twelve ceramic sherds unearthed from different archaeological layers at a neolithic site in Tung Wan, Hong Kong, were studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Moessbauer spectroscopy. The results show that the firing techniques used for ancient pottery wares at different layers were very different. For the oldest sherds (4000-3000 B.C.) from layer No. 4, the original firing temperature was low and craftmanship was inferior. For the sherds (1650-250 B.C.) from layer No. 2, the original firing temperature was above 1000 C. In addition, the results indicate that the ancient pottery wares from the ruins might not have been manufactured in the Tung Wan region. (orig.)

An Enhanced LoRaWAN Security Protocol for Privacy Preservation in IoT with a Case Study on a Smart Factory-Enabled Parking System.

Science.gov (United States)

You, Ilsun; Kwon, Soonhyun; Choudhary, Gaurav; Sharma, Vishal; Seo, Jung Taek

2018-06-08

The Internet of Things (IoT) utilizes algorithms to facilitate intelligent applications across cities in the form of smart-urban projects. As the majority of devices in IoT are battery operated, their applications should be facilitated with a low-power communication setup. Such facility is possible through the Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN), but at a constrained bit rate. For long-range communication over LPWAN, several approaches and protocols are adopted. One such protocol is the Long-Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), which is a media access layer protocol for long-range communication between the devices and the application servers via LPWAN gateways. However, LoRaWAN comes with fewer security features as a much-secured protocol consumes more battery because of the exorbitant computational overheads. The standard protocol fails to support end-to-end security and perfect forward secrecy while being vulnerable to the replay attack that makes LoRaWAN limited in supporting applications where security (especially end-to-end security) is important. Motivated by this, an enhanced LoRaWAN security protocol is proposed, which not only provides the basic functions of connectivity between the application server and the end device, but additionally averts these listed security issues. The proposed protocol is developed with two options, the Default Option (DO) and the Security-Enhanced Option (SEO). The protocol is validated through Burrows⁻Abadi⁻Needham (BAN) logic and the Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA) tool. The proposed protocol is also analyzed for overheads through system-based and low-power device-based evaluations. Further, a case study on a smart factory-enabled parking system is considered for its practical application. The results, in terms of network latency with reliability fitting and signaling overheads, show paramount improvements and better performance for the proposed protocol compared with the two

An Enhanced LoRaWAN Security Protocol for Privacy Preservation in IoT with a Case Study on a Smart Factory-Enabled Parking System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilsun You

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The Internet of Things (IoT utilizes algorithms to facilitate intelligent applications across cities in the form of smart-urban projects. As the majority of devices in IoT are battery operated, their applications should be facilitated with a low-power communication setup. Such facility is possible through the Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN, but at a constrained bit rate. For long-range communication over LPWAN, several approaches and protocols are adopted. One such protocol is the Long-Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN, which is a media access layer protocol for long-range communication between the devices and the application servers via LPWAN gateways. However, LoRaWAN comes with fewer security features as a much-secured protocol consumes more battery because of the exorbitant computational overheads. The standard protocol fails to support end-to-end security and perfect forward secrecy while being vulnerable to the replay attack that makes LoRaWAN limited in supporting applications where security (especially end-to-end security is important. Motivated by this, an enhanced LoRaWAN security protocol is proposed, which not only provides the basic functions of connectivity between the application server and the end device, but additionally averts these listed security issues. The proposed protocol is developed with two options, the Default Option (DO and the Security-Enhanced Option (SEO. The protocol is validated through Burrows–Abadi–Needham (BAN logic and the Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA tool. The proposed protocol is also analyzed for overheads through system-based and low-power device-based evaluations. Further, a case study on a smart factory-enabled parking system is considered for its practical application. The results, in terms of network latency with reliability fitting and signaling overheads, show paramount improvements and better performance for the proposed protocol compared with

PACS war room for global teleradiology

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Doris T.; Ho, Bruce K. T.; Chao, Woodrew; Taira, Ricky K.; Kangarloo, Hooshang

1995-05-01

UCLA is beginning teleradiology projects in Latin America, Asian Pacific, and the U.S. The UCLA teleradiology system communicates with remote imaging centers through a T1 based WAN and satellite technology. A network management center, i.e., PACS war room, with graphical user interface allows the system manager to monitor and control different elements of the system through various levels of abstraction from one location. The network manager software can monitor the activities of both hardware and software devices in the remote imaging centers, LAN and WAN performance, telearchiving and teleaccess pattern. Telearchiving can be monitored by graphically indicating large image movements between jukeboxes and over LAN or WAN. Once the teleradiology system is configured, the image flow pattern in a teleradiology center is predictable. Manual intervention of these teleradiology system functions is easily done through menu control in the war room display. A centralized network management with the global view of a teleradiology system has been developed. It can give commands to the elements of the system to tune the system for efficient utilization of the system resources. These managerial functions scale with the teleradiology system which is expandable to include many more potential remote imaging centers.

Analysis of Latency and MAC-layer Performance for Class A LoRaWAN

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, René Brandborg; Kim, Dong Min; Nielsen, Jimmy Jessen

2017-01-01

We propose analytical models that allow to investigate the performance of Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) uplink in terms of latency, collision rate, and throughput under the constraints of the regulatory duty cycling, when assuming exponential inter-arrival times. Our models take into acc...

Towards a Unified Global ICT Infrastructure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Ole Brun

2006-01-01

A successful evolution towards a unified global WAN platform allowing for the coexistence and interoperability of all kind of services requires careful planning of the next generation global cooperative wired and wireless information infrastructure. The absence of commonly agreed upon and adopted...... to be solved can be found in the interrelation between communication, connectivity and convergence. This paper will focus on steps to be taken in planning the physical infrastructure as a prerequisite for a successful evolution....

A Fair Adaptive Data Rate Algorithm for LoRaWAN

OpenAIRE

Abdelfadeel, Khaled Q.; Cionca, Victor; Pesch, Dirk

2018-01-01

LoRaWAN exhibits several characteristics that can lead to an unfair distribution of the Data Extracted Rate (DER) among nodes. Firstly, the capture effect leads to a strong signal suppressing a weaker signal at the gateway and secondly, the spreading codes used are not perfectly orthogonal, causing packet loss if an interfering signal is strong enough. In these conditions, nodes experiencing higher attenuation are less likely to see their packets received correctly. We develop FADR, a Fair Ad...

Network protocol changes can improve DisCom WAN performance : evaluating TCP modifications and SCTP in the ASC tri-lab environment.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tolendino, Lawrence F.; Hu, Tan Chang

2005-06-01

The Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Distance Computing (DisCom) Wide Area Network (WAN) is a high performance, long distance network environment that is based on the ubiquitous TCP/IP protocol set. However, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the algorithms that govern its operation were defined almost two decades ago for a network environment vastly different from the DisCom WAN. In this paper we explore and evaluate possible modifications to TCP that purport to improve TCP performance in environments like the DisCom WAN. We also examine a much newer protocol, SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol) that claims to provide reliable network transport while also implementing multi-streaming, multi-homing capabilities that are appealing in the DisCom high performance network environment. We provide performance comparisons and recommendations for continued development that will lead to network communications protocol implementations capable of supporting the coming ASC Petaflop computing environments.

A Dual Key-Based Activation Scheme for Secure LoRaWAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaehyu Kim

2017-01-01

Full Text Available With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT era, we are experiencing rapid technological progress. Billions of devices are connected to each other, and our homes, cities, hospitals, and schools are getting smarter and smarter. However, to realize the IoT, several challenging issues such as connecting resource-constrained devices to the Internet must be resolved. Recently introduced Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN technologies have been devised to resolve this issue. Among many LPWAN candidates, the Long Range (LoRa is one of the most promising technologies. The Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN is a communication protocol for LoRa that provides basic security mechanisms. However, some security loopholes exist in LoRaWAN’s key update and session key generation. In this paper, we propose a dual key-based activation scheme for LoRaWAN. It resolves the problem of key updates not being fully supported. In addition, our scheme facilitates each layer in generating its own session key directly, which ensures the independence of all layers. Real-world experimental results compared with the original scheme show that the proposed scheme is totally feasible in terms of delay and battery consumption.

Effect of GuiXiong Xiaoyi Wan in Treatment of Endometriosis on Rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhixing Jin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. To evaluate the effect of GuiXiong Xiaoyi Wan (GXXYW on the development of endometriosis in a rat model. Methods. Sprague-Dawley rats with surgically induced endometriosis were randomly treated with low-dose GXXYW, high-dose GXXYW, or vehicle (negative control for 28 days. Immunohistochemistry was used to assess cell proliferation in the lesions. The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase- (TdT- mediated dUTP biotin nick end labelling (TUNEL method was performed to analyse the apoptosis induced by GuiXiong Xiaoyi Wan. The percentages of CD3+ lymphocytes, CD4+ lymphocytes, and CD8+ lymphocytes in the spleens of the rats were evaluated using flow cytometric analysis. Results. Treatment with GXXYW significantly decreased the lesion size, inhibited cell proliferation, and induced apoptosis in endometriotic tissue. The spleens of GXXYW-treated rats also demonstrated a significant increase in the percentage of CD4+ lymphocytes and a significant decrease in the percentage of CD8+ lymphocytes. Conclusions. These results suggest that, in a rat model, GXXYW may be effective in the suppression of the growth of endometriosis, possibly through the inhibition of cell proliferation, the induction of apoptosis of endometriotic cells, and the regulation of the immune system.

Collaboration tools for the global accelerator network Workshop Report

CERN Document Server

Agarwal, D; Olson, J

2002-01-01

The concept of a ''Global Accelerator Network'' (GAN) has been put forward as a means for inter-regional collaboration in the operation of internationally constructed and operated frontier accelerator facilities. A workshop was held to allow representatives of the accelerator community and of the collaboratory development community to meet and discuss collaboration tools for the GAN environment. This workshop, called the Collaboration Tools for the Global Accelerator Network (GAN) Workshop, was held on August 26, 2002 at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The goal was to provide input about collaboration tools in general and to provide a strawman for the GAN collaborative tools environment. The participants at the workshop represented accelerator physicists, high-energy physicists, operations, technology tool developers, and social scientists that study scientific collaboration.

Collaboration tools for the global accelerator network: Workshop Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agarwal, Deborah; Olson, Gary; Olson, Judy

2002-01-01

The concept of a ''Global Accelerator Network'' (GAN) has been put forward as a means for inter-regional collaboration in the operation of internationally constructed and operated frontier accelerator facilities. A workshop was held to allow representatives of the accelerator community and of the collaboratory development community to meet and discuss collaboration tools for the GAN environment. This workshop, called the Collaboration Tools for the Global Accelerator Network (GAN) Workshop, was held on August 26, 2002 at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The goal was to provide input about collaboration tools in general and to provide a strawman for the GAN collaborative tools environment. The participants at the workshop represented accelerator physicists, high-energy physicists, operations, technology tool developers, and social scientists that study scientific collaboration

Design and Smartphone-Based Implementation of a Chaotic Video Communication Scheme via WAN Remote Transmission

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Zhuosheng; Yu, Simin; Li, Chengqing; Lü, Jinhu; Wang, Qianxue

This paper proposes a chaotic secure video remote communication scheme that can perform on real WAN networks, and implements it on a smartphone hardware platform. First, a joint encryption and compression scheme is designed by embedding a chaotic encryption scheme into the MJPG-Streamer source codes. Then, multiuser smartphone communications between the sender and the receiver are implemented via WAN remote transmission. Finally, the transmitted video data are received with the given IP address and port in an Android smartphone. It should be noted that, this is the first time that chaotic video encryption schemes are implemented on such a hardware platform. The experimental results demonstrate that the technical challenges on hardware implementation of secure video communication are successfully solved, reaching a balance amongst sufficient security level, real-time processing of massive video data, and utilization of available resources in the hardware environment. The proposed scheme can serve as a good application example of chaotic secure communications for smartphone and other mobile facilities in the future.

Construction Strategies of Social Security System for Wan-jiang Urban Belt’s Migrant Workers

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2011-01-01

Theoretical debate and practice exploration on social security of migrant workers were introduced.The political direction and security layer on social security for migrant workers in Wan-jiang urban belt were analyzed:the first layer is to implement wage payment guarantee and employment injury insurance;the second layer is to emphasize serious disease insurance and endowment insurance;the third layer is unemployed insurance and social assistance.The primary strategy of building a social security system for migrant workers in Wan-jiang urban belt was put up:wage payment guarantee system that is united in certain regions should be promoted;employment injury insurance system that is undertaken by enterprises should be built;a social health care system for serious diseases should be set up;multi-layers endowment insurance system for migrant workers should be created;vocational training and training in how to start a business should be built as well as the unemployment insurance system;social assistant system based on the basic cost of living allowances should be set up.

SQoS as the Base for Next Generation Global Infrastructure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Ole Brun; Knudsen, Thomas Phillip; Pedersen, Jens Myrup

2003-01-01

The convergence towards a unified global WAN platform, providing both best effort services and guaranteed high quality services, sets the agenda for the design and implementation of the next generation global information infrastructure. The absence of design principles, allowing for smooth and cost...... efficient scalability without loss of control over the structurally based properties may prevent or seriously delay the introduction of globally available new application and switching services. Reliability and scalability issues are addressed from a structural viewpoint. The concept of Structural Quality...

SQoS as the Base for Next Generation Global Infrastructure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Ole Brun; Knudsen, Thomas Phillip; Pedersen, Jens Myrup

The convergence towards a unified global WAN platform, providing both best effort services and guaranteed high quality services, sets the agenda for the design and implementation of the next generation global information infrastructure. The absence of design principles, allowing for smooth and cost...... efficient scalability without loss of control over the structurally based properties may prevent or seriously delay the introduction of globally available new application and switching services.Reliability and scalability issues are addressed from a structural viewpoint. The concept of Structural Quality...

Technical Knowledge, Cultural Practices and Social Boundaries: Wan-Nan Scholars and the Recasting of Jesuit Astronomy, 1600-1800

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Ping-Yi.

Taking four Wan-nan Confucian scholars--Yang Kuang -hsien, Mei Wen-ting, Chiang Yung and Tai Chen--as examples, this dissertation studies how an immigrant Jesuit scientific community built and defended itself in a specialized institutional niche located at the Ch'ing court and how a defeated Chinese scientific tradition successfully survived by occupying a broader cultural space, with the Manchu emperor in between. Special attention is paid to how these four Confucian scholars constructed social boundaries between the Chinese and the Westerners in their astronomical discourses and how they domesticated Western astronomy in order to fit the Chinese cultural conditions situated in the power structure built by the Manchus. This inquiry begins with a brief introduction of Wan-nan and the Wan-nan school. I then discuss how the Jesuits legitimated their knowledge during the Ming -Ch'ing transition, and how Jesuit astronomy was situated within the power nexus between the Confucian literati and the emperors. The next chapter focuses on Yang Kuang-hsien and his challenges to the Jesuits. I examine his strategies and the power structure in which Yang carried out his challenge to the Jesuits. The fourth and fifth chapters investigate how Mei Wen-ting restructured the relationship between Confucianism and astronomy. The former chapter focuses on Mei's social networking and his ambivalence towards the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties, on the one hand, and towards Chinese and Western learning on the other. The latter chapter deals with how Mei Wen-ting recast Chinese astronomical tradition and Confucianism. In the sixth chapter, I will compare the fame of Chiang Yung and Tai Chen in order to demonstrate how astronomy was practiced in evidential studies after Mei Wen-ting, and how evidential studies itself conveyed an ideological construction of the other. Through integrating Western astronomy with indigenous tradition while exorcising the otherness contained within the cultural package

« Comme à l’époque de Suzie Wong ». Les mutations du red-light district de Wan Chai

OpenAIRE

Paris, Nicolas

2011-01-01

Le roman exotique Le monde de Suzie Wong et ses nombreuses adaptations immortalisent le red-light district de Wan Chai à Hong Kong à la fin des années 1950, mettant en scène marins américains, expatriés de l’Empire britannique et prostituées hongkongaises. Aujourd’hui, avec la mondialisation, Wan Chai est fréquenté par des migrantes de plusieurs pays d’Asie du Sud-Est. Pourtant, le red-light district est toujours associé dans la presse et les guides de voyage à « l’époque de Suzie Wong ». Ces...

State of the Art in LP-WAN Solutions for Industrial IoT Services

OpenAIRE

Sanchez-Iborra, Ramon; Cano, Maria-Dolores

2016-01-01

The emergence of low-cost connected devices is enabling a new wave of sensorization services. These services can be highly leveraged in industrial applications. However, the technologies employed so far for managing this kind of system do not fully cover the strict requirements of industrial networks, especially those regarding energy efficiency. In this article a novel paradigm, called Low-Power Wide Area Networking (LP-WAN), is explored. By means of a cellular-type architecture, LP-WAN–base...

Fractal analysis of intraflow unidirectional delay over w-lan and w-wan environments

OpenAIRE

Pezaros, D. P.; Sifalakis, M.; Mathy, Laurent

2007-01-01

We have analysed unidirectional delay traces of a diverse set of IPv6 microflows routed over W-LAN and W-WAN environments. Using a number of time-domain and frequency-domain estimators we have examined the existence and intensity of long-range dependence in packet delay when viewed as time-series data. The correlation structures of packet delay on bulk TCP data path and UDP flows follow asymptotic decay while Hurst exponent estimates suggest from moderate to strong intensity(H->1).

Effect of Rat Medicated Serum Containing Zuo Gui Wan and/or You Gui Wan on the Differentiation of Stem Cells Derived from Human First Trimester Umbilical Cord into Oocyte-Like Cells In Vitro

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiang Hu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Zuo Gui Wan (ZGW and You Gui Wan (YGW are two classic formulas used in clinical treatment of infertility in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM. However, the actions of the formulas remain to be proven at the cellular and molecular levels. In this study, we investigate whether the two formulas have any effect on germ cell formation and differentiation by culturing rat medicated serums containing YGW or ZGW with stem cells derived from human first trimester umbilical cord. Our results showed that while the normal rat serums had no significant effects, the rat medicated serums had significant effects on the differentiation of the stem cells into oocyte-like cells (OLCs based on (1 cell morphological changes that resembled purative cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs; (2 expressions of specific markers that were indicative of germ cell formation and oocyte development; and (3 estradiol production by the COC-like cells. Furthermore, ZGW medicated serums exhibited more obvious effects on specific gene expressions of germ cells, whereas YGW medicated serums showed stronger effects on estradiol production. Accordingly, our study provides evidence demonstrating for the first time that one of molecular and cellular actions of YGW or ZGW in treating human reproductive dysfunctions may be through an enhancement of neooogenesis.

Millennium Development Goals: Tool or token of global social governance?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Al Raee, M.; Amoateng, Elvis; Avenyo, E.K.; Beshay, Youssef; Bierbaum, M.; Keijser, C.; Sinha, R.

2014-01-01

In this paper we argue that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) experience suggests that Global Social Governance (GSG) exists and that the MDGs have been an effective tool in creating a global accountability framework despite shortcomings mainly arising in the formulation process. The paper

Open Source Tools for Assessment of Global Water Availability, Demands, and Scarcity

Science.gov (United States)

Li, X.; Vernon, C. R.; Hejazi, M. I.; Link, R. P.; Liu, Y.; Feng, L.; Huang, Z.; Liu, L.

2017-12-01

Water availability and water demands are essential factors for estimating water scarcity conditions. To reproduce historical observations and to quantify future changes in water availability and water demand, two open source tools have been developed by the JGCRI (Joint Global Change Research Institute): Xanthos and GCAM-STWD. Xanthos is a gridded global hydrologic model, designed to quantify and analyze water availability in 235 river basins. Xanthos uses a runoff generation and a river routing modules to simulate both historical and future estimates of total runoff and streamflows on a monthly time step at a spatial resolution of 0.5 degrees. GCAM-STWD is a spatiotemporal water disaggregation model used with the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM) to spatially downscale global water demands for six major enduse sectors (irrigation, domestic, electricity generation, mining, and manufacturing) from the region scale to the scale of 0.5 degrees. GCAM-STWD then temporally downscales the gridded annual global water demands to monthly results. These two tools, written in Python, can be integrated to assess global, regional or basin-scale water scarcity or water stress. Both of the tools are extensible to ensure flexibility and promote contribution from researchers that utilize GCAM and study global water use and supply.

Effects of electroacupuncture and electroacupuncture plus Tao Hong Si Wu Wan in treating primary dysmenorrhea.

Science.gov (United States)

Miao, Edwin Yong; Miao, Miranda Yi-mo; Kildea, Daniel George; Lao, Yi-Wen

2014-02-01

This study investigated the efficacies of electroacupuncture and electroacupuncture combined with Tao Hong Si Wu Wan in treating primary dysmenorrhea and compared the results with those obtained using conventional medical treatment. One treatment group, group 1, was administered Tao Hong Si Wu Wan (2625 mg) while the other, group 2, was administered a placebo (2625 mg) twice daily for 3 months. Electroacupuncture was used in both treatment groups: two sessions per menstrual cycle for three menstrual cycles. The reference group, group 3, was administered ibuprofen, 600 mg, twice daily, for five menstrual cycles. Uses of the herb, placebo and ibuprofen were blinded. A ridit analysis was used for testing and interpreting the effects of treatment. Pain intensity was determined using a qualitative grading method in a blinded manner. The ridit scores in groups 1 and 2 were significantly higher than those in reference group immediately after treatment and three months later. Twelve months after the treatment, group 1 had a higher ridit score than group 2. In comparison to the reference group, groups 1 and 2 achieved better menstrual pain relief both immediately and 3 months after treatment. In addition, group 1 had better long-term pain relief than group 2. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Fractal analysis of intraflow unidirectional\\ud delay over W-LAN and W-WAN environments

OpenAIRE

Pezaros, D.; Sifalakis, M.; Mathy, L.

2007-01-01

We have analysed unidirectional delay traces of a diverse\\ud set of IPv6 microflows routed over W-LAN and W-WAN\\ud environments. Using a number of time-domain and frequency-domain estimators we have examined the existence and intensity of long-range dependence in packet delay when viewed as time-series data. The correlation structures of packet delay on bulk TCP data path and UDP flows follow asymptotic decay while Hurst exponent estimates suggest from moderate to strong intensity(H->1).

Improving Quality of Service and Reducing Power Consumption with WAN accelerator in Cloud Computing Environments

OpenAIRE

Shin-ichi Kuribayashi

2013-01-01

The widespread use of cloud computing services is expected to deteriorate a Quality of Service and toincrease the power consumption of ICT devices, since the distance to a server becomes longer than before. Migration of virtual machines over a wide area can solve many problems such as load balancing and power saving in cloud computing environments. This paper proposes to dynamically apply WAN accelerator within the network when a virtual machine is moved to a distant center, in order to preve...

The ENET WAN of ENEA`S geographical network: Present situation and optimization; La rete geografica ENET dell`ENEA: Situazione attuale e proposte di ottimizzazione

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bongiovanni, Giancarlo [Rome, Univ. La Sapienza (Italy); Di Marco, Roberto Antonio [ENEA, Rome (Italy). Funzione Centrale Informatica; Marocco, Glaudio

1997-10-01

The wide area networks for data transmission are submitting to evolution process by technological progress and unrelated process to the network. The evolution process can be originated by the bottom up integration of different networks that were born to solve specific problems (i.e.: scientific calculations and business administration). The ENET WAN of ENEA had been submitted to the same evolution progress. In this thesis the author analyze all the problems about WAN with emphasis in ENET WAN. The purpose of this research is the analysis of the present situation in particularly links, efficiency, expenses and throughput. The goal is to suggest alternative solutions to optimized the network and to amplify the throughput by new technology. The research suggests in particularly two new wide area networks: ENET{sub C}-LAN95 e ENET{sub S}ERV96. The first one is a mix interconnection solution, that is basis on the public network C-LAN, with the transportation protocol Frame Relay, and on the private links Numerical Direct Channels (CDN). The second one is also a mix interconnection solution, but it is based on two new network services that are supplied by two new public networks just introduce in Italian telecommunications market since `96. Frame Relay and ATM are the transportation protocol employed.

Developing a Support Tool for Global Product Development Decisions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søndergaard, Erik Stefan; Ahmed-Kristensen, Saeema

2016-01-01

This paper investigates how global product development decisions are made through a multiple-case study in three Danish engineering. The paper identifies which information and methods are applied for making decisions and how decision-making can be supported based on previous experience. The paper...... presents results from 51 decisions made in the three companies, and based on the results of the studies a framework for a decision-support tool is outlined and discussed. The paper rounds off with an identification of future research opportunities in the area of global product development and decision-making....

The Global Drought Information System - A Decision Support Tool with Global Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Arndt, D. S.; Brewer, M.; Heim, R. R., Jr.

2014-12-01

Drought is a natural hazard which can cause famine in developing countries and severe economic hardship in developed countries. Given current concerns with the increasing frequency and magnitude of droughts in many regions of the world, especially in the light of expected climate change, drought monitoring and dissemination of early warning information in a timely fashion on a global scale is a critical concern as an important adaptation and mitigation strategy. While a number of nations, and a few continental-scale activities have developed drought information system activities, a global drought early warning system (GDEWS) remains elusive, despite the benefits highlighted by ministers to the Global Earth Observation System of System in 2008. In an effort to begin a process of drought monitoring with international collaboration, the National Integrated Drought Information System's (NIDIS) U.S. Drought Portal, a web-based information system created to address drought services and early warning in the United States, including drought monitoring, forecasting, impacts, mitigation, research, and education, volunteered to develop a prototype Global Drought Monitoring Portal (GDMP). Through integration of data and information at the global level, and with four continental-level partners, the GDMP has proven successful as a tool to monitor drought around the globe. At a past meeting between NIDIS, the World Meteorological Organization, and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, it was recommended that the GDMP form the basis for a Global Drought Information System (GDIS). Currently, GDIS activities are focused around providing operational global drought monitoring products and assessments, incorporating additional drought monitoring information, especially from those areas without regional or continental-scale input, and incorporating drought-specific climate forecast information from the World Climate Research Programme. Additional GDIS pilot activities are

GAMBIT: the global and modular beyond-the-standard-model inference tool

Science.gov (United States)

Athron, Peter; Balazs, Csaba; Bringmann, Torsten; Buckley, Andy; Chrząszcz, Marcin; Conrad, Jan; Cornell, Jonathan M.; Dal, Lars A.; Dickinson, Hugh; Edsjö, Joakim; Farmer, Ben; Gonzalo, Tomás E.; Jackson, Paul; Krislock, Abram; Kvellestad, Anders; Lundberg, Johan; McKay, James; Mahmoudi, Farvah; Martinez, Gregory D.; Putze, Antje; Raklev, Are; Ripken, Joachim; Rogan, Christopher; Saavedra, Aldo; Savage, Christopher; Scott, Pat; Seo, Seon-Hee; Serra, Nicola; Weniger, Christoph; White, Martin; Wild, Sebastian

2017-11-01

We describe the open-source global fitting package GAMBIT: the Global And Modular Beyond-the-Standard-Model Inference Tool. GAMBIT combines extensive calculations of observables and likelihoods in particle and astroparticle physics with a hierarchical model database, advanced tools for automatically building analyses of essentially any model, a flexible and powerful system for interfacing to external codes, a suite of different statistical methods and parameter scanning algorithms, and a host of other utilities designed to make scans faster, safer and more easily-extendible than in the past. Here we give a detailed description of the framework, its design and motivation, and the current models and other specific components presently implemented in GAMBIT. Accompanying papers deal with individual modules and present first GAMBIT results. GAMBIT can be downloaded from gambit.hepforge.org.

GAMBIT. The global and modular beyond-the-standard-model inference tool

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Athron, Peter; Balazs, Csaba [Monash University, School of Physics and Astronomy, Melbourne, VIC (Australia); Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Particle Physics at the Tera-scale (Australia); Bringmann, Torsten; Dal, Lars A.; Gonzalo, Tomas E.; Krislock, Abram; Raklev, Are [University of Oslo, Department of Physics, Oslo (Norway); Buckley, Andy [University of Glasgow, SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, Glasgow (United Kingdom); Chrzaszcz, Marcin [Universitaet Zuerich, Physik-Institut, Zurich (Switzerland); Polish Academy of Sciences, H. Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics, Krakow (Poland); Conrad, Jan; Edsjoe, Joakim; Farmer, Ben; Lundberg, Johan [AlbaNova University Centre, Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmoparticle Physics, Stockholm (Sweden); Stockholm University, Department of Physics, Stockholm (Sweden); Cornell, Jonathan M. [McGill University, Department of Physics, Montreal, QC (Canada); Dickinson, Hugh [University of Minnesota, Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Jackson, Paul; White, Martin [Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Particle Physics at the Tera-scale (Australia); University of Adelaide, Department of Physics, Adelaide, SA (Australia); Kvellestad, Anders; Savage, Christopher [NORDITA, Stockholm (Sweden); McKay, James [Imperial College London, Blackett Laboratory, Department of Physics, London (United Kingdom); Mahmoudi, Farvah [Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENS de Lyon, CNRS, Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon UMR5574, Saint-Genis-Laval (France); CERN, Theoretical Physics Department, Geneva (Switzerland); Martinez, Gregory D. [University of California, Physics and Astronomy Department, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Putze, Antje [LAPTh, Universite de Savoie, CNRS, Annecy-le-Vieux (France); Ripken, Joachim [Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Goettingen (Germany); Rogan, Christopher [Harvard University, Department of Physics, Cambridge, MA (United States); Saavedra, Aldo [Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Particle Physics at the Tera-scale (Australia); The University of Sydney, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies, Centre for Translational Data Science, School of Physics, Sydney, NSW (Australia); Scott, Pat [Imperial College London, Blackett Laboratory, Department of Physics, London (United Kingdom); Seo, Seon-Hee [Seoul National University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Serra, Nicola [Universitaet Zuerich, Physik-Institut, Zurich (Switzerland); Weniger, Christoph [University of Amsterdam, GRAPPA, Institute of Physics, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Wild, Sebastian [DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Collaboration: The GAMBIT Collaboration

2017-11-15

We describe the open-source global fitting package GAMBIT: the Global And Modular Beyond-the-Standard-Model Inference Tool. GAMBIT combines extensive calculations of observables and likelihoods in particle and astroparticle physics with a hierarchical model database, advanced tools for automatically building analyses of essentially any model, a flexible and powerful system for interfacing to external codes, a suite of different statistical methods and parameter scanning algorithms, and a host of other utilities designed to make scans faster, safer and more easily-extendible than in the past. Here we give a detailed description of the framework, its design and motivation, and the current models and other specific components presently implemented in GAMBIT. Accompanying papers deal with individual modules and present first GAMBIT results. GAMBIT can be downloaded from gambit.hepforge.org. (orig.)

GAMBIT. The global and modular beyond-the-standard-model inference tool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Athron, Peter; Balazs, Csaba; Bringmann, Torsten; Dal, Lars A.; Gonzalo, Tomas E.; Krislock, Abram; Raklev, Are; Buckley, Andy; Chrzaszcz, Marcin; Conrad, Jan; Edsjoe, Joakim; Farmer, Ben; Lundberg, Johan; Cornell, Jonathan M.; Dickinson, Hugh; Jackson, Paul; White, Martin; Kvellestad, Anders; Savage, Christopher; McKay, James; Mahmoudi, Farvah; Martinez, Gregory D.; Putze, Antje; Ripken, Joachim; Rogan, Christopher; Saavedra, Aldo; Scott, Pat; Seo, Seon-Hee; Serra, Nicola; Weniger, Christoph; Wild, Sebastian

2017-01-01

We describe the open-source global fitting package GAMBIT: the Global And Modular Beyond-the-Standard-Model Inference Tool. GAMBIT combines extensive calculations of observables and likelihoods in particle and astroparticle physics with a hierarchical model database, advanced tools for automatically building analyses of essentially any model, a flexible and powerful system for interfacing to external codes, a suite of different statistical methods and parameter scanning algorithms, and a host of other utilities designed to make scans faster, safer and more easily-extendible than in the past. Here we give a detailed description of the framework, its design and motivation, and the current models and other specific components presently implemented in GAMBIT. Accompanying papers deal with individual modules and present first GAMBIT results. GAMBIT can be downloaded from gambit.hepforge.org. (orig.)

The Mechanism of Russian Nanoindustry Development Caused by Globalization: Methods and Tools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Avtonomova Oksana Alekseevna

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Establishing the effective mechanism of the Russian nanoindustry functioning by means of globalization benefits is one of the most important factors of raising the national economy competitiveness in the context of transition to a new technological way. Nanotechnologies is one of the key factors of this new way. The mechanism of nanoindustrial development of the Russian Federation caused by globalization is characterized in the article as a way of task-oriented implementation and management of the global nanotechnology industry development on the basis of cooperation of entities at different levels of the global economic system using the appropriate methods, tools, resources and communication channels, factors and capitals. The mechanism aims at adjusting the described contradictions faced by Russian entities in their business activities in the sphere of production, consumption and promotion of nanotechnologies, nanogoods and nanoservices. Within the framework of a theoretical research the author proposes the classification of methods and tools for the development of the Russian nanoindustry through the international cooperation by the criteria of economic functions: planning, institution, organization, management, investment, finance, information, analysis, control – all aimed at promoting the unification of concepts and actions of collaborating entities in the sphere of nanotechnology. The developed methodology of the international nanoindustrial interaction of Russian entities includes the result-oriented, institutional, organizational, budgetary, investment, tax, informative, and administrative methods, as well as analysis, audit, accounting and evaluation. Besides, the article proves the feasibility of marketing tools application in the sphere of nanoindustrial cooperation aimed at developing a more efficient strategy of promoting products with nanofeatures to the global market.

Aqueduct: an interactive tool to empower global water risk assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Reig, Paul; Gassert, Francis

2013-04-01

The Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas (Aqueduct) is a publicly available, global database and interactive tool that maps indicators of water related risks for decision makers worldwide. Aqueduct makes use of the latest geo-statistical modeling techniques to compute a composite index and translate the most recently available hydrological data into practical information on water related risks for companies, investors, and governments alike. Twelve global indicators are grouped into a Water Risk Framework designed in response to the growing concerns from private sector actors around water scarcity, water quality, climate change, and increasing demand for freshwater. The Aqueduct framework includes indicators of water stress, variability in supply, storage, flood, drought, groundwater, water quality and social conflict, addressing both spatial and temporal variation in water hazards. It organizes indicators into three categories of risk that bring together multiple dimensions of water related risk into comprehensive aggregated scores, which allow for dynamic weighting to capture users' unique exposure to water hazards. All information is compiled into an online, open access platform, from which decision-makers can view indicators, scores, and maps, conduct global risk assessments, and export data and shape files for further analysis. Companies can use this tool to evaluate their exposure to water risks across operations and supply chains, investors to assess water-related risks in their portfolio, and public-sector actors to better understand water security. Additionally, the open nature of the data and maps allow other organizations to build off of this effort with new research, for example in the areas of water-energy or water-food relationships. This presentation will showcase the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas online tool and the features and functionalities it offers, as well as explain how it can be used for both private and public sector applications. The session will

LoRaWAN-Based Energy-Efficient Surveillance by Drones for Intelligent Transportation Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vishal Sharma

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Urban networks aim at facilitating users for better experience and services through smart platforms such as the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS. ITS focuses on information acquisition, sensing, contrivance control, data processing and forwarding to ground devices via user-specific application-interfaces. The utility of ITS is further improved via the Internet of Things (IoT, which supports “Connectivity to All”. One of the key applications of IoT-ITS is urban surveillance. Current surveillance in IoT-ITS is performed via fixed infrastructure-based sensing applications which consume an excessive amount of energy leading to several overheads and failures in the network. Such issues can be overcome by the utilization of on-demand nodes, such as drones, etc. However, drones-assisted surveillance requires efficient communication setup as drones are battery operated and any extemporaneous maneuver during monitoring may result in loss of drone or complete failure of the network. The novelty in terms of network layout can be procured by the utilization of drones with LoRaWAN, which is the protocol designated for Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN. However, even this architectural novelty alone cannot ascertain the formation of fail-safe, highly resilient, low-overhead, and non-redundant network, which is additionally the problem considered in this paper. To resolve such problem, this paper uses drones as LoRaWAN gateway and proposes a communication strategy based on the area stress, resilient factor, and energy consumption that avail in the efficient localization, improved coverage and energy-efficient surveillance with lower overheads, lower redundancy, and almost zero-isolations. The proposed approach is numerically simulated and the results show that the proposed approach can conserve a maximum of 39.2% and a minimum of 12.6% of the total network energy along with an improvement in the area stress between 89.7% and 53.0% for varying

The Cause of WanXi Folk Songs and music Characteristic%皖西民歌的成因及音乐特征

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

黄梅

2014-01-01

WanXi folk songs ,as an important branch of the Dabie Mountains , have distinct characteristics : both folk songs ,minor , and chant , chanting the words , rhythm and speed is relatively free . In the use of tuning , the symptoms of Pentatonic tuning is the most common ,following is five sound feather tuning and pentatonic Palace tuning , business transfer type , angle tuning barely , six sound and seven - tone style is rare . It different in pitch change and volume processing of each branches of WanXi folk songs . This form of music characterized and the body ,mainly due to the spread of WanXi folk songs birthplace and the main characteristics of the popular area .%皖西民歌作为大别山民歌的重要分支，具有鲜明的音乐特色：不论是山歌、小调，还是号子、诵词，音乐的节奏和速度都比较自由；在调式使用方面，最常见的为五声徵调式，其次是五声羽调式，再次是五声宫调式，商调式使用较少，而角调式几乎没有，六声及七声调式也很少见；在音高变化和音量处理方面，皖西民歌的各个支系皆有不同。这种音乐本体特征的形成，主要是受皖西民歌发源地和主要流传地的地域特征影响。

Quality Control of the Traditional Patent Medicine Yimu Wan Based on SMRT Sequencing and DNA Barcoding

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Jing; Xu, Zhichao; Xin, Tianyi; Shi, Linchun; Song, Jingyuan

2017-01-01

Substandard traditional patent medicines may lead to global safety-related issues. Protecting consumers from the health risks associated with the integrity and authenticity of herbal preparations is of great concern. Of particular concern is quality control for traditional patent medicines. Here, we establish an effective approach for verifying the biological composition of traditional patent medicines based on single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing and DNA barcoding. Yimu Wan (YMW), a classical herbal prescription recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, was chosen to test the method. Two reference YMW samples were used to establish a standard method for analysis, which was then applied to three different batches of commercial YMW samples. A total of 3703 and 4810 circular-consensus sequencing (CCS) reads from two reference and three commercial YMW samples were mapped to the ITS2 and psbA-trnH regions, respectively. Moreover, comparison of intraspecific genetic distances based on SMRT sequencing data with reference data from Sanger sequencing revealed an ITS2 and psbA-trnH intergenic spacer that exhibited high intraspecific divergence, with the sites of variation showing significant differences within species. Using the CCS strategy for SMRT sequencing analysis was adequate to guarantee the accuracy of identification. This study demonstrates the application of SMRT sequencing to detect the biological ingredients of herbal preparations. SMRT sequencing provides an affordable way to monitor the legality and safety of traditional patent medicines. PMID:28620408

Understanding Global Change: Tools for exploring Earth processes and biotic change through time

Science.gov (United States)

Bean, J. R.; White, L. D.; Berbeco, M.

2014-12-01

Teaching global change is one of the great pedagogical challenges of our day because real understanding entails integrating a variety of concepts from different scientific subject areas, including chemistry, physics, and biology, with a variety of causes and impacts in the past, present, and future. With the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards, which emphasize climate change and other human impacts on natural systems, there has never been a better time to provide instructional support to educators on these topics. In response to this clear need, the University of California Museum of Paleontology, in collaboration with the National Center for Science Education, developed a new web resource for teachers and students titled "Understanding Global Change" (UGC) that introduces the drivers and impacts of global change. This website clarifies the connections among deep time, modern Earth system processes, and anthropogenic influences, and provides K-16 instructors with a wide range of easy-to-use tools, strategies, and lesson plans for communicating these important concepts regarding global change and the basic Earth systems processes. In summer 2014, the UGC website was field-tested during a workshop with 25 K-12 teachers and science educators. Feedback from participants helped the UGC team develop and identify pedagogically sound lesson plans and instructional tools on global change. These resources are accessible through UGC's searchable database, are aligned with NGSS and Common Core, and are categorized by grade level, subject, and level of inquiry-based instruction (confirmation, structured, guided, open). Providing a range of content and tools at levels appropriate for teachers is essential because our initial needs assessment found that educators often feel that they lack the content knowledge and expertise to address complex, but relevant global change issues, such as ocean acidification and deforestation. Ongoing needs assessments and surveys of

Can agile software tools bring the benefits of a task board to globally distributed teams?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Katsma, Christiaan; Amrit, Chintan Amrit; van Hillegersberg, Jos; Sikkel, Nicolaas; Oshri, Ilan; Kotlarsky, Julia; Willcocks, Leslie P.

Software-based tooling has become an essential part of globally disitrbuted software development. In this study we focus on the usage of such tools and task boards in particular. We investigate the deployment of these tools through a field research in 4 different companies that feature agile and

Open system LANs and their global interconnection electronics and communications reference series

CERN Document Server

Houldsworth, Jack; Caves, Keith; Mazda, FF

2014-01-01

Open System LANs and Their Global Interconnection focuses on the OSI layer 1 to 4 standards (the OSI bearer service) and also introduces TCP/IP and some of the proprietary PC Local Area Network (LAN) standards.The publication first provides an introduction to Local Area Networks (LANs) and Wide Area Networks (WANs), Open Systems Interconnection (OSI), and LAN standards. Discussions focus on MAC bridging, token bus, slotted ring, MAC constraints and design considerations, OSI functional standards, OSI model, value of the transport model, benefits and origins of OSI, and significance of the tran

[Plasma metabonomics of Guifu Dihuang Wan in the treatment of yang deficiency].

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Ya; Jing, Yuan; Chen, Jie-Yu; Li, Fei; Cheng, Jing-Ru; Bi, Jian-Lu; Luo, Ren; Zhao, Xiao-Shan

2016-11-20

To assess the effect of Guifu Dihuang Wan (GFDHW) in the treatment of yang deficiency and explore the underlying molecular mechanism. Sixty-two participants without diseases were randomized into control group (n=31) and experimental group (n=31) and were given lifestyle intervention additional GFDHW treatment for a month. NMR technology was used for metabonomics analysis. Intervention with GFDHW resulted in significantly decreased conversion scores of yang deficiency in the experimental group compared with the control group (P<0.005). The concentrations of lactate, valine, proline, arginine and 3-hydroxybutyrate were increased in the plasma of yang-deficient subjects after lifestyle intervention. GFDHW treatment with lifestyle intervention significantly increased the concentrations of lactate, valine, proline, arginine and 3-hydroxybutyrate and also the levels of alanine, glutamine, alpha glucose, isoleucine, betaine and propylene glycol. GFDHW treatment improves yang deficiency possibly by increasing the concentrations of alanine, glutamine, alpha glucose, isoleucine, betaine and propylene glycol and promoting energy metabolism of the body.

The nuclear, an efficient tool against global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

Proposing and commenting some extracts of a book by Francis Sorin (Le nucleaire et la planete), this document aims at showing that nuclear energy production is a tool to struggle against global warming because of its low carbon emission. Some assessments of this characteristic are given and discussed, as well as figures on carbon emissions in different western countries. This document also criticises the statements made by ecologists against nuclear energy. The author put nuclear energy at the same level as energy savings and renewable energies, as means to reach the desirable CO 2 saving level

Global search tool for the Advanced Photon Source Integrated Relational Model of Installed Systems (IRMIS) database

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quock, D.E.R.; Cianciarulo, M.B.

2007-01-01

The Integrated Relational Model of Installed Systems (IRMIS) is a relational database tool that has been implemented at the Advanced Photon Source to maintain an updated account of approximately 600 control system software applications, 400,000 process variables, and 30,000 control system hardware components. To effectively display this large amount of control system information to operators and engineers, IRMIS was initially built with nine Web-based viewers: Applications Organizing Index, IOC, PLC, Component Type, Installed Components, Network, Controls Spares, Process Variables, and Cables. However, since each viewer is designed to provide details from only one major category of the control system, the necessity for a one-stop global search tool for the entire database became apparent. The user requirements for extremely fast database search time and ease of navigation through search results led to the choice of Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) technology in the implementation of the IRMIS global search tool. Unique features of the global search tool include a two-tier level of displayed search results, and a database data integrity validation and reporting mechanism.

Identification of the Chemical Constituents in Simiao Wan and Rat Plasma after Oral Administration by GC-MS and LC-MS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunshuang Fan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Simiao Wan (SMW, an important multiherbal formula used in traditional Chinese medicine, is extensively used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. However, the knowledge of the bioactive components of SMW remains unclear. Thus, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS were used to analyze the chemical constituents of volatile and nonvolatile extracts of SMW, as well as its absorbed components in rat plasma after oral SMW administration. Identification of several compounds was enabled by comparison of retention times, MS spectra, and MS/MS spectral data with the standard substance and reference materials reported in the literature. In the volatile extracts, GC-MS identified 26 compounds in vitro, three of which observed in blood by GC-MS. In the nonvolatile extracts, LC-MS identified 49 compounds in SMW; 18 compounds containing 7 prototype compounds, 5 metabolites, and 6 unknown compounds were absorbed by blood. The proposed GC-MS and LC-MS method was appropriate not only for the rapid screening and identification of multiple components of an SMW extract but also for screening its bioactive constituents in vivo. The proposed method could be a promising tool for the quality control of other Chinese herbal medicines.

Activity Theory applied to Global Software Engineering: Theoretical Foundations and Implications for Tool Builders

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tell, Paolo; Ali Babar, Muhammad

2012-01-01

Although a plethora of tools are available for Global Software Engineering (GSE) teams, it is being realized increasingly that the most prevalent desktop metaphor underpinning the majority of tools have several inherent limitations. We have proposed that Activity-Based Computing (ABC) can be a pr...... in building supporting infrastructure for GSE, and describe a proof of concept prototype....

Towards a Reference Architecture to Provision Tools as a Service for Global Software Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chauhan, Aufeef; Babar, Muhammad Ali

2014-01-01

Organizations involve in Global Software Development (GSD) face challenges in terms of having access to appropriate set of tools for performing distributed engineering and development activities, integration between heterogeneous desktop and web-based tools, management of artifacts developed...... distributed environment. In this paper, we argue the need to have a cloud-enabled platform for supporting GSD and propose reference architecture of a cloud based Platform for providing support to provision ecosystem of the Tools as a Service (PTaaS)....

Concurrent Engineering with IT-Tools for successful industrial products in a global market

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Conrad, Finn

2003-01-01

The paper presents and discusses research results concerning Concurrent Engineering with IT-Tools for Successful Industrial Products on a Global Market. Concurrent Engineering, often is called just ¿CE¿, that is a systematic approach to the integrated, concurrent design of products and related...... on the world market and the increasing global public demands, requirements and regulations for protection of the environment are both driving forces and challenges for improving the development of control and engineering design. There has always been an ongoing desire to develop and design systems to improve...... performance of products, productivity and efficiency of process operations. Smart use of simulation and modelling IT tools can improve many enterprises ability to compete and survive on the market. European Enterprises developing, designing and manufacturing hydraulic components and hydraulic systems...

Software project management tools in global software development: a systematic mapping study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chadli, Saad Yasser; Idri, Ali; Ros, Joaquín Nicolás; Fernández-Alemán, José Luis; de Gea, Juan M Carrillo; Toval, Ambrosio

2016-01-01

Global software development (GSD) which is a growing trend in the software industry is characterized by a highly distributed environment. Performing software project management (SPM) in such conditions implies the need to overcome new limitations resulting from cultural, temporal and geographic separation. The aim of this research is to discover and classify the various tools mentioned in literature that provide GSD project managers with support and to identify in what way they support group interaction. A systematic mapping study has been performed by means of automatic searches in five sources. We have then synthesized the data extracted and presented the results of this study. A total of 102 tools were identified as being used in SPM activities in GSD. We have classified these tools, according to the software life cycle process on which they focus and how they support the 3C collaboration model (communication, coordination and cooperation). The majority of the tools found are standalone tools (77%). A small number of platforms (8%) also offer a set of interacting tools that cover the software development lifecycle. Results also indicate that SPM areas in GSD are not adequately supported by corresponding tools and deserve more attention from tool builders.

KOHESI GRAMATIKAL PENGACUAN DALAM CERPEN PEMBELAAN BAH BELA KARYA MOH. WAN ANWAR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asep Muhyidin

2016-08-01

  Referent Cohesion in Pembelaan Bah Bela a Short Story by Moh. Anwar. From the prespective of oral communication discourse is understood as a communication process between an addresser and an addressee. From written communication perspective, on the other hand, discourse is thought as the expression of the addresser. An integrated discourse is the one that is cohesive and coherent. It is complete when the sentenses constituting it support the topic, and integrated when the sentences are systematic and well-structured. Well structured idea is indicated by the use of cohesive devices. A short story has been chosen to investigate as it is short yet requires a high level of cohesion and coherence to allow it to be a complete reading. This article investigate “Pembelaan Bah Bela” one of best short stories by Moh. Wan Anwar. It tells about a Jawara culture in Banten. All the sentences in the short stories are analyzed. The investigation serves to show how cohesive devices work to construct a discourse Keywords: referent cohesion, text analysis, short story

Putting the t in tools: a roadmap for implementation of new global and regional transgender guidance.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, R Cameron; Adams, Darrin; Dayton, Robyn; Verster, Annette; Wong, Joe; Romero, Marcela; Mazin, Rafael; Settle, Edmund; Sladden, Tim; Keatley, JoAnne

2016-01-01

Transgender (trans) activists and global health partners have collaborated to develop new tools and guidance for assessing and addressing HIV and other health needs within trans populations. Trans women experience a heavy burden of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), high incidence of violence and difficulties accessing gender-affirming services. At the same time, little has been published on trans men's health, HIV issues, needs and experiences. Young trans people are especially marginalized and vulnerable, with few programmes and services specifically tailored to their needs. Trans-specific data and guidance are needed to adapt the global response to HIV to meet the needs of the trans population. While the needs of this group have only recently received attention, global, regional and other technical guidance documents are being developed to address these gaps. Regional blueprints for comprehensive care for trans people in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia and the Pacific are now available. These tools - supported by the Pan American Health Organization, World Health Organization, US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the United Nations Development Programme, in collaboration with regional trans groups - provide a contextual map, indicating opportunities for interventions in health, HIV, violence, stigma and discrimination, social protection and human rights. Global guidance includes the World Health Organization's Policy Brief: Transgender People and HIV, and the interagency publication, Implementing Comprehensive HIV and STI Programmes with Transgender People. Community empowerment and capacity building are the focus of the new tools for global and regional transgender guidance. The goal is to strengthen and ensure community-led responses to the HIV challenge in trans populations. This article describes the new tools and guidance and considers the steps needed to use them to appropriately support and engage transgender

Uncertain added value of Global Trigger Tool for monitoring of patient safety in cancer care

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lipczak, Henriette; Neckelmann, Kirsten; Steding-Jessen, Marianne

2011-01-01

Monitoring patient safety is a challenging task. The lack of a golden standard has contributed to the recommendation and introduction of several methods. In 2000 the Danish Lung Cancer Registry (DLCR) was established to monitor the clinical management of lung cancer. In 2008 the Global Trigger Tool...... (GTT) was recommended in Denmark as a tool for the monitoring of patient safety. Ideally, the recommendation of a new tool should be preceded by a critical assessment of its added value....

GLOBAL CLIMATE MODEL:A COMPREHENSIVE TOOL IN CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT STUDIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dharmaveer Singh

2015-01-01

Full Text Available There is growing concern, how and to what extent future changes in climate will affect human society and natural environments. Continuous emissions of Green House Gasses (GHGs at or above current rates will cause further warming. This, in turn, may modify global climate system during 21st century that very likely would have larger impacts than those observed during 20th century. At present, Global Climate Models (GCMs are only the most reliable tools available for studying behaviour of the climate system. This paper presents a comprehensive review of GCMs including their development and applications in climate change impacts studies. Following a discussion of the limitations of GCMs at regional and local scales, different approaches of downscaling are discussed in detail.

The Global Hidden Hunger Indices and Maps: An Advocacy Tool for Action

Science.gov (United States)

Muthayya, Sumithra; Rah, Jee Hyun; Sugimoto, Jonathan D.; Roos, Franz F.; Kraemer, Klaus; Black, Robert E.

2013-01-01

The unified global efforts to mitigate the high burden of vitamin and mineral deficiency, known as hidden hunger, in populations around the world are crucial to the achievement of most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We developed indices and maps of global hidden hunger to help prioritize program assistance, and to serve as an evidence-based global advocacy tool. Two types of hidden hunger indices and maps were created based on i) national prevalence data on stunting, anemia due to iron deficiency, and low serum retinol levels among preschool-aged children in 149 countries; and ii) estimates of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) attributed to micronutrient deficiencies in 136 countries. A number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as India and Afghanistan, had an alarmingly high level of hidden hunger, with stunting, iron deficiency anemia, and vitamin A deficiency all being highly prevalent. The total DALY rates per 100,000 population, attributed to micronutrient deficiencies, were generally the highest in sub-Saharan African countries. In 36 countries, home to 90% of the world’s stunted children, deficiencies of micronutrients were responsible for 1.5-12% of the total DALYs. The pattern and magnitude of iodine deficiency did not conform to that of other micronutrients. The greatest proportions of children with iodine deficiency were in the Eastern Mediterranean (46.6%), European (44.2%), and African (40.4%) regions. The current indices and maps provide crucial data to optimize the prioritization of program assistance addressing global multiple micronutrient deficiencies. Moreover, the indices and maps serve as a useful advocacy tool in the call for increased commitments to scale up effective nutrition interventions. PMID:23776712

The global hidden hunger indices and maps: an advocacy tool for action.

Science.gov (United States)

Muthayya, Sumithra; Rah, Jee Hyun; Sugimoto, Jonathan D; Roos, Franz F; Kraemer, Klaus; Black, Robert E

2013-01-01

The unified global efforts to mitigate the high burden of vitamin and mineral deficiency, known as hidden hunger, in populations around the world are crucial to the achievement of most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We developed indices and maps of global hidden hunger to help prioritize program assistance, and to serve as an evidence-based global advocacy tool. Two types of hidden hunger indices and maps were created based on i) national prevalence data on stunting, anemia due to iron deficiency, and low serum retinol levels among preschool-aged children in 149 countries; and ii) estimates of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) attributed to micronutrient deficiencies in 136 countries. A number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as India and Afghanistan, had an alarmingly high level of hidden hunger, with stunting, iron deficiency anemia, and vitamin A deficiency all being highly prevalent. The total DALY rates per 100,000 population, attributed to micronutrient deficiencies, were generally the highest in sub-Saharan African countries. In 36 countries, home to 90% of the world's stunted children, deficiencies of micronutrients were responsible for 1.5-12% of the total DALYs. The pattern and magnitude of iodine deficiency did not conform to that of other micronutrients. The greatest proportions of children with iodine deficiency were in the Eastern Mediterranean (46.6%), European (44.2%), and African (40.4%) regions. The current indices and maps provide crucial data to optimize the prioritization of program assistance addressing global multiple micronutrient deficiencies. Moreover, the indices and maps serve as a useful advocacy tool in the call for increased commitments to scale up effective nutrition interventions.

Distribution and Validation of CERES Irradiance Global Data Products Via Web Based Tools

Science.gov (United States)

Rutan, David; Mitrescu, Cristian; Doelling, David; Kato, Seiji

2016-01-01

The CERES SYN1deg product provides climate quality 3-hourly globally gridded and temporally complete maps of top of atmosphere, in atmosphere, and surface fluxes. This product requires efficient release to the public and validation to maintain quality assurance. The CERES team developed web-tools for the distribution of both the global gridded products and grid boxes that contain long term validation sites that maintain high quality flux observations at the Earth's surface. These are found at: http://ceres.larc.nasa.gov/order_data.php. In this poster we explore the various tools available to users to sub-set, download, and validate using surface observations the SYN1Deg and Surface-EBAF products. We also analyze differences found in long-term records from well-maintained land surface sites such as the ARM central facility and high quality buoy radiometers, which due to their isolated nature cannot be maintained in a similar manner to their land based counterparts.

Demand Side Management Using the Internet of Energy Based on LoRaWAN Technology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shahryari, Kolsoom; Anvari-Moghaddam, Amjad; Shahryari, Shadi

2017-01-01

into cloud because of a long range, low power, wide area and low bit rate wireless telecommunication system which is called LoRaWAN. All devices in fog domain are connected by long range wide area network (LoRa) into a smart gateway. The gateway which bridges fog domain and cloud, is introduced......The smart grid, as a communication network, allows numerous connected devices such as sensors, relays and actuators to interact and cooperate with each other. An Internet-based solution for electricity that provides bidirectional flow of information and power is internet of energy (IoE) which...... is an extension of smart grid concept. A large number of connected devices and the huge amount of data generated by IoE and issues related to data transmission, process and storage, force IoE to be integrated by cloud computing. Furthermore, in order to enhance the performance and reduce the volume of transmitted...

Obtaining Global Picture From Single Point Observations by Combining Data Assimilation and Machine Learning Tools

Science.gov (United States)

Shprits, Y.; Zhelavskaya, I. S.; Kellerman, A. C.; Spasojevic, M.; Kondrashov, D. A.; Ghil, M.; Aseev, N.; Castillo Tibocha, A. M.; Cervantes Villa, J. S.; Kletzing, C.; Kurth, W. S.

2017-12-01

Increasing volume of satellite measurements requires deployment of new tools that can utilize such vast amount of data. Satellite measurements are usually limited to a single location in space, which complicates the data analysis geared towards reproducing the global state of the space environment. In this study we show how measurements can be combined by means of data assimilation and how machine learning can help analyze large amounts of data and can help develop global models that are trained on single point measurement. Data Assimilation: Manual analysis of the satellite measurements is a challenging task, while automated analysis is complicated by the fact that measurements are given at various locations in space, have different instrumental errors, and often vary by orders of magnitude. We show results of the long term reanalysis of radiation belt measurements along with fully operational real-time predictions using data assimilative VERB code. Machine Learning: We present application of the machine learning tools for the analysis of NASA Van Allen Probes upper-hybrid frequency measurements. Using the obtained data set we train a new global predictive neural network. The results for the Van Allen Probes based neural network are compared with historical IMAGE satellite observations. We also show examples of predictions of geomagnetic indices using neural networks. Combination of machine learning and data assimilation: We discuss how data assimilation tools and machine learning tools can be combine so that physics-based insight into the dynamics of the particular system can be combined with empirical knowledge of it's non-linear behavior.

The Immunomodulatory Effect of You-Gui-Wan on Dermatogoides-pteronyssinus-Induced Asthma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li-Jen Lin

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The traditional Chinese medicine You-Gui-Wan (YGW contains ten species of medicinal plants and has been used to improve health in remissive states of asthma for hundreds of years in Asia. However, little is known about the immunomodulatory mechanisms in vivo. Therefore, this study investigated the pathologic and immunologic responses to YGW in mice that had been repeatedly exposed to Dermatogoides-pteronyssinus (Der p. YGW reduced Der-p-induced airway hyperresponsiveness and total IgE in serum. It also inhibited eosinophil infiltration by downregulating the protein expression of IL-5 in serum and changed the Th2-bios in BALF by upregulating IL-12. Results of the collagen assay and histopathologic examination showed that YGW reduced airway remodeling in the lung. In addition, after YGW treatment there was a relative decrease in mRNA expression of TGF-β1, IL-13, eotaxin, RANTES, and MCP-1 in lung in the YGW group. The results of EMSA and immunohistochemistry revealed that YGW inhibited NF-κB expression in epithelial lung cells. YGW exerts its regulative effects in chronic allergic asthmatic mice via its anti-inflammatory activity and by inhibiting the progression of airway remodeling.

Estudio de la arquitectura y el nivel de desarrollo de la red LoRaWAN y de los dispositivos LoRa.

OpenAIRE

Ordóñez Monfort, Ignacio

2017-01-01

Es realitza un estudi sobre les diverses definicions del IoT que es concreta en una sèrie de requisits essencials del IoT i les característiques de les xarxes de connexió sobre les que sustentar-lo. Es realitza posteriorment un estudi en profunditat de les característiques de LoRA/LoRaWAN, que poden limitar o afavorir el seu ús com xarxa d'implementació del IoT, valorant de manera individualitzada cadascuna d'elles. Finalment, es realitza una analisi sobre el nivell de desenvolupament, madur...

FLIP: Federation support for Long range low power Internet of things Protocols

OpenAIRE

Delbruel, Stéphane; Small, Nicolas; Hughes, Danny

2017-01-01

There is growing interest in the Internet of Things (IoT) and especially Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN), which are rapidly being rolled-out globally. Within the LPWAN market, LoRaWAN is considered a leading solution which has achieved significant success. Despite the rapid uptake of LoRaWAN, scalability concerns arising from interference and contention are also growing. While the current LoRaWAN protocol includes basic techniques to deal with these problems, recent research has shown th...

Global cities rankings. A research agenda or a neoliberal urban planning tool?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cándida Gago García

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This paper contains a theoretical reflection about the methodology and meaning given to the global city rankings. There is a very large academic production about the role that some cities have in global territorial processes, which has been related to the concept of global city. Many recent contributions from the mass media, advertising and consulting services must be considered also in the analysis. All of them have included new indicators in order to show the main role that cultural services have acquired in the urban economy. Also the city rankings are being used as a tool in neoliberal policies. These policies stress the position that cities have in the rankings, which are used in practices of city-branding and to justify the neoliberal decisions that are being taken. In fact, we think that rankings are used inappropriately and that it is necessary a deep and new reflection about them.

Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship: An Evaluation of the Validity of the STAUNCH Auditing Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Glover, Alison; Peters, Carl; Haslett, Simon K.

2011-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to test the validity of the curriculum auditing tool Sustainability Tool for Auditing University Curricula in Higher Education (STAUNCH[C]), which was designed to audit the education for sustainability and global citizenship content of higher education curricula. The Welsh Assembly Government aspires to…

The GIOD Project-Globally Interconnected Object Databases

CERN Document Server

Bunn, J J; Newman, H B; Wilkinson, R P

2001-01-01

The GIOD (Globally Interconnected Object Databases) Project, a joint effort between Caltech and CERN, funded by Hewlett Packard Corporation, has investigated the use of WAN-distributed Object Databases and Mass Storage systems for LHC data. A prototype small- scale LHC data analysis center has been constructed using computing resources at Caltechs Centre for advanced Computing Research (CACR). These resources include a 256 CPU HP Exemplar of ~4600 SPECfp95, a 600 TByte High Performance Storage System (HPSS), and local/wide area links based on OC3 ATM. Using the exemplar, a large number of fully simulated CMS events were produced, and used to populate an object database with a complete schema for raw, reconstructed and analysis objects. The reconstruction software used for this task was based on early codes developed in preparation for the current CMS reconstruction program, ORCA. (6 refs).

ThinkHazard!: an open-source, global tool for understanding hazard information

Science.gov (United States)

Fraser, Stuart; Jongman, Brenden; Simpson, Alanna; Nunez, Ariel; Deparday, Vivien; Saito, Keiko; Murnane, Richard; Balog, Simone

2016-04-01

Rapid and simple access to added-value natural hazard and disaster risk information is a key issue for various stakeholders of the development and disaster risk management (DRM) domains. Accessing available data often requires specialist knowledge of heterogeneous data, which are often highly technical and can be difficult for non-specialists in DRM to find and exploit. Thus, availability, accessibility and processing of these information sources are crucial issues, and an important reason why many development projects suffer significant impacts from natural hazards. The World Bank's Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) is currently developing a new open-source tool to address this knowledge gap: ThinkHazard! The main aim of the ThinkHazard! project is to develop an analytical tool dedicated to facilitating improvements in knowledge and understanding of natural hazards among non-specialists in DRM. It also aims at providing users with relevant guidance and information on handling the threats posed by the natural hazards present in a chosen location. Furthermore, all aspects of this tool will be open and transparent, in order to give users enough information to understand its operational principles. In this presentation, we will explain the technical approach behind the tool, which translates state-of-the-art probabilistic natural hazard data into understandable hazard classifications and practical recommendations. We will also demonstrate the functionality of the tool, and discuss limitations from a scientific as well as an operational perspective.

Predicting new indications of compounds with a network pharmacology approach: Liuwei Dihuang Wan as a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yin-Ying; Bai, Hong; Zhang, Run-Zhi; Yan, Hong; Ning, Kang; Zhao, Xing-Ming

2017-11-07

With the ever increasing cost and time required for drug development, new strategies for drug development are highly demanded, whereas repurposing old drugs has attracted much attention in drug discovery. In this paper, we introduce a new network pharmacology approach, namely PINA, to predict potential novel indications of old drugs based on the molecular networks affected by drugs and associated with diseases. Benchmark results on FDA approved drugs have shown the superiority of PINA over traditional computational approaches in identifying new indications of old drugs. We further extend PINA to predict the novel indications of Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs) with Liuwei Dihuang Wan (LDW) as a case study. The predicted indications, including immune system disorders and tumor, are validated by expert knowledge and evidences from literature, demonstrating the effectiveness of our proposed computational approach.

Jiao Tai Wan Attenuates Hepatic Lipid Accumulation in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhaoyi Huang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Jiao Tai Wan (JTW, a Chinese herbal formula containing Rhizoma Coptidis and Cortex Cinnamomi, has been used for diabetic treatment for many years. The aim of this study was to determine the main components in JTW and to investigate the effects of JTW on hepatic lipid accumulation in diabetic rats and humans. JTW extract was prepared and the main components were assayed by HPLC. An animal model of diabetes mellitus was established and JTW was administered intragastrically. In the clinical study, diabetic patients with poor glycemic control were treated with JTW. Blood glucose and lipid parameters, liver histology, hepatic triglyceride content and lipogenic gene expression were examined. Our data demonstrated that JTW significantly improved hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia and hepatic lipid accumulation in diabetic rats. This was accompanied by the down-regulation of acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC and fatty acid synthase (FAS protein expressions, and the up-regulation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK and phosphorylated-ACC (pACC protein expressions in the liver tissues. Diabetic patients also exhibited decreases in their hepatic triglyceride content. The results suggest that JTW attenuates hepatic lipid accumulation in diabetic rats and humans. These beneficial effects are possibly associated with the inhibition of lipogenic gene expression in the liver.

Isotopes as validation tools for global climate models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henderson-Sellers, A.

2001-01-01

Global Climate Models (GCMs) are the predominant tool with which we predict the future climate. In order that people can have confidence in such predictions, GCMs require validation. As almost every available item of meteorological data has been exploited in the construction and tuning of GCMs to date, independent validation is very difficult. This paper explores the use of isotopes as a novel and fully independent means of evaluating GCMs. The focus is the Amazon Basin which has a long history of isotope collection and analysis and also of climate modelling: both having been reported for over thirty years. Careful consideration of the results of GCM simulations of Amazonian deforestation and climate change suggests that the recent stable isotope record is more consistent with the predicted effects of greenhouse warming, possibly combined with forest removal, than with GCM predictions of the effects of deforestation alone

The new geospatial tools: global transparency enhancing safeguards verification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pabian, Frank Vincent

2010-01-01

This paper focuses on the importance and potential role of the new, freely available, geospatial tools for enhancing IAEA safeguards and how, together with commercial satellite imagery, they can be used to promote 'all-source synergy'. As additional 'open sources', these new geospatial tools have heralded a new era of 'global transparency' and they can be used to substantially augment existing information-driven safeguards gathering techniques, procedures, and analyses in the remote detection of undeclared facilities, as well as support ongoing monitoring and verification of various treaty (e.g., NPT, FMCT) relevant activities and programs. As an illustration of how these new geospatial tools may be applied, an original exemplar case study provides how it is possible to derive value-added follow-up information on some recent public media reporting of a former clandestine underground plutonium production complex (now being converted to a 'Tourist Attraction' given the site's abandonment by China in the early 1980s). That open source media reporting, when combined with subsequent commentary found in various Internet-based Blogs and Wikis, led to independent verification of the reporting with additional ground truth via 'crowdsourcing' (tourist photos as found on 'social networking' venues like Google Earth's Panoramio layer and Twitter). Confirmation of the precise geospatial location of the site (along with a more complete facility characterization incorporating 3-D Modeling and visualization) was only made possible following the acquisition of higher resolution commercial satellite imagery that could be correlated with the reporting, ground photos, and an interior diagram, through original imagery analysis of the overhead imagery.

A Reference Architecture for Providing Tools as a Service to Support Global Software Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chauhan, Aufeef

2014-01-01

-computing paradigm for addressing above-mentioned issues by providing a framework to select appropriate tools as well as associated services and reference architecture of the cloud-enabled middleware platform that allows on demand provisioning of software engineering Tools as a Service (TaaS) with focus......Global Software Development (GSD) teams encounter challenges that are associated with distribution of software development activities across multiple geographic regions. The limited support for performing collaborative development and engineering activities and lack of sufficient support......-based solutions. The restricted ability of the organizations to have desired alignment of tools with software engineering and development processes results in administrative and managerial overhead that incur increased development cost and poor product quality. Moreover, stakeholders involved in the projects have...

The Global Nuclear Futures Model: A Dynamic Simulation Tool for Energy Strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bixler, N.E.

2002-01-01

The Global Nuclear Futures Model (GNFM) is a dynamic simulation tool that provides an integrated framework to model key aspects of nuclear energy, nuclear materials storage and disposition, global nuclear materials management, and nuclear proliferation risk. It links nuclear energy and other energy shares dynamically to greenhouse gas emissions and twelve other measures of environmental impact. It presents historical data from 1990 to 2000 and extrapolates energy demand through the year 2050. More specifically, it contains separate modules for energy, the nuclear fuel cycle front end, the nuclear fuel cycle back end, defense nuclear materials, environmental impacts, and measures of the potential for nuclear proliferation. It is globally integrated but also breaks out five regions of the world so that environmental impacts and nuclear proliferation concerns can be evaluated on a regional basis. The five regions are the United States of America (USA), The Peoples Republic of China (China), the former Soviet Union (FSU), the OECD nations excluding the USA, and the rest of the world (ROW). (author)

Anomalous Upwelling in Nan Wan: July 2008

Science.gov (United States)

2009-12-01

Head Ruth H. Preller 7300 Security, Code 1226 Office of Couns sl.Code 1008.3 ADOR/Director NCST E. R. Franchi , 7000 Public Affairs (Unclassified...State University (OSU) tidal forcing drives the tidal currents. A global weather forecast model (Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction...system derives its open ocean boundary conditions from NRL global NCOM (Navy Co- astal Ocean Model) (Rhodes et al. 2002) that operates daily

Warehousing in the Global Supply Chain Advanced Models, Tools and Applications for Storage Systems

CERN Document Server

2012-01-01

With increased globalization and offshore sourcing, global supply chain management is becoming an important issue for many businesses as it involves a company's worldwide interests and suppliers rather than simply a local or national orientation. The storage systems significantly affect the level of quality of products, the customer’s service level, and the global logistic cost. The mission of warehousing systems design, control and optimization is to effectively ship products in the right place, at the right time, and in the right quantity (i.e. in any configuration) without any damages or alterations, and minimizing costs. Warehousing in the Global Supply Chain presents and discusses a set of models, tools and real applications, including a few case studies rarely presented with a sufficient detail by other literature, to illustrate the main challenges in warehousing activities. This includes all warehouse operations (from receiving to shipping), problems and issues (e.g. storage allocation, assignment,...

Hydrogen based global renewable energy network

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akai, Makoto [Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, AIST, MITI, Namiki, Tsukuba (Japan)

1993-12-31

In the last quarter of this century, global environmental problem has emerged as a major scientific, political and social issue. Specific Problems include: depletion of ozone layer by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), acid rain, destruction of tropical forests and desertification, pollution of the sea and global wanning due to the greenhouse effect by carbon dioxide and others. Among these problems, particular attention of the world has been focused on the global warming because it has direct linkage to energy consumption which our economic development depends on so far. On the other hand, the future program of The Sunshine Project for alternative energy technology R&D, The Moonlight Project for energy conservation technology R&D, and The Global Environmental Technology Program for environmental problem mitigating technology R&D which are Japan`s national projects being promoted by their Agency of Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in the Ministry of International Trade and Industry have been reexamined in view of recent changes in the situations surrounding new energy technology. In this regard, The New Sunshine Program will be established by integrating these three activities to accelerate R&D in the field of energy and environmental technologies. In the reexamination, additional stress has been laid on the contribution to solving global environmental problem through development of clean renewable energies which constitute a major part of the {open_quotes}New Earth 21{close_quotes}, a comprehensive, long-term and international cooperative program proposed by MITI. The present paper discusses the results of feasibility study on hydrogen energy system leading to the concept of WE-NET following a brief summary on R&D status on solar and wind energy in Japan.

The new geospatial tools: global transparency enhancing safeguards verification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pabian, Frank Vincent [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2010-09-16

This paper focuses on the importance and potential role of the new, freely available, geospatial tools for enhancing IAEA safeguards and how, together with commercial satellite imagery, they can be used to promote 'all-source synergy'. As additional 'open sources', these new geospatial tools have heralded a new era of 'global transparency' and they can be used to substantially augment existing information-driven safeguards gathering techniques, procedures, and analyses in the remote detection of undeclared facilities, as well as support ongoing monitoring and verification of various treaty (e.g., NPT, FMCT) relevant activities and programs. As an illustration of how these new geospatial tools may be applied, an original exemplar case study provides how it is possible to derive value-added follow-up information on some recent public media reporting of a former clandestine underground plutonium production complex (now being converted to a 'Tourist Attraction' given the site's abandonment by China in the early 1980s). That open source media reporting, when combined with subsequent commentary found in various Internet-based Blogs and Wikis, led to independent verification of the reporting with additional ground truth via 'crowdsourcing' (tourist photos as found on 'social networking' venues like Google Earth's Panoramio layer and Twitter). Confirmation of the precise geospatial location of the site (along with a more complete facility characterization incorporating 3-D Modeling and visualization) was only made possible following the acquisition of higher resolution commercial satellite imagery that could be correlated with the reporting, ground photos, and an interior diagram, through original imagery analysis of the overhead imagery.

Teamwork tools and activities within the hazard component of the Global Earthquake Model

Science.gov (United States)

Pagani, M.; Weatherill, G.; Monelli, D.; Danciu, L.

2013-05-01

The Global Earthquake Model (GEM) is a public-private partnership aimed at supporting and fostering a global community of scientists and engineers working in the fields of seismic hazard and risk assessment. In the hazard sector, in particular, GEM recognizes the importance of local ownership and leadership in the creation of seismic hazard models. For this reason, over the last few years, GEM has been promoting different activities in the context of seismic hazard analysis ranging, for example, from regional projects targeted at the creation of updated seismic hazard studies to the development of a new open-source seismic hazard and risk calculation software called OpenQuake-engine (http://globalquakemodel.org). In this communication we'll provide a tour of the various activities completed, such as the new ISC-GEM Global Instrumental Catalogue, and of currently on-going initiatives like the creation of a suite of tools for the creation of PSHA input models. Discussion, comments and criticism by the colleagues in the audience will be highly appreciated.

Interactive and Approachable Web-Based Tools for Exploring Global Geophysical Data Records

Science.gov (United States)

Croteau, M. J.; Nerem, R. S.; Merrifield, M. A.; Thompson, P. R.; Loomis, B. D.; Wiese, D. N.; Zlotnicki, V.; Larson, J.; Talpe, M.; Hardy, R. A.

2017-12-01

Making global and regional data accessible and understandable for non-experts can be both challenging and hazardous. While data products are often developed with end users in mind, the ease of use of these data can vary greatly. Scientists must take care to provide detailed guides for how to use data products to ensure users are not incorrectly applying data to their problem. For example, terrestrial water storage data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission is notoriously difficult for non-experts to access and correctly use. However, allowing these data to be easily accessible to scientists outside the GRACE community is desirable because this would allow that data to see much wider-spread use. We have developed a web-based interactive mapping and plotting tool that provides easy access to geophysical data. This work presents an intuitive method for making such data widely accessible to experts and non-experts alike, making the data approachable and ensuring proper use of the data. This tool has proven helpful to experts by providing fast and detailed access to the data. Simultaneously, the tool allows non-experts to gain familiarity with the information contained in the data and access to that information for both scientific studies and public use. In this presentation, we discuss the development of this tool and application to both GRACE and ocean altimetry satellite missions, and demonstrate the capabilities of the tool. Focusing on the data visualization aspects of the tool, we showcase our integrations of the Mapbox API and the D3.js data-driven web document framework. We then explore the potential of these tools in other web-based visualization projects, and how incorporation of such tools into science can improve the presentation of research results. We demonstrate how the development of an interactive and exploratory resource can enable further layers of exploratory and scientific discovery.

Network computing infrastructure to share tools and data in global nuclear energy partnership

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Guehee; Suzuki, Yoshio; Teshima, Naoya

2010-01-01

CCSE/JAEA (Center for Computational Science and e-Systems/Japan Atomic Energy Agency) integrated a prototype system of a network computing infrastructure for sharing tools and data to support the U.S. and Japan collaboration in GNEP (Global Nuclear Energy Partnership). We focused on three technical issues to apply our information process infrastructure, which are accessibility, security, and usability. In designing the prototype system, we integrated and improved both network and Web technologies. For the accessibility issue, we adopted SSL-VPN (Security Socket Layer - Virtual Private Network) technology for the access beyond firewalls. For the security issue, we developed an authentication gateway based on the PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) authentication mechanism to strengthen the security. Also, we set fine access control policy to shared tools and data and used shared key based encryption method to protect tools and data against leakage to third parties. For the usability issue, we chose Web browsers as user interface and developed Web application to provide functions to support sharing tools and data. By using WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning) function, users can manipulate shared tools and data through the Windows-like folder environment. We implemented the prototype system in Grid infrastructure for atomic energy research: AEGIS (Atomic Energy Grid Infrastructure) developed by CCSE/JAEA. The prototype system was applied for the trial use in the first period of GNEP. (author)

Monitoring Global Food Security with New Remote Sensing Products and Tools

Science.gov (United States)

Budde, M. E.; Rowland, J.; Senay, G. B.; Funk, C. C.; Husak, G. J.; Magadzire, T.; Verdin, J. P.

2012-12-01

Global agriculture monitoring is a crucial aspect of monitoring food security in the developing world. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) has a long history of using remote sensing and crop modeling to address food security threats in the form of drought, floods, pests, and climate change. In recent years, it has become apparent that FEWS NET requires the ability to apply monitoring and modeling frameworks at a global scale to assess potential impacts of foreign production and markets on food security at regional, national, and local levels. Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center and the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) Climate Hazards Group have provided new and improved data products as well as visualization and analysis tools in support of the increased mandate for remote monitoring. We present our monitoring products for measuring actual evapotranspiration (ETa), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in a near-real-time mode, and satellite-based rainfall estimates and derivatives. USGS FEWS NET has implemented a Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEB) model to produce operational ETa anomalies for Africa and Central Asia. During the growing season, ETa anomalies express surplus or deficit crop water use, which is directly related to crop condition and biomass. We present current operational products and provide supporting validation of the SSEB model. The expedited Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (eMODIS) production system provides FEWS NET with an improved NDVI dataset for crop and rangeland monitoring. eMODIS NDVI provides a reliable data stream with a relatively high spatial resolution (250-m) and short latency period (less than 12 hours) which allows for better operational vegetation monitoring. We provide an overview of these data and cite specific applications for crop monitoring. FEWS NET uses satellite rainfall estimates as inputs for

Application of TaiWan Ionosphere Model to Single-Frequency Ionospheric Delay Correction for GPS Static Position Positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Macalalad, E. P.; Tsai, L.; Wu, J.

2011-12-01

Ionospheric delay is one of the major sources of error in GPS positioning and navigation. This error in both pseudorange and phase ranges can vary depending on the location of observation, local time, season, solar cycle and geomagnetic activity. This effect can be practically removed using dual-frequency receivers. However, these types of receivers are very expensive and thus, impractical for most users. Therefore, for single-frequency receivers, ionosphere is usually modeled to attempt to remove this effect analytically. Numerous ionosphere models have been introduced in the past. Some of which are the Klobuchar (or broadcast) model and the global ionosphere map (GIM) provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS). In this paper, another model, called the TaiWan Ionosphere Model (TWIM) was used to correct this effect. TWIM is a three dimensional ionospheric electron (ne) density model derived from FormoSat3/COSMIC GPS Radio Occultation measurements, was used to calculate ionospheric delay for GPS single-frequency positioning. The ne profiles were used to calculate the slant TEC (STEC) between a receiver and each GPS satellite and correct the pseudorange single-frequency observations. The corrected pseudorange for every epoch was used to calculate the position of the receiver. Observations were made in a low-latitude location near one of the peaks of the equatorial anomaly. It was shown that TEC maps generated using TWIM exhibited detailed structure of the ionosphere, whereas Klobuchar and GIM only provided the basic diurnal and geographic features of the ionosphere. Also, it was shown that for static point positioning TWIM provides more accurate and more precise positioning than the Klobuchar and GIM models. That is, on the average, the horizontal accuracy, represented by the circular error probable (CEP), distance RMS (DRMS) and twice the DRMS (2DRMS), were better by 15-18% as compared with the CEP, DRMS and 2DRMS of uncorrected, Klobuchar and GIM. Moreover

IPMP Global Fit - A one-step direct data analysis tool for predictive microbiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Lihan

2017-12-04

The objective of this work is to develop and validate a unified optimization algorithm for performing one-step global regression analysis of isothermal growth and survival curves for determination of kinetic parameters in predictive microbiology. The algorithm is incorporated with user-friendly graphical interfaces (GUIs) to develop a data analysis tool, the USDA IPMP-Global Fit. The GUIs are designed to guide the users to easily navigate through the data analysis process and properly select the initial parameters for different combinations of mathematical models. The software is developed for one-step kinetic analysis to directly construct tertiary models by minimizing the global error between the experimental observations and mathematical models. The current version of the software is specifically designed for constructing tertiary models with time and temperature as the independent model parameters in the package. The software is tested with a total of 9 different combinations of primary and secondary models for growth and survival of various microorganisms. The results of data analysis show that this software provides accurate estimates of kinetic parameters. In addition, it can be used to improve the experimental design and data collection for more accurate estimation of kinetic parameters. IPMP-Global Fit can be used in combination with the regular USDA-IPMP for solving the inverse problems and developing tertiary models in predictive microbiology. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Qingfei Xiaoyan Wan, a traditional Chinese medicine formula, ameliorates Pseudomonas aeruginosa–induced acute lung inflammation by regulation of PI3K/AKT and Ras/MAPK pathways

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuanyuan Hou

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Gram-negative pathogen–induced nosocomial infections and resistance are a most serious menace to global public health. Qingfei Xiaoyan Wan (QF, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM formula, has been used clinically in China for the treatment of upper respiratory tract infections, acute or chronic bronchitis and pulmonary infection. In this study, the effects of QF on Pseudomonas aeruginosa–induced acute pneumonia in mice were evaluated. The mechanisms by which four typical anti-inflammatory ingredients from QF, arctigenin (ATG, cholic acid (CLA, chlorogenic acid (CGA and sinapic acid (SPA, regulate anti-inflammatory signaling pathways and related targets were investigated using molecular biology and molecular docking techniques. The results showed that pretreatment with QF significantly inhibits the release of cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6 and chemokines (IL-8 and RANTES, reduces leukocytes recruitment into inflamed tissues and ameliorates pulmonary edema and necrosis. In addition, ATG was identified as the primary anti-inflammatory agent with action on the PI3K/AKT and Ras/MAPK pathways. CLA and CGA enhanced the actions of ATG and exhibited synergistic NF-κB inactivation effects possibly via the Ras/MAPK signaling pathway. Moreover, CLA is speculated to target FGFR and MEK firstly. Overall, QF regulated the PI3K/AKT and Ras/MAPK pathways to inhibit pathogenic bacterial infections effectively.

The WTO Agreement on government procurement as a tool for Ukraine’s integration into the global value chains

OpenAIRE

GUZHVA IGOR

2015-01-01

The article deals with the features of modern internationalization of production and economic relations among economic entities around the world based on the global value chains formation. The essence and the basic provisions of the multilateral WTO Agreement on Government Procurement as the integration tool of Ukraine’s industries into the global value chains are revealed. The Ukraine’s government procurement reforming progress towards the relevant WTO rules and regulations full implementati...

Investigating And Evaluating Of Network Failures And Performance Over Distributed WAN In Application Protocol Layer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Enoch Okoh Kofi

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The Experiment was done to find out network failures and application performance relationship over distributed Wide Area Net WAN. In order to access related application over the cloud there must be an internet connectivity which will help the respective workstations to access the remote server for applications being deployed over the network. Bandwidth improvement helps in reducing utilization over the network and it also helps in improving Application Efficiency of these Applications in terms of Response Time. Routers were configured under Enhance Interior Gateway Routing Protocol EIGRP to reduce utilization and to ensure load sharing over the network. Three scenarios were modeled and their performance efficiency was evaluated. A modeled computer Network with and without a fail Router under different scenarios and such Network was simulated with emphasis on the Application Performance. The Experiment was done for fifty workstations under three scenarios and these three scenarios were accessed and evaluated on experimental basis using Riverbed modeler to show the Effect of Application Network performance. The performance results show that increasing the bandwidth reduces utilization and also with the failure of one communication bandwidth users can still access Network Application with a minimal cost.

GEOGLAM Crop Assessment Tool: Adapting from global agricultural monitoring to food security monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Humber, M. L.; Becker-Reshef, I.; Nordling, J.; Barker, B.; McGaughey, K.

2014-12-01

The GEOGLAM Crop Monitor's Crop Assessment Tool was released in August 2013 in support of the GEOGLAM Crop Monitor's objective to develop transparent, timely crop condition assessments in primary agricultural production areas, highlighting potential hotspots of stress/bumper crops. The Crop Assessment Tool allows users to view satellite derived products, best available crop masks, and crop calendars (created in collaboration with GEOGLAM Crop Monitor partners), then in turn submit crop assessment entries detailing the crop's condition, drivers, impacts, trends, and other information. Although the Crop Assessment Tool was originally intended to collect data on major crop production at the global scale, the types of data collected are also relevant to the food security and rangelands monitoring communities. In line with the GEOGLAM Countries at Risk philosophy of "foster[ing] the coordination of product delivery and capacity building efforts for national and regional organizations, and the development of harmonized methods and tools", a modified version of the Crop Assessment Tool is being developed for the USAID Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). As a member of the Countries at Risk component of GEOGLAM, FEWS NET provides agricultural monitoring, timely food security assessments, and early warnings of potential significant food shortages focusing specifically on countries at risk of food security emergencies. While the FEWS NET adaptation of the Crop Assessment Tool focuses on crop production in the context of food security rather than large scale production, the data collected is nearly identical to the data collected by the Crop Monitor. If combined, the countries monitored by FEWS NET and GEOGLAM Crop Monitor would encompass over 90 countries representing the most important regions for crop production and food security.

Efficacy of MaZiRenWan, a Chinese Herbal Medicine, in Patients With Functional Constipation in a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Linda Ld; Cheng, Chung-Wah; Kun, Wai; Dai, Liang; Hu, Dong-Dong; Ning, Zi-Wan; Xiao, Hai-Tao; Lin, Cheng-Yuan; Zhao, Ling; Huang, Tao; Tian, Ke; Chan, King-Hong; Lam, Ting-Wa; Chen, Xiao-Rui; Wong, Chi-Tak; Li, Min; Lu, Ai-Ping; Wu, Justin Cy; Bian, Zhao-Xiang

2018-04-11

The Chinese herbal medicine, MaZiRenWan (MZRW), has been used for more than 2000 years to treat constipation, but it has not been tested in a randomized controlled trial. We performed a trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of MZRW, compared with the stimulant laxative senna or placebo, for patients with functional constipation (FC). We performed a double-blind, double-dummy, trial of 291 patients with FC based on Rome III criteria, seen at 8 clinics in Hong Kong from June 2013 through August 2015. Patients were observed for 2 weeks and then assigned randomly (1:1:1) to groups given MZRW (7.5 g, twice daily), senna (15 mg daily), or placebo for 8 weeks. Patients were then followed for 8 weeks and evaluated at baseline and weeks 4, 8 (end of treatment), and 16 (end of follow up). Participants recorded information on stool form and frequency, feeling of complete evacuation, and research medication taken. Data on individual bowel symptoms, global symptom improvement, and adverse events were collected. A complete response was defined as an increase ≥1 complete spontaneous bowel movement (CSBM)/week from baseline (the primary outcome). Secondary outcomes included response during the follow-up period, colonic transit, individual and global symptom assessments, quality of life measured with 36-item short form Chinese version, and adverse events. Although there was no statistically significant difference in proportions of patients with a complete response to MZRW (68%) vs. senna (57.7%) (P=.14) at week 8, there was a statistically significant difference vs. placebo (33.0%) (P<.005). At the 16-week timepoint (after the 8-week follow-up period), 47.4% of patients had a complete response to MZRW, 20.6% had a complete response to senna, and 17.5% had a complete response to placebo (P<.005 for MZRW vs. placebo). The group that received MZRW group also had significant increases in colonic transit and reduced severity of constipation, straining, incomplete evacuation, and

Flexible global ocean-atmosphere-land system model. A modeling tool for the climate change research community

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Tianjun; Yu, Yongqiang; Liu, Yimin; Wang, Bin

2014-01-01

First book available on systematic evaluations of the performance of the global climate model FGOALS. Covers the whole field, ranging from the development to the applications of this climate system model. Provide an outlook for the future development of the FGOALS model system. Offers brief introduction about how to run FGOALS. Coupled climate system models are of central importance for climate studies. A new model known as FGOALS (the Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model), has been developed by the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (LASG/IAP, CAS), a first-tier national geophysical laboratory. It serves as a powerful tool, both for deepening our understanding of fundamental mechanisms of the climate system and for making decadal prediction and scenario projections of future climate change. ''Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System Model: A Modeling Tool for the Climate Change Research Community'' is the first book to offer systematic evaluations of this model's performance. It is comprehensive in scope, covering both developmental and application-oriented aspects of this climate system model. It also provides an outlook of future development of FGOALS and offers an overview of how to employ the model. It represents a valuable reference work for researchers and professionals working within the related areas of climate variability and change.

The MWA archive infrastructure: archiving terabytes of data over dedicated WAN connections

Science.gov (United States)

Wicenec, Andreas; Pallot, Dave; Checcucci, Alessio; Kitaeff, Slava; Vinsen, Kevin; Wu, Chen

2012-09-01

The Murchison Wide Field Array (MWA) is being upgraded from 32 tiles to 128 tiles of 16 dual-polarization dipole antennas. In the course of this project the software and the data infrastructure are also undergoing a major overhaul in order to cope with a more continuous and remote operational model; and the substantial increase in data rate (400 MB/s from the correlator plus 160 MB/s from the real time imaging pipeline). During the course of 2012/13 the data collected by the MWA will be transported via a dedicated 40 Gbit WAN network link between the Murchison Radio Observatory (MRO) and Perth (700 km). However, this network will not be available for some time; and until then, the data will be transported using disk arrays instead. Once in Perth, the data will be ingested into a tape library. The archiving process itself consists of various steps executed either at the MRO site or in Perth, and makes use of a modied version of the archiving system from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). This includes the extraction of meta-data from the original raw data and the ingestion and generation of the appropriate data links for the MWA archive. The MWA correlator generates a collection of small les all belonging to the same observation. In order to optimise the network transfer and the storage of those les they are transparently packed into larger containers at the MRO site and subsequently handled as one big le. This paper describes the setup of the MWA archiving infrastructure.

A pilot study for the integration of cytometry reports in digital cytology telemedicine applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Giansanti, Daniele; Cerroni, Fabio; Amodeo, Rachele; Filoni, Marco; Giovagnoli, Maria Rosaria

2010-01-01

Up to date, tele-pathology in the three different forms of application, "dynamic", "static" and "virtual microscopy" has been mainly based on tele-hystology remote consulting. Today the diffusion of specialized WAN connections is guiding the research of new applications of tele-pathology. A specific analysis has been conducted, focused on digital cytology, in the biomedical laboratory of Sant'Andrea Hospital to investigate the technologies potentially useful to integrate in the LAN/WAN for telemedicine applications. Among the possible tools useful to be integrated in the LAN/WAN for telemedicine applications, the cytometry equipment available in the technical unity of cytometry has been considered important. The study finally provides a proposal for a tele-consulting architecture for the integration of cytometry reports both in the hospital LAN and the WAN for possible cooperative diagnosis and second opinion support.

A pilot study for the integration of cytometry reports in digital cytology telemedicine applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniele Giansanti

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Up to date, tele-pathology in the three different forms of application, "dynamic", "static" and "virtual microscopy" has been mainly based on tele-hystology remote consulting. Today the diffusion of specialized WAN connections is guiding the research of new applications of tele-pathology. A specific analysis has been conducted, focused on digital cytology, in the biomedical laboratory of Sant'Andrea Hospital to investigate the technologies potentially useful to integrate in the LAN/WAN for telemedicine applications. Among the possible tools useful to be integrated in the LAN/WAN for telemedicine applications, the cytometry equipment available in the technical unity of cytometry has been considered important. The study finally provides a proposal for a tele-consulting architecture for the integration of cytometry reports both in the hospital LAN and the WAN for possible cooperative diagnosis and second opinion support.

External costs in the global energy optimization models. A tool in favour of sustain ability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cabal Cuesta, H.

2007-01-01

The aim of this work is the analysis of the effects of the GHG external costs internalization in the energy systems. This may provide a useful tool to support decision makers to help reaching the energy systems sustain ability. External costs internalization has been carried out using two methods. First, CO 2 externalities of different power generation technologies have been internalized to evaluate their effects on the economic competitiveness of these present and future technologies. The other method consisted of analysing and optimizing the global energy system, from an economic and environmental point of view, using the global energy optimization model generator, TIMES, with a time horizon of 50 years. Finally, some scenarios regarding environmental and economic strategic measures have been analysed. (Author)

The Global Value Chain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Olav Jull

The conference paper aims to develop the global value chain concept by including corporate internal value adding activities and competition to the basic framework in order to turn the global value chain into a strategic management tool......The conference paper aims to develop the global value chain concept by including corporate internal value adding activities and competition to the basic framework in order to turn the global value chain into a strategic management tool...

Flexible global ocean-atmosphere-land system model. A modeling tool for the climate change research community

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Tianjun; Yu, Yongqiang; Liu, Yimin; Wang, Bin (eds.) [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, (China). Inst. of Atmospheric Physics

2014-04-01

First book available on systematic evaluations of the performance of the global climate model FGOALS. Covers the whole field, ranging from the development to the applications of this climate system model. Provide an outlook for the future development of the FGOALS model system. Offers brief introduction about how to run FGOALS. Coupled climate system models are of central importance for climate studies. A new model known as FGOALS (the Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model), has been developed by the State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (LASG/IAP, CAS), a first-tier national geophysical laboratory. It serves as a powerful tool, both for deepening our understanding of fundamental mechanisms of the climate system and for making decadal prediction and scenario projections of future climate change. ''Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System Model: A Modeling Tool for the Climate Change Research Community'' is the first book to offer systematic evaluations of this model's performance. It is comprehensive in scope, covering both developmental and application-oriented aspects of this climate system model. It also provides an outlook of future development of FGOALS and offers an overview of how to employ the model. It represents a valuable reference work for researchers and professionals working within the related areas of climate variability and change.

Diseño de la infraestructura física y lógica para una red de área local y extensa (LAN y WAN) de una PYME

OpenAIRE

Durán Nieto, Raúl

2015-01-01

En la actualidad, las comunicaciones entre los distintos lugares (WAN) y los localizados en un mismo punto (LAN) permiten el crecimiento y aumento de productividad en las empresas. Las infraestructuras deben adaptarse para la llegada de las nuevas tecnologías y por ello la elección idónea de una infraestructura, tanto física como lógica, evitaría la aparición de problemas y costes a la empresa. Para garantizar la información y comunicación las instalaciones deben responder a un...

A Comparison of the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 Tool With the Subjective Global Assessment Tool to Detect Nutritional Status in Chinese Patients Undergoing Surgery With Gastrointestinal Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Chi, Juntao; Yin, Shaohua; Zhu, Yongjian; Gao, Fengli; Song, Xinna; Song, Zhenlan; Lv, Junying; Li, Miaomiao

The objectives of this study were to describe the nutritional status of Chinese patients with gastrointestinal cancer undergoing surgery and to compare the ease of use, diversity, and concordance of the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 with the Subjective Global Assessment in the same patients. A total of 280 gastrointestinal cancer patients admitted for elective surgery were evaluated by the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS 2002) and Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) tools within 48 hours of admission from April to October 2012. Related opinions about ease of using the tools were obtained from 10 nurses. The prevalence of patients at nutritional risk with the SGA and NRS 2002 was 33.9% and 53.2% on admission. In the total group, ≤70 age group, and >70 age group, respectively, consistency was observed in 214 (76.4%), 175 (91.1%), and 39 (44.3%); and kappa values were 0.54 (p 70 age group (p nutritional status of patients with gastrointestinal cancer undergoing surgery, but it appeared to detect more patients at nutritional risk in the >70 age group.

What qualifies globalization?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sarauw, Laura Louise

2012-01-01

modules and study programmes based on standardized learning outcomes and credits. In recent studies on the Bologna process (Fejes 2008, Ozga 2011) it is hence argued that qualifications frameworks can be seen as a key tool in an inevitable and univocal European standardization and marketisation of higher...... not neutral tools, responding to objective challenges of globalization, but at they same time shaping – or literally ‘framing’ – what is globalization By focusing on qualification frameworks, the paper unveils some of key the struggles over the significance of globalization in a Danish context...

Event Based Simulator for Parallel Computing over the Wide Area Network for Real Time Visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Sundararajan, Elankovan; Harwood, Aaron; Kotagiri, Ramamohanarao; Satria Prabuwono, Anton

As the computational requirement of applications in computational science continues to grow tremendously, the use of computational resources distributed across the Wide Area Network (WAN) becomes advantageous. However, not all applications can be executed over the WAN due to communication overhead that can drastically slowdown the computation. In this paper, we introduce an event based simulator to investigate the performance of parallel algorithms executed over the WAN. The event based simulator known as SIMPAR (SIMulator for PARallel computation), simulates the actual computations and communications involved in parallel computation over the WAN using time stamps. Visualization of real time applications require steady stream of processed data flow for visualization purposes. Hence, SIMPAR may prove to be a valuable tool to investigate types of applications and computing resource requirements to provide uninterrupted flow of processed data for real time visualization purposes. The results obtained from the simulation show concurrence with the expected performance using the L-BSP model.

The Challenge of Globalization: Preparing Teachers for a Global Age

Science.gov (United States)

Merryfield, Merry M.

2008-01-01

Globalization changes everything. When young people affect and are affected by issues, changes, and events across the world, they need to be given the tools to participate in global discourse and decision making. With their incredible consumer power, today's preK-12 students are already influencing global economic, technological, and environmental…

Global Tsunami Database: Adding Geologic Deposits, Proxies, and Tools

Science.gov (United States)

Brocko, V. R.; Varner, J.

2007-12-01

A result of collaboration between NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) and the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences (CIRES), the Global Tsunami Database includes instrumental records, human observations, and now, information inferred from the geologic record. Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) data, historical reports, and information gleaned from published tsunami deposit research build a multi-faceted view of tsunami hazards and their history around the world. Tsunami history provides clues to what might happen in the future, including frequency of occurrence and maximum wave heights. However, instrumental and written records commonly span too little time to reveal the full range of a region's tsunami hazard. The sedimentary deposits of tsunamis, identified with the aid of modern analogs, increasingly complement instrumental and human observations. By adding the component of tsunamis inferred from the geologic record, the Global Tsunami Database extends the record of tsunamis backward in time. Deposit locations, their estimated age and descriptions of the deposits themselves fill in the tsunami record. Tsunamis inferred from proxies, such as evidence for coseismic subsidence, are included to estimate recurrence intervals, but are flagged to highlight the absence of a physical deposit. Authors may submit their own descriptions and upload digital versions of publications. Users may sort by any populated field, including event, location, region, age of deposit, author, publication type (extract information from peer reviewed publications only, if you wish), grain size, composition, presence/absence of plant material. Users may find tsunami deposit references for a given location, event or author; search for particular properties of tsunami deposits; and even identify potential collaborators. Users may also download public-domain documents. Data and information may be viewed using tools designed to extract and

Tools for Export Promotion in the Context of Globalization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pugachevska Kateryna S.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A comparative analysis of the rate of growth in exports of goods and GDP is carried out, and goods exports to GDP ratio in the context of the developed countries, developing countries, and countries with the transition economy is calculated. This allows to make a conclusion about a decrease in importance of exports as a key engine of the world economic growth during the past years. The legal basis of the WTO’s activities in terms of state support for exports is described. The main reasons for the emergence of a conflict of interests between countries with different levels of economic development concerning the use of individual protectionist barriers are revealed. Potential long-term consequences of the growth of export orientation under conditions of openness of national economies are identified. The measures and tools of the country’s export promotion in foreign markets are studied. It is grounded that under conditions of destabilization of global trade regulators, effective export promotion is a mechanism for increasing the competitiveness of the national economy of Ukraine. Prospects for further research in this area are the determination of instruments to stimulate exports, which have the greatest impact on the export orientation of certain economic activities.

A prototype Infrastructure for Cloud-based distributed services in High Availability over WAN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bulfon, C.; De Salvo, A.; Graziosi, C.; Carlino, G.; Doria, A; Pardi, S; Sanchez, A.; Carboni, M; Bolletta, P; Puccio, L.; Capone, V; Merola, L

2015-01-01

In this work we present the architectural and performance studies concerning a prototype of a distributed Tier2 infrastructure for HEP, instantiated between the two Italian sites of INFN-Romal and INFN-Napoli. The network infrastructure is based on a Layer-2 geographical link, provided by the Italian NREN (GARR), directly connecting the two remote LANs of the named sites. By exploiting the possibilities offered by the new distributed file systems, a shared storage area with synchronous copy has been set up. The computing infrastructure, based on an OpenStack facility, is using a set of distributed Hypervisors installed in both sites. The main parameter to be taken into account when managing two remote sites with a single framework is the effect of the latency, due to the distance and the end-to-end service overhead. In order to understand the capabilities and limits of our setup, the impact of latency has been investigated by means of a set of stress tests, including data I/O throughput, metadata access performance evaluation and network occupancy, during the life cycle of a Virtual Machine. A set of resilience tests has also been performed, in order to verify the stability of the system on the event of hardware or software faults.The results of this work show that the reliability and robustness of the chosen architecture are effective enough to build a production system and to provide common services. This prototype can also be extended to multiple sites with small changes of the network topology, thus creating a National Network of Cloud-based distributed services, in HA over WAN. (paper)

A prototype Infrastructure for Cloud-based distributed services in High Availability over WAN

Science.gov (United States)

Bulfon, C.; Carlino, G.; De Salvo, A.; Doria, A.; Graziosi, C.; Pardi, S.; Sanchez, A.; Carboni, M.; Bolletta, P.; Puccio, L.; Capone, V.; Merola, L.

2015-12-01

In this work we present the architectural and performance studies concerning a prototype of a distributed Tier2 infrastructure for HEP, instantiated between the two Italian sites of INFN-Romal and INFN-Napoli. The network infrastructure is based on a Layer-2 geographical link, provided by the Italian NREN (GARR), directly connecting the two remote LANs of the named sites. By exploiting the possibilities offered by the new distributed file systems, a shared storage area with synchronous copy has been set up. The computing infrastructure, based on an OpenStack facility, is using a set of distributed Hypervisors installed in both sites. The main parameter to be taken into account when managing two remote sites with a single framework is the effect of the latency, due to the distance and the end-to-end service overhead. In order to understand the capabilities and limits of our setup, the impact of latency has been investigated by means of a set of stress tests, including data I/O throughput, metadata access performance evaluation and network occupancy, during the life cycle of a Virtual Machine. A set of resilience tests has also been performed, in order to verify the stability of the system on the event of hardware or software faults. The results of this work show that the reliability and robustness of the chosen architecture are effective enough to build a production system and to provide common services. This prototype can also be extended to multiple sites with small changes of the network topology, thus creating a National Network of Cloud-based distributed services, in HA over WAN.

DAISY: a new software tool to test global identifiability of biological and physiological systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellu, Giuseppina; Saccomani, Maria Pia; Audoly, Stefania; D'Angiò, Leontina

2007-10-01

A priori global identifiability is a structural property of biological and physiological models. It is considered a prerequisite for well-posed estimation, since it concerns the possibility of recovering uniquely the unknown model parameters from measured input-output data, under ideal conditions (noise-free observations and error-free model structure). Of course, determining if the parameters can be uniquely recovered from observed data is essential before investing resources, time and effort in performing actual biomedical experiments. Many interesting biological models are nonlinear but identifiability analysis for nonlinear system turns out to be a difficult mathematical problem. Different methods have been proposed in the literature to test identifiability of nonlinear models but, to the best of our knowledge, so far no software tools have been proposed for automatically checking identifiability of nonlinear models. In this paper, we describe a software tool implementing a differential algebra algorithm to perform parameter identifiability analysis for (linear and) nonlinear dynamic models described by polynomial or rational equations. Our goal is to provide the biological investigator a completely automatized software, requiring minimum prior knowledge of mathematical modelling and no in-depth understanding of the mathematical tools. The DAISY (Differential Algebra for Identifiability of SYstems) software will potentially be useful in biological modelling studies, especially in physiology and clinical medicine, where research experiments are particularly expensive and/or difficult to perform. Practical examples of use of the software tool DAISY are presented. DAISY is available at the web site http://www.dei.unipd.it/~pia/.

A Phylogeny-Based Global Nomenclature System and Automated Annotation Tool for H1 Hemagglutinin Genes from Swine Influenza A Viruses

Science.gov (United States)

Macken, Catherine A.; Lewis, Nicola S.; Van Reeth, Kristien; Brown, Ian H.; Swenson, Sabrina L.; Simon, Gaëlle; Saito, Takehiko; Berhane, Yohannes; Ciacci-Zanella, Janice; Pereda, Ariel; Davis, C. Todd; Donis, Ruben O.; Webby, Richard J.

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT The H1 subtype of influenza A viruses (IAVs) has been circulating in swine since the 1918 human influenza pandemic. Over time, and aided by further introductions from nonswine hosts, swine H1 viruses have diversified into three genetic lineages. Due to limited global data, these H1 lineages were named based on colloquial context, leading to a proliferation of inconsistent regional naming conventions. In this study, we propose rigorous phylogenetic criteria to establish a globally consistent nomenclature of swine H1 virus hemagglutinin (HA) evolution. These criteria applied to a data set of 7,070 H1 HA sequences led to 28 distinct clades as the basis for the nomenclature. We developed and implemented a web-accessible annotation tool that can assign these biologically informative categories to new sequence data. The annotation tool assigned the combined data set of 7,070 H1 sequences to the correct clade more than 99% of the time. Our analyses indicated that 87% of the swine H1 viruses from 2010 to the present had HAs that belonged to 7 contemporary cocirculating clades. Our nomenclature and web-accessible classification tool provide an accurate method for researchers, diagnosticians, and health officials to assign clade designations to HA sequences. The tool can be updated readily to track evolving nomenclature as new clades emerge, ensuring continued relevance. A common global nomenclature facilitates comparisons of IAVs infecting humans and pigs, within and between regions, and can provide insight into the diversity of swine H1 influenza virus and its impact on vaccine strain selection, diagnostic reagents, and test performance, thereby simplifying communication of such data. IMPORTANCE A fundamental goal in the biological sciences is the definition of groups of organisms based on evolutionary history and the naming of those groups. For influenza A viruses (IAVs) in swine, understanding the hemagglutinin (HA) genetic lineage of a circulating strain aids

Assessment of the global trigger tool to measure, monitor and evaluate pateint safety in cancer patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Otto Mattsson, Thea; Lehmann-Knudsen, Janne; Lauritsen, Jens M

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND: Countries around the world are currently aiming to improve patient safety by means of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement global trigger tool (GTT), which is considered a valid tool for evaluating and measuring patient safety within organisations. So far, only few data....... RESULTS: Only 31% of adverse events (AE) were identified by both teams, and further differences in categorisation of identical events was found. Moderate interrater agreement (κ=0.45) between teams gave rise to different conclusions on the patient safety process when monitoring using SPC charts. The Bland......-Altman plot suggests little systematic error but large random error. CONCLUSIONS: Review teams may identify different AE and reach different conclusions on the safety process when using the GTT on identical charts. Tracking true change in the safety level is difficult due to measurement error of the GTT...

Joining the Global Village: Teaching Globalization with Wikipedia

Science.gov (United States)

Konieczny, Piotr

2017-01-01

This paper presents an analysis of my experiences with a teaching activity that engages students in publishing in Wikipedia on issues relating to globalization. It begins with a short overview of some of the current debates revolving around teaching globalization, which lay ground for the assignment. I discuss how this teaching tool fits with a…

A network pharmacology approach to investigate the pharmacological effects of Guizhi Fuling Wan on uterine fibroids.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Liuting; Yang, Kailin; Liu, Huiping; Zhang, Guomin

2017-11-01

To investigate the pharmacological mechanism of Guizhi Fuling Wan (GFW) in the treatment of uterine fibroids, a network pharmacology approach was used. Information on GFW compounds was collected from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) databases, and input into PharmMapper to identify the compound targets. Genes associated with uterine fibroids genes were then obtained from the GeneCards and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man databases. The interaction data of the targets and other human proteins was also collected from the STRING and IntAct databases. The target data were input into the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery for gene ontology (GO) and pathway enrichment analyses. Networks of the above information were constructed and analyzed using Cytoscape. The following networks were compiled: A compound-compound target network of GFW; a herb-compound target-uterine fibroids target network of GWF; and a compound target-uterine fibroids target-other human proteins protein-protein interaction network, which were subjected to GO and pathway enrichment analyses. According to this approach, a number of novel signaling pathways and biological processes underlying the effects of GFW on uterine fibroids were identified, including the negative regulation of smooth muscle cell proliferation, apoptosis, and the Ras, wingless-type, epidermal growth factor and insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling pathways. This network pharmacology approach may aid the systematical study of herbal formulae and make TCM drug discovery more predictable.

Global gyrokinetic simulations of the H-mode tokamak edge pedestal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wan, Weigang; Parker, Scott E.; Chen, Yang [Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309 (United States); Groebner, Richard J. [General Atomics, Post Office Box 85068, San Diego, California 92186 (United States); Yan, Zheng [University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States); Pankin, Alexei Y.; Kruger, Scott E. [Tech-X Corporation, 5621 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, Colorado 80305 (United States)

2013-05-15

Global gyrokinetic simulations of DIII-D H-mode edge pedestal show two types of instabilities may exist approaching the onset of edge localized modes: an intermediate-n, high frequency mode which we identify as the “kinetic peeling ballooning mode (KPBM),” and a high-n, low frequency mode. Our previous study [W. Wan et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 185004 (2012)] has shown that when the safety factor profile is flattened around the steep pressure gradient region, the high-n mode is clearly kinetic ballooning mode and becomes the dominant instability. Otherwise, the KPBM dominates. Here, the properties of the two instabilities are studied by varying the density and temperature profiles. It is found that the KPBM is destabilized by density and ion temperature gradient, and the high-n mode is mostly destabilized by electron temperature gradient. Nonlinear simulations with the KPBM saturate at high levels. The equilibrium radial electric field (E{sub r}) reduces the transport. The effect of the parallel equilibrium current is found to be weak.

Globalization and information access tools: the way forward for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH ... Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among people, ... face the new challenges so as to render more effective services to library clientele in the globalized environment.

Exploring similarities and differences in hospital adverse event rates between Norway and Sweden using Global Trigger Tool

OpenAIRE

Deilk?s, Ellen Tveter; Risberg, Madeleine Borgstedt; Haugen, Marion; Lindstr?m, Jonas Christoffer; Nyl?n, Urban; Rutberg, Hans; Michael, Soop

2017-01-01

Objectives: In this paper, we explore similarities and differences in hospital adverse event (AE) rates between Norway and Sweden by reviewing medical records with the Global Trigger Tool (GTT). Design: All acute care hospitals in both countries performed medical record reviews, except one in Norway. Records were randomly selected from all eligible admissions in 2013. Eligible admissions were patients 18 years of age or older, undergoing care with an in-hospital stay of at least 24 hours, exc...

DengueTools: innovative tools and strategies for the surveillance and control of dengue.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilder-Smith, Annelies; Renhorn, Karl-Erik; Tissera, Hasitha; Abu Bakar, Sazaly; Alphey, Luke; Kittayapong, Pattamaporn; Lindsay, Steve; Logan, James; Hatz, Christoph; Reiter, Paul; Rocklöv, Joacim; Byass, Peter; Louis, Valérie R; Tozan, Yesim; Massad, Eduardo; Tenorio, Antonio; Lagneau, Christophe; L'Ambert, Grégory; Brooks, David; Wegerdt, Johannah; Gubler, Duane

2012-01-01

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral disease estimated to cause about 230 million infections worldwide every year, of which 25,000 are fatal. Global incidence has risen rapidly in recent decades with some 3.6 billion people, over half of the world's population, now at risk, mainly in urban centres of the tropics and subtropics. Demographic and societal changes, in particular urbanization, globalization, and increased international travel, are major contributors to the rise in incidence and geographic expansion of dengue infections. Major research gaps continue to hamper the control of dengue. The European Commission launched a call under the 7th Framework Programme with the title of 'Comprehensive control of Dengue fever under changing climatic conditions'. Fourteen partners from several countries in Europe, Asia, and South America formed a consortium named 'DengueTools' to respond to the call to achieve better diagnosis, surveillance, prevention, and predictive models and improve our understanding of the spread of dengue to previously uninfected regions (including Europe) in the context of globalization and climate change.The consortium comprises 12 work packages to address a set of research questions in three areas:Research area 1: Develop a comprehensive early warning and surveillance system that has predictive capability for epidemic dengue and benefits from novel tools for laboratory diagnosis and vector monitoring.Research area 2: Develop novel strategies to prevent dengue in children.Research area 3: Understand and predict the risk of global spread of dengue, in particular the risk of introduction and establishment in Europe, within the context of parameters of vectorial capacity, global mobility, and climate change.In this paper, we report on the rationale and specific study objectives of 'DengueTools'. DengueTools is funded under the Health theme of the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community, Grant Agreement Number: 282589 Dengue Tools.

Improved ultra-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization quadrupole-time-of-flight high-definition mass spectrometry method for the rapid analysis of the chemical constituents of a typical medical formula: Liuwei Dihuang Wan.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ping; Lv, Hai tao; Zhang, Ai hua; Sun, Hui; Yan, Guang li; Han, Ying; Wu, Xiu hong; Wang, Xi jun

2013-11-01

Liuwei Dihuang Wan (LDW), a classic Chinese medicinal formula, has been used to improve or restore declined functions related to aging and geriatric diseases, such as impaired mobility, vision, hearing, cognition, and memory. It has attracted increasing attention as one of the most popular and valuable herbal medicines. However, the systematic analysis of the chemical constituents of LDW is difficult and thus has not been well established. In this paper, a rapid, sensitive, and reliable ultra-performance LC with ESI quadrupole TOF high-definition MS method with automated MetaboLynx analysis in positive and negative ion mode was established to characterize the chemical constituents of LDW. The analysis was performed on a Waters UPLC™ HSS T3 using a gradient elution system. MS/MS fragmentation behavior was proposed for aiding the structural identification of the components. Under the optimized conditions, a total of 50 peaks were tentatively characterized by comparing the retention time and MS data. It is concluded that a rapid and robust platform based on ultra-performance LC with ESI quadrupole TOF high-definition MS has been successfully developed for globally identifying multiple constituents of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions. This is the first report on the systematic analysis of the chemical constituents of LDW. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Sharing tools and best practice in Global Sensitivity Analysis within academia and with industry

Science.gov (United States)

Wagener, T.; Pianosi, F.; Noacco, V.; Sarrazin, F.

2017-12-01

We have spent years trying to improve the use of global sensitivity analysis (GSA) in earth and environmental modelling. Our efforts included (1) the development of tools that provide easy access to widely used GSA methods, (2) the definition of workflows so that best practice is shared in an accessible way, and (3) the development of algorithms to close gaps in available GSA methods (such as moment independent strategies) and to make GSA applications more robust (such as convergence criteria). These elements have been combined in our GSA Toolbox, called SAFE (www.safetoolbox.info), which has up to now been adopted by over 1000 (largely) academic users worldwide. However, despite growing uptake in academic circles and across a wide range of application areas, transfer to industry applications has been difficult. Initial market research regarding opportunities and barriers for uptake revealed a large potential market, but also highlighted a significant lack of knowledge regarding state-of-the-art methods and their potential value for end-users. We will present examples and discuss our experience so far in trying to overcome these problems and move beyond academia in distributing GSA tools and expertise.

[Detection of adverse events in hospitalized adult patients by using the Global Trigger Tool method].

Science.gov (United States)

Guzmán-Ruiz, O; Ruiz-López, P; Gómez-Cámara, A; Ramírez-Martín, M

2015-01-01

To identify and characterize adverse events (AE) in an Internal Medicine Department of a district hospital using an extension of the Global Trigger Tool (GTT), analyzing the diagnostic validity of the tool. An observational, analytical, descriptive and retrospective study was conducted on 2013 clinical charts from an Internal Medicine Department in order to detect EA through the identification of 'triggers' (an event often related to an AE). The 'triggers' and AE were located by systematic review of clinical documentation. The AE were characterized after they were identified. A total of 149 AE were detected in 291 clinical charts during 2013, of which 75.3% were detected directly by the tool, while the rest were not associated with a trigger. The percentage of charts that had at least one AE was 35.4%. The most frequent AE found was pressure ulcer (12%), followed by delirium, constipation, nosocomial respiratory infection and altered level of consciousness by drugs. Almost half (47.6%) of the AE were related to drug use, and 32.2% of all AE were considered preventable. The tool demonstrated a sensitivity of 91.3% (95%CI: 88.9-93.2) and a specificity of 32.5% (95%CI: 29.9-35.1). It had a positive predictive value of 42.5% (95%CI: 40.1-45.1) and a negative predictive value of 87.1% (95%CI: 83.8-89.9). The tool used in this study is valid, useful and reproducible for the detection of AE. It also serves to determine rates of injury and to observe their progression over time. A high frequency of both AE and preventable events were observed in this study. Copyright © 2014 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

The GLEaMviz computational tool, a publicly available software to explore realistic epidemic spreading scenarios at the global scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Quaggiotto Marco

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Computational models play an increasingly important role in the assessment and control of public health crises, as demonstrated during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. Much research has been done in recent years in the development of sophisticated data-driven models for realistic computer-based simulations of infectious disease spreading. However, only a few computational tools are presently available for assessing scenarios, predicting epidemic evolutions, and managing health emergencies that can benefit a broad audience of users including policy makers and health institutions. Results We present "GLEaMviz", a publicly available software system that simulates the spread of emerging human-to-human infectious diseases across the world. The GLEaMviz tool comprises three components: the client application, the proxy middleware, and the simulation engine. The latter two components constitute the GLEaMviz server. The simulation engine leverages on the Global Epidemic and Mobility (GLEaM framework, a stochastic computational scheme that integrates worldwide high-resolution demographic and mobility data to simulate disease spread on the global scale. The GLEaMviz design aims at maximizing flexibility in defining the disease compartmental model and configuring the simulation scenario; it allows the user to set a variety of parameters including: compartment-specific features, transition values, and environmental effects. The output is a dynamic map and a corresponding set of charts that quantitatively describe the geo-temporal evolution of the disease. The software is designed as a client-server system. The multi-platform client, which can be installed on the user's local machine, is used to set up simulations that will be executed on the server, thus avoiding specific requirements for large computational capabilities on the user side. Conclusions The user-friendly graphical interface of the GLEaMviz tool, along with its high level

Implementación del nuevo modelo de infraestructura de telecomunicaciones para despliegue de servicios tecnológicos desde el data center virtual a todas las localidades del Ministerio de Educación, WAN Educativa

OpenAIRE

Ortiz Garcés, Ivan Patricio

2015-01-01

El presente artículo aborda el proyecto tecnológico enmarcado en el Nuevo Modelo de Gestión del Sistema Educativo del país, que consiste en implementar el Nuevo Modelo de Infraestructura de Telecomunicaciones para despliegue de servicios tecnológicos desde el Data Center Virtual a todas las localidades del Ministerio de Educación, - WAN EDUCATIVA-. El proyecto define el modelo de conectividad adecuado para integrar a todos los usuarios de las localidades a nivel nacional a l...

Da-Bu-Yin-Wan and Qian-Zheng-San to Neuroprotect the Mouse Model of Parkinson’s Disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao-Gang Gong

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Da-Bu-Yin-Wan (DBYW and Qian-Zheng-San (QZS, two classic traditional Chinese medicinal formulas, were clinically employed to treat Parkinson’s disease (PD. Our previous studies demonstrated neuroprotective effects of them on mitochondrial function in PD mice induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP. The purpose of this research was to investigate their possible mechanisms in the light of mitochondrial ATP-sensitive potassium (mitoKATP channels. The neuroprotective effect of DBYW and QZS on dopamine (DA neurons in substantia nigra (SN in the MPTP-induced PD mice was investigated by behavioral test (pole test and immunohistochemistry. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP level in the midbrain tissue was detected by firefly luciferase method. MitoKATP channel subunits SUR1 and Kir6.2 mRNA and protein expressions were tested by real-time PCR (RT-PCR and Western blot. It was observed that DBYW and/or QZS served to ameliorate MPTP-induced behavioral impairment and prevent the loss of substantia nigra dopamine neurons, as well as increase ATP level in the midbrain tissue and downregulate SUR1 expression at mRNA and protein levels with no marked influence on Kir6.2. We concluded that DBYW and QZS exhibit neuroprotective effects probably through the regulation of ATP level and mitoKATP channel subunit expressions.

Marine environmental impact assessment of abalone, Haliotis discus hannai, cage farm in Wan-do, Republic of Korea

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Hyun-Taik; Jung, Rae-Hong; Cho, Yoon-Sik; Hwang, Dong-Woon; Yi, Yong-Min

2015-12-01

To assess the marine environmental impacts of abalone, Haliotis discus hannai, cage farms in Wan-do, we monitored the benthic environment on top of the sediment underneath cage farm stations and reference stations. We applied two methods for this assessment. One was the A- and B-investigation of the MOM system (Modeling-On fish farm-Monitoring) developed in Norway. The other was a general environmental monitoring method which is widely used. In this study, we found benthic animals in all samples that belonged to condition 1 which were based on group 1(presence of macrofauna) of the B-investigation method. The values of redox potential (group 2-pH, redox potential) in all samples were above +65 mV belonging to condition 1. Based on sensory results (group 3-gas, color, odor, thickness of deposits), five out of seven experiment samples showed condition 1 while stations 2 and 7 showed condition 2, which have been cultured for 10 years in semi-closed waters. As group 2 takes precedence over group 3, the level of the conditions for B-investigation results consequently showed condition 1 in all stations. We found that pollutants and trace metals in the sediment underneath cage farms were lower than the pollution standard. This led us to conclude that the environmental impacts of the cage farms in this study were not significant.

Complexity in human transportation networks: a comparative analysis of worldwide air transportation and global cargo-ship movements

Science.gov (United States)

Woolley-Meza, O.; Thiemann, C.; Grady, D.; Lee, J. J.; Seebens, H.; Blasius, B.; Brockmann, D.

2011-12-01

We present a comparative network-theoretic analysis of the two largest global transportation networks: the worldwide air-transportation network (WAN) and the global cargo-ship network (GCSN). We show that both networks exhibit surprising statistical similarities despite significant differences in topology and connectivity. Both networks exhibit a discontinuity in node and link betweenness distributions which implies that these networks naturally segregate into two different classes of nodes and links. We introduce a technique based on effective distances, shortest paths and shortest path trees for strongly weighted symmetric networks and show that in a shortest path tree representation the most significant features of both networks can be readily seen. We show that effective shortest path distance, unlike conventional geographic distance measures, strongly correlates with node centrality measures. Using the new technique we show that network resilience can be investigated more precisely than with contemporary techniques that are based on percolation theory. We extract a functional relationship between node characteristics and resilience to network disruption. Finally we discuss the results, their implications and conclude that dynamic processes that evolve on both networks are expected to share universal dynamic characteristics.

The FRISBEE tool, a software for optimising the trade-off between food quality, energy use, and global warming impact of cold chains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gwanpua, S.G.; Verboven, P.; Leducq, D.; Brown, T.; Verlinden, B.E.; Bekele, E.; Aregawi, W. Evans, J.; Foster, A.; Duret, S.; Hoang, H.M.; Sluis, S. van der; Wissink, E.; Hendriksen, L.J.A.M.; Taoukis, P.; Gogou, E.; Stahl, V.; El Jabri, M.; Le Page, J.F.; Claussen, I.; Indergård, E.; Nicolai, B.M.; Alvarez, G.; Geeraerd, A.H.

2015-01-01

Food quality (including safety) along the cold chain, energy use and global warming impact of refrigeration systems are three key aspects in assessing cold chain sustainability. In this paper, we present the framework of a dedicated software, the FRISBEE tool, for optimising quality of refrigerated

NASA Global Hawk: A New Tool for Earth Science Research

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Phill

2009-01-01

This slide presentation reviews the Global Hawk, a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that NASA plans to use for Earth Sciences research. The Global Hawk is the world's first fully autonomous high-altitude, long-endurance aircraft, and is capable of conducting long duration missions. Plans are being made for the use of the aircraft on missions in the Arctic, Pacific and Western Atlantic Oceans. There are slides showing the Global Hawk Operations Center (GHOC), Flight Control and Air Traffic Control Communications Architecture, and Payload Integration and Accommodations on the Global Hawk. The first science campaign, planned for a study of the Pacific Ocean, is reviewed.

An extract of a formula used in the traditional chinese medicine (Buzhong Yi Qi Wan) alters the labeling of blood constituents with technetium-99m

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giani, Tania Santos; Paoli, Severo de; Brandao-Neto, Jose; Medeiros, Aldo da Cunha; Presta, Giuseppe Antonio; Maiworm, Adalgisa Ieda; Santos Filho, Sebastiao David; Fonseca, Adenilson de Souza da; Bernardo-Filho, Mario

2007-01-01

Buzhong Yi Qi Wan (Buzhong) is a medicinal herb widely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat the digestive and circulatory systems. Red blood cell and plasma proteins labeled with technetium-99m ( 99m Tc) are used in nuclear medicine. The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of an aqueous Buzhong extract on the labeling of blood constituents with 99m Tc. Heparinized blood (Wistar rats) was incubated in vitro with different Buzhong extract concentrations and 99m Tc-labeling was performed. Plasma (P) and blood cells (BC) were separated and soluble (SF-P, SF-BC) and insoluble (IF-P, IF-BC) fractions were isolated. The radioactivity on blood constituents was determined and the percentage of incorporated radioactivity (%ATI) was calculated. Buzhong extract at the highest concentrations used altered significantly (p 99 mTc. (author)

Architecture of the global land acquisition system: applying the tools of network science to identify key vulnerabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seaquist, J W; Li Johansson, Emma; Nicholas, Kimberly A

2014-01-01

Global land acquisitions, often dubbed ‘land grabbing’ are increasingly becoming drivers of land change. We use the tools of network science to describe the connectivity of the global acquisition system. We find that 126 countries participate in this form of global land trade. Importers are concentrated in the Global North, the emerging economies of Asia, and the Middle East, while exporters are confined to the Global South and Eastern Europe. A small handful of countries account for the majority of land acquisitions (particularly China, the UK, and the US), the cumulative distribution of which is best described by a power law. We also find that countries with many land trading partners play a disproportionately central role in providing connectivity across the network with the shortest trading path between any two countries traversing either China, the US, or the UK over a third of the time. The land acquisition network is characterized by very few trading cliques and therefore characterized by a low degree of preferential trading or regionalization. We also show that countries with many export partners trade land with countries with few import partners, and vice versa, meaning that less developed countries have a large array of export partnerships with developed countries, but very few import partnerships (dissassortative relationship). Finally, we find that the structure of the network is potentially prone to propagating crises (e.g., if importing countries become dependent on crops exported from their land trading partners). This network analysis approach can be used to quantitatively analyze and understand telecoupled systems as well as to anticipate and diagnose the potential effects of telecoupling. (letter)

Does adding an appended oncology module to the Global Trigger Tool increase its value?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mattsson, Thea Otto; Knudsen, Janne Lehmann; Brixen, Kim

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To determine any additional value in the evaluation of safety levels by adding an appended oncology module to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Global Trigger Tool (GTT). DESIGN: Comparison of two independent retrospective chart reviews: one review team using the general GTT...... method and one using the general GTT method plus the appended oncology module on the same inpatient charts. SETTING: The Department of Clinical Oncology at a Danish University Hospital (1000 beds). PARTICIPANTS: All inpatients admitted to the hospital in 2010, n = 3692, biweekly sample of 10 admission...... per 1000 admission days. RESULTS: No significant (95% confidence interval) difference was found between review teams using the general GTT versus the general GTT plus the appended oncology module on the total number of identified AEs, AEs per 100 admissions, AEs per 1000 admission days...

Improving molecular tools for global surveillance of measles virus⋆

Science.gov (United States)

Bankamp, Bettina; Byrd-Leotis, Lauren A.; Lopareva, Elena N.; Woo, Gibson K.S.; Liu, Chunyu; Jee, Youngmee; Ahmed, Hinda; Lim, Wilina W.; Ramamurty, Nalini; Mulders, Mick N.; Featherstone, David; Bellini, William J.; Rota, Paul A.

2017-01-01

Background The genetic characterization of wild-type measles viruses plays an important role in the description of viral transmission pathways and the verification of measles elimination. The 450 nucleotides that encode the carboxyl-terminus of the nucleoprotein (N-450) are routinely sequenced for genotype analysis. Objectives The objectives of this study were to develop improved primers and controls for RT-PCR reactions used for genotyping of measles samples and to develop a method to provide a convenient, safe, and inexpensive means to distribute measles RNA for RT-PCR assays and practice panels. Study design A newly designed, genetically defined synthetic RNA and RNA isolated from cells infected with currently circulating genotypes were used to compare the sensitivity of primer pairs in RT-PCR and nested PCR. FTA® cards loaded with lysates of measles infected cells were tested for their ability to preserve viral RNA and destroy virus infectivity. Results A new primer pair, MeV216/MeV214, was able to amplify N-450 from viruses representing 10 currently circulating genotypes and a genotype A vaccine strain and demonstrated 100-fold increased sensitivity compared to the previously used primer set. A nested PCR assay further increased the sensitivity of detection from patient samples. A synthetic positive control RNA was developed that produced PCR products that are distinguishable by size from PCR products amplified from clinical samples. FTA® cards completely inactivated measles virus and stabilized RNA for at least six months. Conclusions These improved molecular tools will advance molecular characterization of circulating measles viruses globally and provide enhanced quality control measures. PMID:23806666

Improving molecular tools for global surveillance of measles virus.

Science.gov (United States)

Bankamp, Bettina; Byrd-Leotis, Lauren A; Lopareva, Elena N; Woo, Gibson K S; Liu, Chunyu; Jee, Youngmee; Ahmed, Hinda; Lim, Wilina W; Ramamurty, Nalini; Mulders, Mick N; Featherstone, David; Bellini, William J; Rota, Paul A

2013-09-01

The genetic characterization of wild-type measles viruses plays an important role in the description of viral transmission pathways and the verification of measles elimination. The 450 nucleotides that encode the carboxyl-terminus of the nucleoprotein (N-450) are routinely sequenced for genotype analysis. The objectives of this study were to develop improved primers and controls for RT-PCR reactions used for genotyping of measles samples and to develop a method to provide a convenient, safe, and inexpensive means to distribute measles RNA for RT-PCR assays and practice panels. A newly designed, genetically defined synthetic RNA and RNA isolated from cells infected with currently circulating genotypes were used to compare the sensitivity of primer pairs in RT-PCR and nested PCR. FTA® cards loaded with lysates of measles infected cells were tested for their ability to preserve viral RNA and destroy virus infectivity. A new primer pair, MeV216/MeV214, was able to amplify N-450 from viruses representing 10 currently circulating genotypes and a genotype A vaccine strain and demonstrated 100-fold increased sensitivity compared to the previously used primer set. A nested PCR assay further increased the sensitivity of detection from patient samples. A synthetic positive control RNA was developed that produced PCR products that are distinguishable by size from PCR products amplified from clinical samples. FTA® cards completely inactivated measles virus and stabilized RNA for at least six months. These improved molecular tools will advance molecular characterization of circulating measles viruses globally and provide enhanced quality control measures. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Global nuclear material control model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dreicer, J.S.; Rutherford, D.A.

1996-01-01

The nuclear danger can be reduced by a system for global management, protection, control, and accounting as part of a disposition program for special nuclear materials. The development of an international fissile material management and control regime requires conceptual research supported by an analytical and modeling tool that treats the nuclear fuel cycle as a complete system. Such a tool must represent the fundamental data, information, and capabilities of the fuel cycle including an assessment of the global distribution of military and civilian fissile material inventories, a representation of the proliferation pertinent physical processes, and a framework supportive of national or international perspective. They have developed a prototype global nuclear material management and control systems analysis capability, the Global Nuclear Material Control (GNMC) model. The GNMC model establishes the framework for evaluating the global production, disposition, and safeguards and security requirements for fissile nuclear material

Predictors of high-intensity running capacity in collegiate women during a soccer game.

Science.gov (United States)

McCormack, William P; Stout, Jeffrey R; Wells, Adam J; Gonzalez, Adam M; Mangine, Gerald T; Fragala, Maren S; Hoffman, Jay R

2014-04-01

The purpose of this investigation was to determine which physiological assessments best predicted high-intensity running (HIR) performance during a women's collegiate soccer game. A secondary purpose was to examine the relationships among physiological performance measures including muscle architecture on soccer performance (distance covered, HIR, and sprints during the game) during a competitive collegiate women's soccer game. Ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women soccer players performed physiological assessments within a 2-week period before a competitive regulation soccer game performed during the spring season. Testing consisted of height, body mass, ultrasound measurement of dominant (DOMleg), and nondominant leg (NDOMleg) vastus lateralis for muscle thickness (MT) and pennation angle (PA), VO2max, running economy, and Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT) for peak power (PP), mean power (MP), and fatigue rate (FR). During the game, distance run, HIR, and sprints were measured using a 10-Hz global positioning system. Stepwise regression revealed that VO2max, dominant leg thickness, and dominant leg PA were the strongest predictors of HIR distance during the game (R = 0.989, SEE = 115.5 m, p = 0.001). V[Combining Dot Above]O2max was significantly correlated with total distance run (r = 0.831; p = 0.003), HIR (r = 0.755; p = 0.012), WAnTPP (r = -0.737; p = 0.015), WAnTPP·kg (r = -0.706; p = 0.022), and WAnTFR (r = -0.713; p = 0.021). DOMlegMT was significantly correlated with WAnTFR (r = 0.893; p = 0.001). DOMlegPA was significantly correlated with WAnTFR (r = 0.740; p = 0.023). The NDOMlegPA was significantly correlated to peak running velocity (r = 0.781; p = 0.013) and WAnT MP·kg (r = 0.801; p = 0.01). Results of this study indicate that V[Combining Dot Above]O2max and muscle architecture are important characteristics of NCAA Division I women soccer players and may predict HIR distance during a competitive contest.

Digital teaching tools and global learning communities [v2; ref status: indexed, http://f1000r.es/5la

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary Williams

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In 2009, we started a project to support the teaching and learning of university-level plant sciences, called Teaching Tools in Plant Biology. Articles in this series are published by the plant science journal, The Plant Cell (published by the American Society of Plant Biologists. Five years on, we investigated how the published materials are being used through an analysis of the Google Analytics pageviews distribution and through a user survey. Our results suggest that this project has had a broad, global impact in supporting higher education, and also that the materials are used differently by individuals in terms of their role (instructor, independent learner, student and geographical location. We also report on our ongoing efforts to develop a global learning community that encourages discussion and resource sharing.

Effect of Rat Medicated Serum Containing You Gui Wan on Mouse Oocyte In Vitro Maturation and Subsequent Fertilization Competence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao-Hui Jiang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available You Gui Wan (YGW is a classic herbal formula in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM used for the clinical treatment of infertility. This study was to explore whether YGW has an impact on mouse oocyte maturation in vitro and subsequent fertilization competence. Rat medicated serum containing YGW was prepared by orally administrating YGW. Mouse immature oocytes were cultured with YGW medicated serum and compared to those cultured with or without normal rat serum or follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH. YGW medicated serum significantly increased the percentages of matured oocytes when compared to the groups with or without normal rat serum (P < 0.01. Furthermore, YGW medicated serum increased the rate of in vitro fertilization (IVF when compared to the groups treated with FSH and with or without normal rat serum (P < 0.001. YGW medicated serum also had significant effects on the mRNA expressions of PKA, CREB, MAPK, PKC, PKG, and MPF and the concentrations of cAMP, cGMP, and NO in matured oocytes. These results indicate that YGW can promote mouse oocyte maturation and IVF in vitro. Signaling pathways, such as the cAMP/PKA/MAPK, the PKC-MAPK, and the NO-cGMP-PKG pathway, which are similar to those induced by FSH, may be responsible for this action.

Bridging Innovation and Outreach to Overcome Global Gaps in Radiation Oncology Through Information and Communication Tools, Trainee Advancement, Engaging Industry, Attention to Ethical Challenges, and Political Advocacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Dad, Luqman; Royce, Trevor J; Morris, Zachary; Moran, Meena; Pawlicki, Todd; Khuntia, Deepak; Hardenbergh, Patricia; Cummings, Bernard; Mayr, Nina; Hu, Kenneth

2017-04-01

An evolving paradigm in global outreach in radiation oncology has been the implementation of a more region-specific, needs-based approach to help close the gap in radiation services to low- and middle-income countries through the use of innovative tools in information and communication technology. This report highlights 4 information and communication technology tools in action today: (1) the NCCN Framework for Resource Stratification of NCCN guidelines, (2) ASTRO e-Contouring, (3) i.treatsafely.org, and (4) ChartRounds.com. We also render special consideration to matters related to global outreach that we believe require distinct attention to help us meet the goals established by the 2011 United Nations׳ Declaration on noncommunicable diseases: (1) trainee advancement toward careers in global health, (2) ethical challenges of international outreach, (3) critical importance of political advocacy, and (4) collaboration with Industry. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Global Microbial Identifier

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wielinga, Peter; Hendriksen, Rene S.; Aarestrup, Frank Møller

2017-01-01

) will likely also enable a much better understanding of the pathogenesis of the infection and the molecular basis of the host response to infection. But the full potential of these advances will only transpire if the data in this area become transferable and thereby comparable, preferably in open-source...... of microorganisms, for the identification of relevant genes and for the comparison of genomes to detect outbreaks and emerging pathogens. To harness the full potential of WGS, a shared global database of genomes linked to relevant metadata and the necessary software tools needs to be generated, hence the global...... microbial identifier (GMI) initiative. This tool will ideally be used in amongst others in the diagnosis of infectious diseases in humans and animals, in the identification of microorganisms in food and environment, and to track and trace microbial agents in all arenas globally. This will require...

Data Visualization and Analysis Tools for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Validation Network

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Kenneth R.; Schwaller, Mathew

2010-01-01

The Validation Network (VN) prototype for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission compares data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite Precipitation Radar (PR) to similar measurements from U.S. and international operational weather radars. This prototype is a major component of the GPM Ground Validation System (GVS). The VN provides a means for the precipitation measurement community to identify and resolve significant discrepancies between the ground radar (GR) observations and similar satellite observations. The VN prototype is based on research results and computer code described by Anagnostou et al. (2001), Bolen and Chandrasekar (2000), and Liao et al. (2001), and has previously been described by Morris, et al. (2007). Morris and Schwaller (2009) describe the PR-GR volume-matching algorithm used to create the VN match-up data set used for the comparisons. This paper describes software tools that have been developed for visualization and statistical analysis of the original and volume matched PR and GR data.

An extract of a formula used in the traditional chinese medicine (Buzhong Yi Qi Wan alters the labeling of blood constituents with technetium-99m

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tania Santos Giani

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Buzhong Yi Qi Wan (Buzhong is a medicinal herb widely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat the digestive and circulatory systems. Red blood cell and plasma proteins labeled with technetium-99m (99mTc are used in nuclear medicine. The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of an aqueous Buzhong extract on the labeling of blood constituents with 99mTc. Heparinized blood (Wistar rats was incubated in vitro with different Buzhong extract concentrations and 99mTc-labeling was performed. Plasma (P and blood cells (BC were separated and soluble (SF-P, SF-BC and insoluble (IF-P, IF-BC fractions were isolated. The radioactivity on blood constituents was determined and the percentage of incorporated radioactivity (%ATI was calculated. Buzhong extract at the highest concentrations used altered significantly (pBuzhong Yi Qi Wan (Buzhong é uma fórmula utilizada na Medicina Tradicional Chinesa para tratamento de distúrbios nos sistemas digestório e circulatório. Constituintes sangüíneos marcados com tecnécio-99m (99mTc são usados na medicina nuclear. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar os efeitos do extrato de Buzhong na marcação de constituintes sangüíneos com 99mTc. Amostras de sangue de ratos Wistar foram incubadas com diferentes concentrações do extrato de Buzhong e a marcação de constituintes sangüíneos com 99mTc foi realizado. Plasma e células sangüíneas foram separados, frações solúveis e insolúveis do plasma e das células sangüíneas foram isoladas. A radioatividade nos constituintes sangüíneos foi contada e as porcentagens de radioatividade incorporada (%ATI, determinada. Extrato de Buzhong nas maiores concentrações utilizadas altera significativamente (p<0.05 a %ATI nos constituintes sangüíneos. Substâncias presentes no extrato de Buzhong poderiam alterar a membrana celular e/ou gerar radicais livres, que têm propriedades oxidantes, modificando a marcação dos constituintes sangüíneos com

Hazard banding in compliance with the new Globally Harmonised System (GHS) for use in control banding tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnone, Mario; Koppisch, Dorothea; Smola, Thomas; Gabriel, Stefan; Verbist, Koen; Visser, Remco

2015-10-01

Many control banding tools use hazard banding in risk assessments for the occupational handling of hazardous substances. The outcome of these assessments can be combined with advice for the required risk management measures (RMMs). The Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) has resulted in a change in the hazard communication elements, i.e. Hazard (H) statements instead of Risk-phrases. Hazard banding schemes that depend on the old form of safety information have to be adapted to the new rules. The purpose of this publication is to outline the rationales for the assignment of hazard bands to H statements under the GHS. Based on this, this publication proposes a hazard banding scheme that uses the information from the safety data sheets as the basis for assignment. The assignment of hazard bands tiered according to the severity of the underlying hazards supports the important principle of substitution. Additionally, the set of assignment rules permits an exposure-route-specific assignment of hazard bands, which is necessary for the proposed route-specific RMMs. Ideally, all control banding tools should apply the same assignment rules. This GHS-compliant hazard banding scheme can hopefully help to establish a unified hazard banding strategy in the various control banding tools. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Decentralized Gauss-Newton method for nonlinear least squares on wide area network

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lanchao; Ling, Qing; Han, Zhu

2014-10-01

This paper presents a decentralized approach of Gauss-Newton (GN) method for nonlinear least squares (NLLS) on wide area network (WAN). In a multi-agent system, a centralized GN for NLLS requires the global GN Hessian matrix available at a central computing unit, which may incur large communication overhead. In the proposed decentralized alternative, each agent only needs local GN Hessian matrix to update iterates with the cooperation of neighbors. The detail formulation of decentralized NLLS on WAN is given, and the iteration at each agent is defined. The convergence property of the decentralized approach is analyzed, and numerical results validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Global Simulation of Aviation Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Sridhar, Banavar; Sheth, Kapil; Ng, Hok Kwan; Morando, Alex; Li, Jinhua

2016-01-01

The simulation and analysis of global air traffic is limited due to a lack of simulation tools and the difficulty in accessing data sources. This paper provides a global simulation of aviation operations combining flight plans and real air traffic data with historical commercial city-pair aircraft type and schedule data and global atmospheric data. The resulting capability extends the simulation and optimization functions of NASA's Future Air Traffic Management Concept Evaluation Tool (FACET) to global scale. This new capability is used to present results on the evolution of global air traffic patterns from a concentration of traffic inside US, Europe and across the Atlantic Ocean to a more diverse traffic pattern across the globe with accelerated growth in Asia, Australia, Africa and South America. The simulation analyzes seasonal variation in the long-haul wind-optimal traffic patterns in six major regions of the world and provides potential time-savings of wind-optimal routes compared with either great circle routes or current flight-plans if available.

Is detection of adverse events affected by record review methodology? an evaluation of the "Harvard Medical Practice Study" method and the "Global Trigger Tool".

Science.gov (United States)

Unbeck, Maria; Schildmeijer, Kristina; Henriksson, Peter; Jürgensen, Urban; Muren, Olav; Nilsson, Lena; Pukk Härenstam, Karin

2013-04-15

There has been a theoretical debate as to which retrospective record review method is the most valid, reliable, cost efficient and feasible for detecting adverse events. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility and capability of two common retrospective record review methods, the "Harvard Medical Practice Study" method and the "Global Trigger Tool" in detecting adverse events in adult orthopaedic inpatients. We performed a three-stage structured retrospective record review process in a random sample of 350 orthopaedic admissions during 2009 at a Swedish university hospital. Two teams comprised each of a registered nurse and two physicians were assigned, one to each method. All records were primarily reviewed by registered nurses. Records containing a potential adverse event were forwarded to physicians for review in stage 2. Physicians made an independent review regarding, for example, healthcare causation, preventability and severity. In the third review stage all adverse events that were found with the two methods together were compared and all discrepancies after review stage 2 were analysed. Events that had not been identified by one of the methods in the first two review stages were reviewed by the respective physicians. Altogether, 160 different adverse events were identified in 105 (30.0%) of the 350 records with both methods combined. The "Harvard Medical Practice Study" method identified 155 of the 160 (96.9%, 95% CI: 92.9-99.0) adverse events in 104 (29.7%) records compared with 137 (85.6%, 95% CI: 79.2-90.7) adverse events in 98 (28.0%) records using the "Global Trigger Tool". Adverse events "causing harm without permanent disability" accounted for most of the observed difference. The overall positive predictive value for criteria and triggers using the "Harvard Medical Practice Study" method and the "Global Trigger Tool" was 40.3% and 30.4%, respectively. More adverse events were identified using the "Harvard Medical Practice Study

Implementing a Global Tool for Mercy Corps Based on Spatially Continuous Precipitation Analysis for Resiliency Monitoring and Measuring at the Community-Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Tomlin, J. N.; El-Behaedi, R.; McCartney, S.; Lingo, R.; Thieme, A.

2017-12-01

Global water resources are important for societies, economies, and the environment. In Niger, limited water resources restrict the expansion of agriculture and communities. Mercy Corps currently works in over 40 countries around the world to address a variety of stresses which include water resources and building long-term food resilience. As Mercy Corps seeks to integrate the use of Earth observations, NASA has established a partnership to help facilitate this effort incorporating Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), and Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS) data to create a standardized precipitation index that highlights low and high rainfall from 1981 - 2016. The team created a Google Earth Engine tool that combines precipitation data with other metrics of stress in Niger. The system is designed to be able to incorporate groundwater storage data as it becomes available. This tool allows for near real-time updates of trends in precipitation and improves Mercy Corps' ability to spatially evaluate changes in resiliency by monitoring shocks and stressors.

Global resource sharing

CERN Document Server

Frederiksen, Linda; Nance, Heidi

2011-01-01

Written from a global perspective, this book reviews sharing of library resources on a global scale. With expanded discovery tools and massive digitization projects, the rich and extensive holdings of the world's libraries are more visible now than at any time in the past. Advanced communication and transmission technologies, along with improved international standards, present a means for the sharing of library resources around the globe. Despite these significant improvements, a number of challenges remain. Global Resource Sharing provides librarians and library managers with a comprehensive

Experiences in Traceroute and Bandwidth Change Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Logg, C

2004-06-23

SLAC has been studying end-to-end WAN bandwidth availability and achievability for 2.5 years via IEPM-BW [1]. IEPM-BW performs network intensive tests every 90 minutes. Based on that experience we have also developed a light weight available bandwidth (ABwE [2]) measurement tool that can make a measurement within a second. We are now extending this to a WAN measurement and detection system (IEPM-LITE) aimed at more quickly detecting and troubleshooting network performance problems and also to be more friendly on lower performance paths. IEPM-LITE uses ping, forward traceroutes, and ABwE sensors to monitor, in close to real-time, Round Trip Times (RTT), changes in available bandwidth and routes to and from target hosts. This paper discusses the experiences, techniques and algorithms used to detect and report on significant traceroute and bandwidth changes. The ultimate aim is to develop a lightweight WAN network performance monitoring system that can detect, in near real time, significant changes and generate alerts.

Experiences in Traceroute and Bandwidth Change Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Logg, C

2004-01-01

SLAC has been studying end-to-end WAN bandwidth availability and achievability for 2.5 years via IEPM-BW [1]. IEPM-BW performs network intensive tests every 90 minutes. Based on that experience we have also developed a light weight available bandwidth (ABwE [2]) measurement tool that can make a measurement within a second. We are now extending this to a WAN measurement and detection system (IEPM-LITE) aimed at more quickly detecting and troubleshooting network performance problems and also to be more friendly on lower performance paths. IEPM-LITE uses ping, forward traceroutes, and ABwE sensors to monitor, in close to real-time, Round Trip Times (RTT), changes in available bandwidth and routes to and from target hosts. This paper discusses the experiences, techniques and algorithms used to detect and report on significant traceroute and bandwidth changes. The ultimate aim is to develop a lightweight WAN network performance monitoring system that can detect, in near real time, significant changes and generate alerts

Capturing value from IP in a global environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alcacer, Juan; Beukel, Karin; Cassiman, Bruno

Executive Summary The authors argue that challenges to capturing value from know-how and reputation through the use of different IP tools will be an increasingly important matter of strategy for global enterprises. This has important implications for management practice. Global enterprises...... will need to combine different institutional, market and non-market mechanisms. The precise combination of tools will depend on the local and regional institutional and market conditions. Abstract: This paper documents the strong growth in tools used by firms to protect their intellectual property (IP......), develop their know-how, and build and maintain their reputation globally during the last decades. We focus on three tools: patents, trademarks, and industrial designs. We find that, although most IP applications come from a few countries (the United States, European Union, Japan, China, and South Korea...

Chemical Risk Assessment Screening Tool of a Global Chemical Company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evelyn Tjoe-Nij

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Background: This paper describes a simple-to-use and reliable screening tool called Critical Task Exposure Screening (CTES, developed by a chemical company. The tool assesses if the exposure to a chemical for a task is likely to be within acceptable levels. Methods: CTES is a Microsoft Excel tool, where the inhalation risk score is calculated by relating the exposure estimate to the corresponding occupational exposure limit (OEL or occupational exposure band (OEB. The inhalation exposure is estimated for tasks by preassigned ART1.5 activity classes and modifying factors. Results: CTES requires few inputs. The toxicological data, including OELs, OEBs, and vapor pressure are read from a database. Once the substance is selected, the user specifies its concentration and then chooses the task description and its duration. CTES has three outputs that may trigger follow-up: (1 inhalation risk score; (2 identification of the skin hazard with the skin warnings for local and systemic adverse effects; and (3 status for carcinogenic, mutagenic, or reprotoxic effects. Conclusion: The tool provides an effective way to rapidly screen low-concern tasks, and quickly identifies certain tasks involving substances that will need further review with, nevertheless, the appropriate conservatism. This tool shows that the higher-tier ART1.5 inhalation exposure assessment model can be included effectively in a screening tool. After 2 years of worldwide extensive use within the company, CTES is well perceived by the users, including the shop floor management, and it fulfills its target of screening tool. Keywords: occupational exposure, risk assessment, risk management

Evaluation of the feasibility of security technologies in teleradiology as biometric fingerprint scanners for data exchange over a satellite WAN

Science.gov (United States)

Soegner, Peter I.; Helweg, Gernot; Holzer, Heimo; zur Nedden, Dieter

2000-05-01

We evaluated the feasibility of fingerprint-scanners in combination with smart cards for personal identification and transmission of encrypted TCP/IP-data-packages via satellite between the university-hospital of Innsbruck and the rural hospital of Reutte. The aim of our study was the proof of the userfriendliness of the SkymedTM technology for security purpose in teleradiology. We examined the time of the personal identification process, the time for the necessary training and the personal satisfaction. The images were sent from the local PACS in Reutte via a Data-Encryption-and-Transmission- Box via satellite from Reutte to Innsbruck. We used an asymmetric bandwidth of 512 kbit/s from Reutte to Innsbruck and 128 kbit/s in the opposite direction. Window NT 4.0- operating PCs were used for the electronical patient record, the medical inquiry of the referring physician and the final report of the radiologist. The images were reported on an UNIX-PACS viewing station. After identification through fingerprint-scanners in combination with the smart card the radiologist was able to open the electronic patient record (EPR) from Reutte and sign with his digital signature his confirmed final report before it was send back to Reutte. The used security technology enables encrypted communication over a WAN, which fulfill data-protection.

Chemical Risk Assessment Screening Tool of a Global Chemical Company

OpenAIRE

Evelyn Tjoe-Nij; Christophe Rochin; Nathalie Berne; Alessandro Sassi; Antoine Leplay

2018-01-01

Background: This paper describes a simple-to-use and reliable screening tool called Critical Task Exposure Screening (CTES), developed by a chemical company. The tool assesses if the exposure to a chemical for a task is likely to be within acceptable levels. Methods: CTES is a Microsoft Excel tool, where the inhalation risk score is calculated by relating the exposure estimate to the corresponding occupational exposure limit (OEL) or occupational exposure band (OEB). The inhalation exposure i...

C-TOOL

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taghizadeh-Toosi, Arezoo; Christensen, Bent Tolstrup; Hutchings, Nicholas John

2014-01-01

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a significant component of the global carbon (C) cycle. Changes in SOC storage affect atmospheric CO2 concentrations on decadal to centennial timescales. The C-TOOL model was developed to simulate farm- and regional-scale effects of management on medium- to long...

Hu-Lu-Ba-Wan Attenuates Diabetic Nephropathy in Type 2 Diabetic Rats through PKC-α/NADPH Oxidase Signaling Pathway

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lishan Zhou

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Hu-Lu-Ba-Wan (HLBW is a Chinese herbal prescription used to treat kidney deficiency. The aim of this study was to explore the effect and mechanism of HLBW on diabetic nephropathy (DN in type 2 diabetic rats. The rat model of DN was established by being fed a high-fat diet and intravenous injection of streptozotocin. Then, HLBW decoction was administered for 16 weeks. Blood glucose level, lipid profile, renal function, 24-hour total urinary protein, and albumin content were examined. Renal morphology and superoxide anion levels were evaluated. The activity of nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH and protein kinase C-alpha (PKC-α related genes expression in renal tissue were also determined. Our data demonstrated that HLBW significantly improved hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and proteinuria in diabetic rats compared with those of control group. HLBW also alleviated glomerular expansion and fibrosis, extracellular matrix accumulation and effacement of the foot processes. Additionally, HLBW reduced superoxide anion level, NADPH oxidase activity, the protein and mRNA expressions of p47phox, and the protein expression of phosphorylated PKC-α in renal tissue. These results suggest that HLBW is effective in the treatment of DN in rats. The underlying mechanism may be related to the attenuation of renal oxidative stress via PKC-α/NADPH oxidase signaling pathway.

The absence of fan activism in the queer fandom of Ho Denise Wan See (HOCC in Hong Kong

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheuk Yin Li

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The queer fandom of female Hong Kong pop singer Ho Denise Wan See (HOCC from 2009 to mid-2011 is dealt with through the qualitative methodology of in-depth interviews and media ethnography. HOCC, an idiosyncratic cultural producer who dabbles in the politics of ambiguity, creates texts that invite queer interpretations from fans and from queer activists in Hong Kong. Via analyses informed by both queer studies and audience studies, the various creative practices of fans in reshaping their sexual identities via popular culture are explored. These practices are highly political and empowering to a queer audience. However, the intensive rewriting of meanings as queer symbolic creativity and tactics in cultural politics fail to transform into formal institutional politics and more confrontational queer activism. This is so for several reasons. Internally, the hierarchical structure of fan organization, fan proximity to the culture industry, and the top-down encouragement of social charity as the only channel of activism have all reduced the possibility of transforming fans' queer sensibilities into institutional queer politics. Furthermore, Hong Kong, under the influence of three major discourses that seek to discipline and regulate sexualities—traditional Chinese ethics, the British colonial legacy, and the postcolonial revival of rightist Christianity—has a long social history of heterosexist discrimination and a preference for normalizing when striving for queer citizenship. This empirical study examines relations between cultural specificity and fan agency in a non-Western context.

Performance Evaluation of LoRa Considering Scenario Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez-Iborra, Ramon; Sanchez-Gomez, Jesus; Ballesta-Viñas, Juan; Cano, Maria-Dolores; Skarmeta, Antonio F

2018-03-03

New verticals within the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm such as smart cities, smart farming, or goods monitoring, among many others, are demanding strong requirements to the Radio Access Network (RAN) in terms of coverage, end-node's power consumption, and scalability. The technologies employed so far to provide IoT scenarios with connectivity, e.g., wireless sensor network and cellular technologies, are not able to simultaneously cope with these three requirements. Thus, a novel solution known as Low Power - Wide Area Network (LP-WAN) has emerged as a promising alternative to provide with low-cost and low-power-consumption connectivity to end-nodes spread in a wide area. Concretely, the Long-Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) technology is one of the LP-WAN platforms that is receiving greater attention from both the industry and the academia. For that reason, in this work, a comprehensive performance evaluation of LoRaWAN under different environmental conditions is presented. The results are obtained from three real scenarios, namely, urban, suburban, and rural, considering both dynamic and static conditions, hence a discussion about the most proper LoRaWAN physical-layer configuration for each scenario is provided. Besides, a theoretical coverage study is also conducted by the use of a radio planning tool considering topographic maps and a precise propagation model. From the attained results, it can be concluded that it is necessary to evaluate the propagation conditions of the deployment scenario prior to the system implantation in order to reach a compromise between the robustness of the network and the transmission data-rate.

Ensuring dynamic strategic fit of firms that compete globally in alliances and networks: proposing the Global SNA - Strategic Network Analysis - framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Diana L. Van Aduard de Macedo-Soares

2011-02-01

Full Text Available In order to sustain their competitive advantage in the current increasingly globalized and turbulent context, more and more firms are competing globally in alliances and networks that oblige them to adopt new managerial paradigms and tools. However, their strategic analyses rarely take into account the strategic implications of these alliances and networks, considering their global relational characteristics, admittedly because of a lack of adequate tools to do so. This paper contributes to research that seeks to fill this gap by proposing the Global Strategic Network Analysis - SNA - framework. Its purpose is to help firms that compete globally in alliances and networks to carry out their strategic assessments and decision-making with a view to ensuring dynamic strategic fit from both a global and relational perspective.

DengueTools: innovative tools and strategies for the surveillance and control of dengue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annelies Wilder-Smith

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral disease estimated to cause about 230 million infections worldwide every year, of which 25,000 are fatal. Global incidence has risen rapidly in recent decades with some 3.6 billion people, over half of the world's population, now at risk, mainly in urban centres of the tropics and subtropics. Demographic and societal changes, in particular urbanization, globalization, and increased international travel, are major contributors to the rise in incidence and geographic expansion of dengue infections. Major research gaps continue to hamper the control of dengue. The European Commission launched a call under the 7th Framework Programme with the title of ‘Comprehensive control of Dengue fever under changing climatic conditions’. Fourteen partners from several countries in Europe, Asia, and South America formed a consortium named ‘DengueTools’ to respond to the call to achieve better diagnosis, surveillance, prevention, and predictive models and improve our understanding of the spread of dengue to previously uninfected regions (including Europe in the context of globalization and climate change.The consortium comprises 12 work packages to address a set of research questions in three areas: Research area 1: Develop a comprehensive early warning and surveillance system that has predictive capability for epidemic dengue and benefits from novel tools for laboratory diagnosis and vector monitoring. Research area 2: Develop novel strategies to prevent dengue in children. Research area 3: Understand and predict the risk of global spread of dengue, in particular the risk of introduction and establishment in Europe, within the context of parameters of vectorial capacity, global mobility, and climate change.In this paper, we report on the rationale and specific study objectives of ‘DengueTools’. DengueTools is funded under the Health theme of the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community, Grant

USING GEM - GLOBAL ECONOMIC MODEL IN ACHIEVING A GLOBAL ECONOMIC FORECAST

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camelia Madalina Orac

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The global economic development model has proved to be insufficiently reliable under the new economic crisis. As a result, the entire theoretical construction about the global economy needs rethinking and reorientation. In this context, it is quite clear that only through effective use of specific techniques and tools of economic-mathematical modeling, statistics, regional analysis and economic forecasting it is possible to obtain an overview of the future economy.

The Bristol Radiology Report Assessment Tool (BRRAT): Developing a workplace-based assessment tool for radiology reporting skills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wallis, A.; Edey, A.; Prothero, D.; McCoubrie, P.

2013-01-01

Aim: To review the development of a workplace-based assessment tool to assess the quality of written radiology reports and assess its reliability, feasibility, and validity. Materials and methods: A comprehensive literature review and rigorous Delphi study enabled the development of the Bristol Radiology Report Assessment Tool (BRRAT), which consists of 19 questions and a global assessment score. Three assessors applied the assessment tool to 240 radiology reports provided by 24 radiology trainees. Results: The reliability coefficient for the 19 questions was 0.79 and the equivalent coefficient for the global assessment scores was 0.67. Generalizability coefficients demonstrate that higher numbers of assessors and assessments are needed to reach acceptable levels of reliability for summative assessments due to assessor subjectivity. Conclusion: The study methodology gives good validity and strong foundation in best-practice. The assessment tool developed for radiology reporting is reliable and most suited to formative assessments

Internationalizing Legal Education: a Cooperative Tool in a Globalized World

OpenAIRE

J. Williams, Jamie

2015-01-01

The term “globalization” has been applied to everything from economics and technology to socialmedia and market trends. Its use has become somewhat of a cliché1, and it is almost impossible to reada treatment of globalization that does not acknowledge the ambivalence and hyperbole surroundingthe term. The phrase “globalization of legal education” has the power to conjure visions ofsophisticated lawyers-in-the-making jockeying for positions in transnational mega firms, or interningat Internati...

Assessment of effects of a formula used in the traditional Chinese medicine (Buzhong Yi Qi Wan on the morphologic and osmotic fragility of red blood cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tania S. Giani

Full Text Available Buzhong Yi Qi Wan (BYQW is a combination of some medicinal herbs widely used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat blood, spleen and stomach disorders. Morphometric analysis and osmotic fragility assay have been used to evaluate changes on membrane integrity of red blood cells. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of an aqueous BYQW extract on the morphology and osmotic fragility of red blood cells. Blood samples were treated with BYQW extract, quantitative/qualitative morphological analysis and osmotic fragility assay were carried out against control groups treated with saline. The data obtained indicated no modification on morphology but osmotic fragility assay suggested a significant (p<0.05 increasing of hemolysis in red blood cells isolated from blood treated with aqueous BYQW extract. In conclusion, the aqueous BYQW extract could affect the membrane integrity decreasing the osmotic resistance but without altering the shape of red blood cells.

The Managing Emergencies in Paediatric Anaesthesia global rating scale is a reliable tool for simulation-based assessment in pediatric anesthesia crisis management.

Science.gov (United States)

Everett, Tobias C; Ng, Elaine; Power, Daniel; Marsh, Christopher; Tolchard, Stephen; Shadrina, Anna; Bould, Matthew D

2013-12-01

The use of simulation-based assessments for high-stakes physician examinations remains controversial. The Managing Emergencies in Paediatric Anaesthesia course uses simulation to teach evidence-based management of anesthesia crises to trainee anesthetists in the United Kingdom (UK) and Canada. In this study, we investigated the feasibility and reliability of custom-designed scenario-specific performance checklists and a global rating scale (GRS) assessing readiness for independent practice. After research ethics board approval, subjects were videoed managing simulated pediatric anesthesia crises in a single Canadian teaching hospital. Each subject was randomized to two of six different scenarios. All 60 scenarios were subsequently rated by four blinded raters (two in the UK, two in Canada) using the checklists and GRS. The actual and predicted reliability of the tools was calculated for different numbers of raters using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula. Average measures ICCs ranged from 'substantial' to 'near perfect' (P ≤ 0.001). The reliability of the checklists and the GRS was similar. Single measures ICCs showed more variability than average measures ICC. At least two raters would be required to achieve acceptable reliability. We have established the reliability of a GRS to assess the management of simulated crisis scenarios in pediatric anesthesia, and this tool is feasible within the setting of a research study. The global rating scale allows raters to make a judgement regarding a participant's readiness for independent practice. These tools may be used in the future research examining simulation-based assessment. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

75 FR 81565 - Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews and Request for...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-28

... Jiangsu Inter-China Group Corporation (previously operated as Zhenjiang Inter-China Import & Export Co...., Ltd aka Wanli Tools Group Zhenjiang Inter-China Import & Export Co., Ltd.. THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF...., Ltd Xinjiang Top Agricultural Products Co., Ltd..... XuZhou Simple Garlic Industry Co., Ltd Yantai...

Capturing value from IP in a global environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alcacer, Juan; Beukel, Karin; Cassiman, Bruno

section. Global companies will need to organize cross-functional value capture teams focused on appropriating value from their know-how and reputation by combining different institutional, market, and non-market tools, depending on the institutional and business environment in a particular region.......This paper documents the strong growth in tools used by firms to protect their intellectual property (IP), develop their know-how, and build and maintain their reputation globally. We focus on three tools that have become increasingly important in the last several decades: patents, trademarks...... experiencing the most growth. These trends in applications are less evident when we study which applications are actually granted. For example, the shift in IP activity toward middle-income countries and Asia is less pronounced, and the most developed countries still lead globally. Moreover, there seems...

Si Shen Wan Regulates Phospholipase Cγ-1 and PI3K/Akt Signal in Colonic Mucosa from Rats with Colitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duan-yong Liu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The present study explored the feasible pathway of Si Shen Wan (SSW in inhibiting apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells (IECs by observing activation of phospholipase Cγ-1 (PLC-γ1 and PI3K/Akt signal in colonic mucosa from rats with colitis. Experimental colitis was induced by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS in the Sprague-Dawley rats. After SSW was administrated for 7 days after TNBS infusion, western blot showed an increment in levels of PI3K, p-Akt, and IL-23 and a decrement in levels of PLC-γ1 and HSP70 in colonic mucosal injury induced by TNBS. Meanwhile, assessments by ELISA revealed an increment in concentrations of IL-2, IL-6, and IL-17 and a reduction in level of TGF-β after TNBS challenge. Impressively, treatment with SSW for 7 days significantly attenuated the expressions of PI3K and p-Akt and the secretion of IL-2, IL-6, IL-17, and IL-23 and promoted the activation of PLC-γ1, HSP70, and TGF-β. Our previous studies had demonstrated that SSW restored colonic mucosal ulcers by inhibiting apoptosis of IECs. The present study demonstrated that the effect of SSW on inhibiting apoptosis of IECs was realized probably by activation of PLC-γ1 and suppression of PI3K/Akt signal pathway.

The preliminary development and testing of a global trigger tool to detect error and patient harm in primary-care records.

Science.gov (United States)

de Wet, C; Bowie, P

2009-04-01

A multi-method strategy has been proposed to understand and improve the safety of primary care. The trigger tool is a relatively new method that has shown promise in American and secondary healthcare settings. It involves the focused review of a random sample of patient records using a series of "triggers" that alert reviewers to potential errors and previously undetected adverse events. To develop and test a global trigger tool to detect errors and adverse events in primary-care records. Trigger tool development was informed by previous research and content validated by expert opinion. The tool was applied by trained reviewers who worked in pairs to conduct focused audits of 100 randomly selected electronic patient records in each of five urban general practices in central Scotland. Review of 500 records revealed 2251 consultations and 730 triggers. An adverse event was found in 47 records (9.4%), indicating that harm occurred at a rate of one event per 48 consultations. Of these, 27 were judged to be preventable (42%). A further 17 records (3.4%) contained evidence of a potential adverse event. Harm severity was low to moderate for most patients (82.9%). Error and harm rates were higher in those aged > or =60 years, and most were medication-related (59%). The trigger tool was successful in identifying undetected patient harm in primary-care records and may be the most reliable method for achieving this. However, the feasibility of its routine application is open to question. The tool may have greater utility as a research rather than an audit technique. Further testing in larger, representative study samples is required.

The Bristol Radiology Report Assessment Tool (BRRAT): developing a workplace-based assessment tool for radiology reporting skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Wallis, A; Edey, A; Prothero, D; McCoubrie, P

2013-11-01

To review the development of a workplace-based assessment tool to assess the quality of written radiology reports and assess its reliability, feasibility, and validity. A comprehensive literature review and rigorous Delphi study enabled the development of the Bristol Radiology Report Assessment Tool (BRRAT), which consists of 19 questions and a global assessment score. Three assessors applied the assessment tool to 240 radiology reports provided by 24 radiology trainees. The reliability coefficient for the 19 questions was 0.79 and the equivalent coefficient for the global assessment scores was 0.67. Generalizability coefficients demonstrate that higher numbers of assessors and assessments are needed to reach acceptable levels of reliability for summative assessments due to assessor subjectivity. The study methodology gives good validity and strong foundation in best-practice. The assessment tool developed for radiology reporting is reliable and most suited to formative assessments. Copyright © 2013 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Performance Evaluation of LoRa Considering Scenario Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramon Sanchez-Iborra

2018-03-01

Full Text Available New verticals within the Internet of Things (IoT paradigm such as smart cities, smart farming, or goods monitoring, among many others, are demanding strong requirements to the Radio Access Network (RAN in terms of coverage, end-node’s power consumption, and scalability. The technologies employed so far to provide IoT scenarios with connectivity, e.g., wireless sensor network and cellular technologies, are not able to simultaneously cope with these three requirements. Thus, a novel solution known as Low Power - Wide Area Network (LP-WAN has emerged as a promising alternative to provide with low-cost and low-power-consumption connectivity to end-nodes spread in a wide area. Concretely, the Long-Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN technology is one of the LP-WAN platforms that is receiving greater attention from both the industry and the academia. For that reason, in this work, a comprehensive performance evaluation of LoRaWAN under different environmental conditions is presented. The results are obtained from three real scenarios, namely, urban, suburban, and rural, considering both dynamic and static conditions, hence a discussion about the most proper LoRaWAN physical-layer configuration for each scenario is provided. Besides, a theoretical coverage study is also conducted by the use of a radio planning tool considering topographic maps and a precise propagation model. From the attained results, it can be concluded that it is necessary to evaluate the propagation conditions of the deployment scenario prior to the system implantation in order to reach a compromise between the robustness of the network and the transmission data-rate.

Application of integrated modeling technique for data services ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper, therefore, describes the application of the integrated simulation technique for deriving the optimum resources required for data services in an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) based private wide area network (WAN) to guarantee specific QoS requirement. The simulation tool drastically cuts the simulation ...

Development of Low Global Warming Potential Refrigerant Solutions for Commercial Refrigeration Systems using a Life Cycle Climate Performance Design Tool

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abdelaziz, Omar [ORNL; Fricke, Brian A [ORNL; Vineyard, Edward Allan [ORNL

2012-01-01

Commercial refrigeration systems are known to be prone to high leak rates and to consume large amounts of electricity. As such, direct emissions related to refrigerant leakage and indirect emissions resulting from primary energy consumption contribute greatly to their Life Cycle Climate Performance (LCCP). In this paper, an LCCP design tool is used to evaluate the performance of a typical commercial refrigeration system with alternative refrigerants and minor system modifications to provide lower Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerant solutions with improved LCCP compared to baseline systems. The LCCP design tool accounts for system performance, ambient temperature, and system load; system performance is evaluated using a validated vapor compression system simulation tool while ambient temperature and system load are devised from a widely used building energy modeling tool (EnergyPlus). The LCCP design tool also accounts for the change in hourly electricity emission rate to yield an accurate prediction of indirect emissions. The analysis shows that conventional commercial refrigeration system life cycle emissions are largely due to direct emissions associated with refrigerant leaks and that system efficiency plays a smaller role in the LCCP. However, as a transition occurs to low GWP refrigerants, the indirect emissions become more relevant. Low GWP refrigerants may not be suitable for drop-in replacements in conventional commercial refrigeration systems; however some mixtures may be introduced as transitional drop-in replacements. These transitional refrigerants have a significantly lower GWP than baseline refrigerants and as such, improved LCCP. The paper concludes with a brief discussion on the tradeoffs between refrigerant GWP, efficiency and capacity.

The application of systems thinking concepts, methods, and tools to global health practices: An analysis of case studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Jessica; Goff, Morgan; Rusoja, Evan; Hanson, Carl; Swanson, Robert Chad

2018-06-01

This review of systems thinking (ST) case studies seeks to compile and analyse cases from ST literature and provide practitioners with a reference for ST in health practice. Particular attention was given to (1) reviewing the frequency and use of key ST terms, methods, and tools in the context of health, and (2) extracting and analysing longitudinal themes across cases. A systematic search of databases was conducted, and a total of 36 case studies were identified. A combination of integrative and inductive qualitative approaches to analysis was used. Most cases identified took place in high-income countries and applied ST retrospectively. The most commonly used ST terms were agent/stakeholder/actor (n = 29), interdependent/interconnected (n = 28), emergence (n = 26), and adaptability/adaptation (n = 26). Common ST methods and tools were largely underutilized. Social network analysis was the most commonly used method (n = 4), and innovation or change management history was the most frequently used tool (n = 11). Four overarching themes were identified; the importance of the interdependent and interconnected nature of a health system, characteristics of leaders in a complex adaptive system, the benefits of using ST, and barriers to implementing ST. This review revealed that while much has been written about the potential benefits of applying ST to health, it has yet to completely transition from theory to practice. There is however evidence of the practical use of an ST lens as well as specific methods and tools. With clear examples of ST applications, the global health community will be better equipped to understand and address key health challenges. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An extract of a formula used in the traditional chinese medicine (Buzhong Yi Qi Wan) alters the labeling of blood constituents with technetium-99m

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Giani, Tania Santos; Paoli, Severo de; Brandao-Neto, Jose; Medeiros, Aldo da Cunha [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, RN (Brazil). Centro de Ciencias da Saude. Programa de Pos-graduacao em Ciencias da Saude]. E-mail: tgiani@gmail.com; Presta, Giuseppe Antonio; Maiworm, Adalgisa Ieda; Santos Filho, Sebastiao David; Fonseca, Adenilson de Souza da [Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), RJ (Brazil). Inst. de Biologia Roberto Alcantara Gomes. Lab. de Radiofarmacia Experimental; Bernardo-Filho, Mario [Instituto Nacional de Cancer (INCa), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Centro de Pesquisa Basica

2007-09-15

Buzhong Yi Qi Wan (Buzhong) is a medicinal herb widely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat the digestive and circulatory systems. Red blood cell and plasma proteins labeled with technetium-99m ({sup 99m}Tc) are used in nuclear medicine. The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of an aqueous Buzhong extract on the labeling of blood constituents with {sup 99m}Tc. Heparinized blood (Wistar rats) was incubated in vitro with different Buzhong extract concentrations and {sup 99m}Tc-labeling was performed. Plasma (P) and blood cells (BC) were separated and soluble (SF-P, SF-BC) and insoluble (IF-P, IF-BC) fractions were isolated. The radioactivity on blood constituents was determined and the percentage of incorporated radioactivity (%ATI) was calculated. Buzhong extract at the highest concentrations used altered significantly (p<0.05) the %ATI in blood constituents. Substances present in the Buzhong extract could alter the cellular membrane and/or generation of free radicals that have oxidant properties modifying the labeling of blood constituents with {sup 99}mTc. (author)

Health promotion: An effective tool for global health

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Sanjiv Kumar

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Health promotion is very relevant today. There is a global acceptance that health and social wellbeing are determined by many factors outside the health system which include socioeconomic conditions, patterns of consumption associated with food and communication, demographic patterns, learning environments, family patterns, the cultural and social fabric of societies; sociopolitical and economic changes, including commercialization and trade and global environmental change. In such a situation, health issues can be effectively addressed by adopting a holistic approach by empowering individuals and communities to take action for their health, fostering leadership for public health, promoting intersectoral action to build healthy public policies in all sectors and creating sustainable health systems. Although, not a new concept, health promotion received an impetus following Alma Ata declaration. Recently it has evolved through a series of international conferences, with the first conference in Canada producing the famous Ottawa charter. Efforts at promoting health encompassing actions at individual and community levels, health system strengthening and multi sectoral partnership can be directed at specific health conditions. It should also include settings-based approach to promote health in specific settings such as schools, hospitals, workplaces, residential areas etc. Health promotion needs to be built into all the policies and if utilized efficiently will lead to positive health outcomes.

Institutional Learning and Knowledge Transfer Across Epistemic Communities New Tools of Global Governance

CERN Document Server

Carayannis, Elias G; Popescu, Denisa

2012-01-01

Over the past several decades, as the pace of globalization has accelerated, operational issues of international coordination have often been overlooked.  For example, the global financial crisis that began in 2007 is attributed, in part, to a lack of regulatory oversight.  As a result, supranational organizations, such as the G-20, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, have prioritized strengthening of the international financial architecture and providing opportunities for dialogue on national policies, international co-operation, and international financial institutions. Prevailing characteristics of the global economic systems, such as the increasing power of financial institutions, changes in the structure of global production, decline in the authority of nation-states over their national economy, and  creation of global institutional setting, e.g., global governance have created the conditions for a naturally evolving process towards enabling national epistemic communities to create in...

A Web-Based Validation Tool for GEWEX

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, R. A.; Gibson, S.; Heckert, E.; Minnis, P.; Sun-Mack, S.; Chen, Y.; Stubenrauch, C.; Kinne, S. A.; Ackerman, S. A.; Baum, B. A.; Chepfer, H.; Di Girolamo, L.; Heidinger, A. K.; Getzewich, B. J.; Guignard, A.; Maddux, B. C.; Menzel, W. P.; Platnick, S. E.; Poulsen, C.; Raschke, E. A.; Riedi, J.; Rossow, W. B.; Sayer, A. M.; Walther, A.; Winker, D. M.

2011-12-01

The Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Cloud assessment was initiated by the GEWEX Radiation Panel (GRP) in 2005 to evaluate the variability of available, global, long-term cloud data products. Since then, eleven cloud data records have been established from various instruments, mostly onboard polar orbiting satellites. Cloud properties under study include cloud amount, cloud pressure, cloud temperature, cloud infrared (IR) emissivity and visible (VIS) optical thickness, cloud thermodynamic phase, as well as bulk microphysical properties. The volume of data and variations in parameters, spatial, and temporal resolution for the different datasets constitute a significant challenge for understanding the differences and the value of having more than one dataset. To address this issue, this paper presents a NASA Langley web-based tool to facilitate comparisons among the different cloud data sets. With this tool, the operator can choose to view numeric or graphic presentations to allow comparison between products. Multiple records are displayed in time series graphs, global maps, or zonal plots. The tool has been made flexible so that additional teams can easily add their data sets to the record selection list for use in their own analyses. This tool has possible applications to other climate and weather datasets.

Outlook: directed development: catalysing a global biotech industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Anthony; Perkins, Tom

2005-09-01

Governments are increasingly relying on directed development tools or proactive public-policy approaches to stimulate scientific and economic development for their biotechnology industries. This article will discuss the four main tools of directed development in biotechnology and the lessons learned from current global efforts utilizing these tools.

[The public health legislation in conditions of globalization].

Science.gov (United States)

Yefremov, D V; Jyliyaeva, E P

2013-01-01

The article demonstrates the impact of globalization on development of public health legislation at the international level and in particular countries. The legislation is considered as a tool to decrease the globalization health risks for population

Breastfeeding assessment tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bizouerne, Cécile; Kerac, Marko; Macgrath, Marie

2014-01-01

Full text: Breastfeeding plays a major role in reducing the global burden of child mortality and under-nutrition. Whilst many programmes aim to support breastfeeding and prevent feeding problems occurring, interventions are also needed once they have developed. In this situation, accurate assessment of a problem is critical to inform prognosis and enables tailored, appropriate treatment. The presentation will present a review, which aims to identify breastfeeding assessment tools/checklists for use in assessing malnourished infants in poor resource settings. The literature review identified 24 breastfeeding assessment tools, and 41 validation studies. Evidence underpinning most of the tools was mainly low quality, and conducted in high-income countries and hospital settings. The presentation will describe the main findings of the literature review and propose recommendations for improving existing tools in order to appropriately assess malnourished infants and enable early, appropriate intervention and treatment of malnutrition. (author)

Searching for Synergistic Bronchodilators and Novel Therapeutic Regimens for Chronic Lung Diseases from a Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qingfei Xiaoyan Wan

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Yuanyuan; Cheng, Binfeng; Zhou, Mengge; Fang, Runping; Jiang, Min; Hou, Wenbin; Bai, Gang

2014-01-01

Classical Chinese pharmacopeias describe numerous excellent herbal formulations, and each prescription is an outstanding pool of effective compounds for drug discovery. Clarifying the bioactivity of the combined mechanisms of the ingredients in complex traditional Chinese medicine formulas is challenging. A classical formula known as Qingfei Xiaoyan Wan, used clinically as a treatment for prevalent chronic lung disease, was investigated in this work. A mutually enhanced bioactivity-guided ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF-MS) characterization system was proposed, coupled with a dual-luciferase reporter assay for β2AR-agonist cofactor screening. Arctiin, arctigenin, descurainoside and descurainolide B, four lignin compounds that showed synergistic bronchodilation effects with ephedrine, were revealed. The synergistic mechanism of arctigenin with the β2ARagonist involved with the reduction of free Ca2+ was clarified by a dual-luciferase reporter assay for intracellular calcium and the Ca2+ indicator fluo-4/AM to monitor changes in the fluorescence. The relaxant and contractile responses of airway smooth muscle are regulated by crosstalk between the intracellular cAMP and calcium signaling pathways. Our data indicated the non-selective βAR agonist ephedrine as the principal bronchodilator of the formula, whereas the lignin ingredients served as adjuvant ingredients. A greater understanding of the mechanisms governing the control of these pathways, based on conventional wisdom, could lead to the identification of novel therapeutic targets or new agents for the treatment of asthma and COPD. PMID:25397687

Searching for synergistic bronchodilators and novel therapeutic regimens for chronic lung diseases from a traditional Chinese medicine, Qingfei Xiaoyan Wan.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuanyuan Hou

Full Text Available Classical Chinese pharmacopeias describe numerous excellent herbal formulations, and each prescription is an outstanding pool of effective compounds for drug discovery. Clarifying the bioactivity of the combined mechanisms of the ingredients in complex traditional Chinese medicine formulas is challenging. A classical formula known as Qingfei Xiaoyan Wan, used clinically as a treatment for prevalent chronic lung disease, was investigated in this work. A mutually enhanced bioactivity-guided ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF-MS characterization system was proposed, coupled with a dual-luciferase reporter assay for β2AR-agonist cofactor screening. Arctiin, arctigenin, descurainoside and descurainolide B, four lignin compounds that showed synergistic bronchodilation effects with ephedrine, were revealed. The synergistic mechanism of arctigenin with the β2ARagonist involved with the reduction of free Ca2+ was clarified by a dual-luciferase reporter assay for intracellular calcium and the Ca2+ indicator fluo-4/AM to monitor changes in the fluorescence. The relaxant and contractile responses of airway smooth muscle are regulated by crosstalk between the intracellular cAMP and calcium signaling pathways. Our data indicated the non-selective βAR agonist ephedrine as the principal bronchodilator of the formula, whereas the lignin ingredients served as adjuvant ingredients. A greater understanding of the mechanisms governing the control of these pathways, based on conventional wisdom, could lead to the identification of novel therapeutic targets or new agents for the treatment of asthma and COPD.

Visual object-oriented technology and case-tools of developing the Internet / Intranet-oriented training courses

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Salaimeh S. A.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available New information technologies, modern computers, LAN, WAN networks enable us to modernize the whole education system. One of the most perspective ways of the modern educational system’s development is online education. The questions of developing the visual instrumental system PIECE designed to automate processes of creation the cross- platform hypermedia training and controlling course (HTCC are viewed in this paper.

Global-Detector; GIS- and Knowledge-based tool for a global detection of the potential for production, supply and demand

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hennen, W.H.G.J.; Daane, P.A.J.; Duijvendijk, van Kees

2017-01-01

Wageningen Economic Research has developed Global-Detector, a knowledge-based Geographic Information System that aims to detect the worldwide potential for production, demand and market strategies. At any spot in the world Global-Detector can show the values from a large amount of indicators, such

The Global Lives Project: Making New Media Matter in a Global World

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hasse Jørgensen, Stina

2010-01-01

Computing has infiltrated the everyday life of people all over the world. It is no longer merely a tool for communication and interaction, but also something-to-think-with, a medium that can give us new dimensions in the way we experience and engage with the world.Critical computing evokes...... in the user new ways of thinking and interacting with a globalized world. The Global Lives Project is a compelling example of this usage of computing technology. The GLP archive, which contains visual documentation of the lives of different people from around the world on a digital platform on the Internet......, enables users to actively engage with global cultures. As a critical computing project, the Global Lives Project hopes to bring a critical awareness of how culture is categorized and transformed by engaging users in a collaborative new media project....

Global corporate workplaces implementing new global workplace standards in a local context

CERN Document Server

Hodulak, Martin

2017-01-01

In recent years, multinational corporations were increasingly engaged in the development of standardized global workplace models. For their implementation and feasibility, it is decisive as how these standards fit the diverse regional workplace cultures. This topic was pursued in the course of a research project, comparing established workplaces in Germany, USA and Japan against global workplace standards of multinational corporations. The analysis confirmed the expected differences among local workplaces and on the other hand a predominant mainstream among global corporate workplace standards. Conspicuous however, are the fundamental differences between local models and corporate standards. For the implementation of global standards in local context, this implies multiple challenges on cultural, organizational and spatial level. The analysis findings provide information for assessing current projects and pinpointing optimization measures. The analysis framework further provides a tool to uncover and assess n...

HPLC法测定清肺消炎丸中三种抗炎成分含量%Determination of content of three anti-inflammatory ingredients in Qingfei Xiaoyan Wan by using HPLC method

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

崔庆新; 廖承美; 陈志凯; 马芳; 陶瑾

2016-01-01

采用高效液相色谱法(HPLC)对清肺消炎丸中牛蒡子苷、牛蒡子苷元和绿原酸进行定量测定.色谱柱：Symmetry ® C18柱.流动相：牛蒡子苷、牛蒡子苷元采用甲醇-水(体积比为50∶50),检测波长280 nm；绿原酸采用乙腈-0．4％的磷酸(体积比为13∶87),检测波长327 nm.结果表明,清肺消炎丸中含牛蒡子苷407 mg/g,牛蒡子苷元0．19 mg/g,绿原酸0．076 mg/g.牛蒡子苷、牛蒡子苷元和绿原酸进样量分别在1．94～9．70μg、0．20～1．00μg、0．05～0．25μg 范围内与峰面积的线性关系良好.牛蒡子苷、牛蒡子苷元和绿原酸的回收率分别为102．59％(RSD＝1．69％,n＝5),98．17％(RSD＝1．52％,n＝5)和9833％(RSD＝1．46％,n＝5).该方法简单、精确、灵敏、专属性强、重复性好,可定量测定清肺消炎丸中抗炎物质含量.%By using the method of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)to quantitatively determine the content of arctii,arctigenin and chlorogenic acid in Qingfei Xiaoyan Wan.The chromatographic column is Symmetry ® C18 color table.The mobile phase for arctii and arctigenin is methanol-water (50:50 ),the detection wavelength is 280 nm;for the chlorogenic acid was acetonitrile-0.4% phosphoric acid (13:87),the detection wavelength is 327 nm.The contents of arctii,arctigenin and chlorogenic acid were 4.07 mg/g(n=3), 0.1 9 mg/g (n=3)and 0.076 mg/g(n=3)respectively in Qingfei Xiaoyan Wan.It shows that there is a good linear relationship between the peak area and sample size of arctii,arctigenin and chlorogenic in the range of 194-9.70 μg,0.20 - 1.00 μg and 0.05 -0.25 μg,respectively.The recovery rates were arctii 102.59%(RSD=1.69%,n = 5 ),arctigenin 98.1 7 %(RSD= 1.52%,n = 5 )and chlorogenic acid 98.33% (RSD= 1. 46%,n=5).The method used in this study is simple,accurate,sensitive,and has strong specificity and good repeatability.And it can be used to quantitatively determine the content of the material in

Using isotopes for global warming observation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Namata, K.

2002-01-01

This paper, based on a literature review, discusses the main aspects of using isotopic techniques to obtain information about global warming. The rapid increase concentration of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) in the atmosphere will result in global warming by the greenhouse effect, and the isotopic techniques constitute an efficient tool to explain this complex environmental phenomenon. (author)

Sensitivity of direct global warming potentials to key uncertainties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wuebbles, D.J.; Patten, K.O.; Grant, K.E.; Jain, A.K.

1992-07-01

A series of sensitivity studies examines the effect of several uncertainties in Global Wanning Potentials (GWPs). For example, the original evaluation of GWPs for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (EPCC, 1990) did not attempt to account for the possible sinks of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) that could balance the carbon cycle and produce atmospheric concentrations of C0 2 that match observations. In this study, a balanced carbon cycle model is applied in calculation of the radiative forcing from C0 2 . Use of the balanced model produces up to 20 percent enhancement of the GWPs for most trace gases compared with the EPCC (1990) values for time horizons up to 100 years, but a decreasing enhancement with longer time horizons. Uncertainty limits of the fertilization feedback parameter contribute a 10 percent range in GWP values. Another systematic uncertainty in GWPs is the assumption of an equilibrium atmosphere (one in which the concentration of trace gases remains constant) versus a disequilibrium atmosphere. The latter gives GWPs that are 15 to 30 percent greater than the former, dependening upon the carbon dioxide emission scenario chosen. Seven scenarios are employed: constant emission past 1990 and the six EPCC (1992) emission scenarios. For the analysis of uncertainties in atmospheric lifetime (τ), the GWP changes in direct proportion to τ for short-lived gases, but to a lesser extent for gases with τ greater than the time horizon for the GWP calculation

Reliability and validity of a 20-s alternative to the wingate anaerobic test in team sport male athletes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed Attia

Full Text Available The intent of this study was to evaluate relative and absolute reliability of the 20-s anaerobic test (WAnT20 versus the WAnT30 and to verify how far the various indices of the 30-s Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT30 could be predicted from the WAnT20 data in male athletes. The participants were Exercise Science majors (age: 21.5±1.6 yrs, stature: 0.183±0.08 m, body mass: 81.2±10.9 kg who participated regularly in team sports. In Phase I, 41 participants performed duplicate WAnT20 and WAnT30 tests to assess reliability. In Phase II, 31 participants performed one trial each of the WAnT20 and WAnT30 to determine the ability of the WAnT20 to predict components of the WAnT30. In Phase III, 31 participants were used to cross-validate the prediction equations developed in Phase II. Respective intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC for peak power output (PPO (ICC = 0.98 and 0.95 and mean power output (MPO (ICC 0.98 and 0.90 did not differ significantly between WAnT20 and WAnT30. ICCs for minimal power output (POmin and fatigue index (FI were poor for both tests (range 0.53 to 0.76. Standard errors of the means (SEM for PPO and MPO were less than their smallest worthwhile changes (SWC in both tests; however, POmin and FI values were "marginal," with SEM values greater than their respective SWCs for both tests values. Stepwise regression analysis showed that MPO had the highest coefficient of predictability (R = 0.97, with POmin and FI considerable lower (R = 0.71 and 0.41 respectively. Cross-validation showed insignificant bias with limits of agreement of 0.99±1.04, 6.5±92.7 W, and 1.6±9.8% between measured and predicted MPO, POmin, and FI, respectively. WAnT20 offers a reliable and valid test of leg anaerobic power in male athletes and could replace the classic WAnT30.

À la recherche d’innovations dans l’enseignement du FLE destinées aux étudiants sinophones en mobilité interuniversitaire : le cas de Taïwan

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LEE Hsin-I

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Un nombre croissant d’étudiants sinophones vient en France pour poursuivre ses études. Afin de préciser les problèmes rencontrés, nous avons effectué des enquêtes auprès d’un échantillon de 90 étudiants taïwanais de diverses disciplines, durant les années universitaires 2013 et 2014, avant le départ et pendant le séjour en France. La question linguistique est souvent un problème majeur, mais elle n’est pas la seule. Les étudiants vont également faire l’expérience des différences culturelles. De plus, l’adaptation à la méthodologie universitaire soulève des difficultés. Notre conclusion consiste à proposer dans l’enseignement du FLE à Taïwan des innovations pédagogiques destinées à mieux préparer en amont les étudiants et ainsi leur permettre de mieux s’adapter au système éducatif français.

Global Warming and Financial Umbrellas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dosi, C.; Moretto, M.

2001-10-01

A new instrument for hedging weather risks has made its appearance in the financial arena. Trade in 'weather derivatives' has taken off in the US, and interest is growing elsewhere. Whilst such contracts may be simply interpreted as a new tool for solving a historical problem, the question addressed in this paper is if, besides other factors, the appearance of weather derivatives is somehow related to anthropogenic climate change. Our tentative answer is positive. Since 'global warming' does not simply mean an increase in averaged temperatures, but increased climate variability, and increased frequency and magnitude of weather extremes, derivative contracts may potentially become a useful tool for hedging some weather risks, insofar as they may provide coverage at a lower cost than standard insurance schemes. Keywords: Global warming, climate variability, insurance coverage, weather derivatives

Global Elite as Transnational Capitalist Class

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Lukáš Kantor

2017-01-01

Full Text Available As a contribution to the burgeoning field of multidisciplinary globalization studies, this article evaluates how IR grand theories can conceptualize the phenomenon of global elite. It compares and synthesizes (neoliberalism, constructivism, feminism and neo-Marxism. Liberal approaches use the analytical tool of transnational actors or transnational networks. In constructivist’s perspective, part of global elite falls into the category of epistemic community. Feminists offer the term Davos Men. Neo-Marxist conceptualization revolves around the notion of transnational capitalist class. The paper concludes that neo-Marxist IR theory best accounts for the global elite and therefore, the debates on the transnational capitalist class are thoroughly and critically reviewed.

On global and regional spectral evaluation of global geopotential models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ustun, A; Abbak, R A

2010-01-01

Spectral evaluation of global geopotential models (GGMs) is necessary to recognize the behaviour of gravity signal and its error recorded in spherical harmonic coefficients and associated standard deviations. Results put forward in this wise explain the whole contribution of gravity data in different kinds that represent various sections of the gravity spectrum. This method is more informative than accuracy assessment methods, which use external data such as GPS-levelling. Comparative spectral evaluation for more than one model can be performed both in global and local sense using many spectral tools. The number of GGMs has grown with the increasing number of data collected by the dedicated satellite gravity missions, CHAMP, GRACE and GOCE. This fact makes it necessary to measure the differences between models and to monitor the improvements in the gravity field recovery. In this paper, some of the satellite-only and combined models are examined in different scales, globally and regionally, in order to observe the advances in the modelling of GGMs and their strengths at various expansion degrees for geodetic and geophysical applications. The validation of the published errors of model coefficients is a part of this evaluation. All spectral tools explicitly reveal the superiority of the GRACE-based models when compared against the models that comprise the conventional satellite tracking data. The disagreement between models is large in local/regional areas if data sets are different, as seen from the example of the Turkish territory

Supply chains in global production

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Anatolii Mazaraki

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Analyzing the current processes of global sales and sales interaction over the past two decades shows that the world’s system of exchanges has undergone significant changes that have been caused by a multitude of factors. The formation of a complex model of global production, determined by the peculiarities of the transformation of individual economies’ growth models, the specifics of their industrialization and the forms of development of their national production business, its institutional and market-wise restructuring and the degree of inclusion in the system of international division of labor. The change in the level and depth of the specialization of individual countries in the field of production and sale of products, in turn, has accelerated the overcoming of economic distance (which is measured by the cost of transport and information services. Based on the above, namely, within the framework of forming a new model of global production, the issue of studying the role and value of supply chains in this model is made relevant. Aim and tasks. The purpose of the article is to study the modern transformation of supply chains within the global production system. The findings will allow to determine what exactly needs to be done in the direction of further redeveloping the regulatory tools of global supply chain management. Research results. The article presents the results of studying the transformation of supply chains’ role in global production. It is determined that taking into account the existing specificity of industrialization and fragmentation of national production, as well as the rapid spread of the results of scientific and technological progress in the world economy, there is a need for a more thorough study of this change. As a result of analyzing open source statistical data, a conclusion was reached regarding the transition from the competition of individual business entities to the competition of global

Economic Globalization - a Phenomenon of Global Business Integration

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Radu-Marcel Joia

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Tumultuous economic life led scientists to seek explanations to the negative economic events,events that take many forms, and to whom it is a must to find a solution or even a mitigating factor. Thefoundation of the economy has undergone many changes. The recent events manifested in the world economyshow that the underlying fundamentals of this science must be revised because they proved to be wrong. Itnotes several times, mainly due to present economic crisis, that currently the economics have no theoreticaland practical means and no tools of analysis and intervention in the economy, proving that the existing onesare exceeded and insufficient, so that the creation of an unifying principle and of some generalizing conceptsthat could systematize and forecast the current economic phenomena in the microeconomics andmacroeconomics, especially in the transnational companies field, those which are the base of the foreigndirect investment flows, should become the main objective of the new economic science. Through this paper,we tried to illustrate the important aspects of economic globalization, the challenges that this phenomenonposes to economies and the way in which an economy can become globally competitive, under massiveconstraints of the global competition, how a national company can become globally integrated, study basedon representative references.

Social Entrepreneurship as a tool for promoting Global Citizenship in Island Tourism Destination Management

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Vanessa Gowreesunkar

2015-06-01

Full Text Available While on one hand, social entrepreneurship, as a new movement, is being spearheaded by individuals to make the world a better place, on the other hand, small islands, dominated by Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs seem to have overlooked this emerging concept in their tourism management initiatives. The work of Séraphin (2012 highlighted two important social entrepreneurship schemes in Haiti, but failed to shed light on its relevance and implications for island tourism. Similarly, in Mauritius, the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure is engaged in various tourism management initiatives aligned with the governmental vision called ‘Maurice Ile Durable’ (MID, but, social entrepreneurship is not considered in the tourism plan. With these gaps as foundations, this paper examines the concept of social entrepreneurship and investigates its role in promoting global citizenship in island tourism destination management. Starting with a brief presentation of Mauritius and Haiti as tourism destinations, this paper examines two small islands heavily dependent on tourism. Exploratory in nature, it unfolds with some meaningful observations on the Haitian and Mauritian tourism industries. The paper thereafter develops new insights on the role of social entrepreneurship in island tourism and suggests its merit as a tool for island destination management.

Transparent Global Seismic Hazard and Risk Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Smolka, Anselm; Schneider, John; Pinho, Rui; Crowley, Helen

2013-04-01

Vulnerability to earthquakes is increasing, yet advanced reliable risk assessment tools and data are inaccessible to most, despite being a critical basis for managing risk. Also, there are few, if any, global standards that allow us to compare risk between various locations. The Global Earthquake Model (GEM) is a unique collaborative effort that aims to provide organizations and individuals with tools and resources for transparent assessment of earthquake risk anywhere in the world. By pooling data, knowledge and people, GEM acts as an international forum for collaboration and exchange, and leverages the knowledge of leading experts for the benefit of society. Sharing of data and risk information, best practices, and approaches across the globe is key to assessing risk more effectively. Through global projects, open-source IT development and collaborations with more than 10 regions, leading experts are collaboratively developing unique global datasets, best practice, open tools and models for seismic hazard and risk assessment. Guided by the needs and experiences of governments, companies and citizens at large, they work in continuous interaction with the wider community. A continuously expanding public-private partnership constitutes the GEM Foundation, which drives the collaborative GEM effort. An integrated and holistic approach to risk is key to GEM's risk assessment platform, OpenQuake, that integrates all above-mentioned contributions and will become available towards the end of 2014. Stakeholders worldwide will be able to calculate, visualise and investigate earthquake risk, capture new data and to share their findings for joint learning. Homogenized information on hazard can be combined with data on exposure (buildings, population) and data on their vulnerability, for loss assessment around the globe. Furthermore, for a true integrated view of seismic risk, users can add social vulnerability and resilience indices to maps and estimate the costs and benefits

Valid screening questions useful to diagnose hand and forearm eczema are available in the Spanish language, a new tool for global research.

Science.gov (United States)

Martí-Margarit, Anna; Manresa, Josep M; Herdman, Mike; Pujol, Ramon; Serra, Consol; Flyvholm, Mary-Ann; Giménez-Arnau, Ana M

2015-04-01

Hand eczema is an impacting cutaneous disease. Globally valid tools that help to diagnose hand and forearm eczema are required. To validate the questions to detect hand and/or forearm eczema included in the "Nordic Occupational Skin Questionnaire" (NOSQ-2002) in the Spanish language. A prospective pilot study was conducted with 80 employees of a cleaning company and a retrospective one involving 2,546 individuals. The responses were analysed for sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values. The final diagnosis according to the patients' hospital records, the specialty care records and the physical examination was taken as gold standard. The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) was also evaluated. Sensitivity and specificity, in a worst case scenario (WC) combining both questions, were 96.5% and 66.7%, respectively, and in a per protocol (PP) analysis, were 96.5% and 75.2%. The questions validated detected eczema effectively, making this tool suitable for use e.g. in multicentre epidemiological studies or clinical trials.

Explore the World with a Global Education Curriculum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julie Tritz

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Recognizing and celebrating the diversity that exists in our communities has become a central goal of land-grant institutions and cooperative extension programs. This is coupled with the expectation that youth be equipped for a global workforce where they appreciate different world cultures, be able to evaluate global issues and challenges and understand the inter-connectedness of global systems. Given these points, a Global Education Curriculum developed by the WVU Extension Global Education & Engagement Team is presented as a tool to instill a deeper understanding of and appreciation for cultures, people and global issues by youth and the adults who support them.

Web analytics tools and web metrics tools: An overview and comparative analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Bekavac

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to compare and analyze the impact of web analytics tools for measuring the performance of a business model. Accordingly, an overview of web analytics and web metrics tools is given, including their characteristics, main functionalities and available types. The data acquisition approaches and proper choice of web tools for particular business models are also reviewed. The research is divided in two sections. First, a qualitative focus is placed on reviewing web analytics tools to exploring their functionalities and ability to be integrated into the respective business model. Web analytics tools support the business analyst’s efforts in obtaining useful and relevant insights into market dynamics. Thus, generally speaking, selecting a web analytics and web metrics tool should be based on an investigative approach, not a random decision. The second section is a quantitative focus shifting from theory to an empirical approach, and which subsequently presents output data resulting from a study based on perceived user satisfaction of web analytics tools. The empirical study was carried out on employees from 200 Croatian firms from either an either IT or marketing branch. The paper contributes to highlighting the support for management that available web analytics and web metrics tools available on the market have to offer, and based on the growing needs of understanding and predicting global market trends.

Discussion about the Pros and Cons and Recommendations for Multimedia Teaching in Local Vocational Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Wenhui; Fan, Ling

Globalization is an inevitable developing trend of multimedia network teaching. In our contemporary society, the world has connected by internet; it is incredible that people can not use the boundless information through campus network, multimedia classroom or single multimedia computer with out connecting the WAN. The new internet based teaching method breaking the constrains of the limited resources, distance and size of the LAN, bringing multimedia network teaching method to the world. "Open University", "Virtual Schools", "Global Classroom" and a number of new teaching systems merged rapidly.

Global governance and transnational financial crime: opportunities and tensions in the global anti-money laundering regime

OpenAIRE

Tsingou, Eleni

2005-01-01

This paper examines the global anti-money laundering regime, assesses its purpose and draws some conclusions with regards to its effectiveness as a tool for targeting transnational financial crime. The paper shows that targeting money laundering is presented as a means of strengthening the integrity of the financial system and tackling organised crime through a global approach, and contrasts official policies with actual (and potential) results in practice. The paper explains that at the core...

Environmental Upgrading in Global Value Chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, René Taudal; Ponte, Stefano; Sornn-Friese, Henrik

2018-01-01

Ports are crucial hubs in the functioning of the global economy, and maritime transport is a major emitter of air pollutants. Ports have considerable potential for promoting environmental upgrading in maritime transport and along global value chains more generally, but so far have been only...... partially successful in doing so. We examine results, limitations and future potential of voluntary initiatives that have been carried out by selected European and North American port authorities, which are considered frontrunners in environmental management. Drawing from the insights of global value chain...... their organizational and physical boundaries: by lowering tool implementation complexity through stronger collaboration within global value chains; and by enhancing emission visibility through alliances with cargo-owners and regulators....

Environmental screening tools for assessment of infrastructure plans based on biodiversity preservation and global warming (PEIT, Spain)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia-Montero, Luis G.; Lopez, Elena; Monzon, Andres; Otero Pastor, Isabel

2010-01-01

Most Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) research has been concerned with SEA as a procedure, and there have been relatively few developments and tests of analytical methodologies. The first stage of the SEA is the 'screening', which is the process whereby a decision is taken on whether or not SEA is required for a particular programme or plan. The effectiveness of screening and SEA procedures will depend on how well the assessment fits into the planning from the early stages of the decision-making process. However, it is difficult to prepare the environmental screening for an infrastructure plan involving a whole country. To be useful, such methodologies must be fast and simple. We have developed two screening tools which would make it possible to estimate promptly the overall impact an infrastructure plan might have on biodiversity and global warming for a whole country, in order to generate planning alternatives, and to determine whether or not SEA is required for a particular infrastructure plan.

'Virtual Water' - Real People: Useful Concept or Prescriptive Tool?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Warner, J.F.; Johnson, C.L.

2007-01-01

The 'virtual water' thesis is beginning to take centre stage in the water security global discourse. From its origins as a conceptual tool for countering the gloomy Malthusian ('water scarcity leads to water wars') argument, it is now increasingly seen as a serious prescriptive tool for the

Requirements for water assessment tools: An automotive industry perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sherry A. Mueller

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Water availability is one of the greatest global sustainability challenges. Water is not available in adequate quantity and quality in many areas and water shortfalls are expected to increase. Businesses are facing water-related challenges due to inadequate water availability and poor resource management. Identifying and quantifying impacts is key to enabling companies to make effective management decisions. Several water assessment tools have been developed to help companies understand the complex nature of water challenges; however, there remain significant gaps in the datasets and inconsistencies in measurement and reporting of geographic water shortfalls. There is a need for more complete datasets containing information on water withdrawal and discharge, freshwater availability and depletion (spatially and temporally, water quality monitoring, reuse and recycling. We discuss four of the available water assessment tools (Global Water Tool, India Water Tool, Water Risk Filter and Aqueduct and highlight those elements most critical to water-related business decisions.

Large-scale deployment of the Global Trigger Tool across a large hospital system: refinements for the characterisation of adverse events to support patient safety learning opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Good, V S; Saldaña, M; Gilder, R; Nicewander, D; Kennerly, D A

2011-01-01

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement encourages use of the Global Trigger Tool to objectively determine and monitor adverse events (AEs). Baylor Health Care System (BHCS) is an integrated healthcare delivery system in North Texas. The Global Trigger Tool was applied to BHCS's eight general acute care hospitals, two inpatient cardiovascular hospitals and two rehabilitation/long-term acute care hospitals. Data were collected from a monthly random sample of charts for each facility for patients discharged between 1 July 2006 and 30 June 2007 by external professional nurse auditors using an MS Access Tool developed for this initiative. In addition to the data elements recommended by Institute for Healthcare Improvement, BHCS developed fields to permit further characterisation of AEs to identify learning opportunities. A structured narrative description of each identified AE facilitated text mining to further characterise AEs. INITIAL FINDINGS: Based on this sample, AE rates were found to be 68.1 per 1000 patient days, or 50.8 per 100 encounters, and 39.8% of admissions were found to have ≥1 AE. Of all AEs identified, 61.2% were hospital-acquired, 10.1% of which were associated with a National Coordinating Council - Medical Error Reporting and Prevention harm score of "H or I" (near death or death). To enhance learning opportunities and guide quality improvement, BHCS collected data-such as preventability and AE source-to characterise the nature of AEs. Data are provided regularly to hospital teams to direct quality initiatives, moving from a general focus on reducing AEs to more specific programmes based on patterns of harm and preventability.

BikeMaps.org: A Global Tool for Collision and Near Miss Mapping.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Trisalyn A; Denouden, Taylor; Jestico, Benjamin; Laberee, Karen; Winters, Meghan

2015-01-01

There are many public health benefits to cycling, such as chronic disease reduction and improved air quality. Real and perceived concerns about safety are primary barriers to new ridership. Due to limited forums for official reporting of cycling incidents, lack of comprehensive data is limiting our ability to study cycling safety and conduct surveillance. Our goal is to introduce BikeMaps.org, a new website developed by the authors for crowd-source mapping of cycling collisions and near misses. BikeMaps.org is a global mapping system that allows citizens to map locations of cycling incidents and report on the nature of the event. Attributes collected are designed for spatial modeling research on predictors of safety and risk, and to aid surveillance and planning. Released in October 2014, within 2 months the website had more than 14,000 visitors and mapping in 14 countries. Collisions represent 38% of reports (134/356) and near misses 62% (222/356). In our pilot city, Victoria, Canada, citizens mapped data equivalent to about 1 year of official cycling collision reports within 2 months via BikeMaps.org. Using report completeness as an indicator, early reports indicate that data are of high quality with 50% being fully attributed and another 10% having only one missing attribute. We are advancing this technology, with the development of a mobile App, improved data visualization, real-time altering of hazard reports, and automated open-source tools for data sharing. Researchers and citizens interested in utilizing the BikeMaps.org technology can get involved by encouraging citizen mapping in their region.

Education in Vaccinology: An Important Tool for Strengthening Global Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul-Henri Lambert

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Over the past 20 years, education of scientists and public health professionals in Vaccinology has increased dramatically. There are now many international, regional, and national courses that provide education in vaccinology. The proliferation of these courses and the high number of applications submitted demonstrate the increasing and continuous need for improved education in this field since, generally, comprehensive vaccinology training is not offered to medical and/or biological sciences students as part of their Universities courses and consequently there is insufficient knowledge of vaccine topics among health-care providers. Multidisciplinary vaccinology courses have not only educational purposes but they may also contribute to strengthening the development, testing, and use of vaccines, which remain the most efficient tool for infectious disease prevention. The courses available have a varied focus and prioritize topics based on the trainees’ different levels of professional exposure and requirements. Overall, they might be classified in two key categories: (i courses targeting students who, after their university studies in Medicine, Biology, etc., develop a strong interest in vaccines, would like to learn more about the various aspects of vaccinology, and potentially develop a career in this field (postgraduate courses; (ii courses targeting postdoctoral professionals, who already have a sufficiently broad knowledge of vaccinology, but would like to develop stronger skills to be able to play a leading role in decision-making for vaccine development (advanced professional courses. Both postgraduate and professional courses are available and are based on comprehensive curricula. In the future, particular attention should be paid to include in the training curricula topics that might help vaccine development, efficient and sustainable vaccine introduction through epidemiologically sound vaccination programs, and best practices to

Association of adult weight gain and nonalcoholic fatty liver in a cross-sectional study in Wan Song Community, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W.-J. Zhang

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Our objective was to examine associations of adult weight gain and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD. Cross-sectional interview data from 844 residents in Wan Song Community from October 2009 to April 2010 were analyzed in multivariate logistic regression models to examine odds ratios (OR and 95% confidence intervals (CI between NAFLD and weight change from age 20. Questionnaires, physical examinations, laboratory examinations, and ultrasonographic examination of the liver were carried out. Maximum rate of weight gain, body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, and alanine transaminase were higher in the NAFLD group than in the control group. HDL-C in the NAFLD group was lower than in the control group. As weight gain increased (measured as the difference between current weight and weight at age 20 years, the OR of NAFLD increased in multivariate models. NAFLD OR rose with increasing weight gain as follows: OR (95%CI for NAFLD associated with weight gain of 20+ kg compared to stable weight (change <5 kg was 4.23 (2.49-7.09. Significantly increased NAFLD OR were observed even for weight gains of 5-9.9 kg. For the “age 20 to highest lifetime weight” metric, the OR of NAFLD also increased as weight gain increased. For the “age 20 to highest lifetime weight” metric and the “age 20 to current weight” metric, insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR increased as weight gain increased (P<0.001. In a stepwise multivariate regression analysis, significant association was observed between adult weight gain and NAFLD (OR=1.027, 95%CI=1.002-1.055, P=0.025. We conclude that adult weight gain is strongly associated with NAFLD.

Using Systems Thinking to train future leaders in global health.

Science.gov (United States)

Paxton, Anne; Frost, Laura J

2017-07-09

Systems Thinking provides a useful set of concepts and tools that can be used to train students to be effective and innovative global health leaders in an ever-changing and often chaotic world. This paper describes an experiential, multi-disciplinary curriculum that uses Systems Thinking to frame and analyse global health policies and practices. The curriculum uses case studies and hands-on activities to deepen students' understanding of the following concepts: complex adaptive systems, dynamic complexity, inter-relationships, feedback loops, policy resistance, mental models, boundary critique, leverage points, and multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral, and multi-stakeholder thinking and action. A sample of Systems Thinking tools for analysing global health policies and practices are also introduced.

SuHeXiang Wan essential oil alleviates amyloid beta induced memory impairment through inhibition of tau protein phosphorylation in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeon, Songhee; Hur, Jinyoung; Jeong, Ha Jin; Koo, Byung-Soo; Pak, Sok Cheon

2011-01-01

SuHeXiang Wan (SHXW), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been used orally for the treatment of seizures, infantile convulsions and stroke. Previously, we reported the effects of a modified SHXW essential oil in terms of sedative effect, anticonvulsant activity and antioxidative activity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential beneficial effects of SHXW essential oil in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). SHXW essential oil was extracted from nine herbs. The mouse AD model was induced by a single injection of amyloid β protein (Aβ(1-42)) into the hippocampus. The animals were divided into four groups, the negative control group injected with Aβ(42-1), the Aβ group injected with Aβ(1-42), the SHXW group inhaled SHXW essential oil and received Aβ(1-42) injection, and the positive control group administered with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 10 mg/kg) and with subsequent Aβ(1-42) injection. Mice were analyzed by behavioral tests and immunological examination in the hippocampus. An additional in vitro investigation was performed to examine whether SHXW essential oil inhibits Aβ(1-42) induced neurotoxicity in a human neuroblastoma cell line, SH-SY5Y cells. Pre-inhalation of SHXW essential oil improved the Aβ(1-42) induced memory impairment and suppressed Aβ(1-42) induced JNK, p38 and Tau phosphorylation in the hippocampus. SHXW essential oil suppressed Aβ-induced apoptosis and ROS production via an up-regulation of HO-1 and Nrf2 expression in SH-SY5Y cells. The present study suggests that SHXW essential oil may have potential as a therapeutic inhalation drug for the prevention and treatment of AD.

BASINs 4.0 Climate Assessment Tool (CAT): Supporting ...

Science.gov (United States)

EPA announced the availability of the report, BASINS 4.0 Climate Assessment Tool (CAT): Supporting Documentation and User's Manual. This report was prepared by the EPA's Global Change Research Program (GCRP), an assessment-oriented program, that sits within the Office of Research and Development, that focuses on assessing how potential changes in climate and other global environmental stressors may impact water quality, air quality, aquatic ecosystems, and human health in the United States. The Program’s focus on water quality is consistent with the Research Strategy of the U.S. Climate Change Research Program—the federal umbrella organization for climate change science in the U.S. government—and is responsive to U.S. EPA’s mission and responsibilities as defined by the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. A central goal of the EPA GCRP is to provide EPA program offices, Regions, and other stakeholders with tools and information for assessing and responding to any potential future impacts of climate change. In 2007, the EPA Global Change Research Program (GCRP), in partnership with the EPA Office of Water, supported development of a Climate Assessment Tool (CAT) for version 4 of EPA’s BASINS modeling system. This report provides supporting documentation and user support materials for the BASINS CAT tool. The purpose of this report is to provide in a single document a variety of documentation and user support materials supporting the use

Global Journal of Medical Sciences - Vol 10, No 1-2 (2011)

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Global Journal of Medical Sciences - Vol 10, No 1-2 (2011) ... Implications for Global Standards to Promote International Collaboration and Advanced ... Clinical Nursing Research: A Tool for Professional Development · EMAIL FREE FULL ...

The endoscopy Global Rating Scale-Canada: development and implementation of a quality improvement tool.

Science.gov (United States)

MacIntosh, Donald; Dubé, Catherine; Hollingworth, Roger; Veldhuyzen van Zanten, Sander; Daniels, Sandra; Ghattas, George

2013-02-01

Increasing use of gastrointestinal endoscopy, particularly for colorectal cancer screening, and increasing emphasis on health care quality highlight the need for endoscopy facilities to review the quality of the service they offer. To adapt the United Kingdom Global Rating Scale (UK-GRS) to develop a web-based and patient-centred tool to assess and improve the quality of endoscopy services provided. Based on feedback from 22 sites across Canada that completed the UK endoscopy GRS, and integrating results of the Canadian consensus on safety and quality indicators in endoscopy and other Canadian consensus reports, a working group of endoscopists experienced with the GRS developed the GRS-Canada (GRS-C). The GRS-C mirrors the two dimensions (clinical quality and quality of the patient experience) and 12 patient-centred items of the UK-GRS, but was modified to apply to Canadian health care infrastructure, language and current practice. Each item is assessed by a yes⁄no response to eight to 12 statements that are divided into levels graded D (basic) through A (advanced). A core team consisting of a booking clerk, charge nurse and the physician responsible for the unit is recommended to complete the GRS-C twice yearly. The GRS-C is intended to improve endoscopic services in Canada by providing endoscopy units with a straightforward process to review the quality of the service they provide.

Innovative financing for late-stage global health research and development: the Global Health Investment Fund.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitchett, Joseph Robert; Fan Li, Julia; Atun, Rifat

2016-01-01

Innovative financing strategies for global health are urgently needed to reinvigorate investment and new tools for impact. Bottleneck areas along the research and development (R&D) pipeline require particular attention, such as the transitions from preclinical discovery to clinical study, and product development to implementation and delivery. Successful organizations mobilizing and disbursing resources through innovating financing mechanisms include UNITAID, the Global Fund, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Although precise numbers are poorly documented, estimated investment in low-income settings falls seriously short of local need. This commentary discusses the newly established Global Health Investment Fund as a case study to support late-stage global health R&D. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A Rapid Assessment Tool for affirming good practice in midwifery education programming.

Science.gov (United States)

Fullerton, Judith T; Johnson, Peter; Lobe, Erika; Myint, Khine Haymar; Aung, Nan Nan; Moe, Thida; Linn, Nay Aung

2016-03-01

to design a criterion-referenced assessment tool that could be used globally in a rapid assessment of good practices and bottlenecks in midwifery education programs. a standard tool development process was followed, to generate standards and reference criteria; followed by external review and field testing to document psychometric properties. review of standards and scoring criteria were conducted by stakeholders around the globe. Field testing of the tool was conducted in Myanmar. eleven of Myanmar׳s 22 midwifery education programs participated in the assessment. the clinimetric tool was demonstrated to have content validity and high inter-rater reliability in use. a globally validated tool, and accompanying user guide and handbook are now available for conducting rapid assessments of compliance with good practice criteria in midwifery education programming. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Filmless PACS in a multiple facility environment

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Dennis L.; Glicksman, Robert A.; Prior, Fred W.; Siu, Kai-Yeung; Goldburgh, Mitchell M.

1996-05-01

A Picture Archiving and Communication System centered on a shared image file server can support a filmless hospital. Systems based on this architecture have proven themselves in over four years of clinical operation. Changes in healthcare delivery are causing radiology groups to support multiple facilities for remote clinic support and consolidation of services. There will be a corresponding need for communicating over a standardized wide area network (WAN). Interactive workflow, a natural extension to the single facility case, requires a means to work effectively and seamlessly across moderate to low speed communication networks. Several schemes for supporting a consortium of medical treatment facilities over a WAN are explored. Both centralized and distributed database approaches are evaluated against several WAN scenarios. Likewise, several architectures for distributing image file servers or buffers over a WAN are explored, along with the caching and distribution strategies that support them. An open system implementation is critical to the success of a wide area system. The role of the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard in supporting multi- facility and multi-vendor open systems is also addressed. An open system can be achieved by using a DICOM server to provide a view of the system-wide distributed database. The DICOM server interface to a local version of the global database lets a local workstation treat the multiple, distributed data servers as though they were one local server for purposes of examination queries. The query will recover information about the examination that will permit retrieval over the network from the server on which the examination resides. For efficiency reasons, the ability to build cross-facility radiologist worklists and clinician-oriented patient folders is essential. The technologies of the World-Wide-Web can be used to generate worklists and patient folders across facilities. A reliable broadcast

10 rules for managing global innovation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Keeley; Doz, Yves L

2012-10-01

More and more companies recognize that their dispersed, global operations are a treasure trove of ideas and capabilities for innovation. But it's proving harder than expected to unearth those ideas or exploit those capabilities. Part of the problem is that companies manage global innovation the same way they manage traditional, single-location projects. Single-location projects draw on a large reservoir of tacit knowledge, shared context, and trust that global projects lack. The management challenge, therefore, is to replicate the positive aspects of colocation while harnessing the opportunities of dispersion. In this article, Insead's Wilson and Doz draw on research into global strategy and innovation to present a set of guidelines for setting up and managing global innovation. They explore in detail the challenges that make global projects inherently different and show how these can be overcome by applying superior project management skills across teams, fostering a strong collaborative culture, and using a robust array of communications tools.

Collaboration pathway(s) using new tools for optimizing `operational' climate monitoring from space

Science.gov (United States)

Helmuth, Douglas B.; Selva, Daniel; Dwyer, Morgan M.

2015-09-01

Consistently collecting the earth's climate signatures remains a priority for world governments and international scientific organizations. Architecting a long term solution requires transforming scientific missions into an optimized robust `operational' constellation that addresses the collective needs of policy makers, scientific communities and global academic users for trusted data. The application of new tools offers pathways for global architecture collaboration. Recent rule-based expert system (RBES) optimization modeling of the intended NPOESS architecture becomes a surrogate for global operational climate monitoring architecture(s). These rulebased systems tools provide valuable insight for global climate architectures, by comparison/evaluation of alternatives and the sheer range of trade space explored. Optimization of climate monitoring architecture(s) for a partial list of ECV (essential climate variables) is explored and described in detail with dialogue on appropriate rule-based valuations. These optimization tool(s) suggest global collaboration advantages and elicit responses from the audience and climate science community. This paper will focus on recent research exploring joint requirement implications of the high profile NPOESS architecture and extends the research and tools to optimization for a climate centric case study. This reflects work from SPIE RS Conferences 2013 and 2014, abridged for simplification30, 32. First, the heavily securitized NPOESS architecture; inspired the recent research question - was Complexity (as a cost/risk factor) overlooked when considering the benefits of aggregating different missions into a single platform. Now years later a complete reversal; should agencies considering Disaggregation as the answer. We'll discuss what some academic research suggests. Second, using the GCOS requirements of earth climate observations via ECV (essential climate variables) many collected from space-based sensors; and accepting their

Business School Partnerships for Globalization

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, Rob; Slanickova, Daniela; Warwick, Philip

2013-01-01

International partnerships are an essential tool to enable business schools to internationalize their activities. They can lead to improved research, better more internationally relevant teaching, provide staff with an international perspective, and help prepare students for careers in global business. Using case studies of four of Durham…

Raising Virtual Laboratories in Australia onto global platforms

Science.gov (United States)

Wyborn, L. A.; Barker, M.; Fraser, R.; Evans, B. J. K.; Moloney, G.; Proctor, R.; Moise, A. F.; Hamish, H.

2016-12-01

Across the globe, Virtual Laboratories (VLs), Science Gateways (SGs), and Virtual Research Environments (VREs) are being developed that enable users who are not co-located to actively work together at various scales to share data, models, tools, software, workflows, best practices, etc. Outcomes range from enabling `long tail' researchers to more easily access specific data collections, to facilitating complex workflows on powerful supercomputers. In Australia, government funding has facilitated the development of a range of VLs through the National eResearch Collaborative Tools and Resources (NeCTAR) program. The VLs provide highly collaborative, research-domain oriented, integrated software infrastructures that meet user community needs. Twelve VLs have been funded since 2012, including the Virtual Geophysics Laboratory (VGL); Virtual Hazards, Impact and Risk Laboratory (VHIRL); Climate and Weather Science Laboratory (CWSLab); Marine Virtual Laboratory (MarVL); and Biodiversity and Climate Change Virtual Laboratory (BCCVL). These VLs share similar technical challenges, with common issues emerging on integration of tools, applications and access data collections via both cloud-based environments and other distributed resources. While each VL began with a focus on a specific research domain, communities of practice have now formed across the VLs around common issues, and facilitate identification of best practice case studies, and new standards. As a result, tools are now being shared where the VLs access data via data services using international standards such as ISO, OGC, W3C. The sharing of these approaches is starting to facilitate re-usability of infrastructure and is a step towards supporting interdisciplinary research. Whilst the focus of the VLs are Australia-centric, by using standards, these environments are able to be extended to analysis on other international datasets. Many VL datasets are subsets of global datasets and so extension to global is a

[The global medical record + (DMG+), tool for prevention in first line care].

Science.gov (United States)

Schetgen, M

2012-09-01

The "global medical record +" can be offered to all 45 to 75 year-old patients in the form of a prevention module within the global medical record and which the general practitioner and the patient will regularly update. It will include in particular an assessment of cardiovascular risk, cervical, breast and colon cancer screening, a check of main adult vaccinations, as well as a primary prevention section focused on smoking, alcohol consumption and various hygiene and dietary measures. The inclusion of this module in a computerized medical record will make it more efficient and will lighten the practitioner's workload.

Studying the Impacts of Globalization on Iranian Education System

Science.gov (United States)

Chahardahcheriki, Mitra Abdolahi; Shahi, Sakine

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study is to analyze the degree of globalization of important indicators of education system in Iran including teaching approaches, educational tools and facilities, curriculums and contents, and education management. Findings suggest that the situation of Iranian education system has some distance with the globalized level and…

GEM - The Global Earthquake Model

Science.gov (United States)

Smolka, A.

2009-04-01

Over 500,000 people died in the last decade due to earthquakes and tsunamis, mostly in the developing world, where the risk is increasing due to rapid population growth. In many seismic regions, no hazard and risk models exist, and even where models do exist, they are intelligible only by experts, or available only for commercial purposes. The Global Earthquake Model (GEM) answers the need for an openly accessible risk management tool. GEM is an internationally sanctioned public private partnership initiated by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which will establish an authoritative standard for calculating and communicating earthquake hazard and risk, and will be designed to serve as the critical instrument to support decisions and actions that reduce earthquake losses worldwide. GEM will integrate developments on the forefront of scientific and engineering knowledge of earthquakes, at global, regional and local scale. The work is organized in three modules: hazard, risk, and socio-economic impact. The hazard module calculates probabilities of earthquake occurrence and resulting shaking at any given location. The risk module calculates fatalities, injuries, and damage based on expected shaking, building vulnerability, and the distribution of population and of exposed values and facilities. The socio-economic impact module delivers tools for making educated decisions to mitigate and manage risk. GEM will be a versatile online tool, with open source code and a map-based graphical interface. The underlying data will be open wherever possible, and its modular input and output will be adapted to multiple user groups: scientists and engineers, risk managers and decision makers in the public and private sectors, and the public-at- large. GEM will be the first global model for seismic risk assessment at a national and regional scale, and aims to achieve broad scientific participation and independence. Its development will occur in a

Monitoring the International Standardization Process Theoretical Choices and Methodological Tools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brigitte Juanals

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Many organizations are in charge of global security management. This paper outlines and argues for the construction of a theoretical and methodological framework in order to critically assess the new technopolitics currently being developed in the field of global security and which are materialized in standards. The main purpose is to design both a methodology and specific text mining tools to investigate these standards. These tools will be implemented in a platform designed to provide cartographic representations of standards and to assist the navigation of an end-user through a corpus of standards.

Biodiversity and global change. Adaptative responses to global change: results and prospective. IFB-GICC restitution colloquium; Biodiversite et changement global. Reponses adaptatives au changement global: resultats et prospective. Colloque de restitution IFB-GICC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Despres, L; Hossaert-Mckey, M; Martin, J F; Pont, D; Valero, M; Chave, J; Benizri, E; Amiaud, B; Boury-Esnault, N; Fritz, H; Lavelle, P; Martin, F; Poulet, S; Blanchard, F; Cheddadi, R; Dupouey, J L; Hulle, M; Michaux, J; Souissi, S; Bridault, A; Dambrine, E; Gomez, B; Thevenard, F; Legendre, S; Suc, J P; Zeitoun, V; Bezancon, G; Frascaria-Lacoste, N; Ponsard, S; Bourguet, D; Vigne, J D; Doyen, L; Joly, P; Gourlet-Fleury, S; Garnier, E; Lebaron, Ph; Boulinier, Th; Chuine, I; Jiguet, F; Couvet, D; Soussana, J F; Weimerskirsch, H; Grosbois, V; Bretagnolle, V

2006-07-01

Global change is the consequence of the worldwide human print on ecology. The uncontrolled use of fossil fuels, the urbanization, the intensifying of agriculture, the homogenization of life styles and cultures, the homogenization of fauna and vegetation, the commercial trades, the bio-invasions, the over-exploitation of resources and the emergence of new economic powers (China, India, Brazil..) represent an adaptative dynamics of interactions which affects the overall biosphere and the adaptative capacities and the future of all species. Biodiversity is an ecological and societal insurance against the risks and uncertainties linked with global change. The French institute of biodiversity (IFB) has created a working group in charge of a study on global change and biodiversity, in particular in terms of: speed and acceleration of processes, interaction between the different organization levels of the world of living, scale changes, and adaptative capacities. 38 projects with an interdisciplinary approach have been retained by the IFB and the Ministry of ecology and sustainable development. The conclusion of these projects were presented at this restitution colloquium and are summarized in this document. The presentations are organized in 7 sessions dealing with: global changes and adaptation mechanisms; functional responses to global changes; spatial responses to global changes; temporal responses to global changes; selective answers to global changes; available tools and ecological services; scenarios and projections. (J.S.)

Offering Global Collaboration Services beyond CERN and HEP

CERN Document Server

Fernandes, J; Baron, T

2015-01-01

The CERN IT department has built over the years a performant and integrated ecosystem of collaboration tools, from videoconference and webcast services to event management software. These services have been designed and evolved in very close collaboration with the various communities surrounding the laboratory and have been massively adopted by CERN users. To cope with this very heavy usage, global infrastructures have been deployed which take full advantage of CERN's international and global nature. If these services and tools are instrumental in enabling the worldwide collaboration which generates major HEP breakthroughs, they would certainly also benefit other sectors of science in which globalization has already taken place. Some of these services are driven by commercial software (Vidyo or Wowza for example), some others have been developed internally and have already been made available to the world as Open Source Software in line with CERN's spirit and mission. Indico for example is now installed in 10...

Developing Intercultural Competence through Global Link Experiences in Physical Education

Science.gov (United States)

Ko, Bomna; Boswell, Boni; Yoon, Seok

2015-01-01

Background: Recognition of the importance of the development of intercultural competence (ICC) has placed intense pressure on teacher education programs to infuse a global perspective into their programs. Several studies have proposed integration of global elements into teacher education programs. Although the use of online tools for…

Central America Regional Climate Change Program: Tools for Your Use

Science.gov (United States)

Irwin, Dan; Irving, Bill; Yeager, Carey

2006-01-01

USAID/E-CAM and EGAT's Global Climate Change Team, in partnership with EPA, NASA, Oak Ridge National Lab, and the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD), have had a significant impact on the region's ability to monitor, mitigate, and adapt to environmental threats. Environmental decision-making tools and data are posted on a website (SERVIR: http://servir.nsstc.nasa.pov/home.html)that provides satellite and geographic data and maps to anybody with an Internet connection. The SERVIR program has been identified as the model for the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) - a major international effort to develop a 21st century system for environmental management and disaster response. In coordination with the USAID/EPA program, NASA has developed a GIs tool that enables countries to examine their forest cover and document changes on an annual basis. This information is used in calculating carbon emissions as part of greenhouse gas inventories, but also serves a valuable monitoring function. In addition, USAID/E-CAM and EGAT's Global Climate Change Team in collaboration with EPA are helping countries meet their obligations as signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). EPA is assisting Central American governments to improve the quality of their greenhouse gas emission inventories reported to the UNFCCC through the development of tools and improvements in data quality. New EPA tools developed include software to automatically calculate greenhouse gas emissions for the agricultural and forestry sector inventories, determine key sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and document institutional arrangements. Several of these tools are state of the art and are comparable to tools currently used in the U.S.

Strategic Positioning of IT in Global Organizations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siurdyban, Artur

2010-01-01

understanding of the role of IT in value creation from a business process perspective, and at the same time practitioners may use it to diagnose, communicate and plan IT positioning in their companies. The tool consists of visual maps assigning different steps of the business process management lifecycle......Executives in large global corporations are faced with a number of non-alternative decision parameters determining the strategic positioning of their IT units. These parameters include organizational structures, competence development and distribution among central and local levels, goal setting...... and type of value contributed to the organization. Although the existing body of research addresses these issues in numerous ways, the concepts have not been fully applied in practice. This paper proposes a tool for strategic positioning of IT in large global companies. It contributes to the overall...

Structure and software tools of AIDA.

Science.gov (United States)

Duisterhout, J S; Franken, B; Witte, F

1987-01-01

AIDA consists of a set of software tools to allow for fast development and easy-to-maintain Medical Information Systems. AIDA supports all aspects of such a system both during development and operation. It contains tools to build and maintain forms for interactive data entry and on-line input validation, a database management system including a data dictionary and a set of run-time routines for database access, and routines for querying the database and output formatting. Unlike an application generator, the user of AIDA may select parts of the tools to fulfill his needs and program other subsystems not developed with AIDA. The AIDA software uses as host language the ANSI-standard programming language MUMPS, an interpreted language embedded in an integrated database and programming environment. This greatly facilitates the portability of AIDA applications. The database facilities supported by AIDA are based on a relational data model. This data model is built on top of the MUMPS database, the so-called global structure. This relational model overcomes the restrictions of the global structure regarding string length. The global structure is especially powerful for sorting purposes. Using MUMPS as a host language allows the user an easy interface between user-defined data validation checks or other user-defined code and the AIDA tools. AIDA has been designed primarily for prototyping and for the construction of Medical Information Systems in a research environment which requires a flexible approach. The prototyping facility of AIDA operates terminal independent and is even to a great extent multi-lingual. Most of these features are table-driven; this allows on-line changes in the use of terminal type and language, but also causes overhead. AIDA has a set of optimizing tools by which it is possible to build a faster, but (of course) less flexible code from these table definitions. By separating the AIDA software in a source and a run-time version, one is able to write

A Comparison between Microfabrication Technologies for Metal Tooling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Uriarte, L.; Ivanov, A.; Oosterling, H

2005-01-01

, stainless steel for ECF, and tool steel (AISI H13) for the other processes. Typical features (ribs, channels, pins and holes) required by microoptics, microfluidics and sensors and actuators applications have been selected to carry out this analysis The task results provide a global comparison between......The current paper is based on the information gathered within 4M Network activities, specifically in the "Processing of Metals" Division (Task 7.2 "Tooling"). The aim of the task involves a systematic analysis of the partners' expertise in different technologies for processing tooling inserts made...

SBML-SAT: a systems biology markup language (SBML) based sensitivity analysis tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Zi, Zhike; Zheng, Yanan; Rundell, Ann E; Klipp, Edda

2008-08-15

It has long been recognized that sensitivity analysis plays a key role in modeling and analyzing cellular and biochemical processes. Systems biology markup language (SBML) has become a well-known platform for coding and sharing mathematical models of such processes. However, current SBML compatible software tools are limited in their ability to perform global sensitivity analyses of these models. This work introduces a freely downloadable, software package, SBML-SAT, which implements algorithms for simulation, steady state analysis, robustness analysis and local and global sensitivity analysis for SBML models. This software tool extends current capabilities through its execution of global sensitivity analyses using multi-parametric sensitivity analysis, partial rank correlation coefficient, SOBOL's method, and weighted average of local sensitivity analyses in addition to its ability to handle systems with discontinuous events and intuitive graphical user interface. SBML-SAT provides the community of systems biologists a new tool for the analysis of their SBML models of biochemical and cellular processes.

Applying New Diabetes Teaching Tools in Health-Related Extension Programming

Science.gov (United States)

Grenci, Alexandra

2010-01-01

In response to the emerging global diabetes epidemic, health educators are searching for new and better education tools to help people make positive behavior changes to successfully prevent or manage diabetes. Conversation Maps[R] are new learner-driven education tools that have been developed to empower individuals to improve their health…

Towards multidisciplinary support tools for innovation tasks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wits, Wessel Willems; Bakker, H.M.; Chechurin, L.S.

2012-01-01

This paper highlights the imperative need for innovation and characterizes a promising support tool to stimulate this process. The importance of innovation for both a global economy and specifically for engineering education is discussed. Additionally, the urgency for multidisciplinary skills for

Global Connections: Web Conferencing Tools Help Educators Collaborate Anytime, Anywhere

Science.gov (United States)

Forrester, Dave

2009-01-01

Web conferencing tools help educators from around the world collaborate in real time. Teachers, school counselors, and administrators need only to put on their headsets, check the time zone, and log on to meet and learn from educators across the globe. In this article, the author discusses how educators can use Web conferencing at their schools.…

A globally integrated climate policy for Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernstein, S.; Brunnee, J.; Duff, D.G.; Green, A.J.

2008-01-01

This book explored policy ideas and options from various perspectives, including science, law, political science, economics and sociology. The costs, opportunities and imperatives to participate in international diplomatic initiatives were considered along with the opportunities of regional global carbon markets. Canada's current policy on climate change negotiations have been focused on domestic regulation and incentives for technological responses and the setting of a domestic carbon price. The sense of urgency about global warming was discussed and the need for action to respond to the threat of global climate change was emphasized. The book also reviewed Canada's role in international climate policies and presented parameters and imperatives for global regime building in Canada. Domestic policy tools were also reviewed along with policy obstacles and opportunities. refs., tabs., figs.

GLOBAL RISKS AND INSTRUMENTS OF ITS MINIMIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Havryliuk

2014-06-01

Full Text Available It is argued that economic globalization leads to the formation of macro-economic, political and other risks that are able to grow into global risks affecting, without exception, all national economies, creating a serious threat to national economic security. The emphasis is on the negative elements of a set of global risks, their development and minimize the possibility of using a number of tools. Ensuring firmness of the state to external risks demands continuous monitoring and forecasting of world processes and usage of economic instruments of rapid response for prevention of negative consequences. The essence of the category of "risk" is revealed and deepened. The global risks that can not affect the economic security of Ukraine is disclosed. It is shown that the emergence of these global risks has negative impact on the economic security of Ukraine.

Focus: global currents in national histories of science: the "global turn" and the history of science in Latin America.

Science.gov (United States)

McCook, Stuart

2013-12-01

The "global turn" in the history of science offers new ways to think about how to do national and regional histories of science, in this case the history of science in Latin America. For example, it questions structuralist and diffusionist models of the spread of science and shows the often active role that people in Latin America (and the rest of the Global South) played in the construction of "universal" scientific knowledge. It suggests that even national or regional histories of science must be situated in a global context; all too often, such histories have treated global processes as a distant backdrop. At the same time, historians need to pay constant attention to the role of power in the construction of scientific knowledge. Finally, this essay highlights a methodological tool for writing globally inflected histories of science: the method of "following".

Parasail: SIMD C library for global, semi-global, and local pairwise sequence alignments.

Science.gov (United States)

Daily, Jeff

2016-02-10

Sequence alignment algorithms are a key component of many bioinformatics applications. Though various fast Smith-Waterman local sequence alignment implementations have been developed for x86 CPUs, most are embedded into larger database search tools. In addition, fast implementations of Needleman-Wunsch global sequence alignment and its semi-global variants are not as widespread. This article presents the first software library for local, global, and semi-global pairwise intra-sequence alignments and improves the performance of previous intra-sequence implementations. A faster intra-sequence local pairwise alignment implementation is described and benchmarked, including new global and semi-global variants. Using a 375 residue query sequence a speed of 136 billion cell updates per second (GCUPS) was achieved on a dual Intel Xeon E5-2670 24-core processor system, the highest reported for an implementation based on Farrar's 'striped' approach. Rognes's SWIPE optimal database search application is still generally the fastest available at 1.2 to at best 2.4 times faster than Parasail for sequences shorter than 500 amino acids. However, Parasail was faster for longer sequences. For global alignments, Parasail's prefix scan implementation is generally the fastest, faster even than Farrar's 'striped' approach, however the opal library is faster for single-threaded applications. The software library is designed for 64 bit Linux, OS X, or Windows on processors with SSE2, SSE41, or AVX2. Source code is available from https://github.com/jeffdaily/parasail under the Battelle BSD-style license. Applications that require optimal alignment scores could benefit from the improved performance. For the first time, SIMD global, semi-global, and local alignments are available in a stand-alone C library.

Strategic Management Tools and Techniques: A Comparative Analysis of Empirical Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Albana Berisha Qehaja

2017-01-01

Full Text Available There is no doubt that strategic management tools and techniques are important parts of the strategic management process. Their use in organizations should be observed in a practice-based context. This paper analyzes the empirical studies on the usage of strategic management tools and techniques. Hence, the main aim of this study is to investigate and analyze which enterprises, according to their country development level, use more strategic management tools and techniques and which of these are used the most. Also, this paper investigates which strategic management tools and techniques are used globally according to the results of empirical studies. The study presents a summary of empirical studies for the period 1990–2015. The research results indicate that more strategic tools and techniques are used in developed countries, followed by developing countries and fewest in countries in transition. This study is likely to contribute to the field of strategic management because it summarizes the most used strategic tools and techniques at the global level according to varying stages of countries’ economic development. Also, the findings from this study may be utilized to maximize the full potential of enterprises and reduce the cases of entrepreneurship failures, through creating awareness of the importance of using strategic management tools and techniques.

Virtual Global Accelerator Network (VGAN)(LCC-0083)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsen, R

2003-01-01

The concept of a Global Accelerator Network (GAN) has been proposed by key members of ICFA as a cornerstone of a future International Linear Collider (LC). GAN would provide a tool for the participants of an international collaboration to participate in the actual running of the machine from different parts of the world. Some technical experts view the concept as technologically trivial, and instead point out the significant sociological, organizational and administrative problems that must be surmounted in creating a truly workable system. This note proposes that many real issues can be explored by building a simulator (VGAN) consisting of a virtual accelerator model, a global controls model, and a functioning human organizational model, a tool that would explore and resolve many real problems of GAN and the LC enterprise during the LC preliminary design and testing phase

Analysis of the airport network of India as a complex weighted network

Science.gov (United States)

Bagler, Ganesh

2008-05-01

Transportation infrastructure of a country is one of the most important indicators of its economic growth. Here we study the Airport Network of India (ANI) which represents India’s domestic civil aviation infrastructure as a complex network. We find that ANI, a network of domestic airports connected by air links, is a small-world network characterized by a truncated power-law degree distribution and has a signature of hierarchy. We investigate ANI as a weighted network to explore its various properties and compare them with their topological counterparts. The traffic in ANI, as in the World-wide Airport Network (WAN), is found to be accumulated on interconnected groups of airports and is concentrated between large airports. In contrast to WAN, ANI is found to be having disassortative mixing which is offset by the traffic dynamics. The analysis indicates possible mechanism of formation of a national transportation network, which is different from that on a global scale.

Global Mindedness as the "Goal": Soccer as a Pedagogical Tool in the Social Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Busey, Christopher L.; Waring, Scott M.

2012-01-01

As evidenced by the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and the World Cup, sports is a major part of global society, as millions of people throughout the world tune in to view renowned sporting events each and every week. This is especially true for soccer, which is the world's most popular and global sport. Because soccer is played in nearly every country…

Mapping the global emergence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, the amphibian chytrid fungus

Science.gov (United States)

Deanna H. Olson; David M. Aanensen; Kathryn L. Ronnenberg; Christopher I. Powell; Susan F. Walker; Jon Bielby; Trenton W.J. Garner; George Weaver; Matthew C. Fisher

2013-01-01

The rapid worldwide emergence of the amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is having a profound negative impact on biodiversity. However, global research efforts are fragmented and an overarching synthesis of global infection data is lacking. Here, we provide results from a community tool for the compilation of...

Teamwork Assessment Tools in Obstetric Emergencies: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Onwochei, Desire N; Halpern, Stephen; Balki, Mrinalini

2017-06-01

Team-based training and simulation can improve patient safety, by improving communication, decision making, and performance of team members. Currently, there is no general consensus on whether or not a specific assessment tool is better adapted to evaluate teamwork in obstetric emergencies. The purpose of this qualitative systematic review was to find the tools available to assess team effectiveness in obstetric emergencies. We searched Embase, Medline, PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Google Scholar for prospective studies that evaluated nontechnical skills in multidisciplinary teams involving obstetric emergencies. The search included studies from 1944 until January 11, 2016. Data on reliability and validity measures were collected and used for interpretation. A descriptive analysis was performed on the data. Thirteen studies were included in the final qualitative synthesis. All the studies assessed teams in the context of obstetric simulation scenarios, but only six included anesthetists in the simulations. One study evaluated their teamwork tool using just validity measures, five using just reliability measures, and one used both. The most reliable tools identified were the Clinical Teamwork Scale, the Global Assessment of Obstetric Team Performance, and the Global Rating Scale of performance. However, they were still lacking in terms of quality and validity. More work needs to be conducted to establish the validity of teamwork tools for nontechnical skills, and the development of an ideal tool is warranted. Further studies are required to assess how outcomes, such as performance and patient safety, are influenced when using these tools.

Biodiversity and global change. Adaptative responses to global change: results and prospective. IFB-GICC restitution colloquium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Despres, L.; Hossaert-Mckey, M.; Martin, J.F.; Pont, D.; Valero, M.; Chave, J.; Benizri, E.; Amiaud, B.; Boury-Esnault, N.; Fritz, H.; Lavelle, P.; Martin, F.; Poulet, S.; Blanchard, F.; Cheddadi, R.; Dupouey, J.L.; Hulle, M.; Michaux, J.; Souissi, S.; Bridault, A.; Dambrine, E.; Gomez, B.; Thevenard, F.; Legendre, S.; Suc, J.P.; Zeitoun, V.; Bezancon, G.; Frascaria-Lacoste, N.; Ponsard, S.; Bourguet, D.; Vigne, J.D.; Doyen, L.; Joly, P.; Gourlet-Fleury, S.; Garnier, E.; Lebaron, Ph.; Boulinier, Th.; Chuine, I.; Jiguet, F.; Couvet, D.; Soussana, J.F.; Weimerskirsch, H.; Grosbois, V.; Bretagnolle, V.

2006-01-01

Global change is the consequence of the worldwide human print on ecology. The uncontrolled use of fossil fuels, the urbanization, the intensifying of agriculture, the homogenization of life styles and cultures, the homogenization of fauna and vegetation, the commercial trades, the bio-invasions, the over-exploitation of resources and the emergence of new economic powers (China, India, Brazil..) represent an adaptative dynamics of interactions which affects the overall biosphere and the adaptative capacities and the future of all species. Biodiversity is an ecological and societal insurance against the risks and uncertainties linked with global change. The French institute of biodiversity (IFB) has created a working group in charge of a study on global change and biodiversity, in particular in terms of: speed and acceleration of processes, interaction between the different organization levels of the world of living, scale changes, and adaptative capacities. 38 projects with an interdisciplinary approach have been retained by the IFB and the Ministry of ecology and sustainable development. The conclusion of these projects were presented at this restitution colloquium and are summarized in this document. The presentations are organized in 7 sessions dealing with: global changes and adaptation mechanisms; functional responses to global changes; spatial responses to global changes; temporal responses to global changes; selective answers to global changes; available tools and ecological services; scenarios and projections. (J.S.)

Guizhi Fuling Wan, a Traditional Chinese Herbal Formula, Sensitizes Cisplatin-Resistant Human Ovarian Cancer Cells through Inactivation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR Pathway

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Han

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study was to explore the possible mechanisms that Guizhi Fuling Wan (GFW enhances the sensitivity of the SKOV3/DDP ovarian cancer cells and the resistant xenograft tumours to cisplatin. Rat medicated sera containing GFW were prepared by administering GFW to rats, and the primary bioactive constituents of the sera were gallic acid, paeonol, and paeoniflorin analysed by HPLC/QqQ MS. Cell counting kit-8 analysis was shown that coincubation of the sera with cisplatin/paclitaxel enhanced significantly the cytotoxic effect of cisplatin or paclitaxel in SKOV3/DDP cells. The presence of the rat medicated sera containing GFW resulted in an increase in rhodamine 123 accumulation by flow cytometric assays and a decrease in the protein levels of P-gp, phosphorylation of AKT at Ser473, and mTOR in a dose-dependent manner in SKOV3/DDP cells by western blot analysis, but the sera had no effect on the protein levels of PI3K p110α and total AKT. The low dose of GFW enhanced the anticancer efficacy of cisplatin and paclitaxel treatment in resistant SKOV3/DDP xenograft tumours. GFW could sensitize cisplatin-resistant SKOV3/DDP cells by inhibiting the protein level and function of P-gp, which may be medicated through inactivation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway.

Non-communicable diseases and global health governance: enhancing global processes to improve health development.

Science.gov (United States)

Magnusson, Roger S

2007-05-22

This paper assesses progress in the development of a global framework for responding to non-communicable diseases, as reflected in the policies and initiatives of the World Health Organization (WHO), World Bank and the UN: the institutions most capable of shaping a coherent global policy. Responding to the global burden of chronic disease requires a strategic assessment of the global processes that are likely to be most effective in generating commitment to policy change at country level, and in influencing industry behaviour. WHO has adopted a legal process with tobacco (the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control), but a non-legal, advocacy-based approach with diet and physical activity (the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health). The paper assesses the merits of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the FCTC as distinct global processes for advancing health development, before considering what lessons might be learned for enhancing the implementation of the Global Strategy on Diet. While global partnerships, economic incentives, and international legal instruments could each contribute to a more effective global response to chronic diseases, the paper makes a special case for the development of international legal standards in select areas of diet and nutrition, as a strategy for ensuring that the health of future generations does not become dependent on corporate charity and voluntary commitments. A broader frame of reference for lifestyle-related chronic diseases is needed: one that draws together WHO's work in tobacco, nutrition and physical activity, and that envisages selective use of international legal obligations, non-binding recommendations, advocacy and policy advice as tools of choice for promoting different elements of the strategy.

Non-communicable diseases and global health governance: enhancing global processes to improve health development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magnusson Roger S

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract This paper assesses progress in the development of a global framework for responding to non-communicable diseases, as reflected in the policies and initiatives of the World Health Organization (WHO, World Bank and the UN: the institutions most capable of shaping a coherent global policy. Responding to the global burden of chronic disease requires a strategic assessment of the global processes that are likely to be most effective in generating commitment to policy change at country level, and in influencing industry behaviour. WHO has adopted a legal process with tobacco (the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, but a non-legal, advocacy-based approach with diet and physical activity (the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. The paper assesses the merits of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs and the FCTC as distinct global processes for advancing health development, before considering what lessons might be learned for enhancing the implementation of the Global Strategy on Diet. While global partnerships, economic incentives, and international legal instruments could each contribute to a more effective global response to chronic diseases, the paper makes a special case for the development of international legal standards in select areas of diet and nutrition, as a strategy for ensuring that the health of future generations does not become dependent on corporate charity and voluntary commitments. A broader frame of reference for lifestyle-related chronic diseases is needed: one that draws together WHO's work in tobacco, nutrition and physical activity, and that envisages selective use of international legal obligations, non-binding recommendations, advocacy and policy advice as tools of choice for promoting different elements of the strategy.

Knowledge Management and Global Information Dissemination

Science.gov (United States)

Umunadi, Ejiwoke Kennedy

2014-01-01

The paper looked at knowledge management and global information dissemination. Knowledge is a very powerful tool for survival, growth and development. It can be seen as the information, understanding and skills that you gain through education or experience. The paper was addressed under the following sub-headings: Knowledge management knowledge…

The GEDI Performance Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Hancock, S.; Armston, J.; Tang, H.; Patterson, P. L.; Healey, S. P.; Marselis, S.; Duncanson, L.; Hofton, M. A.; Kellner, J. R.; Luthcke, S. B.; Sun, X.; Blair, J. B.; Dubayah, R.

2017-12-01

NASA's Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation will mount a multi-track, full-waveform lidar on the International Space Station (ISS) that is optimised for the measurement of forest canopy height and structure. GEDI will use ten laser tracks, two 10 mJ "power beams" and eight 5 mJ "coverage beams" to produce global (51.5oS to 51.5oN) maps of above ground biomass (AGB), canopy height, vegetation structure and other biophysical parameters. The mission has a requirement to generate a 1 km AGB map with 80% of pixels with ≤ 20% standard error or 20 Mg·ha-1, whichever is greater. To assess performance and compare to mission requirements, an end-to-end simulator has been developed. The simulator brings together tools to propagate the effects of measurement and sampling error on GEDI data products. The simulator allows us to evaluate the impact of instrument performance, ISS orbits, processing algorithms and losses of data that may occur due to clouds, snow, leaf-off conditions, and areas with an insufficient signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). By evaluating the consequences of operational decisions on GEDI data products, this tool provides a quantitative framework for decision-making and mission planning. Here we demonstrate the performance tool by using it to evaluate the trade-off between measurement and sampling error on the 1 km AGB data product. Results demonstrate that the use of coverage beams during the day (lowest GEDI SNR case) over very dense forests (>95% canopy cover) will result in some measurement bias. Omitting these low SNR cases increased the sampling error. Through this an SNR threshold for a given expected canopy cover can be set. The other applications of the performance tool are also discussed, such as assessing the impact of decisions made in the AGB modelling and signal processing stages on the accuracy of final data products.

WEKA-G: Parallel data mining on computational grids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PIMENTA, A.

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Data mining is a technology that can extract useful information from large amounts of data. However, mining a database often requires a high computational power. To resolve this problem, this paper presents a tool (Weka-G, which runs in parallel algorithms used in the mining process data. As the environment for doing so, we use a computational grid by adding several features within a WAN.

Validity and Reliability of the 30-s Continuous Jump for Anaerobic Power and Capacity Assessment in Combat Sport

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Drazen Čular

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Cycling test such Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT is used to measure anaerobic power (AP, but not anaerobic capacity (AC, i.e., the metabolic energy demand. However, in sports that do not involve cycling movements (Karate, the continuous jump for 30 s (vertical jumps for 30 s has been extensively used to measure anaerobic performance in all young athletes. Limited information’s are available concerning its validity and reliability especially in children. As such, the current study aimed to test validity and reliability of a continuous jumps test (the CJ30s, using WAnT as a reference. Thirteen female Karate kids (age: 11.07 ± 1.32 years; mass: 41.76 ± 15.32 kg; height: 152 ± 11.52 cm; training experience: 4.38 ± 2.14 years were tested on three separate sessions. The first and second sessions were used to assess the reliability using Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC of CJ30s, whereas on the third session WAnT was administered. Following CJ30s and WAnT, we assessed AP (1/CJ30s, as jump height [JH], fatigue index [FI], and blood lactate [BL]; 2/WAnT, as mechanical power [P], FI, and BL and AC as the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC. Large/highly significant correlations were found between CJ30s and WAnT EPOCs (r = 0.730, P = 0.003, and BLs (r = 0.713, P = 0.009. Moderate/significant correlations were found between CJ30s and WAnT FIs (r = 0.640, P = 0.014, CJ30s first four jumps mean JH and WAnT peak P (r = 0.572, P = 0.032, and CJ30s mean JH and WAnT mean P (r = 0.589, P = 0.021. CJ30s showed excellent and moderate reliability (ICC for AP (maximal JH 0.884, mean JH 0.742, FI 0.657, BL 0.653 and AC (EPOC 0.788, respectively. Correlations observed especially in terms of AC between CJ30s and WAnT provide evidence that former may adequately assess anaerobic performance for the young combat athlete. CJ30 is a reliable test and allow an easy assessment of AP and AC in karate children.

International virtual teams engineering global success

CERN Document Server

Brewer, P

2015-01-01

As a complete guide to international virtual team communication with practical problem-solving strategies, this book is a must read for managers and engineers in all stages of their professional development This book provides essential information for creating and maintaining successful international virtual teams for those who manage, participate in, or train others in international virtual teaming. Based on new studies in engineering communication, this book presents processes and principles that can help managers and engineers establish global virtual teams that work, assess the virtual team climate, and maintain the effectiveness of virtual teams across cultural boundaries. It provides knowledge and tools necessary to understand the variable contexts of global virtual teams, so that organizations are able to respond to inevitable changes in technology and the global marketplace.

The endoscopy Global Rating Scale – Canada: Development and implementation of a quality improvement tool

Science.gov (United States)

MacIntosh, Donald; Dubé, Catherine; Hollingworth, Roger; van Zanten, Sander Veldhuyzen; Daniels, Sandra; Ghattas, George

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND: Increasing use of gastrointestinal endoscopy, particularly for colorectal cancer screening, and increasing emphasis on health care quality highlight the need for endoscopy facilities to review the quality of the service they offer. OBJECTIVE: To adapt the United Kingdom Global Rating Scale (UK-GRS) to develop a web-based and patient-centred tool to assess and improve the quality of endoscopy services provided. METHODS: Based on feedback from 22 sites across Canada that completed the UK endoscopy GRS, and integrating results of the Canadian consensus on safety and quality indicators in endoscopy and other Canadian consensus reports, a working group of endoscopists experienced with the GRS developed the GRS-Canada (GRS-C). RESULTS: The GRS-C mirrors the two dimensions (clinical quality and quality of the patient experience) and 12 patient-centred items of the UK-GRS, but was modified to apply to Canadian health care infrastructure, language and current practice. Each item is assessed by a yes/no response to eight to 12 statements that are divided into levels graded D (basic) through A (advanced). A core team consisting of a booking clerk, charge nurse and the physician responsible for the unit is recommended to complete the GRS-C twice yearly. CONCLUSION: The GRS-C is intended to improve endoscopic services in Canada by providing endoscopy units with a straightforward process to review the quality of the service they provide. PMID:23472242

A tool for assessment of animal health laboratory safety and biosecurity: The safety module of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s laboratory mapping tool

OpenAIRE

Mouillé, B; Dauphin, G; Wiersma, L; Blacksell, SD; Claes, F; Kalpravidh, W; Kabore, Y; Hietala, S

2018-01-01

The Laboratory Management Tool (LMT) is a standardized spreadsheet-based assessment tool developed to help support national, regional, and global efforts to maintain an effective network of animal health and veterinary public health laboratories. The safety and biosecurity module of the LMT (LMT-S) includes 98 measures covering administrative, operational, engineering, and personal protective equipment practices used to provide laboratory safety and biosecurity. Performance aspects of laborat...

A global regulatory science agenda for vaccines.

Science.gov (United States)

Elmgren, Lindsay; Li, Xuguang; Wilson, Carolyn; Ball, Robert; Wang, Junzhi; Cichutek, Klaus; Pfleiderer, Michael; Kato, Atsushi; Cavaleri, Marco; Southern, James; Jivapaisarnpong, Teeranart; Minor, Philip; Griffiths, Elwyn; Sohn, Yeowon; Wood, David

2013-04-18

The Decade of Vaccines Collaboration and development of the Global Vaccine Action Plan provides a catalyst and unique opportunity for regulators worldwide to develop and propose a global regulatory science agenda for vaccines. Regulatory oversight is critical to allow access to vaccines that are safe, effective, and of assured quality. Methods used by regulators need to constantly evolve so that scientific and technological advances are applied to address challenges such as new products and technologies, and also to provide an increased understanding of benefits and risks of existing products. Regulatory science builds on high-quality basic research, and encompasses at least two broad categories. First, there is laboratory-based regulatory science. Illustrative examples include development of correlates of immunity; or correlates of safety; or of improved product characterization and potency assays. Included in such science would be tools to standardize assays used for regulatory purposes. Second, there is science to develop regulatory processes. Illustrative examples include adaptive clinical trial designs; or tools to analyze the benefit-risk decision-making process of regulators; or novel pharmacovigilance methodologies. Included in such science would be initiatives to standardize regulatory processes (e.g., definitions of terms for adverse events [AEs] following immunization). The aim of a global regulatory science agenda is to transform current national efforts, mainly by well-resourced regulatory agencies, into a coordinated action plan to support global immunization goals. This article provides examples of how regulatory science has, in the past, contributed to improved access to vaccines, and identifies gaps that could be addressed through a global regulatory science agenda. The article also identifies challenges to implementing a regulatory science agenda and proposes strategies and actions to fill these gaps. A global regulatory science agenda will enable

Global sensitivity analysis of DRAINMOD-FOREST, an integrated forest ecosystem model

Science.gov (United States)

Shiying Tian; Mohamed A. Youssef; Devendra M. Amatya; Eric D. Vance

2014-01-01

Global sensitivity analysis is a useful tool to understand process-based ecosystem models by identifying key parameters and processes controlling model predictions. This study reported a comprehensive global sensitivity analysis for DRAINMOD-FOREST, an integrated model for simulating water, carbon (C), and nitrogen (N) cycles and plant growth in lowland forests. The...

GLOBALIZATION AND THE POTENTIAL FOR FROZEN POTATO PROCESSING IN MEXICO

OpenAIRE

Phillips, Jon C.

1998-01-01

An analysis of the potential for the establishment and survival of frozen potato processing in Mexico is provided. Tools used include demand analysis (including demographic data and elasticities) and Porter's competitive forces model. The process of globalization is reviewed, from an agribusiness perspective. Prepared for the "Globalization and Its (Dis) Contents: Multiple Perspectives" Conference held April 3-4, 1998, East Lansing, Michigan.

Development of a climate data analysis tool (CDAT)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marlais, S.M.

1997-09-01

The Climate Data Analysis Tool (CDAT) is designed to provide the Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (PCMDI) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, with the capabilities needed to analyze model data with little effort on the part of the scientist, while performing complex mathematical calculations, and graphically displaying the results. This computer software will meet the demanding need of climate scientists by providing the necessary tools to diagnose, validate, and intercompare large observational and global climate model datasets.

Institutional Profiles: Some Strategic Tools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frans van Vught

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper we argue that both internal and external pressures and conditions urge contemporary higher education institutions to carefully think through their institutional profiles positions in domestic and global higher education contexts. We subsequently analyse strategic positioning from the strategic management literature and offer four tools — mapping, multi-dimensional ranking, benchmarking and degree profiling — to assist higher education institutions in their profiling and positioning strategies.

Hurricane Data Analysis Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhong; Ostrenga, Dana; Leptoukh, Gregory

2011-01-01

In order to facilitate Earth science data access, the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data Information Services Center (GES DISC) has developed a web prototype, the Hurricane Data Analysis Tool (HDAT; URL: http://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/HDAT), to allow users to conduct online visualization and analysis of several remote sensing and model datasets for educational activities and studies of tropical cyclones and other weather phenomena. With a web browser and few mouse clicks, users can have a full access to terabytes of data and generate 2-D or time-series plots and animation without downloading any software and data. HDAT includes data from the NASA Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), the NASA Quick Scatterometer(QuikSCAT) and NECP Reanalysis, and the NCEP/CPC half-hourly, 4-km Global (60 N - 60 S) IR Dataset. The GES DISC archives TRMM data. The daily global rainfall product derived from the 3-hourly multi-satellite precipitation product (3B42 V6) is available in HDAT. The TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) sea surface temperature from the Remote Sensing Systems is in HDAT as well. The NASA QuikSCAT ocean surface wind and the NCEP Reanalysis provide ocean surface and atmospheric conditions, respectively. The global merged IR product, also known as, the NCEP/CPC half-hourly, 4-km Global (60 N -60 S) IR Dataset, is one of TRMM ancillary datasets. They are globally-merged pixel-resolution IR brightness temperature data (equivalent blackbody temperatures), merged from all available geostationary satellites (GOES-8/10, METEOSAT-7/5 & GMS). The GES DISC has collected over 10 years of the data beginning from February of 2000. This high temporal resolution (every 30 minutes) dataset not only provides additional background information to TRMM and other satellite missions, but also allows observing a wide range of meteorological phenomena from space, such as, hurricanes, typhoons, tropical cyclones, mesoscale convection system, etc. Basic functions include selection of area of

STEFLUX, a tool for investigating stratospheric intrusions: application to two WMO/GAW global stations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Putero

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Stratospheric intrusion (SI events are a topic of ongoing research, especially because of their ability to change the oxidation capacity of the troposphere and their contribution to tropospheric ozone levels. In this work, a novel tool called STEFLUX (Stratosphere-to-Troposphere Exchange Flux is presented, discussed, and used to provide a first long-term investigation of SI over two global hot-spot regions for climate change and air pollution: the southern Himalayas and the central Mediterranean Basin. The main purpose of STEFLUX is to obtain a fast-computing and reliable identification of the SI events occurring at a specific location and during a specified time window. It relies on a compiled stratosphere-to-troposphere exchange (STE climatology, which makes use of the ERA-Interim reanalysis dataset from the ECMWF, as well as a refined version of a well-established Lagrangian methodology. STEFLUX results are compared to the SI observations (SIO at two high-mountain WMO/GAW global stations in these climate hot spots, i.e., the Nepal Climate Observatory-Pyramid (NCO-P, 5079 m a.s.l. and Mt. Cimone (2165 m a.s.l., which are often affected by SI events. Compared to the observational datasets at the two specific measurement sites, STEFLUX is able to detect SI events on a regional scale. Furthermore, it has the advantage of retaining additional information concerning the pathway of stratospheric-affected air masses, such as the location of tropopause crossing and other meteorological parameters along the trajectories. However, STEFLUX neglects mixing and dilution that air masses undergo along their transport within the troposphere. Therefore, the regional-scale STEFLUX events cannot be expected to perfectly reproduce the point measurements at NCO-P and Mt. Cimone, which are also affected by small-scale (orographic circulations. Still, the seasonal variability in SI events according to SIO and STEFLUX agrees fairly well. By exploiting the

Efficient prediction of human protein-protein interactions at a global scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Schoenrock, Andrew; Samanfar, Bahram; Pitre, Sylvain; Hooshyar, Mohsen; Jin, Ke; Phillips, Charles A; Wang, Hui; Phanse, Sadhna; Omidi, Katayoun; Gui, Yuan; Alamgir, Md; Wong, Alex; Barrenäs, Fredrik; Babu, Mohan; Benson, Mikael; Langston, Michael A; Green, James R; Dehne, Frank; Golshani, Ashkan

2014-12-10

Our knowledge of global protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks in complex organisms such as humans is hindered by technical limitations of current methods. On the basis of short co-occurring polypeptide regions, we developed a tool called MP-PIPE capable of predicting a global human PPI network within 3 months. With a recall of 23% at a precision of 82.1%, we predicted 172,132 putative PPIs. We demonstrate the usefulness of these predictions through a range of experiments. The speed and accuracy associated with MP-PIPE can make this a potential tool to study individual human PPI networks (from genomic sequences alone) for personalized medicine.

Global Aquaculture Performance Index (GAPI: The First Global Environmental Assessment of Marine Fish Farming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jenna M.S. Stoner

2013-09-01

Full Text Available “Sustainable” is among the most sought after of all seafood product adjectives. Ironically it is also one of the most poorly defined and understood. The Global Aquaculture Performance Index (GAPI is the first tool to assess environmental performance of global marine aquaculture production, permitting direct comparison of disparate species, production methods and jurisdictions. Clear patterns emerge from this analysis; significant variation of environmental performance is driven by the species being farmed, significant room for improvement exists across the entire sector, the worst performing players are also the fastest growing, particularly within Asia, and perhaps most importantly, this work highlights the potential trap awaiting policy makers who focus too narrowly on farm production efficiency alone as a solution to diminishing seafood availability.

Global public goods and the global health agenda: problems, priorities and potential

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MacKellar Landis

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract The 'global public good' (GPG concept has gained increasing attention, in health as well as development circles. However, it has suffered in finding currency as a general tool for global resource mobilisation, and is at risk of being attached to almost anything promoting development. This overstretches and devalues the validity and usefulness of the concept. This paper first defines GPGs and describes the policy challenge that they pose. Second, it identifies two key areas, health R&D and communicable disease control, in which the GPG concept is clearly relevant and considers the extent to which it has been applied. We point out that that, while there have been many new initiatives, it is not clear that additional resources from non-traditional sources have been forthcoming. Yet achieving this is, in effect, the entire purpose of applying the GPG concept in global health. Moreover, the proliferation of disease-specific programs associated with GPG reasoning has tended to promote vertical interventions at the expense of more general health sector strengthening. Third, we examine two major global health policy initiatives, the Global Fund against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM and the bundling of long-standing international health goals in the form of Millennium Development Goals (MDG, asking how the GPG perspective has contributed to defining objectives and strategies. We conclude that both initiatives are best interpreted in the context of traditional development assistance and, one-world rhetoric aside, have little to do with the challenge posed by GPGs for health. The paper concludes by considering how the GPG concept can be more effectively used to promote global health.

The electronuclear scenario, tools and studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grouiller, J.P.; Faure, C.; Doriath, J.Y.; Giacometti, A.; Pavageau, J.; Arnaud, G.; Dumas, M.

2000-01-01

The strategical decisions need a global vision of the fuel cycle. The based options as fuel, reactors, fuel plants, disposal and storage, must be evaluated in the implementing and the management of a nuclear park. To define the nuclear policy tools, as physical models and codes, and prospective studies are necessary. They are developed in this paper. (A.L.B.)

Comparative Testing for Corporate Impact Assessment Tools

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Farsang, Andrea; Reisch, Lucia A.

of our study are: poverty, water and sanitation, education, food and agriculture, climate change, and human rights in three industries, namely: footwear, coffee, and paper and pulp. The paper develops a protocol for the selection and quantification of indicators that can be used in selecting...... the appropriate tools for measuring impacts in the selected sectors on SDGs. Background: In the Global Value Project, a long list of indicators was compiled covering the main thematic areas and challenges of sustainability. In a second step, this long list was reduced using predefined criteria as well as other...... criteria, such as the feasibility and scalability of different tools. As a result, a protocol was developed to help compare the different tools that measure corporate impact and to interpret the results in relation to the SDGs. The protocol was pre-tested with a limited number of tools in two case studies...

Hybrid Tooling: A Review of Process Chains for Tooling Microfabrication within 4M

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Azcarate, Sabino; Uriarte, Luis; Bigot, Samuel

2006-01-01

is introduced. Several examples of ‘hybrid tooling’ within 4M partners are presented. Considered materials are nickel for electroforming, stainless steel for ECF, and tool steel for the other processes. The paper results provide a global comparison between the previously mentioned processes, the current...... limitations of these technologies concerning feature sizes, surface finish, aspect ratios, etc. have been identified. The main conclusion drawn is the imperative requirement to combine individual processes (‘hybrid tooling’) to produce mould inserts required outside research laboratories....

Detection of adverse events in general surgery using the " Trigger Tool" methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez Zapata, Ana Isabel; Gutiérrez Samaniego, María; Rodríguez Cuéllar, Elías; Andrés Esteban, Eva María; Gómez de la Cámara, Agustín; Ruiz López, Pedro

2015-02-01

Surgery is one of the high-risk areas for the occurrence of adverse events (AE). The purpose of this study is to know the percentage of hospitalisation-related AE that are detected by the «Global Trigger Tool» methodology in surgical patients, their characteristics and the tool validity. Retrospective, observational study on patients admitted to a general surgery department, who underwent a surgical operation in a third level hospital during the year 2012. The identification of AE was carried out by patient record review using an adaptation of «Global Trigger Tool» methodology. Once an AE was identified, a harm category was assigned, including the grade in which the AE could have been avoided and its relation with the surgical procedure. The prevalence of AE was 36,8%. There were 0,5 AE per patient. 56,2% were deemed preventable. 69,3% were directly related to the surgical procedure. The tool had a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 93,6%. The positive predictive value was 89% and the negative predictive value 92%. Prevalence of AE is greater than the estimate of other studies. In most cases the AE detected were related to the surgical procedure and more than half were also preventable. The adapted «Global Trigger Tool» methodology has demonstrated to be highly effective and efficient for detecting AE in surgical patients, identifying all the serious AE with few false negative results. Copyright © 2014 AEC. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Cinema 4D R14 cookbook

CERN Document Server

Russell, Simon

2013-01-01

This book is written in a Cookbook style with short recipes designed to effectively teach tools in the minimum amount of time. Each recipe hits on a topic that can be combined or incorporated with other recipes to give you the building blocks you need to start making great designs with Cinema 4D. Rather than demonstrating how to make a few specific and extensive projects, the recipes create a solid base of knowledge to help the reader understand the tools available to foster their own creativity.This book is for professional artists working in architecture, design, production, or games and wan

Is prophetic discourse adequate to address global economic justice?

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Test

2011-02-15

Feb 15, 2011 ... of moral discourse adequately addresses issues of economic injustice. ... plays an indispensable role in addressing issues of global economic justice, but ...... governance in their business practices, to provide a tool for a.

Using Open Source Tools to Create a Mobile Optimized, Crowdsourced Translation Tool

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evviva Weinraub Lajoie

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In late 2012, OSU Libraries and Press partnered with Maria's Libraries, an NGO in Rural Kenya, to provide users the ability to crowdsource translations of folk tales and existing children's books into a variety of African languages, sub-languages, and dialects. Together, these two organizations have been creating a mobile optimized platform using open source libraries such as Wink Toolkit (a library which provides mobile-friendly interaction from a website and Globalize3 to allow for multiple translations of database entries in a Ruby on Rails application. Research regarding successes of similar tools has been utilized in providing a consistent user interface. The OSU Libraries & Press team delivered a proof-of-concept tool that has the opportunity to promote technology exploration, improve early childhood literacy, change the way we approach foreign language learning, and to provide opportunities for cost-effective, multi-language publishing.

Research Methodology in Global Strategy Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cuervo-Cazurra, Alvaro; Mudambi, Ram; Pedersen, Torben

2017-01-01

We review advances in research methodology used in global strategy research and provide suggestions on how researchers can improve their analyses and arguments. Methodological advances in the extraction of information, such as computer-aided text analysis, and in the analysis of datasets......, such as differences-in-differences and propensity score matching, have helped deal with challenges (e.g., endogeneity and causality) that bedeviled earlier studies and resulted in conflicting findings. These methodological advances need to be considered as tools that complement theoretical arguments and well......-explained logics and mechanisms so that researchers can provide better and more relevant recommendations to managers designing the global strategies of their organizations....

A Global Rapid Integrated Monitoring System for Water Cycle and Water Resource Assessment (Global-RIMS)

Science.gov (United States)

Roads, John; Voeroesmarty, Charles

2005-01-01

The main focus of our work was to solidify underlying data sets, the data processing tools and the modeling environment needed to perform a series of long-term global and regional hydrological simulations leading eventually to routine hydrometeorological predictions. A water and energy budget synthesis was developed for the Mississippi River Basin (Roads et al. 2003), in order to understand better what kinds of errors exist in current hydrometeorological data sets. This study is now being extended globally with a larger number of observations and model based data sets under the new NASA NEWS program. A global comparison of a number of precipitation data sets was subsequently carried out (Fekete et al. 2004) in which it was further shown that reanalysis precipitation has substantial problems, which subsequently led us to the development of a precipitation assimilation effort (Nunes and Roads 2005). We believe that with current levels of model skill in predicting precipitation that precipitation assimilation is necessary to get the appropriate land surface forcing.

A Tool for Assessment of Animal Health Laboratory Safety and Biosecurity: The Safety Module of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Laboratory Mapping Tool

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beatrice Mouillé

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The Laboratory Management Tool (LMT is a standardized spreadsheet-based assessment tool developed to help support national, regional, and global efforts to maintain an effective network of animal health and veterinary public health laboratories. The safety and biosecurity module of the LMT (LMT-S includes 98 measures covering administrative, operational, engineering, and personal protective equipment practices used to provide laboratory safety and biosecurity. Performance aspects of laboratory infrastructure and technical compliance considered fundamental for ensuring that a laboratory is able to appropriately function in a safe and biosecure manner are systematically queried and scored for compliance on a four-point scale providing for a semi-quantitative assessment. Data collected is used to generate graphs and tables mapping levels of compliance with international standards and good practices, as well as for documenting progress over time. The LMT-S was employed by trained auditors in 34 laboratories located in 19 countries between 2015 and 2017. The tool is intended to help standardize animal health laboratory assessments, document compliance with recognized laboratory safety and biosecurity measures, serve as a self-help and training tool, and assist global laboratory development efforts by providing an accurate measurement of laboratory safety and biosecurity at local, national, and regional levels.

Predicting malicious behavior tools and techniques for ensuring global security

CERN Document Server

Jackson, Gary M

2012-01-01

A groundbreaking exploration of how to identify and fight security threats at every level This revolutionary book combines real-world security scenarios with actual tools to predict and prevent incidents of terrorism, network hacking, individual criminal behavior, and more. Written by an expert with intelligence officer experience who invented the technology, it explores the keys to understanding the dark side of human nature, various types of security threats (current and potential), and how to construct a methodology to predict and combat malicious behavior. The companion CD demonstrates ava

China's Overseas M&A in Global Economic Crisis

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Han Kang

2009-01-01

@@ verseas Merger and Acquisition (M&A) is not only the major means for the enterprises to expand rapid-ly and operate globally, but also the significant stra-tegic tools for acquiring advanced technotegy from other companies and seizing the market and other resources.

Analysis of stability and Hopf bifurcation for a delayed logistic equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Chengjun; Han Maoan; Lin Yiping

2007-01-01

The dynamics of a logistic equation with discrete delay are investigated, together with the local and global stability of the equilibria. In particular, the conditions under which a sequence of Hopf bifurcations occur at the positive equilibrium are obtained. Explicit algorithm for determining the stability of the bifurcating periodic solutions and the direction of the Hopf bifurcation are derived by using the theory of normal form and center manifold [Hassard B, Kazarino D, Wan Y. Theory and applications of Hopf bifurcation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1981.]. Global existence of periodic solutions is also established by using a global Hopf bifurcation result of Wu [Symmetric functional differential equations and neural networks with memory. Trans Amer Math Soc 350:1998;4799-38.

GEM1: First-year modeling and IT activities for the Global Earthquake Model

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, G.; Giardini, D.; Wiemer, S.

2009-04-01

GEM is a public-private partnership initiated by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to build an independent standard for modeling and communicating earthquake risk worldwide. GEM is aimed at providing authoritative, open information about seismic risk and decision tools to support mitigation. GEM will also raise risk awareness and help post-disaster economic development, with the ultimate goal of reducing the toll of future earthquakes. GEM will provide a unified set of seismic hazard, risk, and loss modeling tools based on a common global IT infrastructure and consensus standards. These tools, systems, and standards will be developed in partnership with organizations around the world, with coordination by the GEM Secretariat and its Secretary General. GEM partners will develop a variety of global components, including a unified earthquake catalog, fault database, and ground motion prediction equations. To ensure broad representation and community acceptance, GEM will include local knowledge in all modeling activities, incorporate existing detailed models where possible, and independently test all resulting tools and models. When completed in five years, GEM will have a versatile, penly accessible modeling environment that can be updated as necessary, and will provide the global standard for seismic hazard, risk, and loss models to government ministers, scientists and engineers, financial institutions, and the public worldwide. GEM is now underway with key support provided by private sponsors (Munich Reinsurance Company, Zurich Financial Services, AIR Worldwide Corporation, and Willis Group Holdings); countries including Belgium, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Switzerland, and Turkey; and groups such as the European Commission. The GEM Secretariat has been selected by the OECD and will be hosted at the Eucentre at the University of Pavia in Italy; the Secretariat is now formalizing the creation of the GEM Foundation. Some of GEM's global

Pseudo Phase Plane and Fractional Calculus modeling of western global economic downturn

Science.gov (United States)

Tenreiro Machado, J. A.; Mata, Maria Eugénia

2015-05-01

This paper applies Pseudo Phase Plane (PPP) and Fractional Calculus (FC) mathematical tools for modeling world economies. A challenging global rivalry among the largest international economies began in the early 1970s, when the post-war prosperity declined. It went on, up to now. If some worrying threatens may exist actually in terms of possible ambitious military aggression, invasion, or hegemony, countries' PPP relative positions can tell something on the current global peaceful equilibrium. A global political downturn of the USA on global hegemony in favor of Asian partners is possible, but can still be not accomplished in the next decades. If the 1973 oil chock has represented the beginning of a long-run recession, the PPP analysis of the last four decades (1972-2012) does not conclude for other partners' global dominance (Russian, Brazil, Japan, and Germany) in reaching high degrees of similarity with the most developed world countries. The synergies of the proposed mathematical tools lead to a better understanding of the dynamics underlying world economies and point towards the estimation of future states based on the memory of each time series.

RED Alert – Early warning or detection of global re-emerging infectious disease (RED)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deshpande, Alina [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-07-13

This is the PDF of a presentation for a webinar given by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) on the early warning or detection of global re-emerging infectious disease (RED). First, there is an overview of LANL biosurveillance tools. Then, information is given about RED Alert. Next, a demonstration is given of a component prototype. RED Alert is an analysis tool that can provide early warning or detection of the re-emergence of an infectious disease at the global level, but through a local lens.

Security Analysis of a Software Defined Wide Area Network Solution

OpenAIRE

Rajendran, Ashok

2016-01-01

Enterprise wide area network (WAN) is a private network that connects the computers and other devices across an organisation's branch locations and the data centers. It forms the backbone of enterprise communication. Currently, multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) is commonly used to provide this service. As a recent alternative to MPLS, software-dened wide area networking (SD-WAN) solutions are being introduced as an IP based cloud-networking service for enterprises. SD-WAN virtualizes the n...

Global identifiability of linear compartmental models--a computer algebra algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Audoly, S; D'Angiò, L; Saccomani, M P; Cobelli, C

1998-01-01

A priori global identifiability deals with the uniqueness of the solution for the unknown parameters of a model and is, thus, a prerequisite for parameter estimation of biological dynamic models. Global identifiability is however difficult to test, since it requires solving a system of algebraic nonlinear equations which increases both in nonlinearity degree and number of terms and unknowns with increasing model order. In this paper, a computer algebra tool, GLOBI (GLOBal Identifiability) is presented, which combines the topological transfer function method with the Buchberger algorithm, to test global identifiability of linear compartmental models. GLOBI allows for the automatic testing of a priori global identifiability of general structure compartmental models from general multi input-multi output experiments. Examples of usage of GLOBI to analyze a priori global identifiability of some complex biological compartmental models are provided.

Global Cardiovascular Risk Assessment by Family Physicians in Suez Canal University-Family Medicine Centers-Egypt.

Science.gov (United States)

Nour-Eldein, Hebatallah; Abdelsalam, Shimaa A; Nasr, Gamila M; Abdelwahed, Hassan A

2013-01-01

The close sustained contact of family physician with their patients and local community makes preventive care an integral part of their routine work. Most cardiovascular diseases (CVD) can be prevented by addressing their risk factors. There are several guidelines that recommend different CV risk assessment tools to support CV prevention strategies. This study aimed to assess awareness and attitude of global CV risk assessment and use of their tools by family physicians; aiming to improve CV prevention service. The current study is a cross-sectional descriptive analytic. Sixty-five family physicians were asked to respond to, validated anonymous questionnaire to collect data about characteristics of family physicians, their awareness, attitude, current use, barriers, and recommendations of global CV risk assessment. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18 was used for data entry and analysis. Awareness of guidelines of global CV risk assessment was relatively higher regarding the American guidelines (30.8%) than that recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) for Egypt (20.2%). 50.8% of participants had favorable attitude. There was statistical significant relationship between attitude scores and physician characteristics; age (P = 0.003), qualification (P = 0.001) and number of patients seen per week (P = 0.009). Routine use of global CV risk assessment tools was reported only (23%) by family physicians. Relative higher attitude scores than use of global CV risk assessment tools in practice. The most frequent barriers were related to lack of resources and shortage in training/skills and the raised suggestions were towards training.

Wear monitoring of single point cutting tool using acoustic emission ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

feeds are used, the coating remains intact throughout the duration of testing. Wear ... present global industrial scenario is to produce quality products at competitive price. .... Coated carbide tool was selected based on its wider application.

Development of road infrastructure as a tool of transforming Ibiono ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Global Journal of Social Sciences ... Development of road infrastructure as a tool of transforming Ibiono Ibom local government area. V Umoren ... The improvement of transportation network in the rural area in this regard becomes imperative.

Data in the Classroom: New Tools for Engaging Students with Data

Science.gov (United States)

Dean, A.; Pisut, D.

2017-12-01

The ability to understand and analyze data effectively can increase students ability to understand current and historical global change. Since 2009, NOAA Data in the Classroom Project has been offering formal education resources and tools aimed at helping teachers to build data and environmental literacy in their classrooms. Currently, NOAA is modernizing its Data in the Classroom resources using a web application within Esri's web-based GIS platform, Story Maps. Story Maps have been used for a wide variety of purposes, including teaching and instruction, for more than a decade. This technology can help to engage students in a story, like El Niño, while harnessing the power of data - using maps, data visualizations and data query tools. The aim is to create an effective education tool that allows students access to user-friendly, relevant data sets from NOAA, ultimately providing the opportunity to explore dynamic Earth processes and understand the impact of environmental events on a regional or global scale. This presentation will include demonstrations of the recently launched web-based curricular modules, highlighting the Esri web technology used to build and distribute each module and the interactive data tools that are unique to this project.

Home Is My Area Code: Thinking about, Teaching, and Learning Globalization in Introductory World Religions Classes

Science.gov (United States)

DeTemple, Jill

2012-01-01

There has been significant and growing interest in teaching religious studies, and specifically world religions, in a "global' context. Bringing globalization into the classroom as a specific theoretical and pedagogical tool, however, requires not just an awareness that religions exist in an ever-globalizing environment, but a willingness to…

The Global Control of the Virgo experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnaud, Nicolas; Arnault, Christian; Barsuglia, Matteo; Bizouard, Marie-Anne; Brisson, Violette; Cavalier, Fabien; Chiche, Ronic; Davier, Michel; Eder, Claude; Hello, Patrice; Heusse, Philippe; Kreckelbergh, Stephane; Mansoux, Bruno

2005-01-01

In order to detect gravitational waves, the kilometric interferometer Virgo needs an active control of the positions of the suspended optical components, keeping the detector at its working point. The constraints are about 10 -10 m RMS for the longitudinal control ('Locking') and 10 -9 rad RMS for the angular degrees of freedom ('Alignment'). A dedicated hardware and software named Global Control is in charge of the Locking and the Alignment loops for the Virgo experiment. This system has been designed to match the synchronization constraint and provide a flexible tool in order to easily integrate the various algorithms needed for the control of Virgo. This paper presents the technical requirements to be fulfilled by the Global Control. Then, the dedicated hardware is described and the overall architecture of the Global Control is shown

Key determinants of managing the marketing asset of global companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatyana Tsygankova

2016-12-01

Full Text Available As a result of organization and summarization of key concepts of evolution of the marketing tools of global companies, the authors determined the role of the marketing assets in the system of modern marketing management (as a dialectically higher stage of development of the analyzed tools, which will allow overcoming the antagonistic contradiction of “P- and C-vectors” of their development. The article identified the optimal set of key elements of the system of marketing assets, which are the brand, customer loyalty, reputation, network cooperation, marketing strategy, internal marketing, marketing information system and marketing innovation. Due to correlation and regression analysis of the impact of each system elements on performance of global companies, the model of the "marketing asset octagon" was built as an integrative management tool. Also, as a result of construction of the said model, the authors identified the most profitable marketing assets, return on investment and development of competencies in the field of efficient management will bring the highest profit to the company. On the basis of summarizing the regional and branch features of managing the disparate elements of the marketing assets of global companies, the key regional and sectoral priorities of formation, development and improvement of existing concepts of the international marketing management were identified, particularly in terms of building an author’s integrative octagon model.

Collaboratively Conceived, Designed and Implemented: Matching Visualization Tools with Geoscience Data Collections and Geoscience Data Collections with Visualization Tools via the ToolMatch Service.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoebelheinrich, N. J.; Lynnes, C.; West, P.; Ferritto, M.

2014-12-01

Two problems common to many geoscience domains are the difficulties in finding tools to work with a given dataset collection, and conversely, the difficulties in finding data for a known tool. A collaborative team from the Earth Science Information Partnership (ESIP) has gotten together to design and create a web service, called ToolMatch, to address these problems. The team began their efforts by defining an initial, relatively simple conceptual model that addressed the two uses cases briefly described above. The conceptual model is expressed as an ontology using OWL (Web Ontology Language) and DCterms (Dublin Core Terms), and utilizing standard ontologies such as DOAP (Description of a Project), FOAF (Friend of a Friend), SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organization System) and DCAT (Data Catalog Vocabulary). The ToolMatch service will be taking advantage of various Semantic Web and Web standards, such as OpenSearch, RESTful web services, SWRL (Semantic Web Rule Language) and SPARQL (Simple Protocol and RDF Query Language). The first version of the ToolMatch service was deployed in early fall 2014. While more complete testing is required, a number of communities besides ESIP member organizations have expressed interest in collaborating to create, test and use the service and incorporate it into their own web pages, tools and / or services including the USGS Data Catalog service, DataONE, the Deep Carbon Observatory, Virtual Solar Terrestrial Observatory (VSTO), and the U.S. Global Change Research Program. In this session, presenters will discuss the inception and development of the ToolMatch service, the collaborative process used to design, refine, and test the service, and future plans for the service.

Biosensor: an emerging safety tool for meat industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Pradeep Kumar; Jairath, Gauri; Ahlawat, Satyavir Singh; Pathera, Ashok; Singh, Prashant

2016-04-01

The meat industry associated with the health hazards like deadly pathogens, veterinary drugs, pesticide residues, toxins and heavy metals is in need of a tool to tackle the awful situation and ensure safer product to consumer. The growth in the industry, global trade scenario, stringent laws and consumer awareness has placed an extra onus on the meat industry to meet out the expectations and demands. Biosensors are the latest tool of detection in the fast growing industries including the food industry. Hence an attempt is envisaged here to review the possibility of harnessing biosensors as tool of safety to safe guard the consumer health and address safety issues in reference to the common threats of concern in the meat industry.

Encouraging Development of a Global Mindset among Students in Online International Management Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Pathak, Seemantini

2018-01-01

This research explores how a multiple intelligences approach can be used to build a global mindset among students in online international management courses. It draws upon research in the areas of global mindset, education, cognition and learning, and neuroscience to discuss how pedagogical tools and strategies relevant to each specific…

Meeting global health challenges through operational research and management science.

Science.gov (United States)

Royston, Geoff

2011-09-01

This paper considers how operational research and management science can improve the design of health systems and the delivery of health care, particularly in low-resource settings. It identifies some gaps in the way operational research is typically used in global health and proposes steps to bridge them. It then outlines some analytical tools of operational research and management science and illustrates how their use can inform some typical design and delivery challenges in global health. The paper concludes by considering factors that will increase and improve the contribution of operational research and management science to global health.

The effects of Jiao-Tai-Wan on sleep, inflammation and insulin resistance in obesity-resistant rats with chronic partial sleep deprivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Xin; Huang, Wenya; Lu, Fuer; Fang, Ke; Wang, Dingkun; Zhao, Shuyong; Jia, Jiming; Xu, Lijun; Wang, Kaifu; Wang, Nan; Dong, Hui

2017-03-23

Jiao-Tai-Wan (JTW), composed of Rhizome Coptidis and Cortex Cinnamomi, is a classical traditional Chinese prescription for treating insomnia. Several in vivo studies have concluded that JTW could exert its therapeutical effect in insomnia rats. However, the specific mechanism is still unclear. The present study aimed to explore the effect of JTW on sleep in obesity-resistant (OR) rats with chronic partial sleep deprivation (PSD) and to clarify its possible mechanism. JTW was prepared and the main components contained in the granules were identified by 3D-High Performance Liquid Chromatography (3D-HPLC) assay. The Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats underwent 4 h PSD by environmental noise and the treatment with low and high doses of JTW orally for 4 weeks, respectively. Then sleep structure was analyzed by electroencephalographic (EEG). Inflammation markers including high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were examined in the rat plasma. Meanwhile, metabolic parameters as body weight increase rate, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting insulin (FINS) levels and insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) were measured. The expressions of clock gene cryptochromes (Cry1 and Cry2) and inflammation gene nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) in peripheral blood monocyte cells (PBMC) were also determined. The result showed that the administration of JTW significantly increased total sleep time and total slow wave sleep (SWS) time in OR rats with PSD. Furthermore, the treatment with JTW reversed the increase in the markers of systemic inflammation and insulin resistance caused by sleep loss. These changes were also associated with the up-regulation of Cry1 mRNA and Cry 2 mRNA and the down-regulation of NF-κB mRNA expression in PBMC. This study suggests that JTW has the beneficial effects of improving sleep, inflammation and insulin sensitivity. The mechanism appears to be related to the modulation of circadian clock and

Hypersonic Control Modeling and Simulation Tool for Lifting Towed Ballutes, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Global Aerospace Corporation proposes to develop a hypersonic control modeling and simulation tool for hypersonic aeroassist vehicles. Our control and simulation...

Evaluation of Tools for Protection of Interest against Hacking and Cracking

Science.gov (United States)

Jahankhani, Hossein; Antonijevic, Branko; Walcott, Terry

The internet considered a tool that effectively ensures communication globally has been hindered by hackers and crackers continuously. In so doing, a multitude of network facilitated tools such as firewalls, virtual private networks (VPN) and a variety of antivirus software packages has been enabled for dealing with such predicaments. However, more often than not these facilitated tools are marketed as perfect solutions to the ever culminating problems such as loss of data and privacy in networked and world wide intercommunications. We provide a forum for addressing these perceived problems in this paper.

Antihyperglycemic and anti-inflammatory effects of fermented food paste in high-fat diet and streptozotocin-challenged mice

OpenAIRE

Zulkawi N; Ng KH; Zamberi NR; Yeap SK; Satharasinghe DA; Tan SW; Ho WY; Abd Rashid NY; Md Lazim MI; Jamaluddin A; Alitheen NB; Long K

2018-01-01

Noraisyah Zulkawi,1 Kam Heng Ng,1 Nur Rizi Zamberi,2,3 Swee Keong Yeap,4 Dilan A Satharasinghe,5 Sheau Wei Tan,2 Wan Yong Ho,6 Nur Yuhasliza Abd Rashid,3 Mohd Izwan Md Lazim,3 Anisah Jamaluddin,3 Noorjahan Banu Alitheen,2,7 Kamariah Long3 1Technical Research – Product Development Department, Elken Global Sdn. Bhd, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 2Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; 3Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), ...

Antihyperglycemic and anti-inflammatory effects of fermented food paste in high-fat diet and streptozotocin-challenged mice

OpenAIRE

Zulkawi,Noraisyah; Ng,Kam Heng; Zamberi,Nur Rizi; Yeap,Swee Keong; Satharasinghe,Dilan; Tan,Sheau Wei; Ho,Wan Yong; Abd Rashid,Nur Yuhasliza; Md Lazim,Mohd Izwan; Jamaluddin,Anisah; Alitheen,Noorjahan; Long,Kamariah

2018-01-01

Noraisyah Zulkawi,1 Kam Heng Ng,1 Nur Rizi Zamberi,2,3 Swee Keong Yeap,4 Dilan A Satharasinghe,5 Sheau Wei Tan,2 Wan Yong Ho,6 Nur Yuhasliza Abd Rashid,3 Mohd Izwan Md Lazim,3 Anisah Jamaluddin,3 Noorjahan Banu Alitheen,2,7 Kamariah Long3 1Technical Research – Product Development Department, Elken Global Sdn. Bhd, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 2Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; 3Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARD...

 Project Management as a Global Trend for Organization Work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kampf, Constance

in multination and global companies, understanding the power of visual rhetoric, genre and writing processes in the context of project management documentation can be an advantage for technical communicators.  In addition, project management tools and online documentation spaces are objects which cross...... Project Management as a Global Trend for Organization Work: Implications for Technical Communication Project Management tools and processes offer a visual approach to producing knowledge about a project in order to complete it.  As project management practices are used with increasing frequency......-cultural teams use to function.  This presentation will explore the potential of Project Management to be tightly integrated in Technical Communication curricula through a communications approach to project management.  Questions for discussion include: How tightly is project management integrated into different...

Accumulation of Arsenic Speciation and In Vivo Toxicity Following Oral Administration of a Chinese Patent Medicine Xiao-Er-Zhi-Bao-Wan in Rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiaoyang Luo

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Realgar-containing traditional Chinese medicines such as Xiao-Er-Zhi-Bao-Wan (XEZBW, have been widely used for thousands of years. However, events associated with arsenic-induced ailments have increasingly become a public concern. To address the toxicity of XEZBW, we studied the histopathology and blood biochemistry of rats exposed to XEZBW using technology like high-performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled mass spectrometry to determine arsenic speciation. Our results demonstrated that dimethylarsinic acid (DMA increased from 18.57 ± 7.45 to 22.74 ± 7.45 ng/g in rat kidney after oral administration for 7 and 14 days, which was 10-fold higher than the levels observed in controls. Trivalent arsenite As(III showed a large increase on day 7 (26.99 ± 1.98 ng/g, followed by a slight decrease on day 14 (13.67 ± 6.48 ng/g. Total arsenic levels on day 7 (185.52 ± 24.56 ng/g and day 14 (198.57 ± 26.26 ng/g were nearly twofold higher than that in the control group (92.77 ± 14.98 ng/g. Histopathological analysis showed mild injury in the liver and kidney of rats subjected to oral administration of realgar for 14 days. As in the XEZBW groups, a mild injury in these organs was observed after administration for 14 days. This study inferred that the toxicity of arsenic was concentration- and time-dependent. The accumulation of DMA, a byproduct of choline metabolism, was responsible for inducing higher toxicity. Therefore, we concluded that measuring the levels of DMA, instead of total arsenic, might be more suitable for evaluating the toxicity of realgar-containing traditional Chinese medicines.

Providing Context for Complexity: Using Infographics and Conceptual Models to Teach Global Change Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Bean, J. R.; White, L. D.

2015-12-01

Understanding modern and historical global changes requires interdisciplinary knowledge of the physical and life sciences. The Understanding Global Change website from the UC Museum of Paleontology will use a focal infographic that unifies diverse content often taught in separate K-12 science units. This visualization tool provides scientists with a structure for presenting research within the broad context of global change, and supports educators with a framework for teaching and assessing student understanding of complex global change processes. This new approach to teaching the science of global change is currently being piloted and refined based on feedback from educators and scientists in anticipation of a 2016 website launch. Global change concepts are categorized within the infographic as causes of global change (e.g., burning of fossil fuels, volcanism), ongoing Earth system processes (e.g., ocean circulation, the greenhouse effect), and the changes scientists measure in Earth's physical and biological systems (e.g., temperature, extinctions/radiations). The infographic will appear on all website content pages and provides a template for the creation of flowcharts, which are conceptual models that allow teachers and students to visualize the interdependencies and feedbacks among processes in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere. The development of this resource is timely given that the newly adopted Next Generation Science Standards emphasize cross-cutting concepts, including model building, and Earth system science. Flowchart activities will be available on the website to scaffold inquiry-based lessons, determine student preconceptions, and assess student content knowledge. The infographic has already served as a learning and evaluation tool during professional development workshops at UC Berkeley, Stanford University, and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. At these workshops, scientists and educators used the infographic

Global relationships in river hydromorphology

Science.gov (United States)

Pavelsky, T.; Lion, C.; Allen, G. H.; Durand, M. T.; Schumann, G.; Beighley, E.; Yang, X.

2017-12-01

Since the widespread adoption of digital elevation models (DEMs) in the 1980s, most global and continental-scale analysis of river flow characteristics has been focused on measurements derived from DEMs such as drainage area, elevation, and slope. These variables (especially drainage area) have been related to other quantities of interest such as river width, depth, and velocity via empirical relationships that often take the form of power laws. More recently, a number of groups have developed more direct measurements of river location and some aspects of planform geometry from optical satellite imagery on regional, continental, and global scales. However, these satellite-derived datasets often lack many of the qualities that make DEM=derived datasets attractive, including robust network topology. Here, we present analysis of a dataset that combines the Global River Widths from Landsat (GRWL) database of river location, width, and braiding index with a river database extracted from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission DEM and the HydroSHEDS dataset. Using these combined tools, we present a dataset that includes measurements of river width, slope, braiding index, upstream drainage area, and other variables. The dataset is available everywhere that both datasets are available, which includes all continental areas south of 60N with rivers sufficiently large to be observed with Landsat imagery. We use the dataset to examine patterns and frequencies of river form across continental and global scales as well as global relationships among variables including width, slope, and drainage area. The results demonstrate the complex relationships among different dimensions of river hydromorphology at the global scale.

Selection tool for foodborne norovirus outbreaks.

Science.gov (United States)

Verhoef, Linda P B; Kroneman, Annelies; van Duynhoven, Yvonne; Boshuizen, Hendriek; van Pelt, Wilfrid; Koopmans, Marion

2009-01-01

Detection of pathogens in the food chain is limited mainly to bacteria, and the globalization of the food industry enables international viral foodborne outbreaks to occur. Outbreaks from 2002 through 2006 recorded in a European norovirus surveillance database were investigated for virologic and epidemiologic indicators of food relatedness. The resulting validated multivariate logistic regression model comparing foodborne (n = 224) and person-to-person (n = 654) outbreaks was used to create a practical web-based tool that can be limited to epidemiologic parameters for nongenotyping countries. Non-genogroup-II.4 outbreaks, higher numbers of cases, and outbreaks in restaurants or households characterized (sensitivity = 0.80, specificity = 0.86) foodborne outbreaks and reduced the percentage of outbreaks requiring source-tracing to 31%. The selection tool enabled prospectively focused follow-up. Use of this tool is likely to improve data quality and strain typing in current surveillance systems, which is necessary for identification of potential international foodborne outbreaks.

Identifying hubs and spokes in global supply chains using redirected trade in value added

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lejour, Arjan; Rojas-Romagosa, Hugo; Veenendaal, Paul

2017-01-01

The increasing importance of global supply chains has prompted the use of analytical tools based on trade in value added - instead of traditional measures in gross value. We use this analytical framework to develop indicators that identify production hubs and supply spokes in global supply chains.

Global warming: Economic policy responses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dornbusch, R.; Poterba, J.M.

1991-01-01

This volume contains the proceedings of a conference that brought together economic experts from Europe, the US, Latin America, and Japan to evaluate key issues in the policy debate in global warming. The following issues are at the center of debates on alternative policies to address global warming: scientific evidence on the magnitude of global warming and the extent to which it is due to human activities; availability of economic tools to control the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, and how vigorously should they be applied; and political economy considerations which influence the design of an international program for controlling greenhouse gases. Many perspectives are offered on the approaches to remedying environmental problems that are currently being pursued in Europe and the Pacific Rim. Deforestation in the Amazon is discussed, as well as ways to slow it. Public finance assessments are presented of both the domestic and international policy issues raised by plans to levy a tax on the carbon emissions from various fossil fuels. Nine chapters have been processed separately for inclusion in the appropriate data bases

Open Tools for Integrated Modelling to Understand SDG development - The OPTIMUS program

Science.gov (United States)

Howells, Mark; Zepeda, Eduardo; Rogner, H. Holger; Sanchez, Marco; Roehrl, Alexander; Cicowiez, Matrin; Mentis, Dimitris; Korkevelos, Alexandros; Taliotis, Constantinos; Broad, Oliver; Alfstad, Thomas

2016-04-01

The recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - a set of 17 measurable and time-bound goals with 169 associated targets for 2030 - are highly inclusive challenges before the world community ranging from eliminating poverty to human rights, inequality, a secure world and protection of the environment. Each individual goal or target by themselves present enormous tasks, taken together they are overwhelming. There strong and weak interlinkages, hence trade-offs and complementarities among goals and targets. Some targets may affect several goals while other goals and targets may conflict or be mutually exclusive (Ref). Meeting each of these requires the judicious exploitation of resource, with energy playing an important role. Such complexity demands to be addressed in an integrated way using systems analysis tools to support informed policy formulation, planning, allocation of scarce resources, monitoring progress, effectiveness and review at different scales. There is no one size fits all methodology that conceivably could include all goal and targets simultaneously. But there are methodologies encapsulating critical subsets of the goal and targets with strong interlinkages with a 'soft' reflection on the weak interlinkages. Universal food security or sustainable energy for all inherently support goals and targets on human rights and equality but possibly at the cost of biodiversity or desertification. Integrated analysis and planning tools are not yet commonplace at national universities - or indeed in many policy making organs. What is needed is a fundamental realignment of institutions and integrations of their planning processes and decision making. We introduce a series of open source tools to support the SDG planning and implementation process. The Global User-friendly CLEW Open Source (GLUCOSE) tool optimizes resource interactions and constraints; The Global Electrification Tool kit (GETit) provides the first global spatially explicit

Global warming and climate change: control methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laal, M.; Aliramaie, A.

2008-01-01

This paper aimed at finding causes of global warming and ways to bring it under control. Data based on scientific opinion as given by synthesis reports of news, articles, web sites, and books. global warming is the observed and projected increases in average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans. Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up. Pollution is one of the biggest man-made problems. Burning fossil fuels is the main factor of pollution. As average temperature increases, habitats, species and people are threatened by drought, changes in rainfall, altered seasons, and more violent storms and floods. Indeed the life cycle of nuclear power results in relatively little pollution. Energy efficiency, solar, wind and other renewable fuels are other weapons against global warming . Human activity, primarily burning fossil fuels, is the major driving factor in global warming . Curtailing the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by reducing use of oil, gasoline, coal and employment of alternate energy, sources are the tools for keeping global warming under control. global warming can be slowed and stopped, with practical actions thal yield a cleaner, healthier atmosphere

The Global Earthquake Model and Disaster Risk Reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Smolka, A. J.

2015-12-01

Advanced, reliable and transparent tools and data to assess earthquake risk are inaccessible to most, especially in less developed regions of the world while few, if any, globally accepted standards currently allow a meaningful comparison of risk between places. The Global Earthquake Model (GEM) is a collaborative effort that aims to provide models, datasets and state-of-the-art tools for transparent assessment of earthquake hazard and risk. As part of this goal, GEM and its global network of collaborators have developed the OpenQuake engine (an open-source software for hazard and risk calculations), the OpenQuake platform (a web-based portal making GEM's resources and datasets freely available to all potential users), and a suite of tools to support modelers and other experts in the development of hazard, exposure and vulnerability models. These resources are being used extensively across the world in hazard and risk assessment, from individual practitioners to local and national institutions, and in regional projects to inform disaster risk reduction. Practical examples for how GEM is bridging the gap between science and disaster risk reduction are: - Several countries including Switzerland, Turkey, Italy, Ecuador, Papua-New Guinea and Taiwan (with more to follow) are computing national seismic hazard using the OpenQuake-engine. In some cases these results are used for the definition of actions in building codes. - Technical support, tools and data for the development of hazard, exposure, vulnerability and risk models for regional projects in South America and Sub-Saharan Africa. - Going beyond physical risk, GEM's scorecard approach evaluates local resilience by bringing together neighborhood/community leaders and the risk reduction community as a basis for designing risk reduction programs at various levels of geography. Actual case studies are Lalitpur in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal and Quito/Ecuador. In agreement with GEM's collaborative approach, all

The Global Control of the Virgo experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arnaud, Nicolas [Laboratoire de l' Accelerateur Lineaire, CNRS-IN2P3 and Universite Paris Sud, Ba-hat timent 200, Campus d' Orsay, B.P. 34, 91898 Orsay Cedex (France); Arnault, Christian [Laboratoire de l' Accelerateur Lineaire, CNRS-IN2P3 and Universite Paris Sud, Ba-hat timent 200, Campus d' Orsay, B.P. 34, 91898 Orsay Cedex (France); Barsuglia, Matteo [Laboratoire de l' Accelerateur Lineaire, CNRS-IN2P3 and Universite Paris Sud, Ba-hat timent 200, Campus d' Orsay, B.P. 34, 91898 Orsay Cedex (France); Bizouard, Marie-Anne [Laboratoire de l' Accelerateur Lineaire, CNRS-IN2P3 and Universite Paris Sud, Ba-hat timent 200, Campus d' Orsay, B.P. 34, 91898 Orsay Cedex (France); Brisson, Violette [Laboratoire de l' Accelerateur Lineaire, CNRS-IN2P3 and Universite Paris Sud, Ba-hat timent 200, Campus d' Orsay, B.P. 34, 91898 Orsay Cedex (France); Cavalier, Fabien [Laboratoire de l' Accelerateur Lineaire, CNRS-IN2P3 and Universite Paris Sud, Ba-hat timent 200, Campus d' Orsay, B.P. 34, 91898 Orsay Cedex (France)]. E-mail: cavalier@lal.in2p3.fr; Chiche, Ronic [Laboratoire de l' Accelerateur Lineaire, CNRS-IN2P3 and Universite Paris Sud, Ba-hat timent 200, Campus d' Orsay, B.P. 34, 91898 Orsay Cedex (France); Davier, Michel [Laboratoire de l' Accelerateur Lineaire, CNRS-IN2P3 and Universite Paris Sud, Ba-hat timent 200, Campus d' Orsay, B.P. 34, 91898 Orsay Cedex (France); Eder, Claude [Laboratoire de l' Accelerateur Lineaire, CNRS-IN2P3 and Universite Paris Sud, Ba-hat timent 200, Campus d' Orsay, B.P. 34, 91898 Orsay Cedex (France); Hello, Patrice [Laboratoire de l' Accelerateur Lineaire, CNRS-IN2P3 and Universite Paris Sud, Ba-hat timent 200, Campus d' Orsay, B.P. 34, 91898 Orsay Cedex (France); Heusse, Philippe; Kreckelbergh, Stephane; Mansoux, Bruno [Laboratoire de l' Accelerateur Lineaire, CNRS-IN2P3 and Universite Paris Sud, Ba-hat timent 200, Campus d' Orsay, B.P. 34, 91898 Orsay Cedex (France)

2005-09-11

In order to detect gravitational waves, the kilometric interferometer Virgo needs an active control of the positions of the suspended optical components, keeping the detector at its working point. The constraints are about 10{sup -10}m RMS for the longitudinal control ('Locking') and 10{sup -9}rad RMS for the angular degrees of freedom ('Alignment'). A dedicated hardware and software named Global Control is in charge of the Locking and the Alignment loops for the Virgo experiment. This system has been designed to match the synchronization constraint and provide a flexible tool in order to easily integrate the various algorithms needed for the control of Virgo. This paper presents the technical requirements to be fulfilled by the Global Control. Then, the dedicated hardware is described and the overall architecture of the Global Control is shown.

Model of global evaluation for energetic resources; Modelo de avaliacao global de recursos energeticos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fujii, Ricardo Junqueira; Udaeta, Miguel Edgar Morales; Galvao, Luiz Claudio Ribeiro [Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), SP (Brazil). Dept. de Energia e Automacao Eletricas. Grupo de Energia]. E-mail: ricardo_fujii@pea.usp.br; daeta@pea.usp.br; lcgalvao@pea.usp.br

2006-07-01

The traditional energy planning usually takes into account the technical economical costs, considered alongside environmental and a few political restraints; however, there is a lack of methods to evenly assess environmental, economical, social and political costs. This work tries to change such scenario by elaborating a model to characterize an energy resource in all four dimensions - environmental, political, social and economical - in an integrated view. The model aims at two objectives: provide a method to assess the global cost of the energy resource and estimate its potential considering the limitations provided by these dimensions. To minimize the complexity of the integration process, the model strongly recommends the use of the Full Cost Accounting - FCA - method to assess the costs and benefits from any given resource. The FCA allows considering quantitative and qualitative costs, reducing the need of quantitative data, which are limited in some cases. The model has been applied in the characterization of the region of Aracatuba, located in the west part of the state of Sao Paulo - Brazil. The results showed that the potential of renewable sources are promising, especially when the global costs are considered. Some resources, in spite of being economically attractive, don't provide an acceptable global cost. It became clear that the model is a valuable tool when the conventional tools fail to address many issues, especially the need of an integrated view on the planning process; the results from this model can be applied in a portfolio selection method to evaluate the best options for a power system expansion. It has to be noticed that the usefulness of this model can be increased when adopted with a method to analyze demand side management measures, thus offering a complete set of possible choices of energy options for the decision maker. (author)

Network analytical tool for monitoring global food safety highlights China.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tamás Nepusz

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The Beijing Declaration on food safety and security was signed by over fifty countries with the aim of developing comprehensive programs for monitoring food safety and security on behalf of their citizens. Currently, comprehensive systems for food safety and security are absent in many countries, and the systems that are in place have been developed on different principles allowing poor opportunities for integration. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have developed a user-friendly analytical tool based on network approaches for instant customized analysis of food alert patterns in the European dataset from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed. Data taken from alert logs between January 2003-August 2008 were processed using network analysis to i capture complexity, ii analyze trends, and iii predict possible effects of interventions by identifying patterns of reporting activities between countries. The detector and transgressor relationships are readily identifiable between countries which are ranked using i Google's PageRank algorithm and ii the HITS algorithm of Kleinberg. The program identifies Iran, China and Turkey as the transgressors with the largest number of alerts. However, when characterized by impact, counting the transgressor index and the number of countries involved, China predominates as a transgressor country. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study reports the first development of a network analysis approach to inform countries on their transgressor and detector profiles as a user-friendly aid for the adoption of the Beijing Declaration. The ability to instantly access the country-specific components of the several thousand annual reports will enable each country to identify the major transgressors and detectors within its trading network. Moreover, the tool can be used to monitor trading countries for improved detector/transgressor ratios.

The development and work procedures to super speed network for the growing demands for the network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nosaki, Nobuhisa; Aoki, Kazuhisa

2001-01-01

Following the recently growing demands for the network, the modification of Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) to super speed network have been reviewed in the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC). Though the modification of the LAN to super speed network is being developed this year in Heisei 13 fiscal year, it of the WAN was developed in Heisei 12 fiscal year. In spite of various issues, technical reviews and etc., there are a lot of benefits and merit for the super speed network of the WAN and though the modification of it and reduction of the running cost are contradictory to each other, both of those have been achieved in the JNC. This paper introduces the development and work procedures for the WAN. (author)

Convergence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Ole Brun; Nielsen, Jens Frederik Dalsgaard; Schiøler, Henrik

2002-01-01

Convergence trends between the WAN Internet area, characterized by best effort service provision, and the real time LAN domain, with requirements for guaranteed services, are identified and discussed. A bilateral evolution is identified, where typical bulk service applications from WAN, such as m......Convergence trends between the WAN Internet area, characterized by best effort service provision, and the real time LAN domain, with requirements for guaranteed services, are identified and discussed. A bilateral evolution is identified, where typical bulk service applications from WAN...... with the emergence of remote service provision, such as supervision and control of decentralized heating facilities and wind based electrical power production. The reliability issue is addressed from a structural viewpoint, where the concept of Structural QoS (SQoS) is defined to support reliability modelling...

Policies of Global English Tests: Test-Takers' Perspectives on the IELTS Retake Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Hamid, M. Obaidul

2016-01-01

Globalized English proficiency tests such as the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) are increasingly playing the role of gatekeepers in a globalizing world. Although the use of the IELTS as a "policy tool" for making decisions in the areas of study, work and migration impacts on test-takers' lives and life chances, not…

Visualising Earth's Mantle based on Global Adjoint Tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Bozdag, E.; Pugmire, D.; Lefebvre, M. P.; Hill, J.; Komatitsch, D.; Peter, D. B.; Podhorszki, N.; Tromp, J.

2017-12-01

Recent advances in 3D wave propagation solvers and high-performance computing have enabled regional and global full-waveform inversions. Interpretation of tomographic models is often done on visually. Robust and efficient visualization tools are necessary to thoroughly investigate large model files, particularly at the global scale. In collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), we have developed effective visualization tools and used for visualization of our first-generation global model, GLAD-M15 (Bozdag et al. 2016). VisIt (https://wci.llnl.gov/simulation/computer-codes/visit/) is used for initial exploration of the models and for extraction of seismological features. The broad capability of VisIt, and its demonstrated scalability proved valuable for experimenting with different visualization techniques, and in the creation of timely results. Utilizing VisIt's plugin-architecture, a data reader plugin was developed, which reads the ADIOS (https://www.olcf.ornl.gov/center-projects/adios/) format of our model files. Blender (https://www.blender.org) is used for the setup of lighting, materials, camera paths and rendering of geometry. Python scripting was used to control the orchestration of different geometries, as well as camera animation for 3D movies. While we continue producing 3D contour plots and movies for various seismic parameters to better visualize plume- and slab-like features as well as anisotropy throughout the mantle, our aim is to make visualization an integral part of our global adjoint tomography workflow to routinely produce various 2D cross-sections to facilitate examination of our models after each iteration. This will ultimately form the basis for use of pattern recognition techniques in our investigations. Simulations for global adjoint tomography are performed on ORNL's Titan system and visualization is done in parallel on ORNL's post-processing cluster Rhea.

Global safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dorien J. DeTombe

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Global Safety is a container concept referring to various threats such as HIV/Aids, floods and terrorism; threats with different causes and different effects. These dangers threaten people, the global economy and the slity of states. Policy making for this kind of threats often lack an overview of the real causes and the interventions are based on a too shallow analysis of the problem, mono-disciplinary and focus mostly only on the effects. It would be more appropriate to develop policy related to these issues by utilizing the approaches, methods and tools that have been developed for complex societal problems. Handling these complex societal problems should be done multidisciplinary instead of mono-disciplinary. In order to give politicians the opportunity to handle complex problems multidisciplinary, multidisciplinary research institutes should be created. These multidisciplinary research institutes would provide politicians with better approaches to handle this type of problem. In these institutes the knowledge necessary for the change of these problems can be created through the use of the Compram methodology which has been developed specifically for handling complex societal problems. In a six step approach, experts, actors and policymakers discuss the content of the problem and the possible changes. The framework method uses interviewing, the Group Decision Room, simulation models and scenario's in a cooperative way. The methodology emphasizes the exchange of knowledge and understanding by communication among and between the experts, actors and politicians meanwhile keeping emotion in mind. The Compram methodology will be further explained in relation to global safety in regard to terrorism, economy, health care and agriculture.

Global nuclear material flow/control model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dreicer, J.S.; Rutherford, D.S.; Fasel, P.K.; Riese, J.M.

1997-01-01

This is the final report of a two-year, Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The nuclear danger can be reduced by a system for global management, protection, control, and accounting as part of an international regime for nuclear materials. The development of an international fissile material management and control regime requires conceptual research supported by an analytical and modeling tool which treats the nuclear fuel cycle as a complete system. The prototype model developed visually represents the fundamental data, information, and capabilities related to the nuclear fuel cycle in a framework supportive of national or an international perspective. This includes an assessment of the global distribution of military and civilian fissile material inventories, a representation of the proliferation pertinent physical processes, facility specific geographic identification, and the capability to estimate resource requirements for the management and control of nuclear material. The model establishes the foundation for evaluating the global production, disposition, and safeguards and security requirements for fissile nuclear material and supports the development of other pertinent algorithmic capabilities necessary to undertake further global nuclear material related studies

Online Teaching Tool for Sinus Surgery: Trends toward Mobile and Global Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

George K. Koch DMD

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Objective Online resources may provide an ideal forum for expert presentation of surgical techniques. The purpose of this study was to investigate utilization patterns of a sinus surgery website, SinusVideos.com , to gain insight into the needs of viewers. Study Design Retrospective analysis. Setting Surgical teaching website. Subjects and Methods The website’s anonymized analytic database was queried from 2009 to 2014. Quantified data included user demographics, geographic location, viewing device, page visits, and time spent on the website. Results A total of 428,691 website pages were viewed during the study period. Growth in viewership was observed each successive year since the site was launched. The mean time spent viewing webpages was 96.1 seconds for desktop computer users, 98.0 for tablet users, and 103.8 for mobile users. The percentage of mobile devices used to view the site increased significantly between 2009 and 2014 (2.1% vs 25.4%, respectively; P < .0001. The website’s viewership expanded globally, with a significant increase in site views from outside North America over this same period (18.4% vs 51.7%, P < .0001. Conclusion The observed increase in global participation and mobile device usage may reflect new areas of growth for surgical education.

The Global Tsunami Model (GTM)

Science.gov (United States)

Lorito, S.; Basili, R.; Harbitz, C. B.; Løvholt, F.; Polet, J.; Thio, H. K.

2017-12-01

The tsunamis occurred worldwide in the last two decades have highlighted the need for a thorough understanding of the risk posed by relatively infrequent but often disastrous tsunamis and the importance of a comprehensive and consistent methodology for quantifying the hazard. In the last few years, several methods for probabilistic tsunami hazard analysis have been developed and applied to different parts of the world. In an effort to coordinate and streamline these activities and make progress towards implementing the Sendai Framework of Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) we have initiated a Global Tsunami Model (GTM) working group with the aim of i) enhancing our understanding of tsunami hazard and risk on a global scale and developing standards and guidelines for it, ii) providing a portfolio of validated tools for probabilistic tsunami hazard and risk assessment at a range of scales, and iii) developing a global tsunami hazard reference model. This GTM initiative has grown out of the tsunami component of the Global Assessment of Risk (GAR15), which has resulted in an initial global model of probabilistic tsunami hazard and risk. Started as an informal gathering of scientists interested in advancing tsunami hazard analysis, the GTM is currently in the process of being formalized through letters of interest from participating institutions. The initiative has now been endorsed by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and the World Bank's Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). We will provide an update on the state of the project and the overall technical framework, and discuss the technical issues that are currently being addressed, including earthquake source recurrence models, the use of aleatory variability and epistemic uncertainty, and preliminary results for a probabilistic global hazard assessment, which is an update of the model included in UNISDR GAR15.

Global Particulate Matter Source Apportionment

Science.gov (United States)

Lamancusa, C.; Wagstrom, K.

2017-12-01

As our global society develops and grows it is necessary to better understand the impacts and nuances of atmospheric chemistry, in particular those associated with atmospheric particulate matter. We have developed a source apportionment scheme for the GEOS-Chem global atmospheric chemical transport model. While these approaches have existed for several years in regional chemical transport models, the Global Particulate Matter Source Apportionment Technology (GPSAT) represents the first incorporation into a global chemical transport model. GPSAT runs in parallel to a standard GEOS-Chem run. GPSAT uses the fact that all molecules of a given species have the same probability of undergoing any given process as a core principle. This allows GPSAT to track many different species using only the flux information provided by GEOS-Chem's many processes. GPSAT accounts for the change in source specific concentrations as a result of aqueous and gas-phase chemistry, horizontal and vertical transport, condensation and evaporation on particulate matter, emissions, and wet and dry deposition. By using fluxes, GPSAT minimizes computational cost by circumventing the computationally costly chemistry and transport solvers. GPSAT will allow researchers to address many pertinent research questions about global particulate matter including the global impact of emissions from different source regions and the climate impacts from different source types and regions. For this first application of GPSAT, we investigate the contribution of the twenty largest urban areas worldwide to global particulate matter concentrations. The species investigated include: ammonium, nitrates, sulfates, and the secondary organic aerosols formed by the oxidation of benzene, isoprene, and terpenes. While GPSAT is not yet publically available, we will incorporate it into a future standard release of GEOS-Chem so that all GEOS-Chem users will have access to this new tool.

The AACSB: A Valuable Tool for the Language Educator.

Science.gov (United States)

Bush-Bacelis, Jean L.

The American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), an accrediting agency, may be an overlooked tool for establishing rationale and credibility for globalization of business courses. The 245 member institutions are bound by the agency's accrediting requirements, and many others are influenced by the standards set in those…

Global Food Safety-International Consumers' Rights?

Science.gov (United States)

Hussain, Malik Altaf

2013-10-11

Your submissions to this Special Issue "Food Microbiology and Safety" of Foods -a new open access journal-are welcome. We understand there are no foodborne illness-free zones in the world. Therefore, a proper understanding of foodborne pathogens and the factors that impact their growth, survival and pathogenesis would equip us with tools to ensure global food safety. This Special Issue publishes articles on different aspects of food microbiology and safety. [...].

Fast scattering simulation tool for multi-energy x-ray imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sossin, A., E-mail: artur.sossin@cea.fr [CEA-LETI MINATEC Grenoble, F-38054 Grenoble (France); Tabary, J.; Rebuffel, V. [CEA-LETI MINATEC Grenoble, F-38054 Grenoble (France); Létang, J.M.; Freud, N. [Université de Lyon, CREATIS, CNRS UMR5220, Inserm U1044, INSA-Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Centre Léon Bérard (France); Verger, L. [CEA-LETI MINATEC Grenoble, F-38054 Grenoble (France)

2015-12-01

A combination of Monte Carlo (MC) and deterministic approaches was employed as a means of creating a simulation tool capable of providing energy resolved x-ray primary and scatter images within a reasonable time interval. Libraries of Sindbad, a previously developed x-ray simulation software, were used in the development. The scatter simulation capabilities of the tool were validated through simulation with the aid of GATE and through experimentation by using a spectrometric CdTe detector. A simple cylindrical phantom with cavities and an aluminum insert was used. Cross-validation with GATE showed good agreement with a global spatial error of 1.5% and a maximum scatter spectrum error of around 6%. Experimental validation also supported the accuracy of the simulations obtained from the developed software with a global spatial error of 1.8% and a maximum error of around 8.5% in the scatter spectra.

Debating Global Polity, Policy Crossing, and Adult Education

Science.gov (United States)

Milana, Marcella

2015-01-01

This article revisits the concept of "global polity" as a useful conceptual tool for studying public policy development in adult education. First, it describes the relations between polity, policy, and praxis and how these are addressed in adult education research. Then, it reviews how policy is conceptualized in terms of material and…

Modeling of the Global Water Cycle - Analytical Models

Science.gov (United States)

Yongqiang Liu; Roni Avissar

2005-01-01

Both numerical and analytical models of coupled atmosphere and its underlying ground components (land, ocean, ice) are useful tools for modeling the global and regional water cycle. Unlike complex three-dimensional climate models, which need very large computing resources and involve a large number of complicated interactions often difficult to interpret, analytical...

Local-Area Based Traffic Splitter for Improving Performance Using Subnetting

Science.gov (United States)

Yadav, Meenakshi; Mittal, Mohit Kumar

2010-11-01

This document provides an overview of LAN traffic splitter. The tool "Local-Area based Traffic splitter" is based on subnetting techniques. It is basically used for calculating subnets for sub-dividing the LAN. Subnetting an IP Network can be done for a variety of reasons, including organization, use of different physical media (such as Ethernet, FDDI, WAN, etc.), preservation of address space, and security. The most common reason is to control network traffic. There are various techniques for calculating subnets that are considered by this tool. This paper will explore the various features of this tool and will also check the effect of subnetting after implementing it on the LAN. These instructions give you basic guidelines for preparing camera-ready papers for conference proceedings.

Developing Information Services and Tools to Access and Evaluate Data Quality in Global Satellite-based Precipitation Products

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Z.; Shie, C. L.; Meyer, D. J.

2017-12-01

Global satellite-based precipitation products have been widely used in research and applications around the world. Compared to ground-based observations, satellite-based measurements provide precipitation data on a global scale, especially in remote continents and over oceans. Over the years, satellite-based precipitation products have evolved from single sensor and single algorithm to multi-sensors and multi-algorithms. As a result, many satellite-based precipitation products have been enhanced such as spatial and temporal coverages. With inclusion of ground-based measurements, biases of satellite-based precipitation products have been significantly reduced. However, data quality issues still exist and can be caused by many factors such as observations, satellite platform anomaly, algorithms, production, calibration, validation, data services, etc. The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC) is home to NASA global precipitation product archives including the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), as well as other global and regional precipitation products. Precipitation is one of the top downloaded and accessed parameters in the GES DISC data archive. Meanwhile, users want to easily locate and obtain data quality information at regional and global scales to better understand how precipitation products perform and how reliable they are. As data service providers, it is necessary to provide an easy access to data quality information, however, such information normally is not available, and when it is available, it is not in one place and difficult to locate. In this presentation, we will present challenges and activities at the GES DISC to address precipitation data quality issues.

Tools and Strategies for Malaria Control and Elimination: What Do We Need to Achieve a Grand Convergence in Malaria?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janet Hemingway

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Progress made in malaria control during the past decade has prompted increasing global dialogue on malaria elimination and eradication. The product development pipeline for malaria has never been stronger, with promising new tools to detect, treat, and prevent malaria, including innovative diagnostics, medicines, vaccines, vector control products, and improved mechanisms for surveillance and response. There are at least 25 projects in the global malaria vaccine pipeline, as well as 47 medicines and 13 vector control products. In addition, there are several next-generation diagnostic tools and reference methods currently in development, with many expected to be introduced in the next decade. The development and adoption of these tools, bolstered by strategies that ensure rapid uptake in target populations, intensified mechanisms for information management, surveillance, and response, and continued financial and political commitment are all essential to achieving global eradication.

Framework for e-learning assessment in dental education: a global model for the future.

Science.gov (United States)

Arevalo, Carolina R; Bayne, Stephen C; Beeley, Josie A; Brayshaw, Christine J; Cox, Margaret J; Donaldson, Nora H; Elson, Bruce S; Grayden, Sharon K; Hatzipanagos, Stylianos; Johnson, Lynn A; Reynolds, Patricia A; Schönwetter, Dieter J

2013-05-01

The framework presented in this article demonstrates strategies for a global approach to e-curricula in dental education by considering a collection of outcome assessment tools. By combining the outcomes for overall assessment, a global model for a pilot project that applies e-assessment tools to virtual learning environments (VLE), including haptics, is presented. Assessment strategies from two projects, HapTEL (Haptics in Technology Enhanced Learning) and UDENTE (Universal Dental E-learning), act as case-user studies that have helped develop the proposed global framework. They incorporate additional assessment tools and include evaluations from questionnaires and stakeholders' focus groups. These measure each of the factors affecting the classical teaching/learning theory framework as defined by Entwistle in a standardized manner. A mathematical combinatorial approach is proposed to join these results together as a global assessment. With the use of haptic-based simulation learning, exercises for tooth preparation assessing enamel and dentine were compared to plastic teeth in manikins. Equivalence for student performance for haptic versus traditional preparation methods was established, thus establishing the validity of the haptic solution for performing these exercises. Further data collected from HapTEL are still being analyzed, and pilots are being conducted to validate the proposed test measures. Initial results have been encouraging, but clearly the need persists to develop additional e-assessment methods for new learning domains.

Redes multicódigos: possibilidades semióticas para o ativismo global

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco José Paoliello Pimenta

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Research conceming possible relationships between hypermedia, as a tool for global direct political actions, and the formation of conduct habits connected to participatory democracy and a renewed internationalism. This involves an analysis about global demonstrations and events organízation and releasing, stressing multicode semiotic processes. In the end, action proposals based on the logician Charles Sanders Peirce's notion of genuine sign are launched.

Information technology and global change science

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baxter, F.P.

1990-01-01

The goal of this paper is to identify and briefly describe major existing and near term information technologies that cold have a positive impact on the topics being discussed at this conference by helping to manage the data of global change science and helping global change scientists conduct their research. Desktop computer systems have changed dramatically during the past seven years. Faster data processing can be expected in the future through full development of traditional serial computer architectures. Some other proven information technologies may be currently underutilized by global change scientists. Relational database management systems and good organization of data through the use of thoughtful database design would enable the scientific community to better share and maintain quality research data. Custodians of the data should use rigorous data administration to ensure integrity and long term value of the data resource. Still other emerging information technologies that involve the use of artificial intelligence, parallel computer architectures, and new sensors for data collection will be in relatively common use in the near term and should become part of the global science community's technical toolkit. Consideration should also be given to the establishment of Information Analysis Centers to facilitate effective organization and management of interdisciplinary data and the prototype testing and use of advanced information technology to facilitate rapid and cost-effective integration of these tools into global change science. 8 refs.

Vertical Jumping Tests versus Wingate Anaerobic Test in Female Volleyball Players: The Role of Age

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pantelis Theodoros Nikolaidis

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Single and continuous vertical jumping tests, as well as the Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT, are commonly used to assess the short-term muscle power of female volleyball players; however, the relationship among these tests has not been studied adequately. Thus, the aim of the present study was to examine the relationship of single and continuous vertical jumps with the WAnT in female volleyball players. Seventy adolescent (age 16.0 ± 1.0 years, body mass 62.5 ± 7.1 kg, height 170.4 ± 6.1 cm, body fat 24.2% ± 4.3% and 108 adult female volleyball players (age 24.8 ± 5.2 years, body mass 66.5 ± 8.7 kg, height 173.2 ± 7.4 cm, body fat 22.0% ± 5.1% performed the squat jump (SJ, countermovement jump (CMJ, Abalakov jump (AJ, 30 s Bosco test and WAnT (peak power, Ppeak; mean power, Pmean. Mean power in the Bosco test was correlated (low to large magnitude with Pmean of the WAnT (r = 0.27, p = 0.030 in adolescents versus r = 0.56, p < 0.001 in adults. SJ, CMJ and AJ also correlated with Ppeak (0.28 ≤ r ≤ 0.46 in adolescents versus 0.58 ≤ r ≤ 0.61 in adults and with Pmean (0.43 ≤ r ≤ 0.51 versus 0.67 ≤ r ≤ 0.71, respectively of the WAnT (p < 0.05. In summary, the impact of the Bosco test and WAnT on muscle power varied, especially in the younger age group. Single jumping tests had larger correlations with WAnT in adults than in adolescent volleyball players. These findings should be taken into account by volleyball coaches and fitness trainers during the assessment of short-term muscle power of their athletes.

MARKET EVALUATION MODEL: TOOL FORBUSINESS DECISIONS

OpenAIRE

Porlles Loarte, José; Yenque Dedios, Julio; Lavado Soto, Aurelio

2014-01-01

In the present work the concepts of potential market and global market are analyzed as the basis for strategic decisions of market with long term perspectives, when the implantation of a business in certain geographic area is evaluated. On this conceptual frame, the methodological tool is proposed to evaluate a commercial decision, for which it is taken as reference the case from the brewing industry in Peru, considering that this industry faces in the region entrepreneurial reorderings withi...

Simulation analysis of globally integrated logistics and recycling strategies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, S.J.; Hiroshi, K. [Hiroshima Inst. of Tech., Graduate School of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Dept. of In formation and Intelligent Systems Engineering, Hiroshima (Japan)

2004-07-01

This paper focuses on the optimal analysis of world-wide recycling activities associated with managing the logistics and production activities in global manufacturing whose activities stretch across national boundaries. Globally integrated logistics and recycling strategies consist of the home country and two free trading economic blocs, NAFTA and ASEAN, where significant differences are found in production and disassembly cost, tax rates, local content rules and regulations. Moreover an optimal analysis of globally integrated value-chain was developed by applying simulation optimization technique as a decision-making tool. The simulation model was developed and analyzed by using ProModel packages, and the results help to identify some of the appropriate conditions required to make well-performed logistics and recycling plans in world-wide collaborated manufacturing environment. (orig.)

Assessing teamwork performance in obstetrics: A systematic search and review of validated tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Fransen, Annemarie F; de Boer, Liza; Kienhorst, Dieneke; Truijens, Sophie E; van Runnard Heimel, Pieter J; Oei, S Guid

2017-09-01

Teamwork performance is an essential component for the clinical efficiency of multi-professional teams in obstetric care. As patient safety is related to teamwork performance, it has become an important learning goal in simulation-based education. In order to improve teamwork performance, reliable assessment tools are required. These can be used to provide feedback during training courses, or to compare learning effects between different types of training courses. The aim of the current study is to (1) identify the available assessment tools to evaluate obstetric teamwork performance in a simulated environment, and (2) evaluate their psychometric properties in order to identify the most valuable tool(s) to use. We performed a systematic search in PubMed, MEDLINE, and EMBASE to identify articles describing assessment tools for the evaluation of obstetric teamwork performance in a simulated environment. In order to evaluate the quality of the identified assessment tools the standards and grading rules have been applied as recommended by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Committee on Educational Outcomes. The included studies were also assessed according to the Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine (OCEBM) levels of evidence. This search resulted in the inclusion of five articles describing the following six tools: Clinical Teamwork Scale, Human Factors Rating Scale, Global Rating Scale, Assessment of Obstetric Team Performance, Global Assessment of Obstetric Team Performance, and the Teamwork Measurement Tool. Based on the ACGME guidelines we assigned a Class 3, level C of evidence, to all tools. Regarding the OCEBM levels of evidence, a level 3b was assigned to two studies and a level 4 to four studies. The Clinical Teamwork Scale demonstrated the most comprehensive validation, and the Teamwork Measurement Tool demonstrated promising results, however it is recommended to further investigate its reliability. Copyright © 2017

Optimization of Italian CMS computing centers via MIUR funded research projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boccali, T; Mazzoni, E; Donvito, G; Pompili, A; Ricca, G Della; Talamo, I; Argiro, S; Grandi, C; Bonacorsi, D; Lista, L; Fabozzi, F; Barone, L M; Santocchia, A; Riahi, H; Tricomi, A; Sgaravatto, M; Maron, G

2014-01-01

In 2012, 14 Italian Institutions participating LHC Experiments (10 in CMS) have won a grant from the Italian Ministry of Research (MIUR), to optimize Analysis activities and in general the Tier2/Tier3 infrastructure. A large range of activities is actively carried on: they cover data distribution over WAN, dynamic provisioning for both scheduled and interactive processing, design and development of tools for distributed data analysis, and tests on the porting of CMS software stack to new highly performing / low power architectures.

Conceptual model of the globalization for domain-specific languages

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Clark, T.; van den Brand, M.; Combemale, B.; Rumpe, B.; Combemale, B.

2015-01-01

Domain Specific Languages (DSL) have received some prominence recently. Designing a DSL and all their tools is still cumbersome and lots of work. Engineering of DSLs is still at infancy, not even the terms have been coined and agreed on. In particular globalization and all its consequences need to

School students' knowledge and understanding of the Global Solar ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background. The Global Solar Ultraviolet Index (UVI) is a health communication tool used to inform the public about the health risks of excess solar UV radiation and encourage appropriate sun-protection behaviour. Knowledge and understanding of the UVI has been evaluated among adult populations but not among ...

Assessing Global Learning in Short-Term Study Abroad: Population, Environment, and Society in Shanghai

Science.gov (United States)

Core, Rachel S.

2017-01-01

This teaching note suggests that a short-term study abroad program embedded within a longer course can be a tool for enhancing global learning. The work uses the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Global Learning VALUE rubric to evaluate student work from a spring break seminar to Shanghai, China. The seminar was…

Global Food Safety?International Consumers? Rights?

OpenAIRE

Hussain, Malik Altaf

2013-01-01

Your submissions to this Special Issue “Food Microbiology and Safety” of Foods—a new open access journal—are welcome. We understand there are no foodborne illness-free zones in the world. Therefore, a proper understanding of foodborne pathogens and the factors that impact their growth, survival and pathogenesis would equip us with tools to ensure global food safety. This Special Issue publishes articles on different aspects of food microbiology and safety.

Workers of the world: Essays toward a global labor history

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Linden, M.

2008-01-01

The studies offered in this volume contribute to a Global Labor History freed from Eurocentrism and methodological nationalism. Using literature from diverse regions, epochs and disciplines, the book provides arguments and conceptual tools for a different interpretation of history - a labor history

Matlab as a robust control design tool

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory, Irene M.

1994-01-01

This presentation introduces Matlab as a tool used in flight control research. The example used to illustrate some of the capabilities of this software is a robust controller designed for a single stage to orbit air breathing vehicles's ascent to orbit. The global requirements of the controller are to stabilize the vehicle and follow a trajectory in the presence of atmospheric disturbances and strong dynamic coupling between airframe and propulsion.

New tools for evaluating LQAS survey designs

OpenAIRE

Hund, Lauren

2014-01-01

Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) surveys have become increasingly popular in global health care applications. Incorporating Bayesian ideas into LQAS survey design, such as using reasonable prior beliefs about the distribution of an indicator, can improve the selection of design parameters and decision rules. In this paper, a joint frequentist and Bayesian framework is proposed for evaluating LQAS classification accuracy and informing survey design parameters. Simple software tools are pr...

The UNESCO Global Network of National Geoparks

Science.gov (United States)

Mc Keever1, P.; Zouros, N.; Patzak, M.; Missotten, R.

2009-12-01

The UNESCO Global Network of National Geoparks was founded in 2004, following the model successfully established by the European Geoparks Network in 2000. It now comprises 63 members in 19 nations across the world. A Global Geopark is an area with geological heritage of international value but where that heritage is being used for the sustainable economic benefit if the local inhabitants, primarily through education and tourism. Supported by IUGS and IUCN, the aim of the Global Geoparks Network is to facilitate exchange and sharing between members to assist in the protection and conservation of the geological heritage of our planet but to do so in way where local communities can take ownership of these special places and where they can get some sustainable economic benefit from them. While allowing for the sustainable economic development of geoparks, the network explicitly forbids the destruction or sale of the geological value of a geopark. This paper outlines the ethos of the Global Geoparks Network and describes the typical activities of geoparks and how the network functions. Using two examples it also illustrates how members of the Global Geoparks Network provide good examples as tools not only for holistic nature conservation but also for economic development.

Key determinants of managing the marketing asset of global companies

OpenAIRE

Tatyana Tsygankova; Roman Ponomarenko

2016-01-01

As a result of organization and summarization of key concepts of evolution of the marketing tools of global companies, the authors determined the role of the marketing assets in the system of modern marketing management (as a dialectically higher stage of development of the analyzed tools, which will allow overcoming the antagonistic contradiction of “P- and C-vectors” of their development). The article identified the optimal set of key elements of the system of marketing assets, which are th...

Urban Green Infrastructure as a tool for urban heat mitigation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Saaroni, H.; Amorim, J.H.; Hiemstra, J.A.; Pearlmutter, D.

2018-01-01

The combined trends of urban heat island intensification and global warming are focusing attention on greening of cities as a tool for urban heat mitigation. Our study examines the range of research approaches and findings regarding the role of urban green infrastructure (UGI) in mitigating urban

Knowledge and use of asthma control measurement tools in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: To investigate the knowledge and use of asthma control measurement (ACM) tools in the management of asthma among doctors working in family and internal medicine practice in Nigeria. Method: A questionnaire based on the global initiative on asthma (GINA) guideline was self-administered by 194 doctors.

Precise gouging-free tool orientations for 5-axis CNC machining

KAUST Repository

Kim, Yong-Joon

2014-08-19

We present a precise approach to the generation of optimized collision-free and gouging-free tool paths for 5-axis CNC machining of freeform NURBS surfaces using flat-end and rounded-end (bull nose) tools having cylindrical shank. To achieve high approximation quality, we employ analysis of hyper-osculating circles (HOCs) (Wang et al., 1993a,b), that have third order contact with the target surface, and lead to a locally collision-free configuration between the tool and the target surface. At locations where an HOC is not possible, we aim at a double tangential contact among the tool and the target surface, and use it as a bridge between the feasible HOC tool paths. We formulate all such possible two-contact configurations as systems of algebraic constraints and solve them. For all feasible HOCs and two-contact configurations, we perform a global optimization to find the tool path that maximizes the approximation quality of the machining, while being gouge-free and possibly satisfying constraints on the tool tilt and the tool acceleration. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach via several experimental results.

Precise gouging-free tool orientations for 5-axis CNC machining

KAUST Repository

Kim, Yong-Joon; Elber, Gershon; Barton, Michael; Pottmann, Helmut

2014-01-01

We present a precise approach to the generation of optimized collision-free and gouging-free tool paths for 5-axis CNC machining of freeform NURBS surfaces using flat-end and rounded-end (bull nose) tools having cylindrical shank. To achieve high approximation quality, we employ analysis of hyper-osculating circles (HOCs) (Wang et al., 1993a,b), that have third order contact with the target surface, and lead to a locally collision-free configuration between the tool and the target surface. At locations where an HOC is not possible, we aim at a double tangential contact among the tool and the target surface, and use it as a bridge between the feasible HOC tool paths. We formulate all such possible two-contact configurations as systems of algebraic constraints and solve them. For all feasible HOCs and two-contact configurations, we perform a global optimization to find the tool path that maximizes the approximation quality of the machining, while being gouge-free and possibly satisfying constraints on the tool tilt and the tool acceleration. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach via several experimental results.

World wide matching of registration metrology tools of various generations

Science.gov (United States)

Laske, F.; Pudnos, A.; Mackey, L.; Tran, P.; Higuchi, M.; Enkrich, C.; Roeth, K.-D.; Schmidt, K.-H.; Adam, D.; Bender, J.

2008-10-01

Turn around time/cycle time is a key success criterion in the semiconductor photomask business. Therefore, global mask suppliers typically allocate work loads based on fab capability and utilization capacity. From a logistical point of view, the manufacturing location of a photomask should be transparent to the customer (mask user). Matching capability of production equipment and especially metrology tools is considered a key enabler to guarantee cross site manufacturing flexibility. Toppan, with manufacturing sites in eight countries worldwide, has an on-going program to match the registration metrology systems of all its production sites. This allows for manufacturing flexibility and risk mitigation.In cooperation with Vistec Semiconductor Systems, Toppan has recently completed a program to match the Vistec LMS IPRO systems at all production sites worldwide. Vistec has developed a new software feature which allows for significantly improved matching of LMS IPRO(x) registration metrology tools of various generations. We will report on the results of the global matching campaign of several of the leading Toppan sites.

Providing Global Change Information for Decision-Making: Capturing and Presenting Provenance

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Xiaogang; Fox, Peter; Tilmes, Curt; Jacobs, Katherine; Waple, Anne

2014-01-01

Global change information demands access to data sources and well-documented provenance to provide evidence needed to build confidence in scientific conclusions and, in specific applications, to ensure the information's suitability for use in decision-making. A new generation of Web technology, the Semantic Web, provides tools for that purpose. The topic of global change covers changes in the global environment (including alterations in climate, land productivity, oceans or other water resources, atmospheric composition and or chemistry, and ecological systems) that may alter the capacity of the Earth to sustain life and support human systems. Data and findings associated with global change research are of great public, government, and academic concern and are used in policy and decision-making, which makes the provenance of global change information especially important. In addition, since different types of decisions benefit from different types of information, understanding how to capture and present the provenance of global change information is becoming more of an imperative in adaptive planning.

Global Climate Models for the Classroom: The Educational Impact of Student Work with a Key Tool of Climate Scientists

Science.gov (United States)

Bush, D. F.; Sieber, R.; Seiler, G.; Chandler, M. A.; Chmura, G. L.

2017-12-01

Efforts to address climate change require public understanding of Earth and climate science. To meet this need, educators require instructional approaches and scientific technologies that overcome cultural barriers to impart conceptual understanding of the work of climate scientists. We compared student inquiry learning with now ubiquitous climate education toy models, data and tools against that which took place using a computational global climate model (GCM) from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Our study at McGill University and John Abbott College in Montreal, QC sheds light on how best to teach the research processes important to Earth and climate scientists studying atmospheric and Earth system processes but ill-understood by those outside the scientific community. We followed a pre/post, control/treatment experimental design that enabled detailed analysis and statistically significant results. Our research found more students succeed at understanding climate change when exposed to actual climate research processes and instruments. Inquiry-based education with a GCM resulted in significantly higher scores pre to post on diagnostic exams (quantitatively) and more complete conceptual understandings (qualitatively). We recognize the difficulty in planning and teaching inquiry with complex technology and we also found evidence that lectures support learning geared toward assessment exams.

Online and classroom tools for Climate Change Education

Science.gov (United States)

Samenow, J. P.; Scott, K.

2004-12-01

EPA's Office of Atmospheric Programs has developed unique tools for educating students about the science of global warming and on actions that help address the issue. These tools have been highly successful and used in hundreds of classrooms across the country. EPA's Global Warming Kids' Site features interactive web-based animations for educating children, grades 4-8, about climate change. The animations illustrate how human activities likely influence the climate system through processes such as the greenhouse effect and carbon and water cycles. The pages also contain interactive quizzes. See: http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/kids/animations.html For advanced high school and college students, EPA is nearing completion on the development of interactive visualizations of the emissions and climate scenarios featured in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Third Assessment Report. These visualizations allow students to choose a scenario and see how emissions, the climate and the earth's surface change over time. The Global Warming Wheelcard Classroom Activity Kit is designed to help teachers of middle school students introduce the concept of human induced global warming in the context of how rates of energy usage can influence the increase or eventual slowing of climate change. The Climate Change, Wildlife, and Wildlands Toolkit for Teachers and Interpreters was produced in a partnership among three agencies - EPA, US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service (NPS). Both classroom teachers and outdoor interpreters find it useful in conveying information about climate change science and impacts to their students and visitors. The development of the toolkit led to a larger program between EPA and NPS that assists parks in inventorying their emissions, creating action plans, and talking to the public about what they are doing - a "lead by example" type program that the two agencies hope to replicate in other venues in the coming year.

Measuring Africa's E-Readiness in the Global Networked Economy: A Nine-Country Data Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Ifinedo, Princely

2005-01-01

This paper assesses the integration of Africa into the global economy by computing the e-readiness for nine African countries. The measuring tool used is simple and incorporates a variety of indicators used by comparable tools. Overall, the mean e-readiness of Africa is poor in comparison to other economies. Particularly, Sub-Saharan Africa…

Global Least-cost User-friendly CLEWs Open-Source Exploratory (GLUCOSE) Model

Science.gov (United States)

Taliotis, Constantinos; Roehrl, Richard Alexander; Howells, Mark

2016-04-01

A changing climate will force us to consider broad resource management questions. Land, energy and water are some of our most precious resources. The systems that provide them are highly interlinked, vulnerable and contribute to climate change. The UN recognizes the need for integrated assessment of the food-water-energy nexus in international negotiations; highlighted by the inclusion of the Climate, Land-use, Energy and Water (CLEW) nexus in the upcoming Global Sustainable Development Report. This effort provides a toolkit to assist in the formulation of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Building on initial CLEW assessments, we propose the formulation of a fully integrated CLEW modelling tool to enable resource assessments, a global CLEW model, and focusing on scenarios with particular relevance to the climate change and sustainable development discourse. The aim of the overall effort is to create a transparent tool to act as a simplified testing ground for policies and allow the visualisation and assessment of different policy pathways in regards to sustainable development on a global scale. This tool will allow for the identification of potential trade-offs and synergies between sectors in CLEWs and material industry. It should be highlighted that we refrain from implying that this model will be characterized by a high predictive capacity; on the contrary, its main purpose is to provide an initial set of communicable insights and indications to facilitate decision-making on potential plans and strategies.

Global Forum for Health Research 2008-2009 | IDRC - International ...

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

Since its foundation in 1998, the Global Forum for Health Research (GFHR) has sought to focus greater attention and resources on research that will improve the health of the poor, marginalized and disadvantaged. The Forum has also become an authoritative and independent source of reliable data, practical tools and ...

Seismicity map tools for earthquake studies

Science.gov (United States)

Boucouvalas, Anthony; Kaskebes, Athanasios; Tselikas, Nikos

2014-05-01

We report on the development of new and online set of tools for use within Google Maps, for earthquake research. We demonstrate this server based and online platform (developped with PHP, Javascript, MySQL) with the new tools using a database system with earthquake data. The platform allows us to carry out statistical and deterministic analysis on earthquake data use of Google Maps and plot various seismicity graphs. The tool box has been extended to draw on the map line segments, multiple straight lines horizontally and vertically as well as multiple circles, including geodesic lines. The application is demonstrated using localized seismic data from the geographic region of Greece as well as other global earthquake data. The application also offers regional segmentation (NxN) which allows the studying earthquake clustering, and earthquake cluster shift within the segments in space. The platform offers many filters such for plotting selected magnitude ranges or time periods. The plotting facility allows statistically based plots such as cumulative earthquake magnitude plots and earthquake magnitude histograms, calculation of 'b' etc. What is novel for the platform is the additional deterministic tools. Using the newly developed horizontal and vertical line and circle tools we have studied the spatial distribution trends of many earthquakes and we here show for the first time the link between Fibonacci Numbers and spatiotemporal location of some earthquakes. The new tools are valuable for examining visualizing trends in earthquake research as it allows calculation of statistics as well as deterministic precursors. We plan to show many new results based on our newly developed platform.

Under the (legal radar screen: global health initiatives and international human rights obligations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hammonds Rachel

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Given that many low income countries are heavily reliant on external assistance to fund their health sectors the acceptance of obligations of international assistance and cooperation with regard to the right to health (global health obligations is insufficiently understood and studied by international health and human rights scholars. Over the past decade Global Health Initiatives, like the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund have adopted novel approaches to engaging with stakeholders in high and low income countries. This article explores how this experience impacted on acceptance of the international obligation to (help fulfil the right to health beyond borders. Methods The authors conducted an extensive review of international human rights law literature, transnational legal process literature, global public health literature and grey literature pertaining to Global Health Initiatives. To complement this desk work and deepen their understanding of how and why different legal norms evolve the authors conducted 19 in-depth key informant interviews with actors engaged with three stakeholders; the European Union, the United States and Belgium. The authors then analysed the interviews through a transnational legal process lens. Results Through according value to the process of examining how and why different legal norms evolve transnational legal process offers us a tool for engaging with the dynamism of developments in global health suggesting that operationalising global health obligations could advance the right to health for all. Conclusions In many low-income countries the health sector is heavily dependent on external assistance to fulfil the right to health of people thus it is vital that policies and tools for delivering reliable, long-term assistance are developed so that the right to health for all becomes more than a dream. Our research suggests that the Global Fund experience offers

Under the (legal) radar screen: global health initiatives and international human rights obligations

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Given that many low income countries are heavily reliant on external assistance to fund their health sectors the acceptance of obligations of international assistance and cooperation with regard to the right to health (global health obligations) is insufficiently understood and studied by international health and human rights scholars. Over the past decade Global Health Initiatives, like the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) have adopted novel approaches to engaging with stakeholders in high and low income countries. This article explores how this experience impacted on acceptance of the international obligation to (help) fulfil the right to health beyond borders. Methods The authors conducted an extensive review of international human rights law literature, transnational legal process literature, global public health literature and grey literature pertaining to Global Health Initiatives. To complement this desk work and deepen their understanding of how and why different legal norms evolve the authors conducted 19 in-depth key informant interviews with actors engaged with three stakeholders; the European Union, the United States and Belgium. The authors then analysed the interviews through a transnational legal process lens. Results Through according value to the process of examining how and why different legal norms evolve transnational legal process offers us a tool for engaging with the dynamism of developments in global health suggesting that operationalising global health obligations could advance the right to health for all. Conclusions In many low-income countries the health sector is heavily dependent on external assistance to fulfil the right to health of people thus it is vital that policies and tools for delivering reliable, long-term assistance are developed so that the right to health for all becomes more than a dream. Our research suggests that the Global Fund experience offers lessons to build on. PMID

Under the (legal) radar screen: global health initiatives and international human rights obligations.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammonds, Rachel; Ooms, Gorik; Vandenhole, Wouter

2012-11-15

Given that many low income countries are heavily reliant on external assistance to fund their health sectors the acceptance of obligations of international assistance and cooperation with regard to the right to health (global health obligations) is insufficiently understood and studied by international health and human rights scholars. Over the past decade Global Health Initiatives, like the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) have adopted novel approaches to engaging with stakeholders in high and low income countries. This article explores how this experience impacted on acceptance of the international obligation to (help) fulfil the right to health beyond borders. The authors conducted an extensive review of international human rights law literature, transnational legal process literature, global public health literature and grey literature pertaining to Global Health Initiatives. To complement this desk work and deepen their understanding of how and why different legal norms evolve the authors conducted 19 in-depth key informant interviews with actors engaged with three stakeholders; the European Union, the United States and Belgium. The authors then analysed the interviews through a transnational legal process lens. Through according value to the process of examining how and why different legal norms evolve transnational legal process offers us a tool for engaging with the dynamism of developments in global health suggesting that operationalising global health obligations could advance the right to health for all. In many low-income countries the health sector is heavily dependent on external assistance to fulfil the right to health of people thus it is vital that policies and tools for delivering reliable, long-term assistance are developed so that the right to health for all becomes more than a dream. Our research suggests that the Global Fund experience offers lessons to build on.

Provincial Globalization The Local Struggle of Place-Making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magnus Andersson

2010-06-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the global presence in the local processes of place-making in a rural area in Sweden. As a result of increased competition – fueled by a reor-ganization of global capitalism – between places, symbolic strategies (i.e. place marketing and place branding have become a central dimension of both urban and rural governance. As a consequent, places – while still being sites for the residents’ day-to-day life – are being turned into commodities in the market of potential investors and tourists to a great extent. Subsequently, this paper deals with how this global agenda affects a rural municipality in the Swedish countryside suffering from depopulation. The paper confirms earlier statements (Woods 2007 that globalization processes should not be considered as external forces reshaping and homogenizing rural villages; rather, globalization processes are locally nego-tiated. This, however, does not mean globalization has no impact on rural places. In these negotiation processes global and local virtues are intertwined but not evenly. In some municipal strategies, the impact of global discourses is more ex-plicit, for example, policy-makers accept and incorporate strategies of place branding and policy networks while they neglect other aspects of a relatively standardized “place marketing tool kit”. Furthermore, the study shows that rural residents, also, consider the village and its global future carefully but differently from the policy-makers. The residents dislike expressions of urbanity and advocate a general small-scaleness as a strategy for the future.

Finsler metrics—a global approach with applications to geometric function theory

CERN Document Server

Abate, Marco

1994-01-01

Complex Finsler metrics appear naturally in complex analysis. To develop new tools in this area, the book provides a graduate-level introduction to differential geometry of complex Finsler metrics. After reviewing real Finsler geometry stressing global results, complex Finsler geometry is presented introducing connections, Kählerianity, geodesics, curvature. Finally global geometry and complex Monge-Ampère equations are discussed for Finsler manifolds with constant holomorphic curvature, which are important in geometric function theory. Following E. Cartan, S.S. Chern and S. Kobayashi, the global approach carries the full strength of hermitian geometry of vector bundles avoiding cumbersome computations, and thus fosters applications in other fields.

Overview of codes and tools for nuclear engineering education

Science.gov (United States)

Yakovlev, D.; Pryakhin, A.; Medvedeva, L.

2017-01-01

The recent world trends in nuclear education have been developed in the direction of social education, networking, virtual tools and codes. MEPhI as a global leader on the world education market implements new advanced technologies for the distance and online learning and for student research work. MEPhI produced special codes, tools and web resources based on the internet platform to support education in the field of nuclear technology. At the same time, MEPhI actively uses codes and tools from the third parties. Several types of the tools are considered: calculation codes, nuclear data visualization tools, virtual labs, PC-based educational simulators for nuclear power plants (NPP), CLP4NET, education web-platforms, distance courses (MOOCs and controlled and managed content systems). The university pays special attention to integrated products such as CLP4NET, which is not a learning course, but serves to automate the process of learning through distance technologies. CLP4NET organizes all tools in the same information space. Up to now, MEPhI has achieved significant results in the field of distance education and online system implementation.

Nuclear stockpiles globalization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jouffray, Fabien

2016-01-01

For technological reasons, but more importantly political ones, the spread of nuclear weapons is foreseen as inevitable especially with the multiplication of so-called 'threshold states'. On the one hand, technological barriers will gradually disappear with globalization and information sharing in our societies. Furthermore, becoming a threshold power appears today as key to get freedom of action, a tool of counter-deterrence or blackmail according to the camp you belong to, like in the Iranian and north Korean cases. For proliferant countries, it will now consist in an enforcement of an embryonic, even though rather deterrent or even threatening, nuclear program thanks to new technologies, reducing completion times and even allowing to skip the final nuclear test

PAnalyzer: A software tool for protein inference in shotgun proteomics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prieto Gorka

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Protein inference from peptide identifications in shotgun proteomics must deal with ambiguities that arise due to the presence of peptides shared between different proteins, which is common in higher eukaryotes. Recently data independent acquisition (DIA approaches have emerged as an alternative to the traditional data dependent acquisition (DDA in shotgun proteomics experiments. MSE is the term used to name one of the DIA approaches used in QTOF instruments. MSE data require specialized software to process acquired spectra and to perform peptide and protein identifications. However the software available at the moment does not group the identified proteins in a transparent way by taking into account peptide evidence categories. Furthermore the inspection, comparison and report of the obtained results require tedious manual intervention. Here we report a software tool to address these limitations for MSE data. Results In this paper we present PAnalyzer, a software tool focused on the protein inference process of shotgun proteomics. Our approach considers all the identified proteins and groups them when necessary indicating their confidence using different evidence categories. PAnalyzer can read protein identification files in the XML output format of the ProteinLynx Global Server (PLGS software provided by Waters Corporation for their MSE data, and also in the mzIdentML format recently standardized by HUPO-PSI. Multiple files can also be read simultaneously and are considered as technical replicates. Results are saved to CSV, HTML and mzIdentML (in the case of a single mzIdentML input file files. An MSE analysis of a real sample is presented to compare the results of PAnalyzer and ProteinLynx Global Server. Conclusions We present a software tool to deal with the ambiguities that arise in the protein inference process. Key contributions are support for MSE data analysis by ProteinLynx Global Server and technical replicates

Globalization, Mobility and Air Connectivity Analysis: a Tool for Interdisciplinary Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Antonio Córdoba Ordóñez

2012-10-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the interconnected relationship between Geography and Social Anthropology in the study of social and spatial phenomena. It argues that the informed and combined use of quantitative and qualitative research techniques, like air connectivity analysis and ethnographic fieldwork, are fundamental in the understanding of socioeconomic globalization processes, and particularly in those characterized by mobility. The study of air mobility in Mexico highlights the existence of multi-scalar and multi-functional patterns of relations that are vital to explain the situated dynamics of the social and territorial relations that have followed the country’s adoption of neoliberal policies. And specifically, to analyze processes as regional adjustments, labour migration, tourism, development and underdevelopment, spatial fixation, as well as homogenization and cultural hybridization.

Global architecture of innovative nuclear energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreeva-Andrievskaya, L.N.; Kagramanyan, V.S.; Usanov, V.I.; )

2011-01-01

The study Global Architecture of Innovative Nuclear Energy Systems Based on Thermal and Fast Reactors including a Closed Fuel Cycle (GAINS), aimed at harmonization of tools used to assess various options for innovative development of nuclear energy, modeling of jointly defined scenarios and analysis of obtained results is presented in the paper. Objectives and methods of the study, issues of spent fuel and fissile materials management are discussed. Investment risks and economic indicators are also described [ru

Globalization in history : a geographical perspective

OpenAIRE

Crafts, N. F. R.; Venables, Anthony

2001-01-01

This paper argues that a geographical perspectie is fundamental to understanding comparative economic development in the context of globalization. Central to this view is the role of agglomeration in productivity performance; size and location matter. The tools of the new economic geography are used to illuminate important epidsodes when the relative position of major eeconmies radically changed; the rise of the United States at the beginning and of East Asia at the end of the twentieth centu...

A review of corporate sustainability reporting tools (SRTs).

Science.gov (United States)

Siew, Renard Y J

2015-12-01

Sustainability reporting has been increasingly adopted by corporations worldwide given the demand of stakeholders for greater transparency on both environmental and social issues. The popularity of such reporting is evidenced by the development of a range of tools in the last two decades - Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), AA1000 and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) inter alia. These tools, referred to collectively as corporate sustainability reporting tools (SRTs) are important as they serve to inform the progress of corporations towards achieving sustainability goals. However, the rapid growth of corporate SRTs, with different criteria and methodology has created major complications for stakeholders. This paper makes a genuine contribution by providing a review of some of these major tools, spanning across a wide spectrum - framework, standards, ratings and indices. A critique of SRTs is also given. Institutional investors, governments, practitioners and individuals may find this review useful in terms of understanding the nature of different corporate SRTs. As well, it can serve as a useful reference for the development of the next generation of corporate SRTs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

CompTIA Network+ Certification Study Guide, Exam N10-004

CERN Document Server

Shimonski, Robert

2009-01-01

CompTIA's Network+ certification is a globally-recognized, vendor neutral exam that has helped over 235,000 IT professionals reach further and higher in their careers. The 2009 Network+ exam (N10-004) is a major update with more focus on security and wireless aspects of networking. Our new study guide has been updated accordingly with focus on network, systems, and WAN security and complete coverage of today's wireless networking standards. As always this companion covers the core Network+ material including basic design principles, management and operation of a network infrastructure, and tes

United Nations Global Compact as a driver of Sustainable Development through businesses

OpenAIRE

Bereng, Reitumetse Esther

2018-01-01

The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) was created in 2000 as a global compact between the United Nations and the Corporate Sector to induce businesses to incorporate principles that relate to human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption into their corporate actions in order to contribute to sustainable development. This report reviews the tools used by the UNGC to ensure that its members´ strategies and operations align to the basic principles.

Capturing value from Intellectual Property (IP) in a global environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alcácer, Juan; Beukel, Karin; Cassiman, Bruno

2017-01-01

Globalization should provide firms with an opportunity to leverage their know-how and reputation across countries to create value. However, it remains challenging for them to actually capture that value using traditional Intellectual Property (IP) tools. In this paper, we document the strong growth...... in patents, trademarks, and industrial designs used by firms to protect their IP globally. We then show that IP protection remains fragmented; the quality of IP applications might be questionable; and developing a comprehensive IP footprint worldwide is very costly. Growing numbers of applications...

Identifying strategies for mitigating the global warming impact of the EU-25 economy using a multi-objective input–output approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cortés-Borda, D.; Ruiz-Hernández, A.; Guillén-Gosálbez, G.; Llop, M.; Guimerà, R.; Sales-Pardo, M.

2015-01-01

Global warming mitigation has recently become a priority worldwide. A large body of literature dealing with energy related problems has focused on reducing greenhouse gases emissions at an engineering scale. In contrast, the minimization of climate change at a wider macroeconomic level has so far received much less attention. We investigate here how to mitigate global warming by performing changes in an economy. To this end, we make use of a systematic tool that combines three methods: linear programming, environmentally extended input output models, and life cycle assessment principles. The problem of identifying key economic sectors that contribute significantly to global warming is posed in mathematical terms as a bi-criteria linear program that seeks to optimize simultaneously the total economic output and the total life cycle CO 2 emissions. We have applied this approach to the European Union economy, finding that significant reductions in global warming potential can be attained by regulating specific economic sectors. Our tool is intended to aid policy makers in the design of more effective public policies for achieving the environmental and economic targets sought. - Highlights: • We minimize climate change by performing small changes in the consumption habits. • We propose a tool that combines multiobjective optimization and macroeconomic models. • Identifying key sectors allows improving the environmental performance significantly with little impact to the economy. • Significant reductions in global warming potential are attained by regulating sectors. • Our tool aids policy makers in the design of effective sustainability policies

Internet of THings Area Coverage Analyzer (ITHACA for Complex Topographical Scenarios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raúl Parada

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The number of connected devices is increasing worldwide. Not only in contexts like the Smart City, but also in rural areas, to provide advanced features like smart farming or smart logistics. Thus, wireless network technologies to efficiently allocate Internet of Things (IoT and Machine to Machine (M2M communications are necessary. Traditional cellular networks like Global System for Mobile communications (GSM are widely used worldwide for IoT environments. Nevertheless, Low Power Wide Area Networks (LP-WAN are becoming widespread as infrastructure for present and future IoT and M2M applications. Based also on a subscription service, the LP-WAN technology SIGFOXTM may compete with cellular networks in the M2M and IoT communications market, for instance in those projects where deploying the whole communications infrastructure is too complex or expensive. For decision makers to decide the most suitable technology for each specific application, signal coverage is within the key features. Unfortunately, besides simulated coverage maps, decision-makers do not have real coverage maps for SIGFOXTM, as they can be found for cellular networks. Thereby, we propose Internet of THings Area Coverage Analyzer (ITHACA, a signal analyzer prototype to provide automated signal coverage maps and analytics for LP-WAN. Experiments performed in the Gran Canaria Island, Spain (with both urban and complex topographic rural environments, returned a real SIGFOXTM service availability above 97% and above 11% more coverage with respect to the company-provided simulated maps. We expect that ITHACA may help decision makers to deploy the most suitable technologies for future IoT and M2M projects.

Global properties of symmetric competition models with riddling and blowout phenomena

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giant-italo Bischi

2000-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper the problem of chaos synchronization, and the related phenomena of riddling, blowout and on–off intermittency, are considered for discrete time competition models with identical competitors. The global properties which determine the different effects of riddling and blowout bifurcations are studied by the method of critical curves, a tool for the study of the global dynamical properties of two-dimensional noninvertible maps. These techniques are applied to the study of a dynamic market-share competition model.

Early and rapid globalization as part of innovation and growth strategies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zijdemans, Erik; Azimi, Zohreh; Tanev, Stoyan

propositions (Bailetti & Zijdemans, 2014). The GVG was tested empirically through its application to 12 cybersecurity start-ups in Ottawa, ON, Canada. Additionally, the applicability of the GVG was validated by an in depth case study of a business development agency focusing on supporting the global start......) – a framework linking the ex-ante value drivers and ex-post characteristics of BG firms. Our aim is to use the GVG to help innovative start-ups in making strategic ex-ante decisions contributing to the development of competitive global business models, complementary global resources and differentiated value...... of newly created technology firms. The preliminary results indicate that business development agencies currently do not actively or efficiently support the global start of new firms. They need however appropriate tools and mechanisms that would help them developing such capacity....

Offering Global Collaboration Services beyond CERN and HEP

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, J.; Ferreira, P.; Baron, T.

2015-12-01

The CERN IT department has built over the years a performant and integrated ecosystem of collaboration tools, from videoconference and webcast services to event management software. These services have been designed and evolved in very close collaboration with the various communities surrounding the laboratory and have been massively adopted by CERN users. To cope with this very heavy usage, global infrastructures have been deployed which take full advantage of CERN's international and global nature. If these services and tools are instrumental in enabling the worldwide collaboration which generates major HEP breakthroughs, they would certainly also benefit other sectors of science in which globalization has already taken place. Some of these services are driven by commercial software (Vidyo or Wowza for example), some others have been developed internally and have already been made available to the world as Open Source Software in line with CERN's spirit and mission. Indico for example is now installed in 100+ institutes worldwide. But providing the software is often not enough and institutes, collaborations and project teams do not always possess the expertise, or human or material resources that are needed to set up and maintain such services. Regional and national institutions have to answer needs, which are growingly global and often contradict their operational capabilities or organizational mandate and so are looking at existing worldwide service offers such as CERN's. We believe that the accumulated experience obtained through the operation of a large scale worldwide collaboration service combined with CERN's global network and its recently- deployed Agile Infrastructure would allow the Organization to set up and operate collaborative services, such as Indico and Vidyo, at a much larger scale and on behalf of worldwide research and education institutions and thus answer these pressing demands while optimizing resources at a global level. Such services would

Global marine radioactivity database (GLOMARD)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Povinec, P.P.; Gayol, J.; Togawa, O.

1999-01-01

In response to the request of Member States and under the IAEA's mandate, the IAEA Marine Environment Laboratory (MEL) in Monaco has established and maintains a Global Marine Radioactivity Database (GLOMARD). It is a vast project compiling radionuclide measurements taken in the marine environment. It consists of systematic input of all radionuclide concentration data available for sea water, sediment, biota and suspended matter. The GLOMARD is therefore a powerful tool for the researchers of MEL as it integrates the results of analyses in most of the areas of the marine environment which have been investigated

Sadhana | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Sadhana. WAN HASLINA HASSAN. Articles written in Sadhana. Volume 41 Issue 7 July 2016 pp 727-753. Comparison between hybridized algorithm of GA–SA and ABC, GA, DE and PSO for vertical-handover in heterogeneous wireless networks · SHIDROKH GOUDARZI WAN HASLINA HASSAN ...

Web-based CERES Clouds QC Property Viewing Tool

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, R. A.; Chu, C.; Sun-Mack, S.; Chen, Y.; Heckert, E.; Minnis, P.

2014-12-01

This presentation will display the capabilities of a web-based CERES cloud property viewer. Terra data will be chosen for examples. It will demonstrate viewing of cloud properties in gridded global maps, histograms, time series displays, latitudinal zonal images, binned data charts, data frequency graphs, and ISCCP plots. Images can be manipulated by the user to narrow boundaries of the map as well as color bars and value ranges, compare datasets, view data values, and more. Other atmospheric studies groups will be encouraged to put their data into the underlying NetCDF data format and view their data with the tool. A laptop will hopefully be available to allow conference attendees to try navigating the tool.

Value innovation: an important aspect of global surgical care.

Science.gov (United States)

Cotton, Michael; Henry, Jaymie Ang; Hasek, Lauren

2014-01-06

Limited resources in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) drive tremendous innovation in medicine, as well as in other fields. It is not often recognized that several important surgical tools and methods, widely used in high-income countries, have their origins in LMICs. Surgical care around the world stands much to gain from these innovations. In this paper, we provide a short review of some of these successful innovations and their origins that have had an important impact in healthcare delivery worldwide. Examples of LMIC innovations that have been adapted in high-income countries include the Bogotá bag for temporary abdominal wound closure, the orthopaedic external fixator for complex fractures, a hydrocephalus fluid valve for normal pressure hydrocephalus, and intra-ocular lens and manual small incision cataract surgery. LMIC innovations that have had tremendous potential global impact include mosquito net mesh for inguinal hernia repair, and a flutter valve for intercostal drainage of pneumothorax. Surgical innovations from LMICs have been shown to have comparable outcomes at a fraction of the cost of tools used in high-income countries. These innovations have the potential to revolutionize global surgical care. Advocates should actively seek out these innovations, campaign for the financial gains from these innovations to benefit their originators and their countries, and find ways to develop and distribute them locally as well as globally.

Intermittent Theta Burst Over M1 May Increase Peak Power of a Wingate Anaerobic Test and Prevent the Reduction of Voluntary Activation Measured with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Giboin, Louis-Solal; Thumm, Patrick; Bertschinger, Raphael; Gruber, Markus

2016-01-01

Despite the potential of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to improve performances in patients suffering from motor neuronal afflictions, its effect on motor performance enhancement in healthy subjects during a specific sport task is still unknown. We hypothesized that after an intermittent theta burst (iTBS) treatment, performance during the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) will increase and supraspinal fatigue following the exercise will be lower in comparison to a control treatment. Ten subjects participated in two randomized experiments consisting of a WAnT 5 min after either an iTBS or a control treatment. We determined voluntary activation (VA) of the right knee extensors with TMS (VATMS) and with peripheral nerve stimulation (VAPNS) of the femoral nerve, before and after the WAnT. T-tests were applied to the WAnT results and a two way within subject ANOVA was applied to VA results. The iTBS treatment increased the peak power and the maximum pedalling cadence and suppressed the reduction of VATMS following the WAnT compared to the control treatment. No behavioral changes related to fatigue (mean power and fatigue index) were observed. These results indicate for the first time that iTBS could be used as a potential intervention to improve anaerobic performance in a sport specific task.

Using Game Theory to Qualitatively Analyze Global Relations

Science.gov (United States)

Tacosa, Corliss A.; Cuper, Taryn

2010-01-01

As the world becomes smaller, the importance of global education increases. Technological advancements have made news instantaneous. The advent of the Internet has made contact with another part of the world just a click away. Such achievements have put pressure on educational institutions to prepare students for the global community in which they already live. !ey must not only e taug about the world and the interactions among countries, but also, how the decIsions are made which facilltae. these interactions and what factors might contribute to the chain reactions which might erupt from such declsl?n. It is critical that students learn the skills of decision-making and analysis in order to be able to operate Within a world where threats and crises abound. As tomorrow's leaders, today's students must be exposed to the global world and its mechanisms and learn the tools to navigate within it.

Development of a Computational Tool for Measuring Organizational Competitiveness in the Photovoltaic Power Plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen B. Rosa

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Photovoltaic (PV power generation is embedded in a globally competitive environment. This characteristic forces PV power plants to perform most processes relevant for their competitiveness with maximum efficiency. From managers’ point of view, the evaluation of solar energy performance from installed plants is justified to indicate their level of organizational competitiveness, which supports the decision-making process. This manuscript purposes a computational tool that graphically presents the level of competitiveness of PV power plants units based on performance indicators. This tool was developed by using the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs concept, which represents a set of measures focusing on the most critical aspects for the success of the organizations. The KPIs encompass four Fundamental Viewpoints (FV: Strategic Alliances, Solar Energy Monitoring, Management and Strategic Processes, and Power Generation Innovations. These four FVs were deployed on 26 Critical Success Factors (CSFs and 39 KPIs. Sequentially, the tool was applied in four solar generation plants, where three presented an organizational competitiveness global level “potentially competitive”. The proposed computational tool allows managers to assess the degree of organization competitiveness as well as aid in prospecting of future scenarios and decision-making.

Mobile communication in the global south

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ling, Richard; Horst, Heather

2011-01-01

Mobile communication has become a common phenomenon in most parts of the world. There are indeed more mobile subscriptions than there are people who use the internet. For many people outside of the metropolitan areas of Europe and North America, this is literally their first use of electronically...... and how it is challenging, and in many cases changing, notions of gender. While the mobile phone reshapes development and micro dynamics of gendered interactions, it is not necessarily a revolutionary tool. Existing power structures may be rearranged, but they are nonetheless quite stable. The analysis...... mediated interaction. This preface to the special issue of New Media & Society examines mobile communication in a global context. Through an overview of eight articles situated in the global south, we describe how mobile communication sheds light upon notions of information, appropriation and development...

VLM Tool for IDS Integration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cǎtǎlin NAE

2010-03-01

Full Text Available This paper is dedicated to a very specific type of analysis tool (VLM - Vortex Lattice Method to be integrated in a IDS - Integrated Design System, tailored for the usage of small aircraft industry. The major interest is to have the possibility to simulate at very low computational costs a preliminary set of aerodynamic characteristics for basic aerodynamic global characteristics (Lift, Drag, Pitching Moment and aerodynamic derivatives for longitudinal and lateral-directional stability analysis. This work enables fast investigations of the influence of configuration changes in a very efficient computational environment. Using experimental data and/or CFD information for a specific calibration of VLM method, reliability of the analysis may me increased so that a first type (iteration zero aerodynamic evaluation of the preliminary 3D configuration is possible. The output of this tool is basic state aerodynamic and associated stability and control derivatives, as well as a complete set of information on specific loads on major airframe components.The major interest in using and validating this type of methods is coming from the possibility to integrate it as a tool in an IDS system for conceptual design phase, as considered for development for CESAR project (IP, UE FP6.

CoBra - a global tool for braking system development; CoBra - ein Tool fuer den globalen Einsatz in der Bremssystementwicklung

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sailer, U. [Robert Bosch GmbH, Stuttgart (Germany)

1999-07-01

When Robert Bosch GmbH took over the braking system activities of Allied Signal in 1996, they became able to develop complete braking systems for passenger cars. Braking systes for the different markets are now produced in three sites in Germany, France and the USA. Braking system development with its interfaces to component development and to car producers is a new development challenge, and the department K1 (ABS and braking systems) is cooperating with internal and external partners in developing a globally standardized program for design, simulation and analysis of passenger car braking systems. This contribution presents parts of the development project CoBra (Computation of Braking Systems). [German] Mit dem Kauf der Bremsenaktivitaeten der Firma Allied Signal im Jahre 1996 ist die Robert Bosch GmbH in der Lage, komplette Pkw-Bremssysteme zu entwickeln. Nunmehr werden an drei Entwicklungsstandorten in Deutschland, Frankreich und den USA Bremssysteme fuer die verschiedenen Maerkte entwickelt. Die Bremssystementwicklung, insbesondere die damit verbundenen Schnittstellen zu der Komponentenentwicklung und zum Automobilhersteller, stellt technisch und vom Entwicklungsprozess aus gesehen eine neue Herausforderung dar. Um ihr zu begegnen, wird im Geschaeftsbereich K1 (ABS and Braking Systems) derzeit in Zusammenarbeit mit internen und externen Partnern ein global einheitliches Programm zur Auslegung, Simulation und Analyse von Pkw-Bremssystemen entwickelt. Dieser Beitrag stellt Teile des Entwicklungsprojekts CoBra (Computation of Braking Systems) vor. (orig.)

a Free and Open Source Tool to Assess the Accuracy of Land Cover Maps: Implementation and Application to Lombardy Region (italy)

Science.gov (United States)

Bratic, G.; Brovelli, M. A.; Molinari, M. E.

2018-04-01

The availability of thematic maps has significantly increased over the last few years. Validation of these maps is a key factor in assessing their suitability for different applications. The evaluation of the accuracy of classified data is carried out through a comparison with a reference dataset and the generation of a confusion matrix from which many quality indexes can be derived. In this work, an ad hoc free and open source Python tool was implemented to automatically compute all the matrix confusion-derived accuracy indexes proposed by literature. The tool was integrated into GRASS GIS environment and successfully applied to evaluate the quality of three high-resolution global datasets (GlobeLand30, Global Urban Footprint, Global Human Settlement Layer Built-Up Grid) in the Lombardy Region area (Italy). In addition to the most commonly used accuracy measures, e.g. overall accuracy and Kappa, the tool allowed to compute and investigate less known indexes such as the Ground Truth and the Classification Success Index. The promising tool will be further extended with spatial autocorrelation analysis functions and made available to researcher and user community.

Global Imaging referral guidelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawooya, M.; Perez, M.; Lau, L.; Reeed, M.

2010-01-01

The medical imaging specialists called for global referral guidelines which would be made available to referring doctors. These referral guidelines should be:- Applicable in different health care settings, including resource-poor settings; Inclusive in terms of the range of clinical conditions; User-friendly and accessible (format/media); Acceptable to stakeholders, in particular to the referrers as the main target audience. To conceive evidence-based medicine as an integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values. The Direct recipients of the Referral Guidelines would be:- Referrers: general practitioners / family doctors; paediatricians; emergency department doctors; other specialists and health workers. Providers (medical imaging practitioners): radiologists; nuclear medicine physicians; radiographers; other appropriately qualified practitioners providing diagnostic imaging services. For the Referral Guidelines to be effective there need to be: Credibility evidence-based Practicality end user involvement Context local resources, disease profiles Endorsement, opinion leaders Implementation- policy, education, CPOE - Monitoring of the use clinical audit, report feedback. The aim of the Referral Guidelines Project was to: Produce global referral guidelines that are evidence-based, cost effective and appropriate for the local setting, and include consideration of available equipment and expertise (RGWG; SIGs); Include supporting information about radiation doses, potential risks, protection of children and pregnant women (introductory chapter); Facilitate the implementation of the guidelines through guidance and tools (e.g. implementation guides, checklists, capacity building tools, guides on stakeholders engagement, audit support criteria); Conduct pilot testing in different clinical settings from each of the six WHO regions; Promote the inclusion of the referral guidelines in the curricula of medical schools; Develop and implement

African Humanities and the Global Academy: A Reflection on the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Among the questions posed are: What bodies of knowledge and conceptual tools gain legitimacy in the global academy, and why? Does location of knowledge production matter? The article argues that despite important advances in the field of African studies, this area remains problematic as Africa continues to produce ...

Using urban forest assessment tools to model bird habitat potential

Science.gov (United States)

Susannah B. Lerman; Keith H. Nislow; David J. Nowak; Stephen DeStefano; David I. King; D. Todd. Jones-Farrand

2014-01-01

The alteration of forest cover and the replacement of native vegetation with buildings, roads, exotic vegetation, and other urban features pose one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. As more land becomes slated for urban development, identifying effective urban forest wildlife management tools becomes paramount to ensure the urban forest provides habitat...

The evolution of deserts with climatic changes in China since 150 ka B.P.

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

董光荣; 陈惠忠; 王贵勇; 李孝泽; 邵亚军; 金炯

1997-01-01

According to the bioclimatic zones, dune mobility and the fabric characteristics of stratigraphic sedimentary facies, the deserts in China are divided into Eastern, Western, Central and Northwestern deserts. Based on the records of stratigraphical facies, climatic proxies, historical data, etc. in each desert region, the evolution of deserts with climatic changes in time and space since 150 ka B. P. in China are dealt with; then the evolution of deserts in relation to the glacial climatic fluctuations caused by solar radiation changes, underlying surface variation and their feedback mechanism is discussed through comparison with global records; finally, in consideration of global wanning due to increasing of greenhouse gases such as CO2, the possible tendency of the evolution of deserts and the climatic changes is discussed.

Ethernet over SDH (EoS): Summary

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Cost effective way to support data customers. Use of integrated Ethernet eliminates the need for costly WAN interfaces (E1/E3/STM-1) on routers connecting to SDH/SONET; WAN bandwidth can be provided directly from customers' Ethernet switches, potentially eliminating routers at customer sites ...

Musite, a tool for global prediction of general and kinase-specific phosphorylation sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Jianjiong; Thelen, Jay J; Dunker, A Keith; Xu, Dong

2010-12-01

Reversible protein phosphorylation is one of the most pervasive post-translational modifications, regulating diverse cellular processes in various organisms. High throughput experimental studies using mass spectrometry have identified many phosphorylation sites, primarily from eukaryotes. However, the vast majority of phosphorylation sites remain undiscovered, even in well studied systems. Because mass spectrometry-based experimental approaches for identifying phosphorylation events are costly, time-consuming, and biased toward abundant proteins and proteotypic peptides, in silico prediction of phosphorylation sites is potentially a useful alternative strategy for whole proteome annotation. Because of various limitations, current phosphorylation site prediction tools were not well designed for comprehensive assessment of proteomes. Here, we present a novel software tool, Musite, specifically designed for large scale predictions of both general and kinase-specific phosphorylation sites. We collected phosphoproteomics data in multiple organisms from several reliable sources and used them to train prediction models by a comprehensive machine-learning approach that integrates local sequence similarities to known phosphorylation sites, protein disorder scores, and amino acid frequencies. Application of Musite on several proteomes yielded tens of thousands of phosphorylation site predictions at a high stringency level. Cross-validation tests show that Musite achieves some improvement over existing tools in predicting general phosphorylation sites, and it is at least comparable with those for predicting kinase-specific phosphorylation sites. In Musite V1.0, we have trained general prediction models for six organisms and kinase-specific prediction models for 13 kinases or kinase families. Although the current pretrained models were not correlated with any particular cellular conditions, Musite provides a unique functionality for training customized prediction models

Enhancement on Wingate Anaerobic Test Performance With Hyperventilation.

Science.gov (United States)

Leithäuser, Renate M; Böning, Dieter; Hütler, Matthias; Beneke, Ralph

2016-07-01

Relatively long-lasting metabolic alkalizing procedures such as bicarbonate ingestion have potential for improving performance in long-sprint to middle-distance events. Within a few minutes, hyperventilation can induce respiratory alkalosis. However, corresponding performance effects are missing or equivocal at best. To test a potential performance-enhancing effect of respiratory alkalosis in a 30-s Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT). 10 men (mean ± SD age 26.6 ± 4.9 y, height 184.4 ± 6.1 cm, body-mass test 1 80.7 ± 7.7 kg, body-mass test 2 80.4 ± 7.2 kg, peak oxygen uptake 3.95 ± 0.43 L/min) performed 2 WAnTs, 1 with and 1 without a standardized 15-min hyperventilation program pre-WAnT in randomized order separated by 1 wk. Compared with the control condition, hyperventilation reduced (all P respiratory alkalosis can enhance WAnT cycling sprint performance well in the magnitude of what is seen after successful bicarbonate ingestion.

The Cuba–United States Thaw: Building Bridges through Science and Global Health

Science.gov (United States)

Bausch, Daniel G.; Kouri, Vivian; Resik, Sonia; Acosta, Belsy; Guillen, Gerardo; Goraleski, Karen; Espinal, Marcos; Guzman, Maria G.

2017-01-01

Beginning in 2014, there has been significant progress in normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States. Herein, we discuss the history and recent progress in scientific collaboration between the two countries as well as the continued challenges. Science and global health diplomacy can be key tools in reestablishing a trusting and productive relationship of mutual and global benefit, bringing about better and healthier lives for people in both Cuba and the United States. PMID:28719268

The Cuba-United States Thaw: Building Bridges Through Science and Global Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Bausch, Daniel G; Kouri, Vivian; Resik, Sonia; Acosta, Belsy; Guillen, Gerardo; Goraleski, Karen; Espinal, Marcos; Guzman, Maria G

2017-06-01

AbstractBeginning in 2014, there has been significant progress in normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States. Herein, we discuss the history and recent progress in scientific collaboration between the two countries as well as the continued challenges. Science and global health diplomacy can be key tools in reestablishing a trusting and productive relationship of mutual and global benefit, bringing about better and healthier lives for people in both Cuba and the United States.

CHALLENGES TO THE SUSTAINABILITY OF GROWTH FROM THE GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS PERSPECTIVE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuela Unguru

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The Global Competitiveness Index GCI developed by the World Economic Forum is currently a wellknown and most appreciated tool for assessing global competitiveness. This article takes advantage of the complexity and richness of information embedded in this composite indicator to analyze the main challenges arising for the sustainability of growth from the perspective of global competitiveness indicators. After a brief review of the European Union (EU member states’ current state in terms of competitiveness, the investigation is focused on the performance and dynamics of the various competitiveness determinants, that explain, on the one hand, the poor ranking of Romania in the world competitiveness scoreboard and represent, on the other hand, major barriers to sustainable development.

Overview of Automotive Core Tools: Applications and Benefits

Science.gov (United States)

Doshi, Jigar A.; Desai, Darshak

2017-08-01

Continuous improvement of product and process quality is always challenging and creative task in today's era of globalization. Various quality tools are available and used for the same. Some of them are successful and few of them are not. Considering the complexity in the continuous quality improvement (CQI) process various new techniques are being introduced by the industries, as well as proposed by researchers and academia. Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma is some of the techniques. In recent years, there are new tools being opted by the industry, especially automotive, called as Automotive Core Tools (ACT). The intention of this paper is to review the applications and benefits along with existing research on Automotive Core Tools with special emphasis on continuous quality improvement. The methodology uses an extensive review of literature through reputed publications—journals, conference proceedings, research thesis, etc. This paper provides an overview of ACT, its enablers, and exertions, how it evolved into sophisticated methodologies and benefits used in organisations. It should be of value to practitioners of Automotive Core Tools and to academics who are interested in how CQI can be achieved using ACT. It needs to be stressed here that this paper is not intended to scorn Automotive Core Tools, rather, its purpose is limited only to provide a balance on the prevailing positive views toward ACT.

Finite element application to global reactor analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, F.A.R.

1981-01-01

The Finite Element Method is described as a Coarse Mesh Method with general basis and trial functions. Various consequences concerning programming and application of Finite Element Methods in reactor physics are drawn. One of the conclusions is that the Finite Element Method is a valuable tool in solving global reactor analysis problems. However, problems which can be described by rectangular boxes still can be solved with special coarse mesh programs more efficiently. (orig.) [de

Recent patents in plant biotechnology: impact on global health.

Science.gov (United States)

Hefferon, Kathleen L

2012-08-01

Agricultural biotechnology offers a robust series of tools by which to address global concerns such as food security, crop protection, and fuel/energy requirements. A number of advances made recently in plant molecular biology also have resulted in applications which largely focus on improving global human health. This review describes some of the recent innovations in plant biotechnology that have come to the forefront over the past year. Included are novel techniques by which plants can be improved as platforms for biopharmaceutical protein production, a growing field also referred to as 'molecular pharming'. The metabolic engineering of plants to produce compounds which have additional nutritional benefits is also outlined. The review concludes with a discussion of the future impact that these innovations may have both on global health and on the development of our future intellectual property landscape.

Quantifying multiple telecouplings using an integrated suite of spatially-explicit tools

Science.gov (United States)

Tonini, F.; Liu, J.

2016-12-01

Telecoupling is an interdisciplinary research umbrella concept that enables natural and social scientists to understand and generate information for managing how humans and nature can sustainably coexist worldwide. To systematically study telecoupling, it is essential to build a comprehensive set of spatially-explicit tools for describing and quantifying multiple reciprocal socioeconomic and environmental interactions between a focal area and other areas. Here we introduce the Telecoupling Toolbox, a new free and open-source set of tools developed to map and identify the five major interrelated components of the telecoupling framework: systems, flows, agents, causes, and effects. The modular design of the toolbox allows the integration of existing tools and software (e.g. InVEST) to assess synergies and tradeoffs associated with policies and other local to global interventions. We show applications of the toolbox using a number of representative studies that address a variety of scientific and management issues related to telecouplings throughout the world. The results suggest that the toolbox can thoroughly map and quantify multiple telecouplings under various contexts while providing users with an easy-to-use interface. It provides a powerful platform to address globally important issues, such as land use and land cover change, species invasion, migration, flows of ecosystem services, and international trade of goods and products.

Global distribution of urban parameters derived from high-resolution global datasets for weather modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Kawano, N.; Varquez, A. C. G.; Dong, Y.; Kanda, M.

2016-12-01

Numerical model such as Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with single-layer Urban Canopy Model (WRF-UCM) is one of the powerful tools to investigate urban heat island. Urban parameters such as average building height (Have), plain area index (λp) and frontal area index (λf), are necessary inputs for the model. In general, these parameters are uniformly assumed in WRF-UCM but this leads to unrealistic urban representation. Distributed urban parameters can also be incorporated into WRF-UCM to consider a detail urban effect. The problem is that distributed building information is not readily available for most megacities especially in developing countries. Furthermore, acquiring real building parameters often require huge amount of time and money. In this study, we investigated the potential of using globally available satellite-captured datasets for the estimation of the parameters, Have, λp, and λf. Global datasets comprised of high spatial resolution population dataset (LandScan by Oak Ridge National Laboratory), nighttime lights (NOAA), and vegetation fraction (NASA). True samples of Have, λp, and λf were acquired from actual building footprints from satellite images and 3D building database of Tokyo, New York, Paris, Melbourne, Istanbul, Jakarta and so on. Regression equations were then derived from the block-averaging of spatial pairs of real parameters and global datasets. Results show that two regression curves to estimate Have and λf from the combination of population and nightlight are necessary depending on the city's level of development. An index which can be used to decide which equation to use for a city is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). On the other hand, λphas less dependence on GDP but indicated a negative relationship to vegetation fraction. Finally, a simplified but precise approximation of urban parameters through readily-available, high-resolution global datasets and our derived regressions can be utilized to estimate a

New tools for evaluating LQAS survey designs.

Science.gov (United States)

Hund, Lauren

2014-02-15

Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) surveys have become increasingly popular in global health care applications. Incorporating Bayesian ideas into LQAS survey design, such as using reasonable prior beliefs about the distribution of an indicator, can improve the selection of design parameters and decision rules. In this paper, a joint frequentist and Bayesian framework is proposed for evaluating LQAS classification accuracy and informing survey design parameters. Simple software tools are provided for calculating the positive and negative predictive value of a design with respect to an underlying coverage distribution and the selected design parameters. These tools are illustrated using a data example from two consecutive LQAS surveys measuring Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) preparation. Using the survey tools, the dependence of classification accuracy on benchmark selection and the width of the 'grey region' are clarified in the context of ORS preparation across seven supervision areas. Following the completion of an LQAS survey, estimation of the distribution of coverage across areas facilitates quantifying classification accuracy and can help guide intervention decisions.

Methodology For The Selection Of Compensation Trade Tools In SMEs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milichovský František

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The main aim of this paper is to determine which factors of business tools are important in Czech companies. To find these factors, theoretical information from the area of trade tools and data from primary research (obtained via questionnaire were used. These data are applied by a statistical evaluation of selected indicators which could help determine the significance of the indicators in the area being monitored. Activities concerning the management of company finances are also partially incorporated, as due to their close cohesion with business, they cannot be excluded from the field of turnaround management. The business tools described in the paper see excellent usage not only during times of crisis but also in periods of prosperity, when their application provides companies with unique competitive advantages as a way of increasing GDP. The results of the paper confirm the necessity for compensation tools in the business environment and provide the significance level of the compensation tools used. Accurate usage could create an advantage in a global market characterised by high competition.

A CoAP-Based Network Access Authentication Service for Low-Power Wide Area Networks: LO-CoAP-EAP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Garcia-Carrillo

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The Internet-of-Things (IoT landscape is expanding with new radio technologies. In addition to the Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Network (LR-WPAN, the recent set of technologies conforming the so-called Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LP-WAN offers long-range communications, allowing one to send small pieces of information at a reduced energy cost, which promotes the creation of new IoT applications and services. However, LP-WAN technologies pose new challenges since they have strong limitations in the available bandwidth. In general, a first step prior to a smart object being able to gain access to the network is the process of network access authentication. It involves authentication, authorization and key management operations. This process is of vital importance for operators to control network resources. However, proposals for managing network access authentication in LP-WAN are tailored to the specifics of each technology, which could introduce interoperability problems in the future. In this sense, little effort has been put so far into providing a wireless-independent solution for network access authentication in the area of LP-WAN. To fill this gap, we propose a service named Low-Overhead CoAP-EAP (LO-CoAP-EAP, which is based on previous work designed for LR-WPAN. LO-CoAP-EAP integrates the use of Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA infrastructures and the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP protocol. For this integration, we use the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP to design a network authentication service independent of the type of LP-WAN technology. LO-CoAP-EAP represents a trade-off between flexibility, wireless technology independence, scalability and performance in LP-WAN.

A CoAP-Based Network Access Authentication Service for Low-Power Wide Area Networks: LO-CoAP-EAP.

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia-Carrillo, Dan; Marin-Lopez, Rafael; Kandasamy, Arunprabhu; Pelov, Alexander

2017-11-17

The Internet-of-Things (IoT) landscape is expanding with new radio technologies. In addition to the Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Network (LR-WPAN), the recent set of technologies conforming the so-called Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LP-WAN) offers long-range communications, allowing one to send small pieces of information at a reduced energy cost, which promotes the creation of new IoT applications and services. However, LP-WAN technologies pose new challenges since they have strong limitations in the available bandwidth. In general, a first step prior to a smart object being able to gain access to the network is the process of network access authentication. It involves authentication, authorization and key management operations. This process is of vital importance for operators to control network resources. However, proposals for managing network access authentication in LP-WAN are tailored to the specifics of each technology, which could introduce interoperability problems in the future. In this sense, little effort has been put so far into providing a wireless-independent solution for network access authentication in the area of LP-WAN. To fill this gap, we propose a service named Low-Overhead CoAP-EAP (LO-CoAP-EAP), which is based on previous work designed for LR-WPAN. LO-CoAP-EAP integrates the use of Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) infrastructures and the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) protocol. For this integration, we use the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) to design a network authentication service independent of the type of LP-WAN technology. LO-CoAP-EAP represents a trade-off between flexibility, wireless technology independence, scalability and performance in LP-WAN.

Parameters of anaerobic physiological profile of elite athletes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karaba-Jakovljević Dea

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Anaerobic capacity is much less evaluated in literature compared to aerobic component. Anaerobic performance of athletes can be measured using different motoric tests, lasting 20 to 30 seconds, one of them being the Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT. Objective. The aim of this study was to determine the work performed and power generated by athletes and non-athletes during a 30-second high intensity exercise, as well as to compare explosive characteristics of subjects using a new parameter of WAnT, named explosive power, or slope of power. Methods. All parameters of anaerobic power were investigated in 152 subjects classed into different groups depending on their physical fitness and sport specialties as follows: non-athletes (n=31, rowers (n=26, volleyball players (n=37, handball players (n=34 and judo players (n=24. The WAnT, as well as basic anthropometric measurements, was administrated to all participants. Results. Values of anaerobic parameters were higher in the group of athletes compared to physically inactive subjects. The highest values of the WAnT parameters were registered in the group of volleyball players (AP=1006 W; relative AP=11.4 W/ kg, AC=19.8 kJ, compared to athletes of other sport disciplines (volleyball, rowing and judo. The new parameter of the WAnT, explosive power, also showed highest values in volleyball players (EP=154 W/s; relative EP=1.74 W/s/kg. These differences were statistically significant (p<0.05. Conclusion. The results of laboratory tests can provide useful information on improvements in training processes. The new parameter of the WAnT could be implemented in further analyses of explosive characteristics of muscle contraction.

Relationship Between Blood Flow and Performance Recovery: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Borne, Rachel; Hausswirth, Christophe; Bieuzen, François

2017-02-01

To investigate the effect of different limb blood-flow levels on cycling-performance recovery, blood lactate concentration, and heart rate. Thirty-three high-intensity intermittent-trained athletes completed two 30-s Wingate anaerobic test sessions, 3 × 30-s (WAnT 1-3) and 1 × 30-s (WAnT 4), on a cycling ergometer. WAnT 1-3 and WAnT 4 were separated by a randomly assigned 24-min recovery intervention selected from among blood-flow restriction, passive rest, placebo stimulation, or neuromuscular electrical-stimulation-induced blood flow. Calf arterial inflow was measured by venous occlusion plethysmography at regular intervals throughout the recovery period. Performance was measured in terms of peak and mean power output during WAnT 1 and WAnT 4. After the recovery interventions, a large (r = .68 [90% CL .42; .83]) and very large (r = .72 (90% CL .49; .86]) positive correlation were observed between the change in calf arterial inflow and the change in mean and peak power output, respectively. Calf arterial inflow was significantly higher during the neuromuscular-electrical-stimulation recovery intervention than with the blood-flow-restriction, passive-rest, and placebo-stimulation interventions (P .05). No recovery effect was linked to heart rate or blood lactate concentration levels. For the first time, these data support the existence of a positive correlation between an increase in blood flow and performance recovery between bouts of high-intensity exercise. As a practical consideration, this effect can be obtained by using neuromuscular electrical stimulation-induced blood flow since this passive, simple strategy could be easily applied during short-term recovery.

An omnibus test for the global null hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Futschik, Andreas; Taus, Thomas; Zehetmayer, Sonja

2018-01-01

Global hypothesis tests are a useful tool in the context of clinical trials, genetic studies, or meta-analyses, when researchers are not interested in testing individual hypotheses, but in testing whether none of the hypotheses is false. There are several possibilities how to test the global null hypothesis when the individual null hypotheses are independent. If it is assumed that many of the individual null hypotheses are false, combination tests have been recommended to maximize power. If, however, it is assumed that only one or a few null hypotheses are false, global tests based on individual test statistics are more powerful (e.g. Bonferroni or Simes test). However, usually there is no a priori knowledge on the number of false individual null hypotheses. We therefore propose an omnibus test based on cumulative sums of the transformed p-values. We show that this test yields an impressive overall performance. The proposed method is implemented in an R-package called omnibus.

Understanding Global Change: Frameworks and Models for Teaching Systems Thinking

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-12-01

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

A Water Resources Planning Tool for the Jordan River Basin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher Bonzi

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The Jordan River basin is subject to extreme and increasing water scarcity. Management of transboundary water resources in the basin is closely intertwined with political conflicts in the region. We have jointly developed with stakeholders and experts from the riparian countries, a new dynamic consensus database and—supported by hydro-climatological model simulations and participatory scenario exercises in the GLOWA (Global Change and the Hydrological Cycle Jordan River project—a basin-wide Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP tool, which will allow testing of various unilateral and multilateral adaptation options under climate and socio-economic change. We present its validation and initial (climate and socio-economic scenario analyses with this budget and allocation tool, and invite further adaptation and application of the tool for specific Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM problems.

Innovative global architecture for sustainable nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wheeler, John; Kagramanyan, Vladimir; Poplavskaya, Elena; Edwards, Geoffrey; Dixon, Brent; Usanov, Vladimir; Hayashi, Hideyuki; Beatty, Randall

2011-01-01

The INPRO collaborative project 'Global architecture of innovative nuclear energy systems based on thermal and fast reactors with the inclusion of a closed nuclear fuel cycle (GAINS)' was one of several scenario studies implemented in the IAEA in recent years. The objective of GAINS was to develop a standard framework for assessing future nuclear energy systems (NESs) taking into account sustainable development, and to validate the results through sample analyses. Belgium, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, France, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, Ukraine, USA, the European Commission and Argentina as an observer participated in the project. The results received are discussed in the paper, including: development of a heterogeneous multi-group model of a global NES, estimation of nuclear energy demand, identification of a representative set of reactors and fuel cycles, evaluation capability of available analytical and modelling tools, and quantitative analysis of the different options of the global architecture. It was shown that the approach used contributes to development of a coherent vision of driving forces for nuclear energy system development and deployment. (author)

Using Multiple Tools to Analyze Resource Exchange in China

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Nan Li

2015-09-01

Full Text Available With the rapid development of globalization, the function of international physical resource exchange is becoming increasingly important in economic growth through resource optimization. However, most existing ecological economy studies use physical trade balance (PTB directly or use physical imports and exports individually to analyze national material metabolization. Neither the individual analysis of physical imports and exports nor the direct analysis of PTB is capable of portraying the comprehensive contributions of a certain product to total physical trade. This study introduced an indicator, i.e., the physical contribution to the trade balance (PCB, which evolved from the traditional index of contribution to the trade balance (CB. In addition, trade balance (TB, PTB, CB, and PCB were systematically related and combined. An analysis was conducted using the four tools to obtain overall trade trends in China. This study discovered that both physical trade value and quantity exhibited different characteristics when China joined the World Trade Organization in 2002 and experienced the global economic crisis in 2009. Finally, the advantages of a supporting policy decision by applying multiple analytical tools to physical trade were discussed.

Global Envelope Tests for Spatial Processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Myllymäki, Mari; Mrkvička, Tomáš; Grabarnik, Pavel

2017-01-01

Envelope tests are a popular tool in spatial statistics, where they are used in goodness-of-fit testing. These tests graphically compare an empirical function T(r) with its simulated counterparts from the null model. However, the type I error probability α is conventionally controlled for a fixed d......) the construction of envelopes for a deviation test. These new tests allow the a priori selection of the global α and they yield p-values. We illustrate these tests using simulated and real point pattern data....

Global envelope tests for spatial processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Myllymäki, Mari; Mrkvička, Tomáš; Grabarnik, Pavel

Envelope tests are a popular tool in spatial statistics, where they are used in goodness-of-fit testing. These tests graphically compare an empirical function T(r) with its simulated counterparts from the null model. However, the type I error probability α is conventionally controlled for a fixed......) the construction of envelopes for a deviation test. These new tests allow the a priori selection of the global α and they yield p-values. We illustrate these tests using simulated and real point pattern data....

Analysis of design tool attributes with regards to sustainability benefits

Science.gov (United States)

Zain, S.; Ismail, A. F.; Ahmad, Z.; Adesta, E. Y. T.

2018-01-01

The trend of global manufacturing competitiveness has shown a significant shift from profit and customer driven business to a more harmonious sustainability paradigm. This new direction, which emphasises the interests of three pillars of sustainability, i.e., social, economic and environment dimensions, has changed the ways products are designed. As a result, the roles of design tools in the product development stage of manufacturing in adapting to the new strategy are vital and increasingly challenging. The aim of this paper is to review the literature on the attributes of design tools with regards to the sustainability perspective. Four well-established design tools are selected, namely Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Failure Mode and Element Analysis (FMEA), Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) and Design for Environment (DfE). By analysing previous studies, the main attributes of each design tool and its benefits with respect to each sustainability dimension throughout four stages of product lifecycle are discussed. From this study, it is learnt that each of the design tools contributes to the three pillars of sustainability either directly or indirectly, but they are unbalanced and not holistic. Therefore, the prospective of improving and optimising the design tools is projected, and the possibility of collaboration between the different tools is discussed.

The Value of Open Source Software Tools in Qualitative Research

Science.gov (United States)

Greenberg, Gary

2011-01-01

In an era of global networks, researchers using qualitative methods must consider the impact of any software they use on the sharing of data and findings. In this essay, I identify researchers' main areas of concern regarding the use of qualitative software packages for research. I then examine how open source software tools, wherein the publisher…

Have Economic Educators Embraced Social Media as a Teaching Tool?

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Bahrani, Abdullah; Patel, Darshak; Sheridan, Brandon J.

2017-01-01

In this article, the authors discuss the results of a study of the perceptions of a national sample of economics faculty members from various institutions regarding the use of social media as a teaching tool in and out of the economics classroom. In the past few years, social media has become globally popular, and its use is ubiquitous among…

76 FR 63184 - Addition of Certain Persons on the Entity List; Implementation of Entity List Annual Review...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-12

... Road, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong; and 2. Hang Tat Electronics Enterprises Co., Room 2608, Technology Plaza, 29-35 Sha Tsui Road, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong. Removals From the Entity List This rule removes four... to part 732 of the EAR, ``BIS's `Know Your Customer' Guidance and Red Flags,'' when persons are...

Smart Grid Educational Series | Energy Systems Integration Facility | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

, 2016. Download Presentation PDF Role of Software Defined Networking and WAN Virtualization in Securing (ISO), hosted a webinar on April 27, 2016, on the role of software defined networking and WAN presentation PDF IoT/PowerMatcher Transactive Energy for Smart Cities William J. Miller, President of MaCT USA

Development of a context specific accreditation assessment tool for affirming quality midwifery education in Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Bogren, Malin; Sathyanarayanan Doraiswamy; Erlandsson, Kerstin; Akhter, Halima; Akter, Dalia; Begum, Momtaz; Chowdhury, Merry; Das, Lucky; Akter, Rehana; Begum, Sufia; Akter, Renoara; Yesmin, Syeada; Khatun, Yamin Ara

2018-06-01

using the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) Global Standards for Midwifery Education as a conceptual framework, the aim of this study was to explore and describe important 'must haves' for inclusion in a context-specific accreditation assessment tool in Bangladesh. A questionnaire study was conducted using a Likert rating scale and 111 closed-response single items on adherence to accreditation-related statements, ending with an open-ended question. The ICM Global Standards guided data collection, deductive content analysis and description of the quantitative results. twenty-five public institutes/colleges (out of 38 in Bangladesh), covering seven out of eight geographical divisions in the country. one hundred and twenty-three nursing educators teaching the 3-year diploma midwifery education programme. this study provides insight into the development of a context-specific accreditation assessment tool for Bangladesh. Important components to be included in this accreditation tool are presented under the following categories and domains: 'organization and administration', 'midwifery faculty', 'student body', 'curriculum content', 'resources, facilities and services' and 'assessment strategies'. The identified components were a prerequisite to ensure that midwifery students achieve the intended learning outcomes of the midwifery curriculum, and hence contribute to a strong midwifery workforce. The components further ensure well-prepared teachers and a standardized curriculum supported at policy level to enable effective deployment of professional midwives in the existing health system. as part of developing an accreditation assessment tool, it is imperative to build ownership and capacity when translating the ICM Global Standards for Midwifery Education into the national context. this initiative can be used as lessons learned from Bangladesh to develop a context-specific accreditation assessment tool in line with national priorities, supporting the

GLOBALIZATION, COMMUNICATION, EDUCATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monica Condruz-Bacescu

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on the issues of globalization, communication and education. Globalization has become the fundamental theme of political discourse, through its economic dimension, namely by opening up the economic markets in search of new stability points of contemporary developed capitalism; a phenomenon that has led to the free movement of labor, thus involving the social dimension, the circle being closed with the educational dimension because the individual, regardless of the cultural context in which he/she lives, needs training. The global economy cannot be conceived without international communication, which has become a premise of economic success in recent decades. Such communication on which the economic partnerships and multinational organizations are based presupposes an accurate perception and interpretation of the different cultures other than those in which the economic activity takes place and a permanent negotiation of the symbols and reference systems. Education undoubtedly plays an important role in any attempt to address communication networks in these moments of explosive development, networks that mediate communication between people and can thereby help to bring them closer together. Education must directly follow the transformations and new requirements in order to support future changes and professional training. In this direction, education will have as an educational purpose the development of the consciousness of the links between the different components and participants, regardless of the geographic area in which they operate, and on this basis the building of the partnership. Education needs to efficiently and extensively convey that knowledge and information adapted to the new civilization of globalization that does not overwhelm but contribute to the development of people at individual and community level. It must also trace the transformations of the new world that is constantly moving, and at the same time

Anti-Hassle Chip

Science.gov (United States)

1998-01-01

With assistance from NASA's Ames Research Center, the iTV Corporation has developed a full custom microprocessor that enables access to the Internet through a $49 device. The microprocessor is supported with a compliment of design tools for customization and adaptation as either a licensable core or as a complete microprocessor. Other uses include cell phones, DVD (digital versatile disk) players, cable modems, video conferencing equipment, digital cameras, wireless LANs (Local Area Network) and WANs (Wide Area Network). iTV continues to design new, low-cost consumer products.

Engineering Ethics Education Having Reflected Various Values and a Global Code of Ethics

Science.gov (United States)

Kanemitsu, Hidekazu

At the present day, a movement trying to establish a global code of ethics for science and engineering is in activity. The author overviews the context of this movement, and examines the possibility of engineering ethics education which uses global code of ethics. In this paper, the engineering ethics education which uses code of ethics in general will be considered, and an expected function of global code of ethics will be also. Engineering ethics education in the new century should be aimed to share the values among different countries and cultures. To use global code of ethics as a tool for such education, the code should include various values, especially Asian values which engineering ethics has paid little attention to.

REMOTE OPERATIONS IN A GLOBAL ACCELERATOR NETWORK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

PEGGS, S.; SATOGATA, T.; AGARWAL, D.; RICE, D.

2003-01-01

The INTRODUCTION to this paper summarizes the history of the Global Accelerator Network (GAN) concept and the recent workshops that discussed the relationship between GAN and Remote Operations. The REMOTE OPERATIONS SCENARIOS section brings out the organizational philosophy embodied in GAN-like and to non-GAN-like scenarios. The set of major TOPICS RAISED AT THE WORKSHOPS are only partially resolved. COLLABORATION TOOLS are described and discussed, followed by examples of REMOTE ACCELERATOR CONTROL PROJECTS around the world

Remote operations in a global accelerator network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peggs, Steve; Satogata, Todd; Agarwal, Deborah; Rice, David

2003-01-01

The INTRODUCTION to this paper summarizes the history of the Global Accelerator Network (GAN) concept and the recent workshops that discussed the relationship between GAN and Remote Operations. The REMOTE OPERATIONS SCENARIOS section brings out the organizational philosophy embodied in GAN-like and to non-GAN-like scenarios. The set of major TOPICS RAISED AT THE WORKSHOPS are only partially resolved. COLLABORATION TOOLS are described and discussed, followed by examples of REMOTE ACCELERATOR CONTROL PROJECTS around the world

REMOTE OPERATIONS IN A GLOBAL ACCELERATOR NETWORK.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

PEGGS,S.; SATOGATA,T.; AGARWAL,D.; RICE,D.

2003-05-12

The INTRODUCTION to this paper summarizes the history of the Global Accelerator Network (GAN) concept and the recent workshops that discussed the relationship between GAN and Remote Operations. The REMOTE OPERATIONS SCENARIOS section brings out the organizational philosophy embodied in GAN-like and to non-GAN-like scenarios. The set of major TOPICS RAISED AT THE WORKSHOPS are only partially resolved. COLLABORATION TOOLS are described and discussed, followed by examples of REMOTE ACCELERATOR CONTROL PROJECTS around the world.

Intermittent theta burst over M1 may increase peak power of a Wingate anaerobic test and prevent the reduction of voluntary activation measured with transcranial magnetic stimulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Louis-Solal Giboin

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Despite the potential of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS to improve performances in patients suffering from motor neuronal afflictions, its effect on motor performance enhancement in healthy subjects during a specific sport task is still unknown. We hypothesised that after an intermittent theta burst (iTBS treatment, performance during the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT, will increase and supraspinal fatigue following the exercise will be lower in comparison to a control treatment.Ten subjects participated in two randomised experiments consisting of a WAnT 5 minutes after either an iTBS or a control treatment. We determined voluntary activation (VA of the right knee extensors with TMS (VATMS and with peripheral nerve stimulation (VAPNS of the femoral nerve, before and after the WAnT. T-tests were applied to the WAnT results and a 2 way within subject ANOVA was applied to VA results. The iTBS treatment increased the peak power and the maximum pedalling cadence and suppressed the reduction of VATMS following the WAnT compared to the control treatment. No behavioural changes related to fatigue (mean power and fatigue index were observed.These results indicate for the first time that iTBS could be used as a potential intervention to improve anaerobic performance in a sport specific task.

Environmental and Landscape Remote Sensing Using Free and Open Source Image Processing Tools

Science.gov (United States)

As global climate change and human activities impact the environment, there is a growing need for scientific tools to monitor and measure environmental conditions that support human and ecological health. Remotely sensed imagery from satellite and airborne platforms provides a g...

Global protected area expansion is compromised by projected land-use and parochialism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pouzols, F.M.; Toivonen, T.; Di Minin, E.; Kukkala, A.; Kullberg, P.; Kuustera, J.; Lehtomaki, J.; Tenkanen, H.; Verburg, P.H.; Moilanan, A.

2014-01-01

Protected areas are one of the main tools for halting the continuing global biodiversity crisis caused by habitat loss, fragmentation and other anthropogenic pressures. According to the Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity, the protected area network should

Global review of open access risk assessment software packages valid for global or continental scale analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Daniell, James; Simpson, Alanna; Gunasekara, Rashmin; Baca, Abigail; Schaefer, Andreas; Ishizawa, Oscar; Murnane, Rick; Tijssen, Annegien; Deparday, Vivien; Forni, Marc; Himmelfarb, Anne; Leder, Jan

2015-04-01

Over the past few decades, a plethora of open access software packages for the calculation of earthquake, volcanic, tsunami, storm surge, wind and flood have been produced globally. As part of the World Bank GFDRR Review released at the Understanding Risk 2014 Conference, over 80 such open access risk assessment software packages were examined. Commercial software was not considered in the evaluation. A preliminary analysis was used to determine whether the 80 models were currently supported and if they were open access. This process was used to select a subset of 31 models that include 8 earthquake models, 4 cyclone models, 11 flood models, and 8 storm surge/tsunami models for more detailed analysis. By using multi-criteria analysis (MCDA) and simple descriptions of the software uses, the review allows users to select a few relevant software packages for their own testing and development. The detailed analysis evaluated the models on the basis of over 100 criteria and provides a synopsis of available open access natural hazard risk modelling tools. In addition, volcano software packages have since been added making the compendium of risk software tools in excess of 100. There has been a huge increase in the quality and availability of open access/source software over the past few years. For example, private entities such as Deltares now have an open source policy regarding some flood models (NGHS). In addition, leaders in developing risk models in the public sector, such as Geoscience Australia (EQRM, TCRM, TsuDAT, AnuGA) or CAPRA (ERN-Flood, Hurricane, CRISIS2007 etc.), are launching and/or helping many other initiatives. As we achieve greater interoperability between modelling tools, we will also achieve a future wherein different open source and open access modelling tools will be increasingly connected and adapted towards unified multi-risk model platforms and highly customised solutions. It was seen that many software tools could be improved by enabling user

Developing a Physiotherapy-Specific Preliminary Clinical Decision-Making Tool for Oxygen Titration: A Modified Delphi Study

Science.gov (United States)

Duong, Michelle; Bertin, Kendra; Henry, Renee; Singh, Deepti; Timmins, Nolla; Brooks, Dina; Mathur, Sunita

2014-01-01

ABSTRACT Purpose: To develop and evaluate a preliminary clinical decision-making tool (CDMT) to assist physiotherapists in titrating oxygen for acutely ill adults in Ontario. Methods: A panel of 14 experienced cardiorespiratory physiotherapists was recruited. Factors relating to oxygen titration were identified using a modified Delphi technique. Four rounds of questionnaires were conducted, during which the goals were to (1) generate factors, (2) reduce factors and debate contentious factors, (3) finalize factors and develop the preliminary CDMT, and (4) evaluate the usability of the tool in a clinical context. Results: The panel reached consensus on a total of 89 factors, which were compiled to create the preliminary CDMT. The global tool reached consensus for sensibility, receiving a mean score of 6/7 on a 7-point Likert-type scale (1=unacceptable; 7=excellent). Five of the nine individual components of evaluation of the tool achieved scores ≥6.0; the remaining four had mean scores between 5.4 and 5.9. Conclusion: This study produced a preliminary CDMT for oxygen titration, which the panel agreed was highly comprehensible and globally sensible. Further research is necessary to evaluate the sensibility and applicability of the tool in a clinical setting. PMID:25125782

A globally complete map of supraglacial debris cover and a new toolkit for debris cover research

Science.gov (United States)

Herreid, Sam; Pellicciotti, Francesca

2017-04-01

A growing canon of literature is focused on resolving the processes and implications of debris cover on glaciers. However, this work is often confined to a handful of glaciers that were likely selected based on criteria optimizing their suitability to test a specific hypothesis or logistical ease. The role of debris cover in a glacier system is likely to not go overlooked in forthcoming research, yet the magnitude of this role at a global scale has not yet been fully described. Here, we present a map of debris cover for all glacierized regions on Earth including the Greenland Ice Sheet using 30 m Landsat data. This dataset will begin to open a wider context to the high quality, localized findings from the debris-covered glacier research community and help inform large-scale modeling efforts. A global map of debris cover also facilitates analysis attempting to isolate first order geomorphological and climate controls of supraglacial debris production. Furthering the objective of expanding the inclusion of debris cover in forthcoming research, we also present an under development suite of open-source, Python based tools. Requiring minimal and often freely available input data, we have automated the mapping of: i) debris cover, ii) ice cliffs, iii) debris cover evolution over the Landsat era and iv) glacier flow instabilities from altered debris structures. At the present time, debris extent is the only globally complete quantity but with the expanding repository of high quality global datasets and further tool development minimizing manual tasks and computational cost, we foresee all of these tools being applied globally in the near future.

The Potentials of New Public Sphere For Emerging Global Civil Society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abul Sattar Khan

2011-12-01

Full Text Available New public sphere is characterized by the digital gadgets, global village, international citizenship and new global society. However, the common thread cutting through all these new concepts is the virtual soul of ‘connectivity’ that is riding on the ‘networking-tools’ which have now grown into an unprecedented giant ‘network-of-networks’ or simply put the ‘Internet’ with ‘social-networking’ and ‘social-software’ as the latest communication tools. International citizens travel on the information superhighways 24/7 and the communications across the planet never stops. It is however argued that NPS offers both challenges and prospects for the users depending on the availability of digital gadgets and digital literacy of the global citizens. This paper explores the pluses and minuses of this emerging environment for the members of global civil society by postulating a grounded model of the issue.

Analysing global value chains using input-output economics : proceed with care

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nomaler, Z.O.; Verspagen, B.

2014-01-01

Input-output economics has become a popular tool to analyse the international fragmentation of value chains, especially now that several multi-regional tables that cover large parts of the global economy have become available. It has been argued that these tables, when analysed with the help of the

Analysing global value chains using input-output economics: Proceed with care

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nomaler, Ö.; Verspagen, B.

2014-01-01

Input-output economics has become a popular tool to analyse the international fragmentation of value chains, especially now that several multi-regional tables that cover large parts of the global economy have become available. It has been argued that these tables, when analysed with the help of the

The Euclid Statistical Matrix Tool

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Curtis Tilves

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Stataphobia, a term used to describe the fear of statistics and research methods, can result from a lack of improper training in statistical methods. Poor statistical methods training can have an effect on health policy decision making and may play a role in the low research productivity seen in developing countries. One way to reduce Stataphobia is to intervene in the teaching of statistics in the classroom; however, such an intervention must tackle several obstacles, including student interest in the material, multiple ways of learning materials, and language barriers. We present here the Euclid Statistical Matrix, a tool for combatting Stataphobia on a global scale. This free tool is comprised of popular statistical YouTube channels and web sources that teach and demonstrate statistical concepts in a variety of presentation methods. Working with international teams in Iran, Japan, Egypt, Russia, and the United States, we have also developed the Statistical Matrix in multiple languages to address language barriers to learning statistics. By utilizing already-established large networks, we are able to disseminate our tool to thousands of Farsi-speaking university faculty and students in Iran and the United States. Future dissemination of the Euclid Statistical Matrix throughout the Central Asia and support from local universities may help to combat low research productivity in this region.

Review of Forensic Tools for Smartphones

Science.gov (United States)

Jahankhani, Hamid; Azam, Amir

The technological capability of mobile devices in particular Smartphones makes their use of value to the criminal community as a data terminal in the facilitation of organised crime or terrorism. The effective targeting of these devices from criminal and security intelligence perspectives and subsequent detailed forensic examination of the targeted device will significantly enhance the evidence available to the law enforcement community. When phone devices are involved in crimes, forensic examiners require tools that allow the proper retrieval and prompt examination of information present on these devices. Smartphones that are compliant to Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) standards, will maintains their identity and user's personal information on Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). Beside SIM cards, substantial amount of information is stored on device's internal memory and external memory modules. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the currently available forensic software tools that are developed to carry out forensic investigation of mobile devices and point to current weaknesses within this process.

The global health law trilogy: towards a safer, healthier, and fairer world.

Science.gov (United States)

Gostin, Lawrence O; DeBartolo, Mary Clare; Katz, Rebecca

2017-10-21

Global health advocates often turn to medicine and science for solutions to enduring health risks, but law is also a powerful tool. No state acting alone can ward off health threats that span borders, requiring international solutions. A trilogy of global health law-the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, International Health Regulations (2005), and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework-strives for a safer, healthier, and fairer world. Yet, these international agreements are not well understood, and contain gaps in scope and enforceability. Moreover, major health concerns remain largely unregulated at the international level, such as non-communicable diseases, mental health, and injuries. Here, we offer reforms for this global health law trilogy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A regionally-linked, dynamic material flow modelling tool for rolled, extruded and cast aluminium products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bertram, M.; Ramkumar, S.; Rechberger, H.

2017-01-01

A global aluminium flow modelling tool, comprising nine trade linked regions, namely China, Europe, Japan, Middle East, North America, Other Asia, Other Producing Countries, South America and Rest of World, has been developed. The purpose of the Microsoft Excel-based tool is the quantification...... of regional stocks and flows of rolled, extruded and casting alloys across space and over time, giving the industry the ability to evaluate the potential to recycle aluminium scrap most efficiently. The International Aluminium Institute will update the tool annually and publish a visualisation of results...

Use of global coronary heart disease risk assessment in practice: a cross-sectional survey of a sample of U.S. physicians

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shillinglaw Benjamin

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Global coronary heart disease (CHD risk assessment is recommended to guide primary preventive pharmacotherapy. However, little is known about physicians' understanding and use of global CHD risk assessment. Our objective was to examine US physicians' awareness, use, and attitudes regarding global CHD risk assessment in clinical practice, and how these vary by provider specialty. Methods Using a web-based survey of US family physicians, general internists, and cardiologists, we examined awareness of tools available to calculate CHD risk, method and use of CHD risk assessment, attitudes towards CHD risk assessment, and frequency of using CHD risk assessment to guide recommendations of aspirin, lipid-lowering and blood pressure (BP lowering therapies for primary prevention. Characteristics of physicians indicating they use CHD risk assessments were compared in unadjusted and adjusted analyses. Results A total of 952 physicians completed the questionnaire, with 92% reporting awareness of tools available to calculate CHD global risk. Among those aware of such tools, over 80% agreed that CHD risk calculation is useful, improves patient care, and leads to better decisions about recommending preventive therapies. However, only 41% use CHD risk assessment in practice. The most commonly reported barrier to CHD risk assessment is that it is too time consuming. Among respondents who calculate global CHD risk, 69% indicated they use it to guide lipid lowering therapy recommendations; 54% use it to guide aspirin therapy recommendations; and 48% use it to guide BP lowering therapy. Only 40% of respondents who use global CHD risk routinely tell patients their risk. Use of a personal digital assistant or smart phone was associated with reported use of CHD risk assessment (adjusted OR 1.58; 95% CI 1.17-2.12. Conclusions Reported awareness of tools to calculate global CHD risk appears high, but the majority of physicians in this sample do not

Analytical Web Tool for CERES Products

Science.gov (United States)

Mitrescu, C.; Chu, C.; Doelling, D.

2012-12-01

The CERES project provides the community climate quality observed TOA fluxes, consistent cloud properties, and computed profile and surface fluxes. The 11-year long data set proves invaluable for remote sensing and climate modeling communities for annual global mean energy, meridianal heat transport, consistent cloud and fluxes and climate trends studies. Moreover, a broader audience interested in Earth's radiative properties such as green energy, health and environmental companies have showed their interest in CERES derived products. A few years ago, the CERES team start developing a new web-based Ordering Tool tailored for this wide diversity of users. Recognizing the potential that web-2.0 technologies can offer to both Quality Control (QC) and scientific data visualization and manipulation, the CERES team began introducing a series of specialized functions that addresses the above. As such, displaying an attractive, easy to use modern web-based format, the Ordering Tool added the following analytical functions: i) 1-D Histograms to display the distribution of the data field to identify outliers that are useful for QC purposes; ii) an "Anomaly" map that shows the regional differences between the current month and the climatological monthly mean; iii) a 2-D Histogram that can identify either potential problems with the data (i.e. QC function) or provides a global view of trends and/or correlations between various CERES flux, cloud, aerosol, and atmospheric properties. The large volume and diversity of data, together with the on-the-fly execution were the main challenges that had to be tackle with. Depending on the application, the execution was done on either the browser side or the server side with the help of auxiliary files. Additional challenges came from the use of various open source applications, the multitude of CERES products and the seamless transition from previous development. For the future, we plan on expanding the analytical capabilities of the

EXCELLENCY OR CHAOTIC GLOBALIZATION IN TOURISM?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mazilu Mirela

2008-05-01

Full Text Available The globalization, new destinations proliferation and new technologies have changed the competitive environment of the European countries. In the present, the most powerful tool in tourism's promotion is represented by the image of a country or region or touristic product. If we focus our attention on the international dimension, the strategies of defining an image or touristic promotion are: to create a new touristic image, re-position a traditional touristic destination, create a degree of awareness in a competitive environment, create brands (a brand for a region/state.

Global NDE Best Practice for Technology Improvement, Outage Management, Foreign Material Exclusion and Dose Control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glass, S. W.; Mohr, F.

2010-01-01

Non Destructive Examination (NDE) is a critical element of both Boiling Water and Pressurized Water Reactor outages. Frequently this includes critical path activity so both the utility and the inspection vendor are under intense pressure to perform the work quickly. Concurrent with AREVA's new global organization of NDE resources, AREVA NDE SOLUTIONS, efforts have intensified for global application of lessons learned and best practices. These best practices include new developments as well as continuous improvements to well established tools and NDE techniques. Advancements range from steam generator robots, advanced steam generator deposit characterization sensors and method, new phased array approaches for PWR and BWR reactor vessel examination, new sensors and approaches for RPV head examinations, plus advanced internals examination robots and methods. In addition to specialized tools and techniques, best practice includes numerous management innovations. AREVA's multi-disciplined integrated nuclear worker strategy helps to minimize the total number of personnel deployed to multi-task outages. Specific design and on-site practice has been implemented to minimize or eliminate foreign material from the reactor system and vigorous pursuit of dose management practices keeps our nuclear worker dose as low as reasonably achievable. The industry is moving to much more conservative nuclear worker dose limits. While this is proving to be an issue with many vendors, AREVA has had an internal policy of <2R since 2006. Globalizing the organization also helps AREVA manage peaks and unplanned emergency inspections from an enlarged pool of globally qualified inspection personnel and tools. (Author)

Assess and control global change in agriculture through ecosystem models integrated in geographic information systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ponti, Luigi; Gutierrez, Andrew Paul; Iannetta, Massimo

2015-01-01

ENEA has created, in collaboration with the University of California at Berkeley, the Global Change Biology project that, for the first time, has made available in Europe a technology that can be It used to interpret and effectively manage change Global agriculture. The aim of the project was to provide tools to summarize, manage and analyze data Ecological on the effects of global change in agricultural systems, using traditional Mediterranean crops (Eg. Vineyards and olive) as model systems (http: // cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/89728_en.html). [it

Tailoring Global Data to Guide Corporate Investments in Biodiversity, Environmental Assessments and Sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph Kiesecker

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Companies make significant investments in environmental impacts assessments, biodiversity action plans, life-cycle assessments, and environmental management systems, but guidance on where and when these tools can be best used, and how they may scale-up to inform corporation-wide planning, is sorely lacking. A major barrier to informed environmental decision-making within companies, especially in data poor regions of the world, is the difficulty accessing, analyzing, and interpreting biodiversity information. To address this shortcoming, we analyzed nine publicly available environmental datasets, and created five globally-relevant metrics associated with biodiversity: habitat intactness, habitat protection, species richness (globally and biome normalized, and threatened species. We demonstrate how packaging these metrics within an open-source, web-based mapping tool can facilitate corporations in biodiversity prioritization of their sites (or their supply chains, ultimately guiding potential investments in the environment.

Comparison between Microfabrication Technologies for Metal Tooling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tang, Peter Torben