Feature detection in satellite images using neural network technology

A feasibility study of automated classification of satellite images is described. Satellite images were characterized by the textures they contain. In particular, the detection of cloud textures was investigated. The method of second-order gray level statistics, using co-occurrence matrices, was applied to extract feature vectors from image segments. Neural network technology was employed to classify these feature vectors. The cascade-correlation architecture was successfully used as a classifier. The use of a Kohonen network was also investigated but this architecture could not reliably classify the feature vectors due to the complicated structure of the classification problem. The best results were obtained when data from different spectral bands were fused

The Effect of Standardized Patient Education on 30-Day Hospital Readmissions for Heart Failure Patients in the Outpatient Setting

Problem: Heart failure (HF) is the second leading condition of hospital readmissions. Evidence shows that patient education on self-care and disease management can help reduce and prevent 30-day hospital readmissions. Registered nurse case managers (RN CMs) can help improve patients\u27 ability to self-manage their condition and prevent 30-day hospital readmissions by applying a standard approach to patient education. Context: The Integrated Care Management (ICM) is an outpatient department that provides post-discharge patient calls. The ICM RN CMs utilized various HF patient education tools for patient teaching. The organization’s HF task force developed health-literate patient resources to be used uniformly across the system. Intervention: RN CMs will be trained on standardized HF resources. All HF patients eligible for ICM services recently discharged from the hospital will receive the newly standardized HF education from the RN CM. Measure: The targeted outcome is reducing the 30-day hospital readmission rate for HF patients by 2.3%. The process measure is to achieve 100% utilization of a documentation template applied to all HF patients receiving HF education. Results: There were no HF readmissions within the project time frame, thus achieving the target reduction of 2.3% for the 30-day HF hospital readmission rate from 11.9% to 9.6% %. Conclusions: Standardized HF patient education tools and documentation templates can streamline the management of HF patients after discharge from the hospital and reduce 30-day readmissions in this patient population. Keywords: heart failure, patient education, 30-day hospital readmission

Factors affecting help-seeking behaviors for mental health services among Filipino Americans

This qualitative study explored help-seeking behaviors for mental health services among Filipino Americans. Filipinos are the second largest Asian American population in the United States and have been identified as one of the high-risk Asian American groups for mental disorders. Yet as a population they remain understudied and underserved. Existing studies are quantitative and have been conducted on college age students that are transitioning to adulthood. We know little about the help-seeking behavior for mental health services among Filipino Americans in adulthood and in their own voice. This study involved face-to-face interviews with a sample of 12 persons of Filipino ancestry that were over the age of 22 years, currently living in the United States, and English speaking. This sample of convenience was skewed towards Filipinos that were foreign-born naturalized citizens, well educated and affluent. The major findings were that positive sentiments about and high utilization of mental health services by the sample was inconsistent with the literature that suggests utilization of mental health services is highly stigmatized among Filipinos. Those who sought counseling did so for problems with intimate partner relationship conflict. Consistent with the literature, the cultural norm of saving face was identified as the greatest impediment to seeking mental health services among Filipinos, yet there was little to suggest that mental health services were stigmatized or that saving face was an issue for this sample. The need for culturally specific outreach and targeted education about mental health needs and services in the Filipino community was identified

Perfectionism vis-à-vis Dance Motivation of Students in Learning the Art form in Selected Local Colleges in Pampanga, Philippines

A descriptive-correlational study which aims to determine the relationship between perfectionism and dance motivation of students learning the art form from selected local colleges in Pampanga, Philippines. DMQ and BTPS were used to gather data from (378) Bachelor of Physical Education (BPEd) and Bachelor of Performing Arts (BPeA) students. Pearson r analysis result found out that perfectionism has a positive significant relationship to dance motivation of students. Based on the result, this study concludes that perfectionism has a positive outcome to students’ dance motivation in learning the said art form. This study provides new and valuable insight into perfectionism and dance motivation, most specifically in dance research. Limitations of this study is acknowledged and directions for future research is recommended

Properties and Macromolecular Structure of Unacetylated and Acetylated Nata de Coco

This study aims to gain more insight into the supramolecular structure of the cellulose in nata de coco, and to compare its ability to be modified with the known types of cellulose. The investigations were done using IR spectroscopy and thennal analysis. The IR spectra of microcrystalline cellulose were identical to cellulose spectra. However, those of dried nata de coco cellulose showed additional peaks that indicated a loss of inter- and intra-sheet hydrogen bonding, usually extensive in other cellulose forms where sheets are the prevalent secondary structures. This kind of structure would be consistent with the necessary framework for gel formation. Details in the fingerprint region further supported a different macromolecular structure from the microcrystalline cellulose. Acetylation of the fresh and pressed-and-dried nata de coco yielded only partial acetylation, as indicated by the C=O stretching as well as the remaining broad OR-stretch. Acetylated samples showed reduced water retention capacities, and were more prone to variable water retention characteristics during pH changes. The DSC and TGA behavi or of microcrystalline cellulose, acetylated and unacetylated forms of nata de coco showed differences in the macromolecular structures, as well as in stability of the material

Social and Cultural Concepts Module: Curricula to Foster Cultural Responsiveness

The lack of racial diversity in the occupational therapy profession as well as its educational programs are obstacles in providing culturally responsive care to serve all people, populations, and communities. Research has shown that student engagement in case studies, activities that emphasize exposure to diverse populations, reflective journaling, and interviewing someone from a different culture are effective in developing practitioners who are more culturally responsive. Students from one culturally diverse occupational therapy program took a nine-hour Social and Cultural Concepts Module (SCCM) that incorporated best practice pedagogy for teaching cultural responsiveness. A one group pretest-posttest design was utilized to explore how well-prepared the students believed they were to meet the needs of diverse communities following the module. Data was collected from 35 entry-level doctor of occupational therapy students from four major race/ethnicities using the Interprofessional Education Health Disparities Series Survey (IPE-HDSS). Of the 30 items measured, 22 items showed a significant positive difference from the pretest to the posttest. Results demonstrated a change in the students’ self-reported knowledge of culturally responsive care following classroom instruction. This study provides insight into the need for culturally responsive curriculum to be integral to occupational therapy education

Adakitic Paracale Granodiorite in southeastern Luzon, Philippines: A peek at a Proto-Philippine Sea Plate-related magmatic arc

This paper describes the geochemistry, petrogenesis and tectonic setting of a silicic pluton, the Paracale Granodiorite (PG), intruded into an ophiolitic suite in southeastern Luzon island, Philippines. Whole rock chemistry suggests that the PG samples are calc-alkaline and are characterized by light rare earth element (LREE)-enrichment and relatively weak heavy rare earth element (HREE)-depletion. They also show depletion in Nb, Ta, Zr and Ti and positive anomalies in K, Pb and Sr when normalized with the Primordial Mantle and normal-mid-ocean ridge basalt (N-MORB). The PG biotite mineral chemistry shows an affinity to calc-alkaline trends based on the FeOtot versus Al2O3, whereas in the MgO-Al2O3 plot, they exhibit transitional calc-alkaline to peraluminous characteristics. These information, along with a temperature \u3e600 °C based on biotite chemistry, and hydrous setting for the generation of the PG suggest generation in a subduction-related setting. When plotted in the Y versus Sr/Y and YbN versus (La/Yb)N, the PG samples exhibit adakitic signature. Partial melting, fluid addition and sediment participation are discerned from the geochemistry. Melting, assimilation, storage and homogenization (MASH) with limited fractionation are the dominant mechanisms of formation. The PG could represent a Late Cretaceous to Paleogene magmatic arc generated during the subduction of the proto-Philippine Sea Plate

Consumed tectonic plates in Southeast Asia: Markers from the Mesozoic to early Cenozoic stratigraphic units in the northern and central Philippines

Tectonic reconstruction models of Southeast Asia all invoke in the early Cenozoic the collision of Mesozoic oceanic plates, which have been fragmented, consumed along subduction zones or emplaced onto the overriding plate. However, with marked variations in these models, we reinvestigate the tectonic evolutionary landscape of Southeast Asia through the lens of Philippine geology. In particular, we present revisions to the more recent models by adopting the unique approach of integrating data that we have gathered for the past 17 years from the Upper Mesozoic to Lower Cenozoic stratigraphic formations in northern and central Philippines. These formations, which resulted mainly from submarine mass transport processes, evolved in response to early arc-related processes of oblique subduction, frontal wedge deformation, terrane accretion and strike slip faulting. Additional key constraints for the revisions include: (1) the timing of early Cenozoic magmatism in eastern Luzon; (2) the spatial distribution of the Upper Mesozoic to Lower Cenozoic sedimentary formations with respect to other key features (e.g. distribution of Mesozoic ophiolite fragment and continent-derived rocks) in the Philippine arc; (3) the paleolatitudinal position of Luzon and surrounding regions and; (4) the movement of the surrounding plates since the Late Mesozoic. In revising previous models, a subduction zone (proto-East Luzon Trough) separating Benham Plateau and the Philippine arc was placed to explain the spatial distribution of Eocene arc-related formational units and Mesozoic ophiolite materials comprising the accretionary complex east of Luzon at ~40 Ma period. During this time, Luzon was modeled at the southern margin of the East Asia Sea or the proto-Philippine Sea Plate. Mesozoic ophiolitic complexes that line the eastern Philippine arc as well as the ophiolitic and pelagic limestone and chert fragments included in the arc-derived, Eocene formations in Luzon could very well be traces of the now consumed East Asia Sea-proto-Philippine Sea Plate. Within the same period, we modified the Palawan Microcontinental Block (PCB), positioned at the trailing edge of the proto-South China Sea to include the whole Mindoro island and the Romblon Island Group in Central Philippines. Pieces of the consumed Izanagi Plate, the proto-South China Sea and continental-derived sediments from Asia mainland are reflected in the Mesozoic metamorphic rocks and the Eocene sedimentary formation in western Mindoro. Finally, we model Cebu, Bohol and Negros islands in Central Philippines as being at the leading oceanic edge of the Indo-Australian Plate during the early Cenozoic. With the northward movement of the Indo-Australian plate and the trench roll back of the southern margins of the Philippine Sea Plate, the accretion of the Cretaceous arc-related rocks of Cebu, Bohol and Negros onto the Philippine arc by the end of Eocene or early Oligocene becomes a possibility