A filter synthesis technique applied to the design of multistage broad-band microwave amplifiers

A method for designing multistage broad-band amplifiers based upon well-known filter synthesis techniques is presented. Common all-pole low-pass approximations are used to synthesize prototype amplifier circuits that may be scaled in frequency and impedance. All-pass filters introduced at the first stage are shown to improve input match while maintaining circuit performance less 6 dB gain. A theoretical comparison is made with the distributed amplifier and the cascaded single-stage distributed amplifier. Theoretically, a larger gain-bandwidth product is achieved using the synthesis technique. A proof-of-concept Butterworth low-pass two-stage amplifier was designed, simulated, and measured and achieved a flat gain performance of 1–4 GHz with a power gain of 14.5±1 dB close to the predicted 1–4.2 GHz, 15±1 dB

Measuring the Impact of a Comprehensive Health and Wellness Initiative

As healthcare costs continue to rise across the country more companies are beginning to look for new strategies to cut costs. The evolving health and wellness industry has been shown to reduce expenditures from costly medical services by improving long term healthy behaviors in the work force, aiming to impact the demand and supply sides of healthcare. This paper looks at the history behind the health and wellness movement and specifically evaluates Healthy Incentives, King County\u27s own health and wellness initiative and the impact such a program has on direct medical expenditures as well as key health risk factors that are affecting millions of working Americans

Offshore Pipeline Corridors and Landfalls in Coastal Virginia Volume One

This report is a product of the Virginia Coastal Resources Management (CRM) Program. Along with other coastal states, Virginia is preparing a management program for coastal land and water resources and uses under grants from the Office of Coastal Zone Management (OCZM), of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended in 1976, enumerates the elements which coastal states and their political subdivisions must include in their program. This report commences the response of the Commonwealth of Virginia to the national concern expressed in Sec. 305(B) (8) of the Act, that is, that states should develop a process for planning the location of energy facilities and for managing their effects on coastal resources. This report is a planning effort aimed at anticipating and planning for the implications of oil and gas drilling on the Atlantic Continental Shelf. Specifically, it is designed to provide technical information on pipeline siting and construction requirements as well as on the potential environmental impacts associated with pipelines. It is intended to assist state and local officials in making decisions about pipelines coming ashore in Virginia-whether to allow or not allow pipelines and, if they are to be allowed, to determine the coastal areas which would be most suitable as landfall sites. The report does not intend to promote or discourage pipelines but rather to Identify and discuss the range of potential problems and opportunities associated with pipeline activities. In addition, this is a technical planning document only and does not attempt to establish policy for the Commonwealth of Virginia with respect to pipelines or any other OCS activity. Every effort has been made to use the most current and accurate resources available and to be objective as possible in presenting the facts and conclusions of this report

Offshore Pipeline Corridors and Landfalls in Coastal Virginia Volume Two - Appendices

This report is a product the Virginia Coastal Resources Management (CRM) Program. Along with other coastal states, Virginia is preparing a mangement program for coastal land water resources and uses under grants from the Office of Coastal Zone Management (OCZM), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended in 1976, enumerates the elements which coastal states and their political subdivisions must include in their program. This report commences the response of the Comm~nwealth of Virginia to the national concern expressed in Sec. 305(B) (8) of the Act, that is, that states should develop a process for planning the location of energy facilities and for managing their effects on coastal resources. This report is a planning effort aimed at anticipating and planning for the implications of oil and gas drilling on the Atlantic Continental Shelf. Specifically, it is designed to provide technical information on pipeline siting and construction requirements as well as on the potential environmental impacts associated with pipelines. It is intended to assist state and local officials in making decisions about pipelines coming ashore in Virginia-whether to allow or not allow pipelines and, if they are to be allowed, to determine the coastal areas which would be most suitable as landfall sites. The report does not intent to promote or discourage pipelines but rather to identify and discuss the range of potential problems and opportunities associated with pipeline activities. In addition, this is a technical planning document and it does not attempt to establish policy for the Commonwealth of Virginia with respect to pipelines or any other OCS activity. Every effort has been made to use the most current and accurate resources available and to be objective as possible in presenting the facts and conclusions of this report

Drosophila models of neuronal injury

Neurite degeneration is a hallmark feature of nearly all neurodegenerative diseases, occurs after most brain trauma, and is thought to be the underlying cause of functional loss in patients. Understanding the genetic basis of neurite degeneration represents a major challenge in the neuroscience field. If it is possible to define key signaling pathways that promote neurite destruction, their blockade represents an exciting new potential therapeutic approach to suppressing neurological loss in patients. This review highlights recently developed models that can be used to study fundamental aspects of neuronal injury using the fruit fly Drosophila. The speed, precision, and powerful molecular-genetic tools available in the fruit fly make for an attractive system in which to dissect neuronal signaling after injury. Their use has led to the identification of some of the first molecules whose endogenous function includes promoting axonal degeneration after axotomy, and these signaling pathways appear functionally well conserved in mammals

Psychiatric symptoms in glioma patients: from diagnosis to management

Patients with primary intrinsic brain tumors can experience neurological, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms that greatly affect daily life. In this review, we focus on changes in personality and behavior, mood issues, hallucinations, and psychosis, because these are either difficult to recognize, to treat, or are understudied in scientific literature. Neurobehavioral symptoms are common, often multiple, and causation can be multifactorial. Although different symptoms sometimes require a different treatment approach, we advise a comprehensive treatment approach, including pharmacological treatment and/or psychotherapy where appropriate. Further research is needed to obtain a better estimate of the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms in glioma patients, and the extent to which these affect everyday functioning and family life

Dynamic Design Documents for supporting applied visualization

A common characteristic of applied visualization is collaboration between visualization researcher and domain expert – where the vi- sualization researcher attempts to assimilate sufficient detail around data, task and requirements to design a visualization tool that is manifestly useful. We report on a method for enabling such a col- laboration that can be used throughout the design process to gather and develop requirements and continually evaluate and support iter- ative design. We do so using highly interactive web-pages that we term dynamic design documents. Applied during a four-year visual data analysis project for crime research, these documents enabled a series of data mappings to be explored by our collaborators (crime analysts) remotely – in a flexible and continuous way. We argue that they engendered a level of engagement that is qualitatively dis- tinct from more traditional methods of feedback elicitation, offered a solution to limited and intermittent contact between analyst and visualization researcher and speculate that they provided a means of partially addressing certain intractable deficiencies, such as so- cial desirability-bias, that are common to evaluation in applied data visualization

INVISQUE: Technology and methodologies for interactive information visualization and analytics in large library collections

When a user knows exactly what they are looking for most library systems are adequate for their needs. However, when the user’s information needs are ill-defined - traditional library systems prove inadequate. This is because traditional library systems are not designed to support sense making rather for information retrieval. Visual analytics is the science of analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visualizations and visual analytics systems can support both sense making and information retrieval. In this paper, we present INVISQUE - an approach and experimental software for interactive visual search and query. INVISQUE uses an index card metaphor to display library content, organized in a way that visually integrates attributes such citations and date published, making it easy to pick out the most recent and most cited paper. It uses design techniques such as focus+context to reveal relationships between documents, while avoiding the “what-was-I-looking-for?” problem