1,149 research outputs found
Sociotechnical systems as applied to knowledge work
This study examines the logic behind choosing variances and the design of forums during the planning of deliberations in non-routine work environments using a Sociotechnical System design approach. This study was accomplished through review and comparison of literature on sociotechnical applications of non-routine, knowledge work environments. The traditional sociotechnical application applied to factory settings with linear and routine work tasks analyzes unit operations within an open system, identifying technical variances that contribute to problems and social roles that control the variances. A new sociotechnical approach has been developed for systems involved in non-routine, knowledge work environments. This approach focuses on deliberations formed around topics, establishes variances that lead to poor deliberations, designs forums that minimize variances and gives control of variances to discretionary coalitions. These results generally support that variances contributing to poor deliberations are well established and that organizations need only identify the key variances that contribute to problems in their system. Organizations need to understand how the key variances affect the development of knowledge and how forums can be designed to enhance deliberations. This study places specific focus on the design of information technology forums that enhance knowledge developmenthttp://www.archive.org/details/sociotechnicalsy00oswaLieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited
Systematic study of X-ray Cavities in the brightest galaxy of the Draco Constellation NGC 6338
We present results based on the systematic analysis of currently available
Chandra archive data on the brightest galaxy in the Draco constellation NGC
6338, in order to investigate the properties of the X-ray cavities. In the
central ~6 kpc, at least a two and possibly three, X-ray cavities are evident.
All these cavities are roughly of ellipsoidal shapes and show a decrement in
the surface brightness of several tens of percent. In addition to these
cavities, a set of X-ray bright filaments are also noticed which are spatially
coincident with the H{\alpha} filaments over an extent of 15 kpc. The H{\alpha}
emission line filaments are perpendicular to the X- ray cavities. Spectroscopic
analysis of the hot gas in the filaments and cavities reveal that the X-ray
filaments are cooler than the gas contained in the cavities. The emission line
ratios and the extended, asymmetric nature of the H{\alpha} emission line
filaments seen in this system require a harder ionizing source than that
produced by star formation and/or young, massive stars. Radio emission maps
derived from the analysis of 1.4 GHz VLA FIRST survey data failed to show any
association of these X-ray cavities with radio jets, however, the cavities are
filled by radio emission. The total power of the cavities is 17\times 1042 erg
s-1 and the ratio of the radio luminosity to cavity power is ~ 10-4, implying
that most of the jet power is mechanical.Comment: The paper contains 12 figures and 3 tables, Accepted 2011 December 7
for publication in MNRA
Utilization of the Clinical Laboratory for the Implementation of Concussion Biomarkers in Collegiate Football and the Necessity of Personalized and Predictive Athlete Specific Reference Intervals
Background: A continued interest in concussion biomarkers makes the eventual implementation of identified biomarkers into routine concussion assessment an eventual reality. We sought to develop and test an interdisciplinary approach that could be used to integrate blood-based biomarkers into the established concussion management program for a collegiate football team.
Methods: We used a CLIA-certified laboratory for all testing and chose biomarkers where clinically validated testing was available as would be required for results used in clinical decision making. We summarized the existing methods and results for concussion assessment across an entire season to identify and demonstrate the challenges with the eventual integration of a parallel process using blood-based tests for concussion management. We analyzed the results of the biomarkers chosen for trends consistent with the outcome assessments provided from the current concussion management protocols.
Results: Baseline samples were collected with three additional post-concussion samples collected at three separate time points from players with a diagnosed concussion (n = 12). A summary of results from currently used concussion assessment tools were compared to the representative biomarkers S100B and NSE results. Nine sport-related concussions occurred during practice and three during play. For S100B, 50 % had follow-up testing results lower than the post-injury result. In contrast, 92 % of NSE follow-up results were lower than post-injury. One hundred percent of the results for S100B and NSE were within the athlete-derived reference intervals upon return-to-play and season end.
Conclusions: The reported workflow provides a framework for the eventual implementation of biomarkers for concussion assessment into existing assessment protocols and strengthens the need for reliance on clinical laboratory testing. Athlete-specific reference intervals will be required to adequately interpret results
The complete management of extremity vascular injury in a local population: A wartime report from the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group/Air Force Theater Hospital, Balad Air Base, Iraq
Background: Although the management of vascular injury in coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom has been described, there are no reports on the in-theater treatment of wartime vascular injury in the local population. This study reports the complete management of extremity vascular injury in a local wartime population and illustrates the unique aspects of this cohort and management strategy. Methods: From September 1, 2004, to August 31, 2006, all vascular injuries treated at the Air Force Theater Hospital (AFTH) in Balad, Iraq, were registered. Those in non-coalition troops were identified and retrospectively reviewed. Results: During the study period, 192 major vascular injuries were treated in the local population in the following distribution: extremity 70% (n = 134), neck and great vessel 17% (n = 33), and thoracoabdominal 13% (n = 25). For the extremity cohort, the age range was 4 to 68 years and included 12 pediatric injuries. Autologous vein was the conduit of choice for these vascular reconstructions. A strict wound management strategy providing repeat operative washout and application of the closed negative pressure adjunct was used. Delayed primary closure or secondary coverage with a split-thickness skin graft was required in 57% of extremity wounds. All patients in this cohort remained at the theater hospital through definitive wound healing, with an average length of stay of 15 days (median 11 days). Patients required an average of 3.3 operations (median 3) from the initial injury to definitive wound closure. Major complications in extremity vascular patients, including mortality, were present in 15.7% (n = 21). Surgical wound infection occurred in 3.7% (n = 5), and acute anastomotic disruption in 3% (n = 4). Graft thrombosis occurred in 4.5% (n = 6), and early amputation and mortality rates during the study period were 3.0% (n = 4) and 1.5% (n = 2), respectively. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this study represents the first large report of wartime extremity vascular injury management in a local population. These injuries present unique challenges related to complex wounds that require their complete management to occur in-theater. Vascular reconstruction using vein, combined with a strict wound management strategy, results in successful limb salvage with remarkably low infection, amputation and mortality rates
Bayesian Methods for Exoplanet Science
Exoplanet research is carried out at the limits of the capabilities of
current telescopes and instruments. The studied signals are weak, and often
embedded in complex systematics from instrumental, telluric, and astrophysical
sources. Combining repeated observations of periodic events, simultaneous
observations with multiple telescopes, different observation techniques, and
existing information from theory and prior research can help to disentangle the
systematics from the planetary signals, and offers synergistic advantages over
analysing observations separately. Bayesian inference provides a
self-consistent statistical framework that addresses both the necessity for
complex systematics models, and the need to combine prior information and
heterogeneous observations. This chapter offers a brief introduction to
Bayesian inference in the context of exoplanet research, with focus on time
series analysis, and finishes with an overview of a set of freely available
programming libraries.Comment: Invited revie
Design patterns for the development of electronic health record-driven phenotype extraction algorithms
AbstractBackgroundDesign patterns, in the context of software development and ontologies, provide generalized approaches and guidance to solving commonly occurring problems, or addressing common situations typically informed by intuition, heuristics and experience. While the biomedical literature contains broad coverage of specific phenotype algorithm implementations, no work to date has attempted to generalize common approaches into design patterns, which may then be distributed to the informatics community to efficiently develop more accurate phenotype algorithms.MethodsUsing phenotyping algorithms stored in the Phenotype KnowledgeBase (PheKB), we conducted an independent iterative review to identify recurrent elements within the algorithm definitions. We extracted and generalized recurrent elements in these algorithms into candidate patterns. The authors then assessed the candidate patterns for validity by group consensus, and annotated them with attributes.ResultsA total of 24 electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) phenotypes available in PheKB as of 1/25/2013 were downloaded and reviewed. From these, a total of 21 phenotyping patterns were identified, which are available as an online data supplement.ConclusionsRepeatable patterns within phenotyping algorithms exist, and when codified and cataloged may help to educate both experienced and novice algorithm developers. The dissemination and application of these patterns has the potential to decrease the time to develop algorithms, while improving portability and accuracy
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Contextual Factors Shaping Forest-Poverty Dynamics
This report, titled “Forests, Trees and the Eradication of Poverty: Potential and Limitations”, presents the results of the seventh global scientific assessment undertaken so far within the framework of GFEP. All assessment reports are prepared by internationally recognised scientists from a variety of biophysical and social science disciplines. The publications are presented to stakeholders across relevant international policy fora. In this way, GFEP supports a more coherent policy dialogue about the role of forests in addressing the broader environmental, social and economic challenges reflected in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Poverty is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Globally, one out of every 10 people lives in extreme poverty. Poverty eradication has therefore found a place at the top of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “End poverty in all its forms everywhere” is the first Goal of this Agenda, which is supported by all 193 UN member states. The international community is now stepping up efforts to achieve this goal, especially in response to the severe setback caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The zoonotic nature of the Covid-19 virus has also illustrated the urgency to reduce human pressure on nature
The metal contents of two groups of galaxies
The hot gas in clusters and groups of galaxies is continuously being enriched
with metals from supernovae and stars. It is well established that the
enrichment of the gas with elements from oxygen to iron is mainly caused by
supernova explosions. The origins of nitrogen and carbon are still being
debated. Possible candidates include massive, metal-rich stars, early
generations of massive stars, intermediate or low mass stars and Asymptotic
Giant Branch (AGB) stars. In this paper we accurately determine the metal
abundances of the gas in the groups of galaxies NGC 5044 and NGC 5813, and
discuss the nature of the objects that create these metals.
We mainly focus on carbon and nitrogen. We use spatially-resolved
high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy from XMM-Newton. For the spectral fitting,
multi-temperature hot gas models are used. The abundance ratios of carbon over
oxygen and nitrogen over oxygen that we find are high compared to the ratios in
the stars in the disk of our Galaxy. The oxygen and nitrogen abundances we
derive are similar to what was found in earlier work on other giant ellipticals
in comparable environments. We show that the iron abundances in both our
sources have a gradient along the cross-dispersion direction of the Reflection
Grating Spectrometer (RGS). We conclude that it is unlikely that the creation
of nitrogen and carbon takes place in massive stars, which end their lives as
core-collapse supernovae, enriching the medium with oxygen because oxygen
should then also be enhanced. Therefore we favour low-and intermediate mass
stars as sources of these elements. The abundances in the hot gas can best be
explained by a 30-40% contribution of type Ia supernovae based on the measured
oxygen and iron abundances and under the assumption of a Salpeter Initial Mass
Function (IMF).Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 12 pages, 10 figures. Data points on
which figs 4,5,8 and 9 are based are present as comment in the source fil
Seeing the woods for the trees: the problem of information inefficiency and information overload on operator performance
One of the recurring questions in designing dynamic control environments is whether providing more information leads to better operational decisions. The idea of having every piece of information is increasingly tempting (and in safety critical domains often mandatory) but has become a potential obstacle for designers and operators. The present research study examined this challenge of appropriate information design and usability within a railway control setting. A laboratory study was conducted to investigate the presentation of different levels of information (taken from data processing framework, Dadashi et al., 2014) and the association with, and potential prediction of, the performance of a human operator when completing a cognitively demanding problem solving scenario within railways. Results indicated that presenting users only with information corresponding to their cognitive task, and in the absence of other, non task-relevant information, improves the performance of their problem solving/alarm handling. Knowing the key features of interest to various agents (machine or human) and using the data processing framework to guide the optimal level of information required by each of these agents could potentially lead to safer and more usable designs
Citrullinated Inhibitor of DNA Binding 1 Is a Novel Autoantigen in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150530/1/art40886_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150530/2/art40886.pd
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