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In Industry 5.0, Digital Twins bring in flexibility and efficiency for smart manufacturing. Recently, the success of artificial intelligence techniques such as deep learning has led to their adoption in manufacturing and especially in human–robot collaboration. Collaborative manufacturing tasks involving human operators and robots pose significant safety and reliability concerns. In response to these concerns, a deep learning-enhanced Digital Twin framework is introduced through which human operators and robots can be detected and their actions can be classified during the manufacturing process, enabling autonomous decision making by the robot control system. Developed using Unreal Engine 4, our Digital Twin framework complies with the Robotics Operating System specification, and supports synchronous control and communication between the Digital Twin and the physical system. In our framework, a fully-supervised detector based on a faster region-based convolutional neural network is firstly trained on synthetic data generated by the Digital Twin, and then tested on the physical system to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed Digital Twin-based framework. To ensure safety and reliability, a semi-supervised detector is further designed to bridge the gap between the twin system and the physical system, and improved performance is achieved by the semi-supervised detector compared to the fully-supervised detector that is simply trained on either synthetic data or real data. The evaluation of the framework in multiple scenarios in which human operators collaborate with a Universal Robot 10 shows that it can accurately detect the human and robot, and classify their actions under a variety of conditions. The data from this evaluation have been made publicly available, and can be widely used for research and operational purposes. Additionally, a semi-automated annotation tool from the Digital Twin framework is published to benefit the collaborative robotics community.

BACKGROUND: The supraclavicular fossa is the dominant location for human brown adipose tissue (BAT). Activation of BAT promotes non-shivering thermogenesis by utilization of glucose and free fatty acids and has been the focus of pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches for modulation in order to improve body weight and glucose homeostasis. Sympathetic neural control of supraclavicular BAT has received much attention, but its innervation has not been extensively investigated in humans. METHODS: Dissection of the cervical region in human cadavers was performed to find the distribution of sympathetic nerve branches to supraclavicular fat pad. Furthermore, proximal segments of the 4th cervical nerve were evaluated histologically to assess its sympathetic components. RESULTS: Nerve branches terminating in supraclavicular fat pad were identified in all dissections, including those from the 3rd and 4th cervical nerves and from the cervical sympathetic plexus. Histology of the proximal segments of the 4th cervical nerves confirmed tyrosine hydroxylase positive thin nerve fibers in all fascicles with either a scattered or clustered distribution pattern. The scattered pattern was more predominant than the clustered pattern (80% vs. 20%) across cadavers. These sympathetic nerve fibers occupied only 2.48% of the nerve cross sectional area on average. CONCLUSIONS: Human sympathetic nerves use multiple pathways to innervate the supraclavicular fat pad. The present finding serves as a framework for future clinical approaches to activate human BAT in the supraclavicular region.

Despite the increasing interest in trust in human-robot interaction (HRI), there is still relatively little exploration of trust as a social construct in HRI. We propose that integration of useful models of human-human trust from psychology, highlight a potentially overlooked aspect of trust in HRI: a robot's apparent trustworthiness may indirectly relate to the user's relationship with, and opinion of, the individual or organisation deploying the robot. Our Social Triad for HRI model (User, Robot, Deployer), identifies areas for consideration in co-creating trustworthy robotics.

Background: Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) have a significant deficit in spoken language ability which affects their communication skills, education, mental health, employment and social inclusion. Aim: The present study reports findings from a survey by EU network COST ACTION 1406 and aims to explore differences in service delivery and funding of SLT services for children with DLD across Europe and beyond. Methods and procedures: The survey was completed by 5024 European professionals. COST countries were grouped into Nordic, Anglo-Saxon, Continental, Mediterranean, Central/Eastern and Non-European categories. The use of direct, indirect and mixed interventions, and their relationship to funding available (public, private or mixed) were considered for further analysis. Outcomes and results: The results revealed that for direct therapy, there were more cases than expected receiving private funding. For indirect therapy, fewer than expected received private and more than expected public funding. For mixed therapy, fewer cases than expected received private funding. Conclusions and implications: The results implies that other factors than evidence-based practices, practitioners experience, and patient preferences, drive choices in therapy. More research is needed to gain a better understanding of factors affecting the choice of therapy.

Background: Parental education is one of the best predictors of child school achievement. Higher parental education is not only associated with higher child intelligence, but children from highly educated parents also perform better in school due to other family related factors. This study evaluates the relation between parental education, child non-verbal intelligence and parenting practices with child school achievement. Methods: Longitudinal data from a large population-based, multi-ethnic cohort of children in the Netherlands (63% Dutch origin) followed from birth to age 13 years (3547 children; 52.3% girls) were analyzed. School achievement was measured at the end of primary school (12 years of age) with a national Dutch academic test score. Parental education was assessed at age 3 years. The non-verbal intelligence of the child was measured at age 6 years and a full intelligence was measured at age 13 years. Maternal and paternal family routines, harsh parenting and corporal punishment were assessed in early and mid-childhood. Mediation analysis was performed with the G-formula and Structural Equation Models. Results: Child intelligence partially mediated [B indirect effect =0.54 95% CI (0.46, 0.62) P < 0.001] the association between parental education and child school achievement. Independent of intelligence, family routines [B indirect effect =0.04 95% CI (0.01, 0.07) P < 0.01], but not harsh parenting mediated this association. Conclusions: Higher parental education was associated with better school achievement through two independent mechanisms, through higher intelligence of the child and parenting practices.

A Colorado school district has adopted Total Quality Management (TQM) to improve quality and reduce costs. The basic components that drive continuous improvement in TQM are focusing on responding to customer needs, basing decisions on data, and allowing everyone to participate in the process. (MLF)

A strategy that has made total quality management work for many organizations involves the following six steps: vision, audit, plan, train, implement, and monitor. (MLF)

Background: The cultural and language diversity across many European countries presents a range of challenges and opportunities for speech and language therapists and other practitioners working with children with developmental language disorders (DLD) and their families. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore practitioners' perceptions of cultural and linguistic differences in response to children with DLD across different countries. Methods: A survey was developed by practitioners and researchers working with children with DLD across Europe and beyond as part of the work of Cost Action IS1406. Data from 1,358 practitioners from 8 European countries - Ireland, UK, Bulgaria, Poland, Croatia, Spain, Norway and Sweden - and 2 neighbour countries - Turkey and Lebanon - were included in the present analyses, which address two groups of questions. The first focuses on practitioners' perceptions of the way that parents think about cultural differences and their relationship to language development in their children. The second concerns the extent to which practitioners consider themselves to have the skills to work with children from other cultures and using different languages. Results/Conclusions: Most countries present a similar profile with intermediate results about their perception of cultural issues, but Lebanon and Turkey are the group with the most positive responses. In terms of bilingual issues most practitioners indicated that they only worked in their country's primary language. The only country where this was not the case was Lebanon. Professionals from Spain and Lebanon form a subgroup in terms of their confidence to work with different cultural/language groups. The paper highlights both the universal importance of cultural and linguistic competence in managing young children's needs and indicates that in most cases professionals do not think they have the necessary expertise to work with cultural and linguistic diversity.

Purpose: To assess whether aggressive behavior and emotional problems from early childhood onwards are related to academic attainment at the end of primary education, and whether these associations are independent of attention problems. Methods: Data on 2546 children participating in a longitudinal birth cohort in Rotterdam were analyzed. Aggressive behavior, attention and emotional problems at ages 1½, 3, 5 and 10 years were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist. Academic attainment at the end of primary school (12 years of age) was measured with the CITO test, a national Dutch academic test score. Results: Aggressive behavior from age 1½ to 10 years was negatively associated with academic attainment, but these associations attenuated to non-significance when accounting for comorbid attention problems. For emotional problems, first, only problems at 10 years were associated with poorer academic attainment. Yet, when accounting for attention problems, the association reversed: more emotional problems from 1½ to 10 years were associated with a better academic attainment. Attention problems at ages 1½ to 10 years were negatively associated with academic attainment, independent of comorbid emotional problems or aggressive behavior. Conclusions: Attention problems across childhood are related to a poorer academic attainment, while emotional problems predicted better academic attainment. Moreover, the relationship between aggressive behavior and academic attainment was explained by comorbid attention problems. Future research should determine the mechanisms through which attention problems and emotional problems affect academic attainment, to inform strategies for the promotion of better educational attainment.

Background: Studies have highlighted the relationship between early childhood experiences and later language and communication skills on the one hand and social and emotional adjustment on the other. Less is known about this relationship between different types of early experiences and their relationship to different communication skills over time. Equally important is the extent to which the child's behaviour is related to later outcomes affecting the relationship between the child's environment and aspects of their communication development. Method: Drawing on data from 5,000 children in Growing Up in Scotland, a representative sample of children born in 2003. This paper looks are the differential relationships between home learning environment (HLE) (reads books/storeys, engages in painting or drawing, reads nursery rhymes and teaches letter/shapes and parental mental health (PMH) (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) in the first year of life and both structural language skills (“Listening Comprehension” and “Expressive Vocabulary” subtests of The Wechsler Individual Achievement Tests) and pragmatic competence (The Children's Communication Checklist) at 11 years and explores the extent to which they are mediated by social and emotional adjustment at school entry. Results: PMH was associated with pragmatics but not listening comprehension or vocabulary. By contrast HLE was associated with all three measures of communication. In the final mediated model social and emotional adjustment mediated the relationship between PMH and all three measures of communication. The mediation was statistically significant for the relationship between HLE and both pragmatics and listening comprehension but not for expressive vocabulary. The results are discussed in terms of the relationships concerned and what they tell us about the potential for targeted early interventions. Conclusions: The mediating role of socio-emotional adjustment at school entry points to the need

We present a tool-supported approach for the synthesis, verification and validation of the control software responsible for the safety of the human-robot interaction in manufacturing processes that use collaborative robots. In human-robot collaboration, software-based safety controllers are used to improve operational safety, e.g., by triggering shutdown mechanisms or emergency stops to avoid accidents. Complex robotic tasks and increasingly close human-robot interaction pose new challenges to controller developers and certification authorities. Key among these challenges is the need to assure the correctness of safety controllers under explicit (and preferably weak) assumptions. Our controller synthesis, verification and validation approach is informed by the process, risk analysis, and relevant safety regulations for the target application. Controllers are selected from a design space of feasible controllers according to a set of optimality criteria, are formally verified against correctness criteria, and are translated into executable code and validated in a digital twin. The resulting controller can detect the occurrence of hazards, move the process into a safe state, and, in certain circumstances, return the process to an operational state from which it can resume its original task. We show the effectiveness of our software engineering approach through a case study involving the development of a safety controller for a manufacturing work cell equipped with a collaborative robot., Comment: 34 pages, 31 figures

The coordinated assurance of interrelated critical properties, such as system safety and cyber-security, is one of the toughest challenges in critical systems engineering. In this chapter, we summarise approaches to the coordinated assurance of safety and security. Then, we highlight the state of the art and recent challenges in human-robot collaboration in manufacturing both from a safety and security perspective. We conclude with a list of procedural and technological issues to be tackled in the coordinated assurance of collaborative industrial robots., Comment: 23 pages, 4 tables, 1 figure

The objective of this study was to compare and discuss the results of two pre-designed safety valve cases which were dynamically simulated with in-house software (ProsDS) by Neste Engineering Solutions Oy (NES) and to compare them to the simulated results from Aspentech commercial software Aspen Hysys Dynamics (AHD) and Aspen Plus Dynamics (APD). In the literature part of this thesis, basic knowledge about pressure relief valves (PRVs), relief load calculations especially in the case of external fire, the basics of process simulation and the specification of ProsDS, AHD and APD in terms of dynamic simulation of safety valve were reviewed. In the applied part, each simulation model and the comparison of the results are presented. It is concluded that, choosing the appropriate flow model plays an essential role on the dynamic simulation of the studied cases. This selection affects the maximum required orifice area, the operating pressure range and the relief rate. In addition, different flow models were chosen in AHD and APD as was used in ProsDs. Therefore, it may not be appropriate to compare the results of the different models used. However, in case of comparison, AHD was capable of dynamically simulating the fire scenario. Although, it depends on the user to define the geometry of the vessel and selecting the appropriate flow model based on the design specifications of the safety valve. APD was not capable of dynamically simulating safety valves in the mentioned cases of this study. However, ProsDS was capable of simulate a safety valve for a supercritical fluid or near the critical point through TRMKIT.

Background The relationship between parental input and child language development has had a complex history. It has become clear that indirect parent training for the parents of children with delayed language development is an important feature of interventions offered by speech and language therapists in the anglophone countries. Yet we know less about how this type of approach is realised in other countries. Methods In this paper we report the results of a survey of practice undertaken as part of the work of COST Action IS1406, a European Union (EU) funded research network. The focus of this paper is specifically on parent-related questions and responses referring to children under the age of twelve. The survey was devised by members of the Action and circulated electronically during the summer of 2017. In all, 4024 practitioners responded from 60 countries, the majority of whom came from EU member countries. Findings Respondents to the survey indicated that indirect therapy is commonly carried out via the parent in the early years and via teachers later. A range of professional groups, in addition to speech and language therapists, is likely to adopt this approach; including teachers, pedagogues and psychologists. A variety of interventions is reported, some of which have a reasonable evidence-base underpinning them. It is interesting to see the widespread involvement of fathers and other family members in interventions. Finally, the fact that practitioner characteristics (age, experience, location of practice etc.) are not related to the use of indirect techniques points to the universal recognition of the value of these approaches. Conclusions Despite the very different traditions in the practice of intervention across countries, there is clearly a widespread recognition of the importance of indirect approaches to intervention and specifically those focusing on parents. The mixture of family members being involved in interventions is a very promising indication

The application of deep learning techniques resulted in remarkable improvement of machine learning models. In this paper provides detailed characterizations of deep learning models used in many Facebook social network services. We present computational characteristics of our models, describe high performance optimizations targeting existing systems, point out their limitations and make suggestions for the future general-purpose/accelerated inference hardware. Also, we highlight the need for better co-design of algorithms, numerics and computing platforms to address the challenges of workloads often run in data centers.

Many architects believe that major improvements in cost-energy-performance must now come from domain-specific hardware. This paper evaluates a custom ASIC---called a Tensor Processing Unit (TPU)---deployed in datacenters since 2015 that accelerates the inference phase of neural networks (NN). The heart of the TPU is a 65,536 8-bit MAC matrix multiply unit that offers a peak throughput of 92 TeraOps/second (TOPS) and a large (28 MiB) software-managed on-chip memory. The TPU's deterministic execution model is a better match to the 99th-percentile response-time requirement of our NN applications than are the time-varying optimizations of CPUs and GPUs (caches, out-of-order execution, multithreading, multiprocessing, prefetching, ...) that help average throughput more than guaranteed latency. The lack of such features helps explain why, despite having myriad MACs and a big memory, the TPU is relatively small and low power. We compare the TPU to a server-class Intel Haswell CPU and an Nvidia K80 GPU, which are contemporaries deployed in the same datacenters. Our workload, written in the high-level TensorFlow framework, uses production NN applications (MLPs, CNNs, and LSTMs) that represent 95% of our datacenters' NN inference demand. Despite low utilization for some applications, the TPU is on average about 15X - 30X faster than its contemporary GPU or CPU, with TOPS/Watt about 30X - 80X higher. Moreover, using the GPU's GDDR5 memory in the TPU would triple achieved TOPS and raise TOPS/Watt to nearly 70X the GPU and 200X the CPU., Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, 8 tables. To appear at the 44th International Symposium on Computer Architecture (ISCA), Toronto, Canada, June 24-28, 2017

Advances in the synthesis of materials and device structures have accentuated the need to understand nanoscale electronic structure and its implications. Scanning probe microscopy offers a rich variety of highly spatially accurate techniques that can further our understanding of the interactions that occur in nanoscale semiconductor materials and devices. The promising nitride semiconductor materials system suffers from perturbations in local electronic structure due to crystallographic defects. Understanding the electronic properties and physical origin of these defects can be invaluable in mitigating their impacts or eliminating them all together. In the second chapter of this dissertation, scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM) is used to characterize local electronic structure in a-plane n-type gallium nitride. Analysis reveals the presence of a linear, positively charged feature aligned along the direction which likely corresponds to a partial dislocation at the edge of a stacking fault. In the third chapter, conductive atomic force microscopy is used to determine the effects of Ga/N flux on the conductive behavior of reverse-bias leakage paths in gallium nitride grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Our data reveal a band of fluxes near Ga/N ̃ ̃1 for which these pathways cease to be observable. These observations suggest a method for controlling the primary source of reverse-bias Schottky contact leakage in n-type GaN grown by MBE. A deeper understanding of the interaction between macro-scale objects and nanoscale electronic properties is required to bring the exciting new possibilities that semiconductor nanowires offer to fruition. In the fourth chapter, SCM is used to examine the effects of micron-scale metal contacts on carrier modulation and electrostatic behavior in indium arsenide semiconductor nanowires. We interpret a pronounced dependence of capacitance spectra on distance between the probe tip and nanowire contact as a consequence of electrostatic s

Human-Robot-Interaction (HRI) research is typically built around the premise that the robot serves to assist a human in achieving a human-led goal or shared task. However, there are many circumstances during HRI in which a robot may need the assistance of a human in shared tasks or to achieve goals. We use the ROBO-GUIDE model as a case study, and insights from social psychology, to examine how a robot's personality can impact on user cooperation. A study of 364 participants indicates that individuals may prefer to use likable social robots ahead of those designed to appear more capable; this outcome reflects known social decisions in human interpersonal relationships. This work further demonstrates the value of social psychology in developing social robots and exploring HRI., Comment: 5th International Symposium on New Frontiers in Human-Robot Interaction 2016 (arXiv:1602.05456)

OBJECTIVE: This paper describes the University of Michigans nine-year experience in developing and using a full-text search engine designed to facilitate information retrieval (IR) from narrative documents stored in electronic health records (EHRs). The system, called the Electronic Medical Record Search Engine (EMERSE), functions similar to Google but is equipped with special functionalities for handling challenges unique to retrieving information from medical text. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Key features that distinguish EMERSE from general-purpose search engines are discussed, with an emphasis on functions crucial to (1) improving medical IR performance and (2) assuring search quality and results consistency regardless of users medical background, stage of training, or level of technical expertise. RESULTS: Since its initial deployment, EMERSE has been enthusiastically embraced by clinicians, administrators, and clinical and translational researchers. To date, the system has been used in supporting more than 750 research projects yielding 80 peer-reviewed publications. In several evaluation studies, EMERSE demonstrated very high levels of sensitivity and specificity in addition to greatly improved chart review efficiency. DISCUSSION: Increased availability of electronic data in healthcare does not automatically warrant increased availability of information. The success of EMERSE at our institution illustrates that free-text EHR search engines can be a valuable tool to help practitioners and researchers retrieve information from EHRs more effectively and efficiently, enabling critical tasks such as patient case synthesis and research data abstraction. CONCLUSION: EMERSE, available free of charge for academic use, represents a state-of-the-art medical IR tool with proven effectiveness and user acceptance.

The ability to represent complex, arbitrary situations in terms of labeled graphs has profound implications for situational awareness across domains. However, such graphs are fundamentally difficult for manual processing by experts; although our visual system typically outperforms all algorithms for pattern detection a graph with a few as several hundred nodes and edges reveals very little upon visual inspection. Thus we are forced to rely on pattern-matching algorithms to extract meaning from graph representations where nodes, labels and edges represent specific entities, general categories, and relationships. Algorithms such as Complex Event Processing (CEP), search a graph for a particular set of relationships between the categories that make up the ontology of the situation. In this paper, we will present an empirical method for determining the likelihood that a pattern search will return a false positive for a given pattern, ontology, and graph. This likelihood is analogous to the signal-to-noise ratio in traditional sensing schemes. We demonstrate our method using algorithmically generated datasets and in datasets with known ground truths. We also show scale-free (power-law) behavior in several graph types, which allows for estimation of maximum graph size before false positives are expected to occur. Finally, we present a preliminary analytical study that describes the number of arbitrary pattern matches expected to appear by chance in a larger labeled graph. In any operationally relevant situation, assigning a confidence or quality metric to data used for decision making is crucial. The method presented in this paper is one of the first methods for doing so with complex patterns detected in large, highly-interrelated datasets. We believe that an improved understanding of pattern match quality will improve the usefulness of search techniques applied to social media, operation intelligence and tactical intelligence., Presented at the 18th International Command & Control Research & Technology Symposium (ICCRTS) held 16-19 June, 2014 in Alexandria, VA. Sponsored in part by ONR.

Public health approaches to communication disability challenge the profession of speech-language pathology (SLP) to reconsider both frames of reference for practice and models of education. This paper reviews the impetus for public health approaches to communication disability and considers how public health is, and could be, incorporated into SLP education, both now and in the future. The paper describes tensions between clinical services, which have become increasingly specialized, and public health approaches that offer a broader view of communication disability and communication disability prevention. It presents a discussion of these tensions and asserts that public health approaches to communication are themselves a specialist field, requiring specific knowledge and skills. The authors suggest the use of the term ‘communication disability public health' to refer to this type of work and offer a preliminary definition in order to advance discussion. Examples from three countries are provided of how some SLP degree programmes are integrating public health into the SLP curriculum. Alternative models of training for communication disability public health that may be relevant in the future in different contexts and countries are presented, prompting the SLP profession to consider whether communication disability public health is a field of practice for speech-language pathologists or whether it has broader workforce implications. The paper concludes with some suggestions for the future which may advance thinking, research and practice in communication disability public health.

Background Early language delay is a high-prevalence condition of concern to parents and professionals. It may result in lifelong deficits not only in language function, but also in social, emotional/behavioural, academic and economic well-being. Such delays can lead to considerable costs to the individual, the family and to society more widely. The Language for Learning trial tests a population-based intervention in 4 year olds with measured language delay, to determine (1) if it improves language and associated outcomes at ages 5 and 6 years and (2) its cost-effectiveness for families and the health care system. Methods/Design A large-scale randomised trial of a year-long intervention targeting preschoolers with language delay, nested within a well-documented, prospective, population-based cohort of 1464 children in Melbourne, Australia. All children received a 1.25-1.5 hour formal language assessment at their 4th birthday. The 200 children with expressive and/or receptive language scores more than 1.25 standard deviations below the mean were randomised into intervention or ‘usual care’ control arms. The 20-session intervention program comprises 18 one-hour home-based therapeutic sessions in three 6-week blocks, an outcome assessment, and a final feed-back/forward planning session. The therapy utilises a ‘step up-step down’ therapeutic approach depending on the child’s language profile, severity and progress, with standardised, manualised activities covering the four language development domains of: vocabulary and grammar; narrative skills; comprehension monitoring; and phonological awareness/pre-literacy skills. Blinded follow-up assessments at ages 5 and 6 years measure the primary outcome of receptive and expressive language, and secondary outcomes of vocabulary, narrative, and phonological skills. Discussion A key strength of this robust study is the imp

http://archive.org/details/managementeducat1094512589

Decision makers in command and intelligence centers need better methods of dealing with deceptive information before it influences and degrades the outcome of command decisions. Deception poses unique threats to coalitions that are less likely to occur with individual forces. The organization of this paper is as follows: Section II outlines an ontology of deception; Section III describes deception theory and presents common deception themes; Section IV explores cognition and the use of heuristics; Section V describes a high-level deception-detection model called the Preparation, Deception, and Reaction (PDR) model; Section VI presents some observations and hypotheses; Section VII discusses the importance of deception detection in coalition command and intelligence centers, and provides some examples of practical use of the PDR model; Section VIII discusses group bias and detection challenges; Section IX considers deception detection with regard to group membership; Section X describes the larger infrastructure necessary to support the use of the PDR model, specifically an open-systems environment supported by a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA); and Section XI suggests directions for future research in this area. The presentation includes briefing charts., Presented at the International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium (ICCRTS 2011) (16th) held in Quebec City, Canada, on 21-23 June 2011. Published in the Proceedings of the 16th International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium, June 2011.

The lifecycle management of Command and Control and Command, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) technologies depends on test data for research, development, testing, evaluation, maintenance, and sustainment. Creating the infrastructure necessary to support these activities is difficult and expensive. Progress has been slow and empirical data on the cost and effectiveness of C4ISR technologies remain poorly documented. Many data sets are becoming obsolete because they do not conform to new data formats that enable integration, fusion, flexibility, and reasoning. These data sets will require significant transformational effort to remain useful. To address these problems the design and construction of an infrastructure is in progress to support controlled experimentation with emerging C4ISR technologies. This paper describes the challenges to researchers and evaluators of C4ISR systems. The paper features a survey of publicly available data sources, characterizations of data suitability, and any required transformation. A repository is in progress to address these challenges. The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential impact of this infrastructure on C4ISR research and technology., Presented at the International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium (16th) Quebec City, Canada on 21-23 June 2011. Published in the Proceedings of the International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium (16th), June 2011.

Increased understanding of early neurobehavioural development is needed to prevent, identify, and treat childhood psychopathology most effectively at the earliest possible stage. Prospective birth cohorts can elucidate the association of genes, environment, and their interactions with neurobehavioural development. We conducted a systematic review of the birth cohort literature. On the basis of internet searches and 6,248 peer-reviewed references, 105 longitudinal epidemiological studies were identified. Twenty studies met inclusion criteria (prospectively recruited, population-based cohort studies, including at least one assessment before the end of the perinatal period and at least one assessment of behaviour, temperament/ personality, neuropsychiatric or psychiatric status before 19 years of age), and their methodologies were reviewed in full. Whilst the birth cohort studies did examine some aspects of behaviour and neurodevelopment, observations in the early months and years were rare. Furthermore, aspects of sampling method, sample size, data collection, design, and breadth and depth of measurement in some studies made research questions about neurodevelopment difficult to answer. Existing birth cohort studies have yielded limited information on how pre- and perinatal factors and early neurodevelopment relate to child psychopathology. Further epidemiological research is required with a specific focus on early neurodevelopment. Studies are needed which include the measures of early childhood psychopathology and involve long-term follow-up.

The purpose of this research was to develop an on-line two-tier diagnostic instrument that could be used to identify alternative scientific conceptions held by students and to ascertain the conceptual level at which students are functioning. The instrument was designed to identify alternative conceptions held in relation to concepts that underpin the objectives listed in each of the four content strands of the New Zealand Science Curriculum. The stem questions of the first tier were designed around the curriculum objectives for Levels 4, 5 and 6. Distracters for the second tier were developed from alternative conceptions identified from surveys, teacher predictions and telephone interviews. A 52 item instrument was built into a Microsoft Word format with drop down menu functionality, and then transferred into an on-line format on a web site. The instrument link was sent by email to a student sample in the age range of Year 9 to 11. The student responses were analysed by answer selection and alternative conceptions were identified and classified. The instrument proved to be an economical rapid response tool for identification of student alternative conceptions to inform the design and development of student science learning programmes. The instrument and the component two-tier items have the potential to be used as part of an item bank for formative assessment tests to enhance student learning in science. The on-line functionality of the instrument has the potential to provide the 21st century learner with formative self assessment opportunities to enhance personalized self-directed learning programmes.

The purpose of this research was to develop an on-line two-tier diagnostic instrument that could be used to identify alternative scientific conceptions held by students and to ascertain the conceptual level at which students are functioning. The instrument was designed to identify alternative conceptions held in relation to concepts that underpin the objectives listed in each of the four content strands of the New Zealand Science Curriculum. The stem questions of the first tier were designed around the curriculum objectives for Levels 4, 5 and 6. Distractors for the second tier were developed from alternative conceptions identified from surveys, teacher predictions and telephone interviews. A 52 question instrument was built into a Microsoft Word format with drop down menu functionality, and then transferred into an on-line format on a web site. The instrument link was sent by email to a student sample in the age range of Years 9 to 11 who were studying by distance education through the New Zealand Correspondence School. The student responses were analysed by answer selection and alternative conceptions were identified and classified. The instrument proved to be an economical rapid response tool for identification of student alternative conceptions to inform the design and development of student science learning programmes. The instrument and the component two-tier items have the potential to be used as part of an item bank for formative assessment tests to enhance student learning in science. The on-line functionality of the instrument has the potential to provide the 21st century learner with formative self assessment opportunities to enhance personalized self-directed learning programmes.

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a process of continuous improvement where decisions are based on data. TQM works for those organizations that are prepared to make it work for them. Discusses seven common mistakes that many organizations make when implementing TQM. (MLF)

The literature regarding the relationship between public relations practitioners and lawyers indicates that a balance between the two is the best way for an organization to survive or prevent a crisis. However, legal counsel is taken more often over public relations counsel, which can be fatal in the court of public opinion. Researchers suggest that interdisciplinary education and better communication and planning between lawyers and communicators will create a better balance between the two functions. This research examines the relationship between Air Force public affairs and legal functions to find out what conflict exists, how often it occurs, how it is resolved, what the results are for the Air Force as a whole, and what can be done to improve the relationship. The study is based on conflict resolution theory and examines the relationship in terms of win-win, win-lose and lose-lose scenarios. An on-line survey was conducted of 790 Air Force public affairs officers, lawyers and commanders using electronic mail and a web-based form. The researcher received approximately 250 responses (31%). The data indicate that, while Air Force lawyers and communicators usually work well together, conflicts between the two do occur for a variety of reasons: differing objectives; the balance between the "right of the people to know" and the government's or an individual's right to privacy and fair legal proceedings; an information-hungry media environment; defense attorneys who use the media to plead their case, government rules which muzzle the Air Force from telling its side of a story; and a lack of education and/or training of public affairs officers and judge advocates. Respondents indicated that conflicts between the two are usually resolved in a win-win result for the two parties approximately half of the time, and that the legal course of action is taken much more often than the public affairs course of action.

Background Obesity and its metabolic consequences are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) utilises glucose and free fatty acids to produce heat, thereby increasing energy expenditure. Effective evaluation of human BAT stimulators is constrained by current standard BAT assessment methods as positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) requires exposure to high doses of ionising radiation. Infrared thermography (IRT) is a potential non-invasive, safe alternative, although direct corroboration with PET-CT has not previously been established. Methods IRT and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG) PET-CT data from 8 healthy male participants subjected to water jacket cooling were directly compared. Thermal images (TIs) were geometrically transformed to overlay PET-CT-derived maximum intensity projection (MIP) images from each subject and the areas of greatest intensity of temperature and glucose-uptake within the supraclavicular regions compared. Relationships between supraclavicular temperatures from IRT (TSCR) and the maximum rate of glucose uptake (MR(gluc)) from PET-CT were determined. Results Glucose uptake on MR(gluc)MIP was positively correlated with change in TSCR relative to a reference region (r² = 0.721; p=0.008). Spatial overlap between areas of maximal MR(gluc)MIP and maximal TSCR was 29.5±5.1%. Prolonged cooling to 60 minutes was associated with further TSCR rise compared with cooling to 10 minutes. Conclusions The supraclavicular hotspot identified on IRT closely corresponds to the area of maximal uptake on PET-CT-derived MR(gluc)MIP images. Greater increases in relative TSCR were associated with raised glucose uptake. IRT should now be considered a suitable method for measuring BAT activation, especially in populations where PET-CT is not feasible, practical or repeatable.

Background Obesity and its metabolic consequences are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) utilises glucose and free fatty acids to produce heat, thereby increasing energy expenditure. Effective evaluation of human BAT stimulators is constrained by current standard BAT assessment methods as positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) requires exposure to high doses of ionising radiation. Infrared thermography (IRT) is a potential non-invasive, safe alternative, although direct corroboration with PET-CT has not previously been established. Methods IRT and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG) PET-CT data from 8 healthy male participants subjected to water jacket cooling were directly compared. Thermal images (TIs) were geometrically transformed to overlay PET-CT-derived maximum intensity projection (MIP) images from each subject and the areas of greatest intensity of temperature and glucose-uptake within the supraclavicular regions compared. Relationships between supraclavicular temperatures from IRT (TSCR) and the maximum rate of glucose uptake (MR(gluc)) from PET-CT were determined. Results Glucose uptake on MR(gluc)MIP was positively correlated with change in TSCR relative to a reference region (r² = 0.721; p=0.008). Spatial overlap between areas of maximal MR(gluc)MIP and maximal TSCR was 29.5±5.1%. Prolonged cooling to 60 minutes was associated with further TSCR rise compared with cooling to 10 minutes. Conclusions The supraclavicular hotspot identified on IRT closely corresponds to the area of maximal uptake on PET-CT-derived MR(gluc)MIP images. Greater increases in relative TSCR were associated with raised glucose uptake. IRT should now be considered a suitable method for measuring BAT activation, especially in populations where PET-CT is not feasible, practical or repeatable.

Introduction: Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a thermogenic organ with substantial metabolic capacity and has important roles in the maintenance of body weight and metabolism. Regulation of BAT is primarily mediated through the ß-adrenoceptor (ß-AR) pathway. The in vivo endocrine regulation of this pathway in humans is unkown. The objective of our study was to assess the in vivo BAT temperature responses to acute glucocorticoid administration. Methods: We studied 8 healthy male volunteers, not pre-selected for BAT presence or activity and without prior BAT cold-activation, on two occasions, following an infusion with hydrocortisone (0.2 mg.kg-1.min-1 for 14 hours) and saline, respectively. Infusions were given in a randomized double-blind order. They underwent assessment of supraclavicular BAT temperature using infrared thermography following a mixed meal, and during ß-AR stimulation with isoprenaline (25 ng.kg fat-free mass-1.min-1 for 60 min) in the fasting state. Results: During hydrocortisone infusion, BAT temperature increased both under fasting basal conditions and during ß-AR stimulation. We observed a BAT temperature threshold, which was not exceeded despite maximal ß-AR activation. We conclude that BAT thermogenesis is present in humans under near-normal conditions. Glucocorticoids modulate BAT function, representing important physiological endocrine regulation of body temperature at times of acute stress.