THE ALCOHOL TREATMENT PROFILE SYSTEM: ITS DEVELOPMENT AND AN EVALUATION OF ITS CAPABILITIES

The development of the Alcohol Treatment Profile System (ATPS) was described and an evaluation of its perceived value by various States was undertaken, The ATPS is a treatment needs assessment tool based on the unification of several large national epidemiologic and treatment data sets. It was developed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and responsibility for its creation was given to the NIAAA's Alcohol Epidemiologic Data System (AEDS). The ATPS merges county-level measures of alcohol problem prevalence (the specially constructed AEDS Alcohol Problem Indicators), indicating "need" for treatment, and treatment utilization measures (the National Drug and Alcohol Treatment Utilization Survey), indicating treatment "demand." The capabilities of the ATPS in the unique planning and policy-making settings of several States were evaluated.^

A decision model for it supplier selection

En los últimos años la externalización de TI ha ganado mucha importancia en el mercado y, por ejemplo, el mercado externalización de servicios de TI sigue creciendo cada año. Ahora más que nunca, las organizaciones son cada vez más los compradores de las capacidades necesarias mediante la obtención de productos y servicios de los proveedores, desarrollando cada vez menos estas capacidades dentro de la empresa. La selección de proveedores de TI es un problema de decisión complejo. Los gerentes que enfrentan una decisión sobre la selección de proveedores de TI tienen dificultades en la elaboración de lo que hay que pensar, además en sus discursos. También de acuerdo con un estudio del SEI (Software Engineering Institute) [40], del 20 al 25 por ciento de los grandes proyectos de adquisición de TI fracasan en dos años y el 50 por ciento fracasan dentro de cinco años. La mala gestión, la mala definición de requisitos, la falta de evaluaciones exhaustivas, que pueden ser utilizadas para llegar a los mejores candidatos para la contratación externa, la selección de proveedores y los procesos de contratación inadecuados, la insuficiencia de procedimientos de selección tecnológicos, y los cambios de requisitos no controlados son factores que contribuyen al fracaso del proyecto. La mayoría de los fracasos podrían evitarse si el cliente aprendiese a comprender los problemas de decisión, hacer un mejor análisis de decisiones, y el buen juicio. El objetivo principal de este trabajo es el desarrollo de un modelo de decisión para la selección de proveedores de TI que tratará de reducir la cantidad de fracasos observados en las relaciones entre el cliente y el proveedor. La mayor parte de estos fracasos son causados por una mala selección, por parte del cliente, del proveedor. Además de estos problemas mostrados anteriormente, la motivación para crear este trabajo es la inexistencia de cualquier modelo de decisión basado en un multi modelo (mezcla de modelos adquisición y métodos de decisión) para el problema de la selección de proveedores de TI. En el caso de estudio, nueve empresas españolas fueron analizadas de acuerdo con el modelo de decisión para la selección de proveedores de TI desarrollado en este trabajo. Dos softwares se utilizaron en este estudio de caso: Expert Choice, y D-Sight. ABSTRACT In the past few years IT outsourcing has gained a lot of importance in the market and, for example, the IT services outsourcing market is still growing every year. Now more than ever, organizations are increasingly becoming acquirers of needed capabilities by obtaining products and services from suppliers and developing less and less of these capabilities in-house. IT supplier selection is a complex and opaque decision problem. Managers facing a decision about IT supplier selection have difficulty in framing what needs to be thought about further in their discourses. Also according to a study from SEI (Software Engineering Institute) [40], 20 to 25 percent of large information technology (IT) acquisition projects fail within two years and 50 percent fail within five years. Mismanagement, poor requirements definition, lack of comprehensive evaluations, which can be used to come up with the best candidates for outsourcing, inadequate supplier selection and contracting processes, insufficient technology selection procedures, and uncontrolled requirements changes are factors that contribute to project failure. The majority of project failures could be avoided if the acquirer learns how to understand the decision problems, make better decision analysis, and good judgment. The main objective of this work is the development of a decision model for IT supplier selection that will try to decrease the amount of failures seen in the relationships between the client-supplier. Most of these failures are caused by a not well selection of the supplier. Besides these problems showed above, the motivation to create this work is the inexistence of any decision model based on multi model (mixture of acquisition models and decision methods) for the problem of IT supplier selection. In the case study, nine different Spanish companies were analyzed based on the IT supplier selection decision model developed in this work. Two software products were used in this case study, Expert Choice and D-Sight.

A scalable SIEM correlation engine and its application to the Olympic Games IT infrastructure

The security event correlation scalability has become a major concern for security analysts and IT administrators when considering complex IT infrastructures that need to handle gargantuan amounts of events or wide correlation window spans. The current correlation capabilities of Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), based on a single node in centralized servers, have proved to be insufficient to process large event streams. This paper introduces a step forward in the current state of the art to address the aforementioned problems. The proposed model takes into account the two main aspects of this ?eld: distributed correlation and query parallelization. We present a case study of a multiple-step attack on the Olympic Games IT infrastructure to illustrate the applicability of our approach.

On-the-fly dynamic reprogramming mechanism for increasing the energy efficiency and supporting multi-experimental capabilities in WSNs

Remote reprogramming capabilities are one of the major concerns in WSN platforms due to the limitations and constraints that low power wireless nodes poses, especially when energy efficiency during the reprogramming process is a critical factor for extending the battery life of the devices. Moreover, WSNs are based on low-rate protocols in which as greater the amount of data is sent, the more the possibility to lose packets during the transmitting process is. In order to overcome these limitations, in this work a novel on-the-fly reprogramming technique for modifying and updating the application running on the wireless sensor nodes is designed and implemented, based on a partial reprogramming mechanism that significantly reduces the size of the files to be downloaded to the nodes, therefore diminishing their power/time consumption. This powerful mechanism also addresses multi-experimental capabilities because it provides the possibility to download, manage, test and debug multiple applications into the wireless nodes, based on a memory map segmentation of the core. Being an on-the-fly reprogramming process, no additional resources to store and download the configuration file are needed.

Deep reactive ion etching of auxetic structures: present capabilities and challenges

Auxetic materials (or metamaterials) have negative Poisson ratios (NPR) and display the unexpected properties of lateral expansion when stretched, and equal and opposing densification when compressed. Such auxetic materials are being used more frequently in the development of novel products, especially in the fields of intelligent expandable actuators, shape-morphing structures, and minimally invasive implantable devices. Although several micromanufacturing technologies have already been applied to the development of auxetic materials and devices, additional precision is needed to take full advantage of their special mechanical properties. In this study, we present a very promising approach for the development of auxetic materials and devices based on the use of deep reactive ion etching (DRIE). The process stands out for its precision and its potential applications to mass production. To our knowledge, it represents the first time this technology has been applied to the manufacture of auxetic materials with nanometric details. We take into account the present capabilities and challenges linked to the use of DRIE in the development of auxetic materials and auxetic-based devices.

Interrogating Capabilities of IoT Devices

This research is supported by the UK Research Councils’ Digital Economy IT as a Utility Network+ (EP/K003569/1) and the dot.rural Digital Economy Hub (EP/G066051/1).

Interrogating Capabilities of IoT Devices

This research is supported by the UK Research Councils’ Digital Economy IT as a Utility Network+ (EP/K003569/1) and the dot.rural Digital Economy Hub (EP/G066051/1).

The Escherichia coli MG1655 in silico metabolic genotype: Its definition, characteristics, and capabilities

The Escherichia coli MG1655 genome has been completely sequenced. The annotated sequence, biochemical information, and other information were used to reconstruct the E. coli metabolic map. The stoichiometric coefficients for each metabolic enzyme in the E. coli metabolic map were assembled to construct a genome-specific stoichiometric matrix. The E. coli stoichiometric matrix was used to define the system's characteristics and the capabilities of E. coli metabolism. The effects of gene deletions in the central metabolic pathways on the ability of the in silico metabolic network to support growth were assessed, and the in silico predictions were compared with experimental observations. It was shown that based on stoichiometric and capacity constraints the in silico analysis was able to qualitatively predict the growth potential of mutant strains in 86% of the cases examined. Herein, it is demonstrated that the synthesis of in silico metabolic genotypes based on genomic, biochemical, and strain-specific information is possible, and that systems analysis methods are available to analyze and interpret the metabolic phenotype.

Orchestration of energy efficiency capabilities for a sustainable network management

The energy demand for operating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems has been growing, implying in high operational costs and consequent increase of carbon emissions. Both in datacenters and telecom infrastructures, the networks represent a significant amount of energy spending. Given that, there is an increased demand for energy eficiency solutions, and several capabilities to save energy have been proposed. However, it is very dificult to orchestrate such energy eficiency capabilities, i.e., coordinate or combine them in the same network, ensuring a conflict-free operation and choosing the best one for a given scenario, ensuring that a capability not suited to the current bandwidth utilization will not be applied and lead to congestion or packet loss. Also, there is no way in the literature to do this taking business directives into account. In this regard, a method able to orchestrate diferent energy eficiency capabilities is proposed considering the possible combinations and conflicts among them, as well as the best option for a given bandwidth utilization and network characteristics. In the proposed method, the business policies specified in a high-level interface are refined down to the network level in order to bring highlevel directives into the operation, and a Utility Function is used to combine energy eficiency and performance requirements. A Decision Tree able to determine what to do in each scenario is deployed in a Software Defined Network environment. The proposed method was validated with diferent experiments, testing the Utility Function, checking the extra savings when combining several capabilities, the decision tree interpolation and dynamicity aspects. The orchestration proved to be valid to solve the problem of finding the best combination for a given scenario, achieving additional savings due to the combination, besides ensuring a conflict-free operation.

Use of Eutectic Mixtures for Preparation of Monolithic Carbons with CO2-Adsorption and Gas-Separation Capabilities

With global warming becoming one of the main problems our society is facing nowadays, there is an urgent demand to develop materials suitable for CO2 storage as well as for gas separation. Within this context, hierarchical porous structures are of great interest for in-flow applications because of the desirable combination of an extensive internal reactive surface along narrow nanopores with facile molecular transport through broad “highways” leading to and from these pores. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have been recently used in the synthesis of carbon monoliths exhibiting a bicontinuous porous structure composed of continuous macroporous channels and a continuous carbon network that contains a certain microporosity and provides considerable surface area. In this work, we have prepared two DESs for the preparation of two hierarchical carbon monoliths with different compositions (e.g., either nitrogen-doped or not) and structure. It is worth noting that DESs played a capital role in the synthesis of hierarchical carbon monoliths not only promoting the spinodal decomposition that governs the formation of the bicontinuous porous structure but also providing the precursors required to tailor the composition and the molecular sieve structure of the resulting carbons. We have studied the performance of these two carbons for CO2, N2, and CH4 adsorption in both monolithic and powdered form. We have also studied the selective adsorption of CO2 versus CH4 in equilibrium and dynamic conditions. We found that these materials combined a high CO2-sorption capacity besides an excellent CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4 selectivity and, interestingly, this performance was preserved when processed in both monolithic and powdered form.

Pencil it in: pencil drawn electrochemical sensing platforms

Inspired by recent reports concerning the utilisation of hand drawn pencil macroelectrodes (PDEs), we report the fabrication, characterisation (physicochemical and electrochemical) and implementation (electrochemical sensing) of various PDEs drawn upon a flexible polyester substrate. Electrochemical characterisation reveals that there are no quantifiable electrochemical responses upon utilising these PDEs with an electroactive analyte that requires an electrochemical oxidation step first, therefore the PDEs have been examined towards the electroactive redox probes hexaammineruthenium(III) chloride, potassium ferricyanide and ammonium iron(II) sulfate. For the first time, characterisation of the number of drawn pencil layers and the grade of pencil are examined; these parameters are commonly overlooked when utilising PDEs. It is demonstrated that a PDE drawn ten times with a 6B pencil presented the most advantageous electrochemical platform, in terms of electrochemical reversibility and peak height/analytical signal. In consideration of the aforementioned limitation, analytes requiring an electrochemical reduction as the first process were solely analysed. We demonstrate the beneficial electroanalytical capabilities of these PDEs towards p-benzoquinone and the simultaneous detection of heavy metals, namely lead(II) and cadmium(II), all of which are explored for the first time utilising PDEs. Initially, the detection limits of this system were higher than desired for electroanalytical platforms, however upon implementation of the PDEs in a back-to-back configuration (in which two PDEs are placed back-to-back sharing a single connection to the potentiostat), the detection limits for lead(II) and cadmium(II) correspond to 10 μg L−1 and 98 μg L−1 respectively within model aqueous (0.1 M HCl) solutions.

The start-up fund - an elegant treaty mechanism for sustaining defence capabilities. Security Policy Brief No. 48, June 2013

When the European Council meets in December, it will face a range of decisions which will lay the foundations for Europe's defence posture and role in the wider world for decades to come, perhaps even beyond the remainder of this century. The Lisbon Treaty has, for the first time, equipped the EU with the range of means to meet that role in practice. The question that remains to be answered is whether Europe's leaders have the political will to implement those means in full.

Innovative Capabilities and Market Performance: The European Union in International Comparison. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 12, No. 7, September 2012

This paper investigates the EU’s international positioning in terms of innovative capabilities and global market performance by using most recent quantitative data on a wide branch of indicators. The EU’s performance is compared to the standings of its most important economic competitors and emerging economic powerhouses: the USA, Japan, China, Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa. By doing so, this paper offer insightful and deep information about the EU’s power to compete and rank in international economic affairs. It will be proofed that the European Union ranks in many of the indicators related to innovative capabilities in good position and the EU’s overall global market performance is excellent, whereas the BRICS are underachieving.

Operational capabilities’ typology: an evolution from operational practices

Operational capabilities são caracterizadas como um recurso interno da firma e fonte de vantagem competitiva. Porém, a literatura de estratégia de operações fornece uma definição constitutiva inadequada para as operational capabilities, desconsiderando a relativização dos diferentes contextos, a limitação da base empírica, e não explorando adequadamente a extensa literatura sobre práticas operacionais. Quando as práticas operacionais são operacionalizadas no ambiente interno da firma, elas podem ser incorporadas as rotinas organizacionais, e através do conhecimento tácito da produção se transformar em operational capabilities, criando assim barreiras à imitação. Apesar disso, poucos são os pesquisadores que exploram as práticas operacionais como antecedentes das operational capabilities. Baseado na revisão da literatura, nós investigamos a natureza das operational capabilities; a relação entre práticas operacionais e operational capabilities; os tipos de operational capabilities que são caracterizadas no ambiente interno da firma; e o impacto das operational capabilities no desempenho operacional. Nós conduzimos uma pesquisa de método misto. Na etapa qualitativa, nós conduzimos estudos de casos múltiplos com quatro firmas, duas multinacionais americanas que operam no Brasil, e duas firmas brasileiras. Nós coletamos os dados através de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com questões semi-abertas. Elas foram baseadas na revisão da literatura sobre práticas operacionais e operational capabilities. As entrevistas foram conduzidas pessoalmente. No total 73 entrevistas foram realizadas (21 no primeiro caso, 18 no segundo caso, 18 no terceiro caso, e 16 no quarto caso). Todas as entrevistas foram gravadas e transcritas literalmente. Nós usamos o sotware NVivo. Na etapa quantitativa, nossa amostra foi composta por 206 firmas. O questionário foi criado a partir de uma extensa revisão da literatura e também a partir dos resultados da fase qualitativa. O método Q-sort foi realizado. Um pré-teste foi conduzido com gerentes de produção. Foram realizadas medidas para reduzir Variância de Método Comum. No total dez escalas foram utilizadas. 1) Melhoria Contínua; 2) Gerenciamento da Informação; 3) Aprendizagem; 4) Suporte ao Cliente; 5) Inovação; 6) Eficiência Operacional; 7) Flexibilidade; 8) Customização; 9) Gerenciamento dos Fornecedores; e 10) Desempenho Operacional. Nós usamos análise fatorial confirmatória para confirmar a validade de confiabilidade, conteúdo, convergente, e discriminante. Os dados foram analisados com o uso de regressões múltiplas. Nossos principais resultados foram: Primeiro, a relação das práticas operacionais como antecedentes das operational capabilities. Segundo, a criação de uma tipologia dividida em dois construtos. O primeiro construto foi chamado de Standalone Capabilities. O grupo consiste de zero order capabilities tais como Suporte ao Cliente, Inovação, Eficiência Operacional, Flexibilidade, e Gerenciamento dos Fornecedores. Estas operational capabilities têm por objetivo melhorar os processos da firma. Elas têm uma relação direta com desempenho operacional. O segundo construto foi chamado de Across-the-Board Capabilities. Ele é composto por first order capabilities tais como Aprendizagem Contínua e Gerenciamento da Informação. Estas operational capabilities são consideradas dinâmicas e possuem o papel de reconfigurar as Standalone Capabilities.

Unmanned electric propulsion mission capabilities of the SNAP-50/SPUR powerplant /

"Contract AT(30-1)-2789."