Criticality assessment for a regional maritime economy.

Objective: To identify and assess the criticality for infrastructure assets and better understand their dependencies, interdependencies, and supply chain reliance.

Design: This study used a modified mission impact, symbolism, history, accessibility, recognizability, population, and proximity model combined with a deliberative process with regional subject matter experts.

Setting: Hampton roads Virginia maritime area.

A Method for Key Performance Indicator Assessment in Manufacturing Organizations.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are an essential element of an organization's ability to monitor its strategic health, helping to ensure the strategic goals of the organization are achieved. However, KPI assessment and improvement is often an ad hoc and consultant-driven process rather than one undertaken using scientific principles. This paper outlines the development and subsequent deployment of a method for KPI assessment founded in scholarly literature and balancing practitioner concerns for ease of use.

Validation in the Absence of Observed Events.

This article addresses the problem of validating models in the absence of observed events, in the area of weapons of mass destruction terrorism risk assessment. We address that problem with a broadened definition of "validation," based on stepping "up" a level to considering the reason why decisionmakers seek validation, and from that basis redefine validation as testing how well the model can advise decisionmakers in terrorism risk management decisions. We develop that into two conditions: validation must be based on cues available in the observable world; and it must focus on what can be done to affect that observable world, i.

Dash of faith: a faith-based participatory research pilot study.

The Dash of Faith pilot used a community-based participatory research approach to design an experiential dietary intervention based on two African-American churches, one intervention and one comparison. Congregation members identified components that were incorporated into 12 weekly and 4 monthly sessions, with a goal of increasing fruit and vegetable and lowering fat intake. At 2 months, a marginally significant (p = 0.

Probabilistic risk analysis and terrorism risk.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent establishment of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), considerable efforts have been made to estimate the risks of terrorism and the cost effectiveness of security policies to reduce these risks.

Infrastructure Vulnerability Assessment Model (I-VAM).

Quantifying vulnerability to critical infrastructure has not been adequately addressed in the literature. Thus, the purpose of this article is to present a model that quantifies vulnerability. Vulnerability is defined as a measure of system susceptibility to threat scenarios.

A care plan for children with tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) increased 34.1% among children 5 to 14 years old and 36.1% among those 0 to 4 years old in 1992 (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1994).

The Ratio of Carotene to Carotenoid Pigments in Sweet-potato Varieties.

The fleshy roots of the sweet potato are shown to contain appreciable amounts of yellow pigments other than beta-carotene. The carotene/total-pigment ratio varies among different varieties and within varieties. In the varieties tested, the carotene/total-pigment ratio increased with increase in intensity of yellow color.