Sample records for janis vetra ilva

  1. JANIS: NEA JAva-based Nuclear Data Information System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Soppera, Nicolas; Bossant, Manuel; Cabellos, Oscar; Dupont, Emmeric; Díez, Carlos J.

    2017-09-01

    JANIS (JAva-based Nuclear Data Information System) software is developed by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Data Bank to facilitate the visualization and manipulation of nuclear data, giving access to evaluated nuclear data libraries, such as ENDF, JEFF, JENDL, TENDL etc., and also to experimental nuclear data (EXFOR) and bibliographical references (CINDA). It is available as a standalone Java program, downloadable and distributed on DVD and also a web application available on the NEA website. One of the main new features in JANIS is the scripting capability via command line, which notably automatizes plots generation and permits automatically extracting data from the JANIS database. Recent NEA software developments rely on these JANIS features to access nuclear data, for example the Nuclear Data Sensitivity Tool (NDaST) makes use of covariance data in BOXER and COVERX formats, which are retrieved from the JANIS database. New features added in this version of the JANIS software are described along this paper with some examples.

  2. Newman-Janis Algorithm Revisited

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brauer, O.; Camargo, H. A.; Socolovsky, M.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of the present article is to show that the Newman-Janis and Newman et al algorithm used to derive the Kerr and Kerr-Newman metrics respectively, automatically leads to the extension of the initial non negative polar radial coordinate r to a cartesian coordinate running from to , thus introducing in a natural way the region in the above spacetimes. Using Boyer-Lindquist and ellipsoidal coordinates, we discuss some geometrical aspects of the positive and negative regions of , like horizons, ergosurfaces, and foliation structures

  3. Dr. Janie Merkel is interviewed by Ryan Blum and Janice Friend.

    PubMed

    Merkel, Janie

    2007-12-01

    Dr. Janie Merkel is the director of Yale's Chemical Genomics Screening Facility, a high-throughput screening laboratory that is part of the Yale University Center for Genomics and Proteomics. The Screening Facility connects Yale researchers with industry-quality robotic machinery and a diverse group of compound libraries, which have been used successfully to link therapeutic targets with potential therapies.

  4. JANIS-2: An Improved Version of the NEA Java-based Nuclear Data Information System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Soppera, N.; Henriksson, H.; Nouri, A.; Nagel, P.; Dupont, E.

    2005-05-01

    JANIS (JAva-based Nuclear Information Software) is a display program designed to facilitate the visualisation and manipulation of nuclear data. Its objective is to allow the user of nuclear data to access numerical and graphical representations without prior knowledge of the storage format. It offers maximum flexibility for the comparison of different nuclear data sets. Features included in the latest release are described such as direct access to centralised databases through JAVA Servlet technology.

  5. JANIS-2: An Improved Version of the NEA Java-based Nuclear Data Information System

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Soppera, N.; Henriksson, H.; Nagel, P.

    2005-05-24

    JANIS (JAva-based Nuclear Information Software) is a display program designed to facilitate the visualisation and manipulation of nuclear data. Its objective is to allow the user of nuclear data to access numerical and graphical representations without prior knowledge of the storage format. It offers maximum flexibility for the comparison of different nuclear data sets. Features included in the latest release are described such as direct access to centralised databases through JAVA Servlet technology.

  6. JANIS 4: An Improved Version of the NEA Java-based Nuclear Data Information System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Soppera, N.; Bossant, M.; Dupont, E.

    2014-06-01

    JANIS is software developed to facilitate the visualization and manipulation of nuclear data, giving access to evaluated data libraries, and to the EXFOR and CINDA databases. It is stand-alone Java software, downloadable from the web and distributed on DVD. Used offline, the system also makes use of an internet connection to access the NEA Data Bank database. It is now also offered as a full web application, only requiring a browser. The features added in the latest version of the software and this new web interface are described.

  7. JANIS 4: An Improved Version of the NEA Java-based Nuclear Data Information System

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Soppera, N., E-mail: nicolas.soppera@oecd.org; Bossant, M.; Dupont, E.

    JANIS is software developed to facilitate the visualization and manipulation of nuclear data, giving access to evaluated data libraries, and to the EXFOR and CINDA databases. It is stand-alone Java software, downloadable from the web and distributed on DVD. Used offline, the system also makes use of an internet connection to access the NEA Data Bank database. It is now also offered as a full web application, only requiring a browser. The features added in the latest version of the software and this new web interface are described.

  8. Supergravity, complex parameters and the Janis-Newman algorithm

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Erbin, Harold; Heurtier, Lucien

    2015-08-01

    The Demiański-Janis-Newman (DJN) algorithm is an original solution generating technique. For a long time it has been limited to producing rotating solutions, restricted to the case of a metric and real scalar fields, despite the fact that Demiański extended it to include more parameters such as a NUT charge. Recently two independent prescriptions have been given for extending the algorithm to gauge fields and thus electrically charged configurations. In this paper we aim to end setting up the algorithm by providing a missing but important piece, which is how the transformation is applied to complex scalar fields. We illustrate our proposal through several examples taken from N = 2 supergravity, including the stationary BPS solutions from Behrndt et al and Sen's axion-dilaton rotating black hole. Moreover we discuss solutions that include pairs of complex parameters, such as the mass and the NUT charge, or the electric and magnetic charges, and we explain how to perform the algorithm in this context (with the example of Kerr-Newman-Taub-NUT and dyonic Kerr-Newman black holes). The final formulation of the DJN algorithm can possibly handle solutions with five of the six Plebański-Demiański parameters along with any type of bosonic fields with spin less than two (exemplified with the stationary Israel-Wilson-Perjes solutions). This provides all the necessary tools for applications to general matter-coupled gravity and to (gauged) supergravity.

  9. Biochemical and functional characterization of MRA-1571 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra and effect of its down-regulation on survival in macrophages

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sharma, Rishabh; Keshari, Deepa; Singh, Kumar Sachin

    Amino acid biosynthesis has emerged as a source of new drug targets as many bacterial strains auxotrophic for amino acids fail to proliferate under in vivo conditions. Branch chain amino acids (BCAAs) are important for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) survival and strains deficient in their biosynthesis were attenuated for growth in mice. Threonine dehydratase (IlvA) is a pyridoxal-5-phosphate (PLP) dependent enzyme that catalyzes the first step in isoleucine biosynthesis. The MRA-1571 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra (Mtb-Ra), annotated to be coding for IlvA, was cloned, expressed and purified. Purified protein was subsequently used for developing enzyme assay and to study its biochemical properties.more » Also, E. coli BL21 (DE3) IlvA knockout (E. coli-ΔilvA) was developed and genetically complemented with Mtb-Ra ilvA expression construct (pET32a-ilvA) to make complemented E. coli strain (E. coli-ΔilvA + pET32a-ilvA). The E. coli-ΔilvA showed growth failure in minimal medium but growth restoration was observed in E. coli-ΔilvA + pET32a-ilvA. E. coli-ΔilvA growth was also restored in the presence of isoleucine. The IlvA localization studies detected its distribution in cell wall and membrane fractions with relatively minor presence in cytosolic fraction. Maximum IlvA expression was observed at 72 h in wild-type (WT) Mtb-Ra infecting macrophages. Also, Mtb-Ra IlvA knockdown (KD) showed reduced survival in macrophages compared to WT and complemented strain (KDC). - Highlights: • Mtb-Ra gene MRA-1571 codes for a functional threonine dehydratase (IlvA). • IlvA is pyridoxal 5’-phosphate dependent and is inhibited by isoleucine. • E. coli IlvA knockout growth can be supplemented by isoleucine or by Mtb-Ra IlvA. • The enzyme is primarily localized in cell wall and membrane fractions. • IlvA knockdown Mtb-Ra shows reduced growth in macrophages.« less

  10. MRA_1571 is required for isoleucine biosynthesis and improves Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra survival under stress

    PubMed Central

    Sharma, Rishabh; Keshari, Deepa; Singh, Kumar Sachin; Yadav, Shailendra; Singh, Sudheer Kumar

    2016-01-01

    Threonine dehydratase is a pyridoxal 5-phosphate dependent enzyme required for isoleucine biosynthesis. Threonine dehydratase (IlvA) participates in conversion of threonine to 2-oxobutanoate and ammonia is released as a by-product. MRA_1571 is annotated to be coding for IlvA in Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra (Mtb-Ra). We developed a recombinant (KD) Mtb-Ra strain by down-regulating IlvA. The growth studies on different carbon sources suggested reduced growth of KD compared to wild-type (WT), also, isoleucine concentration dependent KD growth restoration was observed. The expression profiling of IlvA suggested increased expression of IlvA during oxygen, acid and oxidative stress. In addition, KD showed reduced survival under pH, starvation, nitric oxide and peroxide stresses. KD was more susceptible to antimycobacterial agents such as streptomycin (STR), rifampicin (RIF) and levofloxacin (LVF), while, no such effect was noticeable when exposed to isoniazid. Also, an increase in expression of IlvA was observed when exposed to STR, RIF and LVF. The dye accumulation studies suggested increased permeability of KD to ethidium bromide and Nile Red as compared to WT. TLC and Mass studies confirmed altered lipid profile of KD. In summary down-regulation of IlvA affects Mtb growth, increases its susceptibility to stress and leads to altered cell wall lipid profile. PMID:27353854

  11. ThrR, a DNA-binding transcription factor involved in controlling threonine biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis.

    PubMed

    Rosenberg, Jonathan; Müller, Peter; Lentes, Sabine; Thiele, Martin J; Zeigler, Daniel R; Tödter, Dominik; Paulus, Henry; Brantl, Sabine; Stülke, Jörg; Commichau, Fabian M

    2016-09-01

    The threonine dehydratase IlvA is part of the isoleucine biosynthesis pathway in the Gram-positive model bacterium Bacillus subtilis. Consequently, deletion of ilvA causes isoleucine auxotrophy. It has been reported that ilvA pseudo-revertants having a derepressed hom-thrCB operon appear in the presence of threonine. Here we have characterized two classes of ilvA pseudo-revertants. In the first class the hom-thrCB operon was derepressed unmasking the threonine dehydratase activity of the threonine synthase ThrC. In the second class of mutants, threonine biosynthesis was more broadly affected. The first class of ilvA pseudo-revertants had a mutation in the Phom promoter (P*hom ), resulting in constitutive expression of the hom-thrCB operon. In the second class of ilvA pseudo-revertants, the thrR gene encoding a putative DNA-binding protein was inactivated, also resulting in constitutive expression of the hom-thrCB operon. Here we demonstrate that ThrR is indeed a DNA-binding transcription factor that regulates the hom-thrCB operon and the thrD aspartokinase gene. DNA binding assays uncovered the DNA-binding site of ThrR and revealed that the repressor competes with the RNA polymerase for DNA binding. This study also revealed that ThrR orthologs are ubiquitous in genomes from the Gram-positive phylum Firmicutes and in some Gram-negative bacteria. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Choosing a College Major: Factors that Might Influence the Way Students Make Decisions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Wei-Chun Vanessa

    2009-01-01

    This current study investigated Janis and Mann's (1977) Conflict Model of Decision Making. Specifically, Janis and Mann's model was tested to examine decision-making styles (coping patterns) and students who either have already decided or who have yet to decide on their college major. Furthermore, the current study is aimed to expand Janis and…

  13. Heavy metal contamination of the soils used for stocking raw materials in the former ILVA iron-steel industrial plant of Bagnoli (southern Italy).

    PubMed

    Adamo, P; Arienzo, M; Bianco, M R; Terribile, F; Violante, P

    2002-08-05

    The total contents and the chemical and mineralogical forms of the metals Fe, Al, Cu, Co, Cr, Pb, Zn, Ni and Mn in the horizons of a soil profile, representative of an area devoted to stocking raw materials in the dismantled iron-steel industrial plant of ILVA of Bagnoli (Naples), were studied by physical and chemical methods. The geological setting of the study area is the result of volcanic activity in the Phlegrean Fields, a group of polygenic volcanoes to the west of Naples, which give rise to the parent soil material. Soil morphology appeared to be strongly disturbed by the occurrence and stratification of materials used in the industrial process. Fine sediments illuviation down the profile resulted in the occurrence of silt and clay coatings. The total contents of Cu, Co, Cr, Pb, Zn and Ni, in the whole soil samples, especially in the surface layers, were above the regulatory levels (Cu 120, Co 20, Cr 150, Pb 100, Zn 150, Ni 120 mg kg(-1)) stated by the Italian Ministry of Environment for soils in public, private and residential areas, and below the levels (Cu 600, Co 250, Cr 800, Pb 1000, Zn 1500, Ni 500 mg kg(-1)) outlined for soils and subsoils of industrial and commercial areas (Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana, 1999). Speciation of heavy metals and the determination of the different chemical pools in the fraction < 2 mm identified the large presence of elements trapped in the mineralogical structure of oxides and silicates and occluded in easily reducible manganese or iron oxides. A constant amount of Cu was associated with organic compounds. A significant amount of Zn (> 20%) was extracted in diluted acetic acid solution, indicating that the element was present in a more readily and potentially available form. In the clay fraction (< 2 microm) heavy metals were associated with both amorphous and crystalline iron forms. The presence of iron-rich clay coatings was evident in the illuvial pores of deeper horizons. Enrichment in Cu, Co, Cr and

  14. Expert Decision-Making in Naturalistic Environments: A Summary of Research

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2005-03-01

    a number of descriptive decision theories arose (Plous, 1993). One of these is the rational choice model of decision - making (Janis & Mann, 1977...possible association between time pressure and increased levels of emotion . To date, the role played by emotion in decision - making has not been given... rational choice model seems to describe some decision events and Janis and Mann (1977) have highlighted emotion as a potential influence on decision

  15. Metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13869 for L-valine production.

    PubMed

    Chen, Cheng; Li, Yanyan; Hu, Jinyu; Dong, Xunyan; Wang, Xiaoyuan

    2015-05-01

    In this study, an L-valine-producing strain was developed from Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13869 through deletion of the three genes aceE, alaT and ilvA combined with the overexpression of six genes ilvB, ilvN, ilvC, lrp1, brnF and brnE. Overexpression of lrp1 alone increased L-valine production by 16-fold. Deletion of the aceE, alaT and ilvA increased L-valine production by 44-fold. Overexpression of the six genes ilvB, ilvN, ilvC, lrp1, brnE and brnF in the triple deletion mutant WCC003 further increased L-valine production. The strain WCC003/pJYW-4-ilvBNC1-lrp1-brnFE produced 243mM L-valine in flask cultivation and 437mM (51g/L) L-valine in fed-batch fermentation and lacked detectable amino-acid byproduct such as l-alanine and l-isoleucine that are usually found in the fermentation of L-valine-producing C. glutamicum. Copyright © 2015 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Was the Group Dynamic Phenomenon Groupthink Present on Board the USS Greeneville (SSN-772) When She Collided with the Japanese Fishing Vessel Ehime Maru?

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2002-05-31

    Janis, professor of psychology at Yale, first presented his theory of groupthink. Janis introduced the term “groupthink” to refer to “a mode of thinking...thesis explores the groupthink phenomenon and utilizes Janis’ theory to come to the conclusion that groupthink was indeed present and was one of many...form a group and just as many conflicting theories that attempt to answer them. Is the group a fair representation of the individual members’ attitudes

  17. Operation Plan I-45 ICEBERG

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1945-02-01

    8217COmIIAND OF MAJOR- GENERAL del VALLE: R. O, BARE, Col, USMC, ·C of S. ANNEXES: ABLE - Distribution B1iKER - Intelligence CHARLIE - Naval Gunfire Support Plan...3. ABLE Annex BAKER to Opn Plan 1-45, 1st MarDiv-(Rein) INTELLIGENCE 00015 1st Mar Div (Rein). 1990-5-80 In The Field 475/355 . 1100, 1OFeb, 1945. AP...distributed. (c) JANIS No. 86, August, 1944; JANIS No. 86 (Change 1), October 1944. (d) Engineer Intelligence Information of OKINAWA SHIMA prepared by Eng

  18. Teaching Medical Student Psychiatry Through Contemporary Music

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Egan, William H.

    1977-01-01

    An audio technique uses contemporary music recordings to illustrate various personality disorders, including: schizoid, paranoid, compulsive, antisocial, and hysterical. The works of Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Harry Chapin, the Beatles, Janis Ian, James Taylor, Tammy Wynette, and others are cited. (LBH)

  19. Selected Eastern Europe Sociological Translations

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1960-02-29

    direction» There teachers Kujtim Dedej, Jani Xhupir Antulla Mosko, etc., conduct practical laboratory experiments in chemistry, physics, mathematics...and Pogradec have done excellent work’ in this respect. However, the gymnasium of Gjinokaster, under the direction of Kujtim Dejej, has done

  20. 77 FR 62490 - Performance Review Board Appointments

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-10-15

    ...; Gutter, Karis T.; Harden, Krysta.; Hipp, Janie; Holtzman, Max T.; Jett, Carole E.; Jones, Carmen....; Chasteen, G. Taylor; Christian, Lisa A.; Clanton, Michael W.; Coffee, Richard; Farington, Kim S.; Foster....; Watts, Michael; White, John S.; White, Sharmian L.; Wilburn, Curtis; Wilusz, Lisa; Young, Benjamin...

  1. 76 FR 67402 - Performance Review Board Appointments

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-11-01

    ....; Harden, Krysta; Hipp, Janie; Holtzman, Max T.; Jett, Carole E.; MacMillian, Anne; Mande, Jerold; Mills...; Christian, Lisa A.; Clanton, Michael W.; Davenport, Peter; Douglas, Walt; Foster, Andrea L.; Golden, John....; White, Sharmian L.; Wilburn, Curtis; Wilusz, Lisa; Worthington, Ruth M.; Young, Benjamin; Young, Mike...

  2. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (86th, Kansas City, Missouri, July 30-August 2, 2003). Miscellaneous Divisions.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    2003

    The Miscellaneous Divisions of the proceedings contains the following 17 papers: "Analyzing Sequential Art: Visual Narrative Techniques in 'Calvin and Hobbes'" (Sharron M. Hope); "A Critical Vision of Gender in 2002 Campaign Ads" (Janis Teruggi Page); "Personal Impact Assessment of Advertising Culture of 'Whiteness':…

  3. Information Technology Challenges Facing the Strategic Leaders of Homeland Security in the 21st Century

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-05-03

    A special thanks to all of these folks (Glenn Starnes, Lee Gutierrez, Bill Rapp, Joel Hillison, Carlos Gomez, Steve Fraunfelter, Janie Hopkins, Dave ...DiClemente, Joe Nunez, John Bonin , and Steve Nerheim). viii INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES FACING THE STRATEGIC LEADERS OF HOMELAND SECURITY IN THE 21ST

  4. ACUTE AND CHRONIC TOXICITY OF BREVETOXIN TO OYSTERS AND GRASS SHRIMP

    EPA Science Inventory

    Walker, Calvin C., James T. Winstead, Steven S. Foss, Janis C. Kurtz, James Watts, Jeanne E. Scott and William S. Fisher. In press. Acute and Chronic Toxicity of Brevetoxin to Oysters and Grass Shrimp (Abstract). To be presented at the SETAC Fourth World Congress, 14-18 November ...

  5. Effects of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers on Marigold Growth and Flowering

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the growth and flowering responses of greenhouse-grown French marigold (Tagetes patula L. ‘Janie Deep Orange’) to two non-composted broiler chicken litter-based organic fertilizers 4-2-2 and 3-3-3, and one commonly used synthetic controlled-release fertiliz...

  6. Effective Teaching in the Multi-Cultural Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gotch, Donna; Brydges, Michael

    Community college instructors and administrators need to understand teacher immediacy research and the role of immediacy in the multi-cultural classroom. Immediacy can be viewed as a combination of nonverbal behaviors used to accentuate a verbal message and reduce physical and psychological distance between interactants. Janis Andersen's research…

  7. Small Group Dynamics and the Watergate Coverup: A Case Study of Groupthink.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cline, Rebecca J.

    The decisions President Richard Nixon and his closest advisors made in the Watergate coverup were products of what Irving Janis calls "groupthink." Groupthink, a type of decision-making emphasizing unanimity over objective evaluation, develops when the decision makers (1) form a group of marked cohesiveness, (2) insulate themselves from…

  8. Decisionmaking Context Model for Enhancing Evaluation Utilization.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Robert D.; And Others

    1984-01-01

    This paper discusses two models that hold promise for helping evaluators understand and cope with different decision contexts: (1) the conflict Model (Janis and Mann, 1977) and the Social Process Model (Vroom and Yago, 1974). Implications and guidelines for using decisionmaking models in evaluation settings are presented. (BS)

  9. Prescription of medicated feedingstuffs.

    PubMed

    McDonald, Janis

    2012-08-11

    This article, by Janis McDonald of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), sets out advice on best practice in using medicated feedingstuffs prescriptions. It has been produced by the VMD in the light of concerns that procedures for completing medicated feedingstuffs prescriptions may not always be being followed correctly.

  10. Defining Strong State Accountability Systems: How Can Better Standards Gain Greater Traction? A First Look

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reed, Eileen; Scull, Janie; Slicker, Gerilyn; Winkler, Amber M.

    2012-01-01

    Rigorous standards and aligned assessments are vital tools for boosting education outcomes but they have little traction without strong accountability systems that attach consequences to performance. In this pilot study, Eileen Reed, Janie Scull, Gerilyn Slicker, and Amber Winkler lay out the essential features of such accountability systems,…

  11. "Feminism Lite?" Feminist Identification, Speaker Appearance, and Perceptions of Feminist and Antifeminist Messengers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bullock, Heather E.; Fernald, Julian L.

    2003-01-01

    Drawing on a communications model of persuasion (Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953), this study examined the effect of target appearance on feminists' and nonfeminists' perceptions of a speaker delivering a feminist or an antifeminist message. One hundred three college women watched one of four videotaped speeches that varied by content (profeminist…

  12. 15. 'Southern Pacific R.R., One 236'0' Bet. End Pins S. ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    15. 'Southern Pacific R.R., One 236'-0' Bet. End Pins S. Tr. Thro'. Draw Bridge over Sacramento River at Tehama, The Phoenix Bridge Co., Phoenixville, Pa., Jan'y 19th 98, Dwg. 585.' - Southern Pacific Railroad Shasta Route, Bridge No. 210.52, Milepost 210.52, Tehama, Tehama County, CA

  13. Harvard Education Letter. Volume 20, Number 5, September-October 2004

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sadowski, Michael, Ed.

    2004-01-01

    "Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) Adolescent Literacy: Are We Overlooking the Struggling Teenage Reader? (Robert Rothman); (2) The "N-Word" and the Racial Dynamics of Teaching (Wendy Luttrell and Janie Ward);…

  14. Are We Facing an Epidemic of Self-Injury?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brumberg, Joan Jacobs

    2006-01-01

    This article discusses two Cornell research studies on the prevalence of self-injury or "cutting" in today's youth, led by Janis Whitlock, and presents historical perspectives on the issue. The first study randomly surveyed 3,069 undergraduate and graduate students at Cornell University and Princeton University. Data showed that 17 percent of the…

  15. Tough Calls in Tough Times.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lyman, Linda

    1992-01-01

    Analyzes school boards' response, in terms of crisis decision making, to a situation in which a superintendent was charged and later convicted of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old female student. Cites "Crucial Decisions," by Irving Janis, and offers recommendations to help board members be more effective decision makers. Presents an outline of…

  16. Development of New Low Temperature Systems at Janis Research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shvarts, V.; Jirmanus, M. N.; Zhao, Z.

    2006-09-01

    A new line of ultra low loss He-3 and He-4 superconducting magnet systems and UHV compatible He-3 systems for scanning tunneling microscopy studies have been developed during the past year. This paper discusses the details of the design and performance for the various systems.

  17. Coping with pregnancy resolution among never-married women.

    PubMed

    Bracken, Michael B; Klerman, Lorraine V; Bracken, Maryann

    1978-04-01

    The Janis-Mann model of decision-making provides the theoretical orientation for empirical analyses of decisions to deliver or abort in matched samples of never-married women. Results focus on four variables: happiness about pregnancy; initial acceptance of delivery or abortion; ease of decision-making; and satisfaction with final choice. Path analyses summarize findings, which are discussed in terms of conflict resolution strategies.

  18. Influence of Culture and Personality on Determinants of Cognitive Processes Under Conditions of Uncertainty

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-05-14

    Tal , Y., Raviv , A., & Spitzer, A., 1999). Janis and Mann (1977) suggested that situational conditions determine how individuals cope with decision...and ignore contrary information relative to non-stressful conditions, which can have disastrous consequences. Bar- Tal , Raviv , and Spitzer (1999...1176. Bar- Tal , Y., Raviv , A., & Spitzer, A. (1999). The need and ability to achieve cognitive structuring: Individual differences that moderate

  19. Army Synthetic Validity Project Report of Phase 2 Results. Volume 2. Appendixes

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1990-10-01

    to Equipment & Food o Personal Hygine - Field & Garrison (4) o Kitchen Equipment - Garrison o Field Preparation of Foods & Equipment o Food, Field...Results: Volume II: Appendi i 12. PERSONAL AUTHOR(S) Wise, Lauress L. (AIR); Peterson, Norman G.; Houston, Janis (PDRI); Hoffman, R. Gene Campbell, John...o Handling KIA o Personal Hygiene & Preventive Medicine Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of participants that identified the task as

  20. The Effects of Stress on Judgement and Decision Making: An Annotated Bibliography.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1991-06-01

    consideration of these and other results led to the conclusion that peak traffic is the most generalisable environental stressor for ATC’s behaviour...Hemisphere. JANIS, I. L. (1986). Problems of international crisis management in the nuclear age. Journal of Social Issues , 42(2), 201-220. it...applied to the crucial issue as to whether behavior is consistent across different stress situations or whether it is situation specific. . . .Reviewing

  1. Customized Learning: Potential Air Force Applications

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-01-01

    Technology in Education, Vol. 41, No. 2, Winter 2008–2009, pp. 143–159. Dee, Lesley, Cristina Devecchi, Lani Florian, and Steve Cochrane, Being, Having and...225–231. Krasner, Steve , ed., Learning Styles, Connecticut State Department of Education, SERC Library, 2002. As of September 30, 2009: http...Training Command, February 18, 2009. Torrance, Harry, Helen Colley, Dean Garratt, Janis Jarvis , Heather Piper, Kathryn Ecclestone, and David James, The

  2. Acts of Atrocity: Effects on Public Opinion Support During War or Conflict

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-12-01

    Taylor Martin, “Her Job: Lock Up Iraq’s Bad Guys: Army Brig. General Janis Karpinski, the Lone Female Commander in Iraq, Runs the Prison System that...photographing naked male and female detainees; forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for photographing; forcing...a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee’s neck and having a female soldier pose for a picture; a male MP guard having sex with a female

  3. Enhancement of L-valine production in Bacillus licheniformis by blocking three branched pathways.

    PubMed

    Liang, Chengwen; Huo, Yanli; Qi, Gaofu; Wei, Xuetuan; Wang, Qin; Chen, Shouwen

    2015-06-01

    Bacillus licheniformis WX-02 is used for the production of many valuable chemicals. Here, we have sought to improve L-valine production by blocking the metabolic pathways related to branched-chain amino acids. The synthesis genes of L-leucine (leuA) and L-isoleucine (ilvA) were deleted to obtain mutant strains. L-Valine yields of WX-02ΔleuA and WX-02ΔilvA reached 33.2 and 21.1 mmol/l, respectively, which are 22 and 14 times higher than the wild-type WX-02 (1.53 mmol/l). After further deletion of L-lactate dehydrogenase gene (ldh) from WX-02ΔleuA, the productivity reached 0.47 mmol/l h, an increase of 19 %. We provide a possibility to over-produce L-valine using genetically-modified B. licheniformis using remodeling of the biosynthetic pathway to L-valine.

  4. Development of an Ultra-Safe Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1994-11-15

    34 DEVELOPMENT OF AN ULTRA-SAFE RECHARGEABLE LITHIUM - ION BATTERY DTIC \\ JANI 0 1995 19941221 079 Contract # N00014-94-C-0141 ARPA Order...DEVELOPMENT OF AN ULTRA-SAFE RECHARGEABLE LITHIUM - ION BATTERY R&D STATUS REPORT 1931-1001/0 ARPA Order No.: 9332004arp01/13APR1994/313ES Program Code...Title of Work: Lithium - ion Battery Development Reporting Period: August 15, 1994 to November 15, 1994 Description of Progress: The project activities had

  5. Legal Issues for the Commander,

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1983-01-01

    Frederick T. Kiley, USAF Deputy Director, Plans and Programs Major William A. Buckingham, Jr., USAF Deputy Director, Administration Lieutenant (Junior...Writer-Editors Editorial Clerks Evelyn Lakes Pat Williams , Janis L. Hietala Lead Clerk Rebecca W. Miller Dorothy M. Mack Albert C. Helder Carol Valentine...9 M.J. 575 (A.F.C.M.R. 1980). 41 AL .. ~ ~. .~ ~ i 42 References 28. United States v. Poundstone , 22 U.S.C.M.A. 277, 46 C.M.R. 277 (1973). 29. United

  6. Organizational Dysfunction in the US Air Force: Lessons from the ICBM Community

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-06-01

    separated the space and missile career fields, highlighting a need to produce career professionals in the ICBM community.12 During this time, errors...raises for missileers,” Air Force Times 74, no. 29 (27 Jan, 2014): 10. 20 Gen Martin Dempsey, “America’s Military – A Profession of Arms.” Washington...Bullying”, 18-20; Cynthia Coccia, "Avoiding a "Toxic" Organization," Nursing Management 29, no. 5 (May 1998): 32; Janie Fritz. “Organizational Misbehavior

  7. Directory of Researchers for Manpower, Personnel, Training, and Human Factors

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1998-03-01

    Cambridge, MA Bohres, G Naval Surface Warfare Center - Dahlgren Div 904-234-4184 Panama City, FL DSN:436-4184 Bowers, Clint A Dr Univ of Central...Research 703-696-4318 Arlington, VA DSN:426-4318 Clevenger, J Evans and Sutherland Computer Corp 801-588-1518 Salt Lake City, UT Clingerman, B Space and...Drew W. CAPT Bergondy, M Bilazarian, P Bowers, Clint A Dr Bradley, S Breaux, R Mr Burke, J Burns, Christopher M Mr Burns, J Cannon-Bowers, Janis A Dr

  8. A Handbook for Alcohol and Drug Control Officers. Volume I.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1975-02-01

    Lester R ., Management by Exception (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1964). *Cleland, David I ., Management (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1972). - * *Dale...b Option 1: By Battaliono n // Enough Matel ials I I . Yes ~Analyze objective to determine if a / Enough change in hours of training, number... 1971 ). IV-40 -4. i 16. R.A.J. Webb, "Fear and Communication," Journal of Drug Education 4:97-103 (Spring 1974). 17. A. A. Lumsdaine and I . L. Janis

  9. Time delay and magnification centroid due to gravitational lensing by black holes and naked singularities

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Virbhadra, K. S.; Keeton, C. R.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, 136 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854

    We model the massive dark object at the center of the Galaxy as a Schwarzschild black hole as well as Janis-Newman-Winicour naked singularities, characterized by the mass and scalar charge parameters, and study gravitational lensing (particularly time delay, magnification centroid, and total magnification) by them. We find that the lensing features are qualitatively similar (though quantitatively different) for Schwarzschild black holes, weakly naked, and marginally strongly naked singularities. However, the lensing characteristics of strongly naked singularities are qualitatively very different from those due to Schwarzschild black holes. The images produced by Schwarzschild black hole lenses and weakly naked and marginallymore » strongly naked singularity lenses always have positive time delays. On the other hand, strongly naked singularity lenses can give rise to images with positive, zero, or negative time delays. In particular, for a large angular source position the direct image (the outermost image on the same side as the source) due to strongly naked singularity lensing always has a negative time delay. We also found that the scalar field decreases the time delay and increases the total magnification of images; this result could have important implications for cosmology. As the Janis-Newman-Winicour metric also describes the exterior gravitational field of a scalar star, naked singularities as well as scalar star lenses, if these exist in nature, will serve as more efficient cosmic telescopes than regular gravitational lenses.« less

  10. Continuation of Novel Analytical and Empircal Approaches to the Origin and Prediction of Pathogenicity

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-01-31

    properties of strains as encoded by key mutations (e.g., E627K in PB2 in H5N1 or H7N9 , which confers increased replication in mammals) (Janies et al...the recent outbreak of H7N9 in China. We have created SUPRAMAPs and ROUTEMAPs describing the host and geographic origins and movement of each...segment. Here is a summary of our results:  The China-Taiwan H7N9 outbreak in early 2013 was caused by a reassortant virus made primarily of genetic

  11. Geodesic motion around traversable wormholes supported by a massless conformally coupled scalar field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Willenborg, Felix; Grunau, Saskia; Kleihaus, Burkhard; Kunz, Jutta

    2018-06-01

    We consider a traversable wormhole solution of Einstein's gravity conformally coupled to a massless scalar field, a solution derived by Barcelo and Visser based on the Janis-Newman-Winicour-Wyman spacetime. We study the geodesic motion of timelike and spacelike particles in this spacetime. We solve the equations of motion analytically in terms of the Weierstraß functions and discuss all possible orbit types and their parameter dependence. Interestingly, bound orbits occur for timelike geodesics only in one of the two worlds. Moreover, under no conditions there exist timelike two world bound orbits.

  12. Members of the YjgF/YER057c/UK114 family of proteins inhibit phosphoribosylamine synthesis in vitro.

    PubMed

    Lambrecht, Jennifer A; Browne, Beth Ann; Downs, Diana M

    2010-11-05

    The YjgF/YER057c/UK114 family of proteins is highly conserved across all three domains of life and currently lacks a consensus biochemical function. Analysis of Salmonella enterica strains lacking yjgF has led to a working model in which YjgF functions to remove potentially toxic secondary products of cellular enzymes. Strains lacking yjgF synthesize the thiamine precursor phosphoribosylamine (PRA) by a TrpD-dependent mechanism that is not present in wild-type strains. Here, PRA synthesis was reconstituted in vitro with anthranilate phosphoribosyltransferase (TrpD), threonine dehydratase (IlvA), threonine, and phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate. TrpD-dependent PRA formation in vitro was inhibited by S. enterica YjgF and the human homolog UK114. Thus, the work herein describes the first biochemical assay for diverse members of the highly conserved YjgF/YER057c/UK114 family of proteins and provides a means to dissect the cellular functions of these proteins.

  13. Bibliography of Soviet Development in Magnetohydrodynamics

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1976-03-22

    re i I I i .._ i ,»,- J \\*^ ’ —* Ak. _ „ ■***"" I 1.1*1 .->• , JanyS«.Dec»--©?^ jT I I I I ! ! 6tuavt| / S » O./i-.u beritt-V. A...for a round casting. MG, no. 3, 1975, 119-123. 53. Ginzburg, A. S ., et al. On the possibility of flow measuring by a J conduction method...regimes. IN: Sb 35, no. 1, 974, 230-243. (RZhElektrotekhenerg, 2/75, 2F32) 86. Medin, S . A. End effect in an optimal plane MHD generator

  14. Newman-Penrose constants of the Kerr-Newman metric

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gong Xuefei; Shang Yu; Bai Shan

    The Newman-Unti formalism of the Kerr-Newman metric near future null infinity is developed, with which the Newman-Penrose constants for both the gravitational and electromagnetic fields of the Kerr-Newman metric are computed and shown to be zero. The multipole structure near future null infinity in the sense of Janis-Newman of the Kerr-Newman metric is then further studied. It is found that up to the 2{sup 4}-pole, modulo a constant dependent upon the order of the pole, these multipole moments agree with those of Geroch-Hansen multipole moments defined at spatial infinity.

  15. Systems metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for L-threonine production.

    PubMed

    Lee, Kwang Ho; Park, Jin Hwan; Kim, Tae Yong; Kim, Hyun Uk; Lee, Sang Yup

    2007-01-01

    Amino-acid producers have traditionally been developed by repeated random mutagenesis owing to the difficulty in rationally engineering the complex and highly regulated metabolic network. Here, we report the development of the genetically defined L-threonine overproducing Escherichia coli strain by systems metabolic engineering. Feedback inhibitions of aspartokinase I and III (encoded by thrA and lysC, respectively) and transcriptional attenuation regulations (located in thrL) were removed. Pathways for Thr degradation were removed by deleting tdh and mutating ilvA. The metA and lysA genes were deleted to make more precursors available for Thr biosynthesis. Further target genes to be engineered were identified by transcriptome profiling combined with in silico flux response analysis, and their expression levels were manipulated accordingly. The final engineered E. coli strain was able to produce Thr with a high yield of 0.393 g per gram of glucose, and 82.4 g/l Thr by fed-batch culture. The systems metabolic engineering strategy reported here may be broadly employed for developing genetically defined organisms for the efficient production of various bioproducts.

  16. [Self-esteem in adolescents with and without cleft-lip and/or palate].

    PubMed

    de Andrade, D; Angerami, E L

    2001-01-01

    Self-image is an important determinant of self-esteem among men and women, which makes us reflect about the process of rehabilitation of people with facial malformations. In order to measure self-esteem, the Janis and Field Scale was used. The sample consisted of 608 adolescents aged 17 to 20 years including males and females. Two hundred and thirty-five had a cleft lip and/or palate and 373 did not. The analysis of the self-esteem levels obtained enabled to conclude that the adolescents with a cleft lip and/or palate behave differently from those without it, that is, they present lower self-esteem scores.

  17. Reproductive Biology and Its Impact on Body Size: Comparative Analysis of Mammalian, Avian and Dinosaurian Reproduction

    PubMed Central

    Werner, Jan; Griebeler, Eva Maria

    2011-01-01

    Janis and Carrano (1992) suggested that large dinosaurs might have faced a lower risk of extinction under ecological changes than similar-sized mammals because large dinosaurs had a higher potential reproductive output than similar-sized mammals (JC hypothesis). First, we tested the assumption underlying the JC hypothesis. We therefore analysed the potential reproductive output (reflected in clutch/litter size and annual offspring number) of extant terrestrial mammals and birds (as “dinosaur analogs”) and of extinct dinosaurs. With the exception of rodents, the differences in the reproductive output of similar-sized birds and mammals proposed by Janis and Carrano (1992) existed even at the level of single orders. Fossil dinosaur clutches were larger than litters of similar-sized mammals, and dinosaur clutch sizes were comparable to those of similar-sized birds. Because the extinction risk of extant species often correlates with a low reproductive output, the latter difference suggests a lower risk of population extinction in dinosaurs than in mammals. Second, we present a very simple, mathematical model that demonstrates the advantage of a high reproductive output underlying the JC hypothesis. It predicts that a species with a high reproductive output that usually faces very high juvenile mortalities will benefit more strongly in terms of population size from reduced juvenile mortalities (e.g., resulting from a stochastic reduction in population size) than a species with a low reproductive output that usually comprises low juvenile mortalities. Based on our results, we suggest that reproductive strategy could have contributed to the evolution of the exceptional gigantism seen in dinosaurs that does not exist in extant terrestrial mammals. Large dinosaurs, e.g., the sauropods, may have easily sustained populations of very large-bodied species over evolutionary time. PMID:22194835

  18. Reproductive biology and its impact on body size: comparative analysis of mammalian, avian and dinosaurian reproduction.

    PubMed

    Werner, Jan; Griebeler, Eva Maria

    2011-01-01

    Janis and Carrano (1992) suggested that large dinosaurs might have faced a lower risk of extinction under ecological changes than similar-sized mammals because large dinosaurs had a higher potential reproductive output than similar-sized mammals (JC hypothesis). First, we tested the assumption underlying the JC hypothesis. We therefore analysed the potential reproductive output (reflected in clutch/litter size and annual offspring number) of extant terrestrial mammals and birds (as "dinosaur analogs") and of extinct dinosaurs. With the exception of rodents, the differences in the reproductive output of similar-sized birds and mammals proposed by Janis and Carrano (1992) existed even at the level of single orders. Fossil dinosaur clutches were larger than litters of similar-sized mammals, and dinosaur clutch sizes were comparable to those of similar-sized birds. Because the extinction risk of extant species often correlates with a low reproductive output, the latter difference suggests a lower risk of population extinction in dinosaurs than in mammals. Second, we present a very simple, mathematical model that demonstrates the advantage of a high reproductive output underlying the JC hypothesis. It predicts that a species with a high reproductive output that usually faces very high juvenile mortalities will benefit more strongly in terms of population size from reduced juvenile mortalities (e.g., resulting from a stochastic reduction in population size) than a species with a low reproductive output that usually comprises low juvenile mortalities. Based on our results, we suggest that reproductive strategy could have contributed to the evolution of the exceptional gigantism seen in dinosaurs that does not exist in extant terrestrial mammals. Large dinosaurs, e.g., the sauropods, may have easily sustained populations of very large-bodied species over evolutionary time.

  19. GRC-2011-C-05116

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-01-24

    Janis Niedra (RPT/Thermal Energy Conversion Branch) is using a Helmholtz coil to measure the approximate remanence of a magnet segment. The magnet segment being measured is similar to the ones used in the linear alternator of the Advanced Stirling Convertor (ASC) which was designed and built by Sunpower, Inc. The magnet (not shown in this view) is positioned in the slot cut along the top of the aluminum block which is positioned at the center of the coil in the region of uniform sensitivity. The ASC is the type of free-piston Stirling convertor that is used in the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG) currently being developed by Lockheed-Martin for the Department of Energy and NASA.

  20. Afrotropical Melambiina: revision of the genus Tragardhus Koch, 1956 and redescription of Pseudemmallus Koch, 1956 (Tenebrionidae: Pedinini).

    PubMed

    Kamiński, Marcin Jan

    2017-11-10

    The genus Tragardhus Koch, 1956 (Pedinini: Melambiina) is revised to include nine Afrotropical species, five of which are new. A taxonomic treatment of the genus is provided including a morphological study, new species descriptions, keys, illustrations, and notes on species distributions. The following species are included: Tragardhus (Mitragardhus) nodosus Koch, 1956, T. (M.) ewae sp. nov., T. (M.) ryszardi sp. nov., T. (M.) zuzannae sp. nov., Tragardhus (Tragardhus) biapicalis Koch, 1956, T. (T.) glandipleurum Koch, 1956, T. (T.) jani sp. nov., T. (T.) majae sp. nov. and T. (T.) stigmaticus Koch, 1956. Additionally, a monotypic genus Pseudemmallus Koch, 1956, previously known from a single specimen representing P. aspericollis Koch, 1956, is redescribed based on newly available material.

  1. Light on curved backgrounds

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Batic, D.; Nelson, S.; Nowakowski, M.

    2015-05-01

    We consider the motion of light on different spacetime manifolds by calculating the deflection angle, lensing properties and by probing into the possibility of bound states. The metrics in which we examine the light motion include, among other items, a general relativistic dark matter metric, a dirty black hole, and a worm hole metric, the last two inspired by noncommutative geometry. The lensing in a holographic screen metric is discussed in detail. We study also the bending of light around naked singularities like, e.g., the Janis-Newman-Winicour metric and include other cases. A generic property of light behavior in these exotic metrics is pointed out. For the standard metric like the Schwarzschild and Schwarzschild-de Sitter cases, we improve the accuracy of the lensing results for the weak and strong regimes.

  2. PREFACE: Annual Conference on Functional Materials and Nanotechnologies - FM&NT 2011

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sternberg, Andris; Muzikante, Inta; Zicans, Janis

    2011-06-01

    The International Conference Functional Materials and Nanotechnologies (FM&NT-2011) was held in Riga, 5-8 April 2011 in the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia (ISSP LU). The conference was organized in co-operation with projects ERANET 'MATERA' and National Research programme in Materials Science and Information Technologies. The purpose of the conference was to bring together scientists, engineers and students from universities, research institutes and related industrial companies active in the field of advanced material science and materials technologies trends and future activities. Scientific themes covered in the conference are: theoretical research and modelling of processes and materials; materials for energetics, renewable energy technologies and phtovoltaics; multifunctional inorganic, organic and hybrid materials for photonic, micro and nanoelectronic applications and innovative methods for research of nanostructures; advanced technologies for synthesis and research of nanostructured materials, nanoparticles, thin films and coatings; application of innovative materials in science and economics. The number of registered participants from 17 countries was nearly 300. During three days of the conference 22 invited, 69 oral reports and 163 posters were presented. 40 papers, based on these reports, are included in this volume of IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. Additional information about FM&NT-2011 is available in its homepage http://www.fmnt.lu.lv. The Organizing Committee would like to thank all speakers, contributors, session chairs, referees and meeting staff for their efforts in making the FM&NT-2011 successful. The Organizing Committee sincerely hopes that that the conference gave all participants new insights into the widespread development of functional materials and nanotechnologies and would enhance the circulation of information released at the meeting. Andris Sternberg Inta Muzikante Janis Zicans

  3. Endogenous Synthesis of 2-Aminoacrylate Contributes to Cysteine Sensitivity in Salmonella enterica

    PubMed Central

    Ernst, Dustin C.; Lambrecht, Jennifer A.; Schomer, Rebecca A.

    2014-01-01

    RidA, the archetype member of the widely conserved RidA/YER057c/UK114 family of proteins, prevents reactive enamine/imine intermediates from accumulating in Salmonella enterica by catalyzing their hydrolysis to stable keto acid products. In the absence of RidA, endogenous 2-aminoacrylate persists in the cellular environment long enough to damage a growing list of essential metabolic enzymes. Prior studies have focused on the dehydration of serine by the pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP)-dependent serine/threonine dehydratases, IlvA and TdcB, as sources of endogenous 2-aminoacrylate. The current study describes an additional source of endogenous 2-aminoacrylate derived from cysteine. The results of in vivo analysis show that the cysteine sensitivity of a ridA strain is contingent upon CdsH, the predominant cysteine desulfhydrase in S. enterica. The impact of cysteine on 2-aminoacrylate accumulation is shown to be unaffected by the presence of serine/threonine dehydratases, revealing another mechanism of endogenous 2-aminoacrylate production. Experiments in vitro suggest that 2-aminoacrylate is released from CdsH following cysteine desulfhydration, resulting in an unbound aminoacrylate substrate for RidA. This work expands our understanding of the role played by RidA in preventing enamine stress resulting from multiple normal metabolic processes. PMID:25002544

  4. Linking Central Metabolism with Increased Pathway Flux: l-Valine Accumulation by Corynebacterium glutamicum

    PubMed Central

    Radmacher, Eva; Vaitsikova, Adela; Burger, Udo; Krumbach, Karin; Sahm, Hermann; Eggeling, Lothar

    2002-01-01

    Mutants of Corynebacterium glutamicum were made and enzymatically characterized to clone ilvD and ilvE, which encode dihydroxy acid dehydratase and transaminase B, respectively. These genes of the branched-chain amino acid synthesis were overexpressed together with ilvBN (which encodes acetohydroxy acid synthase) and ilvC (which encodes isomeroreductase) in the wild type, which does not excrete l-valine, to result in an accumulation of this amino acid to a concentration of 42 mM. Since l-valine originates from two pyruvate molecules, this illustrates the comparatively easy accessibility of the central metabolite pyruvate. The same genes, ilvBNCD, overexpressed in an ilvA deletion mutant which is unable to synthesize l-isoleucine increased the concentration of this amino acid to 58 mM. A further dramatic increase was obtained when panBC was deleted, making the resulting mutant auxotrophic for d-pantothenate. When the resulting strain, C. glutamicum 13032ΔilvAΔpanBC with ilvBNCD overexpressed, was grown under limiting conditions it accumulated 91 mM l-valine. This is attributed to a reduced coenzyme A availability and therefore reduced flux of pyruvate via pyruvate dehydrogenase enabling its increased drain-off via the l-valine biosynthesis pathway. PMID:11976094

  5. Cosmic Perspectives

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Biswas, S. K.; Mallik, D. C. V.; Vishveshwara, C. V.

    2008-07-01

    1. Astronomy in ancient and medieval China Joseph Needham; 2. Indian astronomy: an historical perspective B. V. Subbarayappa; 3. Making of astronomy in ancient India Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya; 4. The impact of astronomy on the development of western science Jean-Claude Pecker; 5. Man and the Universe Hubert Reeves; 6. Understanding the Universe - challenges and directions in modern observational astronomy Harlan Smith, Jr: 7. Frontiers in cosmology Fred Hoyle; 8. Did the Universe originate in a big bang? Jayant Narlikar; 9. The dark matter problem Bernard Carr; 10. Geometry and the Universe C. V. Vishveshwara; 11. The origin and evolution of life Cyril Ponnamperuma; 12. The anthropic principle: self selection as an adjunct to natural selection Brandon Carter; 13. Astrology and science: an examination of the evidence Ivan Kelly, Roger Culver and Peter Loptson; 14. Astronomy and science fiction Allen Janis.

  6. Unattainable extended spacetime regions in conformal gravity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chakrabarty, Hrishikesh; Benavides-Gallego, Carlos A.; Bambi, Cosimo; Modesto, Leonardo

    2018-03-01

    The Janis-Newman-Winicour metric is a solution of Einstein's gravity minimally coupled to a real massless scalar field. The γ-metric is instead a vacuum solution of Einstein's gravity. Both spacetimes have no horizon and possess a naked singularity at a finite value of the radial coordinate, where curvature invariants diverge and the spacetimes are geodetically incomplete. In this paper, we reconsider these solutions in the framework of conformal gravity and we show that it is possible to solve the spacetime singularities with a suitable choice of the conformal factor. Now curvature invariants remain finite over the whole spacetime. Massive particles never reach the previous singular surface and massless particles can never do it with a finite value of their affine parameter. Our results support the conjecture according to which conformal gravity can fix the singularity problem that plagues Einstein's gravity.

  7. Self-esteem and obsessive compulsive disorder.

    PubMed

    Husain, Nusrat; Chaudhry, Imran; Raza-ur-Rehman; Ahmed, Ghazal Riaz

    2014-01-01

    To explore the association between self-esteem and obsessive compulsive disorder in a low-income country, and to conduct an in-depth analysis into the said relationship by identifying any confounding variables that might exist. The cross-sectional study was conducted at the psychiatry out-patient clinic of Civil Hospital, Karachi, from January to March 2008, and comprised 65 patients diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder and 30 healthy controls. The participatnts completed the Janis and Field Social Adequacy scale and the Rosenberg Self-esteem scale. SPSS 15 was used for statistical analysis. Significantly different scores were reported on both measures of self-esteem between the patients and the controls (p<0.001 each), indicating reduced levels of self-esteem in the patients compared to the controls. Data replicated earlier findings from populations in high-income countries.

  8. NDEC: A NEA platform for nuclear data testing, verification and benchmarking

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Díez, C. J.; Michel-Sendis, F.; Cabellos, O.; Bossant, M.; Soppera, N.

    2017-09-01

    The selection, testing, verification and benchmarking of evaluated nuclear data consists, in practice, in putting an evaluated file through a number of checking steps where different computational codes verify that the file and the data it contains complies with different requirements. These requirements range from format compliance to good performance in application cases, while at the same time physical constraints and the agreement with experimental data are verified. At NEA, the NDEC (Nuclear Data Evaluation Cycle) platform aims at providing, in a user friendly interface, a thorough diagnose of the quality of a submitted evaluated nuclear data file. Such diagnose is based on the results of different computational codes and routines which carry out the mentioned verifications, tests and checks. NDEC also searches synergies with other existing NEA tools and databases, such as JANIS, DICE or NDaST, including them into its working scheme. Hence, this paper presents NDEC, its current development status and its usage in the JEFF nuclear data project.

  9. AIDS-related health behavior: coping, protection motivation, and previous behavior.

    PubMed

    Van der Velde, F W; Van der Pligt, J

    1991-10-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine Rogers' protection motivation theory and aspects of Janis and Mann's conflict theory in the context of AIDS-related health behavior. Subjects were 84 heterosexual men and women and 147 homosexual men with multiple sexual partners; LISREL's path-analysis techniques were used to evaluate the goodness of fit of the structural equation models. Protection motivation theory did fit the data but had considerably more explanatory power for heterosexual than for homosexual subjects (49 vs. 22%, respectively). When coping styles were added, different patterns of findings were found among both groups. Adding variables such as social norms and previous behavior increased the explained variance to 73% for heterosexual subjects and to 44% for homosexual subjects. It was concluded that although protection motivation theory did fit the data fairly adequately, expanding the theory with other variables--especially those related to previous behavior--could improve our understanding of AIDS-related health behavior.

  10. Optimization of carbon source and glucose feeding strategy for improvement of L-isoleucine production by Escherichia coli.

    PubMed

    Wang, Jian; Wen, Bing; Xu, Qingyang; Xie, Xixian; Chen, Ning

    2015-03-04

    Fed-batch cultivations of L-isoleucine-producing Escherichia coli TRFP (SG r , α -ABA r , with a pTHR101 plasmid containing a thr operon and ilvA) were carried out on different carbon sources: glucose, sucrose, fructose, maltose and glycerol. The results indicated that sucrose was the best initial carbon source for L-isoleucine production and then sucrose concentration of 30 g·L -1 was determined in the production medium. The results of different carbon sources feeding showed that the glucose solution was the most suitable feeding media. The dissolved oxygen (DO) of L-isoleucine fermentation was maintained at 5%, 15% and 30% with DO-stat feeding, respectively. The results indicated that when the DO level was maintained at 30%, the highest biomass and L-isoleucine production were obtained. The accumulation of acetate was decreased and the production of L-isoleucine was increased markedly, when the glucose concentration was maintained at 0.15 g·L -1 by using glucose-stat feeding. Finally, the glucose concentration was maintained at 0.10 g·L -1 and the DO level was controlled at approximately 30% during the whole fermentation period, using the combined feeding strategy of glucose-stat feeding and DO feedback feeding. The acetate accumulation was decreased to 7.23 g·L -1 , and biomass and production of L-isoleucine were increased to 46.8 and 11.95 g·L -1 , respectively.

  11. Optimization of carbon source and glucose feeding strategy for improvement of L-isoleucine production by Escherichia coli

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Jian; Wen, Bing; Xu, Qingyang; Xie, Xixian; Chen, Ning

    2015-01-01

    Fed-batch cultivations of L-isoleucine-producing Escherichia coli TRFP (SGr, α-ABAr, with a pTHR101 plasmid containing a thr operon and ilvA) were carried out on different carbon sources: glucose, sucrose, fructose, maltose and glycerol. The results indicated that sucrose was the best initial carbon source for L-isoleucine production and then sucrose concentration of 30 g·L−1 was determined in the production medium. The results of different carbon sources feeding showed that the glucose solution was the most suitable feeding media. The dissolved oxygen (DO) of L-isoleucine fermentation was maintained at 5%, 15% and 30% with DO-stat feeding, respectively. The results indicated that when the DO level was maintained at 30%, the highest biomass and L-isoleucine production were obtained. The accumulation of acetate was decreased and the production of L-isoleucine was increased markedly, when the glucose concentration was maintained at 0.15 g·L−1 by using glucose-stat feeding. Finally, the glucose concentration was maintained at 0.10 g·L−1 and the DO level was controlled at approximately 30% during the whole fermentation period, using the combined feeding strategy of glucose-stat feeding and DO feedback feeding. The acetate accumulation was decreased to 7.23 g·L−1, and biomass and production of L-isoleucine were increased to 46.8 and 11.95 g·L−1, respectively. PMID:26019655

  12. The K-8 Aeronautics Internet Testbook: Project Plan-Year 3

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pallis, Jani Macari

    1997-01-01

    The Project Plan - Year 3 includes: the major tasks and milestones, the assignment of tasks, and the key personnel assigned to each task, a description of the milestone and major task, and the deliverables for the project. Milestones have project numbers ending in "0.0", such as "25.0.0 Phase III Development". Major tasks under that milestone begin with the same first number such as, "25.0.1 Develop Future Of Aeronautics". The assignment of tasks included in the Year 3 project plan contains the names of the key personnel responsible for the task and others participating on the task. Although the PI has the overall and ultimately responsible for all the tasks and milestones, the name of the first individual on a task or milestone is the person responsible for that task. Other names listed under that task will be participating on the task. Since there are two individuals at Cislunar Aerospace, Inc. with the name "J. Pallis", the principal investigator, Jani Macari Pallis is designated as PI in the Project Plan and James Pallis is designated as J. Pallis.

  13. Measurement of thermal conductivity of materials down to 4.5 K for development of cryosorption pumps

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Verma, Ravi; Behera, Upendra; Kasthurirengan, S.; Shivaprakash, N. C.; Udgata, S. S.; Gangradey, R.

    2017-02-01

    Cryosorption pumps belong to the class of entrapment or capture vacuum pumps and they retain the gas molecules by sorption and / or by condensation on its internal surfaces. An important aspect in their development is the proper adhesion of the activated carbon granules onto the metallic panel and their cooling to the lowest possible temperature by using high thermal conductivity adhesives for adhering the activated carbons. Hence, the thermal conductivity data of the select adhesives and activated carbons down to 4.5 K are quite essential, but they are not available in open literature. Towards this, an experimental setup has been developed to measure the thermal conductivities of samples with high or low thermal conductivities from 300 K to 4.5 K, with liquid helium using a Janis SuperVariTemp cryostat. This paper presents the details of the experimental setup and the results of our studies on (i) standard samples and (ii) epoxy based adhesives samples. The above studies will enable to make the right choice of adhesives for the development of cryosorption pumps.

  14. Cannabis, alcohol use, psychological distress, and decision-making style.

    PubMed

    Phillips, James G; Ogeil, Rowan P

    2017-09-01

    There have been suggestions of hypofrontality in cannabis users. To understand cannabis-related differences in decisional processes, Janis and Mann's conflict model of decision making was applied to recreational cannabis smokers who varied in their alcohol use and level of psychological distress. An online sample of recreational substance users (114 male, 119 female) completed the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Kessler's Psychological Distress Scale (K10), and the Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS) for cannabis. Multivariate analysis of variance examined self-reported decision-making styles as a function of gender, recent cannabis use, risky alcohol consumption, and levels of psychological distress. Psychological distress was associated with lower decisional self-esteem and higher levels of procrastination and buck-passing. There were gender differences associated with cannabis use. Female cannabis users reported higher levels of hypervigilance, while male cannabis users reported lower levels of buck-passing. Although there was little indication of an avoidant decisional style in cannabis users, the results suggest that cannabis affects decisional processes, contributing to panic in females and impulsivity in males.

  15. Building cosmological frozen stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kastor, David; Traschen, Jennie

    2017-02-01

    Janis-Newman-Winicour (JNW) solutions generalize Schwarzschild to include a massless scalar field. While they share the familiar infinite redshift feature of Schwarzschild, they suffer from the presence of naked singularities. Cosmological versions of JNW spacetimes were discovered some years ago, in the most general case, by Fonarev. Fonarev solutions are also plagued by naked singularities, but have the virtue, unlike e.g. Schwarzschild-deSitter, of being dynamical. Given that exact dynamical cosmological black hole solutions are scarce, Fonarev solutions merit further study. We show how Fonarev solutions can be obtained via generalized dimensional reduction from simpler static vacuum solutions. These results may lead towards constructions of actual dynamical cosmological black holes. In particular, we note that cosmological versions of extremal charged dilaton black holes are known. JNW spacetimes represent a different limiting case of the family of charged dilaton black holes, which have been important in the context of string theory, and better understanding their cosmological versions of JNW spacetimes thus provides a second data point towards finding cosmological versions of the entire family.

  16. The Power of Water

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Petrova, Zhaneta; Miteva, Kamelia

    2013-04-01

    The Power of Water Zh. Petrova, K. Miteva Bio Games, Sofia, Bulgaria (petrova.jani@gmail.com; miteva.kamelia@gmail.com) Lessons "The Power of Water" Due to our belief in the initial creativity of the children and their capacity for discover and perceive logically the world, we consider that the primary and even the pre-school learning have a significant influence in the process of suggesting the idea of respect to the natural forces. These classroom activities include a variety of hand- and self-made simulation models with natural materials and toys which lead the children to easy understanding of what could 'friendly' water do and how powerful, dangerous and not-friendly it could be. During the lessons the children draw their own conclusions of the causes and possible solutions of natural hazards caused by water in each of its forms - avalanches, inundations, floods, the water influence in activation of landslides. The children make on their own some of the models and test them via simulations. In the end they discuss what they have learned in groups.

  17. Effectiveness of a physical barrier for contaminant control in an unconfined coastal plain aquifer: the case study of the former industrial site of Bagnoli (Naples, southern Italy).

    PubMed

    Arienzo, Michele; Allocca, Vincenzo; Manna, Ferdinando; Trifuoggi, Marco; Ferrara, Luciano

    2015-12-01

    A vertical engineered barrier (VEB) coupled with a water treatment plant was surveyed in the framework of a vast remedial action at the brownfield site of the former ILVA of Bagnoli steel making facility located in western Naples, Italy. The VEB was put in place to minimize contaminant migration from the brownfield site toward the sea at the shorelines sites of Bagnoli and Coroglio. The efficiency of the VEB was monitored through 12 piezometers, 8 at the Bagnoli shoreline and 4 at the Coroglio shoreline. Concentrations of inorganic and organic pollutants were examined in upstream and downstream groundwater relative to the VEB. The mean levels of Al, As, Fe, and Mn largely exceeded the legal limits, 10-15-fold, whereas that of Hg was up to 3-fold the rules. The VEB decreased the outlet concentrations only at certain specific location of the barrier, four times for Al, 6-fold for Hg, and by 20% for Mn with means largely exceeding the rules. At the other sites, the downstream water showed marked increases of the pollutants up to 3-fold. Outstanding levels of the hydrocarbons > 12 were detected in the inlet water with means of some hundred times the limits at both sites. Likewise most of screened inorganic pollutants, the downstream water showed marked increases of the hydrocarbons up to ~113%. The treatment plant was very effective, with removal efficiencies >80% for As, Al, Fe, and Mn. The study evidenced the need to put alternative groundwater remedial actions.

  18. Isoleucine Biosynthesis in Leptospira interrogans Serotype lai Strain 56601 Proceeds via a Threonine-Independent Pathway† ‡

    PubMed Central

    Xu, Hai; Zhang, Yuzhen; Guo, Xiaokui; Ren, Shuangxi; Staempfli, Andreas A.; Chiao, Juishen; Jiang, Weihong; Zhao, Guoping

    2004-01-01

    Three leuA-like protein-coding sequences were identified in Leptospira interrogans. One of these, the cimA gene, was shown to encode citramalate synthase (EC 4.1.3.-). The other two encoded α-isopropylmalate synthase (EC 4.1.3.12). Expressed in Escherichia coli, the citramalate synthase was purified and characterized. Although its activity was relatively low, it was strictly specific for pyruvate as the keto acid substrate. Unlike the citramalate synthase of the thermophile Methanococcus jannaschii, the L. interrogans enzyme is temperature sensitive but exhibits a much lower Km (0.04 mM) for pyruvate. The reaction product was characterized as (R)-citramalate, and the proposed β-methyl-d-malate pathway was further confirmed by demonstrating that citraconate was the substrate for the following reaction. This alternative pathway for isoleucine biosynthesis from pyruvate was analyzed both in vitro by assays of leptospiral isopropylmalate isomerase (EC 4.2.1.33) and β-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.85) in E. coli extracts bearing the corresponding clones and in vivo by complementation of E. coli ilvA, leuC/D, and leuB mutants. Thus, the existence of a leucine-like pathway for isoleucine biosynthesis in L. interrogans under physiological conditions was unequivocally proven. Significant variations in either the enzymatic activities or mRNA levels of the cimA and leuA genes were detected in L. interrogans grown on minimal medium supplemented with different levels of the corresponding amino acids or in cells grown on serum-containing rich medium. The similarity of this metabolic pathway in leptospires and archaea is consistent with the evolutionarily primitive status of the eubacterial spirochetes. PMID:15292141

  19. Escherichia coli W as a new platform strain for the enhanced production of L-valine by systems metabolic engineering.

    PubMed

    Park, Jin Hwan; Jang, Yu-Sin; Lee, Jeong Wook; Lee, Sang Yup

    2011-05-01

    A less frequently employed Escherichia coli strain W, yet possessing useful metabolic characteristics such as less acetic acid production and high L-valine tolerance, was metabolically engineered for the production of L-valine. The ilvA gene was deleted to make more pyruvate, a key precursor for L-valine, available for enhanced L-valine biosynthesis. The lacI gene was deleted to allow constitutive expression of genes under the tac or trc promoter. The ilvBN(mut) genes encoding feedback-resistant acetohydroxy acid synthase (AHAS) I and the L-valine biosynthetic ilvCED genes encoding acetohydroxy acid isomeroreductase, dihydroxy acid dehydratase, and branched chain amino acid aminotransferase, respectively, were amplified by plasmid-based overexpression. The global regulator Lrp and L-valine exporter YgaZH were also amplified by plasmid-based overexpression. The engineered E. coli W (ΔlacI ΔilvA) strain overexpressing the ilvBN(mut) , ilvCED, ygaZH, and lrp genes was able to produce an impressively high concentration of 60.7 g/L L-valine by fed-batch culture in 29.5 h, resulting in a high volumetric productivity of 2.06 g/L/h. The most notable finding is that there was no other byproduct produced during L-valine production. The results obtained in this study suggest that E. coli W can be a good alternative to Corynebacterium glutamicum and E. coli K-12, which have so far been the most efficient L-valine producer. Furthermore, it is expected that various bioproducts including other amino acids might be more efficiently produced by this revisited platform strain of E. coli. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. Strong gravitational lensing by a Konoplya-Zhidenko rotating non-Kerr compact object

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wang, Shangyun; Chen, Songbai; Jing, Jiliang, E-mail: shangyun_wang@163.com, E-mail: csb3752@hunnu.edu.cn, E-mail: jljing@hunnu.edu.cn

    Konoplya and Zhidenko have proposed recently a rotating non-Kerr black hole metric beyond General Relativity and make an estimate for the possible deviations from the Kerr solution with the data of GW 150914. We here study the strong gravitational lensing in such a rotating non-Kerr spacetime with an extra deformation parameter. We find that the condition of existence of horizons is not inconsistent with that of the marginally circular photon orbit. Moreover, the deflection angle of the light ray near the weakly naked singularity covered by the marginally circular orbit diverges logarithmically in the strong-field limit. In the case ofmore » the completely naked singularity, the deflection angle near the singularity tends to a certain finite value, whose sign depends on the rotation parameter and the deformation parameter. These properties of strong gravitational lensing are different from those in the Johannsen-Psaltis rotating non-Kerr spacetime and in the Janis-Newman-Winicour spacetime. Modeling the supermassive central object of the Milk Way Galaxy as a Konoplya-Zhidenko rotating non-Kerr compact object, we estimated the numerical values of observables for the strong gravitational lensing including the time delay between two relativistic images.« less

  1. Gravitational lensing by rotating naked singularities

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gyulchev, Galin N.; Yazadjiev, Stoytcho S.; Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, Universitaet Goettingen, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, D-37077 Goettingen

    We model massive compact objects in galactic nuclei as stationary, axially symmetric naked singularities in the Einstein-massless scalar field theory and study the resulting gravitational lensing. In the weak deflection limit we study analytically the position of the two weak field images, the corresponding signed and absolute magnifications as well as the centroid up to post-Newtonian order. We show that there are static post-Newtonian corrections to the signed magnification and their sum as well as to the critical curves, which are functions of the scalar charge. The shift of the critical curves as a function of the lens angular momentummore » is found, and it is shown that they decrease slightly for the weakly naked and vastly for the strongly naked singularities with the increase of the scalar charge. The pointlike caustics drift away from the optical axis and do not depend on the scalar charge. In the strong deflection limit approximation, we compute numerically the position of the relativistic images and their separability for weakly naked singularities. All of the lensing quantities are compared to particular cases as Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes as well as Janis-Newman-Winicour naked singularities.« less

  2. Healthy participants in phase I clinical trials: the quality of their decision to take part.

    PubMed

    Rabin, Cheryl; Tabak, Nili

    2006-08-01

    This study was set out to test the quality of the decision-making process of healthy volunteers in clinical trials. Researchers fear that the decision to volunteer for clinical trials is taken inadequately and that the signature on the consent forms, meant to affirm that consent was 'informed', is actually insubstantial. The study design was quasi-experimental, using a convenience quota sample. Over a period of a year, candidates were approached during their screening process for a proposed clinical trial, after concluding the required 'Informed Consent' procedure. In all, 100 participants in phase I trials filled out questionnaires based ultimately on the Janis and Mann model of vigilant information processing, during their stay in the research centre. Only 35% of the participants reached a 'quality decision'. There is a definite correlation between information processing and quality decision-making. However, many of the healthy research volunteers (58%) do not seek out information nor check alternatives before making a decision. Full disclosure is essential to a valid informed consent procedure but not sufficient; emphasis must be put on having the information understood and assimilated. Research nurses play a central role in achieving this objective.

  3. [Role of the independent microbiology laboratory in supporting infection control programs in small to mid-sized hospitals].

    PubMed

    Yanagisawa, Hideji

    2009-05-01

    With the revision of the Medical Service Law in 2006 by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), all healthcare institutions are now required to implement a healthcare risk management program including infection control program. At a national level, an infection control surveillance program (JANIS) was implemented in July 2007. Regular weekly, monthly, and yearly infection control surveillance reports from independent microbiology laboratories can make significant contributions to infection control programs in small to mid-sized hospitals; furthermore, such programs are consistent with the framework of the MHLW's objective of strengthening risk management in healthcare institutions. Against the backdrop of current efforts to improve risk management, independent laboratories can make a significant contribution. Independent laboratories must play a role beyond merely receiving and processing specimens for microbiological examination. In addition to generating results for patients, hospital epidemiological data that contribute to local infection control programs must be a value-added component of the service. A major obstacle for independent laboratories to make a significant contribution to risk management is the current reimbursement system, which makes it economically impossible for independent laboratories to support infection control programs in healthcare institutions.

  4. Revision of the Gonioctena nivosa species-group (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Chrysomelinae) in the Holarctic region, with descriptions of two new species

    PubMed Central

    Cho, Hee-Wook; Kippenberg, Horst; Borowiec, Lech

    2016-01-01

    Abstract The Gonioctena nivosa species-group of the genus Gonioctena Chevrolat, 1836 is defined and reviewed. It contains six species including two new to science: Gonioctena gracilicornis (Kraatz, 1879), Gonioctena nivosa (Suffrian, 1851), Gonioctena norvegica (Strand, 1936), Gonioctena springlovae (Bechyně, 1948), Gonioctena amurensis Cho & Borowiec, sp. n. and Gonioctena jani Cho & Borowiec, sp. n. Six new synonyms are proposed: Gonioctena nivosa (= Gonioctena arctica alberta Brown, 1952, syn. n., Phytodecta linnaeana bergrothi Jacobson, 1901, syn. n., Phytodecta linnaeanus var. mutatus Achard, 1924, syn. n., Phytodecta linnaeanus var. simplex Achard, 1924, syn. n. and Phytodecta nivosa var. cedehensis Ronchetti, 1922, syn. n.) and Gonioctena norvegica (= Gonioctena janovskii Medvedev, 1976, syn. n.). Phytodecta flavicornis var. limbatipennis Achard, 1924 and Phytodecta nivosa var. bicolor Heyden, 1883 are removed from synonymy with Gonioctena nivosa (Suffrian, 1851) and are synonymized with Gonioctena flavicornis (Suffrian, 1851). Distribution maps, a key to species, color variation, geographic variation of male genitalia and host plants are provided. Ovoviviparity is newly recorded in Gonioctena gracilicornis and Gonioctena nivosa. Lectotypes are designated for Gonioctena affinis, Gonioctena arctica, Gonioctena linnaeana bergrothi and Gonioctena nivosa. PMID:27408579

  5. Exometabolomics Assisted Design and Validation of Synthetic Obligate Mutualism

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kosina, Suzanne M.; Danielewicz, Megan A.; Mohammed, Mujahid

    Synthetic microbial ecology has the potential to enhance the productivity and resiliency of biotechnology processes compared to approaches using single isolates. Engineering microbial consortia is challenging; however, one approach that has attracted significant attention is the creation of synthetic obligate mutualism using auxotrophic mutants that depend on each other for exchange or cross-feeding of metabolites. In this paper, we describe the integration of mutant library fitness profiling with mass spectrometry based exometabolomics as a method for constructing synthetic mutualism based on cross-feeding. Two industrially important species lacking known ecological interactions, Zymomonas mobilis and Escherichia coli, were selected as the testmore » species. Amino acid exometabolites identified in the spent medium of Z. mobilis were used to select three corresponding E. coli auxotrophs (proA, pheA and IlvA), as potential E. coli counterparts for the coculture. A pooled mutant fitness assay with a Z. mobilis transposon mutant library was used to identify mutants with improved growth in the presence of E. coli. An auxotroph mutant in a gene (ZMO0748) with sequence similarity to cysteine synthase A (cysK), was selected as the Z. mobilis counterpart for the coculture. Exometabolomic analysis of spent E. coli medium identified glutathione related metabolites as potentially available for rescue of the Z. mobilis cysteine synthase mutant. Three sets of cocultures between the Z. mobilis auxotroph and each of the three E. coli auxotrophs were monitored by optical density for growth and analyzed by flow cytometry to confirm high cell counts for each species. Taken together, our methods provide a technological framework for creating synthetic mutualisms combining existing screening based methods and exometabolomics for both the selection of obligate mutualism partners and elucidation of metabolites involved in auxotroph rescue.« less

  6. Global Expression Profiling and Physiological Characterization of Corynebacterium glutamicum Grown in the Presence of l-Valine

    PubMed Central

    Lange, C.; Rittmann, D.; Wendisch, V. F.; Bott, M.; Sahm, H.

    2003-01-01

    Addition of l-valine (50 to 200 mM) to glucose minimal medium had no effect on the growth of wild-type Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032 but inhibited the growth of the derived valine production strain VAL1 [13032 ΔilvA ΔpanBC(pJC1ilvBNCD)] in a concentration-dependent manner. In order to explore this strain-specific valine effect, genomewide expression profiling was performed using DNA microarrays, which showed that valine caused an increased ilvBN mRNA level in VAL1 but not in the wild type. This unexpected result was confirmed by an increased cellular level of the ilvB protein product, i.e., the large subunit of acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS), and by an increased AHAS activity of valine-treated VAL1 cells. The conclusion that valine caused the limitation of another branched-chain amino acid was confirmed by showing that high concentrations of l-isoleucine could relieve the valine effect on VAL1 whereas l-leucine had the same effect as valine. The valine-caused isoleucine limitation was supported by the finding that the inhibitory valine effect was linked to the ilvA deletion that results in isoleucine auxotrophy. Taken together, these results implied that the valine effect is caused by competition for uptake of isoleucine by the carrier BrnQ, which transports all branched-chained amino acids. Indeed, valine inhibition could also be relieved by supplementing VAL1 with the dipeptide isoleucyl-isoleucine, which is taken up by a dipeptide transport system rather than by BrnQ. Interestingly, addition of external valine stimulated valine production by VAL1. This effect is most probably due to a reduced carbon usage for biomass production and to the increased expression of ilvBN, indicating that AHAS activity may still be a limiting factor for valine production in the VAL1 strain. PMID:12732517

  7. (L)-Valine production with minimization of by-products' synthesis in Corynebacterium glutamicum and Brevibacterium flavum.

    PubMed

    Hou, Xiaohu; Chen, Xinde; Zhang, Yue; Qian, He; Zhang, Weiguo

    2012-12-01

    Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC13032 and Brevibacterium flavum JV16 were engineered for L-valine production by over-expressing ilvEBN ( r ) C genes at 31 °C in 72 h fermentation. Different strategies were carried out to reduce the by-products' accumulation in L-valine fermentation and also to increase the availability of precursor for L-valine biosynthesis. The native promoter of ilvA of C. glutamicum was replaced with a weak promoter MPilvA (P-ilvAM1CG) to reduce the biosynthetic rate of L-isoleucine. Effect of different relative dissolved oxygen on L-valine production and by-products' formation was recorded, indicating that 15 % saturation may be the most appropriate relative dissolved oxygen for L-valine fermentation with almost no L-lactic acid and L-glutamate formed. To minimize L-alanine accumulation, alaT and/or avtA was inactivated in C. glutamicum and B. flavum, respectively. Compared to high concentration of L-alanine accumulated by alaT inactivated strains harboring ilvEBN ( r ) C genes, L-alanine concentration was reduced to 0.18 g/L by C. glutamicum ATCC13032MPilvA△avtA pDXW-8-ilvEBN ( r ) C, and 0.22 g/L by B. flavum JV16avtA::Cm pDXW-8-ilvEBN ( r ) C. Meanwhile, L-valine production and conversion efficiency were enhanced to 31.15 g/L and 0.173 g/g by C. glutamicum ATCC13032MPilvA△avtA pDXW-8-ilvEBN ( r ) C, 38.82 g/L and 0.252 g/g by B. flavum JV16avtA::Cm pDXW-8-ilvEBN ( r ) C. This study provides combined strategies to improve L-valine yield by minimization of by-products' production.

  8. Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for the production of l-valine based on transcriptome analysis and in silico gene knockout simulation

    PubMed Central

    Park, Jin Hwan; Lee, Kwang Ho; Kim, Tae Yong; Lee, Sang Yup

    2007-01-01

    The l-valine production strain of Escherichia coli was constructed by rational metabolic engineering and stepwise improvement based on transcriptome analysis and gene knockout simulation of the in silico genome-scale metabolic network. Feedback inhibition of acetohydroxy acid synthase isoenzyme III by l-valine was removed by site-directed mutagenesis, and the native promoter containing the transcriptional attenuator leader regions of the ilvGMEDA and ilvBN operon was replaced with the tac promoter. The ilvA, leuA, and panB genes were deleted to make more precursors available for l-valine biosynthesis. This engineered Val strain harboring a plasmid overexpressing the ilvBN genes produced 1.31 g/liter l-valine. Comparative transcriptome profiling was performed during batch fermentation of the engineered and control strains. Among the down-regulated genes, the lrp and ygaZH genes, which encode a global regulator Lrp and l-valine exporter, respectively, were overexpressed. Amplification of the lrp, ygaZH, and lrp-ygaZH genes led to the enhanced production of l-valine by 21.6%, 47.1%, and 113%, respectively. Further improvement was achieved by using in silico gene knockout simulation, which identified the aceF, mdh, and pfkA genes as knockout targets. The VAMF strain (Val ΔaceF Δmdh ΔpfkA) overexpressing the ilvBN, ilvCED, ygaZH, and lrp genes was able to produce 7.55 g/liter l-valine from 20 g/liter glucose in batch culture, resulting in a high yield of 0.378 g of l-valine per gram of glucose. These results suggest that an industrially competitive strain can be efficiently developed by metabolic engineering based on combined rational modification, transcriptome profiling, and systems-level in silico analysis. PMID:17463081

  9. Significance of two distinct types of tryptophan synthase beta chain in Bacteria, Archaea and higher plants.

    PubMed

    Xie, Gary; Forst, Christian; Bonner, Carol; Jensen, Roy A

    2002-01-01

    Tryptophan synthase consists of two subunits, alpha and beta. Two distinct subgroups of beta chain exist. The major group (TrpEb_1) includes the well-studied beta chain of Salmonella typhimurium. The minor group of beta chain (TrpEb_2) is most frequently found in the Archaea. Most of the amino-acid residues important for catalysis are highly conserved between both TrpE subfamilies. Conserved amino-acid residues of TrpEb_1 that make allosteric contact with the TrpEa subunit (the alpha chain) are absent in TrpEb_2. Representatives of Archaea, Bacteria and higher plants all exist that possess both TrpEb_1 and TrpEb_2. In those prokaryotes where two trpEb genes coexist, one is usually trpEb_1 and is adjacent to trpEa, whereas the second is trpEb_2 and is usually unlinked with other tryptophan-pathway genes. TrpEb_1 is nearly always partnered with TrpEa in the tryptophan synthase reaction. However, by default at least six lineages of the Archaea are likely to use TrpEb_2 as the functional beta chain, as TrpEb_1 is absent. The six lineages show a distinctive divergence within the overall TrpEa phylogenetic tree, consistent with the lack of selection for amino-acid residues in TrpEa that are otherwise conserved for interfacing with TrpEb_1. We suggest that the standalone function of TrpEb_2 might be to catalyze the serine deaminase reaction, an established catalytic capability of tryptophan synthase beta chains. A coincident finding of interest is that the Archaea seem to use the citramalate pathway, rather than threonine deaminase (IlvA), to initiate the pathway of isoleucine biosynthesis.

  10. Exometabolomics Assisted Design and Validation of Synthetic Obligate Mutualism.

    PubMed

    Kosina, Suzanne M; Danielewicz, Megan A; Mohammed, Mujahid; Ray, Jayashree; Suh, Yumi; Yilmaz, Suzan; Singh, Anup K; Arkin, Adam P; Deutschbauer, Adam M; Northen, Trent R

    2016-07-15

    Synthetic microbial ecology has the potential to enhance the productivity and resiliency of biotechnology processes compared to approaches using single isolates. Engineering microbial consortia is challenging; however, one approach that has attracted significant attention is the creation of synthetic obligate mutualism using auxotrophic mutants that depend on each other for exchange or cross-feeding of metabolites. Here, we describe the integration of mutant library fitness profiling with mass spectrometry based exometabolomics as a method for constructing synthetic mutualism based on cross-feeding. Two industrially important species lacking known ecological interactions, Zymomonas mobilis and Escherichia coli, were selected as the test species. Amino acid exometabolites identified in the spent medium of Z. mobilis were used to select three corresponding E. coli auxotrophs (proA, pheA and IlvA), as potential E. coli counterparts for the coculture. A pooled mutant fitness assay with a Z. mobilis transposon mutant library was used to identify mutants with improved growth in the presence of E. coli. An auxotroph mutant in a gene (ZMO0748) with sequence similarity to cysteine synthase A (cysK), was selected as the Z. mobilis counterpart for the coculture. Exometabolomic analysis of spent E. coli medium identified glutathione related metabolites as potentially available for rescue of the Z. mobilis cysteine synthase mutant. Three sets of cocultures between the Z. mobilis auxotroph and each of the three E. coli auxotrophs were monitored by optical density for growth and analyzed by flow cytometry to confirm high cell counts for each species. Taken together, our methods provide a technological framework for creating synthetic mutualisms combining existing screening based methods and exometabolomics for both the selection of obligate mutualism partners and elucidation of metabolites involved in auxotroph rescue.

  11. Exometabolomics Assisted Design and Validation of Synthetic Obligate Mutualism

    DOE PAGES

    Kosina, Suzanne M.; Danielewicz, Megan A.; Mohammed, Mujahid; ...

    2016-02-17

    Synthetic microbial ecology has the potential to enhance the productivity and resiliency of biotechnology processes compared to approaches using single isolates. Engineering microbial consortia is challenging; however, one approach that has attracted significant attention is the creation of synthetic obligate mutualism using auxotrophic mutants that depend on each other for exchange or cross-feeding of metabolites. In this paper, we describe the integration of mutant library fitness profiling with mass spectrometry based exometabolomics as a method for constructing synthetic mutualism based on cross-feeding. Two industrially important species lacking known ecological interactions, Zymomonas mobilis and Escherichia coli, were selected as the testmore » species. Amino acid exometabolites identified in the spent medium of Z. mobilis were used to select three corresponding E. coli auxotrophs (proA, pheA and IlvA), as potential E. coli counterparts for the coculture. A pooled mutant fitness assay with a Z. mobilis transposon mutant library was used to identify mutants with improved growth in the presence of E. coli. An auxotroph mutant in a gene (ZMO0748) with sequence similarity to cysteine synthase A (cysK), was selected as the Z. mobilis counterpart for the coculture. Exometabolomic analysis of spent E. coli medium identified glutathione related metabolites as potentially available for rescue of the Z. mobilis cysteine synthase mutant. Three sets of cocultures between the Z. mobilis auxotroph and each of the three E. coli auxotrophs were monitored by optical density for growth and analyzed by flow cytometry to confirm high cell counts for each species. Taken together, our methods provide a technological framework for creating synthetic mutualisms combining existing screening based methods and exometabolomics for both the selection of obligate mutualism partners and elucidation of metabolites involved in auxotroph rescue.« less

  12. Experimental setup for investigation of nanoclusters at cryogenic temperatures by electron spin resonance and optical spectroscopies

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mao, S., E-mail: maoshunghost@tamu.edu; Meraki, A.; McColgan, P. T.

    2014-07-15

    We present the design and performance of an experimental setup for simultaneous electron spin resonance (ESR) and optical studies of nanoclusters with stabilized free radicals at cryogenic temperatures. A gas mixture of impurities and helium after passing through a RF discharge for dissociation of molecules is directed onto the surface of superfluid helium to form the nanoclusters of impurities. A specially designed ESR cavity operated in the TE{sub 011} mode allows optical access to the sample. The cavity is incorporated into a homemade insert which is placed inside a variable temperature insert of a Janis {sup 4}He cryostat. The temperaturemore » range for sample investigation is 1.25–300 K. A Bruker EPR 300E and Andor 500i optical spectrograph incorporated with a Newton EMCCD camera are used for ESR and optical registration, respectively. The current experimental system makes it possible to study the ESR and optical spectra of impurity-helium condensates simultaneously. The setup allows a broad range of research at low temperatures including optically detected magnetic resonance, studies of chemical processes of the active species produced by photolysis in solid matrices, and investigations of nanoclusters produced by laser ablation in superfluid helium.« less

  13. Importance and usefulness of evaluating self-esteem in children.

    PubMed

    Hosogi, Mizuho; Okada, Ayumi; Fujii, Chikako; Noguchi, Keizou; Watanabe, Kumi

    2012-03-20

    Self-esteem is the "feeling of self-appreciation" and is an indispensable emotion for people to adapt to society and live their lives. For children, in particular, the environment in which they are raised contributes profoundly to the development of their self-esteem, which in turn helps them to adapt better to society. Various psychologists have provided definitions of self-esteem, and examined methods of objectively evaluating self-esteem. Questionnaire-style assessment methods for adult include Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Janis-Field Feeling of Inadequacy Scale, and these for children include Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, Pope's 5-Scale Test of Self-Esteem for children, and Kid- KINDL®. Other methods include Ziller Social Self-Esteem Scale and Implicit Association Test. The development of children's self-esteem is heavily influenced by their environment, that is, their homes, neighborhoods, and schools. Children with damaged self-esteem are at risk of developing psychological and social problems, which hinders recovery from low self-esteem. Thus, to recover low self-esteem, it is important for children to accumulate a series of successful experiences to create a positive concept of self. Evaluating children's self-esteem can be an effective method for understanding their past and present circumstances, and useful to treat for children with psychosomatic disorders.

  14. Importance and usefulness of evaluating self-esteem in children

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Self-esteem is the "feeling of self-appreciation" and is an indispensable emotion for people to adapt to society and live their lives. For children, in particular, the environment in which they are raised contributes profoundly to the development of their self-esteem, which in turn helps them to adapt better to society. Various psychologists have provided definitions of self-esteem, and examined methods of objectively evaluating self-esteem. Questionnaire-style assessment methods for adult include Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Janis-Field Feeling of Inadequacy Scale, and these for children include Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, Pope's 5-Scale Test of Self-Esteem for children, and Kid- KINDL®. Other methods include Ziller Social Self-Esteem Scale and Implicit Association Test. The development of children's self-esteem is heavily influenced by their environment, that is, their homes, neighborhoods, and schools. Children with damaged self-esteem are at risk of developing psychological and social problems, which hinders recovery from low self-esteem. Thus, to recover low self-esteem, it is important for children to accumulate a series of successful experiences to create a positive concept of self. Evaluating children's self-esteem can be an effective method for understanding their past and present circumstances, and useful to treat for children with psychosomatic disorders. PMID:22433387

  15. Hospice decision making: diagnosis makes a difference.

    PubMed

    Waldrop, Deborah P; Meeker, Mary Ann

    2012-10-01

    This study explored the process of decision making about hospice enrollment and identified factors that influence the timing of that decision. This study employed an exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional design and was conducted using qualitative methods. In-depth in-person semistructured interviews were conducted with 36 hospice patients and 55 caregivers after 2 weeks of hospice care. The study was guided by Janis and Mann's conflict theory model (CTM) of decision making. Qualitative data analysis involved a directed content analysis using concepts from the CTM. A model of hospice enrollment decision making is presented. Concepts from the CTM (appraisal, surveying and weighing the alternatives, deliberations, adherence) were used as an organizing framework to illustrate the dynamics. Distinct differences were found by diagnosis (cancer vs. other chronic illness, e.g., heart and lung diseases) during the pre-encounter phase or before the hospice referral but no differences emerged during the post-encounter phase. Differences in decision making by diagnosis suggest the need for research about effective means for tailored communication in end-of-life decision making by type of illness. Recognition that decision making about hospice admission varies is important for clinicians who aim to provide person-centered and family-focused care.

  16. Upper Devonian vertebrate taphonomy and sedimentology from the Klunas fossil site, Tervete Formation, Latvia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vasiļkova, J.; Lukševičs, E.; Stinkulis, Ä.¢.; Zupinš, I.

    2012-04-01

    The deposits of the Tervete Formation, Famennian Stage of Latvia, comprising weakly cemented sandstone and sand intercalated with dolomitic marls, siltstone and clay, have been traditionally interpreted as having formed in a shallow, rather restricted sea with lowered salinity. During seven field seasons the excavations took place in the south-western part of Latvia, at the Klunas site, and resulted in extensive palaeontological and sedimentological data. The taphonomical analysis has been performed, having evaluated the size, sorting, orientation of the fossils, articulation and skeletal preservation as well as the degree of fragmentation and abrasion. The sedimentological analysis involved interpretation of sedimentary structures, palaeocurrent direction reconstruction, grain-size analysis and approximate water depth calculations. The vertebrate assemblage of the Klunas site represents all known taxa of the Sparnene Regional Stage of the Baltic Devonian, comprising placoderms Bothriolepis ornata Eichwald, B. jani Lukševičs, Phyllolepis tolli Vasiliauskas, Dunkleosteus sp. and Chelyophorus sp., sarcopterygians Holoptychius nobilissimus Agassiz, Platycephalichthys skuenicus Vorobyeva, Cryptolepis sp., Conchodus sp., Glyptopomus ? sp., "Strunius" ? sp., and Dipterus sp., as well as an undetermined actinopterygian. Placoderms Bothriolepis ornata and B. jani dominate the assemblage. The fossils are represented in the main by fully disarticulated placoderm plates and plate fragments, sarcopterygian scales and teeth, rarely bones of the head and shoulder girdle, and acanthodian spines and scales. The characteristic feature is the great amount of fragmentary remains several times exceeding the number of intact bones. The horizontal distribution of the bones over the studied area is not homogenous, distinct zones of increased or decreased density of fossils can be traced. Zones of the increased density usually contain many elements of various sizes, whereas zones of the

  17. Low self-esteem and psychiatric patients: Part II – The relationship between self-esteem and demographic factors and psychosocial stressors in psychiatric patients

    PubMed Central

    Salsali, Mahnaz; Silverstone, Peter H

    2003-01-01

    Background The objective of the present study was to identify the effects and relative importance of demographic factors and psychosocial stressors on self-esteem of psychiatric patients. Method The present study was carried out on a consecutive sample of 1,190 individuals attending an open-access psychiatric outpatient clinic. Patients were diagnosed according to DSM III-R diagnostic criteria following detailed assessments. At screening, patients and controls completed two self-esteem questionnaires, the Rosenberg self-esteem scale and the Janis and Field Social Adequacy scale. In addition, a large amount of demographic and psychosocial data was collected on all patients. Results Significantly increased self-esteem was observed with an increase in age, educational achievement and income. Employed patients showed significantly higher self-esteem compared to unemployed patients. Female patients had a significantly lower self-esteem compared to male patients. The self-esteem of psychiatric patients did not vary significantly with their marital status. No relationship was detected between acute stressors and the self-esteem of psychiatric patients, although severe enduring stressors were associated with lower self-esteem in psychiatric patients. Conclusion The results of this large study demonstrate that the self-esteem of adult psychiatric patients is affected by a number of demographic and psychosocial factors including age, sex, educational status, income, employment status, and enduring psychosocial stressors. PMID:12622872

  18. Role of (n,2n) reactions in transmutation of long-lived fission products

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Apse, V. A.; Kulikov, G. G., E-mail: ggkulikov@mephi.ru; Kulikov, E. G.

    2016-12-15

    The conditions under which (n,γ) and (n,2n) reactions can help or hinder each other in neutron transmutation of long-lived fission products (LLFPs) are considered. Isotopic and elemental transmutation for the main long-lived fission products, {sup 79}Se, {sup 93}Zr, {sup 99}Tc, {sup 107}Pd, {sup 126}Sn, {sup 129}I, and {sup 135}Cs, are considered. The effect of (n,2n) reactions on the equilibrium amount of nuclei of the transmuted isotope and the neutron consumption required for the isotope processing is estimated. The aim of the study is to estimate the influence of (n,2n) reactions on efficiency of neutron LLFP transmutation. The code TIME26 andmore » the libraries of evaluated nuclear data ABBN-93, JEF-PC, and JANIS system are applied. The following results are obtained: (1) The effect of (n,2n) reactions on the minimum number of neutrons required for transmutation and the equilibrium amount of LLFP nuclei is estimated. (2) It is demonstrated that, for three LLFP isotopes ({sup 126}Sn, {sup 129}I, and {sup 135}Cs), (n,γ) and (n,2n) reactions are partners facilitating neutron transmutation. The strongest effect of (n,2n) reaction is found for {sup 126}Sn transmutation (reduction of the neutron consumption by 49% and the equilibrium amount of nuclei by 19%).« less

  19. Recent progress in the development of Terumo implantable left ventricular assist system.

    PubMed

    Nojiri, C; Kijima, T; Maekawa, J; Horiuchi, K; Kido, T; Sugiyama, T; Mori, T; Sugiura, N; Asada, T; Shimane, H; Ozaki, T; Suzuki, M; Akamatsu, T; Akutsu, T

    1999-01-01

    The research group of the Terumo Corporation, the NTN Corporation, and Setsunan University (T. Akamatsu) has been developing an implantable left ventricular assist system (ILVAS) featuring a centrifugal blood pump with a magnetically suspended impeller (MSCP). The impeller of the MSCP is suspended by a magnetic bearing, providing contact-free rotation of the impeller inside the pump housing. Thus the MSCP is expected to provide years of long-term durability. Ex vivo chronic sheep experiments using the extracorporeal model (Model I) demonstrated long-term durability, nonthrombogenicity, and a low hemolysis rate (plasma free Hb <6 mg/dl) for more than 2 years. The prototype implantable model (Model II; 196 ml, 400 g) was evaluated ex vivo in 2 sheep and intrathoracically implanted in a small sheep (45 kg). These experiments were terminated at 70, 79, and 17 days, respectively, because of blood leakage through the connector system within the housing of Model II. There was no thrombus formation on the retrieved pump surfaces. A new connector system was introduced to the Model II pump (modified Model II), and the pump was intrathoracically implanted in a sheep. Pump flow rate was maintained at 3-7 L/min at 1700-1800 rpm. The temperature elevation on the surfaces of the motor and the electromagnet inside the pump casing was kept less than 6 degrees C. The temperature of the tissue adjacent to the pump casing became normal 10 days postoperatively. The sheep survived for more than 5 months without any sign of mechanical failure or thromboembolic complication. In vitro real-time endurance tests of motor bearings made of stainless steel and silicone nitride have been conducted for more than 1 year without any sign of bearing wear. The next prototype system (Model III), with an implantable controller and a new MSCP with reduced input power, has been developed with a view toward a totally implantable LVAS.

  20. Evaluation of the radiation hazard for ion-beam analysis with MeV external proton beams (X-IBA)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hofsäss, Hans

    2018-07-01

    MeV ion beams which are extracted into air or He atmosphere are used in many labs for proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE), proton induced gamma ray emission (PIGE) or Rutherford backscattering (RBS) to analyze samples which are difficult or impossible to handle in vacuum. When MeV proton beams are extracted into air through thin Kapton foils or nowadays thin silicon nitride membranes, the protons will interact with air, as well as elements present in the analyzed samples. Typically the range of MeV protons in air is several cm, in Helium atmosphere several 10 cm and in human skin around 100 μm. Besides the severe radiation hazard in case of a direct exposure of skin with protons, there are a manifold of nuclear reactions or inelastic proton scattering processes which may cause activation of air and target materials but also prompt radiation. The radiation hazard associated with the direct and scattered beam, nuclear reaction products and radionuclide production in air have been discussed in a publication by Doyle et al. in 1991 which was used as a reference in several later publications. I have reevaluated the radiation hazards for external proton beams with up to 4.5 MeV using proton reaction cross sections taken from the JANIS book of proton induced cross sections. The radionuclide production in air is about 3 orders of magnitude lower compared to values given in the 1991 publication. Radionuclide production as well as generation of prompt alpha, gamma and neutron radiation in target materials for elements up to molybdenum is also evaluated.

  1. Spacetime completeness of non-singular black holes in conformal gravity

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bambi, Cosimo; Rachwał, Lesław; Modesto, Leonardo, E-mail: bambi@fudan.edu.cn, E-mail: lmodesto@sustc.edu.cn, E-mail: grzerach@gmail.com

    We explicitly prove that the Weyl conformal symmetry solves the black hole singularity problem, otherwise unavoidable in a generally covariant local or non-local gravitational theory. Moreover, we yield explicit examples of local and non-local theories enjoying Weyl and diffeomorphism symmetry (in short co-covariant theories). Following the seminal paper by Narlikar and Kembhavi, we provide an explicit construction of singularity-free spherically symmetric and axi-symmetric exact solutions for black hole spacetimes conformally equivalent to the Schwarzschild or the Kerr spacetime. We first check the absence of divergences in the Kretschmann invariant for the rescaled metrics. Afterwords, we show that the new typesmore » of black holes are geodesically complete and linked by a Newman-Janis transformation just as in standard general relativity (based on Einstein-Hilbert action). Furthermore, we argue that no massive or massless particles can reach the former Schwarzschild singularity or touch the former Kerr ring singularity in a finite amount of their proper time or of their affine parameter. Finally, we discuss the Raychaudhuri equation in a co-covariant theory and we show that the expansion parameter for congruences of both types of geodesics (for massless and massive particles) never reaches minus infinity. Actually, the null geodesics become parallel at the r =0 point in the Schwarzschild spacetime (the origin) and the focusing of geodesics is avoided. The arguments of regularity of curvature invariants, geodesic completeness, and finiteness of geodesics' expansion parameter ensure us that we are dealing with singularity-free and geodesically-complete black hole spacetimes.« less

  2. Construction of a novel gene bank of Bacillus subtilis using a low copy number vector in Escherichia coli.

    PubMed

    Hasnain, S; Thomas, C M

    1986-07-01

    Low copy number vector plasmid pCT571 was constructed to clone Bacillus subtilis genomic fragments in Escherichia coli. pCT571 confers KmR, TcR and CmR in E. coli and CmR in B. subtilis. It has unique restriction sites within the KmR and TcR markers to allow screening for recombinant plasmids by insertional inactivation of these genes. It contains the pSC101 replicon and replicates normally at six to eight copies per chromosome equivalent in E. coli. It also contains oriVRK2, which when supplied with the product of the trfA gene of RK2 in trans, allows pCT571 to replicate at 35-40 copies per chromosome equivalent. A B. subtilis gene bank was created by cloning partially Sau3A-digested and size-fractionated fragments of B. subtilis chromosomal DNA into the BamHI site of pCT571. DNA from 1097 KmR TcS transformants was extracted and analysed electrophoretically as supercoiled DNA and after digesting with EcoRI or EcoRI and SalI. Approximately 1000 hybrid plasmids were found with reasonably sized B. subtilis fragments. The mean size of the inserts in pCT571 is 8 kb, ranging from 4 to 20 kb in different plasmids. The gene bank covers most of the B. subtilis chromosome, as demonstrated by the results of screening the gene bank for selectable nutritional markers in E. coli and B. subtilis. Hybrid plasmids which complement E. coli mutants for arg, his, lys, met, pdx, pyr and thr markers were identified from the gene bank. In B. subtilis the presence of argC, cysA, dal, hisA, ilvA, leuA, lys, metB, metC, phe, purA, purB, thr and trpC was established by transformation experiments. The effects of copy number on cloning and long-term maintenance in the bacterial strains were also investigated. At high copy number some hybrid plasmids cannot be maintained at all, while others show an increased rate of structural deletions and rearrangements.

  3. A Research Consortium That's All Over the Map--That's Our Strength, if We Use Translation to Teach Each Other: A Response to Janis Forman's ABC Outstanding Researcher Lecture.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kostelnick, Charles

    1998-01-01

    Responds to an article in the same issue of this journal by considering several issues: whether pure research in business communication is possible; why business communication translates ideas and methods from other disciplines; and responsibilities of translators. Argues that the breadth of this research consortium should not be seen as a…

  4. Local conductivity enhancement due to the tetragonal domain structure in LaAlO3- SrTiO3 heterointerfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moler, Kathryn

    2014-03-01

    Progress in the difficult task of growing oxide heterostructures has enabled the field of oxide interface engineering. The ability to control materials properties through interface engineering is demonstrated by the appearance of conductivity at the interface of certain insulators, most famously the {001}interface of the band insulators LaAlO3 (LAO) and TiO2-terminated SrTiO3 (STO). The prevailing explanation of conduction at the interface is electronic reconstruction due to a `polar catastrophe' in which charge migrates from the top LAO layer to the interface. Transport and other measurements in this system display a plethora of diverse physical phenomena. To better understand the interface conductivity, we used scanning superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) microscopy to image the magnetic field locally generated by current in an interface. At low temperature, we found that the current flowed in conductive narrow paths oriented along the crystallographic axes, embedded in a less conductive background. The configuration of these paths changed upon thermal cycling above the STO cubic to tetragonal structural transition temperature, implying that the local conductivity is strongly modified by the STO tetragonal domain structure. In this talk, I will summarize these results and also report on measurements of conductivity and diamagnetism in related materials that firmly establish the influence of the STO tetragonal domains on electronic properties. Coauthors C. Bell, H.K. Sato, M. Hosoda, Y. Xie, Y. Hikita, & H.Y. Hwang (SIMES); R. Jany & C. Richter (Augsburg); C. Woltmann, G. Pfanzelt, & J. Mannhart (MP Stuttgart); B. Kalisky, E.M. Spanton, H. Noad, K.C. Nowack, A. Rosenberg, & J.R. Kirtley.

  5. Kerr–anti-de Sitter/de Sitter black hole in perfect fluid dark matter background

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, Zhaoyi; Hou, Xian; Wang, Jiancheng

    2018-06-01

    We obtain the Kerr–anti-de-sitter (Kerr–AdS) and Kerr–de-sitter (Kerr–dS) black hole (BH) solutions to the Einstein field equation in the perfect fluid dark matter background using the Newman–Janis method and Mathematica package. We discuss in detail the black hole properties and obtain the following main results: (i) From the horizon equation g rr   =  0, we derive the relation between the perfect fluid dark matter parameter α and the cosmological constant Λ when the cosmological horizon exists. For , we find that α is in the range for and for . For positive cosmological constant Λ (Kerr–AdS BH), decreases if , and increases if . For negative cosmological constant (Kerr–dS BH), increases if and decreases if ; (ii) An ergosphere exists between the event horizon and the outer static limit surface. The size of the ergosphere evolves oppositely for and , while decreasing with the increasing . When there is sufficient dark matter around the black hole, the black hole spacetime changes remarkably; (iii) The singularity of these black holes is the same as that of rotational black holes. In addition, we study the geodesic motion using the Hamilton–Jacobi formalism and find that when α is in the above ranges for , stable orbits exist. Furthermore, the rotational velocity of the black hole in the equatorial plane has different behaviour for different α and the black hole spin a. It is asymptotically flat and independent of α if while is asymptotically flat only when α is close to zero if . We anticipate that Kerr–Ads/dS black holes could exist in the universe and our future work will focus on the observational effects of the perfect fluid dark matter on these black holes.

  6. Particle motion and Penrose processes around rotating regular black hole

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abdujabbarov, Ahmadjon

    2016-07-01

    The neutral particle motion around rotating regular black hole that was derived from the Ayón-Beato-García (ABG) black hole solution by the Newman-Janis algorithm in the preceding paper (Toshmatov et al., Phys. Rev. D, 89:104017, 2014) has been studied. The dependencies of the ISCO (innermost stable circular orbits along geodesics) and unstable orbits on the value of the electric charge of the rotating regular black hole have been shown. Energy extraction from the rotating regular black hole through various processes has been examined. We have found expression of the center of mass energy for the colliding neutral particles coming from infinity, based on the BSW (Baňados-Silk-West) mechanism. The electric charge Q of rotating regular black hole decreases the potential of the gravitational field as compared to the Kerr black hole and the particles demonstrate less bound energy at the circular geodesics. This causes an increase of efficiency of the energy extraction through BSW process in the presence of the electric charge Q from rotating regular black hole. Furthermore, we have studied the particle emission due to the BSW effect assuming that two neutral particles collide near the horizon of the rotating regular extremal black hole and produce another two particles. We have shown that efficiency of the energy extraction is less than the value 146.6 % being valid for the Kerr black hole. It has been also demonstrated that the efficiency of the energy extraction from the rotating regular black hole via the Penrose process decreases with the increase of the electric charge Q and is smaller in comparison to 20.7 % which is the value for the extreme Kerr black hole with the specific angular momentum a= M.

  7. New features and improved uncertainty analysis in the NEA nuclear data sensitivity tool (NDaST)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dyrda, J.; Soppera, N.; Hill, I.; Bossant, M.; Gulliford, J.

    2017-09-01

    Following the release and initial testing period of the NEA's Nuclear Data Sensitivity Tool [1], new features have been designed and implemented in order to expand its uncertainty analysis capabilities. The aim is to provide a free online tool for integral benchmark testing, that is both efficient and comprehensive, meeting the needs of the nuclear data and benchmark testing communities. New features include access to P1 sensitivities for neutron scattering angular distribution [2] and constrained Chi sensitivities for the prompt fission neutron energy sampling. Both of these are compatible with covariance data accessed via the JANIS nuclear data software, enabling propagation of the resultant uncertainties in keff to a large series of integral experiment benchmarks. These capabilities are available using a number of different covariance libraries e.g., ENDF/B, JEFF, JENDL and TENDL, allowing comparison of the broad range of results it is possible to obtain. The IRPhE database of reactor physics measurements is now also accessible within the tool in addition to the criticality benchmarks from ICSBEP. Other improvements include the ability to determine and visualise the energy dependence of a given calculated result in order to better identify specific regions of importance or high uncertainty contribution. Sorting and statistical analysis of the selected benchmark suite is now also provided. Examples of the plots generated by the software are included to illustrate such capabilities. Finally, a number of analytical expressions, for example Maxwellian and Watt fission spectra will be included. This will allow the analyst to determine the impact of varying such distributions within the data evaluation, either through adjustment of parameters within the expressions, or by comparison to a more general probability distribution fitted to measured data. The impact of such changes is verified through calculations which are compared to a `direct' measurement found by

  8. PREFACE: 7th EEIGM International Conference on Advanced Materials Research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Joffe, Roberts

    2013-12-01

    The 7th EEIGM Conference on Advanced Materials Research (AMR 2013) was held at Luleå University of Technology on the 21-22 March 2013 in Luleå, SWEDEN. This conference is intended as a meeting place for researchers involved in the EEIGM programme, in the 'Erasmus Mundus' Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Master programme (AMASE) and the 'Erasmus Mundus' Doctoral Programme in Materials Science and Engineering (DocMASE). This is great opportunity to present their on-going research in the various fields of Materials Science and Engineering, exchange ideas, strengthen co-operation as well as establish new contacts. More than 60 participants representing six countries attended the meeting, in total 26 oral talks and 19 posters were presented during two days. This issue of IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering presents a selection of articles from EEIGM-7 conference. Following tradition from previous EEIGM conferences, it represents the interdisciplinary nature of Materials Science and Engineering. The papers presented in this issue deal not only with basic research but also with applied problems of materials science. The presented topics include theoretical and experimental investigations on polymer composite materials (synthetic and bio-based), metallic materials and ceramics, as well as nano-materials of different kind. Special thanks should be directed to the senior staff of Division of Materials Science at LTU who agreed to review submitted papers and thus ensured high scientific level of content of this collection of papers. The following colleagues participated in the review process: Professor Lennart Walström, Professor Roberts Joffe, Professor Janis Varna, Associate Professor Marta-Lena Antti, Dr Esa Vuorinen, Professor Aji Mathew, Professor Alexander Soldatov, Dr Andrejs Purpurs, Dr Yvonne Aitomäki, Dr Robert Pederson. Roberts Joffe October 2013, Luleå Conference photograph EEIGM7 conference participants, 22 March 2013 The PDF

  9. A Silent Safety Program

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Goodin, James Ronald

    2006-01-01

    NASA's Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) referred 8 times to the NASA "Silent Safety Program." This term, "Silent Safety Program" was not an original observation but first appeared in the Rogers Commission's Investigation of the Challenger Mishap. The CAIB on page 183 of its report in the paragraph titled 'Encouraging Minority Opinion,' stated "The Naval Reactor Program encourages minority opinions and "bad news." Leaders continually emphasize that when no minority opinions are present, the responsibility for a thorough and critical examination falls to management. . . Board interviews revealed that it is difficult for minority and dissenting opinions to percolate up through the agency's hierarchy. . ." The first question and perhaps the only question is - what is a silent safety program? Well, a silent safety program may be the same as the dog that didn't bark in Sherlock Holmes' "Adventure of the Silver Blaze" because system safety should behave as a devil's advocate for the program barking on every occasion to insure a critical review inclusion. This paper evaluates the NASA safety program and provides suggestions to prevent the recurrence of the silent safety program alluded to in the Challenger Mishap Investigation. Specifically targeted in the CAM report, "The checks and balances the safety system was meant to provide were not working." A silent system safety program is not unique to NASA but could emerge in any and every organization. Principles developed by Irving Janis in his book, Groupthink, listed criteria used to evaluate an organization's cultural attributes that allows a silent safety program to evolve. If evidence validates Jams's criteria, then Jams's recommendations for preventing groupthink can also be used to improve a critical evaluation and thus prevent the development of a silent safety program.

  10. Creativity, alcohol and drug abuse: the pop icon Jim Morrison.

    PubMed

    Holm-Hadulla, Rainer M; Bertolino, Alina

    2014-01-01

    Alcohol and drug abuse is frequent among performers and pop musicians. Many of them hope that alcohol and drugs will enhance their creativity. Scientific studies are scarce and conclusions limited for methodological reasons. Furthermore, extraordinary creativity can hardly be grasped by empirical-statistical methods. Thus, ideographic studies are necessary to learn from extraordinarily creative persons about the relationship of creativity with alcohol and drugs. The pop icon Jim Morrison can serve as an exemplary case to investigate the interrelation between alcohol and drug abuse and creativity. Morrison's self-assessments in his works and letters as well as the descriptions by others are analyzed under the perspective of creativity research. In the lyrics of Jim Morrison and in biographical descriptions, we can see how Jim Morrison tried to cope with traumatic events, depressive moods and uncontrolled impulses through creative activities. His talent, skill and motivation to write creatively were independent from taking alcohol and drugs. He used alcohol and drugs to transgress restrictive social norms, to broaden his perceptions and to reinforce his struggle for self-actualization. In short, his motivation to create something new and authentic was reinforced by alcohol and drugs. More important was the influence of a supportive group that enabled Morrison's talents to flourish. However, soon the frequent use of high doses of alcohol and drugs weakened his capacity to realize creative motivation. Jim Morrison is an exemplary case showing that heavy drinking and the abuse of LSD, mescaline and amphetamines damages the capacity to realize creative motivation. Jim Morrison is typical of creative personalities like Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones and Jimmy Hendrix who burn their creativity in early adulthood through alcohol and drugs. We suppose that the sacrificial ritual of their decay offers some benefits for the excited spectators. One of these is the

  11. The Development of a Social Networking-Based Relatedness Intervention Among Young, First-Time Blood Donors: Pilot Study.

    PubMed

    Frye, Victoria; Duffy, Louisa; France, Janis L; Kessler, Debra A; Rebosa, Mark; Shaz, Beth H; Carlson, Bruce W; France, Christopher R

    2018-04-26

    Increasing repeat blood donation behavior is a critical public health goal. According to self-determination theory, the process of developing internal motivation to give blood and an associated self-identity as a blood donor may be promoted by feelings of “relatedness” or a connection to other donors, which may be enhanced through social relations and interactions. The purpose of this report it to describe the development and pilot testing of a social networking-based (Facebook) intervention condition designed to increase feelings of relatedness via virtual social interaction and support. To develop the intervention condition content, images, text, polls, and video content were assembled. Ohio University college students (N=127) rated the content (82 images/text) presented by computer in random order using a scale of one to five on various dimensions of relatedness. Mean ratings were calculated and analyses of variance were conducted to assess associations among the dimensions. Based on these results, the relatedness intervention was adapted and evaluated for feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy among 24 first-time donors, aged 18 to 24 years, in a 30-day pilot trial. Paired t-tests were conducted to examine change over time in relatedness and connectedness. The intervention condition that was developed was acceptable and feasible. Results of the uncontrolled, preintervention, and postintervention evaluation revealed that feelings of individual-level relatedness increased significantly after the intervention. By promoting first-time blood donor relatedness, our goal is to enhance internal motivation for donating and the integration of the blood donor identity, thus increasing the likelihood of future repeat donation. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02717338; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02717338 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6ymHRBCwu) ©Victoria Frye, Louisa Duffy, Janis L France, Debra A Kessler, Mark Rebosa, Beth H Shaz

  12. Patients' Need for Tailored Comparative Health Care Information: A Qualitative Study on Choosing a Hospital.

    PubMed

    Zwijnenberg, Nicolien C; Hendriks, Michelle; Bloemendal, Evelien; Damman, Olga C; de Jong, Judith D; Delnoij, Diana Mj; Rademakers, Jany Jd

    2016-11-28

    relevancy and use of online comparative health care information. Future research should focus on how different groups of people use comparative health care information for different health care choices in real life. ©Nicolien C Zwijnenberg, Michelle Hendriks, Evelien Bloemendal, Olga C Damman, Judith D de Jong, Diana MJ Delnoij, Jany JD Rademakers. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 28.11.2016.

  13. Climate Variability In The Euro-atlantic Sector As Simulated By Echam4

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Menezes, I.; Corte-Real, J.; Ramos, A.; Conde, F.

    The atmosphere is a fundamental component of the climate system and its influence in local and global climates results from its composition, structure and motion. The best available tools to simulate future climates are coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs), ECHAM4 (T42 L19)[1] being a very relevant exam- ple of such a model due to its elaborated parametrizations of physical processes. The purpose of this work is twofold : (1) to assess the ability of ECHAM4 in reproducing the reference climate of 1961-1990, over the Euro-Atlantic sector (29N-71N; 67W- 59E) in terms of mean sea level pressure, surface temperature and total precipitation; (2) to evaluate the expected changes of the same climate elements in a warmer world. To attain the first goal the ECHAMSs control run output is compared with observed data obtained from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU data set)[2-5]; to achieve the second objective, the modelSs control run is compared with its transient run forced by greenhouse gases. In both cases, comparisons are made in terms of mean values, variability in space and time and extremes. References [1] E. Roeckner, K. Arpe, L. Bengtsson, M. Christoph, M. Claussen, L. Dümenil, M. Esch, M. Giorgetta, U. Schlese, and U. Schulzweida, 1996: The atmospheric gen- eral circulation model ECHAM4: Model description and simulation of present-day climate. Max Planck Institut für Meteorologie, Report No. 218, Hamburg, Germany, 90 pp. [2] M. Hulme, D. Conway, P.D. Jones, T. Jiang, E.M. Barrow, and C. Turney (1995), Construction of a 1961-90 European climatology for climate change impacts and mod- elling applications, Int. J. Climatol., 15, 1333-1363. [3] M. Hulme (1994), The cost of climate data U a European experience, Weather, 49, 168-175. [4] M. Hulme, and M.G. New (1997), Dependence of large-scale precipitation clima- tologies on temporal and spatial sampling, J. Climate, 10, 1099-1113. 1 [5] C.J. Willmot, S.M. Robeson and M.J. Janis (1996

  14. Women in Physics: An International Perspective

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McNeil, Laurie

    1997-04-01

    This session organized by the APS Committee on the Status of Women in Physics will open with a brief memorial to Dr. Chien-Shung Wu, who died on February 16, 1997. It will continue with an exploration of the challenges faced by women in physics in various parts of the world. We will hear both personal and statistical pictures of the experiences of women in physics in Japan and Canada. The presentations from the two countries (approximately 20 min. each) will be followed by an open forum in which questions from the audience will be invited. "Chien-Shung Wu: In Memoriam" Speaker: Noemie Benczer-Koller. Dr. Chien-Shung Wu and her 1957 experiment on parity non-conservation shattered what was thought to be a fundamental law of physics. Her contributions to women in physics (including her election in 1975 to the APS Presidency) will be briefly recalled. The Japanese Perspective "A Female Physicist in Japan" Fumiko Yonezawa (President, Physical Society of Japan). Dr. Yonazawa will share her experiences as a female physicist in Japan, and describe the path she has taken to leadership in her professional society. The Canadian Perspective "Women in Physics in Canada: A Physics Graduate and Faculty Survey" Janis McKenna (Univ. of British Columbia). Dr. McKenna will present the results of a 1995 CAP-sponsored survey of women faculty and graduates in physics in Canada, which concluded that the situation for women in physics in Canada is very similar to that in the U.S. (only 5% of faculty members are women), and not as progressive as the situation in several European countries. "Physics on the Border: The 'Two-Body Problem' for Canadian Physicists" Ann McMillan (Atmospheric Environment Service). Dr. McMillan will describe how the geographic distribution of Canadian universities and research facilities poses unique problems for physicists balancing two careers in one family. She will discuss the particular challenges faced by female physicists, and the institutional responses to

  15. Kak Amerikantsy iskali vetra v pole, a nashli radiatsionnyj poyas i kak Russkie iskali radiatsionnyj poyas, a nashli solnechnyj veter Chast' I %t How Americans looked for "a wind in a field" but found a radiation belt, and how Russians looked for a radiation belt but found a solar wind or physical experiments on the first artificial Earth's satellites and a discovery of radiation belts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zavidonov, I. V.

    The history of the most important scientific discovery of the early space era - the discovery of the inner and outer radiation belts of the Earth in 1958 is reconstructed. The paper uses archival records to bring to light the relative contributions of Soviet and American reseachers to the complex process of discovery. It also shows how misuses of science in mass-media political propaganda led to misrepresentations of the real historical portrayal of early space research.

  16. Motion4D-library extended

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Müller, Thomas

    2011-06-01

    Chandrasekhar [6].HalilsoyWave: see Ref. [7].JaNeWi: Janis-Newman-Winicour metric, see Ref. [8].MinkowskiConformal: Minkowski metric in conformally rescaled coordinates.PTD_AI, PTD_AII, PTD_AIII, PTD_BI, PTD_BII, PTD_BIII, PTD_C Petrov-Type D - Levi-Civita spacetimes, see Ref. [7].PainleveGullstrand: Schwarzschild metric in Painlevé-Gullstrand coordinates, see Ref. [9].PlaneGravWave: Plane gravitational wave, see Ref. [10].SchwarzschildIsotropic: Schwarzschild metric in isotropic coordinates, see Ref. [11].SchwarzschildTortoise: Schwarzschild metric in tortoise coordinates, see Ref. [11].Sultana-Dyer: A black hole in the Einstein-de Sitter universe by Sultana and Dyer [12].TaubNUT: see Ref. [13]. The Christoffel symbols and the natural local tetrads of these new metrics are given in the Catalogue of Spacetimes, Ref. [14].To study the behavior of geodesics, it is often useful to determine an effective potential like in classical mechanics. For several metrics, we followed the Euler-Lagrangian approach as described by Rindler [10] and implemented an effective potential for a specific situation. As an example, consider the Lagrangian L=-αt˙+α-1r˙+r2φ˙ for timelike geodesics in the ϑ=π/2 hypersurface in the Schwarzschild spacetime with α=1-2m/r. The Euler-Lagrangian equations lead to the energy balance equation r˙+V(r)=k2 with the effective potential V(r)=(r-2m)(r2+h2)/r3 and the constants of motion k=αt˙ and h=r2φ˙. The constants of motion for a timelike geodesic that starts at (r=10m,φ=0) with initial direction ξ=π/4 with respect to the black hole direction and with initial velocity β=0.7 read k≈1.252 and h≈6.931. Then, from the energy balance equation we immediately obtain the radius of closest approach r≈5.927.Beside a standard Runge-Kutta fourth-order integrator and the integrators of the Gnu Scientific Library (GSL), we also implemented a standard Bulirsch-Stoer integrator.Running time: The test runs provided with the distribution require only a few

  17. Quantitative multiplex detection of biomarkers on a waveguide-based biosensor using quantum dots

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Xie, Hongzhi; Mukundan, Harshini; Martinez, Jennifer S

    2009-01-01

    The quantitative, simultaneous detection of multiple biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity is critical for biomedical diagnostics, drug discovery and biomarker characterization [Wilson 2006, Tok 2006, Straub 2005, Joos 2002, Jani 2000]. Detection systems relying on optical signal transduction are, in general, advantageous because they are fast, portable, inexpensive, sensitive, and have the potential for multiplex detection of analytes of interest. However, conventional immunoassays for the detection of biomarkers, such as the Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assays (ELISAs) are semi-quantitative, time consuming and insensitive. ELISA assays are also limited by high non-specific binding, especially when used with complex biological samples suchmore » as serum and urine (REF). Organic fluorophores that are commonly used in such applications lack photostability and possess a narrow Stoke's shift that makes simultaneous detection of multiple fluorophores with a single excitation source difficult, thereby restricting their use in multiplex assays. The above limitations with traditional assay platforms have resulted in the increased use of nanotechnology-based tools and techniques in the fields of medical imaging [ref], targeted drug delivery [Caruthers 2007, Liu 2007], and sensing [ref]. One such area of increasing interest is the use of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) for biomedical research and diagnostics [Gao and Cui 2004, Voura 2004, Michalet 2005, Chan 2002, Jaiswal 2004, Gao 2005, Medintz 2005, So 2006 2006, Wu 2003]. Compared to organic dyes, QDs provide several advantages for use in immunoassay platforms, including broad absorption bands with high extinction coefficients, narrow and symmetric emission bands with high quantum yields, high photostablility, and a large Stokes shift [Michalet 2005, Gu 2002]. These features prompted the use of QDs as probes in biodetection [Michalet 2005, Medintz 2005]. For example, Jaiswal et al. reported long term

  18. Novel polymer carriers and gene constructs for treatment of myocardial ischemia and infarction.

    PubMed

    Yockman, James W; Kastenmeier, Andrew; Erickson, Harold M; Brumbach, Jonathan G; Whitten, Matthew G; Albanil, Aida; Li, Dean Y; Kim, Sung Wan; Bull, David A

    2008-12-18

    The number one cause of mortality in the US is cardiovascular related disease. Future predictions do not see a reduction in this rate especially with the continued rise in obesity [P. Poirier, et al., Obesity and cardiovascular disease: pathophysiology, evaluation, and effect of weight loss, Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 26(5), (2006) 968-976.; K. Obunai, S. Jani, G.D. Dangas, Cardiovascular morbidity and mortality of the metabolic syndrome, Med.Clin. North Am., 91(6), (2007) 1169-1184]. Even so, potential molecular therapeutic targets for cardiac gene delivery are in no short supply thanks to continuing advances in molecular cardiology. However, efficient and safe delivery remains a bottleneck in clinical gene therapy [O.J. Muller, H.A. Katus, R. Bekeredjian, Targeting the heart with gene therapy-optimized gene delivery methods, Cardiovasc Res, 73(3), (2007) 453-462]. Viral vectors are looked upon favorably for their high transduction efficiency, although their ability to elicit toxic immune responses remains [C.F. McTiernan, et al., Myocarditis following adeno-associated viral gene expression of human soluble TNF receptor (TNFRII-Fc) in baboon hearts, Gene Ther, 14(23), (2007) 1613-1622]. However, this high transduction does not necessarily translate into improved efficacy [X. Hao, et al., Myocardial angiogenesis after plasmid or adenoviral VEGF-A(165) gene transfer in rat myocardial infarction model, Cardiovasc Res., 73(3), (2007) 481-487]. Naked DNA remains the preferred method of DNA delivery to cardiac myocardium and has been explored extensively in clinical trials. The results from these trials have demonstrated efficacy in regard to secondary end-points of reduced symptomatology and perfusion, but have failed to establish significant angiogenesis or an increase in myocardial function [P.B. Shah, D.W. Losordo, Non-viral vectors for gene therapy: clinical trials in cardiovascular disease, Adv Genet, 54, (2005) 339-361]. This may be due in part to reduced

  19. PREFACE: International Conference on Functional Materials and Nanotechnologies (FM&NT2012)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sternberg, Andris; Muzikante, Inta; Sarakovskis, Anatolijs; Grinberga, Liga

    2012-08-01

    Organizing Committee sincerely hopes that the Conference gave all the participants new insights into the widespread development of functional materials and nanotechnologies and would enhance the circulation of the information released at the meeting. Inta Muzikante Andris Sternberg Liga Grinberga Anatolijs Sarakovskis Conference photograph The manuscripts are published thanks to the financial support from ERAF project 'Atbalsts starptautiskas sadarbibas projektiem zinatne un tehnologijas LU Cietvielu fizikas instituta' Nr.2010/0204/2DP/2.1.1.2.0./10/APIA/VIAA/010 Sponsors Sponsors flag Sponsors logo International Organizing Committee 1. Andris Sternberg (chairperson), Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia, Latvia 2. Juras Banys, Vilnius University, Lithuania 3. Gunnar Borstel, University of Osnabrück, Germany 4. Niels E Christensen, University of Aarhus, Denmark 5. Robert A Evarestov, St. Petersburg State University, Russia 6. Claes-Goran Granqvist, Uppsala University, Sweden 7. Dag Høvik, The Research Council of Norway, Norway 8. Marco Kirm, Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, Estonia 9. Jiri Kulda, Institut Laue-Langevin, France 10. Witold Lojkowski, Institute of High Pressure Physics, Poland 11. Ergo Nommiste, University of Tartu, Estonia 12. Ingólfur Torbjörnsson, Icelandic Centre for Research, Iceland 13. Marcel H. Van de Voorde, University of Technology Delft, The Netherlands International Program Committee 1. Liga Grinberga (chairperson), Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia, Latvia 2. Eugene Kotomin, Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Germany 3. Martins Rutkis, Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia, Latvia 4. Inta Muzikante, Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia, Latvia 5. Liga Berzina-Cimdina, Institute of Biomaterials and Biomechanics, Riga Technical University, Latvia 6. Janis Grabis, Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Riga Technical University, Latvia 7. Linards Skuja

  20. Structural properties and UV to NIR absorption spectra of metal-free phthalocyanine (H2Pc) thin films P. B. Thakor, P. N. Gajjar and A. R. Jani: Different reference systems in the study of structural properties of some simple liquid metals Shazia Bashir, M. S. Rafique, M. Khaleeq-ur-Rahman, Faizan-ul-Haq and B. R. Alvina: CO2 and Nd:YAG laser radiation induced damage in aluminium Smail Bougouffa: The study of atomic transitions by use of Numerov technique in schematic model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    El-Nahass, M. M.; Farid, A. M.; Attia, A. A.; Ali, H. A. M.

    The structural properties and absorption spectra of H2Pc thin films have been studied. The films used in these studies were thermally evaporated on glass/quartz substrates with thickness ranging from 60 to 460 nm. The XRD studies of H2Pc thin films showed that the as-deposited films have a-form with monoclinic system. The mean crystallite size (L), the dislocation density (d) and the strain (x) were evaluated. The molecular structure of H2Pc thin films is confirmed by analysis of (FTIR) spectra. The surface morphology of H2Pc thin films was examined by scanning electron microscope. The absorption spectra of H2Pc recorded in the UV - VIS - IR region for the as-deposited and the annealed thin films of different thickness have been analyzed. The spectra showed two absorption bands namely the Q-band and the Soret (B)-band. The Q-band shows its characteristic splitting (Davydove splitting) with DQ = 0.21 eV. Values of some important optical parameters, namely optical absorption coefficient (a¢), molar extinction coefficient (emolar), half-band-width (Dl), electronic dipole strength (q2) and oscillator strength (f) were calculated. The fundamental and the onset of the indirect energy gaps were also determined as 2.47 and 1.4 eV, respectively.

  1. Preface: phys. stat. sol. (b) 241/9

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morawetz, Klaus

    2004-07-01

    Modelling and Simulation in Molecular Systems, Mesoscopic Structures, and Material Science was the title of a workshop held at the University of Technology in Chemnitz from 21 to 23 April 2004. This workshop coincided with the 50th birthday of Michael Schreiber. Therefore, the idea to publish a special issue is supported by two good reasons. First, a topical collection is appropriate for giving an overview about a field and to initiate further studies. This is one intention of the present issue. Second, the birthday is a suitable occasion for reflecting on the status of the different fields where Michael Schreiber has been active himself. Motivated by the characteristic name of the workshop (MS4), which expresses the broad range of his activities, the contributions are grouped into three main chapters: Disorder and Interaction, Phase Transitions and Criticality, and Transport Properties.The first part starts with the currently intensively discussed topic of composite Fermions in the paper by B. Kramer et al. This method of rewriting correlations as new quasiparticles has amongst other things the merit of explaining such exciting phenomena as the fractional quantum Hall effect. The methodological questions of Ward identities, causality, and conservation laws are the focus of the systematic investiga-tion in the second article by V. Janis et al. which concentrates on the problem of disorder and configura-tional averaging. The interplay between disorder and correlation is treated in the third contribution by C. Schuster et al., where different theoretical methods are tested on the problem of Friedel oscillations within the one-dimensional Heisenberg and Hubbard model. In the next contribution, M. Berciu et al. focus on localization as one consequence of disorder. The localized and extended electronic states are treated, together with the magnetic degrees of freedom, like spin waves. One of the astonishing consequence of localiza-tion is the observation of resonant

  2. AAS 228: Day 4

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kohler, Susanna

    2016-06-01

    began the session by explaining his new models which trace the diffusive cooling of an initial supernova shock. His team has created an open source code, the SuperNova Explosion Code or SNEC, to allow others to explore a variety of explosion properties.Janie De La Rosa then spoke about her work on observing Type IIn supernovae (those with narrow emission lines in their spectra) at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths. These wavelengths are sensitive to progenitor models and the geometry of the surrounding material.Composite image of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, using data from the Chandra X-ray telescope, NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope, and ground-based facilities. [NASA/CXC/SAO]Following the exploration of progenitor geometry, Douglas C. Leonard spoke about his work in hunting for polarization in type IIP supernovae (those with long, plateaued light curves). A high degree of polarization implies asymmetry in the explosion itself, and he has been able to find such asymmetry in a number of type IIP supernovae. He pointed out that bubble-like structure (like what we see in the beautiful supernova remnant Cassiopeia A) might explain the polarization as well. Switching gears, Karri Kolijonen spoke about an interesting X-ray binary (a binary consistent of a compact object and star that emits strongly in X-rays) known as GS 1354-64. This pair has an extremely short orbital period of just two and a half days! He explained how an instability in the black holes accretion disk might explain a recent outburst in the system.Thomas Pannuti explained the basic morphologies of supernova remnants: shell, composite, and mixed. He has taken extensive, multiwavelength images of a mixed remnant known as W28 from radio through X-ray wavelengths. He notes that the radio masers in the remnant are offset from the X-ray light, although the significance of this is still an open question.Finally, Maria Dainotti wrapped up the session with a discussion of long duration GRBs as standard

  3. Preface: Materiaux 2010

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cheikhrouhou, Abdelwaheb

    2012-02-01

    Ceramics, glasses, polymers Natural materials (phosphates, clay,...) Metallic materials, alloys, metallurgy,... Others (materials and environment, materials and energy, biomaterials,...) I want to thank the scientific committee, the organizing committee, the local committee and everyone who contributed to the organization of this meeting for their invaluable efforts in order to guarantee the complete success of this conference. Abdelwaheb Cheikhrouhou President of 'Tu-MRS' Chairman of the Conference 'MATERIAUX 2010' Conference photograph Committies Organizing Committee Chairman CHEIKHROUHOU Abdelwaheb (Faculté des Sciences de Sfax) Members ALAYA Sahbi (Faculté des Sciences de Gabès) BENNACEUR Raouf (Faculté des Sciences de Tunis) BEN SALEM Mohamed (Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte) CHEIKHROUHOU-KOUBAA Wissem (Faculté des Sciences de Sfax) EL JANI Belgacem (Faculté des Sciences de Monastir) EZZAOUIA Hatem (Centre de Recherches et de Technologies de l'Energie, Technopole de Borj Cédria) LAMLOUMI Jilani (Ecole Supérieure des Sciences et Techniques de Tunis) REZIG Bahri (Ecole Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Tunis) Local Committee Chairman CHEIKHROUHOU Abdelwaheb (Faculté des Sciences de Sfax) Members CHEIKHROUHOU-KOUBAA Wissem (Faculté des Sciences de Sfax) KOUBAA Mohamed (Institut Supérieur de Biotechnologie de Sfax) NJEH Anwar (Institut Préparatoire aux Etudes d'Ingénieurs de Sfax) BEN SALAH Issam (Faculté des Sciences de Sfax) TAKKALI Férid (Faculté des Sciences de Sfax) REGAIEG Yassin (Faculté des Sciences de Sfax) OTHMANI Safa (Faculté des Sciences de Sfax) MNASSRI Rafik (Faculté des Sciences de Sfax) Secretariat BEN GHOZLEN Afifa (Faculté des Sciences de Sfax) BOUGHARIOU Sana (Faculté des Sciences de Sfax) Scientific Committee M. ADDOU, Faculté des Sciences de Kénitra (Morocco) N. AMDOUNI, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis (Tunisia) M. BACCOUCHE, Faculté des Sciences d'Annaba (Algeria) H. BATIS, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis (Tunisia) A. BELAFHAL

  4. EDITORIAL The 17th Central European Workshop on Quantum Optics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Man'ko, Margarita A.

    2011-02-01

    ), held at the University of Turku, are also available (2010 Phys. Scr. T140). The 18th Central European Workshop on Quantum Optics (CEWQO11) will be held in Madrid, Spain on 30 May--3 June 2011. It will be chaired by Professor Luis Lorenzo Sanchez Soto from the Complutense University of Madrid. List of Papers The 17th Central European Workshop on Quantum Optics in St Andrews, Scotland Ulf Leonhardt and Natalia Korolkova Double self-Kerr scheme for optical Schrödinger-cat state preparation P Adam, Z Darázs, T Kiss and M Mechler Relations between scaling transformed Husimi functions, Wigner functions and symplectic tomograms describing corresponding physical states V A Andreev, D M Davidović, L D Davidović and M D Davidović Entanglement dynamics of two independent cavity-embedded quantum dots B Bellomo, G Compagno, R Lo Franco, A Ridolfo and S Savasta Dynamical stabilization of spin systems in time-dependent magnetic fields Yu V Bezvershenko, P I Holod and A Messina Entanglement dynamics of a bipartite system in squeezed vacuum reservoirs Smail Bougouffa and Awatif Hindi On Wheeler's delayed-choice Gedankenexperiment and its laboratory realization M Božić, L Vušković, M Davidović and Á S Sanz A smooth, holographically generated ring trap for the investigation of superfluidity in ultracold atoms Graham D Bruce, James Mayoh, Giuseppe Smirne, Lara Torralbo-Campo and Donatella Cassettari Parametric amplification of the classical field in cavities with photoexcited semiconductors V V Dodonov Mutually unbiased bases: tomography of spin states and the star-product scheme S N Filippov and V I Man'ko Quantum trajectory model for photon detectors and optoelectronic devices Teppo Häyrynen, Jani Oksanen and Jukka Tulkki Entanglement in two-mode continuous variable open quantum systems Aurelian Isar A classical field comeback? The classical field viewpoint on triparticle entanglement Andrei Khrennikov Experimental investigation of the enhancement factor and the cross